#the other requires something to bite on 24/7

[gomzdrawfr]

they're open for adoption

[floralcyanide]

#9/#17 from smut list 2 & #11 from smut list 1 with Javi from Twisters, I can no longer unsee pre accident Javi not messing around if he was dating someone especially a fellow chaser in that car they borrowed from uni after noticing during rewatch two Kate mentioned they could barely get him to wear pants back then ykyk 😏

𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫!

(requests are closed for the saturday night sleepover!)

Javi RIvera x Fem!Reader

prompts: 9: car sex, 17: sex while camping, 11: cockwarming after a long day in order to calm down together

a/n: javi was def super horny in college 24/7 you can't change my mind (and probably still is lbr)

For one particular chase, the group decides to make a night out of it and camp after the storm tapers off. The 6 of you camp out in the 4 Runner and the van, as well as a handy tent Jeb had brought, courtesy of his roommate. Kate’s mom had plenty of camping gear that she let all of you use as well, so it was a legitimate setup. Lanterns, a fire, some chairs, and non-perishable food with some sleeping bags and blankets. You and Javi decided to make a pillow fort in the back of the van, Jeb and Kate took the 4 Runner- Addy and Praveen used the tent to sleep in.

This chase was nerve-wracking for sure. A typical EF1 turned into a rowdy EF3 and required the entire team to work together to get back to safety. The group manages to find an area by the lake to camp and attempt to settle down. After a night of going over some data and exchanging ghost stories to ward off the tense vibes, the 6 of you wander over to your respective sleeping areas and crash. Except you and Javi, of course, because Javi doesn’t know how to keep his hands to himself, especially when he’s nervous. 

You sigh and roll over, causing Javi’s hand to retract from your thigh, “Are you okay?”

“No,” Javi mutters, moving to lay on his side and facing you, “Are you?”

“No,” you admit, “I’m still kind of anxious.”

You and Javi don’t have to whisper technically, as the van is parked a little ways from the tent and 4 Runner, so the others likely wouldn’t hear your conversation. But the night was still enough that you felt you had to keep your voices down. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Javi asks, rubbing your arm soothingly.

You shrug, “I can think of something else I’d rather do, honestly.”

“Like what?” 

“Put your hand back on my thigh, and I’ll show you what.”

Javi grins from ear to ear at that. He puts his hand back where it was, his palm flat to your skin with his fingers splayed. Only this time, he quickly moves his hand under your shorts to cup your heat. He slips a finger under your underwear, toying with your clit until you’re squirming and growing wet. Javi tests how wet you’ve become with a curious finger.

“I wanna try something,” Javi says, his lips brushing your ear.

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“Get on top for a little while, but don’t move.”

“What, like, fucking you without moving?” you ask.

“Yeah, it’s more relaxing than you think. Now, come on,” Javi pats his thighs as he lays on his back.

You shrug, pulling down your shorts and underwear and setting them aside as Javi pulls his down his legs. As you hover, Javi teases your entrance and clit with the tip of his length before guiding himself inside you. You sigh in contentment as he fills you up nicely. After some adjusting, you manage to sit on top of Javi, him fully sheathed inside your needy cunt. Javi runs his hands along your thighs as you sit still on top of him, watching you with utter endearment. 

“Feel better yet?” you ask, wanting so badly to move.

“Yep,” Javi pops the ‘p’. After a moment of silence, Javi reads your impatient facial expression, “You want to move, don’t you?”

“Yes,” you groan, “But it feels nice not to at the same time. I like being so full of you like this.”

“Maybe if you stay still long enough, I’ll let you move.”

“Deal.”

A few minutes pass and you’re now biting your lip in order not to swivel your hips. Javi chuckles, his hands on your hips. He lifts you up a little, to which you hiss, and then motions for you to drop back down. You let out a quiet, high-pitched moan, your fingers grasping at Javi’s shirt. He feels himself twitch as he bucks into you, wanting to hear you moan like that again. Adjusting yourself to the feeling of moving again, you start riding Javi slowly so you don’t accidentally scream out in pleasure. He feels you clenching around him, signaling you’re close.

“Gonna cum already? Didn’t know you needed me that bad- ow!”

Javi is interrupted by you flicking him on the nipple through his t-shirt, “Just fuck me, Jav. Save your snarkiness for later.”

Javi snaps his hips into you a little faster, matching your hip’s movements. He presses his thumb to your clit, and you come undone, having to shove your fist in your mouth to keep your moans at bay. Since Javi didn’t finish inside you, you offer to get him off quickly before the two of you decide it’s best to go to sleep.

“Go ahead, but I can tell you right now I’m probably just going to bust in your mouth in five seconds.”

[pouralaura]

I wanted to ask you this because I adore your Tav and how you write Raphael. Seriously I can’t get enough of them together. ♥️

We all talk about finding Raphael’s diary, but what if he found Tav’s? Tav who’s all prideful and teases him, acts like they’re not interested in him. Keeps their guard up, ya know? But he snatches up their diary and uncovers that they are anything but uninterested…

Basically just constant gushing, all of those embarrassing, obsessed, horny thoughts written down that Tav would rather die than admit to. ESPECIALLY to Raphael.

Thank you so much for the kind words! I love to write em mutually obsessed in the worst way. down so bad. 24/7 gross about each other.

here's a little something

--

Tav is out.

She's traipsing about with her companions (far less interesting than she; nuisances toward whom Raphael simply can't help his indifference) around the city, so it's a perfect time to do a bit of reconnaissance. Normally he'd demand this of Korrilla, but he is quite fond of Tav.

And sending Korrilla into Tav's private rooms at the Elfsong won't be quite enough this time. Some clients require a more personal touch -- more exclusive scrutiny.

(And, if he happens to find a delicious little morsel during his perusal through Tav's personal items, perhaps all the better.)

...Also helpful to have his little warlock downstairs to keep watch, just in case his target returns unexpectedly.

So: yes, Tav is out, and Raphael is in. He's poofed into her little bedroom, surveyed her meager possessions, and found...

...what has he found? Not much. Some emptied bottles and a wine glass that ought to be washed, a few books here and there in various states of being read, some dirtied laundry (but in a literal sense, not really what he's looking for).

There is, however, a small leather-bound volume on Tav's nightstand. Unassuming. Perhaps a journal.

He flips open to the most recent page, half-full of Tav's blocky print, and he discovers he's correct. Her writing is smudged inelegantly where he presumes she's rested the heel of her hand against the paper as she moves along. It's poor penmanship. Raphael tuts in disappointment.

But then he takes in the actual content of the page, and...

It's quite the discovery.

Oh, there's no mention of illithids anywhere. No reference to the Astral Plane, or their travels along the Sword Coast beyond a few landscape details. Not even a single acknowledgement of the long-awaited death of Ketheric Thorm.

No, it's something else entirely.

Her language is tentative and blushing at first, but grows more and more lewd as the paragraphs wind on. Such a hard-headed woman -- it's not a compliment -- headstrong and obstinate, keen and incisive...and she might as well have written a name in looping cursive surrounded by hearts all over these pages.

But what name? A lover from her past? Surely not one of her little friends.

Who is this man, who's clearly enchanted her so thoroughly? Tav writes of warm brown eyes and curls she'd like to touch and oh she knows he's absolutely fucking packing under those ugly-ass trousers --

Positively troglodytic language from his favorite little mouse. Raphael scoffs. How curious he is now to uncover the source of her more basal fantasies (aspersions cast on attire clearly notwithstanding). He flips another page, and scans the contents he finds.

Something tells me that man likes the sound of his own name more than anything. I'd say it all he wanted if I could have his mouth on me.

Raphael tastes iron and brimstone as he bites down on his tongue. His piercing gaze darts to the opposite page.

Would hate to stifle his sinful voice, though, even with it between my legs. Wonder if he'd sound the same with his cock buried so far in me he'd cum out my damn nose -- "Little mouse", he'd groan for me --

...

The devil blinks.

Well, well, well.

So it's he whom the hero of the story fancies so intensely, is it, now? Usually so quick to brush him off, to turn up her nose at his delivery...but ah, how her writing contradicts her demeanor. What a find. What a delight. Raphael's shit-eating grin nearly rivals his erection in size. (Also, yes, he's obviously packing; the little mouse is entirely correct. As if he'd glamour himself a small human cock.)

But he's not able to bask in this delicious revelation for long, as he feels the press of Korrilla's signature sending spell at the edge of his mind, signaling Tav's return to the inn. Much as he'd love to read more -- perhaps alongside a glass of wine, a hot bath, and the willing, pliant flesh of his pretty incubus (in the form of the Archduchess tonight, he thinks, as his cock aches) -- it's time to vacate the premises.

Carefully he replaces the leather-bound volume on Tav's bedside table exactly as he'd found it, snaps his fingers, and he's gone in a puff of smoke and glittering sparks. As if he'd never been there at all.

--

It's not a week later when he sees her again at the Caress, come to ask another question and draw out her inevitable agreement to his terms once again.

(He's in no hurry. He's not the one with a ticking time bomb in his pretty mortal head.)

It's not until she gets up to leave, her little friends in tow --

"See you later, Raphael."

-- that he makes his move. Stands with them as is polite, sweeps around elegantly to Tav's side as she follows her companions to the door.

Raphael places a hand delicately at the small of her back, giving her pause. Leans in close to her ear, pitching his voice low:

"How I do love the sound of my name more than almost anything else, little mouse. Particularly when it comes from your mouth."

Fingertips drift down further, tracing the line of Tav's hip to a point between decent and indecent -- the lightest of touches; almost-but-not-quite a caress. Raphael watches a flush travel from the apples of the mouse's cheeks down her neck, its trail further hidden by the unfortunately high line of her leather armor.

He thinks he's got her, but then she looks up to meet his eyes, and there's laughter behind her gaze as she delivers her line and exits stage left.

"The quilting on your trousers is ugly as all the Hells."

The devil is left bereft of words as Tav skips off to join the vampling and the Selunite at the door, casting one last (heated? mocking? both?) glance back at him. A wink in exchange for the sneering curl of his lip -- a rose for his thorns; a thorn for his roses.

But his scorn melts into a smirk when she disappears from sight. If it's more than a bit fond, who's to say?

He does love it when his clients put up a fight.

Perhaps he'll bring her to her knees in more ways than one. Give her an eyeful of the expensive quilting she seems to despise so passionately.

[southernprideyall2]

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU MOVE TO THE SOUTH

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. Onced and Twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

7. Jawl-P? means: Did you all go to the bathroom?

8. People actually grow, eat, and like okra.

9. Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do something.

10. There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

12. Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

13. The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

14. You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16. Y'all is singular. All Y'all is plural.

17. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

18. You carry jumper cables in your car for your OWN car.

19. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco, and ketchup.

20. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, motorsports, and gossip.

21. Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss (first name), or Mr (first name)

22. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

23. You know what a hissy fit is..

24. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

25. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

[lawliet-ryuzaki-ryuga]

Chapter 7 ( L X Reader)

ANALYZER

WC: 1061

MASTERLIST

-Chapter 6

A/N: AHHHH IM SO SORRY FOR TAKING FOREVER TO UPDATE!!!! I HAD SO MUCH GOING ON IN MY LIFE, TO HAVING WRITTERS BLOCK FOR THIS STORY TO HAVING TO WATCH DEATH NOTE A BILLION TIMES AGAIN TO GET NEW IDEAS! FORGIVE ME! i hope y'all enjoy and let me know what you guys think about this chapter!!!!

Though L had told me he was going to make more time in which we would be able to meet and just get to know one another, but given the situation that we are in, time isn’t in our favor. I’ve been watching the 24/7 surveillance footage we have on yotsoba meetings. I have grown tired of hearing plan after plan, after plan.  The Only real interaction or meet was when we would go eat. 

“Mmm i think i like the creme brulee cheesecake over your black forest cake.” I mumble as i take another bite of my slice of cake. L on the other hand is just taking chunks out of every slice in front of him. 

“ I just enjoy the taste of sugar.” L mumbles with his mouth full.

“ The point of trying cakes is to taste the flavors.”

“ I like sugar.”

“ you said that already.” 

“ Then let us discuss something you haven’t heard before Y/N/N. Tell me, how do you think Kira kills? given how much you’ve watched these recordings, i trust that you would be able to come up with a conclusion.`` L leads the conversation. 

“ Ryuzaki we said nothing about the case.”

“My apologies, I can’t help but think about anything else.” L rubs his pointer and thumb together as he rolls around the sugar sprinkles, before sucking the sugar off his fingers.

“ Fine, during the meetings theres a lot of numbers, days and ways on how one might be killed or die. There can be a few options all of which cannot be described without some type of supernatural power. One being they, Kira, speaks it into existence.. But that would require some type of God who can do such things. The Other thing is writing it down. Now this one more specifically is what caught my attention. During all the meetings, everyone had a notebook and a pen in front of them but none were used. Except for one, Higuchi . He fiddles with a pen often, and his pen is the only one that’s different from the rest. Indicating it's personal, and this item alone holds some time of significant use to him. Fiddling with the pen can express confidence or the depiction of some type of power.. But again, if he is writing it down, then how do the deaths occur? Unless something of supernatural power is in charge.” I explain before picking up a cheesecake slice and taking a small cut from the end of the slice.

“ Are you saying something of a shinigami? I have to say I’ll be disappointed, as they are nothing but some folklore.”  L sighs before staring up at me with his gray orbs. 

“ Folklore might sound crazy, but the human brain is not capable of creating or making up things, unless it was seen before. As a result I would not knock the idea, and based on how both Light and Misa reacted when they were confined was like they were no longer under some trance, dare I say even under a control of a spirit or being. Their body language in itself changed drastically, more so with light based on the footage. During his confinement I was able to see small lip movements that read “ Get rid of it.” It was moments after that when his body language changed from annoyance.. To confusion. Light’s body language is never abrupt, always calm..Light likes to articulate his movements and his responses to things. So that quick change in demeanor is what concerns me..”

“And you think that the new Kira is now Higuchi.” L states with a firmness to his voice.  

“ If I have to put my bet, I’d say it was him and Namikawa is the one who calls the shots before Higuchi does anything.”

“ I see.. But there were two kiras at one point.. Do you think that the second kira could be Namikawa Y/N/N?”

“I believe that at this very moment there’s only one Kira, which makes my theory of writing in something like a book stronger. When Light said “ get rid of it” what does “ it” refer to if not an object . As a result, if we are talking about let’s say some book, then at this very moment the second book hasn’t been possessed or hasn't possessed a person yet.. If Namikawa were the second kira, I don't believe he would be giving Higuchi some type of approval/ or direction of what to do, he would just do it himself.”

“ I agree, I just don’t see how believing in some type of power in an object or being is gonna help us solve the case. If the way of killing can be transmitted between person to person, whether it be through a book or by some type of spiritual possession, the catching of Kira would be impossible.” L argues back with reason as expected. 

“ Well it all depends, if we are looking for an object, then maybe the destruction of the object can end the killings. But if it is some type of possession of spirit that jumps from person to person. Then the goal is to look for the type of person the spirit is drawn to. But of course that would be a stretch and as you said, would probably be impossible to solve. But given that at one point Light was Kira, I find it hard to believe that someone who murdered so many people would have no recollection of any of it. Making it be that the person has control on if they can erase their memory and bring it back when needed. Which makes me think that Light could still be Kira without even knowing it anymore.."

“ Y/N/N, I have to say your reasoning on things goes beyond my reasoning. I only deal with the facts and the logical explanation of things. If it cannot be proven then it cannot be used as a fact to support evidence.  But you use evidence to create a fact, to make a logical explanation, which is interesting. But it might all be interesting to me, simply for the fact that I cannot believe in some type of supernatural power. But I will leave that to you.” L speaks in a monotone voice, not sounding too fond of my reasoning. 

“ I like the bigger picture, not the small details Ryuzaki.”

With a side glance L looks at me but returns to his cake, lifting his feet onto the chair and sitting in his weird position and finishes his cake, with not another word to me. His energy shifted from that of being open to that of being closed off. Was it my tone? No. It was that I’m challenging his logical way of thinking with a more elaborate explanation of what could be and not what is. 

[somereaderinblue]

Gotham's New Stray

Gotham Menagerie Menace AU: 1 | 2

-Lila swore off the ‘sausage tails’ hairstyle but by god she’s breaking that vow if only so she could use them to strangle Marinette.

-The past month has been an absolute shitshow circus.  Somehow, LB managed to defeat Hawkmoth who turned out to be Gabriel (jfc, just when she thought the asshat couldn’t sink lower) but *gasp* CN has betrayed her! Worse, Adrien is gone!

-So far, no one, not even LB herself, specified what ‘gone’ meant. Was he missing? Was he dead?? Nobody knows and it’s killing them.

-Poor Marinette is naturally heartbroken & worried sick and oh, it’s so romantic how she’s holding onto hope. Just look at the shrine she made for Adrien!

-(Lila will bet her entire Venetian Mask collection that she isn’t the only one who wants to burn the embodiment of a stalker’s delusions & entitlement to the ground.)

-Chloe was throwing money at PIs but with the Hawkmoth revelation, Andre wanted nothing to do with Gabriel, much less his son.

-Felix doesn’t believe he’s dead. Call it stubbornness, call it desperation, call it faith: Adrien was tenacious long before he got the miraculous with an animal said to have 9 lives.

-More importantly, Adrien would Cataclysm himself before betraying Paris (yes, he & the others know bcz secret IDs are bloody overrated).

-Lila, Chloe, Zoe, Nino, Nath, Marc, Felix & Luka are determined to get to the bottom of this but where do they start?

-Their first lead comes in the form of Nathalie.

-Nathalie, who tells them the instructions she gave Adrien; who also shows them the peacock & butterfly miraculous.

-When Adrien Cataclysmed his sperm donor (damn it, all of them would’ve paid to see that), Nooroo barely hid inside his miraculous in time to avoid damage. Luckily, his dormant state made it easier for Nathalie to snatch him & Duusu before LB could.

-Although very suspicious, they begrudgingly accept her help. An adult would make a better scapegoat cover anyway.

-While the others prepare to leave, Felix reaches out to his Gotham pen pal.

F: I’m coming to Gotham. D: And others say my humor is lackluster. F: I’m not kidding. D: And I’m not laughing. D: You’re also not the type to do something without reason. F: Damn right I’m not. I need your help.

-Before leaving, Nathalie tells them one last thing: she’ll hold onto the peacock (she’ll be damned if she lets another kid suffer for her mistakes), but someone has to wield the butterfly. It’s not combat-orientated but being able to empower someone in a place like Gotham? A boon they can’t waste.

Nathalie: Which one of you will accept this responsibility? Chloe: .....just to clarify, Hawkbitch was wearing that like, 24/7? Nathalie: Yes. Chloe: I love Adrien but ew, no, not it. Others: Not it! Nathaniel: Not- damn it! Lila: Twas fate.

-They could’ve sworn they saw Nathalie smile.

Meanwhile in Gotham.......

-Adrien was adapting.

-He’s found a decent building to stay in (Gotham was full of abandoned buildings), got a job at a hole-in-the-wall café & even better, the city was a fresh start for his alter ego!

-Rather than mope around, he’s more determined than ever to continue being a hero. His dad being a villain means he has more to atone for & Gotham may be a slaughterhouse but she never dictated who could play savior.

-He’s established a routine. Whenever he doesn’t have to work at the café/ run errands, he’s prowling around as Stray. He wanders around, helping wherever & whenever needed; saving a stray cat from cruel assholes with nothing better to do, stopping a mugger, befriending other kids who have it rough, he goes where there's trouble which happens to be everywhere.

-(Lots of crime means lots of work that requires lots of focus! Lots of focus means lots of time & less to be spent lingering on many repressed issues/traumas waiting to bite his ass.)

-He becomes a bit of an urban legend. Slowly but surely, he’s welcomed into the community. It’s imperfect & dirty but the slot he’s carving for himself fits him so much better than Paris’s ever did.

-Back home (...? Dare he call it that?), he’s trying his best to take care of all the kwamis. Each were unique & there was never a moment’s peace but Adrien loved them. These tiny gods gave him companionship & guidance despite what his father’s done to one of their kin. 

-They try to teach him everything Fu didn’t & he’s lenient with them. His territory has more paraphernalia for their interests than his. When Adrien’s gone, they use fractions of their powers to chase away any would-be-robbers, giving Adrien’s building the ‘haunted’ status.

-Whenever someone he saves offers compensation, Stray usually asks for some food to feed himself & the kwamis.

-(They probably don’t mind giving food bcz there’s the saying abt feeding strays. But hey, him hanging around means extra protection. It’s a fair price to pay.)

-One night, while feeding a bunch of strays, he gets a visitor.

-Catwoman (he's totally not fanboying, he is.)

-Stray is surprised & a bit scared bcz shit, what if he’s done something wrong? Was he trespassing? Was he unintentionally mistreating the strays?!?!

-Catwoman was simply curious. She heard rumors of a ‘Stray’ lingering around the Narrows. She half-expected the mini menace to be some hotshot punk in over his head but-

-She knows.

-She knows how to spot the signs of abuse with a certainty as familiar as it is painful. She’s seen them all: abused animals, abused women, abused children, abused partners.

-The kit covered it with puns, cockiness & charisma but he wasn’t fooling her.

-It wasn’t just the matching theme. They clicked & before he knew it, they were sitting together on rooftops every night to feed & pamper the strays. Some nights, they sat in companionable silence; others they gossiped & bantered each other into a friendly spar.

-Maybe it was the loneliness & lack of human companionship but Stray found himself looking forward to their nightly hang outs.

-Selina knew it wasn’t her place to take him in like Batman would've; but she tried to teach him some tips before the city’s cruelty could. The first time he appears with a cut on his cheek & a split lip, she doesn’t hesitate to treat his wounds.

-Stray wouldn’t call her a maternal figure (she's neither Emilie nor Nathalie), but he comes to view her as a reliable cool older sister/aunt figure. She was nothing like LB. They were parallel lines: heading in the same direction but never intersecting.

-He’s glad that he’s made a friend.

.

.

.

-But some nights, when he thinks the kwamis are asleep, all of them can hear him cry for the friends & lover he never got to bid goodbye to.

To be continued

[vickyvicarious]

I decided to see if I could figure out how often Dracula drinks from Lucy. We don't get direct confirmation of every single instance, but by looking at how Lucy's health trends over time I think I can speculate fairly accurately.

I'm putting the details under a cut just so I can keep updating this post with any future instances. There's three tallies: confirmed (typically by sight of Dracula in some form or a severe dive in health), likely (based on her health), and total added together. I'm not sure yet how many speculative bites there will even be, but I figured a system for counting them wouldn't hurt. All are running along with the updates, so no spoilers here.

Confirmed bites: 11

Likely bites: 2

Total bites: 13

Foiled attempts: 10

Evidence (dates based on entry dates talking of her condition; sometimes the actual date would have been the night before) below. I'm also counting foiled attempts at bites now, which are when something/someone prevents Dracula from getting to her.

11 August - Mina witnesses Dracula biting Lucy for the first time in the graveyard. She had trouble breathing, but seemed better the next day.

12-13 August - On the 12th Mina notices Lucy trying to sleepwalk out of the room again, but she is successfully kept in the room. On the 13th Mina sees a bat at the window but the window stays shut. It seems likely that Dracula was trying to call her to him, and then went to find her himself the next night when that didn't work. I'm counting this as two attempts for that reason.

14 August - Mina sees Lucy asleep on the windowsill with a "good-sized bird" next to her.

17 August - Mina found Lucy leaning out of the window, where she was weak and having difficulty breathing. The marks on her neck were worse than before. The next day, Dracula leaves Whitby and Lucy is doing better.

24 August - Lucy arrives in London and starts dreaming/feeling ill again. She says she feels weak and worn out.

25 August - Lucy's bad dreams continue, and her symptoms get worse. She complains of throat pain, paleness, and difficulty breathing.

26 August-2 September - Arthur says on the 31st that Lucy is getting worse every day, and she isn't well when Seward visits her on the 2nd. Since usually she starts to recover if time goes by without a bite, I'd guess she has been bitten during this time. Based on the other bites often being a couple days apart/her health getting much worse when she's bitten more often, I'm guessing at two more bites during these eight days. Could also be three, or possible even more, but I'm keeping the speculative numbers conservative.

6 September - After her still seeming unwell on the 2nd, she has several days of improving health. But on this day she takes a sudden turn for the worse.

7 September - When the doctors visit her, Lucy is deathly ill from lack of blood. Only a successful transfusion from Arthur keeps her alive, and she requires enough blood to weaken him a fair bit.

8 September - I'm not quite sure this counts as a foiled feeding because I don't think Dracula necessarily tried to come and feed. He assumed Lucy was dead. But then again, he might have come to check that she did indeed die, and if not for Jack might've tried to drink from her again. Given what happens the next night, I'll go ahead and count it as a foiled attempt.

10 September - Seward fell asleep the night before and Lucy was near death again in the morning. A transfusion worked to revive her somewhat, though she was still weak.

11 September - van Helsing sat up with Lucy the night before, then garlanded her room with garlic flowers during the day.

12 September - Lucy says that she feels better with the garlic flowers, and looks forward to sleeping with them. Her narration seems to suggest that this is happening on the same day van Helsing gave them to her, but if so the dates do not line up. If we accept the dates then they must give her one night of safe rest.

13 September - Mrs. Westenra removed the garlic during the night, and opened the window. The next day Lucy is deathly ill and requires a third transfusion.

13-16 September - New garlic is delivered every day, and van Helsing sits up with her. Lucy writes on the evening of the 17th of having had four nights of peace.

17 September - Dracula attacks with a stolen wolf, kills Mrs. Westenra, bites Lucy, and then drugs the maids before returning to bite Lucy a second time. He drains her terribly.

18-19 September - After they find her on the monring of the 18th, van Helsing and Jack make sure to keep someone with Lucy at all times. On the 18th, Quincey also patrolled around the outside of her house. However, before dawn on the 20th, Dracula comes back and flaps at the window again. While he doesn't make it inside, Lucy's condition gets worse at his arrival and she soon dies in the morning. So, while he doesn't bite her, I am not counting this last instance as a successful foiling, and am only counting once for the night of the 18th.

.

In amongst all these many bites, there are definitely some which are worse than others. In my opinion, these are the worse ones (getting worse as you go down the list):

11 August - the first time Dracula bites Lucy, he's interrupted by Mina and yet she still has trouble breathing afterwards (not true of some of his other Whitby sips). I think he was drinking deeper that time, though still not to the degree of later nights.

17 August - Dracula is leaving town right after this, and he drinks more deeply from Lucy since as far as he knows it will be the last time. It doesn't seem like he was intentionally trying to kill her necessarily, given how quickly she recovers, but her symptoms are worse that night so I think he was tanking up before his trip, so to speak.

6 September - After a few days away, Dracula drinks extra hard from Lucy, leaving her very ill.

7 September - Dracula intended to kill Lucy today. She would have died of blood loss without the transfusion.

10 September - Once again, this bite would have killed Lucy.

13 September - A third would-be-fatal bite.

17 September - The bite(s) that prove fatal in the end, despite one more transfusion.

[hide-in-imagination]

"Roads That Cross... with a Phone Call"

You can read the previous chapters here: (1),(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27), (28), (29), (30)

I only needed a solar eclipse to update! Yay!

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The next day, Simón left two more marks on Ámbar’s chest.

It was during lunchtime, which was rare because, usually, after a night like that, they didn’t need to satiate any more urges so soon after. But the pause in activity had been felt by both of them, and now that they could do it again, they didn’t seem to want to wait at all.

“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” Ámbar breathed between kisses and hurried hands, yanking off his clothes with the same urgency as her tone of voice. “I can’t concentrate on anything.”

Simón groaned and held her against his body, and then he gave her what she wanted and fucked her into the mattress.

There was something so satisfying about reducing such a strong force of nature like Ámbar into a gasping, whining mess with just a few bucks of his hips. She always had a witty comeback at the ready, an ironic comment aimed at whoever talked to her, but when she was like this, with him, she felt so much that Simón could leave her speaking in tongues.

It filled him with pride. It incited him to give more.

After, when they were dressing back up to grab something to eat (Simón shouldn’t have unraveled her for as long as he did, now they’d have to eat fast if they didn’t want to go over their lunch hour, but he’d missed this) Ámbar saw the new hickeys on her breasts and laughed, saying she didn’t know he had this side of him.

Honestly, Simón didn’t know either. It took seeing Ámbar wearing nothing but his shirt for him to realize just how much he liked it, and he couldn’t deny the surge of primal satisfaction upon seeing the marks on Ámbar’s breasts and neck. It looked sexy. She looked his.

Luckily, Ámbar said she didn’t mind, as long as they were few and nowhere visible, and as long as he allowed her to mark him too. Simón had no issue with that. In fact, part of him wanted her to leave the most obvious love bite on his neck and then have her show her own ones too just so he could flaunt them in front of Benicio like— See? We’re very happy together, stop being a pest.

But that would be petty of him, and he would feel bad using Ámbar like that, as if she were an object he wanted to show off. He felt a little disgusting just for thinking about it, so Simón pushed the urge down, down, down, until he could barely feel it at all. Besides, his imagination-self was way more shameless than he actually was. If Simón really walked around with a hickey on his neck, he’d die of embarrassment.

There was nothing to prove anyway. Benicio could’ve been bluffing when he spoke about that spot on Ámbar’s neck—A lucky guess. But even if he wasn’t, it didn’t matter. Ámbar chose Simón. Perhaps they’d been seeing each other less than usual the past few days, but every morning without fail they had breakfast together, and when the time came for Simón to leave, instead of saying goodbye, they always said: ‘I love you.’

“Have a nice day, I love you.”

“See you later, I love you.”

“I’m running late, gotta go, love you.”

I love you, I love you, I love you. That was the one thing important.

Throughout the next few days, they saw each other a little more actually, which came as a pleasant surprise to Simón. A couple of official, Manager things required Ámbar’s presence in the Roller, starting with the arrival of the new hires Ámbar had been requesting from Vidia for a while. They were three part-timers who would be taking over the weekends from now on so that Pedro, Eric, and Simón himself, could rest: two girls who would be in charge of the cafeteria, Cata (or Cat for short) and Rae, and one guy who would be the rink assistant and in charge of the lockers, called Alex.   

Ámbar introduced them all personally on their first day of training. She told the girls and Alex that Eric, Pedro, and Simón would be in charge of showing them the ropes around the Roller, while she also managed to, somehow, slip into conversation, twice, that both Simón and Pedro were in a committed relationship. Very much taken. Not single.

She said it all with a smile and it was very smooth, but Simón still had a hard time refraining from laughing. Personally, he didn’t think it was necessary to point that out considering they would only be training the girls for a couple of days and then they’d never see them again unless they visited the Roller in their free time, but Ámbar apparently still felt the need to draw that line in the sand.

To be honest, it made Simón feel pretty good. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one with a bit of a territorial streak in the relationship.

The second reason Ámbar started visiting the Roller more was to personally supervise the last few arrangements for the Day of the Dead party. There were some led light signs that needed to be installed on the walls, spotlights for the ceiling and stuff like that, so Ámbar had to be there to give directions to the handymen responsible for it. Some decorations had to be done by hand too, and while Ámbar could make some of them at home, oftentimes it was more practical to just do them at the Roller.

Simón was happy to see Ámbar more, no matter how briefly. When she first started working on the decorations, he offered to help, but she told him to just worry about his own work, that she got it covered. Simón still helped her bring a table to the rink, one wide enough for her to put all of the materials on top of it and work on her crafts comfortably, and also carried any bags she needed to move from one place to another— There was no way he’d let her do all of that herself when he had a good pair of arms.

On a good day, they walked back home after work together like they used to, Ámbar’s hand in his, her snuggling up to his side to fend off the cold.

“How do you think the new guys have been adapting to the Roller?” Ámbar asked him conversationally, turning to look at him. “I mean, I asked them, obviously, they said they were fine, but with me being the manager maybe they don’t feel as comfortable talking to me as they do with you.”

Simón smiled. People could say whatever they wanted about Ámbar, but she was actually thoughtful, and ever since she’d become manager of the Roller, she’d been doing a great job at it. He would already put her leaguesover La Generala.

“They’ve been doing great,” he replied. “Alex is amazing at rollerskating, which is very lucky because that was the only thing Eric couldn’t teach him.” The two laughed at that. “The rest, he’d been picking it up nicely. Same thing with the girls. They both had experience working at places like this before, so it’s been easy for them to get the hand of making the beverages and working the register…”

“Oh that’s right, didn’t they both work at a coffee shop before this?” It must have been on their resumes, or maybe Ámbar talked about it with them when they met, before she introduced them to everyone. “Not like the same coffee shop but, you know.”

“Yeah.” Rae and Cat had told him that too. “Actually, I think they bonded over that and they’re starting to become friends.”

“That’s good.” Ámbar smiled. She looked to the side. “As long as they don’t get too distracted and do their job, obviously.”

“Obviously.” Simón laughed. Yeah, the boss position fit her well. Maybe she wouldn’t work at the Roller forever, but he could totally see her leading, with good ideas and consideration. “You know, I actually worked at a coffee shop too,” he mentioned.

Her eyes focused on him with a curious glint. “Really?”

“Yeah, back when I was sixteen. Then I started at Foodger Wheels when I turned 17. Then when Luna turned 16, she joined me at Foodger Wheels, and, well, you know the rest of the story.”

Ámbar leaned her head back a little, looking at him with slightly wide eyes. “Wow, I didn’t know you worked at Foodger Wheels too,” she said with disbelief. “So, that means that day it could’ve been you delivering my food instead of Luna?”

“Oh.” It was Simón’s turn to be surprised. “I had never thought of that— You’re right.” He huffed out a laugh. “How crazy.” He looked to the city in front of him, imagining how that could’ve been. “Do you think anything would’ve turned out different if it had been me instead of Luna?” He asked Ámbar.

“Well, maybe it would’ve helped to get me into your good graces if you hadn’t first known me as the girl who threw your best friend into the pool,” she said.

Simón burst out a laugh. “Oh my god, I had forgotten about that.” It seemed like a lifetime ago.

His gaze centered on Ámbar and his heart melted at how far they’d come since then. He brought their joined hands over her head and wrapped his arm around her in a fluid movement they had done dozens of times.

“Maybe I would’ve fallen irrevocably in love with you at first sight and never even questioned my friendship with Luna,” he told her, smiling down at her.  

Ámbar’s lips ticked in that way that meant she was holding back from smiling. “I mean, I am that pretty,” she agreed, making him laugh and place a kiss on her temple. Ámbar’s giggle finally broke free after that. “But I think just knowing I had a boyfriend you would’ve forgotten about me,” she said. “Too much of a mess. I can’t see you wanting to get in the middle of that.”

Right, back then Ámbar and Matteo had been dating for a while. They were the ‘it couple’ of the Roller. If Simón had fallen for Ámbar back then, he surely would’ve had a very bad time, kind of like Luna did when she was falling for Matteo.

It certainly wasn’t a position he would’ve liked to be in. But Ámbar was wrong in thinking he could’ve just forgotten about her so easily. Simón hadn’t been able to do that ever since last year, ever since he first started falling in love with her. He couldn’t imagine how he’d manage to do so.  

“Honestly, I’m glad you didn’t fall for me back then,” Ámbar said, looking to the front. “I would have not treated you right.”

She tried to make it sound funny but he could catch the self-deprecating edge in her voice. Her gaze lowered to her feet. “Well.” Her voice turned shyer. “Even now I’m not sure if I’m doing so great.”

Gently, Simón brought them to a stop. “Hey.” He squeezed her softly against his side, and when she turned to face him, he smiled at her lovingly. “You make me very happy. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Ámbar looked between his eyes and then her mouth curled into a smile, just as loving. “I love you.”

Simón gave her a short kiss. “I love you too.”

That was the one thing that mattered.

*********************

Another day, another 300 decorations Ámbar had to do.

She left the house that morning with Simón, choosing to work in the Roller that day. She had a box of unfinished flower garlands in her room, but she had many masks and posters at the Roller that she had started to paint and she wanted to finish those first, before anything happened to them and the paint smeared and she had to do them all over again.

If anyone had told her a year ago that she’d be doing all this craftmanship, ever, Ámbar would have either laughed very loudly or asked what millionaire sum they were paying her because there was no way she would do that otherwise.

As it turned out, some people were worth more than any sum of money, and Ámbar would personally paint hundreds of skull decorations if it meant making Simón happy. In fact, it wasn’t so bad. The artistry was rather relaxing if she just focused on the task at hand and didn’t think about how many other little trinkets she had to finish before the big day.

Maybe she would have to ask for help after all. Especially considering these were all decorations for a tradition she had never celebrated, meaning she wasn’t even sure if she was doing them correctly.

In a moment of distraction, she accidentally bumped one of the paint bottles with her arm, tipping it over and causing its contents to start dripping over the table.

“Shit.”

Ámbar hurried to pick up the bottle and place it straight on the table again. She reached for her purse and pulled out the pack of tissues she always carried with her to wipe off the damage. Thankfully, she was quick enough that the paint didn’t spread too much, so the decorations were safe and she didn’t stain the rink either. The same thing couldn’t be said about her fingers though. She hadn’t really thought about that in her hurry to protect all her precious hours of work.

The tissues helped with most of it but she couldn’t get all of the paint off her skin. Ámbar didn’t want to risk staining the decorations with her fingers, so she left the rink and walked toward the dressing room. A make-up remover wipe would definitely do the trick.

It didn’t occur to her to knock because she didn’t expect anyone to be there when she pulled the door open.

She certainly wasn’t expecting to find Delfi and Pedro making out when she did.  

The couple sprung apart instantly when they heard her come in and whirled around to find Ámbar at the door. They stood there frozen, their backs to the mirrors and their wide eyes fixed on her as growing embarrassment flooded their features.

Ámbar maintained a poker face, staring back in complete silence.

Her eyes centered on Pedro.

“It’s not what it looks like,” he blabbered hastily.

She arched a brow.

“I mean, it is, but it’s not— I’m— I only took a short break, all the tables already have their food, I’m waiting— Please don’t fire me.”

Pedro, as it seemed, gave up on trying to salvage the situation and just begged.

Ámbar kept her voice and gaze even. “Pedro.”

“Yes.”

“Get back to work.”

The boy nodded energetically. “Yes. Of course, Ámbar. Right away.”

With his head down, Pedro sped out of the room as if his life depended on it. The door closed behind his back and Ámbar and Delfi were left alone. Their eyes found each other, and they kept each other’s gaze for a long second.

Ámbar couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.  

Delfi still looked embarrassed but she started laughing too, catching it from Ámbar, and just like that, all the previous tension totally vanished.

“Oh my god, you should’ve seen your faces—I should’ve taken a picture!” Ámbar rejoiced. It had been priceless. “I see you two totally made up from your fight,” she said to Delfi, giving her a teasing smirk. “As a person, I love it, but as the manager of this place, I need to make sure that kissing is the only thing you two have done in here.”  

Delfi blushed furiously. “Of course! Are you insane? I would never do more right here in public!”

Ámbar laughed at her flustered state and raised her hands placatingly. “Okay, okay, it was just a question.” She let her hands drop. Her smile turned more genuine. “Good for you though. You both seem happy.”

Delfi smiled with that distinctive softness pertaining to being in love. “We are. Very much.” Then, either for the sake of being polite or maybe to draw attention elsewhere, she brought the topic around to Ámbar. “How about you? How are things going with Simón?”

Well, we don’t secretly make out at the Roller, but we do much worse at the mansion when no one’s around. Or should I say better?

“Mmm, you know how couples sometimes watch TV shows together?” Ámbar said instead of that— Too much information. Delfi nodded. “Well, my boyfriend is making me watch all Marvel movies in chronological order,” she shared flatly. There truly was a lot of time for leisure when one got their period— Who would’ve thought?

“Hey, at least those are entertaining,” Delfi said. “My cinema teachers at my university make us watch 3-hour-long, black-and-white films in which nothing happens— And they swoon like it’s the best thing ever!” She complained with disbelief. 

Ámbar grimaced. “That sounds awful.”

“It is. How I wish I could be staring at Chris Evans’ back instead.”

“Oh yeah, nice view,” Ámbar had to agree. “He’s not my favorite though— Too goody-goody.”

“Says the girl that’s dating Simón.”

Ámbar gave her a dry look. 

“Is it Thor then?” Delfi asked curiously. “Chris Hemsworth is hot too. Or Antman. He’s dorky; maybe it reminds you of Simón.”

“Why does it have to be like Simón?” Ámbar protested, and kept talking before Delfi could make another joke at her expense. “For your information, my favorite’s Iron Man. He gets so much shit for being— What? Proud? He’s the smartest man alive and a multimillionaire— He has reasons to be proud. If I were him, I wouldn’t even help those idiots; fend for yourselves.”

“It’s cute the mentor-like relationship he has with Spiderman though,” Delfi said, and immediately started breaking down. “Oh my god, when I watched Infinity War, you have no idea how much I—”

“Ssshh! Don’t tell me, we haven’t gotten to that one yet,” Ámbar stopped her, raising her hands.

Delfi’s brows ticked up. A teasing smile formed on her lips. “Ah, so you do like them.”

Ámbar shrugged and focused her attention on pulling some nonexistent lint out from her sweater. “I like that Simón likes them.”

When she looked up, Delfi’s smile had grown into a shit-eating grin.

Feeling a surge of embarrassment, Ámbar straightened her back and hid it behind a scoff.

“Why am I still talking to you?” She moved toward the mirrors. “I came here to do something much more important, and I have plenty more important things to do. If you’ll excuse me.”

Ámbar sat in front of one of the mirrors and rummaged through the drawers until she found a package of makeup remover wipes.

As she pulled one out, she caught Delfi’s reflection on her peripheral vision, staring at her. “You know, you really are different now,” she commented.  

Ámbar glanced at her through the mirror before refocusing on wiping her hands. “Is that bad?”

“No,” Delfi said light-heartedly. “I like this Ámbar better. Less bossy and easier to tease.”

Ámbar sent her a look, but the small curl to her lips betrayed she wasn’t entirely mad at this playful dynamic. It felt nice to just have some unserious conversation with someone once in a while— other than her boyfriend, obviously.

She had just finished cleaning her fingers when Delfi spoke once more.  

“Jazmín told me you apologized to her the other day.”

Ámbar tried not to show her disappointment at losing the levity of the conversation so quickly. Peaceful moments never lasted very long for her. It seemed like something always had to remind her of her old transgressions (or her current ones, which she refused to think about.)

She dropped the used wipe into the trashcan next to her and replied with tranquility. “It was the right thing to do.”

She could’ve left it at that, but given the opportunity, Ámbar turned around in the chair to look at Delfi directly. “But I’m not expecting you two to go back to being my minions or anything, don’t worry,” she clarified. “I’m just slowly, little by little, tying up loose ends.” It was all she could do.

She couldn’t go back in time and change the things she did. All she could do was apologize, and be better in the future. Before, her concept of ‘better’ only meant succeeding in all aspects of her life, no matter the cost. Now, she understood all the damage she had inflicted, onto others and herself, for thinking that way.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t like to be your minion again,” Delfi said, with clear disdain forthat idea. No one would want to be in that position, Ámbar thought with some guilt.

A playful expression showed up on Delfi’s face. “But maaaybe I could be your friend.”

Ámbar had to do a double-take. She stared at Delfi, trying to discern if she was only making a joke, but she looked sincere. Something warm and bright fluttered weakly in Ámbar’s chest— Hope.

“Really?”

Delfi showed her a small smile. “I think you’ve really changed. And, if we ignore all the awful things, we did have some very good moments throughout all those years of friendship. Plus,” she added with that playful lilt again, “I’ve noticed that the only people you talk to lately are either Simón, Ramiro, or the rest of the guys that live at your house— I think you’re in desperate need of a girl view.”

The fluttering was no longer a tentative thing but the mighty upward flight of a bird through the sky. A smile grew on Ámbar’s lips and she rose from her chair, hesitating only for a moment before going for a hug, and to her utter relief, Delfi hugged her back, just like in the old days, but better.

“Thank you,” Ámbar told her over her shoulder, eyes closed to capture this moment, this proof that not all her bridges were burned.

She could hear Delfi’s smile in her voice as she answered. “You’re welcome, girl.” 

****************

The raucous of many voices talking and laughing all at the same time permeated the locker room as the Roller Team tied up their rollerskates for another training session.

There weren’t enough benches in the place, so everyone took turns to put their skates on. Simón had been the first one to enter the lockers, so he gave his spot over to Jim and was then the first to slide out.

He was excited about rollerskating, of course, but the truth was that his main motivation to arrive before everyone else was the dazzling blonde standing on one corner of the rink, surrounded by an assortment of flowers and skull decorations in different colors, almost as vibrant as her, but not quite.

Ámbar heard him roll near, so she spun on her feet, and a smile blossomed on her lips when she saw it was him. Simón felt his heart do a happy dance and thought of how lucky he was to have her, not for the first time. Having the person you love love you back had to be the most magical thing anyone could ever experience. Having said person also throw a party for you just to gift you a little piece of home had to be a bonus not many received, and one Simón was incredibly grateful for.

Sure, their relationship wasn’t perfect— not by a long shot. There were a lot of things that worried him. Things he wished that could be better. But in the quiet moments, Simón was simply in awe of just how in love he was with this girl.

“You’re kidding,” Ámbar said with a happy sparkle in her eyes. “I was just about to call you, how did you know?”

If he hadn’t been already, that would’ve made Simón smile. “I don’t know, I guess we’re connected.” At least I’d like to think we are.

He pointed down to his skates. “Also, it’s time for our training session.”

Ámbar’s eyes widened. “Oh, is it that time already?” She checked her phone and, upon confirming this, pocketed it quickly. “Sorry, time flew by. Before I go, real quick— I changed my mind.” She looked at him with a slightly chagrined expression. “Could you help me with all of this? I’m sure you know a hell lot more than I do and—” The rest of the guys started filling the rink right that second. Ámbar looked behind Simón and called out to them. “Please stay clear of this corner!” She gestured to her table. “I’m working on all this stuff and I wouldn’t want them to tear or anything.”

His friends made different sounds of agreement. Simón turned to face Ámbar again. “Sure, I’ll help you with the decorations, no problem.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m just kinda lost with all these skeletons and things.”

“Well, you don’t have to fret anymore because the bestMexican boyfriend in the world has at least a million ideas for you,” Simón declared playfully.

Ámbar’s brows ticked up with interest. “Really? A million ideas? Well, I sure have to find him now and get him to help me. You know where I can find him?”

Simón placed one hand on the table behind her and leaned in closer, answering her little smirk with one of his own. “Well…”

Juliana clapped her hands loudly from the middle of the rink. “Alright, alright! Time for practice!”

“Yeah, let each other breathe for a moment, you guys!” Matteo yelled at them. 

Simón pulled away from Ámbar and looked at the other boy. “Envy is bad for you, Matteo!”

The rest of his friends started to tease Matteo. Simón turned back to his girlfriend with a smile. “See you at the mansion?”

Ámbar nodded. Simón gave her one quick peck before skating away to join his team with the initial warmups. He watched from afar as Ámbar walked away from the rink.

Simón wished she didn’t have to. He missed having Ámbar as his skating partner, the days when she was on the team and they were all friends. He knew that a lot had happened, and Ámbar had only stopped being a Red Shark some time ago, so it wasn’t as easy as just inviting her back, but he wished he could. He didn’t know how everyone would react if he did though. He’d like to believe they wouldn’t be completely opposed to it, but that wasn’t the same as liking the idea, and Simón would hate himself if he put Ámbar through an uncomfortable situation like that. He didn’t want there to be a them with her just existingon the sidelines. (Although he understood that it was her who first created that divide.)

In summary, he just had to be patient, as with all things Ámbar-related.

That was fine by him. After all, he was convinced that she was worth it.

----------------

Hours later, after everyone had already had dinner and the oldest went to sleep, Simón found himself with the guys in the storage room. They’d been showing Matteo some new songs they had created for the Roller Band, and he even helped them finish some of them, coming up with some brilliant ideas that made Simón and Pedro’s eyes sparkle and their hands play the instruments more enthusiastically.

(Simón refrained, once again, from just asking him if he wanted to be part of the band. While he would love that, Matteo had his solo career dreams, and that was totally okay— Simón wouldn’t want him to accept just out of a sense of comradery for them, or pity, and then regret it later.)

Now, after all of that, it had gotten late (and Simón had some arms to return to), so Pedro had risen from his seat behind the drums, and Matteo and Simón were putting their guitars away, disconnecting cables, and all that stuff.

It was just the usual until Matteo made a joke about how “If you wanted to, you guys could be a Christian Rock duo and call yourselves ‘The Apostles’, what with those names you’ve got” and Simón rolled his eyes.

He was about to point out how ‘Matteo’ was also an apostle’s name when Pedro jolted suddenly and grabbed Matteo’s shoulder.

“There! Did you see that? I told you!” Pedro exclaimed, amused, and pointing at Simón for some reason.

Matteo let out a laugh, joining Pedro’s amusement. “Oh my god, you were right!”

Simón looked at them a little self-consciously. “What? What is it?”

Pedro looked at him with a teasing smile. “Ámbar’s rubbing off on you, man. You roll your eyes just like her now.”   

Simón wrinkled his brows, bemused.

“Doesn’t everyone roll their eyes sometimes?”  

“Not like that they don’t,” Matteo countered. He pointed at him. “That is a registered trademark of Ámbar Smith.” 

Even though they were making fun of him, the notion made Simón feel all warm inside.

A little laugh escaped his lips. “Well, maybe. I mean, we spend a lot of time together.”

“We know,” Pedro said dryly.

“Yeah, you smell like flowers now, dude,” Matteo said, “I think everyone knows.”

“Actually, I’m surprised Luna’s dad hasn’t told you anything yet,” Pedro said.

“I think he’s pretending not to notice for the sake of his mental health,” Matteo theorized.

Simón frowned a little. He knew he was bound to smell a little like Ámbar when they started sharing bathroom products, but he didn’t think it was that noticeable— He still used his own deodorant and wore cologne some days. He tried bringing his arm up to his nose to see if he could catch a whiff of ‘flowers’, as his friends said, on his skin, but of course, it being his own body, he couldn’t really smell anything because his nose was used to it.

“Maybe I should start using my own products,” Simón thought out loud. He liked knowing he smelled a little like Ámbar (it felt like they were married, which was silly and insane, of course, therefore that thought only lived in the most profound level of his subconscious) but maybe parading around that they shared the same shower when he was supposed to have his own room wasn’t the best idea.

“I mean, considering whatever Ámbar uses is probably more expensive than what you earn in a whole week, yeah, maybe,” Matteo said.

Oh. He… hadn’t thought about that. 

“Anyway, we were talking about your new music career,” Matteo continued. “Should I help you two replace all mentions of ‘girls’ in your songs with ‘Jesus’?”

Simón and Pedro laughed out loud.

“Absolutely not.”

*************************

Ámbar was about to change into her pajamas and get into bed when she realized she couldn’t find her Scotch tape anywhere.

It wasn’t like it was a terrible thing. She could easily buy another one. But she liked to be organized, so she decided to go downstairs and check the living room in case she’d dropped it when she was working on the decorations earlier. If it wasn’t there, then she’d consider it lost and buy another one, because she was sure she still had it at the Roller.

Ámbar walked through the hallways and down the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible in case someone was already sleeping. The lights were off in the living room, but there was enough light coming from the garden lighting outside that it wasn’t hard to see. It wasn’t enough to find a tiny clear tape on the carpet though, so Ámbar turned on a table lamp, and when that wasn’t enough, pulled out her phone and used its flashlight as well.

Finally, she found the little roll of tape underneath the sofa. She must have kicked it under there by mistake earlier. She put it in her pants pocket, and she had just turned off the flashlight on her phone when the device started ringing, startling her a little.

It was the loud sound against the otherwise silent house, the lightning panic of ‘shoot, I’m going to wake up someone’ that reflectively crossed her mind. She would’ve gotten over it as quickly as it happened if it had been any other number calling her on the phone. But as she read the caller’s ID, Ámbar’s nervousness didn’t settle down— It was heightened.  

‘Vanessa’

Maybe it was the suddenness of it— That she took her by surprise. Maybe it was her brain urging her to quiet the noise as soon as possible. Maybe it was the mix of curiosity and worry at having her godmother call her at this hour. Maybe, under different circumstances, Ámbar would’ve thought about it twice before answering the call.

But the fact of the matter was, she did.  

“Hello?”

“Ámbar.” Sharon’s voice came through with its usual mix of impassiveness and undercurrent firmness. “I hope you’ve gotten over your little tantrum because I need your help. It’s important.”

The ball of anxiety grew in Ámbar’s chest, along with confusion. “My help? With what?”

“I need to get inside the mansion,” Sharon said without preamble. “I can take care of the guards at the entrance, but I need you to make sure that no one crosses my path while I go in and out of my room. I’ll go at night, when it’s less likely someone will see me.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Get inside the mansion— Are you insane?” Her voice almost rose for a moment and Ámbar had to remind herself to keep speaking quietly. If anyone heard her, it would be incredibly bad— But what her godmother was saying was even worse. “Wasn’t it enough with last time?” She demanded with outrage. “I thought you had understood that it’s not a good idea— You’re going to get caught.”

“Not if I have a good lookout, which is why I need you. You’re the only one I can trust, Ámbar.”

Ámbar shook her head. That was always Sharon’s technique— Try and pull at Ámbar’s heartstrings when she needed something from her. But Ámbar had done this dance too many times. She knew how it ended.

“No,” she replied, firmly. “I am not going to help you. Why are you even asking me? Ask Rey or Maggie—they are your little toy soldiers, don’t pull me into your crazy ideas.” I have too much to lose.  

The mild softness in Sharon’s voice vanished as fast as it had appeared. “Rey got me the key for the chest four days ago, but since then, he’s been reluctant to cooperate with me and I can’t enter the house without help from the inside, it’s too risky,” she explained with evident frustration. “It must be Maggie’s influence, no doubt. That woman only causes trouble.”

Good job, Maggie, Ámbar thought with some relief.  

“Or maybe Rey doesn’t want to help you because he knows as well as I do that this is a bad idea,” she emphasized. “What even is in that chest that you want it so much?” 

“That’s none of your business,” Sharon retorted immediately. “Just help me get inside to retrieve what’s mine and I promise that I won’t step on that house again. Not until I have gotten rid of those pests who took it from me in the first place, of course,” she added.

Ámbar closed her eyes. How could she not see? No one took anything from her— She was the one who alienated herself from her family for trying to hide the truth. Was accepting the reality that Luna was the heir to the Benson fortune so impossible for her that she was willing to destroy everything in order to avoid it? Destroy herself?

“You need to stop this, godmother.” Ámbar tried to infuse strength into her words but her emotions filtered in, making it sound like begging. “What you’re doing is wrong. Not only is it wrong, it’s dangerous— I’m worried that something might happen to you. Please stop this before it’s too late.”

“If it really worried you that much, you would help me,” Sharon said. “The sooner I get what I want, the sooner all of this will be over— You know that, Ámbar.”

“The Valente don’t deserve this,” Ámbar said. “They’re good people. And if you don’t want to think about them, think about Grandpa— He is your father. He almost had a heart attack the last time something happened, imagine if something terrible happened to him— Would you really be able to live with that?”

“My father made his own decisions, including siding with those newcomers who took everything from us, so whatever happens to him will be exclusively his responsibility.”

Ámbar shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.” Was she really that far gone? Did she not care about anything?

Am I wasting my time? Ámbar thought with sudden, terrifying despair. Is there no way to fix this?

“I’m very serious,” Sharon declared. “So think very carefully if you want to keep siding with that family.”

Ámbar swallowed a groan of frustration. “You don’t understand, it’s not about sides. I just want—”

The sound of footsteps coming from behind her made Ámbar’s heart jump to her throat.

Rapidly, she hung up and turned around, trying to not seem too suspicious.

The fist in her chest tightened when she saw it was Simón who had come in through the kitchen door— out of all possible people— and, judging by the curious look he was casting her way, he had definitely caught her talking on the phone.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

“I thought you’d be in bed,” he said. “Why did you hang up so fast? Who was it?”

Ámbar tried to think through the buzz of panic in her head. “Yeah, um, I forgot something down here so I came to find it,” she said. Her mouth felt dry. “I did, so, it’s all good.”

Simón made a noise of understanding but the wrinkle between his brows remained. “And the call?”

“No one,” Ámbar responded instinctively. Fuck, she was so stupid— of course it couldn’t be no one! “I mean, no one as in nothing important, don’t mind it,” she tried to dismiss it.

Simón let out a laugh. “If you really told me you were talking to no one, I would be worried that you’ve been stuck inside this house so long it has started to affect you and you hear voices now,” he joked. 

Ámbar forced a weak laugh out of her in response. “Yeah, no, it was… Emilia,” she came up with. “She was just calling to annoy me, so I cut her off. But it was nothing, really.”

The amusement left Simón’s expression and he became serious. “Do you want me to talk to her?” He offered. “I’ll talk to her,” he decided before she could speak. “It’s not fair that she’s harassing you after they kicked you off the team. What does she think she’s doing?”

Ámbar’s eyes widened slightly. “Nonono, leave it, really, I can handle her,” she assured him, trying to seem as unbothered as possible while fear gripped her senses. “It’s not like it bothers me anyway, it’s her time she’s wasting, not mine.”

“You sure?”  

Ámbar nodded immediately, eager to put the topic to rest. Simón, too good to just let it go, walked toward her with a slightly saddened expression and held her hands in his. “We shouldn’t have even invited her to sing with us at the Roller Jam,” he said with some bite. “I know why you suggested it, but if she’s still bothering you even after you tried to do something nice for her, then she’s not worth it.”

He was so aggrieved for her sake and it only made Ámbar feel worse. He only wanted her to be treated fairly, kindly— He wanted to defend her from what could bring her harm. And in the meantime, what was she doing? Sinking in a sea of lies and drowning others with her in order to maintain them.

I’m the harm and he doesn’t know it.

“I just thought it was fair. And who knows? Maybe she just needs time,” she attempted to defend Emilia in order to salvage her conscience. “But whatever— I don’t have time to think about Emilia or anything of the sort, it really doesn’t matter,” she said fast and dismissively. She squeezed his hands and smiled. “Let’s just go upstairs, okay?”

Ámbar turned off the lamp and they went up to her room hand in hand. The darkness gave her an excuse to not look him in the face.  

The warmth of Simón’s hand felt suffocating against her own, as if it burned her skin— holy water on the worst sinner. Ámbar felt disgusting. She didn’t deserve this hand.

But she was not going to let it go. She held it tighter. She held him tighter.  

She was not letting Simón go.

Ever.

******************

The next morning, Ámbar woke up before him, as she usually did, but Simón convinced her to stay in bed and sleep some more. They’d had a long night last night (Ámbar had been inspired, running her hands and mouth all over his body, and he had no desire to say no) but more than that, she’d been visibly tired lately with all the preparations for the Roller Jam, and she deserved the rest.

“It won’t kill you to sleep in one day; take the morning off.”

His stubborn girl was still propping herself up and rubbing at her eyes, trying to wake up even though she was clearly exhausted. “I can’t do that, I’m supposed to be working.”

“I won’t tell Vidia if you won’t.”

Ámbar gave him a disapproving look and pouted, and she looked absolutely adorable with her disheveled hair and sleepy eyes.

Simón kissed her pout. “Seriously, just sleep two more hours, it’ll be okay.”

Ámbar closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the pillow. “Mmm, but I like having breakfast with you,” she murmured.

Simón smiled and tucked some hair away from her face. “Me too. So, sleep so that we can do that tomorrow.”

Ámbar hummed again and snuggled under the covers. There might have been an ‘okay’ there somewhere but it was too muffled and sleepy to tell.

Simón leaned down to drop a kiss on the top of her head before getting up. “I love you.”

“Luv u,” Ámbar mumbled, and by the time Simón walked out of the room, she was out like a light.

The rest of Simón’s morning went on as normal, with him walking to the Roller with Pedro, starting his workday, and supervising the new part-timers while they learned the ropes in the cafeteria.

The first few days of this last activity had felt like double work for Simón and Pedro because they had to train the new girls in addition to keeping up with all their usual duties, so it was a lot. Alex, the new rink assistant, had been easier: He already had rollerskating experience, so all they had to do was show him how the rental system in the lockers worked and teach him about safety precautions in the rink and what to do in case of any accidents— stuff like that. Eric, being the full-time rink assistant, took over most of his training, so Simón and Pedro only had to worry about the cafeteria.

‘Only’ was an understatement, of course— It was the hardest part. But by now, Cata and Rae had gotten a pretty good hang of things— Simón hadn’t lied when he said to Ámbar that they learned things quickly— so he felt way more at ease. Actually, he hadn’t felt this relaxed while working since the days when Nico was still with them. Four people worked better than two, after all. He would miss the girls once they started working on their own on the weekends, and he was sure Pedro shared the sentiment, but in exchange for that, they’d finally get to have their weekends free like the rest of the world, so really, they couldn’t complain.

He brought two hamburgers over to table 4 and then there was a small lull in activity as all the customers enjoyed their food and joyful conversation. Simón took the opportunity to go to the lockers and see how Eric and Alex were doing. Just as a friendly visit, mostly, but if he was being honest, he did have another agenda.  

He’d been thinking for the past few days how great it’d be if Alex happened to play an instrument and wanted to join the Roller Band. Simón didn’t want to get his hopes up, but they could finally be a band again! Alex seemed like a very nice guy from the interactions Simón’d had with him until now, and Eric felt comfortable around him, which said a lot because he was usually nervous around new people, so really, what was there to lose in asking?

Unfortunately, when the three of them got talking and Simón subtly brought the topic up, he came to find out that, while Alex loved music, he had absolutely no ability for it.

Simón hid the disappointment he felt. Of course finding a new member wasn’t going to be that easy. Looking at it objectively, it would have been an unbelievable stroke of luck if Alex turned out to be the solution to all their problems. Not because Simón got to the Roller and was a perfect fit for the band meant that everyone who arrived would be as well.

Maybe Eric could join if he weren’t so shy, Simón thought.He’d been great at Nico’s farewell party. But Simón wasn’t going to force him out of his shell just for his own gain.

The idea of the Christian Rock duo was starting to sound appealing.

They were still talking when someone else walked into the room. There was a minimal pause, almost imperceptible, as the three of them glanced to the side to check if it was someone in need of assistance, but it was just Emilia, who walked toward her locker without even looking at them.

Eric and Alex continued talking, but Simón didn’t. He stayed staring at Emilia, feeling a spark of anger flare inside of him as he remembered last night.

He simply couldn’t understand it. Ámbar was breaking her back organizing an event that everyone could enjoy, that she invited Emilia to participate in as an olive branch, and Emilia repaid that good faith by calling Ámbar just to mess with her? How could anyone be so ungrateful?

Simón couldn’t even be sure this was the first time something like this had happened. Ámbar had a tendency of wanting to deal with everything herself— The prime example of that being that she told Simón not to worry about it, that she could handle Emilia— So who knew how long this had been going on.

Emilia put her skates away and walked out of the lockers as quietly as she had come. Simón tightened his fists. Yes, Ámbar could deal with Emilia— Simón had no doubt that she could handle almost anything if she put her mind to it. But it wasn’t fair that this was happening, and Ámbar didn’t have todeal with everything alone— She had him now. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow something like this to keep happening without doing anything about it.

Simón said a quick bye to the guys and walked out right after her.

In the hallway, he threw a quick look around in search for Benicio, because wherever Emilia was, Benicio was always close by. Simón found him still at the rink, rollerskating by himself. Good. That way he wouldn’t have to deal with both at the same time.

Emilia was already crossing the front door by the time he brought his gaze back to her. Simón hurried after her, walked out of the Roller too, and stood in her path, causing her to stop.

“I need to speak with you.”

Emilia blinked, both in surprise and confusion. “With me? What, is there another event you want me to sing at?” She joked. “I’m very sorry but you’ll have to tell me all about it tomorrow—I gotta get to work.”  

She tried to pass by him but Simón blocked her way.

“No, it’s not about that. And you know what? If we had known this is what your response would be, we never would’ve invited you,” he spat her way. “I mean, Ámbar wanted to invite you as a kind gesture, she was trying to put an ending to all the fighting so you could be a part of something nice for once, and this is how you repay her? Calling her up just to annoy her? It isn’t enough for you to be so unfriendly to everyone in their presence, you had to bother her during her free time too?”

Emilia wrinkled her face. “What are you talking about?”

“Last night, when you called Ámbar on her cellphone to harass her,” Simón stated in no uncertain terms.

Emilia’s eyes narrowed in a glare. “I haven’t called your little girlfriend since she sucked face with you. She became a loser by association.”

“Don’t lie, Emilia. Ámbar told me.”

“I’m not lying,” Emilia protested. “Here, you wanna see?” She pulled out her phone and offered it to him. “Check my phone’s call history. You won’t find Ámbar’s name anywhere.”

Simón hesitated for a moment. Something inside him rose in alarm, not allowing him to move. He took the phone and tried to quiet it. Emilia was just pretending to be offended, that was all.   

She unlocked the phone right in front of his eyes, which again unnerved him due to the confidence of the gesture, but he carried on. He just had to prove she was lying. He tapped out of Instagram, the last app she’d been using, apparently, and went to the home page to find the Phone app. He went to the call history and started scrolling down. 

He checked the names, the dates on the list, checked again.

Nothing. Ámbar’s name was nowhere to be found.

It must have shown on his face, the way his stomach started coiling into knots, because he heard Emilia’s annoyed vindication. “See? I told you. I don’t even remember when was the last time I called Ámbar. It should show up there somewhere. Has it been a month maybe?”

She was just thinking out loud, unpreoccupied now that she’d been proven right. Meanwhile, Simón was struggling to keep his nervous system under control.

It can’t be.

It can’t be.  

“You could’ve deleted it,” he told her, looking up from the treacherous list on that stupid device.

Emilia, arms crossed in front of her chest, seemed unamused by the accusation. “Yeah, because I see the future and I knew you were going to want to see it,” she said ironically. She rolled her eyes. “Please, Simón, don’t fool yourself. Ámbar lied to you. And, I mean, why are you even surprised? It’s Ámbar. Lying is what she does best.”  

No.

It can’t be.

“Look,” Emilia deflated, uncrossing her arms and looking at him with something akin to pity, “from one Mexican to another, I think you should stay away from her. You’re too goody-goody, and Ámbar… well, there’s a reason why we used to be friends.”

A slight tremor was taking over Simón’s limbs. He couldn’t even look at Emilia. He couldn’t look at anyone.

“Now if you excuse me,” she took her phone from his hands, “I’m gonna go.” Emilia took a couple steps before stopping. “And tell your girlfriend that if she wants to do right by me or whatever then she shouldn’t go around sullying my name with false accusations.” She walked away. “See ya, Simón.” 

Even after she was long gone, Simón remained unmoving. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it in his ears.

Ámbar lied to me.

Ámbar lied to me.

He tried to slow down his breathing, swallow the pulse in his throat, but the pain in his chest didn’t go away.   

This couldn’t be. There had to be some explanation. There had to be.

Calm down. He could hardly hear his thoughts through the blaring of his heartbeat. It’s just a phone call. It’s not a big deal. This isn’t like last year. It isn’t—

But if it’s not a big deal, then why did she—?

Simón breathed in and out, hard.

All around him, his world started crumbling down.

…

..

.

[rorywritesjunk]

(this shojo-esque lil story is almost done and I am still a lil surprised it's almost as long as the original one lol and what happens to Sunny is sort of based on something that happened to me(an injury to a hand is mentioned in this) but I didn't lose my job from it)

pt 1 + pt 2 + pt 3 + pt 4 + pt 5 + pt 6 + pt 7 + pt 8 + pt 9 + pt 10 + pt 11 + pt 12 + pt 13 + pt 13.5 + pt 14 + pt 15

pt 15

Since saying "I love you" to one another, Buggy didn't want to leave Sunny behind when it was time for them to set sail again even with promises that he'd visit her soon, that they wouldn't go so long without seeing each other. She insisted she needed to stay back and make sure she learned everything she could. The apprenticeship took ten years so she wouldn't be ready until she was 24. After that she could leave with him.

Buggy hated waiting. He wasn't patient.

Over two years he would come by for visits, each time filled with more confidence on how great of a captain he was becoming, seeing his face appearing on bounty posters with the reward amount starting to climb. It was something to be proud of. Roger would have been impressed, he was sure of it.

Shortly after his twentieth birthday he came by, having one of his men carry a chest with treasures for Sunny to impress her with in hopes of convincing her to come along with him sooner rather than later.

When he entered the shop, he prepared for her to tackle him, kiss him, and proclaim how much she loved and missed him.

So when it didn't happen, he was confused.

"She isn't here." Miss Pins told him as Buggy's head jerked around to look for her.

"What?!" Buggy demanded. "Where is she?!"

"She's been dismissed." The old woman told him as she closed her ledger. Her other two workers were watching and listening to the conversation.

"What do you mean been dismissed?!" Buggy snapped. "Where is she?! What happened?!"

"I dismissed her earlier today." She continued. "She's probably down by the docks waiting for a ship to go home." She came around the counter and pointed at the door. "If you don't have any work to be done then you can go, Captain."

He couldn't believe this. What had happened to cause this?

Swearing, he turned and left, his man following after him, still carrying the chest. How would he find Sunny? He didn't know where to start looking. The docks, but where? Cursing the old woman, he sent the pirate back to the ship while he went to look for Sunny. He didn't want to lose her.

~

Sunny sighed as she sat on a bench with a crepe in her hand while her two bags were beside her. It was tricky doing everything left handed but it was something she felt she would need to get used to. The accident a month ago that crushed her right hand upended her life. Who would want to have work done by a tailor who couldn't use both hands?

She was upset to be dismissed but she understood Miss Pins' reasoning for it. There was no way she could continue when she couldn't even hold a needle between her fingers. The nerves were messed up, making it difficult to control certain movements. She couldn't do the job she had been training for.

And what about Buggy? She had planned to join his crew and help him out. They told each other how they felt whenever they saw each other, they were in love, but he wouldn't want someone useless on his ship. She would just have to go home and find something to do in the village. Maybe she could be a teacher or something for the kids. That wouldn't require a functioning right hand.

She just missed him so much. Sunny wished she could have told Buggy that she was going home. Would Miss Pins tell him?

She took a bite of her crepe and sniffed. She would miss these too.

"Sunny!"

She looked up, eyes widening when she saw Buggy. He was red in the face, out of breath, and hunched over when he got close to her. She scooted over on the bench for him and he dropped down beside her, slumping against her as he tried to catch his breath.

"I... Thought... I missed you." He managed to get out in between gasps.

"Oh, I have a few days until the ship leaves." Sunny told him. "Um... Why are you here?"

Buggy straightened up and grabbed her shoulders. "Because I love you! That damn old hag told me she dismissed you so I had to come find you!"

"Buggy..."

"If she doesn't want you then you can come with me!" He insisted. "I don't care why you got dismissed, I want you to be with me!"

Sunny looked down at her lap, fighting back tears that were threatening to spill. "I'm useless, Buggy. You wouldn't have any use for me on your crew."

"On my crew?" He repeated. "I don't want you to join my crew, I want you to be my wife, dammit! I want you on my ship to be with me! You're not useless and I'll kill anyone who says otherwise!"

His... Wife?

"What?" Sunny looked confused. "I thought you wanted me to join your crew to help out..."

"That was before I decided I wanted to marry you!" Buggy exclaimed. "I want you on the ship as my wife, not a member of the crew, got that?! You won't have to do anything! You can just... Just be with me, that's all I want!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really!" He was still out of breath, finding it a little difficult to get his point across without sounding too harsh. "I want you to be my wife, damn the old hag, okay? I don't know or care why you aren't working, I just want you with me!"

She stared at him before holding her crepe up for him to take a bite. He looked at her funny but took the offer, helping himself before she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I want you to be my husband, Buggy." She smiled as he choked on the food. "I'll marry you."

[exmovibes]

Going over the LDS church with the BITE model because I'm bored

If I skip over any bulletpoints, it's because I didn't feel they applied to the church

Promote dependence and obedience- you need to follow specific doctrine if you want to get into the Celestial Kingdom

Modify behavior with rewards or punishments- wearing garments 24/7 will protect you from harm, paying tithing and following the word of wisdom etc will let you into the temple

Restrict or control sexuality- not even going to touch on the blatant homophobia, the church has a massive sexual purity culture problem. No porn, no masterbation, no sex before marriage. (Ever heard of Soaking? Not normal behavior)

Control clothing- modesty is expected. Much more in adults than kids because of garments, but no sleeveless shirts or crop tops or shorts that go above the knee etc

Regulate food and drink intake- monthly fasting, fasting as a valid way to get closer to God if you need help with something, word of wisdom

Exploit you financially- tithing. 10% of all income to get to the Celestial Kingdom.

Require you to seek permission for major decisions- not "required" per se but it is expected that you meet with a bishop or pray thoroughly before making big decisions

Deliberately withhold and distort information- hiding billions of dollars from members, changing church history

Forbid you from speaking with ex-members and critics- label exmos as apostates. Taught that anyone who left the church left purely to engage in sinful behavior and therefore cannot be trusted

Discourage access to non cult sources of information- taught to only go to the official church website for any questions we have about the church. Any information that criticizes the church is seen as hate and Satan trying to lure members away

Use information gained in confession sessions against you- if you go to the bishop about anything that contradicts the church teachings, you aren't allowed to take sacrament and you can't go to the temple, which are public acts of shame.

Gaslight to make you doubt your own memory- constant changing of church doctrine "God lives on a planet near Kolab, except no he doesn't" "joseph Smith translated the bom using the urim and thummem except no he actually stuck his head in a hat" "if you make it to the Celestial Kingdom you get your own planet except no you don't"

Require you to report thoughts and feelings to superiors- if you have any thoughts that contradict the church teachings you are expected to tell your bishop. Talking about sexual thoughts with an old man while 11 because I was scared I was going to hell is not fun

Encourage you to spy and report others misconduct- you're expected to tell your bishop if someone is acting against what the church teaches. Someone's drinking coffee? Tell the bishop. Someone is dating while being 15? Tell the bishop

Instill Black vs White Us vs Them Good vs Evil thinking- there's a right and a wrong way to do things. There's no arguing or bargening your way out of sin. Don't really know how to describe it

Change your identity- you're a mormon first, yourself second. Taught that God comes before literally everything else.

Reject doubt- taught to "doubt your doubts"

Instill fears of leaving the church- you're taught that if you leave, you lose your community, your shot at eternal happiness and mortal wellbeing.

Label some emotions as evil, worldly, sinful, or wrong- you feel anything sexual in any context other than towards a spouse? Sinful. You have any doubts about the church? Sinful.

Shun you if you don't believe or want to leave- I've lost all of my close friends when I left. I don't even want to mention the way my parents reacted to the idea that their child will have "Excommunicated" on their church record. Stuff of nightmares I'll say that much

Teach that there is no happiness or peace outside the group- taught that people only leave to sin. To live a worldly life. Sinning and living a worldly life is taught to result in sorrow.

[alectoperdita]

Honestly, your lure series has a death grip on my brain and if you are willing to share about the abo au of that fic, I'm very willing to listen. The alpha/alpha aspect is so coooool, I wish more ppl play around with it!

You and me, anon. Lure cannibalizes my brain nearly 24/7.

The A/B/O version is very similar to "vanilla" Lure. They meet in the same way, and Jou starts "working" for Kaiba. They definitely butt heads a little more because of that alpha/alpha angle. It may take longer for Kaiba to coerce Jou into bottoming for him because of alpha pride, but Kaiba is even more determined to mold Jou in this AU.

Warning for discussion of non-con/rape subjects

Knotting Jou is his first big project, and that's not easy since Jou is also an alpha so his body isn't naturally accommodating to taking girth that size (doesn't have the omega hormones/resulting elasticity that allows most omegas to take an alpha knot). It requires extensive stretching beforehand, and Kaiba can't knot Jou too often. It's a very emotionally fraught experience for Jou, and the first time it happens, it's probably best labeled as non-con. Jou tells Kaiba to stop and push him away, but that's not physically possible once the knot locks into him.

The next major point of divergence is that two week-long sexathon after they graduate in Nothing comes free is where Kaiba chains Jou in an isolated room and starts the active process of bitching him. That involves Kaiba fucking and knotting him as often as possible, trying to put as much alpha semen into Jou, and keep him plugged with it. In addition to that, he has some hormone injections bought off the black market. Pair all of that with some heavy psychological conditioning.

At first, Jou just thinks Kaiba's lost his mind or is being his usual terrible self. Cuz hey, he does not object to a few days of intense sex marathon, and Kaiba's dirty talk has always been degrading and kinda creepy. Except Kaiba isn't unchaining him ever. His stomach sinks when it finally becomes sinks in that this is different from Kaiba's usual brand of crazy. Kaiba is actually trying to bitch him, but they're multiple days into the process, and Kaiba's started the injections. (Enabler and I decided for this AU, this is not a clear-cut or sure process, bitching is one of those rumors that not everyone believes is possible, but it probably works narratively the same if it was more a sure thing.)

Days later, when Jou starts to produce slick from his hole and show signs of a heat, even Kaiba is caught a little by surprise. But make no mistake, he is both very smug and pleased with the result. He's successfully made his own personal omega.

There are a lot of ways to play with the bitching trope, including giving the bitched male omega intersex genitalia and shrinking/changing their dick and knot. For this, I tend to favor less extreme physiological changes. Jou keeps his knot, which Kaiba likes anyway. While he produces slick and begins to have regular heats, he's not fertile and can't get pregnant. (Again, that's a plus in Kaiba's book because for all his breeding kink, he doesn't want children.) Basically, this is about Kaiba's need and desire to control, now extended to being able to control how Jou's body operates and presents to him. He likes Jou's alpha characteristics too, and in this setting, his homosexuality includes his attraction to other alphas while being an alpha (generally no interest in omegas otherwise), and now he's transformed Jou into something unique that is entirely just for him.

Ironically, it's a two-way street. Their weird trauma-bonded, codependent relationship now has a major hormonal/pheromonal component further reinforcing their bond (even before you bring the question of the mating bite/bond into the picture). They're attached and soon pair-bonded, but won't admit it.

[lurkingintheforest]

THINGS I LEARNED LIVING IN THE SOUTH

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. Onced and Twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

7. Jawl-P? means: Did you all go to the bathroom?

8. People actually grow, eat and like okra.

9. Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do something.

10. There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

12. Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

13. The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

14. You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16. Y'all is singular. All Y'all is plural.

17. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

18. You carry jumper cables in your car for your OWN car.

19. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco and ketchup.

20. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, the motor sports, and gossip.

21. Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss (first name) or Mr (first name)

22. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

23. You know what a hissy fit is..

24. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

25. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

[cuzikan]

Y'all read this 😁

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW IF YOU MOVE TO THE SOUTH

1. A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.

5. Onced and Twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!

7. Jawl-P? means: Did you all go to the bathroom?

8. People actually grow, eat, and like okra.

9. Fixinto is one word. It means I'm going to do something.

10. There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there's supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar. It is referred to as the Wine of the South.

12. Backwards and forwards means I know everything about you.

13. The word jeet is actually a question meaning, 'Did you eat?'

14. You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

16. Y'all is singular. All Y'all is plural.

17. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.

18. You carry jumper cables in your car for your OWN car.

19. You only own five spices: salt, pepper, mustard, Tabasco, and ketchup.

20. The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports, motorsports, and gossip.

21. Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar, Miss (first name), or Mr (first name)

22. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

23. You know what a hissy fit is..

24. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

25. We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive!!!

26. You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 8: A Framed Story

Summary: Ethan is finding heroics to be not as glamorous as he thought it would be.

A/N: This one fits the prompt only on a technicality.

Prompt: Frame

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

When Ethan wanted to be a hero, he didn’t think it would be quite as tedious.

He’d been given a fancy wrist watch so he could always keep in touch with the heroes, and was required to always let either his mom or dad know where he was at all times. Legal requirements. He was supposed to get a new suit soon but for now not to go chasing supervillains.

And the very next day after officially becoming a hero, Ethan was sent to a neighboring building just to watch the city capital building in case anything happened.

He spent way too long in the building, and texting the two other apprentices. Logic was apparently trying to do homework before a patrol with Bing. Logic was incredibly cagey, only giving short replies. Stripes was a bit more social but he was apparently having to do something for school so he couldn’t really carry out a conversation.

The Coalition needed more apprentices. More chatty apprentices at least.

His phone let out a chime and a text from Silver appeared.

Silver: “Come into the building, want you to mean the candidates, Gatling is with me.”

Eager for something to do, Ethan leapt up and ran down the stairs to get down to city hall where Gatling was waiting to usher him in. They were joking around a bit when they got into the main lobby where Silver was with two men. One who looked considerably more welcoming but weirdly familiar in a way he just couldn’t place. The other guy looked like he hated that not only Silver was there but he seemed to hate Ethan being there even more.

“Great, you brought your kid,” the angrier of the pair said.

“Not my kid, he’s our apprentice,” Silver said. Silver gestured to the two men. “Blank, this is Doomstrum and Malloy.”

“Really?” Ethan asked.

“Damien Doomstrum, my father would utterly disown me if I changed my name,” Damien said. “My colleague here is Arthur Malloy.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I have more important things to do,” Malloy said before walking away.

“He seems to just be like that,” Damien said.

“Shame,” Bob said.

“Nice to meet you Blank, I’ve seen your picture on the news,” Damien said.

“Wanted the security team to get used to him, hope you don’t mind,” Silver said.

“Not at all,” Damien said. “I have a couple about his age, it’s a very rambunctious time.”

Bob was about to ask a couple questions, mostly out of curiosity but the entrance of the lobby opened and a young man about Ethan’s age walked in.

“Hey,” the young man said.

Damien’s head had turned the instant the door opened. He seemed to relax when he saw who it was. “Yes? What is it?” Damien asked.

“Going out for a bite to eat, you want anything?” The young man said.

“I’ll catch up with you two in a bit, Ill’s still have my wallet? Cause I know he took it.”

“Yeah, probably,” the young man said. “Okay, well, he’ll text you when we pick a place.”

“Thank you,” Damien said.

The kid went back through the door and Bob just pointed after him. “How old is that kid, like? Ten?”

“He’s fifteen, and he has two pocket knives he thinks I don’t know about. Besides, he’s got his older brother around, they should be fine.” Damien said. Then he took a deep breath and pulled out a cell phone. “Besides, I have their phones tracked and we’ll be done soon enough.”

“Ahh, that explains it,” Silver said with a smile.

“Yes, well, I have to go collect my things, and then two of my boys,” Damien said. “I still have paperwork to bring home.”

“Don’t let us keep you,” Silver said.

Damien walked out of the room and the instant the doors closed his cheerful facade turned into a deep scowl and a portal opened up from that hallway and into Malloy’s office where the man was packing things up.

In an instant, “Damien” grabbed Malloy by the lapels and used his chromatic aura to suspend him in the air. “Come now, you could at least try. What fun is this if you don’t try?”

“I don’t know why you’re bothering with this,” Malloy said, all chilled confidence gone from his voice. “We could just declare you mayor.”

“Hmm,” Damien’s head tilted a bit too far. “Obviously rigged election, with a man the heroes don’t know about. All of it would be a bit too obvious. The people have hope, they stack their chips on me, and if they ever find out the truth I get to watch the hope bleed away. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Yes, yes,” Malloy said eagerly.

“And either you win and I get new bribes, or I win and we get to just cut out the middle man, and maybe if you can keep your mouth shut, you get to live.”

A portal opened up and Kaylor stepped out, wearing one of his squirrel ties. In one hand he had a hamburger, and in the other he had a file of a couple papers. “Heroes are gone.”

“Good,” Damien said, releasing Malloy. “What else did you find?”

Kay handed Damien a couple of folded up pieces of paper. “He’s got two phones on him, Google could get into one of them. We’re not sure if either is his normal phone.”

“Thank you, Curls,” Damien said. He dropped Malloy and took the papers. “You’re in charge of keeping your eye on him.”

“Got it,” Kay said and Damien opened up a portal which the Lost One stepped through.

“Children,” Damien smirked. “Aren’t they simply wonderful?”

“I don’t know where you got that little hellion from, but I hope his parents know where he is.” Malloy figured he would get a light chastisement or a slap on the wrist.

Instead Dark’s aura seized him around the throat with startling quickness. Dark’s form seized back into being before changing back into Damien. “If I didn’t need you to sell my campaign, I would snap your insufferable neck. You worry about your assets, and I’ll worry about mine. And don’t worry, his father knows exactly what he needs to.”

Malloy was released and slumped against the wall coughing. “Get your things, and get out of my sight. Before you have an accident.”

The human recovered quickly enough and gathered his things before rushing out and leaving Damien alone to watch him slink off.

The demon mobster planned the next couple months in his mind as he returned to the Manor where his Lost Ones and Wilford were waiting for him.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Sheoldred, The Whispering One - CR20 Aberration

A Praetor of Phyrexia from Magic: The Gathering.

Artwork is official art from Magic: The Gathering, by Jana Schirmer & Johannes Voss, copyright Wizards of the Coast.

This creature was a commission.  Sheoldred is one of the five leaders of Phyrexia.  Like I said when I posted the stat block for Vorinclex earlier this week, I’m no expert in Magic: The Gathering lore, but if your idea of a cool enemy faction is if the Borg invaded Planescape and assimilated an entire dimension, check out the MTG wiki.

3.5e stats for some other Phyrexian creatures, items, effects, and so forth can be found here.

This boss creature is essentially something adjacent to a necromancer, using her artificial power to repair her allies' broken bodies and refuse to let them die, so she should typically fight alongside several minions (probably at least 4).  The combination of Sheoldred’s Touch and Transfer Life gives her an unusual way to revive her allies over and over, although it also requires that she stay in the thick of battle, so players do actually have a chance to focus-fire her down.  She can use her touch attack on herself if she’s feeling cocky, counting on her fast healing to recover afterwards, or use it as an attack of opportunity if someone is dumb enough to move adjacent to her and provoke.  She should probably be using Lunge almost every turn, even if she doesn’t attack, just for the sake of attacks of opportunity.

Swarm Shape is a good defensive ability, especially if the targets are mostly using physical attacks.  Note that a swarm uses its swarm attack as a free action, so she can do that and also cast a spell on the same turn.  Your players will not appreciate this, especially since she can usually auto-pass the checks to cast defensively.  She can’t use Sheoldred’s Touch in this form, though, and thus also can’t use Transfer Life; as a result, Swarm Shape is mostly a thing to do once she runs out of useful minions.

Separate is an emergency escape maneuver for when things go horribly wrong.  Live to fight another day.  Fighting to the death is for her underlings.

Sheoldred, The Whispering One - CR 20

This massive being takes the form of a feminine humanoid torso emerging from a huge-mouthed, many-jointed fiend.  Her movements are spiderlike in their grace, and her body is covered with plates of oily, corroded metal.

XP 307,200 NE Huge aberration Init +7 Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +26 Aura fast healing aura (60 ft.), selective greater death knell aura (20 ft., DC 24)

DEFENSE

AC 38, touch 16, flat-footed 30 (+8 Dex, +22 natural, –2 size) hp 262 (21d8+168) plus 31 temp hp; fast healing 20 Fort +21, Ref +15, Will +18; +5 vs. exhaustion, fatigue, fear, paralysis, +9 vs. mind-affecting Defensive Abilities fortification (50%) DR 10/epic and good Immune death, disease, fear, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun Resist acid 20 SR 31

OFFENSE

Speed 50 ft., climb 25 ft. Melee bite +22 (4d8+12 plus poison) or bite +17 (4d8+8 plus poison) and sheoldred’s touch +21 (14d8 negative energy, see text) Space 15 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with bite) Special Attacks separate, sheoldred’s touch, swarm shape, transfer life

Spell-like Abilities (CL 20th; concentration +29)     1/day—death clutch (DC 27)     3/day—finger of death (DC 26), greater false life (already cast x1), quickened enervation (ranged touch +20), quickened hold monster (DC 23)     At will—sow thought (DC 19), enervation (ranged touch +20), final sacrifice (DC 20), mindlink

STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 27, Con 25, Int 25, Wis 23, Cha 24 Base Atk +15; CMB +25; CMD 43 Feats Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Greater Spell Focus (necromancy), Lunge, Quicken Spell-like Ability (enervation), Quicken Spell-like Ability (hold monster), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (necromancy), Toughness, Uncanny Concentration, Weapon Focus (bite) Skills Acrobatics +18, Climb +22, Craft (alchemy) +29, Diplomacy +3, Escape Artist +31, Heal +27, Intimidate +35, Knowledge (engineering) +31, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, local, planes) +28, Perception +26, Use Magic Device +22 Languages Common, Phyrexian; telepathy 100 ft. SQ phyrexian traits, praetor’s traits, swamp strider

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Fast Healing Aura (Su) All allies within 60 ft. of Sheoldred gain fast healing 20.  (Multiple sources of fast healing do not stack - only the highest applies.)

Phyrexian Traits (Ex) Phyrexians have a +5 bonus on Fortitude saves, and a +5 bonus on saving throws versus fear, sleep, stunning, paralysis, fatigue, exhaustion, and mind-affecting spells.  They have a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate and a -4 racial penalty on Diplomacy.  These abilities are already included in Sheoldred’s statistics.

Phyrexians also have 50% fortification against critical hits and sneak attacks, and are immune to the effects of the Glistening Oil.

Praetor's Traits (Ex) Like all members of the New Phyrexia hierarchy, Sheoldred is immune to paralysis, sleep, stunning, and death effects, has resistance 20 to Acid damage, has DR 10/epic and good, and receives a +4 bonus on saves versus mind-affecting spells and abilities.  These abilities are already included in her statistics.

Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 27; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d6 Str and 1d6 Dex; cure 2 consecutive saves.

Selective Greater Death Knell Aura (Sp) Sheoldred is constantly affected by a greater death knell aura spell (DC 24), except that she can choose to exclude creatures from its effect.

Separate (Ex) As a move action, Sheoldred can separate her humanoid upper body from her insectoid lower thorax and move her upper body up to 15 feet, leaving her lower thorax behind.  Her lower thorax is treated as a separate creature, but can take no actions and is considered helpless while Sheoldred is separated.  Her upper body and lower thorax each have half as many maximum hit points as her original form, and she can choose how to distribute her current and temporary hit points when she separates (including choosing to leave her lower thorax at any number of negative hit points, up to the amount needed to kill it, usually -25).  If her lower thorax is killed while she is separated, it can only be restored with a spell or effect such as regenerate.

When Sheoldred separates, any physical conditions and physical ability damage or drain affecting her are transferred to her lower thorax, while any mental conditions and mental ability damage or drain affecting her remain in her upper body.  If she is affected by any effects that are not clearly physical or mental (such as the bonuses from death knell, and many other magic effects), she can choose whether they remain in her upper body or are transferred to her lower thorax.

Sheoldred can separate even when helpless or unable to take actions, as long as the effect causing her to be helpless or unable to take actions is not mental in nature.

She can climb back into her lower thorax as a move action when adjacent to it, ending the effects of Separate.

Sheoldred’s upper body and lower thorax retains her original statistics when separated, except for the changes described above, plus the following changes:

Sheoldred’s upper body is medium-sized.  It loses its bite attack, and its natural armor is 8 points lower.  Its land speed is reduced to 30 ft., and it loses its climb speed.  Its fast healing and fast healing aura both lower to 10.

Sheoldred’s lower thorax loses its auras.  Its fast healing lowers to 10.  It cannot benefit from Sheoldred’s fast healing aura.

Sheoldred’s Touch (Su) By making a touch attack, Sheoldred can draw the life out of a living target, dealing 14d8 negative energy damage and granting herself temporary hit points equal to half that amount.  A successful Fortitude save (DC 26) halves the damage.  This attack has no effect on undead creatures or constructs.  This touch attack must be made with her humanoid limbs, which have a reach of 5 ft.; she cannot deliver it through a bite.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

Sheoldred can use this touch attack on herself, either normally as part of a full attack action, or as a swift action, and automatically succeeds on the Fortitude save to halve the damage if she does so.

Swamp Strider (Ex) Sheoldred suffers no penalty to speed or on Acrobatics or Stealth checks in bogs and undergrowth.

Swarm Shape (Su) As a standard action, Sheoldred can convert her body into a swarm of Tiny spider-like vermin.  While in this form, she gains a +12 size bonus to Dexterity, takes a -12 penalty to Strength, gains swarm traits and the swarm subtype, and gains the distraction universal monster ability (DC 27).  She loses all of her attacks but gains a swarm attack which deals 8d6 damage.  Her movement speed changes to 30 ft., with a 30 ft. climb speed.  This is a polymorph effect.  Sheoldred retains all of her extraordinary and supernatural abilities in this form, except for Sheoldred’s Touch and Separate (although she can use Separate first and then use Swarm Shape while under its effects).  She can dismiss this effect as a standard action.

Unlike a typical swarm, she is considered to be Huge in her swarm form and takes up a 15-foot space, unless she uses Swarm Shape while under the effects of Separate, in which case she becomes a typical-sized Large swarm.  Either way, she can still reshape her space like a typical swarm.

The bonuses and penalties for polymorphing a creature that is larger than medium are already included in the above effects, and do not need to be added separately (regardless of whether Sheoldred is under the effects of Separate).

Transfer Life (Su) As a move action, if Sheoldred has temporary hit points that were gained from Sheoldred’s Touch, she can sacrifice them to heal any creature except herself within 30 ft. for twice that amount, or to resurrect a dead creature within 30 ft.  A creature resurrected in this way has 1 hit point, gains 2 negative levels, and can stand up as an immediate action.  If this would cause the target’s negative levels to meet or exceed its hit dice, it cannot be resurrected in this way.

[klodizzle]

100 tips from my mom who passed away two years ago

1. Chocolate is only a temporary fix.

2. A properly-fitting bra is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

3. Your happiness is your happiness and yours alone.

4. You are good enough.

5. You have to love yourself before expecting others love.

6. A man does not validate your existence.

7. Eat the extra slice of pizza.

8. Wear what makes you feel beautiful.

9. Love the world unconditionally. It's one of the only things that will remain after you. Be kind to it and leave as small a carbon footprint as possible.

10. The partners we choose are additions to our lives. They do not 'belong' to you, nor you to them. You are two separate people who chose to come together. It should always remain a choice.

11. Don't be high maintenance.

12. Wear sunscreen. Every day.

13. People love you because of how you make them feel about themselves.- When someone feels good in your presence they're going to want to spend more time there.

14. Don't judge others- it's not your job.

15. Walk with your head up and look people in the face when communicating.

16. Be honest and loyal.

17. Never, ever bite your nails.

18. You're beautiful with and WITHOUT make-up.

19. Learn from your mistakes. And mine.

20. Dental hygiene is not an option.

21. Your GPA is not a confession of your character.

22. There is strength in breaking down.

23. You don’t have to like yoga.

24. You have a voice for a reason- use it.

25. Take care of your feet. And your teeth.

26. The most important part of being beautiful is feeling beautiful. Do and wear whatever makes you feel beautiful, regardless of fads.

27. Lead by example.

28. Classy is a relative term.

29. Dance- Even if you can't. Don't be afraid of what others think. You'll have so much more fun if you aren't.

30. Learn to say no and mean it.

31. Be the fruit loop in a world of Cheerios. Stand out. Like what you like. Don't adapt to who others are. You are unique and there's nothing more beautiful than confidence.

32. Teach. In every way possible. Explain things, offer your experience and listen to others that do. Never forget that your ideas are much more valuable when paired with the experiences of others. Individually, we only know so much...

33. Learn to laugh at yourself.

34. Give back. Volunteer, teach, read, donate. It feels so much better to give than to receive.

35. A woman is a woman is a woman- Don't compare yourself to others. That also goes for men...

36. Take something from everyone that crosses your path. Note the thinks that you like or dislike about them and implement or remove those traits from yourself.

37. Cry, uninhibited.

38. Laugh until you can’t breathe.

39. Keep others secrets.

40. Eat soul food- often.

41. There is no shame in hoping for love. Don't be too desperate to find it. It can't be forced or rushed.

42. Play. You're only as old as you feel. Run through the sprinklers, chase down the ice cream truck and swing at the park every chance you get.

43. Do not take sex lightly.

44. I mean it.

45. Anna Karenina. I’d like it if you read it.

46. The world spins on the principle of inherent tragedy. Life isn't fair. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be.

47. Be independent. Don't rely solely on someone else, financially, emotionally or otherwise. Always make sure that you are in a situation because you want to be. You have the right to change your mind as many times as you wish.

48. Put time aside for yourself. You will be a better partner and parent because of it.

49. Carbohydrates are not the enemy. Neither is your body.

50. Involve yourself in an organized activity of your choosing. Especially if it's something unfamiliar that terrifies you.

51. Listen to classical music-occasionally. Country music-often.

52. Sing in the shower. And car.

54. You are more than capable. Anything worth having requires hard work. If it comes too easy, it probably is.

55. Self reflect. Be accountable.

56. Don’t smile if you don’t mean it.

57. Mean your anger. Mean your sadness. Mean your pain. Don't play games with yours or others emotions.

58. I am always, always listening.

59. Bad associations spoil good habits.

60. Be silly.

61. Don't fear failure. It's how we learn. The only true failure is not trying in the first place. Everything else is just experience.

62. Be the best person you can be. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching, regardless of benefit to yourself.

63. Come home smelly, tired, smiling and with a good story.

64. Your story isn’t really yours. Share it.

65. The most valuable thing that we have to offer others is our time. It's precious, don't waste it. Spend it wisely and appreciate it when it's given.

66. Well-fitting and modest is ALWAYS sexier than too small and tight.

67. The ugliest thing in this world is discrimination. Who are we to decide who someone else should love, what color skin they should have or what birth control options they should choose. Never, ever make someone feel inferior because of their differences.

68. Don't ask questions that you already know the answer to. The only validation you need is your own. On the other hand, don't be afraid to ask the questions you don't.

69. If you hurt, let yourself hurt. If you want to cry, cry. Everyone deals with life differently. Just remember, that it is no one else's responsibility to heal you. Although, some will try, it's not possible. You have to take the steps to heal yourself. Be open to it. It can't happen unless you're ready.

70. Humility and subservience are not synonyms.

71. Wash your face twice per day.

72. Be gentle to your body. It's the only one you have. It will carry you and frustrate you all at the same time, but just like life, what you put in to it will be proportionate to what you get out of it.

73. Science is really cool. So is literature. And history. And math.

74. People can and do change. Only, if and when they want to.

75. There is no substitute for fresh air or the calmness of water.

76. There is no shame in asking for help.

77. Despite the saying, love is not unconditional, it really is... You can't treat people poorly and expect them to stay. They won't. Nor should you. We get what we give.

78. Carry your weight. Do your best. That's all you have and as long as you put all the effort you have in to something, even if it doesn't work out, you will be able to walk away from it with no regret.

79. If you do what you've always done, you're going to get what you've always gotten. Change, although scary, can be wonderful.

80. That salad is not better than pasta and it never will be. Period.

81. You’re fooling no one. Nor should you try. Be yourself in every situation.

82. Find at least three green vegetables you can tolerate.

83. A smoothie is not a meal. Neither is ramen.

84. Expect the best from everyone and regardless of how many have wronged you in the past, trust everyone fully until they give you a reason not to.

85. Leave your baggage at the door. If you can't, you're in the wrong place. Go home and finish your work. Nobody deserves to pay for someone else's mistakes.

86. Take time off. Travel. Make memories. Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life. No one ever looked back and wished they had worked more. Life is about people, not material things.

87. There is a certain kind of man ( and woman) you need to avoid at all costs. It'll take awhile to recognize him/her, but once you do, never go against your instincts.

88. Be kind. Always- To yourself and others.

89. What other people say is right isn't always what's right for you. Go with your instincts and do what's best for you. You're the only one lying your head down on your pillow at night and the only one responsible for the choices you make.

90. Find something that makes you incredibly happy and never stop doing it.

91. Give thoughtful gifts. Never money or gift cards. Take the time to make someone feel special.

92. Form an opinion. Make sure it's based on fact rather than emotion. Don't be afraid to change it based on experience. Remain as open- minded as possible. You'll miss out on so much if you're not.

93. "I don't know" is not an acceptable answer. Especially in regard to feelings. If you truly don't know, take the time to reflect and find out.

94. Read as many books as possible. It's a wonderful thing to step out of reality and in to a book.

95. Argue with people when you need to. Stand up for yourself and what you believe in. Never let anyone bully you in to silence.

If it’s worth fighting for, fight fiercely.

96. Don't ever miss an opportunity to learn. Use every vehicle available to do so. Knowledge is power.

97. Don’t fight for acceptance. You can't please everyone, regardless of how hard you try.

98. Never miss an opportunity to tell someone how you feel. You never know when it is the last time you will see them,

99. Take pictures. Our memories sometimes fail us, our bodies change and we age. Pictures are timeless.

100. I'm proud of you. I love you and I will ALWAYS be here for you.

~Mom