#there’s one or two that i’ve shared before independently but i figured that i would compile them into one place again

[theoryofwhatnow]

more like minds behind the scenes (of the boys) that you might not have seen before

part one

some of these were unburied by the lovely: @widowswinter thank you very much my dear

[svmjaeyvn]

love maze, s.jy.

chapter eight pairing: jake x afab!reader word count: tbd (series)

masterlist

genre: college!au, mutual friends, fake dating, smut.

synopsis: an unfortunate encounter, drunken mistakes, and a sort of (definitely) stalker leads jake sim ‘dating’ his best friend’s childhood crush.

or, your life gets intertwined with a rich boy’s in attempt to not get sued by his crazy personal fangirl and like with all good cliches, sex overcomplicates things.

contents: smut, sort of strangers to fuck buddies to lovers pipeline, childhood best friend!jay, mentions of best friend! yunjin, curly haired & mixed reader, uni!au, rich nepo baby!jake, enha frat boys, lots of kissing, fake dating turning into fwb real quick, totally way too into it for it to be fake early on, big booty reader that’s jake’s obsessed with, partying and alcohol use, slight violence, he fell first and harder trope, stem bf & writer gf, (kinda overly) possessive jake, some angst to spice things up, daddy issues, hyper independent reader who struggles with her feelings, fluff and happy ending!!

a/n: hello~ i’ve never been a tumblr girly but i have went through my w*ttpad era back in 2018 so bare with me y’all. this will be a series but not that long (i hope) so pls look forward to it. warning tags will be placed before each “chapter” to specify what to expect. pls pls reblog and interact, i’d love to have feedback and see what your thoughts are. okay! yay, for now enjoy and thank you sm :D

MDNI, 18+

tap below to continue

CHAPTER EIGHT: BETS

previous masterlist next

word count: 4k

warnings: smut, oral (m&f rec), unprotected sex (kinda, readers on the pill), creampie (wrap it up!!!), praise, dirty talk, couple good girls thrown in, kinda public sex they’re fucking IN A TENT WITH EVERYONE ELSE 10 FEET AWAY, basically the whole chapters them having sex sooo

a/n: a little sex scene just for funzies 🤭

JAKE HAD A problem. A rather hard one that didn't seem to go away even with his night walk that he forced himself on in the chilly air. With it being the last night of your group vacation, he had been struggling with the lack of privacy the campgrounds held.

Any other circumstance he would've been fine, however, with seeing you in a tiny little bathing suit the past two days, the thin strings holding little to the imagination and almost seemed untrustworthy due to how your perky boobs bounced with each step and the cheeky bottoms showed off practically everything, skin glistening with your lovely tanned skin in the water and near all day view of your body, Jake was pent up to say the least.

It certainly didn't help that since you two have gone far past regular boundaries already, you opted to sleeping in a large shirt and cotton underwear as your preferred method most of the time was no underwear at all, but you figured to be polite, wearing some was the best choice. Each night Jake had laid next to you, the outline of your curves shown under the thin sheet as the humid air only left it comfortable enough for one. When you'd wake up in the morning, majority of the time the sheet had been tossed off most of your body, giving Jake a clear look at the roundness of you ass and thick thighs that peaked out beneath.

And tonight seemed to be the breaking point for him. After making his rounds in saying goodnight, he had led himself into the shared tent only to see you in his shirt, a sheepish smile on your lips as you turned to him, hair pulled up all messy and in the midst of cleansing your face.

"I got my other shirt dirty," You told him before he could question you upon it. "Let me wear it tonight, yeah? It's what a good boyfriend would do," You teased, a small pout upon your lips as you peered up at him with the tilt of your head.

Jake had no other option but to oblige. You sat so pretty in his shirt, the outline of your tits beneath the thin material more than enough to make him puddy in your hands and he had merely agreed to everything you said for the next thirty minutes until the lamp was turned off and you rolled over for bed.

You weren't dumb, you could see how Jake's demeanor changed, much more quipped and having a hard time actually looking you in the eyes. But still, the thought of doing anything with the other tents a mere 10 feet away, there was no way you'd go through with it. Thus when you rolled over, you truly intended to sleep for the night, a sigh of content leaving your lips only to be wide eyed and awake fifteen minutes later.

You had heard Jake exit the tent only to come back five minutes later, him muttering under his breath and proceeding to toss and turn. Assuming you had fallen asleep due to the steady rise and fall of your breathing, he had been doing his best to get comfortable but it was hard when his bulging tip was practically begging for attention, far too pent up to go away anytime soon.

Growing tired of the constant moving on his end, you rolled over, eyes immediately falling down to the obvious length that pushed against the material of his sweats, the words you intended to speak suddenly forgotten in the process. Your lips parted, not knowing what to say while Jake lets out a deep sigh.

"You mind helping me out?" He mumbles, voice raspier than usual as his hand begins to palm at his cock through the material of his pants. The lack of light made it hard to see, the small pile of wood left to burn out outside being only minimal dim illumination but you could see his blown out pupils and desperate eyes, airy breaths leaving his lips in the process.

"Everyone else can hear," You whisper, hesitant but you couldn't help the wetness that began to accumulate between your legs, clenching your thighs at the sight of Jake who seemed so eager and in need of your touch.

He shakes his head, reaching out to draw you closer. His lips captured your own, messily locking with enough force to indicate how pent up he felt. "We'll be quiet," He reassured against your lips.

A soft moan erupted from your throat muffled by his mouth against yours. The kiss turned sloppy, teeth clanking together as Jake guided one of your hands down to his crotch. His head fell back upon your hand wrapping around his length through the sweats, a breathy sigh of content coming from him.

All clear judgment had been thrown out the window, you obliging to his word without hesitation and your hand momentarily left his cock to hook your fingers along the waistband of his pants. In a swift motion and the lift of his hips, you pulled the restricting clothing down in one movement, his boxers dragged along with it leaving his hardened dick to slap against his stomach.

Your eyes slightly widened at the sight. Although you had hooked up once, Jake was more focused on getting you off that night, not allowing for you to have a proper glimpse of his full length until now. You had definitely felt how big it was, but now having your hands wrapped around the girthy base it seemed impossible for you to even take.

Placing small peppering kisses around his thighs, each growing closer to his length as your hand slowly pumped up and down his shaft, you smile upon Jake's whiny moans that quietly filled the air between you. Your tongue licked up from his base all the way to the tip, kitten licks along his reddened head before your lips wrapped around him. Starting off slow, you began to adjust to the size, ensuring to keep your teeth out of the way as you bobbed up and down, taking in more and more of his cock each time while one of your hands stroked the remaining length.

Pulling away momentarily, you allowed your hands to do the work while taking in a deep breath in prep. Your eyes flickered up to meet Jake's, his brows pinched together as he attempted to stay quiet, the gaze one that cause you to smile, content with the obvious way you made him feel good.

"What're you smiling about?" Jake huffs out, hand going behind your head to pull you back down his cock. This time, however, you hallowed out your cheeks, full trust in your usual lack of a gag reflex and taking his entire length down your throat, holding it at his base while you feel his cock twitch at the new sensation of your mouth. "Fuck," Jake hissed out, his hand holding a fistful of your hair as his hips bucked further down your throat. "Such a good girl, so good with your mouth," He rambled on, eyes rolling back in pleasure as you began to bob up and down, nearly having his full shaft in your mouth.

Growing needy, Jake took advantage of the opportunity. Fucking his dick into your mouth, his hips moved up and down at a continuous pace, the wet sounds of your saliva heard and beginning to pool around his crotch. Your eyes shut at the up and down, doing your best to keep your jaw unhinged but as he suddenly stopped, pushing your head all the way down as far he it would go, you tapped his thigh feeling a gag erupt from your throat.

Jake pulled away, allowing you to let out a cough as you caught your breath. "I'm sorry, I’m sorry, you're doing so well pretty girl," He praised, thumb wiping away the spit that accumulated at your chin.

"Asshole," You huff, blinking away the few tears that pooled at the corner of your eyes. He let out a chuckle, gently pushing your hair from your face and pulling it into a makeshift ponytail.

"You're okay baby," Jake coos guiding your mouth back to his cock with a teasing smile. You roll your eyes but comply, the smug expression wiped off his face as soon as your lips were wrapped around him once more. With his jaw falling slack and eyes pinching closed, you felt a certain boost of confidence, proud of how good you made him feel. "Fuuuck," He drawled out, seemingly confirming your thoughts with a whiney gasp hitching in the back of his throat as you peer up at him, cock still in your mouth and pretty eyes locked on him. "Fuck, you feel so good baby, pretty little mouth takes me so well,"

You felt hit dick twitch as it reached the back of your throat, your hand and mouth simultaneously bobbing up and down along his shaft which seemed to be more than enough to cause Jake to squirm beneath you. Quickly pulling you away from the grip he still held on your hair, a breathy laugh left his lips as he leaned back.

"What?" You asked innocently, lips pouted together and slightly swollen. He shakes his head, you knowing fully well the answer to your own question but he instead pulls you up to him, barely allowing for you to wipe away the excess spit from your mouth before his lips locked with yours once more. The kiss caught you by surprise. The hot open mouthed pecks trailed down from your mouth to your neck, only pulling away to push up his shirt from your body and reconnect his lips to your hardened nipples.

One of his hands rolled the bud between his fingers, providing it some attention while his mouth sucked on the other. His other hand trailed down to your thighs, softly nudging your legs open with minimal effort and his fingers found way to your underwear, a low hum erupting from his throat feeling the wet spot through the material.

"Jae," You mewl, bottom lip tucked between your teeth in attempt to stay quiet. Slowly pulling the cotton of your panties down at a pace that seemed excruciating long, Jake smiled seeing at how you bucked your hips, desperate for some form of friction against your swollen cunt. "Please,"

"So needy," He tuts with the click of his tongue, his fingertips finding their way back to your wetness beginning to circle along your pussy and watching as you let out a rather loud moan. "Shh, you have to stay quiet baby," Pushing the material of the shirt into your mouth, he ensured you were biting down on it to muffle the low mewls that continued to erupt from your throat. His head dipped down, finding its spot between your legs for a second time and more than pleased by the sight of your pretty cunt that begged for more.

Licking a long stripe between your lips, a hum of satisfaction came from the sweet taste you held. No longer willing to tease, Jake deviled fully into lapping up and down, ensuring to focus on your swollen clit as his nose rubbed against it every so often. Your hips bucked, a hand finding way to Jake's hair and tugging at it slightly which earned a small moan from him, one that vibrated directly against you and caused your eyes to shut in pleasure. The other hand fiddled with your tits, pinching at the sensitive bundle of nerves and doing your best to stay quiet though it proved to be difficult.

Jake continued, egged on by the way you attempted to squirm away from him, legs clenching together but he merely pushed your thighs apart. The familiar sensation began to pull in your stomach, your whines growing more frequent as you neared your high.

"Oh fuck, please, please," You whispered out, voice high and pornographic, eyes rolling back as you moved against his mouth. "Please, please Jae,"

Just as you felt your release on the brink of bursting, a loud whine left your lips as Jake pulled away. His hand clamped over your mouth, shushing you as he peppered kisses to your thighs. "I'm sorry pretty girl," He whispered, though his apology came pitiless as he wore a rather amused smirk watching your hips buck in attempt to gain any type of attention to your swollen clit. "I don't want you to cum yet," He shushes you, lining himself between your legs. He stared down at you, hand pumping along his shaft for a few moments as you pouted.

"Asshole," You repeat for a second time, few heavy breathes in attempt to regain your composure but that was thrown out as soon as his tip began to rub along your slit. Jake hummed before he spit into his hand, mixing your arousal with his saliva as he coated his tip.

The feeling of his dick beginning to enter your cunt caused your eyes to squeeze shut. Certainly turned on but not quite used to his length yet, there was a slight burn as he slowly inched in, allowing for you to adjust before he bottomed out inside you.

Both your moans mixed with one another, Jake's particularly whiney as he stilled himself, having to gain some composure before he came just from feeling your warm walls wrapped around him. He had no idea what it was about you, but the feeling of your warm pussy was intoxicating, one he never wanted to forget after gaining the privilege.

"You're so pretty," Jake mumbled, slowly beginning to move as he pushed his fingers into your mouth, muffling your moans. "So fucking pretty, your little cunt wrapped around my dick taking it so well. Such a good girl my love," Keeping his strokes deep and slow, the feeling more than enough to have you squirming against his hips.

Your muffled moans, the sound erotic sounds of your skin clapping together, and the slight squeak of the air mattress was certainly more than enough noise for everyone else to get the general picture of what was occurring, not to mention your tent that shook with each passing stroke. Far too drunk on the feeling of his cock that continued to kiss your cervix, you paid no mind to how loud you were, focused on your own desires and the familiar build up the began to brew once more.

Jake was more aware of how loud you two were, however, that didn't provide any indication for him to stop. In fact, it seemed to urge him to do more, the thought of letting everyone know just how good he filled you up and how you begged for him to continue did wonders for his ego. It turned him on more if humanly possible.

"Please keep going," You slur as he removed his fingers from your mouth, instead using them to circle around your clit that seemed to be needing attention.  He continued to fuck you at a consistent and deep pace, intending to get you to your high first but the feeling of your cunt squeezing around him more and more drew him to the edge. "Please, Jae don't stop," Your whiney plea led to a pornographic moan, Jake picking up the pace to fuck you through your built up orgasm.

He groaned feeling you clench around him, his dick twitching slightly from how tight you became. You had to pull away his hand from your clit, the friction far too overstimulating as he stayed consistent with his strokes, though they began to grow more shallow as you felt your ears ring at the over abundance of pleasure.

"Oh baby," Jake moans, the breathy whine leaving his lips as he gripped your hips tightly.

"You gonna cum baby?" You mewl, hands reaching around his shoulders as your nails dug into the skin slightly. Pulling his head close to yours, you capture his lips in a chaste kiss. "Come for me, please baby, go ahead,"

Your words broke the thin string that Jake held onto. Your lips crashed together, his moans muffled into your mouth feeling the warm sensation fill your cunt, Jake pumping himself through with shallow strokes before halting, his body suddenly feeling weak as he fell on top of you.

A small laugh left your lips with Jake's arms barely able to support his weight, otherwise crushing you beneath him as he took heavy breaths. Your hands pushed away the hair that stuck to his forehead due to the beads of sweat that accumulated at his hairline. Wincing as he pulled himself out of you, allowing for the cum to drip out of your hole while placing his t-shirt beneath you to catch any that dribbled down, Jake rolled onto his side with deep breathes.

"We need to do that more often," He says aloud, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips before pepper light pecks to your shoulder.

"You're lucky I'm on the pill," You tut, sending him a pointed look to the mess he made.

Jake shrugged. "You told me last time," He explains, his lack of care for the potentials explained by the wave of his hand. "Best case scenario, it's works properly," He grins, finding the fact that he may have been developing a breeding kink rather exciting, you being the first and presumably only that he’d do so with. "Worse case is we have a kid, no biggie,"

You smack his arm, rolling your eyes at his nonchalantness while sitting up. "Don't manifest that," You tsk, adjusting your own shirt while holding the other article of clothing close to your core, feeling the warmth that continued to dribble out. "C'mon,"

"Where we goin’?" Jake groans, reluctantly sitting up as he watched you grab a pair of shorts to slip on.

"I have to pee, especially since someone decided to do this," You emphasized, watching the boyish smile form back on his lips, entirely pleased with his doing. "It's dark as shit outside, I'm not going to piss in a tree by myself,"

"You're the one who told me to come," He defends but nonetheless slipping on his shorts without argument. Unzipping the tent, he steps out into his shoes first, holding open the material for you to follow. "Lets go princess,"

You roll your eyes, though thankful for the now died out fire as it hid your smile that ghosted upon your features. You tucked the spare toilet paper roll and hand sanitizer from your things under your arm before slipping out. Jake held out his hand as you two stood, his flash from his phone being the only light indicator and he took a moment to glance over the other tents, ensuring no one was still out.

Your hand slipped into his, following his lead and focused on the rocky ground to not trip over your own feet. Jake led you to a secluded area far from any other campers in the tree line, the actual porta potties a drive away down the road meaning it was out of question for now.

"Okay, go away," You shooed him, finding your footing behind a bush that you deemed adequate enough.

"Seriously?" He snickers, finding it hard to believe you refused to pee in front of him while he was quite literally inside you moments ago.

"I'm pee shy," You defend, sending him a pointed look as he laugh. Shaking his head, Jake wandered away, far enough to provide you some privacy but still within hearing range and the light in view. "Okay, just, whistle or something,"

"Oh yeah ‘cause whistling in the pitch black dark in the middle of nowhere isn't creepy at all,"

"Then hum!" You huff, now squatted behind the bush and mentally cursing yourself for giving in earlier which led to where you were now. All for some dick. "Go pee too before you get a UTI,"

Waving you off, Jake silently obliges to your word. Humming a random tune loud enough to drown out any noise that would come from you, you both silently proceeded with your business. In the midst of cleaning yourself up, Jake's voice broke the air once again. "Hey,"

You pinch your brows, standing up straight to see him walking your way once more. "What?" A mischievous smile took over his lips, quirking a brow. Holding out his hand for you to spritz the sanitizer into his palm, he rubs it in before answering.

"You hungry?"

                 "FESS UP," SUNGHOON held out his hand toward Ni-ki as you and Jake tiredly slipped out of the tent. It was morning, the rising sun beading down had caused you to wake up early the past few days, the heat making it hard to sleep anytime past 7am and after the escapades of last night, you felt particularly sluggish.

A yawn escaped Jake's lips as he slipped past you, a quick kiss placed to the side of your head as he made his way to the portable stovetop where Heeseung seemed to be cooking up breakfast. You made your way to the others sat along their respective chairs. Yunjin had a wide grin on her lips, sipping from her cup of coffee while Jay shook his head, though the amusement that lingered in his expression wasn't unnoticed.

"What?" You ask, settling into your seat while Ni-ki huffs, placing a 10 dollar bill into Sunghoon's hand who pocketed it with a smile.

"You let me down," The youngest tsks, swirling around the milk that was left in his bowl of cereal. Pointing an accusing finger in your direction, you tilt your head not knowing what he meant.

"You guys are loud," Jungwon pipes in with a yawn, rubbing at his eyes while Sunoo follows with a small nod.

"Should've went and fucked in the woods, at least then we wouldn't have had to hear you," Jay snickers, watching as your eyes widen in horror. The reaction caused the group to burst into a fit of laughter, Jake and Heeseung joining the group with hot bowls of ramyeon in hand in the midst. "Kept everyone up last night too when you decided to have post-sex snacks,"

"Aftercare," Jake shrugged, jumping into the conversation with ease and seemingly unfazed by the conversation topic. He pulled your legs to drape along his lap, a comfortable position that had been your go-to considering Jake had become particularly clingy and in need of having some form of touch. He held out your own bowl to you, carefully handing it over while you sent him a small thanks. "We're a couple, what'd you expect?"

"I did expect it," Sunghoon corrected, holding up the money he gained from the bet he placed with Ni-ki upon wether or not the two of you would've hooked up over the trip. You raise a brow, tilting your head while he smiles innocently.

"You were trying to bet me about Yunjin and Heeseung while betting on me with Ni-ki at the same time?" You confirm, watching as he held up his hands with a small shrug.

"Easy money," Sunghoon said nonchalantly. "I knew someone was going to so,"

"You bet with me about Heeseung," Jay frowned his brows at the new information.

"___ said no so had to go to someone else," He explained causing you to roll your eyes. A small snicker came from Jake, him squeezing your leg before taking a bite of his food. Sitting up, Yunjin looks around, visibly confused by the topic at hand as she gestured between herself and Heeseung who sat silently eating his own bowl, his smile hidden by the fact that he was eating like his life depended upon it.

"What bet about Heeseung and I?"

my tags!! @slutforsjy @jaklvbub @whowantshota @addictedtohobi @coolwitu @simjyunnie @kgneptun @graythecoffeebean @143ikeu @zyvlxqht @tesywesy @nxzz-skz @aishisgrey @enczen @vanvity @dreamiestay @caitysdelusions @ikkeumyluv @v3lv3tsin

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[joshsindigostreak]

Moonburn

Prologue

Two of Swords, Reversed: Delays, indecisiveness, extreme dread, anxiety, and stress.

Vampire Hunter!Jake x Witch!OC

Authors Note: Hello!!! This is the start of Jake’s story! I hope y’all like it as much as I do. His side of the story has been in my mind the whole time I’ve been writing ISHIYE and I’ve been itching to share it with you. This is only the prologue but I promise there’s much more to come! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist ❤️

*Set prior to the events of I See Hell in Your Eyes. This is the beginning of Jake’s story. This can be read independently from ISHIYE but there will be cross references as it’s in the same universe.

Word Count: 3,845

Warnings: Brief violence, descriptions of blood, that’s about it for now.

He wasn’t even supposed to be in Tucson, but a blown motor had him stuck there for God-knows how long. The shop he towed his car to didn’t give him much of a time frame, just that they would call him whenever it was fixed. In the meantime, Jake Kiszka had settled in a cheap motel. Well, not extremely cheap, but it was comfortable enough that he knew wouldn’t get scabies from sleeping there. 

Nevertheless, he took this as an opportunity to take in the sights of the Grand Canyon state, at the very least Pima county. The sights in question were any local Nests that he could find and snuff out any Undead that were loitering around places they shouldn’t. 

The last three days (or nights depending on what species you were), he had been tracking a small group of them that were dumb enough to hang around the same places in the city. Vamps were always easy to spot. Their attempts to blend in with humans were awkward and stilted. Like aliens who had landed on earth the day before and had never seen a human before. That was also how you knew you were dealing with one of the young, and dumb, ones. The older the Vamp was the easier it was for them to blend in. If they’re smart enough to survive past fifty years or so, they usually start adapting to whatever environment they’re in. 

It was one of those Vampire details that confused Jake as a kid. How did they forget their humanity so fast? You’re human one day and the next night you’re a blood sucking monster, his dad would tell him. But the idea that it only took a few hours to forget whatever life you had before was almost fascinating to him. 

He was always taught that the new ones were practically feral and sloppy, which was how they got picked off so easily. They’d leave bodies behind, risking exposure to the humans who walked around in pure ignorance to the creatures that walked among them. 

Sometimes, if you were lucky, you’d catch them before they even claimed their victims. Skulking around in the dark trying to remain unseen but all of their movements looked the same, at least to Jake, which was why he was always able to figure them out faster than his siblings. He was the quiet observant one, always having his eyes on a swivel. His twin was the social one. He could talk his way into any place or establishment that he wasn’t supposed to be in, and he had a particular knack for being able to build a rapport with some of the Vamps they’d be tracking. 

It worked even better when they were in parts of the country where the only thing anyone knew of them was their last name, and the weight it carried. Knowing their name was one thing, but knowing their faces was another, and they used that to their advantage. It was also well known that they were identical, but over the years their personal aesthetics had skewed so hard in the opposite directions that they’d have to be side by side to truly see it. Though sometimes the confusion as to who was who worked in their favor. 

Jake turned his attention to the horizon from inside the car. Due to a low inventory from a week full of fender benders the rental place only had a Toyota Corolla available on the lot. A  silver Corolla from 2006, to be exact. Jake had stared at it for nearly five minutes behind his dark sunglasses, as if he could turn it into literally anything else with his mind. But when the rental agent informed him of the only other option, a burgundy minivan, the hunter agreed and signed the papers for the car through gritted teeth. 

There he was, ridding the earth of Hell-borne filth in a clunker with hubcaps. 

The sun was peeking over the horizon; the sky turning different shades of pink, yellow. and blue. Jake had a strict rule to not move in on a target until the sun was fully up and visible. “Your shadow is your friend, and your clock no matter what,” his dad would tell him. A hunter never wanted to risk a Vamp having the home field advantage that was the night. Even overcast days were iffy at times. 

Once a Vampire laid their head down they, as obvious and cliched it sounded, slept like the dead they were. It was some biological failsafe to protect their species from accidental sunlight exposure. Or at least that's what his walking-encyclopedia of a little brother reminded him along with other scientific facts about the species. 

He was parked on the side of the road a blocks-length away from the house he was watching. Vamps were known for their practicality when it came to their Nests. They liked invading houses and squatting in them after they made the residents their evening meal. This particular house was by its lonesome on this road, the nearest house was almost two miles away, which Jake didn’t mind because his plan for the four Vampires he had tracked to this location would be fucking cake.

At last, the sun shined its beautiful rays, warming up the world and preparing it for the day. Jake could almost hear the joke his twin would’ve made about it being a “dry heat” had he been there. His right hand reached to the passenger seat for his crossbow, lifting it slowly with reverence.  He kept his gaze fixed on the house as he carefully opened the driver’s side door.  He didn’t shut it all the way, just enough to make that first little click in the frame.  

As he approached the house he looked at all the windows to see which ones were covered up, a clue as to where in the house they were sleeping. He walked the perimeter a couple of times, going slow to make sure he didn’t miss anything and to let the sun rise even higher. 

Rounding the back of the house, Jake went up to the back door. He reached out and gently twisted the doorknob, and it fully turned without protest. 

They really were stupid, he thought to himself. 

The revelation that the door was unlocked let him know that they were also over confident that they’d be safe during the day time. Jake couldn’t wait to prove them wrong. 

He walked into what was the kitchen, before it had been ransacked by the real intruders sleeping elsewhere. Multiple cabinets were flung open, their contents strewn everywhere on counters and the floors. Smears of blood decorated the surfaces and the floors, streaked with what had to be fingerprints. 

Going from room to room, he saw similar scenes around the house. He still hadn’t located what he was there for but there was one bedroom at the far end of the house left. The door was slightly ajar, and from his spot in the hallway he could see a window with the curtains firmly drawn. Bingo. They were all in there, soundly asleep. A classic, “shooting fish in a barrel” situation. 

Carefully he opened the door further and peaked around the room. This had obviously been the primary bedroom, with a sizable king size bed against the far wall, with two Vamps sprawled out on the duvet, with a third curled up on the carpet at the foot of the bed. 

The hunter silently aimed the crossbow at the one on the floor, directly at its chest. At this point it was muscle memory, his finger squeezed around the trigger automatically, shooting the stake right into the Vampire’s heart. His eyes flew open in surprise, but it was too late, the color drained from his skin and it shrunk back against his bones. The usual yellow cast bled into his eyes, and as a final signal that all too familiar death rattle bubbled up from his mouth, a little too loudly for Jake. 

At the sound the female Vamp on the bed sat straight up, looking directly at Jake. 

“You bastard,” she hissed as she slapped the male Vamp next to her awake. She lunged at Jake knocking the crossbow out of his hands as he tried to shove her off of him. The two rolled around on the floor, battling for control. The hunter managed to get on top of her, straddling her waist as he quickly grabbed a stake from inside his jacket with one hand, and used the other to try to control her hands and keep her pinned down. His reflexes worked perfectly and he was able to shove her arms out of the way fast enough to drive the stake into her chest in a flash. Like the other Vamp before her, she withered in front of his eyes. 

Just as her death rattle completed the process the other male Vamp jumped on Jake’s back, straining his neck to nip at Jake’s flesh with his fangs. The hunter nearly growled as he twisted his body to fling the Vamp off of him. He didn’t go very far, but it was enough for Jake to get on his feet and grab another stake from his jacket. The Vamp stood up and lunged at Jake again, this time shoving him against the nearest wall. Jake winced as he was forced backwards and felt the drywall crack; the breath nearly knocked out of him. The stake was pinned between the two, curled in his fist and pointed down at the floor in a useless position. 

Jake looked over the feral Vamps shoulder, and realized he was close enough to the corner of the room that he could potentially gain control. With another growl, he used all of his strength to push him away and into the other wall. The Vamp's head bounced back against the wall, and in the nanosecond of delirium Jake was able to tilt his other hand up and ram the stake into the remaining Vamp, directly next to his sternum. 

The Vamp sagged against the wall as whatever “life” he had faded away. Jake let him go completely and didn’t care where he landed on the floor. He stepped back and didn’t let his guard down until he was sure they were the only creatures in the house. He ran a hand through his messy hair, wincing when his fingers hit a few tangles and pulled at his scalp. Instead of fighting through them to the ends of his hair, he pulled it back, wanting the feeling to stop instantly. A brief flashback of dirty gnarled fingers twisting into his hair and yanking upwards flashed before his mind’s eye and he shook his head to rid himself of the memory and rubbed his hands quickly over his face. 

Jake turned back to his crossbow and strapped it on his back. Now the fun part was about to begin. He looked down at the nearest corpse, the one he had just killed against the wall, and grabbed him by the ankles and started dragging him through the room. He flung the back door open once he got to it, and heaved the Vamp outside and into the sun. The corpse started to sizzle and burn before it hit the dirt. One down, two the go. 

He repeated the process until all three were piled on top of each other outside, burning through their clothes and turning their bodies to ashes. As Jake watched the flames, he reached into his jacket again, this time for the celebratory cigar he always brought with him on Nest raids. He brought it to his lips and leaned forward, lighting it using the flames of his latest bounty. 

He stood there, and the fire reflected off his dark sunglasses. He took long and slow drags of the cigar, satisfied with his work that morning. For a brief moment he wished his twin had been with him. He didn’t mind doing things on his own, but it always felt a little sweeter to have Josh standing next to him. 

Soon enough the three Vampire’s were nothing more than a pile of ashes. Jake found a shovel in the yard, and used it to dig a shallow pit to dump the ashes into. It wasn’t to “bury” them, no, there was no honor in this. Instead it was just a quicker way to quite literally cover up his tracks. 

As he drove back to the motel, he couldn’t wait to sleep the day away, satisfied that there were three less bloodsuckers walking around. 

~!~

A few days later, he found himself in front of a dive bar just outside of town. The Tipsy Tumbleweed stood before him, its red lighted sign blazed into the dark of the parking lot. A few of the letters blinked, indicating some of the bulbs were on their last legs. 

The heels of his boots clacked against the wooden floor inside, and the idle chatter amongst other patrons met his ears. He loved a good bar like this. Understated, knew exactly what it was, and didn’t try to be anything more. The walls were covered in various purple neon signs, the biggest one was on the wall behind the bar itself, with large letters spelling out: Sinners Welcome. Yeah, he was going to enjoy himself tonight. 

Just as he sat on an empty barstool, a loud and melodious laugh floated through the air behind him. He nearly broke his neck to look at the source, and that was when he saw…her. 

Her back was to him, her dark jeans and black t-shirt wrapped around her curves beautifully, her dark hair tied up in a ponytail but was long enough that the ends fell between her shoulder blades. She was standing in front of one of the booths against the far wall, chatting with the two people who sat on either side. 

He couldn’t see her face yet, and everything in his body told him to sit fucking still so he could possibly get a glimpse of it. He barely registered the young voice of the bartender asking him for his order. He kept his eyes set on the mysterious woman while he quickly mumbled something about a whiskey. He wasn’t normally that rude but as the bartender went off to make his drink she finally turned around and started walking towards him. Her large hazel eyes scanned the room as she walked and she waved at one of the tables, telling who-ever-the-fuck hi. The same dark hair framed her face in some loose layers and when she flashed a smile at someone else, Jake nearly fell off the stool. He suddenly felt like he was back in sixth grade, when Abbie Willis picked him for her kickball team in P.E. and he tripped over absolutely nothing while walking over to her. Josh never let him live that down. 

For a moment, Jake thought she was walking towards him, but she breezed right past him to exit through the Employees Only door. He turned on the stool to face the bar, hoping to god that the heat in his face wasn’t obvious. Instead, he made the most awkward eye contact with the bartender who was placing his drink in front of him. She was a tiny thing, definitely shorter than him with sharp cheekbones and curious round eyes. She couldn’t have been older than 21. 

“Umm…thanks,” he said, trying his best to recover from whatever that was. 

“You're welcome, I’m Stacey if you need anything else,” she said brightly before turning to walk to the far end of the bar, where another man was sitting at the corner. 

Jake’s eyes followed her and silently observed that side of the bar, taking in everything. Part of him wanted to turn around and watch that Employee door in hopes that she would come back out, but he didn’t want a repeat of what just happened.

He took a sip of his drink while he observed, but just as he started to relax the man at the end of the bar tilted his lowball glass back to take his own sip, and one of the lights on the other side shined through the glass and displayed the…red…contents. It wasn’t runny, it wasn’t grenadine, it was blood. 

Did he sneak that in here? Jake had obviously seen Vampire’s drink from glasses before, they could be formal when they wanted to, but out in the open like this? That was ballsy as hell. 

A drop escaped the glass and landed on the corner of the man’s, well, Vampire’s mouth and his tongue darted out to catch it. The bartender Jake now knew as Stacey was just standing there, chatting away as if she hadn’t even seen it. The hunter immediately thought that the Vampire had Persuaded this young girl into not noticing, and if he was already doing that, what else was he planning to do? 

Jake immediately shifted into hunter-mode, his casual evening cut short by duty calling. He sat there, listening as best he could over the loud music and crowd noise. Soon his glass was empty, and as Stacey walked back by he got her attention and she stopped in front of him. 

He ordered another whiskey, but before she could hop off to make it he asked her a question, “hey umm…who's that down there?” He tilted his head slightly in the Vampire’s direction. 

A sheepish smile spread across her face, “oh…that’s Lou. He’s in here a lot.” Even in the dim lighting Jake could see the color rush to her cheeks when she said Lou’s name. 

A regular Vampire, huh, not for much longer, Jake thought. 

He opened his mouth to ask another question but Stacey’s eyes suddenly went wide and she darted off to the Employee door without another word. He vaguely heard her say the name, “Cecilia” as she exited but he wasn’t sure.  

Jake sat there confused as to what spooked her so quickly, and he stole another glance at “Lou” the Vampire. 

“So, another whiskey for you?” A smoky voice snapped him out of his thoughts. 

Jake whipped his head back to the direction of the voice and suddenly, she was in front of him. He gaped at her, once again reverting back to his awkward prepubescent self. All he could do was nod like an idiot. A new glass was placed in front of him, the amber liquid perfectly poured. 

“This one’s on the house,” she said as she leaned against her hands on the edge of the bar. The motion made her collar bones visible just beneath the scooped-neck of her t-shirt. Fuck. 

“O-oh you don’t have to-”

“Nonsense, I like giving out a  free drink once and awhile, especially to new faces. I even top shelved it for you,” her lips formed a smile and she tilted her head at him, as if she already knew the effect she had on him. 

He took a sip, savoring the liquor on his tongue before swallowing. Perfectly smooth. 

“Now, what are you doing here,” she asked, a little less friendly than before. 

The question threw him off, why would she ask that? 

“Just checking out local places while I’m in town,” he answered with a level tone as he took another swig of his drink. 

“Hmm…yeah but what were you doing just a couple minutes ago?” 

He looked at her strangely, “just sitting here?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt his throat tighten up out of nowhere. What the fuck?  

“Uh-huh, just sitting here? Not scoping out the place?” 

“No? Why would I-,” his throat tightened up even more, making it harder to breathe. Jake struggled to take in a breath as he gripped the glass in front of him. 

“You do know where you’re sitting, right?” She leaned even closer to him, lowering her voice. 

“At a bar…?” That was the truth, partially, but he didn’t know where she was going with this. 

She smirked at him, “oh I guess you didn’t notice that this bar happens to be next to a cemetery?” 

Cemeteries were probably one of the few truly neutral places you could be. Neutral in the sense that creatures knew better than to start trouble in them, and hunters were lumped into that protocol as well. They were their own liminal space with their own rules, and Jake remembered Sam rambling about the spirits that reside in them did not take kindly to truces being broken on their land. If Jake had actually killed the Vampire at the end of the bar, it would not be pretty for him once the spirits figured out what happened. If the woman in front of him knew this rule, then what was she?

“Fuck,” he rasped. 

“Yeah, fuck is right. So what is a hunter like you coming into my bar where we mind our own business and coexist as best we can?” Irritation was evident in her voice. 

This was her bar? Oh, he really fucked up. 

“Listen I wasn’t trying to start anything,” he tried to explain but his words had his throat nearly closed completely. 

“Sure you weren’t,” she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small vial full of pale green liquid. She held it up in front of him, “sir you look very…purple…are you feeling alright?” 

He stared at the vile in her hand, and he wasn’t sure if he was connecting the dots or just seeing them, but he tried to whisper a guess. 

“W-witch..?” 

“Oh nothing gets past you,” she mocked. “And yes, I am, thank you for asking.” 

At this point all he could do was wheeze at her. 

“Now, I can reverse that little concoction you happily drank, but only on one condition.” 

His big brown eyes started watering and he nodded.

She twisted off the cap of the vial and slowly poured the contents into Jake’s glass as she spoke, “you have two minutes to get out of my bar before I get that Werewolf in the corner to throw you out.” 

Jake quickly drank down the whole glass as best he could, oxygen finally entering his system as his throat loosened back up. 

“S-sorry…” he whispered. 

“If you ever come back here and try that shit again, it’ll be a lot worse. Now go,” her voice was final, and she flicked her eyes over his shoulder and at the door. 

Jake didn’t hesitate to slide off the barstool and walk right out, not looking back even though he wanted to. 

As he drove back to the motel, all he could think about was the Witch that just nearly killed him, and how her eyes bore into his, and for once in his life, Jake Kiszka was the one intimidated and outmatched. 

To be continued…

Tag List:  @dannyandthekiszkas , @readyforthegarden  , @sinners-go-to-drink-the-wine , @wideminded-dreamer , @runwayblues , @wildbluesorbit , @llightmyllovee , @rhythm-of-space , @sacredthefran , @writingcold , @alwaysonthemend , @wetkleenex-gvf , @josh-iamyour-mama , @lightsofthe-living-gvf , @gvfcinema , @sacredthethreadgvf , @losfacedevil , @jakekiszkasbuttsweat , @shutupdevvie , @hearts-hunger , @gretavanfleetposts , @ascendingtostardust , @mackalah , @andromeda-raine-gvf , @jake-kiszkas-smirk , @gracev0609 , @sacredjake , @earthlysorrows , @gvfpal , @myownparadise96 , @itsafullmoon , @gvfmelbourne, @twistedmelodies , @that-witchy-pan , @gold-mines-melting , @texas-bbq-pringles , @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface , @sadiechar , @char289 , @stardustvanfleet , @sunfl0wer-power , @holdingup-fallingsky , @bladenotblaze , @gretavanlace ,

[mikasa-imadebiscults]

Girl I just love your fics and I wanted to see I could ask for one myself

Could you pls write a Mirko x Fem!reader where reader is insecure about her body and turns to sh but Mirko finds out and she comforts S/o and they make out while Mirko praises her and sings a lullaby to her for aftercare

Sorry if it's a lot

Ive been though a rough patch with sh myself and I just wanted to find a way to feel better

I know you might not find this though your inbox

But I figured it's worth a shot

Thanks

(Hello Anon, thank you for your kind words and I really hope this makes you feel better. Just remember, you are not alone in this, me and other people are always here for you. Also don’t worry, this wasn’t too much for me to handle)

More than Perfect

Rumi Usagiyama x FEM! Reader

(Warning: Self harm, swearing, and making out but nothing too spicy)

Insecure. If there’s one word in the world that can describe you, insecure couldn’t be more fitting. Your body being the main victim of your insecurity. Everything about it made you feel bad and often times you looked in the mirror wishing you were in a different body.

Rumi is everything anybody would want in a woman; strong, confident, independent, brave, beautiful, just utterly perfect. Too perfect for you, she deserves so much better, you believe. Those thoughts run constantly through your head, causing your emotions to dampen and dull.

Eventually those thoughts became darker and irrational, making you resort to a more unhealthy, dangerous course of action. Self harm. You do your best to try and cover up the evidence. You can’t run the risk of Rumi finding out, she already has enough to deal with plus you don’t want to burden her or worst, hurt her.

Though life doesn’t always go your way, it never does. Rumi ended up finding out, she was returning from a long day of fighting petty criminals and when she opened the door and called out to you that she’s home she got no response. She assumed that you were in the bedroom taking a nap or something, so she walked to the shared bedroom and opened the door. She didn’t knock because if you were sleeping she didn’t want to wake you.

But what she saw was unexpected. You were sitting on the edge of the bed harming yourself. You froze immediately when you saw your girlfriend standing in the doorway just as shocked as you are.

You opened your mouth to speak but couldn’t find the right words to articulate together. Your vision became blurred as tears formed over your eyes. Suddenly you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around you tightly but cautious not to accidentally hurt you.

Rumi knows that you must’ve suffered mentally for a while for you to go to this as a coping mechanism. She didn’t blame you one bit, the only person she blames right now is herself for not noticing or figuring it out sooner. But that doesn’t matter, what matters most right now is treating your wounds and comforting you.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Sit down while a treat your wounds okay?” Rumi says assuringly, pulling away to go get the supplies needed. Fortunately she wasn’t gone for long and started carefully treating you, making sure it hurts as little as possible.

The amount of guilt you feel is unbearable, you feel like a bother. Though your thoughts are easily interrupted by two hands cupping your cheeks and a pair of red eyes staring softly into yours. It’s almost like she knew exactly what you were thinking.

“I’m all done, now if you want to talk about it I’m all ears, but if you don’t then that’s alright too.” Rumi said, sitting next to you on the bed.

You hesitate for a moment before letting the words spill from your lips, “I’ve been..insecure about how I look and stuff..and I..just couldn’t take it anymore.” You confessed as you feel Rumi’s hands rub up and down your back for a moment before motioning you to sit on her lap. Usually she would just lift you up herself but right now she doesn’t wanna overwhelm you.

Straddling her lap, she wraps her arms around your waist protectively, you kiss her lips in which Rumi gladly reciprocates. But you wanted a bit more, trying to deepen the kiss you were left feeling disappointed when you lost contact with her lips.

“Are you sure about this?” Rumi asks, searching for any signs of discomfort.

“Yes I am..but I don’t wanna do too much, y’know.” You say and Rumi nods in acknowledgment. She is sure to not overstep a boundary and you trust her on that.

She gently puts one hand on the back of your head to pull you closer and kiss you. She lets you be the one to deepen the kiss, which is unlike her but she doesn’t mind at the moment. A minute goes by and you pull away for some air.

And Rumi took this opportunity to say something she thinks she should say more often.

“Your body is so damn beautiful, hell, even more than that. I am the luckiest woman in the universe to have a girlfriend like you. And don’t you forget that.” Rumi says in a matter of fact tone, accepting no denial to that statement.

You look into her eyes and see no sign of deception or untruthfulness instead you see nothing but confidence and sincerity. You embrace her tightly, grateful for her existence. She smiles softly at this and hugs you even tighter.

The both of you sit in blissful silence until you hear your girlfriend’s voice, but it wasn’t her talking, it was singing. She had a peaceful singing voice, like music to your ears. You’ve never heard her sing before so it surprised you but the shock didn’t last for long before sleep consumed you.

Masterlist

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for rearranging my brother’s groceries?

I (22M) am a senior in college, and my brother (18M) is a freshman at the same college. I’ll call my brother “Drew.” We’re living together in an apartment close to campus.

Drew and I have never been super close, since we don’t have a lot of interests in common, but we got along pretty well until now. Our parents thought him moving in with me would help him get settled, and I agreed. However, it seems that while Drew has been enjoying his newfound independence from our parents, he’s forgotten that he’s still sharing a living space.

I’ve been living away from my parents for the past two years now, and when I did live with them my room was down the hall from Drew’s so I didn’t hear him much unless our doors were both open. However, at our apartment we share a wall that’s way too thin, so I can hear him talking on the phone. He’s always been into gaming which I never had a problem with, but nearly every night he’s up till 2 or 3am chatting with his online friends. I think it’s great that he has these people, but I have morning classes and need to go to bed by midnight. Drew’s classes don’t start until the afternoon.

Before anyone says to just communicate, I have. I told him that the sound is bothering me and asked if he can try to keep it down after midnight. He kind of brushed me off and quieted down for a few nights, then went right back to normal. I asked my parents to talk to him but they said that this is up to us to figure out. I’ve tried earplugs, white noise, etc and none of it has helped. After our second chat didn’t go anywhere, I decided I would have to do something else.

My first thought was to eat breakfast loudly, but Drew is a very heavy sleeper so this had no impact. I thought about unplugging the router when I go to bed, but figured he would just turn it right back on again. Finally, I came to a solution.

For many years, Drew has always had the same breakfast of eggs and toast. He always eats his eggs in a very specific order from the carton. I decided that for every night he keeps me up late, I will start rearranging his eggs in the carton. The first day I did this he didn’t notice, since he was already running late for class. The next day, however, he texted me very angrily. I told him that until he stopped keeping me up late, I’m going to keep moving his eggs. I kept this up for a week before he started hiding his eggs further into the fridge.

At this point, I decided to escalate a little. Along with moving the eggs around, I started swapping the positions of his bottles and cans one at a time. Still no progress, and the tension in our place was getting more and more intense every day. I even started rearranging the slices of his bread when finally he blew up on me. He told me that having to hunt down his groceries in the fridge every day was making him extremely stressed and interfering with his classes. I replied that not being able to sleep was stressing me out as well. He told me that since a lot of his friends are in other time zones, super late at night is the only time the can talk. At that point I had to go to work and I got a text later from our mom asking me to please try to be more understanding. I don’t feel like I’m an asshole since I already tried to communicate clearly, but what do you guys think?

TL;DR Brother keeping me up past my bedtime, tried to talk to him normally, he didn't listen, so I'm rearranging his groceries as revenge

What are these acronyms?

[seancurry1]

Welcome to Inkspiller. Before we go any further, I want to be clear about one thing: this is not, and never will be, a copywriting course. There are enough of those. You don’t need another course slapped together by someone who completed a course themselves six months earlier. If all you do with what you gain from this newsletter is create another copywriting course, I’ll consider the entire endeavor a failure and close up shop.

Fair enough. What is this, then?

This is a newsletter about building a freelance copywriting career from a guy who’s been compensated for his writing since 2008, and who’s been successfully doing it freelance since he was fired from his last full time job in 2016.

Why are you doing it?

There is a lot of bad advice about freelance copywriting out there. If you’ve found your way here naturally (ie, if you don’t know me personally), then you’ve probably seen it. Starting a freelance copywriting career is hard enough as it is without having to sift through mountains of nonsense grifter BS to figure out which advice is actually worth listening to.

Who is this for?

What frustrates me the most about the majority of copywriting courses available today is how permanently they can turn aspiring writers away from this. If you’ve already paid over a grand to “gurus” and you still can’t figure out how to sign a client or keep them longer than one or two projects, you’re going to call the whole thing a wash and move onto something else.

That breaks my heart! I adore writing, and I value the independence my freelance status grants me over everything else in my professional life. I’m able to be at home and raise my kids, help run our household, and see friends. I’ve traveled more than I ever thought I would, funded a wedding and a house purchase, and paid off a lot of debt. I own my home, my income, and my time, and every time some huckster asshole tricks another newbie into forking over $500 in exchange for a Discord invite and 20 hours of watching someone talk into a webcam while screen-sharing a Google Doc, that path to independence gets closed off for someone else. That sucks.

I’m launching a professional newsletter about copywriting, Inkspiller!

Click to read the first issue, This is not a copywriting course.

And sign up at https://inkspiller.email/ to get these issues in your inbox every week.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 14, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

You hear sometimes, now that we know the sordid details of the lives of some of our leading figures, that America has no heroes left.

When I was writing a book about the Wounded Knee Massacre, where heroism was pretty thin on the ground, I gave that a lot of thought. And I came to believe that heroism is neither being perfect, nor doing something spectacular. In fact, it’s just the opposite: it’s regular, flawed human beings choosing to put others before themselves, even at great cost, even if no one will ever know, even as they realize the walls might be closing in around them.

It means sitting down the night before D-Day and writing a letter praising the troops and taking all the blame for the next day’s failure upon yourself, in case things went wrong, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower did.

It means writing in your diary that you “still believe that people are really good at heart,” even while you are hiding in an attic from the men who are soon going to kill you, as Anne Frank did.

It means signing your name to the bottom of the Declaration of Independence in bold print, even though you know you are signing your own death warrant should the British capture you, as John Hancock did.

It means defending your people’s right to practice a religion you don’t share, even though you know you are becoming a dangerously visible target, as Sitting Bull did.

Sometimes it just means sitting down, even when you are told to stand up, as Rosa Parks did.

None of those people woke up one morning and said to themselves that they were about to do something heroic. It’s just that, when they had to, they did what was right.

On April 3, 1968, the night before the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white supremacist, he gave a speech in support of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1966, King had tried to broaden the Civil Rights Movement for racial equality into a larger movement for economic justice. He joined the sanitation workers in Memphis, who were on strike after years of bad pay and such dangerous conditions that two men had been crushed to death in garbage compactors.

After his friend Ralph Abernathy introduced him to the crowd, King had something to say about heroes: “As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”

Dr. King told the audience that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.

He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America. “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”

People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left.

Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.

Wishing you all a day of peace for Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024.

[Image of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C., by Buddy Poland.]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[readyplayerhobi]

Because, I Love You | 07

; Jungkook x Older!Reader

; Genre: Fluff, angst,

; Word Count: 2.6k

; Warnings: Mentions of blood, implied beginning of miscarriage

; Synopsis: According to society, Jeon Jungkook should not be with you. He should be with a younger, hotter and thinner girl instead of wasting his time on you. It’s a good thing Jungkook doesn’t care what society thinks then.

; A/N: This chapter may be uncomfortable for some people - I don’t go too in-depth with it, and I don’t describe it too in-depth. The next chapter will deal with the aftermath mentally, not physically. For anyone who’s experienced this, I’m so sorry and I hope you’re okay now! Please remember to take of yourself physicall and mentally! I hope I’ve handled this carefully and with respect for anyone who’s gone through it.

; Masterlist

-

“Y/N!” Jungkook calls from the bedroom, his voice slightly muffled by the walls between you both. Absentmindedly, you call a response you stand up from the couch and begin to head up the stairs, wondering what he’s wanting you for.

He’s been busier than usual in your home lately, mainly because he was still half in the process of moving into your home. The two of you had decided that it would be best for him to move in with you to prepare for the baby, and given you were the one who owned a home, it made the most sense. What had taken the longest to sort out the bills situation.

You’d been happy to invite Jungkook into your home, and you were looking forward to no longer being alone but having someone to share your life with. But you were also proud of the fact that you’d been able to buy your own house through hard work, and even if you were going to have a child with him, you weren’t willing to put his name on the mortgage.

Thankfully, he hadn’t wanted that. In fact, he’d explicitly said he didn’t want to be added before you’d even properly started the conversation. He wasn’t comfortable with taking away your independence like that, and he knew how important it had been for you to afford to buy your own home. So instead, he’d offered to pay for three-quarters of the utilities, leaving you with your mortgage and only a quarter of the bills.

Given you’d never lived with someone before, you weren’t sure if this was considered fair but you appreciated that he wasn’t being toxic about it all. Still, you’d recommended that he save money if he could because you didn’t want him to be stuck if anything happened in the future. Not that you wanted that, but still.

That had been when he’d shyly and very awkwardly admitted that he had a trust fund that he wasn’t touching. You’d rolled your eyes at that, affectionately, and just gently pushed his arm. Of course, he had a trust fund, and of course, Jungkook was such a sweet person that he wasn’t using it and instead let it build interest.

What had made you want to cry, though, had been him suggesting that he split his trust fund in half for the baby. The thought of your little one being secure in the future financially was especially soothing, and you’d just given him a crushing hug and kiss in response.

Jungkook moved in officially last week when you had hit the 9-week pregnancy mark. Or that’s what the doctor had told you, anyway. And given you didn’t have a degree in medicine, you had to believe him. Because Jungkook had been living with his parents, he hadn’t had a huge amount to move over.

Most of it had been clothes, which he’d brought over in two trips. It had surprised you how many clothes he had, especially given he seemed to just always wear monochrome and baggy. Alongside that had been his boxing gear, which had gone in the garage, his gaming computer set-up which had gone into the office that you didn’t use and then his extensive collection of collectable figures. 

That had been a struggle to figure out where to put them, but you’d just ended up telling him that he could have the office as his so they’d all ended up in there. 

You’d wondered if he’d wanted to bring Bam and moved his dog with him, but he’d left Bam with his parents. When you’d asked why he’d pointed out that his mom was attached to him as she’d taken early retirement and he didn’t want to separate them. Plus, he wasn’t entirely sure how Bam would react with a baby, so he didn’t want to risk it all.

You knew it had made him sad to leave his dog behind, but you understood his reasoning. His parents spent far more time with the Dobermann than he did, and they’d understandably ended up very attached. The subject of his parents remained a bit of a sore spot for you, and he’d been nice enough to avoid it.

They’d been confused as to why he was suddenly moving in with you from the little he'd told you. His dad had been supportive, telling Jungkook that he was just happy that his son was happy and had found someone he loved. His mom…well, Jungkook had tried to twist it into nicer words but you’d read between the lines. She was furious he was moving out, and even more angry that it was with you. She’d argued with him and told him that it was too early, that he was rushing and he’d regret it.

And Jungkook was too damn sweet to tell you, but given everything you knew about her so far, you’re pretty sure she had some nasty words to say about you as well. His reluctance to talk about it all made it obvious.

It hurt and you wouldn’t deny it. You wanted his mom to like you and to be pleased her son was with you, that she was content you’d look after him. Her dislike and sour attitude made you feel small, and it gave you anxiety for when you finally told her about the pregnancy.

Both of you had agreed that no one would know until you’d passed the first trimester, and even then you were reluctant for his mom to know. If she’d reacted like this to him moving in with you then you couldn’t even begin to imagine how she’d react to finding out he was having a baby with you. No doubt she’d start throwing horrible accusations around about trapping him with a baby or something.

Heading into the bedroom, you pause for a moment to take in the sight. Jungkook is sat cross-legged on the bed with a whole mound of fresh clothing next to him and various smaller piles of neatly organised clothes around him. Of course, he was doing laundry, the man was odd and found it relaxing.

Not that you’d complain, you were more than happy to let him take over if that’s what made him happy.

“You rang?” You said in your best Lurch voice, causing him to smile as he looked up at you. Just as you’d already said, he was wearing a baggy plain black shirt with equally baggy grey sweatpants. It was annoying how pretty he looked, his hair curling ever so slightly at the ends as he hadn’t cut it in a while.

“I’ve sorted out your clothes already,” He says, gesturing with his chin to the piles of more colourful clothing. “I’ve put all the ones with holes and that here, I’m not sure if you’re wanting to keep them or anything?”

Jungkook sounds a little uncertain like he’s not sure if you’ll get offended. This is the first time he’s taken complete control of your washing, and there’s a part of you that feels embarrassed he’s been dealing with your crappy underwear but another part is endeared that he’s being sweet about it.

Crawling onto the bed behind him, you lay out between him and the pillow before reaching out for the top piece of clothing. Lifting it, you note it’s some underwear you’ve probably had for years. The colour is faded and the elastic at the waistband is coming away with holes doting the area. Not something you’d wear to seduce him, but still comfy and useful.

“Hmm, they can probably last a few more times. These are just the stuff I wear during my periods, I don’t care if they get stained or anything.” It’s then that you noticed one of the underwear with a dark stain on it, the evidence of a period long ago that still hadn’t properly washed out yet. Maybe if you were better with laundry, but you didn’t have the finesse of Jungkook.

There’s a brief pause before Jungkook takes the underwear from you and carefully folds it again. You get the sense he wants to say something, so you press a hand to his back comfortingly.

“Are you still spotting then?” He asks quietly, and your breathing freezes for a moment. It’s something you’d been trying not to think about too much, and you’ve been telling yourself it’s normal.

You’d started spotting in your underwear two weeks ago, which had made you panic and call your doctor. He’d confirmed that it was common during the first trimester, especially in the early weeks as a sign of implantation. To ease your worries, you’d been checked out and they’d confirmed that everything was looking good.

The fact it hadn’t stopped was a worry though. It went away for a little, but the last few days had been more frequent.

“Yeah.” Is all you say to him, letting your hand fall and rest under your cheek. It feels like your heart has taken root in your throat now, and you can feel your eye heat as you finally let yourself think about what you’ve been trying to ignore. What you’ve been desperately avoiding because you don’t want to acknowledge it. To acknowledge it is to accept it’s real.

“Are you…I mean…do you think we should go back to the doctor?” Jungkook asks quietly, still not facing you. He’s not moving though, his hands remaining where they are on the bed and you know he’s probably thinking the same things you are.

“He said it was normal to have it, and it’s not been all the time. I’ve looked it up, it’s common for early pregnancy.” You say, your voice light and airy in a way you don’t feel. It doesn’t take a genius to see that Jungkook doesn’t believe you, not with the carefully blank face he gives you over his shoulder. 

“Okay…but please go if anything changes, please?” He begs softly, twisting and taking your hand. It’s an awkward position, but you wrap your fingers around what you can and give him a reassuring squeeze along with a soft smile. Giving him a reassurance you don’t quite feel.

Because even if you’re trying to ignore it, there’s something deep inside you telling you that you don’t think something is quite right.

-

Two days later, you come home from work early to find Jungkook sitting in the office with his chunky neon pink headphones on. His new job lets him work from home more and given he has a pretty introverted personality he’s been taking full advantage of the opportunity. Another reason why you’ve let him take over the office for his own space. 

His head is bobbing slightly to whatever music he’s listening to, and you take in the lines of code he’s working on. It turns out that Jungkook’s computer set-up includes three screens, with his high-powered work laptop making up a fourth screen.

Moving over to him, you gently run your fingers through his hair and smile as he jolts in surprise before twisting and looking up at you. Those big eyes you love so much widen in shock before narrowing in happiness, his entire face lighting up as he smiles. It feels like a blessing from the universe that you’re the reason he feels so happy, and you’ll forever treasure the way he visibly brightens at seeing you.

Pushing off his headphones, he spins the chair around and smiles even brighter at you.

“Hey baby, fuck, I lost track of time. I was gonna put dinner on but I’m working on this cool code that Khalid sent over, it’s gonna look really cool and it’s so complicated-” He pauses then, looking back at his screen and taking in the time, before looking over your expression and posture before his face drops in concern.

“What’s wrong?”

You love that he loves you so much and he knows you so well, that he’s taken the time to learn your micro-expressions until he can tell there’s something wrong just in the way you stand. And right now, you need that love more than ever.

You try to give him a weak smile but it falters as you wince slightly, your hand half raising towards your stomach. He notices it immediately and his face pales, understanding instantly without saying anything.

“Is it…is there…” And then he stops trying to even say anything, instead standing up and wrapping you in his arms tightly. His head rests on your shoulder and you sag into him, letting a tear fall and soak into his shirt.

“I’ve made an appointment, I’m booked for a scan tomorrow.” You whisper, the words almost silent as you press your face further into him. That feeling of dread, that something wasn't right that had haunted you for the last few days, had proven to be true.

You’d woken up this morning to more spotting, which had left you feeling anxious but you’d just told yourself that it was just like any other day. So you’d gone to work and thrown yourself into your tasks, but even that hadn’t been enough. Not when you’d feel a sharp cramp at noon. It had been just the one, and it had left you cold with fear. Nothing had happened after that, and you’d wondered if it had just been an anomaly.

But then you’d gone to the toilet after lunch, and had seen the evidence that something wasn’t right. There wasn’t any spotting this time, or at least, not what you’d been used to. Instead, there had been a dark red stain on your underwear and bright red blood on the tissue. Much more than spotting, and you’d known.

A quiet word with your manager had allowed you to leave work early, and you’d already made an appointment with the doctor on the way home. You needed Jungkook there with you. Even though you knew what they’d say, you could feel the knowledge deep in your bones. But you needed confirmation.

Pulling away enough for him to see you, Jungkook gently runs his fingers down your face before kissing your forehead. All his earlier happiness at seeing you has faded away, and it makes you want to cry even further when you remember how quietly happy he’d been about being a dad. Even if he’d obviously been terrified.

Not that it mattered now. 

For a moment, Jungkook’s face crumples and you know that he knows too. That he knows he doesn’t need to be worried or concerned anymore, that he doesn’t need to read anything about pregnancy or being a parent and he doesn’t need to shop for cribs or any of that stuff. That the two of you will go on as just that, the two of you.

You don’t need to worry about how his mom will react, or anything of that. Because there won’t be a baby. Not in the near future, at least. 

“I’m sorry.” Jungkook whispers as he hugs you once more, holding you so tightly as if he could transfer some of his strength to you. How you’re meant to carry on when you know what’s happening in your body is beyond you, but you let yourself feel small and safe in his arms. 

You let yourself cry and release all the pain and loss that you’ve only just started to feel, which will only increase in the days following. And he holds you, feeling lost and useless in the knowledge he can’t do anything else to help.

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

When Kristin Batykefer fell ill with a headache, sore throat and body aches, the other women in her house baked her cookies, served her homemade vegetable soup and took her four-year-old daughter to the park so she could rest.

“Support system like no other,” Batykefer, 33, wrote on a TikTok post that has since been viewed more than one million times. “Shoulda moved into a mommune a long time ago.”

Batykefer had no idea that her video — and the concept of mommunes, a group of single mothers sharing a house, bills, childcare and support, seen in the US for the past decade or so — would go viral. When last year she split from her husband and lost her job, an old family friend with grown-up children invited her to move into her house in Jacksonville, Florida, while she found her feet. Then Batykefer was contacted by an old college roommate, Tessa Gilder, 32, who was also going through a divorce, with two children, aged five and one. “Tessa was, like, ‘I can’t do it any more.’ I said, ‘Come here. You’ll be welcomed with open arms.’ Originally our plan was we’d get our own place together, but once she arrived we became like a little family unit and it’s just awesome. Our friends said, ‘Stay as long as you guys want.’ ”

The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of communes where like-minded souls joined together to raise families in capitalism-defying self-sufficiency. In a 21st-century version, more and more women are channelling the age-old spirit of sisterhood to establish mommunes, to tackle the ever-rising cost of living and everyday motherhood grind. “We just help each other out,” Batykefer explains over Zoom. “It’s not ‘You do the dishes, I’ll take out the trash,’ it’s more when we see something needs to be done we just do it. As a mother that’s just what your instincts are. It’s so nice having three minds in a house thinking like that.”

Indeed, as the thousands of comments on Batykefer’s posts make clear, many women in relationships — even happy ones — are envious of her mommune’s roll-up-your-sleeves environment. “There are some comments saying, ‘My husband does all this for me,’ but about 95 per cent say, ‘Wow, how do I get part of this?’ So many are from married women asking, ‘Where do I drop my husband off? I’m joining!’ ” Batykefer says, laughing. “It resonates because there are so many what we call ‘single married women’ out there who are not getting the kind of help with the physical, mental and emotional labour of being a parent that we have. I definitely didn’t get this support in my marriage, it all fell on me. If I was sick, I still had to cook for us and make sure my daughter was fed and taken care of and entertained.”

Batykefer, who before her break-up was documenting on TikTok her family’s itinerant life on a renovated bus, is also revelling in living in an environment free of marital bickering. “Whenever I would be driving our bus when I was married, it was such a stressful, anxiety-inducing experience because of the negative energy, but I’ve just been on a bus trip with a girlfriend, driving the whole time, and it was so peaceful and amazing.”

There are 2.5 million single-mother families in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, a figure that has more than tripled since the 1970s, as the stigma about divorce has decreased and women have gained more financial independence. But several international studies show that single mothers are at greater risk of physical and mental health disorders compared with their married counterparts, mainly as a result of lack of support — with many women living far away from their extended families.

Financial stresses can also be overwhelming, with a recent marked rise in lone-parent families using food banks or relying on benefits. A report last month by the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that half of such families are now living in relative poverty.

While there are no official, large-scale mommunes in the UK or US, many single mothers are turning to local mommune groups on platforms such as Facebook (the London branch has 700-plus members) to find others to team up with.

Sara Memba, 34, a restaurant worker from Barcelona who has a one-year-old son, is sharing a house with a friend with four children aged between one and eleven in south London after finding that landlords were reluctant to have her as a tenant. “Many don’t trust single mothers to pay the rent on their own or they think your kid is going to destroy their house,” she says. Memba loves her situation. “We can go to work knowing our children are well cared for and it’s great to find a person with whom to talk and share concerns, joys and different, sometimes contradictory, emotions. It’s fun for the children too — they have more playmates and adventures.”

In an ideal world she’d love to see flats built specifically for single mothers. “There’d be common areas and spaces adapted for children to facilitate socialisation between neighbours. It would make a very difficult experience so much easier.”

The author Janet Hoggarth, from East Dulwich, south London — whose latest novel is Us Two — struggled after her divorce from her husband of 11 years, when she was left to bring up her three children, aged five, three and one. When she discovered that her friend Vicki Hillman, who had a newborn, had split from her fiancé, she invited her to move into her attic bedroom. Another single mother of two who lived around the corner frequently joined them in the evenings and stayed at weekends.

“I was feeling utterly bereft. I was navigating a divorce that took ages while juggling the kids and we were all feeling quite traumatised. It was so nice to have another adult there who knew how you felt, who could help me fill out forms, talk to lawyers and bounce ideas off. Plus, when the kids are in bed at night and you’re rolling around the house alone, you have company, which was such a relief because most of my contemporaries were busy with their own families. It stopped my constant feeling of a racing heart and feeling sick in my stomach. It was like a weird miracle drug.”

After two years Hillman moved out because she wanted a bedroom for her daughter but the women are still close friends. “We rubbed along really well without any bitchiness. It was very reassuring, like being in a family, just a different version of it. It really did stop me feeling broken. There’s definitely a different energy in an all-mothers house — there’s no weird bouncing of egos and someone expecting a medal for having wiped down the sides or polishing their halo because they’ve taken the bins out. Everyone just gets on.”

Not all mommunes are so successful. Elizabeth (surname withheld), 34, tried briefly sharing a flat with an old friend in Liverpool, when both had baby daughters. “We thought it would be perfect, but even though we got along well, our babies’ sleeping schedules were completely incompatible, which made it impossible for them to do anything together. I had no child support and had to work crazy hours with a long commute and my baby in a nursery, while she had a generous settlement from her ex and didn’t work. The imbalance made life so much more stressful than it would have been living alone. I felt guilty I couldn’t be around to do more babysitting. I still think mommunes are a brilliant idea, not least because being a single mum is so horribly expensive, but just as with any housemate, you have to find the right person.”

Victoria Benson, chief executive of Gingerbread, a charity for single-parent families that offers local networks for single parents to connect, agrees that mommunes are one “creative solution to a big problem. But we need to see a better welfare system, an increase in flexible work, and more affordable and available childcare that works for all single-parent families.”

Batykefer’s mommune keeps on giving, as demonstrated by the TikToks of her and Gilder enjoying concerts, karaoke and home-spa days together on weekends when their children are with their fathers. Now they’re in discussions about filming a reality show about their set-up, with the hope of bringing in more income but also inspiring more mommunes.

“I just fell into this but it’s such an obvious idea,” Batykefer says. “Women have always helped women. Let’s make it even easier for them.”

[potatothots]

MY BELOVED TATO!

It's Halloween! So I'm dropping by with a little something in the spirit of the All Treats, No Tricks celebration!

🎃 - Ask a creator about a current project or WIP.

I think many of us know you for your potato reblog/reaction love, but in the summer we chatted a little about the craft of relationship building for fiction... Can you share any morsels about what you've got cooking or on the back burner?

Ahhhhhh, Aspen-spud! Sorry to get to this a few days late!

I started working on that particular story and it kept evolving. Mostly because I’m working and have a full semester of classes and I write then completely forget what I was writing. AND I KEEP DREAMING about this scene and it just…everything is different it’s so fun. I know it’s also inspired by a bunch of mob!bucky stories I’ve been seeing so far.

Here is an excerpt:

Bucky hated it. He watched you from the mezzinine of your club. You glided effortlessly through the crowd with your sequenced dress that barely covered your ass and stilletos that could either knock out a man or stab him. Your makeup and hair were perfect, even when you stopped to dance with the crowd full of sweaty bodies so close to you.

His grip on the railing tightened. It pissed him off to no end. You were so independent. It was unlike any person he’d been with before.

“You okay there, Buc?”

Bucky glanced at Steve. His long time best friend raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah,” he lied. “She’s taking too long. She wanted a meeting and yet she’s still down there playing hostess to her fucking club that has employees to do that.”

Steve caught it. He wasn’t trying to be covert about the lie, he just didn’t want to talk about it.

“I thought you said it was just a one nighter with her?” He asked, but the knowing glint in Steve’s eye said he knew.

He knew Bucky too well.

“It was. She wanted this meeting -“

“Buc, you caught feelings.”

Bucky glared at Steve. If his friend was any other man he’d back down. Hell, no one else but Sam would even suggest it.

“Fuck you, Steve.”

“I think you’d rather fuck her.”

He snapped his attention to the sound of heels clicking up the stairs.

“Drop it, punk.” He hissed over his shoulder at Steve.

Steve smirked. “Jerk.”

Bucky sneered at him, then looked back to the stairs. You were standing there, patting your face with a compact he guessed you pulled from thin air. How else could that outfit hold anything. It barely held you.

“Hi boys. We ready?” You asked, smiling brightly.

As soon as you snapped the compact shut a waitress appeared with a tray of drinks. You placed your compact on the tray and took one for yourself. Bucky noticed the other two were for him and Steve. He figured you knew his favorite drink, but Steve’s??

[sisterkosho]

General Headcanons | Nanako Asano

Notes: So as I mentioned before, I’ve been having a bit of Tokyo Revengers brainrot as of late. And after some consideration, I figured I might as well just start letting it all out on here since the fandom still seems to be somewhat active compared to other sites. With that said, I offer you this little headcanon post centering around OC I’m currently working on. She’s still in the early stages of development so everything here is subject to change (and likely will be rewritten later), but for now I kinda just wanted to share the stuff that’s been floating around my brain as I work on her. Enjoy!

Nanako is a delinquent from the Roppongi district known for being particularly close to the Haitani brothers.

She first met the two when she was just 13 after wandering into territory they claimed was theirs. And while she wasn’t affiliated with any gang at the time, she was clearly a delinquent.

As such, the encounter inevitably led to a fight, and although she held her own surprisingly well given the circumstances of a 2 v 1 against boys clearly stronger than she was, she ultimately lost in the end.

However, perhaps because of her impressive skills in combat or her “natural charisma” as he put it, Ran seemed to take a liking to her over the duration of the fight.

Right then and there, he decided that he wanted to keep her around.

He’d have her join them, and nothing was going to change his mind,

This left Nanako… a bit taken aback, to say the least. It was all so sudden, and it sounded more like a demand than an offer. Just who did this kid think he was anyway???

She was fully prepared to tell him off, but once she actually took a moment to consider it… she realized that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.

It may have sounded crazy, but these boys were freakishly strong. So much so that they could easily take over the entire district if they wanted to. In fact, she had no doubt that they would sooner rather than later.

Getting in close with people like that could be the one chance she needed to make it big in the delinquent world, and that… well, that sounded fun.

And considering she did lose a fight against them on their own turf, a part of her felt like it would only be fair to accept. That’s how these kinds of things worked after all.

So from then on, Nanako followed behind them, serving as their right hand. And as expected, it wasn’t long before they had taken over Roppongi.

They became total big shots, and being associated with them gained her quite the reputation amongst delinquents in the area.

After all, the brothers were known for their independence and refusal to be a part of any gang, so for her to have gotten so close to them… she must’ve been something special.

It was thanks to all that that she eventually ended up becoming a part of the S-62 generation on Ran’s recommendation.

A part of her knew that maybe they were going too far by that point, getting involved in things they probably shouldn’t. But she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Even with the way things had turned out, she was happy. She was having fun. But most importantly, she had people she cared about more than anything in the world.

So when it came down to it, she didn’t care what kind of path she went down. She’d follow them anywhere, no matter what.

From Tenjiku to Bonten, she stood by their side. And never once did she regret a thing.

She was having the time of her life, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world no matter how many hardships they faced. Though really, she felt like she had it made most of the time.

To her, the Haitani brothers are like family.

Rindou is like the little brother she never had.

He started calling her “big sis” as a joke, but it ended up sticking.

She goes drinking with him sometimes and it always ends in shenanigans of some sort.

She always takes the fall so he doesn’t get in trouble.

They’ve played tic tac toe on Ran’s forehead on numerous occasions.

Ran calls her “Nana-chan”.

The two had this sort of unspoken thing going on between them for awhile until Rindou started trying to play matchmaker.

He wasn’t the greatest wingman but somehow it worked out.

In both the Bonten arc and the final timeline, Nanako and Ran ended up married.

In the final timeline, she works as a bartender at the Haitani brothers’ club.

[countessofravenclaw]

So, thogh I'd share this drabbles that has been floating around in drafts. I think it's pretty fun, but don't know what I am gonna do with because it doesn't really fit in stoyr I have planned, ecet maybe as a prologue...

Gastón looked at the kids at the rink as he walked into the bleachers. The coach of the Junior Rollers was demonstrating some move he didn’t recognize. 

The group was pretty far away, but he could see the focus on Laura’s face. That must have been the move she had been complaining about not getting. It was exactly the same look Nina had, so it was easy to recognize. 

The Junior Rollers team was participating in a competition at Capitán Sarmiento Partido two weeks from now. They had done a few small competitions during the time Laura had been on the team, but this was the first big thing. They were going to be staying there for a few nights and everything, by themselves only with a couple of chaperones. But that was in two weeks, this weekend they had gotten a surprising opportunity to come rehearse at the rink two weeks before the competition. Since the opportunity had come so suddenly it had been left to the parents to get the kids there. Something that had given them all a headache, especially to Ambar and Simon, and Luna and Matteo. 

Since it was out of the question to make the girls miss the “most important training session of their lives”, Gastón had been the one who had had the best availability to drive Laura, Stella and Ivory two hours to the north. It was fine by him. The training took about four hours, so he had been able to grade a few papers, check the new plan that was going to be brought to the table on their next executive team meeting at Castillo Corporation and answer two thousand emails that he had gotten from students from the courses he teached.

He didn’t know how the other parents passed their time, he didn’t know most of them as it was. Most of the team members, outside of Laura, Stella and Ivory, seemed to be first generation roller skaters, who had picked the interest in the sport independently. It didn’t look like most of the parents really understood skating, but you couldn’t really blame them. Not everyone could be a former member of the official team of Jam & Roller. It still existed, after all these years, and you could start joining it when you started high school. All the girls were aiming toward it, and already talking about the auditions. 

Gastón leaned on the rinks railing. The training session would be ending in about an hour, as it neared 2 pm. Laura would have probably hated the idea of him watching the whole thing, because it would be embarrassing. His youngest daughter really had become a preteen… but the last hour wouldn’t hurt, right? This was also the most efficient way to get out of here once they were done, if he was ready to go waiting for them once they got out.

The circle the team had formed broke and the coach yelled something about the positions and started counting the rhythm. The choreo was quite advanced for their age, or just the training Gastón had been doing at ten had been lackluster.

“I’m so sorry.” Someone bumped into him in passing. “Wait…” 

Gastón looked up at the woman in her fifties. To his surprise, he recognized her. “Tamara?” 

“Gastón is that you?” It really was Tamara. “Almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Well, it's been a few years…” Gastón laughed. “...more like decades.” 

“I know, I’ve met Luna and Ramiro a few times at different competitions.” Tamara responded, “But I’ve sometimes wondered how the rest of you have been.” 

“Well, not skating. Luna and Ramiro are really the only ones.”

“Figured that. What do you do?”

“I’m an engineer at Castillo Corporations and also teach at UCA. I have a Ph.D. in Energy Development.” 

“That sounds great. I train solo skaters here and heard that the Junior Roller’s from Jam & Roller. I wanted to see them.”

“They’re great.” Gastón said as he focused his eyes back on Laura who was performing a coordinated twirl with two other skaters. “Roller has four teams nowadays. Early team, Junior, intermediate and the main team. Luna actually was one of the people who innovated the new system. My part in this is to be the driver. Junior and Main are the ones that compete. ”

“One of the kids is yours?” Tamara asked as she also looked at the rink.  

“The one with brown hair and the patel pink skates,” Gastón pointed, “That’s our youngest.”

“She looks quite like you.” 

“It’s very subjective. Everyone has a different view on the subject,” Gastón smiled slightly, “I always think she looks like her mother.” 

“Who is she?” Tamara asked.

“Oh, right. You wouldn’t know,” Gastón laughed again, spinning his wedding ring. “Even though you do know her as well. You remember Nina?”

“Simonetti? Of course I do. You mean…?”

“So, not Simoetti anymore, unless it’s on a book cover. We got married,” Gastón smiled, “...eventually, 2024 to be precise. We went to the same university and stuff. Closing on 20 years soon.” 

“That is amazing. It is so great to see all of you so grown up.” 

“You mean old,” Gastón remarked. “You’d be surprised by all that ended up happening, or has Luna told you when you have met?”

“We have never been able to talk for that long.” 

“You’re in for a story,” Gastón chuckled and pointed toward Ivory. “See that girl? Blonde, pink outfit, glittering skates? She remind you of anyone?” 

“Now that you mention it…” Tamara looked at the rink. “She looks exactly like Ambar did when she started going to Roller…but—”

“That’s spot on,” Gastón nodded. “Ivory and Laura have been best friends since they started skating. They’re already counting down the weeks until they can go to high school together as Simon and Ambar wanted her to go comprehensive school close to their house.”

“Simon and Ambar?”

“Yeah, we’ll come back to that,” Gastón turned his head, “First, you probably have noticed the curly brown pigtails, on that girl who can’t stand still.” 

“Something to do with Luna I presume.”

“Our goddaughter, Stella,” Gastón smiled, “Got all the hyperactivity from both Luna and Matteo, which is a lot.” 

“Luna and Matteo too?” Tamara looked surprised. 

“Those are thrilling stories, that only they can do justice to. The weddings were beautiful, trust me.” Gastón swiped through a few archived pictures on his phone from all their weddings in the 2020s. “We’ve all stayed good friends over the years, and it has been great, especially now with the kids. As I said before, Nina’s an author mainly, but she does some lyrical stuff as well, mostly for Mateo, but others too. Ambar practises law, while Delfi is motion picture production. Matteo and roller band obviously do music, and Yam released a few indie albums as well. She and Jim do a lot of teaching in craft as well. Luna and Ramiro kept skating as you know. Jazmin still does her thing.” 

“Time really has gone on.”

“Okay my junior rollerstars!” the coach's voice sounded. “Today, you have done such amazing work. We are going to be ready for the competition in no time. Now enjoy your weekend. I’ll see you all on tuesday!” 

“Dad!” Laura wheeled toward Gastón excitedly, Ivory and Stella following behind her. “Did you see the spin I just did? I finally got it!” 

“Yeah, I did see that” Gastón nodded, smiling, “It looked amazing. I should have filmed it, so Mom can see too.” 

“You don’t film rehearsals Dad,” Laura rolled her eyes, before noticing Tamara, “Who’s this?” 

“So, this was a funny coincidence,” Gastón started, “This is Tamara insert last name here. She is my former coach at Roller, back when we skated there.”

“Oh, the Tamara that coached the intercontinental?” Stella piped up, “Mom told me. The performance was amazing.” 

 “Tamara, this is my daughter Laura,” Gastón placed his hand on Laura's shoulder, “and then we have Stella Balsano and Ivory Alvarez, my almost daughters.” 

The girls started asking multiple rapid questions and Tamara answered the best she could. 

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Congrats on 6000 🎉🥳👏 and I hope u don’t mind if I join in even though I’ve done this before…

Fandom: Flexible/open minded :)

Gender: Man of my dreams please :)

Personality: I mean. It’s me, Aurora, hi 😅 People are constantly growing and changing but cliff notes would be, right now, that I think I’m boring but also no one can keep up with me, I’m a homebody but I crave adventure, I’m a cranky wet cat but also please please hug me, I most probably have adhd but not the hyper aspect I will sit still daydreaming about waterfalls or something for 6 hours and not notice because what is time, I like everything except the stuff I don’t, basically I’m a hot mess of contradictions and have just as much fun with Jane Austen as I do Star Trek. So open minded I guess. Other people call me independent (yeah), smart (sort of? but oblivious), brave (not really?), and funny (I try). I have well earned trust issues and am not above being stubborn and snarky, especially when I’m not feeling well. I can’t decide if the right man for me is the sunshine to my grumpy or someone more similar and witty who I can vibe with. Maybe someone in the middle? Thank you very much in advance :))

For you 🥰

Who I ship you with and why: I’m joining the Gale bandwagon I’m so sorry it’s not creative, but he’s the romantic nerd you deserve. You are both thoughtful and well read and I can just seeing you two having long conversations wrapped in blankets by a fireside with some tea, all cosy, leaning on each other and sharing Shakespeare’s “true minds”. I think he’s the sort of guy who would delight to be supportive and carve out a workspace for you in his tower to work on your dreams too, side by side :) I also see you bringing each-other balance, you’re more sensible side being a good reality check for some of his wilder ambitions, and his confidence would make him your #1 fan. He’s telling EVERYONE how amazing you are and “did you know she wrote the most amazing book, and this is the plot…” :)

I ship you with Henry Tilney

Let's do something a bit difference and show our love for an underappreciated Jane Austen man.

If there is anybody who is open to contradictions it's Henry Tilney, he's got plenty himself. He'd love your snark and would be just as willing to give it back. The pair of you could likely go on for hours quipping back and forth until you can't keep up the game anymore and just start laughing.

He's also just as willing to indulge your fanciful side, enjoying it himself, while also being the lead to bring you back to the here and now. More importantly, however, he is kind and has seen a lot of the world. He knows how cruel and unfair it can be. Admittedly sometimes it brings his down as well, but he doesn't want it to. The pair of you could help each other figure out the balance.

I'm crying! This is honestly the dream. I do love a man who expresses interest in my interests.

6K Follower Celebration (Request Are Open)

(17/30)

[izzy-b-hands]

I think I’ve identified the main issue w/the latest rizzy fic, but fuck me if I can figure out how to fix it.

I don’t know exactly where it’s going.

Normally, this isn’t an issue. I tend to let the story flower as I go, and trim as needed.

But I’m absolutely staggered with this one, where it’s either (major spoilers for this modern AU fic plot here no matter what direction I go with it in the end, but if you don’t mind that/are curious abt the text blocks of info doing my head in, read on lmao):

Version A: Roach (independent food/chef vlogger) gets too into his May 31st project (a crepe cake) and works into June 1st, only to be reminded by Izzy of his extensively planned Pride Month activities/ideas, that Roach had advertised all the month of May as starting IMMEDIATELY on the first (aka he should already have a video of a themed dish up, but he doesn’t bc he’s on Cake Ten of the crepe cake, and their pantry is now fucking empty too.) Fic (tentatively for now) would end with Izzy figuring out how to help him A. finally finish a satisfactory crepe cake (to Roach’s standards, aka Very Fucking High), B. rapid fire choose and film one of his themed ideas for the Pride Month stuff, and C. eventually sleep bc all of this is going down at like. One in the morning.

Version B: All of the above up until Izzy’s part. Instead of figuring it out that night, he gets Roach to bed and does what he can to help before leaving for his own job (PA/Security/Other Duties As Assigned to the combined very rich household of Ed, Stede, Mary, Doug, and the kids (in a huge shared house, so they aren’t in each other’s faces if they don’t wanna be, plus Ed & Stede are implied to own other property they spend time at too.))

The issue with Version B is that I worry the thing is getting too Big:

now I have a subplot started there about Izzy admitting to Mary (when he drops in for the morning to take the kids to school and give both couples of the house one of the reject cakes that Roach has deemed won’t be used at all by him. They have ten fucking cakes in the fridge, getting rid of two barely puts a dent in it tbh)

that his mum passed, in England (implied that everyone else is living in the States or NZ, I’m not exactly sure where I wanna put them yet frankly bc either is fine like I DON’T ACTUALLY CARE BUT I GOTTA IMPLY ONE OR THE OTHER DON’T I) last year, during June.

And he just didn’t tell anyone bc A. everyone was busy w/their own lives, B. Roach was doing his usual Pride Month stuff, and Izzy always helps him film/cook/etc for any bigger projects whenever he can, and he didn’t wanna distract from that, and C. he and his mum had a Complex relationship, so he probably wasn’t going to go visit her before she died anyway (secretly, he wishes he had. Only one who knows anything abt how Izzy and his mum interacted is Ed, who tbh has gotten distracted from any of that stuff since meeting Stede and focusing on helping create the shared family they have w/Mary, Doug, and the kids. Which is absolutely fair, but still. For the sake of their friendship, it will need Addressing of some kind, at some point.)

Like all of this is fine in theory, but it already feels sort of out of control? Bc like I then need to address in a finished version of B:

-Izzy and his mum

-Izzy and Ed

-Izzy and his relationship w/Ed, Stede, Mary, Doug, and the kids. Only bc there’s the implication that while it’s good and fairly easy work for Izzy, he occasionally does feel/get treated like The Help during work hours vs someone they actually know well who happens to work for them, and they sort of. Forget that once his shift is done for the day, he might still hang out just as a friend of the family, and they don’t always remember to turn off that Voice of talking To The Help in those moments (with it being noted that Roach and other crew members have witnessed this, but have leaned on Izzy to sort of give them permission to call it out, which of course he isn’t gonna do for fear of it fucking up their arrangement, and he doesn’t wanna job search in his mid-fifties. Which I think is valid enough lol.)

-Roach and his Pride Month problem (aka he’s got all the research in front of him, in this case the idea that he’ll highlight dishes that were beloved by notable/famous ppl w/in the LGBTQ community, but Actually, that isn’t always info that’s easy to find and some of it is more basic foods which he expected, and it’s fine, except he really wanted to challenge himself and maybe if he just looks a little more he can find something else-cut to two hours later and he’s asleep on his laptop. This isn’t even getting into the actual cooking and videoing of said cooking. He needs a Break.)

-Roach and Izzy addressing their mutual issue of ‘working too goddamn much, but not knowing how to take breaks and not feel Terrible and Useless during them.’ It isn’t necessarily hurting their relationship, but it is making them both more stressed than they need to be, and neither of them knows how to calm their brains down enough to understand that they can, in fact, budget for a small break or a vacation and nothing bad will happen.

-The kids and their implied issue w/mainly Mary and Stede (Ed and Doug hang back and are still doing the ‘I’m a new stepparent and I don’t wanna fuck up and overdo any of this, so I just sort of do what my spouse tells me to do re: the kids’ discipline/scheduling/etc), that they’re forcing them into an obscene amount of extra activities (including night tennis lessons, that require Izzy to also stay/work late, not getting them home until nearly ten at night, and himself then even later.) I don’t think they actually allow night tennis of any kind for kids unless it’s like. a fun now and again event, but to me it sounds exactly like what Mary and Stede would get talked into signing the kids up for. After all, it’ll look good on various school applications, and there’s nearly two whole hours after the after school study groups and other sports they play, surely the kids don’t want to sit and do nothing then? (spoiler alert: they do. they just want to sit and do nothing and be kids, which Mary and Stede do know, but have forgotten in the mess of getting divorced, then watching each other get remarried nearly right away, then realising it would easier/cheaper to try and share a home and keep the kids stable under one roof and moving everyone in together. Not an excuse, just an explanation.)

And that’s. So Much Stuff for one fic. And that’s WITHOUT figuring out what I want the main goal/ending to look like for sure. I won’t lie and say I’m good at multichaptered fics, I’m very much not, but I think that’s the only way Version B could work. And Version B, for what it’s worth, I think could be very satisfying and interesting as a read.

Version A, on the other hand, would be shorter, less dramatic, and would probably involve just Izzy and Roach, whereas Version B eventually would at least be referencing that like. The crew we know and love still work for Ed and Stede and whatever they do in this modern AU (marketing that only involves nautical/maritime/marine life themes maybe? does it matter in the end if it gets mentioned vaguely all of once???)

Even then, we still have the issue of: where in the FUCK is any of this going? What’s the point?

Version A, to me rn, is much more focused on rizzy and the internal dynamic there, focusing hard on the comfort of their life together and tackling problems together. I could probably just pull together something cute abt Izzy trying to fix the latest crepe cake while Roach films his first Pride video. Like my current tentative ending isn’t horrible. Nothing to write home abt, but it’s Fine, ya know?

Version B, to me again dlksajf, is a bigger overall picture that frustratingly, as of yet, doesn’t have a real huge or distinct end goal. It’s less of a ‘here’s a set ending with clear wins and losses’ and more of a ‘life and ppl are messy, no matter how hard anyone tries. Everyone here is doing their best, and learning. Here’s how they’re doing by the end and what they’ve managed to learn/work on, with the implication that they’re gonna keep learning and doing better, but not without fucking up more first bc. Human’

But are either of those actually fucking satsifying???? I wish I knew!!! I was absolutely flying along writing the draft for Version B until all of the above shit knocked on the door of my brain and put up a goddamn roadblock!!!

This is so much info, but if you’ve read this far and have any thoughts/opinions on which of these seems more worth pursuing, please let me know somehow. I’m dying to brainstorm & bounce ideas around w/folks. But even if u just wanna say ‘nah Version A sucks do B’ or vice versa. Pls say it fdksafalk

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

One In a Million Chapter 1: Hello New Friend

TW: bad family life (mention of being disowned)

Chapt 2 here

"Hello, New Friend. Where have you been all my life?"

Also: If you've read my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series, please note that the Emery in THIS fic is a completely different person and is in no way connected to Dark Angel. TY.

(divider)

May 23, 2019 – Paradise, Nevada – 2 Days Before Double or Nothing

Emery stared dejectedly through the glass, as if her sad eyes would make the candy fall from its stuck position. She had already tried shaking the heavy machine, and hitting the glass but to no avail.

“Go effin figure,” she sighed, turning around and walking to the opposite wall 6 feet away. She spun around slowly and slid down the wall, sitting in a heap on the floor with her knees tucked against her chest.

“I get disowned for following my dream… then the airport loses my luggage… a taxi splashes me with street water… the hotel loses my reservation… and now this,” she thought, tears pricking at the corners of her brown eyes. Emery stared unseeingly at the package of MSMs, swallowing the lump in her throat. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t.

Emery had no idea how long she sat there, staring at the vending machine. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see people passing by down the halls. She could hear people both inside the hotel and outside in the hot Las Vegas sun. The shower of rain that transpired only two hours ago long since dried up.

“Was this a mistake?” Emery began to wonder,” Ever since I was little… watching people like Jeff and Matt Hardy, Lita… Eddie Guerrero… Rey Mysterio… wrestling was all I ever wanted to do. I saved up money to put myself in classes… to learn… I’ve been on independents… I’ve improved… But my parents… they don’t care… They want me to be like my brother… my sister… A lawyer, doctor or a teacher. Something that is important… but this is important… to me…”

She was so lost in her train of thought, she didn’t notice the man walking down the hall, slow down and come to a stop as he stared at the vending machine for a second. He looked across the hall from the machine to her, and back again.

“Need a hand?” he asked, slightly timidly.

“Hmm?” She questioned, coming out of her trance, noticing his presence,” Oh… No. Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Emery sighed,” I’ve tried. I think fate is trying to tell me I’m making a huge mistake because my luck has been total shit today.”

The young-looking man seemed to take in her appearance, glancing at the candy bar stuck between the glass and the pushers, before giving a determined huff.

“Then you definitely need this.”

Without hesitation, he slammed his whole entire body against the machine, causing Emery to look at him, wide-eyed.

“No—really! It’s okay—”

Again, he slammed his smaller frame against the machine, almost like he didn’t hear her.

“Really- I don’t want you to hurt yourself—"

“C’mon you stupid machine! Drop the fucking candy!” he growled, completely ignoring Emery as he slammed himself against the glass pane one more time. A small thud came from the machine as the brown bag of MNMs finally fell to the bottom. Emery watched as he bent down and retrieved them, then walked over and held them out for her to take, a shy smile on his face.

“Here.”

“Thank you,” she smiled back, truly grateful,” Do you like MNMs? I’ll share them with you, as thanks.”

“Don’t worry about—”

“No, really. Please?”

“Uh… okay. Sure. Thanks,” he nodded, sitting down beside her as she tore open the package and dumped some into his hand,” I’m Marko, by the way.”

“Hmm? Oh! Right—sorry. I’m Emery.”

“Really pretty name,” Marko said, before ducking his head with a blush, chewing the chocolate bits.

“Thanks,” she replied, a soft smile on her face. Maybe something was finally going good? Maybe her luck wasn’t as shit as she thought.

“Are you from around here?” Emery asked him, causing him to look back up at her.

“Nah, I’m from Mississippi. You?”

“Tennessee.”

“Get out! What part?”

“Union City, on the north border. You?”

“Olive Branch, on the north border. Just before you reach Tennessee, actually.”

“I think I’ve heard the name before, actually. What brings you to Nevada? If—if you don’t mind my asking.”

“Nah, you’re cool. I’m here for work, actually. I was asked by this wrestling company to do a match for their show—”

“Wait--! Do you mean All Elite?”

“Yeah!” Marko nodded, surprise and excitement radiating off of him,” Are you here to watch the show?”

“Kind of, like… I’m here for it too. I got a call asking if I wanted to do a match on their pre-show before the Live one.”

“Woah—wait. You wrestle?!” The excitement building between the two of them was growing. They now sat facing each other instead of side by side. Emery’s shit luck is long forgotten. Marko’s worry about his foot injury, and not being ready to wrestle tonight has long been forgotten.

“Yeah! You too?”

Emery gave a nod,” Yeah. I… I tried out for WWE last year but they turned me down, which is okay… but now…”

Now I have no family…

“What’s wrong?” Marko asked, noticing her instant mood change.

“It’s… it’s nothing…” An awkward silence broke out between the two, until Marko suddenly stood up, extending her his hand.

“Come on!”

“W-where are we going?” Emery asked, sliding her hand into his as he effortlessly pulled her up to her feet and began leading her down the hall.

“To the casino floor!”

“C-can you legally gamble?”

Marko stopped short and turned around to face her.

“I’m 22 years old.”

“R-really?”

“Yes,” Marko frowned.

“You get that a lot, don’t you? Because of the baby-face thing?”

“More because of my height, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m so short, so I must be a kid.”

“I’m sorry,” Emery apologized, causing Marko to look at her curiously.

“Why?”

“It sounds like it gets annoying… tiring… having people constantly pick at you because of that.”

“I mean… yeah. It can be… I try not to let it, but…”

They stood there, hands still locked together, silence falling between them again.

“So… what were we gonna do then?” She attempted to change the subject.

“Oh! Right!” Marko smiled, as he picked back up by leading her through the halls, through the casino. Eventually, they stopped and Marko looked over at her.

“I’ve found that almost all of these casinos have game rooms! Come on! I bet you I’ll beat you at every game here!”

At least my card still works.

“You’re on!” Emery accepted, scrunching her nose playfully.

This… this was going to be a beautiful friendship.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 15, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

You hear sometimes that, now that we know the sordid details of the lives of some of our leading figures, America has no heroes left.

When I was writing a book about the Wounded Knee Massacre, where heroism was pretty thin on the ground, I gave that a lot of thought. And I came to believe that heroism is neither being perfect, nor doing something spectacular. In fact, it’s just the opposite: it’s regular, flawed human beings, choosing to put others before themselves, even at great cost, even if no one will ever know, even as they realize the walls might be closing in around them.

It means sitting down the night before D-Day and writing a letter praising the troops and taking all the blame for the next day’s failure upon yourself, in case things went wrong, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower did.

It means writing in your diary that you “still believe that people are really good at heart,” even while you are hiding in an attic from the men who are soon going to kill you, as Anne Frank did.

It means signing your name to the bottom of the Declaration of Independence in bold print, even though you know you are signing your own death warrant should the British capture you, as John Hancock did.

It means defending your people’s right to practice a religion you don’t share, even though you know you are becoming a dangerously visible target, as Sitting Bull did.

Sometimes it just means sitting down, even when you are told to stand up, as Rosa Parks did.

None of those people woke up one morning and said to themselves that they were about to do something heroic. It’s just that, when they had to, they did what was right.

On April 3, 1968, the night before the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white supremacist, he gave a speech in support of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1966, King had tried to broaden the Civil Rights Movement for racial equality into a larger movement for economic justice. He joined the sanitation workers in Memphis, who were on strike after years of bad pay and such dangerous conditions that two men had been crushed to death in garbage compactors.

After his friend Ralph Abernathy introduced him to the crowd, King had something to say about heroes: “As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”

Dr. King told the audience that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.

He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America. “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”

People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left.

Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.

Wishing you all a day of peace for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2023.

—

Notes:

Dr. King’s final speech:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/martin-luther-kings-final-speech-ive-mountaintop-full/story?id=18872817

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON