#these potlucks i hate having to be fake nice to the people who go to them who are so annoying and revolting and i hate being fucking TWENTY

[pepprs]

the mortifying ordeal of today being a potluck day.

[tainoidiot]

If I may, can I request a jealous fic with any of the dork squad (jervis, riddler, or crane) 💕🥰💕

I think I'll do BTAS Jervis for this one!

* I'm finally not sick anymore, and all my schoolwork is finished so istg I'll post more I prommy-

BTAS Jealous!Jervis Tetch x Reader

+ "Alright! How do I look, my love?" Jervis asked you, showing off his signature indigo coat and tophat to you with a wide grin. All you could do was shrug and laugh, grabbing at his coat. "You know this is just a potluck my friends are hosting, right?" Jervis huffed, placing his hand on top of yours "I like making a good impression on people. And the first step with that is a fetching outfit!" He smirks, to which you shook your head and giggled "Baby, you look like an undertaker for clowns.."

Jervis faked a gasp, pushing you away "From my own beloved! I won't have it, I won't!" Placing his hand on his forehead and doing a dramatic fall onto the couch. You took his hand and smiled "Come on, we're gonna be late. Let's get going."

--------

+ Jervis sat at the park bench, nervously tapping his foot as he looked around. You had wanted to introduce him to your friends for a while now, but seemed to have forgotten that he wasn't really sure what to talk about around people. He didn't want to start going in on the lore of Lewis Carol, but he also just hated sitting there...

That's when he caught a glimpse of you talking to one of your male friends. This made him feel even worse, being that Jervis already felt pretty bad about his own image. Is this someone who could snatch you away at any second? Oh god, they're so attractive too! Why are you dating him when this guy was so perfect?! That's it! He won't take this!

Jervis got up, practically giving this guy the death stare as he walked over. As soon as he got to you, Jervis wrapped his arm around your waist. You jumped, not noticing him at first. "Jervis! You scared me!" You chuckled and smiled at him "Hm, yes.. my apologies." He growled, making it very clear how he felt in the moment. Catching onto this, you decided to excuse yourself from the conversation and pull him to the side.

"Is everything okay? You sound off." You asked with concern in your voice. Jervis shook his head and.. stopped. God, this entire attitude of his was silly wasn't it? He sighed and bit his lip nervously "Yes.. Yes everything is alright. I apologize for taking you away from your conversation." But it didn't take long for you to piece together what that was about. "Wait a second.. Jervis, are you jealous of him?"

"I can't exactly help it! He's so incredibly attractive, and you look like you're having such a nice time alongside him. Why would you want me when you could have that kind of man on your arm?" He asked, his voice squeaking a bit. You frowned and took his hands in yours "Jervis, no way do I want to be with him when I have something so much better." You explained. "But I'm older too. You already get looks from people from that, plus my reputation.." you could almost see him shrinking. It broke your heart.

"Baby, no way. Do you remember when I told you I loved you?" He nodded. It was dark, cold too. But you both made time out of your busy schedules to meet up and talk. It didn't take long for you to realize that you loved him, mostly because it was the first time you felt wanted by someone. He wanted to be with you, and it made you feel wonderful. "No guy can ever top that." You reminded him, wrapping your arms around him into an embrace. He smiled and reciprocated.

How silly of him, indeed.

[fractallogic]

Feels fitting that on a day where I’m FUCKING PISSED ABOUT EVERYTHING (ie, I hit a wall at about 12:30 and have been operating on negative spoons and less sleep since then) that the Avs lose AGAIN, I have an unsatisfying dinner (only after I go to the store after the gym to get literally two things and then realize when I get home that it would be much faster to just boil some pasta even though that’s not really what I want, but I am SO hungry), my thumb starts getting inflamed again, Artemis REFUSES to stay out of the plants until I lose my patience and yell at her, and to TOP IT ALL FUCKING OFF

THE FUCKING SMOKE ALARM GETS SET OFF BY MY SHOWER EVEN THOUGH I HAVE THE WINDOW FULLY OPEN

I am also stressing myself out about a potluck for the ling department happening tomorrow night that I just found out about, even though I’m not even sure it would be a good choice for my mental health to go (because I am not satisfied enough with my post-academic position to not be incredibly envious of people who are still gainfully employed as linguists, or even just as salaried, non-micromanaged employees who happen to also be doing the exact work that I wish I were doing), and would either be rushed and show up late, show up chill and on time empty handed, or show up chill and on time with some kind of grocery store food (there’s not even a Trader Joe’s in that direction so I couldn’t even fake a nice-ish charcuterie platter)

Like unless I’m really feeling it, why stress myself out about it!!!

ALSO I was feeling incredibly sad about the prospect of seeing Artemis (and therefore potentially also my partner when scone gets here permanently) for only three hours today (THREE HOURS?!) because I went to the gym and the grocery store after work and I knew I’d be putting us both to bed around now, and I freed her from the cathroom basically ten minutes before I went to work… what the fuck kind of life is that. There was no goddamn reason for me to be at work in the office today. I knew that going. If I could decide when I was going to be in the office, I would have stayed home. I HATE that I can’t make my own schedule anymore, or at least that I have to get approval to work from home. WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT. She’s only my CAT and I’m sad I can’t see her for more than three hours! WHT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN SCONE GETS HERE.

I am really overtired and I’m blowing things out of proportion and getting really worked up about things and basically just throwing a tantrum but OH MY FUCKING GOD I JUST WANT TO SCREAM AND THE FUCKING SMOKE DETECTOR WAS THE LAST FUCKING STRAW

[justalilpearlie]

THEY ARE YES!! I do think Krow has proven itself to be redeemable. that is UNTIL the finale

i wanna think it could maybe redeem itself after it goes into the outside world and gets a reality check

bc i mean if they caught it and sent it to the maze means they found the cult. when authorities find out cults they tend to take the followers and put them on rehab and punish the leaders.

so its whole "oh when im out of here on my throne i wont even remember ur name!!" speech at owen was uhm. HAHA what throne man? that place was probably turned into a fast food restaurant by now LOL its been a whole year n 1 day

but yea to me after the finale Krow ended up on the streets haunting random demons to feed off of and maybe at some point locked up again/almost caught

it would struggle so much out there, and it would deserve that, worse actually, for all its crimes

the only thing i hate abt the maze is that its mostly genuinly nice people having to pay for crimes horrible ppl on the outside world did. but then again they ARE those people, they just dont remember it.

bek put on a fake persona, even inside the maze she was selfish at her core. i do feel bad for what happened to her outside- actually bek is one of those rare cases where i like outside bek more than maze bek

owen was good inside the maze but the MOMENT his memories came back he went back to the specieism and killing demons. racist much, general /j

krow *tried* its best to be good inside the maze, it was flawed as hell but it always tried to bounce back into "goodness" or what it considered to be good, tried for the people it loved and cared for. it then remembered what it did outside the maze, and yes, like it said to owen, what krow did on the outside world is worse than what he did TENFOLD. yet it rejected that past. it saw what it used to be and refused to go back to that. it changed to good once more. it took the chance to change and stay peacefully in the clearing and it did. it tried to, it went to those potlucks around the campfire with the others while owen planned every demons deaths n whatnot. it was only when it tried to be good and thus got the short end of the stick for trying to care and humor someone that it said FUCK THAT. but when it turned to its old self it trully became worse than pretty much everyone else there. i love maze krow, i think thats who it wanted to be, cause it didnt even come out naturally, it actively took the choice, made the decision to try and be good.

anyhow yeah i still love them all as character but these- specially the last two tbh, bek did bad and shit but comparing just crimes? yeah the last two are on a whole different level id say.

anyhow sunset trio rant next i promise!!

Are you picking up what I'm putting down, Outsiders Tumblr Community?

Cocoa duo my roman empire

what if they were my favorite duo?

what if i even said they're hella underrated

what if i said i can ramble about them using just canon information and leaving all headcanons aside??

love other duos but damn this community has sm favoritism over few popular duos/trios and yall missin out in a BUNCH of cool posibilities shown in canon

i need cocoa duo content that doesnt villanize or victimize either of them cause they're both pretty complex characters with an even more complex relationship

no one gets them like i do.. /silly

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @lover95!

This is my Sterek Secret Santa gift for lover95! I hope you enjoy your fluffy soulmark AU! I certainly enjoyed writing it!

Read om AO3

******

you left a mark on me

Stiles is a klutz.

That much is well known.

What is less known is how only about half of the scrapes he gets into are his own fault- if that! Because in this universe you are lucky enough to share every injury with your soulmate - even if you don’t yet know the bastard.

With the amount of injuries they amass in a week, Stiles’ soulmate is either an even worse klutz than Stiles himself, part of a circus troupe (probably the always stumbling and falling clown), or a spy - James Bond style. Stiles would of course prefer the last option - purely because of the coolness factor. Who could resist James Bond?

When Scott gets bitten, a whole new world of options suddenly opens up. In Stiles’ newfound experience, supernatural beings spend most of their time injured in some way or form. To add insult to injury- literally!- they barely even notice it most of the time!

It would be just like Stiles’ luck: having a werewolf for a soulmate who spends most of their time getting injured - and probably doesn’t care to think about how that affects him. Ouch.

~*~

Soulmates aren't a very well studied phenomenon.

It is not known what percentage of the population has a soulmate, mostly because most people don't even know it themselves. You don't get a neat tattoo of your soulmate’s name or of the first words they say to you or anything helpful like that. Stiles wishes he lived in a universe like that. Instead he gets soulmarks - literal marks appearing on his body, reflecting the injuries of his soulmate.

Soulmarks can be anything - from light bruises to red scratches to even the occasional sprain. There's some stories about people breaking bones, but Stiles doesn't give any credit to those - he certainly hasn't ever broken a bone because of his soulmate and he has carried just about every other soulmark known to mankind on his skin.

Hence the thinking his soulmate was a super spy before realising werewolves were a thing.

Thankfully soulmarks are usually less severe than the original injury and never fatal. So instead of the deep scratch your soulmate has, you might end up with a heavy bruise, or a sprain instead of a break. But that right there is also why most people never even realise they have a soulmate. How many bruises do you discover on the regular without remembering how you got them? How would you ever know which came from knocking into the corner of the kitchen cabinet and which appeared because your soulmate accidentally dropped a hammer on their foot?

You see, most people don't suffer from severe injuries on the regular, and thus neither do their soulmates. Unless your soulmate is a werewolf of course.

It took cataloguing all of his cuts and bruises very meticulously, while also keeping track of which scrapes his friends got into, but the evidence finally seems to suggest that his soulmate is one of the pack. That's as far as Stiles has gotten, though. The only one he can rule out for sure is Scott and thank God for that. Stiles loves that guy like a brother, but that's just it - like a brother . Allison can keep his dick, as far as Stiles is concerned.

Everyone else is fair game though, even Jackson, perish the thought. He has mellowed out somewhat after his stint in good, old England, but still, the universe would have a very sick sense of humour if Stiles’ soulmate turned out to be Jackson Whittemore of all people. Stiles wouldn't mind any of the other betas, but really, there's only one member of the pack he is truly interested in.

That's the crux of the matter with soulmarks: How do you know you’ll even like your soulmate? What if you don’t? What if you love someone and they aren’t your soulmate? Or you aren’t theirs?

All of those are reasons why a lot of people do not actively attempt to search out their soulmate.

There are of course those who do - ritualistic woundings are a thing that unfortunately still exists, and pricking the fingers is a wedding rite that is occasionally celebrated, too. Hollywood loves the soulmate trope of course, soulmarks front and centre on posters even if they barely play a role in the film. Whole rows of bookstores are filled with soulmark romances - from Ancient Rome to outer space and everywhere in between. The question whether Cleopatra’s true soulmate was Caesar or Antony is a hotly debated one in certain circles.

Stiles himself has always dreamed of finding his soulmate.

His parents had been soulmates, though they only realised it years after being married, when his dad got shot on patrol by the only bank robber Beacon Hills has ever gotten and his mum bruised like a peach in the same place his shot wound was. Stiles has gotten his delicate complexion from her.

And the hopelessly romantic streak apparently.

His mum had loved that his dad and her had turned out to be soulmates after they married; it made her believe in fate she used to say and that “you'll find your soulmate, too, kochanie , and they’ll leave an even deeper mark on your heart than on your skin. Just be patient, baby.”

Well, Stiles has certainly got the marks on his skin, and someone has also left his mark on Stiles’ heart, but he's not sure those belong together. So, rather than risking learning an answer he doesn't want to know, he stops searching for an answer all together.

He'd like to imagine that his mother would approve of him being patient and waiting for whatever will happen. She'd probably just scold him for giving up, though.

The thought is not enough to make him risk his heart however.

~*~

Over the last few years, a tradition of pre-Christmas pack dinner has developed. Christmas is spent with their respective families, but the last weekend before Christmas is for the pack. It’s done potluck style - everyone likes different things, so instead of trying to find a compromise everyone’s happy with, they had decided to just let everyone bring what they want to eat. Stiles has learned to make an extra large batch of his pierogi , because that is eaten by just about everyone, whereas Lydia’s kale salad goes largely ignored by everybody but her and Jackson (the poor guy really is whipped).

Another tradition that has grown out of that one is the decorating the day before.

That’s not a pack tradition, though. This one is just for Derek and Stiles.

Because while pack dinner happens at Derek’s loft, it has long been decided that Derek is not to be trusted to decorate appropriately for the occasion. So Stiles always comes over the day before to help, and afterwards they order in and watch at least one Christmas classic. In a way it feels like their own little Christmas tradition, and Stiles has grown very protective of it. It’s when they reminisce about the past year and plan ahead for the next. Derek told Stiles about his plans to go back to uni while hanging up tinsel and Stiles spoke about his fear of losing his dad while spraying fake frostwork onto Derek’s windows. It’s as if no secrets exist between them when hanging up Christmas decorations - none except for Stiles’ soulmarks. Those he hasn’t dared to bring up yet.

This year’s decoration theme is definitely forest-y - gnarly roots as candle holders, cones and acorns instead of golden stars and red baubles, and even some mistletoe. According to Derek, Laura hated the artificiality of most Christmas decorations, all those garish colours, plastic-y scents, and the glitter that sticks to everything until Valentine’s Day comes around and covers you in more glitter, just this time in pink. Apparently the Hale siblings used to take turns decorating the house for Christmas, and when it was up to Laura, she did her best to bring the forest into the house.

“When I saw that mistletoe in the Reserve on my last patrol, it made me think of her, and how much she loved hanging them over every single door frame in the house. We never got anything done when Laura had decorated for Christmas because everyone was too busy kissing everyone else,” Derek says, a small smile on his face while his eyes show that he is far away, lost in memories. “I thought it would be nice to remember her through this - decorating like her,” he adds, and then asks, suddenly sounding very unsure: “Unless you think the pack would prefer more traditional decorations?”

“There’s nothing more traditional than mistletoe,” Stiles replies firmly. “And if Lydia says anything, I’ll remind her of the year she thought burnt orange and dark teal would make good Christmas tree colours.”

Derek smiles softly in response, and Stiles would have liked to blame the answering flutter of his heart on heart burn but he has long ago learned that lying to himself is of no use.

So, rustic decorations it is, which brings Stiles to the predicament he is currently in: balancing precariously on one of Derek’s bar stools, mistletoe in one hand, hammer in another and four, no three nails in his mouth. One nail just slipped out and possibly scratched one of his toes on its way down. Stiles doesn’t trust his balance enough to dare look down to check for blood. He’d call for help, but he’s honestly afraid of accidentally swallowing a nail if he opens his mouth. His genius idea to nail the mistletoe to the ceiling in the middle of the room, so that everyone ends up stuck under it again and again suddenly doesn’t look so genius any more.

Carefully, Stiles switches the mistletoe to his other hand, and takes one of the nails out of his mouth with his now free hand. So far, so good, but when he attempts to hammer the nail into the ceiling, he slips, and loses his balance.

Strangely enough, his last thought as he falls goes out to his soulmate. Maybe he’ll feel that.

But instead of hitting the hard floor, Stiles is caught in two strong arms, which break his fall. Somehow he even manages to spit out the remaining nails instead of swallowing them and killing himself that way. When he looks up, Derek’s face is dark with anger and white with fear.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he scolds and shakes Stiles slightly. “You could have broken your neck!”

“You caught me, though, didn’t you?” Stiles says, smiling angelically and tries not to feel disappointed that he didn’t at least break a leg or something. Surely his soulmate would have noticed that .

“And I’m starting to regret it already,” Derek snarks back, but his hands are gentle as he makes sure Stiles has regained his balance enough to stand on his own two feet again.

“Liar, you love me,” Stiles singsongs, and tries to ignore how much he wishes that were true.

“I hate you,” Derek throws back at him over his shoulder, having already turned away, so that Stiles can’t even see his face. And he doesn’t have a built in lie-detector.

“Hate to love me, you mean,” he still needles, and follows Derek, drawn like the moth to the flame, as always.

“If you say so,” Derek replies noncommittally, and Stiles forgets the snarky retort he’d had on the tip of his tongue, because he had been too focused on Derek to look where he was going and had run into the coffee table. Hard. Ouch.

In front of him, Derek stumbles.

Stiles’ shin throbs, and his thoughts are running wild.

He knocks his shin against the coffee table once more, and Derek stumbles again.

Elated, Stiles keeps kicking the coffee table, until Derek finally gets a clue and turns around. His eyes are wide and the look on his face is one of pure astonishment and disbelief. Stiles on the other hand can’t feel his cheeks anymore, he’s grinning so widely. Derek’s gaze caught in his, he deliberately kicks out one last time and his heart jumps when Derek flinches in reaction.

“I was hoping it was you,” he breathes, but at the same time, Derek says: “I was hoping it wasn’t you.”

“What?”

Stiles’ stomach is suddenly a ball of ice, all the elation he was just experiencing gone like a tendril of smoke in the wind. But Derek shakes his head hurriedly and steps closer, hand stretched out towards Stiles.

“No, that’s not what I meant! It’s just - I’m so broken, literally , and I couldn’t bear the thought of having inadvertently hurt you. Hurting you is the last thing I want to do. I know I don’t experience soulmarks the way you do, but the pain I must have caused you!”

The ice in Stiles melts as suddenly as it appeared and he steps forward in turn to take Derek’s still outstretched hand.

“I was hoping it was you,” he says, but then amends: “Well, actually, I was hoping it was James Bond for quite a few years. But once I knew werewolves were a thing, it was always you I was hoping for. I couldn’t know for sure, and I was too scared to ask, so I just kept quietly hoping. My soulmarks didn’t cause me pain so much as they gave me hope!”

Derek is obviously still sceptical and not convinced yet, so Stiles decides he has to haul out the big guns. Pun intended. He squeezes Derek’s hand in reassurance before dropping it and whipping off his shirt. Werewolves run hotter than humans, so the air in Derek’s loft is cool on his skin. The urge to cross his arms in front of his chest to hide himself is almost overwhelming, but the whole point of this exercise is to bare himself to Derek. So he gathers his courage, pulls his shoulders back and stands proud and tall.

“See this?” Stiles points towards a white scar on his right side. “That’s from when Scott fell off his chair in maths and I let myself fall off my chair, too, so he’d not be so embarrassed. Only I managed to cut myself somehow and bled all over everything, so then he was embarrassed for us both and worrying about me to boot.” He points towards a greenish bruise on his hip next. “I got that when I ran into our dining table earlier in the week. No particular reason why, I’m just spatially challenged apparently. I’ve got countless more marks like these, some visible scars, some fading bruises, most gone forever. I only remember the very visible ones, like that scar, or the most recent ones, like that bruise.”

He swallows and then turns half away from Derek.

“See my right shoulder blade? You see nothing, right? That’s where my first soulmark appeared. Or well, it probably wasn’t actually the first one ever, but it was the first one I noticed and recognised. It was just a small scratch with a pale purplish bruise. But I kept looking at it in the mirror because I was so happy. It was proof I had a soulmate, someone just for me. Someone who’d love me for who I am, because, not in spite of. That mark is long gone, but I’ll never forget about it. I’ll never forget about any of them. Like here,” he says, turning back around again, drawing a finger down his stomach and then repeating the motion on Derek’s clothed stomach.

“That’s when I knew for sure it was someone from the pack. That’s when I really started hoping it was you. But you all heal too quickly for me to properly catalogue your injuries, so I couldn’t ever be quite sure. Until now.”

Derek doesn’t immediately say anything. Instead he gently traces the path Stiles’ finger took, stroking across the skin on Stiles’ stomach, which breaks out into goosebumps at the touch.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he repeats, voice barely above a whisper and Stiles admits: “You probably will. But I’ll heal - not as quickly as you and the rest of the puppies, but I’ll heal. And I’ll treasure my soulmarks even more than before. But you can always mark me up in more pleasurable ways, too,” he adds with a wink and tilts his head to the side, hopefully revealing his throat in a tantalising way.

“You are the worst,” Derek replies, but there’s a twinkle in his eyes and a smile on his lips that lets Stiles repeat, this time with conviction: “And still you love me.”

“I do,” Derek acknowledges, and then curves his hand around Stiles’ shoulder, palm touching where his first soulmark appeared. The touch seems to shoot sparks through Stiles’ body, electrifying him. Gentle pressure on his back encourages him to lean in and then Derek’s other hand comes up to guide his chin up, so their lips can meet in a soft, careful kiss.

Before his attention is entirely consumed by Derek and his kisses Stiles thinks: “I didn’t even need the mistletoe.”

[trekwiz]

Hear me out: let's look at Florida for example.

DeSantis was reelected after his "don't say gay" law, so he could go on and keep making "anti-woke" laws. It's a given that the people who voted for him are Christian; there's no doubt that this is a core part of how his voters identify. He's playing directly to them.

And Christians angrily argue that it's just a few bad apples. That not every Christian is truly hateful like the Westboro Baptist Church. "Real Christians aren't like this."

But consider: could one bad church, in a state as big as Florida, have produced enough voters across the state to elect a fascist to implement Christian theology into law? These are real, true Christians.

These voters come from many kinds of churches. Even "accepting" ones. Most are likely of the kind that says, "I accept you being gay. Your sin of being gay is no worse than my sin of committing murder." The backhanded kind, where they're nice to your face, but eagerly vote to hide your existence in the classroom.

They get to hide that they're responsible, behind fake big bad churches that aren't like theirs. Behind politics. Behind politeness. It's not their fight, they care for you. But they vote to kill us anyway.

Then they get to carry on with their lives, completely unconfronted with our existence, and our suffering.

That needs to stop. They're responsible. It should hurt them. Let them try to find a way into their church through a crowd of protesters. Let them be intimidated by "god hates Christians" signs. Let their sermon be drowned out by chants against fascism happening just outside. Let their Sunday potluck close early because they're afraid protesters may get violent.

They treat us this way. Let them experience it, so they see protests at pride events differently. Let them see attacks on drag storybook hours differently when their own storybook hours are attacked the same way.

Make them think twice about the society they're trying to create. How likely are they to vote for someone like DeSantis if every time they do, their churches get overrun with more and more protesters?

They can't be this uncivil towards us, and expect us to walk on eggshells for them. Stop doing that; stop giving them what they want. Christians need to confront their own bad behavior, and that won't happen until the fight is on their doorstep.

As Christofascism continues to spread, there really should be more protests of churches.

The fight needs to happen on their doorstep. Christians need to be harassed into becoming good people for a change.

[ice-ice-taeyong]

Our Love Ain’t Fake, But Those Spiders Are

To: @ellie-elizabeth2001 / @ncthalloweenbash​

Title  Our Love Ain’t Fake, But Those Spiders Are Pairing JohnTen, side MarkHyuck implied, side NoRenMin implied Rating T (mild, mild swearing) Word Count 1522 [If Any] Trigger Warnings/Author Notes Sorry this is so short Ellie!!! Also it’s not the fantasy YuWin I promised you like five whole months ago but hopefully you still enjoy! Summary Ten has been pining for like, a whole year. Good thing Johnny works at the only seasonal decorations shop for a good five miles.

Read on AO3 (or just down below)

Ten let out a sigh and felt the chill in the air wash over him. October was his favorite month, seconded only by June. He checked the street before crossing, hurrying a little faster to make it into the store. He had been charged by Kun to pick up decorations for the Halloween party and as much as he liked the cooler weather he really didn’t dress appropriately. Entering the store Ten ducked his head down and walked right past the cashier he knew was working. The cute boy who went to his school couldn’t see him windblown and without makeup. Especially since the cute boy, Johnny Seo, had been the object of Ten’s crush for upwards of a year. Ten didn’t even know his name at the time but on the first day of sophomore year Ten caught a flash of the tattoo on cute boy’s neck and it perfectly matched the same one on Ten’s lower hip. However, Ten had only ever seen Johnny hanging around a girl, an arm slung across her shoulders or wrapped around her waist. Johnny was hot, athletic, and very popular. Always surrounded by people, never alone for a moment.

Except now. Ten felt his heart speed up once he realized the store was empty aside from the two of them, but he forced it to slow down. Ten knew Johnny wasn’t homophobic, like others who were popular, since he was best friends with Jaehyun, Taeyong, Doyoung, and Yuta, two of the schools hottest and most popular couples. Ten shook his head to clear it and pulled out the long list of decorations Kun wanted. They were throwing a Halloween party for their freshmen friends and since it was the first party most of them would attend, Kun wanted it to go perfectly. Ten shared the sentiment, so he pushed all thoughts of Johnny from his head and focused on pulling streamers, plates, cups, and other assorted spooky decorations from the shelves. Earbuds in, he let his mind tune out and Johnny disappeared from his life until he had to go check out.

Ten placed his basket on the bench and diverted his eyes away from the bright smile Johnny was giving him. It was just for customer service anyways. He was content watching the growing total on the register display before Ten registered Johnny asking him a question. He pauses his music and tugs out an earbud. “Sorry. Repeat that?”

Johnny smiled again, wide and big and bright. “I said you must be throwing an awful fantastic party to be buying all these things.” Ten tried his hardest not to immediately flush and nodded.

“Yeah. One of our friends was in the hospital for Halloween so we’re going all out.” He mumbled and Ten watched as Johnny’s eye immediately softened even further.

“I’m glad he’s alright now. I didn’t know you were close with Jaemin.” Ten felt his eyes pop out from his skull.

“How did you know it was Jaemin?” He asks, leaning forward into Johnny’s space. Jaemin hated to talk about his 15 months in the hospital, only their group of immediate friends knew.

Johnny chuckled softly. “Mark. He used to be my host-brother before his parents moved to Korea.” Ten nodded. Of course. Mark wasn’t as tightly integrated with their group, as in he had other friends, but he spent a significant amount of time with them and Ten thought of him fondly.

“I didn’t know you hosted Mark. He speaks fondly of you, but I can’t remember him mentioning your name.” At this Johnny extends his hand out and Ten’s breath catches in his throat. If he shakes Johnny’s hand now he’ll know Ten is his soulmate. Their tattoos will flare red-hot and ‘all sorts of magical shit’ will happen. (According to Jeno, Renjun, and Jaemin, who each found each other when they were little and starting middle school) Is he ready for Johnny to be apart of his life and not just a crush to watch from afar? Apparently so, since his brain reacted without Ten’s permission and he’s reaching out to grasp Johnny’s hand before the other man has a chance to finish saying his name.

As soon as his fingers recognize that they are touching something Ten feels a flash of heat on his hip, not unlike when he picks up a dumpling that’s too hot. Based on the look of utter surprise on Johnny’s face he too feels the signs of finding your soulmate.

“-nny. My name is Johnny.” Johnny finishes in disbelief, words breathless. Ten nods.

“Ten. Me.” He so very eloquently responds. Ten decides he’s allowed this moment of stupidity because he’s just found his fucking soulmate. Or rather, that his year-long crush and soulmate found him. Johnny nodded, mouth still hanging open slightly.

“Thank God it’s you,” Johnny whispered and Ten felt himself get whiplash.

“Huh?!” Ten, once again, so very eloquently responds. He really needs to work on stock responses to finding his soulmate so that said soulmate doesn’t think he’s a vegetable in the head. But more on that later, because Johnny is slowly going pink and it’s the most adorable thing Ten has ever seen in his life, oh god he won’t survive Johnny being his soulmate he’s too cute.

“I-It’s just that, oh gosh there’s no good way to say this, I saw you in the locker rooms one day. And your tattoo, you know? Not that I was staring at your hips for any particular reason, I mean they’re very nice hips, oh gosh no-” Johnny seemed like he was going to panic-babble for quite so Ten cut him off with a soft smile.

“It’s okay Johnny. I saw your tattoo first day of sophomore year.” He admitted quietly. “Always had a bit of a crush on you, but you were with that girl, so I didn’t say anything.” Ten felt his smile melt away at the thought of the pretty white girl Johnny was always hanging off of. He lowered his eyes, getting ready for the inevitable rejection to come when Johnny laughed loudly and squeezed Ten’s hand gently. The hand he was still holding because in all the commotion they were still clinging to each other, the heat from their soulmarks toned down, but still there.

“Oh wow, Mari will love this. We’re not-ew no. She’s essentially Mark’s sister. Not really, it’s complicated, really complicated but dating her would be like-just ew.” Johnny explained, eyes full of mirth. Ten felt his face go hot.

“Oh, um, sorry for assuming.”

“Dude, I can’t believe we’ve known we were each other’s soulmate for a whole fucking year before actually doing anything. Damn.” Johnny chuckled and Ten wrinkled his nose.

“Please never call me ‘dude’ again. I’m too gay for that.” He joked, and Johnny laughed brightly.

“Sorry, my soulmate.” He gave an exaggerated bow and Ten couldn’t help shaking with laughter.

“Oh cut it out!” Johnny and Ten were both flushed with mirth and laughing softly. The laughter trickled out as the two just sat there and took in the details of their soulmate. Their soulmate, the person who they would spend the rest of their lives within some capacity. An unknown amount of time passed before the cash register beeped in protest at having an incomplete purchase for so long. Ten startled, flinching back slightly. Johnny chuckles at him and finishes ringing up Ten’s decorations.

“Would you, um, would you like to come to the party tonight? If you don’t have other plans?” Ten asked. “We could get to know each other a bit better? And Mark is gonna be coming anyway, Hyuck is going so…” Ten trailed off awkwardly.

“Well if Hyuck is there you can guarantee Mark. And I’d love to come. But I promised to spend time with Taeyong, Yuta and their respective other halves. Could they come as well?” Johnny asks, hopeful. Ten thinks about declining, not wanting to have to face such popular people but then he thinks of Kun and his ‘all are always welcome’ rule.

“Of course. I’d actually really like to meet your friends. And I want you to meet mine.” Johnny nodded and flashed Ten the brightest smile he’d seen yet. It made his heart warm and caused flutters in his stomach. He was really going to spend all night surrounded by his closest friends and his soulmate. Johnny. It couldn’t be a better way to spend Halloween. After paying Ten handed Johnny his phone, letting the other add his contact. Johnny put himself as ‘My Soulmate Dude <3’ and Ten laughed for a whole minute before he could speak. Johnny preened at making him laugh so hard.

“You don’t need to come in costume, but its custom for each guest to bring a snack of some kind, like a potluck with junk food. I’ll see you soon!” Ten leaned over the counter and quickly pecked Johnny’s cheek before collecting his bags and throwing a hand up in a wave as he left.

“See you!” Johnny called after him. It was going to be a good, good Halloween.  

[queenietheapprentice]

Apprentice ask

By the lovely @communitytheaterlucio

Which character(s) is your apprentice romancing? What attracts your apprentice to them? Queenie is romancing Julian, but she’s been in love with Asra, and they had a relationship before the red plague killed her.  What she liked about Asra was how well he knew her, and how he always seemed to know what was on her mind. He cares so much for her, and it was nice feeling appreciated for once. What she likes about Julian is, well... she can’t pinpoint it exactly. He’s dramatic and funny, kind and sympathetic and also romantic and happy. Maybe that’s it, there is no explanation for why she loves him, he just makes her happy, and she’s content with that.

If your apprentice was a romanceable character in The Arcana, what would their route be like? (Feel free to be as detailed or as vague as you’d like.) The main “problem” in Queenie’s route would be regaining her memories, and figuring out why everything bad is happening in Vesuvia. She knows Lucio is the cause of the plague, but not why. She knows her memories are lost, but not how many or what they’re about. She also wants to know what happened to her parents, since she doesn’t remember her life before moving in with Asra. Her romantic scenes wouldn’t be dirty, but rather sweet and cute. Queenie can be forward and headstrong, but if you show her affection she gets really shy. She’d probably go on nature walks, or walks in the city, stargazing, exploring and trips to small stores and libraries a lot, and you’d get to go with her! Also, Queenie’s route would include learning a lot of new magic, and maybe even some magic lessons.

How does your apprentice take their coffee? Do they even drink coffee? If not, what do they drink instead to put pep in their step? Queenie does drink coffee and tea, depending on her mood. She takes her coffee with milk and a dash of cocoa powder, and her tea with honey. Although, her favorite drink is lemon iced tea.

If your apprentice was attending a potluck, what would they take as their contribution? The dessert obviously! She’d make something fresh and sweet, like key lime pie. She’d probably bring some homemade soda, also.

What are some of your apprentice’s minor and major fears? What’s the best way to comfort them when afraid? Minor fears: She doesn’t like heights, although she finds them beautiful. Another minor fear of hers is not being able to protect the people she cares about. This is only minor because she feels confident most of the time, especially because of her magic. Major fears: GOD, where do I start? She’s terrified of failing or not being good enough (the constant struggle of a perfectionist, am I right?), and she is afraid no one will ever understand her, leaving her to feel lonely for the rest of her life. She hates speaking in front of crowds of people, no matter if there’s 5 of them or 200. During Julian’s trial, she was close to fainting. The only reason she could control herself was that she was afraid of losing him. Comfort: This really depends on three factors: a) What fear is troubling her? b) Who is there to comfort her? c) What mood was she in before she got scared? If you’re close to Queenie, know her well and also know her greatest fears, a hug will go a long way. Queenie usually hates hugs, but if she’s sad (or just really likes you) one might just make her feel better.  If you’re not close with Queenie and she isn’t totally panicking, just sit with her and talk about anything else, help her distract herself. 

Does your apprentice enjoy dressing up or would they prefer to just wear what’s comfortable? Queenie sorta can’t decide here. She loves comfy clothes, she’d wear her pajamas everywhere if she could. At the same time, she enjoys dressing up and feeling pretty (for, like, 5 minutes). She also likes the surprised faces she sees whenever she dresses up.

Is your apprentice happy with their physical appearance? If so, do they flaunt it? If not, what do they want to change? Queenie is 5′2, a little curvy and not what you’d call an ideal beauty. Her height doesn’t bother her, she kind of likes it actually. Her face doesn’t bother her either. She used to think she was plain, but she now thinks she’s beautiful when she looks in the mirror. However, she sometimes feels chubby, even though logically she knows she isn’t. She thinks her thighs are too thick, and her stomach sometimes bothers her. Whenever she sits down, she makes sure her stomach doesn't “hang over” her waistband. Asra and Julian are constantly telling her she needs to stop, and she really is trying to. 

What would your apprentice want as a birthday gift? Oh, anything with a sweet thought behind it. She also loves books, notebooks, pens, paintbrushes, paint, concert tickets, and so on. Anything magic will also make her happy.

What is your apprentice’s natural stress response (fight, flight, or freeze) and how does that influence their actions when confronted with a stressful situation? Do they recover from stress quickly or does it affect them for hours afterward? When thrown into a stressful situation, Queenie is quick thinking and often finds a good solution to the problem. She avoids fighting if she can, but if she has to defend herself she will. Problem-solving is one of her strongest attributes, so these kinds of things aren’t really a problem for her while they’re happening. Afterwards, she can break down and cry for hours if it was stressful enough, or put it away and react to it months or years afterward.

What’s the first thing someone is likely to notice about your apprentice when meeting them for the first time? Do they have any other quirks that set them apart? A lot of people notice Queenie’s weird quirks first, like how she smiles, cries and laughs when she reads. Some notice that she constantly inspects her surroundings, and others just notice the cockiness radiating off of her. Julian and Asra, however, noticed her eyes first, and the look of fascination, curiosity and liveliness in them.

How does your apprentice act when meeting new people? Are they outgoing, shy, awkward, aloof? Do they like being the center of attention? Queenie gets anxious being put in social situations and being introduced to new people. Either she sits there awkwardly and says nothing, or she tries to avoid the quietness and babbles about irrelevant things. Either way, it’s always awkward.

How does you apprentice treat people in positions of authority? Does your apprentice believe they deserve respect just because of their position/status? Queenie has a basic respect for everyone, but if they get to keep that respect or not is up to them. She judges people by their actions and how they treat others, and so, if an authority is cruel to innocent people, (*cough* *cough* Lucio) she loses respect for them, and that will be obvious when she speaks to them.

Your apprentice sees someone who is very obviously wealthy accidentally drop a small pouch of coins. What do they do? She gives it back to them, of course. Queenie wants to help the poor people in Vesuvia, but not by stealing. She might befriend the rich person and get them to give to charity themselves, but she would never steal if she didn’t have to. 

What was your apprentice’s reaction to Julian’s speech on the docks in Book VII? How did they deal with it afterwards? At first, she was hurt, thinking he didn’t actually care about her. Then she was angry, thinking he’d led her on. Then she was heartbroken, finding out how Julian thought of himself. And then she was angry again, partly because he couldn’t see his own value, and partly because he wasn’t letting her make her own choices.

How does your apprentice feel about sharing a bed with Asra in the shop? At the moment she isn’t sharing a bed with Asra, but she was before the plague. When he first suggested it, she freaked out and got nervous, but then when he held her for the first time, she calmed down and found it quite nice.

Does your apprentice enjoy the luxury of the palace and Nadia’s gifts or do they find it overwhelming? To be straight to the point, no, Queenie hates living at the palace. She feels like she never gets her privacy, and all the attention is too much for her. She just wants to go back to the shop.

How does your apprentice react when confronted with the creature from the abandoned wing in Asra and/or Nadia’s routes in Book VII? What’s going through their head at the time? She was just shocked. She’d never seen anything quite like it, so her mind instantly tried to figure out what it was. But mostly, she was curious and fascinated.

How does your apprentice feel about Consul Valerius? They sort of have a love-hate relationship. They constantly banter and fight, and they never agree on anything. Though she’d never admit it, she thinks he’s funny and she cares about him.

Is there a song or songs that you associate with your apprentice?  Next to me - Imagine Dragons Born to run - Bruce Springsteen Audition (from La La Land) Bitter sweet symphony - The Verve Mia and Sebastian’s theme (also from La La Land) And lastly Secret Garden - Bruce Springsteen

Is your apprentice friends with any other fan apprentices? No. Aside from hanging out with Julian, Mazelinka, Portia, Nadia and Asra, she keeps mostly to herself. Also, she thinks that some of the other apprentices are a little fake. Plus, they always trash talk her and try to make her feel bad. (This last part applies to other apprentices that may live in Vesuvia, not fan apprentices!)

[nearlyhuman]

I didn’t even make this a read more you’re just gonna have to scroll or press j

2: Age? 24 3: 3 Fears? alienating people I want to like me, going to school when i should have not, not going to school when i should have 4: 3 things I love? Vegetables, girls who i don’t know but then they invade my personal space, taking long walks almost every night of the summer 5: 4 turns on? they’re personal 6: 4 turns off? baby talk, the word “daddy,” self-consciousness, physical pain 7: My best friend? my fam, J + K, my boyfriend 8:Sexual orientation? they say its a spectrum but so far i haven’t ever wanted to do a girl  9: My best first date? i don’t remember what my first official date with R was but definitely not the other guy so I guess the other other guy who is married now. or there was one that wasn’t a REAL date but it was KIND of a date but it really wasn’t but that one might win  10: How tall am I? huge 11: What do I miss? Knowing my place 12: What time was I born? @ night 13: Favourite color? going to be honest the truth is i never understand this question and it doesn’t really make sense to me and that’s why the answer always changes... green... gold... pink... black... idk 14: Do I have a crush? idk if i’m supposed to say yes but i’ve been w/ my bf for years now i think it’s something other than a crush by now 15: Favourite quote? I don’t have one over all but one I recently read that I love is this: “Malcolm X never lived to see the government fall but the state he opposed made him a stamp. And that's the best you can hope for if you never give up - your enemies will teach your corpse to dance.” Pat the Bunny. 16: Favourite place? lately it’s been the inner harbor at night 17: Favourite food? lately it’s been a tray of peaches we got at TJ’s 18: Do I use sarcasm? Only when I shouldn’t, like when i’m pissed off and being a baby about it 19: What am I listening to right now? R taking medicine lol 20: First thing I notice in a new person? it probably depends on the person, but i usually look at their face and try to figure out if they’re nice, mean, or bland, etc 24: Favourite style of clothing? to this day the only person i think i ever knew that i had strong feelings about how they dressed was when two brothers at the pizza place where i worked just wore the same 3 shirts over and over and over and the same pants and shoes every day. I also like other famous people who also wear the same thing every day. 25: Kiss someone that starts with the letter “R”? i have ONLY kissed people with the first initial R 27: Meaning behind my URL? I used to feel like I didn’t have the right feelings like a normal person, but then i went to therapy for a while and now i’m pretty fine with my feelings, but i still like my url and don’t feel like putting in the effort to find something i like better 29: Favourite song? i don’t have one atm but i guess one foot on the gas one foot in the grave has been #1 for a couple years, before that it was hypocrite cte 30: Favourite band? anything toh kay touches 31: How I feel right now? annoyed that i have to be in school 32: Someone I love? my old boss malick 33: My current relationship status? w/ R 34: My relationship with my parents? i’m not in a therapy session so i don’t have to answer 35: Favourite holiday? Valentine’s Day?  36: Tattoos and piercing i have? just ear lobes 37: Tattoos and piercing i want? I really don’t want any and I don’t want to say my tattoo ideas here anyway 38: The reason I joined Tumblr? I was trying to learn how to talk genuinely w/o any of my friends saying i was experiencing normal teen rebellion 39: Do I and my last ex hate each other? yes 40: Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts? no 41: Have I ever kissed the last person you texted? no 42: When did I last hold hands? a couple days ago i think 43: How long does it take me to get ready in the morning? 10 minutes if i’m trying 44: Have You shaved your legs in the past three days? monday for class 45: Where am I right now? bedroom 46: If I were drunk & can’t stand, who’s taking care of me? deborah 47: Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level? both 48: Do I live with my Mom and Dad? no 49: Am I excited for anything? doing potluck movie nights 50: Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to? EVERYTHING? you can never tell someone EVERYTHING you think about them, so that always ruins it 51: How often do I wear a fake smile? I don’t work in customer service anymore 52: When was the last time I hugged someone? when i got to chemistry lab earlier today 53: What if the last person I kissed was kissing someone else right in front of me? i would be so confused lol 54: Is there anyone I trust even though I should not? yes 55: What is something I disliked about today? all of the school 56: If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be? davey mac 57: What do I think about most? school, anarchism, acne, friendships 58: What’s my strangest talent? yesterday my kind-of mentor said i was his mentor 59: Do I have any strange phobias? no 60:Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it? i definitely don’t want to be behind it but i only MIGHT want to be in front of it 61:What was the last lie I told? don’t remember 62:Do I prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online? phone, don’t have to worry about angles 63:Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens? No ghosts, no opinion on aliens 64:Do I believe in magic? No and i find it really irritating when people do 65:Do I believe in luck? idk what that means, i guess not 66:What’s the weather like right now? i’m inside 67:What was the last book I’ve read? i’m in the middle of Walden and Conquest of Bread 68:Do I like the smell of gasoline? yesss 69:Do I have any nicknames? yes but very few people use them 70:What was the worst injury I’ve ever had? none 71:Do I spend money or save it? save 72:Can I touch my nose with a tongue? no 74:Favourite animal? James 75:What was I doing last night at 12 AM? watching TV 77:What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it? when nirvana comes on the radio 78:How can you win my heart? talk to me often and about stuff i like, or have that Mysterious Something, or do vlogs 79: What would I want to be written on my tombstone? i’d be ashamed of myself if i had actually thought of an answer 80:What is my favorite word? probably either... Christmas... Valentine... Birthday 81:My top 5 blogs on tumblr? glumshoe 83:Do I have any relatives in jail? not that i know of 84:I accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow me with the super-power of my choice! What is that power? my first instinct is to say persuasion but not like manipulating other people’s will just make me really persuasive.  86:What is my current desktop picture? i never changed it from the default 103:Am I a vegetarian/vegan? no, I kind of disagree w/ making those strict decisions, but i do try not to eat much meat and very very little red 109:Been outside my home country? yes, several countries in europe and once to guadeloupe 110:Gotten my heart broken? yeah haha twice when i was a kid 114:Been to prom? no 118:Had a crush on someone of the same sex? don’t think so, at least not the kind that makes you want physical contact w/ them 119:Learned another language? made good progress w/ french 123:Dyed my hair? blonde ends, green ends, pink ends, black ends, green all over, dark red all over 124:Voted in a presidential election? a big secret is that i voted for Mitt Romney when I was 18 haha 127:Met someone famous? Matt Shultz and Tomas Kalnoky 129:Peed outside? yes 130:Been fishing? yes 131:Helped with charity? i prefer working at non profit places than for profit 132:Been rejected by a crush? i never went after anyone to be rejected, but i’ve definitely wanted to be w/ people who didn’t want to be w/ me 134:What do I want for my birthday? everything 135:How many kids do I want and what will be their names? maybe 5 or something, give or take 2. Probably name the first ones Tomas and Tavi 139:Favourite Tv Show? shameless 140:Where do I want to live when older? maybe Frederick 141:Play any musical instrument? not anymore, took violin in highschool/middle school for a few years 142:One of my scars, how did I get it? i had a wart on my knee removed lol 143:Favourite pizza topping? pineapple or veggie pizza 144:Am I afraid of the dark? not in and of itself 145:Am I afraid of heights? moderately 147:Have I ever tried my hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end? what kind of emo question is this  148:What I’m really bad at? anything someone with really long thin arms would be bad at 149:What my greatest achievements are? the stuff i’m most proud of would sound like i have a hero complex if i just wrote them here. writing a whole book. 150:The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me? they were going to kill me lol it didn’t happen though 151:What I’d do if I won in a lottery? if i answered i’d either sound like a goody two shoes or a doodoohead in a guy fawkes mask 152:What do I like about myself? I am very smart 153:My closest Tumblr friend? I don’t think i have any left!  154:Something I fantasise about? having a house outside a city w/ willow trees and magnolia trees and bamboo and a few weird looking dogs