#they only get a pass if the distance fits the scene and whatever is going on inside the characters at that moment

[airenyah]

i've been truly blessed as a joongdunk stan, like, there are soooo many things on my jd wishlist that i've been getting???? and i've really been wanting a ballroom dancing scene too and from the hurt me please mv it seems like we'll actually be getting one???

but ngl my austrian ass is veeeeeery worried about it:

why is there so much distance between them?????? joong, dunk, boys, i am begging you, PLEASE do not let me down!!!!!!!!!!!! i know you can do it right i mean hello???????????

if you can do it in a music video you can do it on the actual show, come on boys i'm counting on you!!!!!!!

[mockerycrow]

super big congratulations on 4k!! you deserve it <3

i was wondering if you could write a gn! reader x price with the prompt "Hey, it's okay, I got you. You're alright, you're okay." it doesn't matter if it's platonic or romantic; whatever feels best for you!!

Thank you so much and congratulations!

YOU’RE ALIVE (Price x GN!Reader) — 4K CELEBRATION

[WARNINGS; Car accident, implied situationship w/ Price, moderate injuries, flashbacks, near panic attack, open ending.]

YOU DON’T REMEMBER the events that lead up to you in a hospital bed, a cast fitted around your arm, a brace on your knee, a bandage around your skull, and only God knows how many stitches and bandages in random assortments. You can’t forget the numeral wires and tubes attached to you, too. Oh, and the ear-bleeding beeping. John sits next to you in a chair—he’s your… friend, of sorts. You aren’t really sure what to call what you two have going on.

You look at him, slumped in the visitors chair he’s pulled up beside your bed, his arms crossed and his legs spread; his neck is bent at an awkward angle and you know it’s going to ache whenever he awakens. John looks quite tired—he’s looked tired and stressed the entire time he’s been in the hospital room with you. Stressing over you, like a worried hu—…. you shouldn’t think about that. Suddenly the ceiling looks far more appealing to stare at, rather than the beautiful gentleman who is willingly staying at your bedside, despite your exhausted attempts to have him get some proper rest.

You glance over at him—envious of how he’s able to sleep right now. Hm. Honestly, you know John would be awake with you if he had the energy. The only reason why you’re awake is your stitches itch, and the only reason why he’s asleep is because you did not wake up for four days after you passed out at the scene of a car accident you were apparently in; an accident you don’t remember too well. You barely even remember what you had for breakfast that morning; cereal of some kind, maybe? Eggs? You don’t know.

“You were on the way to work, love.” You remember John telling you. You remember the tense expression, the firmness of his eyebrows. The frown of his lip, the way he amusingly resembled a quokka in the moment. You were also apparently on the phone with John at the same time, so whatever happened, he heard all of it. The details from your own memory are fuzzy—your doctors concluded your amnesia is temporary, so they gave you the choice of remembering it yourself or having them tell you. You opted in for the first option.

It was coming back to you in bits and pieces. Small moments where you feel the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, you think you hear glass shattering in the distance; your heart begins to race at different moments. You aren’t sure what to make of it—until now.

“I’m not excited for this meeting.” You whined, your eyes were glued to the road. Your phone is bluetooth connected to your car’s system so you can talk with John and have both of your hands on the wheel. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, honey. Surely it’s just about budgets like last month.” John hums through the speakers of your car. You sigh, turning on your windshield wipers as it’s pouring out, obscuring your vision a bit.

“It’s raining pretty hard, how do the roads look?” He asks, a bit of rustling coming from John’s end. He’s probably reading a book or looking out from the curtains. “I’m driving slower than normal, visibility isn’t the greatest..” You admit, letting out a breath, slowing the car down once again. “..I was sliding a bit, thinking it’s time I get some new wheels.” John hums in agreement. “Definitely. Please be safe, love.” You chuckled glancing around the road, furrowing your eyebrows when the double yellow line seems to fade. “I’m trying my best, Jo—“

You’re suddenly being jostled around violently after a big impact from your front, your seatbelt digging into your skin as something launches your car off to the side. “SHIT—“ You scream, attempting to stop the car, but the rain causes you to slide across the road. Something hits you from the back and you feel you physically feel yourself lift in your seat—and then you’re fading in and out. You wake up with wetness against your face, pain in your ribs, your arm, your skull—

You let out a choked sob as there’s ringing in your ears and your eyes refuse to focus—but you can tell you’re upside down. You see a pair of legs sprinting towards you through your broken side window, and you aren’t really register what’s happening. You blink and the person is try to pry the door open frantically. You still don’t hear them; it’s almost like a silent movie.

The door gives, the flipped car jostling from the force used to pry it open. You blink and fuck—It’s John. His eyes are wide and his jaw is tense, shaky hands. He’s grabbing the sides of your head, forcing you to keep your head still—his lips are moving but you can’t hear him. You sob and you try to reach up to touch him, and he lets you. Your eyes look at your own hand as it’s caked in your own blood, causing you to inhale shakily. This isn’t happening. The pain starts sitting you harder, a pulsing in the side of your head.

“Hey—“ John’s voice suddenly cuts through and you blink, and you’re back in the hospital room. You’re breathing hard and fast, causing your chest to ache more than it already does. His hands are cupping your cheeks like he was in the flipped car, and you let out a panicked sob; your machines make loud beeping noises in retaliation. “Hey, it’s okay, I got you. You’re alright, you’re okay..” John quickly murmurs, his thumbs gently wiping your tears away. “Focus on my voice, okay? You’re alright. You’re in the hospital, love.”

You sniffle and nod, shakily inhaling once again as you try to calm your panicked lungs and struggling heart, your good hand coming up and gently grasping his wrist. “I-I was flipped over—“ You choke out, which John quickly meets with soft shushing and a kiss between your eyebrows. “I know, honey. I know. I got you, you’re safe now.” You nod, choking out another whimper as you lean into his touch—because John’s right. He has you; you’re safe, he’s the one who got to you first. You’re sure you’ll want to ask him how he found you so fast later, but all you want to do right now and feel him and hear him. Because you’re alive.

[archandshri]

28th June ‘24 - [arch] One Page Limitation??? - My process for Traffic Zine #5

Hello All!

A couple months ago, I got accepted to @trafficzine, a digital anthology of pieces by a large group of artists and writers based on the most recent season of the Life Series. I made this piece back in April, but thankfully I kept some notes of my process. 

Heads up - this contains spoilers for Secret Life :D

We were able to choose our own prompt from a list! For this project, I wanted to push my comic making - especially how to communicate a lot of information in a small space. I went through and watched a few clips from the series to see which prompt would fit a comic and settled on Scott’s death.

As usual, I began by getting some reference images and going ham on some big paper. This gets me excited about the project and helps generate ideas. I go for whatever interests me in terms of medium and subject matter, but I try to use a process that doesn’t let me control too much (in this case brush and ink)

initial sketches for fun and vibes :D

During this, I also took the time to transcribe the scene - I wanted to use the dialogue directly, and see how much I could fit into the single page that I was allowed for the zine.

In these early planning stages I make sure to do warm-up sketches to remind myself of the energy I want to communicate. This also keeps things fun and fresh so I'm not ONLY thinking about page composition and making things 'good'. (the expectation for it to be 'good' kills a project prove me wrong)

Dialogue from the clip + warm up sketches

Next up, I started to plan what panels I have on the page. At this stage, some panels might just be a box with some words, and some may have a sketch if I have a clear composition in mind. This stage is mostly for pacing and plot, so instead of focusing on what the panel and page will look like, I will think about:

what will happen in the panel

it's purpose and

what it will communicate

Sometimes I'll illustrate a string of panels that tell the story and fit them on a page after - but this depends on the project and my confidence with the size of it.

After messing around with these and coming up with a pretty clear direction, I draw a bunch of boxes to see how the panels could sit nicely together. At this stage I might realise I have too many panels, and need to cut a few or come up with a creative solution. Nothing is set in stone at this point.

sketching panel layouts

Now begins the fun! I decide on the layout I prefer and I can start putting planned compositions into the boxes. I often do this digitally, or a digital editing process will be involved.

Once planned, I print these out to do a more refined sketch over. I find that my traditional drawings have a lot more life and character to them than digital ones, so I try to keep the majority of the process traditional, with passes of scanning and digital editing.

I tried a version with her looking out at the distance - ready to face the oncoming battle. But it still felt off. So I turned to my slides to ask myself some questions!!

I tried to think of more things that were working - but I really felt like it was lacking a lot. I was going for this slower emotional feeling because that came more naturally to me, but it just wasn't working for this image. The original clip is quite rushed and chaotic - which would be harder to communicate in a comic format but the challenge interested me. Either way, I knew I wasn't happy with this direction so... i decided to start from scratch! Back to the drawing board!!!

In the previous version, I had cut out a lot of the dialogue, but I decided to go back to the original clip and use AS MUCH as possible. Since passing the bow was my favourite part of that first composition, I really wanted to lean into it as the emotional height and final goodbye before Scott's death. It's a moment to slow down and absorb the vibes :D

I made a list of panels along with their descriptions to refer to when trying to figure out the order of panels. there were SO MANY and it was VERY CONFUSING when they were too small to read.

These thumbnails were super small and would not have made sense without my list, I swear.

I printed this tiny thumbnail out at A4, so I could sketch over it and get a clearer sense of flow. Then began a loooong process of printing out tiny photocopies and rearranging the panels to be legible. It was a difficult balance of communicating busyness while making sure the hierarchy/reading order made sense.

After some tweaking, i printed out an A3 copy to draw my panel borders and text.

Doing this on a separate piece of paper means I don't have to worry so much about messing up the text or borders when drawing the characters. This allows me to be more free and expressive with my illustration.

Woah! Quick trip back in time!! During the thumbnailing process I drew these warm up sketches! I looooved the way the linework came out. I drew this on an A3 piece of paper - and the shocked Gem would, in theory, be one of the smallest panels. So I decided to do a crazy thing.

I touched up the sketch digitally, compiling some of my favourite warm up sketches, some traditional sketches made for the panels, and filling the rest in digitally. Then I printed this image out in QUATERS at A3!! This meant the final sketch layer, printed out was A1!! (aka very large, considering the final file would be at A4, about 8x smaller)

I did this so I could get fairly small detailed lines with my pencil while being quite expressive and firm with my mark-making. Slowly, I dlined all of the panels traditionally and scanned them in. Then I assembled the finished linework on Photoshop, along with the text and panel borders and got to colouring :D

final linework :D

For colouring, I played a little bit with halftone but I found the texture made it feel a bit too busy - the panels are already doing enough. Because of this, I also decided to use a limited colour palette. Here are some images of the colouring process, which I won't go into today.

I'm really happy with how this came out - I think it captures the chaos of the moment, while taking time to linger on the emotion of it. Keeping that bow moment really made it, I think.

I think the last panel is still quite weak. Earlier in the process there was a low-angle shot of Gem about to kill Scott which may have been more powerful, but I think I was struggling with my actual drawing skill when it comes to perspective. A lot of learning how to draw, and in particular with comics, is about knowing where your skills are at, how to utilise them best and how to test and push them.

I'm glad that I started again, instead of finishing that composition I wasn't happy with. It was a tough project but I learnt sooooo much from it, and it's been essential skill-building for.... the current comic I'm working on (stay tuned!!! :0) Thanks for reading this incredibly long post! Go check out @trafficzine and look at all the other cool art Cool vibes and silly men,

Archie :D

[forest-hashira]

Better Than Sake

hi everyone! this is the first in what will hopefully be a series of little one shots for the Noble Blood universe! some will be timestamps/scenes i want to write but don't fit into the overall fic for various reasons, some will be AUs within the AU. (& yes, i promise i'm still working on the main fic!!!)

shoko and utahime are about 16 or so in this. don't drink underage kids!!! especially not sake that shit is Strong (imo)

series masterlist here | read on ao3 here | wc: ~1.2k | cw: underage drinking, coming out (sort of, it's not made a big deal), love confessions (also kinda), first kisses, this is just shokohime, no other characters involved

“Are you sure we’re not going to get in trouble?” Utahime asked in a whisper, glancing over her shoulder for a moment, checking for at least the dozenth time in the last two minutes that they hadn’t been followed.

“I never said I was sure,” Shoko replied. “I said I was pretty sure, which is not the same thing. That’s why I didn’t bring Ryoji, and why I told you to leave Patience at home.”

“Shoko!”

“Sh!” the brunette shushed, turning and pressing a finger to the other girl’s lips. “If you keep fretting like that, someone’s gonna hear us, and then we’ll definitely get in trouble.”

Utahime frowned, but she nodded, not saying another word as Shoko took her hand and guided her down to the beach. Though it was late, it wasn’t cold, like it had been the last few weeks; it was finally warming up, and for that the girls were thankful.

They sat a short distance from the water, pressed side to side, when Shoko held up a bottle of sake.

“Want some?”

“Where were you even carrying that?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets.” With a smirk, Shoko pulled the cork from the bottle. “Do you want the first taste?”

There was a brief silence as Utahime considered the question; she didn’t really want to have the first drink, but she also knew the odds that shoko would try to drink the entire bottle by herself if she said no were high.

“Fine,” the darker haired girl sighed, holding out her hand for the bottle. 

“That’s my girl.” Shoko passed the bottle to the other girl, and though she noticed the way her words had made Utahime’s face go pink, she said nothing. 

Eager to distract herself from the way Shoko’s words made her heart skip a beat, Utahime was quick to snatch the bottle, pressing it to her lips and taking a much bigger swig than she intended to.

“Ugh, Sho, that is disgusting,” she complained, though she did manage to swallow the alcohol before speaking.

“Is it?” Shoko took the bottle back, taking her own drink, though hers was admittedly more controlled than Utahime’s had been. She swallowed, her only outward reaction being a slight wrinkling of her nose, and she shrugged. “I’ve had to take medicine worse than that,” she said simply, taking another sip before offering the bottle to the other girl again.

“Do I even want to know what kinds of medicines you’re taking if they taste worse than this?” Utahime mumbled, mostly to herself, as she accepted the bottle and took another, albeit much smaller, sip. “Don’t answer that question,” she added, when she saw Shoko open her mouth out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t need to know what you get up to that requires nasty medicine.”

Shoko just laughed. “You’re blushing, Hime,” she teased.

“Am not.”

“Are too. You just even more red, actually.” 

Utahime took another drink. She doesn’t have to look so smug, she thought to herself.

“What’s on your mind, hm? Thinkin’ about what I must be doing to need to take all that medicine if I’m not sick?”

“No,” the darker haired girl answered, too quickly.

“I think you are.”

A small groan, another sip from the bottle before shoving it back at her friend. “Shut up, Sho.”

The brunette relented for a moment, accepting the sake and taking another drink of her own. “Whatever you think I’m doing, you’re probably wrong.”

Utahime startled slightly. “Huh?”

“I’m not sick,” Shoko answered. “Well, not sick sick, but it's hard to work with sick people all the time and not catch something every once in a while. And I don’t take medicine for the same things some of the boys that live here do. I know you’ve heard them talk.”

If it was even possible, Utahime felt her face heat even more. She had heard some of the other boys from around the settlement talk about what caused their… medical problems; they were always so vulgar, and generally rather demeaning about the girls they were fooling around with. “Yeah, I have.”

“That’s not my issue, though. I don’t mess around with boys.”

“Because your parents would kill you if you got a disease from one of them?” It was a poor attempt at a joke, but it made the corner of Shoko’s lips twitch into a smile for a moment.

“No.” She took another drink from the bottle – quite a big one, Utahime noticed – and held it in her mouth for a moment before swallowing, as if she were stalling, or bracing herself for something. 

Though she couldn’t deny how curious she was about what could have her best friend, who was normally so laid back and unbothered, acting so hesitant, Utahime was willing to be patient.

“I don’t mess around with boys because I don’t like boys.”

“Neither do I.” Because really, what was there to like about boys, especially at their age? The only respectful boy she knew was Kento, and he wasn’t appealing to her like that. No boy had ever appealed to her that way, actually, now that she thought about it.

Shoko turned to face her, a slightly wary look in her eye. “I mean I’m not attracted to boys, Hime.”

“Oh.” There’s a beat of silence, then another. “Who are you attracted to, then?” 

Shoko tilted her head slightly, and Utahime found herself caught up – even more than usual – in the way her pretty brown hair swayed around her shoulders and framed her pretty face. Is she always this pretty? Utahime thought, Or am I drunk? Does being drunk even work like that?

“I’m attracted to you.”

When did she get that close? Was she that close the whole time? Oh my god— the slightly older girl’s mind raced, and without even thinking about it, she started leaning in a little closer. “Y-you— you are?”

“Mmhm,” Shoko hummed. Her own face was flushed a bit now, though not quite as much as her friend’s, and her pupils had dilated a bit more. “Yeah, I am. Have been for a while now, I think…”

I want to kiss you so bad right now.

“I wanna kiss you too.”

“I said that out loud?” Utahime asked, not nearly as embarrassed about it as she thought she would be.

“Yeah. Did you not mean to?”

“Not really. But I do want to kiss you.”

“Good. I’m gonna kiss you now.”

Utahime wasn’t sure what she expected from her first kiss, but it certainly wasn’t this. Shoko’s lips were soft, and her touch was gentle, more affectionate and sweet than any boy likely would have been. Utahime let out a small, somewhat muffled hum and pressed a bit closer for a moment, her eyes fluttering shut until Shoko pulled away, presumably to catch her breath. 

She opened her eyes again then, licking her lips without thinking about it. “You taste like—”

“Sake?” Shoko guessed, a slight smile on her lips. “Better than sake,” Utahime replied, smiling back. “Much better.”

taglist: @ghost-1-y @kentohours @whatthefucksatan @mitsuristoleme @lu-dao-writes @peachdues @lik0 @deepestartisanhumanoidshark @here-for-the-tea-baby @staryukis @roselleviennesstuff @witchbybirth @marinnnnnnnnn if your url is crossed out, it's because tumblr won't let me tag you for whatever reason. i apologize! & if you want to be added to the taglist, just drop a reply to the post/put it in the tags of your reblog!

divider by cafekitsune

[rogueshadow1124]

INTO THE SHADOWS

[SATORU GOJO X FEM¡READER]

{May or may not follow the actual plot, there will be a few changes- I dont own any original characters apart from Y/N Fushiguro.}

(Part one), (Part two )

Chapter Two- SHE'S STRONG AND SHE KNOWS IT

...

Y/N stood inbetween her brother and Yuji Itadori as they awaited in the train station for their teacher, he was almost never on time and that annoyed the girl because she knew that even in the most complicated situations Gojo would always be Gojo and he would do as he pleased when he pleased, in his own way- he liked to say he was doing things in 'style' but the female Fushiguro didnt see it that way at all, she saw him as an inconvenience and an annoyance among others.

"How are there only three first-years? Isn’t that too few?" Yuji broke the silence between the three, looking at the siblings in confusion.

"Well, have you ever met anyone who can see curses before?" Megumi answered bluntly, eyes slanted in boredom.

"Uhh… Nope."

"Exactly, that just proves how small our population is, there arent many of us around." Y/N added quietly, eyes scouting the crowd, bringing her hands up to overlap her thumbs and spread her fingers out almost in the shape of a bird as she whispered 'shadow-bine' which made a black puff of smoke emerge and form into a crow that flew off at her silent demand.

Itadori looked at the girl in surprised, she only shrugged at him and stuffed her hands into her trouser pockets. Yuji then turned his attention to the other male, "Also, didn’t you say I was the third?"

"Their entry was decided a while ago. You know what our school’s like. Everyone has unique circumstances." Megumi hummed out, eyes squinting into the short distance when he spotted a familiar white haired male who had clocked them and waved.

"Sorry for the wait... I think you lost something Y/N/N, you spying on me again?" Gojo directed teasingly towards the girl who huffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms among her chest- she peered at the crow that now sat perched on Satorus shoulder before it turned to smoke again and vanished.  "Oh? Your uniform made it in time, I see."

"Yeah, it’s a perfect fit! Though it’s slightly different from Fushiguro’s. It has a hood, for one." The pink haired boy exclaimed in excitement tugging at the edges of his cloak jacket smiling widely.

"That’s because the uniforms can be customized upon request." Gojo returned the bright smile the younger had, placing a hand on his hip as he leant to the right.

"Huh? But I never put in any requests."

"That's because Gojo did it, hes annoying like that. He likes taking control." Y/N said smugly, a rare half smirk tugging at the corners of her lips as she eyes the sensei raising her brows at him when he coughed, sending her a short glare.

"Ahh Whatever, I guess." Itadori smiled lightly, rubbing the back of his head glancing down at his uniform.

"Be careful. Gojo-sensei has a tendency to do things like that." The dark haired boy said peering over to Yuji who shrugged. "More importantly, why are we meeting up in Harajuku?"

"Because it’s what she asked for." Gojo replied as he started to walk, brushing shoulders with Y/N as he passed her, him sending her a little smirk as he did to which she immediately glared at, spinning around to follow behind.

"Hey, popcorn! I want some!"

...

As the group wandered through the grounds of the station, they came to a sudden halt at the sound of a females voice sounding agitated, when they each turned to look they caught sight of a girl no older than the two younger boys that was holding a mans collar, getting close to his face in a threatening demeanor.

"I’m sorry! Please let me go!" The mans voice echoed out, the girl scoffed dropping him before running her hand down her clothes legs in disgust.

"That’s kinda embarrassing." Itadori whispered, looking at the scene with wide eyes and his mouth a gape.

"So are you." The Fushiguros tutted out in unison, sending each other a look whilst switching their eyes towards the boy in question, nodding with a hum.

"Hey! Over here!" Gojo called out laughing, catching the girls attention as he starred to wave erratically.

"Damn, what’s up with that blindfold?" The newbie grumbled, walking towards the group with a sigh.

After they had collected the girl who they had gotten to know the name of- Nobara Kugisaki, she was a small, mousey brown haired girl with a fiery attitude, eyes bright and warm which was completely opposed to the other girl who stood there cold and calculating, Kugisaki would be lying if she said she wasnt intimidated my Y/N Fushiguro. The dark haired girl had been staring holes into the newbie ever since they had started towards the lockers, where they had ended up now.

"Okay, once again." Gojo noted, looking between the group, motioning to the new girl.

"Kugisaki Nobara. Be happy, boys. I’m the one woman in your group." Kugisaki stated to which yuji immediately looked up in confusion, eyes glancing over towards Y/N who was standing beside his sensei, arms folded, straight faced.

"What about- urm- Y/N?"

"I'm not in your year, therefore I wont be in your group and for that I am glad." She looked directly to the younger boy which made a sense of uneasiness wash over him due to the void look that was on her face, it seemed even more so emotionless than usual.

...

Fushiguro had morphed back to jujutsu high not long after the boys and kugisaki had taken a seat on their isle, she didnt have to patience to be sitting around doing nothing when she could be training or at least attempting to get better- her large wound hadn't been getting better as she thought it would, it had grown more achy and painful over the last couple of days but she couldnt affors for that to delay her.

So as of now, she was in the training court, sparring with the unmoving dummies that were layed out in a sequence within the room, a few would pop out mechanically to take her by surprise every so often but she wasnt held back by anything, she powered through, pushing the tiredness and pain aside she had long forgotten about that feeling, now focusing on the adrenaline that was pumping through her veins. She was only practicing the hand to hand combat for now as there were times where it would be needed and she had more than perfected using her technique, the only thing that bothered her was how it had failed her, putting her in a weak position.

She wasnt used to her technique becoming faulty, it had never done so before so that bothered her greatly.

"You should take a rest you know." She came to a halt in her movements, heavily breathing as her heart hammered against her ribcage.

"Since when have you ever wanted a student to rest Gojo." She turned her head to side eyes the male from overhear shoulder, squinting lightly as her eyes struggled to focus in the moment, she let out a long ragged breath moving to take a seat on one of the benches where she suggested through her duffel bag, pulling out a cold bottle of water that she instantly took large sips of.

"You're pushing yourself too hard." He said softly, sliding do sit on the bench next to her. He turned to look at her and even though he had his blindfold on, she could sense the questioning gaze he held. "You never answered me."

"Huh?"

"When I asked what happened to you, the morning after your return." He stated, crossing one of his legs over the other as he leant back against the stone wall behind him, arms crossing over his stomach.

"What do you think Satoru? I fought curses like I usually do." Y/N stood from the bench, keeping her head lowered only allowing her eyes to look down at her bag as she stuffed the water bottle back inside, zipping it up.

Satoru had known Y/N since she was twelve years old, when he was first assigned to take care and mentor her and a five year old megumi- she didnt really approve of him at first, not wanting him to come between her and her little brother who she had taken full responsibility for after their fathers disappearance at the young age she was, Y/N didnt even start to trust Gojo until she was around sixteen years old when she had come back with her first ever major injury after fighting a curse, he looked after her eventhough she had denied him many times, he hadn't given up and since then they had become close.

"I know that your hurting, your in pain but your far to stubborn to admit it and accept help." He pushed up from the bench to stand at her side, hand tugging at her elbow as she went to walk away. She kicked her foot along the ground, skimming her shoe as she breathed out, turning to look at him as he looked over her.

"Its not painful. Its perfectly tolerable- nothing I havent handle before." The girl ran a hand down her side, eyes widening for a mere second as she felt a damp patch on her vest top. The male had felt her tense slightly, he rose his brows, tilting his head down as his heightened senses allowed him to know exactly what the issue was.

"You're bleeding."

"Mhm only a little..." her voice trailed off towards the end, she looked up at Gojo furrowing her brows as her vision started to blur and his features started to morph and smooth over, She squinted tilting her head to the side, mumbling out his nice in a whisper like tone to which he had answered but the words didnt form in her head, it was all murmered. The only thing she felt was a hand that grasped at her arm, feeling herself fall back then everything went B L A C K.

Word Count- [1697]

[animeyanderelover]

Tags: @flaming-vulpix

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, delusion, clinginess, abduction, death

The Little Merman Pt.3

Part 2

"Ikuya, just hold still! The doctor won't hurt you!"

You had to press him down by the shoulders, the scene reminiscent of a time where your family used to have one dog which had hated it to be touched when she had somehow hurt herself. Ikuya let out whimpers as he squirmed around in your hold, recoiling whenever the doctor touched him. His amber-colored eyes were looking at you pleadingly as his voice was still too raw and hoarse to use since whatever flu had abruptly hit him nearly two weeks ago. His skin was still burning with his fever and his movements were sluggish as his body was heavy and exhausted.

“Hmm, has his condition become worse or slightly better since my last visit?”

“Slightly better, doctor. But he’s still very weak.”

“The medicine I’ve prescribed?”

“I’ve been giving him the medicine everyday. It at least helped him to sleep better.”

You glanced worriedly at the doctor. You were concerned for Ikuya’s help since he had been in this weak condition for over one week already. You didn’t want to tell him this but in your eyes he just was very delicate so you feared that the sickness would be too much of a toll for him. After all, he had told you that he had lived sheltered on an island for years with his family. He probably wasn’t used to a lifestyle like yours.

“Is… Is he going to be fine, doctor?”

The older man gave you a short laugh when noticing your worried expression.

“Now, now, (y/n). No need to give me such a dejected look. His condition might be weak but it’s nowhere near life-threatening. I’d say if you take care of him like you’ve done until now, he’ll be fine in a week or two. Just continue to give him the medicine.”

You nodded, feeling a weight drop from your heart as you chose to believe the doctor. You’d grown attached to Ikuya in the four months he’d been with you so you wanted him to get fit again.

“Thanks for dropping by again. I can’t thank you enough.”

The doctor waved his hands dismissively.

“No need to thank me. You know that I’ll gladly drop by. Your parents were good friends of mine…”

His eyes shortly darkened as they filled with sadness and weakness and for a moment he looked like he had aged significantly before he resumed his mild grin.

“If anything should happen, just inform me.”

You escorted him out of the house and stood in the doorframe as you waved him goodbye, watching how he disappeared in the woods to walk back to the small town. You hadn’t shown it earlier but now your eyes showed pity as you watched his back in the distance. You’d known him since your earliest childhood days and knew how much he had lost in his life. His wife had died in an accident as her horse had thrown her off and she had smashed her head against a rock, his parents and siblings had passed away years ago, his best friends and also your parents had drowned away and then his only child had been gone missing mysteriously years ago although rumors had it that they’d been kidnapped by the man that had randomly appeared years ago. Your memories were hazy as you had been very small during that time but the one thing you still remembered about that scary man were his cold and unsettling purple eyes that had gazed cruelly at everyone he had laid eyes upon. Gossip in the town by people who had clearer memories of that time than you had told that the only one who had been granted his warm gaze had been the child of the doctor. The doctor truly had lost so much and yet continued to move on. His strength was inspiring.

~

“I know it tasted awful but it’ll help you, I promise.”

You said as you tried to reason with Ikuya to take the medicine that he hadn’t liked from day one. You understood him of course, it smelled bitter and was viscous from it’s texture, not even to mention that the brown-green color of it made it look everything but appetizing. But as your parents had always told you: “It doesn’t have to taste good, it’s just supposed to help you recover.”

He made a grimace as you nearly shoved the spoon in his mouth and the bitter texture spread on his palette, for a short moment you feared that he’d gag but Ikuya managed to force it down his body with an audible gulp.

“There we go. Now you should try to sleep a bit more. You need all the rest that you can get to get better.”

You told him as you pulled the blanket up his body and helped him to lay back down in the bed. You took the warm rag from his forehead, wrung it out before dipping it in cool water to place it onto his warm forehead again.

“So, if you need help with anything, just make yourself noticeable somehow so that I can assist you in whatever way I can.”

You reminded him before standing up from the bed, ready to head to your own room and rest for the night. Just as you were about to leave though, you were stopped by his soft hands weakly grasping your wrist. You turned to him with a slightly surprised look as you wondered what he could want from you.

“S-stay a bit longer with me.” He croaked out with his hoarse voice as good as he could, his eyes staring at you with a frightened gaze. You’d sort of known that he had separation anxiety but it had gotten worse since he had fallen ill. You bit your lip as you saw his gaze that made your heart always waver with guilt. He looked too innocent, too weak, too fragile in such moments as if he would fall apart if you wouldn’t be there for him. You gave in with a sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Only until you’ve fallen asleep.”

You couldn’t even have imagined how happy those words made Ikuya. He had been miserable ever since the mysterious sickness had gotten him and had practically immobilized him. He assumed that it must have been a curse of the sea wizard due to breaking his promise, one that took time to heal. Time that he needed to make you love him.

Instead he could barely go to the bathroom alone as you had to help him with everything. He hated it as much as he loved it at the same time. He’d never been this helpless before in his life and it was humiliating but at the same time he couldn’t help but bask in all of the attention and care you gave him. A part of him couldn’t help but believe that this meant that you loved him too, even if you hadn’t spoken those words yet.

He sluggishly crawled closer to where you were sitting before slowly wrapping his arms around your hips, his head moving up to lay in your lap. You weren’t prepared for this so you flinched surprised upon witnessing his move. Initially you were fully prepared to berate him for this, teach him some boundaries but words failed you when you glanced down at Ikuya. He had closed his eyes, breathing softly with his cheek smushed against your thigh. He looked peaceful and calm for the first time since he’d fallen ill as you knew best how much this sudden disease had worn him down. So you bit your tongue, out of pity, and allowed him to lay in your lap, dozing away to a happy dream in which both of you were lovers and he showed you his own home.

~

It took him weeks until the worst passed by. He still wasn't completely healed but at least now he could walk without your support, even if he was still feeling wobbly on both of his legs. Throughout the entire time where he had been seriously ill though, you never left him once. You catered to his needs as much as you could, took excellent care of him and stayed with him when he got anxious. Multiple times he'd woken up to you sitting on a chair next to his bed, your head tilted over the back of the chair in a position that would surely give you a stiff neck yet you never complained. Because it all was for him. You cared for him! You loved him! It must have been love that made you sacrifice all your time and comfort in favor of nursing him back to health!

~

"You're looking really better now. The medicine of the doctor is really working now." You beamed happily as you shoved a spoon full of vegetable stew in your mouth, munching on it. Ikuya gave you a flustered grin, happy to finally feel better as well as seeing you in such a happy mood to see him well. You were happy because he was finally feeling better... The thought of it made him blush a bit and he shyly averted his eyes to his soup plate. He lifted his own spoon, carefully blew at the steaming food before eating his own share. "It's also because I had you to look after me..." He finally decided to speak up bashfully, although his voice was still very quiet.

"Don't mention it. I'd hate to see someone precious to me suffering. Also, I have lots of experience with taking care of sick people. I had three younger siblings after all."

His heart soared in Ikuya's chest when you mentioned that he was someone precious to you. A giddy feeling took over him, one that almost made him want to skip happily across the room as he helped you cleaning up the table, trying his best to stay stable on his slightly shaky knees. They had felt weird since a few days but you had told him that it probably was the aftereffects of his passing illness. It made sense in his head.

"I'm heading down into the village. I promised to help the fisher there to help them navigate since the weather is a bit rough today. We'll share the money the catch will bring us. You're fine with being alone for a while, right?"

He wasn't and Ikuya wanted to tell you so too. But guilt held him back as he knew that you had already neglected your own work enough for him. So he hid his hands behind his back as they had started trembling as the idea of you leaving him distressed him and gave you a weak smile. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

You didn't look fully convinced but decided to just have faith in him since you'd hate breaking your promise to the people down there. There was also this urgent matter to take care of...

"(y/n)?" Ikuya asked carefully when he noticed that you had spaced out, looking like you were deep in your thoughts. You snapped out of it when you heard his tender voice.

"Don't forget that the doctor will be coming later today to see how you're doing. I might not be back by that time so you'll have to open the door for him." You reminded him quickly before dressing up for the windy weather outside.

"See you later." You told Ikuya before closing the door.

"See you later." Ikuya muttered under his breath even though you couldn't have possibly heard him then as you were already out of the house. He stared at the door dreamily before walking up the stairs, the feeling of giddiness still etched into his chest. He had a good feeling about this. It would all work out. He was sure of it.

Just when he was about to step up the last few stairs, a sudden wave of pain suddenly hit him. It knocked the air out of his lungs as his legs gave in under him due to the painful cramps. All strength left his legs for a moment and it was only because he was thrashing around with his upper body and his arms that he managed to push himself forward and prevent falling down all the stairs. He let out deep and shaky breaths as he crawled up the last few stairs with only his arms, his weak legs sliding over the wooden ground. He turned on his back as soon as he laid safely on the floor, touching his legs confused and frightened. What was wrong right now? This couldn't be normal. He felt his legs trembling under his hands, spasm after spasm going through his muscles that had his face turn into a pained grimace. It took a while for the pain to slowly go away. He took in deep breaths the entire time yet still felt like he wasn't breathing in enough oxygen which slowly had him feel slightly dizzy.

Something was wrong. He could feel it in his stomach.

He slowly removed the baggy trousers that you had bought him to see what was wrong. His heart dropped when he saw teal-colored fish scales covering his pale skin. No, no, no, no. no...

He erratically rubbed the palms of his hands against them as if trying to wipe them away yet they stayed there, although they at least didn't seem to spread further up his legs. For now at least. Abruptly he became aware of the way his chest was heaving for more air as if not getting enough as the dizziness slowly got worse. He got up slowly, pushing himself up with his hands before slowly balancing himself out on his feet. He could see them slightly shaking now as it felt even more difficult now to stand. Despite that he quickly made his way towards his room where you still had a bowl of water just in case you had to use wet rags to cool him down. It felt like the water pulled him towards it as he collapsed next to it and instantly dunked his face into the object. He instantly took deep breaths as soon as his nose was in the liquid and a mixture of relief and dread washed over him when he realized that he could breathe under water.

He sat there a couple of minutes, taking in much needed air before pulling his face out of the bowl, his hair dripping with water and a heavy panic settling deep inside his chest. He was running out of time! He couldn't wait anymore! He-he had to kiss you now!

~

"Your fever has gone down significally and I must say, you look a lot more healthy now."

Ikuya did his best to nod and give the doctor a good smile as he silently prayed for the old man to leave. He had grown to like the old man but his urge to dunk his head under water again was growing stronger and stronger as the headache from the lack of proper air for him was slowly becoming unbearable.

"It's all thanks to you and (y/n). By the way, do-do you know when they'll come back?" Ikuya asked with a hint of urgency in his tone. He didn't have much time left. He could almost feel how the skin on his legs was slowly turning back into scales. He would most likely turn back before the next sunrise.

"I'm afraid that I don't really know. The weather has gotten a bit worse so it might be a bit difficult to sail across the ocean." The old man told him whilst looking out of the window. The blue sky had completely disappeared under the thick layer of grey and dark clouds that poured rain down onto the surface. The weather was scary, he hated storms a lot. They were loud and cold, the only good thing it had brought to him was you.

"May I ask why you want to know that?"

Ikuya hesitated a bit but then just decided that he didn't have to be very specific about it anyways. "There's something I have to tell them..." He admitted silently, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. He had locked his eyes onto the ground and didn't see the look of slow but sure realization that spread across the wrinkled face of the doctor, nor the sad glimmer that appeared in his eyes as he looked at Ikuya.

"I think (y/n) might be a bit late today because even if they're already back from fishing, they have something urgent to discuss with a few people."

Ikuya finally looked up, confused by the tone the old man used as he sounded sad and he felt even more confused when he saw how he was looking at him.

"W-what? Something urgent?"

"So (y/n) didn't tell you. They probably didn't want to bother you with anything whilst you're not fully recovered yet."

Hands suddenly grabbed the doctor's shoulders in a tight hold, although he could feel how they were trembling. Wide amber-colored eyes stared at him with confusion and growing fear. Ikuya could barely stand and partially had to use the doctor as a support yet he forced his legs to stand as a new wave of dread filled his veins. Why was the old man looking at him with such pitiful eyes? What was happening with you right now?!

"What do you mean? Please... please tell me." He spoke out in a quivering tone, big eyes looking pleadingly at the doctor. He seemed to contemplate for a while whether to tell Ikuya or not before letting out a sigh, a defeated one.

"(y/n) has been offered a few days ago an engagement with one of the fisher's children and will visit them today to discuss this topic." He said it as neutral as possible in hopes of sparing Ikuya a too big shock.

Nothing could have saved Ikuya from the shock, the confusion, the fear, the pain this news hit him with. It washed over him mercilessly and for a short moment he froze completely. Only seconds later though his body started shaking again as tears spilled down his face as the word kept repeating itself in his head.

Engagement. Engagement. Engagement. Engagement. Engagement. Engagement. Engagement. Engagement. But with someone else...

"I...b-but...why?" He couldn't think straight anymore, couldn't form any proper sentence and his voice nearly died down at the end as he let go. His chest started hurting with another pain that didn't come from breathing properly due to the lack of air. It felt like something was tearing him apart from inside his chest as more tears blurred his vision.

"I don't know if they will agree to the engagement or not. All will be decided today."

But-but you had him! Why would you think about getting engaged to someone else when you had him! You...you were supposed to love him... You loved him! Didn't you?

Ikuya let go of the doctor's shoulder as all strength left him and he fell back into the mattress of the bed, staring blankly into the room as more tears cascaded down his cheeks. Seconds ticked by in which the doctor thought about what he should do right now. Should he stay or leave?

"Leave."

His voice was quiet and shaky but there was an underlying bitterness to it that only someone with a broken heart could feel. Deciding to respect that his patient would need some time alone now to come to terms with the news, the old man slowly left the room. Ikuya only noted absentminded how he left, shut the door behind him and made his way back to the town in the rain and wind. Nothing of that mattered really to him in the moment. The only thing that mattered was you.

~

"Ikuya...? What are you doing outside in this rain?! Quick, go back inside or else you'll catch another cold!"

You had not expected to come home, drenched in water from the sea and the rain, only to find Ikuya standing outside. Wet strands of hair stuck to his face, hiding partially his eyes from your sight. He was drenched just like you were and you could clearly see how his whole body was shivering violently, you assumed because of the cold rain combined with the strong wind.

He didn't move, instead stood in his place, not even glancing at you. You furrowed your brows as you walked closer to him in large strides, concerned for him. What was wrong?

The moment he noticed how you walked closer to him, one hand carefully stretched out to touch him, he flinched away. His whole body jumped back and his head snapped up to look at you and the look in his eyes shot right through your heart. Confusion, fear but above all sorrow beyond words. His amber eyes looked at you as if you'd abused him. You froze in your tracks when he gave you that look and both of you just stood there. Then he abruptly turned around, his back facing you before he sprinted into the forest. You reminded in your frozen position for a few moments as the shock had almost paralyzed you before you finally snapped out of it and ran after him.

"Ikuya!! Ikuya!! Stop! What's wrong?!"

He didn't listen, he didn't stop, he didn't slow down. Ikuya just ran through the growing pain, the burning sensation of his two legs slowly melting back into one fish tail. His lungs hurt as he had never physically exercised like this in this human form and the fact that the air up here slowly didn't provide him with the oxygen that he needed only intensified everything. His head hurt, his chest hurt, he felt dizzy and nauseous and nearly tumbled down a couple of times. His legs lost more and more strength and he knew that he would transform back into a merman very soon.

"Ikuya!! Stop!! The cliff!!!" You yelled after him, your voice layered with fear. Fear for him. Yet now he knew better. You'd never seen him as anything close to a lover. Unlike him you'd never seen him as your light of your life, as your first and only love.

You were out of breath by the time you reached the cliff, your heart threatening to jump out of your throat when he stopped, the slippery ground almost causing him to fall down only for him to halt right on the edge of the cliff. You heard him, saw him visibly gulping for air as if he couldn't breathe properly. You walked slowly towards him, terrified that one wrong move from him could push him into falling into a nearly 30 metre abyss only to sink down and drown into the raging ocean.

"I-Ikuya...please move away from there. You might fall down." You spoke slowly yet despite your best attempt to make your voice sound steady, your tone was wavering. Amber eyes casted a short look down into the ocean before looking straight at you, pinning you onto the ground again as if his gaze had a weight to it that prevented you from moving.

Just now you noticed that his eyes were red and puffy. Had he been crying?

"Did you accept?"

Your mind and your feelings were all over the place, you couldn't think properly anymore.

"What? W-what are you... Ikuya, I-I..." You stumbled over your sentences, unable to form a single coherent one. You didn't understand what he meant but his next question crashed down onto your brain like a landslide, burying all of your thoughts under it.

"D-do you love me?"

All of a sudden you were silent, your mind was silent, no word left your mouth. You just stood there with wide eyes as you stared at him astonished as if not fully registering what he had just spoken.

Now it was Ikuya who slowly walked closer to you, to where you stood. Cold hands gingerly grasped your shoulders and you could feel now how much he was trembling. His eyes were filled to the brim with emotions and now you could clearly see the tears spilling out of his eyes. It nearly made you want to cry as well.

"Please..." He started speaking with a trembling voice, his pleads threatening to break your heart then and there.

"Please love me. Only me. No one else. B-because if you don't...I can never have you."

You could only stare at him as your mind slowly started to work again.

"Ikuya...d-do you know about the-"

You were cut off, caught-off-guard when soft and warm lips pressed against your own pair of lips. You stiffened in Ikuya's hold, eyes somehow opening even wider as he leaned into the kiss, inexperienced yet conveying all of his emotions perfectly.

It was a wonderful feeling for the first few seconds as his stomach and chest exploded with fuzzy and warm feelings. But cold emptiness filled him shortly after as he finally understood your own feelings through the kiss. You didn't love him...and you probably never would.

You were speechless when he pulled away, only able to stare at him as he stepped away from you as if you'd burnt him with your lips, a devastated look in his eyes.

"You don't love me..."

You couldn't even hear what he was whispering more to himself than to you over the howling wind, all you could focus on was how he was stepping dangerously close to the edge of the cliff again. He looked at his own trembling hands for a moment before he locked eyes with you for a last time. Icy fear rolled over you when you saw that look in his eyes. A sad and heart-broken smile was on his face as he let himself fall down and your hand only brushed through the air as you tried to catch him, stop him, hold him.

He heard you crying out his name in a horrified voice, watched your form getting smaller and smaller before he crashed through the surface of the cold water, his skin crawling the moment he was engulfed in it. It was as if being fully submerged in the ocean accelerated his transformation as his legs started shaking and trembling. He watched as the legs he had been walking around with for almost half a year melted together into his teal-colored tail and tore his trousers apart.

As soon as he had reverted back to his real form, he swam away as fast as he could with a bleeding heart that would probably never heal. It had all been for nothing. Six months had been for nothing except making him fall in love with you even more. It hurt, it hurt him so much... He wished he'd never have fallen in love in the first place.

[that-darn-clown]

so. thought about something.

i know i've already got a Rewrite for Fnaf (that i adore), but...i thought of another way Fnaf could be rewritten that, in my opinion, would make it scarier and/or more dread inducing.

well...technically it's two things put together:

what if, instead of playing as a nightguard, you played as a child caught in the building after closing?

what if instead of the pizzerias all looking like they're still pretty decent (specifically looking at Fnaf 1 with this comment, considering that we know Somewhat Canonically it probably wasn't doing too great financially...like it's the smallest pizzeria and yet it still looks like a pretty popular place to take your kids. even though it doesn't seem like it would've been at that point), Fnaf 2 has the only pizzeria that still seems to be in its prime? the rest just look like liminal space looking places. think the way that the building looks in Fnaf 1 is similar to how it looks in that one fangame: the Graveyard Shift. like those vibes are what i'm going for.

like. let me set the scene for Fnaf 1, because i have the clearest image of the vibes for that game:

you are a child, likely no older than nine. for whatever unknown reason, you are left behind in an empty animatronic pizzeria place. it's clear that the animatronics are the most expensive thing here. the tables clearly reused from somewhere else, with their wear and tear being covered by confetti-patterned tablecloths. the chairs plastic, but colorful, with the fact that any adults can fit in them being a miracle. balloons decorate the place, but it's clear that they'll have to be replaced soon, given that some are sinking to the floor. confetti and streamers, as well as cups, puddles of soda and other various drinks, and even dropped pizza and cupcakes, litter the ground. the pizza is relatively decent. but it's the only place for kids to have fun that is affordable to your family.

there is an arcade, and it's the only place that feels relatively safe to you right now as you continue waiting, hoping that someone will come pick you up. the problem is that to get there, you'll have to pass by the Owner's Office....and you don't want to get in trouble for being here after closing; it's one of the rules, after all. but the place is still decently lit, and you've heard that people work here afterhours...you just need to wait for the nightguard, and then you can get out of here and head back home. you know the way, after all.

but as you explore around at night, you notice the animatronics moving. they don't hurt you...but once you get close enough to one of them, it makes an odd noise, almost seeming concerned that you're still here. then you hear something chilling, and something that seems to agitate the animatronic in front of you.

footsteps. shoes clicking against the tiled floor.

the animatronic stands defensively before you, and it gives you a clear indication that you need to hide. NOW.

and then you realize that this is what you've gotta do each night as you're here. hide. make sure you stay as undetectable as possible. the second you make a loud enough noise, you're in trouble, and will be the rest of the night. you hear someone approaching, and you've gotta constantly keep moving. as the nights go on, the "trigger sounds" become lesser and lesser. on the first two nights, the "trigger sound" has to be big, noticeable. slamming doors shut and knocking things over will get you noticed on night two. by night three, the sound of using doors, not even slamming them, will get you noticed. by night four, running will get you noticed. by night five, you better have learned how to sneak, and sneak well. regardless of the night, getting noticed by an animatronic is also counted as a "trigger sound," and the fact that the animatronics get more active, and thus are now easier to run into, does not help.

once a "trigger sound" has been made, you need to keep moving, and hide once you've gotten a good distance away from Him. hiding under tables, in dark rooms, in the bathrooms, even in the kitchen. but be warned, the more often you hide in a particular place, the more likely it is that He will check there first when you start hiding. don't screw yourself over.

darkness becomes more of a comfort to you than the light, though you do have the option of having a flashlight and turning on the lights in dark rooms. because even though it is easier to see things like hiding places and secrets in the dark, the presence of light makes it easier for you to be seen as well. so do you risk it? turning on a flashlight to see what lies in the shadowy corners of the building? turning on the lights in a dark room? knowing that you are also shining a beacon for your location?

the game includes a fear mechanic. the more fearful you are, the more your character shakes and trembles. it can cause you to trip, to drop whatever you're currently holding (which, depending on what you were holding, could make a loud noise), and to, seemingly, "hallucinate" things in the shadows. it is the only reason for light to be of use to you, to comfort your character.

you never see Him, the man pursuing you. you know it's the Owner, the only other person who would be in here before the Nightguard would be. but He is always in the shadows. whenever he is chasing the player, it's almost like they refuse to turn back to see him. if caught, all the player sees is the blur of where they have been grabbed and pulled back, and then a shrill, terrified scream. the "Game Over" screen just shows a missing poster, presumably of the protagonist. whether the child got killed or simply kidnapped is not clear. (but, considering it's Fnaf...i think the player could guess)

but, along with all of this, you discover secrets, mostly hidden in the shadows and rooms with cracks in the doors. missing posters with pictures of children, dated in the 80s. drawn pictures of crying children. newspaper clippings of events in the past of horrific circumstances surround Freddy's. the words "IT'S ME" scrawled on the walls as the desperate cries of the lost souls roaming the halls of Freddy's. in the shadows, animatronics appear to have blood covering their faces in the shadows, only for the blood to mysteriously disappear when light is shined on them.

the player has to survive all of this from 9:00 PM to midnight, waiting for the Nightguard to get there.

but those hours are gonna feel long to a young child. especially when they're scared for their life.

(tl;dr- Avoid Getting Caught By William Afton For Three Hours SImulator)

(like...think about it; part of the horror of Fnaf is the knowledge that there have been children murdered and shoved into suits, now haunting the halls of the pizzeria, looking for vengeance and freedom. wouldn't it technically be more terrifying to play as a young child, an outsider looking in, just trying to avoid Afton?? and if Freddy's looked more like an actual Chuck E. Cheese rip-off place? down to having cheap decorations and furniture?? Do You See My Vision???)

Holy shit why can I fucking hear this game in my head this is wild as shit

No kidding: this reminds me of this old place we used to go when I was little that I can barely find any mentions of online. It had two attractions: knock-offs of chuck e cheese skytubes and a rock climbing wall. I was too young for rock climbing, so I did the sky skytubes thing. I ADORED that place. It got shut down pretty quickly because, in retrospect, it was very unsafe.

But I was a very anxious child, and everywhere I would go, I would come up with a plan for if I got left behind after the place closed. So this concept feels like home to me <3

Note: upon further research of the place there is one in ohio?? Which I am not from???? And no mentions of a place where I'm from/near. Huh.

[chichariann]

It's weird to read people's post about how they hate this episode cuz

The lack of a zebra

Already knowing what the lotus casino is a trap

Grover being the only one who got trapped

The gang being "too smart"

Luke's mom's expositioh

Lack of action

The deadline passing

4 pearls

Episode is mostly dialogue

Idk. Honestly but heres what I thought as the episode went on...

Very long post. Read the red text if u just want points

Okay, they suspect the wrong person to be the thief (typical detective trope - still fits)

Cute grover and percabeth banter

They already know about the lotus flowers. Makes sense as there are 3 greek myth knowledgeable kids there. At least on of them should know.

They split up. Bad idea

The pair are being cautious

Grover is gone now

Percy and annabeth are searching for hermes so makes sense they'd be at the casino area. I dont see how they could be trapped—nop they already were the moment they stepped in

May Castellan exposition. Okay, revealing the premise of being a seer but not telling us what happened to her as a result is good. Without context from the books, we now know that something's happened to his mom and we do not know except for Luke blaming Hermes for it

Hermes parenting talk - this happens in Sea of Monsters but its nice to at least see a contrast of how he's gonna feel pre-betrayal vs post-betrayal.

Poseidon was the one who warned hermes about trying to be close to luke. Contrasting Poseidon, now, wanting to meet Percy

They past the deadline - what does this mean???

They almost forgot Grover but eventually finding him

Grover started this episode saying that his friends would never understand his personal quest to one day save the natural world, and here he is now, memories wiped except for what he wants to do with his life. And percy understands and is hopeful for him

Hermes taxi scene was hilarious

Percabeth moment

Teleport to Santa Monica

Percy meets the Nereid who tells him that theyd passed the deadline

Percy still wants to finish the quest 1) to save his mom 2) get the bolt 3) stop a war

4 PEARLS???

What I'm taking from this:

There were A LOT of changes to how this scene played out in the books. I like that the kids are smart. I like that Grover got to tell Percy about his personal quest even if it was just a glimpse of it.

Should there have been a Zebra? MAYBE. I wouldve loved to see Percy talk to em but its not exactly plot relevant. Do I wish they had gotten trapped by just playing games? Yeah, but then how would they get to talk to Hermes. They would've just forgotten why they were there in the first place. Do I wish there was more action? No, not really. Do I wish the kids had flaws? THEY ALREADY DO. Grover got trapped by his own desires and personal goal over the quest he was on. Percy and Annabeth may not have shown their flaws this episode but... They already had in the past episodes. Maybe they shouldve but Im not mad that they're just... There.

I actually love that they're past the deadline and Percy has 4 pearls. Cuz it makes us wonder what would happen next. I think as book fans, we pride ourselves of knowing what happens next. Immune to any surprise. But when we do, there are 2 reactions: 1) intrigue and worry and unfortunately common, 2) despising the changes. I fall under number 1. I like that I dont know what could happen next. I know how it SHOULD go but I like that Rick is still surprising us despite knowing what could happen.

I like that we get Hermes parenting moments in this episode. Because instead of learning a sliver of why Luke betrays Percy at the end of the season at the last episode, we get a bit of exposition into his early life.

Annabeth says not to talk to Luke about his dad

Something happened to his mom and Luke hates Hermes for it

Hermes is keeping his distance because he knows that whatever he does, he's gonna end up hurting Luke

All of this sets up what will happen not just later in the books, but LATER IN THE SERIES. Rick wrote The Lightning Thief without any concrete idea of how the later books will play out. NOW HE DOES. So it makes sense to give us a way to understand Luke. To know why he makes the final decision in the book.

I would have found it weird if the gang went on the quest, got back to camp, got a sliver of Luke's opinion of the gods, then betrayal. NONE OF US WOULD UNDERSTAND. We get that he hates the gods but we won't know why. Now we do. By giving us all this material to work with, it gives its viewers the opportunity to really think, if you were in his shoes, would you have done it too? Would you be like Ethan or Chris, and joined him in that rebellion? I definitely could.

Because I for one would know that when I first read the books then reread it after, I would never even think about joining him given the context of the first book. We really only understand why he betrays the gods at like... The 5th book. When we finally get his backstory. Throughout the series, it has just been Percy hating Luke and being annoyed that Annabeth was so forgiving of him. Then on the last book, we finally get the backstory. Because, when you write in first person perspective, you cant give backstory IF the narrator is not talking to the character or is at the place where it happens. Throughout the whole series, Percy never thinks about what pushed Luke to make his decisions until, Nico had to bring Percy to where it all started. IN THE LAST BOOK. IN THE 5TH SEASON. THATS WHEN WE FINALLY GET TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES LUKE CLICK.

It brings Luke out of the characterization of being someone who hates the gods and wants to overthrow them cuz they dont care about his kids. To someone who was abandoned and ignored by his father. To someone who is a victim to the gods' rules and their world (his mom). I kinda understand why he is the one leading the war here. Its cuz he's experienced one of the worst things that could happen to a demigod. Losing his mom. Getting ignored by his dad. Undervalued by the gods.

THIS ENTIRE SEASON HAS JUST BEEN SET UP FOR LUKE'S STORY. BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW... THAT IN THE LAST BOOK, RACHEL TELLS PERCY THAT HE IS NOT THE HERO OF THIS STORY. HE IS NOT THE ONE TO STOP THE WAR. LUKE IS THE HERO AT THE END OF THE SERIES. AND IT WOULD'VE BEEN WEIRD IF WE NEVER GET TO UNDERSTAND WHY UNTIL.... THE LAST BOOK.

[kydrogendragon]

Ohoho happy upcoming birthday!! I offer ye Ever After (1998)'s first meeting scene between Danielle and Prince Henry for a sandman au! I'm Dreamling trash so that's where my thoughts went first but whatever pairing tickles your fancy is good~

The Scene:

Henry is running away from the palace and the arranged marriage to the princess of Spain that his father has arranged to ally France with the other country. Henry hates the notion of becoming king let alone wedding a stranger so he flees in the night. By morning he's fleeing from his father's guards who are pursuing him and steals a horse from an estate he happens upon.

Danielle (aka Cinderella) is treated like a servant by her widowed stepmother and is out harvesting apples in the early morning hours before attending to her breakfast chores when one of her father's horses comes tearing through the field with a strange rider upon its back. Danielle, having always been a rough-and-tumble sort, takes aim and nails the rider in the head with one of the apples she was carrying, knocking the would-be thief off the horse.

Henry climbs back to his feet, flailing to free himself from where he's now entangled by his cape as he continues to be pelted by apples and berated for his theft. He finally frees himself from his cloak and upon his face being revealed the peasant (Danielle) drops to the ground begging his forgiveness for the assault citing a lack of recognition. Henry's still dumbstruck at the peasant's aim and strong arm when he hears his father's guard approaching in the distance and quickly dismisses the apologies and begged for mercy. He tells the peasant that so long as no mention of his passing is made, he will forget the transgression while also tossing the peasant some gold 'for the cost of the horse'

The fun bit about this I realized is that this movie and I are the same age xD Very fitting for today!

Anyways, here's our second prompt for the day!! This one was fun to write. I know you'd messaged me with other possible pairing and the idea of Dream and Johanna really stuck out to me for this one, so without further ado, here's our Ever After AU:

Relationship: Dream/Johanna Words: 1953 Warnings: None Ao3 Link

The fierce sound of hooves on the ground echo through the woods behind Dream. He sits atop a horse he’s claimed from the nearby stable. He planned to flee by foot or take is own steed, Jessamy, but there wasn’t time. His father’s guards were gaining on him and he refused to go back. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

The borrowed horse whinnies, shaking it’s neck and fighting against Dream’s commands. Dream can hear the distant shouts. They’re getting closer. He rides over the hills of the estate he’s passing through when something hard crashes against his head. He lets go of the reigns and watches as the treeline shifts in his vision. The sky tilts until it is directly above him. His back aches.

He’s fallen off the horse. Dream groans and tries to push himself up when another object, small and round, smacks him square in the nose. His hands shoot up, covering the aching point as he shouts in pain. More and more, he’s attacked, points of pain popping across his body as he’s pelted down by an unseen force. He struggles, trying to stand, but his damn cloak is twisted around him, pinning him into the dirt with his own weight. He shifts, trying to pry the fabric off of him.

“Filthy thief!” A woman’s voice cries out somewhere to his right. The cloak finally slips free and he lunges to his feet only to be met with an… an apple? His brain processes the shape just seconds before it decks him in the cheek. His head ducks down from the impact and it’s then that he realizes how many apples are scattered around him.

When he looks back up, the woman stands directly in front of him, a finger pushed firm into his chest. She is angry, judging by the pinch of her brows, the snarl in her lips. Not to mention the apple assault he just received from her. Her shoulder-length brown hair is pulled half up, though appears just moments from falling out completely. Her dress is simple - a maid, perhaps? Or a servant to the estate?

“Who do you think you are running off with another man’s horse? You’re lucky he knows his way home or else you’d be much worse off from me!” She cries, jabbing her finger right into his breast bone. Dream frowns and opens his mouth to reply when the sound of hooves rings through the small orchard they’ve found themselves in. He blanches.

Quickly, he grabs her hand and falls to his knees in front of her. “Please,” he begs, staring up at the woman with desperation in his eyes. “Hide me, please. I beg of you.”

“Why the hell should I-” She stops mid-sentence. Her face falls and fear creeps into the edges of her eyes. “Shit. You’re the prince.” The young maiden’s head whips towards the sounds of the oncoming cavalry and back to him, to the noise, and back again.

“I will pay you well, but please, we must hurry. I cannot go back.” Dream pleads. The woman stares down at him with a calculating gaze, as if mentally tallying if hiding him was worth the effort. Perhaps word has already spread of his escape, but surely a reward for his return has yet to be officially declared?

The sounds of hooves grows louder with each passing second and Dream is mentally preparing to flee when the young maiden tugs him forward with the hand in his own grasp. He nearly face-plants into the earth from the sudden movement, but she hauls him up to his feet with a practiced ease. When he looks up, her face has morphed into one of mischief.

“Well come on then, Crown Prince. You’re luxurious hiding spot awaits,” She says with a smirk. He barely has time to process her words before he’s being dragged off further into the orchard. They run, down the gradual rolling hill, weaving between the trees and past the chicken coop. The sound of the guards has faded. Dream smiles. Perhaps he’ll make it a few days more.

The young maiden guides him towards a barn further into the fields. It is run down, the paint worn away by the heat of the summer sun and the door at the front appears off-kilter. It is a stark contrast to the other amenities they’ve seen so far on the Estate. They slow their pace to a walk as they approach the weary looking building.

“Home Sweet Home, your highness,” she says, creaking open the barn door. It makes a terrible wobbling screech as it sways open. The inside is nearly empty, save some bundles of hay, rope, and pitchforks. Clearly this barn wasn’t a high priority. Perhaps it served as an overflow of sorts?

Dream steps through the doors into the cool shade of the building. It smells like fresh hay with a musky undertone. It is not unpleasant, but far from the best he’s smelled before. Though his prior night was spent tucked in the corner of an empty horse stall, so he supposes this is quite the improvement. He turns to her. She is standing under the doorway, hand on a cocked hip as she stares him down.

“Thank you, milady. I owe you a great debt.” Dream nods his head. Not a full bow, but more than most royalty would have offered someone of her status. Although, perhaps she is owed a bow now if he truly plans to rescind his royal status. He would be no different in standing to her, after all. Perhaps even lower for he does not even have a job. The thought strikes him that he is no different than those he used to look down upon. He is penniless, or close to it. The small supply of coin he has will only get him so far. The clothes upon his back, perhaps a bit farther if sold for coin. But what would he do now? He has escaped, for the meantime, though he doubts his father would ever truly let him leave. Would he always be on the run? Would he ever be able to settle down, find a life for himself as he dreamed of? The realization of his life, the known and unknowns of his future, it is much. And it’s hitting him all at once.

“Hey,” the maiden’s gentle voice calls out. There is a hand on his chest and another holding his own hand. “Hey, easy there, Christ. I know this barn’s about as far as you get from all your silks and furs, but it’s not that bad, is it?” She is attempting to joke. He knows this yet he cannot stop the panicked breaths in order to laugh.

“Shit,” he hears her say. His hand is moved up and rests just above her heart. She is warm. The fabric underneath is softer than he had expected. “Just breathe, yeah? Follow my breath. In.” She breathes in and he follows. It is a shuddering thing, but it is deeper than he had managed before. “Out.” She releases her breath, her chest falling. He follows, out the air goes.

They repeat this. In. Out. In. Out. And with each breath, he feels calmer. He can breathe again. His hand still rests upon her as hers does him. Her face is close, he notes, as he looks up. They are but inches from each other. Her deep brown eyes stare into his with a care he has not seen aimed his way in… Dream is unsure how long.

“Better?” She asks, brows pinched with concern. Dream nods, slowly. He feels drained.

“Yes, I…” He takes a deep breath and releases it, the final bits of tension flowing out along side it. “I apologize, I do not know what came over me.”

The young maiden looks at him with that critical gaze once more before letting her hand drop from his chest. Dream follows in suit. “S’alright. Not like anyone ever chooses to have a panic attack.”

Dream’s brows furrow. “I did not-”

“Yeah mate, you definitely did.” She cuts him off with a knowing look. Dream does not fight her on it. They stay silent for a moment before she speaks again. “Wanna tell me why I’m hiding the Crown Prince in the old barn?”

The young maiden moves, walking further into the barn. Dream watches, following behind, as she makes her way over to an old table. It is short, a coffee table perhaps, but still sturdy despite it’s dusty appearances. She sits down at the edge of it and tilts her head, gesturing to the other end. Dream sits.

“I was told I was to marry. My father wished to use me for strengthening our relations with Spain. And while I have no ill-will towards the Princess Calliope, I… I did not love her. I barely knew her. One should wish to marry for love. If my father had allowed us time to become acquainted with one another, perhaps I could have found love for her, but he did not allow me even that, even after I had asked.

“I was set to be married in a week’s time. It was not the sole reason, but perhaps the final straw. I never wished to be King as it is. And given my father’s declining health, I knew it would only be a matter of time until the crown was passed to me. And I couldn’t…” Dream sighs. He lets his head fall, his gaze staring down into his mud covered boots. “I just want to be free.”

The young maiden doesn’t reply. Perhaps she’d call him foolish, selfish. It was what he was. He had responsibilities, ones given to him upon his birth. In exchange, he lived in luxury, yet he still wished more more, for something other. Maybe she’d echo the words his father repeated many times. That Dream was pathetic, that he needed to grow up and learn that the real world doesn’t play by the rules of fantasy.

“Good. Everyone should get that choice. You should too.” Dream’s head whips up to hers. She’s staring out at the slightly open barn door with a distant look upon her face. “There’s enough shit in the world to deal with as is. No one should have to deal with being something they don’t want to be. Besides,” she turns to him, that same mischievous look on her face once more. “Sounds like you’d have made a shit King.”

Dream huffs, the closest thing to a laugh he’s had in years. “You are not wrong.” He mumbles, a smile finding home upon his face. “Thank you.”

“Welcome.” She sighs as she hauls herself to her feet. The maiden’s hands dust off the back of her dress as she looks at him. “Feel free to stay here as long as you want. No one save me comes out here.”

A weight he did not realize was on him lifted at her words. He has shelter now, at least for a while. “That is exceedingly kind of you.”

She shrugs. “So, if you’re officially ditching the monarchy, what do I call you? Morpheus?”

Dream shakes his head. “No. That was the name given to me by my father. Call me Dream.”

“Dream, can do.”

“And what might I call you, fair maiden?”

The woman laughs. “Oh Gods, fair maiden. Yeah, no. You can keep that term to yourself. Name’s Johanna. Or Jo. Mainly Jo.”

Dream smiles. “Jo. Thank you.”

[lenniharrisonsims]

Behind The Scenes...

Imperial Palace, Glimmerbrooke, 9:12am

Jonas: Breathe, Mutter. They’ll come in soon and tell us they’ve got her.

Agathe: It’s been hours since they said they had made it into the palace. If they were able to rescue her, it wouldn’t have taken this long.

Jonas: There is a distance the information has to travel, multiple layers of hierarchy that it has to pass through. We’re bottom of the ladder.

Agathe: We’re her family! We should be the first to know.

Eugene: More than that, you’re on the Empress’ war council. You should be in that room getting the information first hand.

Jonas: Who would hold your grandmother’s hand while she waits, hmm? You, Gene? Skulking over there?

Albert: Nobody wants Emma safe more than me, but we have to be patient Gene.

Eugene: Grandfather destroyed this family.

Matty: How could you say that?

Eugene: He did! He scattered us across the globe for whatever purpose he saw fit, he killed my mother, and now he’s killed my sister.

Jonas: Enough! Emma is not dead, she’s going to be fine. Father tried to destroy this family, I will give you that, all while claiming that family is the only thing that mattered to him. But he did not succeed. Look at all of us, here, together, safe and alive. Yes, we’ve lost people… but we’ve gained some too. He tried to use us as pawns and we all fought back, making us stronger than ever.

Albert: Your Uncle is right, Gene. Everything is going to be alright. 

Guard: Her Imperial Highness, Crown Princess Ophelia Ivanov.

Jonas: O?!

Ophelia: We’ve got her!

Albert: Oh my god…

Agathe: Thank god…

Ophelia: She was hiding, and apparently was very good at it. She said you told her to?

Jonas: (laughing) Oh my god, I did. I told her to hide from Stefano and Justine to protect herself!

Ophelia: Well, we got her, and they’re bringing all three of them in now. She should be here by tomorrow!

Matty: How’s that skepticism now, Gene?

Eugene: I’m sorry, okay?

Albert: All of my babies, back together…

Agathe: Matty, pray with me, we need to give thanks.

Matty: Of course, Grandmother.

[differentcoloredcontacts]

Hello!

Class 1b with a spouse/friend who’s a really good singer! If you’re not busy

I actually didnt know what to write for some of the class for this one lol

Not proofread we die like men

Awase -

He loves when you just hum or quietly sing under your breath while he does something else nearby. Sometimes he joins it and it ends up with you two screaming the song lyrics.

Sen -

After you hum or sing a song to yourself he will silently cuss you out for getting it stuck in his head.

Kamakiri -

He doesn't give a flying fuck. He doesn't mind when you hum quietly when your in the same room but he doesn't point it out or does anything about it.

Kuroiro -

He would text you at exactly midnight (cuz he thinks its cooler and more edgy that way) and simply ask for a voice recording of you singing his new favorite emo song

Kendo -

Talked about doing a concert with your singing for the school festival but she ended up deciding against it after hearing class a was doing one. She still had you and a few others put on a smaller concert for just class b

Kodai -

She enjoys your singing from a distance. She doesn't really express any specific feelings towards your singing but she does gravitate towards whatever room you happen to be humming in.

Komori -

Shes your number one hype man. After every performance she bombards you with compliments <3

Shiozaki -

She often refers to your voice as angelic or being one of gods gifts. She also briefly mentions that she would love for you to sing her one or two songs. (Christian songs ofc)

Shishida -

He can probably play some fancy ass instrument (like violin or smthn) so you two put together a little mini concert for all of class 1-b <3

Shoda -

He likes listening to you sing/hum while he does other things. Sometimes he'll bring whatever hes doing closer to you so he can hear you better

Pony -

Asks if you can sing different anime openings every 10 minutes. It gets to the point where she starts asking foe the openings for animes you never even heard of

Tsubaraba -

Every single song is now a duet. You, actually singing and being great at it and kosei that sounds like a dieing cow

Tetsutetsu -

He is 100% convinced he can also sing, every time he sees you hes just like "yo check out this new song I learned!" And he just starts screaming.

Tokage -

You two have fucking rap battles lmao. She always wins because even though you can overall sing and rhyme better she can hit where it hurts lmao

Manga -

"You know that anime about the idol that gets fucking murdered episode one..." "yea?" "I drew you in her fit from the scene she got stabbed." "Thx manga....." tis pretty much it lmao

Honenuki -

After you sing or something he will walk up to you with a glass of water and makes sure your voice is feeling fine.

Bondo -

Hes always happy to hear you sing. Hes asked before if you ever thought of making your own music and he highly encourages it!

Monoma -

"Class 1-A should quake at the sound of your singing! They wish they had someone with half the angelic voice!" "What about Jiro?" "Her? She sounds like kosei when he sings..."

Reiko -

The only real reaction you get from her is a cool or nice but thats about it. She doesn't mind it but she doesn't go out of her way to mention it either.

Rin -

His favorite pass time is you messing with his hair while you hum gently to yourself. The mixture of your angelic voice and your hands going through his hair putting it in whatever style you please just makes his day <3

I dont know how to end these things anymore if feels weird to just have it cut off lmao <3

[solarianvoidthearoace]

So a few months back, actually, I retroactively realised I was straight-edge for a while – before I even found out it was a distinct subculture lifestyle

I was “straight edge” from 19-20 and then between 21 and 23

I didn’t know it was even a subculture, I’m just an asexual who’s not interested in smoking and is mildly paranoid about drinking alcohol (the break in my streak is because I stupidly got myself a boyfriend for less than a year)

I’m European and as such the drinking age in my country is below 18, actually

So I did drink alcohol occasionally between ages 15 and 19 before I decided sometime during my 19th year that I don’t want to risk it with the alcohol

I’m mentally ill and I got somewhat paranoid about that meaning I have a tendency/ predisposition to become an alcoholic, plus I just never go out to discos/ parties, so I didn’t really have a reason to drink – especially during the Covid lockdowns

I had distanced myself from alcohol and never got into the “party scene” as young adults do

Getting a boyfriend was a lapse of judgement on my part and in hindsight I’d rather have kept up my streak of being Straight Edge than waste my time on that guy

Aaaaanyhow, I even made it 2 1/2 years before I had a glass of wine again (I was visiting my parents and my mom wanted to have a glass after dinner)

Though I have to concede I probably should be keeping my distance from alcohol anyway due to the 3 psych meds I’m dependent on – I’m only on antidepressants and methylphenidate hydrochloride (for ADHD) buuuuut still, doesn’t mix too well with alcohol but a bottle of wine on occasion is fine, imo

So since I’m not 100% alcohol-free and willing to drink on occasion, I can’t call myself straight edge anymore

And once again I’m back on the topic of whether I can rightfully call myself punk, although two bloggers I follow and respect a lot (one here, one on FB) both said from what I told I do sound like an activist

That’s the thing I am mostly worried about, whether my activism counts because I’m a “keyboard warrior” and don’t go attend protests/ events

I’m outspoken about being disabled, I’m outspoken and loud about being queer, and I’m outspoken (and loud) about being mentally ill…

I’m visible.

Partially because I found, over the years, that I can’t not be visible.

I always stand out, I’m always the weird one, the odd one out. The only way I can fit in is by being quiet, keeping quiet. Because I don’t know how to mask in a way that won’t set people off about me being off.

And with the joint splints/ support bandages and walking cane, it’s not like I can be invisible about that.

And as for being queer… I’m aromantic asexual. I’m an oriented aroace, yes, but that’s where my gender factors in.

I’m agender-genderqueer and that little binaryness that is there is decidedly masc-in-nature. I have used MINgender, masculenby, transneumasc, more or less interchangeably.

Point being: the closest relation I have to the gender binary is on the masculine side of things.

And since I know I have a preference for queer men, I would say ‘m-spec vincian’ describes my orientation.

But whatever you’re picturing me like in your head right now, I don’t look the part.

I pass as a perfectly average young woman, albeit with bright green hair (blue can’t work with my natural color-undertones)

I don’t look punk, I don’t look emo, hell, I barely look queer.

To me, personally, being punk is defined by being proactive, being contrarian, being anti-establishment

Don’t get me wrong, my go-to playlist is alternative metal, punk rock, pop punk, postcore, metalcore, emocore, alternative rock and then some

But I’m not interested at all in going to live music events; even if I won concert tickets, I’d hand them over to my cousin and his friends who’d be more than happy

I just don’t like live music or live events, I’m too autistic and my auditory processing disorder isn’t helping

Reading this it probably sounds like I’m begging for validation… no, I actually got that from those two bloggers after explicitly stating I just don’t think I’m punk enough, no need for encouraging words

But hey, come hell or high water, I’m content with who I am (even if I forget that sometimes)

I have come a long way and I’m only 24 now

I am who I am, fuck the haters

And if my chronic joint pains turn out to be early onset rheumatism, it’s putting a name to a condition I have had for years; my walking cane looks cool anyway

[frauleindermorgen]

@liegebound

What might have appeared natural to anyone else has its illusion shattered by the way Kent’s eyes practically bulge out of his skull as Micaiah leads him the way by hand. Would it be odd for him to say that he could keep up just fine? It feels strange to be led along in this manner, like a child in his own right (or worse, a lover!), but he can’t deny it fits the easygoing attitude of Rusalka and before he can decide rightly whether to protest or not, she has already released him, leaving there to be nothing else said on the matter. Simply regain your composure and carry on, Kent. Following Micaiah’s line of sight and where her hand points, he marvels aloud, “ My, what a peculiar landmark! But it does indeed fit that descriptor… ”  No reason not to investigate it then. However, despite it not feeling like it took very long at all to get here, the tide has already swept in as if hours had passed. He didn’t think his internal clock that poor, but… To Micaiah, he turns,  “ Tell me, Micaiah, the time it took us to get here… It was surely not a couple hours, was it? And yet my eyes deceive me. ” He takes the parasol he had brought and prods at the water, but it proves to be no illusion. The tip of it splashes into that picturesquely blue water, submerging itself before he pulls it back out with a puzzled expression. “ Deeper than I would have thought as well… not that I thought it should have gotten to this level at all, mind you. ”

Gauging the distance between where they currently stood and their destination at the other side…“ Micaiah, do you feel comfortable swimming? ”  he asks very grimly.  “ Assuming things do not go further awry, we ought to have around four hours or less to pass through here and onto the other side before the tide becomes too unfavorable. I can take this duty myself if you cannot in these conditions. ”

“No,” Micaiah says, shaking her head, “it can’t have been that long, but however it may have occurred the tide is certainly real.”

She dangles one sandaled foot into the water and frowns; at the moment she could hop off the sand bank and stand in it, but for how much longer? Micaiah looks in the direction Kent’s attention is and then in the opposite direction back toward the palm trees.

They have no guarantee they’ll complete either journey, but if she had to choose one path Micaiah would follow her instinct and head toward where she assumes the knights to be; she may have told Sir Kent she would do her best to stay safe, but this was more important.

“If this is considered normal here I can only fear for the knights. Worry not, Sir Kent; as I said I can swim, and I should think we’ll need someone who can fight as well as someone who can heal – let's move on."

Four hours seemed to have been an overly optimistic judgement, at least in whatever strange pocket of time they now found themselves in for Micaiah has to force herself not to look at the rising water levels by the time they've walked what she thinks to be half a mile.

Kent's business-like attitude is almost a comfort here, or it would be if Micaiah wasn't busy worrying what might lie beneath it. There was little time for idle chatter though and so Micaiah does not ask, only opening her mouth when she hears shouts from ahead.

"Did you hear that? They could be in trouble!"

Saying so, Micaiah charges ahead; finally letting the adrenaline she'd been holding onto this whole time take front and center and sure enough the shouts up ahead become clearer – the Fodlan dialect she's used to, surely then these were the knights.

Surely, she thinks. And then upon seeing them: surely ?

For while one of the figures she sees is indeed wearing a familiar pure white helm the rest of the scene does not at all appear to match up. The "knight" is running into the oncoming tide (near high tide now) with an odd wood board beneath one arm; in the cave behind them she hears the shouts before, nay, cheers as he jumps onto the board and into the waves.

Micaiah is glad she can indeed tread water because she's knocked over by the oncoming water herself in her shock, just watching. Emerging with a gasp, she blinks; turning back to where she'd last seen Kent; what was going on?

beach cg feat anxiety

[thatoneidiotdts]

If you had been there, if you had seen it, I bet you would have done the same

A/n: Hello I still somehow exist and I've decided to finally post something which I haven't done since the start of 2022 so here you go

Note: pronouns for reader are they them and the reader could be afab or amab

Word count: 2376

WARNING: Neil getting the living shit beaten out of him, Neil himself, abuse, fight scene, if there is more please tell me so

(Y/n) laughed loudly as Billy impersonated their teacher Mr. Campbell, they could tell he has been practicing the impression for some time. Billy soon started to laugh too, the more he laughed the more (Y/n) laughed and it was the same for him.

Soon both were on the floor losing their breath and getting a good abs workout from just laughing. They laid there, gasping for air and tying their best not to start the laughing fit again. Billy took in a sharp breath.

“Ya know, you aren’t so bad (Y/n) nerd (L/n)”

At that (Y/n) laughed.

“Same for you Billy bad boy Hargrove”

They stated to giggle again, the fact that those were the only nicknames they could think for each other was a little bit pathetic but they didn’t really care right now. (Y/n) could hear a car pull up the driveway, Billy quickly stood up and peaked out the window.

(Y/n) could feel the air shift in the room, they could also see how tense Billy has gotten.

“What’s wro-?”

Before they could finish their question he quickly opened the closed door and pushed them inside.

“Whatever happens don’t get out, stay here and try to be quiet”

Billy said as he closed the closet door. It was dark in the closet, they could smell his natural musk and strong cologne from his shirts, they would have blushed out of embarrassment if they weren’t currently terrified.

(Y/n) could still hear everything that was happening outside, they heard a door open in a far distance stomping, someone was angry. They could hear someone yell out Billy’s name, it was probably Neil, his father. There was now a closer sound of a door opening and the closing, they cursed under their breath, they wanted to know what was going on.

There was definitely now an argument going on downstairs, there were sounds of something crashing on the floor, a plate maybe? There was now more shouting but this time it was different, they could hear Billy yell in pain as his father was punching him.

(Y/n) could feel the anger and the pure uncontrollable rage bubble beneath their skin, it was no normal rage, it was the same rage that makes you kill other people, the very regretful rage. They pushed the closet door open as they ran downstairs past Max who watched frozen in fear.

Billy didn’t look good at all, lying on the floor, he was covered with spots that will later become bruises, his lip, chin and eyebrow looked busted and his eyes droopy, he looked like he would pass out soon.

He looked at them, his blue eyes now glossy and puffy, he looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. Neil looked back, he groaned in anger as he saw them, he looked back at Billy who tried his best to get up.

“I told you not to bring your disgusting whores home didn’t I??!!”

As he said that he raised his foot to kick him again but before he could a fist collided with his temple launching him in the near wall, as he tried to get up on one knee a kick was sent straight to the side of his face, knocking him down again.

They let him get back up, they let him try his best at swinging back, yet it did nothing, they threw a punch again, and then another, a kick, once, twice. They sat on his chest and arms so that he couldn’t move, and punched him in the nose, they could vaguely hear something crack but they didn’t care, they punched him over and over again.

(Y/n) raised their fist high again but just as they were about to connect it to Neil’s face again they could feel tiny hands trying their best to keep their single hand up. They almost punched to the side but before they could they realized who it was.

“Stop it! You’ll kill him!!”

It was Max, tears were streaming down her face as she begged the person to stop what they were doing, (Y/n) looked around, their eyes landing on Billy who, with a good reason, looked terrified. Like Max tears were also spilling from his eyes. They looked back at the coward of a man beneath them, with their other hand they gripped his hair and got closer to his bloody face.

“I know you are still awake, I didn’t punch you that hard did i?”

They smirked as he nodded.

“Good, now you will listen. I do not want to see you near them again, it is obvious you see them as nothing but burdens! So be thankful. If I see you near them I will kill you, try to sue and will sue back and tomorrow do not be back here until late, disappear wherever you want, I DON’T want to see you here while I’m collecting their stuff got it buddy?”

Neil nodded as (Y/n) smacked his head against the floor, knocking him out. They stood up and calmly walked over to Billy. They looked down on him but he didn’t return the look out of fear.

���Can you walk?”

They asked as if nothing previously happened, like he didn’t just get the shit beaten out of him but as if he fell from his bike like a small child, that’s how he felt at least. He shook his head, he felt disappointed in himself.

(Y/n) sighed as they crouched down in front of him, they put their arms beneath his thing and back as they gently picked him up, he weighed almost nothing with the amount of strength they have. He nestled his face in the crook of their neck. They looked at the small girl who stood just behind their leg.

“Maxine could you please get some clothes for you and your brother just for tonight, I’ll visit back tomorrow for the rest ok?”

She nodded as she ran back upstairs. Billy groaned out of pain as he tried to say something.

“The keys are in my back pocket, grabbed them in case of a quick getaway”

After answering his silent question he let out a sigh of relief. (Y/n) kicked the door open as they stepped out in the cool air, taking in a calm breath before waking over to the car. After unlocking it they gently put Billy down in the back seat.

In the same moment Max ran out with both of their backpacks filled with books and clothes for them. She quickly handed (Y/n) the backpacks to put in the trunk as she got in the passenger seat. After they were done with the backpacks they sat in the driver’s seat and turned on the car. Instantly some heavy rock started to play but they quickly changed it to something calmer.

The drive was silent except for the music playing through the radio while everyone was trying to take in what just happened. Out of the corner of their eye (Y/n) could see a burger joint, they smiled as they looked in the rear view mirror.

“You guys hungry?”

Both of them perked up as they looked at each other then nodded, (Y/n) smiled as they took a turn and entered a drive through of a simple burger joint. After a few minutes of waiting in the line the worker asked them for their order.

“HI! Uuhh I’ll have three classic burgers one with-“

“No onions.”

“- Max please, and the other without-

“Mustard.”

(Y/n) sighed and tried not to giggle “-Plus three large batches of fries, two colas and a vanilla milkshake thank you.” The worker giggled at them and nodded as she wrote down their order.

“That’ll be 20.77$ ma’am/sir.”

They handed her a 20 and 5 five “Keep the change” They said, the worker thanked them and informed them to go to the second window to wait for their order. After a few minutes another worker brought their food and they drove off.

The drive was now quiet again. Another song switched on the radio, it took less than a line for both Max and (Y/n) to realize which song that was.

“Did its best to please us, and strolling down the Élysées, we had a drink in each caféeee, and you….and you talked of politics, philosophy and I smiled like Mona Lisa”

Max bobbed her head to the beat as (Y/n) sang the first part, and after both sang out the pre chorus Billy, not really knowing the lyrics, still decided to join them.

“I can still recall our last summer, I still see it all. Walks along the sand. Laughing in the raaain. Our last summmmer. Memories that remaaainnn!!”

(Y/n) ignored when both of them said ‘sand’ instead of ‘Seine’ but they didn’t care much, they were glad the good mood was up again. (Y/n) noticed that they won’t be able to play out the full song before they get home so they slowed down a bit, wanting to live out the simple moment.

“Our last summmmerr, where we could laugh and plaaay”

They looked in the rear view mirror, as expect Billy absolutely enjoyed the guitar solo, they smiled as they looked back at the road and both them and Max started to sing again.

“And now you're working in a bank, the family man, a football fan… And your name is Billyyy! How dull it seems, yet you're the hero of my dreeeaaaamms”

It was obvious which word they switched out as Billy ‘pfffff’-ed from the back seat, trying not to chuckle. Soon they pulled up to the large log cabin. The song slowly faded out as (Y/n) turned off the car and got out first.

“Max please get the bags your brother needs some help so I’m occupied”

She nodded as she opened the door and got out to get the two backpacks. After picking up Billy from the back seat the three of you walked to the front door. Unlocking the front door never felt better for you.

“Damn (Y/n) what jobs do your parents work” she said as she looked around the large entrance and main room, the tall wooden walls, inner balconies , stone pillars and a large chandelier looking down on them.

“Maxine watch your language please. And also my parents are dead”

Max almost gasped as she quickly started to apologize but they just let out a laugh, at this point Billy was also weirded out by all of this.

“Its fine I dealt with it by making jokes, anyways how about you go upstairs to the left and pick out a room you like and we will be here patching up”

They could now better see every bruise and cut that formed on his skin as they pulled out all the stuff they needed. They first put some vodka on a piece of cotton and as softly as they could clean away the blood and sanitized his busted lip and eyebrow.

She enthusiastically nodded as she rushed up the grand stairs and disappeared out of their sight. (Y/n) gently placed him down on couch and walked over to the first bathroom. After searching for a while they finally found the first aid and walked back to Billy.

It was clear that he wanted to wince at the pain but was trying his hardest not to. After wrapping everything up they picked him up again. After walking up the stairs they knocked on the first door to the left, after there was no response they opened up the empty guest bedroom. They gently placed Billy down on the soft bed.

“Ok I’ma go check up on Max and then bring you some ice bags, sounds good?”

There was no verbal response from him, only a nod of agreement. They smiled as they ruffled his hair and walked out. They knocked on every next door until they got a response on the end of the hallway. They opened the door and saw max sitting on the beneath a glass roof, looking up at the stars.

“You settled in?”

Max quickly turned her head around, she nodded as she ran to the door and pulled (Y/n) into a tight hug.

“You won’t let Neil take us will you?”

“Never”

They said as they wrapped their arms around the little girl. After a while they let go of each other. (Y/n) warned her that she needs to brush her teeth and wished her good night as they closed the door. They quickly got down the stairs, grabbed some ice, and went back up.

After knocking they patiently waited for Billy to call them in. A minute passed, and then two, then three, they were starting to get worried as Billy still wasn’t answering them. They quietly opened up the door, the room was as dark as they left it, with only a night light turned on.

(Y/n) could see a figure on the bed, his figure, shaking from what they guessed were sobs of sorrow, of fear. They cautiously approached him, giving him time to see them so that they don’t surprise him. He looked up at them, his eyes glossy and puffy, it reminded them too much of the scene that happened barely half an hour ago. They slowly got closer and gently placed the bags of ice on the biggest bruises. Just as they were about to get up they felt a hand grab their forearm.

“Please –just..stay”

He begged so quietly, they couldn’t believe the tone he just let out. (Y/n) sighed and nodded with a smile as they tucked themself close to him. The sobs he was crying out minutes before where nothing compared to the ones his throat was letting out now.

His whole body shook as he cried in their neck, not daring to look up. They softly held him as he sobbed, telling him it’s okay to let things out, that it’s ok to cry, to be vulnerable. After a good while they noticed how quiet he has become. The realization that he cried himself to sleep broke their heart, but they were glad he had some peace now.

They closed their eyes, letting the warm embrace lull them to sleep.

[luminous-letters]

Remains: A Jack Howl x Reader, TWST AU Mini-series

Image link

"Wake up." a gruff voice shook you awake. It was Jack, you smiled. "Morning," you greeted, expecting a regular peck on the cheek from him.

"Hurry up, a horde's about to pass through this town. We've got eighteen hours to pack and move to the next city," was his cold response. The next few moments were spent in silence, the only sounds being the packing of clothes and the tic-tac sounds of plastic.

Horde? Move? You were at a loss, honestly. Where was Grim, Ace or Deuce? The ghosts? Why weren't you in Ramshackle? Your mind was scattered.

"What?"

"We don't have the time nor the luxury for this, don't play with me babe,"

"Where's Ace and Deuce? Grim?"

"Who? Did you hit your head?" Jack was confused.

Then, the memories came back in crashing waves. You weren't in Twisted Wonderland, far from it actually. You were in your city's capitol, or whatever that's left of it. You were home, with Jack.

Moss grew on the sides of abandoned buildings, as well did a few trees clung to the ruins. The scent of smoke and decay filled the air, your stomach turned. It was a wasteland.

"Hurry up, I'm not taking any chances with those things," he called, slinging a large plastic box, which you assumed contained his share of weapons, over his shoulder.

The human mind was strange, almost comedic in a sense, how much it could remember, how much it can make up and how much it could forget. You couldn't believe that you forgot about this, whatever inferno you were thrusted into. How long have you been here?

"This...this isn't a dream."

"No shit, now hurry up," Jack was agitated now, he was gripping his bag tight, taking occasional glances between you and the scene below.

"On it," you regained your composure, now reminded that it was only you and Jack, in a deadly jungle of destruction's wake with whatever creatures lurked in the shadows.

You were quick on your feet, taking three steps worth of stairs every step you came down. Somehow, the stained concrete and the ghostly silence— once foreign, became more familiar. Every step you take, you feel more at home. Home being an empty wasteland.

"We've got to stock up on supplies before we go," Jack sounded more gentle now, maybe he was guilty about earlier. "I've already marked where we can get some stuff while you were asleep," he handed you a map.

There were a few locations circled in fresh red ink, indicative of its importance. They weren't too far, most of them were a couple blocks away.

"Do we split up? We can cover more area that way."

"No," was Jack's simple reply. "We go there together, you and me," he handed you a glock, fully loaded with a silencer attached to the nozzle.

"Plus, with whatever you were going on with earlier," he started walking now, with you towing behind him. "You're definitely not mentally fit to do this alone," he finished.

The rest of the walk was quiet, save for the rustle of old flyers and signs against the wind. What stood was what was left from the panicked evacuation many years ago, overturned cars, covered in the lush of moss and rust.

Debris from fallen line towers littered the area, making it a lot more difficult to navigate through. You had to watch your step, lest you fall and attract some unwanted attention.

The sky was a sickly desaturated shade of yellow-green, covered in gray clouds, with smog blurring the rest of the city in the distance.

You inched closer to Jack, "Scared?" he asked, to which you answered with a nod of your head. "Figured. It's still a few months since all of this started..." Jack reminisced.

"That quick for the entire world to fall," you both continued walking, surveying every nook and cranny, every alley you came across. "I didn't study criminology for this shit," Jack cursed. "Good thing you took a medical course."

"I'm sorry," for what? You weren't sure. But it felt right, maybe you were sorry for forgetting. "It's fine, if I hadn't met you before shit hit the fan..." he breathed in. "I might've lost myself the moment the whole collapse started."

"I'm still lost, in all of this," you gestured around you. "Why aren't we in NRC? why aren't you in Savanaclaw?" you racked your brain for anything, but found nothing.

"Savana-what? Babe, what are you talking about? Are you on something?" he scratched his head, passing through one of the marks he put on the map. "We're in Rust City, we moved here from Cambridge after the Siege. We've been living like this for the past three months." Jack listed.

They were familiar, you remember everything that he said. The Siege, Cambridge, and many more. But what about NRC? About everyone you knew, about Jack?

"You good? Your heart's beating like crazy," he was concerned, even if his voice did nothing to show it. "Need to rest?"

"No. I'm good."

Finally, you arrived at the first stop for your resource skirmish. 'Marigold District General Store', the sign read. Its windows were shattered and there were barely anything left from the shelves, only a number of canned meatloaf and beans.

You two passed through the large window, afraid to make any noise from the door's bell chime. "Get what you can, meet me back here when you're done," he gave you an empty bag before disappearing to the tools section.

You were chucking in whatever you could find that was edible— sardines, emulsified meat, some chicken noodles and soup, and canned vegetables.

You grabbed the last few spices and salts, and threw in eight bottles of water that sat scattered and dusty. You went to the store's pharmacy, grabbing some painkillers and paracetamol, as well as antibiotics, bandages and antiseptics.

With nothing else left to take, you headed back towards the store's front.

"Still no sign from him," you sat on a store bench meant for the elderly, "No one's left to use this anyway," your cynicism showed itself.

"Back," Jack called, a toolbox in hand. "Our old one's all worn out, the quality sucked," he held up the bright, orange-colored box for you to see. "Got anything else?" you asked him.

"A machete and some whetstones, would come in handy since we're reserving ammo," he set it down, sitting beside you. "How about you? What did you get?"

"Sardines, meatloaf, sausages, noodles, soup, water...and some coffee packs, medicine," you listed all the items, earning a satisfied hum from Jack.

"This should last us a few days," he sat back, stretching his arms before wrapping them around your shoulder. "We should get going," he kissed your cheek and gave you a pat before picking up his share of supplies.

"Next is fuel," he told you once you got back. The walk back was peaceful, albeit slow from the amount of load you two were carrying. You had to rush for fuel now. "We still got a few bars of gas left, but I doubt it's enough to get us to Carvester," Jack packed all your stuff inside the old van.

Carvester, as you recalled, was a province a few kilometers away from Rust County. It had a good amount of business districts and wasn't known to be too populated, so you understand why Jack chose that place.

"Good to go?" he fastened his seatbelt, leaving the windows open instead of turning on the air conditioner to save gas. "Mhmm, good." you fastened your own.

It didn't take too long for the engine to roar to life, you flinched at how loud it was. "Damn it," Jack too was startled by the sudden noise.

The drive was just as quiet, nothing but the sound of wheels against the pavement and the hum of the engine. Soon, the image of the gas station emerged from the thick blanket of smog.

"Stay here," he told you, leaving to fill up the tank with fuel. "Jackpot," you heard him chuckle. "Babe, hand me those empty containers," you handed him three.

You watched the fuel meter go up centimeter by centimeter, until it was completely full. "Who knew there was still a good portion left here, I honestly thought they'd have run out by now," you said.

Jack closed the door, "That means only a few people went here," you thought about the implications of the fact. "Most likely, they went to the Capitol. It's at the opposite end of town so it's unlikely that they'd stumble here." Jack answered, once again starting up the engine.

The clock read 10:43. The engine roared. The rubber of the tires rolled against the asphalt.

"Next stop— Carvester."

[randomshyperson]

Palm Springs - Leigh Shaw

All Works Masterlist

Summary: In Palm Springs, Leigh meets you. The season one finale re-imagined.

Warnings: (+18), smut, cursing, dom!reader, bottom!leigh, explicit language, explicit consent, brief mentions of harassment, fluff, brief rivalry dynamics, hopeful ending.

Words: 5.378K

Notes: My love, @abimess, this is my apologies for you. I kept mistaken "Wanda" instead of "Leigh" at some points in the writing, but it all worked out in the end. I hope you all enjoy the read, this is my first time writing for this character.

//-//

You threw the signed divorce papers against the passenger seat, ignoring the thick tears that welled up in your eyes.

Raising your hand, you turned up the radio and kept driving. Your cell phone started ringing the next moment, but you ignored it. It was probably Bucky or Steve calling to find out where you were after your little outburst at the company fundraiser.

Honestly, it wasn't your fault. You were handling it all very well, but Carol decided it would be a good idea to give you the divorce papers while you were surrounded by your closest friends, and that was the trigger. But now you were driving to Palm Springs, finally taking the damn vacation your ex-wife had put you through so much hell to get, but now, the seat next to you was empty.

It took a few hours to get there, since the complex is in New York, but you didn't care, having spent most of the way trying to understand how you managed to lose a woman like Carol Danvers.

No bags, you ignored the curious look one of the hotel staff gave you as soon as you pulled into the parking lot, smiling slightly as you took off your sunglasses and asked for directions to the front desk.

You frowned slightly as you were almost run over.

"Watch where you're going!" You shouted angrily at the driver, and the woman returned you the same angry look. Great, you've barely arrived and you almost died. This weekend was promising.

Stepping back, you waited for the woman to drive, not failing to give her a wry smile as she passed you. After this, you walked to the reception desk, and the area was quite full, which was normal for a weekend.

"Reservation in the name Danvers." You said to the receptionist after the greetings. He smiled as he checked the information.

"Valentine's suite, I see." He commented cheerfully. "Shall I prepare a second key for your partner?"

"It's just going to be me, buddy." You grumble, ignoring the uneasy feeling in your stomach. The man smiles awkwardly, but doesn't apologize.

After checking in, you go up to the third floor.

The room makes you sigh with disgust, the flowers and chocolates give you a headache. It takes ten minutes to find a chambermaid and ask her to remove all the decorations.

While your room is being cleaned, you decide to buy something to wear, since you didn't bring anything to spend the weekend at the hotel.

"Good morning." You mumble the greeting as you enter the gift store, your gaze wandering around.

"How can I help you, dear?" The saleswoman asks politely, smiling at you.

"I need something to wear for the two days I'm staying. It was a last-minute trip." You tell her, and the saleswoman looks surprised, but doesn't comment.

The woman eventually showed you the summer shirt section, and you sighed softly as you looked through the options. She walked away to attend to another customer, and you left your attention to the clothes.

A moment later, you picked out a few pieces and turned to talk to the saleswoman, only to run into the woman who had almost run you over earlier looking at the book section.

"You again." You let it slip not so low, attracting the woman's attention. She frowns for a second, and then she recognizes you. But before she can say anything, the saleswoman is speaking.

"Oh, you two know each other already?" She asks excitedly. "It's amazing how we can find friends here in Palm Springs isn't it?"

"We're not friends." You both inform at the same moment, and you squeeze your eyes shut slightly. The woman straightens her posture, pressing the book lightly against her chest as you switch the shirts on your arm. The saleswoman's curious expression prompts you to speak.

"Actually, she almost killed me." You say. "It was going to be quite a headline for this hotel. I'd be careful about the people you guys host around here."

The saleswoman looks at you with confusion, while the other woman lets out a dry laugh.

"You're the one who walked across in the middle of the street!" she defends herself. "It's not my fault if you weren't taught how to cross the street in school."

"Oh, so it's the victim's fault now?" You retort and the woman looks at you incredulously. A third customer enters the store and stares curiously at the argument, but the saleswoman is quick to gesture between you, smiling wryly.

"Oh come on, I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding" The saleswoman remarks and you sustain the annoyed look the other woman is casting at you. "There's no need for an argument."

"Of course not." The woman says forcing a smile, but her posture remains aggressive. "We are both civilized adults."

You bite your tongue to avoid another provocation, looking away from the green irises in front of you.

"Of course you are." The saleswoman says smiling, and then her gaze catches the shirts hanging from your forearm and she lets out a light exclamation. "Come on, I can finalize your purchase if that's all, dear."

You turn toward the cashier next, and it is only after you have paid for the clothes and are leaving that you see the other woman again on your way back, but she does not look away from the books to you. You couldn't care less.

//-//

In your room, you can't resist the urge to look at your phone.

Bucky has called five times. And Steve even sent you an email. You sigh weakly, feeling guilty as you catch a glimpse of Tony and Natasha's message notifications.

Your friends didn't care that you started crying in the middle of the meeting you were at because your ex-wife decided to bring a sensitive topic like the end of your five-year marriage to the table, but you were hating yourself for it.

At this point, you didn't even know what you had been crying about anymore. You and Carol had always had a difficult relationship, and since you got married, you began to wonder why you had done it in the first place.

You loved her so much when you first met her, and then everything gradually broke down. The lack of compatibility, the jealousy and possessiveness, and the lack of time. Carol was a soldier in the army, and you were a Shield special agent, and your jobs took up a lot of your schedules. But you knew that this was just another empty excuse. After all, your best friend, Natasha, was also an agent, as was her wife, and they made everything work properly.

Maybe things were meant to happen that way. That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

After taking a shower, you grumble lightly as you realize that you forgot to buy a bathing suit. And well, everything special about Palm Springs was the magnificent pools.

You figured the shorts and top you had would have to fit.

The pools were considerably more crowded than the rest of the hotel, and this was probably due to the current temperature.

You decided to buy a drink before sunbathing, realizing that most of the chairs were occupied.

The bartender was a pretty girl and smiled mischievously at you when her gaze fell on your collarbone exposed by the cut of your shirt, but you just gave her a half-hearted smile. Being newly divorced wasn't exactly the best scenario for flirting.

"What can I get you?" The woman asked as she rested her hands on the counter in front of her. You bit your lip thoughtfully, running your eyes down one of the menus left on the wood.

"Honestly, I don't know anything here." You say. "But I would like something sweet."

It takes a few minutes for her to prepare a drink for you, and you thank her as you accept.

As you sip a drink that tastes like strawberries and condensed milk, you look around the surroundings.

You frown slightly as you recognize the woman from the store, watching her sit in one of the chairs that has just been emptied in front of the bar. She doesn't notice you, but you notice her exposed legs, mentally scolding yourself for doing so.

As you take another sip of your drink, your tongue getting used to the sugary sweetness, a man approaches the stranger in front of you. From this proximity, you can hear the conversation, or rather the small harassment that he was doing.

Rolling your eyes at the stranger's clearly offensive attempt to approach the other woman, you force yourself to get up and walk over to them.

Well, Nat always said that you were a person with a natural talent for theater and you wish she were here now to see the little scene you caused.

Pretending to trip over the sunshade support, you made a sudden movement and knocked your entire drink against the man's collarbone, who let out an exclamation of anger and surprise as he stood up.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" You asked in a falsely guilty tone, forcing an expression of shock. Before he could say anything, you were already grabbing one of the towels left on the little tables beside the chairs and throwing it harder than necessary against the man's face. "Here, honey, clean yourself up."

The man blinked in surprise, and glared angrily at you for a second before muttering "whatever" and turning to leave. When he was already a safe distance away, you turned your face to look at the seated woman.

"Sorry about your book." You speak as you notice that the spilled drink has dripped a little on the pages. "But if you ask me, the ending sucks."

"Thanks, I guess." The woman mumbles not keeping her gaze on you. "I didn't need you to help me, by the way." She adds and you roll your eyes, realizing that the chair next to her got empty after your little commotion. When you sit down, she raises her gaze to you in disbelief.

"Who said I was helping you?" You retort. "I love throwing expensive drinks at strangers."

Your joke elicits a nasal chuckle from the woman, who softens her posture.

"If you want to lose money, I suggest donating rather than wasting it." She teases back and you bite back a smile, shaking your head slightly. When she opens the book again and leans her back against the chair, clearly deciding to ignore your presence, you copy the position, but stand with your arms folded across your chest and close your eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun against your skin.

You are tired from the trip, and eventually fall asleep. When you open your eyes again, the woman is no longer there.

//-//

Since you have napped until the afternoon, there is no chance you will sleep early. You try to distract yourself with television, but most of the programs are pay-per-view and you have probably already exceeded all the limits that a Shield salary can afford, so you decide to spend some time on the activities included in your weekend bundle.

After putting on a shirt to join the lobby, you take the elevator down and step out into the outdoor area, not surprised to find the place as busy as before. The difference is perhaps the lack of children because of the time of day.

You walk toward the bar and roll your eyes slightly when you notice the same man as before being loud and boisterous along with a small group partying near the place. But you ignore them as you sit down on the first stool you find.

"Well, if it isn't my knight in white armor." A female voice comments wryly beside you, surprising you mildly. You look at the woman with a raised eyebrow, but she is looking straight ahead.

"So you expect me to call you a princess? We don't even know each other." You retort in the same tone, and watch the woman bite back a smile, rolling her eyes slightly.

You stand in silence while you order a drink, this time smiling in the same way that the bartender smiles at you. While you wait, you can' t help but look over to the side.

"You know, I think I might need to get your name." You begin in a tone of false seriousness, not knowing why you want to pull conversation with the stranger, but doing it anyway. "Since I need to know who to sue for attempted hit-and-run."

The woman laughs lightly, and as she sets her drinking glass back down on the counter, she turns her body toward you, without getting up.

"The smart thing then wouldn't be to say my name, don't you think?" She retorts with amusement in her voice. "That way I avoid a lawsuit."

You smile in a corner, shaking your head slightly. You lean your arm on the counter, and it takes a moment for her to speak again.

"I'm Leigh."

"No last name so I can't find your ID, right?" You tease and she smiles, licking her lips for a moment. "Well, I won't tell you mine either then." You comment before telling her only your first name, and she laughs lightly. "May I at least know your profession? Or, I don't know, where you're from? I need that information to track you down."

You joke, and Leigh makes a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"I'm from everywhere actually." She says mysteriously. "Because I'm an international jewel thief."

You smile at the mixed tone of seriousness and playfulness in her speech, respecting her right not to want to tell you the truth, and acknowledging the identity she chooses to assume.

"Oh, really?" You ask joining in the joke. "And let me guess, your disguise happens to be as a fashion stylist, right? And you have a red motorcycle and deadly poison hidden in your lipstick?"

Leigh holds back her laughter, nodding.

"I can't confirm any of that information, actually." She says. "After all, a little incident happened and I wasn't able to finish the story."

You laugh at the teasing, taking a sip of your drink. Before the moment of silence lasts any longer, you ask if you can approach. When Leigh consents, you take the seat next to her.

"And what do you do?" she asks as soon as you sit down. You clear your throat lightly.

"I'm a secret agent, actually." You tell her and from the woman's expression, she still believes you are joking. You do not correct yourself however. "Lasers and villains, the whole story."

Leigh smiles, murmuring in understanding.

"And what is a secret agent doing in Palm Springs?" She asks next and you assume a dramatically thoughtful expression.

"I got a hint actually." You reply. "A jewel thief, fugitive from the government. I'm trying to gather information to effect her arrest."

Leigh fakes an expression of horror making you laugh.

"If I see anything suspicious, I'll give you a heads up." She jokes and you smile, enjoying the whole thing. Before you can add anything else, the small group next to the bar let out loud laughter and they attract your and Leigh's attention.

You frown slightly when you witness the guy from earlier whistling at one of the hotel staff, the people with him finding his little scene of harassment funny.

"I guess a drink in the face isn't enough for some idiots." You comment and Leigh sighs mildly. She looks at you at the same moment you look at her.

"Maybe more drinks will be enough."

That's how you end up doing a little mischief that involves distracting the stranger with comments about his muscles while Leigh approaches and manages to get the man's card. When you walk away, after she hands the bartender the hotel ID after ordering a round for everyone at the bar on the stranger's behalf, you were laughing.

"I'm beginning to believe your thief story." You amused comment as soon as you and Leigh reach the trail out of the bar area. She just smiles at your words. You clear your throat next. "I guess I need to show off my secret agent skills then."

Leigh looks at you curiously, but you just smile as you nod in the direction of the gardens.

You walk for a few minutes in silence, and you remember everything you have observed since you arrived at the hotel, and are able to find the small opening in the fence that you saw some staff members pass through in the afternoon.

"Please, milady." You joke as you make room for Leigh to cross the path first, and she rolls her eyes with amusement before doing so.

You end up in some kind of unfinished private garden, but one that is still very pretty.

Perhaps it is an area under construction for some kind of party, as it has a stage set up in the center and some folded chairs scattered about.

Your attention falls immediately to the piano that has also been set up high on the dark stage.

"How did you find this place?" Leigh asks as she looks around, and you walk past her to get on the stage, eliciting a giggle.

"Field study, of course." You reply with false seriousness. " A secret agent never goes anywhere without studying the whole place first."

Leigh murmurs in agreement, deciding to follow you to the stage. You take a seat on the piano bench while she remains standing in front of the organ.

"Do you have any requests?" You ask looking down at your fingers as she studies your face.

"Old Mac Donald had a Farm." She replies and you choke on a laugh.

"And I thought your taste in music was as good as your fashion sense." You tease causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"Is that your way of complimenting what I'm wearing?" She retorts but you just bite back a smile, moving your fingers across the keys.

You decide to play a melody that she may not recognize, but is exactly what you feel you should play.

When the first notes of " Spring - Ludovico Einaudi" echo in the room, Leigh looks at you in surprise, but you just smile.

It takes a moment for her to surround the piano, and to sit down next to you. You continue to play, enjoying the sound and concentrating not to misplay the notes.

When you make a particularly fast movement on the piano, Leigh looks at you impressed, but you just push your shoulder lightly against hers, smiling. Neither of you regains the distance from before, and you continue to play.

When you finish, you are silent for a moment.

"Where did you learn to do that?" She asks in her low, impressed tone as you both look down at your hands on the keys. You sigh slightly, moving your fingers away and placing your hands in your lap.

"I used to play when I was a kid." You reply. "Before I was a secret agent, of course."

Leigh smiles, biting her lips lightly. You look away from the movement, to her hands quickly.

"Let me show you." You whisper as you reach out your hand to hers. When she accepts, you position her fingers on the keys, and then fit your hand on top of hers. "You start like this."

The sound is far from perfect, and Leigh laughs every time she misses a note, so you don't really care.

You stay like this for a few minutes, until you can get her to complete five notes without making a mistake.

"See? You' re almost a pianist already." You comment with a smile, looking at her face. She mimics your movement, and you feel your heart skip a beat from the closeness.

You feel the tension build in the room, but before you can think of doing anything, a male voice is breaking the spell.

"Sorry, but this area is for employees only." Informs the young man from the hotel, seeming slightly embarrassed to interrupt. You and Leigh quickly walk away, standing up and muttering an apology in unison to the guy, who waits until you leave by the trail he guides.

When you reach the entrance to the social area again, the employee closes the gate, waving slightly. You and Leigh exchange amused smiles.

"So... what do you want to do now?" You ask the next moment, wanting to prolong the evening.

"I want to swim." She declares and you frown slightly, then shrug. You nod in the direction of the pools and you exchange a glance before starting to walk.

//-//

At the edge of the pool, you sigh slightly.

You exchange a look with Leigh, standing next to you, and then you laugh softly as you both begin to undress.

You can't resist the urge to look at her, especially since she jumps in first and you catch a glimpse of her body covered only by a bikini. Ignoring your uncompensated heartbeat, you jump into the water next.

It's a good thing the water was cold, because you are feeling your face and body heat up at the way Leigh looks at you.

Trying to lighten the mood, you swim around her, casually meeting her gaze again as she mimics the movement.

You laugh lightly when you realize that you are swimming in circles around each other, and decide to stop. Leigh swims in front of you a moment later.

"Hello, superspy." She greets you almost in a whisper waving her arms to continue on the surface in front of you.

"Hello, international thief." You speak back in the same tone, your gazes locked on each other.

You wonder if she would like you to break the distance, as her gaze has lowered to your lips for a few seconds. But before you can surrender to this urge, she takes a step back.

"I'm cold."

And then she swims away, and you wonder if you have taken the whole thing the wrong way.

Following her a little way back, you look for towels.

//-//

"Which floor are you on?" You ask as you reach the elevators, each with a towel around your body. You watch Leigh tighten her arms against herself slightly.

"Second." She replies half-heartedly, and you nod.

"Let's go together then."

She gets into the elevator first, and after she presses the button, you stand next to her, your back against the wall.

The tension is back the moment the doors close, but after the pool, you find it best not to take any action, not wishing to make Leigh uncomfortable.

You reach her floor a moment later, and when she doesn't leave, you hold your breath.

You risk a corner-of-your-eye glance at her, but she continues to stare straight ahead, sighing slightly.

Trying not to look like a complete mess, you wait for your floor to arrive.

//-//

The way down the hallway is silent, and despite your nervousness, you don't fumble to open your room.

Leigh enters first, and strides into the room as you close the door.

She stops in the center, her gaze scanning around for a moment before returning to you. You hold your breath, and then she lets the set of clothes in her hands fall to the floor.

You bite back a smile, mimicking the movement. Taking a deep breath, you do the same with your towel, and ignore the heat in your cheeks as Leigh's gaze descends to your body covered only by your underwear.

She removes the towel at your waist next, and you stare at her exposed legs for a moment before moving slowly toward her.

You smile shyly as you stop in front of her, and it takes a second for you to slowly lift your fingers to touch her, tracing the outline of her arm and watching her skin shiver.

"Everything okay?" You ask softly raising your gaze from where your fingers were touching to her eyes. Leigh sighs, shaking her head in agreement. You give her a short smile, placing your hand on her cheek, and watching her lean into the touch slightly. "Use your words." You ask in a whisper, your other hand repeating the motion of your fingers from before, even more slowly.

"Y-yes." She confirms half breathlessly. "And you?"

"Yes." You say, your hand reaching for the strap of her bikini. "I'm going to kiss you now, Leigh."

She nods in understanding, sighing heavily. You didn't correctly calculate how attracted you were to her, because the moment your lips touched, you felt your head spin and it was hard not to push her against the bed immediately.

You both sigh against the kiss, and you slide your tongue into her mouth next, your hand on her face running down to her neck, deepening the kiss even more.

Leigh seems hesitant to touch you for the first second, but then she gasps against your tongue, and brings her hands to your shoulders, bringing one of them up to the back of your neck and scratching the skin, making you sigh.

With the hand that was on the bikini strap, you use your fingers to pull the strap down, and with the other hand you repeat the movement on the other side. When the bikini falls to the floor, your hands go down to her waist, and you pull her toward you.

Leigh gasps at the contact of your breasts bumping together, breaking the kiss with a wet sigh, and you take the opportunity to move your mouth down her collarbone, enjoying the sounds you manage to get out of her whenever you bite her sensitive skin softly.

You lean against her to lower your kisses to her breasts, and when your mouth finds the hardened nipple, she arches her back, closing her eyes as her fingers force your head forward against her breast.

"Oh." She moans as she feels you suck on her nipple, your other hand moving up to give her other breast due attention, your fingers playing with the tip. " Oh, fuck, that feels good."

You smile against her skin, feeling your core tighten with the sounds you are tearing out of her.

When your hand on her waist moves down to her ass, squeezing the flesh and pressing Leigh's hips against yours as your mouth continues on her breast, she moans loudly as she throws her head back, shuddering against you.

It's enough to make you lose control. You need to know how she tastes.

Gasping, you move your kisses down again, and Leigh holds her breath as you get down on your knees.

You kiss her thighs first, while your hands pull down the fabric of her panties.

When the fabric falls away completely, you swallow dry, your gaze glazed on the exposed intimacy of the woman in front of you, your mouth salivating to taste her.

"I-I'm gonna fall." She comments shyly, and you notice how her knees are already shaky. You take a deep breath, forcing yourself to stand up.

You take Leigh by the hand to your bed, and she stands there, making you smile. You move forward against her mouth again, and she sighs, almost losing her balance from the intensity.

"Lie down." You ask between one kiss and another, making her moan softly. "Spread your legs for me."

Leigh gasps against your lips as you slip your fingers through her folds for a moment, before pulling away until she obeys. You bite your lips as you watch her lie down.

Before you join her, you remove the rest of your clothes. Leigh's cheeks redden, but you give her no time to register this, climbing onto the bed with your knee between her legs and kissing her again.

As she begins to squirm beneath you for more friction, you move your kisses down her body.

She closes her eyes when your mouth is at the level of her belly, breathing hard.

When your tongue touches her pussy, you both moan loudly. You are amazed at how wet and hot she feels, the taste filling all your senses. And Leigh bites her lips to stop herself from moaning out in pleasure when your tongue begins to move against her clit, sucking and licking her devotedly and making her whimper.

"F-fuck." She moans breathlessly, her hips thrusting into your mouth. "Yeah...right there... don't stop..."

You lift your hands to her thighs, holding her open. Your own intimacy pulsing from the way Leigh is surrendered to you and the sounds she gives you.

Keeping the strokes of your tongue as deep as you can and being sure to press your clitoris in return, you feel her pussy tighten and Leigh's body begins to quiver in spasms.

"I-I'm... close... fuck..." she begins to whimper disconnected words, long moans escaping her throat. It takes only two more strokes for her to come on your tongue, her moan loud enough to be heard in the next room, but neither of you care.

You drink all of her cum, enjoying the taste and feeling on edge, without even having been touched yet.

Moving up your kisses again, you deposit slow kisses against Leigh's skin, waiting for her to recover from her own orgasm.

When you reach her mouth, she kisses you back with the same intensity.

You just know you're not going to sleep early tonight.

//-//

When you wake up, your bed is empty. You are surprised by this, really.

The night was very good. Much better than any one-night stand you have ever had.

After getting dressed by finding your articles of clothing, you walk to the front desk.

It takes a few minutes to find Leigh, and you frown when you realize from the bag in her hands, the documents, and the car key that she is leaving.

"Wow, you weren't even going to leave a note." You tease as you catch up with her. She is startled by your sudden presence, but forces a smile.

"Look, I'm sorry..." she starts but you shake your head.

"No need." You interrupt by putting your hands in your pockets and shrugging. "It was just one night after all."

"Yes." She reaffirms what you say, staring at you. You hold her gaze, and a long minute later she sighs. "No, it wasn't."

You swallow dryly, watching her. She seems conflicted about something, her expression going from worried to guilty in a few seconds, and then she takes a deep breath and shakes her head before looking at you again.

"I can't." She says, and you sigh lightly. "I just... can't."

"It's okay." You decide to say, ignoring the way your stomach is flipping with nervousness or your heart is racing. "We are civilized adults, aren't we?"

Leigh smiles, and you watch her eyes water for a moment before she quickly hides her emotion. You feel the same way.

" This is a goodbye." Leigh says next, and you look away to the floor, nodding in understanding.

"Goodbye, Leigh. It was nice meeting you." You say as you look at her again, forcing a smile even though your eyes are watering.

She smiles, approaching to kiss your cheek close enough to your lips to make you shiver. She doesn't pull away immediately, raising her mouth to the height of your ear, she whispers "I left a note." and before you can understand what has been said to you, she is gone.

It is only at the end of the day, many hours after she has left, and you are already inside your car that you rummage in your pants pocket looking for the car key that you find the note.

It is a piece torn from the page of the book "Unmoored in milan", the paper stained with drink. In the corner, in cursive letters it is written. "to my favorite secret agent. Leigh Shaw, Los Angeles."

You smiled at the words, and as you were driving back to New York, you wondered how long it would take Natasha to find out Leigh's phone number.

//-//

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