#tumblr ruined the quality again rip
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scarfaxia · 1 year ago
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Killian art for @sanityshorror's birthday! ♡
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gelarshiesprofruitboarder · 2 months ago
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ive been listening to only soul coughing for the past like 3 hours anyways heres these freaks. again.
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vampiretendencies · 2 years ago
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Could I request lyric viii with JJ Maybank?
“if you get a minute call me back, im so lonely and you’re the only one that knows me”
— call me back by chase atlantic
IDCNTLIKEDARKNESS MILESTONE EVENT ��
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pairing; jj maybank x fem!reader
warnings; fluff, mentions of death, tiny bit angsty, maybe suggestive if you take it that way.
authors note; hello! welcome to the first blurb of this event! hope you all enjoy. the event lasts today up until sunday! any rules are linked in the event title. i will also be making mood boards for every blurb, but tumblr tends to ruin the quality of them. doesn’t have to be my lyrics either you may send in fully your own idea to be apart of this <3
masterlist — jj maybank masterlist
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JJ bit down so anxiously on his tongue that he felt the familiar metallic taste of blood.
He’d forgotten to pick you up from work, and he knows it’s such a minuscule task but, it did slip his mind. Though he fears he won’t hear from you again, because every mistake might make you slip through his fingertips so quickly that he won’t be able to catch you.
That you’ll abandon him, and leave him for dead like everyone else in his lousy life. In this town full of stupidity, his only remnant of hope was you. And he couldn’t— he just couldn’t have that sensational feeling ripped away from him before he fully got to experience it.
Any moment he got to spend with you, he’d be elated if it was his last.
He’d die a happy man.
Though right now all he wants you to do is pick up the damn phone before he actually goes into full cardiac arrest.
You were on the other end, glaring at the phone that lit up beside you whilst toy with the corners of the sheets on your bed. You weren’t even displeased with him, you were merely proving a point— do not be late to pick late to pick you up from work, having already stayed at the shitty establish long enough.
To be quite fair though, you did have your own way of transportation. JJ just always insisted on sporting his girl in his pick up truck— showing you off to the world with a desiring kiss to his lips.
“Fuck,” he whimpered into the palm of his hand, dialing your number for the umpteenth time.
1 new voicemail.
He never leaves voicemails, you thought.
Must’ve been urgent enough for him to declare his apology to you. So you resonate with the voicemail having craved to hear his raspy, lulling voice all day.
“Baby … look okay I know you’re mad. I don’t even have an excuse this time, but I fuckin’ miss you,” and you hear his somber sentence flail at you heart, already swooning. “Shit, just don’t go okay? If you get a minute call me back, I’m so lonely and you’re the only one that knows me.”
And you did, you stored things about JJ that he wouldn’t tell a soul— not even the Pogues. He’s so adamant in saying such things because, if you leave him he vowed to not let anyone get that close to him again. Fearing to handle such deep rooted pain.
If it wasn’t you, it wasn’t anyone.
Rolling your eyes lovingly— if that was even possible, you dial the insatiable number back. Awaiting to hear his voice, you chew down on your bottom lip.
All it took was one ring.
And he’s jumping off of the couch, a half smile adorning his features.
“Wanna’ tell me why you didn’t pick me up from work?”
“Wanna’ tell me why you can’t answer the damn phone?”
Shared breathy laughter was formed, and then JJ honed in on the fact that maybe he was being overdramatic and so were you.
“Don’t don’t do that shit again, baby.”
“Then remember to pick me up next time, J.”
He huffs on the other end, but you know he doesn’t fully mean it. Stomach soaring at the weakness he felt in his knees, by the sudden and welcoming comfort surging throughout him.
“You weren’t even there to give me a kiss.”
“Tell you what, come here and we can work something out pretty girl.”
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justanotherfanaccount · 2 years ago
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shadow and bone s2e4 reaction
everyone's reactions to the engagement 😳
zoyas back to herself hahah
bitch ass...she is not ruined (she is ruination)
damn...openly kissing right after your engagement announcement?? 👀 yes...I see nothing going wrong
ope...guess who was right and who's brother saw that!!
what is this boy doing??? (baghras finger) God damn
they really made baghra a better (nicer) person in this version though...
"it'll give me some comfort to know you're with me" is the nicest thing kaz can say hahaha
"if the plan goes awry" ...book kaz's plans never go awry...they just turn into plan f
"kinda like your face" IS THAT THE RIP-OFF "maybe I liked your stupid face" !?!?! IT BETTER NOT BE
ok jesper guessing what kaz is gonna say was amazing top notch quality...one of my new favorite moments
...this is also crooked kingdom...(the costumes)...it SCARES ME
...ope...nina is in this plan...she might ruin it (she hasn't really been a CROW yet...she cares more about Matthias at the moment and Pekka can give her that)
anndd...that happened sooner than I expected
it took kaz almost a whole book to forgive jesper for ACCIDENTALLY telling people they were leaving town...idk how he's gonna forgive nina for PURPOSELY doing this
love alina learning the cut...get it girl
also Tamar and Nadias chemistry 👀👀 I see you (ps Tamar is so gorgeous how do I focus with her on screen 😭)
David's actor is so good! the pain in his voice when he mentions genya 🥺🥺
"I share no bond with kirigan" 😳 girl is done with him
"it's a little unsettling how you talk about him like he's someone else" get it mal! I love that line
please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan
inej saving the people on the ship 😭😭 I love her so much
again I say...please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan... how else does he forgive nina?
this is literally crooked kingdom...the fake plague?
YES ITS A KAZ PLAAANNN
I KNEW IT I LOVE KAZ PLANS
wylan 🥰 (it was such a short scene...I just love him)
jesper in his costume brooo
hell yeah I love crazy kaz
"you'll never find your son in time" badass shit
start begging Pekka. start begging.
honestly...not mad that they moved this plot up sooner cuz there is still a lot that happens in six of crows and crooked kingdom with van eck and the ice court...this gets Pekka out of the way
aahhhhhh freddy is an amazing kaz!!!!
right after his big Pekka throw down he looks at jesper and nina like he was ashamed he learned his secret and it just ahhhhh
tolya and his poetry hahaha loovee
damn nikolais brother whose name I forgot! rude!
Vasily...it was said
ew...don't kiss her hand vasily...nasty
his son being okay gets me though 🥺 the little boy didn't do anything wrong and kaz knows that
"you could come with me" for being so good at flirting with everyone...i love how bad he is at it with the people he actually likes
"I can't make you any promises, or predict what might happen between us. but I can tell you that, I'd like to find out." CRIES 😭😭
ok imma be honest...I got a bit of wesper in e4 spoiled for me because I opened tumblr and THERE IT WAS and was SO UPSET because I love their slow burn
it just seems like they rushed it...they barely know each other...GIVE ME MY SLOW BURN
but also this scene is really cute
BUT WHY WE MOVING SO FUCKING FAST BRO
...I went back and rewatched the scene because as I said in a previous post...I always rewatch wylan scenes and
WYLANS LITTLE TURNED AWAY SMILE AFTER JESPERS SPEECH OMGGG HES SO ADORABLE
kaz being mad at inej but just because he was worried about her 🥺
"weak link" this bitch is so bad at feelings...we all know you love her
I just know that if we could see in his head like the books he'd be yelling at himself
I love nikolai "wear it that is...not punch me"
this scene is like word for word! love!
Vasily gives me slimey vibbeess
I'm so excited for this scene
AND HERE WE GO
BRO WAS LITERALLY RIPPED IN TWO
darkling really just walked past alina like 🚶‍♂️
I love the darklina scenes thouggghh they're done so well to the book!!
is it bad to say that I expected genya to be...worse than she is??? 👀
like girl was described as missing an eye and basically looking almost non-humanlike due to the torture she endured
but now she has like some scratches on her face
"do you see him?" 👀 same alina...same
(imma just put this here in my small shameful way but...the darkling looks really hot when he's trembling with anger 😗...)
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sleepymarmot · 1 year ago
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I haven’t giffed for a while, so making the previous post was a bit of an adventure.
I started this gifset in February 2021. Back then I ripped every frame and the gifs were too big for tumblr, so I had to delete every other frame by hand. It looked so choppy that I put the post on ice, and it got buried under other drafts. Evidently I found the post again months later but didn’t fix it and left it to rot again.
I found the post again this week and almost published in that state, but thought it’d be too embarrassing to post a gifset with every second frame in 2023. I then tried to remake it in proper quality. I discovered that I had one of the gifs ripped with every second frame, and had to re-rip it again (and remember how to crop them). For some reason, the new screenshots were brighter, so I had to use a different coloring for them. I also had to split that gif into two, but that’s easy.
The gifs were still way past the Tumblr limit, and I was on the brink of losing hope and shelving the post again when I realized that I can just reduce the number of colors. This is b/w! There are 64 and even 32 colors per gif in that post and it all looks perfectly fine. So my big problem from two years ago was finally solved. (Too bad this solution would not work with normal color gifs.)
The original version was also awfully slow. For the new one I started experimenting with frame delays since I’m unfamiliar with giffing every frame. At first I tried to abandon frame animation altogether and set the FPS on the timeline the same as original video, but that didn’t work (in two different ways). Then I realized that gif exporting ruins frame delays anyway, rounding them up/down to either 0.03 or 0.07. 0.03 looked perfect in my desktop image viewer but too fast on Tumblr in the browser. 0.05 looked too slow. Then it finally occurred to me to do the math, and 1 second / 23.976 fps indeed equals 0.04 (rounded). So I adjusted the gifs to have 0.04 as frame delay and it still looks wrong somehow, even though objectively it should be the best option.
By the way, I had to carefully replace gifs one by one in the original post buried like fifty pages deep within my drafts, and not just because I didn’t want to make a new one: that draft is in the legacy photo post format, and I don’t have access to it for new posts anymore.
After finishing and uploading all that, I realized that I never cropped out the black border, and it’s quite visible at the edges of the gifs. But I already wasted way too much time to go through every gif again.
In the end, the only thing I had to redo from scratch was the final gif (now split in two). For all the others, I used the same psd, adjusted the export settings, then redid the frame delay of the exported gifs. The real time-consuming part was not the editing process itself, but figuring out what I needed to do.
All this was for an extremely simple gifset, by the way. The kind that requires no actual creativity or hard work, only a bit of technical know-how. If you know what you’re doing, and not blindly poking at the settings you’re not used to, it should take no time to make. I just want to share how much I’m overthinking everything. (And also to journal for my own sake, because this has been An Experience.)
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reicchel · 2 years ago
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I would like to ask you to reblog this so that it gets more visibility and, therefore, more interaction.
I know a lot of people don't use the mobile app, but there is also people like me who never use the desktop version (which is an actual good thing for Tumblr because of course my browser has an adblock). So all the time I spend on my dash is via the Tumblr app (android).
I have sent feedback pointing out exactly the same things you see in the ask AND in the comments:
Not being able to zoom in by double tapping. I follow a lot of artists and I love that in this site I can actually see the picture in high quality, so I often zoom in to enjoy every little detail --not to mention that I also have severe myopia and astigmatism (by default, I need to zoom in when theres a screencap of a text). Now if I want to zoom in, I have to hold my phone with one hand and zoom in with the other, so, honestly, most of the times I'm discouraged and prefer to just keep scrolling.
Not being able to exit the image viewer it by dragging down on the screen. You know exactly how many times I've liked or reblogged "related content" through this new feature? Zero times. I follow tags and specific blogs for a reason. I even have the "Based on your likes" function turned on. At this point, I've just taught myself to never repeat such motion, and when it happens on accident (when trying to swipe to either side, or when trying to see the lower part of a picture that I'm zoomed in <- this happens frequently) I swipe back immediately. Also, the "back" arrow is awfully far and hard to make it work because the tap needs to be VERY precise.
The visual experience is just... Unpleasant. If I tap on the image I don't really want to se the info I already saw on the post. Now I have to tap again to get a cleaner view, except it's not, because there's a blurry, bigger version of the image in the background. Which also just ruins the experience with transparent background images.
And... Sighs. The video viewer. It doesn't even work half of the times. The only way to make it work is to close the app and open it again. Which I won't do if I've been scrolling for a while. So RIP to that video, I'll never know what it was about. And then, when it's working... It doesn't pause with a tap. Nor with a double tap. You need to tap and hold. And having the video bar at the top of the screen is a choice I don't even try to understand. When I rewind I often like to see the frame I'm trying to find, not the back of my hand.
I won't say I'll leave just because of this; I've endured it for several weeks because I have to make do or go back to twitter and I'm honestly not doing that. But I do have decreased my level of engagement with art and only stay around to read text posts, which, as an artist myself, is disheartening to think of all of the users doing the same.
hello! I was wondering if you guys could provide some clarity on the image & video viewer update. I'd had the update for about a day and it was honestly miserable - not being able to zoom in on things on mobile left me straining my eyes constantly, and not being able to close out of images & videos by dragging down on the screen was hugely inconvenient (the back button on my phone is hard to reach when im scrolling one handed, my hands are small!) so I wss extremely relieved to see it rolled back. are there plans to bring back this update? I would really hope not because it made this app practically unusable for myself & other visually impaired people, and I'm just someone who should be wearing their glasses more often, I can't imagine how much it sucked for people with more severe visual impairment. as always thank you guys for the hard work you do!
Answer: Hello, @sydmarch!
We’re still tweaking and testing this feature, but you can expect it to support zooming and a drag-down-to-dismiss gesture—as well as some other improvements—the next time you see it. We can’t give an exact time frame here, but we hope it won’t be too long.
Thanks for your feedback, and keep it coming. It all really does help and we appreciate the time you take to get in touch. Thanks, too, to @53miner53 for getting in touch with a similar question.
Best,
—Alex 
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imgucciking · 4 years ago
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Mmmh [KAI]
Listen as you read
Pairing: Idol!Boyfriend!Kai X Fan!Reader 
Genre: Smut, Smut, Smut. After care fluff. And some fluff at the start.
Words: 2k
Warning: Masturbation! Cursing! Marking! Eating out! Penetration! Size kink! Unprotected sex! [stay safe y'all] 
A/N: My first work on tumblr, I wanted to start of with Kai.
Kai was your boyfriend, and he had been for a total of 3 years last month. You had spent the time well at home, he had even cooked some dinner for the both of you! A surprise cake was baked by him as well, in the flavour of chocoltae, your favorite [ You didn't tell him how you found a few egg shells in it]
But right now though, the pair of you were separated. You lived near the outskirts of Seoul, while the headquarters of SM, as well as Kai's house was in the middle of the busy city. Kai was busy with the preparation of his new solo, whiich he hadn't even revealed the name for to you.
He said it was super secret and it would be ruined if he revealed. You of course had pouted, and even tried some aegyo, which you never did in order to get him to tell you what the song was called, atleast. Somehow though, he never told you. On the november 25, the teaser of mmmh had been revealed. 
You had watched the video, then went straight to your bed, your phone in hand, already dialling kai. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? WHY YOU GOTTA KILL ME?" He had laughed. He fucking laughed. That. Was. It
You were so excited for today! Mmmh was finally getting released and of course you were excited! You got your big computer ready, put it on full screen, 4k quality and the volume was full on. Your phone was right beside ou incase kai decided that he was going to kill you in this mv like the teaser. 
You used the phone a lot. You called him the moment the song started, and of course, he was there, like the sweet boyfriend he was to listen to you fangirl over him, and then gasp and pretend to die when he revealed his abs. He found it very endearing that you did all this. Then, once you were done watching the mv for about the 100th time, he asked ou to always call him like this cause he found it awesome.
You blushed before replying with an ok and then cutting the call. 
It had been a month since then. You were going through the many memories you and Kai had created right now, looking through the million selfies and photos on your phone, your background music being a 10 hour version of mmmh. Bless the soul which made such an awesome repeat.
"You make me feel so mmmh hmmm~" You mouthed the words. All of a sudden, the repeat got over. You pouted to yourself, your hands reaching over to your phone to see what was going on. But suddenly, the song played again, only this time his voice sounded deeper, sexier. Your thighs automatically came closer, his deep voice doing something to your inside. 
Tentatively, you let your hand travel lower down your body, underneath jong-in's hoodie which you had on. You let out a breathy gasp as your fingers came in contact with your heat. You allowed your hands to travel the rim, but not deep in. You wanted to tease yourself. 
And oh were you doing a good job at it. You lied your body more comfortably on the bed, then spread your legs wide, your/kai's hoodie pulled up until it was bunched up underneath your neck. Your nipples had formed hard pebbles due to the cold air in the room, and your left hand was currently playing around with your left breast, twisting it around, rubbing it, and playing with your tits. 
One hand still rested comfortably within the folds of your clit, gently flicking it and pinching at the sensitive nub. One important rule of kai's was that you never played with yourself, because he wanted to be the one to please you, but the thought was long gone from your head, and besides, it wasn't like kai was coming home today, was he?
Oh how wrong could you have been.
The door clicked open loudly, as Jong-In stepped into the house. "I'm home baby!" His words, however were left to drift into the silence, as you were far too lost in the pleasure your fingers were causing you. Granted, they weren't as large as Kai's, but it did the deed and that's all you wanted. 
You were edging closer and closer to your high. "O-Oh! Kai!~" You screeched, as you finally cummed all over your fingers, the white sticky substance coating your hand. Kai heard you. And judging by the way you sounded, he also knew what you were doing right now. 
His cock twitched in his pants, like waking up from a long nap. "God Y/N..." He groaned, before pulling his shoulder back off and placing it on the table. Unbuttoning the top 2 buttons of his top, he walked into your shared bedroom. God how you lay on the bed, his hoodie all bunched up on you, your fingers still buried deep within your cunt. The tent in his pants became painful to handle as he stalked closer to you.
Your eyes were shut from how you rode out your high, your breathing heavy as you rested. Jong In edged closer to your body, before he put his lips very close to your ears. "Didn't I teach you to not touch yourself?" Your eyes shot open as you looked up at his figure hovering over your tiny self. 
His lips were curved up in a smirk. "K-Kai I-" You were cut of by him placing his finger on your lips. "Hush...." He removed his finger once he was sure you would keep quiet, his fingers now wrapped around your airpods, as he plugged one of them off your ear. "What were you listening to, baby?"
He puts one into his ear, greeted by his voice singing out. "Ahh baby.... My song?" You nod furiously, not wanting to do anything that might displease him. He let out a groan seeing you so submissive. He pulled it out, then curled his fingers round your phone which lay forgotten beside you. 
He disconnected the earphones, allowing his voice to sing out loud. "I'm going to fuck you, with my voice in the background. Is that okay babygirl?" You nod once more. His fingers curl around your neck, a tight grip. "Use your voice~" You quickly let it out. "Yes, kai!"
"Ah ah!" He tutts, his grip around your neck tightening. "What is my name?" Your eyes widen before you remember. "Yes s-sir!" He nods, before smiling, his fingers unravelling from you neck, to your hair as he gently strokes it. "Such a good girl for me, aren't you?" His tugs at your hair, pulling you up into a sitting position. 
"Such a good, good girl.... But you've been bad now.... Should I punish you?" Your eyes widen. "No sir! I'm s-sorry!" He smirks, before pulling the hoodie of your body entirely. He inches close to you, and you think he is about to kiss you so you pucker your lips. "Ah ah! Only good girls get kisses!" You pout, and Jong in almost wants to kiss you now.
"I'm sorry!" You say again, as you try to pull him towards you. But he, is able to resist, and he buries his face deep into your neck, gently breathing in and out your scent, his breath hitting right on your sensitive area. He knew how crazy you get when he does that.
"Sir!" You moan, your voice sounding foreign to even yourself. Kai's teeth sink into your soft unmarked skin, as he paint art on you. He was the artist, and you were the canvas, nothing you could do would get you out of this. Once he was done with the hickeys covering your neck, he stood up and went to the chest of drawers were you stored your... toys..
Kai was a bit overexcited with the usage of toys and such, so the pair of you had bought an entire cupboard to keep in the stock of your sex toys. 
He selects a black blindfold, and fuzzy cuffs. Mmmh...Your favorite.
He ties the blindfold around your eyes, and seats you up on the bed, with your hands cuffed tightly. Not too tight enough for it to hurt, but tight enough to not allow you to escape its grasp. You struggle a bit, adjusting your body, till you feel a flat muscle lick against your cunt. 
Your body goes rigid and you stop moving around. He smirks against you, and he knows you can feel him right there. He lets out a soft groan, when you start grinding yourself onto his face, but his hands go to your thighs and he quickly stops you by holding your thighs. 
You whine and whimper at the sudden hold, but he teases you by letting his tongue wander all over your heat, but not where you want it this most. "Kai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Please!" He suddenly stops. "Ah, ah... What's my name?" "Sir!!!!!"
"Good girl, I'll award you, shall I?"
He starts lapping at your juices, sucking, pinching, and stroking at your cunt. Your eyes had rolled back so far into your sockets, that you thought it might get stuck right there. His tongue was much better at pleasing you than your fingers, and the tightening in your stomach only increased. 
"Jong In!! I'm gonna c-" His warmth suddenly leave you. You look up at him, to see him smirking at you. You whine at not being able to release. "I think you've been stretched quite enough, right Jagi?" He unlocks the handcuffs, before tying it again onto you, except this time its not against the bed.
He undresses himself quickly, and as soon as he gets his underwear off, his large member flips against his lower abdomen. Your eyes feast on his naked body, all the ripped muscles on it. You want to trace your fingers over him, but your hands are unfortunately locked. 
You groan at this fact. His hands curl around his member as he strokes it, coating it with his pre cum. Once its enough, he bends over and produres his head into your heat. You groan at the feeling, clenching him and trying to pull him. "So thirsty for my dick, babygirl? Well then, I'll give you what you want!" 
He suddenly pounds into you, thrusting hard and not even allowing you to adjust to his length and girth. "God!" You screech, the pain and pleasure mixing together to cause something totally new. Your hands tug of your blindfold, wanting to see Kai fuck you deep. 
He lifts your left leg up, and places is onto his shoulders, reaching to places within you that had never been touched. "Feel me there? Right in that pretty little stomach of yours baby?" "Oh god yes! You scream, and you know your neighbours will be able to hear you quite well. 
But Kai liked that. He liked to show them all who you belonged to.
He grunts as you clench tightly around him, nearly not allowing to thrust. You were close and he got that. He pound into you even harsher, like an animal unleashed and allowed to do whatever it wanted with your body. He reaches over to your hair, and tugs you up. 
You comply, placing your head on his chest as he continues his work. These move was all you needed for you to come, and you let your cum flow, your eyes rolling to the back of your socket and all you can see for awhile is white. 
He continues pounding into you, chasing his own high. You, being hypersensitive clench tightly around him. This pulled him over the edge, and he cummed into you, releasing his load well. 
He lied next to you, both of you panting and sweaty. His cum flows a bit out of you, wetting the bed below. "That was-" Kai smiles at you. "I love you, Jagi" 
You grin, feeling a bit sleepy. "I love you too baby" 
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depressedacadamia · 3 years ago
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How do you passive aggressively say ‘Fuck you’ in flower? Part III
Summary:  New owners, new friendships and new beginnings... but maybe there's a linger of old history there aswell.
A/N:  Helloooo!! It's writers month starting August so I've posted all the prompts and there are also the fandoms you can request. Please send a request, its always fun to interact with the readers and hear what content you want to see!! That said, here is chap 3!! I hope you enjoy and make sure you comment and enjoy!! <3 from phi phi!!
Read on A03              Read part I on Tumblr               Read part II on Tumblr
Will couldn't believe his luck. Of all the things he could have been told, it had to be this.
He held the printed note in between his thumb and forefinger as he grumpily read aloud the note hidden inside the fortune cookie. Calypso looked excited as her hands gripped the side of the table with passion.
“So? What does it say? Are you going to marry skull boy and live happily ever after with a cat?”
Wills scowled. “ No, that’s ridiculous. I hate cats. Maybe a dog. Or a goldfish.”
“Yeah, but goldfish don't live for as long as a cat could,” Calypso pointed out, her pinky finger pointing towards Will. “Now read. I want to hear your fortune.”
“Ugh. You aren’t hesitant to take what you want but sometimes you lack intuition; try and be more intuitive."
Calypso looked at him, with disappointment ranging across her face before shrugging and returning to her food. Will, who was expecting a much larger reaction, was offended.
“Excuse me? You begged to hear my fortune and now you just ignore it? You’re a terrible friend. I bet you wouldn’t run into a fire to save me.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t.”
Will gasped. Calypso continued her sentence, with an overall sense of coolness. “ I’d send the fucking fire patrol, police, moutaion resucuers, heck, I’d send the grandma next door to me if she had even a slim chance of getting you out of there.”
“Awwww, You do love me!”
Calypso grunted. “It’s only because I refuse to let anything other than myself kill you. Now stop hugging me and scram; you’re ruining my course of digestion with how hard your arms are wrapped around my stomach.”
But Will refused to oblige as he wrapped his arms around his best friend's stomach, listening to her complaints and completely ignoring them.
“What do you think it means?” Calypso spoke over a mouthful of food.
“What?”
“The fortune cookie thingy. What do you think it means?”
“It means I should be more intuitive, that's what it said.”
Calypso facepalmed, now understanding why the fortune cookie told her best friend what it told them. Even to the most oblivious person, it was obvoius that what the fortune cookie had told Will was not to simply be more intuitive but instead to -as the author would say- Open your fucking eyes and see what’s in front of you . But, as the author, I can tell you that William Andrew Solace is such an oblivious character that if I were to shout that at him, he would simply stare at whatever was sitting in front of him.
The next Saturday
“Are they coming?” Meg tugged on Will’s sleeve. “ Will, are they going to come today?”
It had seemed that, surprisingly enough, Meg had taken a great liking to Will’s so-called new ‘friends’ and in particular- Nico, which just so happened to be perfect for Will. It was already terrible that Will had to deal with them showing up only once in his beloved shop, let alone the idea that they may come again the next weekend and ruin it entirely for him, like the previous.
“I don’t know Meg, why do you care?” Will asked, his tone slightly agitated, out of all the people who had visited him at the shop, Meg just had to take a liking to these.
“Because that Nico guy is super cool. But don’t tell him I said that- and you guys can’t make out in my shop, no matter how cool he is.”
“This isn’t your shop and it isn't Calypso’s either, Dya know that, right?” Will reminded Meg as she went on about the new customers.
A sharp jab, that Will could now confidently identify to be Calypso’s elbow, hit his side. “Oi, What do you mean it ain't my shop- it basically is. It’s not like the previous owner ever cared about it.”
Will’s ears perked up at the words ‘previous owner’. “What do you mean Previous owner? Do they not own it anymore?”
“Did you not hear?” Calypso stopped braiding the rose into Will’s hair after seeing his surprised expression. “ We have a new owner. They offered the old one loads, and I mean loads of money for this shop. Apparently it’s this young sophisticated woman who just throws money whenever she wants.”
“Why do you sound so happy?”
Calypso’s finger’s in Will’s hair stopped braiding for a second. “What do you mean why do I sound so happy? We have a new rich owner. That means we will get better conditions. Imagine all the better quality wrapping we can get for the bouquets!”
“But if they're the kind of person to just throw money about, will they really take care of what's theirs? Or will they just send their own cronies to keep everything tidy, while paying them the minimum possible? And in this case, those cronies are us!”
“You’re imagining the worst of the new owner.”
“No, I’m not! Why am I the only one who hates the idea of a new owner!” Will yelled, grabbing the rose in his hair and ripping it out, throwing it at the entrance of the door. Will wasn't one to raise his voice but he couldn’t help but feel frustrated- why was everything changing so much!
Maybe it was fate, maybe it was destiny, or maybe Will was just that unlucky, but in that very moment, Nico and his friends all walked in.
It seemed they had all been causally conversing as they walked in.They were quickly silenced by whatever was occurring within the florist; Percy was halfway through grinning and dropping his jaw at Will's sudden outburst. Afterall, the last time he had seen Will this agitated was in middle school when he stole Will’s plastic stethoscope that his father had supposedly gotten him.
“Are we interrupting?'' Frank asked. He may have been on Nico’s side but he figured that perhaps barging in on an argument wasn’t the most respectful thing one could do.
“Trouble in paradise?” Nico smirked as he picked up the ruined rose that Will had thrown to the floor in a rage. He twirled in between his fingers and looked at the shade of pink; he glanced back at Will and decided it greatly complimented his skin tone and the cute blush he’d get whenever he was angry.
He frowned at the ruined rose and placed it on the counter before walking back to Will.
“The trouble only started when you set foot into this shop,” Will retorted, very much unappreciative of his presence at this moment. He still couldn't believe that the shop was getting a new owner! Sure, the old one had barely shown up and basically left Calypso entirely in charge but how could Calypso be so casual about it?
Nico ignored his attempt at a snide comment and walked past him, gesturing with his finger to follow behind him. “I want a flower. The one you threw. What was it, a Rosa Ausrumba?”
Will, slightly surprised that Nico had managed to identify the binomial name for the rose, raised his eyebrow. “Yeah.. how did you know?”
Nico shrugged, not offering an explanation as Will went ahead and fetched him a packaged gentle hermione rose. As he handed it over, he couldn’t help but let his mind wonder who the rose was for. It was a soft pink, the same type of rose that Calypso insisted he wear everytime he worked at the shop. Will knew that pink roses symbolised a lot of things but the question was, what exactly?
Was there anyone Nico knew who he’d give that rose to? It wouldn’t make sense for it to go to Leo, afterall, it wouldn't compliment his hair or skin tones: rather, it could work with someone like Hazel- since she was his sister, it would make sense for Nico to give it to her.
Calypso had always forced Will to wear that species of pink rose because she said that he had the hair for it and his blush and the colour of the rose were indistinguishable but most of all, it was the friendly gesture she had made when he first started working there.
He felt Nico’s fingertips brush against his as he handed the rose and a jolt of electricity sparking between them.
Shit, static shock.
“Ow!” Will jerked back, dropping the rose and rubbing his hand. He was about to ask Nico what the hell before he realised that the rose was on the floor. It wasn’t like the rose was going to be ruined or destroyed now it was on the floor or that it particularly angered Will to see the rose there. It simply saddened Will so much that he felt compelled to pick it up; maybe it was because he was so used to being forced into wearing it everyday or maybe because it was meant to be Nico’s, either way, he bent down to retrieve the flower.
It seemed that Nico had the same idea because their heads collided and Will was sent stumbling backwards onto his butt.
“Ow!” He cried again, rubbing his head. Nico felt his eyes widen at Will’s words and quickly he grabbed the rose and kneeled in the space between Will's legs, with his hand scanning Will’s face of any injury.
“Are you okay?”
Will frowned at the considerate question, wondering if Nico was mocking him or not. “Why do you care?”
That question threw Nico off guard. Why do you care? Why did he care? That was a good question he had yet to ask himself. Why did he care so much about Will? Why did he decide to come back? Every week nonetheless.
“No reason.” Nico shrugged. ” I just wanted to make sure your clumsy ass didn’t break anything.”
“Your head hit mine!”
“Yeah but it was you who decided to go after my flower,” Nico argued, clutching the rose in his hand. He started peeling off the wrapping until he had the rose alone in his hand.
“What the hell are you doing? You haven’t paid for it yet!”
Nico ignored him as he handed Will the rose. Obviously, Will took the rose from Nico’s hand and held it. Why did Nico want him to hold his flower for him?
“What?” Will was confused. “Why am I holding your flower?”
“Because I gave it to you.”
“To do what with?” Will inquired, his eyes oblivious. For someone who slept around, Will was not one who knew much about romantic rituals.
Murmuring something under his breath, Nico tilted his face away and let the loose strands of his black hair fall over his eyes elegantly. Will didn’t know if he had hit his head too hard but he could have sworn that Nico was slightly blushing.
“What? I didn’t catch that.”
“I said,” Nico took a dep breath, “The flower is for you and your stupid hair.”
Will must have looked relatively confused because Nico kept on talking. “Because you wear one whenever you work here? And when you threw a fit, you also threw your rose and it got ruined.”
Will, dumbfounded, simply stared at Nico. It wasn’t like he could braid his hair right here; Was this where Will was meant to thank him?
“Uh… thank you? I mean I could have easily gotten Callie to do my hair again but thanks anyway.”
Will realised that he was still sitting on the floor and immediately got up, still clutching the rose firmly in his hand, like he was afraid that the wind may just carry it off and he may never see it again.
In silence, him and Nico walked back to the counter, where surprisingly enough, everyone was getting on quite well. Percy and Frank were challenging Piper and Hazel about some vague petty thing,while Leo and Annabeth spoke to Calypso and Jason told Meg about Nico.
Annabeth had noticed quite quickly that Calypso had a crush on Leo and it seemed that Leo was aware as well. However, despite that, he didn’t let it get in the way of the conversation or the potential for a very beautiful friendship. He didn't like Calypso in that way. It was true that he had many previous lovers both men and women but Calypso was his friend, nothing more.
Nico noticed that Will was simply holding the rose and not wearing it like he intended him to.
“Why aren't you wearing the rose?”
Will stuttered, his face burning up slightly from embarrassment. “I..uh,well...I can’t really, um, braid my hair.”
Will was waiting for the insult. For a laugh, maybe a jeer. Instead he was surprised by the reaction that met him.
“I do. Give me the rose and sit in that chair.” Nico pointed to the chair behind the counter. Will, oblivious as ever, took a seat. He didn’t expect to feel familiar hands working on his hair. It felt like deja vu, feeling Nico’s fingers weave themselves into his hair, it felt like they were in that storage room all over again, making out on the small couch.
Wondering if Nico was also reminiscing that moment, he turned his head ever so slightly and caught Nico’s eye.
Nico turned Will’s head. “Stay still, I can’t do your hair if you keep on moving.”
Do my hair? He’s going to do my hair?
Will anxiously sat in the chair, fiddling his hands as Nico sectioned his hair into 3 parts and slipped the stem of the rose into one of the sections. He began braiding Will’s hair, slowly softly, dare I even say- Lovingly.
Will almost shivered when he felt Nico’s fingertip graze his scalp. His fingers braided like magic and within a matter of seconds, it felt like he had finished. Nico walked in front of Will to have a look at his handiwork from the front and reached forward. His finger brushed the side of Will’s ear and for a second, Will thought that Nico was going to gently cup his cheek and kiss him.
Instead, he reached and pulled free a small lock of hair from the front of his face so it dangled elegantly and complemented the rose that lay in his hair.
Will gulped. “ How did you learn to do hair?” His voice was extremely hoarse.
Nico’s voice seemed lower when he spoke. “My sister. I used to do her hair sometimes when we were at camp.”
Will nodded absent mindedly and focused on why his heart was beating so fast. The only reasons he knew why his heart would ever beat fast near a person would be if they scared him, forced him to exercise or if he had just slept with them.
Since Nico hadn't made him run, and they weren't sleeping together and Nico didn't make him fear for his life (yet), he was purely confused as to why his heart felt like it was a butterfly fluttering and any second, his ribcage may burst open and let it fly away and with it, his heart.,
He stared at the back of Nico’s head as he walked back to his friends who were now arguing about the difference between a white and an ivory rose.
Will did not not see Nico on Sunday at the flower shop. Nor did he see any of his friends.
Friday, Next week.
“Will, put that beer bottle down!” Calypso yelled, her entire state chaotic. There was flour everywhere and Will couldn’t tell where the kitchen started and where the mess ended.
This is what happened when he offered to babysit.
It was one thing to babysit a teenager or perhaps a 10 years old but a 7 years old? A seven year old and a 5 year old? A combination from hell itself. Overly energetic, disrespectful and disobedient, seven years olds were the worst kind of children to babysit.
It had started a while ago when his mother’s friend who’s name actually was Karen had to leave in a rush for some emergency (although Will had highly doubted it) and left her kids with Will's Mother. Being the wonderful woman she was, Will’s mother held onto them for as long as she could but she had a job, as most people did and unfortunately it was a job that required her to not enjoy her Friday nights.
This had led to her leaving the children with Will. Afterall, he was a responsible adult.
Okay fine, scratch the responsible part. She had left the children with Will because Calypso had promised to be there and in all blatant honesty, it was obvious that without Calypso, Will would be the biggest mess out there.
It seemed, however, that babysitting children was harder than both of them had anticipated.
“Callie, I give up. These kids are the devil's spawn. If they die, then tough luck for them.”
Calypso groaned and slammed her head onto the table before perking up with excitement. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number. Will overheard a vague conversation and simply watched, very confused.
Calypso set her phone down. “Okay so I have figured out how to fix this.” She pointed to the massive mess in their apartment.
“How?”
“You’ll see.”
Will didn’t trust the mischievous smile that came across Calypso’s face.
Nico was chilling on his bed with his phone in his hand, hovering above his face. He did not really have much to do so here he was, scrolling through social media. He was meant to be doing something with Percy or Jason or maybe Hazel- he really couldn’t remember and he couldn’t care less.
That was until he overheard a conversation from Jason that he could only describe as interesting. Only a few minutes later, Percy showed up very begrudgingly muttering I’m only coming because I wanna see where the little fucker lives.
As far as Nico was concerned, there was only one person who Percy called ‘the little fucker’ and why were Jason and Percy paying him a visit?
“Wait-” Nico threw his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up.”-Where are you guys going?”
“Calypso’s place. She needs some help babysitting? Or something like that. Annabeth’s call was kinda vague.”
“You’re going to Calypso’s place because Annabeth told you to?” Nico tilted his head, confusion evident in his voice. Jason took a deep breath before explaining.
“Calypso called Piper who gave the phone to Annabeth who called me to tell us and Hazel to go to Calypso’s place and help her and Will with whatever they needed help with.”
“Why is Will at Calypso’s place?”
Percy quickly interjected. “ They live together.”
That statement alone was enough to make Nico choke on the air he was trying to peacefully breathe.
“They what?” He managed to wheeze from in between the heavy coughs that racked from his chest.
“They live together,” Jason repeated innocently. “ Why?”
“Yeah,” Percy smirked, figuring out the reason behind Nico’s coughing fit. “ Why do you care, Nico?”
“No reason. It’s just a bit out of the blue.”
“So you don’t deny that you care!” Percy yelled excitedly pointing his finger at Nico. Nico grabbed it and twisted it with such ferocity, there was a crack and Percy let out a cry and pulled his finger back pouting, blowing on it like it was a hot dish.
“I twisted your finger, stop blowing on it like it’s a hot potato and let's hurry up and go please,” Nico groaned, rolling his eyes at Percy’s dramatic overreaction.
Percy, under his breath, murmured,” Somebody’s desperate.”
Nico slapped his shoulder.
When Will opened the door to his apartment, he didn't really know what he was expecting. Maybe someone like Thalia Grace or Reyna- a close friend of Calypso.
He certainly was not expecting his arch nemesis and his cronies to show up. He wasn’t in the best state of mind and he felt like any moment now, his feet may fail and he’d be out cold on the floor.
What was worse was the fact that Hazel had already arrived- without Frank as he said he ‘wasn’t the kind who liked children’. So now Will was here having to behave himself as if he were some host and they were his guest
His brain told him that this was exactly what this was.
But another part of Will didn’t agree. It was more, there was some more sinister motive behind why they were here. Sure, Annabeth had told them to come and god forbid someone disobey Annabeth but they clearly came here with their own reasons. Whether all their reasons were the same or not, Will did not know.
“What do you want?” Will deadpanned as he held the door halfway open- just like his eyelids. He was already considering shutting it in their faces. However, it seemed that Nico wasn’t having any of it as he simply pushed his way past Will, into the half cleaned up apartment.
“Oh, Nico! You’re here!” Hazel whisper-called out from the living room . She had the 5 year old’s head resting on her lap as it dozed off and the seven year old lay next to her, their eyes drifting off to sleep.
“Yeah, I’m here. What about it?”
“I thought you might want to cook something? I’m really hungry and I’m pretty sure Calypso’s been running around on an empty stomach trying to keep 2 children and a drunk person under control.”
Nico paused before wrinkling his nose. He walked forward to Will and moved his blonde hair out of his face to get a better view of his eyes.
“You’re drunk?” Nico looked around the kitchen and spotted the beer bottles. “Jesus, are you a lightweight or something? This shit ain’t even strong,” Nico grunted as he grabbed a very much incoordinate Will to the kitchen and sat him down at the counter. He got him a glass of water and rolled his sleeves up before quickly sifting through the fridge and cupboards.
“What happened to him?” Percy asked, walking slightly at the blushing Will sitting at the counter sipping water out of a straw.
“Hehee, Nico has very warm arms.” Some water dribbled out from the side of Will’s mouth as he giggled.
“He’s… wasted?” Jason squinted his eyes. “ I thought people with blue eyes were meant to have the highest tolerance to alcohol.”
“Nooooo,” Will whined. “ That’s not it. Blue eyed people are moree likeleyyy to have a dependency on alcohol. We did this in class-”
He was cut off by his own hiccup.
“Fucking hell,” Nico muttered as he pulled out ingrediants. Hungrily, Jason and Percy eyed the food.
“Whatcha making?” Percy asked, slinging his arm over Nico’s shoulder. Immediately, Will got out of his seat, objecting to this. However, before he could do this, he tripped and fell on his butt and in turn knocked his head into the floor. He was out cold within seconds.
“Did he just pass out?” Percy asked, poking at Will’s body with his foot only for Nico to be outraged and push Percy with such vigour, he ended up splayed onto the floor. He quickly kneeled beside Will and shook him gently, trying to wake him up.
“Flower boy? Hey, wake up. Will? Get up. Get up right now Will.” Nico began shaking him, his voice starting out in small quiet whispers. The alarm in Nico’s voice called over Calypso who batted her hand and laughed.
“Oh you have nothing to worry about. He does this everytime he gets too drunk. He’s a real lightweight, trust me.”
After much chaos and argument, everyone calmed down and Nico got cooking. As someone who was majoring in food tech, Jason and Percy would always make him cook meals for them. While Nico always pretended to be bothered and annoyed by this, he secretly loved it, meaning that he could make his friends smile with something he also loved- food.
Sure, he sometimes skipped meals or didn’t have time to actually eat, but he was constantly surrounded by food and making it was so chaotic but he enjoyed it and he enjoyed the rush of serotonin he’d get when he tasted the final dish.
“Food’s ready!” Nico called from the kitchen. Will had been moved to the sofa because Calypso had been told that under no circumstance was anybody to ever go into Will’s bedroom. Jason came in to the table and started laying it, as their usual routine went. Percy brought cups and Hazel, who normally did not dine with them, was talking to Calypso. They took their seat at the table and waited for the boys to finish laying it and serving food.
Nico glanced at Will who was dozing off on the couch peacefully. “ Is he not going to join us?”
Calypso shook her head. She knew when Will was feeling the way he was today, the only thing he could do was sleep it off. Nico had to admit, he was disappointed; he was hoping to see Will’s reaction when tasting the food. In fact, he had put extra effort into making it perfect just based on the possibility that Will may have been joining them for dinner.
They ate silently, with only the sound of the occasional collision of the fork against the plate echoing into the apartment.
“This is a nice place…” Percy started, trying to ease some of the tense silence away. Calypso gave him a short nod.
“Yes. It’s mine- Will and I share it.”
“Why?” Nico asked, his jealousy overtaking his actions. Was he really at liberty to ask such a question? No. Was he going to anyway? Absolutely.
Calypso raised an eyebrow at the question, while she slowly raised the fork to her mouth. “Does it matter why?”
Nico, staring at his food, paused. “No,” He sighed. “ I guess it doesn’t.”
Hazel, who wasn't allowing this, quickly intercepted. “It doesn't matter but that doesn't mean we wouldn’t like to know? Right guys?”
“Yeah!” Percy agreed a bit too passionately. “Tell us Calypso. How is it that you- someone of your high standards is living with somebody like… Will.”
Percy's abrash statement was rewarded with a hard smack to the back from the Italian boy sitting next time, glaring at him enough daggers for Percy to become Pinhead. Percy, midway swallowing, began coughing frantically which despite the urgency of the situation earned no sympathy from Nico who sat there as Percy choked and Jason gave violent slaps on his back.
“Ugh, well. We’ve known each other…” Calypso stopped. “ Are you sure you’re okay?”
Percy, almost red in the face, nodded frantically and mimed with his hands to keep talking. Jason reached over and poured Percy another glass of water.
“Uh, well… We work together but we’ve known each other for a long time.”
“How long? I don't remember Solace ever mentioning you.”
Calypso smiled slightly. “ If I’m correct, you two weren't and still aren't really on the kinds of terms where you discuss your personal life.”
“Still… I would have thought that… forget it.”
The awkwardly silent dinner continued with the clanking of cutlery against plates. Secret glares were passed along with uncomfortable shivers but all in all, the dinner managed to run smoothly. The guests helped clean up and finally, late into the night, they stood at the door awkwardly, as Calypso dismissed them.
“Are the children… staying?” Hazel innocently inquired, her eyes falling on the small children who lay asleep on the sofa behind Calypso.
Calypso scratched her head- slightly unsure herself. “Uh, I guess. Until they get picked up at least.”
“Oh… I guess I should stay to help out then?”
“No! Please, I don't want you to ruin a good night's sleep over this. I’m sure I can handle this. It wouldn’t be the first time.” Calypso reached for the door. “Get home safely.”
Jason and Percy, who realised that they were no longer welcome, did not hesitate to leave- the same couldn’t be said for Nico.
He didn’t know why he was hesitating- it wasn't as if Calypso and him were friends in any way. However, it seemed that for some odd reason there was a connection between the two that they both strongly cared for a certain blond headed lightweight. But they also both cared for a certain grinning engineer who spoke Spanish.
With his hand shoved in his pockets, he slowly turned his heel as if a magnet from afar was tugging on the metal heartstrings with his heart. His head was bowed towards the floor as he muttered the words under his breath.
“Tell him to call me when he wakes up tomorrow… We should probably talk and get everything out of the way.” Nico’s hair fell in front of his face, his eyes darting anywhere but Calypso’s face as to avoid her seeing his expression.
“Are you dating Leo?”
The abrupt question had Nico’s head snapping upwards so fast that I- the author- feared that he may have broken his neck had he moved any faster. The obvious answer was ‘no’. They had broken up long before Nico had even known someone like William Andrew Solace even existed; however, he didn't know if he could give such an honest answer so freely.
It was clear that Calypso was not just asking Nico this question for the sake of fun. She liked him.
And for some reason, Nico did not like that.
Leo wasn't his. He had his own feelings and decisions to make. But Nico didn't think she could handle the idea of Calypso being able to have both Will and Leo in her life- whether any of the relationships were platonic or not.
He had Leo, she had Will. It was only fair that it should stay that way.
But that said- If, if, he ever dated Will… would he give up Leo for the sake of fairness? Life isn't meant to serve everyone with equality. You get what you get and the rest you must fight for; Life was clearly a capitalist.
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Because,” she paused as if her reasoning was obvious. “If you are, I can’t let you play with Will or Leo like that.”
Nico snarled. “ Who said I was playing with either?”
“Isn't that what it's called? When you date two different people behind their backs?”
“I’m not dating Leo!” He yelled in frustration. Perhaps it was the wine. Or watching Will pass out on the floor and Percy poking him with his foot like an animal. Or maybe it was the fact that Will never tasted the food, but for some reason whether it was unbeknownst or not, Nico snapped. “Happy?”
Calypso smiled. “Very.”
27 notes · View notes
the-possum-writes · 5 years ago
Note
Could you do HCs of Marshall or Fiona taking their SO out on a adventure? Thanks!
Hii, sorry it took me a while to respond. Tumblr has been glitching out on me ^^;
Adventuring with Fionna and Marshall Lee
Fionna
Fionna is an excellent partner to have during adventures since she’s got the experience. If this is your first time adventuring with her. Fionna would be worried for your half of the time, constantly giving you side glances to make sure you're alright. You are precious and important to her, and she would never forgive herself if you got hurt on her watch.
When you ask Fionna for her to let you join in on her adventures, she's a bit doubtful at first.
Fionna: "I don't know (y/n), I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
Eventually she complies. Although at first Fionna can be a little overprotective.
She basically handholds throughout the dungeon like the beginning of a tutorial.
"I have more experience with the rough part of Adventuring, you can stay back as I handle things for you."
This makes you grow a bit frustrated, because you want to fight side by side with her an not just have her fight for you.
It eventually culminates when Fionna gets stuck or trapped somehow. And you prove to her you're more than capable of taking care of yourself and helping her out.
Fionna: "Sorry for hand holding you, I didn't realize I was underestimating you. Let's go defeat the demon lord hiding in this dungeon... Together."
Marshall Lee.
Marshall is pretty strong to say the least, being a vampire/demon hybrid after all, so there’s nothing that terrifies him anymore when adventuring. So his approach towards danger is more non-nonchalant, often brushing off dangerous foes since he can defend you two.
 Due to his laid back behavior even on difficult times, he gives you way more freedom during adventuring expeditions like ruins, dungeons or haunted locations.
Marshall Lee: “Whoa careful with that trap, it could’ve sliced ya in two hehe”
His attitude makes him feel a little uncaring for your safety, letting you handle monsters on your own.
Eventually it reaches it point were you grow frustrated. 
You: “Looks like you have everything under control, why did you even bring me here if you don’t care about me.” you grumble. Marshall Lee: “Babe is that how you’ve been feeling? that i don’t care about you? it’s quite the opposite really! i’m worried sick, but i know that you are fully capable of taking care of yourself so i try to give you your space. I brought you because i wanted to spend quality time together!”
The revelation makes you feel better, relieved that Marshall does value you deeply.
It also becomes apparent when a giant monster does harm you, this makes Marshall furious, growing into his giant bat form and ripping the monster to shreds. Proving how important you are to him.
Marshall Lee: “Stay close to me from now on, i’m not letting anyone or anything hurt you ever again.”
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sing-against-the-sky · 3 years ago
Text
Poems, Prayers and Promises
🏜🌒🌾
Summary: cowboy/ homestead AU soft!Jake Kiszka fic that is entirely self indulgent. Slowish burn hurt/comfort.
Warnings: Blood and injury trigger warning.
Notes: tried formatting this in tumblr a few times but it still looks weird to me lol. So fuck it I’m posting anyway. I’ve written more if anyone is interested in it ♥️
Thank you @ageofsewingmachine for your help😊
🌙1
There was someone beating on her door. She startled and jumped out of her chair, the book in her lap tumbling to the ground, Kip barked and stared at the door. She stepped to the hearth and quickly tugged the shotgun off where it sat on the mantle. The sun had been down for an hour at least, there should be no one at her door.
The banging came again.
And a voice.
It was loud enough to understand clearly but she could hear it was strained. “Please. I’m sorry to intrude on your home. My horse threw me down three miles back towards the gorge. I saw your light after the sun had set and thanked my stars. I’m hurt worse than I thought...” His voice trailed off for a moment, she could hear him breathing hard.
She stepped towards the door and put a hand on the lock bar. She looked at Kip again at her feet. He stood alert looking at the door, but his hackles hadn’t risen at the sound of the man’s voice. She took it as a good sign and spoke loud enough to be heard through the door. “Are you armed traveller?”
She could hear the relief in his voice when he spoke again. “Yes ma’am. But my rifle and ammo are on my horse. She’s at the trough by the tree. I have a knife but you can hold onto it for me.” His answer more than satisfied her.
She propped the shotgun on the wall and pushed the lock bar out of place.
The stranger practically fell into her home and she caught him by the shoulders. He wasn’t much taller than her and she was able to keep him on his feet. He held his left side with his hand, blood making his dusty blue shirt dark between his long fingers. She used his momentum to get him the two steps to the chair and turned to quickly close the door. Kip sniffed the man’s fingers but stayed close to her skirts.
When she turned back the man was leaning on the chair and offering his hunting knife and sheath to her with his unbloodied hand. He looked at her from under the brim of his hat as she took it. “You’re kind to take a stranger in at night ma’am. I’m in your debt”
She slid the sheathed knife into her big petticoat pocket and moved to get her shoulder under his arm as he started sliding down the back of the chair. “Don’t thank me yet, traveller. I haven’t fixed that hole in you yet.” He let out a small chuckle, which quickly turned to a pained cough. His face was close to hers as she moved him to sit on the couch across from the fire and his breath stirred the strands of hair around her face. It smelled like juniper berries.
He lay back, breathing harder now and roughly pulled the hat from his head. His long brown hair fell across the pillows she had embroidered in the dark snowy months of last winter. The red birds in the corners echoing the red blood streaked on his hands.
She knelt beside him to inspect his wound. He looked at her over his high cheekbones without lifting his head up. “I’m sorry if I bleed on your nice furniture ma’am”
She tisked her tongue at him “You’ll be a lot sorrier if I have to move your dead body out of here. Just focus on breathing deep. Lemme see what happened” The corners of his lips almost smiled before he grimaced in pain as she lifted his hand off his bloody side and pulled the sticky shirt out of the way. He had been holding a now soaked kerchief to the wound. She was almost relieved when she saw it wasn’t a bullet hole seeping blood. There was a deep gash just above his left hipbone, bits of wood still clinging to the edges and two big splinters still in him. It was ringed by a deep purple bruise that stretched up his side. She quickly assessed the wound and placed the kerchief back over it, putting his hand back on top. “Keep good pressure on it, like you were before. I’ll be right back” He nodded his chin at her as she stood went to gather supplies.
She was back in a few short minutes with a basin of water, clean strips of cloth and a big glass jug half full of a clear liquid. She moved the kerosene lamp from the side table it had been on and set it next to her.
Her hands were steady when she sowed up her ripped work clothes or helped bring a new lamb into the world, she hoped they would be with a man, bloody and in pain, at the end of her fingers.
She held the glass jug out to him. “Sorry if it’s not your taste. I make it myself. But it’ll do the trick. I’m going to put this blanket under you so you’ll need to sit up for just a moment.” He nodded again as he took the jug from her and took a deep swig. He sucked air hard through his teeth and handed it back. She bent over him as he rolled a little to the side and quickly tucked the blanket under his back. When he lay back she could see the kerchief under his hand was totally soaked.
Now was the time to act.
She knelt again, looking over him. She met his eyes and she could see sweat beading on his forehead and the pain lacing across his face. It didn’t look right on that face. She knew it would get worse before it could get better.
“Are you ready? I have to clean it and tie it tight. You’ve already bled a lot and it needs to stop.” He nodded again and she could see him stealing himself.
“Can I have another drink before you start?” His voice came out raspy, like it caught in his throat. She handed him the jug and pulled the kerchief from off her neck to hand him as well.
“Bite down on this. And yell if you need to. It’s gonna hurt like a son of a bitch” He bunched it up and put the fabric between her teeth. His deep brown eyes locked on hers and he nodded for her to begin. She lifted his hand off the bloody wound and got to work.
An hour later she was putting the red-stained rags in a bucket and quietly cleaning up her makeshift surgery. He was asleep now, he had fainted from pain when she pulled the last big splinter from his side, but his breathing was steady and she had got the bleeding to stop. A bandage was wrapped tight around his middle, but he still wore his dirty shirt, pushed up under his arms. She softly undid the last few buttons so he could easily slip out of it if he wanted. She stood and decided to take his boots off before seeing to his horse and settling in for the night.
You can tell a lot about a man from his boots. His were were a light tan leather, simple and quality, but well worn. There were flecks of river mud on them and the silky seed pods of canyon grass still clung in places. She liked what the boots told her about the stranger in her home. He had been honest since he got here. She could feel the weight of his knife against her leg. She looked at his sleeping face once more before she and Kip slipped outside to take the strangers horse to the barn.
🌙 2
The sky was just turning the dusty purple of dawn when he opened his eyes. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He was under a soft wool blanket with pillows holding up his head. The piercing pain in his side took no time reminding him of the night before. He looked around, his eyes falling on the woman across from him almost immediately. She was sleeping in the chair by the fire, her faced cradled in her hand, propped up under her chin. Her hair was messy and the morning light made the stray hairs glow like a halo around her head. There was a finger smudge of his blood across her cheek. He wasn’t quite sure she was real. He lay there quietly for a moment, just breathing slowly through the pain in his side, not wanting to wake her. Movement caught his eye as the dog laying at her feet shifted and stretched. It was lean and medium-sized, its coat a dusty yellow, with little folded ears. It blinked its dark eyes at him as it sat up. When he looked back up at the woman’s face she was looking back at him.
“Glad to see you made it through the night”
He smiled at her. “Glad I did too. You did fine work fixing me up. I can’t thank you enough ma’am.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “You don’t have to keep calling me ma’am. I don’t like blushing three times a conversation. My name is Ida”
His smile widened. “It’s nice to meet you Ida. I’m Jacob.”
She smiled back at him. “How’s your side?” He shifted his torso a bit, testing, and grimaced as the pain shot through him. “Hurts”
Her lips pursed in a tight line and she stood and came across the room to him. She gently flipped the blanket down and looked at the bandages. There was one small circle of blood showing through the white strips. She seemed relatively pleased. “I’ll need to change these in a few more hours. And I don’t think you’ll be off this couch for a few more days.” He nodded and offered her kerchief back. She shook her head and pushed his fingers closed around it. “Yours was ruined. I have others I can use. Keep it.” Her fingers were soft on his. She looked over his makeshift cot. “I wish I could move you but it’ll make you bleed again so we won’t risk it til we have to. But if you get a fever you’re going to the bed.” She deftly leaned over him and gave a few subtle knocks on the carved wood of the back of the couch. He smiled to himself, watching her. Her skirts brushed his bare shoulder. They smelled like lavender soap and hay dust. In a moment she was turning away again, on her way to whatever task was next. He lay back into the pillows. Lady Luck had smiled at him when he saw this house’s light, glimmering in the night.
🌙3
When Ida came back in from morning chores Jacob was asleep again. His face was pale under his tan. She softly touched his forehead with her hand as she passed. He wasn’t burning. But he wasn’t cool either. Her brow creased with worry. She had to be prepared in case of the worst. She had to be prepared for anything. She went to make more bandages. All she could do was be ready. And hope those warm brown eyes kept opening to look up at her.
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fishmongeringstudies · 4 years ago
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eleven: before the first day of the world
i always thought the quote 'we contain multitudes' was a john green quote because of the way its use had, over time, evolved from unironic to deeply ironic to some weird squeamish mix of the two that meant half of the audience would cringe when it was deployed while the other half would nod very seriously and lean back in their seats, thinking fondly about the summer of '97. for the record, i've always been part of the former. except for this one time in my anthropology class this spring where we were talking about the complexities of human behavior in different environments and i, seeing a glowing opportunity to inject some 2012 tumblr-era humor into the room, typed into the zoom chat: we contain multitudes.
unfortunately, we do. but not in the john green sense, which would mean we smoke cigarettes and want to contribute to world peace, or we crochet blankets and simultaneously want to destroy the small backwater town we grew up in with an electric chainsaw. i'm talking about something less looking for alaska and more i will rip all your hair out with a screwdriver. something that cuts at the fabric of your relationship with the people around you, something that makes it hard to figure out which path to take back to your dorm.
have you ever been ruined by someone who, after ruining you, skipped off happily to lunch with jessica who lives down the hallway and whom you would trust with your bank account number, and found yourself unable to do anything but give half of the lunch parade your blessings?
let's make it simpler: sometimes people are more fucked up than they're worth.
and yet i believe that there is no such thing as a bad person. the adjective-noun combination assumes that the noun always possesses the quality of the adjective, while the people who elbow you down the stairs and into the yawning mouth of hell and then wander off singing cheerily into the woods are the same ones who bring friends care packages when they're sick, who entertain long, thoughtful conversations about philosophy and the flaws of the world, who make great lab partners in group projects. the girl whose definition of love is a chain around the neck is a wonderful orator. the boy who only knows how to understand other people by cutting them up and putting them back together wants to design buildings that will save lives. people are inconsistent. we contradict ourselves and then, upon noticing the contradictions, panic, knock over a vase of flowers, and burn the whole house down.
it always comes back to fire when i write about the last fourteen weeks of spring. we're incredibly flammable, you and i. we're instant fire-starters. we're chemically insane.
at the start of the semester when i allowed someone to tell me in an awkward, prepubescent voice that i was broken i wanted to hate them. then i wanted to forgive them; then i wanted to be their friend. three months later i discovered how hard it is to stay on good terms with someone who knifed you without even realizing they were holding something in their hand to begin with, and yet he's still here. talking to the person who lives at the other end of the hallway. walking to the dining hall with the alligator stairwell, his hands shoved in his pockets. trying to graduate. trying to stay alive.
dear friend: i don't want to be your friend anymore. but don't die on me.
that's the sentiment i leave spring with. a bittersweet note that's more bitter than sweet, like ninety-seven percent cacao chocolate, the really awful shit, the stuff i like to think only white american yoga moms with fat apple-faced babies tied to their hips are willing to eat, and even then, only for the instagram sponsorship. when i think of spring i think of the aftertaste, because everything was sweet in the moment, in the immediacy of the screaming sun and the shifting sky above your head. everything looked like it was made of stars. it was only after i'd chewed up the burnt thing you picked off the ground and gave me, swallowed, and walked the long way back to my dorm, that i realized you'd handed me a pile of dirt.
it was pretty good dirt though, and you know the other day someone asked me, after scrolling through this blog with an eye on their watch and the other on the words flying across the screen, if i hated it here after all. if i wish i'd stayed in singapore, among the palm fronds and the pale, moon-white butterflies. no, i said incredulously, my spoon jammed in my kool-aid jello cup. this is the happiest i've been in ten years.
lately i've been trying to articulate the sense of hopelessness i experienced while growing up. how does one even begin to describe the endless staircase of the days, how each week yawned before me like an abyss with an immortal, unbreakable heart? how do you give a voice to despair?
this morning i went to target with my friend. we didn't find a rectangular frying pan so i bought a bag of mandarins instead, and it was sunny on the way there but on the way back a smear of white cloud dashed across the sky and wrapped its soft fingers around the sun's mouth, by which i mean it got colder, by which i mean that for a while, it felt like spring again. when we got back to our dorm i put the mandarins in the fridge and wandered back into my room and then put on the podcast i've been listening to all week, listened to them talk about monsters and knights and the intricacies of war, love, forgiveness. today i didn't sleep through lunch like i did the day before. today i sat in the garden and read a book.
i think the thing about growing up the way i did is that by the time i was fourteen it felt like it was all over. like i'd ruined everything before it'd ever really begun, and even knowing what steps i might take to mend the god-sized crater i'd dug in my backyard, i couldn't bring myself to take them. so things ended. and because life is a bitch and forgiveness never comes from those you most desire it from, you just kind of laugh and drag yourself through the debris.
i think this is why, in spite of the shouting and the cherry-flavored regrets and the hallways full of footsteps like thunderstorms, and the girls and the boys with their teeth like claws, their claws like daggers, their words careless enough to kill, i feel like a person here. because i came here with nothing. two suitcases, one weighing twenty kilograms and the other weighing nothing at all. i repeat: this is nothing at all. do you understand what i am saying? i was no one when i got here. and now i am no one with some prepubescent mistakes scratched into my forearm and a few ideas about self-preservation. but the pages of this book are still blank. they are inviting me to fill them with the illegible dancing chicken scrawl that is my specialty and the bane of every english professor's existence.
i look over my shoulder and my old bookshelf full of journals, red journals, journals packed with the misery of the last nineteen years shrugs its shoulders. it says they gave you bad books and you wrote half-decent stories; what else could you have done? you did the best that you could in the circumstances you were given. you're still doing that now. then, satisfied with its little speech, it burns itself down.
and that's all i need, really, to keep going.
05.31.21
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tri-chiy · 4 years ago
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More nonsense rambling. Feel free to just ignore and wait for art.
Tl:dr at the end
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Well, thoughts. I've been busy firstly. Secondly I feel like I should be "mature" and move on from Sonic stuff (yea, my Sonic stuff is on my side blog @tri-shield ) but also Sonic is cozy. I know everything about Sonic. I can draw a Sonic of decent quality in half an hour. The fandom hasn't ruined me like others I've seen drift away. Recently I started thinking about Sonic again. Probably because I was that bored and I explained why Silvaze works two separate times within a month (yea, I ship them) and I think mentally I just got stuck on Sonic again. Probably not a "bad" thing. But I don't know if I should enjoy Sonic. Like its world building is kinda slapped together in many cases, people can't agree on whether the human world is seperate or not, or how many chaos emeralds there are. Stuff like that. Not to mention the inconsistency of characters these days. Rip Amy's original character X'D. Oh yeah, there aren't really any stories to get invested in either, or I've outgrown them. I know the IDW comics exist, but I couldn't even get through the Metal Virus arc and uuuuhhhh Evan Stanley's writing simply isn't for me. Especially when she writes Silver and Blaze. Like please, Silver isn't a marshmallow and Blaze is not sympathetic. (Ghosts of the Future).
Kinda loosing my point here. Overall I guess I'm just torn between liking Sonic and really being tired of the sub-par stuff we get these days comparatively. I can't really get into other fandoms either. I tried to find Teen Titans people but that's mostly dead and not really much to talk about, plus DC is just weird to me overall. I only like TT. Avatar the last Airbender might be something, but the direction of LoK is really off putting to me. Maybe I should just do a bunch of AtLA stuff. I mean, I want to draw stuff other then Sonic. My post yesterday was just Star Wars stuff XP.
Maybe I figured my own questions out. Sonic is pretty dead to me but I remember fonder times of theories with Blaze's world being the true world and Sonic's a copy. But alas, Sega has left it all, and maybe it's better than it being destroyed with awful dialogue and a lack of character. But moving on from all that is hard. It's like a worm in your brain that knows it all and can't shut up. Before Sonic, before I could draw, I loved Star Wars. Maybe it's time to step back haha.
Thanks for not leaving when I post bs like this, you're cool tumblr people XD
Tl:dr Sonic once good, now souless, brain doesn't want to leave, probably need to fill the space with something else. Possibly expect more fanart for Star Wars or Avatar the Last Airbender.
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cowboylikedean · 4 years ago
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folklermore spn finale: the last great american dynasty
Okay so this post took forever to write for a couple reasons. 
First of all, this one is special in that it has two readings for my grief.
The first one is terrible and heartbreaking and honestly I don’t want to spend a lot of time on it. I see Andrew Dabb as THE great villain of Supernatural, and he truly had a marvelous time ruining everything. The sarcastic nature of the song goes in to speak to the fact that I feel legitimately crazy for how much I blame him. It’s sad and heartbreaking. I think about it sometimes when i hear this song and instantly force myself to stop thinking about it and go back to the other view. 
So the other view is more what you might expect with the vibe of the song... but it is SO HARD for me to put into words, I found. So I’m sorry if this is messy and disjointed and all over the place. 
I spoke in cardigan’s post about how I’m not the fan the show wanted and there’s a large part of the narrative in the folkermore-spn-finale feelings for me that expresses not being the fan the narrative wanted or needed.... Most of the time this is brought up in this, it’s angry, or sad, or whatever... but this time... this time it celebrates it.
I had a marvelous time ruining everything.
Putting this under a cut because it’s very long. I didn’t mean for this to get this long rip.
I let myself sink into the feelings of wonder and awe I felt when I first fell in love with the show and then let myself find the conclusion that IF I did in fact “ruin everything” (aka the show) by not being the fan the show needed me to be to enjoy it, at least I had a good fucking time!
From that first bit where Taylor sings that Rebekah’s salt box house took her mind of St. Louis.... Supernatural took my mind off my life too. I remember when I first watched the show, I was 20 and I’d just failed out of school (the first time). I was lying to my mother and her husband (who I lived with) about going to school. I rode the city bus at the time because I didn’t have my license yet. I’d leave the house and say I was going to the bus stop down the street. Instead, I hid in the woods that separated my neighborhood from my grandfather’s back yard. I worked at his house “after school” every day from 4-6, taking care of his house, doing light cleaning and cooking, helping him adjust to being a double amputee so it worked out nice. Every night I pre-loaded 5 hours of episodes on my computer so I didn’t need the internet and every day I would sit in the cold on a log and put my computer on a slightly bigger log and curl up in my warm coat for a day of Supernatural before heading inside to Pappou’s house at 4. Sometimes, I just waited until the afternoon when I knew my mom would be gone and I could go home where it was warm and I had wifi. Sometimes though I got wrapped up and I just stayed there.. all day. 
Supernatural is, what I would consider, one of the last great american TV shows. Like... It’s right there with Grey’s Anatomy as the last TV shows that have an actual following where people watch it and it’s a thing that haven’t been corrupted by the streaming world. Television is so important to me, it’s my favorite medium of storytelling and it’s been lost. Streaming destroyed it. People say we’re living in a “golden age” because there’s “so much good TV” but there’s NOT! What we have is high production quality on a lot of mini-series and long-format movies that have been randomly split up into “episodes” but don’t make sense if you space them out in any way. The episodic serial format of television has been LOST and that’s heartbreaking... 
But to me... this song... it’s about The Last Great American TV Show, The Last Great American Fandom, The Last Great American Dynasty over my life, my fandom, my relationship with tv, and my world view. 
The line “How did a middle class divorcee do it?” also just... First of all there’s something so distinctly American about it... We all know Supernatural is itself a sort of lover letter to Americana... it’s the aesthetic of Nowhere USA which is part of what makes it so effective and heartbreaking. The line in the song is about how Rebekah was just... boring, average, a little sad. Someone unremarkable you feel a little pity for. That’s the Nowhere USA of the aesthetic of the show... THAT’S the heartbeat of “Americana.” It’s boring, average, unremarkable, a little sad, you kinda pity it, it shouldn’t be that deep, but it is. It’s when the unremarkable accomplishes the remarkable. And that’s the whole myth they fed us as kids, isn’t it? I could never explain the beauty of this line inside or outside the context of Supernatural to someone who isn’t US American so I’ll just stop trying... but it’s just kljasfkd 
Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that first stanza in the first verse... When I fell in love with Supernatural, I was boring unremarkable, a little sad... and the show was a wealth of possibilities... but also I was at a point where I was getting over the main fandom I’d had for the past year and a half (Buffy) and I had just fallen in love with Sherlock and I had nothing but time. I wasn’t bogged down with the anxiety of school, I got to devote my whole life and existence to this show. I was also a wealth of possibilities, and as we know the show was also boring, average, unremarkable, and a little sad. Both me and the show were Bill and both me and the show were Rebekah.
So when the wedding between me and the show was charming, if a little gauche it made sense cause there’s only so far new money goes. For me, this represents 2012-Mishapocalpyse: The Golden Age... Look... It’s no secret 2012 was my favorite year of all time... Tumblr was small and fun and hadn’t been corrupted by wanting or trying to be “cool” or “edgy” or “interesting.” I chose the mishapocalypse for the end of this era to me because that was the last time I felt like I could come on tumblr and really just LET GO into insanity. Almost instantly people were shit talking it as if it was not the single most fun 24 hours this website had ever had. In 2013, we saw the rise of YFIP and people trying so hard to “””prove””” they were “”””cool”””” unlike ~those~ tumblr people!!! It was pathetic. But in 2012, we just... had fun. And it was charming, if a little out there. But there really is only so far that the youthful innocence of an online community that’s new goes. 
But I picked out a home on tumblr. And our parties were tasteful if a little loud. Tumblr in 2012/2013 was..... Fun. From mapcrunch to the mishapocalpyse. Some would argue about taste, but I’d say... “if a little loud.” I really just can’t separate the fun I had on tumblr back then from spn and I can’t separate spn from the fun I had back then. 
But then of course, we all need to settle down some times because the fun doesn’t last forever. In this line, I hear myself in both Bill and Rebekah and I hear the show in both Bill and Rebekah. Both of our hearts gave out and the other way to blame. 
So then the chorus... “who knows if she never showed up what could have been?” I CHANGED because of the show, I don’t know who the hell I’d BE without it! And likewise, I don’t think *I* personally changed the actual show, but the show WAS changed by each one of us. The show itself is folklore, changed and shaped in each retelling. There’s a creative freedom to the chorus that lives in that love.
So then there’s the second verse. After the rose colored glasses came off, Rebekah gave up on the Rhode Island set forever and I gave up on the greater spn fandom forever. I dropped the hellers and joined the tight knit Dean stans. This verse is about living in spite. It’s that wild American rebellion mixed with a little bit of sensual romanticism. In season 9, it was us against the world. And the reality is we were angrier than this verse gives and less free and fun... but looking back, it felt like A Time. I don’t know how to put it into words really but it was like... We found ways (and continue to find ways) to celebrate Dean when we weren’t supposed to. Fuck everyone else Dean is perfect. 
And then in the second verse, we celebrate that rebellion. The change from “the maddest woman” to “the most shameless woman” in the chorus is so important here... In the first chorus, Rebekah and I were mad and crazy and wild. In the second chorus, we had no shame. We lived IN SPITE of the state of the world around us and fucked anyone who had anything to say about it. 
In the first chorus, “who knows if she never showed up what could have been” paired with “maddest” has this creative potential. Like who knows who I would have been without spn and who knows what the show would have been without us, the fandom. And in the second chorus, that line changes to this destructive force. Like the show and I were both shameless to just exist, you know? because we would have been better without each other... but even as it acknowledges that, it’s still... sweet.
So then we have the time I left the fandom. Here we only hear bits and pieces of Rebekah’s life and Rebekah’s time in Holiday House. She was only seen “on occasion.” And on occasion, you could find me reblogging some Dean stan posts, getting into spats with Sam stans, posting about how the writers suck, calling out a heller. But 7 years is a long time and my fandom sat quietly in the history of my blog... And then it was picked up by me. 
Rebekah, in the song, refers to my past. My previous relationship with the show. Taylor’s part refers to my current relationship with the show. 
Who knows if I never showed up what could have been? If I never came back, what would my life look like? It would have been healthier, I’m sure. But then again - I needed this. And if the show hadn’t came back who would I be? 
But there goes the loudest non-woman this fandom has ever seen. I will scream from the ROOFTOPS! and what I want to scream is EVERYTHING from the past but with my full grown adult context. I know now more than I knew then that I had a MARVELOUS TIME ~ruining everything~!!! And I get to CELEBRATE THAT! I get to let go and have fun. I get to sit and think of Nov 5 and how that night, I relived those parties that were tasteful if a little loud. And then every day since I relived flying in the Bitch Pack friends from the city. I get to CELBRATE!
I may not have been the fan the show wanted. I may have fucked shit up. I may have lived in spite of this show even when I lived because of it. But damn I had a marvelous FUCKING TIME Ruining. Everything. Everything this show built it wanted me to see and love and appreciate with these toxic fucking relationships and the destruction of Dean Winchester can KISS MY ASS cause I had a MARVELOUS time fucking that shit up. Everything this show wanted from me that I refused to give it. Every SPEC of growth and learning and fun and enjoyment I have had from this show.... was toxic. It ruined it. Because it was not the growth and learning and fun and enjoyment the show WANTED ME TO HAVE. But damn did I have fun. 
The show and I are the last great American dynasty full of rebellion and spite and damn is it fun. 
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wincore · 4 years ago
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AGREEEE, WORKING OVER THE WEEKEND IS THE WORST esp since im in uni full time and i work 9-5 on the weekends which means... no breaks for me ever.. 🥲
MASSIVE CRUSH ON OIKAWA OMGGG I SUPPORT THIS!!!!! but i am unfortunately much older than 15 and still enamored by 2d men 😔 life’s rough like that HDJWKDJ YES ATSUMU CAUSES PROBLEMS ON PURPOSE.. HES THE WORST!! btw.. ive heard that the oikawa to atsumu stan pipeline is very real... so if u get to s4.. u may develop atsumu brain rot like me 👁_👁
OOO alright run on, extracurricular, vincenzo, true beauty, love alarm, & perfect crime. NOTED!! ive actually been meaning to watch extracurricular for a while now, it looks so interesting!! now that it has the wincore seal of approval i must watch 😤 OMGG SAKURADA DORI I SAW HIM IN ALICE IN BORDERLAND!! super good show but really gore heavy at some points 👁
ahh ok thank u for the reccs, ive been thinking about starting demon slayer too!! shoplifters sounds really interesting :oo crime??? i havent watched a full movie in a while so i will def check it out!! THESE R ALL GOING IN MY NOTES APP.
NEXT YEARRR omg it sounds far away but i know time passes so quickly nowadays so I WILL WISH U LUCK ONCE AGAIN 💛 i hope u update us when the time comes!!
UGHWHHD EVEN THIS SYNOPSIS IS MAKING ME MISS UR WRITING?!? I LOVE THE WAY U WORD IT... “given a choice to pretend, you find that jaehyun is the lesser of the two burdens to bear” AHHHHHHH omg “he’s in a relationship and doesn’t rlly care about the soulmate system” THIS IS ALWAYS SUCH A PAINFUL SCENARIO IN SOULMATE AUS PLSS!!! Wait is the soulmate of yn gonna be an oc/vague character or another member :O EITHER WAY... PAIN! THIS IS GETTING ME SO EXCITED AND U HAVENT EVEN MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT JAEHYUN’S LIKE IN THIS FIC YET
RUNWAY CHARACTER CAMEOOOS YESS I LOVE RUNWAY YN!!!! i actually reread it last night and ugh i was reminded how much i love yns personality... just the process of experiencing all tht self doubt with them!!! so real & makes u root for them :’)
“if jeno plays edward i need him to that apple scene like taemin did” WHHHHHWJDJJWJDBW THIS MADE ME CHOKE ON THE WATER I WAS DRINKING LMFAO
GODDDD THESE TROPE/MEMBER PAIRINGS, HARD AGREE HARD AGREE!!! HAECHAN AND RENJUN ARE E2L 100%!!!! i think bc the ppl in the bff2l category cant convincingly hate yn back LOL
“gets complimented on his lyricism often but like every song’s about you” STOPPPPP HES SO PERFDCT FOR THIS TROPE!!!!!
OMG I SEE EXACTLY WHAT U MEAN ABT SICHENG IN ROYALTY/CHAEBOL AUS... i think like u said it’s because of his poise & the way ppl are generally in awe of him but also bc of his reluctance to open up!! more reserved until he trusts u... funny and kind but sometimes perceived as aloof... those r some prince tendencies! “what are corporate businesses but modern day kingdoms” LMFAOOWJDJ SERIOUSLY THO
“mans really said i will not give you any onscreen idol personality to work with” HDJWJDJWJSJ LITERALLYYYY this is why i have trouble reading jaehyun fics sometimes bc sometimes they can feel “inaccurate” but its mostly just bc there’s no Standard Personality Stereotype to go off of. but a random & uncommon trope i think he’d pair well with is exes to lovers!! Yes im basically just a jaehyun + angst advocate.
“i think most of them would pair well with bff2l??” FACTTTTTTT and no im not just saying this bc its one of my favorite tropes.. heh... i think i told u this before?? but ur like the main reason i started enjoying e2l!!! i didnt like it before bc i love the PINING in bff2l but then i started reading ur works n was like OH SHIT! THERES LOADS OF PINING HERE TOO...
i think yangyang is not bff2l or e2l, he is in his own category which is Annoyer2Lover HDJWKDJ ex: troublemaker, wasted nights
OMGGGG I DID NOT EXPECT ROYALTY AU TO HAVE SUCH A LARGE LEAD IN THE SURVEY??? and cryptids is so low 😔😔 cmon guys, vampires r fun!!!
WE R LITERALLY WRITING ESSAYS TO EACH OTHER RN BUT I LOVE IT 🥺🥺 its a such a nice break to read ur response when im burnt out from studying!!
OMG IM GOING THROUGH #moonwrites AND IM LITERALLY AN IDIOTTTT IVE BEEN OFF TUMBLR FOR SO LONG I DIDNT REALIZE THAT ROMEO ROULETTE HAD A PREVIEW OUT????
“And I get what out of this?” “Me?” IM IN LOVE WITH THIS CHARACTERS PERSONALITY ALREADY LMFAOO
“—and when this whole game you’re playing is over, you’re going to say I rejected you.” ?!?!???? THE WAY JAEHYUN IS A LITTLE SHIT! THEIR PERSONALITIES ARE BOTH SO FUN PLSJWJDJEJ IM MORE EXCITED NOW!!
pls disregard the part in my last ask where i asked abt romeo roulette.... i had no idea all of the information i needed was sitting right in front of me 😔😔
- tata
WHAT 9 TO 5 ON EVERY WEEKEND???? the system has failed you this honestly feels like a villain origin story 😭 when does it get better???
ALSO let me answer the other asks separately for better readability lol we really out here writing essays GOOD THING i have practice writing but like. this is infinitely better to write 🥰
PLSSS SOMETIMES I WILL SEE AN EDIT/TIKTOK OF OIKAWA AND BE LIKE DAMN I REALLY NEED TO CATCH UP I MISS THIS MF also are you daring me to ruin my life for 2d men bc i will do it without hesitation. wait till i watch hq again and get that atsumu brainrot with you he seems annoying enough for me to like ^_^
AND YES PLS I WAS SO ABSORBED IN IT!! extracurricular was the most gripping show i’ve watched in a while like yes enough teen romance give me two unhinged teenagers doing crime 🤩 AND OMG??? THAT’S WHERE WE SAW HIM TOO and although niragi was literally vomit-inducing human trash, sakurada dori is like. a good actor. except i hated coffee&vanilla which starred him it was literally so cringe i couldn’t 😭 i blame the writers for that though. IM EXCITED FOR S2 OF ALICE IN BORDERLAND THO i really like horror (and i can tolerate gore if ive been desensitized enough) and like i read the manga too!!! the games were really interesting (although morbid).
😭😭 MY NOTES APP IS FULL OF RECS FROM FRIENDS ALL OF THEM HATE ME FOR NOT WATCHING THE SHOWS BUT LIKE. i binge 3 or 4 at a time and strike them off and then go 6 months without watching a single tv series hhh.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I SURE WILL UPDATE !!! it’s so exciting to think about grad school sometimes :33
AHHH IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT AND THE PREVIEW TOO SGSDJKDS there’s a few differences in the actual fic i think bc i changed up the language (and i dont remember what else bc i refuse to look at my writing) JAEHYUN RLLY IS A LITTLE SHIT he’ll be like hm yeah im pretty chill :) and then proceed to beat yn at her own game at times. (she wins mostly dw) the fact that i made her soulmate cha eunwoo like girl if i were you i’d crash their relationship 🥱 (jk) but like. jaehyun too is 🤩 despite being dry af
ASDKDSKDS YOU REREAD ALL (ALMOST) 19K WORDS ??? IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE THAT FIC SM AAAAHHH IM FEELING LIKE AN ACTUAL AUTHOR 🥰 i loved runway yn too they were like boss attitude with 20% anxiety.
LOOK JENO BETTER BE PULLING MOVES LIKE THAT TO IMPRESS THE GIRLS 😤 if he hits himself in the forehead with the apple, bonus points bc that was true comedy (as invented by taemin)
AND YES. LIKE I KNOW MARK HATED DONGHYUCK SO MUCH HE WANTED TO LEAVE SM BUT LIKE HE’S TOO NICE WITH EVERYONE ELSE 😭😭😭 i cannot picture him pissed off apart from that summer fight </3
thinking about dejun getting rejected by a girl he wrote a song for. rip brother.
IM GLAD YOU PUT THAT INTO WORDS BC THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS!!! he’s got all of these regal qualities but he’s still human ykyk so it makes for the most amiable person on earth 😌 i love this characterization of him!!
oof exes to lovers with jaehyun... i had a similar idea a while ago (with theme song sincerity is scary by the 1975) that i discarded bc i don’t think i’m cut out to write that 😭 (YET) so i will keep this is mind. u r so right about jaehyun feeling inaccurate bc it’s like he’s very mild in personality onscreen sometimes?? so him having strong personality traits makes me go 🤔🤔 that man is overreacting. (jkjk but like you get the idea)
WAIT RLLY OMG BC OF ME???? i would never enjoy e2l irl bc irl dudes are 🤢🤢 and if they annoy me i will end them. but in fiction the mutual pining and initial disgust at yourself for liking the other??? helllooo 🤩🤩🤩 especially if it’s in a romcom style <3 bff2l is also better in fiction bc if the relationship doesnt work out irl and the person become uncomfortable with me i will just get annoyed jskshdl
LMAO YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT YANGYANG HE’S JUST THAT™ DUDE skgkhs he feels like someone fun to hang out with but he would annoy you the whole time. also he is cute 🥰
AND EXACTLY!!!! IM HAPPY FOR ROYALTY AUS BUT CMON. LOOK AT THOSE VAMPIRE TEETH. feel like media ruined vampires for people 😔 
THIS IS SUCH A NICE BREAK FROM STUDYING HONESTLY!!!! im like working on two semi-large projects AND studying course and out-of-course material simultaneously so my brain is a little fried. thank u for this 😘
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saifa-ao3 · 5 years ago
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I have a request for femslash february, if you're still taking those! Pairing: Catty/Bratty - prompt: Catty and Bratty discuss Burgerpants, Mettaton, and whoever else, but at some point during their gossiping Catty accidentally lets it slip she likes Bratty (or vice-versa).
I’m late. But I did it! I’ll get to the other requests hopefully soon.
H e y,  c h e c k  i t  o u t. 
Rating: General Audiences
Title: I wanna, like, totally be your garbage!
Summary:While scavenging for garbage to sell, Bratty thinks over her feelings for Catty. Will she confess her feelings to her best friend?
Relationships: Catty/Bratty
Tumblr version under the cut.            It had been a while since anything new could be scavenged, and it looked like Bratty and Catty were the first ones to arrive this morning. Bratty laid her tired eyes on the new mountain of tangled debris that had fallen into the garbage dump during the night. Her keen eyesight was accustomed to the cavern’s darkness and gave her an advantage in spotting what the other monsters usually missed. The mound was comprised mostly of plastic bags and other useless synthetic and rusted debris. Among the musty dampness, there was a pungent, rotting smell wafting from the pile. Looks like whatever was salvageable would require a deep cleaning. The goods Bratty and Catty sold might be garbage, but it was premium quality garbage.
            The ankle deep water sloshed from Bratty’s approach. Carefully, she tugged at a handlebar from a bicycle to test the mountain’s stability. When nothing rained down, she shook other metal pipes and tires in search of a loose area to begin her excavation. The debris proved stubborn. In fact, barely anything seemed to budge save for a few empty aluminum cans. It seemed their salvage operation would be a tricky one, so it was best to get the easy pickings at the base first. Squatting down, she felt around in the water for anything interesting.
            “Like, ew, this mound totally reeks, Bratty!” Catty said, breaking away from their shopping cart while covering her nose with a grimace.
            Bratty gave her best friend a toothy grin. She loved the way Catty’s nose wrinkled from the smells in the dump. It was incredibly cute and the sight was one of her favorite parts of scavenging. “Like, totally, Catty. But just think of, like, all the garbage we can sell!”
            “Like, you’re so right, Bratty!” Catty giggled, covering her mouth mischievously with a paw.
            Bratty giggled too, but for her own reason. Catty’s laugh was bubbly and incredibly infectious as it bounced off the cavern walls and ceiling. There was a light chime to it like the high notes on a xylophone that made her soul flutter. That realization dawned on Bratty when she found the instrument on their last excavation. She had watched Catty curiously tap on the bars with a makeshift mallet and listened to her friend laugh playfully while composing a signature jingle for the two of them. It was then that Bratty associated Catty’s voice with music.
            “Oh, did you, like, find something?” Catty asked. She looked over Bratty’s shoulder and extended her whiskers. Grabbing their old, reliable shopping cart, she parked it next to the mound. “Chuck it in the cart here.”
            Bratty held up a figurine of a humanoid character dressed in pink with hair and cat ears to match. In her opinion, Catty was way cuter than this figurine. The girl wasn’t even entirely a cat, but definitely not a monster. Bratty had no idea what this character was, but she knew one thing. Catty had prettier ears. Besides, Bratty prefered purple over pink, and something told her this character would never be caught dead in a garbage dump.
            “Oh my god, like, isn’t this one of those things that Alphys likes?” Catty asked. She leaned over and rested her chin on top of Bratty’s head while her paws settled on Bratty’s shoulders.
            “Like, wow…” Bratty blushed when she felt the warmth from Catty’s paws and the soft fur tickle the scales on her neck. The warmth from her friend was a delightful comfort in the damp darkness. It took her a moment to snap her attention back to the conversation. “Uh… I totally think you’re right. What was it called again?”
            “Um, like, animu?”
            “Yeah, like, for sure animu.” Bratty said, placing the figurine in the cart. ”What even happened to Alphys anyways? Nobody has seen her for, like, ever.”
            Catty straightened and shrugged glumly while kicking at the water.
             Bratty looked from her friend to the figurine. They both missed Alphys dearly, but Catty took Alphys’ disappearance from their lives especially hard. Seeing her friend so glum about losing someone she considered an older sister, Bratty did her best to cheer her up. In Alphys’ absence, the two monsters had grown closer to the point of being inseparable and Bratty began to notice her favorite things about Catty, such as the way her friend’s whiskers would twitch out of curiosity or her pupils would widen when she saw something she adored until her irises were thin, golden rings. If only Catty would look at her the same way as when her friend found that empty gun and hoard of junk food. That day Catty was so excited for their find, and Bratty had to admit that was one of their most successful scavenging excursions yet.
            “Oh my god, Catty, maybe we could go to the lab and drop this off for Alphys. Like, pay her a visit, you know?”
            “Oh my god, Bratty, you really think she would see us?”
            “Uh, like, totally! We got this animu after all. You can give it to her and say, ‘Hi, like, what’s up?’ you know?”
            “Oh my god, Bratty, that’s such a cool idea,” Catty giggled excitedly.
            “For sure,” Bratty said with a wink. “Let’s see if there is anymore of this animu junk.”
            The two set to work sifting through the water, tossing aside rotted wooden planks and shredded fishing nets. A few waterlogged DVD cases and fishing poles later, Catty decided to brave the mountain. Using tires as footholds and secure metal rods to grasp, she scaled the mound agiley with ease until she reached the top. While Bratty sorted her way through the surrounding base, Catty set to work on attacking the pile from the top and removing the shoddy goods. Whenever there was an intriguing find, she would toss it down to add to the shopping cart.
            “Like, come on!” Catty grunted as she struggled to pull out a shower curtain rod. She dug her heels into the soggy magazines and crushed cans and tugged hard. When she finally ripped the rod out, a mess of stained fabric and fishing line wrapped around the pole followed.
            “Oh my god, careful, Catty!” Bratty shouted up. She circled around the back to catch her should she fall. It wasn’t often this happened, but on more than one occasion Bratty had broken her friend’s fall. Honestly, she never minded whenever this happened, and they would lie in the water together having a good laugh, then pick up where they left off. The first time Catty fell into her arms was when she finally noticed how warm, soft, and silky Catty’s fur was.
            Catty waved her arms in an effort to fight against gravity as she leaned backwards precariously on one leg. Her tail twitched wildly in an effort to regain her balance. At last, she thrusted the end of the pole into the mound and pulled herself forward. Sighing heavily in relief, she grinned down at Bratty and covered her grin with a paw. “Like, wow, that was a close one, huh?”
            “Uh, yeah,” Bratty said, smiling in relief. “You, like, totally were about to fall. Did you find anything interesting at least?”
            Catty leapt from the top and landed in the water with a splash. She held up the pole and pulled a pair of scissors from her pocket to snip away the massive knots of fishing line to get at the fabric. Holding up the unfurled fabric, she and Bratty squinted at what appeared to be burger patterned pajama pants.
             Bratty rolled her eyes and scoffed at who this article of clothing reminded her of. “Oh my god, Catty.”
            “Oh my god, Bratty, are you thinking what I am thinking?”
            “Like, Burgerpants, that creep?”
            “Yeah!” Catty’s eyes lit up and she shot Bratty a grin. “Like, we should totally give this to him!”
            Bratty folded her arms and tilted her head. There was a pang of jealousy in her soul that crept up everytime Catty brought up that guy or suggested hanging out with him. What did she see in Burgerpants anyways? After all, she thought he was a creep too, but that didn’t stop her from suggesting saving his life with their friendship and coolness. Catty was always so happy though, and Bratty didn’t have the heart to ruin that. “Uh, like, why?”
            “Because it totally suits him, duh! He could, like, be indebted to us and stuff. I mean, the guy doesn’t even have clothes other than the ones Mettaton makes him wear. I mean, have you seen the stuff he has to dress up in? Totally yuck! He’s gonna look totally cute in these.”
            “Uh, like, you really have no standards, do you?”
            “Nope!” Catty giggled, tossing the pants into the cart.
            “You would really pick Burgerpants over our robot husband?” Bratty asked in hopes the topic would change.
            “Oh my god, our robot husband. Do you think Burgerpants could, like, convince Mettaton to sign my butt after getting us Glamburgers?”
            “Uh, maybe?” Bratty said, uncommitted. All she wanted was to move past this conversation. She didn’t want Catty to see her wrestling with this jealousy. “Hey, what do you say we catch the new episode of The Robot Bachelor tonight?”
            “Oh my god, that’s tonight?” Catty asked brightly. “Like, absolutely! I can’t wait to see which dating option Mettaton will pick.”
            “Uh, yeah, though all the options are Mettaton,” Bratty grinned both in relief and excitement for the new episode. Of course, Catty’s laughter lifted her spirits too.
            “Oh my god, if I was on that dating show, I’d totally choose Mettaton, and then he can finally be my robot husband! What about you, Bratty? Like, who would you choose?”
            “Mettaton, obviously. He’s, like, totally my robot husband too.” Bratty paused as she considered other monsters she could choose from if she were on the dating show, but Catty’s bright laughter intruded upon her thoughts. “Like, actually, I think I’d totally pick you,” Bratty said under her breath. The words had tumbled out before she could catch them.
            Catty’s ears swiveled at that and her laughter stopped abruptly. Her paws flew to her mouth as she stared at her friend with wide eyes. “Oh my god, what?”
            Bratty stared back at Catty, uncertain of what to say. When she finally found her voice, it betrayed her with a crack. “Uh, like, I’d totally pick Mettaton, duh!”
            “No, after that! You’d really pick me?”
            Bratty’s hands fidgeted together nervously. What could she say, that she never wanted to be apart from her best friend? Every time she caught Catty, she never wanted to let go because the best garbage in the whole underground was in her arms. The faintest brush of Catty’s fur warmed her scales in a way Hotland never could. Forget pink no matter who was wearing it, whether it be that anime girl figurine or their shared robot husband. Purple was the coolest color the Underground had ever seen. Even if they never saw the surface, Catty was all she would ever need.
            “You really mean it?” Catty asked, extending her whiskers out of curiosity. Her eyes were two golden rings encircling night.
            “Like, yeah…” Bratty blushed. “You’re really cute and…”
            “Aw, Bratty!” Catty beamed. She embraced her friend tightly and nuzzled her cheek. A low purr formed in her throat that only increased in volume.
            Bratty felt the heat from Catty’s cheek and embrace, though the warmth felt more intense than any physical contact she had with her friend before. It chased away the damp chill from her body, leaving her to wish this feeling would never leave. Never before had she realized how soothing Catty’s rumbling purrs were until now. Truly, it was a new melody she never wanted to hear the end of. The vibrating notes and trills rippled across her skin and sank into her. Once again, Bratty found herself reluctant to let go.
            “We’re the coolest girlfriends forever!” Catty cheered. “Like, wow, I totally never would have thought I’d find the best garbage ever today!”
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artificialqueens · 5 years ago
Text
drawing new lines, chapter seven (branjie) - holtzmanns
AN: So…normally I’m a bit more on the ball with submitting to aq. Oops? This is chapter seven, but here’s the link to all the chapters in between. Most of you have been reading this story on ao3, too, so thank you so, so much for all the love and support for this fic. I appreciate every single message and they make me so happy. So, thank you. As usual, Writ continues to be the best beta and friend one could ask for.
(read on ao3) | word count: 3730 | tumblr: plastiquetiaras
“Here.” A’keria slams the burrito bowl down in front of Vanessa, and she can’t help but let out a delighted squeak.
“God, I could get used to not having to pack my lunch. This month is gonna be lit.”
“Don’t get too used to it.” A’keria snorts as she mixes up her own bowl. “It’s only for a month, as the bet specified.”
“Hey, I don’t care.” Vanessa’s voice is muffled as she tries to talk with a spoonful of the sweet, sweet rice, salsa, beans, chicken and vegetables in her mouth, but it’s hard. “Imma enjoy it.”
“Good, cause you earned it. Top ten things in my life that I didn’t need to see - you and Brooke practically fucking on the dance floor. Nasty hoes.” A’keria makes a face, and Vanessa grins right back at her while Silky snickers.
“You just jealous you ain’t got a blonde skyscraper on your arm.” Part of Vanessa still can’t believe it, really. That Brooke’s willing to do this with her. Not that she’s complaining in the least.
A’keria flips her hair over her shoulder. “I got my man, that’s all I need.”
“He’d rock a blond look though, I ain’t gonna lie.” Silky’s statement makes Vanessa pause, try to picture it.
“You’re right Silk, he totally would.”
“Enough about my non blond man.” A’keria takes another bite of her own burrito bowl before handing it to Silky to share. “What do you want for tomorrow’s lunch?”
Vanessa has to stop herself from practically rubbing her hands together with glee. “Lord almighty, I did not realize how great having my food brought to me would be. Pizza? Poutine? Gimme that unhealthy shit.”
Silky lets out a whistle. “Damn Vanj, you ain’t gonna try and look good for your girl?”
“It’s called happy relationship weight. Imma get it, cause I’m happy. And in a relationship, and she thinks I look good anyway.” As if Vanessa actually is in one. But hey, why not? She’s allowed to enjoy poutine.
“Brooke looks like she can lift you up with one hand, anyway.” A’keria’s tone is almost envious. Which is understandably, really, because her boyfriend is on the scrawny side.
“Damn, I should get her to try that. Do you think she would?” Vanessa remembers when she’d been dating Kameron, who’d brought her to the gym often. Kameron had picked her up once  and done squats at the same time, and Vanessa would be lying if she said it hadn’t been fucking hot.
“You know her better than we do, Vanj. If she’d let you be a human barbell, go for it.” Silky shrugs. “I ain’t getting anyone to lift me anytime soon.”
“Imma go find her. Share some of this burrito bowl, ‘cause it’s technically her victory, too. Not that she knows about the bet.” Vanessa stands up, packing the burrito bowl up once more. It’s a bold faced lie, because Brooke does know, though Silky and A’keria don’t need to know that.
Brooke’s on the phone in her office when Vanessa pops by, the fingers of one of her hands pressing against her temple. She looks up, gives a small smile before turning back to the papers on her desk and ripping the person on the other end of the line a new one.
“No, we can’t use the support beams from the other manufacturer. I don’t care if it’s going to lower costs - it’s not going to matter if the structures collapse in five years because of faulty material and we’re the ones who get sued. So, save it.”
Vanessa plops down in the seat across from Brooke’s desk as quietly as she can, her eyes transfixed on Brooke. It’s kinda hot - Brooke yelling at someone on the other end of the line while completely maintaining composure. Not that Vanessa would ever admit it to her.
“You need to liaise with the first company again, because they’re the ones that have been working well this whole time. I need the estimate from them by tomorrow.” With that, Brooke slams the phone down, letting out a sigh. She shoots a small smile towards Vanessa. “Hey.”
Vanessa holds up the bowl. “Brought you some lunch, ‘cause I know your overworked ass ain’t eating.”
“I had a protein bar-”
“Rabbit food doesn’t count.” Vanessa pulls out the extra set of cutlery, lays it out for Brooke. She’s already had enough of the bowl, and Brooke looks tired enough that she needs as much as she can get.
Brooke raises an eyebrow. “Isn’t rabbit food supposed to be what people call vegetables?”
“You telling me any sane human is gonna eat a protein bar for sustenance?” Vanessa can’t even picture having them on the regular, so tasteless and quite unlike the chewy bars of her childhood.
“Are you calling me nuts?” Brooke’s finally smiling, and it makes Vanessa’s heart grow when she sees it. She hates seeing how tired Brooke’s job makes her.
“Remember, you took us to a spin class for a date.” Of course, Vanessa had enjoyed the shit out of it, but she’s not gonna mention that to Brooke.
“I distinctly remember you having a great time.”
“Maybe.”
“Did you eat half of this already?” Brooke holds back a laugh when she takes her first spoonful, looking down at the already picked-over bowl.
“Hey, I was hungry.” Vanessa shrugs. “Plus, this is the start of the free food A’keria is giving me for the bet. Figured I’d share it with my partner in crime.”
“Well, that was very sweet of you.” Brooke’s voice is muffled by her bite, and the contrast is adorable from her blazer and the smell of her expensive perfume.
Brooke’s an enigma, a person with so many facets that Vanessa is relishing in the chance to discover. The fact that Brooke’s willing to open up to her more and more is Vanessa’s favourite part of the bet, mostly because she’s an open book herself. Because what people see with her is what they get.
“Gotta make sure you don’t waste away on me while yelling at your minions.” Vanessa snickers when Brooke makes a face at her.
“They’re not minions. Just people who should know how to do their jobs.” Brooke sighs, gathering the papers on her desk and pushing them to the side. “Don’t go into management. The title isn’t worth it.”
“Can you imagine me trying to get people to do shit? It would be a whole lotta yelling.” Vanessa tries to picture herself at a desk like Brooke’s, having to spearhead projects and be responsible for them. At least she’d get to wear a power suit.
“You’d be good at it, though. You have charisma, the kind that most people don’t and the kind that can’t be bought.” Brooke takes another bite of the bowl. “Dang, this is good.”
Vanessa raises a skeptical brow. “What do you mean, charisma?” She’s just her natural dumbass self, which pays off sometimes.
“I mean, you convinced me to fake date you thirty or so seconds after introducing yourself. I’d say that’s pretty impressive.”
Vanessa snickers as she leans back in her seat, resisting the urge to lift her feet up onto the chair. “True.”
It’s funny to think back to that day months ago, when Vanessa had barged into Brooke’s office, convinced she’d be able to get her to agree with no evidence to back her up aside from sheer dumb confidence. Though it had worked by some miracle, something that still surprises Vanessa every now and then - and she’s sure that it’s the same for Brooke, too.
Brooke lets out a contented sigh when she finishes the bowl, pushing it away from her on the desk. “So, are you going to share all of your lunches with me from now on?”
Vanessa doesn’t miss a beat. “Why, Miss Hytes, are you asking me to lunch for the next twenty nine days?”
Brooke rolls her eyes, but grins nonetheless. “Only if the food is good.”
“You can bet on that.”
Brooke really, really doesn’t want to go out.
It’s a Friday, she’s had a long week. Really, all she wants to do is curl up on the couch with her cats.
But Nina’s birthday only comes once a year, and she’s a good friend, and so she has to choose a dress from her closet even though pyjamas sound like an infinitely comfier option right now.
The buzzing from her phone on her bed distracts her from her closet dilemma, and so she hangs the dresses in her arms back up in favour of checking her texts.
VVM: Kahanna is singing along to the radio
VVM: AND RILEY IS DUETING WITH HER
VVM: we bout to get complaints from the neighbours at any moment but this shit is hilarious
BLH: Omg. Send me a video
The resulting video from Vanessa makes Brooke crack up, because Riley’s spinning around and howling in the same key as Kahanna is singing. The best part of the video though, is the shaky quality of it, because Vanessa seems to be giggling too hard while filming to hold the camera straight.
BLH: These two need Grammys
VVM: RIGHT! IM SAYIN
VVM: I wanna join in but I’m afraid of ruining it
VVM: anyways how’s your evening going, blondie?
BLH: Trying to choose an outfit. Nina’s birthday and she wants to go clubbing, as if we’re not too old.
VVM: speak for yourself, grandma, some of us are still young
VVM: that being said, you’re not too old for clubbing at all
VVM: show me some of those outfits
BLH: Like, take pictures of them?
VVM: yeah
VVM: better yet, facetime me
It seems like as good of an option as any. Maybe Vanessa can help her decide.
Vanessa picks up the call on the first ring, Riley’s singing reverberating loud and clear in the background. “Hold up, lemme go to my room and close the door. These opera singers be too fucking loud.”
Brooke watches as Vanessa falls back onto her bed, her hair fanning out all around her. “There. Much more comfy. Now, show me some outfit options.”
“Let me prop my phone up on my dresser, hold on.” Brooke leans it carefully so that she can get a clear, hands free shot of herself, and gives a little wave to the camera.
Vanessa giggles on the other end of the line. “Hi to you too, you dork.”
“Okay, help me decide, I’m stuck. Mostly ‘cause I don’t wanna go.” Brooke pulls out a couple dresses and lays them on her bed. “I guess I’ll just hold them up one at a time, or something?”
“Nuh uh. You gotta try them on, give me the full fantasy.”  Vanessa snuggles further into her pillows on screen, and it makes Brooke raise an eyebrow.
“Really?”
“Mhmm.”
“Fine.” Maybe it’ll be fun, help Brooke decide a little better.
She pulls out a blazer dress, steps out of the frame to try it on. When she comes back, Vanessa is nodding appreciatively.
“Okay, I could get into this. Suits you.”
“Yeah?” Brooke faces the screen, turns a little so she can see her back. “I dunno if I wanna wear long sleeves tonight, though.”
“Clubs do get warm.” Vanessa shrugs. “What other options you got?”
“How about this?” Brooke steps back in front of the screen after shimmying into her knee length, floral form fitting dress, one which she doesn’t pull out often because of how long it takes to take off when she has to pee. But it feels like a good option.
“Woah.” Brooke’s almost not sure if she hears the words or not, but Vanessa’s eyes are wide as she shuffles closer to the screen, and Brooke has to bite back a smirk.
“Yeah?” Brooke puts her hands on her waist, turns slightly so that Vanessa can see what it looks like from the back. She knows what she’s doing.
It works, from the way Vanessa gulps.
Brooke knows that the two of them have chemistry. She hasn’t forgotten the holiday party, hasn’t forgotten the way it felt to have Vanessa gasping into her mouth. The way Vanessa had pulled her closer, the way Brooke hadn’t stopped wanting to kiss her, either.
Well. They’re not actually together. But it’s nice to know she has chemistry with her fake girlfriend, at least. Sells the fantasy.
Because that’s what this is about - being believable.
That’s it.
Right?
The club is a lot more boring to Brooke when she doesn’t feel like dancing with anyone.
It’s too sweaty, that’s why. The club feels like it’s a million degrees, and adding dancing to the mix will only make it worse. Heck, Brooke’s sitting at the bar in front of a fan that is directly blowing cool air at her, and she’s still sweating like crazy.
That’s why she doesn’t want to dance.
All of Brooke’s friends are on the dance floor with their respective partners - save for Courtney, who’s found a girl for herself to make out with in the corner of the club. Brooke can’t help but feel…bored. Why dance anyway, when it’s too warm and sweaty and crowded? Why talk up a girl when-
When she has Vanessa?
Technically, Brooke doesn’t have Vanessa. They’re not dating. She has to remember that.
But they did sign a contract together, saying that they won’t mess around with others while doing this. Yes, that’s why Brooke is staying away from chatting up nearby girls. Because she has a commitment to keep. Not that she really wants to talk to other girls in the first place. But her gin and tonic is nearly done and she needs another if she’s going to be at this bar for any longer, so she signals to the bartender and opens up her phone while she waits.
BLH: Help, the club is boring
BLH: I’m wasting away at the bar
VVM: omg
VVM: go dance, you’re at a club
BLH: I don’t wanna
BLH: Stinky guys
VVM: stinky, huh?
BLH: You need to spray your perfume on them. You smell so much better
VVM: weird compliment, but I’ll take it
VVM: we should go out dancing. I’d give you such a better time
BLH: Would you, now?
VVM: you know it, blondie
VVM: let’s do that for another date
Brooke is reminded of the holiday party, of how they’d danced pressed up against one another and how it was fucking hot. The chance to do something like that again with Vanessa? She’ll take it.
BLH: You wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off of me
VVM: you say that as if you’d be able to keep yours off of me
VVM: I know how much you love grabbing my ass
VVM: not that I’m complaining about it
Brooke smirks at her phone screen. She remembers how Vanessa had keened into her touch, spurred her on to keep going with little gasps into the crook of her neck. Dating or not dating, Brooke loves how easy Vanessa has been to take apart. She wants to do it again.
BLH: Interesting. Noted.
It’s funny. When she and Vanessa had signed their list, they had agreed on light PDA only. But there’s a part of Brooke that wants more more more, that wants Vanessa on her arm and wants everyone to know it. That Vanessa’s hers, that she’s the one who gets to take Vanessa home every night.
Brooke almost wishes that those things were actually true.
“C’mon, Nina. There you go, come on out of the Uber. Small steps, don’t slip on the ice.” Brooke wraps one of her arms around Nina’s waist, holds her up as they head to Nina’s apartment.
“Ugh. It’s too cold.” Nina leans her head on Brooke’s shoulder, and Brooke reaches out to pat her hair.
“Almost inside. You got your keys?”
Nina fiddles in her pockets for a good thirty seconds before pulling them out, holding them towards Brooke. “Please?”
“I got you.”
Brooke is usually the supportive friend in situations like these for Detox, helping her get home in one piece after she’s had too much to drink. Nina’s not usually the one to need it, but Brooke had found her in the club bathroom leaning against the mirror and sniffling about her fiancé. Considering the fact that they’d gone out for Nina’s birthday in the first place? Brooke had felt her duty calling.
“I don’t feel so well. That car ride was fast.” Nina rubs at her eyes as Brooke tries to get her coat off, pushing it off her shoulders and hanging it on the coat rack.
“Bathroom first, then.”
Nina sighs, resting her head against the lid of the toilet after sitting down on the ground. The scene feels reminiscent of Brooke’s undergraduate days, when she’d partied too much and absolutely did some damage to her poor liver. She pulls Nina’s hair back, has to keep her nose from wrinkling when Nina lets out a retch.
“Thanks, B.” Nina sighs when she lifts her head up, only to turn back towards the toilet to throw up again.
Brooke’s definitely been there before.
“No worries. It’ll feel better when it’s out of your system, anyway.” Brooke rubs her back, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible because she knows Nina’s probably got a pounding headache, too. “Now, tell me. What made you drink so much today and end up crying by yourself on your birthday?”
Brooke’s surprised by it, really. Nina’s usually the one who takes care of everyone else like its second nature, because she has a high tolerance herself. Which means that to reach this current point tonight, she’s probably had a lot to drink. Which also means that something has to have really rattled her to get her here, bent over the toilet and looking slightly green.
“It doesn’t matter.” Nina mumbles the words, looking down, and Brooke puts a hand on her shoulder, gives her a little squeeze.
“Course it does. You can talk to me.”
Nina finally, finally looks at her, and Brooke can see the dimmed sparkle in her eyes, the sadness along her features. No, not sadness - more defeat.
“Am I making a mistake, Brooke? Marrying Ben?”
Booke pulls back in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”
Brooke has multiple friends that are in long term relationships and Nina’s, by far, always has looked the steadiest. The most wholesome. Nina never shuts up about her fiancé, telling Brooke all the time about the picnics he takes her on or the gifts he gets her or how they’re absolutely soulmates. Nina’s always looked happy, truly happy with her man, something that Brooke has loved to see, because Nina’s the kind of person who believes in true love. In a happily ever after. And, up until this moment, Brooke has believed that Nina’s been living exactly how she’s always dreamed of.
But what if she hasn’t?
“It’s just-it’s good. But it’s also just good, y’know? He brings me flowers and always opens doors for me and snuggles me at night but…” Nina lifts her head, looks at Brooke, and her face is more lost than Brooke has ever seen it. “I don’t feel anything else with him. Like, it’s happy, it’s good, he’s good, but-”
Nina cuts herself off, takes a deep breath as she lifts her left hand up, holds it out in front of them. The sparkling bling on her ring finger reflects sparkles along the bathroom tiles and walls, ones that make Nina wince when they shine on her face.
“I just don’t know. I’m not feeling what I’m supposed to feel, y’know?” Nina sits back, scooches away from the toilet to lean against the wall.
Brooke joins her because really, does she have anywhere else to be? She doesn’t know what to do though, not when Nina’s looking so forlorn and lost and all Brooke wants is be there for her, somehow, even though she’s never felt the way Nina is feeling right now.
So Brooke leans her head on Nina’s shoulder, feeling the comforting warmth of Nina leaning her head against hers, too. “I dunno, babe. I wish I could tell you I had the answer, or how to make things magical, but I have none of those answers. All I know is that you deserve to be happy. You deserve the ending that you’ve always wanted. I think you need to first figure out exactly what that is.”
Nina sighs, twisting her ring on her finger. “I have no idea what that is.”
“No need to decide on your birthday with a tipsy brain. It can wait.” Brooke unfolds herself from the ground, gets herself up before holding her hands out to Nina so that she can help her up, too.
“C’mon. Let’s get you into bed.”
The conversation replays in her mind, though, as she Ubers home from Nina’s. It makes no sense - how has Nina lost that spark with her fiancé, when they’ve always looked so stable? Did Nina ever really have it in the first place? Or did she just think she did? Was the way Nina had felt in the bathroom just cold feet, or was it something bigger?
And then there’s that spark Nina had talked about in the first place. Brooke tries to picture what it would feel like, what the concept of sparks flying actually even means. Fireworks and butterflies and falling head over heels? Hell, Brooke feels fireworks when she kisses Vanessa, but it’s only because she’s kissing a pretty girl after ages and ages and fully enjoying it. The concept of sparks flying feels elusive, something that could be searched for forever and ever without ever truly being found. It feels similar to the way that Vanessa’s looking for her true love and Princess Charming, and how she’s absolutely convinced that she’ll know when she finds her.
It feels like everyone has a radar for knowing these kinds of things except for Brooke. Not that Brooke minds, not really. Being in search of something that’ll never be in reach seems fruitless. Unnecessary. Especially when she has other things she’d rather be spending her time on.
Quite frankly? Brooke’s good with just her cats and friendship - especially Vanessa’s.
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