#we go out to eat and she talks about how she thinks her black neighbor is stealing her stuff and how she isn’t gonna take anymore white

[domesticateddog]

oh i forgot literally like 2-3 weeks after my seizure my boyfriend and i took what we thought were low dose edible gummies (25mg 😵‍💫 we dont do weed…) and it caused me to have such a bad panic attack that i was convulsing in my bed feeling like i was dying and my parents had to come over at midnight to console me bc i was so bad.

BUT it also sparked another manic episode for my boyfriend and i was still fucking wiped mentally from what i had gone through. i felt so defeated when i realized that he was becoming manic again. he started getting OBSESSED with the bible again and the he called his mom to drive over so he could talk to her privately bc he started disliking me again. he ended up telling her he thought he was thinking of breaking up with me because our relationship was “ungodly” (AGAIN!!) also this was like fucking day 2 of mania. that’s how strong it is. i eventually hammered it into his brain that he was manic and made him take more seroquel and hydroxyzine to combat the mania and it worked after a couple days. none of his family was of any help and i felt like the weight of the world was on me while i was already drowning.

his family is weirdly religious so whenever he starts getting manic and hyper religious they think it’s a good thing and support it while i’m here screaming from the rooftops that they’re just making it worse by feeding into his delusions but whatever. he eventually listens to me, it just takes a bit to break through the wall of mania. it’s not his fault.

but yeah that was a couple months ago everything’s been gucci (relationship-wise) since. that was the first actual manic episode he has had since the first big one when we were together when he ACTUALLY broke up with me. he’s had a hypomanic episode too at some point but that didn’t last very long.

i don’t know why i’m writing about this. it’s not very relevant to anything at the moment. i’m just thinking about it i guess.

[intoxicated-chan]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓 ║ ❝𝐈 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐭 𝐁𝐚𝐝, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞❞

(A/n) ➳ Five chapters down, six more to go! Yep this series is meant to be eleven chapters. I think I made Daryl not Daryl. I don’t know if that made sense but I hope it does.

Word Count ➳ 840

Content Warnings ➳ Womanizer Shane, talks of marriage, unrequited love, rejection, light sexual content, swearing, OOC/Soft Daryl…

JUDAS Masterlist

YOU STARED AT THE RECENT TEXT FROM AMY.

You wanted to huff, but you sat across from Shane whose eyes remained on you. His gaze made you sit up unconsciously and uncomfortably, even when you looked out at the window beside you, his gaze never moved.

The two of you sat in silence, utensils clicking against plates and the gentle sounds of the neighboring tables. It wasn’t until Shane’s voice brought you out of your thoughts.

“I remember you sayin’ you wanted to travel. Do you still have those plans?”

You shrugged, tearing into the steak with your fork and knife. “Hard to say, money has been tight. I’m surprised you even remember that, I don’t.”

“It was the night we all went to the drive-in theater. You sounded so happy ‘bout it.” Shane reached into his wallet, pulling out a photo of said night.

You looked up at the sky, a wide smile on your face. You wore a thick jacket that you had a feeling that it was Shane’s. You could barely see Rick and Lori, both of them eating each other’s faces.

“You kept this? Why?”

“Memories, I like to keep ‘em close.” He replied, pulling the photo back into his wallet. “And I wanted to travel with you.”

“Ever tell that to the girls who cling to your arm?” You lifted an eyebrow, brought the piece of steak to your lips, eating it. “Who would’ve gotten angry? Susie? Jamie? Or Scarlet? She would’ve become a storm.”

Shane’s eyes flickered with regret. “Should’ve known you’d never let that go. I know I ain’t ever shown you that I do love you, but I’m ‘ere how. I ain’t got plans to go anywhere without you. Even if I’m second-”

“Stop. Jus’ stop.” You dropped your fork and knife, running your hands over your face. “I-I can’t, Shane. I won’t. I ain’t gonna put you through the pain of being with me. I ain’t gonna do it, you can’t convince me.”

You don’t see the way his eyes narrowed, how his jaw clenched. “I love you, (Y/n). I’m willin’ to make this work.”

“But I ain’t. I can’t love how a wife should love her husband.” Your heart raced but you tried to sound stern and remain firm in your decision. “You are my friend and that’s all.”

You reached into your purse and took out enough to cover your portion to cover your meal. You dropped it into the table and stood, eyes locking with Shane’s.

“I’m sorry Shane.” You slipped on your jacket. “I hope you can understand.”

Without another word, you walked out of the restaurant. You walked into the parking lot of the restaurant, leaning against a random car and fumbling with your phone.

You did it. You finally did it. You should’ve felt clear by now, like weight was taken off your back. But why was your heart still racing? Why were you worrying about the opinions of Lori and Rick? What would they say now?

You knew what they wanted for you. It was probably a dream they wanted. High school sweethearts friends with high school sweethearts. So the friend group would still be together.

You dialed Daryl’s number. After a few rings, Daryl answered, his voice rough and warm. “Hey-”

“Tell me this ain’t bullshit.” You cut him off. “Tell me that all of this isn’t for fun. That I’m not some other girl.”

“Y’know, the bar ain’t the first time I saw ya. I came into the diner late, saw ya.”

“Really? What was I wearing?”

“Ya was comin’ out of a room. White shirt, black skirt, boots, with hooped earrings that shined. Ya was standing next to a blonde.”

“Yeah, Annie. I was leavin’ my shift. You must’ve been lookin’ at her who’s better than me.”

“Ya seriously think that?”

“Yeah, so why ain’t you hookin’ up with her?”

“‘Cause she looked miserable. Didn’t matter how much that woman smiled, it was fake. And at the bar, it wasn’t fake. Ya were where you wanted to be, I swear to ya. I ne’er met anyone like ya and it makes me want to enjoy life again… (Y/n)?”

Daryl had brought you back to your place. His hands are carefully slipping off your shirt, dragging his hands over your exposed skin.

“Am I gonna be some other guy to you?” He whispered against the skin of your neck, his hot breath sending chills.

“Never. ‘Cause I know you.”

He hummed, planting kisses down your neck, chest, and down to your stomach. “Do ya now?”

“There’s more to you.” Daryl lifted his head, coming back up. You take it as a chance to wrap your arms around his neck. “I can see past the cold face you put on. Like at the bar. But everytime you were with me, you ain’t a hardass.”

Daryl chuckled in response. “Ya gettin’ yerself into deep shit, only a fool would.”

“Could a fool fall in love?”

“Yer a hopeless woman.”

© Intoxicated-Chan 2024, I do not allow my work to be copied, translated, modified, adapted, or put on any other platform without my permission.

Taglist ➳ @deansapplepie , @ladylincoln , @gamingfeline , @lady06reaper , @alanamarie , @daryldixmedown , @celtic-crossbow , @mrdixon , @itwasntaphasema , @duffmckagansbandana , @raspberryslxt , @itsrainingbisexualfrogs , @ingstadstarlight , @gamingfeline , @lor-geeked , @thegeorgiahuntsman , @snailss , @the-lonely-abyss , @number1bashbabe , @xmaeyonaise , @suniloli , @of-storms-and-sadness , @annhells , @sexyxdylanxobrien , @yoowhatthefuck ,

⊰ Chapter 4 ⊰ » » YOU’RE HERE « « ⊰ Chapter 6 ⊰

[glassartpeasants]

The Fire Will Pass

Trafalgar Law x F!Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, hurt to comfort i think, spoilers for Law's backstory, mentions of death and blood, not edited cause my computer was DYING

A/N: Alright so i already posted the first part of this a hot second ago but i deleted it so i could write the rest of it cause i ended up loving it to much to let it not be finished. @mandiemegatron here is the gift. its the amber lead reader story i said i was gonna do centuries ago.

~~~

“Why is everyone avoiding that girl? Is she sick or something?”

“Don’t go near her! She’s contagious!”

Once again, here you were, treated like some sort of plague. Like something to be feared. New town, same reaction. No matter how hard you try to convince people, no one will listen. Even if there had been books and research about the disease you’ve been cursed with, they all see you as a walking sickness.

You supposed you did look contagious. Patches of white cover your body, and burns cover your already marked body. What happened that day that caused all your grief replays in your mind like a broken record.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)! Wake up!” The smell of smoke invades your lungs as your eyes flutter open. The scene of your frantic mother shaking you awake was the only thing you saw.

“Mom? What’s…what’s going on?” You were ripped from your bed as your mother held you in her arms—something she hadn’t done in years.

“Mom! Wh-”

“Shush! Baby, we need to be quiet.” The hushed whisper of your mother sent shivers down your spine. Never in your life have you heard your mother sound like that. And when you looked into her eyes, all you saw was fear.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Your mother hid your head in her shoulder as she rushed down the stairs. The only thing you managed to see your childhood home was the bright light of flames. Its heat burned your lungs as you let out a cough.

Opening the door, your mother ran out of the house quickly. Dry coughs slipped past her lips as you held onto her tight.

“Mom…I’m scared….” You whisper into her ear as your body begins to tremble.

“It’s okay, baby, everything will be okay.” Petting your hair, your mom held you tighter.

Looking up, all you saw was a black, smoky sky. Your eyes darted from place to place as the horror of everything going on around you began to sink in. Flames ate away at the buildings around you, and what you could only begin to realize were the lifeless bodies of your friends and neighbors, lying along the cold ground with patches of white dancing along their skin.

You were speechless as your eyes widened, seeing flames eat away at everything you’ve ever known.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Tears rim your eyes as you struggle not to sob. Why was this happening? What was happening? Why was the sky a mucky grey and the streets a ruthless red? It was a sunny and beautiful day earlier. People talked with happiness, but now those same people were lying lifeless on the street, their voices forever silenced.

You desperately looked along the streets for a certain boy with a funky hat, yet you couldn’t see anything through the flames. The flames burned brighter as ashes fell from the sky, each one you feared would be the remnants of the home of your only friend. 

As the buildings collapse from the fires eating away at them, you try to pinpoint where exactly you are. But as more buildings fall, everything seems the same until a red cross catches your attention. Your eyes widen as you see your mother, and you get closer to the hospital where you knew the boy’s parents worked at. A sense of hope filled your being as you stopped almost in front of the hospital. Opening your mouth to scream out and pray that he heard you, you were cut short as an explosion from inside the hospital caused the fire to burst out all windows, the glass shattering. 

“Their….dead…” Your voice barely came out as it felt like the air was stolen from your lungs. The world spins as the heat of the blaze fans your face as you look on in horror. All of them gone, yet here you were, alive as your mother ran down the dark streets of Flevance.

The cold water of the new world licked at your feet as you dangled them over the edge of the wooden dock. Patches of white decorated your skin, even though you wished the water would wash away the painful reminder of how alone you would forever be. Not a soul to call your friend, let alone love.

Why were you alive? Based on what research you were able to do and what you saw, you were supposed to die as a child. Why were you 23 and only a month away from 24? How dare you live while the rest of everyone you ever knew decay and rot away.

You look out to the sea and wonder that maybe, just maybe, there was another. Someone else like you. Another soul that survived the massacre thirteen years ago. Maybe they were immune just like you.

You didn’t know how or why, but despite showing the physical changes the amber lead did to your body, you’ve never had any symptoms. No weakness, coughing, just nothing. The one thing that showed you were a survivor of the disease was the white blotches that stained your skin.

“Hey! You!” Your body went rigid as you heard a voice call out to you. Swallowing a lump in your throat, you turn your head to look over your shoulder. A million things you were expecting, but a waving polar bear was not one of them. You rub your eyes to make sure you aren’t seeing things.

“You! You're the sick girl, right?” A frown worked its way on your face. Even though you’ve heard it countless times, it still didn’t make it easier to hear.

“What’s it to you? Come to mock me?”

The polar bear shakes his head. “No! Not at all! I just wanted to let you know that my captain can probably help you!”

“What I have can't be cured. So it’d be useless to try.”

“Come on! What do you have to lose?”

“Mom, please, we’re almost there!” You whisper as you try to drag her faster. Yet, with every step you take, your mom gets slower. Using both your hands, you grab your mom's as tears rim your eyes. Trying your best, you start pulling even harder.

You turn your head to talk to your mom. “Mom, we have to-” The words stop short as you see your mom's once white shirt splotched with ever-growing red. Time seems to stop as you try to comprehend what you're seeing.

Stumbling, your mom turns you around. “Run baby. Run and don’t stop till the smoke is no more.” Tears stream down your face as everything seems to stop.

“No! I won’t leave without you!” You cry as you try to turn around, but your mom keeps her grip tight.

“Please, baby, you have to go on without me. You need to live. Live for the ones that couldn’t make it. Live for me, baby.” Your mother presses a kiss on your head as her grip turns light. A final gasp escapes her lips as you hear her collapse behind you as you begin to run through the flames.

“Live for Flevance.”

“Alright. I’ll go. Show me the way.”

The polar bear smiles before grabbing your hand. “You won’t regret this!” He exclaimed as he started to pull you to another end of the dock. The action making your eyes widen and pang shoot through your chest. His ‘hand’ was in yours even though you were obviously sick.

How many years had it been since your hand has been held? Since youve felt the touch of a living person?

“Your not scared of getting sick?” A whisper escapes from your lips.

“Nope!”

“Oh…” The sound of your footsteps hitting the wooden dock did nothing to calm the rapid beating of your heart.

“It’s just up ahead!” The polar bear grinned as he ran faster. His happiness was contagious as you couldn’t help the smile spread on your face. For some reason, this time felt different. Like hope had filled you once again after all these years.

The closer you got, the more you see what he was dragging you too. A yellow submarine with black markings along it. Odd shapes but you kept yoru mouth closed. Now wasn’t the time to insult or question. But you notice that you feel an overwhelming pull to it. Like your heart was trying to jump out of your chest to it.

The polar bear stopped in front of the submarine. “Here we are! The Polar Tang!”

“The Polar Tang?”

“Yep! Now come on!” You watch as the bear climbs up and opens a hatch before motioning you to follow. With an exhale of breath, you follow. The cold metal making a shiver run down your spine. The ladder felt shaky even though it was simply yourself as you begin to grow nervous.

Finally stepping on teh metal ground the bear once again motions you to follow. As you walk with him, you realize you never caught his name.

“Um, you never told me your name?”

The bear looked over his shoulder. “Oh, I didn’t? Sorry! But my names Bepo! Yours?”

“(Y/N). (L/N) (Y/N).”

“Perfect. I’ll let the captain know.” With a hum,you follow the bear to an office around the corner. You watch as teh bear knocks on the door.

“Captain! Are you busy? We really need you!” You hear a sigh from behind the door before the doorknob turns.

“Bepo I’m really busy, what do you-” The captain stood quiet as he looked at you. A look of horror and shock in his eyes. Your heart beat against your ribs as time seemed to stop. With your eyes scanning the captain, your eyes stop at his hat. It looked so familiar…

“Bepo leave.”

“What? But captain-”

“Go!” He points away from him before turning back to you. “You stay.”

You watch as Bepo leaves and you can’t help but feel like your being crushed. The air seemed tense between you and him. But before a word left your lips, a cold hand grabs yoru wrist and pulls you into his office. Locking the door behind him, he begins to pace.

“This isn’t possible…this has to be some sort of nightmare….” Taking off his hat, he runs his fingers through his hair. Soon he turns to you, a bewildered look in his eyes.

“That’s amber lead disease isn’t it? The white patches…” Swallowing the lump in your throat, you respond.

“Yes.” Your answer only seemed to make it worse.

“Thats not possible! No one was supposed to survive after the government…” He trails off and you can’t help but feel tears gloss your eyes. Clutching your hands into fists, you look down.

Suddenly, you feel him grip your shoulder. “No one was supposed to live to see fifteen! So how are you alive?” His voice desperate.

“I don’t know.” You spoke with a soft voice as the tear begin to slip down your cheeks. “I don’t know.”

“Did you eat a devil fruit?” While still frantic, his voice was much more gentle. 

“No. I’ve never even seen one in my life.” There was a few seconds of silence as you watch teh gears turn in his head. “How do you know so much about Flevance?” You asked as you looked into his eyes. His golden orbs almost hypnotizing.

“I’m from Flevance.”

“What?”

“I’m from Flevance.” Your body seems to shake as you gently place yoru hands on his arms. The world seemed to spin as your eyes look into his own, trying to see for any lies.

“What’s your name?” He looks hesitant for a second before answering.

“Trafalgar Law.” Your hands fly to your mouth as it all begnis to make sense. The familiar hat, the pull you felt when you neared the sub, his eyes. All the pieces fit together. The boy you once thought was gone, now stood in front of you all grown up. Your heart jumped in yoru chest as what used to be tears of pain, were now tears of joy.

“Your alive…I can’t believe your alive!” A huge smile lays across yoru face as you grip his arms tighter. “I thought you died all those years ago but you didn’t! Your here with me!” Law looks at you intensely before his eyes widen.

“(Y/N)?” You nod and let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah.”

Without second to spare, Law pulls you into a tight hug. Wrapping his arms around you like you’d disappear if he so much as lighten his grip. You wrap your own arms around him and begin to sob uncontrollably. Despite his cold touch, knowing that he was alive gave you an unbelievable warmth.

After spending years alone, wandering around the world, you finally had someone. The feeling of behind hugged for the first time in thirteen years was overwhelming as you criedd into Law’s shoulder. You can hear him crying as he cried into your hair. Both your bodies trembling as the combined sobs echo in his office. Cries of pain and the finally ending loneliness slipping down your cheeks.

“I thought i was all alone. That i was the only one left.” You whisper into Law’s shoulder. Law said nothing and only gripped you tighter. His sobs echo in your ears as the two of you subconsciously begin to sway side to side.

“How did you get out? They had everything fenced in and guarded. How did you escape?”

You ran as fast as you could along the bloody flame ridden streets. Everywhere was a dead end or was guarded by the government who wanted you dead. It seemed like you were stuck in an endless loop as you went in circles trying to find an escape.

As you ran forward, a big wall of burning hot flames raged before you. Yet, beyond the flames, you could see the port. The water reflecting the horror that is your crumbling home. This could be your only shot.

Looking at the wall of flames, you took a breath before running into the heat, determined to get to the other side.

 “I managed to hide in a crate on a navy ship. And the next stop they went to after Flevance I got off.” Looking you at him, you sniffle. “What about you? How did you escape?” You watch as Law grows silent and clings to your shirt.

“If you don’t wanna say it’s okay. We’re already been through enough.” Rubbing his back, you try to soothe him.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been hugged, thank you Law.” You’ve never felt so calm since you were a child. Such safety in his arms.

“I don’t understand though, how did you survive the Amber Lead?”

Law lets out a shaky breath.”It’s a long story, but to keep it simple, I ate a devil fruit.” You pull your head from his shoulder and look at him with shock before stars appear in your eyes.

“You have devil fruit powers?! Really?! You must show me!” Law looked at you, a smile on your face. He can see the tired look in your eyes and the heavy burden you bear with teh more noticeable spots then his own.

It intrigued him: how you could still have such prominent spots that look like you're still fresh with the disease, but you're still healthy, walking fine, and showing no signs other than the spots. Could you have truly been immune?

Law goes to say something but he watches in shock as you examine his office before standing in front of his doctors licsence.

A shock gasped leaves your lips as you turn back to Law. “Is this real?! Did you really become a doctor?!”

“Yeah.” A chuckle leaves his lips before a silence falls between he two of you. Suddenly a sigh leaves your lips.

“I’m sorry if this is awkward. I just…I didn’t think I’d ever met someone from Flevance who was still alive and lived to tell the tale.” You say with a shaky tone. “And I know I’ve already said this….” With a trembling lip, you run up and pull law into another hug.

“I’m so happy your alive!” You wail as your legs grow weak. The inside of your head pounded like a drum as you struggle to breath through your sobs. With your legs finally giving up, your knees hit the ground taking Law with you. 

Law’s heart hits against his ribs at your words. After years of feeling so alone and hiding what truly happened that night, there felt a bright warm feeling in his chest.

“Please, I’ll do anything. Just let me stay with you.” Law hears your sniffles as you cry into his shoulder.

He hadn’t about that. What would happen now? By the looks of it and what you’ve said, people still treat Amber Lead like they did all those years ago. Medicine has advanced so much, and yet you were still stuck with a painful reminder of what you’ve lost.

“Of course, don’t worry.”

“Hello Mrs. Trafalgar! Is Law available?” The sound of your voice breaks through Law’s study session. Knowing his mom would let you in the house with no questions asked, he began to panic. He looked around his room and saw the slight mess that it was. Jumping from his seat, he begin to pick up the dirty clothes and quickly make his bed.

A few knocks reach a Law’s ears. “Law? Can I come in?” Your voice echoes in his room. Whipping his head around to check his room to see any mess, he pulls off his hat to straighten out his hair before throwing it on his bed.

“Yeah!” Law hit his head as he critizes himself for sounding too excited but quickly straightens himself out as you enter.

“Oh wow, your room is so clean!” You say as you look around before turning to him. “Hey, where’s your hat?”

“I just took off for a second.” Law says with a nervous chuckle. He watches as you spot his hat on his bed before grabbing it.

Going up to him, you put it back on his head. “There we go. Much better.” Your smile made his heart beat heavily as he swallows.

“How’s your studying going? I heard from your mom that if your not hanging out with me, your studying. Am i just that awesome?” Your teasing and smug smile makes his heart beat even faster.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” Law exclaims as his face feels hot. “She’s making things up!”

“Alright calm down. I’m just teasing!” Grumbling, Law looks away.

“Whatever.”

You laugh before moving towards his desk after something caught your eye. Once your eyes finally got a good look, you squeal.

“Is that the new Sora: Warrior of the Sea book?! Why didn’t you tell me you got the new volume?!”

“I was walking for you to come over…” Law whispered.

“Huh?”

“I forgot. Lucky for you, I haven’t read it yet so you get the privilege to read it with me.” Crossing his arms, Law tries his best to exclude confidence. Not wanting to show just how excited he was to read with you.

“Well what are we waiting for?! Let’s read it!” Grabbing the book, you sit on teh bed before patting the spot next to you. With a leap of his heart, he goes to sit next to you.

“Law?” Your soft voice in his ear pulls him from his memories and back to the present.

“Hmm?” He feels you pull back from teh hug, eyes bloodshot from tears as some still streamed down your cheeks.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any Sora comics would you? Do you still like Sora?”

Law’s heart beats even faster at yoru question. “I probably have some somewhere, why?” He didn’t want to tell you just yet that he had every single volume in his room safely stored in a book case. Along with many, many action figures.

“Well, we, or I, have never finished reading that volume or have read them since. Do you think we can read them together again? Like we used to?”

“I’d like that.”

[allaboutyn]

seasons of you; arthur morgan × female reader

you are his spring, and he… he is your winter.

excerpt two:

“IS that your new neighbor?”  charles agreed to come help arthur with his horses, and harvest the vegetation, but all he’s done is stare at you as you’re tending to your garden in your old overalls.  arthur kinda wants to hit him. but all he does is hum in reply before turning to throw the hay into the barn.  “she’s pretty. does she live there by herself?” “i ain’t seen no one else goin’ in.” “damn. it’s such a big house.” arthur takes a moment to look over at you. he’ll admit — only to himself — how beautiful he truly believes you to be. gorgeous, even when you’re just in your overalls or running gear.  he sighs, leaning against the fork as he looks at charles, leaving the gate wide open without a second thought. “ya gonna help or jus stand there lookin’ pretty?”  before charles can laugh, and arthur makes a witty retort, one of his horses rushes past them and across the dirt road as she had done several times before. you can hear two men shouting over your headphones, and when you look up, you lock eyes with a large white and gray horse standing less than two feet away.  you hear arthur shout, the lasso swinging in his hands as he  “get over’ere, girl!”  arthur morgan is famous around town for his personality, and his wild horses. “grumpy ol’ arthur morgan” is what people call him. the local grocer warned you about him the moment the news got out that it was you who bought the house across the street. “arthur tends to scare off most of the people touring it so we never thought someone would buy it,” they had said and maybe that’s why you ended up buying it — because you never had a physical tour of it, only a video tour and the virtual ones they offer online. you couldn’t get out long enough for it to not look suspicious.  people constantly ask you about it when you’re at work, and it’s funny because the elderly people try to set the two of you up and you like to show them the renovation work you’ve done by showing them photos, but the gossipy women that come in just make it annoying by asking about him all the time. you don’t know how to tell them that you’ve only ever had one conversation with him, so you just nod and smile when they talk, hoping they go away.  at first, you weren’t even sure who they were talking about, since arthur never introduced himself, even after you brought him brownies, but eventually, it just got easier to figure it out. there’s only one man around town that wears a black, worn down leather cowboy hat that you’ve seen.  the horse gets closer. as fearful as you are of the majestic creatures, you try your best to keep yourself calm, holding your trembling hand out for her to sniff the apple before eating the apple, giving arthur the chance to lasso her neck.  “thank yew.” tipping his hat, he walks off with the filly, and the man who had been beside him also tips his hat to you before leaving.  “i think she’s scared of horses,” charles whispers as the two get closer to the cowboy’s home.

[traffic-was-a-b1tch]

anthem of the heart

(jake kiszka x reader) 18+

summary: you and your best friend move into a new apartment after college, wanting a fresh start in nashville. however, you come to find that your neighbors are musicians. very loud musicians who like to keep you up at night. especially one, who likes to bother you on purpose. you would hate him… if he wasn’t so hot.

warnings for overall series: eventual SMUT!!!, angst, mentions of past abuse (not jake), abuse (not jake), mentions of past sexual assault (not jake), sexual assault (not jake), enemies to lovers, cursing, let me know if I missed any. (i’m still making this series up as I go along so it might change)

warnings for this chapter: SMUT, oral (f rec), fingering, kissing, mentions the SA of chapter three, cursing, softy jake :), let me know if I missed any!

author’s note: hey everyone! were finally getting to the good part ;)!thank you so much for loving this series! let me know if you would like to be added to the tag list! as always, please feel free to give me feedback, requests, comments, etc. enjoy!!!

• • •

Chapter Six:

the words tumbled out of you. first the interview, then tanner, then jake. and more jake.

he haunted your once peaceful mind, filling it with fantasies and his voice. you couldn’t stop.

but kailee was mainly focused on one thing.

“how the hell did tanner find out where you live?”

you shrugged, “I have no idea. I didn’t even tell him we were moving to nashville, just that I was moving away from him.”

she looked you in the eye, serious. “you have to file a police report. they have to know he attacked you.”

you nodded. you did know. but it had been so hard to think these past hours that you forgot that legal action needed to happen. you forgot that he might still come back and you had to have this assault on record.

“can you come with me?”

kailee reached out to cup your face and replied, “after all you’ve been through? facing these things alone? i’ll do whatever you need, honey.”

“well, I wasn’t alone”, you countered, “I had jake.”

she narrowed her eyes, removing her hands and sitting back in her chair. “right. jake. the neighbor.”

you knew that she knew by the way you talked about him, you were aching for him. but you fought it and put up a wall, “yes, our neighbor. who is utterly repulsive and arrogant.”

she nodded with a shit eating smile on her face, obviously seeing right through you.

“you wanna fuck him, huh?”

you threw a decoration pillow at her head, silencing her teasing.

after getting dressed decently, you two went and filed a report. it felt easier, knowing you could squeeze her hand when the questions got worse.

you felt wrongly embarrassed, like it was a black spot on you and not him. kailee noticed, of course, and kept reminding you that it was his fault. his actions, his conscience, his karma that would soon find him.

it went sooner than I thought it would, thankfully. soon we left, both of us feeling relieved.

by the time we got back home it was only 11 am. you decided to take the rest of the day off and nap, hoping to put all your worries of tanner to the side.

you got into comfortable shorts and a t shirt, almost jumping into bed. the world of darkness enveloped you in four seconds flat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

jake was on top of you.

arms on either side of your head, pining you to the bed. his mouth was hot on your neck, sucking marks into it.

he panted as he trailed hickeys down your neck, breasts, and hips. he bit the skin of your hip, moaning. then he reached his desired destination, lips stopping right above where you needed him most.

he looked up at you and grinned.

“who’s pussy is this?”

“yours”, you choked out.

with that he buried his face in between your legs.

you tried your best to breathe but the way his tongue worked in and out of you made you close already.

he looked up at you for consent as he pushed two fingers into you, turning his mouth to your clit.

he was so. fucking. good.

you were about to come, grinding hopelessly on his face. you were right on the cusp and…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you woke up in a pool of sweat.

fuck.

you scolded your mind for the cruel dream.

you looked on your phone and saw 6:38 pm. it was dinner time and you were starving.

you changed clothes and walked to the kitchen. you thought about what easy meal you were going to make, considering your exhaustion. but you walked in on kailee, stirring a pot of boiling pasta.

“good morning”, she laughed, “I figured you wouldn’t want to cook so I made spaghetti.”

you made your way behind her, wrapping your arms around her and hugging her tight.

“you always know exactly what I need, kay.”

“mmm”, she agreed and turned to face you, “then might I suggest some dick next?”

your eyes widened as you swatted her for the question.

“I hear our neighbor is available…”, she trailed on.

you swatted her twice more, “kailee!”

she laughed so hard she snorted, which caused you both to erupt in giggles.

“i’m done with this conversation.” you walked away laughing.

dinner was amazing, of course. kailee didn’t like to cook often, but when she did it was a culinary experience.

you washed your dishes, scrubbing lightly at the baby blue plates.

she broke the comfortable silence by saying something you didn’t expect.

“hey, you know i’m just giving you a hard time, right?”

you looked up at her. she was laying on the couch watching reruns of the office, but now her eyes found yours and she wasn’t joking.

“I know I said you needed to get some, but you know I was joking. you’ve been through so much and I know I wouldn’t be in the mood if all that had happened to me. i’m just stating facts though,” she added, “from what i’ve heard, you’ve had some serious tension going on with this jake guy. all i’m saying is yolo, girl.”

you laughed softly, “yeah we did have a few moments, but i’m not sure if he still wants me, you know? maybe i’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

you smiled at each other, she really did know you.

you got into bed, after doing your skincare, needing a minute to read and relax. you opened your book and got through a few chapters before you heard something faintly.

another guitar riff. god, didn’t this guy sleep? you listened closer, the riff sounded like a song you knew. after a second you realized it was ‘do I wanna know’ by arctic monkeys.

you really liked that song, and it was drastically different than what you had heard coming from jake’s apartment before. slower, passionate. almost purposeful.

then you heard kailee calling your name from her room, “ughhh, you’re boyfriend’s at it again! go shut him up!”

“kailee!”, you scolded, walking out the front door.

you made your way to jake’s, knocking only once before the door swung open.

“finally, come on.” jake grabbed the hand that was knocking and pulled you inside.

“jake- what-“, you were so confused.

“it’s about time. we wanted your opinion.”

you looked around to see his bandmates. three other men lounged about the room; one stretched on the couch, one with his bare feet up on the recliner, and one glancing at a gibson magazine up against the wall.

if you would’ve known you were meeting his bandmates, you would’ve changed into better clothes. right now you were only in a cropped fleet foxes shirt and pajama pants.

“opinion on what?”, you questioned.

“we need to settle something. sam”, he pointed to the one on the recliner, “thinks that we should put this one song on the ep, and I think we should put a different one on it.”

sam looked uninterested and tired of arguing, tying his hair in a bun. he wore a dark blue zip up hoodie and black shorts. very short black shorts.

your eyebrows furrowed, “well there’s more people in the band, right? let them decide.”

as much as you were appreciative of jake’s effort for your opinion, you were unsure what this had to do with you.

“I think they’re both idiots and both our songs are perfection that should go on the ep”, the one sprawled on the couch chimed in. he stood, sauntering over to offer his hand, “i’m josh, the better twin between me and mr. grump here.”

you shook it, eyes growing wide.

“twin? now that’s something he hadn’t mentioned.”

josh waved his hand in dismissal, “i’m not surprised, darling. jakey doesn’t want people to know there’s a better looking, more talented version of him walking around.”

you giggled. josh wasn’t bad looking for sure, wearing an abba t shirt, light jeans, and sporting a styled short afro.

jake rolled his eyes and pointed to the one by the wall, “and danny is no good because he doesn’t seem to have an opinion either way.”

danny looked up, “hey, don’t hate on me for being easy, baby.”

he had on a green sweater with his long hair pulled back in a half up look.

damn, were they all hot?

jake looked at you expectantly, waiting for your response.

he was in another tight black t shirt and black sweatpants. still, he looked like a model.

you weren’t sure what he wanted you to say, but you almost felt like he was viewing you as a friend. an energy you hadn’t felt from him yet, but one you welcomed.

“well, what do the songs sound like?”

he flashed a quick smile at you and grabbed your hand, leading you to a back room.

you savored the feeling of his hand in yours, even if it wasn’t romantic. the feeling of his skin on yours was intoxicating.

you quickly realized that he led you to the recording room. he sat you down on the couch against the wall of the producing area, a big panel of buttons and dials visible from your seat. the rest of them had followed and now crowded the small space. josh sat next to you, jake stood at the panel, while sam and danny stood by the door.

“ok”, jake started clicking on the computer next to the panel, “this is the song sam thinks should be on the ep.”

an acoustic guitar intro started and jake added, “it’s called flower power.”

the vibes of the song flowed through the room, making you feel like you were floating. an organ faintly in the distance of the song made you listen closer, wanting more. a voice you recognized as josh drifted in with a unique twinge.

‘she is a lady comes from all around’

you saw josh smile and nod at you, confirming your thought and taking credit for the amazing sound of his singing voice.

‘she’s many places, but she’s homeward bound.’

you were honestly amazed. you had only heard harder rock from through the wall, so the sweetness of this song made you smile. you really liked it.

the song kept on, getting to what was undoubtedly the chorus.

it was so uplifting and beautiful, you felt bad for interrupting their practice so many times. if this was what they were working on, the sleeplessness would’ve been worth it.

‘she’s outta sight, outta sight’

the chorus ended and jake stopped the track. they gazed at your for a reaction.

all you could give them was, “wow, the practice has paid off. that was absolutely beautiful.”

they all smiled, clearly appreciative.

“now”, began jake, “listen to the one I prefer.”

you weren’t sure what you were expecting, but a wave of electric guitar overtook you.

“it’s called talk on the street”, josh leaned to whisper to you.

the music was invigorating, making you sink back down to earth.

‘oh mama, you lie in ruin’

it was rock for sure, but you really liked it. the beat made you want to bang your head to it, feel it all the way to your bones.

jake smiled at your face, contorting with the music. the chorus came slower than expected, but it was still a punch in the face with josh’s voice mixed with electric guitar. fuck, it was good.

‘forgetting the end, as your new life has begun.’

the chorus ended and jake stopped the track again.

“well?”, he tested.

all eyes were on you.

“amazing.” you tried to find more words. “it was incredible.”

sam prodded, “so which do you like more? obviously it’s mine, you just have to say it.”

you smiled and thought for a while.

“I think”, they all leaned closer in anticipation of what you were going to say, “I like both.”

they groaned and began talking at once.

“but neither of them are perfect”, you added.

they stopped, questioned glances being shot at you.

“flower power was amazing-“, you said.

“yes, exactly”, sam cut you off.

“but”, you explained, “I think it would sound better with more of the organ sound in it. it’s too faint right now, so it only delivers half the feeling of love and passion I think you want in a song like this.”

they looked stunned. but they had asked for your opinion, and you intended to give it to them.

“as for talk on the street”, you continued, “it’s just a little too slow. the song is about gossip, right? gossip spreads fast. use that metaphor to your advantage and just up the tempo a few beats. it will also be able to carry more of a punch.”

they never took their eyes off of you as they took your critiques in.

“but that’s just my opinion. I mean, it’s your music.” you started to worry that you said too much.

josh was the first to break, laughing in disbelief. “damn, I didn’t expect you to dissect it that much but… it was incredibly helpful.”

he looked at you with appreciation and said to the boys, “I agree with her.”

danny and sam nodded at each other and started planning how to incorporate more of the organ.

jake just looked at you, impressed.

josh put his arm around you, laughing, “wow, jakey. where did you find this girl?”

jake’s eyes never left you as he replied with a curved smile, “just next door.”

the energy was different. it made your heart beat fast and full, feeling him like you never did before. you felt his appreciation radiate from his spot in the room.

“and a fleet foxes shirt? too good to be true!” josh pulled your attention back to him by asking you what your favorite fleet foxes song was.

you spent some time talking with the group of boys for a while about music until they decided they were tired and said goodbye. being around them all made you forget that it was almost 2 am.

maybe that was why they played until so late in the night.

the three boys funneled out of the front door, still brainstorming for their ep, leaving you and jake in his apartment.

“wow”, you giggled, “they were fun. that was more enjoyable than I expected.”

he smiled and started walking towards you, “they like you.”

you were really happy about that. you had always been one for making new friends and always hoped people liked you. you felt your grin beaming.

he got closer, your grin slipping a bit. it was replaced with an unsure expression, your mouth opening slightly.

he stopped right in front of you, lifting his hand to graze your arm.

“we all have that in common.”

you froze. his hand trailed slowly up your arm, to your shoulder. he continued up your neck and to your face. he brushed his thumb on your cheek, looking you in the eyes.

he lowered his face closer, leaving just a small space between you. you were both panting in anticipation, your mouths just inches apart.

just as you though he was going to lean to connect your lips, he backed away, turning and running his hands over his face.

“we can’t. you aren’t ready for all this yet.” he scolded himself.

“jake…”, you begged. you wanted this. you were ready for him.

he turned back to look at you pleading with a face full of need.

jake sighed, hanging his head, “son of a bitch.”

he met your eyes again and said, with an intense tone, “come here.”

you ran to him.

his arms grasped you tight, pulling you into a kiss.

• • •

y’all already know what the next chapters gonna be 🤭

tag list: @gvfpal @hollyco @piratejakesgf @sunandthemoontwinflames @kiszkas-canvas @jjwasneverhere @anythingforjtk

[hayleythesugarbowl]

ooo can you do ones for the smosh women?

if so amanda and/or angela plzzz

smosh women x reader headcanons

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • smosh masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

a/n: ok i went ahead and did all the smosh women but angela and amanda are on here!! also i found out after i wrote this that jackie left smosh (😭😭) but im going to include her anyways!! hope you enjoy these <3🩰🍓

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this is what I think it would be like dating the smosh women…

courtney…

she bought you guys matching shirts

her love language is definitely physical touch 

and she’s always holding your hand or playing with your hair or giving you kisses 

tells you how much she loves your butt lol

you met her family and they all love you so much

boops your nose

loves cuddling under a blanket with you

she thinks you’re the funniest person ever

facetimes you all the time and when you try to decline saying you’re not having a good hair day she called you anyway and tells you how gorgeous you and your hair look

if you’re having a bad day she’ll cheer you up by being extra silly and taking you to your favorite places

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

angela…

you guys take turns picking movies and shows to watch and get really into them 

she loves your sense of humor so much 

and you guys definitely make each other laugh at inappropriate times 

she lets you borrow anything of hers you want 

so much teasing 

you guys do karaoke together 

she sits in your lap all the time

you guys go to the theater together and she whispers to you throughout the whole thing

you guys get a dog 

she thinks you’re crazy talented and loves listening to you talk about what you’re passionate about 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

amanda…

smells so good 24/7

knows your order at like every restaurant you guys have been to 

on your birthday she makes sure to tell the waiters it’s your birthday and then sings louder than anyone 

so protective of you fr

you guys have these really relaxing self care days and spa days 

and she definitely eats the cucumbers 

gives the best hugs omg

neck kisses 

anytime you’re uncomfortable or embarrassed she does something even more weird or embarrassing to take the heat off you

so supportive of whatever you do 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

arasha…

y’all watch so much Netflix together 

and all the other streaming services 

because she probably somehow knows all the neighbors passwords 

you guys have these elaborate prank wars

she always wins but she doesn’t brag too much

the best at comforting you when you’re upset 

rubs your back 

goes out and gets you starbucks because ‘you looked like you needed some coffee’

loves your smile so much 

the best at picking a restaurant and we love that 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

jackie…

definitely asked you out with ‘you ever been with a black woman before?’

(if you got that reference i love you)

always has a hand on your thigh 

you guys definitely got a cat…or a few cats 

you two go out to events and stuff and she never leaves your side and makes all the introductions 

you definitely went to a swing dance together once and dressed up and had so much fun

she led

she writes poetry about you 

and one fanfiction as a joke

and you’ve framed every one she’s given you

sings you to sleep 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

olivia…

sends you the most random memes at 2 am

‘saw this and thought of you’

and you spend so many minutes trying to figure out what they mean

she’ll just flop down on top of you on the couch and rest her head on your shoulder 

takes you to so many fun locations 

you guys have your own emoji language 

forehead kisses 

gets really close with your parents

remembers the most random things you said months ago and prides herself on knowing you really the best 

she gets the best gifts 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

kimmy…

makes her own valentines for you

always asking how you’re doing or if you’re cold or hungry or tired

calls you ‘sweetie’ and ‘honey’

you guys bake together 

holds your hair while you throw up 

introduces you to all her friends and compliments you so much in front of them

‘you pick’

calls you every day/night that you don’t see each other and you guys talk for hours 

she leaves you cute little notes all over the place

tries to make you laugh to cheer you up

her lock screen is you and she has you entered into her phone as ‘🩷💜love of my life💜🩷’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ ok i hoped you enjoyed these!! let me know if you want any full length headcanons for any of the specific smosh women or men <3 💋💌

[kishavo]

plagued by memories tonight so I’m going to spit them up and hopefully that brings me relief.

I was an EMT for about 5 years and I think these things are tattooed on my bones. trigger warning under the cut for…upsetting healthcare-related experiences? and the f-slur

I remember bringing a wheelchair-bound elderly man up to his shoebox apartment in the inner city, 12 floors up a derelict building in a tiny, shaky elevator, and being hit with the stink of smoke as soon as I opened the door - cigarette butts stubbed out on every surface, ashtrays overflowing, carpet that started out as brown matted down to black. I offered to help him into bed but he refused. he took off his vietnam veteran baseball cap and picked up a stale pack of cigarettes and told me to go

I remember the man who had been attacked by his neighbors’ dogs, two Rottweilers. his legs were mangled; huge scoops of flesh just gone. he was kind. he asked me how my day was going.

I remember the dead woman in the ER who I was told to bag up and bring down to the morgue. she looked familiar. I remember putting a tag on her thumb but I don’t remember her name. I remember making small talk with the ER tech who was helping me on the elevator ride down to the basement. that sounds like the start of a joke, doesn’t it? a girl, a man, and a dead body get in an elevator. if you think of a punchline let me know

I remember the frequent-flyer patient with a chronic mystery skin infection that caused his legs to leak so much fluid that we had to wrap them in plastic bags or else the gurney would get flooded and it would soak into his pants and spill over the edge onto the floor of the ambulance. the first time I got his call I thought we’d been sent to a haunted house. it was an old victorian in downtown, made of rotting wood and peeling paint. The knob in the front door had been ripped out so I bent down and looked through. There was no answer when I knocked so I yelled ‘hello’ through the hole until eventually someone came down the stairs and silently let us in. Our patient’s apartment was one room, it was dark, it smelled, the bed was as dirty as the floor, beer cans and cigarettes everywhere. There was a tiny, square, box TV playing static. There were spoiled diapers kicked under his desk. He lived alone and apparently had no family. I and every EMT who had ever been sent there reported the situation to social services but nothing was ever done.

there was the woman coming down from a meth binge who kept asking me if I was going to eat her brains. we dropped her off at a psych facility and a few days later I was back with another patient. I saw her again, sober now. when she saw me she averted her eyes and retreated into her room

there was another woman in the middle of a severe psychotic episode who, within 5 minutes of meeting me, looked me dead in the eye and said, “You’re a fat fucking faggot and I want you to die.” She had pissed on all her personal belongings and the back of the ambulance stank so bad of stale human urine that I had to kick the fan on and spray air freshener into my face mask. She spent most of the call insulting and trying to spit on me and my partner. My partner snapped at her but I just ate it. Later, when we were outside cleaning the gurney and waiting for the next call, a stray cat slipped out from behind a nearby dumpster and curled around my boots. he booped my knuckles and mewled when I pet him and the night was good again

I remember being in and out of psych facilities so often and feeling like a fucking imposter because I was burning out, depressed out of my mind and regularly experiencing suicidal ideation. I wondered when I would call 911 and end up there myself. I wondered if it would be my coworkers who would pick me up. the thought of it scared me enough that I never made the call, even when I should have. I started getting high instead

I remember the middle-aged woman having a panic attack. that was at my on-location job, at my city’s arena, where all the concerts and games were held. it was a slow night and too many of us responded. this woman was hyperventilating, the bass from the concert was everywhere, and a crowd of strangers was closing in on her. I got there first, so by default it became my call, which always made me nervous. I sat her down, I kneeled in front of her, she grabbed my hands reflexively and I let her grip on. I coached her breathing. I waved my coworkers back to give her space. I convinced her that everyone there just wanted to help her and that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. it worked. I was soothing, and sure, and strong. it worked.

when it was over she held my shoulder and thanked me. patients don’t usually thank us. when it was over I went to the bathroom and cried. I handled it so well because I had been talking my mom down from her panic attacks for years.

I talked about that call in group therapy the week after. I thought I was going to be proud, that it would be a positive share, but I cried again.

when people ask about what it's like being an EMT, I don’t think they want to hear any of this, they only want the cool stories. they want to hear about the lights and the sirens and to thank you for your service but please, please, don’t. There’s a quote by Anaïs Nin: “I was always ashamed to take. So I gave. It was not a virtue. It was a disguise.”

[kissorkill16]

Out Of The Ordinary: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: The gang goes to talk to Nicky.

Trinity knocked on the door or the Roth house and patiently waited for someone to open, the rest of the gang standing behind her.

"Are you sure he's even gonna know?", asked Maritza.

"He has to if he's been doing nothing but avoiding us. I need answers, and he's been acting weird ever since his disappearance.", replied Trinity.

Ivan stepped in, "Also, he kinda owes you for that time he ditched you in Mr. Peterson's house."

"Ivan, I'm not worried about that right now."

Just then, a woman with black hair, teal eyes, and a light blue outfit opened the door. Standing next to her was a man with brown hair, brown eyes, and a white and teal shirt.

Ivan jumped behind Delroy, and Delroy pushed him away. "Get away from me!"

"Sorry, I get nervous when I meet new people. And I was lost in thought when she opened the door.", said Ivan.

"Well hello.", said the woman.

Trinity gave the woman a little half wave, "Hello, ma'am. My name is Trinity, I'm one of Nicky's friends."

The woman nodded. "Nice to meet you, Trinity. My name's Luanne Roth, and this is my husband, Jay. I swear Nicky has mentioned you before, but I'm not so sure I remember."

Delroy rolled his eyes and flapped a hand at the Luanne, "Listen, we're here to talk to Nicky."

Luanne slowly shook her head.

"Sorry, kids, but that's sort of out of the question. Nicky hasn't been acting like himself lately and I don't think he even wants to talk to anyone, not even us.", said Jay.

"He's barely even eating or sleeping. We tried asking him about it, but all we get is shaking and whimpering.", said Luanne, moving to shut the door. "We'll tell him you guys were here and we'll see if you can come back tomorrow."

And with that, Luanne shut the door.

Maritza sighed, "What do we do now? Give up and go home? Because that's what I feel like doing right now."

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Trinity stomped her foot, "No!", she turned on her heel and started running to the backyard. "I need to talk to Nicky!"

The gang followed close behind her, Enzo was the slowest since he had to help Maritza walk a little bit.

"Trinity, are you seriously thinking about throwing rocks at his window?", asked Enzo, "What if you break it?"

But Trinity wasn't listening. She picked up a rock, and was about to throw it, but Maritza stopped her. "How do you even know which one is Nicky's?"

Trinity paused for a moment, then lowered her arm carrying the rock.

"Look, just guess I suppose. We're already here.", said Maritza.

Trinity didn't have to be told twice.

She threw the rock at the window, earning a loud bang on the glass surface. Thankfully, it didn't break, but Nicky didn't answer. She began to think this wasn't Nicky's room window, but she picked up another rock and threw it at the window again.

A moment of silence passed by, then the gang saw a silhouette of a boy, and Trinity immediately knew it was Nicky.

The boy slowly opened the window.

"Guys?", said Nicky, "What're you doing here?"

[coolgal5]

STARMAN- A. STEENBECK

Auggie Steenbeck x GN reader

Part two. Part one can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/coolgal5/738171031067443200/starman-a-steenbeck

After Dr. Hickenlooper had given the tour you noticed Woodrow glancing over to the “Bleeps and Blips” seemingly intrigued by them. Dr. Hickenlooper had walked over and began to discuss it with him. Dr. Hickenlooper called you over and told you Woodrow’s theory about it being a date on the galactic calendar.

When it came time to eat you decided you’d sit down with Midge and Auggie again considering they were really the only people you had interacted with so far. When you walked over the the table and sat down across from Midge when Auggie had been asking about her glasses, which she responded to by taking them off revealing what seemed to be a black eye.

“Gadzooks, what did you do to deserve that?” He asked

“Nothing.” she quickly shut him down.

“Who hit you?” He pushed further

“Nobody, it’s grease paint, to feel like my character.” She explained.

“How does she get a black eye? In the story” He asked.

“Well she doesn’t in the story, it’s on the inside.” She explained

Auggie turned to you, examining your face up close.

“You didn’t mention you were an astronomer when we talked last time” He stated, now focusing all his attention onto you.

“It never came up.” You replied, glancing down at your plate of food on the table in front of you.

“I don’t think I ever caught your name, mind telling me?” He asks.

You replied with your name very bluntly. Talking to him came so easy, like it was meant to happen.

“That’s a very nice name.” He says, nodding

Your cheeks heat up at the compliment.

“Oh thank you.” You replied quickly.

You continue to chat with Auggie and midge until you decided to walk back to the motel until you had to go view the astronomical ellipses.

You sat by the bathroom window of your bungalow smoking a cigarette. The warm breeze of the desert combined with the setting sun was very refreshing. The window facing yours was open and a light was flicked on to reveal Auggie standing there clutching a piece of paper.

“So I suppose we’re neighbors” You flash a smile at him.

“I suppose so.” He states before holding up the paper. It was the photo he had taken of you, Midge, and Dinah at lunch earlier in the day.

“I’m glad that came out, I approve.” You say, leaning farther out the window and pressing your arms against the sill. You and him sat there, in comfortable silence for a few moments before he spoke again.

“Can I take another photo of just you? Not for publication purposes” He asked

“I thought you never asked permission?” You replied. He simply shrugged and held up his camera.

“Don’t move” he ordered.

A snapping was heard and he put the camera down, leaning up against his own window sill. He stared into your eyes and you decided to utilize a sudden burst of confidence.

“Are you married?” You asked the question that had been on your mind earlier.

“I’m a widower, don’t tell my kids by the way.” He responded. Your chest felt a pang at his reply. Nobody deserves to lose a wife and you felt even worse for his children. You recalled how you felt after you had lost your mother.

“Why? I mean I wasn’t planning on it, I’m sorry” you replied

“Yea, they know by the way, just barely.” He says, looking at the ground.

[butterflydm]

wot deeper dive 2x2: strangers and friends

My deeper look at 2x2, without any spoilers from the books. I'll be posting an additional post after this that gets into book-related thoughts.

After we only got a glimpse of Rand in the last episode, we are starting with him right out of the gate. Now, Rand's dreams... Moiraine mentioned in the first season that dreams were important but most of what I have to say about Rand's dreams is probably going to need to go in the post that has spoilers for the books.

2. I can talk about how devastating these dreams must be for Rand. This is his great fear -- that being a male channeler means that he'll kill the people that he loves. That's the whole reason that he's here in Cairhien, why he asked Moiraine to pretend to the others that he's dead. So he has to relive his greatest fear over and over in his dreams now. His hands covered in his friends' blood. Also... I think he's in essentially a mimicry of the outfit that The Man at the Eye of the World was wearing. It's not quite the same outfit, but the white shirt and black coat.

3. Rand is already hearing whispers in his mind, which he'd mentioned at the end of s1 as well -- he said that he could feel the madness coming for him. Even awake, he's hearing whispers.

4. And this is our introduction to Selene. She's aware that he has nightmares, which is probably pretty obvious, to be fair, but I feel like we can be pretty sure that he hasn't mentioned the whispers in his head. He can tell that she's thinking about a morning quickie just from the look in her eyes, but says he has to go to work. There's some teasing about how he's paying for his room & board with sex (which definitely gives me flashbacks to Dana and Mat's intentions there). We don't get a firm answer here on how long they've been sleeping together just "all these nights together".

5. Rand has been in Cairhien (the Foregate, specifically) for long enough that he's formed a routine and a rapport with his neighbors here. He has a coin for the boy that he passes along the way and someone tosses him something to eat without them needing to discuss it first. He's built a little life for himself here, far away from his other friends. We see that he needs a work-pass to enter the walled city (due to being A Poor, I assume) and we also see the richly-dressed people on the streets of the walled city shy away from him and don't want to walk near him. It's such a great setting of the scene and showing what kind of place Cairhien is, with how strict the division is between the wealthy and the poor.

6. The subtitles reveal that what Rand hears in his head as he walks down the hall is "Do you hear me? You are mine, Rand al'Thor."

7. Poor Moiraine looks so deflated and depressed. She was planning to be on her way in secret! Following up on the poem that we still don't know the details of! And now Lan, Verin, Adaleas, and Tomas all know about her plans and are going to tag along. Things are not working out according to her design. I feel like Moiraine has been feeling very helpless recently (ever since she lost the four kiddos while she was injured, honestly -- I'm not sure she ever really recovered her sense of balance after that, because she kept getting surprise after surprise... and then, after she thought she and Rand had succeeded at the Eye of the World, she realized that they failed. AFTER she'd already let Rand leave on his own. She is on a hardcore losing streak and it's depressing for her!) "You're in luck. My sister and I have decided to accompany you," Verin tells her and Moiraine is going, "fuck fuck fuck" in her head. What a delightful scene.

8. Also, regarding Lan -- Moiraine left Lan in 1x8 expecting to die at the Eye of the World. That was her sincere belief when she masked her bond and left with Rand -- she was assuming that she would die there and then maybe Lan would escort Nynaeve and Egwene to the Tower and eventually become Nynaeve's Warder, probably. And if she'd been able to unmask his bond after the events at the Eye, then she might have been able to find her balance with Lan, at least, but she can't sense him any more than he can sense her. And she still believes that the Dragon must face the Dark One and anyone who is at his side is going to die. She is still in 'solo death march' mode. So that's why I don't have any issues with Moiraine's characterization. She shouldn't be doing this to Lan but it feels very in character to me that she is doing it.

9. Oooh, this whole scene with Perrin and the abandoned manor house is very creepy and effective, especially as we build up to them finding the Fade nailed to the door. Perrin worrying that Elyas has "done something" to him to make him experience that moment in the house reminds me of how accusatory Rand got towards Moiraine at the start of last season.

"Useful, to know the difference between vision and reality." Elyas is a man of few words, but they're good ones.

10. So my current guess is that Rand shaved his head because he was getting reactions from people (maybe even specifically from Errol) about how he looked like "an Aielman" and he was trying to mitigate that. It doesn't work fully -- Errol definitely still thinks of Aiel when he sees Rand -- but it helps conceal him.

I love the slow reveal of what's going on with Rand here -- how the relationship with Errol is partly because Rand does like him and want to help him, but he's also learning from him. How Rand's actions make sense in the moment but then are also revealed to have a deeper ulterior motive underneath. He beats up Yann because Yann is an asshole to Errol by deliberately triggering his PTSD... ah, but also because it's going to get him access to Logain, who is held in the more secure areas of the facility. And that moment itself is also used to show us how the whispers are affecting Rand and how he's having a hard time controlling himself. He fears losing himself too. This episode did a really good job showing us both the good of who Rand is but also the negative influences that are working on him.

11. Nynaeve got pulled out of doing chores with all the other novices so that she could get a special lesson from Liandrin. Also, we get the thread of 'crimsonthorn' started here -- it kills in large amounts but dulls the pain when used appropriately. Liandrin steals a bottle here and we'll find out why later in the episode. Nynaeve getting to see some official Aes Sedai healing was very nice though. Liandrin taking Nynaeve under her wing has definitely been fascinating to watch. Also I love this worldbuilding where we find out that the Accepted get to spend time with each of the seven Ajahs to find out where they are best suited. We also find out that Aes Sedai are capable of living "hundred of years", setting us up for the reveal later in the episode.

12. We get more from Mat now! The dynamic between Liandrin and Mat really is fascinating. He doesn't trust or like her, but she's also the only point of human contact that he's been allowed for six long months. We really get to see him acting under adversity here. The miming of the door locking was genuinely delightful. I love how we see that his spirit is not broken by his imprisonment. He's still resourceful and determined.

13. And now we have our introduction to Elayne Trakand, the Daughter-Heir of Andor, who puts her foot in her mouth with Egwene several times by accident. Elayne's little moment of realization that Egwene's room was not "full of rubbish" but was actually Egwene's stuff was really good. I am loving Ceara as Elayne. But Elayne's little realization that she fucked up and then she desperately tries to fix it by complimenting the stitching on Egwene's blanket and then screwing up again when she tells Egwene that Egwene is "her subject" and how she tries to recover from that by sorta flirting with Egwene. She's sweet and awkward and Not Good with people her own age that she wants to be friends with.

14. Alanna and Sheriam's conversation starts out on a tense note when Alanna asks after Sheriam's Warder and Sheriam expresses the feeling that Warders shouldn't be present in private meetings between Sisters, when Ihvon and Maksim are literally right there. We are seeing that there are lots of different relationships that Aes Sedai and their Warders can have! Alanna clearly has no secrets and holds nothing back from Ihvon and Maksim. Lan and Moiraine had a strong queerplatonic bond (that is currently strongly being tested). And Sheriam feels that Warders don't always need to know their Aes Sedai's private conversations. But Ihvon and Maksim feel free to chime in on the conversation between Alanna and Sheriam without holding back.

15. Alanna standing up for Nynaeve not being pushed too early to become Accepted: she's genuinely making so many good points. Interestingly, Sheriam is now echoing the argument that Liandrin made in the last episode -- that Nynaeve's strength in the One Power justifies pushing her harder than you might push other novices.

16. Alanna points out the same thing that she mentioned last season -- that she believes strongly that the Last Battle is coming, and that these powerful channelers are a sign of that. "The Daughter-Heir" gets noted as being a strong channeler alongside Egwene and Nynaeve and the false Dragons Logain and Mazrim Taim. "The Pattern's giving us weapons to fight against Him."

Oof, Sheriam's last little jab at Alanna for 'letting' her Warders attend this meeting with her. "There, you speak as one and not three."

Alanna and co are leaving the Tower to go help Moiraine, on her request. That really does show us that Moiraine considers them genuine friends too, if she's willing to trust Alanna to help her, even after she's been exiled from the Tower.

17. Nynaeve loves tracking people. And this is now the second time when she has tracked someone to their previously-unknown-to-her family (after finding Lan with the other Malkieri in 1x8). I do admit that I was wondering if she was going to discover Mat being held prisoner but I understand (narratively) why it didn't happen.

18. Elyas is not with the others when the Seanchan attack because he doesn't want to sleep indoors. And he tells Perrin that the soldiers are not Perrin's pack.

19. It's also night where Moiraine is, now within sight of the White Tower. We learn that Verin and Adeleas have been working on a history book all these years. Oh, and Verin reveals that she's figured out that Moiraine found the Dragon Reborn and that it's one of the boys that Moiraine left with "last autumn". And we get Verin's philosophy on how to approach the Dragon laid out: she disagrees with the idea that the Dragon should be 'caged' by the Tower and believes that he needs to be left free to act. She believes that the world still has not recovered from the Breaking and that the Dragon is what the world needs in order to be healed and whole, and so she supports Moiraine in "leading him to victory". Moiraine tries to get an oath from Verin and Verin tells her no dice, plus "even oaths have loopholes one can exploit." We gotta work on the honor system.

Verin mentions prophecies found in the Tower that speak of "Toman Head, battles in the sky, a sword of flame and the branded hand that wields it".

20. Ooof, the whispers of "kill him" that Rand is hearing when he attacks Yann, and how he loses control of himself and almost does kill him -- it really does help show how poorly Rand is already doing (I mean, he's been fighting against this for half a year now!). And when he goes back to his room and Selene is waiting for him, she kisses the blood on his knuckles and tells him that "when things get bad, we want to be alone. The truth is, that's when we need each other the most. We can be alone together." And he's clearly still having a hard time controlling himself, but she doesn't seemed fazed by it. Seems kinda into it.

21. Egwene being the experienced novice and then... realizing that Elayne was just trying become friends with her and actually is already pretty familiar with the Tower (I will make a mental note that Elayne has spent the last few summers here... and clearly was getting special treatment while she was visiting). And gets to be present when Elayne gets a harsh setdown from Sheriam for acting like the Daughter-Heir and not a novice. But Egwene, and the viewers, get to see Elayne's loyalty and her integrity here, when she refused to give up the name of the person who allowed her to bring her personal items into the Tower, even when Sheriam makes it clear that she'll face (physical) punishment for her transgression.

22. I love this scene with Liandrin and her... son (?). The reveal, how she reacts to discovering that Nynaeve is watching, how she reacts to Nynaeve trying to give her advice on how to help him, and then her apologies to him afterwards as she admits to him (but not Nynaeve) that Nynaeve was right. Liandrin cannot abide people witnessing her being weak (...which is something she has in common with how Nynaeve has been acting re: her channeling block, I will note) and she defaults to violence when she's upset.

23. Mat discovers that the room next door is an adjoining cell, and one that is already occupied by Min, who we met in episode 1x7 last season. This conversation between the two of them was funny and enjoyable on both sides. But it's an interesting reminder that Mat and Min didn't meet last season, so they are encountering each other as fresh new faces, who are both being held prisoner by Liandrin. It must be such a relief for Mat to talk to someone else after months of only talking to Liandrin. And they have a fun dynamic. Sharing wine.

I love love love that Mat is not interested in finding out his future from Min. "That is way less interesting than I'd expected. I'd hoped for a murder or a secret affair with an Aes Sedai." Also, I wonder if that's refreshing for Min, to be hanging out with someone who is NOT interested in hearing his future from her.

Well, until she does get a viewing off of Mat. And it's him stabbing Rand, who she did appear to genuinely like when they spoke last season ("You seem like a decent person"). And this viewing does also confirm that Min is aware that Rand is still alive (though I don't think she actually knows that his friends all believe he's dead... or that Mat is one of his friends, for that matter).

After some careful considering, I do think that the shirt Rand is wearing is the dark shirt that we've seen him wearing under all the rest of his clothes. Maybe. The dagger does look like it could be The Dagger, maybe.

(I'm just excited to see Mat and "Rand" on-screen at the same time haha)

24. The after-sex conversation between Rand and Selene, where he talks about how he doesn't want to hurt her and she tells him that she's already carrying a broken heart, so nothing can hurt her more than that, and they kinda mutually say that they're both in this for reasons that aren't about being in a relationship -- she wants to remember her past relationship and she can do that with Rand; while he doesn't want to think about his past that he's walked away from.

25. Elayne brews her own alcohol with a weave that she's invented. I love her so much. "I like to tinker with things." She also confesses here that she didn't have any friends growing up. But this whole conversation where Egwene tries to work through her feelings about her imposter syndrome and how being around Nynaeve kinda makes it worse (which is something that we got a hint of in Egwene's deepest fears from Machin Shin last season).

World info: Elayne says that Andor is "the most powerful nation in the world" (to her knowledge, anyway).

26. I do love that now that Nynaeve is going to do the Accepted test, Liandrin is angry at her and kinda doesn't want it to happen anymore but she's accidentally trapped herself into it.

27. Lan discovers and takes the poem (that we still don't know the contents of) and then he tries to have a conversation with Moiraine.

While I liked getting to hear the story of how Moiraine and Lan met earlier in the episode, but I feel like the point that is most significant is here when she talks about when she realized she wanted Lan to be her Warder.

Moiraine: "I couldn't imagine the courage it took to face the Shadow with nothing but a sword."

Also Moiraine: "We were never equals."

(psst, Lan, maybe it's not that she thinks she's better than you. Given that she admits in this scene that she was "wrong about everything". Again, she's still in solo death march mode. She doesn't want Lan to die with her; that's why she left him behind in 1x8 and that's why she's pushing him away now. But it's still painful to hear)

Lan does get to find out here that Rand is alive and Moiraine has hidden it from him because "my loyalty is to [the Dragon] and him alone".

And Moiraine threatens to have Alanna forcibly bond Lan if he doesn't agree to stay behind. "I'll have her take your bond by force, if I must."

28. Almost anything I would have to say about the final Perrin scene is heavy spoilers except: I appreciate how hard they all fight not to be captured here. This is a brutal attack. And then the final attack of the One Power at the end to incapacitate the town.

29. And we get the reveal that these invaders have someone leading them who has a Known Bad Guy as her advisor, which is... not great. And he's clearly thrilled to see that they've managed to capture Perrin.

30. At the very end, Rand's plan comes to fruition when we see that taking Yann (still alive!) out of the picture means that he's getting assigned to take over Yann's position as Logain's caretaker. "I have a feeling you and I have a lot more in common" and Rand can't hide how excited he is to get a chance to talk to Logain. This is, I assume, the original reason that he got the job here -- he found out that this was where Logain was being kept in the city and he has been working his way up to try to become seen as trustworthy and reliable so that he would be able to finally meet Logain in person.

[chronicbeans]

Sunny Day (Dreamcore/Weirdcore Wally x GN Reader Short)

Where's Wally?

TW: Isolation, Derealization, Depression, Scopophobia

Sitting in the grassy plains of the neighborhood, you can't help but simile. This place seems so familiar, yet, unfamiliar at the same time! The people here seem so strange and kind, too. There's Frank, the flower headed man with an interest in butterflies. Eddie is the envelope guy, who happens to be the clumsy mailman, too. Sally is the theater lady with a glowing light as her head. Maybe that's why her last name is Starlet? Poppy, the sweet baker bird that looks like a living plush of sorts. Barnaby, the clown dog. Then, there's the caterpillar shopkeep with an array of discordant wares. You haven't seen Julie, but she's nice, according to the neighbors... You think you remember what she looks like. Very colorful?

Yet, one person seems to be missing. There's an extra house here, too. It seems out of place. Then again, everything here isn't normal. From mushrooms with eyes, trees that talk, random black rectangles... random black rectangles... like censor bars. Like they are hiding something...

WALLY. That's it! Where's Wally?

You look over to Poppy, who you are currently having a picnic with, alongside Frank and Eddie. You open your mouth to ask where Wally is. Nothing seems to come out. The three friends all look over to you, Frank's eye widening in shock. "Why would you ask about him? We... Nevermind. Don't talk about him. He's fine." Poppy nods, adding "Don't look at him." Eddie then adds his two cents in "Don't think of him. Just stay with us, Julie, Barnaby, and Howdy. You'll be fine."

You feel uneasy, suddenly, and nod in agreement. That doesn't mean that you are going to listen. This is YOUR dream. You get to do what you want. Smiling, you take a bite out of the cake you and Poppy made together. It tastes like iron.

You rush through the picnic, quickly eating everything on your plate, before rushing over to the house in the center of the town. There's a darkness surrounding it. Literally, a darkness surrounds it, almost like a void that looks into nothing, besides the red and blue house. A pair of eyes glare through the two front windows, staring down at you. You can barely hear whispers coming from it.

"It's never been worse than this!"

"They talk around me and never at me."

"I will never let it go!"

"I can't hear you..."

You take a deep breath, before asking "May I come in?" In response, a creaking and snapping noise resounds from the house. Home. This is Home. You remember Home. "I want to check in on Wally. Can I please talk to Wally?"

The the front door doesn't open, instead slowly fading into a dark void. Swallowing thickly, you feel your chest tighten as you walk inside. The next thing you know, you've gone from a beautiful sunny day, to a dark, humid room full of various pools.

It smells heavily of chlorine, to the point where your eyes water from it. You cough a bit, before calling out. "Wally? Are you in here?" You look around for him. You remember him being... yellow, with blue hair and an oversized sweater of sorts. He should stand out in this dark pool room. Even the water looks dark, to the point where you can't see the bottom.

Why would Wally be in here? He can't swim, as far as you remember. He doesn't even like water, seeming anxious around it. You walk through the room, your shoes squeaking against the wet, tile floors.

Large pools, small pools, deep pools, shallow pools. Pools with waterfalls, pools with pillars in the middle of them, pools with stairs leading to nowhere in them... there are so many pools. The room seems to go on forever. How is this room even inside of Home? It shouldn't be possible for a room this large to fit inside the house.

"Wally? Are you here?"

"WALLY. STAY IN HERE."

You let out a small gasp, before running towards the voice. Even if it isn't Wally, they should be able to help, right? They clearly know Wally, at least! It eventually leads to a door, which you fling open.

You've seemingly went from a room full of pools to a children's play area. Those large tunnels that were suspended in the air and the ball pits you remember playing in as a kid are here, alongside colorful tables with art supplies and an array of plush toys. It's still dimly lit, but admittedly more tolerable than the pools.

"YOU STEPPED ON MY FLOWERS!!!"

A different voice? How many people are in here? It doesn't matter, because you've spotted someone... you think.

Purple hair, styled similarly to Wally's, with a brown neck scarf, similar to Wally's. They have brown and purple striped pants and brown shoes. Otherwise, they look like a silhouette with a large sweater. The sleeves seem to almost touch the floor... they're turned away from you, though, so they might have more detail when facing you.

"Hey!" you call out, saying "I'm looking for someone named... Wally Darling. Have you seen-?" You're cut off from shock as you suddenly see an abundance of eyes open on their sweater, all staring at you. They remain silent and still. Despite the feeling of your stomach dropping, you force yourself to continue.

"I'm looking for a man named Wally Darling. Umm... can you help me find them? I'm (Y/N) (L/N), by the way. Who are you?"

They turn, and to your dismay, you see that their face is similarly silhouetted in black, with eyes covering it, as well. You don't see a mouth on them, nor a nose or any distinguishable features besides their purple hair. Just... a void and eyes. They stay silent, but seem to gesture at themselves in a frantic manner.

"Are you... okay? Oh! God, I'm an idiot! You have no mouth! Then again, some of the residents can speak despite not having mouths... still... um... can you write?" The figure nods, so you quickly grab a paper and some crayons.

Handing it to them, they immediately begin writing down their words. It takes a while, but they eventually show you what they've written down.

"I Am WALLY DARLING. I hAVE BEeN HOME a While. THEY DON'T WANT ME OUTSIDE."

You look from the paper, back to the figure, then back to the paper. This person is Wally Darling? He... Doesn't look like you remember him. You can still see some of his features, though, now that you think about it. The hair style, the neck scarf, the sweater... It makes enough sense. Not that anything needs to make sense. This is a dream, after all.

"Who doesn't want you outside? Here, write it down. I'll give whoever is being mean a piece of my mind." You hand him the paper back, sitting down in a small chair as he writes. He takes a long time simply staring at the paper, but, he eventually begins writing. He sits across from you, before sliding the paper over.

"NEIGHBORS. HOME. WALLY DARLING. YOU."

You sit there, staring at the page as he did. Neighbors? All of them? Home wants him to stay inside, too? He wants to stay inside? You certainly don't, so why did he write that down? Even if he did scribble it out, you can tell he wrote it down in the first place. You look up to him, asking "Why do you want to stay inside? Why do others want that? You don't seem happy... Is something wrong?"

"You SAD. I am SAD. SAD for a long TIME. NEIGHBORS are SCARED. HOME keeps me SAFE. NEIGHBORS do not TALK to me anyways. TALK AROUND ME."

You frown, taking a deep breath. He's... right about you. You have been sad... More so depressed... Can Wally feel depressed? He's a dream... Maybe he takes after you because he is your dream, so he is depressed? "Do you want me to stay here for a bit? We can talk, draw, play games...? It isn't healthy to be alone for so long."

He slowly nods, standing up. Then, Wally points to the crawlspace tubes. You smile, following him. "Do you want to play in there? Alright. Let's go!"

[luz-blogging-project]

True Colors

In the other world, she encountered the same black cat that she found in her world; this time, the cat could talk like a human being. She asked the cat if it was the “other cat”, to which it responded that he was the same cat. The black cat was sarcastic and self-centered; features that didn’t seem appealing to Coraline but chose to be polite in order to spend time with the cat and ask it questions about this world. She also discovered that the cat could cross in between the two worlds without necessarily using the little door. After that, she went to the theater that was in Miss Pink and Miss Forcible flat. The old terriers could also talk like human beings. She watched an artistic number performed by the two actresses; however, they were nothing like the two actresses in her world. They were young, slim and lively. After a while she walked out of the theater and came back to the garden. Her other parents were already waiting for her there. Once they had walked back up to the other house, her other mother told her that if she wanted to stay there with them, she could happily do so, in fact, she wanted her to stay with them “forever and always”. But in order to stay there, she ought to have her eyes sewn with buttons with a sharp and long needle. She refused to and went back to her real house. 

Back in her world, her parents weren’t at home yet. She did several activities in order to spend her time and spare her boredom. A few days passed and her parents didn’t come back yet. She misses them already. One morning, she woke up and found the black cat sitting in her bed. The cat showed her where her parents were all this time. They were trapped inside a mirror and they asked her for help. Despite the cat being unable to talk in this world, Coraline already had an idea of where they could be. No longer after that, she decided to go back to the other world so as to rescue her parents accompanied by the black cat. 

Now, in this set of chapters we can already notice the true colors of the “other mother”, the cat described her as a thing; personally, I’d never been able to understand what she really was but she resembles a spider (her long fingers and the web she had in the corridor that connects the two worlds as well as the “vibe” she carries). The parallels between one world and the other actually make the setting of the story a really interesting one. First, her neighbors spelling her name correctly in the other world, the other Miss Spink and Miss Forcible performing as they used to when they were young; how their terriers  could eat only chocolate while in the “real world” it was terrible for their health. The bedroom of Coraline itself; it was a more lively pink and green one, the clothes in her closet were all like she would like to have  back in her world.  These fundamental differences make the contrast in between the two worlds very remarkable.

In terms of setting, the palette of colors used in the two worlds are actually mesmerizing. Although, in the book: the descriptions of the sceneries are great because Coraline is always comparing them, it is more noticeable visually in the film based on the book directed by Henry Slick (2009). The film under the same title  exudes a cinematic aestheticism of how the other world was made to be a dream come true for the main character and it states this fact not only with the little details mentioned by myself some paragraphs ago, but also with special emphasis in the sceneries were Coraline walks on. 

On the other hand, Coraline also described the sensation of something approaching her through the corridor as “old and slow”. This is an important clue for the story as a whole because the key that opens the little door is a very old one. The cold feeling that appears every time Coraline opens the door makes the reader know that wherever it is at the end of the corridor, it will definitely be something terrific. To sum up, the dark and horror tints of the story are more explicit in this set of chapters. 

[thegreatobsesso]

Word find tag (want, entire, empire, and wonderful)

I was tagged by my friend @oh-no-another-idea for this one :D

want

Callie POV

Corpseflower petals? Psshht.

Callie Ray could get anything she wanted, always could, long as she was willing to meet up with an anonymous psycho or two.

She and Bennett hopped the glorified ski lift together, which’d carry them all the way over the mountains they saw from Delaney’s windows and down into the neighboring valley. The lift ferried Delanians back and forth once a month so they could partake in the decadent delights of “town”.

Twelve years ago, that would’ve been sarcasm. It wasn’t anymore. She legit couldn’t wait.

They weren’t going just so she could shop. She salivated at the thought, even though Fisher Ridge was nothing more than one main strip of mom-and-pop stores. They were going because Bennett wouldn’t hear of having some apocalypse-mongoring Callie Ray fan anywhere near the castle.

(Dear steadfast disciple, she’d written. Your time has come. I’m in need of your services.)

entire

Riley POV

“We don’t need to kill our own food,” she snapped, closing the car door with too much force and jamming the keys into the ignition. “Chain stores do that for us nowadays.”

Nauxial bristled. Why are you so upset?

“Because this’ll make the local news. We just created an entire scene, for no reason whatsoever. What were you thinking?”

She wasn’t really asking but the answer spilled out anyway - an evening together, cooking and eating their kills. Him, tasting through her.

She could see the inspiration for the dinner: candelabras overflowing with years of melted wax, delicate silver knives and forks - the table settings, surely, of his childhood home. Animals on a platter with their eyes still in - the kinds of things he associated with an indulgent evening.

No - not just indulgent. Romantic.

A blaring horn. She was sitting here at a four-way stop, paralyzed. She shook the image free and drove, even as it crept through her like black mold.

empire kingdom (Congratulations for finding a word that was nowhere in my massive WIP, there aren’t many 😂)

Simon POV

That night, in an enclave off the graduate common area, Peter wrangled Callie into playing a game with them. One of those games Simon only loosely grasped, with kingdoms and castles and cones and whatnot. Again, he felt the urge to make himself scarce. Callie stared daggers of suspicion straight into his soul.

Be cool with her, Peter sent him quite deliberately. For me. It matters.

Well, he’d do just about anything for Peter, so he listened while he explained the rules to Callie, trying his best to commit the game’s mechanics to memory and glad of the distraction.

Callie seemed to listen the entire time, miraculously, but proved consistently at each turn she hadn’t taken in a single word. Could it be she was just interested in listening to him talk?

wonderful

Simon POV

“You underestimate the power of influence. If McKinnon tells the board to jump, you can bet they’ll ask how high,” Camilla chattered away pleasantly. “Besides, it’s high time outsiders started holding positions in these traditionally closed-off, magicians-only spaces, and I think he’ll agree. Doesn’t that just further the equality agenda you’re so excited over?”

“You’re just paraphrasing his speeches,” he countered, losing control of what he said and what he didn’t. “I can hear his voice in your head, dammit. Aside from your desperate desire for power do you even have one unique thought up there?”

That left her speechless, for one wonderful moment. His head ached with the pressure of how much more he wanted to say. Even with the Guiding Preservers, even with the Sword, he could find some shred of commonality. Even they believed in something. Even they had some sense of morality, twisted as it was, that extended past themselves.

I’m having one of those days where the reality that I’m writing an actual story hits me in a real way that just kinda blindsides me in a lovely way. Do you know what I mean? Like you look at what you’re doing and you’re just like, Oh, wow. I’m doing that. That’s MINE. It’s a happy feel. :D

Tagging @winterandwords, @dontjudgemeimawriter, @pertinax--loculos, @harps-for-days and @i-can-even-burn-salad with the new words wood(s), dark, ground and tree(s) :)

[originaltyphoonkryptonite]

Chapter 2: Getting to Know you

A few months had past and I hate to admit it.....Gus was right. Dick and I were very slowly starting to become... acquaintances. Though I have to admit he is a big dork. Cippia seems to tolerate him, well not attack him at least. That is a big deal since he is a big protective teddy bear. He almost ate a guy's shadow for flirting with me once.....that was not fun trying to pry him off. Lucky for us, the guy thought he had too much to drink. It was during Cippia's walk in the evening since he is completely black with white yellowish glowing eyes, he is less noticeable as not a normal dog.

I was working in the bookstore when Dick comes in. He gives me a smile and walks over to the counter. Gus was reading in the area called the Grumpy Gus Zone. It was a semicircle with three windows, three comfy chairs and a tall reading lamp next to the chair Gus likes best. The Grumpy Gus Zone was near the back by the counter in a large bay window area.

"So is there a reason you're here instead of eating lunch with your coworkers?"

"I thought we can get to know each other better? After all, we are neighbors."

"I can't, I'm working the store."

"Not a problem Cinderzella. I can watch the store.", Gus says as he gets up from his chair. "It will be fine or my name isn't Gus Hodges!"

"Gus I can't have you do that."

"Zella Lilith Duff! You go out and have some fun. I'll look after the store. Now shoo."

With that he pushes me and Dick out the door and closes it behinds us. I sigh and look at Dick.

"So where to?"

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Dick pov

"Well there is a nice cafe down the street. Since I invited you I pay.", I say as we start walking.

"No. I can pay for my half."

I couldn't say anything as she suddenly looked at the alley next to us. She seemed to glare at it then looked back at me.

"So shall we go?"

We make it to the little cafe and sit down. She orders a cherry soda and I have a coke. Looking at the menus, I feel like I'm being watched again. The waitress came over.

"What can I get you?"

"I'll have a hamburger with fries."

"OK.", she replies as she writes that down. "And for you miss?"

"I'll have a chicken wrap with fries please."

As we were waiting we had some small talk, though she didn't say much.

"So, how long have you lived in Blüdhaven?"

"About 10 years."

"Where did you live before?"

"Metropolis."

"Really? So you a big fan of Superman?"

"I guess.....I'm just not a fan of heroes. Don't get me wrong I admire what they do, but sometimes I feel like heroes don't exactly understand a person's problem."

That is the most I got out of her yet! I hope I can get her out of her shell more. Though that will take time and it's only been 2 months.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well maybe the person didn't ask for powers they have."

"I think I can see your point."

The food came so we ate in silence. I manage to snag the bill and pay for it.

"My treat. You can pay next time."

After that we head back to the bookstore. I still feel like something is watching me. I know it isn't Bruce or the others, because every time I look nothing is there. I notice she wears the same watch everyday. It was a unique one. It was black 1/4 everyday, but the rest of the watch face is white.

"Is there a reason you wear that same watch everyday?"

"My father gave it to me for my 10th birthday."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah he made it himself."

"It is pretty cool."

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Cippa pov

I was watching the nightbird take Zella out to lunch! I could not believe Gus had done this! The nightbird is friends with the bat! He could lead him right to her if he finds out her powers. I notice that Zella saw me in the alley way and glared at me to go home. Well she didn't say I couldn't wait in the shadows of the small tree by the cafe. I was watching him, making sure he wasn't a threat. I was impressed that he insisted to pay for lunch and offered to let her pay for the next time.

I notice that he seemed to notice someone watching him but not what. I growled when he pointed out her inhibitor she wears to block her powers. I make a dash for the alleyways to beat her back home so it looked like I listened. I made it back in time as I was in the shadow of Gus' favorite chair.

"Hope you kids had fun."

"I did.", Dick says with a smile.

"It was....OK OK it was nice."

"Then maybe we can make Thursdays lunch days?", Dick asks Zella.

"I.."

"She'd love to!", Gus cuts her off with a smile. "It would be great for you to make friends Cinderzella."

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Zella pov

So now apparently my Thursdays are lunch with Dick. Gus and I wave goodbye to Dick as he heads back to work. Since there was no one in the store, I march over to Cippia, placing my hands on my hips.

"I know you didn't go back home."

He comes out of the shadows and whines.

"I get that you want to protect me but....."

"But what Zella?", Gus asks with a smug grin.

"Dick is a nice guy. He really wants me to get out of my shell."

"Maybe he can convince you to practice your powers."

"If he can stand me long enough to get to that level of friendship first Gus."

Gus roars with laughter and goes back to his chair.

"Maybe it would be good to let another person in......"

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[sadnesslaughs]

You, 14 years old, wake up and head to the kitchen for breakfast before school. While you’re eating, you see the newspaper and glance at the missing kids’ section. It’s you. Date missing: 10 years ago.

(A response to a writing prompt)

“Oh, local seal spotted in North Habor.” I said, mouth clamping around my spoon as I went through my morning cereal. The sweet taste of the honey coated flakes pairing well with a read over the morning news. People always said that reading the newspaper was an old man's activity, and maybe that was true, but there was something calming about flicking through the light paper pages.

“Not sure how a seal is a local? Is it really local if you live in the sea?” Thinking out loud had always been a bad habit of mine, and I paid the price for it as a bit of milk and saliva dripped onto the newspaper, painting the seals chubby face in droplets. “Damn it.” I tried to wipe the newspaper with my sleeve, only making the seal’s face fall apart, revealing a baby’s face underneath.

It looked comical, the baby’s face now on the seal’s body, perfectly fitting the hole that the milk had left. When I flicked over to the next page, I discovered why the baby was featured in the paper.

The missing kids’ section was always depressing, which is why I avoided reading it. This one especially seemed sad. “Our son, Brent Sandor, has been missing for ten years. If anyone has information regarding his disappearance, please notify Fred and Michelle on 0-“ I paused, confused. Why was my name in the missing persons section of the newspaper? More importantly, why were my parents looking for me? Eyeing the number, I felt a hint of curiosity. That wasn’t any number my parents had ever given me.

They were still in bed. How hard would it be to correct the situation by asking them? Yet, some swirling hunch in my stomach told me not to do that. Taking the newspaper, I went and picked up the family phone, dialing the number. As it rang, I set the paper down, twirling the phone’s cord around my finger.

“Hello, Mrs. Sandor speaking.” A tired voice answered.

“Michelle Sandors?”

“Yes? That’s me. Who is this?”

“Um, you said you were looking for your son? It’s just, I have the same name as your son, and you have the same name as my parents. I’m sorry, this was dumb, I just thought maybe-“ I went to hang up, realizing I was opening some poor mother’s old wounds for the sake of my own curiosity.

“Wait, don’t hang up. Please.” Even if there were only a slight chance, I was hers. She seemed desperate to take the risk. “Our son was taken by our old neighbors. They were obsessed with us. Where are you? I’ll drive there now, and we can clear this up.”

I heard the creaking of stairs as my dad’s voice groaned out, forcing the sleep from his throat. “Boy, shouldn’t you be at school? Who are you talking to?”

I panicked, having to make a split decision. “Flynorth school. I have to go.” I said, hanging up the phone, rushing for the door, grabbing my bag on the way out.

“Boy, you better not be ignoring me.” The footsteps getting faster. When I was outside, I ran, unsure why I was running from my father. He had never been horrible to me. Stern, but that wasn’t weird for a parent. Still, something about this day had my feet moving.

As I rushed to school, I heard the hiss of his old car starting up. The blue ford coughing up a puff of black smoke as it screeched out of our driveway. That was weird. He never left for work this early. What could he be doing? Then it hit me. I had left the newspaper by the phone. My heart raced as I picked up the pace, though no amount of running would beat a car.

As the hammering engine got closer, I tucked my body behind a tree, holding my breath as the car rolled to a stop. The engine puffed, staying there for a moment. Then it shut off, making my heart sink. He had spotted me. That had to be it. The door squeaking open as I held myself, wondering whether I should just give myself up now to avoid any punishments. Then, the car engine started again, and I saw the rear of his car trudge down the street.

The trip to school was tense. Carefully dodging public areas out of fear that I would run into my dad. Again, I didn’t know why I was scared of him? I hadn’t been before today, and yet something about that phone call made me question my family. What if they weren’t really mine?

When I arrived at school, police cars greeted me. Expecting the worst as the officers pulled me aside. The woman tapping me on the shoulder, leading me away from my classmates.

“Did you call a Mrs. Sandors earlier today?”

“Yes, I saw her ad in the newspaper. I thought she might have been my mom.”

The cop nodded before calling over my father, who I didn’t expect to see. They had a brief conversation before the cop nodded, walking back to me with my father. “You should tell him.” She said.

My father knelt down, gripping my shoulder. I had never seen him look so hurt or uncomfortable in my life. “Son, I know you’re confused. That woman isn’t you mother. She’s an old neighbor we used to have. We got along well with them before you were born. Then suddenly, things changed. Once you arrived, they started copying us, trying to imitate us. Then, one night we found them trying to kidnap you, and they were arrested. We decided it would be best if we moved towns after that happened. Seems they haven’t given up on trying to steal you away.”

“He’s telling the truth. We have a file on her and her husband. It’s a good thing he called us when he did. Who knows what would have happened if she arrived at the school? She might have lured you away. I’m going to escort you and your father home. It’s safer if you stay at home until we find them.”

“Alright.” I murmured, being led to my father’s car by the officer and my dad. As I got into the passenger seat, I could only feel a rush of relief. Relief that my parents were actually my parents and relief that I had avoided running into those strangers. “I’m sorry, dad.”

“Its alright, boy. I know this is all confusing for you. Love you.” He said, rustling my hair before we headed home.

“Love you too.”

[casspurrjoybell-26]

Too Old For This - Chapter 20 - Part 2

*Warning Adult Content*

It was just three in the afternoon, so Zachary probably would have to eat something.      

"We'll figure it out when he gets here," he muttered to himself before focusing on his mission to find his mother and sister.

Emily was the first one in his line of vision.

She was sprawled on the couch in grey lounge pants and a singlet scrolling through her phone.      

"Hey," Leroy said walking over to her.

She looked up, raising a brow in confusion.    

"What?" she asked, sitting up on the couch.     

"I'm having a guest over in an hour, just letting you know."  

"A guest?" there was confusion in his sister's voice.

"Huh, a friend of yours?"      

Leroy nodded his head.

"Something like that."

"What do you mean something like that? Wait. Is it a girl?"      

"No."

Leroy rolled his eyes, cursing himself for not realizing that his talkative sister wouldn't just let him drop the bomb and go about his day.    

His sister sighed, shrugging her shoulder.

"Sucks, though you were dating again. Who is he? Where did you meet him? Is he a co-worker?"

"What's going on?" the sound of their mother's voice made both siblings look in the direction of the voice.

Their mother was standing at the door to the hallway, looking equal parts confused and intrigued.

"I heard something about a visitor..."      

"I'm just letting a friend come over," Leroy said cutting his mum off.

"He's going to be here for a bit. He might sleep over too."      

"But we don't have a guest room, that's the study now," his sister pitched in making Leroy look over at her.  

"He'll say in mine," Leroy said.       

"Is there enough space for a blanket on the floor?" his sister asked and Leroy was starting to feel a bit pushed to the wall.

"Well, we'll figure it out." 

"You're sharing a bed?" his sister pressed.  

Leroy was getting agitated now.

"We'll figure it out. Besides, I don't even know if he's going to sleep over. It's still a maybe."      

"Who is this person are they from work? One of your gaming friends? Is it anybody we know?" his mother asked and for once Leroy wished she was too in her feelings to probe him about his social life.      

"None of that. It's a neighbor..." Leroy paused.

"Well, sort off. They live a few streets down. We met when I pet one of his cats."    

"Is that where you've been these days?" his mother asked and Leroy blinked, parting his lips as he looked at her in shock.

He'd thought she hadn't really noticed him not being at home a few times a week.

Besides, she was always locked up in her bedroom not doing much and his sister didn't really ask too many questions.      

"Err... yes," Leroy said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I really can't meet up with him today because I still have work to do ahead of Monday, so he figured he could come over this time."    

"I see," his mother said, putting her hands on her waist as she looked from Leroy to Emilia.

"Is he staying for dinner?"      

"I was thinking we'd just order out ourselves or I could fish something from the fridge," Leroy said as his mother bit her bottom lip.      

"How about I make something tonight? Blacked chicken and garden green salad?"    

Leroy narrowed his eyes at his mother, feeling a bit confused.

The last time they had a family dinner was over a year ago, and it'd been in silence over thanksgiving.

The awkwardness of the whole situation had brought everyone to a subconscious agreement that wasn't going to happen again.  

"Err..." Leroy trailed, looking over to his sister for help.

He shrugged, seeming just as confused as he was.

"Sure, why not," he said, looking over at his mum who gave him a small smile.      

"Okay, I'll go marinate the chicken then," she said before wandering off.      

When their mother was beyond earshot, Emilia looked over at Leroy.

"So, about this man who's somewhat like a friend..."

"He's a friend," Leroy said, cutting his sister off.    

 "Didn't sound like it when you were describing it and I don't think friends share a bed at sleepovers when they're pushing thirty," Emily said in a teasing tone.

"Weird way to find out you were bi, a plus coming out."  Leroy felt his face warm up.

Had he really been that obvious?    

 "Whatever," he said, refusing to acknowledge what she said.

"He'll be here in an hour."  

"Gotcha," his sister said, giving him a thumbs up with her free hand as her attention moved back to her phone screen.      

Leroy made his way upstairs to his bedroom.

He started cleaning things up starting with his bookshelf and T.V. stand drawers that held onto various knickknacks.

He wondered if Zachary's vision could manage to play something like Cup-head... the game was dark, with little color beyond the grey-scale and honestly, Leroy would do anything to listen to the older man's commentary on it.

Leroy had thought of ordering from his favorite Vietnamese place before his mother had offered to cook and he thought maybe he would order from it regardless.

Taking Zachary out to a restaurant had been on his bucket list but he hadn't figured out how to bring it up.

He'd figure out they would eat out on Saturday when they went out to see a movie.

His face warmed up just thinking about it and suddenly his sister's taunting came to the front of his mind again.    

Had he really been that obvious?      

Did it already seem like he was dating Zachary with all the time he spent out of his own house?    

Well, they weren't dating but it wasn't like he didn't want to.

The logistics of things weren't just sorted yet and Leroy wasn't really sure Zachry would be one hundred percent on board with that regardless of how much they liked each other.

The older man seemed to believe there were some limitations... the likes of what would people think.

Was Leroy even sexually attracted to men or just Zachary for some reason?

Would that last?

And what would they do with Zachary's several limitations that meant partnership in the long term meant him giving up his healthcare or government benefits?

Zachary seemed content with them just seeing each other and seeing where it went but Leroy wasn't afraid to admit where he wanted it to go.

Leroy worked on getting things sorted as he occasionally checked the time on his phone and when Zachary texted him that he had gotten in an Uber the younger man headed downstairs and paced around as he waited.

 As soon as there was a knock on the door Leroy made a beeline to it, opening it before asking any questions and sure enough on the other end was Zachary.

The hair the man had put in the twists for the past while was now back to the loose curls that framed his angular face.

The man was wearing faded blue jeans and a long-sleeved hugging t-shirt that Leroy had never seen before.

He looked good.

Almost like he was in college. It was weird... not in a bad way... but in a way that made Leroy super conscious of how attractive the man was to him.

The shirt hugged his broad shoulders and small waist nicely, so it was quite hard to tear his eyes off the area.

Well, not that Leroy was trying much in the first place but still.  

"Can I come in?" Zachary asked, breaking the silence.

Leroy blinked, realizing that he'd been staring for a little too long before shaking his head and looking in a different direction.  

"Yes of course," the younger man gulped, standing to the side as he let Zachary walk into the house.

He watched the man from the corner of his eyes as he watched him drop his backpack and take off his sneakers.

Somehow the older man looked a lot better than when they'd met up to check for groceries... maybe Leroy would never get used to Zachary being in anything but lounging clothes and pajamas