#went to awa and had a great time

[electrumbound]

IG

[fear-less]

₊˚⊹˚ 𐙚 this is awkward..

pairing: james potter x f!reader

➥ In which, you were fed up with James, deciding to put aside your pettiness you drag him away from the gryffindor party to talk to him.

Warnings: angst, fluff, james pov, this inspired by awae (aka the best show ever), r and james speaking is 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓵𝔂 inspired by gilbert confessing that he wants anne so effing bad bc he 𝓯𝔀 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓿𝔂, lowkey dont hate me for making the “dreams” u want so like…. I just didn't know what to do bc like idk smh i set back women 50 years by that

a/n: tysm for all the love on this series!! y’all are NOT ready for the next chapter, writing it rn and 😭🙏 BUTTT tysm for 300🫶🫶 also I finished the last chapter... do y'all want me to post it today or edge y'all and post it tomorrow

series masterlist ! - divider creds: i-mmaculatus & dollywons

It was now nearing the end of the school year—even if there was still a month to go. James could now be in the same room as you without glaring daggers at whoever you were talking to. Though he told himself he was over you, he knew deep down that the feelings never faded.

He told himself it didn’t matter. He told himself he was fine. And yet, every time he caught sight of you, every time your laughter reached his ears from across the room, it was as if someone had set fire to his resolve.

He wanted to talk to you so badly it was almost pathetic. But it was like the universe itself was conspiring against him—or, more specifically, like Finn Laurier had developed some sort of sixth sense for James’s intentions.

Because every single time James gathered enough courage, every time he braced himself to walk over to you, Finn would appear out of nowhere. Whether it was in the Great Hall, the library, or even during Quidditch practice, Finn always seemed to materialize by your side at precisely the wrong moment, stealing away your attention and leaving James feeling like the outsider in his own story.

It was infuriating.

“Mate, you’re grinding your teeth,” Sirius remarked casually one afternoon as they sat under the beech tree by the lake.

James startled, realizing with some embarrassment that Sirius was right. He quickly unclenched his jaw and let out a frustrated sigh.

“Sorry,” he muttered, running a hand through his messy hair. “I’m just…”

“Just what?” Sirius prompted, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing,” James lied, though his voice betrayed him.

Sirius gave him a knowing look. “If this is about her again, just—”

“It’s not about her,” James interrupted quickly, though he winced as the words left his mouth. He knew Sirius wouldn’t believe him, and he wasn’t sure he even believed himself anymore.

Sirius sighed, shaking his head. “Prongs, you’re going to drive yourself mad if you keep this up. Just talk to her already.”

“I’ve tried!” James snapped, louder than he intended. He lowered his voice and added, “I’ve tried, but every bloody time, Finn shows up. It’s like he’s got a bloody tracker on her or something.”

Remus, who had been quietly reading nearby, finally chimed in. “You know, maybe you’re overthinking this,” he said, not looking up from his book.

“How could I possibly be overthinking this?” James demanded, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

“Maybe Finn’s not doing it on purpose,” Remus suggested calmly. “Maybe it’s just bad timing.”

“Bad timing?” James repeated incredulously. “Bad timing doesn’t happen this often, Moony. This is a pattern.”

Remus gave him a skeptical look but didn’t argue further.

James leaned back against the tree trunk, closing his eyes and letting out a long breath. He hated how much this was bothering him. He hated how much control this entire situation had over him.

But most of all, he hated the thought that you might actually be happy with Finn.

It wasn’t that he thought Finn was a bad guy—quite the opposite, really. Finn was charming, talented, and annoyingly good at everything he did. He was the kind of guy parents adored, the kind of guy professors went out of their way to praise. And worst of all, he was the kind of guy who could make you smile in a way James had only dreamed of.

James opened his eyes, staring up at the branches overhead. “Maybe I should just give up,” he muttered.

Sirius snorted. “Yeah, right. That’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve said all day.”

“I’m serious,” James insisted.

“No, I’m Sirius,” Sirius quipped, smirking.

James groaned, throwing a small pebble in his direction. “Not the time for jokes.”

“Fine, fine,” Sirius said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “But seriously, you’re not giving up. You’re James Potter, remember? Stubborn, arrogant, never-takes-no-for-an-answer James Potter. You don’t give up on things you care about.”

James hesitated, staring at the rippling water of the Black Lake. He wanted to believe Sirius. He wanted to believe that there was still a chance, that you weren’t as far out of reach as you seemed.

But as he watched you across the courtyard later that day, standing beside Finn and laughing at something he said, James couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, it was too late.

But his doubt soon melted into something far more unsettling when he noticed your gaze shift. For the first time in what felt like forever, your attention wasn’t on Finn Laurier—it was on him.

James felt like he might throw up.

His heartbeat thundered in his ears, and his hands fidgeted with the hem of his robes as he quickly looked away. In fact, he didn’t just look away; he turned his entire body in the opposite direction, hoping to mask the flush rising to his cheeks.

“C’mon, James, you’ve got a Quidditch game to win today! Channel all that anger you’ve got towards Laurier into winning us the Cup!” Sirius said, clapping a hand on James’s shoulder with his trademark grin.

James gave a faint nod, trying to let Sirius’s words sink in. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but he had to admit—focusing on Quidditch might be better than brooding.

As the match began, Sirius’s advice started to help. Flying through the air, the roar of the crowd, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins almost made him forget the mess he was tangled in. Quidditch always had a way of making the weight on his shoulders feel lighter.

Almost.

At first, he wasn’t paying much attention to the game. His mind wandered back to you, back to everything that had gone wrong. He thought about what he would say, how he could even begin to fix things. And, like always, he couldn’t resist scanning the crowd for you.

Even in the middle of a fight, even when he swore to himself that he was done, James always looked for you in the stands.

And he found you—right where he didn’t want to.

You were sitting with Finn Laurier, your hand clasped in his. James’s stomach twisted painfully at the sight, and he forced himself to look away, though the image burned into his mind.

Of course. Finn fucking Laurier.

He sighed, his grip tightening on his broomstick. There was no point in hoping anymore. Whatever chance he’d had—if he’d ever had one—was gone now. Maybe he’d already been downgraded in your life: a friend at best, a stranger at worst. The thought stung, and James shoved it down, refusing to dwell on it any longer.

And then, something golden caught the corner of his eye.

The Snitch.

For the first time all game, James’s focus snapped into place. He leaned forward on his broom, his heart pounding—not from heartbreak this time, but from the sheer rush of competition. If nothing else, he could still win this. He could still bring home the Cup.

James shot after the Snitch with everything he had, the rush of wind against his face only fueling his determination. The crowd roared, but their voices blurred into the background. His world narrowed to one thing: the golden glimmer darting just ahead.

The Hufflepuff Seeker was hot on his trail, but James barely registered them. This was his moment. The Snitch veered sharply to the right, and James followed, his reflexes razor-sharp. He could feel the weight of his emotions—anger, heartbreak, frustration—all pouring into this chase.

The Snitch dipped low, skimming just above the grass, and James dove after it, his fingers outstretched. The Hufflepuff Seeker was closing in fast, but James didn’t care. He pushed his broom harder, faster, his body leaning forward so much it felt like he might fall off.

And then, his fingers closed around the Snitch.

The Gryffindor stands erupted into cheers, deafening and jubilant. The sound echoed across the pitch as James pulled up, the Snitch held high in triumph. For the first time all week, a genuine smile broke across his face.

He’d done it.

Back on the ground, his teammates swarmed him, yelling and celebrating as they lifted him off the ground in a flurry of hugs and pats on the back. Sirius was the loudest, of course, laughing as he shouted, “That’s my best mate! Did you see that dive? Bloody brilliant!”

James grinned, allowing himself to soak in the moment. But as the initial adrenaline rush faded, his thoughts drifted back to you.

Through the crowd, he spotted you walking toward the castle with Laurier. You looked happy—laughing at something Finn said, your hand still in his.

James’s chest tightened, the pain creeping back in.

Sirius slung an arm around his shoulders. “Oi, don’t let that git ruin your moment. You just won us the Cup, Prongs. Focus on that, yeah?”

James forced a nod, plastering a smile on his face. “Yeah. You’re right.”

But deep down, as the team carried him back to the common room, the ache lingered. Winning the match had been a distraction, but it wasn’t enough to erase what he felt for you—or the sting of seeing you with someone else.

Still, James promised himself one thing: he’d get through this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually. And who knew? Maybe, someday, you’d see him the way he saw you.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

The Gryffindor common room was a chaotic blur of red and gold, filled with triumphant cheers and laughter. The moment the team returned from the pitch, the party was already in full swing. Someone had charmed a banner to flash "Gryffindor Wins the Cup!" in shimmering letters, and butterbeer bottles floated around the room, courtesy of a cheeky charm from Sirius.

James stood in the center of it all, grinning as his teammates and housemates patted him on the back and congratulated him. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to bask in the glory of the victory, letting it drown out the knot in his chest. He’d won the game, and Gryffindor had the Cup—he deserved to enjoy it.

“Prongs!” Sirius yelled over the noise, shoving a butterbeer into his hand. “You’re the man of the hour! You better milk this for all it’s worth, because Merlin knows you deserve it.”

James laughed, shaking his head. “Don’t let me hear you say that too often, Padfoot. I might start believing it.”

Sirius gave him a devilish grin. “Oh, you will. Now, c’mon, let’s make some noise!” He climbed onto a table, raising his bottle high. “To Prongs, our Quidditch hero!”

The room erupted in cheers, and James couldn’t help but laugh, taking a sip of his butterbeer as the noise washed over him. For the first time all day, he felt lighter.

As the party went on, James moved through the crowd, chatting and laughing with his housemates. But no matter how loud the celebration got, his eyes kept drifting to the door, half-hoping, half-dreading to see you walk in.

And then, you did.

James froze mid-conversation, his heart doing that familiar stutter-step it always did when he saw you. You looked radiant, wrapped in Gryffindor colors, your cheeks flushed from the cold. But his chest tightened when he noticed Laurier trailing behind you, his hand resting casually on the small of your back.

James quickly turned back to his conversation, forcing a smile and pretending not to notice. He wasn’t going to let Finn Laurier—or his own stupid feelings—ruin the night.

“Oi, Prongs,” Sirius said, appearing at his side again. “Stop moping and do something fun. We just won the bloody Cup, mate! At least pretend you’re having the time of your life.”

James forced another grin. “I am having fun, Padfoot. Loads of fun.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “You’re staring at her again, aren’t you?”

“I’m not,” James lied, taking a long sip of butterbeer.

Sirius groaned, grabbing James by the shoulders. “Look, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to stop torturing yourself, and you’re going to have a bloody fantastic time tonight. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll prank Laurier so hard he won’t know which way is up. Deal?”

James couldn’t help but laugh at that, shaking his head. “Alright, deal.”

Hours later, the party was still going strong. Someone had turned the music up, and the common room had transformed into a dance floor. James found himself dragged into the middle of it by Lily Evans, who gave him a pointed look.

“Stop sulking, Potter,” she said, smirking. “You just won the Cup. Act like it.”

“I’m not sulking,” James said, though his half-hearted smile gave him away.

Lily raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further. Instead, she tugged him into the rhythm of the music, and for a while, James let himself get lost in the moment.

It wasn’t until he caught sight of you again, laughing at something Laurier said, that the knot in his chest returned. He took a deep breath, plastered on another smile, and decided that, for tonight, he’d keep pretending.

He watched you from across the room as you and Laurier continued talking, laughter bubbling between you two. He could see the way you looked at him now—so different from the way you looked at him before. It was like there was a barrier, a wall that hadn’t been there when he first met you.

“Prongs,” Sirius appeared at his side again, his voice low and concerned. “Look, I know you’ve been through a lot, but this is ridiculous. You’re letting Laurier ruin your night—and you just won us the Cup, for Merlin’s sake. You’re allowed to be happy tonight. So go talk to her. If you don’t, I swear I’ll do it for you.”

James frowned at him, irritated. “I’m not talking to her, Pads. Not now.”

“Then at least get out of here and enjoy yourself,” Sirius pressed. “We’re celebrating, mate. You’ve earned it.”

James looked over at you one more time, and for a second, he almost gave in. But the knot in his chest was still there, tightly wound, and it made everything feel so much harder than it should’ve been.

But maybe... maybe he could find a way to feel better. Maybe he could lose himself in the celebration.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally muttered, glancing at his friends.

Sirius didn’t seem convinced but let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, but I’m not letting you go off and brood in some corner. The whole bloody school’s celebrating with you tonight.”

James smirked faintly, feeling a little lighter. Maybe he could pretend to be okay, at least for tonight. He could let the victory, the laughter, and his friends drown out the ache for just a little while longer.

But as the night continued, and as the music played on, James found himself once again looking toward the doorway, hoping—just hoping—that you’d look his way.

For the first time in forever, the world was finally on his side as he saw you quickly leaving Finn and walking straight to him.

“May I speak to you, please?” James nodded, Dumbfounded. 

You quickly grabbed his hand and went outside the common room and into the corridors. 

You took a deep breath, your fingers twisting nervously. “James… I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now.”

James’s throat went dry, his pulse quickening as he struggled to find his voice. “Yeah?”

You nodded, glancing down at your hands before meeting his gaze. “I—I’m sorry.”

That wasn’t what he had expected. Of all the scenarios he’d played out in his head, an apology hadn’t been one of them.

“For what?” he asked, genuine confusion coloring his voice.

“For everything,” you said in a rush, your words tumbling out before you could stop them. “For avoiding you. I was confused—about what I did that made you ignore me. And I guess I wanted to get back at you for ignoring me, so I decided to do the same to you. And… I’m sorry for whatever happened between us that made things so weird.”

James stared at you, your vulnerability hitting him like a Bludger to the chest. His heart ached at the uncertainty in your voice.

“You don’t have to apologize,” he said quickly, shaking his head.

“Yes, I do,” you insisted, your voice firm despite the tears welling in your eyes.

“No, you don’t,” James countered, his tone soft yet resolute. “It’s not fair to put all of this on yourself. You’ve always been there for me, and I—well, I’ve been a terrible friend lately. I was practically acting like you didn’t exist.”

James faltered when he saw the blank expression on your face. Panic flickered in his chest—had he said too much?

But before he could say anything more, you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around him.

“Oh, James,” you murmured into his shoulder. “It’s okay. I—I was acting like you didn’t exist too, but only because you were doing it to me.”

He blinked, caught off guard, before slowly relaxing into the hug. He looked down at you, his hand instinctively reaching up to brush away a stray tear trailing down your cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

You shook your head, a small, watery smile breaking through. “We’re both sorry. Let’s just… not do this anymore, okay?”

James nodded, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Deal.”

“It feels so much better having my best friend around again.” James’ smile faltered again, he never liked the word “best friend” when it came to you, he always wanted more.

“Definitely”

You two let each other talk for what felt like hours even though it was barely fifteen minutes. He enjoyed every second though, until you brought up Finn and future plans they may include him. He couldn't believe it, when had your parents met his? He remembers your dad telling him how much he was rooting you and him to be together, now he's okay with you dating some other dude? And worst of all, your father was okay with that same dude wanting to marry his daughter? James felt like throwing up.

“Then he said that my father laid it out on a silver platter.”

“Laid... what out on a platter?”

“My future! Gave him the blessing to...to propose. I don't know what to do.”

“You told me you don’t mind being married straight after Hogwarts if you truly loved the man. That being a wife and mother... is your dream. Finn is.. nice, and both of your guys’ parents are supportive. I don't understand. What's holding you back?”

“Just… one thing.”

“What am I supposed to do? Everyone else is just... moving on, and now you’re... and I’m still... We never even... And he’s there, and you’re—Merlin, you’re never going to find someone who—” James stopped, his voice cracking. “I know that much, so how... how am I supposed to... I can’t... I— We...”

Before you could speak–a drunk Sirius somehow found you two. “Woah James you're really speaking to her? Atta boy, now, let's get back to the party, cmon, we are going to do something cool, have you heard of ....” Sirius rambled on, tugging on James’ arm to drag him back to the party.

“I’ll be off, then.” You said, voice quivering as if hesitant to leave.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

All James could think about was the previous night—the talk you two had shared. Your words, your voice, the hesitation in your eyes—it all replayed in his mind like a haunting melody. What would’ve happened if Sirius hadn’t barged in, if James had told him to leave, if he’d been brave enough to stay in that moment with you?

“I think…” James began, his voice breaking as he paced the Gryffindor dormitory, “I think she might’ve been asking if I love her. And—and I think I told her to marry someone else.”

Sirius, slouched in the chair by the window, looked stricken. “Mate…” he started, his tone heavy with guilt. “If I’d known—if I knew what was happening—I wouldn’t have gone looking for you. I—I practically ruined your chances. Merlin, I’m so, so sorry.”

James stopped pacing, running a hand through his already-messy hair. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even know if she meant it. She said so much without really saying anything, and now I don’t know if I imagined it all.”

“‘Sure, take option two,’ when option one is all she wants for her future?” James muttered, his voice thick with frustration.

“What is option one?” Peter asked, his curiosity breaking the tension.

James scoffed, bitterness creeping into his tone. “It’s Finn, obviously.” He paused, his anger flaring. “But both their parents support it, and she told me that! Before she spilled all of that on me, we were talking and laughing like nothing was wrong. But now…” He exhaled sharply, his voice softening as he sat down on the edge of his bed. “Now it feels like I’m being asked to explain the rest of my life on a bloody ticking clock. And if I make the wrong decision, I’ve either ruined my life—or hers.”

The room fell silent. Sirius and Peter exchanged uneasy glances, while Remus seemed lost in thought, unsure of how to respond.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

Meanwhile, you had confided in your mother about your plans the night before: to finally tell the man you truly loved how you felt. You hadn’t wanted to bring it up while you and James were laughing and enjoying each other’s company, but you knew if you didn’t seize the moment, you’d never say it at all.

What you hadn’t expected was for him to turn you down. To tell you—calmly, almost dismissively—that you should marry Finn.

Your mother was waiting for your response. You knew she expected good news, a letter confirming that you and James were finally together. Instead, you sat at your desk, penning words that left a bitter taste in your mouth.

Dear Mother,

I did what you told me to do, but I fear I shouldn’t have. We were talking just fine, and then I told him everything. I told him how I felt. And he told me to marry Finn.

Finn is lovely, yes—but he’s not James. I asked James if there was any chance for us, and he said no. At least now I have clarity on where I stand with him. And I know it sounds awful to compare Finn to James, but... maybe knowing what I know now, I can learn to be happy with Finn. Father and Finn’s family are all thrilled, after all. I don’t even want to think about what I would’ve done if James had said he felt the same.

You sighed, folding the parchment carefully and sealing it in an envelope. The weight of your words sat heavily on your chest, but you couldn’t dwell on them any longer. You needed to send this letter immediately.

Pulling on your cloak, you found yourself heading for one of the secret passages to Hogsmeade—the ones you and James had used so often. The memories stung, but you pushed them aside. This time, you’d be using the passage alone.

The quickest way to deliver your letter was through the owlery. You knew exactly which owl was the fastest.

As you walked, you let your mind wander to James one last time, allowing yourself the quiet ache of what could’ve been. You would never speak to him again, not like before. That part of your life was over.

Finn was your future now. And while it hurt to admit, deep down, you knew it was for the best.

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[deadfrog-and-friends]

proof

it was Alayne’s first doll. she made it when she was twelve, as proof. no one had taught her to sew, so it came out ugly, with loose, weak seams and an uneven smile. no one had taught her to enchant, so it was slow, weak, barely able to form words, or move. but at least it was soft, made from an old t-shirt that said “summer blood drive”, and stuffed with fluff from an old dirty pillow and some of alayne's hair. alayne showed it to everyone. no one seemed very impressed until Alayne commanded the doll to blink, and it did. to speak, and it said “awa”. then she was sent away to be apprentice to a witch.

the doll’s purpose was fulfilled at that time. it was Proof. Alayne brought it with her to the house of the witch who was teaching her, and Proof provided her some comfort for the first few years. it could not help with her studies, immobile as it was, nor could it help keep her room tidy. but it lay in her bed, waiting for her to return every night and throw her arms around it and hold it tight. lessons were hard, but there was Proof she belonged here.

Alayne learned how to correct everything she had done wrong with Proof, and made a great many other dolls, more and more beautiful, strong, intelligent, with interesting skills and abilities, out of all different materials. they could help Alayne with magic, clean her room, even defend her from enemies. and when the other witches came to her room to look at her dolls, they would see Proof and ask about it. Alayne began to feel ashamed of Proof, who looked so ugly and smelled a little, and who could only look from side to side and say “awa”. Proof could not even sit up, it would always slouch over. Alayne started stuffing it into a drawer when she had visitors, and eventually she brought it up into the attic and sat it in the corner. it looked so pathetic there that she brought up a little tea tray with an empty pot and some tea cups so one might think it was hosting a tea party and merely waiting for its guests to arrive. Alayne went back down the stairs and Proof slouched, falling onto its side.

.

for many months, Proof’s only visitor was a mouse, who would perch upon the teacup and regard it curiously for a few moments every day. one day some other doll came up to sweep, and noticed mouse droppings. it left and came back up with traps. “awa” was all Proof could say. the maid doll jumped. it hadn't noticed the doll lying in the corner.

“apologies,” it said, and bent over to sit Proof up against the wall again. Proof tried to beg it to remove the traps, but it couldn't make words. It fell sideways again once the doll was going back down the stairs.

Proof tried to communicate with the mouse about the traps, but ms. mouse seemed to know to avoid them. she seemed to appreciate Proof’s concern, and every day during her visits, she came closer and closer, until the day she laid a paw on Proof’s hand, peering anxiously at its face. Proof blinked in response. from that day on they were friends and ms. mouse brought back crumbs of cake from the kitchen to share, and would sleep in the crook of Proof’s shoulder every night. Proof would hum exceedingly simple little melodies and ms. mouse would squeak and in this way they came to understand that they loved one another and were devoted to one another and never wanted to be parted. and that's when ms. mouse chewed a hole in Proof’s stomach, and moved her nest inside.

Proof had loved snuggling with Alayne, and snuggling with ms. mouse, but had never imagined what it could be like to be snuggled from the inside. it could feel ms. mouse’s warm, quivering body burrowing through its stuffing, rearranging it, patting it down, and the intensity of the sensations would have paralyzed it, if it weren't nearly paralyzed to begin with. ms. mouse brought in some extra materials to make things nicer. some velvet she had chewed from a nice pillow downstairs. one witch’s silk hankie. shredded paper from an old outdated spellbook that had been left up here. it was so cozy in Proof that ms. mouse decided to have a baby. she gave birth to one baby mouse that winter and Proof felt that it would die with joy. it was so full of happiness and of mice and of nesting materials.

.

that was when the the other doll remembered to come back up and check the mouse traps. they were empty of course, but when it went to sit Proof up again, it noticed the hole in its stomach. it ran downstairs. terrified, ms. mouse took the baby and ran to the old nest to wait for things to settle down again.

from its position on the floor, Proof saw the tip of the Old Witch's hat first. it had only seen this witch once, when years ago it had been presented as Proof of Alayne's magical abilities. she seemed to recognize it, though, and had the other doll fetch Alayne, while she stooped over and poked at the hole with her wand.

and then Alayne appeared. a vision of beauty, a young woman now, blazing with magical energy. Proof had forgotten, or perhaps she was more beautiful than ever. It watched her face change from confusion to horror as the old witch explained that due to her negligence, her old doll had been infested by vermin and was now a biohazard. Alayne did as she was told. She put gloves on, lifted Proof into a plastic bag, tied a knot, and put it in an outside garbage bin. Proof couldn't see through the bag very well but it thought Alayne might be crying.

late that night, Proof found itself being lifted in its bag and brought back inside. The doll who had found it in the attic tore open the bag. “this one will take care of you now,” it said. “it will keep you in the maid closet. the witches never go in there. but first you must be sanitized.” it dropped Proof into a washing machine, being careful to run a delicate cycle. Proof lost an arm, but its maid doll savior sewed it back on and that was really very kind of it.

every night Proof thought about ms. mousie and her child, and wondered if they had succumbed to extermination. and if they were still alive, wondered if they knew it was still in the house, just downstairs in the maid closet. but it kept wondering; they never managed to visit, and the maid doll never spoke of them. it was a little lonely but it wasn't so bad. the maid doll would drop in a few times a day, after all, just to take it down and give it a long hug and kiss.

[tiyawnyana]

Kinktober: Day 27

Anal

A/N: hiiiiii I like how this one went but not entirely pleased with it but wanted to get it posted

Pairing: Neteyam x (fem) Omiticaya reader x Ao'nung

Warnings: threesome, slight nipple play, oral (fem received) fingering, oral (male received), cumming in mouth, p in v, p in a, creampie

¤¤¤

You had hoped that the night of your celebration, the night you had.. fun.. with two certain navi wouldn't have been the last. But all good things must come to an end.

At first, they treated you normally. Greeting you fondly, respectfully even. Then Neteyam started to withdraw, and with him went Ao'nung.

You'd thought that after they had cuddled you throughout the night that maybe that wasn't it.

But you were glad, in a way. It was an amazing opportunity, a great first time with two people that held your heart. It even proved to help you get more confident, and it seems that multiple young males and females of the metkayina noticed this too.

You began to get gifts at random, more fish brought to you at the big meals, and even new arrows crafted.

Now that one was impressive, you only hunted with your bow up in the mountains behind the village, so that one took some thought.

But because of this new attention on you, it meant that those two individuals had noticed it all. They noticed the lingering touches, the stares, the talks.

So when you're heading back to your marui, carrying a basket of fresh fruits just gifted to you, the last thing you expect was to be bombarded as soon as you step into your home.

"What the-" you gasp, jumping as arms wrap around your middle from behind.

"Hello, yawne," the raspy voice of Ao'nung speaks fondly, kissing your shoulder blade.

You shiver, tail flicking hard between his legs.

"Tahni," Neteyam speaks softly, standing before you. He steps forward, reaching out as soon as he's close enough to cup your cheek.

Your ears are perked up, shock evident on your features,"Hello, what are you two doing here?"

Ao'nung exhales through his nose, then presses soft kisses to your neck,"Just wanted to visit, is all."

"Ao'nung," Neteyam stares at him blankly before turning his gaze to you,"We.. missed you."

Your gaze widens slightly before narrowing, and you pull yourself out of Ao'nungs hold.

"Why the change of heart? You had made it clear it was a one night thing.." You walk further into your marui and place the basket down then turn back to them.

They share a look, then turn to you.

"I do regret how I handled it afterwards.. it was not respectful to you," Neteyam speaks soft, ears pinning back to his skull with a grimace on his features, looking away in guilt.

Ao'nung nods, opening his mouth to speak, before closing it and looking away.

"It was a great time," you start, and you notice their tails flick, ears perking slightly,"It should remain a one time thing. I do not wish my heart to be tampered with."

"It- it wouldn't be! Tahni," Ao'nung starts, taking a small step towards you,"We.. we talked it over and we really would like to try. Neteyam- he's an idiot."

"Hey!" The sully boy smacks his friend, hissing lightly.

"It's true! He was stuck on the whole 'I can't mate with my sisters best friend', the skxawng."

Neteyam looks away in embarrassment, crossing his arms over his chest.

You snort at that, shaking your head. You know you have a light blush across your cheeks by this point.

"So, what changed? Was it the few people asking for courtship?"

You turn around, picking out the fruit until you find the one you'd craved, turning back to them as you bite into it. The juice drips down your wrist, to which Ao'nung spots.

He swallows thickly.

"Yes- no, it's complicated-"

"Not really," you interrupt him, chewing into the fruit again,"What is it, jealousy?"

They share a look. They're silent, and you chuckle.

"I told you, I do not wish my heart to be tampered with," you look away,"Please do not lead me on with false hopes."

"We wouldn't," Ao'nung steps closer, only a foot away by now and he reaches out to gently touch your arm,"What we feel is real, and that night- it was incredible. You were.. you took us so well."

His voice is a purr by the end of it, and you can't escape that shiver down your spine. You'd be lying to yourself if you said that you hadn't thought about that night constantly.

Neteyam is next to step closer,"we'd like to try with you, keep having this relationship, if you'll have us."

You gaze at him for a moment, thinking it through.

It is putting your heart on the line.

But it feels worth it. You had been craving their touch since that night- you made up your mind.

You glance back up at them. Heat coiling below your belly, tail flicking suggestively behind you. The grip on that fruit tightened, juices dripping down your forearm as you held it up to your lips.

"Don't make me regret this," is all you say, and Ao'nung pounces.

He grabs the fruit from your hand, squeezing it accidentally and more of the juices drip down your front, a sticky line down your chest. He's quick, though, lifting your arm to lick up the mess up to your wrist while maintaining eye contact. You huff out a heated breath, shuddering quietly.

Neteyam steps forward to your other side and cups your jaw, angling you his way and sealing his lips over yours in a hot and passionate kiss. It's sweet, messy, he licks into your mouth and bites your lower lip, his hips jutting into yours. You can distinctly feel the growing length below his tewng.

He pulls away and you gasp, only to be gripped and turned the other way and Ao'nung kisses you frantically. It's overwhelmingly dominant, he controls it from the get-go and it muffles the strained moan as you feel Neteyam untying your necklaces and licking over your nipple, collecting any juice that dripped down there.

Ao'nung pulls away, following the sully boys lead and sucking over your other nipple. You bow forward, moaning shakily at the differing pleasures, but then suddenly it's gone.

You try to speak, but gasp as you're grabbed, lifted, then walked over to your bed by Ao'nung. He's quick to drop you onto the blankets and pillows, yanking down your tewng and spreading your thighs.

You nearly shriek out a moan as he descends quicker, hand spreading your folds and mouth connecting to your clit.

"Oh, fuck!" You bark out in surprise, eyes wide at the ceiling before gradually bringing them down to his.

Your thighs try to close, but he's gripping the back of your thighs and draping them over his shoulders.  A weak, punched out breath is pulled from your lungs when he licks at your hole, groaning at the taste of your slick.

"Eywa, I missed this," he nearly moans into you.

Neteyam has been watching, slowly peeling off his tewng and stroking at his cock.

"Look at how needy she is," he coos, sitting down to cup your jaw,"Missed us, didn't you?"

You nod weakly, and he grins, before shuffling closer and prodding his cock towards you. When you don't budge, a teasing glint in your eyes, he forcibly opens your mouth by the grip at your jaw, pressing his cock into your mouth, pressing further in until you nearly choke. His hands tangle into your hair and you whine as he uses your mouth and throat for his own pleasure.

The man between your legs presses two fingers into you, quick, and your hips roll up into his face as he drills them into you at a rapid pace, spreading you.

The cock in your throat spears almost roughly, hand tight in your hair and your breath was running out. Your chest burns but you continue to  wrap your tongue around the underside of his cock.

There's a point where Neteyam drags your face to take his entire length until your nose presses against his navel. Your throat tightens as you swallow around him, and your chest burns hot when he holds you there, fondly stroking the stray hairs from your face. It feels like an eternity, throat full of his cock before he finally yanks you off. You gasp for breath, vision hazy.

"Hold your breath," is his command and you listen, especially when not even a moment later he's pressing your mouth back onto his cock down to the hilt and holding you there.

You're already too numbed out with pleasure to realize Ao'nung had slipped his fingers out to coat them in an oil, prodding at your asshole and gently pressing in. You jerk, body tightening around the digit and groan around the length down your throat.

Neteyam grunts, panting harshly and dragging you off, allowing you a moment to breathe again before dragging you back down, finally starting to thrust. It's three pumps, then he holds you down, cockwarming his length.

Ao'nung inserts another finger, scissoring you open as Neteyam fucks into your throat.

Your chest burns again but you hold out, hands clutching the blankets beneath you before you cry out a moan when Ao'nung sucks hard over your clit.

Your orgasm washes over you quick, slick gushing out of you and leaking down Ao'nungs neck.

Neteyam thrusts into you a final time before dragging your head down as he cums down your throat.

"Swallow it," he speaks roughly, hips grinding into your face as he shoots out a few more ropes before finally pulling out.

You cough, swallowing any excess and gasping for breath. You then whine as you're lifted, turned around by Ao'nung and you realize Neteyam is still hard, angling it and laying on the bed.

Ao'nung guides your pussy over the sully boys length before pressing you down. The tip presses in and in one fell swoop, the entire length presses into you.

You're pressed down onto Neteyams chest, tail gripped and cheeks spread as the male behind you presses his cock to your asshole, pressing until the tip pops in.

"Oh, shit! Wait- fuck," you rasp out, grimacing at the foreign feeling.

Ao'nung kisses up your back,"You can take it, paskalin," and gingerly presses more of his length into you.

After you adjust, his hips finally press to your rear.

"You take us so well, tahni," Neteyam cups your cheek as you rest against his shoulder.

Your body is still tight around them, even moreso with the new experience.

Ao'nung is the first to pull back, gently thrusting back into you. Neteyam is next, gripping your hips and planting his feet down to buck up into you.

This begins a slow but gradually speeding up pace, the sully boy fills you just as the metkayina prince pulls out, back and forth, and you nearly cry from the enslaught of pleasure. You're moaning openly, babbling incoherent words and they can't help but grin cockily at this.

"I'm not gonna last- mmph, fuck," Neteyam kisses your shoulder, licking over your sweat damp skin as his hips grind deeper into you.

"Surprise, surprise," Ao'nung teases, smirking, ignoring the hiss and speeding up his own thrusts.

Your second orgasm punches you in the gut, unexpectedly and you don't have time to prepare yourself as your cunt tightens, convulsing and squirting around Neteyam.

You cry out, moaning breathlessly. Your entire body shakes with this orgasm, tightening around Ao'nung as well and he moans in surprise, thrusting coming to a stop as he grips your hips, pressing himself into you entirely as he cums into your ass. The feeling is weird, but not unpleasant.

Soon enough, Neteyam groans, clenching his teeth as he cums into your cunt.

You slump onto neteyam entirely, still filled as they come down from their highs.

Neteyam snickers breathlessly, smirking at Ao'nung as he strokes his fingers over your back.

"Surprise, surprise, huh?"

¤¤¤

A/N: I want this

Taglist:

@akoyaxs @vee1728

[24hlevi]

— missed you

kurosaki ichigo (bleach) x gn!reader

genre: hurt/comfort

summary: ichigo broke up with you prior to the events of tybw. but now, he's realized how much he misses you, and how much he needs you to be strong again.

warnings: none

wc: 1.5 k

the day uryu stopped by ichigo’s place while the group was there, telling him what was to come soon, that quincies were ready to strike and start a war against the soul society, ichigo immediately ended things between you two. despite things like this happening before, he did it this time. you didn't understand why now of all times, but he was adamant on keeping you away at a distance. you knew he had a job to do, but even so, you were always included. so why did he decide now was the time to call things off? even he didn't know why.

you stayed at home while ichigo went back to the soul society, trying to focus on other things but it was to no avail. you couldn't help but worry about ichigo and the others. this wasn't going to be like the other times the soul society needed him. you could feel it. quincies were different from the arrancars, even you knew that. you just hoped this wouldn't end terribly. you don't know what you would do if ichigo never came back. it was always a worry in your mind when ichigo left. that one day orihime would come back without him and tell you that he's gone. you dreaded that day, if it would ever come.

you had been visiting ichigo’s family a lot more recently with him away, and they all loved you, so you were always welcome in their home. you would often go over there for dinner that his sisters would cook, and it was always great every time you went there. those three really cared about you, and you all were equally worried about ichigo.

no one knew how long he would be gone, and you started to count the days so that if it hit a month, you would know something was wrong. of course, ichigo has done this plenty of times, but you still worried for him.

“i’ll come back, don't you worry,” he would always tell you before running off to protect the soul society from whatever danger it was at that time. that same small smile planted on his face as he would pat your head gently. god, did he make you worry.

ichigo could handle himself, of course. but what if this time it all went terrible? what if the quincies were stronger than expected and people died? you had to physically shake your head to get those thoughts to disperse. he would be fine. he always came back.

just this time, there was more reasoning behind it.

it was a rainy night, and you were on your computer finishing up some last minute assignments for school. every time your phone buzzed or rang, you would quickly pick it up and check in hopes of it being ichigo, but it never was. the weather was making you more depressed than you already were, and you sighed before closing your laptop. rubbing your hands on your face, you got up from your chair and started to walk to your bed until you heard something hit your window.

you ignored the sound at first, but then it hapened two more times and you decided then to go check. when you reached the window and looked down at who was there, a gasp left your mouth at the sight.

you quickly ran downstairs and opened the back door to see ichigo standing there.

“ichigo!” you exclaimed, rushing over to him and hugging him.

ichigo stumbled back a few steps at how fast you ran into him, but he immediately hugged you back, pulling you close to him. he was looking up at the sky to try and ignore the stray tears falling from his eyes, pretending it was just the rain when it was far from it in reality. it was evident that his ego was broken from something, you didn't know what. you wouldn't ask unless he was ready to say it. you knew better than to pry those things out of him when he was so often facing death more than you’d like.

he rested his chin on your head, mumbling something so quiet that you couldn't hear it over the rain pouring on you both. you pulled away and looked up at him, “what did you say?” you asked.

ichigo took a minute to respond, but when he looked down at you, you knew something was off.

“i missed you,” he said quietly.

it was silent except for the rain hitting the ground, and ichigo looked…broken. you had never seen him look like this before, and you didn't know what to do about it.

“i missed you too,” you replied. you reached one of your hands up to gently caress his cheek, “are you okay, ichigo?”

all he did was slowly shake his head before pulling you back into a hug. “i’m sorry,” he mumbled. “i shouldn't have called things off between us. i just…didn't want to lose you too. so many died, and if you came with there would be no going back. majority of the captains lost their bankais, and even more were killed by the quincies. orihime and chad are okay, don't worry about them. but…i’m still so sorry. i thought if we were broken up that i would do better. but, i was wrong. i need you to do better, to be better. i need you, y/n,”

you were taken aback by the words that came from ichigo’s mouth. you couldn't believe most of it. but your mind kept wandering back to him saying how he needed you. not how he wanted you. but he needed you. those were two entirely different things, and he knew the difference between them. you knew it, as well.

“it's okay,” you gently told him. “i know you had your reasons. it's okay. i’m not upset by what you did. you have your duties, and i don't always need to be there by your side.”

“i love you,” he mumbled into your hair, still holding you close to him.

“i love you too, ichigo,” you said, smiling up at him.

when he pulled away for the second time, he peered down at you, and a small smile pulled at his lips at seeing your very own smile. “are you willing to let me inside even though we're both soaking wet?” he asked in a light joking tone.

“you know you're always welcome in my home. soaked or not,” you responded in the same tone. “so come on,” you grabbed his hand and pulled him back inside the house, making him take his shoes off before setting another foot inside even though he always remembered to do so.

ichigo let you drag him up to your bedroom, as quietly as he could knowing both of your parents were asleep even though they adored him, he still was respectful of not wanting to awake them because of his sudden return. you then handed him a set of clothes, which he realized were his own that he had brought over and forgotten one day, and he went into your bathroom to change.

when he was finished changing, he knocked on your bedroom door to make sure you weren't still changing. he wouldn't go inside unless you told him he was able to. your parents loved that about him, amongst all the other great things about him.

“you can come in!” you called from the other side of the door.

ichigo walked inside to see you already laid on your bed, which made him let out a chuckle.

“tired?” he asked you.

“mhm,” you hummed, nodding your head. “i wanna cuddle.” you held your arms out open to him.

ichigo let out another chuckle and crawled into the bed beside you, letting you wrap your arms around him and cuddle into his side. he laid on his back and let out a content sigh. “i really missed you,” he said to you.

“i missed you too, very much,” you replied, planting a gentle kiss on his neck. “i’m glad you're back now, for the time being.”

“yeah, me too,” ichigo nodded.

for the time being. that's all it was. he knew soon enough he would have to go back after that talk with his dad. he just needed to be grounded for a moment. you were the only one able to do that. he knew he shouldn't have broken up with you, that it was a dumb decision on his part. but everyone makes bad decisions sometimes.

ichigo was just the one to bounce back from it stronger than before. because he loved you so dearly. he loved you so much that he broke up with you to make sure you wouldn't get hurt. but he realized that he was wrong. he needed you to be strong. he needed you to be kurosaki ichigo.

and you would never want that to change. not ever.

[verai-marcel]

Your Hearth Is My Home (BG3 Fanfic, Astarion x Female Reader, Part 3 of ?)

Summary, Notes, Tags, & Part 1 are here.

Part 2 is here.

AO3 link is here, darling.

Chapter Word Count: 2256

Act I, Chapter 3 - The Tension

Another day passed, and another evening of Astarion wandering off while the others ate their meal.

“Doesn’t he ever eat?” Karlach asked.

“Maybe he snacks throughout the day,” you commented idly. "He certainly doesn’t like my food," you muttered after.

“Then he doesn’t have good taste,” Wyll said, giving you a smile. “For what it’s worth, I think your food is absolutely delicious.”

You beamed. Gods, you had to admit to yourself that you were a whore for praise. It was what had kept you by your former employer’s side for longer than was healthy. You shook your head of the memories. Some things were better left in the past.

While the others finished up their meals, you went to prepare the tents.

As you finished Gale’s tent, you saw him coming up to you.

“Watching you work has been an absolute pleasure,” he said with a smile. “I’ve performed great magicks, manipulated the Weave into spells that could topple castles. But you? I’ve never felt a more welcoming and warm magic. It’s like a comforting blanket I could just wrap myself in and never leave.” He leaned a bit closer to you. “I’d love to learn some of those cantrips from you. If you don’t mind sharing your secrets.”

“Sure! I’m not sure how well I can teach you, but I’ll do my best.” You were quite giddy from the fact that a wizard was asking you, a mere hearth witch, to teach him something.

“Wonderful.” He reached out, perhaps to touch your arm, but you instinctively flinched away. Noticing your reaction, he let his hand fall. “Well, have a good night,” Gale said, giving you a friendly wave of his hand instead before turning in for the night.

You stayed still for a moment, turning over two things in your head: one, wondering if you were good enough to teach a wizard, and two, berating yourself for recoiling so obviously from a friendly touch. You had sleeves and gloves on, so there was no reason for you to have done that, yet habits instilled into you as a child were hard to change. Because of your ability to feel others’ emotions through skin contact, your mother had trained you to avoid touch in general as a safeguard. You could react appropriately with forewarning, and sometimes you even brushed someone’s hand or arm on purpose to get a read on them. But there were times when you were caught off guard. 

I thought I had gotten better at that.

With your mind churning, you turned around and saw Astarion walking back to camp, watching you with a smirk.

“What?” you asked as your path crossed his on your way to the next tent. You inwardly cringed at your tone. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.

“Nothing,” said with his usual smarm. “Unless you were looking for praise from me as well.”

For a moment, a singular, split-second of a moment, you let your craving for praise show on your face before you locked it down.

But you had already revealed too much.

“Though you’d need to impress me first,” he replied, breezily walking past you toward the campfire to join the others who were still awake.

Never mind, he deserved that tone. Damn noble.

Out of spite, you neglected to cast warmth on his tent. Let him freeze for one night, see how he feels about being condescending to you tomorrow.

***

“It was awfully cold last night,” Astarion commented in the morning.

The others looked at each other, then they all looked at you.

You immediately got up, unable to stand their curious stares. “I need to check the fishing nets,” you said quickly as you stalked away toward the water.

You could hear Karlach distantly. “I thought my tent was fine.” 

Once you reached the water’s edge, you knelt down and tugged at the nets, but your mind was elsewhere. Now that you were faced with the consequences of your actions, you regretted your petty revenge. Sure, you could have lied your ass off and gotten away with it. But since you had panicked and bailed without giving a good excuse, it was pretty clear what you did, or rather, didn’t do. What would everyone think of you now?

“You didn’t run very far, little hearth witch.”

Still in the middle of your existential crisis, you immediately stood and whirled around to see Astarion walking towards you.

“Now, I would have assumed you just forgot about poor me if you had just lied about it,” he said in a tone that clearly implied that he wouldn’t have believed a damn word out of your mouth. He stepped closer, and with the water at your back, you had nowhere to go. So you stood your ground and stared at him until he was practically toe to toe with you.

“Instead,” he continued, tipping his head, “you ran away, guilt written all over your face. Whatever could I have done to warrant being singled out like this?”

Seeing his smug face brought your previously squashed annoyance bubbling to the surface. You glared as you hissed, “You held a knife to my neck!”

“But I apologized for that, and I explained myself, didn’t I?” He tipped his head the other direction, looking like a kicked puppy. “I thought we were square.”

You bit your lip. Yeah, you knew he was faking it, but regardless, you did feel guilty. A moment of petty vengeance, not just against him, but against what he represented. The nobility.

It wasn’t fair to him. You knew it wasn't a fair thing, a night of discomfort in the cold for one snarky remark that you could have just ignored. You were better than that. And you knew not all nobles were bad. There were quite a few that were good, upstanding folks. One bad experience in the past should not have soured your outlook on an entire class of people.

You swallowed. Looked up at him. Remembered that he too had his own fears and shadows. Maybe he just had a bad day. You always prided yourself on being able to consider the situation of others before acting, and to have failed in doing so stung pretty damn hard. The guilt gnawed at you until tears began to well up in your eyes.

“I’m sorry,” you said sincerely. “That wasn’t fair, and… you didn’t deserve it.” Your voice had grown shaky with emotion. You hated that you sounded like a trembling kitten.

A self-satisfied grin spread on his face. “Well, I accept your apology.” 

When you continued to silently cry, he began to look uncomfortable. “I’m not mad,” he said as he looked over his shoulder, starting to look a little panicked. “It’s not a big deal. The others will think I’m a monster if they see you cry. So stop.”

You were crying more out of anger at yourself and not because of him, but you had to admit, you felt some schadenfreude from seeing him so anxious. “Say please,” you joked through your tears.

He sighed. “Fine. Please.” Then he leaned in a little closer. “Please,” he repeated, quieter, gentler.

You looked up at him, surprised by the change in his tone. “Alright,” you said, your voice still a little shaky.

Astarion smiled at you then, and your heart skipped a beat. Dammit, he sure knew how to use his attractiveness to his benefit. 

“Good girl,” he said before patting you on the head and walking away.

You touched your head where he had patted you. There had been a sense of satisfaction in his touch, but you weren’t sure if it was for you, or himself.

***

Late that night, you were awoken by the soft sounds of cloth moving around. You opened your eyes to quite the sight at the campfire, so you lay in your bedroll, feigning sleep so you could watch surreptitiously. 

It was quite the contrast to Astarion’s usual day time persona.

He was shirtless, sitting cross legged by the fire pit. His profile was lit by the slowly dying light of the campfire and the full moon, his brows furrowed in concentration as he slowly sewed together the damage on his undershirt. You could tell from the toned muscles on his bare torso that he wasn’t just eye candy. He could hold his own in a fight, and from the past couple of days, you got the idea from the others that he was a little extra gleeful when he got to stab someone.

He hissed when he pricked himself with the needle, his brow furrowing even more. He brought the shirt closer to his face, examining the tear from different directions. His movements seemed a bit slow, as if he was exhausted from the day’s activities.

Maybe if he ate my fucking food, he wouldn’t be so tired.

You shook your head of your ire and sighed. You couldn’t watch him do this any longer when you could easily fix this with your cantrip. Rolling out of your bedroll, you quietly crawled over to him.

He looked over at you and promptly looked away.

“What, come to mock my sewing skills?” he asked. His usual sass was only half-present, as if he was too drained to defend himself.

His defeated tone saddened you a bit. Looking closer, you noticed that there were mends all over, and the stitching appeared to be a bit haphazard. You reached for the shirt, only to have him suddenly yank it away.

“Don’t. Touch.”

You blinked. Then you looked at him, truly looked at him. He was frowning, his body almost curled defensively. He was holding onto his shirt like it was his only possession in the world. Under your gaze, his glare changed to a tired expression.

“What do you want,” he asked in a deadpan tone as he slumped a little.

“I just wanted to help,” you said sincerely. For all the attitude you had given him before, you didn’t hate him. It wasn’t his fault you disliked most nobles.

He tipped his head and considered your offer. Slowly he held out the shirt to you, his eyes staring into yours. “Can you fix this?” he asked in barely a whisper.

Taking it gently, you examined it in the dim light. It was hard to see, so instead you ran your hands over all of the material and realized that it wasn’t haphazard stitching. It was layers and layers of thread, as if he had carefully mended his clothes over and over again. He was a noble, wasn’t he? Couldn’t he just buy new clothes? Why would he go through the trouble of repairing something that was worn out to such an extent?

Your fingers carefully searched for what seemed to be the oldest mend. From old to new, you told yourself. Contrary to how this spell was taught, you had figured out that reversing the order would strengthen the repairs of the newer section by unraveling everything down to the core and rebuilding it anew. It was a slower, more meticulous process, but it made for a stronger repair. 

You focused closely on the fabric and began to hum. It was an old song, a song from your childhood. A song that made you think of sunlit evenings and aurora midnights that lasted but a moment, of moonlit days and months of snow. The cloth unraveled slowly, and then came back together, the old threads falling to the wayside and then woven back into the cloth as if they had always belonged there. The scars from the past make up the skin of today, so it must be incorporated back in, not discarded nor removed. At least, that was how your cantrip worked.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him leaning in closer, but you ignored him as you continued to work. It was critical to maintain the song, maintain the flow, otherwise you would have to start all over. And somehow, the importance of this was understood, since Astarion sat by quietly as you worked. You weren’t sure how long it took, but when you finished, the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, and your throat was dry from the constant use of your voice.

Finally, you looked up and blinked. Your vision was a little blurry, but you could see Astarion looking at the shirt with awe in his expression.

He seemed far away as you handed the shirt back to him. His hands ran over the places that you had worked extra hard on, where several patches and mends had occurred, overlapping each other.

“It’s… perfect. As if it were brand new,” he murmured.

You were insightful enough to know that this shirt meant much more to him than he let on. So you quietly stood and left him to his musings.

He suddenly grabbed your hand. You were surprised to feel a deep gratitude before he let go, his expression vacillating from something softer to awkward before settling on his habitual sneer. “I suppose you’ll be wanting some coin for your trouble,” he said, his usual snarky tone returning.

You shook your head. “I just wanted to help,” you repeated, and meant it. You decided to just begin your morning chores, but not before glancing back to see him touching his shirt with a reverence that made your heart clench in sympathy.

What would make a noble cling to a simple piece of clothing so earnestly?

---------------------------

End Notes: More cantrips, more singing. Hope y’all don’t mind, as it's going to be a theme here. I re-wrote that internal monologue that Hearth Witch is having in her head while she’s standing by the water so many times, so I hope the emotions came through. Next week, the chapter that most of you are probably looking forward to - let’s get close to Astarion. Really close.

[noellie-writes217]

Peer Tutor

Peter goes to get his records and ends up meeting an indie punk genius instead.

WC:717

By some miracle, Peter managed to see his records from Midtown School of Science and Technology. He even had to go in, see his principal, who forgot he existed— that wasn’t awkward at all— and asked for his records transferred to an online school. He showed the same sympathy towards Peter that he shows all the new ninth graders at initiation. “Well Peter, I can’t say I’m happy you’re leaving us. Why did you miss so much school to begin with?”

Peter does his best to hide his emotions, never making eye contact seems to be the best he can do. “My aunt died.”

The principal sucked in a breath, “Do you have anyone else who could take care of you?”

“No,” he sighs, “my parents died in a plane crash when I was ten. My grandparents died before I was born, and my uncle was in a car accident.”

The principal nodded. “I’ll tell you what,” he starts. Peter finally looks up. “Instead of transferring you, just try to make up your missing work and I won’t dock you points for it.”

Peter felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time— hope.

“I’ll even talk to another student about tutoring you in the concepts you missed.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah!” The principal sits back in his chair before getting serious and leaning into the desk, “You seem like a good kid, and you’ve been through a lot. But dropping out of high school or transferring to some no-name online school won’t help you get into college. I saw your GPA before you went MIA. You’re way too smart to not get to a good college. So I’m here if you need anything— so is Ms. Kafka.” Peter nods and exits his office feeling better than when he first went in.

___

“Peter?” A voice called from the office lobby. Peter nearly jumped before realizing it was MJ.

“That’s your name right?” She asks. “Peter Piper?”

And the delusion leaves Peter as he gives the most natural fake smile he can muster. “It’s Peter Parker.”

She straightens her posture, something Peter has realized it’s something she does when she’s embarrassed.

“Uh, how do you know my name?” He asks.

“You came to where I work one day…” She starts “— I’m not a stalker! I just have a good memory.”

Peter chuckles at the irony. “So I’ve never seen you here before— I actually thought you were thought you graduated.”

Peter rubs the back of his neck and chuckles in his nervous fashion, “Yeah, no, I- I actually um… I’m a senior.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see you around.” MJ waves goodbye to him.

———

The day after, Peter goes to his classes and sees a blond girl waiting for him at his locker with a very thick two-inch binder after his third-period AP Physics.

“So, you’re Peter?” She asks.

Before he answers he tugs on his backpack strap. “Who are you?”

“Gwen.”

Peter tries to place where he’s heard that name before.

She pushes the binder to his chest, “This is yours.” She ‘explains’. “Principal Morita asked me to get it to you. It’s all of your missing work. I’m your new peer advisor. If it sounds made up… it’s because it definitely is.”

Peter can’t even get a word in.

“So here’s how it’s gonna work: you and I are gonna study three days a week and every Sunday, you’re gonna text me every time you get a new assignment— I’ve already put together my information in that binder. Everything in there is color-coded and I put resources for studying in the back. We have the same homeroom since now and we will be spending study hall together. If you have an emergency, I’d recommend you handle it until our joined study days because I’m almost always busy with my internship, dance, and electives. So solve your own problems on those days. On Sundays, you’re eating dinner at my house so we can prep for Mondays. Am I clear?”

Peter opens up the binder to see her name and information scribbled in cursive. He nods.

“Great.” She fastens her backpack strap. “I have AP music theory next, so just get your classes done then meet me back here after school.”

With that, she walks away.

Peter’s phone buzzes from inside his pocket. It's Felicia.

‘He just robbed some penthouse in Manhattan. Cops can't do anything because someone paid them off. This is why I need you to help. Please Peter.’

Peter softly bangs his head against his locker after reading that text. “I hate everything.”

[kkvqwrites]

Team Building

The 141 attend a team-building exercise at Price's request.

Word Count: 589

Characters (in order of appearance): Johnny "Soap" Mactavish, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, Captain John Price, Simon "Ghost" Riley

A/N: This is short and to-the-point, but I thought the idea was goofy and fun. Low stakes, no angst, just a silly day off for the 141 boys. Hope you enjoy!

The afternoon sun beat down on their heads as the four soldiers met in the parking lot of a strip mall.

"An escape room? Really?" Soap raised an eyebrow. "Are we in the right place?"

"We are - and it's gonna be great," replied the captain. "It's good for morale."

"It's our day off, Cap." Gaz didn't look up from his phone as he spoke. "Morale would be best served by a day at the pool or a pub trip." The captain swiped an exasperated hand down his face.

"Put that bloody phone away - this is exactly why we're doing this. On the battlefield we need to be in the moment and thinking as a unit; this is the perfect exercise to get us there. And besides, Laswell found something called a groupon." He opened the door and ushered the three pouting grown men into the lobby.

_____

"You can't be serious," came Ghost's voice. It was the first time he spoke all afternoon. Behind him, the sergeants echoed his protest.

"You heard me," came the captain's booming voice, drowning out the groans. "No weapons, no cell phones. We figure this out the old-fashioned way." The men reluctantly handed over phones, guns, knives, and one grenade ("You never know!" said Soap). None of the soldiers looked happy about it, but all complied. Gaz and Soap complained the loudest, but Ghost preferred to seethe silently. He found it was better to shut up and get it over with when Price had one of his "fun" ideas.

The setting: a room made to resemble a medieval dungeon that wouldn't be entirely out of place at a child's birthday party.

The objective: brew a potion in an enchanted chalice that will enable the magic mirror to grant a boon. The "boon" being escape from the medieval dungeon and a fun t-shirt. After the teenage employee finished explaining the premise, he locked them in the suffocating room with a rhyming poem of cryptic instructions.

"Right, then," said the captain, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get to it."

_____

The bickering began almost instantly.

"Cap, I think you're overthinking this; there isn't a vial of "moon water" in the cabinet for the spell. I think we need to take the moonlight essence and stir it into the water to make the potion," Gaz reasoned.

"No, no, it specifically says moon water - Soap! Stop mixing random shit together!" The sergeant rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me for thinking outside the box! Won't happen again! 'Course if I had my knife I could pick the lock and get us out of here!"

"That defeats the spirit, Mactavish!"

"Yeah Johnny, the spirit."

"Awa' an bile yer heid, Gaz. Fuckin' suckup."

"Language!"

"Sorry, sir."

Ghost's eye twitched. There was no clock in this room, but it felt like it had been hours listening to the back-and-forth. He'd made an effort to stay busy trying to find the pieces to the "magic chalice" but his patience was rapidly wearing thin. He looked back at his teammates, three grown men arguing in earnest about which gemstones to add to the potion to enchant the mirror for their next clue, and suddenly an idea struck.

Without thinking, he grabbed the pistol he kept on a calf holster and shot the shitty plastic padlock right off the door.

The room went silent behind him. He turned and saw the stunned gazes of the others, all frozen in the middle of assembling the chalice.

"What?" he asked. "I escaped."

[bluebiirrd]

( aubrey plaza. cis female. she/her. ) - let me introduce you to a friend of the eversley family, BLUE NAVARRO came to stay at the eversley estate because SHE NEEDED TO GET OUT OF LOS ANGELES. they are THIRTY-FIVE and are known as THE SOCIALITE to the family because they are FLIRTATIOUS, CHAOTIC, AND DRAMATIC. when you get to know them, you think about RED LIPSTICK PAIRED WITH A RED DRESS, PILES OF TABLOID MAGAZINES but you can only wonder what brought them to the eversley estate.

Birth Name: Bluebird Isabella Jade Madison-Navarro.

Full name: Blue Isabella Navarro.

Nickname: Blue Navarro, Blue, Bee, Birdie.

Age: 35.

DOB: November 3rd, 1988.

 Zodiac Sign(s): Scorpio sun, Sagittarius moon, Cancer rising.

Hometown: Los Angeles, California.

Familial: Lana Jade Madison (mother; alive), David Navarro (father; deceased), Ira Madison (maternal grandfather; deceased), Wolfe Madison (maternal half brother; alive).

Hair color: Brown.

Eye color: Brown.

Height: 5'6.

Sexuality: Pansexual

Relationship Status: Single.

Occupation: Socialite / Social Media Influencer.

Character Inspirations: Alex Vause (Orange is the New Black), Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother), Trish Walker (Jessica Jones), Siobhan Roy (Succession), Samantha Jones (Sex and the City), Elaine Benes (Seinfeld), Fleabag (Fleabag).

tldr; blue comes from an affluent and very famous family in los angeles (mom is a legendary actress). her claim to fame is that she was a very rowdy young person and was regularly making covers of tabloids (think paris hilton / lindsay lohan). very directionless and chooses to distract herself from this by being an overgrown party girl. she’s a lot of fun.

If you’ve picked up any tabloid magazine in the last thirty five years, you’ve heard the name Bluebird Madison-Navarro, mostly known as Blue Navarro these days.  If you haven’t, you must be living under a rock. She’s the miracle child born to her mother, Lana Jade Madison, an world known, Oscar winning actress and David Navarro, leader of the 70’s rock band, Cosmic Grove . Granddaughter of Ira Madison, a three time Oscar winning director. Half sister to award winning actor and producer, Wolfe Madison. Needless to say, Blue comes from a world of recognition, respect, and most importantly, reputation.

Growing up, Blue was constantly in the limelight. She hated everything about it. Blue hated being photographed, she hated how strangers knew her name, frankly, she hated being a Madison. When she was a teenager, she decided that if she was getting all the stress that came with being a high profile person, she should at least get the perks too, right? Blue started taking advantage of the name. It opened a lot of doors for her in the lavish Hollywood party scene. 

She followed in her mother’s footsteps, as she found herself on the covers of magazines. Except, Blue didn’t star in movies or win awards. She got caught up in scandals. The paparazzi seemed to catch her in private moments. Like having a cigarette at fifteen or sneaking into 21+ clubs at eighteen. The media also seemed very interested to know the endless string of boyfriends and girlfriends she had in her early adulthood.

Eventually, the tabloids got bored of her, but she was never able to wash away the reputation they gave her. Her mother certainly never forgot. Even to this day, her mother reminds Blue how her past antics had cheapened the Madison name. How instead of creating something great out of herself, she settled for mindless entertainment.

Blue has settled for what she has always known. Parties. Having fun. Distraction. She runs from the emptiness she feels, from the feelings of unworthiness, from the possibility that her mother is right, her only offering to world came and went nearly twenty years ago. She tries to run from the realization she was given all of the opportunity anyone could want in the world and she's done nothing with it.

What better way to distract herself from her woes than spending her summer far far away from Los Angeles?

TIDBITS ;

Blue has over a million followers on Instagram. While she is still a trust fund baby, she makes her own money as an influencer. Her posts are mostly about lifestyle.

She never got the acting bug. She tried it once. As a child, she had a small role in one of her mother's films. She had one line. Like her mother says, Blue wasn't a natural.

Her and her brother Wolfe share a twenty two year old age difference. They weren't close until his relationship with Cressida Wilder, who Blue admired very much. When their marriage ended, Blue's and Wolfe's relationship fizzled as well.

The only form of normalcy and mundaneness Blue ever had was with her father, David. His band was very well known in the 70's and his relationship with Lana Jade gave him some relevancy. However, when their relationship ended, David's own fame evaporated. He left LA and went to New Mexico, where he's originally from. When the tabloids got really bad, she would visit him. It was a very surreal experience being a regular civilian.

On her eighteenth birthday, she legally changed her name to Blue Isabella Navarro.

Her favorite color is red.

[niuniente]

I'm loving all these side stories exploring the DHD universe! Each one so far has been pretty great. I love alrick and his story very much, but it's fun to get to see and focus on these other characters too. Pearl was entertaining and I'm excited to see what's up with Plague

Your art is also always such a treat. I was just thinking to myself today that I kind of wanted to study the way you use background art. The grayscale filtered photos spaced out between white space without feeling empty is really hard to pull off, but I think you do so very well.

While Alrick is the main protagonist, you are right that we need to see other characters, too. It avoids stories being repetitive and gives readers a chance to mirror characters against each other; when character X is like this, and character Y is the opposite, they underline each character's traits. Whether it's their values, looks, age, gender, sex, job, living situation, dreams, fears, past, future etc. We learn about ourselves in relation to others so this same goes to characters, too.

Characters being surrounded by other characters also reveal new things from each other. Miranda can't really talk about how being a Death-Head's girlfriend affects her and the relationship with her coworkers but she can speak about it with Alrick. Joon is very lively and Miranda is super supportive of Joon, but only Alrick will understand how it is to work as a Death-Head. Plague is an ass for everyone but doesn't speak back to Kahamet (so he knows his place). Alrick is considering others but through Dio we see what happens when Alrick (or anyone) considers others above the Death-Head rules.

Also, the easiest way to expand the world or theme is to see it from other character's perspective, from their neighborhood so to say. Alrick doesn't seem to be working as a Death-Head to collect payments but Grimm does and uses this right of his without hesitation or remorse. Ama and Awa view Death-Head work as a luxury service whereas Dio does his dirty job and doesn't view the job as anything to do with luxury. Grimm enjoys being a faction leader, Plague doesn't want it. Lou-Lou is horrified with Death-Heads, Miranda lives and sleeps with one. Society views Death-Heads and their deals as something horrific, but for Pearl meeting Grimm via her deal was a lottery win. Mr. Singer loses his teeth as a payment, Cure loses her life. Rena doesn't make deals but Grimm does and can only do it because Algoth busts his ass off to give Grimm room for deals.

..

If you ever come up with something with studying my art, please, let me know! We're blind to our own work, can't see them the same way as outsiders too. I think one reason why the space doesn't feel so empty is the colored speech bubbles, which are connected to each character. I think the result would be more hollow if all speech bubbles where just blank white. The characters take more space with their colored speech bubbles. (I originally started this as I hated drawing speech lines to right character. If they are individually character color coded, then it's a lot easier to do speech bubbles!)

Why I went to comics without background was due two things. First, I didn't want to draw them. I don't enjoy them. I hate it. I don't enjoy at all thinking about compositions, perspectives, hues or values, nor about panel placements. Been there, done that, hated every minute of it. I don't want to spend my precious limited free time and limited resources on things I hate. My emphasis is on the characters and the comic is drawn in a way that it doesn't have to put emphasis on the things I hate, like panel placements and directing viewers gaze.

Second thing is that rules in art are human made. Sure, some things do make the viewing more pleasant and carry your story - I went to an art school - but many of the rules you don't need. If you are famous, you're even praised for breaking them!

I had that almost rioting epiphany when I was in the art school. I happened to see from TV news how in the modern art museums, there was a new exhibition by an American painter. He was famous for painting portraits and hanging them upside down. The curator of the exhibition was explaining with shining eyes how amazing this method is! How amazing it is that this painter challenges the viewer by hanging the paintings upside down! How revolutionary!

I thought "He gets praised for hanging paintings upside down, but if I did the same anywhere, even in the art school, I would be scolded for a cheap trick or be even called downright an idiot. So, why it is allowed to him and not for me?"

As I hate injustice like this, I've made my mind to fuck around and find out when it comes to my own art, and remember; if what I do was done by someone famous, it would be praised as something exceptional. If it's allowed to someone, then damned I be, I'm going to take that right for myself, too!

[zeydaan-isabella]

Fang's Requiem - Zeydaan

Recently, my friends El_Mariachi249 and Fiona-sapphire got me into the game Goodbye Volcano High, a very sweet game with some lovely music and an excellent NB character Fang. Despite being a recent release, noticed there wasn't any TF related things for the game at all. Thought I'd rectify that. Song being sung is "Good Riddance" by Green Day Story below done by HudsonSpacecraft

“Okay, okay, good job, everyone! Now let’s take five,” Zeydaan directed their fellow employees. It was a busy day at the local Maiden Menagerie in the bustling city of Mailor. Granted, that could be said about every day (to say that running a business period was mentally taxing was to make a rather obvious joke), but there was reason to feel particularly stressed out at the moment, for it was today that the humble establishment hosted its first major event in quite some time: a Pride Memorial Concert. This had been something that Zeydaan had been pushing for a good while, since their non-binary upbringing and empathy for their kin in the queer community made them quite vocal about advocating for civil rights on their world of Schism Earth. In the current state of their state’s politics that actively marginalized “nonhumans” and currently had no plans to change that, the fae-witch had taken great pride in establishing events like this to make the minorities of their world more heard. As a being of adept magical power, they additionally  And to that end, what better place to promote solidarity than at their current place of work?  Zeydaan had proudly worked at the Menagerie for years. It wasn’t the most high-paying job in the world, but it certainly kept the lights on for them (their career as a “superhero” in the Hawkmoths often dealt with more ‘fate of the world’ than starting political conversations), and they had a certain amount of rapport with their coworkers as well as their superiors. Upper management was thankfully all for their concert idea, though in their initial pitch to the other staff, it was brought up that the musical talent that their budget could allow was on the smaller side. In lieu of established musical talent in town, however, Zeydaan graciously volunteered to be the one performing a concert’s headlining song. There was one snag, though: they didn’t exactly have the qualifications to do so. They were far from musically illiterate or unskilled with instruments, but they had only picked up the guitar a couple weeks ago and had only learned a couple of elementary chords by now. Their singing voice was slightly above average, but to pretend it was anything more than that would be to embarrass themself. However, they would not have signed up if they didn’t already have a plan in place, and all they needed to do was see if the decorations would suffice before they went back home. “Hmm…does this look good?” Their fellow dragon employee Blue asked as they took a step back and admired the job they did. It’d taken all morning and even a bit of the afternoon to set all this up, but their work definitely paid off. From the hanging lanterns providing just the right amount of mood lighting to the assorted collages of photos from all of Zeydaan’s work with their team, the Hawkmoths, in their rallies for nonhuman and queer rights, to the pride flags on the wall with complimentary miniature flags for every denomination they could think of. At this point, the staff (which barely was more than half a dozen people) felt like calling it a day  “Alright, I think we’ve done a good job so far…how are we doing for time?” Zeydaan asked, getting a bit antsy about if they could work out their plan in time. “Concert starts at eight, so…like seven hours?” Another employee enlightened them. “Oh, thank goodness…” Zeydaan sighed as they rushed out the door. “Take your time, give me about an hour and I’ll be back!” Quickly, they raced to the other side of town to their humble cottage, where their instruments and the next step of their plan awaited them. Once to their chair and with their guitar in hand, though…hmm, they couldn’t quite do it just yet. Was it anxiety? Maybe. Either way, Zeydaan couldn’t help but have their mind drift back to the not so distant past. “Hm…are you sure you’re going to go through with this?” Zeydaan’s fellow teammate Alvis warned them as they were about to conjure up a portal to a different dimension. “I just want you to know full well that you’re entering ‘incoming apocalypse’ territory. Many people are as good as dead already.” “Yes, I know, I won’t try to tear myself up that much about it,” Zeydaan nodded. Earlier, when they had spotted this dimension through their scanners, an unstoppable fleet of asteroids were headed for collision with the planet they were now traveling toward.  “Plus, if on this trip, you somehow die—” “Don’t worry, I won’t. It’s just when I saw the scan of this dimension…I couldn’t help but feel like it’d be a waste to have it all disappear without a trace. All the people with no one to tell their stories. I’d like to at least document some things before it all goes down.” “Alright then, just be back at the earliest opportunity. You wouldn’t want to worry us.” “Got it,” Zeydaan said as they ventured into their portal. At the other end lay a seemingly normal town, the name of which they gleaned as Caldera Bay. Not wanting to attract more attention than they already would have (being someone who made their entrance through a swirling dimensional portal), they used their shapeshifting abilities to blend in with the prehistoric-looking population. Walking around the city was a healthy population of dinosaur people, and this opportunity granted Zeydaan the privilege of seeing a multitude of people go throughout their final days. Granted, there were a fair share of people who wanted a way out (to which Zeydaan gladly allowed them a ferry through one of their signature portals), but they were certainly taken aback by the number of people gladly coming to terms with their own mortality.  During their travels, though, they had found themself in a celebration called Calderafest, among a sizable crowd. Truthfully, they’d been just going wherever the wind took them for the afternoon, but the clamoring of the people around them made them think they were about to see something good.  “Hellooo, Caldera Bay! How are we feeling tonight?” The announcer walked up on stage to say as hype slowly started to build around them. “Welcome to the last concert you’ll ever see! I know you’re all dying to see Worm Drama right now, am I right?” Crickets.  “That got dark,” the announcer replied. Failed attempts at an introduction aside, Zeydaan stood patiently as the three-piece band got up on stage and started to play, with the crowd noticeably quiet and letting the music speak for itself. And what music it was, Zeydaan thought, allowing the tones to wash over them like the tide. We won't sit around and let the world go by We're gonna fly around the big, black sky tonight And when the fire falls from on high, We can be the pretty heroes if we try, tonight As the song continued on, Zeydaan’s appreciation for it only grew, with the fae-witch appreciating the lush instrumental, powerful lyrics, and especially the soulful vocals by the lead guitarist. They’d certainly have to meet with them after the show, they thought as they continued with another song.  Back seat baby with the wind whipped high When we said goodbye Got my eyes up baby with the pulling tide I did not know why I had my eyes up looking for a flag or a sign Just a sunset sigh With the concert coming to a close, Zeydaan was one among dozens of people clamoring and applauding at their marvelous performance. After Worm Drama had gone backstage, they couldn’t help but flag the band down to engage in a bit of casual conversation.  “Hello, don’t mean to intrude, but I just wanted to say I was a huge fan of your performance back there,” Zeydaan greeted them. “Who are you, anyway?” “Oh, thanks!” The guitarist of the trio was taken aback slightly by their praise. “Well, I’m Fang. Those are Trish and Reed back there. I like the outfit, by the way.” “Thanks,” the fae-witch replied as they looked down at their distinctly goth getup this run around. “My name’s Zeydaan, and I did actually want to ask you something.” “Shoot.” “If you were given the choice to start anew somewhere else with all of your friends, would you do it?” “Nah. I mean, I wouldn’t wanna take the easy way out, honestly. I did all I could in this life…it’s not worth thinking about all these ‘what ifs.’ We just had the best performance of our lives just now, and I wouldn’t have any other way to go out.” Zeydaan admittedly kind of knew that Fang would respond that way (that was kind of what they were singing about in the first place), but their response touched their heart all the same. The two proceeded to talk it up further about the life they had lived up until that point, and how they harbored little regret as they were about to witness their incoming demise. Out of everyone they had asked that day, even among those who had similarly reconciled everything in their lives before their demise. Perhaps the fact they’d just listened to their wonderful song was at play, perhaps it was their chill tone of voice, perhaps it was the comfort in talking with a fellow enby (their “they/them” pin on their bag said it all), but that talk with Fang and their fellow bandmates was probably the best they had in quite some time. As Zeydaan departed on their portal back home on Schism Earth, they waved Fang goodbye. They’d made a new friend that day, even if they only knew them for a couple of minutes. Their memory came to a close as Zeydaan looked at all the photos that they had taken that day once more. There had to be at least a hundred different photos of locales and people of this dimension, yet it didn’t feel like enough to Zeydaan. At the end of the lengthy list, however, were the couple of photos they had taken with Fang.  Even though they were…well, dead, Zeydaan didn’t exactly feel the most comfortable appropriating their lyrics like this, so they decided to start playing another song they thought would fit the concert well. Pulling up a bit of sheet music, helping themself to a couple of meat-fruit, and having a quick change of clothes, they started to practice their song.  “So take the photographs and still frames of your mind…” Zeydaan sang, getting through the first part of the song as the first inklings of transformation were about to unfold within their body. It began to take form within their hair. Their shoulder-length haircut cascaded down to their waist, with them having to flick their head back to get it out of their eyes as to not take their hands off their guitar. In addition, it lightened itself to a luminous silver color, as did their eyebrows. From the back of their scalp sprouted a good-sized white horn with triangular gray stripes lining its top, giving their profile a distinct silhouette, especially as a thick, spiked bracelet materialized right on top of their hair. Zeydaan blinked their eyes as their irises became striking amber and their pupils gained a reptilian, almond shape. Subtle bits of makeup appeared at their top, their red and blue color sticking out next to the rather plain gray and white. Zeydaan could hear the quality of their vocals improve in real time as the changes descended down their mouth and throat, the distinct voice of Fang beginning to come through. Along the way, their snout was about to transform as well, becoming much more angular, with their nostrils migrating to the base of said snout. Within their mouth, their rather unassuming teeth at least doubled in their number as they shrank down to compensate, creating a new set of pointy little things as Zeydaan’s mind momentarily drifted to how Fang’s dental appointments must have been. They digressed, however, as the changes departed from affecting their head. “Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time…” Zeydaan continued to sing as the transformation soon moved on to their torso, leaving a new set of off-white down in lieu of their coat of fur they had before as well as a prominent choker on their neck. Zeydaan continued to go off on their guitar as well, their timing and execution getting better by the second as they could feel Fang’s skill build in their mind. As they did, they felt their jacket they’d loosely worn on their person begin to fade away, as well as the yellow shirt they’d worn underneath shading itself to be jet black. The sleeves soon deprecated themselves, along with its lower half to become a crop top, complete with a couple of tears at the bottom. A small skull necklace also appeared on their chest and wrapped its string around Zeydaan’s neck. From this part of their body, they could also feel themselves getting quite a bit thinner. Granted, Zeydaan wasn’t very heavy, usually, but they couldn’t help but notice the rather thin physique their body now possessed as it became that of Fang’s.  “Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial…” Zeydaan felt their arms beginning to change, with them similarly replacing the pelage they had before with the white down that the pterosaur possessed. Their muscle and bone structure altered themselves as well, several prototypical avian elements inserting themselves into the anatomy of their appendages as the down feathers grew particularly thick near their elbows. Reaching their wrists as a thin Calderafest bracelet popped up on one of them, the transforming fae-witch momentarily felt themselves get off-groove as their hands were becoming more petite and delicate-looking, coinciding with long, black claws sprouting at their fingertips. Thankfully, they were able to get back into the swing of their song as soon as they could. In fact, they were starting to really get a kick out of it, so much so that they could feel their fae wings appearing, though this could’ve also been because they were about to undergo a transformation themselves. Their butterfly-like shape was soon disappearing as a wide array of feathers was coating itself around their paper-thin surfaces. While the sections close to their body was covered in a relatively thin down, on the lower edges of their wings grew several long feathers, which along with them generally expanding outward, allowed a wingspan that was easily double what they had before. For a brief moment, they actually wondered if they could fly with these things…another time, perhaps. “And for what it’s worth, it was worth all the while…” The changes reached Zeydaan’s legs, with them similarly thinning out as the fashion there refined itself to match the rest of the clothes on their body. The comfortable pants Zeydaan usually wore grew a leathery texture as several holes were torn around the pair, not out of the transformation pushing the limits of their resilience but simply to match the style carried by the rest of their garments. The magenta-and-pink sneakers they had on became a uniform black as they became similarly leathery, along with their length extending way past their ankles and their laces extending and criss-crossing along the way. As their tail shifted to become a relatively short appendage that matched the shape and colors of their horn, Zeydaan could feel the magical energy that accompanied all of their shapeshifting subside. As their transformation came to a close, Zeydaan was in the groove, entering an utter flow state of music where they felt invincible on the guitar. Pretty much any riff they could think of, they could do without as much as a thought. A chord progression appeared in their mind, and boom! with sheer muscle memory, it was good as shredded. In fact, they had a certain amount of fun improvising new things right off the cuff. Yet, they managed to curb their enthusiasm after a while, managing to have a look at themselves in their mirror. Hey, looking great, they thought. They recalled Fang complimenting their goth-inspired outfit back at Calderafest, but Fang certainly had an impressive look themself.  Their vision drifted to their wall-clock soon enough, however. 4:07? They’d been at this for a couple hours longer than they thought! The other menagerie employees must’ve been worried sick at this point. Noting the half a dozen missed calls on their phone at this point, they hastily rushed out their door, guitar in hand.  Back at the Maiden Menagerie, the other workers were quite impressed at their form, yet not so impressed at their relative tardiness. Yet, the preparations for the concert continued without a hitch, with them even setting up signs advertising “Zeydaan/Isabella as FANG from Worm Drama” around where they would perform. As the time of their performance came, they couldn’t help but appreciate the number of people, regardless of gender or species, that showed up. “People of Mailor, queer folk and allies alike! Are you ready for a night of fantastic performances?” The concert’s announcer hyped the crowd that had formed around the stage, with their attempts at hype thankfully landing much better than the emcee at Caldera. “We wouldn’t want to keep you waiting, so we’ll start off with a bang. Let’s give a hand for our very own Zeydaan as Fang from Worm Drama!” Zeydaan confidently strutted on stage as they didn’t give one moment of hesitation before starting. After all, they had the skill on the guitar of someone who’d been practicing it all their life! They felt they could do song after song, yet they put the most effort into their final one of the night. As the crowd reactions reached an all time high, they could only smile as they sang their last few lyrics. “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right…I hope you had the time of your life…”

[kazumahashimoto]

my alien series review upon first watch within a few days

alien: the blueprint. not really my type of film but the impact it had is undeniable. i do think the themes of sexual perversion are the strongest in this one, and it's better for it! the practical effects still hold up for the most part too. i'd go so far as to say they're timeless honestly. a good watch!

aliens: oh my god it's just american military propaganda. like holt shit dude. it is JUST propaganda. the addition of the xenomorph queen was interesting for sure but oh my god. how do so many people view this as being the holy grail of alien films. i'm not gonna get in on the genre shift cos quite frankly i don't know or care enough to analyze that aspect but by the gods. it is just military propaganda. EYEROLL.

alien³: does not deserve the hate it gets! absolutely liked this more than aliens. i don't mind that the girl and the dude die. "we just got so emotionally invested in them :(" girl the very first movie established ripley as the lone survivor. it kinda makes sense it went like this honestly. my one complaint here regarding that though IS definitely the inexplicable egg that Just So Happens to be in the escape ship. like i already roll my eyes at the fact that the queen even Made It to the ship in aliens but now i'm supposed to suspend my disbelief enough to imagine she also snuck an egg somewhere in there. ehhhh..... and also like the facehuggers are established to only open up when there's a host immediately in front of them. so how'd it open up before the cryotubes were popped and someone got out. the explanation is lame, but the movie as a whole is pretty solid i'd say. killing off ripley makes fucking sense lol like ripley's thing from the beginning has been trying to protect people from the xenomorph. and she's got the queen in her. time to fucking bounce!!!! good film. the cgi is kinda ass but it was the 90s. what would it be without kinda shitty cgi.

alien resurrection: HONESTLY? HONESTLY. MY FAVORITE. listen i rolled my eyes when i read the synopsis saying they cloned ripley but i actually don't mind how they ended up doing it! though some (one in particular) of the ripley clones leaned far far too heavily into just being ableism, i do think ripley 8 seeing everything was a really powerful scene. gets kinda undermined by the immediate misogyny but that's kinda par for the course here. you're gonna see this again moving forward but i do love when the xenomorphs are given a level of sympathy. i'm just too endeared to the creature. and we get multiple levels of that in this one! first and foremost of course with ripley 8 being spliced with the alien, we see her relationship to her humanity come into question in super interesting ways. the way it goes hand in hand with call's relationship was great too. THIS MOVIE WAS SO UNEXPECTEDLY GAY 😭 I WAS SO THRILLED. the two men at the end fucking kissed on the mouth!!!!!! now i'm not saying there was a lick of those two being gay with each other before that moment but i love watching men kiss so. a good time for me.

NOW MY FAVORITE SCENES. obv the one scientist kissing the glass i mean. i hadn't felt truly spoken to by these films until that moment. it was cuuuuteeessss the way they were following each other's movements. awa. sosweets. *ignores what happens next* AND THEN. DEAR GOD. the newborn's birth from the xenomorph queen. i fucking love the newborn. like it's a different type of cute from the xenomorphs proper but it is socutes all the same. like i feel so gotten by my human brain chemicals registering this beast as having big ol eyes and therefore being cute and endearing but well. it fucking is. it IS a beautiful butterfly. i looooooove i fucking loooooooooooove it immediately turning on the xenomorph queen and instead viewing ripley 8 as its mother. i adore that mix of humanity vs The Killar instinct of the xenomorph. both scenes of it cudding and nuzzling ripley 8 fuck me uuuuuuup like oouuyyyuhhyygh :( baby 😭😭😭 genuinely the most heartbreaking kill of the franchise is the newborn. what a slow and painful death!!!! and i love that ripley 8 felt bad like that was her baby!!!! brief as it was you could feel the love there!!!! but ultimately she still had to kill it, for the sake of humanity. absolutely loved it. so so so fucking good.

alien vs predator: i got like 20 minutes into the first one and dipped cos i did not fucking care so bad. not for me.

prometheus: i hated this one to be honest. like ultimately this might just be a skill issue of "i don't get it" but. i also just do not care 😭 i don't think it really succeeds at trying to answer any questions, i think the use of holograms was fucking boring and lazy, the plotholes were kind of hard to ignore, and, and i know this was kind of the point, but no alien! poisonally i am here for that freak so for me i was bored senseless. i'm also just sooooo fucking confused about charlie coming back after getting burnt alive 😭 and for that matter, the neomorph making it out of the burning ship? like one of the first things they establish about the xenomorph in the first movie was "most animals don't like fire" and consistently they have been killing xenomorphs with fire. so. what fucking gives. but whaaaatever. overall i just don't get it and i don't even caaaaaaaare about the fucking space jockey and his band of freaks. AND ANYWAY. WE DON'T LEARN SHIT. WHICH I GUESS IS THE POINT BUT 😭😭😭😭 whatever. best moment was david saying "don't all people want their parents dead?" like so fucking true bitch.

alien covenant: now i quite liked this one actually!! if resurrection is my no.1 this has gotta be my no.2. i think the theme of creation is handled much better here, and to be fucking honest i don't even care that it creates a plothole in prometheus, i fucking LOVE that david created the xenomorphs. that fucking bangs. once again people complained that shaw gets killed off screen after we got invested in her, but gang! this is the fucking alien franchise! the bitches are gonna die! do not get so attached babe now is not the time! the critique i will actually take there though is the killing of the female lead in order to focus more on the male lead, but character wise it does make sense. now, as far as the new humans go, errmmm most of them are dumb as dirt and i truly feel no sympathy for like any of them 😭 not for being dumb necessarily, that's just how these things go, but for the themes of colonialism. it is kinda ironic (and maybe intentional?) that the humans are always like guhh we can't let the aliens spread to more planets! and then they just keep colonizing planet after planet after planet until they run out of habitable zones like mm. curious! but anyway. as kinda dumb as the new form of impregnation is, i still love what the movie did with the xenomorphs themselves!

the scene of david trying to get the one neomorph to trust him was sooooo fucking goooooood and the pain on his face and in his scream when the captain shoots it fuuuuuuuuuck it was honestly a bit reminiscent of ripley 8 with the newborn. absolutely loved. AND FUCK. OH MY GOD. when the captain threatens him to tell him what's going on and he's just like 👍 you got it follow me ^_^ and leads him to a room full of eggs. THE CUNT. I WAS LOSING IT. DIABOLICAL. ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED. and then he kept throwing fucking rocks at his head until he woke back up 😭😭 the cunt. jesus christ. godlike. "what do you believe in?" "creation." SHIT RULES. i loved it. AND THE BABY XENOMORPH COMING OUT AND COPYING DAVID'S MOVEMENTSSSSSSSS I LOVE IT. SOCUTES. the way the music swelled and was so sweet like ugh. good fucking scene. also the shit with walter and david was fucking crazyyyyyy. the flute scene. AND THEY KISSED?!?!??! it's too dubious i feel for me to go completely nuts over but it was certainly a moment. i think the walter david switcharoo came from a mile away but i'm still into it. the absolute cunt. god i love it. THIS takes the violent act of creation and succeeds.

alien romulus: as expected of a disney product. YOOOO REFERENCE?! HEY REMEMBER WHEN WE DID THAT? GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH! HAHA! REMEMBER? DO YOU REMEMBER? PLEASE TELL ME YOU REMEMBER :( what a fucking waste if a movie 😭 i cannot think of a less interesting place in the timeline to try and shove yourself into. who fucking asked 😭😭😭😭 like the movie looked nice as per usual but oh my god. talk about a low budget flight. what was the point. what did this add. like. man and people wanna say the NEWBORN was an ugly monster design LOOK AT THE FUCKING OFFSPRING 😭😭😭 absolute flop. did not care for this beast. NOT CUTE. the best moment was the fucking ribcage pussioure pissing acid all over that annoying brit. and the scene was not even that good he just annoyed me. overall that shit sucked and i have absolutely no idea why they decided they just HAD to flesh out the time in between 2 and 3 more. ANY ASKERS?

moral of the story: play stupid games win stupid prizes. and don't be british

[riddlerosehearts]

OKAY SO i said yesterday that i would make a post about how anime weekend atlanta went, so... basically it was a bit of a mixed bag because while i got to see tons of cool cosplays and merch and go to some neat panels, we (as in me and my dad who was traveling with me) ended up not only having car troubles the entire weekend but also had some absolutely ridiculous problems with ordering food. just as an example, one night we ordered a pizza and it took 3 hours to arrive and we never got told there would be any kind of delay 😭 BUT i will go ahead and share my cosplays and then list off some good things that happened! i'm slightly embarrassed about posting my face on here since i've never done that before but here goes:

i was edward elric on thursday and friday at AWA and lilia vanrouge (pop music club version) on saturday and sunday! i did a bunch of thrifting and DIYing (and pulling things i already owned out of my closet for lillia lmao) for both of these and i am especially proud of that automail glove. i also went to two twisted wonderland cosplay photoshoots on both saturday and sunday which was definitely fun, and i met todd haberkorn while in my ed cosplay and got him to autograph the same fullmetal alchemist artbook that i've previously had signed by caitlin glass! i also bought a handful of silly little trinkets and i will put photos of all this other stuff under a cut so people who don't care don't have it clogging their dash too badly.

^ full group photo + some diasomnia photos of the saturday twst photoshoot. shoutout to the summer lilia who offered to princess carry malleus and the person who showed up as meleanor--two things which are both seriously impressive to me in different ways.

^ the photo i took with todd haberkorn + the artbook cover he signed. you can see where he signed his name right over ling and where, when i met caitlin last year, she signed her name right over winry. i met him once before but it was literally 10 years ago and it was great to be able to meet him again. he told me he thinks ling deserves his own FMA spinoff, and i very much agree with him.

^ some of the silly merch i bought. i also wanted to buy the official castle in the sky artbook as well as these kingdom hearts plushies so badly and still might buy them online later:

and uhhh i think that's all i feel like sharing on here?? i wish i had gotten to go to more panels but the various unexpected issues i had throughout the con kept me from having the time to go to many, although the ones i did get to see were great. there was one where a nuclear propulsion plant operator and NASA software engineer graded various sciencey anime on how good or bad their science was and did a very thorough examination of whether or not the premise of planetes--a screw hitting a spaceship, putting a hole in it, and taking out an intercontinental suborbital flight--was plausible. he concluded that it is and gave the overall series an A+ for scientific accuracy, and i've never seen this show but now i want to.

okay actually NOW that's all! if you cared enough to read this post then you deserve this bonus photo from when i got home yesterday, decided to put my ed cosplay back on and take extra photos of it, and subsequently got attacked by my cat:

[creativestorylove]

Neither a solution nor a confrontation

The next morning, I quietly entered Lucius' bedroom. I turned my back to the room to close the door as gentle as possible. I was tired myself, I just woke up half an hour before my duty called. The sun just began to rise, and the first sun rays shot through the curtains. I turned back to look after Lucius, but then I noticed Lucilla sitting in a wooden chair in a corner. My insides began to stiffen, didn't expect her to be here, and after the last night, it was just uneasy for me with the knowledge I had. She looked at me with narrow eyes. I went to her and bowed down. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were here. Shall I come back later again?" I whispered. Lucilla shook her head slowly, still lokcing her eyes on me. "I don't know what to do with you," she whispered back and stood up. "Why?" I asked quietly and decided to act as innocent as possible. "The greatly embarrassing incident last night... I heard you told my brother everything. You know, this can't be tolerated, Serena, do you?" she whispered and pushed me to sit down on that chair. To win some time, I gazed at Lucius, who was still sleeping. Lucilla continued looking down at me: "Do you understand this? My misery? I don't know what to do because everything I'll do will have negative consequences for me." I gulped, still looking in her troubled face. I knew what she meant. She knew that I knew about the conspiracy, but she couldn't punish me in any way because of Lucius and her brother. If she did anything bad to me or sent me away, Lucius would be furious, and I didn't want to know what the young emperor would do. "I know," I answered quietly. I suddenly got this feeling of regret somehow. Not because I wanted the Ceasar to be murdered but for the sake of Lucilla. She told me how she's envying me because I spent so much time with her son. After that, I thought that she would just change my duty to assist her brother, but little did I know. I thought we could become friends with time. Now she must've been thinking all night how to get rid of me. "I don't want you to care about Lucius anymore, but don't you dare to tell him. For now, I'll say that you got sick, so behave accordingly, or I'll ignore the consequences." she stated, whispering with emphasis. I nodded and quickly left the room. As soon as I was in the hallway, my feet carried me to the slaves bedroom. I went in and laid down on my flatbed. I didn't know what to do either. Should I leave? Should I stay? I knew Lucilla would find a way, and I wasn't eager to be her next poisoning victim.

Time went by, and in the late evening, I finally decided to run away. It wouldn't be easy as a slave, but I had to try at least. It would be the best for everyone involved. I had nothing to pack, so I silently said goodbye to everyone and everything. My home is the place where I worked and lived for over 10 years. Quietly, I sneaked through the hallways, avoiding the few guards patrolling around. My sandals nearly made no sound as I reached the exit of the palace. Cautiously, I looked around and found the gaurds there sleeping. Everything went so well for me. It almost went too well. For a second, I thought that Lucilla was helping me, but I didn't see her anywhere. Before I could stop, I thought about Lucius. Little man. I frowned and apologized in my head. 'You will be alright. Maybe you can forget about me and you'll be the great heir of your uncle,' I thought. My heart became heavy. Now my mind went to the young emperor. I prayed to the gods that he'd be careful and survive. I thought about the last encounter of us. How he was near me, looking at me. I knew why I choked at Lucius comment at the dinner. I fell for the ceasar and I fell hard. As a quiet sob escaped my lips, I was pulled back to reality. Ducking, I took a deep breath and sneaked through the exit, always staying in the shadows of buildings the moon and fire places casted. My heart was pounding heavily as I made my way away from the palace, through the noble streets, market places to the slums of the big city of Rome. Getting deeper and deeper into little, narrow paths and corners, I hid myself inside a rotting barn. Climbing up a wooden ladder to a hayloft or what was left of it, I laid into a far corner. Through breathing, I tried to calm myself down. I didn't know what my actual plan was, but I decided to stay the night and maybe the whole day to leave the city gates at night. Maybe with a hay carriage.

@darknessisafriend hey ^^ maybe it's a bit of a filler in this story, but I found it too important to skip it, so as we agreed, I tagged you ^^ love you :>

[alyszaen]

~ "dating" - seungmin x chichi ~

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embedding in time: Maxident era word count: 1.2k words summary: seungmin and chichi go on a date warnings: fluff disclaimer: Chichi is an O/C invented by @chiskz who gave me explicit permission to create and post this.

Do not repost or translate my work. Reblog or comment if you liked it. Let me know what you enjoyed.

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The weather wasn't great - it had been raining ever so slightly for the last 5 hours, destroying Chichis plan of meeting up for a walk with Keeho. He ended up cancelling as soon as the sky started to look grey, anyways, stating he would use this chance to stay in the studio for a while longer and continue training.

The oldest Stray Kids member had been stuck in the dorms, not finding the motivation to really do anything productive. The enthusiasm to continue studying was long gone, considering she had done nothing else but fill her brain with information about law in the last month. Today was the groups one day off, leaving everyone to spend time with friends or family. More or less at least. Chris was in the studio, producing, as per usual, and Seungmin also stayed at home, not really wanting to hang out with a lot of people.

Or so she thought, because just as she finished sending a meme into her groupchat with Felix, Hyunjin and Keeho, a knock on her door made her raise her head. Logically thinking, this could only be Seungmin, her new fake-boyfriend. "Come in!", Ichi exclaimed, waiting for the door to open. She was right, it was the singer. Seungmin didn't say a word and just threw himself onto her bed, groaning in frustration. "I'm bored.", he sighed. The girl raised an eyebrow, "And what am I supposed to do about that?" "I don't know. I thought maybe as my fake-girlfriend that I am fake-dating we could go on a fake-date.", he waved his hands in front of her face, waving his hands into all directions and getting louder whenever he said a word relating to their situation. "Hmm.", Chichi thought about it for a moment, "I guess JYP did tell us do get sighted on a date or something like that..." She pouted a little at the thought of having to leave the comfort of her warm home during the current weather. Chichi ended up throwing him out of her room so she could get changed for their outing, agreeing to his plan.

The singer took his oldest member to a café, treating her to her favourite drink. Thinking back, the newest addition realized, that this was the first time she had ever spent any time with Seungmin alone. They hung out within the group, but it was never just the two of them. They didn't dislike eachother or anything, there was just never a chance or need for them to get into further conversation. Which was why this was a great chance to change that.

"Did I ever tell you how intimidated I was by your singing?", Chichi mumbled into her non-existent beard. He barely heard her words, "What do you mean?" "Well...I was so impressed by your vocal control. It made me realize I still had so much to learn. But I was always to afraid to ask you for help." Seungmin tilted his head slightly, trying to make sense of the information he just learned, "But I was intimidated by you!" The young woman started to giggle loudly, "Why the hell would you-" "You may have been new, but you were already so good at both singing and dancing. I was kind of afraid you would take my spot...", the boy got more quiet towards the end of his sentence. He was clearly embarassed by his feelings.

"Well-", Chichi clapped her hands, "I'm glad we got that out of the way. That kind of explains a lot." She smiled at the young man in front of her, changing the topic so they wouldn't be forced into an awkward conversation, "And now that we are dating, madly in love with eachother, I feel like we should get to the juicy details!" Her smile went from something warm and comforting into one you would probably run away from if you saw someone look at you like that. Anybody that didn't know her would likely consider her expression crazy. Seungmin was about to ask her what she meant by that, when she started speaking again. "If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, which one would it be and why."

Throughout the date both parties realized, that they had no idea why they never really hung out before. They found a lot of similarities between them. At one point, when they noticed that they were currently both watching the same drama, they decided to schedule movie-nights to watch it together from now on and get more chances to spend time.

Chichi was sure this fake-dating thing could work. Now that they understood their similiarities, they could easily sell that they were in love. Of course it would still hurt, acting like she liked someone, when the person she really wanted to be with was so close and yet too far away, but she would figure this out somehow. Ichi was strong and some stupid publicity stunt wouldn't change that.

A server at the café ended up kicking them out at around closing time, because the two idols had completely missed how much time passed. The sun had already set by the time they went back outside and the way home was filled with loud laughter and slight friendly shoves. Their original mission of being seen in public was long forgotten - it had turned from that into an actual hangout of two friends. Ichi was glad that she gained a new friend through this generally unfortunate situation, instead of just seeing him as a colleague, knowing that acting like they were dating was going to be more of a fun activity, rather than a chore. Of course they had noticed a couple fans not so subtly photographing and filming them throughout the day, but they used it as a chance to cuddle up to the other a littlem, holding hands, basically making it look like they were actual partners.

Back at the dorms Seungmin went to have a conversation with Hyunjin, who had come back from spending his time with Kkami and family a few hours ago. Chichi knocked on Changbins door, wanting to tell him about the day she's had, only to find his room empty. "He's still out with his parents.", Jisung mentioned when he noticed the confused Chichi, while he was walking by. Her view lowered onto the floor, "Oh. Thanks." She went over to her own room, getting comfortable on her bed, but not before changing into some comfortable clothes again. It was weird for the rapper not to be home yet, considering they had plans to hang out and watch a movie tonight. Maybe he forgot?

Chichi tried to wrap her head around what may be going on, snuggling into the sweater she stole from Changbin a few days ago, inhaling the scent of his perfume that still covered the fabric.

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Taglist: @longingpurity, @hyujinnie1, @sensitiveandhungry, @minvho, @skz-jisoo, @minnnie-binnie, @zoe8stay, @l3visbby, @bbyquokka Feel free to let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist!

[scotianostra]

On June 27th 1937, Robin Hall, folk singer and musician, was born in Edinburgh.

Robin, had to overcome polio as a child inspent most of his early years in Glasgow and was a direct descendant of Rob Roy Macgregor, and of Mungo Park, the explorer. His mother had been an opera singer and Robin was nurtured on a generous diet of classical music and music hall songs. During his lengthy convalescence from polio his interest in all types of music flourished.

As a teenager, he played with a traditional jazz group, studied the piano, and spent his spare time digging up American folk songs and investigating the folk material of his native Scotland. Hall studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and worked briefly as in actor in repertory theatres. Robin went to London in 1957, armed with a large repertoire of folk songs and a guitar. While in England he recorded a series of EP's for "Collector Records", which are now very hard to find and highly priced. In the 60's, Robin became a bit notorious and controversial for insisting on wearing his Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament badge on the BBC's Tonight Show, for which he was widely criticized.

After Robin left the duo in 1981, he enjoyed a successful career in broadcasting—winning two national radio awards, for best presenter and best documentary, for Radio Clyde's The Sing Song Streets, a program about Glasgow told through songs, stories and children's games.

Sadly, Robin died on November 18, 1998, at the age of 61. Another great folk singer that lived life to excess, lost at an early age. Robin married and divorced twice and was survived by three children.

There's not many Robin Hall solo songs out there, Fitba Crazy, Coulter's Candy, Mingulay Boat Song and the likes are all with his long time singing partner Jimmy, but I did manage to find one song!

Dundee Weaver is a famous bawdy Glasgow street song

Oh, A'm a Dundee weaver

An A come fae bonnie Dundee

I met a Glesca fellae

An he gaed courtin me

He tuik me out a-walkin

Doun by the Kelvin Haa

An thair the dirty wee rascal stole

Ma thingumijig awa

An thair the dirty wee rascal stole

Ma thingumijig awa

He tuik me oot a-walkin

Doun by the Roukin Glen

He showed tae me a bonnie wee bird

An he showed me a bonnie wee hen

He showed tae me the bonnie wee birds

Fae a linnet tae a craw

An he showed tae me the bird that stole

Ma thingumijig awa

An he showed tae me the bird that stole

Ma thingumijig awa

Noo A'll ging back tae Dundee luikin

Bonnie, young an fair

A'll pit oan ma buckle an shune

An tie back ma bonnie broun hair

A'll pit oan ma corsets tight

Tae mak ma middle luik smaa

An wha wad ken fae ma rosie cheeks

That ma thingumijig's awa?

An wha wad ken fae ma rosie cheeks

That ma thingumijig's awa?

Come aa ye Dundee weavers an

Tak this advise fae me

Never let a fellae

An inch abune yer knee

Never staun at the back o a close

Or up agin a waa

For if ye dae ye can safely say

Yer thingumijig's awa

For if ye dae ye can safely say

Yer thingumijig's awa