#I got ghosted by him a year ago so rip lmao

[kookieswan]

Kim Namjoon, Deep Ocean Blue, angst

Ocean Blue

Mermaid!Joon x LifeGuard!Reader

Word Count: 700+

Genre: Mermaid!AU, Lifeguard!AU, Stramgers to Friends to Lovers, Angst, Fluff.

Warnings: MC is reckless. Near death experience- MC nearly drowns and sustains injuries. Namjoon is a mad mermaid man.

Notes: This is an OLD request lmao. I hope you like it if you’re still around anon ♥️

Find my Main Masterlist here!

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Eyes slamming open with a start, you cough up water violently a few times as black dots dance across your vision mockingly. You feel his presence above you instantly, hands lingering on your body, the feeling of his lips now a ghost. It’s not long before the ache of near death resonates as well.

You hadn’t meant to sink into the black depths of the ocean, not as far as you had anyway. Namjoon had disappeared without a trace over a week ago, and so you had attempted to row out to sea and back to find him. Was it stupid? Yes, but in the end it had got him back to you; that much is apparent as he scoots closer to you in the warm sand.

You had rowed out to your island that wasn’t to far out from the cove, fully intending on searching the whole area for him. It’s usually where he can be found when he’s disappeared, but in your distracted searching, you hadn’t noticed the storm brewing above your head, hadn’t watched for any of the signs. A rookie mistake on your part.

“Dumb.” It’s thickly accented, harsh in tone. You wince as you attempt to sit up as he draws back, peering to the side as you do. It’s still blurred but he’s definitely glaring at you, eyes slitted, nostrils flared. You’ve clearly got a very pissed off mermaid on your hands and you can blame no one but yourself. You know he won’t agree with your reasoning in a million years.

“I- I know. I’m sorry Joon.” It comes out raspy, your own voice ripping at your raw throat. You don’t even know what else to say to him in your embarrassed state. Staring back at the mermaid, you watch as his glare slowly cracks and his face falls into something softer. He scoots closer, a webbed hand raising up to slowly caress your clammy cheek.

A cool wave of relief washes over you, all of the pain lessening just a little. You appreciate him using his energy to heal you even if only a little, but you don’t want him to waste anything else on you. He’s really too sweet…

“Okay?” Clearing your throat again , you start to realize just how cold and run down you feel, even with Namjoon’s healing. The happiness of finding your mermaid is starting to fade slowly, the exhaustion taking over instead. You try very hard not to show it on your face as you place your hand over his.

“I’ve… Felt better. Thank you for saving me, I would have, well…” Appraising him bashfully, it’s then you notice that his tale is absent, now replaced with legs and other unmentionable appendages. You cough loudly as your hand falls, both in surprise and from the salty water burning your esophagus.

Namjoon stands suddenly, just the slightest bit shaky. He’s gotten a lot better at walking with practice, it’s something you’re strangely proud of teaching him. He leans down and grabs you without a word, scooping you up into his arms. There’s a flash of worry that someone will see, but right now, he’s just a naked guy carrying you on the beach.

“We talk later. Still mad. Rest.” There’s a giggle hiding behind your lips as he pouts, his gait a little unbalanced as he attempts to keep you level as he begins to walk toward the parking lot. Swallowing it down, you just nod against his neck, slowly burrowing closer to him. He smells like salt and flowers and everything you so terribly missed.

“We can talk later, yeah. Just get us to the car first, okay?” You can talk after a nice long nap, but first you have to get the two of you back to your apartment. Thankfully it’s not too far from the beach, and the roads are pretty dead…

“You hurt, I drive.” The laugh can’t be contained this time, especially as he clicks out a few laughs of his own. What a lovely silly man you’ve found, it only makes sense he isn’t fully human.

“Not in a million years Joon.”

[turtlesocksv2]

Liveblogging DFF Ep 2

It's time for Dead Friend Forever episode 2!

Ok I have to say this but it cracks me up every time i watch a Thai show and we get that little disclaimer at the start saying "we do not condone any characters/jobs/actions in this show it is for entertainment only" like what kind of 2003 FF.Net "Please don't sue me i am poor and only playing with these characters like dolls" ass thing to see in front of Mafia Dramas (Kinnporsche), Serial Killer hijinks (Dead Friend Forever) and fucking bittersweet adult midlife crisis vibes (Moonlight Chicken).

Top is absolutely losing it, and they need to leave poor Fluke alone. He is trying his best! What more do you expect from him?!

Oh, Tee is the first to break off from the group. RIP Tee, we'll see how that works out for you.

The mask the killer wears really is very freaky. well done, props department.

Phi the only one awake. I see you. I support you in your killings.

Oh I really thought Top was donefor there. Phi taking control of the group is so interesting. The way he leads everyone down what investigation paths...

Alright just what did you guys do to Non last time??? thank god the 3 newbies to the group are having a little sidebar asking that question. Clearly whatever it was was awful for the group to jump immediately to Non is Dead and his Ghost is Cursing Us and He Wants Us Dead Too for What We Did. But also, i think this rules out All Three Newbies working together to I Know What You Did Last Summer the group, otherwise this scene would make no sense. We'd have another Gossip Girl Dan situation where actions taken when they're alone don't add up to the reveal. So at least 1 of the newbies is not involved.

LOL at Tan trying to get Fluke to spill what the core group knows. If i was Fluke I'd be feeling very very threatened right now. "You think you're going to be next. I'm worried about you." and now Jin is being mean to Fluke too! for the love of god, Fluke is trying! just because he wants to be a doctor doesn't mean he can perform surgery in a cabin in the woods! Leave him alone!

"a good-mouthed and good-hearted man like you doesn't need to remind me" yessss. kill him.

lmao Por has old fucking floppy disks. are these people old enough to have used a floppy disk in their lives. but i know i've got old floppies around somewhere so it makes sense there'd be some at a like summer vacation house that gets used rarely. but also, did i miss that Por hid the footage last episode? because otherwise wouldn't the harddrive that had the footage still be in the room they were all in when Phi hooked it up to the TV?

Was that a mystery medicine bottle in the closet? 👀👀 yeah i'm gonna need someone who can read Thai to to screenshot and tell us what that says.

Oh i really don't need the squelching noises from Fluke tending to Por's wound, please.

Ok, that Por jumpscare with the balcony door got me. and How the fuck does Por have the strength to strangle someone when he's been bleeding out all night?! Obviously a hallucination or something but what caused the hallucination?!

Thank you, White, for bringing back up that they are in the Cult Sacrifice Woods and this might be a Cult Killer or have to do with the cult. a very important thing to remember.

I would absolutely be looking at that footage the second Tee and Top turned their backs, the fuck. No you don't get to act that sus about what happened three years ago and play it off! Phi fighting the fight to keep that footage intact and eventually seen. Tan trying to gently break the idea that the group was bullying Non to White.

oh SHIT the way Uncle Deng got fucking GOT by that wire i screamed! i knew something was going to go down because obviously they couldn't escape the valley mansion in episode 2 but jesus. fucking. christ.

Tee finally remembering he has a boyfriend that he abandoned to the serial killer lmao. Tee and Top keep almost getting away and then going back. they are being herded like cattle. but also, it's kind of sus.

No PhiJin and barely any TeeWhite stuff this episode, which makes sense in that they are busy they don't have time to fuck, but i do find it interesting that PhiJin seem to be on the same page the episode with like no relationship tension between them just situational worry considering Jin was literally biting Phi's dick last episode. Putting aside grudges to stay alive: i'm proud.

anyway that was a really good episode! Tee and Top are the worst. Fluke needs to get the fuck out of this toxic friend group. White needs to dump Tee and get the fuck out of this toxic friend group. Phi and Tan can kill whoever they want i support it. ❤️

[1lovesickfangirl1]

obligatory nerdy prudes must die tier list! (explaining under the cut)

Bully The Bully- OKAY THIS IS MY FAV SONG AT THE MOMENT IT'S SO FUN!! Just some kids planning to prank the bully and no one dies :D! I will now list some of my favorite parts because I love it so much

° the entire cool beans section (i used to say cool beans so much a few years ago)

° the jAgermAn??

° "Petey gonna jump on out *he jumps* "JAGER GONNA JAGER OUUUT" (been repeating this part a lot)

° "We're gonna make a dirty movie where the losers win, and the joke is on him!" (AAAAGH I LOVE HARMONIES)

Nerdy Prudes Must Die- Will and Jon in this song?? IM EATING THIS SHIT UP!!! Jon sounds so good omg. Max's ghost form is sick as hell.

High School Is Killing Me- the opening song is a bop. THE HARMONIESSS!!

Cool As I Think I Am Reprise- AAH THIS SONG DESTROYED ME. HOW DARE THEY BE IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER

Literal Monster Reprise- DUDE I LOVE WILL'S PERFORMANCE!! really hoping to see him in more Starkid stuff. performing this song looks so fun. Max is an asshole, but so goofy.

Lords In Black- idk why The Summoning and Lords In Black are separate things, thought The Summoning was the intro to the song but whatevs. love the designs of the lords in black. such a fun song, really should listen to it more.

If I Loved You- H A R M O N I E S!!! love when Pete was talking about the football team he swung his arms like a bat.

Bury The Body- love Grace being unhinged good for her. the panic is so good in this scene. again, HARMONIESS!! and hooray for cutting off nips.

Hatchet Town- EVERYONE SOUNDS SO GOOD. all the references were fun! it's giving McCarthyism

Cool As I Think As I Am- love Pete and love this song, but there are songs that i love WAY more. this song is iconic tho, it's got the line that comes back across the musical!! build that confidence king!

Dirty Girl- a Definite Bop. and Will is RIPPED GODDAMN. but maybe just a liiiittle too long. and when she was repeating im a good girl I was kinda uncomfy lmao.

Just For Once- playing a character that's playing a character sounds difficult so props to Lauren. liked seeing more of Ruth's character in this song. feeling like her life is over even tho she's still young (oh no it's relatable)

Best Of You- THEY WENT THROUGH HELL THEY DESERVE A CHEESY ENDING SONG!!

Dirty Dudes Must Die- WOO GRACE GET THOSE DIRTY DUDES

Literal Monster- it's alright, don't have any strong feelings about it. Kim SLAYED her part tho!

The Summoning- just an intro, points for spooky vibes

Go Go Nighthawks- very unfortunate that this goes at the bottom of the list. love the football guys <3 FUCK YOU CLIVESDALE!!! it's good but just really repetitive :/

[chthonicgodling]

(April’s)Huevember - Day 22!

featuring: Cinthy & Krokos

[in which I’ve made my very own #Huevember wheel this year (that you can use too! Pls tag me I’d LOVE to see!) - unabridged version continues, including a wide array of Elysium’verse characters across the rainbow!]

PURPLE DAYS BEGIN!! my official ™ fave of the month is still coming up but literally all the rest of these pics from now til the End end are my faves honestly I. love every one of these. starting today with some GHOSTS 👻 - Flower Shades Hyacinthos “Cinthy” & Krokos! ok the lore info on this post got ridiculous I’m so sorry — for once I’m actually gonna stick it behind a cut to spare u all from this essay lmfao??? AUGHH

I’ve given my whole Flower Shade spiel twice prior (most recently on the 8th for Karpos & Kalamos’ pic) so I will spare you all lmao - Cinthy’s untimely demise turned him into. well. yknow. Hyacinth. (Actually, *annoying mythological facts voice* it’s larkspur but honestly that’s stupid so—) and Krokos’ own death turned him into…. crocus. duh duh. Hello. duh.

Krokos and Cinthy died, separately, in the EXACT SAME STUPID WAY, and also their personalities are SOOO polar opposites from each other so drawing them next to each other is exceptionally hilarious to me-

Krokos was dating Olympian Hermes when he died in a FREAK DISCUS ACCIDENT rip - death by frisbee🤦🏻‍♀️ and tho they’ve long since “”formally”” broken up they did part ways on good terms and consider themselves friends…………. With benefits in current days fgkgkg

and then, Cinthy!!💞💞💞💞 Cinthy is NOT as much of a background character like the other Flowers, since in current canon he’s actually engaged to Gany, with whom he’d been secretly…💞close friends💞 with during his own mortal life, back when Gany was tethered to Zeus and Cinthy himself was dating the Olympian Apollo. Cinthy’s own death via discus accident was… a little more complicated, as it came at the hands of another god and…. Maybe even more than that one god - if anyone had known about his relationship with Gany at the time….. hm. Well.

….meanwhile Elysiumverse!Apollo is an actual villain in here, like. in my list of Elysium Villains with Thanatos and OrigiMel. by the time Gany fell into the Underworld, Apollo and Cinthy had already kindave grown apart BUT Apollo’s absolute rage (and following related actions) over discovering that the Elysium palace was “keeping” Gany, and that Cinthy was choosing him over him, was the final “mask off” trigger to expose ✨his real horrible self✨ and needless to say that breakup was. uhhhhhh. rough.

BUT that was years ago and now they all live happily ever with Cinthy reunited with the ACTUAL love of his life snotty Olympians be damned

despite being a natural brunette (maybe) when he was alive Cinthy was constantly dying his hair different colors every week and when Meli & Loki turned Elysium’s shades solid (long story) years ago, he jumped right back to it; although his go to default is usually like, blurple-pink. When Krokos turned solid the first thing he did was make Cinthy dye his hair bright purple! Also fun fact Cinthy was the person who first dyed Chal’s hair red :-)

idk why tf I felt the need to do all this on this post but. jazz hands here you go. STAY TUNED TOMORROW ETC- all the hUevemebr posts are in this tag!!

[dontforgetoctober3rd]

Spillways (Chapter 2) A Gilded Age fanfic

(The title is taken from one of my favorite Ghost songs, which is about confronting old wounds and pain in order to heal so you can move forward.)

Faceclaims for George and Randolph Stewart

Contents: Prologue, Chapter 1

Word count: 1441

Summary: All of New York society is in a tizzy over the news: The Earl of Galloway is in town with his son, the 30 year old (bachelor) Randolph.  Marriage-minded mamas are on the prowl but the Earl and his son eschew most of the lavish parties and teas they’re invited to...except to a certain tea with Agnes Van Rhijn and her niece, Marian.

Rating: Everyone (Ratings will be *by chapter*, so subsequent installments might differ in their rating.)

Author's Notes: This is a canon-divergence story beginning a few months from episode 5 of Season 2. This is obviously not going to be historically accurate, also I'm from America and I've only gleaned a cursory knowledge of the Scottish peerage from my reading and basically am just using the titles, locations and names as vehicles for these characters please just go with it lmao

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with The Gilded Age in any way beyond being a fan, I do not own the Gilded Age characters nor am I using them for any commercial purposes or making money from this, this is just basically word fanart of the show

Lovely divider is by @muchomago

—Five months ago—

Every time the letter came, she set it aside.  As usual, she waited for Peggy to finish up for the day before dealing with it herself.  Just seeing his name made her blood boil every time.  Not even bothering to open it to read, same as all the others, Agnes Van Rhijn angrily ripped up the letter from George Stewart. 

Since the death of her husband Arnold many years ago, the letters had begun coming regularly, like a bad case of the influenza.  Instructing the servants to always throw out the letters from this George Stewart would have invited gossip, the last thing she wanted.  She suspected Bannister already knew but he would never be so crass as to divulge Agnes’s history with the man to the rest of the servants. 

 “It is another solicitation for patronage.  From Scotland, this one.” she had said in the beginning, in a noncommittal manner, to hide her anger.  Bannister had merely nodded.

She had never written back (she refused to give him the satisfaction) but he had kept at it, sending a letter yet again.  And Again.  She tore up his letters.  Again and again.   Today was different, however.  The sting of the reminder, the annoyance of it, his sheer audacity to keep trying to communicate…it mocked her now more than ever.  Really, after Marian’s humiliating betrayal of having secured employment at a school and then for it all to become known at Dashiell’s welcoming tea the other week… she had had enough.  No more.

With an efficiency she hadn’t possessed since boarding school, Agnes sat at her desk and smoothed out a crisp sheet of paper and quickly dipped her pen several times before beginning to write.  Peggy would have been unable to properly convey the seething hatred she felt, this written rebuke to George Stewart must come from herself.

Agnes scribbled furiously, almost missing the inkwell several times, managing three sheets before finally packaging them in a sturdy envelope.  Bannister was instructed to see it reached the Post Office Department steamboat before it left the harbor that week.  

Enough was enough.

Let that wretched letter I got today be the last I ever hear from him…Agnes thought to herself. 

—-- Present Day—--

“Father, I don’t see the issue.  Marian Brook is from a great family.” Randolph Stewart stood before his father in their suite’s parlor, having just relayed his intention to call on Marian.

Lord George Stewart was not pleased.  “Her breeding is not the issue.  I did not bring you here with me to go prowling around for women.  You’re to shadow me as I look over my investments in lumber and petrol-driven carts. Your future sources of additional income when you become Lord, might I remind you.”

Randolph was indignant.  “Marian Brook is not the type of woman one goes ‘prowling’ for!  Do not speak in such a way.”

“I will speak as I please.” 

“Oh? What of your business with Mrs. Van Rhijn?  It's quite rich of you to be berating me for calling on a lady when it is the sole reason we have sailed to the states.”

“I am not berating you.  Furthermore, I am not going to call on Agnes Van Rhijn, I am going to meet with her.  It’s a very crucial difference and not at all social, there’s no comparing the two situations.”

“So you say.”

“ENOUGH.  Enough.” George huffed.  “I am not going to bicker with my own son about this! We have several business meetings to attend to.  You will not have time for your little tea with Miss Brook.”

“Oh, but you will have time for yours with Mrs. Van Rhijn?”

“I do not have a meeting with her yet but I will soon. I will figure out a way, never you mind.”

“Hmm.  I am still going to the tea with Miss Brook.” Randolph said.

“As I have stated several times now, though, that is quite enough.  I do not have to explain myself to you and you’re not to dismiss any of our appointments for something frivolous.  You will do as I say.”

“Or what?” Randolph smirked.  He knew where this argument was headed. His father would eventually give in, as he usually did these days.

Ever since their shouting match the day before George had finally received a response from Agnes, Randolph felt closer to his goal: living life on his own terms.  

After they had ceased their screaming in that fight, Randolph had threatened to leave forever.  He had said he would not return even if George would pass away.  It would put the Earldom of Galloway in the uncomfortable position of trying to wrangle their new Earl back to Scotland while having a chosen family member looking after their holdings, like a common steward.

Randolph didn’t know what this Agnes Van Rhijn had written to his father, but after reading that letter he was a changed man.  An out of character, sincere apology was given to him by his father the next morning.  No longer did he bark orders at his son or moan about his many projects for the betterment of the poor.  George Stewart’s contempt for Randolph’s hunger to change things in society seemed to have evaporated.  He still made cutting remarks, yes, but as one would after reading a particularly bad book or having sat through a very boring play and not as if helping the less fortunate was something…revolting.

George Stewart had begun to finally behave like father, a person that Randolph admired instead of growing to hate.  Better late than never, he supposed.

As for himself, Randolph felt changed as well.  He could finally see that something horrible had eaten away at his father for many years and caused him much anguish.  That had been the source of his anger and bitterness, and he had finally made a decision to confront it by coming to America.

Randolph was proud.  He planned to thank Agnes Van Rhijn in person, even if she had no clue what her letter had accomplished, but he had another idea..one that could very well make Marian’s aunt direct her fury to him.

“You know, father, you could come with me.  To this tea.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Father…if you must meet with Mrs. Van Rhijn, why not come with me?  I can send a note to Miss Brook and ask for our upcoming visit to be at their home on 61st Street.”

“An Earl does not just foist himself upon events he is not invited to!  It is unseemly!  Where are your senses?”

“An Earl should also not deny so many invitations to promenade or dine.  Accepting only the one to Mrs. Astor’s luncheon hardly seems proper to me.  People might think we lack the funds to socialize around town as befits our station.” Randolph said idly, fiddling with a flower arrangement on a nearby table. “I can ask Miss Brook to send a formal invitation and include you on it.”

“Are you mad?  Agnes Van Rhijn will never agree to it.” George stated. 

“Yet Miss Brook was at a school, teaching a class on watercolors.  I’m told her aunt wasn’t agreeable at first but eventually caved to the idea.” 

George Stewart still was not persuaded. “If Agnes is as I remember her, she rules her house with an iron fist.  Miss Brook would have better luck trying to part the red sea.”

“Miss Brook will do it, I know she can.” Randolph insisted. “So, shall I do it?  Send her a note?”

When George remained silent, Randolph knew he had to go in for the kill.

“Of course, if you’d rather people think our family are paupers and can’t afford to-”

“Fine!  Fine. Very well. Send the girl the note.” George said dismissively, rubbing his temples.

Randolph walked over, taking his father’s shoulder.  “Father, you needn’t act as if you’re about to have your teeth pulled.  Whatever this business you have with Agnes Van Rhijn is about, I’m sure that facing the issue head on is better than letting it fester any further.”

George covered his son’s hand on his shoulder with his own.  “Randolph…you cannot know the shame it brings me.  I don’t know if I can do this.” 

“Of course you can!  I will be there with you.” 

George Stewart smiled briefly before standing from his chair, shuffling his suit before heading to their balcony.

Randolph felt elated.  He was going to see Marian again and his father might finally get closure for whatever was plaguing him. It seemed too good to be true.  Hopefully Agnes Van Rhijn was more accommodating when Marian came to her about this invitation. 

NEXT: Chapter 3

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

TWO TOWERS THOUGHTS!!!!

there are more of these bc the two towers is probably my favourite of the trilogy, despite the distinct LACK of boromir 😔

BUT i did notice a few things that baby birb totally ignored or forgot about!!! find out what they are........below 😈

one of baby birb's fav shots of aragorn was when he's lying across a rock tracking merry and pippin bc it reminded me of that one episode spongebob squarepants where the lads end up riding a rock to the customer's house 🤣 'it's not a boulder, it's a rock! a big, beautiful ROCK!!' lmao

baby birb ALSO loved all the shots of everyone running. as a smol individual, i had to run EVERYWHERE to keep up with the Tall Folk 😒 sure it was nice seeing THOSE feckers sprinting for a change!!

am still very confused about why anyone listened to grima what's his name, ur man's half the way to gollum u know 👀

tangential to the running scenes: i love aragorn's doofy run where he's flinging his one arm about like a silly. reminds me of my OWN unhinged run 🤣 (it is possible that these films are more deeply imprinted upon me than i thought 😅)

'LOOKS LIKE MEAT'S BACK ON THE MENU, BOYS!!!'

legolas's FACE every time he has an emotion. delightful

knowing that viggo mortensen broke his toe made me laugh at the helmet kicking scene tbh, i know it's meant to be poignant but that EXTREMELY REALISTIC scream of pain got me going like 🤣

shout out to treebeard holding merry and pippin in his tree hands. i kept thinking 'what if he just. smashes them together like barbie dolls 🤣'

ORCSES. HOBBITSES. i actually love gollum-smeagol, he's too pathetic for me to hate. HE'S LITERALLY SAT THERE SINGING HIS LIL SONG AND EATING A RAW FISH. LEAVE HIM GO HE'S NOT BOTHERING ANYONE ;A;

that gifset ruined everything for me. 'this forest is old......very old....' old as balls. that's just the line now. i no longer acknowledge the original. 😔

cheeky gandalf!! 'u wouldn't part an old man from his walking stick!! 🥺😳😘🤭🙄' (<- this is how birb thought using emojis worked a scant five years ago. be GRATEFUL i was not on tumblr back then, for the carnage would have been GREAT AND TERRIBLE!!!)

i love love LOVE the scene of the trio beating the shite out of the bg guys while gandalf walked slowly toward the king. u just see legolas punching a dude in the face, aragorn ZOOMING round in front of gandalf and off to the side, it's hilarious 🤣

whEN THEY TOSS GRIMA DOWN THE STAIRS LIKE JGY 👀

so many ICONIC lines!!! 'boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew!!'

'it's the beards 👀'

U DROP ARAGORN OFF A CLIFF???? OH! OH! JAIL FOR ORCS!! JAIL FOR ORCS FOR 1000 YEARS!!!!

rip eowyn, she's so lonely and sad that the slightest validation from a hot guy she's known for five minutes was enough to make her fall stupid in love with him 😔

(i am also stupid in love with him, but it's different when i do it bc. um. uhhhh. 👀😳)

god he IS great tho, isn't he??? he's so dirty and greasy and wet and soggy, i love him and his dirty face and his dirty clothes and his dirty hands i love him i love him i lo

legolas got SO ANGRY about the orc telling them aragorn went over the cliff, he took it SO PERSONALLY. this makes birb want them to kiss each other 😊

they can kiss gimli as well, i don't mind!!

also the king awkwardly patting legolas on the shoulder like he's a slightly homophobic dad trying to comfort his gay son after a break-up, 'i still care about u but im super uncomfortable so im just not gonna say anything ok?? ok. manly head nod. im out 😐'

OPEN MOUTH KISSING??? BEFORE MARRIAGE????!!!!!!! OBSCENE!!!!!! LEAVE ROOM FOR THE HOLY GHOST!!!

side note: poor elrond, here he is trying to make sure his daughter has a good life and all she wants is to marry the dirty ranger like

'u think u know a girl, u raise her for 2000 or whatever years, organise her birthday parties and buy her a pony and teach her how to control the river, and then in the end she leaves u behind and marries a guy with a fraction of her lifespan, dooming herself to future suffering and despair smh 😔'

also arwen's face when aragorn is breaking up with her,,,,,'what did daddy say to u?? this is bc of what he said, isn't it?! i can't believe he's still interfering with my love life!!!!' ;A;

that lil ~half caress~ aragorn does to legolas's hand when he's returning arwen's necklace to him????? it's like??? idk super romantic??? it made my stomach go SWOOP?? if i stare at a gif of this scene i feel a bit dizzy??? is that weird. am i. weird 👀

i want them to make out with each other, sorry lads 😔

the annoying thing in all these medieval fantasy type stories, when there's not enough men for the war, they're always conscripting 10 year old boys, while the teenage girls and young women without any kids are hiding with the elders and children. LIKE. HOW can u justify sending little 8 yo haleth son of hama to the front lines?? LOOK AT HIM!! HE'S TINY!!! surely a 15 - 21 year old young woman would have a better chance of NOT DYING than a wee lad!!! they're peasants, they're used to hard labour!! do directors/writers etc think it's more ~realistic~ or sth?? do ppl think NO WOMAN ever took up a sword in a crisis??? even if certain things are Not Done (and in some places, even under penalty of DEATH), the Rules tend to fly out the feckin window once there's an emergency!!! I THINK 10,000 ORCS MARCHING ON HELM'S DEEP COUNTS FOR AN EMERGENCY???????

all im saying. is if we're all going to die anyway, then EVERYONE should get a sword. even the kids. ESPECIALLY the kids. it went really well in the walking dead when the lil girls each had a pistol. i promise i can be trusted with weapons i p romi s

the best thing in medieval-style warfare is when the two armies stand across from each other and shout insults back and forth for a bit, like 'you're ugly!' or 'you're smelly!' or 'i slept with your sister, and it weren't anything to write home about!!'

please could somebody fetch gimli a ladder, ur mans can't see above the fecking wall like nnO NO NOT THAT KIND OF LADDER

legolas and gimli counting their kills will never NOT be funny to me

MY KING A BEAST!! LOOK AT HIM GO!!! HE RODE A FUCKING LADDER AND CRASHED INTO A BUNCH OF ORCS LIKE A KILLER WHALE GOING AFTER SEALS!!! ;A;

god when he shoves open those doors and ARRIVEs it's so so so fucking hot. god he is sso hot. he's so hot i love him i love him i

lol they sneak out the side door like 'hee hee hoo hoo, no one shall see us~' 🤣

'TOSS ME!!!!!' *yeets the dwarf*

legolas SHIELD SURFING!!! HANG TEN, BRO!!! GNARLY WIPE OUT!!! 🤙

im sorry

imagine being such an asshole that u make the fucking TREES angry??? like, u make the trees hate u SO FUCKING MUCH. that they literally come MARCHING OUT OF THE FOREST to commit mass property damage???? 👀

when i watched the scene i shouted 'TILL BIRNAM WOOD DO COME TO HIGH DUNSINANE!!!!' out loud but nobody laughed ._.

come onnnn it's funny right??? esp since we know that 'no man of woman born' can kill the guy in the next film!!! iT'S FUNNY, RIGHT??? ;A;

sam and frodo tumbling down the stairs also made me laugh but i paid for it immediately after when sam goes 'it's your sam. don't you know your sam?' fucknig KILL MEEEEE PLS

the most iconic, most beautiful, most painful line of the film-----the one that always makes me cry, the one i couldn't forget if i wanted to, the words that stand between me and DEATH------

'That there's some good in this world, Mr Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.'

GOD. IM FUCKING DEAD 😭😭😭😭 beautiful delivery as well, shout out to samwise gamgee for being the best man to walk middle earth, i will now lie in a puddle of my own tears _(:3」∠)

[tonysaintborgi]

Tell me a fun story! I'm feeling sad because my friend of 15 years just ghosted me :(

ooh man rough. I'm sorry to hear! dick move on their part.

ok so in high school (so like 15ish years ago) i helped two of my friends get laid and i was in the room. wild right? now stay with me here. i had two friends, one was a football player and the other a sheltered upper class girl. i can't remember what the circumstances were but i introduced the two and they hit it off.

well this was her first real boyfriend. not the guy's first girlfriend, but still. well a while passed and they were still going pretty steady for a highschool relationship, but due to their parents (the girl's guardians being particularly strict) they weren't allowed to hang out with each other late or anything right. right? you know how it is. so at one point they were saying they wanted to spend the night together. and being a mutual friend of both, i was like... hey, so, y'know. you could both just crash at my place. girl's guardians weren't worried about me. at one point she had me over at her house and her and her friend put me in makeup and a dress and did my hair (at the time, long enough to go down to my ass) and then had me play apples to apples with her guardians. so like they weren't thinking of me as a threat at all they saw me in drag and this was like 2007 so like. y'know? anyway so the plan was they'd spend the night at my place and just not mention to their guardians the other was gonna be there. he he he

well we all hang out and I'm TOTALLY third wheeling it but I knew the job when i signed up for it. they made out like crazy but weren't getting too frisky. but like y'know? so we're going to bed and I'm like y'all can sleep on my bed (queen sized) and I'll like sleep on the floor on an egg crate. comfy enough. actually now that i think about that it'd probably do wonders for my spine.... i should so do that again. anyway besides the point. we're all going to bed and I'm laying on the floor and they're getting all snuggly and I'm stayin quiet cuz I'm a sleepy guy and I'm minding my god given beeswax.

and about half an hour later i hear uhhh some very telling sounds. she's going down on him. this is, of course, her first time. but more importantly, I'm literally in the room. it's pitch black so like, i can't see what's going on (wasn't looking but y'know), but I can hear. oh, brother, i can hear.

do you wanna know what i hear

... a fart

he farted

he fucking farted in her face

the first time she ever gone down on a guy in her life and he rips ass like no tomorrow. and she screams bloody murder (a fair reaction). to which i respond "holy shit!" well, they had apparently got so into the moment they forgot I was in the room so me speaking up got her to scream again, even louder! and this is a problem because i live with my parents so like a teenage girl screaming bloody murder twice in a row at midnight requires some checking up on. so in short order there's knocking at my bedroom door. and you know what the guy does? he tells my mom the truth, of course! oh and what a laugh we all had! then the three of us walked two miles to the cornerstore to get sodas lmao

oh man. fun times.

anyway hopefully that's a fun story. hugs, anon!

[heystephen]

its TIME! oh OH - ps i wont be revisiting the songs I already did weeks ago to keep things shorter Charlie be quiet "If she knows you're in love, she's gonna run, run away" - Mastermind. plain and simple. Taylor planned for Charlie to fall for her and he got really worried about it. "I'm not going out looking dumb Telling all my friends how you're the one" - "it would've been fun if you would've been the one" "When you touch me?" - "Do the girls back home touch you like I do?"

There's a first time for everything "Never thought that I would actually miss you Never thought that I'd be dying to kiss you" - "I always felt I must look better in the rear view, Missing me" "Thinkin' 'bout you really messed with my heartbeat" - Taylor's heartbeat in wildest dreams "Saw her on the TV Had the bleached pink hair with the ripped jeans And I thought, "What if I could meet her in real life?"" - this is LITERALLY about Taylor in the IKYWT music video and Charlie pining after her before they met and then he explains how they met, but remember, she orchestrated the whole thing because Mastermind "Stayed up, late night" - all of midnights and all of Taylor's songs about staying up late "We were trying our best to pretend, like That when the party's done, we'll go our separate ways, but We knew, yeah, we knew Pretty soon, it would be only us two" - New Year's Day anyone? cleaning up bottles with him on nyd after everyone leaves!

Smells like me (i think i did this one but I cant remember oops) "Tell me, do you ever miss me when I'm gone? Wonderin' what body I'll be on" - "If I wanted to know who you were hanging with While I was gone I would have asked you" "We can reconsider if you want" - "You can call me babe on the weekend" because she's not reconsidering the whole relationship but just hanging out together

Loser now, most of the lyrics are about Taylor here so I wont go over everything but the music video is SCREAMING cowboy like me

When you're sad I'm sad this is a mix of responses to both afterglow and getaway car

Marks on my neck "Why did I let you, Get all under my skin?" - "what should be over burrowed under my skin" because the relationship left a permanent mark on both of them "On the surface, you were perfect But you didn't really come to stay Now, when I look in the mirror I slowly watch you fade away" - is all anti hero taylor saying she'd rather look at the sun than the mirror and the ghosts in the video are actually charlie (himself), charlie (tiktoker), and charlie (musician) and according to Maroon, they both have scarlet marks on their necks sooo

Tears on my piano First of all - teardrops on my guitar, of course, just by the title. Then we've got music that they were dancing to and we know how Taylor loves dancing with people "Yeah, you know who you are I won't say any names" - he cant say because she made him sign an NDA, just like Billie Eilish does.

I dont think that I like her "Meet her parents, meet her brother" - all that was left for him was to meet Abigail I guess? "For me, the stars are alignin' But for her, it's bad timin'" - Midnights! Stars! It's A CLOCK! BAD TIMING!

No more drama "I sweard I dont love the drama it loves me" "Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover" so he doesn't have any more drama in his life because they're not together anymore "You start fights while we're up late" - "screaming crying perfect storms I can make all the tables turn" I mean he should have known it is an older song at this point so that's on Charlie

okay that's all I think? hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. i still don't know all the lyrics to midnights by heart to be able to quickly connect more of those songs but I did my best lmao

YOUR MIND

[takahero]

in honour of finishing inkspell, here are some basta observations I picked up along the way. also, inkspell spoilers warning! i also have MANY MANY thoughts so i’d love to hear what you guys think to some of the questions raised

“He hadn’t changed: the same thin face, the same way of narrowing his eyes, and there was an amulet dangling around his neck to ward off the bad luck that Basta thought lurked under every ladder, behind every bush.” — pg.138

“Basta’s left hand was bandaged, Elinor noticed when he took his fingers away from her mouth.” — pg.139

“‘I’d have been here much sooner, believe you me, but they put me in jail for a while on account of something that happened years ago. No sooner was Capricorn gone than all the people who’d been too scared to open their mouths suddenly felt very brave.’” — pg.140 (see they never tell us WHY he was in prison, do they? the possibilities are endless. we know he committed atrocious things, like arson, but imagine if he got put in jail for something completely different…LOL)

“‘You wouldn’t believe how often I’ve told him there’s nothing to be ashamed of in going to jail, particularly when your prisons here are so much more comfortable than our dungeons at home.’” — pg.140 (OHHHTMGOD MEME IDEA)

“Basta flung his arm so roughly round Orpheus’ neck that his glasses slipped down his nose.” — pg.141

“‘Hold your tongue, Basta!’ Mortola interrupted him abruptly. ‘You’ve always liked the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.141

“‘Well, Silvertongue, I’m sorry it’s taken some time,’ he said in his soft, cat-like voice.” — pg.180

“‘My son always said revenge was a dish best eaten cold,’ observed Mortola.” — pg.181 (question. did basta find out about mortola’s true identity between inkheart & inkspell? do u think he realised it when mortola cried when capricorn died?)

“Basta passed a finger over his throat and winked at him.” — pg.186 (wink 2 LMAO)

“Basta bent down and picked up a rusty helmet lying at his feet. ‘What do you expect me to say?’ he growled, throwing the helmet back into the grass with a gloomy expression, and giving it a kick that sent it clattering against the wall. ‘Of course it’s our castle. Didn’t you see the figure of the goat on the wall there? Even the carved devils are still standing, though they wear ivy crowns now — and look, there’s one of the eyes that Slasher liked to paint on the stones.’” — pg.190

“‘So Basta was right after all. He’s dead, here and in the other world too.’” — pg.191 (interesting….so Basta knew Mortola’s plan wouldn’t work? he just wanted a ride home?)

“‘I’d really like to know what happened!’ he muttered. ‘I always said Capricorn wasn’t here, but what about the others?…What are we going to do if they’re all gone?’ Basta sounded like a boy afraid of the dark. ‘Do you want us to live in a cave like brownies until the wolves find us? Have you forgotten the wolves? And the Night-Mares, the fire-elves, all the other creatures crawling around the place…I for one haven’t forgotten them, but you would come back to this accursed spot where there are ghosts lurking behind every tree!’ He reached for the amulet dangling around his neck, but Mortola did not deign to look at him.

“‘Oh, be quiet!’ she said, so sharply that Basta flinched.” — pg.192

“‘You’re going to leave them here?’ That was Basta’s voice.” — pg.193 (at first I was like oh so he has a heart….but then he was mean to resa straight after this 🙄)

“‘Sorry, but he must have overlooked me, shut up in that cage as I was,’ purred Basta in his catlike voice.” — pg.377

“‘Wasn’t it Mortola who had you put in the cage to be fed to the Shadow?’ Basta just shrugged his shoulders and flung back his silver-grey cloak. Of course, he had his knife. A brand new one, it seemed, finer than any he’d ever had in the other world, and undoubtedly just as sharp.

“‘Yes, not very nice of her,’ he said as his fingers caressed the handle of the knife. ‘But she’s really sorry.’” — pg.377 (okay so it SOUNDS like he threatened/made some kind of bargain with his knife, but I strongly doubt that considering how afraid he seems of her?? i know he’s technically working for the adderhead but even by the end of the book, it seems he is far closer to mortola than adderhead. what is their relationship? or does he sincerely think she’s sorry/has deluded himself into believing such? UGH SO MANY QUESTIONS)

“Basta had always liked describing his own and other people’s abominable deeds in detail.” — pg.378

“‘But we’re not going to shoot you.’ Basta came a little closer to Fenoglio, his face as intent as that of a stalking cat.” — pg.378 …. living for all the cat references tbh

“‘He wants you to crawl on your belly to him, that’s what our noble lord and master likes. But never mind, he pays well!’” — pg.378 (yes basta all abt getting that bread LMAOOOO)

“He slowly drew the knife from his belt. Its blade was long and slightly curved.” — pg.379

“‘Hey Basta, I know you like the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.379 (AHAHAHAHA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE CALLED OUT BASTA ON THIS NOW? IVE LOST TRACK)

“With a regretful sigh, Basta put the knife back in his belt. ‘Yes, very well, you’re right,’ he said in surly tones. ‘I need to take my time with this sort of thing. Questioning people is an art, a real art.’” — pg.380 (LMAOOOOOOO HE IS SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN)

“Basta. The same thin face, the same twisted smile. Only the clothes were different. Basta was no longer wearing his white shirt and black suit with the flower in his buttonhole. No, Basta now wore the Adderhead’s silvery grey, and he had a sword at his side. With a knife in his belt too, of course. But he was holding a dead chicken in his left hand.” — pg. 455

“‘Yes, they are!’ purred Basta. ‘The little witch, and the fire-eater into the bargain. It was well worth the wait. Even though I’ll probably never get that damned flour out of my lungs again.’” — pg.455 (ok….so who’s gonna draw basta sitting amongst the flour AAHHAHA)

“‘Servant? Who’s a servant here? Just listen to him. As bold as if he’d never felt my knife! Have you forgotten how you screamed when it cut your face?’” — pg.457 … don’t call basta a servant…..noted

“‘Oh, don’t look so disbelieving, little witch, I still can’t read and I don’t intend to learn, but there are enough fools around the place who can, even in this world.’” —pg. 457 (i wonder how much capricorn influenced basta’s views on reading. because capricorn said that he learnt how to read from a maid, right? so basta certainly wouldn’t have trash-talked reading in front of him. and even after living in OUR world for nine years, I’m still surprised that he never attempted to learn, given how dependent we are on it. anyway my headcanon is that he secretly wants to, but doesn’t want to give others the satisfaction of knowing they have something he doesn’t. also nobody he knows would be willing to teach him (unless he threatened them) bc of his obviously violent and short-tempered nature…and learning requires so much patience. still, though, would love a fic of basta being taught how to read in secret and having some kind of positive interaction)

“‘You’re even more talkative than you used to be, Basta.’ Dustfinger’s voice sounded as if he found this tedious.” — pg.458 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH IM DYING. honestly the animosity between them was just. A+++

“Basta was in an even worse state. He was sitting close to Mortola, his face so red and swollen that Meggie almost failed to recognise him. But he had escaped death once again. Perhaps the good-luck charms he always wore worked after all.” — pg.526

“The sunlight falling into the room made Basta’s face look like a boiled lobster.” — pg.575 

“Basta put his hand to the amulet hanging around his neck. It was not a rabbit’s paw, as he had worn in Capricorn’s service, but something that looked suspiciously like a human finger-bone.” — pg.581 (THIS STILL IRKS ME SO MUCH)

“The Piper straightened his back, as ready to attack as the viper on his master’s coat of arms…He was a good head taller than Basta.” — pg.582 WHY DO I KEEP FORGETTING HES NOT TALL LMFAO

“The two men were standing so close that the blade of Basta’s knife wouldn’t have fitted between them.” — pg.582 HAHAHAJAHAAJAHAHHAAHAHAHAH PKESJENE I LOVE THIS SO MUCH … IMAGINE BASTA SQUARING UP W HIS NOSE JUST SMACK BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF PIPER’S CHEST OR SOMETHING

“The Piper struck Basta in the face so hard that his head hit the door frame. Blood ran down his burned cheek in a trail of red. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. ‘Take care to avoid dark corridors, Piper!’ he whispered. ‘You don’t have a nose any more, but one can always find something else to cut off.’” — pg.582-583 THIS SCENE WAS SIMPLY……CHEF’S KISS

are you serious is he dead??? WHAT. okay I knew dustfinger’s love for farid would be the end of him and basta being the instrument to rip that away from him was totally heartrending. i WISH it had been more climactic? like dustfinger unleashing his fury and fighting basta, blind with anger and grief. THE DIALOGUE POTENTIAL BETWEEN THEM AS THEY FINALLY TALK ONE-ON-ONE, and then some revisiting of the scene where dustfinger has the opportunity to kill basta but AGAIN withholds because killing is not in his nature….THEN MO IN SHINING ARMOUR SWOOPS IN TO DO THE JOB

now, off to inkdeath!

[abduct-me-helen]

r/insaneparents

Posted by u/gerrysghost 2 weeks ago

My mother trained me in the occult after murdering my father.

Putting a read more so it doesn’t trigger anyone. Mentions of murder, corpses, blood, gore-you know what, if you have a trigger, it’s probably here. Read with caution.

[expand]

 shelly_seashore 382 points · 1 week

    ,,,,,,are you okay????

               gerrysghost 692 points · 1 week ago

                     no.

dankme 232 points · 1 week

    when she was skinning herself, what did she say? “lend a helping hand, would ya?”

           blinksjisoo 198 points · 5 days ago

                you can’t just ask someone that holy shit!!

                       gerrysghost 719 points · 5 days ago

she only asked for me to cut off my hand once lol, but I said no don’t worry and no there was much more, uh well, screaming.

                                     blinksjisoo 201 points · 4 days ago

                                           she asked you to cut off your hand??????

                                                gerrysghost 789 points · 3 days ago

                                                        yeah but only once

    [expand]

aheinthesetryingtimes 319 points · 1 week ago

    get therapy.

           gerrysghost 456 points · 5 days ago

                no u.

chajoan_merei 326 points · 1 week ago

       this is fake lol.

             stella_tkadi 298 points · 1 week ago

I’m going to sound insane if I say this but I was attacked by a book once so I believe him.

                        chajoan_merei 392 points · 1 week ago

           I don’t believe you but tell me what happened.

                  stella_tkadi 538 points · 5 days ago

                         a book ate my toe.

                             chajoan_merei 361 points · 4 days ago

                                        …CHOMP

                                   [expand]

dom_swain 473 points · 6 days ago

 holy shit,,,I think I met your mother. are you the dude that bought “ex altiora” from me for like, £5000 pounds???

             gerrysghost 456 points · 5 days ago

                    …maybe

                             dom_swain 393 points · 4 days ago

no shit. hold on, a few years after the fact I did some digging. I thought you were dead????

                                           gerrysghost 456 points · 4 days ago

                                                   hence the username.

                                                             dom_swain 387 points · 3 days ago

      are you like her? your mum I mean? ghost-wise?

                                                                     gerrysghost 626 points · 2 days ago

for a while, but she didn’t have a monster boyfriend to help her escape being bound to a book.

      Jlo_jello 687 points · 2 days ago

Proof that childhood trauma really *does* turn people into monsterfuckers.

    [expand]

r/roastme

Posted by u/michaeldistortion 1 week ago

I am an aspect of It is Not What It Is. Roast me!

kathwren_ 598 points · 1 week ago

    holy shit op this picture gave me a migraine

           d379 490 points · 1 week ago

              literally. how’d you even make this picture???

                       michaeldistortion 598 points · 1 week ago

                             my boyfriend took it!

                                    kathwren_ 489 points · 1 week ago

                                           yeah right. And what is It Is Not What It Is?

                                               michaeldistortion 571 points · 1 week ago

                                                       correct!

              [expand]

jojo_no_3 598 points · 5 days ago

   you must give the girls a great time with those hands, huh buddy?

           gerrysghost 598 points · 5 days ago

                   oh, he does

                       [expand]

kishaki214 598 points · 5 days ago

     can you even see with all your hair in your face

           amber_harlot63 671 points · 5 days ago

                 he has literal *monster* hands and that’s your concern??

                       sasi_soho 671 points · 5 days ago

                            she’s not wrong tho

   [expand]

jay_nola89 572 points · 4 days ago

       you look like what people find in the backrooms.

              michaeldistortion 459 points · 4 days ago

                         :)

[expand]

mommy_blogging_tips 492 points · 3 days ago

        You better take this down RIGHT NOW. You made my son CRY.

            amber_harlot63 671 points · 3 days ago

              well that’s a roast if I ever heard one. so ugly that you make people cry-

                            michaeldistortion 296 points · 2 days ago

                                   :(

                                        gerrysghost 293 points · 2 days ago

                                              don’t listen to them michael. they’re just jealous.

                                       [expand]

tired_yale_student 401 points · 3 days ago

        YOU STOLE MY DOG. HOLY SHIT.

     waytogojanice 339 points · 3 days ago

                          what happened lmao

                                   tired_yale_student 437 points · 2 days ago

so I’m walking in the park, yeah? and then this yellow door pops out of fucking nowhere and THIS PERSON is standing right next to it. my dog yanks me towards him and his leash slips and then all of a sudden my dog is running through the yellow fucking door. RIP Pluto.

               [expand]

 r/showerthoughts

Posted by u/oliver_robs_banks 1 week ago

100% of people that read this are going to die

 -

what_the_georgie 304 points · 1 week ago

   thanks I hate it.

         oliver_robs_banks 233 points · 5 days ago

                no problem! :)

stonks 294 points · 5 days ago

    is this a threat?

         skincare_circus 359 points · 4 days ago

              only if you want it to be 😊

                   stonks 694 points · 4 days ago

                        fuck off nikola

 [expand]

r/memes

Posted by u/memesource_today 1 week ago

marto_kart 293 points · 5 days ago

   no. they are good cows!!!! :D

         stonks 220 points · 5 days ago

              that’s what they want you to think, martin.

                     marto_kart 249 points · 5 days ago

                           :(

r/me_irl

Posted by u/melanie_queen today 1 week ago

d_tonner 293 points · 5 days ago

    lame.

         melanie_queen 220 points · 5 days ago

              ???

                   d_tonner 749 points · 5 days ago

                          I never got caught.

                                         [expand]

ebouchard 244 points · 5 days ago

    Accurate.

        melanie_queen 431 points · 5 days ago

            fuck off bitchard.

[expand]

r/creepypms

Posted by u/naomi_herne 1 week ago

adelola29 304 points · 5 days ago

    that’s fucking creepy.

stella_tkadi 356 points · 5 days ago

                and disturbing. did you report them op?

                       naomi_herne 442 points · 5 days ago

I didn’t. I just blocked and deleted the number from my contacts. You’re right though, I definitely should’ve reported them as well.

         [expand]

notjonnydville 483 points · 4 days ago

    now why do I feel like I know exactly who this is?

        stonks 394 points · 4 days ago

           because even murderers have more subtlety than her.      

                skincare_circus 572 points · 4 days ago

you wound me tim! can I call you tim? I’m going to call you tim. after all, the stranger is very particular about subtlety, isn’t it?

[expand]

skincare_circus 523 points · 4 days ago

    I still stand by what I said! you do have quite lovely skin! nothing like the archivists.

           marto_kart 472 points · 3 days ago

                hey! I think jon has great skin!

                       skincare_circus 361 points · 3 days ago

                              of course you do, dear.

[expand]

 -

picture of michael made by @ironicmemeing-art​

[turtlesocksv2]

Liveblogging Dead Friend Forever ep 3

It's Saturday and you know what that means! That's right, it's time for our weekly look at Gay Teens Stuck In A Cult Murder Woods While A Serial Killer Who Might Be A Ghost Is Out To Get Them!

In the recap I JUST noticed that Phi is the one like "Nah you're friend probably just moved! :) It's Fine :)" before he convinces them to remake the movie and I just....Sus King.

Phi doesn't want Top to go for help alone and like...he's right! Not only is Top a coward who will probably abandon them, it's also just a dumb idea! There is a serial killer out there! If Top is alone, he is going to Get Got. Phi is being smart, actually! And Tee just straight up asks Phi if he wants Por to die and my poor Sus King stays silent. I support your murder agenda!

Tan getting Top to spill some secrets! So Top and Non had issues, you say? 👀 And the road to town is conveniently blocked you say? 👀 i feel the killer getting closer lmao RIP Top you will not be missed.

Fluke is the only one who realizes that they shouldn't disturb a crime scene. Tee is the one who says "well then let's just burn it and get rid of the evidence!" and like....what on earth did y'all do three years ago. you absolutely killed someone for the Forest Cult didn't you.

Oh ewww i really didn't need the random dog licking the corpse with gross noises. but also, don't shoo away the dog! The dog can alert you to the killer lurking! The dog will be your friend! Nothing better happen to the dog or Be On Cloud and I are gonna have Words

White didn't even want to come! He wasn't supposed to be there! It's supposed to be his day off! I like how Phi tells White to stay behind while they go try to rescue Top and Tan - because White's not involved in this. It also keeps one of the non-involved trio with Fluke, One with Top and Phi has the other group. Each group has a non-involved person to keep an eye on their shady, potentially Non-Murdering asses.

Tan made it all the way back to the Valley Mansion by himself? 👀 Ok, Sus King, we still on board the good ship Phi And Tan Are The Killer.

LOL Tee really keeps calling Phi out, it's so funny.

Tan must have hit his head or something for them to but the "by the time i got up Top AND the motorbike were gone!"

Fluke you KNOW you cannot be shaking Por like that. You are absolutely trying to kill Por before his dying guilty conscience spills the beans on what you guys did to Non. And Ooooo White stealing the hard drive with the movie on it because Fluke made him suspicious. Way to go, pulling the innocent act. You might just survive. Ah, but it's broken.

The shrine and al lthe blood is very well done very creepy. Tan's asthma is absolutely gonna get him killed tho.

Oooooh White found a gun under Por's mattress. Interesting. and he's keeping it because he doesn't fucking trust Fluke which is so smart of him.

Lol love them quadruple-teaming the masked killed. like, yes! there's way more of you than of him! But then they run away like...no! just tackle him and unmask him! there are four of you!!!

dying at Phi and Jin trapped in the box/coffin together and Phi saying he'll protect Jin.

"it's nothing why would you want to watch it hat much" because you are SUSPICIOUS as FUCK, Fluke and White is not actually stupid maybe??????? Fluke has lost his damn mind.

So we have confirmation that Por took money from someone he shouldn't have - Non, probably? Weird.

Por's rich ass family has a mansion in walking distance to the Cult Murder Shrine. So Theory: Por's rich ass family are cult members who sacrifice people. the friend group got sucked into three years ago and tried to sacrifice Non, who thought he was their friend but was basically their bullying victim. Non escaped and is now Out For Revenge and I am eagerly awaiting Unhinged Barcode. Pretty sure Phi and Tan are also Team Revenge, but it could also just be that they and Phi especially are Nosey Bitches. I support them either way.

[maria-scribbles]

loyalty’s all i got | part two

three years ago, you had it all: great friends, good grades, and an almost perfect relationship with your boyfriend, jj. it all came crashing down when your mom relocated your family to california for work and you were forced to trade the outer banks for malibu, leaving your broken heart behind in the place you were just starting to think of as home. now you're back in town for college and to pick up the pieces, hoping to make things right again with your friends and the boy you never stopped loving.

word count: 8.6k+

ship: jj maybank x female!reader, pogue friendship

warnings n stuff: angst angst angst all around (with a happy ending tho!!), the reader being a v. sad girl, mentions of anxiety/depression, failed long distance relationship, drifting apart, self-inflicted loneliness/isolation, the classic trope of 'they broke up but they're still in love with each other' that gives me feels, swearing (it's not my writing unless someone says 'fuck' at least once), reconciliation/mended relationships, traditional cheesy rom-com rain scene 'cause i'm a Dramatic Hoe™

a/n: and here's the second and final part of this looooong two-shot! thank you all so much for reading and i hope you enjoy the finale even though i low key kind of hate it 🙃. fun fact: surfrider beach is a real place in malibu known for its great waves :) also i apologize for how long this took to post, i dropped my laptop and the screen broke so i had to wait for it to get fixed lmao. unbetaed as usual, any mistakes are my b. 

~masterlist~

part two: like a ghost that no one knew

When you said goodbye to your friends three years ago, you should've known things would never be the same again. You were sixteen, still so young and naïve and full of an almost childlike hope that kept you from seeing the obvious: life wasn't fair. Sometimes, you could be holding all the right cards and still lose the game.

It should've been easy. You had a video chat schedule already figured out, promises of daily texts and Snapchats, a boyfriend willing -enthusiastically willing, in fact- to go long distance and make it work no matter what 'cause you both agreed that what you had was something worth fighting for. You and your friends had weathered many storms together, what was one more? It could've been easy but you underestimated just how cruel California would be.

You traded one coast for the other and watched the sun set over the Pacific alone when you would've given anything to watch it rise over the Atlantic with your friends. It hurt to surf solo but you did it anyway, even though it felt like a damn sucker punch each time you caught yourself scanning the sand for JJ and his proud smile when you successfully caught bigger and bigger waves at Surfrider Beach. 

Long distance was hard. You had days where all you wanted to do was lay on your bed for hours, safely curled up in his arms as he ran his fingers through your hair but you had to settle for his voice over the phone and one of his shirts from your closet instead. You missed everything about him: his pretty eyes that looked like the clearest ocean, the cheeky grin he'd send your way after making a stupid joke that had you affectionately rolling your eyes in exasperation, that adorable flush that spread across his face without fail each and every time you said you loved him. You longed for his constant affection; the way he always wanted to keep you close somehow, his arm around your shoulders, hand in your back pocket, or fingers entwined with yours; how he could never go a day without kissing you. Being apart was nothing short of torture.

"I fucking miss you." He said late one night during a rare FaceTime session -his phone was a piece of shit so he had to 'borrow' John B's whenever he could- and you smiled despite the knife twisting itself deeper and deeper into your heart as you played with the fraying sleeve of his old sweatshirt you wore. 

"I fucking miss you more, J." You whispered back, giggling quietly when he scrunched up his nose in playful skepticism. 

"Yeah, I don't think so, babe. There's no way." 

"Yes, way!"

Although it hurt like hell, you imagined being tangled up with him in the hammock hanging in the Chateau's yard under the North Carolina sky -the light from the moon would turn his blond hair a pale silver as he grinned down at you and cupped your cheek in his hand, closing that final distance between you for a kiss that'd fuel the fire racing through your veins- and you let that fleeting happiness carry you through the night, long after you said goodbye. You fell asleep with your phone in your hand, unaware that your mother had been listening from the other side of your closed door.

You'd been distant from her and your dad in the months since the move, obviously going out of your way to avoid them both by spending all your spare time surfing at the beach, coming home well past sunset and heading straight to your room without a word. They'd taught you forgiveness wasn't something to be given willingly -it had to be earned- and since neither of them had done anything worthy to deserve an absolution, you simply pretended they didn't exist and let yourself stew in your justified anger.

Until the morning after your video date with JJ, they'd wisely given you your space so you were pretty blind sighted to find them both waiting for you at the dining room table, one of your dad's famous cinnamon rolls on a plate set in front of your usual chair. You paused in the middle of tying one of your boyfriend's worn bandanas in your hair before abruptly continuing toward the front door, acting like you didn't see the hopeful looks on their faces that made guilt slowly start to burrow its way into your chest. 

"Y/N, wait," Your dad sprung from his seat and reached his hand out toward your elbow, his face falling when you instantly pulled back and crossed your arms. "Please, let's just talk for a second."

"I'm gonna be late for the bus," You lied and tried for the door again, sighing in frustration when he blocked your path and ushered you toward the table where your mom was sitting, biting her thumbnail. The guilt burrowed deeper: you thought she kicked that habit years ago but there she was, chewing her nail to shreds and it was all because of you (the empty satisfaction you felt knowing you were the cause of her stress made you hate yourself just a little more.).

"Jellybean, don't worry about that. I'll drive you." 

You bristled at the old nickname but sat in the chair your dad pulled out for you anyway. The smell of the cinnamon roll he pushed your way made your mouth water but you refused to eat and kept your eyes down as you played with the stack of bracelets adorning your wrist. "You wanted to talk?" You asked, deciding to just rip the band-aid off all at once 'cause knowing your mom when she was anxious and your dad being allergic to any type of confrontation, you'd have sat there all day until one of them worked up the courage to speak.

"Talk, right." Bill said with a nervous chuckle, shaking his head as he took a seat and swiped his own cinnamon roll from the pan in the middle of the table. "Uh, how are you?"

"Are you serious right now?" You asked incredulously, looking up from your lap with a raised eyebrow. "All this for 'how are you?'" 

"How would we know?" Your mom finally spoke up as she pulled her ruined nail from her mouth, only to start instantly drumming her fingers on the table. "You're always holed up in your room or at the beach, Y/N. You never talk to us anymore."

You rolled your eyes before fixing her with a deadpan stare. "Hmm, I wonder why."

"Honey, you know I'm sorry-"

"Don't, okay? Just don't." You swallowed thickly and dumped the cinnamon roll back into the pan, blinking away the awful burning pressure building behind your eyes. "I can't listen to some half-assed apology that you don't mean!"

"Y/N, we are sorry. Everything's gonna get better, just give it time." Your dad's reply was muffled by a mouthful of pastry and any other time, you'd usually be laughing at his chipmunk cheeks but instead you just stared back down at your hands again, lip quivering as you tried and failed to hold yourself together. You would not cry. You would not cry. You would not-

"Please, honey." Your mom tentatively reached out one hand like she was approaching a wounded animal, her voice so soft you could barely hear it above the rush of blood in your ears. "It hurts us to see you like this-"

Oh, fuck this shit.

"You're hurt?! Are you kidding me?" Your chair scraped along the tile as you rocketed to your feet, vision blurring when the dam finally broke. "You promised we wouldn't move again until after I graduated and you broke that promise. I let myself make friends for once in my goddamn life -I fucking fell in love, Mom! I fell in love with the most amazing boy who, by some miracle loves me, too despite me being a...a complete loser!" You were rambling now but you couldn't find it in yourself to care about or stop the words flying from your mouth. 

"God, I was happy -so, so disgustingly happy it kind of scared me, okay?" You laughed bitterly and roughly wiped the tears from your cheeks, only to have more immediately take their place. "And you didn't even stop to think before you took it all away from me! So don't even talk to me about being hurt 'cause you have no fucking idea!"

Your dad was frozen, eyes the same color as your own blown impossibly wide in the middle of another bite of cinnamon roll while your mom, two tears streaking perfect twin tracks down her cheeks, looked at you like you'd just told her the world was ending -to her, it just might've been but to you, it already had. Neither of them said another word as you snatched your backpack off the couch and stormed from the house, slamming the door behind you.

Halfway to the bus stop, you decided school just wasn't in the cards that day and doubled back, hiding behind the shed in your backyard until your tears had run dry and both of your parents left -Rebekah to the hospital, Bill to wherever he went while you were in class- before heading inside to change into your rash vest and grab your board. Despite it being early Friday morning, Surfrider Beach was full of life and you welcomed the hustle and bustle as you turned off your phone and buried it at the bottom of your bag, leaving your problems behind on the sand. 

You spent the whole day at the beach, blissfully alone and free to do what you wanted, until the sun dipped low in the sky and you were too exhausted to even think about anything but dragging yourself home so you could pass the fuck out. You caught one final wave before heading back to shore, waving goodbye to the group of other kids you'd surfed with all day (the one thing you loved about California: everyone was so chill) and trudged through the sand toward your things where, just as you expected, your sister sat on your towel, clad in a baggy UCLA long-sleeve with her phone in hand. 

"Bitch, you killed it out there!" She looked up as you dropped your board to the ground and sat down heavily beside her, slipping an old Kildare County High School sweatshirt -the first one you ever 'borrowed' from your boyfriend, much to his delight- over your head. "I mean, look at you go!"

You leaned closer to watch the video she took, the barest hint of a smile on your face when you watched yourself perform a near perfect cutback on the screen. "That's 'cause I had the best teacher." 

Daisy tagged you and posted it to Instagram before you could protest, then tossed the phone back into her bag and turned to you with a forced cheerfulness that kind of made you want to smack her. "So..."

"Mom and Dad sent you to clean up their mess." You finished quietly, tucking your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around them as your sister sighed dramatically and offered a sympathetic wince. 

"As always." She copied your position and you both stared out at the sun sinking over the water, its fading rays turning the sky brilliant shades of orange and pink. It was typical of your parents to send Daisy after you when you were upset -after all, you'd both been each other's only friend for over half your lives- and normally, you'd be glad to see your sister's friendly face instead of your mom's or dad's. That evening, though? All you felt was...disappointment.

"Guess they really don't give a shit about me." You mumbled under your breath, half-hoping Daisy didn't hear you but from the way she snapped her head in your direction, you didn't get your wish.

"Y/N, that's not it. They're just..."

"Just what? Pretending that they didn't stab me in the back? Acting like everything's all hunky-dory and they actually cared about my feelings?" 

You hastily wiped at your face when your sister silently looped an arm around your shoulders and tucked you against her side, her fingers running soothingly through the ends of your damp hair as you vented all of your frustrations -everything you'd kept locked deep inside your heart- until your voice was hoarse and the sun had long disappeared from the horizon and you had no tears left to cry.

"You have no idea what it's like, being so lonely it hurts to breathe. It hurts knowing Mom and Dad have each other and you have Daniel and I'm alone all the time." You lifted your head from her shoulder and rubbed your red eyes with your sleeve. "Worst part is, they just keep acting like I'll wake up one day and magically be okay and everything'll be all sunshine and rainbows again." 

"First off, I wanna say that I'm sorry for not making more time for you. I knew you were struggling and I'm a terrible big sister for not being here for you like I should have," You squeezed Daisy's other hand in thanks as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear, her voice soft and steady like the waves crashing against the shore. "Second, I definitely don't think Mom and Dad are handling this the way they should, but I think they're trying in the only way they know how. That should count for something, right?"

You sighed and tugged the sleeves of your sweatshirt over your hands. "I guess, but they haven't even tried to see where I'm coming from and they don't get that I'm not the only one they hurt. If I have to hear one more half-assed apology, I'm gonna lose my shit. Again."

"I'm not saying you have to forgive them right away 'cause I sure as hell wouldn't until they say they're sorry and mean it. But..." She said, pulling you to your feet and shaking the sand from the towel you were sitting on, "you shouldn't keep shutting them out, okay? It's not healthy."

You tucked your board under your arm as Daisy grabbed your bag and swung it onto her shoulder before you both started walking toward the parking lot. "What if I'm never ready to forgive them?"

"That's a question I don't have the answer to." She said with a shrug. "You've gotta figure that one out for yourself."

So you followed your sister's advice. You were civil and gradually, your relationship with your parents improved until you could stand to be in the same room as them and even carry on a short conversation, even though you knew you'd probably never be able to fully trust them again. You caught them exchanging glances you could only describe as wounded when you often turned down their invitations to go to the movies or get ice cream or other things you used to love doing when you were younger but for the most part, they took it in stride and you were grateful for their little efforts. Forgiveness wasn't in the cards quite yet but with each passing day, you felt the icy wall around your heart slowly start to melt away.

But every time you thought you were taking one step forward, life pushed you two steps back. Just when you were getting things back on track with your family, the train went flying off the rails when it came to your friends and it was all your fault.

It wasn't like you didn't try -God, did you try- to keep yourself from falling back into old habits but Malibu just had a way of bringing out the absolute worst in you. Your old self, the girl who kept to herself and pushed everyone away, someone you thought you buried in the deepest grave, slowly came back from the dead with a vengeance little by little, so subtly you didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. 

One missed phone call turned into two, texts went unanswered for days or not at all, FaceTime sessions happened less and less. The last video chat had been with Kiara and it ended terribly, after you blew up at her for mending her friendship with Sarah Cameron in the near two years since you'd been gone, spitting words you couldn't quite remember -something along the lines of 'didn't take you too long to replace me, huh' and calling the blonde girl a 'heinous bitch'- but knew you regretted with everything you had and hanging up before she had a chance to explain. You couldn't even recall the last time you talked to Pope or John B aside from the occasional Snapchat and your daily calls with JJ had turned to once a week, if you were lucky.

He was trying, you could tell, and so were you but the deck was stacked against you and you were never very good at cards, anyway. It hurt to try, it hurt not to try, everything just hurt. Nearly two years apart had done their damage and coupled with your debilitating fear of being forgotten that clawed at your chest like a rabid dog, your relationship was on unstable ground and for the first time in almost four years, you were thinking about the end. It wasn't like you didn't love him anymore (holy shit, were you still completely head over heels in love). In fact, you loved him so much you realized that he could do so, so much better than you and the thought rested heavy and bittersweet on your mind, lurking in the shadows until you were ready to bring it to light.

It happened on New Year's Eve. Alone in your room, your hands shook as you answered JJ's call at midnight, his voice tired and a little hoarse from celebrating the new year three hours earlier on the opposite coast and you nearly started crying right then and there when you replied with a shaky "I think we need to talk."

"Babe, what's wrong?"

You took a deep breath and said quietly, "Everything."

"Talk to me." The pure concern in those three words nearly convinced you to call it off, to tell him to forget you said anything and that you were fine, everything was just fine but deep down, you knew you couldn't.

"I've been thinking about us and I...I just think that you deserve better than me. Someone who can actually be there for you when you need her and hold you when your dad's an asshole and see you every day. Someone who can laugh at your silly jokes and share a joint with you and clean you up when you get into fights defending your friends-"

"Babe, what are you talking about? That girl is you."

"Maybe I was but I'm not anymore and I don't think I have been since I left. I just can't be the girl you want, I can't be the girl you deserve, J -I'm a total fucking mess and you can do so, so much better than me."

"Y/N."

You didn't know you were crying until you heard the broken way he breathed your name and salt water dripped from your chin onto the bracelet around your wrist. 

"...are you breaking up with me?" His voice was impossibly small, the quietest you'd ever heard it and the exact moment your battered heart shattered into pieces was when you realized he didn't even put up a fight. 

"I think so." The words tore through you like a gunshot as you cried, curling into yourself on the bed in an effort to ward off the worst pain you'd ever felt in your life and you wondered if it was possible to die from a wound that wasn't even physical. 

He was quiet for a long time, so long you thought he hung up without you noticing through your tears, until he sniffed on the other end of the line.

"Guess we had a pretty good run, huh?" He asked with a watery chuckle and you found yourself giving a tiny, shuddering giggle in response -God, even when you were breaking his heart he still managed to make you laugh.

"The best, baby." The pet name slipped out like second nature and you winced, hastily trying to cover your mistake with an awkward cough but from the sharp breath you heard him take, he'd heard it anyway.

("I'm sorry," you said, and it stood as an apology for more than just your slip-up.)

"I love you, Y/N. Probably always will."

"I'll never stop loving you, JJ. That's a promise."

You let yourself believe him as you laid there bleeding from a gash you couldn't see, a wound you knew would never heal, and you hoped he let himself believe you, too, even when you ended the call without another word and threw your phone away from you, not bothering to see where it landed. The sound of your heavy, broken sobs filled the room and you didn't even mind when your mom, who you knew had been listening from the other side of your closed door like always, barged in and took you into her arms, stroking your hair as you cried into her lap.

If you were supposed to avoid getting hurt by leaving first, why did it feel like everything in you was broken? If you were making the right choice, why did it feel so wrong? You didn't have the answers and no matter how hard you searched, you knew you'd ever find them.  

So you tried to stay busy. You joined the surf club at school, got a part-time job at the local aquarium, did anything you could to distract yourself from the hurt and the guilt and the way getting out of bed every morning was the hardest thing to do. Surf club introduced you to Mackenzie, the one girl who was more ostracized at school -an even richer version of the kook academy you hated -than you, her for being freakishly tall and you for your East Coast attitude, and the two of you became fast, if reluctant friends. Mack didn't try to stitch the gaping hole in your heart caused by your absent friends but she numbed the pain just enough to make it bearable and you were grateful for her calm, steady presence at your side, even as you both tried to keep each other at arm's length.  

Later, you found out she was just like you, friendless and awkward with no self-esteem and a tendency to push people away, and that just cemented your friendship through the summer and your final year of high school.

Mack told you all about her life, growing up with no siblings, having height that she never learned to deal with, and a debilitating social anxiety that made making friends near impossible, and in turn you told her about how you hopped from town to town on your mother's whims, the wonderful friends you let slip away, and the beautiful boyfriend you loved enough to let go, and you both cried together for the lives you could've led.

"You two looked so happy," She said during the first sleepover you hosted as she held one of the many picture frames littering your dresser, her lips turned upwards in a small smile.

You gently took the frame from her hands and ran your fingers over the grinning face of your ex-boyfriend, his arms wrapped around your shoulders as your painted lips planted a deep red kiss on his cheek, and the wave of longing washing over you was almost strong enough to bring you to your knees. "It was the happiest I've ever been."

"Do you miss him?"

"So much it hurts."

i miss you.

i'm so sorry.

i still love you.

You'd typed and erased those texts every day but never mustered the courage to hit send and you couldn't decide if that was a blessing in disguise or the worst possible curse. Of course you still loved JJ: you promised you would and even if you didn't, you couldn't stop if you tried. He was your first love, the boy you so willingly gave your whole heart and then some; you still kept his ring on your thumb -the one he gave you at the airport the day you left- and his bracelet around your wrist, his bandanas in your hair and his face in your dreams and you knew you always would.

Before you could blink, your eighteenth birthday flew by and graduation was upon you.

You thought the second you were done with high school you'd be gone, heading straight back to the Outer Banks and the life you left behind but you found yourself stalling on sending in an application to UNC -Chapel Hill until you missed the deadline for the fall semester. On the outside, you made up a semi-legit excuse about getting your basic courses done at a community college to save money but deep down you really knew why you procrastinated: you were terrified to go back. Ever since your break up with JJ, you hadn't spoken to him or any of your old friends other than the obligatory birthday wishes on Facebook and you wondered if the damage you'd done over the years was too much to come back from, even as you tried to work up the courage to find out for sure.

Another year passed: in between earning college credits, you and Daisy took a sister's trip to Disneyland, Mack asked you to tag along on a jaunt up the coast to San Francisco to see Alcatraz, your parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary (your gift was long-overdue forgiveness and they said it was the greatest thing you possibly could've given them). When the time came, you and Mack both sent out your applications to UNC -you for biology, her for chemistry- and the myriad of emotions you felt when you got in was nothing short of dizzying. The old you was terrified, screaming at you to rip up the letter and join your sister at UCLA instead of opening old wounds but the hopeful you, the girl who lived without fear, the girl who fell in love and let herself be loved, screamed louder.

And so you killed the old you once again, burying her even deeper than the last time in a locked chest and throwing the key as far as you could out into the Pacific where you knew you'd never find it. You clutched your acceptance letter close to your chest and took a step east, away from California and toward the place where your broken heart still rested, scattered in pieces across the sand.

Settling in at UNC was surprisingly easy. You and Mack already clicked pretty well as friends so making the transition to roommates was natural and, dare you say it, even a little fun and the two of you quickly fell into a comfortable routine in your tiny apartment off campus in Chapel Hill. Comfortable and yet...that happiness you once felt all those years ago was missing from your life and you found yourself just as restless as you were in Malibu. While you knew exactly what you needed to do, that fear kept rearing its ugly head in the back of your mind, poisoning your thoughts: what if they wouldn't be happy to see you, what if they forgot about you, what if they hated you? What if he hated you?

It was terrifying, picturing yourself turning up at the Chateau with a hopeful smile only to have the door slammed right in your face. Deep down, you knew they'd never do that to you no matter how badly you'd hurt them but when you'd spent your whole life expecting the worst, taking a leap of faith wasn't an easy feat -something Mack just couldn't wrap her head around.

"I don't get it."

You glanced up from where you were lounging on your bed, flipping through your biology notes in preparation for your lab exam the next morning and shot your roommate a confused look. "Get what?”

Mack sat at your desk, her own notebooks lying ignored as she spun the chair around to face you, arms crossed. "Why you haven't hopped on that ferry to go get your man yet!"

You froze for a moment too long before offering a half-hearted shrug as you fiddled with the beads at the end of your bracelet. "It's not that easy. He probably wants nothing to do with me and I don't blame him."

"How do you know? You haven't talked to JJ in over a year, right?" At your tight nod, she continued, "What if he's just like you-"

"Depressed?"

Mack fixed you with a flat, unamused look. "Still in love, dumbass."

You scoffed and propped your chin in your hand as you glanced back down at your study guide, trying not to latch onto that little thought -hope and pain all rolled into one- that sparked to life at her words. He'd said he would probably always love you that New Year's Eve and back then you'd let yourself believe him but now, you weren't so sure. "Yeah, right. No way he's still...still in love with me after I broke his heart."

"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't," Your roommate said with a shrug, spinning around on the chair to grab her things. "You'll never know if you don't get over there, track his fine ass down, and talk to him."

You stared down at your notes without actually seeing anything, the slanted letters of your handwriting blurring before your eyes as the other girl flipped her chemistry book closed and stood, shooting you an warm smile that you didn't see. 

"Listen, Y/N, you're my best friend and I want to see you happy more than anything but I can't take that jump for you. Yeah, it's scary and nerve wracking and you might end up hurt worse than before, so what? That's just...life."

Mack left after that, crossing the apartment to her room so she could get ready for a date with a girl from her psych class, leaving you alone with tears on your face and a million thoughts in your head, all of them terrifying and exciting and oh so loud.

She was right, of course -Mack always knew the right thing to say- and as you stared down at the bracelets on your wrists and the ring on your thumb, the pictures on your phone and the too-big shirt hanging off one shoulder, you realized sitting around moping wasn't gonna solve anything; if you wanted your happiness, your friends, the love of your life back, you needed to step up and fight for them with everything you had. And so you wiped the tears from your cheeks and walked to the cliff's edge with your head held high, ready for the fall and whatever came with it. You were ready to fix your mistakes, no matter how badly it might hurt.

Still, you couldn't do it all on your own. You needed some help to make things right again and while you knew just who to ask, you weren't quite sure if they'd be willing to lend a hand. Desperate times called for desperate measures though and you penned a good old-fashioned letter, feeling like a heroine in a Jane Austen novel as you poured all your thoughts -your dreams, wishes, hopes- onto a piece of paper in bold blue ink and sent it off to its destination on Figure 8, your Hail Mary for a happy ending sealed up neatly in a single envelope.

Mack, bless her heart, did her best to keep your spirits up as you waited on a response but even her ever reassuring presence couldn't keep you from worrying as one week passed by, then two. Halfway through the third you'd almost given up, already wracking your brain for another way to make your plan work when your phone chimed with a text from an unknown number.

i'll help you

And just like that, the moment you'd been waiting for was finally within your reach; you told your parents not to expect you for Thanksgiving break, called your sister for a much needed pep talk, and started counting down the days until you'd see your friends again, for better or worse.

When you left the Outer Banks three years ago, it was sunny. You were sixteen, young and in love and scared about the future.

When you returned, it was in the middle of a storm. You were nineteen, a little bit older but no less in love and definitely still scared about what was waiting for you at the end of the road.

Rain pounded against the roof of Sarah Cameron's SUV as she drove away from the docks and toward the Chateau, her fingers tapping along to the music playing quietly through the radio. You sat in the passenger seat, soaked to the bone from your ferry ride from the mainland and shaking like a leaf despite the towel wrapped around your shoulders and the warm air flowing from the car's vents.

"Thanks for coming to get me," You said, wincing at the awkward lilt of your voice echoing in the small space as you spun JJ's ring around your thumb and stared out the windshield at the familiar sights streaking by in blurred shades of green and brown. Being back opened a Pandora's box of emotions in your head, both good and bad, and instead of trying to sort them out, you let them bounce around in your brain like a pinball machine and concentrated on methodically twirling the warm metal ring in circles on your finger.

Sarah briefly glanced away from the road to shoot you a small smile, her kind eyes softening at your visible nervousness. "Not gonna lie, I was pretty sure you hated me so when I got your letter it kinda...threw me for a loop. Sorry it took me so long to reply."

You wished the heated leather seat would swallow you whole as you winced again and wrapped the towel tighter around your shoulders. "For the longest time, I thought I did hate you but I realized I was just...scared of losing my friends and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve to be labeled the villain in my story when I was the one, um, sabotaging myself, I guess." You took a deep breath and picked at a loose thread tickling your arm. "And I'm really, really grateful for your help."

It was more than you wanted to admit out loud -nearly the same words were written in the letter peeking out from the center console of the car- but at the same time, you knew it was what needed to be said and from the way the blonde girl's fingers stopped tapping against the steering wheel, she knew she needed to hear it. At a red light, she quickly tapped out a text on her phone before tossing in back into her bag with another tiny grin in your direction.

"Happy to help. For what it's worth, I'm so sorry if I made you feel like you were being replaced, I never intended to hurt you or steal your friends or...or, I don't know, usurp-" 

"Sarah, stop. Please," You held up a hand to cut off her apology and offered her a self-deprecating smile. "I'm the one who's sorry. I let my...jealousy get the best of me and I feel so bad about all the shit I said 'cause that wasn't fair to you at all and I hope you can forgive me-"

"Y/N, there's nothing to forgive! We all say stupid shit when we're mad -trust me, I know." She interrupted with a bubbly, contagious giggle that seemed to scare away the gloomy storm clouds gathered over your head for a moment in time. "But I was never pissed at you, ever. I just want you to know that."

Stunned, you settled deeper into the seat and started playing with your ring again as she kept driving on, unbothered by your lack of response. You felt like you were thirteen again, back when Sarah and Kiara were your only friends, before the birthday disaster and the whole pogue versus kook feud that got completely out of hand; it felt...nice and you found yourself hoping that the blonde girl would still want to be your friend again, no matter what the others thought about your sudden return. 

"Thank you."

Sarah gave no indication she heard your quiet confession of gratitude but from the way you watched her smile grow out of the corner of your eye, you knew she did. The rest of the drive passed in companionable silence as you retreated into your own thoughts, your nerves getting worse and worse the closer you got to your destination.

You took a deep breath and let it out slowly through your nose, feeling like your heart was trying to beat its way through your rib cage. You hadn't been this anxious in a long, long time, so long you almost forgot how much you hated the tightness in your chest, how your palms would start to sweat, the way you'd chew the inside of your cheek until you tasted blood on your tongue. By the time Sarah pulled into an open spot beside the achingly familiar Volkswagen parked in front of the Chateau, you were surprised you were still able to breathe.

The sight of the tiny house, one you spent so many carefree days and beautiful nights in alongside your friends, standing virtually unchanged in front of you was like a shot to the heart and your hands, curled into fists on your lap, began to shake without warning. Shit, you were a godforsaken mess; how the hell were you supposed to do this without having a mental breakdown?

"I'm so scared."

The whispered words, barely audible over the torrential rain against the roof, slipped from your mouth before you could stop them and Sarah slowly reached one hand over to give your trembling wrist a reassuring squeeze, the corners of her mouth curled upward in a slight smile.

"Don't be. They're gonna be so happy to see you!"

You turned to look at her, eyebrows knit together in disbelief. "How are you so sure they still care about me?"

"I'm sure 'cause I've seen it. My God, if only you could've heard all the times they talked about you -'I wish Y/N was here,' 'remember that time with Y/N,' hell, just straight 'I miss Y/N so fucking much,'" She said bluntly and shifted in the driver's seat to face you head on, smiling wider at the thunderstruck look on your face. "Pretty sure I haven't gone a week without JJ saying that last one at least once." 

"I thought..." You paused, tongue darting out to run over your dry lips as you tried to put your jumbled feelings into words, "I thought he'd hate me -I mean, after all I've done, you think he still..."

"Loves you? Are you kidding?" Her reply was so enthusiastic it was hard not to believe her as she went on, her words like sunshine brightening the darkest corners of your mind. "He's still head over heels, I've never seen him even look at another girl in three damn years. You know he still wears your necklace, the one with the silver star? Kie told me all about it."

"I-I didn't." You remembered giving it to him the day you left, managing a shaky smile through your tears as you carefully clasped it around his neck, your fingers running over his skin as you settled the charm perfectly alongside that little shark tooth you'd grown to love.

('Be careful with this, baby. It's my favorite.' You had said, crying harder when he'd taken off one of his rings and slipped it onto your thumb.

'Well, this one's my favorite so take good care of it, okay?' His voice had been light but his eyes were heavy with unspoken words that you'd heard loud and clear because you knew your gaze said the exact same things.

don't let me go

don't break my heart

don't stop loving me)

You coughed to disguise the fat tears that started rolling down your face, quickly wiping them away with your sleeve but the blonde girl wasn't fooled as she gave your hand another friendly squeeze.

"Come on, they're probably wondering what's taking me so long," She sent a conspiratorial wink your way and grabbed her bag from the center console. "I told them I was picking up some pizzas but I have a funny feeling they won't be too pissed that I lied."

With a desperate grip on the strap of your backpack and your heart racing, you trailed behind Sarah through the rain to the front porch. 

"Ready?" She glanced back where you lingered at the top of the stairs, anxiously shuffling from foot to foot, and shot you a smile that did little to calm your nerves. "Just wait here!"

She knocked on the door before you could reply and yelled loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain, "Hey, it's me! Can somebody get the door? My hands are kinda full."

"Got it!"

Your bag slipped from your fingers and fell onto the porch with a loud thump at the sound of the voice floating through the open windows, a voice you heard nearly every night as you slept, in your dreams of a future you wanted with everything you had. You knew it better than your knew your own, knew every pitch and tone and lilt; quiet and raspy in the mornings when you woke up in each other's arms, loud and carefree during long days spent under the golden sun with the rest of your friends, soft and warm and laid bare at night when he showed how much he loved you with more than just words.

Sarah gave you an enthusiastic thumbs up before stepping to the side just as the door opened and you suddenly found yourself struggling to breathe as you stared into the wide blue eyes of your ex-boyfriend. JJ stared right back, one of the hands you used to hold clenched so tight around the doorknob his knuckles were white, the lips you used to kiss parted in surprise, the blond hair you used to run your fingers through falling onto his forehead like always and the familiar, beautiful sight of him standing close enough to touch made your knees weak.

"You're not pizza."

It was such a JJ thing to say and you didn't know whether to laugh or cry as you swallowed thickly and shook your head. "Sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm not."

"Oh."

Hope flared white hot in your chest at his words but it quickly started to fade, replaced by fear when he made no move toward you, his fingers still gripping tight to the door, and you felt your face start to heat in embarrassment as Sarah looked back and forth between the two of you like she was watching a tennis match. 

God, you were so stupid. What did you expect would happen, showing up out of the blue after over a year of no contact? Everything would fall into place again with just one long, heavy look? Believing it could be that easy turned you into a complete and total fool, tongue-tied and insecure and weak.

"Yo, what's the hold up?" John B's voice asked from inside the house and Sarah leaned down to call through the open window, "Come out here and find out!"

A wave of dizziness hit you like a truck and you took a sudden step back toward the stairs, arms wrapping around your stomach as it twisted itself into knots. "I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have come. This was a mistake." You didn't notice the stricken look that crossed JJ's face or the three familiar, stunned expressions that appeared behind him in the darkened doorway before turning away and stumbling off the porch toward the road, leaving your bag behind and you definitely didn't notice how you barely made it off the bottom stair before a set of footsteps hastily gave chase. 

"It wasn't a mistake, Y/N!" JJ's desperate voice stopped you in your tracks, halfway across the yard with more than just rain running down your face. "Not to me, never to me."

His soft touch on your wrist sent shockwaves through your body and you instantly became putty in his hands, letting him turn you around without a fight to face him, watching in fascination as the downpour started to darken his gray shirt and flatten his hair against his forehead. Three years hadn't changed much about him -he was a little taller, hair a little longer, the muscles in his arms a little more defined- and when you met his wide-eyed gaze, beads of rain dripping from his long eyelashes like diamonds, you wondered if he was thinking about the differences time created between the younger you of the past and the you of the right now, too.

"Oh." You repeated dumbly, struggling for something, anything to say that didn't make you sound like an illiterate fool. Even at nineteen, words still weren't your strong suit so you let your actions speak for you as your hand reached out on its own accord to caress the silver star still clasped around his neck, the thumb still wearing his ring brushing slowly against the dip between his collarbones; he shivered, and you weren't really sure if it was from your touch or the cold. 

"Y/N." JJ said your name like a prayer, like he couldn't believe you were there in front of him, and you inhaled sharply when both of his hands slowly, carefully moved to cup your face, his calloused thumbs habitually wiping the tears from your cheeks over and over, even as more instantly replaced the ones he swept away. "I fucking missed you."

You stood there, looking like a damned drowned rat with your hair dripping into your eyes, shivering in your soaked jeans and Kildare County High School sweatshirt, the love of your life cradling your face so gently in his hands, and so many things you wanted to say flooding your brain but only the one that mattered the most managed to get by your trembling lips.  

"I'm still in love with you." 

You noticed a lot when you put your heart on the line: the steady, soothing sound of water falling through the trees, the bright, clean taste of rain on your tongue, how the sun was just barely starting to peek out from behind the stormy clouds, but they all paled in comparison to the little things you noticed about the boy in front of you; blue irises made even brighter by the red rimming his eyes, how he stepped closer on the wet grass until the tips of his scuffed boots touched your worn gray high tops, the way his hands trembled ever so slightly against your flushed face. 

"Well, it's your lucky day 'cause I'm still in love with you, too."

All of the breath left your lungs in one big rush when JJ smiled hopefully -oh, how you loved everything about that smile: his slightly crooked teeth, that dimple in his cheek, the endearing pink blush swept across his nose- and you felt yourself return it without a second thought, your own hope once again burning bright in your chest.

"Even after...everything?" Your voice shook like the fingers you slid into the hair at his nape and he leaned down to rest his forehead against yours, close enough you could feel his breath on your lips when he spoke.

"I told you I'd always love you, didn't I?"

You nodded, a delicious shiver running down your spine when he tilted his head just so and gently bumped your nose with his. You remembered all the times he did that through the years, a dizzying slideshow of memories that flashed through your mind like lightning, and your fingers wove themselves deeper in his hair. 

"I have so many things to apologize for," You said with a tiny, quiet shake of your head, tearing your eyes away from his in shame and staring over his shoulder toward where the rest of your friends watched from the porch, all crowded together at the top of the stairs with identical enthralled expressions on their faces. "There are so many mistakes I've made and people I've hurt and I have no idea how to even start saying sorry for it all." 

"Babe."

The sound of your old pet name caused your gaze to snap right back to his and your heart felt like it was about to beat right out of your chest when one of his hands trailed down the sensitive skin of your neck and then lower until it traced along the curve of your hip and left a line of fire in its wake.

"We'll figure that out later, okay?" JJ said as his fingers tucked a loose strand of wet hair behind your ear, a coy, ardent grin on his face. "'Cause I've been waiting three years to kiss you again and if I don't get to do it soon, I'm gonna lose my fucking mind."

You smiled -a wide, joyful, elated smile- and rose up on your tiptoes in anticipation. "Then kiss me." 

You didn't have to tell him twice. His lips pressed against yours desperately, like he needed you to breathe, like you were the very air in his lungs, religiously, like your mouth was the altar and he was there to worship as he pulled you close, the fingers of one hand tangling in your hair while the others dug into your hip. You kissed him back just as hard and the familiar taste of him on your tongue -mint, smoke, salt- sent that dearly missed spark racing through your veins like wildfire.

It was a little cliché, having your long-awaited reunion kiss in the rain but it was honest and candid and real and so much better than anything you could've dreamed. You lost yourself in his touch like you used to, clinging to him like a lifeline and pouring your whole heart into every fierce brush of your lips against his, both of you pulling away for a moment only to dive right back in each time. It was addictive, intoxicating, and you could've spent the rest of your life standing there in the middle of the yard and kissing like there was no tomorrow if a loud, ear-piercing wolf whistle hadn't come from the direction of the porch.

The two of you broke apart just barely, with foreheads still pressed together and swollen lips, and you couldn't stop yourself from giggling when JJ blindly flipped the bird over his shoulder before pulling you back in for another eager kiss that filled your whole body with an exhilarating, heavenly heat that never faded, even after four enthusiastic voices suddenly surrounded you like an excited swarm of nosy, buzzing bees.

"You aren't the only one who missed her, J." Kiara said, smiling widely as you reached out to grab her hand and pull her into a powerful one-armed hug, her chin resting on your shoulder.

"Yeah, stop hogging all the love!" John B added, throwing himself into the pile along with Pope, who slung an arm around your shoulders as he said, "Great to have you back, Y/N."

Sarah was the last to join and she quietly tucked herself under John B's arm with a pleased grin on her face, nodding when you mouthed 'thank you' in her direction. The six of you stood there in the rain, smiling like fools, and as the sun started to scare away the dark clouds overhead and in your heart, a weight you didn't even realize had been crushing your chest slowly began to lift away with each freeing breath. 

You still had a lot of work to do: wrongs to be righted, apologies to be made, explanations -not excuses- to be given for every shitty thing you did in your past. But as happy tears started streaming down your face once again and you felt the arms of the friends you’d thought were lost to you forever tighten around you at the sight, you knew in your bones all would be forgiven. You knew that after three long years, you'd finally come home.

-

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[friendlylocalwriter]

The Quiet Stranger

Pairing(s): Geralt of Rivia x fem!reader

Warnings: Slight mention of violence, mild language, bit of a meet-cute, nothing too bad

Requested: No

Prompt: You live a quiet life in the forest with your mother after the fall of Cintra, selling grains and produce to keep enough coins for survival. When your mother leaves for a long journey to the market, you're surprised to meet a white-haired stranger in dire need of help, and even more surprised by how you feel about him.

Word Count: 2452

Chapter: 1/?

A/N: Hello friends! I have decided to do a multi-chapter Witcher fic because like,,, have y’all seen him LMAO. I’m hoping to actually get on a schedule and post every Saturday for this fic, so I hope you all enjoy! And, I’ve decided to stray away from writing real person fics (like my timothee chalamet fic I posted earlier this year) so there will be no part three to that, so I apologize! Pretty please comment/reblog if you enjoy, because that’s what keeps me goin! This is also posted on my AO3 @/violettaren. Enjoy loves! <3

Your back is aching. 

You turn over on your poorly constructed wooden bed to see your mother opening the curtains to your shack, letting the bright light of the morning shine into your eyes. You groan and let your head fall back onto the cheap fabric that works as a makeshift pillow. 

“Get up urgently, young one. We’ve much to do before I leave for the market” your mother says as she gathers various tools from the main table in your home. Well, home is generous. Nilfgaard had taken your home in Cintra many years ago during the war, robbing you and your mother of your father, your home, your livelihood. You were so young that any memory of Cintra escapes you, but you see it on your mother’s eyes every time she looks out onto the large acre of land you two now occupy deep in the forest, alone. This isn’t where she’s meant to be. 

It’s this thought that forces you out of bed to help your mother gather the grains and berries you grow in your garden to sell in the town miles over every few months. The coins your mother makes isn’t much, not nearly as much as your father made in Cintra, but it’s enough to keep you alive. Enough to allow you to stay home while your mother is gone for many weeks and study the books your father left behind. 

“I’d appreciate it if you actually put the grains in the bag,” your mother grins at you, looking down at the empty rucksack that should be full of the tall brown plants cascading across the field. You drop your head and apologize, quickly feeling around to see which are ready to be picked. You feel your mother’s hand on your shoulder, forcing your gaze up to see her expression.

“I was only kidding, dear. What has you so disquieted?” her voice was soft and plush, enveloping around you like a warm cotton blanket. Christ, you were going to miss her.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave, Mother. At least not for so long.” You sighed, pressing the pads of your fingers into your hands. “I feel so lonely here, all I can do is tend to the garden and read Father’s books. Can I come with you, just this once?” 

You already knew the answer, but it didn’t hurt to try. 

“Now, dear, you know it’s much too dangerous for you to leave here,” her voice stopped as she took in a deep breath, looking into your eyes with a sad smile. 

“I’ve lost- I’ve lost too much to take the chance. I’m sorry. And with Lav’s sickness, the journey will take even longer since I must go on foot. You have to understand.”

Lav was your family horse who’d been with you for many years, but her age was starting to catch up with her. She could barely walk, let alone carry pounds of produce. 

"I do, I do understand." you sigh and carry the bags of food to the front of a trail where a barrel stands, and you begin the load to load the produce. Once the last of the bags are set, you grab your mother tightly, and you drink in her laugh, hoping it'll stay with you for the coming weeks. 

"I'll be just alright, dear. Just make sure Lav doesn't eat any of my damn berries."

•••••••

Lav’s loud neighing woke you up as the sun was just starting to rise over your shack. You assumed it was just your old horse coming across some little rodent in the garden, and snuggled back into your blanket, thinking nothing of it. But her sounds got progressively louder and more shrill, and you sighed, ripping the blanket off of your body and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. You glanced in the mirror next to you to see your sheer pale nightgown outlining your body.  No one comes around even miles close to here, you thought. Shrugging, you make your way outside to the garden to see Lav and … nothing. Like you thought. 

“What is it, girl? What’d you wake me up for?” you pet her brown mane, looking around to see if there was anything out there. 

“You get scared so easy, Lav. Make no more noise, please,  Lord knows I need the beauty sleep.” 

You give her a few more head pats and yawn, turning around to walk back to your bed when you are met with two amber eyes looking at you. 

It takes you a few moments to realize that there is an actual person, a massive one at that, staring at you with no expression on his face. Once your brain decides to work, you remember what you’re wearing and your hands immediately fly to cover your chest. 

“I am - I didn’t know anyone was around here. I’m sure you’re just passing through, I’ll get out of your way,” your voice comes out much quicker and more child-like than you would’ve hoped, and you try to speedwalk past him. You only get maybe two steps in before a calloused hand grabs your arm, turning you back around to face him again, forcing you to get a good look at him. 

Funnily enough, his amber eyes are the least striking thing about this stranger. His long locks are a dusty white shade, with a few sparse strands framing the front of his face. He’s wide, god why is he so wide?, and he easily has at least 6 inches on you. He has three or four fresh scars on his face, and what looks like the handle of a sword is peeking out from behind him. Your eyes fall down his heavily dressed chest only to see a large hole at the bottom, right above his pelvis. Your brows furrow, and you quickly realize that it is a knife wound, noticing the dark dried blood. Your heart stops and you run through all of the things your mother told you to do if a Nilfgaardian came to your home. 

“Listen,” he says almost immediately after feelings your pulse quicken under his touch. “I am not here to hurt you. I am Geralt, of Rivia. I need attendance.” His voice is deep and ragged, with such a severe intensity that you hesitate to reply. He lets his grip loosen on your arm but still keeps it there, ghosting over you. 

“Please, I will give you no trouble.”

“I don’t know, a wound of that caliber kind of indicates to me that there’d be a bit of trouble,” you joke, lightly gesturing to his abdomen with your free arm. He says nothing, his eyes scanning your face. 

Yeesh. You haven’t seen another person other than your mother in years, but you didn’t think your jokes were that bad. 

Once the silence begins to verge on uncomfortable, you slowly remove your arm from his grip and move back a bit, crossing your arms over your torso. 

“I can try and help you, Geralt, but I’ve no magic nor any healing powers. I can possibly stitch that wound you’ve got and give you some fresh ale to help with the pain?” you propose, even though you had quite shoddy sewing skills. You swear you see his rock hard expression falter quickly, but it goes right back before you could figure out if it truly happened or not. 

“I would appreciate that, uh…” 

“Y/N, my name is Y/N, of, well formerly of Cintra,” you smile tightly, forcing those thoughts out of your head. 

He simply hmmed, and you spot his eyes trailing down your collarbones to fall onto your chest. You feel the heat come onto your face and you turn around, trying to concentrate on anything except the amber of eyes of the stranger. 

“Come inside. I’ll get changed quickly and then hopefully get you back to health, and on your way.”

•••••••

He was bad at talking. Or rather, he just didn’t want to talk to you. 

Once you two were inside, you tossed on a large tattered poncho over your nightgown and grabbed the old sewing kit on your nightstand, praying that you had the skills to hopefully help this man. He was sat on your bed, constantly fidgeting around to try and get comfortable. 

“I know, it’s quite hard, isn’t it? I wake up feeling ten years older every night,” you look up to smile at him while you try and get the thread through your needle. It feels like hours pass before he says anything. 

“I am used to discomfort.”

You try to rack your brain to think of what to say, because who the hell says that, but you come up short and decide to work on the pressing task at hand. As soon as you prepare the needles, you stand up and walk towards the back of your shack where all of your food and drink are stored, and grab the beer you and your mother made with the fresh grains.

“Here,” you hand it to him, ignoring the electricity that runs through your arm when his fingers brush against yours. “Hopefully this will help with the pain.”

He gives you another hmm and takes a large swig while you sit next to him, being extra cautious to make sure there is enough space between the two of you. He quickly finishes his drink with a sigh and places it on your nightstand, looking back at you with expecting eyes. 

“I, um, need you to remove your dressings. For me to work, of course,” you sputter, mentally kicking yourself in the head. 

You notice Geralt’s lips rise oh so slightly into a little smirk as you stuttered, and he wastes no time tossing his bag with his weapons onto the floor and then slowly removing the many articles of clothing on his torso. You feel an odd pull in the bottom of your stomach when you see his shirtless body, his arms veiny and riddled with scars, his chest muscular and equally as blemished. That same heat rises to your cheeks and you look down at his wound, wincing as you examine the gash. 

“Lean back, please,” you murmur, cringing at how weak you sound. “I can’t properly stitch you in this position.”

He obliges wordlessly as he splays his half-naked body onto your cot, closing his eyes. You realize how much effort you’re putting into just breathing, and you get to work on closing the wound, getting into a rhythm with your sewing. His abdomen clenches but he lets out no audible indication of pain, his mouth sealed in a tight frown. 

“How did this happen, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I do.”

Shocked at his rude candor, and embarrassed, you say nothing as you press your head down, hoping to make no further eye contact with him. He hisses as you work towards closing the largest part of the wound, and you thought of apologizing but decided against it due to his track record when it came to talking. You continue to stitch in silence until the wound was closed, and you sigh in relief as you looked at your finished work. Wasn’t great, but wasn’t going to kill him. 

“It should heal soon, hopefully,” you stand up, moving to rub your hands on your thighs until you notice the bloodstains all over them. With a shiver, you grab a wet cloth and roughly scrub at hands. You couldn’t stand the smell of someone else’s blood any longer. 

You hear a creak and turn around to see Geralt standing up with his clothing in his hand, and you immediately feel anger cloud your head.

“What the hell? You’re going to pull the stitches, you idiot,” you grab the clothes out of his hands and toss them back on the ground. “I did not just cover my hands in blood for God knows how long for you to mess up my work minutes after!” you exclaim, putting your hands on your hips. Geralt laughs in such a condescending way that you can’t even begin to hold back the fury in your voice.

“You asked me for help, remember? I should be hearing ‘Wow, thank you Y/N for helping me, a random stabbed stranger!’”

Geralt’s smile falls as he stares into your eyes, and you feel that same discomfort from when you first found him outside. He just did everything with such intent and passion that when it was directed at you, you felt like jumping out of your skin.

“Thank you, Y/N, for what you’ve done, but I will be fine. I must be on my way,” he grimaces as he takes a step, and you can almost feel the pain with him. 

“Geralt, listen. I get it, you’re a strong guy,” you step in front of him and try and remove the anger from your voice. “But you’re going to need to relax for at least a day. Give the stitches some time to settle.”

“I’ve no place to stay. It’s just forest, for miles.”

“You can stay with me.”

The sentence leaves your mouth before you can even recognize what you’re saying. Geralt’s eyebrows raise and he tilts his head slightly, eyeing you as one would to a lost puppy. Any confidence you had immediately dissipates when you realize what you just suggested, and you open your mouth but nothing comes out. 

“I mean, only if- if you’d like. If not, I’m sure you can make it to a town on foot by tomorrow. I’m sure your fast,” you finally choke out with a scratchy laugh, and you shut your eyes, wishing this entire situation would just disappear. 

Geralt laughs again, but this time it’s much more earnest and kind of … adorable? Not that you should think of this strange man who’d been knifed and wandered through a forest as adorable, but he kind of was. 

“Y/N, open your eyes,” he says, his voice surprisingly stern. You look up at him, preparing for another blunt response, but are met with much softer eyes. 

“I wouldn’t wish to overstay my welcome.”

“You wouldn’t be,” you breathe, shyness creeping up under his gaze. “I- I would like for you to stay. Just so I can make sure the stitches are okay.”

You didn’t notice it until now, but Geralt’s fingertips were so lightly touching yours that there was almost no contact, but just close enough to get that same pull in the bottom of your stomach. You’d never felt anything like this before, and as much as it terrified you, you didn’t want it to end. 

"Alright, then it's settled, Y/N. I'll stay."

[crows-murder]

pulls out megaphone HELLO TELL ME ABT THE OCS BBY HIT ME W IT IM READY

ALRIGHT YESS

I have so many ocs and not all of them really belong to a story. Some of them just kinda exist and wait for me to write them a story iscklvlb

BUT im gonna talk about the ones WITH a story. Actually, im gonna talk about my side character OCs bc I havent really talked about them and thst is a crime. I love them so much

Starting off, we've got Andrea. She's 18 and she's the half sister of my OC Noah (who is an MC). She the responsible older sister of everyone. She doesn't have a big role in the first book but in the second, she's the mother hen. She's bi. She's also athletic and is on the track team. She wants to study sociology in college.

Next is Carmen. If light academia was a person basically. Shes 21 and she's Noah's older sister (Noah is 14. He has a 9 y/o lil sis named Julieta). She kinda wants to do her own thing and doesn't want to become a guardian bc it would mean being forced to stay in one place forever. She needs to move and to be free and do her own thing. She's currently been traveling the world for the past two and a half years. Her father disappeared two years ago and she didn't come home when her mother told her to come back so they're not on the best of terms currently rip. And she does get kidnapped by the same evil faeries who kidnapped her father and no one knows bc she's kind of been ghosting everyone ripppp. She's pretty introverted and loves the smell of old books and LOVES bookstores. LOVES them.

Emeline (Ema) is the half sister of the twins. She's 16 and her dad is an opera singer. Her dad and the twins' mom have been married for 4 years or so. Before then, her dad raised her alone. Her hair is dyed pastel pink and she's got a lot of piercings in her ears. She's also pretty introverted but makes friends pretty easily (albeit awkwardly LMAO)

And finally. Hilde. (I saved her for last bc cw: talk of child soldiers (its only mentioned)) Her story is. Its probably the most traumatic out of all of them ajfklglglg. Shes super pale (pale skin, hair a really pale blond, eyes a pale blue). She's 18 and was adopted by Charlie and Cece's parents when she was 12. Her parents accidentally traveled from Sweden, Earth, to Flador, a kingdom in liandron (parallel world to earth), and she was born there a few years later. When she was 9, faeries came to the village and took all the human children and killed the other humans and the kids were trained as soldiers to fight in their war against the other countries of liandron. Hilde managed to run away, a guardian found her (grandpa of the twins) and took her back with him and she grew up with the twins and was legally adopted by their parents. Now she's 18 and has sworn to be the twins' protector

ASK ME ABOUT MY OCS

[splendidshinobi]

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 2003 LIVE REACT: EPISODES 1-5

So i am gonna watch fullmetal alchemist 03 and react to it for my own fun. i did see 03 first wayyyy before brotherhood, but it was only like 3 episodes with my older sister back in like 2007, so it’s been a really long time and thats like 48 unwatched episodes. i’ve just been kinda curious because i hear people hate it and i hear people love it. so yeah lets gooooo

episode 1: those who challenge the sun

ok here we go

what the FUCK HAT is mustang wearing why is he outside in the rain st the elrics’ house during the transmutation

ed is anakin skywalker confirmed

is it just me or do maxey whitehead and aaron dismuke sound almost the exact same...

i have just been informed by google that whitehead used the same bowl dismuke did to record the lines veerrry interesting

a wine fountain i see i see

oh hey lust you here baby girl what is upppp

the pink hair works for rose the original born again christian e girl

for the most part so far this liore episode is pretty close to the brotherhood liore episode 

“push your total cynicism on someone else” you tell him alphonse!!!!

the people from liore in brotherhood are a lot paler than the 03 counterparts i just noticed

the giant bird um ok

this kid’s goT AUTOMAIL WHAT??? /j

he still does the dramatic coat rip glad to see it very glad to see it

episode 2: body of the sanctioned

I FORGOT ABOUT THE OP IT SLAPS I LOVED IT WHEN I WAS TWELVE.

 “WRONG HOLY MAN” im gonna start saying this to evangelicals

AL’S DEEP VOICE ALL OF A SUDDEN “PLZ GIVE US THE STONE” 

wait a damn minute rose’s bf????? um SIR MR HOLY MAN SIR

IS IT THE BIRD? HE MADE THE BIRD INTO THE “BOYFRIEND”????? 

gluttony’s tummy noises same baby same

walking statues?? ok professor mcgonagall 

that wasnt in the book

the watch being the reason ed can do alchemy without a transmutation circle??? hahaha yeah ok think again bitch

the bell lmaooooooo

again thats not what happened in the book

lustttttttyyyy BABBBEEEEEEEE

ROSE TEHRE IS A BIRD BACK THERE

ITS GOTTA BE THE BIRD

IT. WAS. THE. BIRD.

rose baby its ok

oh multiple birds into one big birdy

im gonna make a meme out of that

this is kinda scary 

rose askin about trisha maam mind ur business

i like the original broadcast better with ed in cornello’s office not in a dungeon

cornello’s running breathing sounds like me

ok quite a bit of this episode went off the source material but why??? like just to add stuff for the sake of adding stuff/drawing out the story to give the manga more time? i’d be interested to know

shut up rose plz i get it but stop

ope hey envy wassup

episode 3: mother

BABY DEN MY HEART

what are they makin

oh creepy....damn winry i wouldve been freaked too

damn this is a never skip opening im boPPING

DAMN YURIY AND SARA!!!!!! 

“when your dad gets back thank him” trisha maam are you just super optimistic or what??? maybe its just that i KNOW

WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY AT DADDY LMAOOOOOO

oh fuck yuriy and sara were just here a second ago

EDWARD YOU ARE NOT GONNA MAKE YURIY AND SARA INTO HOMUNCULI GET A FILTER

9 and 10 years old?? didnt trisha die way earlier than that...hold up

yeah i googled it they were like 4 and 5

HOHENHEIM SENT LETTERS???????????????

bitch nah

“aunt pinako” AUNT??? AUNT NO NO NO SHE IS GRANNY PINAKO

RAINCOAT MUSTANG WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGG WHY ARE YOU HEREEEEEE WHAT ARE YOU WEARINGGGGG

ok but if raincoat mustang was RIGHT OUTSIDE how did ed and al make it to the rockbells’ house without him stopping them?? 

oh there he is how’d he get in the house

ohhhh so he was tracking hohenheim....still WHAT

roy doesnt live in central sir what u talkin about

“AL YOU’RE ON” WINRY HE ISNT A LAMP

wait was he sleeping? he cant do that

al offering to become the state alchemist? hmm

“you’re no good without me. you just turn into a jerk.” ALPHONSE ELRIC I-he’s right though

ope dont forget 3 oct 11

happy bday elric family house fire

episode 4: a forger’s love

finally an episode with original content/an episode i didn’t watch in 2007!

ok but travis willingham sounds SO YOUNG??

hohenheim’s so called letters are fucking me up i will say

this episode is giving me atla vibes but why

ED WHY R U EATING LIKE A HYENA

majhal ur SUS for some reason

ed my boy why are you drawing circles?

when is this taking place exactly? is this a flashback?

DON’T CALL AL A TRASH CAN 

in a graveyard....not a good look

ghoST LADY

what is majhal’s alchemy bracelet???

Lust were YOU the ghost lady?? damn

OH FUCK MAJHAL

OK I GOT IT its the puppetmaster episode of atla vibes im getting from this im YELLIN my brain is unparalleled 

OBVIOUSLY WITH THE MANNEQUINS HOLY HELL

BELOVED??????? FALLEN LOVE????

CREEP I KNEWWWWWWW YOU WERE SUS

THAT LADY???? WAS HIS GIRLFRIEND???? THIS WHOLE TIME?????

broooooooooo

ED DID YOU JUST STAB THIS GUY??? EDWARD

damn this is messed up his dying breath he still thought his girl was dead too poor karin...

seriously is this a flashback 

im confused when does this take place

episode 5: the man with the mechanical arm

ed on the phone im dead

ed just called him roy im shitting

WAIT TRAIN HEIST ARC??? TRAIN HEIST ARC YESSSSSS

ok so this episode and last episode is all PRE ed getting his state alchemist’s certification???

why...

does ed not get it until he’s like 15 in 03? 

FALMAN??????

HUGHES??????????

MIRACLE OF HORMONES????? 

falman is so snappy WHAT

i like how ed always takes the short comments way further than the original comment lmaoooo

stupid roy ilysm

anyways this train heist arc is a lil different idk

FALMAN IS KILLIN ME who even is he

hahahh aa the guy shot himself lmao

oh no not again what the hell

ED U STUPID

ok but why is hughes dressed like an absolute fucking pirate

i refuse to believe hughes is a good “train walker” 

hughes is not a smooth man

that being said he is a boss bitch

“something crazy up there” oh yes that’s my feral son edward

TURBULENCE???? ED THIS IS A TRAIN

i feel like i need to reread the train heist

im gonna reread it

WAIT WHAT ROY WHAT DID U DO

i need riza to shine baby girl do somethin

ooh flame alchemy

did roy just kill that guy

“remember the pain” roy stfu

HOW OLD ARE ED AND AL RIGHT NOW 

roy mustang is one shady bastard

thoughts so far: im actually enjoying it lol and im gonna continue reacting cause it was fun!!! im excited to see where they take it because the studio was definitely already adding their own stuff this early in the game for sure. 

[catxtopia]

Lips Of a Stranger} Chp. 10

Author: catxtopia

Ship: Billdip ((fluffy))

Characters: Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, Bill Cipher, Gideon Gleeful

Summary: The Night Vale AU no one asked for.

Author notes: I am back on my bullshit, lets finish this.

chap.1 | chap.2 | chap.3 | chap. 4 |  chap. 5&6 | chap. 7 |  chap. 8 | chap. 9

Read: ao3

((HOHO Betcha thought you saw the last of me.

Four years late but hey I fricken finished this shit! I sat down literally yesterday after a kind person commented that they still wait for updates on this story (srsly so sorry and you're so sweet holly heck, never say comments don't totally motivate a writer) and finished this. I already had this chapter written many years ago but I didn't wanna post it until I finished the rest (so sorry for my dumb past self). So this one sounds pretty much the same as the rest of the story, however cannot confirm for the rest of the work.

I haven't written in ages, I don't particularly like writing anymore if I am being honest. I am not great at it but I have a lot of ideas lmao. So I just wanna preface that the ending... probably not great lol. I will have a full report on the last chapter, however, on my old ideas for this story and what I thought it could be. There is probably a lot of plot holes and unanswered things but I tried^^;;;

Anyways, I'll upload either every day or every other day depending. But this shall finally be finished lads! (also no beta, we're animals here)))

“You found it!?”

Lying still, yet menacingly, on the kitchen table was a maroon journal with a black number 1 inked firmly in the center. It was larger than an average book and much worse for wear, the red leather was ripped and mystery blotches were smudged in several different locations on the cover. Mabel and Dipper stood around the object that had been of desire for so long. Neither made a move to touch it, treating it like an old relic—which it very well could have been as far as Dipper knew.

“Yeah, it was in this wired compartment in a tree outside.” Dipper scratched lightly at his chin, eyes roaming over the book. His fingers itched with curiosity for he had yet to open and examine the contents inside. He wasn’t sure if he should, waiting for Cipher seemed like the logical option but that required calling the man, followed by seeing him again, and the thought of meeting gold eyes sent his stomach through all kinds of loops. Thus, his phone stayed promptly in his pocket where it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

“Compartment in a tree, huh?” Mabel repeated, a confused look crossing her face. She, too, moved her hand to rub lightly at her chin in thought. “How’d you come across that?”

Dipper stiffened ever so slightly, and then casted a glance at his intrigued sister. He cleared his throat and shifted to stuff his hands in his pockets roughly. “I just, ya know, fell against it.” He shrugged, trying his best to remain cool—which was, to say, impossible when it came to Dipper Pines.

“Fell against it, hm?” Mabel’s eyebrow slowly started rising.

“Yes, I fell against it!” Dipper sputtered, looking away towards the book again. “The details of how I found the book aren’t important. What is important is that I found it !”

Mabel stifled her giggles as much as her lips would allow. “Whatever you say, Bro bro.” She mused and leaned over the dusty object, intentionally ignoring the tomato that was now her brother beside her. He’d been through enough teasing this morning, she’d let him off the hook this once. “What do you thinks inside?”

Dipper leaned back against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “No idea.” He quietly thought back to the times he and Cipher were looking for said book. A distant memory of going to the junkyard and the words black magic and demons , danced in the back of his mind but he elected to ignore those warnings. If the book really was dangerous, there was no way Cipher would be looking for it. At least that’s what Dipper told himself.

“Are you going to open it?” Mabel quirked a brow, eyes not leaving the book.

Dipper shifted against the counter. “I don’t know, Mabes. Maybe we should wait for Cipher to open it first.”

Mabel pursed her lips and squinted at the book.

There was a long pause, the only sound being whispers from the TV playing in the other room. Then Mabel, with a big intake of breath, announced loudly: “I am gonna open it.” And quickly flipped the front cover open.

“Mabel!” Dipper yelped, but his words fell on deaf ears as the young girl turned another page, and then another. “Mabes, seriously, be careful with it! We don’t know what it is, it could be super old and crumble at human touch! Who knows what—”

As Dipper rambled on and on, Mabel’s quick movements tentatively began to slow. She flipped only one more page before stopping and taking in a soft gasp, voice riddled with distraught. “Oh my gosh.” She whispered breathlessly. Dipper paused in his ranting, staring at the back of his sister's head since he couldn’t see the book around her. “I can’t believe this.”

“What?” He inquired, a drop of unease plopping into the pits of his stomach. Mabel’s shoulders were tense; body rigged with what Dipper could only assume was fear. She looked as though she was witnessing a demon rise out from the pits of hell, or at the very least like her sweaters were being set aflame. And throughout it all, all Dipper could hear were McGucket’s warnings ringing loud and clear inside his jumbled head. “That books bad news I tell ya! Black magic, raising devils, kinda bad news! Nothin good ever came out of that thing.” Dipper cringed at the voice. “What is it?”

“It’s terrible…” Mabel whispered, leaning further over the book. Her hair draped over the yellowing pages, eyes hidden behind thick bangs. “Cipher, he’s…”

“What? What about Cipher?” Dipper stepped closer. He could feel his heart thump a little faster with each step he took towards his sister.

“He’s a…” The girl moved back, turning swiftly to face her brother. Her face was red and cheeks puffed out, eyes leaking frustrated tears and— “ He’s a giant nerd just like you!” She exclaimed dramatically, throwing one hand towards the opened journal and another over her stomach as she doubled over laughing.

Dipper stared, dumbfounded as his sister flopped onto the tabled to keep from falling onto the floor. She was wheezing and stomped a foot every so often, trying to regain her breathing. He couldn’t believe this. “Mabel.” Dipper squinted hard at the girl. The only answer he got was more laughing and a few arm flails. “Mabel, you jerk.” Dipper sighed, but a small smile was tugging at his lips.  

“Oh! Oh!” Mabel giggled, laughter beginning to die out into soft gasps. “Oh my gosh, yo- your face!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Dipper rolled his eyes. “You got me.” Behind his ribs, his heart was still pounding with adrenaline. He willed his limbs to stop their jittery shakes and calm the hell down. There was nothing to worry about, Mabel was just being her usual dork self. He looked towards the open book finally, now being able to get a good view of it. “So what’s in this thing, anyways?”

Having calmed down a bit, Mabel slipped across the kitchen in her fluffy pink socks, clamped onto the fridge handle and yanked it open to retrieve a can of Pit Cola. She juggled it in her hands, closing the door again with her hip. As she snapped the can open she explained lightly, “Looks like a dictionary for supernatural stuff to me. Really wired, it’s all hand written and stuff.” She paused and took a big gulp of her drink.

Dipper nodded and examined the scribbles and notes about different creatures. His eyes widened the further he flipped from page to page, completely entranced with the object sitting before him. It was no wonder Cipher wanted this thing, the stories he could produce with the book would be endless!

“This is amazing.” Dipper breathed. Gnomes, Zombies, Ghosts, this book was like a paranormal junkies Holy Grail.  

Mabel hummed and jumped up onto the counter. “It makes sense why Cipher would want this. I am sure he will be happy you found it.” She mused, swinging her legs back and forth to the rhythm of a song stuck in her head. “Now you guys don’t have to go searching anymore! That’ll probably be a big nuisance off his shoulders.”

Dipper hummed absentmindedly as he drew his finger along the edge of the book, a thin layer of dust bunched up and latched onto his finger. He pulled his hand back, pinching the ball of dirt between his thumb and index finger till the grains rolled off his skin. He wondered briefly how long the book had been in that tree for, and for what reason.

“No more long hours trekking through stores and the occasional dumpster. I wonder if this old thing will help him with his work, or if that’s even what he wanted it for.” Mabel muttered against the rim of her soda can.

Dipper’s fingers instantly stilled, entire body freezing like someone had pushed a pause button on the boy’s life. No more long hours trekking through stores and the occasional dumpster . The words bounced around in his head several times and every repeat left a horrible taste in his mouth. He gulped and dropped his hand, brushing it harshly against his faded jeans. “Yeah, don’t know.” He bit out.

A minute ago he’d been excited to see Cipher’s reaction to his discovery, because damn it he was proud! And maybe boasting a little in the ego department. Now dread was filling up his core. No more time with Cipher…

Mabel slurped at her drink loudly, oblivious to the way her brother scooped up the book with a hesitant hand. “So, when are you gonna tell him?” She looked up past her wavy bangs, confused to find Dipper retreating towards the stairs at a quick pace. “Dipper?”

.:.:.

Dipper paced along the length of his bedroom, feet scuffing against the hardwood floor. He could practically feel the wood splintering away with each step he took. It was only a matter of time before he’d run a rut in the floor. He could hardly bring himself to care; however, as he gnawed at his thumbnail in a simple attempt to help distract his brain.

This was stupid, Dipper was stupid. He could hardly believe he was even thinking about the train of thought that he was. Not telling Cipher about the book? What kind of nonsense was that? He had to; it was his moral duty to give up the journal to the radio host. Otherwise, everything they’d done together thus far would be for nothing. The whole reason Dipper was being kept around was for the sole purpose of finding the book.

And once you give the book up, you won’t have a reason to be around Cipher anymore , Dipper thought sullenly. He turned once he paced as far as he could towards the door, changing direction to continue shuffling back the route he came towards the triangle window above his bed. It was a vicious cycle, this back and forth, back and forth. All the while he kept his eyes glued on the ground. He paused when his irises caught sight of a neatly folded pile of clothes at the end of his bed. Black jacket, pants, yellow scarf… A flash of blonde hair and the feel of rough bark against his back blurred past his eyes.

There would probably be no more of that once he gave up the book. Dipper lightly drew a finger against his chapped lips. If he thought hard enough he could still feel the pressure Cipher’s smooth lips had left against his own.

“Oh man.” Dipper mumbled aloud. Here he was worrying over some scraps of paper sewn together, while he should be questioning the fluttering in his chest from earlier interactions.

Cipher had kissed him and he’d be lying if he didn’t say he thoroughly enjoyed it. Both Mabel and Pacifica will be delighted to rub it in his face once they find out.  

Dipper dropped onto his bed with a frustrated groan. Everything was happening all so suddenly, so fast he couldn’t make left or right of the images flashing before his eyes. And it was all because of that darn radio host with his perfect golden hair and otherworldly eyes. Not to mention his lean body that fit so right against Dipper’s the night before, warm like a blanket and oh so comfortable… Dipper shook his head quickly, expelling any further thoughts of Cipher’s body.

Really, Cipher was too handsome for his own good. It was practically supernatural.

Dipper snorted at the thought and fell back against the bed. He stared up at the ceiling, a soft sigh fluttering past his lips. What to do, what to do. He slid his hands up to rest on his chest and began tapping his fingers against his worn shirt.

“So you tell him.” Dipper muttered to himself. “You tell him about the book. It’ll make him happy, probably further his show somehow and bring in more listeners, which will make his work life better.” His fingers paused in their tapping, then slowly started picking up a rhythm again as he let another thought enter his mind. “Or you don’t tell him, you continue looking for the book as if you haven’t already found it and grow closer. Eventually he’ll forget about the book and move on, which will make his personal life better.”

“You don’t tell him and possibly ruin his career .” A voice that sounded eerily similar to Mabel’s rumbled in the back on his head. Ah, the voice of reason. It was bound to come poking its ugly face in here eventually.

“I don’t necessarily know if it’s for his show.” Dipper grumbled, sinking a little further against his bed. Great now he was talking to himself.

“What else would he need it so badly for?”

“I don’t know, curiosity? For a collection, maybe? His life revolves around the supernatural; it’s not that farfetched to want a journal filled on the subject.”

“So you’d rather keep the object of his desire away from him, in the hopes you become that object for him instead. That’s quite selfish.”

“Well no one asked you.” Dipper huffed and rolled onto his side. He stared aimlessly out the triangular window nearby. The sun had already begun to drip close to the tree line, casting an array of colors throughout his room. It was beautiful, really, all oranges and reds, and the occasional pink glow scattering across the shack's rustic interior. His eyes followed the colorful trail of light right back to the pile of clothes at the end of his bed. He stared at the yellow scarf for a long while before he worked up the strength to reach for it.

The fabric was so soft, softer than anything he’d felt before. It was probably really expensive. Dipper tugged the material fully into his palms and laid back down. He held onto the scarf like a blanket, running the pads of his fingers over the kind stitching. “Maybe he won’t leave once he has the book.” Dipper thought aloud once again. He was starting to make a habit out of talking to himself apparently.

It wasn’t like he wanted to keep information from Cipher, especially news that’d make him happy. The paranoia engraved deep in his soul that the man would eventually forget about him if they had no reason to be around each other was just too overpowering. Even though there was a good chance Cipher liked hanging around Dipper for Dipper and not just for his searching skills. It was a big chance, honestly. You don’t just kiss someone you plan on ditching. Cipher seemed like a better person than that, anyways.

But doubt was always louder than hope.

With a quick glance at the clock—which already read 5:10PM—Dipper decided he’d allow himself to sleep on it. It was already late so there was no use calling up Cipher now; he wouldn’t be able to come by until tomorrow anyways.

Settling on that, Dipper rolled over and closed his eyes. Super wouldn’t be ready for another hour or so and a nap sounded like a pleasant idea in the meantime.

.:.:.

Three days.

It’d been three days since Dipper found the old journal hidden in a tree. The journal, which a certain radio host had yet to know, was within Dipper’s possession. It had been shamefully tucked away in the brunet’s desk under a pile of scrap papers. It wasn’t the greatest hiding spot by any means, but Dipper didn’t feel comfortable leaving the relic under his bed or somewhere in his closet. At least in his desk, the book didn’t face any chances of getting ruined.

He stuck the poor book in the bottom drawer with the intention of returning to it in a week – because a night to sleep on deciding to give the book to Cipher just wasn’t enough. He simply wanted a little more time with the radio host to assure he wouldn’t ditch him. That was reason enough, right? In one week time, the book would be given to the blonde man. Until then, Dipper proclaimed he’d live with the guilt and enjoy some downtime with the host.

And what a glorious three days it had been so far. Cipher had been spending a large majority of the days hanging around Dipper’s work again. They’d continued their little routine, but the silence was filled with a lot more bashful glances and sly smiles. The kiss hadn’t been officially mentioned, but the implication that both of them equally enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind doing it again was pretty clearly expressed.

When Dipper wasn’t shackled to his job at the bookstore – and Cipher by extension – they usually ended up spending time around town or the radio station. Very rarely were they away from each other’s side. Not that either was complaining. However, every so often when Dipper would glance Cipher’s way, he’d feel a ball of guilt nibbling away at the core of his stomach. He couldn’t help thinking about the things he was hiding from the man. It didn’t feel right, but at the same time he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it.

“Do you like your job?”

Cipher blinked open his eyes and tilted his head a little towards the brunet lying somberly beside him. They’d been lying outside on a patch of drying grass a short ways from the radio station, simply enjoying the last few drops of autumn. The sun was high above them, basking them in a nice enough warmth that they only needed light jackets. Cipher was currently wearing the sweatshirt he had borrowed from Dipper a few days prior, having yet to give it up. Not that Dipper really cared, he felt slightly prideful seeing the radio host wearing something of his.

Cipher shifted his arms, which lay beneath his head. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” He looked back towards the calm blue sky. “It’s fun, I like being able to talk about whatever the hell I want for a living. I am not the biggest fan of having to hide behind a curtain all the time, but it comes with the job.”

Dipper hummed, mulling over that information. He flicked his fingers against the zipper on his jacket. “Why do you have to be so secretive? I doubt anyone would like… attack you or something if they knew who you were.”

Cipher chuckled and turned on his side, arm bent and hand holding up his head. Dipper moved in a similar fashion so that they both faced each other. “There are a few reasons. Gideon thinks having me be unnamed makes me more mysterious, that not only the show holds secrets but even the host does.” He shrugged. “Plus, I like being able to live my life without interruptions. I would get annoyed pretty quickly if people were stopping me on the streets or spewing nonsense about me in teen magazines.”

Dipper twirled his fingers around a few blades of grass, tugging them lazily as he listened. “And here I thought you liked attention.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I do! I would love people bending at my every need, but I have standards. I wouldn’t be able to sit here with you like this if I was open about my identity, and that’s not something I am quite willing to give up.”

“I guess that… makes sense.” Dipper pondered. “So you’re a man full of secrets then?”

“I am a man with many angles and lots of knowledge of various topics, who happens to also like having a private life, so if that makes me secretive then I guess I am. However, since I like you I’ll tell you my secrets,” Cipher leaned forward, lips curving into a seductive smirk. “for a price~”

Dipper’s cheeks flushed a soft pink, “Oh really? And what’s your price, Cipher?” He mused, putting up his best confident front.

“Hmmm,” Cipher’s eyes flickered from Dipper’s eyes to his lips then quickly back again. “I don’t know, it’d probably have to be something really pricey since I’ve got a lot of secrets.”

Dipper snorted and rolled his eyes, “What like my soul?” He joked and playfully wiggled his eyebrows.

If one were to have blinked in that moment they probably would have missed the way Cipher’s eyes widened and sparked with wonder for a fraction of a second. He continued to smirk at his companion before rolling onto his back to stare up at the sky once again. “Something like that.” He hummed pleasantly. “I am sure your soul would be a beauty.”

Dipper scoffed and flopped over onto his stomach, arms crossing beneath his chin. He closed his eyes and snuggled a little deeper in his jacket. “Don’t all souls look the same? Like a smoking white ball.”

“I think you’ve been playing too many video games.” Cipher flicked at the edge of Dipper’s ear, earning a small yelp and glare from the boy. “Souls come in all colors and shapes, kid. The more corrupted the soul, the worse it looks. What the world considers ‘sinners’ usually look black, less smoky, more goopy. Like a ball of hot, bubbling tar. While good people are bright, wispy, and usually emit a color.”

“You seem to know a lot about this.” Dipper mumbled into the curve of his arm.

Cipher chuckled under his breath. “Call it a passion of mine.”

The two fell into a comfortable silence after that, lying happily beside each other with only the whispers of wind and occasional tweet of a bird filling the silence. They lay close enough that their arms brushed and with a little maneuvering their hands slipped into each other without question.

It was nice, being able to be together like this without any distractions. To simply enjoy each other’s company. Dipper really didn’t want to let this go, and yet as he peeked past his bangs at the still figure beside him, he knew that he would.

“Hey, Cipher.” Dipper said just barely above a whisper. He watched the blonde’s eyebrow twitch but his eyes remained closed.

“Hm?”

“I gotta tell you something, it’s kind of important, it’s about the b—”

Just as the words were about to flutter out of his mouth, a shrill ring of a phone smacked Dipper’s train of thought straight from his head. His lips latched shut and eyes looked down at Cipher’s glowing pocket, which the man was quickly moving to reach.

He flicked the device on and squinted at the screen as if it had personally offended him. Whether that was because it had interrupted Dipper or not, the boy wasn’t sure.

“Sorry, just an email.” Cipher’s expression lightened considerably as he turned the screen to face Dipper. “Look at this cat jumping in and out of boxes! Giffy sent it. Cats are so silly!”

True to his word, there was a cat hopping into different sized boxes with a small message from Giffany at the bottom of the screen. Dipper smiled softly at the ridiculous video. Of course Cipher would find cat videos funny, what doesn’t he find funny? Dipper thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that, nope, Cipher could get a kick out of anything.

As he watched the video play through, Dipper couldn’t help his eyes wandering to the corner of the screen where a list of information sat. At the top of the list was a name, one that had Dipper’s heart stalling. “Uh.” The boy muttered very intelligently.

Cipher tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows at Dipper’s odd expression. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t find cat videos funny. Cause I don’t think this relationship can work if—”

“Bill?”