#I should be banned from thinking I don’t do anything good with this ability

[lure-of-writing]

Little Sister: Are you going to tell her or should I?

Summary: Morrigan forces Azriel to make a choice. Either she is going to tell you or he is

Word count: 2.7k

part one, part two, part three, part four , part five

The rumbling ground beneath his feet was one indicator of what was about to come. The other indicator was the shaking paintings that were hung on the wall. Rhys may be the most powerful high lord to ever exist but your power easily rivaled his own. In anticipation of your arrival the quill pen that had just been in use was placed gently on the desk right next to the piece of paper it was just being used on. The force of the heavy wood doors being blown open almost sends the paper flying into his face, if not for his hand placed on top of it. “It’s always such a-” the words pleasure to see you died in his throat as you cut him off. “Ok what is the deal?” one of his perfectly groomed eyebrows raised slightly in questioning at your tired tone of voice. “Oh please let's not act like you don’t know what I am talking about.” the eyebrow didn’t lower even a centimeter. Marching over to the inviting seat in front of his desk you ungracefully plop yourself into the waiting chair. “Remember when Cassian accidentally knocked me out?” you watch as your brother wordlessly nodding in confusion. “Good.” you huff out letting the room fill with silence leaving your brother in a stronger state of confusion then before you started talking. At least before you came into his office Rhysand could have guessed about a thousand reasons as to what has you so upset but now he genuinely does not know where you are going with any of this. “ Go back like a week or two in time after me and Az returned from the summer court and both you and him were avoiding me. Why?” 

Rhysand knew why he was avoiding you but as for Azriel he's not too sure. Obviously he could take a very educated guess but that was about all he could do without asking. “I was busy.” Now the high lord watched as his little sister copied his earlier action of raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow in questioning. “Busy doing what exactly.” Silence once again engulfed the room as Rhysand weighed the pros and cons of telling you his reasoning for avoiding his own sister. A heavy sigh left his lips as he decided to tell you the nicer reason for his absence in your life. “When I walked in your room and saw Az helping you get dressed, that was obviously not something that I, as your older brother, wanted to see.” the continue on motion of your hand forced him to continue. “And as your older brother I obviously never want you to get hurt. In any version of the word. But as your brother I also realize, very reluctantly, at that might I add, that you deserve to live your own life. That means including having a romantic partner. So I was attempting to convince myself that if you pursued a relationship with Azriel that I would be ok.” 

A pregnant pause fell upon the room before you spoke up “That is why you’ve been avoiding me? Seriously?” The warm tone of your laughter brought a warm sensation  dancing up Rhysands neck and cheeks. Nobody else had the ability to embarrass him like his little sister does. “Rhys you know Azriel one hundred percent does not see me like that right? I mean yeah I like to use him to irritate you but he only does that because I asked him to.” your shoulders moved up and down in a shrugging motion. “While you may think that is true you have to remember for all of your life I have banned both you and those to pea brains of trying anything with each other so I needed some time to process even the mere thought of that happening.” you watched from across the desk as your brother pretended to gag. “I guess I no longer have to worry about Cass now that he has Nesta.” he added as an afterthought more to himself than to you.  “That explains why you have been avoiding me, even if it was because you were having a meltdown over nothing but what about Azriel? Why has he been avoiding me.?”  Moments of Rhysands conversation with Azriel played out in his mind. “I can only guess it's because after you paraded around summer” the sound of you scoffing interrupted his story. “Are you done being offended or can I continue.” Rhys watched as you rolled your eyes, taking that as his sign to continue on. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. After you returned I talked to Az about the different times I have caught the two of you in interesting situations, to say the least, and asked him about your relationship with each other. And since I have always made it clear he was never to see you in any way other than platonically I would assume he took that as a sign to step back from being around you.” 

The quill pen you summoned was quickly thrown across the desk at your brother “You big overprotective bat! How many times do I need to tell you that Azriel does not see me like that.” Rhys easily caught the pen giving a not so hidden sly smile at your turn to be embarrassed. “No wonder why he's avoiding me. You made it awkward. I’m just his friend's little sister and nothing more. Now I’m sure you’ve given him the wrong idea of me.” A big belly laugh erupted from within Rhysand quickly filling in the room. “After almost five hundred years  I think it’s a little late for Az to just now get the wrong idea of you.” the words barely escaped in between the laughter “You are a menace!” Rhys just continued to laugh as you marched your way back out of his office “I love you too!” The echo of his shout follows you down the corridor as you make your way out of his house. 

The very next morning you made your way to the top of the house ready to start training. “Ah ah ah.” Cassian's voice tuts from across the open roof top. Your eyes scan the room until they land on the wiggling finger that matched the owners equally as wiggly head. “You are not to be training until Madja says you can.” scrunching your face you look at Nesta before making eye contact with the general again “And who are you? My mother?” A bellowing laughter swallows up the words that just slipped past your lips. “When it comes to training I sure am.” his larger than most bicep wraps around your shoulders tucking your body into his. Leading you to the entrance that leads back to the lower level of the house. Cassian had almost gotten you to the threshold of the door when you spotted Azriel from the corner of your eye. Quickly you twirl out of your training mothers warmth and strut over to the one and only shadowsinger. “You’ve been avoiding me. Why?” the fact you had to tilt your head slightly upwards had never irritated you like it did in that moment. You watched as his hazel eyes shuffled across the room taking note of every person who showed up to training this morning. “I haven’t been avoiding you.” you could tell he was being extra quiet on purpose “Oh really is that why Rhys told me-” the words died in your throat as strong hands wrapped around your torso and lifted you from the ground. “Now young one I don’t think interrogating someone is something Madja said you were ok to do yet. Plus training starts in two minutes so you can do your questioning at a later time.” Gently Cassian once more places you on the outside of the training area. Glowering you said nothing as Cassian chuckled at your lack of response before making his way back to the center of the area. 

You watched as Azriel gave Cassian an appreciative nod and Cassian just patted him on the back before starting training. Something was definitely going on, you just didn’t know what. For now at least. 

If there was one thing that living this long has given you it was an endless supply of patience. So for almost three hours you stood leaning against the wall watching both warriors show off different techniques following up with critiquing each other's quote unquote weak spots for techniques. Finally after everything was said and done did Cassian allow you to step foot in the official training area. Azriel was stood by himself drinking water when you appeared in front of him. “Why have you been avoiding me?” you could hear how hurt you sounded to your own ears and tried to not wince at the sound of the pathetic tone you displayed. You watched as the male's face fell before you. “I didn’t mean for you to feel like I was avoiding you. It’s just-” you observed as it appeared Azriel was having an internal debate with himself before sighing a reluctant sigh “ you know how Rhys gets when it comes to you. After we got back he asked if anything was going on between the two of us and I said no. I respect both you and Rhys. I never want to betray Rhysands trust so I haven’t been avoiding you per say but you know.” he ended with a hefty shoulder shrug. 

“So what I’m hearing is that you don’t hate me?” the facade of the shadowsinger broke in front of you to reveal a gentle, kind hearted male who would do anything for his family. The chuckle that fell from his lips brought a giggle to your own. “No, I don't hate you. I don't even think that's possible.” Azriel opens his arms as an invite to share a hug. Even though he was covered in sweat from head to toe you wrapped your arms around his torso pressing your cheek against his chest where his heart was beating. “Well that's good to know because I was starting to get concerned.”  Another chuckle made its way out of his throat and the vibrations of his laughter once again caused your own laughter. “So” you drag out the last vowel “Does that mean you will go shopping with me tomorrow?” you propped your chin against his chest and looked up at your closest friend. “If I must.”  His gentle teasing was met with an equally if not gentler kiss on the hairline of your forehead. 

Ever since your confrontation with Azriel things seemed to go back to normal but not completely back to normal. Something was off that you couldn’t put your finger on but it was without a doubt better than it used to be. The flow of the inner circle had almost returned back to completely normal. That would be until a few weeks later when at family dinner everything would change. 

It was very well known that dinners amongst the inner circle were tradition but it was lesser known that having a dinner where each personal either cooked or brought something to contribute to the dinner was also a tradition. 

This time around it was Feyre, Mor, Elain and yourself in the kitchen. Collectively as a good the three of you were trying your best not to destroy the High ladys kitchen. Elain had no such problems as she was often found making the best treats for the family on a daily basis. The oldest and youngest sister along with yourself had managed to make an edible dinner item, even though it was more challenging than the three of you would like to admit. While cooking was a neutral territory for yourself in terms of skills, it was cooking for three grown Illyrian bats and their accompanying companion along with the rest of the family that stretched your cooking abilities thin. It was a miracle the food was even edible on a good day. Let alone a day with nine hungry fae waiting to be fed. 

  After much work in the kitchen everyone had finally settled down around the table, only after much wrangling on both Feyres and yours behalf. Rhys was at the head of the table with your sister-in-law while you were seated in between Morrgian and Elain. Across from you was Amren, Azriel, Cassian and Nesta sitting in that order. 

Dinner was going as well as it normally did. Cass was making stupid jokes poking at Amren. Feyre was playing mediator, just in case they decided they wanted to destroy each other. And in turn destroy her house. Your brother was assisting Feyre in keeping the family under control and also dotting on her the whole time. Nesta and you were talking about books and Mor along with Elain were discussing different clothing options. 

The smell in the room was subtle at first but quickly you realized the brownies you had put in the oven prior to everyone sitting down were finally done. You just hopped they were burnt. With an abrupt “Oh! Crap!” you sent your chair sliding backwards and hurried off towards the hopefully unharmed cooked batter. After a few minutes of cutting and neatly placing the brownies on a platter you re-entered the dining room that was just as chaotic as when you had left. Cooking you may not be the best at but you were a pretty great baker. The Random desserts you make were always a hit amongst your family and you were sure these would be no different. 

“Anyone want a brownie? Of course Cass was the first to raise his hand and thus started your journey around the table handing out freshly baked goods. You had just rounded the corner of the table when you noticed that one person didn’t take a treat. Azriel. “Az? You don’t want a brownie?” you scrunched your brows together as you gently raise the platter you were holding as in an invitation. “No I’m ok” without realizing your face fell. “But you always eat anything I bake. You always say that I make the best desserts and you’ve never turned them down.” Azriel didn’t take his eyes off of you, instead they shifted between the platter of food back to your eyes before they repeated the process a few more times. “It’s-” his stutter catches you off guard causing you to raise an eyebrow in both confusion and questioning. 

“It’s just that I’m full right now and I-” once again you made a confused look and glanced down to his plate “That's only your second plate of food usually you eat three or four so I know you're not full. Why don’t you want one? Do you not like my baking?”  Once again you found yourself feeling extra hurt about a choice Azriel had made. Usually you were never this emotional but lately you couldn’t help it. Maybe it was the hit to the head that was causing you to be so emotional. As it wasn’t fully healed yet. The male was certainly free to do what he wants but this was new and confusing. “Oh help the brother and the mother.” you looked down to Morr where she had propped her elbows on the table and rested her head upon her hands. “What?”  Your confused tone causes a giggle to escape. “Do you really not understand why he won't eat the damn brownie?” Just as your cousin was about to explain, Azriel cut her off. “Morrigan don’t. It’s not your place to tell her.” 

Now this had your attention. What exactly was there to tell? And Why was Azriel being so secretive about it? After what felt like forever of the two of them going back and forth with each other you intervened. “Will somebody please tell me what is going on?” you didn’t shout but your question definitely wasn’t quiet either. You just needed to get their attention and it worked. “Are you going to tell her or should I?” Silence engulfed the room but Morrigan didn’t let it last too long. “The reason he won't accept your food is because you're his mate.” and in that moment everything stopped.

Taglist:

@kemillyfreitas @lana08 @willowpains @username199945 @tothestarsandwhateverend

@kylaisra @lilah-asteria @nickishadow139 @br0klynbby @blacktreacle22

@amysangel @mp-littlebit @mybestfriendmademe

[fire-on-thirst]

Eeeeeeer’ything you do is incredible!

I’d love to see some Sebchal Instagram au! The dynamic of those too is so good. Perhaps an accidental hard launch or whatever you enjoy writing more! Like the drivers being all confused and shocked; the whole F1 world really!

Thanks for reading my request! *bows respectfully*

sebastianvettel story

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charles_leclerc

liked by pierregasly, landonorris, jensonbutton and others

charles_leclerc And I’m the one with zero braincells.

Since one old man doesn’t know how to use Instagram and is now on an Instagram ban I may as well officially announce it and stop the many rumours and stop the speculation that is going around. (He is helping me write this but he is banned from instagram for the foreseeable future).

Sebastian and I are dating and have been for several years now. Only close family members really knew about it and that’s what the two of us ultimately decided. We wanted to be able to separate our private lives with our racing so decided to keep this relationship to ourselves. Something for just the two of us to enjoy. We never wanted the media or other people to use our relationship against us when racing both in the same team and against one another. It was bad enough when nobody knew we were dating so we could only imagine what it would be like if people knew and therefore we kept it a secret. From everyone.

I’m sorry to our friends whom we have hid this from and ultimately kept apart of ourselves away from you. I’m sorry that we lied to you for those years and for the extravagant excuses that we had come up with (mainly me) since we couldn’t tell you the truth. I’m sorry that we have left you out of some of our most precious moments and memories however we will make sure that you are involved in our future ones.

This doesn’t change anything about us and never has. It’s never affected our racing and never will just like nobody else’s relationships affect their racing abilities. This shouldn’t change anything at all as we are still the same people but if you are homophobic (and therefore probably old fashioned and don’t think there should be gay drivers, or female for that matter) go and watch some other racing series with some other drivers. We don’t need your hatred here.

Anyway, now Sebastian has outed this relationship he is able to come to every race now without it being suspicious. He can officially become a WAG or HAB. (The best one too)

- Charles & Sebastian Leclerc-Vettel (Leclerc only went first as it’s closer to the top of the alphabet and don’t have to wait forever for out names to get called if they do surnames first)

👥 sebastianvettel

view all 14,294 comments

pierregasly I shouldn’t be that surprised considering you’ve always been a relationship kind of guy and then you were without a relationship for 5 years

pierregasly Also how you never even gave those people I tried to set you up with a second glance

pierregasly Also you can tell who wrote each part of this 😂

lewishamilton Congratulations to the both of you. You know we’re always behind you! ❤️

charlesleclerc YOU KNEW

lewishamilton I’m more surprised no one else did

pierregasly LEWIS KNEW

lewishamilton I’m just observant. Something that you could learn about being.

landonorris SEBCHAL IS A THING

user1 Lando fan girling like the rest of us 😭😭

lance_stroll So I don’t have to lie either

charlesleclerc No, thanks for keeping it a secret though

pierregasly LANCE KNEW

charlesleclerc He walked in on us when Seb was at Aston Martin… it’s not my fault

pierregasly STILL… I should’ve known

lance_stroll Is now a bad time to say that I told Esteban so Esteban knew too

pierregasly ESTEBAN KNEW TOO

pierregasly That’s it… I’m not talking to you

charles_leclerc Thanks Lance 🙄

mickschumacher Happy for the both of you 😁❤️

———

sebastianvettel

liked by kimimatiasraikkonen, mickschumacher, valtteribottas and others

sebastianvettel 💍 15.08.2021

comments are disabled

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charles_leclerc

liked by

charles_leclerc Just a short summary of our relationship:

14.02.2019 - First Photoshoot as Teammates and I persuaded you to go on a date with me

15.02.2019 - Our First Date (Picture of the table and my incredible outfit)

31.03.2019 - Became an official couple (unfortunately no photos, also hopefully I got the date correct. It was after my first pole position of my F1 career and my first podium too)

22.09.2019 - Our First (and only) 1-2 (Truthfully this was the day I truly knew that I loved him. He won yet knew it would be a difficult day for me so spent the whole day, mainly evening, with me instead of celebrating the whole night)

08.04.2020 - Proposal (Yes he made me go on a hike for it and yes he set up a camera to catch this moment)

15.08.2021 - Marriage (I did not copy the date from Seb’s post no matter what everyone says)

13.03.2024 - Now. One amazing little girl who is everything that we can ask for and another on the way. (This is a major factor as to why Seb decided to retire)

👥 sebastianvettel

view all 10,492 comments

danielricciardo You got married and has no proper party or stag?? I’ll plan one

charlesleclerc Seb says no Vegas

danielricciardo Boring

charlesleclerc Tell him that

pierregasly YOU HAVE CHILDREN!!! YOU HAVE DEPRIVED ME OF BEING FAVOURITE UNCLE

arthur_leclerc Sorry Pierre but I’ve already won that competition

lorenzotl Think I have that crown

fabian_vettel Think you’d both find that title goes to me

charles_leclerc Sorry to disappoint you all but according to my daughter her favourite is Kimi

charles_leclerc .pierregasly if you message me normally you can come around to meet her. She’s been asking

arthur_leclerc KIMI?!?! HOW IS IT KIMI?? HE BARELY CRACKS A SMILE

charles_leclerc He gives her unlimited Ice-cream and is apparently funny. She’s always giggling around him

arthur_leclerc You’d kill me if I gave her that

pierregasly On my way now 🏃

maxverstappen1 I’ve sent over some of my merch and red bull stuff so your child can support the correct driver and team

charles_leclerc I swear to god Verstappen i will hunt you down if any red bull stuff ends up in my house

maxverstappen1 I think you’d find that your husband won his 4 World Championships with that team… perfect stuff for your children

charles_leclerc Don’t you dare

[dottie-writes-tmnt]

Confessions (pt. 2)

This is part 9 of my fic A New Kind of Familiar. Tags and other chapters can be found here!

No summary actually

They talk about Leo and Karai in this chapter. (Nickelodeon was fucked up for that. Literally after it was revealed they were siblings they were still romantic with each other.) And they talk about Leo having hallucinations

Donnie groaned, letting his head fall forward to hit the table. The lab door opened and closed, Mikey coming over to grab his bandanna tails before he could start banging his head on the table.

“Breakfast, Dee,” the snapper said, holding the plate out of the way in case of the wood turtle lashing out. He offered no response, looking at the snapper.

“If I…if I can’t do this…what’s gonna happen to him? What’s gonna happen to us?”

“Oh, wow, mind reader. I was thinking about that last night. Dee, you know I’ve been thinking about destiny and all that ever since…well. You know.”

And he did. Renet had accidentally-on-purpose (not really, it was an accident on her part but it was something their timeline required) sent herself and Mikey somewhere and the time scepter wouldn’t work. While they were there, Mikey developed some abilities. Things came to him in dreams, he was even more emotionally aware than before, and he was probably strong enough to bench press Leatherhead.

“I’m saying this for a reason, pay attention. I had a dream last night. I saw Raph. It was blurry, but…he looked happy. Happier than he’s ever been with us. I think this is destiny sending him away for some character development, and just like the time scepter wouldn’t bring us back until everything had happened, your machine won’t work until that’s all complete, too. So don’t stress, Dee. I’ll even talk to Leo.”

“He’s been talking to the hallucinations again,” Donnie felt he should inform. His baby brother froze where he’d been getting up, half propped up on the table now. “Said Splinter thinks I should work harder. Which, yeah, he would say that, but he’s not here. And we watched Splinter’s ghost pass on for good. But the moment I said that he got all pissy and… you know as long as he’s talking to things that aren’t real, you can’t get through to him.”

Mikey settled back down, sighing.

“We need to get him out more.”

“Probably.”

The duo sat there, listening to Leo’s footsteps near the lab, and to Donnie’s surprise, Mikey got up and locked the door.

“Mikey, what are you doing? He’s just gonna be even more mad when he sees me!”

“You’re not doing good and you’re just gonna get worse if Leo can talk to you,” the snapper explained, sitting criss-cross applesauce on the table next to Donnie. “And I don’t… Dee, I don’t want all of us to drown just because he is.”

Donnie had never been good at comfort. He had never been good at much besides technology, honestly. Not good at people or being social or anything of the likes. He didn’t know why. But he figured trying wouldn’t hurt. He set a hand on his little brother’s knee, sighing deeply.

“Then we’ll be each other’s lifeboats.”

 

——

 

Leo was more than a little worried about his twin, who had gotten a board out and was writing notes all over it, drawing lines between things like those crazy people in movies.

“So we all agree that he should want to go back if he had a pleasant experience living there, right? Logically, he should miss his brothers.”

“Yeah, but he seemed so…upset when he thought I was gonna send him back.”

“Maybe he’s just attached to us too?”

“No, he talked like they were the worst people alive.”

“I noticed the same thing when he was helping me cook on the first chapter— I mean, night he was here!”

“I’m kinda worried.”

“And we all know what he said about Splinter, but he was probably thinking of his own.”

“That doesn’t make it any better, Leo,” Raph pointed out.

“I know. But someone banned us from asking about his brothers at all.”

“I didn’t wanna make him upset considering he’d only been here for not even a day at the time,” the snapper defended. Mikey shut them both up with a glare.

“We should talk to him. Assuming won’t do anyone any good.”

“Great idea, hermano—“

“Me and Donnie. Sound good? Good. I’ll cook, just send him in about 30 minutes from now. And don’t worry, you two will get your turn. I just don’t wanna overwhelm him with all four of us. And he may be a tad embarrassed about that night, Leo. Raph, he looks up to you. He won’t wanna seem ‘weak’.”

That made sense. Leon sighed.

“Fine.”

 

—

 

Donnie sat at the table, messing around on his phone until Mikey finished cooking, setting the plates so that he and Mikey would be across from Ruby. Almost on cue, right as Mikey closed the fridge, the terrapin walked in.

“You guys wanted to talk? I was doin’ somethin’.”

“Yeah, we did, but I’m sorry we interrupted you,” Mikey said, gesturing for Ruby to sit.

“What were you working on, though?” Donnie asked. Ruby perked up a little.

“I was making some compression gloves for Casey. She says her hands hurt when she crochets and she wishes she had some, so.”

“That’s nice of you,” Mikey chirped, adjusting his glasses. His back was to Ruby. “I’m sure she’ll love them! Especially considering she’s been doing a lot of crocheting recently.”

“Yeah.”

Finally, Mikey turned around and sat next to Donnie. The trio continued to make small talk, Mikey waiting for Ruby to finish eating before sighing. He gave the smallest terrapin a smile.

“Ruby, do you mind telling us about your brothers?”

The relaxed but slightly nervous expression fell, replaced by all those barbed walls falling into place. Immediately. Though Donnie had expected as much.

“Yes, I mind very much. Why? What do you want to know? I already told you they’re perfect at everything they do. Did I say something? I don’t want to talk about them,” the box turtle snapped immediately, already moving to stand up.

“Why not? Did they do something?”

“I said I don’t! Why?! Is there something you’re looking for? They aren’t anything like you, if that’s what you’re thinking, and they’re exact opposites of me.”

“That isn’t what I’m asking for,” Mikey murmured, and Ruby’s head twitched to the side slightly, a behavior Donnie had picked up on from the terrapin when he was in upsetting situations. Donnie watched as the box turtle tapped his fingers against his thighs, an act of nervousness. Stimming.

“Father loved Leo,” he started, spitting the word like a curse, like a slur, through a snout full of poison and hurt. “Donnie makes things, and Mikey draws. Leo was a star student. Donnie’s smart. None of them have tempers like mine. What else do you wanna know? They’re perfect,” Ruby spat through vitriol-coated teeth.

“I wanna know how you feel about them. You’re giving me qualities out of a book. I wanna know about your brothers from you.”

Ruby’s head twitched yet again, the terrapin narrowing his eyes for a moment.

“I can guarantee you don’t.”

“I don’t know them. I don’t care about them. There isn’t an image to shatter.”

Ruby stared at Mikey, skeptical of that calm, caring smile. Finally, the red-wearing box turtle sighed.

“Fine. Get everybody in here, though, because I’m not repeating myself.”

“Well, I re—“

Mikey kicked him. He wasn’t sure why. He was just going to assure Ruby that he wouldn’t have to repeat himself, since he recorded everything. Whatever. He got up.

“I’ll go retrieve the others.”

 

—

 

Ruby wanted to bury himself. He could’ve walked away from this situation. Now the eyes were on him, and he wanted to shrink into a hole, but it was too late now.

“Mikey was still awesome. He was talented, like…he was good at art and stuff, and Splinter was always going on and on about how we needed to be like Mikey because he had more raw talent than all of us combined, especially me. Because Mikey was all happy n shit.

“He liked to piss me off on purpose to see how far he could push me, cuz it was funny apparently. But then he’d get pissy when I did get pissed off, but when I was nice, it was like the world was fucking ending. His insults were always somethin’ special. I think he just liked making me feel guilty, though.”

He glanced up, immediately deciding he didn’t like the looks on their faces.

“Donnie was still smart. Splinter wanted me to be like him because thinking rationally instead of emotionally was an asset I should have. He wasn’t that bad, I guess, he just used big words and said he liked making me feel stupid. And when we were kids, he tried some shit, but we were kids. I think he was the best to me out of them all—“

“What did he try?” Mikey asked, gently.

“Nothin’ big.”

“If it wasn’t anything big, you wouldn’t have said anything,” the box turtle murmured.

“He just let loose his ant farm in my room, it was a joke. He knew I was scared of bugs, and he thought it’d be funny. Everyone got a good laugh out of it and I moved rooms.”

“But…you weren’t laughing, were you?”

That confused him. Of course he wasn’t laughing, he’d been terrified, he’d cried, and then they all just laughed at him and he’d had to replace everything, and poor Spike’s shell had been filled with even more bugs, and April had had to take him to the vet because Ruby couldn’t. But it was just a joke that Ruby overreacted about. He said as much and Mikey simply shook his head.

“It wasn’t a good joke. Tell me about Leo,” the box turtle prompted, and Ruby felt the poison fill his mouth.

“He’s perfect,” he spat. “Splinter’s star student. Splinter��s favorite. The only one Splinter ever listened to, really. He’s everything I’m not. He never loses his cool, he always falls into line, and he annoys the crap out of me. He was the last to cooperate when I came out, though. Kept sayin’ I couldn’t change my gender ‘n stuff.

“Yaknow, like father like son or somethin’. When Splinter died, he appointed himself as the Sensei. And then shit really went downhill. I could never catch a fuckin’ break. Then we killed the Shredder. Then we killed him again. And then Leo decided to get with his sister. But Leo’s always like that. Says you shouldn’t do one thing then does something worse. He used to make me mad on purpose when we were younger. Now it’s just obvious he doesn’t like me.”

“Do you like them? ” Leo questioned, voice oddly gentle.

“Sometimes. When they’re not being dumbasses.”

“And, Ruby, you do know that what they did…isn’t right, don’t you?” Mikey questioned, slowly.

“I did worse,” he was quick to defend them even still. “I’m always snapping at them and being a dick.”

“Because they intentionally push your buttons.”

“Well— but—“

“They were wrong for what they did. Would you ever do any of that to any of us?”

“Of course not! Why the fuck would I—“

Oh.

He frowned, feeling oddly small. Mikey smiled softly, a sad thing, but not pitying.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

He gave a tiny nod. That was why he thought the things he thought. The tiny voice in his head always sounded suspiciously like Leo, back from when they were little and he’d constantly try to scare him by saying the others were talking about him or thinking things about him even if they weren’t.

He got angry because his brothers would always make fun of him when he cried. He was fucked up like this because of the way they shaped him.

He was shocked out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up to see Red.

“They’re the ones that lost someone great. Yer fuckin’ awesome, and if they failed to see that, then they have no place in your life,” the snapper said firmly even as he pulled Ruby into a hug and rubbed his shell while he sniffled. The others moved to join, and they ended up having another movie night.

Ruby borrowed Donnie’s headphones and didn’t talk for the rest of the night— the words just wouldn’t come, which happened a lot more often than he would like and was always frustrating —but he dozed where he was comfortably wedged between Donnie’s oddly comfortable soft shell and Junior.

Mikey was like a living weighted blanket on his lap, humming along to the songs and applauding the twins’ duetted performance of Poor Unfortunate Souls. His head was filled with cotton, but that was fine, he supposed. Ruby didn’t really want to think after what happened earlier, anyway.

Previous chapter | Next chapter

[burnt-to-cynders]

Okay, I’m gonna stick to the raw evidence I’ve seen, so here’s the facts that I have available to me.

I have barely ever even seen predstrogen post pictures, period, let alone seen a mistagged nsfw picture on her blog. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened, but I can’t find it so I can’t assume it’s there.

On the other hand, I have seen examples of several anonymous asks, sent both to her and other tumblr users about her, that would definitely constitute harassment.

A few of those asks were sent by non-anonymous users and all the one’s I have seen have been banned

I have seen the cars and hammers post.

The cars and hammers post is so hilariously not a threat I’d be laughing if the subject of the post were not taking it as an excuse to ban a trans woman for life from the platform he executives.

Several different tumblr users have pointed out that there is an ongoing harassment campaign against predstrogen, presumably referring to the asks I mentioned in 2.

@photomatt answered an ask last night about the growing sentiment among trans women on tumblr that staff is transphobic, in which he claimed that she had made multiple TOS violations, including posting unlabeled nsfw pictures, threatening people, and harassing them. He also misgendered her initially, but edited the post after several people pointed it out(although first he changed the wording to refer to “the account”)

When pressed to show these tos violations, Matt provided a screenshot of (initially url-less, later shown to be) predstrogen commenting on how she thought posting about her death wishes about Matt would get her banned, which he later added the context of the above post being the cars and hammers post.

Predstrogen’s account was banned, as well as the second account(apparently she has had to make new accounts a few times due to getting banned for similar issues, but I’ve only followed her for less than a year) she made to document most of the things that happened to her.

Specifcslly, her first account was banned after posting a completely sfw transition timeline photo, and her second account was banned right after posting a screenshot of the above mentioned reply, with more or less incredulity at the fact that the ask response referenced contacting the police and fbi.

Matt seems to be taking the backlash personally, publicly apologizing for the perceptions of transphobia on his personal blog and lamenting the initial ask reply. He has not done anything to indicate a reversal on the predstrogen decision, and insists that there are many more examples of harassment from her. He has answered several more asks and repeatedly encouraged people to “not patronize a business you think is transphobic”

SO, what can we draw from these facts? Well, one thing I can say, for sure, is that with what I currently know and what I have seen, predstrogen should not have been banned. Unless Matt has some significantly more egregious examples of threats, or examples of harrassment(people calling you transphobic isn’t harassment), or any examples of an unlabeled mature post(hell I don’t think I’ve even seen a labeled mature posts on her blog), then I think any bans applied to her accounts are in error and if staff are sitting on a big pile of nothing and not doing that, that is gonna draw their morality and ability to effectively moderate this site into even further question than it has been.

The terfs I’ve seen harassing Rita, at least when they’re stupid enough to leave their names visible, have been banned. I can’t follow the thread to see if claims about them being able to easily remake accounts and continue doing terf shit because i don’t run in terf circles enough to know who they were and what happened afterward. Assuming they aren’t back, this is a good thing, and I’ll give that point of credit where it’s due. However, it is worth noting that while Rita remains banned, this still looks like transphobia and deplatforming and threatening a trans woman(actually threatening her. With, y’know, the fbi). If I wanted to be extremely uncharitable, I could point out that banning terfs and trans women doesn’t make a space safe for trans women, and in fact makes it look like you’re only banning the terfs so you can say “well we don’t allow terfs so we can’t be transphobic!”

Conclusión: Im really disappointed with staff and with tumblr’s ceo in particular. It’s not hard to see why a lot of popular trans blogs are considering moving off platform and tons more are expressing general frustration. In particular, what has happened to predstrogen demonstrates a terrifying cycle that scares me and makes me worried for my own safety if I ever attract a large following on here. She has been targeted by terfs, apparently for years, in an open harassment campaign and has been threatened multiple times. She has referenced having stalkers. She is repeatedly suspended for community violations that are later referred to as “bugs”, but then suddenly one day she’s banned permanently for a post that doesn’t violate tos at all, and when she makes another account to call attention to this wrongful ban, she is banned again and threats about bringing in law enforcement are made by the ceo of the website. A woman that is the subject of years of harassment and credible threats to her safety is being gaslit about being the perpetrator of those very same things, and nothing is being brought to light to verify those claims.

[winchester-reload]

You are one of my all-time favorite artists. I look up to your artworks so much! I also look up to the way you handle conversations with people and to your kindness within the fandom.

I have a question that does not have a clear answer probably, but I still want to try to ask it. It has been my dream since a long time to work as a freelance artist, even though I know it can be stressful and it can sound a little idealistic, but I love to make something that moves other people and touches them on an emotional level. But I don't know how to tell people, well, that I exist and that I sell commissions / prints / other things. Especially now with Twitter going downhill so fast. I have the feeling a lot goes via Twitter and that people on there are usually more likely to support you than for example on Tumblr or Instagram, and when the platform gets deleted I would loose a lot of people I kind of learned to know a little on there. Also in general - I don't even know if there is really a need for my art. I hope asking you doesn't feel like I have any ill intentions because I surely have not, I just wanted to ask if you maybe have any advice to becoming a freelancer? I am trying to not get stuck on that idea too much because art should be first and foremost fun, but it still has been a dream of mine. Most of the time I don't even feel worthy enough to ask for support with what I do so where would I start?

If this question is a too heavy one I completely understand. In any way I wish you a super nice day and much love for you and your art! You have the talent of making me fall in love with Destiel over and over again in dozens of different scenarios.

Hello, my dear anon,

First, I want to apologize for the time it’s taken me to answer this ask. I had to sit on it for a while and give it a proper think before I answered, and my brainpower is very limited these days. Maybe it always was… 😆 but I wanted to try to get it out before the end of the night, in the spirit of 2023 and new beginnings. 

Though I do think it’s important to acknowledge the idea of having fun doing something you love, it’s a little idealistic to approach a career with that as your cornerstone. Because the truth is, freelancing often isn’t fun. Learning any craft can sometimes be a slog, but turning it into your job will inherently bring in aspects of work you don’t find fun or don’t willingly love doing. But this is where the passion you mentioned comes in. 

Passion is the magic fairy dust that helps you push through the rest of it: the bad art days, the good art days. Cold wars with the local Post Office and hot mental wars with yourself. Your own self-esteem. Your self-worth. Your own lack or abundance of determination — it all waxes and wanes. Success in anything—but especially success in a self-dependant business like art freelancing is completely contingent on your ability to push through those things and hold onto your passion. Note: passion is different from inspiration. I don’t create art EVERY TIME because I feel inspired to create. I create art EVERY TIME because I feel passionate about creating—some of the time, I’m even feeling inspired. However, the things you make when you’re not “inspired” can end up being some of the most foundational pieces in your portfolio. Self-discipline builds muscles you didn’t know you needed.

And with that foundation comes the need for community support.

Building a community that appreciates the art you have to offer is totally doable; it just takes time, patience, and perseverance. You don’t necessarily have to use Twitter, if it does go belly-up, but I understand it sounds like the platform you’re most comfortable using. Personally, I started on Tumblr, and I found the majority of my support through this platform before eventually artist-spreading my way over to Instagram. I should note that this was during the Tumblr heyday, however. Before they purged adult content and banned female-presenting nips from the world. These two places are still the main social media’s I post to and interact with. It takes a shovel, a bucket of chocolate, and someone with a loaded handgun to get me to log into Twitter, but I will every once in a while. Today other platforms may prove more beneficial for you than Twitter has been. I believe, currently, Tiktok is listed as the number #1 social media for self-promotion and audience building for creators, strictly because of their solid algorithm it employs. I only recently made a Tiktok myself because I’m on the cutting edge of social media like that… (sarc), but Youtube is also a fantastic place to go if you’re not afraid of posting your face everywhere. 

I tend to shy away from TikTok and youtube because I don’t think the world needs to see my face everywhere, but the cold hard truth is it’s something we have to embrace to really experience the benefits of those platforms. 

In short: don’t be afraid to expand beyond Twitter. 

Now, to address your comment about the need for your art: 

The thing is, it’s not up to you to decide whether or not other people “need your art.” Do you need your art? If the answer is yes, and it should be, then make it. The other people who need your art will find it. I know that sounds all flowery and optimistic, but it’s the truth. Don’t waste your time trying to answer that question for them; you can’t. All you can do is make the art. Let it speak for itself. Your audience will find it. They’ll talk about it to their friends, colleagues, neighbors… etc., and your platform will grow. 

Of course, be sure you’re consistent in posting and the quality of your work. Use tags, so your posts come up in searches, network with other creators, challenge yourself with projects outside your comfort zone to expand audience possibilities, participate in art/fic challenges if this is fan-art related (or even if it’s not), and don’t be afraid to reblog/repost your own work. 

If all that sounds doable for you, then freelancing might be the career for you. 

That was terribly rambly, but I do hope it helps a little. I’m rooting for you, my friend. I think this world needs all the art.

[nickgerlich]

Pump It Up

Quick. Name a social media platform that has been outlawed in numerous states. Now name a social media platform that is doing everything it can to promote its ubiquity. If you answered “TikTok” to both challenges, you would be right.



Never before in the short history of social media has one platform been so singled out as TikTok. As of April, 34 out of 50 states have banned its use among state employees. Montana has gone so far as to ban it completely for anyone and everyone, so please don’t think of visiting the Treasure State and posting your reels. You may just be fined.

Of course, Montana is going to face huge legal challenges on this one. And never mind that you could probably dodge their bullet by using a VPN on your phone. It’s little different from dealing with the Chinese firewall.

ICYMI, the controversy is over the fact that TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company with rumored ties to the Communist Party there. That’s code for saying TikTok may be a national security risk, even if you’re just posting reels of your dog doing tricks.

To combat this, ByteDance will more than gladly take on legal challenges, as well as bolster its presence everywhere, like at the gas pump. Remember when we were told not to use our phones while fueling because we night cause an explosion? Yeah. Apparently that’s a non-starter these days, because TikTok has partnered with GSTV (Gas Station TV) to launch new videos we can watch during the five minutes we’re left checking our email and socials anyway. QR codes and a call to action seek to bring viewers into not just TikTok, but the brands paying to advertise there.

And it is pure genius, security risks or not. I bet the other social media platforms are kicking themselves for not jumping on this one. Think about it. When else do we all have a short amount of dead time that could otherwise be used for marketing purposes? This is the kind of thinking from the old days (meaning before COVID) that airlines followed with their in-flight magazines, as well as SKyMall catalogs. Those days were even better, because they had captive audiences locked into their seats for sometimes hours at a time.

The GSTV ads are 20 seconds, even shorter than the reels we see on TikTok. GSTV claims 116 million unique viewers each month, which speaks to the appeal of their platform. The ability to share these adverts makes them worth even more, because they can now reach even more eyeballs.

The strategy is nothing new for TikTok, which has also inked deals with Reach TV for airports, and Screenvision inside movie theatres. The goal is to be even more ubiquitous than Facebook, Google, or any of the other major ad-supported platforms.

Now let’s think about some applications. While virtually anything could be promoted at the pump, including simply planting seeds for products that might be purchased much later, I see great potential for items that could be sold in the next few minutes. Imagine the fast food joint next door promoting a meal deal, or a nearby bar advertising its Happy Hour.

Think about it. You’re already out in your car, and you use it to convey a quick and easy purchase, which may or may not have been planned. In some cases, it could divert you; in others, it could be a speed bump that interrupts whatever it is you are doing.

The major limitation to this method—which is good but not perfect—is that we do not purchase gasoline on a daily basis, unless you happen to drive 300-400 miles a day. Travelers along the freeway are one thing, but locals are probably not going to hit the gas station more than once a week, and maybe even less, depending upon the daily commute.

Still, I commend TikTok for finding new ways to spread its wings, because given the current state of affairs at the state and federal level, they should be nervous—and they are. While I hate the notion of a US firewall blocking selected sites, it is a possibility. It would be unprecedented—and I promised never to use that word after the pandemic and all its unprecedentedness—but stranger things have happened.

Meanwhile, fill ‘er up and look for these screens at the pump. They’re calling your name.

Dr “Sell Me Something Good” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[secretgamergirl]

On the Vocabulary of Bigots

I would say somewhere around 2.3 times a day on average, I see someone who ostensibly works in political news or with a PhD in sociology or whatever quote a statement from some unrepentant bigot shouting about something like “the W*** media is censoring Govenor Big Oted!” and add a cheery little note that says “no, what people are criticizing Big Oted. His ability to say whatever he wants is completely unimpinged, and you in fact just linked to a televised interview with him in your post. Censorship is when the government passes laws restricting what people can and cannot say, like the new law banning teachers from saying anything at all regarding queer people or the slave trade, which the governor here is being criticized for signing.”

The apparent goal of these sort of posts is to go “ohoho! I have defeated you by pointing out that you are using the word ‘censored’ incorrectly! Surely you will now see the error of your ways and cease using it in the future!” Which they have to know isn’t going to happen, right?

Meanwhile if the bigot being quoted is inclined to reflect on this at all, their thoughts are just going to be “Ha! These idiots still get tripped up when we say ‘censored’ and don’t push back at all!”

See, horrible bigots don’t care at all what you think about them, or how words are normally used. They are motivated purely by a desire to convince everyone they can that everyone who isn’t a bigot is sub-human, and therefore should be treated worse than bigots. They are laser-focused on this. Everything they say and do is attempting to make progress along these lines. This especially includes the vocabulary they use, and the way they use it.

Ideally, bigots would love to just say out loud how much they’d like to beat people to death, using only the most horrifically vile and dehumanizing language to describe the people, and the most vivid and explicitly violent language to explain the specifics. You can see this for yourself if you look at old racist propaganda materials. Once upon a time (and still today if you’re on a sufficiently dedicated hate website) you could get away with depicting various minorities as literal monsters and demons and openly talk about the urgent need to exterminate them all.

You don’t generally see that in public, because if you’re sufficiently clear and articulate with horrifying hate speech, sensible people rightfully see you as an existential threat and react accordingly. So the big game for bigots has always been, “what’s the closest we can say to what we literally mean that the average person will give us the benefit of the doubt on?”

Since I opened with it, let’s start with “free speech/censorship” as bigots use it. Somewhere over the years, bigots got the idea to willfully misread the first amendment of the U.S. constitution as saying that bigots have a constitutional right to say those most absolutely horrific things possible, and that any effort to criticize them for it is against everything the country stands for. This is, of course, totall bullshit. I’m fairly confident everyone in the world understands that this is total bullshit, but the sort of academics I’m criticizing above the fold are entirely too happy to smugly explain how that’s not what the amendment actually says rather than to actually address how hey, we’ve got some unrepentently evil monsters here who ultimately want to murder a bunch of innocent people lying to everyone’s face to try and recruit people into attacking anyone who opposes them.

There’s an extra simple version of this you can teach to less intellectually-minded bigots: “hey anytime anyone pushes back about anything you say just shout ‘free speech!’ or how you’re being censored,” and this worked pretty damn well for a good number of decades, only about now really hitting a point where they’re getting lazy enough in deploying it to be regularly using it in situations the average person is going to notice “wait this is just a euphemism for you wanting to call people slurs,” but we still have the ACLU and EFF being absolute marks and offering to defend absolute hatemongers because they lack the reading comprehension to see that no, nobody is actually defending their first amendment rights here. Once organizations like that clue in and it’s clear the population at large understands that anyone talking about being “censored” just doesn’t want to be criticized, and “free speech” means “I want to use slurs that would clearly violate hate speech regulations” they might finally retire it.

Meanwhile we have the term “political correctness” to describe bigots’ collective frustration with the cycle where they collectively imbue terms with so much raw undeniable hatred that all of society recognizes them as slurs, and they are forced to switch to relatively new slurs people haven’t yet caught onto. Basically, what’s the most horrible thing a bigot might use to describe, say, black people without it being so obvious they’d lose a political campaign for saying it. Perhaps ironically though, “political correctness” itself has kind of reached that level of infamy at this point.

It would be very nice if we could actually reach a point where we all stop playing this game completely, and fully remove unrepentant bigots ability to participate in society, rather than give them infinite chances to focus group a new set of dog whistles and use them unopposed until the next time people catch on. Until we reach a point where people have the stomach for that though, we can at least focus on shortening up the cycles as best we can, and start responding to this crap based on the actual clear meaning of what bigots are saying rather than pretending they’re using words the way a functional member of society would.

“SJW” got a lot of play over the past decade, but I feel like it was decoded pretty quickly. Theoretically there was a brief period where some people might have used it to describe some particular flavor of irritating person, but most people never heard it until straight up neo-nazis pushed it into the mainstream, and it was easy enough to just start explaining “it’s code for Jews.” Certainly helped along by how often they’d give the game away and actually leave the E in.

Presently, bigots are really going hog-wild with the hip new slur “W***.” And I’m genuinely baffled that it’s still managing to fly to any degree. Like with SJW, there was a pretty damn narrow window on when anyone used the term in any context other than as an explicitly hate-filled and dehumanizing slur.

See back in the summer of 2014 there was a particularly horrific incident where an innocent 18 year old was murdered in the middle of the street by a cop, who when questioned on why he shot an unarmed child who was over 20 feet away 12 times, explained that he was a demon with superpowers pulled from various video game and comic book characters who in fact became more powerful when shot repeatedly in the chest.

Local law enforcement, right-wing media figures, and prominent neo-nazi groups fervently backed the legitimacy of this utterly absurd defense. The murderer faced no real consequences, and the understandable protests and memorials were met with a nightmarishly militant police response. This kicked off a lasting public discussion of how yes, police do in fact routinely murder black children without consequence, mostly associated with the better known phrase Black Lives Matter.

However, as efforts to villify anyone uttering that particular set of words never really managed to crack into the mainstream, horrific bigots eventually began to instead create a negative association with the phrase “stay woke” which had a brief stint of popularity among activists as efforts were being made to metaphorically lull people back to sleep with absurd revisionist revisions of what was quite clearly a massive racist murdering a child. This peaked around 2016, when the phrase worked its way into the chorus of Childish Gambino’s Redbone, and it’s around here that bigots began to use “w***” as a slur, first alongside, then replacing “BLM” to... quite frankly, vent their anger over anyone daring to object to racists gunning down innocent black children in the middle of the street, but in a way that they could attempt some plausible deniability that they were in fact perhaps just angry at the vague concept of people “disliking right-wing values.”

For reason of, I assume, being totally checked out on the horrific murder that initially popularized the term, we are presently some 6-ish years into bigots just openly using “w***” as a slur, largely in a general catch-all sense applying to all marginalized people, but primarily targeting anyone opposed to the “right” to shoot black children on sight. I kinda feel like this is a real easy one to bury as the obvious monstrous slur it is. Just any time you see someone bust it out, ask them what the hell whatever subject they’re on about has to do with objecting to police murdering innocent children, and feel free to bust out this here history lesson as they sputter and try to come up with some alternate definition on the spot.

[abbatoirablaze]

Hidden Sisters, Chapter 9

Word Count:  1.9k

Warnings:  angst, dubcon relationships, mentions of violence/aggression/death.

“You need to calm down, Lance.”

Lance ripped his arm from his cousin’s, a sneer on his face, “don’t you dare tell me what to do, Jefferson.  I am a king of nymphs, just as you are.  I am not some petulant child, so stop speaking down to me like one.”

“Then perhaps you should stop acting like one, cousin,” Jefferson retorted.  Lance’s jaw ticked and Jefferson smirked, “what, cousin?  Do you wish to throw another tantrum?” 

“Go to hell, Jefferson,” he spat, “I was promised a daughter of Rogers.  Her sister backed out of the deal, and she stepped into it in her place.  She knew what she was walking in to.  But now, suddenly I’m not good enough to walk away with?”

“You’re trying to rip her from the only connections she has because you feel slighted,” Jefferson pointed out as he tried to reason with Lance, “I know what happened between our other cousin and yourself…”

“Then you know he betrayed my trust…”

“I know that he protected his sisters to the best of his abilities,” Jefferson frowned, “he tried to prot-“

“He stole my subjects and hid them away in his mountain like some sort of dragon,” Lance growled, cutting off his cousin, “Both of his sisters are water nymphs.  An-“

“And you know that he is both in control of his fire abilities, and has water ones,” Jefferson reminded him, “and I don’t think you need the reminder cousin, but he yielded that crown to you.”

Lance’s jaw ticked, “it was my crown…he didn’t deserve it.”

“But he wields both and is older than us,” Jefferson retorted, “you know the laws just as well as I, cousin.  Nick was entitled to the thrown first.  But he knew that you would be better suited to lead the water nymphs rather than him splitting his energy.   You didn’t deserve the crown, cousin…none of us ‘deserve’ anything.”

“You spend too much time listening to philosophers in the wind, cousin.”

“And you spend too much time with water in your ears,” Jefferson said smugly, “I’m only advising you to take the water out and spend some time grounding yourself.  Get to kn-“

I’m a water nymph, cousin.  The water does ‘ground me.’  Are you suggesting that I take your lands in exchange for that of our cousins?”

“I’m saying you need to focus on the bride you’ve been neglecting, rather than focusing on a subject who wishes to live peacefully with her mate.”

“You should know that she’s banned from my lands.”

“She knows.”

Lance frowned, knowing that Jefferson was hiding Nick’s sister in the woods with her selkie mate.  And while he wanted to threaten his cousin, much in the same way that he threatened Nick, Lance had always had a soft spot for his well-spoken cousin.  He and Nick were both hot-headed, and always butt heads, but Jefferson managed to be the calm between them. 

Lance sighed and Jefferson clapped his cousin on the shoulder, “you do know what you should do, don’t you, cousin?”

“She doesn’t want me, Jefferson.  She stopped wearing the bracelet that I’d given her…She removed it…”

“She is a shifter, dear cousin,” Jefferson reminded Lance, “the girls do not know our ways as we do.  She removed it because she feels abandoned.”

“I’ve had to prepare for her…” Lance frowned, “I’ve had to remind my subjects that their queen will be a wolf.  That she is different from us.  I-“

“Have you told her that?”

Lance’s frown deepened and he looked away from his cousin.  He shook his head, “No…I-I haven’t told her anything.”

“She is an alpha…much like her sisters.  She is head-strong and determined, but she is not without embarrassment or needs, Lance,” Jefferson sighed, “she wants to feel wanted and loved, cousin.  She wants to be wooed.  You cannot just show up and drag her away just to lock her in a castle and forget about her.”

“I would never…”

“Cousin…you already have,” Jefferson sighed, “Samantha and her have been in Ransom’s castle for nearly a month.  I’ve made time to see my bride nearly every day.  And if I cannot, I send word.  I remind her that she is always on my heart and in my thoughts.  It is not about the gifts that we give, but the time that we share with them.”

Lance sighed as Jefferson stood and excused himself.

“Wait…” Jefferson looked back to his cousin, and he bit his lip, “h-how do I come back from it, Jefferson?  She hates me…”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Jefferson chuckled, “she’s an alpha wolf who feels abandoned.  She’s angry…”

“Wouldn’t you say that’s worse?”

“Perhaps,” he chuckled, “but it is up to you to make it up to her, Lance…I have my own wolf to take care of…attend to your future bride as I shall attend to mine.”

“Lance does care about you, Annalise…” She only rolled her eyes as her sister spoke.  But Samantha caught on and came and sat on her sister’s bed, “Jefferson told me all about a conversation that the two of them had.  He wants to make it right.”

“If he wanted that, he would have stayed…”

“He did stay,” she reminded her sister, “for seven hours, locked outside of your room while you threw your own little temper tantrum.”

“I didn’t throw a temper tantrum.” Sam looked at her sister and she sighed, “he deserved it.”

“You two really are perfect for each other, Annalise.”

Annalise glared at her sister for a moment, before Sam went back to packing, “What are you doing, Sam?”

“Oh…uh…Jefferson asked me if I wanted to spend a few days at his kingdom after Nick and Jennifer get married…he said that he has to prepare the kingdom for my arrival…and we won’t get a chance to see one another again until the wedding…so I wanted to get packed.”

“The wedding is in four days…you don’t need to pack this early,” she said quickly, only to process the words as they left her lips, “wait?  You’re leaving me?”

“I’m not leaving you Annalise...”

“But you’re going to Jefferson’s kingdom,” she replied, “a-are you coming back?  How long are you going to be away?  Do Ransom and Jake know?  D-“

“Calm down,” Sam laughed, cutting her twin off, “look, I’m coming back.  Jefferson just wants me to see his kingdom and meet his subjects.  I’m only going to be gone for a few days.  And yes…Jake and Ransom know.”

“But you’re leaving…” Annalise frowned, “y-you’re going without me…”

Sam felt the knots in her stomach tightening.  She hadn’t put much thought into it before, but Annalise was right.  She and her hadn’t ever been apart for any real amount of time, and while it would only be a few days, she knew that it was the start to something bigger.

It was the start of the two of them finally having separate lives. 

“Annalise…a-are you okay?”

Sam bit her lip as her twin began to tear up.  She shook her head, and the tears streamed down her cheeks, “no…I-I don’t want you to leave me, Sam…”

“Oh, Anna,” she whimpered, rushing her twin.  Her own tears started to fall down her cheeks, and the emotions that she’d put on the back burner so that she could focus on her relationship with Jefferson, came forward, “Anna don’t cry.  You’re making me cry.”

“Y-you’re abandoning me, Sammy…”

“I’m not, I promise.”

Annalise pulled away from her sister to look at her, “but you are…y-you’re going to go with Jefferson and visit his amazing kingdom and when you come back, you’re just going to miss it.  You’re going to miss him.  I-I won’t…I won’t have anyone, because you’ll just want to be with him.”

“Anna, I won’t…”

“I can see that you love him, Sammy,” she cried, throwing herself back into her sister’s arms once more, “I-I know you do…”

“W-well I know you love Lance…regardless of how he’s been a shitty mate.”

“I just don’t want to be alone, Sammy.”

“You won’t, Anna.  I promise.”

The door was thrust open, and both Ransom and Jake were surprised to see the twins crying, holding one another.

“D-do you two already know?” Jake asked from the door, the confusion seeping into his tone. 

“Know what?” Sam asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks in an attempt to make herself look a little more presentable, “W-what’s going on?”

“The wedding is on hold,” Ransom said firmly, “your trip to Jefferson’s kingdom is cancelled as well, Sam…”

“What?”

“One of Nick’s generals challenged him at the festival’s beginning this evening…in three days, there will be a battle…and the winner of it will be the new king of the nymphs…”

“Wh-what does that mean for Jen and Nick?” Annalise asked suddenly.

“If Nick wins, the wedding will happen after the completion of the festival three days after the battle…”

“And if he loses?” Sam asked nervously, sensing the tension in the room.

Ransom frowned and he looked at Jake.  Jake’s brow furrowed, as even he didn’t know what it meant, “why are you giving me that look, Ran?  What happens if Nick loses.”

“According to nymph law that would make his general the new king of the nymphs,” Ransom said slowly, “and there would be a public execution of Nick…and Jennifer, if the general didn’t want to take her as his bride.”

Jake’s brows raised, “What?”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”

“I’m going to go get my sister, right now!” Jake began, instantly turning on his heel.  The twins jumped from their spot on the bed as Ransom chased his husband down.

“Jake we can’t intervene.”

“Bullshit!” Jake scoffed, “If you don’t want to come, fine.  Look after the girls, but I’m not going to let some fireballs put my sister’s life on the line because of some machismo bullshit.”

“Jake-“

“Ransom, I love you, but this is not up for discussion,” Jake replied, turning on his heel and holding his husband firmly, “if this is something that would put the kingdom in danger, I understand…but-“

“Take the guard,” Ransom said hopefully, cutting his husband off, “I-I’ll put the kingdom on lockdown, but I need to know that you’re safe too…”

Jake nodded and kissed his husband roughly, “make sure they’re safe.”

“Come back to me in one piece, my king,” Ransom begged, pulling Jake in for another kiss, “or I’ll burn the world down until they know my pain.”

Jefferson held Samantha in his arms, treasuring every second that he was able to look at her, “I cannot take you with me, Samantha…”

“I don’t want you to leave,” she whimpered sadly, “what-what happens if things go sideways?”  W-would I see you then?”

“I will make sure that you are protected, my love,” he promised gently, cradling her face in his hands, “no matter what, your safety is the most important thing to me, Samantha.”

“Jefferson-“

“But for now, it’s not safe,” he reminded her, cutting her off, “you should sneak back over the kingdom wall.  I will come again when I know that I can.”

“But Jeffer-“

“I love you, Samantha!” he exclaimed, kissing her passionately.  Sam leaned into the kiss, already missing her mate in the day that it had been since the challenge had been announced. 

She sighed, feeling the wind whipping her hair around, knowing that when her eyes opened her betrothed would be gone.  She felt the shift in the pressure, and her lips suddenly felt bare, his presence no longer with her. 

Biting her lip, she made her way back towards the castle, praying that she would be able to see him soon. 

Chapter 10

Tag List:  @lohnes16, @dontbescaredtosingalong, @teambarnes72

[mygreatrelationships]

What happens when you (accidentally) date two guys who know each other?

Gone are the days of getting to know a person and walking straight towards a relationship with them without looking left or right. At least I can count on one hand how many times this has happened to my friends over the last few years - except for a few romantic lovebirds. Instead, today there are also changes of direction and emergency braking. And most importantly, lots of distractions along the way. Welcome to the parallel dating universe!When I talk to my friends about our dating life, they usually don't just talk about two current people - one per head - but about several. The guy got in touch again, a new match here, an encounter there. Parallel dating, i.e. meeting several people at the same time, has become super normal - not only for people who date casually and without serious intentions, but also for those who are looking for a serious relationship. Why settle for just one person when dating apps give us the ability to compare them all and find the perfect match for us? If we don't want to do it ourselves, none of us can be expected to make a commitment and dismiss all other options after a short period of time. It goes without saying that there can be overlaps and that you sometimes have two people at the start at the same time. Basically, I think that's perfectly okay - no matter what the intention behind it is. As long as they don't find out about each other unprepared...

Why parallel dating in circles of friends is not a good idea

What do you think, how likely is it that you will meet two men who are friends on a dating app in Germany's largest city? Well, apparently big enough. My girlfriend actually managed to date two guys from the same handball team at the same time. First unconsciously and then consciously - you have to be that brave first, don't you? And as if that wasn't dramatic enough, the two also regularly went to training together. Oops! Of course, the whole thing ended in a big drama, she was banned from the club (fun), now checks her dates very carefully for possible circle of friends that she has in common and has not overcome the trauma to this day. And I would still love to know how the conversation between the two dudes went, in which they realized that their stories are about the same woman. Parallel dating can also be uncomfortable - no matter how big the city and thus the range of dating apps is.

How to Parallel-Dating ohne Stress

But that's not all that needs to be considered when dating in parallel. Of course, the focus should always be on ensuring that nobody gets hurt. And that's why, as always, communication is key. If you're only interested in sex and don't want to commit to one person, make that clear before your date develops different expectations of you. And if you're looking for a permanent relationship and get to know several exciting people at the same time, you'll have to make a decision at some point - at the latest when things get more serious and the other side wants exclusivity. And if you find out the two people are friends, you should leave town Better to explain the whole thing directly before it clears itself up.If you stick to it and of course also pay attention to your own well-being - after all, so many dates are super exhausting - I think you can meet as many people as you like and as they fit into your schedule. Whether we want to get to know several people at the same time or prefer to concentrate on just one is a matter of taste. And that's exactly what we should always keep in mind: Everyone ticks differently. While you may find parallel dating unproblematic, another person may not find it so. So: be nice, be considerate and communicate openly. Otherwise, things can quickly end badly.

More dates, more drama? Luckily I have not had any bad experiences with parallel dating so far. But maybe that's just because I have a thousand dating apps on my phone, but I hardly ever go on dates and I'm not looking for anything at all, but rather let myself drift - sometimes more and sometimes less active. Luckily I haven't been thrown into the arms of two men from the same team. So far at least, one should never say never. All previously published "dates & desires" columns can be found here: Bildquelle: Unsplash / Alaksiej Čarankievič Did you "dates & desires: What happens when you (accidentally) date two guys who know each other?" favor? Then leave us a like or share our article. We look forward to your feedback - and of course you are welcome to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, Flipboard and Google News. Source link Read the full article

[wistfulwisp]

the problem with "freedom" is then you have to put up with freedom to disagree with you. NO ONE LEGALLY is being forced NOT to wear the hijab, it is an utter slap to the face to compare the two since ONE is being enforced by laws. Also consider this, why should women be upholding a religion that made the country crazy to begin with, AND the very reason people are leaving????

So, I’ve read this post… several times. And, I went back to the original post to see if there was anything I’m missing about what was said originally. And, I took some time to think about it too so I know my thoughts are my own 😉

I do definitely believe that discourse and difference in opinion can shed light on important topics that may not otherwise have been considered, not that difference of opinion is something that’s “put up” with around here. If you have something to say and you are civil I’ll definitely listen and I love hearing other people’s opinions!

So, I come from a western country (Canada) and I’m not going to pretend like I fully understand the horrors of what is happening in Iran or in the Eastern or Middle-Eastern countries right now. However, I have seen people within my friend circle have to fight to be respected with their choice to wear (or not wear) a hijab or headscarf. Up until recently (and honestly there may still be laws about this) there were certain situations where it was prohibited to wear headscarves or religious symbols, such as in competitive sports and in positions like in the RCMP. I know people that are horribly wrecked by the news of what’s happening down east, and I see them praying for their families and hoping that they come out of this alive. Those people have been praying for a long time. I know people from here that would love nothing more than to move away from wearing their hijab and Muslim practices. I also know people that are proud of their religious heritage and history and wear their headscarves with pride. These people aren’t supporting the way that their religion has been twisted and manipulated by governments such as those that ban or make hijabs mandatory, but are supporting the rich culture and community that comes from religion that isn’t (and in some ways can’t) be controlled by our governments.

The same can be said for me, honestly. I’m born and raised catholic Christian, and if you were to go just down south to the states you would see exactly how the Christian values are being forced on people through people of authority. I’m not like that though, and can respect those that move away from the idea of forcing it all on people.

That may change your opinion of me, that I’m catholic even if I don’t support typical “Christian” values, but my point in saying all of this is that all the women I’ve mentioned above were strong and sexy and empowering women who all wanted to make a life for themselves that is truly theirs. That’s what I believe in. Not supporting people in power’s ability to force ordinary people to choose how they can and can’t represent themselves and their religious rights. We don’t have nearly as much of that here, but the idea of creating your own path in life and making it your own is something I can definitely get behind.

If you disagree with that freedoms to choose that is your right! You most definitely have that freedom. However, you may not like me or my blog posts as a good portion of them support that individual freedom to choose to express yourself however you choose, so long as it’s not filled with hate for others. Or, maybe I’m not understanding your point. Feel free to maybe say it in a different way if I’m not understanding!

[writingwithcolor]

Mexican girl in Germany, can’t speak English, sign language, & Mexican intelligence stereotypes

Anonymous asked:

My ask is basically about the stereotype that Mexicans can’t speak English at all or only broken English. My idea is about a Mexican girl who lived her entire life in Mexico and expected to never move away from this place. Her mother speaks perfect English and tried to teach her daughter the language, but the girl was never good with learning languages, she only ever learner sign language because of her grandmother. At some point she just gave up learning English, because she was frustrated and saw it as plain unnecessary. But then her mother meets a German man and falls in love with him. She decides to move to Germany with him. They communicate through English of course, but the mother starts learning German. The girl doesn’t even wanna try learn it. With this whole language barrier she has a lot of problems in school. She was always really good in math and science subjects, but with the problems even this grades drop. She stops going to school, but then, through her new father, she meets a deaf girl. They speak with each other with sign language and become friends. The story is about the Mexican girl overcoming her language problems, learning German with the help of the deaf girl and getting used to her new life in Germany.

I decided to make the girl Mexican, because I think Mexican culture is really, really interesting. It’s a culture you don’t see often in Germany and I was interested in seeing how Mexican and German culture interacts, how they compliment each other and where differences are. For me, the most fun and interesting way to explore such a thing is through writing. But I’m still worried that people will see her as this stereotype, that she can’t speak English because she’s a ‘st**id’ Mexican. But she’s smart and she has a reason for not learning it, but is it a st**id reason? It’s part of her character that she is stubborn.

Thank you in advance for an answer and thank you for taking the time reading this.

Like spoken languages, sign languages aren’t universal. Mexican Sign Language (LSM) is different from German Sign Language (DGS). And in some countries, American missionaries brought American Sign Language (ASL) and taught it in the schools for the Deaf that they set up. You would have to think of an explanation for how these girls speak the same sign language (SL).

Lipreading is a common method of communicating with hearing people. Lipreading is hard to learn and some people never master it fully. Anything from accents to facial hair to speech impediments affect the ability to understand someone by lipreading. There would be significant communication barriers if the Mexican girl doesn't speak German and the German girl doesn't speak Spanish and they don't speak the same SL.

How does the Deaf character prefer to communicate with hearing people? What type of education did she have? A brief search indicates that the first Deaf schools in Germany used oralism - teaching the Deaf to speak and lipread. Most schools that taught oralism in the US banned ASL - was this the case in Germany? How much residual hearing does she have - enough to hear some with hearing aids or is she unable to hear any speech? Is her first language German or DGS? And how does her background affect her method of teaching German? How about the grandmother? Does she speak LSM? What is her background as a Deaf person? All these should be taken into account when writing and I strongly suggest doing more research into deafness, Deaf culture, and communication before proceeding with the story.

- SK

Edit for clarity: SK is Deaf and speaks ASL

Mexican readers, feel free to add commentary on this.

[divinegrey]

gentle bullying / cypher w/ gn!reader

love me some cypher <3 this is a platonic prompt that my friend wanted me to do, hope this is good !

prompt: Hey Grey! May I humbly request bullying Chamber from his clothes to his ugly hair and every little thing with our dearest boy Cypher? (Platonic I'm gay af) [requested by my most sincerely annoying bestie]

words: 900

warnings: absolutely slam dunking on chamber (deserved)

“Like, c’mon, are you serious? He’s wearing sketchers,” you say, wrapping your hand around the warm cup of freshly brewed coffee. You’d make a cup for Cypher too, but frankly, you’ve never seen the bottom half of his face, nor does he ever intend to show it to you, despite how buddy-buddy you are with him.

That is, however, beside the point.

“Who wears velcro on a mission?” You say, gesturing your hands into the air. “No, not even that! Why would you wear a silk vest, a tie, and a button down? To a goddamn gunfight?” 

“Not to mention, he somehow has a costume change whenever he pulls out that ridiculous gun of his,” Cypher says, adjusting the brim of his sharply angled hat over his head. You snort into your coffee, taking a rather hearty sip of it. You promptly regret that choice, burning the roof of your mouth. “Careful. That’s hot.” 

“Yeah, I got that,” you retort. You focus back on the subject at hand, moving away from the kitchen area and to the chess table. You and Cypher take your seats on opposite ends, and you watch the man recline in his seat and crack his knuckles. You shake your head, hardly suppressing your own laughter. “And that thing he says! You want to play, let’s play? Like, of all the catchphrases someone could say. Really? That’s what you choose? At least yours is good. That shit makes me scared whenever I hear it.” 

“You should always be scared at the prospect of information in someone else’s hands,” Cypher remarks, rolling a rather large coin across his knuckles. Brimstone recently banned the agents from using their abilities in the break room, so you threw Cypher a bone and got him a coin he could do it with instead of his tripwires. 

“Honestly, I get more spooked by your neural theft ability than Chamber’s sniper rifle. But do you have to lose the hat every single time? I’m sorry, but you look bald without it,” you say, and you’re sure Cypher is rolling his eyes under his mask. 

“Yes, I do. Will you start the game or no?” Cypher gestures to the chess board. You move a random pawn, only to hear Cypher hum. “Interesting opening play.” 

“My only knowledge of chess comes from you. I’ve gotten used to losing,” you retort, sipping your coffee. You quirk your brow. “Do you think Chamber actually needs those glasses or wears them because he wants to look smart?” 

“The latter,” Cypher says in that tone of I know this to be true. Your mouth drops open in shock, and you put your hand over your mouth to stop your laughter. Why it’s so funny, you don’t really understand, but the simple concept of Cypher knowing this and only sharing it with you makes you giggle. 

You call yourself Cypher’s best friend, even if he won’t agree with it. Of all the agents in the Protocol, Cypher is arguably the one you’re the closest with, even though he knows everything about you and you know hardly anything about him. It’s a strange symbiosis of a friendship, but you’re beyond the point of caring. Besides, Cypher wipes any information of you off the internet for free, and by god, you love internet anonymity. 

“Oh my god, I can't believe Chamber wears those fucking glasses to look smarter. I thought he was genuinely blind. Do you know how thick those glasses are?” You giggle to yourself as Cypher moves his pawn on the chessboard. “I bet they’re something expensive too, like Gucci.” 

“Yves Saint Laurent, actually.” Cypher corrects. “French fashion company.” 

“Oh, of course, he would never betray his homeland,” you say, making a sweeping gesture over your head. You move another one of your pieces across the board. “The man can afford YSL but can’t get a pair of decent looking shoes. It’s embarrassing.” 

“Perhaps I should steer his internet search ads toward something better,” Cypher says. 

Leaning forward with a look of awe in your eyes, you whisper, “You can do that?” 

“Of course I can. I do it for everyone, including you,” Cypher responds, and it prompts you to wonder what you’ve bought recently that was gently guided by Cypher. The question causes your brain to fry, and you hardly have enough brain cells to play chess as it is. “We’re forgetting one thing about our dear Frenchman, however.” 

“What’s that?” You grab your coffee again, raising it to your mouth.

Cypher cocks his head to the side. “His juvenile crush on our resident lab jockey.” 

You spit out the liquid into the cup, followed by hacking coughs. “Fuck, Cyph, stop saying this these things when I’m trying to drink my coffee!” 

“That was on you, my dear.” 

You wave your hand at him dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Do you think Chamber knows that Viper is, like, a total homo? Straight up lesbian? Entirely uninterested in men?” 

“His pride seems to smear that fact in his brain,” Cypher replies. “You think he would know the signs, considering a high majority of us in the Protocol are, as you say… fruity.” 

“And you’re the only straight guy I tolerate,” you remark, putting your hand on your chest. “And Sova. Sova’s chill.” 

Cypher moves another chess piece. “Consider me flattered.” 

You do the same, not truly paying attention to the game because you’re way too invested in your cup of coffee that you don’t notice Cypher moving his piece until his foot nudges you beneath the table. You jerk, moving your rook. 

“Checkmate,” Cypher says, and you can hear the smirk in his voice. 

“Ugh, c’mon!” 

~~~~~ A/N: there is something so personal about being mean to chamber <3

[loving-n0t-heyting]

hey! about your last post (regarding children's privacy and the content they consume online), and i'm asking this completely in good faith, don't you think the other posters had a point? yeah, the original poster is a rad and they indeed probably think that all p.orn should be banned forever and with that i obviously don't agree, but the responses you've reblogged seem reasonable to me. i think we should be somewhat mindful of what content our children to an extent while still giving them privacy, and i think there's an interesting and important conversation to be had there... anyway, do you have any thoughts on this stuff?

So I think there are basically two (very unoriginal) points to make:

1. Children are exposed to—and indeed produce—“disturbing” abd “graphic” depictions all the time without sustaining noticeable permanent damage. Centrally-unplanned and zoobus gave some nice personal narrative illustrations; here’s one on my mind from earlier today. This morning I attended a service with several children that prominently featured a life scale sculpture of a barely clothed man being gruesomely tortured to death. The service indeed dwelt on the subject of this torturekilling at some length; and this without the ability to log off! Such services are ofc common to the point of being unremarkable and I would be extremely surprised if any of the children there suffered long term trauma from the mere sight of this sculpture. Representations of fucked up shit are ubiquitous and unavoidable elements of human social life, for children as well as adults, and if anything ime children are more prone than adults to seek out and create them. This blog is more open than most to the possibility of nigh-universal childhood trauma but this is pushing it for even me

B. I don’t want to accuse you personally of bad faith but I think calls to simultaneously protect children and teenagers from disturbing content and meaningfully respect their privacy have a serious “if by whiskey” problem. I have never once seen supervisory equipment or tactics for online browsing (in full generality) that is not begging to be abused by malicious parents and other adult authorities. If there are individual strategies or tech ppl think might thread the needle ig we can talk about those but frankly the threats to privacy go deep enough I’m pretty willing to just declare this a basic conceptual incompatibility

[jungw8ns]

GOING TO AN ESCAPE ROOM WITH ENHYPEN !

PAIRING: boyfriend!enha x gn!reader. GENRE: established relationship, fluff, crack. WARNINGS: profanity (not that much tho), mentions of death (?). WORD COUNT: 100 - 200 each member.

HEESEUNG:

the two of you were so pumped playing an escape room together for the first time that the other people in line had to calm you guys down (which was trully embarrassing to say the least 🤐🤐)

he was looking at the ranking board filled with pictures of players that had succeeded in the shortest amount of time and he just wanted nothing more than to see both your faces on there

but anyways, we all know how competitive heeseung gets 🕴️

oh boy let me tell you, this guy WAS SPEEDRUNNING IT but not the kind you were thinking

the second the timer had started he was literally SPRINTING AROUND THE ROOM LOOKING FOR CLUES YET COMPLETELY MISSING THEM 🏃‍♂️💨💨💨

while he was busy running around, you were picking up the little details in the room and in no time managed to open a few locks

"y/n look i found– oh 😐😑😐"

HE WAS SULKING PLSSS 😭😭😭

when you noticed him standing from afar staring at you with his arms crossed, you called him to solve this one puzzle you already did

*gasps* "oh no! babe i don't understand how to do this, please help me 😔😔🤥🙏🙏"

he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from letting out that cocky grin but it got out eventually

"oh it's so easy sweetheart, just put this here and then voila! 😉"

when the two of you escaped you suprisingly got to take a polaroid with him home after ranking 2nd in the records

heeseung was the one who held onto it tho, placing it underneath his clear phonecase for safekeeping <3

JAY:

GOD THIS DUDE

THE ESCAPE ROOM WASN'T EVEN THAT SCARY AND YET EVERYTIME YOU GUYS OPEN A LOCK OR A DOOR HIS FIGHT OR FLIGHT INSTINCTS COME UP 😭😭👊👊

"y/n stay behind me >:(("

"um, babe, you do realize that's just a door right?"

"WE'LL BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY?? THE STAFF COULD'VE PROGRAMMED IT TO GROW LEGS?? 😵🧐🧐"

you knew you shouldn't have played horror games with him a few nights ago cause he looked like he was about to lose his mind 😔

you had to shove his ass aside and move on to the next mission cause the both of you knew that he was stalling 🏌️‍♀️

jay was being extra clingy the whole time you were playing, he'd either link arms with you or hold hands (he's literally so adorable) 💞💞

BUT THEN YOU THOUGHT OF DOING A PRANK ON HIM

while you were roaming around the room trying to solve a puzzle, you saw this horse mask on a nearby table

and so you made sure jay was distracted and put on the mask

you could've NOT worn the dusty old thing but where was the fun in that?

"jay can you come here for a sec?"

you hid behind the wall beside the door frame waiting for him to come into your sight and attacked him

now, how about we guess what happens next?

a. he faints

b. he runs away

or c. he slaps you in the face and forces you to buy him food for the rest of the night

if you guessed c then YAY! YOU'RE CORRECT 🥳🎉🎉🎊

THIS HOE SLAPS YOU AS HE SHOULD

"$##/@+(+'£%(:?!!)&£**/*%@"

when he finally takes off the mask like those scenes in scooby doo he's never felt so betrayed in his life

"i- I TRUSTED YOU 😭😭😭 YOU BETTER BUY ME FOOD LATER, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, THE BETRAYAL???? LITERALLY UNPROVOKED?????"

he wouldn't stop side eyeing you until you guys finally pulled up on the mcdonalds drive thru

"hi, can i get two um– bts meals please? 😒😒 and two oreo mc flurries 🙄🙄 and also large fries 😐😐"

sane (1/3)

would be trailing behind you like a little puppy (i love him so much 😭😭😭)

he either has his arm linked with yours or held hands every five minutes

JAKE:

really focused on the puzzles he's doing but the second he hears you call out his name for help he's there beside you with the sweetest smile

but anyways, mans was POPPING OFF the entire time you were playing

he was solving problem after problem in no time (he wanted to impress you is why he activated his inner flash ⚡⚡) but he did let you play tho, the last thing he wanted to do was make you pissed at him for hogging all the games

def buried jake with compliments and forehead kisses right after ❤️__❤️

and so the two of you got out in like an hour and a few which you were very proud of

"you were so cool today babe, good job !!"

"aww thank you angel 😊😊"

sane (2/3)

SUNGHOON:

would be linking pinkies with you the whole time, only letting go whenever the both of you had to solve something that needed two or more people

there was this one game tho where he had to arm wrestle this literal hand lever to open the door to the last room (yea...don’t ask why, the staffs were pretty weird 😬😬) 

it made him enjoy the experience a bit more as it was only the two of you playing instead of getting accompanied by strangers

HGAWAHSGDHSGHDA PLSS THIS GUY

“oh this’ll be easy, y/n step aside, i’ll handle this 😏😏😏”

idk if you were supposed to think about how handsome he looked with his serious expression on and his veiny hands coming into frame or be worried for him because the lever was REAL HARD to pull that his veins looked like they were going to pop any second soon, you stepped in and helped him tho cause you were a good s/o <3

from a spectators point of view, the two of you looked like y’all were about shit your pants but the two of you eventually succeeded on beating it, immediately dragging him to the next room which had a sofa in it, laying down to catch your breaths

cliché moment ahead ⚠️⚠️

the two of you shared a few laughs before standing up on the empty space, held hands and started to jump in circles to celebrate your success 💃💃

yupp, y’all were never going back to that hellhole again

very stubborn at first, he wanted nothing to do with the game but then you held him at gunpoint by saying:

SUNOO:

"please just this once or else i'll revoke your mint choco ice cream rights 🔫🔫🔫"

"BUT IT'S SCARY IN THERE BABE :((("

"it won't be that scary sunshine, besides, i'll be ready to 🤜💥 yk?? trust me babe i would never let anyone hurt you <33"

kinda pissed since you blackmailed him into the place and also bc he wanted to play bumper cars and dance mania but he yea he caved in pretty quick 😋😋

(y/n let him play his games in peace tf >:(((( )

once you guys got in tho he realized how normal it was and that it was not terrifying at all

THE EPITOME OF CLINGY OMFG

he wouldn't stop back hugging you and you couldn't bring yourself to push him away to play the games so you just let him walk behind you with his arms on your shoulders 😩😩

(y'all were walking kinda funny but don't tell sunoo that 🤫🤫🤫)

yea the two of you ended up escaping with a whopping 2 hours and a few minutes

but it was the effort that counts so A+++++ for the both if you 😜👍👍👍

sane (3/3)

JUNGWON:

was the one who suggested going, he even searched on naver about really good escape room places to visit and was overall really looking forward it

he liked going to places and having fun with you so it wasn't a shock how his eyes were literally crescents and his dimples were so evident

yea he literally rushed the both of you to the place that you were the first in line 😵

while waiting for the staff to finish setting up he was playing with your connected hands like 🖐️✊🖐️✊ (so precious 💞💞)

"y/n why are you taking so long 😭😭 what if they close and we end up not solving a single lock, hurry up por favorrr 😩🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏"

when they finally lead you to the room he was kind of surprised that they had separated the two of you into different spaces (like the one with txt where they had the answers to the other member's puzzles yk???)

he was locked inside a telephone stand while you were handcuffed in the main room

dw the two of you reunited after a few minutes cause jungwon was rushing his lock to get to you 🤭

you both were progressing at an average pace and it made you guys a lot more closer (not that you guys weren't before but you get what i mean)

after you guys escaped the two of you went to eat curry and talked about the whole experience 😋✌️✌️✌️

this boy literally dragged you in the escape room with him

NIKI:

HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE YOU TIME TO REFUSE HE JUST 😐👉🚪

"ok masterchefs, in order to test your abilities we must go through series of puzzles and make it out alive, understood?"

he tried ignoring how confused you were and went on to try and get you guys to escape

HE'S LAUGHING AT YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON AND OBV YOU LAUGH ASWELL CAUSE WHO WOULDN'T??? his laugh is so contagious pls 🤖🤖 he was so close to d wording cause he couldn't breathe from laughing too much

yea.. you guys spent so much time laughing at each other for being so dumb at this that you ended up playing 'till closing time

spoiler alert: he fails on doing anything cause the second you made eye contact with him this child collapses 😍🤩

GIRL SO EMBARRASSING 🤡🤡

THE STAFF KICKED THE BOTH OF YOU OUT AND NOW YOU GUYS WERE BANNED FROM THE PLACE ☠️☠️

"haunted house next weekend???"

"BET"

NOTE – god they were WAY funnier in my head but yeah.... i love them so much AND OMFG HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN HEESEUNG’S SELCAS LAST NIGHT???!?@??#?@?!?@ HE’S NOT REAL WTF ⁉️❓❓⁉️

also, idk why BUT EVERY TIME I SAVE A DRAFT the paragraphs get scrambled?? £!?) 6=6) 🤣😂💔💔🤣🤣😂💔 it's so annoying but anyways, ilysm pls stay safe and have a great day <33

[heejojo]

Mr Hollywood

summary: Sim Jaeyun had made it, he had finally fulfilled his dream of being an artist but he had to leave the place he called he called home promising he would come back when everything was okay. He’s back now but are you sure it’s the same Jake you once knew?

genre: fluff, minor angst, childhood lovers turned exes to lovers again

pairing: Celebrity Sim Jaeyun x non-celebrity reader (with enhypen and treasure appearances)

warning: none

word count: 4.1k

a/n: although it has been proofread, I cannot guarantee no errors so please let me know if you see any! please let me know what you think. likes and reblogs are appreciated and I hope you have a good day.

listen to the playlist here

send an ask or fill out this form to be part of the taglist!

taglist (open): @enhyphun @jungwoniics @penny-quinn @ncthpen @fylithia @taecup-ontrack @renee1414@studioreader

“And the Artist Of The Year Award goes to none other than...” the announcer said, keeping you all at the edge of your seats. Everyone here had voted for Jake so many times so that he would win. The announcer looked at the folded card in his hand before smiling and saying.

“Jake Sim!” The screams of everyone in the beer parlour with you watching the award ceremony were probably louder than those in the venue itself. You all watched in pride as the look of shock was evident on his face and he shakily walked to the podium to collect the award. You smiled at how good he looked, he had come so far from the boy you once knew here.

Five years ago, Jake had left his hometown, where he grew up for 18 years to pursue his dream. Granted, not everyone is supposed to stay for the rest of their lives but he thought he was going to stay but he made up his mind to leave for his passion. You all supported him even if you weren’t able to talk to him because of his busy schedule. Being able to cheer him from the sidelines was what you were content with. He was the pride of the town and people did not hesitate to show him off.

He gave the announcer a bow and collected the award. You could see the way his hands shook as he collected the award as if it felt unreal that he won.

“I would like to thank God for the ability to get to this point today and to thank my parents for always teaching me the right way and having the courage to let their child pursue his dreams even if it meant that I would be very far away; almost out of reach even. I love you. To all those that have continuously supported me and listened to my music, thank you. To the staff that have worked so hard and everyone I've had the pleasure of meeting, a big thank you to you" he said and walked off.

The excitement of the crowd reduced and everyone eventually retired to their homes while chatting amongst themselves. You think about the award one more time, feeling happy for him and move on. After all, the same way Sim has a life to live is the same way you do also.

The next day, when you wake up you feel a shift in the atmosphere. The birds are still chirping, yes but something feels unusual. You brush off the paranoia you feel and decide to do your usual morning duties and carry on with your day. While other people your age wanted to have prestigious jobs(not like there was anything wrong with that), you wanted something simple and had decided on being either a cafe owner or a florist.

Sadly, the cafe owner agenda wasn't able to work out because everyone in the vicinity was now aware of the way you burned down a cafe trying to bake and collectively decided that you should not be allowed to make food for people. Flowers were better than running a cafe shop. You stayed with your flowers and you were able to give

someone a flower when they needed it.

Need a flower for your mother? You got it, a daylily was exactly what they needed. Wanted to attend a funeral? Take a bouquet of lilies. It was easy to understand and you didn't directly put anyone in harm’s way. Although your shop was hardly ever full, you were content with everything.

That's why you're shocked when you find a line of people waiting to be let into your shop at 9 am. You raised an eyebrow in confusion but you opened the door nevertheless. At the end of the day, you were the one earning the money. You had things to buy, didn't you?

You take your place at the counter and start attending to the customers. They didn't tell you to pick out one for them and just chose it themselves. The crowd slowly reduced till there was only one person left. When there remained a few people, you quietly moved to one person to ask for the reason why they were so cheerful today.

"Jungwon, do you know why everyone is so happy today? My shop was full today!"

"Are you complaining about it?" He asks. Jungwon was the son of the cafe shop owner. He came to your shop frequently when he was on his break and you would talk to each other.

“Of course, I’m not. I just want to know what’s making everyone come here all of a sudden. Even old man Jay came here and you know that man never leaves his house. He bought a red carnation and I’m confused because who does he have affection for that he’s getting them flowers”

“He has a wife you know”

“Please, the last time they had a conversation with each other was when he asked for a divorce” you deadpanned.

“Look Y/N, who’s the one person in this town anyone would do anything for?”

“Kim Junkyu?”

“Close but not him, I wouldn’t do anything for him” Jungwon stated making you roll your eyes.

“The only person left is Sim Jaeyun and we know it’s not possible”

“Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner”

You give him a shaky smile before asking him, “You’re joking right?”

“I’m not,” he says sincerely. You nod your head and go sit on the nearest stool. Placing a hand on your throat as you begin to scratch at it (something you did when you were nervous) and just sit in silence while Jungwon continues talking.

“After the award ceremony, his management released a statement on his Instagram saying that he would be going on hiatus for two months to visit his family. So we townsmen decided to get flowers to pave the road with because he would be coming back. We would have used gold leaves but it’s too expensive”

He continued talking and talking while you were still trying to process the fact that Jake would be coming back. Physically he was still going to be the same Jake you had a crush on before he left but personality-wise? You doubted that. You heard stories of the way fame had changed people; the love from others would get to their heads and make them overly egotistical. A part of you knew that he wouldn’t change but the other part was unsure. Before he left, you made him promise to not change and while you knew promises could be broken, you knew he wouldn’t break them.

“Jungwon, I want to close the shop for today. I’m not feeling too well and want to rest a bit”

“No problem Y/N! If you want, I can stay here and do business for you”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve made enough money today to last me for next month” you say and shoo him away.

At home, you just sit and think for some time before getting up to make some tea and reminiscing about your high school memories. You hardly had feelings for people so when you did, you let them know immediately. When you told Jake that you liked him, he told you that he felt the same. You ignored him for a week after that because you didn’t think that far. After that, you met up with him and explained the reason why you avoided him. You went out with each other for less than 2 weeks and during that period, he had told you about his dreams of becoming an artist and you supported him wholeheartedly.

He would carry your books from school and you both would walk home together every day. He'd play the violin for you because he was good. You'd both pet stray cats and run when they started chasing you. All good things came to an end when he told you that he had to leave to pursue his dream. You both knew you were too young to even attempt a long-distance relationship so you let each other go even though it hurt. You’d watch his music videos and support his activities even though there was a possibility he would never return. Now that he was going to be here, how were you going to cope knowing that your feelings for him were still the same while his feelings could have gone, especially with all the beautiful people in the industry?

That night, while everyone was outside welcoming Mr Hollywood, you stayed in your house dreading the days that would come. The town was small so there was no way that you wouldn’t bump into him. The voices were loud when you tried to sleep. Seems like everyone was ecstatic that Jake had come back. The noise wasn’t able to let you sleep but deep down you knew it was because you were nervous.

You decide to bake cookies to reduce the stress you are currently feeling. You had learnt from your mistakes and no longer burnt kitchens (your kitchen being valid proof of that), but Jungwon’s dad still wouldn’t lift his ban. You baked cookies till 2 am before you were really tired enough to sleep. You had baked almost a hundred cookies that night.

The next morning, you made sure to wake up early so you wouldn’t run into anyone. Thankfully, the townspeople didn’t want to buy flowers that morning and got started on the orders that people out of town had placed. You brought cookies for Jungwon so he could test them. You were trying to fix the counter when someone walked in, making the bell jingle. Assuming it was Jungwon, you say, “Jungwon the cookies are on the counter. Test them and tell me what you think, don’t eat them and run away”

“I’m not a Jungwon but can I talk to Y/N?” You’re startled but you freeze, instantly recognizing the voice. Jake Sim.

“Hello, what would you like?” you asked with a forced smile. You were way too close, the proximity was making you uneasy. He looked a bit disappointed with the way you answered him but what did he expect to come to? It had been five years.

“I just wanted to tal-” he is cut off by Jungwon bursting through the door.

“Y/N, you will not believe who I saw. I saw Jake Sim with my very own two eyes. He looks so much hotter in real life. Do you think he’d sign my back if I asked-” he stopped instantly when he saw the person that was in the flower shop.

He looked like a fish out of water with the way his mouth was agape. Looking at you, then at Jake and then you again. He brought his hand to his head and he hit it hard making you startled.

“Sorry I will leave now,” Jungwon said.

“To cry” he murmured, making you chuckle. Jungwon was someone that cried when he did something embarrassing.

“Jungwon wait,” you say and walk to give him the cookies you had packed for him with a little note.

“Eat them and get back to me when you’re less you know...embarrassed” He snatches them from your hands and makes a run for the door. You giggle then you remember that Jake was still present. Turning to face him, you ask if he wants anything. “I want to talk to you”

You motion him to sit on the spare chair you had and he obliges. Before you even ask him a question, he begins, “Was that your boyfriend?”

“No, not that it concerns you though”

“Where you last night? I saw everyone but you. The Johnny kid said you were feeling ill. I doubt that wasn’t true as you made cookies. The last time I remembered, you were really bad at anything relating to the kitchen”

“Times change and people change, Jaeyun. It’s been 5 years since we last had a conversation with each other. I’m not the same and I’m sure you’re not the same either”

“Let’s get to know each other again. Do things the old fashioned way. Go on dates, paint, and bake with each other. Do some of the things we could have done 5 years ago.”

“And then when you have to leave and have no contact with each other again”

“I won’t do that, I promise. Never again.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Let me prove it to you-”

He’s cut off by the entrance of another customer and stands up to leave but you don’t miss the longing look in his eyes. You hope he can see the same look in yours that’s covered by hurt and waiting for someone to return.

You were not expecting Jake to be at your store first thing on a Friday morning. He was even earlier than you and you're the boss.

“What are you doing here?” you ask. He was bouncing on his feet and looking cherry when you hadn’t even gotten enough sleep.

“I’m here to take you out. Do it like the old times where I’d wait for you so we could go to school together”

“I have work to do today and I’m going to be booked so another time”

“I have come to offer my assistance so tomorrow we can go out together”

“Don’t you have things to do?”

“I’m on a hiatus, I’m free for almost two months and if you want I can be free for more. Imagine all the things we could do in that time” he trails off, fantasizing when you hadn’t even told him that you still liked him. Meanwhile, you had opened the door and walked in.

"Aren't you going to come in and stop thinking of cute stuff?" you ask him and he quickly runs in, flustered.

He takes a look around and puts on a determined face and gets a broom and starts cleaning. For someone that's supposed to be a celebrity, he was cleaning like an employee. You take a rag and wipe all the surfaces and take care of the flowers. After an hour, the shop is ready to open. Customers come rolling in once they see a new help. Although they're surprised, they don't question it.

During your break, Jake picks up a chrysanthemum and hands it to you. "It's for you because you're beautiful," he says

"Hate to rain on your parade but if you gave me this in Italy, it means you wish I were dead" and with that, he takes back the flower instantly and brings a single red rose. You receive it with a small laugh, finding it funny when he doesn't want you misinterpreting him. You were having a sweet moment with him until Jungwon came in again.

"I'm getting tired of seeing you here Mr Sim. As much as I adore you, I need to meet my friend" he states and pulls you to the back. "Care to explain why Jake Sim is in your store again!?"

"Nope" you respond, popping the p. He brought his hand to his forehead and tried to relax his muscles because according to him, he doesn't want to look forty-five when he's thirty years old.

"Look, it's weird coming here and seeing you have company. I'm not against you having company seeing as you've been lonely the entire time I've known you but, I can't stay in his presence! Why must a man Look so gorgeous!? He's ruining my already broken esteem. Everybody saw him in real life and was wondering how a man could look that good."

"They saw him when he was seventeen years old," you tell him.

"And he's twenty-three now! He doesn't look the same and I don't even need to have known him then to know now"

"Jungwon, I want you to get to the point," you tell him, basically pleading at that point because your break would soon be over.

"I'll see you when I have enough confidence to meet him," he says and leaves the store. You shake your head at his overdramatic behaviour and continue with your day. Jake proves to be amazing assistance and you got things done quicker and even closed earlier.

"Thank you for offering help, you can go home now. See you tomorrow" you say in an attempt to shoo him out.

"I want to walk you home" he announces and goes with you home.

"Do you hate me for not talking to you?" he asks.

"I don't hate you. To be honest, I think we both did the right thing by not talking to each other. It was good we had each other in mind but I would have caused too much of a distraction for you. It was great you focused on your career and achieved your goals. I did well too"

"Johnny boy said you were lonely though," he said.

"Number one, I know you know his name is Jungwon but you're just being petty. Two, why were you eavesdropping on our conversation and three, I still had a bit of hope that one day you'd return. I didn't think that you'd come" you say truthfully. The night was making you vulnerable when answering his questions.

"I always asked my mum how you were doing when I called her, you know? I wanted to check up on you without doing so myself. I'd ask her to give you a pop tart because I knew they were your favourite"

Even though he was still far away, he still had kept you in his mind the same way you did for him.

You got home and stayed at the door before you took him by the shoulder and said, "Let's go out together and have fun". He gives you a soft smile and watches you go in before he retires to his own home.

The following day, you're waiting for him to come. You had tried to dress up for the date but didn't want to underdress or overdress since he hadn't told you where you were going. So you decided to wear a simple sundress and made yourself look nice. He arrived wearing something as casual as you in a car.

"Is this your dad's?" you questioned.

"Yup, I borrowed it to take you out,” he says and winks at you. You shake your head laughing and get in the passenger seat and he drives.

“Where are we going?” you ask, curious.

“You’ll see when we get there” you don’t respond but wind down the window and feel the wind on your face which makes you smile.

You catch Jake glancing at you while he’s driving and he doesn’t even try to hide it. “At least try to pretend you’re not starting”

“I can’t help it, you’re so pretty” This kid, he was making it too easy for you to fall for him.

“Do you still like me, Jaeyun?” you inquire.

“I do,” he said with certainty. Has he always been this bold? You don’t say anything and continue to look out so he reaches over and takes one of your hands in his while he uses his other one to drive. You look at him but just continue doing what you’re doing.

“You might not believe me but I mean it,” he says, lightly squeezing your hand as a form of reassurance.

He stops the car at an aquarium and you both come out. You have a wonderful time and although people recognize him and are surprised to see him with you, they don't say anything and leave you alone. You smiled that day more than you had ever smiled before.

"The fishes look good to eat" you whisper in his ear and he playfully smacks your arm and jokes.

"You monster! How can you say that!?" to which you jokingly shrug.

After the aquarium, he takes you to a flower field. "I did my research this time so I don't give you a wrong flower." He picked up a primrose and says, "I know this one means love is eternal so I'm giving it to you because no matter the distance between us, our love will be forever"

You feel warm this time and know that even if he were to leave again, the distance wouldn't matter because together, you both could overcome anything.

"You're all I need" you manage to say.

"When did you get all sentimental?" he teases and you chase after him in the flower field. When you get tired, you lie down on the grass and he lays next to you. Your hands find his hands amid all the grass and you squeeze it. Unknowingly, you fall asleep next to him.

The next weeks that follow include you two bonding and Jake having fun and being relaxed. He was able to write a song but wouldn't let you see the lyrics, saying it wasn't something he wants you to see yet. You met his parents and thanked his mum for taking care of you indirectly and conversed with his dad too. You could tell that he hadn't forgotten any of the values his parents had thought him. He grew up surrounded by a lot of love so he had more than enough to give.

He also met your parents and he was nervous even though you had tried to reassure him that they wouldn't do anything to him. Your father tried to act scary but deep down you knew he had a soft spot for him. Your mom was showering with more affection than she gave you and Jungwon tried stylishly asking him for his celebrity crush numbers.

"Jake, since you're dating my friend can you link me up with Han Sohee? You've worked with her before, help a friend out"

"I'll ask her but no promises" Jungwon was so happy the entire day.

A few days before Jake had to go back because his hiatus was over, you both were talking about how things would be while baking muffins.

"Y/N don't think I won’t talk to you when I go because I can already see the gears turning in your head."

"Pass me the butter Jaeyun"

"Are we back to the first-name basis? Call me the sweet names" he whined.

"Just pass the butter babe" and he passes it instantly.

"Now back to what you were saying, I know you won't forget me obviously and if you try I I can always take a flight to get to you." You tell him. You weren't going to wait around for him anymore. If you missed him, you'd go see him if he was unable to come to see you.

"Better, I was already worried," he says and gives you a back hug.

The day he left was bittersweet and you shed a few tears. It took a lot of willpower to not cry in front of him. You didn't want him to leave but you knew that he had a job to get to and you couldn't be in the way of that.

You both regularly kept in touch, calling each other at least twice a week to catch up on what had happened during each other's week. He hadn't told you that he released a new song and you found out through his fanboy Jungwon who was now the self-acclaimed president of his fan club.

"Y/N, have you heard Jake's new solo? I cried to it for an hour straight" You didn't have any time to check what was going on because someone had ordered flowers for their wedding and you had to get them done quickly.

"New solo?" you ask and Jungwon sits you down and plays the song for you. Truth be told, you cried as well. It felt like he was there with you telling you that he'd never change.

You watched the interview and when he was asked about the meaning or person behind the song, he said, "There's someone that I love and I wanted to let her know that no matter how famous I get, I won't ever change and she shouldn't change either". He looked directly at the camera then continued, "You're stuck with me forever".

That night, you called him and cried on the phone to him telling him about how you saw the interview.

"Y/N, you know I care about you" you sobbed even harder.

"I care about you too, forever"

"Forever baby, regardless of the distance"

[malloryslourd]

Saturday Nights

Pairing: Madison Montgomery x GoodedayDaughter!Reader

Warnings: Some Strong Language, Hickeys

Words: 1,446

—————

"If you make me hit my head again Madi-"

"-Shut up."

Y/N's words were muffled as Madi pulled her back in to kiss her, hand placed next to Madison's head on the car seat in order to hold herself up. This had became a Saturday night ritual at this point. Leave the house at separate times, have one pick up the other, drive around the city for an hour, and end up making out in the back seat of their cars in some random spot or sparking lot. So far there was no suspicion, or at least they were aware of, and this was enough to set them straight for the weekend before they got time to themselves when Y/N's mother's were actually working.

Y/N had pulled away from Madison to return attention to her neck and chest. Earlier she had only been leaving soft kisses up and down in trails, but now her skin was already turning purple in some areas. Madison's hand snaked around the back of Y/N's neck. She let out a shaky breath as Y/N went back to what she was doing, forgetting of the empty threat that was pointed at the blonde about making her hurt herself again. Her other hand was placed firmly on Y/N's hip in order to follow her slight rocking motion.

Madison had even let out a faint moan while she threw her head back. Y/N had smirked and said something against her neck. She wasn't too sure what it was, but she knew "Shut up" was the right answer. Y/N laughed, but she didn't stutter in the pace she had taken.

Madison had begun to pull Y/N up to kiss her when she saw the glow of headlights coming towards them. Y/N hadn't noticed as quick as she did, only noticing that Madison's hands had stop squeezing her body. When she looked up to ask what was wrong, she noticed the lights too. "Shit." "Fuck." They both froze, too scared to even ask each other what they should do. Both of their heads had turned to look out the window. Y/N could feel her heart start to race, even faster than it was mere moments ago, as the lights came closer and closer towards her car.

In what could have been the final moments before a cop, or worse Cordelia and Misty, pulled up next to the car, the girls watched as the headlights coming towards the car slowly disappeared from their vision. They both let out a sigh, foreheads coming to rest against one another as their breathing started to slow and tension dissipated. Madison murmured something, just the slightest bit too quiet for Y/N to hear. Y/N intertwined their fingers as she further relaxed her body, trying to shake off the fear of getting caught as soon as possible. She was sure Madison was calming a lot faster than she was.

Even though she had been slightly more scared than her girlfriend Y/N was the first to laugh. Madison joined seconds later, pressing a quick kiss to Y/N's lips. Y/N pulled away from Madison, taking in her features. Her slightly swollen lips, mascara gathering on her eyelids and under her eyes slightly, the way her chest still heaved up and down even though they weren't even making out anymore. She let go of Madi's hand, it falling to her other hip, to trace the marks that she had left behind. With a slight smirk, just barely visible from the little light they had available, Y/N said, "Well I think they look good."

"I can't see them," Madison shot back, Y/N sucking her teeth in response. Her voice was barely over a whisper, as if she was scared of someone hearing her. She stretched her neck upwards to let Y/N graze her fingers over the red marks that seemed to darken in every passing second.

Y/N brought her hand up to the side of Madi's face. "Look down, you can see some," she smirked as her other hand came up to rest on the hickeys that laid on top of Madison's breasts. Her eyes met Madison's and she couldn't help but smile. The faint look of exhaustion creeping onto her features and the satisfied smile she tried to hold back was the most rewarding part of any of this. She always found herself appreciating how relaxed and happy Madison seemed in these moments. It always left something to be fond of after.

"I don't even wanna know how big the ones on my neck are." Madison's words took Y/N out of her state of admiration. Madi guided the witch off her lap, hands on her hips to help the Supreme's daughter sit next to her, legs draping over her lap. Madi sighed as she rested her head on the seat. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. "I'll look like I did the first time they brought me back," she turned to Y/N who was situating herself as she rested against the car door.

Y/N shook her head. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how dramatic Madison was being. "Whatever," she laughed, "I gave you a few hickeys, I didn't fucking murder you." She reached for Madi's hand while she sat more comfortably, twisting the rings on her fingers.

"Close enough in our house." Madison had no shame- many that knew her could admit that. That didn't mean the constant berating of "making herself presentable" and "trying to act a bit more responsible" was easy to dismiss. Cordelia would be sure to say something as soon as she saw the condition her body was in. First it would be a disappointed shake of her head, then signaling to someone else in the room to take in what she just did, and finally the start of a big long speech on what Madison should and shouldn't be doing.

Y/N could notice the change in Madison's attitude as she went silent. She moved closer, legs still across Madison's lap and hand still in hers. "I'll ice them when we get home if you want," she spoke softly now that she was closer. "Coco taught me this ice and pressure thing when I needed to get rid of that one on my thigh," her head fell to rest on Madi's shoulder, her head falling on top of hers. "By the way, never do that again please. Oh my God, It hurt like Hell."

The couple laughed together at the memory of Y/N wincing every time her thighs would graze one another when walking or if she would stretch in just the wrong way. In the moment it had seemed like a great idea, but in reality it was more discomfort than it had ever been pleasure. That particular spot had been banned until further notice- or technically until Madison learned what was a little too much for her to handle.

"I don't want them iced."

"I know you don't, freak," Y/N smiled, throwing Madison's hand down into her lap.

Madison turned towards her. She thought her smile had the ability to light up the night sky if so needed, and that was one of the reasons she had fell in love with her. "Yeah, I'm the freak! Sure. This is always your idea!"

"I said I wanted to hang out, we ended up in the backseat because of you!"

They laughed again, louder this time. But still cautious of drawing too much attention to the random car in the parking lot. Y/N went back to resting her head on Madi's shoulder, letting out a content breath as she got comfortable. Her and Madi sat like that for what could've been hours, enjoying each other's presence in the silence.

Madison cleared her throat, a twisted smile of her face. Y/N looked up at her, eyebrow raised as she waited for the question. "So?..."

"No!" Y/N didn't need anything else to know that Madison wanted them to continue. She ignored the blonde's protest and pleas as she sat straight, reaching down to the floor to grab the very few articles of clothing that were discarded. "Weirdo with the headlights ruined it," Madison groaned at the explanation. "And besides, we gotta start thinking about a window of time for you to come in after me."

"Let's walk in together tonight. Really scare all of them, huh?"

"Then you'll really look like the first time you got brought back, and neither of us want that. Now get dressed!"