#Sorry to the countries that spell it Mom

[crumblestheclown]

Me when my mum starts a sentence with "When you fall in love with someone"

(Seperate flags with this doodle under the cut)

Dont ask why the skull on the ace flag is fading, I didn't notice how low the opacity on the bucket was until it was far too late

[valengory1234]

I see a lot of people calling summer bratty when she isn’t being an ass on purpose, like Ari “No wonder your mom doesn’t want you back” Gibson isn’t out here and ready to maim with his words

[the-breloominati]

[olderthannetfic]

This was a thing talked about here like a few months ago, but I feel like it's still relevant: If you have a foreign name, chances are people who don't speak that language are not going to pronounce it correctly, and you just need to deal with it. I'm sorry but it's just such a tired issue. No where else in the world outside of the WEST and Anglophone countries are people THIS ANAL about pronouncing a name exactly as you would in the language of origin.

It's especially stupid since it's made a race issue, when I probably don't know a single Slavic, Gaelic, or whatever else name that actually gets pronounced correctly by people outside those language branches. And there are tons of poc people who can't pronounce foreign names either, or, because that's actually the standard, people don't actually care enough to do so anyway outside the West.

--

Eh. A lot of people have responded like this, and all of them are conflating a bunch of things and glossing over that actual issue.

This very stupid ask is nearly identical to several that came in at the time.

--

I don't expect people to attempt to pronounce my own name like it's German. Hell, I don't. (And also, Mom couldn't spell...) But if you can't figure out that it's not Francesca after me telling you 20 times, you are clearly not listening.

A lot of people here react to ~too foreign~ names by saying a random collection of consonants that are not the real name translated into their own accent, then giggling, and saying—in a knowing voice—that the person's name is hard.

Half the time, it's just some black woman's name that's not even that weird in the US.

If you haven't been around idiots here faceplanting over black names, then you don't know what I'm talking about and you can shut your cakehole. It's this whole Thing here.

A lot of the time, these are sounds the person can say in their very own dialect. They just insist on replacing them with other sounds that they think are more normative or that reflect the spelling instead of the pronunciation someone actually told them. Five times. Politely.

[dira333]

Of Tremors and believing in Love - Yaku x Reader

Yaku’s not sure what he expected. 

Maybe some buff Russian guy like they show in action movies, or an elderly gentleman that makes him feel like a Celebrity with a private driver.

Not you. 

You’re gorgeous, even in the unforgiving light of the airport exit area, holding up a sign that spells his name in bright red Kanji. 

He swallows nervously, hands clammy with sweat as he approaches.

He hadn’t been that nervous, he thinks, leaving Japan for an unfamiliar country. It was Volleyball and he knew Volleyball. He could rely on his talent if everything else failed, and on his iron stomach to handle whatever the Russian kitchen was going to throw at him - Lev’s tales hadn’t left him with much hope.

But he’s never been that good at talking to girls and his perpetually single status is either a symptom or the cause of this predicament.

“Hi,” he greets you, voice breaking over that one-syllable word.

“Hi,” you smile and bow in greeting. “How was your flight? Are you hungry, tired, or anything else?”

Your Japanese is perfect. He can even hear hints of a Kansai dialect hidden somewhere in between.

“A little hungry,” he admits, “I… uh… I’m Yaku, by the way. Morisuke.”

He wants to facepalm so badly. Where’s his usual coolness? Where’s his confident tone?

“Sorry,” you apologize immediately, offering your name. “I got caught up in the moment. How about we grab something to eat and get to know each other?”

Yaku nods, glad that’s something he can answer without opening his mouth and making a fool of himself.

As it turns out, he was right.

You grew up in the Kansai region, moved to Russia with your parents when you were a young teen. 

He can’t help but search for familiarity in your features, half expecting to be reminded of Lev, or Alisa. He berates himself immediately. Just because you’re Japanese-Russian too doesn’t mean you have to look like everyone else who’s Japanese-Russian.

“How did they find you?” Yaku asks as he slips into the booth, “The agency, I mean.”

“Oh, I work for Tigr Ekaterinburg. I handled your contracts. They asked me if I would be willing to show you around and be a helping hand the first few months and I agreed. Japanese players are often polite and easy to work with. Do you think you’ll be able to handle the Russians though? They can be pretty rough.”

Yaku laughs. “I do think I can. I’ve played in quite a few different teams. My classmates called me Demon-Senpai.” He laughs again at the memory, fondness washing over him.

“Tell me more about that,” you ask, your question so unusually direct for the polite tone you’re using. You flip open the Menu. “I’ll be ordering. Any allergies?”

-

“So you’re the Mom-friend of the Group,” you summarize, popping the last tiny pancake, or Syrniki, as they are called, into your mouth. You chew slowly, not letting him out of your sight.

“That’s interesting. I’ve never met a male Mom-friend.”

“I’m not-” he tries to defend himself, even though he’s heard it often enough from Kenma and Kuroo, Kai and Lev. “You really think so?”

“There’s an easy test,” you tell him with a smile. “Did you know I have actually a headache? It’s been bothering me all day.”

Worry washes over him. “Really? God, why didn’t you say so? You should rest then. Did you drink enough water?”

You laugh, the sound tinkling around him like droplets of silver.

“You failed the test. Mom-Friend detected.”

He pouts and you still. For a moment, no one speaks.

Eventually, you move again, clear your throat, and take a sip of your drink.

“Sorry,” you say. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I’m not offended.”

“Good.” You nod, your voice calm and distant. “If you want, I can show you you’re apartment now.”

- - -

Yaku’s not the first guy you get to drive around town nor will he be the last, probably.

You drop him off at his apartment, show him the few things he could have trouble with - no rice cooker in the kitchen and the bathroom works a little different over here - and leave for the office, determined to finish that project you’d been working on all week.

Hopefully, work will flush out whatever’s bothering your heart, causing it to race at the adorable little pout on Yaku’s lips.

You told him you’d pick him up later for a night out, so you leave a little early - still not done with that damned project - to put on something fancier, add some smoke to your make-up.

Yaku’s waiting in the lobby when you step in and you swallow thickly at his sight.

Most athletes like to dress as casually as they can in their free time. Jeans and a shirt are often the most you get to see. Yaku, however, is dressed in an expensive suit, hair combed back. 

You can tell he’s not a stranger to wearing suits, moving just as easily in it as he did in his tracksuit earlier.

He gets up before you can call out his name, cheeks turning a soft pink at your sight. 

That eases your nerves a little, knowing you still have at least some effect on him.

“Ready to go?” You ask, trying to ignore the way he takes you in. There’s a warmth in his eyes that’s a little unnerving. 

-

He’s even prettier under the twinkling lights of the city, leaning in when you explain something, expensive Cologne wafting around you.

“Do you want to dance?” You ask, after you’ve wandered through the city center. “Or something to eat?”

Yaku ponders the question for a moment.

“How about a bite first? I’d love to take you out to dance, though.”

His words leave you flushed and angry. That’s not what you meant, but correcting him would sound weird. 

When you suddenly have to weave through a group of tourists, his hand presses against the small of your back, warm and steady, and in way you don’t want it to. But you can’t bring yourself to tell him off, nor to move away from his touch.

-

“First year was tough”, he remembers over a bowl of Pelmeni, “Kuroo and I didn’t get along.”

“Who was Kuroo again?” You ask, offering him one of your Pirozhki.

He swipes his thumb over his phone and turns it, so you can see a picture of his old Volleyball team. Yaku’s easy to find, almost the smallest of the group. He’s grown since then, though not much, if you had to guess.

“That’s Kuroo. I know his hair looks awful, but he claims he can’t do anything about it and that it’s natural. He was our Captain in our third year. The pudding head next to him is Kenma, our genius setter. These two have been best friends since childhood.” 

He tells you each name, warmth in his voice as he remembers. It’s not hard to tell that they were close.

“Are you still in contact?” You ask, surprised when he nods. 

“With all of them?” His eyebrows wander up.

“Yes, why? Is that surprising to you?”

You feel caught and look away, but you’re unable to escape his eyes, it seems.

“A little,” you admit finally and hope that he drops it. 

Thankfully, he does.

.

Yaku’s easy to talk to. 

All too soon you find yourself walking out of that restaurant and into a nightclub, his head so close as he listens to your explanation that you could kiss him, if you wanted to, without even having to move much.

But you don’t. Because it would be weird, right? And unprofessional.

His hand is warm in yours as a new song starts and he pulls you in.

It’s a slow one and you can’t tell if that’s good or bad. 

The dance floor is packed and you’re soon pressed against him, your own heartbeat echoing in your stomach. There’s a tilt to his mouth that makes you wonder how it would taste and before you know you’re leaning in a little and he’s leaning in too.

His lips are soft and warm and he tastes like the wine you shared earlier.

His teeth graze your lower lip, just the faintest touch, but it shakes you out of your dream-like state better than a bucket of ice water ever could.

You snap back and purse your lips like they’ve offended you personally.

“I…” You hesitate, your voice breathless, “I’ll wait for you at the bar.”

.

There’s a tremor hiding in your bones.

You check your hands in the seconds it takes him to catch up to you, but you can’t tell from the outside. Good.

“I-”

“You can dance with someone else,” you tell him, voice as polite as can be. “I am only your guide, after all.”

“I don’t want to dance with anyone else.” He reaches for you but you step out of reach.

“Please,” you ask, but he shakes his head.

“Very well. Do you want to take a walk?”

.

The sky is clear above you, though it’s hard to see the stars beyond the glow of street lamps. 

Your hands are buried in the pockets of your jacket in case he tries to take one.

“Do you believe in love?” You ask after a minute when the street clears and you’re on your own. “Not in general, but in like… love for yourself?”

“Yeah.”

“Makes sense.”

“It does?” Yaku looks over, confusion written all over his face.

“Sure. You’re good-looking, smart, easy to talk to. It makes sense.”

He smiles, but your stomach churns violently.

“Yaku-san,” you stop, address him in the politest way you can. “I don’t believe in love. I am sorry I just kissed you. But I cannot offer you anything of that kind.”

Yaku’s quiet for a while. His face does not give anything away. 

Eventually, he nods.

“I understand. But we can be friends, right?”

“Friends as in you’re waiting for me to change my mind about it?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Friends as in friends. I quite like your company, but I can deal with a rejection.”

You hesitate for a second before you nod.

“Friends would be nice.

- - - xxx - - -

“Have you eaten yet?” Yaku’s standing in the doorway to your office, two identical looking Bento Boxes in his hands.

“Eh?” You look up from your Desk. “No, but what are you doing here?”

“I figured. Want to share?”

You’re just about to decline when your stomach grumbles loudly. 

Yaku grins and steps closer. “I think that was a confirmation.”

-

“Hey,” Yaku’s grin is warm and inviting, his hair dripping wet. “We just finished training and the boys want to hit the city. Do you want to come along? I heard they have great Syrniki.”

He absolutely butchers the name and you can’t help but correct him.

“So?” He cocks his head to the side, waiting. “It’s just a hangout with the guys. You know at least one of them, well, besides me, I mean.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll come.”

-

“Are you coming to the game this weekend?” Yaku asks as you meet him in the lobby. He always comes in early for extra training and while you haven’t yet figured out at what time he arrives, he’s already got your schedule memorized, waiting for you with a coffee and a pastry.

“I wasn’t planning to,” you admit, “My parents are coming into town. They’ve moved into the countryside a few years back.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” He nods. “I hope you’re having a great time together.”

“We will.” You take a sip of coffee and can’t help the teasing comment slipping through your lips. “Aren’t you going to tell me that you’re going to play much worse now that I’m not there to cheer you on?”

“Your presence or lack thereof isn’t going to affect my game,” he tells you, voice serious, confidence so deeply laced into his tone it catches your breath, “But I prefer to celebrate my wins and losses with the people I care about.”

“O-oh…” you stammer, suddenly overwhelmed, “I… guess that makes sense. W-we can celebrate on Monday.”

-

“Girl, I don’t know how you do it,” your best friend comments and you can almost smell the alcohol on her breath - through the phone. “You decline every offer to have a relationship yet you have these fine men running after you? Why does this never work for me?”

“You can’t say no.”

“True.” She chuckles dryly. “But it’s a shame you didn’t get to watch that game. He was looking fine. I might not have understood all that much but he was doing well. At least if you believe the commentators.”

“I’m sure he did his best,” you tell her calmly, yet unable to keep from biting down on your fingernail. 

“Don’t worry, I recorded it. I’m sending the file over now.”

Your home computer dings with an incoming mail and you heave a sigh. 

“I don’t have time to watch it tonight. My parents just left and I’m exhausted.”

“Don’t tell me they asked you about grandchildren…”

You sigh again and she laughs. 

“Go, take a nap. The world will look better in the morning.”

And it will… but you can’t help yourself, press play instead of going to bed as you intended.

And your friend is right. 

Yaku looks good. He moves with the calm confidence of a professional.

If you could convince yourself that attraction is all it takes to lead a healthy relationship, you might have taken a leap of faith. 

-

Staying up late comes back to bite you in the butt.

No amount of concealer can cover the dark rings under your eyes.

“Long weekend,” Yaku asks when he meets you in the Lobby, coffee and a pastry in hand.

“Mhm,” you nod and take a large sip of coffee, hoping for it to fuel you. It doesn’t.

You chat for a bit but you need to get going and so does he, so you part with the quickest of hugs.

There are only a few steps leading down to the elevators, steps you’ve taken day after day after day for years, but today, you miss the last one.

Your right foot lands wrong, pain shoots through your ankle and you yelp. Your half-empty coffee cup goes flying, just like your pastry and you can see the mess you’ve made but all you can do is cower and clutch your ankle.

“Are you okay?” Yaku’s voice cuts through the ringing in your ears. There’s worry in his eyes. It lights the cold fire of shame in your veins. God, you just rolled your ankle, there’s no reason to make a big fuss about it.

“Sure, yeah, all fine!” You tell him, grinding your teeth as you get up. Nausea wells up inside you but you swallow it down. 

“We should get it looked at,” Yaku insists, hands hovering just a few inches above your skin.

“Stop worrying!” You bite out, tone harsher than necessary. But he doesn’t flinch.

“I know it’s a lot, but it will only take a minute, okay?” He insists, voice warm and soft and calming, like hot cocoa on a cold day. You can feel the tremor coming back, want nothing more than to sink into him.

“I’m fine,” you insist, taking one cautious step. It hurts, but it’s nothing you can’t handle.

“Yeah, for now.” He follows you, bends faster than you to pick up the coffee cup and the pastry. Someone’s going to have to mop the floor, but Yaku’s already waving at the receptionist and you’re too focused on grinding your teeth against the pain to complain.

“Stop worrying about me, okay?! We’re not that close.”

Hurt flickers over his face like candlelight. 

“I’d do this for everyone,” he insists. “I don’t mess with accidents. Please? It’s only a short trip down the hall for a first check-up. If our doc thinks it’s nothing I won’t bother you anymore.”

You agree, mostly just to get this over with.

But it’s not nothing. 

.

You must have fallen asleep, face pressed against the window of his car, because his hand is warm against your cheek and your name falls softly from his lips.

“Yaku?” You ask and he nods. 

“We’re at the hospital. Can you walk?”

“Sure,” you insist, grind your teeth through the pain. Yaku must have seen through your lies, though, getting a wheeling chair at the next chance.

He’s with you through the whole ordeal and you hate it but you don’t ask him to leave you alone. His warm hand on your shoulder is the only thing that keeps you from crying.

He’s there until the very end when they plaster up your leg up to your knee and you can’t help but laugh at the fact that you’ve made it so far in life without a broken bone, yet a single missed step has changed it all.

“I’ll take you home now,” Yaku insists as soon as you’re back in his car. “Are you hungry? We can stop and get some food on the way.”

“I just want to sleep,” you admit. “Forget this happened.”

“I think that’s going to take some time. The plaster stays one for the three weeks.”

“Don’t remind me.”

.

It’s only when he parks in front of your apartment block that you realize.

You live on the fifth level. No elevator. 

Stubbornly you grab your crutches and move toward the first step when Yaku stops you. 

“Do you want to carry me up?”

“No!”

“Okay,” he nods. “But you can’t make that trek. Not today for sure, and not every day for the next three weeks. Do you have any friends you could stay at where that’s not a problem?

You hesitate. Most of your friends have similar apartments and if they don’t, they can’t offer more than an air-mattress on the floor for you to sleep on.

“You can sleep on my couch,” Yaku’s voice is low, soft, and casual. This is nothing big to him, not like it is to you.

“Or I carry you up and you have to take the next three weeks off because you cannot get up and down here without help.”

He’s right. 

And it’s not that you have to work, you’re pretty sure you classify for sick leave at this point, not to mention that you have enough vacation days saved to take off half of the time without a problem. 

In the end, you oblige. And because you want to pack your own things, you agree to a piggyback ride up the stairs.

If Yaku notices how your face is pressed into his neck, your tears soaking his shirt, he doesn’t mention it. His hands are warm and steady around your thighs and he carries you up without breaking a sweat, telling you a funny story to distract you all the way.

-

It’s weird. It’s cozy. It’s everything at the same time.

You get to go through his list watchlist - which feels more personal than going through his underwear drawer - and watch him prepare Dinner for the two of you. 

You sit naked in his bathtub - door closed of course - and open the bottles of shower gel and shampoo to sniff at them like the crazy person you are but when the door opens and you limp outside he’s sitting at his desk practicing Russian, not even sparing your scrubbed clean form a glance.

Yaku’s switched his routine without a second thought, makes breakfast at home now and drives you to work.

He’s the best friend one could ask for, a man so good you wouldn’t believe he existed without the proof you have. But he has a hissy fit in front of you when his friend from school makes a joke about his size. 

And maybe that’s the last straw, the last proof you needed. 

Because people aren’t just always good. People are people, human and fallible, and there’s always something that makes them break their perfect facade.

For you, it’s the pain of having to rely on someone else.

For Yaku, it’s the pain of being looked down on.

-

Tomorrow your cast will come off.

Tomorrow you will move back into your own apartment.

You’re not sure how things between the two of you will be then.

But since there’s no way to turn back time, to go back to how things were before, you can try and find out how things could be instead.

“Yaku?” You ask into the silence of an early night.

“Yeah?” His voice is scratchy and sluggish like he’s just on the border of sleep.

“Are you still awake?”

“Am now.”

“What if I changed my mind?”

“About what?”

“Love.”

Silence. Then, the rustling of sheets and soft steps on the floor.

“Are you being serious?” He asks and his voice sounds so warm and excited, so young and full of anticipation. 

“Yeah.”

“Well,” he clears his throat awkwardly, now only two steps away. “It depends if you mean me with that change of my mind. If you mean someone else I think I’ll have to get a lawyer before I answer.”

You laugh. “Yeah, I meant you.”

He giggles and there’s a slap as if he’s clamped a hand over his mouth urgently. 

You turn a little on the Couch, try to make him out in the dark.

“Do you want to cuddle?” You ask and there’s the swoosh of quick movement as he leaps onto the Couch.

“Boy, do I ever!”

- - - xxx - - -

The air smells the same, but maybe it’s just the airport. 

Yaku’s hand takes yours, warm and safe and well-known.

“Excited?” He asks, laughs when you pull a face.

“They’ll love you,” he insists and leans in to kiss you, not caring about all the people around you, or the fact that Kuroo’s going to be here any second to pick you up, or that your hair is a mess and you’re not wearing any make-up.

His lips are soft and warm, just like they were on that first night. 

You sink into the touch and when his teeth graze your lower lip and the tremors come, you embrace them.

Even if you shiver, you’ll never freeze.

You’ve got Yaku there to warm you, after all.

[james-is-here]

This is for the Anon that wanted Seonghwa angst. I made it it's own post since the ask was so long but here it is. FYI, to any other Anon's, I openly welcome emoji anons. :)

Blogs: @demtttt couldn't tag you :/ @belladonna6-6-6

Tags: angst, Seonghwa speaks before thinking, talk of car crash, not much else i can think of.

"You're what?" "I'm sorry, Mn, I just-" "You're leaving me to go across the country? I-I can't live without you, Hwa." "Mn, you're sounding clingy, you can live without me."

You stared at Seonghwa, wide eyes slowly filling with tears as you stood from the swing set, standing in front of him. Your childhood park was empty and broken down, not really used anymore but the still standing swing set was where you and Seonghwa had most of your small dates and where you first met Seonghwa. "Take it back." "What?" "Take it back, you know how i feel about being called that, take it back." "You are though." "But you know that's how I show affection, it's not clinginess. How could you call your boyfriend clingy?" "About that..."

Inside he really didn't want to but he had to. He felt like he'd be kicked as a trainee if anyone found out. "About what?" You look at his eyes that are brimming with tears and watch as he removes a bracelet from his wrist. "N-No, Hwa, what are you-" It was the bracelet you made for him when you both started dating, a couples bracelet you called it instead of a friendship bracelet. It had beads with your nickname spelled out on it and yours had 'Hwa' on it.

"I-I think it's best if-" "Don't you dare break up with me." "It was hard enough facing our parents, I don't want anyone at the company to find out." "You're ashamed of me." "No, No, Not you-" "You said we'd be together forever, Hwa! Now your backing out just cause you're embarrassed that someone will find out that your gay?! That you have a boyfriend?!" "Mn, just listen-" "No, I see where I stand..." You take off your bracelet, snatching the other from Seonghwa's hand before pulling your arm back. "Mn, wait!" He wasn't quick enough to catch them as you threw them into the forest next to the park.

"Enjoy your life in Seoul." With that you run out of the park, shoving the low gate open as Seonghwa called out to you, one hand wiping your tears before you run down the street. "Mn!" He walked out the park a second later but you were gone.

A few days later, he was in Seoul, beginning his training and in his free time he tried to reach out to you but you never replied or he got a 'Message Not Sent' when ever he texted you. You blocked him, he realized. He really messed up and he can't even fix it.

He sulked as he closed the car door. He had just come back from his friends house which greeted him with a for sale sign, a red *SOLD* sticker made his chest feel tight. He was hoping he'd be able to apologize to you for what he did and how things ended. If he had to tell the truth, he'd say he still loves you.

He barely got to the door when his mom opened the door. "Seonghwa! Oh, honey, welcome home." "Hey, mom." "Well you don't seem very happy for debuting as a K-Pop Idol. What's wrong?" She steps to the side and lets him in, giving him a hug before bringing him to the dining room.

"What's wrong?" "I really wanted to apologize to Mn and tell him that all the dancing was worth it." "Mn? Ln Mn? Oh, hon, the Ln family moved out." "What?" He face fell as he stared at his mom. "Yeah...Actually, it was sold a week ago, they moved a month ago. Mrs. Ln told me they were moving to Shanghai because her mother-in-law's health was declining and they moved to help her father-in-law who's mobility wasn't the greatest." "They moved to China...." "Yeah. I'm so sorry Hwa..."

He felt so bad for what he did about halfway into his training. He regretted everything he said to you and he missed your hugs, your kisses, your gentle touch. How could he ever say you were clingy, what he did was unfair but it was already too late.

"I heard he visited the old dance club. Even until his last moment he was here he spent it dancing." "It's a good thing he's still dancing." "Yeah. Now come on, seemed like you needed a talk." "Where you taking me?" "Appa's out back. He doesn't know your here, silly." "Oh, right."

Years later, Seonghwa was rushing around backstage, running in and out of every room trying to find Wooyoung. He was told the boy was going to the bathroom but never found him.

They were at Music Bank for an award ceremony and there was a lot of idols there but there was one he just happened to bump into during his search and one he very much wasn't expecting at a k-pop event.

"I'm so sorry." "It's okay, are you looking for someone?" "I am-" Seonghwa pauses when he sees their face. "Oh my god, Mn!" He smiles widely, hugging the male and not even noticing the others confused expression. "I'm sorry."

"U-Um...S-Sunbaenim? You know me?" Seonghwa pulls back completely shocked. "W-What?" "I-I mean i-it's really an honor to meet you, Sunbaenim, I really admire you and I'm kind of nervous now knowing that you know me." "N-No, you- Don't you remember me?" "I only know that you're apart of Ateez. I really look up to you guys, I think you guys are so cool." "What...Sunbeam-" "Sunbeam? Oh! You saw my movie too!! You know my characters nickname, Oh my gosh, that's so cool." You gush, bouncing on the balls of your feet.

Seonghwa refused to realize that you truly didn't know him. He felt like he was floating aimlessly in space and his head started to hurt. "You don't know me..." "I do know you-" "No, me. W-We were childhood best friends, we...we were each others firsts..." "O-Oh, I-I don't...I don't remember any of my childhood, I'm sorry. I-I only know your from Ateez." You then see the smiling face of who you would say your best friend is waving you over. "I'm sorry, Sunbaenim, I-I have to go." He watches you walk away, crashing into a tight hug and laughing with your best friend, Felix.

"Hey, you looking for me? Sorry, got caught up talking to..." Wooyoung notices the far off look on Seonghwa's face and follows his gaze, watching as Hyunjin comes up to the both of you, giving you a hug and then whisking the both of you elsewhere.

"Hyung? What's wrong? Did Mn say something bad to you?" The male inhales shakily, his chest tight as he clenches his jaw to stop a sob from escaping. "Hyung, woah, what's wrong?" Wooyoung was suddenly directly in front of him when he heard a small whimper.

"Th-That was Mn...m-my friend from Jinju..." "Oh, your first boyfriend, right?" "Y-Yeah, h-he doesn't remember me..." "Well, there's may be a reason. Maybe your parents know?" "Uh, right, maybe...maybe they still talk to his his parents."

He pulled out his phone and Wooyoung stayed with him the whole time. When his mom answered the phone, he was greeted by a different voice. "Hello, Mrs. Park is unavailable at the moment, this is Mrs. Ln, can I take a message?" "Mrs. Ln?" "Um, yes, who's this?" "I-It's Seonghwa, ma'am." "Oh! How are you?" "U-Um, I-I'm currently at an award ceremony but-" "Oh, Mn is there too. It's so amazing that he's gotten to this point and he hasn't been doing it for long." "About Mn..."

He hears her sigh on the other end before speaking. "You ran into him, didn't you." "Yeah..." "Um, when we were in China with his grandparents...we were driving one day to go see his grandmother in the hospital and...we were being his grandfather along as well. Everything was just perfect until...well, some hot head sped a red light. We were already in the intersection and..." He voice choked up and Seonghwa told her to go at her pace. "It crashed into my father-in-law and Mn's side of the car. They were going 90 and..." She takes a deep breath before she says something else. "It's your son. Telling him about Mn." She must've been talking to his mom.

"They were going 90 and...I don't mean to dampen your mood but Mn wouldn't be at that ceremony today if it wasn't for the amazing team that fought to keep him alive." "What...Ma'am, what was the last thing he remembered?" "Oh...he couldn't remember anything before...before you left. I mean he remembered the dance club and barely any of his school life but...he only remembered his family. I'm sorry, Seonghwa, but he couldn't remember you."

He inhales sharply, staring ahead as he processes the information, now processing the scar that traveled from above his eyebrow to his upper lip. "The scar..." He whispered to himself. "Yeah, I'm glad that he embraces it. If he didn't, he wouldn't have followed his dreams." With a shaky breath he exhales. "Tha-Thank you, Mrs. Ln." "You're welcome, dear. Good luck, okay?" He hung up, his arm dropping to his side.

"Hyung?" "He...He got in a car accident...h-he lost a lot of memories he...he forgot me..." "Oh..." Wooyoung moved to wrap his arms around Seonghwa who was stock still. He wanted to apologize, to take him back but what can he do now?

He knows everything about you but how can he start over when you don't remember him? He doesn't know what to do, he feels stuck.

Wooyoung took him back to their seat where he almost remained motionless. He looked calm and seemed to be enjoying the different groups but inside he felt almost crushed.

He lost his Sunbeam and now his world feels dark.

[softpine]

I just remembered you haven't seen Twilight but I'm going to ask anyway! Do you know what teams your characters would be? Like team Edward or Team Jacob? Oh! Actually I'm also curious what Fandoms would they be in? I recent realized im a Bielieber

oh i have seen the first twilight movie!! i just wasn't a fan. but it was my best friend's favorite series so i do know a lot about it! was anyone actually team jacob? he's like gale in the hunger games. the only reason anyone would actually prefer them is because they're Not the main love interest (sorry to any galeheads out there...)

anyway now i want to imagine what fandoms each of them would be in, so:

🎭 caroline: well, she's a great artist and a monster fucker.. i don't think i have to spell out what she was doing online fjkjsdsj and she loved comic books as a kid, so i feel like at the start of the MCU madness she was really hype and then she got more and more angry with the state of things

💬 beth: she's written some star trek fanfiction more highly researched than her master's thesis and she loved nsync because what is a baby dyke without her emotional support boy band / comphet crushes

🎸 danny: music is the obvious answer, but i'm not familiar with musical history so i can't go into detail 😭 but his dad introduced him to bob dylan and taught him how to play guitar, then he learned piano, then he taught himself how to produce his own music from scratch. this was in the 90s btw so it wasn't very easy to learn. also he used to seriously follow skateboarding

⛅ mikaela: she loved old school country music from female artists like tanya tucker, reba mcintire, loretta lynn, etc. she's less interested in modern country but she looooves shania twain. and she's worked nights (first as a bartender, then a nurse) for most of her life, so she got really into daytime soaps

🌲 asa: he's literally the only one on this list where i'm like...... stumped. he doesn't pay attention to anything online, celebrities, music (he'll listen to whatever), movies (doesn't care), could never commit to watching a whole tv show, etc. he's very floaty and daydreamy? lmao he just doesn't have the headspace to get attached to fictional media like that

🎥 finn: we know he's always been a harrison ford fan boy and in any universe where he survives past the 80s he's a huge nirvana fan!! (if he and jules had a son, they would've named him kurt... he's deeply serious) he's also read every stephen king book that came out while he was alive. he was a big reader in general, particularly horror

🧸 stevie: canon seth rogen super fan, has seen every adam sandler movie (every last one of them) and i knowww she knows the fnaf lore... as soon as she finishes a show/movie she likes to find the weirdest fan art to terrorize her followers. also loves musicals and wants to see cats on broadway someday (a girl can dream)

🎀 elaine: she loves following celebrity news but she watches them like animals in the zoo; ie. she's observing from afar, she has no personal stake in them. she's a frequent flyer on gossip forums like fauxmoi. she was on the ground floor of lipstickgate and was SEATED for dramageddon. and she had a serious twilight phase

🎨 jada: SOMEONE on this list had to get assigned supernatural... i'm not saying it just to say it, i really think she would connect with (early seasons) sam what with the dead mom... fear of losing their humanity... having powers they don't understand... a hot girl manipulating them to use their abilities in sketchy ways... yeah. i'm sure she has favorite contemporary artists (painters specifically) that she'd be able to talk about on end but sadly i don't know anything about that world 😭 oh and she's kind of obsessed with hate-reading booktok books to feel alive

🏈 casper: sports count as fandoms and i don't want to hear a word about it!! his team is the patriots but he's kind of a fairweather fan (maine doesn't have an nfl team so he doesn't have that state loyalty factor). miley cyrus is his problematic fave forever but he's kind of a pop girlie in general

💋 coco: in high school she was a speedcuber if that gives you an idea of what we're working with here.... she grew up with pokemon, naruto, dragon ball z, she collected trading cards, etc. she still likes anime and video games and stuff, she just doesn't have the time to get invested like she used to, and it makes her sad because it reminds her of her late best friend liam. she makes time to play fortnite and minecraft with his little brother and she plays other games on twitch sometimes. has done a LOT of cosplay. she's a huge nerd basically

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Hi Theitsa! half Greek in America here, looking for translation help and you're the only blogger I know 😭

long story short: my family on my mom's side all practice Greek folk magic, with my great-grandma and(possibly my great aunt)apparently being "completely" a witch.

i grew up with it but i'm still learning the language and my family disowned me for being gay so I can't ask for help with research.

the most commonly used term for "witch" is "magissa"/ μάγισσα right?? is μαγεία more common for magic in general? when I'm using Google translate γητεία seems to be the most common term for folk sorcery.

and i see the practices of Circe referred to as μαγγάνεια??

thank you for your help if you know anything, I know it's a niche topic.

bless you!!!

Hii! Dear anon I'm very sorry for what your family did to you :/ That's nor fair at all! May you thrive and be always blessed in your life!

This topic is not niche, actually! The average Greek in the country has some basic contact and knowledge of such stuff either by doing some or by hearing of them. I haven't talked a lot about Magganeia/Vaskaneia in Greece so let's do a Masterpost!

(Greeks with deeper knowledge please add to this post and let me know if something is inaccurate! All I have is "average Greek" knowledge but well, someone has to make the start.)

People throughout Greece (as in the whole Balkans and the Middle East tbh) practice a lot of customs to bring good energy and good things to them or expel bad energies and bad things. The most prevalent being the ritual of xematiasma (the prayer for which needs to be passed down by the opposite sex on a full moon), or customs with bridal koufeta for young girls to attract a good groom, reading the coffee and the palm, explaining dreams (and having recorded oneirokrites), giving new year talismans for good luck (mati beads, pomegranate charms, horseshoes) and hanging them around the home, or baking a pie to St. Fanourios if you want to find something you lost etc etc.

Traditionally such practices in Greece are intertwined with local customs and herb knowledge and it's not a big "issue" like it would be for USAmerican (cultural or practicing) Evangelicals. In Greece it's acceptable to do many things that in the US would be considered "witchcraft" but here they're just "tradition".

For Greeks the basic stuff I mentioned in the first paragraph is widely accepted to the point many of them have fused with church practices through the centuries. Coffee shops where one can have their coffee and palm read - although not many - have lots of customers. Tarot readers also have a good clientele. I've heard Greeks dismiss such stuff as "nonsense" but rarely dismiss them as "evil". Actually, the comments about such practices being evil here are very tame and usually connected to the church - but not in the US way.

Our Church might have cried about such practices in the past but... who listens to the church on these things! :P (only a few do) Our insistence on keeping folk practice led to Greece having no witch hunts or any witches burnt for at least a thousand years now!

Map of witchhunts in early modern Europe (source)

There is a line here, too, of course. Like, if one uses a heart from a mouse wrapped in an oak leaf bathed in frog bile to expel the bad spirits (a spell I just made up) that's officially "witchcraft" and we find it weird at best. More mild stuff like burning wishes written on paper or letting garlic absorb bad energies and then burn it are middle ground and not outright condemned - I feel the Greeks have a great tolerance of what is considered "folk tradition" to them.

The fear of being "pagan" in recent centuries is a Western panic. Traditionally Greeks and their Church were most worried about harmful spells (which included harming an animal or human in the process) and calling demons to do your bidding. If you called a saint for help in a non-harming spell... hmm that wouldn't be that worrying I guess. As long as you didn't ask a priest's opinion, you'd be fine :P

The sum of acceptable and unacceptable practices by the Greek public can be called "μαγγανεία" or "βασκανεία". Because they include unacceptable practices as well, the words have a negative connotation.

"Μαγεία" for Greeks is connected more to the Western archetype of a wizard with a tall hat going around with a big rod shouting "abracadabra". It's connected more to fantasy and fairytales. Traditionally I don't think we used μάγος/μάγισσα for people who did such practices. Even today I've yet to hear Greeks who call themselves witches say "κάνω μαγικά".

I'd say μαγγανεία or βασκανεία are the appropriate terms for what your great-grandma practiced. The spells are traditionally called γητείες (sing. γητεία). The word γόης which now means "very charming man" meant "sorcerer" in ancient years. We just use it metaphorically today. These words all have the same linguistic root.

Nowadays I haven't heard men call themselves "μάγος" but some women call themselves "μάγισσα", and they do "ξόρκια" (comes from εξορκισμός, exorcism - the English version of the Greek word). I think "μάγισσες" practice more Western types of magic because they learned the spells from Western European or US books and videos. I don't know if a practicer of Greek folk spells would be called the same.

I must note that all the above is the reason why when USAmericans practice Greek customs to worship the Greek gods and call themselves "pagans" feels a bit unsettling to me. I suppose if you add crystal balls and tarot and crystals to the practice that would shift it more to the "witchy" side (although as a Greek I'm quite flexible :P) But more than once I've seen USians call themselves "pagans" for simple acts of worship which are very much non-pagan. Having a home altar with the gods along with some blessed items and candles burning... is Basic Christian Orthodox stuff too, a tradition unbroken from ancient years (εικονοστάσια με καντήλια, κεριά, λουλούδια, κομποσκοίνια).

At the same time, I understand that in their society this can be called "being pagan" so I'm not saying that my view is the only one that matters in this. But some knowledge of the Greek culture always helps if you're practicing its customs. It will also help the Westerners stop calling Orthodoxes "savage pagans" for our religious practices after a thousand years :))))

Thanks for making it this far! Get a small bonus: a great article on ancient Greek "bindings/wishes" which is in Greek and it will be probably still fine if translated through Google.

Some things might differ between areas and eras so that's why I welcome other Greeks to comment here with their own experiences and stories of "witches" (or whatever they called them) if their areas had any.

[greypetrel]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Tagged by @melisusthewee, and at least another person. I'm sorry if I ignored the tag, I was away and it's a busy period, let me know ;_;

Tagging forward: @ndostairlyrium @shivunin @inquisimer and YOU who are reading and would like to do it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 12, right now.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 497,183 ... I'm chatty.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Dragon Age, and a crossover with LOTR/The Silmarillion.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Home Was Never on the Ground (long fic, concluded, it's anthological and mainly me filling blanks in DAI as inspiration stroke)

She of Many Names (ongoing, a LOTR/Dragon Age crossover. A follower on Instagram asked me if Aisling was Sauron, the idea made me laugh so much that my mind took fire.)

Saturday Prompts (a collection of prompts I posted here. I never uploaded every one of them, oops)

Death and All of Its Friends (ongoing, a DA2 collection)

The Night Before First Day (Two chapters, concluded. One it's in rhyme and illustrated. Aisling taught her daughter that the Dreadwolf is Santa out of spite. Solas tries to disapprove.)

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes, always!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I do love angst, but I don't like angsty endings all that much ahahahahah. I think the one that gets closer, in a bitter-sweet way, is One for the Road. Call me a sucker for rare-pairs, this was also prompted here and my brain took fire (LavellanxFenris)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? The Night Before First Day. Listen I'm not a Christmas person, I turn into a seasonal depressed Grinch at Christmas, living in a catholic country doesn't help, and that is my way of giving myself some joy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not that I know of.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Not any that I publish.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Yes I do. She of Many Names is a Dragon Age and LOTR crossover. I love it dearly, I'm slow to update it because I have the greatest love for Tolkien (with all his flaws, but my brain rewired when I saw the first movie, and the book has been my entire personality for two years. I wouldn't be the same person without it) and I do care of rendering it as I want.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? ... Not that I know of? I hope not, ahahahah :"D

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? If you consider that English is not my first language, all my fics are translated? xD Other than that, no.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I'd love to.

14. What's your all time favorite ship? EowynxFaramir, hands down. Out of pure lenght. Maybe LeiaxHan Solo (my parents are both nerds, I think my mom made me watch Star Wars the first time... I don't remember, the vhs were always around in the house. I was very, very little.)(we don't talk about the sequel trilogy.)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I tried to write a third chapter for the aforementioned One for the Road... But it ends up in a love triangle and I don't like love triangles that aren't a poly relationship. So, it's sitting in my folder and I'll never finish it. I was considering ditching the second chapter and rewrite it as a "Aisling as a companion in DA2" fic... But MEH.

16. What are your writing strengths? I think dialogue. I am trained as a comic artist, which means that the writing parts that get polished are dialogue. I have much more experience with that. ... I am also terrible at judging my own work in a positive way, tho, so you tell me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? English not being my first language and leading to mis-spellings. Other than that... I started writing fanfiction after YEARS of not writing anything in prose that wasn't screenplays for comics (which follows different rules). Since I stopped because of being hurt by it, I went on to it by not planning stuff.

I'm rusty with prose, and my retelling -the first thing I tackled- clearly had little planning ahead.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? It's a no, for me, unless you specifically wants your audience not to understand what's being said and create a sense of isolation and of not knowing what's going on. A sentence here and there with a translation is fine. But if it's something long... You want the reader to understand well. Italicized text it is.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I wouldn't call it a fandom, but: Greek Mythology. I drew a parody comic of the Iliad in my first high school year, alongside friends. It had been so fun. I also wrote, still in high school, something heavily inspired by Eragon, which only my friends had the pleasure of reading. (I'm only saying it involved my now most hated trope: THE SECRET TWIN.)

20. Favorite fic you've written? The next one.

I'm very invested in Ashes and Sparks, aka the Dreadwolf AU. I'm putting ideas in it and going fully canon divergent and writing it as I would like Inquisition to have gone. No Corypheus, more crazy tevinters, and the focus ON FUCKING TIME TRAVEL.

In a modern setting because yes.

It's also tackling something I absolutely hate in fiction when it's done wrongly, which is time travel, and I'm sweating and hoping I'll do it with logic. It's something niche and not so focused on a single ship, so probably it'll interest only me, but I'm happily writing and trying to contain myself from posting chapters of more than 10k.

Blank Form Under the Cut

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5. Do you respond to comments?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

16. What are your writing strengths?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

19. First fandom you wrote for?

20. Favorite fic you've written?

[deathmetalunicorn1]

What if Jack,Hercules, Hermes, Thor, Hlokk, and any other characters you want got sucked through a portal and meet there au dog counterparts and there owner who is a single mom and her daughters one is in her teens and the other is a toddler who just learned how to walk steady on her feet.

•Dog Jack and dog Hercules like to walk the older daughter to and from the bus stop, they live on a farm in the country so the bus stop (which is basically a tree with a bench underneath it) is a long,long way from the house.

•Dog Jack has his own puppy a little female who is the runt of the litter. His owner breed him with a Great Dane female who belonged to an acquaintance and then when the pups were sold they went there separate ways. All the other puppies got sold but they let Jack keep this one since they became so attached to each other,Hlokk is pretty much her big sister (or should I say small sister, even a runt from a half Great Dane litter would be kinda tall.).

•Hlokk can tell it’s them cuz of her keen nose,Jack made a comment in an extra chapter that she has a keen nose. And if that wasn’t enough to convince them the dogs even have the same names as them and look exactly like them lol.

•Each dog has there own role to play on the farm like for example:

•guarding the house and the barn at night.

•rounding up the hens if they get loose.

•chasing foxes and or raccoons out of the hen house.

•herding the sheep.

•keeping predators like wolves and cougars out of the horse corral and barn.

•making sure the cats doing it’s job as pest control eating rats,mice,snakes,etc

.•babysitting (yes Jack and or Hercules babysit BOTH daughters even if the older says she doesn’t need it. They know she likes the company.).

•being escorts for the girls is one of them (a self assigned role) they both get a hug a kiss and an I love you before she says goodbye and gets on the bus and when she gets of the bus.

This was fun, but reading your posts on the dogs to use, I couldn't help but wonder what a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and a Great Dane mutt would look like. Great Danes are short, coated breeds, so I'm curious if it would have longer fur or not. Great thinking question and an interesting idea for a post. Thank you.

-It started with an accident, a magic spell gone wrong, spiriting away 2 gods, 2 demi-gods, and 1 human, dropping them in front of a large farmhouse.

-A young teen girl had been on the porch, and she ran inside, calling for her mother who quickly ran out, the teen holding a toddler in her arms, peeking out from behind her mother.

-The magic seal that brought them to you was still glowing as you put your hands on your hips, eyes narrowing, “What magic brought you here?”

-Hermes and Thor were a bit surprised you knew about magic, as you were a human, but Hermes was the one to speak, “A magic spell gone wrong. We overestimated the power needed to teleport across Valhalla and wound up here. How is it that you know of magic?”

-You smiled, almost mysteriously, “It’s not the first time I’ve had guests like you lot.”

-Loud barking filled the air and attention turned to two large dogs charging towards the group, with a third, smaller dog running behind them.

-The dogs put themselves in between your new guests and your family, growling darkly until you told them to stand down, as they were distrustful of strangers.

-You grinned at the guests, “Sorry about that, Hercules, Jack, and little Hlokk here aren’t too fond of strangers.”

-Eyes went wide and jaws dropped, looking at the three massive dogs, a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, who’s long facial fur looked strangely similar to Jack’s mustache, and a Carpathian Shepard, who was massive, but once you told him to stand down, he was sitting down with his tail wagging a million miles per hour, reminding them all of a certain Greek demigod. Hlokk was a mutt, half Wheaten Terrier, half Great Dane, she was smaller than her father, Jack, but was still a large dog, wearing a bright pink collar around her neck.

-You were surprised to learn the names of your guests, a giggle bubbling out of you before Hermes surmised that they were in an alternate dimension, where they were all animals instead of being gods or a human in Jack’s case.

-Hercules initially was unsure of this idea, until Glokk spoke, pointing at her nose, “No, Hermes is right, your scents are both very similar, plus they look like you.”

-Hercules was quick to accept it, quickly bonding with Hercules while your Jack trotted over to their Jack and sat beside him, looking up at him as if he was expecting pats, which he quickly got, looking content.

-You introduced yourself before your two daughters, Michelle, or Mickey as she prefers, and your toddler, Poppy.

-Mickey was a bit uneasy with these guests, being a bit distrustful, while Poppy was giggling brightly, waving her arms out towards Thor who was a bit surprised that the toddler didn’t look afraid of him at all.

-Hermes was able to calculate that he could get them all back to their own dimension, but it would take a day or two, and you didn’t hesitate to welcome them into your home.

-Hercules teased Hermes when Poppy saw your black cat that you kept on the farm for pest control, carrying him over, the cat looking calm and wasn’t fighting, “Hermy!”

-Hermes was amused that he was a cat, the two quickly liking each other, as they were so similar in personality.

-Mickey was a bit wary around the men, as they were strangers, until Jack saw her reading Shakespeare and her eyes lit up with sparkles as she was finally able to have someone to talk to!!

-Mickey also bonded with Hlokk, who, while shorter, became like a big sister, talking about clothes.

-Poppy on the other hand adored both Thor and Hercules, hugging their legs, beaming up at them when she managed to toddle over to them.

-The next day Jack and Hercules watched as your Jack and Hercules walked Mickey off of the farm, taking her to the school bus stop about a half a mile up the road, the two men following after, speaking with Mickey, curious about where she was going.

-Thor got to meet his animal, a large reddish colored bull, who looked calm, but Thor could easily sense the power and the two had a stare off for what felt like forever.

-Your Hermes had a job of pest control, keeping rats and other rodents away from the crops, as well as handling any intruders in the chicken coop, while your beloved canines handled with security, letting you know of any trespassers, humans or animals.

-You enjoyed having the few extra helping hands on the farm, as Hercules and Thor got into a competition over who could haul the most hay bales to the barns, while both of the Hlokk’s looked after Poppy.

-Jack tended to your vegetable garden, finding weeding it quite relaxing and Hermes was inside your home, with your permission, preparing lunch for everyone, while you were walking your cows out to their pasture to graze.

-When Mickey got off the bus she beamed, “Where’s my favorite boys?! Where’s my kisses?!” she instantly flushed, seeing both sets of Hercules and Jack there as the two dogs ran over while Jack chuckled warmly at her.

-You had to admit they were good company to keep, seeing the healthy appetites all around the room, including your own girls, was refreshing, but it was fun to keep feeding them until most were in food comas.

-Hermes was the only one who remained awake, sitting beside you on the porch swing, his head on your shoulder as he tried to stay awake, “May I ask, why weren’t you freaked out by seeing us?” you chuckled softly, rocking the swing lightly, “As I said, you’re not the first visitors I’ve had. The first one showed up when I was still pregnant with Poppy, right after my husband abandoned us and the farm. He was a funny man, but Mickey liked him, and he was kind enough to help me around the farm for a while after I gave birth.”

-Hermes was a bit curious, tilting his head up, “Oh? May I ask who that was?”

-You smiled softly, remembering your friend fondly, as he was funny but also mischievous, “His name was Loki.”

-Hermes snorted into his hand, laughing out loud while you smiled lightly as he thought it was hysterical that Loki came here first and helped you out.

-You leaned back, “Don’t mention that I told you about him, he was quite shy when he would talk about his family, like they didn’t want him finding out about where he had been. But if you see him, I have a Billy goat that’s a little shit just like him.”

-Cue round two of laughter.

-The following morning you, Mickey, and Poppy all wished your new friends well as you saw them off.

-They each said goodbye to their animal counterparts, except for Thor, who lifted his hand to his face, pointing two fingers at his eyes before he pointed them at the bull and only Thor saw the bull lift his hoof to his face before pointing back at Thor.

-Poppy was crying, not wanting to say goodbye, the same with Mickey, who didn’t want to lose her big sister and the first father figure she’s had in years.

-You were the only calm one, as your farm was a hot spot for events like this. You had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last you see of them.

[kaleldobrev]

Supernatural: Purgatory (3)

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader

Summary: In Purgatory, Y/N tells the story of how Elijah got her into hunting, making Dean just a little jealous. Meanwhile, Sam starts teaching Y/N’s parents the basics of hunting.

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: Fluff, Angst, Unrequited Love

Authors Note: This is part three or episode three of my Supernatural: Purgatory Series! | As always, there's a little bit of a cliffhanger, but I feel like you all are used to that by now | Flashbacks are in italics | If you want to be tagged in this series, message or comment! | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

Supernatural: Purgatory Masterlist

Previously on Supernatural…

“Is this something?” Your father turned the book toward Sam so he could read it. “It looks like some kind of spell.”

“Let me see that.” Sam said, taking the book from your fathers hands. Sam examined the page, and it appeared to be in a language that he wasn’t far too familiar with; possibility a dead language. The picture next to it showed a hand drawn image of a gray forest, the only ounce of color being two red dots that had similar appearance to eyes. “Huh.”

Your parents looked at Sam, both giving him a questioning look as if to say, ‘Can you tell us more?’ “Sam?” Your mom asked.

Sam looked up from the page and looked at your parents, his fingers gingerly playing with the edges. “I don’t think it’s a spell.”

“I’m sorry, I must of misheard of you. Because there’s no way you just say this guy is your ex.” Dean was honestly filled with disbelief, not really knowing how to react to this kind of news. He knew that you had dated people before him – hell, even he dated a few women somehow before he had met you, but he never would have guessed that one of your exes would be someone that he would end up meeting – let alone meeting them here, a place that was simply a land of monsters.

“She didn’t stutter.” Elijah said, his voice amused.

Dean pointed at Elijah, his face full of anger. “I’m not talking to you.” Dean turned to you, waiting for some kind of an answer. Your face was flushed, and he could tell that you were embarrassed, ashamed of what you had just told him. “Sweetheart…” Dean tried to calm his voice, but there was still lots of anger in it.

“He’s the reason I got into hunting in the first place.” You explained.

NOW – Purgatory

Both Elijah and Dean looked at you, waiting for you to say something, anything; but there was nothing else coming to your mind. Dean turned to look at Elijah, Elijah keeping up with the same amused look on his face. Dean pointed to him before looking back at you. “This douchebag got you into hunting?” Dean asked.

“I believe that’s what the lady said.” Elijah chimed in. Dean’s jaw clenched, you knew he was starting to get annoyed with him.

“You’re not helping.” You said to Elijah. You turned to Dean and looked at him, searching his face. “I…When I first met him I didn’t know he was a vampire.”

10 Years Ago

Although you were close to your parents, it felt nice actually getting away – going off to college. Unlike your other classmates who chose to stay in the tri-state area, you decided to go off farther; going to a college about six or seven hours away. You had tried to convince your parents to let you go across the country, even to a college a few days drive, but they told you that only a day’s drive was the limit. You were still happy with the result regardless.

You found yourself settling into the college routine quickly, and you had adjusted quite well. Yes, you did find yourself with some bouts of homesickness here and there, but who wouldn’t have that? This was one of the first times in your life that you had spent an extended period of time away from your parents. You had in the past gone on road trips with other family members, but they only lasted a few days – this was a few months.

Grabbing your bookbag, you looked at your roommate who was quietly humming to herself some pop song you’ve never heard of. You waved your hand, trying to get her attention. She popped off her headphones and looked at you, giving you a smile. “What’s up?” She asked.

“I’m gonna head to the library for a bit.” You said, putting the last of your books into your bag.

“Okay nerd.” She teased. “Be careful alright?”

“Aren’t I always?” You asked with a slight grin before revealing your pocket knife that you always kept on you.

“You’re such a freak. No guy is gonna want to date someone who carries a knife around.” Your roommate said. “I mean, I would date you in a heartbeat Y/N. But I know we both don’t swing that way.” She winked. As much as you loved your roommate and knew that she was joking with you (she had a weird sense of humor like you did), you couldn’t help but find some truth in what she was saying. Who in their right mind carries a knife around? The town that you had decided to go to college in was a relatively safe small town; nothing bad ever happened here, you and your father made sure of that, so there was no reason to be on edge.

“Thanks.” You grinned picking up your bag. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” You said before leaving the dorm room.

As you walked to the library, it was a relatively nice night out. One of the things that you had loved most about the college campus was that you could actually see the stars at night; there was rarely any light pollution. You stopped and looked up at the sky, and you couldn’t help but smile at how beautiful it was – the moon being exceptionally beautiful tonight. “Moon fan too I see?” A male voice said.

You quickly turned around and a young man who appeared to be maybe a couple years older than you with his own backpack was standing there. “Yeah. Um…the moon is one of my favorites actually.” You smiled.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” The man said, offering a slight smile.

“It’s alright.” You said. “I guess I am kind of in the way of the sidewalk uh?” You tried making some kind of joke, letting out a small chuckle as you stepped to the side a bit. “I wasn’t in your way was I?”

The man shook his head. “No, no. Not at all. Um…” He held out his hand, hoping that you’d take it; which you gladly did. “I’m Elijah.”

“Y/N.” You replied.

“Beautiful name.” Elijah smiled.

“Okay, can you get to the part where you found out he was a vampire?” Dean interjected.

“Does he always interrupt you Sweetheart?” Elijah asked, leaning up against the tree with his arms crossed.

Dean rolled his eyes. “I don’t interrupt her.” Dean looked at you. “I don’t interrupt you right?” He almost whispered.

“I can still hear you. Vampire remember?” It was time for Elijah to roll his eyes.

You sighed an annoyed sigh. “Anyway…”

8 Years Ago

Elijah and you had been dating for a couple of years, and there was just something about him that seemed so different from other people that you had previously dated. You didn’t have a lot of experience in dating, but you knew that there was something about him that was different. He was more attentive to your needs, always seeming to know the right things to do or say. His memory was perfect – always remembering some of the most minute details that you sometimes didn’t even remember telling him. One of the most important things though – your parents had adored him.

“You’ve met my parents lots of times. Maybe…Maybe I can meet your family?” Despite being together for the last couple of years, you had never met a member of Elijah’s family. You knew that he went home during the summers, and for holidays, and he talked about his family quite a bit, but he never once suggested that you meet them; but you knew for a fact that he has mentioned you to them.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea Sweetheart.” He said. You looked at him with a confused look on your face, feeling your heart pick up in pace. He rested his hand on top of yours. “Y/N. You know I love you right?”

“Of course I do.” You did, you really did love him; loved him more than you ever thought could be possible. “I just…We’ve been dating for a few years and I’ve never met your family. I feel like if you want us to be together you’d want me to meet your family.”

“I do trust me, I do. It’s…we aren’t…traditional.” Elijah tried to find the right words. He wanted more than anything to bring you home to meet the folks, the rest of his family, but he knew if he did, you would suddenly become the shiny new toy that he didn’t want you to become and knew that you would become the moment you stepped foot in the door of his family’s home.

“No one comes from a traditional family anymore Eli.” You tried reassuring him. “I mean, look at my roommate. She doesn’t have a dad, she has two moms.”

“That’s…That’s not what I mean Y/N.” There was a part of him that had wanted to tell you what he was, but there was a part of him that had wanted to avoid the subject all together. He didn’t choose to become a vampire, it was something that was chosen for him. But he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep the secret up for long, you would soon start to notice how he wasn’t aging. Despite you and him being together for two years, he knew that you had started to notice that something was amiss; but you had been too polite to say anything.

“Eli, whatever it is…” You cupped his cheeks, giving him a smile. “We’ll get through it okay? I know how much you love your family, and you tell me all the time how much they love you. I just…I want to meet the people that raised such a good man. The man that I want to spend the rest of my life with.” You had meant every single word; you did want to spend the rest of your life with him. It was something that you had thought about more and more lately.

“Y/N, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to tell you. But...it’s not necessarily…it’s not gonna sound…sane. But…it’s true okay?” Elijah began to say, your hands dropping from his face. You had felt a knot starting to form in the pit of your stomach. “And before you say anything, no, I’m not cheating on you. I would never do that.” His voice was sincere, the most sincere that you’ve ever heard.

Elijah loved you more than anything, despite every cell of his being telling him to just drink your blood and kill you, or worse…turn you. Although he loved you, he didn’t want you becoming a vampire, but he also knew that you becoming what he was, was one of the only ways in which the two of you could actually have a life together. He didn’t mind you growing old and him staying the same age but, he knew that once you died, he wouldn’t be the same. “I’m…I’m a vampire.”

Your Parents House

“Thanks Mick, I really appreciate it.” Sam said and hung up the phone. He walked over to your parents who were still sitting at the dining room table with a variety of open books in front of them.

“What did Mick say?” Your mother asked.

“I just sent him the text. He said that it looked a little complicated but he’ll be able to read it.” Besides you and Bobby, Mick was one of the only other people that Sam could think of that would be able to read a text like this.

“I hate to be impatient but, how long is he going to be?” It’s been a little over a month, and she was starting to get antsy. Although your father wasn’t showing the same kind of restlessness that she was, she knew from looking at him that he was just as antsy as she was.

“He said maybe a week.” Sam had hoped for sooner, but the text that he had given Mick wasn’t an easy one. Ancient languages wasn’t something that a lot of hunters were experts in; even some professors that he looked up and tried to track down had no clue what this language was.

“A week?” You father questioned. He let out a chuckle. “What a joke.” He mumbled, slamming the book shut that was in front of him.

“I’m sorry, but this is something that’s going to take time. I hate it just as much as you two do.” Sam said, trying his best not to sound frustrated. He was frustrated with a lot of things. Not having you, Dean, and Cas for one thing, not knowing exactly where you three were (most likely Purgatory even though he didn’t want to give Crowley the satisfaction of being right) and thirdly, your parents. Sam knew that he had no right to be frustrated with them, the hunting life was something that they weren’t really familiar with because you didn’t want them to know a lot of information. But it was times like these where Sam was kicking himself, because he knew that if they had some kind of base knowledge of hunting, they may not be as worried or at least have a better understanding of this line of work. He sighed. “While we wait, how do you two feel about learning about hunting?”

Purgatory

Dean pinched his nose, trying to process the rest of the story that you had told him. “So let me get this straight. You and Elijah were in some weird Twilight situation?”

You hated that your previous relationship was compared to Twilight, but you could see where your boyfriend would have gotten that idea from. Your sigh sounded a little frustrated, more frustrated than you had intended. “If you want to put it that way. Yes, he was the Edward to my Bella.” You rolled your eyes. “But long story short –”

“I sacrificed myself to save her.” Elijah interrupted. He started to walk toward you and Dean, his grip on the blade was starting to get tighter and tighter the closer Elijah came; Dean’s knuckles were starting to get white, pure white.

“You want a gold star?” Dean joked.

“Dean…” You began to say, starting to reach your hand out to place it on his arm, the one that he was gripping the knife with ever so tightly.

“You want me to believe that you’re just a good guy? That you sacrificed yourself because you…loved her?” His jaw started to clench again, and his voice was growing deeper than it normally did.

“Of course I loved her, still do.” Elijah stated looking at Dean, before briefly looking at you.

“I hate to break it to you pal but, she’s with me now.” Dean’s lips formed the biggest grin. Hearing the story that you had just told him, he couldn’t help but find himself a little jealous of the feelings that you once had for the man before him. There was a part of him that was disgusted, that you had actually loved a vampire, a monster, something that you had hunted numerous of times together; but there was another part of him that weirdly understood – you didn’t know. How could you? When you had met Elijah you weren’t a hunter, you weren’t aware of anything that had went bump in the night; he was the first thing you had ever come across. Dean turned to face you. “Isn’t that right Sweetheart?”

For as long as you’ve known Dean, you always had a soft spot for him. What initially started out as platonic between the both of you, eventually grew into something more; something that you didn’t think would be possible for you again. After your relationship with Elijah had ended you became a hunter and dropped out of college. Your roommate at the time thought the reason you dropped out is because you were heartbroken over the death of Elijah which, was partially true, but you also couldn’t live a normal life again after that; knowing that monsters were actually real.

When you had first met Dean, you were skeptical of the soft spot that you had for him, unsure if he was true in his intentions. But the longer you spent with him, the more you realized that he was in fact fond of you, and so was his brother (but not in the same way of course). You had tried so hard not to fall in love with Dean, because you knew that your heart wouldn’t be able to take that kind of heartbreak again. But when you let yourself fall in love with him, it was something that you didn’t regret in the slightest.

The love that you had for Elijah and the love that you had for Dean was much different. The love that you had for Elijah was instant, red hot – you had thought of him as your soulmate for as long as you two were together. Before finding out that he was a vampire, you dreamed of spending the rest of your life with him, growing old together. But the love that you had with Dean, was a different kind of love. It wasn’t instant or red hot, it was a slow burn, unique kind of love. It was that kind of love that you only saw in movies or TV shows – as cliché as that may sound. The love that you had for Dean was the definition of what a soulmate was, and you knew Dean felt the exact same way about you. “You’re the love of my life, as cheesy as that sounds.” He’s told you more than once.

You smiled, reaching out for his hand and he took it. When you looked at him, your eyes were full of admiration for him; almost forgetting where you two were in that moment, because in this moment, it was only the two of you and the two of you weren’t in Purgatory but some place safe. Dean gave you a similar smile, he face too full of admiration for you. He squeezed your hand, something that you always tended to do for him. “I see.” Elijah said, staring at your hands. “Glad you’re…happy.” Elijah’s voice seemed so heartbroken in that moment.

“Sorry pal.” Dean smirked. “Let’s go Y/N.” He said, the two of you started walking away, leaving Elijah to stand there. You wondered if this would actually be the last time you’d ever see him again.

Your Parents House

“This doesn’t sound so hard.” Your mother said, her voice almost sounding joyful for the first time in over a month. “You dig up the grave, salt the bones, pour gasoline on the corpse, and then burn them.” Your mother repeated what Sam had just said, making sure she understood correctly.

“This is insane.” You father chimed in. “You guys…our daughter and…other people actually do this?” Your father scoffed, almost as if he was in disbelief. “Can’t believe she gave up college for this.” He said, almost mumbling.

“I know…I know this isn’t the life you wanted for her. Trust me, I know.” Sam took a deep breath. “I went to college too, was ready to go to law school but…my family needed me.”

“Do you regret it?” Your mom asked, Sam looked at her; his face turning almost sad.

Tag List: @alternativeprincess @roseblue373 @geekmom3 @rach5ive @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @winchester-sinchester @nelachu2423 @ladysparkles78 @cassiopeasmith @beansproutmafia @queenie32 @deanwanddamons If you'd like to be added to a tag list, let me know! ♡

[thestupidhelmet]

i'm about to send you a bunch of these hehe

B and C, 1-6

🤭

Babies, how many and their names: Eric, Donna, Jackie, Hyde, Fez, Kelso.

You didn't specify Eric/Donna as a couple or Jackie/Hyde as a couple, which would be numbers 17 and 18. You also didn't specify Fez or Kelso in a relationship with a specific person (I put numbers for those, too), so I'm going to answer this question based on the characters as individuals.

Note: Since a baby's gender can't be planned (without medical involvement), in some cases I'll give options for more than one gender. Also, people's biological sex doesn't always match their internal sense of gender. Trans people often choose their own names when they're older, but that fact is beyond the scope of this game (but certainly not beyond the scope of thinking about the T7S characters' children 🏳️‍🌈).

Eric: He grew up with an unhealthy sibling relationship, so he might want only one kid for that reason. Then again, he might want two and do his best to foster a healthy relationship between the two.

If he has a boy, Luke. (Obvious reason.)

If he has a girl, Kayla. (It was a popular girl's name in the 1980s and honors his mom without being a direct copy of it.)

If he has a second boy, Peter "Pete" (after Peter Parker).

If he has a second girl, Robin. (Another popular girl's name in the 1980s. It honors Red with the first letter and is the name of Batman's sidekick.)

Donna: One child. She wants to be a mom but not have that be the only part of her identity.

If a girl, Isabel "Izzy" (after feminist journalist and author Isabel Allende).

If a boy, Anthony. (Susan B. Anthony's father was a huge women's rights advocate and opened a school that taught both boys and girls when his daughter was rejected from school for being female. That's just one way he tried to help and protect women's rights and safety in his life. The name Anthony is also common in Italian-American families.)

Jackie: She's an only child and barely got attention from her parents. She could either go the one kid route to make sure she'll be as present as possible for her child. Or she might have two but not more. If following in her parents' footsteps, she'd be rich one way or the other, and a nanny would raise the kids.

First boy, Jack. (Jackie is named after her father, whose canonical name is Jack. Nothing in T7S tells us differently.)

First girl, Jacklyn. (Essentially Jackie Jr., but the different spelling was popular in the 1980s and gives her daughter's name a little individuality.)

Second boy, Jason. (Sticking with the JA theme plus son. See what she / I did there?)

Second girl, Sarah. (It means princess, and one can infer from Jackie's JSB shirt in S1 that her original middle name could have been Sarah before it was retconned to Beulah for a running joke. Jackie hated her middle name, so she might have gone as Jackie Sarah to her friends until, of course, her secret is discovered.)

Hyde: No kids. He wouldn't want to be a father for so many reasons, but he'd be a wonderful uncle -- because, in part, his uncle was the kindest family member to him growing up (that's a headcanon inspired by the fact his uncle left Hyde his boots).

Fez: Three kids. I see him wanting a big family but a manageable one.

First girl, Michelle (after his best friend Michael Kelso). Middle name after Fez's mother.

Second girl, Stephanie (after his best friend Steven Hyde). Middle name Linda, after the goddess tattooed on his body.

Third girl, America (after the country he chose as his home and his good friend Eric Forman).

First boy, his father's name but called by a shortened version of it.

Second boy, Charlie (because Fez would want his son to have his own beautiful angels to do his, er, bidding. Sorry about that one. 😄)

Third boy, Alexander (a popular 1980s boy's name with a lot of history. Fez wants his son to be a conqueror of worlds 👀).

Kelso: Wants no children. He grew up with six siblings, and his parents barely knew he existed. Unfortunately, he ends up with at least half a dozen -- if not double that -- kids he never intended to have. He probably doesn't know he's the father of most of them (until talk shows start doing paternity tests for ratings).

Careers

Eric: Vice President of a toy company, either as a prototype approver/tester or toy inventor.

Donna: Rock journalist.

Jackie: Fashion designer, fashion stylist, or wedding planner.

Hyde: Owns his own record label and signs bands.

Fez: Chocolatier (competitive).

Kelso: Marries a rich, much older woman and cheats on her with much younger women. Or he becomes a catalogue model. Or both.

Jukebox Ask Game

[autisticlancemcclain]

Hey Terijackie! (is that nickname ok?) there's a very funny thing about Lance that I've seen in some fics (not yours tho) and I wanted to share it with you, that is people giving him a full name wrongly (also this could help other people writing their fics)

But first, as far as I understand, in most countries your full name is simply <name> <surname>, and like, that's it

But in some countries, such as spain or those in Latam, you can have more than one name or surname, and I don't know if this is a confusion about how does it work or what is what, but sometimes people go and name Lance like <Lance/Actual name that has been nicknamed into Lance> <name> <surname> <name> <surname> <surname> and that just doesn't make sense bc (1) you can only have two surnames (mom and dad's/someone who adopted you's) (you can also have only one but it's a very uncommon case) (2) names go first surnames go after. So it's either people don't know this or they get confused on what name is actually a name and what surname is actually a surname

Also you can have lots of names, I've met people with four and it can keep going

Also2, when someone gets married no one loses their surname :D

So yea, sorry for the big text¿, wish you goodnights!

terijackie is a fine 😎 nickname does it mean anything in particular??

ANYWAYS yeah i’ve noticed that too!! i only ever give lance two surnames, usually Esposita-McClain, and i tack on a bunch of first names lol to make the acronym, so Leandro Agustín Nuñez Carmen Esposita-McClain, bc it spells lance lol. not sure how accurate it is bc i’m not latina, but no one has corrected me thus far?? we’ll have to see lol. thank u for the info!!!

[skeelly]

Well, since I couldn't make you something for your birthday, here are some questions instead.

Favorite meal of the day?

A book you just read?

Thought on chickens?

Do you like living in the Philippines?

Clothing aesthetic?

Heels?

Favorite gift you got for Christmas?

Any pets?

3 random facts about yourself?

Cake or icecream?

If there are any you don't want to answer I totally understand.

SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE AHHHH

> my favorite meal, which is fairly controversial, i know, is breakfast

> black beauty by someone i forgot her name sorry lol

> we used to own chicks and i would play with them and feed them and stuff so i love chickens lol

> for the most part, yes. im very openly against a whole bunch of things here but i mean, for a third world country, i guess it's good. not all people have manners though which is something i very much dislike. the country it self however, it's nice :)

> sorry girlll- i wear whatever i find LMFAOO. but as long as it's comfy, i can wear my jordans with then it's good

> yes. yes. yes. yes.

> the squishy glow in the dark thingy my little brother gave me! helps me with my stupid anxiety lmao

> nope :>

> AAHHH oki.

1. my hair used to be very curly but it was too hard to maintain at my age so my mom got my hair rebounded (spelling might be wrong sorry).

2. most book series i read, i don't actually finish

3. i paint my nails cause peeling them off helps me when im anxious or stressed lmao

> ice cream ? 😭

sorry for answering so late! i remember i wanted to perfect my answers until i just didn't answer. i feel so bad. im so so sorrryyy :(

[calcedon79]

The joys of being a parent

I have to have a little bit of a rant now.

Sometimes children are …. aaaach! 😤

Son (9) casually mentions that they are writing a test tomorrow.

I ask what about?

A bit about Germany.

Ah okaay. And since when do you know that?

Since a week ago. (Great! 🤦‍♀️)

(Oops, forgot. Sorry, mom.)

I look up what they are supposed to learn and the result is:

- all 16 federal states with their capitals,

- all 9 neighboring countries with their capitals,

- the three largest rivers, lakes and mountains in the country (and where to find them on the map),

- the names of the Federal Chancellor and Federal President and how long they've been in office,

- who wrote the lyrics and melody of the national anthem

- and three famous sights in our federal state.

Of course, he must be able to spell all of this correctly, otherwise points will be deducted.

Child! And you couldn't have thought of that a bit earlier? 😓

That was a very fun afternoon, I tell you!

[she-karev]

Cousin Jen

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Three of Six

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Summary: Andrew talks to Matt while Amber and Jen tour the hospital and run into Alex who has an interesting reunion with Jen. The GIF above shows her reaction.

Words: 3366

Andrew is in the neuro lab and decides to check Matt’s vitals as he sits in a chair next to a table filled with journals and textbooks.

Matt looks at the table in interest and asks Andrew as he wraps a BP cuff around his arm, “You’re working with Shepherd for the research contest?”

“Yeah, she asked me to assist and I said yes right off the bat.”

“You know when I first heard about this contest, I wondered why I didn’t get into surgery and I remembered it’s not my fancy.” Matt says enviously as Andrew pumps the cuff.

“Personality thing?” Andrew asks.

“Nah I grew up watching House MD and I wanted to be that growing up.” Andrew grins at that reference, “I mean except for the painful limp, the opioid addiction and being an antisocial ass. What about you? Did you watch any medical dramas that got you hooked?”

“Not really.” Andrew records the BP and takes the cuff off, “I come from a family of surgeons so it was kind of in my blood. We made fun of those shows and pointed out the inaccuracies. BP is normal.”

“I’m a doctor so I know that syncope causes low blood pressure, I don’t know it that’s good or not.” Matt says worried.

“Don’t worry we’re gonna get answers soon.” Andrew puts the cuff away, “How long have you had these spells?”

“Um about 12 days, it first started at work. I was going over scut when I suddenly passed out on the table. I was up for 15 hours I just thought it was exhaustion so I passed it of as nothing until the restaurant.”

“And did you have any headaches or was anything out of the ordinary before the spells?”

“Nope nothing. I’m a medical mystery, this is not how I wanted to relive an episode of House.” Andrew grins at that, “You know I’ve known Amber for a long time now and I can tell she likes you; I’m talking like you on a whole other level. She might not show it I mean I know she can be…”

Andrew nods knowing the answer, “Yeah she is, but she’s also fun and funny and beautiful.”

“Oh good you see that.” Matt grins, “It’s just that I feel like I have to be her cheerleader with the guys she dates because they all think she’s this cold and closed off bitch and they treat her like it. I mean it’s probably why she hasn’t had a substantial relationship in the time I’ve known her. That and they all look at Jen and hit on her right in front of Amber…and me.”

Andrew’s eyes widen at that, “It sounds like she could pick them better back then.”

Matt shrugs, “It’s more like she’s a magnet for assholes. It has me and Jen convinced her parents put a curse on her at birth. Sorry I’m probably revealing too much you just seem like a good guy and Amber deserves that after everything. And you not running after you found out makes me worry, she’s not gonna take it well if you stomp on her heart further into this relationship.”

Andrew nods, “Don’t worry about it I get it and she’s lucky she had you two when she was in New York. Look I get that you think I’m gonna run but I’m not and certainly not because of Amber’s past. I had a crappy childhood too; I had a parent who went through a mental health crisis too. I didn’t have it near as bad as she did, I didn’t shove pills down my mom’s throat or went into foster care because it was so bad. But I get how it can drag you down and I’m not gonna do that to her. If it doesn’t work out it won’t be because of her past or how I treat her, I promise.”

Matt looks at him impressed, “Maybe don’t say all of that to Jen because the hot doctor schtick with the sensitive soul might make her leave me for you.”

Andrew chuckles at that, “Well from what I’ve seen that’s not gonna be an issue for you two. I mean she said yes to marrying you and traveled across the country so you could get a diagnosis. Plus, Amber approves of you two which speaks volumes.” Matt nods in agreement and DeLuca gets a page. He pulls out his phone, “Shepherd wants us to meet her in the peds floor, let’s go.” He and Matt leave the lab to meet Amelia.

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

Jen and I walk down the hall to the board room passing Jo as she and the interns do rounds. I’m sure from a regular hospital staff member’s point of view we look strange together. They see me in my scrubs and her in her designer clothes and well-done ponytail and think why are they together? It’s what so many of my med school classmates think and I can understand it but I also know that despite our differences Jen was there for me when no one else was.

Every heartbreak or research paper stress she was always there to help and talk to me and take me away for a while. It helps that both of our fathers were deadbeat junkies. The only difference is her mom is saner than mine and took her away from him when she could. I think that’s why she’s more stable than me and why she’s the joy to my gloom, she had some stability unlike me. I don’t resent her for it though if anything she’s the only one who has given me stability when I needed it. Jen looks around at the pastel walls and toys on the desks and I realize we went the wrong way.

“Damn it.” I say frustrated, “Wrong way, we’re on the peds floor this place is a maze. I’ll get us out don’t worry.”

“Hey so I didn’t want to tell you this in front of the guys because I figured you’d go to your dark place.” I look at her curious as we continue walking down the hall, “Your mom keeps leaving me messages I think like four this week.”

I groan at that unfortunate tidbit, for some reason my mom has been trying to talk to me for the past year and of course I declined. The only time my mother called me was to ask for money or when she goes off her meds and rants to me about what a colossal disappointment I am. It aggravates me she’s using Jen to get to me, “Yeah well I hope you told her I’m closing down the library every night.”

“I told her I haven’t seen you.” Jen grins knowing how much I detest my mother, “For all I know you could be a crack ho by now.”

I chuckle darkly imagining my mom’s face hearing that, “That is perfect thank you. Speaking of my side of our messy family I should tell you something before you-”

“Alex!” I freeze on the spot and look up to find Alex with Amelia talking to Andrew and Matt. He looks in our direction after Jen called his name.

“Oh no.” I know what she’s planning and I need to stop it, “Okay quick word before you do what you want to-”

Jen ignores me and walks to Alex with a fake chuckle and smile acting like it’s a fond reunion, “Alex Karev! It’s me Cousin Jen!”

Alex looks shocked and remembers her, “Jen hey it’s been a long-” Alex gets interrupted with a slap to the face by Jen that causes me to look down in embarrassment as I approach them. Andrew and Matt look at her in shock, no doubt thinking I would sooner slap someone in public than her. Amelia looks amused at Alex who rubs his jaw clearly in pain. I mouth sorry to Alex as I stand next to Jen.

Jen frowns at him dusting her hands, “That’s for being a shit and leaving my sweet cousin with my shit father.”

I clear my throat loudly, “Read the floor honey peds floor means floor for kids, so ixnay on the cursing and the slapping.”

Alex sighs and looks more sad than angry, “I take it Amber said nothing but good things about me.”

“To be fair.” I start, “I hated your guts, you know that and so does she and I didn’t tell her we made up and the slap was unnecessary.”

Jen looks at me surprised and with a little bit of guilt, “You two made up? You don’t hate him anymore?”

I shake my head, “No more than I normally should.”

“Oh.” Jen looks taken back for a moment but turns to Alex with a warm grin, “Well in that case come here.” She pulls Alex for a hug who looks surprised by the sudden change in tone but hugs her back and they pull apart.

“Hi I’m Dr. Shepherd I’m gonna be your fiancé’s doctor.” Amelia greets her and shakes her hand, “DeLuca told me what’s happening with Matt, now I have to do a neuro consult but I’m gonna have DeLuca run basic tests and do a brain scan to see if we find anything.” She looks to me, “Are you fine keeping her company while this happens?”

I nod, “Yeah I was gonna find Avery to tell him I’m gonna help out with Matt…and would one of you tell me where to boardroom is? Because I’m lost.”

Andrew grins and Matt quips, “She sucks at directions, one time she took a train to Queens and ended up in Canada.”

“Don’t you have tests to do?” I snap and the men walk away to do so. I look at Alex, “So the boardroom?”

Alex grins, “First floor room 1204 it’s across the bridge.” I thank him and we both walk away from them.

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We finally find ourselves on the right floor and I exhale in relief, “There he is finally let’s go.”

Jen grabs my arm stopping me with an ogling look directed at Avery, “Wait a minute that’s the guy you’re working for?”

“Yes.”

Jen chuckles impressed, “Jesus how many hot doctors work here?”

“Oh, stop it.” I tell her annoyed but she keeps grinning, “Aren’t you engaged?”

“Yeah.” Jen confirms nonchalant, “But that doesn’t mean I’m dead.”

“I will be if you keep drooling over my boss so can you-”

“Karev.” I turn to Jackson who stops in front of us with his mother, “Thank god I found you please tell me you have the basis for the proposal.”

“Actually, that’s what I was coming to talk to you about.” Jackson notices Jen next to me and looks at me curious over who she is, “Sorry Dr. Jackson and Catherine Avery this is my cousin Jen Evans.” They shake hands.

“Hi, it’s very nice to meet, Amber told me a lot about you.”

Jackson looks at me flattered, “Really? You talk about me?”

I narrow my eyes annoyed, “Okay take a testosterone blocker, I’m here to tell you I can’t work on the research project with you today.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, I’m working with Dr. Shepherd and-”

Jackson chuckles lightly, “Let me guess Shepherd got your boyfriend to convince you to join the dark side and spill all of my plans with her did she?”

I glare at him, “I need to figure out why my beloved cousin’s fiancé is experiencing syncope and make sure he’s healthy in time for their wedding.” I inform him coldly causing him to be silent for a moment before responding.

“I see well that’s a pretty good reason to take a break.”

Catherine chips in, “Well with her out of the way does this mean you’ll have time to help me with my project?”

Jackson closes his eyes and looks at Jen apologetically, “I am sorry for my mother she has no filter.” He turns to his mom, “Mom, Dr. Valez has a great pitch. She does, all right? And you guys should do it. You should enter the contest and change a bunch of lives. But I already got my own thing going on, and, frankly, it's a little more cutting-edge than what essentially amounts to an elective cosmetic procedure.”

Catherine doesn’t back down though, “Oh, come on. Look, my birthday is coming up. You could think of this vagina as your gift to me.” I widen my eyes at that comment as well as Jen and Jackson who looks more horrified than shocked.

“Now I'm gonna go smash my head in with a hammer and see if I can forget that you said that.”

I grab his arm, “How about I help and page Qadri so she can take my place?” He nods and leads us away from his mother who yells out as we walk away.

“Jackson Avery, you are such a disappointment! I thought you were woke!” Jackson groans at that and looks at Jen with apologetic eyes as we walk with him in the middle.

“Sorry about that my mother can be a handful sometimes and her mouth speaks before her brain does.”

Jen chuckles, “Oh don’t apologize drama helps distract me from my drama. So, what was all that about? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Um my mother has an idea for the surgical innovation contest and thought I should ditch mine to help hers.”

I snap my focus on him suddenly interested, “What? What could she possibly have that’s more interesting than freaking spray on skin?”

“Spray on skin?” Jen asks.

I explain, “We’re doing this contest to see who comes up with an idea to revolutionize surgical medicine and Avery’s is replacing painful skin grafts with aerosolized stem cells.”

Jen groans, “It’s like I’m living with you again, words for the basic hairdresser please.”

Jackson steps in and grins as he explains, “Okay so you know how burn victims need to have their burned skin taken out and replaced with healthy donor tissue?” Jen nods, “Well it’s effective but it’s also painful and the graft doesn’t always take not to mention there’s scarring and discoloration.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good method.”

“It isn’t.” Jackson confirms, “Which is why I want to find a way to use stem cells in aerosolized form like what you use to wet your client’s hair. Only instead of water I’m using a skin sample from the patient that’s broken down into liquid and spray it on the burned tissue. Then the enzymes will regenerate and provide viable coverage, it’ll be like the skin is formed and it heals over the burn wound.”

Jen looks at him impressed, “You know how to do that?”

“Not yet.” I chip in, “That’s why we’re doing research so we can get money for the supplies we need and test subject availability. Then we can move forward so this can revolutionize skin grafting entirely and both of our names will be legend status.”

Jackson raises an eyebrow at me, “And of course saving a bunch of lives and making it so burn victims don’t suffer more than they should.”

“That too.” I suddenly remember something, “Oh hey how did it go?”

Jackson looks at me confused, “How did what go?”

“You left the bar with hoop earrings; I’m surprised I would think denim skirt would win you over she had very toned legs. How was it? Did you get a little lady luck on your side?”

Jen chuckles, “Oh my god your wingmanning again? Is this what your so busy with you can’t go to a salon?”

I defend myself, “I have a gift and Avery is desperate and lonely he needs help.”

“You know I can hear you right?” Jackson quips, “And I just sent hoop earrings in a cab nothing happened.”

I look at him shocked and a little offended, “What? You didn’t sleep with her?” He shakes his head, “Was there something wrong with her?”

Jackson rubs the back of his neck, “You know it just didn’t feel right that’s all.”

I scoff but shake it off, “Okay fine well maybe Priya will change your mind.”

“Is Priya denim skirt?”

“No, she’s blue blazer.” I scroll through my notes, “She was really nice we got to talking and she’s a lawyer, a human rights lawyer.”

Jen gushes, “Oh human rights that’s nice it’s generous.”

“See even she sees it.” I find the info, “I have her number here I will text it to you.”

Jackson stops us outside the lab, “Look Karev I appreciate what you’re doing but I’ll think on it while you page Qadri so you can save your cousins wedding, is that good for you?”

I look at him surprised but put my phone away, “Okay fine but just to let you know in the year 2050 global warming will either drown us or burn us all to death.” Jen raises an eyebrow at me, “And by then you’ll have to depend on your daughter to change your diapers.”

Jackson raises an eyebrow at me, “Exactly how old do you think I am?” I open my mouth but he speaks before I can, “No never mind I can already tell I won’t like the answer. I will text you for Kiya’s number.”

“Priya.” I correct.

“I’ll consider her too.” Jackson grins and I glare at him even as he enters the lab leaving us in the hall.

I turn to Jen who grins at me, “He needs me.”

“I’ve seen him he doesn’t need your help to get women.” Jen and I walk down the hall, “Something is holding him back or maybe someone.”

I snort, “And you know this how?”

“You’re good at biology I’m good at loveology.” I chuckle at her word, “Hey come on five years of cutting hair and endless gossip and silly arguments provides you with a certain skill set you can’t get in a hospital. Trust me when I say your boy is in conflict either that or he’s in the closet.” I chuckle at that and lead her down the hall so we can go to the neuro lab where the boys and Shepherd are waiting for us.

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Andrew and I go over the labs and brain scans up on the board while the happy couple are behind us waiting anxiously. We were able to get Matt’s labs and brain scans back fairly quick while Alex and Amelia were checking on a patient. I look at the brain scans closely to see if Shepherd missed anything but to my chagrin, she was right that Matt’s brain was healthy and showed no signs of abnormality.

“There’s not contusions or inflammation or anything out of the ordinary.” I turn to Matt and Jen, “It’s not a tumor as I’d previously suspected.”

Andrew looks up from the tablet where he’s reading Matt’s labs, “Labs are clear your cholesterol is a little high for someone your age but otherwise you’re the picture of health.”

Jen sighs, “That’s good right?” Andrew and I look at each other worried, “Why doesn’t it feel good?”

Andrew puts the tablet down, “Well we ruled out neuro so we have to check if this is cardio related.”

Matt nods, “Today it’s brain, tomorrow is hearts I wonder what the next day is, Japanese?” Jen grins slightly and turns to us worried.

“What’s happening to him? Should we be worried?”

I shake me head, “I’m gonna talk to our chief of cardio Dr. Pierce.” I inform them, “I’m gonna try to schedule you for an EKG an MRI and an exercise stress test, would you be up for it?”

Matt nods, “Yeah sure run what you need to just as long as I get out of here soon.” I nod and turn to walk when Jen calls to me.

“You fix Matt, do you hear me?” I stop to face her worried expression as she grips Matt’s shoulders like she’s afraid he’ll disappear, “It’s like I said, he’s my one and only.” I nod full heartedly and turn to walk away more determined to help them than ever.