#and river is. like. she is really really bad at relationships right? we know this.

[quietwingsinthesky]

Hiiiii! So, a few days ago you were talking about the whole thing with Amy, Rory, and River. And when I saw those posts a thought arose in my head and I wish to share it with you.

Since River grew up with Amy and Rory as Mels. And Mels was Amy's best friend do you think that they ever talked about children? Since I know that it can come up when talking with friends, and like... do you think that Amy might've ever expressed whether or not she wanted children?

And if she didn't, that Mels would've had to listen to her mother say that she doesn't want children? The idea is so heartbreaking and sooo interesting.

What do you think about it?

no, no, see, you're so right and this drives me wild.

because, the way i see it, i don't think amy wanted children. she's somewhere on the 'hasn't thought about it' to 'vaguely negative feelings about it happening' range to me, which falls sharply into 'Not Happening Ever Again' post-s6. (specifically, in terms of having a kid herself, even if she could, i really don't think she would. i do love that she and rory end up adopting a kid later, because that does make sense, for amy pond who grew up alone in one universe with her family swallowed by cracks in time before the doctor helped her set it right again, for her to want to make sure another child won't be alone in the world like she was. getting off-track here.)

and that's so. because the first real memory river/mels has of amy is of amy shooting at her. and depending on how well the silence fucked up the rest of her memory, it might be one of the very first memories she has at all. that's how she met her mother, crying for help and getting a bullet instead. her mother tried to kill her, so of course, you have to think. she must have needed to hear that she was wanted, right? even if she was taken away, even if amy shot her, at some point, melody must have been wanted?

river is good at getting people to do what she wants, but she is very, very bad at subtlety. and mels is younger, has less practice, so when she wants to know this, she's just going to ask. blunt and quick, easy enough because amy's used to the way mels will open her mouth and you just have to be ready to roll with what comes out if you want to keep up. it's why they're such good friends (like mother, like daughter.)

they're nine, and mels asks if amy wants kids, and amy wrinkles up her nose and says she won't have time for children, obviously, once her raggedy doctor finally comes back. they're fifteen, and amy and rory dance will they-won't they in a way that makes mels twitchy to watch, and taunting amy about wanting to have rory's babies is a good way to get on her nerves. but amy calls her gross, tells her she's got more life planned than children would leave room for, and besides, imagine her, a mom? it'd be a disaster.

mels does. a lot. she looks at her mother and just sees her best friend instead. she's not even sure what she wishes was there, but. maybe amy's right. and besides. imagine her, a daughter, instead of the ticking time bomb she really is? it'd be a disaster.

they're sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and on. mels stands on the outside of a love story that births a universe. and her. how do you compete with that? not that she would know, not yet, she hasn't been there. but it doesn't make her feel any less alienated when amy and rory talk in whispers about a half-remembered world that's bled through to this life, about roman soldiers and boxes and the big bang of belief.

all these memories, they never mention children. on amy's wedding day, she's different, not like someone remembering a dream but someone who lived it. rory stands straighter, won't leave her side, and they're both so much older than they were yesterday. maybe now, right? a wedding's as good a time as any to decide you want kids.

mels not being at amy & rory's wedding is such an obvious lazy way of them trying to explain why they totally didn't just throw this plot twist together at the last minute that i'm not even going to acknowledge it. of course she was at their wedding. she's their best friend. there's too many people around the doctor, and she wasn't ready today of all days, so despite this horrible burning need under her skin to strike, she stays her hand. doesn't let him dance with her because she might just tear his throat out if he gets too close. stays with amy and rory as the maid of honor should. she must have been there for the awkward questions that always gets asked, 'so, any plans for a baby?' 'when am i getting grandkids?' 'oh, you two are going to have gorgeous children together.' standing a few feet from amy in her wedding dress and watching her mother tense and grit her teeth and brush off the questions. watching her look nervously at rory but never ask if he means it when his mom asks him if he'd prefer a son or a daughter, and rory answers 'either one, some day, not anytime soon.'

god i'm just going on and on, aren't i. but really, what's it like to know that amy never changed her mind. the next time she sees them, she's already been born and stolen. i don't like let's kill hitler for. so many reasons. but there is something compelling about how recklessly river lashes out at the world, at the doctor. even her sacrifice at the end is almost suicidal, throwing all her regenerations into this man without knowing if that will even work or if it might kill her to do it. but it makes more sense in the context of someone who has reached the end of a long, long wait for some kind of indication, any kind, that her mother wanted to have her. and finally been told, no. she didn't choose melody.

[dellalyra]

I'd love to read more about Tsumiki and Megumi (cause yk Gege ain't doing stuff with her, smh) and their sibling bond. We did see Megumi being mean to her in the manga/anime, but I'd love to see your take on their relationship?

A/N: loved writing this sm, I’ve a baby brother so i related to it. this kinda turned into more of a character study nearly so I hope it’s okay!!! I love our siblings.

listen to: i love you so - the walters

moon river - audrey hepburn

𓇬 Safety, in human form. 𓇬

One day Tsumiki was taking care of her babydoll, the next an entire 6 year old and herself.

Her mom had never been great, never really wanted to be there - she did the bare minimum to keep her alive and that was that. Then Toji came into the picture, along with his little boy. She didn’t mind Toji really, he was the one who got her the babydoll the first Christmas he lived with them. She liked megumi too, he was a year younger than her but she could play animals with him sometimes and that was fun. Toji loves Megumi, even if he didn’t act like other daddies at school she saw, in the way he made sure he was okay and helped him not be afraid of the dark by making little shadow puppets. Her mom didn’t really do stuff like that - she didn’t know if she had a dad. Toji would go away a lot, but he’d usually bring her and Megumi a happy meal each when he got back.

Then he left.

And didn’t come back.

Then her mom left.

And didn’t come back.

So - it was just her and her brother.

She was scared, but she was going to be brave. Like Merida, or Mulan. She was going to be brave and take care of her brother. She already knew how to cook easy things, how to tell the man in the bank she’s paying a bill, how to help someone who was vomiting from drinking too much, how to do laundry. She learned from watching TV. She was never scared either, Megumi was the scary one. One day when a man started to follow them on their way home from school, Megumi kicked him where Toji said to Tsumiki you kick a man if he’s being a ‘fuckin’ creep’.

He was angry. She was too. She couldn’t go play with her friends because she couldn’t wear out her shoes too much, and she had to get Megumi home so he wouldn’t start another fight. Megumi helped her with the laundry. She taught him how to cook. She was better at math then him, so she took care of the big envelope of money that Toji had stashed away under a floorboard. Megumi was good with writing, so he signed all their homework and parental slips.

They were brother and sister. They had each others backs. Like Edward and Alphonse.

Tsumiki was going to the store today. Straight after school. So she sent Megumi home with the key and told him to go straight home and lock the door until she got back.

When she did get home - school backpack filled with rice and veggies she could afford - he wasn’t alone. Her heart clenched in her chest.

There was an adult in their apartment. He didn’t look like too much of an adult. Loads younger than her mom or Toji. His white hair was kinda crazy, like Megumi’s and he was wearing sunglasses inside. But for some reason, she wasn’t scared. Megumi was so unsure of strangers, if he was okay with him being here he can’t be a bad guy, right?

“Hello?” She called into the room.

“Hi! You’re Tsumiki, yeah?!” The strange man smiled at her.

“I am. Who are you?” She asked, in as polite a voice as she could.

“A weirdo.” Megumi answers.

“And you let him into the house?!” She responded, pushing her brother behind her.

The adult/not adult just laughs.

“Not that kinda weirdo. He’s just weird. He knows magic like me. We’re gonna go with him.” Megumi shrugs, and she noticed his backpack and a shopping back are half packed on the sofa.

“What? Megumi we can’t just go with strangers, even if they are magic.” She hisses.

“Since Megumi’s just making things worse, how about I try explain?” The man asks.

She eyes him, then nods.

“My names Gojo Satoru. I’m a Jujutsu Sorcerer, like Megumi. I - ehm - knew Megumi’s dad. The thing is, Toji got some money if he gave Megumi to his family - who are not the best people. They would wanna separate you guys. So, I asked Megumi, but I’ll ask you too, Tsumiki, would you guys like to come stay with me instead?” He asks, smile softening. He was pretty, like a prince. He kinda looks like Jack Frost. She thought.

The money was dwindling. There was barely any left. It had been 2 months since her mom left, and she knew she wasn’t coming back. Something told her Toji wasn’t either. She didn’t want to leave Megumi, but they’d starve if they stayed here.

She didn’t really have a choice.

“My girlfriend will be there too, she’s got a brother about your age Tsumiki. We have a cat too.” The man smiles, taking a candy from his pocket and plopping it in his mouth.

“Why do you want to help us?” She says.

“So the magic that Megumi can do? All the monsters he sees? The kinda thing he can do is super rare, and I want him to come with me because what I can do is really cool too, so I could have him learn with me. Then he can learn, you two can stay together, and you never gotta worry about money again. The only thing you gotta do is work hard, Megumi.” He says, and that makes sense to her. Toji used to say Megumi was a special kid.

She thinks for a second.

“Megumi, what do you wanna do?” She turns to her brother.

He shrugs.

“I think we should go with him.” He nods, still frowning.

She turns to the man, Gojo.

“Give us a minute to pack, please, Gojo-san.” She bows, retreating to the place she kept what little items and belongings they owned.

“Call me Satoru kid, I’m only 12 years older than you!” He laughs, she likes that sound.

She smiles shyly.

She packs, ensures Megumi has everything and then steps outside to find a really fancy car. It’s black and shiny, nothings broken and inside has computers and pale blue leather seats. She stretches out in the back seat, admiring everything.

Satoru asks them about school, what grade their in, what do they like to learn, who their friends are. He’s smiley, and cheerful and kinda funny. Megumi is still very guarded, he’s tense beside her. Hands in fists. She doesn’t want Satoru to think they’re rude or bad kids so she does all the talking and all the smiling.

They pull up to what looks to be a school. It’s quite pretty, there’s ponds and plants and lots of buildings. Satoru parks the car and opens the door for the kids, leading them to a building that looks like maybe a small apartment building. He opens the door and they take 2 flights of stairs up and arrive at a door, she notices there’s only 6 apartments in the building from the postboxes downstairs, with a sign that says ‘students prohibited - staff living quarters.’

Satoru knocks on the door, mumbling about a forgotten key and ‘oopsie daisy’.

The door swings open and inside is the prettiest girl Tsumiki’s sure she’s ever seen. The girl is a kinda grown up, like Satoru. H/C hair flowing around you and a pink sweater and loose jeans settling on your body. You were kinda short, standing beside Satoru made that obvious.

She sees your eyes widen and you glance at the man beside her then smile and welcome them in. You offer them snacks, and you hand them each cookies and some apple juice and they both devour them.

That evening, you, Satoru and the two kids go shopping. You let them each pick out some new bedsheets, Megumi picks ones with dinosaurs on them, Tsumiki picks ones with waves on it. She’s always wanted to go to the beach. They each are told to pick out any new clothes and pyjamas they like, but by now Tsumiki is worried about money. You seem to notice this, and you pull her aside saying you need her help picking out a new lipstick, and ask the boys to go grab you all some coffee, plonking a kiss on Satoru’s lips.

“Tsumiki, you seem a little worried - is everything okay, honey?” You say, kneeling down to her height.

“Um, I just need to keep an eye on how much money we’re spending. I have to make sure that we have enough for the rest of the month.” She says, with all the sincerity of anxiety a child shouldn’t have.

Your heart cracks.

“Tsumiki, you’re not going to pay for any of this. Satoru and I are. You don’t have to worry about money anymore, okay? C’mere, I’ll show you something. You know how bank cards work, yeah?” You ask and she nods.

“K, so - this here is Satoru’s card, my names on it too. It’s a black card, which means there is no limit to how much you can spend with it. This, is how much you have to have to be able to get a black card, okay?” You show her the page you’ve opened in Google on your phone. Your family wasn’t wealthy, but the Gojo clan heir lacked nothing. What you’d spend today wouldn’t even be a noticeable change in the figures on the card.

The girls eyes widen.

“You mean it? Because I don’t think we could pay you back.” She shuffles her feet.

“We mean it. If you guys are staying with us, if you still want to, we want you both to be comfy and happy okay?” You say and the girls eyes suddenly fill with tears and in an action so unexpected she flings her arms around your neck and hugs, sniffing her tears in.

After all the basics and essentials are bought, and some new shoes for them both - Nike Air Force like yours for Megumi and lilac converse chuck taylors for Tsumiki, like Satoru’s blue ones, you tell them each to buy a plushy each. You had one as a kid, and any time you were sad or stressed it was your lifeline. Megumi picks a frog, and Tsumiki picks a tiger.

That night, Megumi and Tsumiki are getting ready for bed. Megumi seems to notice that Tsumiki seems on edge, and shuffles into her bed beside her. You had set them up in your spare room, a single bed each, but wordlessly, Megumi climbs under the blanket with his sister, and clutches her hand in his.

“I think we’re safe here, ‘Miki. It’s okay. I can protect us.” He says, before they both drift off to sleep.

6 months came and went, and she fell hopelessly in love with her new guardians. You guys were silly, funny, kinda crazy (very crazy) and so much fun. More than that, you guys cared so much and kept them safe. She heard Satoru laughing one night as you told him how you’d shouted at some old people who said that they couldn’t care for Megumi and her because you two were far too young. You had said they’d been so terrified that they immediately apologised. She quickly realised you guys were strong, and bad people seemed to stay away from you two - like superhero’s. She’d heard people (Satoru included) call Satoru ‘The strongest’ and you ‘The Dryad’, so having superhero names meant you actually were. She decided she wanted to call you mom and dad. Sure you guys might only be 12 years older than her, only recently turned 20 but she felt safe with you two. Satoru made her laugh and rescued them from the Zen’in family, and brought them cool places and kept them safe, and started training with Megumi which he seemed to really like doing, even if he was always grumpy she could tell her was happy. You brushed her hair every night and tucked them both in, you painted her nails and gave Megumi black and green ones when he said he liked Satoru’s (‘don’t tell him I like them though’), you read them bedtime stories sitting in Satoru’s lap and made fun lunchboxes for school and fought to keep them safe everyday. She liked not worrying about stuff, she liked seeing Megumi relaxed. That’s what a mom and dad did, right? She waited until Megumi was playing with Lego in their room one day when she very seriously sat you and Satoru down.

“Y/N, Satoru. Thank you for sitting with me. I don’t want to make Megumi uncomfortable but I was wondering, maybe, if when he’s ready, would it be okay if him and me started to call you guys mom and dad?” She said, hands clasped on her lap, looking like a little lawyer.

You and Satoru immediately burst into tears and said you’d both love it, whenever they’re both ready.

A few weeks later, when Megumi was falling asleep, he accidentally called Satoru ‘papa’ when he was telling Tsumiki about his new frog shadow he had. She didn’t mention it, but she was so happy to hear it. She caught how you looked at Satoru a few weeks later, when after your fight with their school headmaster Megumi called you guys Mama and Papa for the first time.

Megumi couldn’t remember smiling as much as when he woke up one Saturday and saw you and Tsumiki both sitting with your legs curled under you on the living room floor, with Satoru behind you both. You both had towels on your shoulders and Satoru was doing a funny accent with a bowl of pink liquid in his hands. He was applying some of the pink to your hair, and you put a tiny bit in the ends of Tsumiki’s long hair.

“Morning ‘oniisan’! Look, I’m getting pink in my hair to match mama!” She smiled at her brother, and a rare return smile overtook his face. He liked seeing her this happy, and he liked how happy he felt too.

The older they got, the more they forgot how scared they used to be. It wasn’t just them against the world now. They had parents, parents who really loved them. They might not share your DNA, or Satoru’s - but you guys were there for every birthday, every baseball game, every track meet. They had Aunty Koko, and Uncle Nanamin now too. Yaga, and his son Panda came over sometimes too, now that you had moved out of your teacher’s accommodation and bought a cottage with a pretty garden. He and Tsumiki each had a bedroom now, decorated how they want.

Tsumiki scolded him after every fight, the only one to really scold him. Satoru congratulated him when he won, you tutted but then cleaned his wounds and told him you were proud of him for sticking up for other people and he wasn’t in trouble. Even Uncle Nanamin had helped him fix his punch for more effective power.

They both hoped they’d find love like you two had. Tsumiki wanted a boy to look at her the way her dad looks at her mama, like she painted the night sky itself. Megumi wanted someone who supported him and made him laugh like you do for his dad.

On your wedding day, Tsumiki wore a baby blue dress that she had gushed over for weeks, she was a bridesmaid and took her role very seriously. Megumi wore a black on black suit, looking very dashing and surprisingly enjoying being a groomsman with Uncle Nanamin. He grumbled, but truth was he loved his dad and he loved spending time with him.

He sat glaring out the window when they boy taking his sister on her first date arrived, and answered the door when he knocked. He liked that even though he was a year younger, he was taller than the date. He glared at him, but let him in. (His mama taught him manners, Satoru would’ve been happy to let this boy sit on the doorstep). Megumi stood and stared at the boy until Tsumiki came downstairs and skipped out the door with him. He smirked, seeing the boy almost run back outside. Guess all those years of being a middle school delinquent was paying off.

They were 15 and 16 when you two told them they were gonna have another sibling. You told Megumi one morning over breakfast and came to sit with Tsumiki in the hospital that afternoon, and placed a framed ultrasound photo on her bedside table with a card announcing ‘since you’re already the best big sister, how about doing it again?’

[spatialwave]

limoreau watching horror movies!

they're in like a semi-established relationship. they know they like each other and they cuddle, but god forbid they make it official! word count: 928

-

jordan li was the happiest when they could take time off from school and t.a. work. enjoying those rare moments of solitude when they were able to relax in a mess of blankets, throw on a movie, and smoke a fuck ton of weed before they inevitably crashed for the night.

the only thing that made it better? when marie was there.

she would lay right next to them on the bed, sometimes she would throw one leg over them and rest her head on their chest as her reddened eyes watched the television screen. jordan's fingers would lazily graze along her back, her sides and her arm underneath the blankets, unable to keep their hands to themselves.

the movies they watched were usually stupid, raunchy comedies made by vought, so they could spend their time making fun of them.

this particular night, however, marie had suggested something new. emma was going on about how she and sam had watched some creepy horror movie that had left them feeling freaked out for days.

"a horror movie?" jordan questioned, smoke coming out of their mouth as they set their green glass bong onto their coffee table, holding a hand over their mouth as they coughed a few times, "you sure?"

marie was lying back on jordan's bed and amongst the pillows, her hands clasped over her stomach after smoking only enough to let her body relax. she nodded, "why not? i haven't watched a lot of them, i bet it would be fun."

jordan thought about it seriously for a moment, then shrugged, "fuck it. sure. you wanna' pick?" they asked as they looked around their surroundings with a hand out until they spotted their remote, grabbing it and tossing it to marie, "i'll watch whatever you want."

marie caught the remote and began flipping through the streaming service, watching jordan every so often as they smoked a tiny bit more before finally crawling back into bed with her, sitting up against the headboard.

"you won't get scared, right?" jordan hummed out the question as they watched her flip through the horror category, only slightly judging as she passed over a few of their favourite titles.

she scoffed, "i've seen worse, jordan." she said matter of fact, though, she wasn't completely sold, but it was just a movie. so what if she'd tried watching the exorcist when she was eleven and cried - this was different. she wasn't eleven anymore.

jordan stayed silent, watching as she paused over a movie, hovering over te play button - the conjuring. it was a classic. some girls at red river had watched it on the computer once, but she didn't join.

"you really want to watch that?" jordan asked, looking over at marie, "why don't we watch, like, scream, or something?"

marie perked up slightly, turning her shoulders to look at jordan better, "why not this one?"

"don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourites," they smirked, "but it's freaky, you know."

"oh, come on. it can't be that bad." marie rolled her eyes, turning back to the television and pressing play. she wasn't going to let jordan decide what she could watch.

//

it was, in fact, a bit bad. it was fine for a while, the intro storyline about that annabelle doll was more unsettling than anything else. yet, as the storyline continued, the more marie began to feel her palms get clammy. her high had completely worn off and she was holding the blankets tight against her chest.

jordan looked at her through the corner of their eyes, turning their head only slightly. it was so cute. the way her eyes were slightly squinted as if somehow that would make the jumpscares any less scary.

anytime a scare happened, she'd twitch in place and throw her hands over her eyes. it was cute. just as jordan turned back to the screen, they were met with a jumpscare that caused them to flinch back against the headboard, hard, and let out a yelp. marie was scared, too, but from behind her hand-covered face, she let out an abrupt laugh, "jordan!" she cackled, "are you okay? you hit the headboard hard," she had to talk through laughs, slowly dropping her hands to look over at them.

"i'm fine," jordan answered, looking to marie as she laughed. their own lips curved into a smile and they couldn't hold back the laugh that bubbled up to match hers, "i told you, it's fucking freaky!" they explained through their laughs.

the laughter between the two of them was contagious, one of those laughs that made you laugh harder when you'd try to talk about it. the ones that would make your stomach cramp and cheeks grow sore. the kind you don't forget.

jordan eventually fell against marie's side and eventually moved so their head was situated neatly on her lap, clutching their stomach as tears reached their eyes. marie tried so hard to stifle her laughter as she looked down at them.

it felt like hours later when they were able to calm down, having not paid attention to much of the climax of the movie because of it.

"horrors aren't that scary," marie finally managed to speak through her final bouts of laughter, gentle and tired, as they absentmindedly raked her fingers through their hair.

"did you see the way that got me? of course, they're scary!" jordan grinned. then they were laughing again, teasing each other about their reactions to the scares.

jordan swore they'd never be able to watch another movie without marie.

[jaemified]

through the window (21 days) - lee chan

“waiting 21 days isnt so bad if itll always end like this.”

pairing ; lee chan x fem!reader

genre ; fluff but pretty cheesy fluff, strangers to lovers, neighbors to lovers, not a smau but twt profiles are showed

warnings ; swearing, floods, isolation, separation, chans flirty (thats a warning in itself), reader has zero relationship experience

wordcount ; 2.7k

synopsis ; after a long series of floods, youre finally able to meet the boy across the street who had caught your eye throughout the long few weeks.

note - chan isnt an idol but minnie/soyeon are

note 2 - idk what chan is looking at in that pic

read below the cut !

DECEMBER 8, 2023

winter, also known as flood season.

the town where you lived in was already at a low altitude, so the bridge built to cross over the river to the other side of the street always had submerged during this time of year.

the thing that sucked the most about all this, was you were pretty much rained in for however long it takes for the water to drain with absolutely no way out.

so naturally, you all had came prepared.

your roommates minnie and soyeon never minded all the rain as they hated going in to work at the crack of dawn, yet you however, loved what you did. tutoring a kids after school program wasnt half as bad as the average person might think.

but, of course seeing as they were all a bunch of middle school kids, they could be a handful. you decided to listen to your friends and use these next few weeks to relax.

or, what you thought relaxing was.

“come on y/n! dont you wanna make strawberry shortcake with us?” minnie yelled at you over soyeons loud music while you studied over the next lesson plan for your kids.

“maybe later- i really wanna get a head start on these lessons.”

“seriously y/n?” soyeon murmured in slight disgust, “i seriously doubt the first thing those kids want to be thinking about is what they’re gonna do with their math tutor after a free half month.”

you shrugged and took a sip of your coffee before typing in the highlighted notes from the handbook into your computer.

“come on. youre not spending our one free break of the year like this again!” soyeon exclaimed as she snatched the book out of your hands, then closing your laptop before putting them both away in the cabinet under the tv.

“you know i can just get that myself right?”

“no, because i won’t let you.” she replied, locking the door and putting the key in her pocket.

“come on! im passionate about what i do, i dont mind it at all!”

“me and minnie are passionate about writing songs too, but even we know when its good enough to take a break.”

“okay i know i don’t work half as hard as idols do but i still have bills to come by! besides, corporate management demands i have the next lesson plan finalized before the end of the week!”

“corporates a bitch, they gotta be more mindful of how they treat their employees. like how do you be top tutoring company in the country and you still cant manage your employees the way they deserve?” minnie shouted in frustration.

“and dont worry about bills for now, we got it.” soyeon whispered to you.

“minnie- you realize cube is the same way to you guys right? and you work way harder then i do despite not getting the income you deserve.”

“yeah but we manage. we have a contract anyway. i know we’re passionate about what we do but we most certainly are not passionate about who we work for.” soyeon replied for minnie as she couldn’t hear over the sound of the blender (why was she using a blender again?)

you sigh soaking in how much pressure your friends are under at work, realizing you don’t even have it half as bad despite having a pretty shitty boss.

“how bout you find someone worth crossing an ocean for? itll be half as fun for us as itd be for you, since it’s in our contract we aren’t allowed to date.” minnie spoke after the whirring of the kitchen appliances died down.

“how.. we are entirely stranded until however long it takes for this stupid flood to drain.”

“do some stalking on insta. let’s find you like uh.. celebrity crush or ulzzang you can fan girl over or something.”

you scoffed in annoyance and slight disgust with your friends knowing you never really cared for any of that.

you decided to sit down at the bay window by the front door, scrolling through your phone before something outside caught your eye.

there you saw a guy across the way, sitting in his bay window just like you, he who seemingly just finished receiving a lecture from his friends.

you watched as he ran a hand through his fluffy dark brown hair, before he turned your way, your eyes locking.

immediately, it was part of your instinct to nervously turn away.

before slowly looking back, that is.

there you found the beautiful brown haired boy, still looking at you, with a golden smile.

your heart melted (but you thought you were having palpitations) when you saw him look at you so fondly.

what is this feeling?

you slowly raise a hand, and wave to him shyly.

he waved back, before forming a heart with his arms he held over his head.

you laughed quiet enough so your friends couldn’t hear you, but your facial expressions were bright enough so he could be aware he was able to make you laugh.

the boy laughed in response before he seemed to mouth something, but you weren’t the best at reading lips.

you tilted your head in confusion before he jokingly rolled his eyes, and saying it again, but slower.

“cu-tie.” you realized he said, or attempted to say.

“cu-tie?” you sounded out, making sure you understood right.

he nodded before pointing at you, his finger tapping against the glass, “cutie.”

he absolutely reveled in the way you smiled so brightly, the way your cheeks flushed pink and your eyes sparkled with excitement.

you didnt even realize how you were falling for his charms.

before you were even able to say anything back, his friend came up from behind him, attempting to drag him away, yet the guy was still persistent.

you watched how his friend started to get angry, so the guy rolled his eyes and stood up, walking away with his friend down the hall.

but not before waving back at you, blowing a kiss.

you got up from your seat before wrapping your arms around minnie, resting your head on her shoulder while you spared a small glance at whatever soyeon was watching in the living room.

“hmm? what do you need now my child?” she dramatically questioned, as she knew you only got clingy when you needed something.

“whos that guy that lives across the.. on the other side of the bridge? in that dark brown house with the black roof?”

“oh? house 133 right? thats seokmin, minghao, and.. what’s the other ones name? I always forget.. chan! yeah, chan.”

soyeon jumped up in surprise, pausing her show after hearing you pique your interest at a guy for the first time.

“why? you like one of them? which one? minghao? he was pretty well liked for a foreigner. he was in the same exchange program as minnie. ” she excitedly asked.

“w-what? no! i was just asking cause i saw one of them out there earlier.” you unconvincingly lied.

“oh she totally likes minghao.” “not even!”

“sweetheart, we aren’t as dumb as you think we are.” minnie pouted at you while she pulled away to put the cake in the oven.

you huffed in disbelief before going to take a bag of chips from the pantry, walking down to your room to finish the lesson plan. (on the laptop your boss lent you since soyeon took your personal one).

meanwhile, there you left chan, day dreaming about you all day long. he was so curious about you, yet he felt so stupid for crushing on some girl he’d never spoken to before.

not like he even could at this point, you were stuck in the middle of a flood, anyway.

“whats on your mind channie? you seem out of it.” seokmin asked while he blindly stirred the tteokbokki, turning to face the younger boy behind him, sitting at the kitchen island.

“its chan. whens he not out of it?” minghao chuckled, throwing a chip at his cheek, sliding to sit over at the stool next to him as he emerged from his bedroom.

“who lives in that white house on the other side of the bridge? isnt that where soyeon lives? we went to high school together.” chan half-mindedly queried, zoning out as he stared into the marble counters.

“yeah, why?” minghao responded.

“did she move out or something? there was another girl there and it wasnt soyeon or minnie.”

“oh, you mean y/n? she graduated a year before you or something, but at another school. we used to work at the same tea house before she left for that tutoring agency.”

“y/n? sounds vaguely familiar. i think i remember seungkwan mention her being in his class.”

“why are you mentioning her all of a sudden? you never cared for girls.” seokmin teased with a wide smile.

“oh come on. you know he’s quite the flirt.” minghao playfully cooed at chan, dramatically waving his hand back at seokmin.

“you two are insufferable.” he groaned, banging his head against the counter.

you found yourself up at night, scrolling through twitter before you decided to search for the guy you ‘met’ today. minghao, was it?

‘xu minghao’ was what you had entered into the search bar, clicking on the top result.

‘myunghoez’

‘huh.’ you thought to yourself. so it couldnt be him, but seokmin didnt seem to have an account as you searched for his name.

you looked up chans name next, thinking maybe,, that there could be a chance it’s him. his profile picture was technically him, but not, him. but in your defense, how could you tell who was who if chans profile picture was a baby picture?

though you knew youd never hear the end of it from her, you decided to ask soyeon.

“do you have a picture of chan?”

“yeah hold on. its just an old screenshot from an old tweet though.” she mumbled before pulling up her phone to show you.

‘wow.’ you thought to yourself, ‘so this really was the guy i met today.’

before soyeon could ask any questions, you quickly thanked her and ran back to your room before posting a small something in reference to what minnie had said to you earlier.

days, weeks, went by of you and chan interacting through the window despite never seeing each other up close, or ever hearing the others voice.

but despite being isolated from separately, you still had fallen for one another nonetheless.

you loved the way you would feel butterflies in your stomach whenever he made a heart with his hands for you, and he absolutely adored the way you in the end would just make a big sign telling him what you wanted to say when you gave up on trying to get him to read your lips.

of course the flood had its downside, i mean being stuck with the same 2 other people for almost a month definitely takes a toll on you, isolation definitely can get depressing with no way out.

but in the end, it had its upside as well. you were able to meet a great guy despite never technically talking face to face, having only lip reading to communicate (why didn’t you think of social media?). not to mention you were able to put more time into a forgotten passion after all of your energy being used up as a tutor.

marine animals.

you and chan had technically discussed the idea of possibly having a first date when you get out of here, yet you still hadn’t decided where you’d go or what you’d do seeing as you both were pretty passionate about different things.

chan had always loved the stars, you had always loved marine life. but, you decided you would finalize a date night once you both get to meet face to face.

DECEMBER 29

after a long 21 days of disappointment, spending christmas without your family, 3 going on 4 weeks of crazed loneliness, you finally woke up one morning to find the overflowing river, drained, and to its regular level.

you were able to see the bridge once more and though the wood might be rotting, you just couldnt wait to cross it.

you immediately ran down the hall, dressing however best you could, fixing your hair to be as best as it would go, being sure to brush your teeth and pop in a mint before running straight out the door. (and ignoring all of soyeons questions as well as minnies protests)

as you stepped out the front door, you saw chan just leaving his house looking as beautiful as ever.

you ran straight for the bridge, chan catching you before you could slip on a puddle before he picked you up into a big hug.

“you’re just as gorgeous up close as you were through a window.” he whispered as he pulled you close, his hand cradling the back of your head, pulling it to rest against his chest.

“and you’re still just as much of a flirt arent you?” you chuckled before slightly cringing at your attempt to reciprocate the excitement.

you were excited, believe me, just couldn’t express it as well as he could.

“i cant believe it took 21 days to finally be with you.”

“it was worth the wait wasnt it?”

“you’ll always be worth the wait.” chan mumbled against your skin as he pressed a soft kiss into your cheek.

“cant believe you’re real..” you mumbled, leaning further into his touch.

“cant believe i got someone like you to fall for someone like me.”

“chan you’re so cheesy.”

“only for you.” he replied with that stupid grin you grew to love so much.

the two of you later took the time to talk more about life, each other, finally exchange numbers, then eventually decide what you’d do for your first date night.

“see you tomorrow at 12?”

“tomorrow at 12.”

DECEMBER 30

you practically couldn’t sleep as you bubbled in excitement. you picked out a pretty black dress that went nicely with a random pair of white sneakers before heading out on your way while your roommates were out at work.

“lookin as pretty as always.” chan smiled while he opened his car door for you.

“still as handsome as ever arent you?” you jokingly rolled your eyes as he backed out the parking lot.

you two had many common interests, yet what you were most passionate about definitely was pretty parallel to one another.

chan loved the stars, you loved the sea. so, you decided to go to an aquarium (that also included solar system exhibits), grab some food from a cafe you found out you both loved, go for a late drive to the beach, watch the sunset, then stargaze.

call it cliche but it was perfect for you both.

chan wrapped an arm around you as you both stared into the night sky, all the stars displayed beautifully.

he would point at a random star and say it reminded him of you, because it stood out from the rest, distinct, but perfect in his eyes.

he was the sweetest guy ever, perfectly fitting the standard for what’s considered boyfriend material, almost unrealistic, even.

“youre a person worth crossing an ocean for.” you told him more then truthfully, bringing a hand up to softly stroke his cheek.

“out of all the stars in the sky, youre the only one id pick.” he cringed realizing how corny it was. “too cheesy?”

“just enough.” you reassured, before sealing both yours and his lips into a warm and comforting kiss. chan had never felt safer in another’s embrace.

“waiting 21 days isnt so bad if itll always end like this.”

[pinievsev]

All That I've Done

Edmund Pevensie x GN!reader

L I S T E N T O: River - Ochman

Warnings: crying, very short, implied relationship, probably like really bad but we're getting there.

Genre: reverse comfort, fluff, angs-ish

Synopsis: Here.

A/N: When I tell you I actually screamed in joy when I saw this request I'm not even exaggerating. Tysm anon for this, hope you enjoy!

Word count: 1,022

Your surroundings were way to quiet for your liking, the atmosphere way to solemn and even breathing felt hard. You stood a few meters away from the pevensie siblings surrounded by the remains of what used to be your home.

Exactly how long had it been? You knew time went by faster in Narnia than back home but you didn't expect it to have been so long, however long it's been.

You snapped out of your thoughts by Edmund's voice calling your name, you turned your head to see him standing right in front of you. "Here, I believe these are yours" he said handing you your old weapons and clothing. You took the daggers and fabric ,that looked untouched by time, no different from when you last saw them a year ago, from him gratefully and nodded in appreciation.

You'd been walking for some time, everything seemed so different, so quiet, the once lively kingdom now only a fraction of what it used to be.

The five of you came to a halt, taken aback by the scene unfolding Infront of you, two men in foreign armour atop a small boat in the river not too far away carrying a dwarf, gagged and tied.

Susan was quick to act, aiming at them with her bow "Drop him!" She commanded and ironically enough that's exactly what they did, dropped him in the river.

One of the men readied his crossbow yet before he could even aim he was pierced by Susan's arrow while the other cowardly fled. Peter quickly jumped in the river, saving the dwarf while you helped Edmund get the boat to shore.

Lucy used her dagger to cut the dwarf's restraints. "Drop him?!" Was the first thing he said directed to Susan "is that the best you can come up with?!"

"A 'thank you' would've been appreciated" you defended hearing Edmund snort beside you.

You laughed at the dwarf's expression when he put the pieces together "You're it?! You're the kings and queens of old?!".

It took some time to get him to trust you but it worked out after a short duel against Edmund. You learned that his name was Trumpkin and that it's been over a thousand years since you disappeared.

Trumpkin told you about prince Caspian and how he was trying to help the Narnians, how he was the one that had called for you using Susan's horn.

You spent most of the time of your journey walking by Edmund, you tried starting a conversation multiple times but he looked uninterested, trapped in his own thoughts, giving you short answers and not bothering to continue after that so you simply gave up and stuck to quietly walking by his side.

It was starting to get dark, the sky turning a beautiful indigo colour, full of bright starts, the starts you would admire at every night for 15 years. You decided to set up camp in a small clearing, you'd continue your journey early at dawn.

As you sat with Lucy and Susan quietly, you noticed Edmund out of the corner of your eye, a bit further than the rest of you sitting alone on a boulder.

Using your hands to assist yourself, you stood up, slowly walking towards him. He looked sad still like he's been for the whole time you've been back. The sound of your daggers clanging together as you walked made him turn back in alarm, visibly relaxing once he saw who it was.

Not speaking a word you sat by him for a minute or two before finally turning to look at him. "What's up with you?" You asked making him turn to you with a confused expression.

"Whatever do you mean?" You rolled your eyes, knowing very well he knew what you were referring to. "You've been looking all solemn since we got here. Are you not happy to be back? What's the matter?" He shook his head and faced Infront of him "of course I'm happy to be back it's just." He paused for a moment "it's so different, too quiet, too eerie" he explained, his gaze directed to you once more.

You nodded and moved slightly closer, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder "I understand, and I completely agree with you, but we have to keep our heads up. We need to be strong for our home, I'm sure we'll fix this." You reassured him, or tried your best to.

Your expression turned from that of compassion to one of panic as you noticed the tears making their way to his eyes. "I just can't stand to see Narnia this way, after all that I've done, all that we've done. Why did we have to leave? Why didn't we stay?" He cried with a shaky voice.

You opened your arms for him and he gladly accepted the affection, wasting no time to move into your embrace and cling to you, his handa gripping the back of your shirt as he hid his face in between your neck and shoulder.

You ran a hand through his hair, the other rubbing comforting circles on his back "it's okay. Let it out" you spoke softly to the sobbing boy in your arms.

He sobbed for a good 10 minutes before letting go of you and wiping his eyes "I'm sorry." You shook your head, your hand remaining in it's position on his back. "It's okay to cry, even as a king. You have nothing to apologise for"

He smiled slightly at your words, placing his hand atop your own which had moved from his back to his shoulder as you spoke.

"Thank you. For always being there for me." You smiled and placed a quick yet soft kiss to his forehead "you can always count on me to be there whenever you need me to, I promise" without further words he returned to your embrace a content sigh leaving his lips.

Knowing his has you by his side, always there, makes him feel invincible, like nothing could ever harm him. You can and will save Narnia like you did once, together.

[cressthebest]

Crimson Rivers thoughts pt. 9

chapter 16:

1. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 mulciber

2. ew. why does mulciber have to be clever?

3. holy shit. james thought reg died, so he brutally murdered mulciber. and kept chipping away even once the cannon sounded. holy shit

4. thank GOD they’re both reunited and hugging right now

5. not the note that sirius put in the canister 😭😭😭😭 “baby”. like, that was so passive aggressive and for what reason

6. oh got it. it’s a code to regulus as a tip to fake a relationship for the cameras

7. awww james brushes his thumb across reg’s cheek to apply salve. but also, that’s such a tender moment

8. ugly sobbing. james just misses sirius

9. AGAIN i will forever cry over what evan meant to regulus

10. god poor sirius. he had another memory lapse. that hurts.

11. (also the way sirius was able to note that ref genuinely has feelings for james because he’d never purposefully show soppy emotions like that to the world. so clearly calling james “baby” was an accident)

12. awww sirius offers to show his scars if remus shows his. that’s such an intimate thought

13. i feel bad that sirius has to do damage control for reg’s grief over evan

14. god, it’s the fact that both of effie and monty’s children had to go through the arena.

15. awww lyall and hope lupin’s love story is so sweet

16. AWWWWW crying again! sirius is going to tell effie and monty all about remus

17. “Remus glances over at Sirius and smiles slightly, because if there's one thing that Hope and Lyall taught him about love, it's that a happy middle is just as special.” 😧😧 what? and i’m supposed to be okay after reading that? like, i’m supposed to be okay?

chapter 17:

1. OMG WHAT??? LILY POV????

2. not the chapter starting with comments about how big lily’s boobs are 😭😭 also, i’m but a simple girl. i am now thinking about her boobs too

3. 😧 lily is connected to dorcas? and knew about fabian and gideon?? ARE WE GONNA GET TO SEE LILY EVANS??

4. OMG SHE LIVES IN THE PHOENIX WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO DISTRICT THIRTEEN!!! FUCK YEAH (also i hope that this means that dumbledore’s death will be parallel to Coin)

5. lily is a menace and i love her for it

6. NO lily thinks remus is dead! babe, i promise you he’s alive! and he misses you too! everyday!

7. girl this is NOT dumbledores place. who gave him the right to tell that to lily? it’s not his place to say that she doesn’t have anyone left to love. doesn’t matter that it’s true. it’s not his damn place

8. eleven tributes left in the arena. gods i’m so worried

9. NOOO MOLLY!! THIS IS SO SAD

10. i’m still not okay over fab and gid’s deaths. and i’m still curious as to why

11. GIRL WHAT THE FUCK?? molly just started choking dorcas. i get she’s angry, but like, goddamn

12. AHHHHH they were involved in the order of the phoenix!!! that’s why!!!

13. sirius is watching james breathe on screen and is MATCHING his breathing. that really hurts and i can’t pinpoint why, but it does

14. james talking to sirius through the screen hurts so badly. he just misses his best friend. he says sirius is the strongest person he knows. everything hurts

15. “"Another word out of you, and I'll put my hands down yours just to rip your fucking cock off," Regulus hisses” LMAOOOOO

16. wolfstar banter >>>>>>>

17. “"I'd take being something with you over being everything with anyone else," Sirius tells him.” jfc i’m not okay after reading that. that sentence summarizes ALL of wolfstar perfectly

18. WOLFSTAR??? KISS?? OH BOY I AM BLESSED TONIGHT!!

19. dear lord i do not believe in, protect wolfstar in this lifetime and give them a happy ending

[bohemian-nights]

https://www.tumblr.com/drakaripykiros130ac/732901209272467456/i-am-just-loving-the-so-called-concern-tg-stans

This is how I find out an anti-nettles tag exists of Tumblr people are so shallow minded and miss the point George's original story people really think just because these dumbass show runner decided the race-bend an entire group of characters for cheap brownie points of representation that it means Nettles no longer matters like no, it may no longer be about race just because the writers are trying to force feminism onto Rhaenyra's character but it's still about class. A low born orphan at just the age of 17 was capable of doing what dozens of well trained knights failed to do. She survived one of the biggest civil wars in Westeros history, she had one of the last surviving dragons of the dance (who cares who's the biggest, oldest, most shiny etc etc it was Nettles and her dragon that outlived them all in the end) AND she was capable if creating an entire culture around herself (the tribes could've easily over powdered her but instead chose to worship and respect her) mind you all she had was a dragon, she had no titles just her name. Also, she's a few of the very few characters in the books that show care and remorse, she mourned Jace someone she barely knew and cried for Driftmark despite having lived a life previously where she was mistreated and starving on the streets. I swear these Dumbnyra stans deserve their names (Dumbnyra), and just because some of us are pro-Nettles, it doesn't automatically make use of team Green, Team Green can kick rocks as well because they are such hypocrites, whining and complaining about how their fav characters were stripped of importance and reduced to a singular thing yet they turn around and strip Nettles's character as a gotcha moment towards to Dumbnyra stans, as if her relationship with Daemon is the only thing important to her character. These stans also need to realize the Nettles is one of George's favorite characters whose stories he'd like to continue.

👆🏽That’s for the fact that this racist(who I should mention I’m blocked by for no reason🤣) actually knows how to tag things properly. I’ll give her that, but who exactly died and made her an authority on Black representation?

Dumbnyra stans this is exactly why people keep calling you people racists:

Do tell me how white a** Alys Rivers(no disrespect, but come on) had more purpose than a girl who shows that Targaryen supremacy is a lie? The girl that shows you don’t need Valyrian blood to claim a dragon.

The girl that George himself said he wanted to write a novella on(never heard him say that about Alys, Addam, Alyn, any of the other dragonseeds, Rhaena, and Baela)🤷🏽‍♀️

They are so blinded by the fact that she “ruins” Dumbnyra(which isn’t what they claim it is which is why they are scared sh*tless of her being on a show they claim doesn’t matter) that they make up lies about Nettles being the most irrelevant character in Fire & Blood.

This can never be irrelevant/unimportant/unnecessary/whatever else you want to say to demean her:

That happened long after the Dance boo boo(when Missy Anne’s a** was long dead 😊).

And if the one who wrote that garbage happens to be reading this(because I know you people are stalking me), f*ck you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You've crossed the line.

You’re a bigot. You have no right to speak on Black representation let alone say we are good on representation that doesn’t even affect you and that you have no understanding of.

And you definitely don’t care about representation because if you did you wouldn’t want Rhaena who has her own arc to replace Nettles who according to you wasn’t Daemon’s lover. If she’s just his daughter or his mentee, well then you have nothing to be worried about. Her presence on the show shouldn’t disrupt your putrid little white supremacist ship or make Missy Anne look bad since what happened at Maidenpool was all a big misunderstanding and Mysaria’s fault😊 You shouldn’t give a second thought to her.

Yes, Black people care about this issue(and even if some of us are a part of Team Green because that’s the majority I see from Team Green actually caring about her, then so what🙃).

Do you see how we are portrayed by the media? Do you see what happens to Black characters in TV shows and movies? To Black women characters? Do you see how they are treated by production and the fandom?

What you people are doing isn’t new. Just look at The Bear, Sleepy Hollow, Vampire Diaries, Star Trek, Star Wars, GOT(see how Missandei was done), and Marvel fandoms(there are more than that I’m just too tired to get into it).

The moment there is even a hint of a possibility that a Black woman might be in a relationship with the fandom hottie, hell the moment a Black woman doesn’t have a stereotypical role, all hell breaks loose and you people look for every excuse and spout out the same tired crap on why so and so is irrelevant, is a terrible character, doesn’t need a man, needs to be cut, should be killed off, should be replaced, etc.

So just because you don’t care doesn’t mean we should accept scraps, or our “irrelevant” characters being cut, or swapped out with race-bent characters. Black people aren’t all the same sweetie and we deserve more than what you feel we do.

If that’s too much for your diminutive brain to handle why don’t we just combine Ulf and Hugh? It’s not too late to cut out one of the two’s roles in post-production. After all, they serve the same role and they are both white.

You know what? How about we combine Black Aly and Jeyne Arryn while we are at it😀

Should we view Helaena and Rhaenyra as the same? I have a hard time telling them apart since they are both white and blonde. They should wear name tags that way we don’t get them confused 🙃

Let me stop there.

Sorry for ranting anon, but I’m so tired of the disrespect. Like how does one character who’s supposedly so unimportant cause so much uproar?

I go in on Dumbnyra stans a lot(and that person shows exactly why), but you are right that all sides of this fandom treat Nettles like she’s trash. If it’s not saying she’s a plot device sent to ruin Dumbnyra from Team Black and that anyone Black can replace her it’s how Team Green is so worried about her being abused and how maybe it’s for the best she gets cut.

Their behavior is utterly disgusting. It's anti-Black, but no one takes anti-Blackness and especially not misogynoir seriously.

Nettles may be a secondary character, but she’s the most important secondary character during the Dance. She starts out literally homeless. She claims Sheepstealer by determination, not by blood. She’s the only one to claim a wild dragon. The only non-Valyrian dragonrider that we know of.

She gets the Rogue Prince to fall in love with her to the point where he’s willing to die for her and disobeys his wife’s orders to save her. She survives the Dance with a dragon intake. Becomes a fire witch and is worshipped by a mountain clan in the Mountains of the Moon(she’s still worshipped by them during the main series). Her legacy is cemented.

I love her relationship with Daemon, but she’s so much more than just Daemon’s love. She’s a survivor. She’s the final girl. She would be seen as special as she is if she was white.

A character like her will never not be needed especially in a world where the representation of Black women in media, particularly fantasy stories, is still pretty bleak.

[mari-lair]

What’s your opinion on the newest chapter bc that ending caught me tf off guard (if ykyk)

I love this chapter it’s so cool! I like that Mitsuba is helping Kou, and that Hanako the leader of the ghosts, was scared of the middle schooler’s haunted house. I also appreciate that everyone was together instead of the usual mitsukou/hananene split up. (They did split up by the end of the chapter again...but I’ll take what I can get.)

This part was nice too.

I wasn’t expecting it, but it makes sense Mitsuba wants to push Kou to be with Nene considering this is his mentality recently.

MY AWFUL TRIO IS HERE TOO!

Aoi has a herbs tea stand! LOOK AT HER! I forgot there are more people in the gardening club besides her uiyguyg

AND AKANE USED A HEART IN HIS SPEECH BUBBLE?? This boy really is down bad, he gets rejected when he already knows Aoi likes him back but he keep looking at the bright side (he is so genuinely happy thinking about how cute she is when she’s shy. He is adorable.)

He cried a river when he was rejected what a loser, and Aoi is so blushy when she turns him down, she looks almost troubled?? Is she angry she can’t bring herself to agree? Is she troubled she already agreed to go with Teru? Idk but she is adorable. They are so stupid, they make my heart melt.

SPEAKING OF TERU, I love how he happily (threatened) invited Aoi on a date while confident Akane will be there. My bars are very low I am absolutely counting this as a terukaneaoi date LET’S GOO

Love how Aoi is scared and nervous but the idea Akane will be there too calm her down. She had fun the last time they hung out as a trio so I am excited!

(I won’t be surprised if the broadcasting club scheming makes it so they end up not having this tour, but my disappointment will be immeasurable.)

Teru was amazing this chapter on his own too, look at this bastard. He got an ego.

Not that I can blame him, any 17 year old would reach this conclusion when their class consistently worship him as a prince and made A WHOLE SUCCESSFUL VENUE?? WITH MERCHANDISE TOO?? HELP?? He is so chill about it “oh I was surprised when they suggested” BUT NO PROTESTS? Akane is right, he is a shameless guy.

(I wonder if Teru gets money out of it...? Since they are selling his image/’brand’. I hope he does. Can you imagine Teru  telling his dad “oh yeah, half of my fortune comes from exorcism, half comes from my venue.” )

And hey, Tiara and kunishide are here!  That’s nice, love to see them again! :D

You know who else is here? Sousuke’s mom! THE QUEEN IS HERE! LET HER THROUGH!!! I DID NOT EXPECT TO EVER SEE HER AGAIN, MY BELOVED!

I’m interested in how Mitsuba will deal with a ‘mom’ he never had. He no longer seems obsessed with Sousuke, the manga itself treats Sousuke as a thing of the past (Kou even fully accepted his death in chapter 74) so her presence is BIG.

I wonder if the mom will be able to see Mitsuba, and bring more info on Sousuke, or explore both her and Mitsuba’s characters. Mitsuba does feel like he has no ‘family’ after all. And Sousuke’s mom, who lost her son and husband, also has no family, but unlike Mitsuba, she used to have. Add in Mitsuba’s relationship with his own identity and I am definitively intrigued by what her role in this arc will be.

The ending caught me off guard too, I thought the broadcasting club wanted to control time not destroy it, even if it does make sense, considering their end goal is every yorishiro's destruction.

And this part made me realize we never saw Natsuhiko bleed before, and it explains how he consistently gets out of dangerous or tricky situations that while not deadly for an immortal would have been very hard to escape if his power was merely 'durability'.

He can’t lose, even a supernatural’s ‘victory’ where he gets eaten will result in them being corroded from the inside out. Since Natsuhiko can’t die, blood loss isn’t a problem either, he is a neverending poison machine. Love that for him.

[elamimax]

Karlach's Happy Ending

because I hated her ending, and even more when I found out it's because the endings where you actually get to help her are cut content. So I wrote one of my own for those of us who are peeved that our big strong girlfriend didn't get the sendoff she deserved. (Also on ao3 now)

“We did it, Soldier. The city’s going to be all right. And so are you.”

Karlach turned around to face Tav, the sun low in the sky behind her, framing her ever-burning hair. She was as beautiful as the first time they’d met, down by the river, what felt like years ago now. Had it really only been a matter of weeks? That didn’t feel right. That didn’t feel right at all. 

Tav had only known her for only so short a time and now she was going to lose her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. All she could do as the giant woman, this indestructible, powerful titan of a woman fell to her knees, groaning in pain as fire began to overtake her, all Tav could do, was rush over in a powerless panic.

“Engine’s finally cooked,” Karlach said. “Held on just long enough.” She was gasping for air now. Thoughts of Karlach’s weakness were drowned out by the helpless, impotent fury of it all. Her Karlach, for not nearly long enough of a time. But the tiefling wasn’t going to let her sit with her thoughts. “So,” she asked, forcing herself to smile and sound optimistic despite everything. “H-how’d I do?” 

“You were spectacular,” Tav said, forcing the words through her teeth. “In every way.” She hated saying every word of it, not because it wasn’t true but because she could only say them and not feel them, show them through touch and kiss and teeth and all the things that had marked her relationship with Karlach, every second they had been able to touch savoured like it was the last thing either of them would ever do. 

“I’m sorry, am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous?” 

Tav’s head spun around like it was on a swivel. Astarion stood off to the side, nursing a bloody lip with a handkerchief. He was intruding. He had to know. He had to know now was a bad time. Sure, he was a Vampire Ascendant now, whatever that might mean, and he thought it was funny to tell kids they were about to die, but Karlach was his friend too, damn it! Let them have their grief!

“Now is not the time,” Shadowheart admonished him. 

“No,” the vampire said, stepping forward. “Now is exactly the time.” He looked almost offended at Karlach’s scream of pain as the engine in her chest burned ever brighter. “I thought you were going to pull something outrageous out of your ridiculous behind at the last possible moment, but no! You’re all just going to stand around feeling sorry for yourselves! It’s ridiculous!”

“I’m not going back to Avernus,” Karlach groaned between her teeth.

“For the love of– No!” Astarion said, shoving Tav off to the side like she wasn’t even there. This bastard, this pale-skinned bastard was going to ruin her last chance to say goodbye! “Karlach!” he said. “Do you trust me?”

“I… Do I have a choice?”

He bit his lip which, Tav realised, probably hurt him more than most, then closed his eyes and shook his head. “This goes against my better judgement, but… yes. Yes, you do, darling.”

“Then - I - guess - I - do,” Karlach huffed. 

“Good,” Astarion said, smiling like a child in a candy shop. “Could you be a dear and count to three for me?”

“One,” Karlach said, and Astarion shoved his hand between her ribs. It sounded like a chicken being opened from the inside. It was the most horrifying sound Tav had ever heard up until about two months ago. Her threshold for disgusting sounds had been significantly raised since then. 

Reality seemed to set back in as she looked at Astarion, his hand up to his wrist in Karlach’s chest, and she jumped up, shoving him away from her. On his back, unceremoniously and undignified, he had the gall to grin at her. 

“Ta-dah,” he said, and held up a metal sphere. It was steaming. Something hissed and Tav realised it was the sound of Astarion’s blood boiling. “Fuck,” he shouted and tossed it into the bay, where the Elder Brain floated gently in the waves. 

“Karlach!” Tav yelled as she dropped down next to her. She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving. 

“What in the hells were you thinking?!” Shadowheart screamed behind her, grabbing Astarion by the collar.

“You’re a cleric!” he scolded her, and pointed at Karlach. “Do your job!”

“I can’t just heal her! Growing back an organ would require–”

“It would require what?” Astarion said, mocking her. “Loyalty to a deity that has chosen you, specifically? Oh, if only we had someone like that on hand! If only we had someone who could call upon divine intervention to give one single person a regular heart! If only–”

Shadowheart was already on her knees and praying, and a beam of moonlight slammed down on Karlach so hard it seemed to have actual weight to it. 

Tav had expected something… spectacular. Sparks. A light show. Instead, Karlach’s wound slowly closed, there was a moment of quiet, pregnant silence, and then the tiefling shot up, crashing forehead-first into her, there was a hollow -thunk- and both of them fell back clutching their head. 

Karlach was the first to recover. She sat up and looked down. For the first time in a decade, her chest wasn’t glowing. Her body wasn’t generating so much heat the whole world was covered in a light shimmer. For the first time in years, she felt like… herself again. What had been done to her had been heinous but she had, in some way, convinced herself that she had gotten used to it. Now, like getting over a cold you didn’t even know you had, there was a weight that had been lifted. 

She took a deep, cool breath, and cried.

Tav was around her neck, too relieved for anything more coherent than a need for proximity. They laughed. 

“What did you say to Selûne?” Karlach asked.

“If I’m honest,” Shadowheart replied, “I only managed about four words before she finished the prayer for me. I rather think she likes us.”

“Well,” Astarion said. “I do believe a thank you is in order.”

Karlach stood up and walked over to him. “Astarion, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but… thank you.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “I owe you my life.”

“So about my reward–”

“That hurt like hell, and you’re a prick,” Karlach finished with a smile, and shoved him back into the harbour. 

[nokomiss]

For a prompt: How about JaySteph, established relationship, hijacking a boat (you can pick what kind) for a mission.

@hollie47 I hope you enjoy!

“I feel like that’s the wrong thing to do,” Steph said. “Like. Morally. I get your bigger-picture talk but. Come on.”

“It’s just temporary,” Jason argued. “We’ll bring it right back.”

Steph gave him a look. “When have we ever returned anything we requisitioned in its original form?”

“I mean.” Jason said, thinking. “Once I brought the Batmobile back with a full tank of gas.”

“And missing a fender,” Steph said. “I remember that clearly, because it got brought up the next time I asked to borrow the Batmobile.”

Jason sighed. “I just really don’t want to swim, y’know? Do you know how heavy this outfit is?”

“Mine’s not exactly a bikini either,” Steph said.  The river flowed sluggishly, and it would be doable to swim, but Jason brought up a good point there. She also knew from his previous bitching that not all of his supplies were waterproofed, and she felt like that was a bigger factor. Just not one he wanted to say out loud in public, for fear of rogues with water guns. 

Water balloons? She tried to remember if she’d ever come up against someone throwing evil water balloons and drew a blank.

She turned her attention back to the boat. Well, canoe. It belonged to the troop of Girl Scouts snoozing in their tents in a nearby clearing; they had taken care to avoid the group. The den mothers were still awake, sitting around the fire chatting quietly, and here were Steph and Jason, contemplating stealing what was clearly their transport back to civilization.  

“We have to bring it back,” she said firmly. Taking down a human trafficker was important, but stranding a group of Girl Scouts in the forest was decidedly not great. “Like. In working condition.”

“It’s a canoe, how hard will that be?” Jason asked. He shot her a grin that made Steph a little weak in the knees, not that she would ever tell him that, because only an idiot would hand Jason Todd a weapon like that.

She climbed in, and after a few moments of fumbling they figured out the whole paddling rhythm, and soon they were on the other shore and chasing down the bad guy.

Which went fine!

Steph was pretty proud of the fact that they got both the trafficker and his contact, and they rescued four teenagers, and all of that was very, very good.

Unfortunately, though. Unfortunately…  The vigilante curse had struck again.

She and Jason stood on the bank of the river after having arranged for the pickup of their captures, had handed over the evidence, and had done a by-the-books job! Except for one minor detail.

“When the hell did it even catch on fire?” Jason despaired, looking at the canoe. “It’s in water.”

It was still smoking, the flames having been doused as soon as they’d gotten there.  Ironically enough, Steph and Jason were now soaked through, having been forced to dive into the water to splash river water directly onto the flames.  

“Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks?” Jason said doubtfully. “Let’s get the water out of it.”

They tipped it enough to get the water out, then settled the canoe back into the water.  Immediately water gurgled back into it from a gaping hole in the bottom. “Yeah, this guy’s toast. Burnt toast. We should go tell the Girl Scouts.”

“We’re not waking up a bunch of nine year olds to tell them we killed their canoe,” Jason said. “I refuse.”

“We can’t just leave them!” Steph argued. The canoe dipped deeper into the water. “We have to replace it.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Jason said.

A few calls to some slightly shady people Jason was familiar with later – neither willing to call Babs in, unwilling to face the level of mockery that she would send their way – and forty five minutes of sitting on the river bank contemplating what to do with the charred remains of the canoe later, a boat was delivered.

A pontoon boat. It was big enough to host a small party. 

“Thanks,” Jason said, staring at the boat. “That’s… exactly what I wanted. Good work.”

“You got it, boss,” said the guy who was absolutely not a goon because Jason didn’t employ those any more said, and merrily went about his way, oblivious to the concept of sarcasm.

“Good help is hard to find,” Steph said, patting him on the arm.

They left a “Sorry about your canoe :(“ banner pinned to the side of the pontoon, decided to leave give the canoe a burial at sea so the Girl Scouts wouldn’t be distressed at the sight of their canoe’s sad remains, and left it at that.

And they would have left it at that! 

But the next night Babs called them both in to check out a lead on something, and when they arrived at the Clocktower, they were greeted with multiple headlines displayed prominently on some of Oracle’s biggest screens, ranging from positive (Girls Scouts Receive Gift From Mysterious Benefactor!) to bland (Girl Scouts’ Missing Canoe Replaced With Pontoon) to derisive (Thief Destroys Girl Scout Property).

“Hi Babs, lookin’ good today!” Steph said, trying her best to ignore the headlines.

“Really, Steph? Flattery?” Babs said, raising an eyebrow.

Steph shrugged. It sometimes worked! Granted, not on Babs. She looked over at Jason, who was cleaning under his nails with a batarang. It was definitely her batarang, specifically her goop-a-rang. She wondered if she should tell him the danger he was in, then decided against it. He was putting a lot of effort into not looking Babs in the eye, after all. She didn’t want to ruin it.

“I can’t believe I have to say this, but guys, you can’t steal from Girl Scouts. Or any other children. Actually, let’s just keep stealing off the table altogether.” Babs looked like she was lecturing wayward children.  

Steph protested, “We were going to give it back!”

Babs raised an eyebrow.

Jason continued to not look anyone in the eye. 

“It was Jason’s idea!” Steph added. “Also, I’m not even sure how it caught on fire? But it was beyond repair. So we replaced it!”

“You could have replaced it with something that wasn’t wildly conspicuous and created headlines I’m having to monitor!” Babs said. Steph got the impression Babs was fighting the urge to stick out her tongue. 

Shift the blame time, then. “Again, Jason’s fault,” Steph said. “His goon needs training.”

Jason mouthed the word goon before saying defensively, “I don’t have goons!” 

“That guy was absolutely a goon.”

“He’s a buddy! He did the best he could!” Jason said, looking as though he couldn’t believe he was defending a goon to them.

Babs took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Leave. Both of you, just…leave. And don’t do this again!”

“We won’t!” Steph promised, and grabbed Jason by the arm to drag him out the door. “Love ya! Bye!”

After all, what are the odds that anything about that scenario would happen again?

Two Months Later:

Steph stared down at the burning remains of the canoe. “Jason, did you do this on purpose?”

“You know I didn’t!” Jason hissed back. “It was Firefly!”

“Babs is going to kill us,” Steph said blankly. “We promised her.”

“So I hear that the Caribbean is nice this time of year,” Jason said. “A few hurricanes, but…”

“Pick an island, I’m there.”

[allamericanb-tch]

crimson rivers thoughts (19)

@tastetherainbow290 this was CRAZY and very long i read A LOT

chapter 51

"I love him so much. It tears me apart that I can't make him see just how special he is." i need a james

james and remus being friends

“The Hallows would sooner believe Sirius fell in love with the actual moon before they believed he fell in love with a servant” 😭😭

these fools need to hug each other

they told each other their birthdays! look at them opening up to each other

sirius is so cute just talking to the moon

lily mention 

regulus being mad bc he fell asleep on sirius 😭

“Sirius will sleep when he's dead, and hey, that'll probably arrive for him sooner rather than later. Silver lining? Bad joke.” YEAH IT WAS A BAD JOKE

day three! they’re going to escape today right? i hope 

sibling moment

more weird creatures?!

AUGUSTA NO

SHE LIVES!!! huzzah alice

yes emmeline 

“"You know," Sirius muses, "if James were here, he'd be beat-boxing right now."” sirius’ name is so ironic bc that man is NEVER serious 😭

regulus calling james his fiancé ❤️‍🩹

sirius 😭

“I am going to be sexy until the day I die” yes you are sirius

“Did he know he was engaged prior to Regulus announcing it when he sent the bagel? No. Is he going to protest it? Also no.” james is the realest ever

WHAT ARE THEY DOING

i’m gonna cry omg

i know regulus makes it but why would they torment him like this. 

evan 💔

YES

i am jumping with joy rn

chapter 52

boggarts?!

oh no so many warnings for this chapter

dorcas!

lucius?! 

the boggart 😧

oh!

they’re making into a competition of course they are

"You remind me of my Alphard. He cared so much it killed him." 💔

biological warfare 😧

VANITY 💔

sirius lost regulus AGAIN?!

oh!

narcissa?!

vanity 💔

JAMES?!

oh it’s a boggart

poor reg he just can’t catch a break

this is so sad omg i am actually going to cry

marlene!!!!! huzzah!!!

cannibalism as a metaphor for love 

“she could have put it though his chest. he wishes she did.” 💔

fiancé 🤭

oh no

AUGUSTA 💔

i’m crying omg

i love alice

this is so sad

poor frank omg 💔

oh no bellatrix has found sirius

no he’s dissociating 

i know sirius is alive but OMG

bellatrix doing what she does in order of the phoenix when she kills sirius ah stop it don’t do this to me

rip bellatrix black you will not be missed 🙏 

HE LIVES!!!!!

“bellatrix died with tears on her cheeks” WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT

alice ☹️

poor frank omg 

“we’re starting a war” AHHHH i love you dorcas

chapter 53

narcissa ☹️

james finding out about his district ☹️

oh i forgot about mary i hope she is safe

i forgot dorcas didn’t know about remus

oh!

i really hope remus didnt leave omg

effie!!!!

lily what

“Euphemia passes her thumb over the letter in her pocket and really, really hopes that Remus is included in that.” we are all hoping

mary! she is safe

the great hall 😯

enemies to lovers marylily endgame?!

sybill 😭

i still am confused on so bingley is

kingsley and sybill love

barty and amos 😭😭

“i don’t even like men” “you do not darling” i love barty

sybill is HILARIOUS how did she not know she was in a relationship with someone

sybill telling everyone about their Secret mission

barty too?! okay everyone’s just getting in on this i guess

barty seducing amos into letting them go on the mission he is So Funny i love him so much 

thunderbird thieves ATE

oh no james what happened

REMUS LEFT NO

poor pandora ☹️ she has to leave her dying father behind that is so sad

uh oh 😧

james saving the day as always

revolution!

lily: “we have this under control.” meanwhile everyone in the background screaming that they’re all going to die 😭

the ring is a tracker!

dorcas being a prepared queen 

“"You're crazy," Rodolphus states. "I like crazy." "I like women," Dorcas replies. "Only."” icon behavior i love dorcas so much

rodolphus being a respectful king

mission mission mission

oh no the password

POPPY!

marlene what are you doing

oh no no no no

they got regulus thank god but they can’t leave sirius behind

oh no oh no oh no

why would you end the chapter like this

guys my heart is beating so fast rn i’m not even joking and i have to end here bc i have to go back to school ahhhh 

chapter 54

oh no everything is going wrong

dorcas literally Killing It

“At one point, James runs out of bullets, looks at his gun, then just throws it at the Auror in front of him” 😭

remus kill count: 2

eek

james and his bleeding heart

FRANK NO

dorcas telling james about sirius why is this chapter so sad

james what are you doing

oh. remus doesn’t know about sirius

barty 😭

marlene 😧

MARLENE!!!!!

ugh snape

voldy 😧

sirius in azkaban that is FOUL

chapter 55

kingsley 💔

poor andromeda ☹️

effie ❤️‍🩹

i’m gonna cry ahhhh

LILY

oh no

poor remus omg 💔

“revived six years later just to disintegrate before her very eyes.” oh

lowkey forgot about aberforth

boooo dumbledore 🍅🍅🍅

chapter 56

sirius being chronically bored

sirius calling voldy a dead fish 😭

sirius is a certified yapper

sirius just. swallowing voldy’s blood 😭

WHO IS BINGLEY

OHHH HES MARY’S BROTHER

marylily? marylily. 

remus and lily friendship ❤️‍🩹

lily being in love with mary <3

effie ❤️‍🩹

marlene ☹️

barty and rodolphus? okay

opulent another vocab word

JAMES

chapter 57

of course it didn’t pick up with james’ pov. 

pandora being an oblivious queen 😭

dorcas being lily’s The One That Got Away ☹️

lily 😭

lily ☹️

mary next ahhhh

kiss kiss kiss

afhhhhh i need jegulus happenings its been too long

this is so sad ☹️☹️☹️

“aturally, Regulus freezes like a startled hare under the gaze of a watchful wolf.” get it bc remus is a werewolf

nooo don’t fight

yay they’re friends again 

"Dumbledore of the Albus variety” 😭

JAMES?!

james….

“and he's so nervous and full of anxious anticipation that he's struck with the impulse to beat-box.” JAMES 😭😭😭

sirius 😧

“you’re hot” then sirius 😭😭

"Are you, like, allergic to prison?" 

prongsfoot is prongsfooting

☹️

chapter 58

ALBUS AND ARIANA WERE IN THE SAME HUNGER GAMES?!

ALBUS VOLUNTEERED FOR ABERFORTH?!

side note — i love that their names are albus and aberforth and then theres just 💫ariana💫

regulus is learning all the lore

so grindelwald killed ariana? and that’s why albus killed him?

albus dumbledore, always pacing in his office. 

regulus is so regulus

"If I can't persuade the leader in you, then let me persuade the man who knows what it is to be in love, let me persuade the brother you are. I love James, and Sirius is my brother. Please."

"We have a deal."  HUZZAH!

dora you are a little icon 

sprout! 

trojan horse 😧

ahhhh wolfstar and jegulus happenings will be happening soon 

marleneee don’t be mean to the love of your life

this is sad

i’m giving you an all tomato. which means you give me the whole tomato, or else.

they’re swapping…. please don’t die marlene

the way mary and sirius are always together briefly in every fanfic 

MARYLILY KISS!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!! a cheek kiss but a kiss nonetheless 

barty 😭😭

oh regulus

effie 😭 god i love her

barty is so barty 

DID HE JUST BREAK SOME RANDO’S ARM 😭 REGULUS WHAT THE HECK MAN valid honestly. defend your man’s honor.

“needless to say regulus ends up in solitary” yeah we all saw that coming

aberforth! he’s really starting to grow on me

regulus is so regulus

pomona having an Extensive Wine Collection is so real

why does marlene have it out for lily (i mean i know why but they need to Be Friends)

oh are they Being Friends now?

yes they are and i love them ❤️‍🩹

chapter 59

ugh snape

why is this literally the red scare

OH WAIT is severus dumbledore’s ‘source’

“Potter is a fool, no doubt about it, but he isn't the biggest fool in this room. No, that honor goes to Riddle.” bars

did anyone else stop breathing when they read the suffocation part

"Now, I present you with my own to do something that's very on brand for James and I, which is me arguing with literally everything he just said."

“Oh, yeah, Sirius remembers what he did. He got sexy.” 😭😭 sirius 

“My pasta is calling my name, you have no idea." ME FR

of course remus is volunteering to go get sirius

😧

sirius you did not just say “welp” 😭😭😭

i miss evan 💔

oh!

i hate that remus knows exactly where sirius is but also yay for the mission?

sirius nooo

eeeeee they’re kissing but can they Get Out Of There

"He never got to eat his pasta." 😭

dead body chute 💀

ok severus

ok i have to read another chapter…

chapter 60

james 😧

dorcas is So In Love and i lover i love dorlene

pomona 💔

i hope this has a happy ending 

"The world doesn't revolve around me, Dorcas." "Mine does." I LOVE DORLENE

bingley!

i love bingley and lily being friends

MARYLILY!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!! ITS HAPPENING!!!!!!

oh?

“hope can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light.” dumbledore core

they’re immune ?!

DID SIRIUS GET IMMUNITY FROM INGESTING VOLDYS BLOOD 😭

regulus climbed the tree?! i am proud of him ❤️‍🩹

i’m crying

“he needs his glasses”

effie ☹️

“Before Regulus ever found the sun in James, Sirius was the brightest light he knew; his guiding star.” ❤️‍🩹

crying still

chapter 61

james pov!

he’s high 😭

“no! my skin” 😭😭

“what did the big flower say to the little flower? hey there bud” james im in love with you

“I love you because you're you. And you—you're my friend, Remus.” ❤️‍🩹

"We're alone, love." ahhhhhhh jegulus is So Back

baby

molly got glasses for james omg 

fab and gid 💔

eeee they’re kissing 

"I love you, James. I loved you from the start, I love you now, and I'll love you for as long as love is something that exists—and, if it ever stops existing, I'll reinvent it just for you."

🎶confess i loved you from the start🎶

remu and sirius

sirius you can’t just tell remus you think you should break up ?!

no don’t break up ?!

remus 😧

huzzah!

they’re kissing again

should i end here while it’s happy(ish)? i think i will i read so much today

[im-not-a-l0ser]

Her: Chapter One.

I haven't been able to decide if this is worth publishing, so here's chapter one of that story I posted the prologue for. This is from Richie's pov though, as will be the next one.

Please please give me feedback on this, please. It would mean so much to me.

CW- Blatant Gender Stereotypes, Boy Jerry and Girl Jeri being the worst, transphobia, queerphobia, impulsive decisions, parental arguing

She'd have to go to her uncle Jerry's just about every week. Her parents were working, and Jerry either wasn't, or could take her with him, being a journalist and all. 

She used to look up to her uncle Jerry. She thought what he did was so cool. 

In the summers, her parents took turns for who would go to work on the weekends, always telling her that Uncle Jerry was away. She didn’t know why. 

Until she turned thirteen. That was when Uncle Jerry decided she was old enough to learn about sex and gave her a pamphlet on abstinence. 

Nevermind the fact that half the shit in it was fear mongering, which she knew because she'd already gotten sex education from both her mother and her school. It was just a real weird thing to do. 

That's when she learned that those few weeks she was watched by her parents, it was because Jerry was off running an abstinence camp with Jeri, who she immediately figured out he'd had sex with. 

At this point, whenever she came over, she'd be bombarded by Girl Jeri, who claimed it was her job to teach her how to be a proper lady, since her mother obviously wasn't going to. 

She looked down at her clothes when girl Jeri motioned to today, as if they proved her point. 

What was so bad about what she was wearing?

"What's wrong with this?"

"Oh, darling..." Jeri's tone was inherently condescending. "Where did you get those shoes?"

"These?" She looked down at her blue and grey sneakers. "I dunno, they were a gift. They're cool though, I like them."

"Sweetie, look at my shoes." She did. She thought they were called ballet flats? 

"Those don't look very comfortable," She said, narrowing her eyes. Girl Jeri put her hand on her arm. 

"They're not," She said, her hollow voice filled with agony. "But that doesn't matter, since we won't be doing hard work anyway."

"We... what?"

"And these shorts."

"What's wrong with my shorts?" She asked, extra annoyed now. "You wore shorts and sneakers at Camp Idontwannabang, why is it a problem now!"

"Well, we're not in the forest right now, are we?"

"Jesus fucking christ..."

The room went silent at her mutter. She looked up to see both Jerys looking at her with wide eyes. 

"Jerry, why didn't you tell me it was this bad?" Jeri asked, stage whispering. She could hear it very clearly. 

"I didn't know! It's not my fault my brother married a-a seductress! I tried to stop him!" She covered her mouth to muffle her snicker. "I aughta wash her hands in a river!"

It wasn't the weirdest uncle Jerry threat she'd ever heard. 

"Okay sweetie, uh, what about this jacket then?" Jeri asked her, wrapping her hand around the hem. 

"Oh, this isn't mine. I'm borrowing it from a friend. I was really cold the other day, so he's letting me keep it for the weekend.”

“When you say friend, do you mean boyfriend?” Jerry asked.

“I dunno Uncle Jerry, when you say friend, do you mean Girlfriend?” She asked, eyeing the Jerys. 

This certainly threw them off, which definitely proved her theory further. She smirked as they sputtered corrections, saying how she was just so absurd and out of line.

So worth it. 

“That didn’t answer my question,” Jerry said stiffly. 

“I think it did,” She said, “And if it didn’t, maybe you two should talk about your relationship. I mean, who are you to have any dictation over my life and my relationships, if your very own closest relationship is undefined and messy? Won’t that just make my relationships undefined and messy?”

Her relationship with Max was already undefined and messy. They were dating, but they definitely weren’t actually dating. But they still acted like they were dating. They held hands and they held each other close.

Actually, no. She had to remind herself, her relationship with Max wasn’t undefined and messy. They were friends. But publicly, people would think they were dating so that she wouldn’t be harassed as much. 

She looked scrawny, even though she wasn’t. She was lonely, even though she was on the swim team. She often wondered why it was that men on a team together meant automatic friendship, but for women it didn’t mean anything. It just meant that they were on a team. 

Not that swimming was a team sport. Not like football, or soccer, or basketball, or just about any other sport Max was in. 

People thought she’d make a good victim. They didn’t think about how she was best friends with one of the strongest people in town, and that he cared about her enough that he’d fight people who he’d once considered his closest friends. 

In fact, most of the people who harassed her were close to Max. Well, close like guy friends, not close like she and Max were. She knew everything about Max’s home life, what went on with his dad, what happened to his mother, even that he wasn’t even that into sports.

She taught him how to play chess and she allowed him to be childish with her, since his childhood was stolen from him pretty early. 

“Okay, look, none of this is important!” Jeri said, swerving the topic with very little grace, “All I’m saying is that you’re a beautiful girl, why do you wear boy clothes and cover that up.” 

“Because I like ‘boy’ clothes,” She said, explicitly using air quotes to bother them.

“Does your mother wear boy clothes?” Jeri asked exasperatedly. 

“I mean, sometimes?” She responded. “I don’t know what boy clothes are!”

“At least your hair is still long and beautiful,” Jeri said, reaching out to touch her hair. “A woman's hair is her grace of god, you know?” 

“Sure,” She said sarcastically. 

“Maybe we can play with it a little bit. Make you more feminine.” 

“Whatever.” She was just so tired of this already. 

They set up a chair in Jerry’s bathroom, and Jeri dragged her in front of a mirror. The hairbrush pulled painfully and Jeri’s fingernails scraped against her scalp.

When she was dropped off at home, she was exhausted and nauseous. 

She never really had her ‘girlhood’ shoved in her face like that before. Her mom was never like that. Her mom always indulged in her interests and didn’t push anything. The most her dad ever did was nudge her in a girly direction. 

She hadn’t even considered her long hair a girly thing before now. Despite the length, people confused her for a boy all the time. 

Probably had something to do with her oversized clothes and constant layering, otherwise she’d be pinned as a girl immediately. 

“Oh my, pumpkin, you look so beautiful,” Her father said when she walked in. She looked down at the braids falling over her shoulders, one on each. 

“Thanks,” She mumbled. 

She didn’t want to look beautiful. Not like that. 

“Are you okay?” Her mother asked.

“I’m just tired.”

“Okay, well, why don’t you head up to bed. Jerry kept you far too long, you have school tomorrow,” Her father said. 

“One more week!” Her mother said, trying to cheer her up slightly. 

She smiled weakly before climbing the stairs to get to her room. 

When she got there, she plucked the stupid butterfly clips from the top of her dutch braids and let them fall to the floor as her hands moved down to take out the hairthings that held her braids in. Her jaw was tight and her throat hurt. 

She ran her fingers down the length of the braids before shaking her head violently to get rid of them. 

Jeri had recommended sleeping in them, to give them a pretty wave. She actually had curly hair, but it only started when it got down to her chin. 

Granted, she regretted it immediately. She couldn’t decide which was worse, the weight of braids sitting on her shoulders, or the feeling of her hair on her neck. 

She kicked off her shoes and fell onto her bed and tried to sleep. 

She couldn’t say how long she laid there, but when she left her room again, her parents were asleep and all the lights were off. 

She tucked herself back into her bedroom after walking around the quiet house. She shut her door quietly and turned the light on revealing her reflection in the mirror on her door. 

She didn’t feel like she looked like her anymore. She was at peace with her appearance before, but it was different now. 

Now, she associated her hair with femininity, not the warm feeling it gave in the cold michigan winter. She ran her fingers along her jaw, noticing its round appearance for the first time. Max didn’t have a jaw like that. Max’s jaw was square and strong. 

She ran her fingers through her hair, catching the knots. 

She didn’t realise she was holding back tears until her vision blurred. Tears rushed down her face, and she was once again reminded that life is not an anime, and tears don’t fall off your chin, they just drip down your neck. 

You know the fun thing about making your own bookmarks? You have scissors on hand. 

Her desk was right next to her door. And she knew she shouldn’t have done it, but she picked up a pair of scissors, gripped her hair and cut about a third of her hair away. 

And then, with a chunk of hair in one hand, and a pair of crappy craft scissors in the other, she looked at herself again. 

What had she done…

She dropped the scissors and the large chunk of hair and stumbled back onto the floor. She scrambled back until her back was against her bed, still staring at herself in the mirror. She didn’t notice the various items fall to the floor from her desk or her bookshelf or her nightstand as she scrambled back, but it was enough to draw her mother into the room. 

“What…” Her mother stopped talking once the door was open, seeing the sight of her child.

She was sitting with her legs up to her knees, her back resting against the drawers of her bed. Her Asuka pillow had fallen to the floor from her bed, along with trinkets from her shelves and pencils from her desk. 

“Oh my goodness,” He mother breathed, joining her child on the floor. “Honey…” She brushed her fingers along the ends of her child’s hair. “If you wanted to cut your hair, you could’ve just asked,” She said, a bit more lighthearted than it should’ve been. 

“I didn’t know until today,” She said quietly. 

“Oh,” Her mother said. “Well, that’s okay.” 

“I hate the Jerys,” She cried, falling toward her mom. 

“Oh, sweetie,” Her mother responded, “Me too.” 

She was able to laugh through her tears, but only for a moment. 

“Don’t make me go back next weekend,” She pleaded. 

“I won’t,” Her mother responded. “Your dad might fight me on it, but I won’t.”

They stayed like that for a while before they got up and fixed her room. They then moved to the bathroom, where her mom carefully cut off the remaining length of her hair. 

“We can bring you to a salon in the morning, okay?” 

“I…” Her voice creaked again. “Do I have to go back to school in the morning?” She asked. 

“I’m not going to make you go to school like this,” Her mom said, fairly stern. “If you want to, you can, but I won’t make you.”

“Thank you.”

Her mom followed through, taking her to a salon the next day. Luckily, there was no chance of any of her classmates seeing her, since they were all in school and not getting haircuts to help their mental breakdown from the day before. 

Her hair went over her forehead in a very late 2000s, early 2010s fashion, long enough to tuck behind her ear on one side, though she usually just let it rest next to her eye.

She didn’t go back to school the next day either. She mostly just stayed inside and slept. She’d read manga on her phone, despite having physical copies of them on her shelf. She’d eat instant ramen and cereal and whatever her parents prepared for dinner, all in her bedroom.

When her parents arrived home from their respective workplaces, she could hear them fight. 

“I don’t want her going over to Jerry’s anymore, it’s not good for her.”

“The Jerys are only doing what’s best for her. She needs to learn how to be a woman before it’s too late. You never did.”

“There’s no right way to be a woman— and not once has our child stated to us that they are a woman!”

She froze at that.

What else would she be? This was her, this is how she was born, she had to be a woman. 

Even though, when she looked in the mirror now, she felt more comfortable than she’d ever been. Not necessarily comfortable, but more comfortable. 

But, her lack of hair made her focus in on the other things that made her look girly. Her eyelashes and jawline and her figure. She didn’t like those things about her. 

“You have to stop trying to push that stuff on her, she’s going to get something in her head, and we won’t be able to fix it!”

“There wouldn’t be anything to fix! There’d be nothing wrong with them!”

“You already cut her hair, don’t go making her think she can call herself a boy for the rest of her life!”

“They can do whatever they want; it’s their life!”

You: Mom and dad are fighting again

She didn’t click send. She’d typed out many messages to send to Max, and never sent any of them. 

The next day, the fighting started gentler. She had to press her ear to the door in order to hear it.

“Maybe we should talk to your other brother.”

She furrowed her brows. Other brother?

“No, he’s riddled with sin.”

“Jesus— Being bisexual isn’t a sin, it’s just being bisexual.”

“If you can call it that,” Her dad said. “He says he’s bisexual, but I’ve never seen him interested in anyone.”

“I’m just saying, if our child is having trouble with their identity, maybe it would help to bring in someone who’s also struggled with their identity. I mean, come on, you cut him off years ago, just because he likes guys and girls? They’ve never even met, and they’re family.”

“I don’t want her getting sick too.”

“It’s not a sickness!” They heard their mother take a breath. “You don’t have to be a part of it, but I want them to meet.”

“Yeah, well, good luck getting in contact with him.”

Their mom approached them about it the next day.

Apparently they had another uncle named Paul, who their father had cut off when he moved out, for being bisexual. And apparently, it was very easy to get in contact with him. 

This was the same time their mother confided in them that she’d been talking to an attorney to help work through writing a divorce settlement. Which, would actually not be so hard, since their mom was smart enough to get a pre-nup.

“I want you to be able to talk to someone who’s gone through the same thing you’re going through,” Their mother said, “And someone else, in your family, who’s been borderline harassed by the Jerys about their identity? I think that’s pretty darn close.”

“Thank you,” They mumbled. “For… trying.”

“You’re my kid. This is my job.” She scooted closer to them. “The question is, how do you want to introduce yourself to Paul? Because we don’t have to use your name, we can use a different name. We could go for a neutral name for now, I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind if you changed it after that. I won’t.”

“I don’t know. Can I think about it?”

“Of course dear,” She said. “I’ll wait to contact him until you’re ready.”

The next day was the last day of school. 

They got many messages from Max asking where they were, extremely worried. They felt bad.

Not as bad as they knew they should.

What would Max think of them right now? They had no idea. 

That day, they spent on their bed, their laptop on their lap, scrolling through what must’ve been hundreds of neutral names before one caught their eye.

Kai.

[some-zer0]

Dahlia Hawthorne is just... SUCH a good character.

Like, on the one hand, she's such a fun villain. She's cruel, and seems to delight in it, and her appearance lends itself so well to so much cool imagery: the butterflies, the poison, the appearance of an angel vs. the reality of a demon, etc, etc, etc.

But on the other hand, the second you start to dig around in her backstory, she becomes SO nuanced and tragic. She was Morgan's daughter and possibly her eldest, so was she originally slated to be the next Master of Kurain? Did Morgan treat her the same way she treated Pearl? Does she resent Mia at first because Mia got to have that title instead (and then threw it away)?

And she was FOURTEEN when the events that kickstarted the Fawles trial happened. Fawles frames their relationship as one of mutual love but can we really trust him? She was FOURTEEN and he was supposed to be tutoring her. Did she tell Valerie? Did she even plan to make it out of Eagle River? How did she feel when it was Mia -- her own cousin, of all people -- defending him? How did she feel when Diego wouldn't let her leave all of that behind her?

Then she's on death row, and her mother, who she probably hasn't seen since she was a child, is meeting with her not to console her at the end of her life, but to plot revenge. And what else can Dahlia say? What else does she have, except revenge? She's tried so hard to run away from her bad luck, and be someone she isn't, and all that she's gotten for her efforts is a grave she dug herself.

Except even THAT doesn't go right, and the last thing she sees is her cousin telling her that she can never change. She is forever trapped as Dahlia Hawthorne -- a girl whose own identity and hopes we never really get to know.

(Does she even remember what they were herself?)

[punk4ndisorderly]

light on

The one where Y/N is the daughter of a legendary Team USA coach and used to attend the development program with the boys. 8 years after they last saw each other in person, a reunion brings Jack and Y/N back into each other’s lives... and hearts.

if you keep the light on, i'll keep the light on

XVII XVIII - cage the songbird XIX

“Okay, so she totally ran out on you?” Luke asked, not taking his eyes off the flat screen.

“She left, yes.” his older brother replied.

“You must be a really bad kisser, bro.”

“Shut up.” Jack grumbled, throwing him a pillow.

Luke chuckled loudly in response, continuing to press down the controller’s various buttons, trying hard to beat the usual winner.

“You’re a weird dude.”

“Hmm?”

“You seem to be really calm about this whole ordeal. I’d freak if I were you.” the younger sibling shrugged.

“Really?” Jack smirked, raising an eyebrow. “And why’s that?”

“You do the whole big gesture thing, under the moonlight, dancing to a ginger dude’s song and she still decided to sprint like Bolt.”

“Jesus, Moose.” the Devils' player chuckled. “You’re such a drama queen.”

“No, I’m not.” Luke screeched, feigning hurt. “I just don’t get it.”

“I completely blindsided her with it, I’m not in a position where I can sit here and complain because Y/N didn’t tell me she liked me back. Maybe she doesn’t and I totally misread the signs. Either way, I’m not going to ruin everything between us even more by filling her phone with texts and calls.

“Well, yeah, that would take a ton of cool points from you. God knows your level of coolness is already below zero.” his brother teased. “Aw, damn it!” he moaned, realizing Jack had won the game. “Not fair, I want a rematch!”

“Sorry, Lukey. No rematches. You know you shouldn’t mess with the Mario Kart all-time champion.”

-

Y/N smiled as River's name popped up on her phone. She hadn’t heard from her brother since he had texted her to let her know they had arrived in Italy, safe and sound. Swiping her thumb over the screen, the doctor took her phone to her ear, holding it steady with her shoulder so she could continue doing Joey's hair.

“Hey, you!” she chirped, carefully brushing through her daughter’s soft locks. “How’s Italy?”

“Sunny, warm and dreamy. How’s New York?”

“Eh, you’re not missing much.” Y/N shrugged, earning a stifled giggle from River. “What’s up?”

Her brother took a deep breath, waiting a few seconds before replying.

“I need you to do me a huge favor.”

“Wait a sec.” the mother muttered, placing her phone on her wooden vanity. “Jo, sweetie, you’re ready to go. Why don’t you go pick out the pj’s you want to take to your dad’s?” she suggested, storing the pink brush back in the drawer where it belonged.

“Okay!” her mini-me chirped, nearly jumping up from the stool she had been sitting on while her zealous mother took care of her hair.

“Hurry before nana gets here, honey.” Y/N warned, picking up her phone again. “Sorry, have to get the kid ready. He insists on having her, again.

“Mmm…” River cringed, forcing himself not to make comments about the man Y/N had been in a relationship with for seven years. “How nice.”

“Yeah… Anyway… What can I do for you, lovebird?” the doctor chirped, quickly changing the subject.

“The wedding photographer e-mailed me about needing my approval for the final wedding album before finishing it up and making a couple of copies. I’ve seen the digital model, but there’s nothing like having the real deal in your hands, right?” River trailed off.

“And…”

“Well, David's parents are out of town and mom has Joey and you’re pretty much the only person I trust to get it done perfectly. You’re organized and we have similar visions so… I thought you could swing by the photographer’s house slash studio after work, check out what he’s got and let me know so I can give it the thumbs up… Or not. You know, maid of honor duty.”

“Oh, wow. You really want to put me in charge of that?” the doctor asked in disbelief.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my sidekick, after all.”

“If anything, we’re a duo.” Y/N retorted, jokingly.

“Fine.” the older sibling conceded. “As half of the most magnificent duo to ever exist, you should definitely help your other half with this very important mission.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll go through it between grading tests. Text me the address. Oh, and get off the phone! Enjoy your honeymoon!” she demanded.

“You’re a life-saver, and I do love you so.”

“Yeah, I kind of like you too!” the coach's daughter joked. “Have fun! Bye!”

Y/N hung up, just in time to hear a knock on her bedroom door. Her mother peeked through the open crack, her blue eyes meeting hers while a sweet smile formed on her lips.

“How did you come in?” she inquired, giving the older woman a peck on her cheek. “Josephine, how many times have I told you not to open the door to anyone?”

“It’s nana, mommy.” her offspring replied coyly, hiding behind her grandmother’s legs.

“I can see that.” Y/N chuckled. “But you should’ve called for me anyway. You know what they say…”

“Better safe than sorry.” her mom and Joey belted out in unison, mischief evident on their faces.

“Exactly. Go get your things, baby.”

Joey hurried away, leaving mother and daughter alone, only to come back in a split second, nearly dragging her grandmother out of the house. She knew full-well that before dropping her off and leaving her in her father’s care, Y/M/N Y/M/L/N would buy her an extra scoop of chocolate ice cream.

Hugging her mother tightly goodbye, the little girl left, secretly worrying that if she’d stay a minute longer she wouldn’t be able to leave. Not that she didn’t like being with her dad, but nearly since she was born it had been Y/N and Joey against the world, so it wasn’t exactly easy to leave her behind, even for a week.

The doctor watched as they drove away, mentally preparing herself for the oddly quiet week ahead of her. No Joey, nearly no noise. Her heart clenched in her chest, but as much as the two of them were essentially one, the five-year-old still loved and missed her dad. Y/N never wanted to keep her child from seeing her father, even if it meant that she was going to feel like a part of her was missing for seven days straight.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she adjusted the white cami top she was wearing, noticing her outfit was missing a key element: earrings. Going out without earrings on was practically the same as going out naked.

Stroking Finn's fur one more time after putting food in his bowl, Y/N left.

She drove in silence, looking out the window from time to time to gaze at the view. It was a beautiful, sunny late afternoon in New York, her favorite kind, and she resisted the urge to call the person she had been avoiding for over a week, even though she really wanted his company.

Jack and the kiss the pair had shared at River and David’s wedding wouldn’t leave her mind. The doctor could push it far back into her brain, but the nagging feeling of longing and endearment always came back. What the hell was happening? Had she let it go too far to back out?

Cole seemed to think so. Somehow, her friend knew she wanted to take a step forward but was too afraid to admit so herself. The conversation they had had at her house proved exactly that. Y/N had to talk to him, sooner or later. She just had to find the courage to do so. To achieve a middle term, to allow herself to be free and feel whatever she felt without guilt washing over her.

Pulling up to a quaint house nearly hidden by Jacaranda mimosifolia and its hundreds of tiny purple flowers, she laughed to herself. Only River could find a photographer that happens to live in the most peculiar, yet aesthetically pleasing little house in the city.

As if he had guessed, Ferdinand, the famed photographer, opened the door, greeting her with a cordial handshake.

“Did you have trouble finding my humble abode?” he asked, stepping aside to let her in.

“Not at all, River is pretty good at giving directions. I mean, I don’t think he's bad a anything, so you’d figure he's like Google Earth or something.” Y/N chuckled, taking in the way the light came into the house, illuminating the large living room, decorated with dozens of old cameras and framed photographs, all in black and white.

“That he is.” Ferdinand agreed, carefully placing the large album in a wooden boox, lined with black velvet. “The pictures are all numbered, as well as the pages. Any changes, just write them down. Oh, and the grooms asked me to print out a few extras for you. They're in the envelope inside.”

“For me?”

“Yeah, River and David picked them out themselves.”

“Oh god, I love them.” the doctor gushed, her eyes setting on the framed photographs on Ferdinand's walls once again. “Do you mind if I ask you a weird question?”

“Fire away.” the photographer shrugged, handing her the slightly heavy box.

“Why do you have all of these photos in black and white? Is it for the aesthetic, or…” she inquired, pointing at the wall.

“Ah.” he smiled. “I think that color distracts you from what’s happening in the picture. Sometimes you are so fascinated by the bright colors that you neglect the moment that was captured. The smile of a woman, for example. It doesn’t matter if she’s wearing lipstick, or if she’s got yellow teeth. What I care about it her smile. The way it pulls at the corners of her mouth, the shape of a dimple forming on her right cheek as the lips are parted to show a glimpse of her teeth, stained or not. Black and white allows you to focus on what’s really important.”

Y/n nodded, not knowing what to say in response to such a beautiful way of expression.

The coach's daughter thanked Ferdinand for his time and promised to come back with the final version of the album figured out as soon as possible, only to store the box in her trunk and go about her day, paying her weekly visit to the farmers’ market and stocking up on fresh produce.

As she finally arrived home, she almost forgot about the wedding album that laid in the back of her car. Luckily, her shopping rested on top of it, so when she grabbed the topped-up tote bags to take them inside, Y/N was reminded of her mission and the pressure of having it look perfect for two of her oldest friends.

Opening the heavy faux-leather album, she immediately saw the large envelope which contained the pictures River had insisted she’d keep. Her curiosity made her wonder why, but, as the dedicated maid of honor she was, and a methodical one at that, she decided to get the work done first.

The brunette had only gone through a few pages, marking a couple of alterations to be made, when she saw it. A picture of the guests, in which she could spot herself with Jack, well focused right in the center of it. There was a huge smile etched on her face as she looked back at him. That didn’t faze her though. It was the look in his eyes and the grin she could now identify as the loving kind on his lips.

She remembered now. She had been pretending to know how to tie his bow tie mere seconds before.

“I thought you knew what you were doing?”

“I never said I did.”

Y/N glanced at the white envelope beside her, this time not losing time resisting the temptation and tearing it up, only to find five photographs inside. They were all in black and white. And they all featured her and Jack.

A photo at the gazebo, when her stomach had growled loudly, asking to be fed, and the pair had burst into laughter. A photo of them dancing excitedly to the sound of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), jumping up and down as pure enjoyment flooded through them. A photo of him, hanging on every word she said while they ate. A photo of her gazing into his eyes as they briefly swayed to a beautiful ballad. A photo of him, entering the log trellis with a bewildered look and a hint of hope in his eyes.

Ferdinand's words echoed in her head as she looked through the black and white pictures over and over again. Her heart banged inside her ribcage, ready to burst out and find its way to Jack. It wanted to let him know it was not his fault its owner had ran. It wanted to know if it could possibly open itself up to the possibility of love again. It… Was probably way over its head.

She took a deep breath. Maybe it was time to face her fears, to voice her concerns, to let someone in. Y/N knew she had been taking everything light-heartedly because once she let herself care for Jack, she would be exposed to the heartache and pain relationships bring along. But now, as her eyes scanned through every single detail of the photos se held in her hands, she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she’d take a chance on him, he could bring back love into her life. He had taken a chance on her at the wedding. Now it was up to her to decide whether she’d do the same.

The doctor got up, heading to the pantry to look for the hidden stash of sweets she always kept around for the times when she couldn’t think properly.

Reaching up to grab the old tin cookie container, she tripped on the canvas she had been considering throwing out ever since her brush stroked it with paint. Y/N kneeled beside her latest piece of art, carefully tracing over the outlines of her work with her fingertips.

 *

“Can you give me Jack's address?”

“Hey Junior! I’m great, just had meatballs for dinner. Delicious. Louie is okay as well. What about you?”

“Hi. Sorry.” the petite woman muttered, cringing at her lack of manners, adjusting her hands on the steering wheel. “I need Jack's address, please.”

Y/N had left the house in a hurry, holding on to. The painting under her arm and her car keys in her hand, clinging onto every bit of courage she had in her to go to Jack's house and talk. The doctor had only neglected to remember the fact that she had never been to his house and had no idea where he lived. So, as a grown woman would, she called up one of the only two people she knew for sure at some point was a regular at the Hughes abode. When that person failed to pick up, she turned to Trevor Zegras.

“You really don’t know where he lives?” her friend asked, genuinely confused. “I thought you guys had been hanging out, like, all the time.”

“Yes, Z, we hang out at his place and braid each other’s hair.” she grumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “We’ve been out together a couple of times, but never really been to each other’s houses. Not since school, at least.”

“How did that never happen? Even Tiffani with an i has been to your house.” he chuckled to himself, scratching the back of his head.

“Well, I have a child who would probably tell her father there was a man coming. To the house and we both know how that would go down with Charlie. Now, would you please stop drilling me?” Y/N moaned, driving around with no sense of direction.

“That’s what she said!”

“Jesus, Trev, did someone drop you on your head when you were a baby?”

“So the legend says.”

“Just give me his address, okay?”

“Why do you need it? Oh, are you going to his apartment with nothing on but a raincoat and stilettos? I’m here for that, you little mynx.” her friend babbled excitedly.

“Trevor.”

“Okay, I’ll just ask Jack tomorrow… Got get it, girl!”

“The address.”

“Right! I’ll text you. He’s probably watching Beaches and crying to the sound of Wind Beneath My Wings, though. Believe me, you don’t need to rush to get to him.”

Y/N Y/L/N was back on track. Grabbing the bull by its horns wasn’t as hard when the bull was him. So why was she no nervous? Probably because Jack had been her friend for the better part of two decades, watching out for her with small, yet meaningful, acts of kindness, year after year, even when they’d been kept apart.

*

His apartment was located on the third floor of a relatively small, but luxurious, complex, practically by the city limits.

The elevator ride, right after she convinced the doorman to open the door for her, was spent trying to figure out what she was going to say when or if he opened the door, but, as soon as he did, all that came out of her mouth was: nothing.

Jack wondered if he was dreaming, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Was he seeing things or had Y/N Y/L/N just magically appeared at his doorstep as soon as his finger hovered over her name on his phone?

“Y/N?”

“Hi.” she managed to let out, with a slight wave of her hand.

“What are you doing here?” the brunette man queried incredulously while holding the door open.

“You know when you said you thought you liked me and that you might actually like me a lot? The whole speech that could’ve been ripped off from a Nicholas Sparks novel? Well…”

“I’m not taking it back.” Jack spoke, incredibly sure of himself.

“I don’t want you to.”

Her words confused him. She had told him, just a week before, that he shouldn’t have kissed her and had walked away from him after his heartfelt confession. Now, as she stood at his doorstep, with a rectangular canvas in her bare arms, Y/N Y/L/N’s words told him he was surely dreaming.

Stepping aside, he allowed the petite woman to come in, noticing that her hair looked silky and voluminous, just like it was the first time he had eve set his eyes on her. There wasn’t a hint of makeup on her face, and he could swear she’d never looked more beautiful in her life.

The doctor hesitantly opened her mouth to speak, waiting momentarily for Jack to gently nod, urging her to go on.

“I was cleaning up after dinner a while ago and I noticed most of my plates are slightly chipped. I mean, it’s completely normal, I’ve had them since I moved in with Charlie for the first time. They’re pretty old.” she began, as he listened intently, not wanting to say a word in fear she’d shut him out. “I realize I ran out on you and never really explained why. I know I don’t have to, and I know you’d never expect or force an explanation out of me, but I want to give it to you. I do. So…”

Y/N looked down at the painted canvas, tracing the boards of the metaphorical white china she’d spent hours working on. With another shaky breath, she showed him a small smile before handing him her most recent artwork.

“This is me. I’m a chipped dinner plate. It’s who I am now. I will never be the girl you met back when we were kids again. She’s been through hell. She’s been stomped on, pushed around, told to quiet down her voice. That force of nature handed her heart on a silver platter to a man who continuously made her doubt herself. A man who caused scenes because he was jealous of her coworkers. A man who made her feel tiny and like she wasn’t worth being loved for who she was. A manipulative man who wanted her to be some sort of fifty’s housewife who wouldn’t deny him anything or dare to speak up if she thought he was wrong. That girl isolated herself from her parents and friends because she thought that, by doing so, she was giving him proof that she loved him. But love is supposed to be patient and kind. Love isn’t easily angered, it doesn’t keep score. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. What he felt for her wasn’t love. He didn’t give her the love she needed and deserved. That girl, who had by then become a woman, managed to escape from an abusive marriage because of her daughter, a tiny human being who provided her the strength she craved to break free.

Jack's heart sunk to his stomach, aching madly as he was given an insight to what Y/N, the woman he admired and cared so deeply for, had endured during her seven-year relationship with her ex-husband.

He instinctively clenched his fists, forcing himself to refrain from reacting to what she was telling him. The singer could see how her face contorted, trying to conceal her emotions and how her previous relationship still weighed down on her chest. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, but he knew better than to do that. He knew he had to wait for her.

“So she did. She let go of him and moved out. But she will never be the same she was before. A part of the person she was is gone. You can’t really do anything to recover the piece that is missing. I am chipped but I will never consider myself a victim of my circumstances. It happened, but I’m still here. I’m alive, I’m healthy, I have a beautiful, witty and kind five-year-old daughter whose love knows no limits. I fought long and hard to go back to the person I was before Charlie but, at the end of the day, it was senseless. She is not coming back. And you know what? It doesn’t matter. I needed the wisdom that came along with the heartache. I am different, but I am stronger. I’m chipped, but I’m not broken.”

The determined look on her face told him she meant every word she said. Y/N Y/L/N displayed her battle wounds fully and proudly.

“I’ve built a wall around my heart and I haven’t let anyone in since then. I tried to a while back, I swear I did… I think I wasn’t ready. I think that maybe, deep down, I wasn’t sure he was the right one, if he could handle all this insane baggage I carry with me. When you kissed me, I wanted to let my guard down. I wanted to stay there with you, under the summer sky, to tell you I also have something in me that tells I am slowly, but surely, falling for you. But my first instinct was to run. Eventually, I always do. I’ve been running for so long, Jack…”

“Y/N, I- ” he started, completely at loss for words.

“I’m afraid I’ll end up hurting you. I’m afraid things will go wrong. I have a daughter, I owe to her to be okay, to always be her rock. I can’t just close my eyes and go for it. She’s my priority, she’s my everything. You understand that, right?”

The doctor waited in silence as Jack gathered his thoughts and willed himself to speak.

“Of course I do. I would never, in a million years, ask you not to think of your daughter when it comes to anything. Joey will always be your number one. I am just asking you for a chance to be your number two. Or three. Or even five. I don’t care. I just want to make you happy. Walking-on-air happy. Singing-ridiculously-cheesy-love songs – 24/7 happy.”

She took one of his hands, which still held the painting, and placed it over her heart.

“Here. This is the effect you and your words have on me. And that honestly it scares me to death. I should probably be running by now, but-”

“I know, but Y/N, don’t.” Jack said as he laid his gift gently on his couch. “I know this is a big leap of faith and we have only scratched the surface on each other’s deep-rooted emotional issues and, trust me, I- ”

He was silenced by her lips, capturing his and pulling him in for a deep, emotional kiss. Both of her hands held his face close to hers, as if the world would end dared they lips move an inch apart.

“What does this mean?” he asked, regaining his breath as he watched her bite down on her bottom lip.

Y/N smiled softly, adjusting the collar of his plaid shirt.

“I don’t want to run anymore.”

[seeminglyranch87]

Taylor & Travis Timeline

November 2023 - part 1

November 1 - New Heights Podcast episode 61 airs.

Jason appears dressed up as King Triton however Travis neglects to dress up or share photos of a Halloween costume to fans disappointment. The brothers react to people dressing up in their likeness including musician Jax who portrays Taylor putting Travis on the map despite him being an accomplished athlete (x)

“She put me on the map, right there in the video.” “That’s so good, man,” Travis continued with a smile on his face. “God damn, that was golden. Hats off. That was well done. You get a round of applause for that one, I enjoyed that.”

Travis also includes Taylor in the Kelce clan as they sum up their Halloween show… “it's a Kelce Halloween”

November 3 - Travis questioned at Chiefs media conference ahead of game in Germany on Sunday

Asked in reference to Taylor: "What is the latest status and are you in love?" A team mate comments "spice it up... " Travis answers "The latest status is I got to see her last week. That's the latest status right there."

Travis is asked again if he is in love? He replies

"Im going to keep my personal relationship personal" (x 12:54)

When asked about if Taylor will be in attendance at the game Travis answers

“When I mention — or everyone knows — she’s at the game, the Vegas [line] and over-under on my catches goes up and down, The spread goes up and down. So I don’t want to mess with any of that stuff, I’m just going to keep that to myself.” 

Travis nicely avoids answering the question but mentions Taylor's attendance affects his game performance and stats.

Taylor pictured dining in NYC with Phoebe Bridgers

November 4 - Taylor is out in NYC with Selena Gomez, Sophie Turner, Cara Delevigne, Gigi Hadid, Brittany Mahomes and other NFL Chiefs WAG's at Bond St Sushi and later Zero Bond.

November 5 - Chiefs v Miami Dolphins, Frankfurt Stadium, Germany. Chiefs defeat Dolphins 21 - 14. Travis becomes the new all time leading receiver in franchise history.

Note Taylor liked this IG post below by People - we love a supportive girlfriend.

Taylor remains in NYC and watched the game from her apartment with Brittany and friends (x). Some of whom are seen leaving after the game.

1989 (TV) debuts at No.1 on Billboard 200!!! This is a re-recorded album!

Nothing like a celebrity couple breaking records ❤️‍🔥!

November 8 - New Heights ep. 63 airs. Jason and Travis hint that Travis is heading to Argentina to support Taylor during his bye week (x 35:05)

“Got anything you’re looking forward to going to?” Jason enquired of Travis. Travis responded, “No, not really. I might just say f**k it and just go somewhere nice, I don’t know. My skin’s getting real pale so I gotta go somewhere sunny.” "Some place south? south of the equator?" Jason asked. “Close to the equator” replied Travis "South of the equator?" Jason questioned with a cheeky grin.

Sources confirm that Travis is indeed joining Taylor on tour in South America via People.com (x)

Taylor is named Apple Music's Artist of the Year for 2023

Taylor Swift arrives in Argentina to begin the South American leg of The Eras Tour. She heads straight to the stadium to rehearse.

November 9 - The Eras Tour, Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Taylor debuts a stunning new Lover era pink costume, including leotard, boots and jacket.

The Very First Night (guitar) & Labyrinth (piano). Our girl is falling in LOVE again.

Travis Kelce attends the 15 & the Mahomies Foundation Gala charity event in KC. Taylor donated an item to be auctioned off in support of the cause.

November 10 - The Eras Tour, Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina is postponed to Nov 12 due to bad weather .

Taylor receives 6 Grammy nominations for the 66th Grammy Awards! (x) ✨ Album of the Year - Midnights ✨ Record of the Year - Anti Hero ✨ Song of the Year - Anti Hero ✨ Best Pop Solo Performance - Anti Hero ✨ Best Pop Duo/Group Performance - Karma ✨ Best Pop Vocal Album - Midnights

Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff post to IG congratulating Taylor on her nominations as collaborators on Midnights.

The Messenger release an article (x)

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Are ‘Fully Dating’ and Relationship Is Already ‘Serious’: Source (Exclusive)

"It is serious between Taylor and Travis," a source told The Messenger of the whirlwind romance between the pair. "They are fully dating and in a relationship."  The source continued that "neither of them expected them to move quickly, but they have been inseparable since they first connected. They see each other as much as they can during this busy season." "When they are not together, they are constantly FaceTiming and texting," the source added. "Friends around them think it is very cute and they are a great match. Taylor is having a lot of fun with the wives and girlfriends in the league. Brittany Mahomes has welcomed her with open arms and has really been the ring leader merging Taylor, her friends and the girl groups together." "It is a new era for Taylor and she is loving this season of her life," the source continued. "It is very different from her normal group of friends but they have all been having a great time going to the games and bonding together. Taylor has really had an open mind to this new world, and the girls think she's really enjoyable to be around."

Travis Kelce arrives in Argentina. Travis and Taylor dine with Scott Swift at Elena Restaurant, Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires . Travis and Taylor and are seen holding hands as they leave the restaurant. (x)(x)(x)

November 11 - The Eras Tour, Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Is It Over Now?/Out of the Woods (Guitar) & End Game (Piano)

Travis was in attendance and Taylor lived up to expectation and made sure we knew she had a new love in her life!

Highlights of the evening:

Travis joining in with the crowd singing "Ole Ole Ole Ole Taylor" and Scott Swift filming him (x)

Travis dancing and singing along all evening

Scott Swift wearing a Chiefs lanyard

Taylor turning to look at Travis during "Lover"

Taylor pointing to Travis singing "That's my man" during "Willow".

Taylor pointing to Travis singing "cause you know I love the players, and you love the game" during "Blank Space"

Taylor choosing to sing "End Game" - obviously with Travis in mind and red and yellow light up bracelets during the acoustic section (x)

Taylor singing "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me" complete with a little giggle during the final song "Karma" (x)

Travis' cute response to Taylor changing the lyrics in Karma (x)

Travis hyping up the crowd while waiting for Taylor to exit the stage.

Taylor running over to hug and kiss a smiling Travis backstage after the show (x) (x)

November 12- The Eras Tour, Estadio River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina (rescheduled show, see Nov 10).

Sl*t (piano) & Better Than Revenge (guitar)

Travis flew out earlier in the day in preparation to return to training in the USA

Taylor flew out immediately after show still in her Midnights costume.

November 13 - Taylor photographed out with Gracie Abrams in NYC

November 15 - New Heights Ep 64 airs Travis and Jason Kelce chat about their bye week and discuss what Travis got up to in Argentina, south of the equator (x 42:20).

Our bestie Jason draws out what we are all wondering about...

"Sounds like a labyrinth of issues" says Jason.

Oh Travis, she is falling in love with you, and Jason saw the Argentina Night 1 acoustic performance of Labyrinth too.

Referencing the lyric change in Karma;

"How does it feel to officially be 'The guy on the Chiefs'?" Jason teased Travis on the podcast. With a laugh, Travis said that he had "no clue" Taylor planned to mention him during her show. "Well, I might have had a little bit of a clue," he then admitted. "But definitely when I heard it come out of her mouth, [it] still shocked me."  "Yeah, you could tell in the video," Jason responded.  "I was like, 'Oh shh! She really said that,'" Travis marveled. 

When Jason notes that Scott Swift is wearing a Chiefs lanyard at the Eras Tour Night 3 he asks...

"What are we doing, Scott? You're gonna let this man's devilish good looks and relationship with your daughter sway you from a lifetime of fandom, Scott? Ridiculous."  Travis further explained, "I might have persuaded him at dinner the night before. When I met him." 

Travis commenting on the first Eras Tour he has attended as Taylor's boyfriend..

"The show was even more electric knowing that I had a little bit more to enjoy," he said of watching her perform in Argentina. "Taylor absolutely ripped it. She killed it and it looked like she was having some fun up there." 

We love to see the support Travis is showing to our little Indie artist.

We are to expect to see Taylor and Travis spending time together during the Eras tour break according to ET sources (x)

"Taylor has a two-month break in her tour, taking December and January off, and the couple is planning to spend more time together" during that time.

ET reports (x)

Donna and Ed Kelce, and Andrea and Scott Swift are expected to meet for the first time on Monday as the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs face off for Monday Night Football.

We can expect to see Taylor at the November 20 game too.

Go to previous update -> October 2023 Part 2

Go to next update -> November 2023 Part 2

Return to timeline

[atwooozi]

Almost Perfect (Sebastian x Fem!Farmer) Chapter 19: The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies

Warnings: Slow burn, personal struggles, anxiety, depression, eventual smut

Summary: Angeline finds time dragging by as she awaits her date with Sebastian, plagued by a sense of unease despite their budding relationship

A/N: So I'm not sure how many of you read my author's notes, but I've been dealing with some health issues on top of the regular daily life struggles, so I will be taking a break for a period of time (I'd say a month) to try and get back on track. Which means posts are going to be more irregular from now until May 25th.

I have lots of ideas and love for this story, so I don't plan on letting it end just like this. I know in previous posts I've been talking about other story ideas too and I still think about those and want to write those, but this is my priority.

READ ON AO3

Chapter 19: The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies

Summer 28

For whatever reason time always seemed to move slower on days whenever Angeline was looking forward to something. This day was no exception, unfortunately. It was as if time had stopped completely. For some reason, whenever she was trying to reel a fish in time didn’t move forward. She couldn’t fathom how that could be possible, but she would insist that’s what was happening if someone asked her. 

Angeline groaned and plopped down on the grass. As excited as she was for later tonight she was feeling wave after wave of nerves pooling in the pit of her stomach. And why? She wasn’t actually sure. She enjoyed spending time with Sebastian and she was pretty sure that Sebastian enjoyed her company too. But still there was this lingering feeling of doubt within her that she couldn’t shake. 

“What is that?” Angeline said as she placed her hand over her heart. 

“What’s what?” Angeline gasped and looked up to see her neighbor Leah. 

Leah was someone that Angeline didn’t know quite well, but someone she could find herself easily growing fond of. From what she knew, Leah was an artist who enjoyed things like nature and decorating for every holiday which was something that she found really endearing. Especially since Angeline couldn’t be bothered to decorate for anything, much less fill her house with furniture. 

“...I-I have this bad feeling.” Angeline paused as she tried to search for words. She frowned when nothing came to mind and looked ahead at the river before them. 

Leah sat down next to Angeline and rested her chin on her palm as she thought. “Bad feeling about what?” 

Angeline shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t even know…” Angeline could feel tears well up in her eyes. “It’s just things have been going so well that something bad must be coming.” 

Leah frowned. “That’s not true.” She sighed and picked at the hem of her pants. “I think just because good things are happening to you doesn’t mean that bad things will then happen.” 

Angeline brought her knees to her chest and sighed. She knew Leah was right. She knew that her thinking made no sense, but she couldn’t help but feed into that bad feeling. 

There was a silence that lasted between the two for what felt like an eternity, but Leah’s company was comforting in its own way. She didn’t try to force Angeline to see differently or keep talking to fill the dead air. 

“Are you going to be okay, farmer?” 

Angeline glanced over at Leah who was wearing a relaxed smile. Angeline straightened her posture and nodded. 

“Yeah, I think so.” 

“Good.” Leah said as she patted Angeline’s shoulder. Leah got up and dusted off her knees. “I know we don’t talk much, but I’m always up for chatting over a glass of wine sometime.” 

Angeline smiled at the invitation and nodded. She wasn’t much of a drinker. To be honest, she would get a buzz from half a hard seltzer, but she wouldn’t mind getting drunk with Leah. Even if that meant making a complete fool out of herself after one glass of wine. “That sounds like fun.” 

Leah smiled and placed her hands on her hips. “Yeah, I think so too.” She looked over towards her cabin. “I’m gonna head back. I’ll see you later though.” 

Angeline nodded. “Yeah, see you.” 

~*~

Sebastian looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He didn’t look bad. He didn’t think that he looked good either. He just looked the same. He found himself struggling with the idea of putting on something a little different. Would Angeline think he was lame or that he was trying too hard if he strayed away from his usual hoodie and jeans or would she be excited? Would she take it as him putting effort into their date? And was that a good thing? 

He groaned and cupped his face in his hands in frustration. He didn’t want to ask for advice, but he really needed it. Desperately. 

He fished his phone out of his pocket and punched in the number, hoping that he would pick it up. 

“Sup.” This was a bad idea. 

Sebastian sighed. “Alex… I need your help.” 

“Is it about a training regimen?” Alex was starting to babble like Sam when he would get too excited about something. “...I think if you included more protein in your diet and lifted that you could easily gain like twenty pounds of muscle.” 

“What–No!” Sebastian pinched his nose bridge in frustration. Was he really this desperate?...Yes. “I don’t want to bulk up.” 

Alex tsked in response. “Listen, the skinny emo thing might be in now, but muscles are forever.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Sebastian said as he sat himself down in his desk chair. This seemed like it was going to take awhile. “I…I–You’ve gone on dates before, right?”

“...Yeah?” 

“So when you went on dates…” Sebastian was trying to think of how to properly phrase his question. “What did you do beforehand?” Was that a normal question? 

There was a pause and each second of silence was eating Sebastian alive. 

“Push ups.” Alex said simply. As if it was the most obvious response. 

“What?” Sebastian was regretting this call with every second. He felt that he would have been better off asking Demetrius what to do. 

“Push ups.” Alex repeated. “You feel good from the endorphins and your abs look tighter, too.” 

Sebastian decided to make a note of that for some other time, but he needed to get back to the problem at hand. “Alex, did you ever change how you usually looked for a date?” 

There was another pause and Sebastian was ready to hit his head against the wall. Why was this so hard? Why did no one else in this town date? 

“Nah, I look good enough already.” 

Sebastian frowned at the answer he was given. He couldn’t fault Alex; he was just being Alex. Sebastian could only blame himself for this. It was his fault for expecting more. 

“But, I remember this one time.” Sebastian jumped at hearing Alex speak. Was he actually going to get something useful? “I was running late to go to the mall with Haley after practice, so I couldn’t fix my hair like I usually do after I shower.” 

“Uh huh…” Sebastian closed his eyes and decided to accept his fate. Nothing useful was going to come from this call. 

“And like, she really liked it.” Alex recalled. “Something about it being different was a nice change or something.” 

Sebastian sat up in his chair and blinked as he took in the information. That was actually…kind of helpful? “Thanks, Mullner.” 

“No problem, man.” Alex said. “I gotta go, but like, if you ever wanna get serious about bulking up, call me.” 

Sebastian hung up and sighed. As frustrating as that call was he was grateful to Alex. As kids the two were pretty good friends, but ended up growing apart when their interests started to change. Alex got more into gridball and girls and Sebastian got more into sci-fi and computers. They hardly talked anymore, but every once in a while they would chat at a town event or if they saw each other in passing. Maybe it would be worth opening himself up to being friends with Alex again? They never stopped being friends, really. Especially since Haley and Angeline seemed to spend so much time together…

Sebastian stopped himself. He was getting way too ahead of himself. It’s not like he and Angeline were a thing. He couldn’t just let his mind run wild like this. They hadn’t even gone on their first date yet, but he was already planning on how to make nice with her friend as if he were her boyfriend. He really needed to get a grip. 

Sebastian looked at himself in the mirror and thought about what he could do. He wanted to look a little bit different, but not too different. He quickly rummaged through his desk drawer and smiled to himself when he found them. He carefully put in some earrings that Abigail insisted he get on one of their more recent trips to the city. He was reluctant when he got them, but in the moment he was thankful. They were a pair of small silver hoops with a dagger hanging from each of them. He wasn’t sure if Angeline would notice, but it gave him a slight boost in his confidence that he was actually putting in some effort, rather than none at all. He wouldn’t be disappointed if she didn’t notice, but the thought of her noticing something so small brought a gentle warmth to his heart. A feeling that he was still getting used to if he were being honest with himself. 

Sebastian checked his phone and it was 9:00. He debated if he should make his way over to Angeline’s farm now or if he should wait a bit longer. He didn’t want to get there too early if she wasn’t ready, but he didn’t want to be late either. He debated on whether he should call Alex again, but decided against it. He was going to head over. If he was a little early he just hoped Angeline wouldn’t mind. 

Sebastian took one last look in the mirror, adjusting his hoodie a bit. With a deep breath to steady his surprisingly very few nerves, he pocketed his phone and keys, then made his way out of his room and up the stairs. The house was quiet, he supposed that his mom and Demetrius had already left. As for Maru, he had no clue, but she was grown so she could figure out herself… Maybe he’d call her later just to be sure she was safe. 

The walk to Angeline’s farm was short, but each step somehow felt like an eternity. The nerves that were nowhere to be found had finally made their way back to him. It wasn’t the nerves that he was typically used to which were always a nausea inducing mess. This time he was anticipating what might happen between the two of them . 

Finally, he reached the farm. There was a soft glow of the porch light which helped illuminate the path. He stepped on to the porch which had now been done several times before and hesitated. He wanted to knock but his nerves kept him still. 

Before Sebastian’s panic could settle in he heard a mew from below. He looked down and saw Angeline’s new cat circling around his legs. “Oh hey…” 

Sebastian reached down and gave the orange tom a few scritches, which caused the cat to purr. Sebastian smiled gently and sighed. He needed to stop stalling. He stood up and took a deep breath before knocking. 

“Coming!” Angeline called from behind the door. He then could hear some running back and forth before the door finally opened. 

There stood Angeline, she was wearing a long skirt and coordinating top, both various colors of purple. Sebastian didn’t know much about makeup, but he liked how Angeline’s looked, she had emphasized her round eyes and her full lips, it was simple but nice. She always looked so pretty to him. Honestly, she could be wearing a potato sack and he would still think she was beautiful. 

“Hey!” Angeline said with a smile lighting up her face that stole Sebastian’s breath away. “I didn’t take too long, right?” 

Sebastian shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “No, I think I was a bit early.” 

“Well…should we go?” 

Sebastian nodded, his heart thumping louder than he expected. He wouldn’t be surprised if Angeline could hear it. “Yeah, let’s go.” He followed Angeline down the porch steps, the orange tomcat darting ahead of them, its tail held high in the air. 

As they walked towards town, Sebastian felt a mix of nervousness and excitement swirling within him. The air was cool, carrying a faint scent of salt from the Gem Sea. He stole glances at Angeline, admiring the way the moonlight caught the subtle highlights in her hair. She looked so perfect.

“I’m really excited to see the jellies.” Angeline said, breaking the comfortable silence between them. 

Sebastian cleared his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it. “It’s like magic, honestly.” He looked ahead as they made it to the beach. Everyone from town was there, Maru being one of them, thankfully. “Let’s go to the bridge.” 

Angeline nodded and walked up the dock with Sebastian. As they reached the wooden bridge that extended out over the water. There was a soft glow of the moon that casted a serene light over everything, turning the scene into something out of a dream. Sebastian glanced down at the water, where the jellies floated like tiny, otherworldly lights. 

Angeline let out a small gasp, her eyes sparkling with wonder. “It’s beautiful.” She said softly.  

Sebastian smiled and nodded. “...Yeah, it really is.” He turned his gaze back to her, her features looked so beautiful in this light. He wanted so badly to reach out and just touch her. Just to make sure that this night was truly real. 

They stood there together in a comfortable silence, watching the jellies glide gracefully through the water. The sound of gentle waves lapping against the shore filled the air, creating a peaceful atmosphere. 

After some time, Angeline turned to Sebastian with a soft smile. “Thank you for inviting me. This is amazing.” 

Sebastian felt a rush of happiness at her words. “I’m glad you like it…i-it’s nice.” he said softly. 

“It’s more than nice.” Angeline said, her eyes meeting his. There was a moment of quiet understanding between them. Sebastian wasn’t sure, but it felt like something between them was growing with each passing second. 

Sebastian felt a flutter of nervousness wash over him, his heart pounding a little faster. He knew what he wanted to say, but the words seemed to catch in his throat. Before he could bring himself to finally speak Angeline beat him to it. 

“Sebastian…there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you.” He almost felt dizzy when he heard her speak his name. 

“Wh-what is it.” Sebastian did his best to keep his voice steady. 

Angeline looked away and took a deep breath, her cheeks were flushed. “I..I really enjoy spending time with you.” But? “I’ve had such a great time tonight, and…” But? “I was wondering if…maybe we could…you know…” 

There was no but. Sebastian felt a rush of hope and excitement flood through him. “I feel the same way.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“You do?” Angeline seemed dumbfounded. The look on her face was one of genuine disbelief and Sebastian couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“I do.” Finally, Sebastian took a step closer to Angeline, his heart pounding in his chest. He reached out, gently cupping her cheek in his hand. 

“Can I?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. 

Angeline’s eyes widened, and her face flushed. Sebastian could feel the warmth from her blushing cheeks against his palm. “Please.” 

Sebastian couldn’t help but smirk at the response. Without hesitation, he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers in a tender, sweet kiss. Time seemed to stand still as they kissed, the world around them fading away until there was only the two of them, lost in the moment. When they finally pulled back, they were both breathless, their faces flushed with happiness. 

They stood there together on the bridge, wrapped in each other’s arms. Selfishly, even if Angeline wanted to step away he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to let her go. He loved the feeling of her in his arms. He loved her warmth and how soft she felt. If they weren’t surrounded by everyone in town he would have his lips pressed firmly against her neck. If she let him, that is. 

Sebastian chuckled softly, brushing a strand of hair away from Angeline’s face. She looked so cute. Her face was flushed and her expression was one of embarrassment, probably since they kissed in front of the whole town. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.” 

If it were possible Angeline’s blush deepened. “Me too.” She admitted. “I…wasn’t sure if you felt the same.”

Sebastian shook his head, his heart swelling with emotion. He placed a kiss on her forehead. “I do.” He said softly as he rested his head on top of hers. “I really do, Angeline.” 

They stood there for a moment, simply enjoying each other’s presence once more. Sebastian couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have Angeline in his life, to have this moment with her. 

“Sebastian?” Angeline spoke up, her voice hesitant. 

“Yeah?” Sebastian pulled away and looked down at her. He already wanted to kiss her again. 

“I…I really like you.” Angeline said softly. “I know this only our first date, but I want to see where this goes.” 

Sebastian smiled and took Angeline’s hand into his. “I want that too.” 

Angeline beamed up at him, her eyes practically sparking with happiness. “Good,” she said. “Because I really, really like you.” 

Sebastian couldn’t resist the urge any longer. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers once more, savoring the taste of her on his lips. Angeline responded eagerly, her arms wrapping around his neck as she deepened the kiss.

“Hey there are kids here!” Sam shouted from the beach.

“Yeah, be careful you guys don’t run out of air!” Abigail joined in the teasing. 

Finally, reluctantly, they pulled away, their foreheads resting against each other’s as they caught their breath. Sebastian could care less about how annoying his friends were. All that mattered was what was happening right in front of him. 

“I think we should probably head back.” Sebastian said, his voice a little breathless. 

Angeline nodded, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Yeah, probably.” 

They walked back into town, Sebastian having kept his arm firmly around her. He felt that now that he had her he didn’t want to let her go. As they reached the outskirts of town and back to Angeline’s farm Sebastain found himself walking slower. He didn’t want the night to end yet. 

Once they reached Angeline’s porch Sebastian reluctantly let go of her waist. She turned to face him as she walked up the stairs. “I had a good time.” She said softly as she fidgeted with her fingers. 

“Me too…” Sebastian said softly. He just wanted to touch her again. Just a little bit more. 

Angeline smiled and leaned down pressing a kiss to Sebastian’s cheek. 

Sebastian’s heart skipped a beat at the touch of her lips on his cheek. It was a sweet, gentle gesture that sent a warm shiver down his spine. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“Thank you for tonight.” Angeline said, her voice soft and sincere. “I…I really enjoyed it.” 

Sebastian reached up, his hand finding hers where it lingered against his cheek. He held it gently, savoring the warmth of her touch. “I had an amazing time too.” He pressed his lips to her palm, causing her to flinch. 

“I guess I should go inside.” Angeline said reluctantly, though she made no move to leave.

Sebastian nodded, reluctantly releasing her hand. “Yeah, I should probably head back too.” 

They stood there for a moment, neither of them wanting to say goodbye. The air was filled with unspoken words. The weight of their night and newfound feelings hanging between them. 

“Sebastian…” Angeline started, her voice trailing off as she searched for the words. 

Sebastian looked at her, his heart pounding his chest. She had him hanging with every word. 

“Can we…do this again?” Angeline finally asked, her eyes searching his face for anything. 

“Yes,” he said without hesitation, his voice filled with certainty. “I would love to.” 

A bright smile lit up Angeline’s face, causing her dimples to show. “I can hardly wait.” 

Sebastian couldn’t help himself, he reached out, unable to resist the urge to pull her into a warm hug. Angeline melted into his embrace, her arms wrapping around him tightly. 

Finally, they pulled back, their eyes meeting once more. Sebastian brushed a strand of hair away from Angeline’s face. 

“I’ll see you.” Angeline said softly. 

Sebastian nodded, a smile playing on his lips. “Definitely,” he replied. “I’ll text you.” 

With one last lingering look, Sebastian turned and made his way down the porch steps. He paused at the bottom, turning back to look at Angeline standing on the porch, bathed in the soft glow of the light.  

“Goodnight, Angeline.” Sebastian said, his voice filled with warmth. 

“Goodnight, Sebastian.” Angeline smiled. 

With a final wave, Sebastian turned and made his way down the path, he had never felt so happy in his life. As he walked home, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling, the memory of Angeline’s kiss still lingering on his lips. 

He couldn’t wait to see her again.