#but at the same time that was perhaps one of the most solid bonds in that damn army

[avianreptiles]

I don't even know what Jay and Kenny have going on anymore man

[xxladyballadxx]

The Beast Within

☽ Vincent Valentine x (Fem) Reader ☽

Note: This is not connected to the events from the game or the movie.

☾ ⋆ dividers by : @saradika-graphics ☾ ⋆

It was this one night where Vincent locked himself in the room in this mansion that the group encountered during their travel. The others wondered what’s been bugging him. Cloud urged you and his friends not to bother him since Vincent wishes to be left alone. He hasn’t been communicating with the group as much, leading a heavy weight of concern towards a few people. Mostly, you. 

You’ve been quite close with Vincent ever since he decided to join the team. Out of all the people, he talks to you the most. Tifa couldn’t possibly help but notice the strong bond between you two. So did Cloud and the others. Yuffie, along with Barrett, took their advantage to tease Vincent, telling him that he likes you very much. Vincent gave a cold snicker towards them as his ears and scowling face were flushing red. He tried to shake it off by hiding the fact that he truly likes you. His fondness of you got him soft in a way. Despite his standoffish appearance and personality, Vincent slowly began to have a soft spot for you. 

All was going well between you two…

Your bond with him is stronger than ever…

….Until he grew aloof, distancing himself from you and the group…

Cloud and his friends just sat around the messy living room, having no clue on what to do since Vincent isn’t planning to come out and talk about what his issue is. You refused to stay still and do nothing so you got off the wooden chair and headed upstairs to speak to him. Cloud couldn’t find himself to stop you so he just let you go. Perhaps it’s because Cloud knows how much you care about Vincent.

You reached the room and curled your fingers into a fist, beating down a door with a few knocks, “Vincent?” you called out to him in a soft voice, a flow of worry colouring your face as you tried again, “Vincent? Vincent, is everything okay?” 

Through the locked door, you abruptly heard a painful growl. An angry, painful growl. Your body system began to tremble in fear, you pressed down your ear towards the wooden door wondering what that unusual sound was.

More growls were ringing up your ear, it sounded very stressful and tormenting. That’s when you realized that the sounds of pain were coming…from Vincent. “Vincent?!” You banged on the door in worry, panicking, “Vincent, what’s going on there?” 

Still not answering back to you, you were going to call him out one more time until you got suddenly smacked down to the ground with your head hitting against the creaky wooden surface as the door broke down with a brute force. A growling, furious sound of a beast rang through your cold ears, you sense his heavy breath crawling upon your pale skin. Your eyes became a blur to the image of something that you couldn’t make out of it. The heavy footsteps stomped aggressively towards the floor. Your eyes shuttered, hearing voices and gunshots as you just lied down there unconscious…

Right after the incident, you regained your consciousness and found yourself lying down on the couch with a thin blanket over you. You stuck your legs out and wandered around the place, knowing how it got all quiet. You figured out your friends ran after Vincent to chase him down. Your heart fueling with panic, you dashed out of the abandoned mansion in a swift motion, desperate to find Vincent before he could hurt anyone, “Vincent?! Vincent, where are you?!” 

You cried out his name, fear clouding through your thoughts causing you to have terrible visions of what might happen. You shook your head disapprovingly and tried to focus on finding Vincent. Throughout the woods, a roaring cry was heard from the left side of the place. You rushed to the other path and stopped by the lake, your entire body system froze when you saw him…in his beast form… 

There on the solid-hard ground lay an unconscious Cloud, Tifa and Barret. Others were in the same messy state as them. Your whole group of friends must have tried to calm Vincent down. Instead, they all got attacked viciously in return by Vincent in his beast form that he struggled to keep in check throughout all these years. Sensing the beastly eyes locked on you, you lifted your head and looked at him grimily, “Vincent..” 

He growled in response, his sharp claws clenching. A moonlit pearl light shining on the horns that reminded you of a devil. “Vincent…darling…it’s alright..” you reassured him, walking calmly in his direction. Trying your hardest not to give him any fright. Although he doesn’t appear to be too afraid when you approach him without fear. 

“Vincent…” 

As you walked deeply close to him, he began to crawl away from you. Worrying that he might wound you just like what he did to Cloud and others. He shrieked which sounded like a cry for help. Vincent felt trapped somehow, feeling that nobody wanted to save him. You can save him because…you’re the only one that can…

Given how much you truly care for him…

You stuck your hand out with a shattering-broken smile, hoping that Vincent would come to you peacefully without causing any harm, “I want to help you, Vincent. Please…come back to me…” praying that your words would reach him, to hope that he would return to you. A beastly Vincent crawled his way towards you and raised his claws to reach you. You thought he would transform back to his normal self. All went downhill when Vincent spiraled out of control, he almost clawed your body but you managed to evade his aggressive attack by cartwheeling away in a safe distance. 

“Vincent!”

He had his claws slammed on his head, shaking out of pain and suffering. Wailing as if he fell into a pit of hell. Vincent dropped to his knees, his claws digging into the dirt. You couldn’t care less about him hurting you so you ran to him, dropped to your knees to have your small arms around him. Embracing him in his beastly form, “It’s alright, Vincent…I’m here…” 

A strange red thundery aura surrounded him, you felt him transforming back to his original self. His red cloak touching your clothing, your fingers weaving through his black spikey hair. You held him tight as close as possible.  As you were doing that, you heard a mumble across his lips. Loud enough for you to hear, “I’m…I’m sorry, (Y/n)...I..”

“Shhh…it’s alright, Vincent.” you caressed down his hair gently while comforting him in your arms with his head buried into your chest, “I know you didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Cloud and the others had finally recovered thanks to your healing powers. Although you’re not the leader of the team, you commanded them to rest at the inn. Even Vincent too. So they listened to you and rested in their own separate rooms. Sadly, there was no coffin for Vincent. The inn couldn’t provide one for him. However, Vincent doesn’t seem too bothered by this problem. 

With your friends resting for one night at the inn, you opened the window to let the wind of fresh air flow into the room. You felt much better, finding it easy to breathe now. You decided to sit at the end of the bed, thinking about that moment in the forest with Vincent when he was out of control. You wondered if you had crossed the line by overstepping his boundaries. Vincent was never the type of person to accept comfort from anyone. When you had your arms wrapped around Vincent while trying to console him, he didn’t forcefully push you away. It’s like he surrendered himself to you. It was very unusual of him. ‘Is it just me or…am I overstepping his boundaries?’ you asked yourself through that mind of yours. 

A sudden knock on the door snapped you out of your thoughts, wondering who it would be at this time. You headed over to unlock the door, your face flourishing in a colour of surprise to see him appear outside the room you’re in, “V-Vincent..

“May I come in?” 

You gave him a nod, widening the door as he entered the room. You closed the door quietly before locking it. “What brings you here, Vincent?” Could it be that he wants to talk to you about what happened in the woods, you wonder?

“I…” Vincent lifted his head to look at you, “I wanted to see you…” it came out unexpectedly, his words sent your heart racing, “Oh, I see…” You sat back down on the bed, patting down the spotless space for Vincent to come and sit down with you. Vincent walked over to take a seat on the bed, you realized how close he was to you. 

A silence closed in between you two, making things more awkward as you both had no clue what to say to each other. You felt your stomach swarming with butterflies, starting to feel nervous with Vincent around. “(Y/n).” He began to speak, “I wanted to talk about…what happened in the woods…”

“O-oh…” You lowered your head to face the floor, the weight of nervousness dragging onto you, “I’m sorry…” 

Vincent cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out why you’re apologizing, “Whatever for…?” 

You gave him a worrying expression, “I didn’t mean to cross the line and overstepped your boundaries when I…when I held you in arms..” you continued on, “You were suffering…I wanted to comfort you…I wanted to help you. I feel like…I went ahead of myself somehow. I know you don’t easily accept comfort from anyone and I-” Vincent shushed you by spooning you into his arms that caught you off guard, “You didn’t do anything wrong, (Y/n). In fact, you saved me somehow. Your comfort helped me in some way.” 

You clasped his arms and pulled away for a moment, “I..did?” 

“There’s another…thing I want to talk about, (Y/n)..” 

You tilted your head with an indication of curiosity, “And that…?” 

Vincent surprisingly made his move on you, pressing down his lips onto yours. He pulled you close to deepen the kiss. A flood of warm emotions came crashing down, you had no urge to pull away from him as you were too lost in this moment. You snaked your arms around his back, pulling him closer to you. Vincent moved his head away for a moment to lock his gazing eyes on you, his thumb caressing your reddened flushing cheek, “I truly like you, (Y/n)...a lot. I don’t know how this happened but…you changed my heart.” he carried on, “I never usually like to get close to people. I don’t easily develop feelings for anyone…until you appear in my life.” 

“Vincent..” 

“From now on, I don’t want you to go anywhere without me, in this world and in the next life. I hope for you to choose me, in this world and in the next life.” He inched in close, “But that’s if only you truly want to or not…” 

A fall of tears dripped down to your cheeks, you buried yourself into him as you held him in a heartfelt embrace, “Oh Vincent…I feel the same. I wish to be with you. In this world and into the next life.” 

a/n - I wanted to tear up so badly after writing down that part for the ending! ૮꒰ ˃̣̣̥ ◠ ˂̣̣̥ ꒱ა It's just so touching and very heartwarming. I truly do apologize for the way I wrote Vincent on here, honestly I feel like I made him a bit OOC on this fanfic I wrote (⸝⸝o̴̶̷᷄‸o̴̶̷̥᷅⸝⸝)

I have a lot of love for my beloved Vincent. Literally I wasn't a huge fan of him at first for some reason and I know so little about him. Once Rebirth came out, everything changed when I started to fell in love with Vincent Valentine. It all happened so quickly, I got to know about his past, what he was before and everything. His past was so tragic and heart-breaking! (˃̣̣̥△˂̣̣̥)💔 I never knew the stuff he had to go through, that's when I understood the reason why he always look so cold and unapproachable. Now I never played DoC before but I have seen a few clips of it and I read the plot online.

Vincent is one of the most badass characters that I ever fell in love with, his design is incredibly unique (Both original and the remake). Honestly, everything about him is unique <3

I'm so sorry for the long ass text about how much I adore Vincent Valentine, I just need it to get it out of my system. I can't stop thinking about him, it's driving me insane.

So yeah...I truly hope to see more of Vincent in the next part of FFVII Remake

[messagesfromthestarrs]

The Monster Under Your Bed

There is a monster under your bed. It has been there for years now. Ever since that fateful summer night, as a child, you forgot to close your window. It slid in, one with the shadows, finding refuge underneath the warmth of your body and bedsheets.

It knew It would be safe, with you there above It. It spent weeks, months, unnoticed. But perhaps, as a child, you'd had sharper senses, a sixth sense even, and kept looking under your bed, trying to figure out what's off.

the monster wanted so bad for you to see It, and back then even It was so naive, just an extension of the shadows. It trusted you already, and It thought you knew about It already. It had made itself the the shadows of your toys, the imaginary friend, spending days in your closet and nights under your cot. It thought the two of you were friends. So, It summoned all It's strength at the time and took a semi solid form. It saw your eyes widen, and It heard you scream with what It could only assume was joy. Surely you would have been happy to finally see the friend your parents always told you was fake? You were even running out of your room and calling for them!

But the thing was, It didn't like your parents. They were always oh so strict, telling you to put your toys away and go to sleep, then to wake up and go to school. They kept insisting that It didn't exist, that you would grow up and realise how stupid you were as a child, talking to the shadows. It didn't want to waste It's energy on gracing them with It's presence. To be honest... It was even slightly scared of them. They could take you away from It.

No, It would never let such a horrendous thing happen. As soon as It's strength increased, It would focus on making a bond between the two of you first, so you could be forever together. Most of It's kin simply went from host to host, causing nightmares and never staying long. Most of It's kin had abilities related to disguises and quick escapes. None cared for anything other than Themselves. Originally, It had been like that too. But after It found you... It changed It's mind.

Everytime you went to call for your parents, begging them to see under the bed, they would simply be unable to. You called It a monster, begging your parents to just believe you for once. They didn't listen, called you stupid and childish. At one point, you wanted to start sleeping in the same room as them again. They just laughed.

At first, It felt hurt. Really hurt. But It didn't hold it against you. Maybe It just needed to improve its form? And possibly get rid of your parents? And then, surely the two of you would finally get to have all the fun in the world.

This continued till your teenage years. Soon enough, you started arguing with your parents more. They started yelling more. You started crying more. It didn't know whether to be happy or not. On the brighter side, you were spending time away from those killjoys, and spending more time in your bed, above It. On the other hand... you seemed troubled. Even It could notice that. So It would slither up sometimes, extend and arm towards you, cold but caring. And you would cry more, It was sure in happiness.

Nowadays, things were different yet similar. You had moved out of your parents' house now, and It had followed, ever faithful. Your new home was just as cold and filled with shadows as your old, so It liked the place very much. It had grown in power, just as you had grown in understanding.

You still had to go to that horrible job of yours, and even to university, but It was a very patient being. At the end of the day, you would collapse into bed, and dream of a better life. And The Monster? It was just happy to be in your presence, under your bed. All it wanted was You.

And Its wish came true. It spent hours in the morning, craving your warmth on top of the bed as it paced in the shadows. And you listened! you left your job, stopped going to classes, stopped talking to 'friends' (It didn't like them, It didn't like that you were smiling with them, and not with It.), you just, existed.

You begun laying in bed all day, wrapped up in blankets in the dark. And oh how happy The Monster was! How kind and caring were you, to devote every second of your existence to It! It craved your presence and your attention, and that's what It got.

You stared into the darkness, and the darkness stared back. And for once, you neither screamed nor cried. You did not smile or blink or speak. And when It reached out, the darkness alongside, you let it.

[a-driftamongopenstars]

(IK I said no spoilers, but the potential... off the charts) (Post-Iconoclasm, specifically)

Ghost finally decides to share a few of things he always wished he could say- the most important one, of course, saved for last- "I love you."

(hi!!! yw/ghost anon here. bungie is killing me with their bare hands. what are they doing to my boy... leave him alone.... :( ) (That said feel free to ignore or change this around however you want, obviously- I just think your writing is neat :) )

hey anon, I finally got to your prompt - I hope you like it :) sorry i'm a bit late, but hoo boi this dlc?? i hope you enjoyed, especially excision :D i sobbed my eyes out. also on ao3

If the Ghost could see the Guardian's heart, he would find the same fractures that have shattered his shell. The Light breathes out through them, two hearts, linked by fate and a silent god, and something more.

The Ghost has never felt a touch of death so close. Death has become a thing of triviality. How many times has he resurrected his dear Guardian, over and over, collecting the dust of their body, the crumbles of their bones, the sinew of their muscle, pulling it back together. He knows the Guardian inside out, and now the Guardian knows him, too.

But now the Ghost feels it. Violated by the Darkness, by the Witness, he wishes to be back in the simpler times. But he would not change anything, not for the wide world.

So he sits in the cup of the Guardian's palm, speaking quietly as they hide in a nook of the Pale Heart, where no enemy nor friend may reach them.

The Ghost speaks of the moment he has felt the Guardian's existence for the first time. How new and exciting it was to see them rise, to become what they are, to wield the power granted by the Traveler. And every time they used that Light, the Ghost could feel it. Fulfillment of his purpose, over and over, happiness of simply existing beside someone like this. The warmth of a budding friendship, the soft blanket of loving care. The jokes, the laughter, the tears, the quiet bonding moments.

The Ghost speaks of the times they have faced great enemies together. They have felled kings, gods, constructs. Nothing could be in their way. Nothing could destroy their bond. The Ghost has never been prouder of being the Ghost.

And not even the Darkness could touch that, of which the Ghost speaks next. He remembers feeling scared about the Guardian, seeing their hands tainted with Stasis. He felt, perhaps for the first time, the weakened link between them, worried that it may be severed. That it could be corrupted, and thus, the Guardian, and thus, the Ghost.

But he speaks of trust. Solid, undeniable trust that he and the Guardian have built. A foundation of concrete so permanent, so impenetrable, held together by love.

Love. The Ghost speaks of it fondly, because he does love the Guardian, with every little fibre of his being. He says so, I love you, I care for you, I'd die for you. I'll bring you back.

And come what may when they face the Witness for one final time. The Ghost secretly knows his purpose. He knows that the petals of his shell are fragile. But he also knows that everything he and the Guardian shared and went through, it was worth it. Every one bit.

[canaidliafail]

stay grounded pt.5

[part 6]

streamer abby x streamer reader 🌿

so I wanted to write all of Abbys visit to “reader” in one episode but this one is already 5k words and its getting stupid long so..I split it in two parts 🥹

CW: alcohol,weed and sexual endeavours if you will. not proof read, will check later tonight for any mistakes

Minors get outta here

“You’ll love it when I give it to you, leave you wanting more ,Is it everything and more than you were hoping for ?”

_____________

ever since Abby sent you a screenshot of her flight you were on edge. You promised to pick her up from the airport which just meant that you would be there to take her to the bus stop. She did of course tease you for your lack of driver's license and motivation to get it but she did appreciate the gesture nevertheless. However you were scared. You had a bad dating history, an even worse situationship one and you didn’t even want to get into all the people you had to reject during your trips or the other way around. point being, you found yourself ready to light a candle and apologize for all your sins so that karma wouldn't bite you in the ass. Abby, gave you no reason to have that fear. Sure you didn’t text as much as you thought you would but the times that you did she seemed excited and she would occasionally send you screenshots of places she would like to see or would ask for advice on what clothes to bring. Overall, she was nice and seemed to grow closer if her joking manner and her more sarcastic side coming to the light was anything to go by.

you thought of asking

“you smoke weed?” to be ready but decided against it. You always had it anyways and if she were up for a round you’d just roll one on the spot. Abby wasn’t your only issue. This semester at your university was a constant, painful reminder that you were about to graduate with the difficulty level of all the assignments and projects. Now, you were a great student in practice but a terrible one in attendance. It was hard balancing work, mental breakdowns and college.

On your third fitting on the model your college provided you were ready to tear the fabric to shreds and start going off on everyone. You could understand why designers had a reputation for having a nasty attitude but if said designers were having their models switched every week, thus needing different measurements everytime you wouldn’t blame them.

“For fucks sake Im working on a line 44, why cant they just stick to the same model”

“Well this isn’t our graduation project so they are more relaxed”

“well I'm not and they shouldn’t be either” you argued with one poor classmate who dared to calm you down, oblivious to your temper that was impossible to tame.

this was why you refused to have models. In any case, your daily disapproval of your school's teaching system was something that didn’t bother you to that big of an extent. You disliked the way you acted though. You were snarky, impatient and took offense easier than usual and you couldn’t exactly understand why,so one late evening after fighting with everyone that knows you and doesn’t , you sat down on your couch and tried to find which unhealed version of you was getting triggered and why. Half an hour later you gave up and went to make a toast. Your friend group had 5 solid people. June, your most faithful cheerleader to every stupid decision you ever took and the one who also helped you go through with it, Cassie, the most blunt one who brought you back to reality, Rick, She was too sweet and too in love with her slow burn romance of 3 years and last, Olga.

She rarely appeared due to studying in a different city but when you needed someone to figure you out, she was the only one who could get you out of your head.

Most people had a friend like that. Someone that you talked to the least, yet knew you the best and perhaps, had the most intimate and platonic bond to ever exist. So that night, was a cry for help and luckily, Olga was in town and on her way to your place. She came ready, with a bottle of vodka on one hand and a fresh bag of tobacco on the other.

“Im listening”

she said sitting with her legs crossed on the floor across from you. she was about to burn sage and make a tarot spread if need be

“Alright listen so nothing happened but, I'm scared. I feel…weird. See this is a person that I've admired for so long and it’s only hitting me now that I’m about to meet her and its…it's scary actually”

Olga sat through it all and listened to you ramble for hours and pace all over the living room until you exhausted yourself and finally sat back down on the floor and started rolling a cigarette. You were stressed and out of nowhere your eyes were burning and you were crying and Olga was silent through it all. She grabbed you a new rolling paper and passed it over since the previous one got crumpled from your tears.

It took you an hour to completely calm down and then, she finally began to talk

“Listen it’s understandable that you feel that way, She was after all someone you admired for a while and well, it's not like you don't fool around with others but she was always in your mind”

You nod feeling the weighty clawed hands of depression wrap around your throat threatening another crying session that you had to fight back

“And between us, the last time you took anyone seriously it didn't go so well”

“It really fucking didnt” you agreed and she nod. You finished rolling the blunt and took a few puffs

“Alright now that that’s out of the way let's talk reality. Abby will visit you in a week. She is almost in every one of your streams and sure she posts with other women which in my opinion are just her friends,but she also constantly mentions you in her own streams”

You tried to protest and counter argue every reasonable point she made but she sushed you right a way with a glare

“Which has to mean something. Now I know your favorite hobby is downgrading every positive trait you have but Ill have to stop you”

“I really want this to work”

“And it will. Just be yourself,relax and smoke another blunt if you have to but trust me. It will work. It has worked so far and well, what are the odds of that in the first place?”

You smiled. A small smile but enough to show her that her point was understood. You rested your back against the front of your couch and checked your phone. There was a message there from Abby and you let the warmth and excitement that you felt imprint in your mind as a way to soothe your nerves till her arrival.

____________

“Just landed. Waiting for the luggage” you read the message over and over again and then looked up at the gate and saw the people walk out and look around for whoever was waiting for them. You tried to bite down the stupid grin on your face and tried your best to school your features in an unbothered-laid back expression to no avail. You were practically bouncing off the walls and scratching the curtains like a cat.

Abby was here,in your country,in your city a few walls apart. Literally.

You were ashamed to admit that you had practiced different ways to greet her and would constantly switch the position you sat in, not sure what energy you were trying to show. You were man spreading, and then you would cross your legs, and then you would stand up and lean against the bar tables from the cafeteria.

“Get it together” You whispered to yourself and just locked and unlocked your phone pretending to be busy.

One moment you were looking at an old video of you and June attempting a stunt and the other you were looking back up at the gate and the woman of your dreams was actually there. Walking and looking at her phone and then around until she spotted you.

She smiled, wide with teeth and wrinkles at the edge of her eyes and you waved her over. You half ran half walked over to her side and unexpectedly-for you- she hugged you.

“Hey!”

She smelled like pine soap and there was a lingering scent of the outside cold on her jacket. You wrapped your arms around her and felt her weight, her muscles and tried to connect with the very real image that she was right in front of you. She was tall and broad, and fuck so damn gorgeous. You pulled away at the same time and you couldn’t hold back returning the equally big smile that she gave you as her eyes darted all over your frame and face

“Wow hi,this is-“

“Crazy right? Can’t believe I’m actually here”

“Yeah! So how was your flight?” This was comfortable. She was comforting and just,so much easier to talk to than you initially expected. Her voice was lower up close and she wasn’t someone who talked loudly. She was expressive and,and,and

So many things you couldn’t stop noticing and observing about her in pure admiration. You feared that seeing her up close would give you a change of heart and you were so off base because if it did one thing, it was to confirm that you absolutely had a crush on this woman. It was a 40 minute ride till your apartment with the bus and once you reached your destination she visibly seemed to rest her shoulders and lean against the wall taking off her boots and beanie. You hated how attractive she was while doing the most mundane things

“You got a nice place. Can’t believe I’m finally witnessing what's behind the cameras of Cottons studio”

“Hah! If I didn't know you any better I’d say you’re making fun of me”

“I’m absolutely not” she teased and you helped her with her luggage

“So,normally when I have a guest they sleep with me in my room but I didn't know what you were comfortable with so I prepared the couch for you to sleep in as well”

“Ah I don't mind. Thanks”

She said and you assumed she would take the couch but to your horror and relief she left her bags in your bedroom. Which meant you two would share the same bed for the two weeks of her stay.

“Ugh,cool so ok” you looked around nervous and then slammed your hands together in a hollow clap.

“Alright so, let me show you my place first” she walked close behind you as you showed her how everything worked which made it difficult to even walk properly.

I should have trained my walk or something.

You thought in misery as you stood in the corridor showing her your crafting room. She stepped in around you to look at the clothes on the mannequins. You could’ve sworn that there were stars in her eyes when she know the full knight armor that you proudly displayed.

“Fuck I saw this on twitter but Damn you outdid yourself. All these details and”

“Its rococo architecture”

“I noticed.You add details like that to every piece you make. Oh right you also made a white dress that I really wanted to see up close”

“Oh that!” You chirped excited and walked over to the wardrobe on the other side of the room to find the piece. It was from your first year and it was the first clean work you did. The sewing was straight and not a line out of place. You showed it to her and then sat on the thought. That was a fairly old post. How far did she…

“Yeah that one. Its even prettier up close. Sorry I don’t know much about fabrics and all that but from the little that I know this looks amazing”

You were fiddling with your fingers and let her admire all your pieces occasionally adding some commentary about the construction or the inspiration. She showed genuine interest in this and you didn't know how to deal with someone this nice.

“I could make you one if you want” She stared at you wide eyed with a grin and lowered brows “You’d do all of that” she said and placed a hand on the shoulder piece of the knight armor “For me?” You shrugged and walked out of the room to grab your measuring tape that was in the kitchen aisle for unknown reasons. You stopped in front of your workshop's entrance and tried to reach up and see how big the breastplate would be for starters.A soft chuckle escaped her and your eyes shot up to look at her.

“Yes? Abigail?”

She gave you a crooked smile and licked her teeth “You are really short” You would have choked on your spit if your throat wasn't so dry. Was this her way of hitting on you?

“I think your judgement isn’t trustworthy since you are just unreasonably tall. My measuring tape won’t fit the whole of you”

She reached up and rested her hands against the door frame and leaned a little closer to you. Close enough to spike up your heart rate to a dangerous pace.

“Is that not to your liking?”

And in this moment, You hated every girlish bone in your body for smacking her lightly in the sternum and laughing all the way through that embarrassing gesture.

What.was.that.

“You are insufferable” she smiled and pushed herself away. That would sum up any notable moments in your first day with Abby. You did talk a bit and made a quick and general schedule of what you could do while she was here all the while she kept glancing around at your room and you decor while you rested on your couch

“You have a lot of stuff”

“Oh yeah empty spaces freak me out”

She nodded in contemplation

“I like it. My apartment has like, a lot less stuff”

You leaned on your arm and smiled,lazy and pleased with the atmosphere

“Why? Afraid Alice will make a mess?”

“No I know how to keep my pets well trained”

Your cheeks flushed and you reached on your coffee tables drawer to pull out your tobacco and roll a cigarette cause you were getting heated up out of nowhere and you were about to share a bed

“O-oh of course. Then…?”

“I don’t know, I just never bothered I guess? I have a lot of plants though. You’ll see, but yeah I just don't know what decor to go far”

Your mind paused mid sentence. -you will see-

Was that an invite ? You smiled and Lit your cigarette sitting back on the couch in awe of how well the first night went

___________

That night. You simply did not sleep. Your plan seemed genius a few hours ago, but Abby was happily resting in your bed while you played Valhalla,the wrath of the Druids DLC for the second time fighting to stay awake.

Abby Anderson,was sleeping in your bed. You smiled every time you remembered that and then you were ready to cry thinking of the possibility that this would be just a friendship. You texted your friends that had been blowing up your group chat since yesterday.

She is sleeping in my bed right now

Cassie: YOU HOOKED UP ??? GET IT GIRL

No, she is JUST sleeping. I’m up. In my living room playing valhalla

Couldn’t sleep like at all

june: why the fuck didnt you sleep in the same bed?!?!?! Out of all times NOW you remember to have shame ??

THATS NOT

SHIT SHE IS UP EVERYONE QUIET

june: PUSSYYYYYYYU

You tossed your phone on the couch and looked up at Abby in all her morning freshly woken up glory. You gasped quietly at the sight of her unbraided long hair. she wore gray sweatpants and a sleeveless top that showed off her biceps and the sunlight licked the curves of her arms in the most delightful way

“Good morning” you croaked and tried to clear your throat and repeated the greeting more smoothly. she chuckled and sat next to you on the couch

“did you sleep at all?” you shook your head and paused the game

“sorry it got so interesting and then next thing I know birds are chirping” she shook her head and looked at the screen which gave you an opening to look at her

“Then please continue. Need to know who Im competing against for your attention”

you grinned and shook your head trying to ignore her move cause it was too early to handle this version of Abby.

“No, it's fine. Wanna get coffee? my treat”

“sure” she said and you grabbed your phone going to an app and browsing through the open cafes

“you want something for breakfast?”

she leaned against you and peaked at your phone looking through the stores. Your breathing slowed and you felt the hair on your arms raise at the contact that her chin made with your shoulder. You stayed still scared that if you moved she would have pulled away

“I wouldn’t be against that. What do you usually have?”

“W-well. Im european so, a cigarette with coffee”

she looked at you in shock and then broke down in laughter pulling away and getting up with you unconsciously leaning over the spot where she was seconds ago missing her touch already.

“Yeah I’ve seen that meme going around. So it really is a thing” you smiled at her

“mmmm you know me so well”

“Well I hope I do” she teased and went to the bathroom to fix herself up leaving you breathless and a nervous wreck. Did you miss something ? Because it seemed like she was heavily flirting with you and you only now realized how bold she could actually be.

_________

Rick: I Cant wait to meet herrrr <333333

June:I’m so happy you are having fun but if she doesn’t pass the vibe check I’m breaking her kneecaps

Relax! I promise she is really cool.

Olga: what time are we meeting up ?

11 at our usual spot. We will go in together

Abby was laying on your couch going through her phone waiting for you to tell her the plan for the night. She did touch on the fact that despite the influencer parties she was not familiar with the clubbing scene. Not like you seemed to be at least and while at first you insisted that you didn't have to go, she really insisted on doing otherwise. So now you were getting ready and once you were dressed you sat on your vanity and noticed from the mirror that she was watching you. You smiled

“Hey want me to do your makeup?”

She tensed and walked over to you and sat across your vanity on the bed,manspreading and leaning on her elbows which unconsciously made you squeeze your thighs shut and you could feel the tip of your ears burn.

“I’d like that. But ugh,nothing too heavy?”

She asked and you chuckled going back to putting on eyeshadow

“Don’t worry sunshine. Ill do you right”

“Ooooh will you?”

You felt the hair on your arms raise and you looked back at her who had a nasty smirk full of innuendos and you cocked a brow deciding to take on the challenge

“You have no idea”

And that was the first time you saw her get flustered in the most subtle of ways. Reaching around her neck to rub her nape and not looking at you the moment you saw a dust of pink on her nose and cheeks. This was your first little victory.

You were done with your makeup soon enough considering you had a standard go to makeup that you just knew complimented your features the best and then you turned around to start attending to her.

You grabbed a base, a mascara and your eyeliner pomade and stood up to tower over her while doing her makeup.

“Alright relax big girl, I’m not going to hurt you” you said teasingly when you saw how stressfully shut she had her eyes and she breathed out letting a laugh escape and releasing the tension

“Sorry. Not used to this happening”

“That makes me feel so fucking special” she chuckled and then tried to stop when she felt move on your hands starting to do their work.

“You have beautiful features, you know. Bet you’ve been on many MUAs eyes”

“Stop,you’re just flattering me now”

“Absolutely not. I hate doing peoples makeup and yet I wanna do yours”

You tried applying very little foundation, loving the map of constellations the freckles on her face formed and had a desire to accentuate them more by working around them.

Without realizing you moved closer to her standing between her spread thighs, your naked knee grazing her jeans. She carefully moved a hand behind it and gently held your leg which you tried not to think too much about. That was until you felt her thumb brush against the tender flesh of your skin. Slow and subtle and so careful, almost like a wolf trying to lure in a deer. You kept working with her face and when it came to doing her eyeliner you had to be steadier. So you moved closer, balancing your knee on the edge of the bed between her legs, her hand following the movement all the way through until her palm was now resting just a few inches below your ass given that now the only empty space was your thigh.

You were shaking

“Sorry Ill have to hold your face so that I don't mess up”

“Yeah go ahead”

She said a little more rattled than you expected her to sound and you held her cheek while drawing a thin,small brown line. You finished up with the mascara and had to resist testing your luck by suggesting lipstick.

“There. Done”

She opened her eyes and you stared at each other with your lips parted for a few minutes as the realization of your proximity hit. You pulled away first and motioned her over to your mirror which she had to heavily bend over to look at her reflection and she smiled

“Oh wow yeah, You are good. Never thought I’d see myself like that”

Your hands were shaking and you were starting to get anxious. Badly. Your mind wandered off to the fear that you just missed a very good opportunity and you seriously needed weed or a drink

“Alright we are ready to get going then”

Abby hit it off with your friends right away. Not that you ever had doubts but you could never be too sure. Rick, the sweetheart, was obviously just incredibly happy to see you with “the buff mommy of your dreams” as she whispered to you before you walked into the club which earned her a slap on the arm to hush her. The night was going well, save for the first hour of awkwardness before the shots started coming in and the good songs were being put on. You danced and when your favorite song came you and June grabbed each other by the arms and screamed the lyrics at the top of your lungs. You were so lost in the moment that you completely forgot how you looked and when you turned around to check on Abby there was nothing but awe in her face. No hint of disgust or discomfort or second hand embarrassment as you feared you would find. No, if anything she seemed to love whatever was unfolding before her eyes and she leaned back to sit on a stool and crossed her arms with a smirk looking smug. You walked over to her and too drunk to care propped your hands on her thigh and leaned in close to her ear

“Are you having fun?”

An arm reached out around you and rested on your lower back which gave you shivers. Your dress was backless and short which normally would make you feel cold but Abby's touch made it feel like it was hot summer night

“Oh yeah this is great. You are a good dancer”

You laughed drunk and high with music euphoria and held her arm you fingers pushing into the muscles in delight and tried to get her stand up

“Then dance with me”

Dragging her was pointless. Like a mountain Abby would not move and could not be swayed. But she did seem to enjoy your determined efforts to get her to do what you wanted so she indulged you while teasing your every move and reaching out to take a sip from her drink.

“You are so stubborn” You mumbled and she leaned in closer asking you to repeat the question the same moment that a girl bumped into you and in motion you fell on Abby. Gravity failed you both as her drink spilled all over your dress sparing her jeans and shirt which made you frown and groan in frustration.

The girl turned around to look at you in embarrassment and immediately held your hand

“I’m so sorry fuck let me help you clean up” she said frantic and your face softened immediately at her remorseful behavior. Your dress was most certainly ruined though. Abby stood up pushing her drink on the other side of the counter and held you by the waist glaring at the girl “Its fine we got this” She said, loud enough for the three of your to hear and moved you upstairs to the restroom.

“Alright now, paper towels” She said to herself and you leaned against the sink counter feeling your head buzz. The smell of chlorine made you dizzy and you had to kneel down and rest your head in the hollow of your crossed arms that were propped against your knees

“You good?” Abby asked and you looked up at her concerned expression

“Ah, I have such a good angle from here” Sober you weren't friends with drunk you. With every shot you took your filter evaporated and you were the type of drunk who got incredibly horny and flirty. The sight of the woman who was sculpted like a Greek statue accelerated those thoughts and those khaki pants sat so nicely and low on her crotch showing just a sliver of her black boxer briefs.

“Oh you are drunk as fuck” She said and kneeled before you holding your arms away from your chest to start cleaning the front of your dress.

“You leaned your head closer to her face and she looked you in the eyes with a playful scowl.

“Oh and you aren’t ?”

She shook her head with a smile and went back to wiping your top

“If I wasn’t I would not be able to do this with that much comfort” she admitted and you did only now notice that the area she was so carefully trying to clean was your chest. You smiled and held her hand to grab the tissue

“Let me do it myself then”

“Absolutely not”

“You fucking pervert”

“Oh you have no idea”

You both laughed and when you left the bathroom you were even closer than before. She still refused to dance much but with the help of your friends you did lift her spirits enough to at least not constantly be seated on a stool. That and she seemed incredibly intent on keeping hold of you one way or another putting quite a show when a more sensual song would play without ever getting too explicit. It drove you mad, this slow burn game of push and pull that lasted throughout the entire night and all the way home where you both crashed on the bed hardly in the mood to properly change or take off your makeup but you did have the decency to turn around when she changed and so did she. Not that it mattered since she decided to sleep in her sports bra and sweats and you wore an oversized t-shirt with your underwear only.In a way,there was a distant thought of you hoping that something more would have happened while at the same time you were incredibly satisfied with the turn of events

—————

Abby’s POV

Her head was spinning and not from vodka. All night she was fighting the urge to make you dry hump her thigh or thrust her hips against your ass in the most vile and sexual way possible.Hell she was close to doing so after the fifth shot of Smirnoff. She groaned and turned around in the bed now face to face with your sleeping frame. She was close enough to feel the small puffs of air on her exposed sternum. She herself was slowly dozing off and was ready to fall asleep until she felt you move closer and bury your face in her chest and tossed your leg over her thigh,keeping the other one snuggly between your own. Her senses were clouded and her head was a mess and she saw you open your eyes that were glossy and in the same daze as she was. You didn't say a word and neither did she. She felt your fingers first, circling her waist and nudge at the waistband of her sports bra, feeling the skin and dipping your fingers beneath it just enough to feel some more. Your eyes fell on her lips and she took the initiative to kiss you. That was the intent. But the gesture was a lot softer, barely grazing the surface. She looked at your eyes trying to find any sense of discomfort but you whined at the loss of contact and she kissed you a second time with more fervor,nibbling on your lower lip and pressing her tongue against it. You opened your mouth with a moan and she took her chance to dive deeper and switch positions with her now on top of you and your hands deep in her scalp holding her hair in fists as you reciprocated the gesture silently begging for more.

She pushed a thigh between your legs and you met her movement by grinding your hips against her chasing some sort of release.

“Abby” you whispered her name like a prayer and she pulled away from your bruised lips a string of saliva still connecting you both with the taste of your cherry lipgloss on her tongue.That soft needy voice may have been the most divine sound that had ever graced her ears. She gave you another kiss on the cheek and then on your jaw and went all the way down to your collar bones. She decided to linger on your neck a bit more nibbling at the tender skin just above your pulse,careful not to leave any unwanted marks. You called for her again and she pulled away and held your face in her hands and gave you another kiss. There were so many things she wished she had the energy to do that night, but there was an impending headache numbing her skull and she could see you struggle to stay sober and awake. You were both drunk and in need of sleep.

You pulled her closer and she rested her head on your chest listening to your heartbeat. Her arms slipped beneath your waist holding you tightly against her front and then she finally fell asleep

••••

here’s my ko-fi tip jar if you enjoy my work 🤍

[natalisdragon]

Have you noticed that the two post-credits scenes in Bucchigiri?! are similar? It may be obvious, but it is no coincidence, both are moments between friends, TWO FRIENDS, sharing a very personal moment together. Here we can appreciate some things regarding both friendships, they show trust, loyalty, sincerity and above all, equality. We could say that it's the type of relationship that Arajin and Matakara should share at this point if they hadn't separated, or in any case, if they had reconciled in a healthy way.

Arajin was so engrossed in how it made him feel to have abandoned his best friend and at the same time betrayed the foundations on which their friendship was based (the principles of a honki person) that he never asked himself how his friend felt about it. Deep down he worries about Matakara, to the point that just remembering what he did to him causes him physical discomfort. Wanting to push him away is not because he no longer cares, but rather an instinctive response of rejection of a trigger related to his trauma.

Matakara, for his part, has his own problems. The story has shown us that he always had a dependence on his brother as he was his only close relative, or at least the one he trusted the most. Then comes Arajin, the only person besides his brother that he allows himself to trust. During that time, Matakara puts Arajin on a pedestal, being (surely) his first true friend and first significant connection outside of his family, but eventually the incident we all know happens and Arajin abandons him. Matakara was most likely so heartbroken that he preferred to blame himself for what happened, reinforcing his feelings of inferiority, dependence on his brother and creating a (perhaps) subconscious fear of trusting other people again (something confirmed by Zabu's face during episode 10, surely realizing that he really didn't know his friend as much as he thought), while at the same time, Arajin's memory becomes more and more mythologized, which only gets worse in the fight between Arajin and Marito, which only confirms his own blindness, making the moment of confession much more painful for him.

Obviously neither of them was psychologically prepared for their reunion, because neither had the tools to open up about what happened, and when Arajin decides to do so, he doesn't do it with the intention of taking that necessary first step towards reconciliation, but rather as a way of distancing himself from the source of his trauma, at the worst moment and in the most hurtful way possible, totally blind to Matakara's suffering, who, seeing himself completely deprived of any support, begins his descent into the abyss.

Many talk about how Arajin must open up and allow himself to be vulnerable in order to save Matakara and reconcile, but that also applies to Matakara, who if we look at it, has strongly refused to do so. Although his friends in Minato Kai worry about him, his first reaction after his brother's incident is to isolate himself. He has always been someone strong, honest and reliable, he is that friend you trust in difficult times, not only because he is like that, but because it's what he feels is expected of him and what he demands of himsel. To be able to be like the Arajin he remembers, for his brother who believes he can become the honki person he wants to be, because he is the younger brother of the legendary former leader of Minato kai. All of this has created an enormous weight on him, which surely helped the shadows that stalked him to remain close to him, even when he seemed to be more stable.

This is where we return to the topic of the other two friendships., Marito and Outa for example. In Siguma, their positions as leader and second in command are clear, however, it's more than evident that between the two there is a relationship of equals, where we can appreciate a complete and unquestionable loyalty towards each other, having a fairly strong and solid bond. Kenichiro and Mitsukuni seem to have a similar relationship, the way in which the second one shares his future plans goes beyond a simple conversation between a leader and his successor, but between two people who understand and respect each other. Both are relationships where, although they do not say it explicitly, share great affection, which is what Arajin and Matakara should aspire to in the future. A friendship founded not on the childhood desire to become a honki person, but on the mutual appreciation and affection that they share.

[starseed-twenty]

💘 Relationships and the 7th house (descendant) 💘

May perhaps possibly also apply to the 5th house

ARIES DESCENDANT / MARS IN 7H

"Action speak louder than words" is the 'mantra' for your relationships. You put in action towards building and maintaining the lovestory you want with your partner, and you expect the same in return. So physical touch may be high up there in the love languages that speak to you.

You want a partner who's able to act out the nice things they speak of doing (lowkey they don't even have to really speak on it prior, surprising you is just as great, if not better). You love a partner who's action-orientated and can make plans for the both of you, but also for themselves as well.

Things that bore you in a relationship include laziness for too long of a time, compromising a lot, sensitivity [like being offended or hurt easily] because sometimes you like to joke or be very honest. You want someone who's up to putting up with your active energy. Also someone who's a little aggressive as well (not too much, just so that passion is ignited) is possibly preferable for you.

TAURUS DESCENDANT / VENUS IN 7H

A loving, tender and warm relationship is a must in your books. Nothing cold or chilled or harsh or weird. Something relaxing and comforting is what you seek. Affection and being fond of your partner is where your heart lies, and the kind of energy you offer, and the kind of energy you'd like to receive as well.

With serious relationships, really all you want is a calm energy that is generous (being considerate is important to you and you'd hate to be with someone selfish or self-centered), and pleases the physical senses (looking good and feeling good, through some comforting affection).

You don't want a partner who's tempremental or moody or brash or dramatic. That deeply annoys you. You want a partner who's understanding and relaxed (but not a pushover). And a partner who understands closeness, and a closeness that's grounded and solid.

GEMINI DESCENDANT / MERCURY IN 7H

Communication is important to you. You like to speak with someone to feel the connection with them. So quality time (and maybe words of affirmation) might be one of your main love languages. Just being able to connect with someone through speaking and sharing intellect, jokes, ideas, etc.

Relationships for you are preferable if there's a number of things done [and most of them done together], than being situated in one place for a looong time. Like a day or two is fine, but longer than week just being in the room having Netflix and chill is where you can grow bored. Activities (in and out of the room) are where you feel great connections.

What gives you the ick is when the mind of the person you like or can have a potential vibe with is kind of closed-minded or just simply boring and sticks to the rules too often. You like when they can grab your attention a bit, in whatever small or big way, but just not starting the connection with a boring energy.

CANCER DESCENDANT / MOON IN 7H

For you, a perfect union is where there is connection through empathy. And you want to able to feel soft (and perhaps even vulnerable) with your partner, that's what a loving relationship is for you. Not having to put on the cold or detached front all the time, but having a bond that evokes empathy.

In relationships you want a partner who has a stern side, but also a tender and soft side (and preferably this tender side dominates). You want someone firm and stubborn about who they are and what they want, but that genuine and emotional side also peaks through too and allows you to feel comfort with them.

What you don't want is a person who's cold and brash, or doesn't understand your emotions. You'd hate to be with someone insensitive and just detached. They must able to know at least some kind of attachments, for that can make you sense that they have a sentimental side like you too.

LEO DESCENDANT / SUN IN 7H

So, uhm yes, you do shine in your relationships or any connections with people. You have this charismatic aura where people deem you as unforgettable. You're also pretty dramatic sometimes, but in a fun way. On the other side, you can be bossy, or perhaps just a leader in your own kind. You go by the beat of your own drum. So you may end up with a "they think they're better" vibe from people.

In relationships, you want a union with variety and versatility where you and your partner are both able to shine. A nice touch of drama here and there is nice as well. You want a partner who won't dim your light and doesn't dim theirs either; they're enthusiastic and open about who they are.

Some things that make you stray or get bored of the connection include someone who's sort of codependent and also naïve, instead of a perhaps who stands their ground. You like a bit of abnormality as well. In the sense of being smart and 'woke', not someone who'll play follow the leader all the time. Someone respectable instead.

VIRGO DESCENDANT

While you do have the facade of a socially unaware and 'in their own world' person, ' in a relationship, or any connction for that matter, you are not to be fooled. You may act dumb but you are completely opposite to that. You're smart, aware and calculative. But you just hide that because of something you call 'let's see how they act if they think I'm stupid'.

Besides the facade, in relationships you are super caring, both emotionally and physically; you like being able to provide and be helpful & useful when your partner needs you. But obviously that comes with equality as well. You want someone can be there for you when you need them as well. And someone who has a side that can emotionally and spiritually connect with you.

You get bored easily by someone who doesn't connect with you in more ways than just the practical stuff. A practical person is good and all (I mean hell, you love a smart partner), but if there's no feel or undertone of the undefined depths of your guys' love, you end up not being sure if they're the one.

LIBRA DESCENDANT

For someone who has the face of danger and fierceness, you certainly leave all that behind when you get into a relationship. So, yes, it's just a front for the world. In love? Ugh you're a cutie. A charismatic, cool, sweet and funny cutie. But that's only reeally for close relationships. Before they know this side of you, you are one ruthless human being.

You want a partner who's able to handle your blunt and honest self, but in a not-so-soft way. You don't want a partner who's a pushover. But someone who's able to teach you what partnership and healthy compromise is, and they are confident in themselves as well.

What annoys you more often than not is someone who can't handle how honest you can be, and who is just too sensitive and moody. Emotions, as part of being human, are okay here and there, so if something was offensive you're not scared to apologize. But someone doesn't get your jokes and interesting humor? Out of here.

SCORPIO DESCENDANT / PLUTO IN 7H

Your definition of a great relationship is 'something like a lovegame'. A love with a bit of games and war is the interest you have. But not too much, not to the point of it makes you cry/hurts you all the time or that it feels like it's never comfortable. You want the comfort, but you kind of just want power to be at play in your discourses.

You want a partner who's got a sense of power in them as well, someone who's sure of themselves and sure about you and will stick by you even in the darkest of times and through your trust issues or childhood issues. You love it when someone can make you feel safe/secured, internally and externally.

You don't find any interest in boring connections or that are too predictable or don't ignite some kind of fun and depth. You like the thought-provoking and memorable stuff. Which can come with a bit of intensity and games in the relationship. But all of this for you is really masking what's deeper and meaningful to you - passion.

SAGITTARIUS DESCENDANT / JUPITER IN 7H

A 'feel good' energy in the relationship is of priority to you. You don't want anything dim and dark, you don't want anything boring and predictable, you don't want anything draining and gives you a lethargic energy constantly, you want a fresh, amazing and fun connection; something where you experience the best of everything with your person

You want a partner who you can be yourself most around and they love you and your random vibe. You're probably the type to optimistic about someone (you choose to see the good side first); you rarely see a person in a bad light unless their energy says otherwise. Consequently you want a partner who sees the good in you as well and sticks by you.

Things that pass as a bore to you (enough to make you become distant from your connection with someone) include pessimism and predictability. You get turned on by an energy enticing and stimulates your mind. Not one that's pragmatic. Oh and something that makes you feel boxed. You want the freedom to be very present in the relationship.

CAPRICORN DESCENDANT / SATURN IN 7H

Commitment (in a relationship) to you means more than any other attribute/value. Generosity and trust are high up in your set of values as well. But nothing speaks to you more than the commitment to your relationship with someone. But with that, the commitment contains love and consistency with that love, not just commitment with no love.

Your partnership with the person you love is preferable if it's grounded and a little predictable (even if it's more on the boring side). You just want your partner to be someone you understand the idea of, not too unpredictable or confusing. You want someone who is serious and shows resilience; someone who stands firm on their love for you.

What makes you stray a bit from your connection with someone (vibing or relationship) is when someone shows immaturity or being unserious a lot of the time. I mean, fun and activities and games are fine sometimes, but if the deeper sense of the connection shows a lack of groundedness, it can make you stray away.

AQUARIUS DESCENDANT / URANUS IN 7H

Fun. That's it. That must the theme in your relationships. Fun plus something of a breath of fresh air plus a little changeable and not too mundane or predictable. You're probably the kind to want or like a relationship that does trendy stuff like Tiktok or Youtube challenges or just have a cute relationsip on social media.

Your type is most likely a partner to be smart as well as idealistic. You may sometimes be prone to stating (or thinking) the obvious. So you want a partner who's at least a bit like that as well. But open-mindedness (outside of the obvious) and honesty are factors that should take place in the connection.

What can make you yawn is a person who's stubborn and boring and not able to take things lightly and be cool/relaxed. The relationship must be able to spark ideas and opinions and a connection that's like "Yo, I think… You get me? Exactly!" (basically you haven't even finished your sentence but your partner already gets you).

PISCES DESCENDANT / NEPTUNE IN 7H

Something I usually see with this placement is that you have a great tendency of seeing the side in a person, especially a partner, and kind of put them on a pedestal (or just fantasize about them a lot if you like them). You put your partners and your relationship with them in a good light until they prove otherwise to you. Even then however you may have hope they a good side to them still (when you care about them).

You want a partner who looks at the good side as well, throughout everything in life. You also want someone who can understand you or basically sense you through the little things and the vague energy you give. In relationships, it's not the easiest for you to be open, honest and put things into solid perspectives or clear speech, so you usually end up (subconsciously) acting out how you think and feel rather than speaking your real truth.

You get bored easily by fast-paced and pessimistic people with no sense of humor; basically people who too realistic and don't know how to connect with their heart and soul. You want someone you can mentally (and perhaps physically) escape with. Go away and dive into the unknown.

[catgirlredux]

Hound Dogs

“… tomorrow we’ll meet your handler. For now, rest up.”

RDAI.vii.1156 stared down at its new body. Joining the military was considered the best route a Class-F citizen could pursue - free food, shelter, maybe even a few augments if you got lucky. But the Rapid Deployment Auxiliary Infantry unit felt less lucky and more confused. It signed up expecting to be given a gun and a pat on the back, not… this.

The arms were probably the strangest change. Skilled military surgeons had removed its forearms with a single blast of a laser that numbed its pain and severed flesh and bone at the same time. In their place, 1156 now wielded on each arm a single long, spider-like metal blade that extended all the way to the floor. The same happened to its legs, forcing the unit onto all fours. A reinforced spine kept it from collapsing onto the ground.

The rest of its body was covered in angular metal plates, designed to redirect and resist gunfire and protect the unit’s remaining flesh. Its face was likewise covered by an solid steel visor, vision and hearing substituted by an array of cameras, sonar, and radio scanners that fed information directly into its augmented brain. Its mouth remained uncovered but its teeth were removed and replaced with a new carbon fiber set. The chip in its brain repressed its discomfort so it didn’t try to claw off its own jaw.

A buzzer sounded and a tray carrying a bowl of nutrimeal slid out of the wall of the room. Unit 1156 stared it at, trying to figure out what to do - an injected concoction of hormones and suppressants had kept it comfortably dull, but somewhat muddled.

>EAT

The word flashed up on the inside of its visor, glaring into its semi-redundant eyes - eyes now dedicated to receiving screen-fed orders. It obediently craned its head down and started chomping at the slop. It was starving - the accelerated healing process was effective but it sapped all the solider’s energy.

Even if its senses hadn’t been muted, the nutritional goop was flavorless. Nevertheless it found itself slurping away with abandon, licking the bowl clean, dignity cast aside. Its faceplate glowed white hot for a moment before cooling down again, singeing off specks of food that had flown astray in the unit’s feeding frenzy. This feature was meant to burn blood and dirt off so that it didn’t impair an RDAI’s sensor array, but it worked for dinner well enough.

>GOOD MUTT

*****

The next day found RDAI.vii.1156 waiting in the main hangar, still slightly trembling on its spindly new legs. The thin, bladed design was perfect for chasing down enemy troops on the battlefield or pinning a straggler to the ground, but it was difficult to balance with even with the aid of the unit’s brain augments. A cord plugged into the back of its head kept it from wandering too far while feeding low-level electrical pulses that helped calm its nerves. It was waiting for its new handler - the soldier it would fight alongside, whose life it would dedicate itself to protecting. The bond between a handler and their hound (as the units were fondly referred to) was something truly unique, and though 1156 hadn’t planned to end up on this side of the relationship, it couldn’t help but feel excited.

It could feel her presence long before she actually entered the hangar. Perhaps it was merely the hormonal braindeck releasing waves of dopamine, but to the cyborg’s mind she was the most perfect being in the world. It could almost taste the draw of her augments to its own, pulling the two of them together like magnets. It knew that she felt it too. The connection between them was already established: the handler and the hunter, the owner and the dog.

It couldn’t quite remember what beauty looked like but it decided that she must be as close as one could get. Bent on all fours as 1156 was, it stood about half a meter shorter than her. Encased in a shiny automorphic techsuit, her body rippled with hidden energy ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. Her one eye shone, the other replaced by an implant that flashed rapidly as if to say, it’s finally you.

A technician standing by unplugged the unit’s tether and stuck in a thinner, double-ended wire. 1156 trembled as its handler grabbed the other end and slowly slotted it into a port on her neck.

The instant the plug connected, 1156 nearly collapsed from the tsunami of pleasure that struck it at full force. All Handler’s emotions, all her thoughts, her very essence flowed through its brain, and it could tell that she was experiencing the same influx of data.

They stood there for what seemed like forever, its faceplate lights flashing in sync with her vitals node. The only sound was the slight clinking of metal on concrete as 1156 shifted from talon to talon. Her designation was RDI-H.2054, she was a Class-E civilian who was recruited at age 8, she had been trained as a handler for 11 years, but 1156 was her first hound of her own. She liked the color green, she hated morning training, she had been deployed overseas on a scouting mission just three months ago. The unit’s brain felt overloaded with information and yet more kept flowing in.

It saw vague images, faces of people that it didn’t recognize yet felt so familiar - Handler’s family? It saw the fire of war, the smiles of fellow soldiers, it felt her heartbeat, her brainwaves, her every breath. For a split second, the hound and the handler were not separate but rather a single entity, one soldier in two bodies, sharing their memories. 1156 felt its Handler’s cybernetic eye and her prosthetic leg, and she likewise felt its spindly new form and armor plating.

RDAI.vii.1156 felt 2054 about to scream and roared out in sync. Its twisted metallic vocal chords, designed specifically to instill fear in the enemy, pierced the air in the hangar with an unearthly screech which neither overwhelmed nor surrendered to its keeper’s voice but rather merged with it in a feral harmony.

*****

Blood spewed down the dog’s chin and through crevasses in its armor. It spit out a chunk of flesh with strands of muscle tangled in its reinforced teeth. As it stepped back from its prey, its pointed blades withdrew from within the dead footsoldier’s chest. The unit’s faceplate sizzled, burning away blood and viscera and turning its vision bright red for a moment. It let out a fierce howl, launching itself forwards with a speed unmatched by any two-legged infantry.

Just behind it, its handler finished off a tank pilot attempting to crawl away from its craft. The hound’s many sensors highlighted the remaining stragglers on the battlefield, and 2054 assessed the remaining threats as she ran. She spotted a wounded soldier training their scope onto her companion and raised her weapon, disintegrating the enemy’s face with a single clean blast. The hound bayed its gratitude before finishing its run, speeding between rocks and debris and eliminating the last few soldiers.

One, two, three, blood gushed from their chests as 1156 pounced on them, puncturing their lungs and tearing out their throats in quick succession. RDI-H.2054 watched and basked in the adrenaline - her brain had not been upgraded to manage her auxiliary’s entire suite of sensors, but they shared many core sensations. They both felt the rush of war, the warmth of blood on their faces, and most of all an immense wave of satisfaction and even euphoria. Nothing felt better than killing together - an entire battalion laid to waste at their hands gave them a jolt of dopamine that felt better than orgasm.

They were never awarded for their feats, nor did they feel the need for any such recognition. Deep in their programming they didn’t fight for any cause or nation, or even for their commanding officer. They fought merely to tear and bite alongside each other, to see the fear in their enemies’ eyes and feel their life drain out at the will of the hound of death and its handler.

Standing together in the remains of a decimated army, they surveyed their work. The air smelled of blood and the familiar scent of plasma-scorched air. 1156 playfully rammed its armored face into its handler’s chestplate, grunting and drooling red down her torso. She laughed and rubbed the top of its head, sending microscopic ripples of pleasure down its spine.

>GOOD JOB DARLING

[astrowaffles]

Ooh you should read TGCF, I can say it will be one of the best experince ever. So for fav moments in TGCF, sorry if it's kinda spoiler and really sorry if I forgot a lot (it's been a while since I last read them) :

When Hua Cheng deaged and Xie Lian said "you thaught me how simple it is to be happy" ; When Yin Yu defend Quan Yizhen despite he hate (?) him; when Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian "what matters is you not the state of you; the power of Xie Lian's cooking; and when Shi Qingxuan became the best friend for Xie Lian....

Now, about Haikyuu ships, do you mind if I ask the same as that anon. Also the same format (strength, weakness and dynamic) for Iwaoi, Bokuaka and Ushiten?

For me, my otp (no 1) is Kagehina ; no 2 are Iwaoi & Kuroken (yes, I can't decide and love both ships dearly) ; no 3 is Bokuaka ; no 4 are Lev/Yaku & Ushiten and no 5 is takeda/younger Ukai.

I agree of what you said to that anon. It's shallow to block someone just because of ships. Like, you should block someone if they said something rude, harmful or made you uncomfortable, right....

P.s

Please don't dislike me but I'm a Kyo/Yuki shipper. Like, I love Kakeru and adore his bond with Yuki but Kyo/Yuki is just special to me (sorry).

thank you for sharing your favourite parts! "what matters is not the state of you" gets me every time...

Iwaoi will always be my #1 but I love so many haikyuu ships! your choices are really good and some are a bit unusual - how many people would put takeda/ukai in their top 5?

onto the analysis!

Iwaoi

oikawa's greatest weakness is his inferiority complex. it pushes him beyond his limits (NOT IN A GOOD WAY) and has probably caused iwa an undue amount of stress. he's probably got grey hair.

his greatest strength is his determination - he works hard and he matches his ambition and pride, which I like a lot. he lives up to everything he says he is, and he is able to match with the greatest volleyball players - who, despite their hard work, are undeniably at an advantage because of skill.

we don't often see moments of weakness from iwaizumi. if you were going to pick anything it would probably be stubbornness? while we don't see this trip him up, we can imagine how it might have gotten in his way. equally, his weakness might be that we don't see weakness. the only moment we get is his tears at the end of aoba johsai v karasuno, where he's upset that he wasn't dependable enough and couldn't get it for his team. perhaps it's his strength and care that cause him the most problems.

iwaizumi's strength is, like, everything. (kidding!). we see he is reliable, caring, and unafraid to call out on people's bullshit (especially oikawa's). everyone looks up to him. in terms of iwaoi, it's his reliability that makes him the best person for oikawa.

so we see!! we have quite a volatile, mood-swingy, unnerving character in Oikawa, and a solid, grounding presence in iwaizumi. ~can I make it anymore obvious~~?? iwaizumi encourages, grounds, supports, and - best of all - vouches for oikawa. would we like oikawa as much if we didn't see him with iwa? meanwhile, oikawa adds levity to iwaizumi and encourages him to work harder, go further, and - not to steal kghn's thing - fly higher!!! I do not think iwaizumi has any amaaazzziiing talent as a spiker. it's mainly that he's very strong (arm wrestling champion) and that he works with oikawa. also, they're both total weirdos, volleyball nerds, and sci-fi enjoyers. i love them a lot. (SEND ME MORE IWAOI ASKS I HAVE LOTS TO SAY)

bokuaka

Bokuto's greatest weakness is, obviously, his mood swings. it's very easy for him to give up when things don't go right. equally, his greatest strength is his quick recovery from these, his willingness to try again, and his thirst to do more.

akaashi's greatest weakness is he's tootally stressy and anxious. as we see during his breakdown, he puts a lot of pressure on himself - especially when trying to support bokuto's growth as a player - and this can have some pretty strong effects on him.

akaashi's greatest strength has to be his blunt personality. (not when playing volleyball, but in life in general). he says what he means and doesn't back down; he just owns it. it's a really admirable trait to have.

these guys are sooooo freak4freak. bokuto is loud, silly, emotional, friendly, and totally odd. akaashi is quiet, calm, composed, blunt, and totally odd. they bring out the best parts of each other and encourage each other to become better, as both people and players. to akaashi, bokuto is a star player. to bokuto, akaashi is the best setter in the world. it's canon to me that bokuto would still get akaashi to set to him during MSBY days whenever he needed some regulation.

ushiten (my beloveds)

ushijima's greatest weakness is the fact he doesn't understand people. it's difficult for him to be a true team player OR to combat other, opposing players because he doesn't understand their thought processes properly. this leaks into real life, where he doesn't seem to have many friends - though plenty of shiratorizawa people like him!

ushijima's greatest strength is blunt honesty. like akaashi, he just says what he means - unlike akaashi, he doesn't use this to (affectionately) bully people. he's genuinely a nice person who will praise when it's earned and correct when it's necessary. he does his best to make friends and i love him for that :')

tendou's greatest weakness ... he's generally perceived as a bit creepy by most people, which causes rifts between him and other players/friends/opponents AND forms a tragic backstory for him. while he appears to have overcome this hurdle, it still trips him occasionally. (I talk about why his strangeness is a good thing here).

tendou's great strength is his supportive nature. he's genuinely there to help people. he vouches for hinata at the training camp, he constantly comforts goshiki, he fucks around with semi and makes everyone relax & feel normal again. he's genuinely a kind person.

THESEEEE GUYSSS MAKE ME FERALLLLL they're so silly!! Ushijima doesn't understand people, tendou understands them too well. ushijima is blunt & honest, tendou communicates solely in jokes/sarcasm. tendou plays for the funsies, ushijima cannot imagine doing anything else but volleyball. they are both excluded, 'weird', unwanted, and they're BEST FRIENDS!!! now i want to read some funny ushiten. any recs?

and finally, yes, it's totally ridiculous to get upset over anyone shipping something you don't. I don't even block unless the ship is unethical OR makes 0 sense within the context of the media. Or just unethical. while everyone should curate their own internet experience & blocking keeps us from starting arguments, why lose a genuine friendship over it?

I'm not upset you ship yuki/kyo. I don't ship them but I know why you do. it doesn't hurt me - you do you!

thanks for the ask!!

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

Scrublands review – Chris Hammer adaptation is a rock solid addition to Australian rural noir

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jay Ryan plays murderer priest Byron Swift in Scrublands, now streaming on Stan. Photograph: Sarah Enticknap

A journalist is assigned to write about a traumatic event, speaks to wary locals, scratches away layers of obfuscation and discovers All Is Not What It Seems. Yes, we’ve been here before. Ditto for crime stories based in rural Australian locations; the bounty for this year alone includes Deadloch, Black Snow, Bay of Fires, The Clearing and Ivan Sen’s feature film Limbo.

However, Stan’s new four-part mystery series Scrublands, directed by Greg McLean and adapted from Chris Hammer’s bestselling novel of the same name, demonstrates why genre-ified tropes and formulas have evergreen appeal if staged with some vim and flair.

These kinds of narratives don’t have to be fresh, per se: according to Campbellian wisdom there’s nothing new under the sun. But templated stories should always feel fresh and be invigoratingly staged. That’s certainly the case in Scrublands, which at its worst feels a little potboiler-ish but is grippingly sustained across four episodes of roughly one hour apiece and never overstays its welcome.

-----

The series begins provocatively, with a priest – Jay Ryan’s Bryon Swift – shooting at his own congregation with a sniper rifle, murdering five people before turning the gun on himself. Not the most effective recruitment drive for the church. Twelve months later, a Sydney Morning Herald journalist – Luke Arnold’s Martin Scarsden – arrives in the town where it happened to pen a “one year on” anniversary article. One local accuses him of writing “torture porn” but Scarsden says his brief is a colour piece: “just weekend supplement stuff”. Nothing to challenge or upset people. The protagonist will change his tune, of course, when he gets an inkling that something is wrong with the official narrative and attaches himself to the story like a dog with lockjaw.

We know that things can’t be as they seem but we saw the priest killing in cold blood, so what kind of twists and turns await? Good mystery writing is sometimes about appearing to box things in, to construct narrative limitations before finding ways to circumvent them – by widening the context, perhaps, or unveiling different perspectives, or laying out a tangled backstory, all of which is the case in Scrublands. Like other crime mysteries such as The Dry, McLean alternates between timeframes, the current one having a hot glazed look, the palette taking on cooler hues during earlier times. The latter moments feel reflective, distanced from the white-hot part of the flame. Later on, these once-lighter looking scenes get warmer, signifying that the plotlines are merging and the drama is coming to a head.

Luke Arnold is compelling – and he doesn’t overdo it. Photograph: Sarah Enticknap

Luke Arnold is a compelling lead: from the start you feel invested in his presence. When Arnold does that thing when an actor frowns while examining a piece of evidence, as if to say “now I’m putting two and two together”, he doesn’t overdo it; it feels genuine. This is a less showy performance than Simon Baker’s heroin-injecting cop in Limbo or Travis Fimmel’s sleepy-eyed detective in Black Snow – perhaps because Arnold is playing a journalist who can’t afford to indulge in too much self-destructive behaviour, with all those bloody deadlines to hit.

But when it comes to dramatic purpose, the journalist and the detective often occupy the same essential role: as upsetters of the apple cart, sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, making people uncomfortable and creating a chemistry change that draws dormant feelings – and, of course, The Truth – to the surface.

Bella Heathcote, who co-starred in the excellent 2020 horror movie Relic, is very persuasive as Mandy Bond, who has, shall we say, unique knowledge of the late priest. Just by the way she holds herself, by the longing in her eyes, the actor very effectively communicates that Bond wants to be somewhere else, emotionally and physically.

Mandy Bond (Bella Heathcote) in Scrublands. Photograph: Narelle Portanier

As the aforementioned priest, Swift initially seems a little imposing and Ironman-like for a man of the cloth, as if he should be in a Nutri-Grain commercial rather than a confessional. But stay with it; this tale is tangled and things feel quite plausible (notwithstanding the need for a wee bit of disbelief suspension as it rolls and tumbles along).

Like much of McLean’s work, Scrublands can be a bit pulpy but here not in a bad way: this isn’t trashy or schlocky. It’s a rock-solid addition to the rural noir genre, engaging from the start, all the way to a satisfyingly explosive finale.

Scrublands is streaming now on Stan.

Source: The Guardian

[canmom]

comments on a guy who isn’t even online anymore

‘rant by a condescending British guy’ is a sort of stable fixed point in critical writing. this afternoon i lost a few hours reading this guy Stephen Bond, from the old days of the internet, following a link to his articulation of the difference between ‘camp’, ‘kitsch’ and ‘trash’. (which despite the presentation of a two-variable schema, can fairly easily be mapped to ‘good’, ‘mid’ and ‘crap’, since the deciding variable is mostly whether they fit his personal tastes, but of course you get nowhere in this sort of writing by hedging.)

mostly my impression of this guy is that it would be really exhausting to be him. it reminds me of moorcock’s disappointing essay “epic pooh”, or benjanun sriduangkaew’s old blog requireshate, in that just kind of prioritises the spectacle of demolishing some popular cultural artefact and heaping scorn on the sort of pathetic nerd who would find value in it. so even if I agree with the aesthetic opinion being advanced, the posture the rhetoric encourages is defensiveness and reluctance to express enthusiasm or appreciation towards anything, lest it betray some corruption of the deplorable middlebrow. and when the critic does dare to venture a positive opinion, it is all too tempting to turn it back. “lol, after all that crap he said, he’ll give a pass to Dragon Age: Origins of all things?”

his later writing from the early 2010s is a bit more substantial and interesting than his mid-2000s stuff; his account of breaking from the ‘skeptic’ movement is as solid as any from the people who ended up on that road, but mostly it’s exactly the opinions you’d expect of a 2010s ex-skeptic on the fringes of the nascent SJ subculture, carrying a lot of guilt about associating with the foul, cringe nerds and the accursed British. (he went to Oxford. so did the writers of Ferretbrain, which I used to read avidly, and I was reminded of a great deal reading this site. something in the water, perhaps.)

probably the most interesting article on the site is the one about the time he tried to go pro as a critic, because it is not just scorn but an actual specific experience, one that provokes some moments of self-reflection - but also because you see him throw out some mean comments at Yahtzee, hardly undeserved but amusing because both are minor variations on the same Type Of Guy.

[rhaenella]

You & Me - Rhys Montrose x Reader - Part 9

Part 8 | Part 10

Summary: What happens when reader assassin is tasked with killing the possible future mayor of London; Rhys Montrose. Politician by day, Eat the Rich Killer by night. But he isn’t the only person wearing different masks. 

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Violence, murder, immoral sociopathic behaviour, mentions of alcoholism, drug abuse and neglect, (eventual) smut

Word count: 4.7k

A/N: at the end.

Song: The Silence – Manchester Orchestra

It had taken you twenty minutes to somewhat come back to your senses and replant your feet on solid ground. Well, as solid as you could muster. You’d tentatively taken a few steps back out on the street, looking both ways to see if there was anyone around. You noted that the firefighters had ceased extinguishing, some of them were now entering that which remained of your childhood home. This would be the moment of truth. Would they find any human remains inside?

You poised yourself, you could face whatever it was that life would throw at you. You didn’t need anyone else. You didn’t need Rhys for this. Which is what you had told him, repeatedly, back in that alley. 

Your anger had unabashedly consumed you, and you had let it, needing an outlet for all those emotions that were at war inside of you. The mention of Lockwood, the realisation he only really cared about himself — it had hurdled you over the edge. This connection Rhys had insisted upon, had it all been a ruse? You felt so utterly powerless in the situation, the lack of control making you spiral. 

Rhys had already so much as admitted to the fact that the only reason Jonathan was still alive, was because he wanted to play with the professor a little longer. That he was somehow part of this bigger plan Rhys envisioned. Why wouldn’t the same be true for you? 

What if all of this — him locking you up before letting you go again — what if it was all part of his schemes? You knew the man was intelligent beyond what was good for him. A true master at prying on people’s thoughts and feelings like a good politician ought to. 

Rhys had insisted that it wasn’t just about him, that it was also about you. But how much of that could you truly believe? Everything you thought you had known about your life and how it was structured, had crumbled down in a matter of days. Your sisters were missing, likely injured, possibly dead. One of the most powerful men on the planet was out for your blood. And to top it all off, Rhys had stridden into your life, practically claiming centre stage. You didn’t know what was true or false anymore. And who could blame you? You could handle a lot, you killed for a living for crying out loud. But dealing with so many emotions at once during these stressful times was just too much for you. It would be for anyone. 

So, you doubted. Had Rhys simply made you trick yourself into believing that this alleged bond between you was real? Yes, he felt familiar to you. You couldn’t deny that. But you were starting to think that perhaps that familiarity was just your shared sociopathy. 

You were so deep in thought, you barely noticed the last firefighters and policemen emerging from the house. Some of them stole a glance at you from where you sat on the curb, legs crossed, waiting anxiously to see if they would approach you with the worst-case scenario. 

They started packing up their gear and you stood up quickly when the same officer from before, Jones, came over to you. “Ma’am, I’d like to inform you that we haven’t found anyone inside the house.”

The dead or alive was silently implied. 

It should be a relief, really. And of course it was. They hadn’t died in there. But it still didn’t tell you where they could be now. Whether they were injured or not. 

Jones informed you on their preliminary analysis on how the fire had started. They’d labelled it an accident as he explained to you how a cigarette had likely caused the fire. The alcohol that was spilled around the coffee table had only increased the speed of the engulfing flames. 

You instantly knew that this was your mother’s doing. Zoe and Sadie didn’t smoke. You wished you could at least be partially surprised at the confirmation that it had all been your mother’s fault, but you weren’t. You tried with all your might to suppress the savage urges you felt boiling within you to come to the surface. You were standing in front of a bloody policeman here. Keep your cool, Y/N.

“Thank you, officer. Will you call me if there’s any development on your end?” You asked, a lot more composed than your previous encounter with him, shockingly succeeding in keeping the murderous thoughts out of your voice.

Maybe it was also the futility of the situation that finally dawned on you. You wouldn’t get anywhere with all these feelings right now. And you had to admit, having released most of your anger on Rhys had helped clear your head a little. If you’d ever see him again, you might have to at least thank him for that. 

“Of course, ma’am. I wish you the best of luck,” Jones said, dipping his head as he bid you goodbye. 

You watched them all leave — the police, the firefighters, even the press had cleared the road. Now, all that was left was you standing in the middle of the pavement, facing down the charcoaled remnants of your past.

What the hell were you going to do? Your sisters had made it out. But where the fuck could they be? Had your mother been with them? Was she with them, now?

You undeniably felt a little relieved at the fact that they hadn’t been burned to a crisp, yet the situation was still tremendously uncertain. You contemplated your next move whilst you slowly left the horrendous scene behind you. It was time to get a move on.

The sound of your ringtone almost made you jump three feet into the air. You hastily grabbed the thing out of your purse and checked the caller ID. Claire. Not exactly perfect timing. Thank you, Claire. Nevertheless, you pressed answer, lifting your device up to your ear. 

“Hey, Claire, I saw your text messages earlier but now really isn’t a good time,” you said without any preamble. You started walking again, unable to remain still when you knew for sure they hadn’t been at the house. You were already back on the main road, planning to head to the nearest tube station. Where exactly the train would take you, you hadn’t figured out yet. But you’d stayed stationary for long enough. 

“Sweetheart,” Claire said hesitantly. “I don’t know where you are right now, but you might want to take a moment for yourself. I don’t have the best of news.”

Your steps faltered, people shooting you annoyed and accusatory glances, having to move aside so they wouldn’t walk straight into you. You ignored them. 

“What is it?” You asked, apprehensive at what her answer would be. It was really turning out to be a bad news type of day. What could Claire possibly add to the already staggering pile of shit? 

“Sweetheart,” she said again. 

This wasn’t anything good. Wait. No. Could it be? 

Fuck…

Claire worked in one of the largest hospitals in London. She was an ICU nurse, and a damn good one. Her calling like this when, if you remembered correctly, she should be on her shift made your heart start hammering in your chest. 

“Tell me,” you said in a near whisper.

“About an hour ago, two young women were brought into the emergency department. They had been in a car accident. There was no form of identification present on them, so the hospital didn’t know who to contact at first,” she paused briefly, her own voice sounding a little shaky. 

You moved towards one of the shops on the main road, finally getting out of people their way. You heavily leaned against the front panel of a shop’s window, dreading Claire’s next words even more. Claire inhaled deeply before continuing.

“When the patients were stabilised, they brought them to me in the ICU. I immediately recognised them.”

You squeezed your eyes shut. She didn’t have to clarify any further. You knew. It was Zoe and Sadie. 

They had been in a car accident? It wasn’t the type of ‘accident’ you were expecting to hear about from her. But you weren’t currently able to make much sense of anything, anyway. You’d been on the verge of tears a few times today, but finally one managed to escape. A single tear rolled silently down your cheek as you bowed forward, bracing yourself on your left knee to keep steady. 

“I’m so, so sorry,” Claire apologised. 

When you didn’t say anything, Claire checked to see if you were still there, if you were all right. You confirmed your presence, vigorously wiping away another stray tear from your cheek. 

“Are they stable? Please, tell me, are they gonna be okay?” 

“They’re stable for now, Y/N. Besides a couple of bruised ribs, some minor fractures and mostly superficial wounds, they miraculously seem to be fine. However, for Sadie… Well, you know her delicate condition. And on top of that, neither of them has woken up yet. So, we can’t say anything definitively in terms of possible damage to the brain. Which is why they’re here, under my care.”

Possible brain damage. The words rang through you, leaving a bitter taste in their wake. You were hesitant to ask your next question, but you couldn’t live with the uncertainty.

“Is it a bad sign that they still haven’t woken up? Could that potentially mean that— that something is wrong?”

Claire was quick to put you out of your misery. “Oh no, no, darling. That doesn’t mean anything. It could very well be due to the simple fact that their bodies have been through a trauma. It’s like a body’s built-in safety mechanism to momentarily shut down in these cases to make sure everything is still functioning adequately before the person can regain their consciousness.”

You’d let go a breath you hadn’t realised you were holding. That made an awful lot of sense. 

There was still a chance they would be fine. A little mended and bruised, but they would be okay in the end. You were suddenly very glad of the bizarre coincidence that your sisters had somehow ended up in Claire’s hospital. Maybe someone up there was looking out for you after all. Because if the ambulance hadn’t brought them there, who knows how long it would’ve taken hospital staff to reach you. There was evidently no telling when Zoe or Sadie would wake up, meaning you could have potentially waited around for at least another day, maybe two. 

Feeling marginally better finally knowing where your sisters were, and not unimportant, knowing they were in the best of hands, you pushed yourself off of the shop’s front window. It was time to stop your self-wallowing and jump into action. You squared your shoulders. You needed to be there when your sisters would wake up. 

“Thank you, Claire. I’m already on my way over. See you in forty,” you didn’t wait for her to answer, stuffing your phone back in your purse as you took off to the nearest tube station. At long last knowing which direction you needed to take.

––

In the end, it had only taken you a little over half an hour to get to the hospital. 

You rushed in, nearly sending an elderly woman with her walking stick flying through the entrance hall. You remembered where the nearest set of lifts were located that would take you to the ICU on the fourth floor. Thank god, you’d been here before to surprise-visit Claire with some takeout when she had a long night shift a few months ago.

You exited the lift and quickly walked down the long white corridors. Soon, you spotted Claire waiting for you by a set of double doors, the letters ICU painted on them in bold lettering. She enveloped you in a crushing hug, caressing the back of your head in a reassuring manner. You kissed her cheek before hugging her back with the same intensity, trying to convey everything you weren’t able to put into words — how unbelievably thankful you were for her that she had been there for your sisters when you hadn’t. You knew she adored them both and that this whole clusterfuck of a situation was also very hard on her.

Claire had always been a great friend to you, from the moment you two met in college. After spending all those years together, causing your fair share of chaos on campus, your paths started to diverge a little. Claire decided to completely switch tracks and go into nursing school. When her father had passed away suddenly, she was in awe of the wonderful care the nurses had provided to him in his last few weeks. It inspired her to pursue a similar career. 

It was actually quite ironic. Claire choosing to save lives, whereas you sought a profession that did the opposite. You always jokingly told yourself how your friendship helped balance your karmic scales. 

When you two pulled apart, she guided you to where your sisters laid on two separate beds next to each other. An insane amount of wires attached to their frail looking bodies. They were hooked on a machine that beeped steadily to indicate the regular beating of their hearts and oxygen levels. 

Claire had given you some space then, leaving to check on some other patients. The ICU wasn’t very crowded and Claire had already confided in you that she had been able to spent most of her time taking care of your sisters, silently letting you know that they hadn’t been alone. It warmed your heart. How could you ever repay her? You’d be in her debt forever. 

You grabbed a nearby chair and moved it in between the beds, flopping down with a sigh. Your eyes travelled over Sadie, noting the slight troubled look on her face while she slept. You fought the instinct to move over and ease the frown from her beautiful forehead. When Zoe stirred lightly in her sleep, your eyes immediately shot to your left. For a moment, you thought she was waking, but it was probably just a dream. 

You leaned back in your chair, propping your elbow on the armrest to support your head. It had been a hellish long day and it was only nearing lunchtime. 

You snorted, not just a long day. You’d been non-stop going and going for a little over three days. And those days had been filled with lots of stress, shock, adrenaline, a hint of murder, and a crazy whirlwind of emotions to top it all off. But now that you were here, Zoe and Sadie with you again, you knew you were going to be fine. Everything that had happened seeming more and more insignificant with each passing minute since being reunited with your sisters. 

It was a matter of patiently waiting for them to open their eyes. After that... Well, you would deal with the shitstorm that was your life later. First, let’s see what their condition will be once they’re awake, you thought. Which means the waiting game had officially begun.

––

The next couple of hours passed by in a blur. 

Claire had come in constantly to check on your sisters, making sure their medication was in order as well as their vitals. Besides that, she also used those check-ins primarily to check in on you. You kept insisting you were fine.

You’d quickly taken the opportunity to ask Claire whether they had any type of burns from the fire. She’d looked at you strangely. 

“What do you mean burns?”

“There was a fire at the house, Claire. It’s all gone. I thought—,” you faltered. “I thought I lost them.” 

The clear shock that went through her told you that Claire really hadn’t known anything about it. She informed you there were no burns present on either of them. Just the injuries from the car accident. Apparently, first responders pulled Zoe and Sadie out of a car wreck about an hour after the first reports of the fire at your childhood home had come in. They’d been in the backseat but hadn’t found anyone in the front. 

The car had crashed into another car as the driver had in all likelihood ignored a red light. The impact had launched the car into the air, rolling twice before coming to a standstill upside down. Where the driver was, they didn’t know. It was quite the mystery how they had made it out before any first responders team arrived to the scene.

You immediately knew it had something to do with your mother. She didn’t own a car, but perhaps she had stolen it? Borrowed it from one of her many boyfriends? Who knew. But there was only one person coming to mind who would deliberately leave behind two injured girls in the backseat without helping them. And that was her. 

It made your blood boil. This was the last fucking straw. She would pay for this. 

The fact that your sisters were alive and laying in the ICU claimed most of your attention for now. When Zoe had started to slowly open her eyes around dinner time, you instantly called for a nurse. Claire came rushing in and began her check-ups, asking Zoe questions and testing her reflexes, as well as her memory. It was a true miracle that besides a fractured collarbone, some bruised ribs and multiple cuts and abrasions on her body, she was… all good. 

All you needed was that second miracle to happen. Which it did, over an hour later after they’d just finished with Zoe. Sadie had also woken up. She was a little worse than her big sister. Besides also nursing a nasty fractured wrist, she mostly had the same injuries as Zoe. However, Sadie quickly told Claire that she had some trouble breathing. The doctor had come back in and after some tests to make sure she didn’t have a punctured lung or any other type of internal bleeding, they surmised it was most likely due to her already delicate condition. Sadie’s oxygen levels seemed fine for now but they would keep monitoring them closely. 

You asked if it could have anything to do with the fire and the possible smoke they’d inhaled. The doctor had looked just as confused as Claire. Which was when you told her that before the car accident, your sisters had managed to escape a housefire. 

You all glanced over at Zoe and Sadie who shared an unsettling look. Sadie nodded, giving permission to Zoe to finally tell what the fuck had transpired in those crazy few hours. 

Zoe looked from Sadie to you before reluctantly diving into the story. 

After they’d made dinner last night, the two of them had watched something on Netflix. Zoe simultaneously worked on some notes for her classes whilst Sadie happily munched on some pistachios, her eyes transfixed on the tv screen. Your mother hadn’t been home at this point. 

When they’d both gone to bed later that night, they’d heard your mother tumultuously come in through the front door a few hours after midnight. She was laughing hysterically with a stranger’s male voice joking loudly and incoherently. 

“They were obviously pissed,” Zoe added disdainfully. 

It wasn’t the first time your mother brought strange men back to their place. It had happened more often than you could count, or wanted to think about. Memories of when you were young and how you would catch your mother sneaking a man who wasn’t your father in and out of the house on a regular Tuesday afternoon were unfortunately still fresh in your mind. She’d forgotten to pick you up from school, or she’d chosen not to. Instead, she dallied about with some guy fifteen years younger than her. Back then, you didn’t want to believe or accept the fact that your mother would choose random people over taking care of you. But she proved it again and again that that was indeed the case. 

Zoe went on to say that she just tried to ignore the noise like she always did, but it proved to be quite difficult. A loud shattering of glass made her sit up with a start. Zoe had gotten up after that, silently opening her bedroom door that was adjacent to the living room. She peaked through the door opening and to her horror she noted that the couch was on fire, glass splinters of what was once a bottle of wine next to it. Zoe opened the door wide, stepping through to see where your mother was, but she wasn’t there. 

Without a second thought, Zoe ran towards Sadie’s room who had already been awake. She told her to quickly grab her phone and put on her shoes. They had to leave now. Sadie jumped up at the worry lacing Zoe’s voice. Zoe went back to her room to grab the same things and when she returned back to the living room, the fire had already spread towards the kitchen. When Sadie emerged into the living room, her eyes widened at the sight before her, coughing at the smoke that was already making it difficult to see two feet in front of them. 

Zoe grabbed Sadie’s hand and together they ran for the door, both heaving when they made it outside to finally inhale some fresh oxygen. 

“Call 999,” Zoe had instructed Sadie as they walked down the path that led to their front door. In the meantime, Zoe was already dialling your number. When you didn’t pick up, she tried it again. Sadie was in the middle of forwarding their address to the 999-operator when a car came to a screeching halt on the street in front of them. It had made them both look up, squinting to see who it was. 

Zoe hadn’t recognised the driver, some hipster looking guy with a beard, but she did recognise the woman who was leaning over him as she called out their names. It was your mother. She shouted at them to get into the car, but your sisters had both been more than a little apprehensive when they noticed the bloodshot eyes of the man behind the wheel. 

Your mother wouldn’t stop her incessant shouting at them to get their arses over there. The mayhem caused lights to turn on in neighbouring houses, some people even stepped out onto the street and looked with great terror at the house that was on fire. Ultimately, your sisters relented and had uneasily slid into the backseat of the old Peugeot. The hipster guy, whose name they’d never learned, had sped off. Your mother demanded Sadie to hang up on the 999 call, which she unhappily obliged. 

They raced through the streets of London, your sisters holding onto the sides of the car out of sheer panic that they would hit something or someone. In hindsight that fear wasn’t entirely misplaced.  

Zoe had tried calling your phone three more times without your mother noticing, but you still weren’t picking up. 

Your heart clenched painfully in your chest as she told you this. You hadn’t been there for them when they needed you most, fearing for their lives, losing the only home they’d ever known. It was an imperfect home for sure, but it was still theirs. 

Zoe grabbed your hand then, pausing her retelling momentarily. She squeezed it, tearing up a little. “It’s not your fault, sis. Please, don’t blame yourself.”

You fought the unfamiliar urge to bawl your eyes out. You didn’t know what to say to her so you simply squeezed her hand in return. Trying to show her that you were here now, and you wouldn’t leave her or Sadie alone ever again. 

Zoe took that as her sign to continue with the last part of the story. The moment she had essentially blacked out and couldn’t clearly recall. She said that they’d eventually hit some other car whilst running the seventh red light on their journey. The frontal impact was the last thing she could remember. Zoe asked Sadie if she’d missed anything, but Sadie shook her head, confirming that that was all of it. It can’t possibly get much worse than that anyway, you quietly thought to yourself. 

Everyone was silent for a moment, the doctor being the first to break it. “So, if I understand correctly, a fire started in your house and your mother initially left you behind, knowing you were likely still asleep in there?”

“Yeah,” Zoe and Sadie sighed in sync. You gritted your teeth, that immediate surge of anger returning in ten-fold as the doctor regarded the three of you in astonishment. 

“I gather this is not unusual behaviour for her?”

“No, it isn’t,” Claire interjected before any of you could say anything. “Y/N has essentially been taking care of Zoe and Sadie for as long as I can remember. Their mother is an alcoholic, addicted to drugs, just overall not very — uhm, present.”

That was the understatement of the year. But you appreciated Claire intervening like this, without a doubt trying to make sure the doctor wouldn’t call on social services. It was the last thing you needed. Even though they couldn’t do much anyway. Zoe was already over eighteen and Sadie was nearly of age as well. Be that as it may, you didn’t want an outsider interfering with your family business. None of you wanted that. For you, it was mostly because you wanted to be able to plot the ultimate revenge you would one day get in peace. 

Luckily, the doctor let it go without much of a fuss, noticing how you or your sisters weren’t waiting to be coddled about this. She rechecked Sadie’s lungs and determined that the smoke damage would likely not be too bad. Your sisters inhaled the same amount of smoke, but for Sadie the after effects were a little worse due to her brittle immune system. The doctor instructed Claire the same as before, to keep monitoring her closely. Which she would do anyway, it was the bloody ICU for a reason.

When the doctor had left, you’d hugged both your sisters, whispering some reassuring words in their ears. Soon they brought in their dinners, along with an extra plate for you. You set yours aside though, first helping Sadie with cutting up her meat and vegetables. Her left arm was in a sling thanks to her fractured wrist. She cracked a joke on how very convenient it was that she’d broken her left wrist instead of her right, as it would allow her to at least be able to write and do things. 

“It means I’ll still be able to swipe right on attractive doctors while we’re here.”

Zoe barked a laugh and you smiled into your glass of water. The fact that they were already making jokes and thinking of recovery consoled you immensely. They’d been through it. But they were going to be all right.

That same night, Claire opted to stay in the hospital, to be there for you and your sisters. Again, you couldn’t for the life of you understand how you could ever be worthy of her friendship. When your sisters had dozed off in a peaceful slumber and the nurse that was on the night shift was thoroughly brought up to speed on their conditions, Claire had literally dragged you out by the arm. 

“Karen is the best there is, Y/N. She’s been here for over thirty years. They’re in good hands, I promise. Besides, you need the rest, love,” Claire urged you. And she was right. You really, really did. 

Still, you didn’t think you’d get much sleep anyway. You were just too wired. Nevertheless, the moment your head hit the pillow on the tiny bed in an on-call staff’s room, you were, for lack of a better term, dead to the world. 

Your dreams were restless, your mind evidently trying to take on the challenge to make some sense of all that had happened. You dreamt of your sisters, your mother, and even about some long-forgotten childhood memories. They weren’t very fond memories, gladly wanting to forget them again as soon as you’d wake up in the morning.

But what you wouldn’t forget was that in the centre of it all was a pair of piercing blue eyes. Eerily comforting and soothing. They followed you around through all of your dreams that night — never leaving you alone.

–––– 

A/N: PART 9!!!!! I can’t believe we’re already nearing double digits. 

In light of that, I have a bit of a regrettable announcement… As I’d already mentioned before answering an anon ask, I will be going on a month-long work trip next week. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to keep updating three times a week because of that. I want to make sure the chapters are up to standard and that the story won’t suffer from me quickly finishing them to just put the next part out. I hope you understand I value quality over quantity. Sooo, what does this mean exactly? Basically, I’ll be scaling back to uploading twice a week (starting next week), which isn’t too bad I think. Of course it may still occur that there will be only one update during the week, unfortunately it’s rather difficult to anticipate the extent of my upcoming workload. Very long A/N, I’m sorry! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this part, see you veryyyy soon for the next one in which we’ll find that Rhys has clearly already nestled his way into reader’s life. And he’s here to stay. 

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 6: Strix

Long ago on lost Golarion, the strix, a race of humanoids with birdlike wings, dwelled. Though best known in the Inner Sea for a certain isolated colony’s clash with the nation of Cheliax, their people were actually originally from Arcadia, where they once served, and later left behind, the mysterious and imperialistic syrinx.

In the time of Starfinder, much of this has been forgotten, either due to the passage of time or the vexing obscurement of the Gap, and now the Strix find their primary home in underground fortress cities on the Fullbright side of Verces.

Much like their ancient counterparts, strix are mistrustful of other peoples, which leads to some interpreting their insular nature as hiding some dark secret. However, once someone gets to know them, they share how magnanimous they truly are.

 Physically, strix resemble elves or half-elves with skin tones ranging from those familiar to humans to dusky blues, grays, and blacks; avian feet complete with talons; clawed hands; and mighty wings on their back. However, despite their similarities to other humanoids, their body structures continue to bear the mark of the avian. For example, their eyes barely move in their sockets and are milky white, while their necks can crane,twist and turn unnervingly to bring their gaze to bear in much the same manner as owls.

 The strix, once one gets past their exterior, are actually a highly communal people, something that puts them at odds with the individualistic Verthani that share the planet with them. Such a focus on personal journeys over the needs of others tends to exhaust most strix, so those that do choose to leave tend to leave the planet entirely, often forming aeries elsewhere or bonding with like-minded crews aboard starships, where all are expected to work together most of the time.

Interestingly, strix are quick to adopt new technologies, but are generally mistrustful of magical solutions, perhaps from some ancient cultural mistrust of spellcasters, be they human, syrinx, or some other species.

 Strix tend to be agile and cunning, but lack interaction skills outside of their own kind.

They have also developed keen night vision from their underground homes, not just piercing the darkness, but also easily picking up all sorts of minor details in the dark.

Though somewhat ungainly on the ground, strix are naturals in the air with their powerful wings.

They also learn the dangers of trusting their senses when magic might be abound, making it easier to spot illusions.

Their knack for technology also allows them to disassemble and build devices with surprising speed.

 Agile and intelligent, operative is a solid option for these winged warriors, who can use their familiarity in darkness and flight to make the most of a situation. Similarly, ranged soldiers, solarians, vanguards, and nanocytes are also good options for them. Their focus on technology makes them good biohackers, mechanics, and even technomancers: the one magical discipline they seem to halfway trust. Some may even become evolutionists as long as the path they take isn’t obviously magical. Envoys may be difficult due to weakness in charisma, but is still possible if they focus on the skill side of things. Spellcasting classes are where strix hesitate, though many of them are good choices for them. Even still, strix mystics, precogs, and witchwarpers may believe their power is more curse than blessing, or else perhaps be oddities among their kind that appreciate magic.

 That about does it for today, but I was delighted to see the strix return in Starfinder, just as I am with every other race from the past that makes it in. This also marks the last playable species from the Pact Worlds book as well!

[jupiturcrush]

Female Friendships (from the Anything Goes Podcast)

*I just discovered Emma Chamberlain’s podcast and I think I’m going to make commentary posts on some of her episodes.*

This topic in particular is near and dear to my heart because friendship is absolutely fascinating to me, and such a sacred part of my own life. The intimacy and closeness and bond with another girl is so rare and special, and is truly one of the best experiences you can ever have in life. The problems within friendship, how to resolve them, and how to make/sustain friendships are topics that should be explored and talked about more.

Emma starts off talking about when she realized the dynamics with her friends were changing in middle school, becoming more tense and competitive, which increased/intensified into high school. Competitiveness is the main issue discussed, and a multi-layered one at that.

I would say for myself, I never really had very many friends when I was younger/most of my life. The ones I did have were just generally nice, solid girls. I think that’s been a pattern in my life. For the most part I’ve been drawn to (and vice versa) good people. I can only think of one big falling out with a friend who I thought would be in my life forever- but I’m not even sure how applicable that experience is because it was with a (gay) guy friend. Aside from him, my female friendships that ended always ended on neutral terms, a natural consequence of growing apart and going in different directions in life.

I think Emma’s struggles with friends probably stem from growing up in LA, in a culture of fame and wealth and heightened superficiality and social climbing. Maybe her experiences are shared by others but I really couldn’t relate to some of the anecdotes she used, such as her friends making out with her crush- which she said happened “a bazillion times”. That hasn’t happened to me… ever. Not even in my teen years. Jealousy is normal and inevitable, but it happens in such minor ways that I’m able to move through it without the friendship being negatively affected.

As far as crushes, luckily there’s never any overlap with any of my friends interested in the same guy. I’m very rarely attracted to someone, and my friends all have very different taste in guys than me anyway. So it’s worked out very well on that front. But even if there was some occasion where a guy I liked was into my friend and not me… I just don’t really care that much. It hurts at first, there have been times where a guy I like openly expresses his attraction towards one of my friends. But in those moments it’s more-so a feeling of rejection, not competition. It’s a negative feeling towards myself, not a negative feeling towards my friends.

Ultimately though, if a guy is interested in my friend, I know he’s not the guy for me. Conversely, when a guy likes me, I know he really likes me for who I am. I’m not worried about him seeing my attractive friends and jumping ship.

Another point she she brings up is lack of loyalty. In regards to boys/backstabbing, but also in situations where girls were opportunistic and ditched her in favor of cooler plans or more popular girls, etc. Although I sympathize with this, I really think people’s true intentions are pretty easy to pick up on. I mean… people are not that mysterious. You can tell the real ones pretty early into the process of getting to know them. The problems Emma runs into in her female friendships are really just a matter of choosing better people to hang out with, and perhaps that’s a skill you develop with time/age. But overall, people tend to show their true colors very quickly. I’ve rarely been months or years into a friendship and had the carpet pulled out from under my feet by someone’s disloyalty or general shittiness as a friend.

She also talks about copying. Style, specifically. It feels like a pretty juvenile point, but I understand the POV from a 20 year old is going to be very different from someone in their 30’s. She ties it in with the competitive nature of females that she’s witnessed/experienced, and how girls will claim certain trends or items of clothing as “theirs”. I haven’t personally run into this issue, and it doesn’t feel like a real issue within the scope of friendships. But I think this just goes back to the fact that I’m not competitive with my friends, nor are they with me.

I do think it’s worth mentioning that when you hang out with someone a lot your language, mannerisms, and appearance tend to merge. That seems to be a byproduct of bonding. In fact, I absolutely love matching my friends. Wanting (subconsciously or consciously) to be more alike with those who you admire or vibe with is pretty standard from a psychology/sociology/evolutionary perspective.

But maybe this copying problem is more applicable to those living in a fashion-forward city like LA or NYC. This really isn’t going to be an issue in northeast Florida, where everybody dresses more or less the same. Vans, converse, high waisted shorts/jeans, crop top… it’s all the same bullshit. People want to look the same and blend in in most places.

The episode concludes with talking shit. Girls talking behind their friends back.

Guilty. To be fair- it was a roommate situation, and my frustrations with the friend were coming from the place of a roommate and cohabitating. Our relationship as friends was tainted by the experience of being roommates first, friends second. I needed to vent, and often. Which was probably some equivalent of talking shit. Tomato-tomahto. I needed to leave that living situation, and when I did, the friendship resumed its normalcy. Otherwise, I don’t badmouth my friends. I take great pride in who’s in my life, and for the most part feel extremely fortunate for each friend who adds something totally unique and special into my life.

The main problem I face in my dealings with females-

is the perpetual, insurmountable “business” of everyone. It’s moreso an issue with girls I’m trying to build a friendship with rather than friends I’ve already established. Girls will flat out tell me they want to hang out- and when I try to make plans with them, they’re working, or already have plans, or will let me know- then never do. It’s maddening. This self-imposed paradox. Girls will say they want more friends, or have no friends, and I go out of my way to invite them to do things and most of the time it doesn’t work out.

Meanwhile my guy friends will come over at the drop of a hat 😂 Go figure.

[poorlytunedukulele]

Destinytober - New Lights

June 29, 2841; The Last City, Earth

It was the first good snow of the season in the City. A solid inch had dropped overnight, concealing grass and capping the streetlamps and trash cans. The maintenance frames had already been through to clear the walkways, but off the beaten paths it still drifted, fresh and sparkling. The morning sun was still too weak to melt it.

Andal walks confidently along the cleared path, trailed by several new Hunters. He's drawn the metaphorical short straw this week; Tour Duty isn't something most Guardians enjoy. Andal doesn't mind it one bit. A nice walk around the Tower, impart some Life Advice™, and get a decent lunch comped on the Vanguard's wallet? Not a bad gig.

The addition of a gaggle of New Lights isn't a downside in Andal's book. It's a good thing to interact with the younger generations every so often. Guardians could live for a long time. Unlike mortals, their memories never fogged and age did not dim their minds. It meant things could get a bit monotonous. Each new season is a wonder when you're ten. When you're cracking a century like Andal is, it's very easy to look up and realize another year has passed without you taking note of it.

That's why Andal enjoys young people so much. Everything is important with them. Even the most worn and mundane things can become new again as they experience it.

It's also admittedly fascinating to see what sticks with a Guardian from their previous life. Nobody is quite a fresh slate- obviously everyone knows how to walk and eat and all that. Whatever other functional skills, vague recollections, and associations come along for the ride seems almost random.

"Snow?" he asks. One of his charges- Puck, he recalls, has scooped some of the powder out of a garden bed and is scrutinizing it closely. The young Hunter's face is twisted in what appears to be confusion.

"When it gets cold- far North or South on Earth or Mars, plenty of places in the Outer System, too- it doesn't rain," Andal explains. "Frozen water from the air. Snow." Some of them probably haven't seen snow before- perhaps not in their first lives, either. In the tropics or on Venus, Mercury, it just doesn't get cold enough.

Puck stares at the power in zir hand. Andal can almost see the gears turning in the Kinderguardian's head. Ze closes zir fingers and slowly uncurls them to reveal the oddly-shaped snow impression of the inside of zir fist.

"Snowball," Chari clarifies from above Andal's shoulder. (His Ghost has been having just as much fun instructing and gossiping with the newly-bonded Ghosts as Andal has with his Kinderguardians).

Andal hears a familiar voice through the crowd and instinctively ducks behind the concealment of a stone bench. "Down," he hisses. The Kinderguardians all comply, with various levels of urgency, behind the surrounding benches and trash cans.

Andal scoops the snow by his knee and begins packing it into a ball-shape. The New Lights watch him, fascinated. "What's going on?" Mot Balek asks.

"Hunters, we have ourselves a target," Andal announces with undue gravitas.

"A target?" That's a sharp look from Nian Ruo. She looks almost anxious- she hasn't caught on this matter isn't wholly serious yet.

"Don't peek all at once," Andal instructs, "but there is a tall Awoken man wearing silver and red armor walking up the path towards the Tower North."

Naturally, they all peek at once. Andal finishes his first snowball and starts on another, shaking his head and tsking in disappointment. They'll all have to learn some subtlety if they're going to get anywhere in this world.

"Who is that?" Puck asks.

"That, my dear friends, is the esteemed Zavala." Andal says it with the same tone of voice he'd used to introduce the Memorial Fountain and the Vanguard Armory.

Nian goes from anxious to alarmed. "We're about to attack the Titan Vanguard?"

"It is our solemn duty," Andal intones. "The Vanguard spends all day locked up in the Tower. They need to be kept on their toes. Livens up their life a little."

The newbies all watch him with wide eyes, drinking up every word. They are so gullible.

It's kind of funny, the line you have to walk with them. On one hand, they believe everything you say, so you can't just outright lie to them. You don't want to break their trust so early. On the other hand, they believe everything you say. You have to jerk them around a little. It's an obligation.

"There will come a day," Azra says seriously, "when nothing will sound sweeter to you than that beleaguered sigh he makes."

"You'll need ammunition," Charin says. "Stock up."

The Kinderguardians all hurry to make their own snowballs (with varying levels of success). Andal keeps tabs on Zavala, motioning to his squad only when the Vanguard Commander has drawn even with them.

"Alright kiddos, this is an exercise in tactics. Do you all remember the Memorial Fountain a ways back?"

He receives a series of nods.

He settles on his haunches and begins speaking rapid-fire. "Then here's the plan. Mot, Omar, you go back the way we came. Puck, Nian, cut north, then double-back using the footbridge." Those two seem a bit more situationally aware than the others. They'd be less likely to get lost. "That'll take you to a large plaza, there'll be signs leading you back to the fountain from there." He does a quick weapons check and is gratified to see every New Light with at least two passable snowballs. They learn fast. "Stick together, hang low. Worst comes and we have to scatter, we still meet at the Fountain. Got it?"

"Can't we call each other on the radio?" Omar asks.

Andal grins. "What's the fun in that?" Zavala is a perfect distance away now, close enough to peg but far enough he won't notice them breaking cover. Andal gathers his snow-arsenal. "Ready up, everyone. On my signal."

Four pairs of bright eyes blink in response.

(Zavala's sigh after the fact is extremely beleaguered. Completely worth it.)

AO3 linky!

[lsvdw-blog]

Hello! Random questions about Ethan & Serena if you don’t mind me asking…

Do you think being a constant presence in each other lives (working together, sharing Naveen’s secret, basically being besties in book 1) was necessary for them to develop a strong bond and eventually fall in love (mostly for Ethan)?

If they would’ve met somewhere else, do you think they would’ve noticed each other? Flirt? Exchange numbers? Date and fall in love in the same way they did?

If this happens before Serena started working at EB, would Ethan still pursue her knowing she’s a student? / Same for Serena if you HC she’s living a specific situation in med school… would she still pursue Ethan?

What would be the youngest age Ethan would’ve noticed her? (younger than that he wouldn’t feel comfortable)

Thanks for answering ☺️💕

Anon, these questions about my babies ❤❤

Do you think being a constant presence in each other lives (working together, sharing Naveen’s secret, basically being besties in book 1) was necessary for them to develop a strong bond and eventually fall in love (mostly for Ethan)?

First, "basically being besties in book 1" made me laugh and ILY 😂 Second, I think it everything that transpired between them before Miami was crucial for Ethan to develop feelings as all the pieces together created a solid foundation of trust that he had in Serena. I hc that trust is the most important thing to Ethan (other factors are important too, but like... Louise), so knowing that he could trust Serena wholeheartedly meant a lot to him. As for Serena, it meant a lot to her that Ethan would trust her with Naveen's situation. To have someone place that much trust in her, she felt a duty to not let him down, which played into her eventual protectiveness of him. As they continued to bond and share multiple secrets *cough Thanks Naveen cough* that line between mentor and mentee, resident and attending, became blurry and paved the way for their feelings & relationship ❤

If they would’ve met somewhere else, do you think they would’ve noticed each other? Flirt? Exchange numbers? Date and fall in love in the same way they did?

My AU senses are tingling 🎇 I do think they would've noticed each other. Ethan is hard to miss, look at him 😍 but I think Ethan would've noticed Serena as well - her confidence, energy, and charm fill whatever room she's in. I'm envisioning a meet-cute of Serena turning around as Ethan is walking by and she bumps into him, all "Oh, I'm so sorry!" and Ethan steadying her. Their eyes lock and the world around them fades. Serena definitely flirts (she's a flirt by nature lol), but Ethan is his normal Dr. Terminator. BUT his eyes look at her with an intensity that burns into her and she knows he feels it too. I don't think they exchange numbers that first time, but perhaps they keep going back to the place they first bumped into each other, in hopes of catching one another there again. Spoilers: they do and start talking - small talk at first, before eventually having a standing date and table. After a couple weeks of this, Ethan finally musters up the courage to ask for her number and ask her on a proper date. They date & fall in love - happy ending for once ♥

If this happens before Serena started working at EB, would Ethan still pursue her knowing she’s a student? / Same for Serena if you HC she’s living a specific situation in med school… would she still pursue Ethan?

Aaah, if she was towards the end of med school (24 - 26), I think he'd work it out to where he'd be fine pursuing her. I think anything younger than that, he would've noticed her, but wouldn't have been comfortable pursuing her, thinking she's probably still figuring things out and doesn't need him to complicate matters. Serena would pursue Ethan regardless of the circumstances 😂 What can I say, girl knows what she wants 🤷🏻‍♀️

What would be the youngest age Ethan would’ve noticed her? (younger than that he wouldn’t feel comfortable)

I think Ethan would've noticed her after age 21 (he's 31), but very fleeting. Like in a bar/restaurant and he thinks she's attractive. Doesn't give it much thought. I think anything younger than that and he wouldn't have been comfortable - his morals and ethics would come into play.