#i saw my friend for the first time in months on sun (we've still been keeping in touch though so it doesnt feel like that much time has

[yutadori]

it's so crazy and isolating hearing my friends talk about how they want kids u__u

[the-badger-mole]

Why?

It was always fun when they got together, but this was a special occasion. In three days, Katara and Zuko would be married in a private ceremony attended by just close friends and family. In four days, they would have the lavish royal wedding to be attended by world leaders, nobility and whatever Fire Nation citizens would fit inside of Caldera. In five days, Katara would be crowned Fire Lady in a ceremony at least as lavish as the royal wedding. Tonight, though, it was just the six friends in Zuko's suite, reminiscing, catching up and drinking perhaps a bit too much.

It was well into the earliest hours of morning before everyone started drifting off to their rooms. Sokka and Suki, the proud parents of a six month old who was just beginning to sleep through the night, went first. Then Zuko, who was extremely reluctant to leave, but had business to take care of in order to make sure his honeymoon would be uninterrupted. Toph left soon after Zuko. She had fallen asleep on the rug in front of the fire, but when woken, she insisted she was just resting her eyes. Katara chuckled at her friend, but managed to convince her to rest her eyes in her own bed. The sun would be up shortly, so she was getting ready to go to turn in, too. Aang, though, lingered at the table they'd all been sitting at. He knew where his room was, so Katara thought nothing of letting him take his time getting there.

"Going to bed already?" Aang asked as Katara stood up.

"Yeah," she nodded, stretching her arms over her head. "I have a last minute meeting with the wedding planner before lunch, and then I was planning to spend the rest of the day with my dad and Gran Gran."

"I can't believe you're getting married," Aang said, shaking his head. "It doesn't feel real."

"Tell me about it," Katara laughed. "We've been planning this for a year, and it still feels like we didn't have enough time to plan."

"You think it's too soon?" Aang asked.

"Absolutely not!" Katara replied emphatically, a wide smile spreading over her face. "I was ready to marry Zuko three months into dating him. We only waited as long as we did because he wanted to make sure I'd be comfortable here." Aang was silent for a long moment, and Katara was starting to feel fatigue creeping up on her. She was about to say goodnight, when Aang spoke again.

"Are you sure about this?" He said it so quietly Katara wasn't sure she heard him correctly.

"What?" she asked mid yawn.

"Are you sure about this?" Aang repeated a bit louder. "About him?" Katara's brow drew down in confusion.

"Of course I'm sure," she let out an incredulous laugh. "This is a lot of effort if I wasn't sure." Aang shrugged.

"I mean, it's not too late to back out," he said. "If you decided it wasn't what you want." Katara blinked hard and shook her head. The alcohol and the late hour must have been getting to her. Nothing her friend was saying made any sense.

"I'm not backing out," she said. "Wait...did Zuko mention something about not wanting-"

"No!" Aang said quickly. "No, that's not...I'm just...Why him?"

"What?" Katara felt as if every nerve in her body had suddenly been electrified. She gaped at Aang in shock. He sat at the table, fidgeting with his half-empty cup. He took a breath and squared his shoulders. He turned his wide, grey eyes up at Katara.

"Why did you choose him?" he asked. "Why Zuko? Why not- why not me?" Katara was at a loss for words. She knew Aang had had feelings for her once, but that was years ago. They were adults now, and she thought he had long since moved on.

"I love him," she told Aang simply. "I've loved him a long time. Longer than we've been together."

"But I love you," Aang said. "I've loved you since I first opened my eyes and saw you there." Katara shook her head.

"You love an idea of me," she said. "You love that I took care of you. But Zuko...he loved me in my grief, and my anger. He loved me when I wasn't kind and sweet. He loved me when I wasn't at my best." Aang snorted and thew back the rest of the contents of his cup.

"So because I didn't encourage your worst parts I didn't measure up?" he demanded. "You chose him over me because he didn't expect better of you?" Katara gasped as if she had been slapped. Then she got angry.

"For your information, Zuko pushes me to be better all the time," she snapped. "He just doesn't pretend that my anger is out of character for me. He listens to me vent. He lets me be upset. He doesn't expect me to put on a smile and pretend like the situation isn't as bad as it is."

"I'd let you be upset!"

"Oh please!" Katara snorted derisively. "The day after Ozai captured my father, you wanted to go play and got annoyed when we wanted to plan our next steps!"

"I was a kid then!" Aang protested. "I wouldn't do that now."

"You think I just got over that?" Katara demanded. "Aang, you are my friend, and I love you, but you haven't done anything since then to prove that you care about any of my feelings that are inconvenient to you! And that's fine. That's our relationship because I am the one who takes care of you. That's what you needed from me. But, Aang...I my feelings were never going to turn romantic from that. You're like my little brother. Sometimes my son. I can't turn to you the way I turn to Zuko. He's...he's my best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend."

Katara sighed. In nearly ten years, Aang had come a long way from the boy that she and her brother had rescued from the iceberg, but perhaps not as far as she thought. She could see the traces of the kid she'd taken care of in the sag of his shoulders, and in the way his mouth turned down in his disappointment. For an instant, Katara wanted to pull him into a hug and comfort him, but she knew that wouldn't be the right move here.

"You are a friend I love dearly," Katara told him. "But I can't turn to you with my problems. I can't be my full self with you. If I had chosen you, it would've been for the wrong reasons. It would've been because I thought you needed me, or I was afraid of hurting your feelings, or I felt like I owed you for defeating Ozai."

"What's wrong with any of those reasons?" Aang was near tears at this point, and Katara felt awful. Still, she reasoned to herself, it was kinder to kill any hope of her he had been harboring.

"I wouldn't be choosing you because I love you," she told him. "I was never in love with you. If I chose you, it would've been because I felt obligated to, and that wouldn't have been fair to either of us. We both deserve to be loved for who we are completely. I have that with Zuko. I hope you let yourself find it with someone else." Tears were flowing down Aang's face now. Once again, Katara had to hold herself back from pulling him into a tight embrace. If their friendship had any chance of lasting, she knew she this was a wall that needed to be built high and strong.

"There's no one else in the world for me other than you," Aang said. Katara sighed and shook her head sadly.

"I really hope one day you'll realize that's not true. Goodbye, Aang."

[cosmicdeaths]

i'm writing this because i don't know else to do to stop crying. and because there is little else my helpless hands can do to change this horrifying reality we're living in. i am sudanese. and my mother just told me that we've lost yet another relative in the ongoing civil war in sudan. i've also learned that the small lovely town i grew up in, Shambat, in Khartoum Bahri, is currently plagued by this fever the origin of which is yet to be identified. from what little we know whoever gets this fever just does not wake up to see the sun of another day. it might be because the dead bodies people buried in their backyards in a desperate attempt to grieve and honor them are unearthed by the rain. it might be because the entire health system has collapsed months ago and there is no way for these people to attain any form of medical help. we've lost family members with chronic conditions simply because they couldn't get medical attention until it was too late. my own grandfather died of complications that could've easily been managed had they gotten him the proper treatment. we've lost people to this fever, too. a brother and the very next day, his sister. and more keep dying. it hurts and angers me that no one's talking about this. and just as equally my heart breaks for each and every palestinian out there, and i keep praying for them and hoping to be half as patient as they are. i know what it's like to be so scared your entire body goes numb, i know what it's like to be displaced and leave behind everything you've ever known with little hope of ever coming back. to survive and not really feel like you did. i saw this video of a palestinian woman holding her dead baby and just begging to nurse him one more time. i see palestinian men breaking down into tears while trying to comfort children, literal babies, whom they pulled out of the rubble. a little girl who's saying god why didn't you take me along with my mother, god, you know i can't live without her. and i suddenly remember that i know of a friend of my family who just sits there crying helplessly every night because she doesn't know what to tell her starving nieces who are too young to understand that they can't get food because of all the shooting outside. i keep seeing entire villages in the west being completely wiped off the map, reduced to nothing but a black dot of ashes and ruin. and this isn't even a first; ethnical cleansing in the western areas of sudan went on for decades and no one even bat an eye. my heart will never stop bleeding for Darfur. i know of a group of boys who were stuck for days in the very university i went to, waiting for a ceasefire for days on end until one of them died of fear or starvation or illness or whatever it is that we still don't know to this very day, and they had to bury him in the very field they used to play football matches in. a field every student in that university knows and has been to and laughed and cried in. girls are raped and sexually enslaved in terrifying numbers. the biggest maternity hospital in the country, the one i was born in, was looted and patients kicked out. these are all stories that will never leave my memory til the day i die. they're all deaths i will never forgive nor stop mourning. i won't despair and i won't give up, but the heart aches and cracks, and the tears run and run and leave crevices behind. the world is an ugly, ugly place. only hope and solidarity can save us. my sudanese and palestinian brothers and sisters, you are not alone. and you never will be.

[cupidddd-d]

always the fool with the slowest heart

in which james potter would do anything to get lily evans to fall in love with him, even if it means dating you for 2 years and breaking your heart.

pt. 1 pt. 2 pt. 3

you couldn't remember a time ever not being in love with james potter. for you, he was always the one. you had first seen him in your first year as you boarded the hogwarts express. it was only a glimpse through the window, but it was enough for you to realize that he was it. there was never going to be anyone else. he was laughing with his friends and radiating with happiness.

you wanted to make him smile. you wanted to be the one to make him throw his head back with uncontrollable laughter. and somehow, you made that happen. you were able to weasel your way into his heart, and being able to know him just made you fall even harder. and for a moment, it was almost as if he felt the same way about you.

he had gotten rejected by lily for the thousandth time when he declared in true teenage boy dramatics, "i'm over evans. i'm tired of asking her out when all she'll say is no. i'm all yours, mates. forget love!"

and for a year, that was true. until he professed his feelings for you in front of the entire great hall. without even questioning it, you accepted him gladly. sure, you noticed his eyes wandering across the gryffindor table, searching for lily, but you naively brushed it off. after all, he had you now. what need would he have for lily?

you had kept your optimism until you realized lily was jealous, and james was catching onto it like a shark with blood. you saw her long, yearning looks at james from across the table. you saw her shoulders slump when james smugly slung his long arms across you. and you definitely saw how james made direct eye contact with lily every time he kissed you.

it made you uncomfortable, but you continued to brush it off. james loved you. right? you didn't mind when he became distant. you didn't mind when he started blowing you off because lily needed him. and you certainly didn't mind when he would leave you in the library alone because lily needed his help with transfiguration. you didn't mind because at the end of the day, it was you he was coming back to. of course, that was until he didn't come back to you.

"sorry babe, lily needs my help with mcgonagall's homework!"

"i'm so sorry my love, i promised lily i'd go to hogsmeade with her,"

"i know, i know, but i have to go. i told lily i'd meet up with her before the test."

"god, y/n, i told you this already. i have to study with lily."

but you held strong because you both were still dating. never mind the fact that you barely saw each other anymore.

"please, james, i'm begging you! just one date! we've barely seen each other these last few months." you begged, tugging on his arm. but this time he didn't tolerate it with an easy smile.

"are you serious right now? you're being so clingy. i think we've seen each other quite enough. now if you'll excuse me, i have to meet lily at the black lake." james tugged his arm roughly out of your grip and walked away before you could respond.

you stood in the middle of the hall, shocked and hurt. shaking yourself out of your stupor, you ran to the black lake, trying to find james. and you found him, but he was with lily. kissing lily. smiling at lily in a way he never had with you.

oh. oh. no. tears didn't even form in your eyes as you numbly walked away and back into your dorm. it was only there that your thoughts began spiralling.

how long had this been going on? lily was your friend. why would she do this? why would james betray you like this? did anyone else know? why didn't anybody tell you? did james ever love you?

you had given him everything. your heart and your soul. he was your moon, your stars, and your sun. he was everything to you, but you clearly weren't to him.

[satureja13]

The next day. While Saiwa still tries to convince Jack that it's not possible to throw Greg in the dungeons of the castle without proper evidence and investigations, they suddenly heard an alarm going off ö.ö

Jeb: "Jack, Kiyoshi - quick! Let's get out of here!"

It wasn't hard to locate the source of the noise, it came from their TTT (Teleporting TukTuk)! They turned the alarm off. Despite the lock on its wheel, it must have moved out of the garage by itself.

Saiwa: "But why the alarm?" Vlad checked his calendar: "Erm, I guess over Jack's death, we've forgotten that it's Summer Solstice today..." Saiwa: "What? Already one and a half month have passed since then?" Time flies! And they'd already forgotten Beltane, the last festival in the wheel of the year... Today is the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. Until Winter Solstice on December 21, the days are getting shorter again from tomorrow on.

Jack: "Maybe it wants us to board and it'll take us somewhere, like last time at Beltane when we found ourselves at Tartosa..." And so they squeezed themselves into the tiny teleporting TukTuk... Puppy Jack is already excited, as always: "I wonder where we are going this time!"

The TTT ported them away from Tomarang through the Otherworld... Well, this place looks familiar. It's Henford! Where Sai, Jack, Vlad and Ji Ho had spent their first weekend trip together almost two years ago! And where Jeb showed up and we saw his face for the first time (that was before he joined them).

But it's also the place where Jack's Heidi nightmare took place. Which lead to his breakdown - and his breakup with Kiyoshi... and the beginning of his pain. Saiwa: "Are you ok, Jack? Come, let's leave again." Jack: "What? No! It's Summer Solstice! We should celebrate. I'm fine. We deserve a little time out. Remember? The old Jack is dead and the new, better Jack is going to prosper!" Sometimes Saiwa wishes he had a tiny bit of Jack's optimism. How can he be so positive to be able to vercome his hardships after he wanted to throw Greg in the dungeons just a few minutes ago? Saiwa sighed. (This actually happened to me a few years ago. I had been working so hard on myself to overcome my hardships and prosper. I'd thought I'd come so far already and I had been utterly sure I'd made huge steps. But then something happened that showed me I wasn't as stable as I thought I was and it threw me back so far omg. Let's hope Jack will do better than me - with a little help of his friends.)

Also, Jack never forgot that Vlad wanted to come back to Henford with Ji Ho. That had been one of his last wishes before he died (after he drank Ji Ho's poisonous blood to claim him back from Genji...) So leaving is not an option for Jack. Everything happens for a reason.

Sai was not completely convinced that Jack is really ok but the show must go on: "Well then - let's change into something comfortable and hope that TTT brought some stuff with him."

And since they are in the Otherworld and the TTT is a magical vehicle, there was actually a lot the tiny TukTuk brought with him - and to set up :3 There is even a tent that looks like Barfolomews holy Star Wars tent Jack had destroyed on their weekend trip (Ji Ho worked at the Diner de los Muertos to pay for the repair - where he met Luci...) Of course Vlad and Jack will sleep in the Star Wars tent. And Kiyoshi and Jeb will share a tent (Kiyoshi is still not back to his old self since he came back after spending decades in the tree / becoming a diety) and Saiwa and Ji Ho the other. Even the Little Goats joined them!

Saiwa is worried about Jack, no matter how much he claims to be ok. Jack is Saiwa's oldest friend, he'll talk to him later when everything is set up and the goats and the Boys are fed.

And while the others set up the tents and stuff, Jeb prepared the meals. The sun was just setting when they started to eat. What a wonderful world. They deserve a peaceful festival after all they went through.

'I see skies of blue and clouds of white The bright blessed day the dark sacred night And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky Are also on the faces of people going by I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying I love you'

Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful World

The way Sai looks at Jeb when he looks in another direction <3

And then his face fell when he looked back at Jack.

When they finished their meal, Sai and walked a bit together. Just until they saw the Mansion from afar. Greg had brought toddler Jack to the Mansion after he rescued him from the Lab and he grew up here with 'Uncle' Stefan (Stefan is not his real Uncle). And here also the worst part of his Heidi Nightmare took place... Saiwa: "Let's leave, we'll find another place, hm?"

Jack: "I won't run away anymore. I've come so far and my pain is almost gone. Maybe I died ingame so I can prove that the therapy works? That I can carry over what I've learned ingame to my real life? It will be painful and hard. And I miss Lou so much. But it will be worth it in the end. I'll start a new life. You will help me, won't you? Push me when I fall back in my old, crazy habits." Sai: "Of course I will help you. I'm just not sure if I can push you. I'm worried you're going too fast."

But then a Summer Solstice Wonder happened! A flock of cute birds were flying in circles around Jack! With sparkles and singing and everything! As if they wanted to reassure him that he's on the right path! Jack: "What? ... See?!" Saiwa: "How did you do that? You are really something else ^^'"

Sai: "I hope I can find a kind of balance between pushing you and keeping you safe. But I'm always there for you. Just talk to me, hm? And we still have Vlad." Jack: "Promised. I love you." Saiwa sighed but he said it anyway: "I know." (Saiwa is not much into Star Wars, that's more a Jack/Vlad thing. But he knows it makes Jack happy when he answers with 'I know' ^^')

to be continued...

The Boys had quite the event on last year's Summer Solstice ö.ö Let's hope this year's is quieter.

The Therapy Game Master Post with the sessions and places so far is -> here

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest Current Chapter: 'Who killed Jack?' from the beginning ▶️ here Last Chapter: 🕹️ 'The One' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[omni-scient-pan-da]

When I was 11 I had a very mild crush on this guy, but EVERYONE in our grade liked him and he had a different girlfriend (and sometimes boyfriend) every week so I stopped having feelings for him and at the end of 6th grade he had a girlfriend that (as far as I'm aware of) he's still together with to this day

Five months later, we've found ourselves sitting next to each other in five classes a day every day in 7th grade and he's my best friend, and we're texting and he keeps complimenting me and I, half joking and half serious, text him "Haha, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on me"

And he goes "Well, maybe a little one"

We're 12, but he has a girlfriend, that at that point didn't mean much of anything, but it still leaves me wondering why I wasn't good enough for him to say anything before he had a girlfriend

Flashforward two years later, I'm 14, and I've realized I'm gay, and Genevieve is the most beautiful girl in the entire world

She's smart and funny and creative and I love the way she smiles and when the sun hits her hair just the right way it looks golden and I am so completely enamored by her, SO enamored by her in fact that she's the person that made me realize I was gay in the first place

But Genevieve is obsessed with this guy that doesn't even know she exists, has been for a year now, and I know I don't stand a chance because she rambles about him all the time and I, in an attempt to relate, tell her about my own crush

"That's beautiful" she tells me, in awe of the ways I go on and on about this mystery person I refuse to tell her the name of "I wish someone loved me like that"

And I so desperately want to tell her that I do, that I'm talking about her, that I love her like that, that I adore her, that she can do no wrong in my eyes but I know she doesn't want me to love her like that, so I keep my mouth shut for a few more months until it comes out on accident and slowly but surely I get over it, until I can listen to the songs that used to remind me of her without feeling like I'm going to throw up over it

Two more years later, I'm 16, and the most kindhearted girl I've ever met wants to be friends

We met in the musical we were both in and one day she walks in reading my favorite book of all time, and I'm not great at talking to people, but I am great at talking about books and we ramble until we discover common interest after common interest and I love her

And I look at her and think about how very easy it would be to fall in love with her, but she's straight and she has a boyfriend, so I force myself not to get too attached

I'm 17, and I'm dancing with May, arm in arm, being spun around the dance floor, having my romcom moment in the middle of a dance circle, laughter spilling past my lips as they twirl me around and my dress swirls out around me

And I know I'm so far gone there's no hope in turning back

May gets me, May understands me, May and I are SO similar there's no way they can't feel the same way, we're holding hands and cuddling and we joke about sharing our first kiss on top of the tallest Ferris wheel in the world so we could have an epic story to tell year from now, but there's no time and so instead we settle for kissing each other on the cheek in front of the Ferris wheel instead

We're inseparable, I'm their wife, and I love them, I so desperately love them and they love me too, they've said it themself, they love me queer platonically but I know in my heart that means so much more to me than it ever has or ever will to them

But I can't give up without trying, and they're leaving for China soon and I'm leaving for college shortly after, so I pour my heart out

18 letters

18 desperate pathetic cries for them to feel even a sliver of what I feel for them

"I had a bit of a crush on you" confesses the "straight" girl that just so happened to be reading my favorite book when we became friends

Except, she didn't "just so happen" to be reading my favorite book, she saw me reading it, and went out and bought the same one the very same day so we'd have something in common

"You're one of my favorite seniors and I'm going to miss you so much next year, I don't know what I'll do without you" she tells me, giving me a tight hug before going back to hold her new boyfriend's hand, because of course she doesn't feel that way anymore

The letters are already in motion and though it's months before I'll get a response deep down I know what May will say in response

"I'm sorry, I don't feel the same way, I don't want to hurt you but I hope we can still be friends," they reassure me later on

"No no, it's okay, I'm fine, I promise, I just needed to get it off my chest is all" I tell them, furiously scrubbing at my tears before taking a selfie to prove to them that I'm perfectly and totally fine, and hoping if I tell myself that enough times the statement will be true

And then college, and isolation, and hopelessness and then a spark of hope in the pouring rain and finally, finally, someone who feels the same way I do, who wants the same thing I do, and finally, I think that I can make this whole romance thing work, and now that I have the very thing I've been dreaming of the whole time I'm going to do whatever I can to keep it, except... Apparently they don't feel the same way I do, or don't want the same thing I do, and everything with Phoenix falls to pieces too

I like him and he doesn't start liking me til he has a girlfriend

She wishes someone loved her the way I loved her but doesn't want me to be the one to love her like that

She likes me so much she puts every single thoughtful gesture she can into getting us to be closer together, but doesn't care to admit it until her feelings have faded and she's found someone else so she doesn't have to worry about facing her change in sexuality

They wanted a fairytale romance, and didn't feel the same way after months of acting like a couple to all go down the drain and for them to end up with someone they confessed to on a whim

They say they want the same thing I do, but they're only caught up in what I can give them and don't care to give themself to me in return

I've offered my bleeding heart out on a platter and the best I can ever get in return is a halfhearted confession from someone that's already secure in the knowledge that they have someone that cares so very deeply about them, without having to risk a single hair on their head

And I'm left wondering what lesson I'm not learning that leaves me in the same predicament time and time again

[synedrafts]

S.coups - missed opportunities

Synopsis : Salt air, sandy shorelines and the golden hues of the sunset — they've been here before. Two lost souls finding home in each other's arms and yet another summer comes by to recount the bittersweet moments with vodka, regrets and heartaches. As two lovers meet one beloved summer, only to part ways with unspoken feelings and missed opportunities.

Pairing : s.coups x reader

Genre : college au, slow-burn, angst, summer fling!seungcheol, romance.

preview word count : 250 (estimated : 1k - 2k)

preview warnings : profanity.

note : hello! I'm syne and this is my first published au :] hope you guys stick around! ps. this was inspired by the song August by Taylor Swift. hope you enjoy!

As the sun started to disappear below the horizon — casting a warm, amber glow across the tranquil shoreline, two figures approached from opposite ends of the beach. The soft, rhythmic crashing of the waves on some of the rocks being the only thing that was heard. A quiet conversation between them, as they held hands and walked with sand feet touching the foamy waves. She looked up at him and smiled when she saw him already gazing at her. Falling in love during the summer and soul searching wasn't exactly a good mix after all.

2 months prior :

"Y/N! Come on we gotta hit the waves! The sea is so pretty!" Seungkwan, one of y/n's closest friends, was yelling inside her hotel room at 8:00 am. How did he get in? We'll never know.

"5 more minutes kwannie, I need my sleep." She yelled and grumbled, finding comfort under the white duvet covers.

"Please y/n, I know this is a vacation but the sea is so pretty today!" He pleaded as he tried to pull one of my legs.

"Kwannie is right y/n, and it's cloudy so it's not that hot. Literally the perfect weather." Joshua, another one of y/n's best friends, tried to pull at her other leg but she retracted it too quickly and ultimately resulting in seungkwan getting kicked in the arm.

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Seungkwan whined at you and joshua. "Shua look, she hurt me!"

"Serves you right for ruining a woman's beauty sleep." You sat down with a yawn escaping your lips.

"Honey, no amount of beauty sleep could fix your face." You stood up and started chasing Seungkwan with a pillow around the hotel and eventually hitting him.

"Okay okay! I'm sorry for calling you ugly." He rolled his eyes while you and Joshua just chuckled at his dramatic behavior.

"We've already wasted an 30 minutes with your back and forth banter guys. Kwannie come with me and y/n you better be ready in 10 minutes. The others are waiting." He smiled as he pulled seungkwan by the arm.

"Sure thing shua! I'll be quick!" You only heard a fading okay from him as he closed the door to your hotel room, leaving you to choosing your outfit.

Around an hour later — you, shua and kwannie went to the beach. You took a deep breath. The salty air never gets old. Those were the words inside your head. You've been sunbathing for a few hours after swimming and eventually got tired of lying around.

"Kwannie! Shua! I'm gonna have a walk around!" She yelled and signaled at them. The nodded and waved at her in return. You visited the local seaside market and found An Ode café. Deciding then and there to seek refuge from the scorching mid-day sun. You approached the counter too focused on choosing what to order, you didn't notice the presence of someone at the register.

"Good noon miss! Welcome to An Ode Café! What would you like to order?" You looked up to see a tall man, a chiseled face, plump pink lips, fluffy brown hair and cresent moon eyes as he smiled at you. It was there that she first saw him, a stranger with sun-kissed hair from the window and hazel brown eyes of curiousity, standing awkwardly and waiting for her order. Their eyes met, and in that moment, time seemed to stand still.

"I would like to order one iced coffee and I'm new so I really don't know which dessert I should pick." She chuckled.

"If that's the case, I highly suggest you try our new blueberry cheesecake. It's been a personal favorite as well recently." He suggested with stars in his eyes and all you could think of at the moment was : holy shit he's pretty.

"Then I'll take that then!" She handed in her payment to the cute barista.

"I need your name please." He whispered with a hand at the back of his neck.

"it's y/n." She answered and was about to turn around to find a table until she heard something.

"You have a really pretty name." He mentioned absentmindedly and in a gaze.

"Thank you." She maintained eye contact until he broke it off and coughed in his hand.

a few moments later :

"Here is your order, miss y/n." he said, extending a hand holding the iced coffee and the cheesecake on the other while giving her a warm smile.

"Thank you..." You opted to check his name tag until he beat you to it. "Seungcheol but my friends calls me coups but cheol is also fine."

"I'll bear that in mind." She replied.

"Y/n, would you want to hang out sometime?" she only replied by nodding her head. And so, with that simple introduction, their summer fling began. The days melted into one another as they explored the shore, picnicked under the shades of the sun setting, and shared stories that danced like the ocean breeze in the chilly afternoon.

Their love was fiery and someone was bound to get burned, at least that's what their friends thought. That's a passionate blaze ignited by the painted the sky in shades of pink and orange but the ocean's waves, ever unpredictable, mirrored their emotions. One fateful evening, an argument erupted, fueled by a a topic long been avoided.

"I thought you said you'd be fine with this, cheol." Y/n said, her voice tinged with hurt.

"I did and I am but I want to know what we are." Seungcheol replied, frustration in his eyes and desperation in his voice.

"I'm leaving soon, literally in 3 days. We can't do this. Long distance relationships never work out. Do you want to put yourself in a situation where no matter what, you'll always get hurt? Just forget about me Cheol. I'm just a fling you decided to invest time in. Pretty soon, you'll find someone who'll actually care about you. That person isn't me." She felt overwhelmed with everything that was being spoken out loud. She never meant those words, not a single one but she felt like it was the only way to hide herself from the pain.

"We can try if you feel the same way. Please tell me I'm not just a one time, summer fling. Tell me I'm not the only one who has these bottled up feelings." He whispered on the verge of tears as his hand gripped you wrist lightly. "If I am, you can leave. Walk out of my life and I won't stop you."

She walked out that door leaving regrets and broken hearts. Their words stung like saltwater in an open wound. The breakup was bitter, the end of their summer fling leaving an ache in their hearts but, there really wasn't an us for them, was there?

Weeks went by, but neither of them could escape the memories of that beautiful beach, where their memories carried by the waves. They each spent countless nights staring at the moonlit waves, ghostly feeling the touch of the other's hand.

One afternoon, after nearly a year, she came back to that same beach, tears blending with the saltwater. She only planned to stop by for a quick visit — were the words she tried to convince herself by. She knew her heart had other plans. She kept walking, not knowing where her feet were taking her. That was until she saw a familiar figure in the distance, drinking. It was him.

"I'm sorry," a quiet whisper she could barely here, a message washed away with each incoming wave. He continued to drown himself out with the next vodka shot. Y/n wanted to turn back, her heart pounding.

He looked up from where he sat and they locked eyes. For a moment, everything was clear, quiet and peaceful. It wasn't like how she felt these past months. "Hi, sorry for disturbing you. I'll leave," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "and I don't know if it's for me, but I'm sorry too."

"Wait!" I guess it's the liquid courage. He didn't even know what to say to her.

"You came back. Why?" His eyes searched hers for an answer. A quiet moment between them. He just looked but he already knew.

"I don't know. I don't why I'm here or why I came back. I don't even know why my legs brought me here. I absolutely do not know why it decided to bring me here of all places." She let out, tears falling from her eyes.

All he could do at that moment was be there for her. He slowly pulled the back of her head towards his chest. It was barely a bug, but he knew he no longer right now, he doesn't have a place in her heart.

"I'll always be here for you, even if you don't want me anymore. When you're tired of everything, I'll be here for you." He cupped her face and wiped her tears with his thumb. Both of them continued to whisper I'm sorry's and thank you's until eventually, they were just looking at the sea, no more tears or doubts.

They sat there, their apologies spoken by the sea, the waves washing away their hurt and misunderstandings. Their well kept feelings no longer a part of those missed opportunities. They spent the rest of the summer together, cherishing every moment, knowing that their love was as beautiful and unpredictable as the waves crashing on the shore.

But all good things must come to an end, and as summer faded into autumn, reality cast a long shadow. They knew their paths were diverging, with miles and responsibilities separating them. The last day at the beach was bittersweet, the ocean waves echoing their goodbyes.

He smelled different today. There was a faint scent lingering inside his car that made you think. Quietly you pondered not aware of the glances he was boaring into your head, hoping you'd notice the change.

"Did you change your perfume, cheol?" A smile appeared on his face, happy to know his efforts weren't at all pointless.

"Vanilla," You heard him whisper. "I smell like vanilla, cinnamon and the sandalwood."

"Why the sudden change? I thought you liked the scent of oakwood?" She laughed, curious as to why the sudden change.

"Oakwood seems nice in the hazy summer breeze but it's fall, I wanted to fit in with the season." He chuckled. "Do you like it?" He asked, moving closer to you. He wrapped his arms around your small frame and kissed you all over your face. "There, so you can see me and love me."He teased and all you could do was slap his arm.

They shared one final date that day before she had to leave for the airport. Airports always meant a lot of things, it could mean endings for some but for them, it was a new beginning.

He hugged her tightly, tears in his eyes that he's been trying to hold back. "Promise we'll find our way back to each other," Cheol whispered in her ear as he hugged her.

With a final kiss and promises to keep, they walked away from the beach, leaving behind the memories of a summer fling that had turned into a deep and unforgettable love. The beach remained, a silent witness to their love story, as they embarked on separate journeys. Well, life took them in different directions for now. The salty breeze carried with it a hint of nostalgia and the promise of new beginnings. This is the story of ex-flings meeting on the shorelines for the first time, where the sands of time and tides of fate would bring them together again.

But they knew, no matter what, they will always come back to each other and that they will never be another missed opportunity between them.

[weilongfu]

PalmNueng: Ala PatPran, they run away to Palm’s fishing village where they live a happy life.

As he had for much of his life, Palm rose with the sun. Nueng began to stir next to him, but Palm pulled the sheets back over his shoulder and kissed his cheek, causing Nueng to settle back down. Palm then stretched his muscles and prepared to continue on with his day.

"Morning, boss," several fishers called out to Palm as he walked down the pier. Several boats had already left to begin throwing nets and Palm smiled as he saw the fleet out and about.

Palm climbed upon his boat and his best men and fishers gave him half-hearted sloppy salutes. "So, you managed to tear yourself away from the young master this morning?" teased one of the men. Palm gave him a look.

"I did," Palm said in a deadpan voice as he took the wheel. "At great personal cost. Now the nets better be sorted properly or I'm going to actually be annoyed."

------

When the sun reached its zenith, Palm's boats returned to the pier. Fresh catches on piles of ice dominated the pier with hotel staff picking their favorites of the bunch to cook for the day. Palm left his men to sell the remaining fish to locals as he caught a ride back to the resort further up the beach from the village with the rest of the hotel staff.

As Palm got into the truck, a fresh bottle of water and cool towel were immediately handed to him. "Thank you," Palm said as he accepted. "Has Khun Nueng had any problems this morning?"

"Not at all, sir." The driver tipped his head. "Staff said he was as annoyed as ever to wake up alone, but that's not anything new anymore, is it?"

Palm sighed and smiled fondly. "I'll make it up to him I suppose. Is he in a meeting right now?"

"Right as usual, sir." The driver paused as he checked the street before taking a turn. "Next meeting is with Young Master Chopper in an hour. You're expected to join them for lunch with Khun Ben."

"So they've come to visit?"

"Quarterly report, sir. Making sure all family businesses are running smoothly after the split."

"Ah."

"Which also means," the driver smiled. "Young Master Chopper is expecting you to report on how the fishing fleet is doing."

"I hired accountants for that," Palm grunted as he checked his bag for his cell phone. "Khun Nueng fought me for a month to make me hire those accountants. Didn't they send that report?"

The driver shrugged. "Should have hired a secretary too, sir."

------

After a quick shower, Palm quickly dressed himself in business casual and made his way down to the hotel dining room. There he was immediately escorted to the private dining room where Nueng came up to pull him to his seat.

"Khun Nueng," Palm said with a smile before kissing the back of Nueng's hand.

Nueng sighed and rolled his eyes. "We're married. We've been married for years."

"And you'll always be my Khun Nueng." Palm kissed Nueng's cheek. "How long until Chopper and Ben arrive?"

"They arrive right now," Ben said as he walked into the private room, Chopper not far behind, still chatting with someone on his cell phone. "Long time no see, friends."

"Ben, Chopper." Palm shook hands with them both before Nueng hugged his cousin.

"Looks like everything's been going well here," Chopper said as he pat Nueng on the back. "Clean up on my end has been going well too since we sold off the casino."

"I'm glad to hear it. The recent negotiations for the land agreements have also cleared up," Nueng said as he motioned for everyone to sit. "But let's have lunch first. Catch of the day courtesy of Palm."

Palm only shrugged as everyone's eyes turned on him. "Red snapper anyone?"

-----

After lunch and finishing actual business with Chopper, Nueng retreated to his office after a quick kiss. Palm was also forced into his office where the runaway report Chopper had asked for had found itself along with several apologies from the accountants. Palm could only sigh and sent a text to Nueng agreeing to hire a secretary.

Several signatures later, Palm ran for the private swimming pool of their suite. The cool water was soothing on his nerves and when he came up from the meditative state of swimming laps, it was to find Nueng relaxing on a pool lounger, dressed in casual shorts and a t-shirt. Knowing better than to splash him, Palm pulled himself out of the pool and Nueng shifted his sunglasses to look at Palm directly.

"Your secretary starts tomorrow," Nueng said as he settled back down. "I made sure to pick the most competent one we had on file."

"Khun Nueng knows best," Palm said as he dried himself off. "I appreciate the help."

"You could always tell me to back off," Nueng said without looking at Palm. "We could cut down the size of the fleet, let the men have the boats and still buy the fish from them. No one will lose a job at all. Less actual accounting and management for you."

"I don't dislike having a fleet or the investment," Palm said as he sat down on the edge of Nueng's lounger. "I dislike how disoriented I always feel."

Nueng took his sunglasses off and tugged on Palm's wrist. "Do you regret it? Coming here with me? Starting everything over like this?"

"I will never regret choosing you." Palm raised Nueng's hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. "I'm just not good at this. I'm best at being by your side."

"Sappy," Nueng said, but there was a smile on his lips. "You're doing a lot better than you think. Chopper was pretty impressed."

"Well, the one I'm the most worried about impressing is right here." Palm leaned in and rubbed the tip of his nose against Nueng's. "And I heard I have to make it up to you since I woke up early again."

"We'll have to discuss corrective actions in private." Nueng picked up Palm's towel, hooked it around his neck, and then pulled Palm forward towards their bedroom. "And I do hope you'll take the criticism constructively."

Palm followed obediently and smiled. "I aim to please, Khun Nueng."

[storiesfromhalcyontale]

Epilogue 2: A sense of Normality

I woke up in my bed, the past couple of months have been somewhat normal I guess. Asriel went into therapy after what happened with Crooler, I guess the image of him stabbing Lagravis still hurts him. Me on the other hand, well I’ve been gradually reintegrating myself back into my normal life. Today was actually my first day back at school, which made me feel all kinds of emotions. I wondered if anybody asked where I was. I looked at my phone deciding to message Asriel.

6:50am Sho: What time will you be in? Asriel: I’ll be in by Period 2 at least. Sho: Alrighty :D. Asriel: I guess I’ll be seeing you Period 2 then Sho. Sho: I’ll make sure to tell Akemi this. Asriel: Thanks Sho. Sho: You're welcome Asriel :].

I stretched and jumped out of bed, putting on my usual clothes, my headphones and a beanie. I grabbed the satchel Laval had given me and grabbed the equipment I needed for the day. I looked at the lion emblem on it and smiled as the gold shined in the radiant sun. I wondered what Laval and Cragger were getting up to in Chima, it made me somewhat happy to know that they had each other. I rushed downstairs and toasted some bread while I hummed. I looked around and saw Grillby making coffee.

"Morning Sho." Grillby said with a smile.

"Morning Grillby." I replied, waiting for my toast to be well…toasted "I'm guessing you're at work today?"

"Yeah.." Grillby sighed, drinking his coffee in delight, "It's going to be a long day."

"Is it?" I grinned, "Well when my school begins job placements maybe I can come work for ya."

"Thanks Sho.." Grillby replied with contempt, "But you're still 16, you can't really bartend and cater drinks can you?"

"Well not really but I can learn." I sighed, looking down at the floor with guilt. "I'm sorry for not telling you about Laval and Cragger." Grillby sighed, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Sho like we've talked about, me and sans understand why you didn't tell us."

"But I still feel bad, man…" I replied, "If I just told you maybe me and Asriel wouldn't have ended up in Chima… I dunno if I can ever forgive myself for what happened there..” Grillby looked at me then hugged me.

"Sho none of that was your fault. You were trying your best." I hugged Grillby back, soon pulling away once my toast popped out of the toaster. I put it on a plate and swabbed chocolate across the bread, sitting on the counter to eat it. There was a long silence, one that I didn't like.

"grillby's right kid." I looked at the archway and saw sans standing there. He had a caring look in his eyes, "Even if you made some mistakes, you took every opportunity to try to help them. even when you were in chima, you took every chance to get yourself and asriel home." Sans jumped up onto the counter and put a hand on my shoulder "that kid is much more noble. honestly, i'm proud of you." I smiled.

"Thanks sans. I really needed to hear that." I finished my toast and jumped off the counter, washing up my dish. I grabbed my satchel and headed for the door, "Well cya in a bit." I shut the door behind me and took a breath in, I put my headphones on and put on Could have been me by the struts. Today was gonna be a great day, I thought to myself as I hummed the melody of the song. No matter what happens.

<- Epilogue 1

This epilogue is the shortest thing I've written I think. But I don't really wanna talk about the chapter, I mean it's just feel good and that's it. Nah, I wanna talk about the fic as a whole. This fic actually means alot to me, I mean it's not everyday someone meets their best friend through something they've written do they? This person literally inspires me and it's amazing how me randomly coming up with an idea in an English Lesson and randomly checking my emails to see that they liked it meant alot at the time actually. Still does today to be honest.

Now that SFAR is fully posted I can actually get to writing new content for this account. Which will be exciting!!!!

[luvwich]

2023 in review

(for real this time)

the short version: i started writing fanfic this year. it's been lovely. i've written two longfics with some spinoffs, all collected into two series, plus a one-shot. i wrote 242,000 words.

91.9 Royal Blue is Valerie and River being angsty idiots

Hypercritical is Vania and Tiny Mike being angsty idiots

and Red-black is an ultra-short oneshot about Songbird; no idiots, just angst

this is also my first time even engaging in a fandom in this way, and i've been delighted to become acquainted with you tumblr folks. i'll echo the sentiment i see a lot: that even if all we've done is reblog each other a few times with blathering tags, i see you as a friend, and you have done me an enrichment.

much longer version under the cut:

before this year, my only experience writing any kind of fiction was roleplaying - ages and ages ago, but something of an illustrious career, looking back. it was actually not bad practice when it came to flowery description, dialogue, and characterization. it was horrible preparation on the matter of actually constructing a plot.

then i saw River Ward's arms and realized i needed to figure out how to do plot, and quick!

Arpeggio

so like many of us, i thought river was dreamy and his quests totally unsatisfying. i also saw someone shit-talking River somewhere complain that their corpo V would never want to hang out with river because he’s an unemployed cop living with his sister, blah blah blah classist tripe, don’t get me started, but it did get me started thinking about what it would look like for a bitchy corpo V and river to fall in love. Valerie sprang from that; Arpeggio sprang from Valerie.

hi, Valerie.

so, i thought i just wanted to write a steamy river ward romance that was more satisfying than the meatless canon plot. it turns out i wanted to write an ode to everything wrong about myself, and to every shitty relationship i've had, and to death and loss. it happens. here's how it starts:

Thwap-bap! Synleather on synleather: two strong, clean hits to the punching bag. Thwapbapbap. A sandstorming morning, or afternoon — hard to keep track of time with the sun hidden and the world bathed in rust. Days like this you couldn’t even see the skyline out there; all you had was a twenty-foot radius, and within that you could imagine yourself just about anywhere. River had always kind of enjoyed the storms for that reason.

i pumped out the first eleven chapters in like a month (?!), posting as i went, from late march through april. i was shocked to get even one reader, and didn't get a lot more than that for a long while. then i fell off for a little while due to work. but then i received a single, innocent comment asking when the next chapter would be posted, and that was apparently enough to make another thirteen chapters fly out of me just in june and july.

around then i hit what i think of as the third and final "act" of Arpeggio, and the wind fell out of my sails again. i'd hit the 100k mark, had no idea if anyone was even reading it, and convinced myself the last ten chapters i'd posted were garbage and everyone had fallen off. i still loved my story & my characters, i was bursting with ideas, but felt the sudden pressure of needing to wrap everything up in a way that did justice to my vision and didn't waste anyone's time who'd bothered to read that far.

as with everything in my life, i had only the vaguest idea of how i was going to get to where i was going. i decided to batten down the hatches and actually try to plan how to get there, which slowed my pace some.

i also decided to start something new, with the express purpose of giving myself something light-hearted, sexy, and most importantly way the fuck shorter than Arpeggio to work on while i was finishing up the latter. i'd limit myself to ten chapters. i'd keep the plot tight and focused. there'd be a lot of fucking. yay! and a big part of the intent was to "prove to myself" that i could finish something. and so i started on:

Jaded

Arpeggio featured Tiny Mike as a fling, and it was played for awkwardness and absurdity, but i found him really fun to write. i had also just started a new playthrough with a new V (still a corpo — i'm really just a particular kind of bitch, truth be told), so i thought i'd throw her into some mischief.

hi Vania.

if Valerie is the parts of me that suck and are chaotic, Vania is all the scared and cute parts.

man, look at them!! *throws them both in the bug zapper*

i managed to finish Jaded in the space of about a month, from july-august. i thought it turned out wicked fun, and clicking "post" on that final chapter gave me a taste of satisfaction and accomplishment that was enough to see me through to the end of Arpeggio.

here's an excerpt from the first chapter.

Sundays always mean something. They mean something even to a dropout merc who hasn't seen the inside of a house of God in years. The last time Mike had been to church, the price of a can of ChroManticore was in the single-digit eurodollars. Even so, Sunday's no day to spend propped against a bathtub that's coated with a half inch of unidentified bio-pudding, no day to spend wheezing at death's doorstep, no day to be wondering where the smell of yourself ends and the smell of the squalid safehouse begins. Sundays are for family, beers, cleaning your guns. Not this shit.

then PL came out and i wrote a quick oneshot about Songbird.

Red-black

i could easily write more about Red-black than there are actual words in the thing, but i won't. it's a bittersweet 69 sesh with a cyborg. it's about betrayal and bodies. i'm pleased with it. i might expand on it one day, but to be frank, i don't think i can write extensively about Songbird in a way the character deserves without my life being in a way darker place than it is right now. so if you see me add a second chapter to this fic, maybe check in on me.

i finished Arpeggio in october, seven months after i started posting it. 154,347 words. i like how it turned out. i've finally stopped going back to make tweaks (although just the other day i was re-reading a chapter and was like what the fuck is this word choice? what did i even mean here? and i changed it, so i guess that was a lie. Valerie is based on me, folks!).

i'm proud of it and everything else i've written, even in moments when all i can see is flaws upon re-reading. some people read it all the way through, which is wild to me! some of them even say they liked it! world's a crazy place.

here's an excerpt from toward the end.

Wind gathered over the churning Pacific to chap her lips and ruin her hair, snarling it like the waves which crashed the battered wood. Soft gusts billowed through her jacket, touched the base of her spine, and reminded her that everything was so very enormous, and that she was yet alive, and that a great spirit ruled this ocean and always had. This is lovely, Johnny said, resting an unreal hand on her shoulder. But we gotta get back to work, princess. “Yeah. Well, let’s go check out some shops, first.”

in 2024 i probably won't write as many words, but i have a few things planned:

more Vania: Crescent & Redwood is an ongoing sequel to Jaded and a fix-it for one of the PL endings

weatherman says there's an 85% chance of more Tiny Mike porn appearing under Fixer-uppers (and obviously a 100% chance of it in Crescent)

more Valerie: i have some more Val and Riv plotted out — mostly casefics and slices of life — but i need to be in a real fucking mood to write her these days

a really quite raunchy romp with President Myers is almost done baking

i have a Solomon Reed ditty on the backburner

who the fuck knows

anyway, even if all you've read of my writing was a snippet or two i've shared on tumblr, thanks so much for reading. seeya in '24.

[sunny6677]

My Little Spooky Month: Season 1.

(An MLP X Spooky Month Crossover Fanfiction)

(Disclaimer: Yes, I am aware that this could be considered cringe-worthy. But I personally do not care, for I like writing about my interests. And I like writing crossovers. If this type of stuff isn't for you, you can always scroll past.)

(Oh, other disclaimer by the way. This takes place after the first and second episode, counting the part 2 of the first episode, of MLP.)

Summary: A portal transports a few citizens of the town in Spooky Month into a land that would change their lives forever.

Chapter 4: An Odd Place To End Up In.

TWS: SLIGHT PROFANITY.

————

The two of them were still screaming, their hearts pounding in their chests. Jack flung up in sheer surprise, and as did John. Neither of them knew how on earth this had happened, or why John was a pony all of the sudden. But perhaps that wasn't the only thing John was in shock about, for a glint in his eye was shivering as leaves did in the harshest of winds that blew on a winter night. Wherever they were seemingly had not been going through the winter season though, for it was warm outside and the sun was shimmering upon the thousands of apple trees surrounding them.

Jack then finally screamed, at his somehow now pony-friend, "Why are you a pony?!"

"I don't know! Why are you a pony?!" John screamed back, furrowing his brows. Jack then widened his eyes, and gazed down, attempting to look at what would have been his hands. But alas, they were not his hands, for instead, he was greeted with hooves. Hooves that were deeply covered in black fur that was somehow lighter than his own hair. He looked down, and instead of his legs, he saw the hind legs of a horse which were of course covered in the same black hair. And emerging from his flank had seemingly been a short black tail which was the same color as his tail.

Jack let out another scream.

John glanced around. He was a police officer. Yes, he had been contorted into a pony, and his partner had been too. But he couldn't just sit around screaming. He had to do something. Being turned into a pony wasn't the weirdest thing he had experienced in all of his years of being a sheriff at his town. John knew he was capable of solving or investigating things.

And so, that was what he would attempt to do.

"Alright, Jack, calm down. I don't know why we're ponies, but there's gotta be an explanation here." John tried to say, hiding his panic the best he could. Jack attempted to open his mouth to speak, but John interrupted him. "This ain't the weirdest thing we've seen, Jack. We just gotta find out where the hell we are, and how to get back to.. well, how we should be." John muttered, looking down at his hooves.

Jack paused for a moment, his breathing still rapid. But slowly, it began to slow a little, and he uttered, "Okay.. but, how do we—"

Before Jack could finish speaking, a sudden rustling in the trees began to sound.

Jack and John looked to the source of the sound. No trees were moving, so it must have not been anything big. But they could hear the sound of footsteps, perhaps from a creature. It sounded like thudding against the blades of grass, but not too loud. As if it were an actual person walking towards them.

Still, they kept close to eachother. John tried to scoot himself closer to Jack, incase he'd need to protect him. He nearly stumbled a few times though, his hind legs dragging along the grass behind him.

It was only now he realized that he no longer had a gun.

Though before he could panic about that, an orange figure stepped out of the trees rather quickly, panting. An orange pony, in fact. White freckles were on the sides of it cheeks, each in three little dots. It's eyes were a shade of green, with sparkling highlights that signaled its own sentience. It had blonde hair that was slightly tied into a short ponytail at the end, and it seemed to be wearing a southern hat. And on its flank, there was.. a symbol of three red apples?

Jack and John were quiet for a moment.

"What in tarnation is goin' on here?" It suddenly spoke, it's voice sounding southern and female.

John and Jack were still quiet.

And then, John spoke up, "...what in the hell are you?!"

Jack was gritting his teeth in slight fear, his eyes wide and his pupils shivering. The orange pony looked confused, tilting his head. "I—I'm—I'm a pony, just like y'all. I heard screamin', and I couldn't help but come and trot on over here." It answered, taking a few steps foward. "What in the sweet name of Celestia are y'all two doin' screamin' your heads off—"

John and Jack scooted closer to eachother, nearly ready to cling onto eachother out of fear for the others safety. They didn't even know if this thing was dangerous or not, and John's anxiety was somewhat more prevalent now that he didn't have a gun. And normally, he would have resorted to punching if he had to, but he didn't have hands. What was he to do? Hit it with his hoof? How would that work out?

"You stay back!" John screeched angrily. "I'm telling you now, if you know anything about how we ended up here—"

"I—I don't! I was just doin' chores by myself in Sweet Apple Acres since my family isn't here, and I was about ready to go ahead and buck some trees. And then somehow you two were loud enough for me to hear." The pony explained itself. Perhaps it was female, considering it sounded and somewhat looked as such.

"Doing.. chores?" Jack repeated, now more confused than scared. Why was a sentient horse doing chores?

"Yeah, I live on a farm. Sweet Apple Acres? I'm sure y'all have heard of it." The pony responded. Jack and John glanced at eachother, slightly backing away now. Somehow, they were slowly managing to calm down a little despite the weird situation they were in. Both of them were starting to wonder if a criminal drugged them or something. And then, they glanced back at the pony. "Uh.. no, we haven't." Jack replied.

"Oh.. uh.. are y'all new 'round here? Maybe that's why ya haven't." The pony said back, seeming a little confused itself.

"Uh.. kinda." John muttered. "We.. uh.. we kinda fell out of a portal? We don't really know why, it just.. appeared in our town and sucked everyone in." Jack tried to explain. Not a day in his life did he ever think he would have to say that of all things to a bright orange talking pony with a southern accent. Maybe he really was on drugs.

"A.. a portal? It just appeared in your town? You think somepony might've casted a spell or somethin' that went wrong?" The pony asked, seeming a little worry now. Jack and John were even more puzzled now, but both decided to take the mental note that these ponies could apparently cast spells. "Uh.. no, it just kinda appeared out of no where. And we don't know how we ended up like.. this—or why it led to here." John stated, looking down at his own body as if to gesture to his now pony form.

"Wait an apple-pickin' minute. Do y'all mean you weren't ponies before that dang portal appeared?" It said, widening it's eyes slightly as if to emphasize it was frightened. Had things like this happened all the time in whatever this place was?

Even so, Jack slowly said with an awkward smile, "..uhhh.. yes?"

"Hmmm.. well, I reckon this here situation has somethin' to do with magic. And I think I know just the pony who could help out with your problem." The pony said with a determined expression, putting a hoof under its chin. "I'll go on ahead and take ya there, but y'all might have to tell me your names first."

After a moment of hesitant silence, John stated, "Well.. I'm John, and that's my partner Jack. I'm a sheriff and he's a deputy."

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet'cha both, Jack and John! I don't think I've ever heard names like that though.. ya really must be somewhere else." The pony smiled, seeming more friendly this time. Then, it held out its hoof. Neither Jack or John knew what it was doing, but John held out his hoof as if to see what it would do next. Then, the pony somehow wrapped its hoof around John's, and began to shake it up and down. The both of them supposed this was its way of giving them a hand-shake.

"But.. I'm Applejack. Do y'all think you could make it there on hoof?" This Applejack pony had inquired, seemingly a little worried.

"..mmm.. I dunno. Neither of us are used to walkin' on all fours, so.." John replied. "Hmm.. well, I'm not sure what y'all used to be before y'all became ponies somehow. But maybe until y'all can learn to walk like ponies do, I can just carry y'all there." Applejack offered with a smile.

John paused. "..are you sure? I don't think it's possible for you to carry us both there—"

Before he could even finish, he let out a noise of slight surprise. He suddenly found both himself and John being flung up into the air for a moment, before his stomach landed on something and kept him balancing. Somehow, Applejack had flipped them both onto her back, and was most likely gonna be carrying them this way.

"Uhh.. it might be a good idea if y'all hold on tight. This might not be a bit of a bumpy ride." Applejack warned.

John and Jack took that warning in mind. Despite having no fingers anymore, John slipped his hoofs onto Applejack's body, and wrapped his arms around them as if to try and cling onto her so he wouldn't fall. Jack did so as well.

And then, Applejack began to suddenly trot into the trees, heading for whoever she had been talking about seemingly. Jack and John did not scream, and yet, their faces were as shocked as can be. They were amazed, yet sort of terrified at the same time. It was hard to describe. Applejack was right.

This certainly was going to be a bit of a bumpy ride.

————

Streber didn't know where he was, or where the portal had taken him.

All he had known was that before he and Ethan could react while they were walking along the streets of their town, they were suddenly sucked into something bright and flashing. Something neither of them could see. And then, everything temporarily went black, before Streber felt himself thud onto a ground harshly. His body ached with pain, and if he still had his other arm, he'd be able to support himself up in a stable manner. But he only had one arm now, after what had happened on a Halloween night that he thought was going to be fun. After a night which was only a few weeks ago.

He grumbled, pain in his body. He squinted his eyes open, and made out what looked to be the features of a building. Or, the inside of a building. There were nearby mirrors, and mannequins of.. horses with dresses on them? Whoever lived here had an odd way of making clothes. Did they.. make clothes for horses? But why on earth would they do that?

Streber raised a brow, and grunted. He began to try and grab at the ground with the one arm he had left, to support himself upwards. Though something came to his attention. He couldn't. He couldn't because.. he couldn't feel his fingers, and seemingly, as much as he grabbed, he couldn't get up. It was then that he noticed something was different.

He then looked up, the masculine and familiar voice from behind him being muffled from his sheer confusion blinding him so. In the mirror, he saw not himself, but a pony. A lime green pony with his hairstyle, and a horn emerging from its head, with his dark eyes. And on what should have been one of its hoofs, there was no limb, but a short nub with a white bandage wrapped around it much like his own. He moved, only to see that the pony was synced with his movements.

He tried to raise his one arm, but then, the reflection of the pony in the mirror moved too. It moved its hoof in the same direction. His head was fuzzy with puzzled shock.

He then realized.. he was no longer human. He was that pony in the mirror.

Streber began to breathe heavier. "Wh—What the—"

He then finally heard the masculine and deep voice from behind him utter his name. "...Streber?"

//////////////////////

E

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

2022 Greatest Hits

thank you to @nightofnyx8 and @smoothshine for the tag!! Such a lovely idea! Ten good things that happened this past year:

Back in the spring I finally switched out of a job that was actively harmful for me and got a new one that's a much better fit! I am no longer working in a hospital, but in an outpatient setting, and it addition to being much less stressful it has much more structured working hours, and I cannot stress how much better my mental health has been since the switch.

I got to see my best friend 4 times this year!! A massive improvement from when we weren't able to see each other in person for a year and a half after graduation because we were both broke, and then after only one visit had to stay apart another two years because of the pandemic. We've already got several trips/visits planned for this coming year and I can't wait to see what those bring!!

This year I really started experimenting with clothes and style more, after over a decade of not wanting to spend money/being afraid of judgement/body image issues/religious purity culture crap. Haven't really found a particular style for myself yet but I'm enjoying the journey of letting myself try new ways to express myself!

It's coming up on 6 months since I started taking pole dance classes back in the summer, and the whole experience has been an absolute blast. I originally just wanted something to help keep me in shape after failing soooo many times to get back into running, but I love it so much more than I ever liked running!! I've met so many wonderful people and it's really helped bolster my self image and confidence. And I forget it's technically a workout, because it's just so much fun!!

Back in the spring I went to see Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in concert (one of those visits with my best friend💕) and it was the closest thing I've had to a religious experience since I saw the sun set over the Cascade Mountains last year.

Still writing plenty of fanfic, and this year I started working with beta readers for the first time!! @arnieb95 has been an absolute gem who's come through so many times and helped me nail the characterizations and themes I want to get across, and @dragonifyoudare has an unbelievable eye for detail and tone. You guys have helped my writing and confidence improve so much, I can't begin to thank you enough!!

Related to the job thing, my anxiety has been much more manageable since I started my current job. I still occasionally have anxiety attacks, but they are much fewer and farther between, and I'm getting much better at catching them before they start and taking steps to help prevent them.

I had my first online friend irl meet-up this fall with @peartato !! We spent a lovely long weekend exploring the area and trying good food. Hope it's the first of many visits, and the first of many friends I'll get to meet irl!!

Didn't quite make it to ten, but I think that's still pretty good! Absolutely no-pressure tags for @mountainsatellite, @blu-on-main, @klainelynch and anyone else who'd like!!

[arcsparkasriel]

Vtubertale Profiles: Susie Dreemurr

You've heard the tales of my best friend/newly adopted brother Frisk, and my youngest blood brother Ralsei. Let me tell you the story of my newly adopted monster sister Susie. Now I still don't have all of the details from her about her time in the Underground, or her time on the Surface for that matter. While thankful for the love, support, and comfort from all of us, Susie is still having a hard time opening up. I may release a part two to this in the future when Susie gets to that point.

I got some of the details from Alphys. Apparently, she was only three years old when her parents volunteered for the Determination injection experiments. Watching Alphys recollect those memories wasn't pretty. She was stammering so much and had a mental breakdown every few seconds, so I went into her database. I still remember every password while inside the Flower. Goodman and Betty their names were. Sad as it is to say, it's probably for the best she was barely old enough to remember anything about them. Save for a few residual memories like a lullaby, a smell, and scattered images.

Needless to say, her parents died instantly upon being injected with a tainted batch of determination. I suspect that was Chara's doing...I can only hope they're watching over Susie from Paradise. As a result, Susie became an orphan overnight. I don't know how long she waited for her parents to return. Days? Weeks? Months? However long, she gave up at some point and ran out of food. Mom thinks she may have been forced to scavenge for scraps to survive. The thought made her want to give Susie extra significant portions every mealtime. That mother of mine. God bless her.

We've caught her at times eating pretty much anything under the sun. A cold jar of salsa, a bottle of mustard, moss, pinecones, chalk, and burnt crumbs from the toaster. She even tried eating one of Frisk's bottles of Apple Scented Shampoo before Mom swooped in to save her. Alphys says she developed pica from malnutrition and constant starvation. It's an eating disorder where one starts eating ordinarily inedible things.

What little we got out of her is what we expected. She heard about the barrier-breaking and made her way to the surface. Hearing about the tale of the Most Determined human and the "Angel that made the Underground go empty". Referring to me. She figured Frisk and I could help her. She found her way to the surface but got lost in the woods for a while. Apparently surviving off of some wildlife, some bits of trash on the side of the highways. But eventually made her way to the city where she spent a month scrounging through the trash, hiding in alleyways, and sleeping in dumpsters until the day Mom finally found her on the way home from work.

Mom tells me she was a little skittish at first but when she brought out a chocolate bar she wanted to bring home for Ralsei, Susie gave her a chance. Just like when Mom was guiding Frisk through the Ruins, when I looked out my window down to the sidewalk below, I caught my Mom holding Susie tightly by her little claw walking briskly down the street. Walking that signature little walk I always saw her doing.

I went to the door to meet them to see who this mysterious guest was going to be. Susie looked a little bit nervous, unsure of everything. That made two of us. But Mom insisted that Susie was going to stay with us for a while. None of us had any problem with that. When Frisk and Ralsei came out to see her though, that's when things got a little weird. The way they looked at each other, greeted one another. The whole atmosphere was just bizarre. It felt strangely...familiar in a way. But that was impossible. It was like I was watching a trio of long-lost friends greeting for the first time in centuries. I definitely don't remember Susie or her family from any of the resets. She became starry-eyed when she learned who we all were. The royal family of the Underground and the heroes of monsters all gathered together under one roof.

Only two months ago did we find out what happened to Susie's parents. Last month, Mom went through the proper channels and signed the documents to become Susie's new legal adoptive mother. And Ralsei, Frisk, and I all had a new sibling. And Dad a new daughter. Susan Dreemurr. But she still prefers Susie. The three kids are as tight as glue now. They do everything together. I completed the image by making them sea salt ice cream bars every week to eat while they watch the sunset on the roof. Mom has been extra attentive to Susie's needs. Just like the rest of us, Susie had also developed mental problems. Constant night terrors, fevers, it was never-ending. Like how my first few months were after coming back home with my soul.

Mom can't always be home to watch her, so I've allowed her to stay in my room when I'm streaming a lot. I even let her sleep in my bed with me when she wants to. All of this and more she's always embarrassed to admit though. It's pretty darn adorable. She's settled in nicely. I'm glad to have another member of the family. The more the merrier. Maybe next time, I'll get into more of her story. But its getting late and Mom is calling us all for dinner. So until then, I bid you aloha friends!

[sporeblossom]

ok so. i might delete this so enjoy it while it's here. i just need to gush about how happy i am lmao.

alright. last summer i went to another town for pride. i was there for a week, and one day i was having a slow day, i didn't have any plans until the evening, and i decided to go down to the canal for a swim. the water was amazing, and i found a good spot to sit and enjoy the sun. and then a very handsome and kind looking young man sat down next to me. his towel and bag was there before i even picked my spot, so when he came back to his spot, i apologized because i thought I was in his spot, and he said that i hadn't been in the way at all. he sat down, and somehow we kept on chatting for a bit. that chatting became actual talking, and eventually we knew each others names, where we were from, etc. we talked about polyamory and really bonded over that topic. at one point he just looks at me and says: "i have a good idea. i think you and i should go to [this other place that's also a nude beach]. i fully prefer to swim naked, and i really liked talking to him, so i agreed. we walked in the sun and just enjoyed getting to know each other the entire way there. when we arrived, we took our clothes off while laughing and smiling shyly at each other. we swam around in the cool water together, and swam out into the middle of the canal. i don't remember what we said, but i remember slowly swimming closer and closer to each other, until we kissed each other. we smiled and tried to stay afloat and smiled again and blinked against the sun and its reflections in the water. we almost got ran over by a tourist boat that passed us by while we where completely entranced by each other. when we got back to shore, he said he had to hang back a bit because he couldn't get out of the water yet, and he winked at me. we spent the whole afternoon together, talking and swimming and kissing. one of his friends came by and hung out with us too.

in the end i had to leave to get to my evening plans, and i just wanted to cancel everything and spend the night with him. but we said goodbye, friended each other on Facebook, and that was it. we would write occasionally, trying to figure out when we could see each other. but i had a bad depressive episode that fall, and didn't have the capacity to travel to see him, and he was too busy with school.

but then last month i came back to town for my cousins bachelorette party. and was finally doing a lot better (and still am). and we finally saw each other again. it was late at night, and we were both tired. we met outside at first, and went for a short walk to sort of acclimate to each other's company again. then we went back to the apartment i was staying at and just cuddled on the couch for a long time, before we even kissed. we just lay there and held one another and looked into each other's eyes until we finally kissed. and the sex was incredible. he shared that he was in a vulnerable place, and therefore currently practiced a form of celibacy where he didn't have penetrative sex or had orgasms. and it resulted in the most present, vulnerable, intimate, connected, honest, and hottest sex I've ever had with a straight man (and i have fucked a lot of straight men). i think we both said goodbye that night feeling a little bit in love.

and now im back in town. we have a date tomorrow, but i didn't have any plans tonight and he got out of uni late and passed near my place anyway, so we met up. we just hung out by the water and had a little wine. talked. kissed. it was cold and we were freezing for way too long, but we just dragged out the time because we enjoyed each others company so much. we talked about relationships, emotions, vulnerability, communication, self-love. i can't wait to see him tomorrow. i really fucking like him. i know we've only met three times but so far he's given me zero red flags. and who cares how it turns out, it won't change the fact that so far our time together has been so unbelievably amazing. and its just insane that us meeting was such an unlikely coincidence, so many things went wrong for him on that day, causing him to go for a swim to clear his head. we weren't drinking or on an app, we have zero friends in common, we were just complete strangers meeting by chance like something out of a movie. like i fully thought shit like this didn't actually happen? like i can't really believe it?? i keep looking for red flags but finding none. its crazy but i feel like I'm in love.

[find-angeli]

Sa Halik ng Umaga at Dapithapon, Malayang Kasama Ka.

For the love of my life, my moon, my oasis, my sanctuary.

It's been 4 years and 4 months since my eyes met yours. There's no doubt that we created our own magic since then. I just knew our invisible strings have been working well and finally pulled us closer.

May my overwhelming love find you through the way that I know I could express myself best-- art. May this playlist with short love letters bring you (and us) to where all the magic started and remind how we've always chosen to find the light no matter what.

*Play it in its original sequence. Mahigpit na yakap habang pinapakinggan mo. :)

Track 1: Someone to Stay

My love, we met each other in a time that both our hearts were shattered, numb, and abandoned. But I know that fate brought us together. From being that kind cool guy we have in the office who never missed to ask me how I'm adjusting as a new employee, we became close friends who listened without judgement. Thank you for showing me hope, keeping me close, and loving me most. My heart that was once cold was filled with life. The world is truly too wonderful to just focus on the negativities.

Track 2: Crush

Oh how can I ever forget the night you confessed your feelings for me.

A simple text message saying, "Please tell me you're still up."

I know it's fate that I still was and it's probably the only time I'm thankful that my body clock had always been messed up. The never-ending "Uhm ano kasi, ganito kasi. Ok ito na sasabihin ko. Ito na talaga." HAHAHAHAH such a cutie!

Thank you for taking the leap of faith, Mahal.

Track 3: I Like (the idea of) You

Maybe I haven't told you this but you were the reason why I was still up that night you confessed to me. I was really worried about how things turned out after we parted ways. In the number of nights that you accompanied me home, it was the first time I saw you panic and forget to ensure my safety going home. It was also the same night I admitted to myself that I couldn't help it. I like the idea of you.

Track 4: Bad Ideas

The phase of holding back. We both just came from a breakup. We felt the sparks and butterflies but were left no choice but to hangout, try not to give mallice, and even hid from the public (esp. officemates) because we knew it'd be frowned upon. The greatest challenge of it all was to not kiss you. Especially that you're such an adorable, sweet, and funny chinito. And I swear your curls made it all the more irresistible. Gaaaaaa!

Track 5: First Day of My Life

A life renewed, hopeful hearts filled with bliss.

"Remember the night you drove all night just to meet me in the morning?"

I read through this line and thought of how you pursued not just me but also my family so they could give you their blessing and we could face the sun, see the world together.

"I'm glad I didn't die before I met you."

While this line reminded me that we didn't give up on love despite the struggles we've went through in our past relationships.

Hinarap natin ang mundo nang magkasama, aking Mahal, at dahil doon, ako ay lubos na nagagalak.

Track 6: Sanctuary

Remember this song? We had it on loop for a week but it became more memorable when we played it in Green Nature Resort in Nagcarlan without our colleagues knowing that we were already dating. Without any dull moment, we talked all night about anything that our hearts desired and happily welcomed the dawn. Mahal, I felt accepted for all that I am and from then on, I knew you're the one. I knew you are my sanctuary.

Track 7: Bloom

We became inseparable, living and enjoying life as it goes. A few months in and our love was already tested by distance when I transferred to Canlubang Office and it was as if that wasn't enough, Covid-19 pandemic took over the whole world's lives including ours. We were stuck longing to be close to one another. There was nothing we could wish for but to see the day we could feel that warm embrace again. My love, I'm beyond grateful that we made it through that inexplicable test of time and even bought our first car together! We surely proved that we could surpass anything. 🥺

Track 8: Bawat Daan

"Kung ang puso ko ay i-mamapa, ikaw ang dulo, gitna, at simula."

When hearing this song, I can imagine me saying, "Nahanap din kita."

To which you reply, "Kay tagal kong naghintay".

And vice versa.

I'm happy our paths met and continue to meet wherever we go and in whatever phase we might be in life. I just know that everything leads to you.

Track 9: Where's My Love

I became a lost sheep in the storms I made myself, seeking for love in the wrong places. I ran to vices I shouldn't have, did the unforgiveable, and yet you still yearned for me to come home. Not caring if I bailed or what, you just called for me to come home like the prodigal son being embraced regardless of how grave he had sinned.

I know there's nothing I could do to make up for everything but I'm grateful for your forgiveness, Mahal.

Track 10: Interlude

Calm after the storm. I'm deeply sorry it wasn't a smooth sail, aking Sinta. Patawad sa mga delubyo at bagyong nilikha ko.

Track 11: Making All Things New

Letting the light come through, making all things new. Slowly, our world that once was gray is now coming back to life. You are my home, my beginning and end. I hope you could still rest with me and see me as your safe haven, just the same. I'm home now, Mahal.

Track 12: All is Well

My love, I know that you are hurting deeply and I'm sorry. I hope we could rekindle our friendship and partnership. Laugh with me, cry with me. Let your tears pour, I am here.

Track 13: Alpine Green and Track 14: I Loved You Then (And I Love You Still)

"I wish that I could share with you, like a photograph when times are good. When a flower begins to bloom, life never felt so good.

You're far, but distance doesn't break a heart. It gives us time to know our love"

Baby, you've given your all to me at it must have been exhausting to give everything and forget your own. I'm sorry that I failed to take care of you the same way you did and do to me.

I'm sorry that it took me a while to realize this but I am certain of our love's magic, aking Sinta. It heals and perseveres. It doesn't forget and keep record of wrongs. So with hopes that the flowers in our garden will still bloom in time, I am now setting you free. By this, I mean I'm letting go of my insecurity that you'll leave me because of my mistakes. It doesn't make anything better and I don't want to hurt you more than I already did. You can take all the space and time you need. I will rest in God's plan and pray that our roads will someday lead to one sanctuary. With fresh eyes and healed hearts, we will share the stories of how we conquered this mountain.

Track 15: Midnight

Don't you worry, my love. I know exactly what I'm looking for. I'm running to you. You'll always be the one I want at midnight. You'll always steal my breath away. You'll always be my heart, my light every second, every day.

Track 16: Kasama Kita

"Ako'y magiging tunay.

Ayokong makalimutan ang sinag ng araw,

Ang awit ng hangin sa'tin,

Ang makasama ko'y ikaw.

Oh ang maging malaya kasama ka."

At the end of this song, you can hear random conversations of a group of friends. Funny coincidence, it's actually from teh artist's proposal to her girlfriend haha. I hope that wherever you may go, you will remember me and wish that I am with you. I'm sure that I, myself, will seek for you in every place or situation I may be, longing to hold and kiss your hand amidst it all. Kasama mo ako palagi, Sinta.

'Wag mo sanang malimot ang mga pinagsamahan, Mahal. 'Wag sanang makalimutan at nawa'y balang araw, tayo'y magiging malaya mula sa mga hinagpis. Malaya at malayo sa mga anino ng nakaraan. Balang araw, hawak-kamay at nakangiti nating sasalubungin ang sinag ng araw.

Track 17: Bawat Piyesa, Tracks 18-19: Ikaw (Parts I & II)

Mahal ko, lagi mong aalalahanin na kahit saan man tayo paroroon, alam kong ang ikaw ay parte na ng ako at ako ay parte na ng iyo.

Laging yakap ka

Sa lambing ng mga ulap,

Sa sipol ng hangin at himig ng mga ibon,

Sa hampas ng alon at maging pagpatak ng ulan,

Sa bawat paghalik ng umaga at dapithapon,

Matatagpuang muli ang ikaw at ako.

- - -

Mahal na mahal kita, aking Jopi.

Palagi, habambuhay.

[mybloodyfamousprophets]

S

riding in an old train writing long gone memories, tales of times that passed and tales i told of you and me,

a year and a half together, far too sad that it's over, i need to get off and you need to let go,

cause this station's where i'm changing, i'm sorry that i'm leaving, i walked you home for one last time and now my destiny is mine, it's time to walk our separate ways, lay this whole damn thing to waste, three strikes you eliminate, all for what you said that day

we met many times at this station before, i come from the south but you live a block away, and i never did get to see your place, but the hours you spent at mine were just fine, just fine, just fine

you lived a half hour's walk away, half by rails if it's a good day, streetcar caught in traffic lights, the last time that i looked in your eyes,

did you see the pain in mine that made me say what i did that night, and i still walked you to your home even after you hurt me so, my dear, my dear, my dear,

we both lived on the city's spine, split down by a streetcar line, places that we'd spend our time as i zoom on by a northbound ride, won't go back with you again, cashier asked me "where's your friend?" and i guess that's all you saw in me with what you had to say oh you did,

there's a spot i bought you coffee, and that's where we got brunch with jane, kissed you under summer sunsets, first time over i'd never forget,

for first times shared in more ways than one, underneath the summer sun, and at the start we loved so much, where'd it go that you'd say such, painful things i can't unread, for something you did to me, cause even when i hurt so much i never said that to anyone!

riding in an old train writing recent memories, it's only been a month since the end of you and me,

this station's where i'm changing, i swear that i'll be different, but i'm not seeing anyone tonight, and i won't call you if it crosses my mind, cause we've already gone our separate ways and laid this whole damn thing to waste, the time is up the game's over, and maybe that's just for the better

we met many times in these places before, the spots that i found while out on my own, places i'll sit and i smoke a cone and remember that you won't coming home,

and like the ouroboros, the mythical snake eating its own tail, things ended where they began,

under the setting sun on these city streets, walk past the place you said you loved me, walk past the place i ended it all but i slip on a pothole and lose and i fall, like the leaves on the ground where we sat around, talking all night and walking on down, sitting around under a tree with your arms on me and the cool fall breeze, i can forget what you did to me when i wallow in rose tinted memories