#i wasn't sold on him until then they put him in jail

[steddieas-shegoes]

selling at the hideout

for @corrodedcoffinfest prompt 'the hideout'

rated t | 780 words | cw: eddie sells drugs | tags: corroded coffin friendship

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Jeff's bribery worked and now they got paid $50 for every performance they did at The Hideout. $10 for each one of them to keep, $10 to put into a piggy bank for the band to use later. Eddie and Jeff wanted to save it for studio time to record a demo, Frankie wanted to save it for new equipment for all of them, and Gareth thought they should save it for a new van that would actually hold them all comfortably.

$10 once a week wasn't really gonna get them to those goals anytime soon.

But that didn't stop them from trying. Some weeks, they'd put some of their own money from the gig into the piggy bank. Some weeks, they had to use it to buy new drumsticks or picks or strings. Eddie was using most of his on gas and snacks for the week, scared to ask his uncle for any extra help after he'd done so much already for him and the band.

That's what got him started selling weed.

He needed the extra cash for the band, sure, but he also knew his uncle was struggling to make payments on time for the water and electricity.

The Hideout was the perfect place to find customers, most of the people who attended their concert were happy to not have to go all the way to Rick just to get their shit. He didn't even have to do anything other than show up an hour before he needed to be on stage and stand by the bathroom door.

If he didn't manage to sell it all before the show, he always did after.

He started throwing his $10 into the band savings every week, plus a portion of his sales.

The rest went to Wayne.

Chris, the manager of the Hideout, turned a blind eye. He knew Eddie didn't want trouble, and it wasn't anything more than just selling product he got directly from the only guy in town who had connections. Sometimes he even bought the last of what Eddie had if it was a slow night.

The guys in the band didn't care, but they didn't encourage it, either. They were convinced he'd get caught selling to the wrong person and end up in jail and it would be the end of Corroded Coffin.

Until Rick decided Eddie was doing too good.

"He wants me to try selling to kids I know at school. Said he has more product I can get rid of for him. Probably start at the Harrington parties and see if I can get a client base from that," Eddie explained during a practice. "Most kids are too terrified to be caught buying to turn me in, so."

"Dude, that's too risky," Jeff shook his head. "Harrington's last party got broken up by Hopper. What if he caught you?"

"He'd let me off with a warning!" Eddie knew Hopper didn't wanna deal with the paperwork over a little weed. "And that was a one off. Harrington's usually way more careful about his parties."

"Why can't you just stick to The Hideout?" Gareth finally asked, nervous to speak up until now.

"Because I could put all the extra money into the band. Wayne doesn't want me working while I'm still in school. He insists I can graduate this time if I just stay focused." Eddie rolled his eyes, though he couldn't hide the fond smile on his face. "It'll be fine."

And it was for a while. Eddie still sold at The Hideout before shows, but never brought all of his weed so he would have plenty for whatever party was happening on Saturday night. Most parties were at Steve's house, but he never actually saw the dude. Kind of weird considering he had a reputation as the Kegstand King to uphold and was never anywhere near a keg.

He didn't exactly feel welcome as a guest, but no one was ever outright rude to him. Kind of seemed like a bad idea to be rude to the guy supplying you with illegal substances.

The money wasn't always great-- He learned quickly that teenagers rarely spent more than $20 on decent weed-- but it was enough.

But his efforts at school weren't quite enough to graduate and no amount of money would make the disappointment on Wayne's face worth it.

He stopped going to parties to sell, deciding to only sell to a handful of seniors after school. He only sold at The Hideout once a month, wanting to focus more on the band's performance.

The additions to savings slowed, but the passion they had didn't.

Maybe someday that would be enough.

[drainslo]

Lovers to Enemies(Chishiya x Reader) (Pt 3)

"Hearts."

Chishiya's voice echoed through the empty grocery store-like aisle I was in. He grabbed some brand of cookie- it was strawberry flavored-- and tossed it towards me.

I fumbled with the wrapper, and the crinkling sound filled the room. I couldn't trust anyone of the 5 remaining alive. Ippei had died recently, choosing to take his own life rather than continue through this hell.

I didn't know if it would be better or worse to keep fighting. I blinked away the fatigue of not sleeping for the past couple of days.

"Your symbol is hearts," he repeated once more, startling me. I dropped the cookie, watching new formed lines run through its structure as it landed on the hard floor.

The light above flickered faintly, and my eyes darted around as I scanned for signs of anyone else. We were completely alone in the warehouse section of the jail. There wasn't much of anyone left anyway. I only had a couple options for who would realistically be the Jack of Hearts, and the last thing I wanted was for them to overhear our conversation.

I didn't trust Chishiya, but he was the only one I was familiar with out of those left. I could say he was definitely not one of those options. "How would you know I'm not the Jack?" I chose my words carefully, gently sidestepping our history.

This was the first time he had talked with me since the start of the game.

"You think I would let you die that easily? Of course not. Did you know that before the Borderlands, Banda was a female serial killer? He tortured his victims extensively until they finally died. He might have some fun with you."

His eyes twinkled in amusement, shining brightly even in the dimly lit room. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time you betrayed me in a hearts game."

I felt my legs slightly shake at the mention of another threat. I had survived for so long, I wasn't going to let Chishiya make another attempt on my life. I decided to reason with him. Pitifully.

"Chishiya-- it was a mistake. It was a game. I couldn't do anything else--they would kill me!" I knew he could hear the desperation in my voice, but I didn't care.

"I would consider it."

"What?" I felt the innards of my stomach shrink in a mix of dread and surprise. "You can't be serious. You weren't even fucking playing, don't tell me you'd consider it."

"Have you read 1984?" Chishiya tilted his head questioningly. "I would be surprised if you have. It's written by an American novelist."

I shook my head in silence.

"At the end of the book, the main character is forced into a room. Room 101-- the name isn't important. What is important is that in the room he's forced to face his worst fear."

I held onto the side of the shelf as memories flooded over me. Chishiya didn't even pause to let me catch my breath as I recalled the horrors I had seen. There was crimson surging everywhere, painting the floors and ceiling of the game venue.

Chishiya's voice brought me back to him, away from the red that had decorated my game.

"His worst fear is rats. And what they did to him is they strapped him into a chair. A chair where he was physically bound by his arms and legs-- sound familiar?" It was too familiar, the parallel was exactly the same. There was a burning desire within me, to say something to detract his attention, but he kept resolutely speaking.

"They put a cage of rats over his head. His torturers, that is. The cage was slowly approaching his scalp so that the rats would tear through him. They didn't tell him what he had to do to escape. They just sat and watched. But he had a lover. And he realized what he had to do."

Chishiya suddenly grabbed my chin, forcibly making our eyes meet. "He sold his lover to them, that's what he fucking did. 'Put her in my position,' he yelled to his torturers. 'Anybody but me.' They let him go after that, they had gotten what they wanted."

I writhed as the pressure on my face and chin was now painful. He was squeezing the sides of my face tighter to the point I knew there would be marks. I yelped in pain, but Chishiya ignored it.

"His lover was watching. She saw it. Every. Single. Fucking. Minute. She saw exactly what she meant to him. And you know what? Things will never be the same after that."

I blinked the tears away and hit his arms to loosen his grip. "Chishiya..."

"That's what your nine of hearts game was based on I imagine. I watched you sit in that chair, screaming at some unknown force. I watched you beg them to trade positions without even considering to give yourself up, which made the game clear. But I always wondered...what was your fear?" He finally let go of me aggressively, and I fell to floor. The cookie was now eye-level, and I could see the small scattered crumbs. I looked away at Chishiya watching me intently, planning on torturing me the same way I was in the nine of hearts.

"Oh Chishiya, you're so fucking stupid." I shook my head, laughing amidst the tears. After all this time, everything made sense. I betrayed him for the game, but I thought he had known everything. The last piece of the game's design at last clicked into place, and I realized why it was ranked so highly.

I inhaled sharply, then I spoke, the explanation rolling off my tongue smoothly. "After we were separated, and I was strapped in the chair, I was put in some sensory chamber where everything was all black. I was isolated from everyone else, and I all I heard was the automated system letting me know that I would be released when the game was over. It warned me I had to watch everything, or I would be lasered. Then around me everything lit up and I was shown visuals of you being tortured. You were being dismembered, cut open in so many different ways that you would think the room was never black with how much blood there was."

I shuddered briefly, and my shallow breaths quickened as I relived the moment before Chishiya. "I was screaming at them to stop. I was so afraid that it was a live feed, and they were showing me in real-time what they were doing to you. Then a choice popped up on a screen in front of me-- stay like this or switch places. I was sobbing and I immediately begged them to switch places. I couldn't bear for you to be hurt in that way-- I would've done anything for you. Even if you would've had to be in my position, I would rather you be alive than anything else. As soon as I made my choice, they let me know that the game cleared and I was released. I had no idea that you were only watching my responses to torture you couldn't see. I guess the misunderstanding was designed for us."

Without glancing upwards, I heard Chishiya laugh. The sound echoed through the room, and I shook slightly as it reverberated through my body.

"A proper nine of hearts. All this time I thought you played me for a fool. But it turns out the gamemasters did." he said. I nodded and let him continue to ponder aloud.

"When we were paired together for the nine of hearts, I thought one of us would die by betrayal. I mentally braced myself for the fact it would be you. Then a small voice crawled into the back of my head, bringing the idea with it that it didn't have to be that way. Then we were separated, and I was brought into a cam-room with the other half of pairs. We all watched our partners scream, and I indeed only saw how you reacted to the torture, quickly choosing to put me in your place. It took me by surprise."

"Did the others have the same decision?" I asked quietly.

"I thought so then. Now I believe it was slightly different for everyone. Customized to maximize emotional effect. Most near me were immediately lasered when their partner made their choice. I walked out alive and heartbroken."

"Maybe it would be better to be dead."

Chishiya smiled and reached down to tug me to my feet. "It always is. But you die on my terms. I would never let a gamemaster kill you before I did."

The game chimed over the intercom, warning us that there was now 5 minutes in the round remaining to get back to the cells.

"What's my symbol Chishiya?" I hoped silently on everything I believed in that he wouldn't lie to me.

"Hearts, I swear on my life it was the truth. I know my symbol already, you don't need to tell me." He rushed through the second part of what he said, and I didn't know why.

I walked out side-by-side with him, until we were about to exit the food and supplies warehouse. I grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie to stop him from walking further.

"If I die Chishiya, I just wanted to tell you that I still love you. There is no word strong or low enough to describe how much of an asshole you are, and you've almost gotten me killed multiple times now. But my love for you is so deeply ingrained into me it physically hurts. I've been incapable of removing how I feel for you this entire time."

Chishiya appeared startled, and rubbed the sides of my face where I was sure there were bruises gently. He did it with the same affection he used to treat me with. It hurt in more ways than one, because no matter what either of us did it would be impossible to go back to what we once were.

I thought he would do something more uncharacteristic, or unusual like he tended to sometimes. Instead, he abruptly removed his hand and dropped it to his side.

"I do too," he said hurriedly and rushed towards where the cells were located.

I followed behind him, watching the piece of his white hoodie I could see disappear into his cell. I glanced around to see if there was anyone else I could check symbols with, but they were all already in their cells except for Banda. He winked at me before I entered mine, and I recoiled into the cell.

The door shut behind me, blocking out most of the light from the exterior. A faint glimmer shone through the small window, like the faint chance of me leaving the prison alive. The robotic voice shortly prompted me to state my symbol. I would know soon if Chishiya lied, and if there would be a way to fix things.

Maybe we could agree that in this world, it would definitely be easier to die. Still, I thought there was some worth to keep living.

So I straightened myself against the wall, closing my eyes.

"Hearts."

----

Part 4

[rosybetta]

Who’s your DnD character? And, did you defeat a dragon with the power of friendship??

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED

Okay so when I say "defeat", it was more like "she surrendered", but a win is a win!! I'll get to that in a second -

This is Pip! Short for Piperre, she's my houndfolk glamour bard!! I'm in the process of redrawing her to suit my current art style, so this is the best art I have of her right now lol. She's just a little ouppy that plays the harmonica and the banjo and I ADORE HERRRRRR.

Her backstory is a bit convoluted, but the major highlights are: She was kidnapped from her clan as a pup and sold to some drow royalty, where she was trained as an entertainer/handmaid/servant for the princess (yikes). She escaped with a gang of orc thieves who raided the drow castle. She acted as their "distraction" getaway person for a while, until she inevitably got caught while distracting the city watch, so she ended up in jail.

I'll put the rest under the cut bc I got kinda carried away lol

That's where this new campaign picks up! I'm a bit busier than the other players, so my character needed to be able to disappear occasionally. So I worked with the DM and we landed on this... While in jail, Pip was visited by "The Jester", the main antagonist(????) of our campaign (I think?? It's confusing). He offered to free her and set her up with a secure comfortable life far away from the people looking for her... she just had to agree to complete tasks for him on occasion. When she made the deal, she was told it would be "nothing that would weigh on your conscience", but it turns out that she just has no memory of what happens. Long story short, when the rest of the party meets her, she's an entertainer at the local inn, and disappears some nights, waking up in odd places with unexplained scrapes and bruises. But she's not gonna let that get her down!

Buncha other stuff happens that I can't easily summarize, but anyway. The green dragon stuff!! Long story short, we've found ourselves in an underground fighting competition thing, essentially a dungeon crawl where each room is another fight closer to the exit. This is the opening "qualifier" match, so we're allowed to pick our opponents, and Pip obviously chooses to face off against the other bard in the lineup. What ensues is a brief but spectacular...

BATTLE OF THE BARDS!!

Pip pulls some showstopping bardic ability shit and the crowd goes WILD, her opponent forfeits the match, and she's doing a victory lap around the ring with the rest of the party, when one of the competition organizers approaches her. Essentially, this woman "collects unique talent", and was very impressed by Pip's performance. Pip politely declines because "I don't do residencies, sorry! ^-^", and the woman is like "Oh, I Wasn't Asking". And that was the end of the session for the night.

SOOO before next session, we brainstorm a plan. Essentially, we challenge the green dragon to a fight using the terms of the competition - not to the death, but each party wagers something of equal value if they lose. We wager one of ours, for one of hers. (We suspected she was holding a beloved NPC hostage.)

She accepts, and the battle begins! Predictably, it's a TOUGH fight, but she's not in FULL dragon form, just partially-tranformed, so it's a bit easier. The turning point is when our aaracokra monk, who is kinda the glue holding our party together, gets targeted. He had just dealt some serious damage to her (thanks to my bardic buffs), but left himself vulnerable in the process. The dragon goes in for the kill, delivering a wicked slash that sends him across the ring, unconscious.

He's making death saves now. This is bad.

The dragon moves in for a killing blow, BUT that gives the rest of us a chance to make an opportunity attack against her! We had some really ulucky rolls, which we explain narratively by saying we're all in utter shock at our friend being taken down like that.

And then it's Pip's turn. She turns and makes eye contact with our aasimar paladin. The paladin nods. Pip turns back to the dragon, snarling. They've NEVER seen her this angry; it transforms her whole demeanor. That's her FRIEND, and she is ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS.

Now, some background here: When Pip first met the party, her nightly disappearances were linked to some bad shit that the rest of the party was there to investigate. There was a lot of suspicion initially, but once they filled her in on what had been happening, Pip was wracked with guilt, and swore she never knew she was a part of it all. The aaracokra monk was one of the last to put aside his distrust, but once he did, he became one of her strongest supporters. He ALWAYS had her back, assuring her that he wouldn't let anything take away her freedom again, even if they didn't know what was causing her disappearances (and apparently crimes). He was the first to run out into the ring to celebrate with her when she won the battle of the bards! He means A LOT to Pip.

So when he's taken down by the green dragon, our little supportive healer switches into fucking Attack Mode. And uhh I could just describe what I did mechanically, but it's more fun to make it a whole dramatic scene.

Pip plays the banjo, right? Well, I decided she can probably pull some bard magic bullshit to make it sound however she wants... Mostly so I could justify using a certain song for what she does next. Imagine the opening notes of this song in the following moments. >:)

She strums a sinister chord, then raises her banjo up as if it was a bow, pulling back a glowing magical bowstring. As she fires, an arc of magic shoots across the ring like an arrow. And in that split second, a deafening, discordant screech thunders from within the dragon's ribcage, shaking the earth, shattering nearby rocks, raising a cloud of dust in the air. The dragon's scales rattle, bones crack, muscles shudder as this wave of pure sound thunders all around her.

Pip cast the strongest spell she knows at the highest level she possibly could, dealing enough damage to send the dragon to her knees. This buys our paladin just enough time to slip past her and heal our monk, stabilizing him. But before the dragon can fully recover, the paladin is back on the offensive, going ALL OUT, sword blazing with divine fire, body radiating light in a way I can only describe as Going Nuclear. She tears through the dragon's wing, and that was the final nail in the coffin.

The dragon, grounded and badly hurt, cries out, "I yield!" Our monk rises to his feet and looks down at her, tired but triumphant.

And THAT, my friend, is how we defeated a green dragon with the power of friendship and incredible violence.

[pizzatowerepisodes]

Submitting a love potion related episode since Valentine's Day just passed but I hate the original trope it does so I'm making a twist-

Episode ?? Season 3 : Love-pocalypse

Episode starts on Valentine's day of course, and everyone's just hanging out together and Gustavo brings up how it's Valentine's day. The others start mentioning stuff some of them mentioning previous Valentine's, some mentioning just how many valentines gifts they get, but then the noise mentions how he has millions of Valentine letters and gifts from fans. [ And noisette ]

Peppino, just hating hearing noise brag, brings up the suggestion that the letters and gifts might not even be genuine from the fans. Noise gets defensive about this, but it does seem to get to him. Later he just keeps thinking about this, but then a shady-looking guy with a trenchcoat comes over to him and tells him he's selling a love potion. Noise is about to reject the offer, but then gets an idea, thinking he can use this to get more actual Valentine's gifts if everyone loves him and he buys the potion.

Now the noise needs to figure out a way to spread the love potion far enough to get a lot of valentines, but conveniently there's a ray being sold at a shop that makes whatever liquid is put inside rain from the sky. He takes it and uses it immediately, making the love potion rain from the sky as he keeps himself dry with an umbrella. Once it's done, he starts to walk back, feeling satisfied and waiting for the results, and it does seem to work as a random person becomes interested in him. In fact a lot of people are! Too many in fact... At this point noise realize he's definitely in danger, and starts to run away. He even tries to go to the others for help but they're affected by the love potion which makes the chase much more intense since half of them could easily break noise's bones with how strong they are in this state.

Soon, noise goes to peppino hoping he would help, but dramatic reveal, he's affected too and he's much more aggressive with his chase, literally breaking down walls and doors to get to noise. The chase continues until noise is completely cornered by the entire gang and pretty much the entire town. He's just screaming thinking he's about to die, but then everyone stops... And just laughs, revealing they weren't actually affected by the potion. In fact the potion wasn't real, as the trench coat guy comes forward and noisette turns out to be the one who was in the trenchcoat, also revealing the love potion was just strawberry soda. Turns out, they just made this as an elaborate prank with it being noisette's idea because he always somehow misses noisette's large gifts in the pile of fan valentines every year.

Noise just laughs along awkwardly thinking he's gonna get off free with just some minor trauma, but then a cop comes along and handcuffs him. The entire gang except peppino is confused, and when noise asks why he's being handcuffed the officer basically says "you tried to poison the entire town with a love potion, I think it's obvious why." And noise is dragged to jail while everyone's surprised meanwhile peppino is laughing his ass off.

.

[countrymusiclover]

28 - Normal Family Feel

Part 29

Texas Romance

Tags - @supernaturalgirl30 @bvbwestfall @bubble-blu @patriciaplictisita

"That was your dad wasn't it?" Shoving my chair back I collapsed into his waiting embrace letting his arms. "I don't know what I should do, Georgie!"

Someone gently moved my shoulder trying to wake me up but I grumbled too comfortable laying in the bed. Aurora was a nightly terror again and if I get out of the bed it means I have to start deciding if I can not follow my parents to mu father's new job. "Y/n, come on. I wanna show you somethin'." Georgie whispered still shaking my shoulder.

"Georgie..." I grumbled rolling onto my back holding a hand over my face. Squinting one eye open seeing him sitting at the foot of the bed in his meemaw's spare room that she gave me.

He takes my freehand in his giving me puppy dog eyes knowing I would cave everytime he did. "I'll take you out to get tator tots." Rolling over onto my side I crawled out of the bed throwing on a blue sweatshirt following him outside where he covered my eyes with one hand and his other was making sure I didn't fall. "Suprise!"

"You got another car. Didn't you learn with the van?" Blinking my eyes to adjust to the light I saw a car with a long backseat.

He pointed to the car holding his hands up in surrender. "I promise this is a rat free car, darlin'." Glancing over his shoulder my eyes kept searching just in case as he explained. "And these things are real safe too. My mom has one. When I was little and she hit an ice cream truck. I didn't even wake up."

Crossing my arms over my chest I tilted my head up smiling at my - well I'm not sure what I should call him anymore. "I can't believe you sold your Mustang for our babygirl." Leaning up on my toes I wrapped my arms around his neck kissing him. He puts one hand on my waist smiling into the kiss until I broke it looking at my feet.

"What's wrong?" He asked slightly already knowing the answer.

Throwing my head back I slumped my shoulders sighing heavily. "It's just...nevermind. You don't have to worry about me. Let's go get something to eat. I'll buy pizza for dinner."

Georgie got in the driver's seat and I got in the front so the drive was mostly silent. Looking out the window I rest my chin in the palm of my hand. I shouldn't let my father getting a new job weigh on me but it's not like I went off to college...I got pregnant before graduation. A few seconds later I felt a hand on my knee making me turn my head slightly in Georgie's direction. His eyes held concern knowing what was running through my mind. "I'm here for ya, you know that right. Whatever you decide. I'll be here."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." I smiled intertwined my hand with his before he turned his head forward pulling into the parking lot of a movie store unbuckiling his seatbelt turning to face me. "What's going on, Georgie?"

He rubbed the back of his neck clearly nervous as we entered the video store passing the shelves. Glancing around I heard the front door get closed and the sheriff exited the building smiling in our direction which was a little weird. He slowly opened the closed door then closed it behind us so when I turned around I gasped seeing a bunch of gambling machines in the whole back room. Almost all the machines have a person at them with the sound of coins flipping quickly through. "Woah I was not expecting this - do the cops know about this. Is it legal - Georgie you can't go to jail again."

"Before you freak out. No its not legal. But the police are okay with it." He holds his hands up in front of him in an attempt to defend himself before I freaked out.

"What is she doin' back here?" Connie walked up looking to her grandson then to me slightly concerned.

Glancing to Georgie he pointed his index finger at me still waiting on my reaction to the secret gambling room. "I thought she deserved to know where my money is comin' from. Her father has a new job and she's tryin' to decide and everythin'. I didn't like lying to her anymore..." He slumped his shoulders taking my hand in his feeling the wedding ring back on my hand trying to not get too excited over it. "Please don't be angry, Y/n."

"Georgie, I - this is insane...is this how you paid the hospital bills for my pregnancy. And before I got my job back with Dale." I paused knowing that I should be mad but if he was doing stuff to make money it proves that he meant he would be there for me like always. That he wasn't hooking up with other girls like I thought...that I simply overrated about my high school sweetheart. "I wanna stay...I...I messed up. I'm...I'm sorry." Flinging my arms around his neck he smiled gently wrapping his arms around my waist hugging me against his chest.

Picking up some pizza a few hours later Sheldon came out of his room rushing to the kitchen. His parents were out on their own things tonight leaving us to watch the kids. I actually got Missy to watch Aurora for a little bit. Entering Sheldon's room I saw Georgie sitting on his bed holding a bucket between his legs as it rained outside. His brother was concerned with a leak in the ceiling. "What's he got you doing in here exactly?"

"I'm babysittin' and this is the only way I can get my brother to eat. What's up, darlin'?" He replied before I plopped down to sit beside him on the bed.

Running a hand through my hair I lay my head lazily on his shoulder. He leans his head against mine. "I just wanted to apologize for how I reacted with Veronica. It was silly of me to think that you only said you loved me so I'd sleep with you. I want a - I'm just really sorry Georgie." He nodded leaning more into my touch enjoying the comfortable silence until we heard footsteps approach.

"Status report?" Sheldon appears in the doorway looking at the ceiling.

Georgie glanced down to the bucket he was holding then back to his brother. "Dry as a bone."

"So I have time for a second slice?" He asked before leaving the room.

I chuckled tilting my head down for a second smiling at his silliness. "Have three or four if you want kiddo. We'll stand watch. Go nuts."

"If Rora's weird. I'm ready." Georgie responded smiling playfully my way making me giggle at his words leaning into his side. He lifted his right hand up to my cheek leaning forward kissing me for the first time in a long time.

Melting into his touch I moved one of my hands into his hair twisting it in between my fingers deepening the kiss. He smiled into it cradling my face in his hand still holding onto the bucket with his other hand. "Speaking of our daughter I was thinking about something..." He broke the kiss until I pulled him back in for another one climbing into his lap where he struggled to not drop the bucket. "I - wanna - have - another - baby." I mumbled in between kisses.

Georgie suddenly broke it horror and shock written on his face where he dropped the bucket on the ground placing his other hand on my thigh stuttering out. "Y/n you - are you serious?"

To be continued....

Let me know you're thoughts or ideas in the comments

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[talesofedo]

Hi, are there any other records/stories/anecdotes of Shinsengumi members clashing with any of the three “Man-cutters?” The only ones I know so far was an anecdote from Juro Abe attacked both Okada Izo and Abe himself for being tools to kill people and one from an interview from Gensai’s grandson, Kawakami Toshiharu, where Kondo Isami would avoid him when they met. Thanks.

The Asks I get on tumblr definitely keep me on my toes, and this one took a couple of days to answer because I needed to do some checking of sources first.

I may not be so much of a fount of knowledge as I am a bucket of random trivia and a puddle of "I know where to find that", so occasionally I have to dig a little deeper for a useful answer. (And hopefully this is a useful answer...)

As always, if anyone has additional information or finds an error, please comment or reblog!

--

A quick timeline:

In 1862, Kyoto saw a lot of upheaval, both politically and with ronin from various domains. It was also in this year that many of the tenchu (divine punishment) assassinations were carried out.

On 10 April 1863, the Roshigumi arrived in the city.

Although the group wasn't there to police the city and didn't last long because of Kyokawa Hachiro's false pretenses in assembling it, the members who chose to remain in the city formed the Mibu Roshigumi, which in August 1863 became the Shinsengumi.

The Shinsengumi were under the command of Matsudaira Katamori of Aizu, who was the military commissioner for Kyoto, and their purpose became patrolling the streets and restoring order.

The Shinsengumi left Kyoto in January 1868.

Therefore: any interactions between the Hitokiri and the Mibu Roshi / Shinsengumi in Kyoto take place between early 1863 and January 1868.

--

Okada Izo

Okada Izo left Kyoto in January 1863 and came to Edo, where he was initially living with Takasugi Shinsaku. After Takasugi was recalled to Choshu, Izo became Katsu Kaishu's bodyguard until he left (for reasons unknown) and returned to Kyoto. I don't know when exactly he returned to Kyoto, but it seems to have been fall or winter 1863.

After hiding himself in the city for a while, he was arrested for burglary in May 1864 by the Kyoto magistracy, jailed, and then banished from the city and returned to Tosa.

Although Ryomaden shows Izo being hunted by members of the Shinsengumi, I haven't seen anything in available historical records to suggest the Shinsengumi and Okada Izo ever crossed paths, at least not where they would have recognized him.

And while we don't know a lot about Izo's time in hiding, we do know that he was using an alias (Tetsuzo) and had sold at least his long sword, perhaps even both swords, to make ends meet. As such, he was unlikely to put himself into situations where he would have encountered the Shinsengumi.

The record of Abe Juro speaking about Okada Izo appears to be from the late Meiji era. In his statements, he compares Okada Izo to Okita Soji and Oishi Kuwajiro of the Shinsengumi, stating that all three were people without ideological convictions who were being used as tools to kill.

I have not read anything that would suggest Abe ever met Okada Izo, but he did know both Okita and Oishi personally because he used to be a member of the Shinsengumi until he left with Ito Kashitaro's group. It is possible he was using later knowledge gained by hearing or reading about Okada Izo to make this statement to disparage Okita and Oishi, and I'm inclined to think of it that way because there don't appear to be other records of Abe speaking about Izo.

---

Kawakami Gensai

Kawakami Gensai was in Kyoto until late September or early October 1863. He left the city shortly after the Bunkyu Coup (also known as the Coup of 18 August), which took place on 29 / 30 September 1863 (western calendar).

He returned after July 1864 to seek revenge for the death of his mentor, Miyabe Teizo, who was killed when the Shinsengumi raided the Ikeda-ya on 8 July 1864. However, I haven't found any evidence that Gensai and the Shinsengumi had direct interactions, let alone crossed swords.

Gensai was said to have carried out many assassinations, but the only one attributed to him with certainty was that of Sakuma Shozan on 12 August 1864. (As an aside here, Sakuma Shozan was Katsu Kaishu's brother-in-law. He was married to Kaishu's younger sister, Junko.)

There is the claim that "even Kondo Isami would avoid him if they passed each other in the street." The only source for it appears to be Kawakami Gensai's grandson, Kawakami Toshiharu, and there's no way to tell whether he was sharing family lore, or whether he was trying to use his grandfather's name for political gain. (Toshiharu was active with Dai Nihon Seisanto, a nationalist-fascist political organization, in the 1930s.)

If Gensai was out for revenge against the Shinsengumi, you'd think he wouldn't simply allow Kondo Isami to "avoid him" in the street; he'd try to find a way to attack him.

I will eventually write about Gensai separately, I think, but here's a bit of an aside: He was very small in stature, just about 5ft tall (150cm), and fair-skinned. Apparently people commonly "thought at first glance that he was a woman dressed as a man." He was married and had a son (Gentaro), and he was described as soft-spoken and gentle with his family.

---

Tanaka Shinbei

Tanaka Shinbei was active in tenchu assassinations in the Kyoto area from August 1862 until July 1863, occasionally working together with Okada Izo, notably in the assassination of Honma Seiichiro.

The reason Shinbei and Izo worked together was that they both took orders from Takechi Hanpeita. Takechi and Shinbei had a much closer relationship than Takechi and Izo: they had become sworn brothers in August 1862.

On 5 July 1863, Tanaka Shinbei apparently assassinated the court noble, Anegakoji Kintomo. I'm saying "apparently" because he never made a confession. His arrest was based on the fact that his sword, which he claims had been stolen two days prior, was found at the scene.

Immediately after the assassination, Bojo Toshikatsu demanded Aizu arrest Tanaka Shinbei. Matsudaira Katamori then dispatched Ando Kyuzaemon (whose name I am hopefully reading correctly) to take several officials and some troops to make the arrest.

The sources I have don't specify whether the troops were Aizu's own or whether Matsudaira Katamori sent Ando and the officials to accompany the Shinsengumi to make the arrest. I've seen various discussions about this online but no concrete answer, so it may or may not have been the Shinsengumi that arrested Shinbei.

At any rate, Shinbei was arrested and because Aizu did not have its own prison in which to hold him, he was handed over to the Kyoto magistrate. During the interrogation, Shinbei asked to see the sword that had been found at the scene, and when it was handed to him, he used it to kill himself. (Outstanding police work, gentlemen. Why would you hand him the sword? *facepalm*)

---

Nakamura Hanjiro

Nakamura Hanjiro arrived in Kyoto in spring 1862 alongside a large group of Satsuma samurai who were accompanying Shimazu Hisamitsu, the domain's regent and father of the current (but still under-age) daimyo, to Satsuma's residence in the city.

After the Terada-ya incident of 29 May 1862, during which some of his acquaintances had been killed and/or injured, Hanjiro became closely involved with the Sonno-Joi movement in Kyoto. As Saigo Takamori put it in a letter: "He associates with Sonno-Joi ruffians and visits the residence of the Choshu domain."

Even though Hanjiro's name is included in the list of hitokiri, like Kawakami Gensai there is only one assassination ascribed to him with any certainty, that of Akamatsu Kosaburo.

Akamatsu was a scholar and disciple of Katsu Kaishu who was suspected of being a shogunate spy. On 30 September 1867, Hanjiro killed him in broad daylight with a single stroke of his sword, which was verified by Arima Tota, who was present, and by an entry in Hanjiro's diary.

Hanjiro is perhaps the only person in the list of hitokiri for whom we can find an actual connection with the Shinsengumi, although it seems that he never had opportunity to cross swords with them.

Hanjiro knew - if not personally, then through other people - Ito Kashitaro and the former Shinsengumi members who had formed Goryo-Eji because Ito was meeting with individuals from Satsuma.

When Ito was assassinated by the Shinsengumi on 14 April 1867, Hanjiro was involved in helping former Goryo-Eji members hide at Satsuma's Kyoto residence.

Just as Hanjiro knew about the Shinsengumi, the Shinsengumi were aware of him due to his involvement in the Sonno-Joi movement in the city. He was likely on their list of "people to watch out for" and they would have been aware of his skill as a practitioner of Jigen-ryu swordsmanship.

There is at least one source quoting Kondo Isami as having warned members of the Shinsengumi: "Don't deal with Nakamura Hanjiro of Satsuma alone!" In other words, if you do encounter him during a raid, your swordsmanship would be no match for him. (As a reminder, a high level of swordsmanship was not a requirement for joining the Shinsengumi!)

And while Hanjiro may not have known Kondo Isami personally, he obviously had a lot of respect for him as a samurai. Arima Tota, who was a close friend of Hanjiro, was Satsuma's vice-chief of staff who arrested Kondo on 28 April 1868. When Hanjiro learned from Arima Tota that Kondo had been beheaded instead of being allowed to commit seppuku, he was said to have been very angry.

Hanjiro is another person who will eventually get his own post, but here's a bit of an aside: After the Kinmon incident, a large part of Kyoto burned to the ground and many people were left homeless. Hanjiro's friends noticed he would leave with two rice balls in his sleeve everyday and wondered where he was going. When they followed him, they found that he was handing the food to people who had been displaced by the fire.

...

Lastly, there's one more man who was known as Hitokiri:

Hitokiri Kuwajiro, who was Oishi Kuwajiro of the Shinsengumi. He got this name because he was sent on assassination missions, most notably that of Ito Kashitaro, for which he was tried and beheaded in 1870. He was also (falsely) accused of the assassination of Sakamoto Ryoma.

...

(Edited on 3/17 because once again the most surefire way to locate typos is to read your post again a week after posting it ...)

[scorpio-marionette]

31 Nights of Head Canons- Night 8

Night 7

~

A/N: *breaks out into song*

🎶 "Very superstitious writing on the wall" 🎶

~

Night 8

Are you superstitious?

~

Dio

Dio wasn't anything until he sold his soul to the a demon. Not even religious. He was probably atheist at the very least. Now, that may make you question how and why he made the deal. As I mentioned before, he came across a haunted house. The spirit inside told him about the demon. Dio, not truly believing, decided to see if he could summon the demon. He didn't think he would, but he did. As for why, Dio won't talk about it.

~

Omar

Omar is very superstitious. He uses the same gloves for each fight. He has a particular drink before each fight. Non-alcoholic because he needs to have his wits about him. He always has one practice by himself. There's a slew of rituals he has to coplete before feeling ready to take on his next fight.

~

Zach

Zach isn't because luck never seemed to be on his side. You could say luck was on his side this time when Justin was insistant on helping him, but Zach knows that the reason his life is better is because he didn't waste an opportunity to work for a better life. It did almost pass him by though.

~

Oberyn

Oberyn, for lack of a term from the actual world of Game of Thrones, believes in karma. He believes whole heartedly that the love he gives to all of his lovers will coma back to him, and it does in the form of their love. With that, he also firmly believes that the worst people in the world will get their treacherous deeds will return to torment them. Even if he must embody that retribution.

~

Marcus Pike

I wouldn't say Marcus is superstitious. Just incredibly hopeful and optimistic. The man's heart has been broken (repeatedly if you include all the heartache we as writers put him through), but he still finds it in himself again and again to love. While I fear he would one day lock away his gentle heart to protect it, I also know that that isn't who he is. He is love. He must love. Now he just needs to be loved.

~

Max Phillips

He isn't, but he likes to joke that karma now truly exists because of him. He has the power to bring some payback to those who have slighted him. Like Evan for example.

~

Pero Tovar

I don't think he is. The man seems to believe that he's slick, just terrible at picking good company. Though he might now be superstitious about William. After all, the Irishman did say that something bad happened to every man who tried to leave him behind. Pero ended up in jail after leaving William unconscious as he and Ballard left with the black powder.

~

Javier Peña

Javi only believes in the luck needed to get an operation done. The luck you need to take a drug lord off the streets. To dismantle an empire run on drug money.

~

Jack

If he did, he doesn't anymore. Karma has let him down. Luck as well. Only fate has come through for both him, his son, and himself.

~

Ezra

Ezra's faith lies in Kevva (did I get that right? I still haven't seen the movie). I guess you could say he's more religious than superstitious? Depends on if you see Kevva as a god or as a personification of an idea.

~

Dave

Dave's belief lies solely in the skill of him and his team. He used to believe in his friend Robert McCall, but with his death they must move forward without his guidence.

~

Frankie

Let's be honest. Frankie and all the guys had some SERIOUS luck with that stupid op that Santi brought them on. I don't say that lightly either. Tom didn't deserve to die, but considering they all could've died on that op, it's a miracle they didn't. I would say Frankie believes that completely.

~

Max Lord

Max is a believer. In what, he's not quite sure. He researched and stole a magical stone that granted his and everyone else's wish. He then fought with an Amazonian woman with god powers. Turned a woman into an animal hybrid supervillian by granting her wishes. And saw the world almost end because of his hubris in cheating the system. Yeah, he believes.

~

Marcus Moreno

Marcus, like his mother, believes in the next generation. He believes in Missy. He has trust in them. That's good enough for him.

~

Din

Din believed in his creed. He still wants to believe in it. The problem is his belief has been shaken by Bo-Katan. He can feel that she speaks a truth. Note that I say A truth. But he's grown up with the customs of his covert. Now he travels to the long abandoned Mandalore in search of redemption. The question is, does he do it because he believes in their ways or because he's simply afarid of losing the last home he's ever had? I imagine he'll find something the rubble that will ease his clouded soul.

~

Nico

Nico is a go with the flow kind of guy. He doesn't tie himself to anything permanent, or even abstract.

~

Dieter

"There is no hope..." " But there are drugs."

~

Javi Gutierrez

Oh you know Javi has got to be the most hopeful person on the planet. The only thing he was uncertain of was whether or not he could safely have a relationship with Gabriela. But that inspirational speech he gave Nick comes to mind. We all have something to offer the world, and it can be a better place if we share those gifts. They're a beacon of light. I think that's a pretty good thing to believe in.

~

Joel

There isn't much to believe in when the world is ending. Much less when you've lost most of your family and your only child. It's hard to ignore the faith someone has in you though. Joel might be content to die at any moment, but that doesn't mean he won't be who people need him to be. So long as he's needed, he'll try for them, because he believes in helping.

[dragondemoness]

Here continuation both futaba and Jack go back to the bar Jack is extremely worried about the others and both can’t take this own their own futaba persona can’t fight and Jack isn’t powerful enough agains the guards of the jail and he won’t stand a chance against akane shadow then zenkichi come back both futaba and Jack explain situation to zenkichi then encounter the others in the cell and zenkichi start to akane her even pointed out that Jack dads are much better to him than he ever was

I decided to delete the previous post and put everything together here, because I didn't really like splitting part five into two. It's super long, but everything under the 'keep reading' is completely new. Hope you enjoy!

Our Little Buddy- Ryuji Sakamato x Reader Part Five

After clearing the Okinawa Jail, the Phantom Thieves were off to Kyoto.

Makoto wasn't feeling well, so Haru took over the wheel.

Jack, like the others, were confused about why Makoto was so nervous to let Haru drive.

He found out why real quick.

When you arrived in Kyoto, Jack was nearly melting and puked out some water with ice chunks in it.

"Hee... Too much, ho..."

After that, Zenkichi explained everything he had found out. Everything about Akira Konoe and EMMA. 

He told the Phantom Thieves to stay in the hotel, which shocked Jack, as he believed the old man was still planning to sell them out.

It felt like a trap, but he begrudgingly listened and decided to relax.

He took a nice ice bath while you, Ryuji, Yusuke and Joker headed off to the bathouse.

And he accidentally froze Makoto to the wall after she beat you guys up for "spying" on the girls.

You did manage to get her down, but you would have to teach Jack to rein in his powers.

He convinced both sides to apologize, and you never spoke of it again.

And after, he could finally relax.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long.

The police gathered outside the hotel, forcing the Phantom Thieves to hide out in the bar.

Jack was convinced Zenkichi finally sold you out, and he was furious.

He swore to freeze him into a statue when he got the chance.

But the idea went out the window when he discovered that Zenkichi had been caught as well.

So... He didn't sell them out?

He was confused, but he had no time to think on it any longer, as you also found out his Zenkichi's daughter, Akane was trapped in a Jail.

So naturally, you wasted no time in going in and checking it out.

Jack followed behind you and Ryuji as you explored the Kyoto Jail.

It wasn't long until you found Akane.

But as you were running to her, Futaba fell on the ground.

Jack ran back to help you up, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves fell right into Akane's trap, and they could only watch helplessly as his family was taken away.

He and Futaba knew they had no choice but to leave the Jail and figure out where to go from there.

So they made it back to the bar, where they found Zenkichi.

As it turns out, Makoto's sister Sae managed to get him out of jail.

Futaba explained what happened, and Zenkichi was shocked and horrified that his daughter had a Jail.

Jack was shaking in fear, worried about his dads and his friends.

Zenkichi asked if Futaba could use her Persona to take out the shadows, but she shook her head.

"No, my Persona isn't really suited for that... It's mainly used for support."

Zenkichi turned to Jack.

"Well, what about you, little guy? You're one of those... Persona things, aren't you?"

Jack sadly shook his head.

"Hee, Jack isn't strong enough, ho... His ice powers don't stand a chance against those shadows, hee."

Futaba turned to him.

"Well, you can freeze people solid, right? I saw what you did to Niijima, earlier, it scared the crap out of me."

Jack smiled sheepishly.

"Hee, sorry... Ho. Hee, Jack can freeze the shadows solid, but only for a minute or two, ho."

Futbaa thought for a moment.

"That's better than nothing. You can at least help to hold the shadows off in case they see us. So until we rescue the others, you'll be Gramps' Persona, 'k?"

Jack looked away. He still didn't fully trust the old man, even if he didn't turn them in this time.

Zenkichi seemed to sense what he was thinking and knelt down in front of him.

"Look, little guy. You don't trust me, and I get it. It's true that I did plan to turn you guys in at first, but I don't wanna do that anymore. Your friends have... kinda grown on me."

Jack narrowed his eyes at Zenkichi as he spoke.

"But now, they need some serious help, and we're the only ones who can help 'em, right? I don't got a Persona like Sakura does, so I'll need your help. All you gotta do is freeze those shadows solid, so we can get away, and you never have to work with me again."

He held out his hand for Jack to shake.

"So, what do ya say, little guy? We got a deal?"

Jack hesitated. It was true that Zenkichi would be the only one who could reason with Akane, and he knew he needed all the help he could get if he wanted to save his dads.

He looked up at Futaba, who nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"Hee, okay, ho."

Zenkichi stood up and smiled.

"Great! So, what do we do?"

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

Now accompanied by Zenkichi, Jack and Futaba re-entered Akane's Jail.

Without a Persona of his own, Zenkichi could only sneak around and avoid the shadows as best as he could.

But whenever he was spotted, Jack would freeze them solid, buying them time to get away.

Futaba spectated their journey and gave Jack support when he needed it, and they made it past.

Meanwhile, you were wearily sitting around in the jail cell with your fellow Phantom Thieves, and Ryuji was trying to get the door open.

Akane's shadow approached the cell with the threat of changing your hearts.

No matter how much you insisted, she refused to believe you were innocent.

Thankfully, Zenkichi, Futaba and Jack arrived on the scene before she could act.

"Jack! There you are!" You called out.

Jack quickly rushed up to the cell and reached through the bars, taking yours and Ryuji's hands.

"Hee, Dad, Dad, ho! Jack's so glad you're okay, hee!"

Seeing the display only made Akane even angrier.

Zenkichi tried to reason with her, but failed.

"Ugh, just shut up! You're such a liar! Look at (Name) and Ryuji!"

She sharply gestured in your direction.

"They're way better dads than you ever were! And they're barely even adults!"

You, Ryuji and Jack exchanged looks.

Zenkichi admitted he had been willing to use the Phantom Thieves to bring Owada to justice, and the threat letter about Akane.

He knew he should have done more, but that threat letter convinced him to drop the whole investigation.

But no matter what he said, Akane refused to listen.

And she found yet another reason to be angry: Zenkichi disregarded how that secretary's family may have felt.

Now the old man's doubt was truly settling in, and Jack could tell he was close to giving in to his inner shadow.

But with his help, and the help of the Phantom Thieves, he managed to fight it, and his persona was awakened.

The shadows were defeated, and Akane ran away. 

Futaba hacked the cell door, and Jack ran up to you and Ryuji and gave you a big ol hug.

"Hee, Jack's so glad to have you back, ho!"

Ryuji chuckled.

"Yeah, same here, little buddy. Oracle tells us you did a kick-ass job with the shadows."

Jack blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hee... Jack did his best, ho..."

You smiled.

"Well Jack, we're very proud of you."

Jack smiled back and snuggled into you.

The Phantom Thieves congratulated Zenkichi, and gave him a codename: Wolf.

With that, the Phantom Thieves departed from the Metaverse to rest.

Next morning, it was go time.

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

Now fully prepared, the Phantom Thieves re-entered the Jail

You listened in on the shadows, and figured out which fox statues to activate

It would have been simple enough, if it weren't for the portals that were placed everywhere

Entering one of those portals broght you to a different location on the map, which made everything so much more confusing

While you guys were trying to figure them out, Jack wandered off on his own

He found another portal, and curiously entered it

This portal led him directly to Akane

You noticed Jack was missing, and pulled Ryuji aside

"Jack must've found a portal and gotten lost somewhere."

"Shit, that's not good. Think he made it to Akane?"

"It's possible. Akane wants to change our hearts, and there's no telling how it could affect Jack, since he's not human."

"Yeah, we'd better find him fast, before it's too late."

After some more frantic searching, you eventually found Akane's portal

There he was, chained to Akane's throne

You started to approach him, but Ryuji stopped you

"Don't. Akane's there."

Akane once again ranted about justice and her resentment towards Zenkichi

Finally, she brought out the big guns

Which were shadow copies of yourselves

"Gah! What are these things?!" Ryuji called out.

"They're... Us? But how?"

These were Akane's view of the Phantom Thieves: the "real" ones

This engaged in a very tough, very annoying battle

Your shadow copy knew the exact same moves as you, which made hand-to-hand combat very difficult

This shadow didn't have a persona like you did, but none of its moves were particularly effective

Jack worriedly watched you and Ryuji struggle with your copies, and desperately tried to free himself

Eventually, you managed to deal with yours, and you rushed up to free Jack

Finally, Akane could see that you really were the real Phantom Thieves, and she was willing to listen to Zenkichi

Jack approached Akane, and her eyes widened

"You... I feel like I remember you..."

Jack tilted his head

"Ho?"

"It was... A dream or something... You made a little snowman and gave it to me as a gift. When I woke up, the snowman was sitting on my table."

Jack smiled and nodded

"Hee, Jack can't be seen in the real world, so he entered your dream to help you feel better, ho."

Akane weakly smiled

"Thank you... You're lucky to have (Name) and Ryuji to care for you."

Jack turned to you too and smiled

"Hee, Jack sure is, ho."

Akane's shadow faded away, and the investigation was complete

With that, the Phantom Thieves exited the Jail and returned to real world

When Zenkichi came to check on Akane, Jack requested he bring his mask with him

After making sure she was alright, Zenkichi left the room, but Jack lingered around outside the door

Akane looked at the snowman Jack left her and smiled

She found a new friend in Jack, and he was satisfied to see that she remembered

Zenkichi looked down at him

"Looks like Akane's made a new friend, huh?"

Jack looked up at him, and Zenkichi chuckled and rubbed his head, making him giggle

Now Jack knew for sure he could trust the old man

Together, they headed back to the camper to plan for the next mission

[donnabroadway]

Breadcrumbs

A year or so ago, I was scrolling through Facebook, as a millennial often does to pass the day, and I saw an ad for a Christian leadership group called The Lady Chapter and they were having an interest meeting in a few weeks, so I registered, as I had grown accustomed to doing. Having two kids, you sign up for a lot of things, some you go to, some you don't, some you forget about until after the event but I signed up with no real commitment and I received follow up emails and a reminder of the session, so that day, I washed my face, put in my hair, put on a bit of make up, and a blazer over my pajama shirt. I was very non committed but I kept taking the steps. I went to the session, I filled out the application, I did the requirements and I was accepted, then I committed to the pre session meet and greet and I was nervous and I was trying to talk myself out of it. I had two kids, a full time job, I was busy, I was stressed, I wasn't enough but I took the steps, even with all my doubts and fears and it started to work out. All of my sudden, my mom starting taking my girls on Thursdays, the night sessions were held and with time management, I started being able to not only do the work of TLC but other commitments. Was it perfect, no but God made the way and all I had to say was yes and God cleared the path. There is a saying that too many people give up opportunities because it is dressed in overalls and it looks like work and that is reality. I look at social media and I see all the people striving to take short cuts with tech certifications, and Ponzi schemes, MLM, and social media and that may work for some but the only way we achieve our dreams is with good or elbow grease. God will give you the dream, he will give you the desire and the avenue but you must show you are worth of his blessings and his increase by being willing to do the unsexy work and walking out on faith. David was anointed king nearly 20 years before he became king and not only that, he had to serve the outgoing king, he had to run for his life, and contend with the death of his best friend, the rightful heir to the throne who had to die so David to become king. It was a lot for David to walk into the calling God has on his life. Joseph had to work nearly 20 years in Potifers house, was sold into slavery, and was in jail for years on false charges, and went through many other things that were too numerous to fit into the Genesis. Just because God calls you, doesn't mean it will be easy, fun, or painless but God always heals and makes a way. Everyone prays for God to make a way and open doors but they don't want the journey or the unsexy parts. The want the glory of whoever they are following but they don't want their story, they don't want to be in the secret place pruning, working, waiting, being hidden, and developing. The door being opened, opportunity being presented is just one step in our journey.

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”

So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”  Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few.  And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel. And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”~ 2 Kings 2: 4-7

Sometimes an "okay, Lord," doesn't feel monumental. It's not always the special epiphany or big booming moment of the holy spirit waking you up out of your sleep to tell you what to do or an angel visiting you in the middle of the night with confirmation or instructions of your next steps. You may not wrestle with God, in the literal sense, a prophet may not go out of their way to anoint you or give you a special word, those are extraordinary stories that make us feel good or give us hope but often God's direction is a series of breadcrumbing or slight nudges. There are a series of anecdotes that reflect this but one of my favorites is the story of the woman in a flood who is asking God to save her and first he sends her a life raft and she rejects that and then he sends her a boat and she rejects that as well, and he finally sends her a helicopter but she rejects that as well and ultimately she drowns and once she gets to heaven, she is angry with God asking him why he didn't save her and he reminded her that he sent her, not one but three ways and she rejected them all because she expected God to send his literal hand down to earth and lift her out of the water and sadly, it doesn't work like that. God is not literally going to save you, he is giving to give you ways to save yourself, once he sees you're willing. God is not always going to give you a ram in the bush in the form of money, he is going to send you provision, wisdom, ideas to make money, like the woman with the olive jars, or he may provide once you show you have the faith but God isn't a genie. All he can do is open the door, you have to be willing to go through it.

[urbandokkalfar]

Context for my last post and small lore drop

When I was in school, from seventh grade to graduation, I did odd jobs under the table. I cleaned aquariums and did yard work for neighbors, I worked in a local slaughter house, eventually got into taxidermy and processing game animals, worked with the county to pick up road kill, worked on farms, sold art work, worked at my first (now deceased) step dad's auto repair shop - stuff like that.

I made decent money, it wasn't awful and I generally made my own hours.

What w a s awful was the way my family looked at it all. It wasn't stuff i could put on job apps because it wasn't 'legit'.

Mind you I was making a couple thousand a month combined from all this, most of the time I was on six to seven jobs a month for only 3 - 5 days a week.

I'd contribute about 25% of my money to which ever household I was living in that week (mom or dad), would spend some on tools and junk for work, a little for my own whims and then save the rest.

Before my stepdad passed away and shit r e a l l y hit the fans I had a sizeable chunk of money in my account.

After he passed my mom didn't really wait long to get a new boyfriend, it was within weeks of SD's funeral she came out and said she was seeing someone.

My SD passed away from an aggressive cancer. We watched him become Skeletor over the course of two months before he died. He was one of the coolest people I know - stood up for me when people remarked on how I dressed etc, taught me auto repair, encouraged me to do my jobs, all around a kick ass dude.

The guy my mom started seeing was the polar opposite. He bullied and threatened my older sister until she left out of fear then he started in with me.

We got into a fist fight because he threw may cat across the room for sitting in the garden window (a window that protrudes from the house to put potted plants in).

When he started abusing my mom, we got into even more fist fights which often ended with him leaving and coming back. Mom was sooooo enamored with this man she drove down our street at sixty five miles an hour while I clung to the truck door and step rail.

When she stopped and let me in I admittedly slapped her.

Eventually he fucked up. They went out drinking and a girl I knew from school was staying with us because her mom kicked her out for being a 'whore'.

He started whailing on my mom, threw her down the basement steps and sarted beating her in the basement - my friend ran next door to call the cops. I went downstairs, put my hand through the glass gun cabinet door and racked an unloaded shotgun.

He shit his pants and locked himself in the bathroom upstairs.

Both of them were taken to jail for the night and my sister and I picked her ass up the next day.

Five days later my mom suffered a massive heart attack, because of her bf I'd quit my jobs because she couldn't be alone with him. If I'd had been working she would have died. She had a month long hospital stay, my savings went to pay household bills and get her medication.

I spent three years of my life protecting her then caring for her for her to tell me she never wanted me when i was born and admitted to doing things when pregnant to try and home abort me - she didn't have Pre-eclampsia, I was c-sectioned otta her two months early because she didn't want me to turn out like my sister.

My sister has ADHD and a touch of the 'tisim - which same tbh.

For bonus context: In school my sister was so awful and unruly that if I had her teachers they treated me the same they did her. Like shit.

I was the proverbial black sheep for being Goth and holding odd jobs etc.

Now my sister's got two kids and is horrifically abusive to her husband - I hang out with her at times to get her out of the house so he can have peace.

Maybe, someday, I'll elaborate on my sister but, this is what you get for now.

Oh yeah, TLDR I worked under the table for cash for YEARS and my family dunked on me for not having a 'real' job, continued to be shit ass over it even while supporting one of them and now I have a 'real' job they're pissed I don't spend any real time with them 🙃

[nebulaleaf]

*smashinf into your ask box like the kool aid man* Tell us (however many followers you have) about the akira variety hour (palace related concept)

sweating profusely. oh god. oh fuck. im embarrassed now after that last anon's bde knocked my shhit right outta the ballpark. anyway i've been thinking about this for less than an hour so it's not very substantial but... classic palace au that has various cognitive versions of akira. perhaps the themeing of the palace hinges on the choices akira's made up to this point? exploring the ways akira could've turned out had he taken another path? i don't have a solid concept of /why/ any of these versions of akira are there i just. have the idea of them in my head yk? apologies for how messy this is. under a readmore this time because im always super embarrassed over my half baked ideas ahaha ,

I think (assuming the PTs are the ones traversing this place) they'd encounter a cog!akira gradually at different levels? starting with a bad, but not Horrible akira until it descends into uh. madness. so there's a version of himself who never helped the woman being grabbed by shido, utterly selfish and indifferent to those around him but burdened by a crushing sense of unfulfillment. a version who sold out his friends (and died for it), a version who took maruki's deal for his friends happiness (and hates himself for it, because he knows it's wrong but more importantly: only now does he realize he wasn't in any of their desired futures), and version who didn't choose anything and is just rotting away in leblanc's attic. all of this accumulates into arguably the worst akira, the one who took yaldy's deal. the one who's completely apathetic to human life and the inner workings of a human's heart (a human's, because he's above that now, isn't he?) seeing them as playthings that he can mess with and then toss away once bored. (his achilles heel is probably the fact that the thieves are just controlled husks or the worst versions of themselves due to his meddling and that morgana isn't even around anymore and how much that eats at him. he says he doesn't care but i think even the coldest akira cant fully sever that part of himself that desires to reach out for others. kinda funny that every single one of his bad endings has him being alone, huh? whether that's being dead, being "god" or being the only one who's aware reality has been changed... not relevant though) I don't know how this ties into a palace ruler or like . anything regarding how p5 palaces work (surprise! it doesnt) this is basically me just going "hey wouldn't it be fucked up if--" for a more put together palace concept (and even then its still sloppy for my tastes) i have a classic somewhat jail-themed akira palace ...

[alesreadings]

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

5 stars.

“No mourners. No funerals. Among them, it passed for 'good luck.” If we added as soundtrack Gimme Gimme by ABBA to this book, it would fit. Can y'all imagine Inej, Jesper and Wylan stealing the tank and running away with that song on the background? Masterpiece. *chef kiss* Six of Crows is by far one of my favorite books. I read it two years ago, after the Grisha trilogy and I have to admit that Leigh Bardugo has improved tremendously as a writer. I consider this a much better story than her main trilogy. The plot, the characters, the writing, the pacing, the descriptions, the worldbuilding and the breadth she has given it is perfection. I'll go in order to describe how much I loved this book. In Six of Crows, we follow six misfits who have a common goal: thirty million kruge. They have to go to the Ice Court in Fjerda, the "safest" prison in the world and rescue, or kidnap, Bo Yul-Bayur, a Grisha who accidentally created a drug called jurda parem, which sharpens and increases the Grisha's powers, taking them to high and unknown levels. We have a sharpshooter who can't stay away from a good bet. A wayward son who was kicked out of his father's house and is underestimated, but is very smart. An ex-convict accused slaver, the world's most handsome, lovable, and idiotic fjerdan brute, out for revenge. A lost Grisha who makes a living healing people and trying to get the fjerdan out of the jail he put him in. A suli girl who is basically a ghost, the Wrath, a spy who defies the laws of gravity and is a sweetheart of a person. And finally, our favorite swindler: the Bastard of the Barrel, someone whom legends have turned him into a monster, someone without scruples, without morals or conscience. Will they be able to unite to achieve their goal and come out alive? Or will they end up killing each other before they reach Fjerda? Plot. As I said, compared to the Grisha trilogy, Six of Crows is perfection at its finest. It's not the first heist book (I've only read this one, sorry), but it grabs you from the first moment. I love that Leigh has taken up the Grisha again - I must confess that I love the Grisha order and how she has placed them - and that in this book she continues to include them as a fundamental part of the plot. Just like the first time, Six of Crows grabbed me, although I never understood why Joost and his chapter, I did feel bad that he was all dead. Each chapter had me hooked and begging for more. Even the very end left me screaming and crying like crazy. I have to repeat it: Miss Bardugo, this is a masterpiece, an exquisite and divine piece. Every plot twist had me in suspense or saying "I need more". It's a more radical departure from what we were given in the Grisha trilogy. They steal, explote things, destroy places and make great entrances, lol

Characters. Kaz "killer cane" Brekker. I want to protect him, and at the same time beat him with his cane. His story is touching at a certain point and makes you understand how or why Kaz became who he is now, why he is such a bastard, arrogant and fearless at the same time. There is never a challenge hard enough for him as he dares to prove otherwise. He shows us that he is one step ahead of the rest, and if he runs out of tricks, our demjin manages and invents more. Dirty Hands is a magician, a monster thirsty for revenge for the death of his brother, Jordie, thanks to a scam Pekka Rollins pulled on them when they were just kids. Kaz is full of secrets, tricks, schemes and more that it's scary to know what he's thinking. He's a bastard forged in the very cauldrons of hell, a seventeen-year-old kid who worked his way up through tooth and nail, using his brother's corpse to swim and get to where he is. Inej "The Wrath" Ghafa. Inej was captured and sold as a slave to the cursed Tante Heleen, who owns a brothel. Inej has the ability to go unnoticed, so much so that Kaz Brekker did not feel her approaching him. In any case, Kaz pays Inej's contract with Heleen and joins the Undesirables, becomes Kaz's right-hand man and his spy, or spider. Kaz and Inej are obviously in love, but they don't confess it to each other because it's complicated, and I don't know if I want to yell at them to kiss, or punch them to make them realize it. Inej deserves the whole world. She can stab me and I would appreciate it. Nina "my queen" Zenik. Nina had joined the Ravkan Second Army and was captured before the civil war in Ravka, she was imprisoned by the drüskelle to be taken to Fjerda to be tried for her crimes, which are basically: having powers. She is a heartrender, order of the Corporalki. She met my other goddess Zoya Nazyalenski. Well, anyway, Matthias was one of the drüskelle who imprisoned her and when their ship sinks, she saves him. Nina and Matthias wander around in each other's company and in the end, she brands him a slaver and Matthias ends up imprisoned in Kerch. One can feel the tension between them: enemies to lovers vibes, yup, I live for that. In the end, to save them all, Nina decides to consume jurda parem and knows that she will experience drastic changes in terms of her power and herself. Matthias "the tulip" Helvar. He is my beautiful baby, the most adorable bear and the cutest brute of all. You don't know how much I have laughed for him, he is so innocent in many things that I want to protect him from everything and everyone. Yes, I have a thing for blond brutes (Nikolai Lantsov, I'm talking to you too). From the first time I read Six of Crows, I instantly fell in love with Matthias and will be in love with him until I die. Amen. I already know what happens to him in Crooked Kingdom and I don't want it to come to that. Seriously he deserves all the love in the world, and even though I wanted to punch him many times, I also wanted to hug him and tell him that everything is going to be okay. In the end, Matthias renounces the beliefs that were instilled in him, accepts reality and becomes a Dreg, fighting against his own people. Jesper "crazy hands" Fahey. Jes is a Zemeni boy who came to Kerch to study at the university, but by chance, he ends up becoming a gambler. Jesper is a Grisha, a Materialki, and only Kaz and Inej know his secret. He is a fairly agile sharpshooter and a gambler who can't resist a good game without knowing he will lose. In a slip of the tongue, Jesper confesses what they are about to do and as they are about to leave Ketterdam, they are attacked. Jesper is a baby and I must protect him from all evil and danger. Plus, I really ship him with Wylan. Wylan "little merc" Van Eck. Another baby. I want to protect him from everything and everyone, especially his bastard of a father. Ugh, I hate him. When Jan Van Eck proves to be the jerk he is in front of his son, I wanted to cry with rage because my little baby boy doesn't deserve any of that. Wylan is smarter than others give him credit for, and

even Kaz thinks that just because he can't read doesn't stop him from doing amazing things; he doesn't put it that way, but I do. Worldbuilding. We find ourselves in a totally different country from Ravka. In the Grisha trilogy, we focused more on a description of Ravka, but now, we have two different places: Kerch and Fjerda. Although Shu Han, Novyi Zem, and Ravka are mentioned again, Ketterdam is a fairly fixed point. The description of the places is incredible: you seriously imagine it as a Dutch city in the Victorian era. Tell me I wasn't the only one. I don't know what else can I say about these assholes that I haven't already said. They're so chaotic, funny and you attach to them really quick, even if you want to kick them. I can't really believe they're 16-17-18 years old: they feel really older and "mature", but once you know them, you realize they're a bunch of kids trying to make a heist. Anyways, I loved Six of Crows with my entire life. I'm a sucker for this masterpiece and I'm really looking forward Crooked Kingdom, but knowing what happens to my tullip makes me wanna cry, scream and destroy the world. We stan Kanej, Helnik and Wesper, bitches. I love my Dregs. :')

[born-to-lose]

Dial H for Heartbreak

Pairing: Izzy Stradlin x reader

Requested by anon

Summary: You can't handle Izzy's addiction anymore and draw the line when he gets arrested.

Tags: angst, drugs, breakup

Words: 1,447

A/N: I'll do it anyway, but should I write a part two? 👀

Tag list: @slashscowboyboots @warriorteam1924 @losers-yurio @whered0wego @rumoured-whispers @harley-m-rose @teasid @lucyboytom

Part 2

Tip me if you want!

Izzy wasn't fun to be around when he was on drugs. You could barely handle a drunk Izzy, but a high Izzy was a real asshole. He would say some harsh things to you and while at the beginning, you had been able to ignore it, you were now slowly starting to take it seriously. As it got more frequent, you wondered if he really did think of you as a greedy bitch or a clingy control freak. You were sure he didn't mean it and it was only the drugs speaking, but it still hurt to even hear those words coming from his mouth.

He would always apologize for what he'd said though. You would often find yourself lying in bed with your boyfriend crawling up to you and pulling you close to his chest, murmuring apologies and kissing your head. You would just grab his hand and say it was fine. In fact, it wasn't fine. It still left you thinking for days. For the moment, all the pain from the names he'd called you just hours before would be swiped away when you fell asleep with his arms around you. But his next excess came and so did the insults.

It had gotten rare to see him sober and he was isolating himself from you. You were beginning to feel like you didn't have a boyfriend anymore. Most of the time, he was away, but when he was at home, you were still alone.

You knew he didn't do all this on purpose. He was an addict and you'd heard of how hard it was to get clean, so you tried to be there for him. You tried to support him with only his best interests in mind, but it was getting difficult when he never pulled through with his plans to become sober.

You were aware he'd sold drugs after he'd moved to L.A. to financially support himself and his band. It was concerning, but once they'd got signed to Geffen Records, you'd thought he would stop doing heroin. You were wrong. It was only then that it really went through the roof.

You'd also thought the same when he'd nearly died after swallowing his drug stash in Japan last year. He was in a coma for four days after that and when he'd woken up, he'd promised you he would get clean. That turned out to be a lie too.

And you always forgave him. For everything. Until you didn't.

"Sweetie, they're talking about your boyfriend on the radio… I don't think you're going to like that," your sister murmured into the receiver and you sprinted into the kitchen to turn the radio on, your jaw dropping when you understood what she was talking about.

"Our source says Stradlin has been put in jail in Phoenix after urinating on an airplane. We will give an update as soon as we get more information."

Fittingly, they played a Guns N' Roses song next and you turned the radio off. You didn't want to hear Izzy, not even his guitar on Sweet Child O' Mine.

So many emotions were coming up in you. You were furious, sad and disappointed at the same time.

He'd just left yesterday and you'd told him not to get into too much trouble, but this was worse than anything he had ever done. It wasn't the exact thing that bothered you - you couldn't care less about him pissing in some plane's aisle - but the great probability that he was high. This was the first time he'd actually been sent to jail. You didn't even know if it was only for one night, if he was already out by now, if he would have to stay in there and what he'd get sentenced to.

"I'm sorry, (y/n)."

You picked up the phone again, almost having forgotten your sister was still on the line. You shook your head, trying to blink back tears. "He promised to stop," was all you could choke out.

"He isn't one to keep his promises," she sighed.

She was right, but you never wanted to believe it. He really didn't keep his promises - not anymore, at least. There had been a time when he'd been a different man. A man whose life hadn't been completely taken over by drugs. There was only very little left of him now.

"I- I need… we'll talk later," you stammered before ending the call and collapsing on the couch, kicking the coffee table in frustration.

You always trusted Izzy. Maybe too much at times. You believed almost everything he said, including his constant promises to quit doing drugs. It wasn't like you didn't try to keep your relationship going, but it was getting tiring and - now more than ever - you started pondering if it even made sense anymore. You loved him, but was it ever going to change? He hadn't tried to keep his drug use down after he'd been close to dying, so why would it be different now when he'd only been arrested?

You'd promised to call Izzy after his arrival. Now four days had gone by and you still hadn't picked up the phone. Staying silent was your way of letting him know you were angry at him. Besides, what number would you call? Maybe he wasn't even at the hotel at this point but still in jail and you could do without talking to him, knowing he was sitting in a cell. Actually, you could do without talking to him at all right now.

One afternoon, the telephone rang. You didn't know who it could be, so you answered it.

"Hello, (y/n)." The voice that had once made you happy when you'd heard it on the phone now gave you mixed feelings of disappointment, anger, frustration and heartbreak.

"Izzy." Your jaw was clenched and you were trying your best not to completely lose it and at least listen to what he had to say.

"Listen, I'm really, really sorry. I don't know why I did that," he started, but you already cut him off.

"You really think sorry makes it better? You can't just pull this shit and expect me to forget about it when you say sorry. It's over."

"Please, babe, don't say that! I promise I'll change!"

Hadn't you been so pissed off, you would have almost felt sorry for him, but you weren't falling for that. He'd always found a way to remind you of why you'd fallen in love with him, but not this time. As desperate as he sounded, you'd made up your mind. You stood by what you said.

"You promised that so many times, but getting arrested?" you screamed. "You might go to fucking jail!"

"Baby, just hear me out-"

You hung up on him.

Izzy slammed his hand against the tin of the payphone box, drawing in a sharp breath at the reminder that his bruises hadn't disappeared yet. He brought the other hand up to take another drag of his cigarette but stopped himself and dropped it on the ground, tears pricking in his eyes.

How hadn't he gotten the hints earlier? You asking him to cut down the drinking at home first, then the smoking, then the heroin - it had been so obvious all along. He hated that he'd made you feel uncomfortable for such a long time to the point you'd spent more time with your friends than with him.

Actually, he couldn't recall much of the last times he had been at home with you because he had always been too high to perceive what had been happening around him. He had also been told that he was a dick when he was on drugs and while he couldn't remember what exactly he'd said to you, he knew it must have really hurt you because he did remember apologizing to you more than he could count on one hand.

He felt terrible about it and for a second, he contemplated giving you another call, but you wouldn't answer anyway and if you did, you would hang up immediately. He was aware it was his own fault, but he was heartbroken that you'd decided to break up with him over the phone, leaving him questioning if he'd even get to talk to you one last time in an attempt to work it out. The thought of coming home to a half empty apartment made his stomach drop.

He'd already decided to get clean at the police station, but this was the final straw. He had to get you to give him another chance, even if he didn't think he deserved it himself.

[scootertrash]

STORY-TIME....

How I Almost Went To Prison Because of A Motorcycle Purchase.

In 1989, I was living in a small southern town. Someone told me of a man nearby that had a 1974 Honda CB-750-Four (4-cylinder) for sale, (it was identical to the motorcycle in the above photo), and after checking the bike out, I bought it.

Though I wasn't crazy about the Honda metallic green; it was a lot better looking than the Honda metallic orange that the inside of the side covers showed to be the original factory paint color.

Though it had some wiring issues, this was only with the tail, brake, and rear turn signal lights; and since the price that I paid made it worth the effort to repair, the lighting issue was no big deal.

Well sure enough, I'm out riding one evening just after purchasing the bike (NOTE: I'd not yet transferred the title or bought tags), and the taillights which I had yet to repair shorted out, giving the cop traveling behind me good enough a reason to shine some of his own lights on me.

Lesson to be learned here.... even when given a clean title, have the seller write a "Bill of Sale." And be certain to fill in all applicable blank spaces on the back before getting on the road!

It turns out, a title that has the sellers signature, but none of the buyer's information on a vehicle title, is called an "Open Title." And by-the-way, possession of an open title is a Class IV Felony!

So now detained, and riding in the back of a Police cruiser to the station, the investigation had begun. Apparently the thought was that I found the bike's title and keys, and picking up those items, stole the motorcycle from the gentleman whose name was on the title.

This would not be helpful to me, because I assumed the name on the title was the guy I bought it from. I'D ASSUMED WRONG! As hours passed by, they tracked down the phone number (this was years before the internet and Google) of the bike owner, who told them he had no idea who I was.

The gentleman admitted that he signed the title, but that the bike was sold, and not stolen. But sold to whom? He'd have to call the station back once finding that info. And I'd have to remain at an investigator's desk until they got that call, and the answers they were looking for.

The question now was that perhaps I'd stolen the bike from the buyer before they could've transferred the title. If found guilty of such, I'd be looking at 4-10 in a State Prison.

About 30-45 minutes later, the seller called back. THANK GOD!!!! He had the name and address of the buyer, but not the phone number. (Eew! Holding cells are gross and nasty!) The guy I bought this bike from was the same guy that the original seller had sold it to. But as he lived in the next County, they had to search for his phone number, which was a time consuming process. I'd continue to be detained while the investigators sought the facts.

Things to ponder while in a City jail cell.... When this mix-up is behind me, I'm going to get the lights fixed, and have the bike's color changed to Deep Saffire Blue Metallic and have it clear-coated for a "wet paint" look. Yes, though looking at 4-10 in a State Lock-up, my main thought was making the bike pretty.

When they eventually brought me back to the desk, they called the fellow that I bought the bike from, and after giving both he and I a lecture on "Possession of An Open Title," they hung up with him, and turned their attention to me.

In the end, the ticket for No Taillights would be waived, and the No Valid Registration charge would be satisfied if I returned before the specified court date with proof of title transfer and tags. In 1989, insurance was not yet mandatory, so that was just one less expense. I made it right, fixed the lights and wiring, and had it painted. Once finished, it was a bit darker than the photo immediately above.

Oh, how I wish I'd have kept that bike. Maybe someday I'll find something similar for sale. If so, you can believe all my ducks will be in a row with the paperwork before I ever put it on the street.

(The Neniwa)

[xiu21chen99]

here's a random prompt by yours truly ;)

XIUCHEN MAFIA AU!

key words: dangerous | addictive | ignorance | possessive |

key objects/places: guns | drugs | collars | alcohol | clubs |

Plot:

-Kim Minseok as the head of a mafia gang, they're basically the underground world's elites, best of the best. The law is irrelevant for he's too discreet to leave any evidence behind that could possibly get him jailed. And money can buy the best lawyers, in case of minor slip-ups that involved witnesses. Murder was the easier way, though, so he hasn't really set foot in court.

-Kim Jongdae as a quiet boy living the normal life, until he moved into the wrong side of Seoul, where most of the secret stuff happen. Striving to be an artist, though still without a muse, he finds himself struggling through late night bouts of sudden inspiration as he draws the faces he sees in the shadows. Most of them were only sketches, but there was one that he was able to paint out clearly. He does commissions on the side and this one got bought, by a certain Suho.

Weeks after the transaction, Jongdae sees Suho again, in the news- apparently found dead, the police say he was murdered.

After the panic of the murder has subdued, when Jongdae was walking home after his shift at his job, he gets abducted. Strong arms trapping him while a handkerchief was forcefully put to his nose. He blacks out and wakes up in a dark room, tied to a chair with his mouth muffled.

He searches for a light source and he finds it when a door opens and white shines in. Jongdae sees a face, a very familiar one. "You?" He wanted to say but the cloth stopped his lips from uttering.

Then he sees his painting, the one he sold to Junmyeon. That's him. He was the one I saw, the only one I could see clearly, the only one I could remember.

"Observant little thing, aren't you? And talented too, my men said you captured my essence, don't know what they actually meant, though I guess they're right. Plus I look great here." The man says, walking up to Jongdae to free his mouth of the rag. "Now, pretty darling, want to tell me how you know me? Better yet, who else saw this painting, and which group was it? DongBang has been scheming lately, but I told them I wasn't inclined to dealing with their old asses, did they hire you?"

Poor Jongdae had absolutely no idea what the dangerous looking man was on about as his eyes were focused on the gun comfortably strapped on the man's belt, and the other one in the man's hand. He looks up when he feels an intense stare and hears an absence of words, "w-who are you?" He squeaks out.

The stranger chuckles, "forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. Kim Minseok, EXO Gang's leader, at your service, now-" Minseok's gun-free hand reaches up to caress Jongdae's cheek, "who do you work for?"

"I d-don't know what y-you're talking about, please let me go, I'll do anything, please, please, please don't hurt me..." Jongdae pleads, tears already streaking down his red cheeks and a few drops catch on to Minseok's fingers still gently touching.

Minseok gives him a once-over, licking his lips. "Alright pretty, I won't hurt you," unexpectedly, Minseok harshly lifts Jongdae's chin, and their staring eye-to-eye, lips oh so close but Jongdae forcefully makes as much distance between them as possible, "but in exchange for that, I won't let you go. So here, I offer a choice."

"Would you rather die," Minseok leans in to lick at the Shell of Jongdae's already red ears, "or be mine?"

[onthebeatzworld]

Please Lord, forgive me for what the stove did

Nobody touched a billi' until Hov did

How many billionaires can come from Hov crib? Huh

I count three, me, Ye and Rih

Bron's a Roc boy, so four, technically

I left the dope game with my record clean, huh

I turned the cocaína into champagne, huh

I cleaned up la madrina with the same soap, huh

Me and Loro talk 'bout how we slang dope, huh

Now the weed in stores, can you believe this, Ty?

I put my hustle onto Forbes, can you believe this guy? (Nah)

Then we said, "Fuck it, " took the dope public

Out the mud, they gotta face you now, you can't make up this shit

Judge it how you judge it, say we goin' corporate

Nah, we just corner boys with the corner office

I'm at the cap table, what the splits is?

Not that cap table, boy, we live this

Breezy what the business is

We pushin' Fenty like Fentanyl, the shit is all legitimate

E was down ten for this

We just got his ten back then went back like, "Where the interests is?"

Em light up the O3

We let y'all do the zazas, OG for the OGs

Some new niggas out of pocket, talkin' exotic

You barely been to the Baham-, that's another topic

Monogram in my pocket off the red carpet

You see the face I made that night, shit is that shockin'

Odds wasn't great we'd even be alive

Gotta be crazy to y'all, nigga, we surprised

Shit is too much how we grew up

Shit don't even feel real to us (damn)

OG sold to those, you called kingpin

If those your drug lords, then who are we then?

Hov is a real nigga's dream

My only goal, to make a real nigga feel seen

Sometimes, it make a fake nigga hate life

Never my intention, the consequences of my way of life

The way we used to play with life

I'm now careful with the sentences, them only jail bars I like (woo)

I never wanted to be the states custodian (come on)

The laws are draconian (come on, Hov)

For those who married to the life (come on), it's holy matrimony and (come on)

Somehow, I'll out-fox every box they try to throw me in (come on)

With great ceremony and

Folk and 'nem told me how highly Caddy spoke of him

And bloke and 'nem from London, Harold Road, Weston Inn

I be speakin' to the souls of men

Those of them willin' to die for the existence that this cold world has chose for them

Kickin' snow off a frozen Timb (woo)

Back and forth on this turnpike, really took a toll on 'em

Lot of fallen soldiers on these roads of sin

For those who make the laws, I'ma always have smoke for them

I got lawyers like shooters

Workin' pro bono for him as a favor 'cause I throw them Ms

In memory of Teelo

I pray none of your people die over jail phones again

All this pain from the outside

Inspired all this growth within

So new planes gettin' broken in

Highest elevation of the self

They done fucked around and gave the right niggas wealth

These ain't songs, these is hymns 'cause I'm him

It's the Psalm 151, this the New Testament

The book of Hov

Jesus turned water to wine, for Hov, it just took a stove

You never know how this shit could go

Me and Biggs probably got too big if they ain't book that load (what's up Hoffa?)

Hindsight is 20/20

Though he's gettin' plenty money, lookin' back now this shit is funny

I just got a million off a sync

Without riskin' a million years tryna get it out the sink (woo)

Hov big

They said they don't know me internationally, niggas on the road did

I see a lot of Hov in Giggs

Me and Meek could never beef, I freed that nigga from a whole bid

Hov did

Next time we have a discussion who the GOAT, you donkeys know this

Forgive me, that's my passion talkin'

Sometimes I feel like Farrakhan talkin' to Mike Wallace

I think y'all should keep quiet

Breaks my heart, God did