#she actually had some really nice things to say about ohm

[airenyah]

so i showed my mom the 10 years ticket trailer and long story short we're gonna watch it together when it airs

[ryansjane]

axelle judges non bl shows > 10 Years Ticket

/!\ SPOILERS AHEAD

summary: The story of 4 families who grew up as one united one, but are torn apart by P’Luk, Kongwan’s sister, admitting to killing P’Mai, Phukhao’s brother. 10 years later, when Kongwan comes back in town, will she able to repair her relationship with Phukhao?

where to watch: youtube

grade: 8,5/10

pros:

- the acting is honestly perfect from everyone! there was not one bad performance, and even side characters acted their asses off! I was especially thrown off by marc pahun & gunsmile’s performances bc they really put their whole in like the one dramatic scene they had! it was my first time seeing tu on screen & she did very good, though bc her character was a bit boring I’ll be waiting to see her in a better role, ohm did great as always, I’ll of course say the same thing for off, and view absolutely carried the show for me, she was incredible & I became an instant stan! so overall I’d say the acting is definitely the number one reason to watch this show bc it’s really impressive from everyone :)

- the show is very well written, especially considering the amount of characters it has. everyone’s storylines are taken care of & wrapped up nicely, and I especially love how much the show puts focus on the characters’ feelings and honestly spends its run healing them bit by bit. the story is also pretty powerful in itself, and was made more interesting with the side mafia storyline which kept it from being a bit too long & boring otherwise.

- I loved the characters. they’re all flawed & complex and all get a backstory, a happy moment, a sad moment... it’s rare to see a show with such an extensive cast actually give each & every character so much of the attention that they deserve, and it really made the show so lovable bc you truly want to see these characters heal & be happy.

- while the cinematography is nothing out of the ordinary, I loved the world-building of this show! this small town with a lot of vintage objects was the perfect backdrop for this & really made this show stand out so much against all the other thai series that look like each other.

cons:

- I say this with love, but phukhao & kongkwan are pretty boring. you would think with a story like theirs they’d be more interesting, especially in terms of their personality, but honestly they ended up being the weakest links of the show.

- because it’s such a dense story, there are definitely some key story points that felt a bit disappointing to me, namely luk not being the one who killed mai, which in my opinion was made clear way too early on, and also diluted a lot the lesson about letting go & forgiveness that phukhao & kongkwan’s love story wanted to teach in the first place. and also phukhao’s mom returning to be with her shitty husband & abandoning her wlw love sucked so fucking much lmao, I’ll forever be bitter about that.

would I rewatch it: hmm... honestly probably not? like I wouldn’t say no if it happened but I feel like this show sadly has a very low rewatch value.

This was honestly a really good show but I would still say I prefer Happy Birthday by the same director bc that show evoked more emotions & its themes touched me more. But overall this had so much soul & I truly enjoyed every week I spent with these characters <3

[catch-the-wind]

when reader is sick hc's

finally posting writing here so true

n e ways okay so i’m brainrotting about the genshin charas taking care of their s/o’s when they’re sick 🥺 and now i'm feeling sick, sigh

ohm and sulien ambros belong to @teyvattherapist! they're such good chara's, i know i'm writing them here but i deffo recommend reading up on them

okay here u go, have some hc's that are kinda sorta long and by that i mean 2.5k- i haven't proofread this bc it's 4am and im going to BED but if i write for any other chara's i'll post a second part <3 mwah

tags: gn!reader, diluc x reader, kaeya x reader, jean x reader, lisa x reader, albedo x reader, dainsleif x reader, tartaglia x reader, ohm ambros x reader, sulien ambros x reader, soft bean hours

diluc

is not working or traveling when his partner is sick

absolutely makes them soup and hot tea and drinks

he’s trying to make them food but he’s not the best cook so he’s asking adelinde for help

absolutely asks jean, barbara, and ohm for help while his partner is sleeping but he’s so awkward LMAO

was absolutely frantic the first day he found out his partner was sick tho, he made them come over to the winery so they could sleep there and he can take care of them <3

absolutely lied about what room was his so they slept in his bed

“hmm this guest room is so furnished diluc are all your rooms like this” and no, no they are not, this room is his, bestie

diluc slept on a sofa in his bedroom and did work on the table that was supposed to be for flowers. kinda stressed over abyss order locations but was more worried ab his partner being okay so he was distracted

he just put the flowers on his nightstand for his partner to see when they woke up <3

gives his partner forehead kisses because they won’t let him kiss them on the lips and he gives them the gentlest cheek kisses while they sleep

also gives his partner his clothes to wear <3

cuddles them and reads to them when they’re awake and TEMPLE KISSES OH MY GOD

kaeya comes over because he’s worried his brother and his brother’s s/o haven’t been seen in a little while

n e way, diluc gets sick after his partner gets better and they nursed each other back to health

kaeya

like diluc, he took off work so he could take care of his s/o i,mediately after he found out they were sick

wouldn’t force them to stay at his place tho, he’d probably let them recover in their own place

but he might make them go to the kof hq or the cathedral just so they can be taken care of by a proper healer

he absolutely soothes their fevers and stuff w cryo and also the man can heal himself w his elem skill ofc he can fix someone if he tries hard enough <3

he gives kisses no matter how much his partner says not to but he’ll also give them butterfly kisses so it’s soft moments too~ sigh, ur too cute alberich

asks ohm and barbara and albedo and lisa for potions and such to help his partner feel better but he’s really lowkey so he doesn’t seem SUPER worried

he just hates seeing his partner not feeling so well </3

refreshes his partner’s vase of flowers at their bedside every day

brings home work so he can watch over his partner. he can’t cook super well either so he asks for help and brings stuff home from good hunter too

jean was okay to let kaeya off of work and diluc would never admit it (man practically swore everyone to secrecy smh) but he helped take up some of kaeya’s duties in his stead

and kae, the alcoholic, didn’t even drink while his partner was sick bc he was lowkey worried they would need his help w smth and he didn’t want to be drunk just in case <3

many cuddles despite protests of getting him sick <3

jean

absolutely uses her healer skills to make her partner feel better

panicked when they were still sick and thought it was her fault </3 she asked barbara and ohm for help and they just told jean to relax a bit bc her partner was sick and it wasn’t going to be a quick fix

wanted to take off work but didn’t, so she just brought her work with her

kaeya and ohm very kindly took up her other duties where she had to leave so she could be w her partner

her partner is staying in the kof hq where they get access to ohm and barbara comes to visit <3 but also so that jean can sleep comfortably enough close by bc you cannot tell me this woman does not sometimes sleep in her office or the library and barely makes it to the kof dormitories sometimes

she’s so worried the entire time, she’s probably got a few gray hairs and a new frown line smh

she has clothes that aren’t her work clothes???? it’s so foreign seeing her in stuff like pajamas. you didn’t even know jean owned pajamas

jean sets them up in her bed at home (yeah she has a place outside of the kof hq??? it’s surprising) but it’s a big bed so they can rest and she’ll have the lamp on her side on while she sits up and does work

absolutely dotes on them. she’s good at making foods that make them feel better, she’s just a good healer that way <3

albedo, klee, venti, kaeya, lisa, and ohm all come over to check on jean and co and make sure everyone is doing okay <3 lots of food brought

if jean was asked to sing to her partner normally, she probably wouldn’t bc she’d probably get embarrassed but i think she probably sounds v good and venti would give her his lyre to try out a musical instrument too. but also she’d read to her partner and they’d probably fall asleep together uwu

lisa

works part time hours at the library so she can go visit her s/o

probably asks them to stay at the kof hq for easier access to medical assistance and plus she’s almost always there

“cutie” but worried and very 🥺 (pleading emoji)

makes soup and potions and reads to her partner until they fall asleep

also super playful omg she’s still got a smile on and is full of affection while she walks her fingers up her partner’s arm to their face so she can cup their cheek

she’ll make her partner laugh and smile and blush even when they’re sick, but she makes them laugh until they cough sometimes and immediately feels so bad

jean, barbara, kaeya, albedo and ohm all come to visit with different foods and soups and medicines and such

klee comes knocking and gives lisa some good fisherman’s toast and asks lisa’s s/o if they want to hug dodoco b/c that always makes klee feel better

purple roses galore, lisa has them in her partner’s room and they’ve got a potion to make the. uh. sniffer? to make the sniffer feel better. don’t ask me how, idk but she would find a way to make them physically feel better with flowers

reads to her partner ofc, and she tells them stories ab her own life and time at sumeru sans the crazies

worried looks when her s/o is sleeping but also the softest smiles when they wake up pls-

albedo

cutest lil frown on his face when he finds out his partner is sick

immediately they are taken home and he’s testing to confirm what’s wrong w them and what he can do to speed up their recovery

he’s more distracted than usual at work but he’s coming over to your place all the time w what paperwork he can do

also sketches his partner while they don’t know. he’s got lots of beautiful candids of his partner sleeping, looking out the window, falling asleep, reading, even drinking water. he’s made the most mundane things look captivating

kaeya and ohm come to check on albedo when he doesn’t show up for work after a few days and it’s bc he’s taking care of his s/o with food and soup and alchemical potions and shit. and when kae and ohm come in, they find his partner opening the door wrapped in a blanket while albedo is asleep cuddling the pillow they left bc he stayed up the night before making soup and reading to them

klee has camped out on his partner’s couch, she helps w the cooking too~ she absolutely lets them hug dodoco and gives them a treasure to feel better too LOL

many kisses from klee and albedo, and they also go out to get treats for albedo’s partner too

domestic albedo cooking in his partner’s kitchen and for once it isn’t some alchemical potion that he might blow up the stove with

tartaglia

takes off work entirely but BOY OH BOY is he stir crazy smh

brings his partner to his apartment to rest <3

he’s so worried ab his s/o that he makes all the sick ppl food the first day, orders from wanmin restaurant when his partner wants smth different, and also gets toys and such to entertain them otherwise

also reads to his partner but, again, he gets stir crazy after a while

absolutely does workouts and katas in the living room and phew shirtless tartaglia working out? gets the heart rate up for sure ahem

rushes to his partner tho omg- need soup? water? a trip to the bathroom? another blanket? he goes to them the MOMENT he hears them moving around. absolutely dotes on them <3

his family knows ab his partner and he’s probably written letters ab them being sick~ his family sent snezhnayan herbs and flowers and medicines and such

zhongli comes around because he wants sugar daddy!tartaglia with tea and medicine from bubu pharmacy. hu tao is in tow with well wishes and a “hope i don’t find you at work!” which is. a little worrying because aren’t you just a little sick-

many kisses from tartaglia because he is Needy and he’ll absolutely get sick from cuddling his partner while they sleep

also he’ll probably just like. envelop his partner while they sleep. they’re all cuddled into him and he’s actually so warm it’s nice bc they’re cold w a fever and he’s living for comforting them

he’s so worried tho, he’s got the frowny face and he’s so adorable but he just doesn’t want his partner to feel sick

dainsleif

the man camps in ruins, he’s going to his partner’s house smh

he doesn’t go into the church either LOL so expect him in his partner’s home making dinner and doing their grocery shopping thanks

he would get ohm and barbara to come over tho <3 “fix them please” but also “how can i fix them”

is so dead set on making sure his partner takes their medicine at the right times, he’s so soft for them and them alone

cooks soup and old recipes he barely remembers from khaenri’ah. he doesn’t really get sick, so he doesn’t remember these ones too clearly. deffo brings back old memories he’d long forgotten

reads to his partner and tells them old stories of how the world used to be, his travels, gives them the gossip on a certain khaenri’ahn but doesn’t give away the name

ohm comes over with medicine and lollipops bc dain is so unlikely to go to the cathedral to get barbara smh

but also dain, so self-sufficient, is unlikely to want to ask for help, so ohm just goes to help anyway

dain with the old khaenri’ahn lullabies and tucking his partner into his arms and singing quietly while he holds them and rocks them to sleep

dain is immortal, he’s giving his partner kisses bc “i’m immortal, ofc i won’t get sick”

he got sick

but his s/o nursed him back to health and then there were smooches the end

ohm ambros

the doctor with his ill lover oh my god

he’s frowny, he’s taking care of his partner at his home in springvale and his home clinic is open to everyone else. but everyone knows his partner is the first priority LOL

kaeya and albedo come over to see if ohm is okay or if his house needs to be checked up on. they’re wondering if he went on a last-minute expedition to sumeru and didnt tell them

diluc comes over too, he’s just checking up on his best friend but he’s also stealing a cherry lollipop smh. he heard from kae that ohm’s partner is sick tho, so he brings some soup and good food over from adelinde. he also brings some of his own specialty food tho, the once upon a time in mondstadt <3

sulien sending letters to his big brother to see if his brother’s s/o is okay

ohm is also just super protective of his partner, there are not many people who come into his life who he loves and lets in in the first place. he’s absolutely trying to heal them with his own vitality, so their recovery is much shorter than initially expected

barbara also comes over w jean to check up on ohm and co, complete w a goody basket of soup, a teddy bear, flowers, and books

ohm reading to his partner <3 he’s got such a soothing voice even if his accent is wack LMAO. he’s reading stories and even his paperwork because just his presence is comforting

he puts his hands on his partner’s forehead to soothe the fever goodbye

ohm will not sing for his s/o simply bc he doesn’t think he sounds v good. and he probably doesn’t but it would be so cute to hear him try and please ohm? 🥺

n e way i want smooches idc if i’m sick KISS ME OHM AMBROS

sulien ambros

when he finds out his partner is sick, the man blinks like twice and then suggests so calmly that they go to his apartment in liyue

man does not sleep normally, he’s just going to nurse his partner back to health and read during their recovery. fruit tart can cover his duties for him <3

sulien cooks for his partner tho, he’s making soup and stuff and getting medicine from bubu’s pharmacy. he’s also picking up books on the way home but some of them are to be read to his partner so it’s okay-

like tartaglia, sulien works out while his partner rests and goes to them if he hears them moving around. he’s reading to his partner and not so frowny, but the slightest furrow of this man’s brow is already such a big expression of his concern <3

sends letters to ohm asking for advice ab how to help his partner feel better. ohm just sends a letter back with “i’m coming” and shows up within the day LMAO

reads to his partner, and the monotony of his voice is soothing and lulls them to sleep. he just looks at them affectionately (well affectionate for him) and presses a kiss to their forehead before finishing the story on his own and in his head

tartagalicious comes over and brings food, flowers and a teddy bear with some of sandrone’s paperwork but he sends a smile to sulien’s partner with some well wishes

scara comes over too just to visit and check to see where sandrone is, but scara is a grumpy bean so he just says “feel better” all brooding and like it’s a command to one of the fatui subordinates LOL

sulien like ohm uses his cold hands to soothe his partner’s fever and also gives them forehead kisses <3

Edit: a link to part 2

[dimpledpran]

This episode is making me feel so much. I just have to get it off my chest.

It started off with such a cute scene (we’re gonna skip the hospital scene for now), and as much as I LOVE super confident Pran who loves riling up his boyfriend, part of me was hoping that Pat would not give in and turn it around instead. Pat has always been more vocal about his affections, and even though Pran has been expressing his affections in silent but bold whispers, I wanted him to speak out a bit more! Still love how that scene ended though. I legit squealed when they did the fistbump. Firstly cos it’s THEIR THING. And also, it’s more equal than the whole ring giving thing.

It’s nice to see the foursome chill out and have fun, especially after ep 9. But Wai, you still owe Pran an apology for outing them like that. That’s still such a dick move, especially when you overheard him saying how he is not ready for people to know yet. So yes, still waiting for that.

“Studying in faculty of engineering but majoring in performing arts.” Don’t ask me why, but I found this absolutely hilarious and had to pause to laugh it out.

INKPA!!! I am so glad it finally happened! I was so scared to get my hopes up, because I did not want to be disappointed in this again. I’m just ecstatic that they made inkpa happen. Also Love’s acting in this scene! She nailed it! The way she was so fidgety, and scared to talk about her feeling but also sad that her feelings aren’t reciprocated. That quiver in her voice. It was so good. And Milk’s initial hesitation and then her confidence to open up to Pa. I love me some happy girlfriends and I am so glad that Bad Buddy delivered!!

LOVEY DOVEY BOYFRIENDS FINALLY GOT TO EAT HOTPOT TOGETHER!! Before shit hit the fan. Oh gosh, they way they both confronted their parents!! Even at that moment, Pran felt like he had to leave his guitar out and hide from his mum. Even though he knew that a confrontation was unavoidable and that everything was bound to come out into the open. I loved how both the sons were actually really composed during the confrontation. It was not a screaming match about how their parents tried to control them and make decisions for them. They were in total control of their emotions, they just wanted for the truth to be out. They just wanted to understand why they were brought up with so much hate for each other’s families. They wanted their parents to understand that they are done with the feud and the bullshit.

And that final scene. The way Pran calls Pat on the phone cos he needs him. The way he just completely (finally) gives in to his emotions and breaks down in the arms of the person he trusts and loves. The way he honestly cries out that he can’t take it anymore, because he knows his feelings and needs will be acknowledged, will be respected. The way he just clings on to Pat without any hesitation and doubt. That was brutal enough, but then you have Pat, who is also dealing with his own emotions, putting it all aside to be there for Pran. He knows Pran needs that time and space to release his emotions, because he never got the chance to do it before. He readily becomes Pran’s source of support and comfort. The way he holds Pran so close to him, rubs his hair, silently let’s Pran have his moment while also feeling his pain. (Those tears!!) What a way to end the episode. Nanon and Ohm’s acting in this episode was just stellar. I can’t even begin to describe how raw that final scene was.

[dustedmagazine]

Ian Mathers’ 2020: We’re stuck inside our own machines

I’ve had a song I loved in high school and haven’t thought much about since stuck in my head. The song “Apparitions” by the Matthew Good Band is a fine example of the alt rock of the late 90s; if you grew up then but somewhere down in the states (or elsewhere) instead of my southern Ontario you may well have your regional equivalents, and like this one they may not resonate terribly strongly outside of their time and place. It popped back into my head after a long time recently and of course 2020 has changed it a little. A song that as a teen I felt keenly as about loneliness (albeit also about how technology can feed into that) of course now plays on my nerves as another small piece of art about the way that most of us (those scared and/or responsible anyway) have only that relatively narrow, technologically mediated connection to the people we love. All of us, artists and listeners alike, are trying to fit our feelings and art and selves down these little connections, with some success.

On a personal level, 2020 wound up being stressful in ways we couldn’t have predicted even after the pandemic hit. In circumstances that could have seen governments on this continent support those unable to work (and those who shouldn’t have to), support those workers who are truly essential, support workers and renters and even landlords and small businesses, instead we got a near-total abeyance of those governments using the resources we provide them with to save any of us. On a personal level my wife and I were lucky enough to be able to work from home (not that it didn’t come with its own forms of stress, and now that I’m off until January I have several work/stress-related illnesses to recover from) but still saw friends and loved ones lose good, used-to-be-sustainable livings overnight, saw family businesses succumb to a near-total absence of effective government support after months of trying to keep above water, etc.

It is probably no surprise that this is not a situation conducive to listening to music, let alone writing about it; I have deliberately and happily kept busy on behind the scenes stuff at Dusted that I could still manage but looking, at the end of the year, at the amount I managed to actually create is demoralizing if not at all shocking. I’m not sure I think next year will be ‘better’ in many important ways, although at our job there is a growing feeling among coworkers that next year has to have some work/life balance because 2020 was, maybe more than anything else, unsustainable.

That’s not to say I didn’t spend a lot of time and emotion on music this year, and if nothing else constant sleep deprivation, stress, and panic meant I was probably open to being deeply moved by all sorts of art even more than normally (it’s gotten to the point where I can’t even read a sad or moving twitter thread out loud to my wife without getting teary, which is kind of… nice?). Funnily enough the band that did the most to keep me sane didn’t really put out anything in 2020. Personal favorite, Low, instead started, in early April, getting on Instagram with something they called on whim “It’s Friday I’m in Low.” With one brief break they have now done by my count at least 35 shows (catalogued here, by the way), every Friday at about 4 my time.

Admittedly it’s easier for Low to pull this off than some bands, since the 2/3 of the trio that sing are a married couple (they’ve had a couple of socially-distanced backyard shows with bassist Steve Garrington, but he’s mostly been isolating elsewhere). These shows have seen the band’s Alan Sparhawk take a mid-set break to do follow-up phone interviews with the acts featured in the COVID-curtailed touring bands series Vansplainingthat they started on YouTube, or just to give a tour round their vegetable garden and talk tips. It’s seen Alan and Mimi Parker draw on their impressive, 25+ year body of work (averaging 4-5 songs a set, I don’t think they’ve repeated themselves yet) and talk a bit between songs about pandemics, politics, song choices, and whether Alan should grab his bike helmet this time.

They’re not the only musicians out there speaking love and sanity (and playing music) into the strange digital interzone filled with hate and disinformation where we’ve all been forced to gather while locked down, but they were and the most consistent and steady signal being emitted each week. No matter how tired I was from work or what new symptoms I’d developed or what horrific thing I read into the news, even if I had to take an emergency nap while it was actually airing, every Friday the show was there. Once things do return to something more like normal, it’s one of the few things I’ll unambiguously miss about this weird-ass year.

So if that makes an argument for Low as my band of the year (admittedly again… it’s not like Double Negative has aged poorly, either), that does a disservice to those 2020 records I did connect with; even if there are still literally dozens I have to go through, many of which I expect to love, my top picks this year (if as unrankable by me as always) hit me as hard as any top pick in recent years did. So here I present a quick and informal top 5, which the rest of my top 20 following in alphabetical order. Here’s hoping for more time and space in 2021 for music, and even more than that, for more support for those who need it from those who could have been providing it all this time. (The Matthew Good Band, incidentally, always did best with their ballads. “Strange Days” is another I’ve had in my head these days; the image of moving “backwards, into a wall of fire” has stuck with me since the 90s and it’s never felt more grimly appropriate.)

Greet Death — New Hell

New Hell by Greet Death

This one is, in some sense, cheating; it came out November 2019. But that just means it’s the latest winner of my personal Torres Prize for Ian Being Late to the Party (so named because becoming slightly obsessed with Torres’ Sprinter just after I sent in my 2015 list was the first time I noticed that one of my favorite records of each year tends to get picked up by me just after I call it quits on the year, no matter how long I try to wait). This very doom and gloom slowcore/metal/(whatever, just know it’s heavy) trio at first felt very much like my beloved Cloakroom (whose Time Well has also won a Torres Prize) but sure enough nuances revealed themselves. Back in February it felt almost a little too negative, but then the rest of 2020 happened. And the extended burns of “You’re Gonna Hate What You’ve Done” and the title track remain searing.

Holy Fuck — Deleter

Probably the record I’ve been trying to write about the longest in 2020, and the one I’m most disappointed in myself that I just couldn’t get the requisite paragraphs together. It’s a wonderful effort from the consistently great Toronto resolutely human-created (and —mediated) dance music quartet, one that both feels like a summation of everything they do well, and with the addition of some outside voices (including strong turns from the singers of both Hot Chip and Liars) a step forward at the same time.

Spanish Love Songs — Brave Faces Everyone

Brave Faces Everyone by Spanish Love Songs

As the year got worse, this roar of defiance only got more crucial for me to hear every so often; I was a big enough fan of it, even after writing it up for Dusted, that when they solicited fan footage for a subsequent music video you may just be able to get a glimpse of me in it. (I’m the one in a “No Tories” t-shirt.) My punk rock-loving twin brother was the one who introduced me to Spanish Love Songs and we were supposed to spend an evening in June screaming along to them live in a packed, sweaty room. I need that in my life again.

Julianna Barwick — Healing Is a Miracle

Healing Is A Miracle by Julianna Barwick

It’s a sign of what 2020 has been like here that even just this album title leaves bruises, and while I privately worried Barwick would have a hard time following up 2016’s sublime Will (probably my favorite record that year), it seems that continuing to take whatever downtime she needs to keep focusing and refining her particular muse has once again yielded amazing results. Anyone who thinks they know what a Barwick track sounds like should really check out, say, “Flowers”, but much of this record absolutely sounds like Barwick, just even better than before. She also boasted my wife and I's favorite streaming concert of 2020, an absolutely gorgeous rendition of this album with Mary Lattimore showing up.

Phoebe Bridgers — Punisher

Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers

I joked on Twitter recently that I have far too nice a dad (and far too good a relationship with him) to be as obsessed as I am with Phoebe Bridgers’ “Kyoto”, but here we are. Like most of her generation, Bridgers’ social media presence ranges from shit-posting to inscrutable, but even though things are often just as hard to figure out in her beautiful songs (as they often are in life), there’s an emotional clarity to them that can just grab you deep down. Couple that with seriously impressive songcraft and the progress from her already astounding debut Stranger in the Alps and more than anyone else in 2020 I’m excited to see just where the hell Phoebe Bridgers is going to go, because it feels like she’s talented and hardworking enough to go just about anywhere and drag a lot of our hearts with her.

Other Favorites

Aidan Baker & Gareth Davis — Invisible Cities II

Anastasia Minster — Father

Deftones — Ohms

Hum — Inlet

Kelly Lee Owens — Inner Song

Mesarthim — The Degenerate Era

Perfume Genius — Set My Heart On Fire Immediately

Protomartyr — Ultimate Success Today

Rachel Kiel — Dream Logic

The Ridiculous Trio — The Ridiculous Trio Plays the Stooges

Sam Amidon — Sam Amidon

Shabason, Krgovich & Harris — Philadelphia

Stars Like Fleas — DWARS Session: Live on Radio VPRO

Well Yells — We Mirror the Dead

Yves Tumour — Heaven to a Tortured Mind

Five Reissues/Compilations/etc.

Aix Em Klemm — Aix Em Klemm

Bardo Pond — Adrop/Circuit VIII

Charles Curtis — Performances & Recordings 1998-2018

Coil — Musick to Play in the Dark

Hot Chip — LateNightTales

Ian Mathers

[romanceismycallingcard]

2gether Rewatch ep 1:

I forgot that it starts out with Tine narrating for a bit.

Tine telling his friends about Green and how Green said he'll make Tine change his mind about liking guys

And his friends' immediate responses being Team Green! Is actually super realistic friend group dynamic teasing and I love it.

Tine RUNNING AWAY from Green KILLS me every time!!

And he runs directly to his friends, "Guess who I saw this morning!" 😂 I love their friend group.

Green handing toilet paper to Tine in the bathroom....... Yeah........

Did Green pursue P'Dim like this too? And it worked?? Or did P'Dim pursue Green?? Gosh, now I want like a prequel story for them.

Tine's friends saying he needs to start playing hard ball and then joking about football and baseball 😂👍

Tine's friends dressing up to scare Green! And one's holding a TOILET SCRUB BRUSH! HOW does someone even come up with that!?? It's brilliant!???

"I've taken a few boxing classes." Tine looking absolutely terrified: "Not just a few O.O" (poor bunny :()

Green's skinny jeans are so tight, but like 👌 nice

Green does not strike me as a fickle person. Did he really like Tine? I think he did, but like, what about P'Dim? Part of me feels like he just used Tine to make P'Dim jealous, which is awful and in no way helps Tine's low self esteem.

What's annoying is that Tine does straight up, honestly, and kindly tell Green he's not interested. Green just reads into everything and twists the truth. And won't listen to Tine.

He takes advantage of Tine's kindness and inability to tell him a harsh no, stop. Tine doesn't absolutely, concretely refuse Green and somehow that leaves just enough wiggle room for Green to squeeze in and manipulate the situation.

😂 I forgot about Tine's run when he escapes Green to get drinks 😂😂😂👌 it's the best thing ever. I love him so much. It's such a great little run!!

I think it's interesting that Tine acts happy/drunk from that drug and not just sleepy/dead tired.

Tine's favorite song is Together. Hmm. How fitting.

Poor Tine. Green immediately forgets to hold him up and drops him!

Okay. I can kind of understand the logic of "a fake girlfriend didn't work. Maybe a fake boyfriend will." Because Green is convinced he can change Tine, but what if Tine does admit to liking guys but it's not for Green? Then Green would be forced to acknowledge that Tine isn't rejecting him because he's a guy but because he's genuinely not interested in Green.

I think it's funny that they just had to shoot for the best of the best guy though 😂 why not just someone decently attractive? It worked out brilliantly for them though. The lucky b*stards.

Their little bulletin with a drawn portrait with no likeness at all to Sarawat with a question mark over the face 😂😂😂 and the sticky notes. Very professional detective work y'all are doing over there.

You know what's really weird. When I started watching 2gether, I had no idea who Toptap was but I knew Tine had a brother so I kept wondering who was the brother in the show during ep 1. Now I know who Toptap is and recognize him and I know that Type isn't even introduced as a character until several episodes later. But that was weird to realize because it means that since episode 1 was released I've watched multiple shows with Toptap in them. (Water Boyy, 3 will be free, rewatched love sick)

Sarawat is awesome. He's such a killer. 😂 And his friends are so great!! Gunsmile and Mike. *Chef's kiss*

The cast for this show is perfection. I love all of them. They're all amazing and hilarious and adorable AND amazing actors.

Posting a fake schedule for Sarawat was so smart! Too bad Tine and his friends kinda blew it for him.

Tine's friend Ohm (JJ) said he has a spy that said the schedule is a fake. Who's his spy???

Love the guitar music as Tine's running to Sarawat. How the heck did he manage to get in front of all those girls? There were girls on the stairs below where he and his friends were standing.

I really want to know what Sarawat is thinking when Tine just shows up right in front of him. He and his friends just walk away without saying anything at first. Why?

Sarawat's friends' reactions to Tine calling him an asshole 😂

What's super interesting to me about their first interaction is that Sarawat has been aware of and probably been watching Tine for a year. Which means he at least has some basic knowledge about Tine. Like he's kind, relaxed, cool (chill), etc. I wonder what he thought about Tine calling him an asshole. Not a great first impression, buuuuut~ it wasn't a first impression. Sarawat already knows that Tine is a good guy.

Is Sarawat just so introverted and socially stunted that he just has no idea how to interact with his crush so he's acting overly cool/cold to him?? I don't understand why he acts like that to his crush?

I just don't get it.

And then we get this wide shot and I love watching Sarawat's friends' reactions because I love their perspective on everything. But their faces after Sarawat says that and walks away are so funny! And Gunsmile's little wave 😂👌 (not the greatest snapshots sorry)

Guys I just finished part 2. This is bad. This post is so long already.

I feel like Sarawat got lucky because of how stubborn Tine is. Tine's friends are like, "let's find a different target." And Tine goes, "Nah, he's difficult so I have to have him now."

Tine said "email" so now I'm thinking about him speaking English and that Win lived in the US for a year and he's only a year younger than me and how crazy would it have been if I had met him? I went to a school that had a lot of foreign students. So weird. I mean the US is huge so of course the chances are crazy small, but it's fun to think about.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I finally understand how Tine's email sounded like he wants to kiss/sleep with Sarawat now. Got it. I was really slow on that, wooow....

Tine's dream is 👌

Sarawat's jacket is 🤤

Fun story (cuz this post isn't long enough already): before I started watching 2gether, I read a post about Tine's dream and that Sarawat turned into Green, but I didn't know Green was a name (and there were no capital letters to indicate that) so I thought that Sarawat must've turned into like a green monster or something in Tine's dream but nope! That's not what that meant!

After that email, I wonder what Sarawat thinks of his crush now. Lol.

I just noticed this bike statue 👌 I love public artwork so much sometimes

Aaaaaaaaaand now that I've noticed the statue, I also noticed

That when Tine crashes into the bush, he's somehow magically back at the statue and that little roundabout.

Aw. Okay. I'll give Green one (1) point. It's sweet that he got Tine and was sitting next to him with a smelling thing for Tine to wake up.

This girl Ann is precious. She's so cute.

This is the shared student number party. I'm a little confused why there are so many people there? Is it multiple student number groups meeting up?

Tine goes from 0 to 100 energy wise real quick! "I'm a chic guy. I like to act cute!" He is so cute. You all know the rest of that speech.

Oh I'm dumb! Sarawat and Tine are both new incoming freshman! Sarawat probably recognized Tine from the concert, but he probably hasn't even seen Tine since then! For some reason I was thinking they've probably had the chance to see each other around University. I'm dumb. So everything Tine is doing, Sarawat has no context for, nothing to compare it to or anything.

Tine.... Breaking the phone..... The cringe.... The secondhand embarrassment.... I'm struggling. It hurts. Oh the pain....

Okay yay!! EPISODE 1: DONE! 😄

I hope you all enjoyed my commentary even though it was very very long. 😂😘

[crimsonbluemoon]

Mafia Au, childhood friends, “Hold your fire!” for Ohmtoonz? Love ya Crim! 💙

Aww fluffy!! I hope you enjoy this!

AU: Mafia Trope: Childhood friendsPrompt: “Hold your fire!”

Pairing: Ohmtoonz

Ryan was always the sweet one of their friend group. A little quieter, and a heart made of gold, he’d been the one that Luke felt like he needed to protect. They were friends from the start of second grade, and even though Delirious was his best friend, Ryan came pretty close (or maybe it was a different feeling, one that Del could never cause in his heart). Luke was the first one to stand up to any bully that tried to talk down to Ryan. He made sure to keep band-aids and medicine in his truck once they hit high school and then college, since his friend tended to get bruised up or bloody from gym or after school activities without Luke hearing about it until the next morning. 

Ryan would never tell him who it was that tripped him or what exactly caused the slice on his arm. But he always looked so grateful for Luke’s gentle first aid afterwards, that the southerner never had the spine to press the matter. Plus, Ryan always assured that he told someone, and that the situations were properly handled. Luke wanted to come with him to the police a time or two (the broken arm their first year of college really pissed him off), but Ryan never wanted Luke to get involved. It bothered him to see his cru-his friend in such rough shape. Ryan didn’t deserve to be treated so poorly, and when Luke discovered who it was that hurt him, they were going to have a not-so-friendly conversation. Ryan told him not to worry, that so long as Luke patched him up, he’d be just fine. 

Which Luke believed until he walked into Ryan’s apartment and a gun was pointed at his head.

“What the-” His spine tensed in panic as he stared down at the barrel, eyes crossed and lungs frozen. His head felt fuzzy from wanting to pass out, yet he refused to move, too focused on taking in the scene in front of him. A grumpy man who looked closed to Luke’s age stared at him from behind the gun, the blue eyes narrowed with murderous intent. 

“You got a reason to be barging into Ohm’s apartment?” The growl of his voice proved that this wasn’t a joke, and Luke’s throat dried up. He wanted to ask who ‘Ohm’ was, and what he had to do with Ryan, yet he knew he didn’t have any control in the current situation. 

“Hold your fire, Wildcat!” The familiar voice of his childhood friend was enough to loosen his shoulders, though air didn’t come back to his lungs until ‘Wildcat’ grunted and dropped the gun to his side. Ryan popped into Luke’s line of sight, his hands quickly cupping his bearded face and rubbing worried thumbs over his paled cheeks. “Oh my god, Luke, I’m so sorry. I texted you earlier saying I couldn’t hang out tonight.” 

“Phones broken,” Luke finally forced out, his face leaning into the calming caresses. Ryan’s touch was always soft, even with rougher hands than Luke’d expect from an accounting major. But from someone who held a gun…Luke’s eyes flickered back over to the man towering behind Ryan, finally picking up on the other people in the room. Their ages seemed pretty close, maybe a few years between, but none seemed as high strung as Wildcat. 

  “Do you need some water? Do you want to sit down?” Ryan fretted like there weren’t three other people in the room watching them, and though normally Luke would preen under the undivided attention, now he squirmed in his shoes. 

“What the hell did I just walk into? And why do they call you Ohm?” He didn’t like making Ryan wince, but he couldn’t ignore what had just happened. Someone had put a literal gun to his face. 

“That’s…Luke, if I tell you the truth, it’s important to know that I’d never do anything to put you in harm’s way.” Ryan’s eyes flickered over to Wildcat, who rolled his eyes and turned away. “Well, intentionally.”

“What, did you make a deal with the mob or something? Do you need me to help you find some cash to pay something off? Because me and Del ain’t got much, but-”

“He doesn’t know who you are?” The exclamation came from one of the men sitting on the couch, his glasses almost falling off his face when he pushed to his feet. “Ohm you told me you were gonna tell him two years ago with the broken arm-”

“Mini,” another man from the couch started, seeming to be the oldest of the group. 

“No, Moo, this is bad. Our boss’s partner doesn’t know about us, which means he’s a sitting duck for other gangs to kidnap him. He’ll be bait! Then what’ll Ohm do? Probably kill half of Manhattan to get him back-”

“I’m sorry, did you say the boss of a gang?” Then the second part of the ramble caught up to Luke, who turned his stunned eyes back to Ryan. He could see the nerves running over Ryan’s face, teeth nibbling on his lower lip and thumbs smoothing Luke’s beard. “Did he say I’m your partner?”

“Yet he’s not worried about the murdering part? Maybe we should keep him as our gang’s mascot.” The final member spoke, and Ryan’s eyes cut a cold edge Luke had never seen before when glaring at the couch.

“Smiity, enough.” Ryan’s demeanor relaxed after a prolonged stare, closing his eyes with a sigh. “You three go back to base and check in with the others. Wildcat’s in charge until I get there. Tell Vanoss to wait on the meeting with the Crows and see if Kryoz got any more dirt on the last boss’s widow. She’s gonna flip on them, and I want to make sure we get to her before anyone tries to shut her up permanently. I’ll be there in an hour.”   

“Got it.” The three made it seem natural to take commands from Ryan, which was another whirlwind for Luke. He’d seen this man get bossed around by kittens, and now he was being told that he ran a gang? The apartment fell silent for a few moments, both men taking time to collect their thoughts. Finally, Luke pulled himself together enough to step back from Ryan, trying not to look into how much he missed the other’s fingers on his skin. 

“Ryan, what the hell is going on?” 

“Um.” Gone was the force of a man that’d commanded four others without a hint of fear, leaving the kind and soft spoken Ryan that Luke knew. His eyes flickered around the room before settling back to Luke with a hesitant smile. “Remember how I told you that I was going to go into my family’s business?” 

“Your family is the mafia?” Luke’s hands laid limp by his side when Ryan nodded. “So, all those times you got hurt-”

“Training,” Ryan replied quickly, but the wince that followed proved that they weren’t pleasant memories. “And sometimes scouting missions that went a little sideways. But I’ve been given the reigns of my own branch now. They’re really nice guys once you get to know them, and we tend to try to avoid violence if possible. Really, Luke, we’re not like the movies at all.” 

“That Mini guy just said I was going to be used as bait,” Luke replied flatly. 

“Mini is dramatic,” was the quick answer, which Luke could see. 

“Why would I be used for bait, Ohm?” He tried out the codename, and his eyebrow rose when he caught the flush on Ryan’s face. 

“That’s cause…well, I was planning on taking you out. Like, on a date. And telling you all of this.” A pause came after, but before Luke could fully process that, Ryan blurted out more. “Because I’ve been in love with you since third grade but I didn’t want to be because of my family!” 

“Oh.” Luke tried not to let his heart jump through his chest at the confession, but his head was far too fuzzy to stay logical. This was more intense than the gun to his head. Ryan, the boy he’d been protecting for years because of how in love he was with him, had also been doing the exact same thing. Except his had the mafia. Luke kept forgetting that piece over the feelings aspect. He wasn’t sure what that said about him. 

“I’m so sorry.” The look of guilt on Ryan’s face was obvious, and his fingers curled into the bottom of his threadbare sweatshirt. “If you don’t want to talk to me again, I get it, I just wanna make sure you’re safe-”

“Hey, who said anything like that?” He didn’t hesitate to move back to Ryan, grabbing his waist and pulling him close until Ryan dropped his forehead onto Luke’s shoulder. “You think a couple guns and some wanna be tough guys are going to keep me from you? I’ve been trying to protect you my whole life; now I get to actually help out.” 

“What do you mean?” Ryan’s voice was soft against his collarbone, Luke running his fingers through the back of Ryan’s hair. 

“It means, boss-” 

“Lu-luke, that’s-” The little noise and squirm of Ryan’s hips proved that was a keeper. He pulled him back enough to catch Ryan’s faint blush, daring himself to run his thumb over the man’s lower lip and grin.

“Where do I sign up?”

[alexajanecollins]

Broken Bones, Happy Endings - Final part

This is the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did! 

@chilly-me-softly @cam-blog98 @savingprivatecass @rubytersteege @the-villa-x @madders-b-chilly @englandfranceteam715

Previous parts can be find on here.

It was such a relief that you had told your dads girlfriend, that you decided to tell your dad as well that exact weekend. Telling him you still need to have a doctor’s appointment and such, he clearly was impressed with the fact you trusted his girlfriend in such a matter and was extremely happy for you and Ben. You had asked the women if she wanted to join you, the interaction between the two of you making your dad all happy. The both of you decided to have the appointment as soon as possible and you clearly wanted to have a check-up before Ben would be back from international duty as well.

The appointment went well, the doctor confirming that you were indeed two months pregnant already. A bit of a shock as you completely missed on having any morning sickness or any symptoms that show signs for a pregnancy. You were happy, extremely happy, currently counting down the days till Ben would get back home. The weekend couldn’t come sooner this time. The few more days before he would come back were perfect for you to figure out how to tell him. You just couldn’t wait to share the news with him.

“Just arrived at the airport. Will be home very soon.” Ben had texted you, a smile appearing on your face as you read the message. The time had finally come and you quickly rushed upstairs to get the things you bought to tell Ben the news. You sat down on the sofa again after a while, some things placed next to you. A big smile on your face as you heard the front door open after an hour. “Babe, I am home.” You hear Bens voice and you quickly stand up from the sofa walking towards the door.

“Hi, stranger.” You smile wrapping your arms around his neck. “Hello to you too.” He smiles holding his hand on your back while walking the both of you to the living room. “Didn’t miss me too much?” He asks while laughing laying the both of you down on the sofa. “Extremely, I thought I would die.” You laugh holding your hand on his chest, attacking his lips with yours. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” Ben laughs after the kiss reaching for something that laid under his head. “What’s this?” He asks referring to the things you had put there before.

“Ohm that.” You say taking it from him, laying it on your lap while sitting up. “I was wondering which one you would prefer.” You add looking at him for a second. “The black one, the blue one or the pink?” You ask unfolding the Leicester shirts in the three different colours, all three in a very small children size. “Euhm.” He says confused holding the blue one up for a second. “Why the question?” He asks looking at you taking the black one, but then he realises, your smile giving it away. “Wait a minute.” He says surprised. “Are you? No? Really?” He asks getting all excited.

“I am Ben, really. We are going to be parents.” You say with a smile, Bens arms wrapped around you in a second. “Oh my god. That’s amazing.” He says all happy. “Gosh, I thought you weren’t going to be happy.” You laugh while looking at him. “How long?” He asks moving his hand on your stomach. “Almost three months.” You say. “Don’t ask me how, but apparently, I skipped the morning sickness part.” You laugh and Ben shakes his head looking at you. “This is the best news I have had in weeks.” He smiles all happy.

Two more months had passed when you and Ben had gathered some of your family and best friends together for the reveal of the gender. Your bump was clearly visible by now and you always talked about wanting to get to know the gender the same time as most of your friend and family. The only person knowing the gender was your best friend, the person who organised the whole gender reveal party. It was exactly how you imagined it and your best friend had spent a lot of time into the whole organisation of this party. The location being her garden since it was bigger and was part of the actual reveal.

“Okay, hi, can I get everyone’s attention please?” You best friend starts saying trying to get everyone to listen to her. “Thank you.” She smiles looking at you for a second, a smile on your face as you sat down, Ben seated next to you. “We all know why we are here today.” She starts saying. “These wonderful people have decided to put their beauty and brains together and create a whole new person.” She adds. “Ben just took the whole ‘he shoots, he scores’ situation a bit too literal.” James interrupts her for a second receiving a swat on the arm by his girlfriend, the invited people all laughing with his joke.

“Thank you James.” Your best friend smiles as the others were quite again. “Well we all know how obsessed Ben is with his football etc. so instead of cutting cake, popping some party poppers or anything. I decided it would be best to put Bens skills to the test.” She says while reaching for something from a box that stood behind her, holding a football in her hands. “Pretty boring you must think but.” She starts to explain. “This ball is filled with those, what’s it called again?” She quickly asks her own boyfriend. “Normally they use these smoke bombs but we decided to put it in the ball.” He says helping her to explain. “So when Ben can hit the corner of the goal with the ball, it would have the same effect. Showing the colour blue or pink.” He explains, a nod and a smile coming from your best friend while she was looking at you.

“That’s actually a very nice idea.” You say while getting up from your chair. “How many tries will you need?” You ask with a laugh as Ben stood up as well. “Just one, looking at the size of that goal.” He laughs while walking towards your friend taking the ball from her. “Come on Ben, show your skills.” James shouts standing with the others, everyone excited of the outcome. You were smiling as Ben walked towards the goal that stood in the garden, the ball placed down his feet. “All for you babe.” He smiles pointing in your direction for a second as you stood next to your dad, your hand being held by his girlfriend as he was as excited as you were.

Ben was just a little bit nervous as he felt the pressure, being used to thousands of eyes watching him but this time it was way more nerve wrecking. He took a deep breath before he took a short leap and kicked the ball, the ball perfectly hitting the corner of the goal and exploding. Pink colour filling the air as Ben got surprised by the cheers behind him, your arms quickly around him to celebrate. “It’s a girl.” He smiles kissing your lips for a second, your eyes filled with tears as you hugged him, the evening filled with pink cake as you and the guests celebrated all together.

Ever since you and Ben had find out you were expecting a girl, Ben became soft. Always making sure you were alright, not doing too much work and stuff. The both of you changed the extra bedroom into the baby room, the walls a light tone of pink and the crib already set up the minute it arrived. You were counting down the weeks and couldn’t wait to have your little girl in your arms. Luckily your due date was during summer which meant Ben wouldn’t be playing any games, less things to worry about as Ben was almost with you 24/7. The fact he was with you almost all the time calmed you down a lot as your due date was coming closer and closer and the massive bump was preventing you of doing certain things you used to always do.

You had woken up in the middle of the night, your water clearly broken and you felt the contractions already. Ben had rushed you to the hospital and after several hours you were holding your little baby girl in your arms. The little girl named after your mother. Something you and Ben agreed on very early in your pregnancy, something that takes away the pain of missing her on this special day. A day that will change your lives forever. Who would have thought a recovery period would lead into this, you wouldn’t, but the future was bright and you couldn’t wait to share every day of it with your new little family.

[hiitshannahbananah]

(Riverdale) Phanie 2.0 | Sweet Pea

Summary: Stephanie learns what it means to be under the Serpent's protection, with all it's pros and cons.

A/N: Okay....I Kind of got inspired 

Warnings: Sexual harassment

Part 1

@iamaunicorn4704

It's been a week since Stephanie's visit at the Whyte Wyrme and things were just like they had been before. Jughead was still not talking to her, just with the difference that she was not calling or texting him either. Her visit at the Serpent's bar had proved to her that the last ten years were worth nothing and she was not going to spend more time running after him. It broke her heart, but she knew she had to get through that. 

“Hey, stranger” Stephanie slowed down when she felt an arm wrapping around her own. Veronica Lodge was now walking next to her with a bright smile. “Hey V. Is everything alright? You seem...unusually happy” Veronica shrugged her shoulders lightly. “I'm good. I was thinking about some milkshakes after school. You in?” Honestly Steph missed the afternoons at Pop's with her friends. Until now she couldn't stand the fact that Jughead was still talking to all of them but not her. Another thing she knew she had to get over. “Sure. Why not. It's been a while” Veronica smiled even wider. “Great. Can't wait. I'll see you after last period” Stephanie shook her head as she watched her friend walk away. 

When she left school that afternoon, she noticed it the first time. As she walked towards the school's parking spot, she saw a motorcycle standing at the other side. On it was the boy she had met that night in the bar. Sweet Pea. He sat there on his bike, eyes fixated on her, a cigarette stuck between his lips. Stephanie couldn't help herself but stare back. He was handsome. And Steph always had a thing for the bad boys. Not the wannabe bad boys at her school. The real deal.

“Steph! There you are! What....What is that South Side trash doing here” Archie had pulled Steph out of her trance and was about to approach Sweet Pea if it wasn't for her hands which held him back. “Just ignore him. He's not doing anything” She said and turned around and walked towards her car. “It's kinda creepy...the way he just stands there” Betty said as she got into the passenger seat while Archie and Veronica sat down on the backseat. “Yeah, I got chills. What do you think is he doing here?” V asked and turned around to look at the Serpent. “Nothing good, that's for sure. Those guys are always trouble” Archie said and Steph wanted to disagree. Tell them how Toni and Sweet Pea were kinda nice to her, but she stayed silent. Not seeing how she could out of that discussion ever again.

Sitting at Pop's with her friends felt freeing. The others knew about her situation with Jughead so they did everything to avoid this topic and keep the mood light. And they managed to actually distract Stephanie for the time being. For her this was like a well deserved vacation from reality. Making stupid jokes, talking about gossip and just being carefree teenagers eating burgers and drinking milkshakes.

“This is nice. Like...seriously. Thank you” Stephanie said genuinely as they paid their bills. “I needed this” “Of course, Steph. We're always here for you. You know that right?” Betty said with a sincere smile as she took her friend's hand and squeezed it. “Right. Doesn't make things easier but yeah” I felt Veronica hugging my side slightly before we all got up. “Does anybody need a ride home?” I offered but they declined and after we said our goodbyes I went to my car. And again I noticed. A motorcycle at the other side of the road across from Pop's.

What the hell was he doing?

And this went on for the following days and weeks. I only saw another Serpent two times. All the other times it was always Sweet Pea. And it was stressing me out. The constant feeling of being watched, even though I knew they weren't there all the time, it pissed me off.

“Call back your dogs!” The door of the trailer closed with a loud bang behind me and Jughead and Betty who were cuddled together on the couch jump. “What?” “Your all for muscles but no brains monkeys that are following me around for weeks now!” Jughead looked at Stephanie like she was holding a gun to his head. “Ohm...I'll give you two some privacy” Betty excused herself and went to the back of the trailer. “What are you talking about?” “That guy, Sweet Pea and some other snake! They keep following me around and watching me. It's fucking creepy” Steph kept on yelling. “Hey, Hey Steph. I have no idea what you're talking about, but I will confront Sweet Pea about this, okay?” Jug said calmly and made a few steps towards Steph, which she quickly stepped back, keeping distance between them. “Fine. Tell them if I find them lurking in the dark again, I will call the cops and press charges” Stephanie threats and turned around to leave. “See you tonight, Betty!” She yelled over her shoulder before closing the door behind her. “What's tonight?” Jug's voice was muffled through the door but she could still hear it as she walked down the stairs.

A few hours later Stephanie was in the middle of a High School party held at Reggie Mantle's place. His parents were out of town so like every Jock would do, he threw a party. Stephanie was dancing with Veronica, Josie, Melody and Valerie when there was an outraged roar and the music stopped suddenly. “What? That was my favourite song!” Val exclaimed disappointed and the girls turned around, looking to find the source why everything stopped so suddenly. And they soon found it. Betty had walked into the house. Followed by her boyfriend and a few of his new friends, all in their Serpent jackets. “I need something stronger than beer” Steph mumbled as she detected Sweet Pea in the group of Serpents and made her way to the kitchen. By the time she had poured herself a red cup of hard liquor the music was turned on again.

“You do realize it's not polite not to say hello, right?” Stephanie bit the inside of her cheek as she recognized the deep voice. “Well, you're one to talk” Her voice was cold as ice and the look on her face was just as cold when she turned around to face him. Sweet Pea stood in front of her, a proud smirk on his face like he hadn't been stalking her for the last few weeks. “Touché” His voice was so deep it was basically a growl. Steph emptied her cup in one swig, needing the alcohol running through her veins right now. “Why do you keep following me?” She asked boldly. Now that he was here, talking to her. She needed to know. “I told you the night we met. We're taking care of our family” “What does that even mean?” Steph was getting frustrated. All those weeks of being constantly followed and she needed answers now. “You're Jughead's family, and even though I don't like that little thug, he's one of ours. So we will protect you” He explained but it only created a bigger mess in her head. “I don't need your protection. And neither am I Jughead's family. Not anymore” Stephanie grabbed the liquor bottle she had just poured herself a drink from and left him in the kitchen. On her way she tried to talk to Veronica or Betty but both seemed quite occupied with their boyfriends, so she sat down in Reggie's garden alone with her bottle.

Everything that had happened that day had her riled up again. Visiting Jughead in his trailer, seeing him at the party and her encounter with Sweet Pea. The fact he mentioned that Jug was still her family, brought all kind of feelings to the surface. She knew that Jug was still family and he would always be family. It wasn't something you could just check out from. Well, you can. At least it's what her own father did when Steph was only a little kid. Leaving her mother and herself behind to start a new life with the waitress that worked at Pop's at the time. He left without a word and only a shitty letter.

An hour later Stephanie had emptied half the bottle and was more than just a little tipsy. “Well, look who we have here” When she looked up she saw the host himself approaching her. “Hey Reggie” Steph's words were already a slur, which Reggie noticed right away. “Whoa, how much did you drink?” He chuckled and sat down next to her. “Obviously not enough” She mumbled and took another swig straight from the bottle. “I see” Reggie smirked and took the bottle from her when she was finished and took a sip himself. “Why are you out here alone and not with us inside?” Stephanie shrugged her shoulders, which made her lean to the side a little, since her balance was infected by the amount of alcohol she had consumed. “Not really in the mood to dance, I guess” “Pity, the show you pulled before with the pussy cats, was fucking hot” He whispered and put his hand on her inner thigh.

Even though Stephanie was drunk, she knew where this was going. And she wasn't up for it. “Maybe I should find Veronica” She stumbled a little while standing up, which encouraged Reggie to grab her arms after also standing up. “Veronica left, probably to bang her ginger boyfriend” A dirty smirk was on his lips and suddenly Steph felt sick. “Then Betty” “Oh? Goody Two Shoes? She left basically right after she came. Left the trash though. But you don't need her. I can take care of you as well” Stephanie felt one of his hands gliding down her arm and then grabbing her hip. “Let me go” Her voice was barely a whisper. “What?” “I said...let. Me. Go” Steph's voice got louder, but there was nobody outside but them and the music inside was awfully loud. “Steph, can't you see. I'm trying to help you. You're so drunk you can't even stand straight” Deep down Stephanie knew he was right. She was too drunk to run. It was too loud for her to scream. Terrified. If there was one situation in her life, which would describe this feeling perfectly, it was this one. “Reggie, please let me go” Her voice was a whimper and she hated herself for sounding so weak. “And, why would I do that?”

“I'll give you a reason” Sweet Pea was slowly walking towards them. “And what is it to you, South Scum?” Reggie asked as his grip around Stephanie's arm and hip got firmer in his rage. “You're hurting me” She said and tried to free herself from his hands, but the pressure on her skin only increased. “I'll only say this once: Let her go” The Serpent was towering over Reggie by now, a look on his face that could murder someone. “Hm, alright. I'll let her go” Steph could see a nasty grin on the Bulldog's face before she was violently pushed to the ground. Her knees made a hard contact with the cobblestone ground that surrounded the pool. She could barely see a thing but the sounds that came from the boys proved a fist fight.

“Hey, Steph...Come on. Let's get you out of here” Sweet Pea carefully wrapped his hands around Stephanie's shoulders and helped her stand up. “That fucking...” When he saw your bleeding knees, he was about to go back and add some kicks to the punches he had just thrown at that pig, but a small hand that suddenly held onto his arm stopped him. “Don't...I don't think I...” Stephanie couldn't even finish her sentence before she felt Sweet Pea's arms picking her up. He carried her all the way to the street, right next to his bike. “I'm driving you home. I'll be careful, okay?” But Stephanie shook her head. “No...I can't go home to my mum like this” Sweet Pea ran his hand through his hair as he looked at the bleeding girl that was leaning against his bike.

Her make up was smudged, her eyes were watery and her arms were crossed over her chest while her hands stroked her upper arms. This was not the person he had met weeks ago at the bar. The person with a fucking inferno in their eyes. The person of punched a Serpent  in the face, right in the snake's nest. The person he had been watching the last weeks. And he was glad he did, otherwise he probably wouldn't have offered what he was about to.

“Fine. I'll bring you to my place” He decided and handed her his helmet. “I've never been on a motorcycle before” Stephanie said as she watched him climb on top of it. “Doesn't matter. I'll do all of the work anyway” He smiled at her and took the helmet to put it on her head himself. She took his hand when she wobbly climbed up behind him. “Just hold on tight, alright? I'm not letting you fall” Sweet Pea felt her shifting closer to him until she was flushed against his back, her arms circling around him, seeking hold. “Sweet Pea?” His heart skipped a beat when he heard her say his name for the very first time. “Yeah?” There was a short silence. Sweet Pea feared that her words had been so silent he missed it. But then “Thank you” A genuine smile spread across his face, a smile not many people got to see. “As I said...you're family”

[kalmeria]

i'm weird about endings so i've been struggling to bring myself to watch the last episode of tgg... but i feel like it's now or never, so here is, for the last time, my not quite liveblogging of the gifted graduation. it's episode 13.

when i thought supot sent pang after ohm i almost forgot to breathe

(i feel like grace will be okay but i'm not a big fan of this alternative either)

whyyy the short version of the intro? wanted to see it one last time...

i'm so happy it's ohm doing this

i was momentarily happy when supot was like "you wouldn't dare" and they went "actually we would". that bit was great

grace is so cool!!! and the music!

the shocked expressions on there faces! pom's chin on the ground, wave squinting at his monitor, their reactions to grace ex machina are so funny

!!!! all those people knew!! the scientists working for supot weren't actually doing what they were told to do!! how wonderful! and he had no idea!!! remember when i said i wanted his arrogance to be his downfall? this is great. bc it's like. one man who wants to do horrible things and he has the power but actually he is overconfident and all those nameless ordinary people working for him just. all decide to not tell him he is mistaken and his plans have been sabotaged. truly wonderful.

boycotting the exam is a pretty good plan imo

the way you could see supot breaking

god pom looks so tired.. i like how this is what we see first after their victory, just how exhausting it had been for all of them (and it's not like it's all over, is it? the world is changing and there are things to be done)

all that talk about the last day of school is making me emotional

i'm sorry but. the chalkboard just has the hearing range of some animals written on it that's so funny

claire rolled her eyes when chanon suggested a revolution why do i find this funny

i like how they still don't all agree on everything. the whole season was about the importance of working together but not once did they say it was simple

not sure how to feel about chanon being framed as the irrational one though

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!grace saying that actually it took decades for her potential to develop and for her to master it!!!!!!!! and that supot's idea that they all have to figure out and reach their limits in high school is bullshit!!!!!! i love this series

so grace is a time traveller trying to derail the dystopic future she's living in from becoming true. i am so here for this.

"do you know that you will become a much nicer guy?" lmaoo (as i've been saying. there's something fundamentally wrong with him (affectionate))

oh i love a hard choice. a problem that has no perfect solutions. a question with no good answer.

almost choked on my tea at the "make everyone the gifted" part. wow. okay. this is big.

this is fucking huge what??!!!? all along. all along it was a lie.

"director supot used to say that superior people try harder than others. in reality, who is superior depends on whether the rule is written in their favor." hello???? this series just keeps on giving. wow.

and of fucking course supot is a hypocrite!!

"i don't want anyone controlling my life, not even you." said to her own future self!!!!!!!! i love this!!!!!

omg namtaan!!!!!

oh. namtaan would have been too op for this story so they had to have her out of the picture. but then they gave the in universe explanation that the bad guy knew this and it was him who sent her away. that's pretty smart and a little bit meta, i like it.

"don't be so disappointed in yourself. don't forget we are just high school students." this is nice :) i like this

when that ending song melody started playing in the background..

once again getting chills from pang's message

the cut to the egg story was a bit abrupt lol

ah but this was so good!!

honestly, i really like this series. it's exciting, it's fun, it might make you cry a few times, and at the end of the day, it's a hopeful story made for teenagers, but not just for teenagers. i think it's for anyone trying to find who they are and who they want to be, regardless of age (see: grace's potential taking decades to fully work). and it's about changing the world, but also says that you might not be able to just. change the whole world. but that's okay. (see: "we are just high school students" and the thing about time)

there's realy just one major problem i had with the series. or rather, it's kind of a small thing but something i really don't like: it's punn's "evil" alter. i don't have the knowledge or experience to talk about this in detail, and it's not like many people will read this, but it's my understanding that the series relied on harmful stereotypes about DID as a plot device and then didn't even bother to really talk about it. punn's other alters were only ever mentioned in his focus episode, and then this season he was the only person who willingly betrayed the group, an act that was shown to be closely related to how his potential works. so yeah, i didn't like that.

that aside though, i don't regret the time and emotional investment i gave to this series.

[surrealredmoon]

Gaming AU - Sleepless Night

Soooo.... hey guys! Now that life is starting to chill a little I’ve found myself wanting to write again (yay \o/). Here’s a little something for the Gaming AU that was inspired by some very sleepless nights I’ve had recently. It’s set in the time before everyone met in person and before Weiss and Yang really began to hit things off. Anyway... ENJOY!

Weiss lay on top of her bed, staring at the patterns of moonlight filtering in through the open curtains onto the ceiling. Briefly, she glanced away to look at the clock on her bedside table, 2:45am. She’d been laying there for a good three hours now, her mind once again unable to switch off and let her get the rest she so desperately needed right now.

Sighing to herself, Weiss sat up. Well if her mind wasn’t going to let her rest, she may as well do something semi-productive… well semi-productive to her at least. She was sure her father would be shocked and appalled if he ever realised that his youngest daughter was exactly that type of person that made his business so successful.

Monitors blazed to life as she hit the power button on the PC, bathing the room in blue before the home screen loaded up. It didn’t take long before the all too familiar log in window popped up and the theme music began to play through her headphones. Quickly, Weiss entered her details and began loading in on Myrtenaster.

Once she’d loaded in though, she sat back and stared at the screen. She hadn’t actually considered what she wanted to do to try and pass the time. She opened up the Looking for Group list, scanning through each of the different game modes to see if there were and active groups, even though that wasn’t very likely given the time. She’d finally found a couple of groups looking for one of the high-end adventures and was about to join one when a whisper message popped up in the chat box.

(whisper from) Ember Celia: so… cant sleep again?

Weiss raised her eyebrow. What was Ember doing up at this time? And more importantly, how did she know that this wasn’t the first time she’d logged on when the insomnia made it clear she wasn’t going to get any sleep that night?

(whisper from) Ember Celia: ello?

(whisper from) Ember Celia: I knw u didnt fall asleep at ur desk cuz u jst logged on

Weiss rolled her eyes, even as a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and typed a quick reply.

(whisper from) Myrtenaster: You know, it’s getting harder and harder to believe that you’re not stalking me when you say things like that.

She could almost hear the chuckle and teasing tone in Ember’s response.

(whisper from) Ember Celia: well I dnt normally show as online this late

(whisper from) Ember Celia: stops the weirdos messaging me :P

Weiss’ small smile turned into a frown, concern growing in her that perhaps she might not be the only member of their guild who suffered from insomnia.

(whisper from) Myrtenaster: Are you often online this late? Or is this a one-off for you?

It took at little while for the response to come through, so Weiss began to reorganise her inventory while she waited.

(whisper from) Ember Celia: I guess probs more often thn I shld

(whisper from) Ember Celia: bt nt as often as u I bet

(whisper from) Ember Celia: btw Im runnin round doin sum gatherin n events if u wanna join

A party invite popped up on Weiss’ screen a moment later and she accepted. At least this would give her something to do, and it would be nice to just casually chat with someone. Even if that someone had a tendency to infuriate her most of the time. She opened up her map, found the marker indicating the location of her party member and began making her way over.

Ember Celia: so whts got u up so late?

She took a moment to decide whether or not she wanted to open up to her guild mate about what had been causing her so much trouble recently as she cleared out some Grimm that had crossed her path. Eventually, she decided to hold off revealing too much; after all, even though she’d been playing with her current guild mates for almost a year now she’d never dared to reveal anything about herself aside from the fact that she was from Atlas.

Myrtenaster: Oh just stressed about school work and such. All those normal young adult things.

Myrtenaster: What about you?

Myrtenaster: Actually, don’t tell me, I’ll guess. You probably have a report due tomorrow, but instead of focussing on an important assignment you thought it would be far more productive to play instead.

‘Dammit Weiss! This is why they call you the Ice Queen…’ Weiss sighed. ‘Ember hasn’t done anything except offer you some company and express some concern. But noooo… you couldn’t let your stupid walls down for one minute.’

She had just typed her response of “I’m so sorry Ember, that was out of line.” at the same time a response came through.

Ember Celia: Myrtenaster, when was the last time you actually slept? For like a whole night.

Before the irrational part of her brain could take Ember’s comment as an insult the rational side noticed the change in their writing style. The fact that Ember had put the effort in to use correct grammer, something they rarely did… much to Weiss’ distain, seemed to imply genuine care on the other gamer’s part. Weiss found herself in an internal struggle over how to reply; be honest and open up, or revert to her usual behaviour and strengthen her walls. The battle was still waring as the next messages popped up.

Ember Celia: I know it’s not really any of my business but I doubt this is all because of ‘normal young adult things’ and I get the feeling that if it’s as bad as I think it is you probably don’t have anyone to talk to about it.

Ember Celia: So I want you to know, I’m here if you need someone to talk to… because I look out for my friends.

Ember Celia: Even if they are an Ice Queen who can’t take a joke sometimes.

Weiss just stared in shock at the screen as Ember’s character ran off to fight a pack of Grimm that spawned nearby. She still wasn’t sure exactly what to make of the situation she was in; and yet she found herself typing.

Myrtenaster: Thank you Ember. That actually means a lot to me.

Myrtenaster: But I don’t think I’m quite ready to talk about it… yet.

She held her breath, anxiously waiting for a reply.

Ember Celia: No problem. How about we just play instead for now?

Ember Celia: I was thinking about doing some of the low-level dungeons to get some new clothing items.

Ember Celia: takes a lot fo wrk to keep this pretty ass lookin so fiiiiiiine!!!

Weiss snorted at the abrupt return of the crass and unabashed Ember she was used to. Yet she couldn’t deny the small smile once again tugging at her mouth.

Myrtenaster: Of course that’s where all your in-game effort goes. Ohm forbid you should show up to a raid wearing the same outfit as the previous one.

Ember Celia: AH! theres my ice queen!

Weiss’ smile grew.

She didn’t even realise how long they had been playing together until the first few rays of sunlight creeped across the room. Checking the time, Weiss noted she still had a little over an hour before her alarm would go off.

Myrtenaster: Well I should really try to get some sleep before school.

Ember Celia: That would be a good idea…

Ember Celia: And I should probably get started on that report I was avoiding!

Myrtenaster: EMBER!

Ember Celia: Whoa! I’m kidding!

Myrtenaster: You better be.

Ember Celia: Or what? You gunna freeze me Ice Queen?

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the screen, as if she could make the other feel her glare through it.

Ember Celia: I bet you have cold toes

Ember Celia: And I bet you’re the type to try and put those cold toes somewhere warm when you snuggle with someone…

Weiss glared harder, not responding.

Ember Celia: Alright, I might be a bit over tired…

Ember Celia: So I’ll leave that line of teasing for another night…

Ember Celia: I hope you get some rest.

Ember Celia: And don’t forget what I said before. Online or offline, I’m here if you need me.

Her expression relaxed enough for her to type out a reply.

Myrtenaster: Thank you Ember. Aside from that last comment… tonight was surprisingly… fun.

Ember Celia: Yeah, it was.

Myrtenaster: Have a good day Ember.

Ember Celia: Yeah you too. I’ll see you for raid tonight!

The smile was back on her lips as Weiss signed out and shut everything down, climbing into bed and preparing herself to try and fall asleep again.

As she began going through her mental exercises to try and shut off her brain she kept finding herself distracted by thoughts of what had happened and what Ember had said. She had the distinct impression that she would fine Ember online again at the same time tonight. That thought made her feel surprisingly content, even if she would have to deal with Ember’s teasing.

As she felt her eyes close, she curled up to fall asleep, noticing that her feet had come up as if to tuck between someone’s shins. Weiss’ last thought before sleep finally took her was just how annoyed she was going to be at Ember for being right about her cold toes… 

[guidedbygunpla]

Gundam Sports Story Chapter 1

It is the year 0086 of the Universal Century. Nearly an entire century has passed since Earth began moving its burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind, where people are born and raised. And die. 5 years ago, the cluster of colonies furthest from the Earth, called Side 3, proclaimed itself the Duchy of Zeon and launched a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Initial fighting lasted over one month and saw both sides lose half their respective populations. People were horrified by the indescribable atrocities that had been committed in the name of independence. Eight months had passed since the rebellion began. They were at a stalemate. Then thanks to the brave men and women of the Earths Federation, Zeon was beaten back, their hold on the earth, and the colonies surrounding it, shrunk, and grew smaller every day. Until finally, the Archduke of Zeon, died in a surprise attack he was not aware of, leaving his own son Gihren Zabi in charge of the duchy. He too fell in battle. Within days after Gihrens death, an armistice was signed, and peace was established in the earths sphere. however. The weapons that won this war, the mobile suits, had proliferated far and wide, their powerful helium fusion engines were capable of great things, some retrofitted to power full factories, and ships that flew further and further out into the stars. However, as at the end of the last great war, when Britain and its allies had trained thousands of men to fly, there was suddenly a love of flying, now here in the universal century there too arose a love, a love of mobile suits. Thus sport leagues grew up near and far, as derelict mobile suits, and military surplus found their way onto the civilian market. Everything from racing, boxing, and even great feats of acrobatics soon found themselves being proformed by giant, metallic bodies.  One such league was the MSMMAA, the mobile suit mixed martial arts association. Every year, there is a great tournament where countries vie for glory, honor, and the right to claim that they can produce the best mobile suit pilots in the earths sphere.  This tournament is called the MSMMAA Earths Sphere Grand Prix.

______________________________________________________________

A great Scramjet flies high above the clouds, a Japanese flag and the Canon logo emblazoned on its side. Inside we see a woman, her hair cut short, reddish brown in color, wearing a red sport jacket, with a Canon logo on the right chest pocket. Beside her is another woman, older, reading off statistics. “so last weeks match only netted us 76 million viewers, we can do better than that, and the sponsors are counting on us to pump those numbers up, we don’t need to worry about repair costs, Canons contract with us promises they will cover repairs, planet side transport, and basic salaries, but we are relying on gatoraid and Yamaha to pay for any hotel fees, colonial transport, and any increase in the staffs bottom line.” “okay, so what do you suggest we do Milly? We tried feigning issues with the suit and stalling for time until later in the night when more colonial viewers are watching last year, and neither tactic worked….and before you suggest it, I wont do what the EU team did to Maya last year, having her come out in some skimpy form fitting normal suit. Just embarrassing.” The woman in the Canon jacket sighed, taking a sip from a blue bottle of gatoraid as she did so.

“well whats something that makes you unique, maybe we could capitalize on it in battle, your Newtype abilities maybe? I know we usually don’t try to showcase those too much because you say it can be quite draining in combat, but perhaps?” Milly said jotting down the idea on her yellow office pad

“well…..its not the worst idea, stage some real close calls, pull out at the last second….it will be really exhausting but we only have a handful of matches left of qualifying, and then 2 weeks off before the tournament actually begins, for me to recover…Im not a huge fan of it long term, but maybe something like that could secure more viewers before then…not bad Milly” “well, Cat, that’s why you pay me the big bucks” Milly said as she folded her note pad up and walked out of that room of the Scramjet, as she walked through the door, Cats husband Ryu was just walking in. Ryu was a nice man, a bit younger than Cat, she had just turned 30 a month ago in March, and Ryu was just about to turn 27. He was well kept, a bit portly thanks to the lavish life style his wife had brought him these last few years, and soft spoken. “I just got Ohm to bed, he never wants to settle down when we’re on these things” he said as he sat beside her, grabbing her drink and taking a swig of it. “I swear to you, they change the flavoring or something to that every time we fly, it tastes so gross up here” he said handing it back to her. Cat lauged “its bitter, its just because we’re so high up and travelling so fast, the blood in our tounge isn’t where it usually is….stuff tastes different” she said taking another drink

“I bet you taste the same” Ryu joked leaning in to kiss her the world rushed by behind them

The scramjet was travelling at 95,000 feet, at nearly mach 4. They were flying home to Tonosho, a town in Kagawa Japan. Cat, short for Catalyst had emigrated to earth just after the war. She was born on Side 4’s Moore Colony, and was working as an accountant there when Zeons forces attacked. She said she didn’t remember how she survived, just that during the commotion a federation saberfish fighter jet crash landed near her, and the pilot blew the hatch before falling out of it, she doesn’t remember why but she jumped inside and sealed the hatch. She says that day is when she realized her abilities weren’t just good luck and good intuition like she had always believed. She felt someone elses movements in her head, she saw someone turning the ship back on, and piloting it out of the colony. She let the sensation take over, and she escaped the colony unscaithed. The image of the giant pink monoeye of the zakus haunted her nightmares for months after that. after piloting the ship out of side 4, she was picked up in the thunderbolt debris field by the battleship Halifax, and after they looked her over and listened to what she said happened, she was shipped back to jaburo. They did scans of her brain, and put her through days and days of psychological evaluations. They told her she was going to be conscripted into a prototype Newtype Combat Corps that the federation was putting together, along side the famous Operation V Gun Fighters who had lead the federation vanguard in so many battles during the war. Luckily for her, the week before she was to be shipped out, jaburo was attacked, and she fled in the chaos. She eventually found herself in Coqueiral, and fell in with another group of deserters, one of which was Ryu, who had been working as a data analyst for the federation, when after the siege of jaburo he was to be conscripted as a soldier as well, said they were going to put him in a Ball, and throw him at the enemy if need be. He wasn’t ready for that, and he ran, like so many others from the underground bunker.

So how did they both get here, flying on a corporate scramjet, millionaires, in a mobile suit fighting league? Well it all started in Japan in the summer of 0082

  Chapter 1 – the summer of 82

Catalyst and Ryu were able to take advantage of the chaos on earth that followed zeons surrender at A baeu qu and bribed their way onto an international flight to japan out of Peru. Some of Ryus family still lived there, those who hadn’t immigrated to Side 7 back in the 70s. His Aunt and Uncle were able to find them a small apartment in Tokyo. They gave them a tiny bit of money to get a start, but they were still deserters from the federation military, and even though the federation government had largely allowed most of the surviving countries on earth to try to rebuild by themselves if they wanted to, there still were federation military bases all over, and though the Republic of Japans government had tried its best to keep the federation out, they were still present here and there. So finding jobs was proving very difficult. Soon however, as the heat of the Japanese summer made itself known, Catalyst and Ryu found themselves pregnant, and the idea of trying to raise a child on the run, with no money, and no future, proved too much for them to bare.                Catalyst decided that she would go to the Japanese government and see if there was any way they could help them. She figured the worst they would do is threaten contact the federation and have them deported, at which point they would just start the running and hiding process again. While there they asked why she deported, the Japanese weren’t big fans of the federation, and didn’t want to give them over if there was no reason too. Handing over a pregnant woman to the federation to be executed for desertion wouldn’t sit well with any moral person. She explained she didn’t want her newtype gifts to be taken advantage of, she didn’t want to kill, she didn’t believe the zeon were totally wrong, that though their actions were vile, their goal of spacenoid independence was valiant, and that the actions of the federation were no better, though the Federation had never launched a colony at Australia like Zeon did, they did destroy dozens of side 3 colonies during the early days of the war, and during the final weeks after A beau qu, ultimately driving the Duchy out of their home on Munzo, and to a colony out by Mars known as Axial.

               The man she spoke to, was a senator for the Tokyo arm of the  Social Democratic party, he had served in the 210th airborn division and fought in the battle of Newyork. He agreed with her that the actions he had seen during those days didn’t paint the federation or zeon in the best light, bombing their own people to prevent the zeon from capturing strategic targets, flooding the subways, to prevent their use as bomb shelters by the zeon, even though hundreds of thousands of people, of federation people were using them as bomb shelters when the flood waters came. He offered her an out. The Japanese government had recently signed onto the MSMMAA, and needed a pilot. The pilots who represent their countries bypass many federation laws, and cannot be persecuted by any government save their own. A rule put in place to prevent jailing a fighter to avoid the outcome of a match.  They didn’t have the financial resources of places like Brazil, the Greater European Union, China or the Kievan Federation, let alone sides that had been untouched by the war like side 1 or side 6. Japan needed a leg up, an ace up its sleeve, and a newtype with nothing left to lose seemed like just the ticket.  

               So she joined the Republic of Japans Mobile Suit Team. She signed on as the fighter for the Canon team, Canon, thanks to the backing of the government, were able to purchase a decent starter suit for her, a RGM-79GS GM Space Command Type. It had been used in the defense of side 6 during the tail end of the war and its right arm had been torn off by a Gelgoog. Canon was able to purchase replacement parts and have it shipped to japan for de-armament and modification per the MSMMAA regulations.  

               The MSMMAA had strict regulations for what could and could not compete in the tournaments, the suit had to be salvaged, or army surplus. Its VIN number must indicate it was produced before June 15th 0081 Earth Standard. The reactor in the suit, cannot exceed +200KW of the primary suits requirements for 1G standard operation thus an acguy is limited to a max of 2069kw and a 1st gen GM cannot exceed 1449kw. The primary suit is defined as a suit which makes up at least 30% of the parts of any one mobile suit, if a suit is made up of so much scrap that its parent suit cannot be determined it will be limited by the most common suit in its weight class.                All guns must be removed from the suit in such a way as to prevent them from ever functioning again, and beam weaponry must have their I field generator removed and capped.                Additionally, Minovski scrubbers must be put in place to prevent pollution of minovski particles on earth, the moon or any other body designated as a special combat location per MSMMAA guidelines.

The Gm commander arrived in Tokyo bay on july 15th of 0082 and Catalyst and Ryu were there to greet it, along with a team of 10 who in the coming months and years would become some of her best friends. There were her body guards Ballet and Fyo, former night club bouncers. Milly, Catalysts marketing liaison, Dyrik Masters, the head of mechanical engineering and fabrication, and his team of 5 Linos, Kai, Rita, Suzette and Sanchez, and lastly, Her coach Lt. Tenneth Jung, the federations Ace of Aces, who had left the force at the end of the war, and had decided to move into mobile suit combat training as it paid substantially better.  As soon as the GM was floated off its barge and onto the Samson mobile suit carrier, Dyrik and his team went to work looking over it. It turns out that who ever Canon hired out to replace the arm had done an awful job, and most of the joints were going to need replaced, and to fix any balancing issue with the other arm, they would have to replace the balancers on the other arm just to compensate, the legs were  in good shape, but the joints in them were in bad shape, hadn’t been oiled in at least a year, and the space use oils they had used hadn’t been switched out once coming earthside and were largely clogged with sand and salt, resulting on fairly heavy corrosion all around.

 Upon getting the suit back to their headquarters, a mobile suit hanger that Canon had purchased, they strung the suit up to see just what all was going to need to be done. Tenneth had her and Ryu follow him to the pilot lift. And lifted all three of them right up to the cockpit of the GM.

               “so tell me, Catalyst, do you have experience piloting mobile suits at all? From what I read of your record it seems like you’ve only flown saberfish and a few commercial planes here earthside.”                She nodded “it’s Cat by the way, only my parents and police call me catalyst” she leaned into the cockpit, a feeling of ice shot through her mind, as she felt hands moving around the cockpit, the pedals moving in tandem, the arms lifting and dropping, menus racing past.  “it shouldn’t matter too much, im a real quick learner, haven’t really ever had to read a manual or have someone show me how to do much of anything in life” she said as she lifted herself up over the railing to the pilot lift, and jumped into the cockpit, Ryu reaching out after her as she did so.                “ah yes, there was that in your notes too….very strong newtype abilities, rivalling that of the great Terra Stormrider the Gundam Ace and Char Aznable the red comet.” He said as he leaned across so that his upper body rested just above the main control panel “but newtype abilities can only get you so far, a lot of piloting these things is knowing what they can do, knowing when you can use the weight from one part to swing another ya know.” Cat nodded again as she flipped a few switches on the main control panel to turn the GM on, put into service mode so she could look over a few things while the mechanic team went about tearing into the GM’s guts and fixing the damage that the machine had sustained thus far in its life.                “I respect your point of view on Newtypes Mr. Jung, our abilities are hard to understand. The main abilities that I have been able to manifest are foreknowledge and a physical 6th sense, I can feel something is about to happen before it happens, and when I see something new, I can usually feel someone else moving through it, and learn how to operate it by following those sensations. I think you being here is how I can comprehend what all of this does. I probably should actually get a manual on how to operate all of this, probably isn’t going to be as easy as Book keeping.” She laughed as she slid her finger across the touch screen display on the main console, the GMs readout scrolled past, a lot of the sensors were reading null or error.                “well Cat, I’m sure we can find some old manual here for you, though I think this suit is going to end up pretty heavily tailored towards what you’re comfortable with before all said and done. This cockpit has to be modified if memory serves, padding and what not added…guess athletes need a bit more protection than some flyboy like yours truly.  Then, we needa figure out what sorta fighting style you’ll be wanting it to conform to, if youre wanting to fight with swords, axes, just the fists etc. MSMMAA doesn’t have ton of rules about what weapons can and cant be used as long as their temp doesn’t exceed 3000 degrees F, and aren’t beam or bullets….we’ll get you sorted out Cat, with your Newtype abilities, and my know how of these dang GM’s we’ll win you that championship belt.

[phaniecastello-blog]

“With hair as black as charcoal” 

((side fic about Maya and Stephanie first meeting, obviously from Phanie’s deep and traumatic POV. lol. thank you for the nice rp Cassey @maya-edwards))

The food at the palace was even better than the one at the best restaurant in Calgary or in any other province. I was so content with it that I could almost understand Clara’s obsession on meeting the chef. The royal family joined us for breakfast, for me it was great to see them together in person; sometimes you could see them on TV and couldn’t help to wonder if what you’re seeing on the screen is real or just an act for all of us, but that couldn’t be their case; at least from my seat, I could see their unity. I bet their have problems and fights, like any other family, but the love was there, noticeable.

Since my actual family had just 2 members, including me, I had always dreamt of a big family in my future.

Every now and then I looked around the place, noticing that some ladies were tense, trying to remember the lessons we had received only a few hours before from Lady Colette, others seemed to care more about finishing their celestial dishes, and I couldn’t blame them.

Heading back to my room, the sound of a deep sigh made me snap my head towards a lady with an awesome hairstyle; short, curly and black as charcoal. I touched my hair as an impulse.

I miss my curls…

She muttered something, but I couldn’t understand her words. Her attitude and movements made me smile unconsciously because it even when it seemed like she had been struggling with something, yet good vibes surrounded her.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, not being able to contain my curiosity.

She looked up at me surprised “Huh? Wha-me? Yeah! Perfect!” She gave me thumbs up and a big smile, but suddenly cleared her throat and changed her face for a more serious one. “I mean, yeah, I'm cool. Stephanie, was it?”

I get  closer to her as we continue walking towards the rooms “Yes, and your name is...“ I closed my eyes since a bunch of faces and names passed through my mind “Mm Maya? ... please be Maya.” I pleaded to her, scared to ruin the conversation with an awkward mistake.

She chuckled but forced a serious face. “No, I am Elizabeth”

I looked at her with disbelief even when her chuckled had exposed her before “ ... my memory can’t be that bad!”

She answered, chuckling “No, it's Maya, but there are like three Elizabeth's so I thought…” she paused and bit her lip. I wondered why she kept doing that, maybe she hadn’t realized her laugh was so nice and contagious, not a crime. “Sorry…”

Contagious indeed. I laughed, looking around to avoid a problem with any Elizabeth “I know, right?? When I was reading the list I almost felt bad for not having that name too”

No, no, hey! What are you doing? She can do the joke thing, but you…

I had never been good at it.

She smiled, again. “Maybe Prince Nathaniel has a thing for Elizabeth's?” I nodded mockingly and she continued “He seems okay right?

It was until that moment when I remembered my mother’s words, this was a competition, girls were here to win something: a crown, a prince, love…

“You can’t trust any of them, they are hypocrites, the only thing they want is to win”

But I was there not only because I wanted to find romantic love, I had hope to find a real friend, someone who I could trust in and be me without being judged or criticized and give the same in return. A sincere friendship for once, not smiles, kind words and fake talks, looking for a job or a good position inside the fashion world, and the only way to get that was to take the risk and talk openly with the ones I sensed to be, and Maya seemed to be the most genuine lady, so far.

“Yes, He’s a very nice guy, … between you and me, I thought it would be easy to meet him, because we have seen him on tv so many times and stuff, but I couldn’t help to feel nervous at that moment…”

Instantly, her mood exploded in excitement “Thank goodness!” and corrected again, as if she had instantly pushed her own “keep calm” button  “Wait! I mean as in if even you are nervous then, you know, I was, eh, a little nervous too”

“Sure, just a little bit, right?” I chuckled “I bet you did good. Now that the stress is over I will finally get some sleep!”

“Thank you, but uh, one question” She lowered her voice and I leaned my head to listen better “Are normal beds always that big? That thing is huge! I'm afraid to get lost in it” She chuckled nervously.

Her comment hit my heart. I constantly forget about castes in this country, and when someone make me remember them I feel so guilty for ignoring them!

How can I be so selfish!? I hate myself.

I felt really uncomfortable, but it was a nice lady standing in front of me, excited and waiting for an answer I couldn’t just stand there hating myself “I know right! My bed back home is definitely smaller, but fortunately I’m sure I won’t be lost in it, I just have to reach for my feet hanging out of it, try that, it saves a lot of time at mornings” I winked

Trying to make jokes, again. Great!

At least she chuckled this time. “Okay, good idea.” She started to fidget with her dress and I realized she wanted to tell me something. I opened my mouth to ask but before I could say something, she continued “Sorry if I ... well I don't want to seem rude but... I, eh, kind of, expected you to be… d-different?”

I knew I could get this kind of comments from the ladies, honestly, I was hoping for those, considering that most of the media had the habit to publish negative things about me; but somehow it hurt still. I tensed “Well, thanks, I guess …”

“S-sorry! I didn't... I mean! You're just...sorta famous? And- A model, pretty and all and uh-I-I am sorry”

There was no way she could knew about my inner trauma, so I couldn’t blame her for them. “No, no, don’t worry, it’s okay. I understand why you had that impression... sometimes media is .. well, you know. I shrugged.

She scratched her head “I don't know..yet. But I will believe your word for it” She closed her eyes, embarrassed “Did I say I was sorry?”

I chuckled “You did, but it’s fine, really.” I said, faking an unconcerned tone. “Ohm... have you met any of the royals? Beside Nate, of course” I desperately changed the subject

“I ran..eh I met Prince Maximus, he...was apparently 'the man of my dreams', so I suppose I am don't even have to date Nathaniel if I was into younger men” She smirked, jokingly

“I have heard he’s intense but I thought they were exaggerating”

“I'm sure he's mostly joking, but if not, I could be running 'towards the sunset' right now, with him of course”

“Well, at least it would be romantic”

“I admit, with the right person it would…” She smiled with a special bright in her eyes “But uh... this one is mine” she pointed to a wooden door similar to the rest of the rooms in that floor “... so I should probably assure my maids I didn't embarrass myself too much, I will see you again?”

“Oh, Sure, mine is that one” I pointed to my door, which was one room away from hers “so, we will see each other a lot around here.”

“You got it! She said, giving me finger guns, which seemed to regret instantly. I tried not to laugh “Eh, bye!” she smiled awkwardly

“Bye”

I quickened my step to my room.

“My lady, how did it go?!” Tracey asked excited. I found her just a few inches from me as soon as I closed the door behind me and she made me jump. The rest of my maids stopped their jobs waiting for the answer.

“Well... “ I started as I checked my phone

40 MESSAGES

I scrolled through them

WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING ME?

I TOLD YOU I WANTED YOU TO CALL ME, EVERYDAY, ESTEFANÍA!

I looked up to my maids, smirking and making my eyebrows move up and down “I will tell you everything, just let me contact a person who is also eager to listen to the story” I said as I pressed my mom’s name on the phone.

[nyx-ships]

76 Brohm? Lmao

Title: Breakfast (Long Drabble)

Pairing: Brohm

Rating: M ig

Word Count: 832

A/N: Oh man I had fun writing this bad boy. I just hope it lives up to your expectations, haha.

Enjoy :3

—————————————-

Bryce stretched in front of the stove, muscles coiling and uncoiling as he reached up above to the cupboards, pulling out pancake mix and measuring cups.

He set everything out nice and neat, being the clean freak that he was, and made sure nothing would make too big a mess as he began preparing a meal.

He wanted to make Ohm breakfast for once, he never really got to, and he had made sure to wake up earlier than the older man just so he could surprise him.

He had pulled himself out of bed, careful not to wake up Buddy or Ohm as he did so, unraveling himself from the warmth that was Ohm’s embrace, and trudged downstairs.

And now he was here, reading the back of the pancake mix box, gathering what else he needed and piling the rest of his things on the counter, starting the stove and beginning to mix ingredients in a bowl.

He hummed a random tune as he did so, tapping his foot and smiling as he heard the familiar mewl of one of his cats, which had begun rubbing against his long legs.

Bryce put the bowl down and went to feed his kitty, giving her the canned cat food she always received, along with filling up her little water bowl, making sure she had enough in each dish.

He smiled, Ohm always thought he over-pampered his kitties, with their Fancy Feast meals and expensive collars. But really, he gave Buddy everything under the sun, so he couldn’t complain.

Especially not when Buddy had at least 3 beds, 4 of his own blankets, a bin full of 50 different toys, and even a doggie coat for winter chills.

Bryce’s heart warmed at those thoughts, and soon he found himself filling up Buddy’s bowl and water dish, just in case the old pup made his way downstairs anytime soon.

He turned his back on the dog food, making his way back to the stove to finish mixing everything so he could start to actually cook.

When everything was well mixed and there were no clumps of powder, Bryce began scooping out medium sized amounts of mix and plopping them on the griddle he had previously stuck on the stove.

He grabbed a spatula and watched all 6 pancakes, once again humming as he did so. He was quiet as to not wake up his lover in the room above him.

But his efforts ended up being futile as he heard footsteps padding against the tile floor, and he knew that his boyfriend was no doubt behind him, watching his with a small smile on his lips.

So, as he flipped the pancakes, he spoke into the air sweetly, smiling at his words.

“You weren’t supposed to be awake, Ohm,” he put the spatula down, and began to turn to face his lover, “it was supposed to be a surprise breakf-”

Bryce’s smiling face instantly went to an annoyed expression, his hands by his sides went to his hips and his eyes were narrowed ever so slightly at what he was seeing.

“Ohm.”

“Yes?”

He held his hand out towards the older man before him.

“Where are your clothes?”

The hazel eyed man chuckled lightly, not making any moves to try and cover himself up.

“I went to bed naked. I woke up naked.”

Bryce sighed and closed his eyes, only to hear Ohm’s voice snickering at him as he spoke once more.

“Why are you closing your eyes, Brycey? It’s not like you haven’t seen any of this before.” He made a thinking face and stepped forward slightly, “in fact, you did more than just see this last night, now that I think about it.”

Bryce’s eyes popped open and he blushed lightly, turning his back on the naked man before him and putting his attention on the pancakes, which had burned slightly.

“Ohm.”

He spoke his nickname with a hint of annoyance, but mostly a monotone.

His response was a yawn that somewhat resembled his own name and Bryce rolled his eyes, but there was a tiny smile playing at his lips.

“Please put your penis away. And everything else for that matter.”

He heard Ohm’s small whine followed by a questioning “why” and he laughed at it, plopping more pancake mix on the griddle.

“Because,” he paused for emphasis, “I am absolutely not, under any circumstances, letting you eat at the table naked. Now go put some clothes on or else no food.”

He heard Ohm mumble something moodily, but brushed it off, and turned just in time to see him traveling back up the stairs, and he had to say, he was enjoying the backside view.

“Nice butt, Ohm!” He shouted, earning him another chuckle accompanied by a loud, “I only show it for you, Brycey!” In response.

He sighed, settling himself back into making breakfast as he waiting for his lover to come back downstairs, with clothes on, of course.

[creepingdarkness]

The tattoo expo

wordcount: 2k ish

warnings: swearing

notes: slightly rushed because I really wanted to post something. ao3 here

Luke had an attraction to tattoos. It was something about the way it seemed to bring peoples skin to life, the swirls and patterns marked into their skin giving a glimpse into the heart of the person they were a part of. Whether they were well planned out or just a spur of the moment thing, they were like an open window into a part of their life. There was an intoxicating beauty to art that someone found worthy to permanently add to their body.

So of course when Jon asked if he’d go with him to the tattoo convention that was coming to town he had immediately agreed. He had gone with Jon a few of the times he’d gotten pieces done by artists in the city, and all those tattoos had turned out nicely, but he was excited to see the new piece he was getting done by an incredibly talented artist who was coming from out of state.

When Jon had showed him examples of the guys work he was so impressed he was almost tempted to book an appointment with the guy himself despite the fact that he had no idea what he would even get (that was one of the main reasons he hadn’t gotten a tattoo yet himself).

So when the day of the expo came he wasn’t sure why he was feeling so jittery. He had been fine all morning, but once they had gotten inside of the event hall something just seemed off, like an extremely strong case of dejavu, but he couldn’t place when he’d felt anything like this before.

Determined to enjoy the event he brushed it off as just being a little freaked out by one of the booths they passed that was full of taxidermy animals. He swore he could feel the one ducks fake eyes following him as he walked by.

That didn’t stop him from trying to convince Jon to buy it though. His loud laugh at that drawing attention before he rejected the idea, earning a glare from the booth attendant as he dissed the ‘ugly ass stuffed abominations in front of her potential customers. Luke hustled them both away as she looked just about ready to leave her booth to try and kick them out of the expo.

He ended up following slightly behind Jon as they walked around so that he could look at the rainbow of people as they walked past with coloured hair and skin. Nearly everyone here had at least one visible tattoo, and more than half were simply covered in ink. He was so busy admiring one woman’s water-coloured sleeve of flowers he walked straight into Jon’s back, not noticing he had stopped.

Jon though was too excited to give him shit for running into him, he’s practically jumping up and down at that point as he grabs him by the elbow, dragging him towards one of the booths on their right. The sign its got hanging up rather plain compared to some of the more eccentric signs on the other nearby booths.

Realizing he still wasn’t paying attention to the right thing, Jon starts tugging at his elbow again to bring his focus to the example books spread across the booths front table. He frowned when he saw the symbol on the cover of the book Jon picked up to start flipping through, the feeling of dejavu becoming almost over whelming.

“Can I help you guys?” So focused on the book both him and Jon are startled by the sudden appearance of one of the booth workers, Jon making an awkward noise as the book nearly slips out of his hand. About to apologize for him Luke puts on an apologetic smile as he faces the guy before all the words he was about to say die in his throat as he meets a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

“Oh yeah! Sorry, I’ve got an appointment with, um, Ohmwrecker in like 15 minutes.” Jon says, not noticing the staring contest going on beside him as he sets the book back onto the safety of the table before extending a hand to the guy. “I’m Jon by the way.”

Luke is finally able to take a breath as the guy finally breaks their eye contact, turning his sharp focus into a warm smile as he turns to shake Jon’s hand. “Nice to meet you Jon, I’m Ohm but you can call me Ryan.” He says as his eyes cut back to Luke, something almost feral in his gaze. “All my friends do. Its actually good that you’re here early, my last client finished early so we can actually start now if you want?” Receiving an excited nod from Jon, Ryan gestured for them to follow him into the booth.

Following along reluctantly Luke watched the all too familiar walk of Ryan as he led them to his station, receiving a smirk as Ryan noticed him watching. That feeling of dejavu was now long gone, morphed into actual (if slightly fuzzy) memories.

Luke grabbed one of the folding chairs leaning against the side of the booth and set it up next to what looked like a massage table that he assumed Jon was going to be tattooed on. He was happy to be third wheeled as they discussed the design and its placement, it gave him a chance to get over his shock, to focus on composing himself and also actually look at Ryan since it had been so long.

Objectively speaking, Ryan looked good, really good even. It seemed like he’d been going to the gym, and he had grown his facial hair out a bit since he’d last seen him, but other than that he looked like the same guy from all those months ago with the hypnotizing eyes and playful smile that had first drawn him in.

Luke snapped back to attention as those eyes moved back to him, catching the last of their conversation.

“-fill this out while I set up, then you and your boyfriend can get comfortable before I start.”

At that both Luke and Jon both looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

“Oh hell no! I love this guy, but were just friends!” Jon said as he signed the forms and got up onto the table, rolling his pant leg up in preparation, shaking his head at the absurdity of the idea of them together.

Still focused on Ryan, Luke noticed how he seemed to perk up a bit at that, smile widening almost imperceptibly as he looked between them. “Sorry for assuming.” Ryan said as he moved to a cabinet and started pulling things out of the drawers and setting them on top. “You guys just seem close, but I guess that’s friendship for you.” Pulling a few final items out he wheeled the cabinet over beside them before pulling up his chair. Taking Jon’s leg in his hands Ryan cleaned and cleared the area for the tattoo before transferring the design onto his skin, and once he got Jon’s approval he cleaned it again and rubbed Vaseline into it. “Sooo, are you guys single then?”

Realizing what he was doing Luke snorted. “That was real fuckin smooth Ryan.” He teased, smiling at Ryan who was trying to act like he hadn’t been abstractly trying to see if Luke was dating anyone. Although he could be interested in Jon and that thought had Luke involuntarily tensing up in his chair.

Ryan just beamed at his response though, seemingly just glad that he had finally spoken to him. Setting up his needles as he prepared to tattoo Jon, Ryan still seemed focused on him to the point he was only semi focused on his actual client. Everyone seemed to ignore what Luke had said, instead focusing on the buzzing of the tattoo gun as it started up.

The odd silence continued for almost an hour before Jon needed a break, getting a slight cover over his semi completed tattoo before he headed out through the convention for a bathroom break and slight snack, preferably without Luke around to sneak a couple bites of his food.

So being left alone with Ryan for a while, he struggled to find anything to say that wouldn’t directly open up a conversation about their shared past.

“I like your beard.” Was the rather lame sounding compliment he came up with. But it was true, the slight beard framed his face almost perfectly, highlighting his jawline and high cheekbones.

“Thanks.” Ryan said before batting his lashes at him. “I was inspired by this rather handsome man I met a while ago.

Although it sounded slightly vain Luke thought he might not be too far off the mark if he said Ryans beard was inspired by his own rather magnificent beard. Taking that at face value he leaned into where Ryan was sitting, voice deep as he whispered into his ear as Jon finally returned to his position on the table. “Mmm, I gotta say, whoever it was must have had magnificent taste then.” Before moving back into his seat, content to quietly watch Ryan’s skilled hands as they worked on his friend.

Ryan’s voice was slightly husky as he spoke to Jon as he repositioned him, and he continued to work as if Luke hadn’t said anything at all, but Luke could feel his gaze on him more often now.

***

“Do you have any tattoos?” Jon’s question brought Luke out of his slight daze. He hadn’t even realized that the tattoo was finished and all wrapped up, he had been too distracted in his own little world.

Looking at Ryan it seemed like a fair question, as he had a regular t-shirt that exposed a fair bit of un-inked skin. But Luke knew he actually had a couple smaller randomly placed tattoos and one beautiful back and chest piece though that morphed through designs so it didn’t look like it actually had beginning or an end.

But of course, Ryan didn’t mention that one.

“I’ve got a little rabbit tattooed on my butt, wanna see?” Ryan said jokingly as he turned is butt towards them and playfully shook it a little bit.

And of course, Jon caught him staring.

That had Jon burst out laughing, before pausing mid laugh to turn to Luke with a confused look on his face. “Hey didn’t you say that last time you left the city a couple months ago you met a hottie with a bunny tattoo on their ass?” Catching Luke speechless for a moment, he nodded to himself as if putting it all together. “I just assumed you had slept with a chick! You never told me you liked guys too!” Jon finished, sound fakely accusing.

Luke wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t like he had intentionally been hiding it, just whenever it came up in conversation they always seemed to be around someone Luke definitely did not want to hear about it, so it just became a sort of not quite secret but not something he had ever actually spoken to Jon about. Now though that was coming back to bight him in the ass.

“You know,” Ryan cut in, noticing the uncomfortable look on Luke’s face. “this shop is thinking of opening a new location in this city.”

“Okay?”

“Soooo.” Ryan drew the word out slowly as if through molasses, waiting for Luke to catch on. “They’re going to need some experienced artists to start it off.”

Luke had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Someone like you?”

Ryan nodded, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah someone like me, although I haven’t decided on if I will or not.”

Jon pulled him slightly aside, pulling him in close to whisper in his ear. “Look at this,” Jon pointed to his fresh tattoo, “you need to convince him to stay so I can get him to do my next one too.” That said, he shoved him towards Ryan and made some vague hand gestures that Luke took to mean start talking.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked into Ryan’s eyes and smiled shyly. “You know, if you do come here I’m calling the first slot.”

“It’s a date!”

[sabrinaacarpenters]

What’s your number?

Read on AO3 / chapter 2 

Eva woke up to the sound of someone snoring loudly next to her ear. She silently got out of bed, tip toed all the way to the bathroom and stared at her reflection. There were massive bags under her eyes, her hair was flat and tangled up in pieces. She sighed, brushed her teeth, put on some mascara and concealer, brushed her hair and snuck back to the bedroom and slipped into the bed.

His boyfriend, Adrian woke up after she settled back and she pretended that she just woke up as well; this was her everyday morning routine: get out of bed before him, make herself look presentable then lie and say she woke up like this.

He never noticed any of it, but then again, he still hasn’t noticed Noora’s wedding invite which she put next to his bagel every morning.

“Soo” Eva sat down next to him and looked at him hopefully “Noora’s wedding is coming up and I was wondering if you were free then” she smiled at him “There’s a vegetarian option on the menu”

“Ohm .. I don’t know baby, that sounds kind of serious” was he serious? They’ve been together for 3 months now and he was practically living off of her.

“I thought it was serious, you know, since I pay your phone bill” Eva faked a smile. She was furious; she let an another asshole into her life once again, who wouldn’t even go with her to a wedding. He didn’t answer, he just tried to reach for her hand but she pulled it away. “Pack your stuff and leave” she remained calm and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower. She didn’t cry; she was relieved. She had to take so much shit from him in the past 3 months. Her only problem was that she alone once again for the wedding, and she couldn’t really go alone; she was the maid of honour. By the time she was done in the shower, he had packed up his stuff and stood in the door. Was he trying to say goodbye? Eva could care less; she was actually hoping that he would leave by the time she came out the bathroom.

“Bye Adrian” She opened the door for him and tapped on it, she hoped he would notice that she really doesn’t want to see him anymore.

“You know if you ever want to do anything” he wiggled his brows suggestively. Ew. “Just give me a call”

“I’d love to, but I don’t know if you’ll find another idiot in this city who will pay your phone bills now that I won’t” she smirked at him and waved him off. She was about to shut the door when she heard chuckling from the opposite door. Great. The last person she wanted to see this morning. Chris.

Chris was the asshole who lived in the flat across hers; she wouldn’t really have any problem with him if he wasn’t a sexist dick, who fucks a different girl every night, making them believe that he’s actually interested in them. Oh, and let’s not forget about the fact, that because he’s William’s best friend, she’ll have to spend days with him when the destination wedding happens.

He was standing in front of his leaning down for the newspaper, like a normal person, except he was completely naked. Thankfully he had the decency to hold a small towel in front of his dick.

“Please don’t even start” Eva begged him. She already had a shit day, she didn’t his sick jokes too.

“Mohn, I was just about to compliment you, that was a nice comeback” he winked at her and opened his arms, so Eva could see him in all his glory. She obviously had to check him out. Impressive. He noticed and smirked at her and she smirked back and held eye contact. However, when a blonde, certainly not dressed enough girl appeared behind his back, whining his name, she quickly looked away. He rolled his eyes and pushed the girl back and closed the door. Eva shut her own as well.

  “Can you believe that? ‘that sounds kind of serious’” Eva mimicked Adrian’s voice and Noora chuckled on the other end of the line.

“Actually I can” she laughed “I don’t even know why you dated him in the first place. He is a freaky hippie vegetarian who justifies not showering for 3 days with ‘I’m protecting mother nature’” Noora deepened her voice as well and they both laughed.

“I guess you’re right, I do love meat” Eva was on her way to the studio where she taught kids contemporary dance. “But it just sucks that I’m without a partner again and the wedding is in 2 months”

“You know you don’t have to bring a significant other right? Chris is William’s best man and he’s coming alone” Noora tried to reason with her.

“Noora, if you’re trying to convince me that going alone is a good idea, because that pig is going alone, you’re just making me want to get a boyfriend more. The only reason he doesn’t take anyone is because this way he has a better chance at fucking your bridesmaids” Eva scoffed. While she was ranting, she arrived to the studio, quickly said goodbye to Noora and started working.

 On her way home, she started reading Cosmopolitan on the subway; she knew it is just a stupid magazine to make girls feel insecure, but she had nothing better to do since she left her earpods at home. As she flipped through the pages an article caught her eye: What’s your number? It was an article about the number of women’s sex partners throughout their lives. Deep down she knew that a number doesn’t define a person, but she was also curious.

“The average woman has 10.5 partners in her lifetime.”

“What the fuck?” she blurted out loudly. The lady sitting next to her frowned at her “I’m sorry, it’s just this article says that the average woman has 10.5 partners in her lifetime” Eva looks at the lady with a shocked expression.

“Yeah, that’s way too much” the lady nods.

“What?” Eva is surprised “No, that is a way too low number” she feels really offended. She’s sure she’s over the 10 mark now, maybe even above 20. She can’t stop thinking about it, so when she gets home she starts making a list.

Jonas Vasquez, Vilde, Alexander Williamson, Matthias Pettersen, Peter from public relations class, Theodor Larsen, Thomas Berg, Julian Dahl, Mikael Boukhal, Oliver Lund, Konrad from the 2th floor, Agnes Svendsen, Else Mathisen.

13. She knew there were more but she couldn’t remember any more names. She knew she shouldn’t be but she felt more embarrassed than ever in her life before.

 Noora decided that they could all use a girl’s night out, so they went out to their favourite bar. In the meantime, Eva came up with 3 new names and Noora helped her remember 3 more. She was at 19. It was all she thought; she didn’t remember anyone else. As they drank more and more Eva cried about her new discovery in Cosmo to the girls. Sana took the rumpled magazine out of her hand and quickly read through it.

“According to a study, 70% of women who have been with more than 20 partners will never marry” Sana read out loud. Eva’s last pieces of self-esteem were crushed. She was one new sex partner away from never getting married and dying alone.

After what seemed like a million shots, she made an announcement “The next person I fuck I will fucking marry” she shouted and almost fell off her chair because she was so drunk.

 That was her last memory from the previous night as started opening her eyes, but she quickly shut them again because of the sudden brightness. She heard a loud snort. Please let it be Vilde, please, please, please. She chanted to herself. She slowly turned her head and saw a naked butt, which certainly didn’t belong to Vilde. She peeked under her covers with a withering expression: yep. She was naked.

She ran to the bathroom and called Noora. The guy was still fast asleep in her bed. “Pick up, pick up, pick up” she said it like a mantra, as if Noora would answer sooner because of it.

“Eva, it is 7 am and I came home at 2 am. It better be important” Judging by her voice, Noora woke up to her phone’s ringing.

“There is a naked guy in my bed and I have no idea who it is or how he got here for that matter” Eva sputtered. She was freaking out.

“Well, then congrats” Eva didn’t understand what there was to congratulate to, what the heck did she do last night? “He’s going to be your husband, remember?” Noora laughed.

“Noora, there is nothing remotely funny about this. I’m going to fucking die alone” Eva almost started crying, she was so devastated.

“Hey, it might turn out to be a good thing. Positive attitude” she could hear Noora was smiling and she decided to be more optimistic. She peeked into her bedroom and noticed that Mysterious Guy woke up. And he scratched his junk and smelled his fingers. Nope, back to being Negative Nancy.

“No way he will be my husband” she ended the call without saying goodbye – she would call her back after she kicks this disgusting person out. She took all her courage and went back into her bedroom. He was putting his pants on – thank god – she coughed and he looked up.

“Good morning” she tried to smile at him but it probably looked more like she drank half a litre lemon juice “The thing is you should probably go” he looked at her questioningly. Come on Eva, come up with something “My roommate can be home any minute and he hates when people stay over for the night. So yeah- Could you leave, like now?” She basically ran out of her room to the kitchen. These past days have been more embarrassing than the previous 26 years she lived on this earth. There was a loud knock on the door. As she unlocked it, the person on the other side opened it and walked in like he owned the place.

“Morning” Chris dropped himself on the couch only in his grey sweatpants. Did he not own any shirts? Eva wouldn’t have had a problem with his lack of clothing, if it wasn’t Chris. She didn’t want him to think (to know) that she was attracted to him, at least to the way he looked so she looked at his face instead of his toned abs and muscular arms.

“What are you doing here?” Eva was about to bite his head off, when Mysterious Guy came out of her bedroom thankfully now fully clothed. Chris’s head snapped at him.

“Hi you’re the roommate?” the guy asked from Chris.

“No I’m the boyfriend” Chris answered him threateningly and guy literally ran out the door. Chris started laughing “Well that was fun. Who was that loser anyway?”

“I have no idea” Eva subsided into the couch and buried her face in her hands.

“Eva, Eva, Eva. I’m beginning to think that we’re alike more than I thought”

“If that is true, then there is no other way out. Excuse me while I go jump out from my window” Chris laughed and grabbed Eva’s arm as she tried to stand up.

“Come on I can’t be that bad” he winked at her and she raised her eyebrows.

“Why are you here anyways?” Eva tried to change the subject.

“I was kind of in the same situation as you. Last night’s girl is a bit clingy, and doesn’t really get that the point of a one-night stand is that she leaves in the morning” Chris shrugged.

“Chis” Eva looked at her meaningfully “You’re in this situation every other day” he laughed.

“You’d be surprised but most of them actually leave without making a deal about it”

Eva was thinking for a while and she realized that the longer the girl is in Chris’s apartment, the longer he will be in hers, so she came up with a plan.

“What I’m about to do will never happen again, you get it?” she jumped up from the couch, went out the door, straight across the hall and opened up Chris’s door. He watched her from her doorway, he had no idea what she was doing. “Hey babe I’m home” Eva shouted, looking around as if she was looking for him. A tall, blonde girl only in her panties and Chris’ shirt stood in the kitchen. Eva eyed her from head to toe disdainfully. “Who the fuck are you?” she yelled at her. The girl wasn’t the brightest, she still didn’t realize she just fucked somebody’s boyfriend (or at least, that was what she should’ve realized) so she just looked at Eva dumbfounded. “Get the fuck out of my apartment you fucking slut. He has a girlfriend you know, maybe you should ask next time you open your legs to a stranger” Eva screamed hysterically; she was surprisingly enjoying herself, and the girl’s facial expression was priceless. The blonde ran out of the apartment without a word.

As Eva walked backed to her apartment Chris was waiting for her in the doorway, clapping “You continue to surprise me” he chuckled and leaned close to her ear. Too close. “And here I thought you were finally going to kiss me” he pushed her hair behind her ear and was about to kiss her neck when she hit his chest and pushed him away.

“Fuck off” she walked into her kitchen and started making coffee. “You know you can leave now; your apartment is free again” she gestured towards the door.

“Thank you” he walked over to the kitchen and stood on the opposite side of the island. “You were really good in that you know. For a second even I believed that you’re my girlfriend” he chuckled, but he seemed genuinely amazed.

“You wish” she smirked at him.

Chris looked down. Yeah, he does.