#she was awful because she was privileged and only by being awful she could continue being privileged

[oathtorn]

// I AM CACKLING. THE POOR MAN. She genuinely thinks she's saying something nice about Gale she's just awful I love her so much

[phoneuserhana333]

.°˖✧ neighbor!doctor!abby / neighbor!producer!reader headcanons .°˖✧

tags: enemies to friends to lovers, cocky!yn/annoyed!abby, mutual pining, dumb lesbians, unresolved tension, more to be added.

PART2 — PART3 — NSFWHC — N(SFW)HC

• after finishing med school, abby got a job at her dad’s private clinic outside of new york, which she quit after working there for a year

• during college, she was a victim of horrible gossip; everybody thought that she had it easy because of her dad being one of the best doctors in new york (to be fair, she was more privileged than other students because of this, but she would never admit it)

• and because of the desire to prove herself, she quit her “safe” job to go to work at the ER in the city to prove that she isn’t just somebody’s spoiled daughter who happened to be in the medical field

• she moved out closer to manhattan because of her new job, renting out a small brick red townhouse in a row of other copy-pasted houses, filling the shelves with books and the kitchen with spices. it was truly her home, which was something she took pride in.

• abby’s first interaction with her neighborhood critters went stellar; she met margaret, an old lady who lived across the street with her tortoiseshell cats clara and mima. margaret and abby grew close and she would go over to her house to have tea every saturday.

• abby’s second interaction with her neighbors however… didn’t go that as well as she thought it would

• she had some sense of what her next door neighbor was like- or at least she thought she did

• music would be blasting every night, approximately from 9pm to 6am- when she left for work. abby concluded that her neighbor was either a musician, a nepotism baby (pot calling the kettle black) or just insane.

• some days, her neighbor would be playing piano, guitar or banging on drums. on tuesdays, abby could hear her sing (“she’s screeching like a banshee manny, it’s like- 2:35am! wha- no, she doesn’t sound good, you’re just hearing things!”, she would complain to her friends) and on fridays, her mysterious musician neighbor held parties

• abby tired to be patient, but her abundant patience lasted her maybe one and a half month, before she found herself banging on her neighbor’s front door, dressed in a muscle tee with her hair falling out of her fishtail braid

• abby looked at her watch- 1244 steps, 4:22am, friday. she groaned and rubbed her face, realizing that she was about to meet her (probably very drunk) noisy neighbor, but to abby’s surprise- the door didn’t open

• she could hear the music turn down and a few girlish giggles behind the door, confusing her further

• right as the blonde started knocking again, the lights turned off and she could hear a familiar voice yell- “nobody’s home! go away!”, followed by muffled laughter

• this pushed abby over the edge- countless nights of sleeplessness, an irregular meal schedule and long day shifts at the ER finally caught up to her, and her annoying neighbor was about to be on the receiving end of her wraith

• “you’re troublesome, you know that?! always being so loud during the night, while some of us have work in the morning! get out here right fucking now and turn that god-awful music down!”

• abby let out a shaky, frustrated breath, suddenly being met with a tense silence, she took a step away from the door, thinking she finally got her neighbor to quiet down for once, before she hear that same agitating voice retort-

• “… whatever, grandma!”, followed by the music turning back on, laughter and chatter continuing into the night.

• by this point, abby’s chest and face were cherry red and she was stomping back to her house, trying to ignore the pang of embarrassment and frustration in her belly

• dr. anderson fell asleep with her earbuds in and woke up with a horrendous headache, only to have to get ready for her 7am shift at the hospital

• soon enough, abby was locking the door to her townhouse, double checking the contents of her lunch bag and briefcase (a gift from her dad, duh), when she noticed it, noticed her

• dressed in a kitsch black coat with fluffy white fur around the sleeves, donning gloves and a matching baby blue scarf in the middle of god forsaken october, was her favorite next door neighbor, blissfully unaware of the death stare she was receiving

• abby felt her eye twitch when she noticed her bare legs leaning against the railing that lead to her front door- the irony

• “hey! you!” abby made her way over to her neighbor’s staircase, nearly tripping over her bags and coat, before she stopped at the bottom, staring up at her with tired bloodshot eyes and a red, scrunched up face

• “um… hi? do i know you?”

• “don’t act all sweet now, you need to be put in your place. what the hell is wrong with you-“

• on the other hand, you lazily smiled, and continued staring at her. must be my lucky day, you thought, eyeing abby’s buff body and biting your lower lip, eyes sticking to her arms which were flailing around as she yelled at you for- oh, she’s the woman from last night!

• “y’know, you could’ve just joined us, right? i don’t bite”, you replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

• abby, who despite being caught off guard by your borderline flirty statement, was about to keep going off on you, suddenly got interrupted by her apple watch alarm, warning her that she’ll be late for work

• she looked back at you with storms in her eyes, her glare making you straighten up and cross your arms defensively; your neighbor wasn’t only hot, but also intimidating

• “i do. this isn’t over, you better be home later. we need to talk.”, and with that abby walked away, leaving you with the sight of her towering form disappearing in the streets of new york, prompting you to dramatically fan yourself as your body heated up from the sight

• oh, you were definitely feeling inspired now.

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

Can I get more bg3 yandere, maybe what starts the obsession with the reader? Punishments?

A/N: Yes, more yandere coming up! (Wasn’t sure if you were referring to just the baddies list I posted or the companions, so I went with the main companions this time.)

And apologies for the wait… This was one hell of a week.

Yandere!BG3: What Triggers Their Obsession 

Astarion: 

Astarion is drawn to your innocence. 

At first, he thinks it must be an act, for someone to be so kind and open around a vagrant group of misfits they just met. 

But once he understands that’s just who you are, he feels he must protect that innocence by taking it all for himself. 

After all, he deserves it, doesn’t he? After two hundred years of slavery, he finally gets to possess some kindness of his own. 

Because that’s what you’d show him, isn’t it? You’d love him, understand him, and treat him the way he so longs to be treated. And all he has to do… is make you his to get it. 

Ascended! Astarion: 

Ascended Astarion is drawn to your inner fire, the way you don’t submit when he demands you ‘bow’. 

Initially, he finds it rather amusing that such a helpless thing like you dare defy him. Then he becomes irritated before being overcome with righteous anger. How dare you continue to thwart his plans? You shall pay, indeed. 

He wants you begging, pleading on your knees for his mercy. He wants to be the only one with the power to grant such benevolence to you.  

You will know his name, you will know his power. Your insolence will not last long.

Gale: 

Gale is drawn to your inquisitive nature, how you always seem so fascinated by any knowledge he has to share. 

No one, not even his students, has ever looked up at him with those big doe eyes the way you do. 

You appreciate him, in a way no one’s ever appreciated him before. 

He’s always played second fiddle, to greater wizards, to his goddess, but not to you. Never to you. 

He needs you to need him. He wants your awe but should push come to shove, he’ll settle for your fear. 

Godhood! Gale: 

Godhood Gale finds you so impressively driven. Your bold choices and lack of apprehension call him to you. 

On one hand, he wants to empower you, to help you soar even further than your wildest dreams. On the other hand, he wants dominion over your confidence- he should be the one to grant it to you. You couldn’t possibly command your own destiny. He’s a God, after all, he should have reign of it. 

Just let him take control, he swears it’s only for your good. Gale would never overstep your boundaries. He swears on Mystra’s honor. 

Wyll: 

Wyll wants to protect and cherish you like he believes he’s always been destined to do. 

For him, he was always burdened with this great privilege of being a hero. And you, you are the thing that makes everything he’s ever endured or sacrificed all worth it. 

You need him to save you. Sure, you’re capable, and yes, you could make it on your own, but why make it harder than necessary? Why not just let the man who would lay down his life for you, honor you and take care of you for the rest of your days?

You’re so sweet. You’re such a light in these dark, dangerous times. Wyll will ensure you’re safely hidden away from all the danger that lurks beyond. 

If that means Wyll is all you know of the outside world, then so be it. 

Karlach: 

Karlach is drawn to your spunk, the conviction you must possess to keep on fighting.  

You remind her so much of her younger self, always eager, always ready for the next challenge. But alas, that’s what she fears. 

Her eagerness blindsided her to the truth about Gortash. She didn’t see what was coming until it was too late. She can’t let that happen to you. She won’t. 

Don’t you understand? No one else out there in the cruel, cruel world would tell you the truth. They are all self-serving and undeserving of your intentions. 

Karlach knows her conditions aren’t ideal, living in hell never is. But please, try to understand. 

A lifetime spent in hell at Karlach’s side is much, much safer than a world spent alone on the surface. 

Shadowheart: 

Shadowheart is drawn to your inexperience, your childlike innocence in which you believe all that she tells you. 

She was always being taught that obedience mattered over intelligence. She thought such a statement was wrong but then, you came waltzing into her life. 

You exemplify compliance. Every word, every thought she has you take to heart like gospel. 

For you, there shall be no gods, no goddesses, no Shar or Selune to worship. 

There will only be you and her. 

La’zel: 

La’zel, despite herself, is drawn to your kindness, your simplicity. 

She thinks you are weak, and undeserving of her affections, yet she feels the need to seize you and shield you all the same.  

Your flesh is soft, your heart is malleable, and your mind is guileless. Without her intervention, you would surely perish an otherwise avoidable fate. 

No. She must keep you away from the others, away from their grasp. 

It would be futile to try and navigate the world without her. 

[hallowpen]

Hello! 👋 First of all i just wanna say, as someone who isn’t very familiar with Thai culture your explanations have been very enlightening and just give TLP another layer of depth, so thank you for posting them 🥹🙏. With that said, I was reading one of your posts that said “the social class nods are subtly woven into their interactions” and I was just wondering if you could maybe expand on that?

Hello!!! 😊😊😊 Aw... thank you!!! That actually means so much to me because this series means so much to me. I've been anticipating the adaptation of The Loyal Pin for who knows how long, at this point. I love the novel! (I own both the Thai and English versions. Though I haven't actually read the English translation yet, so I don't know how accurate it is to the original hehe) Once FreenBecky were attached, I was SOLD. Then the MOC decided to back the series and I knew how monumental this series would be, not just for Thai GL, but for Thailand in general. It makes me extremely proud to see important sapphic media, on such a large scale, originating from my home country. I could never have imagined something this grand happening just three years ago. It makes me emotional.

Before I get too in my feels, let me actually answer your question...

Just for clarification purposes, the ask is referring to my tags on this reblog of @dragonsareawesome123's gifset.

It's important to understand that Anil and Pin's whole dynamic is built around their social rankings, so it makes sense that their interactions reflect that... even if it's not entirely conscious. Anil is royalty, and because of that she is afforded certain liberties that Pin is not. Her 'mischievous' behaviors are excused and overlooked because, yes she is young, but she can also do as she pleases. She never faces any repercussions in the same way that Pin does. It's one of the perks of being a highly ranked Princess. Anil is favored in the palace because it's her home.

Pin is a guest. Yes, she holds the rank of 'nobility', but it is a title reserved for what higher ranking royalty would consider a commoner. She was afforded the privilege to live in the palace because Princess Pattamika took her in. Pin was not born into royalty. Neither was Pattamika, for that matter. Pattamika is strict with Pin, in much the same way Pin is strict with herself. Because neither of them can afford to have her fall out of line. Pin holds favor with Anil and her family, but it does not afford her the freedom to betray her social standing. If anything, it only enforces it. It makes you think...would they sill favor her if she were to go against their wishes in any way, shape, or form?

Pin is forever on the outside looking in... and she subconsciously knows it. And, in some ways, Anil subconsciously knows it as well.

"People say that it is so hard to hear Lady Pin uttering a word. As if you’re afraid something will fall out of your mouth." Anil to Pin

Unlike Anil, Pin must hold firm to palace rules.

"Why did you hit her?" "Lady Pin failed to take good care of Your Highness. She disgraced you by putting you in danger." Pattamika to Anil

"Please feel free to do as you wish. As if you would listen to me if I try to stop you." Pin to Anil

She dares not to disobey Pattamika, because she knows and understands why she'd be punished if she were to do so. And she cannot talk her way out of it, the way Anil can.

"Although she might be strict, meticulous, and strongly adherent to tradition... she loves me dearly, and continues to teach me and educate me in many things." Pin about Pattamika

"Poor Lady Pin, I really pity her. She often gets punished because of Anil."

She keeps her feelings of adoration for Anil hidden as secret treasures in her room.

She's quick to question Anil's lack of adherence to formal etiquette:

"Aren’t ladies normally supposed to [dance] with a gentleman? It would look peculiar if we do it together."

The only times she feels comfortable and gets to be herself is when Anil, for lack of a better word, 'allows' her to be. And Pin feels indebted to her because of that.

"Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to get through those lonely and miserable times. Thank you for being my friend, my home, and my everything."

So to answer Anil's question, Pin would feel incredibly lonely should Anil ever leave her... as she would no longer have an escape from society's class structure and expectations.

"With you, my life in the palace is never lonely." Pin to Anil

[anangelwhodidntfall]

*faints* gimme something eric x gender-neutral! reader (who’s one of the workers in the palace) are in a secret relationship that really isn’t a secret cause they’re like god awful at hiding it

and when they decide to reveal it to everyone they’re like we know.. especially grimsby he knew the entire time

Sneakin' Around With You: Prince Eric

"Eric stop you know I have to get back to work." You said as he kept kissing you making you giggle.

"Well I mean technically you work for me so you can only get in trouble if I say so." Eric said as you rolled your eyes at him. 

"Stop you know I don't want to seem like have special privileges because the prince likes me." You said. 

"That he does. He likes you. so. very. much." He said in between kisses as you kissed him back. 

"Alright seriously, I have to get back to work. I'll see you tonight." You said giving him one last kiss. 

"That you will sweetheart." He said giving you one last smile before you left to get back to work.

"That you will sweetheart." He said giving you one last smile before you left to get back to work. 

You and Eric had been in a secret relationship for nearly three months, you two decided to keep it a secret for now just wanting to enjoy the relationship without anyone's opinions and mostly because you were worried what people would think or say about you someone who worked at the palace, dating the prince, so for now you guys enjoyed the sneaking around and secret moments shared together. 

"They together again?" Grimsby asked  Lashana as they waited for one of you two to appear. 

"Yes. They really think they have us fooled huh?" Lashana said. 

Yes everyone knew about you and the prince and I mean everyone. They found it cute how you two thought you had them fooled so they played along with it, waiting until the moment that you two would come out and say that you were dating officially. 

"And where you off tonight? Looking all pretty as well." Your mom asked as you got ready. 

"Just meeting up with some friends tonight." You said to her.

"Friends? And not a certain prince?" She asked making you panic a bit.

"No, I mean we might run into him but we were gonna get some food and probably tour the market." You said as she just hummed in response. 

After saying goodnight to her, you ran off to your's and Eric's meeting spot shocked to see him not there already. You took a seat on the bench and waited figuring maybe he ran into his mom or something and couldn't sneak away. 

"Sorry, I'm late. I was on my way and I ran into Grimsby and he started asking me all these questions about whether or not I would be seeing you or not." He said as you stood up and wrapped your arms around him.

"It's alright. My mom did the same thing to me." You said smiling at him.

You two walked around the markets hand in hand knowing that none of the villagers would say anything about you guys.  Eric had been stopped by one of the merchants to discuss something but you kept walking until a piece of jewelry had caught your eye. 

"That would so pretty on you sweetheart." Eric said standing by you as you looked at the necklace. 

"It would but I couldn't...." You started to say. 

"Did you even say those words? No, I offered to buy it for you, so shh." He said placing a kiss on your lips.

You smiled still wondering what you had done to deserve someone like him. After paying for the necklace, he had you turn around so he could put it on you, and then you gave him a kiss as you two continued walking around before walking down to the shore.  

"Grimsby do you think they will ever tell us?" The Queen asked as her and Grimsby watched you two laugh and be so affectionate with each other on the beach. 

"Maybe one they will. I think that they are just enjoying being what they think is "secretive" with their love." He said. 

"I know but they are so cute together, you can feel the love that they have for each other when they are in the room together." She said. 

You sat on the beach talking about everything and you thought maybe it was time that you guys told everyone about your relationship. 

"My love, would it be bad if we told everyone?" You asked him. 

"No, it wouldn't. Are you ready to tell everyone? I don't want you to feel pressured to." He said looking at you. 

"I am. I mean it would be nice not to have to sneak around or wait to kiss you when no one is looking." You said playing with his hand. 

"I couldn't agree more. Let's tell everyone at dinner tomorrow." He said placing a kiss on your lips. 

The next day Eric had invited you to dinner with the queen and everyone, and he even came by your room to walk you there. You two walked into the dining room where everyone was and Eric had gathered everyone's attention. 

"Everyone I would like to formally announce that me and y/n, have been dating for the past three months." He said squeezing your hand as you smiled at him. 

"Oh Eric, we know." His mother said as you two looked at her shocked. 

"You do?" He asked her as she stood in front of you guys.

"Yes, we do. And y/n I was so happy to learn that it was you who had stolen my son's heart, you will make such a lovely addition to the family." She said squeezing your hands and giving you a smile. 

"Did everyone know?" You asked him. 

"Yes, we did. You two aren't exactly the best at being secretive but we decided to let you two tell when you were ready." Grimsby said. 

"Turns out we weren't so secretive as we thought." He said as you two laughed about it.

"I love you y/n." He said placing a kiss on your lips. 

"I love you, Eric." You said smiling at him.

[dollypopup]

We need to talk about misogyny in the lukola fandom, and how it originated in the rampant misogyny in the Polin fandom and just continued to grow, because unfortunately, the two deeply intersect, and there's been such a lack of nuance in so many discussions

interestingly enough, this is actually being exhibited in a lot of Luke Newton discourse. Not toward him necessarily, but to the women around him, in comparison to him, for better or worse, including Nicola. There's been a lot of discourse especially around Luke being 'jobless' in contrast to Nicola being 'booked and busy'. and even in rejection of that discussion, the defense becomes that she is an exception, because she is exceptional, and that of course others look less ambitious in comparison. And at first, I'm sure this LOOKS like it's praising a woman for her hard work and dunking on a man for what we imagine isn't.

but has anyone ever asked why Nicola is booked and busy, especially? does she want to be? or does she *have* to be?

I want you to think about just how many women over the age of 40 are getting major roles. How many love scenes you've seen that feature more mature women. How in Queen Charlotte, the focus was on a younger actress, how Violet's and Danbury's and Portia's and QCs actresses don't even have a kiss scripted.

How much of that is by design in the entertainment industry

Nicola, in many ways, is creating a recipe for burn out, but she works alongside wonderful actresses who are incredibly talented- and do not get the opportunities they SHOULD. Roles in the entertainment industry are largely written for young women in their 20s, young, conventional women. And Nicola KNOWS this. She's a businesswoman, and her craft IS her business. The clock is, unfortunately, ticking. This is a very insidious aspect of the misogynistic entertainment machine. Yes, Nicola is booked and busy right now- she's building her brand and trying to break out of the awful cycle of female actors getting a few big roles, and then get relegated to side characters or mum number 3. Should the entertainment industry write more roles for women over 40? YES!!! They should be major roles with poignant narratives!! But it isn't the reality we live in. She is actively fighting against the sexism of the industry she is living in, she cannot take a vacation.

Luke Newton, however, *can*. He has privilege as a man to take his time. Whilst Nicola's career is in danger of a downswing, Luke's is, by most statistics? Just beginning. Men continue to get major roles deep into their 30s, 40s, 50s. In fact, I think MOST male actors only build notoriety as they age. So Luke Newton has the privilege of TIME.

And let me very clear: I'm happy he can. And I wish Nicola could, too. Grinding ourselves to dust in the pursuit of the perfect capitalistic darling is only going to breed misery. The fandom is SO caught up in saying 'oh, look at how great it is that xyz has this role!' and 'booo he's unemployed and jobless etc. etc.' that we don't take the time to ask. . .why is it NECESSARY and in fact praise worthy to lick clean the boot of grind culture? Are we not all tired? Do we not all want downtime? Holiday? Vacation?

Luke Newton is doing what is healthy: he's pushing away from Social Media, didn't spend too much time promoting, disengaged from the fandom in online spaces but is still generous with his time in person, poured himself into his craft, did a hell of a promotion tour, and in the time between fitting and costumes and learning lines for Bridgerton Season 4? He's resting.

As. He. Should.

As *Nicola* should. Because she also pushed to continue engaging with a fanbase who she hopes will act as security for her as she ages out of the roles writers are pushing into the world. Nicola SHOULD BE ALLOWED HER REST!!! She should NOT be booked and busy!! She should NOT be grinding herself to dust for the sake of keeping herself in good light to become one of the few women who continue to be big names beyond her 40s.

She, however, can't. Not because of anything Luke Newton has done, he is not, as many people want to believe, a problem. He benefits from the system ALL his male coworkers do, and does his best to uplift the women around him, likely understanding the struggles of such having been raised surrounded by so many women, but he is not perpetuating the system or creating it. Instead of directing our criticism on Luke Newton, we SHOULD be directing it to the entertainment industry. So Luke Newton is on a break from a serial successful production he has a guaranteed role for: so what? He is afforded that privilege. Having downtime is not the death knell of his career as doomsayers are insisting.

The average age of an Academy Award Winner who is an actor is almost 50. The average age of an Academy Award Winner who is an actress is 37. (source)

Should we be mad? Yes.

Is this something to be mad at Luke Newton for specifically? NO. Many male actors take breaks and time in their career trajectory, because they know they have longevity. The discussion in this fandom is misplaced, and the root of that misplacement is twofold: sexism and capitalist worship. It isn't that Luke Newton lacks ambition and should be working harder- I argue he's doing what is best for him and most people in the long term. This is self care, and it's important.

No, the discussion is that Nicola is forced to work in a pressure pot because of the industry, and the fandom continues to praise her for it, all whilst turning noses up at those who don't or do not have to, and continuing to uphold the narrative that women must be a beacon of exceptionalism in order to curry respect. They continue to uphold her grind as a virtue- look how great it is that she's constantly posting, constantly engaging with the fandom, always auditioning, booked and busy- have you not asked if she would LIKE a vacation? she deserves one, same as Luke Newton.

What you're mad at is NOT Luke himself- but the patriarchy. What you're mad at is that women must be held to standards of near unreachable excellence. But instead of working together as women and having any actual discussion about it that's meaningful, it turns into a crock of shit that then shoves everyone in the backspray, especially other women.

The slutshaming misogyny that has been directed at Luke Newton's girlfriend- *yikes*.

Oh, A is a hanger on. She's 'poptart', she's portrayed with an ant emoji, she's 'toilet twerker', she's 'controlling him' or HE should control HER, she 'should be reigned in', she's jobless, she's an infant who needs her big strong boyfriend to take her social media away, she's not been 'claimed' (like luggage, like a THING), look at him, he doesn't feel ANYTHING toward her- not like Nicola.

Our good, darling Nicola versus that awful whore Antonia/Jade/Any Woman in Luke Newton's Circle.

This sexism is deep and pervasive- being angry he's dating her 'because she's thin'. Insisting she's a villain and everything she does is to 'rile up the fandom' or 'stir up trouble' or that she 'hates Nicola'.

You all do NOT know this woman. And I don't either!!! Maybe she IS a shit stirrer, maybe she is thriving in the drama.

But aren't most of y'all, too?

Polin fandom built so much off of putting down other women to uphold Penelope: Marina is a bitch who was TRICKING Colin and Penelope was just doing what she had to do!!! Of course she kept her secret from him, she was SCARED!!! Eloise is a privileged brat breaking the rules and putting herself in danger but Penelope is a rebel who is building her own success off of taking necessary risks!!!

Our good, Darling Penelope versus that evil whore Marina/Eloise/Cressida/Any Other Woman.

This fandom is predominately female. Most of us identify as women. And a lot of us are *mean* to other women. We uphold sexism in our fandoms, uncontested, as often as we please. But we frame it in criticism of a man and so that's okay- as if that in and of itself is somehow uplifting women, being tied to a feminist cause- but putting down other women in conspiracy theories and bullying them, as occurred to Jade, under the guise of 'oh I'm just criticizing Luke!' is disingenuous. It's an excuse. 'I'm mad at him for-' not being your fantasy.

And Nicola isn't, either.

The truth is, the people in this fandom don't have respect for EITHER of them, just in different ways. A pedestal is a pedestal is a pedestal, and no matter what, any human being will fall from it eventually. And this fandom has proven that when that happens, it will NOT be met with empathy.

Now think about who that will actually hurt in the long term.

A lot of people in this fandom have soul searching to do.

[tillthelandslide]

Insufferable Arsehole Part 16: Marry Me

A/n: I’m definitely not crying…. Sorry in advance for the sappy note: This series has been a whirlwind to write and I honestly went through it with this one. I hated it and loved it in equal measure (that’s on me though because I'm self-critical lol) but I'm truly sad it's over. I owe so much to this series, it was the first proper work I had published within this fandom, it brought me so many of you wonderful people. The main thing I want to say is thank you to every single person who read it, whether you’ve read one chapter or 16, THANK YOU!!! I just want to say that although the main series is over I am truly happy to continue writing little bits for these characters so if you have anything you want to see please let me know 🥹 I love you guys - Lou

Precious Part

Series Masterlist

The rest of the tour rolls by quicker than any of them expected. Matty and Lou spend every waking moment with each other and with their boys. The group laugh and drink and play the music they love and they're completely content. Their days are filled with the friends that were family now and their nights are filled with just them, their bodies and souls intertwined, their love being confessed and shown in every possible way they know how.

Each show seems better than the last and each of them are unsure whether it's because their love was always adapting and growing or whether it was because time was running out and they were hell bent on not letting it get taken for granted. They secretly thought it was a mix of both.

Lou and George would spend as much time together as they could, sometimes accompanied by Matty, usually wedged between them, sometimes resting across their laps (squashing them) or at their feet, the three of them laughing about things only they seemed to understand.

Lou and Ross would spend their time with Matty or sometimes with Mia when she was able to join them. Matty enjoyed watching the way they laughed together and felt privileged to hear them tell stories or spill secrets and confessions.

Adam and Carly would spend their time with the couple showing them ultrasounds or clothes they had bought for the little man. They'd talk about what they liked to call 'grown up things' and Matty would tell them the things he was going to teach the little man.

Then there were the times they were all together, one big happy family, a huge loving and supportive system that knew they would die for each other. Each time they’d laugh, each time they’d smile so wide their faces would hurt, each time they’d hug and talk and cry together, would make them realise how lucky they were to have each other.

Matty loved the moments before the shows, he'd spend hours watching her write in her notebook. He was in awe every time she sang and he knew he'd spend every day of his life proving his love for her.

Eventually the end of the tour rolled round and the last show was performed: a teary and emotional one, filled with one too many hugs and kisses. It was a show like no other and each of them was hesitant to leave the stage, knowing that would be the end : at least for now.

The party Jamie had thrown for them was huge, everyone and anyone they knew was invited, not that they spent much time with anyone else but each other. Matty and Lou disappeared to the toilets at one point when Charli and George had taken over the decks. Luckily no one could hear them over the loud music, but god did were they loud.

Adam and Carly's son was born three days later, the group crowding around the hospital room, taking turns in holding the little man. Carly asked to see Lou and Matty separately an hour or two after the birth. She simply placed the baby in Matty's arms, the baby boy wrapping his finger around Lou's pinky as her boyfriend held him, his barely opened eyes trained on her instead of the little man.

Carly felt emotional as she looked at them, smiling happily as her husband held her close to him. They had both come so far since the start and witnessing their journey was beautiful.

"I love you" Matty said, making her eyes snap away from the baby holding onto her finger. Something about the way he said it was different from all the other times, she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was exactly, but she felt it in every fibre of her being. She knew if the whole world changed tomorrow, she'd be certain Matty would be there, unchanged and forever loving her fiercely.

"I love you too" she says, tears filling her eyes. The rest of the group come back into the room now, suspiciously standing in a semicircle around them.

"I want this" he says, looking down at the child in his hands "I want all of this with you" he says, his own eyes filling with tears now. Adam moves to take his son, knowing what was coming, having spoken to Matty with his wife about this exact moment.

Lou gasps as Matty drops to one knee, his hand dipping into his pocket before pulling out a velvet box.

"I know we haven't had the easiest ride... I know I was an absolute Arsehole for most of it... And I can't promise I won't be that.. at least sometimes" he says making her chuckle through her teary eyes and choked throat.

"But I can promise that I have loved you, more than I have ever loved anything or anyone, for as long as I have known you and I can promise I will continue to do that until the day I die" he says, his voice breaking slightly, tears flooding his cheeks. Her knees buckle, taking her to him, holding his face in his cheeks.

"I have had this ring... Since Rome. I just knew, I knew even before you were mine that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you... I know this has happened quickly and it's been intense... But it's also been fucking incredible... The best thing that has ever happened to me and I know... I know in my soul that you are my person" he says, making tears fall even quicker from her face.

"You make me a better man. Lou...My love... I love you so much... Will you marry me?" He asks as he opens the velvet box in his hands, revealing a beautiful diamond ring.

"Yes Matty. Of course I will" she says, pressing her mouth to his before pulling back, allowing him to place the ring on her finger before their lips find each other again.

"I love you so much" she says against his mouth. The couple stand then and are swarmed with hugs from their friends.

George pulls her into a tight hug, lifting her from the ground and she notices he's been crying too.

"I'm so fucking happy for you... Marrying my best friend... The best man I know" George says as he pulls back from her, Lou nods at him.

"I'm so glad you were here for this g" she says, pulling him back into her embrace. George is then moving to Matty, the two guys crying into each other as Ross comes to hug Lou.

"You got the happy ending you deserve" Ross says, making her smile. The group comes together then, joining in a big group hug.

"sorry we took your moment away from you guys" Lou says, her words directed at Carly and Adam.

"It's alright... Matty asked us and we couldn't say no, it's you" Carly says, making her smile widely.

"Besides, Matty never lets me have my moment" Adam says jokingly, making everyone laugh.

She looks around her empty flat, one box left, her entire life up to this point tucked away in boxes, currently being loaded into a van by her best friends. She hears distant laughter, George’s cackle, Ross’ chesty machine gun laugh, Hann’s gentle chuckle and Matty’s childish giggle. Her eyes water as she looks around the space, feeling someone rest their chin on her shoulder as their arms wrap around her frame.

“You okay?” she hears Charli ask and she lets out a brief “mhmm”.

“A lot to take in, I know” Charli says, pulling away from her friend and allowing her to turn. Matty listens in from the doorway, leaning against the wall. “Having second thoughts?” Charli asks, trying to sense her friend's mood. Lou shakes her head and smiles.

“About Matty? Never” that makes him smile widely, his stomach filling with butterflies.

“It’s hard moving out of your home” Charli says and Lou turns to look around the room again. She shakes her head and smiles widely.

“This isn’t my home… not really” Charli is confused but then Lou is turning to her again and hugging her tightly. She pulls away after a beat.

“Matty is my home… you guys are my home. As long as I’ve got you and him… I'm good” Matty wants to rush in and hug her tightly and kiss her like it was the last chance he’d get but he doesn’t want to disturb her, or admit he was eavesdropping.

Charli nods, she gets it. She places a kiss to her cheek “I’ll leave you to it” she then leaves, passing Matty on the way out.

“You’re so lucky Matty… to have someone love you like she does” Charli says, wiping a tear from her cheek and pressing a kiss to Matty’s cheek.

“I know… believe me i know” he walks into her apartment, finding her and wrapping his arms around her.

“Ready to go?” he asks, looking down at her. His heart falters when she smiles up at him, leaning on her tiptoes to press a haste kiss to his lips.

“Ready to spend the rest of my life with you?” she asks, watching the way a huge smile breaks out across his lips “never been more ready”.

George stands at the centre table, to the right of Matty, he's holding a champagne flute in one hand and a microphone in the other, his eyes hold tears in the corners and he has a lump in his throat as he begins to speak.

"I have always known that Lou is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. She is an incredible friend, someone who will love you in the exact way you need, someone who will love you so hard that your broken parts start to heal. She is my best friend and for years I waited until she met someone who loved her the way she deserved..." George says, his voice cracking several times as she spoke, Lou stared at him, Matty squeezing her hand as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Never did I expect it to be Matty" George says, making everyone, including the married couple, laugh.

"Matty is also my best friend, my partner, my bandmate and my brother... I truly believe it when I say that he's the best guy I know" he says, making Matty cry a little.

"But he wasn't always that way with Lou... I won't go into that too much because the past is the past... Although I will still end you if you so much as hurt her" he says jokingly making everyone laugh again.

"Matty loves Lou exactly the way she deserves and Lou makes Matty better. They are perfect for each other and I am so unbelievably happy and proud to witness their love... Because it's fucking beautiful. Congratulations to my best friends... I would make a joke about the sex going down hill from here but... I've heard you in hotels and on the tour buses so I very much doubt that's going to happen" he says, everyone laughs as Lou blushes, hiding her face in her hands. Matty pries them away with a kiss to her cheek, making everyone awe.

Everyone cheers and then Matty and Lou hug George tightly.

"I love you" they both say to him.

Mia then stands to do her speech, looking around the room before she speaks "I'm really shit at these things so... Sorry in advance" everyone laughs again.

"Lou is the best sister I could ever ask for and I'm probably biased when I say this but she is far too good for this world and the people in it... Sorry Matty" he just nods along, agreeing.

"But from the moment I met you Matty, I knew you were her person. I had never seen her the way she is with you, you make her so happy and I will always thank you for that. I wish you both the absolute best, Lou, I love you and I am so proud to call you my sister... And we are so happy" she says, gesturing to their family "to be welcoming Matty in to our family, he is the best thing that has ever happened to you. And you him cheers" everyone cheers then and Matty and Lou share a sweet kiss.

Matty then stands, still holding onto Lou's hand. He shakes his head as he looks down at her, bringing his hand up to his mouth and kissing the back of it. He then looks at everyone else, raising his glass up to them.

"God... I just want to start by saying thank you" he says, gesturing to those who have made speeches.

"And thank you to all of you for coming... For sharing this beautiful day with us" he sighs then "okay this is the part where I get really fucking emotional and make a fool of myself and make my wife question the fact she's just married me" he says making everyone laugh. Lou whispers a never to him and he smiles.

"Fuck... 'My wife' that's mental. She's my wife" he points at her, she smiles widely at him. She watches as his eyes water and the way he briefly tucks his lips into his mouth, fighting back the tears.

"You look so beautiful. You always look so fucking beautiful but my god" he says, everyone smiling as she fawns over her.

"I am truly the luckiest man alive... I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet before I start weeping. Lou you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I know I will thank whatever force allowed you to be mine, I will count my lucky stars everyday because you are mine. I don't know what the future holds... But I know as long as I have you, I'll be okay" he says making her smile, he leans down to kiss her gently before he continues.

"I love you so much" he says.

"I love you too"

It's then her time to stand.

"I'm not even going to try one up you on that" she says.

"I have written so many speeches, thrown them away and then rewritten them... I wrote about how we once hated each other but that story didn't quite do us justice... Because we are so much more than that... I then wrote all the things I love about you, but it was too long and I knew I'd get too emotional... And then I started wracking my brain on what I could say" she says looking down at him.

"I knew I wanted to tell you how much I love you but I could’t find the words to truly encapsulate what that's like. And I thought... Why say something... When you can sing it? Now I know you have begged me every single day since we got engaged to sing at this wedding and everyday I said no... And that's because I had something else planned" she says, looking around at the band and smiling at them.

"I guess you could say this is our last show… without you of course" she says and they all stand up, making Matty gasp as they make their way to the dancefloor that has been set up, microphones set up (ready for what Matty presumed would be the band they've hired). Ross stands go the left of her, Hann to the right, George behind her, Polly at the back next to George on the right and Jamie and John to the left.

"You and this band, are the best thing that has ever happened to me, you’re my family and my home and I love you all so much.. but this is for you. I love you so much Matty" she then sings a cover of All I Need To Hear with the band playing their instruments. It brings tears to his eyes and he shakes his head as she smiles at him.

"Just tell me you love me, that's all that I need to hear" she sings and he mouths an I love you to her.

They finish up the song and Lou begins speaking again.

"Okay... That was just a warm up" she says, making everyone laugh. The boys hug her and she thanks them before they leave. Jamie hands her an acoustic guitar, his guitar, one in which he had gifted to her at the end of the tour and Matty thinks he's going to sob, seeing her dressed in her beautiful white wedding dress, holding his guitar in her arms.

"I... I wrote this song, for you" she says, "I didn't release it because it's yours... only yours" She says and he knows what she's about to sing.

"When I was younger I saw my daddy cry and curse at the wind. He broke his own heart and I watched, as he tried to reassemble it. And my mumma swore, that she would, never let herself forget, and that was the day that I promised, I'd never sing of love, if it does not exist, but darling, you, are, the only exception' she sings.

She finishes the song, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she passes the guitar back to Jamie. Matty joins her then, gripping her tightly in his arms as he presses his lips to hers “I love you so much, my wife” he says against her mouth, the couple laugh as everyone around them cheer. Both of them throw up their middle fingers to the boys when they begin to make inappropriate comments. They all laugh and cry as they watch them.

They sit at the steps outside their venue. Their friends and family are dancing inside, drinking and laughing, celebrating their love.

Matty’s hand is resting on her thigh, over the fabric of her white dress. Her hand is playing with a few stray curls that had fallen in front of his face, whilst her other hand rests under her chin. Her hand only moves from his hair when he passes her his cigarette, watching her as she takes a few puffs before handing it back to him.

“You're so beautiful” he murmurs “my wife” a huge smile breaks out over her features, eyes crinkling and teeth baring. Her eyes flick from his eyes which have been brimming with happy tears the entire night, down to his lips which are spread wide too.

“I love you, my husband” they hear the door creak behind them, revealing their group of closest friends.

“Sorry we're not interrupting are we” Carly says kindly.

“You'd be able to hear them a mile off if we were interrupting’ comes from George, making everyone laugh. His arm is wrapped around Charli who looks up at him fondly as he speaks. They'll be next, she thinks.

“You know you guys are always welcome” Lou says, making the group walk down the steps to join them.

“But maybe call before you spontaneously pop round to ours” Matty says, wiggling his eyebrows at the group, receiving a quick light smack from Lou, which makes everyone laugh.

They fill out the steps pretty quickly. Charli and George perch on a ledge near them, Mia and Ross sit a few steps down, turning around to look at them, Lou smiles widely at their intertwined hands.

Carly and Hann are nuzzled together a step down to the right of them.

“Where's the little man?” Matty asks, making Hann look up.

“Your mum's looking after him” makes him smile.

John, Jamie, Gabi and Polly are scattered here and there. They sit in silence for a few moments, sharing a few cigarettes, all with huge smiles on their faces. They watch as the sky continues to get darker and as stars begin to appear.

Matty pulls her closer, pressing a kiss to her cheek before mumbling in her ear.

“I love you” she turns to kiss him, only pulling away when she hears Ross speak.

“What now?” He asks and everyone chuckles.

“What do you mean , what now?” George says, laughing loudly.

“I mean what happens now… Hann and Carly are married and have just had a kid… Lou and Matty are now married and will probably be popping out babies in no time” his words make Lou blush and Matty smear his lips to her cheek.

“You bet” he murmurs into her ear before he delivers his next line to the group “we'll be practising for a bit mate don't you worry about that” it causes another chorus of laughs to break out.

“You guys will probably be married next” Ross says pointing to Charli and George.

“And then we'll all be busy and be less inclined to see each other… what happens then?”

“Don't be daft mate… the bands not broken up. We're just having a little break. You know Matty can't go that long without making music anyway and who's he going to get to help him if it's not us?” George says, Ross shrugs at that, nodding his head slowly in agreement once he realises George is right.

“Besides… we're a family” Polly says, everyone looks around at each other then, smiling at one another.

“We're a family” Matty confirms, eyes trained on his wife who's looking back at him just as intently.

The group slowly begins to filter out, leaving the newlyweds alone on the steps.

“What now?” Lou repeats Ross’ words from earlier, feeling the sentiment behind them. Everything up to this point seemed so perfectly planned as if it was scripted. Their own little novel, a story of two people who hated each other, discovering that they in fact didn't hate each other at all. A story of two people, finally loving and being loved by the one person who they were supposed to be loved by.

Now everything was out in the open, Lou didn't know what would happen next and the thought was both exciting and terrifying.

“We go on our honeymoon, have a ton of sex” Lou laughs and nudges Matty's shoulder with her own “we eat amazing food and drink loads of alcohol and we love each other every day we're there” she smiles, Matty places a hand against her cheek and she leans into it.

“And we come home, and maybe the band will write some songs and eventually do another tour and maybe you'll do the same with your band, but we'll stick together through all of it, through thick and thin… we'll love”

“And then what?” She asks, he chuckles and places his lips against hers, they laugh as they kiss.

“And then we have the rest of our lives, we don't need to plan it, as long as we've got each other” she nods at that.

“Yeah, as long as we've got each other…”

“Here's to the rest of our lives baby” he says, smearing his lips against hers. He pulls back slightly and she watches as a smirk comes to rest against his lips.

“Now how about we get you home, so I can get you out of this dress?” She giggles at his words as she pulls him in for another kiss.

“Lead the way Mr Healy” Matty stands, reaching down to her. Lou intertwines their hands and allows him to pull her up to him. She collides with him, her lips merging with his again.

“Come home with me, Mrs Healy” he murmurs against her mouth, twisting his tongue against hers, making her sigh.

“I love you” she pulls back slightly, one hand sweeping the curls that had fallen loose from his hair back.

“Your insufferable arsehole” he says, smiling down at her.

“My insufferable arsehole”

“Always”

“For the rest of our lives”

Taglist: @scooby-doodoo @thereisaplaceintheheart @promocodesorry75 @eaglestar31 @thefrontofmymind @fallingforel @partoftheairforce @procrastinatinglikeapro @poisonmedaddy13 @xthe1975 @all-things-fic @jstbeeingme @rossgirly @juliardk @you-muppet @moodyyyychickx @k4tie75 @insidemymind19 @zzzhealy @maybeiwouldlikeyou @at-her-very-foreign @not-alien-girl-v @sinarainbows @friedlandblog @momentum2023 @youlooklikeshitandyousmellabit @inhalerbea (add yourself using the link in my bio 😊, those with a line through are the ones i couldn’t tag)

[natrogersfics]

The Anthology - Prologue

Artwork by @faith2nyc Read on AO3 He really should be paying more attention. The thought crosses Steve’s mind as he listens to the directors take a question from the vast crowd gathered before them. What the question is about, though, he couldn’t say. By all accounts, he’s very much aware of what a privilege it is to be teasing an upcoming project at, of all places, the legendary Hall H of Comic Con. And while he’s grateful for the opportunity, and even more so for the palpable enthusiasm of the fans in the room, with this being their third promotional engagement of the day, the banal inquiries have grown cumbersome.

They couldn’t even really talk about the project, anyway. Not with the studio’s policy of devout secrecy when it comes to the plot. What details he and his colleagues could divulge about the scope of the movie have been so extremely limited that he’s surprised that not only have they been able to keep this panel going for the last hour, but also that the crowd hasn’t tired of the non-answers they’re being given.

It's with that fact that he’s able to extinguish what guilt he’s feeling about his lack of interest at the moment. With another glance at the crowd before him, he carefully slides the napkin that was once underneath his coffee cup to his left, and from the corner of his eye, he catches the way his costar takes her bottom lip between her teeth, trying to suppress a smile as she looks down at the table to see the grid he’d hastily drawn. Natasha clicks down on the top of the pen she’s been twirling between her fingers, scribbling an X on the centermost square before pushing the napkin back towards him.

“This question is for Natasha,” the panel’s mediator announces. “What do you think of Captain America and Black Widow being paired together for this film? Doesn’t it seem like an odd partnership considering that morally, these characters exist on opposite ends of the spectrum?” “I guess you’ll just have to see the movie to find out,” Natasha quips without missing a beat, eliciting a laugh from both the crowd and their castmates. He rolls his lips to keep from beaming. Such a professional. “But in all seriousness,” she continues, “I think these characters have a lot to learn from each other. Cap very much lives in black and white and Widow is highly comfortable operating in the gray, but as you'll see in the film, with the challenges they face, they’re both going to have to learn to be comfortable in each other’s moral spheres. So, yeah, an interesting dynamic to see play out for sure.” “Now that we’re on the topic of dynamics,” the mediator says. “In the teaser that was played exclusively for us today, we find Cap and Widow looking like they’re on an undercover mission. Widow is doing her thing, Cap is looking uncomfortable but also really… entranced by her, maybe?” He pauses as the crowd voices their agreement. “What do you think, Steve? Is this where Cap finally finds his perfect partner?” “Well… our Executive Producer, Kevin, looks just about ready to tranq dart me, so I’m going to pass on that last question,” he says as another fit of laughter echoes throughout the room. “But one thing I will say is, this is a whole new world for Cap. It hasn’t been that long since he was in the ice, so to see someone like Widow who’s so quick on her feet and razor-sharp in her environment, yeah, I think you could say he’s entranced, if not completely in awe.” “Interesting that you say that because even with what little we saw, it’s obvious that Cap and Widow have sizzling chemistry…” The crowd begins to hoot, and the mediator smiles like a cat that’s caught the canary. Here we go. “Could that have anything to do with your chemistry with Natasha in real life? I mean, I think I speak for everyone here today when we say that we’ve noticed.” The crowd cheers, cajoling him for an answer, and when he steals a glance at Natasha, he finds that she’s turned his way as well, an amused expression on her face. “It’s true, you guys are noticing something…” he begins as he turns back to the crowd. “And that’s Natasha being absolutely tremendous at her job.” A chorus of laughter reverberates in the hall before the mediator turns to Natasha. “Is that true, Natasha? Is movie magic all this is?” “Oh, for sure,” Natasha says, her tone serious even as her smile says she’s anything but. “Have you seen him? Who wants to be close to this” – she gestures towards him – “all damn day?” She scoffs. “It’s a chore.” He tips his head back, one hand flying to his chest as he laughs along with the entire room. Next to him, Natasha just shakes her head. “But no, Steve and I are great friends. That’s all you’re seeing there.”

“Great job out there, both of you,” Kevin says when they finally make it backstage after signing autographs at the end of the panel. “You had them eating out of the palm of your hands! You guys are total pros and I’m so glad you’re friends. Makes my job a lot easier, that’s for damn sure.” “We aim to please, boss,” Natasha says with a two-fingered salute. “And please you do,” Kevin says. “And as a show of my gratitude for soldiering through a full day of promo, why don’t you two take the rest of the day off? Grab dinner or something. On me.” He turns to Natasha. “I’m game if you are.” “I think I can free up my evening,” she confirms. “But I do have to grab my purse in the back.” “I’ll leave you two to it then,” Kevin says. With a final nod at their producer, they begin to head back towards the green room where the cast was gathered prior to the beginning of the panel. The walk takes longer than usual as they stop to greet familiar faces and pause for conversations and pictures with excited fans, but he doesn’t mind. He didn’t hold any love for extended press conferences, but this part of the job – meeting the people who his work resonated deeply with – is one he holds dear. “Where do you want to go?” Natasha asks once they make it back to the room and she walks over to the corner to retrieve her purse. He looks around the empty room before following close behind her. “Don’t care,” he mutters, causing her to turn. His hands find her waist then, and she gasps in surprise when he pulls her close and slants his lips over hers in a kiss that’s nothing short of a claim. Her purse falls to the ground with a thud, but neither of them pay it any mind as she snakes her arms around his neck. There’s an amused smile on Natasha’s lips when they eventually pull away, the both of them heaving for air. “What was that for?” “This…” he says, his fingers toying with the hem of the colorful chiffon blouse she has on underneath her blazer, giving him just a glimpse of her skin through the material. “Has been driving me crazy all day.” “That was kind of the point,” she says, a devious smirk painting her lips. He narrows his eyes at her. “And here I was about to make it up to you,” he says, watching as she raises a brow up in question. He grins. “You know, seeing how working with me is such a chore.” “It really is,” she laments jokingly, causing them both to chuckle. She trails her hands up his arms, feeling his biceps through his sweater as she looks up at him from underneath the fan of her lashes. “And it’s going to take a lot more than dinner to convince me otherwise.” “Is that right?” he asks, watching a glint spark in her eyes. “In that case, your place or mine?”

The Anthology Masterlist | Chapter 1

[shiversdownyerspine]

Ole Munch thoughts

I gotta talk about the scene where our mudman is in the tub.

"When Munch was a boy, freedom was a potato. It was you didn't get killed today. Freedom from hunger, from the rusty blade. But to free himself, the man ate first, so others could not. He killed before he was killed. He wanted nothing more because only kings had the freedom to want. And now, everywhere you look, you see kings. Everything they want they call their own and if they cannot have it, they say that they are not free. They even pretend their freedom should be free, that it has no cost, but the cost is always death. Life for life. Me, or you."

Freedom: the power or right to act, speak, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. To have privilege. To be unconstrained. To not be shackled by another. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws".

So for kid Munch, freedom was a potato. If he had this resource, he'd be safe from his own hunger and from threats to his life. As long as he had food to offer, he was safe, he was free to live.

As a man, he ate first, so others could not. He killed before he was killed. All grown up, he became the one with the rusty blade, he takes as he was once taken from. He's a product of his surroundings, of poverty, just doing whatever he can to survive.

He never thought about wanting more out of life because of being constantly told/shown that he can't, only kings could do such a thing. In medieval times, kings were believed to have divine right to rule, they made the laws and their word is god. They were above all others, and only they could want and were free to want.

So Munch is trapped in poverty and the people who are in positions of power insist that there is no way out, this is just how it is. So he sticks with what he knows and continues fighting to survive with the only ways that are available to him.

And he says, 'now (modern times?), everywhere you look you see kings.' Munch sees all these people demanding everything for themselves. That they should be allowed to consume all, like the medieval kings would. They consider themselves gods and above the law and should be treated as such, and they act like it's fine to indulge greed and gluttony, that there is no cost, but Munch has learned from a life in poverty that when you take, someone else goes without.

He was taught there's not enough to go around; when you eat, you are taking food from someone else. When you hesitate to strike, you will get stricken down first. Inevitably someone will be trapped in poverty, struggling to live, and the violent cycle will continue. The one who goes without will resort to anything, will have to resort to anything, just to survive for another day.

Thus the cost of a king's freedom (indulging endless gluttony/greed) is someone's death. It's the people living in poverty, that already have so little available to them, that suffer from a king's freedom. "Me, or you." (aka him and the old woman)

It honestly looks like Ole is trying to connect with the old woman in his own way. He's giving her some of his history and saying he understands what it's like to not have enough, be exploited, and struggle to survive.

But the old woman doesn't understand. She's still trying to figure out why he's in her home, what he wants from her.

And when she questions him, I think Munch took her meaning a bit differently lol.

I think he took it as her asking him, 'Why did you seek out my company?' and 'What do you want out of life?'

Now think about everything he said and consider that question again. "What do you want?"

Munch just got done talking about freedom, about food, safety, kings, and not being able to want anything else other than surviving another day. Sam Spruell also mentioned no one has ever asked Munch what he wants, no one else has cared. The old woman just might be the very first.

And he blinks like he's in disbelief and looks at her with such awe and desperation. He looks like he's about to cry. No one has asked him that before, no one has implied that he can seek out more from life than just survival. I think the old woman opened a door for him. He is allowed to want.

And what does he want? Pancakes. :O

And what was it that Dot was looking so longingly at in the gas station? Bisquick pancake mix. A reminder of her daughter, of her family, of the wonderful life she's made for herself. A better life than what she had before, full of joy, love, and forgiveness. And Munch wants pancakes. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT.

(It's possible there's also other meanings behind pancakes when viewed alongside poverty, medieval times, breakfast, and religion, but let's save that for another day.)

[elusivemellifluence]

I saw someone recommend Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang as an example of a fantasy story with no romance in it, and tilted my head curiously, thinking about what radically different things a story can mean to different readers. Because when I read it, I saw a significant subplot devoted to deliciously subtle, tragically unrealised queer love story between Robin and Ramy.

It lived in unanswered questions and charged silences*. It was hard to look at, hard to understand, in a world with such rigid expectations and strict social rules. It was a forbidden love on multiple levels, between two boys who were meant to devote their hearts and minds to serving the British empire above all personal concerns, between two boys who were meant to love women if anyone at all. In a story all about the magic of words, it was unspoken, unspeakable, but still not unacknowledged. They knew, or almost knew, and were getting gradually, infinitesimally closer to someday putting words to it, if only between themselves, until Ramy died and all that possibility died with him.**

It's about being closeted. It's about meeting the first other person you've ever known who's like you. It's about inching towards something you have no roadmap for. It's about the long history of tragic homoerotic vibes between British academics. It's about the love that dare not speak its name. It's about yet another thing the Translation Institute took from Robin, that's simultaneously yet another thing the Translation Institute gave him.

It's about another thing Letty's privilege blinded her to. A white woman wanting a brown man, and killing him for rejecting her***, never seeing the reason in the same way that she never saw the racism her friends were subjected to on a daily basis. A love triangle, mirroring the one between Griffin, Sterling and Evie, though Letty didn't know it was a triangle and couldn't even imagine that Ramy might care for Robin instead or that Robin might have his own desires beyond comforting her in her heartbreak. Robin asked Ramy why he didn't dance with her, and he said Don't you know why?*. Later that night Letty wept drunkenly into Robin's shoulder, asking Why doesn't he see me?, and he knew better than to tell her the truth****.

*p. 244:

"She wants you," Robin said. ... "Very badly. So why—" "Don't you know why?" Their eyes met. Robin felt a prickle at the back of his neck. The space between them felt very charged, like the moment between lightning and thunder, and Robin had no idea what was going on or what would happen next, only that it all felt very strange and terrifying, like teetering over the edge of a windy, roaring cliff.

**p. 410

One day Robin would ask himself how his shock had turned so easily to rage; why his first reaction was not disbelief at this betrayal but black, consuming hatred. And the answer would elude and disturb him, for it tiptoed around a complicated tangle of love and jealousy that ensnared them all, for which they had no name or explanation, a truth they'd only been starting to wake up to and now, after this, would never acknowledge.

***p. 503

"I think she wanted him dead," he continued hoarsely. "You could see it on her face – she wasn't scared, she knew what she was doing, she could have aimed at any one of us, and she knew it was Ramy she wanted." "Robin ..." "She loved him, you know," he said. The words came out of him like a torrent now; the floodgates were broken, and the waters could not be stopped. No matter how devastating, how tragic, he had to say it out loud, had to burden someone else with this awful, awful suspicion. "She told me, the night of the commemoration ball – she spent nearly an hour weeping into my shoulder because she wanted to dance with him, and he wouldn't even look at her. He never looked at her, he didn't ..." He had to stop, his tears threatened to choke him.

****p. 249

"I wish he would see me," she kept repeating. "Why won't he see me?" And though Robin could think of any number of reasons – because Ramy was a brown man in England and Letty the daughter of an admiral; because Ramy did not want to be shot in the street; or because Ramy simply did not love her like she loved him, and she'd badly mistaken his general kindness and ostentatious verve for special attention, because Letty was the kind of girl who was used to, and had come to always expect, special attention – he knew better than to tell her the truth. ... He had the oddest feeling of disappearing as he spoke, of fading into the background of a painting depicting a story which must have been as old as history.

(Despite how long this ended up getting, footnotes and all, I'm not trying to argue that my interpretation is right and the 'no romance' interpretation is wrong - I love the ambiguity, and think it's genuinely fascinating how this reading jumped out so clearly to me, a bisexual who spent a significant amount of my late teens pining over my best friend while coming to terms with my sexuality, while another reader with a different perspective saw something else entirely.)

[wormzandgutz]

hey hey can u tell me more about your OCS. Any of them. Please.

I can tell you about Clover and Valkyrie, since i infodumped about them recently to some other folk tw: abusive relationships

Clover and Valkyrie have been friends since early childhood, Valkyrie comes from a very privileged family but she was neglected by parents. As the years went on, Valkyrie’s treatment of others worsened because she could get away with most things, Clover never liked this; but because she knew about Valkyrie’s family situation, she didn’t want to sever her friendship with Valk Valk became very manipulative in her teens and learnt that she could use her situation as a way to trap Clover in their friendship. Valk is very codependent on Clover

This went on for years and years, While clover wasn’t happy with how Valk treats others, she feels a sense of responsibility for Valk and blames herself for how bad Valk’s gotten. The main story takes place in their college years, where Clover meets Atlas 👇

Atlas manages to talk sense into Clover over a long period of time, without Valk knowing. this builds up until Clover finally gets confident enough to confront Valkyrie, and this time she doesn’t stand for her guilt ripping. The confrontation ends with Clover saying something along the lines of “if you don’t fix your behaviour and seek help, I can’t continue being friends with you” Valkyrie takes this verrryyy hard, Clover was the only person who actually cared about her and now Valk lost her control over her. After this it becomes a more action oriented but emotional drama filled fantasy mess that I made in 2019. but spoiler warning, the reason Valkyrie suddenly becomes what’s basically a supervillain is because of another character Serpentine 👇

(The one on the right) who has the ability to mind control people through their feelings, aka it’s not a 100% mind control, like Serpentine can’t manipulate someone’s feelings towards herself and she can’t directly control their actions, but she can strongly influence them. idk how to continue that so I’ll just say some more character angst Clover is one of the only people who realize somethings off about Valkyrie (outside of her eyes going from brown to purple shshhshhshsh) because despite how awful their relationship was, she is the only one who truly knows her

[bethialyn]

Me and my cousin were having an interesting conversation about stories. I told her about the story im writing and how i wanted to be better at writing metaphors. Simple sentences that portrayed deeper meanings. After that, she told me i should try poetry, ive never tried poetry before. I looked at her a bit hesitantly before asking,

"How do i start writing poetry then?"

Where do i begin?

She gently smiled at me.

"Just write about anything."

"Okay but what should i write about..."

"how about this then?" She gave me a thoughtful look. "Write a poetry about that something you love.. hm. ORV right? You keep talking about that novel. Write a poetry about that. "

That happened a few days ago, Honestly.. i don't know where to begin. I love that story, thats for sure. But still, I dont know how to begin my sentence.

***

Misfortune dripped down from the boy's lip.

The stinging wound gripped.

Perhaps, the warmth of blood was the only warmth he have ever felt.

The poor boy wept.

"Mom?"

A longing of comforting hands wiping his tears away dwelled.

"Mom."

Those hands were shackled.

"It's not your fault."

Time slowed down. After that event, his memories felt like a blur.

The boy's extended relatives took him under their care.

Kim Dokja had a roof under his head and clothes to wear.

Despite this care, warmth was not there.

The hand handing him food was stiff.

Even if Kim Dokja was young, he understood what their gazes meant.

After all, he cannot allow himself to naive in a harsh environment.

Because, childlike innocence came with a hefty price.

And Kim Dokja, who was born with nothing, could not afford anything.

*

One day, his name suddenly became known.

Underground killer.

A book his mother wrote, a story about Kim Dokja's tragedy.

Their tragedy as a family.

In a swift, everyone started looking at him with pity.

The feeling their glances brought was nasty.

Murderer's Son.

Stop.

Stop looking at me with that god-awful expression.

I said stop fucking looking at me.

All I am to you is a tragedy, Am I wrong?

It was sickening. Everything was.

Inside and out, he was stained by a collection of unremovable blemishes.

Stained. Soiled. Wounds that do not heal.

Scarring was a privilege. Everything remained as fresh as when it was first induced.

It was itchy on his skin, However, no matter how much he tried. No bandages can remove the suffering it caused.

The blood that trickled down these injuries were plentiful.

Regardless of this red fluid being the embodiment of his helplessness,

It kept him alive.

What happens if he runs out of blood because of his wounds?

What happens when...

A survivor gives up on surviving?

Kim Dokja stood by the window.

He was driven by sorrow.

The swoop of wind was gentle on his skin.

It became tempting to jump in.

The breeze was cold, not warm. But it was still comforting.

Is it okay?

···.

I'll be okay.

I hope so.

I hope I'll be okay.

---

Kinda lazy to continue ehe ill come back :33

[luna-redamancy]

Lásko!

After rereading all of the modern!Fíli, I can't get rid of one, single thought and I have to share...

It is very obvious, that Fíli always treats you like a princess, but it's not until Kíli has a bit of a jealous fit about how quickly he lost shot-gun privileges to a passenger princess, that you realize how much of a princess you've become... Yes, including the less safe-for-public version as well, because can someone else with Fíli?

(I hope the last part is okay with you... I'd hate to make you uncomfortable in any way...)

Hello!! I can't get enough of Modern!AU characters so you're fueling my addiction to writing them, it's a win-win scenario!!! I hope you enjoy this! I didn't make it full on smut, just a brief glimpse into a NSFW memory, if you would like a full NSFW piece where the memory is elaborated, please let me know:

“Nuh uh,” Fili locked the car as quickly as the words flew from his mouth, just as Kili was gripping the car door handle, only for the door to not open and the handle pulling back into place. 

“What?” Kili spun around, a confused look on his face. “Why’d you do that for?” 

“Reserved,” Fili said simply, shrugging as Kili raised a brow.

“Reserved, what do you mean reserved, how can a car seat be reserved for–” 

Before Kili could continue his rant, you exited the house. Briefly turning to ensure you had your wallet in your bag and your house key, you locked the door before making your way over to the two, adjusting your purse on your shoulder. 

“Hello again,” You greeted cheerfully as you approached. 

“Hello my love,” Fili responded, face melting into an expression of utter adoration as you made your way to him. As soon as you were close enough he brought you close by your purse strap, cupping the side of your face and giving you a gentle kiss. 

As you two separated, a bashful grin on your face and a content one on Fili’s, Fili turned to Kili. 

“Like I said, reserved.” He said simply, carefully moving his brother to the side so he wouldn’t stumble but was out of the way, as he unlocked the car once more and opened the door for you. 

“Awe, thank you Fili,” You murmured as he grasped your hand bringing it up to his lips for a quick kiss to your skin before assisting you into the car seat. Only once you were secure and began to buckle yourself in did he shut the door. 

“I cannot believe!!” Kili groaned, shooting daggers with his eyes at the back of your head. 

“Believe what?” Fili crossed his arms as he leaned against the passenger car door. 

“Shot-gun privileges, my brother, were reserved for me!” Kili raged, “Ever since you turned sixteen and mother got you a car, I had shot-gun privileges and in return you’ve always had shot-gun privileges in my car!” 

“And?”

“AND!?” Kili went wide eyed, almost comically as he stared at his brother.  “I just lost my privileges, my only right as a younger sibling, to a passenger princess.”

“I think you’re being a bit dramatic!” You piped in from the front seat, having twisted to stare at the two men- your voice muffled from being inside the car. 

“Fili, if it’s a really this much of a big deal he can have the front-seat, I really don’t-”

At first he took it as a joke, however, as Fili kept listening to Kili he didn’t find it very funny after the way he said passenger princess like it was some sort of insult. 

“She’s my passenger princess, my princess,” Fili glared at his brother. “Got a problem with it, take your own car to uncle’s anniversary dinner.” 

As Fili called you his princess, you flushed, face growing warm as you twisted back into your seat to sit properly. 

Kili grumbled, but let the topic go as he got into the back seat, almost having the urge to slam the door like a child but knew better- Fili would skin him alive for damaging his car, brothers or not. 

Fili nodded to himself, shaking his head and rounding the car to get into the other side.

Once all settled in, Fili took off out of the driveway, hand resting on your upper thigh while the other maneuvered the steering wheel. Looking at his hand, you felt yourself grow warm all over again. 

“Passenger princess,” You mouthed, looking out the window as you delved into your thoughts. 

Surely you weren’t that spoiled by Fili, sure, he gave you front-seat privileges when he drove somewhere with you, however that’s what most partners do for the other- right? 

And sure, he likes to cook you breakfast but that’s because he’s the better cook out of the two of you, and yes there was that one time that he helped you with your ankle clasp on your heels. 

Your thoughts suddenly took a turn, recalling when he helped you out of a dress after a dinner party at his family’s house. 

“Fili?” You called out to him as he put his coat back on the hanger as you stood in the middle of the bedroom. 

“Yes?” He called back, concerned as he exited the closet and saw you with your arms behind your back, trying to reach the zipper in the middle of your back. 

“It was going so smoothly but then it got stuck-” Fili shushed you gently, carefully guiding your hands back down to your sides. 

“I got you,” He murmured, and something in the way he said those three words lit a fire in your gut. 

“O..Oh,” You nearly squeaked out as he caught the uplift in your voice. Looking over your shoulder to examine you from the front side in the vanity mirror above your shared dresser, he caught the expression on your face and the look of wanting in your eyes. 

“I’ll take care of you, don’t worry,” Fili’s words had another level of meaning to them as he began to pull down your zipper in an agonizingly slow manner.

“Fili,” You breathed out as he pressed open-mouthed kisses to your spine, arousal pooling in your underwear. 

You gulped as the car stopped at a red-light, the lack of motion bringing you back into reality. Slipping your hand down to hold onto his. You fought the urge to squeeze your thighs together as you recalled the way he had you gripping onto the sheets, back arching as you called out his name while he made you reach your peak over and over and over. His praises as you were doing so well for him, how beautiful you looked beneath him and to please just give him one more - it was as if he was addicted to you. Your sounds, your taste, your writhing body, your very essence of being. 

Fili turned to look at you, a brief flash of concern in his eyes when you suddenly held onto his hand. 

“You okay?” He murmured as Kili snored in the back of the car, having fallen asleep almost instantly as the car began to move. 

“Mhm,” You responded, flicking your tongue out to wet your suddenly very chapped lips. 

“Just thoughts, that’s all,” You gave him a reassuring smile while you squeezed his hand. 

“Oh?” 

“How much of a princess you’ve made me,” You elaborated, your smile turning more playful. “Pillow and passenger, I’m on two for two now,” Your chest shook with silent laughter as you tried not to laugh as to not wake Kili. 

Fili let out his own soft chuckle as his hand brought your connected ones off your thigh. “And at the end of the day, just my princess overall.” He agreed, pressing a kiss to each of your knuckles. 

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[juceynightmare]

hook x reader crackfic

genre(s): crackfic, please don’t take this seriously, i am simply writing because i am traumatized

summary: IF I HAD TO SEE THIS MAN’S HAIRY ASSHOLE, THEN TYLER HAS TO AS WELL. THIS IS MY COPING MECHANISM.

THIS MAN HAS SCARRED ME FOR LIFE AND NOW IT IS TYLER’S TURN.

the greatest part about having a dad with his own locker room at the arenas is getting to use the locker room whenever he’d want privacy. and when tyler’s girlfriend flew out to come watch the show, tyler would use this privilege to get some alone time with her before having to work.

of course, tyler and y/n kept their interactions in the locker room appropriate. simply because they preferred to keep their sex life private and preferably not in an area where taz would constantly be walking in and out of the room.

but god, did tyler regret taking y/n to the locker room this time.

they were cuddling on the couch. tyler was laid out across and y/n was laying down on top of him. she was holding up her phone as they watched random videos, and for whatever god awful reason, y/n was reminded of a video that she’d knew tyler would hate to watch.

it was such a sudden thought, that y/n swiped out of the video they were currently watching.

“hey! i was watching that.” tyler protested as y/n hid the screen from in so she could type away.

“hush, hold on. i remembered this thing i saw. if i had to see it, you do too.” she hummed.

tyler’s eyes widened in horror. the last time she said that exact phrase to him, she had made him join her on video call to watch megan is missing. tyler did not sleep that night.

another time y/n had told him that phrase, she pulled up the most foul, horrible, fanfiction tyler has ever read. the hamster fic. he recalled its name, and he shuddered at the memory. needless to say, tyler had an oddball of a girlfriend who was into a myriad of things and found the most horrible things on the internet, but tyler didn’t mind.

he loves her, especially because she was so odd. she kept his life interesting.

“for reference, this is how hairy my butt is right now.” the voice came from the speaker as y/n angled the phone for tyler to see. before he could even process the words, the man’s hairy butthole was on display not even 3 seconds into the video.

“what the fuck?!” tyler screamed out, turning his head to the side and squeezing his eyes shut as he blindly reached for y/n’s phone to turn it off. however, judging by how loudly the girl was laughing and the fact that tyler couldn’t feel her phone, he knew she was simply holding it away from him.

“love, turn that shit off. oh my fucking god why is that on youtube? the bitch didn’t even say hi or nothing, just fucking showed us his asshole. oh my god, i’m going to be sick. love, turn it off!” tyler screamed over her laughing, being forced to listen as the man described the steps to removing his butt hairs.

eventually, the sound of the video stopped, and only y/n’s laughing filled the room. “ok, honey. you can look now. i exited the video.” she hummed, raising a hand to press against the side of tyler’s face and guiding him to turn his face back towards her.

tyler should have known better than to trust his girlfriend’s words, because when he opened his eyes, he was met with her phone right in front of his face and a screen capture of the man’s ass on display. he gagged, shoving the phone away and sitting up in the process. his hands fell to her waist as she was now straddling him.

“love, what the fuck? get that shit off, i don’t need to be seeing no fucking dude’s hairy asshole. god you’re so fucking cute when you laugh like that, though. stop it! i’m trying to be mad at you for fucking subjecting me to this shit!” he yelled at her, although his dimpled smile betrayed him as she continued to laugh at his face and try to make him stare at the image again although he had shut his eyes as tight as he could.

god, tyler didn’t know how he managed to get so lucky.

although, he will admit, he definitely had the weirdest woman in the world. and she’s all his.

[lil-gingerbread-queen]

Some olympian athletes (young, probably first olympic, often usamericans) complain like a spoiled brat about the Olympic Village, and how it's not a 5 stars hotel, as if that's not how the athletes have ALWAYS been treated at the Games, because it's not 20 teams of 40 players and their staffs that are being housed (to compare it to world championships for football or rugby), but hundred of athletes (more than 2000 athletes officially) and their staffs from hundred of countries. And the hotels are for tourists, for spectators, or do you not want people to not come to the games? These games are extremely expensive, let's not make them more because you are a lil baby that need staff to make your bed. The cardboard beds exist to not create more waste than what the games already produce (imagine buying more than 2000 beds to only be used for a month and than discarded... Every 2 years...) THEY ARE ATHLETES WHO HAVE RUN WITH NO SHOES, AND YOU ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT BUYING TOILET PAPER?! And I have seen so many comments saying awful shit about how 3rd world countries shouldn't participate so the lil usamericans can have a better treatment, and that's unacceptable. The games are about unity between the nations, the goal is not to win, it's to participate. To be together. It is always beautiful to see these countries being able to send their athletes to compete. They deserve their place here as much as any 1st world countries' athletes, they have work so hard to be here. Their whole fucking country gave money sometimes to help them have the equipment for the games. You're so spoiled you cannot even comprehend how privileged you are. "This is cheating to make France wins!" I literally know a French olympian. She has the same age as me, she is the daughter of an ex-colleague of my mother, so I saw her grow up and train to be an olympian. I know how French athletes are treated, and it's not good. What you are getting rn at the Olympic is better than what they get all year long. Damn, one of our best athletes who got multiple olympic medals in his career RAN NAKED IN THE STREET to find a sponsor so he could continue to be an athlete, because he had no money.

I am SO mad because, as a French, I know the REAL issues with these games. But will they talk about them? NO. It's only about their ass and being like "I deserve better because I'm an Olympian, I'm better than everyone!". DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY STUDENTS WERE KICKED OUT TO HOUSE COPS FOR THIS EVENT? Where are they suppose to go when everything cost all your organs rn in Paris? DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE PARIS IS FOR PARISIANS DURING THIS EVENT? It cost more than 100€ every week for a parisian to go to work by metro rn. DO YOU KNOW PARISIANS DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO GO WHEREVER THEY PLEASE IN THEIR OWN CITY FOR THIS EVENT? They have to ask for a pass and it can be refused. They were asked to not leave their house as much as possible. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE KICKED OUT SO THEIR LANDLORDS COULD RENT THEIR PLACE ON AIRBNB FOR AN EXPENSIVE ASS PRICE FOR THIS EVENT? Same as the students, where do they go? DO YOU KNOW THEY DEPORTED HOMELESS PEOPLE, WHICH MEANS CHILDREN BECAUSE WE HAVE HOMELESS CHILDREN, OUT OF PARIS FOR THIS EVENT? They forced them into bus to other cities, so Paris could be "clean". No, they are not housed, they are still homeless. DO YOU KNOW SOME SHOPS WERE FORCED TO CLOSE FOR THIS EVENT BECAUSE THEY WERE JUDGED NOT "GOOD ENOUGH" FOR THE EVENT? This includes the small book stores at the edges of the Seine selling vintage books, which is one of the most classic thing about Paris. How are these people suppose to survive without making a dime for a whole month? DO YOU KNOW THAT CORALS WERE DESTROYED FOR THIS EVENT? DO YOU KNOW THAT FACIAL RECOGNITION CAMERAS HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE FOR THIS EVENT? DO YOU KNOW MOST OF THE STAFF FOR THE EVENT ARE VOLUNTEERS, WICH MEANS THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE PAID A DIME AND WORK AWFUL HOURS, ALL BECAUSE THEY WERE MANIPULATED? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE POVERTY CRISIS WE ARE GOING THROUGH IN FRANCE RN WHILE THEY PLANNED OLYMPIC GAMES FOR THE RICH ONLY?

They only give a fuck about shaming France to their own benefit, they never give a fuck about the people. We are going to ruin these games, and we do not feel bad for y'all ass. Cry about the cardboard beds, see how you manage the trash cans not being emptied (garbage collectors are on strike during the event, so nobody is going to do that) and people launching pavement, our national sport since 1789.

[notsocheezy]

Brain Curd #101

Brain Curds are lightly edited flash fiction - practically first drafts - posted daily (haven't missed one yet!) and sometimes written with the express intention of being terrible… but, you know, in an endearing way. Please like and reblog if you enjoy - the notes keep me going!

Professor Creek scribbled on the chalkboard and turned around to face the lecture hall, which was packed full. She looked across the crowd and furrowed her brow.

“No wonder you’ve all decided to take this class. You’re off to an awful start!” She started pointing at every person in the front row. “I found you, I found you, I found you… have any of you ever even played this game?”

She stepped to the side and gestured with both hands to what she’d just written on the board: “Intro to Hide & Seek.”

A guy in the back row raised his hand and Creek pointed at him.

“How do you know you weren’t supposed to be the one hiding?” He chuckled. “Maybe we found you.”

Creek rubbed her forehead. “Christ, this is worse than I thought. There can only be one person who is ‘it’ per game of Hide & Seek! I’m ‘it’! None of you are ‘it’!” She held up her hands and looked at the faces in the crowd. All of them seemed either confused or sleepy.

“Alright…” She sighed. “Let’s start with the basics. There are two broad categories of roles in this game - Hiders and Seekers. Hiders - that’s all of you, class - are meant to find hiding spaces in the general vicinity where the Seeker - also known as ‘it’ - ‘seeks’ them out. The game is over when either all Hiders are found or the Seeker forfeits. It’s a fundamentally asymmetric form of play, and for that reason, is an excellent showcase of strategy. Any questions so far?”

A girl in the third row raised her hand. “Is Tag a form of Hide and Seek?”

“Let me answer your question with another question. Do players hide in Tag?”

“Well, no, but -”

“That’s your answer. Listen up everyone, I know many of you took this class because you thought it was going to be easy credits, but Hide & Seek is a very serious matter. It could save your life someday! Say you’re in your house, and a murderer has broken in -”

The students began chattering and murmuring, shocked.

“Hey, hey, hey!” She snapped her fingers. “Listen up! You aren’t children anymore! You are adults, privileged enough to attend this venerated institution to learn from experts in high-demand fields! Act like it! Now, back on topic: Hide & Seek.”

She waited a moment for the class to calm down and continued.

“This really happened to me, alright, so listen up: An ax-wielding psychopath broke into my home, so what did I do? I used my honed skills to locate a hiding spot where no one would find me, and guess what? He didn’t find me. He checked under the bed, he checked the closet, he checked the shower, but he couldn’t find me. So he moved on! He left! He forfeited the game! My neighbor wasn’t so lucky, bless her soul.”

Most of the students were visibly disturbed at this point. A nonbinary student seated in the middle section of the class raised their hand.

“Where did you hide?”

Creek scoffed. “I can’t tell you that! It’s too advanced for any of you anyway. If you’re curious about those sorts of techniques, I suggest you take my intermediate course next semester.”

Professor Creek used the remaining half hour or so of her time to go over the syllabus, the most important point of which was participation credit. She threatened to cut it to zero for any student she found in the classroom on Wednesdays. Despite her skills at Hide & Seek, she wasn’t able to find a single one of them. Maybe the students weren’t so bad at this after all.