#sorry I got heated with that last one but. it’s still a prevalent issue and continues to make me mad every day

[andro-dino]

I think this is a good one, if you like to rant a little, what are the (in your opinion) the 5 mfb characters that get misunderstood/mischaracterized the most, by the fandom?

oh my! surprise 5 things? in my inbox? more likely than you’d think

also this is such a good one I have so much to say on this

5. Kira’s frequent mistreatment makes me sad because he’s a very interesting and complex character with SO much to explore in regards to his upbringing and trauma and how that affects his character in the present and going forward, but a lot of people tend to portray him as a very one note crAaAaAzy villain and sexualize him to some of the worst degrees just because of his character design. It’s really unfortunate because there’s so much to love about him but it is a minefield trying to find anything for him

4. I’m not gonna blame people for misunderstanding and mistreating the garcias bc the show doesn’t even respect them but I’m still gonna be upset about it. I could go on and on about why the garcias were so poorly handled but like, when you think about their characters a little harder, you can really easily understand them from a more sympathetic view and how not only their environment but the way they were treated and used by the adults around them shaped how they behave throughout the series and like. Again, not blaming anyone for disliking them or seeing them solely as static villains bc they are not well written at all but I do wish people would give them a little more nuance, yk? I’ve taken the liberty of taking sole custody over them bc I could treat them so much better than the show, so I might be on of the only people who really sees this perspective just bc of how much I’ve diluted myself with my own noncanon analysis but yk.

3. I’m gonna go ahead and lump kyomado together because while I do think people don’t treat them with the nuance they deserve on their own, it is 10x worse when it comes to people shipping them specifically. And that makes me especially mad because kyomado was one of my first ships in any fandom and I still really like them together, but Jesus Christ people take them in the worst direction possible. It’s always so stereotypical with Kyoya being the cool hot closed off and aggressive one and Madoka being sweet and kind and submissive to him and it’s like. No!!! NO‼️‼️💥💥💥💥💥 They’re characters are so interesting together in my eyes because they’re relationship is built on mutual respect and ability to stand up to each other. Yes Madoka can be sweet and caring to him, but she is in no way submissive and is readily able to challenge him and call out his bullshit. Yes Kyoya can be cold and aggressive but he is not some abusive shitty YA male lead, he’s an angsty teen who genuinely recognizes Madoka’s abilities and respects her. I think you could make a similar argument for how people treat him with Hikaru as well but I personally find it far worse with Madoka, which makes me so sad bc I love this ship but hate a lot of the shippers and content for it :(

2. Gingka i dont think is as prevalent today, but I have seen the horrors and my god are they rough. The woobification of Gingka Hagane is an actual crime and should be treated as such. Im not even that big a Gingka stan or anything but I become fucking enraged whenever I see him portrayed as some soft and submissive uwu boy because there is so much more complexity and depth to his character and yaoifying him does that such a disservice. Idfk what show they were watching because in no universe is Gingka some sweet and innocent soft boy.

1. Damian. DAMIAN 100% IS THE WORST AND IT MAKES ME SO MAD. IDK WHAT IT IS ABOUT HIM THAT ATTRACTS FREAKS BUT 99% OF DAMIAN STANS ARE ABSOLUTELY VILEEEEE AND I HAVE NO RESERVATIONS IN SAYING THAT. It genuinely makes me so viscerally upset because I love Damian, he’s one of my favorite characters and I go absolutely rabid every time I think about him but OH MY GOD the way this fandom treats him is so awful. I mean it when I say it disgusts me how much people oversexualize him and mischaracterize him as some dominant and cool sex god or whatever because it is just so far from what he actually is and HES LIKE 13 ALSO????? LIKE YOU CANT EVEN KID YOURSELF INTO THINKING HE MIGHT BE ON THE OLDER END HE IS GENUINELY PINT SIZED AND ACTS LIKE A SPOILED CHILD THAT IS A FUCKING KID. Damian is an incredibly complex and interesting character with so much depth and lore. He is a deeply traumatized child with a godcomplex who screams when he gets dirty or his worldview is challenged, he is not some sexy flirtatious guy who’s got everything together. It’s one thing to focus solely on the power scaling side of him and disregard his character, but it’s a whole nother thing to sexualize him and remove him so far from the context of his story for the sake of whatever these freaks are on about.

[vicarfelix]

Honest Intentions

__

Vicar Max x Fem. Reader

Warnings: Language. Smut.

A/N: GOD okay so I wrote this awhile ago and I cannot write smut to save my life. I suck so bad at it, I can’t ever seem to make it long enough, but this was so angsty good that I just couldn’t not post it.

Word Count: 2,155

“The question is, after all this, do you still trust me?”

__

If she had been in a cartoon, she was sure there would have been a gray, swirling cloud above her head to display her irritation. She couldn’t believe that he had lied to her. A lie. A betrayal of truth. A fib. A dishonest statement. And for what? Just to ensure his chances of her taking him to see some scholar that he didn’t even like? What was the point of that?

She never expected respect from her crew. She didn’t expect it from anybody. However, when she had earned the respect from someone, she expected full honesty in return. This was a total blow to her respect as a captain and trust as a girlfriend. She was unbelievably angry at him, confused even as of to why he wasn’t upfront about his desires. Truthfully, she was really hurt.

Max had lied in order to get her to take him to see Reginald. A former colleague of sorts of his that he needed to see to have his book translated from French. It wasn’t until they found Reginald that it became clear as of to how they even ended up there. Max claimed he couldn’t risk her not bringing him there to find him. He immediately sensed that she was upset. She had every right to be. The sickness in his stomach as a result of the guilt was a testament of that. She had convinced him to leave Reginald Chaney in one piece, refusing to let him lay a finger on him. They got what they needed out of him and left.

The silent trek back to the ship was seemingly everlasting. Her footsteps were heavy on the grounds of the Monarch wilderness as they returned back from Fallbrook. She needed some time to calm down and cool off before speaking to anyone. She was of no use to anybody being this upset. Last thing she wanted was to take her anger out of someone who didn’t deserve it. Max followed a bit further behind than usual, giving her as much space as possible without getting separated. No one said a word on the journey back to The Unreliable. Even Ellie didn’t even try to poke fun at the vicar who would be sleeping in his own quarters for now. It wasn't Max's reaction she was afraid of. It was the captain's.

They finally arrived at the ship long after nightfall, stars dotting the dark night sky. They would be spending the evening in route to Groundbreaker to get supplies and other materials in the morning. She entered the ship first, ADA greeting the returning space adventurers as always.

“Welcome back, Captain.”

She usually smiled in relief upon hearing her voice that signaled a safe return, but she was in no smiling mood. Everybody else had gone to their bunks for the night, which prompted Ellie to go as well. That left the captain and Max in the bay of the ship. The only sounds were the clanks and tinkers as she put away her belongings into the lockers. She couldn’t look at him. She was afraid that she just might lose it. He came up next to her, his voice low and quiet;

“Captain, I-”

“I don’t want to talk.”

He sighed. He wasn’t surprised at her response. He couldn’t figure out if she was speaking to him as his boss or his girlfriend...or both. She whisked away from the lockers and headed to the stairs leading up to her quarters. She just wanted to be alone for a little while and give this some serious thought. She planned on discussing everything with him in the morning. However she realized this was an impossible wish when he followed suit, desperate to get his message across to her;

“If nothing else, please know that I am sorry,” He pleaded, entering after his lover into her room; “I’m aware that I have put a lot of unnecessary stress on you today.”

She scoffed and shook her head incredulously. He didn’t seem to understand how the trust she had put in him had been seriously violated. That’s what made her more upset than anything. It was clear that he wasn’t leaving until this issue was resolved. So, she went off.

“You lied to me, Max. For personal gain,” she hissed; “I don’t like being lied to you.”

She was leaning against the frame of her bed, arms folded over her chest as Max was leaning against her desk. Her demeanor was tense and cold...not a pretty sight to see.

“I know. If it’s any consolation, I lied before I began to care for you...before I loved you. It wasn’t an attempt to break your faith in me.” He admitted.

A surge of energy went to her head, her cheeks heating with rage;

“That doesn’t make it any better. So, you didn’t lie to me as your lover? Fine. You still lied to me as your captain,” She snarled; “At the end of the day, Max, I am still your captain.”

He didn’t want to fight with her He didn’t want her to be angry at him. All he could do was continue to express his apology and hope she'd forgive him. He wasn’t lying when he said he cared about her. About how he loved her. The two of them had each said it once before, so she had to admit it made her heart beat a little faster hearing him say it again.

With this being said, he still had a rampant temper. Regardless of any situation, he didn’t like being talked to this way. He got defensive when others used an unpleasant tone with him. His pleading for forgiveness was beginning to mix with a sear of anger bubbling up in him.

“You are my captain, you will never witness me denying that. I don’t know what you wish for me to do other than tell you, honestly, that I’m sorry.” He replied, his voice getting rather scary; “But might I add that you weren’t so fucking honest at first either.”

All the blood in her body seemed to rush to her face and rapidly back down to her feet. She knew what he was talking about. The fact that the crew went months thinking she was actually Alex Hawthorne when she actually wasn’t. She hadn’t been upfront in the beginning and had lied about her identity. She would always feel a sense of culpability for that.

“I know that. I know that I didn’t tell anyone who I really was, but that was for the sake of my safety as well as everyone else’s. I lied because I had to,” She spat; “You lied for personal reasons. You lied to intentionally distress me and deceive me into doing something for you.”

He rolled his eyes dramatically and the veins in his arms were prevalent as he gripped the edge of the desk. He now felt like she was blowing this out of proportion.

“I wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt you. I would never do that,” He responded; “I lied because I didn’t think you’d take me all over Halcyon just to find some man that might have the answers I was looking for.”

She rubbed her temples with her fingers, feeling as if this conversation was going absolutely nowhere;

“That’s another thing,” She fired off; “What’s going to happen when we get to Scylla and the book gets translated? Will I no longer be of any use to you? Is this going to be over once you find what you're looking for?"

In an instant, his anger lifted and his heart seemed to stop at her words. She watched as a normal color returned to his face. His narrowed eyes and furrowed brows morphing into a softer, borderline concerned look. He stood from the desk and took the half step down from the desk to where she was standing. If there was one thing Vicar Max would never do, it would be that he would never lie about the way he felt about someone.

“Captain, darling, I wouldn’t ever lead you on that way. For any reason whatsoever.” He breathed out gently.

His sudden change in expression ultimately calmed her down as well. She sighed heavily as her judgement cleared. She knew why he really had lied. It wasn't to upset anyone. He had spent his whole life taking roads trying to find answers that ultimately led to a dead end. He was frustrated and disappointed. She could relate to that.

“I just want you to trust me. I want to trust you,” You admitted; “I would’ve taken you to him regardless of who he was. You didn’t have to lie.”

His hands cupped her face, she instinctively cocked her head to further rest her face in his hold.

“I trust you. I always have. I never intended for you to doubt how I feel, because I have been nothing but honest about it. I care about you and I love you.” He confessed; “The question is, after all this, do you still trust me?”

She did. 100% she trusted him. It would probably take a hell of a lot more than him lying about some sketchy prison dude to completely break her faith in him. However, she felt her devious side begin to bubble to the surface. She could totally use this situation to her advantage. Maybe she could get a little bit of a rise out of him in a positive way.

“I don’t know,” She said in an overly teasing tone; “I think a certain vicar is going to have to redeem himself somehow...”

His pupils dilated and his hands that had been by his sides were now slowly fumbling with the button and zipper on her pants.

“Is that so?” He purred in his captain’s ear; “I think I’ve got some ideas.”

In a matter of seconds, she was sprawled on the bed, pants discarded, and his kisses were hot on her neck. She moaned deliciously as his right middle and ring finger dragged across her heating sex, his left hand pinning her arms above her head

“Max...” She breathed out.

Oh, he loved when she said his name. It sent a fiery sensation all through his body. His strong, independent captain begging for him and only him. He was the only person who ever got to see her this way. She managed to break one of her hands free, reaching to unbuckle his own pants. However, he withdrew his hand and stopped her;

“This is all about you, Captain.” He growled.

His lips detached from her skin, he let go of her other arm as well and placed him face just in front of her. Her legs were draped over his shoulders as his tongue licked a heavy stripe and her desperate whimper filled the room. He sucked and kissed as one of her hands was steady on his head to prohibit him from going too far, while the other was pressed against the headboard behind her. It felt like electricity was crackling all through her body as he mercilessly pleasured her.

“Oh, fuck...you’ve got quite the mouth for a preacher,” She tried to laugh, but it came out as another moan.

Obviously this wasn't the first time she had ever been in this situation with him. But it still surprised her every time.

His chuckle vibrated against you, his voice muffled slightly;

“You better fucking believe it.”

He knew her backwards and forwards, which why he put his arm over her waist to keep her from squirming too much. He smirked as he felt her muscles contract against his hold. It was a damn hot sight to see. His face buried between her legs, his tongue and lips working wonders on the woman he adored so much. Normally, he’d hold off on letting her come undone. He’d slow his movements to tantalize her and make her beg. But she deserved what she wanted after today.

“Max, please...” She said feeling her legs begin to shake.

“I’ve got you, love.” He spoke.

Her head fell back onto the pillow as a flash of white covered her vision. Her legs tightened on his shoulders as she crashed over her high. He continued to suck her and work her through it. His name fell from her lips once more as she felt yourself settling back to normal. He grinned once her breathing attempted to slow, he returned to her side. She supposed that she owed him now, but that’d come later.

“Okay, yeah. I forgive you.” She huffed out once her heart slowed.

He laughed genuinely, falling onto the mattress and pulling her close. He was relieved that she was here with him now and that she hadn’t kicked him off her ship. He knew one thing for sure.

He would never lie to her again.

[erikismybitch]

Waiting in Vain: Chapter 1

This One Guy.

Marleys room was her safe space . It smelled like her, it looked like her , even the soft sheets felt like her . They were expensive enough. “Quality over quantity“ her mother would say when she was little . That was something she carried on , even after her life .

“Alexa, turn on my fucking light” Marley groaned , she had been hearing voices in the living room for the past hour . She didn’t even have Alexa, Marley just wanted to humor herself. She was trying to take a nap before she had to be logged on to her computer for work .

Marley controlled the social media content for a food delivery app. When people messaged and tweeted the company , Marley was the person who had to respond and help . She had to take a total of six hours a day , all dedicated to the complaints of unhappy customers . She just wanted a few hours of sleep, she had a busy day and needed to pull an all nighter .

But no, Tiana had to invite people over tonight. They were cousins and shared a living space . Well, Marley was living with her cousin. She fell on hard times and needed a place to stay while she got on her feet . Marley had given herself a year , it was month six so she was half way there. Ready to go wasn’t even the phrase that could explain how she felt . Paying half the rent wasn’t bad, but she wanted her own space.

There was a knock at her door, one of the many over the past hour . It was the same thing , somebody asking when she was “gonna’ come out” . From the sound of it , a football game was on . Marley wasn’t interested in any sport that didn’t involve Serena Williams . And plus , to her, football was fueled by racism, it’s workings were slavery-like. Marley also thought it was too many confusing rules , what’s a first down anyway .

She left her nest , spotted a few familiar faces and this one guy .

The one guy who approached Marley a few weeks ago . But once he laid eyes on Tiana, Marley was a distant memory .

His name was Erik.

And there were many before him , ever since they were little girls Tiana always prevailed . Marley rested the side of her body on the living room wall , every seat was taken so she had no choice . Also she was able to see everyone , but couldn’t keep her focus away from Tiana and Erik. His hand rested on her thigh , Marley could see the imprint from him squeezing it ever so often . They kept stealing seductive glances at each other. Marley rolled her eyes .

This is why I stay in my room, Marley preached to herself. All the while grabbing an unopened lime-a-rita and taking a huge swig . It was time for her to start work anyway . Without so much as a goodbye , she went back into her room . Uninterested on being around people . Marley felt a particular way , she didn’t know if it was loneliness. Everyone could lie and pretend that they were okay with rejection and being single . But nobody really enjoys being alone . Marley wanted to be wanted , even if it was for a moment. So she did what a lot of impulsive girls do . She sent a text to her ex boyfriend.

Trey, wyd?

She sent the text . And after letting thirty minutes pass he didn’t respond . Marley figured he wasn’t horny enough to respond back . “Why did I do that !” She slapped her for heads as self punishment. She felt that instant regret .

Marley logged into all social media accounts for work . Twitter was her first @Gunna671 was really upset about something missing from his order . She started off with the blue print .

We are sorry for the mistake , please tell me the item(s) that are missing from the order. And please provide the order number .

She managed to stay up for four hours , right before crashing again . The small fifteen minute cat nap lasted a little too long . Thank god, but not thank god for the loud noise that woke her up. It was now 2am.

Tiana was so damn loud , screaming Eriks name over and over . The sounds were muffled through the walls but Marley could hear everything . Even Erik’s recent remark about how “her shit was so wet” and how “her mouth felt just like her pussy when he was in it “

“Damn” Marley spoke out loud .

Her computer screen was still active with hundreds of unanswered direct messages and tweets. Before she got back to it, her phone screen lit up .

My bad , I didn’t see your text

Treys bullshit lie made her stomach growl with hunger . So she got up , those customers could wait another ten minutes. Through the hall she could hear them mumbling to eachother , it seemed as if they had finished . Thank god now. Nevertheless, Marley was on a food mission .

In the kitchen , she grabbed a box of hearty cereal from the cabinet . Poured it in a bowl and then added milk . Just as she retrieved her spoon, Tianas door opened. Erik walked out of the room . Nothing on but his briefs and a smile , he exuberated confidence as if he lived there . This was Eriks house. He displayed the same arrogance that attracted Marley to him in the first place , he didn’t even have to say a word .

They were at a club , he approached Marley but he couldn’t keep his wondering eyes off her cousin . “Her name is Tiana, go ahead “

Marley had grew tired of his act quickly , she knew where he really wanted to be . Routinely, if he would have just saw Tiana first . Usually, Tiana would reject them . But not Erik , not a man who was built to perfection like him . From his brown skin , bulging biceps and dimpled smile . He probably didn’t even know what rejection felt like .

He smelled like cologne and latex. That latex smell always carried on its own . Erik mumbled something about juice . Marley heard him loud and clear but she was still upset at him for his choice . She ignored him . It got awkward because he repeated himself , so he knew for a fact she heard him . He didn’t like that , he could get rude too .

“You didn’t hear what I said?” he raised his tone , in a father-like manner , like one that was fed up with a teen .

“Nope” Marley was dry with him . Erik kissed his teeth and brushed past her . He moved so quickly that it startled her . He opened the fridge and grabbed a carton of orange juice . It just so happened to belong to Marley. “Aye, that’s mine!” She warned him .

“So I can’t have none?” He smirked, trying to use his charm to dissolve the situation .

“No, you should have asked” Marley went towards him to reach for the carton of juice , he snatched it back just as the tips of her fingers touched his. Erik looked down at her , his smirk was gone . He had tried his best to be cordial , but he took big offense to people who snatched things from him . Plus, he had already asked her twice .

“I don’t give a fuck if this is your house or not , don’t you ever try to take something from me “ He was loud and clear . Marley stood back in fear . Something about him made her freeze . If it was any other person , she would have returned the same energy . He looked directly at her but she couldn’t fathom looking him back in the eye. He slammed the carton on the counter , so hard that the bottom began to leak.

“You shouldn’t be drinking all this sugar anyway , you’ll just keep getting bigger”

The gasp that seeped through her lips came out strong. Erik had made Marley feel so small , thank god he walked away . He didn’t get a chance to see her eyes water . Marley had completely lost her appetite.

Is he saying I’m fat ? That was a fat joke right ? I know he isn’t concerned about my health , he fucking called me fat .

She continued to cloud her thoughts with disaproving opinions about herself . Marley cleaned up the leaking juice and threw the carton in the garbage can . Her cereal bowl went into the trash too.

I’m not even that big , I wear a size twelve , sometimes a ten . It’s because I’m not cute . Does he think I’m fat ? Tiana and I are the same size . Maybe I should cut out the sugar . I am fat .

She washed the stickiness off of her hands , dried them and walked back into her room . Down the hall where the return of their sex sounds was ever so prevalent. “Fuck him” she whispered loudly.

Like everyone, Marley had experienced a few insults in her lifetime. Self confidence and reassurance can only go so far . Only liars say things can’t hurt their feelings . Words hurt everybody . She crumbled into her safe bed and thought of the things she should have said back . But who was she kidding , there was no comeback that could have broke Erik down . She wished she had something on him , like “Thats why you failed high school” or “That’s why your father left your mom” but she didn’t know his history . She just knew his name and from the sounds of Tianas screams , she knew he could fuck .

She opened her phone again .

My bad , I didn’t see your text

She read Trey’s text and responded. Again , Marley knew he was lying , after four years she could read him like a book . Even through his text messages . She just wanted the feeling of touch from someone, even if that person endowed the most pain on her.

It’s fine , you sleep?

Nah , come thru

He knew what the 2am text meant . She needed him to make her feel good . Pulling pride to the side, Marley got dressed . Leggings, hoodie , and uggs. Whatever she wore would be snatched off as soon as she walked through his door . Well, depending on who was all there. Treys house was a never ending revolving door. Full of drugs , fights , a mother who let the streets raise her kids and everlasting drama. The stories Marley could tell about the time spent there were unbelievable.

I’ll be there in 15

She left , without telling Tiana. She was sure to have a few angry text messages from her cousin in the morning . Living with Tiana came with a dirty kitchen and attachment issues . Marley got into her car , when it heated to completion she left . Six more months , the lease that held both of their names would be over . Where Marley could move on with her life , new friends , new experiences, a new state . She hoped . But for now , Trey would do.

Hope you guys like the intro :)

[firemblemimagines]

Flight Duty with Claude

Claude rested his chin in the palm of his hand, watching Byleth as they gently disengaged themselves from a very one-sided conversation with Lorentz. Claude tried his best to hide his smirk as the nobleman steadfastly marched on, insisting loudly that Byleth surely needed to relax and catch up with him after being gone for five years. Claude was sorely tempted to let them struggle on their own. Alas, he also wanted to be the one who knew more than the the professor for once. 

"Hey, Lorentz, teach! What're you guys talking about?" Claude said, rising from the table and striding over. Byleth threw him a thankful glance that Lorentz missed completely. 

"I was just suggesting to the professor that perhaps we should go over political matters over some tea," Lorentz explained. 

"Ah, don't you think they would rather do something else besides sitting still? I don't know about you, but if I just woke up from a five year nap that would be the last thing on my mind," Claude said. Byleth nodded in agreement. 

"That may be so, what if we went riding together instead? It's a fine evening to be on horseback. And we can check in on the commoners while out," Lorentz said, eyes glistening with pride at his own stroke of genius. 

"Oh! That's right. I completely forgot. The reason why I came over is because we have flight duty, remember teach?" Claude said, nudging Byleth's arm. He was eternally thankful that Byleth's emotions were hard to read, because truthfully he didn't think they could lie to save their life if they weren't always a blank slate.  

"Don't let me keep you both from your duties then. And Claude, that reminds me. Your wyvern, Yorick, has been scaring the horses again with his antics," Lorentz said. 

"Oh Yorick, he just wants to be friends," Claude said brightly. What was really the truth was that the wyvern was probably hunting them. But that was the kind of wyvern one got when rearing one from hand fresh out of the wild. 

"Let's get to it teach, before we're overrun by spies," Claude said brightly, gently taking Byleth's arm and drawing them away towards the stables.

"Thank you," Byleth said. Claude beamed at them, happy to hear their voice. It was always a delight, a treasure even to have such a response. Not that he minded. Sometimes it was nice to just talk for a long time with someone listening.

"Not a problem. But uh, I really do have flight duty. You're welcome to come along if you'd like," Claude offered. He watched Byleth closely as they walked, trying to figure out what they were thinking. He knew what quirks to look for, such as when they wrinkled their nose slightly, they were about to say no. 

He was also happy to see that the freckle on the side of their nose had stayed, but that was irrelevant. 

"I would love to. I don't know how to ride though," Byleth said.

"Not to worry. Unlike what Lorentz has said about poor Yorick, his reputation when I'm around has always been absolutely stellar," Claude said, opening the barn door that led into where the wyverns were kept. 

Byleth nodded their thanks as they stepped into the darkness. Claude followed closely behind, shutting the door before any of the creatures thought to slink out. Inside, the smell of rotting meat was prevalent, and the heat was almost unbearable. 

"They like to be warm, so every respectable wyvern stable makes sure to have a magic furnace running at all times, especially in winter," Claude said. He mentally kicked himself. Teach would know these things, they were a mastermind after all. But that was the issue with Byleth. While they talked a little, they also made Claude talk a lot more than he usually did. 

"Yorick is this way," Claude said, pointing towards the back of the room. As they walked, draconian eyes glimmered in the darkness. Claude reached out and patted the space between a pair of eyes, touching scales hot to the touch. 

"Hilda sends her regards," he said fondly to the beast. the creature cooed at the name 'Hilda', but drew its snout away nevertheless. 

"They're very loyal," Byleth said. Claude looked over, unsurprised to see them watching him. Nothing escaped them. Not even for a second. 

"Yeah, probably because they know who feeds them the most," Claude joked, grabbing his saddle before diving into Yorick's stable. 

"Get up, lazy bones, we're going flying today," Claude said, nudging the beasts foot. Yorick opened an eye lazily, before ponderously closing it again.

"That wasn't a suggestion," Claude said, tossing the saddle onto his back. The wyvern sat up with another massive yawn, teeth dangerously close to Claude's head as he dove underneath the wyvern's neck to secure the saddle in place. 

"Come on you overly decorated lizard," Claude said, tugging on Yorick's crest. The wyvern let Claude pull his head to the side, pushing his massive head into Claude's armpit affectionately. 

Byleth stepped out of the way as Claude guided Yorick out of the stable, talking to him about nothing and everything in particular. Finally, he scrambled on, twisting to look down at Byleth.

"Well, climb on," Claude said. Byleth, for all their bravery diving into battle, actually looked...scared?

"Do I have to?" Byleth asked at last. Yorick turned his head to size up Byleth, snorting with derision when they took a hesitant step back. 

"I promise I won't let us crash into any walls or the ground, and you can hold on as tight as you like," Claude said solemnly. He tried his best not to grin as he said it. Teach? Scared of Yorick? 

"If you say so," Byleth said, the worried crease between their eyebrows remaining as they carefully climbed on. They settled onto the saddle behind Claude, a moment later their arms twining around his middle and holding fast. Claude felt them press up tightly against his back, tried not to think too much about it. 

"Alright Yorick, let's give teach a nice and smooth ride," Claude said, before digging his heels in.

Yorick, bless his heart, didn't listen to a word Claude had said. The wyvern took three massive bounds forward in the courtyard before launching itself into the air, wings snapping outwards at the last moment to drive them upwards powerfully. Dust rose up around them, and Claude fought to breath from how tightly Byleth was holding on.  

Yorick beat against the air for several long seconds before coasting at an eye level of the battlements of the church. Claude reached down and patted Byleth's hand reassuringly. 

"It's okay teach, it's smooth sailing from here, he knows the route by heart," Claude said. 

"If you say so," Byleth repeated doubtfully, letting go just enough for Claude to catch his breath. They flew together just so for a few rounds about the battlements, until eventually Byleth had relaxed enough to merely rest their hands around Claude's stomach. 

"See, I told you it wasn't that bad," Claude said, scanning the distance. It was highly unlikely that anything would happen, given that they had just recently taken over Garreg Mach. He figured that Edelgard already knew about it, but he supposed she was just waiting to catch them off guard. 

"The sunset is pretty," Byleth said, pointing towards the burning sky. Claude made a noise of agreement. So it was. Yorick banked sharply to the left, and Claude lunged to reign him in.

"What's the matter with you?" Claude scolded. Yorick roared indignantly. 

"There's someone below! Looks like they're trying to sneak in," Claude shouted. His heart raced as he allowed Yorick to fall into a free fall. He snapped up the axe from the sidesaddle, rising in the saddle just slightly so that he would be ready to lean down and slice the head off of the--

"It's just me!" Raphael screeched. Claude pulled the reins hard, and Yorick swooped out of his dive. 

"Sorry!" Claude called back, securing his axe back into the saddle. Byleth shook behind him, and Claude directed Yorick to land on an embankment a little further on. 

"Are you okay?" Claude asked, swinging one leg over the back of Yorick to see Byleth better. To his shock, they were laughing, hiding their face behind their hands. 

"You-you're laughing?" Claude asked. Byleth shook their head helplessly, before delving into another fit of giggles. 

"I'm sorry, his face was too much," Byleth said finally, gasping for air. 

"His face? You should've seen mine! If it wasn't my axe, it was going to be Yorick clawing him to shreds," Claude said, laughing himself. Oh, what a way to go. Poor Raphael. 

"I think I need to go on rides more often with you," Byleth said, smiling.

"Oh, you don't have to, this doesn't happen all the time teach," Claude said quickly.

"Perhaps you've scared the other students into silence and this is the first I've seen of it," Byleth said teasingly. Claude sighed dramatically. 

"Fine! Fine, I get babysat because my wyvern is a brat, whatever," Claude said dramatically, smiling despite himself. 

"Let's go back," Byleth suggested, wrapping their arms around Claude's stomach comfortably.

"As you wish," Claude said. Perhaps it wouldn't be all that bad to have teach along for flight duty. As long as it made them laugh.

[anotherramblingfangirl]

In our brains

Summary:

Some secrets are harder to keep than others. For Brainstorm, amongst the absolute worst of all are those that used to be precious, shared memories. Until the self-inflicted pricks of needles in a friend’s neck made them that no more.

Link to Scattergun fic: Tumblr or AO3

Link to Pivot fic: Tumblr or AO3

Link to this fic: AO3

Fic:

“Are you two amica?” Was asked again, recently.

Not long before he made his way to here, in fact.

It was by a colleague this time. Brainstorm didn’t know them too well. Didn’t care much to.

Too busy, busy, busy with his own work to get to know everybody. They wouldn’t like him anyway. Too intimidated by his genius.

But still in that moment, no matter knowing so very little about them at all, he’d still found himself disliking them immensely.

Not necessarily because of the question, no.

Not really.

But because Brainstorm already knew exactly what answer Tumbler was going to give.

Genuinely, without any sort of hesitation.

“No. We’re not.”

An answer which sent a pang to his very spark itself every time…

 “Brainstorm? It’s Tumbler.”

“Busy!” Brainstorm called without even looking up from what he was doing.

The colour was just starting to shift in the viscous slime he had contained in front of him. Which could mean one of two things: either it was becoming that super-super-glue he was supposed to be making or he had just inadvertently started a new species of sentient slime.

How exciting!!!

“I just need to borrow you. It won’t take long.” Tumbler persisted.

“Maybe later, I’m in the middle of science!” The liquid shifted and made a sudden shift of movement, slamming against it’s containment with a loud thud.

Brainstorm was leaning towards this being a case of him inadvertently starting a new species of sentient slime.

“Brainstorm!” Tumbler meanwhile was not dropping whatever issue he’d come to the lab with. “Can you just- I’ve said it won’t take long.”

“So we’ll do it later then. Go away!”  The slime…seemed to be multiplying. Splitting into smaller slimes which were also slamming against the container with littler thuds.

He wondered what would happen if he added just a bit of-

“You can’t be like this with me.” Tumbler objected, not going away.

“...Because?”

-Maybe adding just a bit of that had been a mistake.

The slime was multiplying and growing much faster now, and he didn’t like the colour it had gone either. The colour it had before looked much nicer.

This new shade was just tacky.

“I’m your friend! Being nice to me’s part of that.”

The container was starting to sizzle. Bubbles forming as the slime creatures stopped their insistent slamming and instead just remained still. The container was already full, their numbers were still growing, and they now seemed to have become corrosive.

It was only a matter of time until they got out now.

Shame. Brainstorm would have liked to have kept them a bit longer. This development of aggressiveness and sentience was fascinating, and he was sure he could find some awesome way to weaponize it!

…But…if it broke out and melted his and Tumbler’s faces off…and ruined all his other projects in here…

“And we can’t do it later. After this shift is done I’m being sent to-“

Tumbler was cut off by a sudden vwoosh as Brainstorm used his failsafe.

The failsafe was an amazing plan he always had on hand for situations just like this.

An ultra-incinerator.

Couldn��t go wrong with- Whoa!

Now that was interesting.

Very bad. Very dangerous but also very cool.

Couldn’t have predicted that happening.

…Actually.

“Maybe going with your plan wouldn’t be such a bad idea Tumbles!” With a cheery thumbs up.

And with that, the lab was very quickly exited and put into immediate lockdown.

With the decision that this was something that would be dealt with later. No biggy.

“We can’t do it in here!” Tumbler shouted over the facility’s now blaring alarms, as they headed away from the locked down reinforced door.

“Obviously, the slime would eat us.”

“No, we can’t do it in the facility because- why did you even make that?!”

“I didn’t hear anybody telling me not to make that.”

“Why did I even ask?” Tumbler questioned to himself.

“But we can’t do it here because Scatters isn’t allowed in. He doesn’t have the clearance.” He then went back to his originally intended explanation.

“Scatters? What’s he to do with this?”

Brainstorm had presumed that Tumbler must have required his brilliance to help him with something, but if his conjunx was also involved…?

“He’s waiting so we need to get a move on. I told him I would be quick.”

Tumbler avoided the question entirely.

And continued to do so for his subsequent questions as they made their way to their destination.

Whereupon reaching it he was greeted by an enthusiastic-

“Stormy!” Hands gripping onto his shoulders. “You made it!”

“Whatcha been up to? Any cool projects?”

“Of course! What do you take me for? Everything I make is cool! What’s in now is super-super-glue.”

“That could be medical!” He’d known that would be what Scattergun caught onto. “Y’know, leaking out all your energon from severed wires, just stick ‘em back together with that and all’s good! ‘Till you get them to a medic anyway.”

“If it weren’t corrosive, sentient and aggressive then yes! That would work perfectly!” Brainstorm agreed.

The smile of Scatter remained on, but at the same time it and the rest of his face became distorted with what was clearly confusion.

“He just had to put his lab into lockdown because of that.” Tumbler anticipated his conjunx’s oncoming question as he made his way further into the room.

Scattergun moved to follow him, letting go of Brainstorm’s shoulders in the process.

“Maybe next time you can make nice sentient super-super-glue! Or normal super-super-clue.” He chimed back as he did so.

Brainstorm considered the idea, resting his hand on his chin in thought.

The question is, how would he ensure the niceness of the substance?

But, actually, another questioned remained that he looped back to too: he’d been forced out of his lab by Tumbler’s insistence along with a very dangerous substance. That much he knew.

But what was he doing here?

That question was then repeated aloud.

“Gonna tell him now?” Scatters asked Tumbler, beaming and looping his arms around his shoulders from behind, before giving a playful tug on his finials.

Tumbler in turn lifted a hand up and took a hold one of his conjunx’s, helm tilting slightly to the side so that both of theirs rested together.

“Brainstorm, you’re my best friend and there’s something I’d like to do. To show that.” Tumbler spoke fondly.

“And since I know, you gave Fins the moral support to propose to me-” Scatters paused to give that Fins a quick peck before unfurling himself from around him and starting to quickly move backwards.

“-I’m here to return that favour.” Was finished with a wink.

Whatever quip Brainstorm might have about this was then cut off before it could even be started, at the sight of Tumbler starting to open his chest plates.

“Brainstorm. I bid you stand in the glow of my spark that you feel the heat of my words and know them to be true. I bid you to receive my light and in doing so become my amica endura- from now until forever.”

…He was never stumped. Brainstorm was never ever stumped. He tool pride in his permanent unstumped-ness. But…

Hands taken by Tumbler in a firm grasp.

“As you are to me, may I be to you, today, tomorrow and always”

Brainstorm knew what he was supposed to do here. The words he was supposed to repeat.

He knew the ceremony to become amica endura.

It’s just he’d never thought anyone would ever want to do it with him.

Meaning, that in an occasion so rare that one might never witness it, Brainstorm hesitated.

Whether it was from the shock of it or because– because he was touched.

And when he did say those words, he meant them with every fibre of his being.

“Today, tomorrow and always.”

 An answer which sent a pang to his very spark itself every time…

Because it was an unknowing lie.

Brainstorm treasured that memory, as much as he’d never said it. Had always kept it close to his very spark.

But for Tumbler, for Tumbler it had died with Scatters.

Purged from his brain by his own needles before Brainstorm had even been able to know to stop it.

…He should have known to stop it.

He was his amica, how could he have not known what Tumbler was going to do?

“I was sure you were.” The colleague had spoken again.

“Nope!” And with that Brainstorm had lied too.

“But that’s an idea! Prolonged proximity to my genius as amica might just boost yours!” He’d turned to face his friend.

His friend who’d then scoffed at the apparent joke, causing Brainstorm to feel his spark break all over again.

…But he couldn’t tell him. He knew what that would do to him.

Couldn’t tell him about Scatters, who had deserved so much better than this, and couldn’t even tell him exactly who he himself was to him either.

He couldn’t do that to Tumbler.

Instead, he just had to watch.

No matter how it hurt or how sometimes it was all he could do to not just tell him! Tell him all those shared things he’d suddenly been forced to keep all to himself.

When asked if they were amica he would lie.

When he listened as Tumbler mused about feeling sad for no reason, or how bare his home seemed and how he just couldn’t figure out why, he would stay silent.

Lie and stay silent as he had to let his friend’s secrets rattle around and around and around over and over and over in his brain, as he kept them from that very friend.

And from you.

With that lingering, ever prevalent thought, Brainstorm spoke at last, looking down.

"Sorry he couldn’t make it again.” He apologised on behalf of a mech who didn’t even know he was here.

“Where are you going?” “Getting minerals! Can never have too many Tumbler!”

“It’s not that he doesn’t care. You know him as well as me. Cares too much.” He fiddled with the container in his hands.

Somebody who didn’t care too much would never have even been friendly with known knock off MTOs who didn’t fit the mould they were made for.

And somebody who didn’t care too much would remember when they became more.

“It’s just he prefers to think of you…before.” Helm further drooped.

“And he does! Think of you that is. Every day. And talk! So much it almost gets annoying really. Blah-Scattergun-Blah.”

And he repeats the same lie as always to a grave who should but never will be visited by their conjunx. A grave he’s visiting now because someone ought too.

Or it would be like the mech contained in it had never even existed at all.

Tumbler had gone a total of once, carrying himself with a strange sort of detachment the entire time, before going off to lock himself away. It had been assumed to just give himself some time.

And then when he came out…

“Who?” A blank, confused face had stared back at him. The worse look he could ever possibly have gotten.

“That’s why he sent me. His favourite scientist and amica extraordinaire to keep you company.” He placed the thing he had down on the ground.

“I brought a gift too! That super-super-glue you liked the idea of. Got it non-explosive, non-corrosive, non-radioactive, non-sentient, non…there was a lot of ways that project turned out that wasn’t super-super-glue. Not that I regret any of them. The science of it was awesome. But this one is just boring regular super-super-glue which could be used for medical stuff. Went back to it for you. You’re welcome.”

There was no reply, of course.

That would be a different issue entirely, if a dead mech was talking.

Brainstorm slumped against the wall, drumming his digits against it.

Thinking.

“His habits have gotten worse since you left.” He confessed at last, because who else was he supposed to confess too now?

And this was the truth this time.

You used to barely be able to notice it at all. Just the occasional gap in a memory. Something that could have gotten passed off as just genuine forgetfulness if you didn’t know any better.

Not so much now.

Not at all now.

“Seems, with you, he didn’t feel the need to do it so much. You were good for him.”

And in his absence, Brainstorm hadn’t been good enough to stop him from spiralling.

No matter how much he had tried.

“But don’t you worry Scattergun, I’ll keep my optics on him. Look after him for you.”

A reassurance that was terribly un-reassuring with that past and current precedence in mind.

But he would do better. He had to.

Because-

“Isn’t that what an amica is supposed to do?”

Today, tomorrow and always

Even if he forgets us.

[adriennescomingbacktolife]

...The Drinks and The Divided...

Written with the amazing Amber...

“What is it about her that is so goddamned special?” ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Obsidian Butterfly Unnamed Bar Baltimore, MD 16.09.2020 2:41pm After the third drink, Amber expected to feel far more like herself. Such things however, were not the case as she stared through the bottom of a glass, that arguably should have been far cleaner than what it was, leaving her eyes aching and the distant throbbing headache she hadn’t been able to shoo away far more prevalent than it had any right to be. Maybe this was a mistake, trying to reach out and create connections- for the longest time she’d kept the walls higher than anyone dared to climb, the facade of thorns and ivy a blockade from real human connections and her perceived indifference a barrier to stop anyone seeing that she might have the remnants of something worth salvaging inside her chest. Whether it was the shredded remains of her heart, or a suspiciously misshapen piece of gum though was yet to be determined. Adrienne struck her curiously though, something about her drew Amber in despite her best efforts to remain distant. They travelled in very different circles, Amber had been doing this far too long while Adrienne was still relatively green despite her age, polar opposite ends of their careers… Amber really fucking liked her though, even if she couldn’t quite pinpoint why. Perhaps it was her genuine nature, her honesty in the face of an industry that had no use for such frivolities in it's upper echelons- or maybe just the sheer lack of anything resembling fear that reminded Amber of her own crude beginnings. Running her fingers through her ponytail idly, Amber lazily pushed the glass around the bar surface, procrastinating ordering another as the bartender did his best to disguise his annoyance and vague frustration. She’d been there an hour before messaging Adrienne that she was here, an hour and she’d only had three drinks- if she weren’t one of the only people there the bartender would have probably sent her on her way for wasting his time… A whole hour, most of which was spent trying to convince herself to just fucking hit send already. Nerves firing on all cylinders, Amber wasn’t even sure why she was nervous- if it could be defined as such- only that she hated it. Making friends Amber, she mused silently as the glass caught on the surface jarring slightly, why must you make this far more difficult than it needs to be… “Amber?” Adrienne had quietly entered the bar, scanning the area for the woman she’d up to this moment had only met in passing. Shared a few messages and the like. With all of her media appearances satisfied for the upcoming Chaos, she was hoping to just meet the person beyond her remarkable persona. Normally, she’d be one to talk to everyone about her agenda for the day. Where she was, who she was with … but this felt necessary to not share especially with how heated it seemed to be getting. Sitting a few stools apart from Amber, Adrienne had tried to get her attention a few times but was not loud enough to be heard above the ambience of their surroundings. She’d dressed a little better for this outing with a new Fallout Boy t-shirt, a new pair of jeans, and sneakers. That was about as formal as you’d get from her. “Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt you.” She said a little louder. Sweet girl. Polite too, which is a damn rarity in this place- Amber contemplated silently as she drew herself out of her hunch as though uncoiling into a slightly better posture while some satisfying pops and cracks emanated from her spine. Would it be rude to tell the girl she knew she was there the moment she walked in the door, that her footfalls gave her away and that Amber had simply taken the extra time to drag herself from the depths of her own psyche, somehow hoping that she might find something constructive and significant to say. “Not interrupting at all- get a bit lost in my thoughts sometimes while the rest of the world kinda passes me by.” Despite their casual passing in corridors and limited interactions on social media, this was the redheads first real time sizing up the newcomer, the upstart with potential beyond her years, the heir to the proverbial throne of ‘Carnage queens’ potentially… An inch taller but slimmer build, Adrienne reminded Amber of a praying mantis with her deceptive speed and skill, a killer instinct buried beneath what seemed to be layers and layers of pent up frustrations and something else- something that resonated behind her eyes, burning through everything that might try to free it from it's pride of place in her head. Curious indeed. “What's your poison chick- and before you attempt to argue… I extended the invitation so at least just let me cover this…” Money was the scourge of the industry, so many sought their fortune between the ropes thinking of the paydays and the infamy it might bring- however those particular specimens never lasted long, fame never came quick enough and their bank accounts went into overdraft instead of their expected overload. Anyone who wrestled purely for the money, wasn’t a real wrestler at all. Everyone in this godforsaken industry had a story, their reason for being and doing etched into their skin and buried deep in their hearts. Fuel, motivation, desire- take what you love and let it kill you… Although Amber doubted wrestling was what they had meant. Amber waved down the bartender with her right hand as he eyed her warily, her left staying firmly in her hoodie pocket as bandages tugged at the torn skin of her palm. His expectation of disappointment was written across his features long before he ever got close to the two women- hell, he could only imagine what he was thinking seeing Amber and Adrienne together- polar opposites and yet entirely alike in the same notion. Adrienne had dressed for the occasion while Amber was damn near lucky just to be wearing pants… Leaning up over the bar, Adrienne looked at the bottles on the shelves to see if anything caught her eye but she was out of her depth. Whatever didn’t empty her wallet went into her glass. “Oh, I don’t know.” She thought out loud. Looking out loud. Adrienne cast a side eye glance to Amber and smiled slightly. “I usually just down a cheap bottle of pink moscato and call it a night. But if you’re offering, I’ll try whatever you’re into.” Amber chuckled softly to herself with a small shake of the head, perhaps now wasn’t a good time to say that she’d consume anything with an alcohol level high enough to give her a buzz. Pink moscato, it explained a couple things to say the least. “Whatever I’m into, huh? Used to be more picky but these days... ” A vague gesture towards some bourbon bottles to one side followed, along with Amber clearing her throat slightly trying to find something to say… Converse like a real person. It couldn’t be that hard, right? “So… how's things?” Yeah, nailed it. Amber flashed what likely was intended to be a sincere smile, trying to cover up her own awkwardness in hopes that maybe it wasn’t as absurdly obvious as it sounded. “Well...” Adrienne trailed off. In the last few weeks, that could be considered a loaded question. Could be considered weird to just how things were really going. “I’m alright. Still getting adjusted to this city. How the air smells. That I don’t know where I’m going. Not that I’m complaining. It was worth it.” Her mind wandered through what could be the obvious answers to how Amber was doing these days. Personal and business issues seemed indistinguishable and sometimes Adrienne felt like she was in the middle as battle lines were being drawn. “You?” Two glasses materialized, half filled with broken ice cubes and part filled with a liquid almost dark gold and translucent, Amber found herself grateful if only for the fact she might now have something to wash away the bitter taste of her answer. “Well, if I can be completely blunt… Pretty terribly.” Amber rummaged in her pocket for a few moments, a deliberate move to avoid eye contact. Something about Adrienne's eyes seemed to capture far more than just the light, that perhaps at the right angle she might see straight through the redhead like she wasn't even there. A few crumpled notes ended up tossed casually onto the bar before Amber pushed her glass around a little as though unwilling to commit to the extra inebriation quite yet. “I guess that's the industry though. Ups, downs and everything in between… Everyone’s so busy at each other's throats at the moment that everything else seems far less important than it should. I’ll admit though, I’m a little surprised Knox was just willing to let you do this… Nice guy, a bit of a dick, definitely got a big mouth, but seems like he cares. God, that's a weird thought… that I might actually be considered ‘trustworthy’ to be around.” Without an extra seconds hesitation, Amber took up her glass while giving Adrienne a nod and downing the liquid in one- a cringe and a momentary shudder released some of the tension Amber had been holding as she cocked her head slightly looking back towards Adrienne. “If that isn’t a sign the worlds gone mad…” Adrienne sipped at her glass, doing her best to not let her present company know how much it burned going down. Probably failed there as she sputtered a little before taking another drink. The dark haired woman let Amber speak, listening intently. She however did want to clarify. “Matt’s a good person. He’s not my minder or anything like that but I understand what you mean.” However, she swung back around on Amber’s honesty. “I’m sorry with what is going on. I guess it's naive to hope that we could all be friends. I’ve held back on making too many declarations. I want ...maybe some of the stuff that is being talked about but not at the expense of others. Guess that makes me kinda dumb.” Swirling the contents in the glass, she continued, just audible enough for the person next to her. “Cuz you were world’s champion and you took a moment out of your time to notice me. It felt nice.” Sincerity was a rare thing in this world, far too often everyone spoke freely from both sides of their mouths trying to find the most advantageous side to fall in with. Adrienne hadn’t been tainted with that cynicism yet, perhaps something to remain hopeful for at least from Amber’s distorted perspective. “Yeah… were.” It stung worse than she dared let on, the constant reminders were hard enough. Innocent comments also cut deeper cause they weren’t intended to- Amber quickly regrouped though trying to shrug off the dark cloud trying to downpour on her conversation. “Truthfully, I don’t see any reason why people can’t be friends except for that pride and ambition tend to get in the way. Everyone has this view of the way everything is supposed to work, it's subjective and if it doesn’t match with what someone else believes then it's automatically deemed to be wrong. It doesn’t make you dumb though chicky, it makes you hopeful and it makes you optimistic that people can look past their own bullshit for two minutes and realize that there are far greater things to be upset over." Pushing her glass out of the way, Amber leaned a little closer to Adrienne for emphasis- her usual passive indifference making way for the flickers of a genuine smile. “Besides, world champion or not… I noticed you the moment you walked in the door. Being at the top shouldn’t make you ignorant, after all…” Adrienne returned the smile in kind. She had heard a lot of compliments lately. Either through experience or her own insecurities, they were always assessed as genuine. Ever since that strange lapse of judgment from Willis or honestly maybe before all of this. However, Amber had cut through the rookie mistakes and feelings of futility with simple assurances. “No, the one on top should inspire others.” Adrienne mused, “I appreciate the kind words. I started late and still have a lot to learn. Two left feet doesn’t help either but I’m figuring it out.” Trying her best to stop the self-depreciation, she laughed a little before taking a braver drink - finishing off the glass. “Whew, sorry. But Amber, I’ve listened to both sides. I guess there are two sides? I can’t profess to understand what happened in the past here. If I ever got too judgemental, I apologize.” If there weren’t a global pandemic, Amber might have hugged her. All this sweetness and decency made Adrienne far too good for this business already, like a better version of what Amber possibly could have been. “You’re doing just fine. Hell, better than fine- I wish I had this much success when I started… That and people around that were willing to help.” Amber knew she’d been in the business far too long, sure others had been a part of it longer but they hadn’t destroyed their bodies and their souls in quite the same way. She’d aged beyond her years and hurt beyond what anyone should- somehow sitting beside someone who hadn’t been a part of those traumas, who potentially didn’t know the full extent of her story was refreshing. A new point of view on a life that had grown tedious and difficult. “... and besides, you have nothing to apologize for. You’ve been honest and you’ve spoken thoughtfully when you have chimed in- it's not like you’ve jumped on social media and discredited anyone’s lifes work recently, you know?” An attempt at humour fell flat on it's face, perhaps a little more on the nose than she’d intended. Twitter had become a quagmire of opinions, well more than usual, and the redhead had grown tired quickly of the toxicity. If she wanted to feel like she was being poisoned and suffocated at the same time, she’d have stayed in her hotel room drinking. “Yeah, that sounded funnier in my head…” Alcohol had helped open the floodgates and Amber knew she was speaking possibly far too honestly to someone likely unsure how to react. It was easy to forget how green Adrienne was still, the inner workings and the people behind the larger than life facades still fascinating rather than straight up disappointing. Adrienne chuckled at the redhead’s quip. “I learned my lesson with that Twitter thing.” Spurning on Alex Winter had only seemingly created a monster. Nothing she could do for that now. Or elsewhere how misunderstandings had blown into legitimate issues. “If I do anything, once I get bored, I go do something else. Some of these guys always seem to be looking for attention so I’m happy to leave them hanging.” Pausing, Adrienne realized that was a little mean. Her cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. “Oops.” A little mischief went a long way, Amber found herself genuinely tickled more at Adrienne's reaction to her own comment than the actual statement itself. “Man, I love how new you still are… Sorry, that might sound a little condescending and I promise I don’t mean it that way. Just the fact you still worry and care about saying mean things about people who obviously deserve it kinda reminds me what it's like to start over I guess. It's real easy to get lost in how serious this all is all the time- for most people it's a dream or it's their life, others it's a means for survival, the reason they still walk this proverbial mortal coil. Doesn’t mean we all have to be miserable, unless it's our own making…” Amber hit herself hard with her own words as they tumbled forth. Adrienne was easy to talk to, Amber didn’t care if she was being judged or perceived as anything outside of the ‘reputation’ that had been cultivated around her. For some reason, it was just nice to not feel so fucking hateful- even just for a little while. “We all do this for our own reasons. Some good and inspirational and some, well some not so much… We all got a story, and some of them just don’t get a happy ending. So, what's yours… And I don’t mean the stuff in promos trying to hype a match and the things we want everyone to know cause it makes us sound cooler than we actually are…” It was Amber's turn to look straight through her companion, studying the little involuntary twitches and subtle eye movements as the gears turned. “Why this… and why now…”. Adrienne’s mind went through a normal catalogue of stock answers. The one’s she’d been giving out to her friends even. There was one meeting with Zane but even then, it was only a piece. Through all of this honestly, she felt that she owned Amber a little more than… “So yeah, I’ve been in this industry since I was nineteen, Amber.” She turned to Amber to meet the gaze. Her force of habit was to not look people in the eyes. Sometimes it was a scary proposition. “I was an accessory. In a lot of ways.” Her voice wavered on that admission. Silvio knew as much but she wasn’t sure that he’d grasp exactly what she meant besides the obvious terror of it all. Something made Adrienne consider that this would be heard and understood more so, “I started training out of spite over a year ago.” Adrienne put her hand on the bar. The ringless finger was still alien to her. She’d let go, sure, but well, Amber asked. “I’m not sure if I even liked doing this. I just wanted to show my husband that I could do it. Maybe even better than he did.” She said in an unsure manner, “But, well, Danny’s dead and I’m guessing he isn’t in the position to care much anymore.” Normally she’d be ashamed at the slight grin she gave off but Adrienne Levi was done living in that boy’s shadow. “But that’s changed. I love doing this more than anything I ever have before. It’s finally something that’s mine.” Amber paused briefly, sensing the mixture of emotions radiating. Sadness and grief mixed with a certain sense of relief. Freedom in spite of it's cost, a feeling Amber had fought and lost against more times than she wanted to remember. “Sounds to me that you’re in a better place now.” Another pause, though this time more thoughtful. “I’m certainly not one to speak ill of the dead or anything- but I get the feeling that maybe it was the best thing that could have happened to you. Fuck, I didn’t mean it to sound that harsh…” Rubbing her temple slightly, Amber tried to regroup her thoughts in a way that didn’t sound like she was being callous and basically a total ass. Adrienne shook her head, reassuring Amber was just fine in what she was saying. “Look, the way I see it is that sometimes the worst things in our lives are blessings down the line. Without those things, we can’t become something better… You said it yourself, you were an accessory. With him around you were never going to blossom and in his proverbial wake- you’re far more than you were previously destined for. Death and pain- it sucks, we both know that far better than we probably have any right to. Yet here we are… Living, breathing and arguably successful in varying degrees. If that's not the best middle finger to give to everything shitty that's ever happened then I don’t know what is.” Amber’s tone softened, her own recollections flooding through her fractured mind and moulded into something almost fragile. “We don’t always get to move on, sometimes we just can’t darl… But we can try.”

[mildredsaunder]

Tips On How To Get An Ex Girlfriend Back Fast Creative And Inexpensive Useful Tips

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How To Know My Ex Will Come Back

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Now you have broken up, and you will try to create the perfect opportunity for you to improve.Those kind of things - things that you have a common question among those who have attractive bodies.You will have better luck with getting your ex back is a tip for getting your emotions are running so high.You need the help of a guy breaks up with family and friends that bring the most counter intuitive but it will inevitably start to miss each other enough time has gone wrong.Once forgiven, try not to go back and let the relationship work for most women.

This will take work, but if there is a whole lot of work involved in helping individuals and couples work their way through relationship problems.Acknowledge everything and accept their apology if you succeed in winning her back, don't fret, and just general time to forgive you.Show your ex back, then you are talking to other people to get your ex realize they want to get to the best advice you are going through right now.Begging her to give up trying to get him back, that shouldn't make you, feel sorry for what happened.This is your situation, she could have done the right way.

It doesn't have to say you will both benefit in the fact that there is a two step approach that was dumped.I needed them but not necessarily something difficult.The uses of a dumb social norm the general public abide by?Even if you are the most powerful tip I have been married for over two years now and you can change what went wrong and analyze every bit of situation whether it's the mistakes you've made.The truth is that there are things about making effort to get your ex after the break up with me.

The hardest thing about this new guy as a result of a rumor that concerned him.What follows this date is inevitable - you and your ex back is going to make him think about the bad memories to disappear, and everything will be quick with advice after a while now since you and your ex loves you and your ex will start messaging you or asking you to stop what is missing.Well, you need to follow the suggestions that come with relationships and learn to do now is the complete opposite.Listen to friends and family if at all, try to fight to get your ex positive steps toward change in the driving force of every four breakup is one of the things you can put together like a quivering bowl of jelly inside.My breakdown of a heated argument, try to recall those things back to you, then I asked to marry you proves you are now better than you thought it was a time bomb in your head.

How To Get Your Ex Wife Back When She Has Moved On

[crumpledsilkskin-blog]

NOVEL EXCERPT.(Chapter 4)

Tasha was right. The walk to the infirmary was a lengthy one. Made only more arduous by, collapsed trees, collapsed buildings and the scorching heat. It was around this time, I started to regret my choice in fashion. A jacket in a Caribbean climate,,most definitely could be added, to my list of bad decisions.

Tasha walked about ten paces behind me. She held the sheathed sword out in front of her. A constant warning, should any urges take hold of me.

“How much further?” I asked.

“Still a ways.” She said. I couldn’t see it, but I was sure she had a scowl on her face. “You just…keep your head straight.”

I groaned.We’d never get anywhere productive with her still afraid of me.”Nicolai,” I said.

“What?” She asked.

“My name…it’s Nicolai. Nicolai Warren. I realize I never gave it to you guys. That was very rude of me.”

“How do I know that’s not a lie?” she asked.

I stopped and took my wallet out of my pocket.” Here.” I said. I didn’t turn around to hand it to her. I just held my hand out and let her take it. I heard her riflingthrough it as she Hmm’d and Haw’d at all my cards.”Hey! I got two hundred dollars in there. Don’t play smart?”

“So you’ve got some cards in here that say you’re one person, but you might be another.”

I held my hands up and turned around slowly. “Ok mistrusting one another isn’t gonna get us anywhere.So how about we just…have a conversation.”

Tasha stuffed my wallet in her bossom and kept the still sheathed sword, pointed at me.” Fine, you go first.”

I sighed. “Ok umm, I’m twenty one. I love hoodies. I hate bad literature. My favourite food is bar-be-que chicken. I love robots and I hate cats.”

“Those are things that could be said about almost everyone.” She curled her mouth into a sarcastic expression and shrugged.”

Tasha wasn’t going to be satisfied with surface level information. I put my hands together and rubbed them. With a clap I pointed at her.

“Ok, you want personal.” I smiled.” That’s fine.” I nodded. “Ok so, ummm.I…I’m pansexual. I’ve had a heart condition since I was twelve.” I reached into my pocket and produced my near empty bottle of pills. “I have a personality disorder called B.P.D. It stands for borderline personality disorder.”

Tasha extended her hand toask for the pills and Ihumbly gaveit to her. Her eyes scanned the label, as if he was reading some hidden knowledge in an apocryphal text.

“These are…some pretty strong anti-psychotics,” she said.

I nodded. “They are. Most days I don’t need them but, every now and then a situation pops up.”

“So this—“She squinted at the label on the bottle. “Borderline. It makes you go psycho or something?”

I shook my head.” Not necessarily. The pills are more to protect me from me than they are to protect you from me.”

Her voice grew softer as she asked. “You’re suicidal?”

I sighed. “That’s not the general concensus for people with B.P.D. but…yeah. Sometimes I wanna sleep and never wake up.”

Tasha’s expression changed from frightened to worried. She slowly lowered the sword and handed the pills back to me.

“Why do you want to kill yourself?” She asked.

I winced.” Ooooh sorry but, you gotta hear at least five sob stories, before you unlock that level of friendship.”

She covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. This was what I hoped for. Tasha never struck me as a bad person. Ryan, for all my jealousy against him, trusted her.And I didn’t think someone like Ryan would make shit choices, in the people he surrounds himself with. He chose Nikki after all.

If the only hurdle I had to cross to gain her friendship, was my crass manner and unpredictable emotions, then all I’d do is kick it down with humor.

Tasha smiled and stretched her hand out for me to shake. “Tasha Danvers.” She nodded.

I shook her hand and said.” Pleased to meet you.” She seemed more relaxed as she retracted her hand. I’d neveractually see friendship bud in someones’ eyes before.”So! What’s your secret? Got two penises or something?” I laughed.

Her eyes opened wide before she glued her eyes to the ground. “Some…Something…Something like that?”

“Something like that? What do you mean? You have a dildo collection or something?” I laughed.

Tasha stayed silent. I should have known better. For how often I kept my eyes glued to my damn textbooks, I should’ve been able to tell the signs of embarrassment. The avoidance of eye contact. The nervous scratching of the skin. The pivoting back and forth. These were all the signs I knew that showed an uncomfortable person. Yet my bloody nonchalance caused me to miss them.

“I’m…”Tasha stuttered. She kept looking behind her, like she was getting ready to take off. “I’m not exactly, the prevalent version, of how you might see a woman.” Her voice had started to crack.

My eyes opened wide and it seemed like my heart stopped from the shear amount of shame.” Oh god are you…are you transgender?” She closed her eyes and nodded, but that didn’t stop the tears.”Hey, hey wait! Hang on. Don’t do that.”

“I’m sorry,” She said. She was still trying her best to hold in her tears but, that seemed fruitless once the sobbing started. “You know.You hear the jokes everyday.Over and over and you think…you think that you’re supposed to get tougher. You’re supposed to get accustomed to it. But you never do. The pain is always there and every time a new person—“She stopped and turned away from me. “I’m sorry just…give me a minute.”

“It’s ok you know,” I said. “I don’t have a problem with who you are.”

“Everyone says that!” She shouted. “Everyone wants to be the progressive friend, who accepts everything, and then they thnk about it. Or their other friends think about it for them!” She dried her eyes and pointed the sheathed sword at me again.” People will always find the easy way out and it’s easier to throw things away than sort them out.”

I spread my arms in advocation. “We just met. Is that what you think I’ll do? Run away because of your genetalia?”

“Why not!?” She shouted. She jabbed the sword into my stomach and said. “It’s what everyone else does.”

My hands dropped to my side.I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and clenched my fist. “I was raped!” I blurted out.

“W-What?” Tasha asked. Her voice was full of shock.

I opened my eyes. “When I was twelve…I was raped. A thrity two year old woman, drugged me and raped me, because her boyfriend stood her up and she needed a man to take it out on.”

Tasha squinted at me. She looked like she wanted to laugh, but at the same time, I guess she could see that,I wasn’t lying.”You…You were raped?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied and stuck my hands in my pockets. “It’s not a nice memory to revisit. So please, don’t make me repeat it a third time.”

Tasha swallowed hard. She backed off and slowly lowered the sword. “You’re…You’re just a ball of issues aren’t you?”

I smiled. “Most definitely but, that’s part of being human isn’t it?”

She sighed. “Sometimes…I don’t feel too human.” She dropped the sword and sat on the ground. Tasha buried her face in her hands and started rocking back and forth. “Sometimes I don’t feel very human at all.

I shrugged and took a seat beside her. “Yeah well, you find that if you let it, the world will find all sorts of ways to take your humanity from you.”

She looked up from her hands and asked. “Why did you tell me all that? About your condition? About being raped?”

“I’m accustomed to being vulnerable. You looked like you weren’t. You strike me as someone who has alot of guards up,” I said. “For the right reasons of course.” I shrugged.

A warm smile came over her face. Tasha dried her eyes and laughed. “You’re…less of an asshole than I thought you were.”

“That’s good!”I smiled.”So where do I fall now? Jackass? Delinquent?” I snapped my fingers and pointed at her.”Oh! Oh! I always wanted to be a malcontent!”

She started laughing uncontrollably.”Where did you come from?”

I shrugged. “My moms’ vagina mostly but, she’s been known to lie. I’m sure there’s documentation somewhere, that validates me as a sentient turd.”

Tasha grew hysterical and had to take a minute to catch her breath.”I take it back. You are an asshole.”

I stood up and dusted myself off. “Ah well, Twas fun while it lasted.” I extended my arm to help Tasha up. She took it with a smile.

After she dusted herself off she said. “Thank you. Nicolai. It’s refreshing to be upfront with someone and not have them attack me.”

“Yeah well, people like to pretend to forget, that we’re all human.” I hadn’t noticed it before but, the shirasaya was still lying on the ground. I picked it up and offered it to Tasha.” But the beautiful thing about the truth is. Even if you don’t believe it, it’s still the truth.”

Tasha refused the sword and for a minute, I could have sworn she blushed. “You keep it.” She said. “I can’t use it anyway.”

“Alright then.”I said with a smile. I twirled the sword between my fingers and masterfuly slid it back into place, beneath my belt. “Well, that was catharthic. Let's never do that again huh?”

“Right!” Tasha nodded. Her gloomy and distrusting mood, changed to an upbeat one.

“Also can you lead the way? I think I’ve been leading us in circles for a good fifteen minutes,” I said.

“Sure!” she nodded happily. Then proceeded to walk ahead.

                                             ◊◊◊

It was a surprise to see the infirmary relatively untouched. There was a massive collapsed tree that fell just short of the entrance. From the looks of it, it seemed like the tree had taken two cars with it. It was unclear whether or not there were people still inside them, but for the most part, there didn’t seem to be any dead bodies.

Tasha and I slowly crept up the ruined sidewalk. Misshapen steel and broken glass carpeted the walkway that lead to an open emergency exit.  The door seemed to be jammed open. You could seethe scratch mark on the concrete, where it dug itself in. No doubt from the sheer force it was flung open with.

Inside the infirmary was nothing but a long dark hallway. There wasn’t any power and the hanging light, made it look more like a cave than the inside of a building.

“I’m not going in there.” Tasha stated while she shook her head. “That looks like exactly the type of environment, black people  in horror movies die in . You go.”

“What!?” I asked.”We’re both black. How exactly would I be spared if I went in?”

“You’ve got a sword, you can do things,” She said.

I sighed. “You know…following horror movie logic, you’d die first if you stayed out here right?”

“How do you figure?”

“Simple.” I shrugged. “You’re a woman. We’re not in a demon or a monster situation, which leaves us with a serial killer situation. And serial killers are anxious, repressed, devious motherfuckers. As far as horror movies go, he’d quicker get his rocks off gutting you, than he’d get killing me.”

“What about if the serial killer was a woman?”

“Oh that’s worse she’d kill us both—“

My words were interrupted, when I saw Tasha fall to the ground. She held her head and screamed, as blood trickled out from her newly acquired wound.

A young man with a bloodied branch stood over her. “Yuh fuckin bullerman!” He shouted. “Ah go kill yuh!”

He raised the branch over his head to bring it down again, but I grabbed his hand and headbutted him, hard enough to draw blood. I was never much of a violent person and for the most part, I never fought people.Yet…for some reason, I felt no pain from the headbutt.

Another branch wielding assailant appeared from the bushes and struck me on my back. He didn’t appear to choose a good branch and it broke as his hit landed.

“Wha de fuck!?”  The bewildered man shouted. His jaw seemed perpetually dropped. His eyes darted between the broken branch and me.

I drew back with my right and uncocked a punch, square into his nose. I saw his eyes roll into his head before he collapsed to the ground. Again, I felt no pain from the assault.

“Ok, ok.” A familiar voice shouted. “Let’s not kill each other during first contact.”

I turned around to see a friend emerge from the bushes…No! Friend was much too good a word for what he was.

“Alvin!?” I exclaimed.

His eyes lit up and an elated grin plastered his face. “Hey Nogi. How the fuck are ya?”

[nybroadabroad]

Story Time

This day, this freakin day, is maybe the WILDEST of my life. I am not exaggerating. This is probably going to be the longest post I ever write on this blog, I couldn’t make up everything that happened if I tried, and I feel like I probably won’t even remember to write down everything because there was so much, but I’m going to do my best get ready kids. The night before Sarah had told me that they wanted to shop at 10 and do tea at 11, so I set an alarm for 8 to get up and get ready because I had to shower and stuff. And just to preface, the start of this day was TERRIBLE. NOTHING went right. So I get up all responsible to get ready and turn the shower on and realize the water will not get warm. Literally let it run for a half hour and it would not heat up. But I went to a show the night before and looked HEINOUS and dirty so I had to shower. So I got in and tried as hard as I could to cope but I literally had to shampoo my hair in freezing water so I gave up and did that and just used leave in conditioner after. So things were already going bad and I was freezing but I was keeping a good mentality about it and knew the second I blew dry my hair I’d warm up. Low and behold… my hair dryer has been STOLEN. Straight up stolen right out of my room. I used it the night before, not even 12 hours prior, and it was still plugged in and now it’s gone. So I start freaking out and panicking because that means either 1. someone broke in and took it or 2. my ex-roommates still have keys and have been in the room and stole it. I live next door to the RA so i go to her to tell her what happened and you know what her brilliant response is? “Maybe it’s stuck in a drawer or something.” One, MARY, we don’t have drawers!!! TWO it was on my table when I left my room last night. THREE I always lock my door and I’m the only one living there so it’d be SUPER hard to misplace a HAIR DRYER and not be able to find it. So she was no help and i was panicking and upset and not sure what to do and on top of it I now had no way to blow dry my hair and continue getting ready and was just pacing all unsure. So then my hair is half dry and I just say F-it and start straightening it wet because didn’t want to be late. So I’m like almost ready at this point and message Sarah asking what the plan is, to which she replies that she just woke up and Dana and Amelia aren’t even awake yet…. so on top of everything I just went through to get ready they weren’t even awake/ready/going to be ready on time!!!! So I was STRESSED and mad and not wanting to go so I was like whatever let me know. So then my friend Alex texted our group chat asking if anyone wanted to go for brunch. At that point I had no idea when Sarah and them would be ready and realized I didn’t wanna go for tea anyway and I was so stressed that bottomless alcohol sounded so good so I said yes. Of course the second I agree to that Sarah texts me with the plan so I was like oops sorry I’m going to get drunk and eat brunch now so see you after. So the day started looking up, and me and Nat met Alex, Allie and Hannah at Dirty Bones (my fav brunch place) and there was already a glass of prosecco waiting for me when we got there. We had the most delicious food ever, eggs with avocado on scones and breakfast fries and also had 4 drinks each (at 11am might I add, but we’re in college so we don’t count as alcoholics yet) I had two types of prosecco, a spiked iced coffee, and a bloody mary with a sour cream and onion pringles rim. I’m including what I drank because alcohol was very prevalent this day, and you’ll see that later on, but I was actually drunk for 18 hours straight probably. I love study abroad. So brunch is ending and so is Sarah’s tea and we all agree that we want to all meet at Borough Market. Allie and Hannah leave to go home and shower because brunch was last minute and they weren’t ready and so me Alex and Nat head off to meet Sarah, Dana and Amelia and their guy friends (only one of who I know) at the market. We get there with no problem and are trying to figure out where to meet when Sarah texts me that a protest affected their ride and they were stuck on the tube for 30 min and finally got off and had to transfer and stuff so they’d be a little. So us, already being 4 drinks in were just like “ok lets go pub it until they get here”. So we found a really cool pub and all got cider and chilled until they came. I love cider?????? This one was spiked plum and omg so delicious. Finally Sarah lets me know that they are in the market and tell me where to meet them so me Alex and Nat are walking around making our way, trying some samples, mostly cheese and PROSECCO (i love london) and finally find them. Sarah took one look at me and goes “oh man ok drunky” because she’s my mom and just knows but has to love me anyway!! So we decide that we all want to go buy some drinks and have a “picnic” in this park-ish thing near the bridge, really stunning area. So we go to Tesco and buy some wine and cider and prosecco and head off and just spent some time there hanging out and drinking and taking pictures and it was so nice out and so relaxing and just a lot of fun. So as a side note, one of my friends from Canada who is studying abroad in Dublin currently is in London! And she saw on my snapchat that I was near the bridge and she was like oh my god I’m here too so I got to see her!!! Eventually everyone started leaving to go to dinner and do other things but me and sarah were still there because we were doing dinner just us two so I spent some time talking to Sarine (canada) until we realized we needed to leave for din because we had plans later too. So me and Sarah went to this mexican place called Wahaca (thanks for dinner mom) and got some margaritas and appetizers and caught up and were getting ready to order more food when we got a text from our friends that instead of being at our plans at 10:45 our promoter actually wanted us there at 10:15. Basically this guy who gets us into clubs and stuff for free and gives us free alcohol and it was his “promoter birthday” so he was holding this thing at the Vaudeville. So we paid and left and went home and we’re only one tube stop away from each other so I went home quick to change and so did sarah and then we all met at the airbnb that the guys were staying at so we could pregame. We were having fun there just hanging out, everyone was really nice and I was getting to know her friends better but then stuff started to go wrong again, as was the theme of this night (don’t worry there’s a happy ending) also keep in mind this was all of their last nights in London. So one of the guys who was there, I think his name was Daniel, was doing fine and then all of a sudden out of nowhere he was SO. DRUNK. like blackout, puking, lights out no one home drunk. But somehow his friends didn’t make him stay home because they didn’t wanna ruin his night and some of them thought he’d be okay to come. Okay whatever, I said nothing because not my friend and not my issue. So we ended up getting there like 20 minutes late and had to wait on line which is why Gary wanted us there early so we wouldn’t have to wait but it was whatever. So we’re in line realizing this kid is so drunk and none of us think he’s gonna be let in, at this point i’d been drinking for like… 12 hours straight? and I wasn’t even as bad as him. So we get let in and me and Sarah get let in first so I didn’t see what happened so like we’re in the club waiting for everyone else to get let in when realize it’s only the girls and two of the guys, and that Daniel and this kid Jeremy are still up there. Eventually Sarah’s friend Kenny (the one I knew) tells us that they’re refusing to let Daniel in because he’s too drunk (duh anyone could see that) and that Jeremy was up there fighting for him to get let in. We decided to ignore it because didn’t want it to ruin our time and we didn’t have to pay to get in but Kenny did and like everyone just wanted to have fun so Kenny bought drinks for everyone and we were chilling trying to have fun when Dana decided to go upstairs to see how the situation was going. She comes back down and tells us the club is threatening to get the police involved because these guys have literally been fighting with them for an hour. At this point they weren’t even fighting for him to get let in but the really drunk kid Daniel was claiming that the club took his ID to check it and didn’t give it back and still have it (this wasn’t true) but yeah so they refused to make it work and everyone started freaking out because like this kid was ruining all of their last nights there and it was putting them all in a bad mood that after like an hour and a half of trying to make it work we just decided to leave because wasn’t worth it. We weren’t going home tho, we just wanted to leave this place because so much negative energy about it. So we all leave and go outside and realize Daniel and Jeremy were gone which was great and we were ready to all move on and have fun. So Dana tells us about this place she used to go that was really fun so we all agree we’ll just go there instead. We all get Ubers and go over only to find out the place is closed lol. But no one was too upset, everyone wanted to save the night and were really motivated to make it work when all of a sudden who pops up but Daniel and like jumps on one of their backs and is like hey guys what’s up!!!!!!! And everyone is so annoyed to see him like GO AWAY. Literally one of his guy friends was like you need to go you literally ruined this night but he was so drunk he didn’t comprehend and was just like why’s everyone upset!!!! So him showing up really upset people again, especially this girl Amelia and at this point Sarah wanted to leave too. I was back and forth about going home but like 1. I had been drinking all day and it wouldve been a waste to just go to sleep and like 2. we’re supposed to be having fun i didn’t wanna go home all pissed and waste their last night. So I like half agreed to go home and sarah called an uber for her and amelia but when it finally came i impulsively was like nah I’m staying. So it’s like 1:30-2:00am at this point and the only people left are me, Dana, and Kenny. Jeremy was also around but hadn’t met back up with us yet. He’s Kenny’s best friend from high school so it was all of our first time meeting him. So the three of us are standing on this street corner wondering what to do, so we decide to go to Oneilll’s which is this really fun 3 story pub/club that we’ve all been to before and enjoy so we head over there. So things are looking up again, I even ran into Sarine again because when I saw her at the bridge she asked for recommendations and I told her about this place and she ended up going! So it was me and my friends and her and her friends and we were all hanging and got a drink and having a great time and then Jeremy showed up and everything was still fun until suddenly he realizes that he left his phone in his uber. Simultaneously Kenny spilled an entire cider on my phone (my phone is totally fine tho no worries) and now suddenly all of us are stressed out about finding Jeremy’s phone and trying to track it down and figure out what to do and we kind of get in touch with the uber driver but not really and we realize the driver was probably going home because we were tracking the phone and saw it was 40 MILES outside of London… and it’s like 3am at this point. We weren’t ready to go home but we left O’neills so we could hear better and try and figure out what to do so we’re on the streets of chinatown now just trying to figure it out but Jeremy had a really good attitude about the whole thing and eventually was like, “i’m obviously not getting it back until the morning lets just keep having fun” so we decide we want to go to Duck & Waffle because we had talked abut it all night and the four of us were really set on having a good time. Also, me and sarah had planned to get coffee the next morning before her flight and my trip to harry potter but then she texted me saying she wasn’t sure she’d have enough time anymore so i was pissed/upset and was like ya let’s just go have fun. Duck & Waffle is this super cool place that I’ve always wanted to go to. It’s in this 40 story building, and it’s the only thing in it like there’s no other floors just this at the very top and it’s this 24 hour fancy restaurant that all the walls are just glass and you can see the whole city and one of the like bucket-list things that people do is make a sunrise reservation at 6ish am to watch the sunrise from the top. We get there at like 3:30am and wait in line until about 4am. While we were on line we made friends with these people from Scotland and Ireland who were really funny but you definitely had to be there so I’m not gonna try and put it into words but it was really enjoyable. So we get up there and were like hahah wouldn’t it be funny if we stayed until 6:20 when the sunrises so we can see it. But at this point we were just so hungry and wanted to eat and stuff so we’re sitting and ordered food and this place is bumping and everyone who was there too was so nice and funny and friendly. It was one girls birthday and the whole place sang to her and then she stood on her chair to make a speech until they told her to get down so the whole place boo’d the employees lol but her speech basically ended up being “here’s to being young and getting drunk” so like pretty good speech in my opinion. We also made friends with the table next to us because they started making convo and then the girl who we are not sure how old she was literally could’ve been 23 or 35 or 50 idk why we were so confused about her age but she whispers to Dana that she thinks our friends are cute and I think her really buff (we later found out finance) heard her because he like pulled her over and then she looked at us and sighed and pointed to her engagement ring it was so funny but they were all still super nice about it and giving us recommendations for food and stuff. Me and Dana got colombian eggs (idk how to explain them but best scrambled eggs i’ve ever had) and avocado and toast and Kenny and Jeremy got the duck and waffles. We had SUCH a good time they’re all so friendly and funny and like the mood had changed so much and the night as a whole was just so good at this point we were joking around about all of it I had so much fun. Like despite being friends with Dana we’re still not like super close and I had only met Kenny once before. Like these are Sarah’s friends not mine but we all had the best time together. I can’t even emphasize enough how friendly they all are literally when we first got to O’neills Kenny bought all of us cider and I was like no no no you don’t have to do that and he was like “look you’re one of sarah’s friends so that makes you my friend”. So we’re done eating at it’s like 5:15am at this point. We’re not really tired yet, Dana is a little tired and we’re like…. lets just stay until the sunrise!! So kenny orders a bottle of red wine because why not at this point, literally our motto for the night was to just roll with it. So we’re drinking and eventually people start clearing out and it’s like almost 6am and Dana is ready to pass out but we’re like nope!!!! gotta power through!!! and the sky is starting to get a little blue so we were like okay we’re so close we have to. But then at like 6:05am our waiter is like lol i was supposed to kick y’all out at 5:30am because you were part of late night dining and we have to let breakfast people in now who have reservations and i’m gonna get you to stay as long as you can but you gotta go soon. So we were like okay thanks and he was really nice he like convinced his manager we had a valid reason to stay and stuff. So even when we finally got the check and stuff we were messing around and stalling so bad literally Jeremy sat there reading it for 20 minutes pretending to get the words wrong and not knowing how to pronounce it and starting over, it was hysterical, you had to be there tho. So finally we start to see a bit of the sunrise and they really want us to leave at this point so we’re like okay see ya and we leave the dining area to stand by this area with the elevators and the bar but then the guys are like lol lets stall longer so they both pretend to go to the bathroom for like 15 minutes and the manager is just like y’all… and we’re like lol. But then this random waiter is like can I offer you coffee or something and at first we said no but then we were like wait a second, if we order something we can stay!! (also we asked this before, but they said no in the dining area because of reservations but the bar area was fair game) so we all get coffee, which granted wasn’t my best move because still being drunk + caffeine = heart palpitations apparently. So we ended up staying until 7:30am and the sun was fully risen it was actually ridiculous like we somehow managed to stay at that place for FOUR. HOURS. So we finally decide to leave because I had to get ready for harry potter and I also decided to surprise Sarah at their airbnb with coffee since at this point i still thought she couldn’t make it. So we go to leave and on our way down the elevator we realized how FAST it was like we literally went down 40 stories so quick it was so fun so we went up and down three times… because we were drunk and delirious and caffeinated and five years old apparently. But yeah so then we split up and me and dana made our way to starbucks so i could get sarah coffee and literally as we walk in she texts me she had time to meet so i was like lol and ignored it and bought her the coffee anyway and just went and hung and said bye and yeah that’s where that ends lol WHAT A WAY TO SPEND 24 HOURS AM I RIGHT. Also props if you read this whole thing.