#stuck in the mindset of always having to put others first and do whatever they want and idk how to start. im already an

[mrfoox]

except that im mentally dead, i’m good

[seleniangnosis]

𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓢𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷 🪐

Pile 1 Pile 2 Pile 3

Since Saturn is our harsh teacher, this reading will focus on an important lesson you need to learn and some advice, with the channeled energy of Saturn 🪐

This is a collective reading so take whatever resonates and/or applies to your life/situation. You can choose multiple piles and combine parts of the messages that resonate🤎🪐.

Feedback is always appreciated 🤎

Pile 1

Hello pile one and welcome to your reading 🤎🪐

A lesson that you currently need to learn.

You seem to currently be unable to accept and acomodate yourself to a big shift that has happened in your life. The cards here were tower rx, death and the world, so you seem to still hold yourself back in terms of growth.

Do to either not seeing how this change can benefit you ,or simply because it turned your life upside down.

Keeping yourself stuck in the past will prolong the process of getting done with this lesson and ending this stage of your life.

You might be possible somewhere stuck in different paths and choices that you have to make, or simply daydreaming about the future as a form of mental escapism.

A decision is waiting to be made. Because you seem to be caught in so many ideas, you should try to be a bit more direct and impartial. Don't let yourself be caught too much into your feelings and emotions, but rather use your mind and intellectual to find a way out.

If others might be trying to help you out, don't completely reject their help and opinions. 

This lesson isn't here to make you suffer, but rather to trigger a new stage of growth. You might have been procrastinating on moving further with your studies, job or other earthly matters because you are wanting for the perfect moment to act , which surprise, is never gonna come!

Even if you've lost something in the process, it's not gonna affect your path.

With the general advice you are being told not to rush. Don't make decisions on a whim without thinking about it first.

If you've set high expectations for yourself and now you find it hard to accomplish them, you should start with smaller steps instead of wishing to do a great thing or the whole thing without any previous plans.

You caught yourself in your own "spiderweb " with all the thoughts that run through your mind, when the solution is actually closer than you think.

Pile 2

Hello pile two and welcome to your reading 🤎🪐

A lesson you need to currently learn.

The struggle you've encountered, or the people who might have been creating some unpleasant situations for you weren't there to make your life worse, but to make you realise how strong minded you can be.

You need to see this as a way trough which you can become bolder and more determined, rather than a fight where you have to protect your position or your old mindset.

Don't be stubborn and refuse to change. A change in viewpoints isn't always a bad thing.

You should pay more attention to how your old beliefs and mindsets are affecting your life and power to make decisions.

You seem to be a bit incapable of loosening up and accept different methods of doing things or responding to certain situations.

Don't be so fearful of trying to accept a new idea or point of view, even if it doesn't align with what you've experienced until now.

You'll get out of this restrictive mindset only if you make the decision to. The more you oppose this change the more burdened you'll feel. You are the one who needs to work towards a new solution. Making a decision is easier when you have a clear mind.

The general advice is to learn to go with the flow sometimes. Believe more I yourself and your accomplishments and dont rush with making judgements and assumptions when faced with a difficult situation.

Pile 3

Hello pile three and welcome to your reading 🤎🪐

A lesson you currently need to learn.

You need to put more effort into recognising your own accomplishments. It might have taken you a while to get here but even if what you did doesn't look that big from afar is still something that you have to be proud of. This will help you do a better job in the future.Great things definitely take time but they also have to take some words of appreciation.

For others I feel like this can also be about being more ambitious when working on their goals, and finding a way to finish their projects that works best for them without making them tired, bored or to overwork themselves.

The struggle which will bring about great accomplishments isn't here to make your life worse. Nothing good comes without effort or facing some sort of competition.

If you've taken multiple tasks, try to find a more balanced way in which you can solve one thing at a time, without loosing intrest and focus.

Do not run or shy away from doing the work that needs to be done. Even if you can't see any satisfactory results at the moment, it doesn't mean they will never come.

If you've taken these responsibilities, you need to honour them.

A general advice is to stop being paranoid about opportunities that will never come, or your work and efforts being useless. Try to think about the best things you can achieve instead of putting all the focus on how bad or little your doing at the moment.

[sapphire-weapon]

Final thoughts on Death Island.

First, the less serious and sometimes shitpost/meme shit:

spent a not-insignificant amount of this movie distracted by Leon’s body hair, which is not a thing I ever thought I’d say, but sweet Jesus it’s about damn time

RIP Chris’s tiger shirt. that thing ripped easier than one of Hulk Hogan’s tank tops, man.

I get that she’s a BOW or whatever, but it’s never not going to blow my mind that this series gets away with its darling male protagonist (Leon) punching a woman in the face on screen

in fact, it’s kind of wild that Maria’s only purpose for being in this movie is to just hunt Leon for sport. like she’s literally ONLY there to beat his ass. what a fuckin queen.

I’m not saying that it’s canon that Leon and Jill had sex at some point, perhaps multiple times, between RE5 and Death Island. I’m just saying they were very, very chummy and hands-on with each other, and Chris was seemingly absent from Jill’s life for those six years, so.

actually, you know what. there’s a non-zero chance Leon has actually banged the entire recurring cast by this point. except maybe Rebecca. because she’s smarter than the other three.

Leon and Chris are the most married they have ever been, holy shit they are so fucking married

my reaction to Leon repeatedly saying the word “terrorist” in this movie probably should not have been “oooh say it again~” but it was because “this is no ritual. it’s terrorism” is still the single most ridiculous line that has ever come out of that man’s mouth, and I really felt the absence of it in RE4make, so I’m glad its spirit still lives on

Chris is looking old, dude. he’s beat the fuck up.

but so is Leon. when I wasn’t distracted by Leon’s body hair, I was distracted by the lines around his mouth. so, Chris has obvious wrinkles forming around his eyes, and Leon has them forming around his mouth. but the girls are all pristine. mhm.

OK SO IS INFINITE DARKNESS CANON OR NOT BECAUSE DEATH ISLAND REAFFIRMS DEGENERATION AS CANON, BUT ID AND DEGEN CAN’T EXIST IN THE SAME REALITY DON’T MAKE ME PULL OUT THE FUCKING CORKBOARD AGAIN

Now, the more serious actual commentary:

it’s a little nuts to me how I keep seeing people in fandom say that Leon has no hint of depression in this movie. when Dylan is verbally dragging them all while they’re slowly succumbing to the T-Virus, both Chris and Claire clap back with affirmations that they believe in what they’re doing and that they’re doing the right thing. Leon... doesn’t. 

like, Dylan says to him basically “you're stuck in this horrible nightmare that keeps repeating because the people that you fight for put you through it on purpose because it serves their own ends, and it’s got you burnt out, but they just keep using you.” and Leon’s response is basically “I mean, you’re not wrong, but I don't exactly have a choice, so.”

he’s still stuck and trapped and resentful of his position, and he’s reached a point now where he’s just resigned himself to his fate. there’s very much a sense of inevitability about him, which is reinforced at the end when he tells Chris that this is just going to keep happening -- fuckers like Dylan are always going to keep coming back, because they always do.

the man shouldn’t have to be outwardly despairing and visibly drunk for people to pick up on his depressive mindset, but I guess I don’t know what I expected from this fandom.

Leon’s character was actually perfect in this movie. whoever wrote him this time around Gets It. he’s written the way that I write OG Leon and have been writing him for years. his humor-as-a-coping-mechanism is there without being obnoxious (which is where Damnation fucked up), his professionalism is there without being too serious (which is where Degeneration fucked up), his depressive mindset is there without fully consuming him (which is where Vendetta fucked up), and his latent anger at the state of things and at his life in general is there without feeling like it’s dysregulated (which is where Infinite Darkness fucked up).

so, for the anon who asked me what my favorite iteration of Leon is: the answer is Death Island. he is pitch perfect in this movie. straight up.

it did really catch my attention how the movie made it a point to call attention to Leon being burnt out. there’s just something about the way it happened that makes me feel like they’re setting up for Leon’s character to get retired in RE9. I don’t know why I think that, because it makes no sense from a business standpoint for him to be the first of the five to get retired, but. I dunno, man.

the only bit of weirdness in this movie was the whole Chris and Jill thing at the beginning that I already commented on. everything else in this movie was basically perfect. this is the best version of Claire we’ve seen since Code Veronica. like, hands down. Rebecca getting giddy and geeking out over beating the big monster with science could not have been more perfect. everything about Jill was excellent.

like, I have so few things to complain about re: this movie that I’m sitting here going “you know the mocap was kind of wonky in some spots” WHICH IS THE MOST ARBITRARY, NITPICKY SHIT EVER.

but like

I’m just going to throw this out there

but Dylan was super right.

he was so correct in a way that no RE villain has ever been correct ever in the history of this series. I kind of... spent some of this movie actually rooting for him. I was ready for him to kill the crew and wouldn’t have been mad about it if he did; I was like “fuck it, he’s right.” like, I was just sitting there like DRAG LEON AND CHRIS HARDER FOR LITERALLY BEING "THE MAN" DRAG THEIR ASSES FORCE THEM TO FEEL SHAME

in a lot of cases, a story is only as good as its villain, and Dylan being so right was a big part of the reason why this movie worked so well.

Wesker could never.

[yourlocalderp]

A very long and angry essay that will put my head on a guillotine but who cares.

Now before I start, to anyone I may offend or anger in this, I just want to say that I don't care. Call me evil, say I'm bad, announce me the Tumblr fun police, whatever just keep it to yourselves. (Don't actually, I'm bored. Write paragraphs about me on TikTok and slander my name please.)

Also, I'm going to be brutally honest in this, with my genuine feelings out there for the world to hear. If you don't want to read a bunch of words written by a mentally ill teenager who just hates something in the world, then feel free to move on with your life. For all those who don't want to leave/ are actually interested/ readying their pitchforks, then do I have a treat for you.

Now, onto my actual topic. The Marjorine Scotch headcannon fucking sucks and makes no sense.

Let me tell you why.

First of all, it came out of nowhere. She appeared in one episode, and everyone decided "Hey, let's get rid of Butter's and put Marjorine instead mhm mhm definitely a good idea!" Y'all flocked to Marjorine quick as fuck, and I bet a rat ass some of you don't even like her and just want to jump on that bandwagon of the random ass uprise of a character which is a COSTUME of a literal existing character.

Second of all, you all act as if she's been here the whole time. She hasn't, it's BUTTERS who was here, not Marjorine. I keep seeing replies on comments asking why Butters is always replaced with Marjorine going "Well Butters and Marjorine are the same people blah blah blah" as if those same repliers wouldn't go "Marjorine>>>>Butters" like what happened to the "same person" mindset you had before hm? Anyways Butters>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Marjorine like there is no doubt about it if you argue you're wrong and a hypocrite. Third of all, why Butters? Isn't he the most misogynistic, hater of all women, had an episode where he stuck his wee wee out to prove a point, kind of boy? Why suddenly all that is thrown out of the window for some girly girl MaRjOrInE with an unhealthy obsession with hello kitty? He didn't even enjoy being a girl for fucks sake he threw off his wig the moment he stepped his ass out of the girl's slumber party. (Btw feel free to correct me with this part because I refuse to watch the Marjorine episode out of spite.) Why not Wendy with Wendyl? She seemed pretty chill with being a guy. What about Princess fucking Kenny.

Topic 4. Princess Kenny and why she'd make more sense for a fandom to headcannon as mtf.

Maybe it's just because I'm bias to her, or magical girls in general, but why DO I never see anyone headcannon Kenny as anything other than genderfluid? Why does Butters, who dressed as a girl for ONE EPISODE, get the mtf hammer, but Kenny, whom basically EVERYONE called a girl for A LITERAL ARC FOR SOUTH PARK and A FUCKING GAME. Is it because you find Butters more, I don't know, feminine?

Disclaimer, this is where I start going into conspiracy type of shit. Don't take it too seriously because it really ISN'T that serious, but just an FYI, I mean it all.

This brings me to this point; I have a strong belief that some Marjorine people only do the Marjorine headcannon because they see Butters as more girly. Y'all know the ship Bunny? Y'all know how people usually see Kenny as "the man" of the ship? (Yes, I've seen people say that in Youtube comments. Get help.) Well, this makes Butters "the woman" of the ship now doesn't it. Yes, that's right. I'm accusing.

SOME

Take that word in.

SOME

People who ship fucking Kenjorine as to make them your average "UwU boy" and "Mf alpha demon thing who smokes like 30 cigars an hour" but it's straight and Marjorine is your petit anime girl and Kenny looks like he came out of one of those yaoi mangas from back in the day. Like, why is Marj always this cutesy kawaii girl like at least make her crazy?? (And sapphic. Don't be shy, why not make sapphic bunny with Princess Kenny and Marjorine? Then I can at least stomach SOME Marj content.)

I also think Kenjorine is just an excuse to make a gay ship straight. The number of comments I see that go "Omg!!11!!1 I love Kenjorine because it fits soOoOOOoO well with Kenny's character cause he's SO StRaIgHt>.<<<<<<" is annoying. Imagine that with Creek. I know it's a bad comparison with Creek since both boys are gay, but Kenny and Butters don't have confirmed sexualities, maybe Kenny does like dudes, we'll never know. All I'm saying is that why is it that y'all get so pressed when someone turns the "uke" of the ship (Like tweek or butters, lord have mercy i'm going to cry a river.) into a woman, you're only mad about one? (Aka Tweek ones, which is understandable.) At least the Creek people have gotten past that phase of feminizing Tweek to the point he's not even proportionally accurate, the Bunny fandom though.....

Speaking of Kenjorine once again, can you kenjorine motherfuckers get out of the Bunny tag on tiktok? I can't scroll 5 tiktoks without seeing Marj's face and it's gotten to the point that I just had to mention this in here. Y'all have a tag with over 40 million views go use that, after all isn't Kenjorine the "superior" ship to you guys? (After people see this, I bet multiple kenjorine tiktoks are going to appear in the bunny tag and I'll go into a deep depression because I just can't enjoy Butters x Kenny anymore.)

Anyways, last point I'm about to make before I wrap things up, you know those crappy edits of South Park oc's in South Park? That's what Marjorine feels like. She doesn't fit in, she's too "perfect" or whatever, she basically has no flaws to me. Every time I see a Marj headcannon thing, it's always along the lines of: "Marjorine. (insert age). Gets bullied by Eric but stands up to him or whatever like a girlboss yada yada. Epic bf (and it's just Kenny on steroids). Hello kitty enthusiast. (insert a bunch of facts I do not give a shit about)" Like damn girl what about your PARENTS??? Would your parents APPROVE of this? I don't fucking think so, I doubt they'd not ground Butters for even thinking about being trans.

That wraps up everything I have to say so far, maybe I'll come by to update this, maybe not. Either way, here's some final thoughts, as well as my contradictions to every reason I know of why people use the Marjorine headcanon because I'm petty and angry that I keep seeing her.

"She looked happy as a girl!" Did you watch the episode, or did you just see what you wanted to see? He was happy because he was being ACCEPTED. That doesn't mean he liked being a GIRL.

"He wore a skirt that one time!" What happened to "Clothes have no gender?" There's a difference between dressing in "the opposite gender's" clothing, and actually being the opposite gender. If I wore a tuxedo, does that make me a man? No. I'd like to dress up as the genderbent version of myself, but I'm still not a guy. Therefore, this argument is fucking stupid and goes against a lot of shit that people are saying.

"He likes hello kitty!" Again, liking hello kitty doesn't mean you're a girl or something, you're not suddenly a boy if you play Valorant or whatnot, and you are most certainly not a girl just because you play something inherently "girly."

"She's just a girl!!!" He's Butters, get over it. Just plain old simple Butters, leave him be. You people are like the mfs in the exact episode Marjorine was in. You aren't happy with how he was before; you want him to change just to make yourselves happy. Remind you of something in the episode? Where Marjorine cried in the bathroom because no one liked her, and the only reason the people did was they gave her a makeover and made her more girly? You're all just reenacting that episode but pretending that Butters would be happy with it.

Final words

Princess Kenny is better. Also if y'all are gonna type angry paragraphs about me, please send them to me so I can argue with a wall cause it's pretty damn entertaining. I'll even do the courtesy of ranking your insults/comebacks out of 10. I'm so fucking tired of seeing this bitch everywhere it's driving me to the brink of insanity. I know I'm weird and crazy but the Marjorine Stotch headcannon is like a leech in my brain and I can't get that mf out I want her gone she's a genuine thorn to my spine. Out of the courtesy of my own heart, I must say. This fandom truly made me lose all respect I had for a character, and this character wasn't even relevant to anything. She's useless, brings nothing to the plot, and should've stayed a one-time joke. Everyone who says otherwise like "Marjorine is SooOOoOooOO much better" needs a reality check. This isn't fucking "girl power" to you this is the removal of a character for a fandom oc.

Bunny supremacy, stop putting Kenjorine into it's tag, get the fuck out my ship you have your own tag, bye.

[forever--darling]

Hi there! I hope you're doing well. I'm really interested in how you write your stories and what inspires you. Could you share some tips on how you put your stories together and what helps you be creative?

I just want to add that I really love your series, and I'm looking forward to new ones in the future, but also take your time. I know all of your readers, including myself, are always willing to wait and support your works.

hi, I am, thank you.

I answered an ask similar to this one about a year ago, that I'll link below but considering that a year has passed and I've taken a few more creative writing classes at college, I'll add a few additional ones.

previous ask

tips

outlines. i mentioned this in my previous ask, because it literally is the first thing that i do. as soon as I think of an idea, a person, a scene anything, I write it down. whether that be in your notes app (which I prefer to use) or a notebook, w r i t e it d o w n. this is the best way to truly craft and add onto those ideas as well as plan out your series, story, whatever. with that, I also really like the flexibility it allows when you want to change something or allow other thoughts to appear.

when it comes to fanfiction specifically, it helps me a lot to research the world I am trying to contextualize, whether that be watching scenes, googling, or scrolling through interests -- all of these allow me to get into the right mindset when writing as well as helping if I feel stuck.

as of lately, what I have relied on so much is pinterest. I know it's not exactly for everyone, but I have absolutely loved it so much. I will usually create private boards for short stories or even the books I have written, allowing myself a place to really go and identify the main vibes or feelings I want to convey. it provides motivation when I am maybe not feeling inclined to write, as well as another resource to use to organize my thoughts and intentions.

there aren't many more I can name off the top of my head right now, but a lot of the ones I listed in my previous ask still apply a lot to me as a writer now. so please go read those as well. I hope this helped!

[soft-bellied-tannies]

Happy = Plump

Posted in SBT Little Bites - ⚠️ ABO/References to Mpreg ⚠️

Everyone knew the true sign of a happy omega was their weight. A plump, curvy omega was the perfect maternal image and proof that their alphas care for them well. Namjoon, Hoseok, Taehyung, and Jungkook knew exactly how to care for omegas - they were completely ready to spoil their beloveds. The only thing left to do was actually court omegas for their pack.

As the son of the head pack, Namjoon gets his pick from the village or alliance offerings. The four alphas finally make their choice when one of the poor northern packs offers three of their omegas in return for resources and support for the upcoming deadly winter. As a southern pack, the winter rarely affects them the same way so they gladly took the omegas - especially after Namjoon was introduced to them.

Seokjin, Yoongi, and Jimin were shocked to hear how quickly the head pack’s son wanted to claim them. They only prayed to be cared for and not used in a way that was typically of northern omegas. Happiness was not easily achieved in the north as it was rare for an omega to be plumped up in a place so lacking of resources. The southern pack, however, was overflowing with nutritious foods and attentive alphas.

The three of them made very different progress even though the alphas put the same effort into their care - eager to show how well they could cherish their omegas.

Yoongi was the easiest as he was perfectly happy to nest around the house all day and eat whatever snacks they placed in front of him. The weight stuck to him like glue, immediately filling out his slight form into a soft layer of chub. His weight packed on evenly, thighs softening just as much as his arms, belly rounding out nicely in front of him, cheeks puffing up and chin doubling. He welcomed belly rubs whenever he was cuddled up with one of the alphas after a big meal whispering how beautiful he will look filled with their children one day.

Seokjin was difficult as first because he liked to redirect the alphas to focus on his younger omegan mates, a misplaced sense of duty as the eldest. Namjoon and Hoseok broke that mindset down quickly, praising him for his sweet disposition and making promises of him being just as deserving of their love. Once he overcame that mental block, Seokjin was all in - already knowing that he had a gluttonous personality and finally having the ability to indulge.

An unexpected but appreciated aspect of Seokjin’s weight gain was the fact that it always went straight to his belly, the definition of top heavy. Some even asked the alphas if the omega was pregnant before their mating due to his round potbelly. Taehyung started to joke that Jin’s belly entered every room first because it became so prominent on his torso. He often had to let out the sides of his shirts, gowns, and robes to fit his belly into his garments as each pound just stacked on top of each other around his middle. The alphas looked forward to see what Jin’s pregnant belly would look like in the future with a baby fighting for space.

Jimin was a challenge without even meaning to be. The alphas found out very quickly that Jimin had a high metabolism and small appetite by no choice of his own. Taehyung and Jungkook would sit by him throughout the day, encouraging him to eat and drink even though he rarely put up a fight. Jimin loved being spoiled and babied so it wasn’t a hardship for him to give into their wishes, but the weight just would not stick. He had certainly reached a more healthy weight than when he arrived, no longer looking malnourished, just not beyond that.

The alphas ensured that Jimin always felt loved and continued their efforts until it started to show. While Seokjin was top heavy, Jimin certainly was the opposite. Slowly, his curves started to develop - wider hips, fuller ass, softer thighs. He was still easily the smallest of three and probably always would be, but Jimin was determined. The alphas were obsessed with the way his ass filled their laps, growing heavier over time. They will never forget the day when the omega exited the bedroom with a jovial attitude and a wide open robe showing off his midsection. Jimin cupped his lower belly with his hands, finally able to hold a little growing pooch that was rounding out behind his belly button.

A year after the omegas arrived, no one in the village could ever question how happy and loved they were. Their mating ceremony had been private, but all seven gladly showed the bites, high on their necks. The alphas continued to spoil their omegas and waited with bated breath for the day they became pregnant - ready to see their plump omegas grow even happier.

[carpehistoryandthepens]

Legacy (what is a legacy?) Part 4

It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me

Hamilton, the world was wide enough. LMM.

one, two, three

Summary: Mike is 13. Born May 2009. Sid didn’t know he had a son. All Mike had was hope and a prayer for his and his half-sister’s safety.

(Sid is a dad of a teen he didn’t know about AU) Sidgeno.

Warnings: (for the total story) post-child abuse (all off-screen but it affects things and is spoken about often), learning how to parent, panic attacks, anxiety, based on last season, OCs?, realization about sexuality. Post breakups. Desperate lack of in-depth research for CPS in both PA/CA, melodrama?, kidfic, angst, slowburn, playing fast and loose with the law for drama/storytelling purposes.

-

Taking the ice for practice the day after talking to Geno over lunch, Sid felt much more centered than he had the day before. He was ready for this season. He could face the public, his team, his enemies, other teams, the media, kids being adorable with the Little Penguins. No matter what happens, he was prepared for this season.

Talking with Geno always helped get him in the right mindset for a season. That had been true since the moment they met in Mario's home. 

Geno was already in the locker room when sid got there, which would have been a surprise, but some fans had cornered Sid on the way in. While Sid had been stuck signing various hats, cards, and jerseys, Geno had blown past him in one of his super small, fast cars. 

Geno shot him a confident smile when they stepped onto the ice, immediately grabbing the puck sid was going for and starting to play keep-away. Sid felt that grin to the bottom of his toes. They could do this. They could take on anything.

The practice is still open to the public. The Return-to-Normal season operations was a relief. It was weird during the pandemic not tohave fans in the stands for most of training camp. Sid had long learned to ignore the people in the stands, which made their absence even more glaring. As the team warmed up and got ready for whatever Sully would throw at them that day, Sid looked around the stands. 

Having games and practices in arenas with no one to watch in person was even more bizarre than just practice rinks. It seemed like a punishment rather than protection. He understood, mostly - some of the Covid rules were just stupid, but Sid followed them as a good leader should.  

He was glad that the pandemic was past the first few years. Sid kind of missed going out with the masks, though. It had been a long time (if ever) since he had been that incognito in Pittsburgh. 

Sid pushed past the returned novelty of fans in the stands for training camp and focused on what Sully was saying. He could both be happy the fans were back and still frustrated that all he saw was families. Today was a good day to remind himself why he loved to play for people, even if they included people who got to live parts of life he never would. 

The next time he looked up and focused on the people surrounding the ice, the practice was half over. He paused to lean on the boards near the benches and get water from a waiting Bio Steel bottle. Sid frowned at it for a second before he took a swig. He hated change, and this was a big one. Sid couldn't help his mental expression at the new branding could be summed up as ">:("

As Sid gazed out at the stands, he took note of the people who had come. Many reporters, obviously, a few families were watching the practice, and a few WAG hopefuls all styled up and attempting to catch the attention of the rookies without looking too desperate. Some of the rookies had parents in the stands. Sid nodded at the group.  

It was a school day, so as Sid expected, there were fewer kids than yesterday. Sid put his water bottle down and reminded himself that he should give some of the younger ones a puck or two before he got off the ice at some point. He might be dying for kids now, and interacting with them hurt on some level, but he wouldn't ignore some hopeful young hockey fans. He took one long look around to take stock of the age group – that would determine if it was a puck or a stick he gave away – but Sid's eyes locked on the kid directly opposite the bench in the stands. 

It was the same kid as yesterday, looking even more exhausted and rumpled and staring at him with familiar eyes framed with bruises. The kid was wearing the same clothing as the day before, and now that Sid was looking at him closely, there was a faded black eye and a cut on his face. The kid's wary expression let Sid doubt that the enforcer look was only because of hockey. At least not the U16 he was thinking about yesterday. 

The boy looked even more tired than the day before, and the girl was running around playing with a worn stuffed unicorn, and Sid saw a small, purple child's size luggage sitting next to the overstuffed hockey bag. The boy wasn't wearing a jacket; his - or at least Sid assumed it was his – was wrapped around the girl as she moved along the benches of the stands, making her seem smaller than she probably was. 

Something about them set off every bell in Sid's head. The teen tempted the girl into eating a pretzel from the snack counter and drinking from a blue shaker bottle with a Superman emblem and about a dozen stickers. 

Sid kept an eye on them for the rest of the practice. It was the last rep he finally got close enough to take in all the details about the kids. What he saw nearly made Sid trip over his skates. 

Littering the skin up and down the teen's uncovered arms were bruises in various stages of healing. Sid had spent too long in the hockey world not to know the timeline of most bruising like the back of his hand. Most of the bruises that decorated the kid's face looked at least a week to two weeks old but were deep. 

There was bruising on the boy's face, and, when the oversized jacket sleeve slipped down, there was bruising along the girl's arms, and fading black eyes on both. Sid felt his stomach drop; The girl couldn't be over four years old. The teen was young too. Hell, Sid might be optimistic about calling the kid a teen. He didn't know. 

One of the WBS defensemen stole the puck from him, and Sid jerked his attention back to the drill. He won the puck back and nearly scored. Jarry's creative swearing let Sid know the goalie was ready for the season. 

The moment he could, Sid broke off and caught the attention of one of Tag's practice assistants and a trainer. The assistant is in school to be a counselor – a sports counselor but a counselor, nonetheless. The trainer was back up. Anthony and Charlie. At the moment, Sid did not remember which was which. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears as he realized what might be going on. 

Sid had to do something. And this was the best idea he had on short notice. 

The two walked away; Sid attempted to force his attention back to the practice entirely. He kneeled with the other guys at center ice and listened carefully to Sully's instructions. He did his best at the 'actual last, I promise; I'm planning on working you hard for the game tomorrow' drill. 

Sid did his best not to look back at the bench where Anthony and Charlie were still talking to the kid and his sister during the rest of practice. 

He wasn't successful by the side eyes most of the team gave him. They shuffled him along as they returned to the center ice to stretch and cool down. When the team let him settle down, Sid had a clear view of the conversation happening in the stands, even if he couldn't hear it. Rinks never had good acoustics for conversation - just the sound of pucks hitting boards and blades scraping on ice. 

Sid looked around at his team, annoyed to be so blatantly caught. Geno smirked at him, delighting in his pout. "Why the ring around the Rosie?" Sid bit out, trying to keep his eyes away from the small group off the ice. He failed with a quick glance at the stands.

Rusty laughed a little under his breath. "Sid. You kept getting distracted." That got a lot of mummers of agreement from the guys. 

"Yeah," Carts said from across the circle, "Dude, whatever you're planning on doing, I'm sure it will be accepted. You are Sidney Crosby." That got a roll of laughter from the team. 

Sid didn't want to explain, at least not on the ice. "Fine, if that's what you think, Cartsy, you can lead the team in stretches." Sid put his captain's voice on to ensure the conversation ended. 

Jeff grumbled jokingly but did as he was told, taking the cue from Sid to drop the topic. 

For now. 

Sid knew his team and was unsurprised when he was inundated with questions when they were off the ice and back in the practice rink's locker room. Their voices were a loud happy cacophony that Sid could bearly make out individual questions from. 

"Sid, what's up?" 

"Who's the kid, Sid?" 

"Whatcha planning?" 

"Ooo, are you going to steal some kids, cap?" 

"Nah, he's going to make a kid's day, rookie!" 

Sid watched his team gently chip him over his actions as he always did. Sid let the group go on for a while they all got changed and ready for the showers. The team video review wasn't until after lunch, and that wasn't for an hour. 

Sully seemed pleased at how the team skated during practice, so he hadn't followed them into the locker room to finish getting his points across. 

The team was feeling it, and Sid was happy just to let the atmosphere of the room wash over him. Geno draped himself over his shoulder despite his locker being across the room. He was mostly undressed from his kit and had a towel wrapped around his broad shoulders. Sid wanted to bite them like always, but the feeling wasn't new or uncommon around the rink, so Sid didn't think of it too much. He always felt like that around a good set of shoulders - jealously or envy, he had long attributed it to. "Now, Sidney Crosby, help all the kids. He does not just steal one." Geno crooned. 

Tanger snorted disbelievingly as he passed toward the showers, and Dumo and Rusty gaffed as they trailed behind him. 

"G." Jake said as he pulled off the last of his gear and walked away from his stall, "You know the WAGs have a standing suggestion to new parents to the team that if their kid goes missing, just call Sid first? That they are most likely with him?" 

Sid shook Geno off in protest and glared at the room. He pulled off his jersey and gear, saying, "That was once! With Duper's kids! Twelve years ago!" Sid had a distinct impression that he squawked, but he refused to admit that in the room. To do so was to admit weakness and allow the sharks (Geno, Tanger, Rusty, Dumo, Jeff, Petey…. well, his whole damn team, now that Sid thought about it) to take advantage. While he was just one of the boys, the key was not to be too obvious. 

Geno laughed as he walked away from Sid's stall and toward the showers. "Anna has that too!" he said, completely selling out Sid's occasional 'Can I borrow your son?' outings with Nikita. "He always brings back." 

So sue Sid, they didn't happen often but often enough that Anna has called Sid before. Rarely…. But it has happened. Nikita was a delight. 

The team laughed and didn't stop the chirping until most of them were well into the post-practice showers. 

Sid glared at Geno, mostly jokingly, in a good mood after the worry Sid had carried all practice. But making Sid happy was Geno's goal as he grinned at Sid as they washed off. So, Sid did his best to plot instead of admitting how happy Geno's attention made him.

While Sid couldn't believe Geno would sell him out like that, he knew it was meant in a good place. So, Sid would have to do something to get Geno back appropriately. Nothing too bad, but something that let Geno know that it was not ok just to sell him out to the team like that. 

From Geno's smirk in the showers, Geno could feel Sid's thought process. Which now made it a challenge for Sid to prank Geno. This was the game they had been playing for years, and Sid was looking forward to it. 

Sid was grateful that the reporters wouldn't be allowed into the room post-practice for another week. That meant he could be there with the boys and their post-practice chirping. 

When Sid finally got washed off and returned to his stall, the trainer's assistant and Jen entered the room. 

Immediately the loud, boisterous chatter of the boys' post-practice died off as attention turned to the pair. When Jen came into the locker room - one of them had media, and they wouldn't be able to fight it. Her people only called her in when they needed the big guns. 

"Sid," the trainer said in an odd tone; Anthony, Sid remembered, Tag's assistant was Charlie. That's right. "Can you come with us?" 

Sid didn't even wait, "Is it about the kids?" 

Anthony hesitated a weird expression on his face. 

However, Jen didn't pause. "Yes. Can you come?" she said firmly. Her ability to hold an even expression is one of the reasons she was so damn good at her job, but around her eyes, there was a hint of disbelief and shock. 

Sid didn't think most of the team could see that except him, Tanger, and Geno. The ones who had been with her the longest. 

The sudden pit in his stomach was growing with each passing word. Something was up. 

God, he hoped he wasn't right, 

"Just let me get dressed," Sid said, rapidly reaching for his street clothes.

"Come on, G, you know you want to make a kid's day," Tanger called from across the room, sounding unaffected in a way that belied how his eyes were worried. He was mostly dressed and fixing his hair. 

Geno laughed, nearly genuine – if someone hadn't been with the man damn near daily since they had been teenagers, like Sid, Tanger, or even Jen had been, "Yes. Make day; see me!" 

That broke the team's silence. The rest of the team fell back into the regular routine of getting ready for lunch and video review; Sid sped through getting dressed. There was an odd atmosphere to the chirping and yelling. Everyone on the team saw something was up and followed Sid's leadership in acting normally. 

Jen didn't protest, but Anthony looked like he might. Most of the team missed Jen's slight nod but not the core. 

Sid was officially weirded out by this and had to know what was happening. 

Tanger and Geno flanked him as they followed Jen and Anthony into a trainer's room just off the practice ice. Sid had been in the room several times; it wasn't the principal trainer's room in the practice rink – closer to the locker room – but it was smaller but fully stocked. 

It usually wasn't occupied by two kids, and a woman Sid had never seen before but had a badge around her neck with Child Welfare Services written on it and her name directly underneath, Helena. 

Sid opened his mouth to greet the kids in a standard meet and greet, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the boy's baby fat or the way he stood as he met Sid's gaze and steeled himself, but the kid looked just like Sid did in the photos and videos of interviews from when he was young. 

Tanger and Geno filtered into the room as Sid stepped through. It was crowded in the small office now, but by the stern look the CWS rep gave him, something more important than fire codes or sitting places was up. 

"Sid," Jen said, then paused, seemingly unable to find the words. 

Charlie took over. "Sid, this is Michael Hernandez and his sister Marisol Hernandez-Diaz." He gestured to the boy and the little girl. 

"Hello, Michael. Hi, Marisol." Sid said, finally putting on his 'meet and greet with kids' face. He likes kids, and it was close to the genuine smile any of his media smiles got. 

Michael didn't respond beyond just staring at Sid, but that sometimes happens, so Sid chose not to worry too much. 

His sister waved a hand excitedly in the air. "Hola!" she sang out, taking her attention away from her brother for a moment. There was a Spanish accent to her words. Whomever her parents were, they were teaching her to be bilingual. 

Sid offered her a hand to shake. And she took with delight, her smile bright and wide. 

"Mike! Water p'r favor." she asked when she looked away from Sid. 

Her question shook Michael from his staring, “Claro, Mari, aquí está tu taza,” he said in Spanish. He held out the blue shaker bottle. Marisol took it carefully and didn't spill anything as she drank. 

Sid didn't understand the words, but he did understand the motions. He watched them interact with a deep longing that he didn't expect. Sid pushed the smile on his face a little harder. He would not mess this up for the kids just because he wanted to be a father. 

"Sid," Jen said again. 

Sid turned, and Jen gestured to the chair next to her. "You might want to sit down for this." 

Sid raised an eyebrow but made no move to the chair, choosing to remain standing. "What's up?" he wasn't injured. So why had she asked?

"Michael here," Jen said bluntly, "He thinks you are his biological father." 

Sid hadn't fainted in years, not since the worst of the concussion, but he came damn close. 

He stumbled and nearly collapsed into the chair that Jen pointed out. 

Behind him, Tanger and Geno hurried forward to flank him in the chair. Geno put a hand on his solder to keep Sid from leaning too far forward. 

Michael was watching him react. He was staring at Sid with an expression that Sid could read, mainly because it was a Forbes expression from the bones. Literally. He had Sid's cheek and pre-surgery jaw. Hope and fear. Like he didn't know how he would survive if he got what he wanted, good and bad. 

The last time he had seen that expression, his sister had told him of the college she was going to for hockey. It came from his mother's side of the family. 

And Michael looked just like him. 

But also, Sid's eyes were staring back at him with that expression. 

Oh. 

Oh shit.

[cuban-feminist-that-gives-a-hoot]

Persona 3 Reload *SPOILERS*

So, I've let this sit for two weeks now and I think it's time for me to finally dish my thoughts. There will be spoilers for those that either haven't finished Reload or those who haven't played any version of Persona 3 at all. If you haven't done either one, I highly recommend you stop reading and go finish it *now*. This is your only warning at this point.

Have you finished it? OK, good. Let's get started.

Persona 3 Reload is a really, really good game. It makes what was once old new again and playing through P3R gave me the same strong feelings I had back when I first played Persona 3 FES. It was like meeting an old friend again after they got themselves both a makeover and nearly 20 years passed between the last time you saw them in person.

Let me get my nitpicky stuff out of the way before I heap the praise it deserves.

I straight-up did not like them taking away school club choice from us. How dare they?! I wanted to do Kendo and Photography like I did in FES, yet I was stuck with Track and Art? If I had to be stuck with a culture club, music should've been the canon club of choice. Our protagonist literally wears headphones all the time! You can't show me the music room at least thrice and tease me with us seeing it, yet not joining the club.

I hate the name change for Operation Babe Hunt. What's wrong with calling it Operation Babe Hunt? The name was fine! It was the creepy behavior of the boys and the transmisogyny that was the problem in it in the original, not the name!

The AI programming is shit. Look, a majority of folks bitching about not being able to control the characters in the original game and FES are being whiny babies that don't know how to use the tactics menu. It's a nitpick because I know that the game has decidedly gone for direct control, but honestly? I would've loved the sophisticated AI that Persona 3 and 3 FES used to be utilized.

Folks bitching about the High-Cut Bikini honestly just need to calm the fuck down. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. Whatever happened to the "Don't like? Don't use!" mindset? You're not being forced by evoker-point to use it.

The music is a downgrade. Lotus Juice is fine as always, but the new singer had a tough job to take over for Yumi Kawamura and fucking failed. The new songs that Yumi never sang are fine, but the new versions of the original songs? Oof. It is bad. Mass Destruction was whack and the less said about her version of Kimi no Kioku, the better.

So, yeah, those are my main nitpicks. Now onto the praise.

The voice acting is top-tier. And I need to put it in a second post because it would be too long. Just know that the English dub is fantastic and no one misses in it at all.

The extra scenes and hangouts we get with the boys are perfect. It fleshes out the guys in ways I wouldn't have expected. For example, I never knew Akihiko was adopted and has parents until Reload put that in there. Do you want to know where that information was originally known? In an artbook and a drama CD! Thank you, Reload, for giving us this vital information I never knew about.

The animation where there's a fusion accident is the funniest fucking thing they've added to the game. I love it, it's hilarious.

They made Shinjiro's death even sadder than the original. For those who have not played the original/FES, Shinjiro has enough strength to walk off before dropping dead under a streetlight. It was a more surreal, trippy moment for his death than anything else because of the art direction in the original/FES. In Reload? They went with what was shown in the movies, with Shinjiro dying in Akihiko's arms. If I had a nickel for every time the edgier of the two men in the ship die in the other's arms, it'd be two nickels. It's not a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice now. Not to mention the link episodes with Shinjiro are killer. You actually get to see how Shinjiro would look in his school uniform and, fuck, seeing baby Shinjiro, Mitsuru, and Akihiko together is just... it breaks the heart. And that conversation with Mitsuru the day after when you go in Shinjiro's room? Fucking ow! Way to break my heart, Shinjiro.

I'm glad that you *can* save Chidori's life. My Junpei/Chidori heart is so happy about that. And Junpei's second theurgy? Heartbreakingly beautiful, whether Chidori lives or dies.

I am so glad the game allows us to ask why Takaya doesn't wear a shirt. Strega's motivations have always been clear to me from day one. But Takaya, why the fuck do you not wear a shirt?

But yeah, those are my thoughts. It's a good remake. If you're not certain it's for you, try it out on GamePass. Otherwise? Buy it, you won't regret it.

[angelici-scriptis]

Journal 0008

As someone who used to heavily identify as angelkin, angel incarnate, etc. I'm finding myself less convinced of an existence of the Divine, of the spiritual, of the unseeable. Now, I've not entirely rejected my previous identity and spiritual beliefs but By God they sure have gotten an almost complete overhaul.

For as long as I was first spiritually awakened, my perspective was very ungrounded. Not necessarily in a harmful way, but certainly misguided. I spent a lot of time aggressively seeking out information or answers from outside of me. Actively looking for experiences from others to show me how I should feel, think, and participate in spirituality and then trying to reflect that back out into the world. This mindset I had was especially enabled by someone who is no longer in my life and it genuinely was not until I removed that connection that I began to reevaluate my spiritual perspective.

I've always bordered on being a nihilist, but the recent state of things really aggravates these thoughts and in turn, has negatively affected my belief in benevolent spiritual entities. And now I can say I understand better the lamenting thoughts of a not-so-insignificant number of angelkin community members where previously I had been largely optimistic about incarnating on Earth. Because genuinely, this shit has always sucked.

The thing about all this, though, that despite these thoughts of increasing hopelessness; they've shown me they're still here and I don't know what to make of it. In a life event so immensely mundane, whatever spiritual entities guide my life had put such profoundness in that event. I know deep, deep within my soul that was a sign that I would almost call a miracle. And even with that, years ago when I was more spiritually active, my guides told me so frequently about needing a change in perspective though it was only four years later that I was actually able to act out their guidance.

And now, I'm stuck. I cannot go back to naively thinking that the divine will involve themself in significant ways and anything that they do involve themself in will be palatable but I can't deny that they aren't here at all either. As a human, it's easier to see how to move forward to ways that better yourself and people around you, even if it's not always simple, it is clear enough. But as an angel incarnated on Earth? Is there even anything for the spiritual-self to do? Where does the human and angel intersect? I suppose that's the next question I have to find the answer to somehow.

[glareandgrowl]

5, 11, 16, and 19 please.

(Link to ask)

Absolutely!

5. Anything you haven’t drawn yet but want to?

I've got so many ideas of stuff I want to draw, but just never get the time to do. The most recent fanfic comic I did was one of them until recently! But I guess a few would be some scenes from Assassins! that I haven't gotten around to illustrating, some more character study sheets, as well as an entire long running comic I plan to create once Cigarettes and Assassins! are both complete! Just to name a few...

In terms of like... concepts or physical things and ideas I have wanted to draw but haven't, I don't really have any qualms. I'm pretty good at just doing whatever I feel like in that regard lol.

11. Favorite comment you’ve ever recieved on your work?

I don't receive many comments on my stuff, which is unfortunate but not something I can really change. The one that has stuck out to me the most, however was one that I received on One Mistake when I was still in the middle of finishing it.

It was a bit of an indepth criticism of a certain character dynamic I had made the focal point of that part of the story, and a critique on how I had handled the 'making up' portion of the relationship.

While criticism may not be the first thing most people think of in terms of 'favorite comments' I cherish it for the sole reason that it was the first time anyone had given me an analytical response to something I had meant to be taken with that analytical context. It was the reply I was hoping people would give to the part of a story I had put a lot of time, effort and continuity into. Plus, the ideas being presented were things I had already been toiling over in my rewrite of One Mistake to begin with, so that was also pretty cool to feel like I was sharing a mindset with someone absorbing my creation.

I also just now realized this was meant for art stuff and not fanfic lol. Same applies to artwork I guess, still don't get many comments so none in particular really stand out.

16. What’s the most daunting part of your process? Ex, planning, sketching, lineart, rendering etc

hmmm.... that is a thought provoker for sure. I don't really have one part of the artmaking process I favor over the others, since it is all just kind of a process for me. Ever since I started this cool thing of turning my sketches into my lineart via the airbrush tool in Paint Tool Sai, I haven't really had any problems!

I'd say the most daunting process is just getting started. Putting pen to paper and just doing sometimes seems impossible. But if I just force myself to sit down and start, it usually turns out ok.

19. Favourite character(s) to draw?

You'd expect me to say Kiyotaka. Which is half true, mainly because I've drawn him so much and he has been the catalyst to change my art style entirely. But believe it or not, I used to never draw people, like at all. I was a furry artist in the lamest sense of the word, since most of my OC's at the time were animals in some capacity. So I really should give it to Taka for pushing me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to take the daunting journey of learning over two years how to draw people good.

The characters that are my real true favorites to draw are my OC's of course. James, Goose and The Oposstag to be specific!

They're my babies, my darlings, my easiest things to draw. James specifically, used to be my go-to if I was ever in a slump and needed to draw something easy and simple. Bones and furry creatures have always been my specialty when it came to art, (If you've seen any of my animal-ish drawings you could see the difference in quality compared to drawing people) It just always has come easier to me than drawing people, but as an artist, I need to push myself out of my comfort zone to improve, and I'd say I've done a pretty good job improving!

Thank you so much for the ask, I hope I answered it all in good proper english and good proper wordage :)))

-Goose

[morgoyo]

quench not the spirit.

Some days just feel more spiritual than others. I have recognized this in me and I realized that it all has to do with where my heart is.  This last Sunday, I went to church feeling the same way I always do; panicky over finding an outfit, too much coffee in my veins, but ready to worship. I pulled up, walked in, greeted a few people, and found my seat. When worship began, I had to force myself to focus on the words, not the people or my appearance. I had to put myself in the mindset that abandoned the idea that I could fix whatever might be wrong with my posture, outfit, facial expression, and voice. For the first time in a long time, I sang. As soon as I did, I began choking up. I felt a tightness in my chest and in my throat was weak, quivering my voice. I stopped singing to take a moment to choke back my tears. Successfully restoring my presentation, I attempted to sing again. And just as the Spirit works, relentless in its force, my eyes were watery once again. I took the rest of the time mouthing the words rather than surrendering myself to what was changing me from the inside. After church, I went home and immediately, without much thinking, put on a sermon my brother preached a few weeks ago. My mom had given me the link but I didn’t do anything with it for a while. There was truly never a better time than that moment to listen to it.  As I had just spent all morning forcing back tears and attempting to uphold an appearance of put-togetherness, I was sobbing over this sermon. “Quench not the spirit,” was the verse that stuck in my mind(1 Thess. 5:19). Conviction washed over me as I listened to the dangers of keeping the Holy Spirit from working in your life, even in the seemingly smallest moments.  My brother’s words rang in my ears for the rest of the day, rightfully so. I NEEDED that. I needed time alone to reflect on what I was running from. I needed to look at my own heart and determine what the purpose of having it in the right place was if I wasn’t going to let the Spirit work in me. I needed to take it a step further and abandon my worries, because the work done in me is far more precious than keeping a reputation with man. 

[rushescapegameme]

Escape Room Tips for Beginners - How To Have A Fun Experience

Do you want to have more fun with your friends? Or maybe you’re just looking for a new hobby to occupy your free time? Well, either way, you should check out this article because we’re going to talk about both of these things! Escape rooms are perfect if you want to have a group activity or if you want to have more fun with your friends. However, most people struggle with them at first because there are a lot of intricacies involved. The good news? We’re going to tell you how to have a fun experience with your first Best Escape Room Melbourne and not stress out.

So keep reading to learn how you can do that.

Plan Ahead

The first tip is to plan ahead. What does this mean? Well, it means that you need to decide what type of room you would like to escape. This will help you better understand the rules and also make it easier for your team to come up with a strategy on how they can escape from the room. If you’re looking for a new hobby, or if you just want to have more fun with your friends, then an escape room is perfect!

Know the Game

The first thing you want to do is learn the game before going in. This will help you be prepared and know what to do as soon as you get there. You can find out more about the game and its objectives on the website. This will help you figure out what to do, how long it will take, and what’s involved.

Make Sure You Have Good Communication

It sounds simple, but make sure you have good communication with your friends before you go into the escape room. Work out what kind of Best Escape Room Melbourne game you want to play and then discuss it with them. You’re going to be stuck in a room together for an hour or two, so make sure that the people you’re playing with are up to speed on what the plan is.

Don’t Worry About the Puzzles.

A lot of people worry about the puzzles. They think that they have to be good at solving them in order to have a fun time. However, that’s not true! All you need to do is show up and enjoy the experience! The escape room will tell you what you need to do, so don’t stress too much about the puzzles.

Have Fun!

There are a few steps you need to take in order to have a fun experience. First, make sure you don’t get too stressed out. This can be very difficult because escape rooms are so intriguing and stressful at the same time. Don’t worry, though! Just keep reading to learn how you can have a good time with your first escape room.

Second, make sure that you aren’t too concerned about what other people think of your performance. You should put yourself in the mindset of being completely free and not worrying about the outcome of the game because there is no real outcome except for fun! If you go in with this mindset, then you won’t stress out over it too much if your team loses or anything like that.

Third, once you’ve finished playing the game, talk about it. Tell your friends how much fun it was and how they should try it as well! This will help encourage them to do so because they might have been hesitant before. It also helps build teamwork and creates bonds among those who participated in it.

Fourth, remember that after every Best Escape Room Melbourne, there is always something left for other players to do--helping clean up or continuing on with whatever else is going on in their room while waiting for new players to join their game-even if there are only two or three people left in the room who want to continue on playing with each other once everyone else leaves the room!

Related Blog: Top 5 Tips To Ace Your Escape Room Challenge

Source: Escape Room Tips for Beginners - How To Have A Fun Experience

[yandereloversblog]

Those headcanons of Michael were interesting, thank you! I'd like to share this scenario: his darling knows his tricks as in the past someone else too isolated her, monopolized her attention, and manipulated her; although it wasn't a significant other but a toxic relative. But darling cunningly plays along by "resisting" then gradually "giving in" making Michael think his methods payed off. Everything's perfect. Until one day she's gone without a trace. What's his reaction and what happens next?

𝕐𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖!𝕄𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕖𝕝 𝔸𝕗𝕥𝕠𝕟 -> 𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕤

•I'm glad that you liked them! Yeah I'd actually like to write this considering how I make Michael. I'm just gonna make it a drabble for now.

•Also I'm running out of GIFs... Looks like I'm gonna make banners of everyone now-

───────•°˖~❉᯽❉~˖°•───────

>Fandom: Five Nights At Freddy's

>Character: Michael Afton

>Warnings: Yandere, Unhealthy and Toxic mindset, Toxic behaviour, Stalking, Kidnapping, Mentions of Murder

>Type Of Content: Drabble-Imagine

───────•°˖~❉᯽❉~˖°•───────

"I'll let you play for a bit."

•Being the stalker Michael was, after gaining an interest in you and already having started to manipulate you to stay with him, he'd obviously know about that relative. He'll be digging up into your family and your background to know whatever he deemed important -which when it came to you was everything- until he finds out about them.

Michael would be angry and very frustrated, how dare that person do that to you! He'll definitely kill them, and if they live far away he's going to attack them from the internet and gain blackmail by hacking, anything to make them suffer. He'll even go from your phone and message them to come over so he can be sure to end their life.

"Nobody should dare to do that to them!"

•It would take a week of him love bombing and showing you constant affection -In his mind, you need all the love he can give after what you went through- for his anger and frustration to die down and to realize that he's doing the same thing and he's being a hypocrite.

"Thank you…" You mumbled softly, taking the purple jacket Michael had gifted to you as a gift today, it's matching his "Don't worry about it dearest, anything you want." Michael smiled, gently wrapping a hand around your shoulder and pulled you in for a small hug. You wanted to scoff, he's always buying the two of you couple outfits or gifts that you're sure have some sort of listening devices, cameras or anything that alerts him of your location.

'Hypocrite…' You thought to yourself in annoyance, lightly glaring at the jacket "My perfume is done…" You mumbled shortly after, smelling just a small whiff of Michael, you knew it was because he had been stealing it from you for whatever sick reason, the brunet smelled like you "I'll get you another one. Just be sure to wear the jacket." Michael chuckled, you're stuck staring at the subtle 'M.A' sewed onto the collar of the jacket "Sure…"

•Watching you be so easily restrained by him and learn all the rules so easily, Michael will realise it's because you've experienced it before and he's doing the same thing. He'll be too preoccupied with feeling guilty to realise that you're acting and have everything under control.

This hazed, sloppy guilt will last for about a week or two; during those weeks he'll be completely convinced that you're under his control because you've already used to this treatment -he does feel bad but Michael is thankful you're so easy to take care of- but after those he'll be back to his usual self.

Immediately notice any weird off put behaviour and stricken his rules and demeanour, you've been through this before so obviously you'd know how to act if you're forced into the situation again.

If you happen to escape during those first two weeks Michael will be shocked, when? How?? Why??? Then it will dawn on him what has happened

"Of course… How could I be so stupid?"

•Michael will let you enjoy your freedom for a while before starting to track you down, retracing your steps carefully before finding you. He'll firstly stay in the shadows, learning your new routine again, taking notes before finally catching you when you lower your guard.

"You've played enough. It burned me to leave you alone for so long… Come on, I've bought a new collar that I'm sure you'll like."

[kuroosweakness]

things the haikyuu boys did when they had a crush on you 

miya atsumu 

started wearing whatever you really liked wearing/complimented him on. if you mentioned the print on his shirt, you best bet he’ll be wearing that shirt for a whole week straight. a shirt he once thought nothing of is now his favorite shirt. 

“‘tsumu, why don’t you try changing. you know, y/n could probably smell you a mile away,” osamu said to atsumu one morning as they were walking to school. 

“nuh uh,” atsumu quipped back. “i washed it with the detergent y/n likes.” 

“oh so you finally learned how the washing machine works?” 

“‘samu you’re ruining it for me.” 

asked overly-personal questions. not to be creepy or weird, but because he cherished the information he knew about you that no one else did; it made him feel special 

“y/n, do you have any big regrets?” 

“is there um, anyone you feel really happy around?” 

“what’s your guilty pleasure? c’mon everyone has them.” 

“have you ever been bullied?” 

got visibly irritated whenever another guy interrupted your conversation with him. or if you were just smiling too hard when talking to a guy he doesn’t know about

“if you keep frowning like that, you’ll look like a grandpa by next year,” osamu said right before biting into his onigiri. 

“shut up, ‘samu,” he groaned, trying his best to distract himself from the fact that you looked happier talking to another guy than him. did you smile that hard when he made a joke? he sure hopes so :’ 

kuroo tetsurou 

pointed out the smallest differences in you. he noticed the slightest changes in your body language, style, mood, etc etc. on your bad days, he desperately wanted to ask if anything was wrong, but didn’t want to risk overstepping boundaries. so he just asked “how’s your day?” and even if you answered with a “good/fine/okay” he would know you weren’t telling the full truth 

if you came to school wearing a brand new pair of shoes, he’ll point it out and tease you all about it. if you showed up with a new hairstyle, kuroo won’t say anything, but you can tell he noticed because of the way he looks at it. 

even if you cut off three centimeters of your hair, he probably noticed. 

kept trying to fix his appearance around you 

he tried making it really subtle too. he’ll smooth down his jacket, try to flatten down his hair, and straighten his collar around you in hopes that it’ll make him look a bit better (he’s such a cutie 🥺 okay who’s gonna tell him that he’s looks perfectly fine the way he is) 

teased you, in a flattering way. the type of teasing where you have to force yourself from smiling too hard. and he only does it to you! no one else is worth his teasing 

but the moment someone else starts teasing you, he’d act a little ... distant. he’d back off and just watch you interact with them. if you look uncomfortable, he’d immediately put a stop to it and put them back in their place. 

called you by a nickname only he uses

at first, he used it as a joke. but overtime, it just stuck and now it doesn’t feel right for him to call you by your first name. again, the annoyance is clear on his face when someone called you by the same nickname 

~~~

when you first met kenma, he said, “y/n? i’ve heard a lot *glances at kuroo* about you.” 

suna rintarou 

lowkey protects you. such as putting an arm in front of you, shielding you with his body, draping his jacket over your head, lending you his umbrella, that type of stuff (ugh just kiss already) 

he acted like it was no big deal. it’s not like he’d admit it was on his mind for a whole week. the miya twins knew something was up when suna suggested watching a romance movie. (suna needed new scenarios with you in his head) 

subtly invited you everywhere, made excuses to be around you 

“hey, we have a game on saturday at *specific location* in case you wanna come” 

“since they’re having a buy-one-get-one-free, it’ll be a shame if you didn’t come along ...” 

“since we’re both headed towards that place, might as well go together” 

unexpectedly defended you/your opinion in conversations and class. even though suna rarely talks in class, if you brought up a point/answer, he’d defend it

sakusa kiyoomi 

had trouble meeting your eyes without blushing 

even with his mask on, you could see the redness spread across his cheekbones whenever you spoke to him. 

always plopped himself in a seat close to you, even with all those other empty seats 

his became more soft, gentle, and high-pitched around you, his posture became less stiff 

it’s subtle; he didn’t even notice a change in his own voice. maybe because there’s nothing else on his mind when he’s talking to you? 

always walked a little bit slower in the hallways when he saw you pass by and eyed you, hoping that you’d notice him like the way he noticed you

bokuto koutarou 

stumbled with his words and forgot basic things around you

“class? what do you mean by ‘we have to go to class’??” 

listened intently to everything you said and memorized facts about you better than his vocabulary words 

“akaashi, did you know that y/n’s favorite ice cream flavor is ...” 

“nope, y/n can’t make it today. how do i know? because they told me in advance :D oh wait, y/n’s not gonna be here today?? D’:”

made a handshake with you to do in front of everyone to show off that your connection with him is special

the pride he felt when everyone gathered around to watch you and him do your special handshake 🥺

got you gifts out of nowhere simply because you said you liked it

his mindset goes: getting y/n ___ = y/n happy :) i better get it for them before someone does 

tendou satori 

always lends you his stationary and whenever he forgets a pencil, you’re the first person he asks. don’t worry, he always returns them right after :) 

he also loves “borrowing” your personal things. the idea of you trusting him is really special to him. plus, whenever someone asks him where he got it, he gets to say, “oh, it’s y/n’s.” 

loves, loves, loves passing notes in class!! 

he kept all of your conversations with him in a special little box hidden in his room. 

complimented the little things he knows you care about! 

he loves seeing that beautiful smile of yours while knowing he’s the cause of it.

he smiles so much around you <33  tendou’s smile is so contagious it’s hard to be sad around him. not to mention he always knows how to cheer you up :’ 

iwaizumi hajime 

whenever his friends talked about hot actors and classmates they found attractive, he never joined in. (if you were there, he’d be glancing at you ever-so-often) 

he’d always offer to walk/drive you home. every single day. even if you insisted that he didn’t need to, it would take another five minutes of convincing him. if you said yes, he happily got you home. no matter what occasion, he always asked you. it was your regular, daily routine with him :) 

made jokes only for you to hear. he loved having inside jokes with you that only you two understood. the confusion on other peoples’ faces was satisfying. 

akaashi keiji 

had a lot of sympathy for you over small things (and big things too, of course) 

if your weekend plans got messed up, if you lost your jacket, forgot your stationary, tripped on the stairs, he’s the person you go to to talk about these things. he never belittles your struggles and always finds a way to help you feel better 

always checked in with you and made sure you had a lunch to eat 

even if your classroom is across the campus, you better expect him to be at the front door after your class is over

tried his best to get to know your friends and family (and pets!) 

akaashi best boy 🥺 the way he sees your friends and family as his own because he knows how much they matter to you 

-> a/n: i hope you like these hehe :))

[aminiatureworld]

Distance

Characters: Childe, Kaeya, gn!reader

Word Count: 4,280

Warnings: Swearing

Premise: What other explanation could there be? Surely this is the one logical answer. Even if it hurts, even if it doesn’t make sense.

In which the reader’s s/o assumes the reader is no longer interested.

Author’s Note: This prompt is really fun to write so far but I feel terrible torturing the poor characters like this. Oops.

Childe

The warm wind tickled Childe’s hair, causing the Harbinger to bat a few orange strands out of his face, eyes still pinned on the harbor that was fast approaching. The balmy breeze of Liyue was refreshing – a reminder of all the things he had been missing on his long-drawn-out trip. Now Childe leaned against the railing of the ship, eager to touch land, unable to contain the excitement he felt at the knowledge of what was awaiting him upon the dock.

Though he didn’t like to admit it this trip had been a particularly harrowing one, not just for Childe but for you as well. The post was notoriously touch-and-go across the Seven nations, especially with the deep snows whirling into Snezhnaya this time of year. The fact that he was gone almost a month certainly didn’t help. If he had to admit it Childe had found himself worrying about the time more than usual, worried how it might affect you. Now he was eager to push all those thoughts away, to once more find himself next to you, all well with the world. As the crew bustled around him to prepare the junk for docking the Harbinger took a deep breath in. There was nothing to worry about. Soon all would be well.

The empty dock was a jarring sight. Though saying it was devoid of people wouldn’t technically be accurate, business was going on as usual after all, to Childe it might as well have been a ghost town. Stumbling slightly, suddenly unsure of where to go, Childe climbed up the ramp awkwardly. Finding no one waiting for him on the stone pier as well, anxiety began to coil in Childe’s stomach. Had something happened? Ignoring the thoughts that flurried through his mind he quickly wove his way through the streets of Liyue. Though the city was bustling as always, laughter and shouting echoing through the air as people haggled and joked and went about their business, Childe found himself disconnected from his surroundings. His only thought was to find you, hopefully safe and sound and happy to see him.

There was no sign of anything wrong as Childe approached the door to your shared apartment. Sighing softly he dug around in his pack for the keys. You’d probably just fallen asleep, having recently taken up the habit of afternoon naps, according to your letters. Childe couldn’t really complain if that were the case, after all rest was important and you could hardly be blamed for not being aware of the time while conked out. Yes, surely you were asleep. Then Childe could give you the surprise of waking next to him. A smirk graced Childe’s lips at the thought of it, and as he turned the key in the lock he reassured himself. There was nothing to be worried about.

Unfortunately the Harbinger’s genius hypothesis had proven to be a false one. A quick scouring of the apartment revealed that you were not there, and no signs of any abnormal activity could be found as an explanation. Anxiety seeping into Childe’s mind he barely set down his pack before bolting out of the door, trying somewhat unconvincingly to keep his pace to a fast walk. Had something happened to you? Surely not! Childe knew you, knew that you could very well take care of yourself. He shouldn’t worry.

Still the thought passed through his head, combined with an even more unpleasant one. Had you simply forgotten about him? What if you didn’t care? Shaking his head the Harbinger took in a deep breath. He was overthinking things, still stuck in the mindset of a Harbinger. Not everything in life was a battle, hadn’t you told him that many times, teasing his constant need to see an obstacle to beat somewhere? He really should take your advice more seriously, at least in this case. Slowly down slightly Childe walked to the city center. He was sure his answer would be here; and that it would be so mundane as to not bother a second thought.

His pulse jumped in his throat as you finally entered his field of vision. You were sitting around with a few people, coworkers if the Guild crest and weaponry didn’t serve him wrong, chatting and smiling and overall having a wonderful time. Emotions stirred through Childe, the urge to run up to you, to stalk away, to find the nearest fountain and jump into it; but he stayed put, staring at your laughing face, pain flashing in his chest. He supposed he should’ve felt angry, felt like he’d been stood up. Instead all he felt was sadness, sadness and guilt.

Finally turning around Childe plodded back down the street, steps slow and sluggish. What did he expect really, for you to wait around for him forever? How was that fair? There was no reason you shouldn’t grow sick of waiting, shouldn’t want more out of your life. You were perfectly within your rights to want such a thing. Yet the pain continued, spreading throughout his chest until Childe felt like his lungs were on fire and his throat was crumpled in a fist of his own making.

Arriving back at the apartment a supernatural urge seemed to seize the Harbinger. Pack, he needed to pack. He wouldn’t burden you anymore, wouldn’t continue to strain your emotions by hanging around like a phantom. Luckily Childe wasn’t the kind of person to own a lot of things. Not that you really were either, between the both of you purchases mainly went into gifts for each other rather than personal buys. Childe now stood looking down at some of the things you’d bought or made for him. Scarves, books, a stuffed animal that had reminded you of his Delusion; all of these things lay peacefully on the shelf, giving the books behind them a slightly trapped looked. It was so homey and so comforting that Childe found tears pooling at the corners of his eyes.

Wiping his eyes roughly the Harbinger collapsed onto the couch. What was he doing? Part of him wondered if he shouldn’t just wait for you to come home, wait and see where you two really were. But it seemed unfair to do that. After all, what kind of sleazy person left their partner for a month then begged for their love and attention right after coming home? It was completely within your rights to want more, hadn’t Childe already made that clear to himself? And yet it hurt, it hurt so much. How had he managed to mess this all up, to let the thing most precious to him fall out of his hands? He had been so careless.

Giving himself up to his emotions Childe let the pooling tears stream down his cheeks. Suddenly everything seemed so very heavy. Closing his eyes for a moment Childe sighed. Five minutes, he would give himself five minutes before returning to his packing. Yet the familiar comfort of the couch beckoned to him, and soon fatigue overwhelmed him, dragging him down into the realm of sleep. Thankfully, he dreamt of nothing.

“Childe what are you doing?!”

Lurching up Childe glanced around wildly, hands automatically moving to summon his weapon. For a few seconds he found himself utterly confused, unable to comprehend where he was or what was going on. Soon enough however, the situation came crashing back to him and the Harbinger lowered his weapon. Glancing up at you he braced himself for whatever was going to happen next.

Well you certainly seemed upset, though not exactly in the way Childe might have expected. Instead of anger there seemed something more akin to panic in your eyes, and the red patches on your face certainly pointed to distress more than anything else.

“Is something wrong?”

“Is something wrong, you tell me that!” You took in a few erratic breaths, but your tone remained panicky. “Why are you packing? Do you have another trip? Why are you leaving?”

“I, I thought that it would be easier if I just left.” Childe lowered his head, unable to look you in the eyes. “I figured that I would spare you the pain of having to kick me out yourself.”

“Why in Teyvat would I kick you out?” You sat down on the couch next to Childe, and he could feel your eyes piercing through him. “What’s going on?”

“I didn’t see you at the docks when I returned.” Childe paused, gathering his thoughts. “At first I thought that you’d just fallen asleep or something but you weren’t home. And when I saw you out with your friends, well it made me realize how distant I’ve really been; physically, emotionally, everything. I realized that, and I realized that you deserved better, that I hadn’t been doing enough. I realized that you deserve more, deserve a partner who will always be there for you, who you won’t always have to be waiting for.”

“Oh Ajax.” You whispered softly.

Raising his head Childe could see no relief in your expression. Instead sadness was plainly plastered upon your face. Reaching out your hands you let Childe slump against you, carding your fingers through his hair as he rested his head on your shoulder.

“I’m sorry my darling, I thought you were coming back tomorrow. That’s why I was out. I would never think such a thing as abandoning you,” you spoke softly, tone achingly soft, “I mean it. Our relationship isn’t conventional, that’s true; but I would never trade it for anything. I would never think that you weren’t giving enough, I know how hard you work and how much you put into everything you know. Believe me Ajax, I don’t begrudge you any distance, I’ve never lacked love from you.”

“But what if one day you want something more,” Childe couldn’t help but ask, “what if one day letters aren’t enough? What if one day, what if one day I’m not enough?”

“I promise that will never happen,” you let out a soft sigh, “really Ajax you hold yourself too cheaply. You shouldn’t underestimate yourself, or underestimate me for that matter. You will always be enough for me. There will never be a day I want anything or anyone different, and if need be I will remind you of that every. single. day.”

Punctuation the last three words with kisses to Childe’s head you smiled as he titled his face up to gaze into yours. Though the panic had evaporated from you there was still sadness, and for a moment Childe felt guilt wash over him, guilt that he had caused you so many trials and that he hadn’t even had the courage to face you about it.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Although I do appreciate you understanding that almost stealing out into the night nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Not my brightest moment.” Childe admitted.

“Perhaps not,” you laughed, “I mean really, you’d think that it was the second act of a tragedy or something, and not one I’d like to participate in.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize! Just don’t do it again, or next time I’ll get genuinely angry, and then you won’t get off the hook so easily.”

Childe pressed his lips to yours, another unspoken apology. Though you let out a small huff of impatience you nevertheless leaned into the kiss, smiling against his lips as you let your hands drift from his hair to his shoulders.

That night Childe lay awake, listening to the soft cadence of your breath, indulging in the feeling of peace that lay over him. Though he knew that his worries and insecurities would never truly leave him, Childe nonetheless felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Maybe one days his fears would come true, maybe one day this life wouldn’t be enough. But “ifs” and “maybes” weren’t guarantees, and until that day happened Childe would cherish the time he spent with you.

Besides, Childe trusted no one as much as he trusted you. If you said that such a day would never come to pass, then surely you were right.

  Kaeya

You were working late again.

Kaeya supposed that it shouldn’t have bothered him, but then again he also supposed that almost anyone would feel somewhat uneasy if their colleague and partner was suddenly avoiding them like the plague.

Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but not much in Kaeya’s mind. Of course, if this were some sort of habit then he would hardly mind; but after months of making it a tradition to always walk home together, well, safe to say the whole thing didn’t sit well. Nor was it simply a matter of you staying to work late, even the days where you finished earlier than him it seemed that you were always dashing off somewhere, leaving him painfully out of the loop.

Now Kaeya stood across the room from you, fingers drumming on his arm, face carefully hiding the irritation and concern that rose up inside him, threatening to spill over.

“I’m really sorry Kaeya!” Your tone was sincere, and the apology in your eyes seemed genuine enough. “It’s just that Jean asked me to look over the ledgers for the infantry. You know the captain is out this week, but Jean didn’t want to have to owe the City and the soldiers in terms of late funds. I promise it won’t take that long, I’ll be done as fast as I can.”

“Why don’t I help you with it?” Kaeya could feel the sarcasm sweetening his tone, attempted to rein it in he stared at you silently.

“You’ve been working so hard, I wouldn’t want to bother you with extra work.”

“It wouldn’t be a bother at all. Anything for my dear partner.”

“Really, it’s fine!” You twisted your hands, a nervous habit that Kaeya had long ago picked up on. “I’ll be done in time for dinner. And then we can the new recipe you’ve been telling me about; okay?”

“Very well.”

“Thanks for understanding!”

Though you seemed happy enough by the proposition Kaeya noticed how fast your head moved to the papers on your desk. Closing the door behind him he heard you let out a loud sigh. Clenching his hands, as if to remind himself that he was still in a semi-public setting, Kaeya stalked out of the Knight’s Headquarters. The thoughts in his head felt like static, and he worried that if he remained still for one more moment it would swallow him up.

Walking the streets of Mondstadt, Kaeya tried to reflect back upon the past few weeks. Had he done something wrong? Wracking his brain for any serious disputes Kaeya came up frustratingly emptyhanded. If you had fought over something this whole debacle would be one thing. Kaeya had a temper of his own, and petty acts of anger was something he admittedly struggled with often enough. He could hardly fault you if you acted in a similar way, or at least not without admitting to his own faults.

And yet nothing had happened, nothing that might cause such a dispute. Clenching his hands one more, aware that his knuckles must’ve been bone white, Kaeya let his thoughts drift to darker waters. What if you were just sick of him? It was certainly plausible, or at least Kaeya thought so. It would certainly explain why you now seemed to be avoiding him like the plague outside of work.

The thought hurt, as it might well do, but surprisingly most of the pain didn’t come from the idea itself, but from the idea that you wouldn’t tell him such a thing. You falling out of love with Kaeya would be been incredibly painful. You not trusting him enough to the point you were simply avoiding him, well the thought was enough to knock the wind out of him. Did you really think so ill of him? The idea filled Kaeya with smoldering rage and indignation – fueled in no little part by the fact that Kaeya ultimately might agree with you. Usually thoughts like those were the kinds you hated, the kinds you chased away with a stick, assuring Kaeya that no matter his past decisions he was still worthwhile. But you weren’t here now, and those dark thoughts were now kindling for the fire that burned in Kaeya’s mind.

By the time he’d reached the apartment Kaeya was almost sure of his hypothesis. Though a small part of his brain reminded him that he was working of a diet of sleep deprivation and anger, such logical thinking was easy enough to shrug off. After all, the signs were there. You were evidently getting quite sick of him, it was hardly Kaeya’s fault that he caught on.

Throwing his equipment on the floor, not bothering to even put his sword up on its stand, the Cavalry Captain walked towards the kitchen. What he needed was drink, maybe even two. Really if it were up to him he’d spend the next hour or so getting as drunk as possible before passing out in the tub. Thankfully though his reason hadn’t completely left him, and Kaeya managed to limit himself to two and a half glasses of cider. He needed to be at least on the side of sober for the conversation that was bound to pass once you came home after all.

The lateness of the hour in which you arrived felt like a personal insult, though really it was only 21:00 or so.

“Kaeya?” You called out, whipping the Cavalry Captain out of his thoughts.

Stepping into the kitchen the grin on your face was a stark contrast to the emotions that swirled in Kaeya’s mind. Hands clasped behind your back you stood in the doorframe as if expecting something. You’d probably be in for a nasty surprise. Kaeya smiled sweetly at you, words burning in his mouth, mixing with the alcohol. This was a bad idea.

“How was the paperwork?”

“The paperwork? Oh! It was boring enough I suppose. I kept getting distracted though, I really should’ve had you there, you could’ve kept me from nodding off.”

“I’m sure I would have. Tell me something my dear, I have a question that’s been burning in my mind.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me why it is that out lovely Acting Grandmaster asked you to go over the ledgers when I was assigned to that exact thing yesterday?”

Ignoring the blotches of red that immediately spread across your cheeks Kaeya stood up. Carefully going to clean the glass he’d been using he stared into the sink, not trusting himself to look at you. If he did all the words he wanted to say would fly out at once, and something that probably shouldn’t be said with them.

“Did she ask you that? How odd! She must’ve wanted a second pair of eyes or something, I guess.”

“Are my eyes not good enough?”

“Kaeya, you know I wasn’t insulting your work.” A sort of shocked irritation ran through your voice. “You’re the best knight in Mondstadt after all.”

“Oh really? Well if you think so highly of me then why have you been avoiding me so much?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“Then let me ask a different question; when was the last time we walked home together?”

“I don’t know, a week and a half ago?”

“Try two and a half.” Kaeya finally turned around, drumming his fingers on the counter. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not avoiding you!” Indignation shot through your words as you shook your head. “I’m just busy recently.”

“Busy with made up work.”

“It’s not made up!”

“Oh really, then tell me what was your work last night?”

“I had to oil the bow strings for my regiment.”

“They couldn’t do it themselves according to protocol?”

“Not the new recruits they couldn’t!”

“Then what about the day before?”

“Kaeya!” You finally burst out. “I don’t know why you’re so quick to find fault with me right now! Just tell me what you’re getting at, if you’re going to insult me you might as well do it head on.”

A part of him admired you for wanting to look at the problem right in the face, another part of him thought of how well you knew him, how attuned you were to his moods. Just as he had figured out that you were avoiding him, so could you tell that his jabs were a misdirection. It was almost funny really, seeing the things you both had picked up about one another now used at the end.

“Fine.” Kaeya crossed his arms, hoping his expression was at least somewhat neutral. “It seems obvious to me that you’ve been avoiding me, and that you no longer want my company. What I am getting at is the fact that you want to break up, and that you evidently trust me so little with that fact that the only solution you’ve come up with is to avoid me.”

Your face went slack with shock, pupils turning to pinpricks as you stumbled backwards. Finally letting your arms fall to your sides you grabbed the side of the doorframe, as if unable to process what he just come out of your partner’s mouth.

“What?”

“Do you really trust me so little?” Kaeya pressed on, feeling his emotions begin to spill over. “Am I really so untrustworthy that you can’t even tell me you want to end things? Am I, am I really that untrustworthy?”

Everything seemed to be going all wrong. Kaeya had expected you to immediately fess up, had expected guilt and relief and then the end. Instead all he got was incredulous silence, incredulous silence and a look that screamed utter and total disbelief.

“Do you really think that I would do that to you?”

The question was a simple enough one, one that anyone might ask during a conversation of this nature. Still your tone was so dispassionate that Kaeya couldn’t help but pause. Did he really think that you would do such a thing? His anger certainly thought so, helped a great deal by his current buzzed state. All that aside however, did he really think that? When he woke up tomorrow, would these thoughts still be swirling through his head, these angry thoughts that threatened to burn through his happiness.

“I don’t know.” It was the best answer he could give.

“Then why would you accuse me of something you weren’t even sure of?”

“I…”

“Kaeya have you really thought so little about what you just told me?”

He almost wanted to apologize for how stupid his words seemed in retrospect.

“Would it help you if I told you where I actually was?”

Your voice was still quiet, but not entirely closed. Nodding stiffly Kaeya felt his fingers still.

“Very well. You were right about one thing, I wasn’t actually checking the ledgers for Jean; and I wasn’t oiling bowstrings all day either, I mean our troops should know how to do that at least. But you made one mistake in your judgement Kaeya, the idea that I was avoiding you. In truth I was gathering materials, I wanted to make a new sword for you. Your current one is so brittle and since I know you don’t want to use the sword you were given as an heirloom, well I thought that I wouldn’t wait for your current one to break and that your new one would be a present.”

“…I see.”

It was all Kaeya could get out; how else could he reply? Shame and guilt mingled within his mind, quickly dousing any anger that he might’ve felt. He really fucked up this one didn’t he. He let his emotions slip once more and now he had made a fool of himself. More than that he had refused to trust you, had ended up doing the exact thing he had just accused you of. Now what was there to do? He couldn’t exactly slink away with his dignity; even if he had managed to retain that, there weren’t many places to go.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

Kaeya jerked his head up from the spot he’d been examining on the floor, confused by the sudden turn of the conversation. You stared into his eyes, shrugging slightly.

“I said I’m sorry. I’m sorry Kaeya, I should’ve come up with a better method. I didn’t mean to make you worried, or to make you feel like I wanted to no longer associate with you. Believe me that’s the last thing I want to do. So I’m sorry that I made you feel that way.”

“I was the one who accused you of all those things that weren’t true.”

“You did. I’m not very happy about that to be honest; you’re going to be doing some serious penance for the next week. I just figured that before that I would apologize. Then we could be even. Okay?”

Reaching out your hand Kaeya finally noticed what you’d been hiding. The windwheel aster was slightly limp, the breeze that gave it its beauty nowhere to be found. Nevertheless it seemed at the moment the most beautiful flower in the world. Walking over to you Kaeya tentatively took the flower in his hand. Smiling softly he leaned down to kiss you.

“I’m sorry.”

Tomorrow he’d start making it up to you. Tomorrow he wouldn’t listen to his demons, wouldn’t let his own lack of self-worth hurt you. Tomorrow he would do better by you and more. Today he would say sorry.

After all, he had plenty of time.

[ascarimo]

After Class - [Professor!Lando]

A/N: Requested on Wattpad

WORDCOUNT: 2.2K+

WARNINGS: nsfw (teacher x student plot, unprotected sex)

SYNOPSIS: You're one of Lando's students, and he's your Arts professor. You have a question about a project, and therefore you ask if you can stay after class.

When reading the description of the extra course you were about to choose, you weren't exactly sure if it would be a good choice. Nevertheless, you thought a semester of art class would mean easy credits added to your study, and therefore you selected the course, taking it next to the other courses of your study. Art and design had always interested you, especially the designing of clothing, and it would also be fun to take this course as an extra effort. Ever since you met the professor of the course, Professor Norris, it was your favorite course. The Brit taught the class four hours a week, a lecture and a seminar. You had to admit that his good looks and his charming, bright character are the main part why you loved the course as well. The exam period was coming up soon, and for the art class, Mr. Norris gave his class the assignment to design their own clothing line.

And it was harder than you thought. Two weeks before the exam period, Professor Norris gave his students the time to work on it in class, where they could ask him questions as well. After the last seminar, all the students had three more weeks to finish the project and hand it in. You were struggling with the color scheme, yet confident about the design. You felt like you were stuck in your project, and whatever you tried, it didn't seem to work. Luckily, you had the chance to ask your professor today. You were right on time for his class to start, and with your laptop, you sat down in one of the middle rows of the classroom. The seminar group was small, which you liked, as the setting was a lot cozier with just eight students, instead of a large group. Professor Norris hopped on his desk, looking around the class. He was wearing a ripped pair of jeans, a slightly large shirt, and some sneakers he had designed and created himself.

"Good afternoon, everyone, we're just going to repeat the seminar from last week. You have the time to work on your projects and ask about anything you need help with. Feel free to put some headphones on or anything," Professor Norris told his students, which made most of them nod in agreement. You looked up at him, his lips twitching upwards when his eyes met yours. You smiled back at him before starting up your laptop, logging into your account, and selecting the file of your project. You scrolled through it, silence filling the classroom as everyone was either busy or on their phone. You looked around, waiting for the first one to step towards Professor Norris' desk, but neither of the others did. You were hesitant to ask him something so soon, just after the start of the class. You remained seated for a while, however, he seemed to notice your pondering, and when you looked up again, he stood at your table. "What are you working on?" Mr. Norris asked.

"Ehm, well..." You started with a soft laugh. "I started on this, but I don't like it a lot," you admitted, turning your laptop to show him, feeling slightly nervous. He leaned his hands on the table, and your eyes glided over his arms, the veins bulging up over his tanned skin. You were quick to divert your eyes elsewhere. "What don't you like about it?" he asked. "It's too basic. I think it needs more... me" "You." You said at the same time, causing you to laugh softly, and so did he. "Think of something that describes your life, your personality, think of symbols or sayings that mean a lot to you, and try to work that in. You have a great base, so just some more creativity is needed," Professor Norris told you, and you looked into his eyes. You nodded slowly, feeling your face growing hot under his gaze. "Thank you," you choked out, gnawing your teeth into your bottom lip as he gave you a grin. Mr. Norris was young, about your age, and he was doing his internship at your university, and he was undeniably hot.

You were continuing on your project throughout the class, yet you were still not satisfied with the current look of it. You weren't sure what kind of things to design along with it, and you decided to stay behind to ask some more. "Mr. Norris? Would it be okay for me to stay behind for some minutes?" you asked, standing up as the others did so too. "Of course," Lando replied to you, wishing the others a great day and good luck with their projects. Your eyes glided over his appearance once more. You liked that his style was different from the other professors, who were dressed in tight suits. He was young, seemed the have the same mindset as his students, which automatically caused his classes to be so much more fun. The other students now walked out of the classroom, and you picked up your laptop to take it to his desk. "To improve the design I'd like to see it in 3D, but I can't get this programme to work," you sighed.

"You do have the updated version downloaded, right?" Professor Norris asked, moving next to you and glancing at your screen. "Yes," you replied. "Some of the functions are hidden a little, let me try," Lando took your laptop, briefly watching when you leaned back against his desk. The skirt you were wearing looked very flattering on you, but Lando diverted his eyes from your figure. He was distracted by the move you made when leaning against his desk with your hands, pushing your upper body slightly forward, the off-shoulder blouse you were wearing nearly showed the swell of your cleavage. Lando cleared his throat, swallowing hard as he opened the menu on the designing program on your laptop. "Could you get the charger, please?" Lando asked then, the battery was still 30 percent, but he watched you nod and turn around to your bag.

His teeth dug into his lower lip when your skirt floated around your legs, the material riding slightly upwards from the movement when you picked up your bag and got the charger out. "Thanks," Lando muttered. "If you come on my side, I can show you how it works," Lando said then, and you made your way around his desk. He was close to you, and you could feel the heat of his body radiating off him. His long fingers were pointing to the screen, making your eyes dart over to them instead. The pull in your lower abdomen worsened each time his hands came in sight, making you squeeze your thighs together subtly. "Is it understandable?" Lando asked. "J-just once more how to activate..." Your breath hitched in your throat when his fingers brushed over the back of your thighs. "To activate?" Lando hummed.

Professor Norris rose from his seat, and you looked up at him meanwhile, words stuck in your mouth. "Tell me, darling," he ushered, making a step forward. The back of your thighs hit his desk, and you shuffled onto it. "I-I think it's clear now," you stammered. "Are you sure? You can stay a little longer if you want," Professor Norris replied while his fingertips trailed up your legs, feeling the soft material of your skirt. "Unless I make you uncomfortable," he was quick to add, and you looked into his bright eyes. You shook your head, your lashes fluttering when his lips hovered over yours. "This is so inappropriate," you muttered, feeling his lips on yours. "But you're so pretty, and we're the same age," he replied, giving you a taste of his lips. "My best student," Lando continued, his hands curling around your waist.

"That's not true," you laughed, gnawing down on your bottom lip when his nose nuzzled against your cheek, a sweet peck following. "Always so sweet in the middle row, working so hard," Lando told you, his fingers riding up the material of your blouse, feeling your bare skin. "Let me reward you, darling," his voice was husk, raspy in your ear, and you were addicted to the scent of his cologne that lingered around him. You adored the feeling of his fingers wrapped around your waist. Lando lifted his head and finally kissed your lips, humming lowly when he felt the pressure of your mouth kissing him back. His tongue glided over the seam of your lips, deepening the kiss. You joined the sway of his tongue, feeling your body heating up. Lando shivered lightly when he felt your fingers weaving into the curls in the nape of his neck.

His hands traveled over your lower back to your behind, his palms squeezing your hips before pulling you a little more forward. You whimpered softly when he kissed the corner of your mouth, down your jaw and to your neck. A shiver ran up your spine when he kissed the delicate skin of your neck, nibbling and sucking down your throat while one of his hands slipped under your skirt. "We've got to be quick, my love. Another class will be here in fifteen minutes," Lando apologized. Your mind could barely process what he said as soon as his hand squeezed the apex of your thigh, his fingertips brushing over the lace edge of your panties. You hummed softly when three of Lando's fingers moved over your clothed core. The feeling of your damp panties made him twitch in his jeans, and he started to stimulate your clothed nub of nerve endings to get you soaking. After teasing you shortly, he shoved your panties aside, and you looked down at his hand.

You bunched your skirt up around your waist, watching his fingers flex and the muscles in his arms tightening when he entered you swiftly. Your head fell back with a moan, but his lips were soon back on yours to shush you. "Sssh, be quiet, babe. It's our little secret," Lando whispered against your lips, his fingers curling up against your front wall right away, his thumb circling over your pulsing clit while he created the most delicious rhythm. His fingers stimulated the most sensitive spots, and had you trembling on his desk within a couple minutes. "Such a good girl," Professor Norris praised, watching your eyelids flutter while he felt your walls getting wetter and tighten around his digits. You cursed under your breath, trying your hardest to remain silent while your orgasm ripped through you. Lando licked his fingers clean, undoing his jeans and zipping down the denim.

His underwear was pushed out of the way, and his palm wrapped around his shaft that stood tall. The girth of his cock, the veins running over them, caused your mouth to water. Lando pulled you a little more to the edge of his desk, the round head of his length briefly moving through your folds before he bottomed you out right away. There was no time to go slow, and his pace went to fucking you into his desk with a hard, deep pace that had you nearly whining under the firm grip of his hands on your hips. It was so good, it felt so amazing, raw, hot, and the fact that he's your professor and you're his student nearly tipped you over the edge right away. "That's it, love," Lando grunted lowly when your core contracted around him, walls squeezing him tight. The tip of his cock brushed over your gathering of nerve endings each time, creating the state of frenzy you floated in.

Lando looked down at your blissed out expressions, admiring the furrow of your eyebrows, and your lips parted with soft breaths. Your hands were curled around his lower arms, your nails digging slightly into his skin. The white hot pleasure washed over you soon enough, briefly blurring your vision. The throbbing of his release against your inner walls prolonged the feeling of ecstasy. Lando reached for some tissues, helping you to clean up a little before you pulled your panties up again, and you adjusted your skirt and your blouse. Lando did the same, then moved to open some windows to let in some fresh air, which caused you both to laugh. You went to get your bag, and meanwhile Lando shoved a note your way. "This is my number, in case you need some more help with your project," he said, a grin curling his lips.

"Thanks," you chuckled, taking the note with you. "Maybe we can discuss it over dinner this weekend, you can text me your availability," he continued, approaching you again while you held onto the handles of your bag. "If you want to, of course," he added, his fingers moving under your chin and gently caressing your cheeks. "I'd love to, Professor Norris," you said, your eyes flickering up to his. His jaw slacked briefly before he grinned again. "Great, good luck with your project till then, Y/N," Lando said and walked you to the door. You smiled at him over your shoulder, walking down the hallway. Lando leaned against the door, shaking his head at himself, knowing he was crazy about you whether you were his student or not.