#which she hasn't often been around long enough to actually *see*

[aurore-parle-de-ses-idees]

🖊️ for Est?

est :D

she needs to figure out that she's mostly just dps, and That's Fine, Actually. she can do a little healing (story wise anyway lol. when i go raiding she mostly heals), but she's not really good at it. she doesn't take naturally to it and she never really studied it either, and she tries to make up for that with stubbornness and nothing else, which doesn't always work out. she'll jump into healing when she's panicking sometimes- and sometimes it is admittedly necessary to go about things that way- and she'll go around offering it after a fight or something bc she feels like she's obligated to bc she can (and sometimes also bc it's pretty much the only thing she can do at all), but it's still very much not her Thing; a far cry from her storm affinity

some of her trying to like. fill every role at once was an offshoot of how much time she's spent just on her own, traveling and adventuring and, most recently, Being The PC lol. even when she works with other people for a bit, it hasn't often been long-term nor in groups where she can safely just let someone else handle it entirely

[fategoflatass]

I used to be so against the slow burn trope. Not because I thought it was shit; it's just, I usually don't have the patience to wait whatever-amount-superior-to-three damn chapters for my dear ship to finally be able to look at each other without blushing and/or hold hands. Thus why you often times see me reading oneshots or fics with the "Established Relationship" tag on them.

So you can imagine just how surprised—or maybe not, maybe I just didn't think enough about it—I was when I realized my newest fixation's main pairing is—canonically—the embodiment of slow burn. Because holy shit they're taking their time.

Nothing against how Kusuriya develops its love story—quite the opposite, actually. The relationship between Jinshi and Maomao, two characters that are written as beautifully as their romance, is a rather realistic approach as to how the same or a similar dynamic would developed in real life. In such a complicated situation, with such complex feelings about emotions—both external and their own—and attachment, makes sense that it takes so long for the relationship to finally sail.

The problem is, I didn't know I was signing with the Devil the moment I decided to pick up the light novel. Ten volumes and nothing has happened. Nothing.

And you can say that technically things have happened, because they have. I mean, Jinshi is just so desperate for Maomao to give him the time of day, you know what I mean? And even that isn't enough anymore and thus he has committed some of the craziest shit I've seen in any romance. Which okay, I don't usually read these type of romances but still.

What I mean by "nothing" is just, their relationship hasn't changed status. I could also say that it seems to go nowhere, but that'd be lying. Since, you know, it has changed quite a lot—just not in the way my impatient ass wanted it to. Because he can be as honest with his feelings as he pleases, and those around them might be heavely conscious of the tension and thus constantly tease those lovebirds (as they should), but babygirl's not helping, you know?

And I get it, Maomao's not the best at expressing and understanding herself, and she's also way too busy worrying about going as unnoticed as possible (she should give up on that one already, tbh) while keeping her head where it should be. But like, I can't help feeling frustrated over it like ‼‼

GIRL, FUCK THE RULES. TAKE THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN AND RUNAWAY SOMEWHERE NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY YOU. YOU THEN CARRY THAT BITCH BRIDESTYLE TO THE CLOSEST CHURCH AND MAKE HIM YOUR WIFE. PROCEED TO FROG AROUND, EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR UTERUS AS MUCH AS YOU'D LIKE, AND THEN TEACH THE PRODUCTS OF YOUR PRACTICES AS YOUR OWN GUINEA PIG THE WAYS OF HERBAL MEDICINE. AS EASY AS THAT.

But she won't. She'll take her sweet ass time being in denial about both Jinshi's and her own feelings, then maybe she'll proceed to analize herself and find out that maybe, just maybe, that affection that she'd been feeling for that loser became something else. Did said affection also become something more complicated? Absolutely. Does she know how to deal with it? Hell no, but fuck it. If I learned something from school is that you always leave the hardest parts for later.

Now you see why I was so against reading slow burn?

And you wanna know the worst part? I loved it—I loved every second of it, every word, every page. Every scene that seemed to help the relationship advance, only for Maomao to say nope and leave like she owns the place, which at this point she fucking might.

It feels like I, as the reader, am in the middle of a heatwave and some sadistic bastard won't stop teasing me with ice cream—they put it in front of my face, close enough that I can smell the cold. Then take a spoon and eat little by little while staring directly to my eyes. At times they seem to show mercy and feed me a spoon, only for it to be a rather small quantity of serving—serving that tastes so damn good at first, only for it to have such a bitter aftertaste. But if I gotta have something in common with Jinshi is that I'll never be able to beat the masochist allegations, so I'll wait patiently for the next spoon and its corresponding and seemingly enless teasing from that faceless being.

So yeah, I'm still against it, only that now I understand the appeal—even if I have yet to find out about the whereabouts of my sanity while still mananing with the little I've left.

[iminlovewithwomen]

Love Muffin

Warnings: fluff, confessions, thats basically it

Summary: A tainted muffin causes your friendship between Henry to falter, but could something else grow?

guys this is a long one + it's been sitting in my drafts for like 3 months

♡♡♡♡♡♡

You were standing in the middle of Junk n' Stuff, crawling your fingers into the mouth of your bestfriend, Henry. Let me explain.

A few hours earlier, Ray met a woman named Gwen who he claims "immediately fell in love with her". Which was weird, because Ray hasn't ever had a girlfriend who he ever fell in love with.

The thing is they are already getting married on the same day they met.

But you and the gang, consisting of Henry, Charlotte, Jasper, and Schwoz, couldn't figure out how he "fell in love" with her so quickly.

She had to have done something to him.

So, Schwoz hooked up a machine to his head to see how they met. As you saw on the machine, Gwen gave him a muffin for him to eat and kissed him.

Charlotte, being the intelligent queen she is, figured out that she gave him a tainted muffin which made him fall in love with her.

Jasper came down a few minutes later listening to music, when he was supposed to be upstairs with Henry and Gwen in Junk 'N Stuff.

Henry and Gwen.

She must have been giving him muffins too.

You, Charlotte, and Jasper all ran up to the store to stop her from giving the muffins to him.

And that brings us to the present.

"Henry, stop!" "You can't eat that muffin!" We all cried out.

"Why can't I eat the muffin?!"

"Let him eat the muffin!"

Apparently, Gwen and I were pulling on his arms too hard, causing him to fall back and soon enough a vase bonked him on the head.

"Henry!" We all screamed, worried about our bestfriend.

"Y/N, you know mouth to mouth resuscitation! Help him!"

"Wait, what?!" You quickly got pushed down to his level to give him mouth to mouth.

"I need to kiss him!" Gwen tried to pull you away.

"Get away from me! I'm his bestfriend!"

The thing is, you didn't want to do it because you have a crush on Henry. You had a MAJOR crush on him, and you have since you both got this job.

Obviously you know that you'll never date him, but sometimes he gives you mixed signals. Like winking at you, complimenting you often, etc. It's the little things that keep you going.

As you looked at his face, you inhaled a deep breath and connected your lips together. You gave him mouth to mouth and pulled your faces away from eachother.

He woke up and you sighed in relief. Thank god that worked, you wouldn't know what to do if he hadn't woken up.

"Hey, Hen." You waved at him. "You doing okay?"

"I-I...I think I'm in love with you."

"What's up?" You pushed your neck out farther and raised your eyebrows in confusion.

Oh, God.

How could you have been so stupid?

The muffin.

Gwen kissed Ray after he ate the muffin, and it made him fall in love with her.

Henry is in love with you.

You stood up and put your hands on your head in despair, what are you going to do?

Henry followed you everywhere you went in the room, and even tried to hug you. You tried to push him off but his hugs felt nice. You felt comfortable in his arms. But you quickly realized this is just the muffin talking, he doesn't actually love you.

You frowned at the thought. God, why does love have to be so complicated?

Ray walked in the store, a dopey smile on his face.

"I was just dreaming about the first time we met." You rolled your eyes at him.

"Could you please make all of these people leave so we can be alone?" She gave him doe eyes, making him cave in and push us out of the store. Unfortunately, Henry was still all over me. Which, honestly, I couldn't complain about. I've never gotten this much affection from Henry.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

You walked up to Henry's front porch, trying to open the door when Henry pushed you against the door while hugging you.

"Jesus, Henry! Get off of me for a second." You untie your sweatshirt from around your waist and throw it to him so he can smell it. He has a smile on his face while watching your actions. It's like everything you do is angelic to him.

You open the door to be greeted by Henry's living room, the scent of vanilla filling your nose.

You sit on the couch, Henry following right after you like a lost puppy. He stands there, giving you a tiny signal saying that he wants to lie next to you.

You sighed and lifted your arm up, Henry gasping on how you let him cuddle up next to you.

As Charlotte walked into the room after a tiny conversation with Schwoz on how he can't come in, she asks, "What is going on here?"

"Just tryna give the boy what he wants." You replied, trying to hide the fact you wanted him to sit near you.

"Tell me why Gwen would use tainted muffins to make Ray fall in love with her."

"Cuz, think about it, if Captain Man and Kid Danger are so in love that they can't fight crime, they can't stop Gwen from doing whatever evil things she wants to do!"

"Well, thank goodness Girl Danger is here to help. And I'm not eating any muffins anytime soon, or any from Gwen..." You trail off, feeling the sensation of Henry's hands on your shoulders.

"Oh that feels...really good." You throw your head back in pleasure while Charlotte gives you "the look".

You clear your throat and say, "I'm gonna head to the bathroom, be right back." Obviously, Henry follows after you. "Alone." His smile drops but after a few seconds, he still follows.

You're right next to the door when he pins you against the wall. "Henry, what are you doing?!" You gasp.

"Oh c'mon, Y/N/N, I know you like me." Henry replies. Your jaw drops and you pretend like you've never ever had a crush on him. "What?" You scoff. "I do not have a crush on you."

"Y/N, Charlotte told me a few months ago. I'm surprised I never saw the signs."

You look down to the floor, scared for him to reject you. He uses his hand to lift up your head by your jaw and kisses you.

You pull away from his sweet, sweet lips. You pushed him away from your body which felt amazing next to his.

"Henry, this is just the muffin talking, you don't actually like me."

"I know it may seem like this is the muffin saying stuff, but it's true. I do like you."

"Let me think about it, Hen." You stuttered. "Now can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, oh, yes, sorry." He exclaims. You walk in and see him still following you.

"Henry!"

"Sorry!"

♡♡♡♡♡♡

*Time skip*

A little recap. Piper came downstairs, in need of her "Girly Curly" that apparently you broke.

She grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped off a little bit of your hair. You felt hurt by her actions, which Henry could see by the look on your face.

"Don't touch my Y/N." He said in a stern voice, but Piper didn't listen. She started to fight you, but as you were fighting her, you caught a glimpse of Henry on the floor. He was spazzing, jerking, everything a person with a seizure would do.

We all came to the conclusion that when Piper hurt you, it made Henry angry, which drove out his feelings of love.

You and the gang were currently in the Man Cave, planning to get Henry to fight Ray. You realized at Henry's house, if we could get Ray angry, it would drive out his feelings of love too.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

When we saw Ray, Henry went on this rant about how Gwen was going to see this man more attractive than Ray named Rob Banks. Eventually, Ray got angry enough to throw Henry across the room. Me, Jasper, and Charlotte rushed over to ask if he was okay. Clearly he wasn't, but we wanted to be supportive friends.

Ray's feelings were soon gone after he started spazzing in the middle of the room. We talked with Ray to see if he was okay, and he was, so we came up with a plan to catch Gwen.

Long story short, he pulled off Gwen's ponytail and she blackmailed us into letting her get away.

"So, we all learned a lesson here, didn't we?" Schwoz said. We all looked at him in confusion as to what he was saying.

"Anger is stronger than love." Jasper claimed out of the blue, and we all nodded and agreed with him.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I started doing sex work while still living with my mom?

Warning for sexual mentions(nothing heavily explicit though)

I (18F) can't get a typical job like working in customer service or physical labor because of a mix of reasons. I'm both physically and mentally disabled, for one. I have chronic pain & chronic fatigue so extensive physical labor or any job that requires being up for a long time is out of the question for me, as it would cause me a lot of pain and put me at risk for collapsing or falling asleep due to exhaustion. I also have heavy social anxiety and sensory issues, and despite being in therapy since I was around 11, this hasn't gone away. I still have problems with stuttering when talking to people I don't know, and feel on the verge of panic the entire time. I also can't handle loud noises well- I carry around a pair of headphones constantly but that does mess with my hearing so I couldn't really use those in a customer service focused environment. I'm a full time student as well, and will be for several more years, as I'm going straight into college out of high school. On top of all that, I can't drive yet, as the process was delayed due to concerns that my health issues would make me a hazard on the road, so I won't have my full license until late this year.

I've tried looking for other job types before, but nothing I've been able to find works. I've tried doing art, but it's not easy to get people to actually commission you- I've only gotten 1 so far and I've had commissions open for almost half a year. I've tried content creation but have yet to build a platform big enough to make money from it. I've looked for online focused jobs such as creating captions or proof-reading others work but realized very quickly I'm not equipped/qualified for that job due to my problems with processing audio correctly, and my problems reading and writing correctly first try- I often have to re-read things many times over and re-type things at least once to get it at all correct, as words and letters get mixed up in my brain sometimes or I just accidentally skip over entire words or even sentences. And even then I sometimes still get it wrong. So I'm a pretty slow worker with things like reading, and something that requires listening to something and then writing what was said took so long it wouldn't meet the time requirements a lot of places are looking for in workers for that (that I've seen).

So the only idea I have left for making money so I at least have something to help pay for college and to go towards me being able to move out someday is some sort of sex work. I'm not planning on doing anything super risky, like meeting up with real people or anything that would show my face. So I wouldn't be worried about this bothering my mom since she's not really sex negative or strictly against sex workers or anything if it wasn't for one thing. I'm not sure if this will work either. I have a lot of acne problems all over, and problems with picking at my skin that leave scratch marks in a lot of places. And I'm not sure anyone would be willing to pay to look at that. It's not something that bothers me on an individual level, it's just a part of me, but that doesn't really change what other people do or don't find attractive. So it just kind of feels disrespectful to be selling that kind of thing in my mothers house if it's not even going to be significant enough for it to matter financially. And, of course, there's always the risk my mom could see it, and I worry it would upset her to see her daughter selling that kind of thing. But I don't see other options left for how I could make enough money to not end up drowning in student loans down the line, or end up living with my mom for many years into adulthood- which wouldn't be fair to her since she's not financially well off either. I don't plan for it to be a permanent job, just something to help me through my college years till I can start working in the field for what I'm getting a degree in or until my issues get well enough I can work a more typical job.

WIBTA?

What are these acronyms?

[nukaberries]

Hey, could I have some reactions to the male companions *coughValentinecough* reactions to seeing a female Sole Survivor outside of their radiation suits for the first time?

This is actually a really cool idea!! and I'm loving the appreciation that Nick's getting right now (Bethesda make him romanceable NOW)

//

Male Companions React to Seeing Sole Outside Her Radiation Suit

(Includes: Danse, Deacon, Hancock, MacCready, Nick and Preston)

Paladin Danse He can relate to always wearing a suit that hides most of his appearance. However, Sole has seen Danse out of his power armour a fair few times while they've been travelling together, he's never seen Sole in anything but her radiation suit. He won't say anything at first, wanting to keep their relationship strictly professional, but Sole may catch him staring for a little too long from time to time, before snapping out of it and pretending nothing had happened.

Deacon He'd definitely already made his guesses on what Sole looks like outside of the suit. His personal favourite theory - that Glory and Tom got sick of hearing about - was that Sole had six heads and fourteen arms coming out of her stomach. Still, he can't deny that he's somewhat taken aback when Sole eventually does take her radiation suit off. He'll make a comment on how he's relieved she has a normal amount of limbs, to which he'll refuse to elaborate on. If they're in Railroad HQ, Glory will definitely smack him across the head.

Hancock While he never would've openly admitted, despite a few passing comments about Sole's 'interesting get up', Hancock was so curious about what Sole actually looked like under her suit. He would've never outright asked though, not wanting to come off as weird. When Sole does take her suit off around him, depending on how close they are, Hancock might mention how he prefers them without the suit. He won't want to make Sole feel uncomfortable though, especially if they're not very close, so he'll leave it at that.

MacCready He has no idea why Sole insists on wearing her radiation suit everywhere. The Glowing Sea, sure. Boston Commons, maybe. But Diamond City? If MacCready ever brings up Sole's suit, it'll be more about how he doesn't understand why they wear it everywhere. When Sole finally takes off her suit in his presence, he's initially just relieved it doesn't look like he's travelling the Commonwealth with an alien, then he realises how beautiful Sole actually is. It makes travelling with her afterwards a little more awkward - for him - often finding himself quite flustered around her. He just hopes that Sole hasn't caught on yet, or that she ever will.

Nick Valentine With his own get up being rather unconventional - how often do you see a synth detective? - Nick actually appreciates that Sole only ever goes around in a radiation suit. It somehow balances out how unusual they both appear alone and makes him feel just a little less abnormal. Admittedly, he is quite curious as to what Sole actually looks like, but he'd never outright ask or make her feel like she had to show him. When Sole does take her suit off, he's pleasantly surprised, but he won't mention it, wanting to avoid making her uncomfortable, even if he does think Sole's a sight for sore eyes. Whether Sole decides to keep the suit off or she puts it back on right after, Nick won't mind either way, he's just happy to have the company.

Preston Garvey When Preston first met Sole outside the Museum of Freedom, he was almost dead certain she was an alien, seeing her take down all those raiders in her radiation suit. He's only ever mentioned Sole's choice in clothing a few times, mainly wondering how she got into that power armour when she took on the Deathclaw. He'd never actually ask Sole to take her suit off, worrying she might not feel comfortable enough to, so when she finally does, he's relieved that she trusts him enough to take it off around him. Sure, her beauty is a bonus, but he decides to keep that part to himself for now.

[ernmark]

Juno Steel and the Case Closed (part 1) reaction

It's been a while since I've done one of these, hasn't it?

But it's the last episode, and I wanted to be here for the end. So if you'd like, some thoughts and theories under the cut:

It was a solid choice to have Nureyev go-- to make this final story about Juno and his world and his life, rather than specifically about their relationship. But also, the choices made around Nureyev's leaving-- holy shit.

Because here's a man who's spent the last twenty years entirely defined by his relationship with one man, and now he's cut loose and of course he's flailing to re-establish himself in a different orbit. And you can hear it in his voice, where it rises into something halfway to panic (amazing job, Noah Simes), and you can feel exactly how horribly wrong it's going to go if he goes down that road. And then there's Juno, who's healthy enough to be the voice of reason, even when it hurts him? Who makes it clear he's willing to wait until Nureyev is ready for him? Oh my god, that's perfection. (And Nureyev going maybe back to Brahma-- my little fanfic writer heart did a leap there). Nureyev may very well be back next episode (I suspect he will, if only for the final moments), but I really like this as an ending of their arc-- not the neatly laced up riding off into the sunset together, but looking forward to that sunset and being actually ready for it when it comes. It makes my heart feel so good.

--

And from that happy moment, to have Juno go back to Hyperion, to his office, and immediately start slipping back into his worst self? Oh, that's too real-- in a way that I am very happy with. Because he isn't 'fixed'. Juno 'born-a-sad-baby' Steel won't ever be 'fixed', not by romance or a vacation or a wonderful new family dropping him reminders of how much they love him. What's wrong with him isn't something that can be fixed-- but this time around it's different. This time around, when he yells at Rita she stands up to him (with a small, tremulous voice, because goddamn standing up to people you love is terrifying). I am so proud of her for that, and of him for backing off. It takes a palpable effort for him to rein himself in, but he's making that effort-- and he knows how, in a way that I don't think he did in those early seasons. It's a choice he's making, over and over again, just like it's a choice he makes to keep replaying Jet's wisdom instead of drowning his misery in tequila.

(Another kudos there: that Juno's problem isn't addiction, not the same way it is for Jet-- alcohol isn't a problem for him when things are going well, but it's easier to retreat into a bottle than to deal with his feelings. It's a distinction you don't see very often. Honestly, the way this show has dealt with addiction has been really refreshing to see.)

I've said from the beginning that one of the things that really drew me to this show was how it handles Juno's depression-- as a genuine mental illness that's an inherent part of him. And it's enheartening to see him struggle with it, but now be able to reach out for the tools and the support he needs. And that support doesn't have to be Jet literally talking him away from the bottle, or Rita or Nureyev petting him and making him feel better. He can reach for the pieces of them that they leave behind. And he can wish the Ruby 7 a good journey home, and send Nureyev to find himself, not without pain and grief, but without completely losing himself to it.

That kind of story gives me so much more hope than any kind of 'happily ever after' ever could.

--

And then the designated mystery, which has me so freakin' excited:

Nightmare.

She is the culmination of so many plot threads that I've been picking up on for so long and I'd completely forgotten about, and I am so freaking excited to see it.

I was in such a rough place emotionally when we last visited the most obvious of those threads, I genuinely don't remember if I posted meta about it or not, but it definitely struck some bells:

When Juno rescued Rita from Dark Matters, the safehouse she was in was described as being full of items that were clearly meant for a child. At the same time, Sasha was having Rita destroy all evidence of her own life so thoroughly that not even Rita herself would be able to find traces afterward.

It seemed most obvious to me that she was hiding a child (one that, I didn't realize until Juno remarked on Nightmare's area code, could have been hidden in the suddenly repopulated New Town without anybody asking inconvenient questions about who she was or where she came from). Also her taking care of a child would explain her ever-escalating reactionary tendencies-- she certainly wouldn't be the first parent who descended into authoritarianism in a misguided attempt to protect someone.

So some theories about who and what Nightmare is:

Alessandra's daughter is the most obvious, of course. (I still hold onto that theory that Sasha was either the Worst Client that Juno told Alessandra Strong about, or else that Sasha was the cheating spouse in that story.)

Nightmare could be Annie Wire's daughter-- assuming that Annie survived the factory, grew up, had a child of her own, and then died for real this time, leaving her grieving sister to raise her niece.

Nightmare could be Annie Wire herself-- dead, kept in stasis, revived by Dark Matters technology, and then whisked away to the safe house.

Nightmare could be a clone of Sasha and/or Annie. Honestly, not digging this theory, but I might as well throw it out there.

Nightmare could herself be a Radical, not unlike the Ruby 7, who's taken on Sasha's appearance and stayed that way ever since (after all, Sasha would have been at just about the right age when she was recruited by Dark Matters)

From a narrative standpoint, I'm most fond of the idea of Nightmare either being Annie or Annie's daughter, personally. Because that's literally the second mystery we were given, and it was pointedly never solved. As much as I like the idea that some mysteries just aren't and you have to make peace with that, I'm a big fan of long games like this, and of tugging on threads from the beginning of a story when you're wrapping up the end. That's especially true for Sasha's arc closing here, back in Hyperion City. Sasha's voice was one of the very first that we heard in this series, and Sasha's trajectory has always been a funhouse mirror version of Juno's. She's always been an integral part of his story. It seems fitting that her story gets wrapped up alongside his.

[indecisive-dizzy]

Alright the Gravity Falls brain rot is kicking in (aka I watched a 4hr video overanalyzing ATOTS <3 iykyk)

So have a loosely thought out concept of a hypothetical Welcome Home x Gravity Falls au with my "Hear me out!"s This is a long one, you've been warned <3

Wally - Dipper

Sally - Mabel

Julie - Stanley

Frank - Stanford

Eddie - Soos

Barnaby - Wendy

Poppy - Abuelita

Howdy - Gideon

Home - Bill???

Ok hear me out! (under the cut) Please ignore typos <3

Very quick clarification! For this au everyone is at least in their teens and I'm gonna add their ages as I elaborate. Ok? Ok!

Gonna Start with Poppy and Eddie. In this hypothetical au Poppy is Not Eddie's grandmother. Originally I thought of assigning Poppy the role of Lazy Susan but I wanted her to have a closer connection to the rest of the cast. And Abuelita fit the role well enough for me! She's just a sweet homebody who wants to knit and bake in peace. Eddie tells her all about work and Wally and Sally visit. <3

So Poppy and Eddie live together as Roommates/Family. Poppy took Eddie in as a teen (16ish) when she was in her early 20s (22-23?) He views her as a big sister. And she views him as a little brother. Anxiety siblings <3 (yes I hc Eddie has anxiety) Eddie started working for the shack soon after being taken under Poppy's wing. He's a tad forgetful and clumsy but is a very reliable handy man and a good friend! He's got a big heart and worries about Julie sometimes.

Currently, as in the time the au takes place, Eddie is 24 and Poppy is 30-31.

Julie and Frank would in fact make a Fantastic Mabel and Dipper. Tbh I think I've seen the comparison before. Which is exactly why I'm not doing it! They're not twins here but they are childhood friends and very close in age, Frank being slightly older. Currently, Julie is 57(?) and Frank is 58(?). (Ages aren't confirmed, all I know is I want them to be A Bit younger than the Stans. Currently this would put them in their late 20s at the time of the portal incident)

I feel like people sometimes forget that Frank is not against resorting to violence lol. Which is great for post portal Ford (and maybe Paranoia era Ford. bbg was not afraid to use that crossbow.) And Julie is a girl bossing business woman! She's scamming people selling breen to the tourists! Whatever that is! Tbh Big inspo for this decision is Relativity Falls, like I said these two make for great mystery twins.

So! Wally (15) as a teenage Dipper! It's just Wally but his curiosity is bumped to 100. Still the same lil guy but he's got a hyperfixation on the supernatural and cryptids. Maybe he hasn't quite figured out his style yet, maybe he's a bit more awkward, I dunno.

He kinda didn't want to spend his summer here but ends up enjoying himself as he makes friends and gets to over indulge his curiosity.

Sally (15) is Wally's adopted sister! By sheer coincidence they have the same birthday but Sally always points out that she's older because she was "born at sunrise!" She's very adventurous and is often the one leading their escapades. I imagine she meets this aus equivalent of Candy and Grenda at the local theater. Very much wants to be her own person, separating herself from the Adopted Twins thing. Not in a bad way! She loves Wally very much but wants people to see her as Sally! Not just "Wally's Sister."

Barnaby (22) is very laid back and so is Wendy. Yeah I don't actually have a lot to say? Um. He does the bare minimum work but is a good friend to Julie. He's real observant and can tell she's not always as bubbly as she seems But she's also his boss so he doesn't pry. Instead just offering a distraction or a rare bit of advice..

Oh! There's a parallel with him and Wally and Wendy and Dipper. Except Wally just wants to be friends with Barnaby but doesn't quite know how to communicate that. Maybe he just kinda follows him around the shack hoping to figure out what to say?

Thinking their relationship is literally the recent quote from Clown's Q&A: "Barnaby meeting Wally felt like business as usual, and Wally meeting Barnaby felt like meeting the whole world." yeah that's it. Sums it up Perfectly <3 Wally thinks Barnaby is really cool and friendly. And he wants a friend who treats him like he's mature. Like he's 15, not 5. And Barnaby does that right out the gate. Calls him kid but obviously doesn't treat him like a small child.

Ahem. Capitalism. Howdy's (21) a filthy capitalist and wants the shack for Profit. I don't think he'd resort to literal breaking and entering to get the deed? Can't make Profit from jail if he gets caught. But he's definitely trying to buy the property off of Julie. Maybe we stray further from Gravity Falls canon and say he gets an early redemption bc I'm a sucker for this goof. It would be sometime after taking the shack (and losing it.) Oh but he does summon the Evil. Can't break the law if the law doesn't account for Interdimensional Demons!

On that note, Yes Howdy could be Stanley. But again. That's the easy way out! Also in my brain that would make,, idk Barnaby? Ford. And I couldn't do that.

Ok final (wh) character. Home. So I'm on the side of Home Isn't Evil/The Antagonist. He's just a guy (house)! A sassy fella! But someone's gotta be the Eldritch Horror and Unfortunately, Home,,, well he's a lil quirky!

But idk How to incorporate Home. They speak in onomatopoeias! They're a house! Is Home now a Vague 2D House Shaped Demon? Do the have Limbs? Wear a top hat? Do they talk now? Home speaking words feels cursed. But I genuinely don't what else to do? Maybe we suspend our disbelief and they still talk through banging shutters. Everyone just understands them bc Cartoon logic pffff maybe they have subtitles projected into your brain that only you can see idk lol.

So obviously there's Way more GF characters than there are WH characters. insert characters [(y/n)] aren't my thing for aus so that's a no go for me personally. I imagine the town is filled with characters we've heard of outside the neighbors (Ma Beagle of course lives in town.) Maybe some of Howdy's family is here who knows. And the rest would be randos or ocs I guess! Tho I don't believe Julie's siblings are in town.

Anywho this is all hypothetical and I made it up and retyped things as I went along. I wanted to ramble some nonsense so I did! If you read it, Awesome! You sure did that!

[harrysmimi]

Italy

Synopsis: YN and Harry's weekend trip to Italy

Series Masterlist | More of my work

Friday night was spent at Harry's villa in Tuscany and the next day he was going to drive them to Florence to this museum, Sunday was going to be spent around the neighborhood of his house.

It was YN's first time at Harry's villa or in Italy really. She's been getting a lot of opportunities to go to new cities and countries since she's met him, that made her that much more guilty. He let her walk around the house until he figured the plan for their dinner out, but promised to give a personal house tour himself. He resorted to order a take out from one of his favourite places.

It was a good place YN figured, very private. No wonder why Harry talked about spending time there before he grew to love going back to the flat which is now their home. There was a huge pool in the backyard, which was clean surprisingly given the fact that Harry hasn't been here in a long time. Maybe he had someone come and clean up the pool. Maybe he's planning to use it. There were fairy lights all around the backyard, it was so Harry in all ways. All sorts of blooming flowers scattered around the garden, little weird statues splayed around the space as decore, some used as planters. The villa was very big, but it had the same safe and zen feel to it as their home back in London.

"Do you like it here?" Harry's voice right in her ear from behind spooked her.

"Oh my god, you scared me!" She smacked his chest making him laugh, "and yeah, it's very cosy in here." She shared. "Now I get it why you'd come here to stay often."

"Yeah? Do you wanna move here someday?" He wrapped his arms around her middle from behind.

"When we're retired? Yes!" She joked to which he actually laughed. "It's very pretty out here, can't wait to see this in the morning when the sun is up."

"It's even more prettier in the morning, I will tell you that." He agreed, "do you want to go swimming tomorrow?"

"Hah! I can't swin to save my life." She scoffed.

"I'll teach you, don't you worry about that baby girl." He smeared his lips onto her shoulder with a smooching sound. "I ordered us some food from my favourite restaurant, it'll be delivered in a few minutes."

"Thank you." She smiled. "We won't have enough time though.'

"We'll come in next week." He shared, "and the next. Or we can vacation here next year when you can take your yearly off."

"Mhmm, I want to try all the food here." She suggested and that made him really happy.

"Yeah?" He teased, waddling around with her in his arms, "we'll try everything you want, baby. And by everything, I mean everything." He whispered the last word in her ear making her giggle.

"Stop being cheeky!" She whined feeling him tickle her sides.

"Food's gonna take a long time, I think I wanna have my dessert first." His voice was a deep whisper as if he was keeping it a secret from the plants and shrubs around in his backyard, nose skimming against warm skin of her neck. "You wanna go in?"

"Mhmm." She sounded in agreement, but squealed when he scooped her up with his hands supporting her back and begin her knees as he made his way inside, "Harry!"

"I'm not gonna drop you baby!" He cooed, walked upstairs to the master bedroom. He placed her on the bed carefully. Just when he was about to kiss the door bell went off, making YN burst into laugh. "I swear it said 45 minutes on the application, for fucks sake!"

"Oh you poor thing!" She teased.

"You're gonna pay for this, being all bratty recently."

She just mocked him sticking her tongue out as he made his way out. She tailed closely behind him back downstairs, it was really their food. They sat down to eat their dinner.

......................................................................

"Okay..." YN sighed seeing a huge statue of a naked man in the museum. "I wasn't expecting this to be here."

Harry laughed, "that's quite... I don't how to say this... Big, innit?"

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed laughing as she walked ahead of him and he tailed behind her, laughing and teasing her all day long, making his usual sexual jokes around her.

It was middle of summer. They had their icecream walking around the city more. Harry took many, many pictures of her, some sneaky and for some Askin her to pose. She looked just that pretty to him, like a twinkling star on a summer afternoon dressed in a plain white cotton dress with a tiered skirt, hemmed to her knees, a pair of black kicks and a baby blue bucket hat.

They got back to Villa just before the sun set. It was getting pretty hot, especially for Harry to handle the weather outside and he almost passed out.

"You good now?" She gave him a glass of water.

"Yeah!" He sighs but laughed it off as he was actually feeling well.

"You sure?"

"Mhmm, I am sure baby." He reassured her, "thank you for looking out for me." pulling her to stand in between his legs, he wrapped his arms around her thighs tightly in a hug.

"Don't thank me for that." She cooed, pulling him closer as his head rested on her chest. "Do you want rest whilst I go make something for your eat?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine." He affirmed. "Now come on out with me." He carefully pulled her away from him as he stood up holding her hand. "Let's go walk out in the backyard."

"You almost passed out, Harry, I think you should rest." She scolded him but had to follow him as he was holding tight onto her hand, "lemme go make some lemonade for you and something to eat-"

"Shush!" He interrupted her. "Just walk in peace!'

"I'm not going to carry you inside, you're too heavy for me." She rolled her eyes.

"I promise, I won't make you." He smiled cheekily at her, "I'll be the one carrying you inside later."

After a few laps around the backyard taking in the perfect scenery of the sun setting, Harry replaced her hand into his other to drape an arm over her shoulder. Tucking in closer to her, placing a kiss on her head.

"You know?" He started.

"Hmm?"

"After what happened that at your work, I thought you would wanna end things." Harry admitted with a heavy heart making her halt on her place, "lemme finish please." He rushed as she opened her mouth to say something, "I know you didn't. I was just scared you know. Because we talked about having a baby and about getting a new home soon. Just got a bit paranoid. Just want to thank you for choosing to stay with me, love. I promise, I would change everything and make everyone like you because, honestly there nothing to not like about you."

YN just wrapped her arms around his middle, propping her chin up on his chest so she could look at him as he spoke his sweet little things to her. He chuckled and hugged her back before he continued...

"You truly make me so happy. And I've said this many times, but it's not enough to me because I can't fathom that I could have things and love I have with you. I felt so unworthy of that."

"But you are so worthy of all the love, Harry." She butted in.

"Yeah! Especially if it's from you." He agreed to her, "and when I said that, I wanna have a family with you, even get as many cats as you want - unless they don't eat my McFish -" she laughed at his added warning, "I want to you to have things you didn't had growing up, want to be a part of that as well. You deserve all of that more." His hand reached upto tuck her fringes falling on her pretty face and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. YN's eyes got teary behind her glasses hearing him say those things to her. Her heart fluttered in her chest as he reached for the back pocket of his jeans. "And you're my bestest friend, I love you and I don't see why I shouldn't ask you this for any other reason. Would you please give me the honour to be your husband? Will you marry me, please?"

And there it was, her tummy did ten back flips and two front flips as he finally asked her as he went on his knee, holding onto her hand in a gentle grip.

"You don't have to say please!" She cooed realising she crying, "of course I want to marry you." She got down to his height not being able to bring herself stand on her legs which felt like jelly.

"Gimme your hand, baby." He took her hand and slid the ring on the right finger.

"I want to hug you!" She whined when he was taking too long, but alas tackled him with a bear hug tucking her face against his throat. The reassuring weight of his hand on the back of her head had her crying more.

"I love you so much, YN." He whispered against her hair with his eyes closed.

"I love you more!"

"Don't cry, you're gonna make me cry, sweet girl." He chuckled, his vision would be watery if he dared to open them. It felt like those awfully realistic dreams to him, until she pulled away to look at him for a brief moment before finding her home in his neck. They sat there for what felt like ages but had been no more than a minute, before Harry pulled away to get a kiss. Dipping his head down he buttoned his mouth on hers, hand still cradling her head at the back.

YN let out a breath of a laugh watching his eyes teared up, nothing but in pure admiration. She brought her hands up to cup his fave in her hands and swipe away his tears, before she placed another kiss on his mouth. "You don't know how happy I am right now, this- you made this so special!"

"Only the best for my love." He smirked. "I have another surprise for you." He gestured at the back door of the villa.

There stood everyone who matter to both of them, Anne, Gemma, Sarah, Mitch and their baby, surprisingly YN's older brother and his wife, Jeff and Glenn, Alec and his Fiancé, who was also on photo duties as a photographer.

Harry helped her up as they greeted by their excited family and friends. Alec's Fiancé, Sophia hugged YN the first thing because as a Photographer she was on photo duties.

"Finally three of us are engaged now!" Alec announced, showing her the face time call with Brielle, who couldn't go as she's too pregnant to travel. She was sat there on her sofa with a bowl of popcorn propped on her baby bump.

"Give her a hug from me too!" She yelled through the call making everyone laugh.

They all shared their congratulations with the newly engaged couple, before YN's brother spoke up.

"So, you said you wanted to marry my sister." Asher started, "but not before we follow our traditions as well." Harry looked at him confusedly. YN couldn't believe he actually asked for her family's blessings. She was so grateful her brother actually showed up, but it broke her heart as her parents weren't there.

"Yes, we need to do the ring exchange ceremony, it's an engagement after all!" Jasmine, Asher's wife explained further. She had a little tray in her hands, with two rings on it.

YN adored Jasmine. For everything. For putting up with her in-laws, especially her husband. It warmed her heart as to how she really helped prepare for them to hold a tiny ceremony for her.

"I didn't know about this." Harry shared, "you didn't had to get the rings, would have told me."

"That's the part of the tradition." Brielle spoke, she's still on the face time call.

"Mhmm." YN hummed. "We just exchange the rings."

"Yup!" Jasmine chirped, "we don't do that on wedding day, so there is a separate engagement ceremony for it. In our culture the engagement rings are worn on right right, and the moved to the left hand on the wedding day. Both of you have to wear the rings. That's why these are often confused for wedding bands."

"I mean they do look like wedding bands." Alec pointed out.

"That's why you move them on your left hand later one."

"I understand." Harry listened to Jasmine carefully.

"YN." Asher gave her the ring. It was simple gold band, it a rectangular diamond placed on top. Her brother did an amazing job picking it. She look at her man, holding her hand out for him to put his own in hers. He did.

"Is it going to fit?" Alec started. Harry was confused all along as every teased him, interrupting YN everytime she tried to slide the ring on his finger; he was unaware that it was common tradition.

"Doesn't look like it is going to fit." Gemma commented, she's in on this too.

"Don't listen to them." YN rolled her eyes and she slid the ring on his finger. He wasn't wearing any other of his rings just the one YN got him for his birthday, he never takes that off but it was other hand. Everyone cheered and clapped.

"Yay!" Gemma chirped.

"Now it's Harry's turn." Jasmine gave Harry the other ring.

Harry really liked the gold band. It was delicate, just like his girl. YN laughed at something Jasmine said and gasped at something her brother did. He recieved a punch straight to his chest.

"Gimme your hand, love." He requested.

"Mhmmmm!" Brielle's voice chirped from the other side of the phone call. Yes, she's still there on face time, she ain't missing her friend's engagement ceremony! "Love!"

"Oh shut up!" Harry scoffed sheepishly, his girl found it funny. At least it made her laugh. Without giving a chance to anyone else, he slide the second ring YN's hand.

No one cheered for him. Well, it was part of their teasing so everyone had a great laugh and finally cheered for him as well.

Asher excused YN to a side to talk, mean while Jasmine explained Harry they weren't being mean to him. That it is a part of the ceremony in case that made him upset. He'd just got sister and mum to his side, but they chose to be on YN's side with teasing him. He didn't mind, he'd be on her side too. Deadass! And about the rings too, so he felt a little less bad about it.

Asher on the other hand, hugged his little sister. "I can't believe you're all grown up now!" She just chuckled, emotional. "I know you think, I don't care about you like everyone else, YN, but I do. A lot. You're always going to be my baby. I just don't know how to show you that, but I'm trying. And you know, I'll try. I'm so happy for you!"

It wasn't like Asher was trying to be discreet talking to his sister, he doubts anyone would understand him conversing with his sister in language they grew up learning first.

"Why didn't Mumma and Papa come with you?" She asked, looking at her brother with teary sad puppy eyes, a crease between her brow never loosened.

"Just don't ruin your day because of them. You know how they can be some times. Well, most of the time. Just don't think about them, hmm?"

"Hmm." She nodded.

Harry didn't wanted to over hear the conversation (not that he could understand a word), it was evident YN's upset about her parents not being there. Doesn't matter how much she despised her parents, it wasn't a secret shr still expect that they come back around. She didn't even tried to make it a secret, sometimes. It broke his heart there.

"So, where does Mr. and soon-to-be Mrs. Styles want to go for dinner?" Asher asked, his arm draped on his sister's shoulder. She looked as if she was trying her best to hold his weight, but moved making him trip.

Harry was adoring their banter.

"Harry before you protest; this ceremony is usually held at bride's parents house and everything is arranged and managed by them." Asher explained, "but we aren't back in London, so we're going to modify this part for the sake of current settings."

"Yes, yes, yes!" YN smiled a cheeky grin. At the end of Asher insisting, YN and Harry picked a restaurant to go to.

They had a load of fun when back from dinner. Dancing on to the bollywood music, no booze was included which Alec found to be a bummer. They watched the movie YN had made him watch like ten times, and every single time she never hold back to fangirl over the actor.

Come on, it's ShahRukh Khan. He doesn't blame her either!

YN squealed in excitement seeing Harry walk back in the bedroom with bottles of water, she wrapped his arms around his middle.

"Careful, careful!" He laughed holding her close, but she pulled away reluctantly stepping up on the bed she started jumping up and down.

"We're engaged! We're engaged!" She made up her own little jingle. Harry joined her as well, singing along with her. Grabbing onto her hands he jumped along with with her, buthe tripped and fell straight on his ass.

"You alright?" YN tried to hold back her laughed but failed miserably earning a whine from him. He pulled yanked her down with him as well, she fell with an umph! leaving her mouth. Both of them ended up in fit of laughs until they could get their breathing back to steady.

"Hi," he cooed, tugging gently on her hand.

"Hi!" She beamed at him, kneeing her way to him on their bed. He grabbed her hand urging her to sit on his thighs astride, so she did. Who is she to deny to him anyway. "What?"

"Nothing, can't I admire my Fiancé now?" He smirked, a dimple denting deep in his cheek, "got a nice ring to it, innit?"

"It does actually!" She agreed.

"Yeah?" He cooed, "did you like the ring, baby? Took me very long to pick it, or would have proposed the day after we talked about getting married."

YN had glanced at the ring he proposed with a few times, but it was inevitable to take her eyes off him sitting right by his side the whole night. But she noticed it was gold too. A sweet and simple design with just a diamond placed in the plain frame of the ring. It definitely looked like an engagement ring, not too shabby or in-your-face. She could see herself wearing it everyday.

"I love it!"

"I had to keep in mind to get something which you might wanna wear regularly, you really don't have to, I know how uncomfortable they can get at one point, but hopefully won't get in between your work. And definitely not get stuck in any clothes." He went on about why he picked that particular design, "mum and Brielle really helped me alot with this. I can see this is just so you."

"You put so much thought into this!" She gasped, "this is really pretty, Haz thank you."

"Don't have to thank me, baby."

"Should I wear this on this hand, or this hand?" She asked, confused as to what to do with basically two engagement rings.

"Doesn't matter, darling, just piece of jewelry. Wear on whatever hand you want. I am just happy I get to make vows to you very soon and love you without having people talk shit about us." His fingers resting on her hips reached up to grab her wrist, moving their hands until he was able to lace his fingers through her. "You know for me, you're already my wife."

"Stop, you're making me blush!" She whined dropping her head to his shoulder, blood rushed into her cheeks marking a rosie hue on the highs on her cheeks which he got to see once he pulled her away softly.

"That's true!"

"I know, but, it, it really just mean so much to me, Harry." She started, "you know, I grew up where this is the most celebrated thing, like getting married and stuff. So, ehm, it does matter to me. Really. I don't know, I'm so happy you really respect and really made an effort to make this so special for me, for us even though you have different view on this than me."

YN's gotten quite comfortable with him to be vulnerable enough. All it took was to realise he doesn't judge her, but respects her so much so that there is literally no room for judgement. And most importantly, he's got patience to put with her and listen to every and every syllable which is processed in her brain to the tip of her tongue. She doesn't find it hard enough to open upto him and he's probably one of the only person she feels safe to talk to openly after her therapist.

"Of course, I had to make it special!" Harry couldn't stop beaming at her. "It makes me truly seeing you happy. Wouldn't want anything else but that, my love. Of course, I made an effort because I care for you and I love you."

"And I love you too!" She leaned down to get a kiss but he pulled back a beat. His plushy lips were just a hair away from hers, but he wouldn't let her close that gap too. The more she moved forward the more he moved back. Her gaze moved back and forth between his lips to his forest green eyes all dilated. Dopamine and Oxytocin clouded his brain seeing her so desperately wanting to kiss him. Carefully, he moved their joint hands down, until they're folded on her back and he had both her wrists fitting into his one hand, still pulling back ather every chance until his back was rested on the head board of their shared bed. That had her making a puppy face.

"Don't go around putting that face on," he teased her, "just want to admire my Fiancé for a while."

"Just lemme kiss you." Her pout grew tighter, "you haven't kissed me in so long."

"Yeah?" He taunted, "You wanted me to kiss you in front of your brother and his wife like you don't go preaching around how you don't like people seeing such an intimate exchange, that now inappropriate it is? Tsk tsk tsk!" The clicks of his tongue was doing more than taunting her there.

"Yes, but we're alone now, aren't we?" She smiled cheekily.

"Touché." He left her hands, "I'm just teasing baby, come here and kiss me." Smiling, she held his face in her hand delicately and placed her mouth on his. Then proceeding to press kisses on each of his dimples.

"I love you so much!" She exclaimed and hugged him close, arms snaked around his middle, head rested on his shoulder.

He chuckled, "I love you so much, too my darling. Already can't wait to spend the rest of my days with you!" He recieved a ticklish kiss on his neck making him giggle, "I'm sorry your parents didn't come. But I went last month to talk to your dad and ask for his blessings. He is a tough person to talk to, but you know..." He paused for a beat as she lifted her head back up to look at him in utter surprise, "you know, he gave us his blessings and me permission to marry you."

"You went to ask my dad?" Her voice was so low he almost couldn't hear it as her eyes teared up all over again.

"Mhmm, I did." He nodded, "honestly I did thought he'd show up, at least your mum. But Asher promised he'd show up. For you especially. I don't know when he planned all of that, but that was really sweet of him."

"I, I did too." She admitted, "but that's okay, I think they will come around. At least I hope they do. You know he's been like that since I moved away and refused to move back. But I really appreciate you really going upto his place and talk to him, I don't know when you did that. But I just... I just really love you Harry!"

"I know baby. Remember last month I said I was going out with my mum and came home after you were asleep, yeah, we went together." He shared.

"What? I thought you were getting drunk your ass off with your friends after you hung out with your mum!" She gasped making him laugh out loud. Because he's done that before, once. But that confession alone made her fall in love with him all over again. He really listens to her, how she talks about little things like these and remembers them. "You monkey, stop making me cry!"

"No, because you call me monkey. Cry!" He rolled his eyes, but reached up to wipe her cheeks with his thumbs. He pulled her down to kiss her.

Both of them stayed up all cuddled and just talked instead of their nightly love making.

Sharing many kisses.

......................................................................

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[starkeysprincess]

ok i’m back again this time with some angst (it’s a longer one). i’d like to explore reader’s backstory a little more so what if rafe notices she still hasn’t touched the money on the card he’d given her (for “emergencies” he’d said) and never lets him buy any clothes or things that catch her eye when they’re out shopping. he’ll still send her things anyways when he can tell she’s really trying to downplay how much she wants it but her heart still drops when she finds the package outside her apartment door. soon it turns into being too “busy” to go shopping with him until eventually she’s coming over for their sessions less and less often. the thing is, she is actually busy. with the second job she had to get since her job at the upscale bar wasn’t enough to pay rent anymore. she couldn’t bring herself to sell the gifts he’d gotten her (one purse alone would cover several months rent) but she didn’t dare use his money for that either.

i think she’s ashamed she isn’t doing as well as she wanted him to believe and doesn’t want him to think she was only ever seeing him for his money. she’s so preoccupied with keeping the facade up and keeping her second job away from him though she doesn’t realize how little time she spends him now until he starts thinking she just doesn’t want to see him anymore (and maybe all the times she was “busy” was being spent with someone else, because i can see his own past issues making him get more and more worked up about it) - ❤️‍🩹

sorry that this took me so long to answer bae! i've either been exhausted or not feeling well so this is probs not the best but it's just what i think 😭

She's the type to not take anything from anyone, even if they offer it to her. Clearly, she's a hard worker and believes that if she wants something, she has to earn it herself. She thinks that when Rafe offers to buy her something that she likes, it's a pity gift when in reality, it's not.

She's been getting fewer hours at the upscale bar where she works at due to an increase in new hires, this of course, stresses her out because she was making a decent amount of money but now, she has to find a second job to help keep her afloat. Rafe noticed she started to come over less often and he was already assuming the worst, which would be that she was with another man. At this point, it's been weeks now since he last saw her so he decides to text her, asking her to come over, only to get a reply from her that read "I'm sorry, I'm busy, I can't tonight".

This triggers his past issues, which unfortunately start to make him get more and more worked up about why she hasn't been around. The entire time he's thinking she's in bed with another man but in reality, she's working her second job. She's been working non-stop and when she gets home, she is immediately knocked out, completely exhausted, and overworked.

i also like to think that if she was any other woman, he'd let it go and delete her number but when it comes to her, he can't. It's clear that she never leaves his head, I mean, this man is literally head over heels in love with her but he won't fully admit it.

in my opinion, rafe would show up at her apartment, standing outside the door, waiting and hoping she'd answer. Coincidentally, it would be her only day off when he does show up and when she opens the door, she's taken aback at his appearance. She could tell that he hadn't been getting any sleep from the last time she saw him.

She's in shock when he immediately asks her if she doesn't want to see him anymore and she can see the hurt in his eyes because she didn't realize that she's been brushing him off but to be fair, she's been working too much that she doesn't notice how much time has passed.

(Because i'm a sucker for this type of shit) When she doesn't answer him, he thinks he got his answer and starts to walk away but she chases after him, blurting out that she wasn't doing well financially and started working a second job. He freezes, turning around to look at her, and she's avoiding eye contact with him, too embarrassed. She even admits to him that she was too ashamed to tell him and that's the only reason why she's been brushing him off because she truly has been busy.

He wasn't sure whether or not to believe her until she made eye contact with him, she's on the verge of tears. Within the past few months of knowing her, he's gotten good at reading her and he knows she's telling the truth. She thinks this is it, this is where it ends between the two of them until he's pulling her into him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head, his large hand soothingly rubbing her back.

I think once she's calmed down, Rafe wouldn't even hesitate for a second before telling her to quit both jobs. Before she can argue, he tells her to come work for him as his personal assistant, telling her not only will the pay be more than what she makes at both jobs combined but it's another way they can spend time with each other.

[thoseyoulove]

Just finished Part I of The Vampire Lestat and here are my first impressions (I skipped IWTV *for now* since the show has already covered it... I'll read it eventually):

I can't tell yet if I like it or not.

So far, I enjoy the concept and the characters seem to be compelling. In terms of eventfulness, there hasn't been much, but I do have some interest in these people. They all appear to be complicated and have a lot of baggage, which I guess makes them appealing and gives the story potential. Let's see where this goes.

I don't hate, but I also don't love Anne's writing style. I don't think she narrates and describes things very well, she lingers on stuff I don't care that much for and doesn't provide details on things I'm actually curious about? There are some abrupt changes that annoy me sometimes as well.

I do believe this might be an attempt to get ourselves in the mind of Lestat and how he process to the world around him, though? It would make sense considering how chaotic he is.

Another thing I like is how he got so obsessed with the 20th Century, music and theater. The descriptions really give me the idea of someone experiencing the world for the first time (in a while) and considering how isolated he was growing up or after everything that happened with Louis/Claudia, it makes sense that he is so fascinated by all these discoveries. And it's really immersive and sweet to see how he in awe he is with all of it.

He also speaks like he is somebody born in the 1700s. So I give her credits for that as well.

Pretty sure Lestat is neurodivergent at this point (ADHD is basically a yes from me, maybe he has dyslexia and/or autism too).

And his memory is trash. So often he doesn't know if he actually did something, or if it were someone else, or if it was just a thought... I'm like, ARE YOU OKAY (he isn't)? By the way, this is painfully relatable because I also have poor short (and long-term) memory. Heaven help him (and moi).

That boy is a water sign if I've ever seen one.

He cries A LOT. I don't remember ever seeing any (book/show/movie) character cry that much, specially in such a short time lol. And the fact this is coming from a man and not a woman... There you go with defying gender norms, king!

Lestat having Borderline Personality Disorder isn't even a headcanon at this point, but a FACT.

He probably hasn't been hugged enough times in his life and it SHOWS.

Even with the abuse in his family, his frustration with his mother and the "malady of mortality", he manages to stay optimistic in a way that feels so childlike and naive that makes my heart warm and ache for him. I'm like, you deserve better.

Again, I don't know if I'm enjoying or not, but I do like the fact I can imagine Sam's Lestat doing all of this on season 3. Picturing Sam bringing these moments to life is the BEST PART of the reading.

Would I still read these books if the show never existed? That's what I need to find out.

I can see why some people got so invested in this character, though. At least for now. Some stuff hit close to home and I find myself rooting for him. I imagine that for the ones who read it at as a teenager, it must've made them feel less alone and seen to some extent.

At this moment, it's Lestat > Gabrielle > Nicholas for me.

Lestat's father isn't a person I care about, but depending on how the show adapts him, I guess it could be a good opportunity for a blind actor. It would be killing two birds with one stone, because it would develop Lestat's backstory, but also give space for a category that barely gets any job in the industry. I would love to see a powerful guest star that is a an actual disabled person playing a disabled character. Sure, we would hate him, but if someone manages to show their potential, book more roles and maybe even earn an award or nomination, why not?

Whenever Lestat talks about kissing his mother I get confused if the incest is already happening or not lol. Because I normally would just imagine a platonic kiss on the cheek or forehead and I haven't seen anything explicitly inappropriate. I don't know if it's because I'm reading the Brazilian Portuguese version, or if Anne wasn't that clear, or maybe I'm slow and naive, but nothing big seems to have happened? But I'm familiar with those spoilers, so... Anyway, whatever. It's not like I was counting the days to read about incest, so I don't really care about it being evident or not. I just mean that for now they seem to be more of a "parent that didn't want kids, but cares for him in a distant, but still real way and child that seeks for any crumbs of love and affection" kind of relationship.

Speaking of that, Lestat is SO DESPERATE for love, omg. Nicki was basically the first person besides his mother that was nice to him and he told the guy ALL OF HIS LIFE STORY AND FELL IN LOVE almost immediately? Get up!

Peak BPD/ADHD/maybe autistic/water sign/Scorpio behavior. MY GOD.

Still don't know how to picture Gabrielle and who I fancast playing her. I do think I have some sense of who she is now, which is nice. I also have some actors that could pass for Sam's parent and have the appropriate age to play her in my mental library, but I can't form a face yet. Not the face of a real actress or even an imaginary face, it's just a blur so far. Which sucks because I loooooooooove imagining fancasts, specially for a show as great as this one, but I'm just waiting for the revelation to come to me lmao.

[zerooup]

𐂂Little Alastor Head Cannons!𐂂

Don't like it, don't read! please don't harass me because you don't like what I do!

CW. ABUSE, MURDER, PERSONAL HC'S ON ALASTOR'S PAST.

𐂂 Alastor is usually around 0-4, but can be younger or older depending on his surroundings. It also depends on whatever chaos Charlie had planned for the day, and how his schedule goes.

𐂂 Alastor is very picky about who cares for him, Rosie and as of recent, Lucifer has been allowed to pick the boy up and care for him a couple times, though he'd still prefer Rosie over anyone.

𐂂 Very prone to bad flashbacks while regressed, Often from his time in life, but there's a few moments of his and vox's relationships that keep him wide awake, he'd never admit that though

𐂂 Very much still a little dealmaker! Which, is quite cute until you remember he's a violent overlord; but hey. it's hell; so whatever's cute is just. cute!

𐂂 Mama's boy. Even if she's in heaven, he'll hope to whatever god there is that she remembers him, even though most souls in heaven don't remember their kin that have been passed to hell. Like he'd even listen to that.

𐂂 He has a very real fear of his father coming into the hotel looking for his son, because there's only so many Alastor's in hell; he'd fear him coming in and hurting Charlie or any of the other hotel-goers; which. Charlie reassures him that there's a very slim chance that his father would actually be able to hurt her.

𐂂 Tries to be very quiet during his regression, even if that's for the worse. He'd often end up crying to himself in his radio tower to try and figure out a way to see his mama again, He knows he's beyond redemption... but that hasn't stopped him before.

𐂂 And usually after crying in his radio tower, he's tiny. Like; barely able to make the noises he usually does whole regressed.

𐂂 He's also very much more willing to flex his power while small. He does NOT like showing weakness, even while small. Husker made a quip about him being on a leash while small and he was very quick to remind him who was in control. Husk doesn't blame him for doing so, especially considering husker is only a bit older than him and they were acquainted in life.

𐂂 during his disappearance, Lilith was his caregiver... for about 2 months out of the 7 years; which gave him a schedule for his regression... that ended in his soul in her hands, and him back in hell to watch over Charlie, which is why he was around the television center of hell, and that's when he found her on "that fiasco of a picture show!"

𐂂 Speaking of that fiasco of a picture show, he hadn't regressed in 8 and a half years, and he was content like that. The SECOND lucifer was in the hotel, he insisted to Charlie that Alastor was a regressor in some form or fashion. Neither of them knew till husker outright said something about it.

𐂂 The first time he regressed was after the fight with Adam. He was able to fight it long enough to mourn the loss of Pentious and re-unite with the group. that day ended with a harshly wounded Alastor silently crying into his new radio tower.

𐂂 And as I've mentioned in one of my old posts, I believe Alastor is autistic. so the change of his radio tower only made him more upset the longer he stayed in there... but the deer-printed blanket was welcome.

𐂂 Partially why he never outright told anyone he's a regressor despite people telling him if he did it was alright; is because of how tiny he is. as well as his form shifting to be more fawnlike. Also the fact he's padded no matter what age... he's embarrassed by it. but; thankfully Charlie was able to talk him into it after finding him asleep on the couch while everyone else was playing games. and she made it very clear that this was the BIGGEST trust exercise they'd done. Once he'd woken up he'd somehow been moved to his room and changed... which is funny because he's an insanely light sleeper, but he somehow wasn't even stirred by being moved up a flight of stairs and sat down on the bed.

[bluehourbucky]

Ice breaker

pairing: Steven Grant x reader

summary: the first date awkwardness

a/n: I'm still new to writing for Steven so bare with me <3 sorry about the tt reference but I just thought it be funny fhdjdhd

main / moonkinght

_______________________________________

Steven was getting nervous his first date with you is tonight.

He has changed his outfit four times already and if he changes his tie once again he'll be late which won't leave a good impression.

You and Steven met at a library you both often visited, and one time, it just happened that you both wanted to borrow the same book. Unfortunately, there was only one available. Steven and you both wanted to let the other person take it, and in the meantime, someone else had taken it, you had laughed about it and did rock paper scissors to decide who gets it the next time it is available. Steven won, so he promised to let you know when he finishes it so you could borrow it. That's how you exchanged numbers.

You have texted only regarding the books you were reading at the moment and only saw each other at the library. However, last time you had managed to gather courage to ask Steven on a date. Fortunately for you and him he had accepted and you were really excited. Steven is unlike any other man you've met.

He's so sweet and considerate but can be sassy when he wants to, it desn't help that Steven is extremely handsome.

Steven was kind enough to choose the place even though you were the one to ask him on a date. He had told you that he is vegan and you really didn't want to choose a restaurant that had nothing for him so you asked him to do it.

Steven actually blushed when you asked him that, he really appreciated your consideration to his needs.

Steven takes one last look at the mirror and finally manages to get out of his apartment a bit later than he originally wanted to, but he can still get to the flower shop nearby and get you flowers.

"Good evening, I know it's late and you're closing in five but could I please get some flowers." Steven asks as the bells on the door still echo through the flower shop. The lady sighs but nodds.

"Thank you so much I appreciate it. I was wondering if you have dark pink carnations?"

The lady shows him what she has considering it is the end of the day.

"Ah, these are quite light. Do you maybe have some darker ones?"

The woman goes to the back and comes out with the exact ones Steven was looking for.

"Thank you so much." Steven pays and quickly heads into the direction of the restaurant.

He sees you've already arrived and are waiting for him, so he approaches you awkwardly. He hasn't been on a first date in so long.

"Hello, love, sorry I'm late." you turn around and flash him a smile and Steven thinks its the most beautiful smile he's ever seen.

"You're not late I just arrived a bit early because I thought I was late."

"Here these are for you."

Your mouth forms and O before you cover them with your hands.

"I- Thank you Steven so much! It's been so long since I've gotten flowers! They are so beautiful!"

you look at the flowers in awe.

"No problem, darling. Uh shall we go in?"

"Oh yes, please." you're still blushing and when Steven gently rests his arm on your back to lead you in, you can't help the butterflies in your stomach.

The restaurant isn't particularly crowded it's just that all the good spots have been taken

"Bullocks, I should've reserved a good table I'm sorry."

"It's alright I don't mind where we sit." and you really don't you're just excited to be with Steven.

It doesn't take long for you to decide what to drink, with food It's a bit different all of the options look very tasty.

After some consideration and Steven's help you finally decide what to order, but as soon as the waiter leaves its silent.

The silence isn't that awkward but it also kind of is.

Steven's mouth are quicker than his brain so in order to break the awkward silence he suddenly blurts out a random fact.

"Did you know the ancient Egyptians belived that the most significant thing you could do in your life was die?"

Firstly you look at him blankly but then you laugh.

"That's really interesting and an awesome way to break the ice. Tell me more." You say, and Steven let's out a sigh of relief. Needless to say, there were no more awkward silences.

[the end]

not really happy with this but oh well

[outlandish-dreamer]

hai ^u^ um i was wondering if you had any toddler / baby regressor vanessa headcanons from the fnaf movie ? :00 or anything about her hehe , i'm an introject of her and i've been looking for some stuff :33

I do actually!! She's been on my mind a lot recently, so here's what I have for her :D

(I'm probably going to include some of my other headcanons just because I feel like they fit here as well if that's okay!)

Baby Regressor! Vanessa

She's not quite sure what her age range is, though she does know it's pretty small. Mainly because it's before she can remember all the things that happened with her family, so with being pretty young at that state, it's between 0-3.

Very independent, "I can do it myself !!" I feel like she wouldn't really care about having a caregiver, like it's not something she thinks she needs, but won't say no if it happens.

Because of that, she has trouble letting her guard down around others when she's regressed (mainly Mike). Feeling that vulnerable around someone else reminds her of when she was a kid, so it's hard for her to trust that he won't do anything to her.

Dealing with the trauma of everything is hard on someone that's as small as she is. Her brain doesn't know how to process it all and it takes a toll on her both mentally and emotionally. Sometimes she just cries and doesn't know why, but aside from that, she's not really an explosive or overly emotional kid. Mainly a little bit more sensitive than anything.

Is a little nervous when it comes to him acting like a sort of parental/brother figure towards her. She hasn't experienced that in a long time and ever since she's worried it would turn out just like her relationship with her father. That she'll be rejected, taken advantage of, or forced to "grow up."

Mike, being the ever-patient guy he is, wishes he could get rid of those feelings for her. He'd never hurt Vanessa and despite how much she questions it, he still reassures her that he won't.

Will tag along with him anytime she can. He's pretty much the one person she trusts with this and will take up any chance to be around him. Since she's content to pretty much sit and sleep or watch, he doesn't mind.

He also gets much more protective over her when she's little. It could be something as small as seeing a bug in the house or crossing the street, but whatever it is, he's making sure she's alright. That's his baby and though he's still figuring it out, he'll do anything for her.

Very tired kiddo, but hates sleeping alone. She spends most nights (if they aren't with each other) on the phone with Mike or falling asleep together (which happens more often than the former.) And he, having a similar problem, is cool with it either way.

Has a plush bunny (and later on, all the other animatronics) that she keeps with her at all times. It's small enough to fit in her pocket, so she can bring it in to work whenever she's having a rough day.

While her skills aren't as good as they normally are, she still loves to draw with Abby when she feels old enough to. Most of the time they're just scribbles and she's proud of it either way.

S O many forts. It's not even funny. They're her favorite spot to be in and there's no stopping her and Abby from building them.

Speaking of which, it was difficult in the first place to tell Mike about her regression, and it was even more so when it came to Abby. She was a kid and Vanessa didn't expect her to understand it, plus she worried that it would freak her out. They didn't exactly say it was that, but they pretty much put in a way that made sense to Abby. And she didn't mind, she was actually happy to have someone to play with, even if it wasn't someone exactly her age.

She never had a ton of pet names growing up, so Mike takes advantage of that. Mainly variations of her name like "Nessa", and he calls her ones he finds silly or funny. Like "Peanut" or "Munchkin." He does have a favorite though and ends up calling her "Little Lady" most often.

Much more comfortable with PDA/touching in general when she's little. Even if it's just small, subtle things like holding each other's pinkies or holding hands. It helps her feel safer to know that someone else is there like "Hey, I got you." And it helps both her and Mike open up more to each other by doing it.

the DNI banner credit goes to @geekgirl-33, I hope it's okay that I used it!

[rrat-king]

walk with me bird,,, thinking about kristen's lack of self preservation especially in sophmore year- she does crazy shit again and again and it is funny but like. when you actually look at it, its like this elaborate performance. so much going on in kristen's brain, losing her family, (we know she's clearly still thinking about it with the start of sy being her returning to her brothers) losing her religion and then recreating it and still feeling lost.

all her life being full and told that this is the thing- that will protect you as long as you are good so kristen is good and then realizes oh. i was meant for something terrible actually, my church who vowed to protect me is actually trying to make me a hellmouth. like oh. great well i dont feel safe in that anymore, im always arguing with my parents because even they are still polluted with their religion but she lets it go she tries to find something else. and then she ends fy with her new religion and immediately doesnt like it, over the summer it still doesnt click and she changes it again, she puts her faith or even lack of it at the forefront as she does these insane choices, like a leap of faith. like oh someone has got to save me if i do this- surely someone will. (also pushing my agenda of kristen's faith eventually forming into believing in her friends bc they are the ones who always save her not the gods even though i do love cass)

like ally talking about chaos not being cute anymore really makes me think of all this- because it's like kristen being like oh well if it goes wrong than at least it's some sort of relief from this pressure of being something and at least im not plagued with thinking about not being good enough for my own parents. like her being so not aggressive but trying to counter sandralynn too- like not wanting to view her as a parental figure but as a person. kristen like almost tries to parent her in a way which sounds weird but its very like she can't turn it off in her head because she's been raised with expectation so she does feel on the same level as adults when in reality she is not but kristen believes like oh i can solve this here maybe u shouldnt be doing this thing in her relationship. i think part of it is kristen not wanting to see a parent become better and then have to wonder why her's didn't. like was she not enough for them to want to me better. it's so complex i adore kristen's character and it kinda surprises me how often she becomes very 2d in the fandom but alas, many thoughts about her

i am absolutely walking with you. i love what your talking about with her dynamic with sandra lynn (which. i will always be crazy about her and sandra lynn they are just both so intersting in thier relationships) but yeah it makes a lot of sense that she doesn't know how to properly interact with her if you think about the amount of pressure she has been given to be a spiritual leader through church or if you hc her as a parentified older sister to her little brothers (which i do personally) so she's not thinking about her interaction with sandra lynn as like, a regular adult cuz she hasn't really had those interactions before, especially when it comes to an adult not trusting her.

and i think that's why she just feels so insane in sophmore year, jsut like, she's going from something super rigid to something where it feels like she can do anything and that's fucking scary. like she has a place to stay but she doesn't really have any parents to answer to, she has a god but she has so much doubt it doesn't feel reliable, all she really has as stability is her friends and her girlfriend, and i feel like she is just incredibly reckless cuz like, she's doing better but its almost like she has nothing to lose? but she does. and she did, and i think that was what beardsley was saying about the chaos not being cute anymore, like kristen was acting like she was invinvible at times and that not only got her hurt, but also those around her, and im excited to see how she grows from that.

[the-fiction-witch]

The mademoiselle P3

Media The Artful Dodger

Character Jack Dawkins

Couple Jack X Reader

Rating Adorable!

Warnings: Amputation / 1800's surgery / ether/ body horror

I couldn't help but move an ottoman over to sit on, and I looked closely at the amputation, I had been done... terribly, even just from this look I could tell this must have caused her agony even before weight bearing, the skin overstretched and warped, the thread used to sew up the amputation had never been removed, skin partly healed around it, it wasn't even surgical thread it was twine! fraying and splintering as old twine does, 

"what on gods earth-" I muttered bringing a candle closer to better see what fucked up nonsense was happening here, "Who did this!"

"A clown."

"Yeah, I think he was,"

"No, he really...really was."

"He was a clown?"

"Yes."

"An actual... actual clown!"

"Yes."

"Uhhhh you mind telling me what happened?"

"It's a very long story. I was in an accident and he was the only person nearby with any form of training and here we are." She explained, 

"Okay, I take it it's causing you more pain than usual?"

"Yes doctor, I can barely walk let alone perform." 

"well that's certainly no good, I've heard of the magic of your performances. Wouldn't want to deprive anyone of that."

She blushed a little, "Well is there anything you can do doctor?"

"Uhh... I can give you some painkillers they should help your walking but If I may be so bold, I think it would be wise to have a doctor really look it over, when was the last time someone looked at it?"

"When it was done."

"Which was?"

"Twelve years ago." 

"Alright, tomorrow come up to the hospital and I'll take a real proper look see what's going on. you sure it hasn't had any other work in that time?"

"Mild stuff, cutting back skin, infection control and such."

"Right, and not once has anyone suggested ... further amputation?"

"A couple of times, but I need to dance so we always just did the minimum."

"Alright, come by tomorrow whenever you can," I told her as I gave her some medicine 

"I will, thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome mademoiselle," I told her as I took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss, "Have a nice evening."

"You too doctor Dawkins," she smiled, 

I took my bag and headed out filling in the paperwork as I went, as soon as I got back to my room I collapsed on my bed, I don't know why I felt so... conflicted, that I had looked at her pictures and desired her so much when... she must have been in agony to do it. I felt guilty about it, like It was my fault she was in pain. I took my box from under my bed and looked at the various postcards, I looked at her in these poses and situations and noticed how often they had her sitting down, how often the drawings stopped at her knees, or hidden by dresses, all of it to hide her away. I wanted to help her out I didn't want her to feel any more pain. 

I made sure to clean up as I knew the mademoiselle was coming in today, and soon enough Hetty came and told me I had someone here to see me. So I fixed myself up and headed into one of the small patient rooms, and saw the mademoiselle sitting on the bed with a nervous smile.

"Bonjour docteur Dawkins,"(Hello Doctor Dawkins)  She smiled,

"Bonjour mademoiselle," (Hello mademoiselle) I smiled back, "Quelle belle robe tu portes aujourd'hui," (What a beautiful dress you are wearing today) 

"merci beaucoup docteur" (Thank you very much doctor) she blushed, 

"Now, lets have a look." I told her, "if you could?"

"Alright," she sighed, sitting back on the bed and unlacing her boots letting them fall to the floor, I got my tools and had a much better look really investigating and it was worse than I suspected and I think she knew that too as the longer it went on the more grim her face got,

"You know what I'm going to say," I told her, 

"You think I need a further amputation?"

"I don't think I know." I sighed leaning on the metal bed, "I know this is a big decision with you, but if I don't do this, you are going to get worse... and you could die."

"I don't really have much of a choice do I?"

"I can't in good conscience let you go without at least letting me do an operation to pull back the skin and at least remove the twine."

"Alright, When can you do it?"

"I can get you into the surgery theatre today."

She nodded, 

"Alright, I'll make sure everything is sorted I'll get you in as soon as possible." 

I made sure to get the theatre prepped while she got some stuff delivered by her maid, And soon enough Hetty brought her in,

"Right, Up Here mademoiselle," I smiled helping her up onto the table, "Just relax I promise I'll take care of you."

"I do hope so." She nervously nodded lying on the table, 

"Okay," I nodded fetching the ether, "Just breathe gently for me, when you wake up this will all be over," I reassured her she nodded and did as I asked slowly drifting off until she was gone. "Okay... Let's do this." I told Hetty that I needed her as my nurse, I quickly got to work revealing the true situation and it was bad. The skin was stretched and infected in places, with dirt and grime under her skin, the bone had been left as a sharp splintering point as if broken by hand not cut in the amputation, 

"Oh my -" Hetty gasped,

"I know,"

"How'd it happen?"

"she wouldn't say, I don't imagine it was good," I answered, I did my best to save it but amputation was the only option so I did as low as I could just under her knee and made sure to sew it up in a way that made it look as good as I could, once I was done Hetty took her back to her room so I cleaned up and went on with my other work, After a good while I went to her room to go and check on her, seeing her sat up in the bed with a box in her lap, "Bonjour mademoiselle," 

"Hello Doctor," she said looking through her box,

"How do you feel?" I asked sitting beside her 

"Humm... Like I lost weight," she chuckled playfully glancing at her leg which made me chuckle a little, "It still hurts, which is odd. As it's not there."

"The phantom limb will fade."

"I know, I remember when they took my foot, it itched for days but it wasn't there." She said, "Thank you, doctor, most doctors I've seen just do what I ask... not what I need."

"You're very welcome." I smiled, "And uhh you can just call me Jack,"

"Alright, Jack." She smiled, "Y/n." 

"Y/n? That's a very beautiful name." 

"Thank you," She blushed, "I'm going to take a guess and say you know who I am?"

"I do. I uhhhh" I blushed, "I spent a lot of time in the navy growing up, your postcards... gave me a lot of peace then. And still do now."

she chuckled, "I'm glad I could be of such, Peace to you." She smiled gently taking my hand, I smiled and held her hand tightly, "I can't thank you enough Jack, though... I'm not sure what the future holds now."

"I wouldn't be so quick to be fearful, not much has really changed trust me... Most people won't even notice. You're far too beautiful for people to be looking at your feet."

She laughed, "I guess so. The postcards won't change that much."

"No, not really. But... I'll still look forward to seeing them. I'll pick up your next one just to show you so." I winked 

"Humm... I'll send you it special," She smiled squeezing my hand,

"How did it happen? if you don't mind my asking?"

She seemed sad but flicked through her box before she handed me a postcard with a beautiful young girl, a ballerina dancing on a stage. "I wasn't always a showgirl, That was me... Once."

"My god- You were beautiful."

"Where?"

"Are- sorry I-"

"It's alright, I spent my whole life wanting to be a dancer classically trained from three, My father worked every hour god sent just to get me into ballet school." She explained, "I was so happy when got a job at the royal opera as a ballerina."

"Impressive."

"They were talking about me like I was something special," She said, "my first tour and this one show we were out in the sticks, I went on and did my part but- the galley walkway above the stage collapsed, fell down to the stage below... By the grace of god, it fell where it did. A few inches to the left I'd be dead. But it crushed my foot" She explained, "I was losing blood so fast, my foot wrecked beyond repair. The nearest doctor ten miles away, the only person in the company who had any training... was one of the men playing a clown in the opera, He had some medical training but nothing near what was needed but- time was not on our side. So they did what they could and took my foot there and then on the stage." She explained, 

"How old were you?"

"Eighteen."

"What happened? Once it healed?"

"I healed while the rest of the tour went on and when we returned to the opera house... They tossed me away. Said I would never dance again. Wanted nothing to do with me. So I tried everywhere else but who wants a crippled dancer. The only place that would take me was a small club in pairs, they didn't want me to dance more just... take off my clothes. So I did. Learnt the violin, learnt how to perform in shows, named myself the mademoiselle, and... I suppose the rest is history." 

"For what is worth. I think you'd have made a beautiful ballerina."

"Thank you," she blushed, "But now... I'm not sure what to make of myself, I don't even know I can be a showgirl now."

"I'd pay to see you, still."

"You would?"

"Absolutely."

"even like this?"

"I would."

"That's very sweet of you." She smiled, "But if my boss doesn't feel the same... I don't know what I'd do, or where I'd go."

"Well... Port Victory is a little place, not much goes on here, it's full of those of us with nowhere else to go. You'd always be welcome here."  

"You think I would?"

"I'm sure you would," 

"What would I do?"

"Whatever you want, I'm sure a smart girl like you would find something." I smiled giving her back her ballerina picture, 

"I'm sure I'd find something, even if I just became some...business guy's wife."

"I think you could do a lot better than that"

"You do?"

"Yeah, I mean... I think you could end up a doctor's wife." 

"You really think so?"

"j'en suis sûr mademoiselle" (I'm sure of it mademoiselle) I smiled kissing her hand, "I'll leave you to rest." I smiled getting up to head back to work,

"Thank you, Jack."

"You're welcome Y/n." 

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

Dungeon Meshi and endings. Spoilers under the cut.

I'm not replying to op directly because I think it's a perfectly valid opinion and they don't need to be bothered to engage in debate about it, but I just saw a post where someone said Dungeon Meshi's ending was too rushed, and it got me thinking, because this is one of the ONLY completed series I've read where I didn't feel that way. The ending is one of my least favorite parts of most stories, because even if it's good it so often feels too fast, and it was specifically one of the things that I really liked about DM. The action climax happens in CHAPTER 91. It takes SIX CHAPTERS (decently long ones, too) to go around and revisit all the main and secondary characters that need wrapping up. I felt like, for once in my life, I was actually able to go around and say goodbye to the characters I cared about at my own pace.

I wonder if it's different if you read it as it released rather than over the course of a few days? Still, though, I've read stuff as it released where I feel like six chapters of wrap-up would be welcome (cough cough noragami cough cough. although I know there was stuff going on with the author so I'm not mad about that one). Or maybe it's because Falin doesn't get brought back until the very last chapter. I suppose I could see how that would feel rushed. I really wish we'd gotten more than little glimpses of her in the main story because she's delightful and charming. However, I think the amount of screentime she got made sense for her role in the story, and now that I'm trying to unpack why I was happy with the ending, I think it's because the amount of time she got there was proportional to the amount of time we got to spend with her up to that point.

I've been thinking about what I need in a satisfying ending, and no matter how good the content is, I think I need it to take a certain amount of time/words/pages. I need to take some time to let it sink in that the story is over. I hate feeling like I've been unceremoniously booted from the simulation right as it was getting good. I want to see every character with any sort of character arc get it wrapped up in a satisfying way, if it hasn't been done already. I also need to know what the characters will be doing afterwards. Being able to see that in a scene is nice, but I'm also happy if enough information is provided to draw reasonable conclusions.

Yet Dungeon Meshi goes even further than that and keeps on tying in the main themes in the ending chapters. I feel like I could make a whole post about desire in Dungeon Meshi, but long story short, there's a clear line drawn between desire (which is very instinctual and primal) and the things the characters actually want. The ending reinforces this theme with the chapter where Izutsumi goes around to the main party members. I love that chapter because it simultaneously drives home a major theme and gives us a chance to see the characters honestly and earnestly talk about their aspirations.

I'm gonna stop there, but long story short, Dungeon Meshi good. Everything comes back in the ending. Hope wins. Love wins. Conflict on earth doesn't get fixed in an instant but we can all be better. We can all keep living.