#I actually know them as they go hiking with the same group often

[weergang]

So I was out in the woods backpacking this weekend, and had a funny conversation

another person: Do you know what time it is, my phone batterry is empty.

Me: sliding up my sleeve to look at my watch.

them: uhh that's so old fashioned.

me: slides sleeve back down.

them: so what time is it?

me: between sunrise and noon, my old fashioned watch isn't that accurate. bye.

#I actually know them as they go hiking with the same group often #she's a bitch #so my response was not based on this single interaction #weergang

[tarotwithlove]

PAC ⋆ christmas with your future spouse

reminder that this is a general reading and messages found here may not apply to everyone. take what resonates, leave what doesn't, and don't force anything if it does not fit.

BOOK A READING WITH ME · LINKTREE · 18+ PATREON · SUGGEST A PAC TOPIC · TIPS ♡ tips and feedback are highly appreciated!

GROUP ONE

cards · seven of boons, nine of spells, the forest lord, six of boons, the faery wind, keeper of spells, the romantic fool: fall in love with yourself, and fall in love with life. 

channelled songs · shame by mitski. nothing without you by tanerelle. absinthe by i don’t know how but they found me. wait for it by leslie odom jr. 

hey there group one ♡ christmas with your future spouse is busy, busy, busy. i see a white christmas, so you and your future spouse may live in a snowy place or may often spend christmas in snowy places. 

there are children involved in this relationship with your future spouse, though these children may also be dogs or other large pets – though, for the sake of brevity, i will only use the word children where needed. a lot of what makes christmas stressful is corralling your children around, to take pictures, to get into the car so that you're on time for different gatherings, to behave themselves at other people's houses. you may constantly have to keep an eye on them and may, thus, get very little time to just enjoy christmas as an event. though this is something that you and your future spouse are likely used to. 

children aside, you and your future spouse will spend more time driving from house to house to house on christmas to make sure you spend time with enough people than doing anything else. you may host from time to time, but i get the feeling that this is rare. you’d both much prefer the busyness of visiting other people over the busyness of having people over at your home. 

if anything, you likely host a small adults-only christmas eve dinner with friends. one that consists mostly of drinking, eating snacks, and gossiping. 

christmas may be a difficult time of the year for you – if it is not now, it will likely be when you and your future spouse are together – and your future spouse will do everything in their power to make sure you feel safe, loved, and comfortable. this is especially true if you have a history of self harm, eating disorders, or substance abuse, with christmas triggering your urges to binge/purge/restrict or to drink along with others. for some, you may have lost family members, which makes christmas particularly lonely and painful. whatever it may be, your future spouse will be your rock to lean on.

GROUP TWO

cards · ten of boons, the wisewoman, strength, six of boons, child of spells, the green mother, the duty fool: assume all duties with love in your heart.

channelled songs · two hearts and no brain by kane strang. on god by latto. lip & hip by hyuna. anti-romantic by tomorrow x together. 

hey there group two ♡ the christmas period may be the only time a year you and your future spouse actually get time off and, thus, the only time a year you and your future spouse get to spend meaningful time together. you both may love your families dearly and be close to them, but that does not negate the fact that christmas is for you and your future spouse alone. 

you will likely give everyone their christmas presents early, send out christmas cards, and take ten minutes on the day itself to videocall everyone and wish them a merry christmas, but that’s it. 

i’m actually thinking of an older couple here. so your early christmases with your future spouse may not be worth mentioning because they’re the run of the mill christmases that everyone has. but as you got older, especially as your children got older and started building their own lives, you both realised you didn’t want to do the same old christmas thing anymore. no, you wanted to go on vacations. you wanted to go on holiday cruises. or relax in a beachside resort. or go hiking through a costa rican jungle. it doesn’t matter what, doesn’t matter where, all you and your future spouse know is that come christmas you will be AWAY. 

christmas is the one time of the year that is just for you two. this is the time for you and your future spouse to relax and unwind – something which is not impossible around your family, but that is definitely not easy. because, again, this is the christmas season and all the stress that comes with that. especially as your sexual relationship with your future spouse is important to both of you and you both get excited to spend time alone, in a different environment, enjoying each other. that’s as much as i’ll say because this isn’t an 18+ reading, but you get the picture. 

you and your future spouse are the kind of older in love couple that people look to as goals. you’re also the type of couple that only fall more and more in love the longer you are together. you both enjoy planning these christmas vacations, and in the weeks leading up to it i feel like your future spouse is the type to tell all their friends about the ways to plan to spoil and surprise you while you’re away together. 

GROUP THREE

cards · keeper of challenges, child of boon, weaver of boons, child of challenges, ten of visions, weaver of spells, the beauty fool: you are naturally beautiful. 

channelled songs · love theory by taeyong. nostalgia by dawn richard. honey by mariah carey. old friend by mitski. 

hey there group three ♡ you undoubtedly love your future spouse, but your relationship is… complicated. in your heart and mind, they are not your soulmate, and they are not who you wished you had married. you may be close friends with the person that you wish you had married – due to a reconciliation after years apart living and building your own lives – and your families may spend christmas or christmas eve together. 

and while you’ve come to peace with it, you cannot help but yearn for what could have been. especially when you see this person with their family at christmas; something which makes you think about how in another life (maybe a better life) you are happy together with the family you share. 

christmas with your future spouse is filled with nostalgia. even when i think of it, it’s soft and hazy, the way a 90s film or a lifetime movie may depict christmas.

but, also, nostalgia seems like too loose of a word – there’s nostalgia in the sense that you and your future spouse may uphold a lot of traditions from your respective childhoods and you may watch christmas movies from your childhoods like ‘home alone’ – but there’s also this feeling of holding on to the past. your future spouse and the person you wish you had married may be very similar, and this comes especially to light during the christmas season. they are kind, patient, quiet and reserved around people they do not know but not around the people they’re comfortable with, like you. they are a bit of a nerd as well, with nerdier interests. and they adore you. love touching you and holding on to you. and, at christmas, when your yearning is at its strongest, you cannot help but notice all these similarities. 

they may even look similar. 

when you watch them putting up the christmas tree, for a second it looks like this other person – and your heart clenches. when they wrap their arms around you from behind while you ice cookies – for a moment, it could be this other person, and your heart skips a beat.  your future spouse may have an inkling of your feelings – they notice how you look at this person over a glass of wine, how you giggle together while decorating a christmas tree, how you excitedly clap at every christmas present they give you and how you spend days finding the perfect present for them – but while at times it may hurt it does not truly bother them because, at the end of the day, you chose them. you choose them every day. 

so they will just hold you a little tighter. kiss you a little more. remind you that you are completely and utterly loved by them and know that you love them in turn. 

your christmases together are very christmassy. you bake together. you decorate your home together. you wrap gifts together. you dance in the kitchen together to christmas music. for those of you have children, you go above and beyond to make meaningful christmas memories for your children most of all. 

GROUP FOUR

cards · two of boons, the council of animals, weaver of spells, keeper of boons, strength, nine of boons, the truth fool: be honest.

channelled songs · wifey by elle teresa & lil keed. limbo (chinese version) by jun. only you by 112 & the notorious b.i.g. kiss by dara (2ne1). 

hey there group four ♡ as soon as i started shuffling your cards the words ‘blended family’ immediately came to mind, so these are likely the circumstances we’re looking at here. you or your future spouse have likely been married before – in fact, both of you have been married before you found your ways to each other. because of this, every christmas is a big event as the branches of your family come together – children, stepchildren, ex-spouse’s, ex-spouse’s family, spouse’s family, your family. everyone is involved. 

i at first wanted to say that this is mostly for the sake of the children involved, but i also feel as if this is a set-up that you all genuinely enjoy. for some, you may even be swingers or business partners.

for some, this may be that you are all lifelong friends, so it’s natural for you all to have such a strong relationship even after your respective first marriages ended and you each found your new spouses. 

while each year the christmas party or dinner itself is hosted by a different branch of the family, this is a set-up that takes the pressure off of one single person to do all the preparations. all the cooking, all the baking, all the decorating, all the decorating. everybody chips in – happily. 

there’s less focus on your future spouse themselves, likely because you are all caught up in the busyness of the day itself. 

that does not mean that you and your future spouse do not spend any time together or that your future spouse is uninvolved in christmas activities. not at all. you and your future spouse – and your children, if there are children involved – will each year dress up in matching or complementary outfits.

something that your future spouse looks forward to doing each year is dressing up as santa for the kids. they put time into getting the look right and make sure to choose the right time to pop in, surprise everyone, take some pics and hand out some presents, and leave when “santa has to go back to the north pole.”

#** #tarot #pac #pick a card #christmas #future spouse #future spouse reading #tarotonline #tarotblr #witchblr #tarotcommunity #channelled message #channeled message #divination #spirituality #spiritualism

[hugshughes]

august T. Zegras

Trevor Zegras x fem!reader

synopsis - You spend an amazing summer with Trevor Zegras, before realizing he was never yours.

wc - 3.3k

contains - NOT EDITED SO THERES PROB A FEWWWW MISTAKES. cursing, angst to fluff in a way, heartbreak, reader gets used, asshole/manipulative!trevor, implied sex (no actual smut), crying, cheating, no happy ending between trevor and reader, but happy ending for reader overall!!!!! not allllll of the song is used like in the actual like lyrics typed out but i just like didn't use some of the repeated verses more than once so yeah. let me know!

an - this hurt. love Trevor but this hurt. and it's honestly pretty short because I really didn't know what else to add so sorry!!!!! but also i kinda like this because i made up a hot man so. i would love new requests, for literally anything with anyone i loveeeeee writing requests but my inbox is literally barren rn.

-

salt air, and the rust on your door. i never needed anything more.

The summer had been perfect. You spent the whole thing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with your best friends, and a perfect boy.

You had traveled to the OBX in the middle of June, with your 5 best friends. You guys had rented a house for the summer, you'd been saving for the trips since the end of high school, and you were finally able to go.

You guys spent many days in the sun, getting tan and playing volleyball, swimming in the pool and ocean.

whispers of "are you sure?" "never have i ever before"

On your second week, a group of guys had moved into the house next to yours. One evening while you guys were on the beach they came out and set up next to your group, and one of them had their eyes on you from the get go.

Trevor was something you'd been waiting for for years, a guy that was invested in you, a guy that really liked you and was interested in you.

He would bring you to places you never thought you'd see, places you'd remember your whole life. The blonde would often wake up in your bed, he would smile sweetly and snuggle closer to you, asking for a few more minutes before you guys got up to go to the beach. He took you driving, hiking, you guys would go on runs.

but i can see us lost in the memory. august slipped away into a moment in time, 'cause it was never mine.

You all had to leave on the same weekend, it was the beginning of August, and you were all sad. Before you left, Trevor talked all about how he would miss you, and would call you, and text, and do everything he could to keep contact. You discovered that that wasn't true about two weeks after you guys had left, because his contact faded out then he completely ghosted you.

You were completely heart broken over it. Your friends tried to comfort you, but weren't sure how to. You'd had a whirlwind summer romance, and then abruptly lost it all.

and i can see us twisted in bedsheets, august slipped away like a bottle of wine. 'cause you were never mine.

You had the worst night of your life when your friend showed you a photo Trevor had posted on his Instagram story, which you couldn't see because he had blocked you. It was a picture of him and a girl, with the text reading, "happy 1 year with my favorite!🤍"

You just cried, and cried, and cried. You felt terrible, you had no idea that he was involved with anyone else. He never made an indication that he was cheating with you, he told you flat out he was single the first night you met.

your back beneath the sun, wishin' i could write my name on it. will you call, when you're back at school?

You had dreams of the nights you spent with him. You remember him telling you he'd keep in touch, he would tell you how excited he was for the week you were planned to be in Anaheim in November, since that's where your extended family lived.

Now you were in Anaheim, and all you could think of was Trevor. You sat on the edge of the bed you were sharing with your favorite cousin, sulking as you texted your friends.

"Babe, what's wrong? You've been different since you got here."

You looked up at her, smiling sadly. Quickly you shook your head, turning your phone off and standing up.

"It's nothing, just a long story."

"Well we've got five days, so you better start soon."

You turned and looked at her, and the look she gave you had you spilling it all. You told her every detail, starting July 2nd and ending August 7th, how everything happened after, finding out you were just his side piece while he had a whole girlfriend back home. You cousin was fuming by the end, ranting to you about how he didn't deserve you or your love.

i remember thinkin' i had you. but i can see us, lost in the memory. august slipped away, into a moment in time.

"Hun, it sounds like you need some dick."

You laughed out loud, your hand going to cover her mouth, shushing her quietly. You felt like you were 14 again, whispering to your cool 16 year old cousin about your secret first boyfriend while you slept over at her house.

"Oh my god, shut up! What if my dad heard you? What is grandma heard you?! I would not be let out of the house the rest of this trip."

She giggled as she pulled your hand from her lips, before beginning to beg you to go out with her tonight. She saw the perfect opportunity for you to get out of this house full of old people and little kids, and another to get your mind off of that dickhead.

It took a little bit of convincing, but you finally agreed. Even though you two were 22 and 24, your parents still probably would have a problem with you guys going out so you left the house with sweats over your dresses.

You two sat in the car for a minute, searching for a good bar to drive to. You found one that was only 10 minutes away and started your drive. Your cousin told you that she would have one drink then only water for the rest of the night so you could drink as much as you wanted to.

'cause it was never mine.

You guys found parking a little ways away then walked to the bar. It was crowded when you walked in, surprising to you guys because it was Sunday night.

Your cousin pushed you through the crowd with her hands on your shoulders. You guys finally found a spot open at the bar. She urged you to sit at the one seat while she stood next to you. You flagged down a bartender and ordered your first drink. You sat talking to your cousin for a while before she discovered a group of her local friends there, claiming she'd be gone for just a couple minutes. It'd been almost 30.

You sighed, sadly sipping on your cosmopolitan and checking your phone. You froze when you heard a certain name called through the loud atmosphere of the bar. You turned your head slightly, trying not to make it too obvious, and then you saw him, dapping up another guy you knew, Jamie. Fuck your life. You couldn't fucking believe that out of all the bars in Anaheim he had to be at this one. You turned back around towards the bar, closing your eyes and muttering curse words under your breath.

and i can see us twisted in bedsheets. august slipped away, like a bottle of wine. 'cause you were never mine

"You okay, darlin'?"

Your eyes shot open, looking towards where the unknown voice came from, only to find the owner to be the rather attractive bartender that'd been serving you tonight.

"Oh, uh yeah, thank you it's kind of a long story."

"Well my sections cleared out for now, if you want someone to tell."

You smiled at him, he leaned onto the bar in front of you. He was hot, if you were gonna be honest. He had dark brown hair, brown eyes that looked like honey in the warm lighting of the bar, and a beard that matched his hair. He was sweet, he'd been nice every time he served you. He was also southern, which was so sexy. You had had 2 and a half drinks, so you were a little buzzed, so you were more open to telling him.

"Well before I tell you my sob story, I need to know who I'm telling it to."

He smiled, oh my God his smile was perfect, his teeth were so perfectly straight and white.

"Well I'm Noah, and I'm from Texas, but my dad owns bars out here, like this one. I just work here whenever I'm home because they can always use more hands on deck, but I'm still in school in North Cali."

You started at him the whole time, he just seemed like such a genuine person, and he wasn't hard to look at. You thought the fact that he just worked here whenever he could to help his family was actually so cute.

"That's sweet! You just come here to help your dad?"

He nodded, his smile bringing a light feeling to your chest. You leaned your cheek against your palm, looking to begin your story.

"So Noah, you noticed my reaction to that guy walking in. That reaction was because this summer me and my friends were living in a beach house in the Outer Banks from like the middle of June until August. And so in like July this group of guys started staying at the house next to us and that guy, Trevor, was apart of that group."

Noah nodded, already giving Trevor dirty looks.

"He like was practically my boyfriend for a month and a half, then when he left he ghosted me, and then I see him post his one year anniversary with his girlfriend. One year! Like weren't you sleeping in my bed a month and a half ago?!"

back when we were still changing' for the better. wanting was enough. for me, it was enough. to live for the hope of it all. cancel plans just in case you'd call, and say, "meet me behind the mall."

Noah's jaw had dropped, his eyes wide as he looked between you and Trevor, whom he had a clear view of on the other side of the room.

"That guy fucked you over?"

You nodded sadly, before laughing about it.

"Honestly, I was upset about it but now, seeing him, it's just like he's not the same guy as I thought. He's not really the guy I'm upset about."

"That's real as fuck honestly."

You both laughed at that, you two kept talking for almost thirty more minutes, only breaking your conversation when someone came up for a drink. Your cousin had come over at some point, apologizing for leaving you alone for so long, when you told her you had totally hit it off with the bartender, and she giggled with you before running off when before Noah's smile dropped.

"Not to mention him, but that fuckhead is coming over towards my section."

You rolled your eyes, Trevor didn't make you sad anymore, he just pissed you off. You nodded, taking the drink he'd just made for you from him.

"Hey man, could I get a round of shots?"

He hadn't noticed you, you didn't know if you wanted him to or not. He was literally 5 feet from you, a guy that had seen every inch of you, and he didn't even notice you sitting there. Noah's cheerful demeanor dropped, giving Trevor a look.

"What liquor for how many people?"

"Oh uh um tequila for like 10 people."

"What tequila?"

Noah had known you for an hour and was already hating on your ex-situation like he was his mortal enemy. Trevor told him the brand he wanted and Noah turned to get to work. You kept your eyes on Noah while Trevor looked around aimlessly, until his eyes landed on you.

He was shocked, to say the least. He honestly thought he'd never see you again in his life. He immediately remembered how you told him you were coming to Anaheim for Thanksgiving, and how he told you he couldn't wait to see you then.

so much for summer love,

He liked you, but he also realized that he had a girl at home who still thought they were perfect together. He felt bad when he initially ghosted you, but then he forgot about it within weeks.

He couldn't deny how beautiful you looked, and how seeing you in person brought him right back to July. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He had ended the relationship he'd been in just two weeks ago, he felt like seeing you here was a sign. He called your name, two times. The first time you acted like you didn't hear him, then the next you couldn't ignore him.

You turned to him, obviously irritated. You raised your eyebrows at him, a pissed off look on your face.

"What?"

Fuck. Trevor didn't know what to do after that. He stumbled over his words for a few seconds, suddenly nervous.

"Um hey, how are you doing?"

"Are you fucking serious? 'How am I doing?' How can you stand there and ask that after what you did to me?"

"Fuck, let's just talk, okay? I'll explain everything to you baby. Please?"

The name made you want to punch him in the nose. If you were being honest, you wanted to hear whatever explanation he had for it all. But no way in Hell were you gonna forgive him for any of it. You were done, this was just the closure you had needed for all those months.

and saying "us".

"Okay number one, don't fucking call me that; and number two, I will listen to you, but I'm not listening for your benefit, or to forgive you, I'm listening for the closure I need from you. Okay?"

"Yeah fine, sorry. Okay just come on so we can go somewhere more private."

You thought about it for a second, looking towards Noah behind the bar, secretly listening to the whole conversation. You made eye contact with him, mouthing, 'I'll be right back.' To which he nodded.

Trevor caught the interaction, which made his insides twist in anger. But he had no right to be angry, not one part of you belonged to him. You followed Trevor to the hallway by the bathrooms, leaning against the wall while he stood in front of you, far enough away so that you were comfortable.

"So I know what I did was terrible. It was a shit thing to do, but I had a lot of stuff happening at home and-"

"'Stuff' as in a long term girlfriend? Trevor you cheated on someone with me. You acted like you cared about me, ghosted me, then I have to find out I wasn't even the only girl, and that I was the other woman! That makes me a bad person! I felt like such shit for months because of you, and I shouldn't have, because it's all your fault! Not mine, not your girlfriend's, yours."

'cause you weren't mine to lose.

Holy shit. How the fuck did you know about Trevor's girlfriend? He had you blocked on his phone and his girlfriend's.

"Fuck um how do you even- Fuck just I know how bad that sounds okay? But you have to understand that-"

you weren't mine to lose, no.

"I don't think I'm gonna understand anything that comes out of your mouth. Just, leave me alone Trevor, you have had fucked me up enough as is."

Trevor leaned against the wall opposite from you with his head low, defeated. You felt a weight lifted from your shoulders, maybe all the closure you needed was to yell at him good and hard.

"Have a good fucking life, Trevor."

'cause you were never mine, never mine.

With your last goodbye, you sped away from him, before any more bullshit could leave his lips. He was never yours. You understood that now, and honestly it's a good thing he never was, because he was a fucking mess. You hoped he'd find a girl that fixed him, someone that could help him learn peace. But you knew you weren't her, you weren't a girl interested in making a man out of a boy, you wanted a man and that was that.

You walked back to where you sat at the bar, seeing Noah cleaning up the bar top. He looked up and saw you, smiling lightly.

"Hey, are you good?"

You nodded standing next to your seat and smiling back at him.

"So much better, to be honest. I just shouted at him and I think that was my version of closure."

"So you don't think he's coming to get these shots?"

You both laughed as you shook your head at him. You talked for about ten more minutes, before you decided it was time to find your cousin and go home. Noah asked for your number, which you happily gave him. You and your cousin exited the bar, both with smiles, though yours was a bit bigger.

"So you had a good night babe?"

"Very good, actually. That hot ass bartender was like the sweetest guy ever and asked for my number!"

You and your cousin talked the whole drive home as you both described the details of your nights. When you got home, you both slid your sweats back on over your dresses and quietly walked into your grandparent's home, informing your parents of your pre-prepared alibi, saying how you went and saw the Taylor Swift movie, then got dinner.

You both giggled like little girls while you ran up the stairs, then giggled even more ten minutes later in your shared bed when Noah texted you.

Trevor knew that he fully lost you when you walked away from him, but it didn't stop him from unblocking you and scrolling through your instagram.

but do you remember?

4 years later Trevor was single and still playing for the Ducks, he saw a picture from the summer of '23 and you came to his mind. He wondered what you were up to. He wanted to know if you were near Anaheim or anything. He pulled up Instagram, searching your name. What he found shocked him.

When Noah asked you to marry him three years into your relationship it was the easiest decision you had ever made. He was perfect, your dream boy. Then when you married him a year after that, it was easily the best day of your life. Your wedding in the hills of Northern California was absolutely gorgeous, and your honeymoon in Greece was breathtaking.

remember when i pulled up and said, "get in the car!" and then canceled my plans just in case you'd call?

Trevor saw the photos you posted from your wedding two weeks earlier and his jaw dropped, he recognized your husband as the bartender from the night the last time he ever saw you. You looked perfect in your white dress, the caption reading, "Mr & Mrs Moore, 7-29-27." Trevor was truly shocked, he didn't know why though. You were a perfect girl, and it was no surprise someone had lucked out and married you.

back when i was livin' for the hope of it all, for the hope of it all.

He liked the post, accidentally. When you saw the notification, you were confused, but smiled. You hadn't thought of Trevor in years, and now your time with him was all memories. He had made you happy in the moment, and you being sad and moping about him was what led your cousin to taking you to the bar, where you'd met the love of your life, your husband, the man who'd eventually be the father to all of your children.

You were grateful for Trevor Zegras, just for that.

for the hope of it all. for the hope of it all. (for the hope of it all.) (for the hope of it all.)

#hugshughes folklore celebration #trevor zegras #august #folklore #taylor swift #trevor zegras x reader #jamie drysdale x reader #jack hughes x reader #hockey #nhl #nhl draft 2023 #nhl x reader #nhl ducks #nhl blurb #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #nhl hockey #nhl players #anaheim ducks x reader #anaheim ducks #anaheim ducks smut #ducks hockey #folklore taylor swift #evermore #august taylor swift #spotify #Trevor Zegras smut #Trevor Zegras imagine #Trevor Zegras blurb

[olderthannetfic]

I don't know beans about traditional Chinese clothing and I'm not in any fandom where characters were hanfu, but I'm finding the conversation about it really interesting by analogy to something I am familiar with, Highland dress. I wear a kilt maybe about once a week, and the historical and cultural significance is important to me.

The full outfit one traditionally wears with a kilt has a gazillion pieces, and each pice has at least two names, was probably invented a few hundred years later than you think it was, and almost certainly is at the center of at least one political issue in the 18th or 19th century.

The thing you think of as a kilt is also called a small kilt, or a philabeg (a loan word from Gaelic, also spelled filibeg or phillibeg), and is technically half of the great kilt (aka philamor, also with spelling variations). It may or may not have been invented by an Englishman.

The Jacobite shirt is a recent invention. The wide belt with a huge buckle comes from military dress. Tartan is technically the name of the cloth, and a plaid is a sort of mini cloak you wear on your shoulder. Kilt pins only go through the top layer of fabric and don't pin the kilt together, and are a Victorian invention. Tartan patterns only gained close and official identities with specific clans or families or groups in the Victorian era. Some modern Tartans are under copyright and you need permission from the designer to weave or sell them, others are public domain and literally anyone can wear them, despite affiliation.

I could go on....

Or you can wear a kilt with stompy goth boots and a band tshirt, or with hiking boots and a polo shirt, that's fine too (and how I wear mine, more often than not).

It's not hard for me to see that hanfu is just as complex and has just as much historical and cultural significance as the traditional cultural clothing I'm more familiar with, and getting it wrong in a fic would look just as silly.

But you don't have to actually do this much research and know everything I know about Scottish history to write a character who wears a kilt, whether it's in a historical, present day, or fantasy setting.

You probably want to have an OK grasp of what Highland dress means to your character and why they wear it, and you want to acutally know what a kilt even is in the first place (it's a little more specific than just a skirt), but that's all you really need.

If a Chinese fanfic author wanted to write Outlander fic, and didn't want to do the in depth research to get the clothing terminology exactly right for the time period, that's fine. Just put the pleats in back and call it a kilt instead of a skirt and that's good enough.

-- Same anon who just sent the ask about Highland dress. I can see where the "it's not a robe" anons are coming from. To me, the word "robe" covers a huge variety of unrelated garments, including bathrobes and wizard robes and hanfu and kimono and togas and the sack-like things graduates wear and the things Medieval European kings wear. But if someone called a great kilt a robe, I think I'd have a fit. Yes, just like the other examples, it's a large flowing piece of cloth worn around the body in a certain style, but it's more specific than that. I most likely feel this way because I'm more familiar with great kilts than I am with the other examples. The others are all just different kinds of robes to me, but a great kilt is something specific that I know a lot about. If you described a great kilt to someone who didn't know anything about it as a type of robe, I would consider that accurate, but if you said of an Outlander character "he put on his robe", I would be like "excuse me???? that's a great kilt". That's probably how the "hanfu ≠ robe" anons are thinking.

For me, as a novelist, the calculation is simple:

When I'm writing in third person limited (as I usually do), how would the character be thinking about this clothing? That's what the argument boils down to.

On one side, we have "This word is more Chinese, so it feels more like it's honoring that these are Chinese canons".

On the other side, we have the equivalent of "Your Scottish guy from 1350 is not going around thinking 'He was clad in Scottish dress' about his bros who are just wearing normal clothing."

--

No one is confused about the two sides of the argument. They just disagree about whether 'hanfu' is anachronistic and exoticizing.

[remidyal]

fantasy high au where kristen was bitten by a werewolf in the same attack that infected tracker

Oooh, interesting!

So, before going into AU territory, a quick little review of what canon/quasi-canon information we have here:

Tracker was thrown out of the house somewhere around the age of 12-13 in what is kind of implied to be the aftermath of the werewolf attack but COULD be read as her realizing she's a lesbian; the dialogue is a little open to interpretation - from her first episode at the black pit:

Tracker: That's the exact question I asked that made my parents throw me out.

Kristen: What?

Tracker: I asked, something really terrible happened to me, and, at least I thought it was terrible at the time, but it ended up being like one of the best things that ever happened to me, and I asked my parents why Sol would let that happen, and they kicked me out of the house.

(Also, everything about Tracker early on is realistically in flux - she introduces herself as a cleric of Lida, not Galicaea in season 1, and pretty clearly the relationship to Jawbone was tacked on when he became unexpectedly important and Brennan wanted to hook Tracker back in to meet Kristen again.)

She has lived with Jawbone, who she at least shares a last name with and calls uncle, for some amount of time but has dropped out of school and considers herself to have been a wild child for at least five years. My read of this is that she was literally homeless for some time, or was in and out of staying with her drug-dealing uncle.

It is not at all clear whether Jawbone bit Tracker or if they are just from a region where werewolf attacks are common enough that two separate members of the family were bitten and it's not like incredibly weird; we know that Jawbone was a werewolf while he was in high school and in fact in spite of his crazy stories we've never heard anything about when HE was bitten which has always made me kind of wonder if he might have been born a werewolf.

So, for this AU to sum all this up, I'm going to go with an interpretation where a) Tracker was bitten around when she was 13 and Kristen would have been about 12 and b) Jawbone wasn't the one to do it.

SO FINALLY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION:

Tracker and Kristen are bitten towards the end of a summer camp that takes campers who follow both Sol and Helio after having been loosely friends but not THAT close. A werewolf attacks a group of campers on a 'take back the night for the sun' sort of hike on the last week; Tracker and Kristen get bitten because they step forward to try to defend all the others. They're immediately isolated until their parents can come to get them after the attack, and after the two or three days it takes for that to happen they exchange addresses and promise to keep in touch and stay friends and everything.

Tracker still gets kicked out shortly after this, asking her parents why Sol didn't protect her from the werewolf. She sends a couple of letters before this, but then the contact dries up; Kristen tries every so often for a while to send another but eventually gives up after they're all returned to sender.

Kristen, meanwhile, sooooort of does better but not really. She retains her connection to Helio, and her parents as higher level paladins are actually immune to contracting lycanthropy so she can at least be guarded by them during the full moon, but her inability to use cleric spells while a werewolf is seen as the ultimate sign that that side is something to be ashamed of, that the curse is a failure on her part and something unworthy that she needs to repress as much as possible. If this is sounding a little bit like conversion therapy, well...

Kristen still ends up going to Aguefort, but not just because of wanting to spread word to the uncultured crazed adventurers of Helio - none of the Helioic schools would take a werewolf. Much of freshman year plays out at least similarly to canon, up until she and Tracker run into each other at the Black Pit. They're in the middle of recognizing each other and resparking this connection years later when BOTH of them get turned by DJ Brainz, making the fight MUCH harder for the Bad Kids, who end up carrying an unconscious Kristen out afterwards to Seacaster Manor.

Kristen and Tracker, now knowing each other are in town, manage to reunite at last, and the fic would probably actually climax on a scene of Tracker guiding Kristen through letting herself be a wolf outside of the full moon for the very first time, reveling in the freedom she's been suppressing for all this time. She actually gets kicked out in this AU after this as well, instead of choosing to leave as per canon.

#kristen applebees #tracker o'shaughnessey #i like that i have a brand as the werewolf au gal #fanfic #fantasy high #dimension 20

[toffee4you]

A “Peaceful” Mountain Hike

Content: Prefect!reader, GN!reader, reader is distrustful of Jade, platonic, tricked into eating the ‘shrooms (someone please arrest Jade), crackfic, ft. Ace/Deuce/Grim at the end

Jade dialogue: cyan

Prefect dialogue: default color

I don't know how to write in-character dialogue, so enjoy ♡♡

Today was a weekend, a quiet one.. and not exactly an ideal one. You had to catch up on your alchemy homework since Grim ended up spilling your potion over during a fight with Ace. It was tedious work, but a rare moment of peace and quiet since no one else was in the cultivating area of the botanical garden. You hummed to yourself as you picked ingredients for the potion, albeit, having a hard time finding the majority of them. In the midst of your searching, you heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Ah, Prefect... Perfect timing!”

You turned around to see Jade smiling his usual slippery smile, still dusting off a bit of dirt from his lab coat. You didn't like his tone, not one bit.

“Jade Leech? What is it now...”

You sighed, deciding to humor him just this once rather than ignoring him. The moment his smile curled wider upon receiving your attention, you began to regret that decision.

“Oh my, why the distasteful tone? I was simply in the midst of tending to my mushrooms when I spotted you. My heart simply ached upon seeing you waste away your weekend on that project you failed...”

Already, you knew he had another angle here. How did he know you failed your project anyways? You weren't even in the same class!

Rolling your eyes, you turned around to leave, not wanting any part in an event that may end with you working for a whole week at Monstro Lounge. That was, until he started following behind you with his hands folded in front of him. You knew that shady pose anywhere.

“Say, Prefect... I am aware that you may have some misunderstandings about us, but I would not mind helping you with this task of yours for a simple, personal, price. That is--”

You raised an eyebrow and turned abruptly on your heels, nearly getting ready to throw hands with him. He could tell, and thus backed up a few steps while flashing a wide-eyed look of fabricated shock.

“...Now whatever is that reaction for? I simply ask of you to join me during my hiking trip!”

“...A hiking trip?”

So, after some hard consideration, you found yourself trailing behind Jade on a grassy mountain. He helped you finish your project beforehand, which you appreciated, but that also meant no going back. It wasn't as if you needed to anyways, at least not initially. He seemed like an unexpectedly fun person to be around outside of Octavinelle; enthusiastically teaching you about the mountain's flora and fauna, fetching safe, wild-grown fruits for you to try... Maybe, you thought, he was actually a genuinely nice person to be around as long as you're off campus. There was still doubt in your mind, but you decide to place at least a bit of trust in him.

Nearly the whole trip was surprisingly safe. Sure, you were exhausted, but at least you were alive and in one piece—plus, you didn't get forced into any unwanted work. At this point, you were quite relaxed between having your stomach full of the delicious, grilled river trout that Jade caught for lunch and the overall healing experience. Your hands were placed lazily behind your head as you walked at your own pace, with Jade slowing his down to match you.

“You know, Jade? You're actually a pretty cool guy! In fact, I wouldn't mind hanging out more often.”

Jade turned his head with his usual smile, which now seemed more friendly to you than before.

“Is that so? I am glad to hear that, Prefect. I'm even so glad that I'd like to end our trip on a special note...”

This brought back a creeping feeling on you again, but once again, you forced yourself to trust him a little more. Maybe he really was misunderstood because of his associations. Thinking about it now, he was the sanest one in his group, right...?

...

Every positive thought went down the drain when you saw him pull out a handful of mushrooms. You staggered back with your hands up, shaking your head nervously.

“Jade...? What is that? What are you trying to do with those? You just want to plant them together... Right...?”

Without a word, he stepped forward, still grinning at you...and it seemed like a shady grin once more.

You were about to turn your back to him and run, but he swiftly caught you and popped a mushroom down your mouth. Good thing it was a small one, or else you would have choked on it.

“Hmm... I heard this mushroom has quite a few special properties to it despite being edible. Could you tell me what you're feeling right now, Prefect?... Prefect? Oh my, it seems to have...”

And the next thing you saw was the heads of your two friends and a pair of familiar ears. It seems you were back in Ramshackle again, with Ace and Deuce bickering while Grim noticed you waking up.

You rubbed your aching head, letting out a huff of exhaustion. Cold sweats, body aches, fatigue... yeah, those effects were “special” alright. Your friends went silent after seeing you in such a condition, slowly turning to look at you. They wanted an explanation, and you'd definitely owe it to them later.

“...Ace, Deuce, Grim... If Jade EVER asks you to hike with him, don't. go.”

#jade #jade leech #twisted wonderland fanfic #twst crack #twst #twisted wonderland #crack #platonic #lighthearted #fanfic #fanction

[paradoxbeta]

31 QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR BLORBOS/OCS YOU ARE LEGALLY OBLIGATED TO ANSWER

you can make it an ask game or just pick and choose questions you want to do or just do everything or just ignore it i dont care QUESTIONS

Yeah nobody's gonna see this. Not gonna stop me from posting.

(important note: the bonus points arent mandatory but you can do them if you want)

i want. to. hear. it. all. i dont care who you are take your ocs or your blorbos and PUT THEM IN 

(but do credit me as the original question asker. probably just reblog)

If your character made a wifi hotspot, what would they name it?

Diurnal or nocturnal?

Do they normally answer “On a scale of 1/10…” questions by actually staying within the 1-10 boundary or by exaggerating everything like “36/10”?

What kind of joke or insult would be too far/too close to home for your character?

Your character must retrieve a slice of ham on a ceiling fan (the ceiling fan is too high for them to reach just standing on their own, and it is spinning). The ham has to be semi intact. Your character cannot use telekinesis. How do they get the ham?

Your character is tasked with consuming half a bottle of toothpaste for 50$. Will they do it?

Whoops, a friend of your character has committed murder! What does the character do? (Bonus points: the victim is another one of the character’s lesser friends.)

Your character abruptly dies during the night and death itself, admiring the character’s hardship, offers the character to go back into their body and have a second chance at life—no strings attached. What do they do?

Your character just drove into a ditch. What now? (Bonus points: they are an Uber Driver, and were transporting a stranger ((or multiple strangers)))

Does your character have a hidden talent/hobby? What is it?

Someone makes rude, passive aggressive/backhanded comments on your character’s friends and shuns them the entire night they all hang out—…but is visibly kinder to your character, trying to impress them. What happens?

Your character works one (1) day of retail. The customers are extra bad on that day. How does it go?

On a scale of 1/10, how menacing does your character think they look? On that same scale, how menacing do they actually look?

Your character watches someone, in public, crouch down and eat a cigarette butt off of the ground. How do they react? (Bonus points: the person notices, picks up another, and offers it to them.)

IF YOUR CHARACTER IS SHORT OR MEDIUM SIZED: Someone taller than them uses them as an armrest. How do they react or feel? (Whether this tall person is a stranger or friend is up to you)

IF YOUR CHARACTER IS TALL: Does your character use smaller characters as armrests? Jokingly or seriously? Only with friends, or with just anyone?

Your character is woken up by a friend at 3AM. The friend says they want to go on this ridiculously long and exhausting hiking trip, “like, right now.” What does your character react with?

Your character gets insulted by someone, and nobody in the group they’re with at that time stands up for them. What do they do?

What is one thing your character will never truly understand? Why?

How often does your character forget words? Do they actually try and find the word, or just make up a whole new word and move on? 

Is there a genre of music that reminds you of your character?

Has your character ruined the way you view anything? What is it? Was it worth it? (You know it was.)

Has your character ever gone through a phase? What was it? (Bonus points: “Its not a phase, guys!”)

When your character apologizes, is it normally sincere? What are they normally apologizing for?

How likely is your character to accidentally hurt themselves when working with a potentially dangerous tool?

How does your character react to platonic physical touch? Handholding, headpats, playing with hair, playful hit on the shoulder, etc.

Is your character a good singer? Do they sing for others?

Can you trust your character to not misbehave if you go with them to a public place like a restaurant, or a store?

Would your character have the guts to bungee jump?

Does your character like to work with others, or work solo? How does the character feel if they have to work in the social setting they don’t like? 

Does your character often smile and laugh, or is that harder to get out of them? Do they laugh when they get nervous or scared or uncomfortable? 

#ask game #questions #blorbo #questions for ocs #text post #scenarios

[haunted-hijinxer]

Hi! I just found your BATIM/Cthulhu AU a couple of days ago and!!! I am so glad you guys are sharing this with us folks here on tumblr because I LOVE IT SO MUCH! If I can ask, what was, in your opinion, the most stressful/tense moment(s) of Season 1 and Season 2?

Aaaaa, thank you! I'm so glad people are enjoying reading about our weird tabletop AU adventures!

And MAN, that could go a couple of different ways... It's the nature of the game to try to set up situations that will be a fun kind of tense for the players, but those are often different from the parts that might be tense as the DM/GM/Keeper?

For the players, they'd know better than me what has stuck with them as tense! But I like to think the finales did a decent job. The Masked Messenger's final sudden attempt to compel their subservience with the 'shut your mouth/eyes/ears' commands -- some of which they would have succumbed to if they hadn't managed to bolster each other! -- seemed pretty tense. And the second scenario's finale had a lot of high-stakes things all coming to a head at once, especially with Joey's 11th-hour insanity-induced bid to bind himself to the Stone!

I also suspect the times player characters have been kidnapped have been tense for them! Having your characters threatened with being fed to a crocodile, or realizing the expert they're talking to is actually pretty unhinged and also now waving a gun, or that their lives and/or sanity may be hanging in the balance based on how well they can play piano is pretty stressful! Funnily enough, about half of those kidnappings I hadn't actually considered happening, which made it tense for me as well because it had me thinking on my feet! The time Prophet first appeared and ran off into the night in his pajamas as well as most of Joey's more iconic plans have been tense for me for the same reason; I may have known the general constraints of the NPCs and environment involved, but suddenly I too had no idea what was coming next!

Thankfully this is generally a fun kind of tense for me as well, since I know my players will be, if anything, flattered if I have to call for a pause in the game to plan in response to their creative actions, haha!

Another set of moments from season 1 which I think are memorable and also get into that player/DM difference are the hallucinations from season 1. Looking back, most of those frightening visions were a manifestation of the group's repressed memories leaking through. They weren't currently real or dangerous, unless the group's confused reactions somehow put them in danger. Joey was not actually being chased by an inky abomination, Sammy was not actually turning into a goo person. As a DM knowing this, it was still a lot of fun! But less tense, as little was unknown. But to the players having no idea what was happening to their characters or how much of the danger was real, the stakes probably seemed very high!!

Meanwhile I feel like the resolution to these hints and foreshadowings fell on the opposite end of that spectrum. After the trio had hiked up to the star pools and Sammy and Joey had already vanished and Henry was sitting next to a tree alone while the players tried to make sense of what had just happened, I think for the party it might have felt like a time when the tensest moments had already passed. Catastrophe HAD befallen them, and for the moment they were just confused by this latest bewildering occurrence, with nothing actively threatening them any more.

But for me, holding my breath and on the edge of my seat waiting to see which clue would be the one to make it all click, this was perhaps the tensest part of the entire game!! The moment when Maf went from a confused, "…What…?" to "…..Oh my god, I AM crazy…!" is squarely one of my all time favorite moments from tabletop gaming.

#shoutout to Shazz a moment later also gasping and going ''ohhh..GOOD we've just been dead..!'' #call of cthulhu: haunted hijinx #thren posts #thren answers #I love the Burning Stars and I'm so ridiculously glad to have got to run this crazy version of it #Thanks you guys for playing with me and making this game such a joy #I love this dumb AU #Thanks for the fun question I was thinking about it a lot which is part of why I took forever answering it lol #I have a few other questions atm in a similar state

[cilantrospirit]

@girlpetrarca tagged me in this so here goes! (thanks <3)

1. Are you named after anyone?

sort of! my name has the same meaning as my favorite aunt's name, but in Latin because I come from a long line of total nerds

2. When was the last time you cried?

due to the wind and weird sleep my left eye has been randomly weeping out a long and dramatic tear every 40 minutes or so for the past three days. looking forward to that being over because it makes my mask wet (horrible texture) and every time I go to wipe it I smudge my glasses (I have suffered more than jesus)

3. Do you have kids?

not in a literal sense, but I do have some ambiguous form of dissociative multiplicity and in that context some of me is the kid of other parts of me. it's how I think of myself, and it does mean that I do some stereotypical young parent behaviors but directed at myself, on the other hand I materially do not have the ability to take care of another body right now, even if I think I'd be a great parent to an actual kid. I respect kids a lot but I don't get along with them easily, so I'm afraid that when I become a parent (with my qpps) I won't be preferred by my kids for anything! but that's okay as long as they know they are loved. it does give me pause about fostering, though. :(

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

yes, but not very much over text unless it's extremely clear, because I struggle with understanding it. honestly being sarcastic very often but barely able to figure out when other people are is perhaps my most annoying trait.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

depends on the context? if there are other people around the first thing I notice is how they are positioned in a group and how they talk to others. are they being left out? are they excluding someone else? are they comfortable? are they goofing off? are they earnestly trying to stop their friend from goofing off so they can be on task? it's usually the most relevant information about that person in the moment.

if I'm meeting someone for the first time and no one else is around (usually when hiking or in elevators) I notice their shoes first, then either the rest of their outfit or where they're looking at me.

6. What's your eye colour?

a grayish green-blue

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

as long as that choice has a reason for it and makes sense I think I like both equally. if I had to choose one for this exact moment, scary is my move.

8. Any special talents?

ask your mom um actual answer is I have a hard time delineating between a talent and just being better than average at something. and I hate saying "oh I'm a genius" or "oh I'm so good at writing" when both of those measures seem totally arbitrary, but gun to my head my talents are creative writing, comedy/wit, and understanding and applying the humanities. so... being a nerd? I feel that I lack talents in the way most of my friends have them, because for a variety of reasons I have trouble applying my ideas, but people tell me I have innovative ones, which could be a talent if it could be applied to anything!! tldr I have no talents outside of my own head

9. Where were you born?

a hospital in Oregon

10. What are your hobbies?

writing, exercising (does this even count as a hobby? for me it does), reading, stampmaking, canoeing and kayaking, ttrpgs (my favorites are homebrew by my friends, but I play monster hearts and d&d too), backpacking/camping, and going on expeditions (I give myself quests and go out exploring until I can achieve them, ex: ask 15 people and see for how many of them their coat is their favorite color, identify a new moss, fill a notebook page with overheard dialogue)

11. Do you have any pets?

not at school, but I have a cat named Kangarudy Purrfuzz a.k.a. Mr. Limousine Legs who is wonderful, and my grandparents live in town so I get to see their cat, Pienza, fairly often. she's fun to be around but should not be allowed outside and I hate how many birds she kills

^ two Rudys and a Pi, they are on opposite ends of the hedonism spectrum

12. What sports do you play/have you played?

I'm not in any sports right now, but I have played soccer and basketball, and been on a dragonboating and outrigger canoe team before. I miss paddling, but I have no way to travel to the practices of my city's team until I get a car. I do go to the gym pretty often and weightlift, which I know can be a sport.

13. How tall are you?

5'2"/158cm

14. Favourite subject in school?

paleontology and cartography; outside of my major it's literature hands down

15. Dream job?

museum curator at a natural history museum with good funding; my dream is to make connecting with the natural world more accessible for all, not just physically but also in terms of how information is shared and presented. I see a lot of issues with how curation is handled now in that many museums are very focused on explaining what we know, but not able to present how we know things about the world with any ease, and it does nothing to combat distrust of science! I also know for a fact that people of all ages learn best from play/practice and the trend of reserving that style of display for kids' sections is a waste of potential engagement. I could go on about specific exhibits I've drafted and other issues I see, but this is not the place for all that!

my very unrealistic dream jobs are poet laureate and stay-at-home foster parent

@ anyone who wants to answer these please tag me! bit tired to actually tag anyone I'm just a little guy in a huge sweater on a snowy night. drinking my little jasmine tea from my moomin mug. so don't expect me to do anything!!

#took a break in the middle of writing this to go play in the snow(!) for over an hour because I love being outside when it's still falling #it's the first snow of this year that's stuck! #in which they speak #tag game

[slowing-down-in-style]

My Dad - 12/27/2023

My dad came over for Christmas. He showed up a little before 9:30am and he was gone before 11:30am. I didn't expect him to stay long. I guess there wasn't really anything worth staying for. He doesn't like people. (Groups of people or people in general) He doesn't like coming to the city. I can't get him to do anything with me. No hockey games. No baseball games. No Crew games. No Zoo. No parks. No hiking or biking or walking or movies or cooking or baking or... anything. He's okay with coming to my place though. Sometimes we go to dinner. Only at Texas Roadhouse, preferably in Springfield. He lives an hour away from us. So in actuality I guess instead of 2 hours...  I'd taken up 4 hours of his day. Anyways, I thought the way that he left was rather weird...

He came over. I made cinnamon roll waffles for Christmas breakfast for him, Alex and I. We didn't exchange presents this year, same as last year. I didn't know what else to do while he was here... and I've long since learned I probably overwhelm him when I talk, because I fill the silence between us with talking. So I tried to talk less. Tried to stop filling the gaps of silence with worthless chit-chat.

So yeah. I guess it makes sense he left after only 2 hours. I dunno.. is 2 hours short? Is it long? Is that a perfect amount of time? He said he wanted to go home and take a nap.

Alex and I were fiddling with the xbox, maybe he thought we were ignoring him or were bored with him or something. I wasn't trying to ignore him, I was just trying to load something up, a game or a movie or something I could share with him so it wasn't just silence.

He suddenly declared he was going home and started walking towards the front door. I got up and opened my arms like I wanted to give him a hug. He looked back at me and kind of scoffed, then came back and hugged me and said goodbye. I don't think I'm ever going to forget that scoff and the look he had. I was heartbroken.

I sent him an email today, that's how my dad prefers to communicate, and asked him if I had done something to upset him on Christmas.

"No." was the reply. Nothing else.

Chris calls it verbal economy. 'that man does not talk about feelings. full stop.'

Yeah.. doesn't really leave me with a whole lot of paternal love. This is the same guy who let his me just step out of his life for years because his girlfriend treated me like a second class citizen and he only came back into my life because I called him and made him man up for my 16th birthday.

I need to quit trying to squeeze water out of stone.

My mom was a pretty emotional person. Very watery. Wore her heart on her sleeve. She was the one who had full custody of me. She often guilted me into spending time with her in ways that now... I miss terribly. She would sometimes climb in bed with me and snuggle. She would ask me to come down and snuggle up with her on the couch and watch a movie and play footsie with me like we did when I was a little kid. She took me everywhere with her when she could. (At least until she started leaving me home to go to the bar...)

I took these amazing moments for granted. When I was little I loved them. As a young adult and a teenager I felt cramped and we fought and she drank and it felt like manipulation and neglect and abuse. She would (often drunkenly) fight with me one night, not remember it the next day and expect me to be okay with her sudden lonely affections. She might not have been mother of the year, she might have been verbally and emotionally abusive and an alcoholic... and I'm not putting her above my dad in any way. But I wish right now I had parents who showed me love. I wish I had realized how important those moments were and how few of them I was going to have.

I have aunts who love me, or at least one does, but they are far away. On top of that Teri has more than enough to handle being the center piece of sustaining the lives of my disaster of a cousin and aunt. How can I possible ask her to take on one more burden in me?

I have Chris who loves me and shows me love in so many ways. He shows me new ways to love and encourages the growth I need to understand myself, the love I need and the love I give other people.

I have Alex who loves me and indulges me here and there in the same ways I indulged my mom when she wanted and needed affection and attention. When I want to show him attention and motherly affection I do so and try not to guilt him into accepting it as best I can.

I want to move towards acceptance of however my dad chooses to be and how he choses to love me. I like to think I have over the years. I don't try to force him into situations by suggesting things anymore- so he doesn't have to tell me no. But how do I expand on that acceptance so that I don't hurt when I'm let down anymore?

Also- today is his birthday. I'm taking him to dinner. To Texas Roadhouse. In Springfield.

#2023 #journal #dad

[art-of-manliness]

Odds & Ends: March 17, 2023

The Internet’s Richest Fitness Resource Is a Site from 1999. A deep dive into the history of Exrx.net. I remember visiting the site way back in high school in 2000 to use their one rep max calculator.  What’s great about Exrx.net is that it hasn’t changed at all in nearly 25 years. Same great, extensive fitness information; same straight up basic HTML layout and design they’ve had since the turn of the century. It’s kinda comforting to know it’s still there and still carries on. Eureka Springs, AR. This week our family drove to the small town of Eureka Springs, AR for a short spring break trip. It was our first time visiting, and Eureka Springs is one of the most intriguing places I’ve been in a while. It was a resort town in the 19th century, so it’s historic and many old Victorian buildings remain, but it’s also this artsy bohemian place at the same time. It was built on a mountain, so it has all these winding roads and alleyway staircases to get from one level of the town to the next. We checked out the shops, read the plaques that tell the history of the town, and hiked the nice trails in Lake Leatherwood Park. We’d like to go back and stay at the Crescent Hotel, supposedly America’s most haunted hotel. The town’s this truly weird place worth checking out. Harry’s Taming Cream. Since I’ve been sporting the longer hair, I’ve been on the lookout for a hair product to tame my wild, sometimes frizzy mane. So I went to my nearby drugstore several months ago and saw that Harry’s has a hair cream that has “taming” right in the name. It’s great. It provides a lightweight hold and gives your hair a natural look. It provides just enough moisture that my thick coarse hair doesn’t poof out. Highly recommended if you’re in a similar hair situation.  Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. This is a book that I think about a lot and comes up often in our podcasts about socializing and loneliness. In it, political scientist Robert Putnam argues that there’s been a sharp decline in “social capital” in the United States since the 1960s. He points to the decreasing numbers of Americans participating in civic and social organizations, such as bowling leagues, religious groups, and community organizations and argues that this decline has had negative impacts on American society, like loneliness and sharp partisan divides. The book was published in 2000 so some of it is dated, but I think Putnam’s main thesis is still worth contemplating.  Quote of the Week If we search for the fundamentals which actually motivate us we will find that they come under four headings: love, money, adventure, and religion. It is to some of them that we always owe that big urge which pushes us onward. Men who crush these impulses and settle down to everyday routine are bound to sink into mediocrity. No man is a complete unit of himself; he needs the contact, the stimulus, and the driving power which is generated by his contact with other men, their ideas, and constantly changing scenes. —Edward S. Jordan The post Odds & Ends: March 17, 2023 appeared first on The Art of Manliness. http://dlvr.it/Sl3hcH

[nataliesnews]

I meet a hard rock   9.10.2022

Yesterday I went for the first olive harvest of the year. It looked so clear cut as both the access and the area were very easy.

    But about an hour after we had started, I began to turn around. I had already noticed in the fact that my foot seems to affect my balance when I do so. I fell over backwards and, although there were not stones near me, one rock determinedly got under my head. In fact looking at the picture I can actually see the bloody thing behind my left cane. I felt I had had one hell of knock and the first thing I did was to move my arms and legs which felt numb. Also, my hands were as if they had pins and needles running through them. There were two doctors in the group and when I was in a sitting position I heard one saying that I was bleeding. The bleeding did not last long but the one doctor was especially in adamant that I had to go to an emergency ward. I thought she was exaggerating but she did it was a direct of the ministry of health that anyone who was hit on the head had to do so. I said I knew exactly what had happened, that I was not dizzy nor did I feel bilious. But they said the wound was open and had to be dealt with. Later when I phoned both of them to say thank you   she said that she we most insistent as some years ago she had a similar experience and it ended in tragedy.

 I often think to myself that anything can happen when you are out with the olives or at a demonstration and taken my oldest glasses and take out my hearing aid. And when I got dressed in the morning I thought to myself well if I do have bad luck then at last my shirt is the right colour for blood ….little did  I know. The problem also is that I can't wear anything else but the soft Gali shoes as otherwise it presses on my foot. But maybe after these damn holidays I will go to a hiking shop. I know I once bought a very soft hiking show but I have not found the same brand since.

Luckily we  had gone in Ellen's car and a lovely lady called  Magali insisted on going with us and she was a great help. To cut a long story short I did not pay anything because of my advanced age and at Meir hospital I have nothing but good to say. The wound was soon dressed, I had a tetanus injection of which I have had so many in my life and they also did a CT where I was glad to hear that they had found my brain. My head was sore and so were my shoulders. But it took a while and we only got out of there after about  4 hours by which time we were all starving. Seeing that I had fucked up their day I invited them to a restaurant and it ended well. The restaurant even had Guinness. Only problem is I cannot swim for a week.

  Anyhow this morning at last I could shower and wash my hair. And as I wrote the rock is feeling well.

   I meet a hard rock   9.10.2022

[potatoes-is-are-food]

NEED NSFW HCS FOR DRIDER SHIGARAKI PLWEASE

Haven’t written anything in months but I’ve got a sliver of motivation and this ask really just made my day with the enthusiasm so here ya go <3 I wanted to add some cute stuff too so I did SFW and NSFW

~

Basically, you decided on the worst(read: best) day and time for a hike, having been talked into it by a couple friends and assured the trail wouldn’t be too harsh. When you stopped for a break, you went off into the trees away from the group to pee in a secluded area. The sun was high enough to give plenty of light, but the thick canopy of the forest left you in much darker light than your eyes were used to. You wrapped up your business quickly, nervous in the unfamiliar terrain, only to find that you couldn’t see the trail anymore. And it was steadily growing darker, much faster than a normal sunset.

~

SFW

- Drider Shiggy, much like normal Shiggy, has a very “I see it, I want it, it’s mine.” mentality. Only he has even less self control and no one to stop him.

- Naturally, he just used his ability to see perfectly in the dark and watched you stumble around for a while before he came in to “save” you.

- At first he just watches you. The way you stare up at him with big, terrified eyes and your shaking hands as you reach out to gingerly touch him the first time.

- You don’t speak the same language, but he knows just enough human words and behaviors to decipher important things. “yes,” “no,” crying, smiling, laughing, and a few others.

- Obviously, you eventually come to terms with the fact you’ll never be able to get away and you do kinda like him, so you accept it.

- He’s completely feral, but mostly he’s like a cute, exo-skeletoned cat. But over two feet taller than you and strong enough to rip you in half without exerting much effort.

- Extremely demanding. You will be forced to drop what you’re doing and snuggle him or do whatever else he wants at any given moment.

- He’s never had a mate before (female drider are dominant and it kinda scares him a little and he absolutely will never admit that) so he’s ecstatic to have someone, even if it’s hard to communicate at first.

- Every time he brings back stuff he’s’ killed for you he gets really chirpy and excited when you approve. He does not and will not ever understand why you’d burn it over fire before eating but he also can’t imagine you sucking all the blood out like he does, so he won’t judge.

- At night he sleeps on his back, the more spiderlike portion of his body curls up so he’s flat against the bed (a hammock made of silks) and he’ll have you lay on top of him, preferably straddling him for easy access in the morning.

- Sometimes he finds little presents to bring you. A fair amount of the time it’s a forgotten water bottle or some other garbage, but he just looks so happy and eager to please you can’t reject it. Occasionally he’ll bring you jewelry or a beautiful stone, though.

- His hair is long and he doesn’t take care of it, but if you sit behind him and tend to it and braid it for him it’ll be really silky and soft. He purrs a little at the contact and gentle attention, but if you try to call him on it he’ll pout and insist he doesn’t make such sounds.

- He’s not the best at actually making stuff with his silk, but he’ll give you as much as you want if you wanna make clothes or jewelry or anything else. And if he sees you making a lot of certain things, he’ll try to do it too and give it to you.

NSFW

- Drider don’t really go into heat or anything, but in the spring he gets excited a little more easily and any time he can smell your arousal it’ll send him into a frenzy. It’s not helped by the fact he touches you all the time, even just on the face or shoulder, but the contact sends shivers across your skin.

- The second you give him the green light to start having sex, be prepared to not walk much or leave the nest at all for weeks. He’ll pound you for hours, overstimulating himself until he’s sobbing but continuing anyway.

- He’ll still want to do it often after the initial haze, but he does calm down a lot. He gets overexcited most of the time, purring and drooling and filling you up over and over.

- He can and will use his webs to keep you still and tie you up into neat positions, vulnerably hanging like a ripe piece of fruit for him to devour.

- He’s overprotective, and if any of his drider friends come around and get too friendly he’s not above fucking you in front of them to prove a point.

- It’s not physically possible, but he will never stop trying to get you pregnant. He’s very convinced that if he fucks you enough eventually you’ll have a clutch of eggs and some little fluffy kids.

- He’ll shove his face between your legs and eat you out until you cry at regular intervals, but the idea of a blowjob is foreign to him until you wrap your lips around his leaking cock the first time. After that, he’ll want it pretty often and he’ll purr really loud if you kiss and lavish affection on it.

- After sex he gets more cuddly than usual and refuses to let you up from his embrace. He’ll lick you clean and if you’re insistent he’ll take you to a stream to actually bathe.

#shigaraki #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki tomura x reader #tomura shigaraki x reader #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #tenko shimura #drider shigaraki #drider #monster shigaraki #shigaraki smut

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Limp Noodle ~ S.H.

A/n: I have never once been good at making choices so I’ll be doing both OOF! This request is dirt old but whatever. I’m actually writing requests now look at me go!

Request: “...prompt 20 or 21 Steve Harrington x clumsy male reader” by anon

#20 (here): “I can’t do this without you”

#21: “Guess who broke their nose! Me. It’s me. I broke my nose.”

Word Count: 2000+

MASTERLIST

“Are you SURE that this is a good idea?” The words came from Y/n as Steve parked the car, waving through the windshield window at Jonatan, Nancy, Robin and a new friend, Bianca. They’d all decided on a triple date and like idiots they’d let Steve, Bianca, and Nancy decide so they were now all headed on a hike. Robin was the least athletic of all of them and hated exercise of any kind. Jonathan was the one in the group who hated being outside in the sun and much preferred being inside cuddled on the could other swaddled in bed. Y/n... well Y/n was the single most clumsy person you’ve ever met.

Now, take whatever image that popped in your head when I said that and then make it ten times worse. Then take THAT mental image and multiply by it by ten AGAIN. Y/n was worse. He was absolutely sure he was going to thrip and fall over the side of some steep hill and fully die. He would be lucky to make it out of this trip without a stick going through his eye. Y/n and the outdoors didn’t mix. They never had. He could barely walk, let alone when it was uphill and outside and humid and hard to breathe and everyone was so beautiful and distracting.

Steve didn’t agree with that analysis.

“This is a great idea actually,” Steve decided with complete confidence. “Don’t worry about it okay? You’ll be fine.”

“Incorrect,” Y/n Aries immediately. “We started dating because I tripped seven times and you caught me every single one. I tripped seven times in three days Steve - and that was just the, what, one hour a day you’re with me? In THREE HOURS I TRIPPED SEVEN TIMES!” He was whisper yelling, getting rather heated. “I’m going to knock my head into a tree and bleed out.”

Steve laughed. He reached over, taking his boyfriend’s hands. “Do you trust me?”

Y/n’s shoulders sagged. “That is a cheap trick, Harrington.”

In response Steve only raised his eyebrows. When Y/n refused to answer, Steve sighed. “Y/n. Do you trust me?”

Closing his eyes a second, Y/n held in a sigh. When he opened them again, he managed a small smile. “Yeah. I trust you.” Steve went to get out of the car and Y/n caught his wrist. “Just promise you’re going to stay with me okay? I can’t do this without you. I’m serious.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Come on Drama King.” They both got out and made their way over to the other four.

“Hey guys!” Nancy greeted warmly. She had calmed a lot since Y/n had first met her. Darkened. But she was still pleasant enough, and Y/n tolerated her for Steve. He didn’t know why they were all friends after Nancy’s brutal ripping up Steve’s heart but... he expected it was that trauma bonding things that Steve and Robin refused to ever talk about with Y/n in the room.

“Hey bestie.” Robin winked at Y/n and he felt himself relax. Around her he always felt more comfortable. She got him on a much deeper level than Steve did. She had actually been the one to set them up after failure after failure of Steve’s attempts on girls who came to the ice cream shop they met at originally. It had gone up in flames recently, but they’d snagged a job at a movie store so they still worked together. Y/n was pretty sure neither of them would have it any other way, even if they sometimes pretended to hate each other.

“Hey loser,” Y/n joked back. Robin shoved him and he laughed, accidentally ramming into Jonathan as his feet almost came out underneath him. “Sorry,” Y/n mumbled.

Robin scoffed in amusement. “I always forget you have two backward feet.” This was something she said often, in reference to the popular statement of ‘two left feet’. One day Robin had proclaimed that Y/n was something worse than two left feet, and then being backward had kicked off as an inside joke.

“I’d you have that problem standing still, how do you think you’re going to do on a hike?” It seemed Bianca was trying to get in on the joking, but it hit a hard cord with Y/n.

He wasn’t in the mood to joke. “What can I say? Great day to die.” He put on the fakest smile ever. “Come on everyone!” Then he began to surge ahead, onto the trail, and the others scrambled to catch up.

It didn’t tale long for Nancy and Bianca to hit the head of the trail. Steve dutifully stayed by Y/n, but he watched the girls head with a sort of forlorness. Because Y/n was so slow and Jonathan and Robin lagged even behind him, the two girls in front were racing up and down the steep sides of the path they were on, jumping over logs and hopping up on stumps to make the path harder. They were laughing hard and having a great time. Y/n knew that Steve desperately wanted to join them.

What kind of a boyfriend would Y/n be to stop him? “Go on,” Y/n sighed, nudging Steve forward encouragingly.

Steve looked at Y/n with an expression that tried far too hard at innocence to succeed. It was so obvious he was full of crap that Y/n was rolling his eyes before the brunette even spoke. “What? What do you mean? I’m having a great time with my boyfriend which was the point of this whole thing. Have I bored you already?”

“No, but I’ve bored you. Go and do parkour with the bad ass chicks up there. Go on.” Steve hesitated, but when Y/n shot him a look, he finally did speed ahead to catch up and join in the unnecessary shenanigans that gave Y/n extreme anxiety just imagining himself doing. He sighed watching Nancy and Steve. He knew that things were WAY over between them, but Y/n found a little jealousy in the way they worked together so fluidly. They were perfect for each other - even as friends. She just kept up with him and challenged him in a way that Y/n never could, and Steve thrived.

Slowing down in his moment of annoyance, Robin and Jonathan caught up to him. “Welcome to the world of those who have to sit back and wonder why they’re not still dating,” Jonathan sighed. His voice was as laced with bitterness as Y/n’s thoughts were.

“They’re so complimentary,” Y/n complained.

“You could argue that you guys are the same,” Robin pointed out. “You both hate doing anything outside or away from home. You both love reading and photography. I mean Y/n’s incredible view of the world allows him to be a great writer, but it also connects you two. Writing and photography aren’t far from each other and you prod that every day. Nancy can’t slow down enough to appreciate things like Jonathan does, and we all know Steve is no reader.” She chuckled. “And we’ll never know how awkward and snappy got buff and pretty.”

Jonathan and Y/n smiled at that. “Imagine another world where Nancy and Steve stayed together. Then maybe you and me would have-“ suddenly he lost his words as he tripped, and Jonathan reached out to catch him. The two boys busted up laughing. “That’s the second I have to say both sorry and thank you for your reflexes Mr. Byers.”

“Ah anytime. That’s what friends do. Share interests and talk about alternative world where they’re dating and catch each other when they almost die.”

That made Y/n laugh harder.

Suddenly there was a very unpleasant thump and a scream. The three in the back snapped their attention to the three ahead and saw Nancy and Bianca freeze and look back at Steve, who had landed on the ground. His hands had risen to cover his face, and he slowly turned on his side, curling in on himself. It seemed like he’d misstepped at some point and tripped and fallen.

Perhaps Y/n shouldn’t have been the one they worried about on this trip...

-

When they finally got Steve to the hospital, it was a mess. There had been blood everywhere, and Y/n’s weirdly good driving had saved the day in a pinch once again. They’d gotten there quickly and in one piece without getting pulled over.

Only an hour later they were given news. Steve came out with the skin around his nose already bruised and puffy. “Guess Who broke their nose,” he mocked in a song songey voice.

“Me?” Y/n joked.

“Me!” Steve agreed, pointing at himself. “It’s me. I broke my nose.” He slung an arm over Y/n’s shoulders and the other four covered their mouths to hide laughs. People wouldn’t be forgiving in public if it got out that the two men were dating, so they were trying to be lowkey.

The Doctor came over behind Steve. “He’ll be fine. I’ve given him direction son how to ice it and even given him some pain killers to help with the next few hours. But it is just a broken nose, so nothing too severe.”

“Thanks,” Y/n told the Doctor. They left then, everyone heading home. Y/n designated himself in charge of caring for Steve, and called his parents to let them know that Steve ‘got tired’ after the hike and totally knocked out. They didn’t mind, liking that Steve was actually spending time with other kids again, so it went without too much problem.

As Y/n was tucking Steve into bed, Steve caught his hand to still him. “I love you.”

Y/n’s eyes widened. They hadn’t said that yet but... well, if hypotheticals with Jonathan had taught anything today, it was that Y/n was glad he was in this version of things, even if it was a little more complicated this way. So he meant it when he replied, “I love you too Stevie.”

Steve glared. “Not Jonathan?”

“Jon-“ Y/n’s deep confusion cleared as he realized what had been happening right when Steve had tripped. Jonathan and Y/n had been close. Laughing. Talking. Touching. “Oh my god Harrington did you break your nose because you were being a jealous idiot?”

“Maybe,” Steve grumbled, looking away.

Y/n laughed, gently tugging on his chin so their eyes met again. “Please sweetheart, you can’t get rid of me that easily. Me and my two backward feet are going to plague you for the rest of our lives.”

Steve’s eyes got very soft. “Do you really mean that?”

Getting sincere, Y/n leaned down and kissed Steve’s forehead. “Stephen Harrington, I’ve never meant anything more. I know we can’t get married or anything, or even date publicly, but... I don’t care. And maybe that’s some really forward thinking and we haven’t been dating that long, but I fell... a LOT of times in my life. It only made sense that the first time someone ever caught me, it was you. And it made me realize that I was gifted with my two backward feet so that one day I’d fall for you.”

Steve groaned. “That was painfully cheesy.”

“Okay, okay,” Y/n dismissed, rolling his eyes. The sweet moment was completely ruined.

“No seriously I would break my nose again before hearing that-“

Y/n reached over, turning the light off before climbing into bed with Steve. “Shut up Harrington, or I WILL break your nose again.”

Steve laughed before pulling Y/n close so they could fall asleep curled up with each other. “My cheesy, dumb, clumsy boy,” Steve mused quietly.

That made Y/n scoff. “If either of ya is the dumb in this relationship it’s YOU, Harrington.”

“Shut up,” Steve whispered. It was quiet a while before he finally followed up with, “I’d like that future with you too.”

To hide his smile, Y/n mumbled, “Good night Stevie.”

After a second, Steve replied, “Good night, Y/n.” And for now, that was the end of it.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x male reader #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #stranger things x male reader #joe keery #joe keery x reader #joe keery imagine #bisexual steve harrington #bi steve harrington

[the-sugar-crash]

I have an idea- and it won't go away

So.

Huxley x Xaiver X Hudson X Listener/reader

Idk how I came up with this..

Hello! Thanks for the request! I'm sorry it took a little bit, but here ya go :)

I decided to use the Freelancer as the listener character, mostly because it makes the most sense. Also I’m playing with time a little bit. Inversion never happens! Everyone is fine and happy and alive. Why? Because I'm the god of the page, and I don't like being sad.

CW: none

Honestly? I love this

So Huxley and Xavier obviously met through the team and at practice during Huxley’s first year.

I’m pretty sure Xavier is a year above him, so he could have helped show Huxley the ropes/give him any pointers and stuff like that

They get together after their first season playing together

They’re cute together

They don’t have very many planned dates, but Huxley will of course take Xavier on hikes when they have the weekend off

But they don’t really need to plan many dates, because so much of their schedule lines up between classes and team practice

They do have little gym dates tho

They work out together and then get smoothies

I love them

Also!! Captain and vice Captain? As boyfriends???

I’m obsessed.

Huxley and the FL meet the same way they normally do

The two of them are quick to become friends, and as they get closer, the FL starts to develop a little crush

But when Hux mentions he has a boyfriend, they just do their best to accept it and be happy for him

But he ends up inviting the FL to the team’s summer barbecue that Xavier hosts

The FL is a little nervous, especially because Huxley keeps talking about how excited he is to introduce them to Xavier

“It will be so cool to have two of my favorite people in one spot, you know?’

They mingle for little bit before someone in the crowd catches Huxley’s eye and he calls them over

The FL can’t help but feel a little jealous as they watch him light up and wave one arm above his head

But they become a little distracted when they see who Hux is waving at

He’s hot (ironic)

They both are

Once they man was close enough, Hux moved to greet him

All Huxley said was ‘Kiss?’, and when the other man nodded, Huxley kissed his cheek before turned back to the FL to introduce him

They have a similar conversation to the one they have in Xavier’s first video, and they tell each other how highly Huxley talks about them

They all hit it off, and a couple months later, they talk it through and decide to try dating

It’s going really well, and about half a year later, the E&E games tryout start

Huxley and Xavier know they wanna try out, but the FL is slightly hesitant

But they (as well as Lasko, Damien, and Gavin) help encourage them to at least try

So they all sign up to tryout

That’s where they all meet Hudson

He has to spend most of his time up in the booth, so he doesn’t get to interact with the competitors very often

But he does have a great view of the arena between the view from his box and the tester feed on the cameras.

He gets to see all of the tryouts, which is where he catches sight of Huxley, Xavier, and the Freelancer

There’s no denying they’re all extremely attractive, and not to mention powerful

He had to refrain himself several times from mentioning how hot they all look while he’s practicing their introductions during the tryouts

But when they have a break in between groups to reset the field, he decides to walk down to the competitors area

No reason of course, he just wanted to stretch his legs

He walks around for a little bit, but when he doesn’t see any of them he thinks he missed his window

But just before he heads back to his booth, he spots them

All of them actually

The three of them are standing together laughing at something

Hudson isn’t sure if it’s good luck or bad luck that all of them are standing together, but he decides to go for it and introduce himself anyway

They’re all very friendly (and even cuter up close)

They were just about to leave to get lunch, and they invite Hudson to come with them

And the rest is history.

Set up is over, now into same random relationship head canons

I fully believe that both Hudson and Xavier like to sing in the shower, so expect to hear them from down the hall

Especially Hudson if he isn’t paying attention, he can get a little loud on accident (get your head out of the gutter)

But that also means he cheers the loudest at his boyfriend’s games

Huxley and Xavier don’t mind, but the people sitting around Hudson and the FL certainly do

Eventually the school offers to let him announce after they receive so many complaints

He’s usually a very fair announcer, but he will occasionally talk about Huxley or Xavier for slightly too long

He’ll sneak the FL into the booth with him when he can so they don’t have to sit by themself in the stands

Plus they bring him snacks from the concession stand

After each game the four of them go out for dinner together, usually at a small diner that’s on the way back to the apartment

Idk I just really like the mental image of all of them sitting in an old fashioned diner booth drinking milkshakes

Just like how Hudson and the FL show up to Huxley and Xavier’s games, everyone will also go visit Hudson while he’s DJ-ing

He is technically working, so they can’t socialize with him as much, but they will come up to say hi and bring him water and snacks from the bar

He appreciates it, and he makes sure to put a couple of his partners’ favorite songs into the mix

And if the FL has anything, you bet the boys are showing up to cheer them on however they can

Xavier is the best cook of the couple

Huxley is pretty good when it comes to grilling food, but he’s never been the best at actual cooking, and Hudson probably used to eat a lot of microwave food and ramen

So Xavier cooks, Huxley grills, the FL bakes, and Hudson is in charge of taste testing

It’s a solid system

I’m not sure what I imagine Hudson to look like, but Huxley and Xavier both have a fair bit of muscle on them, which means two things

Good hugs. And good cuddles

None of the boys are morning people, so lazy mornings are an often occurrence

Except of course when there’s an early morning practice, but other than that they don’t want to leave the bed before 10am

Huxley has tried to drag the whole group on a hike, but finding a tent that was big enough for all of them was a little troubling

They all promise to take turns caring the tent, but Hux or Xavier always somehow end up with it

But it’s a great way for them all to take a break when their schedules line up

Huxley gets them all matching camel backs to take with them on these hikes, and the FL labels all of them, putting each person’s name with a little heart next to it

Also just imagine the drive up

Hudson likes to make playlists, so he’ll make one every time he knows they’ll be in the car for a while

(the four of them have a family plan on Spotify, so Hudson can keep an eye on what everyone is listening to lately, so he makes sure his playlists are always up to date)

He takes his job very seriously

Hux and Xavier usually sit in the front, mostly because it’s a lot more comfortable than trying to squeeze in the backseat

But Hudson will usually be leaning up over the center console so he can play with the radio or the bluetooth

Idk why, but I don’t imagine him as the best driver, so he usually stays in the backseat

The FL isn’t a bad driver, but they really only drive if the other two are tired

Okay but picture this; they’re driving back home after a weekend trip, and the FL and Hudson fall asleep in the back seat, each of them leaning against the other, so Huxley and Xavier carry the other to up to bed, and they all fall asleep in each other’s arms

#ta da! #Like Mac is the h word person #and floof is the resident DJ #I feel like I'm the poly head canons person #I may not be the best #But I do have a lot of them #redacted asmr #redacted damn #redacted freelancer #redacted hudson #redacted huxley #redacted xavier #redacted poly #redacted polycule #polycule head canons #fluff #rarepair #redacted DJ Anxiety #redacted head canons #e&e games #camping #hiking #Huxley x freelancer #huxley x freelancer #huxley x xavier #redacted audio

[chefdoeuvre]

Aftermath

Jay Halstead

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Sister!Reader

Description: People always tend to forget about the aftermath.

Words: 2,122

Requested: yes by anonymous; second, if it's ok i wanted to request a part two to the imagine? i was wondering if you could just explore the aftermath of her assault, as she continues to heal and accept what's happened to her. by this i mean experiencing ptsd and having nightmares, flashbacks and dealing with certain triggers. also, maybe she could still sometimes turn to substances as many survivors do, and just break down sometimes. obviously since it's a halstead sister fic and i love the support system in the last story, i'd love to see jay helping her through everything and being super protective + some scenes with the rest of intelligence? but it's obviously up to you. thank you so much <3

Warnings: mention of drinking, sexual assault, drugs, language, PTSD, Jay Halstead and all of Intelligence being the best.

A/N: This is the long awaited part two to Infliction, and by long-awaited I mean like a month later. I tried to make the end light hearted because it seemed like a good way to go. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors.

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It had been a few weeks since the party and things were beginning to look up. You and Brayden started hanging out more and it was safe to say the two of you were on your way to becoming best friends. The group of guys had all been arrested and sent far away from you. You, Jay, and Will have been having more frequent family movie nights instead of them heading out to Molly's every free night they got. Intelligence had basically adopted you as one of their own and even went out of their way to hang out with you. Kim and Hailey had girls nights away from the ever-annoying guys they work with. Adam and Kevin practically chauffeured you to hangouts with Brayden and took you out to your favorite diner on the weekends. Even Hank had called you once in a while as a check-in and to keep you informed about your case. Overall things seemed to be getting better for you.

Except for one little detail. Your PTSD was hitting you like a truck. Of course, the only person who even remotely knew what was happening was Brayden because he was the one person you spent most of your time with. Thankfully he was there to help ground you and calm you down when it all became too much for you. This wasn't sudden, it's been building up since it happened and clearly you needed to work on accepting it rather than shoving it all down. That's one thing you and Jay had in common, the two of you always had trouble addressing your problems no matter how big they became.

Currently, you were laying in bed and staring up at your ceiling that Jay had covered in stars for you. If there was one thing about you is that you still are a child at heart. You had been shocked awake by your recurring nightmare. It always followed the same premise of the night of the party but every night there were either different people, points of view, or different actions you took that still led you to the same outcome. There were dried tears staining your cheeks that you hadn't bothered to wipe away and every few moments there would be a soft sniffle to break the eerie silence.

Having enough of staring up at your ceiling you let out a low huff and pushed yourself up to a sitting position. You turned to the side and looked at the clock resting on your nightstand. The clock read 4:19 AM which was clearly too early for you to be up but too late for you to try and go back to sleep before Jay's rustling while getting ready would wake you up. Reaching over to open the drawer in your nightstand you checked the small bottle hidden under the glasses case that held your blue light ones. It was three-quarters full of vodka you had inconspicuously stolen from Jay's cabinet. You kept promising yourself that you wouldn't drink anymore, but clearly, that wasn't really panning out in your favor. Sure you would have a swig or two before braving yourself and heading off to school but it was to take the edge off, not to get drunk.

If Jay were to check through your drawer he'd probably think otherwise. You had stopped with the pills since he had found you, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him so you continued to drink. Obviously, it wasn't a lot and definitely not enough to get you drunk off your ass. You just wanted to be buzzed enough to have the courage to walk into your dreaded school every morning and deal with the numerous triggers you kept on discovering.

Eventually, it was time for you actually start getting ready for school. Jay had already left for work a while ago, leaving a kiss on your head before stepping out the door. You pulled on a random outfit that was comfortable and your usual pair of shoes before throwing your backpack over your shoulder and walked downstairs. Deciding against your worst judgment you made the choice to brave the day without the buzz of alcohol. Waiting at the front entrance of your building was Brayden. Like every morning the two of you would walk to school together if Jay had to go into the district early. If Jay only had paperwork that day he would drive the two of you to school instead, but that didn't happen very often.

The two of you walked to school silently, only exchanging a few words of greeting. Once you had made it to the large building you both had to split up for your classes. The day went on like usual, boring teachers droning on about upcoming assignments and tests. Lunch had arrived after what seemed like forever and you sat at an empty table practically half asleep. You held your head in your hand as you kept your eyes from slipping shut at the exhaustion.

"You not feeling too hot there?" One of your classmates from English asked as he passed by.

You froze at the familiar words before shaking yourself out of the memory.

"Fine, just tired." You brushed off their comment as he nodded with an understanding smile before continuing to his table.

Moments later the door opened and you picked your head up reluctantly. It was a few guys on the football team.

"You not feeling too hot there?" One of the seniors asked you.

You simply shook your head which only worsened the pain in it. The boys walked a few steps closer before placing their hands on your shoulders. They shoved you back onto the bed and immediately your body began to react.

You kicked and punched aimlessly to get them off of you but your movements were uncoordinated and your mind was foggy. There were too many of them and they began to overpower you, their hands wandering to unwanted places.

“Y/N?” Brayden’s voice pulled you out of the flashback.

“Huh?” Your teary eyes darted around his face before focusing on his concerned expression.

“Let’s head to the library, all right?” Brayden suggested already standing up from his seat across from you.

You nodded silently before hiking your bag over your shoulder and walked to the library beside him. Luckily at your school, they were lenient enough to let you head to the library during lunch. Usually, the kids didn’t take advantage of it but it was an unspoken spot of peace for you and Brayden.

The two of you sat at a table near the back and Brayden pulled a chair up beside you.

“Want to talk about what happened back at lunch?” Brayden asked softly.

You bit your lip in contemplation. This had been happening for weeks and every time you’d shake your head and change the subject. But the fact was it wasn’t getting better and you just needed to tell somebody that you weren’t okay. A few tears slipped out of your eyes which led to quiet sobs escaping from your lips. Brayden offered you a hug with outstretched arms, making sure to check if you were okay with it. You leaned forward into his embrace and squeezed his waist tightly. He held you there while rubbing soothing circles on your back until your cries stopped. You lifted your head off his chest and wiped away the remained tears on your cheeks before speaking up.

“Uh, flashbacks. I’ve been getting them for a while. I thought they’d go away, but they haven’t.” You explained with a sigh, avoiding his gaze and instead taking interest in your hands.

“Okay first, if they happen again tell me, or pull on my sleeve and I’ll get you somewhere quiet. Got it?” Brayden bent his head to try and get into your eye line.

You nodded your head with a hum before he spoke up again, “since they haven’t gone away maybe you should talk to someone. Preferably a professional, but if you’re only comfortable telling me then I’m all ears. Although, I’m not sure that I can cure you with magic, wish I could though.” Brayden tried to lighten the mood with his magic comment.

“Thanks, Brayden. Jay actually has been bugging me about seeing a therapist. Said it helped him with his PTSD, I think I might take him up on it.” You looked up at the boy with pursed lips.

“That’s good. Just know we’re not trying to force you into anything, we just want you to feel better however long that may take.” Brayden gave you a soft smile.

“You are wise beyond your years, you know that?” You smiled back with a small laugh.

“I try, I try.” Brayden shrugged nonchalantly.

“Can you come with me to the district after school?” You asked cautiously.

“Of course, not like I’d rather do my homework.” Brayden laughed.

“And there’s the Brayden I know.” You smiled widely.

Soon enough you and Brayden had been making your way to the twenty-first district to talk with Jay and probably the rest of Intelligence. The air was lighter between the two of you once you had finally started to open up. Of course, you hadn’t spilled everything but the little you had told him made the weight on your shoulders lessen slightly.

“Ah, baby Halstead and company, what brings you here?” Trudy greeted from the front desk with a tight-lipped smile. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she had a soft spot for you.

“Can you ring us upstairs? I need to talk with Jay.” You asked.

“You’re lucky they haven’t caught a case today.” Trudy walked out from behind her desk and led you and Brayden upstairs.

“Thank you, Trudy.” You smiled and followed the woman.

“I have a special delivery for Detective Chuckles.” Trudy spoke up once the three of you reached the top of the steps.

Jay’s head snapped up from his desk with a look of confusion when his eyes landed on you. He quickly stood up and scanned you over for anything.

“What happened, are you all right?” Jay cupped your cheek in concern before sparing a glance at Brayden for any sign of something bad.

“I’m okay, I just needed to talk to you.” You reassured him.

“All right. You wanna head into the kitchen?” Jay asked.

“No, we could talk at your desk. They’re all gonna find out anyway.” You gestured to the rest of the unit who was watching the two of you intently.

Jay nodded his head and led you to his desk. You reached out and held onto Brayden’s arm as you pulled him along to take a seat and sit beside you. Of course, at this, the entire unit had gathered around with concerned faces once you started to explain to them. Jay’s expression was held with soft eyes as he listened to you agree with wanting to try therapy and asking for help.

Once you were done Jay stood up and placed a kiss on the top of your head before whispering into your hair, “I’m proud of you.” Jay pulled away to give you a warm smile.

“All right come here you little muffin.” Kim held out her arms with a smile.

You stepped forward into her embrace as she squeezed you tightly, she rocked the two of you from side to side eliciting a small giggle out of you. Hailey joined the hug with a laugh once Kim pulled her by the arm.

Antonio placed a hand on your shoulder once you, Hailey, and Kim pulled away, “I’m proud of you, kiddo.” He offered you a kind nod.

“So proud.” Kevin gave you one of his signature bear hugs.

“Okay, it’s my turn.” Adam squeezed his way to stand in front of you. Which caused everyone to laugh at his eagerness.

“I could never forget about you, Ruz.” You wrapped your arms around his shoulders as he lifted your toes off the ground.

“Are we done yet? You guys are treating my sister like an attraction.” Jay sassed.

“You’re just mad that you only got to kiss me on the head and not a hug.” You retorted from leaning back into Brayden with a smirk.

“No, not true.” Jay shook his head with furrowed brows.

“Yup, totally jealous.” You nodded convinced.

“How did we go from a serious topic to Halstead and mini Halstead having a sarcasm battle?” Adam questioned with a confused expression.

“I learned to stop questioning it.” Brayden shrugged from behind you.

“It’s how we cope. Halstead thing, I guess.” You said with raised brows.

“Fair enough.” Jay sighed.

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