#and now here i am. drawing for FUN. something i haven't done in longer than i care to admit!

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Visuals: Little Mermaid Medley

I already knew right from the start that this was going to be a long post, but how am I only just now realizing that the video itself is like nearly 8 minutes long? Like I knew the Wicked Medley was one of Voiceplay's longer-length videos, but somehow I never realised that this video is in fact longer by 10 seconds! (I guess it's just so good that I never noticed!) God I hope I don't hit the picture limit on this one, because I have a lot to talk about, so let's begin!

Bit of a far cry from the Moana Medley 3 years prior, hey? (This was released in September 2020 btw). I may be wrong, but I believe this is called "we have a bigger budget now" 😂

Right, so Eli (already doing a subtle Eyebrow Raise, might I add), is dressed as Flounder, Rachel is of course Ariel, J is repping Sebastian, Layne is Chef Louis (I think that's his name), and Geoff went freaking all-out as Ursula (aka "Geoffsula"). The hair! The necklace! The airbrushing on the skin! (Seriously that ain't just a standard layer of face/body paint, there is shading going on there!)

(Also what's up with the green wristbands which I've never really acknowledged till now?)

J and Rachel echoing the "heave ho!" bit to each other (gonna try and limit my screencap-taking just a little bit, because I'll probably end up including a ton anyway)

Rachel slipped on that bracelet really smoothly, is it just me? Like girl how did you do that so easily?

Love the little detail of Rachel throwing up the fork (aka "dinglehopper") and it not coming down again. No clue how they did it

(Also that is a very pretty bracelet. And cute necklace!)

I wasn't exactly searching for this screencap, but I felt like I had to include it when I paused on it!

Layne "blowing bubbles" out his mouth!

I love J's little dance moves here 😄

Geoff on air bass again! (representing the line "the plaice play the bass")

Whose idea was this? 😂 (Layne was in charge of both the arrangement and the video, I'm guessing it was him?) And then Voiceplay stuck it on a shirt and made it into merch! (And also for J's farewell party, they got him a cake that had a picture of snail!J on it!)

We're about to get into my favourite part! (Also cool painting!)

Eli and J hamming it up as Flotsam and Jetsam 😝

J's face makes me laugh every time 😆

Purple flames in his eyes! (Voiceplay used a very similar effect last year, on Geoff again, during the Hellfire video)

Hang on what was that little move that J just did there?

"This one longing to be thinner, this one wants to get the girl, and do I help them?"

"Yes indeed"

(Also fun fact: the woman shown here is Rachel Evans, one third of the singing group The American Sirens, who collaborated with Geoff a year later on his cover of Mele Kalikimaka, and the man is her husband!)

"They come flocking to my cauldron crying SPELLS!" "Ursula please!"

(Also shoutout to Eli for the lighting design! He always does such a fantastic job!)

The colouration/tint of the lighting does really interesting things to Geoff's blueish skin colour in this video. In some shots the skin is a really vibrant colour (e.g. see a couple of the shots above), whereas in others, like this one ^ here, it almost looks close to regular skin tone.

This little moment greatly pleases my drama/theatre kid heart 😁

Not talking about vocals not talking about vocals not talking about vocals not talking about-

Okay but the signature bit was very cool, and definitely feels like something Voiceplay would not have been able to do back in 2017

Pfft 😂

Also the lighting here is making Geoff's hair (which got coloured grey for this video) look almost blonde!

Cool smoke effects!

(Also the only reason I haven't done fanart of "Geoffsula" (other than the fact that I don't wanna keep drawing him in black outfits) is that I would not be able to do the skin colouration justice here. Shoutout to Rick Underwood for the makeup!)

"Sing" (sir you're not allowed to look that pretty while looking like that!)

Yeah nah yeah they really went off with the effects on this one

I am getting dangerously close to the image limit and I don't wanna have to split this into two posts, but Layne's whole Les Poissons bit is comedy gold and screencaps don't do it justice anyway

To quote Elizabeth Zharoff: "it takes a confident man to Seagull!" 😂

Love Rachel's awkward-yet-cute little wave at the start of Kiss The Girl (and her dancing a bit further into the song!

Confusion(tm) 🤣

Firstly, Rachel's acting is 100% on-point, and second of all, I love Geoff's evil smirk here, doubly confirming that Rachel is being Vanessa, aka Ursula in disguise!

And now that "Ariel" has got her voice back, everyone else is super happy/animated, while "Ursula" is very subdued. Visual storytelling!

Just managed to avoid the image limit, thank goodness! Also J pops a bubble right at the end 😁

It's hard for me to say whether this is one of Voiceplay's best medleys or not, because how can you compare it to the Boy Band Medley or Trapped or A Chance To Fly? But I will say it is very deserving of the 5.5 million views it currently sits at on YouTube. A lot of effort went into both the arrangement and the video (well done Layne!), and honestly when it comes to Disney stuff, Voiceplay never fails!

#voiceplay #acapella #little mermaid medley #the little mermaid medley #geoff castellucci #eli jacobson #layne stein #j none #rachel potter #acaplaya analysis #voiceplay visuals

[honeybyte]

So I know that you love to talk about your OCs. So I had a question about OCs in general and figured I'd ask. I have two little guys rn, they've existed for a few months now. I am currently obsessed with them in a way I haven't been able to achieve with my other attempts. But when I drew them it was just a silly attempt to make characters loosely related to some fan art that was so far from canon it had become something else. And now I have these two characters Soliel and Amaris (I suck at naming things😭) but they're evolving. So now I'm kinda redesigning them? Their outfits and proportions really as again they were made on a 2 am whim. So here I ask:have you ever changed one of your characters designs? Like a full on reboot kinda thing? A more gradual change perhaps? Have all your amazing sixty some characters stayed fairly similar since conception? I'm curious as to how your creative process works in this regard as I don't see many artists talk about changing characters and I feel like I'm never satisfied with what I make.

P.s. I really enjoy your art and I'm sorry I don't have enough energy to show it as often as I want

OOH okay so 1) im so happy that you finally found some lil guys to be obsessed w ! its a lot harder than people think to design smth you're really passionate abt (and even harder to name them, you picked good names!)

2) i absolutely have changed every oc i have roughly a dozen times

some just evolve that way -- the more developed they get, the more tweaking gets done so that something makes sense or their story affects them a certain way and now they have a new scar they didnt have before (super small example). stuff like that. i have ocs that i built, retired, and dragged back out of retirement to redesign or tweak in some way. i have ocs who look completely different from how they were originally.

i think Agnes is my best example of ocs that have completely changed as they evolved. she was originally a political mercenary and goliath's keeper. now she's a sweet academic

Lovelace is another good one! the tweak looks less drastic but she went from a self-love cupid to a robot

ultimately, what it comes down to is this: am i interested in what im making? is it something that makes me really think abt what it is that im doing, do i wanna draw for it in the first place? if the answer is a resounding "no" and stays that way, i usually retire the character, if not the whole verse.

Lovelace as a cupid didnt interest me at all, so she disappeared within days of her creation BUT. when i wanted to add another character to red heron (Yuma, another retired design), Lovelace went with him. Yuma was already a robot, but redesigning Lovelace? now that was interesting to me. esp bc i was obsessed w Killbot! by chloe moriondo at the time, i had this image of Lovelace w faulty wiring. the idea that she was a sweet little girl who's tampered w and turned violent really gripped me long enough to make her a lasting character in red heron, along w Yuma.

tldr; i change and retire and reboot ocs all the time. it's not abt getting it perfect, it's abt what interests you, and if your interest in that character is high enough, they'll usually adapt to what it is that you're creating. overall, have fun with your creations! they'll follow you longer if you do

#ask #YEEHAW #having fun is the number one rule for making anything #if youre not having fun youre not doing it right

[celestialgekigami]

Art/personal thoughts under the cut

I just want my art to be GOOD, man. I want to be HAPPY with it. My daily Sketch Journal is 90% quick/small studies, and every Monday/Friday I do bigger & longer ones but it feels all for naught. It's FRUSTRATING that I can't see improvement until later, it's frustrating not knowing if this is even worth my time, if this is doing anything to help in the first place

I know I should work on other stuff too, keep it fun and fresh and enjoyable, but I don't know what to do. I don't know what I find fun, I don't know what I enjoy

I'm almost convinced I'm going through the motions of studies for the sake of drawing daily, and this isn't doing anything to help in the long run, but I don't know what else to do

I don't think people understand just how much I LOVE and HATE art at the same time. I love it and want to continue but I hate that I'm not good enough and I hate that I don't know what to do in the first place

It's an obligation to the daily habit grind at this point and it's killing me to see other people making leaps and bounds in progress while I'm stuck in limbo. It's killing me to not be able to draw what's in my head

It esp hurts to have people I consider friends not comment/care even though I KNOW this is self inflicted because of my own bad habits. I'm trying to break out of those but I'm stuck. I'm in circles where I'm the outcast and it makes it that much harder to share anything in the first place. Drawing stuff I know they like is a slap in the face from myself because that's not what I want to draw anymore

It kills me that people can only cite art from 2021-2 as stuff they remember/like, when it's all work that I hate and don't want to be associated with, but I have literally nothing new to work with or share so how can I blame them

I can't even share these thoughts with those people because they don't get it

They say they sympathize but no, they don't get it. They don't understand. It's patronizing and I feel like I'm being consoled like a child. "it'll get better :)" and "I hope you find something you like". Shit like "you'll do so much better when you draw for yourself and not out of spite"

I CAN'T.

I don't know how. I don't know what I like. I don't know how to enjoy it. I don't know how to have fun. I don't know how to make it good for myself. I don't know what I want

I draw something fun and I work on it for a bit but that fun is fleeting and leaves within days. I don't know what to do. I thought I had fun with a series of pyr/amid heads but I can't find the interest to do more

It's like I have a desire that burns under my skin but the second I actually draw it, it's a race between that desire burning out, getting bored, or "finishing" it

I want to gain a following to prove that I can do it, to prove that I AM better than the other motherfuckers that haunt my fucking brain. I want to prove that I CAN make stuff that's appealing and stuff that people WANT to look at, stuff that people CARE about

I'm feeling like such a broken record at this point. I say this every damn day, I'm sure people are tired of it by now. I don't want this anymore but it won't leave me alone. I don't know how to get over it. I'm fucking climbing and climbing and climbing and the mountain keeps getting taller and I can't see past the clouds. I don't know if there's an end and I don't know where to stop or how to get down from here.

I'm so tired and frustrated. I want to enjoy it. I want to have fun, I so desperately want to do all the fun things that people talk about. I want to do trades and draw dumb memes and join games and draw whatever brainworm is taking residence but I'm so disappointed with my inability to show improvement and catch up

I haven't done my journal in a few days and it's currently shot day and also "avoid social media" day, and I don't know what I expect out of this, but I'm putting my thoughts down instead of working out and it's not doing anything but making me even more frustrated. I'm so fucking tired and I'm always disappointed

I want support and I hate that I have to ask for it. I hate that I have to get on my knees and grovel and beg and hope that someone will give me what I want. I hate fishing for the compliments. I hate that I can shower everyone else with compliments but when it turns around I can't fucking get anything and I KNOW that's my own fault when push comes to shove. It's MY fault for being a contrarian little bitch. A right fucking bastard. A mindless fucking prick

I'm stuck and I don't know how to have fun, I don't think I ever did, and I just want to enjoy my hobby. I want to have fun. I want to look forward to it. I only ever WANT to draw, just for something to do, and I never want to work on something specific.

I'm fucking lost. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I want. I don't know where to go

#anyway time to go work out ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

[abstractreign]

3, 5, 21 and 23 for the roleplay writing habits meme! ( → @purificr )

( → roleplay / writing habits !! )

Are you proficient in any language outside of your native tongue? Do you write characters that speak multiple languages?

{ i'm not sure if i'd consider myself "proficient" at it, but i do know Filipino/Tagalog enough to understand conversational forms of it both written and spoken— though not enough to write or speak in full sentences. besides that, i don't really know any languages outside English, which is my first, and what i'm most fluent in.

i do have a lot of original characters who are bilingual to multilingual — a couple of them downright polyglots — but i've yet to roleplay most of them.

joshua here understands written English fairly well along with spoken, more "formal", (loosely North American) English, and is able to speak it somewhat; but he's less knowledgeable with more colloquial forms of it, as well certain variations or dialects of it.

( → rest of answers below the cut !! )

What time of day are you most productive with regard to writing?

{ as my sleep schedule just keeps shifting over months, it's not so much a certain time of day as much a certain time after waking up or before falling asleep. i find that nowadays, in spite of actual times of day or night, it's usually easier to write after i've been awake for a few hours. i'll likely have eaten something by then, so it's easier for me to focus and actually come up with actual words and coherent thoughts.

If a reply isn’t coming easily do you draft it for later, delete and start over, chat with your writing partner for help, or something else?

{ usually i do some combination of the three and more! i actually don't usually get to writing replies straight away, so as to avoid placing a weird pressure on myself for something that's meant to be a hobby; but i don't often find myself finishing replies in one sitting still when i do get around to writing them, especially the longer the word count is.

if i'm really having trouble, or need to clarify something, i'll poke my partner, of course, and occasionally i will scrap writing just to start fresh, but on top of those—

whenever my mind draws a complete blank, i'll do this thing where i'll just start writing my muse doing and saying things that they absolutely would never ever do in response. not only is it really fucking funny a hundred percent of the time, it provides me with a lot of clarity as to what my muse would do in response to a given situation. it's a real good way for me to shake off any built-up pressure and come back to the core of my muse's character.

(also it's doubly? funny to just imagine joshua storming in, yelling at me to stop writing him fortn/te dancing, and finally cooperating with me long enough for me to write a reply)

What subjects / genres do you find yourself becoming the most passionate about when you’re writing?

{ i think it's apparent just how much of a huge sucker i am for comedy and for inserting comedic elements into my writing in general— which is especially fun to do with joshua, whom i'm more than used to ragging on out of endearment and entertainment. (i've been lovingly roasting this everloving shit of this pisshead for nearly eight years now, and i am not letting up anytime soon.)

that being said, i do enjoy a hefty serving of drama and angst as well! while i haven't gotten to write much of them with joshua here yet, i absolutely look forward to getting to do so in the future with a couple of the plots i've been working towards for a bit now.

i figure what i enjoy about both genres and writing them is just how well they lend themselves to exposing and exploring character flaws, consequences of decisions, and so on. there's something inherently humbling— and thus endearing, human about them when done right, and that's the kind of writing i strive for.

#purificr #we're always sleeping in⸴ and sleeping for the wrong team ❯ answered ooc #maybe i'm broken⸴ but i'm not sure ❯ study #(and my therapist hates me) ❯ mun #{ HELLO HI!! :D thanks so much for this i'm happy i finally got to it ;u; also jfie under read more because it is. real chonky #{ also re: the first question— technically my native tongue should ?? be filipino but. #{ my parents taught me english and only english. as a wee lil bun #{ so it's what i'm actually fluent in nfjefne #{ also i hope i'm using terms correctly fnJKBGRHJG joshua would like. struggle more with understanding say #{ english variations and dialects from the britain and ireland area for example #og hc post tbt.

[ice-cream-writes-stuff]

¤~°Ghost Marriage: Lovely Bride To Be?!°~¤ Finale!

Previously...

Before the door closed, (Y/N) asks them something. "Can I please have something to eat? I haven't ate in a few hours."

Present Time.

It was now close to night after all the arguing of students had disbursed. Finally all agreed with Crowley and his raffle idea on who the grooms should be.

Once all of the participants names were in the Headmasters hat. He shakes his hat around a few times and stops. Carefully pulling out a name a few names. Crowley coughs and clears his throat. The crow announced the lucky four grooms for operation "Lovely Bride To Never Be".

"Rook Hunt, Epel Felmier, Riddle Rosehearts and Ace Trappola!" Headmaster Crowley yells over the quiet teens. Gasps and groans filled Sam's shop. Yet no know decided to go against their headmasters choice. Grim doesn't even bother to question why the crow had choose them.

The four grooms step in front of their peers as Crowley starts talk with Sam. Not seeing the jealous eyes directed at his winners. To which they gave calm or smug expression. (*Cough* Epel and Ace, *Cough*.)

So the headmaster buys the items they needed for the operation. Not knowing that nightfall was closing in. "Considering that the time we have left until the wedding, this is our last chance. If this plan fails.. (Y/N) will lose her life!"

The four chosen teens gulp at the thought. The kind hearted prefect will die they do not succeed. They will not let that happen! "Since the ghost groom is in a suite. You shall also wear formal attire, or act like a prince, if you don't you will be not seen as a challenger."

Crowley gives the four grooms the things they needed. All the while Ortho had hacked into the security cameras to show to his peers. Standing outside, the students that weren't excepted all crowed around to see the footage. Once the boys are done changing. Stuck in formal wear, handsome as ever.

Their peers, friends, gave compliments and snide remarks. Cater takes a couple of photos and posts it on his Magicam. Tagging it, #Ghost groom, #Saving (Y/N) from Ghost groom and #Tuxedos! "The wedding ceremony is approaching now, the servant ghosts must be on high alert. Please be ready when the time comes!"

The four grooms nod. "No problem. I'll prove I'm the most suitable person to become the groom!" Riddle said with determination in his eyes and voice. "Oui, me as well."

"I'll reach out to her with words of love if my sincerity gets to her, then she will understand my feelings." Rook remarks with spark in his green eyes too. Epel joins in too with his seniors. "I'll save and catch her heart!" Ace agrees along with them, "yeah! Let's succeed in this plan in a instant!"

_____________________________________________

It was now night time and the three grooms had arrived to the gates of NRC. "Epel is late, it's already time to go..." Riddle said with uncertainty in his tone. "Did he get cold feet or something?" Ace asked to the two seniors.

"Non, non. Monsieur Crabapple would never wimp out, especially if it's for Madamonsieur (Y/N) of all people." Rook smiles without a care. "He'll be here soon..." "GUYS!!" It seems the fourth groom has arrived. "What took you so long.. Long."

Ace snark words die in his mouth before they could even come out. Grim, (who had decided to come with the grooms,) eyes widen at how fast Epel was coming towards them. The loud gallops of a horse draw near and nearer. "Sorry about the wait!" Epel says as he looks down at Ace and his seniors.

"It took me longer than I thought to get ready." His steed neighs after his words. Ace looks at Epel with astonishment and confusion. "Why are you on a horse exactly!!?!" Epel returns Ace confusion, "eh, why, because... Isn't prince charming supposed to make his entrance riding a horse. Right?"

"Do prince's even still do that!?" Ace turns to his seniors, "dorm head, Rook, you agree right!?" Rook was strangely quiet as he addressed his dormmate. "Epel... Your initiative, critical thinking, determination and preparation are astounding and very très bein!!" Rook applauded at Epel's effort.

Riddle could agree with his fellow senior. "You're even riding the most ornery horse in the equestrian club." The redhead pointed out with pride. "They're listening to you very well, you'be got a Mack for handling horses." Epel bashfully smiles at their praise, thmaking the two.

Ace interrupts the three by asking how they were gonna get inside. The Heartslabyul dorm leader tells him to quit his whining as Rook tells them that the wedding was starting in three hours. "How did I end up in the wrong?!" Ace asked, mostly to himself. "Ok.. Let's go! OPEN UP!" Epel yells.

One of the guard ghosts had heard the racket and sees the four, plus the horse and Grim. "Good evening, we've come here to win the beautiful brides hand in marriage." Rook said to the ghost. "Suitors and challengers, huh.. His highness will not be pleased to know of this, and so close to the wedding as well... I shall not let you through! Take your leave!"

Epel smirks, "are you sure? You're going to regret turning us away." The lavender haired boy chides. "What? You seem very confident." The gaurd sighs at the persistent suitors. "... Fine, I'll be the judge."

"Pretend I'm his highness bride and show me how you plan to propose! I will let you through the gate if you prove your feelings are ture." The ghosts remarks, waiting for one of the suitors to propose. "Guess we gotta do what he says if we wanna get through the door." Ace said with clear unpleasantness.

"... *Ahem!* Please allow me to go first!" Epel said with a hint of timidness in him. "Go ahead, show me your heartfelt proposal!" The ghost replys back. Epel starts to speak. "I will... Make her the happiest bride ever."

"Because whenever the person I love is in trouble. I'll come to their rescue, like a knight in shinging armor! Whatever happens along the way, I'll get (Y/N) through it all- er! I mean YOU through it all. Just like you had done for me! I will be the one to protect you from all harm."

"So, I am asking for your hand! I implore you. Please marry me!" Epel said with such emotion. Not knowing of the cameras that had captured all of it. Nor would any of the others know when it came to their time to propose.

The guard ghosts eyes widen, "your expression is totally serious... And you're even on a white horse! Like a true prince!!" Ace sighs, "the horse.. So I really was wrong?" The ghosts asked if Ace was a servant to Epel, Ace said no.

"Oh, so you're a suitor? Very well. Let's see how you'd propose." Ace gave a cheeky grin as he starts. "If you marry me, there's no doubt in everyday will be filled with fun."

Ace words grow softer as he continues, his eyes turn a bit nostalgic. "There might be times we argue or fight but... I'll always be the one to apologize. I'll be by your side through thick and thin and always work to make you smile."

"That makes me the best for the princess. So... Don't lay your eyes on anyone else, please marry me!" The ghost nods after Ace had finished. "Your desire to make your partner happy is bright as day! You're the real deal." The ghost then apologized to Ace for mistaken him as a servant.

"That was a decent proposal." Riddle said with a coy smile with amusement. "Hey, could you knock it off with that reaction? I'm just saying my lines!" Riddle's face doesn't change in the slightest.

"You say that but I'm sure that you put real thought into it." Grim goes along with Riddles teasing. "Nyahaha, Ace is trying to act all cool, y'know." The furrbal laughs at Ace, "shut up!" Riddle's teasing look turns into a confident one, "it was just like you Ace, but unfortunately, the princess is going to choose me!"

The soldier ghost points at Riddle. "Alright, you're up next. Show me your moves!" Riddle complied as he began his proposal. "I vow to be honest and sincere!"

"I promise to never hurt the person I love. If it's for my princess, I'll put everything on the line. I humbly request... Won't you choose me as your groom?" The ghost was speechless, uttering a "oh's" and "oh my".

"You seem so reliable and gallant... Even my heart is all a flutter." The ghost said in awe at the red headed groom. "Yeah it was so cool, Senior Roseheart..!" Ace agrees with his tuxedo buddy, "dorm leader got game too, huh?"

Riddle goes very quiet after his turn. "... Th-*ahem* that is enough out of all you all." The Roseheart male turns his head away so none of the group could see his pink cheeks. "The three of you were marvelous. It's my turn next." Rook spoke up as ghost gave him a look.

"The bar's been raised pretty high. A half-hearted proposal isn't going to cut it all!" The ghost declared to Rook, who just smiled and nodded. "You are truly beautiful, please allow me serve you for evermore. May I present a poem of all my feelings for you who has been watched under my eyes for months..."

"I wish to bring warmth to your cheeks, my dear. Long have your eyes only shed lonely tears. Oh, can they even see the happiness you bring to me and others around you. Vibrant is the live blooming in our rendezvous. Ever so gently, let me take your face to rest upon my hands. Under my care, may your lovely (e/c) eyes gaze ever sparkle with hope and romance."

"Woah.." The two first years said in sync, with awe and disgust. Riddle reviewed Rooks oddly embarrassing poem in his head. "Hold on! Read his poem vertically!"

Riddle explained that Rooks poem spelled. I LOVE U.

Rook congratulates Riddle on figuring it out. The ghost was surprised at the last suitor. Telling them they were very interesting challengers for his prince. The a pair of unfamiliar eyes watched them up above. Elias called his guards to go outside to the gates.

"The bride must have her friends here as well!"

_____________________________________________

(Y/N) tries her best to keep calm as she stuffed her face with cake. Taking off one of her gloves, she used it to smear off some of the crumbs off her cheek as a napkin. She puts her glove back on and stabs her fork in a glop of frosting. "*Ahem*!" A cough rings out in her "changing room.

The (h/c)-nette looks up from her food to see the ghost nanny. "My dear lady, it's time to go the wedding hall." Nanny ghost said happily. (Y/N) nods, bringing her herself to stand. Patting down her outfit to make sure crumbs weren't stuck to it.

The nanny ghost fixes her tiara and takes her arm into his. He smiles at her gently, like a grandfather giving his daughter her first pat on the head. The two walk out of the room in arm and arm. Heading to the cafeteria or the "alter". He then lets go of her before she walked down the aisle, flying off to one of the seats.

The "bride" walks over to the alter, but her "groom" was nowhere in sight. (Y/N) shifts in her place awkwardly as the ghosts chatter. She shifts around her bouquet and looks at the flowers. Stephanotis, Peony, Rose, and Lilly's. Her mind tires to remember the meanings, but her thoughts were interrupted when the ghost prince floats in.

The guest grow silent as music starts to play in the background. Elias smiled widely as his little ghost pals fly around him. "I'm so sorry my dear princess, I hadn't noticed the time." Elias said sadly as little tears well up in his eyes. (Y/N), feeling bad for him even though in her odd circumstances, told him it was all good.

"Oh! I forgot to mention, your friends are on their way here. You didn't tell me you were bringing your guests as well?" Elias tells her with innocent confusion. (Y/N) felt sweat drip off her back as guilt and happiness wash over her.

"They're comin-!" Her sentences wasn't even finished yet before her friends arrived. Riddle, Ace, Rook and Epel all wore nice suits while Grim was being held by a ghost soldier! Her friends were bound in ropes as they tried to get out of them. "Release us!"

Riddle demand with anger, "watch your tongue!" A soldier shouted at the hot-temperted red head. "Guys!" The "bride" yells in fear. The group looks at (Y/N) and are all stunned by her appearance.

She wore beautiful wedding attire, but the look on her face did not gleam like her outfit. "Why are they-!" "They were causing a ruckus, saying they were here to challenge me for your hand. But I decided not to hurt them, they are your friends after all. Think of it as a wedding present!"

The room goes quiet after the prince spoke. (Y/N) stares at her friends faces and her eyes slightly light up. She gives a sad smile and bows at them. Mouthing a few silent words to them. They stare at her with fear, but keep quiet.

"Now let's start!" The ghost groom announced as the priest ghosts starts to talk. "Do you, Prince Elias. Take this young woman as your wife and be with her for all eternity." "I do!"

The preist smiled at the boys eagerness. "And you my dear lady, do you take him as your husband for all eternity?" (Y/N) takes a glance at her bouquet of flowers and smiled softly. "I don't.." Gasps of shocks fill the air.

"Wha- but why?!" Elias cried out, as (Y/N) friend's cheered. The (h/c)-nette takes in a breath before releasing a sigh. "Prince Elias... You are a good soul, a sweet one. You put on a brave face for your subjects and friends so they could be happy."

"But you aren't, your just putting your ideals on me so you could finally find your happily ever after. Elias, you need to understand. I'm not your true love. You don't even know me, I don't even think you know why I am even here in Twisted Wonderland." (Y/N) says sadly, taking the princes hand in her's.

"I'm sorry about what you've been through. Though you need to see that you have to stop searching for someone who is your "ideal" cause I'm not a princess!" (Y/N) chuckles bitterly. "There is more to somebody than how they seem to be."

"I... I never meant... I just.." Elias tried to form words, though he couldn't. "I was never able to get a "happily ever after" when I was alive.. I wanted to find my princess and have a future with her. Yet that was stolen away from me, now I'm stealing you away from yours." Elias cried,  his blue eyes closing.

"I'm sorry... I deeply am." The ghost groom cries, wiping his tears away. "Even after five hundred years, nanny was right. I still act like a child." This time, the prince laughs with bitterness. "I think it's time to finally leave.."

(Y/N) nods as Grim got out of his captors restrains and throws a wedding ring to her. "Place it on his finger! He'll disappear for good!" Grim yells at her. (Y/N) catches it and gives Elias one last smile as she puts on the ring.

"Thank you..." The ghost groom whispers as he started to disappear along with the other ghosts. When he was finally gone, the only thing left was a wedding ring. (Y/N) crouched down and picks it up from the ground. Throwing it in a trash been soon after.

She goes over to her friends and undid their restraints. When she finished, the group of grooms give her a hug. (Y/N) hugs them back, placing a small kiss on each their cheeks in gratitude. "Thanks..!" She blushed and looks away from them and focused her attention on cleaning up, not seeing her suitors rivaling looks in their eyes.

The ghost groom had lost his chance for her heart. But who said her suitors will?

The End.

(Yay! This series has been one wild ride for me. But I did it! Thank you guys for the support! I told myself that I would finish this before the Twst halloween event. And I did, Thank you guys! Happy Spooky Month! 👻)

#ghost marriage #ghost marriage event #twisted wonderland x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #epel felmier x reader #Ace Trappola x reader #Rook Hunt x reader #riddle rosehearts #epel felmier #ace trappola #rook hunt

[lovingmyselfcore]

(and it dies) a million little times

Part 1 of 2:

For you I would ruin myself

I have to post something so I still feel like I'm accomplishing things while I write (what was going to just be the other half of this) the second part of this. And also while I wait for inspiration so strike for Protect You or Skate Into My Heart because I promise I haven't given up but I have commITMENT ISSUES LEAVE ME ALONE

ANYWAY this is for@the-love-yourself-journal (or I guess @perseusjackson-jasongrace) who is the literal queen of Jercy idc. She got me to ship them in the first place so thanks babe

Ps Percy isn't white because canon Percy isn't white fight me

It felt wrong, hiding such a secret from her. He and Annabeth had always been honest with each other, it was why they had been drawn together from the moment they met.

She was definitely the best marriage option he had seen. Despite that, despite being able to converse with each other in a way that most married couples they knew could not, there was something missing.

When he’d met the blonde-haired boy, he realized what it was.

Percy had struggled his entire life with this. This sickness. It had always been drilled into his mind that people experiencing what he was experiencing was wrong, sinful, in fact. So he never spoke of it. Never spoke of being attracted more to the boy next door than the girl. Never spoke of the fact that aside from his wedding night, years ago, he’d never had sex. He couldn’t. Not with her. Not with any her.

Laughing blue eyes, annoyingly perfect teeth.

He couldn’t tell her. At best, she’d laugh, then ignore it. At worst, she’d tell everyone, and he couldn’t imagine what would happen to him then.

A horrific death on the street, most likely, followed by a long, agonizing stay in Hell for his sins.

A small, faded scar on his upper lip from his childhood.

Percy was sitting at his desk in his office, pretending to work while actually waiting for him to appear. As always before he actually showed up, Percy’s mind ran rampant. His own brain spat insults at him, his gut twisted at what he was doing. What he was doing to Annabeth. His heart screamed at him for not being able to stop himself, from not fighting harder to go back to being in love with Annabeth, despite knowing he’d never been. His soul longed for its other half.

The way his nose would scrunch when he laughed, the laugh only Percy could draw out of him.

Percy shifted in his chair. His tie was too tight around his neck, he was going to suffocate. Maybe he should. The clock continued ticking, as it always did.

The feel of his hands, on his face, his hips, his back.

“He is here to see you, Mr. Jackson.”

“Send him in.” Voice professional, practiced, despite the lurch in his gut. His brain, his heart, his soul all screamed louder, arguing their own points. Waging their violent war within him.

As always, the sight of him quieted them all.

Percy stood, adjusting his tie, and made his way over to the man leaning against his now closed door. His throat bobbed as Percy approached.

Percy lifted a hand and traced that scar, his voice barely above total silence, “I’ve missed you.”

Jason Grace’s breath was hot on his hand. His voice matched Percy’s, “You will be my ruination.”

“You are already mine.” Then Percy lunged forward, capturing his lips.

Looks like his soul had won this one. Again.

~~~~~

Piper McLean fidgeted uncomfortably with the hem of her skirt. She’d ruined many perfectly good skirts like this. Sitting. Waiting.

“Sooner or later you’re going to completely unravel one of those.” Piper looked up and was met with gray eyes. The same gray eyes that had been staring at her all day. She’d been staring right back.

“The children’s break is short,” Piper murmured back, standing from her stool.

“Indeed,” Annabeth replied, moving forward to take Piper’s hands.

“What are we doing?” Piper’s voice was hoarse, scratchy. “We have husbands.”

“Indeed.” Was all Annabeth said again, her grip on Piper’s hands tightening.

“I love Jason,” Piper said, mostly to herself.

Annabeth’s lips pursed, “I love Percy.” She took another step forward, Piper was almost completely pressed against her teaching desk. She dropped Piper’s hands to cup her face, and Piper’s eyes fluttered closed in response. “But not like I love you.”

Piper opened her eyes, “We are going to destroy each other.”

“I would gladly destroy myself for you, moya solnishka.”

“Don’t you feel bad?” The distress in Piper’s voice forced Annabeth to pull back. Her eyes held a level of concern that made Piper’s breath catch.

“I do,” She conceded after a moment of silence, “For lying to Percy. For lying to everyone in my life. For having to hide you. For having to hide us. But I do not feel bad for loving you.” Her voice held a note of desperation, she was begging Piper to understand. “Do you?”

Piper didn’t respond for a beat too long, Annabeth pulled further away, her face flushed.

Their time was up, the laughter of the children echoed through the schoolhouse as they returned.

“I’m sorry,” Piper said.

Annabeth shook her head, “No, Piper. I’m sorry.” Her eyes were miserable, “Forgive me.”

For what? Piper tried to ask but the lump in her throat stopped her.

“I have ruined you,” Annabeth said simply. “I am forcing you to go along with my sins.” Her back was straight, her face was empty, but Piper could see how hard she was fighting to keep it that way.

Piper shook her head but Annabeth didn’t see it, she was walking out of the door already.

Oh, gods. What had she done?

~~~~~

“How was your day?” Jason asked his tone the same forced lightness it had been for months.

“It was good! Nothing out of the ordinary.” Her tone was the same.

Jason nodded from his seat at the couch, “Good. That’s very good.”

“What about you?” Piper’s hands were shaking as she laid the plates on the table.

“My day was the same,” Jason said as he slid into a chair at the table.

Piper looked at him for a long moment and came to a decision.

“Jason?” She asked, clutching her fork tightly.

“Yes?” He looked up from his plate.

“I would like to visit a friend after dinner.”

Jason nodded, “Of course. I’ll invite over one of my coworkers while you’re gone.”

As they resumed their meal, they seemed lighter than they had all evening.

~~~~~

Piper knew she couldn’t very well just appear on Annabeth’s doorstep, so after she washed the evening dishes she called her.

Her fingers were heavy as she slid the ring to dial the numbers she had long ago memorized.

Piper’s hopes were answered when Annabeth was the one to pick up the phone.

“Annabeth,” She was breathless. “I-” She remembered Jason and her voice dropped low, “I need to see you.”

Annabeth was speechless and Piper wished she could see her face, “May I see you?”

Annabeth’s voice was just as low with an edge Piper couldn’t name, “Yes. Yes. Meet me.”

She didn’t have to say where. Piper knew. The place they’d always meet at. That secret place, filled with their sin. Their secrets. Their agonized love.

Piper hurriedly stuck the phone back in its place and pulled her coat over her shoulders. She kissed Jason on the cheek and was out the front door before he could respond.

~~~~~

Jason sat, bouncing his leg until Piper had been gone for long enough. (It may not have even been long enough, it was just until he could not wait any longer.)

He raced to the phone and dialed the number engraved on his heart.

“Hello?” Percy asked. Thank god. Jason hadn’t thought of a decent excuse to give Annabeth if she’d been the one to answer.

“Can you get away tonight?” Jason asked.

Percy waited for a beat, as if in thought, before responding. “Yes, I can.”

Jason smiled, “Piper is out for the evening. You could come here.”

“I’m on my way.” Jason laughed at how quickly the words fell out of his mouth and the hurried click signifying he hung up.

~~~~~~

Annabeth trailed her lips up the column of Piper’s throat, and breathed deeply through her nose, “Is that a new perfume?” They were in their spot, a dark, shadowy corner in between two factories, hidden away from the rest of the world.

Piper dug her fingers into Annabeth’s shoulders, “Yes,” She knew what Annabeth wanted to ask, but knew she wasn’t going to put Piper in that place. “It’s for you.”

Annabeth froze and pulled an inch away from her spot on Piper’s jaw. “It smells good,” Her voice was hoarse and she resumed her ministrations along Piper’s jawline.

“Annabeth, about this morning-” Annabeth cut her off, shaking her head.

“No. It’s alright, sweetheart. You don’t need to apologize for your feelings, ever.”

“The rest of society would disagree.”

Annabeth understood her meaning and ducked her head to hide her face. “How long can we keep doing this?” Desperation.

“I don’t know,” Piper wrapped her arms around the other girl’s shoulders and pulled her flush against her.

Piper breathed deeply, feeling the warmth of Annabeth’s body, a stark contrast to the metal of the factory wall at her back. “All we can do is live in the moment.” Piper pulled Annabeth’s face away from her neck. “Damn the rest to hell.”

Annabeth nodded, “Damn the rest to hell.” Then they were kissing again.

~~~~~~~

When the doorbell rang Jason raced to answer it, feeling like an excited puppy.

Percy was leaning against one of the pillars on the porch. He was beautiful; Jason had yet to see a time where he wasn’t. Shining green eyes, so painfully alive, that black hair Jason knew he frequently fought with to make it ‘work appropriate’. The lean, toned body that Jason often found himself staring at, or thinking of.

Percy was surveying the neighborhood, the picture of unruffled aside from the tightness in his lips. When he heard Jason open the door, that tightness vanished, replaced instead by the grin that Jason had fallen in love with in the first place.

Whoa. Reel that back in. Calm down, Grace. No love here. Just a drug that always gave him the high he needed. No love. That makes it too serious. This is harmless fun. Well, not harmless.

“Jason?” Percy interrupted his spiral and Jason realized he’d been staring silently, that he hadn’t let Percy inside.

He shook his head, “Sorry.” He stepped back, opening the door wider. Percy walked in and threw himself on the couch, looking perfectly content and at home. As if what they were doing wouldn’t result in pain, physical and emotional.

He could always go back, he reminded himself. There was always an out. He was addicted to the poison that was Percy Jackson, but he could always escape.

The click of the door closing was a death sentence.

He could always get out, right?

~~~~~~~

It had been a few days since Annabeth and Piper had seen each other, the two women were teachers at the same school, yet they always seemed to miss each other. In the hallways, the break room, before and after classes, they could never catch more than fleeting glances and the swish of hair and hips around a corner. Annabeth was determined to change this.

She saw a flash of brown hair that she immediately registered as Piper, glancing at the clock to make sure she had enough time before her students were expecting her, she nearly sprinted after the other girl.

Piper was leaning against the wall when Annabeth found her, grinning. Her eyes, shards of multicolored glass Annabeth always found herself drowning in, were glittering in the harsh light. Annabeth stalked closer and Piper’s grin didn’t fade.

“Oh no,” She drawled, leaning enough to rest a hand in the curve of Annabeth’s waist, attempting to tug her forward. “You caught me.” Annabeth couldn’t resist Piper’s smile and met it with her own, the smile she only gave Piper. “What will I, this poor damsel, do?”

This was risky. This was really fucking risky. They were basically out in the open, where another teacher or staff member or even the students could easily find them.

Piper reached up and drew the pad of her finger against that crease in Annabeth’s brow and Annabeth knew she was done for. Piper smiled, this one soft and adoring, and Annabeth melted through the floor.

Annabeth gave up on trying to stay as unaffected as possible, pressing her lips to Piper’s. Piper pressed herself closer as if she was trying to mold them into one person. The soft, smooth contours of Piper against Annabeth’s sharp, hard edges of Annabeth was like some kind of poetry. It was probably a metaphor about who they were as people, blah blah blah. She didn’t have time to think about damn metaphors. Not while Piper was here, kissing her like she actually wanted this. Like she’d do anything to keep this. Annabeth knew it wasn’t true, knew Piper wouldn’t ruin her life for this. (She didn’t blame her, but it was nice to pretend sometimes)

Piper smiled into the kiss and mumbled, “This is nothing like how the fairytales normally go.” Annabeth let out a surprised laugh.

Piper pulled away, staring unflinchingly into Annabeth’s eyes, the storms she was responsible for keeping at bay. “Gods,” She turned her head and Annabeth had no idea where this was going with this. “This is better than any of those fairy tales.” Then she moved, winding her hands into Annabeth’s hair, and kissed her again.

Gods, she’d fallen for this girl. She had no idea when it had happened. Maybe 30 seconds ago, maybe the first time they’d met, three years ago. Maybe it was when Percy was on business trips, which meant that Annabeth could work without anyone to make her sleep, eat or anything ‘healthy’ and Piper would come over. Make her take breaks from her work. Listen to Annabeth rant about things she knew she didn’t understand. Annabeth had so many plans, to escape this hell town, fight for her rights, build something permanent somewhere she loves with someone she loves and be unafraid to live. She also had even more impossible dreams; to build something. Piper humored her, always listened to her, attention never wavering. It was more than Annabeth could ever ask for.

She was more than Annabeth could ever ask for.

Annabeth pulled away, telling her as much and something flashed in those kaleidoscope eyes but she didn’t respond.

“Piper?” Hazel’s voice echoed into the hallway they were in. Piper leaped off of her, hurrying to straighten herself.

Hazel rounded the corner right as Piper and Annabeth had gotten themselves together.

The woman smiled at them and looked at Piper when she spoke, “Leo needs to see you,” Piper opened her mouth but Hazel cut her off, “I have no idea why.”

"Okay, thanks," Piper said, definitely too out of breath for it to be anything but suspicious. Piper hesitated a second longer, fighting to not look back at Annabeth but finally, she walked off.

Annabeth smiled awkwardly at Hazel and the other girl grinned but it quickly turned somber, "I don't know what you're doing, Annabeth." She shook her head, "I don't want to know. But I want you to know this," She stepped forward and clasped the other girl's hands in hers. "I care about you. I care about Piper. Be careful, please." Her wide gold eyes were begging, "Be careful, Annabeth."

"I'm trying," Annabeth tried to say but it came out a choked whisper. "I'm trying."

Hazel nodded and leaned forward so they were touching foreheads. "I'm scared for you."

Annabeth wanted to reassure her, but the words got caught in her throat. They both knew Annabeth couldn't promise anything.

~~~~~

Percy was staring at Jason.

This wasn't a rare occurrence, the opposite, actually. Percy could often be found staring at Jason.

But there was something about Jason Grace under the moon and her stars that was absolutely breathtaking.

His head was tilted back, eyes closed, breathing deeply, a small smile on his lips. The starlight seemed to wrap around him, shielding him from the world, announcing him as one of them. His blonde hair was damp from their earlier shower and the moonlight danced through the silky strands. Gods, Percy thought, taking him in, he's ethereal.

He was leaning back on his hands, ankles crossed over the edge of his porch.

They were in Jason's backyard, sharing a smoke; Percy took a long drag, trying to ground himself. Piper would surely be back soon, he didn't have much longer. He needed to come back to earth and distance himself from the star that was Jason Grace.

When Jason's eyes fluttered open and he turned those crystal-blue masterpieces on him, his smile growing into something wide and soft and fond, Percy knew he was done for. Fuck coming back to earth.

Jason reached over, and plucked the cigarette from between Percy's lips, and brought it to his own. He leaned back to stare at the sky again and Percy leaned sideways until his head was pillowed in Jason's lap.

Jason kept one hand on the deck to prop himself up and ground the cigarette out, dropping it to comb his free hand through Percy's hair.

"We should leave," Percy said suddenly, breaking the peaceful silence.

Jason's hand stilled briefly. "What?"

"Leave town, together."

"Where would we go?" He didn't sound angry (thank the gods), he kept his voice soft, but Percy could hear that note of disbelief.

"Anywhere," Percy replied and Jason huffed a laugh above him.

"That's not much of a plan. Besides, we have lives here."

"You're all I need," Percy said, way too sincerely, tracing a pattern on Jason's knee with his index finger.

Jason's hand stilled again and Percy cursed himself and everything that existed to make him say that. Now I've scared him away, Percy thought bitterly and got off Jason's lap.

Jason was staring at him with a look Percy couldn't decipher, his lips parted slightly. Percy wanted to kiss him; this wasn't the time to kiss him. Keep it together.

"Perce-"

"Jason!" Piper's voice carried out the back door and wrapped around the two of them like a vice.

Jason went considerably pale and Percy stood up. "I'll see you whenever I see you?" Percy said.

Jason just nodded, still staring at him.

Percy opened the backdoor and stepped inside, saying a brief 'hello' and 'goodbye' to Piper before finally making it back to his car.

He slammed his hands on the hood and cursed, "Stupid, Jackson. That was stupid." he opened the car door with considerably more force than necessary and sat down heavily. "Fucking idiot." And now he had to go home to Annabeth and pretend nothing was wrong. Great.

~~~~~

It started with the notes. Sticky notes with slurs scrawled on them (against his race, his orientation, anything they could get a hand on), in horrible handwriting, stuck to his desk at work. Jason didn't mention any, but when he took his coat off and draped it on Percy's couch, one fell out, crumpled as if Jason had furiously shoved it in his pocket.

Percy had picked it up, saw what was written there, and knew that this wasn't a coincidence. Someone knew. Someone knew about them and wasn't very happy about it.

He'd briefly wondered if it was Annabeth, but no, she didn't seem to be angry at him or disgusted, but she had been colder lately. When the notes started appearing in places that weren't as public as his desk, Percy got more concerned.

He still hadn't talked to Jason about it; the notes and what had transpired on Jason's porch either.

They'd elevated too. Notes in his car, calling him a disgrace to his family and god. But Percy wasn't as worried as he probably should've been. After all, this person was hiding behind ink and paper, if they had something to say, they could do it to his face.

But when they started threatening him, Percy finally spoke to Jason about it.

"Have you been getting notes?" He asked.

Jason was sprawled on Percy's bed, sans shirt, arm thrown over his eyes as if shielding him from the light.

Percy himself was sprawled next to Jason, head on his chest, legs twined together.

Jason peered down at him, blinking wearily. His glasses were sitting on the side table. "What?"

"Notes," Percy said as if this explained everything. "That are calling you-" He swallowed and Jason's eyes tracked the movement.

"Yeah," Jason said finally. "I haven't been too concerned." A lie. If Percy knew Jason at all (and he did) the other boy had been worrying himself to death over this, afraid to tell anybody, panicking and overthinking alone. The thought made Percy's chest ache.

"I wasn't going to mention it," Jason said.

"Me either, but this recent one," He trailed off, already doubting if he should be worrying Jason over this. But it did technically involve him.

Percy pushed off of Jason and the other boy made a whining noise in the back of his throat. Percy grinned as Jason flushed in embarrassment.

Percy pulled the crumpled note out of his discarded jacket and read aloud to Jason, who was still on the bed, "I know all about your illicit affairs-"

"Oh, how proper."

Percy snorted, "Tell me about it." He cleared his throat, "Anyway. -with Jason Grace." Jason stiffened. They knew his name. "If you don't do what I want I will tell Annabeth and Piper all about it. And maybe more than just the two of them, too.”

“Mhmm. And we believe them?”

“I’m not sure,” Percy said tossing the note onto the nightstand and belly-flopping onto the bed next to Jason.

“If you did, you wouldn’t be here,” Jason said, practically.

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I know you.”

Percy smiled, "Yeah, I guess you do."

Jason smiled back, only for a few seconds before his face fell; Percy felt his heart jump to his throat. "What are we going to do?"

"You already have an idea," Percy said, staring at him.

"You're not going to like it."

Percy sighed, "Let's hear it."

"We can't see each other."

Percy shot to his feet. "No! I'm not letting some heathen," He pointed angrily at the note. "Bully me into staying away from the man I love."

Jason went deathly still and Percy's brain finally caught up to what just happened.

"'Man you love'?" His voice was quiet and Percy didn't know how to read that.

"Yeah," Percy whispered. "Yes."

Jason wasn't looking at him and every second that passed, Percy felt his heart chipping away.

"I-" Jason swallowed and wet his lips. "I love you." His voice was hushed as if he was scared to be heard.

Percy stared at him for a beat of bated breath before lunging at him. Jason laughed as his back collided with the mattress.

Jason held Percy's face in his hands and looked him over, drinking everything in before kissing him.

The notes could wait.

#jercy #pipabeth #gay #very gay #jason grace x percy jackson #jason grace #percy jackson #piper mclean #pjo/hoo #piper x annabeth #annabeth chase #piper mclean x annabeth chase #hazel levesque #angst #fluff #forbidden love #percy jackson fic #pjo fanfic #percabeth #jason and piper #jasper #jiper

[kate837]

I Love You

I completely recommend watching 2x14 Borrow or Rob, and the beginning of 2x15 Draw O Cesar Erase a Coward, before reading this fic. While this fic is AU it does have many similarities and minor details that it couldn't hurt to watch the episode first! Anyways enjoy!!!!!

#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:#:

Kurt had a day.

Not bad. Definitely not good. Just... A day.

A day he'll never forget actually. It was so full of ups and downs. From Shepherd plunging a knife into Sean's heart, to joking with Jane about whether or not he could handle Rich Dotcom. From shooting Rich to... Jane's date. That hurt. When Shepherd shoved a knife through Sean Clarke, Kurt's adrenaline spiked, he felt so alert for so long, he thought he would throw up. He got the same feeling from Jane. Except it was everytime she moved, spoke, brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, etc. Her admission of her date was too much. Kurt went straight home, got a damp rag, and laid down. Staring at the ceiling.

Though he did have to say, it still wasn't the worst part of his day. He felt bad. Witnessing first degree murder should automatically be the worst part of your day.

But when it comes to Rich.....

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

Kurt and Rich were sneaking through the secret underground tunnels of Jamison College, in order to get into the Deadalus gathering.

"This is interesting." Rich says, while coming to a stop.

"What?" Kurt replies shortly.

"Well this is the door, but the handle's different."

"Different how, Rich?!"

"Wel- well it's not there anymore?? Probably on account of all the hookers I snuck in it." Rich gestures to the handless door.

"Ok, so what's behind this door?" Kurt inquires, looking around.

"The closet. What are yo-"

"Stand back."

Kurt, with a running start, kicks the door in to find himself deep within the walls of a massive walk in closet.

"Aaaaa just how I remember it."

"SHHHHH!" Kurt puts his ear to the door, the one still on it's hinges, just in time to hear the gasps of attending guests and a soft female voice hushedly asking someone to notify security of the discrepancy.

"Shit."

"What?" Rich asks, genuinely confused.

"The guests are getting security to come check out 'the noise in the closet'."

"Oh. What are we gonna do Stubbles? I'm a sly guy but how do we explain that?"

"Oh God, why do you hate me?" Kurt says looking towards the ceiling.

"What? You're acting strange Stubbles, like weirder than normal. I mea-"

Rich was cut off by Kurt's large hands cupping both sides of his face, to kiss him. Without separating he backs Rich against a near wall, mimicking the earlier noise. Rich squirmed at first but expectedly went along with the unexpected.

"Come on Stubbles, you can at least use some tongue!"

"Shut. Up." Kurt snarls. "Actually. . . I need you to make some. . . noises." Kurt says while blushing furiously.

"Security is on their way." Tasha notifies through comms.

"Yeah you guys better get out of there." Reade warns.

"And say what? Oh hey haven't seen you in a while, please excuse my entering through a closet?!" Rich whisper-yells.

"Everyone shut up!" Kurt also whisper yells. "Now Rich I need you to moan a lot. Loudly."

"You could always make me Stubbles!"

"Rich!"

"Kurt what the hell are you doing?" Reade asks, growing increasingly concerned about his teammate's mental health.

"Rich just do it!"

"OOOOH! STUBBLES, YES!" Rich practically screams.

The party guests turn a side eye. But the security, like Kurt hoped, were turning away, figuring that the noise came from two enthusiastic partygoers. Or if the other patrons were anything like Rich maybe more.

Of course Weller didn't know that yet.

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

"Ohhh. Now i get it, I can't believe this is working." Reade says, half laughing at the ridiculous noises coming out of his earpiece. "Hey Kurt it's work-"

"Will you shut up?!" Tasha butts in.

"What are you tal-"

"He doesn't know that they stood down yet." Tasha says wriggling her eyebrows. "Hey Kurt most of the security guards stood down but you still have a couple incoming. . . You might need to amp it up a bit!"

Her and Reade try and fail to stifle their laughter after Rich let's out a completely overexaggerated 'UNGH'!

"Come on Stubbles, they're not buying it, you're gonna have to join me if you wanna get out of here."

"Why me? God why me?" Kurt says again looking up.

Kurt let's out a loud and breathless 'Oh God' that completely undoes all of Tasha and Reade's composure. They are hysterical by now. They completely lost it when Rich and Kurt started harmonizing!

"Stop! Stop!" Tasha said. "I can't take it anymore." She pulls herself up from the floor of the van, where she fell from laughing so hard.

"Yeah guys, the security's gone. They're long gone." Reade adds, clutching his stomach.

"Yeah Rich so goo- wait what?!"

"Yeah you're clear." Tasha clarifies.

"You could have compromised this entire op!" Kurt says furiously.

"We all know that's not why you're mad Stubbles. And as the bible states-"

"I swear to God Rich, if you say another word I will shoot you."

"Another word."

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Kurt flushed red just thinking about it. What was he going to put in his field report?!

He turned to lay on his side to take in the fresh scenery of the wall instead of the ceiling. After laying there for about two minutes, he finally got up to fix himself dinner.

While gathering ingredients, Kurt's mind inevitably wandered back to Jane's date. Everything about it tore at him. What she'd be wearing, what she'd eat, would she cover her tattoos, would she wear makeup. . . . . . . .

His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.

It was Jane.

A million questions ran through his head. Why is she calling him? Shouldn't she still be out on her date?

He lunged for the phone but then. . . He stilled. Didn't move a muscle. He picked up his phone, turned it over, and resumed gathering ingredients.

Once the phone eventually stopped buzzing, Kurt's inner turmoil came to play.

'Why didn't you answer?! Jane could be in trouble!'

'Be rational Kurt. She's on a date, probably just calling to let you know that she'll complete her paperwork tomorrow, since she's busy.'

'Look, everyone knows you're in love with her, but you can't act like some overprotective boyfriend whenever she's around.'

Kurt shakes his head. He wasn't in love with Jane Doe. Was he?

'Of course you are! That's why you lunged for the phone as soon as you saw her name, but put it down when you realized she was still on a date.'

'No. If I was in love with her, I would have immediately answered.'

'No. You love her so much that you realized that if she's having fun, even with another man, you wouldn't want to ruin that. That's love.'

'What am I supposed to do? I can't love her from afar.'

'This may be selfish but what if I proposed the idea that Oliver is Sandstorm?'

'It could work. But why not just tell her how you feel?'

"Because I'm just not ready yet." Kurt voiced sadly.

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First thing the next morning, Kurt was walking up and down the hallways, over and over again. In order to 'accidentally' bump into Jane on her way to Patterson's lab.

After three consecutive minutes, Jane appeared. She was wearing this loose, pastel green shirt, that roughly covered all of her upper body tattoos as well as bringing out her eyes. She paired it with tight blue jeans, which she almost never wears, and a few silver rings on her right hand.

"Wow." Kurt whispered. What looked like any other outfit, looked stunning on her. He almost forgot to 'bump' into her.

"Jane!"

"Oh, hey!"

"You get Patterson's text yet?"

"Yeah, heading there now."

They walk in silence for a few heartbeats, until they turn into a secluded hallway.

"Jane wait." Kurt says while gently grabbing Jane's arm.

"Kurt, what is it?"

"After you told me last night, about your date. I started thinking. . ."

Jane subconsciously starts to hold her breath. Her expression wreaks of hope.

"Hey! Glad I found you two, Patterson's got something." Tasha pops in.

"Yeah." Kurt says releasing Jane.

Saved by the bell.

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The debrief, while no longer than usual, felt unbearably long. The charged energy from Kurt and Jane's previous conversation still radiated off of them.

While any hope of continuing it was completely shut down by the tattoo clues pointing to three different entities, causing the team to split up completely. Kurt with Roman, Jane with Tasha, and Patterson with Reade.

This was going to be a longgg day.

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The team finally reconvened at about 5pm. They had just finished the field reports. All three of them. It was exhausting.

Fortunately for Kurt his adrenaline spiked right back up about an hour later when Tasha, so graciously, reminded the group that they never filled out the field report for their Deadalus mission. Which caused Reade and Patterson to burst out into a fit of giggles.

"What's so funny?" Jane asked, looking to Kurt, smiling.

Kurt goes wide-eyed. She doesn't know.

This was going to be a long night.

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The team had just finished catching Jane up while writing the 'going to be extremely redacted' field report.

"Wait I'm still confused. If you just wanted Rich to moan, why did you kiss him?"

All eyes look to Kurt.

"We- well I was under the impression that security was going to be charging through the door at any second." He says glaring at the pair of agents who were strategically avoiding his gaze. "And when they did, if they saw us. . . you know-"

"We don't know, Weller!" Patterson howled.

Kurt glared.

"Yeah I kind of want to know how far you were willing to take it Assistant Director!" Reade joined in.

"We're done here." Kurt said as he walked out.

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Jane had just walked out of the locker room to be met head on with Kurt.

"Kurt, hey!" Jane says, surprised.

"Hey."

"Umm. . . I actually wanted to talk to you."

Kurt raises his eyebrows in obvious confusion, cueing Jane to continue.

"When we were. . . Uh you know- outside of P- Patterson's lab. You didn't finish." Jane stumbles through her words as a new wave of nervousness hits her with full force.

"Oh that." Kurt says, grabbing Jane's arm, mirroring his earlier gesture and leading her away from the locker room door.

"Jane, I was up all night and I couldn't stop thinking about it. We need to be careful. Sandstorm feels like it's everywhere."

"You think Oliver is Sandstorm?"

"Yes. . . No." Kurt shakes his head.

"Kurt you're not making any sense." Jane says studying him.

"I know. I know. I just- no I don't think he's Sandstorm."

"Then why did you-"

"I've been trying to come up with reasons of why you shouldn't date him for the better part of 13 hours."

"Kurt wha-"

"And I got nothing, because the only reason is that I love you."

Jane goes wide-eyed. It was as if all the air was sucked out of her.

"I love you Jane."

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#part two? #ILY #ily #I Love You #im back #blindspot au fics

[stillness-in-green]

Idk if anyone told you but the MVA OST leaked, with themes for both the League and the MLA. If you haven't listened to it yet, please do! And if you have, what are your thoughts? I think Mine Woman and RE-DESTRO slap for 2 characters that got shafted hard by canon so I appreciate them a lot.

I have listened to them, and I like several of them! I feel like I need to lead with that, because I'm about to add some criticism about my previous responses to BNHA's score for context, so it's important to know that I genuinely do enjoy quite a few of these.

So, I haven't listened to a lot of Yuki Hayashi's scores, but he's definitely done work I've liked! He composed the music for several of the more recent PreCure shows, including their movies; I particularly loved his finale for the 15th anniversary film, which prominently featured a truly delightful medley of every team's opening theme. I'm also very fond of some of his pieces for Kiznaiver and Welcome to the Ballroom.

His BNHA work, though, I feel like suffers from two main problems: the tracks are too short to work up a good head, and yet, despite that short length, they sometimes feel exhaustingly over the top. (Did Shigaraki's theme really need crying children to get across the point that he's bad news?) I've long felt that the BNHA anime wants me to feel like everything is way more Epic and Stirring and Dramatic than I actually find the material to be, so curiously, the music winds up having a distancing effect rather than drawing me in. This is frequently compounded by placement choices that feel so staggeringly poor that I'm often left wondering whether the staff chose the music out of a hat! (Seriously, why does a fairly rote test of character in Nighteye's office warrant doom choirs?)

As to the MVA tracks specifically, I wish there could have been tracks that sounded a bit more fun or heroic, given that the League in MVA really are the heroes for the arc, complete with Shigaraki suddenly having access to Shonen Nakama Tropes and getting all these little comedic reaction takes. It'd be nice if the music could cue in and let the League have some aural triumph without being all doom all the time ("Oh, no! The villains are winning!" Yes, they are; let them have this for one arc, would you?)

But that said, I do rather like most of these! There are some that I do suspect will fall prey to the This Is Too Much Drama, Would You Please Ratchet Back? problem, but there are also some that I can imagine playing better in the context of the show than they do in isolation, and some that feel like they could even be exactly what I was dreaming about, if they go where I hope they will. For some individual thoughts, see below:

The Mission of the Stealth Hawks: A reasonable enough little tense atmospheric piece. Doesn't jump out at me.

Different Ability Liberation Army: I always approach the MLA as styling themselves as an army, but in reality being more of a sect--far more cult than militia-- I appreciate that if they can't have a good dramatic march despite having Army, like, right there in the title, I'm glad I could get church bells instead. On the whole, though, this is a good example of the first problem I mentioned having with Hayashi's work for BNHA--his pieces tend to be pretty short, and it takes them so long to land on a melody that by the time they find one, there's hardly any time to develop it before the song ends. Even a lot of the hero pieces are like that, and the villain songs, even more so. That said, I do like the horror strings that creep in around the 1.25 mark, blossom at 1.45, and float on through 2.10. I just wish they went on longer. Admittedly, "erratic church bells and horror strings" is still not the choice I would have made for the MLA's main theme. I really would have preferred something with a more militant air; as it is, this sort of feels like it scores a creepy prologue that plays before the opening credits kick in and then the episode proper starts. Which isn't a bad description for the way the dinner scene played in the manga, but thanks to the anime's decision to reshuffle everything, I don't think that dinner scene's going to maintain that feeling of "prologue" when we finally get to it.

My Villain Academia: Better on the melodic front; I enjoy the drama at .43, the dancing tension at 1.05, and particularly the minor strings from 1.25 that just keep climbing until everything else drops out around 2.10. I do wish it found a better place to end rather than noodling on for a further thirty seconds, but the melody will get a more central, and more bombastic, treatment in the final track, so it's probably okay for it to trail off here. (It's also apparently a reprise of a villain theme from the very first season's OST, which is rad. More on that in the Track 11 blurb.)

Second Coming: This is a bizarre one because, while I complained that Hayashi's BNHA tracks are usually short, this one is a full six and a half minutes--except that it falls clearly into movements of about a minute each, with clear lulls in between. I wish it was twelve minutes and everything was twice as long! As it is, I'm highly doubtful that we're going to hear this one played in its entirety anywhere, since I can't imagine what scenes would require this specific sequence of musical passages at this length. 0.00 - 1.01: I love that the song kicks in comparatively quickly; the first minute's passage has a great, thrumming drive that very nearly hits major key towards the end. 1.02 - 1.53: The drive picks up pace in the second minute before the chorus arrives, and for once, I am very prepared to love a BNHA choir piece. I hope this is what plays when Deika's going up in ash. 1.54 - 3.01: I love the melodic line being carried by the intentionally hard to distinguish violin and whatever brass instrument the violin's trading off with in the third minute. It's bit out of place with the rest of the track, but I like it quite a bit on its own, and it does have a similar sound as some of the "dirty" brass in RE-DESTRO and Mine Woman. It's probably too long for RD's childhood flashback, but I wonder if it'll play for an MLA character somewhere? 3.02 - 4.07: The fourth minute has some very fun drums, but otherwise doesn't jump out at me as much of the rest of the track. I'm very curious to know when this will play, though. 4.08 - 5.32: The fifth minute, god bless, has some proper march drums--I like this passage a lot, particularly when it come back in the sixth minute accompanied by the choir. I like this because the key is minor but it's not "oooo scaaaary" minor; it's more dramatic, a bit tragic, but triumphant too--pretty much perfect for Re-Destro, Spinner and Machia's moment of revelation in the crater. I wish it were longer. 5.33 - 6.36: And here for the end we're back to the driving guitar and some fun low-thrum strings and percussive chain sounds. Like the fourth passage, it's fun, but jumps out at me less, particularly as the song's finale.

Gigantomachia: This is an extremely boss kaiju song. Seriously, that brass in the opening could come right out of a Toho flick. Extremely good walking calamity number, love that distorted synth stuff towards the end. It's going to sound great when (if) it plays over Machia leaving the villa, the hand rising up through the floor behind Toga, Momo and the other students surveying the desolation left in his wake, and so on. (I know that's all Season Six material, shhhh. I hope they use this piece there.)

Mine Woman: This is so fun. And so extremely superior that that awful Christmas insert song! I'm glad Curious got this at least, and I love the moment the beat drops at the one-minute mark, and that interwoven sax. So good. It's hard to imagine the fight between Toga and Curious being paced to this song, mind, but it's real good, anyway.

TOGA's Nature: This one showcases the other problem I have with Hayashi's BNHA work, especially his stuff for the villains: it feels very on the nose in a way that tips over into being Too Much. The birdsong, I think, is on the nose but in an effective, playful way, with the natural beauty of the birds undercut by the lovely but ominous piano/synth melody. I am considerably less kindly disposed to the creepy child laughter, which just feels on the nose in a thuddingly obvious way--though I do like the way it slides in when the birdsong fades. I like, too, the sort of cloudy roaring reprise of the melodic line that kicks in around the 1.10 mark. It feels like an effective echo of Toga--cute but creepy as a young girl, and then, after she snaps, creepy in the same way but now you can't ignore it.

Symbol of Fear: The beginning doesn't do much for me, but I enjoy the howl that gives way to the organs at 1.15; while it's too action-heavy to be Tenko, the transition does still put me in mind of Tenko wandering the streets, internally crying for anyone to help him, and the person who finally does is--well. I like that the organ nurtures that howl into something considerably more dire, though you still get a return to that guttural cry periodically. While it is, again, difficult to imagine this scoring the scenes between AFO and Tenko's first meeting and Tenko being formally named Tomura--it's much too bombastic--it does still feel like an excellent representation of AFO sculpting Tomura's formless, aimless rage into something that really could tear down the world.

I Don't Kill My Friends: It would have been really nice if they'd let the most significant, unadulterated personal triumph of the arc sound actually fun. Why does the Sad Man's Parade song sound so upset?? @aysall predicts that it'll play over Twice's confrontation with Hawks and death scene, and I can see it working extremely well there, but it's a pretty weird call for the Dead Man's Parade bit, if that is indeed what this is intended to evoke. Quibbling about the title aside, I do like the way this pulses and throbs, something like an exposed wound, which is not a bad description of poor Jin's mentality. I still hope this isn't what scores his breakthrough, though. As I said previously, the villains are the heroes for just this one arc, and it'd be nice if the score could reflect that at least a little.

RE-DESTRO: I like this one a lot. I love the interwoven layers of that dirty sax and the Big and Dramatic orchestral strings + brass, but both of them undercut with that regular, machine beeping that could almost be a heart monitor, but mostly isn't--right up until the long beep at 1.52/1.53. It feels like a strong illustration of the titular character's different personas--his attempts at casual, friendly villainy (like menacing Giran or chatting with Shigaraki on the phone), him when he's thundering full-volume about the weight of his legacy at people (THE BLOOD OF DESTRO FLOWS THROUGH THESE VEINS I AM RE-DESTRO), and, beneath it all, the constant little thread of stress that Rikiya can never escape (right up until Shigaraki). I probably wouldn't love it so much in isolation, but I'm easy to win over with the right character association. XD

Paranormal Liberation Front: Very fun grubby guitar intro. It also has much the clearest melodic throughline, which inclines me towards it. What inclines me to it even more is the knowledge (per @aysall again) that it's the same main melody as the track Villains Theme from the very first season's OST. That track already having used its allotted Doom Choir quotient, this track makes do with less synth and a lot more orchestra and chunky bass backing, which is much to its benefit, I feel. I do wish it had any of the MLA's theme in it, to represent the merger, but admittedly, it'd be hard to make that very audible when the MLA theme has…next to no central melody, percussive rhythm, etc. Still, as an evolution of the League to something bigger, classier, and far more dangerous, it's real good--just long enough to develop into itself and explore its central leitmotif. Probably my favorite track simply on its own merits.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I'd listened to the tracks once driving around for work, but sitting down with them properly gave me a greater appreciation for them, and now I'll definitely have an ear out for them when we get to this material in the anime…

….whenever that winds up being. *sob*

#bnha #music #stillness answers #my villain academia #reviews? #league of villains #meta liberation army #shigaraki tomura #yotsubashi rikiya

[spencers-dria]

Turn for the Better

Someone To Stay Ch. 1

Spencer x fem!reader

Spencer POV:

I open my eyes and glance around the room. It's darker than I remember. I must have fallen asleep reading on the couch again. I glance down and see a pile of books on the rug. Oh yeah...I only made it through about four books this time before I nodded off. I sigh in frustration that I'm awake. Might as well get up I suppose.

I wander into the kitchen and pull open the fridge only to be met with a jar of peanut butter, week old left overs, and a half empty jug of juice. Next.

I try again with the pantry. Almost completely bare. I guess this is what happens when you stop going to the grocery store. I settle on a cup of apple juice and a bag of chips... better than nothing right?

I slump back down onto the couch and pull my green wool blanket over me. As I stare up at my ceiling, as I begin to let my mind wander. But this was dangerous territory. I have to keep my mind occupied, I just have to. So I quickly sit back up and turn the TV to one of my favorite Dr. Who episodes. They say that anxious people re-watch the same shows because they find the familiarity comforting. I could definitely understand the feeling.

It was the weekend, which meant I wasn't called into work. Cases had been slow lately, as we spent quite a bit of time doing paperwork back at the office. Unfortunately for me, this meant less distractions. Distractions were good. Distractions were necessary. They are the only way I make it through the days anymore.

Things had finally returned to normal for me back at work. I was going into the field, and it felt like my coworkers were no longer tiptoeing around me. I hate when they do that, and it bothers me more than any amount of teasing ever could. I'm not so delicate, so easily breakable. Look at everything I have been through, everything I have endured. Yet here I am, still alive, still doing my job. I didn't need to be babied. So it was a relief when I felt the regular rapport I shared with my friends return. They had gone back to the sarcastic remarks and silly nicknames. I was grateful for it. They did, however, continue to check up on me. This was something that I did appreciate. They've seen me go down a dark road once before. I have no intentions of ever returning. I was stronger than that... I think. All I know is I have held on this long without resorting to any unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Coping mechanisms...oh how I wish I had something to make the healing process easier. Having a fairly empty social calendar left me alone often. Normally I would find comfort in the peace and quiet of my solitary apartment, but not quite so much lately. I couldn't very well make plans to go out, and I wouldn't even know how to begin to do that. Who would want to hang out with me right now anyways? I'd be a damper on the fun, and everyone knows it. That's probably why my friends stopped inviting me to the nights at the bar.

There I go again, letting my mind slip into a dark hole of anxiety. Its not a safe place to be. I quickly turn my attention back to the show in front of me, letting it drown out all other thoughts.

The ring of my phone quickly draws my attention away. Finally...another case! I jump up to answer, seeing the name on my screen: Derek Morgan. That's odd. Usually Hotch or Garcia call to notify us of a new case.

"Hello?" I answer, confusion lacing my voice.

"Pretty Boy! Buzz me up!"

Well now I'm even more confused. Derek never comes to my apartment. I quickly press the button letting him into the building and opening my apartment door, waiting for him to arrive.

As he comes up the stairs, he gives me a grin shouting, "Come on man! Get dressed. We're goin' out!"

I roll my eyes and retreat back into the apartment, Derek close behind me.

I sink back onto the couch, my eyes glued to the television as I tune him out.

"Aw c'mon. Don't be like that. How long have you been sitting there watching TV? Have you done anything else today, at all?"

I don't answer, I don't even look at him.

"Oh, let me guess. You've been reading all day, huh?"

"Wow, can't get anything past you huh?" I say dryly, regretting my tone as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Alright that it. You've been cooped up in here too long. Like I said before, we're going out. And I'm not taking no for an answer" he says sternly, raising an eyebrow at me.

I finally look up at him as I roll my eyes.

"You know I can kick your ass right?" Derek smirks.

"Fine" I concede. "Well...where are we going? I don't know what to wear unless you tell me what our plans are."

"Don't pretend you don't wear the same fancy button ups no matter where you end up going."

I let out a small laugh...he's got me there.

"Dinner at Rossi's. I know pretty boys are high maintenance but, hurry up or you'll make us late!" I smile at the nickname. Same old Derek.

Y/N POV:

You let out a sigh of relief as you watched your coworker approach you, ready to receive report. It had been a particularly busy shift, and you were ready to get some much-needed rest. You walked to each patient room, giving Clementine summary of the day and the latest updates on labs and vital signs. You stepped into each room with her, checking one last time to make sure each of your patients was doing well and didn't need anything else before you left. Normally you and Clem would spend some time catching up and making jokes, but she could tell you were tired and needed to be home more than anything. You wished her good luck on her shift as you made your way to the break room. After putting away your stethoscope and the large collection of pens, pencils, and markers you kept in your pockets, you finally headed towards the elevator to leave for the day.

You opened the door to your apartment to be greeted by your dog, Juneau. She was a rescue you adopted a few months back. She still needed to make progress, but she had really warmed up to you and your friends and seemed much more comfortable in her new home. After feeding her dinner and taking her for a short walk, you heated up a quick frozen dinner and sunk into your couch.  Curling up in your blanket, you spent a few minutes browsing through different streaming services only to land on The Office, as usual.  Your mind drifts to what your next few days might consist off. You just so happened to land 4 days off in a row, but you had no idea how you would spend your time. You glanced down at your phone as it lit up.  It was your Uncle Will.

"Hey, whats up!" you chimed, glad to hear from your favorite uncle.

"Hey, (Y/N). I'm actually calling to invite you to a dinner some friends of mine are having tomorrow night. I know your schedule is real busy. But I haven't seen you much since you moved up here to Virginia! I know you haven't met many people here yet, but I think I can help you make a start. "

The kind gesture made you smile. You had always been fairly close with your father's side of the family. He had grown up in Louisiana and met your mother at a college in Texas. You spent your childhood in Houston but frequently visited the Cajun half of your family. Uncle Will had moved away once he fell in love with Jenifer Jareau, his now wife, and you hadn't seem much of him the past few years. But as luck would have it, your nursing career had lead you to a hospital in Fredericksburg, VA. You felt extremely lucky to have family nearby, or else you would have been completely alone. But sometimes you still felt that way, which is why you were so grateful for his offer.

"That actually sounds great! I am off for the next four days, and I didn't really have anything planned. Who will I be meeting at this dinner?"

"Well it's some of JJ's coworkers. They're like a second family to us, and I know they'll be just as welcoming to you. I already told them you moved up here, and they've been begging to meet you."

"Aww I can't wait to see Aunt JJ and my sweet little cousin, Henry! Its been so long since I came to visit you guys. I think Henry was barely two years old the last time I saw him."

"Well we all hope to see you a lot more now that you're here. You're like a daughter to us, Y/N. You are welcome to visit any time you like. I know nursing is a stressful job, and it can take a toll. Its important to have family and friends around you when things get tough." You could hear that this was a genuine offer and you fully planned to take him up on it in the future. Being alone in a new state was taking its toll.

"So where and when should I plan to meet for dinner?"

"I'll text you the address real quick. Everyone is planning to meet around 6. It shouldn't be too far of a drive. It's one of JJ's coworker's houses. David Rossi. He's a real easygoing guy, and he loves cooking for everyone. He loves meeting new people even more, so you should feel right at home!"

"Sounds like a fun time. Thank you again for thinking to invite me. I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Alright boo, talk to you later."

You smiled at the pet name used by the entire Louisiana side of your family. I guess the north had yet to steal his southern roots. You hung up the phone. You finally had plans. It would be nice to talk to someone who wasn't a coworker.  It would also be your first excuse to dress up since moving and starting your new job. Too excited to wait, you jumped up from the couch and began to rifle through your closet for something to wear. You didn't want to be too over or underdressed. You grabbed a black spaghetti strap fit and flare dress and throw it on with some black panty hose, a lightweight maroon cardigan, and some black heels. You snapped a quick photo in the mirror and shoot a text to Aunt JJ.

Y/N: Apparently I'm joining y'all for dinner tomorrow night...is this too much???

Aunt JJ: I heard! I can't wait!

And oh my goodness, no! You look gorgeous! It will be perfect.

Also...Henry is so excited to see you!

You smiled, more confident in your choice. Aunt JJ had great taste. You had only had the chance to meet her in person a couple times, but the two of you had clicked right away and stayed in touch over text and Facetime. Sometimes she felt more like the sister you never had.

Starting to feel the effects of your particularly difficult shift, you start to get ready for bed. You wanted to be well rested for tomorrow. You say goodnight to Juneau and crawl into bed, snuggled under all the blankets. You fall asleep with a smile on your face, with the feeling that things in your life are about to take a turn for the better. You couldn't explain it...but somehow you just knew.

#fanfic #writing #criminal minds #spencer x reader #spencerreid #dr spencer reid #spencer reid x y/n #romance #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid angst #original work #original story #Spotify

[titsthedamnseason]

If you haven't done it already can you do headcanons about Julian's birthday?

bitch you know it asdfghj and by some miracle ive actually gotten these done before the two weeks that could potentially be his birthday are over so happy birthday julian!!

julian has never really had a big birthday celebration before

of course emma and the kids and diana always got him gifts and spoiled him

you know, doing chores for him, letting him relax for a day, stuff like that

but poor julian is a worrier so he’d always end up insisting to help anyway, saying that he wanted to

he even would always make the cake since no one else could

it wasnt until later that everyone realized that every time they had tried to spoil julian on his birthday, he turned it around on them, and he wound up doing most of the work

they are determined to make his 18th birthday different

helen and aline are more than capable of holding down the fort now

plus julian and emma take a break from their travel year for the holidays and are in the institute for julian’s birthday

which could be anytime from jan 1-15 but my personal hc is that it’s on new years day (wink wink)

so anyway julian and emma will be in la for his bday and julian is a lot more carefree this year so everyone is highkey determined to give him the best birthday this year

nobody wakes him up early, and after staying up so late the night before his normal internal clock doesnt wake him up as usual

at 12am everyone else shouted “happy new year!” and emma shouted “happy birthday julian!”

anyway when julian does wake up, later than usual, his first instinct is to shoot out of bed and get the kids breakfast but he takes a moment to himself to revel in the fact that this is his first birthday spent waking up next to emma as her boyfriend

emma seizes her moment and convinces him to stay for just a while longer, im sure the kids are fine, helen and aline have been taking care of them for months

julian gives her like five minutes of kisses and cuddles before beelining for the kitchen

he finds that everyone else has already been up for an hour or so and has already eaten breakfast

the second he enters the kitchen everyone yells “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” and he is bombarded with hugs and drawings and cards and stupid gag gifts from the kids that he accepts with a smile cristina and mark both hug him as well and he’s pleasantly surprised to see them

(if you read my tda holiday hcs i made them leave before this point but awsxdcfvgyh they come back to surprise him)

he grabs a plate for himself reluctantly, wont stop apologizing to helen and aline that he overslept

they keep telling him they dont care but, surprise surprise, he’s not listening

when julian goes back to his room to get dressed he finds emma already ready with his favorite blue dress of her’s on and holding a present for him

his reaction is “oh that reminds me” and he pulls out another gift from under the dresser

emma is like ????? and julian is like “…for you” and emma is still like ????? so then julian explains “i got you a new year’s gift too”

emma is like fuck that shit this is a birthday gift asdfgyhu “who the fuck buys new year’s presents” “i dont know i love you” “i love you too but what the fuck julian now i look bad” “you couldnt look bad if you were trying”

anyway after emma gets it through julian’s head that he does deserve a birthday gift and no, she refuses to open up his gift to her on his birthday, nice try, julian, he opens it up

it’s a new blue shirt that almost exactly matches emma’s dress which is “an unfortunate coincidence”

he cant stop telling her it’s too much, you shouldnt have, and emma is like hoe you think im done??? think again

but actually she doesnt say that, she just says youre welcome asdfghyuj

anyway

they go meet everyone in their matching outfits and they all just hang around a bit, there isnt much else julian could ask for than to be with his family

but at lunch emma surprises julian with a picnic for the two of them at the beach

she promises that she didnt touch the food, she had aline make it all asdfrghy

once they finish emma gives julian more presents(“this is a prank right?” “am i laughing? actually i am but not because this is a prank, please just open the presents” ) 

the first is a whole set of paints and brushes and other art supplies i know nothing about, all custom made, the brushes with inscriptions on the handles( “jb” “as long as you exist and i exist i will love you” “i love you more than starlight”)

julian: where did you get that last quote from?

emma: i thought of it

julian: *melts*

he asks how she knew what supplies to get him and she told him how she saw him looking at all this stuff back in that shop in london and went back to get it for him

he’s so touched

he is already certifiably not okay™️ because the whole day has been against everything he’s ever known and he feels weird, he just wants to give something to someone, literally anyone

julian is so happy and when emma pulls out an envelope he has to bite his tongue to keep from saying “oh no not again”

emma just gives him a look when she sees him holding back asdfgbhgt

he’s preparing himself for some sort of long sentimental card from her that will probably make him cry but what he gets is worse

it’s just a piece of paper that says “im having so much fun on our date right now, but id love it even more if you came with me to the louvre to our next one”

julian is shooketh to a level beyond all levels

he cant imagine why emma looks so worried he wont like it

they laugh and hug and then proceed to kiss a lot before going back to the institute 

julian is ready to just chill now 

he comes in and there are decorations filling the entryway

a million balloons, streamers, banners

he looks at emma who just shrugs but she’s smiling so big and has a knowing look on her face 

there’s a beautifully decorated poster next to the staircase that says “TAKE ONE” and there’s a party hat for emma and a ridiculous crown for julian that says “it’s my birthday!” under it

they follow a trail of posters with arrows on them to the living room(im pretty sure they dont call it that but the room with the computer in it is where they always hang out so that’s what i mean awsedfvgbh)

everyone yells “SURPRISE” when they walk in and julian is sure he’s in a permanent state of shock

like yes he just followed an entire trail of arrows to get here but it’s still so much more than he expected

they eat pizza and play music and all just hang out and it’s a fun time

at one point julian goes to adjust his crown but everyone thought he was taking it off and yelled at him aesdxcfvgbh

they play stupid party games like pin the tail on the donkey(which theyre all good at since theyre shadowhunters asdfghjui) and charades and stuff like that

everyone gives julian more presents and he thinks he might combust

they sing to him and have cake

they give him one more gift after they sing and it’s a photo album of julian and his siblings and emma through the years

there are ones of baby emma and jules playing to 12 year old julian intently speaking to ty and livvy to 14 year old julian reading with tavvy to 17 year old julian laughing with dru to ones with helen, mark, aline, and cristina in them and ones from the travel year and julian is amazed

he’s so touched and he’s proud that he only cries a little

a little after that everyone starts getting tired since they stayed up until midnight the night before

diana goes home, tavvy goes to bed, followed by dru and ty shortly after

when julian hugs ty on his way out he almost feels like livvy is there too, and he doesnt understand why ty goes pale when julian tells him, julian worries he shouldnt have said anything before ty just smiles and says “good” before walking out

everyone else goes to bed shortly after

julian and emma are laying in julian’s bed when she pulls out a card for him, but tells him it’s nothing special

he opens it and begs to differ

the front of the card says “so many ways to say i love you” and she has filled the inside with ways she said it over the years

“protecting you in fights”

“i’ll put the kids to bed tonight”

“i would do anything for you, jules”

“we’re parabatai, we can do this”(julian doesnt like this one)

“take a break”

“please stay”

“i need you”

“your hair is a mess”(“really emma? “shut up”)

the list goes on until it ends with “i love you. love, emma”

they are both crying at the end

“i love you so much, emma”

“i love you, t––”

she doesnt get to finish

they have more important things to get to and, needless to say, they dont get much sleep that night either

#anonymous #asks #i wrote this a while ago and i dont feel like rereading so i hope it isnt horrible aswedfgh #julian blackthorn #blackstairs #tda #tda hc #tda birthdays escapade #my writing #mine #posting this on the 13 bc td is a good day #13 13 13 #a blessed number

[domesticangel]

me: *starts this blog intending to update a couple times a week*

also me: *effectively abandons this blog for weeks after the first post*

id be lying if i said i was surprised lol

SO heres some older work, just cause i saw it as i was looking for some files for school and got to thinking. most of this stuff would be right around 2 years old now, since i did a lot of it during my freshman year of college, took a gap year, and am now back for my sophomore year. all pixel work done in paintBBS, which i clearly still love <3

a lot of it is fan art, which i think as i moved further up in my art education and towards my major, i felt sort of ashamed of making. i think i felt like the fact that i enjoyed making fan art meant that i wasn't creative, like i was able to produce pretty ok art, but not my own ideas. but now i kind of look at it differently.

now that I'm a graphic design major, most of the work i do draws less from illustrative abilities, which is all i previously thought i had going for me, and more from the knowledge of composition, color, fluidity, color palette, etc., which are things that ive had an eye for and have been working to improve ever since i first picked up a pencil whether i realized it or not. i was worried i wouldn't enjoy graphic design because i thought it'd be too wildly different than what i was used to...and it is. but in a really good, challenging, and exciting way. I'm having to do things ive never done before and look at things in an entirely foreign way, and its almost relieving how much i already love it.

so in that vein i think ive learned to separate the work i do in my free time simply because i enjoy drawing and the work i do to hone my professional skills that i can use to one day land a job in the field. drawing relaxes me, makes me happy, and keeps me in practice and loose, and i no longer see any shame in drawing things that just make me happy. my experience from drawing for fun shouldn't take away from my experience from working towards a graphic design major, and vice versa. the relationship isn't adversarial anymore; mutually beneficial if anything. now that my major has taken off, i no longer feel like fan art, or any art that doesn't have a “purpose,” is a crutch or a display of how little creativity i have. its just something i do that makes me happy, because creating any art, in any form, has always made me happy.

#tf2 #tf2 scout #tf2 spy #dog #dogs #pixel art #paint bbs #artists on tumblr #miss pauling #art

[punkscowardschampions]

Rio & Buster

Rio: How gone are you? Rio: I'm wrecked Buster: I'm fine Buster: 'Course Rio: Okay 😏 Rio: Imma go if you ain't on my level then boy Buster: Don't Buster: Talk to me Rio: Been having fun, boo? Buster: Yeah Buster: Mostly when I knocked James out Buster: 😂 Rio: Why'd you do that then Buster: Never shuts up that boy Rio: You better watch out if that's grounds for a kicking tonight, babe Buster: It's my party I can fight who I want to Rio: 🙄 Rio: You're funny Buster: I know Buster: He knows it now as well, like Rio: Coming in hot, I guess Buster: When am I not? 😏 Rio: 😂 Rio: If you say so Buster: You can say it too, I know you're thinking it Rio: You sure? Buster: Yeah Rio: No doubt you been hearing it all night yeah Rio: unless you're fighting everyone Buster: I wanna hear it from you Rio: I'll ring you in a bit Rio: if you want Buster: Don't forget Buster: You're wrecked Rio: I'm not that far gone Rio: just not tryna be that bitch Buster: What? Rio: Blowing up your phone every five seconds, like Buster: I like it Rio: Good Rio: 'cos I already miss you proper bad Buster: I miss you too Buster: Dancing with all these girls who aren't you Rio: Same Rio: It isn't the same, they aren't you Buster: Exactly Buster: They're boring Buster: and don't even know what they're trying to do Rio: I'm sorry you're bored but I ain't Rio: Don't forget Rio: only I can do you like I do Buster: Don't remind me Buster: I can't stop thinking about you as is Rio: But I have to Buster: No Buster: 'Cause I know and you know I know Rio: Fine Buster: Don't sulk about it Rio: Shut up, I ain't Buster: You never say fine if you are Rio: Whaddya want me to say? Rio: I'm superduper fabulous Buster: You're an idiot Rio: Must be, babe, must be Rio: don't knock it Buster: Shut up Rio: Do you wanna talk to me or nah Rio: gonna get a complex you keep telling me to shut up Buster: I love you Buster: I want you here Rio: Okay said I'm not that gone but Rio: doubt I'm getting on a plane levels of sober, baby Buster: We need a private one Buster: Fuck's sake Rio: Both gonna need to be on our grind for a bit longer for that, babe Rio: You cute Buster: I'll call my dad put the demand in before my birthday rolls around Buster: Helicopter at least, like Rio: 😂 Rio: knew you was just spoiling for a fair fight Buster: He wishes it was still fair Rio: Damn Rio: talking an awfully big game tonight boy Buster: Come on Buster: It ain't just talk Rio: I ain't gonna comment Rio: impartial as, obvs Buster: You can say it Buster: Not gonna forward this to him Rio: Wouldn't be the best idea you'd ever had Rio: for many reasons more serious than you doubting his 💪 Buster: I'm not asking you if it's a good idea Buster: Forget it Buster: If you're not gonna be on my side Rio: You're silly Buster: Fuck off Buster: Am not Rio: Don't Pout Rio: we're playing Buster: Whatever Rio: Not whatever Rio: what you thinking? Buster: Like I said, forget it Buster: I've done too many lines Rio: Alright Rio: earnt it after all your 📚🤓 Buster: I forgot shit's better here than in Dublin Buster: One thing that is Rio: 😏 shame you can't do a run for us, like Buster: Come here more Rio: I will Rio: not as if I need to think of an excuse Rio: as long as I avoid your 'rents, it'll be easy Buster: Yeah and they're easy to avoid Rio: Works for me Rio: making awkward morning conversation with 'em the once was bad enough Rio: wasn't even banging you then so Buster: They appeared, we all raised our glasses to cheers and they disappeared again Buster: Good times Buster: You know better now though, yeah? Buster: Fuck being polite Buster: Ignore and avoid like I do Rio: You wanted 'em to stick around and hang? 😂 Rio: I'll stick to avoiding, not their moody teen so I'm not coming at 'em with a fuck off attitude in their own home Buster: 😂 Buster: You keep calling me moody tonight? Buster: You feeling like you're missing out on a decent fight or what? Rio: You know you is Rio: not just got that bottom lip out for the 'gram Rio: nah, all love here, like Buster: I know you wanna fight and fuck Buster: Standard Rio: So what, you reckon 1 outta 2 ain't bad? Buster: Do you reckon I can't fuck you from here Buster: I'm just a phone call away Rio: Don't be a tease again Buster: I'm only a tease if I don't do it Rio: Yeah and you can't rn Rio: I doubt the party's over already Buster: Like that matters Buster: I can do whatever I want Rio: Back on your rich boy hype, yeah? 😉 Buster: Back? I never left it, babe Buster: Forever on this pedestal Rio: 'Course Buster: 💰 talks in whatever postcode, like Rio: Probably true Buster: Actually true Buster: You wouldn't be hustling so hard to make it if it didn't speak for you Rio: Yeah but what's it saying about me to the locals hm Rio: not planning to stay in the 24 forever, shocking, I know Buster: 'Course Buster: You're coming with me Rio: Where? Buster: Everywhere Rio: Yeah Rio: I love you you know Buster: I love you Rio: We're gonna do great things yeah Buster: Yeah Buster: You motivate me, babe Rio: Backatcha Rio: You actually get what I'm trying to do Rio: not just thinking there's nothing else I can do Buster: What cunts are thinking that? Rio: You know, s'what everyone lowkey thinks but doesn't say Rio: but I don't care Buster: Whoever are going around thinking that are the braindead ones Rio: I know I should finish school but it just felt like a waste of time Rio: when I could be out there learning and getting to know the right people to know Buster: You know what you're doing Buster: If they can't work it out, more fool them Rio: Plus I needed the cash for Indie so Rio: Gotta do what you gotta do sometimes Buster: Exactly Buster: Like I gotta finish school so I can get to uni Buster: Even though this school is a headfuck Rio: All about the next step, babe Rio: I couldn't stick it, from what Nance has said and what I've seen of your mates but Rio: is what it is, you're a bit touched if you really rate school, I reckon Buster: 😂 You can't call me that much of a nerd, like Rio: Thank God Rio: taking the whole school boy fantasy vibe way too far, nah 😂 Buster: I know where to draw the line, don't worry Rio: You do? Rio: News to me Rio: Lemme know where I fall, yeah? 😉 Buster: On the right side Rio: Good to know Buster: 😏 Rio: Don't go getting too 😇 on me Buster: 😈 tonight, yeah? Rio: Please Buster: Say it again Rio: Buster Buster: That works too Rio: Save my prettiest pleases for when you can actually hear 'em Buster: Save your voice 'cause we're gonna be on the phone so long you'll start to lose it Rio: 😻 Rio: Promises, promises Buster: You've got it in writing, babe Rio: Catch me sending screenshots of the shit you said drunk to sober you in the AM 😂 Rio: what cures a hangover faster, welcome in advance, baby Buster: I said what I said and I meant what I meant Buster: You can't scare me Rio: Poetic Rio: Catch me swooning 😏 Buster: Shhh Rio: Damn, you mean you ain't gonna recite poetry to me until dawn? Rio: Gutted Buster: I can if you want Buster: This education has equipped me with plenty of that shit Rio: I mean, I'd rather you fucked me like you said you would Rio: if it's all the same to you Buster: I can do both Buster: You'll be the one losing your voice, like, not me Rio: Bit rude you're saying I can't give as good as back Rio: 😒 Buster: I'm just saying you're louder Rio: 😳 Buster: You're so good, baby Buster: Don't doubt 'cause you're meant to be reminding me, remember Rio: Oh right Rio: Lucky I took photos earlier 'cos dread to think Buster: Yeah? Rio: Yeah Rio: well your video got me missing you again, couldn't get ready properly i was so distracted so Rio: had to do something, right? Buster: Show me Buster: I haven't stopped missing you Rio: [All the nudes] Buster: Well now you have to call me Buster: Fuck Rio: Alright Rio: give me a sec to get alone Buster: Okay Rio: [A call later] Rio: S'no joke how cold it is out there Rio: We get it, summer's over Buster: Don't be cuddling up to anyone Rio: Who am I gonna? Rio: A bouncer on my way back in Buster: I know you've got form with it, babe Rio: 'Scuse me? Buster: Keeping 'em on side one way or another Rio: Piss off Rio: I'm not a cuddle whore you are Buster: Fuck off Rio: You can't deny Rio: I been knowing Buster: 😒 Rio: Aww, grumpy baby Rio: you know I don't want anyone who ain't you, not even for hugs Buster: Me either Buster: So don't be chatting like I do Rio: I'm not Buster: Good Rio: Don't be mad Buster: I'm sorry Buster: I'm just wrecked Rio: I know Rio: it's cool Rio: can go all out before school starts again and you've gotta be good Buster: School ain't gotta change a thing Buster: I'm still gonna be 😈 Rio: Hmm Buster: You don't reckon? Rio: Nah, I'm sure you're gonna go outta your way to prove it Rio: coke's just good adderral, yeah 🙄 Buster: You're rolling your eyes but you're not wrong Rio: Oh boy Buster: You love me Rio: 🍀 you Buster: Lucky you Rio: Maybe baby Buster: Did I not just prove it Buster: Or do you need me to call you back Rio: My evil plan Rio: Obviously Buster: [rings her back because he's like that] Rio: You're an idiot Rio: but okay Rio: 🍀 Buster: Tell me you love me Rio: I love you so much Buster: I still miss you Buster: It's so fucked Rio: I know Rio: idk what to do Buster: We just gotta keep doing what we're doing Buster: You're worth it to me Rio: Yeah Rio: it'll be alright Rio: not like we were ever satisfied in person either Rio: can't be helped you're too damn desirable Buster: Can't be helped that we come from the biggest fucking family ever either Buster: It really will be easier here I'm not just saying it to save myself the flight time Rio: Don't worry, I know Rio: happy of the break Rio: always got 2 free days a week, and I can film at yours, even if the quality ain't as good Rio: it'll be easy Buster: Whatever you need to make the quality better just let me know Buster: Not like we're short on space to set up, like Rio: Cheers Rio: I can rock the on the go thing, had to in hotels and shit loads, keeps it real Buster: Alright Buster: But if you need it, send me links to the tech and I'll get it Rio: You're cute Rio: and good Buster: You really matter to me, you know Rio: Shh Buster: You can't make me from there Rio: I don't know, wouldn't be so sure if I was you Rio: you can make me loud from there so Buster: That's different Buster: It's easy Rio: True Rio: such a loud mouth you Rio: god loves a trier, babe Buster: What have you got to make me speechless? That's the only question Rio: Million dollar question, some might say Rio: Have to wait and see Buster: Fuck waiting Buster: Put up or shut up, babe Rio: Your manners really do leave so much to be desired Rio: good thing you're pretty 😜 Buster: It ain't no finishing school I'm at even if some of the girls try and play like they've learned it all Rio: Seen the snaps, babe Rio: even I can see they're no ladies Buster: 😂 Buster: Not something exclusive to the 24, sorry babe Rio: You can keep 'em Rio: keep you posted on if you can post any of your lads, like Buster: No need, I know what you like Buster: And you've got previous to go off too Rio: Don't rush me Rio: that's how James happened and I don't need to repeat that experience Buster: Don't remind me Buster: He did and look what happened there Rio: 😒 Seriously Rio: you're threatening to punch me now okay go off Buster: Shut up no Buster: I'm just saying I don't wanna talk about him Rio: Me either Rio: we're good Buster: Are we good if you think I'm gonna give you a smack? Rio: I was joking, don't worry Buster: Not one of your best Rio: You've gotta relax, babe Buster: Yeah 'cause saying that is really relaxing, like Buster: Stop trying to wind me up Rio: Ugh, alright Buster: Are you really gonna have attitude about it now? Rio: You clearly are Rio: just trying to get on your level, babe Buster: Fuck off Buster: I haven't done anything Rio: Whatever Buster: Just 'cause you're that beautiful doesn't mean you can be that annoying Rio: 😂 Fuck off Buster: No you Buster: Don't whatever me when you've got something to say Rio: I already said it, I'm not gonna tell you to calm down more than once, ain't that fool Buster: Fine Rio: Chat later then Buster: Don't bother Buster: If there's nothing to say there's nothing to say Rio: Jesus Rio: Dramatic, much? Buster: So what? Buster: You'd rather I just nod along to everything, like Rio: Literally, when have I ever said that? Buster: You're saying it now if you're calling me dramatic Buster: I can react how I fucking want Rio: Do then Rio: I ain't gonna nod along either Buster: Then don't Rio: Do you even know what you're reacting to rn Rio: is my point, Buster Buster: Fuck you Buster: I'm reacting to you Rio: This is stupid Rio: We aren't having the same conversation rn Buster: So go Rio: No Rio: I'm not the one that's mad Buster: Fuck's sake Buster: I'll go then Rio: Alright Rio: Bye then Buster: 👋 Rio: Mature Buster: I ain't trying to be Rio: Good fucking job, like Buster: Yeah Rio: You know that I'm not mad at you, yeah? Buster: Alright Rio: and you know I don't know why you're mad at me so Buster: I'm not mad you just stress me out Rio: Never said I wouldn't Buster: I know Rio: Alright Buster: Fine Rio: Stop talking Buster: Rude Rio: Well I thought you were going? Rio: maybe you forgot how Buster: What's that meant to mean? Rio: That I'm helpful, not rude Rio: if you don't wanna talk to me, gotta stop typing Rio: simple Buster: I never said I don't wanna talk to you Rio: Now you're being purposefully headfucky Buster: Fuck off Buster: I am not Buster: You're the one who wanted me to leave Rio: No I never Rio: I just said I wouldn't Buster: Which means you want me to Buster: 'Cause you said this convo was bullshit Buster: We've both got better things to do, yeah? Rio: I did not Rio: I couldn't work out why you were suddenly full aggro Rio: If you like Buster: What do you want? Rio: Just go back to normal Buster: What the fuck does that mean? Rio: Babe, please Rio: just forget this convo ever happened and I will too, yeah? Buster: What like I'm such a cunt that it's gotta be erased? Buster: Fuck that Rio: Not what I said or meant Rio: I just don't reckon we're getting anywhere on this any time soon, right? Buster: On what though? What's your problem with me? Rio: You're not making any sense rn, that is literally it Rio: and I know you're wrecked so it won't matter tomorrow, okay? Buster: 'Cause you're so sober suddenly Buster: Fucking hell Rio: Am I having a go? No Rio: stop taking shit personal when it ain't Buster: Stop telling me how to behave Buster: What the fuck Rio: I give up Rio: Seriously Buster: No you don't Rio: What do you want me to say? Buster: Not that Buster: You don't get to just give up on me, like Rio: I ain't Rio: Honestly, I'm not telling you but I'm asking, please, take a breather Rio: I can call if you want Buster: How? It's mental here Rio: Just walk 'til it ain't Buster: Okay Rio: I love you Buster: I love you too Buster: I called Nance she's gonna be so mad Buster: Fix that for me Rio: Oh Christ Rio: what did you even say? Buster: She didn't answer so nothing Buster: I'm not leaving a voicemail like I'm dad Rio: Well, that's something Rio: She'll be fine, can't pretend she's never disgraced herself now Buster: She might reckon I've died Buster: Can't really send a follow up text like I'm alive Rio: I think she might call back herself if she did Rio: or at least let your 'rents know Buster: She'll be asleep though Buster: Fuck knows what time it is Rio: Don't worry, I've got you Rio: everyone's received a drunk dial, even your sister Buster: Don't tell me that Buster: I don't wanna think about cunts drunk dialing my sister Rio: Not like that Rio: probably off me, like Buster: Some of the girls were at the party Buster: The ones she hates Rio: Bit of a cheek init Rio: least Nance weren't there Buster: She should be here though Buster: School starts soon Rio: I know Rio: bit of a commute for her, babe Buster: You're an idiot Rio: Yeah Rio: You too Buster: You're so far away Buster: Everyone is Rio: Oh, babe Rio: not that far, honest Buster: Promise you're still coming here Rio: Of course I am Rio: Try and stop me Buster: I already have, like Buster: Being a prick to you Buster: Not that I was trying to stop you but Rio: Gonna say, surely you can do better than that Rio: You're just high, not holding it against you Buster: I just wanna hold you against me that's why Buster: The summer wasn't long enough Rio: Soon, baby Buster: Yeah Rio: I'm going bed, come with me? Buster: I'll have to kick everyone out first Buster: Wait for me Rio: 'Course Buster: [passage of time while he kicks the posh twats out] Buster: Are you still up? Rio: Just about Rio: 😴 Buster: You don't have to be now, baby Buster: We can sleep Rio: Good, I don't like sleeping without you Buster: I know Buster: Me either Buster: I'm gonna call and stay on the phone with you though, don't worry Rio: 💕

[existentialstatesofmind]

Weekend Fun

Clare: smiled at Dakota and then glanced at Stacy when she spoke. She nodded. "Okay. That makes sense, I just think I'm the one who is getting to better end of the bargain." She didn't elaborate because Dakota already knew how miserable things were at home right now and she was trying to keep Stacey out of it. "It will be. There's no point in rocking the boat until it becomes necessary." She didn't know when that was going to be. Once she turned 18, her parents wouldn't be able to use the whole Dakota having custody of a child thing to keep them apart because Dakota would no longer be a minor either and they'd no longer have a stay so in who she dated anyway. Clare knew she couldn't wait that long to tell them though. She would only be turning 16 this year. "Dad won't be home." She promised. If she had to she could tell her parents an abridged version of why Josephine couldn't come over when he was there but it probably wouldn't be necessary to complicate things further. Clare smiled at Stacy and Dakota, and nodded in agreement. Then she looked at Dakota's mom curiously when she said she was going to adopt Josephine. From what his mom was saying it might be what was best for Josephine but who knew how Josephine really felt. Family matters were complicated. If Dakota considered Josephine his sister and his mom agreed, it changed things in her mind though. Her parents couldn't dispute whatever 'story' Clare told them. Adoption was actually something her parents advocated for and respected so Clare didn't forsee them asking nosey questions about that if it were true. Not that she should be thinking about herself right now. Josephine needed out of a bad situation. Clare shrugged to say that was fine when Dakota said she'd be sleeping in his room whenever she slept over. She doubted Dakota was ready for a physical relationship after everything she'd learned about him today and he knew she wasn't. It might be uncomfortable sharing a bed but they'd get used to it. Plus she wouldn't be staying the night often. At first she was confused when they started talking about a grandmother. She didn't know their grandmother lived with them. She got why having her there full time might not be great, Clare couldn't handle more than a few weeks at a time with her grandma. Then Clare got it, their grandmother died and they thought the room was haunted. Clare couldn't help laughing. "No, I don't need to be brave and go in there. I've seen Poltergeist a dozen times so the TV cutting on by itself is kind of creepy..." She playfully poked Dakota's shoulder. "How am I supposed to impress your grandmother if I sleep in your room though, she might come in there and throw a shoe at me." Her eyes widened when Emi talked about the deceased old lady giving her candy. If she wasn't actually haunting her own room she'd obviously left a lasting impression since her family was taking good care of the room and everything in it. Clare smiled sheepishly. "Right of course not, I should've thought of that. How do tourists find their way around? We might have a really hard time even with Emi's help and a Japanese dictionary app. Of course we should be able to use our phones to get directions in English. Hopefully." She looked at the paper. Clare knew the Japanese used symbols instead of words in their language. But she certainly hadn't known what it was called or how the symbols looked. "This is really cool Emi. I've never seen anything like it." Clare told her. "How does learning sounds work? Still, it was very clever of you to figure out how many strokes you needed. You're good at drawing." Clare didn't think she would be able to learn much Kanji. French was hard enough to learn and they had the same alphabet. "I believe it, I knew the languages they use in places like Japan and China was more complex than ours and the hardest to learn but jeeze." She exclaimed to Dakota. "I don't know how I feel about octopus. Have you tried it Emi? I might like it better than I would Sushi. I hate fish so raw fish doesn't really sound appetizing to me." She admitted. "Besides if it's grilled I know they at least took the eyes out. I'm not sure about the tentacles though. Food aside, it sounds like so much fun!" She grinned. "Good idea, I bet there's a lot more to do and I wanna dance with you." Clare said shyly. If she was going to have on pretty robes they shouldn't go to waste. "I can't wait. I hope I don't embarrass you too much, Emi, because I'm going to be taking lots of photos." She chuckled. "Okay fair point. What was Time Square like, were they filming anything? But the toy stores always looked really cool on Home Alone 2, were they like that?" No wonder he got lost. "I don't need pom-poms just clapping. Aww a banner would be nice, no one's ever done that for me before." Clare beamed at him. She was lucky to have a thoughtful boyfriend. "Do you like robots?" She asked Emi hopefully. Clare returned the chaste kiss before raising an eyebrow at Dakota. "But we weren't even dating until today, someone must've been pretty confident I would say yes." She teased him. Clare kissed him again. She hadn't even known he liked her and would never have dreamed of going on a date with him. Clare followed Dakota when he carried Emi out to the car. "Of course." She said quietly. "I know where the kitchen is now so I'll put them in the icebox." Clare buckled her seat belt and reached for Dakota's hand.

Kota: nodded at Clare's words as she spoke about Jos and her parents. "She won't throw a shoe at you. She's only ever hit Bren alive and dead." Dom stated. "Let's not talk about Bren until he passes." his mom said and they nodded. "You don't really need to make an impression on her. She doesn't leave her room. Never has, so if you don't go in there, you're fine." Kota stated honestly. "I never met her and I don't plan to. I also stay in Dallas' room a lot." Stacy assured. "Plus part of Grandma's always with us." Dom said honestly. "Not really, that part of her is always in my closet. Like I want Grandma with me when I use the bathroom." Kota stated. "Part of her is in my purse." Kelly shrugged. "Am I the only one that keeps part of her with me?" Ash asked and Kota looked around. "Apparently." Dom answered. Kota listened as Clare asked Emi questions and wondered if she could answer them, though he knew if she couldn't he would. "Um..." Emi trailed off looking for words. "You know how you learn the ABC's then the sounds the letter's make?" Emi asked. "We do something like that. We learn our alphabet and the sounds they make. The symbols change when you form words just like the sounds of the letters in the ABC's change." she tried explaining and wrote " す し" on a paper and showed it to Clare. "That's the sound for Sushi. The first symbol makes the shu sound." she said and took the paper back only to write "寿司" on a paper, then showed Clare again. "And that's sushi when it's written out. I memorized the symbols off a restaurant that way I'd know momma was getting sushi for dinner." she explained. "The sounds are easier and we learn them first. We don't fully learn how to write until we finish middle school since there are over a thousand symbols that take so long to learn." she huffed the last part and thanked Clare about her drawing. Hearing her ask if she had octopus she nodded. "I only had it fried. I watched someone try to eat it still living and it looked dangerous, they couldn't get the octopus out of their mouth." she explained. "I won't eat it at restaurants because they serve them whole and they dance when you put soy sauce on it. Momma got mad because I liked to make them dance so much and wouldn't eat them." she shrugged. "As for sushi, you need to try a California roll, no fish." Kota said looking at Clare. "It's rice, seaweed, fake crab, and avocado." he added and looked at Emi. "Everyone already takes a lot of photos so it's not embarrassing." she smiled at Clare. "Yea, they were just like they were on Home Alone 2, they weren't filming when I was there though." he explained. "Everything is huge in Time Square including the pizza." he added. "I haven't seen a robot. They were only in Tokyo." She stated honestly as she ate her food. "I was hoping you'd say yes." Kota smiled into the kiss. Once Emi was buckled in, Kota held Clare's hand the entire ride home. As soon as they got home, Kota smiled and unbuckled Emi and watched everyone get out of the van. "Um, can I carry Emi?" Stacy asked catching Kota off guard and to look at her. "The light in the house is on. I really don't want to deal with Bren." Stacy whined a bit causing Kota to get out of the car and look at Dallas when he stepped by them. "Is Bren home?" he asked curiously. "No, mom's inside and there's no yelling." Dallas assured causing him to sigh in relief. "Thank goodness he's not coming home." he said honestly. "I agree." Stacy sighed in relief as well as Kota lead Clare inside. He could immediately hear his mom fiddling with stuff in the kitchen and walked there holding Emi and Clare's hand still. "Bren got expelled." his mom said honestly. "I'm putting him in public school with Ash." She added and Kota looked behind him to see Ash. "I want videos. Lots of videos." he stated. "Anyway they didn't say when they're sending Bren home. Clare, if you're here feel free to hit Bren as much as you want want." His mom stated as she started to bake. "He was switched at birth." Kota stated. "Sadly he wasn't, I did a DNA test the moment you boys came up with that theory. Mom and I started to believe he really was switched at birth." Kelly said and Kota shifted Emi a bit. "I'll take her, thinking about Bren coming home is blowing my mood. Cuddling with Emi tonight will take my mind off it, just get me her pajamas." Kelly said to Kota and he let go of Clare's hand to get Emi's pajamas for his sister. Once he got back he handed Kelly the pajamas and took Clare's hand. "I'm done with worrying about Bren coming home. We have one day of peace left and I plan on spending it with Clare and Emi. I'll worry about what to do with him after he comes home." Kota stated and started to walk to his room with Clare, picking up the bag for her as they walked. Once they got to his room, he shut the door behind them and took off his slippers, then his shirt. "The bathroom's right here." he said opening a door that has a sign that has Japanese writing on it. "The sign says bathroom since Emi mistook the closet next to it for the bathroom since the doors are the same." he said honestly as he stepped inside and took out a small box. "There are tooth brushes in here, take your pick, we don't have pink though." he said knowing there were all the other colors but pink and a lot of styles and brands. "I'll be out here when you're done." he said and shut the door behind him as he left. While he was waiting for Clare to finish, he changed into his pajama bottoms and got a blanket for Clare, then laid on his bed and covered up in his black blanket.

#wf