#done with seeing it in my queue so it's up a little early today

[torukmaktoskxawng]

'anla - part seven

Series Masterlist Summary: The next generation is getting ready to complete their Iknimaya. Ao'nung and Y/n aren't exactly hiding, but people are finally noticing. Pairing: Ao'nung/Fem!Na'vi!Sully Reader Warnings: Mature language, overprotective parent, heated arguments, heated gazes (in a sexy way), fluff, coming of age, mentions of mating, mentions of drowning and death, etc posted on ao3 Word Count: 8k+ Tag: #'anla ao'nung fic Na'vi Words: Marui - house/pod, ilu - plesiosaur like animal, tulkun - whale like animal, skxawng - moron, akula - shark like animal, olo'eyktan - clan leader, ma'yawntu - my love, paskalin - honey, syulang - flower, tìyawn - love, tsahik - spiritual leader, tswin/kuru - queue braid, tsakarem - tsahik in training, tsurak - skimwing, ikran - mountain banshee, tsaheylu - the bond, swoa - intoxicating beverage, oel ngati kameie - I See you, ma'yawntutsyìp - my darling, nantang - viperwolf, ma'ite - my daughter, taronyu - hunter Taglist (bold indicates "could not tag"): @bangtanxberm @aonungmyaddiction @lv9su @aisselasstuff @yourusername1 @amortencjja @king-julian6201 @gg-trini @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @mikeyswifie @heart-an0n @iloveavatar @urdads-gf  @kentfisherswifee6 @sakurayuki8655-blog @ken-zah @nilrilie @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r @iovemoonyy @sopluto @frvv A/N: Two chapters in just two days??? Anyway, like I said the last chapter, I had to split my writing into two parts since it was getting to be over 10,000 words, so here is the next part!

The trip back to the village was a quiet one, Y/n's mind still reeling about her conversation with Neteyam. Jake thankfully didn't ask and acted as a pillar of strength when they returned home. He made one look at Neytiri and she opted out of saying anything, gladly letting her husband and her daughter return to the marui but not before she held them both in her arms out of relief that things would be alright between them. Y/n went to bed early, exhausted from all of the events of the day that resulted in the grief come bouncing back. If she woke up in the middle of the night to find herself in a cuddle pile of both Na'vi and human siblings, she didn't mention it, and none of the Sullys made any comments the following morning. Everyone was just happy that bonds were mending and hearts were healing. They were one step closer to feeling like a family again.

Lo'ak was visibly more comfortable walking beside Y/n that morning, knowing that she and their father had talked, and was happy to no longer walk on eggshells around either of them. Y/n appeared more relaxed as well, despite receiving some odd-looking glares from nearby Metkayina girls. To ignore the stares and lighten the mood a little more, Y/n shoved her little brother into the water before he could even blink. The resulting splash sent Y/n laughing and Lo'ak sputtering when his resurfaced, vowing revenge. It was then that Ao'nung and Rotxo showed up, grinning down at Lo'ak's predicament while standing beside Y/n.

"Quit messing around, Lo'ak," Ao'nung teased good-naturedly, "We got work to do today."

Lo'ak frowned, slightly embarrassed but summoned an ilu for himself. The other teens do the same and they head out to work, all the while Rotxo explains today's task to the Sully children, "When training to be a warrior among the Metkayina, you have to ride an ilu to chase away predators that threaten the young."

"Bro, we used ilu to rescue a tulkun and fought against Sky People," Lo'ak retorts, "I think that should count."

"He's got a point," Y/n added, "I think we rescued plenty of our young doing that."

Lo'ak squints his eyes in his sister's direction, "I couldn't tell if that was sarcastic or not."

"Figure it out, skxawng."

"It is all about tradition," Ao'nung explained, "I am sure the Elders would appreciate us keeping up with old traditions despite we have done enough to become warriors ten times over already despite our young age."

"So we're only doing this to impress a bunch of old people?" Lo'ak questioned with an added groan, getting splashed by Y/n in the process.

"Lo, for someone who just tries to fit in--"

"I know, I know," he waved her off half-heartedly.

"I'd like to see you talk that way to Grandmother."

A bit of color drains from Lo'ak's face, but otherwise he says nothing. Ao'nung laughed as they leisurely swayed in the water, leaning over in Lo'ak's direction, "They say that the Elders see and hear all. I would watch my back if I were you, Lo'ak te Suli. Maybe make a necklace for them as an apology."

Y/n laughs while Rotxo's smile slowly turns up into a mischievous grin, eyeing Ao'nung while opening his mouth, his eyes all-knowing, "Speaking of necklaces, that is a very nice arrowhead, Y/n. Akula?"

Ao'nung spun to glare at Rotxo in warning while Y/n briefly pressed a finger to the arrowhead she had yet to take off. She quickly retracts her touch and pointedly doesn't look at Rotxo, "Yes, thank you."

By now, Lo'ak is also staring at the necklace, eyes widening each time his brain puts another piece of the puzzle together, head tilting to Ao'nung, then Y/n, then back again. Rotxo could see Lo'ak's realization slowly dawning on his face and decided not to let up for the sake of teasing his friend, "Did you make it? Or was it given to you?"

"The necklace is mine... the tooth was a gift."

"Oh? From who?" Rotxo's big eyes practically sparkle with mirth, staring directly at Lo'ak as he adds, "You know, speaking of tradition, usually when a Na'vi gifts another something as special as that, it means they are courting--"

"I think we should split up on our patrol," Lo'ak abruptly states, briefly glaring daggers at Ao'nung while urging his ilu forward to swim beside Rotxo, "As I am about ready to strangle both of you, I will be going with Rotxo."

"Sure," Ao'nung shrugged, "Meet back here around midday?"

"Alright. See ya then."

Ao'nung and Y/n watch Lo'ak and Rotxo speed their ilu up and swim away, jumping in and out of the water before disappearing on the horizon. The pair waits until they are completely alone before Y/n flashes a side-eye glance in Ao'nung's direction, "You told Rotxo?"

"I didn't tell him anything," he defends, "But practically everyone has been asking. They all probably know."

"Yeah... 'Teyam used to tease me about it." She smiled sadly at the memory.

"Did he? I was so sure he would have killed me."

"No, he was the brother you didn't have to worry about," she huffed a small laugh, "Lo'ak and Spider on the other hand... well, you've been punched by the one before, and Spider might be more level-headed but you have never seen him truly angry."

A small glimmer flashed in Ao'nung's eyes, a wave of respect for the human boy washing over him, "That's intriguing."

She snorts quietly, her eyes returning to the spot where the other pair of teenagers disappeared, "I'm pretty sure Lo'ak has known about us for a while, maybe before I even knew there was an 'us.' So I wouldn't worry about him. He's just acting like a child."

She raises an eyebrow when Ao'nung emits a small growl, "Maybe your brother should worry about me if what I heard about him and Tsireya is true."

"Oh, please. They have been fond of each other since the day they met, don't act like you didn't notice." Y/n rolled her eyes.

"I am going to kill him."

"You will do no such thing if you know what's good for you," she glared dangerously back, though Ao'nung noted that it was not as heated or as threatening as her usual glares, "You cannot hate him for seeing your sister and then turn around to see his. Besides, I think your mother doesn't mind it after she and I talked that one time we were foraging. She heard my side of things and I think she actually approves of Lo'ak and Tsireya now."

Ao'nung goes back to that day when he found Y/n and his mother walking out of the forest together, his ears sheepishly pinning back against his skull when he remembered what had happened after Y/n had left, "My mother asked about you."

Y/n's eyes widened, "She did?"

"And she tells my father everything, so..."

"Same here. I think our sisters know, but they are not saying anything. They would take it to their grave if we asked them." Y/n smiles to herself.

"It wouldn't matter. This whole village is full of spinsters," Ao'nung snidely comments, "Everyone's business is everyone's business."

He watched as the gears openly turned in Y/n's head, her eyes looking to the sky while she asked, "... Is that why there were girls staring at me down by the docks this morning?"

"I do not know," initially, he shrugs, but she watches as Ao'nung's eyes slowly start to sparkle as his teasing grin reemerges, "Maybe they are jealous."

"Jealous?"

"Of course," he flaunts dramatically, "Jealous that a forest girl from a faraway place managed to steal the future olo'eyktan out from under their noses."

Her scowl immediately pitches into a laugh when he reaches over and briefly grabs her tail. Y/n pulled away from him before he could do it again, still laughing while trying to evade his hand.

They urge their ilu to swim a bit more after that, chasing one another playfully until they get to their next spot for patrol. By the time they got there, Ao'nung noticed that Y/n was staring off into space and looking a little unsure of herself, "What is it?"

Her eyes and ears lower, gaze pointedly staring down at her hands, "We mentioned honoring tradition earlier, then just now you reminded me of your stature. Maybe the Elders wouldn't appreciate the chief's son choosing a forest girl over one of their own."

Ao'nung scoffed, "The Elders don't care about that sort of thing. You are Na'vi. That's all that matters to them."

"But even you didn't think we were true Na'vi," her eyes flick up to his and his blood turned cold under her stare, "Not when we first arrived."

He slouched, ears drooping while his eyes softened into regret, fingers twitching with the need to reach out to her, but remained in his lap, "I was wrong."

"Maybe. But there are others who still think the same way you did. They still look at me, Lo'ak, and Kiri and think we are freaks. I am pretty sure even Tuk has more friends than us because she at least looks Na'vi."

"That is not why she has more friends," Ao'nung tries to smile, "Tuk is Tuk."

Y/n hums to herself, feeling one corner of her mouth twitch at the fond thought of her baby sister, "That's true."

"You..." Her eyes flick back up to Ao'nung when his voice didn't sound very confident. He wouldn't look her in the eyes, clearly feeling out of his comfort zone. She patiently waited for him to speak, occupying herself by watching drips of water fall off his brow or glisten in his hair, the sun reflecting off his wet braids like diamonds. Y/n's chest squeezed, but it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling. It was warm and it was spreading over her like a comforting blanket that her mother would leave beside the fire. Her thoughts are disrupted when Ao'nung finally finds the courage to look up, "You have never once doubted yourself like that. Lo'ak and Kiri sometimes still look at themselves and hate what they see, but not you. You've never doubted yourself, Y/n, so why start now?"

"It doesn't matter whether or not I despise how I look," she carefully answers, feeling small and scrutinized under his disbelieving gaze, "It matters what everyone else would think if they knew you were courting a deformed freak."

"You are not deformed."

"No?" She bitterly questioned, frowning as she lifted up her hand to him, purposely wiggling her pinky finger, "This doesn't freak you out? It is alien."

"So what?" He reached out for her hand, "An extra finger just means there is more of you to hold."

The response stuns her to the point she didn't react when Ao'nung slipped his hand into hers. Looking down, she stared at their joined hands, fingers wrapped around one another in an ornament of two different colors. Looking back, their skin tones complimented each other beautifully together, and the contrast just made sense. Y/n was still amazed about how big Ao'nung's hand was compared to hers, despite being the same age. Once those thoughts vanish, all that's left are Ao'nung's smooth words and the color slowly rising in her ears.

Y/n scoffs, trying to play it off, "Do you think yourself charming?"

Ao'nung grinned, "Only for you, ma'yawntu."

The term of endearment surprises her out of a laugh, playfully horrified, "Eywa, no."

"Paskalin?"

"Stop."

"Syulang?"

"Please, you are embarrassing."

"I got all day, tìyawn." Ao'nung laughed, "What would you like me to call you?"

"How about my name?" She asked sarcastically.

His smile was wide, bright, and downright beautiful. It took all of Y/n's willpower not to melt right then and there, "Of course, Forest Girl. It's what I prefer anyway."

"I'm sure it is, Seaweed Brain."

~~~~~~~~~

Ronal's baby was born in the traditional way, in a water birth ceremony called the First Breath, where the whole clan gathers around in shallow water to celebrate. Now, normally the tsahik would help the mother guide her newborn to the surface to take its first breath, but seeing as Ronal was the one expecting, one village healer and Tsireya were chosen to help her. This was a new kind of ceremony for the Sullys so they hadn't fully participated until after the baby was born, then they proceeded to celebrate with the rest of the Metkayina.

Kailani was a beautiful baby girl and everyone adored her. Nearly everyone wanted to see her and hold her. As the newest baby in the village, she had earned herself a lot of attention and was loved by all, especially her older brother and sister. Ao'nung was little enough that he couldn't remember when Tsireya was born, and Tsireya had always been the youngest, so this was the first time either of the chief's children experienced what it was like to have a new baby in the family... and it showed.

This became obvious a month into Kailani's life when Tuk came out of nowhere and started to drag Y/n and Kiri by their hands toward Ronal and Tonowari's marui, "Come on, come on! I wanna see the baby!"

The teen girls reluctantly follow their little sister, smiling fondly at Tuk's excitement. It was adorable to see that Tuk didn't have much experience with babies either. Approaching the pod, it was obvious neither tsahik nor olo'eyktan was home, and yet there were soft cries coming out of the marui. Tuk drops her sisters' hands and runs in while Y/n and Kiri dutifully follow. Walking inside, they find Tsireya and Ao'nung sitting close together, appearing a little worried and exhausted while looking down at the small baby lying in her big brother's arms. Both of the reef teenagers looked up when they heard someone enter, and Tsireya waved them over, "Have either of you seen our mother?"

Kiri and Y/n exchange a look before the former responds, "She's in the healer's hut. A warrior came in all scraped up from getting thrown against the coral reef."

"What is wrong?" Y/n asked.

"She won't stop crying," Tsireya admits shamefully, looking a little distraught, "We do not know why. We fed and changed her, but--"

"Have my sisters help," Tuk confidently offers without missing a beat, proud at her idea, "They know about babies. They helped Mama take care of me when I was little."

Tsireya and Ao'nung pointedly look up at the older Sully sisters, their eyes desperately pleading. Kiri was initially going to scoff at Tuk for her idea before Y/n wordlessly stepped forward and knelt down in front of Ao'nung. One look and she could tell why Kailani was so upset. Her tiny body wasn't exactly held close to Ao'nung's body but was instead held in his arms and in his lap. It didn't look comfortable and Y/n pitied the child.

"Here," Y/n offered, leaning over and helping Ao'nung adjust his hold on his baby sister, having him lift Kailani up from his lap and making sure he kept supporting her neck, "Babies need a lot of skin-to-skin contact at the beginning of their lives. It helps them bond with their mothers and other members of their family."

Y/n helps Ao'nung lift Kai until she's nestled snugly against his chest, her face protected in the crook of his neck. Almost immediately, the baby calms down, trying to bury her cold little nose into her brother's warm skin. Ao'nung is unable to speak or look away from Y/n, his ears only perking up as a sign he is listening when she keeps on explaining, "Try not to pinch her tswin. Without any hair to protect it yet, the tswin can be extra sensitive."

Kiri smiled softly to herself as Y/n continued to list several things Tsireya and Ao'nung could do, both of them listening with intense determination, all the while Kiri could only think about her older sister. It really was a shame that Y/n didn't want to take on the role of tsakarem, instead passing it along to Kiri when her adopted sister had shown an interest. Y/n still remembered a thing or two about healing from when Mo'at had begun to teach her, but from what Kiri understood, Y/n would get easily distracted and would beg their grandmother to dismiss her so she could go find Neteyam and train alongside him to become a warrior. Mo'at eventually gave in, fondly stating how Y/n was just like her mother, then proceeded to name Kiri her successor.

While Y/n may not like the method of healing and preferred hunting, she was still pretty knowledgeable when it was needed, and as Tuk said, she and Kiri remembered what it was like having a new baby in the family. Tsireya and Ao'nung appeared incredibly grateful for Y/n... but Kiri couldn't help but grin under her hand while looking at the way Ao'nung was staring at her older sister. The way his mouth formed such a secretive smile without the intention of showing it, his eyes subtly falling from Y/n's eyes to watch her lips as she spoke before flicking back up to her eyes before anyone would notice. But Kiri noticed, and she eventually had to look away because she felt as though she was intruding on something so intimate.

Rotxo had told Kiri and Spider about the mysterious arrowhead-shaped tooth that suddenly appeared around Y/n's neck one day, but the adopted Sullys didn't want to believe it. Lo'ak had scoffed, rolling his eyes and refusing to talk about it, but Neytiri had overheard and had this all-knowing smile on her face as she cooked over the hearth when her children walked back into the marui after bidding Rotxo goodnight. Jake and Tuk were none the wiser but Kiri had a feeling that her father was like Lo'ak, trying to ignore that something was clearly going on between Ao'nung and Y/n. Now, it was more obvious than ever.

~~~~~~~~~

While Y/n had not been able to complete all of her rites of passage alongside Rotxo and Ao'nung, she and the other Sully children still cheered them on and celebrated alongside them, especially after watching in amazement to see how a young Metkayina must finish certain challenges alongside their bonded tulkun brother or sister. After finishing those trials, along with taming their own skimwings, Ao'nung and Rotxo were gifted a special article of clothing, their first tattoo as warriors of the clan, and three beads for their songcords. Everyone was proud of the reef boys, now celebrated as young men among their People.

Next was going to be Y/n. She was determined to follow suit, as were Lo'ak and Kiri. They went out to practice for their trials every day, playfully competing with one another. Whilst Kiri was planning on becoming a healer in the tribe, she still wanted to tame a tsurak as her rite of passage and receive a Metkayina tattoo meant to signify healing. Jake and Neytiri were not sure how to feel about three of their children rushing toward adulthood, but they were supportive either way. The older Sully children tried very hard not to exclude Spider in the many training exercises, but he goodnaturedly shooed them away and told them to have fun and train hard. He may not be able to follow them, but he will still cheer them on from the sidelines, being there in spirit.

Lo'ak passed his trial with Payakan with flying colors, and now he and his sisters would move on to taming their own tsurak. Kiri did so with ease, her attachment to Eywa helping her befriend the mighty skimwing instead of mastering it. All of her siblings cheered for her from the docks, watching her disappear to wander with her new friend beyond the sea wall. Lo'ak was determined to go next, and while it looked a little rocky at times, he too, mastered his own warrior's mount, and Jake yelped and whooped proudly for his son. Lo'ak also left the safety of the lagoon to explore with his new friend and likely introduce him to Payakan.

When it was Y/n's turn to go tame a skimwing, Ao'nung approached her and spoke quietly under his breath, "Remember. The tsurak are temperamental creatures. Much like an ikran, you have to work hard to form a strong and loyal bond with them."

"Got it," Y/n nodded in acknowledgment, wrapping leather around her knuckles per her father's advice. Speaking of whom, Jake was approaching his daughter so Ao'nung simply nodded his head toward Toruk Makto and walked away to stand beside his own father.

Jake narrowed his eyes as he watched Ao'nung leave before softening his gaze and speaking down to his firstborn, "You're your mother's daughter. That makes you the best flyer and hunter on an ikran, so this will be a cakewalk for you. Tonowari told me that the ikran and the tsurak share a distant ancestor, so it's easy to see where they get their stubbornness from. You know how to tame stubbornness. You'll be a pro at this."

Y/n tried her very best not to visibly shrink up under her father's advice and praise. She wants to stand tall and proud under his words of affirmation now that they're starting to see eye-to-eye, but it is still a work in progress. She's not used to her father being so encouraging as of late, due to him stressing out over the war, moving away, and losing a son, so it was still a big step that needed adjusting. So, Y/n instead smiled widely up at her father and whispered a small thank you before rushing over to get the tsahik and olo'eyktan's blessing.

Ronal and Tonowari bid Y/n good luck with their own hidden smiles while Tsireya shared her confidence for her friend and lifted Kailani's arm up to wave at the Sully girl for encouragement. Ao'nung flashed his forest girl his own secret smile and a small nod, barely noticeable to the naked eye. Y/n practically beamed and with a new wave of confidence, turned and ran down the long dock to the very end, diving gracefully into the water.

All forms of sealife greet her underwater, her breath held as she forced herself not to get distracted. Since that fateful day against the Sky People, Y/n had been training herself to hold her breath longer, hoping to never have to worry anyone over her drowning ever again, not wanting to be a burden. Without wasting any time, she called out for a skimwing to approach her.

She had managed to find a school of fish Ao'nung told her was the tsurak's favorite snack, so she swam close to the fish and continued to call out, her heart singing when her strategy worked and a familiar beast gradually glided toward her, its powerful, scaled body creating a disturbance in the water. Looking like a Terran gharial, the tsurak approached with purpose and demanded to be respected, other small fish species quickly scattering to avoid it. With its long, sword-like snout, it gave itself personal space, and with its beady, soulless eyes, it analyzed Y/n. For an animal that was nearly domesticated with the Metkayina, Y/n wasn't worried about whether or not the creature deemed her as a threat, but then again, she looked different compared to all the other Na'vi the tsurak likely grew up with, and it was possible the skimwing could smell the part of her that descends from demons.

Y/n didn't take the kind and befriending approach as Kiri did. That form of taming only works for someone as Eywa-blessed at Y/n's adopted sister. Instead, she kept herself between the beast and its likely prey, the schoolfish behind her. The threat was clear. If it wanted to eat, the tsurak would have to go through her first.

The reptilian-looking fish didn't appear insulted by the threat and leisurely swayed side to side, jaw gradually opening and closing to breathe while stuck in place, showing off its small rows of razor-sharp teeth while staring Y/n down and waiting for the right opening to strike. Y/n slowly and carefully pulled her kuru braid over her shoulder all the while keeping her eyes locked on the tsurak. As they continued with this ocean version of a standoff, Y/n gradually began to inch forward, only moving in small, very slow strokes of water.

When she got too close, the tsurak opened its jaws and snapped down, quick as lightning, but Y/n was prepared for it. Much like taming an ikran, she quickly moved out of the way before the creature could bite her head off and, using her knuckles and palms now wrapped in leather, clamped down on the jaws of the creature, keeping it shut with as much muscle she could muster while using her newly found momentum to quickly swim onto the skimwing's back, never letting go. Knowing she would only have a second before the creature was no longer stunned, Y/n let go of the jaw with one hand and quickly grabbed her braid, immediately forming the tsaheylu.

The beast wiggled and then paused, swaying calmly back and forth as the connection was made. With her lungs slightly beginning to burn, Y/n didn't panic but also didn't hesitate to give the creature the order to resurface, now letting her other hand let go of the tsurak's snout in good faith. She promises to let the tsurak eat, later, if he swam up for air.

As quick as a bullet, the tsurak follows its new rider's order, shooting up through the water at great speed. Y/n nearly forgot to hang on tight, clamping her thighs down on the creature's back as tight as she could, her ears beginning to pop at the very sudden water pressure as they rose higher toward the surface. Sunlight was coming in fast and, before she knew it, Y/n was out of the water, leaping through the air, and plunging back into the ocean, all while still holding on tightly to the back of her very own tsurak. The beast resurfaces more gently this time and stays leisurely swimming above the water, giving Y/n much-needed time to breathe. She smiles when she can hear scattered cheering from the beach and docks but keeps on task, trying to stay focused. She has yet to fly with her new ride.

Adjusting her grip on the creature, she gives her new order, clenching her thighs again while preparing for the powerful beast's ascent. The tsurak begins to speed up, faster and faster until it's zipping through the water like a ship. Eventually, it gains enough momentum and the creature lets out its wings, extending them until they begin to catch air, and then the body rises out of the water. Y/n hangs on tight, stamping down the anxiety in her gut, sharing her determination and willpower through her new bond so the skimwing knows she means business. There is no room for failure.

The tsurak doesn't stumble, doesn't break, and doesn't lose focus. As they sail, the pair sails gracefully without a single wiggle or wobble. Y/n can faintly hear cheering in the distance but doesn't let it phase her. One more test. She gives the order and holds her breath, immediately bending down and pressing her body tightly against the creature's back.

The tsurak retracts its wings and points its snout down, briefly falling through the air before diving straight into the water below. The impact and mighty force of it all was much more powerful than riding an ilu, and Y/n had to hold on for dear life. Water rushed through her ears and she squinted her eyes in order to see better, but she held on and she held firmly. She would rather get her arm pulled off than let go, so she held on tighter, her leather wraps doing the trick to give her a better grip. One last order and Y/n feels the pair of them shooting back up through the water and into the air again, and this time, Y/n hoots triumphantly at the top of her lungs, hanging on tightly with one hand but throwing her other fist in the air, her trial complete.

Several people are cheering with her on the beach and in the water. Spider, Tuk, and Jake are whooping and hollering like party animals, ecstatic for their daughter and sister. Ao'nung and Rotxo are cheering alongside them, along with several other Metkayina watching the event. Y/n beams proudly at all of them from a distance, then proceeds to follow Kiri and Lo'ak's lead and head for open waters.

Ao'nung is smiling just as proudly from the beach, and once Y/n takes off, so does he. The chief's son immediately breaks into a sprint down the side of the beach, diving into the water before another word can be said. Once below the surface, he calls for his own skimwing and takes off after the Sully girl.

The only one who appeared to notice Ao'nung slip away was Neytiri, but she appeared to be smiling as she watched the reef boy chase after her daughter. A brief wave of déjà vu washed over her as she watched until she couldn't see either tsurak anymore. She smiled fondly, proud and filled with unimaginable joy as she had witnessed history repeat itself, much like it had with her when she first chased after Jake on their ikran.

The new warriors do not stay out for long. When eclipse comes, Y/n, Ao'nung, Lo'ak, and Kiri return for the Sully children's ceremony. The sunlight disappears and it's replaced with a bioluminescent glow everywhere, as far as the eyes could see. Lo'ak, Y/n, and Kiri stand before Ronal and Tonowari as they are presented with their rewards, their article of clothing, and the beads for their songcords to signify this triumphant milestone of adulthood. The Na'vi believe that every person is born twice and the second time is when a Na'vi finds his or her place among the People forever.

Once Ronal and Tonowari bestow the three Sullys their first tattoos, they were officially one with the Metkayina, marked with warrior and healer ink. Everyone gathered around the new young adults and congratulated them, making room for the parents to squeeze their way through the crowd and finally gather their children up. Neytiri held her children against her, joyous tears in her eyes even as her heart broke, mourning their childhoods but celebrating their futures. Jake held his children just as tightly but didn't make a sound, afraid of what would come out if he tried to talk.

The ceremony gave way to celebration, large bonfires lining up and down the beach, the flames rising high into the night sky, embers blinking down on Eywa's children along with the stars above. The Metkayina dance together in wide circles around the fires, conjoined in several different rings, moving in opposite directions as they sang, talked, laughed, ate, and drank to their hearts' content.  

Y/n found herself dancing around a fire that was shared by most of the newest warriors of the tribe, people around her own age, and her brother and Kiri. There were so many fires along the beach, however, so it would be nearly impossible to find out which ones her other family members were socializing at, hidden among the chaotic crowds of flailing limbs and boisterous songs. She allowed herself to let loose and cared little about what others thought of her, letting the swoa warm her stomach and the fire her skin. She stuck close to Kiri and Tsireya for a short while before the chief's daughter ran off to find Lo'ak. Y/n and Kiri playfully rolled their eyes before the latter decided to turn in for the night-- which is just code for she was going to keep Spider company so their adopted brother didn't feel left out. Y/n let her sister go without complaint, giving her a brief hug and voicing how proud she was of her. Kiri smiled brightly under the praise and took off, leaving Y/n's heart feeling warm as well. Getting roped back into dancing, Y/n danced without a care in the world, not bothered by whether or not she looked bad, and sang with the others until she was breathless. The celebration was getting to be too disorderly with everyone having so much fun that faces had begun to blur and sometimes when people danced, they were spinning too fast to figure out their bearings. 

But Y/n let her feet carry her to her intended destination, and that was right into Ao'nung's arms. With her family elsewhere and other Metkayina having too much fun to otherwise gape at the sight, Y/n danced with the chief's son for practically the whole night, tired and out of breath, but never wanting to stop. She couldn't help it. With the fire lighting one side of his face and the bioluminescent ocean lighting the other, Ao'nung looked ethereal, and Y/n couldn't stop her rapidly beating heart even if she wanted to.  

Ao'nung only looked at her, never caring about who saw them, his smile gentle and eyes proud, not helping the flips Y/n's stomach was taking. Her body felt like it was on fire in the best way possible under his gaze, and maybe it was the lighting, maybe it was the liquid courage, or maybe it was the way he was looking at her, but her mind was open and her voice was knocked loose from her throat as she pulled her reef boy close to her and whispered so only he could hear the words that she knew, deep down, were only meant for him, "Ao'nung. Oel ngati kameie."

Ao'nung's eyes briefly widened, mouth falling open in shock, yet he couldn't take a breath in. The fire didn't help the blooming fire in the forest girl's yellow eyes, piercing up at his and leaving him breathless, unable to come up for air. She didn't look afraid or even bothered by his reaction, instead, she smiled, a little cheekily, as if she could see just how much she affected him. Slowly, he comes back to his senses, a smile slowly creeping up his lips once more. His hands gently cup both sides of her face, marveling at how her entire head fit perfectly in his palms, while her reasonably smaller hands move to hold his sides, keeping his body close to hers. Ao'nung leans in, taking a small breath in through his nose, memorizing her scent before he gently fits his lips against hers, to which she responds in kind. The kiss tasted like sea salt and swoa, but neither complained, closing their eyes and reveling in their closeness.

Despite her lessons, Y/n regrettably needed to pull away for air, and when the kiss broke, her soft pants ghosted across Ao'nung's skin, hot and prickly, and when her eyes opened, she stared up at him through her eyelashes, cheeks slightly flushed. It took a tremendous amount of willpower to relax his body, his heart racing to the tempo of drums playing somewhere in the crowd. Eventually, his mind clears and he manages to find words again, leaning his forehead into his forest girl's.

"Ma'yawntutsyìp Y/n. Oel ngati kameie."

~~~~~~~~~

Neytiri sees everything when it comes to her children, especially her firstborn daughter. That girl is a spitting image of the mother who birthed her, except for the little human features she inherited from her father, so Neytiri often knew what was going on in Y/n's head because she had been in her daughter's footsteps. Neytiri was young once. She knew what it was like to be in love.

Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite had seen the lingering glances, the stares when the other wasn't looking, and the smiles that were only shared between each other. Furthermore, Neytiri had noticed the arrowhead on Y/n's necklace the second she came home that day, and then the mother noticed Ao'nung anxiously waiting to get out there and chase her daughter into the sea astride their tsurak. And of course, even in the vast crowds lining the beach the night of Y/n's ceremony, Neytiri could see the young pair kissing, unbothered by the amount of people around them. It felt as though no one had seen them but her. 

And yet, she had not said a word. Much like Y/n and Ao'nung's sisters, Neytiri intended to take their secret to the grave if it meant seeing her eldest daughter smile again. Sure, Neytiri was fiercely protective of her children, but she would never refuse her child when it came to whatever made them happy... especially after she had lost Neteyam.

So Neytiri kept quiet and just watched from a distance. Now that three of her children were seen as adults among the Metkayina, their tattoos a physical sign as such, she wasn't gonna go around telling them what to do anymore and just enjoyed their company while it lasted. After all, soon they will choose men or women to be with... and not long after that, Neytiri will find her marui emptier than the day before.

One fateful day, Neytiri found herself alone with Y/n in their family pod, cooking some fish over the fire to prepare meals for the rest of the Sullys to take with them throughout the day. It was a quiet and comfortable morning until Ao'nung showed up, respectfully greeting Neytiri before asking Y/n if she would like to join the other warriors on a hunt that afternoon.

Y/n perked up at the offer, her smile brightening under Ao'nung's gaze. Wordlessly, she nudges Neytiri's shoulder with her forehead, and her mother leans into the touch before the daughter draws away and stands up. Y/n briefly grabs Ao'nung's arm before diving into the water with the intention of having him follow her. Ao'nung stayed a second longer, lingering in the doorway of Neytiri's home when he noticed the woman staring at him. Despite wanting her daughter's happiness, Neytiri also wants her daughter to be safe, so she briefly glares at the chief's son before simply looking back down at her task, "If she gets hurt, I pluck your eyes out."

For some reason, he knew she wasn't talking about the hunting party.

That same night, during communal dinner, Neytiri could see just how obvious Ao'nung and Y/n looked. Instead of sitting with her family, Y/n sat with his, conversing between him and Tsireya without a care in the world. Occasionally, the chief's son would try to sneak a kiss on the forest girl's cheek, hiding it by pretending to whisper in her ear. Y/n would smile shyly, her pinky finger subtly reaching out for his hand whilst she talked to his sister.

This time, Neytiri wasn't the only one who noticed, and she cursed herself for not trying to distract her husband sooner instead of openly gawking at the young pair with him. The moment Ao'nung reached for Y/n's pinky finger, Neytiri could feel her husband tense up beside her. Immediately, she knew what was about her happen once her mate quickly stood up and she was helpless to stop it. 

"Jake--" She had gotten up as well but it was too late. Her mate had already stormed off in the direction of their daughter. Several eyes throughout the communal meal turned in their direction and Neytiri could feel their stares prickling along her back, her other children now aware of something wrong when she stood.

"Mama?" Tuk asked.

The older Sully children immediately clock the situation once they follow their mother's gaze, seeing their father clearly out for blood as he beelines for the chief's family. Spider immediately scrambles to his feet, "Shit--"

Neytiri didn't know whether to hiss at or agree with Spider's observation, her feet taking her to where Jake was going, the rest of her children now standing up to follow her as well, abandoning their meals. Neytiri would not make it in time, but even from where she was, she could hear the commotion already starting when Jake reached down and grabbed Y/n's arm, pulling her to her feet and away from Ao'nung, "Alright, young lady. Time to talk."

"Dad, what--"

Ao'nung immediately rose to his feet without thinking. Neytiri almost pitied him, "Sir--"

Jake's glare fell on Ao'nung, his voice dropping low to a tone only the military side of him could produce, "And you, boy. Did you mate with my daughter?"

"Dad!"

Y/n's exclamation further drew the attention of the tsahik and olo'eyktan, along with even more Metkayina sitting around the growing commotion. Neytiri could see Ronal and Tonowari stand up as well, their eyes only on Jake and their son, dread forming in her gut at the idea of what might happen next. Ronal handed Kailani over to Tsireya and marched with her mate over to the confrontation as Jake continued to talk down to her son. 

"And whatever you say better be the answer I'm hoping for, young man. So choose your words wisely."

Neytiri finally reached her husband and grabbed his arm, opening her mouth to try and get him to calm down while the rest of their children stood around them and simply observed with worried glances. Ao'nung glared only at Jake, his shoulders squared back, and stepped up no doubt to defiantly say something stupid before Y/n stopped him from where she stood behind her father.

"Ao'nung," she warned loudly, to which his eyes flicked to hers at the sound of her voice.

Time stilled as everyone turned to Y/n, waiting to hear what she had to say, even her father. She didn't look at anyone else other than her lover. All Y/n had to do was flatten her ears and just ever so slightly tilt her head, eyes locked on his the whole time for Ao'nung to get the message, loud and clear. His shoulders lower and visibly calms himself under her stare, and in response, Ao'nung merely nods. The young Metkayina backed down, stepping away from Toruk Makto and glancing off to the side, eyes and ears lowered like an injured nantang pup. Jake's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, glancing between Ao'nung and his daughter, trying to figure out what had just happened.

From beside Lo'ak, Kiri silently gasps behind her hand as she whispers to the younger brother, "Oh, my Eywa. He's so whipped for her."

"Bro-- shut up," Lo'ak hissed back, glaring at his sister's tiny amused smile while Spider laughed under his breath.

Jake didn't have time to berate his other children as he shook off his confusion and his wife's arm, letting go of Y/n's bicep but keeping her frozen to the spot under his cold, scrutinizing glare, "Look at me, young lady," she refused at first, eyes flicking elsewhere in shame and fear, "Look at me."

Her frown twitches just as the fear dissipates, her usual distaste for authority returning. Her eyes harden as she purposely and slowly glares up at her father through her eyebrows, her entire posture now defiant and standing strong against him.

Either Jake didn't notice this subtle change in body language or he didn't care, glaring right back at her, "Tell me the truth. It's a simple yes or no. Did you mate with him?"

She flashed her fangs, grinding out her response between her teeth, "No, sir."

"Do you plan on it?"

"I do not see how that is any of your business anymore."

"Y/n, where I'm from, you're still too young to have a family," he points back to Ao'nung without ever taking his eyes off his daughter, "And he is the chief's son--"

"You can't tell me who I can or cannot be with when Mom went against everyone and everything she believed in to be with you," her tone was strong and accusatory, throwing Jake into a state of shock as he nearly stumbles back. Y/n stood strong against her father, her words bold and as destructive as a tsunami wave, "I would not exist if you hadn't gone off and mated with the chief's daughter so don't you dare try to sound as if you are above such scandal." 

"Oh, snap," Spider muttered, earning an elbow to his chest from Lo'ak.

The entire commotion had been driven to silence, everyone waiting with bated breath as to what would happen next. Neytiri felt both fear and pride for her daughter, again, feeling history repeat itself through the eyes of her child. Tonowari finally broke the silence and the stand-off by stepping between Jake and Y/n and placing a comforting hand on Toruk Makto's shoulder, all the while pointedly staring at each and every Na'vi who was openly watching the family feud, "I think it is time for everyone to return to their meals."

Ronal backs up her mate's demand by glaring at all the bystanders, "Go on."

The Metkayina scatter, either to return to their seats or avert their eyes back to their food, the silence now filled with casual mumbling among the People. Jake's ears droop when he realizes the size of the audience he attracted by his outburst and he has the decency to look ashamed. He peers back to his family and mutters, "Lo'ak. Spider. Take the girls home."

"I can walk myself home, thank you very much," Y/n snarled dangerously, stepping around Tonowari and her father and stomping through the parting sea of Na'vi who dared to get in her way.

Tuk pouted and stomped her foot defiantly, "So can I!"

Kiri sighs in mental exhaustion toward her baby sister, "Tuk..." 

Once the other Sully kids gathered and vanished from the meal, Tonowari glanced between Ao'nung and Jake, "Let us return to my home to further discuss this."

Ronal gestured Neytiri over to her before looking over her shoulder to address Tsireya, "Stay here, ma'ite."

Tsireya nodded appropriately, keeping Kailani close to her chest as she flashed a small look of encouragement to Ao'nung. She watched her parents and brother walk out of the community marui, the Sullys following suit. Neytiri walks out into the night with her husband's hand in hers, squeezing his fingers in encouragement.

Once the group was safe inside Ronal and Tonowari's home, Jake immediately apologized, "Brother, forgive me for my actions against your family. I was out of line and your son did not deserve my behavior toward him."

Tonowari raised his hand to gently silence him, "I will not fault a father for just trying to protect his child. There is nothing to forgive. Ao'nung is still young and has much to learn. Before he began to court your daughter, he should have gone to you for your blessing immediately."

Ao'nung, clearly embarrassed, kept his head down while he quietly whined, "Father, please--"

"You are the one who wishes to court Toruk Makto's daughter, boy," Tonowari directed his gaze to his son, eyes darkening but not as a threat, but in disappointment, "As the future of our clan, you should have done what tradition demands."

Jake took pity on Ao'nung, watching the way a father looked down on his son, immediately thrown back to the past when he, too, looked down on Neteyam and Lo'ak, and instantly knew he had to speak up this time, "No. I don't blame your son for not coming to me. I don't deserve that sort of respect. Y/n is strong-willed and she knows I don't deserve the respect of being her father or any traditions that require me to be so. If anything, she would much rather have Ao'nung ask for my sons' blessings over my own because her brothers respect her as an individual who can make her own decisions... unlike me."

Tonowari nods, looking back to meet eyes with his mate. Ronal shares a silent conversation with him before the chief turns back to the Sullys, "If it is any consultation, Jakesully, Ronal and I have approved of this match a long time ago."

Ao'nung's head perks up with interest, "You did?"

Jake's question echoed Ao'nung's, equally shocked, "You did?"

The chief explains with a distant look in his eyes, "I was much like my son at that age. Arrogant, crude, and desperate to please the other reef boys around me. All it took was to find Ma Ronal to get my head back on straight. From that day on, I only ever ran after her." 

Ronal pointedly looks at Neytiri, her chin held high, "Even though he is destined to be olo'eyktan one day, my son has never shown interest in a mate. Never. Not once. That is... until he met your daughter."

Neytiri took Ronal's stare as an opening for her to add to the discussion, raising her hand to gently take her husband's arm to grab his attention, "Jake. I already knew."

Jake turned back to her, still shocked and sounding like a broken record, "You did?"

"Everyone did," she nodded, smiling slightly, "Apart from you. Why do you think none of us have said anything before now? It is because we have accepted it and even approved of the match. We all would have said something sooner if we were against it. Y/n is taronyu now and she does not need our permission to live her life anymore. She never had."

Jake takes a moment to collect his thoughts, breathing deeply in and out slowly through his nose. He stared off into space, conflicted with a war going on in his head before Neytiri simply squeezed his arm and he returned to the present. Jake looked back at his wife before raising his white flag, turning his gaze onto Ao'nung with an expression of guilt.

"I am sorry, Ao'nung. I shouldn't have accused you of anything. I know Y/n is capable of taking care of herself and I know she wouldn't have given you the time of day if she didn't think you were a good man," Ao'nung stands up straighter, appearing grateful and nodding to Jake before the former marine turned to Tonowari, "We'll take our leave now. I apologize for interrupting your supper."

Jake takes Neytiri's hand again and they walk home, speaking as they walk so their conversation is kept private before they would have to face their children, "Does he have to court her now? They're too young."

Neytiri hums in agreement, "Courting sometimes takes years, Ma Jake."

"It wasn't with us."

She hums again, only it was full of fond amusement, "If I recall, you never courted me."

A small grin played on his lips, a little drained from tonight's events, but it was genuine all the same as he playfully spoke, "No, but if I recall, you knew exactly what you were doing taking me out there to the Tree of Voices, alone, wearing your hair like that and wearing that lovely top--"

"Ma Jake!" Neytiri gasped in astonishment, gently slapping his chest and laughing as they finally made it home.

The parents quiet their amusement before they walk into the marui, instantly met with five pairs of eyes, four yellow and one brown. While the rest of their children stared expectedly at them, Y/n immediately looked away, ears pulled back in embarrassment and tucking her knees up to her chest.

Jake immediately beelines for Y/n, slowly sitting down beside her as he wraps an arm around her shoulders, "I'm sorry."

Conflict flashes over her face. It felt as though she and her father were back at square one, fighting as though they hadn't already sorted out their issues. Then again, this wasn't Neteyam, or the war, or Y/n's depression. Jake was just trying to be the classic overprotective parent he was always meant to be. He wasn't acting as a soldier. He was acting as a father, and that's all Y/n had ever wanted from him. Slowly, she melts into her father's embrace and sighs, "I know. You were just being my father. That is not something I'll ever blame you for. Just... don't be so embarrassing next time."

Jake and the rest of the children laugh while he just holds Y/n close. Neytiri smiles at the scene, trying to memorize it as best as she can so she can share it with Neteyam the next time she visits her son. After all, Y/n was one step closer to moving out of their family marui and wouldn't be able to hug her father like this as often as they used to. As sad as that made Neytiri feel, she was comforted by the fact that Ao'nung was kind and good to her daughter, and she would never be alone again.

A/N: The next part will be the final! Basically, I wrote everything that I wanted for this story, and the rest of it can be told in just one more chapter, so I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

#'anla ao'nung fic #avatar imagine #atwow imagine #atwow fic #avatar fic #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #avatar 2009 #atwow #avatar #james cameron avatar #james cameron #aonung x you #aonung imagine #aonung x reader #aonung #aonung fluff #aonung fic #aonung fanfiction #atwow ao'nung #ao'nung imagine #ao'nung #ao'nung x reader #ao'nung x you #ao'nung fluff #ao'nung fic #ao'nung fanfiction #neytiri x jake #ronal x tonowari #whumptober 2023

[brandogenius]

I don’t mean to bother you but whenever you get a chance I can’t wait to see more ya and phoebe content I miss them so much! much love !

ofc!!! something different today!

‼️RPF‼️

BLURB - phoebe & younger artist - record store day

- phoebe bringing ya to their first record store day!! i mean phoebe is R E A D Y. id like to say phoebe knows a lot about RSD so when ya said they never participated / never had the chance to get the vinyls in stores phoebe was like ‘ nu uh’

- phoebe takes record store day very seriously. i’m talking like queuing up at early hours, literally camping to be first or second in line. bringing ya with them would be easy.

- phoebe literally collecting ya and bringing them to her house for the night before record store say “so we can go and queue together” i can just see younger artist walking into phoebes house like woah :ooo and then looks to see phoebes bags literally packed and ready.

- gear, blankets, food, water, god forbid maybe a tent too. “we want to get those limited edition vinyls ok?” pfc ya agrees because they want to as well.

- consider it a bonding session with phoebe. one of those rare moments when there’s no gigs today or tomorrow that you’re able to do whatever you want for a bit before going back to tour. ya was able to spend the small little break between legs of the tour with the boys and muna.

- honestly i can see it where they don’t even sleep 😭 they spend the night at phoebes watching tv shows, probably watching tiktok drama (those reddit parkour videos) and stayinf awake till 4am then phoebes like “lets go” and ya is like “ITS 4AM” and phoebes like “so?”

- they get ready, bo drops them off and they just set out camp. “baby’s first record store day” “shut the fuck up” “someone’s tired”

- “whatever you do. when the doors open just run. don’t look back just run- life or death situation” phoebe giving ya the run down.

- i can imagine when a line starts to form, phoebe has a sharpie in her bag and does the fan line thing where she puts a number on everyone’s hand to indicate what number everyone is in the queue (ya is 1 phoebe is 2nd)

- phoebe going like “you hungry kid? i’ll get us something to eat” and goes off god knows where and comes back with fucking donuts like :D

- honestly it’s one of the wilder / chaotic things younger artist has done with muna or the boys but they enjoy it. ya enjoys doing stuff with any of them, / being invited along to do sfuff (it totally doesn’t make them cry nooooo)

- “i’ll deck someone if they steals that muna vinyl” “i’m sure if you asked katie, she’d give you one for free” “but it’s fun to camp out and be a normal human sometimes”

- at some points some fans notice both of you and come up for photos. ya automatically taking the phone to snap a photo of the fan and phoebe until the fans like “come in the photo with us!” and ya is like me? really??? and phoebe just drags ya in like “of course silly”

- “are you cold? take my blanket, i’m not cold” and proceeds to literally shove the blanket at reader

- once the doors open and ya & phoebe get the records they want. i can see phoebe literally going to celebrate by going for brunch.

- ordering coffee and sandwiches while both ya and phoebe gush over the vinyls and the colours. “can i see it?. we can trade sometime, you give me a loan of this vinyl and i’ll give you this. consider it co- parenting”

#pom writes #young artist au #phoebe bridgers angst #phoebe bridgers headcanons #phoebe bridgers fanfic #phoebe bridgers one shot #phoebe bridgers blurb #phoebe bridgers x reader #phoebe bridgers au #boygenius x reader #boygenius fanfic #boygenius au #boygenius one shot #boygenius angst #boygenius blurb #boygenius headcanons #boygenius fluff

[awesomesauce-abbie]

Hello hope I'm not bothering you but I saw a post of yours it was a billy hargrrove x reader and I liked it but I just wanna ask if you could do like reader works at a restaurant and really upset and tired because their having problems with a waitress and they constantly pushing sh*t on them and billy picks up reader and reader gets in the car and just says "drive please" and then the drive home is quit and they get home and billy just comforts them and being the protective bf he is, I hope you understand I'm writing this because I have trouble with a waitress and I'm a hostess (look it up for more info about being a hostess) and ya I just had a bad day sorry and you can do whatever to the end you want like h going to the restaurant later and confronting the waitress. Omg this is so long lol thx 🙏😊

A/N: I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time with your job, I hope it gets better for you soon. I know this is easier said than done but try to push through the negativity and carry on your day as best as you can and I hope this oneshot will somehow help!

HardWork Pays Off Eventually

Billy Hargrove x reader

You worked at Burger Town, one of the few restaurants in Starcourt mall. If the bright yellow and red uniform with the burger baseball hats wasn't annoying enough, your coworker was a right piece of work meaning that she didn't actually do any. The only time Kimberly Price lifted a finger was when she was in the back with her press on nails or dancing to whatever was on the radio whilst you attended to the lunchtime rush of Hawkins by yourself. What was most infuriating was that her dad was the boss so Kimberly was always getting extra days off with nobody to cover her shifts and always got pay rises. She was only a few dollars short of earning exactly as much as her father, day by day you were regretting not getting a job at the local pool with your boyfriend Billy Hargrove. Despite his bad boy attitude, he was more than happy to teach the younger children of Hawkins how to swim or save them from drowning. He suggested you get a job with him so you could see each other every day but you had already accepted the job at burger town before he suggested it. Today made you absolutely regret applying more than ever.

You quickly served a table of three with a tired smile and a quiet “enjoy your meal.” You rushed back to the kitchen and started preparing the next meal before only to dash to the counter a few seconds later to take another customer’s order. You had to force a smile as you heard Madonna blasting from the break room. The queue was leaving the restaurant and was almost outside of Scoops Ahoy. You actually saw Robin Buckley and Steve Harrington stick their heads out a few times to see what was going on. You spent over an hour running around like a headless chicken serving food, cooking food and taking orders before things actually calmed down which gave you the chance to clean up tables and bin rubbish. Kimberly walked past you with her jacket and bag on. “Where are you going?” She scoffed, glaring at you as if you’d offended her just by existing. “I have a date with Patrick, I’m leaving early. Remember to lock up and clean up properly, anything that’s done wrong won’t make daddy very happy. Oh and your covering my shift with Ben Woods tomorrow. No way am I working with that nerdy little freak ew! Don’t forget to clock me out at the end. Try and snitch on me, well we’ll see who daddy believes. A bumbling idiot who got this job out of pure luck or his precious little darling of a daughter?” Kimberly giggled before strutting away. “We’ve got six hours and tomorrow’s my only day off!” You yelled after her but she didn’t turn back.

You’d left an hour late, having to tidy up everything as well as lock up. If Steve Harrington hadn’t noticed you struggling with putting the tables away, you’d likely still be there. You stormed out to the parking lot and saw Billy leaning against his car with a lit cigarette and there were three cigarette butts not too far from his feet. “What the hell took you so long, I’ve been waiting for over an hour! I was about to come in and find you. I thought something happened.” He was worried, annoyed and exhausted from his own day of work but you got into the passenger’s seat silently. Billy scoffed, throwing away his cigarette before getting in. “You gonna talk to me or what?” “Just…Drive please” you sniffled. Billy rolled his eyes before starting the car and drove to your house. His dad and Susan were out tonight and Max was at Hop’s house for a sleepover with El so he was spending the night with you.

The ride home was silent except for the quiet buzz of music from Billy's car radio. He noticed a few tears run down your face but for most of the journey, you faced away from him and didn't utter a single word. He parked in your driveway with a sigh and turned you, placing a hand on top of yours. “Please tell me what happened today. You've never been this late from work and you're usually pissy yeah but never crying. What happened?” You looked at him, drying your eyes as you tried to find the words. Billy leaned forward and kissed your forehead, cupping your cheek with his hand as he wiped tears away with his thumb. “I’m just tired, I had a really shitty day. Kimberly walked out six hours early and I had to do everything by myself again! I’m supposed to have a day off tomorrow but she dumped her shift on me instead.” Billy let out a harsh sigh and clenched his jaw, this wasn’t the first time you had complained about Kimberly’s laziness and he was sick of her upsetting you. “You need to leave that shit hole, there isn't anything at the pool right now but at least go work with fucking Harrington! At least I know he's not a total asshole like that Kimberly bitch” he huffed. “Though if he even thinks about hitting on you, the only thing he'll be eating is ice cream cus he won’t have the teeth left to chew!” You couldn’t help but chuckle and Billy grinned. “There’s that sexy smile” he kissed you before you both got out of the car. “I’ll help you out

Billy helped you write out a resignation letter as well as help you get your paperwork sorted so you could apply for another job. “If anything comes up at the pool, you’ll be the first to know. She won’t get away with this shit either, I know it’s hard but we’re gonna get out of this shit hole town. I’m going to take you to California, teach you how to surf. We’ll have our own place, the shit bird and her loser friends can visit in the summer. It’ll be perfect, I promise” he smiled, stroking your hair as you leaned against his shoulder. “Think the kids will bury Steve in the sand?” Billy snickered just at the idea and kissed your temple. “Yeah, maybe we’ll leave him there overnight for the fully beach experience” he chuckled before getting up and heading to the kitchen. You cuddled up together with a bowl of popcorn and watched The Terminator with a promise that Kimberly would be sorry for pissing you off.

The next day you turned up at work but Kimberly was there and so was her father? Kimberly was in tears, hr dad was red in the face and his eyes filled with anger but he calmed down slightly as he noticed you walk in. “Ah, sorry. I was meant to call. I had a dozen complaints yesterday from customers who said you were working alone. Kimberly is working her shift today so you can go home, she’ll be working as she should be and her pay has been cut so she’s earning the usual rate which she’ll be using to fix her car. I walked out the house to see the windshield smashed and the doors all scratched and dented” Kimberly merely sobbed at the mention of her car and was even more hysterical after you handed in your notice, she’d be picking up your shifts as a result.

You walked out to the car park, Billy was still there with a smug grin. “Her car? Seriously?” “Told you she’d be sorry for messing with you” he chuckled as you let out an amused sigh. “What would I do without you Billy Hargrove?” “Crash and burn obviously.”

#stranger things #billy hargrove #billy hargrove deserved better #billy antis dni #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove x you

[catgirlforkaeya]

birthday wishes

kaeya x gn!reader

synopsis: kaeya’s birthday wish

word count: 964

fluff

warnings: a little suggestive 😇

a/n: happy birthday to kaeya the love of my life idc if he is a set of pixels 🥳🙏🙏 i have been a PROUD main since feb 25 2021 and i am not ashamed. i will proudly flex my triple crowned c5 r2 aquila kaeya on people. also did y’all see his birthday art???? LORDDDDD

the streets of the city were bustling, this time of the year was always busy. it was breaching the season of christmas, so everyone’s days were slowly getting busier and busier. whether it be busy with work, christmas shopping, or other unknown tasks, everyone found a way to be busy.

you, however, were currently on your way home early to surprise your boyfriend for his birthday.

you’d been away on a business trip for roughly three months now, and wasn’t supposed to return until right before christmas. this meant you would miss kaeya’s birthday— which you could never do to him. after some nonstop nagging your boss they reluctantly agreed to allow you to cut the trip early and finish the rest at home.

kaeya had no clue you were back in town. last he knew you were on your way to a big business conference and couldn’t talk for awhile, when in reality you were boarding your flight back home. after an agonizingly long six hour flight, you landed and found your way to the taxi outside.

thanks to a few mutual friends you got ahold of kaeya’s schedule for the day, so you knew how to plan things perfectly. you were going to do your best to avoid the apartment just in case he happened to stop by. if all goes according to plan, in a few hours you two will be reunited and celebrating his birthday together.

-

you spent the next three hours running all around the city, going from shop to shop for items. you bought a whole miscellaneous of items. the cake, obligatory fancy wine, a new watch to complete his set, some cologne, anything and everything that kaeya loved you managed to grab. time was flying by, and before you knew it you were rushing home to set up the apartment.

the apartment was thankfully empty when you arrived, just like you had planned. everything had been going according to schedule, so you had at least an hour to get everything laid out.

you started with the kitchen, placing the cake down in the center of the counter island. grabbing two glasses of wine out of the cabinets above, you filled them up and set them opposite of each other. you left the bottle out, figuring that one glass would not be enough for either of you.

next, you moved onto the living room. you unpacked all of the little trinkets and gifts you had bought your beloved, quickly and neatly wrapping them and placing them on the coffee table. by the time you were done it almost looked like christmas in there.

and at last, you moved onto the bedroom. you wanted to let kaeya end the day off with something relaxing, so what’s better than spending some time in the bedroom? you quickly made up the sheets, tucking them in and straightening them so they were all neat. next, you lit some candles on your nightstands to give the room an aroma. you went with a fall spice scent— awhile back kaeya mentioned that smell was his one of his favorites. your memory with that type of stuff was finally coming in handy today.

once you fixed up any last-minute preparations, you changed into another set of clothes. just on queue, you heard the door click as the clock chimed at six-o’clock. you casually made your way down the hallway, hoping this scenario would play out like you’d rehearsed in your head a million times.

when kaeya saw you standing in front of him, he stopped immediately. at first he did a double take, not thinking it was real. he’d been sleeping less— it was probably a hallucination. however, when he watched you walk towards him and cup his face in your hands, he knew it wasn’t a hallucination.

your lover wrapped his arms around your waist firmly, pulling you in for a deep kiss. it caught you off guard— although you should’ve expected a reaction like this. after being without each other for so long it’s no surprise that both of you were on the needy side.

your bodies melted against each other’s, lips moving in sync. somehow you ended up with your back against the wall, arms wrapped around his neck. kaeya’s knee slid between your legs, resting there as he took over the kiss. he would gently bite down on your bottom lip ever so often, electing a gasp out of you. testing the waters a little, he ran his tongue over your bottom lip too. you caught on and slid your tongue into the kiss too, heating up the atmosphere even more. now your tongues were brushing against each other ever so often, making the kiss a little messy at this point. messy didn’t matter right now, though. he tasted like peppermint and sweets, and his lips felt like heaven. that’s all that mattered.

“what are you doing here?” kaeya asked breathless as he pulled away from the kiss. his forehead rested against yours as you both tried to catch your breath.

“i wanted to surprise you for your birthday,” you let out a shaky laugh as you tried to regain your composure. your head was spinning right now, and your body felt like it was on fire. “i convinced my boss to let me do the rest of the trip from home. i’m here now.”

kaeya was at a loss for words. he’d been dreading his birthday for months because he’d been thinking he was going to spend it alone. he was never a fan of his birthday, but spending it without the love of his life was an even more miserable thought. however, here you were standing in front of him.

guess birthday wishes do come true afterall.

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin x you #genshin impact x you #kaeya #kaeya alberich #kaeya genshin #kaeya alberich genshin #kaeya x reader #kaeya x you #catgirlforkaeya

[goldenretriever-nicknelson]

New Year, Newborn [P.P]

A/N: Happy New Year's Eve! I am so ready for what 2023 will bring and I thought how better to celebrate the new year than with a fluffy dad!peter fic. I also have some angst I might post next week but my course will be restarting so I might not have as much time. Anyway enjoy!

WC: 2.1k

Warnings: none :)

The morning seemed like any other morning, sunlight streamed onto your face unwelcomed after another restless night of sleep. It didn’t occur to you after the rush of the last week that today was anything but a new day. 

The space next to you was cold and empty. Your husband was already out of bed, having responded to the last cry of your newborn son. You wrapped your warm robe around you to guard against the cold December air and made your way to the nursery. 

The sight that met your tired eyes melted your heart; Peter was sat in the armchair next to the crib, his PJ shirt on the floor as he had skin to skin contact with his son. Those parenting books Peter had bought online the moment you had discovered you were pregnant hadn’t been such a waste of time after all. 

Light snores escaped Peter’s lips as he held Ben in his arms. Both of them looked more peaceful then they had since Ben had been born. You snuck a picture with your phone and went to go and grab breakfast as a treat for you and Peter. Parenting was hard work and you thought you both deserved a little well done treat for making it through your first week. 

Benjamin Anthony Parker had been an early Christmas present to the both of you, coming a week earlier than planned. On the 23rd of December at 3:29am a crying bundle of blue blankets was placed in your arms, blinking his eyes open for the very first time to look up at you and Peter. 

Ben’s arrival made Christmas even more hectic than it might have been. More relatives and friends wanting to come over to see the baby and give him Christmas gifts and cuddles. You luckily escaped the mandatory visit to other people’s houses for dinner and parties but you couldn’t escape the joys of newfound parenthood which included lack of sleep and time to yourself. 

Starbucks called your name as you drove past, knowing Peter would go crazy for a coffee and pastry right now. You parked up and yawned as you stepped out of your car, not even really being asked to care if you looked like a mess or not which you were sure you did. 

The door chimed as you entered, the welcoming smell of coffee and frappuccinos filling your senses as you waited in line. You noticed a familiar face working at the counter and smiled as she greeted you. 

“Well if it isn’t Mrs Parker.” 

You laughed and blushed, still not used to being called that even after a year of marriage. 

“Hey MJ. Can I have my usual and a coffee for Pete please?” You smiled, trying to fight back another yawn and grabbing a selection of pastries. MJ nodded and rung up your order. “Still working the holiday job then?” 

“Yeah but it’s only for another few weeks and then it’s back to fighting the system.” MJ smirked, taking a moment to talk to you as the queue died down. You admired MJ becoming a big shot lawyer fighting for the little guy and taking down big companies, it was hard work but if anyone could do it it was Michelle Jones. Whenever MJ was back home she took little jobs to help her family and to help pay the extensive student loans that kept piling up. 

“So any big plans for the night?” 

You looked up and blinked at her, thinking hard about what she could mean. “Unless you mean changing diapers and singing nursery rhymes for the hundredth time then no.” 

MJ smiled and handed you your drinks, squinting her eyes at you. 

“You do know what day it is right?” 

“Of course I do.” You scoffed and rolled your eyes, laughing slightly. “I-it’s Thursday?” 

“Oh Y/n you really are sleep deprived. It’s Saturday and it’s New Year’s Eve.” MJ supplied, sneaking you an extra cookie before going to help another customer. 

You stared at her in disbelief. If it was New Years Eve you would have realized it sooner. Peter always got excited at New Years, saying it was the hope of a new year crammed into one night. 

“I’m going to Ned’s party if you want to come but you don’t have to.” MJ snapped you out of your trance, smiling at you as she ate her own cookie. 

“Why weren’t we invited?!” You spoke up, feeling offended since you and Peter were best friends with Ned and MJ. 

MJ bit her lip and tried not to let out a laugh, leaning on the counter. “You were. You mumbled something sleepily on the phone and then passed it to Peter who did the same thing so we figured you were too tired.” 

You hated to admit it but she was right. You couldn’t even remember taking their call or anything about a party invite. You said you would see how you felt tonight before taking your drinks and leaving with a final goodbye to MJ. 

By the time you got home Peter was already awake and giving Ben his morning feed from his bottle. You smiled and kissed his head, placing the coffee cup and pastry in front of him. 

“Thank you baby!” Peter whispered excitedly, stealing a kiss before going back to watching Ben. You ruffled Peter’s hair, noticing how tired he looked and yet how in awe he was of his son. 

You stole Ben after his bottle for a morning cuddle and held him close, giggling quietly as Peter happily ate his breakfast. He must have caught on to the expression on your face quickly because he was pausing the bite of his pastry to come and hold you. 

“Everything okay?” 

You bit your lip and nodded unsurely, leaning into Peter whilst still holding Ben close. “Yeah, it’s just- I didn’t even know it was New Year’s Eve.”

“It is?!” Peter looked at you with wide eyes, in as much shock as you were about what day it was. 

You nodded and sighed, stroking Ben’s face and smiling as he scrunched his little nose up like his Dad does. 

“Ned is having this party tonight,” You caught sight of Peter’s annoyed expression and addressed his question before he could ask it. “We were invited, we were just too tired to notice.”  

Peter tried to think back and had a brief moment of remembrance. “Shi- I mean sugar!” He quickly corrected himself and put a hand over his mouth. Peter had made up nonsense words and random ones to cover up his swears including map, witch, bam and your personal favorite fudgearoonies. Even without a child in the house it wasn’t unusual for Peter to say things like that instead of swearing. 

You giggled and gave Ben back to Peter, smiling wide as he made funny faces at him. They walked to the nursery. You went to grab your own breakfast before quickly turning back as Peter gasped and called for you. 

“What?! Is Ben okay?” Your parent senses, much like Peter’s own spidey senses went into hyperdrive as you rushed into the nursery, breathing a sigh of relief as you saw Peter was smiling and holding Ben in his arms. 

“He smiled! He smiled at me!” Peter looked at you with watery eyes, bringing Ben over to you. “And not like a gassy smile, a proper smile!” 

You remembered when Peter had been excited last time Ben ‘smiled’ only for the real reason to be discovered moments later through smell. 

You watched as Peter did his funny faces, trying to get his son to smile at him once again for you to see it. It was a perfect moment to see especially as Ben made a smile at his Dad and you could see it reach his little eyes just like Peter’s smile did when he was really happy. 

“Oh my god!” You smiled wide too and kissed Ben’s head, joining in with making funny faces so you could see it again and maybe even grab a picture of it this time. A tear fell down Peter’s cheek from pure happiness as he watched his son smile for the first time and the second and the third. 

Eventually Ben grew tired of people pulling faces at him and became fussy, wanting nothing more than to nap. You and Peter set him back down in his crib and smiled, holding each other close as you watched him fall back to sleep. Something you wished you could do at that moment. 

And Peter almost tempted you to do exactly that, getting as far as pulling you into the bedroom before the doorbell rang. You both sighed as the doorbell woke up Ben. 

Peter went to comfort Ben whilst you got the door, opening it to see May on the other side. You smiled and warned her against the doorbell to which she apologized. You could hardly stay mad at her when she was carrying what smelt like her homemade roast chicken. 

“I know parenting isn’t easy but if anyone I know can do it, it’s you two.” May comforted you, giving you a hug and expressing her worry for how tired you seemed. You insisted you were fine but she saw right through you. 

“It’s normal to be tired, babies are hard work.” May laughed and started telling stories of little baby Peter and how he was a fussy baby from the very beginning. You laughed and finally felt yourself relax for a moment as Peter walked in carrying a calmer Ben. 

“There’s my grand nephew!” May made grabby hands towards Ben for a cuddle and Peter happily handed the small baby to her. “And my grown up nephew.” May smiled and pulled Peter in for a hug as well, reiterating what she had already said to you. 

May even offered to take Ben out for a little bit of fresh air to which you gratefully accepted. Peter and you even managed to get 30 whole minutes of uninterrupted sleep, cuddled in each other's arms. 

By the time the night fell when everyone was getting ready to go out or get drunk, you and Peter were singing your son to sleep. You blamed Peter for making Ben’s favourite song a Ramones song but the way Peter sang it was enough to make up for that fact. He would never admit it but Peter’s voice was beautiful, gentle and soft. You hadn’t heard it that much until Ben was born and it was just one of the many things you were thankful that Ben had brought you. 

May’s roast chicken was all gone by the time the clock reached eleven. Ben had already woken up 3 times in the past 2 hours and you had even called May to check that nothing was wrong with him. Peter spent half of the time sitting in the small armchair next to the crib, watching Ben and humming softly to himself. You joined him and sat on his lap, cuddling into your husband’s chest. 

A loud commotion sounded from outside of your apartment, people cheering and shouting “Happy New Year!” as they celebrated. You stirred from your sleep, not even remembering having drifted off as you calmed Ben down quickly and looked out of the window. 

Ben was entranced by the stars outside and the fireworks that were going off in the sky. Colours of all kinds lighting up the dark night sky and the loud bangs, even though distant were enough to wake Peter up. 

“Hey.” He mumbled sleepily, wrapping his arms around you and kissing Ben’s head. Peter rested his head on your shoulder and looked out at the view before noticing the time. “Happy new year princess.” 

You looked at him in surprise before noticing the clock, it read 12:03. “Happy new year Petey.” 

You smiled softly and kissed Peter’s lips, a tradition you had kept up since high school. You had always been each other's New Year's kiss even when you were both too oblivious to realise how you felt about each other. 

Peter kissed you back sweetly, the taste of his lips pulling you back in for more until a tiny hand reached up to your face causing both of you to giggle. “And happy new year to you, too little guy.” 

“He already doesn’t like us kissing.” Peter joked, pecking your lips once more before blowing a small raspberry on Ben’s cheek. You giggled and did it to the other side of his face, making Ben smile once more. 

You didn’t care what the new year brought you as long as you kept hold of what was right here in your arms. That was all that mattered.

Taglist: @marvel-lock @farfrombarnes @parkerpeter24

Tagging moots: @sunflowerspidey @glowunderthemoon @the-girl-in-the-chair @seolaseoul @spideyspeaches

#HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE #nye #christmas blurbs #peter parker x reader #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker #peter parker fanfic #reader insert #dad!peter #marvel #marvel fanfic

[thessalian]

Thess vs "Little" Extras

So once again, work is seismic levels of bullshit.

We weren't doing too badly - just about caught up, in fact. This is despite the fact that every single last one of the little fuckers I work with keep leaving me with the problem dictations. So I get all the placentas (and The Placenta Guy is working overtime at the moment, damn near literally), all the bowel resections (dictated by people who either dictate too fast, speak with a difficult accent, dictate a report full of grammatical errors, or all of the above), and all the ones by the various newbies who either haven't figured out that maybe switching off the recording while you're taking measurements would be a good idea so that a typist doesn't have to sit through 10-15 seconds of silence between each measurement, have no idea how block keys work, or both. This is my main annoyance. I may have little snippets designed to make typing the stuff The Placenta Guy throws at me a little easier, but that shouldn't be an excuse to throw all of them at me. And yes, I know they do this to me specifically because when I see the queue get larger and look over, I see stuff that was put into the queue before any of the stuff in mine, put there by someone who picked it up out of the queue and decided they didn't want to do it so put it back.

(At least they seem to have figured out that if they're going to pull that shit on me, they should take some of the bullshit from The Breast Guy off my hands.)

Anyway, today all the doctors doing dictation a) came in somewhere in the middle of the day, b) dictated their asses off, and c) dumped the typing into the queue in big blocks of 20+ reports at a go. So you can imagine that even working flat-out, our queue went from mid double figures to low triple figures and we couldn't whittle it down. So that's a mess to look forward to come Tuesday - especially given that they seem to have been coming in on weekends lately, too. I heard talk in our last staff meeting (our first staff meeting, really) that we were looking for a new staffer. That was months ago and I have, of course, heard jack squat. So this is fun.

So in the middle of all this - dealing with all the fiddly frustrating bits of typing that no one wants to do - I get an email from Scruffman, my manager. He's apparently supposed to be writing a Standard Operating Procedure document for the department. Thing is, he's not writing it. Apparently he either can't be arsed or doesn't know what our SOP actually is. Because he asks me if I can write a step-by-step SOP guide to the typing so he can put it in his document. That's ... it. No details. So, grumbling because I am busy actually doing the SOP he's asking me to put down on 'paper', I put together a bullet-pointed list and go, "Is that the sort of thing you were after?" He says yes. I think that's done.

Nope. Then he emails me back going, "So could you grab some screenshots, and put that and your list together as a Word document?"

...I really want to know why he asks me to do the fiddly shit. I'd feel a lot better about it if he told me that it's because I'm one of the most competent people in the department instead of just dumping it on me without any sort of comment, which generally leaves me to think that he picks me for this shit because I'm the one that won't complain at him.

Anyway, I tell him I don't actually have Word on my work laptop. I don't use Word at work. (Hell, I don't use Word at home; I have OpenOffice). But, because I do believe in actually doing my fucking job, I tell him that the only way I could do it is if I took the screenshots, emailed them to myself, and did it on my home computer.

To which he says, "Great; Tuesday's fine. Thanks!"

Now I'm trying to figure out whether I want to start late or leave early on Tuesday because there is no way I'm doing that shit unpaid. Thankfully, I know for a fact that Scruffman would never expect me to (he told me to log out early when I spent 15 minutes of my own time filling out my staff evaluation form, and this is far more delineated as 'work') so that's fine. Thing is, we're getting to a point where I don't know how much we can afford to have me off doing something else. I am the one person in the fucking department who doesn't dodge any work that might be deemed 'difficult' or 'annoying' or 'something they just don't want to do'.

Anyway, after all this, I have to leave the house. Enough groceries to tide me over until the monthly Big Shop can be delivered, and pain meds. It's been a rough week and I keep getting migraine stabs. It's not fun.

#Thess has a day job

[revoleotion]

i am bigger than this mansion | i need the world to be small

this is mostly inspired by a line in my new favorite fanfic of all time, "clocks don't count where no one knows you", but those who know me know that it has been in the works for a while. Many thoughts.

.

What I want to talk about today is the contrast between Misono and Licht. They are not an obvious match like the servamp/eve pairs or some other characters, but there is one aspect which makes it very fun to compare them! And that's what I will do here.

.

Misono grew up sheltered. He had hobbies, he went to school and he had people he talked to - although he wouldn't go as far as to call them friends. The Alicein manor has always been a safe haven to return to after a long day, and with his own vivid fantasy and the help of books, he was never truly bored. No, the manor and the garden surrounding it never felt like a prison, at least not at first.

It's only when he grows up, when he learns things about himself, when he learns things about his family, that he starts to wonder for how long this house can still hold him. It's a large mansion but he wishes for more. There are so many things he wants to learn, wants to see, wants to touch. The older the gets, the more claustrophobic he feels. He wants out.

This is how Misono sees the world: A vast sea of knowledge that he can't wait to get lost in.

This is how he sees the mansion: An impossibly large growth of vines, threatening to strangle him at every wrong turn.

.

Licht grew up with multiple languages, multiple countries, multiple citizenships, although the last thing only ever matters when he's at airports and gets to skip queues, really. He was introduced to the vastness of the world from an early age on, and he took it as well as he could. He really did.

He doesn't notice he spends most of his days overwhelmed because he finds easy ways out. He finds ways to get lost inside his own head, he finds ways to make all the noise and the people around him quiet down for a bit. He's always liked music because music was an easy thing to focus on, because music didn't require a language, because music could be done and listened to anywhere.

The older he gets, the more he notices that he wishes his world were a little smaller. He wishes he could turn into something smaller. As grateful he is for the opportunities at his fingertips, what he really longs for is a home.

This is how Licht sees the world: A large sea of noise that he wishes he could escape.

This is how he sees his piano: A safe haven that allows him to block out everything else.

.

Misono wants nothing more than for his world to become bigger so he can see it all. Licht wants nothing more than for his world to become smaller so he can properly appreciate it.

#servamp #servamp meta #misono alicein #licht jekylland todoroki #headcanons

[neptoons1998]

Rolling dough

Ships: Attuma x Okoye (Main) Aneka xAyo, Shuri x Riri

Warnings: I don't think I have any, beside non-beta

Summary: Bakery Owner x Gym Owner AU. It's just a met cute nothing else except fluff.

A/N: That's it on housekeeping.

Chapter One: Yeast Donut

yeast is used as a leavener, which creates air pockets when frying the batter that results in their signature light and airy texture. They're less likely to be crumbly, due to their spongy consistency, and can be glazed, frosted, or filled.

Runaway Donuts is a well-known doughnut shop that stayed on Vinal Ave and Boston Street here in Cambridge, Massuchutes. Okoye owned this small shop. The little shop is the most important thing to her. See how people from all walks of life come to her humble shop just to try her homemade dough made it worth it for her to wake up so early in the morning. The little shop is like any brick and stone building in the New England state. But the inside had a cozy aesthetic with soft warm colors of yellow and pink. Based on everything that was going on in her life, it should be going perfectly what more could Okoye ask the universe? “Maybe a man,” Shuri quipped up as Okoye put the finishing icing on some doughnuts. Okoye forgot annoying her little cousin can be when she’s bored. Shuri’s remark earned a soft chuckle from Aneka. The woman rolled her eyes “Or woman,” Aneka added wanting to tease her sister-in-law even more. Sometimes Okoye forgets that Aneka was one year older than her when she pulls stunts like this. How her sister finds her unique, is anyone’s guess. Ayo shook her head, “My love play nice.” Thank you “It’s not Okoye's fault that weak men can’t keep up with her,” Ayo joked. “That’s it everyone out! out !” Okoye shouted out to them. Hoping that her voice would move her family to the front house of the building since Okoye was done baking for the rest of the day. The small group rolled their eyes as if she was a pesky fly that was bothering them, not the other way around. She gets why her family was worrying about her. Okoye wasn’t ignorant to know the reason why Shuri decided to attend MIT rather than Yale like her brother did. Shuri, even though she wouldn’t admit wanted to be close to her older cousin especially when Okoye and W’bai didn’t work out. Can you call it not working out if the man of your dreams decided to be the runaway bride? The baker thought. Her family while sweet, they are overbearing and protective. She just needs time anyway from the dating scene. Plus with her bakery and her thought on creating it into a franchise, she has too much on her plate right now. If only her family would understand that. “Whelp that’s my queue to go,” Shuri slayed as she tried to slither her way closer to the door. Okoye’s eyebrows perked up as she looked at the clock, “Why are you leaving so soon? I thought class starts at 10 today?”Okoye asked her little cousin to stay at the bakery shop until it was time for her to go to MIT. “Well, yeah, but I have this really important thing,” Shuri spits out hoping it sounds believable to Okoye. Shuri looking at her fingernails, “Y’know how biochem can be.” “Because she wants to make time to talk to Riri before class,” Aneka sang as she laid her head on Ayo’s shoulder. Okoye’s eyes widen, “W-what? Who’s Riri ? and why did you sa-oh!” Shuri was flustered looking anywhere but at her older cousins. That’s what I get for blabbering to Aneka, Shuri thought. “I’m leaving,” Shuri said as she quickly walked out of the door, “See you after classes.” “Now if she can be like that when she’s at the store,” Okoye joked as pressed the button to brew the hot coffee. “I don’t understand why she doesn’t see that girl already?” Ayo muttered, “I’m getting a headache with the back and forth they seem to do.” Eventually, Ayo and Aneka left to take care of some errands, finally leaving the baker alone. Okoye took a deep breath, her family knew how to exhaust her. “This would be the perfect time to count which donuts are selling the most,” She said out loud to herself. The owner started taking inventory, and her ears perked up when she heard the soft bells of the door.

“Welcome to Runaway Donuts,” Okoye greeted.

#fanfiction #writing #my fanfiction #shuri x riri #riri williams #okoye x attuma fanfiction #attuma #okoye x attuma #attuma x okoye #okoye #fluff fic

[therichantsim]

So for the last few days my daughter has been either home or coming home from work early. She’ll call ahead asking me to turn on her laptop and game. We’ve been simming together at the office table. We chat, enjoy our snacks, and pixel people. I still haven’t figured out which mod needs updating that’s preventing her sims from sleeping but for now she queues up naps or cheats their needs. Anyway, this has been fun. However, my little brownie is a Leo and has strong main character energy. So as nice as this quality gaming time has been I can’t get any real progress done on my story or my gameplay.

TO READ THE REST SEE BELOW THE CUT.

She doesn’t have TOOL mod so the apartment I built for her simself still has the mouse holes and leaking pipes. So I said just move to a nicer apartment in the art or fashion districts or a house. I showed her the San Sequoia house I did that looks like a townhouse. She loved it. I said pack your sims things in the household inventory, delete the kitchen and baths so get the money and sell what you didn't want to keep. That way you can furnish the house with the items from the household. She damn near deleted everything except their beds and one sofa.

I’m like… “THATS NOT WHAT I SAID DO!” So she begs me to furnish the house. She goes on about building and decorating is NOT her ministry. She’s a CAS and skill building game player. I sigh and give in and slide my laptop to the side and began to quickly furnish her house. I’m not trying to get lost in the details of clutter and wall art. It can looked like they just got settled in for awhile. I finish and resume my taking pics for my story so I can go play on my gameplay save.

DO YOU KNOW SHE ENDED UP SAVING AND CLOSING HER SIMELF SAVE JUST TO OPEN ANOTHER SAVE INSTEAD!!

I look up and she’s playing the Sims I built that huge Alto apartment for. Planning their wedding and she asked if I had a wedding venue in the gallery. I said no but I follow enough builders that do so go look at theirs. She says but I want a RichAnt original. I said what difference does it make only you will see it. You don’t even take pictures. So anyway, she’s at work today and I think she has clients all day. But I get a text asking me if I could dress all her male sims for the bachelor party and wedding because I was so fast and decisive. Also, could I build a modern house in the Pinnacles for them to live in after the wedding? ON THE 64X64 LOT!!

This is not the quality time I was hoping for but she did cook some really good curry chicken for dinner. Everyone knows good food is my love language.

#richant's rants and randomness

[tiikerikani]

Through the glass emptily (sad kitten face)

2023 Aug 16 – Allas Sea Pool, Helsinki

I had barely sat down along the market square to watch the sea (it was about 5 o'clock) when the blondes walked past me bearing flowers. I followed them to the pool, where they met up with somebody at the gate and were let inside, hiding the bouquet (which was no doubt for Jepa because it’s her last week with the band) under a coat. It turned out that they had been hired to staff the merch table. I said hello then stayed out of the way. But this meant I was early enough to listen to the entire warmup/practice :) and watch a bit though the gate. After practice, Heini and Jepa went over to talk to the blondes, who presented the bouquet and a card and got selfies. Since my mission today was to get all my miniatures to the appropriate people, I waved futilely trying to make my presence visible, like in the movies. I could feel myself looking like this from 30 metres away:

They took like what seemed like forever. When they were FINALLY done, I called out to Jepa and she came over to the gate. I had messaged her in advance about the gift so she knew it was coming. She appreciated it a lot :)

The place really needs better signage so tourists don't get confused and join the queue.

It started raining a little before the gate opened. I would have no qualms about dancing in the rain. At least two other people also started moving briskly to claim space in the front row, so I broke into a sprint and claimed centre.

People were handing out ”Kiitos Jepa ❤️” signs for people to show at the end of the show. (I didn’t take one since I had already given her my thing.) This was something that Regular Groupie had arranged with the band. The paper started getting wet in the rain.

My friend (who had came with me to Lahti in November) and the one I met last summer were farther back in the queue but I had room for them on either side of me.

It stopped raining.

Senpai looked like he had sprained a finger, there was tape around his hand.

I think he is finally over gesturing at me during the song.

I was wildly swinging between dramatically singing along in a haze (pretty much on autopilot) and being extra dreamy.

Because they opted not to do the equipment shuffle for the a cappella / acoustic songs (also because they'd swapped one of the songs out), Samaan mutkaan kaatunut ended with the proper silence. Which I appreciated because I was tearing up (again). This also saved them some time. They were clearly trying really hard to get through all 20 songs in 100 minutes (my photo timestamps tell me that 20 songs normally runs closer to 105 minutes), so he even condensed the traditional banter before Onnellinen mies.

After the last song I held up my two other gift bags with the miniatures inside and kind of pointed at them. He made the slightest of nods.

Now this is the place where they kick everybody out at exactly 10 o’clock so there was not much time to cross my fingers and hope that either Senpai or Teemu would come out to talk to people so I could present them their gifts and maybe get selfies.

Markus: ”I think Tero is scared to come out but Teemu probably will.”

By now I’d written their names on the bags so they could go to whoever I managed to intercept before I was forced to leave.

Through a gap in the curtains I could see Senpai in the back room. I waved futilely at him through the glass. I have sad kitten face again.

Jepa: ”I think he will (come).”

I don’t know who to believe anymore. That’s now two bandmates who have said that the days of Selfies With Senpai are over…and one (imminently) ex-member who disagrees.

Very Serious Security Staff: GTFO we’re closing

I am about to just give the bags to Jepa when Teemu walks past. He and I make eye contact and he stops, and at last I am able to avoid using a messenger to get these to their recipients. I’m sad I didn’t get to see their reactions though. Maybe they will say something when I see them again on Sunday in Joensuu. Maybe it will be like last year’s show there, which was also sold out but where I still got to talk to Senpai.

Maailma palaa

Kohti sydänpeltoja

Ilman mua

Tummilla teillä

Nuoriherra

Meistä kuiskaillaan

Suru ei oo ystävä

Samaan mutkaan kaatunut

Exodus (a cappella solo)

Tanssimaan

Kiljut riemusta

Reppana

Faarao (again with the strings doubling the intro)

Kolme hyvää vinkkiä

Älä lopu yö

Onnellinen mies

Hetken ikuinen

// Meissä asuu elämä

// Kukaan ei koskaan

// Arlandan portailla

[Concert write-up archive and master calendar]

#music #concerts #vesterinen yhtyeineen #i swear to god fangirling is such a dang rollercoaster #set list

[chidoroki]

ahh i’m so mad for forgetting it was tpn’s 6th anniversary today.. i dunno how i can never remember that date. i don’t have anything planned though, which sucks because it’s kinda the most important day of the series ya know?? HOWEVER! i already finished my edit for emma’s birthday last week, so that’s pretty darn early for me! okay so it’s like 99% done, i gotta figure out one final touch, but yeah. and then isabella’s should be next but that’s not til september anyways. i remember very few birthdays..still upset i forgot about today though! i know i can always post something later this week but then it’s late! and that’s even if i get an idea in the first place hhmmm..

but in my defense it was an important day for me for a completely different reason though.. little Kona turned one today!!! love her. she’s too cute. she actually shares a birthday with my late great grandmother so that’s kinda sweet. (maybe now i won’f forget tpn’s anniversary either)

aside from that i feel like last week was real busy/eventful. dad had actually tested positive for covid tuesday so since we had dinner together the day before i worked from home all last week just to make sure i was okay (which i am thankfully). i don’t mind working from home, it allows me to sleep in a bit but having two screens instead of three is always a troublesome adjustment, and annoying if things get too stressful. every now and then there’s also some nights where i can’t even fall asleep and just feel incredible anxious..why i dunno. it feels random honestly.

it hasn’t been all bad though. i decided to read ahead with the paripi koumei manga and oh my god, the love i have for eiko is IMMENSE!! i honestly wasn’t expecting to get more of her backstory, but i’m so happy we did. i thought we were just gonna focus on the summer sonia concert stuff next, but it seems that is gonna be the final goal. so i’m really loving the direction the manga is going now with creating more songs and learning more of eiko’s past/family. it just makes sense. i debated in writing a whole post on it but idk yet, we’ll see. i dunno how often the manga updates, but i’ve only seen sites have up to ch49? but aahh i want her to succeed so badly! i really hope we get another season because i need to hear more of her lovely voice! THEN i forget what day i read ch113 of ft 100yq but MMHHMM that gruvia body swap! their reactions were great and i loved every moment and of course i’m looking forward to see how gray fights with juvia’s magic. i’m eagerly waiting for the day we get a trailer for the anime too.

then finally.. FINALLY the black clover manga is back! and i still think it’s hilarious that the three month hiatus started right as i finished the anime, like of course that’s just my luck! i think i caught up for just two new chapters then poof! break time! my friend has been begging me to watch since the anime started so i pushed it off for years, til something just.. clicked within me? i remember the movie trailer was announced months ago and friend was excited about it and naturally tried to convince me to start the series once more and i dunno exact words, but i’m pretty sure he compared it to fairy tail (which i sorta figured from the start anyways) but then said everyone from the squad got more focus/backstory, and i was like.. oh? so, that kinda did it for me. and damn it, i ended up loving the series. a lot. but better late than never i suppose! (and he totally has the right to say “told you so,” he deserved it. he even predicted that vanessa would end up as my favorite. so he’s right. again.) so sorry not sorry for all the spam. my queue was filled over 250+ at one point and stayed like that for weeks because i just kept adding more to it. it’s finally back around 50ish now because i FINALLY gone through the whole anime yet again (why do i queue all the gifs chronologically? i dunno!! i forget which series i started doing this with but now it feels necessary for me to do so! lowkey kinda hate it, makes it seem like i’m insane ahaaa. but now all that’s left is artwork that i can fangirl over, thank god!)

but now that the manga is back i’m debating on writing chapter reviews for it, though i doubt they’ll be as long as those i’ve done for tpn, but hhmmm. it’s just funny how i decide on doing such a thing whenever a series enters their final arcs. well, i say that but i haven’t done any for mha in.. years. probably won’t start those up though. i still read it sure but the story is meh to me sometimes. i enjoy the characters more and unfortunately those i really love don’t get much spotlight, maybe just a moment or two recently. always debating on reading ahead for no guns life too since i have no clue if the anime is gonna continue, but i definitely won’t for fire force since season3 has at least been confirmed, whenever.. same with tokyo revengers even though i’m getting real tempted with that one. and for the love of god i have to remember to read the psycho pass manga still! or however much i can find of it anyways!

what else is happening in my world right now, umm. almost a month away from splatoon3 thank god. i haven’t played my switch in a hot minute but once i got that then mmmhmm it’s over. then. scarlet & violet a couple months after too. OH! pokemon.. the masters 8 tournament has been bittersweet for me. the battles are rushed, even most take one episode, some of the moves and outcomes are just.. upsetting and strange. like i’ll never get over how dirty the writing handled the leon vs alain match. my boy deserved so much better. lance vs diantha was okay i guess and ya knew cynthia was gonna win against iris no problem. but then that battle with steven and ash.. idc what people say but there’s no way he should’ve won. after all that damage pikachu took from mega-metagross, he wins by one z-move and an iron tail of all things?? what?? (i think? i dont remember, i was annoyed). only bright side are all the cameos we’ve been getting. they only last a few seconds but they grant me SO MUCH happiness! seeing mairin, the johto trio, drew AND harley?? my heart was ecstatic! and i’m sure they’ll save all of ash’s traveling companions for his final match with leon, or at least i’m hoping so. i better see may and serena again darn it!

oh, and no joke but i swear i actually had a fucking contestshipping dream last night, which isn’t too surprising since i do indeed love them very much, but it was just randomly timed? like why now and not last month around their actual day when i rewatched all their episodes ya know?? but whatever. all it was was drew calling up may after some contest lose (in johto im assuming) to cheer her up. then some light teasing of course. that’s all i needed.

sometime during my incoherent rambling i did get an idea for an tpn anniversary edit. so i’ll definitely start on something for it tonight or tomorrow, unless i get caught up playing more pmd sky.. i started a randomizer yesterday and i’m enjoying myself. nostalgia hitting hard. but i would seriously love a new mystery dungeon.

#talking to myself #edit: as im posting this i just noticed a pokemon presents was announced for august 3rd! HELL YEAAHH more scarlet & violet news babyyy!!!!

[mylyricpages]

INTERVIEW WITH JEFF SCOTT # 8 ( 2023 )

“After twenty years I keep thinking what else is there left to write about, but to my constant surprise life keeps providing inspiration.”

Barely a year after ‘On The Outside Looking In’ James Ellis is releasing not just one but two new lyric collections. “I had my doubts if I’d even do a collection this year,” he tells Jeff Scott, “but I ended up with more stuff than I knew what to do with.”

IT’S AN UNUSUALLY hot morning in early September, the nation basking in an unexpected heat wave after weeks of unsettled weather. Mercifully though, there’s a cool breeze bringing some slight relief. Caswell Bay, Swansea is brimming with activity, families filling up the beach, dipping in the sea, and across the way car after car arrives in a constant stream. We got here early. We’re sat outside the Surfside Café, queues are building at the nearby ice cream parlour and there’s already bustling going on at the local surf school hut.

I’m sat with here James Ellis, who’s picked this splendid piece of the Gower coast to talk about his two new lyric collections. Yes, that’s two, the first time he’s written more than one in the same year since 2013. “It caught me by surprise,“ he says. As you probably know by this point we’ve done this a fair few times before. You know the story, he finishes a new project, I interview him. It’s worked pretty well since 2012. We’ve talked life, music, his books, his comics, we’ve even collaborated on two volumes of his memoirs, but today, it’s the lyrics again.

It’s been a busy time for both of us lately and unlike our usual meet ups our time today is short. So quickly we get down to business, him with his coke zero, me with a fresh brew. We’ve agreed to dive pretty much straight into the songs albeit this time around we’re doing things a little differently and discussing them in the order they were written.

We begin with the 15 ‘songs’ on the first collection ’We Are Ascending.’

Dear Life

This was the first thing I wrote at the tail end of spring, pretty much in the last days of May. It was written alongside a very early version of ‘Twilight’s Last Stand,’ which was far longer and called ‘Shadowlands’ then.

For this collection I originally had a bunch of lyrical themes I wanted to explore but once ’Dear Life’ was done that idea didn’t work for me anymore. I guess I felt like I’d explored that way of doing things well enough with ‘On The Outside Looking In’ and going forward I decided I’d let whatever was going to come out just come out and get the hell out of its way.

It’s basically about me writing a letter to life and asking a few questions.

Broken Teeth

If anything represents the themes of ‘We Are Ascending’ I think it’s this. What I realised in writing ‘Dear Life’ is that this collection was going to be more about how I see the world, about what’s going on around me, rather than what’s going on inside me. ‘On The Outside …’ was very much an introspective thing and I realised while writing ‘Dear Life’ that I wanted to get away from that way of doing it for a bit. From that point it became very much about the times we’re living in. Once I figured that out I knew I had something I could explore.

I’ve had the first verse since the early part of the ‘Electric Hymns’ sessions, I’ve just struggled to find a good place for it until I realised it was actually an opening verse. Once I figured that out the rest just flowed. It’s pretty much about our current digital age and social media.

We Breathe/ We Breathe ( Reprise )

It started out as one song as these things often do, but when I got around to typing it up proper it seemed too long. I liked everything in it though. It had a significant middle section which was what I basically pulled out for the reprise but there were still a few verses that didn’t make it. As it turned out I liked the way having a reprise gave a little more cohesion to the collection, with things echoing a bit.

Both parts are about our relationship with the world around us, how we relate to it in both good and bad ways. They’re about the current not so good path we seem to be on but I made sure it had some hope too.

Ghost Of A Town

Written about my hometown. Much I love it, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s become a ruin of its former self. Empty shops, half empty streets, buildings falling apart, it just has a general sense of neglect. It’s not a shit hole by any means, not yet, but it feels like it’s at a point where it could certainly go that way. It’s been one bad local authority decision after another for decades since I was young.

It’s a place with a rich history. It was a brilliant, thriving market town when I was growing up but for reasons I’ll never fathom anything that made it unique or historically interesting has been taken away and its soul has been eroded. I just wanted to capture the feeling I get when I go there now. It’s not a ghost town but there’s a sense of it you can’t deny. People are fighting to keep it alive and I admire that too.

The title popped into my head one day when I was walking through the streets and it kind of perfectly summed up how I felt in that moment.

Intermission # 1 & #2

I wanted two really short pieces, something I hadn’t done for a while. I think the words have a kind of music hall feel to them but I’m no expert on that so I could be wrong. Early on I considered splitting the collection into three parts. When that idea later solidified I thought it might be nice to have these little intermissions, maybe just a verse, to end acts 1 and 2. I basically used the template for Intermission # 1 to write # 2 as I wanted them to be companion pieces.

Ministry Of Light

This came out of Intermission # 1 as I was figuring out how that was going to go. There was a bunch of lyrics that didn’t sit right in it but I quite liked and I was pretty sure I could still do something with them.

I have to be honest here and say I’m still not sure what this song is about. I know I wanted to write something that was a kind of hopeful thing, a mantra of sorts, about shining a light on things instead of throwing shadow over them, about veering more to the positive side of things. I wanted a kind of communal feeling to it. I’m not sure I captured what I was after but it‘s still got stuff in it I really like.

King Without A Crown

King Without A crown started out very differently. It sprang from a random few lines I wrote down which went something like ‘You lived your life/ you lived your life so well/ you were a king without a crown.’ It was originally about someone I knew, someone who died suddenly and died far too young, but it wasn’t working, not like I’d hoped it would anyway, and as I rewrote, it became much more of a universal thing. Who knows, I may still get to use those lines one day.

A Sympathetic Sound

Some of the verses are from the original version of ‘We Are Ascending,’ which I wrote around the same time as ‘Dear Life’ and the original version of ‘Twilight’s Last Stand,’ and quite frankly that version didn’t work. I liked the verses so I kept them until I found a suitable place.

It’s about the daily struggle we all go through in our lives but also about that sense we always feel that things will somehow get better, that sense of hope that we’ll always turn a corner toward something better.

We Are Ascending

This updated version came directly out of writing ‘A Sympathetic Sound.’ On revisiting the original version of this I realised, in a real light bulb moment, how I could get to the version I’d been trying to write in the first place. Once I’d figured that out the rest of just flowed.

The theme of it came out of ‘A Sympathetic Sound’ too. In a way it feels they’re two halves of the same thing. They’re about the same thing.

A National Address

A bit of a tricky one this. I had no idea how I felt about organised religion or the Church itself until the words hit the page. I have to admit I debated with myself about putting this out into world as I don’t want to offend anyone. Faith is one thing, everyone has faith in something, friends, family, God, we’re spiritual beings at heart, but when a group starts dictating to people how they should live their lives, embrace something they don’t believe in, that’s where I draw a line.

I’m not attacking anyone’s belief system, just how it’s corrupted by certain elements of certain institutions to further their own agenda. It was surprising how fast and how easily it all came together to be honest.

Alchemy

Now this came easily and nearly fully formed, unexpectedly so and it’s always nice when that happens as mostly it can be like pulling teeth.

The chorus came first, then a few days later the verses. I already had the ‘beauty in the tragic’ part and that just slotted in really nicely as if it belonged. It’s about how we remember those who’ve gone, about how we deal with that and how we keep their memory alive, for them and us.

Swimming Not To Drown

Written in bits and pieces over about a week. It didn’t exactly come in order either, nothing was where I felt it should be and it took a few more days once I had those bits and pieces to figure out how it all fitted.

It was only on putting the finishing touches to it that I realised what it was about. As with a fair few songs in the sessions for ‘We Are Ascending’ it’s about having hope in things, that whatever’s getting us down we’ll get through it by helping ourselves and helping each other.

The Class OF 23

There was going to be a completely different song in the position this takes up in the collection but my nephew was just finishing up in secondary school for good, which of course, is a big moment in his life.

I wanted to mark that somehow and the words just came tumbling out in a few hours. It’s certainly the song that took the least time on this collection, but it felt fully formed as soon as I put the words down.

*

[harrison-abbott]

Clouds in my Head

He slammed the door after him. And it caught my pinkie finger … when he slammed it, I mean.

I mean, my little finger was lying in the gap between the doorway and door. And the door crushed the finger.

The pain was actually valuable in a way because it detracted from what’d just happened. I was on the floor in the first place because he’d just punched me in the face, hard enough to knock me over. My boyfriend. Yet I expected, as I heard him thunder downstairs, that he wouldn’t be with me much longer.

Did he know what he’d done to the pinkie? I suppose it was in second-effort to the fist blow, in terms of dramatic insult.

For a while I stayed there on the floor and held my crushed finger with the other hand. Then I sat up. And thought I was going to be sick and this dizziness made clouds in my head – so I waited for them to pass over and my wits to go clear. Then brought my other hand away.

The nail had come off from the little finger and it bled like … oh, like if you’d imagine a red ink Biro pen exploding. If that’s a good enough simile?

I gulped and the first thing I thought of was to take out a tissue from my back pocket. I’ve always been fond of tissues. They seem to bring a certain aspect of comfort, or homeliness, don’t they? For they have so many functions, aside from nose blows; they can wipe up spills when you muck up; can deal with any grimy stuff that you’d rather not deal with with your own skin.

Upwards, I stood. It was real quiet in the house and I paused and listened as if expecting a sound to give me the next cue.

Nothing happened and so I went downstairs. I locked the door. In case he came back.

Then I went into the toilet and opened the tap onto my bashed finger. As if the water might heal it with its elixir fluid. It’s crazy when something brutal happens to your body, physically: it tends to shun out everything else in terms of problems. Whether it’s money or relationships or family, etc. When you’re injured you revert to animalistic terms.

There was an A & E a mile away from my house.

I didn’t have work today. Didn’t have anything to do; so I put my coat on and left for the hospital.

Outside it was a lovely pretty birdsong filled day.

I saw one of my neighbours walking his dog at the end of the road. Luckily he had his back to me and was forty yards off, so I didn’t have to go near him: and then I took the side path off and away from him so he wouldn’t see me.

This new path was up next to the supermarket. On any normal day I’d go in there and get the newspaper. For today, a place like the supermarket gave me a vaccination for going to the A & E; the mass public panic, the widespread unease.

But, I’d have to deal with it.

Got to the motorway and the buses were filled with depressed people and cars with who knows what mood.

I walked through the next district with the tenement flats and the fields underneath them which must’ve given plenty hope and eventual failure to many young kids kicking balls about. There was nobody on the grass as I passed. And the goalposts had an eerie gesture, rather like dock piers in early morning, or market squares at night.

When I got to the hospital I didn’t quite know where to go.

I’d seen the building many many times because it was hard to miss on any city horizon; this mammoth complex.

There was a man inside an idle ambulance nearby, and I knocked on his window. He scrolled his screen down.

“Can I go into that entrance,” I asked, pointing, “if I have an injury?”

“Yes, you can.” His expression was genuine and concerned and was what belonged to one of the good people on the planet. That’s who I needed to meet right now and I was grateful to him.

When I walked into the hospital atrium there were around 300 people already there, 5% filled with nurses and paramedics and 95% with civilians with all kinds of intense problems needing solved. I waited in the queue leading up to the reception for fifteen minutes. And when I got there there was a lady receptionist.

“I have damage to one of my fingers,” I said. And showed her the wad of tissue. This was a mistake because I didn’t realise how bloody it’d become by now. She frowned when she saw it.

“How did that happen?”

“I was pulling the window down at home and shut it on my finger. I just did it too fast. It was stupid, I know.”

Just by the way she gazed at me I knew she knew that I was lying but she didn’t ask for any more details aside from my date of birth and my full name and then told me to go and sit somewhere in the atrium of three hundred people and remain there until somebody else called my name.

There was a little boy next to me. With his mama. He had breathing difficulties – as if his throat was on fire. I really wished I had the power to help him. And hoped that he would be seen before me.

He was. Some nurse came out of the sliding doors of the interior and called the family name and then the mother lifted up and took him away to her … and he buried his face in her upper bosom.

And a long time later somebody came and called my name too.

It was another female nurse.

“What happened to your face?” she said.

That’s what she asked after I lied about the pinkie injury.

“Nothing.”

“Your cheek is swollen and your lip is all discoloured.”

“That’s … No. I just. No.”

“Did you get beaten up?”

“I just …”

“You just what?”

“I want to get my finger healed up. Please. And that’s all.”

#writeblr #creative writing #short story #prose #fiction

[thessalian]

Thess vs Staffing Issues

It’s taking me some time to figure out how to frame my answer to the question “how was your day?” just now. Because honestly, work is weird.

So. You know how I was saying that we were pretty heavily understaffed for a lot of this week? Well, most of that is actually done and dusted, and Temp won’t actually even be a temp for much longer (though I’m going to call her that anyway, because she’s only committing to a six-month contract and also I’m fed up with her still leaving the complicated typing for other people). However, some of that understaffing is ... kinda permanent.

Summary: Sid quit.

Slightly expanded summary: look, Sid’s got health issues - different ones to the ones I have, but let’s just say I am not the only person who was asking about working from home. Thing is, that whole situation has been kicked into the tall grass for about a year now, as I think I mentioned. That and some other stuff basically got Sid writing what I’m told was a truly epic verbal beatdown email and walking out.

Thing is? The only reason any of us found out about this is because Temp happened to have seen Sid’s ... let’s be kind and say ‘resignation email’. Scruffman didn’t mention that Sid had even left, never mind the circumstances. Which, honestly, is exactly what we’re getting about his previous manager - the one between Scruffman and Head Honcho on the managerial totem pole; the one who was dealing with all my occupational health stuff. That particular manager just ... wasn’t in one day, and the only reason I heard about it was because I had a regular meeting scheduled with her once a fortnight and I had to be told that it wasn’t going to happen “for the foreseeable future”. But that was it - I didn’t know whether it was ill health, she was fired, she quit, what.

Now, Scruffman took a half-day today - came in early specially and left as soon as I came in. Which means that the conversation around the office was very much about Scruffman being ... well, a really poor communicator and unutterably avoidant about things. I mean, this was the man who told my temp agency that they were terminating my contract but didn’t bother mentioning that to me, figuring the agency would do it (and the agency should have, but you’d think that after months of doing an excellent job, he’d have at least said, “It’ll be a shame to see you go” at some point before close of play Friday afternoon). The others have similar stories. But he also throws a bit of a fit if someone talks to Head Honcho about a situation. Like, it came up that I’d emailed Head Honcho about the work from home thing and Scruffman, to whom I hadn’t even been speaking at the time, said, “I was handling that!”

Yeah, well, you should have kept me updated, then. If I get no answers, I’ll just try another avenue. That is what a secretary does.

So leave us simply say that the atmosphere’s a little fraught at the office right now and I don’t think I’ll be seeing the Tiny God of Random Days Off for awhile. At least not until and unless they replace Sid. Which I hope they do because our typing queue is still in triple-figures and I’m getting saddled with more of the long typing than I am able for on bad days because Temp avoids them, and we need someone to take that particular burden off me because gods know Temp’s not giving up her cherry-picking ways. Anyway, without the full house that Sid allowed us, no more random days off.

On the bright side, I have strawberries and nectarines in the dehydrator, and I made my very first risotto, which is gorgeous and has left me with many leftovers. However, mental note - don’t make risotto when tired. It’s not exactly difficult but it requires time and handling stuff in stages and is fiddly. Next up: cottage pie (like shepherd’s pie except ground beef instead of ground lamb).

#Thess has a day job #Thess cooks

[voidthewanderer]

Medical jargon under the cut along with some venting. Might take a break to collect myself.

So, unsurprisingly, I am not pre-diabetic, thus making me not needing the Ozempic like my gastro seemed to think I was. It’s almost like he should have listened to me when I had said I needed some sort of tool to figure out the percentages of fat, muscle, water, etc. He also forgets that I suffer from inflammation issues, which can cause weight gain. But, y’know, I’m in the 40+ range on the BMI! I need to have it! Never mind the fact that they just voted to phase out BMI, but whatever.

In all honesty, if he was that goddamn worried about my weight, he should have filed for the prior authorization with my insurance. I had just seen my primary care doctor, he would have said something if he was that concerned that it wasn’t a fairly normal blend of percentages.

That being said, I just feel… gross. Inhuman. I hate talking to doctors about my weight because none of them really seem to want to help me and like… shame me because I don’t have time or energy to exercise. Like, hello? I had to swallow my tears taking my shoes off today when I finally got home from work two hours late because my feet were in so much pain. My legs swell so much that if I wear crew cut socks and skinny jeans, you can see where my socks are on my calves. That isn’t normal.

And speaking of work, I’m about ready to say fuck it and quit. Drain my down payment funds to pay off some of the debts I have and just do my own thing. I’m so sick and tired of being miserable at this place. Of listening to my manager bitch that they need help in the pharmacy, but nobody wants to do it.

Hello??? I’ve been telling you for the entire two years I’ve been with the company that I want to learn the pharmacy??? Don’t fucking tell me that nobody wants to help out in the pharmacy, because can’t keep saying that that’s where I want to go.

And the manager really pissed me off today. My blood work to check my Stelara levels is very strict. I have to get the blood work done the day before my injection. Not two days before. Not a week before. The day before. My next injection is this upcoming Saturday. Which means this Friday I need to get the blood work done. I gave her an ultimatum: I can either come in late or I can leave early. She goes “neither, it’s inventory day. You need to be here”. No the fuck I don’t. I’m not the one counting shit. An outside company (or which I called the cops on their staff twice last year for violently disruptive behavior) does. Tell the other shift lead that he has to come in then, if you seriously think you need FOUR MANAGERS in. By the way: I’ve been there for inventory both years I’ve worked there; we stand around and do jack shit. There’s zero point in there being four managers on at the same goddamn time.

But, y’know what? They wanna see what the stress of this shit has done to me? They can see it. I’m not holding back any tears or outbursts for the next two days. I am in so much pain right now, I can’t even sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night and my body is acting like I’m in a night terror, even though I’m not. I have welts in some of my joints because they’re so inflamed, things rubbing against my skin is causing sores. I can barely walk, my legs are in so much pain. I can’t stand upright my back is in so much pain, but hunching over makes it worse. I can barely lift my arms over my head, even when I’m laying down (which makes sleeping difficult because I sleep with my arms over my head).

All this being said… I need to take a break. I’ll throw stuff in my queue, but I don’t think I’m going to actively post for a few days. Just so I can think about some things. I will still be reachable through private messages, though! It might just take a little bit for me to respond.

#shut it void

[theretirementstory]

Good afternoon, yes “The Trainee Solicitor”and his girlfriend arrived last weekend and although I had to go into hospital on the 13th we still had a good few days together. It was wonderful to see him and to meet the young lady who is making him so happy. To say it was an emotional time is an understatement and other photos taken after this show two people trying to control their tears.

Well as I said, it was hospital for me Tuesday to Friday for my second round of treatment. I took food in with me so that I wasn’t hungry if I couldn’t eat the stuff they serve up to me, I have always been quite a picky eater especially where meat is concerned and anything that looks a little bit suspect won’t go anywhere near my mouth. Apart from that my treatment was a breeze this time, no sickness and I kept an eye on the fluids I was being given to ensure that there were no problems with the flow, as there had been last time. The only visitors I had were my son and his girlfriend, not that it mattered as I had a couple of books to read, and read them I did!

So what have I done since I got home on Friday, well I have inspected the garden, watered the vegetables, fruit and flowers. The radish I planted on Monday were sprouting by Friday, no sign of the spring onions or whatever else I planted. The transplanted beetroot look as if they may have taken.

I asked the doctor about driving my car and she said there was no reason not too, so Saturday morning I was up bright and early to drive to the supermarket to do my own shopping. I was very pleased with myself but I have noticed that if I touch anything cold the nerves in my hands go absolutely crazy, it’s like little electric shocks up my hands and arms. Peripheral neuropathy the bane of my life, it’s been with me since my treatment nine years ago, I had hoped it would not affect me so badly this time but it’s not to be it seems. Anyway, standing in the queue with my hands tucked under my armpits for warmth may have looked funny to other people but it had the desired effect. I am going to have to invest in a pair of gloves to pick up cooler items, I can’t be having this tingling pain.

Today, I have been cooking up ratatouille and savoury mince to have this evening. I have been given a protein mix to take once a day, obviously they are wanting to “build me up” for the remaining treatments. I have noticed though that I am feeling hungry too (not sure why) so I will get back to eating good wholesome food.

Here is an excerpt from “All In June” by William Henry Davies

“Till to my garden back I come,

Where bumble-bees for hours and hours

Sit on their soft, fat, velvet bums,

To wriggle out of hollow flowers.”

I thought it was quite appropriate as my garden is what I miss most when I am in hospital. Just a little bit more gardening news, I was going to try and sort out the pots containing the alstroemerias as they haven’t started to show any signs of life. I don’t know how I manage to lose them over the winter but I will try to investigate that tomorrow. My beautiful hibiscus from last year has been another casualty of the winter and I really must clear the pot, it currently has some little yellow violas flowering at its base and I don’t want to lose those as they are so pleasing on the eye.

To everyone who messages to find out how I am, I want to say a big thank you. It can be quite difficult to reply straight away but I do get round to it eventually, but this is just to say thanks for taking time from your day to think of me.

Hopefully there will be more to talk about next week, not all about hospital and treatments.

Until then, have a great week, I intend too!

#barsuraube #trees #nature #livingthedream #france #crafts #troyes #baking #photography