#limited packs tiny houses

[simmerlajzag]

#2 University tiny - Beech Byway - Newcrest

I imagine a student living here. They are very neat and a perfectionist (at least when it comes to the inside of the house) but deep down all they want is to play music and move to Sulani. Whats stopping them is the fact that their parents bought them the house and payed for university.

Packs:

Tiny Living

Discover university

Origin ID: LajzaG

#ts4 #ts4 gallery #the sims 4 #building #architecture #interiordesign #limited packs tiny houses

[pedge-page]

What about Joel having to spend a night away for work last minute and reader sulking about it when he gets home and blanking him? 🤣 Cue grovelling from Joel lol

Joel Dealing with Preggo Wife: Late From Work

Notes: I must be too yeehaw American because I had to look up what "blanking" someone meant 😂. Anyway, I had so much fun writing this! Decided to make him late rather than spending a whole night away because lets be real, she'd be serving divorce papers for that.

Warnings: brief oral (f receiving) scene; jealous!Reader, Stubborn reader is BACK

18+ ONLY:

- - - -

He knows he fucked up too. Big time. 

When he said he’d be home at the latest by 7:00pm and it’s now 7:02 and he’s just getting in the truck leaving the site. And when his call goes to voicemail for the 3rd time, and then the fourth time tells him that the number is no longer valid (he’s been blocked), he knows he’s in Big-Fucking-Trouble.

Doesn’t want to call Tommy up for help to coax partially because he wants to fix this own his own, and partially to save Tommy from your wrath you most certainly will take out on him rather than your absent husband.

He grabbed a bouquet of flowers at the grocery store (he’s already in the doghouse so what’s another 5 minutes added to his sentence) and is currently speeding home, a solid 15mph over the limit. Tonight isn’t even anything special: you had both just come back from a lovely weekend trip on the coast and were just settling back in to your house. But when Joel doesn’t deliver on his word, isn’t home for pizza and Pepsi, and sitting behind you while rubbings your back and belly for a quiet movie night…

Well, he’s never been late since the start of your pregnancy. Doesn’t want to think what hellfire you’re going to spit at him the moment he walks in that door.

So here he is about to walk in that door. He takes a big breath, not feeling this anxious since the he proposed to you, and steps in.

He immediately makes contact with you: standing at the end of the hall, illuminated by the kitchen light with your extra extra large T shirt stretched over your belly and dangling loosely around your thighs, hands by your side, barefoot, despite how often he nags at you to wear socks around the house so your feet don’t get cold. He’s thankful to see you hadn’t packed a suitcase, trying to leave the house with a “my husband doesn’t love me” stunt again. 

You clearly had just been walking past when you heard the door, not even fully turning to him but just having your head directed to the entrance the second he walked in. You briefly note the flowers in his hands before your eyes quickly go back to his. He feints an apologetic smile, heart beating so hard. You’re soooo quiet. The calm before the storm.

He gulps hard. 

Instead, you turn forward once more and continue walking towards the living room without a word.

You have a hand on your back as you gently collapse onto the couch. 

“Baby,” he says meekly, voice all tiny yet determined.

You pull your legs up over a pillow and fold open your book.

He comes to kneel beside you, immediately kissing your shoulder.

You do nothing. 

“Baby,” he says more clearly. “I’m sorry, honey. I couldn’t beat the time.”

You flip a page, tilting your head to read the fascinating text on the page rather than listen to your poor husband on his knees for you.

His fights with the sleeve of your shirt. Would you at least look at him? He’s holding the flowers still in his hand, big puppy dog eyes trying their best to plea with you, and with his irresistible pouty lips that get him just about anything he wanted from you. But you only lend him a sigh, flipping yet another page.

So it’s gonna be like that.

"Please, angel. I was tryin' so hard to leave on time like I said. They got the concrete all mixed up and it needed to be set today, was tryin' to get out of there, just couldn't get it moving fast enough, I'm sorry baby I really sped over here fast I can to see ya, couldn't wait a second longer—"

“Oh!” You gasp suddenly.

He’s started, but nonetheless quick to be by you.

You check the clock on the wall and laugh. Time had gotten away from you too. You slam your book and hoist yourself up, on the other end of the couch to avoid his anxious hands fluttering to your aid. You brush past him and start your climb up the stairs.

Joel is right behind you, a bit of hope stirring in him. Its not until you’re walking through your bedroom door—and slamming it right in his face that he gets the message loud and clear.

Perhaps he earned a night on the couch to pray your forgiveness. After finding a suitable vase for the roses, he puffs up his pillow, his back killing him (though he’d never say it aloud while you’re waddling around with a whole 'nother being in your belly for the last few months) and crashes down on the sofa.

He just makes out the light go off under the door in the bedroom before he too is closing his eyes.

Tomorrow brings a new day, and he’s gonna spend every second satisfying his wife. He’s deserves his stay on the couch tonight.

-

He did NOT deserve this bullshit.

It’s been 3 fucking days since he came home late.

3 days of waking up early, trying to kiss his beautiful wife and baby momma with sweet affirmations and praises, which you dodge and continue about your stubborn ignoring-test. He spent all morning cooking every single food you’d craved since your pregnancy started—waffles, French toast, cinnamon pancakes, toast with special mixed fruit jam you can only get at a grocery store an hour away, scrambled, over easy, poached, hard boiled eggs. All arranged so beautifully on the table, even going as far to put the napkins on the left, after you screeched at him a few months ago for haphazardly having them on either the right or left, and never with the fork consistently on top.

He thought he’d learned his lesson, thought he made more than enough up to you, but no. You breeze right by, making a cup of tea, and go back upstairs to your closed door.

Your sadistic mind had given him false hope when you hadn’t locked the door on him on night number two. He slept in his bed, but you had made a clear parry by slotting between the two of you the infernal pregnancy pillow that Joel had kept in storage since you “Much preferred your husband’s plushy belly and soothing rubs.” 

Fat chance tonight.

Every minute he wasn’t telling you how beautiful you are, how amazing you are, how lucky he is, he spends groveling with please forgive me, I’m so sorry, I’m such a worm.

None of it sways you any differently. 

By day 4, he’s given up the sweet talk and grand gestures. Goes for a “think like her” kind of mental approach. 

He tries to bribe you—either making you a Pepsi float, or even bringing home the famous Hot Fudge Cookie Dough Chocolate Gooey Fantasy Milkshake with EXTRA Rainbow sprinkles. But even as he temptingly waves in front of your little wiggly nose, you don’t acknowledge him.

He makes a big show to sigh heavily in defeat, leaving it on the kitchen table alone and trotting helplessly upstairs for a shower.

Less than 7 minutes later he’s come back down to see if you’d given in yet, maybe even telling him what a fantastic husband he is while shoveling your face with ice cream and admitting you were being dramatic. 

Instead, you’re still sitting on the couch, exactly as he left you. Of course, the milkshake cup is completely empty, sucked clean of its gooeyness, and there’s a little splotch of chocolate sauce lingering on your chin you had failed to wipe clean. 

A start, he thinks.

Still though, you don’t pay him any mind, scrolling on your phone with tight lips.  

He wonders how long you could go on with this game.  

It’s honestly a fucking terrible miracle—not even since before you were pregnant had you gone this long shutting the fuck up. But now its horrifyingly eerie, like a curse has fallen upon him and he’s doing everything he can to break it, to bring back your nagging and bitching and whining and crying because it would be so much more relaxing than this new kind of psychotic hell you’ve subjected him to.

He starts getting a little more involved: playing with your body, touching you softly with gentle strokes along your thighs and belly. You hadn’t flinched away, or tried moving to another spot on the couch. 

Which confirmed one thing to him: your horniness and lack of physical attention from your husband due to your stubborn mind was losing your mental battle to hold out against him.

So Joel doesn’t say anything either as he moves his lips over your breasts, down your swollen belly and kissing his babygirl in your bump. He mumbles, “Mommy is awfully mad at Daddy, think I can cheer her up?” 

The baby kicks as if in agreement. His gaze glances up briefly to see if you’re listening.

Your eyes catch and yours quickly dart away, leaning back and pretending to yawn. He snickers before continuing his hot trail of open mouthed kisses until your legs “shift” and “accidentally” part on their own.

He makes sweet, insatiable yet slow love to your pussy, licking a fat strip from your little clenched hole to that hot delicious center that is beyond wet for him—yet another example of how much your body clearly can’t ignore him forever.

But, ever as he brings you to a long needed orgasm, you bite your tongue, absolutely refusing to give him even the slightest sound of satisfaction despite clenching tightly around his thick digits pumping into you. Only letting out a strangled breath through your nose while you stare up to the ceiling, fingers folded across your tummy as if bored. 

He wipes away the slick from his mustache. Hell, even he can admit you deserve an applaud for making it through that without uttering a peep to his skills.

Hurts like hell on the inside though that you’re just that mad still.

He had hoped that being forced to drive with him due to your size preventing you from sitting behind the wheel would corner you into talking him, but even then, as he opens the passenger door for you, you climb aboard and slam the door shut without his assistance.

Now the two of you are on your way to yours and Maria’s weekend brunch. Tommy was also coming to drop his girlfriend off, so it would be a good time to catch him up on this unqiuely-pregnant-you madness.

You snatch your purse and hop out of the car, mood going a full 180 and instantly greeting Maria with a warm hug and perky voice. The two of you sit down at a little table way aways from your idiot husband and brother in law.

Tommy nods him over to the bar and Joel grumbles over.

“She ignoring you?” His little brother asks while shelling peanuts.

“Is it that obvious?” Joel shakes his head. He can’t even leave off with Tommy because he knows you won’t answer his texts asking what time you’re done for pickup. So he’s stuck here to wait for you the entire time.

“You try going down on—“

“Yes! Yes I fucking tried.”

“She didn’t like it?”

“Oh no, she came hard. Wouldn’t even whimper for me when she was clenching her little cunt around my fingers—” he says with an aggressive whisper, his pointer and middle fingers shooting up in the air with wild eyes demonstrating the scene, “—and her little numb twitchin’ on my tongue. Didn’t even fucking moan. She’s a stubborn girl but I don’t deserve that.”

Tommy shakes his head with a chuckle. “Damn. That’s just determination right there. Gotta give it to her.”

Tommy excuses himself with a slap to the shoulder, muttering “gotta take a leak” and disappears to the bathroom.

Joel wouldn’t mind having a drink right now, but know’s he’s gotta stay sober to drive you home. A miserable, silent filled drive once again. He glanced at his watch, following each tick of the hand.

“Hi there.”

Joel almost didn’t address the voice of the woman who had gentle snuck up behind him, moving to take Tommy’s seat. She’s probably a little younger than you, a nice kind smile, inviting and warm towards a stranger. 

Joel politely smiles back with a little nod. 

She offers a sweet “thanks”, a blush creeping on her cheeks before she begins to speak: “Listen, I don’t mean to prude… but I saw you come in and ...I’m usually not so brash—but I was wondering…”

-

Meanwhile, your baby is beat boxing extra hard today in your stomach. You can’t even focus on eating your salad and keeping up with Maria’s chatter about Tommy’s nose hairs all over the vanity. 

Your baby is smart. She knows something is up. You narrow your eyes and look around, finding Joel and company at the bar— 

Except the company he is keeping is NOT Tommy but instead, a gorgeous woman tossing her hair and flashing her pearly white teeth off at your husband, who’s giving her his full attention. She’s giggling with him, taking animatedly with her hands, lingering heavy eye contact and touching his watch as if looking for an excuse to get closer.

You forget about the massive planet sized lump in your belly as you instantly stand up, nearly tipping the table and all its dishes and cutlery over. 

Maria is calling your name but you don’t have the mind to answer, striding over like a bull towards the bar.

-

“Hiiiiiiii!”

Joel and the woman both jump at the harsh shrill of an annoying, high pitched, slightly perturbed but faking a smile, voice screeching behind them—the most beautiful voice Joel’s ever heard…and had missed so dearly this week.  

The woman looks over to you, seemingly startled that you had interrupted the conversation so brazenly.

“Oh, um, hi,” she offers, blinking off your pregnant belly and abrupt appearance.

“This is Joel,” you boast, pointing the shlump of a man in front of her.

“Ah-Hello—“ she smiles again to him.

You add quickly. “He’s my husband.”

“Oh.”

“And I’m his wife.”

“Ah—I—“

“Annnnnnnnd this is our baby!” You boast, proudly rubbing over that enormous swell of your tumtum so she can see in case it wasn’t the biggest fucking thing in this room. “And… you are?” You ask sweetly.

“Um…” she takes one last glance at Joel, his apologetic shrug saying everything then at you, your hard gaze burning holes into her head. “…leaving,” she says towards you.

“Great answer. I like you :) Bye Bye now!” You wave enthusiastically with a chipper voice and a deadly smile. She nods fretfully and pops off the stool, walking away like a threatened animal.

He just chuckles, shaking his head and looking down at his hands with a grin. “Ya know, she just came over to ask where I got my watch.”

“And did you tell her your WIFE bought it?” You ask, poking your finger at his chest.

He has to hide his crooked smile. It’s the first time you’ve directly spoken to him since Monday. “Yeah, I did. She asked where ya got it, because she was looking for one just like it—for her husband.”

Your finger fidgets slightly, expression drawing a blank at the revelation turning over in your mind.

“……………………………………………....................................oh.”

He rotates his stool to face you. You’re steeping in your thoughts, the confidence faltering just slightly in your mind at the realization of how grossly you had interpreted the situation between that innocent woman and your hubby. He didn’t even care, though. All he could think about was how his heart feels 10x lighter seeing you back in your usual, bold, daring, audacious self. All of your attention on him once again.

“I’ll admit, still felt good havin’ ya come to my rescue.”

You scoff, near offended by his words. “Well duh, you’re mine.”

“That right? Even these last few days?”

Yet another bomb goes off in your head at the second realization—that you had forfeited your punishment to ignore him to the ends of the earth.

 You cross your arms defensively anyway. “Well... I…decided.”

“Mmm?”

“That…I needed a back rub. But you clearly you can’t pick up on that on your own so—now I have to verbally tell you.”

“Ah huh. Sure it wasn’t cuz you were jealous? Couldn’t stand me being interested in another woman since my own made it clear she didn’t want me no more? Because my wife decided she couldn’t be patient and wait the extra 13 minutes I was running late before punishin’ me all goddamn week?”

Oh wait—was he really only late by 13 minutes? You could have sworn it was an hour plus!

“That wasn’t 13 minutes! Do you know how to tell time? It was over an hour—“

“Did you set your clock back like I told you to the night before when we got back from the coast, into our own time zone?”

😳

- - - -

Also this is how I see reader getting ate out but trying to be nonchalaunt about it:

conveniently also my favorite shot of Pedro during a photoshoot

Permanent taglist:

@harriedandharassed @lola8888673 @its-nebuleuse @zliteraturehoe @merz-8 @joeldjarin @pascalscoffin @pedroshotwifey @ghostslillady @innerpersonunknown @missladym1981 @mrs-oharaxx @survivingandenduring @milla-frenchy @cockykookiee @fairytale07 @daddy-din @pedropascalsbbg @spookyxsam @somehopeatlast @millercontracting @pedrostories @mishala005 @theoraekenslover @animez96 @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @puduvallee

#pedro pascal smut #joel miller fan fiction #joel miller x reader #joel miller smut #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #last of us fanfiction #last of us smut #joel miller fic #joel miller #joel miller fluff #the last of us fluff #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us fic #tlou smut #tlou fanfiction #tlou fic #tlou fluff #last of us fic #last of us fluff #joel dealing with preggo wife

[hotyanderedaddies]

Hey so what about naga yandere? That's been watching reptile obsessed darling from afar waiting for the right moment to pounce

Yandere Naga Loves to Watch Ophidiophobic You

**Ophidiophobia: intense and overwhelming fear of snakes

[Yandere! Naga x GN! Ophidiophobic! Reader]

·゜·:.。..。.:·☆·゜·:.。..。.:·☆

Daddy wakes up extra early in the morning so that he can slither out of his den and towards the edge of the forest, his green eyes honing in on a certain building that is within his view.

The window upstairs to the far left was lit up from the bedroom light, signifying that you were awake and getting ready for the day.

Daddy's heart raced in his chest as he listened to the heavenly noises of you humming to yourself as you showered and dressed up into your school uniform. And once you were all ready, you skipped out of the front door and started to walk to school.

As soon as his eyes landed on you, Daddy's face stretched out into a wide, cadaverous grin, his forked tongue flicking out of his mouth so that he could taste your scent.

"Good morning, Darling," he whispered, low enough so that you couldn't hear him from his hidden position, "today's going to be a good day."

He knew this too, because your backpack was packed a little more than usual, bulging out with your extra change of clothes because your Biology class was taking an overnight field trip to the local national forest where you'd be spending the night in the woods... which was in Daddy's territory.

"Soon," he promised you.

The very first time that Daddy had laid eyes on you, he'd been searching for a meal, and you had been wondering along one of the trails in the woods to take pictures of local wildlife for a class project.

He'd totally planned on eating you when he'd caught sight of your cute face, making him freeze in his hiding spot behind the trees. Instead of devouring you, he'd curiously watched as you wandered around the woods, treating nature with a sense of whimsy and respect, earning his devotion.

He'd immediately loved that you were a kindhearted soul and that you were a smol who was very adorable, and he'd wanted nothing more than to scoop you up in his arms and carry you off to his den to be all his.

There was just one tiny issue:

Daddy is a naga, and whereas his human half is very handsome by most standards and he looks very strong and gorgeously rugged, his lower half is that of a gigantic serpent that slithers silently about the woods as he stalks his prey. And you're a human who's very--

"AHHH! A snake!" you shrieked as soon as you caught sight of the tiny field snake that was about the size of a child's index finger. You took off sprinting down the road, flailing your arms wildly as you desperately tried to put as much distance between you and the baby snake as possible.

The snake looked up at Daddy confused, and he just shrugged at it, knowing that it meant no harm.

But still, Daddy was extremely disappointed that the love of his life has a phobia of snakes.

Granted this definitely was a damper on your relationship, Daddy refused to let you go. He made sure to watch you every chance he got, keeping a protective eye on you at all times. He could easily see your house from the forest, and made sure to slither around it in the dark, marking it with his scent so that other creatures knew that you were off limits.

He always followed you whenever you walked to school, hissing ferociously at any animal that was stupid enough to even think about charging at you.

You're his Darling, and Daddy can't wait until the two of you can finally be together.

But he's getting really impatient.

Which was why he was over the moon about your overnight school trip.

As the day progressed and you spent time in the forest with your classmates, Daddy made sure to be as close as he could. The park ranger/tour guide made things difficult, but he still managed to keep his distance while maintaining sight of you. You eagerly took in every word that you could on your trip, happily learning all about nature and the creatures that live in it.

Daddy made a mental note to take you on daily trips through the forest so that he can show you all the sights, after he steals you away.

As the day turns into night, Daddy watches as everyone go their cabins.

It's quiet for a while until he hears a little creaking emanating from your cabin, and the door swings open as you tiptoe out. You head towards the bathroom cabin that is at the end of the row of tiny cabins. There's no one else outside either.

Daddy's smile stretches out even more as he realizes that this is his chance. He slithers to the bathroom cabin and quietly waits by the door for you to exit.

"Gotcha," Daddy gleefully whispers the second you step foot outside.

He pounces and wraps his snake half around you, trapping your limbs at you side. With his human arms, he tightly wraps them around you, securing a tight hand over your mouth.

You start to panic over the feeling of a strong figure around you, but the panic turns into sheer horror as soon as you feel the smooth, scaly quality to the figure. You try to look downward, but it's really dark, preventing you from seeing much. Yet, the tightening squeezing sensation forces your imagination into overdrive and all you can think of is the most terrifying thing in the world:

Snake.

You try to thrash about as much as you can, desperate to get free. But it's useless.

Daddy is much, much stronger than you.

"Shh," Daddy coos in you ear. "It's okay, Darling. Daddy won't hurt you. Daddy's just gonna take you home with him. Okay?"

He doesn't wait for your answer, and instead starts to slither off into the dark forest at a high speed, his prize trapped tightly in his clutches.

Daddy has you, and he's never ever going to let you go.

You'll learn to love snakes, he'll make sure of it.

#yandere boyfriend #yandere boy #yandere daddy #yandere x reader #yandere x you #obsessive love #possessive boyfriend #asks #naga #yandere naga #naga x you #naga x reader #yandere naga x reader #yandere monster #yandere naga x you

[xo-cod]

A fantasy that has been on my mind for some time is being in the poly with the tf141 and having 4 kids that clearly belong to each one of them but all of them treat the others like their own.

I'm just gonna put that idea in your head and run away do what you want with it👀👀👀

ps: I love aaaall your fics but especially how you write the poly ones 😘👌

thank you, my love <33 i hope you enjoy this, i think i misinterpreted this but i loved it so bad :")

4 men + 4 children + you = a recipe for disaster (lovingly)

they all treat the children as their own, there isn't any favouritism shown in front of the children (obvs the dads to each corresponding child would bond a little more closer to them but you get the gist)

it's simply a tradition for each child to receive a kiss before the men go off to work. soap and ghost have rushed out in a hurry but quickly do a u turn and come back to press a tender kiss to the children and then you and then they leave in a hurry

it's a loud chaotic house (assuming you all live together) but you're never alone in taking care of the kids

simon does cooking, price does the cleaning, gaz and johnny washes up and you entertain the children and get them all ready for bed (yes they do the cooking and the cleaning ‼️)

bedtime stories. all the babies cuddled up on their own dad's chest while you read a story for them, resulting in most days waking up to see them sleeping all in one bed since no one had the heart to move the sleeping babies from their chest

deployment can get very hard even if their hours are cut and it draws heavy on their hearts too, being away from you and their baby. each man makes it up to you always <3

but each of the children taking after their dad :") i made the kids into girls, they're such girl dads 😩

price's daughter: a gem. naturally a little more quiet but she's compassionate and a great listener. her heart is gold, always making sure that those around her are good and well. she's is a natural charmer, an observer and a listener. somehow always knowing the solution to the problem wherever all the kids get into trouble.

simon's daughter: she's got the sass from her father. doesn't take shit from no one but a total affectionate baby underneath. loves deeply, always wants the best for everyone. fiercely protective even from a tiny age, somehow always managing to get into trouble in wanting to use the "grown up" weapons instead of the baby ones simon had to buy to make sure there were no injuries since she was so curious. get into a lil bit (or a lot bit) of trouble because they want to train like the soldiers

gaz's daughter: a curious little thing, she is. her eyes always hold interest in whatever is placed in front of her. interested in how everything works, a hard worker. albeit she get into trouble sometimes because she likes testing her limits and somehow always falling off from things which results in her dad getting mini panic attacks everytime she isn't in sight.

johnny's daughter: a breath of fresh air. so much laughter packed in her tiny lungs, hyperactive always, trying to make the best of every situation. always able to make you smile, no matter what state you're in. little ball of sunshine, giggles sure to put you out of a bad mood. and the total prankster of the group. so very sneaky but so innocent looking so nobody suspects a thing

and then imagine if the kids all had total different personalities. price's kid is like gaz, simon's kid is like price, gaz's kid is like johnny and soap's kid is like simon lmfao. it would be so fun to see how they react <3

#asks #i loved this sorry if it was all over the place 😩😩 #i'm in the biggest mood for dad 141 :“) #simon riley #simon riley x reader #john soap mactavish #john price #kyle gaz garrick #dad!simon riley #dad!price #dad!gaz #dad!soap #dad!141 x reader

[imaginesandbandfiction]

Triad Part 4 — Cas and Az Figure Their Shit Out

A Cazriel x Reader Headcanon

Series Masterlist

A/N: This is my fave part so far so I hope you love it as much as I do!

Warnings: Very very short but graphic allusions to sexual content

It takes three days for Cassian and Azriel to come to terms with the idea of a Triad Bond, but they talk it out with words instead of fists so as not to agitate the bond (or you).

Rhys’ mediation helps their anger and insecurities calm down enough and then they go their separate ways for a while to think. Cassian takes to the training ring, letting his body fall into the familiar routine and freeing his mind up to wander.

He pushed himself through the uncomfortable flip of his stomach and thought about Azriel as a potential mate. They’d been friends for so long, brothers for so long, that some things were easy to picture.

Drinking of tea by the fireplace after a long mission, only instead of sitting on opposite armchairs, they’d curl up on the couch. Maybe Az would put his feet in Cas’ lap and hold his tea in one hand and a book in the other, reading out loud this time.

Eating breakfast with everyone at the Townhouse, scarfing down sausage with one hand and holding Az’s with the other, locking their fingers together underneath the table.

Standing on the balcony at the House of Wind on Starfall, underneath the glow of thousands of cascading stars. Letting his head fall onto Az’s shoulder.

Other things, however, were not so easy to picture. He couldn’t get past taking Az’s shirt off in his mind. As soon as he saw the flat expanse of golden skin, he froze and his brain went numb. Everything he knows about sex stops there. What are you supposed to do without breasts to start things off?

But then a thought sharpened into focus. Kissing. That wasn’t fundamentally any different between males and females…

Azriel, on the other hand, had long since come to terms with the fact that he enjoys the company of males as well as females. His nights at the pleasure halls were more eventful than most, but he kept them locked up deeper than the classified secrets that could destroy courts and tear alliances apart.

He liked to keep work and play separate. Cassian was always off limits; he never let his mind go there. But now his self control was unraveling strand by strand, peeling back the layers of armor and exposing his deepest, truest thoughts.

Shadows flit around the room like anxious butterflies as he paces in his office, wings tucked in tight so he doesn’t knock into anything.

Magic courses through his veins—thick cords of it wind around his neck and up into his brain, flooding it with white hot thoughts.

They’re memories, at first. Cassian pinning him down in the training ring, thick thighs squeezing Az’s waist, chests heaving hard enough to touch.

Your featherlight fingertips trailing up his arm, testing for nerve damage.

Cas’s arms around his waist and shoulders, holding him up after he got shot out of the sky by ash arrows, helping him back to base camp.

You patching him up afterwards, the three of you packed into the tiny tent, breathing in each other’s air.

But then things morph into fantasies. You riding his cock while Cassian rides his face.

Two sets of hands on hips and thighs, two tongues, two pairs of lips…

He shakes his head and, when that doesn’t drain the filth, he bangs his fist against the desk, leaving a crater in the wood.

Az? Everything okay? It’s Rhys, invading his head. He groans—caught with his defenses down.

I’m fine.

Doesn’t seem like it.

Fuck off.

Rhys obeys, immediately shutting off their connection. Two minutes later, there’s a knock at his office door. He waves his hand to open it and Azriel stands there with storms in his eyes and shadows nipping at his heels.

The High Lord’s smile could brighten all of Prythian.

“Don’t even think about it,” Az growls, stalking into the room to resume his pacing there.

Rhysand sits back in his chair, pulling one leg up to rest his foot on the opposite knee, knowing that with Azriel, it was a waiting game. He was the only one who could match the Shadowsinger’s patience.

But it’s a new record; it only takes ten minutes for him to crack this time.

“It’s Cassian,” he hisses. “Cassian.”

“I know it’s unexpected, and unconventional, but…” Azriel’s voice cuts through Rhys’ like it’s Truthteller.

“That’s not the problem. It’s Cassian, Rhys.”

Recognition crests across Rhys’s face. Smugness follows in its wake.

“Oh, brother, you dirty dog! You’ve been holding out on me.”

“I was perfectly happy separating business and pleasure until this Cauldron-damned bond came along!”

“And now you can’t stop picturing Cassian all hot and sweaty, rubbing those thick hands alongside your—“

“Yes, okay?”

“Let me guess. You’re worried that he won’t accept the bond, accept you. And you’re scared of pushing too hard, that you’re going to scare him?”

Azriel’s silence is answer enough. Rhys listens to the barely-there tapping of Az’s shoes on the stone floor, waiting again.

But then the tapping stops and Az drops into the chair in front of Rhys’s desk.

“What do I do?” He asks, hanging his head and running a slender hand through his hair.

“Have you tried tugging on the bond?” Az glares at him. “Try it. Let him know you’re there. Think of it like a peace offering.”

Az sleeps on it. He thinks about it all day, but ultimately can’t force himself to do it.

That night while he’s in bed tossing and turning because the turbulent magic is rattling his brain, he feels a tug and a flash of golden magic sprinkled with red. His breath catches in his throat—Cassian.

He tugs back, still holding his breath. Cas tugs once more and then Az and throws off his quilt and crosses the hall to knock on the general’s door.

“I want to accept the bond,” Cas says as he opens the door, ushering Az into his bedroom. “But before we do, I think we should, um…”

Az waits, leaning back against the doorframe with one eyebrow raised.

“Kiss.” Cassian finishes, tucking his chin to his chest to hide the pink peonies blooming to life on his cheeks. Az watches his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows, letting the tension settle like dust, giving it time to flutter into place.

Cassian shifts. It’s subtle, but Azriel can smell a faint hint of arousal. He pushes himself off the doorframe and kicks the door shut behind him, crossing the room in three long strides.

He leans in until his nose brushes against Cas’s, a shadow against his lips.

“Are you certain?” He asks, searching Cassian’s eyes for the truth.

“Yes,” Cassian whispers, puffing pillows of air that tickle Az’s skin.

Azriel pushes forward, wrapping one arm around Cas’s neck to thread his fingers in the hair at its base. When their lips touch, all traces of anxiety melt into pure, peaceful pleasure. A low hum of magic seems to pass from mouth to mouth, skin to skin.

When Az pulls back, Cassian is grinning, practically glowing with gold and purple magic.

Az grins back.

They knock on your door the next evening, arms laden with bottles of wine and the most beautiful cake you’ve ever seen in your love, covered in delicate sugar flowers.

Taglist: @wallacewillow0773638

#acotar imagine #acotar headcanon #acotar fanfiction #acotar fanfic #acotar #cazriel x reader #cazriel #cazriel headcanon #cassian headcanons #cassian x azriel x reader #cassian x you #cassian x reader #azriel headcanons #azriel x you #azriel x cassian x reader #azriel x reader #headcanon #headcanons

[daniigh0ul]

The Bachelorettes (a collab)

I am looking for 4 sims to use in a mini spin-off of Moonlight! It is a dating reality tv show and the first season focuses on 21+ queer sims dating each other.

The premise: 6 queer sims live in a house for three weeks and couple up! The couple that makes it to the end of show wins a cash prize and all-expenses paid couples vacation! Hosted by Diego Lobo and produced by his boyfriend Leo.

deadline: march 12th! tag me if you make a post for it!! i will be tagging posts with 'tbc'!

info i need & how to give me the download under the cut. <3

YOUR SIM'S INFO:

Their name, pronouns, age, and sexual and romantic preferences required. Anything else you can add is extra. 

Their preferred role in the show. Examples are HBIC, fan favorite, villain, plant, etc. 

Their backstory (why they would be on the show! This helps me decide when/if they would leave the show.) 

What they’re looking for in (a) partner(s). 

Whether or not your sim smokes/drinks/parties/have sex

Interest in dating occult sims (werewolves/vampires)

CUSTOM CONTENT:

Custom content is allowed! Limit to Everyday (2 outfits), party (2 outfits), and swim suit (2), sleepwear (1), formal (1)! Leave hot/cold and athletic outfits bgc/naked because they won’t be seen. You can mix and match the number of outfits per category as long as it’s a total of 8. Must include the cc in the zip file when you send over the tray files. If you’re going vanilla, these are all the packs I own: city living, discover university, seasons, cats & dogs, high school years, outdoor retreat, vampires, werewolves, cottage living, jungle adventure, dine out, nifty knitting, tiny living, romantic garden, my first pet, spooky stuff, cool kitchen, and luxury party. Other custom content allowed: skin details, face overlays, custom eyebrows/eyelashes, makeup, and accessories are allowed! No whole body overlays or custom traits! Your sim will look slightly different because of the gshade preset and the default skin i use!

--

dm me a download link with the tray files and cc (if any) here! otherwise, you can contact me on discord (danigh0ul) and give me a direct download link there. :)

#tbc #rory oaklow #wow i am finally doing this look at me go

[headphonegrl]

The first summer you and Kylian spent together was when you were toddlers, both teetering on the edge of being able to walk without the help of an enthusiastic adult. There’s always been a great debate between you both about what’s actually a memory and what’s derived from the photos that are treasured by both of your parents and brought out at any given opportunity; you pictured in a tiny green bucket hat and him with so much sunscreen on his nose that it looks like white paint. In the hallway of his childhood home hangs a framed photo of you both clumsily clutching each other's hand, a habit you both developed long before the notion of walking or talking.

The fifth summer was significantly defined by the evening you both decided to turn a wall into a full elaborately drawn landscape complete with flowers amongst the grass and an attempt at an accurately sized sun, all with the help of the crayons Kylian packed in his suitcase amongst his socks. Understandably, you were both punished and spent the rest of that week sulking beside the pool you weren’t allowed to swim in and fishing out insects to nurse them back to health. There was a dramatic departure of a bee you had both formally named ‘Fuzzy’, who flew away gracelessly after being fed water with the end of a leaf; ever since then Kylian has drawn a little bee on the envelope of all your birthday cards.

The ninth summer was so hot that the concrete patio had turned into the equivalent of lava. Nearly all of the time was spent under the shade of a peach tree that belonged to the house you were all staying at; it was far too warm to be in direct sunlight for more than a minute without feeling faint. A planned mission had secured you both garden furniture chairs, stolen from the top of the garden while everyone was preoccupied with making lunch. Most of the mornings were spent picking the best peaches and eating them until your hands went sticky with juice and you’d have to walk up to the kitchen to wash them. Then the afternoons were consumed by taking grainy pixilated pictures on Kylian's new phone he had got in light of the next school year, one of which has been your contact photo for over ten years.

The thirteenth summer you spent together always pops into memory whenever the smell of vodka rears its ugly head again. Neither of you were unlike the rest of the kids your age, both victims of the typical adolescent crime of not knowing limits yet when it comes to drinking. As soon as the hand of the clock hit six in the evening, any alcohol sitting in the door of the fridge would sneakily be poured into mugs and tiptoed up to one of your rooms. On the last Friday of August, you mixed heapings of vodka with way too little apple juice and both ended up lying in a tangled heap of limps on a sun-lounger. Over breakfast the next morning as Kylian cut his toast into tiny pieces, his mother cooed at the picture she uploaded to Facebook of you both cuddled up with all the comments underneath from her friends exclaiming what a cute couple you both were. 

The seventeenth summer ended so quickly that it was almost heart-shattering. The months don’t bid everyone farewell like they used to, as you’re both nearing your twenties they just melt away in a blink. Stubborn as ever you insisted on not having any help with shoving your bags into the back of the car, so all Kylian could do was stare down at his feet and kick pieces of gravel around. A goodbye kiss was pressed towards his temple, and he embarrassingly grabbed onto the side of your top like a silent plea for you to stay a second longer. Watching your car drive away felt like letting go of a balloon and witnessing it float further and further until it looks like a tiny dot of ink on a page. When he’d finally been dragged back into the house, his little brother offers him the last chocolate bar as if to send him his condolences. 

The twenty-first summer you spent together was when Kylian finally kissed you. The lights under the surface of the pool were reflecting off your face and there were little droplets of water in your eyelashes. You tasted of chlorine and that coconut lip balm you still lend him sometimes if he asks nicely. Probably due to all the romantic films he had consumed throughout his life, part of him believed that after a moment like that something unbearably dramatic would happen; that maybe the world would implode whether it went well or otherwise. Though slipping into this kind of affection felt incredibly safe and comforting, like falling into a blanket after a long day or hugging a childhood teddy. After all, Kylian had been holding your hand before he could even talk or eat from a spoon; he was born loving you. He loved you even before he knew what love was like. 

#sorry if theres so many typos jeeeeezzz #happy spring happy pre summer #hopefully it flows well....help #my writing #kylian mbappe x reader #kylian mbappe imagines #kylian mbappe fanfic #kylian mbappe fic #kylian x reader #kylian mbappe x you #kylian mbappe fluff #kylian mbappe x y/n #footballer x reader #footballer imagine #football imagines #footballer fanfic #footballer one shot #kylian mbappe one shot #kylian mbappe blurb

[omorimodreverie]

August Development Update

Overview

August started out similarly to the last couple months, with progress being on the slow side and contributions being made in base asset development. However, progress began ramping up towards the end of the month, and we’re now at a place where we’re making some decent progress towards a test build. We’re only just beginning, of course; and it’ll still take a lot of time before anything is ready for the playtesters. But still, progress is progress.

This month is an important milestone in that we finally started to implement the assets we have into the RPGMV engine. At this point in time, we now have the beginnings of a playable city in the works, and we hope to refine it into a state where we can give you some sneak peeks sometime soon. All I can say for now is that I’m personally very excited with how the city looks, even now at this primitive stage: I can’t wait for you all to see it.

Progress

As mentioned previously, the most noteworthy progress made in August was that our base assets are being implemented into RPGmaker. However, this in no way means that other areas of development weren’t touched upon: in fact, quite the opposite. Everything we’ve worked on during the past month includes, but is not limited to:

With a few exceptions, maps for the city that will be shown in chapter 3 has been implemented into RPGmaker

Basic map events have been put in place that allow map movement, door accessibility, functioning stairs and elevators, etc

A number of cutscenes, as well as NPCs, have been mostly implemented into the game and fleshed out

A number of additional pixel artwork for NPCs and map objects were completed and added into spritesheets

Organization for various songs and the music department in general has seen significant progress

Progress was made on the writing for cutscenes and various flavor text/NPC dialogue

The game files in general were reorganized, as well as optimized

What’s In Plan For The City

Going into development for chapter 3, a very important and rather difficult challenge was posed to us in the form of the chapter’s playable area, the real world city. Of the two areas we worked on so far, Fallen World was based off of a preexisting area in the base game, and therefore much easier to develop; and the Neural Network, while original, was still a part of dreamworld, allowing us to conceptualize much of it based on our major interpretations of headspace.

The city is different in that this is a place entirely separate from Sunny’s imagination or even Faraway Town. This means that we have virtually nothing from the base game to draw inspiration from, and have to build it from the ground up almost completely by ourselves. This is partially the reason why chapter 3 is taking so long to complete: from a development perspective, we’re having to blaze our own trails. For a team of voluntary, part-time, amateurs, this has proven to be somewhat of a hurdle.

Our main goal with the city was to make an area that felt ‘dynamic’: basically, for it to feel like a real city. Faraway Town in base OMORI is a tiny suburban community: to that end, the buildings are sparse and short, with identical houses lining the streets. Combined with a general lack of large-scale activity and mostly static NPCs, it gives off an atmosphere of relative sleepiness, an aura of quiet. We wanted our city to provide a sharp contrast to Faraway in this aspect: we wanted it to be rambunctious, packed, and bustling.

Creating a ‘Dynamic’ City

So what makes a city ‘dynamic’? During the course of the last few months, we’ve been able to come up with a map of the city that’s filled with tall buildings tightly nestled together, in the backdrop of a tightly urbanized network of uniformly gray streets and sidewalks. All this combines to create an impression of crowdedness: however, it still falls short of being ‘dynamic’. That’s because the map itself is one half of a whole, the other half being the map’s inhabitants, NPCs.

Even with the most packed and busy city of all time, it doesn’t exhibit any life until actual people are living in it. And this is our real challenge surrounding the creation of this city: to populate the map we have with NPCs that can successfully convey the impression of bustling, busy and lively city people. There’s a few methods we can use to achieve this, such as:

Power in numbers: simply have many, many NPCs in the city

Passage of time: as the time of day changes, have NPCs move from place to place, with different NPCs being present at different times and etc

Literal movement: have NPCs literally move around, such as walking through the streets, wander through a shop, etc

While all three methods are important, and they’ll all be used for the creation of chapter 3, the third and last method of allowing NPCs to literally move around is arguably the most important. This is because NPCs moving around with the player are the most visually distinct: a room where everyone but the player stands around doing nothing is static as soon as the player stops moving, but a room where an NPC goes around doing something always has something going on, looking much more lively.

Take a look at this shot of the cafe, for instance. The player is mostly standing still, but two NPCs (the brunette waitress and the blonde waiter) are constantly in action: cleaning tables, washing dishes, entering and exiting doors, etc. This, combined with the map of the cafe itself and the patron NPCs sitting on the chairs, is what creates a ‘dynamic’ atmosphere.

While we’re just getting started with the NPCs, we want to eventually finish the entire map out that radiates the feeling of being ‘dynamic’, as described above. We’ll be putting up periodic updates on how we’re doing on that front with the dev updates in the future, so please stay tuned.

End of Summer Break?

It’s September now, and everyone’s summer breaks have mostly come to a close. For our team, this year’s summer break period was characterized by a time of generally slow progress. Now that it’s over, things have indeed started to speed up: while early August still had little activity, things gradually picked up as the month progressed. The last week of the month marked the zenith of this growth, with considerable progress being made in all sectors.

Still, it would be rather naive to think that this fast progress will continue on for the rest of the semester. Midterms are still very much a thing, and right now is just a short period between summer break and exam period. Still, we want to use the opportunity we have right now as efficiently as possible.

September looks to be a promising month in terms of progress. We won’t take that for granted, though. We’ll see you next month, with hopefully lots of news. Thanks for reading this far, and thanks as always for your interest in Reverie!

#omori #omori mod #mod #omorimodreverie #reverie #omori reverie #devlog

[fudgetunblr]

Guide to Studenten

Idk if anyone has done this because I haven't checked the tag, but anyways, here we go:

Swedish High School is three years of education, where you have a specific area of studies. I feel like perhaps someone has talked about this before, so let's not dwell on it.

There's usually countdowns, 250 days, 200 days, 100 days, 50 days, blah blah before where there are theme parties. You don't have to go to these, not everyone does, but the closer you get, there's more parties. The legal drinking age in Sweden is 18. However, you can't go out and buy your own at Systembolaget (the only alcohol company in Sweden) until you're 20. This doesn't really stop people, unsurprisingly.

The hats are the white ones they wore on the show, and back in the day it was very simple, something like this:

however, nowadays there's a lot more design options. You can pic your own tinsel in the middle, many go for stones. There are specific colours for different programs, but most people don't care. You usually put your name on it, other things that are common: your class name, the year you graduated, some put their school, and at the back of the hat many put a little quote on the back. You can also customise the inside. Often you pick a few of these things and not all, because the hat costs a lot of money :3 I made my own really cheap tbh.

Mösspåtagning is a typical event where the students get to wear their hats. Because of covid, ours was combined with like a prom, but usually this happens before that, according to google, often outside or whatever.

There's a prom. But that's pretty normal.

Champagnefrukost or champagne-breakfast happens the day of studenten, where you go to one of your classmates houses, usually one who lives closest to the school, and have breakfast with your class. There you hand out the plates around the neck, aka the "class... [insert whatever, take clown as an example]. You drink, you eat, sometimes teachers will stop by. You get hyped with your class for the day.

Then you head to the school.

There's a photographer that takes a picture of the whole class and then individual portraits that you can later chose to purchase.

You meet with your mentors and say goodbye. They usually hand out a little scholarship thingy for the person with the best grade in the class. You write your name inside your classmates hats. My mentors held speeches based on Carola songs, it was pretty great.

Utspring - you're running out of the school. You've chosen the song/songs that you're running to, you dance around, sometimes there's choreography, to be greeted by family and friends. Because of covid this activity was limited, but traditionally it is fucking packed with people from all different programs, because the times are more stacked on top of each other.

Your parents greet you with a plaque of a baby picture of yourself, with your name and class-name. You take pictures, you get a bunch of stuff hanging around your neck like tiny champagne bottles, teddybears with their own graduation caps, whistles, other loud shit you can use at:

Flak - or flatbed according to translate is when you ride at the back of one with your class and blast loud music and dance around while it drives you around town. They're all in tow. There's a huge linen sheet on both sides that has been decorated with your class, consisting of the class name, the names of the people in the class and usually some funny quote or something. (I never got to do this because of covid)

After this you go home to greet family and stuff and celebrate however you want at home.

Then it's time to go out and partyyy. Usually you've booked a table at a specific event.

How do you fund this??? Well, over the three years of school you've built up a lot of money with your class through different fundraising methods. There's a service where you can sell cookies and another where you can sell clothes and shit.

There you go, it's not everything ofc, there are other traditions, and it's also important to note that not everyone does this. Not everyone goes out to drink, not everyone gets a flak, etc etc. But if we're talking very stereotypically here, that's the gist.

It's really fun (even if I had mine with a lot of covid-restrictions), and I hope this has given a bit of context to the new season of Young Royals (and probs the last episode where the graduation will be), and why they were so pissed to be missing out. (even if there are clearly specific school traditions that aren't custom for everyone).

#if any swede wants to add something or correct me in any way: go ahead #young royals #yr

[simmerlajzag]

#1 Seasons tiny - Bargain Bend - Willow Creek

This is the first build in a series of limited packs tiny houses I'm planning on building (we'll see how that goes). Also, I haven't been posting here for a few years, so hello!

I imagine a single mom with her child living here. They have a magic fairy tree in their garden and a pond with fireflies just behind the hedges. Maybe the land is influenced by the powers seeping out from Sylvan Glade...

Packs:

Tiny Living

Seasons

Origin ID: LajzaG

#TheSims4 #the sims 4 #ts4 #simblr #simsbuild #the sims #lajzag #architecture #interiordesign #homedecor #the sims building #simmer #noCC #Limited packs tiny houses #ts4 gallery

[lifebyinez]

Tiny Fires - Emily Prentiss x Reader

Chapter 1- The Big Move

-Emily's POV-

"Absolutely Not." I was met with a disapproving groan from the rest of the team. I crossed my arms and shook my head at them. "It is not happening. I am more than capable of defending myself. I am not leaving my house, and I certainly am not leaving the team." They must be crazy, thinking I would leave my house, my job, and my life behind. Especially to live with her. JJ places her hand on my knee. "Emily, we're not asking you to leave. We are asking you to take a break for your own safety. Not to mention the safety of the team." I scoffed at her. This whole situation was pissing me off more than you can imagine.

Years ago, there was a case in Cincinnati that ended in a shootout. There had been 2 unsubs, a husband and wife. Rachel, the wife, had her gun on JJ, and I took the shot that ended her life. James had escaped. We tried for weeks to catch him, but he might as well have disappeared. He was... gone. Well, 8 years later he is back and he wants revenge. I killed his wife, and he wants to kill me. Which is why the team is trying to force me into hiding with my least favorite person on the planet.

Rossi spoke up, "Prentiss, you don't have a choice in this. It's for your own safety." Excuse me? "Im sorry, did you forget that I am your boss?" It was Reid's turn to speak now. "No, we haven't forgotten. But he knows you, in and out. He's been watching you for years, and he's preparing to kill you. Which means he knows that you don't particularly enjoy Y/N, which is why her home is the perfect place to lay low." He had a point. Their plan made perfect sense. Buy a plane ticket in my name, turn in my resignation, and have me disappear to another country. He would follow 'me'  there. There would be an apartment in my name in whatever country they choose. He would drive himself crazy trying to find me, with the fake tracks we would lay. In a way, it was my only option. If I actually fled the country, he would find me. If I faked my death, he would dig up my grave to make sure I was actually dead. If I stayed in a hotel, he would see the card transactions, the name it was in, and he would figure it out. Honestly, I know staying. with Y/N is the only safe option, but I do not want to accept it.

Y/N was a pain in my ass. Every time we were on a case, it was like she was trying to get herself killed. She just brushed it off when I yelled at her. I  honestly don't understand how she got here, let alone how she is still alive. I would have fired her a long time ago, but she is fantastic at her job, I'll give her that, But that's all she has going for her. It almost cancels out her amazing profiling skills. Almost. I wouldn't say I hate her, but her carelessness with her life absolutely infuriates me.

"Even if  I  agree to this, what makes you think she will?" I asked. Penelope spoke, "Maybe because she is absolutely desperate for your approval. That and I already asked her, she said yes." I groaned. Of course, she would, another stupid and dangerous thing for her to do. Of course, she's all for it. "And what if he figures it out? He'll target her, you know." I said. JJ sighed, "We have it figured out, Emily. You and her just can't know those details, but he won't know. You just have to trust us. Please." I thought about it for a moment. They're not going to let this go, and my options are limited. "What about Sergio?" I desperately tried to find any reason to not go through with it, but it was becoming more apparent that I didn't have another choice. "Oh please," Garcia responded, " you think I didn't think about that? You know Y/N loves cats. She said you're both welcome as long as you need."

"Fine."

I wasn't allowed to pack anything. The movers had to do it all, for fear of him following me. And right now, I looked completely ridiculous. Blonde wig, a lot of makeup, sunglasses, bright clothes. I looked nothing like myself. I was riding in the back of the SUV, completely hidden by the tinted windows. This get-up was completely unnecessary, but they insisted. Derek was driving, and trying to make small talk. I was too pissed off to give more than a 3-word reply.  45 minutes later, I was in front of Y/N's house. I have to admit, it was impressive. It's beautiful here, the house was completely secluded. Surrounded by woodlands,  with a small creek running alongside the house. The house looked like an oversized cottage, it was lovely, and totally Y/N. I'm surprised she was able to afford this, she was much younger than the rest of the team, and as far as I know, she didn't come from money. Either way, I could think of worse places to go into hiding. Even if it was with someone as intolerable as Y/N.

Y/N was standing on the porch with Sergio in her arms. What the hell? Sergio doesn't let anyone pick him up. Especially strangers. She smiled at me and took Sergio's paw and waved it. Derek looked back at me. "Go into the house, and go fast." I nodded. " And Emily? Try and release all of that tension you have with that poor girl. And when you do, feel free to send me the video." Oh my god, he will never let up with that, and it's ridiculous. When Y/n first started, the team liked to joke that she was exactly my type. To be fair, they weren't wrong. Her  y/h/c, y/e/c, and that body... But none of that mattered the minute she opened her mouth. "In your dreams, Derek." I said as I got out of the car. I speed walked up the porch, and she held the door open for me.

"Hi! Welcome home. I know you're probably tired, but I figured we could get the tour over as soon as possible, so you'll have time to relax?" I just nodded at her, already finding myself getting irritated. I saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes, but she turned around before I could study it. She turned to her left. "That's the living room, TV remote is on the coffee table. I don't watch much TV,  so it's pretty much always available, and if you want to watch something and I'm using it, just let me know. I'll find something else to do." She spoke quickly and with an excited tone in her voice. "You do not have to do that, this is your house." "I insist! if you're going to be cooped up here for a long time, you at least have to be entertained." Before I could argue with her, she turned to her right and started walking. "This is the family room. This is where I normally hang out when I'm not downstairs. But if you want to be in here and I'm annoying you feel free to kick me out." Geez, now I'm starting to feel bad. I was about to say something but she continued on. She pointed at the piano "I can teach you how to use that if you want." She didn't give me time to respond before walking through the French doors into the kitchen/dining room. The kitchen was adorable, filled with little nicknacks and foliage that just screamed Y/N. It was very much her home. "I went grocery shopping before you came, but I wasn't sure what you liked. I put a little notebook in your room for you to make lists of what you would like me to pick up when I go shopping. I can go tomorrow if you'd like." I didn't answer her question, instead, I asked my own. " Why do you have a table that big if you live alone." She stopped in her tracks. I couldn't read the expression on her face. She stumbled over her words. "oh, uh... That's probably a story for a different time." She started walking towards the stairs. "Downstairs is a bar, bathroom, and laundry room. Drink whatever you would like." She started walking up the stairs. There was a cute little loft area. There were lots of candles, plants, and cute decorations that matched y/n perfectly. She lead me to a door and held it open for me. I walked into what I presume to be her office. There's a small couch, a desk with her computer, and a lifetime supply of books. Every room had touches of y/n's personality. "Read anything you want, and let me know what kind of books you like. I get a really good discount at this little family bookstore 20 minutes away. I guess you can say I'm a very loyal customer." She smiled at me, I didn't smile back. "The password on the computer is in that drawer, use it whenever you'd like." She turned and walked out of the room. We continued on with the tour, showing me the main bathroom. She opened another door, "This is my room." The room isn't what you'd expect from a 26-year-old girl. There were a lot of older art pieces, another bookshelf that was stocked to the brim. A soft orange color painted the walls, and just like the rest of the house, so many plants. I started to wonder how she managed to keep all of them alive.

It was all so Y/N. The paintings, the old-timey decor, the plants. It was all her, and it was actually quite endearing. If only she wasn't insufferable. She looked up and me, but I didn't meet her eyes. "Okay, are you ready to see your room?" I nodded at her. She lead me across the loft and opened what I assumed to be my door. "I'm sorry it's so plain, I didn't have much time to prepare." I don't know what she's talking about, the room isn't plain at all. Little touches of her sprinkled throughout. I nodded in her direction again. I was about to say something but she spoke first. She looked like she was trying not to cry. "Look, I know you would rather be anywhere else in the world right now, and I'm sorry you got stuck with me here. I'll try and stay out of your way." I wanted to say something, to apologize, but nothing came out. She waited a moment to see if I had anything to say, and when I didn't, she walked out.

I'm an idiot. That was so incredibly rude of me. I need to apologize.

But I should probably let her have space. I'm sure she's not happy having me here. It's certainly going to be an adjustment for both of us.

I looked around the room. She had obviously prepared for this. The bed was made perfectly, but there was a basket of extra blankets, sheets, and pillows on top of the dresser. And on the nightstand, a basket of snacks. All of my favorites... how did she know what kind of snacks I like? Taped to the basket was a note reading 'Welcome home'. Oh my god, I am a jerk.

I could feel the exhaustion taking over my body. I didn't bother changing my clothes, I just laid down and drifted into a deep sleep. So deep, that I didn't hear the knocking on my door, or y/n entering.

When I woke up, it was dark outside. I rolled over to check my phone to see what time it was, but my hand landed on something soft and warm. She made dinner. And it smelled absolutely amazing. I took a closer look and could immediately tell it was all homemade. Chicken and gnocchi soup next to a plate of chicken marsala. Oh my god, it tasted even better than it looked!

Then it dawned on me, I still hadn't apologized.

I knocked on her door, and I heard no response. Okay, she must be downstairs. But she wasn't in the living room, or the family room, or the kitchen. Now I'm getting worried. Where the hell would she go this late? "Y/n!" I called out, not caring that my voice was shaky and panicked. No answer. I called again, but still no answer. I rushed downstairs. She wasn't in the bar, the laundry room, or the bathroom. I tried to check another room, but it was locked. I yelled for her again, but still no answer. I called her phone again and again. Each time it rang and rang until it went to voicemail. I checked every room in the house again, and I still didn't see her. I felt like I could throw up. I checked the living room, and just like the other 3 times I looked, she wasn't there. I was about to call Garcia to trace her phone when lightning flashed outside. I instantly calmed down. She was outside. Who the hell goes outside during a thunderstorm at 1 in the morning? I opened the door but she didn't hear me. I took a second to admire her like this. No mask to cover her feelings. Just content to be outside. Truth be told, she looked gorgeous. her hair fell over her shoulders. She didn't notice as I moved closer to her, content to just stare at the rain. I put my hand on her shoulder and she yelped and jumped back. She looked up at me, her eyes wide with fear before softening upon seeing me. "Oh, it's just you. You scared me!" I took a good long look at her before speaking, "You scared me more." She looked confused but didn't question it. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you liked to sit outside during storms either, I'll go and give you some alone time. Does she really think that I hate her that much? I didn't respond as I sat down next to her.

"No, you don't need to go."

#emily prentiss #prentiss #criminal minds #emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds x reader

[cheemscakecat]

Missing in Action 2

Chapter 2: Missing

Spy promised he was going to come back, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Scout’s mental health deteriorates further.

TW: Angst

It took 3 to 4 days to get to Harvest Base and back. Spy had been gone for 5. Jeremy tried to ignore that stupid gut feeling and not care. He stayed busy.

Five days turned into a week. Medic called Pauling and asked her to use Spy’s comm-link. She didn’t get an answer. The feeling festered and grew each day, especially after that. A week and a half in, they sent out a search party. Scout couldn’t seem to sleep at all anymore. The bags under his eyes were ugly and he hated them.

Two weeks and they were fighting other teams again. Only 24 days and they were back to it. Without Spy.

Demoman and Sniper were super close friends with Jeremy. They were rowdy like his brothers, but a whole lot nicer. They kept trying to check up on him. Scout didn’t know how to hide how tired he was, but he wanted to. He was trying not to think about Spy at all. He didn’t deserve the attention.

Scout took his aggression out on the battlefield. Hopped up on BONK and furiously beating BLU mercs with a baseball bat. He was pleased with how well he was able to fight, even with no sleep. The others were surprised too. He was racking up kills.

But then two weeks became three.

Scout could stay up way longer than he thought, but anybody on earth has a freakin limit. And to his dismay, he was runnin out of work to do as a distraction. They’d moved everything but Spy’s crap, which he didn’t want to touch. He also didn’t feel like joining the search parties. There were no more boring phone calls, or letters, shipping, liftin, nothing!

Training up and fighting BLU began to fail him too. He was getting sluggish. And tired.. and weak. The urge to cry and that freakin gut feeling he had were almost enough to overwhelm him.

But Jeremy didn’t come from crybabies; his brothers always saw tears as a weakness. They murdered people to join the gangs in Boston, and “hardness” was something they prized. The brothers did not offer comfort, only mockery. And mosta them already knew who their dads were or had stopped caring. But he couldn’t. He was still the weakling of the family.

Ma was kinder, but her advice was always to keep moving forward. His whole life, when he cried those stupid runt tears, she told him that. He was trying to follow her advice, he really was.

Four weeks. It had been 38 days since he’d confronted Spy in the airship. 28 since he promised he’d be back. Four weeks was the point where Jeremy could no longer ignore the truth. Spy had run away again to avoid dealing with him. He’d disconnected from the others and Pauling to disappear, and he was never going to come back. Either he lied because he was a coward, or because he liked hurting his son. Filthy, backstabbing ***.

————————-

That night, Scout wandered over to his bed, eyes all dark and heavy. There was nothing left to do; he’d organized his room like 7 times. He was too tired to train, he didn’t have chores to do, and he had no appetite left. His bed felt almost alien to him, that’s how long he’d been awake. He lay there feelin worn out and weak until he eventually fell asleep.

He was in the front yard at Ma’s house. But.. he was too short. Looking down, Jeremy realized he was just a tiny baby, and his mother was holdin him. The sky was grey and nasty like cigarette smoke. Someone stalked past them without saying anything to Ma. It was Spy, carrying a pre-tent-chos looking suitcase and ignoring every word she said.

Scout heard himself making confused baby noises. The further away Spy got, the more uneasy and upset he sounded. But of course, that didn’t matter to his deadbeat dad, who was packing his stuff in his stupid fancy car anyway. The noises turned into crying, but Spy still ignored him, not botherin to look at him. Baby Jeremy’s voice got frantic in a terrible way; there was something chilling about a baby screaming -really screaming- while crying. But all Spy did was flip them off as he drove away into the smoke.

Scout woke up with a startled cry and found himself shiverin violently. Fat stupid tears started pouring down his face before he could try to stop them. And then he started full on crying.

Cryin hard like when he was a kid, not that any of his brothers gave a ****. He hated to cry, it made him think of getting laughed at or ignored. Two things Spy’d probably done over the past few weeks, at his expense.

He let out a teary scream of rage and jostled a box on his bedside table. Out tumbled his spy voodoo doll. He chucked it across the room and curled up on the bed.

—————————

Around base, mercenaries could hear muffled weeping. Weeping from the soul. Engineer carefully laid down what he was tinkering with and paused to listen. Sniper could hear it from his van, and he opened a window just to make sure he heard right. Demoman happened to be sober enough to pay attention. Even Soldier and Medic paused, as insane and unpredictable as they were. Pyro had to be the only teammate who didn’t hear it, on account of his strange condition.

But Heavy heard it, and he laid down the book he was reading.

This had been a long time coming. Scout had not allowed himself to cry for all these weeks, and he had reached the point where the tears overflowed. Like a sink left running. Heavy knew what it felt like to deny yourself the right to cry. After escaping the gulag, there was a period where he held it all in. But he had a good and observant mother who pulled him aside and talked to him about it.

Loosely translated, she told him that tears are like a mild poison; the body’s way of getting rid of the toxins from bad memories. A few tears when those memories are fresh will not hurt you, and it is good to get them out when you feel the need. But if you bottle up those tears, the toxins cannot get out. They fester, and that mild poison gets more and more potent. That is why they eventually have to overflow, to save you from that bottled up poison inside and the growing pain.

Heavy did not suspect that Scout had ever been taught such a lesson. And he also did not know the best way to translate it into English and present it to him.

———————-

When Jeremy had finally cried himself dry and breathed a little, he glanced over at the wall where he threw the toy. It sent a shiver down his spine. Pyro’s axe!

Sometime during the unpacking Pyro walked in with a heavily sharpened axe, stared at him for a real long time, and then wedged it into the wall. Scout had decided not to move it, since he still had no idea what that was about. Guess where the spy doll landed?

He stumbled over and pulled the little toy free of the back blade on the axe, which had also been sharpened. Jeremy stared at the doll.

His first birthday at base, no one showed up to celebrate. It was his own fault, he tried to play it cool mentioning the day and didn’t tell ‘em he wanted a party at base. So he just had a backup party a week late, and everybody came. Including Spy. They were at Harvest Base then; Engineer made a teleporter to the closest chicken place since the drive was so far. Heavy got him a nice looking pistol…

Spy gave him a voodoo doll of himself. A little red spy plush with Bobby pins included. Usually it was just engineers that carried them. Spy said some crap about beating him up for missing the first party…

It couldn’t be a real voodoo doll… right? Not the ones from freakin horror movies and cartoons. There was a massive gash from the neck to the.. pants-line? maybe? Jeremy’s very annoying gut feeling got ten times worse. He anxiously felt around his table and touched a stapler. He stapled the thing up and down the big gash.

Somehow, that didn’t make him feel better. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had to fix the toy. Yeah, it was stupid, but if there was a chance… He imagined Spy was on a beach somewhere living it up, with a bunch of normal people around. They didn’t need to see a big cut go down his middle and all the guts that would spill out. It was embarrassing, but Scout awkwardly hurried down to MedBay to see if the doctor was in.

Doc happened to be there doing a weird experiment on a liver, or something. He hurried in, stuffing falling out of the doll. Medic came over to him, lookin way less crazy than usual. “Are you alright? Need some medicine?” “I need… I need.. You got regular thread? That such-are stuff’s probably expensive.” He held up the stapled, torn up spy doll. This was so freakin dumb.

“I can sew this up for you, if you’d like.” Jeremy nodded. “Do ya.. wanna trade a surgery on me for it or-“

“No. Not this time.” Medic paused for a second. “You are not well rested enough for zhat.” And with that, the mad doctor took all the clunky staples out and sewed the gash shut.

————-

Back in his room, Scout stared at the toy. So dumb, Spy’d never give him the real thing. He’d probably get dust and crap spawning on his suit and hair… if he had any.

Just a normal doll. Besides, Spy’d abandoned him and the team, he was probably off at a beach house drinking wine instead of the fancy tropical stuff normal people liked.

But Jeremy still put the doll in a shoebox and hid it under the bed, far away from kicking distance. And while he was there, he dug out another box. Inside was a burlap bag, and inside the bag was a Bugs Bunny in a jester costume. Faded, but soft.

Since he’d already lived up to his crybaby reputation, Scout decided to go ahead and sleep with his old toy. All that crying made him tired enough to go into a dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.

#dadspy #tf2 #angst fanfic #sad lad hours #tf2 fanfiction

[basicallyahedgehog]

Happy birthday darling Fay @thesleepiesthufflepuff!!! You are such a ray of light and a joy to know, and I am so so so grateful to be able to call you my friend. You deserve the whole world, but I hope this fluffy little thing inspired by Clodagh and her jammies will suffice. Wishing you the happiest of birthdays and all the puppy snuggles today.

Harry paced restlessly up and down the hallway as he waited for the dog trainer to arrive. It had seemed like a good idea at the time — Dog needed to be trained, and No Bark, No Bite had the highest ratings in the neighbourhood. Harry had been full of hope as he’d filled out the online form, visions of long walks with his faithful companion swimming through his head. It had all come crashing down, however, when the confirmation email came through. 

“Draco Malfoy will see you at 10am on Wednesday morning.”

So here Harry was, contemplating whether he could just live with the fact that Dog refused to go outside so that he could escape the doom that was fast approaching.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Malfoy anymore. No, he quite liked the git now that they had all grown up a bit and let bygones be bygones. The problem was quite the opposite, really. Because Malfoy — Draco — was smart and witty and charming and fucking fit. And Harry knew Draco worked with animals. Knew his job was in Harry’s own neighbourhood. And now he was coming here to Harry’s house and he’d know that Harry was fucking incompetent — and a liar, because Harry had told him only three days ago that everything was fine and he didn’t need help with his new puppy but thank you very much.

He was so stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

-----

Draco chewed on his lips as he walked up the path, once again questioning the wisdom in taking this job. He should have handed the client on to Cassie as soon as he saw the name. Should have packed his bags and move to another country. Because now he had to work with Harry and be professional. Had to pretend that the mere idea of Harry with a puppy didn’t make his insides melt. 

He sucked in a breath and knocked on the door, relaxing minutely when he heard a faint crash from inside followed by colourful swearing. At least he wasn’t the only one who was nervous. 

Harry opened the door, his hair even more wild than it was on pub nights. A tiny black puppy crouched behind him, eyeing the open door in fascination but making no move to step outside. 

“Potter.” Draco held out his hand, determined to remain professional. “How can I help you?”

-----

A disaster. It was all a terrible disaster. 

Draco had stayed barely half an hour before declaring he knew the problem, but wouldn’t be able to fix it today. He had almost run back down the street, as if he couldn’t stand to be near Harry any longer. 

Harry knew he was weird and awkward, but he thought he’d had it vaguely under control that morning.

Sure, he had a dog named Dog. Well, Dumbledog, at Teddy’s insistence, but even Harry wasn’t strange enough to go around calling the poor little thing by her full name. And yes, he couldn’t work a normal job like Draco did, and yes, Dog was largely purchased with the plan to train her as a therapy dog to help him with his anxiety. And yes, he was so fucking gone on Draco that he could barely string two sentences together. 

But that didn’t mean Draco had to run away, did it?

He could only hope that he would be able to hold himself together better next time they saw each other.

-----

A disaster. It was all a terrible disaster. 

Harry had been so sweet and so concerned about his dog, all of Draco’s heartstrings had been stretched beyond their limits. And he had a dog named Dog of all things, which Draco would have laughed at if it had been anyone else. Instead it was Harry, and Draco felt all stretched out and upside down. Like nothing in the world could ever be the same now that he had seen Harry cuddle a tiny, wriggly ball of fluff named Dog.

So here he was, a tangle of yarn in his lap, knitting needles in one hand and instruction book in the other. Because poor Dog was cold and there was only one thing he could do when faced with a puppy who refused to go on walks with Harry Potter due to the cold.

Learn to knit doggy jumpers.

-----

Harry was baffled. 

“So, Dog was just cold?”

“Yeah,” Draco replied, tucking Dog’s paws through the front legs of her new little jumper. “Hopefully this is enough, but we might need to get her booties too if her feet are sensitive.”

“They sell booties for dogs?”

“The Muggles do, yeah. They’re quite sweet, actually.”

Harry blinked. Had Draco just called a Muggle invention sweet?

“Could we not just use a warming charm?” Dog looked very sweet in her jumper, but Harry couldn’t help be confused by the fact that Draco hadn’t immediately turned to magic. 

“Oh, Dog is allergic to warming charms. I checked last time, but you were so worried about her I didn’t want to say anything until I had a solution.”

“Oh.” Harry could only stare at Draco, silently willing his expression into something acceptable. “Thank you, Draco. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

This man was going to be the death of him.

-----

This man was going to be the death of him.

“Dog is allergic to warming charms,” he muttered to himself furiously. “Honestly, Draco, could you have been any more obvious?”

He sunk into his couch, running his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know how Harry hadn’t seen right through him, he hadn’t even tried to hide how stupidly in love he was.

Love. Fuck. He loved Harry Potter and now he’d lied to him and fucking learnt to knit for his dog and…

There was only one thing left to do.

-----

“So she needed the booties, then?” Harry blinked sleepily at Draco, who had turned up unexpectedly while Harry and Dog were having a nap. 

“Well, she seemed to walk happily last week, but I thought it was better safe than sorry. How has she been?”

“She’s been great! I think the jacket has really helped, thank you so much.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I’ll leave you to it then.” 

Draco began to walk away, and Harry made a snap decision. 

“Wait! Did you want to come for a walk with us? You know, to check on Dog’s progress?”

Harry was an idiot. A sweet, bumbling, adorable idiot. And Draco was a fool.

Dog had loved their walk, prancing through the fallen leaves and chasing squirrels as far as her lead would allow. Harry, however, had looked positively miserable as his eyes watered and his nose streamed and his fingers turned blue.

“I told you to bundle up, Potter,” Draco had said, only half of his old sneer coming through. 

“I put an extra sweater on!” Harry had exclaimed, as if a sweater would keep his extremities warm. 

“What about a hat? A scarf? Some mittens?”

“Oh,” Harry said, tilting his head in thought. “I don’t think I own any. Gave them all to Dobby.”

“Potter, Dobby died ten years ago.” He’d tried to be soft, tried not to snap at the foolish, stupid man beside him.

“I guess I just didn’t think about it.”

And so now Draco was awake at 2am, for the third night in a row, knitting furiously.

-----

“And I thought he’d just bought the little sweater for Dog, and I thought it was sweet that he’d found booties that matched. But…but these all showed up on my doorstep yesterday, and they all match Dog’s things, and I don’t know what it means.”

Harry sat on Ron and Hermione’s couch, head in hands, a pile of knitwear on the floor in front of him. The hat, scarf and mittens had been on his front step that morning when he and Dog went for their first walk of the day. There hadn’t been a note, but the yarn was so distinctive. They could have only come from one person.

“Harry.” Hermione spoke gently, as if she had something important to say and didn’t know how Harry would take it. “Why would Draco buy Dog a sweater instead of just using a warming charm?”

“He said Dog was allergic to them. Said he checked on his first visit but didn’t want to worry me.”

Ron made a strange choking noise before excusing himself to the kitchen.

“Harry, charms can’t cause allergies.”

“But…why would he buy her a sweater then?” 

“Harry…” Hermione looked at him softly, as if pleading with him to figure out what she already had. He looked again at the bundle of yarn on the floor, at the uneven stitches and slightly lumpy shapes.

“He didn’t buy them, did he?”

Hermione grabbed his hand. “No, Harry. He didn’t.”

“But, why?”

Ron’s voice came from behind them. “HE’S FUCKING COURTING YOU, MATE.”

-----

Draco trudged up Harry’s front path. He’d promised himself after last time that he wouldn’t be back, but he’d gotten a text from Harry that morning asking him to come over. 

He’d tried not to hope, tried to ignore the warmth swelling in his chest. 

If Harry had figured it out, surely he would have said something before now. After all, it had almost been a week since he’d dropped off the knitwear.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the door opening, but he couldn’t ignore the exuberant ball of fluff jumping all over him. The exuberant ball of fluff wearing…a knitted bow tie?

“She was meant to give you this, but she was too excited to wait for me to tie it on.” Draco looked up from Dog to see Harry standing in front of him, a timid smile on his face as he held out a small roll of parchment. Draco took it tentatively, eyes flicking back to Harry as he unrolled it.

My owner is an idiot, but some would say that makes him cute.

Will you go out with him? Dog is optional on dates.

Harry rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet as Draco read and reread the scroll. 

This was a terrible idea, he should have bought flowers or whiskey or-

Draco dropped the scroll, his face unreadable as he stood. Harry opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say, but then it didn’t matter because Draco was reaching for him and cradling his head and kissing him.

Maybe he hadn’t been so stupid, after all.

#happy birthday Fay #i love you to the moon and back #you deserve the softest coziest things in life #drarry #drarry fic #now i want a puppy called dog #my writing

[mitsuki91]

It's that time again!

Snowbaird Valentine Event!

The prompt for today is birds u.ù

As usual, thanks to @snowbaird-events ( @burntblueberrywaffles ) for this event 💖

3. Birds

During the summer break, after he has been forced to work hand in hand with Dr Gaul on the new edition of the Hunger Games, Coriolanus has asked and been granted to spend the summer at Twelve. President Ravinstill has made the first house built in the Victory’s village available to him also because, in fact, he is taking Lucy Gray home to see her family.

Lucy Gray shakes his hand throughout the train journey, without saying anything.

She too knows that the Hunger Games are an evil he is forced to endure, but there is a limit even to his acting ability.

***

In the Twelve everything is better. They are no longer at the Seam - although coal dust still gets everywhere - and the Coveys have huddled together, happy and excited to have Lucy Gray back for a month and a half all to themselves. They have moved into the Victory’s house with them - although they take turns not to leave their house empty - and spend their days together, as happy and carefree as they have ever been.

The schools are closed and none of them have to work. Coriolanus personally makes sure that plenty of money arrives every month to support the whole family, because the idea of CC or Tam Amber going down the mine gives him the creeps.

They spend wonderful days amidst music, singing and games, and then the time also comes for a trip to the lake.

They talked about it briefly, him and Lucy Gray. Coriolanus told her that it would be no problem and, then, following her glare, confessed that he would do his best to overwrite the bad memories.

So they set off early in the morning, taking advantage of the still cool breeze of the night before the sun burns them. They walk briskly; Coriolanus grasps Lucy Grey's hand tightly and tries to concentrate on Maude Ivory's voice and the songs she sings.

Unfortunately, so do the damn birds.

Coriolanus is forced to listen to their echoes in his ears for as long as it takes for them to arrive. There are times when he thinks he'll go mad, when he just wants to squat on the ground and plug his ears - echoes and reverberations of that terrible day, of the song of the hanging tree smashing his head and shattering it into tiny pieces.

When it happens Lucy Gray understands him, and always distracts him with a kiss.

Her smile and her love are the most valuable weapon he has to fight every crisis.

***

They finally arrive.

At last they can undress and dive into the lake and make noise, and the birds above their heads, apart from a few neutral melodies, no longer sing like in his nightmares.

It's shaping up to be a perfect day.

They soak for the whole morning and then engage in various other activities and games - Coriolanus has brought a real ball and a pack of cards, and everyone enjoys themselves.

Then, after lunching on fish - caught by Tam Amber and CC - and bread and cheese - brought from home - they all lie down in the shade of the trees, praying that it will be enough to combat the heat.

Lucy Gray has laid her head on his chest and has one leg entwined with his. It seems that not even the mugginess is enough to keep them physically apart , and Coriolanus is perfectly fine with that. He caresses her hair and she begins to murmur a quiet melody.

Immediately the Mockingjay stop singing, and then imitate her. Coriolanus' hand stops and so does Lucy Gray, raising her face to his, worried.

“Sorry,” she murmurs.

Coriolanus smiles.

"It's not your fault" he replies to her "Nor theirs" he adds, under his breath.

Holding her still helps him keep his mind clear of terrible memories. The tiredness and peace that pervaded him that morning also help to keep him calm.

Lucy Gray smiles and leans in to leave a small kiss on his cheek.

"They are the true example of freedom, you know?"

"The Mockingjay?"

"No, birds in general. I'd like to be like them" Lucy Gray pauses "That's what they call me at the capital, isn't it? Songbird. I wish I had a pair of wings, and I could live and sing in the sky for the rest of my life."

Away from me.

Coriolanus turns to her and grabs her, sinking his face into her hair.

"I'm sorry," he tells her, as his heart breaks for the umpteenth time, "If you feel trapped at home.

If I'm not enough.

Lucy Gray bursts out laughing and returns his squeeze.

"I didn't say that, silly."

Coriolanus knows that he cannot afford to make demands on her. He knows that Lucy Gray is a free spirit, and that trying to force her into a trap would lead to her dying little by little, day by day. At the capital, she expresses her need for freedom by singing all over the place; she enjoys her fame as the Victor to have the doors open in any club that tickles her fancy. And Coriolanus has learnt to let her go and hush the terrible, insistent voice that tells him she will find someone else.

But here it is more difficult.

Here, in the Twelve, it is established that Lucy Gray belongs to no one.

Least of all to him.

Coriolanus hopes that it will be enough to keep showing her love day by day, to make her stay.

***

University has been going on for a fortnight when one afternoon Coriolanus comes home and Tigris announces that Lucy Gray is waiting for him in the roof garden.

Curious, after hurriedly changing his clothes, Coriolanus goes up and is stunned when he sees, in the middle of the rose garden, a huge aviary.

It is a wonderful cage, gilded and decorated with wrought-iron roses. It has inside it a lot of small bowls with grains at different heights, others with water, and various bird handles as well as hanging cuttlefish bones.

And the birds are there. Some are hopping on sticks, some have decided to take a bath, some are eating. They hum, but the wonderful melody he hears is that of Lucy Gray, standing in front of the aviary enchanting the birds.

Coriolanus, past the first moment of surprise, approaches and embraces her from behind, interrupting her song.

That is the moment when he realizes that the aviary has no little door, that the birds can come and go as they please.

Lucy Gray raises her head, staring up at him from below with a huge smile.

"There are no Mockingjay here," she tells him, "No bad memories. But, you see? Even in the city the little birds live ".

At that moment two of them come out of their cage with a shake of their wings and disappear into the sky.

"This is a safe place. With food, water, fun and fragrant flowers," Lucy Gray continues, "A home to come back to again and again. A safe choice."

You are my safe choice , Lucy Gray is telling him, the place I want to return to.

Coriolanus smiles and spins her around in his arms until they are facing each other. He leans towards her and kisses her passionately, and she reciprocates by sinking her hands into his blond curls.

Her. Lucy Gray.

His wonderful songbird.

Who chooses him day after day, never leaving him alone again.

💖💖💖

Link on ao3:

#snowbairdvalentine2024 #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #snowbaird #coriolanus x lucy gray #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #fan fiction #my fics #ao3fic #ao3

[ausetkmt]

DARIEN, Ga. — Descendants of enslaved people who populate a tiny island community are once again fighting their local government, this time over a proposal to eliminate protections that for decades helped shield the Gullah-Geechee residents from high taxes and pressure to sell their land to developers.

Residents of Hogg Hummock and their supporters packed a courtroom Thursday night to oppose a proposal by McIntosh County officials to cast aside zoning ordinances that limit homes to modest sizes in the enclave of 30 to 50 Black residents on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia.

After more than 30 people spoke out against the proposal over two hours, the county zoning board made some hasty changes aimed at appeasing island residents and then voted to send the amended ordinance to McIntosh County's elected commissioners. The five-member commission has the final say, and could choose to vote on the original zoning proposal that rattled island residents when it meets next week.

The rules were enacted in 1994 for the sole purpose of protecting one of the South's few remaining communities of people known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia, whose ancestors worked island slave plantations. Their isolation from the mainland meant they retained much of their African roots and traditions.

Residents say losing zoning protections would drive out Hogg Hummock residents by attracting wealthy transplants eager to build large beach houses, causing land values and property taxes to soar.

“It’s the erasure of a historical culture that’s still intact after 230 years," said Reginal Hall, a Hogg Hummock landowner whose family has deep roots on the island. "Once you raise those limits and the land value increases, we only have two to three years at most. If you talk about the descendants of the enslaved, 90% of us will be gone.”

A sticker celebrating the Geechee heritage is seen on a pickup truck, June 10, 2013, as passengers board a ferry to the mainland from Sapelo Island, Ga. One of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities in the U.S. is in another fight to hold onto land owned by residents' families since their ancestors were freed from slavery. The few dozen remaining residents of the tiny Hogg Hummock community on Georgia's Sapelo Island were stunned when they learned county officials may end zoning protections enacted nearly 30 years ago to protect the enclave from wealthy buyers and tax increases. Credit: AP/David Goldman

Gullah-Geechee communities are scattered along the Southeast coast from North Carolina to Florida, where they have endured since their enslaved ancestors were freed by the Civil War. Scholars say these people long separated from the mainland retained much of their African heritage — from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.

Hogg Hummock earned a place in 1996 on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of America's treasured historic sites. But for protections to preserve the community, residents depend on the local government in McIntosh County, where 65% of the 11,100 residents are white.

The current ordinance designating a special zoning district for Hogg Hummock limits homes to 1,400 square feet (130 square meters) of heated and air-conditioned space, prohibits paving except for building foundations and requires a permit to demolish any structure deemed eligible for the National Register.

Sapelo Island, Ga., descendant and land owner Reginald Hall speaks at a news conference outside federal court, Dec. 9, 2015, in Atlanta. One of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities in the U.S. is in another fight to hold onto land owned by residents' families since their ancestors were freed from slavery. The few dozen remaining residents of the tiny Hogg Hummock community on Georgia's Sapelo Island were stunned when they learned county officials may end zoning protections enacted nearly 30 years ago to protect the enclave from wealthy buyers and tax increases. Credit: AP/David Goldman

County attorney Adam Poppell said the square-footage limit had proven impossible to enforce. The zoning board hoped to satisfy Hogg Hummock residents' concerns about supersized homes by voting to limit development to no more than 10% of a lot, as opposed to 40% in the existing zoning ordinance.

Hogg Hummock resident Jazz Watts said he felt the changes were rushed and that the zoning board should have thrown out the entire proposal.

“They need to start over,” Watts said. “There are too many questions that they can't even answer.”

Patrick Zoucks, the county manager, defended the zoning proposal in a statement issued before the Thursday meeting, saying it was“in the best interest of the residents of Hogg Hammock and all of the citizens of McIntosh County. ”

“Nothing about this issue involves race, or the discriminatory application of the regulations,” Zoucks said.

Commissioner Roger Lotson, whose district includes Sapelo Island, opposed the original proposal to eliminate the maximum home size in Hogg Hummock. He said the zoning board's changes, while welcome, seemed rushed. And he noted the county commission could reject them altogether and vote on the original plan.

“All they're doing is giving us a recommendation,” Lotson said.

It's not the first time Black residents of Sapelo Island have battled with the county government.

Some families have sold to outsiders who built vacation homes. In 2012, dozens of Hogg Hummock residents and landowners swarmed the county courthouse to appeal painful tax increases caused by soaring property values. County officials rolled most of them back.

Residents then sued the county in federal court in 2015, arguing a lack of government services such as firefighters and trash collection were eroding the island community. The case was settled last year, with McIntosh County agreeing to improve emergency services and road maintenance. Some residents also had their property taxes frozen through 2025.

Lotson said he's unsure how his fellow commissioners will vote, though he's trying to persuade them that Hogg Hummock is worth preserving.

“It’s a step back in time," Lotson said. "And the fear of many, including myself, is that by allowing any size house over there, soon the uniqueness of Sapelo will go away.”

#Slave descendants on Georgia island fighting to keep protections that helped them keep their land #georgia sea islands #Freedmen #FBA #Black Farmers #Black Ancestral Homesteads #Black Land in america #Sapelo Island

[sahmandbean]

Inherited Manor Challenge 2023 - a Sims 4 Gameplay and Build challenge for anyone who loves games like Homescapes and Lily's Garden

TW: fire, murder

Lucky Montresim took his name a little too literally on a recent Batuu vacation and found himself in serious gambling debt. In an effort to pay off the debts quickly and avoid being taken by a bounty hunter, he decided to list the family manor. The housing market took a downturn and the house didn’t sell. Driven insane by the stress of looking over his shoulder every minute and now the failed sale of his home, he turned his rage towards his neighbors and invited them over for one last dinner party. Surely their antics had resulted in the property values tanking and left him in this mess! Poor quality Pufferfish Nigiri was only the first course of punishment for the failed home sale: his “friends” found themselves locked in various rooms, lit up by fireworks, electrocuted, and even the subject of voodoo. Lucky burned as much of the evidence as possible, but it seems he either left or was taken before the manor burned completely. Once the news hit the family, they drew straws and decided you were the one who had to deal with the mess. You’ve always been the black sheep of the family, so while you are pretty sure the draw was rigged, you’re not mad about this fresh start. You have $1000, the photos from the real estate listing, and a heck of a lot of ghosts to deal with.

Content order: Maps Gameplay Rooms Links I will make a separate post with FAQs because otherwise this will be entirely too long.

MAPS

GAMEPLAY

If you have all of the required packs, I recommend using the save file for the full experience:

Cottage Living

Island Living

Get Together

Laundry Day

Get to Work

Discover University

Tiny Living

Parenthood

City Living

Cats and Dogs

Seasons

If any of these packs are not in your game, it will affect the save file. There is also a gallery download available which has been adjusted accordingly; burned items have been removed, etc.

Start as a single Young Adult sim. Gender, lifespan, aging, neighborhood stories, season length, and weather effects can be set to whatever you want to play with. There is no time limit.

If playing with the save file:

Load the game from the Load Game menu, not Resume

Select the lot and move in a new household

Create or place your Sim in CAS

If playing with the gallery download:

Select the save file you want to play in, whether new or existing

Place the lot ‘Inherited manor 2023’ on a 64x64 lot. I used the mainland lot in Windenberg.

Once the lot is ready:

Create or locate your Sim

Use ‘freerealestate on’ to move onto the lot

Use ‘testingcheats on’ and ‘money 1000’ to set your starting funds.

The main objective is to restore the manor one room at a time by cleaning, fixing, and refurnishing each room to reach the target Simoleon amount. Some rooms contain ghosts, some are more damaged than others, some require specific items (read as at least, not at most), and all those things are listed below and available in the ‘Listing Photos’ your Sim has access to to help with the challenge. These listing photos are below with each room requirement.

The listing photos are merely suggestions: you can redecorate however you like, so long as the requirements are met! And once the challenge is complete of course you can do whatever you like with the lot.

Lot traits and challenges are allowed.

No selling landscaping or furniture from finished rooms to make a quick buck!

You can earn money any way in the game, but no cheats for money! Get a job, kidnap the neighbors, even marry Father Winter, but once the game has started you shouldn’t be opening the cheat bar for money anymore (aside from the ghosts).

Mods are permitted but if you want to keep the bragging rights of completing the challenge, please keep them in the spirit of the challenge: no hundred thousand dollar child support payments, living on multiple lots, etc.

Marriage, kids, etc are all allowed BUT spouses and kids must live on the lot with you until Young Adulthood.

When you reach the Living Room, you will also have to start a graveyard. This is the only time you’re allowed to sell some landscaping; if you need to rearrange or make space for the headstones.

When you finish a room with an urn, place it in the graveyard. You may either release the ghost and receive a gift from the afterlife ($1000 through the rosebud cheat) OR add the ghost to your family to put them to work. You may not simply leave the ghost wandering as you found it. The poor souls have been through enough: give them rest or a family.

If playing with the gallery download, you can add a ghost to your family by doing the following:

Open your cheat bar and type ‘testingcheats on’ and ‘cas.fulleditmode’

Shift-click your Sim and select “modify in CAS”

Use the “add Sim from gallery” option to add the ghost to the family

You can find all of the manor ghosts in the gallery under “[ghost name] IMC2023”. For example, when you complete the laundry room, you can add Eliza Pancakes by finding “Eliza Pancakes IMC2023” on the gallery. They have been calibrated to not affect household funds, but if that bugs out (I know, this game? Have issues?) either work it into your story or use ‘money xxxx’ to set your funds to what they were before adding the ghost.

You may revive and/or marry the ghosts, but not with cheats.

Bills will be about $16-18k/wk assuming you don’t have any lot or character traits to modify it (those are allowed). If the repo man takes anything from a room you have already finished, you must replace it before you continue.

If an item breaks in a room you have already completed, you must repair or replace it before continuing.

To check the value of the Room, go into build mode and select the Room. Some Rooms are made of multiple rooms: for example, the carriage house is three rooms on the main floor and one room on the second. Add all the individual rooms together to get the total for the Room by selecting each space, selecting “save room” (no need to actually save it of course), and adding the totals and checking them against the Target Amount listed below. This price will include walls and windows, so it’s less than you think. No need to grab top notch appliances for the Carriage House just to hit the goal!

Gallery players: because you do not have the smoke and fire damage, you must keep the ‘Filthy’ lot trait enabled until the last room is completed (assuming you have City Living). You can also enable and keep Gremlins if you want to replicate the ghostly chaos other players are experiencing, or add some ghosts of your own, or take the advantage.

Optional gameplay if this isn’t enough of a challenge:

Double the Simoleon requirement for each room. As it stands you pretty much just need to replace everything to reach the goal but if you want to be forced to decorate more, double the amount you need to hit before you can move on.

Enable all your lot challenges and remove one at a time at random as you complete rooms. You may choose to NOT remove the randomly selected lot trait (ie, keep Off the Grid if the bills are too much already) BUT you must complete another room before rolling again. One room, one roll, take it or leave it. Gallery players must keep ‘Filthy’ until the end.

Change the lot type to Haunted House.

Revive Paolo Rocca and Jade Rosa and return them to the Partihaus household.

In the end, I want you to enjoy this challenge. If it becomes too frustrating to play, take a deep breath, gift yourself a little cash, and keep redecorating and saving those ghosts!

Huge special thanks to my amazing playtesters: Alasmina daleksndemons Jellyfluff131 katie.dickman otherlaine

ROOMS

1: Carriage House Target amount: $10,000 Ghost: none Must include: full kitchen, bath, and bedroom with dresser/wardrobe

2: Entry Hall (three levels, but the second level doesn’t register as a separate room in build mode because reasons) Target amount: $25,000 Ghost: none Must include: one skill or activity item, one art piece $2,000+, two matching art pieces over the door (where the knights are)

3: Living Room Target amount: $15,000 Ghost: Ulrike Faust Must include: seating for five, fireplace, one skill or activity item

4: Laundry Room Target amount: $10,000 Ghost: Eliza Pancakes Must include: full bath and laundry. If no Laundry Day, plus one skill item

5: Kitchen Target amount: $17,000 Ghost: Gunther Munch Must include: full kitchen, plus one skill or activity item

6: Dining Room Target amount: $15,000 Ghost: Julia Wright Must include: seating for 8, fireplace, three pieces of art

7: Game Room Target amount: $20,000 Ghost: none Must include: three games or activities, one skill item, seating for three aside from any game tables

8: Library (two levels) Target amount: $23,000 Ghost: Reuben Vu Must include: desk, four bookshelves, fully stocked fish tank (or three fishbowls if you don’t have cats and dogs)

9: Conservatory (two levels: includes small balconies) Target amount: $20,000 Ghost: none Must include: two planters, fountain, seating for five, chess table, eight plants

10: Ballroom (two levels) Target amount: $46,000 Ghost: Paolo Rocca Must include: piano, guitar, bar, mic, seating for eight; dance floor and DJ booth or the Landlord Whisperer if you don’t have Get Together.

11: Pink Bedroom Target amount: $13,000 Ghost: Bob Pancakes Must include: sleeping space for two, desk/table, dresser, two skill or activity items

12: Blue Bedroom Target amount: $10,000 Ghost: none Must include: sleeping space for one, dresser, two skill or activity items

13: Family Bath Target amount: $7,000 Ghost: Jade Rosa Must include: full bath, two sinks

14: Main Bedroom Target amount: $30,000 Ghost: Penny Pizzazz Must include: full size bed, seating for two, full bath, two dressers, one skill or activity item

15: Gym Target amount: $15,000 Ghost: Summer Holiday Must include: treadmill, weight machine, punching bag, stereo, large mirror 

16: Orange Apartment Target amount: $20,000 Ghost: Rosemary Briscoe Must include: full kitchen, full bath, sleeping space for two sims, dresser, fireplace, seating for five, desk

17: Green Apartment Target amount: $15,000 Ghost: none Must include: sleeping space for two, full kitchen and bath, dresser, desk, two pieces of art

18: Yellow Apartment Target amount: $30,000 Ghost: none Must include: sleeping space for two, full bath, full kitchen, dining for four, bar, additional seating for two, one additional skill or activity item

19: Back Deck, halls, and small bathroom Target amount: $30,000 Ghost: Johnny Zest Must include: half bath, grill, three planters, DJ booth or stereo, bar, seating for 12

LINKS

To place the save file, use this link and download the file.

Go to Documents > Electronic Arts > Sims 4 > Saves. BEFORE SAVING MAKE SURE THE FILE NAME DOES NOT MATCH ANY EXISTING FILES. You can now load this save when you open your game just like any other saved game you have created. This is not available for console players and I am also very sad about it.

To download from the gallery:

Lot title: Inherited Manor 2023 Ghosts: [ghost name] IMC2023 Gallery ID: sahmandbean Gallery hashtag: IMC2023

This is a link to the FAQs post here on Tumblr

This is a link to the Reddit post

This is a link to a video guide to help you get started, if you're interested

This is a link to the official Inherited Manor Challenge Discord Server

#sims4 #sims 4 #sims 4 challenge #sims4challenge #ts4 simblr #ts4 #the sims 4