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iwillsearchtheuniverse4u · 1 year

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Study Session

Warnings: Smut! Pure filth actually Oral! (on female anatomy) Sex! in a public bathroom BDSM! (kinda, not really)

Summary: Mingi is a philosophy major and he gives the reader free study sessions. Except they are not free.

It was one of those painfully slow Wednesday mornings and I was passing through the park in front of our department's building. The ground was frozen with little crystals forming on the cement but there was no snow in sight. The cold weather had always made me feel just a little bit more annoyed with the exam season slowly approaching and there was no way to stop it. Since there was noone around I let a tiny curse word escape my mouth as I noticed my fingers going numb tightly holding the strap of my tote bag. My phone vibrated in my hand reminding me to hurry to the study session I had been dreading for weeks.

He was a university senior of mine. I had known him since my freshman year which had been exactly a year and a half ago. He was the kind of handsome everyone would whisper about in secret but noone would dare approach. His tall wide frame emitted a presence similar to that of an old oak tree and the fact he was majoring in philosophy kind of coincided with that. He would always speak in a low raspy voice making you listen even more intently to his carefully structured sentences. Many people from my literature department respected him dearly as he was praised even by our professor for Philosophy of Literature, one of the most difficult classes which I had failed the previous year.

Song Mingi himself was now standing right in front of me with his hands inside the pockets of his long black coat. His black eyes were piercing directly through me as I stopped in front of the entrance to the main university library. "I'm right on time, I thought I was going to be late," I said to break the silence. I nervously fiddled with my tote bag looking around to catch a glimpse of anything else than his beautiful face. The library was almost empty since all the students had left to celebrate Christmas with their families and I was not raised Christian. I guess he was not either.

"We'll start with Derrida's deconstruction. You mentioned it was the most difficult to understand," he stated in his low tone already turning away from me to pull open the door. His coat skimmed my calves before he motioned me to enter first. We sat at the desk furthest away from the entrance facing eachother. I had had no idea just how difficult this was going to be for me as a girl who had never even properly talked to a man like him before. But he was the first my department seniors would direct me to for help with this god-forsaken subject and I had no other options if I ever wanted to graduate. It was not like I had never spoken to him before but we had never been together like this, just the two of us and it made me strangely fidgety. I tried so hard to play it cool but my shaky fingers gave it away when I was taking the notes out of my bag. I noticed his elegant long fingers playing with his silver rings as he was looking around the empty library. His blue highlights made his raven black hair appear even more dreamy. Observing him up close made me realise just how handsome he was.

After an hour and a half of him explaining all of the details about the main exam material and my endless stream of questions I let my forehead softly land on the wooden desk in exhaustion. “Mingi, I feel like I’ll never get this. It all seems so similar and I have no idea how to explain it by myself.” I looked up with teary eyes at the brink of giving up and saw his smile with a hint of what it seemed to be rosy cheeks. I was lost for words as I had never seen him blush before and I could not find a reason for it. “Don’t worry, you will do just fine…” he said as he clearly had trouble maintaining eye contact with me. I finally realised what the problem had been all this time. As I was hunching over the desk in self-pity I was also exposing my chest because my white sweater had a pretty deep v-line. As soon as I noticed where his eyes were wandering I sat up straight and tried to clear my throat. I couldn’t help myself but to notice his tiny lip bite as he looked back at the notes so it kept my mind occupied for the next thirty minutes of his explanation.

“Wait, no! That’s not the point I was trying to make here,” he said, annoyed, and walked around the desk to sit next to me. “Jakobson analysed language as a system of relationships. If we talk about the poetic function of language the message focuses only on its own words that have been used,” he tried to explain pointing at the underlined words in my notes. He sat so close to me I could feel his breath on my arm and I couldn’t keep my head clear anymore. It was like the idea of him touching me had consumed me completely. I felt my cheeks burning and I was sure he had noticed too but I was too afraid to even look at him. “If I say something like ‘your skin must taste as sweet as honey’ what function does this message carry?” he asked with a slightly deeper tone. I looked at him and his eyes were darker as before, he definitely wasn’t looking at the notes anymore. His eyes wandered around my body again. “Ehm…poetic?” He didn’t break eye contact at all as his hand started to move toward mine on the desk. His pinky traced my arm all the way up to my shoulder and then he moved his hand to my thigh. He suddenly grabbed it tightly making me audibly gasp. I was so shocked I couldn’t move my body at all, his eyes kept mine locked in a very intense staring contest. “That’s a good girl,” he whispered as his long fingers started moving upward along the innermost part of my thigh. When he reached my clothed core I couldn’t stop a moan from escaping my lips and my eyes from closing. I suddenly had a sudden burst of reason hit me and my hand instantly stopped his from moving any further. “Mingi, there are definitely librarians around and the cameras are everywhere…ahh!” My loose grip on his fingers wasn’t enough to stop him so he rubbed my jeans exactly where it mattered. I squeezed my thighs together in pleasure and gripped my chair to hold myself up. When I finally caught his eyes he was grinning at me with fire in his eyes. He moved his face closer to my neck and whispered: “don’t worry, I wouldn’t let anyone see you like this, all worked up. You look too stunning.” He stood up, buttoned up his coat and led me to the bathroom.

He opened up a stall in the men’s bathroom and lightly pushed me inside. After closing the door behind him he pushed me against it and pursued what he had been doing before in the reading room: sliding his fingers up and down along my clothed wetness. I couldn’t stand up straight so my body automatically slid down along the door but he held me up by my waist. For a moment he stopped his teasing and moved his face closer to mine. “I really do want to know if you taste like honey. Everywhere,” he whispered before kissing my lips with a certain amount of gentleness. I gripped the door behind me as the sloppiness of his kiss elevated and all I could focus on was his body grinding against mine in waves of pleasure. I could feel all of him, every inch of his warm body against mine, his growing erection right against my lower belly. The fire from our mouths spread all over. As his lips moved down along my jawline to my neck all I could say was: “then taste me.” It seemed to have made him more eager and dangerous. The bruises on my neck weren’t going to be easy to hide the next day but that wasn’t a problem for me to solve at that moment. The only thing I wanted was for Mingi to touch me where my growing pains were. I pushed his shoulders down, trying to get him to go down on me as soon as possible. I undressed my sweater and he took his sweet time sucking on my breasts. My moans were hard to control so I put my hand over my mouth to at least try to silence them while he reached my bellybutton and unbuttoned my jeans. It all happened so quickly but the next thing I felt was his tongue in between my folds producing so much pleasure I could barely hold myself back from pushing his face closer. I grabbed his raven black hair in pleasure with one hand while the other was still desperately holding on to my mouth to keep the moans from disturbing the whole library. He sucked on my clit right to the breaking point and then suddenly stopped which left me aching for more.

“I’m gonna make you work just a little bit harder for this,” he said as he looked up at me. He looked ten times hotter sitting on his knees in front of me, licking his fingers before inserting them inside me. Both of my hands instinctively reached for my mouth to silence myself but the moans kept coming out stronger as his lips joined his fingers and synchronised. As I reached my orgasm, I said through my moans: “M-Mingi…aahhh… I need you inside me.” As soon as I got off my high, he stood up and kissed me, making me taste myself on his tongue. I reached for his black leather belt and unbuckled it in a hurry. “Fuck, you’re so hot when you’re needy,” he whispered right into my ears, his warm breath on my neck. I let the belt fall on the floor but he picked it up and tied it around my hands behind my back. After that his hands were all over my ass while his lips were producing art on my neck again. “It’s okay if you’re loud, just make sure to say my name so that everyone knows who’s responsible,” he said and smiled at me.

I heard him unzipping his pants while I was trying the hardest to stay quiet. He took a condom out of his wallet and rolled it on his already dripping dick. He entered me slowly and filled me completely. I could feel every inch of him painfully twitching inside me as he tucked my hair behind my ear and whispered: “tell me how much you want this, use your words, baby girl.” I could barely keep my composure at the sudden wave of pleasure that ran like electricity through my body when I heard his low voice sounding like he was begging me to give him permission to move inside me. “Mingi, I want you to fuck me like this is the last day of our lives.” His cock twitched inside of me and he cursed quietly as he started pounding into me with my name on his breath. At that point I couldn’t even remember my own name, let alone keep myself from moaning Mingi’s name. My tied hands were knocking into the door behind me with every grind of his body against mine. He started moving faster and cursing in between moans so I knew he was getting closer. My second high came and my walls tightened around his cock which made him come too. His head fell back and his whole body shook against me while he rode out his orgasm. I couldn’t stand up properly after he finished so he held me up and kissed me gently to calm me down. He stroked my cheek when I caught my breath and cleaned me up with a tissue. When he unbuckled the belt from around my wrists I could already tell my neck wasn’t going to be the only thing bruised the next day.

“We should do this more often,” he said with one of his eyebrows raised suspiciously as we were leaving the bathroom. “The tutoring, I mean.” His cocky smile made my mind run wild. The library was empty but my flushed cheeks were still making an appearance. “Maybe next time I can do a home visit,” he said as he squeezed my ass.

#mingi #mingi fanfic #ateez #ateez mingi #song mingi #ateez fanfiction #mingi fanfiction #mingi smut #ateez smut #kpop #kpop smut

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moomeecore · 6 months

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i found a book abt the anti lawn movement at the library & decided to sit out in my yard & read it. but ironically there was a neverending barage of power tool noises making it difficult to focus. so i walked to a nature park near me in order to escape the dreaded sounds. almost stopped at the mowed picnic table area bc i hate walking but fortunately pushed forward and made myself walk up an annoying hill to an area that is a preservation of a native oak savanna & sat down against a tree near the edge of the path & did my reading there. and honest to god that was a 100/10 experience. there was something so powerful abt being in a preserve for a locally native habitat while reading abt the impacts homeowners can have on native plant preservation! it powered up my energy towards my life mission (evangelize abt enviormentally sustainable gardening to every single person who comes within a 10 ft radius of me) by like. 15 points. also a deer walked up to me and that was super cool

#i was there for like 3 hours and i wanted to stay longer #but the sun was setting and i was hungry and had to pee super bad #gonna try to do this tommorow as well. bc ik winter is gonna hit soon #and then its not gonna be plausibe #i still heard Industrial Noises up there but i used my noise cancelling headphones #& that blocked most of it out #ive finallt started progressing on writing persuasive essay on this subject #previously id focoused my efforts mostly on reaserching the practical side of like. how to covert ur yard #+ what plants to use. etc #but now im looping background writing abt the actual reasoning behind it #which like. i feel like i needed zero actual persuasion to get on board w this. which is why i didnt #dedicate to much time to reaserching the 'why'#but i do a whole lot of promoting this subject to people i meet so i might as well read up &#try & create a more comprehensive & detailed resource to send to ppl #after i give them my Rip Up Your Lawn talk #i mean i give them the gardening advice resources. but i think some ppl need extra convincing & thats what this is for #LAWN LAWN RIP UP UR LAWN. KILL UR LAWN PLANT REAL PLANTS <3

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liquid-luck-00 · 6 months

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Marks of Magic

Day 8 Familiar of Maribat Spooktober 2023

First *** Previous *** Next

Language and cursing is used

2230 Words

~~~~~~~~~~

Six years had passed and Marinette decided it was time to go back to Gotham.

She was taking a break from her designs for a bit and Luka and Jagged asked if she wanted to tour with them for a bit.

And who was she to say no. She loved them both, one was her boyfriend, while the other was his dad (and her pseudo crazy uncle). Gotham was Jagged’s hometown so it made sense for him to stop there on his North American Tour.

So here she was after six years, the cold autumn air was chilly but not too cold yet. The sky just starting to shift into dusk, casting more shadows than usual. She and Luka were walking hand in hand under the giant white oak when she noticed it. The stage, the cannons, the man standing in that horridly tacky green and purple three piece suit.

“Well that’s a familiar sight.” She sighed watching the progression make its way to the park entrance. “Come on. From what I’ve seen the Riddler has toned it down a lot ever since that new guy came in.”

“And how are we to help?” He grinned at her knowingly.

“Please riddles are child’s play.” She waved pulling him along.

“Let’s see, let’s see. You their black and red dye. Answer 3 riddles and the city goes free.”

“Why not.” She shrugged at the rogue.

“Why do zombies never win…”

“At poker?” She finished the riddle. “It’s because they have a tell-tale heart.”

She grinned remembering the grin that was erased from this timeline.

“How did you?” He looked at her quizzically. “Never mind. Walk on the living, they don't even mumble, step on the dead…”

“They mutter and grumble.” She finished again, the familiarity of the situation making her smile. “Leaves, of course. So are you going to give out some new riddles or at least cut the theatrics.”

“You’re a meta aren’t you.” He accused.

“Nope. I’ve just heard them before.” She popped the ‘p’ while tilting her head to the side.

“Here’s the next one.” He started but didn’t get to start it before she interrupted him.

“While some spring forward, I choose to fall back. Come and join me while you sit on a haystack. I may show a movie with a crazed maniac, I will for sure host a festival to give you a heart attack.” She started to laugh as the rogue stood shocked. “Do you only have a limited autumn library, or did I just get the only repeat performance.”

“You’re that little girl.” He stood shocked at this little revelation.

“And I can knock you on your ass again if you’d like.” She smiled.

“It’s not nice to tease him, he is a villain after all.” Luka murmured hugging her.

“Please if I knock him down it would be far softer than if it was the bat.” She pouted loud enough for those who gathered could hear.

“Want to test that theory?” Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Batman.

She tensed slightly, resisting the urge to glare at the ‘hero’ that stood just behind the Riddler. “I wouldn’t want to overstep.”

“Besides we have somewhere to be, Melody, we wouldn’t want to show up after a fight do we.”

She crossed her arms and pouted, puffing out her cheeks.

“I don’t care, but your dad does…” She huffed.

“Are you really that girl?” Riddler still gawked at the two of them, before seeming to make up his mind.

Just like all those years ago he charged her. And just like before she punched him in the nose. Luka let her go and jumped back, knowing she was going to throw him over her shoulder.

“Yup…” The riddler breathed out. “You’re that same girl. But you’re right softer than Bats.”

He laid on his back, not even trying to move.

“Wow!” A new voice shouted from behind her. “You’re tiny! I didn’t think you could actually do it.”

She turned and saw a young boy, maybe 14 or 15. He was in a mask, in a variation of the classic boy wonder suit, a new Robin. Her breath caught and she doesn’t remember how to breathe for a moment.

How could he?!

How could Batman let another child take up the mantle.

She couldn’t believe it, she was horrified, but more so she was livid. She wanted to march up to him and slap him. She turned and there was a tug on her wrist.

“He isn’t worth your anger, love.” Luka hummed, calming her enough that she remembered to breathe.

“Your right.” She shrugged. “Besides if I ever get arrested it isn’t going to be for this.”

She laughed, which he joined into.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we need a quick statement.” A gentleman, drew their attention, the coat, glasses, and the now salted chestnut hair.

“Commissioner Gordon, right?” She smiled at the officer. Sure she ran into him once but that day is in the forefront of her mind at the moment.

“Yes. How did you know?” He blinked.

“An event eerily similar to this one, a few years ago. You drove…” Her eyes started to tear, but she blinked them away quickly.“Jay and I home after.”

A light seemed to blink on and she thinks he recognized her, just as quickly his eyes turned somber.

“You’ve gotten big.” He seemed to sniffle, but she isn’t sure if it was because of the cold or if he knows what happened to Jay. But he shook his head before getting back to his duty. “Right, a statement…”

They gave a statement before turning, well Luka turned her, she assumes it’s because of Batman. She feels his stare on her and it really was starting to fucking piss her off.

•••

“You don’t have to go, Marinette. “

“I know I don’t have to, but it’s important to Jagged.” She sighed before waving a hand. “Besides I only met them once, I doubt they remember.”

“If your sure.” Luka asked her again, to which she nodded.

They grabbed their jackets and walked down to the lobby of their hotel.

“You ready to meet and old friend of mine, you two?” Jagged slung an arm around each of their necks the moment they stepped off the elevator.

“As much as we can be.” She smiled as she and Luka linked their hands, while Penny ushered them outside.

“So how are you liking Gotham, Mari?” Jagged asked her after she was staring out of the window a while.

“I’ve been here before. Everything is familiar but different, you know.” She sighed.

“I get it it’s been too long since I was back here.” Jagged tried to get her to talk but dropped it soon enough.

She never forgot her promise and she is living it. She became one of the newest and popular fashion houses in not just Paris but was starting to gain even more traction internationally. Her personal client list was populated by some of the biggest A-listers including Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Prince Ali, the Tsurugi Family, the Graham de Vanily family, and even the Queen family. She travelled the world to find inspiration, and if she helped s few people with her magical abilities she smiled at their faces. Hell she was named one of the twenty under twenty, the year before for her work with environmental textiles.

Before she knew it the gates of Wayne manor were opening before them. The same intricate iron work she remembered opened into perfectly manicured lawns on either side of the long driveway.

“Jared it’s good to see you.” A cheerful voice called from the doorway, Bruce Wayne.

“Brucie! Ah, your right mate!” Jagged slung an arm around his old friend.

“These must be your boys!”

“This is Dick and Tim.” Bruce smiled placing a hand on each of the two he mentioned. “And are they yours, Jared?”

“My son, Luka, and his sweetheart and my future daughter in law, Marinette.” He waved towards both of them.

“Jagged!” She yelped in embarrassment, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Alfred good to see ya!” Jagged bounce right past the two men and child, towards the eldest gentleman.

Marinette however could feel three sets of eyes on her, and she wanted to scream. Luka tugged on her hand and squeezed, centering her.

“Dinner is ready.” Alfred commanded everyone’s attention, so they made their way to the dining room. They sat down and she tried to avoid eye contact, not really paying attention to the conversation. That is until…

“You look so familiar, we must have met before. Now I remember, Nettie!” Her head snapped up and directly at Dick. “So what have you been up to, Nettie.”

“Please… Please don’t call me that.” She tried to keep her voice level but she knows it is shaking. Her knuckles were turning white as she gripped the napkin in her lap.

“Why not? It’s cute.” The younger boy, Tim, she recalled answered trying to break the tension.

“Because the only person who can call me that is dead.” She got up and started walking out of the room.

“Give her space.” She heard Luka say, probably to Jagged or maybe even the Wayne’s, she isn’t sure.

She was originally going to walk out side but at the last minute she decided to climb the stairs. She only walked this way twice, once when she dumped half of her life’s trauma on this family and the second the morning after.

She turned the handle and it was as if time had frozen. Books piled on the bedside tables. A backpack thrown haphazardly on the desk, notebooks had spilled from it onto the floor. She walked in and sat at the foot of the bed. Model cars, motorcycles, and even engine parts littered the bookshelves. She knows dinner has probably ended but she didn’t move, she wanted to cry, but that feels as if it might be insulting at the moment.

Knock.

Her head snapped from the window, a crescent moon floated low over the trees, towards the door. She doesn’t know who she expected, but it wasn’t Dick, maybe Alfred if she’s honest.

“Room for one more?” He asked quietly. She nodded and walked in, instead of sitting next to her he sat on the ground in front of her. “Im sorry. How? How did you know?”

“It wasn’t like him.” She sighed. “Did you know?”

“Yeah.” He leaned back. “I was so angry with Bruce, he didn’t even tell me I had to find out through the paper.”

She stared at him now. “His death wasn’t in the paper, I was looking for it but it never came. Oh kwamii, please no.”

She covered her mouth, Robin’s death was made public not Jason’s. So if she knows and he knows, the two of them stared at one another.

“Marinette?”

“If Jay was… are you… were you… that means Tim is… so is Bruce… no never mind don’t answer that.” She stood. “Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh!”

She looked at him and he was just staring at her.

“Marinette, how do you know?” He stood and placed a hand on each of her shoulders stopping her from pacing.

“I was there.” Her voice was resolute, staring right at the person who called himself Jay’s brother.

“You saw…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I was angry at you for not telling me, but you didn’t know.”

“Two months, Bruce wouldn’t tell me for two months, and then I snapped.” His eyes turned dark.

“Live.”

“What?” He watched her, pleadingly, as she seemed to pull him from his dark thoughts.

“Live. That was the last thing he said. We were trapped in that warehouse, the bomb, once we noticed it was almost over.” He listened, his grip on her shoulders lessening. “I tried to get us out but the door was stuck, I held him until it exploded. The next second I was back in my apartment before I passed out. I didn’t have enough magic to save us both.”

Tears finally flowed from her, Dick was also crying at this point. They just cried for a while, that is until everyone decided to try and find them. Luka and Alfred were the ones who did.

“I didn’t know.” Dick finally spoke, his voice hoarse, from his tears.

“How could you?” She wiped the last of her tears away.

“We should have said something to you. You were his only friend.”

“Master Dick.” Alfred handed him a handkerchief.

“You truly a Paon, Alfred.” She smiled.

“Tell Jagged I’ll meet you guys back at the hotel, Luka.”

“You better not be planning anything.”

“Me.” She smiled, a glimmer in her eyes. “Never.”

•••

A portal appeared under her and she disappeared.

“Melody.” He called out but he knew she didn’t hear, so he shook his head, a laugh that turned into a grumble. “I better not read about this tomorrow.”

The two others looked at him as if he could explain, but really he doesn’t think he should.

The fact that this man has a miraculous means he can be trusted, but with what he knows he is wary.

She seems to trust both if her song was any indication and they don’t mean to hurt her. But it’s not his secret to tell.

~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist:

@jennifer-rose123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @joydone07 @mizzy-pop

#maribat #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #dc x miraculous #miraculous x dc #maribat october prompts #maribat spooktober 2023 #maribat marinette #Maribat Luka #maribat dick grayson

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shanastoryteller · 1 year

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It’s been a while since you’ve talked about it, but I’m worried about visiting LA this year. I don’t live in a city that big, I can’t really investigate it online, and I have no idea where it’s safe to hotel there. Where do you (did you? You may have moved on?) feel safe in the city? Where would you recommend to people visiting to stay? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to! You’re just one of the very few people I know that has lived there. Thank you, regardless of your answer, you didn’t have to read this at all❤️

hi! answering publicly in case anyone has advice they want to add :)

i'm a little worried this might come off as dismissive, but honestly i just don't find cities to be that dangerous. i've lived in LA for almost eight years, lived in another city for 3 years before that, and have visited about a dozen major cities outside of america

homeless people, by and large, aren't going to bother you. if you have a couple bucks to spare, give it with a smile and look them in the eye, and move on, or if you have nothing it's fine to say that you just don't have cash. if there's an encampment, which happens all over the city and just not on skid row, then they're definitely not going to bother you because they don't want to cause trouble and get kicked out of where they've managed to find a consistent place to sleep

the truth is if you get assaulted, statistically it's going to be by someone you know rather than a rando on the street. if you do get assaulted in LA by a stranger, it is WAY more likely to by an out of work background actor named josh who picks up shifts at a tiki bar than a homeless person or gang member

that being said, i actually have no idea what neighborhoods are considered dangerous in LA these days? i guess the flip side of finding nowhere in LA particularly dangerous is that it's all dangerous, but really you're more likely to get taken out jaywalking in dtla than anything else

as for locations, it's important to remember: los angeles is huge

it's more like a bunch of small towns next to one another than one cohesive city. the town i grew up in is smaller than the neighborhood i currently live in. if you're visiting, i HIGHLY suggest you rent a car. the public transport in LA is shit

i've only been to east LA to visit friends and eats burgers. both were enjoyable, but you're relatively far from the coast. they also built a stadium in inglewood, which multiple friends have informed me has fucked up the housing in the area, but i don't know if that would make it better or worse to stay in

anywhere in the valley is going to be cheaper than the city proper. north hollywood and studio city are good for that. the garland in noho is really cute and right next to the highway. sherman oaks and van nuys are decent too and they're literally right next to each other. i personally think encino is one large strip mall and so is panorama city, but panorama city at least has the saving grace of good filipino food

if you get to northridge, you've gone too far north. malibu beaches are definitely worth a visit, but it's such an expensive area and so far from everything that i wouldn't stay there

hollywood proper, venice beach, and santa monica are probably the most quintessentially LA places, but I would only stay in santa monica out of them. not for safety reasons, but because the other two are filled with tourists. which, i know you'll technically be a tourist, but still

koreatown has great food, but terrible parking. it's also a cheapish place to stay. downtown LA is something I avoid because it just reminds me of the financial district of every city i've ever been to. the dtla library and the last bookstore are the only things worth going there for, personally, and it's also a very expensive place to stay.

little tokyo is very cute and manages to feel separate from city while being surrounded by it. i admittedly only go to chinatown for bakery runs, but it's all delicious and vey beautiful, especially if you've never been to a chinatown in a major city before

west hollywood is expensive, and i wouldn't stay there myself, but it has great brunch places and devastating parking rules. the most expensive parking ticked i ever got was in weho. burbank is the land of animation studios and also porto's. it's a really cute area. beverly hills exists and taking a walk on melrose is fun but i wouldn't linger. again, not safety, just terrible vibes.

i know this probably seems like a lot but i've actually only listed the more popular neighborhoods that i'm personally familiar with. los angeles is HUGE.

i hope this helps somewhat! and sorry to anyone who's neighborhood i've disparaged T_T

#asks #moirail-mate #please don't destroy me for my LA opinions #i'm sure someone out there loves encino #oh! okay i will say the only decent place to get a steak and cheese in LA is in encino #so it has that

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thisnightissparkling089 · 4 months

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Chenford ♥️ Tim sees Lucy's face after the fake proposal and ends up at her apartment

I can't love you in the dark

Rated: T

“Please, stay where you are

Don’t come any closer

Don’t try to change my mind

I’m being cruel to be kind”

Lucy’s key turned the lock, and she pushed the door open, the hall light providing a soft glow to the darkened apartment. Shutting the door behind her, she flipped the light on and laid her bag down as she pushed her feet out of her shoes.

Tamara had text earlier that she would be out late studying at the library and had been sure to include a wink emoji and an eggplant emoji. A gesture Lucy simply rolled her eyes at.

She wasn’t in the mood tonight. Chris had taken her to dinner at the new Italian restaurant in town and had suggested dessert back at her place, which she had politely declined. It wasn’t where her mind was at that evening.

Or rather, it wasn’t who her mind was on.

Lucy headed into in her bedroom and began to rummage through her drawers for more comfortable clothing to change into.

It was just a joke. Tim and Lucy messed with each other all the time.

So why was that moment in the parking lot consuming her thoughts this evening? Maybe because a proposal was the last thing people joked about? She shook the thought out of her head. If Tim wanted to joke about marrying Ashley as some sort of revenge, he was well within his right to do so. Even if Lucy did find it bizarre.

More so, why didn’t Ashley find it bizarre, she wondered.

“Oh, wanna make my partner jealous by having me pretend to propose to you? Absolutely, of course I do! Isn’t that what every woman wants?! What a great idea, Tim!” She mocked them both.

“Idiots.”

Lucy grabbed a pair of lounge pants and an old t-shirt to change into and prepared to settle in for the evening. Walking out into the kitchen, she skimmed the wine rack before settling on a Pinot Noir and opening the bottle to pour herself a glass.

Bringing the glass to her lips, she closed her eyes and inhaled slightly, allowing the scents of cherry, raspberry, and vanilla to infiltrate her senses.

She sipped the wine, letting the juices swirl through her mouth before swallowing. Oaky vanilla was the first taste her brain registered.

Oak.

Vanilla.

Tim.

She could suddenly smell his cologne and, against her better judgement, allowed herself to imagine how he would taste.

She imagined the way his tongue would feel against hers, how his hands, rough and rugged, would feel against her waist as he backed her up against a wall, all up in her space, breathing her in and tasting her.

Her body suddenly began to drum with a renewed frenzied energy. She may not have been in the mood before, but she was certainly coming around. She could feel her nipples begin to harden against her bra and how her body began to heat up. She took another sip, trying to keep the warmth spreading through her body going.

A knock rapped at the door loudly and suddenly, jerking her back into reality. She jumped slightly at the noise, the wine sloshing in her glass and dampening her shirt as it spilled out.

Nervously, not unexpecting anyone, Lucy scurried over to the door and checked the peephole to see who had shown up unannounced at her doorstep. Her stomach was suddenly in her chest at the site of Tim Bradford on the other side.

“Pull it together.” She harshly whispered to herself. Taking a breath, she opened the door.

Tim spun around as the door opened and Lucy stared back at him, confusion on her face.

“Hi.” He greeted.

“Hi,” She replied, with great confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah of course.” Lucy opened the door further and stepped to the side, allowing him inside.

Tim walked in and looked around the near empty apartment, his hands in his pockets, and nervous energy flowing through his body. Hard as he had tried to avoid it, he had seen the look on her face in the moments before “proposing” to Ashley. He had seen it, and it was now etched into his mind. A look of sadness and defeat he couldn’t seem to place. Why was Lucy at all invested in his relationship? He had Ashley. And Lucy had Chris.

“Tim?” Lucy repeated, staring back at him.

“Sorry, what?”

Lucy chuckled softly. “I said what are you doing here, and can I get you a glass of wine?”

“Wine, yes, whatever you’re having is fine.” He hastily agreed.

Lucy poured his glass halfway and slid it across the counter to his waiting hand.

“Tim,” she repeated, slightly more forceful. “Again, I ask, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“I’m sorry," he apologized, throwing his hands up. "This is quickly becoming awkward. Look, I just came over to check on you. You seemed pretty freaked out by the fake proposal. So, sorry. For…taking our prank war a little too far?” He apologized.

Lucy was mortified, but quickly managed to shut her feelings down.

“Please!” She scoffed, flipping her hair off her face. “I was not freaked out!”

Tim pursed his lips and stared back at her. “Lucy.”

“I wasn’t!”

“You looked like I had just kicked your dog.”

“Your dog now…” Lucy mumbled into her wine. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter, because I don’t care. If you want to propose to your girlfriend as a joke, be my guest.”

Tim shrugged.

“It’s not that big of a deal. Ashley and I talked, and it turns out she doesn’t want to get married or have kids for that matter, so yeah, we decided to make a joke of it because you had been on my ass all day telling me she thought I was going to propose. Which, she didn’t! So, point for Bradford.” He gloated.

Lucy’s face softened at Tim’s explanation, and she felt her stomach drop slightly.

“Oh,” It was all she could think to say for a moment as her brain tried to process what he had just said.

Tim shifted his head, trying to get her attention. “What? Out with it already, Chen, use your words.”

“No, nothing.” She replied, shaking her head. “I just—you and I just talked about this. You were just telling me how you could see yourself marrying her, and how you’ve wanted kids. If that’s not what she wants, if you guys aren’t on the same page about huge stuff like that, you should talk to her, not fake a proposal. What are you even—”

“Lucy.”

Tim stepped closer toward her and placed his wine on the island. He was getting closer to her space. She could smell his cologne. Or was it his after shave? She wasn’t sure. Looking up at him, she took notice of how her breathing began to increase. For a beat, neither of them said anything. They simply stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something or make a move.

“Why do you care so much?” Tim finally asked.

“I don’t.” Lucy whispered.

It was a complete lie, and Tim knew it. She did care, more than she should.

Tim took another step closer. He was mere inches from her. He could have reached out his arm, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in close. His lips would have been on hers. He would taste the red wine on her tongue, smelled her honeysuckle perfume against her neck.

He was there.

All he had to do was reach out.

Tim took another step towards her and swore he heard her breath hitch.

“Lucy! I’m home, I know, I know, you would—Oh! Shit.”

Tamara stood in the doorway awkwardly as Tim and Lucy immediately took giant steps back from each other.

“Hi!” Lucy exclaimed. Her hands were in her hair, running through her locks as she looked around the room, unsure of where to settle her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should have text you and let you know my plans had changed.” Tamara apologized. “I can go if you—”

“What, no, don’t be ridiculous.” Tim spat out.

“—live here, you don’t need to text to come home. We were just talking.”

The pair both began to verbally vomit words galore and talked over each other in an attempt to smooth things over.

“Well, okay, uh, you’re good.” Tim spat out.

“Yup, great, thanks for stopping by.” Lucy quipped.

“—Just gonna go now, so, I’ll see you tomorrow. Tamara, have a good night.”

Tim was out the door and walking down the hall before Tamara could even say good night back. Closing the door behind her, she stepped out of her shoes and put her bag down. She turned toward Lucy, not saying a word, just staring at her.

“Did you eat? Are you hungry?” Lucy asked, trying in vain to eliminate the heavy awkwardness hanging in the room. Tamara smiled.

“Yeah, uh, Kelsey and Brie and I stopped at Pinks, so, I’m good.”

“Good.” Lucy nodded.

“Lucy?” Tamara questioned.

“We were just talking, is all. Yeah, he uh, he tried to play a prank on me, stupid really, the whole thing. Anyway, he was just coming over to check on me, so…yeah.”

The girls stood in the kitchen staring at each other and Lucy knew she wasn’t getting off that easily. She was convinced there was no human in the world better at reading people and situations than Tamara Colins herself.

Tamara walked over to the fridge and grabbed a can of bubbly. Cracking it open, she took a sip and set it on the counter.

“Lucy, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, always.”

Tamara hoisted herself up onto the island and took a sip of her drink. Her thumb rubbed against the can as her legs swung beneath her just slightly.

“You and Chris have been dating, what, four months now?”

Lucy thought it over in her head.

“Yeah, give or take.” She replied.

Tamara nodded. “Four months and I have never interrupted anything. Dude, I’ve never even seen you two kiss.”

“We’ve kissed!” Lucy defended.

“I mean, I’d hope so. All I’m saying is I saw more passion and heat in that look you shared with Officer Zaddy five minutes ago,” She gestured, throwing her hand over her shoulder. “then I have in four months of your relationship with Chris.”

Lucy pursed her lips and wanted desperately to write Tamara off completely. To tell her she was completely wrong about the entire scenario.

It would have been a complete bold-faced lie, but Lucy still wanted to scream it until she was blue in the face.

“Look, statistically speaking? After four months? I should have seen a kiss, accidentally walked in on you guys in the shower because things got so hot and heavy so quickly, you forgot to lock the door. I should have heard a moan, or seen somebodies’ underwear, or—”

“Tamara!” Lucy cut her off. “I get the point.”

Tamara shrugged. Jumping off the counter, she walked over to Lucy and placed her hand on her shoulder.

“Lucy, I love you. And I’m so grateful you let me live here with you. For the first time in my life, I feel safe. That’s huge.”

“But…” Lucy encouraged her, knowing a but was inevitable.

“But you should be with someone who makes you regret having a roommate. You deserve passion and heat and…whatever the hell that just was.”

“So, what, you’re telling me you want to walk in on Chris and me?”

Tamara laughed softly before looking up at Lucy directly.

“Obviously not. All I’m saying is…I want you to be in a relationship where you don’t have to pretend. A relationship where things come naturally. Even if it isn’t with Tim. Lucy, you deserve someone who looks at you the way Tim did tonight. Chris has never once looked at you like that. You and I both know that. Just think about it.”

“Yeah, I will.” Lucy nodded stiffly.

“I’m gonna go hang out in my room. Let me know if you need anything.”

The teen grabbed her drink and headed to her room, shutting the door behind her, and leaving Lucy alone in the kitchen. She blew out a breath and looked down to her glass of wine, taking a sip.

Her phone buzzed on the counter, lighting up. Picking it up, she looked at the text.

Chris Sanford: Goodnight, babe, love you. Wish I was lying next to you tonight.

Lucy rolled her eyes before she could catch herself.

And therein lied the problem.

Chris Sanford was not the man she wanted to be lying next to.

He never had been.

He never would be.

And slowly, Lucy had to face the facts.

Tamara was right.

Picking up her phone, Lucy blew passed Chris’s message and found Tim’s contact.

Lucy Chen: You’re right, I do care.

Lucy Chen: I just want you to be happy and live a life, free of regrets.

Lucy Chen: Goodnight.

#chenford #the rookie #a03 fanfic #ao3 #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #read on ao3 #ao3 fic #archive of our own #writers of tumblr #writing things #writers #tim bradford #lucy chen

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contentabnormal · 1 year

Audio

This week on Content Abnormal we present Richard Widmark in The Inner Sanctum thriller “Elixir Number Four”!

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frankentyner · 2 years

Photo

#the crew #at #oak park library #oak park public library #oak park michigan #for #animal #presentation #this was immediately following the presentation #baby alligator #tortoise #patagonian mara cavi #dove #albino dove #chinchilla

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listen-to-the-inner-walrus · 7 months

Text

would love to know why my family keep making me give directions when we're in the car considering it's been established multiple times that i am not good at it.

"how do you keep mixing up your left and right?"

im dyspraxic, matthew.

"thats the road we came down on the way here, are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

are you asking me or google maps? because me? no. my sense of direction is as gain as a glass eye, mom, i get lost going down a straight road.

"is it an island or a t-junction?"

"whats a t-junction?"

"how do you not know what a t-junction is?"

i dont drive, ive never had a driving lesson, why would i know what a t-junction is?

"okay so you keep following this road until right after youve gone straight over the double carriageway."

"what do you mean? theres no double carriageways near here."

"well, you go over something that has two roads on either side. the roads are yellow on the map, i dont know what that means."

"do you go over it as in go straight over a roundabout or go over it like its a motorway?"

"..."

you know, this was today and ive already forgotten everything i didnt know about that road.

"it says the fastest way is to go through [hometown]"

"what do you mean?"

"which way through?"

"..."

"the library, sainsburys or poundland?"

"sainsburys."

"okay."

"thats the way to where nan lived, right? where you go by the church?"

"no. that takes you down [name] hill. you mean poundland."

i spent the first 18 years of my life living here, realistically, theres 5 or 6 proper roads here.

"okay, when you see foxbury park on the right, its the second righ- second left after that."

"okay."

"wait, theres also oak park. okay when you see oak park, its the third left. but still the second left after foxbury park."

"cant you just tell us how many lefts it is instead of this park nonsense?"

"theres way too many lines on this map to do that."

"really? come on, arent you supposed to be the maths genius?"

im good with numbers, matt, i am categorically not good at looking at fiddly little lines on maps where i keep forgetting which way is left or right.

"what exit is it on the island?"

"...fourth?"

"are you sure about that?"

"well, its definitely not the first, second or third exit on the roundabout; i just dont know if this is an exit or not?"

"what does it look like?"

"a road, but smaller."

"youre not very good at directions, are you."

what gave it away?

#kai rambles #why does this keep happening #my mother owns a satnav #why am i being designated satnav when at least three times today i said ''turn left'' and only realised i meant right as we got to the #turning and vice versa?#my brother was in the car #he could have done it #why is it always me #im bad at it #dyspraxia #actually dyspraxic #neurodivergent #neurodiverse stuff

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rotworld · 6 months

Text

11: Slither

(previous)

something strange is going on at the university.

->briefly suggestive. contains gore, drugging, mentions of child neglect.

You can still smell it.

Death. Blood and snow. Stiff corpses left in purposeful poses, waiting for you to open your eyes. Bits of brain on the pillow next to yours. Heads like roadkill. You barely eat all day, too sick to your stomach.

He was in your room. He stood at your bedside, watching you sleep. One by one, he dragged their bodies inside and arranged them like old friends sleeping off a party, close and intimate. And then he just left. Is this how it’s going to be from now on? Rushing from place to place, fleeing the snow? Can you go anywhere? Can you stay with anyone? How many chances do you get before he finishes the job? You wish you’d asked more questions. But if anyone knows anything, you’ll find them at the University.

You’ve driven for hours without stopping, afraid of the weather changing. You adjust your route, taking the road east. The scenery becomes strange as the sun goes down. A clock tower looms just off the shoulder of the road, red brick and Verlinda-touched by strangling vines. An oak tree grows clumps of green-tinged parking tickets instead of leaves. A patch of wildflowers grows in the shape and colors of a University sweatshirt. This is a good sign; it means you’re close.

Macbride University used to be located in Bevin, a small town torn to shreds by a particularly vicious shift in a time before anchorware. Those disparate pieces still exist throughout the Drift. Several of its hiking trails landed in the Stillwoods back when it was Green Valley, albeit with noticeable spatial and temporal distortion, and the art museum was excavated in the south end of Primsville. None are more remarkable than the University which emerged along the highway, fully intact, still containing a bewildered student body and faculty who were oblivious to the sudden relocation.

Today, it’s a city of its own. A costly, meticulously maintained perimeter of anchorware has given it an unusual amount of stability—you can almost always find it towards the east of the Drift. Still, the shift that ripped it from its foundations from Bevin left a mark on the fabric of reality and the University has a tendency of shedding like a thick-coated dog, each relocation lodging bits and pieces of town into the surrounding highway. They make for useful landmarks, and you’ve never been quite so relieved to see them as you are now.

Soon, you’re passing beneath streetlights and blending into campus traffic, flanked by stately lecture halls with stone columns and arching doorways. “WELCOME,” the artsy metal sign on the overpass says, “TO MACBRIDE UNIVERSITY.”

[NOW PLAYING ON THE RADIO: PAPAOUTAI BY STROMAE]

You’re familiar with the University. It’s one of your preferred destinations to make deliveries. Navigation is simple. Every building is named and labeled by black stone plaques, every district easily found by following a network of blue road signs. Every section of the city, from the tidy bureaucratic buildings of the Administration District to the picturesque Tudor manors of the Residential District, have reserved courier parking spaces and dedicated exchange offices.

The campus is beautiful. Blushing autumn trees line the cobblestone paths. Cloister gardens are tucked inside the labyrinthine sprawl of college buildings and canopied walkways, quiet corners flush with greenery. You can smell the cloying earthy sweetness of the egg gardens. The College of Medicine stretches across a hilltop overlooking the rest of the campus. You pull into your designated spot outside one of the libraries and pull your deliveries out of the trunk.

The box from Compass Hill is slim but heavy with anchorware, wooden lit stamped with the old textile factory logo. The Stag gave you something the shape of a small glass jar but wrapped in layer after layer of protective coverings; newsprint, bandage wrappings, some kind of thick, glossy leaves.

The library is modern but cozy, earthy colors, tall arch windows and wooden furniture. Students flit through the shelves and crack open thick, dusty tomes beneath warm table lamps. The woman at the reference desk calls Dr. Loyola down to take your delivery. You’re invited to help yourself to tea, coffee, or any of the books while you wait. Most of what’s on the shelves is too dense and dry for you, seventh edition treatises on acute shift sickness and investigations into anomalous anchorware radiation. You sit down with a drink and your map, considering where you’ll go next. You scratch out the motel with a giant X.

“Is that painsilk, by any chance?”

You look up and find someone leaning over your table, resting one hand on the lid of the wooden box. He—or she, perhaps, beautiful and androgynous in a loose knit sweater and black jeans, wavy brown hair just long enough to tie into a low ponytail with a red ribbon—is young but not as young as some of the others milling about the library. A graduate student, maybe, or a new professor.

“You can stop guessing. I’m not a man or a woman, and would rather not be referred to as such.” You quickly apologize but they seem unbothered, waving off your tension. “You didn’t know. Now you do.” They pull out the chair across from you and sit casually, an elbow resting on the table, chin set against their hand. “Ah, I haven’t gotten to ask this in a little while. Where are you from? And where will you go after this?”

You hadn’t expected to meet a child of the road here, but there’s no reason why you wouldn’t. People come to the University from all across the Drift. “I’m from somewhere to the northwest. Not sure where I’m headed next, depends what I get to deliver.”

“Oooh, cryptic,” they say with a grin. “I like that. Mind if I see your map?” You pass it across the table and they flip it around, dragging their finger over your hasty scribbles. “You’re not from any of these, then? Compass Hill? Rivermouth?” You shake your head. They hum thoughtfully. “Have you not marked your ‘home’ due to physical constraints, such as the size of the paper, or is it simply irrelevant information?”

You don’t like the flippant way they say “home,” like it’s nothing but a mirage. “Does it matter?” you ask.

They seem surprised by your hostility. “Ah, my turn to apologize,” they say, hands raised in a placating gesture. They slide the map back to you. “I’m asking from a place of genuine curiosity. I’m studying children of the road for a research project. For all the hearsay and rumor, there’s not much reliable information about people like you and I. My current hypothesis draws on the fundamental mechanics of micro-metaspatial alignment, so I’ve been trying to get better geographical distribution data. Physical birthplace versus metaphysical point of origin, the birthplace of parents if applicable…”

“What about you?” you ask. “Where are you from?”

“Hm? I have no idea.”

You pause, waiting for elaboration. They offer none. “Okay, but where is it?” you press.

“Now who’s being belligerent?” they say, but they’re grinning as if they’re enjoying the banter. “I just told you, I have no idea. I have no inner compass, no little tugging sensation in my chest. I don’t dream about it.” They shrug, as though they didn’t just tell you the most horrifying thing you’ve ever heard. “Anyway. This is painsilk, right? The Department of Paraphysics is expanding and we need a few specialty construction materials. I don’t suppose I could ask you for a ride that way? The last bus ran an hour ago.”

“I don’t mind,” you say. “But I can’t leave yet. I’m waiting for someone to pick something up.”

“I’ll wait with you, then, if you aren’t sick of me yet. I’m Jamie, by the way.”

After your rocky introduction to one another, you reassess Jamie as blunt but friendly. They introduce themselves in a rapid bullet point list: paraphysicist, avid science fiction reader, tea snob. Their graduate thesis was about the reproductive behaviors and cycles of a coffin shroudweed colony in the Stillwoods.

“I actually lived with the colony for two years. They were incredibly open with me. Gave a few…hands-on demonstrations,” they add with a wink. “But in all seriousness, I was there in the first place to settle a dispute. The Stillwoods municipal government had come up with this frankly abhorrent development plan for new luxury housing where the shroudweed live. It was fine to bulldoze everything and douse it in pesticides, they said, because shroudweed are aggressive, mindless and invasive.” They scoff. “Aggressive? Not in the least, unless you disturb the mycelial creche where their young grow. Definitely not mindless, either. Communication was difficult but completely possible, we worked out a system of shared symbols. Invasive, then…” They laugh bitterly. “What a useless word in the Drift. You and I are invasive, by that logic. They won’t say it out loud, but they will say it in all sorts of quiet ways.”

Dr. Loyola is still wearing his University staff lanyard when he arrives, photo ID dangling from his neck. You hand him the jar and tell him it’s from the Stag. He looks understandably alarmed and rushes off with the strange thing cradled in both hands, careful not to shake it. You decide you don’t want to know.

Jamie follows you out to your car, sliding into the passenger seat when you move the egg box on the floor behind you. You notice them looking around with interest, studying the interior, the food you have stashed away, opening your glove box to glance inside, but they don’t disturb anything. “I envy couriers,” they say. “The grass is always greener, I’m sure, but still. Perhaps I do still have some trace of that wanderlust instinct we’re all supposed to have.”

You shrug. “It’s different for everyone. I’ve met children of the road who can’t imagine ever leaving home again, wherever they find it. For those of us who keep moving, it’s the same. I can’t imagine sitting still.”

“Do you remember your parents?”

The sudden shift in topic makes you pause. “No,” you say. “I might’ve been abandoned. Or maybe they’re the ones who left me in Compass Hill.”

Their gaze softens. “I see. Rejection is unfortunately common. The lucky ones will find new families, but I know that’s not the norm.”

“Is that why you’re not a courier?” you ask. “You’re one of the lucky ones?”

Jamie gets quiet. You glance over and their smile has turned stiff, not quite meeting their eyes. “Oh, yes,” they say. “I was very lucky.”

You take a winding path back down the hill, following the signs guiding you to the Paraphysics Department. This isn’t a part of campus you’re familiar with. These buildings are much newer, designed with an unpleasant mix of hard Gothic angles and bizarre alien curves. Cathedral towers curve and twist. Windows are misshapen, squished ovals as though melting in their frames. Halls are joined by spiraling aerial walkways. Jamie directs you to Lyman Hall, a building shaped like a frozen wave. A new section is affixed to one end, skeletal scaffolding that bends and twists in ways that don’t seem possible.

Jamie sets their hand on your shoulder as you take your keys out of the ignition. You’ve noticed in just a short time that they’re very physical, walking close, frequently touching your hand or back to get your attention. “I should warn you before we go in,” they say hesitantly. “A lot of my colleagues are…eccentric.”

You ask, “More than you?”

“A courier and a comedian? Come on.”

You tuck the box under your arm and follow Jamie through the front doors. Lyman Hall is just as confusing on the inside. You feel like you’ve somehow found yourself in the old, majestic building of another department with grand, ornately framed church-like windows and antique decor, but everything is just ever so slightly off. The angles are strange. The hallway looks lopsided and half-sinking. A spiral staircase rises into nothing, abruptly ending just short of the rounded ceiling.

“They used to run artificial shifts here to study their effects,” Jamie explains. “It’s done some odd things to the architecture.” They gesture for you to follow, leading you down a hallway that’s much longer than it looks. “Do you know much about shifts? What happens during one, and why?”

“Not really,” you admit.

Their eyes light up. You get the feeling this is something they don’t get to explain often. “Think of it like this: this is us.” They lift their hand, bent at a ninety-degree angle with their palm facing the floor. “This is our home and all the rules that hold it together. We’re so small and so deep inside that it’s all we know. It’s hard to even imagine that there could be more. But there is.” They raise their other hand parallel. “This is another plane. It might be like ours with similar rules, or it might be completely incomprehensible to us. Now, different planes normally exist at different frequencies. They’re like ghosts to one another, invisible. They would pass right through each other without any interaction, any knowledge of one another whatsoever. But, rarely, those frequencies might change. They might start to harmonize, you could say. And when they do…”

Jamie brings their hands closer, fingers lacing together.

“They run into each other?” you guess.

“That’s one type of shift, yes. But it’s not always a collision. Sometimes it’s more like a merging. The technical term is a ‘superposition event.’ Two or more cosmic planes occupying the same location, existing at the same frequency, at the same time. In most of the world, this phenomenon is incredibly rare and incredibly brief. Thirty-four have been recorded throughout all of human history, most lasting between one to six seconds.”

“That can’t be right,” you say. “We have one at least once a week. They last hours.”

“Those numbers only apply outside the Drift. This place has always been especially prone to them. We’re not sure why.”

You’ve heard that the world outside the Drift is “much more stable” but never truly understood what that meant. Thirty-four, for the whole world, for as long as humans have been writing things down? Does anything change out there? Is it all the same for centuries, for millennia at a time? How do they plan trips if everything is always the same distance away and never any closer? What grows on their trees if not eggs?

Jamie turns suddenly into an open doorway and leads you into what looks like an old laboratory. The floor is scuffed, stained wood, tables and workstations wooden with polished stone counters. A diagram of a fringed, worm-like creature has been partially erased on a blackboard. Chemicals and labeled specimens in glass jars line the shelves along the walls. Jamie flicks the lightswitch by the door and you realize there are several people huddled around one of the tables near the back of the room, heads lowered, muttering to each other, apparently standing around in the dark prior to your arrival.

They all look up at the same time, still as statues and staring right at you. A moment passes in tense, terrifying silence, and then they all relax.

“Silk’s here,” Jamie calls.

“Ah, excellent!” one says. It’s a woman in a lab coat and small, oval glasses, her dark hair cropped short. She regards you with a smile, coming over to take the box. “Oh, you have no idea how much we appreciate this. Superposition-affected structures aren’t easy to repair, or remodel, or really do anything with. This should do just the trick. Ah, where are my manners?” She offers a handshake. “I’m Olivia Higgs.”

You blink. “Higgs? As in…?”

“Pioneer of modern paraphysics and paraphysical biology? Yeah, that Dr. Higgs,” Jamie says wryly.

Dr. Higgs is a household name. Your current understanding of the Drift is almost entirely thanks to her. Her approachable, layman-friendly books on shift safety and Drift wildlife are required reading for couriers who want to survive their job. You have an old, dog-eared and partially rain-soaked copy of Drift Eggs and You: A Beginner Forager's Guide in your car.

“Oh,” is all you can think to say.

“And I see you’ve already met my…” Dr. Higgs pauses for an uncomfortably long time, her enthusiasm wavering. “My, ah. My child. Jamie.” She tilts her head slightly as though listening to something, her gaze vacant. “My…Jamie? Jamie?��

Jamie wraps their arm around you quickly, tugging you back a step, closer to the door. “Well, I’ll get them all settled in.”

“Wh—settled in?” you ask.

They turn their arm, checking their watch. You see three needles moving at three different tempos across the clock’s face, none of which seem to be measuring conventional time. “The next shift hits in a couple hours. You can stay at my place tonight, I have a spare bedroom.”

Dr. Higgs shiver. “Jamie? What’s—? Oh my god. Oh my god!” She starts to scream. Jamie’s hand tightens on your shoulder and they draw you back another step, urging you to leave the room. Dr. Higgs claws at her own face, nails raking over her eyes and nose, leaving long, bloodied scratch marks all the way to her chin. She shrieks in thoughtless terror, throwing herself to the ground and curling up into a ball. The other researchers rush to her side, keeping her hands pinned far away from her face, but you see a gushing wound where she tore her forehead open, a rough, circular hole she gouged into herself in desperation.

“GET IT OUT!” she screams. “GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT—”

Jamie slams the door to the lab shut, leans back against it, and lets out a long sigh. You can still hear Dr. Higgs shrieking. “I didn’t want you to see that,” they mutter.

You nod numbly. You have no idea what to ask, if you should even ask anything. There’s a loud thud, the sound of chairs scraping, sprinting footsteps up to the door and something pounding against it.

“Open the door, Jamie!” she shrieks. “Open this door right fucking now and HELP ME!”

Jamie stays where they are as the door jolts and rattles against their back. They close their eyes and take another deep breath, letting out slowly. The banging stops and you hear dragging, Dr. Higgs still screaming, still calling Jamie’s name, sobbing and cursing, as she’s pulled away. “My mother has…fits,” Jamie says. You can’t help but notice they say “mother” not unlike the way they said “home” earlier. “It’s some kind of paranoia. She’s amassed a broad body of work over the course of her career, but her specialty is actually Drift parasites.”

“So she thinks she’s…infected with something?” you say.

“Something like that.”

You stand there in silence for a while. The weeping in the lab gradually tapers off. You hear movement. A gentle knock at the door. “Jamie? I’m so sorry. I’m fine now,” Dr. Higgs says. “Is the courier still there? Did you tell them—”

“Yep,” Jamie says. “We’re going to go now. Don’t stay up too late tonight.”

“Alright. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Mom.” Jamie smiles at you, as if there’s nothing to worry about. When you don’t move, they clear their throat and step away from the door, gesturing back the way you came. “Why don’t we head home? It’s late, I’m tired, I’m sure you’re tired.” They start moving and all but drag you with them, a hand on your back to keep you heading for the exit.

“Is she okay? Are you okay?” you ask. “Are you sure she’s not—?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” they say, their smile strained. They make you walk a little faster.

Jamie lives in a small cottage in the Residential District. There’s a fence at the front with a latching gate and flowering shrubs growing beneath the windows. The interior is cluttered but cozy. Papers with handwritten margin notes are strewn across the kitchen counter. An unfinished jigsaw puzzle is scattered across the living room table. All the pillows on the couch are pushed into one corner, a tasseled blanket hanging across the back. They make you tea, fragrant and slightly sweet, and some eggs to go with it.

“It’s really good,” you say.

“Rosemary peppermint,” they say proudly, sipping their own generous helping from a University mug. “There’s just a pinch of salt and honey in there, a little bit of milk. I’ve always wanted to show it off to someone, but, ah. I never have company.” They glance at you a few times, tapping their fingers on the counter.

You’re escorted to a guest room upstairs that looks significantly less lived in, the bed neatly made, the decor sparse save for a house plant on the window sill. Jamie lingers in the doorway while you settle in, going through your backpack. “Would you…” They trail off, not looking you in the eye. “Would you be willing to take me with you in the morning, when you leave?”

You look up in surprise. “I could,” you say cautiously. “If you’re sure. Where would you wanna go?”

Jamie leans against the doorframe, smiling bitterly. “Ah, of course. This looks bad, doesn’t it? Like I’m abandoning my mother when she needs me. It’s not like that, I promise. I’ve been planning to do some field research for a while now.” They cross the room quickly, sitting on the edge of the bed beside you. Their hand finds yours, settling on top of it. “Maybe I can explain it better in the morning,” they offer, shifting closer. “I just…don’t want to think right now.”

The kiss takes you by surprise. They’re gentle at first, almost shy. Their lips are soft and their hands are wandering restlessly, one cupping your cheek, the other smoothing down your chest. They swallow your quiet, startled gasp and it seems to embolden them. Quick, fleeting kisses grow longer and hungrier, more forceful. They’re pushing against you, a hand on your shoulder easing you down onto the bed.

“Jamie?” You barely manage to get the word out with their mouth moving against yours. “Hey, wait—”

You push against their chest and they pull back with obvious reluctance. Their hand lingers under the bottom of your shirt, fingertips ghosting over your bare stomach. “You don’t want to?”

“That’s not…” You trail off. Suddenly, you don’t feel good. You feel yourself breaking out in a cold sweat. The room is spinning. The room is spinning. You try to sit up but Jamie pushes you back down easily.

“You’re alright,” they murmur. “Shhhh, you’re alright. Close your eyes. You’re going to sleep really, really well tonight, I promise.” They lean in, pressing a kiss to your forehead, and then their weight lifts from the bed. The lights flick off. You hear gentle humming. The door, gently pulled shut. You fight to stay awake but it’s a losing battle, your limbs too heavy to lift. Jamie’s footsteps go back down the stairs and the noise is distorted as you drift in and out of consciousness, too loud, muddled like you’re hearing them underwater.

You think you can hear them talking to someone in hushed, excited whispers.

(next)

#rotpeach writes #goretober #the drift

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alexanderlightweight · 1 year

Text

I am tired. I mean I did work 12 hours today but I’m just like bone deep exhaustion and I want to pass out but also write.

And Cat is amazing okay. I love Cat and Ragnor and Magnus’ dynamic and I will forever be salty that we got half the casts girlfriends on the show (I’m looking at you terrible seelie queen and Heidi) unnecessarily and we didn’t get more Ragnor and Cat. Like they could have flash backed Ragnor or brought him back or anything. And Cat was deprived of showing off her glory and wisdom.

Snippet of unnamed fic

—

“A moment, lovely.” Magnus says and accepts the call.

“Yes, Cat? Why on earth are you calling, it’s your day off?” And Magnus has to pull the phone away from his ear as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “They couldn’t handle being quiet for twenty minutes?” Magnus asks, and signs in irritation, “well did it work? Because I’m busy and they can either simply stop breathing and see if that helps or continue to hold their tongues. I have more important things to take care of than their need for gossip.”

And Magnus rolls his eyes as Cat mutters threats she doesn’t actually mean.

“Catarina, you would never set my library on fire. You’d be much more likely to drunkenly try to abscond with my medical texts, like that one time in Sweden.”

Alexander snorts in his lap and he’s looking up at Magnus softly, like he’s the best thing to see.

Which Magnus knows, but it’s nice to be visibly appreciated.

He preens and his thumb passes over Alexander’s tempting mouth.

“No, I am not busy with my ‘flavor of the month’.” Magnus adds air quotes, knowing it makes his shadowhunter laugh. “Alexander is moving in and we need to pick out his things.” Alexander looks startled and a little wary and Magnus shushes him with a single look. “Darling, I can see your grumpy pout under that lovely smile of yours. You can keep what you have at your place for emergencies and I can get you all new things for mine.”

And Magnus delights at being able to dress Alexander in whatever he wants.

Alec is squinting up at him, eyes shards of peridot and Magnus summons an oak tree to shade them, wanting to enjoy Alexander's hazel eyes under the dappled and soft light of leaf filtered sun.

“Oh yes, Cat.” He says to the silence on his phone, “sorry. The sun got in the way.”

“Does it still exist?” Cat asks, in a snarky tone that Magnus would appreciate so much more if directed at anyone else.

“Of course.” Magnus says immediately and then frowns, “Hyde park may be missing an English oak. I almost went with a weeping beech, but I was worried the shade would be too strong.”

Catarina makes a noise like Ragnor’s incredibly ancient —bordering on heirloom— tea kettle.

“Magnus.” She groans and she sounds in pain, “why?”

And Magnus wonders how he hasn’t made himself clear.

“I was missing out on the wonder of Alexander’s eyes because the sun was in the way.” Magnus says slowly. “So shade was required.” And Cat finally seems to get it as she says nothing else for a moment.

“Your Alexander, huh?” She says leadingly, “I think you owe me brunch and some bottomless mimosas as we catch up. I’d heard some chatter but didn’t pay it mind since you didn’t say anything directly.”

And Magnus rolls his eyes but hums, agreeing to it, because he and Ragnor make it a point to argue with Cat as little as possible.

She is nearly always right, and gets very smug about it.

#shadowhunters #magnus bane #alec lightwood #malec #immortal husbands #shadowhunters au #lumine writes #catarina loss

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kittykat-25 · 30 days

Text

Golden Hour - Part 4

Pairings: Park Seonghwa x OC! Katherine

Genre: Hogwarts AU, strangers to lovers(?), shy girl x popular boy

Summary: Park Seonghwa, the light of the Hufflepuff Common room, the Golden boy if you will. Popular, kind, handsome beyond belief. 1/8th of the rowdiest friend group to grace Hogwarts walls. And then there was Katherine, quiet, shy, a fly on the wall. Never seen or heard by anyone except Seonghwa. What happened when the popular golden boy falls for the quiet mouse of the school.

After the walk around the lake Ateez had taken to Katherine’s side like a fish to water. There was typically always one of them around her, whether it be Seonghwa walking with her to class or Hongjoong sitting with her in the library. Wooyoung and Yeosang had caught her one morning and walked with her to the dining hall. And while she appreciated most of their company people had noticed. And we’re talking. And that’s how the first rumor started. She had heard whispers walking to charms one day but thought nothing of it. The usually people gossiping about her new friends. It wasn’t until she walked into potions with Hongjoong and Seonghwa as normal and took her seat with Dani that she heard the true things being said. She had just sat her bag down when she noticed Dani was quieter than usually. “You okay Dani? No questions or anything today?” She said turning to look at her friend. Dani looked her in the eyes and almost burst into tears. “Katherine I heard something, and I need you to know I told everyone it was a lie but no one believed me.” Katherine turned fully towards her, Seonghwa subtly watching Katherine, turned towards her, catching Hongjoong’s interest as well.

Katherine looked at Dani, “well what did you hear?” Dani grabbed her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze, “some of the girls in Ravenclaw were talking about you. And they said their friend in Slytherin told them you were sleeping with all of them.” Katherine felt like her ears had stopped working, “I’m sorry all of who?” She asked, knowing goood and well what Dani meant. “Ateez, someone told everyone you were sleeping with all eight of them. That-that they share you like a toy.” Dani said quietly, her eyes watering. Katherine couldn’t hear anything after the first word, her ears ringing. Eyes burning from the tears trying to not fall. Seonghwa noticing something was off went to stand when the professor walked into the classroom. Katherine packed up her bags quickly and bolted out the door, Seonghwa stood up and went to follow as hand came down on his arm. Looking down at Hongjoong’s hand, “let go of me Joong.” He said quietly, voice full of desperation. “Sit down Mr Park unless you want to cause your house points and serve detention.” The potions professor said. Seonghwa looked towards the door, ready to go after Katherine, “Hwa sit down. We will find her later.” Hongjoong hissed, yanking him into the seat.

As soon as the professor dismissed them Seonghwa walked up to Dani, she wouldn’t look him in the eyes, “Danielle right? Katherine’s told me a lot about you.” Seonghwa said with a smile. “I have to get to class.” Dani said as she stepped around the two boys and made her way out of the classroom. “Charming girl.” Hongjoong muttered walking out of the door. Seonghwa had just stepped into the corridor when Vivian came up to his side, “Hi Seonghwa” she purred. Hongjoong rolled his eyes, “not now Vivian.” Seonghwa said as his eyes scanned the busy corridor for his girl. “And why not? You never have time for me.” Vivian said with a pout. Seonghwa hadn’t even heard her before turning around and heading towards the old oak tree he knew Katherine liked to sit under. Hongjoong gave Vivian a fake smile and strolled off after his friend. Jongho seeing his friend making their way fell in step with them, “I saw Katherine tearing through the hallway earlier. I tried to stop her but I don’t think she even heard me.” Both men stopped and turned towards their youngest, “where was she going.” Seonghwa asked. “Hufflepuff common room by the direction I’d say.” Jongho replied, “why-“ he didn’t even finish his question before Seonghwa took off towards his dormitory.

It had been a week of either missing Katherine entirely or her going out of her way to avoid Ateez. She always was the last to enter and first to leave class, never stopping to give the guys a chance to catch up, and if they got close Dani would somehow intercept them, helping her friend escape. Seonghwa couldn’t understand what had happened. Wooyoung completely rattled, thinking maybe it had been his fault, explaining he made a comment about how she was always too calm and quiet. While Seonghwa told him off her his joke at her, he knew that wasn’t it. Something had happened and they were all in the dark. “Maybe Yunho can find out something.” Hongjoong said, throwing a glance towards their friend. “And if he gets caught?” Yeo replied, “they aren’t going to send a 15 year old to Azkaban.” Wooyoung said coldly. “An unregistered animagis? They’ve sent people for less.” Jongho replied. Yunho turned towards them, “do I get a say in this at all.” Seonghwa looked at his friend, eyes pleading but responded, “of course you do.” Seonghwa knew it was risky for Yunho to transform and show himself to another student, but at this point he was desperate. Yunho look at him, “good. I say no.” All seven boys turn toward him, “what?!” Wooyoung yelled. “It’s not fair to Katherine to think she being comforted by a giant puppy when it’s really Yunho.” San replied for him. “Exactly. I’m not doing anything to make this worse.” Yunho said standing up.

He walked towards the door and threw a glance over his shoulder back towards his friends, “Maybe just give the girl a chance to breathe and think things through on her own without smothering her. Chasing her down after every class isn’t working.” And with that statement he turned on his heel and walked out. He knew he was a hypocrite for saying what he did as he currently made his way down to the hufflepuff common room. One of Mingi’s classmates entering just as he walked up, “can you get Katherine for me please, or let me in to get her.” Yunho asked nicely. The girl nodded and held the door open for him. “I’ll grab her from the dorm.” The girl said with a smile. Yunho said his thanks and waited by the fire. Hoping Kat would come talk to him. “You shouldn’t be here.” Were the first words out of Katherine’s mouth when she say Yunho. The friendly giant sitting in the chair by the fire, a smile on his face dimming when he saw her. Her eyes were usually full of light, now dull and full of sadness. Like her skin had lost all of its glow. “Kat please just tell me what happened. We’re worried about you.” He pleaded, she looked down at her hands, ringing her fingers together tightly. “Everything’s fine Yunho. You should leave.” She said quietly. “You can’t even say that and look me in the eyes. So do you want to stop lying to me and yourself and tell me what happened?” Yunho retorted. Katherine looked at him, “fine but let’s not talk here.” She gestured towards the doorway. “Can I at least go get Hwa. He’s worried sick about you.” Yunho added as they made their way down the corridor. She lead him outside to the courtyard and sat in the edge of the fountain. Funnily enough the same fountain Seonghwa had found the at that started this whole mess.

Yunho looked at her, waiting for her to speak, “Kat you can tell me. I promise.” He said gently. “I don’t even want to repeat it.” She said sadly. Yunho crouched in front of her, “here want to see something that might help. You can decide how you’d rather tell me.” He said as he backed up a step. Katherine looked up at him just as he took a breath then standing in front of her was a very fluffy golden retriever. “What the hell?” Katherine exclaimed. The dog trotted up to her and put his head on her knee. “An animagis! Oh Yunho.” The dog blinked up at her. She stroked its fur and felt herself relaxing. “Someone started a rumor that I was sleeping with all eight of you. That you all used me like-“ she hesitated, voice breaking as the tears started falling, the dog nudged her leg encouraging her, “that you all passed me around and used me like a toy.” She finished. Yunhos dog form stilled, processing her words then backed up. She felt arms come around her, “Katherine why didn’t you say anything.” He said into her hair as she leaned into him sobbing. “Someone told Dani it was you guys who started it. And that you all were encouraging it.” She huffed out, Yunho hand froze on her back, “do you think we would do something like that to you?” He said calmly. “Honestly no but it was hard to get past the part where dozens of people confirmed it.” She answered as she whipped her tears. “Katherine listen to me, we have never said that and we would never let anyone say something like that about you. Especially Hwa. When he finds out he’s going to lose it.” Yunho stated. “I don’t want anyone else knowing this Yunho. It’s bad enough as it is. Please.” She begged.

Yunho looked down at her, Seonghwa’s diststressed face in his mind. “I’m sorry Katherine but you need to tell them. It affects all of us and if people are going out of their way to make sure we haven’t heard about it then something needs to be done. You can tell them or I can but they are going to know.” He replied. Katherine hurried her face in her hands. “Seonghwa is going to hate me.” She murmured. Yunho laughed, “Kat that man is so head over heels for you I don’t think there’s anything you could do to make him hate you. He’s worried about you, they all are.” Katherine could feel her face heat up, Yunho chuckled, “I know you like him, as much as you don’t want to admit it. We can all see it.” He said as he pulled her up. She gave a nervous laugh, “I don’t know what talking about.” Rolling his eyes tunneled her towards the classroom he was sure all the guys were still in. “Deny it all you want Kitty Kat but we all see the way you look at him.” He turned the handle to the classroom, hearing the voices inside lower. “Look who I found.” Yunho sang as he walked into the room, Katherine following timidly behind him. All seven eyes turning to her, one particular set lighting up as he jumped up and bounded over to her. Throwing all insecurities and caution to the wind she met him stride for stride until the met and his arms came around her pulling her close. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her slightly. “I’m so sorry Seonghwa.” She whispered, voice on the edge of breaking. He pulled her tighter to him, “it’s okay it’s okay.” Katherine pulled back, Seonghwa wiping the tears away, “tell me what happened?” Setting her down and gripping her hand he lead her over the the other guys, and she explained what had been going on over the last week.

Hongjoong was pacing back and forth while Yeo and Yunho tried to calm Wooyoung down. Seonghwa surprisingly was calm, just talking with Katherine in hushed tones, “what are we going to do about it?” San demanded, his neck and face red with anger. “There’s nothing we can do.” Yeo replied sadly, “not without making this worse.” “No Katherine.” Seonghwa said harshly. Making everyone else turn towards them. She had a pleading look in her eyes, gently trying to calm Hwa down. “Seonghwa please.” She pleads, “just until it calms down” “I am not going to abandon you while this is going on. No.” He responded. “Why not? It’s not like it’ll actually affect you?” She retorted. “Not affect me?” He questioned. The other seven friends quieted down, “Kat you have been avoiding me for a week and it felt like I was dying and all I cared about was you. So don’t act like this doesn’t hurt me. You are in pain and that very much affects me.” Tears were slipping down his face, Katherine leaned forwards and hesitantly swiped them away. “Hwa, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.” He looked at her, cupping her face, “why is it so hard for you to think that I care about you? That we all do?” He asked, voice full of hurt. All of the guys turned towards her at that question. Katherine looked down at her hands, “It’s not that.” she said quietly before looking up at Seonghwa, “I just have experiences with bullying and humiliation.” She responded quietly. Seonghwa looked at her, Yunho being the first to speak, “what happened? Do we have names?” He asked, anger flooding his system. “No!” Katherine exclaimed, continuing, “Before Hogwarts, my parents thought it’d be good for me to go to a muggle school. I was such a happy loud kid, they wanted me to experience everything and make friends.” She said looking down at the floor, her tone so dry it was brittle. The other seven guys sat down around her, their eyes trained on her. “The other students didn’t know about magic but they knew I was different somehow. That I was a freak.” She continued, her voice wavering. “The school didn’t do anything about the names I was called or the physical harassment. But it got bad enough that my parents pulled me out.” She finished.

Seonghwa’s jaw clenched, infuriated for her younger self. Wooyoung’s voice gentle and soft for once, “is that why you’re so quiet now?” He asked. Katherine nodded, “I don’t want to draw attention to myself or give anyone a reason to look too long at me.” The guys all nodded, now understanding her behavior. “I’m so sorry I gave you suck a hard time for being quiet.” Wooyoung said, voice breaking. Katherine looked up and found him staring at her, tears also running down his face. “You said physical harassment.” Hongjoong stated, “as in people physically abused you at school?” His voice was laced with venom. Wooyoung whipped his head back between his friend and Katherine, “it started as pushing and shoving, throwing things. The worst primary aged kids can do I guess. But it got worse, the final straw for my parents was someone pushing me down a flight of steps, I fell and broke my arm and after that I never went back.” Katherine said. Hongjoong looked at Seonghwa, his friends face a mask of fury, Hongjoong was sure his mirrored it. “I swear Kat, no one will touch you without your permission ever again.” He said quietly, all of the guys nodding in agreement. “Joong it’s fine, nothing like that has happened since I came to Hogwarts.” Katherine said. “And it will stay like that.” Seonghwa said, his voice icy. A tone Katherine didn’t even know he could have. She covered his hand with hers, “thank you, thank all of you for forcing yourselves into my life and being my friends.” She said quietly. Wooyoung was up and tackling her into a hug before she could finish her sentence. “Wooyoung don’t suffocate her please.” Yeosang said as he pried Woo off of Kat. Seonghwa brushing dust out of her hair, using this time to hold her close.

Walking towards the dinning hall with all eight of them at her back, Katherine could feel the stares of everyone. Seonghwa’s hand wrapped around hers, she had passed by a group of slytherin girls when she heard it, the one word that stopped all eight boys in their tracks, “slut” they whispered as she walked by. She tightened her grip on Seonghwa’s hand silently asking him not to do anything. Apparently it wasn’t Seonghwa she had to worry about. “What did you just call her?” Hongjoong’s voice rang through the hall. The slytherin girls eyes widened in panic. Not expecting one from her own house to call her out. “She’s a slut. Throwing herself at all of you. It’s disgusting.” One of her friends answered, sneering at Katherine. Hongjoong looked around and found most of the students stopping to look at the scene unfolding. Eyes stopping on Katherine who was clinging to Hwa. His arm around her like it would protect her from the insults. “Let me make one thing very clear.” Hongjoong declared, “if we hear one more word of this lie about Katherine you will be dealing with us. Does everyone understand?” His voice echoed off the walls, his eyes never leaving the girls cowering in the shadows now. Hongjoong started towards the dining hall, the rest following him as everyone watched them walk away.

Turning down a side corridor Seonghwa pulled Katherine with him, the other seven boys going ahead. “Are you okay?” He said cupping her face, scanning her like the insult made actual cuts. “I’m fine Seonghwa. It was just words.” She said in a hushed tone. He tilted her face up, “untrue words. I won’t let them insult you like that.” She leaned into his touch, smiling. “I don’t think I’ve had someone genuinely care about me this much other than Dani.” She admitted quietly. “Well now you have the eight of us, Hongjoong was honest in what he said Kat. We’re not tolerating this. I’ll go to the headmaster if needed.” He said gently as he stroked her cheek, “and do what, we don’t know who started it.” She retorted. Seonghwa cocked his head, “I’m sure we can figure it out, in the mean time you should stick with me. You know for safety reasons.” He said with a smile, throwing in an over dramatic wink. Katherine laughed and Seonghwa doesn’t think he’s ever heard a sound as beautiful as that. “Oh yeah? For safety?” Katherine said mockingly. Seonghwa pulled her tight against his body, “you should be safe right here, tragically you’ll have to stay here 24/7.” He said exasperated. Katherine laughed again shoving him away lightly. “Let go eat you dork, I’m hungry.” He wrapped his arm around her and lead her into the dining hall, the interaction from earlier far from her mind.

A/N: HIHIHI!!! Sorry this chapter was kinda emotional rollercoaster! But we ended with some good Hwa fluff because our boy here is WHIPPED🫠

TAGLIST🥹 let me know if you want to be added

@sundaybossanova @vampzity @skzline @sanslovesblog @scarfac3 @mingisbbokari @edenesth @amuromio @chngbnwf

#ateez #park seonghwa #hogwarts oc #original character #hongjoong #wooyoung #mingi #choi san #jongho #yunho #yeosang #strangers to lovers #strangers to friends

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minnesotadruids · 2 years

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2022 Pagan Pride Days in US & Canada

Here’s a list of Pagan Pride fall festivals and a handful of similar events coming up. Want to meet other druids, witches, heathens, and similar like-minded individuals? Most Pagan Pride Days are free, unless otherwise specified below. Please be sure to verify these events for yourselves before venturing out. Be safe and have fun!

Alabama: Auburn: Kiesel Park: September 17, hours TBA…

Alberta: Edmonton: Richie Hall: September 10, 11 AM to 5 PM

Arizona: Phoenix: Steele Indian School Park: November 5, 9 AM to 5 PM

British Columbia: Vancouver: Trout Lake Park: August 13, 12 PM to 7 PM

California: Los Angeles/Long Beach: Rainbow Lagoon: October 2, 10 AM to 5:30 PM

California: Sacramento: Phoenix Park: September 10, 10 AM to 6 PM

Colorado: Denver: TBA: Usually announced in October for last weekend of month

Colorado: Fort Collins: City Park: August 21, 10 AM to 6 PM

Connecticut: Berlin: Veteran's Memorial Park: Weekend near Autumnal Equinox TENTATIVE

District of Columbia: See Frederick MD and/or Reston VA

Florida: Jacksonville: Riverside Artist Square: September 25, 11 AM to 5 PM

Georgia: Athens: Washington Street between Pulaski & Hull: October 22, hours TBA

Illinois: Chicago: Garfield Park: September 24, 10 AM to 6 PM

Illinois: Wheaton: Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library lawn: September 10, 10 AM to 5 PM

"TheosoFest" with free admission, vehicle parking is $5

Iowa: Burlington: Dankwardt Park: August 27, times not specified

Kentucky: Louisville: Waterfront Park: September 10, 11 AM to 6 PM

Louisiana: New Orleans: October 1, updating website soon for full details

Maryland: Frederick: UU Congregation of Frederick (lawn), September 17, 10 AM to 6 PM

Massachusetts: Lakeville: Ted Williams Camp: September 11, 10 AM to 6 PM

Massachusetts: Northampton: 1 Kirkland Ave, September 24, 9 AM to 5 PM

Michigan: Ann Arbor: Washtenaw Community College: September 10, 10 AM to 5 PM

Michigan: Grand Rapids: Richmond Park: September 17, 9 AM to whenever

Minnesota: Mankato: Jack McGowans Farm: August 13-14, 10 AM to 5 PM

Minnesota: Minneapolis: Minnehaha Falls Park: September 10, 10 AM to 6 PM

Missouri: Joplin: Cunningham Park: September 10, 9 AM to 6 PM

Missouri: Springfield: 405 Washington Ave, September 17, 11 AM to 5 PM

Montana: Kalispell: UU Church, 1515 Tumble Creek Road: September 17, 11 AM to 6 PM

New Jersey: Old Bridge: 144 E Greystone Rd (registration required): August 6, 9 AM to 6 PM

Technically a "Pagan Picnic" by Hands of Change with similar stuff to Pagan Pride Days

New Jersey: Cherry Hill: Cooper River Park: October 1, 10 AM to 6 PM

New Mexico: Albuquerque: Bataan Memorial Park: September 25, 10 AM to 6 PM

Has admission fee: donation of one non-perishable food item

New Mexico: Las Cruces: Pioneer Women's Park: October 15, 11 AM to whenever

New York: Buffalo: Buffalo Irish Center: October 9, 11 AM to 4 PM

New York: Syracuse: Long Branch Park: September 17, 10 AM to 5 PM

Ohio: Cincinnati: Mt. Airy Forest: Stone Steps Picnic Shelter: August 5, 12 PM to 8 PM

Pagan Pride Potluck Picnic: free event, but bring food to share

Park Vehicle Fee: $5 for Hamilton County residents, $8 for non-residents

Ohio: Cleveland (Bedford): Bedford Public Square, Aug 18-21, 5-10 PM, 12-10 PM, 12-5 PM

Has admission fee: donation of two non-perishable food items

Ohio: Dayton (Fairborn): Fairborn Community Park: October 22, 9 AM to 6 PM

Oklahoma: OK City: Wiley Post Park: September 24, 10 AM to 5 PM

Oklahoma: Tulsa: Dream Keepers Park: October 1, 9 AM to 6 PM

Ontario: Toronto: Gage Park: September 11, 10 AM to 6 PM

Oregon: Eugene: Alton Baker Park: August 7, 10:30 AM to 7 PM

Oregon: Portland: Oaks Amusement Park: September 18, 10 AM to 5 PM

Pennsylvania: Allentown (Easton): Louise Moore County Park: August 20, 9 AM to 4 PM

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia: Clark Park: September 3, 10 AM to 6 PM

Pennsylvania: York: Samuel Lewis State Park (no entrance fee): September 24 10 AM to 6 PM

South Carolina: Greenville (Easley): Maynard Community Center: October 1, 9 AM to 5 PM

Has admission fee: donation of one non-perishable food item

Tennessee: Knoxville: The Concourse: September 10, 10 AM to whenever

Has admission fee: donation of one non-perishable food item (or cash)

Tennessee: Memphis: Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park: October 20-23, starts at Noon

"Festival of Souls" Registration required: $60 for whole weekend or $25 per day

Tennessee: Nashville: Two Rivers Park: October 1, 10 AM to 5 PM

Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth: Arlington UU Church: November 6, 10 AM to 5 PM

Virginia: Reston: Lake Fairfax Park, October 1, 10 AM to 5 PM

Washington: Spokane: UU Church of Spokane: September 17 10 AM to 4 PM

There may be more Pagan Pride Day events than the ones listed here, but they’re either difficult to find info for online or plans are still tentative. Sorry if I missed any major ones!

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