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chvoswxtch · 1 year

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From one court to another court

I'm sooooooo happy for you! You deserve alllllllllll the follows (and likes and comments and reblogs)!!!

For your celebration, I would like to request a margarita with Matt that uses a similar theme to Meredith Grey's "pick me" speech from Grey's Anatomy. Not sure if you've seen it, but it's pretty angsty. The line can either come from Matt or reader. Direct quote below:

Okay, here it is. Your choice, it's simple, her or me. And I'm sure she's really great. But Derek, I love you. In a really, big really big pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your bedroom window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you... love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love me.

But for the love of all that's holy, it needs to have a happy ending 🤣

I love and appreciate you so much! Congratulations again!!!!!!!!

ahhh my lovely court!!!❤️

thank you so much, angel!! okay this is actually hilarious bc I was OBSESSED with grey's (like literally went into college as a premed bc I swore I was gonna be a surgeon) and meredith was always my favorite and the one I related to most.

i'm gonna make matty be the one to stand in the rain and pour his heart out dramatically bc he's a lil shit and I feel like he's gotten his fair share of love confessions and honestly it's his turn to beg. there is a lot of angst, but a happy, cheeky ending!

i love and appreciate YOU so much!!!! 🥂

blurb below the cut

pick me

pick me. choose me. love me.

Matt only had himself to blame for the jealousy coursing through his veins right now. He’d had his window with you. A long, six months to be exact, wide open window to confess how he really felt. There were several times along the way he almost did, when the truth nearly slipped past his lips almost as easily as his excuses for yet another superficial injury. When your hand slipped down his arm to tangle your fingers together as you languidly strolled behind Karen and Foggy down the busy streets of New York. When you leaned closer into his side as you sat together in one of the booths at Josie’s, even though you had plenty of room. When you pulled him into a quiet space to help him calm down, being able to tell when he was overstimulated just by a simple look on his face.

When he told you the truth and you didn’t yell at him. You didn’t call him a liar, or express betrayal through verbal daggers. You didn’t question the authenticity of his blindness with the revelation of his heightened senses. You didn’t walk out on him. You stayed.

He should’ve told you that night.

And even though he convinced himself it was safer for you if he kept his heart to himself, deep down he knew he was a coward.

He was scared to lose you. He was afraid that he would push you too far, ask for too much patience, or break one too many promises that he wouldn’t be able to rectify with an apology and good intentions. He was terrified that he would lose you like he’d lost Elektra. He wasn’t sure what was worse; driving you to the point of resentment because of something inside himself he couldn’t tame, or that very thing tearing you away from him for good.

But neither of those things were as bad as having to endure you being happy with someone else.

Foggy had warned him from the beginning. He told Matt from the moment he met you that if he didn’t make a move, someone else was going to. Karen had cautioned him that you wouldn’t wait around forever. They were both exhausted with the drawn out pining between the two of you, secretly scheming to get one of you to cave and confess, until Matt had snuffed out that ember of hope entirely.

Karen had set you up with a coworker of hers with the intention of making Matt finally pull his head out of his ass, but when you had asked for his advice about the date, he’d told you to go.

What a fucking idiot he had been. A selfish part of him didn’t think you were going to actually enjoy yourself. He certainly didn’t think you would entertain a second date, or a third. Matt knew how you felt about him. He wasn’t stupid, and you weren’t subtle. Maybe he thought because you felt the exact same way about him, you wouldn’t actually move on.

Matt wasn’t bothered by the idea of you going on a date, but he was absolutely distraught over the reality of you being in a relationship with someone else. He was devastated by the fact that you had a boyfriend that wasn’t him. That someone else was holding your hand, making you laugh, kissing you. It made him nauseous to think of what else another man was doing to you.

He didn’t think it would last. He kept telling himself that any day now, the nightmare would be over. You would tell him that it was over, and he’d have you all to himself again.

But it had been two months, and Matt was getting nervous. What if you never broke up? What if you loved him? Did you love him more than you loved Matt? Would you marry him?

Fuck, he didn’t think he could handle that. That guy didn’t love you. Not like he did. No one could ever love you like him. No one could ever protect you as well as he could. No one was as right for you as he was. You were supposed to be with him. You were meant to be with him.

Matt gripped his cane so hard his knuckles turned white as your boyfriend placed his hand on your lower back and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. He hated that you reacted at all to his touch. But a tiny flicker of hope ignited in his heart knowing that you didn’t react to your boyfriend’s touch like you did to his. He didn’t make you shiver. He didn’t make your heart race. He didn’t make heat spread across the tops of your cheeks.

Maybe he still had a chance.

The second your boyfriend excused himself to the bathroom, Matt was tossing his cane onto the nearest table and practically running towards you, gripping onto your wrist to drag you down the hall to an empty room that he barricaded the two of you in.

“Jesus Christ, Matt! What the hell? You nearly-”

“I lied.”

“What? What are you talking about? You haven’t spoken to me all night-”

“I didn’t want you to go on the date. I don’t want to just be your friend.”

Matt’s own heart rate began to accelerate hearing the way yours started to quickly pound in your chest like thunderous warnings in a stormy sky.

“Matt-”

“I love you.”

As a shaky breath escaped your mouth, Matt tore his glasses away from his face and clutched them tightly in his hand. You always told him you felt like he hid behind them, and he wanted you to be able to see the truth on his face. Taking a step back from him and placing your hand over your forehead, you closed your eyes for a moment as your hands began to tremble.

“Why are you doing this right now?”

“Because I lied to you, and I need you to know the truth.”

“Matthew-”

“Just…listen. Please.”

Matt took several steps forward until he was standing in front of you, swallowing thickly as his hazel eyes blankly stared in your direction, searching his brain for the correct formula of words that would fix his selfish mistake and make you his.

“Okay, here it is. Your choice? It’s simple. Him, or me. And I’m sure he’s really great, but sweetheart…I love you. In a…really…really…big…pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window way, love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love me. Please…just…tell me I’m not too late.”

Matt tuned out every sound except for the roar of your heart thrashing in his ears, but it paled in volume compared to the silence that rang even louder. He detected a light layer of sweat forming along your hairline, and your nails were dug so deeply into your hands, he could almost feel the blood pushing against the taut, clammy skin of your palm. You exhaled through your nose in a jagged and swift pattern, and there was heat burning in your face, but Matt couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was from right now.

“S-Say something.”

“You’re fucking unbelieveable.”

Matt’s tongue darted out quickly to wet his lips as he shifted his weight onto his other foot, placing his hands on his waist while he cleared his throat and tilted his head in your direction.

“Say…something else.”

Throwing your hands up in defeat, you laughed humorlessly as you turned away from him.

“Six months, Matthew. I waited six months for you-”

“I know-”

“And God, I practically did everything but come right out and say I was in love with you-”

“I know, sweetheart-”

“And after everything, all those times you made me believe there was something more, like I wasn’t crazy and reading too much into things. You know, when you finally told me the truth I thought…I thought this is it. I thought that was the last thing holding you back from me but then-you told me to go out with him-”

“I was scared.”

Matt’s confession halted your furious pacing, and he suddenly felt nervous under the intensity of your unwavering gaze. Dipping his head between his shoulders, he let out a deep sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“People have gotten hurt…because of me. Because of who I really am. I lost-Elektra died in my arms. Twice. I thought…I thought I was protecting you. I thought not being with me…was what was best for you. But…I can’t do it. I thought I could, but I was wrong. I can’t…you can’t be with him. You don’t belong with him, sweetheart. You belong with me.”

“You are the most infuriating man I have ever met in my life.”

The anger had dissipated from your voice, but your heart’s rhythm never faltered, and a melancholic smile glossed over Matt’s lips.

“I know. You still love me?”

An exaggerated sigh flew past your lips as you settled your hands on your hips, shaking your head slowly while staring up at him.

“Well someone has to.”

Matt’s lips parted slightly, and his face morphed into an expression of anticipation feeling the edge of your mouth quirk upwards slowly. He took a cautious step forward, reaching out a hand for yours as an excited grin threatened to take over his entire mouth.

“So…it…it’s me?”

“You know for an Ivy League graduate, you’re not very bright. It’s always been you, Matty.”

The smile that stretched open Matt’s mouth would’ve made you think he had just won a contest, and he didn’t hesitate to rush forward to grab your face in his hands, pulling you in for a long overdue kiss that had you both sighing in content against each other's lips.

“Shit.”

“What?”

“I…I have to tell him.”

Matt’s lips pulled into a mischievous smirk as he wrapped his arm tightly around your waist, pulling you closer into his chest as he nudged his nose against yours.

“Can I tell him?”

“Matthew!”

“What?”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“I’d let him down gently.”

“No you wouldn’t.”

Matt snickered as he lifted his brows slightly in agreement, leaning in to seek out your lips for another greedy kiss.

“No I wouldn’t.”

#matt murdock #matt murdock x you #matt murdock x y/n #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x female reader #matt murdock x fem!reader #matt murdock x f!reader #matt murdock blurb #matt murdock request #daredevil #daredevil blurb #daredevil request #court's 2k follower celebration #court's 2k friends celebration

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ozmaonabadday · 1 month

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I’ve taken some time to gather my thoughts, and I’m sure I’m not going to say anything that anyone else hasn’t already said, but I figured I’d share my thoughts nonetheless, because were a community, and that means we care about each other.

I was introduced to Rooster Teeth near the end of middle school, by the same friend who introduced me to Neon Genesis Evangelion, and forever changed the trajectory of my life.

We watch Red Vs Blue season 5 while I was staying the night, and I was absolutely hooked.

I went back and caught up on the rest of the series, and honestly, I think I related to Church way too hard.

Few years passed. I saw they’d put RvB on Netflix, and feeling nostalgic I rewatched it. Out of curiosity, I decided to check out what RT had done after that, only to discover they’d put out SEVEN MORE SEASONS, which I of course immediately binged, like a gluttonous beasty.

It was in the bittersweet aftermath of that binge session that I decided to give RWBY a shot. I’d seen it advertised under RvB playlists, and out of desperation for more of anything like RvB, I decided to give the Red Trailer a shot.

Now this was during the hiatus between Volume 2 and Volume 3, shortly after Monty’s passing, and in those days I was nowhere near as online as I am now, but RWBY is definitely a huge part of why I am online. I tore through the first two Volumes. I started making fanart, I tried to introduce my friends to the show. I desperately googled any information I could find about when Volume 3 would be coming out (this is when I learned about Monty’s passing, and his impact on some of my favorite moments in RvB).

When V3 was announced, I immediately subscribed to RT first. And have been following RWBY ever since. I watched each episode as it came out, I would binge the entire series (some times multiple times) before a new volume came out. I joind RP servers, I created oc’s, I created a LOT of fanart. I have a yearly tradition of drawing a Ruby Rose piece just to check my progress as an artist. Just last year I started writing fanfic. I’ve got a bit of merch. I love RWBY. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve kept up with RvB pretty well, and I watched a bit of Camp Camp and Gen:Lock, but RWBY is my shit.

I know a lot of people are sad, scared, and confused right now. I know I was when I found out yesterday. I didn’t exactly keep up with the nitty-gritty of what was happening with RT as a studio, and a lot of the projects didn’t really strike my fancy, but there were a lot of things I adored from RT. I’m sad to see them closing their doors, and I’m just as desperate for information as the rest of you.

But we’re a community, and that means we care about each other.

I care about you.

I don’t care who you ship with who, I don’t care if you hate my favorite character, or what head canons you have for which characters. I care about you, and I’m glad you’ve been a part of this community for as long as you have been. I’m glad to have known you, even remotely. I’m glad to have seen your fanart, or gotten mad at your hot takes, or laughed at your incorrect quotes. I’m glad we’ve been a community.

This isn’t a declaration of defeat. I don’t know the future of RWBY any better than the rest of you do.

This is an acknowledgment, and an expression of gratitude. CRWBY may have made the series, but you all made this community. As much as it can sometimes be a dumpster fire, you make me proud to be a part of the FNDM.

So, I guess… thanks.

#rwby #rwby fandom #rwby fndm #fndm #rooster teeth #greenlight volume 10

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dmwrites · 1 year

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“So, okay, question.”

“Answer.”

Jimmy snorted. “Shut up.” He nudged Tango playfully, who proceeded to dramatically scream and topple off of the log they were sitting on top of. Jimmy shushed him while dying of laughter, pulling him back upright. “My goodness, and they’ve been calling me a drama queen.”

“I am the drama-est of all drama queens, emphasis on the drama.” Tango replied, dusting the sand off of his witch hat.

Jimmy looked to him and smiled, shaking his head. Between the hustle and bustle of Tango’s witch training and Jimmy’s law-upkeeping duties, they had found it hard to really spend some time together, just Team Rancher. But Scar had intervened, telling Jimmy he needed a “cute date night” and set up a small campfire area for them. Jimmy was still trying to figure out why Scar had told him to “have fun with the boot knocking” with copious winks.

“Anyway, I was going to ask a question.” Jimmy said.

“Right, yes, okay, I am listening.” Tango replied, even going so far as to put his face into his hands to look at him.

“You know, since you, and a bunch of the other double life guys came, it kind of brought back up some old memories, old questions I thought I’d never get to ask you about.”

Tango nodded. “Kinda weird to think about, some soulmates like Impulse and Bdubs and Grian and Scar, got to see each other after it was all over. I really did think I’d never see you again, buddy.”

“Same!” Jimmy said. “I mean, it just seemed like it was all done forever, until the next game, and it wouldn’t be the same like it was.”

“Well, I mean, to be fair, nothing will ever be the same as it was in double life ever again… that’s what makes the games so unique, I guess.” Tango said.

Jimmy was quiet for a moment, watching Tango’s face in the flickering firelight. He didn’t like that Tango said that. He didn’t like that Tango was right. A cowboy and an ice witch sat in friendly silence, the silence of two people who knew each other in a way that no one else ever would, because such a thing could never been replicated, much less brought back to full life. And of course, Jimmy had had a sinking feeling of it, when Tango said he was going to help fwip with his redstone and Shelby with her spells… time had held the ranchers in a strange limbo while in double life, but it, sadly, marches on, leaving the memories of golden summertime at the ranch just that: memories.

“I was wondering what you said. When it was all over. Like, when you, when we, died for the last time. Because we were apart, it was sudden. I said I was sorry, for the record. To you.” Jimmy said after a long silence. The nighttime and the fire, thankfully, made long silences more acceptable, and Tango didn’t seem to notice any kind of sad yearning in Jimmy’s demeanor.

Tango rubbed his chin with his hand, sighing. “You’re still here? It’s over. Go home. Go.” He chuckled quietly. “It’s an old movie quote, it kinda just popped into my head and I kept repeating it. It was funny, at the time, but the longer time went on the sadder it made me feel. Not even quite sure who I was talking to.”

“It’s over. Go home.” Jimmy repeated. There was another long silence, interrupted only by the crackles of the fire. They looked at one another, these two people from different worlds, brought together and torn apart by the strange cruelty of fate. “But what is home, really?”

“I don’t quite know, buddy.” Tango replied.

Jimmy turned away first, back towards the hypnotic movement of the flames. “I don’t know either.”

#November 14 2022 #fic #hc x empires #team rancher #tangotek #solidaritygaming #not suggestive except scar makes a sex joke once #<- who’s suprised tho rlu #long post

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naivesilver · 6 months

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RIGHT. hello again. I am once again in your inbox :) how about 'would you stop with the worry - flurry?' or 'i care cause it’s not fair!' or 'oh , sweetie , what’s wrong?' from the EAH ask for Cedar? 🥰

HI I AM VERY LATE but. You know. Gretel duty called AHSKDGASKHDKGNADSC thank you, I hope you'll be able to forgive me 💗💗💗 also, I did try to come up with some ACTUAL EAH content, but the urge was too strong, so have a little Uncle Wick and Baby Cedar snippet again LMAO

Ever After High Quote Starters

"Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?"

People made of wood can't cry, so Cedar really isn't crying, no siree.

What she is doing, instead, is kicking the underside of her bed with her foot, so the thumping noise will drown the yelling coming from downstairs. She hasn't been very successful thus far - her father and grandfather are louder even than the obnoxious clacking of wood against wood, and keep getting worse as they go - but Cedar is determined to continue, if only for lack of anything better to do; she can't get tired, and she's scared of what might happen if she leaves the room, so kicking it is, for now.

Besides, she feels kind of safe, laying on the floor under the bed, as though she were being kept in a neat little box. There'll be some dust flakes clinging to her hair when she crawls out, maybe, but it's not like she gets allergies, and no one will think to look for her there, not until they've calmed down a bit.

Or at least, that's what she thought. The creaking of the door opening makes her freeze, her leg dropping as the two men's row gets louder for a moment before it's shut out again - Cedar would hold her breath if she had any, but as it is, she can only wait, wide-eyed, as a pair of legs approach the bed heavily and kneel down to check underneath.

That's when Uncle Wick's thin, long face pops into view, smiling broadly at her. "Hello, pretty girl. Mind if I join you?"

"No." It's the truth. Of course it's the truth. Cedar is always happy to see Uncle Wick. It's just that she wishes it were Dad instead, because it would mean that the fight is over and she can leave her hiding spot for good.

Still, Grandfather says she shouldn't look a gifted Pegasus in the mouth, so she simply watches as her father's best friend lays on his back and wriggles to fir next to her - he's fairy tall, Uncle Wick, which means his long legs are probably poking out from under the bed in a very silly way, but Cedar isn't really in the mood for laughing, right now. She reprises her kicking, instead, eyes fixed stubbornly on the bed-frame.

A hand comes up to rub at her head, mussing her curly hair. "What's wrong, sweetpea? They shout at you too?"

"No. They just said I should go to my room." Which is much, much worse, in her opinion. "But they're talking 'bout Raven. Raven is my friend. Why can't I listen too?"

"I don't know, kiddo. They told me to get out too." Uncle Wick sighs heavily, his voice growing wistful.

"Look, they're gonna tire themselves out at some point, okay? That's how it always goes. No clue what old Milton told them, but they can't be mad at him forever."

The problem is, Cedar isn't so sure they're mad at Headmaster Grimm and not, say, each other. She wasn't allowed to hear much of what they were saying, but she caught enough to worry - Raven's name came up, and her mother's, and something Grandfather had done, and then off she was, pressing her hands against her ears in an useless attempt to ignore them all.

She's supposed to go to this headmaster's school with Raven when she's older, so she can follow her destiny and become a real girl. Are they going to quarrel so loudly, too, when it's time? Is that why she was sent away, so they don't start fighting too soon? It doesn't make sense.

And what does the Evil Queen have to do with it, anyway? She's dead. Cedar and Raven were supposed to be playing in the workshop while their fathers talked about what would happen after, but they got distracted enough, what with all those somber, whispering adults. "Nothing bad's happened to Raven, right?"

"Course not, Cedar. She's doing just fine. Bet you can go visit her during the weekend, if you ask your dad."

That's something, at least. And yet, the relief is short-lived, for a moment later Pinocchio's voice raises even louder and angrier, so different from his customary soft tones. "Listen, I don't know what Grimm asked you to do, but don't tell me it's something good, because I won't hexing believe you, Father-"

Cedar shifts her position subtly, curling around the man's arm with an ear pressed against the sleeve of his jacket. "Can you tell me a story, Uncle Wick?"

"Sure." Uncle Wick sounds like he's smiling. Cedar is grateful for it, even though he must only be doing it to be brave, to keep her calm and distracted - maybe his voice will succeed where her foot failed, droning on and on until she can't hear anything else anymore. "Once upon a time, there was a very clever wooden girl-"

Cedar finds herself smiling back a bit, despite herself. She appreciates the effort, she really does, even if he's being silly. "That's not right. You always say the same thing."

"Yeah, 'cause all the stories I like to tell are true. Anyway, where was I- Once upon a time, there was a beautiful wooden girl, and she was the cleverest girl in all the realm..."

#lizardthelizard #ask meme #ever after high #eah #pinocchio #cedar wood #lampwickcore #fanfic #do you ever think about the fact that only about 4 people knew that raven's mom was alive?#and that one of them was the grandfather of one of her bffas????? who couldn't tell his granddaughter #bc she was CURSED TO SPILL SECRETS????#anyway I have great love for my rebel girls and their parents. they all deserved better smh

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onlyjaeyun · 5 months

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okay but can we talk about JAKE?

*stars a conversation that lasts 58 hours*

CAN WE PLS I MISS MY BABY 🥺

like can we talk about how pretty he looks when he smiles and how his eyes go all wide when he gets excited or how he looks tje prettiest when he's all sleepy and tired? my baby just needs his sleep let him get the rest he deserves and pls dont make me talk about how much i love watching him have fun and get competitive like there's no price on the line but my mans gives his EVERYTHINGGGGG he's so kind and so gentle and so understanding like i keep thinking about the way he talked to those little australian korean boys and how much fun he had and how he treats layla and how much he cares about his boys and it makes me want to give him the actual world im not even kidding and then one moment that lives in my head rent free is the way he told sunghoon how grateful he is that they chose him for their unit as well as the time he thought he was gonna get eliminated and got all sad but kept things as positive as possible and then the way he looked when his name got called out for the final line up and he realised he IS enhypen. and one of my absolute favorite things about him is how much of an inspiration he is like that man is called IDOL OF GROWTH and i feel like nobody gives him the credit for that but i will forever talk about this. that's my mans and i love him, i live and breathe sim jaeyun (stolen and edited quote by cinna)

#; mailbox 📬#; rambles

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kingmabry · 8 months

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Sri Krishnaprem, formerly Prof. Ronald Nixon from England, taught literature at Benaras and Lucknow universities before he became a Vaishnavite sannyasi. He lived in Almora in the Yashoda Mai’s ashram. The story of his visit to Tiruvannamalai in 1948 is as told by his friend Dilip Kumar Roy.

He entered the room where the Maharshi was reclining and sat down among the devotees to meditate. As soon as he did so, he heard a voice saying over and over again, Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? He tried to ignore it but eventually, he replied mentally, “I am Krishna’s servant.” The voice still went on to ask, “Who was Krishna?” He answered, “Nanda’s son. He is an avatar, the one-in-all, the resident in every heart.”

Next morning, when he sat down in the hall with other devotees, the Maharshi gave him a lightning glance and smiled at him. He closed his eyes. Then on a sudden impulse, he found himself silently asking the Maharshi, “Who are you?” When something made him open his eyes, he found that the Maharshi’s couch was empty. He closed his eyes again, but in a moment he opened them. The Maharshi who was reclining in his usual place gave him a fleeting smile and a meaningful glance.

V. Ganesan in his book Moments Remembered records:

Sri Krishnaprem would always carry a shoulder bag in which he kept in a glass-case the images of Radha and Krishna. Only while going to bed would he remove the bag from his shoulder. He was a staunch Vaishnavite. He once quoted ‘Sarvam Vasudevamayam jagat’ (Everything is pervaded by Lord Vasudeva, i.e., Krishna) and asked Bhagavan, “Is not this the highest ideal?”

Bhagavan nodded his head in agreement and said, “Yes, Yes! It is an exalted state of Consciousness. Yet, who is it that thinks that all that is perceived is Vasudeva? Is it not you, yourself? While seeing the earth, trees and plants as Vasudeva, don’t you wish to see yourself as He? If you who see everything as Vasudeva, learn to see yourself as Vasudeva you will become Vasudeva Himself. If he who sees is transformed into Vasudeva, then that which is seen automatically becomes Vasudeva! Acharya Sankara’s drishtim jnanamayeem kritva (infuse perception with jnana) is simply this.”

Balarama Reddy in his book My Reminiscences records:

One evening, Srikrishnaprem was asked to sing bhajans before Bhagavan. About seventy-five devotees had gathered to hear him sing. He sang with deep, genuine devotion, even pronouncing the words with an Indian accent. All were moved by his renditions. Bhagavan later commented, “Here is one Westerner who embodies the intensity and devotion of a true Indian bhakta.”

- Face to Face

Selections from Krishna Prem’s Writings

Commentary on verses from the great Hindu scripture, The Bhagavad Gita

All beings follow their own natures. The Atman is the impartial Witness of all; good and evil are but empty words and the fight against the latter is in vain. What shall restraint avail since actions flow inevitably from the workings of Nature, and the Soul is but the passive witness of the phantom show?

The Atman, the One Self, is forever free in Its own being; Its apparent bondage comes only from self-identification with Its lower vehicles, the mirrors in which Its Light is reflected.

The only way to tread the Path, in reality, is by the knowledge of Krishna, of the Atman which is present as the unseen background of every action, of the smallest as of the greatest, of the action that sends the pen across this page as of the action that hurls a million men into battle. Just as nothing can move except within the framework of space, so nothing can take place except with the Light of the Atman, which yet is no more entangled in the actions than space is entangled in the movement of objects, and therefore Krishna says that those who know Him are freed from the bonds of action.

Pride implies duality, and all duality must be rooted out forever. Therefore the disciple is reminded that it is not as a personal refuge from the sorrows and pains of life that he must enter the fortress. Brahman is One and the same in all.

True concentration comes when the disciple is able to surrender himself to, and identify himself with, the Atman, that Self which is present as the unchanging Witness of every thought and of every sensation. It is only when this is achieved that the mind of the yogi becomes steady “like a lamp in a windless place.”

- https://www.innerdirections.org/krishna-prem/

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Prem

#ramana #bhagavan ramana maharishi #arunachala #sanathanadharma

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write-it-good-imagines · 3 months

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Nothing More(M) - Four

~5k words; hi everyone! I am so happy to see this story is still growing wings after so much time, and that you still take some time to read it. Thank you for that! In exchange, I'll give you some crazy action. Enjoy~

I’ve learnt my lesson now… I shouldn’t have had sex with you because I knew, I knew that I’d fall in love with you. You are the person someone would be lucky to be in love with.

“So? What are you guys doing tonight? I’m sure there must be something!”

Leena’s cheerful demeanor put a smile on the barista’s face as well. Not intentionally trying, but she attracted everyone to herself like a magnet.

“Ah, I don’t know. We didn’t plan anything, I mean I am at my cousin’s club tonight,” said Samantha, dipping her head in a silent thank you for her double cappuccino. The little coffee spot by the hospital was just perfect to savor an early august morning, on a Friday that started slower and lazier than all other days.

Leena was not pleased with Samantha’s answer. “Really? Did not plan anything? You tell me, for once in forever, you open your soul up to a guy, after which you two talk non-stop, like a married couple, only to tell me you are taking a shift at the club the day he’s coming back?”

“Well, we don’t talk non-stop, I mean he’s got shows to do and I am taking consults—”

“Outrageous.” Concluded Leena and seated herself at a secluded table. Samantha followed soon enough. “It is exactly because you are taking consults again that I can’t comprehend why you’re running away from him. For God’s sake, you had a surgery.”

Samantha’s eyes fell to the milky foam of her coffee cup. “I had a surgery.”

“And how did that make you feel?”

The woman nodded her head. “Like it was the first time. Thrilling, exciting. But knowing exactly what to do.”

“Just allow yourself to love the guy.”

Samantha scoffed as if Leena had just told her she won the lottery. Highly unlikely, but a possibility even so. “Oh please, I don’t love Mark.”

Leena arched her eyebrows and took a sip of her espresso. “No shit you don’t.”

“No, really. You don’t love a guy who goes up on a stage every night to rip his shirt off and has thousands of girls lining up to get a piece.”

“And does he?” Leena inched closer to Samantha. “Give a piece? Do tell.”

“Well,” Samantha crossed her arms over her chest. ”Says he doesn’t.”

“Yeah, cause when you assumed he was out whoring he was sleeping.”

“He was sleeping. I think I know a thing of two about him sleeping.”

Leena urged the other to go on. “What else? Ripping his shirt off on the stage you mentioned.”

“Aren’t these kind of guys players? If I look up a photo of last night’s concert, I’ll bet my entire salary that I find one with those tattooed abs of his shoved in my face.” Samantha said, and Leena could not detect even an ounce of regret or sadness in her voice. More like intrigued jealousy.

“You asked him to be your fuck buddy,” with the hand holding the cap, Leena extended an index to point to the other. “Don’t call him a player. Because he was anything but.”

Just as Samantha was opening her mouth to protest, the screen of her phone lit up with a couple of messages. Her actions were stopped to scan the texts with her eyes and a smile tugged at her lips.

“Mhm,” Leena said, tilting her head towards the direction of the phone. “What did he say?”

“Ah, that he’s preparing to go to the airport.”

“The exact words?”

She knew she did not have any chance to escape Leena at that point. “Quote: good morning beautiful. I hope you have an amazing day today. We’re gathering our stuff to fly out. Can’t wait to see you again. End of quotation.”

“Such a player, no?” Leena mocked surprise then laughed at Samantha, who had nothing to contest about what her friend outlined so harshly. In the days following their late-night conversation when Mark was in New Delhi, they kept closely in touch, each texting one another when they found a moment of quiet in their busy schedules. Their discussions did not delve into much depth but were more like quick check-ups to strengthen the connection. Samantha would tell Mark about her days and her patients, and he would ask questions to clarify topics, or would give compliments to praise her work. Mark in turn would talk about the concerts, and the cities he’d fly to, and it took Samantha’s breath away every time he’d say he would take her with him to see what he saw.

Samantha grabbed the phone from the table surface to text Mark back. “What am I even doing, Leena?”

[To: Mark] good morning to you too, Mark 😊

[To: Mark] always aiming to put a smile on my face huh?

[To: Mark] safe travels!! I missed you too

[To: Mark] having a shift at the club tonight, meet me there? I’ll talk to my cousin to leave earlier

“What you are doing,” Leena started, twirling the cup around to play with the dark brown liquid “is not acknowledging your feelings. I can understand you’re still scarred because of Henry but Mark is not him. And I think he’ll help you heal.”

A short ding came from Samantha’s phone almost instantly.

[From: Mark] took you long enough to tell me you missed me

[From: Mark] thanks, flights back home are always tougher

[From: Mark] I’ll be there. there’s a cool skate rink nearby that’s open till late

[From: Mark] if you wanna go, ofc

A sigh escaped Samantha’s lips as her eyes scanned the mobile screen. “I know,” Samantha lifted the phone for Leena to see the texts and the other gave a small gesture, indicating she was on Mark’s side. “I guess I never allowed myself to get over Henry entirely. Not fair to Mark.”

“You said you’d talk to him, right? Besides, you’ve already fucked each other, it’s not like you don’t know intimacy.”

Both Leena and Samantha laughed. Then a lingering expression followed on Samantha’s features. “Mark said he couldn’t make love to me and leave the following day like the next guy.”

Leena’s eyes widened in clear surprise. “Mark said he’s making love to you.”

“It’s just sex, I know. That was an exaggeration.”

“Sam,” Leena adjusted the empty cup on the table and took Samantha’s hands into her own, and, albeit a dramatic gesture, she meant all the seriousness she could muster. “Talk to him. Tell him how you truly feel. He’s not seeing you as a simple fuck buddy anymore. Mark will prove this to you, most likely sooner rather than later.”

During the rest of the day, Samantha felt restless, restless with Leena’s words echoing in her mind, restless with Mark’s words flooding over, time after time. Samantha’s life was growing busier by the day, word of her returning to practice bringing more patients which required her knowledgeable care. She returned to observing surgeries, involving herself in helping whenever necessary, and taking upon other surgeries. Ultimately, she couldn’t make sense of why she allowed herself to be so consumed of Henry’s mistakes and treatment. Why she pulled away from the thing that made the most sense. It was so long ago that she couldn’t remember what prompted her to tug away. It should have been a sign to start anew.

And then life was growing busier by the day with Mark intoxicating her thoughts. A wicked game, chasing away feelings which only returned stronger, more vivid. Samantha did miss Mark, in his entirety. She missed the cozy scent of his Tom Ford cologne when he embraced her, she missed the coarse gentle tone of his voice when he made jokes, and she missed his passionate way of making love.

Samantha decided she would give Mark a chance, beyond just being her fuck buddy.

With that conviction in mind, Samantha left the hospital and rode straight home to prepare herself for the night, in both mental and physical terms. All her makeup products and brushes felt so unfamiliar she found herself wondering when the last time was when she took the time to pamper herself. She dressed herself with a burgundy low-shoulder crop top, with flowy butterfly long sleeves, and a plain black pair of jeans to hug her curves. Samantha gave her hair the freedom to bounce with the wind to complete her look. A quick text exchange with her cousin gave her the green light to leave the club as soon as Mark showed up.

At around 9:30, Samantha arrived at the club, shortly before it opened to the public. Changwook was there as well, an all hands on deck kind of night.

“Hey stranger,” Changwook lifted his head from the bar sink and was thrown off guard by Samantha’s looks. He had to clear his throat to regain his composure. “You’re beautiful.”

“Today only?” Samantha retorted and approached the bar counter, shoving a small backpack under it. She ran a strand of hair behind her ear and Changwook looked away.

“Guess I wasn’t the chosen one.” He stated and threw Samantha an apron. She looked at him with an apologetic look but couldn’t find anything right to say. “It’s cool, really, least I tried.”

“Changwook, it’s not your fault. I’m just…”

Changwook smiled and waved his hand in dismissal. “Not interested. Let’s get to business, we’re opening soon.”

As the night grew deeper, the club welcomed many eager customers to announce yet another successful night for Samantha’s cousin. From behind the bar counter, Samantha noticed a good number of celebrities intertwined in the crowd and her eyes couldn’t help but wander around in search for Mark. In the serving haste, her apron became drenched with water and alcohol, so she whispered to Changwook’s ear that she would go to the back room to get another. Mingling through the crowd, Samantha arrived quickly at the changing room and closed the door behind her. She opened her locker to grab a fresh apron and was just finishing untying the dirty one, when the door clicked open.

Samantha’s lips couldn’t contain an enthusiastic yet nervous smile. She straightened her body, fixing her hair quickly with a swift motion of the hand before turning to the direction of the sound.

She could never have been prepared for the stature towering in front of the closed door.

A white half-transparent shirt which wrapped a chiseled body, with a silver bracelet at the hand lingering in one of the fabric pockets of the trousers, in a stance Samantha knew like the back of her hand. His hair was sleeked back, only a rebel strand playing at his thick eyelashes.

“Henry.” Samantha breathed, the delight of her expression faltering all too soon. She felt her throat choking.

“It’s too bad that happiness on your face was not for me. And saddening you look so bitter instead.” Henry spoke, maintaining a velvety smile. “I’m happy to see you.”

Henry took a couple steps closer to Samantha. She kept her ground. “I’m not. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be so rude.” With each step he took forward, Samantha took one back, until her back was pressed against the cold metal of the lockers. She was looking at him sharply in the eye. “It’s been almost two years, I missed you.”

Samantha pushed a hand to his chest to warn him not to get any closer. Henry complied, keeping at a distance that was still not comfortable for her. “Don’t get any closer. Don’t give me the speech on how you missed me after you humiliated me in front of the entire hospital. I want you to leave.”

It took every ounce of Samantha’s strength an effort to confront Henry at a time like that. If there was anything he was good at, it was taking people by surprise at the wrong moments. The first time in a long while Henry was not residing in the back of her head appeared to be the magic trick to summon him into her life again. When he still had a lot of control over her feelings and her reactions.

Henry drew in closer, his tall stature hovering over her. He kept carrying the same smile, trying to ease the tension between them. When he raised a hand to cup Samantha’s cheek, her body quivered and froze all at once.

“But I’ve heard so many great things about you, darling. Management position, and once again operating. When we see each other tomorrow morning at the hospital, I’d really like to know why you stopped taking surgeries.”

There was not enough time for Samantha to process Henry’s words because the door clicked open to interrupt the scene.

There he was, the reason for Samantha’s happiness, even more handsome with a brown short-sleeved shirt and straight grey trousers, which indicated he took the effort to care for his looks. In his hand, he held a breathtaking bouquet arrangement with delicate snapdragons, elegant red roses, fragrant dianthus, and vibrant alstroemeria. A bouquet of a Parisian romance.

There was Mark, with a smile that lit up Samantha’s whole world, now evaporated into oblivion. At a closer look, you could still distinguish a faint trace of a smile, probably in excitement to see you again. Samantha would never come to know whether that was true. The thing she would know and would remember was Mark’s sadness unskillfully hidden behind a bleak smile.

Mark was not supposed to see that. Had the Universe been kind for once, he should have never seen what he just had. Panic was outlined all over Samantha’s features as soon as her eyes locked with Mark’s desolated ones. With the way he carried himself, even more masculine and so sure of himself, Henry would never guess Mark took a hefty blow.

“Thanks for the chat.” He stated simply and threw a brief look in Henry’s direction before backing away from the room. The murmur of a phrase that became so intimate to her was now the reason the tense air of the room strangled her out.

Samantha slapped Henry’s hand away from her cheek, tears crippling at her eyes. Henry’s gaze grew curious. “So he was the one your happiness was for. Maybe I should thank him.”

“Leave me the fuck alone.” Grunted Samantha and unpeeled herself from the lockers to chase after Mark. She swam through the crowd to get to the bar counter and reached for her backpack in a hurried motion. Changwook’s attention was diverted to her, and he had to look twice when he noticed her tears in his peripheral vision.

“Samantha—”

Samantha lifted her hand in the air to keep the distance and she dashed away, reaching the outside of the club a tad too late. The only sighting of Mark was the bouquet of flowers left desolately on a nearby bench. Samantha stretched her arms to lift it from the bleak wood and a card fell to the ground. She picked it up and a tear fell on the black ink inside the ceramic envelope. Mark’s handwriting lived inside, just for her.

Would you like to be my date?

The fifth call ended to voicemail. Samantha paced back and forth in her living room, fingers covering her mouth while the other hand was clenched on the phone. The moon hung high in the sky yet the translucent gleam painting over the flowers altered them to cast a painful sadness throughout Samantha’s house. She sat down on the couch, an inhibited tiny stream of tears flowing down her cheek. Samantha paid no attention to Murphy whose paws were patting all over her legs, in an attempt to soothe her sorrow. Poor thing couldn’t know why she was so sad, and she didn’t allow him to ease her mind. Murphy settled on curling himself against her feet, waiting patiently for her to let him in.

After some time spent in silence, she chuckled. The whole situation was, in fact, hilarious. Samantha leaned her back onto the couch, eyes fixated on the nothingness of the ceiling. At one point, she thought about going to Mark’s house. The impediment was that she did not know where he lived. And another impediment would be that he made himself clear he would not be happy with her company.

It was funny how things decided to play out the way they did. The perfume of the fresh flowers made her wonder if Mark picked them by himself. Mark was supposed to find out everything, she was supposed to tell him about Henry being the reason she so adamantly pushed him away. Mark was not supposed to see Henry so close in her proximity, touching her so familiarly and playing all the right cards to have her frozen in place.

Now Mark was everywhere, a permanent resident in her mind, a permanent resident in her soul, he was everything Samantha wanted and everything that was sliding away.

The rest of the night passed at an agonizingly slow speed. Samantha spent much of it on the couch, brown orbs dashing back and forth between the flowers on the coffee table and the dark screen of her phone. She managed to doze off for a little while, still aware of her surroundings, and the only scene that replayed in her mind was the handsome image of Mark, with the spending smile on his lips and the ruffle in his hairstyle. It stopped there, and it then replayed from the top. It was like nothing else existed.

It was then she took the decision to go and visit him directly at his studio. At the crack of dawn, Samantha gently awoke Murphy from her feet and took the opportunity to grab some fresh air while walking him. By the time she realized she hadn’t taken off her make-up, she could only hope the mascara was not smeared too much. Feeling a tad more refreshed after the walk, Samantha fed her little man and reassured him, with loving snuggles and pats in his fur, that he was loved and appreciated. With a little bark he must have understood the message.

Samantha took a shower to cleanse off the events of the previous night and went to put on her office outfit for the day. Having early consultations and a surgery check-up scheduled for the second part of the day, she texted her attending that she would join them some time after the rounds. Then, she texted Leena.

[To: Leena] morning Leena, will be late today for rounds, don’t wait up

[From: Leena] oh? Mark kept you up all night?

[To: Leena] something happened last night and we couldn’t be with each other

[To: Leena] I’ll tell you when we meet

[From: Leena] ok, I’ll cover for you

[From: Leena] I’m still good to go on OBGYN.

Mark’s group’s studio was not too far away from the hospital, and Samantha parked her motorcycle outside of the tall building. The sudden visit was not planned ahead by Samantha who let her feelings take the lead. Not the one to usually lose composure, it rarely happened for her to give her heart the reins. Samantha tied her helmet to the bike and strengthened her white coat under the leather motorcycle jacket.

Inside the building, the modern lobby was guarded by three security guards, with subtle movements but ever so vigilant. They cocked their eyebrows as the clicks of her heels echoed against the black marble, her hospital badge dangling by the pocket.

Samantha approached the receptionist’s desk. “Hi, my name is Doctor Samantha Stoss, I am looking for Mark Tuan.”

“Hello. I am sorry but the group is not expecting any visitors today. Should I say you dropped by?”

At the nearby elevator, Samantha heard two other dancers discussing choreography for Mark’s group and that they’d get breakfast before joining them. Which meant that Mark was there, at that exact moment. Samantha’s heart picked up a beat in her chest.

“Yes, thank you, I’ll wait in the visitor’s area for when he’ll be available.”

Samantha was guided by security to the floor where the group was at, and was instructed to wait in the lobby area, where a couple of other people were sitting. All the other people were too busy to notice the moment she left the lobby, to walk towards the hall with the practice studios. Most of the rooms were still devoid of light, except for a singular one at the far end of the hall, where muffled laughter animated the atmosphere. The echo of her heeled steps was reverberating in her ears, enough to stifle the emotions in her chest.

The door to the studio was open and Samantha stopped in the frame.

“Mark.”

Collectively, all the sounds dissolved into thin air, and all the other members stopped dead in their various stretching positions. Mark was sitting on the floor as he tilted his head backwards to look at Samantha. It seemed that, initially, he couldn’t believe Samantha was standing in their doorframe.

“Oh, so you are Mark’s girlfriend? You are astonishing.” Bambam tweedled and Jackson had to muffle his mouth to prevent him from saying anything further, notwithstanding with his own lips parted in blatant shock. One had to give it to him, he was good at breaking a brutal silence. A couple of paces nearby, Samantha noticed Jinyoung smiling at her and if she didn’t know any better, she’d say his greeting smile was razor-sharp. All of a sudden, Samantha wondered how Mark spoke of her to the guys. If he did, at all.

“Excuse us a moment, guys.” Mark straightened his body from the floor, his eyes never leaving Samantha’s silhouette. Samantha stepped aside, allowing Mark to walk by and guide them both to an empty studio nearby. He closed the door behind them with a powerful motion, which tied a knot in Samantha’s stomach.

She was searching for any sentiment in Mark’s posture, be it anger, sadness, excitement, anything it could have been. She was met with stoicism instead.

“You didn’t return my calls.” Began Samantha. Mark simply nodded. “And you haven’t texted back, either.”

“Yeah, I didn’t. Figured you’d be busy.”

The harshness of his words made Samantha wince. “Don’t do this Mark.”

“I’m not doing anything. We’re leaving again day after tomorrow and…”

He stopped for a moment and it took her breath away. Mark’s mask was slowly starting to fade away. It was then Samantha noticed his eyes were tired. They had so few moments together and an entire night out of those was ruined, because of Henry. Because of her.

“…we’re rehearsing a new set. So, I really have just a moment. Why are you here?”

Samantha wanted to inch closer to him, to hug him, to get lost in his presence. She refrained from doing so. “I’m here because I missed you, Mark. Because last night was a huge misunderstanding and because you didn’t allow me to explain.”

“Explain?” Mark called out in an even voice, but his hand threw the hood of his sweatshirt to rake his hair in a precipitous movement. “You told me no one touched you since I left. That you don’t think anyone will. We were supposed to go out on a date, and I come pick you up to what?”

“Mark, listen to me—”

“Sam, he touched you like he knew you inside out, like he did that a thousand times before. “

“Mark, stop—”

“I don’t know you inside out.”

Samantha’s eyes narrowed to prevent another set of tears from forming behind her eyelids. Mark’s hands dropped to his sides as he took a deep, fatigued breath. “I know I’m just the sex but at least don’t lead me on if you have no other plans for us.”

“Mark, Henry is the more I needed to tell you about!”

Samantha raised her voice, and she didn’t realize a tear escaped away from its enclosure. At its sight, Mark’s features instantly soothed. “I took the flowers home Mark, thank you for not throwing them away. They were beautiful. Yes, I want to be your date, and yes, I am sad you are leaving so soon and I’m throwing us away. I want you to understand Henry has no place in my present, or in my future.”

“Henry,” Mark started, checking his smartwatch as it vibrated, “has a place in your present if he gets to touch you and halt your every move like he seemed to do last night. I gotta go. I’ll call.”

“Will you really?” Samantha exhaled, watching Mark’s back as he turned to walk away. He looked at her over his shoulder.

“Yes. I’ll call.”

The ride back to the hospital was agonizing, even if fast. There were seeds of doubt and uneasiness planted into her mind. Part of her wanted to believe that Mark would call, and he’d grant her the chance to set the record straight, but the better part of herself pushed her to believe he would pack his bags and get out of her life. Samantha barely had time to gather herself together, just as she got ambushed right at the entrance by both Jonathan and Leena. And they were far from being happy.

“Would you care to tell us why Henry is back and why he’s so boastfully claiming to having you back?”

Jonathan’s voice woke Samantha from her trance. Without any warning, the events of the previous night stretched farther than Mark looking handsome and ready to sweep her off her feet.

When we see each other tomorrow morning at the hospital, I’d really like to know why you stopped taking surgeries. Samantha felt like she was going to throw up.

“So, it was true.” she said quietly, arming herself with the realest impassivity she was able to forge.

“What do you mean it was true? Why is the bastard here?”

“Jonathan, I have no idea, okay?” Samantha turned to him, and Jonathan’s eyes noticed the anger blended with the heartache in her hazel irises. “He barged into the club last night, surprised me into the changing room and touched my cheek and it made my body tighten. Just as Mark opened the door and looked at me like I was the most disgusting whore on the planet. So, don’t fucking ask me.”

Leena reached to Samantha to envelop her in an embrace. “Sweetie, are you okay? Why didn’t you call me, either of us? Did you get any sleep?”

Samantha shook her head as she tightened the hug. “Not much, no. I went to see Mark this morning. Needless to say, it went badly.”

Jonathan was boiling with displeasure but if anyone saw him from outside, they’d never guess he was ire. Only by his glassy emerald eyes.

“What did he tell you, guys?”

“Certainly, didn’t speak much,” Jonathan concluded, and Leena had to slide her fingers over his knuckles to untighten his hand from the pressure. “He joined the rounds this morning, my neuro rounds. When chief asked for you, he said you’d had a rough night. Gosh, Sam, you should have called us because I was about to smash his head in, thinking he’d forced himself upon you.”

“I’m fine, Jonathan,” at least physically, she was. Mentally, Samantha was only just juggling the tumult. “Henry joined your rounds because there’s only one attending spot in neuro, we all knew.”

Samantha locked her eyes with Jonathan’s. “We’re not waging wars. I am going to walk in there, with my head held high, and I am going to confront him.”

“How can you be so calm? Why are you so calm? Henry’s got no place here, with none of us.”

In the distance, Samantha’s gaze fell upon Henry, absentmindedly flirting with a nurse, while his awareness was invested in her. If she allowed herself to give into her emotions, they would consume her entirely.

“That’s not for any of us to decide. It’s for you to decide if you’re better than him as attending.”

Jonathan couldn’t believe his ears. He was watching Samantha as she walked into the building, in a straight path to the devil. Within himself, he acknowledged she was not in the same spot Henry left her, two years ago. Jonathan was afraid that one wrong move would make her crumble.

“Good morning to you, my fair lady.” Henry shifted his position on the elbow leaning against the nurse’s station, to face Samantha with an inviting smirk. “Can I interest you with a coffee?”

“Doctor Carter,” Samantha acknowledged him, waiting for her charts to be delivered to the nurse’s station. Henry allowed his gaze to observe Samantha’s leather motorcycle jacket, over a tight crayon olive dress, and her doctor’s coat matching the white stilettos on her feet. Samantha was very aware of his charade. It was the same he used to win her from Jonathan, years ago. “No thank you, I’m drinking tea now.”

Henry chuckled, clasping his hands together. “Are you comfortable riding the bike on those gorgeous heels? Jimmy Choos?”

“Look, doctor Carter,” Samantha took the charts from the station, a silent smile directed to the nurse. At that point, not only did she realize she could not compare with Samantha, but she couldn’t keep up with Henry. “Let me set things straight. One, stop claiming me as if I’m some object. Two, I prefer not to intersect paths with you.”

“Oh? So why did you ditch lovely doctor Williams there to talk to me?”

At any given point, Samantha would have succumbed to Henry’s charms. But she took a good look at him, and he was not Mark, and he would never be. Henry had the element of surprise when his fingers brushed against her skin. Samantha was not completely sure her body would fight back should there be another intentional touch of his, but her mind was.

“You see, Henry,” Samantha looked up at him to counter the lingering smirk on his lips. Admittedly, Henry was surprised. “First time, it was on purpose. Second time, I want to set the record straight. Don’t touch me, ever again. I don’t know what your intentions are, but I want nothing to do with you.”

“Is that so?” Henry challenged and lowered his head to match Samantha’s gaze. She gulped, a gesture that did not go unnoticed. “Something tells me you’re not telling the truth.”

“Doctor Carter.” Jonathan’s even tone broke Henry’s stance. The latter fixed the collar of his coat.

“Doctor Williams! Let’s have a healthy competition, shall we? Rumor has it you’re racing for attending this year. And, of course,” he gestured to Samantha “you must have the support of most of the residents of this hospital.”

“What I can say to you is good luck. If you still have that nice camera, you can take a picture of me when I become attending.”

Henry laughed and waved a hand in a dismissive manner in the air, before walking away at his pager pinged. “Didn’t you choose neurosurgery just to try and steal Samantha from me? That’s a bit of wishful thinking on your side.”

Leena’s eyes widened at Henry’s claims, even more at Jonathan’s irritated lack of response. She then looked at Samantha who seemed familiar enough with the remark. Leena’s pager beeped soon after and followed in Henry’s steps, azure orbs lingering on Jonathan’s jaded ones. He was apologetic to her and the last time he saw Leena that day was bitter, with her disappointed expression.

Samantha’s phone started ringing in her pocket. She walked away towards her neo-natal ward and slid a hand to her pocket, answering before checking the number.

“Doctor Samantha Stoss, what can I help you with?”

“Didn’t know you recommended yourself like that when speaking, doctor Stoss.”

Samantha had to recompose herself, exhaling in relief. “Mark, hey. Sorry, morning was just crazy.”

Mark chuckled on the other line. “Doesn’t give you the chance to get bored. You can tell me all about your day tonight, if you wanna watch a movie at my place.”

Samantha giggled, allowing Mark to register her contentment. “Sounds… sounds very nice. Thank you, Mark.”

“Of course,” Mark’s voice adopted a sliver of a commanding tone, “I cannot guarantee we’re not going to have angsty sex before, or after. Or both.”

Samantha gasped. As much as Mark’s words provoked her womanhood, they also provoked anxiety. Anxiety that he’d end their hopes before they grew wings. “I’ll be there.”

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cartoonemotion · 4 months

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sofa. I'm trying to think of another question but im not sure. would you list some of your top 10 favorite cartoons of all time

DAMN ANOTHER TOUGHIE.. ive watched a lot of cartoons... i feel like its easy just to list more current ones/cartoons ive very recently watched but im gonna try real hard not to do that. so in no particular order:

adventure time: probably an obvious choice to ppl who know me personally. im pretty sure ive said this before but i quite literally grew up with this show, like i watched the pilot on nicktoons when i was like 9 and freaked out when the first episode of the actual show aired, and ive still regularly and enthusiastically kept up with it ever since, even to this day. i have to be honest and say the inclusions of distant lands and fionna and cake had me worried in a very cynical way about wringing the franchise dry or it succumbing to nostalgia bait but ive been happy to have had those fears handily dispelled every time. it makes me really happy to see that the cast and crew that have stuck with it just seem so genuinely excited to continue to tell new stories in the expanded universe and explore the land of ooo and new characters who live there, i think thats a good way to keep an ongoing series with spinoffs or limited series or what have you to keep from getting stale

ducktales 2017: once again anybody who knows me personally or follows this blog knows why this is on the list. i. fucking. love. ducktales 2017. ive said a million times before that i think its like a perfect encapsulation of what a reboot should be, something that obviously has a lot of love and respect for the original that its rebooting, but isn't afraid to incorporate entirely new ideas or deviate from pre-established "rules" or roles of the previous installments/versions of the characters and story, so on and so forth. i think it blends the family sitcom and action adventure elements really well together, its got a great ensemble of charming characters, i think most of the over-arching storylines it sets up are executed really well and it has a lot of fun one-off stories. its not perfect but its damn near close, in my opinion. also as much as i hate disney the corporate i do still love donald duck hes the best legacy disney character ok american moment over

the secret saturdays: i was a HUGE fan of the show as it was coming out but didnt remember much of it as i got older until i rewatched it, whereupon i found out just how much it fucking holds up, oh my g0d. i genuinely cannot believe its not more popular considering its premise, and again i think the story and character writing really hold up !!!!!! it has fantastic twists, you are immediately endeared not just to the saturday family but a lot of the other supporting characters, its overreaching storyline is executed so so well especially when you consider it was unfortunately gutted and prematurely cancelled by CN. some parts of it may be a little dated but again i think for the years it was developed and coming out there are some elements that were kind of ahead of the curve. if you havent watched the secret saturdays PLEEEASE please do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im fucking begging you. its good

ben 10: i think ben 10 might be my white whale. for important context i was scared to death of the original series as it was actively coming out when i was like, 6 years old, only to get extremely invested in it and the "original universe" franchise in like late middle school/early high school, and then they fucking got my ass AGAIN as a current twenty-something. every time i think im out they fucking pull me right back in. i know its a dumb meat headed action cartoon for little children but the wasted potential in this franchise is nothing short of insane, i wouldnt be saying this if they didnt literally bring up certain threads and ideas in the show only to be like, actually who gives a fuck ! that being said its a premise that sticks with you forever. to quote that one post

justice league unlimited: i dont post much about superhero cartoons on here but make no mistake they were hugely influential to me when i was a kid, my dad was and still is a huge marvel nerd but unfortunately for marvel (and my dad) their cartoon game was (and honestly, still kind of is) just aaaaabsolute trash, except for the ones about the x-men, but thats a ramble for another day. it wont surprise you to know a lot of the writing staff for the justice league and justice league unlimited cartoons would go on to work on the original ben 10 continuity so they have a lot of the same issues, but i would be lying if i didnt say jlu had a huge effect on my little baby brain, arguably maybe more than ben 10. why unlimited and not the original justice league cartoon of the aughts you ask ? well because jlu is hornier, and also booster gold is there

discovery kids favorites: this is technically cheating cuz its 3 cartoons, BUT ! i dont remember them enough on their own to put any one above the other. as a kid my mom hated cartoons (and honestly most tv programming aimed at children) and hated me and my sisters watching them in the room with her, or in general, for more than like 15 minutes a day, unless they were educational, and so i felt extremely clever for exploiting the discovery kids loophole bc they were cartoons made to teach you stuff. the ones i remember the most vividly and fondly were tutenstein, grossology, and growing up creepie, which i feel like honestly. says a lot about me. i should rewatch those sometime.

samurai jack: i will not argue against the fact that genndy tartakovsky is a tremendously talented individual, and a lot of his work has been extremely inspirational to me, that being said, if given the chance, i would drop an anvil on his head. i probably shouldnt say that but i cant express to you how much a lot of his work frustrates me and samurai jack really takes the cake. i cant even talk about season 5 but a lot of stuff in seasons 1-4 has problems that i feel like should be addressed, THAT BEING SAID, in spite of it all, i still fucking love samurai jack. i have fond memories of it from when i was a kid and during the collective resurgence it had as the 5th season was coming out, i cant argue that it doesnt have a lot going for it or pretend that again it isnt responsible for a lot of my own personal artistic inspirations.

class of 3000: I KNOW IVE BEEN POSTING ABOUT THIS A LOT LATELY BUT ITS NOT JUST CUZ OF THAT ! this last rewatch hasnt been my first, ive genuinely brought up this show to a lot of people both online and irl in the desperate hope other people remembered it because it was one of my absolute favorites as a kid and i remember the visceral feeling of how unfair it felt when i found out at like age 9 that it had been cancelled and there would never be another episode of it again. i think it just came into my life at the right place at the same time, i was both getting really into drawing and coming up with little stories myself and so the art and the cast really drew me in, and i had a music teacher at the time who was really into jazz and blues music and seeing that reflected in a cartoon i was watching was so cool :v] and again i just think so much of it holds up. its a gem i dont think should be hidden

spongebob (but only the first four seasons and the movie): im almost 25 so this is supremely unoriginal. its not that i think the newer/newest stuff is all bad its just that everybody gets one thing to be unreasonably blinded by nostalgia about and for me its early spongebob. the userbase on here is aging you all know what im talking about i dont need to explain this pick

the owl house: i really like the owl house for what it is ! its not for everybody, i know people tend to think it kind of skews towards "children's cartoon that is targeted for adults who still watch that stuff" but i think thats kind of cynical and not very generous to the cast and crew, i know the show got pitched around a bit before disney picked up on it but i dont think its fair to exclude the care and thought that went into re-adapting it for a broader and therefore younger audience, and the care that went into it in general ! i like its take on the fantasy setting, both the main and minor cast clearly have a lot of love and thought put into them, genuinely i think luz is maybe one of my favorite cartoon protagonists ever, the messaging it tries to get across i think comes from a personal place and is thus very earnest and sweet, and much like the secret saturdays i think its able to accomplish a lot in the limited time it was given. the whole show just feels like a labor of love to me and i just like the way that comes through !

since this was hard here are some honorable mentions:

batman the brave and the bold: wouldnt be fair to bring up a superhero cartoon and not mention this. i was pretty obsessed with this rendition of batman as a kid, unsurprising since i unironically loved the joel schumacher batman & robin movie and liked to catch the adam west batman re-runs they would play at the wee hours of the morning when i couldnt sleep, i think brave and the bold channels both of those a lot, its deeply stupid and kind of sucks in a lot of areas but thats also kind of part of the charm

3below: so i watched the first season of this before ever watching trollhunters, and while i recognize trollhunters is on a lot of levels the superior tales of arcadia cartoon i just like 3below the best. the stakes of trollhunters can get a little exhausting and i think 3below lets itself get a bit more goofy, plus its about a little group of "fish out of water" aliens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love fish out of water stories AND aliens, what do you want me to do

fangbone!: real sofa fans remember my fangbone phase. ongoing actually cuz hes still my icon. its one of those cheaply produced flash canadian cartoons but from my perspective i think it was made by people who actually put more effort than was expected of them, which i like, and again its another fish out of water story, and the graphic novel its based on is also very cute

dwampyverse cartoons: phineas and ferb and milo murphy's law mostly ! pnf was very impactful on me as a kid and i loved the first season of mml. i think theyve reached a kind of oversaturation maybe ? that has made me juuust a little bit jaded about them, but i cant pretend like i still dont hold plenty of fondness for em in my heart

unicorn warriors eternal: see the above points about genndy tartakovsky in the samurai jack bulletpoint. the premise is a really cool one and the first season managed to be really good in ways i didnt think it would be but theres still the second season, so im scared. i hope its good. ive got the clown make up ready to go just in case though.

lastman: don't watch lastman. we all have our own cross to bear, alright, and this one's mine. i watched lastman, so you don't even have to worry about it, i mean i haven't finished the second season yet so i will, so don't watch lastman, please. im telling you as your friend, don't watch lastman. we all make mistakes sometimes, like for example, i watched lastman, both in french and english. if you watch lastman than my sacrifices will have been for nothing. don't watch it, and don't look up the comic either. im completely serious.

big city greens: im very picky about sitcoms and sitcom-type faire, but big city greens takes i think a very flat and tbh cynical gimmick and explores it with a lot of heartfelt earnestness, its hard not to be charmed by it. just pure comfort food tv to me.

danger & eggs: fun fact !!!!!! the cartoon that made me decide to make this sideblog !!! i keep meaning to revisit it, i would recommend checking it out if you havent before, both its premise and humor is very idiosyncratic and sweet to me, again its just another show that feels like it came very a place very near and dear to the creator's heart and i just always love to see that. if i had kids of my own which i never will i would definitely show it to them

#long post

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incarnateirony · 1 year

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It’s funny to me that 2p0 (and most of fandom tbh) takes Jensen’s "I guess I could see interpreting it like that” re: platonic Destiel as a conformation of platonic Destiel - imo it’s the opposite. When actors on other shows are asked if it’s fair to interpret their character and another character as being gay and in love, they get torn apart for saying things like "I guess I could see interpreting it like that”, aka a polite “no I don’t really think of it that way but you can continue to have the space to ship that if you want”. Essentially, I feel like Jensen is trying to politely disagree with a platonic interpretation, but because fandom operates in bad faith they automatically assume he agrees Destiel is platonic, when in every other circumstance those words would have been understood to be in disagreement with the original question asked.

Yeah like. if you actually look at the quote and understand how human beings communicate, rather than try to devil's advocate an agenda through it without understanding social codes and whatnot the way 2po does, it's incredibly telling. I GUESS YOU COULD. That itself is implicit "I don't, but you can!" but that just whistled over his head like the jackshit idiot he is, and he figures if he narrates over it loud enough and attaches enough manipulative anchor text, his spin of it becomes a reality, and that's just not how the world works, not how people work, not how communication works, it's just.

Same way 2po and a large quarter of fandom went selectively deaf/dumb/blind about what Jensen said on stage, when he kept asking "That moment? Specifically that moment? Because I have two answers, one in that moment, where I would have X, [fandom stops listening at this exact point] in that specific moment. and then another one on the next shot. [jensen never clarifies]" (cut for length)

These people don't care what these other human beings are actually communicating. They care about how they can exploit it into an agenda. And, unfortunately, the other show operating in a manipulated bubble for 15 years gave them the impression they can do this infinitely, rather than a show that was designed to sprint for the goal so hard Robbie and Jensen got told to calm the fuck down. It's a 13 episode run, not 15 years, dude, you guys can't spin this forever.

Hell. Look at how he tried to spin "HAHA PEOPLE ARE WRONG ITS HEAVEN" when like. Yeah we know, dipthong. I've been reblogging my heaven meta this was designed on all year, but most specifically in the last 2 weeks, but somehow you missed that and thought I said purgatory because you can't track the way mental planes work in this fuckin' show for shit.

Or him assuming I said Destiel would happen every year, which is the opposite, while I took years of harassment from hellers for trying to tell people to respect Berens efforts (which 2po denied, and got hellers attacking Berens during) even knowing we probably would never see full resolution, that he was trying, hence the market testing (which 2po denied). Then suddenly at a very specific SDCC 2po was oblivious to the events of (proven by his getting hysterical about robobo memes, not realizing we already knew about his real boyfriend who visited the private panel with him), I suddenly changed my fucking tune to "berens is running the ball, we're getting at least an ILU, he's streaking naked across the field until security tackles him. With the right roll of the dice we can do anything." which 2po denied. Then Berens wrote it verbatim. Then he ran the ball. Then ILU. Then we got the wrong roll of the dice and covid boned us from four angles, and security did indeed tackle the naked berens running the ball.

Then a year later you all found out it was the first thing they wrote on the season and thus most of the plot orbited around it and it was berens' prime goal and, per him, his entire reason to stay. Which really just. Bundles alllll of 2po's denials before that together into a comical ball that just got double tapped straight through. GEE. I WONDER WHY I CHANGED MY TUNE JUST BEFORE SEASON 15. ITS A MYSTERY, BRAIN.

Which is when we got the butchered omitted finale (which 2po denied, and paid 5k of other people's money to be wrong on) which removed the roadhouse reunions and more (which 2po denied until Dabb tweeted it), and so on.

People like 2po, and the segments of fandom that listen to his consecutively wrong, made up, quantum tunnel of just-as-badly twice-interpreted M&Gs, just say/hear what they want to hear. They will aggressively rekit dialogues, erase context, delete basic realities, or just outright plug their ears and act like either they didn't hear it or they don't understand basic social codes. It's one or the other, and whichever it is, it's never going to make them a reliable leaker or speccer. Because you're not listening to what's actually being said or happening, you're taking one puzzle piece and trying to cram it in the wrong hole to make the picture you want it to make, rather than the picture it's painting.

Gee isn't it funny that Jensen magically had a second new opinion in the exact shot I've been telling everyone he broke and fell into the trashcan during since Dec 2020, along which the can't move on, let go, and other prequel, johnmary, show structure & morals and destiel leaks started flowing. Gee I wonder what that means brain.

like bro one of us had friends design an unofficial panel berens showed up to and took notes from before spilling all the season 15 tea and asking for me by name. The other person has been screaming wrongly into tumblr aggressively for about 5 years. And hoping everyone forgets the fails. SPOT the FUCKING DIFFERENCE.

#2p0 shut up challenge.#seriously dude #read it slowly without trying to win #then delete yourself #just digitally #cuz i worry if you keep doubling down #the end result you'll do worse than digital #save yourself

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straylife97 · 10 months

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LEE FELIX ONE SHOT-

Fluff and maybe a hint of Angst but only if you squint really hard.

Tears flooded my eyesight as I closed the taxi door. This was it. This was his first step to forever. I just didn’t think it would happen so fast. It seems like only yesterday we were laying down at the park in the middle of the night, star gazing.

I looked over at him as he sat down beside me, taking my hand

I’m scared." He said, drying his tears with his free hand.

I opened my mouth to talk, but nothing came out. I couldn’t talk. The pain hit me and reality took over the moment. “This is what you’ve always wanted, Lixie. This is your dreams. Don’t let it go.” I whispered.

He looked into my eyes, kissing me and paying the taxi driver. We got the suitcases from the trunk and went into the airport. His flight was leaving in fifteen mintues. Which gave me about ten to say my final goodbyes.

I hugged Felix, embracing his touch. “You’re gonna be huge Lix, I know you are. But promise me, no matter how big you get, never forget about me.”

"Y/N…"

I looked up, my eyes puffy and blood shot red from all the crying.

"It’s impossible to forget your first love."

I sobbed a bit, as his hand touched the back of my head, bringing me to his chest. We cried together. I never wanted to let him go. I wanted him to live his dreams, but him living his dreams meant leaving. And I didn’t know how long I could be without him. We’ve been best friends since we were in diapers and he’s been my boyfriend for three years ago. Sure, we were a little immature, but three years is a long time. When I was with Felix, I felt safe. I felt okay. Without him it’s like my world would come crashing down. He was the only one who understood me; the only one who tried. He made my days brighter and my nights merrier. No one was gonna be able to replace him. He was my first love, and God knows when I’ll find a guy like him again.

"I love you Y/N. I want you to know that." He said, his voice cracking in the middle of the sentence.

I nodded, barely able to look him in the eyes. “I don’t want you to leave, Lix. I won’t be able to make it.”

"Here." He took off his necklace and put it on me. "Every time you feel sad, take this in your hands and remember all the things we did together."

I looked at the necklace, then looked up at him.

"I’m just a phone call away. Call me when ever you want to talk. I promise I’ll be there."

A voice came on the loud speakers, saying that his flight was leaving in five minutes.

“You have to go. I want this as much as you do." Trying to convince myself

I couldn’t take it. I wouldn’t be able to make it. We were the only ones cryng in the airport. No one knew our story. No one would ever understand how much we meant to each other. He was me. We were one. And now, we were broken.

"I love you." He said, his voice shaking.

"I love you too." I replied, crying harder with each word said.

"Remember that we’re infinite."

I nodded, smiling a bit through the pain.

He kissed my lips slowly. “Okay?”

"Okay." I replied, quoting our favorite book.

Felix cupped my face and kissed me once last time before he left. His tongue slowly brushed against mine and we hugged each other tightly. I felt him start to let go and we both cried, watching him leave. He turned around, blowing a kiss and wiping his tears. I waved goodbye at him, looking into his eyes for the last time.

-YEARS LATER-

“…KPOP group Stray Kids are coming to Sydney on their world tour. We are excited to welcome home Bang Chan and Lee Felix for an..”

I zoned out after hearing his name again. Felix and I kept in contact for a couple months while he was training, but quickly fell off. I thought I had finally moved on But hearing his name again has brought back so many emotions.

I dropped the coffee I had been making and clutched my heart trying to suppress the growing panic.

“…they will be here for 2 days worth of concerts. Let’s welcome them with warm arms.”

“..Y/n… Y/n.. Y/N YL/N”

“Ye..yeah?” I snap out of it and look over to my coworker.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah I am, sorry I just zoned out a bit” I grabbed the mop and started to clean up the mess while apologizing to the customer I was helping.

“Wait- isn’t Felix apart of Stray kids? Which means he’s going to be home”

“Please don’t remind me”

“Don’t you wish he’d try to contact you while he’s here?”

“I pray that he doesn’t. He probably doesn’t even remember me anymore”

The next day I have to drag myself out of bed to go to work. “Y/N I HAVE NEWS..and you’re probably not going to be happy about it.”

“What is it..”

“I won front row tickets the first concert tonight… and you’re coming with me…”

“Amanda I swear to god. I. Am. Not. Going.”

“You are be ready by 5, we got sound check as well”

-5 pm-

I’ve been waiting outside my house for 10 minutes when Amanda finally arrived. “Are you seriously wearing that?”

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“You’re seriously wearing an oversized t-shirt and leggings and have no makeup on. Do you want Felix to see you and be wowed or what?”

“Uhm not particularly, I hope he doesn’t see me”

“This is not going to do, let’s go” she grabbed my arm and pulled me back into my house and got to work.

“Voilà my work here is done” she stepped back from me and turned me towards a mirror

“Holy Shit Mands, how’d you do all of this in only 10 minutes” I examine my makeup; a very Smokey green cat eye, my complexion glowing and to top it all off a beautiful winged eyeliner. My outfit matched the makeup, black fishnets with a black skater skirt, and a cropped t-shirt.

“I’m magic, now let’s go” we rushed out the door made our way to the venue and then waited until sound check. “OMG OMG OMG ITS HYUNJIN!! Y/N LOOK FELIX IS COMING OVER HERE TOO!” I quickly duck down and lower my face.

“I hope he didn’t see me”

“I think he did but it didn’t seem like he knew it was you.” Ouch that didn’t hurt at all.

“I’m glad” sound check ended and we waited until the concert. It started off amazing, I knew a couple of songs and really enjoyed the music.

“Y/N are you doing okay?”

“Yeah I’m all good, thank you for checking in”

“How is everyone doing tonight?” Screams all around us. “I am so happy to be back home, and I am so grateful that Stay can be here with us” I couldn’t keep my eyes off him, there’s my Lix, but also not my Lix anymore. He’s grown a couple inches, paler and has long blonde hair now. He has changed so much but my heart still beats the same way it used to for him. For my love. I grabbed hold of the necklace he gave me. I haven’t taken it off since the day except to shower. “It feels so good to be back and I can’t wait to be able to spend some time with my family for a few days”

There is no way he’s going to be visiting his family. He’s only going to be across the street from me again. For the first time in forever.

“Y/n..isn’t that the same necklace you have” Amanda pointed to Felix. My heart stopped, my breathing stopped, the whole world stopped in that moment. He bought himself the same necklace.

“I- it- it is.” I broke out into sobs, Han and Lee Know whom were closest to us both looked and mouthed asking if I happened to be okay and I gave them a smile through the tears with a thumbs up. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I got out of the concert as quickly as I could and shot Amanda a text telling her I was fetching a cab home.

Later that night I heard car doors slam shut and screams of happiness. I peaked out of my window and saw him there hugging his mom and sisters. When he pulled away from them I saw his mom gesture towards my house and him turning to look. I quickly threw myself away from the window in time.

“Shit shit shit, what if he come over here?? I need to look somewhat presentable” I still had on my outfit from the concert what was left of my makeup. It was smeared all down my face. When a knock came on the door. “Fuck” I breathed out. As I walked towards the door I tucked the necklace into my shirt to make sure it wasn’t visible. I stood in front of the door for a minute paralyzed until another knock snapped me back into reality. I took a sharp inhale and opened the door.

“It’s been a long time.” There he is. I can still envision the way he looked when he left. I nodded and stepped out of the way for him to come in. “I thought I saw you today, but thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Mom told me you bought the house off your parents, I’m quite surprised, you always said you wanted to leave and travel.”

“I’m surprised too, I didn’t think I’d want to stay anymore.” We both chuckled

“Not to pry or anything, but why’d you leave the concert crying and in a hurry” I sighed deeply.

“It was just a lot for me to be there.”

“I get it, you were never good with big crowds” I slightly nodded. “What’s that around your neck?”

“Lix no-“ he gently pulled it out from my shirt and examined it like it would break any second.

“You’ve kept it all these years?”

“Of course I did. It was the last thing you gave me.” He gently let it go and I grabbed a hold of it.

“As soon as I got to Korea, I bought myself the same one. There were many nights I cried wanting to come home and I held on to it imagining that you were holding yours at the same time. I swear sometimes I could almost feel it.” I sighed once again.

“Lix I just want to say that I am so proud of you. You’re doing great things out there. I see all the things people say about you, your fans… they really look up to you and say that you are their sunshine. Sometimes I get jealous because you were once my sunshine too and now, you’re theirs.”

“I never stopped thinking about you. When I found out we were coming back home I was so excited to see you, but I didn’t know if you even still lived in the area. I guess I’m lucky.” He pulled me in for a hug and held me. I started to cry. I never thought he’d be back. “I am so sorry I stopped contacting you, I got a new phone a couple months after I got to Korea and lost everything. I couldn’t have social media or I would have reached out that way”

“I- I thought you forgot about me.” He gently lifted my chin and looked me in the eye before slowly moving in to place a soft kiss on my lips.

“It’s impossible to forget your first love”

#stray kids fanfiction #stray kids #stray kids oneshot #lee felix #felix lee #stray kids felix #felix stray kids #sappy #lee felix scenarios #lee felix skz

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valkblue · 2 years

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An OC: Zak ; And a not OC: Aragorn

Oooh thank you for these!!!!

For Aragorn — (I'll stick to movie!Aragorn for this one, because I really like Viggo's interpretation. He's perfect in the role, in my opinion. And also, movie!Aragorn is really not that far from book!Aragorn.)

My favorite line

I have a lot I like very much but, to answer this question, it'd be a tie between "U-chebin estel anim" (I keep no hope for myself) to Elrond and "What says you?!" while crossing the Paths of the Dead. For the first, in the book, it's Gilraen (Aragorn's mother) who says this line, and in the movie they gave it to Aragorn in response to Elrond (saying the first part of Gilraen's OG quote). And even though I think it's more impactful from Gilraen (for various deep lore reasons), I also like what it says about Aragorn in the movie; throughout all the trilogy (and the books too!), he's pushing people towards hope, to regain it or just not loose it, to keep fighting and be strong, that there is always hope! He is always encouraging and inspiring people around but fears the worst from himself because like he said, Isildur's blood courses through his veins, the same weakness… and he fears that he will be no better than his ancestors in face of the same evils, and that he'll inevitably be a terrible king for it.

And the second would be almost for the same reasons; he still doubt himself, but he's resolute, he accepted the role he has to play in those terrible events, to stop Sauron and the rising of evil. And to be king of Men, should he survive.

Also, this scene is super badass and the specter's laugh at Aragorn's despair equally creepy and efficient...!! 😱💖

My favorite moment

Honestly, I really like the scene in which we see him for the first time; that gaze in the dark (with ominous voiceover) and how he grabs Frodo and takes him to 'safety' in another room after the incident with the Ring.

My favorite strength

He's humble. Truly humble. He has no problem trusting a Hobbit with the Fate of all life in his tiny pocket because he trusts Gandalf's judgement about him and his quest, and later on, he can say for himself that it wasn't unwaranted. He accepts criticism and even insults, and draw something to better himself out of it. Nothing is wasted on him; no comment, no opinion given, no time, no resources, no effort, no trust, not even hope!

My favorite weakness

He doubts, a lot. But in a good kind of way! The kind that makes him reconsider anything from strategies to 'simple' decisions, the kind that makes him rely on his allies' abilities and knowledge… and that makes him a good king.

My favorite personal headcanon

He would have wanted to try some of that salted pork from Saruman's pantry too… 👀

For Zak —

My favorite line

"The Law!!" 😱… because he's very lawful, sort of. He had so much trouble with the Law that he's wary of it now. He desperately tried to stay out of trouble but trouble keeps on finding him anyway, it seems.

My favorite moment

That time he fought alongside Sara, and she unleashed her fire elemental. When she looked cornered and about to be killed, he jumped from the roof of the stables to rush and save her. He failed miserably… but she didn't need saving at the moment. After that terrible battle when she was left alone to fight her own mind however… 😔 So he helped her the best he could.

My favorite strength

Trustworthy. Anything you say to him is kept secret forever, and you can ask him for almost everything… even messing with the Law a little!! 😱

My favorite weakness

He has no poker face whatsoever. He's an open book and in his secondary line of work (a.k.a messing with the Law!!!) , it's an almost unforgivable weakness.

My favorite personal headcanon

He makes up lyrics to go along with Sara's music in his head. 👀💕

#ask game #character asks #favourite characters #fatesrpg #thank you!!!#ocs #oc:zak #the lord of the rings #aragorn

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elainapendragon · 4 days

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An Eternal Hope: Practice at Sea

Summary: With the blessing of their mother, the triplets are on their way to Izana so that they may depart for the Worldtree, where Gryphyn-Baskets shall await them; but first, their grandfather believes they need a bit of training...

Rating: 18+

Trigger warnings: Mentions of death, blood, gore, descriptions of a hand wound, slavery, mentions of past trauma, fear of capture/torture

All rights reserved. This work has been copyrighted. No part of this book may be copied or used in any form. [Don't mind my crappy attempt at quoting my copyright page. I don't think I'm allowed to actually use it here. I don't mind reblogs or anything like that, but please don't repost without my permission and especially without credits to me. Thank you! <3 ]

Refer to the pronunciation guide or send me a message if you have any questions!

The next morning, we set out for Izana as though we were just going back to work, but there was an enormous sense of change aboard. None of us could bring ourselves to speak, so the only noise was the sound of the ship’s bow breaking the waves, which seemed too loud for the first time since we’ve been on the sea. We could only hope that Byardölf kept his word about the sandcrawler, and we wouldn’t have to use all of the two hundred coin bonus he’d given us before we even got to the Worldtree.

Other than the silence, I expected the trip to Izana to go as it always did; using Alf and Jarl’s combined genius of a rope-and-pulley system that allowed just one person (Jarl, at the moment) to work the sails alone, while a different system they had installed within the very walls of the ship allowed one person to work all six oars at once with a fair amount of ease. That left one person for the rudder, which I stayed well away from, after nearly wrecking us in a storm– twice. Otherwise, we’d take turns working these ingenious contraptions, while resting in-between.

But instead of my expectations, I was yanked out of reading when Grandpapa suddenly took the book out of my hands and snapped it closed. He proceeded to nonchalantly take Alf’s paper and pencil (which she was using to either design something new, or to write down a new song she’d thought up), and put both of our items in the chest beside the one that held all of our coin after work. He turned to Jarl, who worked the rudder. “Up. Hildegardr, you’ll have to take the rudder.”

“Uh…” Jarl warily stood, eyes darting to each of us in a silent question. He didn’t let go of the rudder until Nana had a good hold of it. Grandpapa looked down at Alf and I expectantly in turn. When neither of us moved, he said impatiently, “Up, both of you.”

“...Why…?” Alf asked slowly, though we were standing anyway.

“Because I said so,” Grandpapa replied plainly. He waited until the three of us were standing side-by-side in front of him, then continued. “We won’t be able to come with you on the Gryphyn-Baskets, I’m sure you realize.” I tried not to show any form of reaction, because no, I hadn’t realized. Suddenly, the trip to Vanaheimr seemed a lot less fun. “We’ll be at Izana in three days, where the three of you alone will set off for the Svartl Worldtree. Going into the competition knowing nothing about swordsmanship is foolish and reckless. These few days are all I’ll have to teach you the basics.”

Grandpapa drew our iron sword from its tattered frog at his hip. “We won’t use this. There’s only one, and even if there wasn’t, we don’t need to accidentally chop each other’s heads off.” He passed the sword to Jarnir for safekeeping; he seemed just as confused as we were, but only shrugged helplessly and went along without any questions. Grandpapa then reached into our chest of belongings and withdrew two well-carved wooden practice swords– we’d had them forever, but had never thought of using them; we’d never had the time, nor the energy, to practice. He hefted each of them, testing their weight I suppose, before tossing one to Jarl, who impressively caught it with one hand and no effort.

“Jarl,” Grandpapa pointed the tip of his sword at him in challenge. “You first, grandson. We need to work on your grip. No offense, but… it’s awful.” Jarl laughed, then waved his practice blade around a few times, testing its weight. “Let’s start with teaching you how to parry a basic downward swipe. Swing downward at me, slowly.”

My brother hesitated, then hacked downward in slow motion. Grandpapa lifted his sword and held it horizontally, palm on the flat of the mock blade, blocking Jarl’s harmless blow. “See how I’m holding my sword? I’m going to swing downward at you now, and I want you to raise your sword how I just showed you.”

Grandpapa and Jarl lowered their swords, then repeated the move in reverse. Jarl quickly raised his sword like Grandpapa had shown him, and Grandpapa smiled. “Well done. Now, let’s try it faster.” They did the move again, but Jarl was too slow. Both Grandpapa’s sword and his own slammed into his chest with a dull crack, knocking him backward. He fell to one knee, his eyes wide with shock as he struggled to breathe.

“Jarl!” Ma nearly leapt off of her seat.

Grandpapa raised a hand to stop her without taking his eyes off Jarl. “I only knocked the breath out of him. He’ll be fine.”

Ma pressed her lips into a firm line and watched with worry until Jarl shook his head clear of dizziness and stood, staggering slightly. “Wow, Grandpapa. You’ve got a hard hit…” He coughed, wincing as he massaged his sore chest. “Really hard...”

“Again,” Grandpapa ordered without hesitation. The two of them continued to repeat the move until Jarl could effectively block Grandpapa’s attacks, then they tried it even faster. When Jarl could block Grandpapa’s downward strike at full speed, it was Alf’s turn. Jarl, breathing heavily, slouched down beside me and closed his eyes.

Grandpapa faced Alf with his sword ready. “You saw what I did with Jarl.” Alf nodded in response, eyeing Grandpapa’s sword nervously. “We’re going to do the very same thing. I won’t go easy on you because you are my granddaughter.” His blue eyes narrowed meaningfully, and Alf nodded.

“I wouldn’t ask you to,” she said, and they began.

Alf and Grandpapa started the move in slow motion, just as he had done with Jarl, before repeating it until Alf had almost mastered it; she was quicker in learning, having watched Jarl’s lesson closely. By the time they were done, Alf was panting and dragging her sword behind her, and Ma was very concerned. “Don’t give me that look,” Grandpapa told her firmly with a stern glance. Alf sat down beside Jarl, huffing with exhaustion. “It’ll be a lot worse for them if they get no training.” Grandpapa whipped around and jabbed his sword in my direction. “Your turn.”

I slowly lifted up the wooden sword (which was, sadly, very heavy for me) and held it in front of my face vertically, as best as I could. “I’m not here.”

“Bjalla!” snapped Grandpapa in a warning tone, making me jump to my feet immediately. “We don’t have much time.” I mumbled an apology, face burning with embarrassment.

We faced one another; slowly, he brought his sword down at my face. I lifted my sword to block it, just like I’d watched Jarl, then Alf do– but I wasn’t strong enough to even try and block him. Grandpapa frowned when he realized that he was able to push my sword down, despite the fact that I was straining to keep my sword still– with both hands.

“Again,” Grandpapa ordered, and we did it a second time; but this time, he was able to knock my sword away entirely before swinging the tip of his own up to meet my throat.

Jarl burst out laughing. “You-You can’t even–” He started laughing even harder and fell onto his side, joined by Alf; she covered her face, wheezing hard. Ma glared at them.

“Both of you, stop it.”

Dejectedly, I slumped over. “Well, Drakonsson’s gonna take one look at me and send me home...” The possibility was serious enough to make me worry. If Alf and Jarl can’t compete because of my weakness, what will happen? How will they react?

“That’s nonsense,” Grandpapa said firmly. “There are plenty of people, I’m sure, who will have trouble lifting swords high, or even lifting them at all, in the competition. You have to remember, most of them were rogues, criminals, and thralls, like us, who may never have learnt any skills either. And there are dozens of other weapons to work with. Bows, for example.”

I scoffed. Byardölf once had a bow in his smithy that needed a new nocking point and grip, and Byardölf had tested it after we’d fixed it to ensure the quality of the weapon hadn’t been tampered with by repairing it. I wanted to try, and could hardly pull the string back to nock an arrow. And when I’d loosed it, the arrow didn’t even hit near the target. It fell harmlessly to the ground and the string smacked into my fingers so hard it had left cuts to the bone. “You obviously forget the time I tried one at Byardölf’s smithy...”

Grandpapa huffed, irritated, and when he began speaking with his hands, started flinging his mock-sword around dangerously without even thinking about it. “Well, maces, daggers, axes, scimitars, crossbows; there’s a number of weapons out there. If you’re not good with swords, even after a few weeks of training, try something else.” He held up his sword in front of his chest, the flat of the blade facing me. He held his free hand up against the side of the sword facing his chest. “Strengthen your stance, plant your feet firmly, and remember to hold it like this; you won’t cut your hand, and you’ll have extra strength to push back with. You saw my example earlier, didnt you? Pay attention. Of course, don’t do it without thinking, because you could accidentally grab the sharp part of the blade, and risk cutting your hand in two.”

I visibly flinched at the mental image that gave me. Alf and Jarl, on the other hand... “Do it, do it, do it,” They chanted in perfect sync with broad smiles; I scowled at them, but that only made them want to do it more, until Ma silenced them with a harsh command.

“Lets try the move I just showed you,” Grandpapa ordered, more gently this time, “Try and keep your sword up, no matter how hard I push.” He slowly swung his sword downward, and I brought my own up, holding it like Grandpapa had showed me.

It was only after he started pushing again, all the pressure on my sore hand, that I remembered the gash on my left palm. I almost let go of the sword, then forced myself not to; of all the injuries I could get in the arenas that I’d have to keep fighting with–stabs, gashes, severed limbs– a cut on the hand didn’t seem so bad.

Grandpapa pushed on my sword even harder, and as I pushed back, the cut on my hand split back open. I bit my lip to silence my yelps, and kept my stance, refusing to be weak. I cannot enter this competition weak. I cannot enter this competition weak. Grandpapa and I stood like that for several moments, until he finally smiled and stepped back. “Well done.”

I staggered forward. When I steadied myself, I held up my shaking, bandaged hand. The bandage and the sleeve of my jacket were soaked through with blood, freely dripping down my hand and arm and leaving a good-sized splat on the deck. My vision swam and my stomach churned. Better learn to get that under control...

“Bjalla!” Nana yelped.

Grandpapa blinked at me a few times, dumbfounded, before looking at the wooden sword he held accusingly. “...Did... Did you cut your hand on the practice sword? ...On wood?”

Ma practically bowled me over in checking my “wound,” making me chuckle a little despite the sheer throbbing pain pulsing up my arm. “Oh, I didn’t mention this? Yeah, I cut myself on Byardölf’s new dagger the other day.”

Ma scowled at me, but it was quickly replaced with worry. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me off to one end of the ship, out of everyone else’s way. “Come over here. We need to rebandage it.”

Grandpapa swatted me upside the head. “I completely forgot about that. You shouldn’t have pushed back so hard with an injured hand.” After Ma had rebandaged my cut, Grandpapa and I continued to repeat the move until I could do it... Somewhat easily. I never came close to Alf or Jarl’s level of strength or resilience.

For the rest of the day, Grandpapa taught us the basics of parrying, dodging, and attacking, only giving us breaks when we needed to eat, rest, or, in my case, rebandage my damn cut, which happened too many times for me to count. By sunset, I felt more worn out than I had in years. My legs felt like lead, my back hurt, my head hurt, my chest hurt, and my sword arm was throbbing painfully. Every bone in my body felt like it was going to splinter– and from the way Alf and Jarl were wincing and hobbling to their bedrolls, they felt the same way I did.

By the time Izana was in our sights, I felt twice as badly, and we were covered in welts and bruises. Eventually, Grandpapa told Alf and Jarl to practice on one another under his supervision, leaving me to spar with him.

“You won’t be able to practice on the Gryphyn-Baskets,” Grandpapa muttered quietly to us as we readied ourselves for bed. “And I’m guessing the rest stops for the passengers will be short, since you can eat and sleep in the baskets themselves. Be sure to use every break you do get for practice.”

Without much else to say, us triplets collapsed onto our bedrolls, falling into heavy, deep sleep.

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#dragons #romantasy #aneternalhope #bookblr #drakablodsogur #elainapendragon #fantasy #dragonriders #norse mythology #vikings

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frankensteins-mt-dew · 11 days

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*kicking you in the pants about the vampire found family*

Tried to write while on a break at work, turned into feverishly trying to figure out the main characters middle name( which has absolutely no bearong on a the plot .... At the moment)

And since it's been like, a while since you asked for it, I decided just to give you the full first scene

(Under the cut so it doesn't take up all of your feed 😊)

"Alright, Dan. Pancakes or waffles?"

"oh, we're starting out of order, are we?" Dan asked, hands resting on the wheel. The classic cadillac was the only car on the desert road in middle of nowhere california, headlights illuminating the old, worn asphalt. "still pancakes."

" Pancakes for me too." Ruby sat crossed legged in the passenger seat with an old notebook page in one hand and a large drink from Fallon's Family Diner in the other. She was looking at herself in the rear view mirror. Long brown hair in a messy bun, makeup she had done half a night ago still basically perfect. Her olive skin was a shade or two lighter than she'd like, but there wasn't anything she could do about that. She ran a manicured nail down the list. " ice cream flavor?"

"oh, superman. Forever and always." Dan tapped his hands on the wheel in excitement. Time might have frozen him and his wife in their forties, with his salt and pepper hair(mostly salt in his beard) and smile lines to prove it, but it let him keep his childlike wonder."And you are still a butterscotch girl, right?"

Ruby grimaced. "No im sorry."

Dan frowned."Wait, what?"

"yeah, its triple chocolate."

"Since when?"

"Since we had it at the carnival a while back. "

"Ok, ok, im gonna need more context. do you know how many carnivals and state fairs we've been to in our life? In our unlife?"

"The perfect amount. And this--" she shook the paper in his face. "Is why we do the list!!"

"Alright alright." Dan gave up. "favorite blood type is still o neg, right?"

"yes! i dont know what it is but its so good!"

" it is!!"

"Ok my turn." Ruby adjusted herself in the seat to better look at her husband. "Would you have kept reading that book if you knew I wasn't interested in you?'

Dan about slammed on the breaks."woah, that one is NOT on the list!"

"I know, but I wanna know!" She laughed. "Its been almost 80 years, I think I should get to know"

"Have I really never told you?"

"no!!!"

"You sure?"she flicked the straw wrapper at him. "Ok, ok." Dan paused a moment, just looking at his wife out of the corner of his eye. " I mean, you're the only one for me, Angel"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, quote your vows to deflect. It's worked SO well in the past."

"I mean, it's true."

She laughed, and rested her head on the window, smiling.

The sun had gone down but there was still a enough light to see. The endless sage and sand blurred at this speed and reminded Ruby more of the ocean.

"Ok , but how long have you loved triple chocolate ice cream?"

"Three years."

"was that the oklahoma state fair? Or the rodeo in Texas?"

She didn't hear the question as she noticed something hiding in the sagebrush. Something big, something that shouldn't be.

"Stop the car"

Dan instinctually listened to his wife, pulled to the side and came to a stop." What's wrong?"

Ruby didn't answer as she unbuckled and opened the door, looking behind them.

It was a stupid idea. A foolish intuition. But she couldnt shake the feeling. She started jogging through the brush.

"Angel, what are you doing?" Dan asked, staying by the car.

" I saw something." She called back. "I swear I did."

Ruby hoped she was wrong, hoped this little... gift, you could call it, was wrong. She had had it since before they had turned, maybe it was out of tune.

But when she came up to it, she knew she was right.

"What do you see, Babes?"

It was a kid. She couldn't be older than four. Still had the baby fat in her face and bright red hair created a wild halo around her head. Tears streaked her face and clothes. Pink t shirt and purple leggings, but no shoes.

Oh, that would not do.

Her feet were scraped and dirty and bleeding a little. A new feeling crept up, reminding her that she hasn't fed the monster within in a few days

Ruby swallowed hard and ignored the instinct. She stepped a little closer to the girl and crouched down.

"Hi." She said sweetly." Are you ok? What are you doing out here."

The girl didn't answer, but she didn't shy away either. She just looked up at her.

"you got anywhere to go,kiddo?" She shook her head. "Do you want to come with us?"

The girl tilted her head, as if thinking about it, then nodded.

Ruby scooped her up and started waking back to the car. It took Dan a moment to notice.

"Is that a kid?"

"Yeah."

"Is she coming with us?"

"yeah."

Dan paused, trying to take in the information. "Wait, Ruby, are you serious?"

"Absolutely." She said she got into the car.

"No way." Dan said, getting back in his own seat. the kid suddenly seemed eager to explore, and Ruby let her climb into the back. "She's gotta belong to someone at a campsite, and they're probably looking for her."

"There's no one for miles! And the wildlife is gonna start coming out, if we don't do something she's gonna get more hurt."

Dan had also sensed the cuts on her feet and forced his intuition to shut the hell up. " Ruby, she's little and cute and helpless. I get it." He placed a hand on his wife's shoulder." I love you, but this is the kind of stuff we get on the news for."

"I'm not going to just leave her! Look, I'll compromise and we can call the cops in the next town. See if anyone is missing her. But we're not gonna get on the news for just helping out a...kid"

She looked in the back where she had left the little girl. But what they now found, was a dog. No, a wolf pup. A little bigger than she would think, with brown and grey fur and a bushy tail. Her head was in the to go bag from Fallon's scavenging the fries that had been left behind. When she pulled her head out and noticed the strangers looking at her, she quickly shifted back into human form and began crying.

"oh, no,no it's ok!" Ruby said and picked her back up. " Hey, it's gonna be ok." Ruby said. With a grin, she shifted her own forma but. Her usually hazel eyes became blood red and her top teeth sharpend into fangs. The girl gasped softly, then looked in awe at her.

"I think you're one of us, sweetie." Dan said, also shifting into his vampiric form.

The girl smiled and rested her head on Ruby as Dan began driving.

"we don't have a car seat for her." Dan said eventually.

"Then drive slowly" Ruby said, rubbing the girls back.

"Or a leash."

"Drive. Slow."

#Wrote this during work and then polished it after #I have no idea really what comes next but I happy with what I have #Also if anyone has a better title than "vampire found family' I would love to hear it #Its been a place holder title since I started writing it #Kick in the pants writing game #writing #Vampire found family

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