#70n

[iwritesnortsintragedies]

Bolaire, to his most beloved friend: will you please kill my body? I need you to make it as violent as possible

Like, first of all, nobody is doing it like Hal/Bolaire, and secondly I appreciate that Liam "this one time I roleplayed through one of my besties strangling me to death" O'Brien is getting his enrichment

(Taliesin is also getting all the enrichment from being a creepy creature, of course)

[allscripture]

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)

[terresdebrumestories]

Nile Freeman Week - Day 1: Love

So it's late and I'm posting this from my phone (hence the lack of read more for now) and this concept deserves more time and space to grow but rn I have a choice between.doing really tiny snippets-that-could-be-more for Nile week or I can do nothing. I pic the snippets, and I'll see about revisiting them later on.

----

It's been five years. Not to the day, but almost. It's been five years and they're not in Chicago, because that would be too risky. They're not even in Illinois, not even in the United States. Instead, they're in Tunis, just done dismantling a child smuggling operation and taking a well deserved five days break, when Nile exits a supermarket and promptly drops her sandwich on someone's shirt, halfway through an apology before a hand closes, vice-like, over her right wrist.

Nile goes to twist herself free, ready to tell whoever it is off and move on with her day, until she looks up and freezes.

"Mom?"

She sounds small to her own ears, five years old and back from a class outing where her best friend Aminata wasn't and lonely as anything, tears welling in her eyes and in her throat and every inch of her until she's sobbing, right there in the midday sun of Tunis. On her shoulders, there are hands, bird-light at first and then hard as iron, strong as love as they grip her, pull her forward into the familiar warmth of her mother's arms, the smell of shea butter on her skin.

"My baby," her mother says in her ear, quiet and strangled with tears, "my little girl, my baby."

"Mom," Nile manages through her sobs, "mom I'm sorry, I--"

"Hush," her mother says, growing loud now as she pushes her at arm's length, "none of that! You're alive! My baby is alive! This is the best--baby we were so devastated! We thought you were dead!

Nile is about to answer when she remembers where they are--outside, in the dirt, in public. She hugs her mother again, pressing her to her chest before bringing them both to their knees and using her free hand to text Andy.

'I need the safehouse to myself, ETA 20mn.'

'Why?'

'Because you can leave for a bit or meet my mother.'

Nile doesn't wait for an answer: Andy will either have everyone out by the time they get there or she won't. No need to talk about it at length.

"Listen, I can explain but not here. Are you on your own?"

"Jordan is supposed to meet me here in...ten minutes."

Nile nods, and looks at her mother. She looks smaller than before somehow, more tired but just as full of lost, just as tender as Nile remembers her. Five years make a difference, though, and seeing her now, older with thin streaks of white beginning to grow into her hair--Nile's heart squeezes in her chest, throat closing again. She makes herself breathe through it, squeezing her mother's hand tight in hers, before she says:

"I don't want to catch everyone's attention here, you know how he is."

Her little brother, so full of life and joy--never met a good thing that didn't make him explode with delight. They meet here, they'll have the whole blocks eyes on them in five seconds flat.

"Oh, baby," her mother says, eyes growing shiny again, "are you in trouble? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Nile promise, a grin floating to her lips as she presses close to her mom again, "I promise. It's just... There's a lot I need to explain, and I don't want to do it in the streets. Can you collect Jordan and meet me at the address I'll text you? I promise I'll tell you everything then."

"Baby you're scaring me," her mother says. "But alright, I will. When?"

"Soon as you can. Here."

It's an old house in the outskirts of the city, a bit shabby, but at least it's better than that cave in Siberia for last year. Looks like a place people could reasonably live in. Nile thinks, insanely, that she'll have to clean it up before her mother arrives either way, make it look more presentable. She chuckles, and then shakes her head when her mom looks askance at her.

"Just worrying about stray socks, mom."

"My silly girl," her mother says. "My baby girl. You could bring me to a house overtaken with unwashed panties right now and I still wouldn't care."

Nile laughs, bubbling and bright in her chest, and kisses her mother's cheek, hugging her tight before she promises:

"No dirty undies, promise. Be there as soon as you can. I'll tell you everything."

She hurries to the car after that, knowing it's her last chance to keep her reunion with her brother private and uninterrupted.

She drives back to the current safehouse with sunlight singing in her veins.

[ihave-acrush-blog]

FFC Acrush《I’m Sorry》Official MV

[iwritesnortsintragedies]

Something I still like about the boys' dynamics is that on the one hand you have Edwin, self professedly allergic to emotions, who will nevertheless make most inconveniences in his life everyone else's problem (at least if the way he handles Crystal's arrival is any indication)

Vs Charles 'I like emotions. Big emotions guy, me' who will manage everyone's issues before he admits that he even has any of his own

This works great with their everything, too: Edwin, invisible and quiet all his life, now taking up all the space he wants vs Charles, under constant scrutiny for 16 years, seeking the safety of being unperceived

Idk, I was reminded of that while reading a fic and I really like it

This is also the reason why I personally think if either of them is going to start off an explicit discussion of consent and stuff when it comes to intimacy, it's definitely Edwin

[iwritesnortsintragedies]

My impression after watching the second Schemers episode

[iwritesnortsintragedies]

Watching Queer Eye season 10! And it's like.

Woman who was the eldest of 18 kids: my childhood sucked

Her younger sister: I feel Like I had a great childhood

The Fab Five: could it be because [Elder sister] is gay?

Me: idk if anyone told you but there is an extremely real chance that being gay was only a shit cherry on top of the shit cake

[iwritesnortsintragedies]

Tbh in some ways Julien is giving me pre-ring Boromir energy