#//and it means i get to indulge in a small bit of info i have for him every time it rolls around

[mechahero]

"Happy Friday the 13th, everybody!"

[teojira]

[Click Click Boom] [Shadow x Reader short stories]

Summary: You're set to be Shadow's companion to keep an eye on him and keep him in line, a courtesy from the goverment for him saving the world with Sonic and the others.

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: Can be read as platonic or romantic! Shadow/reader romance is implied though! You're human in this, age is vague but you're meant to be in your 20s.

Disclaimer: Shadow is an adult, and as for the furry debate, he's literally an adult who can consent and is sentient, don't like? Don't read!

A/N: I've literally been obsessed with this fucker since I was a literal child and it's the first time I've written for him!! The trailer yas me going insane. This is written well before the movie has come out, literally all I got to work with is Shadow in the trailer and the bits and pieces of info I psychoanalized so I don't wanna hear shit about it not being accurate tbh, this is self indulgent!!

Shadow isn't the worst task you've been assigned, you both are more akin to awkward roommates more than anything.

I'm talking randomly lingering in the corners of the room, his bright red eyes glowing and they always seemed to be locked right onto you.

You screamed the first dozen times, but now you just glare at the black hedgehog and spit out a "fuck you." and go about your business.

He'll never admit that it brings him infinite amusement, it's hard to tell, but the huff he lets out is evidence enough.

Shadow will never admit he cares for you, he loses everyone he cares for, and humans don't live that long. It's terrifying to think about how much he's come to like you.

He's not nearly as slick as he thinks he is.

You're sitting down at the dinner table, typing away on your laptop, editing the mission report from the other day when Shadow makes his way towards you. Sending him a nod in his direction, you don't think of anything when he moves in close.

A huge slam takes you off guard though, jumping damn near out of your skin as you twist your head to look at him.

"What the fuck-"

"Take it."

It's one of Shadow's guns, his emblem being engraved along the stock.

"What? No, I have guns." You raise an eyebrow at the hog, his face is perfectly still, eyes locking onto yours as he waits for you to grab the heckler.

"Your guns are worthless, you need something better."

"Well excuse me, I so happen to like my guns." You try and joke back, but the offense is taken.

Shadow rolls his eyes so hard you're scared that he's gonna blind himself. Jutting his chin towards the table once more to get your focus back onto it.

"If you have one of mine, I know you're safe." He doesn't elaborate. Not that he needs to.

"...Thank you, Shad."

All you get is a grunt in response, and he's on his way back to his room.

Gingerly picking up the weapon, you take in how pristine it is, a thumb caressing your small initials that you missed on the other side of the stock.

With Shadow saving the world, the reeking of havoc makes it to where he's limited to what he is allowed to do in the public eye.

Not that he listens, he isn't supposed to be out after curfew. But to be fair, it is extremely hard to keep a teleporting hedgehog confined to a meager two-story house.

You can hear him teleport above you, he's on the roofs of the nearby building, leering down at you.

It was a small errand you were on, simply stocking up on the essentials for the house.

Namely, snacks for Shadow, he doesn't ask for a lot other than coffee beans and Doritos.

You are choosing to ignore the fact that he eats the coffee beans straight up, the crunch echoes through your head and it sends a shudder down your spine.

He was adamant against you leaving the house this late, standing in front of the front door.

"No."

"Fuck you mean no?"

"I said no."

"....I don't listen to men."

And you weaved around him to leave the house, ignoring his shout of disapproval.

That leads you both to here now, you pretending you don't see him trailing you from the rooftops as you walk your way back home from the small shopping center.

You feign surprise when he opens the house door for you, begrudgingly sticking a hand out to help you with your bags.

"Oh! Thank you my knight in shining armor~"

"Shut it."

He's never told you his birthday, which you can understand, living for 50 years and not having your family around must be hard. No matter how he may fake that it doesn't bother him.

That doesn't stop you, not in the slightest really. You damn near kick him out of the house for the day, shoving him over to Tom and Maddie's house so he can be with the others. Despite how much he protested.

"I don't want to go over there. Not with that blue fake."

"You don't really have a choice bub, I need you out of the house."

"I don't understand why I have to-"

"Keep arguing with me and I will make it a point to not buy you shit next grocery trip."

It's an empty threat, but he grunts nonetheless.

"...."

"That's what I thought."

When he finally gets home from his long and admittedly overstimulating day with the Wachowskis, he's ready to recharge in his room.

He teleports through the house door, sighing and rubbing at his temples as he moves to kick off his shoes, knowing that if he doesn't, you'd chastise him for not doing so.

Something about tracking dirt and rocket fuel into the carpet.

Whatever.

After trying to massage his brain through his fur, he opens his eyes up to see a colorful banner strung across the mantle.

'Happy birthday!' It screams, in its disgustingly neon color palette.

Shadow wracks his brain for any information of it being your birthday, he knows for a fact it isn't today. A friend you're throwing a party for? Well, that makes no sense, he knows very well you don't have many friends, especially any that you'd invite your house up for.

You're antisocial to a fault, not that he has absolutely any room to talk.

He hears you before he sees you, turning the corner into the living room, carrying some balloons in your hands. A stupid little party hat on your head.

"Shadow! What are you doing back so early?"

Kicking off the last shoe, he stands at his full height, staring into your eyes with a shrug.

"I wasn't aware I had a time."

"....fair enough, anyways, fuck, goddamnit. Stay here. Okay?"

And you're off, running into the kitchen, his ears flick at the slamming of the fridge door, followed by the cabinets being no doubt, hip nudging it shut way too forcefully.

He's awkwardly standing there still until you yell for him to come in.

Shadow has half a mind to ignore you and go into his room, but curiosity kills the cat, so he takes in a deep breath and makes his way to you.

He finds you sitting at the little kitchenette, a nervous smile spread across your lips as you gesture to the plate in front of you.

The smell is apparent, it's a coffee cupcake.

The hedgehog feels his ears flick again, staring down at the desert, then trailing his eyes back to meet your own. Wordlessly asking you what was going on.

"You've never told me your birthday, but it's been a year since you've been here, with me. After the whole trying to destroy the world shit. So since you won't tell me, we can kinda treat this as it?" You keep rambling, eyes flitting around the room, very clearly nervous as to his reaction.

Shadow doesn't say anything, or move even. Just staring down at the cupcake.

It looks amateurish, the frosting is lopsided, and the toppings on it look messy. But you made it for him. You even added a big black "1" candle in the center.

He doesn't know what to say, he can feel heat rush through his body, rushing to his ears and his face, and his fur feels constricting.

What the fuck.

What the actual fuck.

You go to open your mouth again, no doubt to apologize, but he beats you to it.

Moving to scoop up the treat, he gently sniffs it before taking a cautionary bite.

A beat passes between the two of you.

"...it's good."

Shadow does his best to ignore the smile that blooms across your face, not wanting to remember just how pretty he finds you like this.

Disgusting.

Shadow doesn't like touch, you know it, he knows it, and everyone knows it. He's threatened to break Sonic's wrist for even so much as patting the older hedgehog on the back. Baring his sharper fangs and hissing out to not touch him ever.

He avoids group hugs from Team Sonic, avoids Tom and Maddie like the plague, dodging every invitation to be a part of the family, it makes him sick to think about it.

With you, it's a little different.

You're not like them, you don't push him to change, you don't have a problem with how closed off he is, giving him space, never once pushing his very strict boundaries.

Something churns in his chest at the sound of you crying in your room, you probably think you're being incognito, holding a pillow to your face to drown out your sobs.

The internal debate is heavy, Shadow used to be able to comfort, to provide warmth, but he hasn't done so in years. Flashes of memories where he would comfort Maria on her bad health days, letting her run her fingers over his quills, to lend an ear to Gerald when he was frustrated about treatments not working.

It's not to say he is replacing you in their place, but it's scary. To open himself up like that again. He can feel his anxiety rising as he goes over the pros and cons of crossing this line. Eyes squeeze shut forcefully as he tells himself he doesn't care about you, that you're an adult, and you don't need to be babied.

His ears twitch when a pathetic little whimper drops from your lips, and his resolve cracks.

You don't look up when he makes his way in, too stuck in your bubble.

Startling a little when two, much stronger and larger hands grab at your own, peeling them away from the pillow. Your puffy bloodshot eyes looking at the hedgehog in front of you, his face set as it usually is, stoic. But his eyes are different, and his body language is different, when has he ever looked at you so softly? It's jarring.

Oh, he's moving closer. Okay. Weird.

"Shadow? Uh, I'm ok-"

You try and lie, it's a pitiful attempt. Your voice is scratchy and the tear tracks down your cheeks aren't helping your plight.

"No, you're not."

He shuts you down immediately, hands sliding up your arms to drag you into him.

The instant your bodies touch, you feel a fresh wave of tears well up in your eyes again.

Shadow has you resting against him, your head resting on him as he wraps himself loosely in your arms, giving you the space to move away if you so choose.

It's the first time he's allowed you to hug him, the first time he's ever initiated contact with someone in years. A fact that you both are well aware of.

A sob works its way up your throat, immediately tightening your grip on the hedgehog, curling into him as you shake.

Shadow doesn't say anything, doesn't make fun of you as snot pours from your nose, doesn't point out that your mascara and eyeliner are getting everywhere, just sits there and lets you cling onto him like he's your only lifeline.

He thinks that this is okay, he's strong enough for you both, and you don't need to worry when he's here.

[positively-mine]

You’re a girl?!

how the twst boys find out you’re a girl & their reactions

tags: afab, accidental touches

a/n: very much self indulgent BUT I COUNDNT STOP THINKING 🤔 what if because it was a boys school that they didn’t have skirts and basically Crowley just made you wear the uniform & you didn't tell anyone. Like epel and lilia’s case, they just thought you were a feminine guy (p.s I just started and I haven’t read any spoilers, except for some info from reddit so I’m very sorry if this has already been covered/ revealed) very gacha coded but PLSSSSS bear this brain rot with me

Some spoilers: until book 3

Series: ❤️ 🧡 🩵 💛 💜 💙 💚

Ace

This can go two ways. Firstly, is that he was chasing deuce or Grimm around and you happen to be walking around the corner. And BAM. You’re both on the ground with him on top of you, caging you into his arms. With both his hands conveniently placed on two lumps on your chest. It takes him a good 3 seconds of staring and squeezing before he realises what they are. What you are. Immediately feels embarrassed and starts screaming and scarmbling to get up.

Orrr he has gotten so used to coming into ramshackle house as he pleases and barges into your room without knocking. You’re both guys, so what’s the problem? Big mistake. Because you’re changing and literally only in your under garments. He’s all red and hot faced before he’s running out of your room and the house into the walkway to calm himself down.

The next time he faces you, he’s apologising while avoiding eye contact. He knows you’ve been through thick and thin together but it really did feel as though his whole world view was shattered when he found out. When he’s hanging out with you, he’s much more careful of where he places his hand and tries to look out for you. Definitely tried to act more manly as well, like when there's an overblot about to happen he either pushes you behind him or blocks you with his body..

Deuce

The way i see this going down is that he’s got his gangster mode on from whatever trouble he’s gotten himself into (or for convenience sake; the broken eggs in book 1). And he’s trying to push you away to stop you from stopping HIM from picking a fight. And something soft hits his forearm. He turns to look at you chest before he quickly realises. He’s screaming like a banshee while moving as far away as he can from you. The initial quarrel was forgotten and now his head is spinning. Thoughts like “what would my mother think if she knew what i did??”, “HES A GIRL?! I MEAN SHE” and so on. The walk back to the kitchen is so quiet that you could basically hear Grimm’s grumbling all the way from Heartsbyul kitchen. Once you arrived back at the kitchen, the guys are wondering why its so quiet between you two but pay no mind to it.

He gets awkward around you every once in a while when realises how close the two of you are but still tries to make up for it. Also becomes more diligent in trying to withhold his gangster personality. He doesn’t want to show anymore of his nasty side to you when he can show you how well he can treat you. Lest he wants to lose you to some other guys…

Trey

This one's tough. I don't know if he has sisters so let's just say that he has. He's one of the first few to realize that you're a girl, being the ever observant person that he is. He sees the pattern when you start getting a little bit more emotional than you are. Snapping at Adeuce and Grimm when you're usually much more patient, getting upset at small things or when he catches you tearing up when you talk about returning to your own world. Yeah he definitely knows.

So it's no surprise when you start to receive more baked treats from him and he's piling up all sorts of nutritious food onto your plate when you sit together. The others are wondering why he's doing that when you're capable of doing it yourself. It's only after several months of this treatment that you realize he knows that you're a girl. And when you confront him about it, "I can't help but want to take care of you when I see you".

Riddle

I like to think that you’re having tea together. He’s invited you to another one of their dorm’s many reason to have tea. Grimm and Ace are fighting for the last cookie and accidentally knock into you as you pick up your teacup. Splashing the liquid all over your dress shirt. Riddle is of course, furious. Rule #363, never spill your tea. Especially on a Tuesday. He’s screaming at them both when his eyes move to check if you’re okay. And that’s when he sees some blue peeking out at the wet area of your shirt. It takes him a quick second to march over to you and drape his blazer over you. “You should go back and change. Make sure to take a warm bath unless you want to catch a cold.” You nod at him confusedly. He watches as you make your way down the steps. He turns to the rest of the members with pink tinted cheeks. “Unfortunately this tea party will have to be cancelled,” and he quickly turns back to walk to his dorm before anyone can say anything.

The next time you see him, his cheeks are tinted pink and he’s trying very hard to not make eye contact with you. Overall, most of your relationship stays the same except that he’s inviting you over for tea more often. But this time its just the two of you. And his excuse? It changes every time. Sometimes its because he says he wants to talk about Adeuce and Grimm’s behaviour, and sometimes it’s because he wants your thoughts on which tea set is better.

Cater

For his case, it's not that he found out, rather he overheard it from a rowdy pair of first years and a cat. He was walking to his next class and about to turn around the corner when he overheard their not so very hushed conversation. His eyes widen very similarly to the saucers that they use for tea. He's kind of upset that he didn't find out himself, but learned it through someone else. Oh well. It's a win-win situation for him anyways.

So when he starts being much more clingier to you and offering to walk you to your classes do you start to get suspicious. He’s always coming over to sit together at your table and visiting you at Ramshackle more. Lounging on the beaten up sofa while you do whatever work you have to. Keeping you company for as long as he can. Or at least until Riddle calls him back or you kick him out. Whichever comes first.

Now imagine there’s a celebration of some sort and he’s excitedly running up the steps to Ramshackle to formally invite you as his date. “I’ve got a surprise for you,” he smiles cheekily. And from behind him he pulls out a beautiful dress. “Will you be my date?” No misunderstanding his gestures now.

reblogs appreciated!

[sankttealeaf]

gaze upon the stars

pairing ; gale x (cleric) gender neutral!reader

summary ; you make a comment that you've never really seen a meteor shower before, and Gale decides to correct that | AO3

other info ; you know who you are who wanted this3<3 enjoy just pure softness with everyones favourite wizard man<3 gale u are always a winner in my eyes. they star gaze, they kiss, that's it, it's so self indulgent!!

word count ; 4.8k

Your nightly routine usually involves one last check in with your companions before you retreat to your tent. It’s something you actually look forward to doing, gathering up everyone’s opinions on the day and where they think you should go next. As you finish up your conversation with Lae’zel, your attention shifts to where Gale’s tent is after hearing a small commotion coming from that direction. You approach hesitantly, seeing the wizard leave his tent with an arm full of books and a slightly befuddled look. When he sees you, his face lights up. 

“Just the person I wanted to see!” Gale grins, arms outstretched which causes the books to scatter on the floor. "I've been meaning to ask you a very important question." He holds up a book you vaguely recognise to be about the stars. “Are you busy? If you are, I highly suggest clearing those plans.”

“Hello to you too, Gale,” you laugh, taking the book from him and giving it a quick flick through. Lots of dense information about space and the cosmos and what to look for when searching the stars. It’s a little intense for a nightly read before bed so you hand it back to him. “What are you doing, exactly?”

"How are you with heights?" he asks, packing something away into a carriable box before giving you a grin. You have seen that look before - he has a plan in mind and is about to rope you into it. 

"How tall are we talking?" You glance at his packed bag and the other box at his feet, eyebrows raised in curiosity. He quickly places the book you just had into his bag as he stands.

He points eastward. "There's a hill not too far from here that overlooks the valley. It may make someone with a distaste for heights a bit queasy." He picks up his things, nodding in the direction with his head. "There's a meteor shower forecast for tonight and we’re going up there to get a good spot to watch it."

The strange box makes sense now, it houses his telescope. You give him a nod, stepping aside to give him space to walk past you. He begins to walk but stops himself, giving you a look. 

"You never answered my question."

You blink and give a shrug. "I'm alright with heights."

"Excellent!" He pushes the box with the telescope into your arms. "I've packed some food for us as well in case all that stargazing makes us hungry." 

You're a little confused but before you can question him he's walking off in the direction of the hill, leaving you holding his telescope with no other choice but to follow him. 

"Are you coming?" he asks, turning to give you a look of impatience. "The stars aren't going to wait."

"Normally people ask if they want to go stargazing before you hand them a telescope," you say as you rush to fall into step with him, not wanting to get left too far behind.

"You said you wanted to see this earlier."

You recall a conversation you had with Gale this morning where he told you about various meteor showers and you mentioned that you would love to see one. It's funny, you didn't think it would be so soon.

"This particular set of meteors that are due to fly over only occur once in every three hundred years! You're in for a treat tonight," he says through a grin, obviously excited for this little excursion out. As much as you would have liked an early night, watching the stars with Gale isn't a bad way to spend your evening either. It could be worse, after all. 

He summons four iridescent purple balls of light to follow you both, two around him and two around you as to help light the way. You can’t help but reach out to gently touch the glowing orb, feeling a small shock touch your fingertips. The magic feels different to your own, a spark of arcane energy crackles from the orb as you pull your hand back. You've never really thought about the difference between arcane and divine magic before - it's not something you ever needed to think about, but watching as the orbs float alongside you gets you wondering. There's been several times where you've seen Gale cast spells and for the most part they're exactly the same as how you use your magic. You've always wanted to sit down and ask him how he channels his arcane energy, to make notes on ways your magic was alike and ways they differ. There's never been a good time for it. 

The journey doesn't take too long, ten minutes at most. You fill the silence by talking to Gale about what's happened so far on this journey and where he thinks you all should go next. His plans align up with what you wanted to do which is always reassuring to hear. Sometimes you overthink what should come next and get too in your own head with each move you make, so it was comforting to know that you are on the same wavelength as someone else. 

The hill overlooks the entire valley and there’s definitely some height to it - you can see why Gale asked about having a fear of heights earlier. The dancing lights move ahead of you, illuminating a spot that seems to be the perfect place to stargaze at. Gale dismisses them with a wave of his hand and they move like lightning, dissipating into thin air. 

“Your magic is so pretty,” you say as you reach the spot the lights were just at. “It’s so… you.”

He looks taken aback by that comment, unsure of how to respond to it. “No one’s ever said that before. Usually it’s all about the power it holds but never about the aesthetic…”

“Well, they should say it more.” You give him a warm smile, a gentle tap on his arm as you pass him to place the box holding the telescope down. Despite how beautiful it looks it is certainly heavy and you are glad to be rid of the weight. 

A soft blanket is spread across the grass, the moonlight providing you both with enough light to be able to set up the space with ease. Gale begins to take out the telescope, reassembling it with a well practised ease that has you staring a little too long.

“Have you done much stargazing?” he asks, readjusting the positioning of the telescope. 

“I mean, I look at the stars often. Not in depth or anything,” you say with a glance up to the night sky.

He nods in thought, looking up at the twinkling lights and pointing. "Up there. Look." 

You take a step closer to him, eyeing the area of sky Gale is pointing towards. "What am I looking at?"

He moves to stand behind you and tilts your head more to the left, his touch ever so gentle. His hand lingers on your cheek as you spot what he has been pointing at - a small cluster of stars just below the moon, twinkling in sync with each other. It is beautiful.

"Woah," you say softly, watching the stars fade in and out. You count around seven of them, all huddled together in one close area, shining and sparkling in a way that you seem to understand. 

“Scholars reckon that cluster is due to burn out soon,” he says as he steps back. “In the next twenty years or so they might not even be in the sky anymore. A shame, really.”

“That’s… pretty sad, actually. They’ll just cease to exist?” You turn your gaze away from the stars, seeing him set up the telescope to point over at where you were looking. “We’ll never see them again?”

“Such is the life of a star. To exist, to die. Only ever looked upon long after you’re gone.” He peers through the scope, leaving you to sit with the words he just said.

In a strange way you can’t help but project onto that. All the things your God throws at you, hoping one day to be seen as a champion for them, only to be looked at in awe by other acolytes long after you’re here. Stars and martyrs seem to share similarities. You hope you wouldn't burn out before all that though. Everything you do has to mean something. It has to.

A gentle tap on your arm brings you out of your thoughts as Gale waves you over, retreating from the telescope to allow you to take a look through it. 

“Look here, this is something extraordinary,” he says as you approach, leaning down to peer through the scope. 

“Holy shit… A planet?” You pull away to look at him with wide eyes as he nods with matched enthusiasm. “You’re kidding. That’s an actual planet?”

“One of them!” He smiles as you spend a few moments looking at the planet normally and then through the telescope. “If I can remember where the others are located, I am more than happy to point them out to you. It may be the wrong time of year to see some of them clearly, though.”

“It’s so pretty. You can see so many colours through this,” you say in awe, a hand holding the telescope to steady yourself. It gets nudged out of place and suddenly you’re looking at a small set of stars - stars that you are certain you didn't see normally. “There’s so much out there… How do you remember where everything is?”

“Practice. Lots of it. Name me a star and I can most likely point it out to you,” he says, a hand on your shoulder as you stand up from the telescope. 

“I don’t really know many star names,” you admit sheepishly, but that doesn’t seem to bother him at all. 

“Even better!” He begins searching the sky for a moment, before pointing towards something. “See that?” The star he’s pointing towards is bright, probably the brightest in the sky. He’s standing behind you, arm outstretched in front so you can follow where he was pointing at.

“It’s bright. Wait - I know this. It shows the direction of true north, right?” You look at him, noticing how close your faces were in this position. You mentally send a prayer to your God that the moonlight wasn’t bright enough to show the blush spreading on your cheeks.

“Right on the mark.” He drops his hand, letting it rest on your other shoulder. You aren’t sure if you imagine it but you swear you feel a familiar spark as his hand rests on you, similar to what you felt when you touched the dancing light orb. 

“I think I can consider myself an expert at the night sky now. Best watch out, people are going to start asking me for knowledge on the stars instead of you,” you tease, leaning back to nudge into him with a playful smile.

“Alright then, my star expert. Where’s Jassa’s Dagger?” He takes a step back, a look on his face that you can’t work out. Your eyes turn to the stars and you search for something that looks anything like a dagger. The stars blend into one the longer you search and you give Gale a sigh, admitting defeat.

“Nothing up there looks like a dagger. If you point to some stars in a similar area and say it’s supposed to be a dagger, I will walk back to camp,” you say, though the threat is empty. 

He holds back a smile. “I was cheating a little. Jassa’s Dagger is only seen in winter in the north.”

“I can’t believe you would do that to me.” You roll your eyes at him playfully, retreating to sit down on the blanket. “C’mon, self-appointed star expert, show me the stars.” You pat the space next to you, eager to listen to him tell you everything he knows about the night sky. The two of you lie back on the blanket, the evening only beginning.

The moonlight is soft and gentle across Gale's face as he looks up at the sky, an arm behind his head as he points out different constellations to you with an eagerness that warms your heart. Seeing him in this light, in this moment where it's just the two of you, makes you want to be selfish and keep it like this. Would everyone miss you back at camp? Would they even notice? 

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" he says softly, a smile on his face as his eyes scan across the stars. You haven't been looking at what he was showing you, too enamoured by him to look away. The star's beauty is nothing compared to him, you thought. 

"Yeah, really beautiful," you reply, though you weren’t talking about the stars. 

He catches your gaze on him, and in this light you can see his cheeks flush red. "I thought we were stargazing… not Gale-gazing." 

You let out a laugh. "Can't it be both?"

There’s a moment where he considers something and he keeps his eyes on you for a little longer. “Only if it goes both ways.”

Now it’s your turn for your cheeks to warm up and you turn your gaze back to the stars, feeling his eyes on you as you pretend like everything is fine. It wasn’t, you can feel your heart racing and you hope that it wasn’t too noticeable.

A quiet settles over you both as you look at the night sky. Nothing but a slight breeze breaks the peace you have around you and you wish you could pause time to stay like this forever. It’s such a nice change of pace from running around all day, surviving by the skin of your teeth. You find yourself looking back at Gale once you are certain he’s no longer looking at you, and a smile crosses your face. He looks so at peace here. Another reason why you want to stay like this, you suppose. For so long you’ve both been dealt problems after problems and to finally carve out a moment’s peace? You want to be selfish. You feel like you deserve to be selfish right now.

He catches you staring again and moves his arm, an invitation for you to move closer to him if you want. It’s something you accept almost immediately, resting your head on his chest with a soft sigh of content. There’s only been a handful of times where you had an excuse to be this close to Gale and you were going to savour every moment of this. He’s warm, and in this proximity you can smell the faintest hint of old books, like you’ve just stepped foot in a library. It’s comforting and you ease yourself into his arms, gazing back up at the sky.

Now that you are both in the same space, he begins to point out specific stars and constellations to you, talking softly in detail about each and every one of them. His voice is calming; you could quite easily fall asleep to the sound of him. Maybe once all of this was over you could curl up in his arms with a good book with no worries except what to read afterwards. A quaint and quiet life away from tadpoles and illithids and sleeping in the middle of nature. You couldn’t help but feel a little silly for imagining a life with Gale once the tadpole is removed, having no idea if he even felt the same way towards you. You’re reminded that he’s quite literally holding you in his arms right now and took you stargazing because you brought it up earlier today. Perhaps it isn’t as one sided as you thought.

As you gaze up at the sky, looking at each star Gale points at that makes up a constellation, your eyes are suddenly drawn to some movement further west. Darting across the sky in a beam of light is what you only assume is a meteor. 

“I just saw something go across the sky,” you say quickly, tapping him in excitement and pointing in the direction of where the meteor flew by. Another moves across the sky and you grin widely, sitting up to get a better look. Gale follows, arm behind you and shoulder touching yours. He lets out a small gasp when another meteor is seen.

“Incredible! I wasn’t expecting them to be seen until later on,” he admits and you thank the stars for their early arrival.

Seeing each meteor race across the sky, sometimes multiple at a time, is wondrous. It amazes you how these things are possible and how this is the first time you were properly paying attention to it. So much of your nights were staring blankly at the sky and waiting for sleep to come but this was so different. You are actually enjoying it.

After a rather particularly dazzling set of stars shoot across the sky you turn to Gale to see his reaction but you’re met with his soft gaze on you instead.

“Hey… I thought we were stargazing,” you say quietly with a grin, ignoring how you are certain you are blushing. It’s fine when you were the one looking at him but to be on the receiving end makes you feel very flustered.

He doesn’t reply for a beat, instead moving a hand to brush a lock of your hair behind your ear ever so delicately. “I’ve seen a million stars, but nothing as beautiful as how you look right now.”

It is unexpected to the point where you have to remind yourself to breathe. Gale's hand rests on your cheek and you find yourself leaning into the touch. 

"Three hundred years is a long time to wait for the next meteor shower," you whisper, hand coming up to rest atop of his. 

"The stars can wait," he replies. 

You can't help but laugh softly. "That's not what you said earlier." 

He smiles in response and goes to reply, but his eyes are drawn upwards and drops his hand from your cheek. You’re met with the cool night air again and cannot help but miss his touch already. 

Above you the sky lights up with many trails of stars shooting across the space. When one disappears another takes its place and if your mind wasn’t so full of thoughts you would think of some poetic line about people and burning out and divinity. But right now all you could think about was Gale. As you look back across at him, you get the sense that he’s equally as distracted.

You reach for him, hand resting on his chest as the thought of how willing he was to sacrifice himself for everything crosses your mind. A frown forms on your face at that, the idea that things could be so very different if you had let him. 

“I’m glad you’re still here,” you whisper. Part of you hopes it was quiet enough that he didn't hear it but when his eyes widen ever so slightly at your comment you wish you had said it louder, to tell the Gods that they were not going to take the people you care about from you that easily.

“I’m glad, too,” he replies, his hand brushing against yours for a second. “As much as my sacrifice would help, I would miss these little moments… with you.” He takes your hand, pressing a soft kiss against your knuckles. The gesture is unexpected yet he does it so gently you swear your heart misses a beat. 

It’s like time freezes, as Gale looks up at you with a small smile. You brush your hand against his cheek, finding yourself leaning closer to him. There’s a mix of emotions you are feeling as the space between you both grows smaller - nerves and excitement course through your veins. 

“Is this alright?” he whispers as you give him a nod in response, a smile spreading across your face.

The kiss is gentle, short but sweet yet his touch lingers on you in a similar way to how your magic lingers after casting. It’s addictive and you cannot help but want more.

After living your life for so long following the demands and pressure of your deity, to allow yourself to indulge in such mortal desires is something you have never considered before. 

There’s still a hint of nervousness in the air, a hesitancy that echoes around the both of you. For so long the divine have played roles in both of your lives and now, in this space, it was just the two of you. No Gods, no outside opinions, just you and Gale and the millions of stars shining down upon you.

You didn't need the divine to tell you what to do or how to feel - you were allowing yourself this moment of peace in the middle of chaos. 

It's like a thousand stars are inside of you, twinkling and burning brightly as he reaches for you, meeting you for another kiss. His arms wrap around you and you feel the nerves melt away. Your hands tangle in his hair as he pulls you closer, leaning back onto the blanket. A soft laugh escapes your lips as you adjust to the new position, his lips meeting yours before they could be apart for too long. The kiss turns from gentle and shy to something deeper, only growing with each touch and movement. It’s like nothing you could imagine and all you could think of was wanting more.

From  the forest behind you a deep and sudden hoot spooks you both, an unexpected noise in the serene quiet you have carved out. A wave of divine energy leaves your hand on instinct, a guiding bolt scorching one of the nearby trees. The smell of burnt wood fills your nose as the flap of wings signals to you that the owl flies off, not wanting to be hit.

“You certainly showed that tree,” Gale says with a small laugh, hands resting on your waist as you turn back to him, embarrassed. 

“I guess I’m slightly on edge still,” you reply, the warmth of your magic still coating your hands. Perhaps you overreacted to that. “Though, if anyone is sneaking up on us I think I scared them away.”

Gale sits up and draws a sigil in the air, bringing back the dancing lights. He sends them away, casting light around the forest to make sure no one is sneaking up on you. When the lights show nothing but trees you relax.

“Perhaps it’s time we call it a night?” he suggests. “The last thing we need is for one of our fellow companions to come searching for us and you scorch them into a crisp.”

“You’re right.” You move back to give him some space, turning your gaze back up to the sky. “Who knew the stars could be so much fun?”

He laughs, giving you a look that suggests that he knows it wasn’t just the stargazing you enjoyed. “I’m more than happy to lend you books on the stars if you’re enjoying yourself that much.”

“Only if you read it to me. I quite like the sound of your voice.” You note the blush on his cheeks when you say that, and he’s quick to turn his back to you to start packing everything away.

The dancing lights return to your little area, the purple orbs of light flickering around you as Gale begins to pack away the telescope. You sit, fingers grazing across one of the orbs with a curious intent. A tiny shock of energy responds to your touch and Gale turns to look at you with a frown.

“Everything alright?” he asks as you give a nod, moving your hand away from the light that floats by you. He looks from the orb to you and smiles. “You know I can feel when you interact with them.”

“You can?” You gently poke the light and he laughs, taking a seat opposite you.

“It’s more like I can sense when things are interacting with it. Good for things like a mage hand or bigger spells, useless for others,” he explains and you nod, moving the light away from your face so you don't blind yourself with it. “I assume you have a similar thing with your magic?”

You give him a shrug, never having thought of that. “I’m not really sure. Your magic feels a lot different to mine, which makes sense, I suppose… being that mine’s divine in nature.”

He looks at you curiously, head tilted to the side. “What does it feel like?”

“It feels like lightning, but smaller. Every time I touch the lights there’s a crackle of energy,” you explain, hand brushing over one of the orbs that is near you. “It’s like I’m standing outside just before a storm… everything’s on edge and there’s a sense of static in the air.”

Gale nods as you speak, purple light casting over the both of you as the dancing lights rotate around. He looks pretty in the light and you want to capture the sight of him in your mind forever.

“And what does my magic feel like? You’ve certainly experienced enough of it to know.” You grin. There’s been many times where you would be at Gale’s side to heal him after a rough round of combat. No matter how many times you told him to keep back he seemed to enjoy rushing in and obliterating anything that came towards him.

“Warm. It reminds me of home if I’m being completely honest. I feel safe,” he says softly and you weren’t expecting that. “Not to play favourites but I prefer the feel of your magic than Shadowheart’s. Hers is cold, slightly suffocating in a unusual way. Yours is like… a warm embrace from someone you love.”

You immediately feel that comment going to your head and even though you wouldn't dare tell Shadowheart that, it makes you feel… something. It is hard to pinpoint the exact feeling but you know that you were going to think about that for a long while now.

Safe. The word repeats around your head and you feel your chest well with warmth at the fact that Gale felt safe around you and your magic. The divine works in mysterious ways and they seem to have blessed you with this moment. It made all the times you’ve healed him worth it.

Once everything is packed away, you begin the walk back towards camp hand in hand. It’s nice, though the closer you get back to the others you can’t help but grow nervous. The quiet away from everyone has been nice and it’s a shame it was over. As much as you enjoy the company of everyone else, sometimes they could get a bit much. You give Gale a sad look as you let go of his hand, but he just nods in understanding. This was new. You didn't want to rush anything yet.

Scratch runs up to you both as you enter camp and you’re quick to give him as many scratches as possible to keep him from barking and waking everyone up. Not that it mattered much, but you preferred your late night excursion out with Gale to not become the camp’s latest gossip. You walk back to Gale’s tent, Scratch following at your heel.

“This was fun,” you say, setting down the telescope case. “We should do it again.”

Gale gives you a sly smile. “The stargazing? Or the…” he pauses, taking a quick glance around the other tents to make sure no one else was awake. 

You’re quick to finish off his sentence. “Why not both?”

“I suppose you’re right. It was quite fun, even if it does feel a little juvenile to sneak away for a secret rendezvous of sorts.” 

“Would you prefer it if everyone knew? We can always announce it loudly next time,” you say with a laugh as he’s quick to shake his head.

“Gods no. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps in the future? If this is a thing we are to keep doing… I do rather enjoy your company, you know.”

“So do I.” You look behind you, and when you are certain the coast is clear, press a soft kiss to his cheek. 

As you start to take a step back, he catches your lips in a kiss. It’s over quicker than you would have wanted but you were both playing a dangerous game doing this so out in the open. But everyone was asleep, surely stealing kisses from him would be fine?

Against what your mind is telling you to do, you put space between you both. “Goodnight, Gale.”

“Goodnight,” he replies with a warm smile, watching you leave for a beat before heading into his own tent to hide how red his face was.

You retreat back to your own tent for the night, Scratch following behind you. Before you head inside to rest, you look back through the treeline up at the stars and smile. Maybe stargazing was more fun than you originally thought.

[nocturnalfandomartist]

hi !! its nice to meet you, im bee!! your art is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!! random icebreaker, who's your fav character to draw? 💛

Okay, I've been itching to answer this! Sorry for the wait, I've been super busy but I wanted to answer this one with some doodles!

It's a bit hard to decide, but spoiler alert: it's Zelda. Just all of the Zeldas; it rotates between them often! I especially enjoy designing my own versions (@loz-untold-myths), but one I've had the most fun (and difficulty) drawing lately has been my design for the ancient princess who fought the first Calamity! I headcanon her to be Rauru and Sonia's daughter.

Here's some doodles of her regarding her design's inspirations! ^^ I've been trying to work on her consistency. Thanks so much for the ask and your kind words! It means a whole lot!!! ♡

(Am I using this as an excuse to draw her a bunch and differentiate her from her mother? Maybe a little bit. Understandably, she keeps getting tagged as Queen Sonia...).

More art of her since the doodles sort of don't show the whole design:

Some more info about this design if you're curious! ✦

Hair

▪︎Zelda's hair is by far the most complicated piece despite it not appearing such.

▪︎Her little hair spikes at the back are exaggerated to resemble ALttP Zelda's. :)

▪︎Her hair is mostly the same as Rauru's, even down to the under highlights, but the blonde and white are inverted to resemble her mother's hair.

▪︎Zelda has yet another "under" layer of her hair, made up of white thinner hair that goes from the sides of her head and onto the back/top of her ears. (A small note: Zelda's ears are just as articulate as Rauru's as well, making for a very expressive princess).

Body

▪︎Zelda is given her mother's skin tone, but she has BotW Zelda's body type, face shape, and eye shape (but Sonia's eyelashes).

▪︎Zelda has body paint with patterns of the Light Dragon and Sheikah symbols. She has facepaint more like her aunt Mineru's, highlighting her third eye that resembles the Light Dragon's.

▪︎Zelda's nails are sharp, almost like claws. They are made of the same denser material that Zonai claws are made of; being just as sharp and hard to break.

Clothes

▪︎ Silent Princesses, which have begun to bloom in the wild thanks to the Light Dragon's creation, are woven into her hair.

▪︎The design on her banner is the same shape as the banner on BotW Zelda's royal gown.

▪︎The robes combine the shapes of both of BotW/TotK Zelda's prayer dresses.

▪︎The bracelets are slightly altered versions of BotW Zelda's. The belt is a blockier version of the one in BotW Zelda's robes to replicate the shape/structure of Sonia and TotK Zelda's ornamentation. She has lotus earrings like Mineru and Sonia.

▪︎ She has one arm where the golden bracelet continues into other accessories like the Zonai's, paired with a long blue sleeve underneath.

She has more outfits than this, even a Sheik personality, but these doodles alone somehow took almost seven hours. ^^" If you've read this far, thanks for indulging in my rambling!!

༺

REBLOGGING IS ENCOURAGED, BUT DO NOT REPOST.

[vinestaffery]

if I could request something I’d love hc’s on darkheart it’s completely fine if not though I loved ur illumina ones and thought you might be willing to do darkheart:)!

-🩶

darkheart x gender-neutral reader headcanons

content: slight jealousy themes; worshipping elements; romantic headcanons; established relationship; mentions of insecurity of body

authors note: i had actually started this writing a while back, but lost the draft after my computer shut down which caused a major meltdown and pause for me when writing. so sorry for the wait, tried retrieving as much info about the old writing before!

pulling darkheart was something that was completely off of your list. it was strange how such a man could fall for someone like you, but it didn't seem to affect you as much. he was just the same as you, just a few more advancements and such. but, that didn't stop you from loving each and every bit about him. he was so lovable, you couldn't take anyone else other then him repeatedly.

very poetic, but that type of corny poetic, the one where he'd try fluster you but it'd leave you embarrassed and giggling, those are the types of flirts he loves doing around you. hearing your laugh and such just motivates him everyday. he couldn't help but feel proud of himself whenever he got that one smile or laugh out of you just for him being him.

he would always blabber about you to the other deities, sometimes even pissing them off because of how much he just talked about you!! oh he was overjoyed to have you as a partner, i mean, who wouldn't?

he NEVER struggled with affection, unless he wasn't in the certain mood to take it in. but, when hes not in an angry and a type of mood where you'd back off but still cherish his presence, he is the biggest cuddle bear possible. he picks you up, swings you around before embracing you. he were to be acting as if he hasn't seen you after a war! but, it always felt nice to feel him wrap his arms around him and question about your day.

always a gifter, specifically a strange gifter, but you love the little things he sees you in. sometimes, he'd bring you glass-stones or shiny material, it reminded you of a crow! he'd always deliver them by the door whenever he can or window, surprising you with the strangest of gifts. he found it ever so enchanting to see just figments of you in every little tiny thing, settling his interest only on delivering it to you. you have even dedicated this small thing of his to a whole array of ornaments! you just loved his little knick knacks and his lovable, dumb head.

sometimes, you'd play around with him and give him some sort of worshipping-type feeling. it never failed him to fluster or embarrass him, but it all for jokes (nothing sexual) that he tends to do with you! sometimes, he'd worship you in a lovable way, sometimes making the smallest of gestures. but, he does this MOSTLY whenever your insecure of yourself.

you have a tummy? who cares! he loves that shit. you got a small chest and believe you don't represent too much? don't you dare say that! your more then anything! your struggling with some identity issues and crisis's? dont worry, he'll be right there to tell you its completely okay, and that he sees you for who you are. he is so accepting and he'll take that to the grave!

sometimes, he struggles to get some sleep. for some guy, he really doesn't know how sleeping with someone works. sometimes, you can feel his legs tangle with yours, but he'd shy away and apologise. you'd end up tangling yours with his. sometimes, his wings may be the worst case for him, but that doesn't stop you from trying your best to help out.

this guy really likes weight ontop of him (self indulgence here, apologies!!!), so please do whatever you can to give him that weight. you want to just lay on him? go right ahead! he'd love that shit. he'll wrap his arm around you and just hold you close.

a great cook, but also a goofster with it too. sometimes, he'll make the cooking look a bittt funky, but that doesn't stop him from making the gourmet dishes. but, sometimes, he may make something thats... a bit strange. not to recall, that one kitchen incident you both had once!

i know i said this with illumina's one, but he would also do the one where he'd put his chin on your head and relax. he does this mostly to peeve off other robloxians that may interact with you. he doesn't do this because he's jealous (he does) but mostly to tell everyone that YOU are HIS! you are his for keeping!

corny nicknames!!! sometimes you call him your goober and he calls you his little shmoopy. he is always keen on other nicknames, but shmoopy is such a heart resonator for you and him. sometimes, he says it in public and it's the only way to catch your attention.

i hope these were good enough!! i was a bit tired but otherwise, i hope you enjoyed these..!!

[my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction]

Deal Breaker

Trans!Santiago Garcia X GN!Reader • Rating: PG  Masterlist• ao3• want to be tagged? • ko-fi • request info •

A/N: Written for @romanarose's Oscar Issac/Pedro Pascal Fan Art and Fiction Pride Event 2024! (Super late, but this is for the 'coming out' theme, thank you for letting me post it so late💚) This is super self-indulgent and just like *dreamy sigh* what would be the nicest reaction someone would have to someone else telling them they're trans.

Summary: Santi has something to tell you.

Warnings: overuse of italics, swearing, Santi being anxious, typos, please let me know if I've missed a warning.

Word Count: 1014

Santi paced back and forth outside of your house, practically wearing a groove into the pavement. (And trying not to walk into the lamp post again.) 

He’d been there for over ten minutes, trying his best to work up enough nerve to knock on your door. 

You’d been on one date, a chill one. Just a drink and cake at a little coffee shop he’d recommended. (Or, more correctly, Will had recommended and Santi had taken credit for.) You’d both ended up staying there talking for almost four hours. 

You've been messaging everyday, joking, sending voice notes, videos and pictures. Everything was going great. He liked you. A lot. 

And now he was going to fuck it all up. 

“Hi, just wanted to let you know…” He muttered under his breath, repeating what he was going to say, what he needed to say. “I just thought you should know… you know… before this gets any further, not that things have to get further, I mean… I want to say I like you and I’m… I’m…” 

“Santi?” 

He jumps, visibly jumps, his eyes wide like a rabbit startled by headlights. 

You find it quite endearing the way he looks at you, a bright panic. You’d just been grabbing some last minute bits and pieces and your local corner shop for the meal you were making together tonight. 

“Trans!” Santi says a little too loud. 

“What?” 

“Erm…”

“Trains?” 

“No.” 

“What did you say?”

He pauses, biting his bottom lip. Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck. “Trans.” He says very softly, closing his eyes for a second. This was not how it was meant to go. “I’m… I wanted to tell you before… I really like you and… you should know… I’m, I’m trans. I’m a trans man.” 

He looks up at you, ready to see disgust. Rejection. 

Instead you smile warmly and nod. “Okay, thank you for telling me.” You point to your front door, “you wanna go inside?” 

He pauses, staring at you for a long moment as his brain tries to and two and two together but keeps getting minus seven. “I… erm… inside?” 

“For the food, the meal date? We were gonna cook together?” You say politely, mistaking his confusion.

“You, you still want to… go out with me?” He doesn’t mean for the words to come out so softly, so small. 

It’s your turn to pause and truly absorb what he said. Your eyes widening as realisation dawns. “Oh, of course! Santi, fuck, sorry,” you put you hand on his arm and squeeze reassuringly. “It’s not a problem for me that you're trans, no problem at all. Doesn’t affect anything. I really like you too.” 

He gives you a brilliant smile, all of his nervous energy outpouring as relief washes over. 

He nods and walks with you as you both move towards the door, taking your shopping bag for you as you fish out your keys. 

“Do you, erm,” he pauses for a second to take off his shoes as you do the same, “do you have any… questions?” 

You turn away just to shut the door before you look back at him. “Questions?” 

“Yeah… about the trans stuff.” He shakes his head, trying to sound more assertive. Fuck, being shot at was always easier than this. “I mean, me being trans.” 

“Do you usually get questions?” 

He nods. 

You pause, thinking it over for a second. “Do you want me to ask questions?” You say sincerely. 

He smiles and rubs the back of his head. “You know, no one's ever asked that before.” 

You smile back.

“Erm, yeah, yeah,” he nods, “questions would be good actually. Normal.” 

You laugh good naturedly, “kay,” you make your way to the kitchen, pointing out the different rooms as you go. 

“Your house is really nice.” 

“Thank you.” 

“And thank you for, well, being so… for being normal about how I blurted it out outside, usually I’m a bit more together.” He says, a touch of bashfulness in his tone. 

“Are people usually not normal? Wait, that’s a numb as fuck question.”

Santi laughs as you pull a face. “A lot of people are very normal about it,” he smiles, “but I don’t tell a lot of people.” 

You nod as you start to unpack your bag, Santi jumps in to help. “So, when did you transition?” 

“Well,” he takes a deep breath. “I know it’s a cliche but I kind of always knew, you know?” 

“Not cliche, just a common experience.” You smile and nudge your shoulder into his. 

He grins. “Started ‘dressing like a boy’ when I was 15, but it wasn’t until I was 18 and out of the house that I changed my name and stuff.” 

You nod. 

“Been on T for a long time now. Managed to get top surgery when I was 24.” He pauses, “sorry, I’m word vomiting all over the place here and-”

“Hey,” you smile warmly, taking his hands, there’s a slight tremor to them. You rub your fingers over his skin reassuringly. “It’s good, great. Not oversharing, thank you for wanting to share with me.” 

He returned the expression a little shyly, “thanks, I just…” He screws up his eyes and sighs, “need to overshare one more thing.” 

“Go ahead.” You give his hands a soft squeeze.

“I’m, I haven’t had bottom surgery.” He swallows, keeping his eyes closed, “I don’t know if that’s a deal breaker for you, I understand if it is.” 

You lean forward and kiss his cheek. “Not a problem.” 

He opens his eyes quickly, looking at you like you painted every pink sunset cloud in the sky, before he presses a soft, sweet kiss to your lips. “Thank you.” He mutters, stroking your cheek and kissing you again. 

He slowly steps closer, pressing flush against you and snaking his right hand to rest on your hip, giving him all the leverage he needs to gently press you back against the counter top and slip his tongue into your mouth. 

It is a long time before the half unpacked groceries are remembered. 

Thank you for reading!

@pleasurebuttonwrites @raven-rk @campingwiththecharmings @alexxavicry @whatthefishh

@romanarose @strangerhands @saturn-rings-writes @lonelyisamyw-0love @queerponcho

@steven-grants-world  @eyelessfaces @angel-of-the-moons @minigirl87 @lunar-ghoulie

@silvernight-m @autismsupermusicalassassin @apesarecuul @reallyrallyauthor @basicalyrandom

@alwaysmicado @mangoslushcrush @marc-spectorr @soft-girl-musings  @spxctorsslxt

@novarosewood

If you'd like to be taken off the tag list please let me know here

[forestshadow-wolf]

This is for @rainerestored because reasons (my DMs are open if you want)

Soap and ghost come out of a mission that went bad. Like every thing that could go wrong, went wrong. Intel was shite, there were too many enemies, the were WAY under prepared. They'd had to run and hide at a safehouse until exfil. And the worst thing about it? The "package" (some crimelord's son in exchange for info) wasn't even there.

Intel said it was a small compound, 1 building, 3 floors, 12 guards. That means 6 guards each, averaging 2 per floor per person, or 4 on each floor for both of them combined. They're capable, plus there were good vantage point to snipe from, before the even set foot in the building. Easy enough, right? WRONG

Intel laughs in their face with its, 3 dozen extra soldiers. To say that complicates things would be an accurate statement. It's not impossible, they've done it before, but they weren't exactly armed for it...

To look at the silver lining, and they are trying to find the silver lining, clearing the area was a good workout at least... also the target wasn't even there.

Now you're probably thinking, well why did they have to retreat to a safehouse? Well because there were 3 dozen soldier in the base when they entered, and an extra 12 soldier arrived as they were leaving, and they were out of ammo. Which is oh so great for them...

a little worse for where, but relatively unscathed. The "safehouse" (if it can even be called that) was a rickety shack with uneven walls and boarded up windows... man, fuck the military. Now they sit on the cold dirt ground, leaning against each other, and contemplating their life choices.

They both almost died, and yet neither of them are hurt, how in the hell did they get here. Well- the do know, just... you get it.

"Lets get married."

"What?"

It was ghost who broke the silence first. Which in and of itself isn't that surprising. It's what he said that was.

Why? Because ghost had already made it know that while he did love soap, with all he had, it was just that "married" life never fit him. And soap was always okay with that, he didn't need to be married to ghost, as long as he had him, he was happy.

"Lets. Get. Married."

"I thought- "

"I changed my mind. I wanna get married. To you."

It was said kinda rushed. Like it was urgent. Or like ghost was trying not to panic.

"Okay"

"Okay"

Ghost seemed to relax just a tiny bit after that.

"We'll need an ordained minister. And at least one witness." He said.

"I'll call up my sister when we get out of here. She can do it. And we'll have price and Gaz watch. Or we can invite the whole base and have a big party." Soap was quick to problem solve.

He wasn't sure what exactly brought this upon ghost, he had his suspicions, but he didn't need to know. All he needed was to be with ghost, and for them to be happy.

"I want a big party. But I want it soon, so nothing extravagant."

"We can do it on base, invite whoever wants to come. It'll be a week from today. Maybe Price cam pull some strings for a honeymoon."

"Yeah. Definitely. He can call it a training exercise. He's send us to the beach. Maui or Hawaii, maybe."

Soap nodded along.

"But you hate the beach."

"But you love it." Ghost said, his smile shining through in his voice.

"We don't have rings..."

"We'll use paper rings. One of the privates used to blacksmith, I think, private Weller. We can commission his to make us some."

"We can't wear them on the field." Soap fretted

"We'll put them on our tags. So they close.to our heart." Ghost soothed.

It almost seemed like this wasn't the first time he'd though about this. What changed? Soap didn't know, but something did, and it seemed like it scared ghost, and this was his way of dealing with it. Like maybe he thought they didn't have enough time to be together. Soap would indulge him.

[whiskeythefishski]

hi i am very curious about everyone’s roommate situations in ur college au and honestly just any other cool n random bits of info you have bc im so excited for it lol

i actually finally watched Nerdy Prudes Must Die(its been in my ‘watch later’ playlist on youtube) because of this au!! im personally craving more spommy content in general but im also a sucker for like college/highschool aus bc im currently that age and ig its something i can actually imagine/understand 😁😁

Omg hello! I'm so, SO glad to hear that you're enjoying this story so much! It's easily the most self indulgent thing I've ever written, so the fact that other people are resonating with it means a lot! Also - congrats on finishing NPMD! I loved it so much (if you couldn't tell, haha), I hope you did too! And don't worry - this AU has plenty of Spommy moments coming up! :D

Roommate situations:

Trevor has a roommate, but they aren't a character in the story so I haven't thought about who they are too much. They share a traditional college double. Trevor has the top bunk. He just transferred in for the spring semester, so he hasn't made many friends yet.

Arasha, Angela, and Chanse have a little college apartment with a common room and a shared bathroom. Arasha and Angela share a room and Chanse has his own.

Erin and Heidi share a double.

Spencer and Alex Tran share a double. Tommy and Kiana both have singles in the same hallway/floor as Spencer and Alex.

Kimmy and Jackie live together off-campus. They rent a small 2-bedroom house cheaply from Kimmy's aunt.

All of the seniors in the story - Shayne, Courtney, Damien, Olivia, and Keith - share a college apartment with a common room and a full kitchen. Shayne and Damien share a room, Court and Olivia share a room, and Keith has his own room.

Amanda and Sarah weren't roommates when they were in school, but they were friends and probably had a lot of sleepovers.

And finally, when Ian and Anthony were in school, they were roommates all four years! (oh my god, they were roommates)

Other tidbits:

Before he transferred, Trev did a year at a culinary school. He also went to a high school that offered a culinary program.

Trevor is shown on his phone a lot in this AU because he's texting his friends from his old school. One of them is Josh (as in Mythical Chef Josh), who was childhood friends with Shayne. Josh asked Shayne to look out for Trevor, and Shayne is happy to do so!

Arasha skipped a grade in elementary school, so even though she's a sophomore, she's about Trevor's age.

On the other hand, Spencer and Damien both took a gap year, so they're a little older than their counterparts in the same year.

Chanse, Angela, and Arasha have weekly wine and movie nights, where each of them brings a bottle of wine to try and they pick a show or movie to watch in their PJs.

Kimmy and Jackie have parties fairly frequently, probably about once a month. I think nearly everyone in the cast has probably spent the night there at least once.

Spencer is one of the only ones with a car on campus, so he often finds himself carting his friends to the grocery store, pharmacy, etc. Sometimes he and Tommy go on late night drives when Tommy's feeling overwhelmed.

That's all I've got for now! In the next few chapters there will be POVs from more cast members, so we'll get to see into their heads a little more :) I hope you enjoy! And thank you so much for the ask! :D

[oonajaeadira]

My sweet Adira, how much I appreciate you.

I have a serious question for you and I must know. What do you think would happen if you got stuck in an elevator with Ezra for 8 hours. How do you think he would react, how would things unravel and how would you react? I need to know what you see happening in this tiny little room.

Thank you for indulging me :)

Love, me.

Hello, beauty. Sorry for the delay on this. I'm in draggy-foots mode.

Eight hours???? That's a whole lot of time. Oh geez. Oh golly. Oh blushing.

I suppose it would depend on the elevator--what kind of building and where are we going? Which one of us would find it the bigger inconvenience?

This is the first scenario that comes to mind.

Modern day. Apartment building. We live on different floors but we've seen each other here and there, we've both been living there for more than a year or two.

He's just getting home, but I'm on my way out to dinner with a friend and shit I forgot something and since the elevator's open on the lobby floor, I'll take it rather than the stairs. Then somewhere before we reach one of our floors, there's a jolt and the whole thing stops. There's a moment of waiting for it to go again, a push of the buttons--they don't light up. I'm the one swearing under my breath and pushing the call button--also not working. So then I get out my phone and try to call the front desk...and remember that the phone there works on electricity and there's no answer. So the building must be out.

Let's say this is an elevator where one side is a window that looks out at the city. That gives us some light.

Ezra's the one that tries to make small talk about how this is an interesting conundrum and I'm polite because he's always been polite, but I'm watching my phone, conscious of the time and the friend I'm meeting....if I call now, I can keep them from even leaving their house and getting bogged down in traffic. So I do that, tell them the situation, ask them to hold on for info.

There's a scraping noise and the building manager's voice echos up the shaft, asking if we're okay and I shout back that we are, that there are two of us in here, and they answer back that there's a city-wide outage and the generator's broken and we might be there a while.

And sure enough, outside the window we can see a few street corners--all the stoplights are dark.

I curse and freak out a bit. Because that's what I do when my plans change last minute and I'll calm down in five minutes but I just need to have my feelings first.

Meantime, Ezra's just leaning against the wall, watching me. Maybe he's got a bag of groceries he sets down so he can get to his phone in his pocket. The plastic folds and a can rolls out, but he doesn't pay it much mind, just absently stops it with a foot so he can look at his phone.

As I'm thinking about how he manages so easily with one arm, he passes his phone to me, tells me to put in my number, because we're gonna be here a while and we're about to become good friends.

I recognize this as his way of making me not feel threatened, that the more access I have to some personal information the more ammo I have against him if he were to be dangerous.

"I'm not dangerous," he says, then nods to his lack of a right arm, "just to myself."

So begins the first hour where I learn where he's coming back from, about what he does for a job, how he lost his arm and gained a teenager, he gives me his phone again, encourages me to scroll through pictures of a blonde girl I've seen coming and going from the building. I notice that one of the cans that escaped from his bag is a can of cat food and I get to scroll again, laughing at more pictures of Cee and a little scrub of a kitten.

He stands a little closer to me than I'd usually be comfortable as he points out the whos and whats of the photos, but I can also tell by his voice and vernacular that he means nothing by it, he's just got a very odd yet very easy way about him and it's easy for him to treat everyone as a potential friend.

The second hour is when I find myself telling him my whole story and there's something about him I never noticed before--how intently he listens. Not just listens, but absorbs.

By the third hour, we've both had calls--me from my friend, him to Cee--assuring everyone we're fine. The manager keeps checking on us and we try to keep the irritation out of our voices and offer solutions. Can I wiggle out of a door somewhere in the ceiling? That's only in movies, the manager says. Which is how we get on the topic of films and books and now we're sitting on the floor of the elevator, sharing a bag of chips from his grocery bag. It's not my favorite flavor, but I'm missing dinner and he insists and so I indulge. He asks what my favorite flavor is and he smiles as if this is funny to him, agrees that it is a mighty fine choice.

He talks a lot. I don't mind. His voice is pretty.

Hour five is games. Guessing games mainly. We learn more about each other's lives and likes.

It's in the fifth hour that the sun starts setting and it's getting dark. And cold. This is the hour we think we'll be saved because there's pounding somewhere above us. And after a while I just try to tune out the clanging and end up fixating on the fact that I should have grabbed a heavier sweater.

We've been told the emergency crews have been called and every time we hear and see sirens we hope they're for us, but they never are. Maybe I'm exponentially more hopeful every time and maybe I'm even more disappointed every time. And maybe he notices this.

Hour six one of us dozes, maybe both. Sleepy questions, light laughter. My phone battery is dying so I try not to use it except to check the time and a quick refresh of the news page to see what's going on out there. There are headlights and some folks are out with flashlights. Candles in windows. Not much more.

It's here that Ezra has a thoughtful look on his face, what I can see of it in the dim light from the moon. He keeps opening his mouth to speak and closing it again without words, which I've come to realize is unusual for him. When I ask if he's alright, he takes a moment formulating what he's about to say.

He tells me that he can see I'm cold and that he has heat enough to spare, but that it's been a long spell since he's held anyone or been held by anyone that he's not sure if he remembers how and therefore doesn't know what help he can offer but is willing to try if I'd like.

And it's such a charming line that I'm cuddling up to him immediately.

And my heart is suddenly pounding.

This is where he tells me he often plays a little game, trying to guess things about people in the building when he crosses paths with them. He and Cee have decided that the old lady on four is running a sex call line from her apartment and the couple on three work in a law firm during the day and play in a punk band on the weekends. Things like this.

But me? He guessed right about me. Just thought I'd be nice to spend time with. Easy. Fun. Would probably like the same movies he did. Was right about my favorite flavor of chips.

He asks if I was heading out to a date tonight. No, just a friend.

He asks if I would like this to be a date tonight. Yeah, I guess I would.

But dinner would be better. Something other than chips.

He promises to be a gentleman, and I lean forward so he can drape his arm around me and I can fall asleep on his shoulder.

It's the light that wakes me up, and then the whole elevator is moving downward. Ezra's on his feet first and offers me a hand up, although I bend down to gather things into his shopping bag and hand it to him.

We stop at the lobby and I'm both a little scared and a little hopeful when the doors don't open right away. I want to get to my own bed, but would it really be so bad to stay in here?

But the doors open and the manager's there. It's late--very very late--and asks if we'd be willing to take the incident report sheets with us to fill out and return tomorrow. They're a good person and did their best and we both agree to do so and send them off to their family for the night.

That's when Cee bursts through the door to the stairs, rocketing into Ezra's arms--er, arm--sending groceries everywhere. Introductions are made. Ezra hands Cee a can of speghetti-o's and tells her it's her dinner tomorrow night as he's taking me out.

And all Cee says is, "Oh good. It's about time."

[just-here-with-my-thoughts]

It’s so hard to pick from your WIP list!!! Can I hear more about nightmares, diamonds, and bdhb-fairground date? (And bdhb-smut if you wanna 😂)

It seems greedy to ask about FOUR options for the WIP game (that is more than a third of the options on offer!) but seeing as @probadbatch also asked about the Beach Days and Hair Braiding series, I shall indulge you :P

Nightmares is your own request anyway, so you know the premise! It's based off a throwaway line in "Forget I asked", and will eventually result in Hunter being there when Crosshair wakes from his nightmares, even if their own relationship is still rocky at the time. But you can't have Crosshair being comforted by Hunter without contrasting it with the time he has spent alone...

Crosshair woke with a flinch, arms instinctively coming up to shield his head. Protect his eyes. His enhancement made him useful, an asset. It was the only thing keeping him from decommissioning. No. Wait. This wasn't Kamino. Panting to full wakefulness as tremors of adrenaline shot through his limbs, Crosshair peeled himself up from the hard cot and steadied himself with a palm on the wall. The sleek rasp of durasteel scraped under his clawed fingers. Breathing through his mouth, he tasted the chemical tang of disinfectant in the recycled air. If he listened, he could hear the erratic night-cycle breathing of other prisoners in cells out of view of his own. Blinking away the last vestiges of the nightmare, his vision cleared enough to focus on the barred gate that sealed him in. He let his gaze track over the scuffs and pits he knew by heart, those small details intimately familiar to him. He’d had nothing to do all this time except stare at the wall, trying to stay sane even as despair eroded his will to do so.

TechPhee Diamonds is inspired by a conversation/challenge to find a way to feature my own Specialist Subject in a fanfic somehow! So what better way than to have Tech and Phee debating the merits of natural vs synthetic diamonds?

Of course Tech is arguing that chemically, physically, optically, a synthetic diamond is identical to its naturally occurring counterpart. Phee just doesn't see the romance in it - not compared to a natural treasure of the earth, grown millions of years ago under the ground, then brought to the surface in a volcanic eruption and weathered from it's host rock for some lucky person to find.

In the end, she promises that if he gets her a big enough diamond, she won't even ask where it came from :P

Beach Days series below the cut! (Cloneshipping here, don't like? Don't click!)

I mean firstly credit also goes to my co-creator @ninjadeathblade because you wouldn't have had this series at all without them!

I was asked about the BDHB series last time this game went round so you can find a bit more info Here :)

As for my current WIPs? We're half way through Fairground Date; the rest of the planned chapters are 5: Drop Tower, 6: Splashdown/Sideshow Games, 7: Tunnel of Love and 8: Fireworks. Sneak peek for upcoming chapter 'Drop Tower' below :P

“Remind you of waiting to drop into a combat zone?” the other clone asked, his voice a low rumble, Hunter could only pick his words out thanks to his enhanced senses – this was clearly a comment Crosshair was making for his ears alone, not as general conversation. He shivered as Cross’ long fingers skimmed across the skin of his palm, sensitive despite years of callouses. Despite how small the point of contact was, it set up a delicious feeling throughout his entire body. “That’s how I felt… waiting to come and see you today,” the sniper continued, lips barely moving. He was facing straight ahead, but the gentle action of his hand tracing Hunter’s told him he had his full attention. “How I’ve felt every time I thought about you since… that night.”

Interlude (505) and Laundry Day are officially in development as the next 2 stories after Fairground Date. It's probably going to be a while before any of the disparate snippets in the WIP doc currently titled 'BDHB smut' reach the story but I certainly don't plan for it to stay as cute hand-holding forever...

"Fuck." Hunter bit out the oath, tears welling and beading on his lashes as he scrunched his eyes closed. "Cross, it's too intense..." Crosshair stilled their bodies, waiting for a moment as Hunter gasped. "Do you want to stop?" "No," he whispered brokenly, pressing his forehead to Crosshair's. Fighting the urge to move, Crosshair stayed where he was, long fingers pressing divots into Hunter's hips but waiting for the signal to continue. After a moment Hunter hiccoughed something that sounded on the edge of a sob, and Crosshair drew his head back in soft horror. "You're crying," he rasped, voice curling with guilt. "Hunter, we don't have to do this-" "I want to." Hunter cut him off, a laugh shuddering through him as he lifted his arm from Cross' shoulder, swiping his forearm across his face to dry his tears. "I want you." There was a note of self-frustration as he shook his head. "It's just..." He trailed off, lifting his face to fix Crosshair with a gaze that glowed with devotion. "It's you. It's really you." After a moment Crosshair moved his hands on Hunter's sides, a soothing stroke. "You're okay. I've got you."

Listen smut is just a vehicle for two characters to have a really strong connection to each other, by the time they reach this point the boys have been through a lot together to get this far. I have been staring at this for far too long agonising over what to share from this wip; there's definitely *sexier* stuff than this but their eventual, emotional, long-awaited first-time seemed like the best option :)

[secondeve]

hi hello happy opening, nice to meet everyone! i’m blue & this is shin jieum, sadpathetic girl looking to exchange a plot of land for just a bit ( a lot ) of the love or power she thinks she deserves ! i've got her profile, background pages up & more info / plots under the cut, pls like to plot or ask for my d/scord and i’ll be there! 💗

info

unknown / nth was on loop while writing her bio, though i think that's more indulgent for her than the sharp objects jieum's actually made out of rip but that's on context & for listening!

starting from the bottom: the shins are a family that somehow manages to weasel their way to capitalise on whoever's in power at the time ( usually the parks ). have an unfortunate tendency to angle for their daughters marrying into the founding families—though they can't be said to be unsuccessful on that front!

so that's how jieum is raised! mother is sour from losing out on the yang heir of her time & is now puppeteering her children into where she almost was. she lied to jieum that she's a yang-affair baby & insists that she's lost out, so she's got a big chip on her shoulder about not having what she's due

( would fuck her up to find out that she's actually just the daughter of a mediocre man but she doesn't know that. yet! )

but anyway jieum is not the alluring type :( she fades into the background, v much unperks of being a wallflower. not rlly charismatic or sweet enough to win any hearts & doesn't have the backbone to stand taller than kim i or yang on her own either so she's kind of fucked she's always 2nd yknow bridesmaid but never the bride until!!!!

she Does become the bride. hot damn!

she thinks she's finally getting her flowers, but this marriage is loveless & faithless so eventually ( quite quickly ) falls apart. her ego is her undoing and she turns cold & dry to park i, which only makes things worse, rip—she's defo keeping up the facade of a perfect home but it's not that at all

tries to soothe her ego by reminding herself of all the people she's better than now that she's married into the parks! has defo stepped on a few toes for her ego's sake but she has old habits of deferring to people & also needs her father in law's help re the land so she can't be Too uppity?

let's go horoscope girlies she's got a pisces sun aries moon taurus rising, she longs for love & loves herself too much but it's not enough for her... she might think she's playing the game well but it's usually clouded by her ego / insecurities. makes missteps all the time bc she's not used to being on the upper hand or needing to be careful since being 2nd means no one rlly notices u. feels sorry for herself all the time & can be kind but only when it makes her feel better about herself. also she's so bored & discontent with life she's just a housewife but who knows if she'll still be when she starts shilling for tk group!

plots

fellow stiffed by life sufferers. people who are willing to commiserate about how bad their lives are even tho objectively none of them are having it that bad

the first / only person she's ever come first to & like sure they aren't important or powerful but they make her feel powerful so maybe she's attached but sneakily. maybe she doesn't want to be associated w them too publicly?

a friend her friend they're hers & she might have smth codependent with them

someone who thinks she's so pathetic but she's like trainwreck entertainment for them they keep leading her down the wrong paths

or maybe someone who feels bad for her. they keep trying to help her & she keeps getting mad at them for meddling even tho they mean well & she Knows they mean well but her ego is small & easily bruised

people who don't like park i & the wife of my enemy is my enemy—but if she doesn't like him too then is she ur friend?

someone who smells a rat when she's around & repeating jung / iida's talking points about selling the land...

also someone who might believe her & legit thinks the shins have the good of the town at heart she's working an angle on them now

the usu yknow childhood friends rivals exes fwbs ( yes she's married but if he's cheating so is she... )

[trashprinceward]

"Demon catting"

So this is something I'm gonna have to explain for people here. This is a FAITH headcanon thing that a group of buds and I on twitter have. It's based around the idea that whatever happened to John and Lisa as kids that made them "husks", has kinda made them like 'sponges' for demon influence.

They're more immediately resilient to the mental effects of demons than most people (like, try punching a sponge), but over time they kinda absorb demonic influence, like background radiation. Regular prayer and cleansing helps to prevent the influence turning into a full blown possession, but if left unchecked, it causes their personalities to change subtly over time.

It's called "demon catting" after the weird, chaotic things that cats do when they're not acting themselves.

Further headcanons under the cut (I've only really done John so far, as we don't have much Lisa info to work with)

From bits and bobs of headcanoning we have a rough idea of John’s demonic strengths (ability to sense presence, resistance to notable loss of blood, bursts of incredible strength, general demon cat-ening). These abilities grow stronger the more the influence takes hold, along with changes in his personality.

First, is him acting strange, and doing weird things he wouldn’t normally. Not like, aggressive or anything, just odd. Like, staring at nothing in particular for extended periods. Entering a room for no reason and quickly leaving. Flicking lights on and off, stimming in strange ways. You know, “demon cat” stuff.

Next, he starts to get more talkative. John’s normally fairly quiet and introspective, not talking much outside of his church duties, or when spoken to. But at this stage he’ll initiate more conversations, and dominate them a little more. At this point, his inhibitions also lower a little. He’ll be a bit more direct in things, maybe drink a little more excessively, overeat a little more. Just small, but ultimately harmless indulgences.

Next is assertiveness. Not necessarily aggressive, but just a little more insistent in doing things his own way. He’s more likely to push ahead and take charge, rather than be passive about things like he usually is.

Next is irritability. He gets a shorter temper, and is more likely to snap at people over little things. He scowls a lot, will make comments that are a little more mean and snarky, and just generally not enjoy being around others so much.

Next is aggression. He gets angry, confrontational, and might purposely try to start fights or arguments. May occasionally break things for no other reason than just showing aggression.

If things are allowed to progress further than that, he’ll start to go feral, straight up attacking people with the intent to harm. This would be how he was after the injection. To him, this stage is mostly a haze, and he doesn’t really know what he’s doing.

Then finally, if he passes this, an actual demon can get in, and he’ll go full on possessed. He can be exorcised at any point during this in order to return him to

[2ndeve]

let's gaurrr same girl same deal it's just blue again with shin jieum, nothing has changed so tbh if you've read this intro before u don't need to read it again! still a sadpathetic girl looking to exchange a plot of land for just a bit ( a lot ) of the love or power she thinks she deserves ! profile, background pages are here & more info / plots under the cut, like this or just hmu i’ll be there! 💗

info

unknown / nth was on loop while writing her bio, though i think that's more indulgent for her than the sharp objects jieum's actually made out of rip but that's on context & for listening!

starting from the bottom: the shins are a family that somehow manages to weasel their way to capitalise on whoever's in power at the time ( usually the parks ). have an unfortunate tendency to angle for their daughters marrying into the founding families—though they can't be said to be unsuccessful on that front!

so that's how jieum is raised! mother is sour from losing out on the yang heir of her time & is now puppeteering her children into where she almost was. she lied to jieum that she's a yang-affair baby & insists that she's lost out, so she's got a big chip on her shoulder about not having what she's due

( would fuck her up to find out that she's actually just the daughter of a mediocre man but she doesn't know that. yet! )

but anyway jieum is not the alluring type :( she fades into the background, v much unperks of being a wallflower. not rlly charismatic or sweet enough to win any hearts & doesn't have the backbone to stand taller than kim i or yang on her own either so she's kind of fucked she's always 2nd yknow bridesmaid but never the bride until!!!!

she Does become the bride. hot damn!

she thinks she's finally getting her flowers, but this marriage is loveless & faithless so eventually ( quite quickly ) falls apart. her ego is her undoing and she turns cold & dry to park i, which only makes things worse, rip—she's defo keeping up the facade of a perfect home but it's not that at all

tries to soothe her ego by reminding herself of all the people she's better than now that she's married into the parks! has defo stepped on a few toes for her ego's sake but she has old habits of deferring to people & also needs her father in law's help re the land so she can't be Too uppity?

let's go horoscope girlies she's got a pisces sun aries moon taurus rising, she longs for love & loves herself too much but it's not enough for her... she might think she's playing the game well but it's usually clouded by her ego / insecurities. makes missteps all the time bc she's not used to being on the upper hand or needing to be careful since being 2nd means no one rlly notices u. feels sorry for herself all the time & can be kind but only when it makes her feel better about herself. also she's so bored & discontent with life she's just a housewife but who knows if she'll still be when she starts shilling for tk group!

plots

fellow stiffed by life sufferers. people who are willing to commiserate about how bad their lives are even tho objectively none of them are having it that bad

the first / only person she's ever come first to & like sure they aren't important or powerful but they make her feel powerful so maybe she's attached but sneakily. maybe she doesn't want to be associated w them too publicly?

a friend her friend they're hers & she might have smth codependent with them

someone who thinks she's so pathetic but she's like trainwreck entertainment for them they keep leading her down the wrong paths

or maybe someone who feels bad for her. they keep trying to help her & she keeps getting mad at them for meddling even tho they mean well & she Knows they mean well but her ego is small & easily bruised

people who don't like park i & the wife of my enemy is my enemy—but if she doesn't like him too then is she ur friend?

someone who smells a rat when she's around & repeating jung / iida's talking points about selling the land...

also someone who might believe her & legit thinks the shins have the good of the town at heart she's working an angle on them now

the usu yknow childhood friends rivals exes fwbs ( yes she's married but if he's cheating so is she... )

[winterrose527]

22, 27, and 29 for the fic asks please!

You indulge me!

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

For the most part, yes! Every so often I'll go in blind, but it is usually the pesky middle that I don't know.

27. Is there a fic you were nervous to post/share? Why?

I'm always nervous, but I would say any of my canon-era fics give me special pause, particularly when they're going to be anti any particular family/character because regardless of how well you tag, some people will still come there specifically to be mad.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Ahh oh my gosh I love this. Soooo I think the premise was that Myrcella was traveling by ship to Dorne for her wedding, but her ship was taken by slavers, and they were brought to the North? (I think they had bad info & thought the North wanted slaves idk). Anyway Robb meets with them and is getting ready to kill the slavers anyway but then he notices Myrcella and realizes she is his mate. (I think this is when I was going through a period of reading somewhat embarrassing supernatural smut romances LOL) but anyway, here it goes......

“W-what are you doing?” she asked, though the Northern king’s actions were almost entirely self-explanatory.

He had lifted her up into his arms. The long forearm of one was underneath her thighs, the other wrapped around her waist, pulling her back flush against his chest. Even as a child she had never been carried like this, as though she was seated in a chair.

“I’m carrying you,” he answered her simply. “The snow is up to your waist.” 

She glanced down as he started walking. It didn’t seem like it would be at her waist, but it was fairly high. The fur lined boots he had given her were doing far more to protect her from the cold than her silk slippers had, but they only went up to her mid-calf, leaving too much of her vulnerable to the heavy snow.

It seemed odd that a king would not have a horse, but from her vantage point she could see that he did. Some of her companions, the ones who had been more badly beaten were atop them. She looked to her other side and saw Gendry walking a few paces away and a couple behind, his eyes on her.

It was strange to see him with these people, he was one of the largest men she had ever met, but standing near to the king’s companion, the one who had sniffed her, he seemed average. Almost short.

The king’s companion caught her eye and winked and she turned quickly so that she was facing straight ahead.

She didn’t like that look. It was similar to the one the kingsguards, apart from Ser Arys, had gotten when Joffrey would talk about her upcoming wedding. Knowing and lude.

It was frightening enough, that look, when she knew they were picturing her with the man who would be her husband. The man holding her could ravage her at will and leave her to freeze in the snow.

Though he had made that slightly trickier by giving her warm boots and the cloak off his back.

He had done that though because he thought she was his mate. There was no saying how he would behave when he learned that he was mistaken.

“What did you mean?” she asked.

“Snow… high,” he responded, “You… small.”

She tilted her head back to glare up at him and found him smirking down at her.

“I meant when you called me your mate,” she told him.

And then lowered her gaze to look away from his laughing blue eyes.

He pulled her more firmly against him and her eyes closed at the first true feeling of warmth she’d had in days. An odd sensation, with the snow falling all around them.

“It means the gods made you for me,” he answered.

“Why would they do that?” she wondered.

If they were meant to be together, it seemed like an oversight to have her born in the South and him in the North. To her knowledge, the gods did not make those kinds of mistakes.

“They were rewarding me, I suppose,” he said.

Her head fell back against his chest so that she could look up and see his expression, searching for further signs of him teasing her. He seemed to be getting such pleasure out of it, when only an hour earlier his face had been entirely devoid of humor.

When he returned her look she saw no signs of mirth though, only an earnest satisfaction that sent a shiver down her spine.

[capybaraonabicycle]

Hi, i'm here with my blank page!

So it's not entirely blank, it's whole spread and i already did something on the left side (it's a movie ticket from when i went to see Twice Upon A Time in theater, with some packaging taped on top because i've noticed that the writing started rubbing off over the years, and the background is the inbetween bits from some stickers for some visual interest, because as a junkjournaller i don't throw anything away lol)

The prompt on top says "if a Time Lord is a sum of their memories, write down the equation" And there is this fun grid pattern with some numbers in the corner and another number in the other corner (hi Twelve). I feels like it wants something maths-related, but i'm hopeless in maths. I know that you like maths. Maybe you can help me, like with a smart math trick, and/or something related to Twelve, maybe a quote that might be fitting or just a nudge in a certain direction. It doesn't have to be an equation as the prompt says, but the main themes i'd like to reflect are memory, maths (science as poetry perhaps?) and Twelve's story/character to tie in with the ticket.

Any thoughts? No pressure to come up with anything big or deep tho, even just a hint might be helpful to figure it out

Firstly, thank you so much again for giving me this chance to talk about maths ❤ Also, I feel so honoured I get to contribute and spark ideas (hopefully?) for your beautiful, beautiful art project!!

Also, very sorry, but this will be very maths heavy, obviously. I'll try to put many pictures so you don't really have to understand anything; you can just go with the aesthetics.

That said, if you really do want to understand something, I will probably not put enough info here to do so. So, just ask, I can go in small steps and explain it from the start. Like, I love doing that. My mum regularily has to indulge me and let me explain higher mathematics until she (kinda) gets it.

But, I mean, most of these things I'm about to mention, you learn about after at least two semesters of intensive mathematics studies at uni, so...they're not that easy to understand.

Also, I will assume, that you only know high school maths, I hope that is alright? I don't actually know your level, please forgive me if you feel like I am treating you like a 5 yo. (I will basically explain this like I would for my family).

I'm gonna put this under the cut again :)

Sum Formula by Gauss

This is probably the simplest bit of maths that I am going to mention, so let's put it first.

'A timelord is a sum of their memories' obviously lets you think that you'll have to include a sum, somewhere. In mathematics, we normally use the greek letter Σ (capital sigma) to show that we are doing summation. All the things you want to sum are put after the letter and the start and finish are marked on top. Then

would be the sum of all (natural) numers 1 to n. If n=4, the above would read 1+2+3+4, f.ex.

Here, we want to sum over memories. So, obviously, we could find some sort of symbol or artistic interpretation of 'memory' and put it behind the sum, where the k is.

Or, what I would propose, we concentrate the 'memory' into the 'name' or rather number of the different regenerations. Because then, if the memories of the timelord 12 are the timelords Doctor 1 to 11, which would give us the above sum with n=11:

Here, I am just pretending, 'Timelord' is a function on natural numbers, defined by the sum on the right.

(Sidenote: A function is like a rule that takes some input and gives you an output, f(x)=x-1, for example would be a commonly known one or f(x)=x^2, or f(x)=sin(x). We often see them called f or g or something in school and make them work with numbers but technically they can work on any set and have any name and do anything. Quite cool :) )

The proper definition of the function would have to come first and could look something like this:

Which just means Timelord is a function that takes a natural number and gives you a result in the Universe. Which does not mean much mathematically, except for that you can plug only natural numbers into the function and get an element from the unknown set 'Universe'. Actually, the result would be another natural number, of course.

Now, there is a well-known formula for this specific sum, namely

that is all natural numbers 1 to n summed together gives n times n+1 divided by two. So, 1+2+3=3*4/2=6 for example. So you could definitely include that with like a little extra equation.

Also, you could obviously change this whole thing up a bit, because for now, we have not included the war doctor at all. Or the fugitive Doctor. Or any other forgotten Doctor or spin-off Doctor or or or - although admittedly, the Doctor IS missing those memories, so...?

But, there is one more neat thing with this formula, and that is that there exists a nice geometric visualisation:

So, here the idea is, that we want to add the numbers 1 to n and those are the green squares from top to bottom. See? there is one in the first row, then two in the second and so on and n in the bottom row.

And all together, the green squares are exactly half of the number of the squares in the right rectangle, which are n times (n+1) many.

Or, to see it another way: you could always add up two of the rows to get a full row of green squares. The top row with the last but one row and the second and third row. And then you always either have n+1/2 full rows (, i.e. n*(n+1)/2, like here) or n/2 full rows and one half row ((n/2)*n+n/2=(n/2)*(n+1)).

So, I think there are some themes and images here you could work with :)

Affine Transformations

Okay, so, this one is my favourite because of the WORDS :D (Also because I am taking discrete geometry right now and affine transformations are important there.)

So, first, let's have a little look at LINEAR transformations. Slightly simplified, those are functions between vectorspaces that fulfill certain properties.

What is a vectorspace? Some mathematical thing (Sidenote: also a very nice word, vectorSPACE :) ) where vectors live in. Vectors for our purposes look like numbers pressed between brackets, so for example:

would be three vectors. All from different vectorspaces because they have different lengths or as we like to say: DIMENSIONS :)

Vectors can also lie sideways like v=(1 , 2, 0, -3), but I am not a fan of that. And technically the difference is not big and unimportant for our purposes.

Okay, now the vectorspace we are interested in is called R^n, which is vectors of length n. So in the above picture, v is in R^2, w in R^4 and u is 'the origin' of R^3.

Then a linear transformation is a function from R^n to itself (it could go to another vectorspace, too but let's not overcomplicate that) which we write as:

And the linear transformation fulfills the rules:

(1) means, that if I look at the output of a function of the sum of two vectors, I get the same as if I take the sum of the output of both vectors on their own. So, L(3)=L(1)+L(2), for example.

(2) means if I look at the output of the function on the multiple of a vector, then that gives the multiple of the output of the function on the vector. So, L(2)=2*L(1), for example.

If the function fulfills this, we call it linear.

We often write linear functions as MATRICES. So, L could look like this:

which we often write more generically as

And then applying this function to a vector is a matrix-vector-multiplication, which again works with sums :D

Okay- this last bit is probably to much, sorry for that. The takeaway: We 'multiply' matrices and vectors with specific rules and then that fulfills rules (1) and (2) and gives us a LINEAR transformation.

If the matrix is INVERTIBLE - don't worry about what that implies - then we call the linear function BIJECTIVE.

Now, what is an affine transformation? It is a linear transformation with a fixed vector added and looks like this:

Look familiar? Yes, it's exactly the same as before, just with the vector w added! This actually comes from a linear transformation made simpler, where the linear transformation looks like this:

If you were to calculate this you would see that Lv with the little tilde thing really resulted in the thing in the brackets. Point is, if we forget the 1s, we get the affine transformation from before but like this we have one linear transformation again.

And now I am coming back to Doctor Who:

Affine transformations describe rotations, translations, scaling and like slight bending of the space.

And if the underlying linear trafo (gonna start using our neat little shortening from uni) is bijective, INVERTIBLE, you can retract it to where you started from.

And that sounds like memory? Like regeneration? We could assume L is an invertible transformation - regeneration or ourselves becoming different people throughout our lives? - so we could technically go back to who we were or that is still part of us and we can follow it back to the start, aslong as we retain the memory. BUT there is the affine part, too, that little vector w added. What if that was time? The part of the transformation that makes the trafo not linear anymore (at least unless we go to a higher plane of existence in R^(n+1)). What if that vector somehow prevented us from actually going back?

(That is not how it works in maths, I don't think, you could just subtract it, but let's imagine we can't)

Wouldn't that be some beautiful metaphor of changing and remembering and becoming something new? While moving through space and time? (You could technically also split that vector up into a space and a time vector if you liked :) )

Maybe you can do something with that?

Lie Geometry

My favourite part, because Geometry, but now we are entering the part of maths where I have to look stuff up as well. So, I'll try to keep it short and just give you some concepts and images.

Just, let me say that I love this because

Rule 1: The Doctor lies

This is all about spheres in ORIENTED CONTACT

Circles are 1-dim spheres, so CIRCULAR GALLIFREYAN?

Also they look funny, a little like hedgehogs:

So, ask me if you really want to know why but I'm not going to explain it here and I would have to look that up, too, but apparently we can represent 'normal' spheres (Möbius spheres to be precise) by their center c and radius r as the vectors

Don't worry about why the brackets suddenly are sharp, there is a meaning but it's not too important right now. It's still a vector. Then, c is a vector, too - giving us the n-dimensional point of the circles center - so this actually has more than 3 entries. (c,c) is the standard scalar product, just imagine this as the length of the vector c or how far away from the origin we are.

Takeaway here: Spheres are defined by their center and radius. Now that doesn't sound so bad, does it?

Now you may have noticed the radius r only appears as r^2. Lie spheres have an ORIENTATION however, that means they can have negative radius. Hence, we have to add an extra info (how long is our radius and does it go inward or outward?) as another coordinate:

If r>0 we will draw the arrows in the first picture outward, otherwise inward. Or the other way round. Honestly, that's just convention, it doesn't really matter. This is now a lie-sphere. They make up the points in the Lie quadric, defined by the Lie-scalar product. So they are all the points y fulfilling:

So we want that weird angly thing (Lie scalar product) on the left that translates to that rather long sum (yes, you could write this as a sum again, too) to sum up to 0.

This is all very difficult and confusing, I know. But pretty formulas?

Anyway, the thing called 'oriented contact' works with that angly thing, too. It means that two spheres meet tangentially - in exactly one point - and they meet such that their arrows point in the same direction at the contact point:

Like this, those are in oriented contact! (Please ignore my inability to draw circles)

The mathematical condition for that is:

Okay, what was all that? So, first the definition for the lie scalar product works slightly differently for two different vectors, but it fits together with the version we saw earlier.

And then I did some math tricks (or rather my professor did). It all just says in the end: For oriented contact, we need that the distance between centers is the same as the difference between radii.

And the y, y' are defined as:

Idk. I am not expecting you to get super into Lie geometry and its theory now. Rather that you might want to draw some circles with arrows?

What is also interesting is that these circles are often seen as gears. Because the radius orientation can represent a wheel that can only turn one way and then the oriented contact means if the other wheel touches on the outside it has to turn the other way and if it touches from the inside they will turn the same direction.

This also has a relevance to the problem of Appollonius if you want to namedrop, but I won't go into that now.

Markov-Chains

You asked for quotes as well (so sorry, I'm not going to explain what Markov Chains actually are, just know: Stochastics) and I really liked this quote characterising Markov Chains in 'normal' language:

In relation to the present the future is independent of the past.

Or something along those lines. I unfortunately don't actually remember the exact quote. But the above was the spirit.

Other symbols

Imo it is always a good idea to randomly write 'Let Ɛ>0.' somewhere or put little arrows like ⇔ or ⇒ wherever. Or put the little lightning bolt contradiction thingy:

(funfact, my ao3 name is 'hvis-og-bare-hvis' because that means 'if-and-only-if' translated, a phrase we use SO MUCH in maths and that is often abbreviated to 'iff' or written as ⇔)

Conclusion

I know this is all very MATHS now and also I didn't really explain anything properly. Except for the first point maybe. Feel free to ask any question about any topic, I would love to elaborate. I just can't promise it won't take weeks again to answer.

But I had a blast and I feel so honoured I get to weigh in on your art book! Thank you so much!! I hope I could help you a little!