#/once again i need... to invent some tags lol

[autofloricide]

Venetia remembers to lock the door next time she bathes. All the doors. She has Felix's estate keys—a brass ring filled with slender brass keys, each worn smooth and golden from a lifetime of his touch—and starts from Oliver's room, down through the dressing room corridor, the bathroom, and finally Felix's bedroom. Her heart drops a little lower into her stomach each time the lock turns; there's almost a finality about it, like sealing a great and ancient tomb. Only then does she climb inside Felix's giant bathtub, her wrist though the keyring like a curious bracelet, and sip from a bottle of Dad's favourite gin until she can't keep her eyes open anymore. It's a little disappointing when she wakes up in the morning, finding a worried maid and a stoic-as-ever Duncan standing over the edge of the tub. He reaches into the water, all the way down to his elbow, soaking his uniform through, and smoothly yanks out the plug. "I was just tired, Dunc," says Venetia quietly, her voice ragged from poor sleep and overindulgence. She manages a tiny, watery smile. "Couldn't fall asleep in my own bed." Duncan silently takes a towel from the maid and dismisses her. "I can bring you to your quarters." He doesn't wait for her reply, simply pulling her out of the tub like a newborn calf and covering her up. It's not embarrassing in the slightest, to be honest; Duncan is practically a father to her. She waves him off as soon as she gets her bearings. "I've still got two legs; I'll manage fine. Thank you very much, Duncan." He stares at her for a long moment, long enough that she can read between the lines in his face and know he is deeply concerned. "Will you be taking breakfast?" "Just tea to start." Which he already knows means and nothing else. With a nod, he disappears. Leaving Venetia alone again, nursing the world's ugliest hangover, heart heavy in her chest. She shuffles down the hall, hair and skin still sopping wet, far too wet for the towel drawn up under her arms to really be of any use anymore. Behind her is a long wet trail on the floorboards that looks like blood under the dim lights. She almost doesn't notice the movement up ahead. And then she wishes she didn't when she takes a second look down the hall and realises it's Oliver fucking Quick, doing God knows what in their bloody house. "Something… is deeply wrong with you," she spits, laughing in disbelief. "You know that, right? They need to fucking put you in a lab and cut your brain open."

[crossbackpoke-check]

most boys could be improved with a little nail polish bit thomas bordeleau especially. like what is not clicking for him that he hasn’t done it already my god

EX 👏 ACT 👏 LY you understand. i saw this post one time and simply never looked back so without further ado here are the top ten nail polishes, in no particular order, that i think thomas bordeleau should try:

1. sally hanson xtreme wear in 140 rockstar pink

we’re starting with this one because i previously mentioned it in another post, and, while i think thom gives the vibes of a single color natural nail mani, i like this one because it’s one polish that’s multicolor—dark pink glitter with a little bit of blue to call in the sjs and the baby blue suit he was wearing. also, glitter nail polishes will last you FOREVER

2. chanel le vernis in 339 cassis

also have to start out by including my closest approximation to the nail polish in the photo that started this all. i love the sheerness of this polish, which means it can be more unobtrusive and a little blink-and-you’ll-miss-it barely-there detail or more prominent with more layers

3. gucci glossy in 715 winterset snow

personally i don’t often go for a white nail but i think borde would like something very crisp and clean (white does look nice on him). however, i think his white and/or cream needs to be a little cooler and not as much on the yellow side, which made finding this polish difficult but like. what else was i doing today (so many things)

4. les mains hermès in 85 rouge h

we have solid evidence that borde loooves a good maroon moment and i did specifically pick hermès (no idea why. fancy? would appeal to him?). love the cooler tones in this red for him and i heavily debated giving him this really deep rich purple (violet byzantin) of the same style of polish but we can work up to wearing that one

5. cirque colors x live. love. polish in puttin’ on the ritz

while i know the first color on here is literally a fine glitter, To Me thomas bordeleau is a chunky glitter gorl. it’s got artsy details, a bunch of different types of glitter, it’s iridescent, it can be layered, i’m in love with it. it will match any outfit thom i promise

6. maniology in b333 gold rush

imho i would wear more silver jewelry to compliment the cool tones he likes to wear BUT. borde almost always sports gold (honestly not bad wrt bringing out the california tan, it doesn’t wash him out) so i am giving him a boring, but very specific metallic not-too-yellow-or-light-or sparkly gold nail color. sorry. just paint one nail and use it like an accent or for french tips for spice, idk bud you’re the hand model here and i am simply an incredibly picky art director

7. àuda.b in my cactus

i love how vibrant this green is, i love the finish on it, i think we could convince thom to branch out into more jewel tones and pastels. also yes i picked this to match his houseplants

8. nails.inc caught in the nude in hawaii beach & boy de chanel in 404 black

i have a lot of shiny and glittery finishes on this list and i reeeeally wanted to throw in a matte finish so. this is a two for one because i couldn’t find a matte version of this chocolate brown that i really liked for him but also i’m giving him a special matte black polish because to me these are both neutrals

9. mooncat in millennia

this one just looks dope. i feel like he would like the chrome effect to it? it is more high effort because it’s a magnetic polish, but also given that he loves juicewrld now i think i could swing this one on that basis alone (it’s the same colors as legends never die).

10. zoya in zp797 cecilia

how could i make this list and not include a pacific teal nail polish for the san jose sharks 🦈 this also would be stunning as a pop of color to accent his grey game day suits just saying

ok if you made it to the end of this i love you ✨ thank you for coming to my ill-advised impromptu ted talk @ thom please paint ur nails and also confirm or deny whether you have pierced your ears thank you

[bloopitynoot]

10 Modern* Genius Wei Wuxian- Wangxian Fics

ladysunami kindly gave me so many SVSSS and wangxian recs and I wanted to return the favour!

So here is another tried and true list of fics i've loved that fit in the Genius WY theme.

Parameters:

Wangxian!

Genius WY

Ideally sci fi/or modern setting (one is in the past but the rest are modern).

donghua or book canon; avoid yin iron. (there may be one I recommend that uses yin iron as a wire but not really as a plot device. It's present as a cultivation tool; ie it's good for resentful cultivation).

up to canon gore is chill

bonus if it includes both genus and BAMF WY

I have focused mostly on genius/brilliant fics but I tried to feature fics in which WY is extraordinary in his chosen field. Despite the odds (or not) he may face, he thrives. Many of them contain BAMF energy minus like the situational/workplace centric fics.

If you have a brand of Wangxian fic you want recs for- DM me! I love making these lists.

I hope you enjoy!

1 Wei Wuxian’s Guide to Hacking for Fun and Profit (150301 words) by ArgentInferno

Chapters: 14/14 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, modern cultivation au, Hacker Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, neurodivergent wangxian, Therapy for the win, Fluff, Shenanigans, Lan Wangji isn't good with feelings, Fighting against corruption, Talisman-based tech, Getting Together, Slow Burn, shameless flirting Summary: When Lan Wangji is seconded to the Lanling branch of the Cultivation Bureau, he expects a boring rotation. Perhaps a lonely one, but he is accustomed to loneliness, and duty is duty. He doesn’t expect to be partnered with an over-exuberant ex-criminal with far too much enthusiasm for hacking, making mischief, and annoying Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian is everything Lan Wangji despises in a cultivator – he’s loud, unruly, and has no respect for anything. He’s even proud of what he did to get arrested in the first place. Unfortunately, he’s also very good at what he does. If Lan Wangji is going to figure out why someone with a talent for both hacking and talisman curses is targeting certain prominent members of Lanling’s high society, he’s going to need all the help he can get, for it’s far from a normal case. Solving it might put both him and Wei Wuxian in the crosshairs of some very powerful people on both sides of the law. Then again, given Wei Wuxian’s predilection for explosive experiments, working with him might be most dangerous part about the whole mess.

NOTES: I love this fic so much. I love when WY is a 'criminal' but all of the acts he was charged for were because he was being just- it feeds my activist heart. That paired with him being the best at hacking is so solid in this. Bless LZ for being as open as he is in this story!! This is a solid hacker with magic fic.

2 Starting at the End (19829 words) by katie_elizabeth

Chapters: 1/1 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Romance, Getting Together, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, Pining Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Pining Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Misunderstandings, Under-Desk Blow Jobs, First Time, Hand Jobs, Rimming, Thirsty Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Virgin Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji Summary: Wei Ying is confident that once he has a patent on the books, he'll be able to bring his coffins into funeral homes nationwide. They're biodegradable, affordable, and attractive–what more could a dead person desire? Unfortunately, for all of his talents in invention, Wei Ying isn't well-equipped for tackling bureaucracy. Hence, the need for a patent lawyer: a smart, intimidating, and extremely sexy patent lawyer from Lan & Sons. He sees it coming, like a car crash in slow motion: he is going to embarrass himself.

Notes: Okay I know this entire premise is screaming crack, but it is super cute LOL. Genius inventor WY has a lot going for him, but one skill he does not have is in patents. He decides to visit a patent lawyer but then cannot stop harassing the guy. super crackish, definitely not BAMF, but no denying WY isn't brilliant. This is a solid palette cleanser of a fic.

3 With No Particular Affection (92397 words) by Chrononautical

Chapters: 14/14 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Kid Fic, Miscommunication, Family Drama, Jiang Fengmian and Yu Xiyuan's A+ Parenting, Canon typical consent during sex, canon typical violence revamped for a modern setting, canon typical behavior from villains and honestly I toned it down a lot, Good Uncle Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Night, Genius Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Street Kid Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Homelessness, Rich Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Oblivious Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan's canon typical communication skills, Cinnamon Roll Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Has a Pregnancy Kink, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Has a Fear of Dogs, background blink and you'll miss it nielan, Curtain Fic, not literally but I feel like I should warn for that, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst Summary: A prominent physicist and professor, Wei Ying has built a life for himself in Chicago. He's safe, he's happy, and he has plans for his future. Unfortunately, those plans are derailed the moment he finds out his brother is in trouble. To save the family business, it will have to be Wei Ying's life on the line. He has to marry his old high school crush, Lan Zhan.

NOTES: If you like family serial dramas, this is the fic for you. We have; powerful families, genius WY, guilt tripped adoptee, business struggles, arranged marriages for capital gain, and children! It really cannot get more over-the-top dramatic. I also especially love that WY is a genius but acts as though he is aloof (even though he knows exactly what he's doing) it just adds to the vibes.

4 a tide in two seas (80932 words) by occultings

Chapters: 10/10 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Parallel Universes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Established Relationship, Mild Horror, Case Fic, mildly sci-fi, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Reconciliation, First Time, Loss of Virginity, Married Couple, Love Confessions, Weird Plot Shit, i honestly don't even know how to tag this fic but there is freak4freak occurring, Podfic Available Summary: A midnight train, two unexpected encounters, and a rift in spacetime.

NOTES: This fic screams sci-fi and it is so rad. Cultivation is a thing, but so are space-time rifts. WY is so cool in this!! He is incredibly smart but also a certified badass with his time and space jumping. When cultivator LZ and rift jumper WY collide on a mission- we get this beauty of a fic.

5 The Shade of Old Trees (363665 words) by Kryal

Chapters: 25/25 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Ridiculously Long Notes, Alternate Universe - History, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Slow Burn, 300k+ Words, Worldbuilding, Slow Life, Action/Adventure, Magic Returns, BAMF Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Summary: “We rest in the shade of trees our ancestors planted.” They called the man in the ice Yiling Laozu, after a folk hero associated with the town in the foothills of the mountains where he was found. No one expected him to be alive!

NOTES: Okay I have posted this fic before but I absolutely LOVE it. The premise is so damn cool. Loads of scholars, scientists in a world with (seemingly) no magic there is a man in ice who awakens. Part case-fic, part romance, this is really a neat fic. A twist in the end too. WY is both so damn smart but also a BAMF.

6 We Meet at the Thousandth Step (315914 words) by Rynne, Admiranda

Chapters: 44/44 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign (Modao Zushi), Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze Live, Rogue Cultivator Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Night Hunts (Modao Zushi), Genius Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Inventor Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Plot, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, Wei Wuxian's Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, Wei Wuxian Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings, Married Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Honeymoon, Wangxian's Baby Fever Series: Part 1 of The Different Paths We Tread Summary: As they both go wherever the chaos might be, Lan Wangji and rogue cultivator Wei Wuxian, eldest child of the famous Cangse-sanren, find their paths converging. Soon they'll discover in each other the perfect partner for night hunting…and beyond.

NOTES: A favourite brand of fic is when Wei Wuxian's parents survive and he thrives. This is very much that! We get to see the brilliance that is WY, but we also get to see him fall in love with LZ in a way that has no strikes against him in a canon divergent world. This is an unbelievably sweet case fic. This is the one fic set in ancient fantasy times

7 Sometimes When We Touch (80763 words) by AitchNKay

Chapters: 19/19 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Characters: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Wen Qing (Modao Zushi), Wen Ning | Wen Qionglin, Jin Zixuan, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi Additional Tags: Modern Era, Modern AU, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: A modern day AU where Wei WuXian is a doctor who has his whole world taken away from him. And a former classmate who is so willing to give it all back to him.

NOTES: This is less a BAMF fic and more- WY is brilliant at what he does and deserves the recognition fic. I am not going to lie WY goes through a lot but the ending is happy! The angst surrounds the Jiangs especially Madam Yu- in the fact that they controlled and subsequently ruined his life and career. it does get resolved though thanks to the power of Wangxian.

8 Nursery Rhymes (96858 words) by manaika

Chapters: 13/13 Rating: Mature Additional Tags: they're all hopelessly flawed, No Therapy, Minor Character Death, character with a neurological condition (minor), Cameos, Inexperienced Wei Ying, Experienced Lan Zhan, Romance, Reconciliation, Budding Love, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Unreliable Narrator, a bunch of them actually, Medical Inaccuracies, Slow Burn, Flashbacks, Past Character Death, Childhood Trauma, Found Family, Foster Care, Past Injury, Nurse! Wei Ying, Doctor! Lan Xichen, Teacher! Lan Zhan, Character With A Heart Condition (Major), Past Incarceration (Major Character), Underage Character With Leukemia (Minor), it's actually very sweet, Captain Of The Heavy Cruiser WangXian Lan Xichen, Vicecaptain Of The Same Ship Jiang Yanli, almost everyone makes an appearance (see character tags), Music is a Love Language, Podfic Welcome, Fanart Welcome Summary: Lan Xichen is a pediatrician who often treats child abuse cases for various foster homes, orphanages and social workers for free. He's currently looking for a second nurse because Luo Qingyang is freshly back from maternal leave and can't be expected to work full time with a baby on hand and none of her substitutes were up to the task. Enter Wei Ying with a semester worth of med school, stellar recommendations, a huge gap in his CV and a laugh bright and warm as the sun. Skeptical at first, Xichen decides to give the man a chance. He gets more than he bargained for with exactly zero regrets.

NOTES: Following the previous dr wei ying fic, we have another healthcare worker wy fic! WY is brilliant at what he does but due to circumstances in life he struggles to get a job where he thrives. Xichen takes a chance on him and it ends up being glorious. WY is brilliant in this fic but he is also a bit of a bamf with the way he takes on child abuse cases. CW for mentions or child abuse though- it features a lot in this fic because that's what happens in pediatrics. But it has happy endings all around.

9 Hear a song this deeply (87424 words) by so_shhy

Chapters: 16/16 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, modern cultivation au, Kind of academia AU, Music, Kid Fic, Canon-Typical Violence, Action/Adventure, To An Extent, Background XiYao - Freeform, canon-typical Meng Yao behaviour, Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Fluff and Angst, we love us some tragic backstory, Happy Ending, for wangxian at least, [slaps fic] this baby can fit so much plot in it Summary: “I’m not here to help you with your work,” said Lan Zhan, injecting frost into his voice to deter any further attempts at charm. “I’ll be focusing on my research.” Wei Ying cocked his head. “Research?” he said. “Mm. I’m a cultivation researcher, not a department employee. I’m reconstructing the ancient musical cultivation techniques of the Lan clan.” _ Lan Zhan’s new liaison at the Caiyi Municipal Cultivation Department is an enigma – ridiculously talented, yet somehow content with mopping up spiritual pests for barely above minimum wage. Wei Ying is slapdash and irresponsible, and Lan Zhan doesn’t like him at all… but then he meets A-Yuan, who loves music and longs for a piano his father can’t afford. Forced into cautious friendship by a four-year-old's music lessons, Lan Zhan soon realises Wei Ying is more than he seems. The single father is a man of many secrets – including, perhaps, the key to Lan Zhan's life's work. And in the meantime, the background resentment in Caiyi Town is rising to dangerous levels…

NOTES: I love this modern cultivator au because WY is straight up a secret genius. He is broke for sure but works so hard and does his job well (albeit a little bit unorthodox and wildly unsafe). This features both BAMF and genius WY and we get a slowburn with wangxian which is <chefs kiss>. We also get little a-yuan! Heads up there is angst in present and past but the ending turns out for Wangxian.

10 when the sun goes out (176383 words) by travelingneuritis

Chapters: 22/22 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Modern Cultivation, tech cultivation, Necromancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, insecurity around adoption, Dad!WWX, dad!lwj, Grief/Mourning, Mistaken Identity, Mood Whiplash, Body Swap, sex tears!, Falling In Love, Consensual Somnophilia, apocalypse (localized), Smut, unrealistic sexual stamina, Flashbacks, Time Skips, Illustrations, Horror, Canon Temporary Character Death, Cultivation Sect Politics (Modao Zushi) Summary: Wei Ying was so strong, that was the thing. He needn't have sought out alternate methods at all. He didn't need to use talismans, he only did it for his own amusement. He invented new ones all the time. Useless ones, and silly ones; inventing just for the sake of it. He talked about tech cultivation like it was fun, not an embarrassment. You can fit a lot of living into the end of the world.

NOTES: I had not heard of TechnoMancy before this fic and the premise is so damn cool. I will warn this is like 70% angst but the ending pans out! I cried so much in this fic; mainly because of how the author chose to tell the story. The writing was really cool and immersive. Normally I hate when I cannot distinguish the time/place of a scene but this was done so well. Bonus for added art! This is the fic with the yin wire

[peachyfnaf]

I'm sorry but "MY BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS WITH A DISORDER<3" really made my day and I needed you to know

🤣🤣🤣

I can't believe Nexus is bullying peepaw war criminal.

Do you think Nexus is going to be stopped by big bro Sun or do you think the lil guy is going beyond the point of no return?

(Please talk about baby cringe Lord Nexus, I want to hear about your blorbo 🙏)

That's because Nexus IS my beautiful princess with a disorder, I'll have you know <3 they're diseased but it's okay I can give them their tetanus and flu shots and it'll all be better I GOT THIS

But. ahem, okay, blorbo yapping time. I'm not even gonna say "I'll try to keep this short" because I know it wont end up that way HAHAHAHAHA

"Do you think Nexus is going to be stopped by big bro Sun or do you think the lil guy is going beyond the point of no return?"

I... have absolutely no idea!!!1! (and also it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize peepaw war criminal was Ruin KJDFHSDF)

The most frustrating thing about canon Nexus is how his morals, motivations, and goals seem to see-saw back and forth all the time. at first, he became how he is now due to Solar's death. he spiraled in his grief, identity-issues, and abandonment. but... now his motivation is to become an all powerful god??? while it's most likely that NSP is at play and affecting his thought process, it's... well, it's really hard to take him seriously as a villain because of it, lol. for an audience to enjoy, and even sympathize in some cases, with a villain, their goals and motivations have to be concrete. they have to be relatable, or at least understandable, but Nexus' whole thing is... not, Imho. and I know I'm not the only person who feels this way!!!

I see a lot of people calling Nexus "cringe", and the thing is, when it comes to canon Nexus, they're not really... wrong??? The worst thing Nexus has done so far is make Old Moon see his past victims, which is fucked up of him to do, but.. so far, that's kind of it??? other than that, his "villainy" consists of saying empty threats and cheesy evil one-liners. hell, he was supposed to kidnap Sun yesterday but instead spent the whole episode yapping and venting to him, chasing Sun around in the worlds darkest game of tag before getting some lead right in the face dkfjhsdfsd

Also, notice how he's only targeted Old Moon when it comes to actual physical violence? not Lunar, Earth, Solar, or Sun, but Old Moon? yeah, I did too. we already know that Nexus does everything because he's lashing out, but as of rn the only target he's gotten his hands on physically being O.M...? well. I think it says a lot. cause' yeah, he sure as shit scared the life out of the other Celestials, but he's never put his hands on them!! the only other one of them he harmed physically was Earth- and not only was he not aiming for her, she was just in the way- he felt immediate regret for his actions once in space, and has yet to even see Earth ever since that day.

So, I really have no idea if he's going to be "redeemed" or not. one second he's showing signs he might be, and the next he's falling further down the "pretty badly written villain" rabbit-hole. if he does get something akin to a redemption arc, he'll prolly mostly be accepted in the eyes of the viewers, considering a lot of peeps sympathize or at least understand where he's coming from, but I seriously doubt the other Celestials would take him back. the only one's who might see him as family/a close friend again are Sun and Solar, but even then, nothing would ever be the same.

I hope he gets redeemed, or at least freed from the hold Dark Sun has on him and he's able to live his own life, I really do. at his core, Nexus is a good person. a good person who was crushed under the weight of the shadow of the man he was born under. and we know this because he used to be New Moon. sweet, dorky New Moon.

New Moon, who made inventions like sentient knives and whoopee cushions. New Moon, who had matching My Little Pony stickers with his best friend. New Moon, who bought a whole ass island-luxury-house for Sun because he wanted to make him feel better and give him the proper space to heal. and New Moon- the poor freshly-baked A.I who gave his all to make sure he could do everything that Old Moon could, but it just wasn't enough. he tried and tried and tried, but it wasn't enough.

So yeah, idk if he's getting one in canon, but to me, he more than deserves a good ending, for the life he was given. let him be at peace.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I wanted to ask: what are your favorite norayemma fanfics? 👀👉👈

Ooo we will be here for a bit I love promoting fics that resonated with me so deeply and continue to shape my interpretation of the series (check out my TPN Fanfic tag for snippets to longer commentary in general), though I have yet to properly comment on some of them on AO3.

Beginning with one of the realest author's notes from @hylialeia:

Can you believe they invented OT3s 🖤🧡🤍

☆ This unnamed piece set during the timeskip by @p-s-geeks:

There is a flower in your pocket. It’s wild and medicinal. You’re familiar with it. You remember white bedsheets, a pleading whine, two pairs of hands embracing you, and the flower on your forehead, working more wonders that it was biologically capable of (it wasn’t the flower, you know). The flower currently in your pocket is probably in a worse state, has probably shriveled up and wilted after hours of being plucked. It weighs lighter than a feather but feels heavier than diamonds. […] You unearth the flower from your pocket. Ray deserves to see this. Deserves to relive memories with you. And you kind of need him to. Right now, he’s the only one who’s been through thick and thin with you in majority of these trials and tribulations. He’s the only one who can look at it the way you look at it. […] “It’s alright” Ray says, pressing himself closer to you. You hold onto him like he’s the last lifeline on a sinking boat. “It’s alright. You’re not alone. You never were alone” You sleep listening to her gentle words in his gentle voice and it’s the deepest sleep you’ve gotten in a long time. (You wake up to a beautiful orange sunrise. To limbs tangled around yours. To soft snores. To groaning and complaining about morning coming too early during summers. And the hole in your heart subdues itself. It doesn’t disappear, doesn’t stop panging, but you still smile in remembrance and hope.)

How all the little things build and build until they become so deafening, and how so much solace is able to be found in those small‚ tender exchanges on one quiet night, with Ray echoing simple yet loving words he learned from her so long ago that became etched into his being after Grace Field not only by her but through the actions‚ big and small‚ of their family as well (because family is so very integral to each of them). How at first orange is such a painful reminder and how it ends on a most radiant sunrise that's the true embodiment of Emma, giving them both the strength to continue onward.

☆ Everything in banana_slug_army's library. Too much to cite in one post, but here's her tag on here and me talking about the only kind of jealously I enjoy between them:

(I do subscribe to the headcanon of Norman having a pang of jealousy over how much time RE got to spend together before their reunion in the Paradise Hideout with how he tends to navigate extremes at that age, but it’s of a very specific variety. Seeing how close the Grace Field escapees have become during their near two years out in demon world and how that shared trauma brought them together could be a mixed bag for him, with the aching reminder that he wasn’t there with them, didn’t share those memories with them after a lifetime of being together, and the initial flare of jealously turns into shame over thinking it in the first place when 1) he’s mad at not being able to have been there with them‚ not at them, 2) how selfish it is to still want that when they already went through his death once and now will have to go through that a second time, and 3) he spent so long isolated and effectively helpless in his immediate circumstances while at Lambda and suffered for no justifiable reason that it manifests in a festering internal rage, which heartbreakingly can never be given a satisfactory answer…so basically banana_slug_army’s Interwoven lol)

☆ Everything in @salsae's TPN library. Again too much to cite but here's her tag on the blog, me gushing about (so what am I defending now?) aka the quintessential Norray-focused REN fic exploring NR's relationship nine months into the search for Emma, and me gushing about her canon-divergent REN wedding fic, to have and to hold (fanart here). I am constantly citing this snippet of defending and thinking about the flashback and dream sequences Shirai went back and added to the volume release of chapter 181.

☆ Speaking of wedding fics, @carnivorouswillgraham's w.a.m.s. gushing can be found here. Also the post that inspired the fic with my silly edit.

The softness she regards them with, almost proto-shoujo bubbles. 🖤🫧🧡🫧🤍 Norman, adorably, hesitating because he’s still grappling with latent feelings he can’t even begin to articulate about his friends, but at the forefront of them is how he unquestionably gravitates to them and is attune to all their little nuances. Ray, heartbreakingly, hesitating because he’s grappling with the reality he’s beginning to comprehend and the crushing acceptance that he can’t save all his siblings as things stand now, and after already narrowing it down to just Emma and Norman, being faced with the question of if he could honestly live with himself if he chose one to save over the other. The conclusion he comes to further bolsters his resolve to confront Isabella in just a few short weeks, and foreshadows the devastation of Norman’s shipment after a lifetime of realization and meticulous planning. Really like the quiet magnitude of this both for Emma and Norman’s blissful unawareness of the farm system’s horrors conceived for them and ofc from the future romantic perspective as being the core foundational tenant of REN. 🖤🧡🤍

☆ Last of the wedding-related fics but honeynpeaches' Between Your Fingers, Between the Lines also has the first portion of Ray's chapter dedicated to it so I'll use that as a segue (gushing found here). The third chapter exploring Emma's inner monologues throughout the course of the series remains unpublished, but the Norman and Ray chapters can be read as self-contained fics. Highly recommend it and frequently to go back to reread when I need to reground myself in their character foundations.

So many little nuances and call backs, profoundly beautiful.

Additional citation of snippets in this post and this post, as well as this post for Ray angst fic recommendations.

There are so many amazing passages in here, but the "[o]ften, those eyes are blue" line absolutely fucking wrecks me every time. How the cadence of that brevity lands on such a simple fact that now evokes so much sorrow when he used to have such warm and positive associations with those eyes. Windows to the soul and everything that made Norman Norman and what he loved about him.

And then the often referenced celestial symbolism of him as the stars of the trio (to Emma's sun and Norman's moon), but a less romanticized, more viscerally horrifying perspective on it.

☆ As the Crow Flies by Goldfish_Writes I've talked about in more depth here. I'm not very big on full genre AUs, with my usual thoughts being "I consider the characters' personalities inherently shaped by the narrative itself. If you remove them from those circumstances they cease to be the same characters anymore, and I grew attached to them in part because of the circumstances they found themselves in; I got attached to this story." I'm also not very big soulmate AUs as they seem to miss more than they hit for me. But I am a big fan of REN, and I'm interested in seeing where this fantasy story goes.

The pre-established Noremma is absolutely delightful. Another thing thing I've mentioned before is my dislike of Norman being extremely uncharacteristically nebbish or aggressively confident and suave when pursuing relationships that' works in tandem's usually packaged with Emma becoming bizarrely demure. Again, I understand the appeal of stock scenarios, but it's not something I enjoy reading for them. I adore when they reach this level of knowing, playful banter with an underlying thrum of challenge, bred of familiarity at which boundaries can be teasingly skirted and which are low blows and off-limits, and founded on them being equals (after both of them, to different degrees, placed each other on pedestals).

☆ home by 81194, featuring a classic scenario of Ray, a dumbass, trying so so hard to lie to himself about his feelings for NE and failing spectacularly throughout a series of snippets before the two take matters into their own hands.

i think emma wouldn’t have been so spontaneous if she hadn’t been sure of how everything would go. things always go her way when she’s involved, after all… i love her sm.

Very much in agreement on Emma's respectful tenacity and ambition on these matters lol

☆ A Relatively Brief Reflection on Cognitive Dissonance by ribbontype is a wonderful character study of Norman up to the trio's reunion in chapter 121 executed through exquisite, deft prose, allowing one to easily luxuriate in its flow and imagery.

The way they make him whole and reaffirm his resolve to damn destiny itself. <3

☆ Tethered by SuddenWhispers is a beautifully written fic beginning during the human world arc and continuing past canon as the cast navigate what living truly means in the human world, along with what Emma regaining her memories could mean for the new promise.

Also some Ray and Barbara and Cislo interactions with the latter two acting as mentor figures to the former encouraging him on one of his weaker fronts of advocating for his wants, hello??

☆ the ambiguity of belonging by Kiss_Kiss is another post-canon fic that's smaller in scope but no less rewarding of a read with its quiet and desperate moments of vulnerability between the trio reaffirming how much they mean to each other.

Also not only is the handwave of Lambda sickness done away with for Norman, but it also touches upon what the difficulties of losing one's ear entails for Emma, something I rarely if ever see.

☆ Finally, hoping you're someone i used to know by @hylialeia

A post-canon fic delivered in gorgeous lyrical cadence. Such loving attention is paid to sentence composition that the words aren't merely a means to an end, but a reflection of a deep appreciation for both these characters and the craft itself, the weight of them meant to be lingered over and savored. Always a treat when you can find a fic like this in a fandom.

[l-in-the-light]

Hi, hope you have been having a great day! Your posts have always been my favorite, and they never fail to brighten my morning. I'd say it's the perfect way to start the day for me ^^

Today I have a question! Penny for your thoughts on Law and the Revolutionary Army? What might his stance and opinions about them be, and if he wasn't a pirate, would he consider being in the RA? (since there's little to no chance he would want to become a Marine)

Oh, hi! Now I do have a great day, because I read your ask ❤ Sorry that lately I don't post every day. Sometimes something else steals my attention, like sudden inspiration for a fanfic or some of my friends in need of quality time together :D yesterday it was an impromptu pokemon battle on discord with self-invented pokemons lol. I will take this opportunity to (again <3) thank you so much for enjoying my posts, I'm always so excited to see your reblog tags each time! :D

Law and Revolutionary Army, okay, let's go! *rolls up sleeves* I actually watched some analysis and theory vids about RA before, and I had a lot of my own reflection on them lately, so I already have an opinion about it. At times this might go slightly political, so a fair warning!

First of all, let's start with Dragon and his Revolutionary Army. Thanks to Robin, we know their goal is most likely the World Nobles (Celestial Dragons) and we know they have some longterm goals planned. They're basically gathering supplies, allies, weapons and information, and waiting for a good moment to strike. I don't think their attack on Marie Geoise was one of their ultimate goals in itself, because we learned they did it just to get Kuma back (their valuable ally and friend). Everything else was an extra, but they made sure it counts: destroying the symbol of Celestial Dragons (to declare war), cutting them off the food supplies and getting rid of their stock, freeing as many slaves as they could.

They're apparently still making sure the food supplies can't reach Marie Geoise, which we learned from chapter 1126. Interesting thing to note here is that they actually have an agenda behind "riling up rebellion in nations": it's to limit nations that will pay celestial tribute and hand them resources, in other words: to weaken their enemy.

Dragon declares he literally wants to collect his own army to fight for the better world, whatever that might mean to him. He was part of the marines once, but "found no justice there", so he left and created his own army instead. We can't really talk about Revolutionary Army without taking into account his stance on justice.

Seeing from his reaction to Luffy becoming a pirate ("Not bad!") and him and Akainu disliking each other, we can take some guesses here. Dragon's goals are probably: freedom for people, not allowing innocent people to suffer, making sure people in power do not abuse it (an army for hire sure sounds like a good method to at least make them think twice before overusing their power).

And what's their modus operandi when trying to reach these goals? Many people in fandom are frustrated with Dragon and Revolutionaries, because it feels like they're "just there", waiting all the time and doing nothing. They don't go around the world freeing kingdoms and fighting oppressive reigns, after all. What they do instead, is reach out to normal citizens and "ignite the flame of rebellion" in their hearts.

That's because Revolutionary Army doesn't want to be the ones who will win the war, they want the citizens to be the ones who will win their own country and freedom back, and RA will simply help them achieve that, remaining as support.

They're so interesting exactly because they try to empower those that are on the lowest steps of the hierarchy's ladder, they want to give power back into their hands, but for this to work those citizens have to wish for that themselves, try to fight back, and it needs to be their own decision to do that. The power they give them is the power to fight back, defend themselves and demand their own rights and independence. Revolutionaries show to people that common folk are also part of the system and so they have the right to decide how they want the world to look like, even if it's only in their small kingdom. And those of them that want to join the cause and change the whole world to become a better place, are invited to join the Revolutionary Army. That's how Dragon operates. He even makes it clear that it's his rule not to assassinate kings or overthrow them himself, because that's not his job to do; it's up to the people of the nation.

We can deduce that Dragon would rather avoid direct conflicts, bloodshed and anarchy (after all regular kings are not his aim!). What he offers people in need instead is that: an army for hire, and for free! But only to those powerless people who are oppressed. Now we should ask this question: as much as this all sounds very good and noble, is it really a good thing to do? Let's look at the consequences of the attack on Marie Geoise. It was aimed at Celestial Dragons, but who suffers hunger as the result? The nobles?

No, their slaves and servants instead. They would have to go around hungry because there's no way CD would go around hungry instead (and they make a huge deal that they miss ONE meal a day and snacks). And they're still as spoiled as ever! If anything, this only angered them and nothing more. For now, Revolutionary Army achieved only this: to make the life of slaves in Marie Geoise even worse.

Now let's look at Lulusia. Sabo getting involved with them caused the whole kingdom to vanish from the map (yeah, it wasn't his fault, but the fact this kingdom was before freed by Revolutionaries had influence on Imu's/Gorosei's decision). And then let's look at what they did to help Dressrosa: oh wait, actually, they didn't help much. Yes, they supported ciitizens, helping the injured ones and gathering them in safe places (not that there were any real safe places in Dressrosa's disaster).

They also did research and gather evidence from the underground port Mingo was running, which is interesting. Does it mean RA is gonna present evidence in a court against World Government? Or do they just want to trace back their sources so they can steal it for themselves? Anyway, RA did not fight Donquixotes though and did not fight the Marines, with exception of Sabo (and he got heavily scolded for involving himself in the conflict). Was that really the correct course of action? Is that what heroes should be doing? What would happen to Dressrosa if Luffy lost? Would Revolutionaries just allow everyone to die, despite being right there?

Which points me to my own conclusion: Revolutionary Army has lofty, noble goals, they want to help people who are oppressed, but they're not heroes. And they can't be ones. If you have an army, you're automatically disqualified as a hero, because you fight violence with violence, power with power, no matter how you try to sidestep that fact. I'm not saying Dragon is in the wrong, but... what he kinda yearns for is a form of utopia. People should be encouraged to step up and fight for their own good, they should have the means to do that, but what if what they fight for is a mistaken cause? What if years of resentment will lead the people to just keep on oppressing others as the result? It's a logical conclusion to that: you don't want to be oppressed, be sure to raise to the top so everyone is below you (and now you can opress them back). What if those previously powerless people will start to get back on the class that used to oppress them, like what the common folks did to Homing?

Giving power to common people is great, but it will not erase their hatred they collected for centuries, their rage for all the pain they and their close ones had to experience. If you want the world to be truly a better place, then it needs also education, damn, a collective therapy, besides just manpower in an army. But, you know, it's at least *something*, that's why I'm personally not judging RA. They do what they believe is the best thing to do, a first step in the right direction and they mean well, but I think it will backfire, because it's definitely not enough to overturn the world. And power has a tendency to corrupt.

And then we also have Sabo, who kinda went against Dragon's principles when he accepted to be called a Flame Emperor and used the fake news of King Cobra's assassination to encourage people for rebellion.

This might seem insignificant, but it's anything but: Sabo is part of Revolutionary Army, his actions affect RA's public image. If he didn't deny that he killed King Cobra, then it means killing King Cobra was RA's aim.

We will see how it goes in the future, but the recent "fractions" double spread Oda did (above) foreshadows that Dragon and Sabo will kinda go their seperate ways. Sabo took his stance, he wants to fight, not only watch citizens fight. Even if he did that mostly for Luffy, the consequences of that will be longterm.

Now finally I can switch to the actual question you asked: what would be Law's opinion on Revolutionaries. Remember my analysis on how Law taught Luffy what's "the right thing to do"? It was a lesson to always think of the consequences of your actions, to see the big picture. If you want to liberate a whole nation, you need to choose your battles, to strategize the damage, recognize the oppressor's structure of power and strike down the fillars of it so it collapses on itself. Law is a fighter, a commander, a leader. He will not avoid a fight or a war if that's what needs to be done, he won't leave those people to their own fate and will fight with them for the cause (not just offer support!), and he will do what he can to lead them to victory. And he will never accept credit for it. Officially, it's like he was never there, or just part of a nameless "pirate" crowd, no one important.

But if he can, he will avoid conflict and arrange things in such ways it's not even needed. That's how he wanted to get rid of Doflamingo, simply forcing him to give up his warlord status which meant he would have to leave Dressrosa. Just like that, without any blood spilled. But for achieving that, he doesn't shy from doing things that RA would never approve of: kidnapping people, making ransom demands, forcing people to give up their titles by his own actions. Also Law doesn't rile up any citizens, he leaves that up to others. Dragon would not approve of Law's methods, we can be sure of that. And I think Law wouldn't approve of Dragon's actions over Marie Geoise either (starving off slaves), because Law's MO is to always care about the consequences of the actions. In other words, I think Law would think there are better ways to achieve greater results, without hurting oppressed people even more in the process.

Wait a second, you might ask now, but what about Dressrosa? We get the Wano, but in Dressrosa Law didn't care even for a second about the citizens! Well, actually, I think he did initially, his actions and plan were meant to avoid any harm to them, let's never forget that. Later on he did throw it all out of the window for Luffy's sake, I won't deny that. Law might be hero coded but he's not a hero, at the end of the day, and he knows that, he's not a naive idealist like Dragon is.

Dragon voices no regret about starving the slaves for his cause (at least for now), Law on the other hand seemed to make a guilty face expression at the end of Dressrosa, seeing the injured people and ruins everywhere. And that's actually a good thing, that "reality check" is what keeps Law aware that everything he does and every decision he makes will have consequences, and sometimes you need to choose between lesser evil, because world isn't a pretty place, especially the world in One Piece. And idealism often isn't afraid to kill people for it's cause and not only doesn't call it a wrong thing, but calls it A Right Thing To Do. Remember Death Note? That's your unrestricted idealism 101.

Law might tell the Strawhats to just ignore the assault on one of the Flower Capital's districts, but he will never call it A Right Thing To Do. In fact, when Sanji says he can make it work, Law instead trusts him to do his thing. He's flexible in his ways, he always questions, but when it's needed he's firm in his decisions. He just knows sometimes he isn't doing the right thing, but he never loses the direction he aims towards, because if he always questions and seeks and rethinks it from multiple angles it's always for that purpose: to make sure he isn't on the wrong path and if he is: to change it or do better in the future. And seeing the consequences of Dressrosa and how the waves from that spread over the New World, it actually caused a lot of good changes: wars stopped, underground black market took a huge blow, and in longterm: warlord status got erased. And all of that? Is actually thanks to Law and his plan, that was literally the catalyst here. That's why it's 1:0 for Law when compared to Revolutionaries.

Now we enter speculation territory. I do think Law actually might be supporting what RA is doing. Let's think about it: how did RA know that Dressrosa has an underground port?

We learn they sent agents to Dressrosa before, but "they were all turned into toys" (that's revisioning what actually happened - they wouldn't know anything about the toys, because the existance of their agents would be erased from their memories). And they never answer the question: why Dressrosa? And my answer here is: someone had to give them that intel (anonymous intel, most likely) in the first place. Coincidentally they arrive in Dressrosa exactly when Law's plan is taking the stage. I don't think it points towards Law being a Revolutionary, because Sabo has no reaction towards Law, and Revolutionary army has no reason to hide their identities from each other, that's not how they operate at all. And I don't think Law actually cooperated with them either, because the conclusion after Dressrosa clearly took RA by surprise. They got weapons, they gathered important information, it's like this all was gifted to them by someone. And I think it's likely Law was the one who send them the intel, anonymously, or through someone else. Maybe he does support their goal of declaring a war on World Nobles (even if I think he would be kinda disappointed at some of the results of their actions). We saw at Sabaody already that Law isn't really fond of Celestial Dragons, human auctions and slavery; he was pleased with what Luffy did and he also took a stance by freeing Jean Bart.

Would Law join them in the future? I think he doesn't like to work under anyone. Luffy might be also the only person Law ever worked on equal level with. He acts and behaves like a lone wolf, especially when he says things like this:

That doesn't sound like a person who's on a leash, be it Revolutionary Army's, Navy's or Government's. Being a pirate gives Law freedom. If he's somehow with any of those fractions regardless of my analysis, it's just to use them to reach his own goals, just like he took and discarded his warlord status.

And like I said, I doubt Dragon would like Law's methods so Law would have to change them to be part of the RA (and I doubt the main problem here is that he's a pirate, if he wanted to he could have joined them anyway, they did accept former slaves that were pirates before). Also Dragon is playing the long game, and it feels like Law doesn't have that much time to play along with it, because his plans are always moving fast and cause really big ripples. It's not that he's impatient, but it seems like he can't really afford the slow game here.

As for the question you didn't ask: I actually think Law might be part of the Marines, in some way or form. Let's consider this: if he is aiming to overthrow such a big organization, what's the best way to do that? From the inside. Assuming his hate towards government and marines would stop him is not taking his resolve seriously enough, imo. If he is out for revenge, he will stop at nothing, because he is the last person to carry the memory of what truly happened to Flevance. His own resentments would not stop him, he would do that even if he would end up hating himself as the result. "Everything was for that moment", he could declare at the end of it (just like he does in Dressrosa), when he pushes the final blow from the place the Marines expect it the least: their own most trusted people.

Thankfully though he still didn't lose his heart, that's why he does have at least some brakes intact. That's why he cares for people. That's why he cares for consequences of his own actions. That's why he would throw his own plans away or tuck people dear to him to safety over reaching his goals. But he can never forget those goals or throw them away for good. We will see where his storyline will take him in the end.

Of course that's only considering the somewhat popular theories that Law is a member of Sword. I do think those have some really good observations, but the interpretation part falls flat. They got the dynamics completely backwards imo, because Law would not be an underdog to Drake. There, I said it!

[part-time-zombie]

Favorite Child

pairings: prinxiety

summary: roman starts getting the feeling that the other sides don't value his ideas anymore, and when he sees them favoring remus over him he fears the worst and assumes he's been replaced.

tags/warnings: hurt/comfort, angst, angst with a happy ending, abandonment issues, patton logan and janus are kind of unsympathetic in this one, remus is just happy to be here lol

word count: 5668

Roman loved his brother. Really, he did. Even though they didn’t really have anything in common and Remus always found a way to make trouble and usually hurt him in the process, he still cared about him because deep down, they were family.

It didn’t mean he had to be happy about Remus replacing him.

Ever since Patton had realized how strict had was being on Thomas, he had worked on unlearning some of his more hurtful ideals, starting with the idea of some sides being “bad”. Janus and Remus were showing up a lot more lately, and while it wasn’t exactly easy to get along with them most of the time, Roman tried to at least be civil. That’s what Patton wanted, and if Roman cooperated then maybe things would work out.

At least that’s what he told himself.

He knew the damage was already done, though. He was rude to Virgil and a bully to Logan even after everyone told him to stop. He trusted Janus when everyone told him not to and shunned him once everyone decided he was reliable. No matter what he did or what he said, it always seemed to be the wrong thing.

He still tried, though. Every day he worked harder to be better, to do more, both for Thomas and for the other sides. Sometimes the others noticed, but most of the time they didn’t. Lately it was almost like whatever he did would only make things worse instead.

At least he could still live up to his function, though. He was pride and passion and above all, creativity. Thomas would still need him for videos, if nothing else. He just had to prove it with a show-stopping idea for this next project and they’d appreciate him again.

After several sleepless nights of brainstorming and revision, Roman had come up with a perfect video idea, one that was bound to restore his usefulness and his importance to the group. It was inventive, entertaining, and best of all original enough to garner plenty of praise, both from the sides and from the viewers that would no doubt love the video. He had been up all night and was desperate for some proper sleep, but that could wait. He was ready to share this with them first. He’d show them the work he’s done, and they’d be so impressed by what he had accomplished that they’d likely congratulate his work for the rest of the week. An armful of papers in hand, Roman descended the stairs with a triumphant smile on his face, ready to share his plans with the others.

Only to see Patton too busy making breakfast with Remus to even look at him.

Remus at least noticed him, waving him over to the kitchen with an eager grin. Patton finally glanced up in response and gave Roman a cheery smile.

“Hey there, kiddo! You’re up early today.”

Technically he was up late, seeing as he hadn’t slept yet, but he wasn’t about to point that out. He strolled over to them, letting his enthusiasm for his work take over.

“Yes, well, I was just too excited to share this new video idea with everyone,” he explained, gesturing to the stack of notes in his hands. “I think it’s some of my finest work.”

"Sounds neat, I’m sure Logan will be happy to read it after breakfast,” Patton replied.

“Speaking of, what will we be having this morning anyway?”

Remus gave him a devilish smile from where he stood by the stove. “The unborn.”

Patton's smile faltered for a moment, as did Roman's appetite.

“He means eggs,” he explained with a slightly forced chuckle before brightening again. “Scrambled, in this case. Hey, did you know he’s actually a pretty good cook?”

There were many things Roman knew Remus as. Violent, demented, mischievous, gross and even a little scary sometimes. A cook, let alone a good one? Absolutely not.

“I thought he was only really capable of burning water,” Roman joked.

Remus gave him a look over Patton's shoulder.

“He’s honestly been pretty helpful in the kitchen this morning,” Patton began. “Turns out he knows a lot about what tastes bad or what’s unsafe to make. It’s been pretty eye opening for me. Plus, we’ve just been having a blast hanging out together. He beats me to the punchline with almost every joke I’ve told him!”

Roman felt something stirring around in his insides. Patton actually liked hanging out with Remus? More than him? It couldn’t be right, something had to be going on.

Remus whispered something to Patton, who reacted with barely contained laughter.

"What’s so funny?”

"Oh, it’s nothing, you wouldn’t really get it.” Patton replied, still chuckling.

Were they making inside jokes now? Ones that looked to be at his expense no less?

Logan came downstairs before Roman could interrogate further, silently walking past him and preparing himself a pot of coffee without even raising an eyebrow at the sight of Remus and Patton teaming up over an open stove. Almost like this was normal to him.

Patton finished the last of the eggs as he started a conversation with Logan, neither of them even looking over at Roman.

“See? Patton likes my food,” Remus said, leaning over the counter with a victorious grin on his face. “And at least I’m laughing at his puns, unlike some folks around here. One would almost say we’re becoming friends now, how neat it that?”

That’s not exactly the word Roman would use. “What is your scheme here, exactly?”

Remus dropped his smile in an instant. “No scheme, just two buds having a grand old time together. You got a problem with that?”

"What’s he got a problem with now?” Janus groaned, lazily slinking his way into the kitchen and joining Logan in line for coffee.

“Whatever it is, I want no part in it,” Logan answered, not looking up from the pot.

Remus barked out a laugh at that before returning to Patton's side, dutifully helping him in setting up the table. In all honesty, the food looked decent. Well, it looked that way. Who knows how it would taste, or what Remus would have put in it even with Patton's supervision. The others didn’t seem to notice or care, already commenting on the pleasant smell and taking their seats, with Remus smiling as he joined them.

“Aren’t you gonna join us, kiddo?” Patton asked, already digging into his eggs.

“And risk food poisoning from Remus’ cooking? I don’t think so,” he replied. How could everyone else be so nonchalant about this? Remus could have done something to the food or tampered with it in some other way. Why did no one seem to really care, or even mind that he was sitting there with them at all? Had they all accepted him already?

“There’s no need to be rude,” Logan chided. “It’s not like we can get sick, anyway.”

“How about injured,” Roman corrected. “Need I remind you of the countless injuries he’s given me over the years?”

"Oh right, thanks for reminding me,” Janus snarked. “It’s not like I don’t smile to myself at the memories every day.”

Logan snickered in response, feebly hiding it behind another bite of food. What’s so funny about his misfortune? Surely Logan doesn’t hate him that badly, right?

"Now, Janus, be nice,” Patton scolded. Well, scolded was a rather severe word for verbally slapping him on the wrist with a feather. Janus only rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, do you want to take a seat regardless, Roman? Or would you rather continue to lurk there while the rest of us eat?” Logan asked.

Right. Roman had been standing there by the counter for a while now, still holding his gaggle of notes no less. Well, no better time than the present, he supposed.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d look this over real quick, if you don’t mind,” he started, moving to stand beside Logan. He set the stack of notes on the table with a resounding thud, beaming with pride at the level of work he had put into his idea.

No one else seemed to share his enthusiasm. Janus looked at the pages in disgust, while Patton and Remus strained to reach for more food over the mountain of paper. Logan looked like he wished he was drinking wine instead of coffee.

“I’ve put a lot of work behind it, I think it’ll be one of my best ideas yet,” he added, trying his best to win the others over.

“Roman, as much as I appreciate your commitment to this project, I don’t think you need to worry about it that much,” Logan offered. “In all honesty, these notes look like a mess, and it’ll take us all far too long to make any sense of them.”

Roman felt like he had been punched in the chest. He didn’t like it? How could he not like it, he hadn’t even tried to read it yet. “But I… it’s not… I spent a lot of time on it, you couldn’t at least just look at it?”

“Why don’t you try to get all of this organized first, and then I’ll see what I think about it later.” Logan gave him an almost sympathetic look, one only made ironic considering how coldly he had turned Roman down. “You should join us for some breakfast first, though. I’d rather you work on a full stomach then let you go the whole day without eating.”

Roman could only shake his head before recollecting his notes, his heart pounding in his ears. “It’s okay, I need to get this worked out. Don’t worry about it.”

He passed Virgil by the stairs, hardly registering the odd look he gave him. He ought to warn Virgil about who made the food, but by the time the thought had come to him, he had already fully made it back up the stairs. He only hoped it didn’t make Virgil too sick. Then again, everyone else seemed to like it. In fact, they were all almost happier around Remus than Roman. Had he done something wrong? Were they just messing with him? That had to be it. Why else would Patton choose to spend that much time around Remus.

It’s not like they all liked him better, right?

Noon came and went before Roman returned downstairs. He had spent the last several hours revising and significantly downsizing his paperwork, securing what was left in a single three ring binder with organized notes and an easy-to-read format. Surely this would satisfy Logan's standards, even if most of the passion he had built it on had been taken out in the name of structure and peer approval.

Plastering a confident grin on his face that only mostly masked the blows to his ego he had endured earlier, Roman made his way to the living room once more to talk shop.

Logan was chatting with Janus over a bottle of wine and some paperwork, too preoccupied to notice him. Roman loudly cleared his throat, forcing them to bring their chat to a halt as they looked at him with matching scowls.

"Must you?” Logan groaned.

“But it’s important.”

“How can it be important when it’s coming from you?” Janus muttered, much to Logan's amusement. Roman tried to ignore him.

"I just wanted to let you know that I finished revising my work from earlier, and if you’re ready to talk it over with me I’d love to work on next steps.”

Logan blinked, a neutral expression on his face. “Ah. What might those next steps be, since you’re so prepared for this?”

Roman felt his smile start to slip. He can’t already be losing the battle. “Well, we could get a schedule mapped out or at least get everyone else’s approval on this next video. If things go smoothly, we could have this out before the end of the week!”

Logan nodded, lost in thought. “I see. The thing is, Roman, we had already talked about video ideas while you were absent.”

Roman painfully tightened his grip on the binder. “You did? When? With who?”

"Over breakfast. Remus gave us some interesting ideas and I think we plan on going with his for this next video. If you had decided to stick around instead of leaving, you could have been a part of the discussion and added your own points.”

“I must say, it was a relief not to have you there, though,” Janus added.

Roman couldn’t believe this. Logan had told him to tidy up his notes before he would look at them, and now it’s his fault he wasn’t there when they all decided to talk about work without him? How was that fair? How was any of this fair at all?

“And everyone’s in favor of his idea?”

“It’s in need of some work, and we’ll have to plan out the finer details, but I do think it’ll be a successful video. At the very least, it’ll be something new to try out.” Logan added.

Something new. That’s what they were looking for? An original idea? Roman had dedicated his time to nothing else, and they don’t even want it from him?

“But what about my idea?”

“I’m sure it’s good, but- “

“You can’t say that when you haven’t even looked at it,” he snapped. “You said you’d read it, but you jumped on Remus’ idea without hesitating. I worked so hard on this, and you want nothing to do with it. What’s so special about his ideas that make them better?”

“Roman, please,” Logan said, fixing him a stern glare. “Remus is just as much a part of Thomas’ creativity as you are. It would be foolish to not include him in discussions about ideas. We can’t only rely on you for everything Thomas comes up with, now, can we?”

Janus failed to hide his smirk behind his wine glass, and Roman almost went over to him and gave him another bitch slap. Almost.

“I’ll look at your ideas later Roman, alright? Let me just figure out the logistics of Remus’ first.” Logan said with a sigh, already returning his attention to his notebook.

Janus gave him a knowing look. Liar.

Roman threw the binder on the coffee table with a huff before storming back upstairs, not even bothering to hide his annoyance. So what if Logan liked Remus’ idea better? It didn’t have to mean anything. It was a fluke, a one-time incident. This wasn’t going to be a new norm. It just wasn’t. Roman hadn’t failed yet, he can’t afford to.

It was late into the evening by the time Roman felt like he could leave his room again. Dinner already came and went, but he hadn’t bothered to join them. Odds are Remus had a hand (or tentacle) in preparing it just like he did breakfast. While the thought made his stomach turn, he was still hungry, and hopefully there would still be something salvageable for him to scavenge from the fridge for a late snack.

Roman descended the stairs quietly, no longer caring to put up anymore false bravado after the day he’s had. His lack of a boisterous entrance meant the two sides still in the living room had yet to notice him. Then again, it seemed Virgil and Remus were far too engrossed in their video game to notice anything right now, both of them staring determinedly at the screen as they sat cross-legged on the floor, controllers clenched tightly in intense death grips from the both of them.

Curious, Roman took a moment to watch what they were playing. It seemed to be some intense horror game, and despite the frightening monster they were trying to outrun, they both looked thrilled by the experience.

Virgil finally saw Roman standing rather awkwardly by the stairs and jumped in surprise. The screen flashed red with a banner of defeat as the character he was playing died, and Remus let out a riotous laugh at the whole ordeal.

“Geez, Roman, way to give a guy a heart attack,” Virgil chided, one hand clutching his chest. “And thanks for making me die, I was just about to beat that round!”

“No you weren’t, you’ve been eating shit for like an hour now,” Remus teased.

“Yeah, well I don’t see you getting any farther in this game yourself.”

Roman watched as they exchanged this bout of banter. Virgil was… having fun with Remus? Last he remembered, they didn’t exactly get along very well, didn’t they?

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Roman started, still catching himself up to speed. “It looks like you’re having fun at least. Would I be able to join the next one?”

Virgil averted his eyes for a moment, almost looking guilty. “I mean, maybe, but I don’t think you’d like it, and Remus and I were planning on playing until we at least managed to beat this stage. We could do something later though, if you want.”

Right, later. Logan said he’d come back to him later too, and he never did.

"That’s alright, I’m sure you’d rather get back to your game. I’ll just grab myself something to eat and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

"Right, speaking of, what’s with you skipping meals all of a sudden? Too good to eat with us now?” Virgil asked, an inquisitive spark in his eye.

"No, I just didn’t feel like eating what had been made today.”

"Yeah, but you like eggs last I checked, and you weren’t here at all for dinner. How could you know you wouldn’t want it if you didn’t even show up?”

Roman tried not to let himself sound too defensive. “Well, can you blame me? I have no idea what passes for cooking in Remus’ book!”

"Hey now, All-Star,” Remus said, a hurt look on his face. “I’ve behaved myself all day, and everyone else helped with the food too! I didn’t do anything that was too ‘me’ believe it or not, and I even helped out with the next video!”

Roman felt his insides turn to ice. “You what?”

Remus’ face lit up with glee. “You’re goddamn right!” he said with a wide smile. “I came up with a few ideas earlier and Logan said he’d use them in the next video! I get to help with the creative process now, isn’t that awesome?”

Logan still picked Remus’ idea over his? He’d worked so hard on his plans, organizing and reworking so it would be worth Logan's time, and he didn’t even like it?

His eyes fell over to the coffee table, where his precious binder sat untouched and forgotten, a now cooling cup of tea resting atop it as if it were nothing more than a coaster. Of course Logan didn’t like it. He didn’t even read it.

So just like that he was rejected? Removed? All it took was one day for everyone to move on from him and favor the rest of creativity instead?

Remus’ voice cut through his thoughts. “You don’t have to look like the world is ending, bro. I’m finally being included in stuff, you oughta be happy for me at least a little!”

Roman blinked, coming back to himself a little. Virgil and Remus were staring back at him from their spots on the floor, the former looking slightly more concerned than the latter, who was currently rocking back and forth in excitement.

“I am happy for you,” he said, desperately trying to bury the tremble in his voice behind a smile that Remus seemed to appreciate. “This is big for you, and you deserve to celebrate it. I hope the video turns out well, do let me know when it gets posted.”

Roman headed back to his room before the situation could sour any further, all hunger and hope long forgotten. It was over. He had officially been replaced.

Roman shut the door behind himself before collapsing into his bed, too numb to hold himself upright. He knew he was being childish, and that all he was really doing was throwing a tantrum for no real reason, but he couldn’t help it. All his life he’s been valued, if not for his personality than at least for his function. He was a major part of Thomas’ life, acting as passion, pride, and creativity all at once. Even if he wasn’t a fan favorite anymore, he was still important enough to garner some level of appreciation. Maybe not now.

He was no idiot. He knew what the other sides thought of him. He was dramatic and obnoxious and self-centered; anyone could see it. A part of him had hoped they at least respected his role enough to forgive him for his mistakes, ones he’s worked on fixing. He thought that maybe he’d still have a part to play, that he’d be useful if not loved.

Guess he was wrong.

The second there was another source of creativity, they all jumped at the chance to choose it over Roman. All it took was one day, one off day for him, and he had already been completely replaced by his brother. At least the others were efficient.

He should congratulate Remus, really. After so long in the shadows, he finally got a chance to be listened to and involved in things, and Roman knows how much he wanted that. In truth, he was very happy for him, and will probably plan something to celebrate his acceptance and inclusion into the group; after all, he’s no spoilsport.

Then again, would anyone even want that from him? If he did plan a party, one dedicated solely to welcoming this new shift in dynamics, would it be something they’d even consider worthwhile? It wouldn’t have been about himself at all, so that would have to count for something. As Roman thought about it though, it probably wouldn’t count for very much. His ideas were overlooked without a second glance, even when they were only about work. What makes him think that something done for fun would earn any respect?

Remus took his place and he can’t even show the others he’s fine with it.

He should have seen this coming, honestly. With how much Patton was willing to welcome the dark sides into the family and the litany of mistakes Roman had made lately, most of which were directly to the detriment of the others, it would only make sense that everyone would want to get rid of him as soon as they had the chance. He wasn’t doing anyone any good anyway. Not even Thomas. Maybe it would be for everyone’s benefit if he just stopped butting in on things, if he let Remus take his seat at the table. Everyone seems to like him far more nowadays; they’d probably appreciate him being the new creativity.

It doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt Roman to think about.

No more late-night brainstorming sessions with Logan, no more baking with Patton, no more video games with Virgil. They didn’t want him hanging around, and as much as it hurt, he still loved them all enough to respect their wishes. If they didn’t want him rigging the votes at movie nights, or even showing up to them at all, then who was he to argue?

He had it coming, really. He took them all for granted, and it’s only fair he reaps what he sowed. He only hoped Remus would be kinder to them than he was.

Roman didn’t know when he had dozed off, but the last thing he expected to wake up to was the sound of someone knocking at his door.

“Princey? You up?”

Roman didn’t know how to respond. Sure, he was awake, but he didn’t really want to be. Not if Virgil was coming in to remind him of his new place outside of the family.

The door opened slowly as Virgil peeked his head into the room, eyes finding his own in an instant. Roman sighed before turning on his side, his back to the door and to Virgil. He didn’t want to deal with this, not right now.

“You doing alright?”

How the hell was he supposed to reply to that one? Firstly, it ought to be obvious just by seeing him that he was more miserable and pathetic than a kicked puppy, and secondly, it would be nothing but selfish and rude for him to bitch and moan about how much it sucks that he’s not the favorite child anymore.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Hell no. If he started talking about this right now, he’d never stop. Not until he said the wrong thing and sealed his fate and guaranteed that no one would want anything to do with him for the rest of his life. As if that’s not already the case.

He heard Virgil let out a sigh, followed by the soft click of the door closing again, and Roman felt an unpleasant mix of relief and regret. Sure, he ought to be alone, but being lonely and knowing that this would be his fate forever? Anyone would want to hold onto a rare chance of company. He wouldn’t want to do that to Virgil, though. He wasn’t about to force him to stay if he doesn’t want to. Still, a part of himself ached knowing that this would likely be his last interaction with someone, and he didn’t even say a word or look at-

The bed dipped as Virgil sat down next to him, not quite touching but close enough for Roman to feel his presence. Close enough for him to tell that he wasn’t dreaming yet.

"If you want me to go I can, but something tells me you probably shouldn’t be alone like this,” he said, his voice a soothing melody for Roman to hold onto.

“Look, I didn’t mean to just brush you off like that earlier, okay? Remus really wanted to play that game with me, and I guess I got a little too wrapped into it and- “

“I’m not mad,” Roman interrupted, surprising himself with how watery and choked his voice sounded. God, he needed to get a grip. “You were having fun.”

"... okay, but even if you aren’t mad, you’re definitely upset. I get it if you don’t wanna talk about it, but you shouldn’t be suffering like this in your room all day either. I’m not the best at this sorta thing, but I can get Patton if you want.”

“No.”

Honestly, the last thing Roman wanted was for anyone else to see him like this, especially if that someone was Patton. He wanted to help Remus get accepted, he didn’t need to deal with Roman throwing a hissy fit over it.

Virgil was quiet for a moment, and Roman could only imagine the look on his face as he tried to think of what to do or say next.

“… is it about him?” he eventually asked.

Roman shook his head no, as best as he could when half his face was pressed against a pillow. It really wasn’t about Patton or Logan or even Remus. Roman just needed to grow up and get over it. This was his fault, and ultimately his problem to deal with.

“It’s nothing,” he muttered, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. He hoped Virgil didn’t notice. He wouldn’t be able to handle it if he did. “It’s stupid.”

“Not if it’s got you this bent out of shape,” Virgil replied. “If it’s about the whole video thing, I’m sure your idea was a good one. Logan’s bound to use it for the next one.”

No he wasn’t. Not when Roman's project was already collecting dust in the living room and repurposed into a paperweight. Not when Remus had already replaced him. Roman screwed his eyes shut with a sob as the tears finally started to fall. How pathetic could he possibly get? Crying like a baby all because he couldn’t get his way. Maybe Janus was right about him. Maybe he was an unheroic evil twin after all.

“Oh, shit I didn’t mean to- I uh… look, don’t cry, okay?” Virgil stammered. “Shit, I’m really not good at this, uh… can I just start over here?”

Roman could hardly form words past the sobs that threatened to escape with every breath. Some prince he was, not even capable of comforting someone who was trying to comfort him first. Not like he deserved that kind of care in the first place.

“It’s… it’s fine” he blubbered, too embarrassed to look at Virgil. “He had the better idea, and everyone likes him more, and it’s not a problem, really. He’s better than me, he’s earned this. I get it. I’m not angry, I’m not.”

Virgil paused for a moment in surprise. “Wait, are you talking about Remus?”

“It’s okay, really. Logan likes his ideas better, and you two like the same things… I’m just overreacting. He’s creativity, too. He can do my job, probably better. It’s fine.”

Another pause. “… oh, buddy. You can’t really think… Roman, we’re not replacing you or anything. That’s not what’s going on here.”

Roman felt the bed shift next to him, and for a heart-stopping moment he was worried Virgil was leaving. Instead, he felt a cool but comforting hand on his shoulder, stroking gently before giving him a light squeeze.

“Roman, he’s not replacing you, okay? No one wants to do that to you, and even if they did, I’d never let that happen, you hear me? We all still want you around.”

The tears were flowing even harder now, and try as he might, Roman couldn’t get them to stop. Why was Virgil saying this? It was obvious that the others didn’t like him, he had been aware of it for a while now. Of course they’d want to be rid of him.

“Hey, don’t be upset, okay? Please, I really don’t know how to do this right. Uh, look, Patton still cares about you, and Logan needs you even if he acts like he doesn’t. They aren’t getting rid of you anytime soon, alright? I promise. I’m not letting you duck out that easy. Especially not now that we’re both friends.”

That made Roman finally look at him. Virgil was looking down at him with a soft but worried expression, his own eyes misting over.

“We’re friends?” he asked between sobs.

Virgil blinked rapidly; his face flushed. “I mean, I hope so. Is that okay?”

"But I was so mean to you, and I know Remus likes the same stuff you do and… “

"He’s also gross and goes out of his way to make me uncomfortable,” Virgil replied, a trace of snark returning to his voice. “Besides, we were both assholes before, but I like hanging out with you, and I’m not letting anyone dethrone your ass.”

Roman laughed despite himself, wiping away a few stray tears before sitting back up next to Virgil. “Just because you’ve looked past it doesn’t mean everyone else has. I know I messed up. I’m still messing up, no matter how hard I try to get things right. They have every reason to like Remus more. I’m happy for him getting to be the one coming up with videos now. I’m sure he’ll do a much better job at it than me anyway.”

Virgil gave him that same soft look from earlier before taking Roman's hand in his own, gently running his thumb over the skin in a calming pattern.

“This isn’t forever,” he whispered. “You always come up with the best ideas, and you’ll still be a part of the process no matter what. You’re also allowed to get pissed off about this if you want to be. It sucks, you can let it suck.”

“I’m not mad at anyone, just… “

“Disappointed?”

Roman nodded, feeling the lump in his throat returning. “In myself, I suppose.”

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t be this worked up over it. They’re allowed to like his ideas more than mine, and he’s allowed to be a part of things too. I don’t hate him for that.”

“Well, yeah, but if you work really hard on something only to get the cold shoulder out of nowhere, it’s only fair to get upset about it.”

A fresh batch of tears started welling up, and this time Roman was less pressed to wipe them away. A quiet whimper escaped as the tears started to fall, and Virgil brought a hand up to delicately cup his face, his thumb smoothing the tears away with more care and kindness than Roman had ever seen from him, and he found himself leaning into the touch.

"Keep that up and you’ll get me crying next,” he teased, though Roman could still spot the telltale shine of unshed tears all the same. “Seriously though, you’re okay. You are not getting replaced; not now, not ever. We all still love you. I know I do.”

Roman couldn’t tell if he sobbed or gasped, but he didn’t care to focus on that. If what Virgil said was true, and the furious blush in his cheeks suggested it was, then Roman would have to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming all over again. Virgil was actually confessing to having feelings for him, that he liked him back, and Roman wasn’t about to let anything else distract from it.

“I love you too,” he whispered, watching as Virgil's face filled with hope and surprised disbelief as his words sank in. “And thank you. I think I needed to hear that.”

"I think so too,” Virgil replied, a glint of mirth twinkling in his eyes. “Do you want in on the next game when you’re feeling better? Remus bet he could survive longer than you.”

Roman smiled, the first authentic one he made all day. “I thought you’d never ask.”

@lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie @nico-the-overlord @rougeside4 @britt-ish123 @keitaisghost @new-zee-land @can-i-take-a-stab @yuckpuppie

[kitkatopinions]

i wish people would understand that RWDE isn't a "community" lol. we are individual people who have issues with RWBY and we use a specialized criticisms tag for the show since the community can't handle criticism well. 

i've seen people in RWDE shit talk sun and tai and other faves of mine, and i just ignore and move on. why? cos i don't have to agree with every single criticism in the tag. it's crazy that folks keep thinking we're some sort of hivemind as if we haven't addressed that and debunked that a million times.

The way that people talk about rwde as if it's an organization with meetings where people who get officially sworn into the club vote on what we're allowed to think and we discuss our secret plans to bring down RWBY... It's honestly uncomfortable. And the way that they then act like they get persecuted for liking rwby themselves is also wild.

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

I follow rwde posters who I sometimes disagree with or who ship things that I personally don't ship. There are rwde posters I don't follow because I disagree with them on a lot of things. There are rwde posters who I've blocked for opinions I found stupid and/or bigoted. Other rwde posters have blocked me and though I'm not sure of the reasons, I just assume that they have them and move on. I've gotten in fights with rwde posters before (leading to blocks,) and I've gotten in plenty of debates where we more or less agreed to disagree. There are tags I have filtered out specifically because I personally find the criticism to be a bit much sometimes, like for instance I have 'anti blake belladonna' content filtered out.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And on the note of anti-rwdes acting like they get persecuted for liking rwby... Never in my whole time posting in rwde have I actually seen someone saying that no one should like or watch rwby. I've never seen it happen. I've seen pirating encouraged, I've seen people say that if you're still buying merch from RT than you're not a good person, I've seen people say they think that rwby fans need to be willing to critically look at the media they consume instead of blindly supporting everything in it without thought. But I've never seen someone say that it's wrong to like or watch rwby. Anti-rwde people just randomly invented that rwde posters have this secret vendetta where we secretly hate anyone who likes rwby without proof.

it's frankly ridiculous.

The RWDE tag - once again - is a courtesy tag used in order to keep rwby criticism separate from the main tag and easily filtered out for the fans that don't want to see criticism. But I am seriously so frustrated by all this shit lately that a part of me thinks we should just ditch 'rwde' altogether and come up with our own new thing. We shouldn't all be getting harassed and bullied and we shouldn't have white knight defenders trying to purge us from the fandom, and we definitely shouldn't get idiots who have no idea how 'tags' work and treat us like a hivemind with enforced opinions when that's clearly not the case and clearly isn't how rwde works.

[chronotopes]

mini journal entry before i lock in (allegedly)

i miss jenny's family :( while i was sleeping off my trademark blink-and-you'll-miss-it shitty seasonal change-induced cold on saturday her siblings called her to talk shit about rings of power and i realized i MISSED THEM!!! we won't be seeing the whole gang assembled for thanksgiving this year because my brother and his gf will be away for new years this year visiting her extended family on the other side of the world (!!) which makes SENSE but it does make me sad. christmas it is. sorry to yap about this every month but every time i remember how at home i feel around these people i'm like wow :) wow :)) wow :)))

the teacher crush poll made me scroll back through my tag for my methods of lit studies tag and i once again miss fall in my college town even though every time it's been fall in my college town i've also been engaging in some kind of bad idea behavior or in the middle of a mental health crisis or doing pandemic shit. that said scrolling through that tag really made me codify my sexual identity in a more coherent way than i ever have before, which is 'sure i like men every once in a blue moon but every time i do it's a sure sign of deep instability'

stoked as FUCK for the first college improv show of the season, need ricky to get his shit together so that jenny and e (and the other usual suspects) are back on the improv scene

hanging out with my parents in a couple of weeks (yay!) but my grandma will be there (sigh). sorry for being a heartless bitch about my objectively harmless-ish grandparents it's not my fault (i guess it is)

i NEED to just write in my journal already instead of you know the classic tumblr oversharing move but idk. whatever. whatever. whatever.

i have felt kind of numb/distanced from the world/brain-full-of-goop lately in part because of the ~transitional state~ jenny and i are in jobswise and in part because i'm officially not applying to any graduate schools or whatever and am out of my preliminary wedding planning phase for now (lol) so now my extremely future events driven brain is all tumbleweeds and '....christmas? you could plan for christmas?' BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS i think this is an inherently temporary stage of being and if i need something external to fix it then i can take a creative writing class or apply for better jobs or take pto and drive down to my college town for a day and invent ways and reasons to talk to professors. it is so easy to get back into a 'googling stuff that exists in your city' mood but i think it's also okay to first dissolve into goop and survive the aftershocks of Moving. Eventually I will even apply to better and more Here jobs, just.... idk. not right now.

When we would move as kids I used to think that year-long moving aftershocks were only a thing for Me, A Teenager and not for my parents because I never had any agency about where we went or where we lived or what timeline we traveled on or what friends I made before school started. Now that I am an adult with finances of my own I realize this was a really silly thing to think.

i have had a list of christmas present ideas going since like july but i have not yet figured out what to get my dad or jenny's mom aka the two hardest people in my life to shop for. Or my brother's girlfriend which is also kind of urgent considering I'll probably end up giving her and my brother christmas presents over thanksgiving (?? citation needed)

I miss jane!

[mostthingskenobi]

CASSIAN’S RECKONING - Chapter 5: The Truth

CHAPTER SUMMARY: We start to see that Cassian is paying for more than just his own mistakes. And Hera provides Jyn with the means for a rescue.

THIS IS A WHUMPY FIC W/GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE. PLEASE HEED THE TAGS ON AO3.

One of the most common points of feedback I'm getting on this fic is that people are nervous for Cassian LOL!!!!! I love it!!! Thank you to everyone for reading this. I hope you are enjoying.

I realized I forgot to mention in previous chapter notes that some of the stuff in this fic, like Cassian being barefoot, I came up with before the Narkina 5 episodes of Andor came out. I was clearly on the same wavelength as the show's writers.

However, the interrogation techniques used in this fic all came from the "torture" page on Wookieepedia. I have to confess I was SHOCKED (and mildly disturbed) at how much information there is on the subject, but once I started researching, I realized the Empire's devotion to organized oppression reached further than anything I had originally understood. There was the ISB, which was a law enforcement and intelligence organization. Then there was Imperial Intelligence (aka Imperial Military Intelligence) that functioned under its own accord. Then, in Andor we were exposed to an even broader level of enforcement through privatization of corporate militia and prison systems. The Empire was even more of a monstrous chimera than I thought; cutting off one head wouldn't be enough to kill the beast.

So...for all of you who say you are nervous for Cassian...SAME!!!

READ THE FIC ON AO3

ART TEASER

I have mentioned previously that I commissioned 5 pieces of art for this fic. You can see the first piece in chapter 1. Here is a little teaser for the art that goes with chapter 5. You can see the full piece on my patreon for the Jedi Knight and Jedi Master tiers. Thank you again to @amikoroyaiart​ for this AMAZING art!!!!

——————–

CHAPTER 5: THE TRUTH

All six death troopers were circled tightly around Cassian when Tarkin returned. They stepped back, revealing the rebel, now smeared with blood, his face bruised and his body unnaturally tense. Andor fought for breath, trembling with pain or fear or both. The Grand Moff prowled forward, carefully observing each cut, each achingly contracted rise and fall of the chest, each flinch. Tarkin reached out a long, bony hand and took Cassian by the chin, forcing him to make eye contact by lifting his head. “I trust you haven’t broken his jaw.”

“No, Sir,” the squad leader replied.

“Can you speak?” Tarkin queried, tightening his grip on Andor.

Cassian, nearly delirious, couldn’t force his mouth to move or will his vocal cords to function. All he managed was a choked gasp. His unfocused eyes rolled as his head sagged again. Blood ran down his face and covered Tarkin’s fingers.

“These troopers, these loyal members of the Empire, clearly cannot forgive what you did at Scarif. They’ve made quite a mess of you.”

The planet’s name penetrated Cassian’s consciousness like a cold blade. Jyn. The sand. Her arms wrapped tightly around him. Her fingers closing over his shoulders. Her cheek pressed against his. The room slowly came back into focus.

Tarkin’s skeletal grip constricted further around his jaw. “Each man here lost friends, comrades. Vaporized.”

“Vaporized by your weapon.” Andor struggled to make his dry throat work. “Blame yourself for Scarif.”

Tarkin stared at him for a long time with cruel, empty eyes. “Unrepentant, I see.” He released Cassian and stood straight, rolling back his shoulders.

Manipulation was one of the Grand Moff’s favorite weapons; in fact, he had refined it to an art form. For example, prisoner interrogations were mere games where reality was subjective and the rules could change at any time. One simply needed to invent a narrative that suited the desired outcome.

In this case, Andor was right, Tarkin gave the order to vaporize Scarif.

But truth was irrelevant.

Despite what he said aloud, Tarkin didn’t care one jot for the comrades that had been lost, but he did care about his own reputation. Orson Krennic’s incompetence had allowed this man, this small, insignificant rebel captain, to not only infiltrate Scarif’s citadel, but to steal the plans to Tarkin’s greatest achievement. He refused to allow a man like Andor to humiliate him. The Grand Moff would take his revenge, but he would do so obliquely, without openly using his own motivations. In this way, Andor’s suffering multiplied benefits: it would boost his men’s morale, lead to a wealth of information about the Rebel Alliance, and provide Tarkin with a means for exorcizing his all-encompassing rage caused by Krennic’s ineptitude.

“It’s time we have a proper conversation,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back.

An IT-O interrogator droid appeared in the doorway and hummed forward, its black exterior shining like a sterile mirror.

Cassian’s eyes grew wide with fear.

Tarkin enjoyed watching the rebel’s pride vanish. He turned toward the droid. “I want him lucid and compliant.” The machine extended several arms with syringes in their pinchers and began compiling a combination of injections.

“I see you are familiar with the IT-O units,” Tarkin said while Cassian watched in terror as the droid prepped its needles. “Most rebels know it by reputation. These models use elaborate and scientific methods to extract information. You’re strong and defiant, but we’ll crack you in no time.” The Grand Moff smeared his thumb through blood running down Cassian’s cheek. “We’re already off to a good start.” He pinched Cassian’s jacket collar, cleaning the blood from his finger. “The droid will monitor your vital signs, tracking your involuntary responses and preventing you from losing consciousness. It will also record your interrogation, in case something of value gets lost in your screams. We will capture every little detail. From this moment on, all you will know is pain.”

——————–

“It’s an IPV-1 System Patrol Craft,” General Syndulla said as she led Rogue One into the hangar and up to the sleek silver spaceship. “They were originally used by the Republic, but now the Empire uses them to patrol planetary systems under their control. It’s a corvette, fast, maneuverable.”

Jyn reached out and ran her hand over the hull. “Where did you find it?”

“We confiscated it a long time ago. It flies like a dream, but the IVP-1 has a major setback that makes it less than ideal for most missions.”

“What’s the setback?”

“It’s sublight. No hyperdrive.”

“That is a problem.”

“Yes, but I still think you can use it.” She continued leading Jyn and Rogue One around the exterior. “We’ll get a cruiser to drop you in the Executrix’s vicinity, just far enough away to not show up on their scanners. You fly in, board the star destroyer, find Cassian, and make your escape.”

“But if the ship is sublight, we won’t make it home.”

“You’ll have to steal a different ship to escape, most likely a lambda shuttle. They have tracking beacons, so we’ll have to arrange a pickup where you dump the shuttle before we get you back to base.” Hera waited, allowing the details to fall into place for Jyn. She watched the young woman’s brow pull together.

“It will be tricky. We’ll need a lot of luck to make it work.”

“True. But compared to Scarif, perhaps it’s not so intimidating?”

Jyn nodded.

“Have you given any thought to your cover?” Syndulla asked.

“Yes, we’ll give them what they want.”

“And what’s that?”

“Me.”

Hera’s gaze sharpened. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Allowing Tarkin to capture another Scarif rebel is the best chance we have of gaining access to the landing bay. And it all but guarantees we’ll make it to the detention area.” She gestured toward her companions. “Everyone else will be dressed as stormtroopers. They can claim to have intercepted me flying in restricted territory, trying to make a rescue attempt for Cassian.”

“You’ll need at least one officer on board. Take Sergeant Melshi. Since all of Rogue Crew is going, you might as well take him. You can put your necks on the line together. I can confirm Melshi has not been identified by the Empire as a Scarif cohort. Plus, he and Andor are old friends. I’m sure he’ll want to go.”

“What happened to not wanting all of Rogue One on a mission together?”

The general smiled slightly. “I understand there are some missions you have to do together, no matter the risk.”

The corner of Jyn’s mouth pulled up. “I can’t thank you enough for this. But why? When no one else offered help, why are you?”

Hera’s expression became pensive. “For many reasons. Andor has sacrificed a great deal for the Rebellion. We owe him our loyalty.” She took a breath to steady herself. “But mostly because I know what it’s like to lose someone I care for. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to go back and save the person I lost.” She put her hand on Jyn’s shoulder. “We can never be sure how much time we have with those we love. If you have a chance, Jyn, you take it.”

——————–

END NOTES

NEXT CHAPTER IS CALLED “THE DETRITUS" - Cassian gets pushed to the brink...and all he can think of is Jyn.

Thank you for reading!

Likes, comments, and reblogs are very welcome!

Much love!

——————–

READ IT ON AO3 - Kudos and Comments Welcome :-)

READ CHAPTER 1 “The Razor”

READ CHAPTER 2 “The Scythe”

READ CHAPTER 3 “The Cold”

READ CHAPTER 4 “The Expendable”

READ CHAPTER 5 “The Truth”

READ CHAPTER 6 "The Detritus"

READ CHAPTER 7 “The Salt”

READ CHAPTER 8 “The Power”

READ CHAPTER 9 “The Betrayal”

READ CHAPTER 10 “The Ruse”

READ CHAPTER 11 "The Reprieve"

READ CHAPTER 12 “The Ghosts”

READ CHAPTER 13 “The Redemption”

READ CHAPTER 14 “The Spoils”

READ CHAPTER 15 “The Interrogation”

READ CHAPTER 16 "The Rogues"

READ CHAPTER 17 “The Absolution”

READ CHAPTER 18 “The Reach”

READ CHAPTER 19 "The Hologram"

READ CHAPTER 20 “The Divide”

READ CHAPTER 21 “The Cost”

READ CHAPTER 22 “The Fallout”

READ CHAPTER 23 “The Wounds”

READ CHAPTER 24 “The Hand”

READ CHAPTER 25 “The Heart”

READ CHAPTER 26 “The Beginning”

[starblessed-blasterz]

HELLO FELLOW EARTHLINGS!!!

*~ I'm Val, he/they, 20. I like science! Making things! Technology! Old graphics! ~*

Long story short: I worked towards a career as a scientist for a bit, 'till I followed a comet out to a lake one night. It was a mysterious device that attatched to my chest, and now occasionally I get cryptic visions of Deoxys themselves in my sleep, mwehehe!

You may be wondering, why me of all people? Does this make me a "chosen"? Does Deoxys have some plan for me? Do they even have a sense of morality???? I HAVE NO IDEA!

BUT, either way I can see the responsibility that has been entrusted upon me!! I just still need to get the hang of my abilities. And uh, try to get out more. :/

Those abilities, by the way! I seem to be able to modify my own DNA, no idea how far I can take that and I've got some trouble controlling it, for now I just keep it to temporarily emulating Pokemon types. That's right, I can have types, and with this little raygun of my own design, I can fight like a Pokemon! >:)

Sometimes! If I can figure out how to do it without almost frying myself! It can get icky. But I invented beads that change color with my typing, which I'D call a win!!

Past Adventures!: unown adoption adventure

MY POKEMON:

Angelo (Gallade ♂, has mega stone). My ace! My co-captain! My partner through thick and thin!

Fangzie (Flygon ♂). Gets flying zoomies a lot, I'm one of the few trainers who can keep up with him ^_^

Cadet (Dhelmise). Soothing and creaky! Strong but sleepy! Doesn't try that hard, to be frank, but we're working on it.

Crimzon (Scizor ♀). Don't touch her wings or she'll chop your arm off! Nah not really. But sometimes she'll glare at you like she will.

Zee (Zangoose ♀). Really cuddly for a Zangoose's reputation! Much softer fur than what she looks like.

That's my usual team! Some others who sometimes join the fray:

Mercy (Audino ♂). The sole reason I'm not in medical debt! More of a lover than a fighter.

Vega (Starmie). A timid little guy. I keep hoping it could teach me more about space and maybe my own patron one day, but well. I imagine not having a mouth or hands gets in the way.

Soul (Solrock). A strange little guy, seems content just spinning around in the corner of the room a lot of the time.

Valkyrie / Val Jr (Unown 守). A rare variant recently adopted from the Unown Sanctuary! Chivalrous and a bit of a tsundere (with lack of a better term). Mostly just a travel companion whenever Zee wouldn't fit the situation, but that doesn't mean they can't hold their own in a fight!

Have a great day, young cadet! >:3

// Yayy it's @swadloom once again on my way to getting obsessed with rotomblr!

I also run @silver-crowned-riders and @rocket-researcher-antares, this time around I wanted to make a less villainous character who could at least go to normal events and wouldn't hate every other user lol.

Tried to give an in-character explanation for why someone like this isn't super out and about since I'm still relatively new to pkmn irl and bc of other issues (& general confusion a lot of the time 😭) I might not participate in much high stakes as of now.

Val uses lots of gifs! I'll give alt descs when I can and will tag flashing and eyestrain for potentially harsher ones, if there's a better way to tag things lmk! ✌

It seems like tumblr eats asks for me sometimes since I get notifs but nothing comes up, so don't be shy to send in something a second time if it doesn't get answered in a day or two.

[rowan-guerrins]

9 fandom peeps to get to know better:

thanks @dragonagelesbian for tagging me! i am so eept rn so i have,,,, no idea how coherent this’ll be lol

3 ships you like: gigolas (gimli and legolas; i refuse to use any ship name other than the most ridiculous one lmao) (they invented love methinks); nerdanel x fëanor (their love and epic divorce compel me… rotating them in my brain like The Cube); and bagginshield (idiots 🫶). i like (love, even) many ships akfkskf but right now im in my tolkien era (again.) so uhhh yeah. all tolkien ships here. shoutout to dinkus tho.

first ship ever: literally aragorn and arwen. i was obsessed with them and wanted them to be my parents. in after-school daycare i would sit in front of a whiteboard and draw a big ole castle and draw out my elaborate fantasy role play i had w a friend in which i WAS their child. this brainrot has been with me for as long as i can remember i inherited it i will live forever with it. incurable disease (liking tolkien) haver.

last song you heard: squints. well earlier i was SINGING many songs from the broadway beauty and the beast musical but that was acapella so that doesn’t count. it’s uhh. (opens spotify). well i’m halfway through doom days by bastille (doom days by bastille my beloved). so that. (unless you do count what i was singing for some reason. in which case. uhhhh. if i can’t love her. THEE beauty and the beast song of all time. helloooooo is this thing on do you hear me? do you understand? it’s the musical song of all time to me actually. it’s so good. listen to it. evermore wants what she has.)

favorite childhood book: uhhh so i only remember really early childhood and later childhood. i know i had other favorites between like 5-8 or so. but you’re getting what i can remember ajdjwjd. as a YOUNG kid i loved “goodnight moon”. the kids book of all time. and in later childhood, outside of my obsession with the warrior cats franchise (a given), i really loved the inheritance cycle books. i need to reread them so bad SO BAD. also i need to get the illustrated edition of eragon. shakes.

currently reading: “the fellowship of the ring”. don’t look atme. don’t— look. look. when i said it’s my tolkien girlie era again. well. yeah. anyway. i am. 97-98% thru it so probably it will change to two towers. also TECHNICALLY. i am still. technically. reading “carmilla” (she’s somewhere in my room but i don’t know where oops). and also. technically. “the silmarillion” (LOOK.), because i need to actually read it all the way thru for once and not just skip to the bits about my favoritest worst guys alive who are hated by god and also do war crimes but they’re funny. so it’s. look. it. it’s okay. hey look at me. the murder is not a big deal. it’s all so catholic here. i’m more worried about that.

currently watching: stares into the distance. it’s been so long since i’ve watched anything. at least TV/movie-wise. i watch a simmer’s streams and youtube vids is that anything? no…. naur…. i think the last. thing i watched was. uh. an episode of ATLA.

currently consuming: BALDURS GATE THREE. i am obsessed w my tav rn. i restarted my playthru bc i wanted to good recruit minthara bc i feel like she’d have a crunchy dynamic w my tav, lleuad. somehow less crunchy than i expected but we just got her so who’s to say. anyway. shakking,,,, look at Them. (talking to one of the besties.)

currently craving: japanese curry……… mmmm. with. chicken katsu. yeag

tagging: open tag bc actual tagging always gives me anxiety lmao. if you want to do this, consider yourself tagged!

[cambion-companion]

One shot of Aemond x genius reader? I remember him saying “I have no need for a clever wife” in the book but what if he slowly fell for a sharp tongue nerd lol.

Also can the reader be an inventor as well? Like she’s so intelligent that she’d be maester if she wasn’t a woman.

Oh hi friend! So...this is going to be a 2 part fic. I wanted to set it up so that the reader and Aemond get a chance to really fall for each other in the next installation.

Let me know if you want to be tagged for Part 2.

Aemond x reader

“Hand me the crow’s foot wrench.”  You held you hand out expectantly, still bent with your face close to the work bench.

“The…what?”  Aemond was at a loss, scanning the many tools littered on the table next to you.

You sighed, straightening and turning to where he stood looking frustrated.  You knew he was unaccustomed to not having the answer for everything, it made the corners of your mouth twitch in an unbidden smirk.  You plucked the correct tool from the table and wiggled it before his frowning face. “This is the crow’s foot, Aemond.”

“It looks like a small piece of metal to me.” He huffed, rolling his one violet eye.  The other was covered by a leather eyepatch and despite your curious questions, the young man refused to let you see under it.

You returned his dubious gaze with a cheeky smile and returned to your work. Aemond, despite himself, moved closer to hover over your shoulder.  “What are you doing here anyway, Y/N.  You shut yourself up here in the maester’s attic for hours each day.”

“You miss me?”  You gave him a sly look over your shoulder. “I’m touched.”

“In the head, perhaps.”  There was an undertone of annoyance in his voice now as he gestured to your work. “This is a mess of cogs and coils.”

“It can be much more than that if you let me focus…damn.”  Your hand had slipped on the tiny wrench, sending several springs you had so carefully lined up flying.  

Aemond tsked and you rounded on him, needing to pull your head back a bit as he was standing so near. “Aemond please.” You hissed. “I need to concentrate!”

He threw up his hands and backed away, giving you some space.  “I don’t know why you don’t pick up sewing or playing an instrument like the other ladies at court.”  He walked around the little workplace you had arranged for yourself. Bending down to examine one of the small mechanical egg that opened and closed when a lever was pressed.  

“Because I’m not like the other ladies at court.” You muttered, concentrating once more upon your newest invention.  

“That much is self evident, Y/N.”  He seemed to like saying your name and, if you were being honest with yourself, you liked hearing it from his mouth.

He approached your shoulder again, touching it lightly.  “I know you don’t want to be distracted from…whatever fascinating contraption you’re creating, but my mother wishes to see us.”

Your hand gave an involuntary twitch at his words, causing the metal compartment you had just carefully sealed to pop open, spraying forth a cloud of charcoal ash.  Your face took the brunt of it, but Aemond, having positioned himself close behind your shoulder again, spluttered and coughed along with you. You turned to face him, waving a hand in an attempt to clear the air somewhat.  He looked a mess, his angular face now covered in a thin coating of black dust, his silver-white hair, so sleek and polished, was now the shade of a moorland swamp.

The two of you stood there a moment, taking in the other’s appearance, before bursting into a peal of laughter.  Aemond’s left hand clutched the nearby table for support as you doubled over, holding your stomach.  

After many moments of trying to pull yourself together you finally straightened, wiping a tear from your face and immediately regretting it when your hand came away covered in black ink.  Aemond shook his head at you, his curved mouth still grinning. “I’m guessing that wasn’t your intention.”

“Your deductive powers know no bounds, my prince.”  You started carefully making your way out of the room and in the direction of your chambers.  

Aemond snorted derisively, coughed, then followed you. “I will meet you outside your rooms and escort you to my mother, the queen.  Don’t take long, knowing you I could be waiting hours.”

You whirled around, indignation flaring in your eyes.  On a wild impulse, you rubbed the back of your inky hand across Aemond’s cheek, leaving a dark streak upon his face.  “You insufferable minx!” He tried to grab for your hand but you gathered your skirts and fled the scene, leaving the astounded prince behind.

It proved a difficult task, but with some soap and a coarse cloth, you managed to rid yourself of most of the charcoal dust.  You changed out of your soiled dress into one of scarlet red, with golden details.

Aemond was nowhere to be seen in the hallway as you exited your room, and you leaned against the wall to wait.  It was several minutes before you heard approaching footsteps and saw him round the corner, stopping when he saw you waiting there.  You moved to greet him; he had cleaned up well though you spotted a small dot of black next to his ear. “Hold still a moment.”  You said, reaching forward and rubbing away the mark with your thumb.

Aemond started at the contact but held still for you, his eye taking in your features.  He extended an arm, which you took, and escorted you to where his mother waited.

“That took a while, Aemond.”  Alicent rose from where she had been sitting near the fireplace. “Lady Y/N, a pleasure to see you as always.  Please, sit.”  She gestured for the two of you to sit on the sofa across from her.

You sat next to Aemond, your knee and shoulder brushing against his, sending a jolt of electricity through you. “What is this about, mother?” Aemond queried, so he didn’t know any more than you.

“Forgive me for being blunt about this.” Alicent began, running stressed hands along her skirts. “Time is of the essence. Aemond, you are nine and ten years of age. It is past time for you to be betrothed to a suitable lady, and I wish for that lady to be Y/N.”  She raised her voice over Aemond’s sudden protestations. “Lady Y/N comes from a strong noble house whose support we desperately need right now.  You have said on multiple occasions how beautiful you find her, yes you Aemond. She is learned, clever and more than a suitable match.”

“I have no need for a clever wife, mother.”  Aemond snapped.

Your face warmed, having nothing to do with the fire. You glanced sidelong at him, his jaw was taught, his fingers tapping impatiently on his thighs.  

“It is already done. I have been in correspondence with Y/N’s family, and they have agreed.” Alicent continued as Aemond abruptly stood, turning to the fire. “It is your duty as the second-born son of Viserys Targaryen.  We need allies, Aemond. Or we’ve no hope of winning the war to come.”

You watched his back as Aemond stared into the flames.  There was nothing you could say against this if your family had already signed you over to the Targaryens.  The idea of wedding Aemond didn’t seem altogether unpleasant, however you had long since accepted your marriage would not be one of love, being a lady from one of the great houses.

Alicent turned her worried face to you. “Again, I am sorry this was so abrupt, Lady Y/N.  You know I am fond of you, and I look forward to welcoming you fully into our family.”

You tried to smile at her, it felt weak on your own face.  Your eyes flicked back to Aemond’s still form, the sheet of pale hair running down his back, tense shoulders finally seemed to relax.  He faced his mother. “I will do my duty to this family as I always have.”  His eye flickered to you. “Forgive me, lady Y/N.” He said with a formality you were unused to in the several years you had known him. “I’m honored to accept you as my betrothed.”

With these words, Aemond crossed with long strides to the chamber door, opened it, and disappeared into the halls beyond.  Alicent blew out a long sigh. “I expected that to go better.”

“May I leave, your grace?”  You needed to escape, to go somewhere the fresh air could waken your numb senses.

“Yes, yes.”  Alicent waved you off, staring into the flames with an expression of such utter sadness it made you hesitate.  But only a moment before you also fled the room.

[heartkyeom]

honey jar

lee seokmin x gn!reader

word count: 5.6k

tag list: @maijunejuly @graykageyama @svthub @junkissed

warnings: mentions of violence, strangers to lovers

a/n: my svthub halloween fic is finally done!! thank you to june for beta reading part of this and to my fellow svthub members for being so supportive of this idea even though I kept it very close to my chest lol. it turned out a bit differently than I expected, but I truly hope you enjoy it! happy halloween! 💗

Seokmin has a nasty habit of being obsessive. It doesn’t pop up often, but when it does, his fixation can be quite hard to let go of.

It’s not his fault that you’re incredibly fascinating. Seokmin is a faithful patron of the local witchcraft shop where you work, he didn’t even need to go to the store as often as he does, but there’s just something about you.

As a witch, he could easily source his supplies for potions and spells from much less conspicuous places, but he’s grown accustomed to the way you pack each of his items carefully, whether it be a few crystals or heavy equipment. 

Soonyoung and Seungkwan always warned him to be wary of humans, to know that not everyone would react positively to his powers, but he couldn’t help it.

Even if his flings crashed and burned, he still liked the thought of taking care of someone whether his powers were involved or not.

Thus, he found himself at the witchcraft store for the 3rd time this week, picking up something he definitely did not need, just to see you.

You were never particularly fond of small talk or seemingly anything positive, but he tried to engage with you like always. 

Seokmin carefully set down a pile of crystals on the counter, much to your dismay. The store had been relatively empty since he came in, but he figured you could expect him to be there a few times a week now.

“How’s your day been so far?” He’s beaming.

You offer him a slight scowl before looking at the cashier's tablet to key in his items. You only give a short glance at the crystals before answering. “Uneventful,” you deadpan. 

“Why are you buying all these crystals, you were just here for crystals last week,” You don’t look up at him, instead shaking your head in disapproval at this lunatic who would likely end up buying out your entire stock of crystals by the end of the week.

“My friend’s birthday is coming up and they’re really into crystals,” He lies and examines his choices once again, nodding in confirmation at what he’s picked out for his hypothetical friend. 

These would just go on another shelf in his bedroom, adding to the massive collection of stones waiting to be used for a specific spell. He decided he could never have enough good energy with him, so maybe the trip wasn’t a complete waste.

You observe him as if you’re contemplating whether to believe his obvious lie. Your shoulders lower with a deep sigh, it seems like you’ve decided to leave things alone today. “Whatever, your total is $16.54.”

He digs through his wallet to give you the exact amount in cash, and despite having a perfectly functioning debit card, he liked indulging in the novelty of cash payments. It was a silly human invention that made him unreasonably happy for some reason, amongst other things.

“Can I have a reusable bag? I like the designs here,” He smiles again at the thought of the reusable bags the store offered. There are a few different designs that he’s admired for a while now, especially since they were made by local artists.

“You’re stealing my script,” You pout, “and shouldn’t you have your own reusable bag by now?” You reach below the counter to grab the tote bag, and to his surprise, it’s his favorite out of the local designs. The picture is quite simple, a watercolor drawing of fairies living within a flower garden. He thought it was sweet and nostalgic, it always made him happy to see it framed on the counter among the other tote bag designs. 

“You’re right, I left it at home,” He admits sheepishly, rubbing the back of his hair easily. He knew his crystals would just be put in a small paper bag, but he figured he could test his luck by asking for something bigger.

“You’re lucky that you spend so much money here,” You still don’t look at him as you put the crystals in the miniature paper bag and push it forward. 

“Or else I would’ve made you pay for this,” You hold out the tote bag for him to take. His eyes go slightly wide, but he catches himself and takes it with a smile.

He blushes. “I appreciate the kindness, thank you.”  

“I think this will be my last visit of the week,” he confirms. 

He really should ease up on coming to see you, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He didn’t necessarily have it in the budget to keep making this many visits to the shop. 

“Great,” You’re still unamused, but he’s still trying to fight the nerves building up in the pit of his stomach. 

“See you around,” He waves and exits the store before he can catch your reaction, he feels too overwhelmed to look back. 

He knew he was being pathetic, but what else could he do? 

The infatuation has already bloomed in his heart, now he had to figure out a way to deal with it.

—

Outside of work, you enjoyed exploring the neighborhood on your walks back home. You didn’t live very far from the shop, so you tried to utilize every moment to find something new to fawn over.

Recently, it’s been the houses in the hidden streets near your apartment. 

Whenever you left to get coffee or get groceries for the week, you didn’t stop yourself from turning down the corner of the road toward the glimpses of suburbia in the bustling city.

Most times, people weren’t outside of their homes, so you could observe the exterior of certain houses thoroughly without judgment.

Sometimes, there were kids playing outside or a couple would be talking on their porch. Things like seasonal decorations, school graduation pickets, and traces of colorful chalk on the pavement reminded you that people lived full vibrant lives in places you would never see. 

It always left you with a hopeful feeling.

Yet, there was one that always left you curious, one that always made you stop to admire it no matter what.

The sage green Victorian-style house stuck out like a sore thumb among the minimalist angular homes that took up a good portion of the block.

The two-story house contained a wrap-around porch, a steeply pitched roof, painted iron railings, and other ornate flourishes that drew your eye to it every time.

This time, you’re so lost in thought while looking at the roof that you barely notice someone walking outside the front door.

You avert your eyes to the sidewalk immediately. “Shit, I’m sorry for staring,” Your response is panic-stricken, and you don’t want to face whatever old person would be waiting to kick you off their lawn.

“It’s okay, you’re fine,” The voice is much younger than you envisioned, but also strangely familiar as well.

You look up to see a slightly tired Seokmin, lingering on the porch to get a better look at you.

He seems just as shocked as you are as if you’re both people that can only exist in one location in your mind. 

He’s also startlingly handsome for 6 pm on a Thursday, he’s only dressed in a plain sweatshirt and sweatpants but it’s enough to drive you slightly insane.

His fluffy black hair is now hidden by a baseball cap, spotlighting his facial features.

His smile is still just as kind as always, if not more when the initial shock of seeing you wears off. “Y/N, hi! Do you live near here?”

“Yeah, I live a few blocks from here,” You point behind you and offer him a small smile.

“Oh wow, you’re close to the store then!”

“Yeah, blessing and a curse,” You nod. “Wait, do you live here?” You bring yourself back to focus to ask him what’s on your mind.

“Oh, yeah, I do,” He replies excitedly. This brings up a flurry of questions in your mind.

“You have roommates, right? I mean there’s no way you live here alone,” You assess him offhandedly but realize your tone. “Shit, that was mean.”

He doesn’t seem offended by your assumption though. 

“It’s true, I definitely can’t afford to be here alone so I have two roommates.”

“That’s nice, at least,” You sigh at the thought of having nice roommates. A few bad encounters in college had sworn you off completely, at least for the time being.

“I work at the branch right near that bright pink thrift shop, so I’m also close to work,” He looks as if he’s given this exact reference too many times, so much so that he waits for your lightbulb moment that eventually comes a few seconds later.

“Yeah, of course! That reminds me, I haven’t renewed my library card,” You grab the side of your tote bag while thinking of your keys, remembering the tiny library card that hung on your keychain.

“You should come to see me at the library! I could do it for you,” He’s almost a little too eager to help you out. Everything about him is eager, his presence is almost puppylike and you’re not sure if you like that or not.

“I can just do it online, right?”

He pouts. “Then you can’t come to see me,” His voice is slightly petulant which makes your heart flutter for some reason. “I’ve seen you a million times, it’s time for you to catch up.”

“This implies that we’re friends, friends visit each other at work.”

“Do you not want to be friends?”

The question is innocent enough, but it stops you in your tracks.

Although his energy is almost sickeningly sweet, he leaves you curious. You’d like to know if he’s always been this way, what makes him nervous, what his roommates are like, and why he always looks so endearing without trying.

If you were being completely honest with yourself, you could benefit from having more friends.

“No, I do,” You let yourself smile just enough so that he’s content again.

His face immediately seems back at ease at your agreement. 

“Okay. Can I get your number so we can plan something?”

You can’t tell if he’s flirting or if he’s really just that excited to see you again, you opt for the latter by the way he keeps trying to hide his smile from you. 

You eventually nod with a closed-mouth smile, and you silently unlock your phone and hand it to him to input his number.

His eyes seem especially curious as he types in his contact information, wide and attentive at your phone. 

“Here you go,” He hands it back with a bright smile and you wonder how he hasn’t run out of energy just from smiling at you.

“I’ll go now, but it was nice to run into you,” You shift awkwardly away from him with a short wave, starting to turn around away from his view.

“You too,” His eyes are almost closed from how brightly he’s smiling. You turn away full before you can fixate on it. You decide to check his contact as you walk in the opposite direction you came from and you notice something.

His name isn’t just Seokmin.

It’s “seokmin!” with an exclamation point as if his sparkly energy is somehow radiating from your phone. It makes you let out air through your nose with a chuckle as you shove your phone back into your jacket pocket.

His energy is quite distinct, that’s for sure.

—

Library shifts were relatively slow, but Seokmin didn’t particularly mind. He was able to complete his work around the building without constant interruption, but he was always happy to help a patron out.

Most patrons were drawn to him anyways, likely from his dazzling smile and charming personality. He could convince anyone to check out at least one book, catering to visitors of any age. 

Yet, today, he was relegated to the circulation desk.

It was his fault for not spreading his tasks out further through the day, but that’s the problem with having powers, it makes you want to use them for everything. 

Who wouldn’t use magic to help you shelve books faster or sort through a pile of returned books?

It was the part of the afternoon when the library was practically abandoned beside a few patrons idly browsing on the computers, and Seokmin could get away with doing whatever he wanted, within reason.

Today, that meant flipping through the massive administrative binders without touching a single page, his fingers scanning the information to type into the computer before turning to the next page with a flick of his hand. 

He typically did this with eyes flitting between the door and the pages of the binder to ensure that no one noticed what he was doing.

His eyes went up at just the right moment to see you walk through the double doors, he fumbled his hands below the desk in an effort to avoid any confrontation. 

It’s been a few weeks since you were outside his house and barely any texts were exchanged between the two of you. 

Honestly, Seokmin thought he was doing something wrong, but clearly, you were still interested in seeing him.

You approach the desk with a tight smile and Seokmin feels his heart jump to his throat. 

You give him a once over and squint your eyes. “What were you doing?”

Shit, he’s been found out.

“Work,” He stutters in a quiet tone. He was charismatic and confident when you were outside his house, why is he suddenly so flustered?

You clear your throat and readjust the tote bag on your shoulder. “Right, well, I still wanted to renew my library card. Sorry, it took me so long to come by.”

“No worries,” His signature smile reappeared on his face as he turned his attention toward the computer, he thanked the universe that it was still logged in.

“Ok, what’s your library card number?” He glances up at you.

“It’ll probably just be easier to give you my card,” Your head is down and you’re focused on pulling out your wallet to retrieve the card. 

“Yeah, for sure,” He is admittedly staring quite hard at you, but he can’t help it. He likes that you’re wearing an oversized sweatshirt and the sleeves are practically covering your hands to the point where your fingers are practically gone by the time you hand him the card.

It never feels like this, he can usually type things out quite easily, but now the keyboard feels like an obstacle as he types out the number printed on the back of your card. 

He triple checks the number before he speaks up. “Is the address you previously added correct?”

“Yeah,” You nod without much emotion, rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet. 

You don’t care about much, it seems. Well, that’s what he gathers through your texts.

From his visits to the shop, you do seem to care about the color yellow. He noticed there would always be a hint of yellow somewhere in your outfit, whether it be earrings, a button on your shirt, or a yellow trinket on your keychain. 

He notices the tote bag on your shoulder is yellow too, and it makes his heart a bit warm.

“Great,” He forces himself to look over the other information and update your card’s status back to “active” before he lets any more of his nerves set in.

“Okay, you’re all set. You should be able to check out a book,” He hands the card back with an easy expression, he hopes that he’s disguising his uneasiness. 

“Great. I’ll text you,” You nod and turn away before Seokmin can wave goodbye. He watches you leave through the double doors before letting out a pent-up sigh that’s centered in his chest. 

That could’ve gone better. 

He could’ve told you some fragments of his feelings, how he’s wanted to hang out with you for the past few weeks but schedule conflicts kept getting in the way.

Seokmin channeled his frustration into the pen sitting on top of the open binder, gently outstretching his fingers so that the writing utensil began to levitate. 

This was a rudimentary skill to him now, but it was one of the first advanced principles that he learned as a child. The idea of holding control over objects of any weight without needing a wand signaled a step towards complete discipline as a witch, but now he simply needed it to feel any semblance of control when he couldn’t let out his anger. 

He didn’t think it had been that long since he had been sulking over office items, not until someone spoke up at him.

“Seokmin?”

He’s so frazzled that his brain can’t register who it is until he really looks at their face. 

It’s you. No, it’s definitely you. You’re carrying the same yellow tote bag, and the same oversized sweater as a few minutes before, but your face is now painted in shock. 

His hands react so frantically that the pen goes flying, slamming against the back wall near the break room. He turns back to you, clearly bewildered by his lack of composure.

“Your pen, it was,” You point a shaky hand toward him, the event is trying to unfold itself through your lips, but your brain simply can’t catch up. 

“Why did you come back?” He blinks at you.

“I left my keys,” You hold up the keychain before blinking rapidly, stuffing them into your pockets not even a minute later. 

The tension is unflinchingly thick between the two of you, he can hear the clicking of the keyboards from the patrons across the room.

“Why was your pen floating?” You break the silence again with a nervous voice. 

He’s trying to muster up the right words to tell you, it’s always a toss-up as to how humans would react to his powers. He’s seen horror, anger, sadness, happiness, and everything in between from revealing his secret, so nothing unnerves him anymore, but something about the way your assured and relaxed persona is now suspended in fear is unsettling.

He watches you attempt to piece together a coherent thought in your head. 

“Are you a witch?” 

Well, he didn’t expect you to figure it out that quickly. 

“Oh my god, you are. You’re not denying it,” Your voice is slightly panicked. 

Seokmin can feel the blush crawl up his cheeks and his heart rise up to his throat. 

“Look, I can explain,” He glances at the time on the desktop computer, “I’m off in ten minutes, I can tell you everything then, okay?” His eyes are pleading for you to understand. Your eyes haven’t relaxed at all, but you still nod. It’s enough to immediately switch his face into a reassuring grin. 

Seokmin is certain that he’s never clocked out faster in his entire life. 

—

“You’re not tired of my questions yet?”

“No, of course not,” He smirks and takes a short sip of his bubble tea after answering. He felt so bad after seeing your reaction that he insisted on buying you bubble tea as a consolation, something you happily agreed to. 

You were now sitting outside the shop on a nearby bench, filling the occasional silence of enjoying your drink with your barrage of questions for him. He was never frustrated, no matter how basic the question might seem. 

That was something you admire about him, his patience was far more bountiful than yours could ever be.

You weren’t even really mad at him about the whole situation, honestly. It felt unnecessary to feel upset at something he couldn’t control. If anything, you were surprised at how covert he managed to be after so long.

You knew his energy was particularly special, but knowing that he was a witch seemed to make his habits even more fascinating.

“So what you did at the library, you don’t need a wand or anything to perform spells?” You peer at him.

“No, I can use one, but it’s easier to use my hands,” He flexes his fingers before wrapping them around his cup to take another sip. 

“Is it hard to hide this? I mean, I think I’d be going fucking insane honestly,” You offer him nervous eyes and he lets out a short chuckle. 

“It got easier with time, it always does,” His maturity shows through his response, you figure that it’s the result of having to deal with so much bullshit.

Thus, you consider your words carefully before asking another question. “Seokmin?”

“Hmm?” He looks at you with those sweet eyes of his, it breaks your heart a little before you can get the words out. 

“Has anyone ever hurt you for it?” You try to lace it with as much compassion as possible. You still can’t say it out loud, that he’s a witch, you figure that you aren’t comfortable yet. 

He sighs. “Yeah, I’ve got this nice little keepsake,” He moves his shirt sleeve up to reveal a thick scar across his forearm. 

“Some guys burned me, luckily Soonyoung and Seungkwan beat their asses for me before it got much worse,” He laughs, but you’re unsettled at the idea of just how traumatic it must’ve been. It makes you wince just looking at it, you can only imagine how much it truly hurt him. 

“I’m glad they were there for you, that’s awful. I’m sorry,” You place your hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing the fabric of his sweater. He noticeably relaxes, something that encourages you to leave it there for a bit. 

“It’s okay. They’re the best friends I could ask for,” He nods at the ground with a fond smile, the thought of them seems to take over his mind. 

“It’s not okay. I hope wherever those guys are, they’re fucking miserable,” You grumble.

“Thanks.”

There’s a brief silence again before he speaks up.

“I don’t want to stop being a good person though. I know I’m too positive and cheerful sometimes, but I still want to give love because I know it’s what I’m here to do,” He responds assuredly. It almost knocks the wind out of you.

“Like your purpose?” You ask, slightly startled.

“Yeah. I think I’m full of love, I have love for every single piece of my life. I try to keep that intention in both spheres of my life,” He gives you a sincere look, it’s like he knows how deep the sentiment is hitting you in that moment.

How could anyone attack Seokmin?

Seokmin, the guy who smiles almost constantly, who holds gratitude for everything in his life, who is carefully considerate and sweet. It’s too cruel. 

“That’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that strongly about my life,” You furrow your brows at the thought of even trying to make something up to like about it.

You’ve just coasted through life, going to the next thing without much thought. Seokmin is definitely the most exciting thing that’s happened to you in recent memory, possibly ever.

“I don’t think you need some sort of grand purpose. You can just exist and that can be enough, you know?” Seokmin quips. You’re sure that he didn’t mean for it to sound so prophetic, but it is.

“Yeah, that’s true. I’ll figure it out,” You shake your head with a hard sigh.

“There’s no rush.”

You don’t know how long you spend outside on the bench talking to each other, but it’s definitely long enough for the sun to set. It feels natural talking to Seokmin, he wasn’t as complicated as you once thought. You exchange goodbyes, but you can’t stop yourself from giving him a hug before you go.

You don’t mean to startle him when you put your arms around him, but he immediately softens into your touch. “What’s all this?” His tone is slightly brighter than normal.

 “Thank you for everything you said,” You mumble. His laugh vibrates through your body and it’s more comforting than you expected.

“Don’t worry about it,” He tightens his grip on you slightly before pulling away to look at you. “I’ll see you later, okay?” 

“Okay,” You wave one last time and watch him walk away for a few moments before starting on your own path back home. You can’t help but notice the new warmth in your chest.

You actually believe him this time when he says he’ll see you again.

—

After the incident, it’s clear that you both can’t go very long without seeing each other. With every hangout, the lingering glances, the brushing of your hands against his, the way you open up to him, Seokmin’s feelings are starting to choke him from the inside out.

“You should just tell them.”

“No, absolutely not,” Seokmin furiously shakes his head and settles into his blanket. The couch seemed like a good place to deny your feelings, right?

“Don’t tell me you’re just gonna yearn for them until you’re dead, that’s so fucking boring,” Seungkwan sighs into his tea before taking a sip. Seokmin had finally decided to catch Seungkwan up to speed on the situation, but now he was starting to regret it. 

“Shut up, we’re going at a good pace!” Seokmin insists.

“I know you’ve been single for a while, but you cannot seriously think this is fast enough. They were practically eye fucking you the moment you brought them in here,” Seungkwan scoffs. Seokmin sits up at that thought. 

Had he really been missing so many cues?

You came to see the house a few days ago after your shift to meet his roommates, and you did seem a bit more attentive to Seokmin in hindsight. You just didn’t think it was strong enough for Seungkwan to notice, but honestly most things didn’t get past him. 

“I should do a spell then, right? Just force myself to feel the confidence I don’t have to tell them how I feel,” It makes sense when he says it out loud, but Seungkwan’s suspicious glance stops his train of thought.

“Well, I don’t think I can convince you either way. But Seokmin,” Seungkwan sets his cup on the coffee table, “You seem really happy with them. Don’t let yourself get in the way of this,” His arms latch onto Seokmin’s shoulders with a reassuring squeeze. 

“I won’t,” Seokmin gives him a gentle nod.

He decides at that moment to do it. He knew that he’d regret it if he didn’t try.

—

In Seokmin’s opinion, many love spells that he could recall were either too complicated or potent for what this situation requires. Seokmin didn’t want to wait for another full moon to take action, he knew that the longer he waited, the more he’d feel unsatisfied.

He spent a bit too long poring through the pages of his spell books just to find the most accessible love spell, but it’s when he's lying in bed that he remembers it.

The honey jar spell. 

It’s almost too simple, but it’s just the right push that he needed. It didn’t need many materials and it would only work to improve the relationship, not enact any questionable dynamics between the two of you.

He could easily recall the steps in his mind as he got up to find the materials.

Step 1: Write the name of the person you’d like to connect to three times on a piece of paper.

He found an unused journal in the bottom of his desk drawer and tore a sheet of paper out, proceeding to write your name out with his favorite pen.

Step 2: Write out your intention. 

Seokmin had to be perfectly clear with his words or else this could go wrong.

“I want to start a relationship with Y/N,” He whispers as he writes the words and it makes him blush. It felt so juvenile, but it was the truth.

Step 3: Fold the piece of paper three times to make it fit perfectly in a honey jar.

Seokmin kept a jar of honey on his shelf, thankfully it wasn't too full. He sat down at his desk again and slowly folded the paper three times, letting out a small breath as he dropped the paper into the jar.

Step 4: Take a tablespoon of honey from the jar and mix it into a cup of tea before replacing the top. While sipping your tea, repeat the following line to yourself: “As I drink this tea, you’ll become this delicious to me.” The spell will be cast once you finish the tea.

He stands up from his desk with the honey out to the kitchen. Thankfully, Soonyoung and Seungkwan were out of the house so he could make his tea in peace.

He grabbed his favorite mug, a white mug with an illustration of crossed swords surrounded by a wreath of flowers.

He could make a cup of tea in his sleep at this point, the sounds of the kettle and the image of his jar of loose tea leaves hidden in the back of the pantry were clear in his mind. 

His water was hot, he scooped the perfect amount of tea leaves into the mug, and the tablespoon of honey settled nicely into the mixture.

After stirring the tea a few times, he took a sip. It was perfectly sweet. “As I drink this tea, you’ll become this delicious to me,” He whispers to himself as he goes back for another sip. 

Once he made it back to his room with the mug, he decided to savor the tea as he cleaned his room, a task he’d been avoiding for a few days. As he muttered the phrase to himself between sips, he realized that you were already delicious to him.

Your presence was perfect as it was. 

Once the tea was finished, he remembered the final piece to the spell. 

Step 5: Bury the honey jar in a safe place, ideally near plants or flowers that are expanding. 

Soonyoung’s backyard garden came to mind. He always likes when there are new additions, so he wouldn’t care if it was for a spell. He went outside to the garden, honey jar in tow. It wasn’t dark out yet, so it wouldn’t look too suspicious to dig up a small hole. He didn’t remember what was out there until he saw a patch of marigolds. 

The yellow flowers stood out to him, as if it was a sign that you were meant to be there. 

There was a small patch of upended dirt behind the flowers, so he decided to bury it reasonably close to the patch of flowers before looking over his work. 

He lets the crisp fall air clear his mind of any worries of the spell as he walks back into the house, only thinking of you and how you’d be getting off of work soon.

—

Seokmin was nervous, you could tell the moment you saw him. He tried to hide it with his smile, but you could read him a bit better now. You’d spent the afternoon out at a bookstore and his energy was slightly more frantic than usual. Still, you had a nice time going through the aisles together and picking out a new book. He decides to drive you there and back, but once he pulls up to your apartment to drop you off, you decide to question what’s going on. 

“Seokmin, are you ok?”

“Yeah, why?” He’s already pouting slightly.

“I just, you seemed kinda nervous today? If I’m wrong, then tell me,” You shifted in your seat and turned your eyes toward the street. 

“No, you’re right, I am nervous,” You hear him sigh a bit too loudly.

“About what? You can tell me anything, I promise.” 

“I like you. I like you so much that I put a spell on myself to give myself the courage to tell you. I know you were nervous to give me a chance especially after the secret, but I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you,” He lets the words spill out until he can’t speak anymore and you’re blushing.

He likes you, the guy with the biggest heart in the world likes you and you couldn’t be happier.

“Seokmin, please, I like you too,” You seem to quiet his internal monologue the moment you put your hand on his cheek with an eager smile.

“A whole spell for me though, that’s a bit much,” You joke, tucking a stray hair behind his ear.

“I had to be sure,” His voice is almost too quiet, but he’s smiling through the embarrassment. 

“Can I kiss you?” You lean towards him, keeping your hand in the same position. His cheeks are noticeably pink.

“Of course,” He lets you close the gap between your lips and it’s heavenly, you immediately feel yourself pulled into his orbit. 

You decide it’s a well earned kiss when he slips his tongue into your mouth, earning a quiet moan from your lips. You indulge him for a few more moments before you give him one last peck, pulling away from his face with a grin. 

“You’re a really good kisser,” He whispers into your ear and you’re falling onto his shoulder with laughter. His relieved laugh echoes through your ear and you’re sure that you haven’t felt this happy in a long time. 

You’re not sure how it will feel to be let into every aspect of his life, but you’re certain that it will feel like coming home, unfolding a level of comfort that you’ve never felt before.

It’s enough to hold you over until you get to kiss him again, and you’re certain it won’t be very long until that happens. 

[chiliiscereal]

May I offer a prompt of how the turtles would be with a mom friendTM? you know the type I mean? like.... I think they might benefit from that kind of friend in the group lol (also I love your stories, your such a cool writer keep up the awesome work!)

Rottmnt headcanon: mom friend TM

And thanks so much!

Mom friends are severely underrated XD

——

-Okay these boys need a mom friend badly

-but that’s where you come in!

-as the mom friend you keep them safe in many ways

Donnie💜

-starting with this guy, he never really wanted a mom friend

-when April first brought you over he was cold

-didn’t even bother talking to you

-you were determined to befriend him, even though he left whenever you tried to talk to him

-you became comfortable with the turtles quickly and the others accepted your mom friend nature

-not Donnie though

-he didn’t hate you, sure, but you were too much

-you were too overbearing and too nervous for his safety!

-you’d make him wear a helmet when he used his jet pack 

-you made him put on SUNSCREEN whenever he went outside

-you told him to be careful when rewiring a project even!

-it’s like you wanted to ruin his bad boy image

-he hated it and wanted you to stop being so smothering

-…

-…until he realized that attention and moral support comes with the smothering

-the moment he realizes that he’s all for it

-he’s no longer hiding his inventions from you so you won’t bug him, but he’s seeking you out for your advice and praise

“Hey so I made this and… I don’t know…”

“Wow you built that? It’s awesome!” 

“Really? I mean, I know, I just wanted to show you that it was.”

-praise ain’t something this boy has

-have you SEEN how his brothers react to his ideas?

-he needs this

-with praise comes affection

-I’m talking homemade snacks and questions that his brothers never ask

-you’re there if he needs a cup of coffee or if he hasn’t eaten in a while or taken a nap

-“don, it’s been two days since you slept go to bed.”

-“*hissssss*”

-“I’ll make a cup of coffee for you after...?”

-“*hisses but less intense*”

-you may be good at making snacks and everything

-very good in facts

-but the questions are probably his favorite part

“Woah what’s that supposed to do?”

“Well it’s a device that’s meant to fix all the broken McDonald’s ice cream machines.”

“That’s amazing! What did you use to build it? How does it work?”

-you’re actually trying to learn about his work!

-you’re trying to learn about him!

-he loves it

-and he loves that you’re careful to

-it’s a nice change from his brothers

-you’re someone he can depend on

-doesn’t matter if it’s missions or just being a good friend

-and I mean it when I say depend

-you’re there when he needs help rewiring something or just to simply talk about his dumb dumb brothers

-honestly April isn’t even mad that Donnie stole one of her best friends

-she knows he needs this

-Donnie fully learned to trust you after the purple dragons mishap

-you told him they were untrustworthy but his heart was dead set on that satin jacket

-when he came back to the lair, late at night, with no satin jacket and a handful of his missing tech, he found you raising an eyebrow at him from where you had sat to wait for him

-he knew from then on to trust you and your opinions, even though his often got in the way

-you can often be found sitting on Donnies bed while he works, offering your company and comments

-Normally no one else is allowed in while he works but that’s just because they don’t have anything positive to provide

 Raph❤️ 

-Raph IS the mom friend

-your mom friend energy and his mom friend energy just work together so well together

-I’m talking planning missions together, figuring new ways to trick his brothers into being responsible, cleaning the dishes, and even making snacks together

-“so the mission is tomorrow right?”

-“yep! Should we bring apples with peanut butter or pretzels with hummus?”

-“well Donnie doesn’t like peanut butter, but Mikey does, so both?”

-“awesome! And you’ve got the water covered?”

-“dude I even have caprisuns packed so we’re ready!”

-the others find it to be too much with the two of you but Raph really appreciates the help

-especially during the pizza puff episode

-oh that part nearly set you on fire with worry

-Raph had never seen you that worked up

-you had a fan for Leo, a bowl for Mikey, and a bag of fruit snacks for Donnie

-Raph has to activate his supreme mom friend energy to get you to stop hovering over them

-that meant literally dragging you away from them so they could figure things out on their own

-he’s seen you be a mom friend to them all the time

-but never once for him

-you two were like... co mom friends working together to stop the younger irresponsible three

-until Raph got separated in the sewer

-oh man you were torn with worry

-you nearly destoryed the place looking for him

-and finding him all savage like that... ack that was enough to practically shatter your heart in two

-once he stopped trying to barbecue villains and destroy his brothers you took him to the lair and helped him calm down

-you even turned on a movie for the two of you so he could relax

-it was nice to have your best friend and partner in stopping crime back

-Raph of course was embarrassed because it’s HIS job to help everyone, not the other way around

-after much assurance you had him convinced that you didn’t mind

-he was grateful to have you and your help

-he just wished you didn’t worry quite so much

Leo 💙:

-this boy is soaking it all up from the start

-someone to compliment him?

-someone to help him out?

-someone to admire his achievements?

-oh he’s all for it

-he’s showing off skateboard stunts, he’s doing flips, and he’s randomly pulling you to him and creating a portal

-usually you end up somewhere sketchy but sometimes it works out

-you always have to be ready though

-one minute you’re walking to the projector room and the next you’re in New Jersey with a sheepish looking red slider

-his only problem is now he has to be more careful with skateboard tricks

-he’s fine with a helmet but when it comes to you hovering next to him while he’s going down the skate ramp...

-eh he’s not so fond of that

-praise?

-sure

-home made gifts and cards?

-always appreciated

-but you constantly trying to protect him from things he knew how to do?

-no

-just no

-now he only feels like he can skate if you’re not there or if he goes to a skate park without telling you

-you figure out quickly and still worry that he’ll mess up a flip

-doesn’t matter if you’re watching or not

-you’re the mom friend

-your job is to worry

-you promised that you’d stop worrying about him if he can back

-you didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable in his own home!

-he agreed and you did your best to keep your promise

-...

-until he actually messed up a flip

-you don’t know WHAT he landed on but it must have been sharp because there was a LOT of blood

-maybe you thought there was a lot because you were so worried but still

-you hadn’t even been in the room but you heard his shout (and crash) and you came running

-oh he was lucky you carried gauze and everything in your bag because other wise they’d have to go buy some

-you chewed him out while patching him up, much to his displeasure

-you’re both sweet and sour about it

-“I’m fine! Look, nothing’s broken!”

-“I TOLD you that you could get hurt! I TOLD you it wasn’t safe! Why did you not listen- I’m sorry does that hurt? I’m sorry!”

-“yeah it does hurt-.”

-“than you should have listened to me!!”

-for a while he’s bitter that you were just waiting for him to mess up

-clearly you thought he was just a big clutz to you

-but after a while of him avoiding you and pouting you brought it up again

-“I’m not just waiting for you to fail you know. I just want you to be okay.”

-“that’s not what it feels like! You clearly don’t trust me!”

-“life happens, Leo! Doesn’t matter how skilled you are! You’re an amazing skater but sometimes mistakes are made!”

-ha that changed his tune quickly

-“you think I’m an amazing and skilled skater?

-you just rolled your eyes and left, not saying anything about his comment

-didn’t matter

-this boy is all smiles for the rest of the day

Mikey🧡:

-he was on board from the very start

-he’s got cuddles, piggy back rides, and his own art fan/critic

-lots of baking and cooking together

-maybe even drawing if he’s lucky

-only problem?

-you don’t trust him to go out on his own

-even if it’s just to grab a video game from the store or pick up pizza

-“I’m just going down the block!”

-“what if someone sees you?”

-“I’ll be careful!”

-“just let me go with you.”

-“no! I can do this on my own!”

-you’re always offering to give him a ride or tag along just because you don’t want anything to happen to him

-that means, of course, sneaking out

-not for a long time, just enough to get some air

-but that also means you’re staying up late waiting for him to come back

-he’s your buddy!

-you can’t let anything happen to him!

-he didn’t know about it until he found you cashed out on the couch with the lamp still on

-normally you gave him an excuse about why you were still up, such as a late night snack or a movie

-but your phone and the tv were both off

-he decided to think nothing of it until he noticed that you were grumpier in the mornings

-he didn’t want his actions to affect you so he started coming back earlier

-even texting you and telling you he was fine

-you two talked and set up a deal

-he could go out by himself and you wouldn’t stay up late waiting for him as long as you had his location on your phone

-it was easier for both you from then on

[superhero--imagines]

Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here!

A/N: not superhero themed. I just read midnight sun and had this idea and I don’t feel like making another blog so.... hope you like twilight lol

There will be a part two, and just a reminder, I’m still looking for beta readers so DM if you’re interested!

* It probably starts with you reading midnight sun, you remember reading the books/watching the movies when you were younger.

* Man, you really forgot how bad this book was. The writing itself is good, but the plot...

* It’s like everything revolves around Bella, everything is created for her.

* You almost feel bad for the other characters

* Well, whatever, you’ll finish the rest of the book tomorrow and never think about that awful franchise again.

* When you wake up you feel an ache in your head. But you didn’t drink last night, maybe you’re dehydrated

* You shift, noting the smooth silk of the covers. Now you’re alarmed.

* You don’t have silk sheets

* You see a mirror in the corner of the room, and rush over

* The face that looks back at you is different then yours

* It’s the same in some ways, but different all the same

* The curve of your nose is slightly off, your lips are thinner, eyes a little closer together.

* The memories begin to flood in, in this world you were on a graduation trip with your parents, you got an all inclusive package. Three days of sightseeing in Volterra.

* You got sick on the last day, when you were signed for a tour of the castle, your parents went without you

* That was the last you saw of them

* You dumbly followed, asking question where you shouldn’t. And ended up at the volturi’s door

* Aro had grasped your hand to see how much you knew, only too see nothing. Likewise Jane’s powers did not work as well

* They were astounded by this, it appears this was several years before Bella was introduced to the story

* And so, you became a prisoner of the tower

* Your soul must have been in this body for quite some time, but you’ve only remembered now, that’s the only explanation for why their powers didn’t work on you. Your consciousness is not of this world.

* There’s a short knock on your door

* “Are you decent?”

* You call back and Alec pops his head in.

* “Ready to go to the library?”

* He looks so kind. The boyish grin that stretched across his face as you shook your head.

* It was in direct contrast to the sadistic personality you had become accustomed to in the books

* “I need a few more minutes”

* You half expect him to lash out at you for being slow. By he only nods, closing the door and waiting outside for you to finish.

* He was you friend. You realized

* He IS your friend

* You think back as you turn on the faucet. He didn’t like you at first, being assigned to guard a human was insulting

* But he started to warm up to you once he heard you play the piano

* This body was quite used to the ivory keys. And so you charmed him as best you could, half for your survival, because the happier you kept him the less likely he was to kill you.

* And half because- you were so lonely, the Loneliness echoed in this body like an ache. Suddenly an orphan, in a continent where you knew no one. All you had was this boy.

* How long have you been here? You kept a talley at one point, but abandoned it after the thirtieth day. What was the point? You would either die or become one of them

* A shiver erupts through at the thought, in your past life you were a vegetarian, you didn’t relish in the idea of killing something alive and moving.

* You pull on a sweatshirt, ripping of the chanel tag. They bought you the nicest things money could buy, the most lavish food you could have.

* They did the same thing with the tourists they lured, keeping them happy and well fed, the same way the cows that became wagyu beef might be cared for. That way when it came time to slaughter, the meal was that much more delicious.

* You suspected this was similar, that should you be an unnecessary addition, you would make a meal suitable for their palette

* Alec basically talks your ear off the entire way to the Volturi library, mostly about literature

* “What are your thoughts on Anna Kerenina?”

* “That the patriarchy needs to be burned to the ground.”

* “That is.... valid”

* He even talks when you’re at the library, much to the annoyance of a few of the other patrons

* “Which book are you looking for now?”

* You stop mid motion on the ladder and turn to look at him. His ruby eyes glowing, he looks bloated. Like he’s fed too much.

* “Alec, why are we friends?”

* You really should keep your mouth shut. Alec was the only real ally you had, you shouldn’t say anything that might put him off

* And yet, it unnerved you, because the Alec in front of you was a very different character then the one you had come to see.

* He looks at you like you hung the moon,

* “Because you’re the most interesting human in the world”

* You burst out laughing, earning several glares.

* “I-I’m sorry Alec, but I’m not, I’m just the most interesting human you KNOW, there’s way more people who are more interesting than me.”

* You expect to see him offended, and he does, but there’s a twinkle in his eyes

* “I’m not so sure about that”

* The days creep by, reading books, eating snacks, it’s nice

* You learn, that Alec hasn’t talked to a human in a very long time. Outside of the screams he heard after devouring one.

* He hasn’t been outside the castle walls in many years, possibly a century.

* “What’s the best part of the human world?” He asked you once

* It’s the 90’s, so smartphones haven’t been invented yet.

* “One tree hill and friends”

* “Well you have a friend right here”

* “No friends the show”

* “The what?”

* And that’s how you got Alec hooked onto cable television

* Who knew the cure to vampire- sadism was a healthy dose of Jennifer Aniston fumbling about on screen

* “Is this what life is like?”

* You shrug, it was what college had been like for you in your past life.

* “It’s kinda what schools like, but i never got to be on my own”

* This body was only 18 after all.

* Alec doesn’t say anything, but his expression falters

* Alec’s only now starting to understand the life you will be denied once Aro decides when to turn you

* Jane joins later

* One day when you and Alec are lazing around the library when she appears, she says nothing, just sits down next to Alec and reads a book

* You’re sure they hear the uneven thumping of your heart as you turn back to your book. Her power doesn’t work on you, you remind yourself

* Not that she even needs it, she could snap you apart like a Kit Kat bar

* And if it came down to it, you’re sure Alec would let her, he might like you but his loyalty’s always remained with his sister

* “So... you watch human television together?” Her bright red eyes flickered from Alec to you.

* You nodded, never sure what exactly it was that would set Jane off

* You had seen enough in the books to know her moods were compatible at best.

* “I would...like to join” she awkwardly looking away, and you were sure if she could, she would be blushing.

* Honestly it’s kind of cute.

* “Sure, the more the merrier”

* And that’s how you basically adopted the sadist twins

* It’s a little harder to get Jane to open up, but once you make a comment about how Phoebe was the best character in friends, she starts to open up

* “Humans are cruel, even when they’re kind it’s only because they want something from you.”

* “Is that what you think about me? That I’m only nice to you because I want something?” she meets your eyes for a few minutes before turning away

* “I’m not sure”

* You understand very gradually why they’re so twisted

* They’d been treated terribly during their human life, in every kind act lingered a dark shadow, in even minor misunderstanding the image of a monster

* Their centuries in the Volturi didn’t help. Under Aro’s ruthless tutelage, and Caius’s sadistic tendencies, They had no one they could trust but each other.

* They were only surviving just as you were

* “Sometimes I wonder how much of my loyalty is real, and how much of it is Chelsea.” She whispers one day, so quietly you barley hear it

* You rest your hand on hers, it’s the only comfort you could think to offer

* When Jane grasps your hand in hers, she breaks every bone in your hand

* She doesn’t understand the pained screams or your mangled hand fit a second, and then she realizes what she did

* Alarmed she carries you halfway around the castle screeching for someone to help

* You pass out from the pain, when you come to you’re in your bed, a very cold hand holding your own

* “How are you feeling?” You don’t recognize this vampire, but you don’t really know anyone outside of Alec and Jane.

* You feel light headed, a warm feeling washing over you, you must be on some strong drugs

* “My body’s still grieving, but my mind is sharp.”

* It’s incoherent at best, but there’s truth to it, your body is still grieving for your parents and the life you’ve lost, but your otherworldly mind is ten steps ahead, cross referencing every action.

* The man offers a short chuckle

* “You really did a number on your hand. I’ve done what I can but...”

* You look down to your hand, half surprised by the bright yellow cast encasing it

* You had figured you would wake up to be a vampire, it just made sense, these were unfamiliar human aches to them after all and vampirism was a simple and effective cure

* They must want something from you, if they’re keeping you human

* You suspect it’s something along the lines of how they waited until Jane and Alec were burning at the stake to save them, so their power would be that much more potent

* Maybe they’re doing the opposite with you, trying to make you as happy as possible to see what effect it has on your ability

* It’s too bad you don’t have one

* “Thank you for your hard work.” You mumble, being human for a little bit longer is well worth the pain.

* “How did you break your hand?”

* “I held Janes’ hand”

* Your doctor let’s out a short laugh

* “That sounds about right”

* You smile, it does sound right, of course you would break your hand that way

* The conversation flows naturally after that, you talk about all sorts of things

* “You think vampires have souls?” He quirks an eyebrow

* “I’m of the opinion that a soul is something you create through hardship and struggle, being able to live longer means that you have more opportunities to have the experiences that result in a soul”

* “That’s an intriguing notion, I wish I had brought my son with me.”

* You’re about to ask about his son, when you’re interrupted by the door swimming open

* “I heard you were awake, are you alright?” Alec rushes in, his eyes frantic

* “Yeah these drugs are top notch” you press the button that releases the pain killers and let out a giggle

* “Is that alright? Humans are awfully sensitive.” Jane pipes up from behind Alec, you hadn’t noticed her in your haze.

* Your doctor chuckles

* “I’m aware,” he’s smiling but it’s strained

* “What’s wrong?” You ask, he was so calm until a second ago, he doesn’t answer you

* “I’ll give you three a moment.”

* You only register he’s gone when you hear the door close

* The twins rush over to you, Jane is kneeled by your side, while Alec hovers over you

* “I-I’m sorry I hurt you, I forgot-I didn’t remember.” You we’re sure Jane would be crying if she could

* “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it.” You raise your cast encased hand and give her a gentle pat on the head. “From now on, physical signs of affection will just be one sided.” You joke, which makes Jane grin

* “I’ll practice with some animals before I try touching you again”

* The three of you chat for a bit, they’re both surprised by your cast and ask several questions about its “primary function”

* “I didn’t know there was a doctor here” you murmur, feeling drowsy

* “Carlisle’s not with the Volturi, he’s from another coven in the new world.”

* Your drowsiness flies away in a second

* “That was Carlisle?”

* Jane looks somewhat confused but nods.

* A flutter of hope erupts in your chest, it’s so strong even your grief stricken body feels it

* You might have a chance. It’s slim, Carlisle has a family he loves and needs to protect. But still, they were strangers once too. No different than you.

* It’s a way out of here

* The next few days follow in a drugged haze, Alec and Jane visit every so often, and Carlisle engages you in occasional conversation while checking progress on your hand

* “Why are your eyes gold?” You know, but well, you need him to believe the lie

* “It’s a bit of a long story” he says with a wary smile.

* “I’m not going anywhere”

* He sighs, a genuine smile encompassing his face as he recounts the tale.

* Even though you’ve already heard it all before, it still makes you cry

* Even in the haze, you know something’s.... off

* There’s something about the way Alec won’t meet your eyes when he talks to you, and the uneasy weight that lingers in the air whenever someone else is in the room

* On the third day, it’s Aro who visits you, Alec and Carlisle in tow behind him.

* “Oh my, all that internal bleeding, how awful”

* Even you can feel the insincerity, but it’s the first you heard about internal bleeding

* So that explains it, the drugs and the aches all along your body, it wasn’t just your hand, you were dying

* “Don’t worry, we’ll save you” Aro’s smile is cruel “won’t we Alec?”

* Alec looks afraid, almost pained, but he nods

* Ah, so this was punishment for Alec too. Until that moment, when Jane broke your hand, Aro must have been ignorant to how close the three of you had gotten.

* You close your eyes, you knew this would happen eventually. There were only two ending to this story, and it seemed one had finally been picked

* You feel a pinch on your neck, right above your collar bone, no worse than a flue shot.

* You wait for the pain, the vivid screams you remember from the books and movies, but it never comes.

* Instead it’s just a warm numbness that spreads across your neck and left shoulder.

* “It doesn’t hurt” you murmur, you feel a cold hand rest against your forehead, Alex’s hand.

* It’s so gentle, he must have practiced on some animals first, you think.

* “No the pain comes later.”

* And so you drift into inky black unconsciousness, the last sleep of your human life in this world.

* You dream that you’re sitting at the bottom of a tree, a fig tree, like the one Sylvia Plath wrote about

* Each fig a different path, half of them have already fallen off, dark, as they rot at your feet

* “How do you do it?”

* You look to your side and find the person who’s face you see in the mirror, they’re hugging their knees to their chest, dark circles under their eyes

* “How do I do what?” You ask, they bite their lip

* “How can you be so strong when you’ve just lost everything?”

* You see their eyes brim with tears, and you look away, to the tree that looks over you both

* “I don’t know” It’s the truth, you have an unfair advantage in this world, because you know all the secrets each person carries, while yours remain shrouded in darkness. And yet... it’s not why you persevere

* “All I do know, is that I want to give them hell”

* Your counterpart grins at that, and to your surprise, you feel a smile stretch out across your face

* Yeah, it’s not about power, you just want raise some hell in this backwards misogynistic world.

* “I guess that’s the one you’re picking then huh?” Your counterpart points to a fig, it’s on the tallest branch of the tree, so far out of reach it almost seems unobtainable

* But you only nod

* “Yeah, I think that’s the way I’m going to go”

* They look at you and smile.

* “If you ever get the chance, I hope you punch that jerk Aro right in the face”

* You laugh.

* When you finally awake, you’re still laughing. A smile etched onto your face.

* Everyone’s there, all looking at you with concerned glances.

* Yeah, you’re going to have a lot of fun in this world.