#[being anxious and overworked and over trained

[shajaah]

ooc. f/orte drooling and daydreaming about cakes...is funny in my head but dangerous if she was on a patrol haha.

[girlgenius1111]

always want you

ingrid x mapi x reader

with mapi injured, and ingrid running herself ragged with the team, r does everything she can think of to take some of the stress of them. she neglects herself in the process though, until an injury forces her to slow down. she doesn't take it very well.

You'd truly never been so stressed in your life. Your to do list felt never ending, and it was your own doing. Obviously, you'd taken on more at home, cleaning, laundry, and cooking, when Mapi had gotten hurt. She was still on crutches weeks later, and still incredibly needy. It had been manageable, with Ingrid helping you take care of her. The teams demands had a huge impact on Ingrid, though, as she tried to figure out her new role in the squad. She'd been doing amazing, something you and Mapi reminded her everyday, but she was so tense all the time, constantly thinking about how she could improve. She wasn't used to being relied upon at this level by the team, and she was struggling to handle it, you could tell.

You'd taken more and more chores off her hands, unable to sit back and watch her fight through tears cooking dinner after another long day, until you were insisting on her doing the same amount that Mapi was allowed; nothing. It was completely self imposed; either one of them would be happy to help you, but you wouldn't let them.

They were aware of how much you were doing, trying to help you with it all, but the more they pushed, the more you pulled away. They needed you, both of them, and you couldn't let them down. You couldn't need them back, not when there was so much to do.

You were having a rough time playing too, not that you'd ever admit it. You felt like you weren't playing well enough, not scoring enough, not good enough. You were training more, exhausting yourself. It was inevitable, really, that you would get hurt. You were overworking yourself, and you weren't invincible. Realistically, it should have happened sooner, and it should have been muscular. You'd taken a shoulder to the head during the last game, ending up with a concussion. You were more angry with yourself than your team had ever seen you, convinced that you should have avoided the body falling on top of you.

Half the team had tried to make you feel better after the game, and none of them were successful. It was a home game, so Mapi was in the stands, and Ingrid drove the three of you home. You were completely silent the whole way, Ingrid and Mapi talking quietly in the front seat while you sat in the back, fighting dizziness and pain in your head. You were spacing out, thinking about the laundry that really needed to be done, not even noticing when Ingrid pulled into the driveway.

"Y/n?"

You turned your attention forward, seeing both of your girlfriends anxious faces looking back at you. It was obvious that it was not their first time trying to get your attention.

"Yeah?"

"We're home, corazón," Mapi said, eyes searching yours.

"Right, yeah." you mumbled, moving to get out of the car. They followed you, Mapi taking longer with her crutches. You'd barely taken a step when you wobbled, dizziness taking over.

"Easy, elskling," Ingrid said, holding you upright.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," you insisted, shrugging out from her hands. She looked like she wanted to disagree, but the dizziness had passed, and you didn't look at her as you grabbed both of your bags out of the back, heading inside. You held the door for her and Mapi, lost in your thoughts, missing completely the way both of their eyes lingered on you as they passed.

Both you and Ingrid had showered in the locker room, and your girlfriends were looking forward to a lazy night on the couch. Both of them collapsed onto the couch once inside, looking expectantly at you to join them. You wanted to join them, you really did. Snuggle up right in the middle, in your spot. It was so appealing, Ingrid's curly wet hair, smelling of coconut, Mapi's warm sweatshirt. You wanted to bury yourself in between them, and never come out. Of course, you didn't. Instead, you put your bags away, eyes scrunched as you tried to get used to the light, heading into the bedroom to get a load of laundry going.

"She's going to make herself sick, Ingrid, especially with this concussion," Mapi said quietly.

"I know," Ingrid sighed. "I don't know how to get her to listen, though, you know how off she's been recently. She won't let me help."

"Try Stern Ingrid, that usually works," Mapi suggested. Ingrid schooled her features, throwing Mapi a glare, making her snort. "Perfect." She assured the Norwegian.

You're heading back out of the bedroom, laundry basket in hand, when Ingrid rises from the couch and stops you in your tracks, a soft hand resting on your shoulder.

"Leave the laundry, love, come relax with us. I'll do it tomorrow." Her words are kind but her tone leaves little room for argument. You're the most stubborn person she knows, though, and she's not surprised when her first try is unsuccessful.

"No, I got it," you said, attempting to move past her. Her hand tightens on your shoulder, and you roll your eyes, again trying to shake her off.

"I'm serious, elskling, you don't need to do that tonight. You need to rest."

"Listen to Ingrid, princesa, come relax with us," Mapi chimed in, peaking over the edge of the couch at you.

"I don't have time to relax," you said, finally pulling free of Ingrid and stomping towards the washing machine. She's faster than you, no doubt in her mind that you're reaction time is slower with your concussion, grabbing the laundry basket out of your hands, and holding it behind her back when you whirl around, scowling. The fast turn ends up being a mistake, as the world tilts and spins around you. You sway, squeezing your eyes shut. Ingrid drops the basket carelessly, reaching out to steady you. You allow it for only a moment, even briefly leaning into the contact, before you pull back, a frustrated noise leaving your mouth.

"You need to sit down, y/n, now." Ingrid says, moving closer to you.

"NO!" you yelled, startling both girls. Mapi's never hated being so immobile before; your face is scrunched in pain, hands clenched tightly into fists at your side, and you look so exhausted, it makes her chest ache.

"I don't need to sit down, I need to get this done. I don't have time to relax, do you not understand that? There isn't enough time in the fucking day for me to do everything I need to, and you guys are only making it harder," you shouted, voice still raised.

Ingrid and Mapi stare at you for a minute, stunned. You never yelled. Ever. Neither of them were really sure how to respond. Ingrid took a chance, walking forward and grabbing your wrist, before pulling you towards the couch. You fight her grip again, but it's unrelenting, and she points at the couch, looking at you with one raised eyebrow.

"Ingrid-"

"-No. Lay down. I'm not asking."

Your tears finally escape, sliding down your cheeks as you give up, sitting on the edge of the couch, spine completely straight, as if afraid to let yourself relax. Ingrid is grabbing your legs before you know it, pulling them up on the couch, while Mapi guides your head into her lap. She's in the corner of the sectional, and you fit perfectly against her, both of you able to recline.

"I can't-" you try again, although you don't try to move.

"Yes, you can. Don't move." Ingrid warns, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Mapi ran her fingers through your hair comfortingly, occasionally wiping away the tears falling from your eyes. Ingrid returns with some pills and a glass of water, and you follow her unspoken instructions, swallowing dutifully, before sinking back down into Mapi's lap. Now that you've laid down, you aren't sure you'd be able to get back up, even if you wanted to. It's quiet for a couple moments, none of you quite sure what to say.

"Let's go to bed, yeah?" Ingrid says quietly, and you shrug noncomitally. You move off Mapi, allowing her to slowly make her way into the bedroom, sitting up with your head in your hands on the couch.

"Can I just have a second, please?" You whisper, resisting Ingrid's insistent attempts at eye contact. The Norwegian hesitates, before leaving a kiss on the top of your head, and following Mapi down the hall.

You feel horrible, wracked with guilt. They were just trying to help you, and you'd shouted at them for no reason. They needed space from you now, you're sure. Being around them is intoxicating, almost always makes you fold, makes you break. The distance now, though, allows you to refocus, and you force yourself to pull it together until you can be alone again. You take a few deep breaths, wiping your face off on your shirt, and walking down towards the bedroom. You stop in the doorway. Mapi is laying on the bed, eyes on you, while Ingrid has her back to you, rifling through her pajama drawer.

"I'm gonna sleep in the extra bedroom," you say, unsuccessfully trying not to let your voice crack, showing the emotion you are valiantly attempting to hide.

Both girls' heads snap to look at you, and they speak in perfect unison. "No, you are not."

You can only shake your head, biting down on your lip, not willing to cry in front of them, not when you were in the wrong.

"Princesa," Mapi coos, holding out a hand towards you. "Please just come get in bed."

"No, it's okay, you guys need space from me, you definitely don't want to be around me right now," you say, beginning to ramble. Ingrid silently moves closer to you, taking your face in her hands. Her thumb delicately swipes a tear off your cheek. She feels her own eyes welling with tears as she takes in the agonized expression on your face.

"We never need space from you, my girl. Come get in bed. Please." Ingrid states, tone almost begging, not that she cares. You don't move, and Ingrid takes the opportunity to guide you over to the bed, sitting you on the edge, before tossing you some pajamas. You change into them mechanically, both your girlfriends watching you closely, watching the way your eyes stay stuck on the doorway, as if you're about to bolt any second. You stay on the edge of the bed, until Ingrid climbs onto her side, and gently tugs the back of your shirt. You turn towards her, eyes still downcast.

"Are you sure?" you mumble.

"Yes," they assure you, again speaking at the same time. Your body is stiff as you scoot up the bed, sliding under the covers in between them. You make yourself as small as possible, curling up on your side facing Mapi. It's quiet in the room, the only sounds audible being the occasional uneven breath, occasional sniffle from you. You've kept your eyes shut, not feeling capable of looking either of them in the eye right now.

Ingrid moves slowly, at first just splaying a hand across your back. You're so tense it looks uncomfortable, and she moves closer, curling herself around your back, larger body enveloping yours.

"Relax, baby." she whispers in your ear. The contact is pushing you closer and closer to the edge of a breakdown, one you aren't even sure you don't want anymore. You relax slightly into Ingrid's body, and only then does Mapi move, sliding down and propping herself up on her elbow, free hand tracing lightly over your cheek. She leans forward after a minute, lips lightly leaving a kiss on your nose, then one on each cheek, one on your forehead, and finally, one on your lips. When she pulls away, you grip onto her shirt, taking a deep, stuttering breath.

"I can't," you start, trying to get them to leave you alone. Don't they understand that if they keep being so soft, so kind, you'll break?

"Yes, you can. You don't need to be strong all the time. We're here, you can just let go." Mapi says. You shake your head stubbornly.

"Come on, love. You don't have to pretend around us," Ingrid promises. "We want you even when you are sad."

You aren't sure if you just reach your breaking point, or if her last sentence pushes you over the edge, but you let out a harsh sob, pressing your face into the pillow under you. Ingrid clings to your back, feeling your body shake under her. Mapi moves forward again, allowing you to bury your face in her chest. Your cries are muffled now, squished between your two favorite people. You have no control, no ability to stop yourself from falling apart in front of them.

They're support is unyielding, though, neither of them moving away from you for even a second. You're soaking Mapi's shirt with tears, but both of them are whispering soft reassurances to you, ones you try to let yourself hear. You cry for a while, long enough that your head is pounding, though that might be from the concussion, and your throat feels raw. You don't really remember stopping, either. You must, pathetically, have fallen asleep whilst crying.

Ingrid and Mapi hear your breathing even out, tears having finally stopped falling down your face. The Norwegian looks up at your other girlfriend, then, looking devastated, and Mapi sighs roughly, reaching a hand over to cradle Ingrid's cheek.

"It's not your fault, Ingrid,"

"I shouldn't have let her do everything, and I should have noticed she was struggling." Ingrid whispered, looking down at you like you're the most precious thing in the world, and she's broken you.

"Then I should have too, but you don't blame me, do you?"

"You have one working leg, María, I'm completely fine, yet I let her go crazy taking over everything in the house." Ingrid argued miserably.

"Don't pretend you haven't been stressed too, Ingrid," Mapi said sternly. "You don't get to blame yourself. That won't help her, and it won't help you."

"How do we help her?" Ingrid asks after a minute, looking between the two of you.

"We get her to talk. Something is going on, or she wouldn't be acting so weird. And I've never seen her cry this hard." Mapi swallows thickly. "We get her to tell us what's bothering her, and we fix it."

Ingrid gets the impression that if you told Mapi that going to the moon would make you feel better, the Spaniard would find a way to do it. She softens at this thought, heart overwhelmingly full looking between the two of you. Even though your face is stained with tears, and Mapi's leg is wrapped in white gauze, there isn't a more beautiful sight. Not to her.

"Sleep, princesa," Mapi tells her, leaning over you to kiss Ingrid softly on the lips. "Te amo." She leans down to you, kissing your forehead as you sleep, whispering the same thing against your skin.

Ingrid does the same, pulling you closer into her body as she gets comfortable. It's harder for Mapi, but she manages to shift so that she's on her back, head tilted so her face is pressed into your shoulder. You wake up, just slightly, at the movement around you.

"Love you," you mumble, deciding that both of them are going to have to make do with not being addressed specifically. You relax back into them, the stress and anxiety that had been plaguing you for weeks unable to touch you while you slept, completely surrounded by your girls' love.

-----

You're confused when you hear the sound of an alarm, and are then shaken awake what feels like only a couple hours later. Grumpily, you crack your eyes open, seeing Mapi's face above you, hidden by darkness.

"Why?" You groan, shutting your eyes again. Mapi laughs quietly.

"You have a concussion, amor. Just needed to check on you."

"Hmph," you grumble. If you were more awake, you'd marvel at the fact that they remembered to wake you, even after the way you'd acted. Even with Mapi's knee messed up, definitely needing rest, her first thought was always you.

"Are you feeling alright? Nauseous? Dizzy?"

"I'm fine. A little dizzy."

"Promise you are okay?" She asks, smoothing your hair back.

"Promise." She nods, satisfied, and you roll into her, keeping a tight grip on Ingrid's shirt on your other side, drifting off again.

-----

They wake you a few more times throughout the night; each time you are annoyed at first, and each time they are so gentle, so kind, you feel like a wave of love is washing over you.

The next morning, when you blink your eyes open, seeing light flooding in around the curtains, you hear them speaking lightly to each other over you. The light is making your head pound, and you let out an involuntary groan of pain, pulling the covers over your head. They're conversation cuts off, and you can picture them exchanging looks.

"Amor?" Mapi asks, concerned.

"Too bright. Hurts." you say, having woken up only seconds ago, unwilling to really form full sentences.

There's some shuffling, and then someone is pulling insistently on the covers. You allow them to be pulled off your head, and frowning up at Ingrid and Mapi through half shut eyes. They're both fighting smiles at your disheveled hair, and the grouchy expression on your face. Mapi slides a pair of sunglasses onto your face, and you thank her quietly. Ingrid moves to slide out of the bed, but your hand pulling on her shirt stops her.

"Stay. I'm comfy."

"You don't want coffee?" she asks, expecting you to relent.

You shake your head though, and she looks at Mapi briefly, before climbing back into the bed, and pulling you into her. You sigh contentedly, burrowing in.

Something has changed, your girlfriends can tell. Your breakdown last night has left you clingy- not that they mind. It's just worrying, as you rarely act that way.

"Princesa," Mapi begins. "Can we talk about last night?"

You stiffen noticeably against Ingrid, rolling away from her chest to stare up at the ceiling.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you guys, there's no excuse."

"Thank you for apologizing, elskling, but that isn't really what we're talking about." Ingrid chimes in, her voice quiet and low, as if she's talking to a cornered animal.

"I'm sorry I lost it, I don't know what happened."

Both girls shake their heads. This time it's Mapi that responds.

"Please do not apologize for having emotions, amor. You needed that, and we were happy to be there for you."

Your eyes shift to hers. "What is there to talk about then?"

Ingrid rolls her eyes, as your attention is on Mapi, at how little weight you put on your emotions and wellbeing. If her or Mapi had broken down like you had last night, you'd be worried sick.

"You're taking on too much. You need to let us help you, it's too much for one person, and both of us are completely capable of doing chores."

"You guys have a lot going on, I'm barely doing anything." You argue weakly.

"You know that isn't true. This has to stop, it's not sustainable. You're exhausted, and now you're hurt. We're putting you on bedrest for the next week." Ingrid says. It has an air of finality to it, but you try anyway.

"But-"

"-No arguments." Mapi cuts in.

"You guys need me." You say quietly, trying to get them to understand why you needed to do this stuff for them.

"We do. We need you happy, and healthy. And you need us too, love. It's your turn to let us take care of you."

"I've been in a horrible mood, I wouldn't even want to be around me. And I don't deserve- need to be taken care of. I'm fine." You pause briefly, biting your lip, trying to decide if you should voice the thing thats been bothering you the most. "If anything, I need to work harder, I've been playing so badly."

Your voice breaks on the last word, and you shut your eyes again, reaching under the sunglasses to furiously wipe a tear away. A hand grips your chin, turning your face towards Ingrid. She has a intense blazing expression on her face, one of anger, and you're honestly confused.

"First of all, we always want to be around you. Second, you absolutely have not been playing badly. You've been working so hard, darling, and it's been paying off." You scoff in disbelief. Ingrid's jaw clenches, and she looks at Mapi almost helplessly, as if she isn't sure what to say. The Spaniard is turning your face towards her now. Mapi's warm eyes bore into yours through your sunglasses, begging you to listen.

"You always deserve to be taken care of, princesa." You winced, you'd been hoping they wouldn't catch that slip up. "Even if you had been playing badly, which you absolutely haven't, you still deserve our love, amor. Always."

"Then why don't I feel like I do?" you whisper.

"Oh, love," Ingrid says sadly, leaning in to rest her lips on your forehead, leaving several pecks there. "I don't know why, but I promise that you do."

"We'll just have to remind you more, hmm? That you are our niña bonita, and we always love you. We always want you, and want to give you what you need. Okay?" Mapi finishes.

Hesitantly, you nod. Their anxious faces break into smiles at your agreement, and they both lean in, pressing simultaneous kisses to your cheeks. You laugh, feeling their matching grins against your cheeks, and wonder how you possibly got so lucky.

-----

I tried to end this like 16 paragraphs ago but I was unsuccessful.

[linics]

comforting bllk characters

featuring : i. rin, m. reo, m. kaiser

a/n : hi so ummm im back .!!! did you guys miss me ?? anyways my writers block was HORRIBLE but im recovered now i think. let’s ignore how ooc kaisers probably is because its based off of fics ive seen + edits. i’ll redo it later.

i. rin

as i referenced in the one where they comfort you, rin would be very closed off emotionally. even so, he’s like a fucking book with how he behaves.

it doesn’t take you long to realize just how much the u-20 game affected him. as much as he tried to turn his annoyance into motivation and actually doing something with it, sometimes it would become too much. whether that looks like him overworking himself or lashing out, it’ll always show through.

the most you could do is make sure he stays safe during it. showing up to the field at weird hours, ruining your sleep schedule, just to give him more water and a ride home considering he ran all the way there.

“why’re you here?” he’d scoff, panting slightly from all the work.

“woke up early, thought i’d stop by,” you lied, yes, but it was fine. he didn’t need to know you’d set at least 10 alarms to make sure you’d wake up and stay up.

he didn’t respond, so you just handed him a large water bottle. it was a spare, but it also was the biggest you’d had, so it’d have to make do.

“thanks.” he mumbled, his voice barely audible. the cold barrier that’d been there slowly flexing and melting away.

he wasn’t someone that you could just befriend instantly. every time the two of you hung out, you’d have to prove to him that you were there to stay. it was gradual.

most people gave up after the first couple of times when they realized they were practically back to where they started. that was except for you.

after taking a few sips of the water, he hands it back to you, not wanting it to interfere with his training. you grabbed it from him, then wandered over to the sidelines.

“where are you going?” he asked, though, if you paid enough attention, you’d notice he was anxious. very anxious.

“just over here, i don’t want you to hit me..” you said calmly, trying to lighten it slightly. you were careful to not wander too far from him.

he didn’t say anything to you afterwards, but you noticed the tension loosened again.

even though he wouldn’t let you interfere — which you have tried — he’d still let you care for him. maybe he knew it was because you’d get anxious and blame yourself if he didn’t let you help in some way.

m. reo

he would be anxious. i don’t care if this is ‘out of character’. for the most part, yeah he doesn’t stress much because he hasn’t had much to worry about. but the second he gets stressed out, he stresses, a lot. and because he hasn’t been exposed to much stress, he’s absolutely clueless on how to cope.

he’d be laying in bed — at his desk now? nope, he’s pacing. point being, he just can’t sit still, and god, he won’t stop babbling about nonsense.

“reo.” for the hundredth time, he’d cut you off completely. this was coming from the guy who felt it was rude to type when other people were typing, so you let it slide.

“and then — oh yeah, did you say something?” finally, some recognition.

“come sit down in front of me,” you pat the bed, clearing off the blankets so he could just crawl in. he did just that, sitting in front of you, his back facing you.

“like this?” he was always so hesitant with you. but you just responded in a hum of approval. you carefully started combing through his hair with your fingers, occasionally grazing his scalp and briefly massaging it. his hair was silky and clean.

he became quieter, his muscles slowly relaxing and calming.

“so, you wanna tell me what’s wrong?” you spoke quietly, careful to not ruin the calmness of the moment.

“it’s nothing big—” you stopped in your movements as he said that, and he knew that meant you were displeased.

“okay, okay, fine..” he mumbled.

m. kaiser

okay so.. i feel like now’s the perfect time for me to say i have not gotten to where he is in the manga. um! so what i planned to do for this is write how i think he acts, then correct it later on whenever i do catch up. i think i get him a bit though ?? currently i see him as a self destructive possibly alcoholic man. who takes after his dad who was abusive and an alcoholic, mom wasn’t in the picture. no clue how any of that relates to soccer but sure! i’ve heard a lot that he hits himself / chokes himself as a way of coping (after doing some research it’s for ideas. okay.) so that’s the route we’re gonna take with that. no clue if it’s true or not.

he really didn’t get it. no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t figure himself out. how was he supposed to understand others and beat others if he couldn’t even understand himself? he needed ideas—

was it illogical? yes, absolutely. did it work? also yes.

adrenaline from anything could be put to use to benefit. so, he did the thing he’s done for ages. maybe he’s began to rely on it for too long so he reached to it for the smallest things, he didn’t really care, though.

it worked, and until it stopped working, he wouldn’t stop abusing his body for his brain. it was nothing more than a vessel, anyways.

“kaiser.” even through your voice, his choking movements didn’t falter.

“just fuckin’ stop for a moment-” you were the only person he really let talk to him like that, even though it wasn’t often that you took advantage of it.

it worked enough for him to stop, just for a moment and catch his breath. it’s not like he wanted to pass out, anyways. the second he let go, you grabbed his hands.

“what is it?” he huffed, his voice groggy and rough.

“don’t do that. ‘what is it?’, you know exactly what it is.” it wasn’t uncommon for you to be mad at him or mildly rude, but even keeping it up for this long was abnormal.

“it works, well, it would’ve, if you didn’t disrupt me.” he rolled his eyes.

“that’s not the point and you know it.”

“then what is it?”

there was a silence for a few moments before you just decided to ask outright.

“what do you need help with this time?” you were still a bit petty, but you just hoped he wouldn’t pay too much attention to it.

“doesn’t concern you.”

“i’ll make it concern me. tell me.”

“why would i do that?”

god, was he always this annoying?

“okay, fine, whatever it is, i won’t interfere. how about you tell me, and if i can’t think of a solution by tomorrow, you can do whatever this is.”

there was another long silence as he considered it. it was appealing — all he had to do was tell you, and you could do all the work. the backup was there and it was exactly what he wanted. there wasn’t much time left in the day anyways.

“fine. tomorrow first thing.”

[ottpopfic]

“We got some new campers in,” Jason eventually says “They were, really young”

“Hmm,” Leo presses a kiss into his husband's hair “How young?”

“Like four and six”

“So you young?”

"Yeah"

---

Leo and Jason talk about kids

Every once in a while Leo thinks his man’s job is bad for him.

It's a draining process that doesn’t really have an off switch, being both camps super pope. Jason gets dreams and demands from gods in the least gentle way they can possibly deliver them. Then there's paperwork (which looks to Leo like its own personal hell but that might just be him), and research and politics and travel . Jason excels at it, he's been trained for it for one, and it suits him. He's doing important work that keeps the peace and shit, it looks fulfilling and he openly enjoys it

But it also pulls on that deep-seated need for him to be the perfect soldier, that cellular-level demand to put duty and country and others first. It's destructive at times, but Leo thinks that's why the flaw is called fatal. And Leo has decided somewhere along the line that he’s allowed to be greedy when it comes to his husband ; he chased him out of hell enough to earn that right. He's also decided that he's not chasing him out again, they're both alive now and he would like them to stay that way. This means that Jason is not allowed to self-destruct. Even if Leo is a hypocrite, as he likes to run around self-destructing all the time. But Jason can pick him up and physically throw him on the bed when he starts down that path (and then lay on him until he passes out from the comforting weight of his man and sheer exhaustion) but whatever that's not the point

The point is his man looks like death after his trip to New Rome and went right back to work without a full twelve hours of sleep after doing some crazy ambassadorial work and being gone for two weeks. Leo can smell the overwork spiral starting, he's an expert as it's one of his favorite kinds of spirals to take down himself. The issue is he can't physically force his man to take a nap, when Leo was supposed to do a good chunk of his growing he spent it malnourished and sleeping under bridges, even into his thirties he's never gotten over 5’5” and is a scrawny twig to boot. He's better, the moms got some weight and muscle mass on him in his late teens when he wasn't going around dying on repeat, but not enough to physically force the 6’6” wall of muscle that is his walking marble sculpture of a husband out of his office.

Fortunately what he does have is access to a state-of-the-art workshop and a brain that can engineer just about anything. He has Rube Goldberg his man out of his office on three separate occasions just this year, for some reason it makes Jason all blushy and heart-eyed each time the fucking nerd. Something about being able to physically watch Leo’s brain work, and also that he always has the blond landing at his feet and Jason loves looking at him. It's something he's had to get used to, those piercing blue eyes tracking his every movement like him sitting soldering for two hours straight is the most distracting thing in the world

Apparently this is the main reason he needed an office, said he couldn't get any work done with Leo in the room. At the time Leo just thought it was because Jason was anxious watching him work, both of them fresh from watching each other die a lot and Leo being around heavy machinery, he now knows it's because he was looking at his ass

Whatever, whatever . What matters is that Jason needs a day off and Leo is not above getting creative. Or becoming a nuisance, he's also very good at being a nuisance. He can start by being a nuisance, the bowling balls and pulley systems aren't going anywhere. Also, he doesn't want to explain why he needs the legos back to Will and Nico, their godkid is busy with them anyway

Being a nuisance includes climbing on top of Jason's desk and possibly getting the grease on his pants soaked into fancy paperwork, but who's fault is that? Definitely not Leo’s, he's been a good noodle getting his full eight hours even with his husband gone and everything. He doesn't even let his husband start in on him, because he's the one in the wrong this time, Leo just gets himself comfy with his feet on either side of Jason's hips. He uses his ankles to hook into the armrest of the rolling desk chair to pull the blonde a little closer so he can take his face in his hands, squishing his cheeks together until his lips pucker like a fish

“You need a break” Leo scolds “You didn't even set your alarms or anything”

Jason grumbles about needing to finish something or whatnot, very illegal with the amount of sleep he's gotten after all the travel. Leo squishes his face more so he can't talk

“You need a nap,” he demands “And I want cuddles, you were gone for two weeks I'm in withdrawal”

Jason just sighs, sliding his hands up Leo’s thighs to rest on his waist under his shirt and presses his face into his hands like he's trying to soak in Leo’s touch. And that's, concerning. Usually when he gets like this it takes more than just the first try to get him to disengage, and he's way more snappy about his hyperfocus being disrupted. Leo pulls his man’s face into the crook where his shoulder meets neck, Jason immediately melts

“Hey, what's up?” Leo asks him softly. Jason does a snort huff sign that Leo can loosely translate to ‘Something was a lot more than usual and it followed me home’. Leo gets one arm around Jason’s shoulder and the other hand in his hair for scratchies, settling in to wait for his man to find English again

Jason takes a while to gather himself, scratchies don't really help with coherent sentences but it's fine. Leo just starts in on his cuddle quota and looks at the photo from their godkid's recent birthday perched on the bookshelf. Nico took it, over-excited freshly turned ten-year-old watching Leo’s disembodied fingers light the candles as Will and Jason look on with worry. It's crazy that Katie has only been with them for two years, it feels like longer

Leo really enjoys having a kid in their lives, and Katie is awesome. She's clever and spunky and is basically unspookable when it comes to magic shit (grocery stores on the other hand, not so much). Somehow they ended up in a four-way co-parenting arrangement. Legally she's Will and Nico’s, but she half-lives at the Way Station with how their schedules go. And it's great, Leo loves it and so does Jason. It's like everything is better having the kid around, everything is that much more fun getting to watch her experience it too.

“We got some new campers in,” Jason eventually says “They were, really young”

“Hmm,” Leo presses a kiss into his husband's hair “How young?”

“Like four and six”

“So you young?”

“Yeah”

That tracks. They have been making a lot of progress at Camp Half-Blood, but in comparison New Rome has been stagnant when it comes to the treatment of their youngest orphaned charges. It's been bothering Jason more as of late, especially since Katie came into their lives. Almost like looking at this little girl day in day out puts it in perspective how young they were when they went through so much. When Leo was ten he had just run away from his latest foster home because they were starving him, when Jason was ten he was a soldier.

It's damn near impossible to picture Katie in those situations, not because she hasn't gone through her own shit, but because Leo would be personally burning down everything in his way to prevent it.

But that's the difference isn't it, Katie has family looking out for her. Unlike they did, unlike those new campers do

“So whats the plan?” Leo asks, resting his cheek on his husband's hair

Jason sighs and leans into him harder “I don't know” he says “I just keep getting all upset”

“About what part?”

“I don't know. The age? Or how small they are,” Jason leans his face in even harder, his arms now wrapped around Leo’s waist like he can merge their bodies together if he presses enough “It also made me think about Katie, how small she must have been at that age. Then it got all jumbled up”

Leo might be able to read between the lines a little “You were probably that small too” he tries

“I guess”

“Do you think it's about you too, or just the kids?”

“Mabey, I don't want it to be”

“It's okay if it is”

“Is it?”

“Of course it is” Leo plants another kiss into his husband's hair “Your allowed to be upset for Puppy Jason, he didn't do anything to deserve what happened to him”

“Puppy Jason is a son of Jupiter” Jason dismisses with a snort

“Yeah, but he didn't ask for that”

“I guess”

“Hey,” Leo pulls back to meet Jason’s eyes so he knows he means it “Puppy Jason didn't deserve to be a child soldier, you know that right?”

“But he's supposed to-”

“Would it be okay for any of your godkids to join that young?” Leo pushes on, keeping his tone kind

“No! No, I would-” Jason gives a disgruntled snort-sneeze like he's trying to blow away the idea before turning back to him “But it's different ”

“How?”

“I don't know, it just is ”

“Oh, Cielito ,” Leo takes his husband's face in his hands and pulls him in so their foreheads rest together “It's okay”

Jason does a little sigh and facial motion that Leo can translate to ‘It's not’, and it breaks his heart

“I wouldn't let Puppy Jason go do war shit,” he tells him instead, nuzzling his forehead into his husband’s “I would probably just have to take Puppy Jason home with me”

“Even though Puppy Jason bites?” Jason teases with a small sad smile

“Adult Jason bites” Leo insists deadpan

“And eats bugs?”

“Have you met our godkid?”

That makes Jason chuff out a laugh, Katie is truly a ferocious bug eater, she even shares with Jason sometimes the feral weirdos. There has been more than one occasion where Leo has had to stop the both of them from eating grubs when they do the wedding in the roof garden. Like he knows they're edible, but still.

“I’d do kids with you any day,” he says, pulling his husband into a hug with his arms around his neck “You know that. But especially puppy you, got a soft spot for that one”

Jason sighs as he melts into the hug, winding his arms back around Leo’s waist. Leo can practically hear his husband's brain ticking, taking everything he said and adding what he was feeling and molding it into something closer to processing it all together. He needs a moment, Jason is good with snap judgment in crises and leadership scenarios but when it's quiet and slow-paced it can take him a moment. Leo is content to hold him as he puts things together and finds the right words

“What if I said I didn't want to keep the kids?” Jason probes after a while, hiding his face in the hug “What if I said I just wanted to help lots of kids?”

“Like foster care?”

“Would you be okay with that?”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

“You didn't have the best experience, they were pretty awful”

“I mean not all of them, the last one was pretty great”

“The last one?”

Leo pulls back so he can gesture to the room, and in turn the Way Station, as a whole

“O-oh!”

“What did you think I meant?”

“I don't know, I guess I just forgot that your moms were your foster moms” Jason's face lit up a bit at the realization “It's home here now”

“It is, isn't it” Leo smiles at him, he will never be over the both of them and home “But foster families adopt all the time. And theres people out there trying to make it better”

“Like Piper”

“Like Piper”

Piper who somewhere along the lines decided she needed to take down the troubled teen industry and expose its abusive underbelly. It's a sight to behold, the woman got her social worker license and has been using her charm-speak for good ever since. Last Leo heard (as of last week) she just finished a case with with a place that preached ‘tough love’, it was all over the mortal news.

“You could do that too,” Leo reminds his husband “You have a say in laws and shit right. Age limits are a thing, and there are a lot more adult half-bloods now”

“Make a demigod foster care network?”

“Yeah”

“You would do that with me?”

“Absolutely,” Leo says, and he means it, “I told you, I'll do kids with you any day”

Jason’s expression goes gooey and lovesick

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asks with a smile

“I mean you did die a bunch for me sooooo”

“I’d do it again,” his man swears like breathing

“Please don't,” Leo tucks a stray lock of fluffy blond hair back in place “I'm enjoying us being alive right now”

Jason laughs, it's cheesed and geeked and dorky, with eyes gleaming full of devotion. Leo kisses him, a solid proper kiss, one turning into many that pulls giggles out of him too

Foster kids huh, it's a full circle

“I also had to have some ambrosia when it was there,” Jadon tells him when they separate “It changed again”

“Oh, is it not our wedding cake anymore?” Leo asks with mock offense “I've been ousted?”

“It's Cheerios and chocolate chips”

“You and Katie’s after-school snack?”

“Yeah”

“Man,” Leo squished his face once more, but it's purely cuteness aggression “You need to stop being so adorable, I can't handle it”

“How is that adorable?”

“Just you and your big squishy heart” he gives him a smooch on the nose “I love you”

They kiss again, it's wonderful

“I should call Piper,” Jason says when they separate

“Uh, no.” Leo insists, pulling back so Jason can see his disgruntled face “You should take me to bed so we can take a nap”

“But I need to-”

“A nap Mr. Valdez,” Leo insists, ignoring the way his husband's eyes sparkle over the mention of their now-shared last name. It's been a year and a half they both need to get a grip “You were flying and I need cuddles. I am withering away from lack of cuddles, I’m a sheet on the wind”

“Is that so?” Jason places a kiss on a fading hickey on the side of his neck “I can think of other reasons to take you to bed, might do the same thing”

“Oh no,” Leo says, starting to push his man away “You are not getting out of nap time by being all sexy cute, absolutely not”

Jason does a snort and nip that Leo knows translates to ‘I can find ways to change your mind’, rude. And also illegal with the way he's been working. Leo starts squirming away from his husband backwards on the desk, rumpling papers and pulling an unhappy whine out of his man. Jason hooks his fingers under the waistband of Leo’s pants before he can get far

“You gonna be good and go to bed?” Leo asks, leaning back on his elbows so his husband can't get back in his space. Jason gives a puff-huff and flashes a canine, trying to pull Leo back in by his grip on his belt. Leo doesn't let him, putting a foot on Jason’s soft middle so he can't bend or pull him closer. That just makes his man whine, the big baby. Leo quirks his eyebrow and bares his own teeth, telling his husband that he means it

They have a little standoff, which includes two sneeze-snorts from Jason and one exhale of smoke from Leo, but in the end his husband relents.

“Fine,” the blond gives in with more whining “Just, cm’mere”

Leo lets himself be pulled into his husband's lap, knees on either side of his hips, and starts in on peppering kisses on every inch of his stupid handsome face. Jason makes a happy little noise and leans into the affection, sliding his hands up the back of Leo’s shirt so his fingers can trace the Lichtenberg scars running between his shoulder blades

“Nap time,” Leo demands once he feels like his man has been thoroughly smooched “And if your a good boy we can play later”

The grin that gets out of his husband is blinding, Jason eagerly scooping him up under his ass to take him to their room.

[missyouyerin]

ꕤ … hey ! i'm skye (they/she) , i'm excited & i'm here to go crazy with it . i'll be writing nam yerin , ANGELIX main rapper & leader . satellite leader (former) extraordinaire, variety vitamin (former), and the extrovert other extroverts are afraid of (former) . she used to be extremely outgoing however she's on the mend from some backlash and the label has her in the time-out corner . please click the profile link for the fun stuff like trivia, traits, aesthetics and more. but below the cut will be the tldr break down! and last but not least, i have prepared a few connections ideas for jumping off already, feel free to message me about those on discord or here on tumblr! dms always open~

ꕤ click here for her profile ! ꕤ click here for connections !

1996 busan born, her mother ran a private daycare for neighborhood kids and her father worked 2 full time jobs. she had 3 younger siblings and then like 10 random kids on her block that she spiritually adopted as her siblings by the time she was 12. (even to this day she loves kids so much she's such a dork about kids, and emotionally adopts anyone even 3 years younger than her.)

she wanted to run track and field in school. she was very social and cared for, but it wasn't quiiiite enough for her. busy body, stand on the top of the playground and yell about how she's the king of the world at the sky type.

luckily, at a local festival she and some of her friends sang trot and danced and yerin's ability to whip the crowd into a frenzy was enough to get her scouted.

fast forward many long (whiny, annoying baby girl with a big dream) conversations with her very overworked parents later and off she went to become an idol.

it was never about being famous for her. it was just about the adventure of it all. going, doing, anything more than average.

after a few years of training she got dropped in as leader for angelix and the rest was history.

angelix's image doesn't really suit her, not even back then and certainly not now that she's older, but she has a bright personality (at least as an idol she does), so it was always enough to get her a pass.

except after making many casual, crude/unkind comments between 2022-2023 about anything from uncle fans to the company rules to having to flirt to be noticed or liked-- many fans have began to think she's quite disrespectful, doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut. not the sort of tact a leader should have, certainly not for the angel group.

she's totally grounded now 😔all of her activities have slowed down, and she's spent over a year, closing in on 2 years, basically only being at group activities and almost nothing else (a big change from her former activities).

not only that, where before she was outgoing, funny, a variety type through and through (both on activities and even amongst her members, she was known for being bright and taking care of them, being loud and sweet), now she has become considerably more mellow. she went from a 10 on the volume scale to a comfortable 6.

she doesn't know how to be what she thinks she needs to be. and not only that, she feels like she's let her group down. after siah (this is a topic that should not be approached with her, it will make her cry in broad daylight), she fears what will happen to her group. whether they'll stay together, whether she's helping them to stay together or further driving them apart.

she's going through a painful growing phase right in the public eye, and it's leaving her feeling a bit silly and afraid of her own shadow. being the sort of person who speaks without thinking had never burned her so bad before. she has to learn how to manage that.

she has a fair bit of ! cw for anxiety ! likely to pop up in her posts, as she's struggling quite badly with barely checked anxiety for the last 2 years.

essentially, a woman of much duality, both a very playful and kind person who loves to uplift others, and also a painfully hard on herself, anxious person who doesn't think people will accept her as she is? most of her threads from her pov will strongly feature the dynamic of how she always seemed (and really was in many ways), and who she is becoming, and how she's making amends with that?? (poorly, badly, terribly)-- what of it is real and natural and what's a breaking down of her or inability to overcome stress/anxiety/fame itself?

she could use some friends to help her through the slow painful crash and burn of going from enfj to infj lmao-- or some enemies to make it worse, that is also fun and ok! up for anything.

privately and without telling anyone really, she currently has decided she will not renew her contract next time and will go be a school teacher or something. so she's dealing with that guilt of the knowledge she truly wants to pull a siah of her own.

[surplus-of-sarcasm]

Numéro 23

Part 2

Guess what, ya girl finished a snippet on the plane!!

Words: 1.28 k

TW: Violence, bone fracture, slightly depressed and pretty anxious hero, questionable agency, bone fracture, guns, attempted murders, restraint mentioned

The file was dropped onto their desk curtly, no words spoken, like every other assignment Hero got. Their newest target didn't have a name, no alias of some sort, and the picture of them had shown them fully masked in a sleek, black suit, no inch of skin showing; a faceless caricature. However, their kill count, in three digits, was important enough that any other details seemed inconsequential next to it.

Besides, Hero had been taught to treat their targets more like tasks than people. 

So the crime-fighter trained till they were left dead on their feet, till their knuckles were all ripped skin and covered in bloodstains, till their exhausted muscles felt like they were on fire. 

“Hero! Don’t you think you’re going a little overkill, boss?” Sidekick asked, folding their arms across their chest and leaning against the doorframe.

The young hero was the closest thing to a light in the agency’s pitch black darkness; the soul that gave life to a lifeless place, like a flame lighting the slowly dwindling, half-melted candle that was the older crime-fighter’s life. 

“I. . .can’t, Sidekick,” the hero replied breathlessly, hauling their form up for yet another pull-up, having done so many that they’d lost count. “This new target is unlike all the others before the-”

“Yeah yeah, but when are you not being paranoid about one of your enemies?” the teenager replied, cutting them off. 

“Their kill count is in three digits,��� the crime-stopper retorted almost impatiently.

“Bloody hell,” Sidekick interjected, eyes going wide.

“Watch your language,” Hero chided, but a sly smirk danced across their face. 

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting that, but what good will it do if you show up to fight this bloody - sorry - serial killer exhausted? Weren’t you the one who kept lecturing me on the importance of rest for maximum work efficiency?”

The hero may have been stubborn, but they realised their protegé was right. They couldn't risk showing up to fight someone like their mystery killer while tired, so they decided to make their way home.

Normally, a hot bath would easily clear their head. Sure, they could still feel the tension blissfully seep from their form, the warmth relaxing overworked muscles, but their mind remained a raging firestorm of anxiety. It frustrated them how they couldn't even enjoy something this simple, the one moment where they no longer had to think or be whatever the hell they needed to be at the moment. "At least I smell nice," they scoffed, wishing to get this over with much faster. 

They let out a heavy sigh, leaving the tub and slipping into a bathrobe, trudging to the desk in their room to use the old, but still functional laptop. Ironically, being a hero barely payed for rent. 

For someone so high and mighty, their little terrorist wasn't completely difficult to find. Or maybe the hero was really a 'natural with the keyboard', since it had taken them a bit of hacking to find their target. Who's to say? 

Changing into their suit, Hero stared at their reflection with such intensity, that it would look to most people like an attempt to shatter it to a thousand shards by just looking at it. In reality, their own harsh gaze bore into the dark corners of their mind, wondering for the umpteenth time if they were enough. It didn't matter because they'd still have to do this anyway, whatever the cost.

"Target spotted," they whispered into their comm, standing on their knees for long enough that their muscles ached, waiting for their enemy deigned to show up. 

"I will engage now." 

The killer's movements resembled that of a panther, and the crime-fighter would have been lying if they'd denied finding it graceful. They were fast and agile, almost impossible to keep up with, not even giving them the chance to reach for the gun in their waistband. But the hero was no slouch either. They aimed a harsh kick to their enemy's shins, their body slamming into the asphalt with an audible thud. Still, the figure in black remained undeterred, kicking the crime-stopper on top of them in the ribs, sending them toppling down across the street, making their head throb and effectively destroying their flimsy communicator.

The hero swore, muttering something ironically much more profane than what they'd chastise their sidekick for, but they rolled away, out of the bastard's reach, quickly getting back on their feet. Their assailant was quick on their feet, chasing after them, but Hero was faster. They'd managed to slip behind an old building, trying to quiet their laboured breathing. They slowly reached for the gun in their waistband, removing the old magazine and replacing it with a new, loaded one.

They waited painstakingly for their target to reach the perfect spot.

Bang. They fired, aiming for the kill, three perfect shots. 

Except the bastard was wearing bullet-proof armour, the bullets ricocheting off of them uselessly. They were certain that underneath their dark cowl, the criminal must have had an infuriatingly smug smirk on their face, but right then, they recieved an entirely self-satisfied tilt of the head to the side. 

Their only option was to destroy a piece of the armour and shoot them there. 

The fight between them continued being a draw, one striking, their opponent blocking, and neither causing any real damage. Until the killer had managed to back Hero into a corner, kicking them to the ground and twisting their leg into a horrid angle, the crime-fighter crying out in pain as a grotesque crack rang in their ears. Tears sprang in their eyes and with whatever little movement they could manage, they furiously ripped their nemesis's mask off.

It wasn't the face of a stranger, like they'd expected, nor was it the face of someone entirely close to them, not that there were many people, aside from their sidekick, who obviously wasn't the ruthless murderer before, instead, it was their quiet lab partner from college, Villain, the one that sat next to them every day, brought them coffee and the occasional dessert, and doodled silly cartoons in their notebook to keep them both sane during boring classes, the closest thing they had to a friend that had nothing to do with the agency.

Their mouth was left agape, their eyes wide, their whole world spinning, but Villain didn’t even blink. They fired, straight into the hero's chest, utterly remorseless, no readable expression on their stone hard face.

Hero woke up. Woke up? What the hell? But Villain had killed them, yet here they were, lying on a soft mattress underneath a wonderfully thick comforter, with their leg in a cast, bandages crisscrossed across their chest. The only thing ruining the strangely mellow coziness they felt (possibly painkilling drugs) was the fact that they were handcuffed to the nighstand. 

The bullet had missed their heart. But surely an expert marksman like Villain wouldn't miss, right? This, for some strange reason, was intentional. 

We like to believe that our expectations have a foundation in truth, that they are of considerable value, that they can have even the slightest effect on any future outcomes. Yet, that is a fool's dream, a fruitless effort to calm a racing mind in fear of the unknown. Just when you are at the peak of your certainty, when you fully believe your fate is sealed, a spontaneous twist, the slightest change sets you on a path you were never aware existed. Our choices, our words, our actions have meaning, yet they only hold the power of a few tidal waves in the vast unpredictable ocean that is our future because destiny is a weapon one can only hope to master.

✨️Le Taglist: @larinzz @syberianjade @lateuplight @altu-interactions @enbious-prince @astr0-mj @thelazywitchphotographer @usernotfound000 @addictedsandwhichaki @justalittlecorrupted @quaggasus @theangstyclown @vernilliom @mothmancommitsarson @starssabove @kurai-hono-blog @talkingsperm @muffinrebel44 @sunnynwanda @annablogsposts @cardboardarsonist @itsmyworld23 @onlywhump @shr3ya @crotchgoblin69 @wtfevenisausername

Wanna be on the taglist? This'll take you there!

[a-tale-of-legends]

Friendship HC's for team star?

Oooooh a fun one. These are going to be very all over the place, so bare with me here.

The only reason that Giacomo is as passionate as he is about music as he is today is thanks to Mela and Eri. The two girls have been super supportive of his passion, which at the time he was very embarrassed about. Eri especially, who didn't really look at Giacomo's past and shame him for it. Mela's bluntness pretty much made Giacomo really think about himself, and who he really wants to be. Of course Atticus and Ortega are just as supportive of him as the girls, but those two were the bigger ones that pushed him forward. Though, I totally see Atticus helping Gia with his hair lol.

Surprisingly no one, Eri is the mom friend of the group. She looks after everyone and makes sure their needs are taken into account. That being said, team stars( both the bosses and the grunts) all do their best to make sure she's taken care of too. They have forced her to sit down and let them handle any heavy lifting or general labor, just so she doesn't overwork herself. She appreciates them for that, but that does not stop her worrying. They.... aren't exactly the strongest bunch ( physically I mean). Oh, and her and Giacomo are the ultimate planner duo. Eri's kind nature + Giacomo's tendency to overthink equals they will have almost everyone's own taste/likes-dislikes taken into account. ( Eri also makes sure Giacomo doesn't panic so much during that process. He looks cool calm and collected, but he gets really anxious at the chance of doing something wrong, again).

I hc that Ortega wears gloves pretty much 24/7, for a multitude of reasons, one of them being he's pretty sensitive to different textures. So when making the outfits for Team Star, Atticus worked closely with him to figure out what type of fabric he likes ( both for his gloves and the general outfit), and make the clothes with said fabric. Ortega actually paid for all the material for the team Star outfits really. He likes to go on Eri's shoulders. He likes feeling tall :3. Much like Mela, he's pretty blunt and can go feral cat mode if he wants to. He is a Menace and Eri has held him like an angry cat multiple times. He and Mela have the greatest banter btw. Just *chef kiss*. Mela does push him to be more independent though, which he's not totally used to coming from a rich family, but is still appreciative of it. Won't admit this outloud though, he will never hear the end of it.

In general, Mela let's get guard down more around team Star, but Atticus and Eri is where she's more Soft™. Atticus and her are makeup buddies, Atticus letting Mela rant if she needs to. Mela, next to Ortega, are the most likely to start a fight if someone talks ill about her friends. Pray that she doesn't hear you talk about Atticus in any negative way. Though Atticus does think it's sweet, he doesn't really care anymore. Words hurt, yes, but he's the happiest he's ever been, he loves what he's doing, he has amazing friends. So what people think he's weird. From his point of view everyone is, and it's really nothing to write home about. So Mela doesn't get into verbal confrontations about snide remarks about Atticus anymore. She will give the person a mean death glare though. That usually shuts them up. Anyway, back to Atticus, he actually knows sign language, and taught the others it. Eri and him train together, though Atticus is more about dexterity than strength. Either way, they have fun together. They like to call their training sessions together as a " training montage".

Everyone likes to joke about how Giacomo is honestly Just A Guy, mainly due to his chill nature. He takes offense to this. He worked very hard on his image you know! He is not just some guy!!! ( Really, he thinks it's funny. Low-key grounds him a bit, oddly enough).

Okay I think that's everyone.....nah I'm kidding.

To say that Penny was nervous actually hanging out with Team Star irl was an understatement. Girl was terrified. Despite their warm introductions before, she still couldn't help but worry about them seeing her. Everyday. It's nerve was nerve wracking. In a way it made her feel bad, since she's used to hanging out with Nemona and Arven ( and protag/ocs), but the people she knew for longer? It terrified her. The bosses took note of this right away though, and did their best to ease her in, as if she's meeting them for the first time. Eventually, and rather quickly, she just. Melted into the group like she did before. Her room is already crowded as is ( something that Eri is very concerned about) so they can't always just hang out in her room....so they do in Gia's, who's the cleanest of the bunch. It sometimes amazes penny how easily they all talk to each other, how much they make each other laugh despite being so different. But she's not too surprised. Their misfits who stick together. She doesn't say this much, she always gets embarrassed, but she's forever grateful to have team Star in her life <3.

[shywhumpauthor]

In between spy whumpee’s torture, can we get some of their backstory?

I really want Kaden to save them at the end in the canon storyline(only if you’re okay with it ofc)

We’re just going to pretend that this ask isn’t from January-

Kaden saving them? A crossover? Psh

Training With Clay

Surveillance Masterlist

Cw: abuse in the name of “training”, starvation, overworking, over exhaustion, dehydration, normalized abuse, blood, collapsing, preparations for self-sacrifice, accepting death as inevitable (even though it very much is avoidable), normalized no self worth, disregard for the value of life, all that fun stuff. Noah’s spy training was just really fucked up.

Stay still.

Stay still.

Stay silent. Stay still.

Sweat beaded on the back of Noah’s neck, cold and anxious. Saliva pooled beneath his tongue, but he didn’t even dare swallow, knowing what consequences even the slightest movement would bring.

Silent. Noah couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken. More than a few days, he knew, but he didn’t know if it had yet to pass a week point. Or two. In the Chamber, time was a privilege, one that only the higher ranking were permitted to exploit. It could have been months, and he would have been none the wiser.

Days were indistinguishable from the rest, blended together through the broken breaks of sleep and meals. The lights went off and back on. The silence rarely parted. He used to be able to tell the time, to some extent, by the ache in his bones, but that had faded long ago, the exhaustion from each day bleeding into the next with no noticeable improvement from rest.

At least today was an easier day. He had known that when instead of being ripped away from his cot, dragged to the floor by an arm or the back of his shirt, or jolted awake as a pail of ice water was dumped over him, he had woken up to the ear-splitting morning alarm in the training center.

It was Clay’s day, which Noah was beyond grateful for. Clay only worked with the informer recruits for one day a week, though those hours passed much too quickly. Clay wasn’t a saint by any means, sometimes they could be a real dick, but for the most part they were fine. Rude, a bit annoying at points, but they weren’t nearly as mean as some of the other instructors. They worked them to the point of failure, but not past. Encouraged to test their limits, but accepting of the failure. Displeased with it, obviously, but accepting.

With them, it wasn’t physical strain, not in the manner like it was with Aaron. He was the worst, by far. Bitter memories of running, sprinting on a treadmill in line with five others until Noah’s legs gave out, that couldn’t have been more than a week ago. Strength training wasn’t as important for informers as it would be for, say, soldiers, where brute force was a necessity in missions, just another form of practiced endurance. They weren’t really soldiers, none of these operations were connected to the military, but that’s just how they were referred. The job any given recruit in the room wished they had been assigned to rather than this. Noah wished he had been assigned to the technical division. It’s why he had applied for this entirely. He wasn’t amazing with computers, but compared to the other branches of recruits it seemed the most interesting.

Really, he had been most interested by a smaller branch within the tech division. He had wanted to become a coordinator, to put together the very missions he was now stuck preparing for now. Tech, technicalities. He had wanted to work with the logistics of the assignments and approaches, but instead he was the one following those orders. He hadn’t wanted this. He hadn’t wanted to be here. But he wasn’t given much of a choice, so here he was.

Noah’s class, as the supervisors called it, wasn’t that large. Twenty at the beginning of the program, dropped down to eighteen after the first two weeks. Noah wasn’t sure what had happened to them, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. All he knew was that they had failed.

The spies were made to look as inconspicuous as possible. Everyone in the room, there were little distinguishing factors between the recruits. They were all around the same height and the same build, hair cut neatly once but tangled with sweat and knots. Nothing more than average. It had been those features that ended him up in this division. They all wore the same uniform, once folded neatly and pressed shirts and shorts, now wrinkled and dirty. Even with Clay, it had been a long day. And it still wasn’t over.

“You weren’t chosen to fight. You were chosen to endure. Bear it.” Clay spoke, their voice ringing loudly through the empty room, over the shallow, exhausted breaths of the recruits. Bear it.

They weren’t chosen to fight. Or to plan. The only thing they needed to do was listen. Observe. Record, keep their cover. Stay silent upon capture, take the torture until death. Don’t give anything away.

That’s all this training was. Preparations for torture later on, not if but when. When they were sent on their mission. When they were captured. When.

Three months of hell. Three months of abuse of all kinds, preparing them for anything and everything that could happen. Exposing them to the pain they would face, building up their tolerance. After those three months were over, though, things would be better. Hell with a reprieve. After three months, and the Initiation—which anyone had yet to tell the recruits what that really was—they’d all get a break. A long time to rest, recover. To join the rest of the workers in the company, interact with people outside of their class until they were called for their mission.

Noah’s knees hurt. The idea was cruel, and he could only imagine what the bruises would look like the following morning, but it wasn’t half as bad as some of the other exposure. Every bone in his body ached from having to hold the position for hours on end, the grains of uncooked rice embedding deep into his shins. But it would go away, eventually. The bruises and the indents would fade, and there wouldn’t be any evidence of this trial. Of any of them. That was a big part of their tactics. Scars meant suspicion, and suspicion ruined the whole goal of going unnoticed.

Next to him, a recruit let out a trembling groan, their entire body shuddering in the corner of Noah’s vision, but he didn’t dare turn his head to look. Their pain was irrelevant to him. All that mattered was that he focused.

Focused on staying still and silent.

The recruit collapsed, falling forwards to the hard floor.

They were the fourth so far, and from what Noah could tell from around the room, they weren’t going to be the last.

Resourcefulness was another virtue they were taught, the most important as Clay had explained during their very first lesson. Anticipate what will happen. Don’t hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Use everything to your advantage.

That morning, after the recruits had all woken up, Noah had realized what day it was. With Clay, there were two breaks. One after the first exercise, then one at the very end of the day. During the first one, Noah had slipped away to the bathroom, where he had hunched over the sink and drank as much water from the tap as he could without getting sick. Dehydration was probably the worst and the most common factor that meddled with training. Some days they were given free water breaks, whenever they needed they were allowed to step away to get some. Other days they weren’t. He was prepared, unlike some of the others.

His mind was clouded with exhaustion and pain, but he wasn’t going delirious. That was always a good thing. Just focus on the good things. That’s all he could do.

Break them down.

Strip everything away until the canvas was bare.

Build them back up. Piece by piece.

Shatter the glass then melt the fragments back together to form a new pane.

Another recruit gave in, a defeated slump. Noah didn’t even notice. He kept his sight locked on a single grain of rice, fighting the exhaustion that tugged down on his eyelids.

A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. Noah blinked it out of his eye.

…

“Settle.”

The command came like an answered prayer, a ray of golden sunlight breaking through a swirling mass of dark clouds. It took Noah a moment to process it, and another few to finally move. He had to think about it for a second, the resounding ache in his legs making it clear he wouldn’t be able to stand right away. So instead he shifted to the side, brushing the scattered rice away before lowering himself from his knees to sit. For the first time in hours, he looked across the the training hall.

There were only a handful of recruits still standing. Well, kneeling. Now sitting. The ones who had failed, probably eleven out of the eighteen of them, sat against the wall with their gaze downwards.

Noah grit his teeth, wincing as the weight was finally lifted off his knees. There were grains of rice embedded in his knees, small trickles of blood dripping down the skin from where he had moved too much. He bit down on his lip, gingerly brushing away the grains, having to pick the really deep ones away with his nails. It stung like hell, but it was nothing compared to what he had faced before. His legs screamed in both protest and relief as he stretched them for the first time in hours, cramped muscles twitching as he let himself rest from the rigid posture he held for much too long.

“Alright boys, showers and dinner.” Clay clapped their hands a single time, and the line of recruits against the wall quickly stood and began to shuffle out in a clump. Noah moved to follow them, unable to contain the groan as he attempted to get his legs underneath him, but Clay held out a hand, drawing the attention of those on the floor and shaking their head.

“Rest for another few minutes,” they said, the commanding tone dropping from their voice. Once the others had left, Clay spoke again. “You all did well today. Once the others finish in the bathroom, I’ll turn on the warm water and you can have an extra ten minutes. Sit for now.”

A prick of confusion invaded Noah’s mind, but he wasn’t about to question.

Clay’s cold eyes shifted to him, and Noah couldn’t drop his gaze before they made eye contact. The instructor was walking over to him, not giving Noah time to lapse into a mental panic before they were standing in front of him.

“You did better today, Noah,” They spoke quietly, adjusting their voice so the other recruits wouldn’t overhear as Clay crouched down not too far from him. They crossed their arms, gaze dropping to Noah’s bleeding knees. “Your progress hasn’t gone unnoticed along the supervisors. Come see me after you get cleaned up if you need some bandages or Motrin, alright?”

Clay waited for him to nod, voice lost as he was taken aback. Not just by the direct interaction from an instructor—which was rarely a good thing, but the offer. He didn’t know Clay knew his name even. Here, to instructors, recruits didn’t have names. He was eight, the number of the bunk he was assigned to.

By the time he broke out of the exhaustion laced stupor the interaction had caught him in, Clay had already moved on, walking down to the next recruit and stopping just in front of them. They remained standing.

He could just hear them say, “not bad, fourteen. Watch your breathing, you can let your posture ease more. That should help.”

——————————————————

Tag list: @pickleking8 @blood-enthusiast @t0rture-me @sparrowsage @enigmawritesstuff @whump-me

This was fun to write. I plan to do a lot of Noah in the next couple days so if there’s anything you want to see pleaseeee let me know

Anything at all.

Please.

[auryborealis]

Cozy Tea-Themed OC Asks for Yuna:

English Breakfast: What is your OC’s morning routine? Oolong: How does your OC decorate their space? Ginger: What always brightens your OC’s day?

cozy tea-themed oc asks | no longer accepting

English Breakfast: What is your OC’s morning routine?

A typical morning would be:

Wake up (sometime between 7:15 to 7:30 AM)

Have some herbal tea that she prepared the night before

Summon Argo (otherwise he'll get cranky)

Stretch & yoga (sometimes Nami & Robin will join)

Breakfast (then help Sanji with the dishes)

Combat training with Zoro

Oolong: How does your OC decorate their space?

Whether she shares a bedroom with Nami (and eventually Vivi or Robin) or she has her own room (which I imagine would be more likely in live action version), I can imagine Yuna's space having a boho-chic style. It'd have a cozy, warm atmosphere, smells faintly like a Lush store, and have wall hanging decorations like dried flowers & tapestries. If there's any spare room, I imagine that's where Yuna has a nice decorated space for meditation and stretches.

Ginger: What always brightens your OC’s day?

lol Sanji.

I'm partly being serious though. Pre-timeskip Yuna starts off as someone wracked with guilt and trauma so after joining the Straw Hats, she spends the first few weeks being overly anxious, thinking that she doesn't belong there nor does she contribute anything useful to the crew. So Yuna tries to keep herself busy by helping out others with any tasks or chores (including volunteering to take over others' night watch shifts) but it's to the point where she overworks herself and the others worry about her. Of course Sanji becomes most concerned for her so he basically makes it his mission to cheer her up and make her smile every day, serving her favorite foods/snacks/beverages, gifting her flowers, and joining her during night watch just so that he can convince her to sleep. Eventually the others help in reassuring her that she is a wanted member of the crew and a valued friend but it will always be Sanji who starts off her days in a positive note, with just even a simple smile and greeting during breakfast.

[imagionationstation]

I was semi-inspired by your stolen TMNT AU where Donatello and Michelangelo (alongside with Miwa, a.k.a Karai) were kidnapped by Shredder at such an early age and was used (exploited) by him to end any means of the Hamato Clan. However— I'd like to point that I 100% doubt that both Donnie and Mikey would gain any sort of positive characteristic, given of Shredder's whole, "if ya' ain't perfect, then don't bother" type of personality.

(This is Human AU btw)

I imagined that, while neither Karai nor Mikey (whose name was changed to Arai or sumn) had any problems keeping up with training, Donnie (name changed to Junko) would face numbers of difficulties. Upon finding out of his intellectual prowers, Shredder wasted no time in pulling him out of their daily practice just so Donnie could dedicate his time to his studies— only allowing him as much as 3 practice per week, and the rest are solely invested to his academics.

Donnie would be waken up at odd hours by consultants after consultants in order to secure that #1 for the next upcoming examination. He was thoroughly isolated that his skin turns pale from the lack of exposure of the sun. Before, he used to attend to the same public school as his siblings— but Shredder pulled Donnie out and enrolled him to a private education instituition that has one too many preassure on him. Donnie was kept as a sort of medic or a doctor of the clan, if not engineers or whatnot.

Karai was able to live up to her 'father's expectations of a kunoichi— she's cunning, smart, and strong enough to overpower a hundred men. However, it is due to these qualities that Shredder pinpointed her as the head of her division at such an early age, thus straining her back with burden after burden. She would often be pushed beyond her limits just to set anew, and was often overworked and injured from a single sparring against Tigerclaw.

Karai is a loving yet a very overprotective older sister who is very adamant on being her little brother's only means of protection. She took their well-beings, safety and happiness very, very seriously that she was willing to take an oath; if even the Shredder himself had hurted them, then she is not hesistant to sit through his execution. I would also like to point out that Karai was over the age of 4 when she was kidnapped— so she already had the sneaky suspicion that Shredder might not be their biological father.

Michelangelo was the invincible child, but he was loved dearly by his two older siblings. Shredder wasn't very fond of him sincr there wasn't a prominent quality that's worth being enhanced and, therefore, deem him as a good for nothing. If Mikey skipped school or went missing during practice, Shredder couldn't care less. He already had two prodigies in his hand.

The plot twist comes around when Mikey would unknowingly hung out with both Leonardo and Raphael at night, unaware of their status as the two living heir of the Hamato Clan. They, along with Karai, even attend to the same school— both completely unaware of each other's identity. It was when Mikey had invited them to pick up Donnie that dejà vu begins to hit.

"Raph... that Donnie... he looked very similar to you"

...

Also, side not— Donnie would be more and more anxious + nervous, Mikey more rebel and Karai more loving.

Link to stolen tmnt au ask

I mean- you told me being raised by Shredder would give them no positive characteristics, but we’re shown that canon Karai has good characteristics, though she still makes morally gray choices after being reformed since- yk, raised by a revenge-addicted ninja crime boss, and all.

ALSO: “Karai is a loving yet a very overprotective“ sounds like good qualities to me! I like her already. Protect thy brothers. Daddy is a terrible person and they need you 💞🥺

“If even the Shredder himself had hurted them, then she is not hesistant to sit through his execution.” DADDY GETS NO SLACK! HA! TAKE THAT, JERK!

And not to be nitpicky but: “Michelangelo was the invincible child, but he was loved dearly by his two older siblings.” This sounds like Junko also gave him some form of affection, in presents or words of affirmation or something to do with being the genius of the family. And that’s a pretty positive trait as well.

The thing about being raised by someone evil is- you don’t necessarily come out evil because of it. You can still be a good person, maybe because you’re just doing what they want because they say so, or you unconsciously cling to some trait or characteristic that makes you good, even while willing doing the evil things.

(Also, I believe that nobody is pure evil. Some horrible people believe what they’re doing is right, even if it’s clearly not.)

Canon Karai enjoyed her father’s evil empire and the freedom it gave her, but she was visibly disturbed when Tiger Claw insisted upon beating up a blind guy. She seemed to have a code of honor separate from the Foot’s, and that always gave me some respect and affection for her character.

*Don’t mind me just dissecting this AU*

I love the idea of Junko being shoved in private schools and under so much pressure and weight from his dad, but still working hard because he knows what’s required of him and hates to disappoint! (Not strictly said here, so consider it a headcanon). Maybe even with a more difficult load than Karai.

I mean, not only does Shredder expect perfection in schools and such, but he probably looks down on Junko for not being best in a dojo setting as well, even if he’s strictly meant to act as engineer or medic. I’m sure everyone in the Foot has to know how to fight and fight well, and his children are no exception. And with Junko being more mind-oriented at all times and not as adaptable as Karai, he probably doesn’t train as much, and that gets him looked down upon, which the “anxious + nervous” boy probably dreads.

I’m interested in the fact that Shredder didn’t notice Arai/Sumn’s natural, untamed skill- unless you’re removing that canon element? Or maybe he saw how Shredder treats his siblings and purposefully doesn’t make it apparent? Oooh, I love that idea. Boi gotta be sneaky to protect his freedom~

The idea of Arai/Sumn running around with Leo&Raph and nobody, including him, having any idea that he’s vibing with the enemy is awesome. 🤣

Wait, how does the last names of Hamato and Saki not trigger “WAIT A MINUTE”- sus vibes??

“Unaware of their status as heads of the Hamato clan” probably means the clan still exists, right? Like, filled with families and warriors and such, and not just Splinter&Leo&Raph? (I assume Hamato Yoshi is around).

If Shredder knows Yoshi is alive, I have to wonder why he wouldn’t know that he has (adopted?) kids and their names. You’d think he’d slander Leo and Raph’s name just as much as he slanders Yoshi, as they’re being raised by a ‘horrible man who killed his love’, yk?

The idea of Donnie being sickly(you said pale, and lack of vitamins can do that) and isolated immediately caught my interest, bc I love the idea of him completely forgoing him health to do whatever others request of him- because that means someone can step in, and since Karai is the eldest, and possibly Leo assists later, they can tag-team fixing this bad habit and reassuring him that he doesn’t need to be perfect. Shredder is being unfair in his expectations and he does just fine doing his best.

I’m a sucker for that kinda stuff. 🥰🥺

And the whole “someone leads a half-awake child to bed as they mumble stressed nonsense before getting reassured and tucked in” trope but ANYWAY-

I like this idea! It sounds very interesting and I’m so glad to have helped inspire it!! I had a clip idea I was gonna scribble out, but I don’t actually know the characters and didn’t know if you would approve, Anon, and this isn’t my AU so- yeah! Super intriguing idea!

Thank you for telling me about it!!

[ro-botany]

To hell with it. If I can wring essayposts out of Validar and Groom Robin, I can lay out some extended thoughts about my favourite Fire Emblem character’s new alt: Young Frederick. It would be weirder if I didn't. Buckle up for disorganized unedited blorbo opinions.

Under the cut, though, because this got longer than I was expecting.

---

The inclusion of the pebbles thing is just kind of par for the course with Frederick. It's been The Fred joke since his debut. It was a joke in Awakening, it's present in all three of his heroes units, and they even made a joke weapon about it in Fates. I wonder at what point they'll decide they've worn it out already. It's been 12 years, man.

But it is interesting that they're implying he picked up the pebble-clearing neuroticism so young.

My friend Ana (@/cannibal-lesbian) made a connection a while ago between the fact that Emmeryn had stones thrown at her in the early years of her rule, and Fred's insistence on clearing debris—rocks in particular—from the routes he knows that people he cares about will be taking. I think that's a pretty compelling connection to make.

Young Fred is already so damn worried about the royals all the time, and him overreacting to threats to their safety constitutes so much of his screen time... If he were present for any of the times that stone-throwing happened, if he was there when Emm got hurt badly enough by a thrown rock for it to scar long term, I can absolutely buy him deciding that no one in walking distance of his charges is allowed to have access to chuckable rocks ever again.

It also doesn't help that Chrom, at least when he's older, is known to overwork himself so much he's tripping on random shit from exhaustion. Young Chrom in Heroes is already pretty obsessed with protecting people, so maybe that sort of thing has already started.

As tired as I am of the pebble collection as manifestation of him being a big worrywart, the pouch o rocks in his art is such a cute detail that it's really hard to be mad about it. Look at him. Look at him with his lil rock bag.

---

Some of the most positive things I can say about Young Fred’s dialogue in Heroes actually apply to his part in the paralogue that came with the release of the baby Awakening units, Double Vision. Young Fred is flustered trying to take care of little baby Lissa, and then when she runs off anyway, he’s absolutely beside himself with worry. When she’s found and the kids all get to wondering about meeting older versions of themselves, he starts off anxious about the possibilities... then promptly gets lost daydreaming about how cool it would be to be a knight. The best knight, even.

Very often we see Fred’s overzealous devotion to the Ylissean royals; but it’s not very often that we get to directly confront the undercurrent of worry and perfectionism that in part drives that devotion. Perhaps the most acknowledgement Awakening itself gives us that Frederick’s stoicism is armour over staggering amounts of anxiety is in the spotpass chapter with Emmeryn. I’m happy to now have an example of this that isn’t also heart-breaking!

Besides that, it’s just cute. This little dude has his work cut out for him trying to babysit these chaos kids, and he has such big dreams too! He’s doing his best. I love him.

His profile voice lines continue this characterization trend. He’s earnest. He’s dedicated to his training. He gets all embarrassed that he’s not being a perfect knight yet. He’s being a bit of a dork, honestly, with the line about him dragging around too many pebbles for him to reasonably carry.

I love that so much of the dialogue associated with him is willing to put these personality traits out in the open like this. This Fred is still young and he hasn’t had time to build up that emotional armour yet. He's not had the time to build up his combat skills or figure out how he can best take care of the royals, and he's tripping a bit, and nervous, and throwing himself into it all the way.

I like it a lot. This was a good direction to take a younger Frederick. :]

His level 40 dialogue... dang it, okay, it’s just so cute, I need to gush about it. Fred’s fretting over the comfort of the royals again and decides to hand-knit a wall tapestry for their room, and now he’s come to ask Kiran their opinion of it, and you can tell he’s kinda nervous about it. Kiran looks at his art project and goes “You need to move this somewhere everyone can see. The world must be able to view it.” And listen ok that is my reaction too, Kiran, 100%.

Knitting a fucking tapestry. Generally you don’t... that’s not a knitting project, that’s more of a weaving project. But knitting is the fibercrafting skill that Frederick is familiar with, and he’s allergic to asking for help because he wants so badly to prove himself, so he just puts 150% effort into knitting a whole ass tapestry anyway. It’s perfect. This is a perfect level 40 conversation.

This is how you call back to obscure facts about characters. This exactly is how you do it. You show it off in a natural conversational way.

---

And unfortunately, my emphasis on that is a segue into the part where I have to get more critical.

Castle dialogue is usually some of my favourite to read in Heroes. I enjoy going to my home screen and checking up on all my little guys, seeing what they’re up to. It feels very much like Awakening’s barracks conversations.

I’m not sure if this is the result of an English localization issue, or if it’s also present in the original Japanese (which I cannot read), but the majority of Young Fred’s castle dialogue reads very much like.... someone was just ticking boxes. Like they ran out of enthusiasm after all the stuff above and just slapped some basic lines in to finish up the unit.

To illustrate what I mean, I’m going to pull some example lines off of some other characters first. Just tapping on the characters hanging around my home screen as I write this, I get lines like:

Chrom: I was practicing my swing and wound up smashing a pot. Forgive me, Kiran. Chrom: Back home, my Shepherds deal with outlaws and monsters. It’s strange that here we battle against Heroes. m!Robin: Do you have a moment to go over some tactical options? I’d love to hear your thoughts. m!Robin: Back home, I was always checking on everyone, too. It helps me relax, knowing they’re safe and well. Lissa: Sharena seems nice. I wonder if we could have a “princess chat” sometime... Lissa: I’ll put the frog here and... AH, Kiran?! Awww, you caught me before I pulled the BEST prank! Sully: I know you don’t fight, but I’ll teach you to defend yourself. Don’t worry. I won’t hurt ya too bad! Sully: Your commander seems strict—bet I could learn a lot from her. Maybe I’ll join the Order of Heroes... m!Morgan: Your white robe is too cool! But I’d expect nothing less from the tactician of the Order of Heroes. Say, can we... Swap robes? Just for a moment?!

With all of these lines, you get the sense that the characters are interacting with the world of Askr. They’re thinking about other characters like Anna and Sharena. They’re commenting on what it’s like to be in Askr. They’re talking to Kiran like we’re seeing one half of a conversation—Robin notices how you’re going around checking up on all the heroes on the home screen and talks to you about it, Chrom gets all embarrassed about training mishaps, Sully offers to train you, you bump into Lissa trying to pull a prank and spoil her fun...

All these characters are written to be really integrated into the daily life here in the Order of Heroes. We’re giving them tiny scenarios that let them show off their personalities splendidly.

...And then there’s Young Frederick’s castle dialogue. :|

Lord Chrom deserves only the most well-trained, battle-tested guardian. I hone my skills that I may fulfill that role. Lady Emmeryn accepted the role of exalt quite young. My lord Chrom shares her noble blood. My hobbies? I do enjoy foraging for mushrooms. When I happen upon a rare one, I nearly shake with glee! I fear no man or beast! Well...except perhaps that mountain wolf. Those memories are best left buried... Please, be silent... I am honing my concentration by focusing on this candle's flame until it dies out.

It’s all written in Fred’s voice, they did well at that... but... do you notice how much less lively this all feels, compared to the other characters’ lines above?

Pretty much every unit I’ve encountered in this game has at least a few castle lines where they’re just Saying A Fact about themselves or their backstory or something. But most of them also have conversational lines like the ones I highlighted, and... this Fred just... doesn’t! He just doesn’t.

They hit on a bunch of references to his dialogue in Awakening; even some really obscure ones, ones that you would miss if you didn’t do the right supports or encounter specific Barracks conversations. But they didn’t write them in a way that feels like natural conversation. They wrote them just to be references.

Look, look! We saw the Panne supports, guys! Look we’re calling back to the wolf backstory!! ...But they’re just making him say it outright. He’s listing off a fact about himself, not acting like a human person. Why tell and not show in this instance? Why not call back to that by, for example, having him react to the idea of meeting some of the beast units running around Askr? Make it conversational and make it reference the fact that that line came from a support with a beast unit. Perhaps something like: “Those shapeshifting Heroes... they don’t go around in animal form ALL the time, do they? ...N-not that I’m afraid or anything! I fear no man or beast!”

Ooo you remember how he likes fire? Yeeeaaah, we read his bio, we read that one barracks line! ...But you also chose to include this fact by... making him stand around staring very hard at a candle. This is just such a nothing burger of a line.

Hey guys! You remember the barracks line about mushrooms?! We did! Look, he likes mushrooms!!! ...Sure, and I genuinely am happy that the callback exists. It’s even kind of fun that we’re using the same scenario that was the context for learning this in Awakening, where we’ve asked Fred about his hobbies. But it’s not working for me here because we already have enough lines where he just says a fact about himself. Why would you not, say, have us encounter Fred while he’s hunting for mushrooms in the courtyard? Or perhaps we bump into him when he’s just coming back from foraging with some rare mushrooms he’s excited to tell us about? Or maybe he asks us if the royal library has any field guides on Askran mushrooms?

Just, something! Give me some kind of acting! Natural conversation! I’m happy that someone cared enough to dig up the obscure references, trust me, I am. But this execution is stiff as hell.

---

In the end I can’t really complain too much. New official Frederick content in the year 2024 was a complete shock and I’m delighted to have him around.

I’m at least a little disappointed we got no real opinions or clarifications on his backstory, or many things to speculate about; though I understand you can only do so much with minor characters while adhering to canon. And I wish they didn’t stumble so hard on the castle dialogue, because imo it’s some of the most important dialogue a Heroes unit has.

But the majority of his characterization and individual lines are well-executed. I’m quite pleased. The Frederick fans are eating well. :]

[seffien]

uhh do you have any further story / lore for dutch and vee? alternative question what do you think are their worst traits in personality

(circa splatoon 2)

further story/lore

dutch: parents split when she was 4. pre-splatoon 2 she hasn't seen her mom in about 5 years and she doesn't really speak to her dad all that much despite them living together. also its very apparent that dad does not like mom at all. dutch doesn't speak—her father does. breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are eaten in silence, tension hanging over her head. dad never lets her out of the house, never lets her do anything fun. to get away from it all, she heads to inkopolis. she meets vee when they bump into each other at the crust bucket, and he orders something for her since he's got an extra ticket.

vee: born to upper-middle class parents and was expected to become a doctor or do some other fancy-shmancy job. everyone around him had an air on insincerity that he hated. since he went to private school (a different private school), work piled on quickly. his parents thought he could figure it out on his own, but he couldn't. he just wanted a normal life, so in the middle of the night, he wrote a note, left the house, and took a train to inkopolis. he met naoki when the train got to inkopolis. naoki had left something behind, and vee picked it up and went to hand it to her. they briefly made eye contact when naoki turned around before vanishing into the night. he's also considered one of the square's turf war stars, but his life really isn't all that luxurious. really, dutch and naoki are all he has.

worst traits

though not a super tryhard, dutch can get seriously competetive if need be. combined with her hyperness in battles, things can sometimes get messy.

vee tends to get anxious and the spotlight being on him doesn't help one bit. he also overworks himself and, while not as bad as naoki's, he does have some self-esteem issues

[scalamore]

[thoughts] Tory/Lari - On Rupert becoming Emperor

I could have sworn I made a post about it, but guess not. I find it interesting that both Tory and Lari tell Rupert that he'll become Emperor, but he attributes the credit (for lack of better word) to Lari. Objectively, Tory did most of the work in ensuring Rupert becomes Emperor, as she was created for this purpose. Eva had trained him from an early age to be good at politics, alchemy, and general knowledge, as well as training him how to read other people/get them to do what he wants, and of course, feeding him poison so he could be resistant to it. After she died, Tory took over in making sure he stays on track on their mission. Rupert continued his studies and obtaining his own power/wealth, while she acted as a spy/assassin to get rid of his enemies in the background.

The thing is, while Tory always reminds him to stay focused for the sake of the mission, to become Emperor, and how she's doing all the dirty work for his sake, the tone used is that she's spurring him on to become Emperor out of his guilt for being the reason why she was turned into an alchemic doll in the first place. It's what his mother wanted, so of course he's going to fulfill those wishes, esp since she DIED for his sake to become Emperor. (Vol 5 + Ch 88) It's more of an expectation that he WILL become Emperor.

Rupert knows that his plans are perfect, that he WILL become Emperor or he'll die trying - When he shows some weakness in front of Tory, she simply tells him that pain is necessary in pursuit of becoming Emperor (omitted in the novel version of Ch 84). Actually I think the phase "life is all about pain" was omitted from the manhwa? In any case, Rupert mentioned it a few times, and lari learns that Tory is the one who taught him that phrase - and for the first part of the story, Rupert had used that as sort of a mantra to keep him going. Over the course of the story, we see how hard he worked to achieve this goal. Tory, Louis, and Fassbender are his underlings/tools, they offer him not emotional support. He's been utterly alone for most of this - we see how tired and fatigued he is from the whole ordeal (his eye bags!!). He never complained in S1, but as we see him getting closer to Lari and opening up, he, just like any other person, has a lot of weakness: overworked, anxious, and stressed. He always has moments of self-doubt that he'll die at any time, that he'll fail, he won't accomplish anything. That's why he uses the lopium to help him calm down and sleep - otherwise, insomnia plagues him + wakes up from nightmares about the Emperor/Eva. There were times when he just couldn't sleep - like in chapter 60, where he would go outside for fresh air, and he would find Lari doing the same. While neither went into details of the cause of their inability to sleep, the two felt comfort in each other's presence - the idea that both are miserable and lonely, but at least they were less lonely. Vol 5 goes into detail in Rupert's POV that there were many times when he couldn't sleep, and somehow Lari would find him, trotting up with a lantern in hand, and ask if he was doing ok, if he felt sick and if he needed help. Despite having worries of her own and couldn't sleep, he still very much appreciated how she worried for him during those moments.

Tory may have first mentioned it in chapter 45, and especially after rescuing her from Duke Ventibolt's mansion and after becoming crown prince, he NEEDs Lari's existence now. Even if Lari is in denial about how much she cares for him and tries to convince herself she doesn't - she actually does. Now more than ever, Lari openly shows him her concern for him, worries if he's doing well, if he's eating well, if he's eating enough, if he's taking care of himself properly if he's getting rest, if he should get MORE rest etc. She genuinely does care for him.

As he says in Ch 97, he shows his weakness and vulnerability in front of Lari - he's never been like this in front of Tory - and tells her that he's endured this whole time. He's been enduring everything - being a powerless princess, the abuse, the physical and mental trauma, the fear of failure, the emptiness, the loneliness - but now he reached his goal, what else is there? what left is there to endure? what will he do next? is life going to be him putting up with everything from now on? will it ever get better? has nothing actually changed?

Even in his moments of insecurity and feeling lost, Lari always gives him reassurance that "He WILL become Emperor" with a smile of encouragement (Ch 60, 68) He doesn't quite understand why she's that confident and such certainty, but she's pretty convincing - the novel version of Ch 97 goes into detail that Rupert made it sound like he was able to become Emperor because she convinced him that he would become one inevitably. I find this interesting because Tory and Lari essentially say the same thing to him - that he will become Emperor, but with Tory, he has a sense of obligation and guilt, that the expectation is on him to become Emperor, that he needs to become Emperor or die trying, that "life is all about pain". (Expectation) Meanwhile, with Lari, she cares about his well-being, and his happiness. She may not be able to help him with tangible things as much as Tory, but she helps out much more in the sense that she offers him intangible things like emotional support - and that's what Rupert truly needs: someone who cares for him, and offers him reassurance, comfort, and warmth to live another day, that all his preparations weren't in vain, that he WILL succeed, that there's hope for happiness and a better future. (Encouragement)

With such encouragement like that, and a strong desire to protect her as well - the source of his happiness and light - of course, he'll do everything he can to become Emperor. Because now that she's around him, if he dies, so will she. (Ch 78) And the drive to protect is powerful indeed. That's why he gives Lari so much credit for her involvement in helping him become Emperor.

[moonchopsticks]

man i have no fucking idea where to talk about this but i miss working in a marine invert genome sequencing lab. like the work itself was Fine it was a lot of repetitive detail work but more than that it felt Important. like i know the phylogeny of parasitic snails isn't exactly a highly valued subject amongst the general public but it felt important to me. categorizing the unknown diversity of these animals in the deep sea. becoming a budding voice in the community that's willing and able to work towards understanding ocean ecosystems. discovering species! increasing knowledge of the ocean! learning! also developing niche and petty academic grudges and getting lost in the sauce of like. defining species and the validity of linnaean taxonomy and the most accurate way of analyzing phylogenomic data. at my best i felt way in over my head in the most interesting and fun way possible.

and i know i'm idealizing all of this because it was incredibly stressful and awful a lot of the time. i was a nervous wreck constantly and kept fucking up, my pi was a nightmare to work with, and the grad student i was trained under was so incredibly overworked that i was unable to make progress as expected, which brought more scrutiny onto me from my pi. he ended up telling me that i hadn't made sufficient progress and not to come back after the quarter had ended. almost everyone in that lab was under enormous pressure, hated working with my pi, and toughing it out so that they could move onto the next thing with a LOR. i ended up working in the invertebrate collections, which were overseen by this lab, and my supervisor (an angel and i love her) straight up admitted to me that even though she loves her job she has very little financial security and a house is not in her future. idk. i was frustrated with myself for a long time for not being able to cut it in that lab and just turning into an anxious stupid wreck when everyone else still there was able to ride it out. even past that (not uniquely) shitty environment, being in the autoclave of academia seems kind of like hell. even though i've wanted to be a scientist for many years, i feel like the reality of being one may have been incongruent with the life i want to live overall. but maybe i'm just telling myself that to temper the disappointment i feel when i think about not going down that path. idk. i just want to be a marine biologist, but idk if it's worth pursuing for me personally.

[ch4rryc0smos]

I GOTTA BE HONEST / I DON'T KNOW IF I COULD TAKE IT / EVERYBODY'S TALKING BUT WHAT'S ANYBODY SAYING ? — R.I.P 2 MY YOUTH | THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

── . ⚝ ❝ E M B E R A S P E N S I N C L A I R . ❞

𝄞 — xxi | cancer | infj | british(?) oceanian(?) 🪩

appearance ; pale almost porcelain like skin, mole under the right corner of their bottom lip, emerald green eyes with hazel around the iris, 5'11 [180 cm], athletic [or sleeper] build with thinner legs and arms, barely noticeable scars over arms, thighs and back, scars over most of their body, dimples when they smile hard. dimples on their lower back when they stretche. ombre [brown-blonde] hair, jellyfish haircut that grows out quickly, purple/violet highlights for bangs and ends of their hair.

beliefs ; worth is never defined by anything but achievements, and sometimes personality. everything holds value in the universe, whether it's obvious or not. free will is for all. equality should exist in all facets of life.

⋆ ─ life is, absurd, but perhaps some things are hidden by the universe, and all has reason, even if not obvious. ⋆ ─ good and bad can be discernable, always has been, just some times, it's not as easy as it is others.

personality ; gentle, intuitive, vigilant, observant, meticulous, collected, diligent, careful, realist, ingenious.

positive traits ; compassionate, selfless, empathetic, kind, accountable, notices other's emotions & fluctuations in behaviour[s], fast learner.

negative traits ; anxious, bottles up their emotions, skeptic [has trust issues], struggles with boundaries, overworks, cares too hard, thinks they have to always be the one to rely on, can't accept their negative emotions, has unhealthy coping mechanisms, brutally honest sometimes.

quirks ; fidgets all the time | stutters when nervous | bounces from heel to heel when waiting in queues | gets louder and faster when talking about passions | has an oral fixation | tilts their head when they're focusing | taps their foot unconsciously when trying to focus. | tends to go statue still when honing in on senses | gets quieter when worried | tries to act boisterous and confident | bites lip when nervous.

likes ; nature, psychology, sociology, anthropology, freedom of speech, anarchy, deep conversations, late-nights spent with those they care for, real food, biology [many branches of it], history, gardens, aquariums, deers, red pandas, art of living, knowledge, economics, ivan.

dislikes ; arthropods, heights, loud noises, narrow-mindedness, extreme temperatures, snobby aliens or people, arrogance, dishonesty, being under pressure, confrontation, disorganised places, being treated like a slave.

deepest secrets ; wants to one day escape alien stage, wants to be more than just a pawn and slave, wants to be loved, wants to know about their past, wants to save the universe, somehow.

⋆ ─ they want to feel worthwhile, and want to not be perceived as useless in any regards. ⋆ ─ wants ivan and their friends to escape, and live their best lives, even if their life is risked in the process. they don't value it enough.

── . ⚝ ❝ B A C K S T O R Y . ❞

RISING star of anakt garden, ember sinclair is a timid child, they didn't even have a name when they first found themselves at the mellow anakt garden quarters, something he didn't know were quarters then. at their young age, they learnt to be perfect for the aliens, they didn't know anyone, anything even. they didn't even know if she had a name. they were too scared to talk to the other... humans? were they even human? was he human?

she spent most of their first few months with the caretaker aliens, and they thought they owed their body to them, including their voice. so they trained, all they did was train, trained their voice to be everything. to sound naturally like a man, or woman, or anything in between.

until the time they turned six, they did not know if they had a name, they just had a title, and a code name, but then they named themselves ember, they might not know how to talk to someone, but they know their last name and how to sing. and that's enough, because they've been told they'll wow the world. when they go on that stage.

when they have lunch, they watch the other humans, talking to each other, and one day, he notices a kid, a young boy, sitting alone, staring at another kid. they don't know what to think but she feels like he gets them. much to their luck, the next task they had to complete was a group thing, and it was... nice? was it? they make origami shapes! they decided to make a purple paper heart with their name on it for the kid they'd seen earlier.

when they went to hand it over to them, they learnt that his name was ivan. he was hesitant, but he accepted it. and then they notice the crumpled paper sitting on his table, they smile at him, ask him if he needs any help. he refuses, but they know better. they've seen the aliens, and the way they talk about humans, humans tend to be like that, they say.

so, ember makes it their goal to befriend him. which they do, succesfully. one good thing from being with the aliens! ivan's more reserved than they'd thought, but it's okay, he's their friend! he likes them, that's more than enough. they never found it easy to sleep, but back in the day, they'd spend it awake, overthinking.

now they have, ivan. timing is divine, he knows every time they get too antsy, and he knows exactly what to do, it's like he's what they've been missing for so long. it's like he's what's going to piece them back together. they find solace through their adolescence and teenage years in him, and they think he finds it in them too. he who devotes his time to them.

── . ⚝ ❝ C U R R E N T . ❞

STAR of the show, that's what they're called. ember has made their name in alien stage, and despite what the misinformed aliens might think, it's not the heavenly life they think it is. every day, they watch someone they cared for die. every day, murder happens in front of their eyes, and quite frankly; for nothing.

they don't fear for their life anymore, they don't know why they sing with vigour, is it because they don't want the years of practice to go to waste? or is it because of ivan?

they don't care to know. one day, they expect to be at the receiving end of a gunshot, they think that one day, if there is a god out there, they will meet... them? him? her? they hope for that, but they don't tell him. he wouldn't like it, would he?

every year since they started alien stage, they have won, but it never brought upon any satisfaction, only immense guilt, and the need to repay for their lesser sins (most of which were not their doing). it's always the maybes, the they shouldn't have sang with that much power, they shouldn't have wanted to live. the thoughts never end.

until one day, their friend hyuna, proposes an idea to them. one which they agreed to far too quickly. even though it risked their life. they agreed. and from that day onwards, they were called cipher. they became an inside spy for hyuna. who escaped.

and for once, ember felt useful. and when they'd told ivan, if they said he was worried, it would be an understatement. he was never the type to be livid, but that day, he was close to being so.

yet, he didn't stop them. did he perhaps want this too? perhaps he wanted to leave too. ember would never mind leaving with him, he never wanted to stay here anyway. so, one faithful night, after just another time they'd won alien stage, they sat with ivan.

they asked him, and lucky for them, he agreed. he told them he wanted them to live life to the fullest. that he was so sorry they had to deal with that. and then he broke the news to them, that next year, he would join alien stage too. he said join, but ember knew he was forced. there were never choices in a place like this.

ember made it their goal this time, to not befriend him, but save him. even if their life was risked in the process. they never valued it enough, anyway. but he said that if he left, he'd take them with him, he promised that.

but were promises ever kept at alien stage anyway? they supposed they'd have to find out. so, they kept on their cipher guise for hyuna while playing the perfect pawn for the aliens, and did they feel like their strings were about to snap.

any day they would go into overdrive, or their wooden joints would bear a crack and it would all come crashing down, they feared for the day, they truly did. how could they not?

especially with his life at stake, what could they do? what would they do? all they knew was that they would be the first person to fulfill their promise, to both ivan, and to hyuna. they would save whoever they could from this cruel fate, and they would bring forth his freedom. no matter the stakes.

for him, for themselves. they had to do it. and they would.

a promise was made, and it would be kept. it would be fulfilled. they hope that they are strong, that if there is a god out there, help would come their way, for these poor souls. they had a bit of hope left, even if it was dwindling more by the day. all the hacking, all the hopeful late night conversations.

they had to lead somewhere. they better.

── . ⚝ appears in sailor song [wip]

★ ; finally introducing my alien stage s/i. after watching round seven, or the final, or WHATEVER. i have the motivation. i am grieving. and if you're wondering what's with the gender, me too. me too, chat. i don't know what's going on either, take a guess. they probably spin a wheel and choose /j i hope you love them, anyway.

ch4rryc0smos © 2024

[spainsargasaan]

"Heal Your Mind and Body: Enjoy the Restorative Properties of Swedish Massage at the Best Spa in Sargasaan"

Introduction:

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Enhanced Immune System: It increases lymphatic system performance in addition to promoting better blood circulation. This essential system aids in the body's removal of toxic materials and infections. It also increases lymph flow, which boosts immunity, reduces susceptibility to disease, and enhances general health.

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