#[wilted rose] the thorn in my side

[shotmrmiller]

Valentine's day with Pathetic!Simon

You should've known Johnny had been serious when he talked to you that morning.

"LT's never had anyone to gift fer Valentine's. Just...let him give ye the flowers 'n accept the chocolates, aye?"

Simon stood in front of you, pinning you in place with his beady gaze, a bouquet of red roses in his clenched fist.

The ends of them look torn. You really hope he didn't just rip these off of someone's front yard.

He interrupts your inner musings by forcefully presenting them to you— velvet petals brushing your lips, causing you to jerk your head back slightly.

Allllrighty then.

Tenderly, you raise your hands and grab them— encircling the base of the rose just above his hold.

"Thank you for these, Simon. They're very beautiful," you croon. His delivery might be awkward, but you truly are grateful for them. Every individual rose is pristine, colours vibrant, stems strong and firm— not a brown petal nor wilted leaf in sight.

They're perfect.

Until your fingers are pricked by something pointed.

What?

You let go quickly and turn your hands up to inspect them. Sure enough, there's blood beading up on some of your fingertips, and the soft flesh of your palms.

And you grab Simon's wrist to lift the bouquet to eye level.

Thorns.

They're everywhere, and Simon's knuckles are white from how tight he's holding the roses.

"Jesus! Simon! You've got to be kidding me! Put them down!" As you let him go, you quickly spin around to fetch your first aid kit, but a forceful grip on your shoulder stops you in your tracks and spins you right back around.

"Just get a vase for them," he rumbles.

In disbelief, you protest, "What? No! You need—" but he swiftly interrupts you, his grip on your shoulder tightening marginally.

"What I need is f'you to get a vase." His firm response is resolute.

"O-okay, I...I er, got a few under the sink." With a silent stride, Simon stays close behind you, his hand that had touched your shoulder now curling around the back of your neck— only letting go when you reach for the sink base.

Placing it on the countertop, you ask him if he would now put them down.

"No. Fill it with water."

Simon nods when you do as he says, then drops them inside the vase— and you can't look away as red furls inside the once-clear water, turning it pink.

He clears his throat, catching your attention, and when you turn to face him, Simon's handing you something else.

It's a flattened snickers bar. You can see caramel peeking out from one corner, and the wrapper is streaked with some of his blood.

Delicately, you grab it with your thumb and index by the sticky edges and place it on a paper towel.

"How did you know that snickers are my favorite?" Simon doesn't answer, only looks at you unnervingly expectantly.

Right. Let him give me the flowers and chocolate.

"Thank you so much for all of this, Simon. Happy Valentine's Day."

He lets out a deep sigh (of relief?) and opens long arms. You walk up to him, wrap your arms around his waist— the side of your head flat on his broad chest— and let out an undignified squawk when you feel your spine pop as he returns the hug.

You blatantly ignore the bulge firmly pressing itself into the soft flesh of your lower stomach, and definitely don't think about how large it feels.

"Happy Valentine's Day, pet."

Later, Johnny laughs so hard that he cries when he sees the rust-colored streaks of blood on the Snickers wrapper.

"Simon's an intense man, what can ah say?"

[dblk-archives]

Castle of glass.

Summary: diaboys reacting to you fainting on them. Headcanons.

Characters: Kou Mukami, Subaru Sakamaki, Azusa Mukami, gn! reader.

Tags/warnings: fainting, blood sucking, mentions of blood and knifes, a usual day in dialovers.

Something with my three fav boys... I might write more if you guys like it ♡

❀ Kou Mukami.

- At first he’d tease you, say something like “eeh my M-neko-chan has finally fallen for me I see!”

- That is until he notices how the vitality seems to drain from your expression. Your eyes seem glazed over, your body is limp, not in the way it is when you and him share sweet dreams in the comfort of his room. 

- No reaction follows his usual teasing either, not your cute pouts or bashful glances when he managed to fluster you.

- There is clearly something wrong with you.

- And for an instant, he doesn’t know what to do.

- He stays there, kneeling besides your still body, his smile wiped from his face for once.

- He is very worried and low key panics for a second. There is so much he wanted to still show you, so many gifts he wants to still get for you, what if…

- No, he cannot let thoughts such as this to cloud his better judgement.

- Probably tries to ask his siblings for help (thankfully he doesn't take Azusa’s suggestion to stab you to see if you’ll react).

- With all the ruckus around you, your eyes begin to stir. Your sight is still unfocused, and yet those eyes of his his, like the bluest sky, somehow give you the strength to fight the dizziness away.

- “Kou-kun…” he hears the weak call of his name, and within seconds he is pulling you close to his chest, his forehead against yours to make sure you are here with him.

- “Stay with me…” a barely there utterance of your name leaves his perfect lips, not the nickname he often used, but your name, reserved often only for the intimacy shared in the privacy of his or your bed.

- Afterwards, he is totally giving you the princess treatment.

- You are always there for him when nightmares shatter his sleep in fragments of a painful past. He has to give back all the kindness and love you showered him in every time.

- Kou will bring you your favorite snack, even try to make it himself, despite the result maybe not being perfect (please accept it, he put so much effort into it!).

- If you’d rather cuddle, he’ll hold you all night, in the same way you did when the phantom of his scars still ached; he’ll sing to you, lyrics only you get to hear, the affection in his voice rivaling his tender touches.

- He just wants to be there for you as much as you have always been for him, he is such a sweet baby who loves you unconditionally.

❀ Subaru Sakamaki.

- “Tsk, oi! oi!” The anger in his voice is mixed with the shadows of worry and underlying dark hues of panic as he calls for you.

- To no avail, for you slump unresponsive against his chest.

- His arms wrap protectively around your form.

- “You idiot!” He grits his teeth, fear and anger rising in his heart, almost choking him like wilted rose thorns.

- Why are you not answering him? Why is a crease forming in between your brows?

- Is it his fault after all? Does he really always ruin everything? 

- “Subaru…” You call, half unconscious. In your daze and shallow breathing, you cling to him.

- Clenching his jaw, Subaru picks you up in his arms.

- “You really are an idiot…” He softly utters, voice devoid of any malice.

- “Don’t go…” You mumble, skin coated in a sheen of sweat.

- Well, at least you seem to be conscious enough to still know he is by your side. He just hopes this is indeed not too bad.

- Brings you to your bed and when you fully wake up he is most likely losing it because why did you agree to him having your blood if you were feeling weak?

- You know he can go without it for a little longer, it’s not like he cares about you of course (his words not mine) it’s more that it’s a hassle to have to care for you afterwards and besides what if something had really happened to you or what if you hadn’t been with him-

- His speech is interrupted by your hands gently cupping his face and your lips on top of his.

- For an instant, ruby eyes widen, his cheeks matching their hue, but then he is quick to return the kiss.

- There is desperation written all over it, filling the sensation with subtle layers of fear, white wilted petals on moonless nights.

- “I love you…” You think you hear, barely above a whisper, when you part ways.

- “What did you say, Subaru?” You ask, half teasing.

- His face’s hue deepens, as he pouts, looking away.

- “I told you! You have to tell me when you are too exhausted to give me blood! Don’t you dare do that again!” He sputters, stomping away.

- Well, you’d rather he be his tsundere self that have him worried about you (as cute as he is).

❀ Azusa Mukami.

- Not a good idea to fall unconscious by his side, just saying /hj.

- See, Azusa is a sweet boy. It’s just that he might use… rather… eh… unconventional methods to try and wake you up.

- I mean, yes, he sure is scared that you just have fainted on him, but also the pained expression on your face… That means you are enjoying this, no?

- Then, is this really bad? Maybe if he gives you some new “friends” you might come to.

- He really is trying his best, poor baby :(

- But this isn’t right… you usually flinch or try to resist when he tries to cut you.

- Why are you completely unresponsive now?

- “Hey… Eve…” Azusa calls, his voice slightly quivering, the usual aloofness in it threatening to crack.

- This is definitely not good, you always answered him, after all.

- Now he is beginning to become frightened. What if he ends up losing you too? He doesn't want you to be just a permanently etched wound on his skin. He needs you, your here and now.

- “Azusa, what are you doing?” Ruki’s voice cuts through his disarrayed thoughts.

- “Eve… they… they fainted.”

- “It’s not severe, I told you not to cut her too much, figure it out by yourself.” Is Ruki’s statement as he walks away.

- After a few minutes, you finally regain consciousness.

- You are met by dull amethyst eyes, a silver lining illuminating them beautifully the moment you react.

- “You’re awake… Eve…” 

- He wraps his arms around you before you’ve had time to fully sit up from the daze.

- “Azusa!” You yelp, not expecting the sudden embrace.

- Despite him always having a cold body temperature, his hug feels… comforting, a welcome warmth fending off the chills that raked your skin up until moments ago.

- A smile tugs at your lips, as you return the embrace. Perhaps Azusa is learning about this gentler kid of affection now.

- In that case, you’ll give him plenty of it. You stay like that for a while, neither of you wanting to pull away.

- “Eve… is safe…” He whispers, pulling away enough to lock eyes with you with a tender smile.

- And his gentleness does certainly make you feel that way right now.

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being an Avenger with botanical powers

Avengers x reader

warnings:

a/n: i broke this request in 2 just cuz i couldn’t find a relevant way to incorporate the powers into the request for tonys bday!! hope it is okie!!!! its also short 😔

prompt: @groovy-lady: “May I please request a cute fic of sweet Mutant!fem!wife!Reader (who has botanical manipulation powers) and the Avengers celebrating Reader’s husband’s (Tony Stark) birthday?”

you were a very versatile fighter with a bit of love in you as well!

like yeah you could help the avengers keep their plants alive but you could also trap an enemy in a vine of thorns

“y/n, my flowers are wilting” -wanda

“well, that will happen when they’re removed from the ground and their roots are cut from their stems” -you

“vision picked them himself…” -wanda

you were pretty good at apprehending foes and locking people in

“do you do anything other than vines, y/n?” -clint

“sure” -you, growing a flower from the ground and handing it over

“aw, thanks” -clint

the plant puns never ended

“you’ll never be-leaf this” -tony

“LAMEEEE” -you

“oh, i’m lame? you grow flowers!” -tony

*cue you imprisoning him in a cage of vines*

“apologize” -you

“sorry for disturbing the ‘peas’” -tony

“you should kill him!” -nat, egging you on

“yeah, kill him!” -clint

“y/n, don’t kill him!” -steve

you put a tiny…thorn in his side

“wow, that’s a pun on it’s own. you poked me in the side with a thorn?” -tony

“better than your nonsense” -wanda

you had a small garden in the avengers compound

steve often pitched in, it calmed him down

“i guess i’ve got a green thumb after all” -steve

“you’re a natural!” -you, secretly taking care of his plants

honestly, you’d pondered the idea of poisonous plants/dangerous plants (like temporary paralysis stuff nothing CRAZY), you collected some samples and kept them to yourself

SHIELD used to request your expertise to create weapons, but you preferred the raw deal of vines as weapons

you’d either wear a set of vines to help you climb and fight and travel short distances, or you’d get really creative and just launch yourself up in the air and surprise attack foes with a vine shooting from the ground. really depended on the mood and mission

you needed the right conditions to grow, or you’d have to take plants with you

“do you name them?” -wanda

“yeah, this one’s nat, that’s steve, clint, tony, bruce, wanda…” -you

“you name them after us?!” -wanda

“yeah, i think it’s funny” -you

“yeah, y/n gives the pep talks, too” -nat

“leave me alone!” -you

“i think you mean leaf me alone!” -tony

it never got old for him

but in the end you were a powerhouse and a great gardener, having fresh produce was always a plus

taglist: @locke-writes // @captainshazamerica // @summersimmerus // @prettysbliss // @simp-legend // @wild-rose-35 // @nekoannie-chan // @beth-gallagher22 // @sk1bidi-n1k0-e4ts-people // @deanzboyfriend // @mr-mxyzptlk-1940 //

[heavenlyraindrops]

The Devil Made Me Do It | Arcane | Silco x Reader | Chapter Eight

available on AO3 and Quotev | visit the first tag to find all the other chapters | warnings: profanity, brief mentions of child abuse, smoking

summary:

In the midst of an unfortunate run-in with the enforcers, you meet the young revolutionary Silco, and by extension, his friends Vander and Felicia. Growing close friends, you get through life in the undercity together, determined to make Zaun a better place. Until tragedy strikes, and betrayal and carelessness stabs hard enough to turn you bitter. Years later as time solidifies the scars, Silco proves to be a thorn in your side. You, in his. Hatred festers. And your world cracks further open.

Chapter Eight:

You’d switched out of your heavy jewellery and glittery makeup to a more darker, intimidating look, dark colours and angles in your clothes as you reached for the back door to meet your new tenants. The cold air burst into the warm building, and you stepped outside.

The man from before was looking up at the brothel in awe, the rosey windows and walls rising to the sky. You cleared your throat.

He looked at you, and started. “Oh. Madam.”

Your gaze travelled past him to settle on the two men behind him. He stepped forward, another heavy purse in his hands. You nodded at the two men.

“That’s for me, as well,” he said quietly. You quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, beckoning for them to follow you into the brothel. A girl leaned against the doorway, mask pulled over her eyes as she gave them a beguiling smile, all three of the, filing into the warm glowing building after you. She shut the door after you, lock clicking shut.

You stopped short, eyeing the three men, before pulling out a cigarette and balancing it between your teeth. The vastaya girl stepped forward, holding your lighter for you. You gave her a grateful smirk, inhaling deep. 

“You three will prove useful somehow,” you said quietly. “Show them to their rooms.” The masked girl stepped forward, lips curling at them again as she led them upstairs. They all looked about awkwardly, shuffling after her as if they didn’t know what to do with themselves.

You waited until they disappeared up the landing, and without sparing another second you charged down the hallway, throwing open the back door. You poked your head outside, lip curling into a sneer as smoke coiled from your lips.

You could have sworn you’d seen the orange glow of a cigarette in the dark. No- two cigarettes…? You furrowed your brow, slinking back into the brothel, shutting and locking the door for good. With shaking hands you took a drag, practically spitting out the smoke.

-

Eventually news spread of you taking in three desperate men, and many people began seeking you out for shelter. Shimmer addicts, people being chased by enforcers, some low-life who was in debt or pissed off a big bad and needed to hide, women running from abuse, children seeking shelter from their families- you name it.

And as your business continued growing- not that it wasn’t substantially large already, so did your space. Your influence. Your reputation.

At some point, you deserved to be a Chembaron.

You knew you’d ticked off a good amount of people by taking their targets under your wing, but what would they do? Attack you? The thought was laughable. With so many people owing their lives to you, owing their loyalty, no one stood a chance. The very thought made you tingle, distracted from the two girls sitting on the couch in front of you in your office, over the wooden desk. The rose lay solitary, long wilted.

“M-my dad used to hit me,” the first girl chattered. You frowned at her tattered clothes, not doing much to keep the chill out. The second girl was also shivering, and they both huddled close to each other.

“Please take us in, Madam,” the second one burst out. There were tears in both of their eyes. “We’ll do anything.”

You stood up, silk cascading down your legs as you made your way to them. You cupped your hand under the first girl’s bruised cheek. It was cold. She had wide eyes and mousy brown hair. You flinched.

“I’ll have someone find you a room, or you can share,” you reassured her. They both hugged you, and you flinched, surprised, before petting their heads. The second girl pulled her head away and looked up at your, fear marring her youthful features.

“Will we have to be…”

They looked past the beaded curtains, faces contorted with nerves.

“You know… workers?”

You blanched. “No! Of course not.” The mere thought disgusted you, and you crouched down and stroked her hair. “I’ll find another use for you. Or you can live with me until you’re of age and can pay me back with work or coin.”

She nodded nervously, and you whistled at a worker to take them away. She smiled at them, leading them down the hallway and up the stairs to find them a room. 

You heard a chuckle. “Didn’t think you were still the motherly type.”

You flinched, whirling around to see Sevika smirking at you, arms crossed. You scoffed, lighting up a cigarette you’d produced from the folds of the shawl hanging around your arms. A habit you had whenever you needed to calm your nerves; the second something frazzled you even slightly the cancer stick was in your hand within seconds.

“Why not?” Your voice was hard.

“You know, since you lost the first one.” At your nauseous expression she paused. “Sorry. Too far?”

Your lip curled. “You’d gone too far the second you mentioned her.”

You practically grabbed a masked girl and shoved her towards Sevika. She stumbled into the tall woman’s chest, flushing at the contact, and then blanching at your uncharacteristically angry nature. They both watched you as you stormed into your office, beads angrily swept against the wall. The door you almost never closed behind the beaded curtain slammed shut, rattling the walls. 

Behind it, you heard Sevika curse, then the girl hum, and footsteps. Tinkling beads as they presumably stepped past a curtain into whatever room was free.

You picked up the wilted rose and rolled the thorny stem between your fingers, ignoring the prickling sensation, agitated. Your head was pounding, breathing picked up. You flung the door back open and looked at at a pair who were quietly conversing at the side.

“…ever even closed that door?”

“…she’s usually really calm, the only time she gets like this is when…”

“…used to have a daughter.”

You snapped your fingers at them. “Hey,” you hissed. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

The first girl flushed. “S-sorry, Madam.”

“I’m sure there’s clients that need you.”

She nodded. “Yes, Madam.”

“Now fuck off.”

They both dispersed. You took another deep drag of the cigarette, tilting your head back and letting your eyes flutter half-closed, letting the smoke invading your system settle over your mind like a heavy blanket of fog.

-

Unsticking your eyes, you groaned as you lifted your head from the pillow. Still dressed in yesterday's clothes, tangled in your bedsheets, you felt like shit.

You vaguely recalled the past events of last night, until some point where it all became foggy. Pushing yourself up and off the bed, you spotted a note on the bedside lamp.

“You were embarrassingly drunk last night. I took the liberty of taking you home. Looks like you owe me two favours. -S.”

You flushed, embarrassed, wondering what you’d done. What you’d said. You put the note in the drawer and slammed it shut, sealing it away for good.

[whoops-all-jennas]

Final Duet pt. 2 - c.s.

Cairo Sweet x fem!reader

"My thoughts will follow you into your dreams."

Summary: You give Cairo the violin part of the duet before spending time together at your house.

a/n: Inspired by Omori, if you haven't played it, do. The story is beautiful. There will be no spoilers in this so don't worry about that :)

Warning: Bullying, Homophobia, Death

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

I watch out the window of my final class period as the first snowflake of January falls to the cold earth. It has now been a couple months since I've started receiving violin lessons from you, and I've been improving quickly.

The bell rings, causing everyone to grab all their belongings to go watch the first snow fall. I grab my backpack, leaving after everyone else.

I walk down the empty hallway to the music room, finding you humming that ever familiar tune while leaning against the wall.

You turn your head to the sound of my footsteps. "Hey, Cairo."

You look at me with that patient smile that I will never get over. "I was thinking we could practice at my place, I want to enjoy the snow for a minute."

I nod, instinctively. "Yeah that's fine."

I've never been to Y/n's house, so I'm a little nervous.

"Oh! Before I forget." You start digging into your bag, bringing out a piece of paper.

You hold out a piece of sheet music. "It's the violin part in the duet I wrote. I think you've improved enough to learn it."

I grab the sheet music, staring at the notes on the page. "I- Thank you, Y/n."

I find your smile infectious. "Let's get to my place so you can start practicing it."

The snow gently falls as we walk down the street, your head facing the sky, admiring weather. "I've always loved the snow, brings a sort of liveliness to the dead winter."

I find myself admiring your joyous face, distracted by the snow. "It is nice."

You look down at the sidewalk, stepping over the cracks. "I was thinking maybe we could hold a recital. Nothing too big, but I think it could be fun and exciting."

I find myself silent for a moment, thinking about the idea.

"Did you want to perform your duet?" I ask, also watching my step.

You nod. "It would be nice to have a small audience to listen to what I've made."

We start approaching a small humble home that has a makeshift green house on the side. "Welcome to my house."

You start to follow the concrete path. "Let's put our stuff down, and I'll show you around."

We walk into the cozy yet silent house. I look around, unable to hide my smile when I see a picture of you as a child. "It's very homey."

You put your backpack up by the door.

"Thanks, I also really like it." You look out the window to the greenhouse. "Do you wanna see my garden?"

We open the door to the greenhouse, the warmth contrasting the cold winter air. You walk to a pot containing a rose bush. "This was one my first plants I started growing here."

You crouch down near to the flower, gently touching the petals. "I'm envious of roses. They're so universally loved, yet aren't afraid to stand up for themselves."

You glide your finger across one of the thorns, gently enough to feel how sharp it is, but not sharp enough to cut.

I watch you as you admire the roses, wishing you'd look at me the same way.

You stand, guiding me to the next flower. "This one is called Lily of the Valley, I'm a big fan of their bell shape."

I watch as your eyes become lost in the plant. "It's said that they're able to ward off evil spirits and help people see a brighter future."

Your eyes look into mine. "I guess in that way, they remind me of you."

I find myself taken aback by your sudden compliment.

You look down at the floor, avoiding eye contact. "If you want to consider those two people who tease me evil spirits."

You stand, walking to a white flower that is shaped like wings. Some of them are wilting. "These are white egret orchids. They're a bit difficult to take care of, but it just reminds me that life is fragile and I should cherish every moment."

You're silent for a moment, admiring your plants once again. "In the language of flowers, it symbolizes the phrase. My thoughts will follow you into your dreams."

I watch as you grab a watering can. "That's beautiful, Y/n."

You respond a patient smile. "Want me to show you how I take care of them?"

After some time passes, we find our way back inside your house. We ascend the staircase up to your room.

You open the door, revealing a room decorated with incandescent string lights and fake vines. "It's nothing crazy, a little stereotypical even."

I take a few steps past the doorway. "It's very, you."

There's a book on your bed labelled 'memories.'

"I thought I threw that out, my mom must've pulled it out of the trash can." You say while picking it up, mixed feelings on you face as you open past the cover to reveal multiple Polaroids of you and your previous friends.

A smile finds your face as you reminisce. You sit down on the bed, patting the space next to you.

I take a seat, looming over your shoulder as you point at one of the pictures. It contained you holding a plate of funnel cake while your friends held prizes from different attractions. "We all went to a carnival that was being held in town, I was clearly more interested in the treats over the games."

You move your finger to a different polaroid. "And here we had a picnic one night, we put fairy lights on the trees above us. It was a magical time."

You exhale a deep breath as you close the book, standing to put it back on your shelf. "That's enough reminiscing, I'll have to thank my mom for pulling that out of the trash."

We leave your bedroom, walking through the doorway. As we near the stairs, I nearly trip over a bit of a wooden tile sticking up a bit off the ground.

You grab my wrist, preventing me from falling "Be careful! My mom said she'd fix that months ago, but hasn't gotten around to it yet."

Blush mixed with your touch and embarrassment find my face.

You precariously step over the dangerous bump on the floor to descend the staircase.

We navigate to a different room downstairs that has a piano, music stands, and a violin on display.

You set up a couple of music stands and seats. "Ready to learn our song?"

I approach my seat, pausing at your words. "Our song?"

"Yeah, why not? I don't really want anyone else learning it. The song has gained a lot more meaning to me because of you." Your sheet music finds the music stand before your glance shifts to mine, a smile on your face. "I can't say I met anyone else who I barely knew who suddenly started learning a whole instrument for me."

You stand, picking up the violin on display. It's much nicer than the ones at the school. "Are you ready?"

A couple hours breeze by, the sound of strings fill the silent house as the sun starts to set beyond the window. The golden light highlighting your eyes.

You turn towards the window, staring at the falling snow. "What if we take a break for now? I kinda wanna do something out in the snow. If you're down for that."

I follow your gaze, watching the snow reflect the golden rays before standing. "Let's do it."

You stand, a smile stretching across your face as you hold your hand out.

I find a hint of blush on my face as I reach out, interlocking our fingers. Your hand holds mine with a gentle, comforting warmth. I hope you find the same comfort in mine.

We step out the door, the cold breeze finding it's way through my winter clothes. You release your hand from mine, the cold instantly replacing your warmth.

You bend over, grabbing a hunk of snow off the ground and forming a sphere. I watch you for a moment, admiring your smile. I bend over to do the same, following your motions as you start to roll it on the ground.

It's clear you have much more experience at this than I, as you manage to make a snowball up to around your hips. You roll your snowball by the doorway. "Do you need help putting yours on top?"

I nod as I roll it closer. We both bend down, lifting the snowball on top of the other. It ends up being to the height of my upper arm.

"I'll be right back!" You say excitedly, running inside.

The clouds above us are beginning to fade to shades of purples and pinks as the sun continues to set.

You run back outside, carrying a box of random winter clothes. I find myself smiling at your excitement. You grab a scarf out of the box, wrapping it around what is supposed to be the neck of the snowman.

"You gonna help?" You ask, smugly.

I come back to reality. "Yeah, sorry." I find myself rushing towards the box.

We both take a step back, admiring our creation.

You rush back to the box, grabbing a camera you managed to sneak outside.

I watch your figure, emanating with joy, as you practically tackle me as your wrap your arm around my shoulder, soon met the flash of a camera.

A picture prints out the bottom, the photo still needing time to develop.

You stare at the blank square for a moment, smiling while holding it out towards me. "I want you to have it."

I find myself staring the picture, trying to see if I can watch it develop as you begin to walk away for a moment, next moment I'm met with a snowball to the face.

"Y/n!" I shout, rubbing it off my face

You giggle as I gently place the picture in the box, reaching for the snow beneath me to challenge back.

"Ahh!" You cower your face behind your arms as I throw a snowball back. I don't give you a moment to recover, quickly making another.

As you begin to bend over, my snowball meets the top of your head, getting snow all over your hair. You drop your partially finished one, brushing my shattered snowball off your head.

By the time you're done, another snowball manages to meet your face.

"Okay! okay! I surrender!" You shout through your chattering teeth, raising your hands above your head with a smile.

I can't help but find your smile infectious. "I think that's our que to get back inside."

You cross your arms over your chest, shivering. "That's probably a good idea."

The sound of a fire crackling fills the lounge as we sit in front of a fireplace. You're motioning your hands towards the flames as I hold a warm mug of hot chocolate.

Your arms stop shivering as I release one of my hands from the mug, grabbing the picture you took earlier. You have a wide smile, looking at the lens with excited eyes, while my face is flushed red. The photo fuzzy but it adds to the character.

I find myself smiling at the photo, soon met with your head suddenly dropping onto my shoulder.

I freeze in place at the sudden contact, I look back at your head turned to see me from my shoulder.

"Is this okay?" You ask, staring at me longingly.

I nod, causing you to smile while turning your head to the fire. It doesn't take too long before your breathing slows as you fall asleep.

I take a moment to admire how cute you are while asleep before staring at the picture one more time.

a/n: poll is complete! I will bare minimum complete the Cairo one. If I still want to write another version with Tara I'll likely do that at some point, will probably be awhile though.

[jinnie-ret]

the wisp sings

jeongin x fem!reader

genre: very angsty

warnings: hanahaki disease, idk grab a tissue maybe especially if you listen to the song at the same time

word count: 1.6k

summary: jeongin never confesses his love to you and it's to his own detriment that he becomes exhausted

requested by: @skzoologist

1K FOLLOWERS PLAYLIST 💚🖤

MAIN MASTERLIST

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Jeongin loved roses. Such soft, velvety petals, held up strong and protected from harm by thorns that could cause you that very thing. He thought they were beautiful, and didn't care if his thumbs always tingled slightly from the amounts of times he pricked them whilst trimming the flowers down. It was a reminder that he could feel something. Something other than longing and heartache.

"Wow! These are gorgeous! And you picked pink ones too? I bet it's because I said they're my favourite ones, hmm?"

Every time she visited her best friend's dorm, she found instant comfort in the light floral scents that drifted around the apartment. It was so pure, so welcoming, so... gorgeous. It summed up Jeongin wonderfully. And on top of that, it distracted her from the fact the dial on his love meter was slowly dwindling down, day by day.

"Anything for you."

The love meter was something everyone could see. A holographic vision that hovered above your head, a dial ranging from one end, a satisfied, content heart, to a dangerously lifeless one. People really lived to love, in this world. Those who were lucky to live alongside the ones they had fallen for, got to love. There was no burden of worrying if the dial would waver down to the dreaded grey heart, instead, a beating heart seen above them. It was the type of love that left couples in a state of being unable to speak without a smile.

How Jeongin wished that was how he could live.

She was oblivious, to a lot of things, but mainly his feelings for her. The way he would get lost in her eyes, searching deeply, an imploring look upon his face. If only she could realise the feelings she returned, rather than remaining in some sort of limbo. The dial on her love meter remained firmly in the middle because as far as she was aware, there wasn't anyone she loved so deeply for it to move either side.

"Have you ever wondered why we were born in a world like this? It feels a bit, scary sometimes, don't you think? That we rely on finding the perfect person to survive?"

He wanted a life, a long life, where everyone could see their hearts happily floating above their heads, where they could share story after story, moment after moment, together.

"I don't know... there's something so painfully beautiful about it..."

It was often they had late night chats, sneaking up onto the rooftop when the campus security wasn't lurking. Taking in the starry sky, one of them admiring the peace and the other praying they wouldn't be joining them soon. Oddly enough, they hadn't done so in a while, Jeongin not turning up to their uni classes, concerning her deeply.

"Jeongin? I've brought you some leftover kimchi, your favourite. Jeongin?" she called out as she entered his apartment, having a spare key card they managed to trick the accomodation into giving when Jeongin's 'broke'.

Quiet. Too quiet. Worryingly, the usually pristine roses were wilting slightly, petals scattered across the kitchen unit in a wet path.

"You've really made a mess with these roses this time..." she sighed with a slight laugh, placed down her tupperware box of food on the side and entering the lounge. Immediately, she rushed to her best friend's side, alarmed to see him trapped in a coughing fit, sweat beading across his forehead.

"What's wrong? Tell me," she frowned, brushing his hair back out of his face.

"My meter... Can't you tell?" Jeongin mumbled weakly, a defeated look on his face.

In that moment, a something shattered within her, noticing that the dial on his love meter was wavering towards the faded, lifeless side. It was running low.

"What... No... You'll be ok, we'll find a solution to this, you're my best friend, I can't let you suffer like this..."

Little did she know the dial moved further down the slightest bit when she uttered those words...

Best friend.

She didn't feel like a very good friend when she was suddenly swamped in her university assignment. She texted every hour she was awake, just for that reassurance Jeongin was still with her. But when the replies became less frequent, there was obviously something wrong.

Rushing to his apartment one afternoon, she panted, hands resting on her knees as she pushed the front door open, letting it slam behind her.

"Jeongin?!" she called out desperately, hoping for a response. She didn't get one. Instead there was the harrowing sight of petals scattered across the wooden floors, leading to his bedroom. In any other situation, it would look incredibly romantic, yet the fate of this world created a vision of death and mourning.

Frail and weak, Jeongin was wheezing from his shivering form in bed. The duvet was messily strewn and his pillows were damp with sweat. Most frighteningly, he was pale, sallow.

"No, no, ok, Jeongin, you'll be ok, I'll get you some help," she grasped his hand tightly, kissing his knuckles gently was tightly gripping her phone as she rang for an ambulance.

It wasn't until the paramedics wheeled him out of the room on a stretcher, that she found a folded piece of paper, her name scribbled across it messily, like the writer barely had a grip of the pen. Sniffling with tears appearing in her eyes, it wasn't until Jeongin was rushed off into a private room, with mutterings from the nurses of 'a bad case of Hanahaki Disease', that she was able to read the letter. There wasn't any chance in the ambulance for she was too busy begging the cruel gods above for them to give her best friend a second chance.

I didn't want this to happen, but I knew as time went on, things would probably end this way. And I would like you to love me, but I'd never force that upon you. So instead, I thought I'd tell you all the things I love about you, because you're who I live for.

I love the way you cackle when I do something clumsy, makes it hurt less, I suppose.

"Jeongin, you pabo!" she cackled loudly, clutching her chest and trying to catch her breath as she watched him trip over the rug and bump his leg on the corner of his coffee table.

"Who put that there?!" Jeongin cried out, a smile tugged on his lips nonetheless.

"You bought it, silly!"

I love the way you care for others, how you're so selfless, especially with me.

"Kimchi at your surface!"

"Oh my, you must be sleep deprived... You mean at your service?"

"Do you want it or not?"

"Let's eat together, come on, sit."

"I'm fine I've got to go and-"

"Sit down and eat with me, or so help me I will physically restrain you."

"Yes sir."

"I-"

She continued to read the letter, paragraph after paragraph until she reached the last part.

I am tired of this grief. I think these are the cards I've been dealt with and I'm ok with that now. I'm happy to have experienced life with you.

I love you, forever.

Sobs ripped through her throat, body crumpling in the uncomfortable chair of the hospital waiting room. The feeling of impending grief so overwhelming, she didn't notice the raised eyebrows from others as her dial furiously turned towards a full, illuminating heart above her head.

Her feet pounded down the hallways, stray hairs invading her vision where everything felt like a blur. She needed to find him. Because she realised it now, she felt it.

Love.

"I get it now! Please! Don't take him away from me!" she begged, blurry figures of the nurses trying to hold her back but she struggled like a wild animal, needing him. "Please!"

They tried to soothe her, to calm her down, but they stopped when they saw the meter with the dial turned all the way up. And with that, she rushed to hold the love of her life, hands softly cradling his face, cold to the touch.

"It's ok, you'll be ok. Just let me sleep, love," Jeongin whispered with a sad smile, eyes fluttering slightly, heart monitor beeping ever so slowly. He looked drained, almost as much as his love meter was.

"No! I love you! And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to realise but-"

"You don't have to say these things, really. I get it, and that's ok."

It wasn't ok. Not to her.

With determination and sadness coursing through her veins, she pulls him towards her and connects their lips together. Passion and warmth flooded within her, and when she pulled away she was worried she had done the wrong thing when the meter above his head disappeared. However, seeing that smile light up his face, and bring new life to his eyes, told her the answer she needed.

"You're not leaving me. I can't let that happen," she sniffled, hugging him tightly.

"I'm here, you're here... I love you so much," Jeongin's voice cracked with a tinge of disbelief.

The nurses still left in the room watched on in amazement, mesmerised at the sight before them, two beating hearts, floating above the couple's heads. Pink. With a twinkle too.

Love was what let them truly live. You've got to nurture that flower within, and let it blossom, let it bloom. It dies when you start giving up, losing hope. But someone will come along to look after it, and just like that there is warmth in the world again. Hearts full of life, beating with newfound excitement at the love it is filled with.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

top listeners: @skz-streamer @kiraisastay @hannahhbahng @kpopmenace143 @sakufilms @kailee08 @arloo00 @dunno-wut-to-do @splat00z @cheesemonky @his-angell @turtledove824 @2minstan @royal-shinigami @yangbbokari @skzoologist @channiesbunny26 @atinyniki @writingforstraykids @minholing @lilmisssona @astraysimp @lixie-phoria

[lemonandlime22]

Angsty Bitey child!Yuu idea

Warning(s): sad, possibly soul crushing, not edited

Word count: 570

A/N: I’m so sorry I haven’t posted anything, me and my family moved across my state and it was just a lot but the move is finally over, but I’ll still be busy cause of organizing and all that stuff for the next couple of days. I wrote this on my phone so the formatting is prob different.

[Bitey child!Yuu Masterlist]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuu had an amazing day, they hung out with all their friends, Cheka even visited and they both played for hours. But now they were all tuckered out and were laying in bed snuggled up to Grim with their arm locked around him like usual. Being some comfy it was easy for little Yuu to slowly drift off to sleep….

Slowly the small child opened their eyes. They were met with the thin line of bright sunlight that peeked through the two buildings on either side of the alleyway’s over hanging roofs a few feet away from them. They sat up rubbing their eyes with a yawn, they looked at their surroundings to take note of the few belongings they owned that were scarred around the concrete ground.

On the other side of one of the cardboard box flabs were 4 old cards that nearly hung on to themselves, a diamond, a club, a spade, and a heart. On top of them was a long dead and wilted rose that looked to be very crudely ripped of a bush.

Safety under a rock laid a cut out picture of a lion and a picture of a hyena that used to be connected to the lion, both clearly very old and weak. With only a leg under the rock was a small plushy of what they believed was a wolf, but it had been to chewed up by one of the stray dogs to be completely sure.

In between the two piles was a third. At the bottom were two ripped up teal pool noodles that used to be one but had been torn in half. On top of pool noodles was a rubber purple octopus that used to be sticky and squishy but was now covered in to much dirt you could barley see the purple.

Next up was a toy gold bracelet that was surprisingly clean considering what it was surrounded by. Wrapped around the bracelet was a small rubber black snake, one that could be found in any gift shop.

Closer to the box, on the opposite side from the cards and rose, was a plastic doll with blonde and purple hair. On top of it was a dirty once white feather, and a long rotten apple that had not once been bite into before it rotted to its core.

Off to the side was a small blue box of matches but it only had two inside of it, one long working and a shorter one that had broke in half and was unusable due to a crumbled tip.

In the corner further from the rest of the piles was a long pice of thorns that were ripped off the rest of the bush. Inside of the thorns were dirty old pair of you vampire teeth, with a small pile of various animals tufts of fur and feathers, and last in the pile was a small plastic toy croc that had missing limbs and was very chewed up.

And lastly right next to the small child in the side ways cardboard box were three scrap sheets of white cloth, and a rag doll with big blue button eyes that resembled a grey cat.

The small child picked up the rag doll and laid back down onto the various scraps of fabric with it comfortably in their arms. They smiled, so very happy to have had another good dream!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In short this angsty idea is like if all of twst was made up by Bitey as a way too cope with their loneliness, and it’s all just dreams and their imagination.

This was originally going to be the ending of the choose your own adventure but the fluff ending one the poll lol.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ceridescent]

But you know the killer doesn’t understand — M., Wanda

Actress!Wanda Maximoff x Actress!Female Reader

Summary: You genuinely had no idea why Wanda would call you, when everything she needs are within her reach. But then she asks you on a date downtown, and you say yes, because this way things will go back to the way it was. You learn how cruel hope could be.

Warnings: Heavy angst, toxic relationships, illicit affairs, mentions of pregnancy, allusion to homophobia.

Word count: 2, 432

Author’s note: Here’s a modified, detailed one-shot based on Phoebe Bridgers’ Moon Song! I made a very short one recently that I scrapped off here although it’s still present on my Ao3 account.

masterlist | navigation

I deceive myself that the throb of my chest conveys the excitement of seeing her again. Not pain, not betrayal. Only joy and acceptance.

It was quiet inside, almost lifeless, that I doubt the motive behind this, and I try not to, again.

A quiet exchange of relief begets — a subtle smile, none of the creases by my eyes.

“You came,” she sighs and my dimple pops out. “Of course,” I mumble, disregarding her failed attempt to hide her solemnity. I sit on the floor, behind the door, by her side. My head automatically rests on top of Wanda’s shoulders, stiff and unwelcoming. Shuddering due to my crisped and wet hair, my bones rattling not because of the hasty snowfall.

That didn’t stop me from moving, I think this was what was needed of me. Skin over skin, bonds laced, assurance.

“I rushed as soon as I could, I didn’t know snow was-“

“Hush.”

Wanda looks at me to command silence, her green eyes frighteningly fragile. She puckers her lips, finalizing her request, shaking her head as I whisper “I’m sorry,” lowering my head in shame. “Please don’t”

“Please”

Wanda pulls my neck into her, busy cradling my rotting body into her embrace, my neck sputtering burning blood leaking through the slit. She kisses me on top of my head and for a moment everything I’ve lost disappeared. “Warm enough?”

I look up at her small smile, “warm enough,” repeating the words we both want to hear. It is true. She keeps me warm whenever she can.

Wanda couldn’t have done that, she couldn’t have done that to me.

But she is happy now, almost there, my presence filling her lungs, the wilting roses tucked in between the spaces of her sternum unwilting. Soon, the thorns will be strong enough to pierce her. There would be nothing I could do to help.

I am close enough, I can guarantee by the smooth curve of her cheekbones highlighting her blush, the little light in her green eyes that just never shines bright.

Wanda found it difficult to speak recently, most of the time I had to scoot over and hear to her heartbeat, refusing to listen for my sake. Nonetheless in the end, I understand. That is the least I could do for her.

Thus the tilt of her head I welcome, the burn of her green gaze, the moisture of her lips.

Positioning herself to capture me with her lips — “I’m so grateful to you” — I feel her tongue bearing down on me before I could feel her kiss. Rushed and desperate and uncaring; the best way she knows how.

“I miss you”

I am beginning to shatter. I pull her for a kiss in return — the supple flesh, the reason behind it — until we both forget.

“I’m s-sorry, I…” breaking free, I disconnected without sight, shutting my eyes down before any of my other senses. “It’s just…”

“Don’t say anything else,” Wanda whispers and slides her fingers along the skin in between mine, looping them together before they fall. “Stay.”

She turns delicate, peppering kisses along my cheek and jaw each drop of my heartbeat, holding my face like holding a maimed bird. “We’ll go out, have much fun. I’ll take you out to this pub downtown where no one knows it’s us.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

Jests work out just fine between us. At least, that’s the normality we can’t shake.

Wanda pulls the middle of my hair so I’d look up, grinning widely. It's almost as if she's trying for an audition.

I just can’t stop being malicious like this.

Her other hand tucks my lengthening side bangs in the backs of my reddening ears, the other massaging my occipital.

“I want to take you out on a date,” she exhales, “I want to eat dinner with you without a care in the world. I want you-“ planting her lips against mine, sucking the air off my lungs. I need her as much.

Wanda tried to take it to the bedroom but I just can’t do it right now.

She smiles through it all, an emphatic nod without exchanging words. Nothing could undo what had been done. Wanda doesn’t let go of my hand.

Until she’s driving the car toward our destination, a park downtown with a nice view. She says there’s a big cherry blossom that I haven’t seen before, and when she can, squeeze my hands three times. It’s a method we’re deeply accustomed to, a cipher unable to be deciphered by the common people.

My love takes the lead in long strides, her and her big feet, and her big eyes that’s looking down at me all the time. It takes an effort — “you mesmerize me” — so I blush when I receive praise from her. She just knows what to say and what to do. Wanda sees me for who I am, and it only makes her bolder to stand by me. She knows me and she chooses me.

We don’t mention the bruises that colors my now patched skin, hidden in between shoulder and jaw. I’ll just have to wait for time to heal it, although it might take forevermore.

Strolling a safe, bare space in the midst of April, the snowfall I encountered was probably last, feels so liberating I believe I had shed a newer skin. Wanda helps by kissing me everywhere she could.

Without a care in the world it is, blabbering mouths and innocent laughter and fiery touches fill our thirty-minute conversation before we decide the weather is ailing for Wanda to remain outside longer, but not before we take snaps of each other under the big pink tree.

“I’ll take water, please, thank you”

The waiter jots down my lover’s refreshment and leaves the table. I am a grinning girl who can’t be helped. “What?” Wanda gives me a suspicious look that transitions into a smug smirk. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.

“I like it better like this. Real and easy to touch. Very 4D,” I giggle and pinch her cheeks, pulling her in for a chaste kiss. A hearty laugh erupts from me seeing her face chasing my mouth. Wanda chuckles, blood rushing through her cheeks, “I-I feel…

“I feel like a teenage girl taking my crush out on our first date,” she confesses, hiding her face with her hands. “And how would you impress your girl crush on your first date?”

“Being here is enough, I suppose…”

“Lame! Lame! Lame!” I shout, booing her. She only coos and purrs like a defeated cat. “I can’t just play with you whilst we’re outside…it’s inappropriate,” Wanda reasons, rubbing the back of her neck as she purses her lips.

“Lame! Lame! Lame!” I repeat with the same emotion and reject the cowardly response of excusing myself to the restroom and have an awful five-minute breakdown. I could never hate Wanda for what she’d done, I could never hate her no matter the cause.

“Let’s talk, please, my love,” Wanda lowers her voice as she reaches for my hand, shaking even before she touches it. “We’re outside, I can’t do this right now-“

“Okay, fine! Do whatever you want,” she fumes, tossing my hand away, refusing to look at me until the server brought us the drinks. “Are you guys ready?”

“Yeah, we’re leaving. Come, Y/N.” I retaliate, sipping on my cocktail like I’m on a vacation. I’m supposed to. “Please,” she tries, “I’m tired, I’m getting suffocated-“

“I apologize for your condition, miss. Is it perhaps the heating system?”

Wanda begs more, “You can screw off, thanks for the concern. Honey, please, I need-“ and when that didn’t work, she

drags me out of the pub where we planned to make everything seem normal, to no avail. It’s natural, that when the edges of a picture have ripped apart, the center follows. Her heavy footfalls, quick and sturdy, impatient and agonizing whilst I trudged along. We come home disorientated, both for the same reason, one I cannot digest the longer she gives me the silent treatment.

I am paralyzed.

“Has this been happening a lot?”

“Maybe,” Wanda responds in a gurgle, nauseated, leaning her palms against the kitchen sink, wiping the residue off her mouth. “Sucks not to be around, huh?”

She tiptoes toward the couch, giving me an accusing look, wobbly as she throws herself on top of it to lay.

“You can’t talk to me like this right now!” I huff and rush to fish a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sit next to her, ignoring my moistening neck, back to spreading red, aiding Wanda’s hydration. My head is a bomb of worry, my heart palpitating in concern.

“Is this your first time? Talk to me, Wanda, please,” I beg, squeezing her hand it turns scarlet.

“I am talking to you,” she whispers, resting against the soft cushion, her mind elsewhere. She swats her hand away, hissing. “It is my first time. Say, you weren’t with me when we first scanned my belly, did you?”

“It is not my child, Wanda!” I burst, the suppressed emotions I had kept hidden came out like the applause and affirmations the masses have shown when they found out before me.

“The child isn’t mine, Wanda, but you-“

And my secret lover is crying now, the best actress of our generation, the wife of Vision to the public eye. “He’s yours he’s yours he’s yours,” she chants until it is enough for me to believe it.

She shakes her head, unable to get a hold of the situation, water leaking out of her fingers no matter how much she clasps onto it. “I thought you wanted this too?”

I can’t believe she’d say that.

“H-how could you say that?” I stammer in disbelief, shaking as I fall to my knees. I crawl to her and bow my head on her thighs, grasping what I can to bring me back to her. “I w-want the- you could have told me! You could have told me!”

Wanda reasons, “I was too overwhelmed I-“

“You don’t forget the one you love, Wanda!”

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I’m sorry, please, get up, don’t kneel-“ and even as I wish to oblige, I just can’t get up, the weight of her betrayal pinning me down. “You could have told me…before…before I found out from them…you could have told me if you wanted to…”

Please listen to me. Please listen to me.

She caresses my head, “I love you, Y/N. My baby…it’s-it-I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you for- so you- I couldn’t-“ ruffling her hair and hiding her tear-stained cheeks.

“F-for you. I didn’t want you to see because it would hurt you-“

“That is not up to you, Wanda!”

“-that you’re showing up as my friend, and not my lover- and you’re-he’s not-“

“You could’ve told me…I would’ve been by your side. That’s all I ever want…” I am begging her for something she cannot undo, something that has passed, something indelible. The three of us agreed to it, so I believed I had the right to know. It didn’t cross my mind they would begin to treat me like the press.

Harder she cries, apologizing. She pulls away from me, hugging her legs, caving in. “I don’t deserve you. You don’t deserve to be kept secret. I don’t deserve to hurt you.”

“N-no, don’t say that,” I countered, “you can’t say that, that only means you won’t try.”

Please don’t give up on me. Please don’t give up on me.

“Is there anything else I could do to stop you from hurting?” She looks at me like she is losing hope in us, but most especially in herself.

“It doesn’t matter now, okay? It happened, and I’m okay with this pain-“ I pat my chest, nodding my head, “I’m okay- we are t- you did it to protect me. We do this to protect ourselves. You hear me?” I reach out and place a palm on her quivering leg, making her turn around. “Don’t turn your back on this, you’re only saying that because you regret it,” I weep, “don’t give up on me, please.”

“I just want to love you in plain sight.

I want to love you without dividing it with someone else.”

I share a bitter smile, “will you? Give it all up for me?” already knowing the answer.

“We both know it’s impossible,” I say, speaking for her. Wanda hugs her body closer, unable to look me in the eye. “I love you,” she says so quietly it’s as if it was never uttered.

The rest of my happiness never mattered if Wanda wasn't involved. If it isn’t Wanda, what else is there to live for?

“I was supposed to give you a good night,” she sniffles and wipes the snot clogging her nose.

“It’s okay. Just let me love you, please. Let me be here.”

Please don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me.

“I called you,” Wanda begins quietly, “I called you,” repeating it in a loud tone, wavering. “You didn’t pick up, I thought-“

“You tried?”

“I tried,” she wept, reaching for my hand. “I’m sorry.”

What makes that sorry different from all your other sorry’s before, my love?

I chuckle, shaking my head. “You called me three hours after they got a hold of your pregnancy leak. You called me to apologize.”

“I-“ Acid tears leak out of her green eyes, a pool of never ending guilt and sadness. Wanda whimpers, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” reeling off her favorite words. What else could she say to this?

She’s paralyzed, “I’m sorry,” fading into the abyss. Whimpering, I get up and pace in the living room. “You didn’t mean it?” I call, fighting the urge to weep again. “Right? You didn’t?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she keens, shifting slightly, her gaze planted in me. “I love you.”

“It’s okay…” I mumble, going back to Wanda, kneeling down so I can meet her starry eyes. “…it’s alright. I get it. Hey,” I pause, grounding her, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles, “I get it. I understand. It’s okay, it’s— I’ll be fine,” running my fingertips over her crown when she bowed, “don’t you worry.”

“Are we okay?” Wanda croaks, nuzzling her cheek on my palm, whispering the very same words. “We’re okay,” I smile bitterly, “we’ll be fine,” uttering the words we both want to hear, until it runs out of meaning. I hope to God it never will.

[lounaticm]

OK, I have to ask... do you have any headcanons - any at all - for Married!Captain x Darkiplier?

Yes, this is definitely inspired by that one piece you did a while back (and the series of pieces you'd done of them before). I know you said that the ring just *happened*, but it spawned so many brainworms for me, and I have to ask if it did for you, too. I need to know from the source himself.

Well, considering I view the Captain as some form of reincarnated or relocated DA, removed from the mirror in some way or another and ending up in a separate universe, putting Dark back into the equation like I have done was rather inevitable, being how I am. 😂😅 (Though I will confess that my using the Captain version of the viewer character in those pieces was more for the ease of allowing anyone to view it as themself, what with the identifiable gloves and not showing anything else and whatnot.)

So far as I have in terms of a timeline of events regarding these pieces, Dark first shows up sometime around when the Captain is hitting a low point in trying to fix the paradox, feelings of despair and hopelessness growing, exhaustion setting in. To the Captain - their memories of that prior life locked away at that point - it simply seemed like this bizarre yet somehow familiar stranger showed up, offering reassurances, at the best possible moment by sheer happenstance. But Dark had been watching for a while, just in case this was another of the Actor's little 'games'.

When he saw how that former DA was starting to wilt under the pressure of it all, he had to step in, despite his own worries on the possibilities of his interference having any sort of negative consequences. He found it something of a relief - as well as a disappointment - when he wasn't recognized... though the glimmer of familiarity in their eyes didn't escape his notice.

He soothed and assured the Captain, urged them back to their feet (whether literally and/or metaphorically) and then disappeared just as quickly as he had arrived, with no sign that he'd even been there at all. After a while, the Captain almost starts to think that they'd simply imagined that oddly grey man. But, as they began to bump into others that also seemed so familiar, they began to rethink that stance.

Dark appears again to give the Captain a white rose during one of the few moments of calm in the Wormhole Incident, the date the Captain had ended up in being, ironically, Valentine's Day. Despite it having been quite a long time from the Captain's side since they last saw the grey man, they still remembered that last encounter with crystal clarity... and overwhelming gratitude, for they're very certain that they wouldn't have ever made it this far without his kind words.

They could swear they almost remembered something else, though. A different appearance, a different attire, a different place, but still the same feelings of comfort and safety just being near him provided.

And then he'd handed them a white rose, the thorns clipped off, and all thoughts about that had been replaced with encompassing fluster... and the sudden, seemingly sourceless thought - brimming with certainty of its truth - that giving someone a single white rose was a means of expressing an intent to court them. Almost rapid fire afterwards came more. White symbolizing purity, young love, eternal loyalty, a lack of thorns denoting love at first sight, a single rose in full bloom proclaiming 'I love you'.

They didn't know where such thoughts were coming from, but something in the back of their mind was saying it had something to do with the man in front of them. They found it a wonder that they could even stutter out a thank you, so consuming was their fluster.

They managed to hold onto the rose for a few abrupt trips through more wormholes, but they did eventually lose it, the devastation of such more than they'd been prepared for.

Once the paradox was resolved, and everything had settled enough for the Captain to return to their cabin... they found a small vase sitting on their dresser... with a familiar, thornless white rose placed inside.

Even before the multiverse snapped back to the pre-paradox way of things, the Captain had started to remember things. Things they shouldn't be able to, for it wasn't them who had experienced them... and yet, it was. But having everything collapse in on them and Mark in the Warp Core... something about that just made all those memories more clear, dragging ever more to the surface, clicking into place like missing pieces they hadn't ever known were gone in the first place until they were finally back.

The vast majority of them were filled with a man that every ounce of their being was saying was the grey-skinned man. Damien, as he was called in their memories.

By the time they'd finally set foot on their new planet, they were starting to think they weren't going to be seeing him again. But they recalled the rose, recalled how it hadn't been 'necessary' to keep them going. If he was only trying to keep them on track to fixing the paradox, why bother with that? So, first chance they got, they took a walk off by themself, into the woods or down by the coast. They're moments away from simply speaking aloud to ask if he's coming back - hoping that he might somehow be watching - when he finally shows up.

And the first thing the Captain does is smile and call him by that old nickname they'd given him back at university.

Whether the proposal happens in this interaction or later on, not even I know because, well, it had just happened, lol. And I can see either being the case, because it's really just continuing the feelings they'd both had in their prior, stolen lives. (Whether they ever told each other or not, though I'm of the mind that they're both oblivious fucking idiots lol)

I... don't really have anything for Cap x Dark married life or anything like that. All that came to mind was this (effectively) synopsis of what led up to it. I hope that's alright. 😅 Sorry this took so long to get to, lot of shit getting in the way of me being able to properly sit down and ponder this.

@kiwibubbles5

[paranoidwriter]

Flowers

Enid's favorite flowers were roses.

They were classic. Sweet, romantic, and simple. She never had gotten roses before, no matter how many times she had not so subtlety hinted to Ajax that she wanted some. So she had no idea why they were on her bed.

Tied together with a neat black ribbon, they leaned against the pillows of her bed (which was freshly made by the way, something she definitely didn't do). Enid picked the flowers up, but hissed and dropped them as the thornes in the stems poked her. One had only slightly pricked her, but just as a precaution she slid her sleeves over her hands and tossed them on her vanity as she took a tissue and dabbed at the minor cut on her fingertips.

“Wednesday? Do you know who dropped these flowers off?” Enid muttered, still tending to the cuts on her fingers.

“No.” Said Wednesday.

Enid let her gaze linger on the flowers, and even though she was still disappointed by Wednesdays answer, she felt her mouth slip into a smile from the kind gesture. Enid walked over to Wednesdays side of the room and jumped into her bed without permission, wrinkling Wednesday's black covers. Enid noticed the ways Wednesdays nose twitched in annoyance at it, but her eyes remained glued to her pages she was proof reading and editing in red marker. “It was kind of sweet someone got me flowers, don't you think?” Enid asked, feeling a bubble of warmth blossom in her chest.

“No. They're probably a homicidal maniac” Said Wednesday, in typical Wednesday fashion. Enid felt her face sink into a frown. “Well, I think it was” she muttered, hopping of Wednesdays bed and going to her side of the room, her mood soured from her roommate.

The next bouquet of flowers were bigger. They were just as red- if not redder, and the thorns were neatly snipped off of the stem. Her old bouquet was starting to wilt, and Wednesday seemingly found it the best time to steal them and snip off the rose buds, happily displaying the dying stems in a vase of her own. But Enid had more, so she didn't care. And with the flowers came a note. She flipped it open, revealing something much better than the spiral notebook paper that she had expected. It was a folded card that looked nearly perfectly symmetrical, with elegant red cursive on it.

I noticed the cuts on your fingers. It'll never happen again.

And signing the note, with a flourish we're the words… Secret Admirer .

Enid actually screamed out loud at the words, beginning to spin around joyously. Wednesday groaned quietly. “Enid, what are you doing?” She muttered, only just giving Enid the time of day by turning slightly away from her typewriter. “I have a secret admirer!” Enid exclaimed, throwing herself into a pile of her stuffed animals. She popped her head out of the pile and felt the smile on her face nearly split her cheeks with how big it was. "Oh my gosh, the person getting me flowers likes me!" She cried out, nuzzling her nose into her favorite squishamllow. "I mean, they signed a note with secret admirer!" She revealed, waiting for Wednesdays reaction.

Wednesday held eye contact for maybe a few seconds.

“Well, I'm glad” Wednesday mumbled, in a voice uncharacteristically soft for her. Then she turned right back to her typewriter and kept on writing as if there was nothing better in existence. Enid snuggled further into her pile, grinning at the bouquet on her bed and the note.

Enid frowned at her flowers, gently reaching her thumb out to touch a browning petal. Wednesday set down her book against her chest, turning to look at Enid from her bed. “What are you frowning about?” She said, in an almost annoyed tone. “my flowers are dying,” said Enid, trying to turn the case and see if any flower was still as red as they were when she first got them. They were all browning.

“They're just flowers,” Wednesday grumbled, her braids splaying across her single pillow as her head shifted. “I like them!” Enid snapped, feeling anger deep into the crevices of her stomach and feeding a hunger of emotions. “I think it's really nice.” Enid immediately felt guilty after she snapped, but she didn't say anything about it. It's not like it was her fault. “Isn't it strange that this person knows where you sleep?” Wednesday inquired. Enid blinked owlishly. “Do you know who it is?” She asked, turning to Wednesday. Wednesday immediately buried her nose in her book once more, even though it was upside down. “No.” She said, but Enid knew she was lying. “Well then, it must be one of my friends!” Enid declared, beginning to finger through her hair in curiosity, a nervous habit she never got rid of. Enid's brain began to piece all she knew together, and then it clicked. Enid ran over to the card on her desk, and opened it once more. “I'll just see who's handwriting matches who's!” Enid quickly turned her head at the sharp intake of breath Wednesday sounded. “What? Do you know who it is?” Enid piped, knowing Wednesday would deny it again. “I have no idea what fool would even consider sending flowers to someone they care for. The only person I know foolish enough to do it is my own Mother,” Wednesday mutters, abandoning her book to instead climb out colorful window of their room. Seemed like Enid struck a nerve.

“Enid!” Bianca chimed. Enid quickly turned to her and all but short of ran to her, the both of them quietly squeezing into one of the schools many dead end alleys. “Did you figure it out?” Enid said in a hushed tone, practically vibrating with how excited she was. “Yes,’’Bianca breathed out, silently handing over a piece of paper. Enid took her card out of her skirt pocket with only a slightly clumsy fumble before unfolding the lined paper she was given, comparing the two handwriting. Both were messy cursive, and Enid instantly knew it was the same person. They even dotted their I's with a skull, it was adorable! “Yes!” She hissed, excitedly. She would be moments away from confronting them with their declarations of love! “They're an exact match. Who is it?” She cooed, wiggling on the soles of her feet as she looked up at Bianca. Bianca swallowed, eyes flickering from the paper to Enid. “It's Wednesday.”

“Wednesday!”

Enid screamed, slamming open the door of her dorm room. Wednesday entered through the window, her face looking a bit softer than it usually was. She must've been practicing. Enid could smell the wind on her. “What?” She said, but Enid could barely let her finish. “It was you?!” She choked out, shoving the piece of paper Bianca had given her in Wednesdays hands. “.. If you're saying I wrote these notes, then yes, it was me.” Enid shook her head, not caring about the tears wetting her face and neck. She was probably imagining the way Wednesdays eyes followed them. “No!” She said in between her quickening breaths. “I didn't think so.” Wednesday hummed, folding her note paper quietly and setting it down on her desk. “Did you do it to make fun of me, or to see how long I'd fall for it?” Enid shrieked, with a voice eerily similar to her Mother's.

“Neither” whispered Wednesday, turning her back on Enid. Somehow, that hurt more than when Wednesday looked at her. Enid felt her chest rise and fall in a pace much too quick, mirroring her palpitating heart. “Why?” sobbed out Enid, hunching over in a desperate attempt to catch her breath. Her heart aches in the sense of betrayal, feeling her pulse only quicken under the response of Wednesday.

“I did it because I have feelings for you.”

..

...

.......

Wednesday couldn't sleep again. While many times when she could not sleep she would play her cello, she thought better than to do that. She awoke to a not so quiet shifting coming from Enid's side of the room, making her stir. She rose into a sitting position as she uncrossed her arms, rubbing her eyes. As they adjusted to the Darkness, Wednesday gasped at a new addition on her desk. Carefully, she approached it. She didn't want to set off another sudden motion detected bomb that Pugsley could have sent her. Oh, but it wasn't a bomb at all.

Roses. And in the moonlight, she could clearly see their color.

Black.

Wednesday turned in disbelief, knowing there was only one person who could have done it. She met Enid's eyes. Enid smiled in a feeble, wobbly manner, and Wednesday felt herself lift from her bent position over her desk as though she was light as air. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, and when she spoke, there was a stark contrast to her usually monotonous voice. “I'm a fool for you as my Mother is to my Father” she admitted. And she only hesitated for a second before she ran into Enid's arms.

[crossovershipstournament]

CROSSOVER SHIPS TOURNAMENT BRACKET

(Please full-screen for an easier time reading)

Finally, the bracket for the Crossover Ships Tournament is here! I'm so excited to finally get this tournament going, so I'll keep this short and get to the match-ups, with a quick reminder that will be included on the polls themselves as well:

That being said, let's get to the match-ups:

SIDE 1:

Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera (Ducktales 2017)/Clover Ebi (RWBY) VS Gregor (Star Wars the Clone Wars)/Harley Quinn (DC Comics)

Dib Membrane (Invader Zim)/Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls) VS JD (Heathers the Musical)/Nathan Prescott (Life is Strange)

Charlie Bradbury (Supernatural)/Rose Tyler (Doctor Who) VS Reagan Ridley (Inside Job)/Toriel Dreemur (Undertale)

Ange Ushiromiya (Umineko no Naku Koro Ni)/Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night) VS Max Goof (Disney)/Yakko Warner (Animaniacs)

Dimentio (Super Paper Mario)/Jevil (Deltarune) VS Astro Tenma (Astro Boy (2009))/Wilbur Robinson (Meet The Robinsons)

Damian Wayne (DC Comics)/Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug) VS Michelangelo Hamato (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Miles Morales (Marvel)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)/Jim Hawkins (Treasure Planet) VS Jimmy Neutron (Jimmy Neutron)/Timmy Turner (Fairly Oddparents)

Bendy (Bendy and the Ink Machine)/Cuphead (Cuphead) VS Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo)/Samurai Jack (Samurai Jack)

Mogar (Xray and Vav)/David (Camp Camp) VS Dewey Duck (Ducktales 2017)/Whitley Schnee (RWBY)

Ash Williams (Evil Dead)/Crawford Tillinghast (From Beyond) VS Skales (Lego Ninjago)/Starscream (Transformers Prime)

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How To Train Your Dragon)/Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians) VS Jane Porter (Tarzan)/Captain Amelia (Treasure Planet)

Isabelle (Animal Crossing)/Wolf O’Donnell (StarFox) VS Webby Vanderquack (Ducktales 2017)/Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Chibiusa (Sailor Moon)/Kid Trunks Briefs (Dragon Ball Z) VS Kokichi Ouma (Danganronpa)/Venti (Genshin Impact)

Applejack (My Little Pony)/Hol Horse (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders) VS Jake Long (American Dragon: Jake Long)/Juniper Lee (The Life and Times of Juniper Lee)

Princess Peach (Super Mario)/Samus Aran (Metroid) VS Kefer (Egyxos)/Shiryu (Knights of the Zodiac)

Alex Mercer (Prototype)/Desmond Miles (Assassin’s Creed) VS Gandra Dee (Ducktales 2017)/Winter Schnee (RWBY)

SIDE 2:

Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio)/Timothy Q. Mouse (Dumbo) VS Max (Camp Camp)/Phineas Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

Wirt (Over the Garden Wall)/Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls) VS Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony)/Shockwave (Transformers Prime)

Daffy Duck (Looney Toons)/Donald Duck (Disney) VS Commander Peepers (Wander Over Yonder)/Wilt Michaels (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends)

Jigglypuff (Pokemon)/Kirby (Kirby) VS Merida (Brave)/Rapunzel (Tangled)

Leonardo Hamato (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)/Yuichi Usagi (Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles) VS Megaman (Megaman)/Pit (Kid Icarus)

Floyd Leech (Twisted Wonderland)/Kanata Shinkai (Ensemble Stars) VS Adrien Agreste (Chat Noir) (Miraculous Ladybug)/Berry Shirayuki (Mew Berry) (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Ben Tennyson (Ben 10)/Rex Salazar (Generator Rex) VS Bayonetta (Bayonetta)/Palutena (Kid Icarus)

Gyro Gearloose (Ducktales 2017)/Hazel Rainart (RWBY) VS Sally “Thorn” McKnight (Scooby Doo Franchise)/Skwisgaar Skwigelf (Metalocalypse)

Blossom Utonium (Powerpuff Girls)/Dexter (Dexter’s Laboratory) VS Angus McDonald (The Adventure Zone)/Shigeo Kageyama (Mob) (Mob Psycho 100)

Selina Kyle (Catwoman) (DC Comics)/Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe) VS Apollo (Percy Jackson)/Clark Kent (Superman) (Superman)

Aqua (Kingdom Hearts)/Cinderella (Cinderella) VS Huey Duck (Ducktales 2017)/Wakko Warner (Animaniacs)

Madoka Kaname (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)/Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) VS Gaz Membrane (Invader Zim)/Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls)

Sam Winchester (Supernatural)/Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds) VS Phone Guy (Five Nights at Freddy’s)/Wally Franks (Bendy and the Ink Machine)

Ditzy Doo (My Little Pony)/The Doctor (Doctor Who) VS Anne Boonchuy (Amphibia)/Nepeta Leijon (Homestuck)

Bowser (Super Mario)/Dr. Eggman (Sonic) VS Beastman (Masters of the Universe)/Lifeweaver (Overwatch 2)

Luca Paguro (Luca)/Maisie Brumble (The Sea Beast) VS Dewey Duck (Ducktales 2017)/Silver the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)

The tournament will begin proper sometime over the following weekend (07/01 - 07/02). I should have a more specific day and time by tomorrow!

[more-than-a-princess]

Code Realize for the fandom talk thing?

SEND ME A FRANCHISE OR SERIES AND I WILL TALK ABOUT IT - Accepting!

The way I feel about Code: Realize is the way I feel like a lot of people who like romantic fantasy/romantasy genre view Sarah J. Maas stories (Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Crescent City): a lot of time spent on worldbuilding and developing the characters, little in the way of actual romance (and smut, in the books' cases), but Strong Badass Heroines.

To that end: both Code: Realize and SJM's works are kind of...outliers in the genre of otome and romantasy, respectively? I feel where otome is concerned, many fans look for quicker (not instant, but quicker!) romance with all of the LIs than what Code: Realize offers and in turn, get frustrated with the game.

This, IMO, is a mistake: because Code: Realize may not be the best example of an otome game, but it is an excellent story!

Code: Realize, usually, is the otome game I suggest for people to try who don't like romance games. They don't like romance novels or romantic dramas and think lovey-dovey fictional romance where a heroine has the chance to romance a harem of men played out on the page and screen is stupid and boring and they will definitely not like it.

Spoiler: If they play Code: Realize, they usually end up liking it.

So, all of that is to say: this franchise gets such a bad rap in the otome fandom because otome players are playing it expecting certain tropes to be met without evaluating it on the story and character development as a whole.

Yes, it sets up a lot of backstory and worldbuilding. And yes, not every route will be everyone's favorite, but I think it's a disservice to dismiss this game whether you're a big fan of otome or you think the genre isn't for you.

Now that said, my personal takes:

Cardia is one of the best/favorite heroines I've ever had the pleasure to meet in otome games. To be fair, I've backed off playing these for a bit in favor of romantic fantasy and contemporary romantic fiction: a lot of the common themes or tropes that grate on me about otome (wilting flowers/helpless heroines, controlling LIs bordering on sexual assault, everything about Yang from Piofiore and Toma from Amnesia) can be avoided much more easily in novels if you read the trope/trigger warnings. But Cardia doesn't have the wilting flower problem: yes, she has poison in her skin as a weapon but she's also just really cool? While other players rolled their eyes at the extensive training scenes in the main story, I really liked that she learned from all of the love interests before choosing a route. She gained useful skills! This also reminds me of Feyre training with members of the Night Court in ACOTAR.

I fully embrace Steampunk Code: Realize London is not adhering to any historical accuracy, and yet I'm still digging it. I'm also weak for classic literature references (Sonia and I share this trait, to no one's surprise), so it's fun pointing out "OH IT'S A NOD TO THIS!" during the games.

I'm not a fan of fandisc sequels for otome games as the side stories are usually paper thin and pretty dull in comparison to the main one (though I may bite the bullet and buy the CupiPara FD that just came out), but Code: Realize did this mostly pretty well. I like the first fandisc/second game better than the second fandisc/third game as far as extra story content goes. I am also biased because we finally got the Van Helsing kiss CG in the second game (the only kiss CG left out of the original game? Really, developers? Why must you do my fictional BF so dirty like this?).

My aversion to Impey Barbicane is entirely because he is the unholy combination of Kazuichi Soda from Danganronpa and Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing, two characters who are just Not Sexy to me. Sonia's aversion to Impey in a modern Code: Realize verse is entirely due to the fact that he reminds her of Kazuichi.

My least favorite route in the original game was St. Germain's. I don't like him, he gives me the ick. My favorite routes besides the final one are Abraham van Helsing and Victor Frankenstein. Van Helsing for the backstory, Victor for his character development. Victor is also so underrated. If I had to choose any of them for a husband, I'm picking Victor Frankenstein any day of the week.

But because this is a roleplay blog...

I ship Sonia with Van Helsing, Lupin, and Victor, in that order. Only one of these is actually in development, with @scarlxtleaves' Arsene Lupin in a modern Code: Realize verse. He's saved her life and she still thinks he's sus due to the over-the-top flirtation (and yes, she has taken into consideration that he is French and therefore it is in his nature to do so). Her struggle, besides staying alive and safe from terrorists who wish to kill her, is figuring out that Lupin's affection towards her is genuine interest and care with real feelings behind it and not just flirting with her for fun and/or friends with benefits.

I believe in her, even though she's not exactly the brightest bulb when figuring out that someone really is in love with her.

Finally: the Code: Realize anime, just like the Umineko anime, is complete garbage and you should forget it even exists. Just play the games instead.

[sayyidahdoesntknow]

Rose Petals

There’s a silly thing I used to do when I was kid

I’d throw a blanket on a circle of chairs to make a tent where I hid

I’d curl up in my blanket with my favourite book to read

And absentmindedly pick the skin off the side of my thumb until It’d start to bleed

My favourite colour was purple

my grandma’s house was that colour

Though I couldn’t help but notice each year it would get duller

But it wasn’t just the walls

The once bright red roses did too

They aren’t as saturated this summer

Is there something I could do?

I watched my grandma water them when they looked thirsty in the morning

Maybe they’re a little thirsty

The sun is scorching

So I watered each and every one of them generously and endlessly for hours a day

Making sure every thorn and every leaf survives this May

May turned to June

June to July

August came knocking on my bedroom window

the sky was pretty

It was the colour of my pillow

It was almost the time of year where the leaves turn brown

Hopefully this year I’ve watered them enough for them to stick around

I hopped out of bed and ran to the garden

“I bet the roses look so bright under the grey sky”

The flowers where wilted

Slouching from the stem

Even though I’ve spent my whole summer nurturing and watering them

Did I not give enough water?

Did I give too much?

Why did they wilt?

Why do the petals fall when touched?

When I’ve been doing my best to get you to stay

All through out July

All though out June

All through out May

I could’ve read my favourite book

Under my blanket tent all day

I could’ve ran along with my friends when they called me to play

I could’ve had the best summer ever but decided anyway

I’d rather spend it all trying to make you stay

There’s a silly thing I used to do when I was kid

Turns out I still do it to this day

I try to fix things thinking it’s my fault they’re that way.

~ Sayyidah

14th September 2023

[knightinink]

Do you have any dip hanahaki disease headcannons?

Ooh this could actually go along with my Damien hc's nicely! Lets get this one rolling! 🌹🌷

-Okay so I feel that it would affect Damien more than it would affect Pip, since he would be less likely to confess his feelings & let them bottle up. Going off of another post of mine where I (kinda) talk about how Damien's mean & evil persona is just a front because he's scared & insecure underneath it all, & he's afraid of what could happen if people were to see his more vulnerable & sensitive side. He wants to be soft & tender, but he doesn't know how to express this to Pip, so he just keeps it inside.

-At some point, the demon notices that he has a bit of a hard time breathing, but doesn't think too much of it. That silly disease couldn't be real, right? It was just some stupid folktale! Something made up to scare people!

-A few weeks go by, & it's becoming more & more difficult for the demon to breathe, & he's horrified when, while he's roughly coughing into the bathroom sink, a repeating sharpness feels like its poking into his throat & he quickly falls to his knees, knuckles white as he grips the edge of the toilet bowl, & hacks up whatever he's now choking on.

-He's finally able to cough up whatever felt like it was shredding his throat, & as he blinks tears out of his eyes, he zeros in on the small bundle of about 5 red roses, thorns shining crimson with his blood, & turning the water slightly pink. Eyes widening in horror, he falls back onto his butt, his breathing picking up as he begins to panic, & a taste of nature floods his mouth as he clenches his teeth shut; the roses have left their vines, & they have rooted into his lungs quite nicely, not intent on letting go.

-He would hide this from his father & Pip of course, but he wouldn't be able to for very long.

-Pip meanwhile keeps coughing up pink tulip petals every now & then, but they always eventually cough up all wilted, as Pip is thoroughly convinced that whatever romantic interest he's ever had will not come to be, as he is simply not capable of being loved; everyone in his upbringing had reminded him oh so many times of this. It was true with Estella, & it was true with Herbert (bless him!), that whenever Pip would finally decide to get close, he would end up convincing himself that he wasn't worth their time, that he would be bothering them, & would back out.

-This would continue... except for when it came to Damien.

-There was something within the Brit that just wouldn't let the demon go from his mind, & ever since then the petals would come up flourishing, no longer in their dreary, wilted state. About a week had gone by when the first full flower had shown up, a soft pastel pink, petals open in all their beauty. Pip was horrified.

-More time would go by & the confession would come first from Damien, who is being drowned from the inside by his own blood, as there is a full rose bush growing in & around his chest & chest cavity, the thorns ripping through the tender flesh. Pip would be in shock, completely oblivious to the fact that the feelings he had harbored for the demon laying his head in his lap as he lay dying, had been returned this entire time.

-Damien would just laugh in a fuzzy sense of warmth, as well as the irony of being killed by something of his namesake. He would ask Pip to kiss him, the latter obligingly leaning down to do so, & presses a tearful kiss to the demon's bloodied lips. Their lips are lightly pushed apart as a red rose & a pink tulip come to the surface, brushing against each other tenderly, before they melt into a kiss of their own.

-When Pip breaks from the kiss, he's met with glazed-over eyes that were once as vibrant as the blood that he could still taste on his lips. He brushed a hand delicately over the rose & the tulip. then brushes the hair away from the demon's face so he could see all of him more clearly. Pip choked back a sob.

-Damien was gone.

[odetoichor]

balance.

warnings: death, despair, grief

Death was cold. Unforgiving. 

Life left everything it touched– everything he touched. Nothing survived. 

Creatures cowered at his presence. Flowers wilted in his wake. Decaying, dying, withering. 

Death sits in his garden, full of bare trees and roses with thorns. He watches over the souls, caring for each and every one of them with a particular warmth despite his cold heart. The Underworld was cold, as well. The Sun often chose to reside in the Heavens, far from the despair and grief of his domain. Everything was cold. 

Until it wasn’t. 

His face fills with warmth. His eyes shut at the bright light that seems to shine out of nowhere in front of him. He turns his head, knowing only of one being that would visit.

Life was a gentle being, a warm glow following her wherever she went. A permanent smile etched onto her face, welcoming all who needed it. This smile still held on her face as she appeared in front of him, still shimmering brightly despite the darkness. This smile, however, did not reach her golden eyes. 

“Death.” She hums. “It’s been a while.”

Death’s eyes adjust to the light. “Yes… It has. To what do I owe the pleasure, Life?”

“Yelena.” She corrects. “It makes me seem more… attainable to humans.” 

There she goes again. 

Life– Yelena– always tried to fit in with the humans. To keep their best interests in mind. It was just like her to choose a human name to personify herself and help them understand her. She’s optimistic. Sometimes too much in Death’s opinion, but that is why he exists. To balance her out. 

“Right.” Death nods. He notices her twiddling thumbs. Her shifting weight as she steps from side to side. “Is something the matter?”

Life’s smile drops slightly. Not enough for anyone to notice, but enough for Death to. He’d been with her for millions of years. “I—” She takes a breath. “I need your help.”

“Help? You came to me for help? I’m not exactly known for my compassion.”

At that, Life laughs softly. “And that is why I came to you. You see, I’m in a… predicament.”

Death crosses his arms and leans back, the wrought-iron chair cold. “Well, aren’t you mysterious.” He muses. “Alright, I’ll bite. What predicament have you found yourself in this time? You do realize the only thing I can do is kill, right?”

Life stares at him for a moment. Admitting mistakes has never been one of her strong suits. It rests on the tip of her tongue, and Death waits patiently. He’s no stranger to her stubbornness. 

“I’ve made a mistake.” Her voice shakes. It takes him back slightly, and he raises an eyebrow. “A big one.” 

“But isn’t Life supposed to be perfect?” Death leans in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “A mistake is unthinkable with a god as smart as you.” 

“I could go without the attitude.” She pouts slightly. “I was just… curious about something. But now I cannot reverse it.” 

“You’ll go with whatever I give you if you’re so desperate for help.” Death scoffs. Life’s eyebrows furrow a bit, but he ignores it. “What exactly were you oh so curious about? And why can you not fix it, if you’re as smart as you claim to be?”

“I don’t claim I’m smart!” Life snaps. Almost as quickly as she lost her temper, she composed herself once more and took a breath. “I put life on another planet. E33-B, the one with the pretty land. It was like, a side project from Earth.” 

At this, Death tilts his head. “And why did I not know about this?”

Life looks away. He can tell she’s guilty, and he’s not going to like whatever she says next. 

“I eliminated… everything.” She continues. “Sickness. Natural disasters. Things that… come after it.”

“So you eliminated death.” 

Life doesn’t answer. Her demeanor is that of a petulant child that has been caught red-handed, being scolded by their parent. She pushes a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“I assume you realize that this was a poor decision?” Death tries to keep his voice calm, but inside he’s upset. Upset at her negligence. Upset that she didn’t tell him. Upset that she thought that she could have life without death. 

“I was just curious.” Her shoulders slump. “It’s just my nature to always be optimistic. But Death, they’re suffering. There’s famine, and war, and not enough land. Nobody dies from it, they’re just hungry and injured and miserable.”

“This kind of thing happens when life is allowed to grow out of control.”

“Like us.” Life laughs dryly. “I get overzealous and you reel me back in.” 

Death scoffs. “I only do it out of necessity. To keep the balance. You, however, made a foolish decision and decided to try and be the sole god, which has its consequences when you’re not God.” 

Life’s shoulders are visibly tense. “Please, I– I don’t know what else to do. I thought I could handle it. I thought it would work out fine.”

“We are not the same, Life. Do not forget that.” Death sneers. “You cannot play the roles that I can. Yet I cannot just take away life and interfere with nature so drastically.”

“It’s not natural!” Life pleads. She seems to be a few seconds away from getting on her knees and begging. “I screwed up. Royally. But I cannot take life away. You can.”

“It may not be natural, but it is the consequences of your actions. You created a new world, and now you are responsible for every one of its creations. If they live in poverty, perhaps you should create more resources. If they are starving, give them more land. Do not ask me to step in when there is nothing stopping you from fixing this yourself.”

Life looks away, her eyes brimming with tears. It pains Death to see her upset, but he’s more upset at her actions. “I’m trying, Death. I’m trying so hard, but it doesn’t work. I give them more land but they don’t want to share. They fight over it. If everyone were to only take what they needed, then everyone would have enough. But humans… humans aren’t like that.”

“You should have thought about that beforehand.” Death chides. “Or, you know, consulted me before creating a new civilization. We’re supposed to work together. But instead, you went and ignored any consequences and now you expect me to clean up your mess? You created them, you’re responsible for them.”

Life shakes her head and turns around, hiding her tears. “Nevermind. I’ll figure it out.”

Death watches Life. Her posture is slumped– dejected. The glow that shines so naturally around her dims, and Death’s cold heart clenches ever-so-slightly. He was never one to sugar coat his words, and Life knows that. Yet, he can’t help but feel he was a bit too harsh on her. 

“Wait, Life.”

She stops, one foot in the beam of light to take her home to the Heavens. She won’t turn around. 

“You can’t run from this, you know.” Death makes his voice a bit more gentle. “Are you really willing to neglect them like this?”

“I–I’m not trying to neglect them.” She sniffs. Death presses his lips into a thin line– a confirmation of her crying. “I want them to live and thrive. But they need balance. That’s all I’m asking for.”

“Life, you know you can do things to help them other than killing them. You can slow down their reproduction rate. You can provide more resources. You could even send down some kind of writing to teach them to stop.” 

Life doesn’t respond, her back still facing him. There’s obviously more to it. Death steps a bit closer, cautious not to touch her, lest his curse rot her as well. 

“Come on, Life.” He tries an even gentler approach. “I know there’s something else. Just tell me.”

“My powers aren’t as strong as they used to be.”

At that, Death’s breath catches in his throat. It makes sense. Life gets her power from the belief and appreciation of humans. 

“Without death…” He begins. 

“They cannot appreciate life.” Life finally turns to look at him, tears streaming down her freckled cheeks. “Without death, I am nothing. But bringing back balance would help that.” 

Death nods. “I am not yet affected by this as you are, because I get my power from the souls in the Underworld. But eventually, as less souls begin to arrive, my power will suffer as well.” 

“That is why we have to fix it now!” Life exclaims. “Before it’s too late. Death, I’m so sorry.”

Death hums. “You do realize that by bringing death back, you will add more misery to their world? They may already be suffering, but you will be adding grief as they cope with the loss of a loved one.” 

“I’ve already come to terms with that millenia ago. I have to prepare myself with any new life, in case it gets taken away before I’m ready. At least in this case, it will be granting them mercy.”

“Mercy?” Death laughs slightly. “Your precious humans will not see it that way. They will fear it. They will beg for life– beg for their loved ones. All the while, you will be responsible for it. And they will hate you.”

At that, Life finally lets out the choked sob she’d been keeping in. She shakes her head, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. Tears fall freely down her face and Death can’t help but admit that he hates the sight. Someone as bright as her didn’t deserve to be so dim, yet here she was. 

He signs. He is no stranger to misery, nor is he one to shy away from difficult decisions, but this was something he was hoping to avoid. But given that his counterpart is in the depths of her own misery, it seems like he has no choice. 

“I will do this.” Death steels his voice. “I will bring death to your world. I will bring disease, injuries, aging, everything. But you must promise me something.” 

“I’ll never do this again.” She immediately cries out. “I swear on it. I hate this.”

“You must not punish the population for your mistakes again. You must not allow yourself to get carried away and forget who you are, as you did this time. Death is a necessary balance, yet there is a weight to be carried when you are the one inflicting it. Are you willing to shoulder this, despite everything?”

Determination shines in Life’s. “Despite everything.” 

And with a wave of his hand, and a glow of his eyes, Death nods. “It is finished.” 

All goes silent in the Underworld, except for in Life’s ears. 

She flinches as she hears noises of confusion come from her planet. Then, voices of realization. Her eyes close completely as the first wail of despair resonates through her ears. It's a shrill, piercing noise. A mother, crying for her son. 

Life waves her hand, a small visual of her planet appearing made of light. She watches the reactions– the tears, the wails. The pleas for him back. But what’s done is done. 

“Do not fret, Life.” Death watches her. “It will take a while to adjust, but they will come to respect death as a part of life. Just as you should.”

Life’s face remains stoic, stained with tears. Her arms are still wrapped tightly around herself as she watches. 

“I will leave you now.” Death is unsure of what to do. “You asked me to step in and I did. The least you could do is oversee the aftermath.” 

Life stays silent as Death begins to leave the garden. “...Visit sometime.”

“I will, Life. But for now, you must carry on.”

—

Life was always so sure of herself. 

So confident, so loving and gentle. She only wanted the best for her creations, watching over them with a beautiful smile. 

But now… she sobs. 

Life falls to her knees in front of her planet, unable to tear her eyes away. She cannot breathe, and yet she has to. Life must go on. 

Hours for Life is a thousand years for her planet, and slowly the grass grows green again. 

The crops flourish, the people thrive. They learn. They’re happy. 

Life sits in the Heavens, holding her knees close to her chest. Her power is back, her planet lives. Yet, she remains dim. 

A shadow begins in the corner of her room, growing and morphing until a silhouette appears, clad in a cape of night and a crown of thorns. Death looms behind her, watching. 

“They’re okay.” Life whispers. 

“They are.” He hesitates for a moment, then rests his hand on her shoulder. “And you will be too. You’ve learned and grown just as much as they have, Life. Yelena.” 

Life lays her hand on his, squeezing it. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Death. Mara.”

Death’s curse cannot hurt her, for life persists. 

Without Death, there is no Life. Without Life, there is no Death.

[canarymemories]

endless dream

rating: general audiences archive warning: no archive warnings apply category: gen fandom: paradox live characters: kureha aoi, visty mentioned, kei is also mentioned additional tags: introspection, written before showdown, pre-canon, visty my beloved, flower language, he/they pronouns for kureha aoi, a bit of an introspective on visty's whole situation pre road to legend date published: 2023-09-08 words: 1700

summary: how foolish to try and reach for a dream again.

written for when this flower blooms

here on ao3

the day visty debuts, their agency gifts them each a small bouquet of roses in their assigned colors. they can surely pay for something more extravagant, but aoi doesn’t think about that, instead happy to be given anything at all. the past few weeks had been a whirlwind, so he’s glad to have something physical as a reminder that all their hard work hadn’t been for nothing.

he wonders if the others feel the same.

once the five of them return to their shared apartment, aoi takes his flowers to his room and carefully cuts the stems, avoiding the few small thorns that remain not having been snipped before being packaged. they place the flowers in a tall, skinny vase that he slides to the side of his desk, not wanting to accidentally knock it over. 

aoi isn’t sure what the others do with their roses, but they find themself admiring his flowers for maybe longer than he should. in his defense, though, the thrill of successfully debuting with the people he looks up to — maybe even views as family — hasn’t completely worn off.

however, no matter how well aoi tends to the flowers, it doesn’t take long for some of the roses to wilt, their petals drooping and changing from a soft lavender color to something closer to brown, losing their vibrancy as they fall onto his desk. 

it’s nothing more than a sign of passing time. it probably sounds a little silly, but aoi feels a spike of fear in his stomach when he walks into his room after school, not even two whole weeks since their debut, to see nearly all the roses are wilted. he could very well throw them out, but they feel attached to the flowers. maybe it’s the memory of their first real live — the distant cheering rings in aoi’s head at the memory; the lights had drowned out the crowd from where he was on stage, but he could still hear them nonetheless — or something equally as sentimental.

in the end, they decide to press the flowers to keep a few as a little memento before they all wither away.

aoi sorts through the remaining flowers, the ones that have yet to fully die, only to find that there’s one rose that’s still the same purple hue it was the night he’d received them. he sets that one aside for three more to join it, though they’ve already begun to unfold as their petals turn lighter.

after searching for the easiest way there is to press a flower and then waiting the next few weeks for his heaviest books to do their jobs, aoi finds themself with a permanent reminder of the home they’ve found.

the apartment is quiet after kei announces his leave. aoi doesn’t expect anything different.

shogo is withdrawn as he attempts to tie up all the loose ends so that the four of them remain afloat all while sacrificing his own sleep for it if the bags under his eyes mean anything. toma, as always, tries his best to carry conversation over dinner or whenever he happens to run into one of them in their shared space, but all his effort falls short from truly lightening the atmosphere further than a forced smile. and kantaro… well, aoi isn’t sure how many days it’s been now since any of them have seen him out of his room.

to say they’re a mess is a bit of an understatement.

the pressed rose, the one that had yet to lose its color, sits on aoi’s desk. the others he’d slipped into plastic and now remain in books half read. instead of the pleasant reminder they’d started as, the flowers feel like a cruel joke.

aoi stares at the flower sometimes. it catches his eye while studying and distracts him from his homework.

 he isn’t sure how to feel about it.

about the flower.

about kei.

they’ve always looked up to the people around them. aoi yearned to be like those people, so bright and confident and strong. to define a place for himself among those types had always seemed so far out of reach, but he had done it in the end, hadn’t he?

but now, with those steady pillars they’d grown used to crumbling before their eyes, all of them being thrown off by kei’s sudden departure, aoi isn’t sure what to do. he wants to be angry, that the five of them came so far as a group, as friends, only for it to be tossed away so easily. it’s not fair that kei gets to walk away from it all like he did while the four of them are stuck scrambling to try and make everything right again in his absence.

aoi knows that being the youngest of the group doesn’t help him any; they know that toma and shogo keep things from him and kantaro, so maybe aoi should feel some kind of anger towards them too. but, same as kei, he can’t be angry at them either. he can’t feel much of anything than a muted sense of sadness about everything.

after all, debuting and reaching the level of popularity they managed in such a short amount of time truly felt like a dream. and aoi would be dumb not to realize a dream always has an ending, and this awakening was about as abrupt as it could’ve been.

(aoi can only imagine how the stellas who showed up to every live and every stream feel. maybe they can be outraged enough for the four of them.) 

mind distant from the words he’d written in class, even further from the concept of studying, aoi shifts his notebook further up his desk. they rest their cheek on their outstretched arm, staring at the flower.

the flower stares back.

their fingers inch closer to it, fingertips brushing against the surface of the desk as they near the flower. aoi feels the edge of its plastic covering, a sharp little corner, before pulling his hand away. 

crossing his arms on top of the desk, aoi rests his forehead on them and closes his eyes.

how foolish to try and reach for a dream again.

the rose moves up to aoi’s bookshelf where it’s easier to ignore. his eyes are no longer drawn to it when he walks into the room and as odd as it is, he does feel a bit better with it gone from view.

or maybe that sense of relief is from the four of them having found a solution in the form of paradox live. hip hop isn’t exactly visty’s style, but aoi knows they’re desperate enough to try any way they can to claw their way up from the edge of the cliff they’d been stranded on. that and they’re accustomed to phantometals already, having been using them in their performances since their debut.

(aoi hasn’t missed the nightmares that came with using the metal, reliving the same words over and over and over until he feared he’d still hear them echoing around in his head even when awake. but still, they can deal with them as long as it means they can stick together. shogo seems sure of visty’s ability to stick it out through this tournament. or maybe it’s the desperation taking hold of him as he too realizes with startling clarity that this really is their last chance.)

even so, aoi finds themself feeling a bit more calm knowing that shogo has faith in the four of them, no matter how many comments on social media or late night specials have nothing better to do than to talk about visty’s sudden fall from grace. with that confidence, aoi feels his own growing, although more tentatively.

with the flower out of his view, aoi feels he can breathe a little easier. they have a way to get out of this mess and if they’re to get anywhere in this competition, he knows they have to prepare.

the chill of early morning air does wonders to block out the thoughts racing through aoi’s mind as they do their daily jog. the date for visty’s appearance in paradox live grows nearer and nearer and even with all the practicing the four of them have been doing, both as a group and individually, aoi can’t help but wonder if it’s enough. 

he knows it doesn’t do any good to be pessimistic about a performance and it’s not like they don’t have confidence in their ability as a group, but there’s just this nagging dread at the back of aoi’s mind. no matter how hard they try to ignore it, will it away, it remains annoyingly persistent through every waking moment to the point of losing sleep.

aoi knows that visty isn’t exactly in a good position — not that they have been in a while, if he’s being honest — but he’s stuck with the others long enough to know that whatever may happen, even with however strong their fellow competitors may be, they have a fighting chance. they won’t let this chance slip between their fingers.

they need this win to survive.

his breath comes in puffs, throat stinging slightly from the cold air.

aoi slows to a walk, looking over the nearby buildings they idly pass. there’s a cat or two in a few windows, blinds still drawn on a few, customers entering and exiting a nearby coffee shop. but then he pauses, spotting a small gathering of white flowers, their little petals facing downwards in an apartment window.

he’s not sure what they are, but there’s something about them that stirs a feeling in their chest that they can’t quite put a name to.

aoi exhales, breath turning into a faint cloud before disappearing. he shakes out his hands and begins jogging once more. they’re almost back to the shared apartment now. as nervous as aoi is about performing on a new stage as big as paradox live, about this being their one and only chance to stay as visty — to continue their dream as four instead of five — he feels a sliver of hope that whatever the outcome may be, visty will remain.

end notes:

hi everyone, check out the zine! it was so fun working on it and everyone else's pieces are so good too!

flower meanings: purple rose - looking up to someone, in admiration of (not hanaktotoba based, but i did think this meaning was interesting), snowdrop - hope, consolation (hanakotoba based)