#( that and the way i can play around here like it's my personal playground just cannot be fully replicated on discord :') )

[tierra-paldeana]

// me, who enjoys rping on discord but is deeply terrified of rp discord servers unless i am familiar with every single person there and it's why i made this blog in the first place:

[spirit-lanterns]

IT'S THE ALCOHOL TALKING

synopsis: various hsr women when they're drunk.

featuring: serval, stelle, tingyun, fu xuan, asta, bronya

rating: sfw (anyone can interact)

warnings: fem reader, fluff, crack, mentions of alcohol and getting drunk (everyone is of drinking age). very ooc personalities for the girls as they are drunk. pet names, slight pet play (asta), feral tingyun, established relationships.

art credits: bloom into you

SERVAL

“And this so— (hic) is dedicated to my wonderful, beautiful, adorable, most bestest and kindest girlfriend ever—”

When Serval gets drunk, she sings. But the way she sings is less in a badass way and more in a “she took too many shots” kinda way, because your girlfriend was currently doing drunk karaoke at the bar with everyone cheering and shouting. Her body going through a whole workout plan as she was putting her heart and soul into this performance.

You knew you should stop her before she got hurt, but how could you when she was just so cute and screaming her love for you. “Yeahhhhh everyone scream for my girlfriend! She’s the best!” Serval would yell, accidentally causing the mic to screech but not caring because even in her less sober state, she still loved you unconditionally.

“Oh Aeons…” you laughed into your hand and blushed when the rockstar winked in your direction. Yelling the lyrics of some dumb love song while swaying back and forth with the mic. “You’re doing great, sweetie!” 

Serval smiled broadly at your shout and raised her arms in the air, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. 

“Wooooo!”

Oh. Oh no…

And then Serval body slammed onto a table. A loud crash echoed throughout the bar as everyone stopped shouting while you ran over to check if she was okay. 

“Serval? Serval!” 

Your girlfriend swayed for a bit as she slowly looked up at you in a daze. Her body was still getting used to the crash and the alcohol, but even then, she looked up at you and gave you a lopsided grin.

“Oh…you’re pretty. But I have a girlfriend.” she murmured, giggling to herself while gently pushing your hand away.

“I am your girlfriend, silly.” You chuckle, gently lifting her up and brushing her hair back to make sure she wasn’t bruised. “Are you okay, baby?” 

Drunk Serval paused, an even deeper blush growing on her face as she didn’t respond. 

“…Oh.”

She seemed in awe at how she actually had a girlfriend, and you giggled before lifting her up to her feet. “Come on silly, let’s get you home. You drank too much.”

When you kissed her cheek, Serval blushed even more and looked at you with wide eyes. Seemingly falling in love with you all over again…

STELLE

“Baby…”

Stelle would cling to you needily and look up at you with big puppy dog-like eyes. Whimpering as she begged you to let her do the one thing she loved doing the most.

Dumpster diving.

“No Stelle, you just took a shower.” You hummed, tapping your girlfriend’s cheek and taking another sip of alcohol. “Besides, I let you dumpster dive earlier today. You emptied out three whole trash cans before we came out here.”

Stelle whined and looked over at the dumpster outside the bar. After having way too many sips of alcohol with you, Stelle began feeling the side effects as every dumpster and trash can she saw looked like a playground. That, and she started getting more and more clingy with you, wrapping her arms around your waist and nuzzling into your neck by the bar. 

“Please…” she mumbled, practically smothering her body against you like a giant teddy bear. “I want…nnh…wanna jump in…”

Her speech was getting a little slurred and you sighed as you realized your precious Stelle was getting drunk, meaning you’d have to leave sooner or later anyways. 

“…One. Dumpster.” You say with a sigh. 

Stelle’s eyes lit up and she immediately started kissing your cheek. Usually Stelle would be too shy to do PDA with you in crowded areas, but she was just too drunk and too happy to care. “Thank you!” She mumbled against your cheek, giving it an affectionate little nibble before running off to dive headfirst into the trash.

You chuckled at the sight and made sure to keep watch so she wouldn’t hurt herself. Your girlfriend having a blast as she stumbles around in the dumpster pulling out various items she found interesting. 

After a few minutes of dumpster diving, your girlfriend tumbled out of the bin with trash sticking to her hair. “Oof!” Despite that however, she excitedly ran up to you and hugged you. “Baby look, look. I found a new blender…!”

You tried to keep your laughter in as she held up a blender that was not only broken, but was missing its blades. You didn’t have the heart to tell her it was useless, so you just patted her head and praised her. “Good job, baby. You did so well.”

She smiled and closed her eyes, nuzzling you as the effects of alcohol started taking over again and making her clingy. “Can we go home now? I want to add this to my collection…”

Before you could even respond, Stelle ends up slumping against your arms and sleepily kissing your neck. Heat building up in your face as Stelle was never this affectionate with you in public…

“Pfft, okay.” You chuckle, patting your girlfriend on the head, “Let's go home.” 

TINGYUN

“Off! Back off!”

Tingyun hissed at yet another stray cat while her tail was raised high in the air. The most unholiest of feral fox sounds emitting from your girlfriend as she screamed at any animal that even so much as dared look at you. 

“Tingyun dear, I think that’s enough soju for now…” you gently pulled the glass away from her and watched as she glared holes into the poor dog passing by on the street. Her teeth poked out from between her lips like she was getting ready to attack, nails gripping the hardwood table before you calmed her down with a hug. 

“Tingyun, I’m right here.” you hummed into her ear, planting a comforting kiss on her cheek. “I’m not in any danger.” 

“Yes, because I am protecting you…!” Tingyun slurred, her tail swaying back and forth before standing upright at the sight of a bird. “Away! Shoo! Shoo!” 

Tingyun was definitely one of the most unique types of drunks you’d ever have the pleasure of seeing, as she would get awfully protective of you whenever there were animals present. It was like the foxian side of her had taken over once alcohol entered her system, and while it was entertaining, you did worry for Tingyun’s reputation…

“Pfft, alright dear. Thank you for protecting me from the scary bird,” you cupped her face and pulled her towards you, giggling at the sight of her scrunched up and pouty face. “You’re so brave. I am just simply awestruck at what an amazing girlfriend you are.”

You kiss the top of her nose and Tingyun’s face starts going pink, her tail slowly wagging in praise as she stares lovingly at your eyes. 

“I love you…” she purrs out, her drunk-dazed eyes going half lidded like a cat. 

“I love you too.” You giggle, cupping her face as you lean in to kiss her fully this time. Closing your eyes and ready to claim her lips when—

HISSSSS

Not again! 

You grabbed Tingyun’s face before she could get up and pulled her down towards you. “Oh no you don’t, we are going home.” You quickly kiss her on the lips and distract her long enough to drag her away from the bar. Your foxian girlfriend whining and trying her best to squirm out of your grasp but to no avail.

“Let me go! Baby, let me go!” 

She nibbled on your arm as you dragged her away and you sighed, patting her fluffy ears while taking her drunk ass all the way home. 

FU XUAN

“Yeah that’s right, she’s (hic) mine…”

Fu Xuan was currently sitting on your lap and glaring at everyone like a feisty kitty who wouldn’t let go of a toy. She had her brows furrowed and tensed in an angry way while she gripped your shoulders to show ownership, her body swaying in a way that indicated to you that your girlfriend was getting drunk.

“Oh, Fu Xuan…” you chuckled, feeling her forehead to see if she was getting sweaty. “Are you getting tipsy?”

“Of course not. I’m (hic) perfectly sober, my love.”

You raised a brow and tried to hide the smirk growing on your face. My love? Since when did Fu Xuan get so affectionate? It was almost like she was lying straight to your face…

“Are you?” You teased, holding her tightly by the waist. “You’re hiccuping, little bunny…”

“I just need more water!” She quickly spat out, before taking another shot of soju which she thought was water. “Nngh! Why is water so bitter?”

“That’s soju, love.” You chuckled, pulling the shot glass away from her hand. “I think you’ve had enough to drink, why don’t we go home?” You pat Fu Xuan’s head and giggle when she starts to pout. “I don’t want to move…” she mumbles, plopping her head into your boobs. “Darling feels good…”

Your heart speeds up when she says this and you can’t help but hold in a squeal. How cute, perhaps drunk Fu Xuan can stay for a little while longer—

No, you shouldn’t. As her girlfriend, the right thing to do is to take her home and take care of her. You sigh and gently hoist her up in your arms, Fu Xuan panicking for a moment as she wraps her legs around your waist. 

“Wha— darling the floor is falling—”

“I’m just standing up.”

She immediately clings to your neck and holds on to you tightly, slowly closing her eyes as she feels herself getting nauseous. “Don’t drop me. You hear?”

“Yes darling, I hear.” You chuckle, keeping your arms firmly under her thighs while you begin carrying her out of the bar. “Try not to look up too much, we don’t want you getting dizzy and throwing up on my back.”

Fu Xuan gives you a hissy glare and just blushes before hugging you close. “I won’t throw up…I never throw up…” 

She begins grumbling to herself and you smile at the sight. Patting the back of her head while the two of you head home together. 

ASTA

“Awe Peppy you’re so cute! Who’s a good boy? Oh who’s my good boy?” 

Asta cooed and drunkenly squished your cheeks together while calling you Peppy and patting your head. You, her girlfriend. Her loving and doting girlfriend who was very much human and very much not a dog. 

“Asta—” you chuckled, “I’m not Peppy.”

“My Peppy is so big and strong…!” Asta grinned, rubbing your cheeks together while peppering your face in sweet, gentle kisses. “The sweetest and cutest canine ever oh yes you are…”

You rolled your eyes at how silly your girlfriend was being and just went along with it. Deciding to tease her a bit by playing along with her little charade.

“Woof.”

Asta squealed and kissed your face even more, taking another swig of her alcoholic beverage while scratching underneath your chin. “Ohhh if only your other mommy could see you now…” Asta sighed, unaware that her girlfriend was literally right there. “Hm, perhaps I should send her a video.”

Asta whipped out her phone and began recording you while still believing you were Peppy. “Okay Peppy! Let’s send mommy a little video to show her how cute you are being. Come on, say hi to mommy!”

“…Woof.”

You couldn’t help but smile when Asta got so excited, patting your head in praise while going “good boy…!” Into the camera. Oh how embarrassed she will be once she finds the video in her camera roll the next morning, you couldn’t wait.

After a few more minutes of playing the little dog shenanigans with your girlfriend, you finally decided that it was getting late and Asta definitely needed to head back to bed. 

“Sigh, okay Asta. I think it’s time we head back home, hm?” You chuckle, finally breaking out of your Peppy act charade. “You’ve had quite a few drinks already…”

Asta tilted her head when she saw you getting up to leave, and her mind instantly went to Peppy once more.

“Oh? Does Peppy want to go home now?” Asta hums, smiling and taking your hand. “Don’t forget your leash!” 

Wait, what?

And then out of nowhere she whips out a leash and clips the collar to your neck, surprising you as you had no idea that Asta carried around a leash at all times. 

“Come on boy! Let’s go home to mommy!”

She gave the leash a little tug and you sighed with no choice but to follow her. Asta skipping happily beside you with you chuckling beside her in return. 

BRONYA

“…”

You were getting worried for your girlfriend as she had been staring at the wall in silence for the past six or so minutes. No pressure, Bronya was usually quiet when invited to bars like this one, but she never was this quiet and it was starting to worry you a little.

“…Bronya?”

You poke her cheek.

“Bronya?”

She blinks and slowly turns to you, eyes wide like a cat who got into some catnip as she seemed to be lost in another world. 

“There is a train that can travel through universes.”

Ah, so it’s one of those nights. The kind of nights where Bronya would get lost in the dark abyss of her mind and say the most random, deep things that would have her questioning her sanity by the time you pull her out of the bar. 

“Mhm, the Astral Express is capable of doing that.” You chuckle, trying to downplay how deep her thoughts really were. “Uhm…baby?”

Bronya was still staring in silence as she was now looking at the ice cubes melting in her drink. She usually got like this whenever she was sleep deprived or blanking out, but today it was especially prominent as Bronya took one too many sips of her beverage whilst sitting at the bar with you.

“Darling, do you think other universes could come to Belobog and fix our Fragmentum problem?” Bronya said while spacing out, the gears in her mind rolling as she slowly took another sip of her drink. “Aeons, we should’ve told the Astral Express crew to bring back some people. Perhaps the people at the Herta Space Station could help us. Or— I believe they are people…”

Bronya paused again and her eyes got wide.

“Darling…do aliens exist? Are the people at the Herta Space Station actually people?”

She gasped and suddenly turned to face you.

“The Astral Express crew. Do they count as aliens too?!”

You quickly shut her up with a kiss before she could get too deep in her alien vs human conspiracies. Your girlfriend squeaking and blushing before finally calming down in your hold. 

“Bronya, sweetie. It’s very late, and as cute as you are rambling about aliens and conspiracy theories, I think it’s time we head back home.” You slowly pulled the drink away from her and helped her stand up from her seat. “Come on, you can borrow my coat. It’s cold out.”

Bronya flushed when you wrapped your coat around her while the two of you began walking back home. The Supreme Guardian leaning against your shoulder affectionately as a comfortable silence falls between you. 

“…Do penguins have knees?”

“Oh Aeons.”

[chimychoo]

HUGE TPOT 12 SPOILERS!

BUCKLE UP CHAT. CAUSE THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG THEORY!!!!!

Where do i begin?

So heres the thing, I watched TPOT 12 then took a shower right after. While taking said shower i took a moment to think about everything that went down. And thought of the wildest theory ever..

• XFHOV

LETS START FROM THE BEGINNING,

One and Three, right?

These two fellas have FINALLY appeared after 15 years! Why is that?

Here is the scene when X found out their value: 7!

Four, Seven, and X are celebrating and generally very happy. Who isnt happy?

Three and one.

Theyre clearly angered by this whole situation, but why? Who are they angry at?

Theres three possible options:

1. Seven. But that wouldnt make sense, huh? Basically every algebralien has SOME sort of grudge held against him, so its nothing new. Scratch that!

2. Four. Its possible, four has done alot of things. But thats not who im personally going to focus on. Well, partially at least.

That leaves one more person!

3. X. But why them?

"Theyre just a little silly dude, they did nothing wrong!" And youre right. Thats exactly why theyre a target.

• THREE AND ONE'S CAPYIVITY

Youre probably wondering, why am i focusing on X, and not four? Four is more of a suspect, after all.

Think about it this way,

Three is trapped in a prison inside of Four's school, so four put him there! (They are the only one with control over that place anyway.)

One is trapped inside of the moon. There isnt really any solid proof to prove my theory with this one, but she came out during TPOT. She clearly had the ability to escape and didnt seem tired out and/or surprised that she finally left her prison. One actually seems happy and collected, even going as far as "greeting everyone" once she's out. She chose to come out at this time, just like how she chose to mess with Two's show.

One also confirmed that shes an "old friend of Two's." If One is suddenly against Two after all the years of them knowing each other, Two clearly did something to her.

• MUTUAL CONNECTIONS

And youre STILL probably wondering, "Chim! You still didnt explain what X has to do with all of this!"

Four and Two hate eachother, this hatred being caused by Two when they stole more than HALF of the bfb cast.

(They seem to not be familiar with eachother when they "first" meet. Im not exactly sure why here HELP.)

But anyway!

Who does Four have a good friendship with? X!

Who does Two have a good friendship with? Also X!

X is what keeps them sane around eachother, the only main reason why they stick around.

If anything bad were to happen to X, Four and Two clearly have the power and ability to get back at whatever or WHOever caused this harm.

One and Three did something to X, and it resulted in Two and Four snapping.

• THREE'S PERSONALITY

Three has basically ZERO information on himself, we know nothing about the guy. But what we do know, is that hes agressive.

In the Number Playground Chronicles, we get an article that explains an event that takes place, Three being apart of it. The article reads:

(To reduce confusion, ill be adding the names for you guys to differenciate whos who.)

"(Five)Integer did not pick up the ball when dropped, and Three Integer, the person playing with him, became impatient. (Five)Integer was angry at (Three)Integer because, Three Integer could simply pick up the ball and throw it to (Five)Integer, and (Three)Integer and (Five)Integer could keep playing.

"FOAMING THREE INTEGER"

The horrible, tragic incident happened at 10:13 AM. Three Integer became Upset.

Three Integer at 10:16, Angry.

Three Integer at 10:31, Furious.

Three Integer at 10:24, and "Foaming."

Three Integer at 10:39, when he started to produce smoke.

(Five)Integer picked up the ball at 6:17 PM."

This event did truly happen, we can see the beginning of it play out in the first few seconds of XFOHV:

Three was so angry and REFUSED to even touch the ball. Five had to go pick it up themself HOURS after the incident.

Three also WILLINGLY closed the cell door after it was opened. He couldve escaped, yet he didnt. I have two possible reasons for this:

1. He's afraid of Four catching him, so he followed orders and stayed put.

2. Three's gone insane after a decade and a half of being all alone, to the point that he WANTS to stay inside.

• ONE'S MOTIVES

One seems like a friendly character, shes smiling in basically the ENTIRETY of her screentime, (minus the part when she conversed with Fanny.)

But something about her smile isnt right, its almost disturbing. The way she grins in the oddest situations,

She is seen with a list during the post-credits scene, with four names on it that are all crossed out, meaning they are "completed."

□ Bell.

□ Bomby.

□ Fanny.

□ Ice Cube.

Notice how all four of these contestants were in some sort of distress during that moment, and One helped them out! In exchange for a "favor."

1. She helped Bell escape elimination by removing her string (something that annoyed Bell constantly due to contestants activley climbing it.) And hiding her.

2. She helped Bomby escape elimination by hiding him.

3. She gave Fanny a new mouth, discarding the need to spend hours at a time searching for it in the ocean.

4. She gave Ice Cube a new pair of legs, allowing her to walk again.

What exactly does One need these favors for? Revenge against Two, of course!

● ONE AND TWO'S FRIENDSHIP

Theres a popular theory stating that Two was kicked out of the equation playground, this would clear up the confusion as to why they basically NEVER appear in the subscriber specials.

Maybe this is because Two hates math! They said it to Gaty in one of the episodes.

I also believe that One was also kicked out. Why, you may ask?

Take a look at this scene in the beginning of TPOT 11:

One's picture was hidden underneath Seven's. As if nobody(COUGH COUGH. Espcially four) wanted her to be mentioned so they simply hid her.

Maybe this is how One and Two became friends, two rejects.

● RANDOM THINGS THAT GET THEIR OWN SECTION CAUSE IDK WHERE ELSE TO PUT THEM

1. How the HELL did One get a mouth and... legs?

2. Judging by One's little room, she probably really likes space and astronomy, maybe thats way the moon was where she was sent.

3. Kinda freaky to think that One was there in the moon the ENTIRE time. Throughout every single episode of the series from BFDI 1A to TPOT9, and we never knew.

Yeah tbh idk what else to say this was just a little info dump cause my mind was PACKED. anyways yeah tell me if i missed anything anf let me know about your little theories and opinions on mine! :3

[tiredsmashbros]

"happy birthday, bluejay."

2k words ; tsari fanfic

"gAH!" tari yelped as she lost her grip on the wooden plates nailed to the tree. fear of adrenaline rushed inside her veins, glancing a peek below her, acknowledging the height and distance above from the ground. she didn't have a fear of heights, yet it still was an alarming issue to imagine in her mind what could happen if she were to fall.

"w-wOaH! bj, grab my hand!" tsb directed extending his arm out, using his stretchable ability to allow tari a more secure reach. "come on!" he exclaimed, assisting her up until she was finally standing on the wooden surface base marked on their destination. "heh, trying to fall again now are we?" the man chuckled in hopes of lightening the mood, referencing an inside-joke recall based on their first meeting, "but on your birthday? what kind of a crazy bird are you!"

tari giggled, relief dominating over her after finally arriving at the top of tsb's home. "i'm not used to climbing up!" she began, taking a break to catch her breath, "why'd you have to live up so high? it's challenging to come to visit you!" the bluejay spoke glancing her eyes to take in the view as she recovered. she could see the showgrounds perfectly where she stood, watching her friends play in the grass field, and even a clear view of smg3's coffee and bombs. it was just a marvelous view, pondering why she hadn't thought to come here more often. with the wind brushing onto her face, and the shade provided by the tree's leaves to guard from the sun it was evermore peaceful and quiet. her worries gone within an instant, it was relaxing to say.

"then i suppose you'll have to come by more often to see silly o'l me, huh?" tsb responded, opening the entrance door for tari to enter. "birthday girl first~" tsb flirted, forming an exaggerated body gesture for her to enter in. tari shyly smiled and nodded, making her way inside the blue and yellow man's humble abode.

as if it was her first, tari couldn't ever grasp how peculiar and unique tsb's home was structured. the outer appearance appearing as a regular small treehouse built from wood and nails. yet the interior, god the interior was like an entirely whole other world. seemingly cartoonishly larger, covered in bright light blue walls, white clouds painted onto them. additionally, small rainbows scattered around. a giant painted sun on the ceiling, accompanied by multiple small paper-shaped stars assisted with tape dangled down from right above. high enough where her standing wouldn't bother it, but not so high where you couldn't acknowledge them. the area was furniture filled with shelves of unused big and small canvases, all sorts of art materials neatly placed and organized, with the man's silly personality of individually colored beanbags to sit on, and nets filled with all kinds of plushies and toys. it felt like a dream house for an art child really. dried used paint splattered about here and there on the walls and floor adding color to the bright white room.

"still breathtaking for you, birdy? i thought it would still be boring even doing some minor edits here and there." tsb scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment noticing tari's positive expressive expression as she glanced the place up and down, side to side.

"are you kidding? how could i not be? any normal person would find this breathtaking! your place is an absolute dream house, tsb! it's bright, cozy, colorful, and a playground of endless creative creation! i can't get over how you can manage to create this all yourself! very impressive!" tari exclaimed, as her smile stretched up to her cheeks, really absorbing and giving a twirl around the space. excitement fueled her as he bounced about exploring the other familiar areas and all of its satisfying gleam of bright colors. it felt like she truly was up in the clouds or a figment of what she felt was a physical imagination of heaven.

tsb could only watch and giggle from the side. his heart was pounding in glee seeing the bluejay prance about in joy, admiring the work of art he's created for himself to call home. he felt an over beamed of satisfied joy he endlessly craved being appreciated. especially from her. a compliment from anyone would've still been appreciated of course, yet hearing those words coming from her felt like he could die at any moment. and he wouldn't mind.

after some time of tari exploring the area admiring all the nooks and crannies of tsb's dream-like treehouse, tsb finally directed tari to his bedroom. a place he... coming to the realization he had never shown her before up until now. the first time smg4 interrupted them cutting their time short, and other visits were with other guests visiting to do arts and crafts or play board games. yet this was the first since her first visit it was just the two of them. tsb grew nervously anxious as he tiled the sun-shaped knob of his door, allowing entry to the girl he admired most. it was just his room and he truthfully had nothing to hide, yet it was still nerve-racking for him, pondering about her opinion.

"t-this is my room-" before tsb could even continue to create a proper introductory description, tari jolted up in joy, squealing in glee rushing inside to admire the new room, eager to explore. it had the same vibe and aesthetic as the main entrance room, the entire treehouse quite frankly, yet this room specifically was more in the theme of tsb's main colors. yellow and blue! additionally, instead of the walls being painted or scattered with paint, they were filled with drawings drawn on paper of different mediums taped onto the wall.

entering the room revealed tsb's bed, filled with drawings of rainbows and clouds above as seen the theme all over the place. the bed is cuffed below of soft felted cloud-shape border with a uniquely colored placed rainbow for a bed frame. to the right side of the wall was a large window viewing of the sky, and next to it a tall dresser. accompanied by the wall where the door was placed, was filled with drawings she could recognize were drawn from her friends. boopkins, luigi, heck even some dumb doodles from smg3 she recalled tsb telling the tale of them hanging out one night.

the last wall to the left side of the room erupted with colors of different shades of green and brown. taken aback coming to the realization tsb's home lacked the color green almost entirely, let alone any color of brown other than the "disguise" from the exterior. illustrations of trees, squirrels, and small rodents, and what she could make out looked like a television. causing a shiver down her spine being reminded of mr. puzzles, yet these looked nothing like him. furthermore, they looked the same tv of a design with a nice chestnut brown with a cyan-like blue screen. some with hearts, some crossed out even wrinkled, and others... tari stared at it in confusion. she assumed it was an interesting relation due to tsb heavy interest in cartoon shows, he would watch several frequently with mario. however, something inside her told her it meant something else. as if it linked to-

"soooo what do you think, bluejay?" tsb queried, interrupting tari's thoughts. to the bluejay's surprise, he was resting on his bed in a crisscross position with his hands questionably behind his back slightly awkwardly.

"oh! i-it's awesome!" she quickly responded, trying to rid herself pondering over the mystery of this "tv". "i don't recall you ever showing me your room before. what gives! trying to hide more secrets?" she confidently spoke back, removing any possible suspicion. taking a seat next the the cartoony man.

"noo, of course not! just something i suppose i hadn't had the time to show you till now." tari rolled her eyes playfully trying to seem hurtful by his response. tsb giggled.

suddenly, he began to clear his throat, straightening his back, and shifting closer to tari with a slight struggle refusing to use his hands for support. however, fear rose inside as he wondered if he was too close to the bluejay, but she didn't seem bothered and instead mimicked his actions. receiving another giggle from the man feeling his face grow hot. "i uh," tsb began, "i have a gift for you! um..." tsb slowly unhidden his hands to reveal a bird-like figure in his palms. tari began to decipher it being a hand-crafted bluejay figure with a neatly small bowtie around its neck. yet she was utterly confused and speechless, it allowed tsb to continue his monologue. "i'm... not very good at making something supposedly grand like parties or cakes, for someone's orbit around the sun, but i do like handcrafting things for people i... um... admire most." tsb confident outward speech turned to stutters and quiet speech seemingly looking down as he could feel his hands sweat under his golden gloves. "i hope you like this gift-"

"of course i do!~" tari finally bursted into squeals having her hands turn to fists positioned up to her face in an attempt to hide her overly joyous smile. shifting her position to admire the beautifully hand-crafted bluejay more up-close. "it's so cute!~" she squealed once more feeling like she could feel herself almost cry from overstimulated happiness. "how did you use to make it?" she queried swiftly, staring at tsb's shades, eyes wide with sparks of adoration.

tsb only stuttered to find the words, his face growing hotter by the second hearing the beats of his pounding heart inside his ears. "i-i used cardboard to create the base of the shape... and um gluing layers of newspaper to give some texture... a-after painting it with acrylic- nO gouache a-a-and reusing some old thick ribbon i had in my scrapes to gave it a bow!" swiftly adding in the end, "y-you know! because it's a gift! cause it you're birthday! a-and purple to match your eyes! b-because your eyes are purple! oH and this is a bluejay, not a duck i-i-i-im not sure if that was obvious um-"

"it's perfect.~" tari softly interjected, cupping tsb's hands and lowering them down from their chests. "it's adorable of you think of me like that. i've never received a gift like this before... it exactly represents me and considering the thoughts you had i seriously appreciate the effort you put in. it's," tari couldn't help but giggle.

before tsb could muster to search for words to say thank you, tari kissed tsb on the cheek. "it's really cute. thank you.~" shots of physical cloud of air flew out of tsb's ears, face even red than the color red itself, stunned and completely flustered he sat there frozen. tari once again giggled seeing the clouds of smoke coming out of their ears like a real-life cartoon, yearning to see what more of a reaction she can get. she was always fascinated by tsb's strange cartoonish nature she just simply adored him more and more. nothing about him could ever bore her. 

just if by instinct, she removed her hands from tsb and reached out to remove tsb shades. settling it down by the bed, gazing admirably into his brown eyes as they were shifting animatedly to pink hearts back and forth. "t-tari-" tsb started, but was unfortunately cut off by someone outside. turning his eyes into pupils with red outlines from surprise.

"tari!" a familiar voice called, "TARI!" smg4 called again louder.

"smg4 must have the party essentials ready. we should go till he gets impatient hehe!" tari stood up from the bed grabbing the bluejay gift with one hand while the other grabs for the cartoon man's glove. 

"y-yeah..." he replied, still stunned by what happened. eventually after a soft tug from tari, he regained his senses and threw back his shades on. springing off the bed and following tari out of his room. 

"you think there'll be cake left after mario gets to it first?" tsb asked.

tari chuckled, "i doubt it." 

END

[0cta9on]

Hi I hope this is ok for you a fluffy short with cute younger girlfriend winter with her older boyfriend malereader having fun at Aespa back stage with the members playing games

Hello yoohyeons-puppy98! Fluff requests are absolutely okay :] I don't exactly know what backstage at a concert looks like, so I just kinda winged in :> Hope you like it regardless!

Everyone told you it wasn't possible, the relationship would never last. Maybe they're right and you're just too stubborn to listen, clinging onto what could already be falling apart at the seams. But none of that matters right now. Minjeong—er, Winter is going on stage soon and you want to show your support without worrying her.

You knock on the door, carrying plastic bags full of snacks for the girls. Their manager warned you about their diets, but a little snack before performing never hurt anyone. At least, you hope not.

"Baby!" The door swings open, revealing Winter's ecstatic look as she runs to you, arms wide open. As you swing her around in your embrace, the two of you giggling like schoolchildren, you're reminded all at once why you put so much effort to be here in the first place.

"Hello, my love," you say, smiling from ear to ear. "You look gorgeous."

"Thank you." She plants a delicate kiss onto your cheek, spreading her warmth to your entire body. "Our makeup artist did such a good job, didn't she?"

"I doubt she'd have a hard time making you look beautiful," you quip, earning a playful slap on your shoulder. "Oh, I stopped by the store on my way here and got some snacks for you and your friends. I don't know what they like, so I just got one of everything."

"Aww, that's very sweet of you. Come inside, I'm sure the girls will want to meet you!"

Winter pulls you into the green room, which you can only describe as "organized chaos" as an array of staff members run around doing their jobs while the rest of her members goof off on the couches. Despite there only being three of them, they somehow manage to stay the loudest in the room with their cackling laughter amidst the hum of last-minute preparations.

"Guys!" Winter calls out to them, grabbing their attention. "My boyfriend is here with some snacks!"

"H-hello." You awkwardly wave at them as they get up to greet you. Even though you've talked to them in passing while on Facetime with Winter, you can't help but feel a little starstruck at meeting celebrities in person. On top of that, their intricate stage outfits and fierce makeup looks only made them look more intimdating.

"Wah, thank you!" Karina says, taking the bags from your hands and placing them on the table. "I need something sweet before we go up on stage."

"Winter, your boyfriend should play mafia with us!" NingNing suggests. Winter hops with excitement while you offer her a quizzical look.

"Uh, what's mafia?" You ask.

"It's a fun game we like to play while we wait. C'mon, I'll tell you the rules."

"Oh, uh, I don't know, I'm not really good at these kinds of things," you shyly admit. She cups your face gently, calming your nerves with a simple look. You're supposed to be the one calming her down before she has to perform, yet here you are, getting all nervous about a silly game with her friends.

"It's okay, baby. It'll be fun, I promise," she soothes.

"Yeah, we don't bite," Giselle adds, smirking. "Maybe Karina might- Ow!"

"Yah!" The two get into lighthearted cat fight, spiraling into even more laughter from NingNing who watches from a safe distance.

"Maybe I should sit this one out," you joke. With a grin, Winter pulls you towards the couches, adamant that you join in on the fun.

At most, you probably spent 20 minutes with them, playing and joking around like you're children at a playground and not full grown adults jobs and responsibilities. Yet somehow, it feels like hours pass by in a blink of an eye. Even if you can't see each other often, it's comforting to know that Winter is surrounded by such great friends. Like all good things, this too must come to an end.

"Girls, be on standby! The concert is starting soon," their manager announces, earning a wave of disappointment from them. Even you feel a little bad about having to end the fun already.

"You'll be watching, right?" Winter asks while the rest of them get ready.

"Of course, my love," you assure her. "I'll be front and center, cheering you on louder than everybody there."

She giggles, blessing your cheek with a kiss. "Give some cheers to the rest of the girls too, it's not a solo concert y'know."

"Hmm, maybe I can give them a shout or too," you quip, earning an overdramatic glare from the rest of the girls. You chuckle awkwardly, offering a supportive thumbs up.

Winter holds your face with a gentle touch, tracing your face with longing. You know what that look means. Your heart breaks every time you have to see it.

"We'll get dinner after the concert, okay? Just you and me," you say softly.

She sighs, wrapping you up in a warm embrace. "I wish we could do more than just dinner. I wish I could stay with you forever."

You blink away the tears building in your eyes. No point in trying to make her feel worse. "Me too," is all you can utter without giving away the cracks in your voice.

"Winter," her manager says. "We have to go. The people are waiting."

She breaks away from you slightly before capturing your lips in a tender, heartbreaking kiss. It's brief and fleeting, yet the velvety feeling of her lips stays imprinted in your mind like a fond memory. She gives you a brief smile before following her members out the door, waving at you right as it shuts behind her.

Goodbyes are always the hardest, especially when you don't know the next time you'll get to see her, but you know in your heart that you'll reconvene like no time has passed at all. You'll get to see that smile and hear that laugh again, that same one you've adored for years. This love may be difficult and exhausting and downright painful at times, but nothing in this world is more gratifying than being the one to hold her heart. Despite the odds, you'll do anything and everything to protect her.

[witchofthesouls]

I would love to see you write some more culture differences between the bots and humans. If you wouldn’t mind :0 I wish we saw some in TFP

Same here. I love seeing world-building and deep lore, especially with other fantasy/sci-fi civilizations.

TFP gave us so much and so little at the same time. It's like going to a restaurant, you have a drink and great appetizers, so you're constantly waiting for the entrée that isn't coming!

TFP is also really fascinating when looking at it with the lens of the caste system and its deep roots within and among the 'bots, even their reduced circumstances. I get the feeling that Optimus is way more casual in way with his team than what the decorum would demand, even with his barriers.

The Autobots would find human cityscapes as quaint. Even the dense sprawls of megacities with towering high rises are paltry reminder of what they're used to.

Cybertron was a planet where its wilds had been tamed. Either reshaped or completely stripped. The Wastelands is/was an apt name for the baren landscapes outside the established city-states.

It wasn't just a large difference in public transport and zoning and sheer scale. It was also the functional design and architecture.

City-states mimicked the layouts of Titans' ground alt-modes. They didn't sprawl outward. Those had set perimeters based on Titans' outer defenses. Instead, the cities expanded up or down.

It wasn't limited to just a parking structure or secretive bases. Whole levels housed entire communities of what castes resided there: occupations, hospitals, sewage, refineries, restaurants, entertainment, and so much. Some mecha go without ever seeing the sunlight or feel real wind, especially those at the lowest of the system. The lowest castes are set all the way at the bottom, among ancient tech and dilapidated buildings. Sorting and recycling what could be kept and what must be sent back to the upper levels.

The concept of "open to the public" would confuse the Autobots. The Golden Age operated its society under the strict overview of a caste system, which expanded to "where" and "what" individuals of a caste could access.

Monster truck rallies fall under bloodsport to them. Bulkhead once scavenged money to watch and do small bets at high-stakes drift racing and lower-tier gladiator matches below the ground. Mecha still had to pay entrance fees to it.

Parks were under the Artisanal caste. Blending murals of legends, careful tending to fauna that are functionally extinct that was tailored to the agreed aesthetic, live music from specific pupils of masters, playing on instruments that merged with the gardens, so it was difficult to tell what was a tool and a plant or animal. And entry to any of it was only allowed for certain castes.

Universities were thriving, self-contained communities, and major points of power. No one off the list would be allowed into its grounds. All visitors and short-term guests were deeply screened and monitored. There is no such thing as "dropping by." Everything is meticulously planned and prepared. Unless a faculty member personally vouches for a guest, they must heed the numerous rules or a risk permanent banning.

Academia had long since been territorial over its talents and quality of its programs and people. They refuse to allow anyone outside its jurisdiction to bully one of its own. No matter the rank or caste, it will close its inescapable jaws around an outsider.

The fact that someone could go to a private university and simply jog upon its grounds is mind-boggling to the 'bots.

As well as libraries and their courses and workshops. So anyone can go? Anyone?! Everyone has access to the knowledge!? Can anyone simply go join a seminar on local gardening? Anyone can just go to a playground and start swinging or playing basketball or flying a kite or dancing to music? Anyone?

Bulkhead had a lot of questions for Jack and Raf since they're locals compared to Miko.

"So anyone can go?"

"Yeah. I used to spend my recess looking up bird anatomy and Ancient Greece and Egypt."

"You had a thing for ancient civilizations?" Raf asked.

"Doesn't everyone?" Jack shrugged. "Pharoahs and gladiators and old gods? We ate that up with mystery books or Goosebumps."

"I read Sherlock Holmes and the Chronicles of Narnia."

"Those are classics. Hey, did you get into The Lo-"

"Hold up," Bulkhead cut in, crouched down and leaning more forward, as if sharing a secret and quietly ask, "So anyone?"

"Yes. Anyone." Jack repeated, rapidly firing off each point with a finger. "Their family. Their friends. Their classmates. Their coworkers. Their pe-"

"Even, let's say, a construction worker. He could just go inside and pick up, I don't know, quantum physics? Anatomy of any frames? Gardening?"

"Sure." Raf squinted and moved to wipe off his glasses with his sleeves. "Clubs and people like to donate more to expand the base. Some of the college professors even leave early editions of their textbooks." Raf readjusted his glasses and beamed. "It's for easier access people and for an industrial copier."

"Oh..." There was a wealth of meaning in that small noise.

"You..." Jack struggled on the concept. Perhaps giant metal aliens didn't need books and could download information from their own internet. "You don't have libraries or schools?"

"No. We did." Bulkhead sighed. "I just wasn't allowed into them."

Out of all of them, Miko would be the to come the closest to understanding them in some ways. 出る��は打たれる. The nail that sticks out gets hammered in.

As a transfer student from Japan, Miko does have instances of culture clashes with her American classmates and host family.

She's loud. She knows that. But Americans are a different breed with no restraint. In some ways, admirable. In others, incredibly frustrating.

Miko is used to a far heavier workload with long hours after-school and a busy city life. Jasper qualifies between a small and large town that she can't walk around easily on her own with the blazing heat and bitter cold nights and the lack of a car or a bike.

Detention in the US is a joke to her. Stay in school after it's over? She's used to doing that back at home with clubs and cleaning it. On a Saturday? Same thing. Some clubs back home ran long hours over the weekend. Do homework? She already finished it during lunch or between classes because she wants all the other time to herself and the 'bots.

Because Bulkhead gets a realization just how free the kids' social mobility is, he tries to get on Miko over her scrapping at school and her assignments, especially after Ratchet's high jacking their science projects resulted in failure. And that was another strange blow since Ratchet is a medic and a scientist. She's smart and quick and can be rough around the edges and so everywhere, and, to him, Miko deserves everything she could want in her short life. (And wasn't that also a terrifying concept to grasp? To just live and die under a single vorn?)

At first, Miko was getting annoyed because it's similar to the well-meaning nagging her host family does, but she reads the worry he has, and they have to really sit down and speak and soothe over his misunderstandings.

It comes as a huge surprise to her that Bulkhead can just download a language into him. Context and colloquialisms would be missing, and he needs work because he's a mix between extreme formality and, much to her delight, yakuza. And it's all because of her own frustration that English is her second language.

[comicaurora]

Hey Red!

I have a writing question I’d like to ask, if that’s cool with you!

When it comes to starting a new story, big or small, pantsing or structuring, with black tea or chamomile, do you have any tips for, er, actually pulling the trigger and beginning? I don’t mean the “accusatory blank page”, I mean in getting to the “I genuinely believe this is a story worth telling and that should be told by me” mindset sufficient to commit. (Insofar as there’s a difference.)

Asking you because you’re someone who has excellent and proven skills in showwomanship, creativity, execution and all-round good storytelling vibes. Cuz while I’ve studied story structure and writing advice aplenty… It’s hard to take the dive when you’ve only ever been in the kiddie pool, so to speak.

Thanks either way!

Aw shucks!

I kinda feel like there's an intermediate stage here that I usually hit first, which is when I've been telling a story for myself for so long that I start feeling like I don't want to keep it to myself anymore.

A lot of the stuff I write or draw is just for me - stuff where I enjoy the act of creation or use it to flesh out and play with a concept I've been toying with. Sketchbook stuff that doesn't have an outside audience in mind, just stuff that I like. These aren't stories that have the end goal of sharing them - hell, half of them are just comic or prose adaptations of story beats that stuck with me that I wanted to play around with as practice and for fun. The rest of it is sketch pages of characters, doodles of scenes or snippets of prose writing built around a single scene or concept.

I think that the creative urge, when examined, should be subdivided into two extremely distinct subsections for clarity; the desire to make, and the desire to share. Not every person shares both in equal measure - in fact I'd say it's much more common for them to exist independently. The desire to share isn't limited to art you yourself created, either - fandom is constructed from a massive excess of the desire to share, passing around a story for examination and discussion because it is inherently fun to share the experience, and most of us can relate to the burning need to talk about this thing that's in my brain. And there's plenty of art that results from the desire to make that has none of the desire to share, ref cit everything in a sketchbook or every private writing exercise done for the joy of it. Neither element can be forced, and there's nothing wrong with either one existing without the other.

For me at least, the desire to share builds slowly for the larger projects. I might be eager to share a doodle or a sketch I think people will get a kick out of, but something bigger and more complicated will stay in my brain for much longer, and might never make it out. For me, Aurora started as just a playground for me to write and draw in, but over the years it built up to something I wanted to share - something I felt I'd be betraying if I let it sit in my head. It kind of just grew naturally, and if I'd tried to force it beforehand I would've felt self-conscious and uncomfortable rather than getting any joy out of the act of sharing.

[badcaseofcasey]

Steddie Soulmate/Met as Kids AU - Part 2 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

a/n: I'm so blown away by the positive response to this - I'm still kind of a newbie to the steddie fic world. Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you're enjoying this AU as much as I am!

Steve turned, looking for the source of the voice and finding a young kid with big brown eyes and a buzz cut, two sword-like sticks and a hopeful expression on his face.

“There aren’t any dragons here,” he said back, confused a bit by the other boy’s words and the sensation on his side.

“Sure there are!” The boy gestured at the air around them. “There can be dragons anywhere we decide there are - and I say there’s one coming out from the trees over there!”

Steve found himself instantly sucked into the other boy’s magnetic energy. Steve’s friends didn’t often want to play like this - they preferred sports to make believe - but Steve was ready to fight dragons wherever this boy said there were dragons.

Steve reached out a hand to take the stick sword that the other boy was offering him and smiled.

“What’s your name?”  the boy asked.

“Steve,” he replied, then remembered his mom’s lessons on etiquette. “And yours?” 

“I’m Sir Eddie!” he said. “And I dub you-” the boy tapped each of Steve's shoulders with his stick - "Sir Steve! Come on, let's go - the dragons are getting away!"

They spent the afternoon fighting imaginary dragons, protecting their imaginary villagers and defending the imaginary land they’d sworn to protect, until Steve’s nanny stood up and looked over at him for the first time since they arrived and announced it was time to be getting home.

“I have to go,” Steve said. “My parents are getting back tomorrow, so I have to make sure my room is clean.”

“Oh, okay,” Eddie said, shrugging his shoulders and looking sad to say goodbye. “Well, I had lots of fun - maybe we can play again tomorrow if my uncle says it’s okay!”

“That would be awesome,” Steve agreed enthusiastically. He couldn’t get enough of how fun it felt to be around this other boy who seemed to follow his imagination wherever it took him.

Of course, Steve never ended up seeing the boy at the park again. His parents were back in town, so his visits to the park had stopped for a while - at least until they left again. But he never forgot Sir Eddie or their afternoon of fighting dragons. When he got older and learned what the words on his ribs meant, he told exactly one person - his new nanny, a different one than the one that had been with him that day - but she quickly shut him down as soon as he started to tell her about the boy from the playground.

“Mr. Steve, this world isn’t always kind to boys who got their words from other boys,” she said in a hushed tone. “There's nothing wrong with it - but this is a secret you should keep to yourself, just between you and me, until you know it’s safe to share.”

Steve nodded seriously. This nanny was relatively new, but he trusted her - she had never gotten mad at him, not even when he had spilled the cup of water from his paints.

So he had kept it to himself, but he had also kept the memories of the other boy - his soulmate - safe. It was easier just to lie about it than to try and explain what had happened.

Until of course, Sir Eddie made his way back into his life - just as dramatically as he had the first time.

Part 3

taglist (let me know if you'd like to be added/removed!): @infinitetrashbag @vampireinthesun @swimmingbirdrunningrock @maya-custodios-dionach @thev01dd @obsessivlyme

[infinitebrians]

Favorite Games of 2023 Part 4: Pseudoregalia

I knew Pseudoregalia was going to be good the minute I started the game and did the input for the Mario 64 side flip jump and the game’s main character Sybil did her own version of that satisfying jump. One of my all time favorite things to do in a Mario game (or any game) is that side flip, a jump that is as practical as it is just simply satisfying to do. Sybil being able to do that jump without needing any of the power ups found in the game told me that the developers of this game knew the importance to making character feel good jumping around in a 3D world. Her movement only gets better from there with a bunch of new platforming abilities that makes her capable of getting what feels like anywhere in that game world if desired. The pure control you have over Sybil's platforming capabilities gave me so many great moments of pure curiosity to experiment with what could work. What's better is watching friends and others play the game and figure out their own solutions to the game's open ended platforming design. There are no wrong answers in the world of Pseudoregalia, just results.

This game was a complete surprise in just about every way, just the best feeling platformer I’ve played in a long while in this small, cleaned up former game jam game. I’ve followed the main dev rittzler on twitter for a few years because the gameplay clips of their work have all looked fun and impressive and they always shared other really cool indie dev work as well. So, I was excited to finally play Pseudoregalia when it was announced to be released. It's super low price (6 dollars USD) and being something I was able to finish in the span of one day alone was a huge breath of fresh air in this current gaming environment. It’s something I’ve been personally thinking a lot about recently is the appeal of a simpler, lower priced game. It’s appeal to me coming from playing something that never needs to be some sort of omnipresent, super game. Instead, Pseudoregalia presents itself in a humble statement of, ‘here, enjoy a few hours jumping around this wacky maze like castle as a goat bunny lady!’.

I'm not a person who typically ever has a desire to replay a game right after finishing it, I usually prefer to immediately move on to another game that I've been wishing to play for for a while. Pseudoregalia is a game I've played four or so times now from start to finish, I even started another playthrough in preparation for this drawing/writing and found myself wanting to play it all the way through again. Its the first time I found myself actually physically seeing the appeal of speedrunning, a hobby I always just enjoyed as a spectator. Pseudoregalia just lends itself so neatly to that part of me that loves routing out a path for stuff. How quickly can you find all the vital movement abilities for Sybil? What's unnecessary, what can be improved, what can be gathered while on the path of gathering something else. From at least my perspective of not actually investigating the proper speedrunner's routing, the options feel immense. From these handful of times replaying the game I've gotten a good handle of finding my way around the map and a good idea of how to get a lot of the really important movement abilities almost immediately. It also made the game feel quite different from how it felt to me with my first playthrough, what was once mysterious and labyrinthine was now a familiar playground.

That is one thing I will miss when doing those repeat playthroughs is that sense of discovery that occurred with that initial run. Soon before Pseudoregalia came out, I watched a lot of Videochess and spaghoner's exploration and documentation of the incredible Mario 64 hack, B3313 ( https://youtu.be/pLKB0SG0i8c ). I found that hack incredible at creating a sense of uneasiness and wonder from simply keeping you constantly guessing what was next behind each door something even those two expressed while streaming. During my first playthrough of Pseudoregalia, I was completely lost in that castle and was constantly finding paths that led to new zones or ones circled me back to old ones from hours ago. It was a pretty incredible feeling of discovery that only wore out it's welcome at the end when I just needed one more big key necessary for progression. What helped make exploration in both of these games engaging the whole time is that aspect of having a really fun character to move around as while being lost. It was okay with being completely lost because I could still just keep doing these long jumps into wall kicks that just make Sybil go fuckin' fast in an immensely satisfying way.

I think in the time it's taken me to think about this game again, and briefly revisit it in preparation for this art/writing I've come to decide that this is probably my favorite new game of 2023. In a year full of fantastic platformers to pick from, this one was just a class above in terms of movement design and movement application.

[hunnitastic]

💔It Should Be Me💔

~♡ ︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶♡~

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PREVIEW

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||Hello! I wanted to show off a preview for my new Welcome Home fanfic! The full story will only be posted on ao3 but, I will be posting updates on here as well! I hope you enjoy a little sneak peek!||

──☆.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ✱*.｡:｡.:｡✧*.｡✰ ──

(Art by @/partycoffin)

Third person p.o.v

Life was never perfect. It can be cruel and taunting sometimes. There are days were you never wanted to roll out of bed and go about your day. To just stay inside and isolate yourself from the world. To be alone with your thoughts. Sheltered by your dark conflicting emotions teasing you.

You sat on your bed, knees brought up to your chest. Hair messily done and face streaked with tear stains. You stayed like this from the morning till later afternoon. Ignoring the calls and multiple spamming of text messaged from your phone. You sat silent, listening to the ticking of your wall clock and the sounds that poured from the crack of your window. Shivering at the cool breeze that snuck its way inside.

What was it that made you lock yourself up like this you ask. Well, for that, we'd have to go back to 2 years ago...

Where everything was perfectly bliss for you.

(2 YEARS AGO)

It was cool Monday morning. You groggily rolled out of bed smacking the snooze button of your alarm clock. You stretch and let out a loud yawn while scratching your back. You looked at the time. You had 2 hours to yourself before you had to get ready for work. You walked out of your bedroom and straight to the kitchen were you prepared to make yourself a cup of plain coffee. You turned on the t.v in your living room for background noise as you made yourself some toasted frozen waffles for breakfast. You hummed taking in the bitter aroma of fresh coffee and toasted waffles.

You sat down at your kitchen tables and pulled out your phone scrolling through your unread messages. After responding you glanced up at a portrait that hung up on your wall. A smile making its way to your face. It was a group photo of you and your friends at your high-school graduation. Your group has been together since elementary. And you were glad to have met every single one of them.

First There was your best gal pal Julie. She was the biggest sweetheart you have ever met. She would invite you to every birthday party and sleepover or even invite you to just go over to her house and play some games and watch movies. You couldn't count how many times you played barbie with her. You would have lost track.

Next there was your best bud Barnaby. Barnaby was always there for you whenever you struggled with your confidence. Whether it be at p.e or during school projects. He would always pair up with you to make you feel more comfortable.

Then there was Sally. The brightest person you ever met. She was the first person who befriended you when you joined theater for the first time. Her upbeat energy and positive would always lift up your mood whenever you felt out of place.

There's also frank. You always called frank the know-it-all of the group. You became friends with him when he was being bullied on the school playground and you came to his aid and scared the bullies away. Once you both entered middle school frank was always your go to for any kinds of homework you struggled with. He would always host study sessions at his house. Frank was your special study buddy.

There is also poppy! You always saw her as the mother of the group. She would always worry whenever you would play dangerous games or run around too fast. She would always care bandages in her backpack whenever you fell. She was a bit of a worry-wart but you knew she always meant well. She was there for you during your hard times in high-school whenever your mother was too busy to be with you.

Up next was Howdy! Just like poppy he was kind of like the father of the group. He would scold you, Julie and barnaby for playing too many pranks in class or fooling around too much while playing outside. He would always clean up your messes even though he never had to. You were so greatful to have met someone as kind as howdy.

Next in line was Eddie! You met eddie when he first transfered to your elementary school. He was sitting by himself working on some arts and crafts. And so you joined him to color! Ever since then whenever you had an art project you always went to Eddie for help or advice. Of course Eddie was also a bit clumsy so whenever you would play he was the one who would always fall down the most. You loved playing and coloring with eddie. 

And last...was Wally...your precious best friend Wally Darling. You've known wally since you were practically in diapers. You were the closest childhood friends of the group. Anytime you walked to and from school wally would always join you. Holding hands and happily skipping down the sidewalk. You always told each other secrets and hanging out in each other's rooms during family parties or get togethers. Wally was the first person you trusted. The first person you felt comfortable being yourself around. You loved being his friend. But when muddled school came around you started seeing wally in a different way. Your palms would always get sweaty, your heart would beat out your chest and you would be completely tounge tied whenever he was around you. You had no clue what was going on. It wasn't until Julie and barnaby had caught on to your change of behavior. Explaining how you started to like wally more than friends. Ever since you started crushing on your best friend you found it hard to express your feelings for him. Even with the help of your 2 wing men, that being Julie and barnaby, things would always go wrong.

And to this very day you have never confessed.

But that doesn't matter now! Now that you're grown up and living on your own, you and your friends managed to stay close. You all worked at a very well known supermarket known as "Welcome Home Grocery Store". You and Julie worked as cashiers since neither of you could focus or be near enough to stock up the aisles. Howdy and barnaby worked as stockers, since they were tall enough to reach the highest shelves. Frank would help with shipments since he was very well organized. Sally would be in charge of displays around the store as well as lending a hand with frank during busy shipment days. Poppy works at the bakery and sometimes offers a hand with stocking on slow days. Eddie was the assistant manager and your good old best friend Wally was General Manager.

Most people wouldn't enjoy going to work. But being able to see your friends everyday made it all worth it. Even with difficult customers or fast paced days you enjoyed being with your friends.

After your waffles were done toasting you quickly put them on a plate. Topping them with some fruit and whipped cream with a little bit of syrup. You poured yourself a cup of coffee, mixed in some cream and sugar and went to your living room. Sitting down criss cross on your couch and ate your breakfast while you flipped through the channel before leaving it on some cartoons.

After finishing your breakfast you checked the time on your phone. Letting out a yell, seeing that you were gonna be late if you didn't change now, you quickly dumped your dishes in the sink and rushed to get ready. You slipped on your work shirt that was laying on the floor. Slightly wrinkled. You made a mental note to do laundry later this week. Stumbling around as you slipped on a pair of khakis. Bumping into furniture. You looked at your phone once more. "Shit." You cursed as you quickly slipped your worn out shoes on. You stood up and did a quick smell check. You had no time to shower so some deodorant and body spray will have to do for now.

Looking in the mirror making sure you looked neat and clean, you grabbed your phone, keys and bag. You slid down the hallway, running into the wall. You quickly rushed towards your front door. Pulling it open and slamming it shut making sure to lock it before you hurried to your car. You opened and closed the door. Putting in the key you started the car up and looked at the rear view mirror. You fixed yourself a little more before backing out of the driveway. Mentally preparing yourself for another day at work. Wondering what surprises were to come today.

||Hope you enjoyed the preview! Once I finish the first chapter ill be posting a link to the story! If there's anything you'd like to see in this story feel free to let me know!||

[haganezukawaifu]

𝑅𝑜𝓈𝒶 𝒟𝑜𝓁𝒸𝑒 𝒞𝒽. 𝟣

Before we start, if you haven't read Rosa Dolce on AO3 yet, here are some things you want to know. I would like to say my OC is a person of color. She is black as I am black. This is her point of view, in first person and this is her story. I hope you all enjoy it and without further do, let's begin. All rights belong to Stephine Myers. I only own Christine Anderson, my created character, and her storyline. Christine Anderson

~ Masterlist~ Next ~

"La mia dolce rosa."

I heard as I began to look for the voice. I found myself in a place that I had no familiarity with. I took a step down the hall, and I saw a portrait on the wall. I wandered the hall until I stood in front of a door. What is behind this door and where does it lead to? Just when I was about to reach out.

"Christine."

I woke up at the sound of my name. "We're almost there." Where am I? Oh right, Cordelia said that we were traveling somewhere but never told me where. So here I am sitting in the back, waiting for my destination. In the passenger seat sat my brother Anthony listening to his music no less. 

"Where are we going." "Well, I have a friend that I would like you to meet. I think you might enjoy meeting her," she said as she smiled. I don't know if I would like her or not. Cordelia is my foster mother. I was in a home since I was four years old and now, I am six years old, living with Cordelia and her son.

'We must be going somewhere far.'

The location was farther than I expected. I had never seen Cordelia drive this far out before in California but soon we turned in and I felt the car stop. We must be here. Cordelia shut off the car and Anthony got out first, then Cordelia and then me. We were in a park...I held her hand as I followed her to the entrance. A short brown-haired woman and a girl who looked just like her were waiting at the entrance.

"Renée. Nice to have you here," Cordelia said with a smile. The woman name Renée gave a welcoming smile in return. "Thanks for inviting me. It would be a pleasure for my daughter to have some friends," the woman name Renée said. Then I saw the girl that was beside her holding her hand.

'She looks to be about my age.'

"Bella, this is Cordelia. A teacher I work with at the school. And this little one right here is Christine. She's the same age as you," Renée introduced us. A girl name Bella said, "Hi." So, she is the same age. I wasn't used to meeting other kids my age. I was always around older kids in the home I stayed in but once I got adopted, it was just me, Cordelia, and Anthony. 

"Christine. Why don't we enter inside, and you and young Bella can explore and play?" Cordelia suggests. I grip her dress and look up at her. "But Cordelia." "It's okay, she won't bite. If anything, we would be with you," the woman’s name Renée said with a smile.

I didn't know if I should believe her, but Renée seemed trustworthy. So, If Cordelia trusts her, I guess I can too. I walk toward Bella as we both walk inside and to the playground. As I got to know Bella, we became friends. We like almost the same things. We both did ballet and she did piano. We hung out every chance we got together but our friendship didn't last long. Soon after Bella moved to Arizona and I moved away from California, Cordelia opened a flower shop in Forks, Washington. "Aphrodite Garden" she named it. It wasn't a terrible place actually; the shop was pleasant to be around but the weather in Forks was sometimes humid in a way. I hate how it makes my hair frizz. Soon I began to help around the shop, it became the most fun place to be around. Upon turning 14, Anthony left home, leaving Cordelia alone with me. Now I am 17 years old, in my junior year of high school. I'm in no after-school clubs, play any sports, and rarely have any friends here in this boring old town. I just spend my time at Aphrodite's and reading literature. I guess you can say I spend so much time there that people at school start suspect that I'm a witch. Ironic, isn't it? Occasionally, I would daydream and return to that place I always return to. Sometimes I can hear them even when I-.

"Christine."

I looked up and found Cordelia calling my name, holding a spatula in hand, and wearing her 'Plant Mom' Apron. I must have been daydreaming again. "Are you okay? You'll hardly touch your food." I think I hardly eat anything nowadays. "How was your sleep? Did you sleep well?" She asks. I can hardly even sleep. My dream always begins to become like that place that pulls me in every night. Same hallway. Same portrait on the wall. Same door. And that same voice calling me as they are longing to see me as I am to them. 

"Christine."

"Hmmm." "Is there something on your mind? Are those kids bothering you again," she asked. "No. I'm fine Cordelia. Don't worry. I can handle myself." Cordelia sighed as she walked toward me and held my hand. "Promise me you will tell me if something bothers you," she said. "You know I will. I must go. I'll make sure to be by the shop earlier to help with the batch order."

I stood up and grabbed my bag and keys and walked out. I headed toward my black Prius hybrid (I own a Prius but it's gold but yeah) as I unlocked it and got inside, started it up, and began my route to school. Cordelia never really wanted me to call her 'Mom.' Only because when she adopted me, she told me it wasn't necessary yet. To call her Cordelia instead as I always have. Soon I made it to school, turned into the lot, and parked my car in a designated spot. As soon as I got out, I grabbed my bag and went inside. Keeping my head down and walking toward my locker in an attempt to avoid one person in mind. But.

"Hey there Enchantress."

I sighed and looked to my side, and it was Mike. I rolled my eyes in annoyance "What is it, Mike."

'It's unfair enough I share English with him.'

"Rumor has it that one of the measuring cylinders exploded during Bio. You wouldn't have anything to do about that," he said as he leaned right by my locker. "If I did, you wouldn't hear it from me. Besides it wasn't my cylinder." I continue to browse my locker getting my books for class. Trying to get out of this conversation. "Are you sure? You didn't cast any spells before class, right," he asked smirking. I slam my locker door shut as I turn to look at him. "Go away. Don't you have better things to do than annoy me?"

I walk off with books in my hand as I run my hand through my curly hair in frustration. Why so early in the morning? He has annoyed me since the school started. Like God, what will it take for him to leave me alone? I walked into my English class, and I saw Mr. Mason was on his computer. I saw the classroom was rowdy as ever. I walked to my usual seat which was at the back of the class and put my things beside my chair. I sigh. English. One of my favorite classes. Reading literature is one of my favorite things of mine. I blame my brother Anthony for that. He would read every book he could get his hands on and sing to me. Oh, Anthony.

'I wonder what he’s doing now.'

Suddenly the bell rang, and a girl came inside that I had never seen before. She had brown hair, and ivory skin and didn't seem like someone who would play sports despite the sports jersey she was wearing. I wouldn't tell. She gave Mr. Mason a paper and stood there. I don’t think I ever have seen her before besides my usual classmates like Rosalie, Alice, Mike, and Eric. The last bell rang, meaning everyone must be in their class; Mr. Mason closed the door as the classroom continue to be busy.

"Alright class. Settle down," Mr. Mason said.

The class fell silent. “Okay, Ms. Isabella Swan. You can see in the back,” he said as he motioned her to sit down. Wait, did I just hear that right? Isabella. Swan. Do you mean?

'Bella.'

[beamattack]

Hi! I wanted to ask you, how you began with your idea about your zelda au? You inspired me in doing a my own one and in a game-like-way, i love your contents in this your idea! (Idk if you already replied a similar question :,I)

What a nice message! I'm so happy when people ask about and enjoy my zelda stuff even when i haven't been able to draw for it for a while, since it's very close to my heart! :^D And i'm so happy to hear that it has inspired you!! Makes my heart worm 🪱 ❤️

As for how I began with it… I can't remember my exact thought process, but I've always found loz-games fascinating both gameplay-wise and story/worldbuilding-wise! I've always loved how different the games are even with their shared elements. The land of Hyrule itself and its creatures vary wildly from game to game and aren't bound by any certain rules, which just adds to its strange myth-like quality which i adore. So I think I just naturally started to play around and thought about what I would do if I made a LoZ game - it's like a giant playground to me! At first I just had vague ideas that I liked: I've always liked Vaati so he'd be the antagonist, I've always wanted to see more of the rarely seen darker fairies so I made one Link's companion, I like drawing fabric moving in the wind so Link got a scarf, I love drawing snow so that would be the main setting, etc.. You see my thought pattern, haha! I drew a couple of concept sketches to get it out of my head, and some years later I revisited it and added to it and formed into what it is today (Zelda, the village, the story, map & locations etc.).

Basically I wanted to create a LoZ idea that could possibly be played as an actual game in the franchise but with my own touches, and picking elements from canon that I really liked (some people have noticed that it feels like it could fit the “Hyrule's Decline” timeline, which is right - I'm super inspired by ALttP/ALBW's maps and Zelda 1 & 2's manuals and feel!). Same with the gameplay elements - so much of LoZ's identity lies in its gameplay, so for me it would be impossible to come up with a Zelda idea without thinking of it as a game, haha! So it's a mix between canon gameplay elements (dungeons, items, enemies & bosses) and just stuff that I personally think would be fun (Link as a stealthy scout, snowy environment hazards, status effects (I'm a JRPG nerd) etc).

Sorry for the long answer! This might be more than you asked for. But I'm glad you asked, thank you! :D I haven't been able to draw much lately because of my studies but here are a couple of sketches I can share! :)

(loz idea masterpost)

[nerdazzler]

Childhood Memories.

You were just playing outside by yourself in your front yard when you decided to go for a walk through the neighborhood. You were mindlessly walking around until you noticed a little red headed boy in the window of his house, he looks to be about your age.

You had honestly gotten rather bored while walking around and he looked like a good person to play with. So you walked up to him and his window.

“Hello!” You cheerfully greet the boy. The red headed boy looks at you quite confused and startled at your presence, “hello?” He hesitantly responds. “What are you doing?” You ask him, he looks at the book on the desk in front of him before responding to you. “Studying.” 

‘Studying? Well that just sounds boring.’ You think to yourself, pouting at the thought. “Well that’s no fun!” You whine, the boy looks away from you, thinking of a way to respond. As he dose this you notice that there is enough space in his window for you to climb in. 

The boy looks back at the spot you were standing in, only to not find you there. Instead he found you standing right in front of him. It takes him a whole minute to register your presence in his house before going into a full blown panic, saying something about his mother. 

You laugh, “my mom doesn’t know I’m here either, so we might as well just get in trouble together!” He stops talking.

He looks about ready to cry which causes you to stop smiling and start panicking, trying to find something to calm him down with before any tears could be shed. You feel your pockets hoping to find a toy or something to give him, instead you find a cookie in your pocket and shove it in his mouth. 

The boy falls silent. You cheerfully extend out your hand and smile, “Hi! I’m (Y/N), Nice to meet you!” He looks at your hand for a second before hesitantly shaking it and introducing himself “My name is Riddle, Rosehearts. It’s nice to meet you too.” You think you have stars in your eyes “Oooh! You talk all fancy! I like that!” 

Riddle slightly giggles at your response “It’s not being fancy, it’s being polite and proper.” You tilt your head not really understanding what you’ve been told. “Oh! Like whenever my mom makes me dress all nice whenever we have guests or go somewhere fancy?” Riddle nods “Kinda like that.” 

“Ooooh.” It clicks in your head to an extent. “(Y/-!” You look out the window you came in from not sure if you heard something or not. “Did you hear something?” Riddle ask, “(Y/N)!” It’s your mom. You look at riddle and nod “Yea! My mom is calling me, I should probably go.”

You hurry towards the window and climb out of it with riddle not to far behind watching you, you look back at him from the outside of his house “I”lol be back as soon as I can!” You wave goodbye as you run in the direction of your mom’s voice. “Bye Bye Riddle! It was nice meeting you!”

The boy only watches you leave, weakly waving as you move farther out of his view. “Goodbye…”

A few days have passed since you met the red headed boy. Your mother scolded you for leaving without saying anything and you were forced to stay inside all day, not that you minded it all that much, but the thought of meeting Riddle again excited you.

After you were allowed to play outside again you immediately left, but made sure to say something to your mom before leaving. You ran through the neighborhood trying to find the house you stumbled upon last time, it took you a while since you didn’t remember how you originally got there but you made it. 

You almost yell riddle’s name if not for the fact you saw him talking to two other kids. They also looked about your age, maybe a year or two older? You’re disappointed but didn’t want to interrupt whatever they were doing, so you left to go to a nearby playground.

It was early in the evening so a lot of people happened to be in the park. You looked around for anyone to play with and saw a ginger haired boy with messy hair playing in the sandbox, he looked like he was having fun so why not join him? You walk up to the ginger haired boy “Hello!” He looks up at you, “Hi!” He’s playing with dinosaur toys.

You bend down to get in the sandbox with him “What are you playing?” You ask him and he proudly shows you the toys in his hands “Dinos!” He says enthusiastically.

You giggle “Can I play?” He hands you a pterodactyl toy and starts to make a mess in the sand as you laugh and copy him.

While you didn’t get to play with riddle like you wanted, you did have fun with a new friend today. 

Memory fragment 1/???

⋙ Memory fragment 2/???

[otherone12]

Record Store

Ray Toro × Reader

-> Masterlist

A/N:Heyy! Ray was the only member that I haven't written about yet, but here it is! This one is particularly cliche, but I hope you enjoy it anyway :D 

Summary: It was supposed to be another ordinary trip to the record store, but your plans are interrupted when a guy with a cup of coffee bumps into you.

- Word Count: 1.230

- Warnings: none :)

- Ps: I'll not use y/n…

- Ps2: I'm brazilian, so english is not my first language ... sorry if i wrote something wrong.

___________________________________________

1st Person POV

I didn’t know why, but I was in some kind of urge to get out and breathe some pure air, so I thought to myself that I should take a walk and I remembered that probably my favorite store received a new batch of vinyls. 

With my favorite sweater and my jeans, I was on my way to the record store, so I could search for something to put in my collection. 

 The day was cloudy, and I felt the wind blow and mess my hair.  The red and orange leaves on the floor turned the boring street a little more happy, the fall energy always makes me feel like I'm in some kind of movie. I started to observe the birds flying and the kids playing in the playground close to the street I walked.

The time passed so fast, and when I noticed, I was a few steps away from the front door of the store, enjoying the moment, but the scene was ruined with a hit and a really hot stain in my clothes when I passed through the door. 

- Dude?! What the f-

I was about to scream, then I looked at the face of the man who spilled his coffee on me and… damn! He was so pretty that I forgot what I was mad about. 

- SHIT! I’m so so sorry. - He said, with eyes wide open and a desperate tone in his voice. - I should’ve paid more attention and- Are you okay?

The words tumbled out of his mouth wildly as he apologized and i just could keep watching his brown eyes match perfectly with the welcoming atmosphere I was admiring seconds before. 

- That’s fine. I overreacted… and it was my fault too, by the way. - I gave him a little smile and he sighed in relief - I’m sorry.

- You have nothing to apologize for. - He laughed a little and stretched out his hand -  I'm Ray.

I keep the smile on my face while I tell him my name and shake his hand. Without taking any step, we kept staring at each other, so I decided to break the silence, because it started to be a bit awkward.

- So.. were you trying to enter the store too, Ray?  

He was looking deep in my eyes then, when my voice reached his ears, it seemed as if he had been shaked and he quickly turned his face towards another direction.

- Yeah i.. I was.  - He moved to the door and opened it, gesturing for me to get in - After you.

- Thanks. - I couldn’t help but smile again - You’re such a gentleman.

 I used a joke tone, he turned red as a tomato and followed me around the store to the “Rock classic” seccion. I grabbed Queen’s “Night at The Opera” record and Ray’s eyes glowed looking at the vinyl. I pretended not to notice, but he didn’t stay quiet for too long. 

- You have good taste in music, I absolutely love this album! 

- Really? Queen is one of my favorite bands EVER!

We both got excited and we took advantage of the fact that we were alone in the store and started talking.

- Mine too! - He screamed a bit loud, and I chuckled watching him get excited - I also like bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer… I don't know if you’re into this kind of song but-

I don't believe in passion at first sight, but he speaks in such an affectionate and captivating way that I can only think about running my fingers through his shiny, curly hair. Focusing again on the dialogue we were having, I got carried away and, like him, spoke a little too loudly.

- Are you kidding?! The first record I bought for myself was “Kill’Em All”!

- A masterpiece, I can't deny. - Ray got some shy tone in his voice, completely out of touch with our flashy conversation - May I ask you something?

- Sure… - I looked back to the vinyls searching for another one to pick. - Ask and I'll decide if I'll answer or not.

He took a deep breath and asked fast with eyes closed.

- Do you have a boyfriend, girlfriend, partener or-

I knew where we were going after this kind of question, he seemed nervous, so i cut him off with an answer before he exploded.

- Nope… 

- So, if you don’t mind…- With a bit more confidence, he finally did what I was waiting for him to do. - Can we take our conversation to a dinner tonight? 

- I'd love to.

*** time skip *** 

After paying for the records, I went home to get ready, after all, there's no way I'm going to a date with coffee-stained clothes. 

Waiting until the appointed time was nerve-wracking, but it gave me time to think about how strange it is to feel a sudden connection with someone who literally bumped into me.

I called a taxi close to the scheduled time, not too early, but also not late enough to make him wait for me. Through the car window, I could see him. I don't think I've ever seen a man so well groomed to see me. I blinked twice to make sure it was actually a rose Ray had in his hand.

- Wow… You look awesome! 

Ray looked at me like i was some kind of piece of art in some museum. His gaze runned through all my body, the sansation wasn't creepy, it was actually really comfortable. He wasn't looking with hungry eyes, but with a deep appreciation.

- So do you! - I pointed to the rose and gave him a shy smile - Is this for me?

- Yeah… I wasn’t sure if you like roses, but who doesn't? 

I got closer to him and kissed his cheek, making him blush. Ray took my hand and we walked in the restaurant.

*** time skip ***

Our date was just perfect. I could talk with him for hours and never get tired of his sweet way to tell me about his life and make me feel appreciated when I talked about mine. 

- Thanks for coming.

- No need to thank, if you didn’t ask me to go out with you, I would probably do. 

I confessed, now knowing that he won’t take some kind of advantage of me.

- Are you serious? 

- Sure! - Ray stepped closer to me, and my body shivered. After a brief moment, i keep saying - I found you extremely attractive.

- I’m a bit boring, but if you say so..

- I don’t find you boring at all. 

I slowly grabbed his face with my hands and looked at him really close. Our lips reached each other with a sweet combination of desire and passion. We both were thinking of doing this since he bumped into me earlier that day. His hands were placed on my hips, a fire started in my body when his tongue enter my mouth and the kiss turned more intense. 

 At that point, we no longer cared about the people passing by us, mainly because we were so involved in each other that there was no room for the rest of the world. A few seconds later, we stopped to catch our breath, he looked at me intensely and I returned the look.

- That means we're gonna see each other again?

He gave me a insecure smile.

- Hell yeah! 

I said, kissing him again, quickly now, but with the sureness of kissing him again another day. 

___________________________________________

~ So... that's it, hope u liked ;)

[cb-writes-stuff]

HEAVY ISAT SPOILERS. IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY SPOILER TAGS FILTERED BUT DON’T WANT TO GET SPOILED, DO NOT GO PAST THE CUT.

Anyway. Let’s talk about Isabeau. And my feelings.

(Come on, you can’t expect me to play ISAT and not talk about my feelings.)

(This is not a silly post. All my other ISAT liveblogging posts have been silly, but this one is not. Not even slightly. If you’re only here for silly stuff, then you’re not here for this. But hey, you should read it anyway. You don’t have to like or reblog or anything. Sometimes it’s worth getting another perspective.)

Still here? Hmm. Maybe you do have tags filtered, and you wanted to see what this was about anyway? Hmm. I’ll make the least important words colored, juuuust in case.

I’m doing Isabeau’s help, and he talks about who he was before Changing. Smart, nerdy, always has the right answers, always gets good grades, can’t make friends on the playground, can’t even ask for a pen from a classmate, all that. And I was reading it, and I could really relate. That sounded a lot like me when I was younger. Not the braids part, though. But that’s not the point. It still kinda sounds like me. I have friends, and they’re great, but I can’t meet anyone new. Can’t befriend anyone new. I’ve tried a few times to go ask a place if they were hiring, and I just… couldn’t. I wasn’t paralyzed, but… I was so terrified of approaching anyone. So I just kept wandering around, until I told my ride I just wanted to go home. And I felt really crappy. If I can’t do this, how am I ever gonna live my life? How am I gonna do anything beyond basic human interactions?

But… I can’t change who I am. I’d tell myself, “I’m not that person anymore, I’m not gonna get anxious, I’m gonna be able to ask.” And then I go, and I get anxious, and I can’t ask. It’s not that easy. You can’t just change who you are. Am I wrong? Genuinely, am I? And if you can, is it really worth killing your self, as Isabeau puts it? Past self or no, it’s still yours.

…Truth be told, that sounds terrifying. Ripping out the parts of me that I’m familiar with, tearing up the version of me I know. It’s much easier to stay the same. I can’t change. Neither can I Change. I don’t really have a reason to, but… Well, I guess that’s not true. But—that’s just not how it works for me. Maybe other people can change. Completely reinvent themselves. Become someone totally new, yet be who they always were. But not me. I’m not Isabeau. Sure, he might be happy, love himself, etc. And if I’m not those things, that’s fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll find ways to do those without changing. I have to, since changing isn’t an option. I just… can’t.

[coneyislandbabey]

don't cry my sweet, don't break my heart. -> w.rojas

WARNINGS: profanities

SYNOPSIS: Warren being a good dad and having a little crisis about his little girl growing up word count: 1,524

NOTES: This was written for this request! This is also part of the mariposaverse, other related fics can be found on my masterlist!

The park was crowded, and you could tell that Warren was nervous. He was sizing up the play structures and all the children playing on them like he could calculate the exact risk of allowing Mariposa to play on it in his head. 

“Warren, it’s a park. It’s designed for children,” you said gently, laying a fortifying hand on his arm. He only clutched Mariposa closer to his chest, the little girl’s squirming and pointing towards the playground not getting through to him at all. 

“I can see, like, thirteen different ways she can get hurt just from here,” he said, eyes still scanning the playground. You laughed, and tried to cover it unconvincingly with a cough. You had never seen this worried, protective side of Warren before Mariposa. He had been the most careless, go-with-the-flow person you knew, until you told him you were pregnant. The transformation into fussy mother hen happened almost overnight, and doubled in intensity when she was born. Ever since Mariposa had learned to walk, and, in turn, learned to get into things she wasn’t supposed to get into, this side of him had intensified exponentially. 

“It’s not like we’re just letting her loose in there,” you reminded him. “You’ll be with her wherever she goes, baby. She’ll be okay.” 

Warren heaved a sigh. “Fine, we’ll give it a try.” 

“You’re so brave,” you deadpanned. Warren nodded to himself, trying to psych himself up. Eventually, he bent over to stand Mariposa on the grass. Immediately, she began toddling toward the playground, attempting to move faster than her chubby little legs could carry her. Warren was there, always just a step behind her, catching her before she could fall and resetting her on her path. 

When she finally reached the playground, it seemed that the sight of so many rowdy children in one place bewildered her. Prior to this moment, the only other child she had known was mild-mannered little Julia, who sat patiently while Mariposa chewed on her dolls and shared her snacks without even being asked to. 

Warren watched her hesitate on the edge of the playground, the worry seeping back into his eyes. “Maybe it’s too soon? All these kids are bigger than her. One wrong move and somebody’s gonna flatten her.” 

“She’s gonna be fine,” you reassured him. “You’ll be right next to her the whole time, right? There’s no safer place for her to be.” 

A determined look settled on Mariposa’s face, and she walked further into the playground, Warren right on her tail. Once you were satisfied that he wasn’t going to pick her up in a panic and make a run for it, you made your way to one of the benches bordering the mulch with the stroller, sitting down to watch them. 

By some miracle, Warren finally seemed to relax as he watched Mariposa discover the park for the first time. He still steered her away from the taller, scarier play structures or anywhere with too many kids, but he let her sit down and throw mulch around and pull herself up the little flight of stairs to the smallest slide in the park. You pulled a paperback out of the pocket on the back of the stroller, and settled in to try to read a bit. 

After a few pages, you glanced up to check on your little family, and saw Warren standing alone on one side of the park, head whipping around frantically. A second later, he zeroed in on Mariposa, who had managed to get a few feet away from him somehow. She was running towards something you couldn’t see. Warren called her name, but she wasn’t listening, too determined to get to whatever it was that had caught her attention. 

He started after her, but it was too late; you watched as one of her feet caught on the other, sending her tumbling down into the mulch on her hands and knees. She looked up at Warren, her lips puckering into a heartbreaking pout as her dark eyes welled with tears. You shot up from the bench, book and stroller abandoned, picking your way across the playground towards them. By the time you got there, Warren was sitting in the mulch with her, swiping the tears from her face with his thumbs. 

“You’re okay, mi vida,” he said, voice gentle and calming. “It’s just a little scrape, see? We’ll get you home and fix you right up.” 

“Papà,” she said, voice watery, her arms reaching for him to pick her up. He did so carefully, arranging her in his arms so that he didn’t irritate the scrape on her knee. When he turned around, the look on his face was so sad you could almost feel your heart breaking. When Mariposa caught sight of you, the tears started up again. 

“Oh, my little butterfly, did you take a spill?” you asked, wiping away her tears yourself this time. Her mouth was still drawn into a pout as she snuggled into Warren’s chest. He insisted on carrying her the whole way home instead of strapping her back into the stroller, and by the time you reached the house, she was fast asleep in his arms. 

“I’ll go get neosporin and a band-aid,” you whispered once inside. “We’ll try to do this without her waking up?” Warren nodded, standing as still as possible in the entryway. You ran to the bathroom and grabbed what you needed from the first aid kit. Slowly, Warren straightened out Mariposa’s little leg, pausing any time she stirred even slightly. You dabbed on the neosporin and gently smoothed on the band-aid, cheering inwardly when you got through the whole thing without her waking. After, Warren crept slowly down the hallway, carefully depositing her in her bed and backing out of the room. 

Once the door was safely closed behind him, he turned and sighed, running a hand down the side of his face. 

“I have played sold out fucking stadiums, and still I have never felt as stressed out as I did when I watched her trip and fall,” he said, his voice tight. You walked over to him, looping your arms around his neck. His arms automatically went around your waist, forehead resting against yours. 

“Are you really this stressed over her tripping?” 

Warren paused for a moment, turning the question over. “I just… I should have been able to protect her from it. I should be able to protect her from everything.” 

“It’s a hard pill to swallow, but, honey, this is only the first of many things you aren’t going to be able to protect her from,” you said gently. 

“I know you’re right, but that doesn’t mean I have to accept it,” he responded, and some of the tightness had gone from his voice. “Me not being able to keep her in a little bubble forever means she’s starting to grow up, and I don’t want her to.” 

You laughed, trying to suppress the sudden urge to cry at the idea of your little baby growing up. “Believe me, I would’ve kept her as small as the day she was born forever if I could. Watching her grow up is going to be hard, but it’s going to be so good, too. Besides, we’ll have each other through it all, right? You will always have me to lean on through all the hard spots.” 

You leaned your head against his chest, and Warren slotted his chin on top of it, his hands rubbing up and down your back. “You will always have me to lean on, too, mi corazón. But if I’m honest, I’m probably going to have to lean on you a whole lot more. Raising a daughter might actually kill me. I’m gonna spend every second of the rest of my life worrying about that kid.” 

“You and me both, baby,” you laughed. “But, for the record, you are doing a wonderful job so far.”

Warren pulled back, looking down at you with an eyebrow raised. “I just let her eat shit on the playground an hour ago.” 

“You didn’t let her do anything. She just did what kids are always gonna do,” you shrugged. “And you were there to dry her tears and make her feel safe and loved after the fact. You’re a good dad, Warren. Better than good. I’m proud of you, you know that?” 

Warren looked slightly aback at your words, a surprised smile growing on his face. “I worry every day that I’m gonna fuck that kid up, but if you really think I’m doing a good enough job to be proud of me, then maybe she’ll be alright.” 

“Are you kidding? She’s gonna be amazing. Any kid of ours is gonna grow up to be amazing, it’s in their genes,” you said emphatically, and Warren laughed. 

“For the record, I’m proud of you, too. Every day,” Warren said earnestly. “You’re kicking ass at this mom gig.” 

“Almost as much as I kick ass at my musician gig,” you nodded seriously. 

“Almost,” Warren agreed, chuckling. “We should take a nap now while we have the chance.” 

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