#(having lots of fun with him arguing with all of the companions)

[loveydive]

okay. finished veilguard. um. it sure was definitely a game.

[shaykai]

you make one bad choice in Hell/Bhaal's Realm and you're stuck with an evil alignment after. Just saying. Also if you finish that, then there's what comes After Irenicus. Heh.

ANSHSJJSHS THAT’S GOOD TO KNOW

I’m still a hero h a (accidentally saved over the save I had to maybe take up Sarevok’s offer to beat his face in, so I’m a good guy)

Side note- I’m a few hours into the Throne of Bhaal DLC and it’s willlllld

[bunni-v1]

okay no im with you. ifa is just itto but a lot less dumb from what ive seen. (im reaching out to grab him and smash his against the table in my fist /pos)

so what kind of man is ifa? romatically, sexually, in any sense. how would he treat you/go after you/display his love? how romantic and sexual is he, and how desperate and pent up is he?

im sat and im listening intently. the thinking cap is on.

Loving Ifa

🍓Hi mini, sorry about the wait, I wanted to finish the event before I answered this to be sure I had a good grasp on his character. Think of this as a character analysis through the lens of a lovesick puppy, if you will.

Tw: NSFW (undercut); rough sex; overstimulation; squirting

Info: Ifa x Reader; Fluff; NSFW

Who is Ifa?

To put it simply, well, he's simple. He likes simple things, and he likes things easy. Not to say he can't handle it when things are tough, he's a level-headed guy when he needs to be, but it'd be much nicer if nothing bad happened ever. He enjoys simple pleasures like fresh vegetables from Ororon's garden, the wind on his skin as he glides through the air, and the gentle trilling of his saurian companions after a job well done.

He's friendly too, easy to get along with, and hard to dislike Ifa's made quite a reputation for himself across Natlan. As the go-to vet, he's usually swamped with work, but he loves his job so it's not something that bothers him too much. Some could argue he likes being around saurian's much more than he does his fellow humans, but he laughs it off like it's nothing. In truth, though, he does enjoy the simplicity of their little minds. He has to do less to have his intentions understood, and as such, being around them is a lot less draining than interacting with other people.

He is deeply empathetic and highly emotionally intelligent, which is likely why he prefers saurians over humans. Knowing and understanding the struggles of other people all the time would weigh on his mind like a ton of bricks, so he sticks to treating saurians. His empathy does make him a fantastic friend, and while he doesn't always know what to say to comfort someone, he somehow knows how to take care of them anyway. Be it being the shoulder they need to lean on, making them their favorite meals, or just sitting at their side until they feel okay enough to be alone. He's kind and understanding, not needing words to let people know he's there for them.

His natural relaxed composure, mixed with his affinity for empathy, and of course being good with animals makes him quite a heartthrob. While Hoyoverse likely wouldn't dare say that outright, the fine print is right there. He's likable, he's good looking and all kinds of easy-going, men and women alike across Natlan would probably kill for a chance at the ever-mysterious saurian vet's heart. Not that Ifa ever considers it an option. He likes the idea of love, but he feels a relationship like that would be hard to maintain with how often he has to be ready to up and leave for work. It wouldn't be fair of him to dump that on a partner, so he never pursues anything seriously, only indulging himself for fun while making it clear that it was nothing more than skin deep.

How does Ifa pursue you?

When he meets you, it's like the wind is knocked out of him by a raging Tatankasaur. You stun him, genuinely, with how beautiful he finds you. He's seen a ton of faces all across Natlan, he's seen gorgeous and handsome and model-worthy people. But none of them have ever taken his breath away like you have, left him gasping for things to say when you look at him, hoping to keep your eyes on him for a second longer. It doesn't matter if you're conventionally attractive or not, there is something about you that just strikes him. It's a level of interest he'd never felt before, and Ifa isn't the type to sit idly by and let someone like you get away.

He's pretty quick to talk to you, and the conversation comes easy. His natural pension for socializing comes in handy getting you to open up to him. Before you know it, you at the handsome vet have been chatting away for hours without a care in the world. It shocks both of you just how much you get along, and saying goodbye is harder than you'd think for two total strangers. Worry not, though, now that Ifa's gotten a taste he's pretty determined to keep it to himself.

He's not aggressive about pursuing you, though. It feels incredibly natural the way you come together, easy as a summer breeze. One day you go from never seeing Ifa to seeing him at least once a day. He's always got some reason to be in the city to see you, and all the time in the world to chat you up. He's got a Southern charm about him that makes you feel flushed with just a smile. It feels effortless on his part, but I can assure you it's not.

Ifa is very worried about giving off the wrong impression to you. He's aware that he's got admirers, he's aware that he comes off as laid-back, and he's doing his best to find a balance between being flirty and not coming on too strong. He wants it to be very clear to you that he's interested, but he doesn't want to scare you away by going in too hard and fast. He is terrified that he either won't get the message across or that you'll find his advances creepy, luckily this isn't the case. His natural wit and charm pay off, and the two of you easily fall in love with one another.

How does Ifa treat you?

I think the best descriptor of Ifa is hopeless. He is so in love with you and so dedicated to you that it makes him feel stupid. He catches himself staring at you with a lovesick smile on his face more than he'd like to admit. He just can't help it when he finds everything about you so wonderful. Rest assured, you're nothing if not positively spoiled rotten with love by him.

He's not exactly a super romantic guy, rarely doing super big shows of affection, because that feels disingenuous to him. Instead, he likes to show you he loves you through more subtle shows of affection. Buying you your favorite flowers, making you your favorite dinner, massaging the stress out of your shoulders, and listening to you talk about your daily activities. Quality time and acts of service are his go-to means of showing you love.

Equally, he's a very physically affectionate person. He doesn't seem it, because he keeps his distance from friends out of respect for their space. With you, though, he wants your space to be his. The most common is hugs from behind, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and squeezing you tight into his chest. Usually out of the house he's got an arm around you in some way, and he's not afraid to give you a sneaky smooch either. Frequently smothers you in kisses when you're alone, he just likes kissing you so much that he can't help it.

He's really considerate of you and your time, and he does his best to work his schedule around you. It's not easy, but he does try his best, he wants you to feel like a priority in his life. Furthermore, if you move things around for him he'll be forever appreciative of you. Knowing that you know he's trying and that you're willing to adjust for him too is very reassuring to him, makes him feel like he has room to mess up and make mistakes and learn from them with you.

He takes very good care of you, ensuring you are healthy and happy at all times. After a while of being with him, you feel a lot better without feeling like much has changed in your lifestyle. Ifa does a really good job of subtly shifting your diet and adjusting a few things around to overall make you feel better without changing much about you. It's probably a little underhanded, sure, but Ifa's pretty blatant about it... if you don't notice the way he's changing things it's on you. If you ask him, he'll outright admit it, because you feeling good is top priority on his list.

While he does call you dude and bro, he has a few sweet nicknames that come out when he's really trying to lay on the charm thick. Namely, Darlin' and Sweetness. When he uses those, you know he wants something from you. He purrs them low and quiet, like a secret for only the two of you to hear. It's notable that he doesn't use them in public for anything, and if you ask him why, he'll look at you like you're crazy and refuse to answer the question. (He doesn't know why he does it either, it's like a switch gets flipped and he can't turn it off.)

Last, and probably most importantly, Ifa can't be with someone who doesn't like Saurians -- and he certainly can't be with someone who Cacucu doesn't like. He goes out of his way to socialize you with saurians because of that fact, and the more they seem to accept you the happier he gets. Cacucu, on the other hand, is pretty easy to get along with. The little guy is chill, so if he didn't like you for any reason, that would be a huge red flag. Thank goodness Cacucu decided he liked you from the moment you first met him, or else that would be an issue.

Well... Cacucu might like you a little too much. The little bird flutters around you and cuddles up to you like a helpless baby, and you always give him all the attention he wants... even at the expense of Ifa. He finds it hard to get annoyed, though. He's just happy the two of you get along... but seriously if Cacucu doesn't make room for him in the cuddle pile he's getting kicked out for the night.

MDNI Under the cut.

What's sex like with Ifa?

Firstly, Ifa isn't all the sexual of a guy. Most of his past relationships were based on sex, but he himself doesn't actively think about it all that much. When he's in a romantic relationship, it's not a big focus of his until much later down the line. That isn't to say he isn't attracted to you or turned on by you, just that he doesn't really push it much, because he wants to establish healthy boundaries with you before touching the bedroom. He probably won't do much initiating until more than a few months into the relationship, not really wanting to worry about pushing your limits too fast. If you initiate he's receptive, but he probably won't let it go much further than heavy petting.

When sex does become a goal of his, though, he realizes he's got quite an issue on his hands. See Ifa is pent up, very pent up. From years of not really having on steady partner to stress from his job, it's a lot on his shoulders, which leads to him being very pent up sexually. It didn't help that he mostly ignored his sexual desires aside from occasional one-night stands. Now with you here, ready and willing to sleep with him, he's found himself more desperate than he's willing to admit.

Your first time together he takes it at your pace, whatever that may be, but you can definitely tell he's holding himself back a lot. There's just this tension in his expression that you can't tell is a good or bad thing. He's just clearly fighting something off, because if he doesn't he's afraid it'll be too much for you, and he doesn't want you to feel unsafe around him. It's particularly bad after long periods apart, where he's this close to just letting that thin string snap, but holding off from letting it for your sake.

If you talk to him about it, he'll be embarrassed but admit that he's just... pent-up and needy. He wants nothing more than to pound you into next week, but it's pretty opposite from how he usually is, which makes him feel like he's deceiving you. He doesn't feel the need to be aggressive and rough in any other aspect of your relationship, but in bed, he just can't get the images out of his head. It drives him nuts that all he wants to do is make you feel good by bending you in half and fucking you till you can't speak.

When you explain to him that it's fine, and perfectly okay for him to want to try those things out with you, he feels a lot better about it. Being given the go-ahead, he's happy to experiment with whatever kinds of kinks you want. So long as you've talked about it beforehand, he's happy to try it out, and if one of you doesn't like it you both can stop at any time - just one safe word away.

Speaking of, he takes safety very seriously. Condom every time, absolutely no arguing about it. Kids are nice someday maybe, but not now, so you're either swallowing them or they're getting tossed in the can for now. THOROUGH foreplay, you're gonna be nice and stretched and relaxed before he even thinks about putting it in. Of course, plenty of aftercare when all is said and done - especially after more intense sessions. He'll carry you to the tub wash both of you down and massage out all your aches and pains.

More on what he is like in bed, though, with that established. Ifa is a hard dom, and I don't think he would bottom ever for anyone. He doesn't need control or anything, but he prefers topping because he can make sure things stay safe this way. He also just enjoys watching you fall apart under his touch. He's pretty mean, all things considered.

He likes to tease you a lot during sex, be it through overstimulation or by withholding your pleasure from you, he finds it all fun. I mentioned previously he's very much into cockwarming, but he's equally into thigh riding and also into thigh fucking if you'll let him. If he isn't cumming in your mouth, he prefers to see it on your stomach - bonus points if you play with it, it'll get the gears in his head turning hard.

Yes, he's a big fan of the hat rule, and cowgirl is his favorite position. It's practically a requirement for the god-awful thing to be on your head when you're riding him. He seems to like positions where he doesn't have to do much work, instead making you fight for your own orgasm while he sits back and enjoys the show.

His hands are usually somewhere around your thighs or hips, he finds them to be the best part of you. He can grab them, rub them, and squeeze them from any position, so of course he's a fan. A lot of the time while you ride him his hands will be resting on your thighs, rubbing over them slowly in encouragement. He'll use them to move you into whatever position he likes, and he's even used them as leverage while he's fucking you before. What can he say, he's a thigh guy.

Generally speaking, though, he's not so much rough as he is mean. He likes to see how far he can push you before you crack, which means he's really into overstimulating you. He does this deplorable thing where he withholds pleasure from you, edging you for as long as humanly possible, and then when he gets one orgasm out the next couple come in rapid succession without breaks. The most he's gotten in a row is five, but he's pretty sure he can break that record.

That being said, one last thing he's into that I'll mention is squirting. It's not an easy feat to get your partner to squirt, so he gets really happy when he can get you to that point. He knows just where to press to get you to see stars, knows just how he needs to touch you to have you losing yourself just like he wants.

Again, aftercare is king to him. He always carefully eases you down from your high, making sure you're okay before himself. Eases you up and checks you over, making sure you're still mentally with him before he takes you anywhere other than the bedroom. He can't care for you if you're still disoriented, after all. Aftercare with Ifa is like a personal spa, a nice hot bath with a massage, yummy snacks, and plenty of water -- not to mention Ifa is there the whole time talking you through it! He's really the best boyfriend ever.

[cynthiav06]

Percy's amnesia in SoN gave him the perfect excuse to build his confidence to where it should be and break up with Annabeth, with very few consequences, and I will always stand by that. Annabeth may be easier for the Greeks to back due to her history there, but she has nothing at Camp Jupiter, where he quickly and firmly established himself as a powerful, capable and trustworthy entity, getting promoted to Praetor within a week. I honestly believe that, after his SON quest and the "greeting" Annabeth gave him on their reunion, Percy should've broken up with Annabeth, stayed with Camp Jupiter and thrived there.

Not only would the structure help him long-term in the way it canonically did in the (maybe) three days we saw him spend there, but he has a proper support system without biases in favour of Annabeth. It would also provide a fun narrative contrast to Jason, which RR was trying to push in-story, where they thrive in the other's camp despite the shadow of a figure they kind of feel they have to live up to. Jason does better in the looser structure of CHB due to his having picked up many wolf-ish traits from Lupa, while Percy almost *relaxes* in the strict routine of CJ because it helps with his ADHD symptoms.

And this confidence he very clearly has in SoN, and the way he almost romanticized the possible relationship between him and Annabeth when he didn't have his memories, would lead to a very jarring experience when his memories are settled and he reunites with Annabeth. Because, woah, that was not just a subconscious bias from preferring his new friendships/camp structure, but she actually is like that.

Boom, he now has recontextualised memories and perspective of Annabeth, and a place where she doesn't have a stronger reputation than him, and he can fairly safely break up with Annabeth and escape attempts at retaliation.

He might wait until after the quest the Seven go on, so that he can immediately cut her out of his lfe, but this new perspective changes how he approaches her.

The canon would never, but fortunately for us, there are fic writers. If I get enough time somewhere in this month or next, I might end up writing this, but I will have to see, no promises.

Back to your point; you have covered mostly everything so I don't see what I should be adding to this exact scenario but yes it is one of the few perfect pit stops for a percabeth break up to happen. I am going to go down a slightly different avenue for this one as my thoughts vary a bit from yours, so bear with me. It is going to be long, but I need to recap and clarify a few things for others; I will get to your specific questions near the end. [Everything's numbered, so if you are in a hurry, just scroll to the final four points]

-------------------------------------------------------

The breakup could have been mutual, too, if Rick had written it well. If we follow the proper timeline, Annabeth was still hung up over Luke up until the end of BoTL and had just started to get over him at the start of Last Olympian. Percy had just been informed of the Prophecy and under massive stress between end of BoTL and start of TLO and was obviously arguing with Annabeth over it as she repeatedly got angry at him for reasonably freaking out over his then "assumed death" prophecy. To find some relief from all this, he was dating Rachel, who he really liked, had a kiss with, and overall a good relationship with.

Then the whole plot of the Last Olympian occurs in what can be considered to be a few months at best. Then both Percy and Annabeth get together but to recap the events leading up to this:

Rachel breaks up with Percy despite their good relationship due to understanding the role she needs to play in saving the Oracle.

Luke who had previously visited Annabeth to make her join him and who Annabeth was somewhat hung over still, dies.

The war ended up killing a lot of close friends and companions and was a generally traumatic event for everyone involved.

Percy is very high on mixed emotions, reeling from everything that's happened when he gets together with Annabeth, so neither of them have had any time to process anything that's happened properly enough.

They have their one month anniversary on September 18th[The Staff of Hermes short story], and Percy disappears in October. [Riordan.wiki has years and dates of important events].

So they have barely been together for two months, and Percy's already missing.

This is Annabeth's thought process when they do reunite. It implies she has been doing a bit of thinking about their relationship and might not be as sure about it anymore.

She also seems to heavily dislike Percy's initial idea of settling in New Rome and seems to have no intention of taking a break from quests like Percy does.

She also seems to dismiss Percy's unwillingness to go to NRU after the news of Estelle's birth and the events of CotG.

Those were a few key points of contrast between them both on their future plans. Not small ones either.

Now, back to their reunion and the events following; here are a few things:

She judo flips him in front of the Argo II and almost entirety of Camp Jupiter.

If Annabeth didn't know that Percy had lost the Curse of Achilles then she was judo flipping him on the small of his back where his mortal tether was located ; which she knew about and therefore would have killed him in her anger and hyper emotional state.

If Annabeth did know that he had lost the Curse of Achilles then she was still judo flipping her boyfriend who had been missing for six months after surviving an already very traumatic event where he barely managed to survive and was then put through kidnapping, six months of amnesia, and brainwashing against his will by a goddess and then thrust into an unknown land with enemies on his trail.

Further, she blames Percy for disappearing for all of the things HE suffered through against his will and HAS THE AUDACITY TO MAKE HIM APOLOGIZE FOR IT.

Annabeth says and I quote that she likes keeping Percy on his toes.

She also agrees with Piper that Percy needs to be leashed and controlled.

Then Percy's side gives us a few more concerning tidbits:

Percy repeatedly notes that he is scared of Annabeth or thinks she might hit him

He also says that she often brings up Rachel to make him uncomfortable.

Percy also doesn't feel comfortable confiding in Annabeth about Gabe or past trauma.

He repeatedly feels he isn't good enough for Annabeth, and obviously Annabeth's behavior consciously or subconsciously on her part enables his thought process.

He ends up almost killing himself because Annabeth makes him promise not to use his specific ability despite it being used in self-defense by Percy, which ended up saving them both because she was afraid of Percy's powers.

Yet another thing to point out is that Annabeth's fatal flaw hubris and her abandonment issues feed too much into her behavior, and until that is fixed, nothing can be helped.

Annabeth punched Percy in ttc just because he didn't ask her to dance like she wanted him to. She also gave Percy a very hard time just because he knew another girl (Rachel) and immediately acted controlling and toxically possesive towards Percy over Rachel and Calypso despite her and Percy not being in a relationship at any of those points. In fact, despite her supposed crush on Percy, she defended Luke all the way till Botl, despite his repeated attempts at murdering Percy, and even went as far as to say Percy was unreasonably angry at Luke. She also displayed rude and downright awful behavior when interacting with Rachel; and Rachel, being the better person, handled her with class and grace. This all is not even including her demeaning remarks against Percy's intelligence and condescending behavior.

We can conclude from all this that Percy and Annabeth are not compatible, with different future goals and clashing perspectives and most importantly due to lack of proper communication, terrible misunderstandings, and Annabeth's consistent toxic behavior.

But neither the characters nor the author and not even most of the fandom acknowledge any of these glaring issues, so nothing can be done, but their break up can go several ways:

1.

Percy and Annabeth both break up amicably with Annabeth apologizing and understanding the gravity of her behavior and her mistakes and consistently making up to Percy for all the things she has been doing terribly. This is only possible for pre Tartarus or pre MoA situation.

Annabeth could have had a good arc in overcoming all of her problems while Percy too dealt with his self esteem issues and past trauma and they could have given their relationship a shot again in the future; they are both too young right now.

2.

Percy confronts Annabeth on her behavior and breaks up with her. Things get ugly, and it ends up being horrible for both of them. This is a traumatic situation on both ends, but the reason why this is unlikely is that Annabeth and Percy have a case of trauma bonding, and there's hints of codependency more on Annabeth's end. Which makes Percy mask Annabeth's toxic traits easily and for Annabeth to ignore Percy's devolving mental health and self-esteem issues that she has been enabling unknowingly.

3.

The other likely option is third-party intervention. Sally or Poseidon/Athena or other campers.

I also disagree that the camp half blood would back Annabeth. Percy's their [CHB] unofficial leader and a good friend to all of them plus he is the reason the children of other non-Olympian gods have cabins and get claimed early so he definitely has a higher status than Annabeth does in both camps. Camp Jupiter also does respect Percy more than any other Greek, and he is the only Greek to ever be made Praetor. So in social or reputation terms, Percy's winning.

But I don't think other campers would dare meddle in Percy and Annabeth's business. Maybe the seven would. [Leo and Frank would never. Jason probably doesn't understand the whole situation. Piper’s misguided and would probably feed into Annabeth's behavior, so either Hazel or Reyna? Hazel would definitely help Percy understand, and Percy would totally hear Hazel out. Thalia, hmm, I don't really know what Thalia would do, but I don't think she would blindly back Annabeth. She does seem to care for and respect Percy just as much. Nico isn't touching it with a 20-foot pole, plus I don't think he is over his Percy crush at all, so he's not an unbiased party either. ]

4.

Last option and what probably is the most likely is that things continue as they are and Percy eventually snaps due to endless pressure and his mental health issues and Annabeth can't deal with it and then all their other issues which they have both ignored come spilling out and then it's just a clean break but it's going to be the most excruciating way out and given their luck definitely happening.

[gublerryswift]

All these little things pt.1 | Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

fluff <3 The little actions that made Spencer fall in love with you

Warnings: None!

Content: Reader helping Spencer with migraine, friends to lovers but not yet

You joined the team only one year after Spencer, you and him were the youngest on the team and ended up growing really close over time. You two not only bonded over being the same age and sharing experiences, but both of you we're also the biggest nerds to ever walk on the face of the earth. 

It all started when Spencer came to work with a ‘doctor who’ mug that was shaped like TARDIS, it immediately caught your eye, as you were a fan of the show for a really long time and, it only being your third week on the job, you were really looking for a reason to become friends with the team. 

“Spencer, is that a doctor who mug?” You say, approaching his desk and leaning against it to face him 

“Yeah, are you a fan?” He says, looking up at you 

“Of course! I've been watching it since I was a child, i'm obsessed with it. Actually, i am going to need the name of the place where you bought that mug” You smile as you remember the afternoons spent in your childhood home, watching doctor who and eating a mountain of chocolate 

Spencer smiles at you, happy to have someone who shared the same interests as him, maybe, he thought to himself, he would finally have someone to listen to his nerdy rants. 

A month later, you two were already acting as if you've known each other for your entire lives, discovering other shared interests, similar humor and life experiences, you two were perfect for each other. You had gotten close to the rest of the team, but what you and Spencer had was something else, and everybody noticed. 

“Hey, do you want to marathon some documentaries with me? I've been meaning to watch them, but I would love some companion” Spencer says to you, as you both got ready to leave the bullpen 

You're caught by surprise by his invite, you've been meaning to invite him but never gathered the courage to do so, scared that your friendship wasn't at that point yet, you were glad he had asked. 

“Yeah, of course” You smile at him, “What are they about though?” 

His face lit up at the question, clearly excited to tell you about them, you loved how passionate he was about his interests, and you loved to be the one who heard all his rants. 

“Alright, so there's this one, which I think you'll love, that is about the history of music and music genres” 

“Oh, I will love that. Let's go?” You say, holding onto his arm as you two walk to the elevator 

“Ohh and there's also this one about unknown facts of the French Revolution, it's in French and might not have subtitles yet, but I can whisper the translation for you while we watch” 

“Sounds fun, Spence” You giggle at his enthusiasm as you two head to his house 

You two spent the whole night watching the docs and then talked until late at night, he didn't let you grab a taxi that late, so you ended up sleeping at his couch (after arguing a lot, because he wanted to leave his bed for you).  The next morning, he woke up early to make you coffee and breakfast. You spent the rest of the morning together, laughing and talking about random topics. For you that was it, he was now your best friend, and you knew he saw you as such too. 

Now, 5 years later you and Spencer are the closest you've ever been, the sleepovers at each other's houses are basically routine, you two will go on road trips when off of work, share hotel rooms while away on cases, do everything together. With time, both of you started blurring the lines between friendship and something else. It was clear to everyone else that you two felt something for each other, it was even clear to both of you, but neither would ever risk confessing. 

Until, Spencer started noticing these things, little things that you did, and they made him fall so deeply in love with you. Then, there was the moment he knew he had t have you. 

He had been complaining to you about his migraines, the next day you appeared with two drinks in your hand and a bag full of stuff 

“Good morning to you” He told you, smiling at you as you put all the stuff you were holding on his desk

“Good morning spence, I spent like, 3 hours searching stuff to ease migraines and I might have the solution to your problems” You say, pulling out all the things you bought him. 

“You didn't have to do that” 

“Of course I had, you're my best friend and there's no way I'm letting that beautiful brain of yours keep hurting” You smile at him, you really hated to see him in pain, and you knew that migraines had a big effect on his mental health, he always seemed more irritable and sad when he had those. “Alright so, according to my researches' caffeine can help, so this is a black coffee, with very little sugar which I know you hate, but it's for your health so drink it” You hand him the coffee and watch him take a sip and make a frown

“Alright doctor, what else” He's laughing at your serious tone that really makes you sound like you're his doctor, but also his heart couldn't help but flutter at how much thought you had put into helping him get better, how much you cared about him 

“The article also said ginger helps, so I made you ginger tea, which has sugar so that's a win for you, and also a sleep mask because they said that dark helps. Also, you need to start sleeping earlier, you can't keep going to sleep at 4 a.m and expect to be fine” You finished helping – and lecturing – him, with a smile on your face, Spencer tended to close himself off to being helped and taken care of, and you knew how hard that could be so you were happy to help him. 

“Thank you honey” He says, smiling at you 

“You're very welcome spence” You smile back at him and start making way to your way to your desk “... oh, I forgot” you say turning in your heels “Get up” 

“What, why?” His face is confused as he gets up from his seat 

“For this” You hug him deeply, not letting go until a couple seconds have passed “my grandma always says love heals everything”, Spencer's face softens, and he hugs you back. 

He pulls away, still smiling, and says “Thank you”. You both hug again before separating. 

This was it, there was no way he could hide it anymore. Even if it ruined everything, he had to tell you how much he loved you. 

For the rest of the day, Spencer did what you told him to do, even clocking out earlier to try and sleep better. But, throughout the whole day all he could think about was how much you cared for him, how you inadvertently told him you loved him. The next day, his migraine really had gotten better, and he would choose to believe it was you who made it all better and not the ibuprofen he had taken before sleeping. 

[siggiedraws]

I'd love to hear more about your view on Sonic too! What do you like (and dislike, if you want) most about him?🍀

There are so many things I love about him it's hard to choose! But a few things do come to mind:

1) Sonic's willingness to help others no matter what, like when Sonic decides to help rescue a girl's village from a dragon in Black Knight despite the fact that this would cause him to run out of time to do Nimue's tasks (luckily, that was actually a test that Sonic passed!) The fact that Sonic just wants to save people who need saving, no matter if that's an inconvenience to him, shows how compassionate and selfless he is. Not to mention his line to Chip where he says "Do I need a reason to want to help out a friend?" makes me emotional every time. He helps people simply because he wants to!

2) Sonic's thrill-seeking nature. He'll do crazy shit just because it's fun and dangerous and you can tell he just lives for it. He sounds so happy and excited whenever it happens that it's really cute. This is very much highlighted in the Storybook games, where Sonic's companion characters often express their chagrin at how reckless Sonic is. This moment in Pirate Storm and this moment in Molten Mine are my favourite examples.

I would say Sonic's thrill-seeking is emboldened by the fact that he faces death head-on and isn't afraid. When he's about to die in Sonic Adventure 2, he keeps his cool and he calmly holds the fake Chaos Emerald, wondering if he can make it through. In Secret Rings, at the realization that the Flame of Judgment's time limit is almost up, he chuckles to himself and apologizes to Shahra for worrying her. This is extremely telling of his selfless character and his lack of self-preservation. Even in death he's not thinking about himself. He's focused on cheering up his friend.

It's something I find very fascinating, for someone who enjoys living so much to lack a fear of death. Though, I would argue that it does bother him on the inside, if even a little bit, going by the lyrics of Unawakening Float: Must I float away? / Will I ever wake?

3) Sonic's love for life and the world around him. Sonic's always fighting to preserve and protect nature from Dr. Eggman's industrialization, and environmental awareness is a prominent theme in the Sonic franchise, so it makes sense that's what Sonic's all about! He remarks in Heroes that he loves Grand Metropolis, for instance, which is a huge eco-friendly city with no pollution. Also, in a 2022 Q&A, Sonic says that restoring all the levels in Generations reminded him of how great the world is, which is genuinely so sweet! 💙

As for Sonic's love for life, the thing with Sonic is that he doesn't have any ultimate goals in life or any dream to achieve. When it comes to living life to the fullest, he exists in the moment and enjoys the present day. He does what makes him happy right here and right now. In other words, he's content without a destination, and he enjoys the never-ending journey. There is a lot I can learn from him!

4) His mystery! What is Christmas Island like? How did he and Eggman first meet? Just who the hell is this guy? No one knows, but Sonic will tell you he's just a normal hedgehog, which may very well be true. There are little hints here and there that point towards the symbolism of his origins, like his folded boots being inspired by Santa Claus, which is why they're red and white with a buckle! I find that such a cool detail. I love the vagueness of his past and I hope it stays that way.

Speaking of Sonic and mystery, did you know that there's a character called Uhu the Wind Genie in Sonic and the Secret Rings, who is known for his speed, and we never see his true form? I wonder who that could be an analogue to...

As for what I dislike about Sonic, that's much harder to answer because I love him so much. Every aspect about him is perfect to me! I suppose if I had to choose one thing… he can just leave without notice for an extended period of time, as seen in the end of Sonic Advance, and that can be very worrying. He's an independent guy and he likes alone time, but I can imagine how his behaviour could frustrate the people around him. Tails flying in the Tornado trying to look for him in the sky breaks my heart.

anyways... I love Sonic so much as you could tell. Thanks so much for your ask! 💙

[mikuchan]

Notes and thoughts on my Araj Oblodra tag dive. This one is long.

Everyone loves an evil woman (unless she's mean, and a woman).

Oh boy! I started Araj because I'm too busy lately to keep tackling Orin or any of the DA tags, so I thought I'd bang out some ~100-tag characters. With only 122 English language works, Araj has a pretty small tag that manages to be an unsurprising but illuminating facet of the BG3 fandom experience.

Like I said on the infographic, 85% of works tagging Araj also tag Astarion; going further with that, in over half (59%) of works tagging Araj Oblodra, she is only in the story to act antagonististically towards Astarion. The criteria for this was: Araj seeking Astarion's blood in an impolite/creepy/pushy way, hurting people close to Astarion, or treating him in any kind of rude, demeaning, or abusive manner; and she has no separate interactions or plot points.

This number jumps to 71% when mistags are removed.

Over a third of her works total specifically follow her exact canonical in-game role.

I divided her tag presence into 5 roles because of this: Main, Side, Minor, Mistag, and Canon Antagonist. In Canon Antag works, whether she appears for a single scene or an entire fic, Araj does not deviate from canon. She says her game lines verbatim, and if/when Tav attacks her later, she does not have any further unique dialogue or actions except for like, dying on the ground. If she deviates from canon in any way, this shifts her role into main, side, or minor. (Here is a deeper explanation of how I sort roles.)

Of all the fics tagging Araj, an alarming amount go on to have her screamed at and assaulted. She's choked, stabbed, sliced, beheaded, dismembered, grabbed by the collar and spat at, called a bitch in all caps. I get it, kind of -- it's fun to imagine how you or your Tav would confront a bully, and Araj is distinctly a bully. But it's a little jarring when we consider how few other characters receive this treatment.

Lady Esther, for comparison, is a nearly identical character: a selfish merchant who profiles and belittles a companion while making a dehumanizing request. There are four works total tagging Esther on AO3. One of these involves her crimes against Lae'zel. (so for Lae'zel, that's 1 anti-merchant fic per ~6k works)

Lann Tarv, the bugbear merchant found in Moonrise Towers, is also similar: offering a material deal in exchange for triggering a companion's past traumas. There are two fics tagging Lann Tarv on AO3; one of these is about him and Karlach. (so for Karlach, that's 1 per ~8k works)

For Astarion, who is tagged in 21,817 English language works, there's 1 anti-Araj fic per ~300 works -- over twenty times the rate of those mentioned above.

So what makes Araj so different? Why do Astarion fans care so deeply about her?

This is rhetorical. We know why Araj receives this kind of hate and backlash while others go ignored or enjoyed. She's not a woman hurting other women like Esther, Viconia, or Orin do; and she's not an abusive man, like Cazador, Raphael, Gortash, Ketheric, Lann Tarv. Instead she's committed the cardinal sin of being a woman who is mean to a hot white guy, so she deserves to be called a bitch and kicked until she spits up blood and dies -- or at the least, used as a mean little stage-prop for someone else's growth. No further character exploration needed.

I'm not arguing that Araj Oblodra is this misunderstood character who deserves only love and cinnamon buns. I'm also not saying we need to coddle her because she's ~just a girl~ or something. She's a self-serving merchant who dehumanizes and triggers Astarion, and isn't apologetic about it. She'll give you a potion to make you explosive. She's got some sketchy experiments going on.

But she's also like...not that worse than a lot of other characters in the game. She's not even really worse than Astarion himself, who is also nasty to a lot of people (he's funny, but he's an asshole); also iffy about consent (just bites you in the night); is not apologetic about chunks of his past (the Gur, their kids); and is equally self-serving at times (wanting to ascend despite the blood toll).

I'm not saying Astarion is some awful, irredeemable character, either. Both he and Araj are complex characters operating within their own unique set of morals, seeking personal power to right past wrongs and traumas.

Together they paint a good picture of the problems in the BG3 fandom, and really, fandom as a whole. The martyrdom of a hot white blorbo guy; the demonization of a woman; the often-female OC swooping in to uphold this status quo; the relative fixation on the whole melodramatic scenario.

I'm sure some people will disagree. Before you do, stop!

Do not tell me about how your Tav is super deep and well-written and so it's actually really feminist of her to kill Araj for her vampire lover. Awesome for you. Take that energy and write something about Lady Esther, and then we'll talk.

The rest of Araj's stats were pretty predictable. She leans hard towards Explicit and Mature ratings, which isn't surprising. I like the ones where she and Minthara interact, always fun to see drow from different Houses working together (or against each other!). I also like the idea of Araj x Aurelia, the tiefling vampire spawn.

[lullabyalikpoptarot]

Stray Kids Thoughts on Love

Disclaimer: No facts, all alleged. This is my interpretation of the cards and energy.

I haven't really done a reading for them in a while, so I thought I do this reading for them and see what they can give me for their thoughts on love and how they view it, like with BTS. I also like to see how the past affected them and how their viewed by their exes or how they would be viewed by their partners. Let's go.

Bang Chan

He starts off with Pisces energy, so this man is a romantic. He seems to be a very imaginative lover. A bit of an idealist. He could use relationships as an escape as well. Relationships can also be very healing for him. He can also be a compassionate and empathetic person in love. Feelings will be expressed when it comes to love for him.

He is all about seeing both sides of the story or argument. He isn't biased with how he goes about things. He likes to hear his partner out. As I mentioned about him, he is very diplomatic in love. He sees both parties should come together and hash things out effectively without too much arguing and defensiveness. He is open to hearing his partners ideas.

Now, how does past relationships affect him. Not sure he has had many past relationships with this King of Wands. This kind of gives me he prefers to focus on his creativity and being an idol and being in the spotlight. Now, past relationships could have helped him gain confidence and foster his creativity I can see. But he seems to put a lot of attention on his creative power.

So, what do exes think of him or past partners. He got the page of pentacles. He could be a work in progress for them. He is someone who goes a bit slow, maybe too slow for them. He is someone very cautious as well. He may struggle to put too much effort in a relationship or invest in it too much.

Overall, he isn't that bad as I continue seeing for him. He seems like a good dude that will make a good boyfriend in the future. Just not that invested in it right now.

Lee Know

He starts off with Sag energy, so he is all about the adventure when it comes to love. It seems he would enjoy taking the lead. He seems like the type that may like to travel. Maybe he likes to meet partners in different countries. He may prefer someone who is from a different country or culture. That could be exciting for him. Not sure he would do that in real life, but his energy likes to explore, so dating someone from a different culture can be fun for him.

Interesting to see the companion card as he has not given me that vibe that he is about bonds and connections. Maybe this could indicate he would want someone he can be friends with as well. He would want someone loyal and dependable. Someone he can let loose with and be himself. Someone who knows who he truly is and doesn't judge him. This is when he can let down his walls and feel comfortable with a person.

So, how does past relationships affect him now. Interesting, the Judgment card popped up. It is like what I just said. He may have felt judged and criticized in the past and did not like that and can be closed off to relationships due to that. Let's be real, this dude is a bit of weirdo, in a good way and may has had some crazy experiences as an idol, so he may need someone who understands him and what he has been through without judgment. Very interesting stuff. I like him, he intrigues me.

So, what does his exes or partners will think of him. He gave me two cards, so I will take both. He incites a curiosity in them. They seem to want to know more about it, but not really get to know the true him. This seems to get boring after a while, or there is a lack of growth and progress, and things eventually get stale. So, they do find him interesting, but it may be hard for them to figure him out or get more information from him.

I felt got a bit of new information from him that helps me understand why he may seem a bit closed off from love when I read for him.

Changbin

He kind of has an aloof energy when it comes to love, but I can also see him as someone who is giving and enjoys serving others and the person he will love. He has an open-mindedness to him. He also seems to enjoy expressing his individuality and would want his partner to do the same. He may have an unorthodox way of approaching love. He may like to do things differently. He has an independent, free spirit energy when it comes to love.

But he is about serving his partner in love. And being there for them. So, he will give whatever his partner will want from him. He is very loving and doting when it comes to love. It is like I am here at your service. He seems like an acts of service type of guy. Interesting to get these two different energies here lol

6 of Cups is literally about the past, so he has fond memories of past relationships. They could have been too childish and immature. Or he had relationships in childhood, or early teenage years. He may have dated young. I just get a lot of fantasy and immaturity here, so his relationships were not able to mature and prosper. There wasn't a lot of practicalism there.

His exes or partners would think of him as he is. A very giving person. He got the 6 of pentacles, so he is what he says he is. A man who will give his partner anything they need and be there for them in times of need. Anything they want. If he can offer it, he will. He seems to like things to be fair and balanced in relationships and they may have liked that. He seems pretty straight forward in his approach to love.

I actually really like his energy. I feel he fits my style the most when it comes to the type of guy I like.

Hyunjin

Okay, he starts with House 4. This also gives me Cancer energy. He likes someone he can feel at home and comfortable with when it comes to romantic relationships. I also think of the 4 of Wands as well. He would want a happy home full of joy and laughter. A place he can be himself. A place to call home. He may prefer to stay home a lot, cook things for his partner or vice versa. He may also like someone with a similar background to him and have the same ideals and roots.

He likes to have a lot of information on his partner. He seems detail oriented. He would like to keep dates on certain things. I think he would be the type that would know every little detail about his partner. So, he would want to know everything there is to know about his partner. Passing on information and knowing each other well will be important to him when it comes to love. It is like knowing the little details will be important to him.

I see him being defensive and having his guard up when it comes to past relationships. It may have been hard for him to let his guard down or maybe partners have been this way as well. It seems past relationships have been a struggle for him. It was hard for either party to open up. There also seems to be a lot of obstacles that made his past relationships difficult as well.

His exes can see him as devoid of emotions. A bit distant. Not at all in the relationships. He doesn't offer much love. He can also just be down a lot and in his own world. Not at all connected to the relationship. Relationships can be difficult for him, so it is hard for him to put the effort in when it is. It is like he is not all into it or puts his all in it. I say he may when he feels comforted by the person or feels at home with them. He may not have that person yet.

Han

It seems he got strong opinions on love. Cards just came flying out. So, he starts off with Aries energy. He seems to be someone who is on the hunt when it comes to love. He is assertive and dominant. He is someone who likes to take charge. He can have an aggressive approach when it comes to love. He is self-assured and confident. And seems to like a bit of competition as well. Maybe he likes the thrill of a chase. Or obtaining someone that isn't easy to get.

Now, there could be another side of him that likes to be pampered as well. He is a sensual lover. He can also embody a more feminine energy of calmness and patience. He seems multl facet in his approach to love. There is an aura and confidence he does have within himself when it comes to love. He seems to have this natural ability to charm his partner when in love. I also got he is pretty durable as well.

So, how did past relationships affect him. They allowed him to grow on a personal level and work on himself. Maybe it helped him to find himself and find what he truly wants out of love. Relationships helped him discover and find himself. He could be in a period right now where he is trying to find himself and doesn't want to emmesh in a relationship.

His exes or partners may not see him as favorable. They can see him combative and argumentative. This goes a long with the Aries energy to start. He is a bit aggressive, competitive, maybe can get jealous. I can see lots of fights and arguments happening with him. He comes off very confrontational and may lack effective coping and communicative skills.

Felix

Love is a lesson for him. A way for him to evolve and grow as a person. He may want to learn a lot from the person he loves. House 9 is about spiritual lessons and challenging oneself, so love could be that for him. I think people mentioned he is religious or spiritual. He may want someone that way too, or just someone who believes in a higher calling, but he would like to blend their ideas together. I can see him wanting to travel and go on adventures with the person he loves to.

I see him being all about love. He seems to like the idea of love. If he finds the right person. He may latch on to them. Be clingy and admire them a lot. He is lovable person. He would show a lot of love and passion for his person. So, although he comes off as not wanting to find love in my readings. That is due to him not finding the right person. Once he does, he is hooked and can be all loving and sweet. He seems like a ball of love and comfort.

There is something about learning and gaining better awareness and perspective of life and things with his partner. That will be important to him. It is like two worlds coming together. So, his past relationships have helped him understand that love is about bringing two worlds together, learning and growing from another. He may want someone who has a little bit of a different world view from him, so he can learn from them.

Hmm, his exes also don't see him favorably. To them he may seem like he has a lack mindset and that he doesn't have enough. They may have felt he didn't support them enough or wasn't there. They may have felt neglected or even abandoned by him. To them they may have felt like an outsider. It is like he always wanted more or tried to chase something more.

Seungmin

This boy is all about communication when it comes to love. Someone he can have great conversations with. They just never get bored of another and always have something to share and talk about. He may want someone more on the Extroverted side. I can see them having lots of gatherings and parties and entertaining others a lot. He would like someone social. But fun conversations may be a must for him. They both stimulate each other's minds.

Once again, their words and how they speak to another will be important. Helping each other, uplifting another, inspiring one another. The power of language and speech is important. He would want effective communication when it comes to love. You definitely need to be able to keep a conversation going or speak well or eloquently. Just having an effective communication style.

With past relationships. There has always been a sense of fairness and balance. I feel he may not have had many bad past relationships. He seems very balanced and diplomatic. He is pretty levelheaded and willing to see his partners side of things. I say he has good, effective problem-solving skills. Relationships in the past were about fairness and balance and working things through in an effective manner. He is very good at reasoning and dealing with any disagreement with partners.

His exes or partners will see him as patient, calm. He has this knowing about him and this wisdom. He could be a bit secretive and mysterious to him. They are not too sure how he knows the things he knows. There is this sense of wisdom, maturity he expresses in relationships. There seems to be a lot of information he has, and he may keep surprising them with that information.

I.N

Like Seungmin, he is a chatter box and would like strong communication between the two. He would like constant communication. Someone he can connect with and talk for hours with. He may also enjoy fun banter as well, some gossip. He would just want someone he can enjoy talking to.

He does seem to have his low moments. Times he wants to chill or be calm. He may want someone with this energy as well. He is kind of confusing here. I am not really understanding his energy. I am not sure he knows what he wants out of love to be honest. He isn't really giving me much information. Not sure he has had a fully mature relationship to know what love means. He may want someone who can handle the down times and also someone who copes with struggles as well.

I don't think he has had a lot of relationships. Maybe as a child or young teen. There could have been crushes in the past. I am not picking up on full blown relationships with him. He may have dated briefly or had situationships, but not a real relationship I am seeing with him.

So, I just asked what people he dated or how would partners see him. I got the Hermit, so yeah, he is a bit of loner and prefers his time alone, so they see him as that. He doesn't seem like someone completely engaged in romantic relationships and keeps his distance mostly. I don't really see him ever being in a relationship. That is interesting because I remember picking up on him being in one before, but maybe that was a fling who knows. It may not have been serious.

Okay, that was fun. It was nice to see more of what they think of love and how they behave when in love. I do enjoy getting to know more of this group through these types of readings.

[velvetchrry]

━━━━ PRETTY LITTLE BIRDS (2)

pairing: simon “ghost” riley x reader

2k. you play darts.

You can feel a warmth in your cheeks as you follow closely behind Simon. He parts the crowd easily, and you notice multiple pairs of eyes on you as you walk by. You do a small smile and wave to the table of your coworkers, most of them looking at you bug eyed. The girl who approached him earlier has her jaw on the floor. Hopefully she doesn’t take it personally.

He stops when he approaches the table he was sitting at earlier. “This is Johnny, Gaz and Price.” You smile at them and give a soft hello. Simon tells them your first name, and you assume he knew it from your badge the other day.

“Aye, Doc!” Johnny exclaims. His energy is contagious and you can’t help but return his smile.

“Nice to see you again, how’s the knee holding up?”

“Ach, fine. No issue,” he swats his hand, as if to swat your concern away.

“I’m not actually a doctor, y’know,” you add softly.

He shrugs his shoulders and Simon pulls out a chair for you to sit on, thanking him as you do. He silently walks the short distance to the dartboards and starts talking to a group of guys standing there.

“So, LT invite ye to our dart game?” Johnny asks, pulling your attention from Simon’s broad back.

“Oh, I don’t mean to impose on you guys…”

“Nonsense,” Johnny cuts you off, again waving his hand in the air. “Cap’s leavin’ anyway, so we could use a fourth.”

Simon walks back over to the table and places his hand on the back of your chair. You almost shiver as his fingers make contact with your back, knuckles brushing the fabric of your shirt. “Board’s ours.”

Johnny gets up and claps his hands together. “Let’s do this. Gaz, on me. Doc with Simon.”

Simon offers a hand to you and you use it to help yourself stand up. Price stands up, downs the rest of his whiskey and bids everyone a goodnight. The four of you do the same. “Don’t have too much fun you lot,” he calls out behind him as he walks toward the door.

The ghost of Simon’s fingers trail on your lower back as the group makes its way to the dartboards. The guys Simon talked to earlier clear out when they see your companions and Simon nods at them in return. Johnny pulls the darts out of the board as a waitress stops by to grab your drink order.

“Round a Jamo shots,” Gaz says to the waitress. Johnny laughs as he walks back to the table — darts in hand — noticing that you pulled a face. “Not a fan, bonnie?”

“Erm, not entirely… what about a compromise? Picklebacks?!” you suggest.

“Dinnae know what that is,” he admits. Gaz shakes his head. Simon stays behind you, silent. Observing.

“Shot of Jameson, followed by a chaser of pickle juice.”

Now it’s Johnny’s turn to pull a face. “Alright lass, if that's what ya want.” He nods to the waitress and she makes her way back to the bar. Johnny and Gaz argue over which game to play while you and Simon settle up to the high top. It’s chairless, like the rest of the high tops at the bar. Simon’s broad leg brushes against yours.

“So, how long you been working on base for?”

“Not long,” you admit. “A few months now.”

“Mmm. What convinced ya to join up?”

“My grandpa actually. He was medic and I would beg him to tell me his stories growing up… when I finished P.A. school, this job kind of fell into my lap and well… I took it as a sign.”

Johnny dumped the red set of darts in front of you and Simon when he walked back to the table. Gaz was firmly clutching the blue set in his hands. Right on cue, the waitress brings by four shots of Jameson and another four shot glasses full of pickle juice on a serving tray and places each in front of everyone. You bite your lower lip and try to look at Simon from your periphery. Is he gonna take off the mask?

“Cheers,” Gaz holds up his Jameson shot and Johnny follows. You join in, Jameson in one hand and pickle juice in the other. Simon lifts his large hand, the shot of Jameson engulfed in it, and you all clink glasses. Simon's hand brushes up against you, and you feel a spark run through your fingertips down to your toes. You visibly shiver from the minimal contact. What am I? A nun?!

You tap the bottom of your Jameson shot on the table before taking both the Jameson and then the pickle juice back in one breath hold. Johnny hoots in approval before him and Gaz take both shots right after. “Good call bonnie, kills the burn right off.”

When Simon lifts the bottom of his mask up from his chin and takes both shots, you swear you really must be a nun with how little of his face showing suddenly soaks your panties through. You see the strong outline of his jaw, and a very old, muted scar that runs slanted down his chin. A smattering of blonde 5 o’clock shadow is the last thing you notice before he pulls his mask back down. You quickly look away before someone can notice you drooling.

“Gaz, you’re up,” Johnny announces.

You have a tell when you’re about to shoot. You do this little side to side sway with you hips that Simon can’t help but watch. The soft noises you make after each throw that have him wondering if he can provoke those same sounds from you in bed.

He noticed you studying him with the mask pulled up from under his chin, your shiver as he brushed his hand against yours. Touch starved little bird.

He imagines what he could make you do with the promise of seeing all of him. Wonders if you would let him mark you as his, teeth meeting soft pillowy flesh.

He isn’t sure why you haven't asked about the mask yet. He’s never met a woman interested in him who hasn’t. He’s sure you’re curious — and it’s clear you were trying to get a peek of him earlier from the corner of your eye — but here you are, respecting that it’s just a part of him. That alone serves to make him a little hard.

Simon holds his breath when you stand too close to him. Your perfume threatens to send him over the edge, a soft floral and citrusy scent that has his muscles tightening.

You’re shit at darts. Absolutely horrible — although you do get a few lucky shots in every once in a while. He wants to teach you — the rough pads of his fingers caressing your silky smooth center while he breathes in your ear how to shoot. He wants you dripping down his fingers as you aim the dart, wiggling your hips just slightly before you throw it, him slipping two fingers inside of you and…

“It's your turn, Simon!” you exclaim, slight buzz coloring your cheeks as you hand the darts to him.

Fuck. He’s got a massive hard on right now. No way he can come out from behind the table.

“You take my turn for me, dove.”

“Wha.. really?! But… you’re the only reason we have a shot at winning.”

It’s true, Simon hasn’t missed a single shot all night. Not that Gaz and Soap aren't sharpshooters, but their talent has an inverse relationship with the amount of booze they consume, and right now the two of them combined are about neck and neck with the two of you.

“Absolutely. You got this.”

His praise warms your cheeks even further. He’s happy you haven’t drank much, unlike Gaz and Johnny. You’re still aware, cognizant. He doesn’t want to lose you to a drunken stupor, even though he’d be happy to hold your hair and then punish you for it in the morning with a few good spanks.

After a few lucky shots from you, he hears Gaz and Johnny moan something about hustling the two of them. Johnny pats you on the shoulder as you pass him and head straight for the table with Simon.

“Good work little dove.”

You beam, but blow it off by shrugging your shoulders before bumping one against his arm. “I have a good partner.”

Johnny and Gaz come up to the table. “Who’s up for ‘nother round? Ay, what were those shots we took earlier Doc?” Gaz asks.

Simon watches you closely as you put your small hands up and wave them around in front of your face. “Oh… no more shots for me, thank you.”

Gaz and Johnny both groan but Simon cuts them a look that has them backing off. “We’re gonna grab a quick one at the bar then, be right back,” Johnny says, practically pulling Gaz with him.

“Alright?” Simon asks you once they've left.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. This is… fun. I haven’t had much lately.”

Simon’s fingertips trace the wood grain of the table. “Why not?”

You shrug. “Self inflicted, really. Once I moved here, I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t exactly force myself to go out. Plus, I went on one really terrible date the first week I was here. After that, I figured I would just take the time to get my bearings first.”

Simon chuckles a little. “How terrible?”

You sigh slightly. “Well… to be honest… he was dreadfully boring and self absorbed. Some guy who works in… finance?” You waved one of your hands around. “He only talked about himself and how good he was at his job, then when we were about to leave he asked if he could ‘pencil me in’,” you make air quotations with your fingers “for a lunch date back on base. I lied and told him lunches are too hard for me to get away and have been avoiding him ever since.”

“Wait, he works on base? A suit?”

You shrug your shoulders, not knowing his terminology. “Lucky for me, we must not work near each other, otherwise he’d see I take most of my lunches outside under the trees by the track.”

You couldn’t know this, but Simon makes a mental checklist in his head to not only see if he can figure out who this suit is, but to scope the trees near the running track on Monday. He can’t have his little bird in harm’s way. He can only imagine which soldier’s eyes you’ve caught while sitting and enjoying your lunch. That track gets a fair amount of use considering there are more people stationed on base than there is room in the gym, and spring has just rolled around.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Simon mutters under his breath. You whip your head in his direction in time to see Johnny trying to stand on the bar, shirtless, and to the dismay of the bartenders. Gaz is cheering him on. Simon spins off the table and walks to the bar with swift intent. He barks something you can't hear at Johnny, who’s color drains from his face and gets down from the bartop. Simon flicks him on the nose and you can hear Johnny yelp. Gaz looks terrified in the corner. He drags both of them by the ear back to the high top.

“Should get these two idiots home. Let me give you a ride to your flat.”

You shake your head. “That’s okay, thank you though.”

Now it’s Simon’s turn to shake his head. ��Look, your friends are gone. Let me give you a ride home so I know you make it safe.”

“Please hen, maybe he’ll take it easy on us if ye ride wit!” Johnny pleads and his brow scrunches more after he speaks, Simon pinching down harder on his ear.

Simon hears your hearty laugh before you turn around and notice that indeed your coworkers have all left for the evening. “Almost bar close, anway,” Simon adds.

You bite that damn lip again and look around for a second before speaking. “Well if you’re sure…”

[agxinstthesun]

an overly complex analysis of how the killjoys deal with loss

party poison-

party poison has a soul crushing fear of death. maybe it isn’t apparent- not what you’d expect from someone who appears so confident and in tune with themselves, but there’s signs. the way their eyes go dark when anyone in the crew gets even slightly injured- the way they're always first to volunteer to stay up all night on patrol, knowing their paranoia would keep them up either way. you could chalk it up to their “leader instincts,” but their crew would argue it runs deeper than that. a good leader doesn’t have to do what party does- a good leader - by zone standards - keeps the group motivated- keeps them from splitting up. party poison keeps the group alive, together. they took a team and effortlessly morphed it into a family. admitting to it would feed their suspended guilt even more, but each time they hear of a death outside their inner circle, a small part of them is relieved that it wasn't their family blinded by the witches touch that day.

if it were to happen, it would destroy them. the loss would be bad enough, but the guilt of it all might be enough to put them out of commission for a long while. as strong as they are, the role of "leader" digs into them like the soles of a brand new pair of shoes. leaving an indent of responsibility and overcompensation in the sand with every step they take.

jet star-

jet star never strays far from death, not since what happened to his family. finding his parents ghosted after an unexpected raid carried out by some particularly violent exterminators was the catalyst for a lot of things in his life. his heightened sympathy for the dead and the mourning was one of those things. he was known throughout the desert as a safe person to talk to about those topics. it was even said that he would offer sympathy despite negative affiliations or disagreements your group had with his. it'd be a lie to say it didn't weigh on him, though. the anger built up from hearing all of these stories and the lingering effects from his own experiences culminated in an intense hatred for BLI and everything they had done. this passion was the one thing him and party poison truly connected over when they first met.

it's no surprise that, if confronted by a companions passing, this anger and passion would hit him hard. how unfair it is, how inhumane, it shakes him. initially, he'd think to organize- to finally just go for it and take out as many of those pigs as possible- but he wouldn't. he's too aware of the amount of people in the zones that still need him. he's second in command, he's as much a leader as party is. still, he'd become distant. it'd serve as another warning not to get too close, to not give too much of yourself to something that is only ever temporary.

fun ghoul-

fun ghoul doesn't acknowledge death. despite his ever frequent catfights with it, he manages to get by rarely considering the possibility. the truth being that if he did, the weight of it all would crush him. deep down, he knows he's helpless to it. he knows that each time he evades her grasp, she gets smarter. it's no doubt it'll all catch up to him eventually..but his friends are all untouchable. seeing them injured, near ghosted? it never feels real. on a bad night, he'll think of how the others must look down, mortified, to him each time he’s left bleeding out against the desert sun. it gives him a sense of importance sometimes, but usually it just builds guilt.

if he had to face a loss head on, it would be a pivotal moment to him. as the reality set in, he'd feel lost. stupid for being naive enough to ignore it for so long. that love of throwing himself into the danger that he relied so heavily on before would fade just as fast as it came, the loss weighing him down in small ways for as long as he lived. the remorse he’d feel for pushing his love inward, and seldom expressing it, would sit heavy on his shoulders. he'd cling even more to whatever it is he had left, and protect it with his whole life.

kobra kid-

kobra kid is conflicted on death. of course it scared him- the thought that he would disappear one day, but more often than not, he caught himself wondering if that was just something he had picked up from party. the longer he thought about it on his own time, the more the thought became oddly comforting. the fact that there would eventually be a moment of rest amidst all the chaos didn’t sound all that bad to him..of course, it also pissed him off. it made him mad that the city forced that mindset onto you. the idea that submitting yourself to death was the only way to true freedom. however, it wouldn’t take long for the morbid curiosity found its way back to him.

he was almost too aware of the looming presence of death around him and the rest of the crew (the rest of the desert, really). if it happened, he wouldn’t be shocked, but deeply mourning still. he’d send letters in the mailbox, despite always considering it a futile effort. he’d silently participate in whatever zone rituals he thought would help him feel better, though they almost never would. he’d become especially reclusive and unresponsive to sympathy- it’s just something people do to feel like they’re helping, right? he’s way more dependent on his crew than he’d ever let on, and this fate would only further prove that.

[astracora]

maybe kind of a stupid question😓, but in Turning Point, are the boys going to date too? or is it just MC dating all of them separately?

Hey, they all are part of the polycule together! (or will be, initially it's a bit rockier because they're all very fixated solely on MC). While MC is kind of the mesh point where they join, it doesn't mean they don't interact and date each other.

Future-wise, they live together, and have separate, individual dates when they like. Their dynamics are different per person, so for some lil things that probably won't come up in Turning Point itself, but either pops up in cat curse, or in my head like some kind of daydream.

Zayne and Sylus get along the most intellectually (though Sylus and Xavier can talk about astrophysics pretty happily, and both are experienced with technology and space travel as well), so you're likely to catch them playing board games together. Zayne also is the one who doesn't react much to Sylus' tormenting, but when he's had enough he's had enough and that's what Sylus aims for. (be it sexually or otherwise). He enjoys watching the doctor take his glasses off.

Xavier and Zayne are the calmest together. Xavier in general enjoys spending time with the others, but it probably takes him the longest to integrate himself into a group dynamic because he's been isolated for a really long time and is very used to it. That said he's protective, if he sees someone struggling, he will absolutely act as a shield, and his actions are normally louder than his words. He naps with Sylus constantly, and absolutely uses Sylus as a living cushion (who wouldn't complain its nice when someone doesn't complain about his body heat). Zayne tends to his wounds fairly frequently, especially when he's acting as Lumiere and can't get somewhere safer. He will sit for hours just watching Rafayel paint, because he enjoys how it makes him feel. Though he talks most with MC, he enjoys the presence of companions a lot, especially ones who are on his side in protecting MC.

Rafayel hates hates hates the concept of the polycule most, at the start he struggles with it a lot because he's... selfish in some regards? full of pain in others. It's rough, but he softens and warms to it when he gets supported by the others. Sylus giving MC a nudge to be braver to spend time with him, Zayne checking in on his work, Xavier bringing him water while he's working, or just watching him work. It's one of those, oh these people actually care about me, even if they stink at showing it sometimes (sylus cough sylus). The two continue to fight, but their fighting turns more into a love language. Raffy does not like this pointed out because he's stubborn. He has fallen asleep on Sylus' chest before now... there are photos. He finds Xavier and Zayne the calmest to be around, and though he grates when Zayne reminds him to tidy (because he's an adult!!), he also appreciates when ebb and flow day comes or he's sick and the doctor is there to help take care of him.

Sylus is the least... jealous I think? So he adapts to it quickest, and uses it as an excuse to amuse himself. He finds the dynamic fun, he enjoys poking at his new companions, he LOVES being able to see how the interactions impact MC too. It's a little bit like a science experiment, a little bit like a dragon learning how affection manifests in different ways. I think also fundamentally, he's very aware of his like... presence in the polycule as someone who was labelled an 'enemy' and a 'monster', so he actively wants to make sure there's an awareness that no matter what someone says, his connection to MC (and the polycule by extension), is fundamentally one he values and respects. He also bonds most with Raffy about nature, and its one of the few times they don't jokingly argue with each other. He's also the one who plays sidekick to Xavier's cooking too.

There's probably way more I could word vomit out, but yes TLDR; They all date... They all kiss each other. Just to varying degrees because they're different people!

(Also it improves more over time as well, bearing in mind the yhave hundreds of years with MC, and only have a year at most with each other!)

Edit: also not a stupid question, happy to answer! I forgot to add this earlier!

[homestuckreplay]

See No Anvil, Hear No Anvil, Speak No Anvil

(page 1737-1754)

In summary: Rose and John almost meet in person (again), fail to actually meet, and exchange animal companions. I have always loved seeing Vodka Mutini In Places and hunting him down in a lot of the Rose panels (sometimes he is there and SO small) and now I get to do that with John’s. The real goal of Sburb is to pass this adorable kitten between all four kids so he can go on adventures. Look, they are both having so much fun up there ^

Less importantly, Dave has added all the upgrades to Rose’s alchemiter, which was cool of him, and allows John to make FEAR NO ANVIL, a weapon Davesprite gave him the code for. John is the hammerkind guy, but with its red/orange color scheme and ticking clock hands, this is clearly a Dave-coded hammer. Dave and John have matching suits, matching internet glasses, and already exchanged matching movie prop gifts, so my guess is that John will one day find a blue wind-based sword (half-sword?) that he can give to Dave. Anyway, I love cogs and gears, and one time I saw one of those videos where they open up a watch and clean all the tiny parts inside of it which was immensely satisfying, so I like this weapon design a lot.

Davesprite continues to be evasive and not give straight answers, despite his promise to Dave (p.1658). He doesn’t give much information about the hammer’s abilities, Hephaestus, or how he actually got the weapon. Hephaestus of course is Dave’s web browser, seen way back on page 323 – a jet black, vaguely humanoid shape surrounded by flames – and we see his desktop again literally one page after Davesprite mentions the name. I think this is unnecessary for a lot of readers, as fans are regularly hunting through the archives and would have made this connection pretty quickly, but maybe this along with the recap is an attempt at making Homestuck easier for casual readers to follow. This also isn’t the first we’ve seen of web browsers made physical; Grandpa Harley has John’s browser Typheus (p.24) blocking the transportalizer in his house, much to Jade’s annoyance (p.857). So, I imagine at some point we’ll hear from Rose’s browser Cetus (p.239) and Jade’s browser Echidna (p.825). Though if one of them is based on Internet Explorer, maybe they’ll be super slow and easy to kill.

In case I haven’t said it before: the Firefox is my best friend, and I would never fight them. I would thank them for their service and give them berries and rats to eat.

Just like dream Jade, dream Dave’s computer corresponds with his waking one. But without a dreambot, he’s unable to affect the waking world – so can’t message John and tell him to wait – he can only watch. Rose is immediately like ‘goodbye, I’m going to hang out with my other friend’ and ends the sleepover early, and is impressively unsurprised by the appearance of a salamander in her bedroom. I guess this renaming/re-gendering of Viceroy Bubbles von Salamancer is the payoff for John wondering about salamander gender earlier, and hey, I could argue this is the first canonically trans character in Homestuck. John and Rose are both excellent at silly pet names, and when they’re older their job should be naming all the pets on Petfinder.

I am so glad John did a prank here. He’s always talking about how much he loves pranks, but hardly ever attempts them. I guess he doesn’t have many people who he can prank in person, and probably lost a lot of prank confidence trying to go up against his dad: ‘Looks like DAD will enjoy the prankster's gambit on that exchange, as is usually the case’ (p.92). Here, John is both successful in pranking Rose, and his prank is very kind. A meaner prank would have been to unwrap all the Gushers so that Rose had hundreds of tiny, sticky candies in her room that would burst under her feet and be basically inedible. Here they’re still in their packets, plus they’re a healing item in Sburb, so John is giving Rose a present in prank gift wrap. ‘thoughtful but mischievous’ (p.1749) is exactly correct.

It is unsurprising I guess that John and Rose miss each other, as I don’t think this would be the most impactful moment for them to meet. I am calling it now that we’re gonna get meetings between all of the guardians before we get them between any of the (waking) kids, and that the kids won’t meet in person until they reach Skaia.

Finally, we get a glimpse of the trolls’ transtemporal chat client, Trollian. It’s fairly simple, with a timeline and direction for each of the four kids. Presumably, the gray bar turns to black when the corresponding kid enters the Medium, as GA is messaging Rose right after Dave’s entry. According to this, the gap between John and Rose’s entry was smallest, the gap between Rose and Dave’s entry is a little longer (we know this was four and a half to five hours), and the gap between Dave and Jade is longer still. Though this means very little in a story that jumps around in time so much.

The trolls can also scroll backwards, presumably to when the kids first installed Pesterchum, or forwards into the future. From the position of the scrollbar, there’s more time forwards than backwards, indicating a long future for the kids even after their accelerated Sburb session. It’s understandable that the trolls focus on this period of time because it’s the one that impacts them, but surely one of them is a little curious about the kids’ far future? Where do they end up after all of this? I’ve never wished a page was interactive more than this one.

Finally, there’s a ChumpRoll, listing the kids’ usernames (including both of John’s), and a viewport, through which the trolls can see the kid (or perhaps their computer). Every time I think ‘surely these kids are being surveilled enough?’ the story adds another layer of surveillance – the reader, Sburb server players, exiles, Jack Noir, AH, dream server players, and now trolls – putting them in an absolute nightmare of being inescapably watched. On a totally unrelated note I was telling a friend of mine about Homestuck a while back, and three months later their social media still recommends them Homestuck content, even though it’s something they’ve never explored outside of our conversations. So yeah, I think this theme is an incredibly accurate commentary about the internet.

Overall, these pages were definitely a simpler update, with no long Pesterlogs or major plot development, but they can’t all be life changing. It is still wonderful to get a few pages every day, and I’m certain something exciting will happen soon – I have my fingers crossed for the next in Rose and GA’s sequence of conversations.

[gars-weaponeer]

Today in: Clones that deserved better!

Issue #1

-SCORCH-

Scorch belonged to the clone commando Delta Squad from the beloved videogame "Republic Commando", which came before the Clone wars series aired.

Along with his companions: Sev, Fixer and Boss. Scorch was the demolition expert of the Squad and the one with the most heart and sense of humor, arguably the one with the most personality. You could easily compare him to Hardcase or Wrecker, having a similar archetype. He, along with Sev, became a fan favorite thanks to his charismatic writing.

If you have NOT played Republic commando, I totally recommend it. You can currently find it on steam or switch and it's a very fun game to play if you are a Clone wars fan.

Delta squad appears in the Clone wars series only for a short cameo and only Boss got a short speaking line. So it was more than obvious that RC fans would want to see more representation of the beloved characters.

Then we got the Bad Batch...

I don't know who this guy is... but this is not Scorch.

I do understand they needed a face for the commando leader of Tantiss and they did not want to miss the opportunity to gain some nostalgia points with a beloved Republic Commando character. (I could rant hours about how The Bad Batch did all commando clones dirty by reducing them to novelty storm troopers, but that's a rant for another day.) But did it HAVE to be Scorch? Considering the "personality" this TBB-Scorch has, I think Fixer or even Boss could have been an arguably better pick. But since Scorch was a fan favorite he was the one chosen, and he was also the one BUTCHERED for it.

TBB-Scorch has little to no personality and what little we manage to see it drastically different from the Scorch in the video game and that's very disheartening to see for a fan of the character.

Having a model with the painted armor is not enough to give fans the representation they deserve. Specially when it comes to a character with a recognizable personality.

It would be like having Fives suddenly be a cold and loyal trooper that will do anything Pon Krell did without questioning. Or have Wrecker suddenly be the background character that had no speaking lines and was only there to guard the door.

Or have Echo disappear for an amount of episodes when he could-- oh wait....

This "character" could easily be replaced by any other commando with a cool looking armor and it wouldn't change a thing other that fans pointing and saying "OMG I KNOW THAT GUY!"

(I'm not even sure his name is even mentioned... but take that with a grain of salt, I might be wrong. I need to re-watch the third season of The Bad Batch for the third time. )

Sure, we could argue that there is a reason to why Scorch is the way he is in TBB. Maybe he was brainwashed like the CX Clones or Maybe the trauma of loosing his companions, his brothers he was born and raised with since a pod and with whom he experienced a lot of things together, made him a cold, empty husk... but if that was the case, SHOW US THAT!

Scorch could have easily been a good counterpart to Crosshair. They are both Commandos (in a sense) and they both lost their brothers in traumatic ways (allegedly). But while Scorch gave up and became a mindless follower of the Empire, Cross woke up and refused to be brainwashed like the rest.

I know I'm being too harsh.

After all, it's somehow noticiable that TBB was left unfinished. My theory is that Disney decided to pull the plug and was "nice" enough to give the project one last season. But all the ideas and all the stories they clearly wanted to tell were not going to fit on one last season, so a lot of it was cut and rushed.

It is sad, and I would have loved to see what plans they originally had. Maybe they had more plans for the commandos, maybe Scorch had a bigger role or an explanation to his loyalty towards Hemlock and the empire.

Or Maybe he was just painted in to get Republic commando fans to watch The Bad Batch.

We might never know...

Overall...

It's kind of sad that was all the representation we got of these beloved characters.

I know their stories are in "Legends" and many Legends characters have been changed for the sake of canon.

But there is Changing, and then there is Butchering.

And I think Scorch, and the Delta Squad, deserved way better.

[not-that-debonair]

Rewatched Nuwho season 3 for the first time in years and it’s time for late night musings about Martha Jones and character interactions

Okay so it’s a common take that they should have just cut out Martha’s unrequited love storyline. A part of me wants to agree, mainly because my preference would be no romance with the doctor at all, but considering that we are coming off of season 2 I don’t actually think it is a bad concept.

I understand the appeal of each companion in ten’s era having a very different relationship with the doctor, and I can see the arc they were going for with ten relearning how to rebuild relationships after Rose, culminating with Donna. But Martha in the middle got screwed over so bad man.

And the thing is, rewatching season 3, the unrequited love bit is actually not as large a part of Martha’s character as I remembered . Aside from the family of blood stuff, it’s largely left to offhand remarks and somber glances. Martha has a very strong character outside of it, and yet it’s a lot of people’s main take away from her series.

I think the reason is that while most of Martha’s overall activities throughout the series have nothing to do with her romantic feelings (she has been consistently characterised as someone who puts what she thinks she should do over her personal feelings since her first appearance), basically all of her interactions with the Doctor do.

And yes, obviously since the Doctor is the one she has feelings for it’s going to be important, but she is sorely missing a dynamic with him outside of it that would make their relationship feel more balanced.

Like we just didn’t get the same banter between them like we did with Rose or Donna, with the majority of their interactions having this awkward, longing tone. Since seasons 1 and 2 established the doctor-companion relationship as being a key aspect of the show, Martha and Ten lacking a dynamic outside of Feels where Rose and Donna thrived leads to her character feeling less developed, even when it really isn’t.

You could say it’s because Martha’s a more serious character or because Ten’s too broody at that point. But the few moments where they get the relationship right show that that isn’t what’s holding it back.

I could never really explain why I like Smith and Jones so much, but I think part of it is the interactions between the Doctor and Martha as compared to the rest of season 3. It’s just more fun. Ten gives Martha a conspiratorial wink when she notices his two hearts, Martha calls him ‘completely mad’ after the radiation thing. The kiss may establish the unrequited love, but their back-and-forth throughout the rest of the episode makes it far less painful and more understandable how they could travel together and remain on good terms after all the shit that comes later.

And here is where I lose the plot and defend the Lazarus Experiment because as janky as that ep is, it also showed how a balanced dynamic between Martha and the Doctor could work. Tish remarking about how ‘of course he’s a science geek’ references the romance thing but also where Martha and the Doctor have common ground, which we see in the ‘luckily I’ve got us a genetic sample’/‘Martha Jones, you’re a star’ bit. Yes, Martha loves the Doctor, but Martha and the Doctor’s conversations which also clearly like each other.

But that dynamic isn’t there in a lot of the rest of the series. Martha and the Doctor’s conversations which aren’t just plot driven are all kind of miserable because of Martha’s feelings and Ten’s angst. They both become less interesting characters when they’re together than when they’re apart.

And the writing in the show seems to reflect this. When Martha returns in series 4 with the romantic stuff settled, the plot still separates her from everyone else, including the Doctor, through rockslides or clones or what else. One could argue this is to represent that she doesn’t need the Doctor and is secure in herself, but I think it’s a real missed opportunity. We could’ve explored the new relationship between them that is unique because of their characters and how they’ve both matured since they travelled together, and gotten a proper reconciliation scene, but it’s harder because their dynamic wasn’t strong enough in season 3 for a change to mean as much.

Cause as it stands right now, it feels like Martha just does a lot of emotional (and literal) labour for the Doctor without anything in return. It’s certainly not helped by the uncomfortable and frankly lazy way the show handles race, but giving them a relationship characterised by other things as well as their emotional turmoil would make Martha seem less unappreciated by the Doctor and the narrative.

Basically, Martha should’ve gotten her own version of The Unicorn and the Wasp. Comparatively low stakes, light hearted plot, but the opportunity to let the character dynamics shine. It doubt it would take away from the angst in the rest of the season; Smith and Jones didn’t, and neither did Unicorn and the Wasp in 4.

[lostinforestbound]

OH GOD I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR REQUESTS OPENING!!

Okay, so- I would love to read your thoughts on healer Tav with Rolan! Could be HCs, or a blurb, whatever you prefer^^ if you decide to make it a blurb, perhaps Tav could be patching Rolan up after the fight with Lorroakan?

This was so fun, I haven't written about the aftermath of Lorroakan's battle much! I hope you're okay with Tav as a cleric?? It's what I immediately thought of!

Rolan and Healer!Tav in the Aftermath of Lorroakan

Tav and their companions are absolutely exhausted. The fight with Lorroakan was nothing short of difficult, how were they supposed to know he had some elemental reaction? Karlach took plenty of hard hits because of it.

And then there was Rolan.

When they saw his bruises, they felt nothing short of anger. He was so excited for this apprenticeship, and Lorroakan twisted it into a punishment. He was a sick man, who now laid dead near Dame Aylin's feet after shattering his spine.

"Soldier," Karlach starts, putting a hand on their shoulder, "We're going to head back. Gale looks ready to collapse."

"Ah...yes. Of course." They say, eyes trailing to Rolan who has already grabbed a mop, "I'll catch up later. If not, I'll be here."

She gives a knowing smile before picking up Gale, throwing him over her shoulder despite his startled protest.

Dame Aylin gave the courtesy of disposing the body, so there is no worry there. They are worried about Rolan.

After promising to help in any way he can, it seems that he just started to...clean. Mindlessly. He's already mopping the floor of all the blood that was spilled, even as his muscles spasm from electrocution. He was almost killed, they all were, yet here he is, fucking cleaning.

They don't know whether to be more worried or pissed off.

"Rolan," they call, "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning. I do not want the blood to dry, it'll stick and be impossible to clean out."

"Did you even heal yourself?" They ask, marching up to him. "You got the worst of it all."

"I'm fine. Lorroakan is dead, the tower is mine. I do need to contact Lia and Cal-"

They snatch the mop out of his hand, and before he could argue they put a finger up. "Don't. Let me heal you."

"Tav-"

"You took a beating! We all did, and you shouldn't worry about cleaning! I'll help you with that later." They sigh, summoning their magic. "Rolan, please, I care about you and I know you're hurting."

He sighs heavily and relents, annoyed. "Just make it quick. I have a lot to do."

They ignore his sass, gently placing a hand on his shoulder and mutter their incantation. It's not nearly enough, but they feel Rolan slowly relax. A low level cure wounds is not what he needs through.

"It's not nearly enough. I'll patch you up. Now, take off your robes."

If they were paying attention, the could see how flustered Rolan's face went. "Tav, this is not necessary. You've done more than enough-"

"You are limping and I see the blood under your robes. Sit. Down." They demand.

He huffs incredulously and plops down on the book throne, slowly taking off his robes and under shirt. Those don't go without a few winces though.

Bruises, scars, and dried blood coat his body. The bastard seemed to be have beating him for a while, longer than Tav thought. It makes their blood boil, but now is not the time for anger.

They take out salves, bandages, and ointments from out of their pack and start working on the wounds quietly. Rolan suddenly looks extremely bitter, probably noticing that they had a question on the tip of their tongue. "I know that look, don't you dare judge me for sticking around even after the first hit."

"I would never judge. I don't understand it all, but...I want to."

He looks away, and Tav spots his eyes getting watery. "I don't wish to speak on it, today. I've done enough of that."

"Of course."

They finally manage to wrap up his more major injuries, which were at least sealed thanks to their spell. These are mostly to protect the more tender areas and prevent more injury. They know Rolan has been keeping it together in front of them, but he looks so tired.

When they open their arms up in offering, he carefully pulls them in for a hug. It's tight, it's crushing, but also secure. They don't say a word when they feel his body shake, or when their shoulder starts to feel wet, only pecking his temple as the man silently weeps. "I'm here."

[justannchen]

Hello guys, I had a idea of a fanfiction, and not long after I wrote it and now I want to show it to you. A big thanks to my English teacher who corrected all of my mistakes. And now, have fun reading it!

Characters: yangchen, kavik, akuudan, Tayagum, jujinta

Tags: yangvik, arguments, kisses, hugs, tears

Why are you even arguing?

In the last time Yangchen and her companion Kavik did not see each other much, in the time they did see each other they were in a lot of arguments.

The arguments themselves were nothing big, but some of them led to bigger ones that really put their patience to the test. In these times both of them acted quite stubbornly and wouldn’t admit how sorry they were for arguing for such a dumb reason, they just went different ways and either forgot about the arguments or kept arguing later on.

Even though they didn’t seem profound, the arguments really hurt Yangchen, and what was even worse was that she didn’t even knew why she was so vulnerable because of these stupid reasons, why did she let her tears fall for this? Why did she let her tears fall for him?

It had been a long week with a lot of missions, some were dangerous, some were just boring. At the end of the week Yangchen was in her room of the hideout, reading a book, but not focusing on what she was reading. Where was her mind? It was on Kavik, she was thinking about him.

She knew she missed him because she hadn’t seen him for the entire week. Was he ok? Was he angry at her? These few questions were swirling in her mind the entire time and she didn’t even understand why.

The last time she saw him they ended up arguing about the a stupid thought of hers, she thought he had secrets, then he went away with Jujinta for a mission. And about a week later... He still hadn’t come back.

After she caught herself not focusing on her book, she laid it aside and went out of her room, to her other two companions, Tayagum and Akuudan.

The two were sitting and eating some traditional water tribe snacks, Yangchen thought that the food was probably something like some fish or some kind of meat, but to her surprise it was a plant that grew deep in the ocean. Yangchen had tried it before, and it was really tasty in her opinion. As an airnomad she didn’t really try different food from other nations, even as the avatar she usually sticked to her traditional food, or food that she knew tasted good.

When she took the seat next to Akuudan, the older man immediately asked if she was all right.

Yangchen looked up at him, why did he asked it, of course she was all right, why wouldn’t she be?

Just as she wanted to answer that she was perfectly fine the words got stuck in her throat,

maybe she wasn’t that alright as the thought she was.

Tayagum also noticed the sad expression in Yangchens eyes, he looked at her and then started

asking if Kavik was on her mind.

"It's Kavik, isn't it?" before Yangchen could think about her answer she just nodded, both Akuudan and Tayagum looked at her, then at each other, why were they looking at her that way?

Then everything started to make sense, she knew what they were thinking about.

"It's not what it looks like, stop smirking. I don't like him - at all. It's just... The last time we saw us, we ended up in a fight."

Before Yangchen could finish her sentence Akuudan interrupted her. "You miss him, huh? Him and Jujinta. I know Chen, we all miss them. But don't worry avatar, they will come back soon."

Jujinta? No, actually she didn't think much of Jujinta, the only person that was swirling in her head in last time was Kavik. "Yes, I miss my companions." she managed to say, somehow not crying. Wait, she wanted to cry because of him, again?!

The door opened and two more people entered the room, Kavik and Jujinta.

All five members of team avatar looked at each other, in that moment Kavik caught Yangchens eyes, she jumped from her chair instantly and stepped towards him.

She was quite a bit shorter than him, but not too much. Without any thoughts she wrapped her arms around Kaviks chest and gave him a hug. Everyone stared at her, but did she care about this? No, she did not. Kavik didn't know how to react at first and just stood there for a moment before hugging her back.

All her worries were gone in this moment, before Jujinta interrupted... "Hello avatar, glad to see you." the man said, standing in front of Kavik and Yangchen.

She tried her best to not give him a roll of her eyes, somehow, she managed it and looked at him and nodded in response.

The rest of the afternoon they spend together, chatting, laughing and telling stories about their time together.

Yangchen caught herself looking at Kavik while he was telling a story about the time when they both were staying at the northern airtemple, this story was one of her favourites. She was sitting at a campfire with a few other airnomads, when - all of the sudden - he stood behind her to give her a scare, he was successful! She screamed and fell backwards, he managed to catch her and

both of them ended up laughing.

She could not keep her eyes of his face, this beautiful smile, his blue eyes that matched his blue watertribe jacket. She really missed him.

While she was lost in her thoughts, she suddenly heard someone saying her name. "Why are you looking at me this way?" Kavik asked her. She snapped out of her thoughts and felt the heat in her face. Was she blushing? "I am just listening to you, Kavik" she answered her beloved companion.

"Uhuh, really? The last time we met you were acting like you have absolutely no interest in a friendship because I have "secrets", and now you can't stop looking at me?"

There it was, the reason of their last argument... Suddenly, she felt sad. Of course she wanted him as a friend, why would he think the opposite...

"Kavik, I do trust you." she said quickly looking away from him. He rolled his eyes and continued telling another story. Akuudan felt the tension between them, he knew that they were in anargument... Again.

"Why are you like that?" Yangchen managed to ask. "Like what?" Kavik quickly answered, "Like an idiot! Why are you this mad at me? I didn't do anything to you Kavik!" Yangchens voice was breaking while she tried to hold her tears back, Kaviks expression softened as he saw her this sad.

He stood up from his chair to go towards her, but she immediately made her way to her room where she leaned against the closed door and let the tears fall. Why was she crying for such a stupid reason?

The next 15 minutes she spent quietly sobbing in her room. This whole time she was silently cursing herself for being so weak and crying about the fact that he might be angry at her. She heard a knock on her door. Not long after Akuudan came into the room. She quickly tried to

compose herself by wiping her tears away, but well that did not really work, her face was drowned in tears and her eyes red, she tried her best not to sob again, but the lump in her throat gave her a really hard time.

"What's the matter, avatar?" she heard Akuudan asking, she was torn between telling him everything she was feeling or just sending him out of her room. But she came to the conclusion that it would be better to tell Akuudan everything. Why was she feeling shitty like this? Why did he have such a big influence on her?

"It's Kavik, isn't it?" He knew it. How... Never mind, he knows the reason for her crying. "It is him."

she pressed her knees against her chest and hugged them to feel a bit of support in this damn situation. Akuudan sat on her bed next to her, as he spoke, she felt his hand gently rubbing circles on her back, it was very comforting.

"You missed him so much, and just when he came back you two started arguing again. There is more behind it, right? Why would you be crying over such a stupid little argument."

It took her a moment to think of an answer. "I really don't know, it's just hurtful. It hurts me when we are screaming at each other. We just became friends again, I can't lose him, not again..."

After a moment of silence Akuudan spoke up and said that he understood her turmoil, he probably understood even more than her, he knew she fell for him, she fell hard.

He decided to keep quiet about the thought of a romance between Kavik and her, he knew how she would react to things like that. The only logical option was to let her figure it out on her own, because would she agree with him if he told her that she was in love? No, she would not agree as stubborn as she was.

It was already late evening, which was for sure. The exact time she did not know because the clock in her room had run out of battery, but it was probably time to head to bed.

Akuudan pat the back of Yangchen before he went out of the room quietly saying the words "Good night, Chen". It is a night, yes. But is it a good one? No, definitely not. How was she supposed to go to bed with the thought that he hated her? Why did he even. Before she could even recognize it, she fell into overthinking. Every tiny detail that she might have done wrong and that had upset him shot into her mind. Her overthinking session was interrupted by another gentle knock on the door.

"Who's there?" "It's me, can I come in? We need to have a talk, Chen."

Kavik?! Oh no, he definitely could not come into the room. She looked like a mess! But before she could answer his question the door opened, and he stepped inside quietly closing the door.

He looked at her and immediately understood that she was crying, guilt shot into the expression of his face, and he came to her bed where she was sitting. Without a warning he embraced her,

this time she was shocked by the embrace, but she quickly came back to reality and hugged him back. Yeah, she really needed that hug.

It looked like he knew that he was the reason for all her tears. For a long moment they held the embrace, neither any of them wanted to let go of the other.

He broke the silence first by apologizing to her for his rude behaviour, but was it a good apology? No, not really. He said that arguments are normal and that they were not that bad, how dare he?

Didn’t he see how she felt right now because of all these stupid arguments? "Are you kidding me!? Arguments are normal?! Maybe if you weren’t a jerk as you always are, we wouldn’t have these many arguments!" All the anger that she was holding back came out, she wanted to let him know how she felt because of his behaviour, but it didn't work out as planned.

"Jerk? You are calling me a jerk!? You are the one who always has this mad mood, no wonder we are always arguing!"

Oh, did he really dare saying this? Hurtful.

"I am not in a bad mood! You always start arguing because of the most stupid reasons, Kavik!"

She yelled at him, but he also yelled back, this really hurt. She couldn't meet his gaze, she knew she couldn’t look him in the eyes right now, these angry blue eyes. She just looked down without saying anything while he yelled that he is sorry for the arguments, but she was also a reason for them.

The thing that stopped him from yelling at her, was looking down at her while she covered her face with her hands, obviously crying. Her tired and silent sobs brought back the Kavik she missed.

He looked at her for a moment, immediately feeling guilty. He reached out his hand to

gently cup her face, but she moved away from him, now her moving away from him hurt him.

After a moment of thinking what to do next he just moved closer to her and hugged her again, at first, she tried to move away but quickly realized that she didn’t want to be apart from him.

She leaned against his chest, the fabric of his shirt soaking her tears.

After a while of sitting like this he began to speak in a gentle voice, clearly trying to apologize. "I am sorry Chen, really sorry. I don't know why I was acting so dumbly. You are right, I am a jerk. I am sorry avatar." There was clearly something he didn't want to say, but what was it? Why was he keeping secrets, again? "You are keeping quiet about something." she said, not long after her words she felt a hand on her cheek that led her head up to face him.

After a minute of just looking at each other he sighed and moved to stand up. What did he think he was doing? No, definitely not, he was not going anywhere. Wait why was she so obsessed with his presence?

And the realization shot immediately in her head, did she fall for him?! No, this could not be. She was the avatar she had to keep the world in peace, she had a duty. There was no time for a romance. Arg -whatever, if she was not saying it now, she would never say it. "Wait please, don't go! I don't want to be alone, not again. I can't lose you, I just can't, please Kavik. I love you!"

Is that the feeling when you fell in love with someone? Are you saying I love you first or are you confessing your feelings first? How was she supposed to explain this?

"Kavik you matter to me, you really matter" before she could finish her sentence something blocked the path of her words

- his lips. Spirits, he kissed her! Best day in her life.

That was the only thing that mattered now. He interrupted the kiss first and looked into her eyes.

"I love you too, Yangchen." Hearing these words from his mouth, felt like a dream. But no, it was not a dream, it was reality. They kissed and confessed their feelings for one another. This was what he was keeping quiet about. And maybe because of all their arguments he tried to gain space between them because he did not know how she would react to his confession.

It all made sense! He had loved her for a long time but couldn’t tell her because who expected a busy avatar to say yes to a relationship? Her presence made him nervous and that was why they were always arguing! Everything made sense. Spirits, how much she loved this jerk.

She smiled and pressed her lips against his once more, capturing him in a soft kiss.

So that's how love feels? She quite liked this feeling.