#...i'm just making up whatever sounds cool on the spot. i'm not great at making all of this cohesive

[monotone-artist]

[id in alt]

giving them Magic Eyes so they can see invisible spirits ooooo

[cutebat]

Yandere Batfam x Neglected, but Defiant Reader

What's Next?

Warning(s): Yandere themes, past neglect, a lot of swearing, stealing, violence, mentions of bribery

(This is where now you can pick your own choices in this series, so this isn't technically a chapter)

~~~~~

Two weeks went by quickly, thank God.

You arrived at school as how you could have if it wasn't for Bruce ruining your fucking break by making you spend time with the rest of the family.

You were forced to watch movies that made no sense due to its plot or whatever and went shopping, only for them to buy you things that you didn't like that all. Like, who still buys and wears things that could cause a whole closet clutter.

The worst part of all this is that Damian has to walk you everywhere around the school, except for using the restroom. Even worse is that Bruce changed your entire schedule to you having teachers who love to fuck you over. Because of this, you can't skip anymore!

Anyway, the day quickly went by, and now it was break time. As you two walked into the cafeteria, you spot your two basically only normal and only friends, Noelle and Sasha.

"(name)! There you are...-"

Noelle calls out to you before her smile slowly flattered when she spots Damian beside you.

"What is he doing here?"

She whispers to you that made you roll your eyes.

This made Damian narrow his eyes down at the two of them.

"Do you have a problem with me being here?"

He asks with a snarl that made your friends cringe a bit.

"(name)..."

Sasha mutters out to you that made you sigh.

"No, no... Damian, they're cool, don't worry."

You reassure him that luckily made him calm down.

"Oh, alright then. Come now, sister. We need to find a table."

Damian tells you which made you feel annoyed.

"Oh, uh, actually. I need to get my water bottle. I left it in my locker, so..."

You try to make an excuse to get out of here.

"No worries, I can go get it for you."

Damian said as he turns around.

"Wait, you don't know my combination!"

You call out of realization.

"I'll figure it out."

He calls back as he leaves the cafeteria.

You and your friends stayed where you were in silence.

"Isn't this great?"

You speak up out of sarcastically as you sit down with them.

"(name), what are you doing with that guy?"

Sasha asks as she takes a bite of her pudding.

"Being stuck by his side for the whole day and the entire Christmas break?"

"No, why are you hanging out with him?"

"Oh, god, don't be a bitch over this. I know he's such a pain in the ass, but I can tolerate him, okay?"

"No, we're not jealous or anything, he's actually fucking insane, (name)!"

Noelle tells you

"Insane like how?"

You ask as you cross your arms.

"Sent many guys to the infirmary, punched a guy in the throat earlier, nearly set a teacher's car on fire."

Noelle said as she started to list down all the things that Damian did.

"Wait, so all of this happened in one day?"

You ask with your eyes wide a little.

"Yeah."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I have two classes and a passing period with him."

At that moment, a guy with a neck cast walked up to your table.

"Were you guys just talking to Damian?"

He asks the three of you.

"Yeah."

Sasha mutters out.

"I hate him. He literally punched me in the throat during gym and didn't even apologize to me or get expelled. I'm pretty sure he paid off the headmaster or something."

He said with his eyes furrowed that meant he was pissed.

"See?"

Noelle mutters to you.

"Hold on, why did he exactly punch you for?"

You ask out of curiosity.

"Cause I said that you were pretty hot and told him that he was a wimp about it or something."

He said as he rubs his cast.

"Still sound normal to you?"

Noelle asks you.

"Oh, come on. That's like one of the things that's like the less worse things."

You tell her.

"'Less worse'?! I was passed out for like half an hour!"

The guy said in a defensive tone.

"Dude, that sounds like a you problem."

You tell him with a bored expression.

"Oh... Shit hurts."

Sasha said with a chuckle.

"Fuck you, guys... Stupid bitches..."

The guy mutters out as he walks away from you and your friends.

"Anyway, what can I do about all of this?"

You ask as you place your chin on the palm of your hand.

"Honestly, I don't know. You're pretty much on your own, (name)."

Noelle said as she takes a sip of her honey milk.

"What? You guys aren't going to help me?"

"We want to, but we don't know how."

"Please? Like actually, please. I have no idea what to do and I don't even know how to get away from all this."

You tell your friends in a slight pleading tone.

Noelle and Sasha gave each other a glance before they stare back at you.

"Okay, fine. As much as we don't know either, we'll try whatever we can, okay?"

Sasha said as she sets her pudding cup down.

"What are you exactly going to do now, (name)?"

Noelle asks in a soft tone with a soft gaze on her face

~~~~~

Go to your next class (Coming soon)

Skip until the end of the day with your friends (Coming soon)

Go home with your friends

•

•

•

Taglist: @somebodyrandom-613 @delias-stuff @endism @ragdol-666 @snowy-violet @sleepydhanie @missikkj @k1ttys-w0rld @box-of-kinderjoy @thetreefairypersonalblog @thelibraryofdeez @animegoddess15 @lilyalone @seraph101 @lain3iwakura @tacodeemon @whiterabbitxxx @yuyuzi-ling @lilithquillete @amisupposedtomakesenserightnow @una1002289 @spacetravelr @luckyangelballoon @illytian @ghostdoodlen @imaginarydreams @flyingpansaurus @wrenbirde @kimzzz18 @ohnoivefallen @ferakillia @f1lover4ever @asahi20789 @livingforloves @moonieper @rosecentury @waitingforanarchicaddiction @missmannequin @mischiefmanaged124 @hanselate @doli09 @chocolatemoose26 @enjisthings @stitchtheseconde @purple-lemon-8 @milliu @blublock404 @kimzzz18 @jsprien213 @bluemidnightmelodies @enter-sandmann @tdickensstuff4 @couldeatthatgirlforlunch @starsdotalk @sumikosasaki @erikasurfer @h0rr0r-10ver-69 @0lshadyl0

(If you want to be in the taglist, let me know!)

[illubean]

ohemgee hi! I saw ur post asking for requests and wanted to request something that's been flosting around in my head for a while- could i request a PLATONIC gojo satoru x fem!reader and a romantic bestfriend! megumi fushiguro x fem!reader where megumis out on a mission and reader misses him so she's ranting and complaining to gojo about it? Also i was thinking like reader just has a crush on megumi (megumi also likes her back) and reader's yearning over him to gojo and gojo's just like "WE GET IT." If u don't wanna write it with gojo, i don't mind the request with literally any other student in the tokyo jujutsu high! Thank u in advance! (Feel free to ignore this if u dont wanna write it <3)

Missing U

Characters: Megumi Fushiguro Type: Oneshot, Fluff, Fem!Reader

sort of wrote Gojo in here but not really >.< hope u like anyway!

Warnings: none

"Sighh..."

Currently you were sprawled upside down on the common room couch. Yuuji was watching one of his weird films on the TV while Nobara was flipping through some teen magazine. The only first year that was missing was Megumi.

"Siggggghhhhh."

Your two friends continued to ignore you, focusing on whatever had their attention at the moment. You sunk towards the floor, deciding to just let yourself fall and rest there.

"SIIIIGGGGHHH-"

"Girl if you don't SHUT THE FUCK UP I'm going to have to beat the shit out of you," Nobara warned, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance as she gripped her magazine tighter.

"What's up with you anyways?" Yuuji asks, eyes still focused on the TV.

You sat up, resting your arms and head against the couch cushions.

"I miss my man."

Your pink haired friend raised an eyebrow at this, glancing down at your pouting self before Nobara clarified.

"By her man, she means Megumi."

"Since when were you guys together?"

You huffed, leaning further into the couch while you mumbled out your response.

"We're together in my head."

Megumi had been your best friend since you got to Jujutsu Tech. He was the only other first year at the time, and even though he's pretty nonchalant most of the time he wasn't too hard to get close to. Honestly, he lets you get away with a lot of stuff that wouldn't slide had it been anyone else.

But that's just because you guys have known each other the longest, right?

"Why don't you just ask him out then?" Yuuji asked.

Your crush on Megumi was anything but a secret. All of the students knew, Gojo knew, hell, even the students from the Kyoto sister school could tell. Everyone knew but Megumi himself it seems.

"It's not that simple Yuuji!! I want him to make the first move. Besides, I don't even know if he's into me like that. What if he- OW!"

Before you could go on a rant, Nobara chucked her magazine right at your face.

"We get it, you're in love! If you're not going to do anything about it then stop complaining!"

It was silent for a few moments, save for the sound of the TV and rustling of paper while your brunette friend retrieved her magazine.

Several beats of silence.

Until-

"Siigghhhhhh...I miss him..."

With a scowl on her face, Nobara rolled up her magazine and raised it in preparation to hit you. You braced yourself for impact and as if on cue, you heard two sets of footsteps approaching.

"Guess who's back from that totally important mission!" your teacher spoke. You practically shot up from your spot on the floor, before leaning against the back of the couch, trying to act as cool as possible.

"Welcome back. How'd it go?"

"It went great! As a matter of fact, it went so great you should go hang out with your best friend!"

Gojo rests his hands on Megumi' shoulder, positioning the dark haired boy in front of him while Nobara got up from her spot to drag you around the couch and push you towards the door.

"Yeah, for the love of god, take her!"

The brunette shoved you outside, Gojo following suit to do the same to Megumi before giving you a "Have fun!" before slamming the door shut.

It was just now you realized the boy was holding a (favorite color) gift bag, a light shade of pink dusted over his cheeks as he avoided eye contact.

"Here. For you," he said, bringing his arm up to hold the bag out to you.

"Thanks Megs, but what's this for?"

"Just open it."

You opened up the bag and looked inside to see an arrangement of your favorite snacks. Taped on the inside of the bag was a note, that you gently peeled off and read to yourself. In neat handwriting it read

'Will you be my girlfriend?'

[project-sonadow]

happy hour drabble # 2

Sonic had been dragging his feet all day. It was Monday again, which meant there wasn't much to do at Speedy's. Count the change, polish his roller skates, clean the fryers. That was his routine. By the end of his shift, it felt like there were lead blocks stuffed in his socks.

One of his coworkers gave him a strange look when he hung up his hat. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," the girl replied. For some reason, her eyes looked sad. "Get some rest tonight, won't you, Arthur? We can't have you calling out; you're our best skater!"

Sonic raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask what she meant by that, she disappeared out the back door. Though her voice was muffled now, he could still make out her last request: "And don't forget to lock up!"

Rolling his eyes, Sonic twirled the keys in between his fingers and shook his head. This wasn't his first rodeo! After switching out his skates for his regular, non-wheeled shoes, he left the restaurant with his laces still untied. The door closed behind him, and he locked it with a soft click.

Shadow was waiting for him in his usual spot. The headlights on Shadow's motorcycle illuminated the dark parking lot with warm yellow light, and its engine filled the air with a weighty hum. Sonic hopped onto the back of the bike in one swift motion, and then wrapped his arms around Shadow’s waist like he'd been waiting to do it all day.

"No detours tonight," Sonic said. "I'm bushed!"

Shadow glanced back over his shoulder and was greeted by a mess of wild brown-and-blue quills. "Fine," he said. "That disaster you call a coat would give us away in an instant. Save your strength so I can fix it before bed."

If Sonic replied, it was drowned out by the sound of the motorcycle's engine as it roared to life. Sonic rested his head against Shadow's shoulder as the dark hedgehog drove them back to their apartment. The cool air felt nice against Sonic's fur as the wind whipped through it.

Soon, they arrived. Shadow parked the motorcycle in front of their apartment building before the two of them got off. Only then, under the bright white streetlights, did Shadow see the red flush on Sonic's cheeks. Without so much as a word, Shadow stepped forward and pressed the back of his hand against Sonic's forehead.

"Uh?" Sonic blinked. "Sh-- Lance? What're you...?"

Shadow dropped his hand from Sonic's forehead. "You're burning up," he said matter-of-factly. Then, he took Sonic's hand. "Come. Let's go inside."

Sonic let Shadow lead him up the stairs as he processed what he'd just said. "Wait," Sonic said as Shadow pushed open the door to their apartment. "I'm sick? But it's Monday!"

"Correct."

After both of them were inside the apartment, Shadow shut the door. Now, Sonic's face was screwed up like he was trying to solve a difficult math problem. "That doesn't make any sense," Sonic was saying. "I wasn't sick last Monday, or last last Monday, or--"

Shadow interrupted, "It's possible our minds aren't the only things that remain intact throughout time."

Sonic frowned, "So, someone's germs from the last loop are making me sick in this one?" He paused to think about that for a second. "That's not good, dude. That means..."

"Any consequences will persist regardless of our current place in time," Shadow finished. He was frowning now, too.

"Great," Sonic said, even though nothing about this was great. "Well, there goes my Plan A."

"And what was that?"

Sonic grinned, "'Run straight at the bad guy and hope for the best'!"

Shadow pursed his lips and sighed. Loudly. With agitation. "That's always your plan."

Sonic opened his mouth to reply, but a sneeze cut off whatever snarky remark he had prepared. His grin faded as he remembered how tired he was. Talk about a buzzkill! Next time he saw Tails, he'd have to ask him to make a shrink ray, so he could fight off germs with his fists.

Shadow shook his head as he watched Sonic's ears droop. "Go. Sit," he said. "I'll take it from here."

Sonic wanted to argue, but Shadow’s stern brown eyes made him feel funny. “Whatever,” Sonic muttered as he averted his gaze. “Just don’t take too long. I can’t promise I’ll stick around if you do!”

In truth, Sonic wasn’t going anywhere. Now that he was free from the constraints of his 9 to 5, and the horrors of capitalism were held back by the immutable strength of their apartment door, he was left with nothing to distract him from his fever. He shuffled into the bathroom and plopped down on the stool, waiting for Shadow to come in with the dye.

He sniffled. His bones hurt. He scratched his head, irritated. This never would’ve happened to world famous superhero, Sonic the Hedgehog. It was only because he was disguised as some random punk that he’d gotten sick.

“I seem to remember your fox friend recounting a tale to the contrary,” Shadow suddenly said. He’d appeared in the doorway, dye in hand. “Something about you and Arabian Nights…?”

Sonic waved his hand. “That was different,” he said.

Shadow popped the lid off a bottle of brown dye. “Oh? Is that so?”

Huffing indignantly, Sonic replied, “Yeah. That time, my worst enemy was a super powerful genie. This time, it’s customers!”

Shadow lowered his head. Sonic could’ve sworn he saw him smile. “Hold still,” Shadow said, his hands freshly gloved up and covered in dye. “I’ll be quick.”

Regardless of the truth of that statement, Sonic was physically, mentally, and emotionally incapable of holding still. He tried. Of course, he didn’t want to squirm around like a worm in the rain. But he couldn’t help it! Just like he couldn’t help but tap his foot against the linoleum, his claws clack-clack-clacking against the tile as he did so. That was, until one of Shadow’s hands moved to the back of Sonic’s left ear, and Sonic froze.

Sonic felt Shadow rub the dye into his fur. He felt his claws brush gently against the softest part of his ear. And Sonic stopped thinking about how lame it was to be sick. He didn’t worry about holding still. His heart fluttered in his chest and his eyes closed, totally focused on how good it felt to have Shadow’s fingers in his fur.

Shadow paused, having noticed the strange shift in Sonic’s behavior. But there was no time for him to lean forward and investigate, because a gentle pressure was now pushing against the palm of his hand, urging him to continue. 

It was Sonic, leaning into Shadow’s touch. 

Shadow nearly choked, but he managed to keep his composure. He isn’t feeling well, Shadow reminded himself. That’s all this was.

And yet, when Shadow resumed styling Sonic’s quills, he wasn’t thinking about covering up all the blue spots anymore. Instead, he focused his attention on just that one spot behind Sonic’s ear. He didn’t know why. Maybe he pitied Sonic. As the Ultimate Lifeform, he would never know how it felt to be ill.

Sonic leaned deeper into Shadow’s touch. His tense shoulders relaxed. His job, their mission, the time loop–none of that mattered anymore. Somewhere inside his chest, next to his heart, a soft rumbling began. Purring.

Sonic was purring.

Abruptly, Shadow stood. He turned away from Sonic, so he didn’t see him blink his eyes open sleepily. 

“Shadow…?”

“That’s all for now,” Shadow said stiffly. “Count yourself lucky. If not for your… illness… you would’ve been sitting there for much longer.”

And then he exited the bathroom, leaving Sonic sitting there as the last of his purrs quietly faded away.

[fandomfucker]

Birthday-Cody Rhodes x Gn!Reader

Request: Cody has to work on your birthday when all you want to do is be pampered with a day of relaxation so you have attitude and he makes you feel better

Word Count: 1,632

2nd Person POV

Friday Night Smackdown and you were once again, in some random city you didn't care too much to be in. It was your birthday weekend and you had wanted to spend it with your fiance Cody, so he had taken you along with him.

It was a pretty nice city, even though you'd rather be home, so the plan was to stay there for a few days. Friday for Smackdown, and then have the day to yourself on Saturday while he did press stuff, and then you'd spend Sunday (your birthday) together. Maybe do a couples spa. A cute little romantic dinner, ending in a movie night. Something fun and relaxing for your birthday.

Unfortunately for you, that's not exactly how everything had turned out.

Saturday morning, you woke up in your shared hotel bed, the spot next to you unusually empty. Groggily looking around, you squinted at the bright light seeping in through the blinds as you searched for Cody.

You noticed light coming out of the bathroom towards the entrance of the room and rolled out of bed, wrapping your fuzzy blanket around yourself as you moved.

Stepping onto the cool bathroom tile, you saw your fiance getting ready in front of the mirror. He had already gotten dressed in some khaki shorts and a nice polo and was currently shaving off his stubble.

He stopped and turned towards where you stood in the doorway once he saw you.

"You're leaving already?" You asked him, still rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

He smiled softly at you, stepping forward and wrapping his hands around your waist. "I'm sorry babe. I'd sleep in all day with you if I could. But you know how it is."

You nodded in acceptance, knowing fighting about it wouldn't change his work schedule. He kissed your forehead before moving back to the sink, finishing up what he was doing as he began to ask about your plans for the day.

"Well, I found this super cute nail place so I think I'll go get my nails done. And then I found a good-looking sandwich shop for lunch and there's some other stores and stuff on that road so I figured I'd spend most the day there. Probably until you're done at least."

You leaned your head against the doorway as you spoke, mesmerized by the way Cody's muscles looked under the sharp lighting.

He snapped you out of it when he addressed you, a small smile pulling at his lips as he ignored what you were staring at, only to subtly flex his biceps as you stared. "Sounds like a great day, babe. I should be done by 5, and we can meet up somewhere for dinner."

You tried not to let the disappointment that he wouldn't be available until dinner show, so you just wrapped your arms around him and squeezed him tight, whispering 'I love you's and your goodbyes until you were once again left cold and by yourself.

You made the best of your day out. To the best of your ability anyway. You got your nails done, a shimmery red to match Cody's ring gear. You had found a small bakery and gotten yourself a little sweet treat as well as a small birthday cake for tomorrow.

You were living life, savoring the peace and quiet of being by yourself and not having to rush for once. You had even gotten a new purse, it was white with a little yellow and purple flower pattern on it, and you couldn't wait to show Cody.

There was a nice barbeque place not far from where you currently were and had texted Cody an hour previous that that was where you wanted to go for dinner to no response.

No big deal, he often was very busy and couldn't check his phone for a while, but he'd get back to you as soon as he could. An hour turned into two and by 5:30, the designated meeting time, you had still not received any response.

This had happened before. He would get caught up with whatever he was doing and would wind up being late for a date the two of you had planned. You had just hoped that this time would be different since it was your birthday tomorrow.

You decided that whether he would be there or not, that restaurant was where you wanted to have dinner and you made your way over anyway.

Later that night, around 8 o'clock, you were at a local ice cream shop for dessert when you finally got a text back from Cody.

Cody♥️💙: I am sooooooooo sorry Y/n!!! They just kept having more and more stuff for me to do and I couldn't say no and they wouldn't let me have my phone on me I'm so sorry. I'll see you at our hotel❤️

As angry as you were with having no communication with him the whole day, you really couldn't be anything more than irritated. This wasn't unusual so you were kind of just used to this happening at this point in your relationship. But it was your birthday weekend.

Arriving at the hotel, before you could even open the door, it swung open revealing your fiance, a look of guilt on his face.

Not letting him speak, you just fell into his arms, wrapping your arms around his waist as he held you tightly. You closed your eyes and breathed him in, expressing without words that it was okay.

"I was thinking since we couldn't do anything today, that tomorrow we could start early? I found this cafe downtown that looks good for breakfast and then I booked a couple's spa around 10:30. We'll figure out lunch when we get there and then there's this gorgeous flower field not far from here if you want to take some birthday photos." He rambled a little bit as you rested your chin on his chest, staring up at him lovingly.

You stopped him with a kiss to his lips. "That sounds great, babe. And I went ahead and picked up a little cake from this really good bakery I found." You grinned up at him as his eyes lit up at the mention of cake.

"Well, in that case..." He picked you up as you squealed, wrapping your arms around his neck and clinging for dear life as he spun around towards the bed, lightly dropping you onto it with a dramatic, "And Cody Rhodes, slaming Y/n L/n on the bed!" Sending you into a fit of giggles that lasted through the night.

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

The sound of someone's ringtone was what woke you up the next morning. "Cody." You reached behind you, slapping his chest to wake him up. It was his phone that was ringing.

"Ugh. Hello?" You heard him answer as he threw back the sheets and sat up.

You reached out and grabbed your own phone to check the time. 6:43 am. You groaned and dropped your phone to the table, face-planting back onto the bed.

"Y/n," Cody shook your back to wake you up. You just groaned in response, too tired to do anything else. "Y/n I'm so sorry, baby they have some more stuff for me to do. But, you should come with me. Please?"

You were too tired to really think anything other than you wanted to be with Cody, so you agreed and begrudgingly got up and ready, and next thing you knew you were sitting next to him in the backseat of your Uber to who knows where.

You ignored any attempts from Cody at a conversation, deciding to scroll through Instagram instead, hyping up some of the WWE women in their comments.

You continued to ignore him, even after he told the driver to stop at your favorite coffee chain super quick.

You let him kiss your head before he ran in, leaving you in the car only to be back a few minutes later with the largest size of your favorite drink.

"Thank you," You said, taking the drink from him and taking a sip before going back to your phone. 

He sighed before going to his phone, feeling hopeless at getting you to no longer be upset with him. You started to feel bad but stuck to your feelings.

He had promised the day together and now he was working and had taken you with him.

You couldn't even eat your own birthday cake because it was back at the hotel!

So yeah, you were in a bit of a bitchy mood today.

The rest of the day consisted of you sitting backstage as you watched Cody in his interviews. He would try to talk to you in between but his schedule wound up being so busy that he would just be rushed right past you every time.

"I swear, I'll make it up to you." He had promised.

It wasn't until you had finally made it back to your hotel that afternoon that he was able to fulfill that promise. 

Walking into the room, rose gold and white balloons filled the room with rose petals covering every surface. The cake you had bought was laid out neatly on the dining table and 'Happy Birthday Y/n' had been written on it in white frosting.

Perfectly wrapped presents were piled in the corner and you could smell your favorite candle burning from somewhere in the room.

Your eyes welled up at the sight and you turned around to see his guilty face once again.

"I really am sorry, Y/n. I swear I wasn't supposed to work today but stuff comes up. But like I said, I'll make it up to you in any and every way I can.

He reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and rifled through all the cards before pulling one out.

At your raised eyebrow, he handed you his credit card, kissing the top of your head. "This is just the start, but, feel free to go wild." And feel free you did.

[evagaetinosgirl]

i'm your biggest fan [j.shaw x morgan!child!reader]

prompt: after jaedyn's great performance at the game against argentina, you become her biggest fan.

author notes: been trying to get back to writing more and finally got some inspiration. i have been wanting to write a child!reader fic forever, blame @/woso-dreamzzz because im in love with her child!reader fics so bad. this is me trying to make myself feel better after that shit ass usa vs mexico game 🤗 so enjoy! P.S. the reader is like around five in this.

you're standing on the pitch after the usa vs argentina, happily following around your soccer aunts. this game was one of the best lately. your throat was dry from all the shouting and cheering you have been doing. especially when your mother scored a banger in the nineteenth minute. of course you weren't only cheering only for your mommy, getting loud for all your soccer aunts too. like blondie lindsey and tiny rose. that doesn't mean you haven't been focusing your attention on the new girls though; they are officially your soccer cousins now since they are all too young to be aunties in your opinion.

one new girl in particular has caught your attention. the way she has been performing so strongly throughout the whole match has you obsessed with her. not that you understand soccer tactics or anything, but even a five year old knows good play when they see it. you screamed her name the loudest (right after your mommy's of course); jaedyn. not only was jaedyn the cool new girl who your mommy says is going to the next big thing for the team, but she also wears the number above your mommy's new one. you honestly hated the new number because your mommy is number thirteen, not seven but you can't seem to understand whatever rule your mom told you about because it's too much for your brain so you don't think about it. the only good thing that came out of the change is the fact your mommy's cubby is next to jaedyn's.

the moment you spot the girl in the question as you follow around lynn, who just stopped to talk to crystal about the game, you slip off to where jaedyn is which wasn't a hard task. just having to go through a few legs with some quick "hi!"s in-between.

finally you make it to where jaedyn is sipping on her water bottle. she looks so cool even when just standing around. it seems jaedyn doesn't spot you, so you just do the ol' tug them by the shorts trick and her eyes look down at you.

"oh? hey mini morgan," her smile is like the sun to you. her tone sounds so chill and cool that you try to copy her. "hi big shaw!" you say. your words coming out way less cool than hers but it was worth the effort. the american player lets out a short laugh, ruffling your hair that's in pigtails. making it a bit messy, but you don't really mind. it's jaedyn doing it so why would you?

"big shaw? i'm the only shaw around here, so shouldn't it be shaw the first?" you nod at her words already. "okay, shaw the first, can you teach me how to shoot a banger?" you ask. looking up at her with high exceptions already. the way you say your words make her laugh loudly which confuses you. why is cool girl jaedyn laughing? is it because she thinks you can't score a banger too? or maybe she's like a magician and can't reveal her secrets.

you lean more towards the magician theory, saying, "i promise i won't tell anyone about it! so you can keep your shooting superpower hidden." jaedyn just shakes her head before crouching down to your height. "you don't have to keep it a secret. i think everyone already knows," she whispers, "but yeah i'll teach you. just make sure to ask your mommy." you let a excited gasp as you whip your head around. looking for your mom across the pitch. your expert alex morgan finding eyes locate her easily. turning your head back to look at jaedyn with a smile. you hold out your pinky finger, "pinky promise?"

"pinky promise," jaedyn accepts your declaration of confirmation as she locks her pinky finger with yours. "thanks shaw the first!" you shout at her after pulling away. already running quickly to go ask your mommy to let jaedyn to teach you how to score bangers. hopefully she doesn't question why didn't you just ask her since you wouldn't want to break it your mommy that jaedyn is just cooler. your mommy is still one of the coolest though.

you almost bump into the legs of naomi on your way to your mommy, but dodge quickly with your great dodging skills. naomi even said you might be a defender in the making once. the loud voice of yours can be heard to everyone around you as you finally reach your mommy.

"can big shaw teach me how to score bangers, please!" you shout out happily. your mommy just chuckles before patting the top of your head, "of course, baby."

and that was possibly the path to you being a future forward. all thanks to big shaw.

[fluffswashere]

Keigo Takami | Hawks Headcannons

A/N: A list of headcannons I have and thought would be fun to share along with write ^-^ Following with the fact I just love Hawks but ahh that's besides the point hehe 💜 I'm still in the works on improving my writing as I go and using bigger vocabulary, so bare with me <33

Genre: Fluff, Romantic,Mild Angst | Ages 18 and up | SFW Summary: Wing Pro Hero Hawks head cannons, reader x 2nd hero. Fanfiction writing in a style mixed with descriptive and of poetry.

°• Start? •°

No ✏Yes

1. Feelings And Rambles

When it comes to love, it wouldn't be something that'd just slip on by so easily. With such a packed schedule busy as a Pro Hero and working under the strings of the Hero Public Safety Commission, I could see it being difficult for any grasp on free time and really exploring outside the hero field.

However the minute Hawks falls for someone, he falls hard. Not knowing what feelings these are at first but one things certain, he'd wanna hold onto that special person and never let them go. Feelings would be difficult to open up about, although because he's so outgoing and a chatterbox.

He's painfully obvious.

I'm talking Hawks would likely talk your ears off and follow you around like a little lost puppy. Yapping on whatever comes to mind, leading to Hawks getting flustered and almost immediately cover his mouth from nearly confessing his heart out. Trying to brush it off like it's nothing and play everything cool.

"What was that?" You asked, a curious expression drawing across your facial features. Pausing in your steps to look the heroines way. You could have sworn you heard him say something along the lines about so lovingly looking at you from head to toe.

"Ahaha ahh nothing!!" Hawks nervously chuckled, the mans head turning the other direction. Avoiding your gaze burning on his form. Desperately hoping you wouldn't notice the faint flush dusting the man's handsome facial features.

2. Physical Touch

Whether it's a delicate brush to the hand or accidentally touching knees underneath the table. He'd crave every bit. Each time sending an electrical shock and undeniable spark, and judging on Hawks rough background.

Affection and words of affirmation isn't something he ever experienced before, therefore to receive such things would make the man melt on the spot. Getting all bashful and in instinct cover his face with his signature high collar jacket.

If there were a moment you and Hawks are cuddling, he'd bury his face into your neck. His barely apparent stubble tickling your skin. A goofy, but almost shy smile apparent on the usually charming and poised wing hero's lips.

Whispering for you to 'Stop it'. Merely sounding flustered, though also like he doesn't mean the words that rolled through his tongue. The man's delighted flapping wings or body language giving him away entirely.

I feel such things as back hugs and non-stop clinging would come with dating the 2nd wing Hero once he's come to be completely hooked on being close to you. A total cuddle monster, well at least he gives great hugs and a shoulder to lean on.

3. Good Listener And Kind Heart

For someone coming off cocky or rather arrogant, Hawks is one of the best people to vent and rant on. He's sharp enough to take note when your not feeling that one hundred percent and offers to take you on a high rooftop to hangout. Listening and hanging onto every word you have to say.

Hawks wouldn't let you go until he truly knows your okay. That reasoning is cause he holds onto his on form of bottled problems and carries so much as is. So to see you all down, it's the last thing he wants on seeing another suffer in silence rather than voice them aloud.

If tears ever formed and ushered through your saddened eyes, without a thought Hawks would in a snap pull you into the most secure but so incredibly gentle hug like he doesn't wanna hurt you. With his wings draped around you, however only for a mere few seconds since he has to shift his wings in a more comfortable position.

Fin.

♥︎

je t'aime

[supercorpkid]

Right To Be Hellish

Supergirl. Kara Danvers x Reader. Alex Danvers.

Word Count: 3615.

Notes: the jealousy fic we deserve. thanks @supercorpenthusiastic for this idea :)

"I can't believe you're actually going on a date with your ex." Kara huffs, avoiding eye contact, clearly signaling her frustration.

"Yeah, pretty crazy of me going out with someone that is into me."

"Oh please. You guys broke up for a reason."

"The reason being he moved out from National City for work, and now he is back." Kara gives an audible scoff, which you catch even from the bathroom. You come back into her view, to find her sitting on your bed, arms crossed, biting the inside of her mouth, clearly displeased with the situation. "What? Just say it."

"It's risky."

"And I told you, you got nothing to worry about. We're going to have dinner at that new fancy restaurant that just opened. So there'll be plenty of eye witnesses."

"Don't use words like that, it doesn't help."

"Kara, he is not a criminal. He's an architect who likes to design self-sustaining buildings." You resume getting ready, even though she continues to look unpleasant with your choice. "It's pretty honorable, honestly. I thought you'd like him. He is like a hero in his area."

"Pfff. I'd like to see him save people from a burning building." She mumbles, and you ignore her because you're too busy for whatever it is that is happening with her.

"Worst case scenario, I get a nice meal out of him." You joke from inside of the bathroom while you change.

"I'll pay for your food if that's the reason! I'll fly to Italy right now to get your favorite, if you call this off." 

You're tempted — you do love pasta more than anything else, and eating on your coffee table with Kara, watching an old movie sounds like a perfect plan. But you also know you can't keep hiding yourself from the world. You need to put yourself out there again and find someone that won't leave you to sleep alone, like your best friend does.

"Hey, look, I appreciate you looking out for me. But I promise I'll text you if anything goes wrong and you can send all the Superfriends there."

She doesn't answer, so you come back into view. Kara's mouth drops when she takes a look at you. You open your arms with a huge smile.

"How do I look?"

She blinks, unable to string together a sentence. Then, she adjusts her glasses on her face and smiles. "Good. Great. You look — nice." You raise your eyebrows at her waiting for more, because there's something on her expression that just tells you there's more. "Very nice."

You can't help the disappointment, you were expecting something else.  "Cool. Think I'll get more than a nice meal outta this?"

Kara stands up. "That's my cue. Text me if you want out." 

The dinner is going smoothly. With no awkward silences when you both have so much catching up to do. You are aware he is your ex, but this dinner feels more like reconnecting with an old friend.

It's all nice and easy, until you spot a familiar blonde coming your way, and your eyes widen at her. This can't be good.

"Oh! You're eating here?" Kara grins broadly, thumbs pointing at herself. "I'm eating here!"

You just stare at her, utterly baffled by her sudden appearance. She makes her way to sit next to you, and you whisper close to her face. "Kara, I appreciate the rescue, but like I've told you before, it's fine."

She has an unhinged look on her face when she says, "That's what friends are for."

You refrain from saying that no, this is not what friends are for. In fact, none of your other friends even thought about crashing your date. And you gulp, while she stares down your ex, in a way that is making everyone uncomfortable.

"Um, Ted, this is my best friend Kara. And Kara, you remember I told you about Ted, right?"

"Oh, hey, it's nice to meet you." He tries to shake her hand from across the table, but Kara doesn't touch him.

"So Ned! Y/N told me you dumped her when you moved out of National City for work."

You mumble, "Pretty sure I didn't use those words."

"And now, look at you!" She points accusingly, a scowl on her face. Not even trying to fake how she truly feels about him. "Here! Again! Wanting to undo your mistakes."

"Well, it's – um – it's Ted." He tries, while Kara stares him down like she might just use her heat vision on him. Ted goes on about buildings and whatnot, while you glance at Kara from side eyes, face hot in embarrassment and something else. You breathe deep trying to control yourself. 

She looks amazing. Tough and confident and nothing like the sweet Kara Danvers you know. When she crosses her arms, flexes really, your mouth runs dry. She is puffing her chest out with a bright red blush on her face. A vision of perfection. Wait, what the hell. Stop having obscene thoughts about your best friend and her muscles, weirdo!

Ted looks at you, and you finally focus back on the conversation happening in front of you. "Didn't we agree to focus on work for a while?"

"We did. Yeah." You shoot Kara a look, pleading her to shut the fuck up. "And, um, talking about work, I thought you said you needed to work tonight, Kara."

You try, and Kara looks at you with furrowed brows. You raise your own at her wishing she would just fucking get the silent message you're trying to say.

"Oh, yeah! I had this article to finish." She agrees, touching her glasses, getting back into her old Kara Danvers quickly while talking to you.

"Great! Then –"

"But it's done now!" Kara smiles right after and you swear to God, you might kill her. "So, Ed, did you get fired? Is that why you're back to National City? Did one of your buildings come crashing?"

"OK! You know what," You stand up abruptly. "I need to freshen up. Kara, care to join me?"

"Oh, I'll keep Fred company." She says that in such a threatening manner, you're the one getting shivers down your spine.

"It's Ted." He tries yet again.

"No, I – I need you. Please." You insist and she can tell how serious you are, by the way you're staring her down. 

"Okie dokie." 

You make your way to the bathroom, with Kara following you close-by. It's only when the door is closed that you acknowledge her. She looks so hot with this black top, hair back, and clenched-up jaw. It takes everything inside you not to slam her against the door and —

Stop. Don't go there. Why the hell are you going there?

You've known Kara for years, and you never once — Well, that's not true, your first thought when you met her was how amazing she looked, and how much you wanted to kiss her. But then you guys started being friends, and you stopped this nonsense — except that one time she told you she was Supergirl and you imagined kissing her senseless while flying around National City. But other than that — wait, there was also that very explicit dream…

Ok, fine. It seems like friendship is not the only thing you want from her. You breathe out trying to focus on what's happening now and not on what you wish could happen, "What the hell was that? You were acting like a crazy person!"

"What? Did you see the way he was looking at you? It's my right to be hellish!"

You tilt your head sideways, thinking about it. "Why is it your right to act insane?"

"You don't get it, you're too sexy and beautiful, people just stare at you like they want to —" Her face gets red, this time from embarrassment. "I'm just doing what best friends do."

"Well, you're being a bad friend!" Her mouth drops, shocked by what you just said. "I told you I'd text you if I needed help!"

"But you texted!" Kara says and you roll your eyes. You can't believe she is now lying about this. She can sense you're not believing her, so she grabs her phone in her pocket. "See," she turns it to you, "you texted!"

You glance at the screen to said text, "Kara, that's clearly a pocket text."

"Well, I didn't know that! I thought that you were being kidnapped and was trying to let me know where he was taking you."

Oh. You blink at her, realizing your mistake. That actually makes sense.

"So I dropped everything and came here to save you, only for you to call me a bad friend."

Shit. 

You curse yourself. "I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry –"

"No, you said what you said. I'll leave you alone with hero architect Brad, have fun." She turns around, and before you open your mouth to stop her, she turns back at you. "Oh! And I hope you don't get kidnapped for real this time, 'cause I'm not coming back to save you."

You know she is lying, she would obviously come back to save you, but the fact she felt the need to lie about it only shows how upset she is about this whole thing.

"Kara, wait. Kara!" But she leaves without a glance back. You breathe deep, trying to decide if you should run after her or just go back to your date. You obviously want to make things right with her, but there's so much to think about. Why is it her right to be hellish when people are looking at you as if they want you?

The rest of the dinner is fine. But as soon as you're out of the restaurant, you're texting Kara trying to make amends.

It's been a couple of days and still radio silence from her end. You can't believe Kara is taking this so far, and you also don't know what else to say so she can at least go back to talking to you. 

You hear the doorbell and run to the door in a hurry, hoping that Kara has come to her senses. Your face drops when you open the door. "Oh, hey Alex."

"Don't look so disappointed to see me!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm not." You open the rest of the door and make your way inside. "I just thought you were someone else."

"And who was that, exactly?" Alex closes the front door behind her, following you into the kitchen.

"Your sister, actually." You breathe out and Alex agrees with her head. "We had a little bit of a disagreement after I went on a date with my ex."

"Oh, right! Chad! I heard all about him and his 'buttface'." You furrow your eyebrows at her. and she explains right after, "Kara is too nice to call him an asshole."

"But apparently not nice enough to call him by his real name. He's also not an asshole." You grab two beers in the fridge and hand Alex one. You know her well enough to know she needs one to function. "How mad is she right now?"

"She's just butthurt 'cause you said she was being a bad friend. Just apologize."

"I have! Many times! I've been texting her for days and I tried calling her. She just won't talk to me."

"Oh. I might have misread the situation." 

"Well, try again?" You urge her. Alex chugs her beer then shrugs her arms as an answer. "Alex, come on! You know Kara better than anyone. I admit I was an asshole when I said she was a bad friend, but she has completely shut me off. She didn't even give me the chance to apologize properly. And then proceeded to tell you bad things about Ted when he was nothing but nice the whole time."

"Ok, fine. If I tell you what I think it is, will you drop it for now and order us some food?" 

You look at her in utter confusion. "You showed up here uninvited. You buy us food. I'm supplying the beer."

"Fine." Alex makes her way to your fridge and grabs another beer. Yeah, that one was on you. "I think she might be feeling a bit jealous."

"Because I have someone and she doesn't?"

"Aaaand I need tequila for this." Alex mumbles under her breath and you get up from the couch, getting closer. She is pouring herself a shot of tequila, and you're seconds away from calling her out on it, but she downs the shot and starts talking, "More like she is jealous you have someone that isn't her."

"I don't get it."

"And I'm not drunk enough." Alex says going back to her beer. 

"God, Alex, stop drinking!" You pull the beer out of her hands and she huffs, upset.

"You and Kara make me an alcoholic ok!" She stares at you with full intent. "It's always, 'oh but Y/N is going out with that guy when she could go out with me. Oh my God, why is Kara so obsessed with me?' Yadda yadda yadda. It's exhausting, you know? Just fucking kiss already!"

"Kiss?" You look down at the floor while thinking about it. "Alex, is Kara in love with me?"

"Has been for two years, thank God you finally noticed."

"Actually, you just told me." You joke and she rolls her eyes. You sit on the closest chair, and look at her. "I wasn't sure she felt like this. I didn't wanna mess up the friendship."

Alex sits next to you, puts a hand on your shoulder. "What are your plans now? Are you going to break up with Ted, or just pretend you don't know how Kara feels?"

"I don't know." And you don't. You don't know. Which is ridiculous, how can you not know something so big and life-changing? "I need tequila for this."

"Now we're talking!"

It's a whole bottle of tequila, all the beers that were in your fridge, and the warm Vodka bottle Alex found under the sink later, when you realize that you can't barely stand up and Alex is slow-dancing with a pillow to no music. And right on time, Supergirl flies in through the window.

"Kara!" You stand up from your place on the floor in shock. Alex, being caught off guard, sends the pillow flying right at your face. Two seconds before your butt hits the floor, Kara picks you up. "What are you doing here?"

"You called! You pressed the emergency button on the watch."

You furrow your brows, not remembering that. You look at Alex wondering what she's done. "Don't look at me. I didn't do it."

Two minutes prior:

"We should get Kara here!"

"Yeaaaah! Call her! Call her! Call her!"

"Wait wait, I have a better idea." Then you press the emergency button.

"And it seems that you two are too drunk to even remember that." Kara rolls her eyes, annoyed. She sits you on the couch, and goes around the apartment organizing what she can see. She pulls Alex's glass out of her hands with a mad face. "You had enough. I can't believe you were trying to drink Y/N under a table."

"Hey! She was drinking herself!"

Two hours prior:

"You know what, if you don't know who to pick it's probably 'cause you're trying to use logic. Love isn't logical. Let's get you drunk so you can feel it, instead!" Alex said pouring more tequila into your shot glass.

"Alright, well, you're the specialist!"

"I'm gonna fly Alex home, and you –" She looks back at you on the couch with sad eyes looking up to her. She breathes out, finding it impossible to be mad at you. "Stay put, I'll be back soon to help you."

"Okay." You give her a dopey smile, so happy she is coming back for you. 

Kara is truly remarkable. The fact that she's coming back to look after you, despite you calling her a bad friend, fills your eyes with tears. How could you have said such a thing? She's the epitome of a best friend, the finest person you've ever known! Sweet, caring, and undeniably beautiful. So beautiful. You can still remember her clenched jaw, biceps showing her strength through the top, lips pressed together. You fight to get air back in your lungs, your entire body so hot you feel you're about to combust.

You think back to all the moments Kara was there for you. All the times she made you laugh hard, and how you never had to ask her to show up for you because she would hear your sad voice over the phone and just materialize at your place the next second. Your love for her knows no bounds. You love her more than anyone you've loved in your life. Ted doesn't even come close to comparing.

It's Kara you want. It's always been Kara. It will always be Kara. You spent so long convincing yourself that who you wanted was unachievable that you missed on the fact she had the exact same feelings towards you. You just wish she would admit them to you.

Kara flies back in through the window, checking on you from farther than you'd like. "You look flushed. Are you feeling ok?"

"Ye—Yeah." You force out of your dry mouth.

She goes to your kitchen for a glass of water.

"How's Alex?"

"Having another beer. Even though I think you both had enough." She rolls her eyes, comes closer with water in hands. She doesn't give you much time to enjoy her closeness, when she goes back to picking up the beer bottles and cleaning around the house. "How are you actually feeling?"

"I, um —" You know she is upset, but girl's gotta get over it right about now. "Can you please look at me?"

"I'm trying to organize the mess you and Alex did. Why — why would you do such a thing, Y/N? You know Alex can't be outdrunk." She goes on, not a glance over to you.

"Kara, look at me." She turns to you, and you can see annoyance written all over her face. "I think I'm gonna marry Ted."

"What!" Kara's face is a mix of emotions. She wears them all clearly — anger, resentment, heartbreak, sadness. Her hand shoots to her heart, as if she's checking it's still there. She looks so pale all of a sudden, you're scared you might be giving her a heart attack. Her voice comes out so small, "Really?"

"No. But you should see your face." You smile and she rolls her eyes at you, incapable of keeping her anger in check.

"Oh, so you think this is funny?" Her face contorts in anger, one eye blinking at you. "Well, why don't you get Todd here to help you, huh?"

"Because I don't want Ted. I want you." 

"I thought you said I was a bad friend."

Tears pool under your eyes. "God, Kara. Will you get over that? I said I was wrong! I apologized! I'm sorry!" You get up from the couch, the first few steps are as unsteady as predicted, but you make your way towards her anyways. "I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry."

She hangs her head low and now you're close enough to touch her. You hold her face softly, making her look at you. "I love you."

"Y/N." Kara whines your name, eyes wet, lips parted. 

"Go on, Kara, tell me you love me too. Now is the time." 

"You're drunk." She says averting her eyes from your piercing gaze. "This is not how I imagined it."

"Well, I'm sorry baby," You hold her face a little stronger so she can look back at your eyes. You only continue when she does,  "but life is chaotic. Relationships are messy and they don't go like our fantasies, and I'm telling you Kara, I love you. And if you love me back, you have to tell me right here, right now." You show around. "In my shitty apartment, while I smell like alcohol and we curse your sister for getting me drunk."

Kara's tears fall, and she swallows deep. She doesn't talk, and your heart is seconds away from breaking and never recovering. You cry too, hiding your face on her chest. "Please, please say you love me."

"I love you." She barely whispers, planting a kiss on the top of your head. You look up to her again, and she cleans your tears with her finger. "I've always loved you, baby. I always will. And I'm sorry I pushed you away, I guess I was just jealous of hero architect Ted." 

You give her a sly smile. "So you do know his name."

"Y/N." She whines your name again and you let out a chuckle at her pretty pouting face.

You kiss the corner of her mouth lovingly, "I love you. I've always wanted you."

She kisses the tip of your nose, your temple, and your cheeks with no rush. There's no need to rush anymore. You just got the love of your life and you know she isn't going anywhere. "You're mine. I had the right to be hellish."

You smile, agreeing. "I'm yours."

Kara's cheeks flush, as she looks at you fondly. "Come on, let's get you sober, baby."

"And then we'll kiss." You say, because you know Kara so well, she won't 'take advantage' of your drunk state. 

Kara smiles, kissing your cheek softly, then she picks you up and starts carrying you to the bathroom. "And then we'll kiss, yeah."

[unspeakable-imagination]

Cigar Smoke and Sleepless Nights || Part 6

My asks are open and my masterlist is here

Cw:blood, use of tabacco and alcohol, cursing, canon-typical violence, mentions of anxious tendencies and behaviors

Ik it's short, sorry not sorry

You winced as you woke up, blinking slowly and powering at the slit through the blackout curtains. The sun was falling just below the forests horizon. Rolling to your side and using your elbow to prop yourself up, you grunted. Your head throbbed and your spare hand put pressure on your brows while you pushed yourself completely up.

"Fuck," your brows knitted and you tried to roll the tension out of your neck and shoulders, pushing your head from one side to the other till you heard your vertebrae crack. You released a breath you hadn't realized you'd even been holding and slipped your legs out from the covers onto the cool wooden floor.

Your shoulders and legs were still a bit stiff, but you made do, going about your waking routine.

It wasn't to long before you were down in the dim light of one of the kitchen lamps, leaning over the counter while making yourself a cup of tea. Your jacket was tied around your waist, ready for when you stepped outside for your smoke break. When your tea was ready, you tossed the sache and made your way to the little smoke spot that you'd designated outside.

You used one hand at a time, shifting your mug back and fourth while you'd got your jacket on and when you opened the door, you noticed Logan, leaned against the wall like he was last time you'd seen him here.

You nodded, silently acknowledging his presence before finding your place on the opposite side of the door. You fidgeted with some loose thread in the pocket of your jacket with your free hand before you opened the carton to pull out a cigarette and put it between your lips before you went fishing for your lighter. When you found the smooth zippo, you flicked it open with a clean "Snikt" and tried to light your cig, sparking the flint a couple times before you remembered that you didn't buy lighterfluid.

"Fuck," you murdered and turned to Logan, who was already staring at you. You moved closer, passing the door till you were just a few feet apart. "Can I borrow a light? I realize I forgot to buy fluid when we were in town. I'm really sorry."

He only grunted in a response, a nod shortly after as he leaned down, pressing the tip of his cigar to your cigarette. You caught on quick and took a drag that was able to light the tiny cancer stick between your lips and you fulled away from the ember end of his blunt. "Thanks," you muttered, retreating back to your side of the door. You hadn't realized that you were turning red, and not from the cold flushing your face.

You'd finally eaten your normal protein- meatbased breakfast after rummaging through the fridge and made it to the gym. You were spending some of your time working out in physical combat against the punching bags, using whatever core strength you could to beat your growing fresturation out on it.

You'd been increasingly growing antsy. You hadn't been able to use your fox in awhile, which stressed you're mind and body out eternally, and that was making you more skittish. Not to mention the lack of socialization, aside from going to the store only 12 hours prior. You'd hardly had a real conversation since you moved into the mansion and room refuge. You felt like clawing your eyes out.

You stilled at stopped your attacks on the bag when you smelled the familiar scent of blood and looked at your knuckles. Red was seeping through your skin and you nearly cringed. Now that you were of more sound mind and not ripping your skin off, the sight of your blood made you feel mildly disturbed. You hadn't meant to hurt yourself. Usually, you'd stop before you got to this pijt so you could develop good, strong callouses.

"Great," you said under your breath. You laced every word with sarcasm and furrowed your brows, walking to one of the aid-kits attached to the wall. You opted the tin open and grabbed a handful of band-aids and a roll of pressure tape.

You scurried to one of the benches and took care to place a bandaid on each of the four bubbling areas before wrapping your fist in tape. You had just finished your first hand when you picked up on the car door opening and the smell of adamantium, tabacco, and liquor invade your sensitive nose. Your face involuntary scrunched and you lifted your head to face Logan.

His eyes zeroed in on your bloodied knuckles as soon as he caught the scent of your blood, then be glanced up at you. Your eyed met, but briefly. He looked away and beeline towards one of the far end heavy bags hanging on chains.

You stopped watching him and focused back on your less-dominant hand, patching it like the other. After only a few minutes you were done, and decided it was best not to use your sore hands against the bag no more.

Maybe, it was time to go clean up some. So, you left the gym and went to go do your normal janitorial work in the hallways.

[moonyasnow]

Dancing in the Dark.

PROMPT : Dancing in the dark with him

CHARACTER(S) : Idia

TYPE : short fic (~1.3k words)

CONTENT: nerd references ahoy, Reader implied to be shorter than 180cm, Apparently the Phantom Bride event takes place after Book 6 in this one

After such a close brush with death, even knowing you'd made it in time and he was safe, you still felt anxious not being able to see Idia in the dining-hall turned Wedding venue as the band started up a song meant for dance.

With the newlyweds twirling happily in the air behind you, you ventured out into the dark halls of NRC to find him...

Idia had never breathed a bigger sigh of relief in his life…he'd just been saved from a 100% certain one-hit-kill spell, with barely seconds to spare. Talk about clutch.

The bride got her groom and her happily ever after, sure, yay, whatever— he was just glad it wasn't him. At least this groom wouldn't be on the literal chopping block. He'd already done that 500 years earlier, after all.

…But Idia was still stuck in those fancy duds. Even if the other guys said he looked cool or whatevs he just couldn't see it.

He wandered out of the party as quick as he could, untying his hair to let it flow free and cloak him once more. In every mirror he passed all he saw was fire, sharp teeth, and glowing yellow eyes— accentuated by deep eyebags too. He wasn't generic-looking enough to be an NPC, but not cool enough to be the MC either. Was he the villain, then? He stopped to gaze at the pool-like surface of a mirror in the dark hallway. Sounded cooler than NPC, at least… But he doubted he was that cool. He was probs the throwaway 2nd villain in some tactical JRPG— not remembered as fondly as the introductory first boss, not as interesting as the 3d or those that followed. For every second that passed his scowl deepened in the mirror to match his thoughts.

'Healthy, lustrous skin, lidded eyes, a charming smile…'

LOLOLOLOL Eliza was INSANE if she thought ANY of that applied to him.

The smile he'd forced his face into looked all kinds of wrong in his eyes.

He sighed. Then he heard footsteps and his pulse sped up to what he knew Ortho would call 'very unhealthy levels for only having someone walk past him'.

Standing in the dark corner on the hallway with his hair acting like a glow-in-the-dark lamp, he, and his mortified expression, weren't that hard to spot. He didn't need to be able to see your face to know you were probably smiling. 'Because I look like the free clothing option in those normie cash-grab phone ""VNs""' he thought. But he knew from experience that wasn't the case when it came to you. You were even weirder than him, fwee-hee-hee… Ah, and now he was remembering how you'd stared at him the first time you heard his laugh, how he was expecting you to make fun of him but you just called his laugh 'nice'… And now his hair had started turning pink.

Great. /s

“I wondered where you went.” He was never gonna admit the sound of your voice made his heart race a little. There was a reason he always asked Ortho to leave the two of you alone when you hung out. If you really did find out he thinks he could just die on the spot.

"Away from the party, DUH." He rolled his eyes. You laughed at that. "Ha-ha, go ahead; laugh at my misery."

"No, no, it's just…it's so very like you."

"Uh…yyyup. Shut-in's gonna shut-in." He rubbed at his arm awkwardly. Yet even in the dark you recognized the small smile adorning his face.

You loved that expression of his…you could simply stare at it for hours. Yet you knew if you were to ever tell him that, he might stop talking to you for a week out of sheer inability to handle it. So for as much as you would love to compliment him— felt the urge tugging at you at every second you were with him— you refrained.

"You…you're beautiful…"

…Except for now, apparently. You quickly slapped your hand over your mouth. "I-I'm sorry!" The look on his face was like a cat sadly watching you take away its food bowl. "Not that I didn't mean it! I did!" There came another flare at the tips of his hair, coloring a deeper shade of pink. "I just…I know compliments can be difficult for you, and I—"

"N—np…" his flushed face begged to differ.

Silence filled the space between you. He thought it was awkward as all hell. You found it comforting, using it to work up the courage to ask him what you'd set out to.

"They're dancing right now, in the wedding hall. And I was wondering if…"

"No thanks— I do NOT want some rando to know how sweaty my hands are. I'd just step on their toes anyway."

"Oh, that's..." your face fell in disappointment.

[ Idia.exe is loading... ]

...

WAIT WAIT WAIT THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU MEANT HOLD ON ABORT, ABORT—

"I—" he could feel himself choking, words refusing to unclog from his throat. Here you were, his crush, his #1 Oshi if you will, and you wanted to dance. With HIM. EVEN AFTER HE MENTIONED HIS SWEATY PALMS (Sevens whyyyyyy did he do that)

"…If you don't want to I—"

He suddenly regretted he'd never clicked on those random dance videos he sometimes got recommended. And not taking Ortho's advice of playing one of those dancing games 'for his health'.

"I-I'd just suck at it— I'd moodkill. Big time."

"I don't mind. I'm not a very good dancer either…I've actually never done it before. So if anything, we'd both suck.” you said, cheeks flushed a gentle red he could just barely make out in the darkness.

He considered pretending he didn't see it for a moment; couldn't let himself get his hopes up.

This was probably just some prank, and the second he said 'sure' a laugh-track was gonna start playing and someone was gonna pop out and laugh and put an arm around his shoulder and gesture to some hidden camera somewhere—

"Idia?"

He'd been so stuck in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed you trying to talk to him. And now you'd gotten closer to him. WAY TOO CLOSE—

"EEP!"

All those things Eliza had said: "Bright, shimmering hair! Lips so arresting that you just have to kiss them!"

They'd be much more fitting applied to you, and not him. If it wasn't for the whole '180cm' requirement thing, he can't imagine you NOT being the one picked. It should've been you. Not because he wanted you gone or anything, obvs! You were just…out of this world kinda beautiful.

Out of his league, too.

Obvs.

That of course someone else was gonna come steal you away eventually, so why even hope? Why even try—

"It will always be a zero-percent chance as long as you believe it impossible and refuse to act."

Those words tore at the flesh of his chest like a word knife in that high-school murder trial game franchise he liked. Why were they showing up in his head now, like some kind of cutscene? This was sounding like that part in the 3d act where the hero's been demoralized and remembers the words of their fallen mentor to give them enough motivation to go in and K.O. the BBEG.

"S-so…" you said, nervously looking up at him through your lashes. "Do you want to dance with me?" your voice sounded so shaky, devoid of your usual confidence. You sounded almost scared. Kinda like him. (was this what he always looked like through other people's eyes?)

Maybe... Maybe it was ok to listen to that advice. Just this once. Just a tiny bit.

"S-sure..."

Awkwardly, he held his hand out. And you smiled.

He didn't think he was LI material, probably never would. But maybe, rather than cursing his luck at being an NPC in whatever Otome that had you as the MC, he'd celebrate his luck at being able to dance with you like this in spite of it.

He had you in his arms, and he could barely believe it was real, waiting for it to be revealed as just a dream-sequence. But somehow it was real. His palms were sweaty and his expression twisted in panic as he tried not to step on your toes and he probably looked like the worst 'suitor' ever.

But you were smiling, still holding his sweaty hand, and that blush was somehow still on your cheeks.

If this was just the preview of what his route, or life, rather, might look like were he to break free from the 'non-romancable NPC' category…

He better get to re-coding the game.

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

EDIT: just so everyone who reads this is aware, I do in fact take writing requests!

I'm testing out a new format This isn't exactly a 'headcanon' as much as it's literally just a short-fic

Publishing this as a bit of an experiment If people like it, maybe that'll finally convince my perfectionist brain that not every single thing I write has to be perfect according to my own, almost impossible-to-reach standards I set for my own writing

My friend told me the skull I used for Idia's partition gives "14 year old edgy COD kid vibes" It's perfect.

Also damn writing Idia is so fun. Including all his references is SO FUN. I get to pretend to be an extremely terminally online reddit gaming subreddit guy who hasn't touched grass or spoken to a real person in years, who bases his beliefs of how real life works off of anime. He is SO CRINGE (affectionate) and I LOVE HIM FOR IT.

[uwupaige]

the nanny [paige bueckers] part three

[chapters 4 & 5]

the nanny master list!

chapter four: basic psychology shit.

warning: annoying filler chapter :/ chapter 5 is cute though🩷

catherine's phone buzzed as she anxiously dialed in the number of her best friend, desperate to tell someone, anyone, of her amazing news.

the dialing tone rang in her ears for a few moments. soon, it clicked, the girls phone speaker being filled with molly's voice as she casually greeted catherine, "hey, girl."

"ahh!" catherine squealed excitedly into the speaker of her phone, which was resting between her cheek and the palm of her hand as she walked down the corridor of paige's condo building. her free hand rummaged through her dark brown purse in search of her car keys, almost unaware of her volume.

"woah, someone's cheery." molly laughed into her cellphone. she was about to ask what the girl was so excited about, but ended up cutting herself off from her own gasp. "wait. did you get the position?"

"i got the position!" catherine confirmed, another squeal to follow as she did a small jump, finally making her way to the buildings exit.

now it was molly's turn to squeal. "that's my girl!" she screamed enthusiastically.

catherine sighed as she finally took much needed deep breaths. "i'm actually so excited, i might splurge."

"oh yeah? how so?" molly asked her best friend curiously, although she felt like she already knew the answer.

finding her car fairly quickly, catherine clicked the top button on her keys twice, unlocking the deep red car. "imma get fast food." she spoke, proudly.

molly laughed out loud at her best friend's snobby plans. catherine always sounded like a gym rat whenever she spoke those words. "ohh, that's, like, unheard of."

"eating out all the time is the easiest way to go broke." catherine reminds the girl on the other end of the line. molly joined at the end of her statement, being one she's heard too many times before, and just laughing at her best friend, ultimately proud of her.

walking the woman out of her spacious condo, paige continues their conversation from moments prior.

"so yeah, how soon can you start?"

catherine spun on her heels slightly to meet paige's eyes, a wide grin playing on her deep mauve lips as she excitedly told the woman, "i can start as soon as next week."

it had been almost a week since their interview at the breakfast spot, and she had been formally offered the job. catherine couldn't be more happy or relieved. she decided to not quit vynil completely, but she wouldn't have to work there every night like she had gotten used to. for the first time since she started school, she can really focus on it.

"okay, cool," paige smiled at the woman, hand resting on her black painted front door as she leaned comfortably on the door frame. "i'll uh, see you monday?"

flashing paige one more smile before her departure, catherine nods, "bright and early."

and she was there, a little bright and extremely early, that late september monday morning. catherine would be lying if she said she wasn't extremely nervous. there was some sort of comfortable awkwardness between her and paige. sometimes they could hold a great conversation, but then it'd die down and it would be.. awkward? catherine was sure it was unlike any employee-boss relationship she'd ever had in her many previous jobs.

whatever. at least madison liked her. madison totally thought of catherine as a friend of paige's just watching her. which was true to a degree. though, catherine wasn't sure how much of friends they were.

ringing the doorbell to paige's residence, it was opened moments later by a tired looking blonde. "aye, w'sup." paige greeted the girl, quite enthusiastically for looking so tired, leaning against her black doorframe once again.

"good morning," catherine responds, soon hearing the loud crash of a toy falling behind paige, catherine peering over her shoulder slightly to reveal madison playing happily and unbothered in the spacious living room. "oh—someone's up." she jokes.

paige just sighs, nodding with a slight eye roll. "since 5:30." she informs as catherine walks in, paige offering to take her purse from her shoulder and placing it on the dark, granite kitchen counter. "and now," paige starts after closing the front door, speaking loudly so madison could hear her. "it's time for madison to get ready for school."

the curly headed girl looked up from her spot on the living room floor, a pout immediately finding her lips as she begins to throw a fit. "but i don't wanna!"

"madison, i'm not gonna tell you again." paige spoke, exhaustion in her words. catherine could tell this had been an all morning battle. "can you please pick up your toys and get ready for school. i picked out something pre—"

cutting off her mom, the little girl cried loudly, her tantrum taking over as she began to flail her arms every which way. "no!"

"bruh," paige muttered to both herself and the girl standing besides her, not expecting to look over at her with an amused smile as a replacement for her previously cheery one.

catherine moved closer to the distraught girl, getting down on her level, taking a seat on the floor in front of her. "hey, madison," catherine tried gently. madison didn't stop, continuing on with her tantrum, whining about wanting to play longer. "if you help me pick up your toys as fast as you can, you can pick out anything to wear to school today." madison's cries became slower and she nodded sadly at the girl. "can you do that for me?"

"yeah." the girl sniffled, her voice strained from the cries, wiping away almost non existent tears.

"thanks. i'll help you." catherine smiled. she grabbed a few of the miscellaneous toys, putting them where she assumed was her designated toy basket.

once done, madison was happily jogging off to her room to pick out a princess dress to wear, seemingly forgetting about the tantrum moments prior. she was just excited she got to wear another princess dress.

"that's crazy," paige comments as catherine pushed madison's basket of toys to the corner of the room in its respective spot. "how did you do that?"

"get her to pick up her toys?" catherine asks, amused paige was curious herself.

catherine's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion, another question prompting her mind. "aren't you majoring in human development?"

"..and family sciences."

"oh, c'mon paige. that's like some basic, intro to psychology shit." catherine explained, paige looking at her expectantly. "positive reinforcement..?" still no answer to her statements, catherine scoffs out a laugh, "paige."

"you try taking what you learned in college and applying it to your children." the blonde joked rhetorically and half offendedly, knowing catherine can't exactly do that. this just made the girl laugh.

it was moments like these that catherine could be down with. they kind of felt like friends, everything was extremely laid back. but not at the same time? it was weird. and now was when the part the awkward settled in.

before the suffocating tension could grow any thicker, catherine excused herself from the room, en route to madison's.

"any good choices?" catherine peered her head into the girls room, another mess of toys taking over, something she made a mental note of.

the little girl turned to catherine, one light purple dress in one hand, and a yellow one in the other. "rapunzel or belle?"

catherine could already tell this girl loved her fashion. walking into the messy room fully, she sat on madison's small and unmade bed. "mm.. i choose rapunzel?"

madison nodded proudly at the girls choice, agreeing entirely. "me same."

before leaving for the school day, catherine made it a mission to do the little girls hair. and promised to do something more than just the buns paige would do. as the little girl spoke about any and everything, she sat comfortably in her bathroom sink like she normally did, catherine just finishing up the dual pigtails in the girls hair as she looped each one around her finger to give it some bounce.

paige peered her head through the bathroom door, going to say a quick goodbye before she was off to a full day of studying and basketball. she gasps at her daughter in the mirror with a wide smile, "woah, you look so pretty babe." she complimented, her tone higher than usual, earning her daughters giggling. then turning her attention to catherine, she did a quick run through the rest of the day's schedule, how pick up and drop off looked, et cetera. "and, i left a key next to your purse for you... uh, am i missing anything?" she asks after a pause.

catherine simply just shook her head, hands still working magic on madison's head, "i don't think so."

"alright," paige says before saying her goodbye, catherine moving out of the way so paige could place a quick kiss to her daughters head before she left.

˚✧.*

unbuckling the little girl from the booster seat, provided by paige moments before she left, catherine walked hand in hand with madison to her kindergarten classroom. walking in, catherine noticed the nothing but cheery energy radiating from the room. the walls were all white, but almost none of it was visible due to the amounts of bulletin boards covered in student drawings and wall decor. after a few moments of taking in the room, the little girls teacher, an older woman in her 50s, greets the pair.

"oh! you're not mom." the woman joked enthusiastically, catherine giving her a polite chuckle.

"hi, i'm catherine. little one's nanny." she explained as she stuck out her hand, the teacher nodding understandingly with a smile.

accepting catherine's hand shake, the older woman began to speak, "i'm mrs. chase. it is very lovely to meet you!" this woman was as sweet as pure sugar. it'd be obvious to anyone who met her that she was a kindergarten teacher. "i'd love to show you around the classroom—oh, that is if you have time."

catherine nods, brows perched up as a, "yeah, yeah, for sure!" left her plump lips.

mrs. chase allowed madison to walk catherine to her designated seat in the classroom, walking away momentarily as madison excitedly showed catherine her desk. it was apart of a group of 4 desks all pushed together, none of them occupied by other children yet.

"here is this," mrs. chase spoke upon her re-arrival, handing a sheet of paper to catherine. the top of the paper wrote 'important dates.' "this is our class schedule, and it has every important date on there. classroom parties, field trips, half days, et cetera." the woman went on to explain, "and we do hope to see parents and caregivers to participate."

catherine nods, not knowing how to disagree with this lovely lady to any degree. "absolutely."

soon, it was time to say their goodbyes, catherine crouching down next to madison. "you're gonna have a good day." she tells the girl.

"isn't it just 'have a good day'?" madison questions, catherine shrugging, a slight head shake to follow.

"i'm telling you to have a good day. so it's much more effective." she explains loosely, madison just shrugging.

"okay. you're going to have a good day too, cat."

"yes i am." catherine agrees with a cheeky smile, wanting to absolutely squeeze the girl for being so undeniably adorable. however, she opted for a simple high five for starters. madison soon ran off to find an empty center of toys and activities to play at.

as catherine stood up from her crouched position, mrs. chase began her next conversation, "you're great with her." the older woman spoke up from behind her. catherine turned to face the woman, confusion on her face. how did she make that assumption based off of one interaction? "madison doesn't normally speak. not to any of her classmates, and barely to me."

"really?" catherine asked, having gotten to know madison as nothing but a yapper. "that's interesting."

"how so?"

"all she does is talk my ear off. way more than a lot of 5 year olds i've worked with." the girl explained further.

mrs. chase nodded at that, impressed. "i didn't know madison would be quite the talker.. well, it is only her third week here. hopefully she'll acclimate soon."

catherine smiles, nodding in agreement, "she will." she'd make it her mission.

˚✧.*

walking on to the large basketball court, shoes in hand, paige found an empty spot next to her teammates. they had all been talking about nonsense for some time time, waiting for their designated practice time to start. as paige pulled on her shoes, tying them with ease, an excited nika sat next to the girl. the pair had been friends for years now, and had gotten extremely close this current season.

"so," the brunette began with much excitement, "when do we get to meet this daughter of yours?"

paige stopped in her tracks, along with everyone else. paige turned to nika discreetly, shooting her a look. immediately, the girl's hand came up to cover her face in embarrassment. "no one knew, huh?" she says lowly to paige. the blonde just simply shook her head in agreement, closing her eyes, waiting for the first initial reactions.

"daughter?" paige heard the conflicting sounds of two of her teammates, ice and aubrey, asking in unison. they all had so many questions. why didn't she tell them? how old was this daughter? and, seriously, why didn't she tell them?

"whose daughter?"

in that moment, their coach, geno, came walking into the gym, the assistant coaches not far behind him. he instantly noticed the tense interaction between his players, quick to jump in.

"paige's."

geno looked between all of them, slightly confused. "you all didn't know about that?"

a gasp erupted from the group, "nah, not you telling coach before us." this emitted laughter from everyone, as they all began to circle around paige.

"girl, why didn't you tell us?" ice asks, seriously and concerned.

paige shrugged, still avoiding eye contact for as long as she could, now twiddling with her thumbs. "i'on know." her words low and sheepish. "didn't wanna be judged, i guess."

again, the group of women react like they're even more offend. they all had no problem sharing how much they didn't appreciate being thought as ones to judge their friends.

"it's easy to be judged by outsiders, but you guys are like my family." paige confides in them, finally looking up from her embarrassed stance, "i didn't want to change anything, y'know?"

a concerned looking aaliyah came up to the blonde, "we wouldn't judge you, p." that statement was soon followed with each of the woman sharing their support with a sweet and simple 'yeah'.

paige wanted to tear up at the support her friends—no, her family—had given her. they couldn't even begin to understand how much she had been needing it. but before she could grow too sappy, they all grew extremely excited, going on and on about how they were so excited to have a 'team daughter.'

"okay so boom, now that we all know, GUESS who madison's nanny is." kk spoke over the loud group, instantly grabbing their attention at the gossip she was about to spill.

azzi couldn't wait for them to actually guess, spilling the news almost seconds later, "you know the bartender from a couple weeks ago, the one paige kept saying was hot—her!"

no one was expecting that answer, all wanting to know how that even happened, but mainly wanting to tease paige endlessly for her near impossible circumstances. "alright, alright, chill." paige laughed at their teasing, being shoved jokingly from every angle and every one, "not too much on me now."

"mhm, and you all have drills to run." geno interrupted, blowing his whistle soon after.

˚✧.*

chapter five: you cooked?

a long few weeks have passed since catherine became an everyday person in paige and madison's lives, and their transition into the new routine was definitely one to get used to.

especially with there only being so many weeks until basketball season officially started. paige was busier than normal. if she wasn't in class, she was in the gym. and if she wasn't there, she was rushing home to hang out with her daughter before her inevitable bedtime.

"madison! get back here!"

catherine called loudly for the small girl throughout the apartment, last hearing her small but heavy footsteps and loose giggles down the hall.

soon, she found the girl hiding behind her soft purple shower curtains, sunken in the corner of the white bathtub like it would hide her better.

picking her up, despite her kicking and whining, she finally brought the girl to her bed, allowing her to choose which story she wanted to hear. catherine's soothing voice told the story as excitingly calm as she could, her voice lulling the little girl to sleep.

watching her eyelids starts to flutter slowly, indicating she was fighting sleep, but falling asleep nonetheless. catherine's voice fell off slowly and carefully, standing up cautiously from her crouched position next to the girls white bed. as she started to tip toe to her door, reaching for the light switch, in came a loud and unaware paige, peering her head through the door.

"she sleeping?"

catherine's eyes widened at paige, blinking profusely and annoyed, peering over her shoulder to find the once asleep girl awake, her eyes fluttering open. "hi, paigey."

paige grimaced, looking at catherine, her eye twitching. the blonde stammered out an apologetic, "sorry."

catherine unlocked the front door to the bueckers condo. the same tall, black door she's opened many times now. turning the handle, she pushed it open to be greeted with a multitude of toys scattered on the living room floor. several dolls and their pink and purple accessories decorated the carpet distastefully. sighing a little, the brunette wiggled her copy of the key out of the lock, calling out for the little girl who created the mess. "madison?"

once the door closed behind her, she heard the loud pitter-patter's of little feet echoing down the hall, revealing a small girl with messy, brown curls running in to greet the taller woman. grabbing catherine's jean covered leg excitedly, clinging tightly, madison smiled up at the girl. "cat!"

"hi, mamita. good morning." catherine grins down at the girl, a hand reaching down to rub her back comforting. however, only a few moments passed before she needed to drop the besties act, taking on her more nanny-like role. "can you tell me what's wrong with the living room?"

madison's head peered behind her momentarily, looking back at catherine with a playful smile. sheepishly, she answers, "i didn't clean up my barbie's."

catherine nodded proudly, tucking a piece of loose hair out of her face. "can you do me a favor?" she asks, her kid friendly tone making madison's ears peek at this, eliciting a nod from her. "can you be a big helper and make the living room look like how your mom had it this morning?"

madison jumped at the idea to be a helper, nodding again, enthusiastically this time.

catherine's discipline with the girl became stronger by the day, madison developing a level of respect for her. she started understanding catherine to be an authoritative figure, but a friend at the same time. it was starting to reach a healthy balance.

"maddie, go throw your plate away." catherine calls the girl back to the counter at which she had been eating, her paper plate left alone in it's spot, containing the remnants of her fast food.

a bit confused, madison walks back over to her spot, grabbing her plate and bringing it to the metal trash can that sat comfortably in the corner of their kitchen. paige always cleaned up after her. it was easier for the both of them, and paige wasn't one for constant reminding.

"thank you." catherine thanked the girl enthusiastically, madison finding her spot on the dark grey couch to continuing watch her cartoon. peering over her shoulder to check out the time displayed on the stove that was hardly ever in use, catherine called out, "tv off in 15 minutes."

madison looked over at her nanny, now extremely confused. "but it's not my bed time yet?"

"i know, but too much tv isn't good for us, especially before bed." catherine explained gently.

madison pouts at the news, "paige lets me watch all the tv i want."

the brunette nods—trust me i know, she thought to herself. "it's okay, your mom will understand. we can read a book instead! or play barbie's. your choice!" catherine tried to sound as enthusiastic about the sudden change to make the little girl more open to the thought. it took a few nights before they got the hang of it.

madison begins picking up her toys, attempting to run to her room once she believes she done. noticing a few left behind, catherine called her back to pick up the rest. "mira, mira," the girl spoke quickly and fluently, pausing the girl in her tracks and pointing towards the miscellaneous toys. madison sighed before picking up the rest, then trucking to her room.

in that moment, paige began leaving her room, passing her daughter in the hall. "hi, paigey." madison greeted happily, seemingly forgetting the attitude she had a few moments ago.

the blonde stopped in her tracks, smiling down at her daughter and placing a kiss to her forehead. "hi, babe."

continuing her way down the hall, paige is met with catherine standing in the kitchen, her head peering through the grey cupboards. "hungry?" paige calls with a smirk and a light chuckle.

the brunette looks past her shoulder, rolling her eyes at paige's joke. "deciding on what to feed maddie.. you should hit the grocery store soon." she suggested, pulling out a bag of bread.

making the girl both breakfast and lunch was something catherine had started to do this week. paige felt a little bad. it wasn't part of her job description. "y'know you don't have to. they serve breakfast at the school."

catherine wanted to laugh at the statement. "i can almost guarantee she isn't eating it. or the lunch. when i pick her up, she's starving." the girl explains, opening the bag to pull out two slices of the wheat bread. "she's started asking for big people meals when we order dinner." catherine continues.

paige chuckles at that, nodding understandably. sounds like maddie. "alright.." her words fade off momentarily, watching catherine focus on the food she preparing. "well, we appreciate it." she finished, catherine just looking up to catch her eyes for a little, flashing her a small smile before continuing at the sandwich in front of her.

"i gotchu," catherine reminds as she spread the peanut butter on the two bread slices.

not long passed before the blonde had to head out for her busy day, kissing madison goodbye as she usually did, and nodding to catherine on her way out with a smile. catherine returned the nod, along with a, "have a good day."

over these first few weeks, the two women began to get along better than they'd thought. well, better than catherine thought, at least. based off of her first impression of paige, she expected the girl to be stingy with other things too. not super involved or worried. but she happened to be the opposite.

they were becoming friends. totally unexpected, but neither of them would change it. paige was extremely appreciative of the girl. she didn't truly realize how much she really needed the extra support until catherine came along. she did way more than paige ever asked of her, and whenever paige reminded her that she didn't need to, she'd just shrug and smile, sweet like she always was.

"i don't mind."

that's why paige was less than shocked when she returned home that same night to her home smelling of warm food. it wasn't completely abnormal, but it was stronger than just the average lingering smell of fast food she was normally greeted with. sniffing as she walked in, wondering desperately what that delicious smell was, she eventually wandered into her kitchen.

she took in the appearance of the room, and how the two girls she had gotten so used to coming home to decorated it. there sat a black pot on the stove, looking to be half full of food, with a couple of spoons and spices spread out miscellaneously around it.

madison sat at the counter stool, legs dangling over her seat as she ate out of her bowl. and then there was catherine, leaning her elbows against the kitchen counter, snacking on a strawberry, biting around the stem with one leg crossed over the other. the two were just holding a normal conversation, oblivious to paige's arrival until she walked into their view. looking over simultaneously, they both greeted the girl.

"paigey!"

"hey!" catherine smiled, not forgetting to cover her mouth politely, still chewing on the strawberry.

almost disregarding their greeting, she spoke the question that had been on her mind since she walked in the door. "you cooked?" she asked, voice higher pitched, showing she was a bit surprised.

"oh, yeah," catherine nodded casually, looking over at the stove momentarily, going to point, "uh, just some chicken and rice."

when did she buy a chicken?

"i thought you said it was called arroz con pollo." madison questioned, catherine laughing at the little girls butchered pronunciation.

"arroz con pollo. that just means chicken and rice, mama." she corrected the girl gently, then repeating it slowly for her to understand better. standing up from her lounging position, catherine began to move for the living room to go grab her things, "you can totally have some, i made extra in case you wanted." she informed paige as she walked by with a light arm tap.

paige, who had just stood there, sort of in awe, finally fell out of her trance momentarily. "oh, wait," she stops the girl, before she forgets. reaching into her backpack, which was previously resting comfortably on her shoulder, she dug around it before pulling out and handing catherine her check for this weeks work. catherine almost forgot it was friday.

"sweet, thanks." catherine smiled at her, taking it. looking over the numbers to make sure it was correct, her eyes bulged. "oh shit, you wrote it wrong." she informed, looking up at the girl slightly, handing the check back to her.

paige shrugged, shaking her head, "i don't think so."

catherine scoffed at this, a knowing smile plastering her face as she understood paige's tone. "then you over paid. i'm not taking that."

paige just shook her head no, again. "keep it. for the chicken." paige joked, alluding to the cooked and sliced chicken in the pot.

"it was like eight dollars. it's fine." catherine insisted, now pushing the check against paige's stomach, eyes still looking up at the blonde.

paige's body slumped away from her poking instinctively. "seriously, keep it. for all the extra stuff you been doing." paige says sincerely.

soon, the brunette had a playful smile on her plumped lips, and it was like paige almost knew what she was going to say. "paige bueckers, are you tipping me?" she jokes, a laugh slipping out instantly. she’ll never stop joking about the first night they met.

paige rolled her eyes jokingly, letting out a small laugh too, "get outta here." she dismisses her, but continuing with her praises from earlier. "seriously though, you're help the last few weeks has been great, and it's helped me a lot. even with maddie, her teacher says she's been improving so much... we appreciate what you do. right, mads?" she spoke louder with that last part, grabbing her daughters attention.

they both look over to the little girl, playing with the few stray grains of rice in her bowl. "what does appreciate mean?"

"it means we're thankful." paige explained simply.

madison then nods, agreeing with her mom. "yeah, i'm thankful for you, cat."

catherine's heart swelled up at that comment, her stomach dipping a bit. she had started to grow so fond of this little family. she's never been so excited to go to work in her life. being with the bueckers didn't even feel like working, though. she had started really see them as her friends, her family. her heart was always fulls around them.

and finding the pot that was once filled with food empty the next morning made her heart even fuller.

authors note!

love. them. so. bad.

sooo super excited to write for this cutesy little family. let me know what you’re thinking! any theories on the angst that’s not far away??

also, if you want more frequent updates, my wattpad (@/uwupaige) gets new chapters like 3 times a week!

thanks for reading!🩷

- mari 🫧

4.8k words.

[trans-androgyne]

I don't really do this like at all but I have no idea where else to express my frustrations and dejection. This is pretty negative so no need to even read it but If you do I really appreciate it. I'm a transmasculine teenager and I remember first coming to tumblr from reddit cause I heard there was more transmasculine folks here and I was like waooww! Sounds great. I expected cool memes or positivity or representation just something I could relate to because I genuinely hated myself for being trans, so much. Can't come out at school, can't transition for like another four years, can't entirely come out to family either, so I can seek solace online. Now tumblr has become by #1 doomscroll site and I hate myself more than ever for newer reasons. Wooow. And this time it's coming from other queer people and it feels worse than anything I read from a genuine right-wing bigot. I keep feeling like my existence is just irrational and misogynistic and hopeless. I don't know how to feel any better about my identity as a transgender male.

Gods, I've been in really similar spots, I'm so sorry. Seeing the same old vitriol from cis transphobes is one thing. But when I stumbled into the discourse about transmascs on here, feeling that hated and rejected by my fellow queer and trans people pushed me to the brink of detransitioning. There are two main ways I pushed through that.

The first was to focus on other transmascs. Sure, I can hate myself for "choosing the wrong side" or whatever, but would I ever, ever say that about another transmasc? I wouldn't. I would never tell them half the stuff I believed about myself. It became clear to me that queer masculinity, especially trans masculinity and manhood, gets pushback both from inside and outside the queer community that it does not deserve. One's gender and gender presentation does not relate to their morality. Queer masculinity is beautiful and radical, no matter what anyone tries to tell you, and I let myself fall in love with it and engage in it out of spite. Even if I couldn't accept it on myself, I committed myself to letting other transmascs out there know that I believed their transmasculinity made the world a better place. After a while, it was a little easier to feel that way about myself too. I still get insecure about it, but I can always lean on other transmascs and transmasc allies about it.

That's the second strategy. I felt so isolated and alone as a transmasc, especially when we were being blamed for predstrogen being banned, that I ended up making a discord server centered on trans men and mascs. I've gotten so many friends and even two new partners out of that! It turns out that there are plenty of people who love transmasculinity even if they aren't transmasc themselves. An example is my trans femme S.O. who loves me being her transmasc stone butch and praises my masculinity constantly :) I suggest to all transmascs ever to surround themselves with as many people as they can that see the value of transmasculinity and don't hold bigoted beliefs about transmascs (because yes, believing that we're all annoying and attention-seeking and self-centered and misogynistic is bigoted). My server is always open if that might help you, but other spaces are out there as well. Just know you deserve to be supported in your identity and there are plenty of people who would give you that support. You are always, always, always welcome in my inbox, or DMs, or anywhere else. Please reach out if I can be of any help.

[ladyshrike]

Giving Into The Love

Kenji Sato X Best Friend

A story I'm working on over on AO3, thought I'd share it here too.

(Word Count: 1351)

Chapter 1:

One | Two | Three | Four |

Hold on.

It's the only thing she can tell herself as she tries her hardest to tighten her grip on the support beam…or rusted pipe or whatever she was hanging off of. Her ears are ringing. Her hands burn with the effort to hold herself there. Her body feels sore, her head is still spinning and her vision is blurred with the settling debris and smoke of the fire below. Her lungs burn as she looks around, panic setting in.

Hold on.

She feels her hold slip in the slightest and she is quick to tighten it again, a sharp gasp leaving her lips.Any other noise dies off before she can make it. Distantly, and muffled to her ears, she hears what sounds like helicopters hovering nearby, the breeze is harsh but too warm to discern whether they are close by or not. There’s screaming from below and for the slightest moment, she wonders why of all days she thought it would be a great idea to just walk around her apartment wearing Kenji's jersey, a spare he had given her when he played for the Dodgers. And her underwear. Nothing else, save a sports bra below the jersey.

Gods…hold on.

Maybe, she thought Ultraman would spot her, would help her before she fell to her death. Maybe, a rescue copter would appear with someone repelling down to get her to safety. Maybe…it would be fast-

She re-tightens her hold, breath heavy and uneven, eyes burning with tears from the smoke and from the idea that this is how she would spend her last moments, if these were her last moments. Not knowing if Kenji was safe. Not knowing if she would be saved. Not knowing if…perhaps the last time he’ll see her is at a funeral, possibly uneven able to do that. Would she still look enough like herself-

“H…he…” The word dies off in her throat, a sob ripping free from her lips. “H…Help!”

She wasn’t sure if over all the noise, all the commotion, anyone heard her. She wouldn’t fault them if they didn’t. Too noisy. Too much to do. Too many to save on time. She was sure of one thing, she wouldn’t fault anyone for not being able to save her.

“Help!”

That one is a little louder, her voice a little more winded as she struggles to breathe. She makes the mistake of looking down for the briefest moment, seeing people peppered below, barricades already up and emergency services surrounding the area, spread thin by the collateral destruction of the battle. Her heart drops because, my gods…if she slipped, all those people would…

There’s a strong gust, a light clears the way towards her and for the briefest moment, she swears she sees her parents in the faces of the rescue crew. She swears they are there, the world around her muffling further. A pass of the helicopter blade, and its panicked gazes, growing higher and…oh…

She blinks, the wind is rushing around her over the sounds of screams below. The pipe she had been holding onto is growing tiny, eventually hidden by the smoke that blows around it. She closes her eyes, expects everything to just go dark around her. She expects…she doesn’t know what she expects, really. Maybe nothing at all, maybe to just…cease?

But instead, she feels the cool rush of air in her face. She feels the soft spray of an ocean breeze. She feels…still warm sand along her exposed skin.

Opening her eyes, she finds herself looking up at the night sky, clearer than the one she had been keeping her eyes trained on the moment she caught…whatever she had been holding onto. The stars are out in full effect, the moon bright and low in the sky, a perfect crescent. Waves crash to her right, and she’s almost scared to look that way. Was this…a memory in the last moments of brain activity? A way for her brain to cope with dying? A way to keep her calm as her heart slows and her lungs collapse?

She hesitantly turns, and to her surprise…the coast is just…there. A familiar one. A memory invades her mind then.

“Kenji! Don’t be mean!” Warryn pouts, her sand castle laying destroyed by a rather massive water balloon.

“Not being mean! I told you I was playing with water balloons in this spot!” He argues.

“Easy there, you two. Why don’t you two go play together instead. That way you’re both happy?” His mother tries to appease both, sitting beneath an umbrella as she watches them play on the hot summer day.

“No! He ruined my castle! How will Princess Ultraman become queen now?” Warryn huffs, plopping down on the warm wet sand, holding the poseable action figure she had put a Barbie dress on. She’s quiet, sniffling and genuinely just wanting to go home at this point. She’s only four, two years younger than Kenji, and rightfully so, still childish. Until, that is, she hears a splash near her. She thinks, for a moment, that Kenji is still being mean. That he’s tried throwing a water balloon at her and missed, but when she looks up, ready to unleash a torrent of tantrum-y exasperation, she stops. Her eyes are a little wider, what she’d thought he was doing not meeting the reality of what he was doing.

He sits ahead of her, on the other side of the wet sand, sitting atop his legs as he pushes wet sand into the castle shaped mold bucket. He flips it, concentration creasing his slightly sweaty brow. He removes it slowly, a bit clumsily really, and gives an awkward laugh when the splotchy wet sand castle crumbles slightly despite his effort to be careful.

“It’s not perfect…but I think Princess Ultraman can fix it…don’t you?”

Warryn blinks slowly, still numb. She was…on the beach they visited every summer. A full half hour from her apartment near the stadium…and close by.

She isn’t sure how she manages, but she’s standing, arms and legs covered in dry sand that slowly but surely blows off of her skin with the soft breeze. Beneath that sand is soot, scrapes that she is sure burn with the sand on her, and bruises that are beginning to mottle her skin in hues of blues, purples and yellows. But it's not what's on her mind, it's the familiar figure that has caused her so much grief standing yards away. Small, barely 40 inches in height. Soft yellow sundress and straw hat atop her head, shielding the soft black locks that she had curled for her the day they left LA. She starts to walk away and she follows, not even sure if she’s breathing, or if this was the hallucinating effects of hypoxia playing tricks on her mind.

But she follows.

Her steps are staggered, she likely looks like a crazy person on the streets, but she can’t find a way to care. Image be damned.

The figure looks back, a soft giggle echoes in her ears before she takes off, Warryn following close after, but never getting any closer. Even when she comes upon a familiar street. When the child stops just before a driveway she knows all too well. The figure never gets close enough to discern other features, just a smile.

“Hoshi…”

Her eyes burn and she blinks. When she opens her eyes again, she’s alone in the driveway. Heart beating wildly. Her eyes fall on the door. She wasn’t well. She could feel it. Something was wrong, something was…different. And if she were met with silence upon knocking…then she would rest assured the security system would call for help, as it had when she had passed out from dehydration months back at the beginning of his move here. She knocks twice. It’s all she finds herself able to do.

What happens after, she isn’t sure. She swears she see’s Kenji. Or maybe it's still hypoxia playing tricks on her, she could have the wrong house after all, but just the thought of it possibly being him…it eases her mind.

[sunshine-scented]

Hehe Hello hello Can i request Wukong, Macaque and Mk ( platonic on Mk one, because Wanna make Reader being a mother to him )

A goddess Reader that's well Tf so gorgeous so handsome they can cook they can do anything so basically How they Thought and say like " Hm? Oh reader yeah i know him they blablabla " On reader just wanna seee i might love this one

Olso have a great day luv your Work And take a rest and drink a lot of water

- ✨ Yuzex ✨

Cute~ I've definitely heard about these type of concepts before, I'm glad I get to make one of them!

❀ Tell me more, don't be shy ❀

: Them talking about their s/o when asked, voice lines hc!

: Sun Wukong, Macaque, MK(platonic) x reader

: Fluff!!

Sun Wukong

About (Name); showing off

"You've met (Name) already? I mean, that's great and all but I was the first one to meet them so hah! What do you mean that it doesn't matter? Uh, duh? It's (Name)?? The best person you will ever meet in your entire life until you die???? Keep up bud"

About (Name); hidden secret

"Wh...what are you doing touching me like that? Huh? (Name) told you I liked scratches on my fur? Wha— ughhh, I told them to keep it a secrettt...whatever, you're not allowed to touch me, only (Name) is allowed in that, hmph"

About (Name); Adoring

"If there's one thing I absolute adore about (Name) that isn't them existing, it's them in general. No really, I mean it. I love how they make me feel better by just talking to me about the weather, I love how easy it is to be myself with them. I just love them so much you know? It's hard to explain but basically, if they were to disappear in this world, then I would flatten mountains, empty oceans, and flip the world upside down until I get them back into my arms."

About (Name); Facts

"Did you know (Name) liked that color in their shirts? I always see them wear those kind of clothes with that style. Oh! Those birds over there yeah? They think they're cute and often stare at them when they're zoning out. And that one over there? That's their favorite place to eat. Also— MPHH?! Ack- why did you cover my mouth all of the sudden?! Yeesh, have some respect, anyways, did you know that (Name) really liked those kind of shoes—"

Six eared Macaque

About (Name); first impressions

"To be completely honest, I didn't think I'd like them as much as I do now. I thought that they were just some ordinary being not worth my time, yet when they talked to me over and over again, suddenly, I felt rather...lonely whenever they're gone. Heh, how annoying of them♡"

About (Name); soft spots

"...You won't leave me alone until I tell you more about (Name) huh? You're lucky I like talking about them so much. However, if I did try talking about them more we'd be here until I decide to stop holding grudges..Huh? I'm going soft? You seriously just realized?"

About (Name); voice

"(Name) once told me that they found my voice soothing to listen to. I'll admit, it took me by surprise the first time they mentioned it, yet that boldness they showed at that moment was attractive of them. Telling me something I never knew people liked about me? And told by the one person you'd kill a whole nation for? Sends shivers down my spine"

About (Name); Sleep

"Knowing me, I never got a lot of sleep. And even if I did it's probably somewhere about 4 hours and then boom, a nightmare to haunt my life until I die. Twice. As cliche as it sounds, I sleep better when (Name) is with me. Something about their arms sharing their warmth into mine never fails to lull me to sleep. Perhaps it's also the fact that they sometimes hum small melodies or run their hands onto my hair to sooth me from whatever's on my mind. It's now mandatory that they stay with me everytime I'm going to sleep, hopefully they don't mind~"

MK

About (Name); excitement

"Huh?! You know about (Name)?!?! That's so cool! (Name)'s so cool!!!! They're so nice and caring and amazing and caring and nice and caring you know? I want to grow up to be just as nice and caring and amazing and caring and caring and nice as them!"

About (Name); injuries

"Look! I'm a mummy! Hehehe I'm not actually one, it's just that I got into this hugee battle with a demon and the aftermath got me all these scars and bruises. (Name) was not happy, gosh, the look on their face when they wrapped bandages on my body while they gave me a whole hour long lecture was so..*shiver* remind me to take better care of myself please"

About (Name); snacks

"My bag is a little bit heavier than usual, maybe it's because of the multiple snacks (Name) keeps inside it. I mean, I'm not complaining, I like the snacks they give me. But a hero's gotta have agility too you know! How am I gonna heroically jump on buildings and beat demons with a heavy bag of super delicious extremely amazing and over the top golden snacks that (Name) gives me?"

About (Name); Lessons

"I think (Name) saw how stressed I am with this whole hero thing, first it was DBK, then spider queen, LDB and now this Asare Leon guy or whatever his name was. It's like I can't keep anything from them. Yet, they still treated me gently and talked to me about how everything happens for a reason, I'm living this life because I'm strong enough to live it. Honestly, I'm glad they told me this, if it weren't for them, I would have been eaten alive by some stinky demon, ewww"

I'm trying so hard not to make another Nezha fic it's literally mental torture

[sexybritishllama]

i started replying to this but i ended up typing too much so i'm just going to make a new post entirely so i can include easy links too. for context i normally listen to stuff about video games, philosophy, general social/media analysis, and whatever random stuff sounds interesting, so a lot of these have pretty different vibes but the common theme of being (in my opinion) well presented, well structured, and entertaining/interesting to watch

i'm definitely forgetting people but some of the top ones that come to mind:

Jacob Geller: my love my light. my current essayist fixation, he does video game and art stuff and is fantastic at putting together different media sources to focus on whatever the thesis of the video is, all packaged with good presentation and a smooth script. introduced me to lots of cool quirky indie games. so hard to pick favourites but to toss some out: How Can We Bear to Throw Anything Away?; Fear of Cold; and Art for No One

hbomberguy: film and video game stuff with leftism intermixed, does a great job bringing in the entertainment element while still being coherent and analytical, probably currently most well known for Plagiarism and You(Tube) which is excellent but other personal favourites include ROBLOX_OOF.mp3 and Pathologic is Genius, And Here’s Why (no i have never played pathologic)

Defunctland: the history of weird theme park stuff, bit more niche i appreciate but well presented, good to listen to while you’re cooking or cleaning or something. personal favourites include Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery and Disney’s Fastpass: A Complicated History

Contrapoints: philosophy/society/political stuff with really fun, dramatic set pieces and interesting presentation of really big, often controversial topics with camp humour intermixed. loved her most recent Twilight video and Cringe

Philosophy Tube: also philosophy/society/political stuff, really well presented and eloquent with a lot of backing in critical theory and various sources! her newest video TikTok vs Democracy is a one take monologue that i really enjoyed

Folding Ideas: does a real variety of stuff but a lot of societal/cultural analysis, really eloquent and straight to the point with how he talks, his video on NFTs is fantastic and also Jamie Oliver’s War on Nuggets

Daryl Talks Games: video game stuff, often through a psychology lens (can sometimes veer a bit close to pop psychology but he makes a genuine effort to refer to studies and structures his videos well which i appreciate). i liked Horror Games About Waking Up and The Greatest Evil a Game can Commit

i also wanna give a shout out to Tasting History with Max Miller, which isn’t actually a video essay channel but he shows food recipes based on historic dishes and talks about the context around them and i just think he’s neat. also he always puts a pokemon plushie in the background when he’s recording without ever acknowledging it and i like spotting it every time

[hexenmond]

dividers in fanfiction: experimenting with screen readers

So I wrote up this tutorial on pretty AND accessible dividers for fanfiction (focusing on AO3, but this goes for every piece of text on the internet that has a divider somewhere). I confidently proclaimed that using an hr element instead of some random characters is the better way to do it, to accommodate screen reader users – but I had never actually tried it for myself.

I wanted to remedy that and took some time to experiment with a screen reader (Orca, because that was easiest for me to get my hands on). Setting that up was actually a bit of a hassle, so I captured the audio output to post it here, and you can hear for yourself what I'm talking about without having to bother with technology and then you can make up your mind about how you want to handle dividers in your own works.

I picked three pieces of fanfiction on AO3 that I knew off the top of my head had characters as dividers in them (because I love them! so much!!), selected a bit of text with the divider in the middle, and had Orca read it out to me. Here are the results:

Example #1: simple dreams of comfort by softestpunk

I tried this one first, and it confirmed my guess: the screen reader simply reads out the characters as it can't tell what they're supposed to mean.

Example #2: Pretending! Unless… by Aria_Lerendeair

This was up next, same thing in principle. Here I also found out that empty paragraphs are a little bit unwieldy if I wanted Orca to read the selected text. And also I was starting to get used to the voice by now.

Example #3: Tower and Rose by Moorishflower

Same thing, Orca reads "plusplusplus". As a bonus I discovered what happens when there is a full stop missing (did you catch it?). And this was also when I realised that I really could get used to that objectively awful reading voice. Like, if my other options were more tiring, or I had none? I'd probably try different readers, and I'd spend a lot of time tweaking the settings (there are SO MANY SETTINGS), and then I'd enjoy my favourite fics anyway.

And how does an actual hr divider get read?

Orca by default reads it as "separator". Which is not all that great either in my opinion, BUT I could teach it to just read it as a three second pause. Or make it say "skip" or whatever I like. That would be fairly easy to do, but teaching it how to read every random string of characters – not so much.

So, bottom line? It's less problematic than I thought. Sure, "asteriskasteriskasterisk" in the middle of a story doesn't sound nice. But I could get used to that meaning "separator". Brains are flexible like that. It does increase cognitive load a little, but not that badly I think. (Cognitive load is useful a concept, I'll write more about that soon.)

If you have published on AO3 and you'd like to convert to hr elements in your works (those can also be styled to look very nice!), I wrote a step by step tutorial on how to safely and easily replace the random characters with hr elements. If you use it, let me know how it worked for you! Constructive criticism very welcome 🙃

Oh and: I actually made a cool tool that lets you push sliders around instead of fiddling with code! Go ahead and design some lovely dividers for yourself. No CSS skills required, just copypaste the resulting code into your work skin!

@softest-punk, @aria-lerendeair, @moorishflower:

I hope this does not make you feel put on the spot (not at all my intention), but maybe rather a little flattered as I really did know those three fics sufficiently well to remember they had different strings of text as dividers. It's not quite the same as someone making fanart but… right now I'm just loads better at coding than at drawing. So, do with this possibly newfound knowledge as you will! And also whenever you will, I imagine you've all JUST come out the other end of Dreamling Week, phew… I am writing this with much love for you and your fics 🥰🥰🥰