#But I just. Really needed somewhere to write all this down.

[animeyanderelover]

The way of an aggressive yet very loving househusband

Tw: Yandere themes, obsession, possessive behavior, overprotective behavior, aggression but not in the way you may think, darling has periods, abduction, this is no poly relationship by the way

Can I just say that Bakugou and Barou are basically the same type of a Yandere almost down to the tee? A type which I have decided to call the aggressive househusband.

Think about it. Both are really intimidating and scary and I wouldn't hold it against you if you would be very scared of them the first time. You see how Bakugou constantly yells at people and glares at them with his red eyes. You see how Barou completely annihilates people on the field as if this was more than just a sport and notice how he towers over anyone who annoys him off whilst glaring at them with his red eyes.

So you when you are abducted you genuinely believe the worst is going to happen. That you'll be stuck with a violent and aggressive man obsessed with you who will physically harm you and beat you up.

Only for none of that to happen.

Obviously he isn't happy to see you being so scared of him. Yes, he isn't going to deny that he is maybe a tad bit scary but you're acting like he's going to undo his belt at any moment and give you a goddamn whipping.

However, despite him being quite offended that you would put him in the same category as a fucking abuser he knows that he has to give you his patience right now. Acting right into any stereotypes you have already out him into would only harm his reputation more.

He speaks quieter and tries to sound less harsh when he's talking to you. He bends down so that both of you are on the same height or he sits down somewhere so that he is actually looking up at you whilst you are looking down on him. He gives you your space. Yes, he still checks in on you because he is considerate and not fucking stupid but he doesn't invade your privacy.

His aggressive side resurfaces as soon as chores are involved but in a way you would have never expected. He is a bloody perfectionist and no matter how you clean your room, wipe the tables or vacuum-clean the floor, you somehow never do it right. There is always something that he has to criticise. There is a spot on the mirror left from when you brushed your teeth. You forgot to clean under that little gap of your wardrobe. You didn't fold your shirts right.

The list goes on.

He doesn't hit you though and yells at you that you never do stuff right and that you're useless. No, instead he guides you promptly to the bedroom, pushes you into the mattress and just bluntly tells you that you can just watch one of the 10+ Streaming Sides he pays for whilst he is going to properly clean the goddamn house. And whilst you are sitting in bed, slightly perplexed by what just happened, he is mopping the floor and mutters occasionally about how he can't believe that you can't even clean properly. That's fine though. He can do that for you.

He cooks for you. Every day. Without fail. He hates when you go out and eat some junk food. Sure, he is guilty of eating it once in a while too but it is different when it comes to you. You shouldn't enjoy greasy and unhealthy food unless it is his greasy and unhealthy food that he has prepared for you. Don't expect him to cook you that stuff every day though. He will cook nutritious and healthy food for you and you better eat what he serves or he will be very mad and grumble about it for the entire rest of the day.

You want to go an a diet? Don't even dare to attempt any bullshit diet a beauty influencer on Instagram, YouTube or other social platforms has recommended. He happens to know the one or other thing about a diet that is actually healthy and still tastes good.

You want to try a new dish? Write him down the groceries he needs and he's the next evening in the kitchen, all ingredients tidily placed in front of him as he reads the recipe through before he starts to prepare the dish.

If you want juice he is not buying the bottles but the fruits themselves and prepares fresh juice for you. If it's orange juice you want he just squeezes every last drop out with his bare fists before he serves it in a glass to you. He generally keeps a lot of fruits and vegetables in his fridge because he likes to prepare randomly a small bowl for you so that you consume your vitamins and minerals.

You, who has lived a humble life the first twenty-something years of your life, always look at price tags when something catches your eye and as soon as you notice a number far too high with what you're comfortable to spend you just turn around.

Case closed.

Or maybe not.

Because in the next moment your lover is dragging you into the store with him, grabs whatever it is that caught your eye and then asks you with a scowl on his face if there is anything else that you would like since the two of you are already in here. Do not let yourself be mislead by that scowl on his face. What he really means to say to you is "if there is anything else you want just fucking grab it because I have the money". Honestly, who do you think is he earning all his money for nowadays?

Taxes and all other paperwork is something he mainly does. You are free to help if you insist but be aware that he is most likely going to complain about something again because there is always something he can nag about.

You never have to worry about running out of pads or tampons because he always keeps those shelves filled. As soon as you're down one package a new one magically appears the next day. He's not one of those guys who feels embarrassed about buying this stuff for you. I mean, who is going to make fun of him? Most people are in general far too scared to comment about it when they see him standing in line with packages of pads in his basket.

He ensures that you have all your needed doctor appointments. A general health check. A visit at your gynaecologist. A visit at the dentist. All of that at least twice a year so that he can see it through that something is treated the moment it is spotted.

When you're sick he is the best person to take care of you. He doesn't judge you for your terrible mood, the coughs, the sneezes or other symptoms you may experience. However, he is going to bully the spoon of medicine in your mouth, is going to monitor you to see it through that you consume your tablet and will carry you right back to bed and wrap you up as soon as you attempt to do something when you should rest instead.

Scary dog privilege is real with him just as much as the saying "my girl can wear whatever the fuck she wants because I can fight". It doesn't matter at which time in which location you are at, absolutely no one is getting to you with him by your side.

As soon as he notices someone giving you a weird look or oogling at you suggestively? Then it's up to you to cling to his torso as he drags you with him, red eyes promising a burial. Luckily you manage to be a voice of reason and stop him from potentially committing a crime in public.

You realise that you have severely misjudged him. Apparently you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

[ramshacklefey]

Oh yes, and in general, these books are an excellent example of "if your characters act like the world is normal, the audience is probably just gonna roll with it."

There's a lot to be said about how/why to make that work, but it mostly boils down to, "Is this something the average reader of this genre is familiar with?" and/or "Is it similar enough to real-world concepts that they'll get the point?"

Governor Module... Hm don't know that one, but 1) it was hacked, so it must be a computer thing and 2) its purpose is pretty obvious from the name and what the character said it can do once it's hacked.

The feed? That's a new word, but okay, it says "entertainment feed" and you can watch shows and stuff with it. That sounds like a kind of internet thing, I know how internet thing works.

Streaming media at work? Everyone knows this! Oh, we can stream media directly in our brains here? Baller.

Giant sand worm? Everyone knows giant sand worm!

There's that feed thing again. Oh we can also send messages using it! Definitely an internet thing.

Laser guns? We fuck with laser guns. Laser guns in arms? Gotcha, character is either a robot or a cyborg, let's keep reading and find out which.

Hopper? New word but obviously a flying vehicle based on what they're doing with it.

Etc.

And really, we see this all over in fantasy and science fiction writing!

Star Trek didn't get around to explaining how warp drive works until TNG, but it's clear from the beginning that it's how spaceships go fast (and remember, this was a pretty new idea at the time).

Teleporter? Ok we've seen stuff where people disappear from one place and reappear somewhere else, now we have a device that does it.

Light saber? No idea how that works, but I know sword and I know light and it's glowing so ok cool.

If something is really new and really strange and really important to the plot, you can go back and give more explanation later. But you can get a loooong way by just. Showing characters using and interacting with things to explain what they are and how they work.

And if you really do need to explain something, a couple sentences will often do, and we can discover more about it as the story goes on.

Jedi?? No idea, but everyone knows knights. Yep and these are good knights, got it. Ohhh, there are evil knights too.

The force? Oh, it gives these Jedi people "powers," so like. Makes them superheroes or wizards. Some kinda magic field. That's neat!

Ah ok, this Darth Vader guy is one of the magic knights. Oh shit he just choked a dude out from across the room! So that's one of the "powers" the Jedi have.

(Martha Wells takes this to an extreme, but also by almost never explaining exactly how anything works, she leaves herself open to just go, "Oh yeah it does this too, but it can't do that" later on in the story.)

An important writing lesson I'm taking away from Murderbot is that you don't always have to ease your readers into the world and the characters and speculative concepts. Sometimes you can just start with the fun part where there's a sandworm trying to eat someone and that's fine too.

[gay-dorito-dust]

lmao this is my first time giving a request. Could you maybe do dick Grayson head cannons?

Most of these hdc come from my little brain that I thought fit Dick in general, it’s not based on stuff (some of them are but not all) if ppl agree or don’t agree, I couldn’t care less honestly. Also thanks for the request anon, hope you like it! 🫶

I know I write him as a little goofy goober but he tends to play up this character so that he doesn’t have to open up about anything. Is it foolproof? Not entirely and it solely depends on the person and their relationship to him,those of whom that pick up what he’s putting down, and those (you) who can easily see through this facade and know something is up.

He’s more often than not the type who will become more affectionate in private where it’s just you, him and Hayley. Dick doesn’t need anybody else other then you two, his confidants as he so playfully called you both one day, and he’s more then content then he’s ever been.

Older sibling syndrome is strong in this boy.

Foot wars are a common occurrence in your shared apartment as you push against the others foot with your own to see who’s going to be victorious, only for you to accidentally smack him in the face with your foot and the foot war becomes ten times worse, seeing as how as Dick often wins them more then you did.

He will never stop feeling guilty about Jason’s death. Never. That boy who was filled with love and life and claimed that being robin was magic was still within Jason somewhere, dick just knows this to be true, even if Jason loves to claims that that little kid was gone.

And while he’s glad that Jason is back in his life, dick couldn’t help but feel as though he could’ve done better by him at times, holding onto that guilt and shame for not being their for his brother that still killed him inside to this day whenever he saw Jason laugh and or smile at something. It hurts but Dick will never stop being in Jason’s corner, not once. If Gotham was against Jason then Dick will gladly be by Jason’s side, to show that his allegiance to his brother would outweigh a lot of things.

(I’m so normal about dick and Jason being brothers can’t you tell 🥲 leave me here and be delusional)

The same applies to Damian also, which is why your mostly acquainted with both Jason and Damian in comparison to the rest of his family because they often come over by pure coincidence, or because dick dragged them by their ears with a smile on his face.

Insists that you cling onto his legs while he does pull ups and or sit on his back while he does push ups as he lets you count.

Complains to you when he looses the nightwing look alike contest, and to Jason no less, which no one that knows him personally allows him to live down.

They (Tim and Stephanie) even make memes out of it.

Has Hayley as his Lock Screen, you as his Home Screen. Both wearing cute matching pyjamas. So when he’s on his phone people think he’s smiling at his picture of Hayley -which is true- but he’s also smiling at the picture of you also.

His family pester him about you a lot, even Bruce asks when he’s going to meet you, claiming he’s not going to get any younger should Dick hold back on introducing you to him.

Even Alfred gets in on this as well but Dick always has an excuse locked and loaded when these questions are asked, but even he knows that Bruce knows that it’s all bullshit, however he doesn’t say anything outright incase Dick didn’t feel comfortable introducing you to them yet.

Wears only boxers to sleep or boxers and a light blue shirt, it depends on what he’s feeling really.

Loves living in the moment with you as you enjoy the others company without feeling the need to fill the air with chatter, you could just both exist and still love each other regardless because Dick didn’t feel the need to talk all the time, so moments like these were what he longed for most.

Ungracefully fell on his ass in fuzzy soaks once and hurt his tailbone in the process. It was funny until he asked to you put a bag of ice on the afflicted area.

Loved narrating what you and or Hayley do in a goofy voice that never fails to make you smile.

Doesn’t open up immediately but once he does it’s a sign of trust. He admits to his flaws in past relationships and how he wasn’t the most faithful and often saw commitment as a challenge. He understands if you see that as a sign to leave the relationship, he doesn’t expect anything from you, but if you did stay then he’s more then happy to not repeat those mistakes in your relationship.

Knows that people see Bruce when they look at him, he expects it because after being with him as long as he has it was only logical that he picked up some habits along the way whether he liked it or not.

Has a big heart but claims that Jason’s heart was twice as big because he’s so full of love and believed in love.

[gluion]

pretty please — jacob bae

pairing — jacob bae x fem!reader genre — strangers to lovers, suggestive (minors dni) wc — 1.5k insipired by — bed chem by sabrina carpenter // pretty please by dua lipa misc/warnings — alcohol consumption, sexual tension, pet names (good girl), reader wears makeup, grinding in a public place... ehem..., dirty talk, making out, hickeys note — badcob... save me, badcob... gluion deobi writer renaissance for badcob and we have to thank @kimsohn for requesting :p thank u for letting me remember why i love writing for tbz, esp jacob <3

synopsis — you make every possible excuse in the book to explain your tinder match’s tardiness. yet, you find yourself meeting a man who screams of innocence—until you find yourself at his mercy.

you think someone’s watching you.

at first, it came in the form of an itch you can’t reach until it morphed into a chill running down your spine. one look back, no one behind you. another look back, only a couple who wanted to grab a drink from the bartender.

you’d like to think it could be someone you were in the same organization with, maybe even someone you shared a class with, but you were far from the clubs that your university would infiltrate. you were somewhere entirely new, filled with employed folks, for a tinder match.

a first date in a bar isn’t one you would agree to, really, but you couldn’t deny the man with the cat eyes. after all, you still couldn’t believe he matched with you. the last thing you wanted is to shut the connection down.

but it’s been a good two hours since the agreed meet-up time, at least four glasses of margaritas in your system, and there was no sight of him. 

you should wait. what if he was dealing with some motorcycle issues? did his cat need to be brought to the clinic for an emergency? every excuse possible and you’ll accept it. 

a chill runs down your spine.

your eyes dart everywhere, hoping to spot your tinder match you’ve been waiting for—until they meet wide, brown ones.

across the bar stands a man dressed in a grey tank top with a black jacket over. surrounded by a group of boys who break into laughter, he pays no attention to their conversation. it’s only when he takes a sip from his drink that brings you to look away.

your skin grows hot; the only solution you have is to drink some more. 

you’ve downed your fifth glass of margarita for the night, and you still need more.

“bartender, give me one more.” at his nod, you’re ready to pull out a couple of bills, until a waft of lavender enters your nose. a glass is set down beside you.

“i’ll pay.”

you look up to see the same man from across the bar. up close, you can trace his features; soft jawline, soft skin, soft lips. he takes a seat beside you before asking, “care if i stay with you?”

it’s not that you find him unattractive. he just doesn’t fall under your usual types; those who had a sharp gaze with the goal of ruining you seemed to be the ones you gravitated towards.

everything about him screams an innocent man—and your tinder date is far from that.

“uh,” you clear your throat, “i have a date.”

his eyebrows scrunch together. “really? where are they? because i’ve seen you with no one the whole night.”

“well, he’s late, i think,” you whisper the last phrase.

you expect the stranger to laugh at you. it wouldn’t be the first time a man bothered you at a club. yet, he smiles. “then, can i keep you company? maybe wait for him with you?”

although you would grow annoyed at this type of persistence, you find yourself enjoying his presence. “don’t you think he’d see you and think that i ditched him?”

your order for another martini is placed in front of you.

“if he were a real man, he’d come up and let me know,” he says as he slides a couple of bills to the bartender. “besides, a real man wouldn’t leave you waiting.”

you muster out a bitter laugh before taking a sip of your drink. “okay, and what does that make you?”

his eyes flicker to the lipstick stain. “why don’t you find out yourself?”

seconds go by.

“well, do you have a name?”

he smiles. “jacob.”

“y/n.”

jacob hums as he leans on the bar. “so, who is this date?”

“just someone i matched with on tinder.”

“first date?” at your hum, jacob chuckles in disbelief. “you decided on the place?”

you roll your eyes. “have some faith in me.”

jacob shakes his head. “well, y/n, i don’t know enough about you.” he swishes the contents in his cup. before the rim can meet his lips, he says, “but that can change tonight.”

you’re not sure if the alcohol is taking a toll on you or the packed crowd raising the temperatures; your skin grows hot and jacob might be to blame. 

“so, i’m guessing he’s the one that chose the place.”

you nod at his assumption. as he grips his glass, arms resting on the bartop, your eyes trace the details; well-defined forearms and slender fingers.

despite talking about your tinder match, your mind drifts away from him. instead, it’s filled with images of the stranger beside you; arms strong enough to hold you up against the wall, hands that could leave bruises all over your hips, fingers that know how to ruin you until you’re on the verge of tears. you’re entranced by the sight of his fingers drumming against the table. every tap causes the pool in between your legs to grow.

his biceps tense up, and your breath hitches.  

“i would’ve never imagined a club for a first date.” when you meet his gaze, you spot a smirk plastered on his face, like he caught you in the act.

maybe jacob isn’t like the image you made him up to be.

“trust me, i wouldn’t have also.” your finger traces the rim of your glass, collecting some salt. 

he nods along with the beat of the music. “then what made you say yes?”

a beat passes.

“i’ve got needs,” you admit before popping your salt-covered digit into your mouth.  

he tongues the inside of his cheek, and you wonder how well he could eat you out; all the highs you could achieve all thanks to the licks against your clit. “really?” as he leans forward, your senses grow hazy over the scent of lavender, over the alcohol consumed, over the intoxicating presence of jacob. he stares right at you before taking a glance at your lips. “i wonder if he can really fulfill those needs.”

a bit of corruption swirls in jacob.

once you pop out your finger, you down the rest of your cocktail, staring right back at jacob who follows you. with drinks finished, you get off your seat and grab hold of his arm.

you drag him through the dance floor until your back hits a wall. you and jacob were not far from the sweaty crowd, still surrounded by those who are far too drunk to care about you two. yet, your hands reach out to his hoodie, and his hands plant against the wall.

a mix of red and orange strobes cast over your figures. even under the lack of white light, you take in jacob’s features. most of it still speak of gentleness, but his eyes scream otherwise—the type of look that makes you want to submit to his mercy.

“thought you were going to take me dancing,” jacob remarks. his hands trail down your face until it rests on the side of your neck. “maybe make your date jealous if he saw me with you.”

“you think you could do that, huh? think you could make the guy i was going to hook up with jealous of you?”

it’s a genuine question for the stranger you can’t stop thinking about. is jacob the definition of innocence?

he smirks before leaning closer. his breath grazes against your lips. “i think he should be jealous.”

your lips crash against his, hands bringing his body close to yours. his palms find their spot on your waist, reaching under your shirt and relishing in your warmth. your noses bump against each other in desperation.

the alcohol tells you that you need him closer, so your hands tug on his clothes. once his hips are flushed against yours, you grind on his cock, feeling it grow harder with every rock. the pool in between your legs grows; a wet patch on your panties. his hands find their spot on your ass, guiding every roll of your hips against his dick.

your senses are floating from the lack of oxygen. as you pull away from the kiss, you and jacob try to catch your breaths. but both your hips don’t stop from its ministrations. all you needed is any pressure on your clit.

“need you. now.”

he chuckles before letting his lips trail down your neck. he sucks on your skin, tongue darting out to leave marks all over you. your eyes shut close as you grow dizzy.

“want me to take you right here? surrounded by people?” as you let out a moan of desperation, jacob’s fingers dig into your skin. “what about your date?”

“i don’t care about him. i haven’t since you came.”

he lets out a hum in contentment of your revelation. “such a good girl for me.”

the pet name causes you to whine. as your grinding starts to go at an inconsistent rhythm, jacob doesn’t guide your hips anymore. your eyes open, hands gripping against his clothes.

“not here.” before you can beg him otherwise, he says, “can’t have others looking at you. you’re mine for the night.”

jacob is far from an innocent man—that’s all you need.

networks tag list: @kflixnet @k-labels @deoboyznet @kstrucknet

tbz permanent tag list: @winterchimez @mosviqu @stealanity (the only ones i was sure of who weren't minors)

[apricot-blossomss]

Mm what about a date night with the gods/goddesses? (you can choose whoever you’d like to write this for, but I’d love for it to include hermes! if you do decide to write this tysm in advance <3)

☛ date night with the gods [apollo, hermes, ares, dionysus x reader]

☛ sfw; I'm pretty busy right now, so until I have the time for oneshots, something shorter...

APOLLO takes you to a concert

There were few things Apollo loved more than impressing you with his skills. Boasting with his prophetic abilities, winking at you when fixing up injuries, but most of all singing to you the songs he composed in honor of you. The only downside to that was that he couldn't really have you like this when he did: flush against him, your impossibly soft lips on his, both drunk on each other and the music filling your ears.

When he found out you had a favorite artist after him, his first instinct was to call for a contest of skill, but the guy did have talent that was put to good use right now: you were delighted to be at the concert and he could kiss you stupid between singing people and dancing bodies. You had fantastic taste in music, he had to admit the singer was truly an artist, even though he of course didn't even come close to his level.

Your hips mimicked his movement, moving subconsciously with the rhythm. In need of air, you broke from the kiss -you mortals were all so bound by nature- looking up at him with those starry eyes of yours. His gaze wandered from your stunningly beautiful eyes down to your kiss-bitten lips and he grinned at you, nudging your nose with his and prompting you to meet his lips once more. Apollo had unshakable confidence, but it didn't hurt to remind you of how amazing he was when the artist started playing one of your favorite songs of his discography.

After a few second, you broke away from the gentle kisses once more, but not to breathe. You leaned closer to him and started to sing along to the music, right next to his ear. His initial mild annoyance at you singing another artist's song quickly faded, because you were singing just for him. You were always very adamant to avoid singing in his presence because you were insecure, but now you were singing and Apollo could have dropped to his knees for you right there on the dance floor.

Instead, he leaned closer to you, engulfed you in his arms and started singing along as well, quietly, close to your ear. A light shudder ran over your body and your voice quivered a little, making him smile. Softly swaying, singing to each other in your own little bubble, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of an electrocuted crowd and the vibrations of a deep bass, his world shrank down. From the limitless perception of a god down to just you and him, just this moment, frozen in time, forever.

HERMES runs through new york with you

"Stop!" you had to cry out, stumbling to a halt as Hermes' arm sneaked around your waist to stabilize you against him. Pressing a hand into your side, you gasped for air, completely out of breath. Your godly companion broke out into a hazy giggle when you panted against him and earned a playfully upset stare. "I'm not as fast as you, Hermes."

"Sorry, baby," the god smiled sheepishly, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet. You waved it off and kneeled down on the ground, completely drained. When Hermes had proposed to take you out on a date night, you hadn't imagined speeding through New York with him, slipping in and out of the never ending shadows of the skyscrapers, faces lit up in a rainbow of the colors of the colorful blinking shop signs.

"Noo, don't give up now, baby," Hermes cooed, pulling you to your feet and ignoring your weak protests. His eyes were gleaming with excitement- and a hint of madness. "We're almost there."

"We're going somewhere?" you asked weakly and a wide, boyish grin spread across his features. "Of course! Up there." And he pointed at the top of the tall office building you had paused at. Your jaw fell slack. "You're kidding."

He wasn't.

Moments later, he was lifting you up by the waist; five, ten, twenty feet off the ground and even higher up. One look at the disappearing ground had your stomach churn, so you opted for burying your face in Hermes' chest. A soft peck on your cheek made you look up into his eyes. In them, you saw the lights of the city reflected. Blue, red, yellow, green, purple. There were no stars to be seen over New York. But that was fine. You had one of your own. And he shone even brighter.

ARES takes you to a restaurant

Ares was sweating, and the suit didn't help. Checking his clock every other second, even though you weren't even late yet. Still, he felt just about ready to kill the next peasant that gave him an irritating look, as he was waiting before the most expensive restaurant of the city, alone, writhing and looking more like a security guard than anything else. Why had he come twenty minutes early? Now he looked like an idiot.

Restaurants weren't really his thing. If it had been solely up to him, he would have taken you to a fighting ring or an exciting war zone, but for you, he wanted to make everything perfect. So, when he asked chatGPT for help and it had told him that a good date idea was to take your significant other to the restaurant, he had been willing to set his discomfort aside.

"Ares!"

It was almost embarrassing how fast his frown subsided and was replaced by a rare smile on his features at the sight of you, stumbling out of an uber in a knee-long red dress that took his breath away. Seemingly not too experienced in your red heels, you wobbled up the way to the entrance and Ares met you halfway, instinctively putting an arm around your waist to stabilize you.

"You look pretty," he murmured under his breath and thought about how frustrating it was to know that his brother could have composed an ode to your beauty while he was left desperately searching his blank mind for the appropriate words. But even though his words had been all but poetic, you lit up and smiled at him brightly. "Thank you, Ares. You too." Ares hid his blush by turning to the entrance and nudging you forward, but the gentle tap of your hand told him you saw right through him.

DIONYSUS took you to a party... you think...

You were probably giggling, but all you could hear was the rushing in your ears and your favorite sound on earth: the laugh of your divine lover. Slumping against Dionysus, you passed by some pedestrians that were no doubt giving you dirty looks, but you really couldn't tell. A knot of two intertwined bodies swaying down the quiet suburban street in the dead of night, laughing obnoxiously and black out drunk.

How had you even gotten here? The fresh air helped a little with the fog in your mind, but one look at Dionysus' fiery eyes and you were in a blissful haze once more. The only reason your stumbling feet hadn't sent you falling to the ground yet was the inebriated god's arms around your waist as the two of you ran away from piqued suburban pedestrians on the late evening walk into the parking lot of some supermarket.

"How did we get here?" you wheezed, stumbling around the parking area. Dionysus only shrugged, his face showing the cutest of pouts. "It's not very fun here."

Shrugging off his arms, you sat down on the concrete and flopped onto your back, looking up at the sky. There was a decent number of stars to be seen. The god layed down beside you much more gracefully and rolled onto his belly, encircling your waist with his arms and hiding his face in the crook of your neck where he placed a trail of sloppy, drunken kisses.

You felt his lips move against your neck, giggling out drunken little confessions, his arms pulling you more tightly against his chest. His soft body and your pleasantly buzzing head minimized the discomfort of the concrete as you cuddled into him. Your eyes wandered up above, to the stars, where he said he always watched you from. Maybe he would take you with him one day. If what he was rambling into your skin had the slightest bit of sincerity to it.

[sabine-smitten-obviously]

And YOU will feel healed of the last 15

... when you read this fic. That is, as long as you suffered from an abandonement wound like i did.

Ello lovelies, i have another wonderful fanfic-rec for you! 🤓

But you are an ocean by @ineffably-good

Coverart by @ineffableclassics

What it is about:

After Aziraphale's defection, Crowley tries to figure out how to live life for himself.

Notes:

Ok so, the end of season two broke me. Figured I was maybe done writing stories about these two after that. And yet, several hours later, a sentence appeared in my head, and then this happened. Guessing at chapter totals… I'm finding I like the idea of Crowley going off in a different direction than what I'd initially expect. Not just raging, not sleeping for a century, but actually trying to move on. And why the hell shouldn't he just move to the South Downs by himself? So here we are.

What i like about it:

🩷This fic doesn´t jump in on pushing the story - their story - forward. Instead it goes a totally different path. A quite big part of it is dedicated to Crowley mending the pieces of his broken heart. It´s endearing, it´s breathtaking and it will have you cry. Not only for Crowley but for every single person who ever had to endure heartbreak.

🩷Fun fact no.1: in real life I am a relationship-coach specialised in toxic relationships and heartbreak. And the way Crowley´s heartbreak is described couldn´t be any more accurate. Every thought, every pain, every action he takes, the strength it costs him, the weight of it all - its written absolutely to the point. I could have copied several pages for the "most beloved quote".

🩷So Crowley tries to build a life for himself. Not just living without the angel and rotting in a pit, but really trying to carve out a nice little existence for himself. He is doing his work, he is healing and you can follow along with him, as he learns to build at least new "friendships" - though he would never call it that himself, thanks a lot.

🩷This healing-journey takes quite some time and somewhere in the middle of it i started to think - he could do it. He COULD heal his hurt, mourn the loss and still somehow at least live a life on his own. Maybe feeling the missing part of himself for the rest of his existence, but not being miserable about it the whole time. And that is a thought - a wish - i would have for my dark angel.

I could see him living that life and at one point i almost thought - i would love to see how that would´ve played out for him. A life without Aziraphale. What connections would Crowley have made? How would he have coped with the loss of those humanly connections lifespan after lifespan? Would he have relocated each century? Would he have moved to Australia and learned surfing at one time? Would he have become a timelord and travelled - i mean seriously, Crowley could do that probably?

But you, my dear, are an ocean.

And oceans are ancient

And can survive everything,

Even the wrath of weather and planets.

-- Nikita Gill

SPOILERS AHEAD - if you don´t want to know the plot, stop reading here.

Stop reading if you dont want spoilers!

Ok - you´ve been warned! Here we go: 🤗

🩷Fun fact no.2: I actually downloaded this fic some time ago but had another fic in mind i wanted to start next. So after i finished the last one (also really brilliant, i wrote a rec on it too), i started my e-reader the next day, THIS fic was already open instead on page 1. Huh?

I have absolutely no idea how this is possible, but i DO believe in hints-of-the-universe. Or little demonic miracles on their own. Because i needed this fic.

🩷Because of course - this is a Good Omens fanfic and eventually the other angel arrives. And without giving away to much: Aziraphale has to fight for Crowley. A long long time. He has to be steadfast and consistent and earn the trust of his has-been-companion-for-millenia. Nothing is a given any more.

And i am NOT saying that this is what Aziraphale needs to do or that he was wrong in any way. (The fic doesnt say that either by the way.) But what cracked ME personally about the last 15 was my own abandonement-wound which got triggered massively. I felt retraumatised even.

So reading and feeling that Crowley does not jump on the next best possibility to be back with the angel was a big thing. Having the Angel slowly earning his trust and simply showing up again and again - I needed that. I needed Crowley to take his time, not be the sick lovefool he is often proclaimed to be. For him to have doubts, to feel conflicted, to feel love and the need to self-preserve at the same time.

All these ambiguities we all have. And to take the steps with him. Watch the turning point, when the fear of losing Aziraphale again becomes less and less and the fear of wasting time gets stronger. Taking one step at a time, sometimes even backwards. All those things, typical for a healing process, which is never straight forward but most of the time a rollercoaster instead. I loved this. I needed this. I could sit back, breathe and watch my own heart grow. Just. Wow.

Most beloved quote:

So if you feel like maybe you need a fic in which Aziraphale really shows up and cares while Crowley really takes his time to learn to trust again... And not because one of them has been an idiot, but to experience them both learning and growing together ... and that might be something for your own healing journey, this might be just THE fic for you. I absolutely loved it and so will you.

Reading is therapy! 🤗

[bugsbenefit]

Even leaving aside the rest of that ask about Karen, how are the show runners "glazing Cara" according to st twitter now lmao. I swear no one on there understands the concept of just liking the people you work with...

very good point. tbh 'glazing' really lost it's meaning. that's just the thing you say now about characters showing up in the show or marketing that you don't care about that much

but looking at how fandom treats certain characters it is kind of apparent how Karen isn't really seen as big of a deal as the show actually makes her in general. (at last in hyper invested fandom spaces. more regular viewers see her as much more of a main character) which i think causes a bit of dissonance when the show keeps promoting her. because if you think she's as unimportant of a side character as say, Dustin's mom, then you probably would think her constantly showing up on posters and bts footage is undeserved glazing

the thing is that Karen is actually kind of important. she's absolutely not a background character

you have the primary mains like Joyce, Hopper, the kids. more secondary mains that don't really have the hard hitting plot points of the show happen to them but are fleshed out and who the writers still take care writing like Steve, Robin etc. and then Karen falls in somewhere between a secondary and tertiary protagonist

she actually gets things to do each season. she has character arcs. from actually meeting and being suspicious of Brenner in s1, to her worry about Nancy in s3, the Billy situation, even s4 ends with her and Holly at the window looking out at the spores

actual side characters in the show, like Ted, the Sinclairs, Claudia Henderson, don't have any arcs to their characters. they're background decorum when their children (the actual protagonists) are home or need to talk to someone

but Karen falls much closer to actual protagonist status. which also explains why she's consistently featured in the marketing alongside the other mains

which is how the Byers and Wheelers turned into the two big families the show kind of revolves around to begin with. we know the most about them because almost all family members are protagonists in their own right. you have the kids Mike and Will, Nancy and Jonathan. and then the moms. the only difference being that Karen is kept in the dark about the UD plot and Joyce got thrown directly into it in s1 because it was her son that went missing

and the thing that people seem to get stuck on about Karen is that she's the only protag that doesn't explicitly know about the UD

which, honestly, makes her kind of interesting. especially with where they'll take that in s5, because she'll have to be confronted with what's been going on eventually. and what has been tormenting both her children for years. hell, she had such a close encounter with Billy in s3, she would have been in Heather's place that season hadn't Billy still had some semblance of control at that point. and she isn't even aware

Karen has been involved in the UD plot for seasons, there just wasn't any payoff to it yet because she doesn't know

Karen Wheeler, tight rope walker when it comes to getting as close as humanly possible to the supernatural plot without having to actually confront it

but it really boils down to, Karen is, and always has been an important character and the marketing has always reflected that

side note but what i've also seen cause a lot of the 'they're just needlessly glazing xyz' complaints is that sometimes it's just people being pissy their favourite characters aren't getting a singular spotlight on them. i've mainly seen it from solo El or Will stans (still exist in the year of the lord 2024) who don't care about the rest of the cast or plot outside of one character. so when Karen who, 'doesn't even know about the UD' gets so much s5 marketing that's hype that could have gone to someone more important in their minds. again, glazing entering the pantheon of words that lost all meaning on social media

[recurring-polynya]

In one of my other fanfics, I made an allusion to a story from Rukia and Renji's youth where she got nervous about the size of her chest and made Renji give an opinion on the matter. I was always very charmed by the idea of it, and earlier this week, I felt like writing it, so I did. Originally, I didn't intend to post it, because it skirts a little close to underage sex stuff, but a) they're immortal ghosts and they live on their own and become child soldiers like two years later, and b) it's really nothing. Teens, even human teens, can see a boob. It's fine. Don't read it if it bothers you. Also, if this bears resemblance to multiple stories I have written in the past, it's because I think Rukia is just like that. This will probably not be the last one, either.

Rated a hearty PG-13 for cussing, partial nudity, and some adolescent sexual awakening

| read on ao3 |

"Renji," said Rukia. "I need your opinion on something."

Renji had been breaking up sticks to dry out for firewood around the backside of the broken-down squat he and the gang had been trying to get into shape for their winter digs. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. "My opinion?" he grumbled. "Is everyone else off somewhere?" It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't heard anyone else's voice in a while.

"Well, yes," Rukia mumbled. "They went into the woods to try and set some traps and maybe do some foraging. But I'm not asking because you're the only one around. I was waiting to ask you until everyone was busy."

That got Renji's attention. This was not the first time Rukia had cornered him like this. He assumed she did this to the other guys, too, but he didn't actually know for certain. Renji tossed the stick in his hand back onto the pile and turned to give Rukia his full attention. She was standing in a funny way, her arms crossed awkwardly over her chest. She looked almost like she was cold, except that it was early September and still sweltering.

"What's up?" he asked.

"You're going to wonder why I am asking you this," she said, her eyes fixed somewhere off to one side, "and it's because I'm trusting you not to be weird about it. Everyone else would try, but then they would be weird about it, and I know you won't be."

Renji continued to regard her silently. She wasn't asking anything particular of him, just stating what she expected. Renji decided he liked the idea of being a guy who wasn't weird about stuff, and decided he would do his best to uphold that trust. He was also prepared for whatever she was going to say next to be spectacularly weird. This was Rukia, after all.

"Also," she said, "you go around with your shirt off all the time. You're the least self-conscious person I know about. You know. Body stuff."

An alarm signal went zinging through Renji's nervous system. It was true that he wasn't all that concerned about bodies, his own or other people's. A long time ago, he'd had to make a decision about Rukia's body, which he sometimes had to touch and slept next to at night and had seen naked more than a few times. She'd become a little secretive about that recently, and he'd taken care to respect that decision and avert his eyes when he needed to and made sure all the other guys did too. The decision he had made was that Rukia's body was exactly like Fujimaru's and Mameji's and Kosaburou's, which was to say, it was a thing that existed but was none of his business, unless say, she needed an injury patched up or something like that.

"Something wrong?" he asked gruffly.

"Not-- well, I don't know. That's what--that's what the opinion is for."

Renji rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm really not sure I'm the right person to ask. I know the old herb lady is pretty deep in her own brain most the time, but if you catch her on a good day, she knows a lot of stuff about--"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Renji, I just want to know if my boobs are good or not!"

Renji stared at her. Rukia's face was beet red now.

"Uh…what?"

Rukia made a little huffing noise. "Look. I know you know I've been binding my chest for a while now."

Renji shrugged noncommittally. Rukia hadn't been particularly shy about letting them see her in her chest wrap. A lot of girls in Inuzuri did. Usually, it was a safety measure.

"I think they might be done growing. I'm worried they're…well, they're kinda small."

Renji ran his fingers through his hair and tried not to look at her. "Seems like that would make them easier to bind, no?"

"Well…yes, that's true."

"It's not like it's something you can control. You shouldn't worry about it."

"I just don't know! Maybe they're fine actually! I'm the only one who gets to see them and I think I may have gotten too wrapped around my own axle about it and I just wanted a second opinion, okay?"

Renji sighed. "Okay. Sure. If it'll make you feel better."

Rukia took a deep breath and then lowered her arms. Nervously, she tugged at her yukata below the sash to get it adjusted properly.

There was now the slightest curve in the fabric between her shoulders and her waist. Renji wasn't sure he even would have noticed it if she were just some girl he saw on the street. But that curve was there, and it was doing something weird to the pit of his stomach.

Cleavage was no rare sight in Inuzuri. Both in the streets and the gambling halls, plenty of women kept theirs on display for, uh, business reasons. Renji could tell the difference between the more and less attractive sets, but he'd never been quite as excited by the prospect of a hearty set of tits as some of his peers. He didn't think this constituted any kind of moral high ground. The fact was, he was just mostly into dudes. A pair of well-muscled forearms or a particularly sharp jawline was usually more likely to do him in. But there was something about that mysterious curve, the suggestion of tits, of Rukia's tits…

"They look fine to me," he announced.

Rukia looked down at them and frowned thoughtfully.

A strange, slightly foreign thought, possibly a stray memory from his human life, popped into Renji's brain. "Isn't there even--like with fancy kimono--aren't you supposed to make a smooth profile? Maybe you've just got a fancy-lady figure."

Some of the color had receded from Rukia's cheeks. "Why do you always know these things? Also--fat lot of good that's going to do me."

Renji shrugged. "What kinda good were you hoping they were gonna do you, anyway? I mean, you wouldn't wanna-- that is--" He grimaced, thinking about business reasons again.

"I might like to kiss someone, someday!" Rukia declared, cheeks going hot once more. "I'd like…to be worth looking at. You're going to be ten feet tall and have shoulders for days and you've already got that hair, so I realize that's something you've probably never once thought about."

Renji stared at her uncomprehendingly. "You think I'm good-looking?"

Rukia seemed to be staring at something over her shoulder. "You're certainly striking."

Renji had honestly never thought about himself in that way before. Mostly, he thought he'd stuck out in a way that was mostly pretty inconvenient, given their skulking and pickpocketing lifestyle.

"You have an interesting voice," he pointed out, drawing the words out as he tried to think of more things a theoretical person who was not him might find attractive about Rukia. "And you're good at a lot of things." She also had a pretty face, maybe the prettiest face he'd ever seen in Inuzuri, with big blue eyes that you could just fall into. He couldn't say all that shit, though. It would just embarrass both of them, plus she would think he was lying to make her feel better. He wasn't. It wasn't even, like, his opinion, it was just the objective truth.

Rukia huffed again, clearly unsatisfied.

Renji threw up his arms. "They're under your clothes! Wouldn't you rather kiss someone who likes you because you're cool, rather than because you've got a nice pair of knockers? Which isn't even to say they aren't nice! You just can't tell! They could be great under there. That's it's own kind of allure. The-- the, uh, mystery." He regretted saying it the moment it was out of his mouth. This always happened with Rukia, though. He was always telling on himself.

Rukia stared at him for a long moment. Then she hooked her finger over the closure of her yukata and pulled it away, staring down into the depths.

"Are we done?" Renji asked, trying to sound bored and failing when his voice wavered on the last word.

Rukia looked back up at him. "You've never even see a naked girl-tit, have you, Abarai?"

Renji wrinkled his nose. "Not…not really, no. Not…head-on."

Rukia set her jaw. "Okay. We're doing this."

"What--" stammered Renji. "What are we doing? We don't need to--"

Rukia pulled her yukata wide and shimmied her shoulders loose.

Renji swallowed thickly.

He had changed his mind. He did, in fact, like girls. Fuck, did he like girls.

Rukia's breasts were small, that was just a fact. They were also gorgeous. Smooth and straight on top, ending in a sharp, rosy nipple. They curved gently on the underside back to where they rejoined her body, like two ripe, blushing pears. Renji could imagine cupping one in his hand, the way it would fit in his palm perfectly. He squeezed his hands into fists, reminding himself that they were dirty and covered in small bits of bark from breaking the sticks. He absolutely could not reach out and touch them, even beyond the possibility that Rukia would murder him if he did (would she, though? He wondered). It turned out this was a mistake, because now he was thinking about kissing Rukia's breasts, about the way they would taste, how he could take nearly the whole of one in his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Fuck, Rukia, put your shirt back on!"

"They can't be that bad," Rukia grumbled.

"They're not, they're really good! Surprisingly good! You should save them for whoever it is you want to kiss! Please put your shirt back on!"

"You're so weird," Rukia laughed, and he was glad to hear the ring of relief in her voice.

There was a long pause with a few rustles of fabric being adjusted. Renji chanced to unsqueeze one eye to see if she was dressed again. He was just in time to see her cross the second side of her yukata over the first, catching a last glimpse of a pretty little tit before the fabric settled over it. A secret once again, but no longer a mystery. Fuck.

"You can open your eyes now, you big baby," Rukia announced, reknotting her sash. Evidently she hadn't noticed him peeking. She wasn't even blushing anymore. "Thank you."

"I don't know why you asked me," Renji mumbled. "You know I'm no good at being reassuring and shit like that."

"I didn't want you to be reassuring," she replied, looking up and favoring him with a brilliant smile. "I wanted you to be honest. Which…clearly you were. I don't know what else that could possibly have been."

"Shut up," said Renji.

Rukia snorted softly. "Do you wanna go find the others and fix their snares for them? I'm sure they've set them up wrong."

"I wanna finish dealing with these sticks first," Renji replied. It took his entire strength of will to unclench his hands and pick up a stick, a long, heavy one. He winced when it broke much more easily than he had expected it to. The sound of it was deafening.

"I can help," Rukia said cheerfully, picking up another stick and snapping the side branches off it expertly, humming while she worked.

Renji picked up another stick, and suddenly wished the pile was bigger than it actually was.

"Hey, Renji?"

"What now?"

"They really are--?"

"Yes. Don't ask me again."

Rukia gave a little chuckle, and so softly that he almost didn't hear it, added, "Huh. Who knew?"

[nok-joke]

MORE RAMBLING LETS GOOOO

Viktor probably once he gets closer with people (like jayce for example) starts letting more of his habits show openly.

It'd make sense if he just had stashes of things around. A mix of not used to having much + getting your stuff taken being likely resulting in not keeping everything in one place and stashing it around. If something is important enough to him, he rather just keep it on his person than put it somewhere.

Stashing food would also be common. Small nonperishable snacks and stuff. When you're used to food never really being certain you get in a habit of stashing what you do have when you do have it.

Viktor also probably doesn't need *specific* tools to get a job done. While the right tools for the job makes the work go quicker, I can speak from experience, wire strippers work as a good enough wrench/grip to hold a nut in place while you're using your other hand to tighten a screw. Growing up he probably didn't have access to specific tools he needs, so he made do. You can use a spoon as a flathead screwdriver if you're stubborn enough

Viktor passively working on still live but low voltage wires and making jayce anxious. Idk to me Zaunites vs ppl from Piltover are like maintenance techs vs engineers. Engineers write all these fancy rules and measurements for how something is *supposed* to be fixed or put together and maintenance techs will tell you it'd take 18 years to do it to that exact level of detail, and once you're familiar enough with the machine component you can just do what is about right. It's something about exact measurements for what's optimal vs practicality and awareness of time taken to do a task. People from Piltover have more time and more resources to get it perfect, but Viktor especially didn't. Anyways. Viktor unwiring something at 10VDC and Jayce watching him in horror as it sparks

Being near the fissures and subjected to the poor air quality it's probably a passive background thought for Viktor to keep doors and windows closed as often as possible. When he realizes that he can have the windows open he probably enjoys it, but I imagine for a while at least it'd still feel off.

He's probably used to just working through feeling unwell? Only taking breaks if he knows it'll make him much worse if he doesn't. Between his disability and being from a worse off place there's a kinda pressure that makes you feel like can't slow down

He probably enjoys tall up places, as long as he can keep his balance fine there, the air would've been better higher up. He might even hang out on roofs or such when he feels like he needs some room to breathe.

I think people should consider Viktor with more Zaun kid habits,

viktor sitting on tables and stuff. sometimes you see him sitting on railing or that he's?? Somehow gotten somewhere weird you're not supposed to be? And jayce is just like "WTF THATS DANGEROUS HOW DID YOU GET THERE?" and viktors just like "it's only dangerous if you're stupid"

Jayce is telling childhood stories about getting into trouble and Viktor is nodding along like "i never was able to climb as well as the other kids, but I have spent my fair share of time crawling through pipes and vents" and jayce just "you what"

One day jayce forgets his keys to the lab and so does viktor but viktor is just like "don't worry I got this" and either lock picks the door, or disappears for a while and reappears inside of the lab. Whether through the vents or like a window or smth.

Jayce looking at some food like "im.. not sure if this is still good, we should throw it out just in case" and viktor just. Takes a bite, shrugs, and goes "no, no, still fine", or viktor just having weird food habits and jayce just. Stands there debating bringing Viktor a real lunch.

Sometimes jayce finds viktor working sitting under the desk and he has come to accept that sometimes viktor can just think easier down there. Gets him a pillow or smth to sit on. Debates testing if enclosed spaces feel more comfortable by seeing if Viktor would sit in a cardboard box (he would)

Jayce is like "oh we are using some chemicals for this, probably need masks so we don't inhale any" and viktors just like "this is pussy shit. Watch this" and commits 18 osha violations.

heimerdinger has regularly longed for the ability to be able to scruff Viktor like a cat bc of the random things he gets up to.

Viktor having a bad habit of nicking small things he thinks no one will notice being gone because that's just how he grew up. It's just part of the life style really.

Viktor being a lot more blunt and open about taboo topics and occasionally rolling his eyes at Piltover customs or how they do things. Once he's truly comfortable around Jayce he will jokingly tease and complain about the differences. Poking fun at how easy it is to embarrass Piltover folk with taboo topics or smth like that

[reimeichan]

(Vent for things I've been holding in for years. This no longer reflects my current situation, but these feelings still linger inside of me.)

Why is it so hard for you to understand that I'm disordered? That my memory issues are debilitating and disabling? Whenever I tell you I forgot you tell me I need to try harder, but I try as hard as I can and I still can't remember. You tell me to take notes, and I do, but I read the notes days later and they no longer make sense to me. "Take better notes" you tell me, but I'm doing the best I can! I set alarms to try to remember to do things, but sometimes the alarm goes off at an inopportune time and I forget to reset it. Sometimes I even forget to set the alarm at all. I wrote a checklist for the things I need to do every night, I have it taped to my door- but it's now just visual noise for me, like all the other things in my life. I don't know how to make it any more noticeable or obvious to me.

Am I the problem? Am I truly not doing enough? Can't you understand that I'm struggling and struggling and struggling and there's no perfect solution? I took my meds like you asked me, why do I still forget things? Is it really all on me?

You say you can't accommodate my memory issues anymore. That it's draining you and hurting you. That it's not your responsibility to help me. And... I know this. I don't want to rely on you. But when my phone is in another room and I'm washing the dishes, is it really so hard when I ask you to send me a message to remind me of something I'm remembering to do at this moment but I know I'll forget once I'm done? Is that my fault that I can't write myself a note right then and there?

Am I that much of a burden for you? When did I become a burden and not equals? What happened to making compromises with the person you love? It's not your responsibility- but you told me you cared about me. About us. Where did all of that go? Have I really burned you out so much?

Am I really that broken that you no longer love me?

[minhmynchi]

a delete later wip so im turning off reblogs but yay my turn for a scene redraw

[eggmeralda]

do you ever feel casually suicidal? like you're not depressed or anything you're doing fine but also it feels like a convenient option

[tozettastone]

There are several reasons I shan't continue with this one in particular (narrative reasons that you can probably see if you read it!) but I did say I would post it when I had written anything. Heads up, there's a little violence in this.

-----

Three universes away from the long war, Kurosaki Ichigo is alone.

He's a god now, for all the good that does anyone. The god-king of empty hueco mundo, the last remaining world: immortal, eternal, and all alone.

The wind howls across the stark desert landscape.

(If a man howls along with the wind in the desert, and there's not a single soul to hear anything ever again, does it really make a sound? When there is nothing else, you might as well consider philosophy.)

Tonight he pauses, mid-step, on the side of a sand dune.

He feels something outside himself. It's... pulling at him.

That's novel enough on its own. All he has here is a well of power, achieved too late to save anyone who matters, the endless cold desert, and memories of the lost worlds.

It's all he's had for years now.

He turns towards the tugging, head down, eyes distant.

Something, he thinks, still needs him.

...Someone?

He clenches and unclenches his fists. The idea that there's still someone out there who needs him, who he hasn't totally failed yet — it itches at him like an incubus. It's heady, potent, seductive.

Kurosaki Ichigo whirls, kicking up sand in his haste to answer the call.

For the first time in decades, he tears open a garganta and it actually goes somewhere new.

The feeling pulls him on.

--

Thirty minutes (and also infinity) earlier —

Technically speaking, you can summon stuff from outside the three worlds. Nobody does it, because inviting a horror from outside of spacetime to please come in and make itself at home is considered... er, highly inadvisable. And also, Kisuke guesses — and this is really secondary at this point in his life, given the state of Soul Society — because it's technically punishable in seireitei by summary obliteration from the reincarnation cycle.

But mostly it's that inviting in an alien abomination never improves circumstances.

The current situation has deteriorated so badly that Kisuke is willing to trade his little life, such as it is, for outside assistance. All his reading (of the books that survived, anyway) suggests that not only will outsiders accept sacrifices, but they also understand the concept of a contract.

He's pretty sure — pretty sure — that the design he's writing on the floor of what was once the Central 46 deliberation hall is a coherent contract in this new syllabary. Pretty sure.

Almost definitely.

...Probably.

"You sure about this?" Shinji wonders, from his slouch against the far wall. He's standing on some of the rubble they pushed to its outer walls. His hands are in the pockets of his long black coat, but Sakanade is in easy reach.

"Yes," Kisuke lies with easy confidence. He glances over his shoulder. Shinji's just as scarred as he is now. He's more subdued after the loss of the rest of the Vizards. They've all had their losses. "How long do you think we have?"

He rolls his shoulders. Sighs. "...Minutes, still, at least. Aizen loves messing around with Ichigo."

And, neither of them says, but both of them know, Kurosaki Ichigo is the only one who can still stand up to him for more than a minute at a time. Currently, he's out there backed up by Ishida and Nelliel, but they truly are just backup, there to make barriers and cause a big distraction if Ichigo goes down.

This is not the team Kisuke would have put on barrier duty, once upon a time. Hachi, Tessai, young Orihime even...

But now it's an arrancar and a quincy fighting the shinigami war. And Ichigo. Always Ichigo.

Because... that's who's left.

"You've got no time at all if he figures out your shitty idea is a suicide technique," Shinji reminds him, clicking his tongue.

That's true.

"It might not be a suicide technique," he says lightly. That thought makes his stomach turn, because either way he's giving himself up to whatever outsider can meet his terms. It's probably for the best if it just kills him.

"Uh-huh," says Shinji, like he's thinking exactly what Kisuke is thinking.

Kisuke goes back to his contract. He's pretty sure of it, but there's a lot of his own blood mixed in with the ink, and he's gotten lightheaded now. He compares it to his crumpled diagram carefully.

He's as sure as he can be that he's got it right. They are as ready as they will ever be to beg help off an alien deity.

"It looks right," he says finally.

Shinji straightens up. "Showtime?"

It's hard to read anything from his face, and it's not just the scars. They've all lost a hell of a lot, and Shinji's clearly braced for this one with the kind of grim skill that comes from practice: shut down, stone-faced, dead-eyed.

Kisuke has never been more grateful for how hard his remaining friends have become. Right now he thinks he could do anything, say anything, and it would break upon Shinji like a wave on a cliffside and fall away, leaving him untouched and indifferent.

This is it. Kisuke has risked his life plenty of times, but he's never just ...given it up before. This is the moment at which everything he is, has been, everything he has the potential to ever become, this is what it's worth: just one spell.

It comes down to his pale and trembling hands, smeared with ink and blood, pressed down to the design he's drawn on the floor.

He looks at Shinji and he meets his dark eyes and laughs. It sounds a bit like a broken hinge.

"Showtime," he agrees.

His reiatsu swells. He looks down and pretends he can't see Shinji close his eyes.

Then the design begins to glow, and he throws his call out into the great and terrible emptiness beyond the universe he knows, and then he can't see much of anything at all.

But he sure feels it when someone answers.

--

Now—

Ichigo blinks into being again in the middle of a fight. For a second he's confused, baffled — there has been nobody left to fight in his empty world for decades. Only him, and his hideously advanced regeneration, and the endless, screaming desert wind.

He's standing in a clear blue sky.

In that second of confusion, Aizen — Aizen? — stabs him, straight through the chest, and he can hear someone screaming his name.

It's the scream that gets him, if he's honest. The sword barely registers. But the voice... the voice is sharp and desperate and full of rage and horror and all that emotion is aimed directly at him, at Kurosaki Ichigo, long-abandoned little god. How long has it been, he thinks hazily, since he's heard his own name in someone else's voice? How long has it been since someone who valued him cried out for him?

It resurrects something in him. It's like his heart skips a beat, takes a moment to blink.

(Of course, Ichigo's heartbeat never actually skips. You can keep time by the steady thump of his immortal heart. His pulse is a metronome.)

He needs to do something about that voice. It's upset, so he's upset.

Triage. His brain arranges its priorities.

1. Aizen has stabbed him. He doesn't like this.

2. The voice is upset. This is upsetting him.

3. He doesn't know where he is, but it is not the desert. He likes this.

Ichigo wrenches the sword out of his chest in a spray of blood and pale, bubbling fluids. The wound bubbles white, hideously, and hisses into the cool reishi-rich air as it closes up.

Aizen's dark eyes go wide, but he hasn't got time to react. Ichigo keeps his grip on his blade, lunges forward, and cups the man's head in one hand. The skull disappears in the blast of a cero, and then Ichigo has the seconds he needs to obliterate the rest of him. That's the trick of it, you see: the regeneration offered by the hogyoku works only if there's something from which to regenerate — a charred bone, a lock of hair, a smear of blood.

In seconds all that's left is destruction.

That's point one taken care of.

Ichigo stops hovering in the sky, lands on a half-collapsed roof, and turns towards the echoes of the voice that screamed his name.

It's a tall, pale figure, dark haired and sharp eyed, and —

Ishida? he thinks. His brain stalls out.

"Ish... Ishida?"

"Kurosaki," he says, staring. "...He stabbed you."

Ichigo slides his hands over his own collarbone, his chest — the massive ragged slit in his shihakusho, wet with blood — and opens it, showing off the patched skin beneath. In a few hours, it won't even scar.

"Ishida," he repeats, unable to move past the fact of his being right — right there? Alive? Alive?

He stumbles closer to him, hand outstretched, and Ishida eyes him warily but he doesn't whip out his bow or run away, so Ichigo puts both hands right on his face, one each side of his jaw. He he presses his index fingers to the stems of his glasses feeling the cool metal and warm skin.

He's warm.

Ishida is warm. This is a human body, with a familiar human spirit inside it. They're both battered, but he knows them. He knows Ishida Uryu. He knows...

"Kurosaki," says Ishida, glowering out from between Ichigo's hands. His voice is a little slurred under Ichigo's compressing grip. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ichigo throws caution to the wind and hugs him, which goes about as well as can be expected: Ishida struggles, flopping like a fish on a line to show his displeasure, but he doesn't actually work very hard to dislodge Ichigo. He positively reeks of old sweat, acrid smoke, rust and the ugly meaty smell of healing injuries. Ichigo thinks he probably hasn't washed his hair in weeks.

He crams his face into his neck and breathes in like a crazy person. This is the best thing that's ever happened to him, maybe?

"Kuro — Ichigo! Unhand me!"

"Ishida," he gasps, clutching him. "Ishida, Ishida, Ishida." Like a chant. He might be rocking them a little.

This is when Ishida stops struggling. It's like something flicks on in his head, and the tension in his spine and shoulders changes its quality completely.

"Have you lost your mind?" he demands. He sounds like he's actually considering this possibility. His hands come up under Ichigo's arms, and very stiffly he attempts to hug back. "Kurosaki? Your reiatsu feels... different," Ishida mutters.

There's the world's most awkward squeeze, because apparently killing mass murdering wannabe-gods gets Ichigo enough credit with Ishida to rate physical affection — at least as long as he thinks he's on the edge of having some kind of psychiatric problem about it.

It feels so good. Ichigo might sob a little.

"Kurosaki. Answer me."

Ichigo makes a noise to show he's listening. He does not let go. He thinks about what he wants to say and settles on: "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Where are we? What's going on?"

Ishida makes a much less positive noise in response to these questions.

Hoofbeats sound. That's... out of place.

"Ichigo!" cries a vaguely familiar voice, high and sweet and ringing like a struck bell. "We did it! Group hug!"

"What? No!" yowls Ishida, but of course it's way too late for that.

He can't dodge with Ichigo clinging to him like a limpet, and Ichigo doesn't even try, so Nelliel collides with them both. She is in her resurreccion form, a tall tangle of tumbling green hair and fur and hooves. She sends them both staggering with her mass. But her limbs are strong, and she pulls both of them into her instead of letting them fall.

Ichigo braces himself against Nel's side, shuddering. Ishida is pressed — smushed, really — against his front, and Nel is right there crowding her big warm-furred body into them.

"Stop it! Let — me — go!"

Ishida manages to shove Ichigo away, and then he uses an advanced movement technique to stage an immediate and unnecessarily dramatic tactical retreat.

"Eh? But you let him hug you!"

"He was acting weird!" Ishida accuses, pointing. "I thought he was going to cry!"

I am going to cry, Ichigo thinks. His eyes have been stinging since he first put his face in Ishida's gross sweaty neck. He blinks rapidly.

Nel, who allegedly lacks a heart but who has more emotional range in her right horn than Ishida does in his entire body, coos and encloses him in her arms, effortlessly pulling him off his feet. "You did it, Ichigo! Don't cry! We won!"

She spins around with him clutched to her, goat-antelope hooves clattering deftly over the rubble underfoot. "We won! We won!"

"We won," he repeats.

Yeah, he guesses they did, if she means he killed Aizen in the last five minutes.

But the thing is, for Ichigo... Aizen has been dead for thirty to forty years. Ichigo would know. He killed him.

Nel has been gone for even longer than that. In his memory, Aizen cut her hands off and gave her to one of the other espada to kill, to punish her disloyalty.

And Ishida...

He was Ichigo's cousin. And Ichigo never knew it, not until Aizen had already collapsed Soul Society and destabilised the living world. Not until after he was dead.

(He'll never forget how Ryuken told him. He was wreathed in cigarette smoke and leaning against the wall of the hospital, dry-eyed, icy and vicious in his grief: Your mother, your sisters, and now my son... he was your maternal cousin, did you know? No. I see you did not. It seems you have a rare talent for getting your family killed, Kurosaki.)

Ichigo looks around. They're standing amid the high-reishi rubble of what looks very much like Soul Society. It's a damaged, blown up Soul Society, with its pale towers sagging and broken stone tumbling across the cracked ground, but it's unmistakably Soul Society.

And to add to this mystery, the tugging of something outside of himself is still ongoing, drawing him off to the north. Ichigo looks that way, brows furrowed. He feels almost compelled to get moving in that direction. There's something there that's his.

"They must be finished with their spell by now," Ishida says, adjusting his glasses, which were left askew during the hugs.

Ichigo doesn't want to let go of Nel — he still kind of wants to go and grab Ishida, actually — but he needs to start moving. There's something there. He has to.

As he looks over the broken cityscape, memories come to him like riverbed silt, disturbed, rising to the surface of murky water.

Hey, he thinks suddenly. What's Ichigo doing here?

He squeezes his eyes abruptly shut.

He's here because he was meant to distract Aizen while Kisuke cast some kind of mega-kido, some crazy high-risk summoning, drawn out in blood in the old assembly hall.

And he's just killed Aizen because... the spell worked. And he's here and not over there because this body is an Ichigo body.

Kisuke tried to something and trick it into doing what he wanted, and now he's got... Ichigo?

The memories integrate with a horrific lurch. It's been decades since he last vomited anything, but for a second he feels like he really might. (It's been nine months, here.) Ichigo no longer needs to eat because he's immortal. He's a lowercase-g god. He's alone in Hueco Mundo and if he could die he'd be dead by now. (Ichigo used to be hungry all the time, here, but now they always have enough supplies. They stockpiled for so many more people than they now have.)

"Kurosaki?"

He opens his eyes. Looks at Ishida.

"...Let's go see Kisuke," he says slowly. He starts walking. It satisfies the relentless pull towards that call, at least.

Ichigo is not sure what Shinji and Kisuke were trying to summon, or if he's the really answer they were expecting.

"Do you think we can have a victory party?" Nel asks, tapping her lip.

"With who?" Ishida wonders. "You and Grimmjow? I'd rather get stuck in Kurosaki's octopus arms again."

Nel shoots him a look. "Grimmjow does his part. ... Mostly. He'll be sorry to have missed this, I think."

Grimmjow, Ichigo knows, is recovering from getting run through, with his usual bad grace. Unlike Ichigo, he isn't an immortal with instant regeneration powers.

"Yuzu," Ichigo suggests, in a lightning strike of memory. He's seared by it: Yuzu, beautiful and haunted, alone in the living world with no father and no mother and no twin. Ichigo hasn't been able to see her in a while, because her safety consists in her anonymity, but he can see her now. He can see her today, probably — he can pass through a garganta to the living world and crash her afternoon lectures and smoosh his face into her hair and hug her until her ribs creak.

He has so much living family here — a sister and a cousin he hasn't got killed. It seems like a tremendous wealth of family associations, suddenly.

...They're not really his, exactly. They're... this other Ichigo's. He lost his — Aizen killed Yuzu, eventually.

I am me, dumbass, he thinks to himself, in a confusing series of echoes and ripples.

Well. Fine then. Maybe they are his. No take backs, Local Ichigo.

I'm the same person!

Yeah, he's... giving himself a headache.

He's still integrating, he guesses. But he remembers the important things. Karin is dead. A building got dropped right on her during a hollow attack in Karakura. Horrific, but fast. In his world it was Szayelaporro who took both of them, hell-bent on dissecting his perfect rare quincy specimens.

There's something viscerally satisfying about the way his sister's name makes Ishida brighten. "That would be better."

"Ah, Yuzu-chan," coos Nel. "Your sister, right? She seems sweet."

"Yeah. My sister." He has a sister.

They pick up the pace by mutual consent. There's an equal mix of sonido, shunpo and hirenkyaku between them, but despite the minor differences, they all do pretty much the same thing.

When they get to the assembly hall — a place that no doubt had a real name when Soul Society's government used to gather here, which Ichigo of course cannot remember for love or money — its missing wall is covered by a huge, glittering barrier.

Shinji looks up as they approach, squinting through the barrier. His eyes are hooded beneath his sharp fringe.

His face is not as Ichigo remembers it from decades ago (which is to say he, uh, has a face, and not just a grizzly red topography of valleys and bumps where it got cut off) but also exactly as he remembers it from this morning.

The headache isn't going away.

"You're back early," he draws. It's an understatement. It's strange that they're back at all, probably. Ichigo privately marvels at hearing Shinji's drawling cynical voice and distinctive Kansai dialect again. "What happened?"

"Aizen's dead!" Nel crows, leaping right up to the barrier. "Ichigo killed him. Obliterated his entire body."

She sounds like a proud big sister. Accordingly, she slings one arm around Ichigo's shoulders and draws him in to her side. She's taller than him in her resurreccion. It's easy to fit under her arm, and he really, really likes the solid weight of it over his shoulders.

... He really misses being touched. It's so easy to sink into Nel. Her weird furry goat-ribs rise and fall against his side.

"You were trying to summon something. You got me, I think," Ichigo elaborates, throwing her arm off.

Something unnamable passes behind Shinji's eyes. For a moment they change, distinctly hollow, and then he settles back on his hips, long limbs folded.

"Ichigo, huh?" he asks, voice low and hostile.

"Don't be like that. It's still Ichigo," Nelliel says cheerfully. She pushes him towards Shinji. Ichigo leans back against her just to avoid slamming into the barrier. "Just smell him. It's just... extra Ichigo!"

"Extra Ichigo?" Ishida repeats. "Is that a good thing...?"

"Hey," says Ichigo, mildly.

Shinji eyes her. He declines to 'smell him'. "I'll take your word on it," he decides, finally.

"I need to come in," Ichigo says. Whatever it is he's drawn to, it's in the room with Shinji. He has to get to it. The closer he gets the more he needs it.

Shinji does not look like he wants to relent, but his barrier cracks like glass and falls in a rain of glittering reishi shards anyway.

Ichigo springs forward and past him.

Then he lays eyes on Kisuke and it feels like the whole world takes a breath around him.

He's hunched over his rusty-smelling ink design on the floor, pale-faced and leaking reiatsu. He looks terrible, exhausted and trembling. Ichigo knows in an instant what the design means.

It's god-knowledge, buried in his hindbrain.

He's never thought of himself in these terms before, but it's all here in the ink and blood, laid out before him and sealed with a sacrifice.

Ichigo knows he is is only a little god. But he's one who answers prayers.

"Yo, geta-boshi," he says, and drifts inexorably forward to sit before him.

I've been reading all those early half finished Bleach time travel/alternative universe fics about dimension hopping Ichigo going to a new time or dimension to fix the Aizen problem

I think I will write one, but not like in a way where I'm going to finish it at all; I think I am just going to stick my nose in my phone and write until I run out of steam. It's just, like, enrichment in my enclosure. There are so many possible ways to do it. Maybe I'll write 3. 😤

[fascinationstreetmp3]

messing around with modifying her is pretty fun. i’m actively breaking some npcs probably because i don’t know how to make new material entries but they’re a sacrifice i’m willing to make

[rexscanonwife]

My last post of the night 😊 (technically it's already the next day but ssshh we don't need to talk about that) I had a truly wonderful anniversary today, thank you all for your kind words on my painting and just in general!

I'm happy to take a day to celebrate my beautiful husband, but rexposting is all year round babey!! So keep your eyes peeled for more 💙🫶💙

[kevin-sedai]

The vibe really deteriorated as the day went on, and now I'm sitting in bed, awake, feeling like garbage