#Guess who has been getting constantly struck by some

[incorrect-finding-frankie]

Xqhwhsgsg... the headaches.

[cobaltperun]

I haveth a request ☝️

could you write Cairo x g!p fem reader smut.

Maybe a childhood best friends type situation like Genius, but they stayed friends all throughout middle school and high school and they catch feelings for each other somewhere in between middle school and beginning of high school. They constantly sneak longing stares at each other and unknowingly make each other jealous until the tension is unbearable and one day when Cairo, Winnie, and reader are hanging out they started telling hookup stories but Cairo is still a virgin so she just sits there quietly listening and after Winnie goes home things happen.

No Chance

Cairo Sweet x Female (GP!) Reader (Request) (Smut, minors do not interact)

Masterlist

A/N: Feast! On the worst thing I have written thus far! I'm sorry Anon, this just didn't work for me. I wrote it, I kinda made what you asked for, but it didn't quite inspire me and I don't feel like leaving it for later would have made it flow any better.

Word count: 3.1k

You can’t love her like that. She’s your best friend.

Those were the words you kept saying to yourself for over four years now. Yet that love kept getting stronger as time passed. And every single time you thought that maybe, just maybe you could get over her you would just see her with someone, and it wouldn’t even have to be more than just sharing a laugh with some random guy, and you’d get reminded of how strong your feelings for her were.

Those feelings didn’t matter though. She was your best friend, and she didn’t love you back.

~X~

For how long was she going to torture herself like this? She loved you, she longed for you, yet her feelings always felt unrequited. True, Cairo has never been the most direct with her feelings toward you, fearing she would ruin the friendship that lasted since she was four years old. But there was no way you missed all of her longing glances. All the times she watched you so love-struck Winnie would tease her about it when it was just the two of them.

You were her protective best friend and you acted as one, though Winnie often referred to it as jealousy. Winnie didn’t know anything. You were like that even when the two of you were kids, protective and kind. It didn’t mean anything more, as she used to hope.

Not since you…

She couldn’t get angry, you just chose some other girl and that was it, and ever since then she lost hope of ever being with you. If it really didn’t mean anything to you to lose your virginity like that, why didn’t you just come to Cairo?

If it meant nothing to you, maybe in the end it would mean nothing to Cairo as well. As it was, she wasn’t even an option for you.

~X~

You and Winnie came over to hang out at Cairo’s place, since it was the most convenient location. Perks of her parents never being around, you guessed. Though you knew Cairo would gladly trade that perk for loving parents.

It started out as a regular night, you and Cairo leaning against the headboard of her bed, while Winnie sat at the foot of it. Being this close to Cairo wasn’t anything new, but you couldn’t help but feel the tension, something unspoken between the two of you ever since you told her about the girl you slept with. Either way, the three of you were playing cards until Winnie decided to speak up.

“Oh, yeah, did you ever go out with that girl you fucked?” she asked while you were in the middle of drinking the juice.

And, naturally, you nearly choked on it, because who the fuck opens the conversation with that?!

“Easy, lover girl,” Cairo was patting your back a bit too harshly, but it was getting the job done, and nearly choking made you miss the passive aggression dripping from her tone.

“Thanks,” you wheezed, finally sure that you would survive. “I’m okay now,” you glared at Winnie who just shrugged, though she did have an apologetic smile on her face.

“So, the what’s-her-name girl,” she reminded you as Cairo leaned back on her bed, though she made some extra distance between the two of you.

You rolled your eyes. “It was a one-night stand, we had a fun time and I left her house after we were done, I didn’t even sleep over,” you shrugged, giving up the minimal information because you knew Winnie wouldn’t let it go now that she remembered it.

Winnie stared at you blankly. “That’s a boring story for your first time,” she complained.

“Better boring than bad,” you figured reminding Winnie of her own first experience, which, well, didn’t end that spectacularly.

“Still,” Winnie let the gravity do its’ job as she leaned to the side and fell onto the bed. “I thought you’d wait for someone you love,” she pointed out.

You looked away, not wanting to look at Cairo at the moment.

“Y/N?” Cairo noticed your silence, forcing you to turn back and grin.

“There’s no point. I don’t have a chance with her, so, you know, no point in waiting,” you’ve given up on Cairo ever returning your feelings, so it really didn’t matter who you lost your virginity to. Not the most mature approach, but you were only eighteen, it was difficult to expect a mature approach from someone your age.

You could see Winnie about to tease you, but you glanced at her, shaking your head lightly and it luckily sent the message across, stopping her from saying anything else.

Eventually, it was just you and Cairo, as Winnie had to go finish some art project and for once Cairo figured she wanted to watch a movie.

“So, it’s nothing to you, having sex?” she asked you out of blue as the slow opening scene began playing on the TV, and you looked at her, frankly, confused by the tone of her voice. She sounded jealous and if she truly was jealous, you wished she showed you that earlier.

“I guess,” you fell back so you were lying next to her instead of sitting, though you could still see her face, and just looked at the ceiling. It’s not that it was nothing to you, you just, as you said to her and Winnie before, didn’t think you had a chance with ‘the one you loved’ that one being Cairo. So, you went and lost your virginity, it was mutual understanding that it was a one-night stand, and that was it.

“So, you wouldn’t mind taking someone’s virginity?” she asked, leaning back but not quite lying down and trailed her fingers across your arm.

Blood rushed to your face at the look in her eyes. You had to be misunderstanding this somehow, right? Surely, she didn’t mean her virginity?! “Yours?” you squeaked, which only made you feel even more embarrassed.

Cairo nodded, blushing furiously. “I don’t really want to lose it to just anyone, and you’re,” she paused, looking down as her hand slipped from your arm and onto the bed. “My best friend,” she refused to look at you.

You swallowed hard, fuck, she was serious. You touched her chin and gently tilted it up. “Are you sure?” you asked her and she just nodded, her eyes finally meeting your own.

“Let me take you out on a date first, give you the whole experience,” you suggested. “Tomorrow after school, we grab a nice dinner, and then if you’re still sure this is what you want, we’ll do it,” you still expected her to tell you it was a prank, but she just nodded, and though it was awkward and both of you stole occasional glances at each other you managed to get through the movie.

~X~

You took Cairo out, as you promised. After school you showed up at her house with a bouquet of red roses, properly dressed up for the date and forcing yourself not to look at her too much, as she was dressed in a beautiful, kinda short, black dress with open back.

“You look amazing,” you said smiling slightly as you handed her the flowers.

“Thanks,” she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and the two of you went out. You took her to the local restaurant, then to a bookstore, then for a brief walk before you finally went back to her place, and you could feel both of you being on the edge at the moment.

“If you change your mind we can stop at any time, it doesn’t matter if it’s now or if I’m hard, or if I’m even inside you. You say stop, we stop,” you assured her as she led you by your hand to her bedroom.

Cairo nodded and kissed your cheek. “You as well, I don’t want to pressure you into anything,” she told you as she sat down on her bed.

“Thanks,” you sat down to her right and leaned over, kissing her neck and her breath hitched. “Is this okay?”

“Mhm,” she closed her eyes and leaned back, exposing her neck to you. She moved her hands up and the tips of her fingers lightly massaged your cheek and jaw while her left hand slipped to the back of your head, her fingers running through your hair and massaging your scalp. “Oh,” she hummed when you found a more sensitive spot and sucked on it, surely leaving a hickey right there.

“Damn, you’re beautiful,” you whispered, your lips gliding over her skin until you reached her ear and gently nibbled on her earlobe. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Cairo squeezing her thighs, you saw her breasts rising and falling as her breathing became deeper.

You were going slow, making sure she felt every sensation as you slid your hand down her side, to her thigh, and you squeezed lightly before pushing her thighs apart and slipping a hand under her dress. You felt her tensing and relaxing as you caressed her bare stomach and sides, just playfully teasing her by occasionally pulling at the strap of her bra.

“Y/N,” she sighed, and you drank it all in, every small sigh, every tiny whimper or moan, every sound you made her make. You took it all in, not for a moment pausing when it came to kissing her neck.

“How are you feeling?” you asked her.

Did you really have to ask her? The only thing that would have made this even better would be if you kissed her on the lips, but it felt like you weren’t going to do that. Even without that she felt so damn good, your warm soft lips on her neck, your wet tongue, dragging over her sensitive neck, your hand under her dress, teasing her everywhere you could reach. She felt aroused, she felt the wetness soaking her panties and that was the only uncomfortable feeling she had. She needed to get them off, to feel your fingers down there instead. “It feels good, I need more though,” she gasped as you bit her neck. How long have you been paying attention to her neck? It was sensitive to begin with, but now it felt like every little touch was going straight to her puss. “Please, Y/N,” she moaned and leaned back, falling onto the bed and pulling you along with her.

“Are you getting wet, hm, Baby?” you rasped, and she gasped, her fingers digging into the back of your head as her left hand slipped down your throat, her nails undoubtedly leaving red stripes down your skin

“Yes! Please touch me,” she whimpered arching her back when you cupped her breast through her bra. You were building up her anticipation and she wondered why she ever waited to do this. Why did she never asked you to take her virginity before. “Can I kiss you?” she pleaded as she made you look her in the eyes.

“Cairo, that’s…” you paused, losing your momentum. As crazy as it might sound, you felt like kissing her would make this too real, that it would be one detail that makes all your feelings come out. That feeling her lips against yours would, more than anything, make you give into your feelings and ruin the friendship that was already hanging by the thread.

“Please,” she was breathing heavily, turned on, yet you saw something else in her eyes, something that couldn’t be true.

“I,” you tried to resist her, to not cross that line, but how many times did you imagine kissing her? You feared you’d regret either choice. In the end you nodded, and her lips pressed softly against yours, her hand gripping the fabric of your shirt as she pressed against you. And instead of fondling her breast you lowered your hand to her waist and hugged her.

Cairo moaned into the kiss, feeling like someone was setting off fireworks in her head. You let her kiss you, and she would be damned if she didn’t kiss you as many times as she would be allowed to tonight. If this was the one and only time the two of you would be intimate like this, she wanted all of it.

You separated from air, and you leaned your forehead against hers. “I’m sorry,” your apology made her heart sink. “I love you. You’re the one I have no chance wi-“ she cut you off with another kiss, her tongue danced with your own and she made you switch positions to get on top of you. “Fuck, Cairo,” you hissed as she threw her dress off and lifted your shirt up.

“You,” she was feral, kissing your neck, grinding against you, her hands roaming your body as if she had to map out every bit of your skin in her mind. “Dumbass!”

You just blinked, eyes wide and mouth open as you watched her, unable to come up with a response.

“Don’t have a chance with me?! I’ve loved you for years you idiot!” she yelled, her voice cracking as she pulled back and just looked at you. “I love you,” she whispered, kissing you deeply and it all made sense now, her reactions, her glances, and you cursed yourself for being too blind to see that all along your feelings were reciprocated. “I love you,” she said again when she paused kissing you. “Now, let’s finish what we started,” she whispered, her lips ghosting over yours and you lost it a bit when she took her underwear off and helped you strip as well. You were already hard, but you wanted to prepare her more, to make her cum, or at least bring her close first.

“Yes, Ma’am,” you teased and slipped a finger between her folds, she was wet enough for your finger to just slip in.

“Fuck,” she whispered at the feeling of your finger pushing into her and she wondered how your cock would feel as she experimentally rocked her hips back and forth, causing her clit to rub against your palm.

“That’s it, Baby, ride it,” you gently pushed another finger inside her after you were sure she was wet and stretched enough, and it took a bit to adjust, but the pleasure more than made up for it. Cairo leaned down, pulling your head to her breasts and moaning. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, she gripped your shoulder, and the back of your head as you kissed her breasts and occasionally sucked her nipples. She felt good before, but now that she knew you loved her, now that you were no longer having sex as best friends, but as two people that loved one another, every touch felt more intense.

You held her hip with your free hand, your fingers occasionally slipping down to her ass as you guided her movement. “Wait,” she cried out. She was close, she was so close, but she wanted to have an orgasm with your cock inside her, and just like you promised you would you stopped completely, pulling your fingers out of her and completely halting everything you were doing. “I want your cock inside me,” she assured you before you could start worrying.

You nodded, flipping the two of you around once more. “It’ll be easier like this,” you told her as you brushed some of her bangs from her eyes and kissed her softly. You pulled a condom out of the pocket of your pants and opened it. “Just give me a moment,” you whispered in her ear, putting the condom on and just to make it as easy as it possibly could be, lubed it up.

Cairo moaned as you slowly pushed the head of your cock inside her while rubbing her clit. “I’ve got you, just relax,” you hugged her with your other arm and peppered her neck and shoulders with butterfly kisses as you pushed further inside.

“I know,” she hugged you back, pulled you closer to her and took several deep breaths as you pushed the last inch into her. “You got me,” she whispered, throwing her head back and taking a moment to adjust.

“Does it hurt?” you asked as you left kisses from her shoulder all the way to her lips.

“No, I just feel so full, just give me a moment,” she pulled you in for a kiss, her tongue slipping inside your mouth as she slowly pulled her hips back a bit and then pushed back against you. “Feels so good,” she moaned, encouraging you to slowly start moving as well.

She was tight, and her pussy was clenching around you so hard you knew you wouldn’t be able to last long, and you didn’t want to resort to thinking about anything else to stop yourself from cumming. Not when you were finally with Cairo. “I don’t think I’ll last long,” you told her as much.

“Me neither!” she cried out, her face twisting into an expression of pleasure as you gradually picked up the pace. “Just a bit more, Baby,” she encouraged you and you rubbed her clit harder, intent on making her cum first. Your efforts paid off as her back arched and she gasped, cumming with a near silent cry and pushing you over the edge as well.

You pulled out, shaky and out of breath, but satisfied as you kissed Cairo once more. “You have no idea how much I am going to kiss you from now on,” you chuckled, unable to get enough of her lips.

“Mhm, you better do some other things as well,” she pecked you on the lips, a bit too tired to do anything else.

You nodded, taking a deep breath and feeling your body relaxing as you helped Cairo calm down as well. “I’m going to go and get a bath ready for you,” you whispered, but just as you were about to pull away she reached up and grabbed your hand.

“For us,” she said with a smile on her face and you nodded.

“Right, for us,” you leaned down, kissing her softly once more before you headed to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and get a bath ready for you and Cairo.

[curseofaphrodite]

hey babes, i saw you were looking for marauders requests and i’ve been obsessed with remus lately, so if you have time and inspiration, i’d like something about just in general what it’s like being with him in the fall, like does he lend you sweaters, do you go on dates, walks, does he make sure you scarf is secure before you go out because it’s windy, does he warm your fingers when they get cold,… just anything remus and fall vibes really :) thanks lovely !!

The Perfect Fall Boyfriend

Remus was an autumn boy. It was easy enough to guess, but it's only been a year since you befriended the marauders (you've to thank the fourth year exam scandal for that) and so, it's the first autumn you're actually spending with them.

Remus transformed to someone else the exact day the first red leaf fell. The sweaters, the hot cocoa that's constantly in his hands, the books - you know this has always been him, but in autumn it felt right.

Making these observations one by one made you realize you were a bit too oblivious to your own intentions. Someway or another, you had actually fallen for the brunette boy.

Unsurprisingly, James had been the first one to notice it. He always wear his heart on his sleeve, whether that's with friendships or simply chasing after Lily Evans, so to see someone obviously trying to cover up their own feelings hadn't went unnoticed.

He soon confronted you about it, and he was too upfront about it that you couldn't even bring up a proper lie.

He kept bugging you to ask out Remus, until one day, you did.

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

"Uhm, Remus?" you called, knowing you had to be silent in the library. You would have preferred to be mute altogether, but James had been giving you the evil eye for a while now. You did promise him you'd ask out Remus today.

"What's up?" Remus didn't even look up. His eyebrows were scrunched while he was reading the Transfiguration book, and he assumed you might have some academic doubt of sort.

"It's not important but-"

"Oh, then hold that thought for two minutes, let me get this spell right." Remus didn't sound rude, just confused. You blinked and stayed silent per his wish, but not before throwing an ugly look at James.

"Hm hm hmmmm nope, can't figure it out. What were you going to say?"

"Well, you know how Slughorn's party is coming up?"

"Is it?" he still appeared distracted so James gestured for you to hurry it up.

"Yes, and remember how we both got the invites?"

"I got an invite?"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake." You pushed his book close and skid it across the table to James. "Can you listen to me for one second?"

"Oh right, sorry." Remus cleared his throat. "So you were saying...?"

As much as he got easily distracted, you got easily annoyed. You stood up angrily.

"Well I was asking you to come to the party with me, but it's clear you'd much rather ignore me altogether."

"Slughorn's party?" Remus The Oblivious looked unfazed. "Are we doing a prank there?"

James facepalmed in the distance.

"No-" you began, way too slowly, because Remus cut through again.

"Then why'd we go there?"

"Because I wanted to go with you!"

"But you never wanted to go either."

"You know what, it's okay. Forget I said anything." You picked up your books hurriedly, not meeting his eyes. "I've to go."

"Y/N?"

But you'd already left, making a mental note to put a hex on James's broom later.

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

Rest assured you avoided Lupin the next few days and he quickly came to miss your absence. He asked around, and no one knew anything about it. No one except James, who quickly went on a speech about he'd never go on dates if he keeps his head buried in books. He did not get the correlation, but once it struck his oblivious brain, he froze.

Y/N L/N asked me on a date? - shock started creeping on his face.

And I didn't realize it?

More shock.

And I said NO?

Remus's face drained of blood. He ran away to find you, leaving James to rant to the wall.

That night, you were studying in the common room when a windswept-haired Remus approached you a bunch of lilies in his hands and an apologetic grin.

"I didn't get the Transfiguration spell right because you were sitting next to me." He said softly. "And I couldn't concentrate on anything else but you."

You rolled your eyes, but smiled in return.

He let out a breath of relief.

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

It's been two days into your relationship and two weeks into fall, and so far, nothing could have been more perfect.

Everything Remus was a part of, so were you. The picture of autumn he made for himself suddenly felt very empty without you.

He was nervous on being a bad boyfriend, so he made sure he'd never even come to the 10 mile radius of it. He made you hot cocoa, he took you out to Hogsmeade, he lent you his sweaters, he put up study dates - he tried to earn your love as much as he tried in his schoolwork, but with more determination. It was adorable and concerning at the same time.

You had to give him a surprise of your own one day, when he walked into his empty dormitory and found a stack of new books, a love letter, some flowers, and a photo album of everything you did till now which included the marauders. They were all a part of you, so your story was incomplete without them.

Remus took that as a sign to relax, that you weren't going to be bored of him anytime soon. But he continued on with the fall dates, as if he's making each and every one count.

And he so did, because those autumn memories became a tradition over the years - right down to the aisle.

THE END

commissions | kofi

[b4ts1e]

▀▄▀▄▀▄The Weight of Stones▄▀▄▀▄▀ (𝚐𝚗!𝙼𝙲)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚍: 𝚀𝚒𝚞/𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚞��𝚗 𝙻𝚒𝚗 𝚃𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝙱𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗 𝙾𝚙𝚊𝚕 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 (𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍) 𝙼𝙲 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 (𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙾𝙻:𝙽&𝙵)

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝:

I am so sorry this was requested back in October and I'm just now uploading it- but please enjoy! Just a heads up- as I'm invisioning this, they are closer to step 3 then the step 2 prolouge, so this kinda like an inbetween chapter I guess.

(Heads up- as I'm writing this, I've noticed that this is gonna hit really close to home for some since it gets pretty heavy into the angst part of hurt-comfort. Please be careful while reading.)

(𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗)

It was painfully obvious for those who paid attention, and even for those who barely kept tabs on it- Qiu Lin and Tamarack Baumann...they don't get along. Everyone in the small town of Golden Grove knew it, including the one who stood between the two- MC Second. Those closest to MC, mainly their mother, could see the way they constantly tried to hold the cul-de-sac trio together, grasping at straws to keep what little of their childhood friendship remained.

However- their effort has been proven futile time and time again. And we all know the saying: 'the straw that breaks the camel's back'. Eventually, they to would break down- no matter how strong or tight they held onto their apathetic mask.

(𝙼𝙲'𝚜 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎)

It felt like I was drowning, no longer in control of my own body as I was forced to watch my two friends stare daggers at each other. The world around me was muffled, they were saying things at each other and yet I couldn't understand the words they were saying- I only knew that it wasn't good, they were fighting. Over what? I hadn't the slightest clue, it's just been this way- for awhile now.

I'm so tired.

My body was strained, being pulled towards two opposing sides- yet wanting nothing but the past laughter and fun we had as children. Exhaustion swallows me whole as I slowly, quietly, and completely unnoticed as I walk away from the two. I just wanted to go home at this point- and yet? The house that was once filled with joy and laughter, echoing down the hall as we told each other stories and kept each other up way past our bedtimes, no longer felt the same. It was cold, quiet, and yet somehow welcoming- the silence was always better than the muffled screaming of others.

This was the first time they'd let themselves genuinely argue in front of me, normally they kept their time with me as a neutral space- a cease from the firing of guns. Sure their slight jabs at each other never faded, but even so- that could be considered playful banter. Or at least that's what my mind told itself- what I told myself, just so I could attempt to rest easy at night.

Maybe this was my fault, they only started fighting because I kept pushing them to be around each other. Had I just...let them drift apart this wouldn't have happened, they would've lived on without needing to communicate with each other- but no. I had to be selfish. I just had to make things worse didn't I?

I entered my house, removing any extra layers I had put on today- carelessly putting them on the couch and floors along with my bag before heading upstairs. The weight of anything unessential felt burdensome, I didn't even lock the front door behind me- I couldn't find the motivation too. Once in my room I threw my shoes into a corner, flopping face first into my bed- grasping a pillow close to my chest as it became hard to breath.

I wanted to scream, but I once again- couldn't find the motivation, as tears streamed down my face.

(𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗)

Shortly after MC had walked away, Tamarack and Qiu realized the absence of their mutual friend. Worry struck them both, despite Qiu not outwardly showing it like Tamarack so willingly did. "Where did MC go?" she asked- mainly to herself as she looked around, hoping to spot the bridge that kept the trio together. Autumn shrugged, looking around lazily- they didn't show it willingly but worry was burried deep in their heart. "Maybe they finally got sick of you, I dunno know." they proded, almost eliciting a snap response from Tamarack.

She may not be willing to stand up for herself normally, but she definetely wouldn't let Qiu- of all people, make her doubt the closeness between her and MC. After all- they were bestfriends, right? Since the second day they've known each other and they both confirmed it. That hadn't changed...right? She shook her head quickly, glaring at the taller of the two. "Or they got sick of you finally. I can't understand how they stick around you after all this time!" she responds before pinching the bridge of her nose with a groan.

"Y'know what? I'm going to find MC and apologize for letting your stupid remarks get to me in front of them, if you're tagging along then I highly suggest keeping up." she says before walking away, towards MC's house- hoping that'd be where she'd find her friend. Autumn rolled their eyes and followed after her, not caring all too much about apologizing but worried for their friend- one of the few people who they kept around in this difficult time for themself.

By the time the duo had gotten to MC's house, the sun had set- the sky being dark and the threat of rain became extremely apparent as heavy storm clouds rolled in over the town. The feeling of electricity in the air mixed with their worry made them both far more anxious to know if MC really was within the walls before them. Tamarack knocked, receiving no answer and only boosting Qiu's nerves. Neither of them liked how it felt detrimental to get into the building quickly, almost like a rush of adrenaline shooting through them both simultaneously. Autumn nudged past Tamarack, their expression shifting from their relaxed front to anxiety in an instant- they reached for the handle and tried to open it.

Seeing the door creak open, revealing a dark and quiet house was terrifying. Leaving too much room for their imaginations to wander, especially with the door unlocked- had something happened? Tamarack flicked on the light, quickly spotting the mess of clothes and a bag that remained untouched in the living room. A slight relief ran through her as she was now certain that her assumption of MC going home had been correct, but when the soft sound of dry sobbing came from upstairs the two made eye contact with one another. Worry etched across both of their faces, a mutual agreement to not jab at each other for the time being was made without words.

Slowly the two went up the stairs, locating the source of the crying. Hearing mumbles of things such as:

"It's my fault..."

"I'm so selfish..."

"I just wanted to be happy..."

The voice was hoarse and muffled by a pillow. Looking into the room, Qiu and Tamarack saw something that broke both of their hearts. MC was curled into a ball, laying on their side, clutching a pillow like a life line, shivering, and crying. Most beyond their small trio would've never seen something like this, they were always so optimistic about things and their mask was as hard as stone. Rarely had the cracks gotten bad enough for the mask to completely shatter and allowed them to break down like this, they were the strong one- no matter their muscle mass.

Hearing them degrading themself, blaming themself for the two not getting along- even going as far to see themself as selfish for wishing for the past... It triggered something in Autumn, the person they relied so heavily on day after day had been hurting and they too had been far too blind to see it- it made them feel incredibly guilty, they had been the selfish ones. Not MC. Tears pricked the corners of their eyes as they slowly entered the room as quietly as possible- yearning to comfort them as much as possible.

Tamarack's reaction had been similar- she didn't want to believe that she had been so neglectful of her best friend's needs, but the proof was right in front of her. It clicked in the back of both of their minds in an instant- they both had been bad friends. Without realizing it they turned their rivalry of sorts into a larger priority than their friendship with MC. Now knowing just how much they'd affected their friend's mental health, they wanted nothing but to take it all back.

Once she broke from her shock- Tamarack moved quickly, faster than she had intended, getting onto MC's bed and pulling them in her chest- holding them tightly as her own tears spilled from her eyes. Stunned, MC froze- looking to see Qiu approaching slowly and hearing the choked sobs coming from Tamarack. Once Autumn had finally gotten to the bed, they sat down on the edge and grabbed MC's hand gently- massaging their knuckles lightly, something MC had done for them in the past to calm their nerves.

It felt like an enternity went by at the trio cried together- one crying silently, the other with their voice already hoarse from previous events, and the other much more vocal about their sarrow. Once it had calmed down, tears now dry and everything was out- Qiu was the first to speak, voice soft and slightly shaking from all the emotions.

"MC...We are so...so sorry for ignoring your needs, we prioritized our stupid rivalry over our friendship with you- I see now that we have been really bad friends to you. You shouldn't have to chose between us. You aren't selfish for wanting things to be as they were before. I am so sorry for not seeing the warning signs that you needed help too..." they explained, clutching MC's hand tightly- their partially gloved hands cold and shaking slightly. The cold inside only amplified but the chill and rain from the out, making MC realize that they hadn't bothered to turn on the heater once they got home.

Tamarack slowly let them go, rubbing under her eyes with her sweater sleeve to try to clear the crust left behind by the tears that were shed. "I- I'm sorry too MC. We're supposed to be your best friends, and not even I noticed what you were going through. I thought...I dunno- I just." she took a moment to restabilize herself before she cried again. "I was a bad friend to you as well MC, and I am so sorry if we accidentally made you feel unimportant or selfish because of our stupid inability to get along. We care a lot for you, but I'm pretty sure we'd both understand if you need space from us both for awhile."

Her approach was professional, but her voice betrayed her harshly as she couldn't withhold the shakyness of it. A habit she had attempted to pick up from MC- using professionalism to hide true emotion in situations, though she was never very good at it. MC however- was somewhat of a master at it, having used it whenever Tamarack's brother had shown up to see her unannounced.

MC hesitated for a moment before pulling the two in for a hug, they had been shaking for a while- though it had calmed down, their nerves still felt a bit fried at the moment. They didn't say much when they spoke, Autumn's arms wrapped around their torso gently and Tamarack's wrapped loosely above their shoulders, but their voice was soft- a calm breeze despite the storm outside.

"Thank you...both of you." that was all they could say in the moment, keeping the two opposite personalities close as their exhaustion reached peak compacity. "We'll...we'll stay here until Ms. Second gets home, go ahead and rest. I promise we won't fight like that anymore." Qiu's voice was soft as Tamarack nodded in agreement, all three were tired now.

However- as the three slept, it marked a new chapter. Sure the two wouldn't always get along, but they swore never to allow themselves to fight like how they had been- especially if it risked their mutual friendships.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 1,963

[kiwibongos]

warning for ab/se & toxic relationships. and sdr2 spoilers duh

im thinking abt the remnants of despair. cause i hate how it just seemed to be like, "theyre suddenly brainwashed and then they turn evilll and they kill because they dont feel anything" like, i hate that. it feels so underdeveloped. it cant just be despair, it has to be deeper than that, i think it'd take personal angles and link with a lot of their own trauma, leaving them really vulnerable and deranged. so heres my own interpretation and headcanons for some of them

contains mikan, nagito, fuyuhiko, peko, akane, kazuichi, and brief analysis of the rest. keep in mind i havent seen the animes yet lol so this is a basic layer of it, but i just rly wanted to let this out cus i dont see it talked about. storing my brainrot here for later moments.

first of all i feel like the brainwashing would be a very slow process bc junko would definitely just manipulate everyone in her way to get what she wants. and by the time the world was plagued basically, all the remnants clearly had really unhealthy feelings related to junko specifically. they all love her, hate her, or praise her, but its all in very different ways that would be bc of their own personal backstories

we all know how mikan and nagito feel. mikan was constantly hurt by other people before junko herself, itd make sense for her to develop a very unhealthy attachment to her. mikan was extremely vulnerable and controllable, she would do anything for anyone and especially junko, just so no one is mad at her, hence why it got so twisted to the point where she wanted to keep a part of her inside forever. she wanted to be loved so badly, she would take whatever form of it she could. thats why it was so easy for junko to get her under her boot. now nagito has an odd love-hate relationship with junko imo (his mind is so messed up man) even if he praises hope in such a grossly obsessed way, the mf still TOOK her arm. i know he did it because he hated her so much and i guess to take power back, but i feel like because nagito had never really been loved, he wanted to try and feel what it could've been like out of some kind of confused desperation and fondness for her in a way, because his mind has no idea what those feelings truly are or what they mean, as hatred and love often get mixed up in his head and form this horrible amalgamation with whoever he meets, which is clear towards the survivors in the nwp anyway

fuyuhiko put junko's own eye into his own socket, and i feel like his relationship with her while in despair would be familial and extremely unhealthy. he is definitely one of the most fucked up to me. id say by my own headcanons though its heavily implied in his fte dialogues, is his parents are very ab/usive right from the start. fuyuhiko is messed up to all hell, he was constantly struck and under pressure but he had to be strong and perfect because he was the head of his clan, hence like his insane tolerance for pain. he had to make his clan, or more importantly his parents proud, or else he was a failure forever. so he clung onto that and did his best trying to be good enough for basically anyone. and even before despair he was in a really bad stubborn, mean, depressive state, leaving him far more vulnerable and more open to violent, impulsive actions as long as junko was smart enough to get him under her finger. fuyuhiko never knew what true love felt like (platonic or not), and when junko took advantage of all of that and he slowly fell into despair, shit hit the fan. he lost morality and he had come so attached to her to the point where junko was like a mother figure to him. he wanted her to notice him and be proud basically, it was moreso the idea of someone-- anyone-- being proud of him, but junko was his main focus of that by now, given his state. to him she was like the mother he never had, who seemed to be on the same terms with everything he had believed, someone who approved of him, so he wanted to make her proud, even if it was hurting him. fuyuhiko would keep digging himself a hole of desperation and self destruction, seeking more and more pain to test his endurance because it's what she wanted, and that became what he wanted, too, because pain is all he's used to. and because of that, makotos guess was right; he wanted to see her despair. it'd make sense he'd want to take a part of her, to see horrors she had witnessed so he could understand it, so she could be proud of him and part of him forever. he felt like if he did that, he would finally succeed, he'd achieve perfection, and he did. he'd done everything junko wanted him to do, while quenching his own thirst for violence itself, all via his own delusions. that was love to him and it felt real

as for peko she was definitely also treated the same in the kuzuryu family but more dehumanized obviously, so i think she'd feel a similar way; always needing to be good enough, but more specifically protecting the ones she cares about at all costs even if it results in bloodshed. i think she'd be a lot colder, forcing to suppress her feelings since she just has to follow fuyuhiko wherever he goes, and she was pretty much as insane as him as well so anything slid. i know peko doesnt want to be a tool, but she'd definitely succumb to the fact that she has to be one when they're under despair at the same time, and if she was going to be his tool, she has to be like a robot and just do what follows, because she didn't see herself as a person, her chance of being her own human was ripped away

as for akane, she grew up very poor, and didn't live a good life at all either (w/ definitely bad parents) but she always tried her very best taking care of her siblings in the past, despite everything. i think there was a lot of twisted familial love with junko whom she started to see as a sister despite being unrelated, just because of being a caretaker all her life, its just kind of instinct to protect anyone, but that just got mixed up as she fell into despair, and she would only protect junko, while chaotically killing anyone else in her way. she'd fight for her endlessly, she was one of the strongest, at least for a while, im thinkin she found her body and wanted to preserve it as much as possible by the end of everything, she still wanted to take care of her and do everything for her even if she had been too late. and with that, and barely any food in an apocalyptic world, the inevitable happens. akane would fall into a very hurtful spiral of self hate, that her starving was a sacrifice to junko so she could prioritize her first instead of herself, while also it being like a punishment to herself for her own failures and how she was failing to preserve junko

kazuichi always hated himself. he was bullied often, didn’t have a lot of friends going into high school, and he was very desperate for attention, especially from women. he’d be very notably attached to junko which would eventually evolve into romantic feelings, similar to mikan. he craved attention and validation so much, it left him very vulnerable, and kazuichi often grows attached to people who show him a sliver of kindness anyway, so junko would likely personally manipulate him and praise him, and they’d grow close, and he’d develop a very strong attachment towards her that derails into love and lust. and once he was influenced by her under despair, he would do anything for her. so, he’d get his hands on a lot of weapons, and go on mindless killing sprees, causing havoc 24/7 just to please her and keep her memory alive through despair. and deep in his mind, he probably truly thought that junko was his soulmate, that they were destined to be together, and he was fulfilling missions just for her, and in the end, they could be together

extra stuff i guess? as anyone would expect, sonia just became a corrupted leader and took advantage of her power under despair. her kingdom would try to keep her above it, but she’d fall into it somehow anyway, and probably had already been plagued by corrupt/unjust views by junko before, so she’d lead her people to worship junko the same way she does, and anyone who stood against it would be punished severely. mahiru falls into morbid curiosity because of junko and gets worse, given what she does with her camera, also both mikan and gundham would try to stitch junko up a little, and try to keep her from falling apart as long as possible. mikan is more likely to do that for her own twisted romantic purposes, but if gundham gets a hold of her before or after mikan, he would take her blood for himself, and most likely start a cult to worship her, all for like weird satanic purposes involving rituals and stuff. he’d also encourage his members or the other remnants to indulge in certain activities for the sake of praising her. gundham would probably even believe she was some demon from the underworld who granted him powers and chose him to carry on her legacy

also teruteru was just a little hungry. boys gotta eat

[rearranged-fanfic]

(Update 6/3)

Sit down a spell, weary traveler. Come and sit by my fire; bask in the warmth of the flame and rest your aching scrolling finger. You'll be sitting a while, for I have a tale to tell:

Okay, so I've had a Toshiba laptop for the better part of ten years. Maybe a little longer. That laptop has survived being struck by lightning, submerged in a bathtub, and literally having a whole bookcase topple down onto it. I thought it was immortal...

I was sadly mistaken.

About six months ago, I noticed that the typing was getting sluggish. I'd patter away at the keyboard and the letters would appear with a bit of lag. That's fine, since I use Dragon to talk-to-text for quite a bit of my writing. I really only use the keyboard for final assembly, editing, and doing quick rewrites. So, it really didn't bother me. Fastforward to April, which we will call The Great Depression. The time discrepancy between typing and having letters appear on screen became a whopping 40 seconds. Yes, I timed it.

But that was okay, because I could still use my Dragon headset.

Until I couldn't.

It would connect, but the words wouldn't appear on screen. I made sure that all of my programs were up-to-date, and that everything was working. The headset connected to my family's computers just fine. So that meant it was something wrong with mine.

Without being sure if it was the hardware or software at fault, I backed everything up to OneDrive and Google Docs.

I factory reset.

Twice. To no avail.

Over the next few days, my laptop stopped registering any keyboard input at all. It got to a point where I wasn't able to turn it on or off.

Taking it to an electronics store to get repaired didn't help, either. No luck. They said that it would be more cost effective to just buckle down and get a new one, since the age of the laptop meant that I would probably be constantly maintaining it.

My poor Toshiba died kicking and screaming, putting up a fight worthy of an epic ballad.

I saved up for a few weeks, got a new laptop, and went through the rigmarole of getting all of my programs back on it. My files are in order. My life is in shambles (but that's normal, LOL).

I DID do some story work without my computer, but... it's bad. Like, I'd die in shame if I posted anything that I thumbed in. So. Many. Spelling. Errors. How people write on their phone is beyond me. That's a talent I simply don't possess.

At this point, I'm thinking of renaming this story "HIATUS" lol. JK. But I'm seriously peeved that this happened after my last big break. Why couldn't the Depression and laptop breakdown coincide nicely? I guess that's too much to ask of the universe *Shakes fist at the sky*.

I'm creating a damn bingo card for every stupid thing that happens to me while I try to write. Because this is getting ridiculous. I broke my fingers, there was a total solar eclipse, I had a major-ish mental breakdown, and my computer bit the big one. With a free space, that's a bingo. Let's hope I don't get a blackout before the end of 2024.

I doubted the fanfiction curse. I really did. But it's apparently real. And this writer's curse has teeth, people. It bites hard.

I have my MerMay two-shot pretty well done (because I was typing it during The Great Depression), but the next chapter for REARRANGED is still rough. Crimson Chapter 3 is halfway done, but who knows how long that'll take.

The bottom line is that I'm alive and still working on the stories. The next update on this blog will be the posting of several chapters for a few different works. Fingers crossed.

Also, I'm very, very slowly answering the comments in my AO3 inbox. Some of them were pretty lengthy, so it might take a bit. Oof.

If there ever comes a time that I drop this fanfiction or am unable to continue for whatever reason, either I or my husband will be posting the entirety of my outline, as well as anything that's been pre-written for you guys to enjoy. That way there are no questions left unanswered or mysteries unsolved.

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 7 Minagoroshi pt. 4

Shortly after this scene at the Irie Clinic Rika and Satoko are off to the local game store to play their board game tournament like they did at the start of Watanagashi.

Seriously, the original art for Hanyuu makes her look like such a pathetic creature, just a real sad sack. Which I guess is a perfectly in-line look to have given her character is a rather gloomy apathetic individual. Hanyuu throughout the early stages of the chapter is constantly telling Rika to not get her hopes up and to basically assume that nothing about her fate is going to change at all ever.

A good portion of the board game tourney here is spent with Rika just overcome with a despair over how repetitious and pointless it all seems. It doesn't really get into it, but there's the distinct impression that she's lived through this tournament a fair number of times throughout the hundred plus year span she's been stuck in the loop. Also for some reason there's an odd change in the dialogue during this section. Rika tells Keiichi that he'll wind up playing the game Billionaire with his group, but when the store owner brings out the game it's a copy of the Game of Life. Which Rika acts like is normal, telling Keiichi that this is how fate always seems to shake out whenever they do this gaming tournament. Keiichi then decides basically, nuts to that and requests a different game for him and his group. Instead of Billionaire/Game of Life, the three play a game called pop-up pirate. Which is a game where you stab little swords into a barrel that has a pirate guy in it. This small change in fate inspires Rika to request a change to her groups game as well. It doesn't say what they change it to, but they do.

This small change in destiny made the visual novel then proceeds to skip over the game tournament. Presumably it happens the same as it did previously. I know Hanyuu is trying to keep Rika's expectations low so she doesn't get hurt by the lack of significant changes in her fate, but I do wonder how she perceives the small microscopic alterations to events like the above. Later on Hanyuu acts like these changes of events won't actually affect anything in the long run, and she advocates a "let's just let nature run its course" type of approach to Rika's situation. But I wonder if she's secretly slightly thrilled at the minor changes because it drags Rika temporarily out of her deep gloom.

It's now after the tournament, when the shop owner gives everyone, sans Mion a doll. I was surprised here because the visual novel offers a choice between whether Rika should try to influence events and convince Keiichi to give Mion the doll, or to observe.

I don't know if there will be ramifications further down the line, but choosing either option results in the same dialogue playing out for the most part. If you go with the try to influence Keiichi option there's a few lines extra about how he seems somewhat aware of your interjection, but otherwise it plays out the same.

I like the insinuation here that Hanyuu might not actually be Oyashiro. Who she would actually be is an interesting question I think, I'm pretty sure she is actually Oyashiro, but the idea that she's just some random horned weirdo who hangs out with Rika is also pretty amusing. Just some divine entity hanging out with the reincarnation of Oyashiro for a lark.

Oh yeah, also in this version of the universe Shion is in Keiichi and so on's class. It seems to be taking place in the hallucination Shion had before she died at the end of Meakashi.

Something that's been slightly bothering me since it came up in Tsumihoroboshi, and gets brought up again here is the change of the food they put the needle in from Onikakushi. They mentioned it was Ohagi, and it just struck me as wrong, because it was something else originally, I thought. So I went back and checked, sure enough in Onikakushi Mion mentions that they made mochi for Keiichi. Now I know this is a really extremely minor thing to get distracted by, but I am just sort of curious about the change here. According to the release dates on GOG and Steam there was four years between the chapters, and maybe it's more accurate this way or something. But there's been quite a few little changes in various aspects of the plots from chapter to chapter. The difference in the corpse tunnel in Watanagashi to Meakashi still being the largest one. It's not really affecting my enjoyment of the series, just a little oddity I've noticed.

Also did I mention Shion's back? She's back, in supporting cast form. And boy howdy do I have some opinions about some actions she takes later on.

[deadendtracks]

More overly detailed asks where I cannot phrase a question but just scratching at conversation starters…  XD

In your Not series, there’s a scene where Alfie is at Tommy’s house, and Curly is tending Tommy’s injured knee. Alfie realises suddenly that Curly is an alpha and, while the thought doesn’t get explicit in the prose, the impression is a sexual undercurrent in Alfie’s intense shock because alpha!Curly is touching omega!Tommy in such an intimate/close way -> so this sense of how could *they* possibly have…!

So, I was interested in the thinking behind the scene, and also wondered if maybe it was an opportunity to do a bit of compare/contrast on that other aspect of alpha biological-drivers -> some omegaverses also have that driving alpha need to ‘care-take’ for an omega, and was wondering if your verse leans into this, and maybe this was an example of showing that non-sexualised caretaking?

One thing that comes across with Tommy and Alfie’s relationship is that it’s so sexually driven, but then, Alfie also grapples with all these non-sexual motivations that he never *really* seems to want to think about very hard – like the one that made him drive out to Arrow in this particular fic – to caretake, while Tommy *does* seem conscious of those drivers in Alfie and constantly pushes back on them. That particular scene with Curly struck me a little tiny bit of Alfie being jealous/annoyed/frustrated/bemused that actually, Tommy has people (the herd) who care for him (including alphas) and his relationships with those people don't have all these *other* heavy sexualised drivers laid over the top of that. Alfie trying to cross a boundary into something more than sexual, and while Tommy does verbally push Alfie back later, Curly's position in the scene as an *alpha* just felt very particular.

So that Curly scene -- yes and no?

Taking care of an injured Tommy and worrying over him is something canon Curly would do anyway, so his being an alpha isn't the primary driver of his behavior. The scene is more about Alfie's perception of the dynamic (and of what it means to be alpha) than it is about anything naturally inherent to being an alpha. Something Alfie probably doesn't understand is how Curly completely lacks an impulse to *control* as part of his caretaking. He has no desire to dominate as part of taking care of someone, because Curly doesn't have that perception that being alpha requires it. Curly is a nurturing guy; he'd be that way whether he was alpha or omega or beta but Alfie still slots people into these categories and tries to make sense of them that way.

I think of Alfie as someone who still has unconscious ideas about what alphas and omegas are supposed to behave. My personal omegaverse isn't hinged on the concept that alphas and omegas are *inherently* or naturally any one thing at all gender role wise -- but there are still stereotypes in that world along the lines of some of the typical omegaverse tropes, with some spins on it, I guess. I like to try to undercut them a bit here and there or find my own expression.

Alfie is someone who thinks he hasn't bought into those societal stereotypes, thinks he's risen above them or is enlightened, but has a lot he hasn't unlearned. Kind of a "male feminist" idea lol (nothing wrong with male feminists; just that even the well-intentioned cishet male feminist tends to have at least a few areas where his behavior doesn't match the theory).

Your last paragraph sums up how I was trying to write the dynamic really well!! That was my underlying idea -- that when it comes down to it, Alfie doesn't know much about Tommy's life, has no real understanding of how it's embedded in a community, even if that community is fractured between s3-4. He doesn't fully understand the impact of Grace's death on Tommy except abstractly. That's why I needed to bring Curly and Uncle Charlie into the story. And I've always been curious about Frances in canon; I haven't done alot with her in this series but whether Tommy wants her to be or not she's part of that community for sure. But Alfie is *surprised* by it and doesn't know how to process it; his mental version of Tommy is isolated from all context. In a lot of ways this series is about Alfie's assumptions being peeled back one by one.

I also think of Tommy as a bit more self-aware of some of these things than Alfie is. Like of course he has his own hangups and blindspots but he ... understands Alfie a lot better than Alfie understands him, and knows it. He can see through Alfie more than Alfie is able to see through him. At least when it comes to their dynamic. Of course there's a ton about Alfie's life he doesn't know about either, but I think he's more aware of that fact than Alfie is of the reverse. Alfie has this idea of who Tommy is and thinks he's right about it; Tommy only really exists in relation to Alfie for Alfie. Where I think Tommy just assumes Alfie has his own life in Camden Town that Tommy frankly doesn't give a shit about beyond his compulsive need to research the people he deals with. But he knows it's there!

Part of that is how they met -- Tommy first comes to Alfie on Alfie's territory surrounded by Alfie's people, alone. And a big part of Alfie has never revised his mental picture from that first meeting.

So what finally comes to a head here is that Alfie has this unconscious suspicion of Tommy-as-omega-seducer, combined with the fact that before he met Tommy he basically never let himself be in a situation where that caretaking instinct has an object. Eternal bachelor sort. So these two undercurrents are at war in him.

At the same time he's struggling with wanting more from Tommy. Much of his frustration is due to a fundamental misunderstanding or ignorance -- he just completely misses the fact that Tommy loved his wife and his wife just fucking died and Tommy still basically wants to be dead because of it. Alfie is (unconsciously) a bit dismissive of this, even when he considers the idea of Tommy having been 'bonded' to her. It's like... Tommy existed for him, then Tommy went off and got married and ceased to exist as anything but a distant business contact, and now that Tommy's wife is dead he exists again, and for Alfie there's this kind of continuity that doesn't exist for Tommy. For Tommy there's been an extremely violent rupture.

IDK if I'm expressing this well! But Alfie's looking for a man that doesn't exist, to quote Uncle Charlie.

Alot of this is driven by my wanting the relationship issues between them to not be 100% Tommy's fault/responsibility, which is how alot of Tommy/Alfie fic tends to go. When in canon Alfie is just... not the well adjusted guy who wouldn't be fucking up his relationship with Tommy if it existed! Like the issues between them aren't because Tommy's sexually repressed or internalized homophobia or because Tommy can't commit or idk. Even Tommy's trauma. Whatever. It's messier and more complicated and Alfie has a big responsibility there.

Beyond Grace's death, Alfie's actions (the ones from canon I've kept in this universe, which is all of them) have had a direct negative impact on Tommy, and that, you know. Affects Tommy's willingness to trust him, etc. At the same time there is something there for Tommy too, and he keeps coming back.

I'll stop here, though I'm aware I have only covered Alfie's half of this whole dynamic in any depth.

[a-b-riddle]

Pen Pals Chapter Two: Confessions

We never really spoke over the phone that much after that. We still messaged constantly through text or via messenger. C made honest on his promise of financially supporting me. It was more money than I knew what to do with to be honest. I was constantly asking him what to do with it. I mentioned I had no furniture.

Why don't you get some? You should have more than enough in your account by now.

Can I?

Of course. You don't have to ask permission before making a big purchase, sweetheart.

Okay. Do you mind if I send you some pics? I've never had to buy furniture and I would like your opinion.

Of course. 

With that I went to work. I ordered most of my things from Ikea, but the one thing I got, which was stupid, but something I always wanted was a velvet chesterfield sofa. I sent C a couple of color options and asked which one he liked.

Blue. It's my favorite color and goes with just about anything.

So I ordered it. It came almost a week later and was the last thing I needed to really make my apartment feel like home. 

It looks good. Good job, gorgeous. 

I felt so proud of his approval. I did feel guilty about spending so much money on a couch, but he liked it and he was paying the bill for it.

A few months passed before I finally got the interview for Stark Industries lined up and C was less than pleased about it. 

It has nothing to do with your area of study. The whole point of me taking care of you was so that you could wait out a position at a university.

I understand that, but it's been months and it doesn't look like things are going to open up in time for me to start teaching in the fall. 

You're back tracking. I don't think you should just give up and settle on whatever job you can get. 

For some reason that struck a nerve. I wasn't giving up, but things happen. The entire world has been put on pause and who knows when life would return to normal. 

Nowhere is hiring and I need a job. I have been cooped up in this apartment for months and I can't take it anymore. At this point I don't care if it's in retail. My mental health can't take being alone and inside like this anymore. The only social interaction I get is either talking to you or going to the grocery story. I have been in the city for months and I haven't made a single friend. I understand your concern, but it's not your decision to make. I will eventually get there, but this is something I want to do. I appreciate all of your help, but as I said, it's not your decision to make.

I turned the messenger offline.

A few days had passed with nothing from C. However, when Friday rolled around, money was still deposited into my account. Maybe it was automated and it accidentally posted. This had been the longest we went without communicating since the start of our little arrangement. 

After a few glasses of liquid courage, I called him. It was late in the evening, way past my normal bedtime, but I wanted to talk to him. At least to let him know about the deposit.

"Hello?" He answered. His voice was scratchy and slow.

"What are you doing?" I asked stupidly.

"I am trying to sleep considering it is nearly 2 A.M." I heard him groan. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just wanted you to know the money got posted to my account." I swallowed. "I was wondering if you had venmo or something and I could send it back.

"Why would I want you to send it back?"

"Because I got a job and you don't approve."

"You don't have the job yet, you have an interview." He corrected.

"And because I don't think I was nice."

"Nice?"

"With how I spoke to you. Or 'typed' I guess." I huffed and laid down on the couch. "I shouldn't have caught an attitude like that. I'm sorry. You've been a saving grace these last few months and I really appreciate everything you've done for me." I finished off the glass of sweet moscato.

"It's okay." He reassured me. "I understand you probably are sick of staying inside, but I just want you to be safe and not settle." God, how was he so perfect?

"I got to thinking." I felt warmth of the wine start to get to my cheeks. "You know, we have been friends for like five years and I have no clue what you like and you know what I look like and you know I like you? Isn't that stupid? Like I have no clue what you look like and I like a stranger I've never met."

"You sound drunk." He chuckled. 

"I've had a couple of glasses of wine," I admitted. "But I'm not just saying that because I've had a few glasses of wine. And like I'm kind of glad I haven't seen you. I mean you're this person I can't even envision and you know that now you know where I live and I don't know."

"What are you trying to say? That it makes you uncomfortable that I know your address?"

"No, it's like..." The words embarrassed me as they came out of my mouth. "I don't want to say like aroused, but.. I don't know." I fell against the bed. "It's something that I think about sometimes." He was quiet and I felt like I had said something wrong. "I'm sorry that was too much. I shouldn't have called. I'm sorry, go back to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow." And with that I hung up the phone. 

That was too much. Oh my god why did I say that? Did I seriously just tell him I thought it was hot that I didn't know what he looked like? Shit shit shit.

I got up and put my empty glass of wine in the sink, promising to unload the dishwasher when I didn't feel so lightheaded.

Suddenly, from across the room, my phone began to ring. It was him.

"Tell me what exactly you think about, Princess."

[riecurrents]

hii could you a part 2 of little distractions where they officially get together? i need more okgyeong x reader

UNBEKNOWNST TO YOU

MOON OKGYEONG x GENDER NEUTRAL READER

WORDS: 2k | READ PART 1 aka LITTLE DISTRACTIONS

SYNOPSIS: After you and Okgyeong's usual hangout at the bar, she reveals a deeper facet of her feelings using her own intimate, coy ways—perhaps one that almost ends up blurring your perception of fantasy and reality.

"I am a rather simple person, Okgyeong," you say. "Typical responsibilities by day. Leisures at night. You, however, are far from it."

Okgyeong gives you a soft scoff, the corner of her mouth lifting into a playful smile. She tilts her head, her dark eyes glinting beneath the dim lights of the bar. "If only your simplicity could hide how alluring you actually are."

You laugh softly, half-embarrassed, but the other half of you is still trying to grasp what exactly she means by that. You, alluring? The thought almost feels like a foreign concept. But with Okgyeong, there’s always this quiet intensity in her words—a gravity that makes you wonder if you’re truly as simple as you think. You glance over at her, her confident stride, the way her face seems illuminated with an ethereal glow, and you can’t help but feel a quiet reverence for the woman beside you.

Unbeknownst to you, however, Okgyeong's thoughts are still simmering from earlier that afternoon, when she picked you up from work. She had arrived a little early, making her way through the lobby of your office building, where she'd overheard two of your colleagues chatting by the lobby. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop.

"That little smile earlier was charming.”

‘I saw it. Oh dear, how lucky you are.“

Okgyeong had bristled, pressing her lips together as she leaned against the wall, out of sight but very much within earshot. She'd never been the jealous type—at least, she hadn't thought she was. But hearing someone else fawn over you, seeing how others noticed the warmth and quiet charisma you brought to any room, made something tighten in her chest. She had wanted to march right up to you, take your hand, and whisk you away before anyone else could. And so, when she finally saw you there who just timed out of work, she wasn’t able to stop herself from hurrying you out of the building with an urgency flickering in her gaze that you hadn’t quite understood.

Now, as she watches you in this cozy, intimate glow of this bar—you and her lovely haven—she finds herself struck again by just how oblivious you are. The way you tilt your head as you listen, the way your hands curl around your glass with that quiet grace. You call yourself simple, but Okgyeong only sees the unique beauty in the way you carry yourself. It drives her to the point of wanting to keep you close, hidden from the world. She wishes she could tuck you safely in her pocket, carrying you everywhere, guarding your sweetness for herself.

Her thoughts are interrupted when you frown, "What’s going on in that head of yours, Okgyeong? You look… intense."

“Thinking about how I could hide your allure from anyone else but me,” she murmurs, her voice low, deep in thought. The way she said it without any semblance of embarrassment or humor almost turns you into a mindless, lovesick puddle.

You look down, catching the faintest blush on your own cheeks. "You make me sound like I'm some mystery even when I'm not.”

"Heh, I guess I just have to make you realize then." There's a sincerity in her eyes that almost takes your breath away. "I don’t think you see yourself the way I do."

You let out a small, awkward laugh, unsure of what to say to such intense honesty. It’s strange how she has this way of making you feel seen, like every little habit or smile of yours is something special.

The evening wears on, filled with laughter and quiet smiles, and you’re constantly reminded of the world of difference between you two. Okgyeong tells stories of her performances. She still feels fed up at times but perhaps your presence in the crowd has been helping her. Not to mention the fact that she treats your nighttime hangouts at this bar as her very own debriefing session. She almost sounds like you’re the only one in the room, the one she wants to impress. 

Okgyeong suggests you two walk outside to get some fresh air after the drinking session, just so both of you can go home sober. You agree, gleefully so, appreciating the fact that she wants to lessen your hangover the morning after.

But then, as you walk down the pavements, something comes up in Okgyeong’s silly little mind.

“You know,” she says, voice soft but teasing, “I could show you a bit of what I do on stage. Give you a private performance.” Her eyes narrow playfully, a small, daring smile pulling at her lips.

“While walking?” you chuckle in disbelief, a little flustered by the idea. “And don’t I already get enough of your performances? Moon Okgyeong, I barely miss Maeran troupe’s performances, you know?”

“No, just imagine it…” She closes the distance between you two, her whole demeanor shifting in an instant, and the usual laid-back posture transforming into something more refined, princely.

She then stops walking, and you follow suit, looking around in quite a panic. If someone were to spot you two they would think you’re a pair of drunk idiots. The idea amuses you, but it might not be good for Okgyeong’s image!

Much to your worry, however, Okgyeong’s posture just goes upright and noble. Then suddenly, when her smile drops and her eyes turn poignant, she’s no longer Okgyeong but a regal figure from some old tale, a prince on a mission.

Prince Hodong from Jamyunggo. Perhaps you’ve watched so much of her that a brief change in expression could already make you deduce which character she is trying to portray.

Her hand slides over to your shoulder. She positions herself behind, her touches gentle, her lips inches away from your ear. “Oh, my dearest Princess Mokryeon…” she begins, her voice lowering, words laced with an intensity that makes the hair on your arms stand on end. “I have crossed rivers and scaled mountains to see you, my one and only.” Her other hand lifts to your cheeks. It then trails down to rest lightly along your jaw. “And I shall continue to do so, just as I would be willing do so.”

You feel your breath catch, aware of every point where her skin touches yours. Unlike in the theater, where her voice must have volume enough to reach the back even during intimate scenes, Okgyeong’s voice right now is barely a whisper—tipping almost to sultriness, but still gentle enough to be as wholesome.

She gently tilts your face with her fingers, in an angle just right to see you eye to eye, while you—for the love of god—can’t look away. No, you refuse to look away, not when her thumb brushes over your cheek, especially not when it leaves a tingling warmth in its wake. 

“Would you take my hand, my dear princess,” Prince Hodong murmurs, her words carrying a solemn vow, “and let me guard you, cherish you, for as long as I draw breath?”

You have to say something. 

But Okgyeong’s breath tickling the expanse of your neck and the back of your ears is not helping at all. Your mind is suddenly a muddy puddle, devoid of thoughts for its fitful sake to keep your sanity in check.

She notices your surprise and fluster, and yet she doesn’t break character—well, aside from the glint in her eyes that she barely hides out of amusement with your reaction. Her hand leaves your chin, then it trails down to your wrist, wrapping around it with a tenderness that’s both grounding and thrilling. “My love, my sweetest love,” she says, voice dropping even lower, “I would be a fool to let another soul near you, to allow any gaze but mine to rest upon you.”

Wait, hold on. You’ve watched Maeran’s rendition of Jamyunggo for as long as you remember, and so you know by heart that what she said just now is not in the script.

Her hand shifts—two fingers graze the inside of your wrist where she can feel the rapid beat of your pulse. Oh dear, it’s beating so fast; the way Okgyeong is trying her hardest not to chuckle upon realizing that fact.

Why wouldn’t it beat fast though, when you now feel the world around you slipping away? Her words are weaving a spell around you, and you couldn’t comprehend anything but the weight of her touch as well as the steady, smoldering look in her eyes.

“I… I wouldn’t know what to do with a prince like you,” you stammer, unsure if you’re trying to go along with her adlibs or genuinely raising a concern.

Okgyeong’s lips twitch, a soft smile breaking through her intensity. She softens her gaze, much to your relief, but her fingers still linger on your wrist—it feels warm, grounding.

“Then let me show you,” she lifts your hand up to her chest, then presses it over her heart. “Can you feel it too?”

“F-fast…” your gaze quickly lays upon her, now confused. Why is her heart beating fast?

“Indeed it is,” she smiles, “wanna know why?”

And with that smile, you just know that she’s done acting a while ago. “Okgyeong…”

“Hm?” Okgyeong lights up with a tender smile. She holds your hand a moment longer, touch lingering even as she returns to her usual self.

“Why?”

"Honestly, I... I’m not used to feeling like this," she admits, a touch of uncertainty as she laughs. "I’m always in front of others. Performing. But with you, the primary isn’t to perform, but rather to be just here, with you."

You feel the warmth spread through you, filling all the quiet spaces inside. For the first time, you understand a little of what she’s been trying to tell you. You aren’t just a simple person. You’re someone who—without even knowing—has become the most captivating part of her world.

“But, Okgyeong,” this time, you’re the one to close the distance, “you’re way beyond me. I’m as plain and normal as you could ever be. I don’t think you…”

Okgyeong hushes you, her finger laying atop your lips. “You have no idea how I see you, how other people see you, and how much I’ve been holding back all this time.” 

And now, she looks more vulnerable than you’ve ever seen her.

Of course, you don’t think you could ever understand how she sees you. Her dark eyes are soft in the moonlight as you speak, but it’s not a mirror—it never would be. It's just like how Okgyeong will never understand how you see her.

To you, Okgyeong’s the charismatic one. She commands a room; her voice and presence fill every corner. She’s Maeran’s prince, after all. She’s someone who embodies grace and allure in a way no one else could. Yet, here she is, eyes full of yearning and reverence before you.

She is wrapped in the warmth of your simplicity, hopelessly so, that she finds herself craving it more than the applause of a thousand audiences.

You’re at a loss for words. For all the times you’ve shared quiet moments together, she’s never been so open about how she feels about you. Only now do you realize that Okgyeong actually cares this much, this deep. There’s much of herself she holds back out of fear of overwhelming you. And as you gaze back at her, you realize just how badly you want to ease the doubts lingering in her mind.

"Then… make me," you say softly, "make me understand how you see me, Okgyeong.”

Your words seem to stun her, and for once, you see her carefully composed exterior crumble. Her lips part as if to say something to no avail. Instead, she steps forward, reaching out until her lips glide yours. You feel tremors in her hands as they wrap around your cheeks, and you can’t help but smile, a feeling of warmth and belonging spreading through you.

Her lips are soft on yours, careless and unrefined. Sloppy as it sounds, you could feel how Okgyeong had really held herself back in consideration of your feelings. And now that you’ve given her the go signal to let it all out, there’s no way she could let that opportunity pass. You’re gonna feel all of her, tonight and the days after, until you can finally understand where she’s coming from—until you can finally see how she sees you.

Her touch lingers in your every nerve, wrapping around you like a blanket. You feel warmth spreading through your chest, and slowly, carefully, your heartbeat stables again.

[bellaniebrambles]

Diary 016, The Killer

There is a serial killer in the region I frequent. It is said they target single women traveling. Odd, isn't it? I had a question in my mind echoing, 'What is your thoughts on fate?' and constantly I try to muster a answer for myself.

Do I believe that maybe things happen for a reason? As a woman raised on faith of god I suppose I should think this to be a bit true. That God has everything planned out for me and no matter how hard I try to pull away, things will happen as they are meant to. Is it luck that I have survived this long untouched by any real dangers on the roads I travel? There has been a number of attacks, all in times I've been out there.

I don't travel fast. I don't travel hidden. I don't snuff my lantern light at night. I am the firefly bright and slowly floating in the night. If someone sought me, they could track and find. I'm no hunter and wouldn't know how to hide my tracks, truly. Perhaps though that being slow is what has spared me, like the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Did I mention previously the chance folk tales are not so, folk?

People often pass me, stop and chat. Never once has someone been aggressive, a danger. A disturbing thought came to mind that it is possible I've met a robber, a witch, a serial killer out there on the roads and greeted them just as any other in pass. I've no reason to show fear, or straight up impoliteness out there. Even if people do point out the oddness of my takes on travel.

I was traveling from Rhodes to Valentine and it was a foggy morning. I was distracted by a lot on that walk and me and Oliver ended up side tracked off the main road. Not really like me as of late but I went with it and the walk through some ruins of a old homestead and soon field that led to a scene of a beautiful rainbow. Deciding to snatch some luck we followed the one end of the rainbow and I took a stance up on a stone wall over looking a shoreline, where the rainbow landed.

Taking a stop to look over the stunning foggy landscape a horse made its way through the mist and approached… What are the chances? It was a woman and a man. The woman I had met previously, whose name by coincidence was Misty. After they depart the fog in the area completely drew back. To the main road I went back. A very strange interaction that would not have happened if I didn't follow a rainbow.

Once I got back to Strawberry Raven; pocket friend, informed me about the serial killer in the area. Also people getting abducted right in the middle of town. Maybe it is safer out in the wild. Once day came I went down to the lake and tried out fishing. Wanted to get my mind off things. Turned out I'm a natural and its really fun, easy…I could fill a whole couple of pages of my experience learning to fish on my own.

So now I wonder, do I change my own patterns, routine in fear of these attacks across the area? Or do I continue to be as I am? I don't really have an answer to that myself. I don't wish to be consumed by fear like others, as I've said when it comes to the bandits that roam. Someone however is mutilating women. Women, just like me.

Strangely this has sparked me to writing a possible new book… Who would think that my writers block would feel a bit of an antidote when a real mystery struck. I'm going to need to be more aware in these times. Less times of traveling at night when light is needed? Than again the towns aren't safe during night times with the bold kidnappings.

I guess its a good thing people often don't even notice me on first glance.

[666prophet]

Fallout S1:E8 - The Beginning

Some minor gripes and little details I didn't agree with. It sheds light to some in universe lore that was never talked about. I'm not sure I would introduce certain characters in the finale of a season, but I'm not the writers. Has some action, moves the main plot along in leaps and bounds as compared to other episodes. I think that its a really good end to the season but also a good episode on its own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spoilers and Deep Dive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess they really want to make the BoS very antagonistic. What did they do raze Filly? Typically in game they are more isolationist. Kind of don't fuck with me and I wont fuck with you. They have also made them out to be way more religious then they have ever been portrayed before. It also seems like Maximus is constantly wavering on if he wants to be in the BoS or escape.

More Russian weapons for some odd reason. Yes FO4 added the Handmade Rifle(AK47) but it didn't add things like the RPD or PPSh. I'll give a slight pass to the woman holding the BAR, because it is used as inspiration for the Automatic Rifle(FONV). Nice callback to the ghoul that she saved from the Super Dupermart.

Ok this is another inclusion of Sunset Sarsaparilla, so at this point there has to be an inclusion or mention of the Mojave. Still unsure how there are so many in universe cars in the flashbacks but none apparently survived to the present day. Other than the Mister Handy in the first episode, this Protectron is the only other robot seen in the past.

HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE CALLER! This is the NCR? Then why do the have all these RPDS? No Colt ARs? You're telling me that there are no snipers either? Why do we have a feral ghoul tied as a dinner guest? Oh look so cool that you got a two headed suckling pig. You know that thing that has never existed in the games.

I guess I called it. I've never seen a Robobrain that small. This feels like a joke. This is like a Roomba with a brain in a cloche. MCSCUSE ME?!?!?!?! Is this brain bot thing Bud Askins? DOUBLE MCSCUSE ME!!!!!!!! So we have who I guess is Mr. Robert House[RobCo](Simply because of the appearance), Julia Masters[Repconn](She's really the only talked about female CEO), Fredrick Sinclair[Big MT](The "Freddy-boy" comment from Mr. House) and finally Leon Von Felden[West Tek](he was the head guy on the FEV). I like this they are just rattling off all the actual in game vault experiments that players have experienced. This is interesting, are they implying that Vault-Tec actually let these companies take the lead and they would just foot the bill in order to get support and possibly money? NOW WE ARE REALLY FUCKING WITH CANON!!!!! In the games its meant to be a "we don't know who struck first, but everyone got in a lick" type of situation. Its heavily implied that the Chinese dropped the bombs first. But this doesn't make sense, since there are unfinished vaults. If you had your finger on the button, why push it before you could maximize profits? Also damn Coop, it really be your own sometimes. I hate the de-aging CGI that Hollywood does. I understand that Kyle MacLachlan is older but still. This also explains why The Ghoul reacted the way he did when Lucy said her full name. Hate to be that guy, but technically Moldaver hasn't told Lucy when she is from either. So don't get too high on your horse just yet ma'am. Dammit Dane, here I was thinking you were a standup dude. You really let Maximus take that punishment the whole fucking time.

So Vault-Tec or more specifically Vault 31 had access to bombs and nuked the capital of the NCR? So you've just kept Rose as pet for the last 20 some odd years? That seems equally as fucked up. So is no body gonna notice that Norm is gone? Also Vault-Tec doesn't have any way of getting surface information? Well if Griffith Observatory is the new NCR headquarters, the NCR must be in shambles. Also that is a comically large red dot sight on these mounted guns for no reason. Well The Ghoul is just the consummate badass. How the fuck does Hank just know how to get into and operate power armor? So he is looking for his family. In a classic Lucyism, she seemed more broken up about shooting Martha the ghoul than HER MOTHER THAT IS A GHOUL. Surely leaving unlimited power source in the hands of the BoS will not have any lasting consequences. Ok nice, teasing finally some deathclaw action. Alright well that just seals the deal that the second season is going to be better. But also how the fuck are you going to make a story around New Vegas? Literally the endings vastly change how the strip ends up. I have a bad feeling that we are getting into that retconning or just plain making shit up for the canon of the show.

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

I'm not surprised they went with a cliffhanger ending. The inclusion of New Vegas is going to make for some interesting lore issues though. I hope they don't try to change established events. Even though this left somethings unanswered, it did answered enough to be a well rounded episode. Its funny how you introduce the NCR and give no context as to who they are or what they do, considering there will be people who have never played the games watching this show.

Final Score - 8/10

[maria-rayro]

coffeeshop!au, bonus

The sick Du'Met, expectedly, turns out to be a disaster.

The man has very rarely been sick, not least because of his constant wearing of masks and gloves, and therefore he is not used to feeling ill at all. So now even a slight illness is perceived by him as a heavenly punishment for all the sins he had committed in his life.

In addition, he was terribly irritated by his apparent inability to do anything. He was used to doing things all the time, used to being not the one who was taken care of by someone, but the one who took care of someone. And he knew he was perfectly good at it. He was almost a professional at it. And now he has to just lie there and accept the fact that someone is taking care of him? Madness.

Plus, being sick made him think about his childhood, when he fell ill quite often. His mother constantly scolded him for it and made the boy go to school in almost any state of his health. So yes, Granthem did not associate colds and flu with caring kisses on the forehead and chicken soup. Rather with violence and cold indifference.

So the illness made him feel tense, as if his psyche was subconsciously in constant anticipation of a punch or a yell, of some kind of violence. This was not particularly helpful to his recovery. Most of the time he stubbornly pretended to be asleep, covered almost head-to-toe with a blanket.

Charlie walks into the room and, seeing him like this, quietly sighs. After thinking about it, he walks over and sits on the edge of the bed, setting the tray of supper on the bedside table. After hesitating for another minute, he decides to put his hand on the man's shoulder to gently stroke him; he flinches at his touch, as if he'd been struck, and Charlie looks at him confusedly, but doesn't take his hand away. "Granthem, wake up, you need to eat," he says softly, stroking the man's shoulder gently through the thick fabric of the blanket.

Barista sighs heavily, but still relaxes thanks to the gentle touch. He turns around after a couple of long moments, laying on his back and looking tiredly at the softly smiling Lonnit. He looks so cute now, in those blue pajamas Granthem gave him. He's lovely to look at.

Charlie suddenly reaches out and touches his hot forehead with the palm of his hand. "You're really hot," he frowns a little anxiously, about to take his hand away and go get a thermometer, when suddenly Granthem takes him by the wrist, forcing him to continue this pleasant cool touch. He covers his eyes, rubbing his forehead against Charles's cold fingers. "You're just like a cat, Granthem," Lonnit can't hold back a smile and playfully strokes his hair like a beloved kitty. Du'Met smiles faintly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you have a fever, my dear. And we must do something about it," Charles says.

Granthem rolls his eyes, wrapping himself in the blanket again. "Sleep," he replies.

"No, Granthem, you have to eat and take your medicine first," says Lonnit softly but insistently, and then sighs. "I can't believe I was this stupid and self-righteous just a few days ago," he shakes his head. "Granthem, please," he begs piteously, looking at him with his puppy dog eyes. Du'Met looks at this with his lips pressed together. "Please?" Lonnit continues to gently push, and the man surrenders, obediently sitting up on the bed to eat. Charlie immediately brightly smiles, glowing like the sun. He is clearly pleased with his another small victory.

When the man finishes his meal and takes the necessary medicine, he immediately covers himself with the blanket up to his chin, looking at Charles thoughtfully and even longingly. The director smiles at him and reaches out to brush his hair away from the forehead. The man flinches subtly again. "You're like a frightened kitten, Granthem," sighs Lonnit somewhat sadly, because he can guess what might have caused such behavior of his barista. "Who did that to you?" he asks, stroking his hair. The man only sighs, silently covering his eyes. He never liked to talk, and he certainly didn't like to talk about himself and his past.

Charlie sighs, running his palm through the man's hair one last time, and turns around, about to leave to do the dishes, when Granthem suddenly grabs his wrist, silently asking him to stay with him. Lonnit, looking at him, sighs with a soft smile. "You pretend you're perfectly healthy and don't need my help, and then you start acting like you're dying just to make me stay nearby. I always thought you are a very honest and straightforward man, Granthem," he remarks with a smile, obediently, though, lying down beside him, returning his hand to the man's hair.

"I don't like being pathetic," Du'Met replies in a slightly husky voice.

Charlie shakes his head. "You are not pathetic, my dear. I think what you called "pathetic" is actually humaneness," notes Lonnit. "Yes. That's what you are now - a human being."

"Insulting," Du'Met says naggingly to him.

Charlie laughs. "Human and charming," he says, jokingly poking his finger at the tip of the barista's nose and then leaning in to kiss the man, but he dodges. " Oh, come on, don't be so touchy"

"I'm not touchy. It's just that I'll infect you and we'll start this vicious cycle all over again. And we're adults that have chores to do. So don't," he says, pulling the blanket up so that only his eyes are visible. Charlie looks warmly into his eyes with a smile.

"You're so cute," he can't stand it, and Granthem rolls his eyes.

"Just because I'm dying doesn't mean I can't bite you for saying that," he replies grumpily, turning away from the man, feeling embarrassed for probably the first time in his life.

When he recovers, he pretends to be sick for one more day, just so Lonnit can nurse him a bit more.

There's no way he'll ever admit it. Not even to himself.

[domoz]

More deathswap au because the more niche the idea the more i end up thinking about it i guess.

Kou and Kuro (Uchihas) are Tajima's oldest children, Kawarama and Itama are Butsuma's youngest. Tajima also married earlier than Butsuma did -- Kou was already born by the time Butsuma realized it was something he needed to worry about

(Butsuma and Tajima are also both spare heirs rather than firstborn which is some headcanon to explore another day)

Hashirama and Madara met when they were each on a mission rather than at the river, but their objectives didn't require them to fight and they struck up a tentative allyship and eventually growing friendship -- only for that to be exploited, ending with both of them and probably many others killed.

This causes hostilities to increase and the war to grow to the most violent it's ever been. It gets so bad that, when Tobirama asks to accompany his younger brothers on their missions, Butsuma agrees. He dies defending Itama.

(I don't actually know if Izuna lives or not in this AU) (There is another baby Uchiha not pictured here as well, who does live. Togakushi is chronically ill and never develops his sharingan, but he does survive)

The war drags on, but the Uchiha are ever so slowly gaining ground. Butsuma dies in a last ditch effort to take out Tajima with him, and succeeds.

Unfortunately, Kou has had many more years than Kawarama to learn how to lead a clan, and he's just better at it in general. He's a decent enough fighter, but his real skills are in diplomacy/manipulation etc etc. He's also a good long term planner and ever since he was presented as Tajima's heir has been making himself (and his clan) the daimyo's Golden Boy. Possibly even going so far as to engineers situations to then solve and make himself look good.

Itama learned the world of politics very, very quickly, especially once he realized that it could be used to avoid more violence. His generally anxious disposition was only made worse by having his brother die right in front of him, but he is a weaponized user of Senju Emotional Repression and manages to keep it more or less under control when he's at court.

Kawarama is constantly stressed and hyper aware that he's not cut out to be clan-head. His and Itama's relationship is strained (Mix of self esteem issues on both ends + Itama feeling like Kawarama must blame him for Tobirama's death) (Kawarma isn't sure if he does or not, and they don't really know how to comfort each other, but they're the only family they have left so they're ride or die regardless)

Kou and Kuro are significantly older than Madara (and Izuna??) were. Kou had only just started to acknowledge them as People who Existed when they died, and didn't mourn overmuch. Kuro was much closer to them and mourns them a great deal. He saw Madara's potential and foresaw him becoming the most powerful person in the clan.

Despite this, Kuro is also the one with the softest heart between the two of them, and is usually the one to convince Kou to go for more merciful options when he doesn't need to. He ends up with a lot of sympathy for individual Senju, if not the clan as a whole.

there is of course a little bit of plot brewing in my head, but if i say im not going to do anything with it i know i inevitably will. So who knows??

[jessiesparkes]

OMG YOU WROTE TWINNING WITH A TWIST!!!

as someone who adores Ella and fully believes Sammy should have been a main character I love love love twintwist (does it have an abbreviation? like how slippery slopes is slipslop? the acronym is TWAT so i don’t wanna call it that lmao ANYWAY)

legit, probably one of my favourite fics. ever? I’ve reread it approximately 50 times I love it so much

it’s honestly a breath of fresh air reading, im going to be honest, most total drama fics in general because. wow what a change, the person who wrote this Actually Cares about the characters. wild. and twintwist is legit just That

the direction you took Ella and how she developed was so unexpected but made so much sense, i love how you took little details from the og season and expanded on them, like the thin apartment walls and her constantly wearing gloves (OOF) (also her Home Situation. did hit me a little personally)

and SAMMY!! omg this is what I mean when I say she should’ve been a main character!! i was cheering her and Ella on literally the whole way

Amy my beloved beloathed. kudos to you for actually giving her depth beyond “she is a bitch because reasons” and her redemption arc actually worked so well I loved it

I love how you wrote the other characters too!! did not realise a Beardo and Sammy friendship was something I desperately needed in my life but now I can never go back, Jashawn were somehow even more adorable and 100x less frustrating, Dave was. honestly a lot less unbearable

Scarlett and Sammy’s conversation in the treehouse is so many layers of fascinating. it lives rent free in my head. like yeah Scarlett was trying to manipulate a situation but like you question how much she genuinely meant the things she said. this is fully just me speculating but the line “romance doesn’t interest me personally” (or words to that effect) really makes me think. because like. that implies she could be romance-repulsed and/or aromantic, right? so when she’s talking to Sammy about how no, a lot of people will not understand Sammy and actively despise her, and it won’t be easy, but they don’t matter, you wonder how much Scarlett’s just BSing and how much she’s drawing from personal experience. she’s definitely not a good person (I processed that when she tried to kill everyone via island explosion) but there’s a LOT more to her than she lets on even post-reveal

speaking of Scarlett, when Sammy arrived on the PDL and found out apparently Scarlett was like in her early 20s masquerading as a teenager and this wasn’t her first run-in with the RCMP

i will confess

my first thought was “wait was she Izzy in disguise?!”

listen I have fully breached the “this is not what god (you) intended this is purely me reaching” zone, but… yeah lmao

ANYWAY I think I have bothered you enough with my ramblings, I’m CrystalHavoc on ao3, so you’ve probably seen all the rest of my Thoughts on ur fic. but i somehow just now found your tumblr so. i guess this is me putting one big notice of appreciation directly in your askbox. as a tdpi enjoyer and Ella-and-Sammy lover i super super love twintwist!!!

and idk how to end this so. yeah thank you!!! for writing it!!! ok bye

Hi there!! Gosh thank you so much for the kind message, I still can't believe I'm getting such high praise for Twinning (what I refer to it as rather than its abbreviation XD) after all this time! And for you to have reread it so many times?? I never realized how much of an effect it had on people :D

To be perfectly honest there are some parts of the fic that I kind of wish I'd done differently, but I'm sure that's what every creator thinks about their work. To this day I am still incredibly proud and humbled that it has struck a chord with so many people, and messages like these help to remind me that I'm able to make a positive change in this lifetime :)

When I originally wrote the Sammy and Scarlett scene, I had been writing Scarlett from an aromantic/asexual point of view, though I've since learned that classifying a villain as being incapable of falling in love is kinda ehhhhh not a great light to put them under. So now it's partially because of her being aromantic, and also because she's far too busy creating evil schemes engrossing herself in her work that she just simply doesn't care. And while Scarlett's ultimate goal was to make Sammy suffer by encouraging her to get together with Ella and then eliminating one or the other swiftly after, she more than likely did have some history with the topic of not letting others judge you for who you are. So yeah, she's a socially conscious greedy little nutcase :D (also yeah no she's not izzy, she just managed to fake her way into the game lol, though her being an adult is based off an izzy interpretation from another fic series)

Thanks so much again for all the support!! It genuinely means so much to me to see you and so many other people still loving the story to this day. Hopefully I can work up the ability to write more in the future, though unfortunately that's becoming increasingly harder to do :'( Anyways thanks again and I hope you have a wonderful day!! <3

[lokislytherin]

random lookism q for you! which 2 characters (ideally those who barely have any interaction) would you want to see interact more? :)

hello jann i have so many combos how am i supposed to pick. ur so determined to make me write essays huh /j you know what im just gonna make this jay & various lookism characters that i wanna see him interact with bc he's been missing for so long this is my copium that he's been here all along

jay & mira

they are the housewives waiting for their husbands to come back from the war dynamic, but in jay's case he joined the war as a medic who can also fight on the frontlines bc he missed daniel. i like to think during the period of time their boys were gone, jay and mira became closer bc they were both lonely. think about it - daniel is undoubtedly jay's best friend and literally jay's only friend, while zack and mira have such a long history and the requited pining they have is so intense.

just imagine having to suffer through school alone... hence mira struck up a conversation (even tho she had no idea how to understand jay), and now they're kind of friends. maybe they're lonely bc they miss their boos but they're lonely together now, which makes things a lot better. mira still doesn't quite understand jay, but she Gets the pining, so that's a start. she doesn't know whether to root for emo introvert jay to get with daniel or social butterfly zoe, so for now she's just hoping they'll end up in a polyamorous relationship bc she doesn't want her friends to end up with broken hearts. according to zack (who finds the time to text her whenever he can bc he misses her a lot and his current canon break is bc they're hanging out like the lovebirds they are), daniel has also been picking up boyfriends left and right so the daniel ship might actually have more people than she originally thought, actually.

also they bond over fashion, because mira thinks jay needs to expand his closet. all jay has is designer suits (and the occasional biker jacket) and mira is the god of thrifting and cute fits! if you want the j high fashion boys in cute Normal People (read: proletariat) fits mira is your go-to

2. jay & zoe

once again, housewives waiting for their husband to come back from the war dynamic, but they've got the same dynamic. they are the co-captains of the daniel fan club and they constantly fight for first place. zoe is losing (because she's been away from canon even longer than jay) and she hates it (it's okay. she's realizing daniel is a very good friend, who is coincidentally very hot, but that's he's not exactly boyfriend material for her, for some reason. he's so bestie-coded).

zoe has 0 idea what jay's thinking 50% of the time, the other 50% of the time jay just goes :( so she just Knows he's thinking of daniel and missing him bc yeah. she does that too. it's just more obvious with jay because he doesn't show his eyes and that reduces his expression ability by a lot bc he's the most expressive with daniel, and when daniel's not there he's just _ . not even -_- he's just _ because he doesn't show his eyes so zoe can't even begin guessing what he's thinking. mira only gets him bc she's got the Nice Person Telepathy (it's called years of dealing with tsuntsun zack = pro body language reader)

i'm not gonna lie about jay he's very competitive towards her bc in his eyes zoe has a bigger chance than crystal? mainly bc crystal is so mean to daniel homegirl has 'Men DNI' in her eyes she exudes that energy while jay is hong jay homosexual gay and he's like yo. daniel please look over. hot boy in the area.

jay has never thought of out-sexy-ing zoe tho. zoe's assets are her medium is premium booba (she's only b cup but south korean average cup size is like a small a) and all jay has is his flat chest. even lookism tumblr barely believed in his booba until 2% of almost 300 people suddenly went actually it exists

3. jay & ryuhei

blond 🤝 motorbike 🤝 bathrobe + bath lovers (ryuhei is The Biggest onsen lover and you can fight me on this + jay is canonical bath haver) 🤝 in love with a dark haired person who will probably never look at them the way they want them to.

i hc they actually met once while being on their bikes, but both of them had their helmets on (bc safety first! daniel/mitsuki would be sad/annoyed if they died riding their bikes which is not ideal). ryuhei nodded over like 'yo nice ducati dugati bro' and jay nodded back like 'thanks bro' and it was a moment of Mutual Understanding bc of Biker Language

also i just really wanna know how they would interact in canon? my hc of them meeting was off-screen bc i'm sure both of them have more to do with their lives but what if they fought each other. weapon user to weapon user. kali arnis user jay vs ryuhei with his chain bat. two blond boys trying to bonk each other to death until they realize they're both simps actually. and then they bond via trash talk (ryuhei) and getting triggered every time ryuhei mentions romance (jay) and then bonk each other some more bc NO WAY THIS WEIRDO IS NOT MY KINNIE

4. jay & samuel seo

sanest person in the verse fights complete utter nutjob, but both of them believe that they are the sane person and the other guy is the nutjob. samuel seo's like WHO'S THIS BLOND FREAK WHY IS HE CHASING ME WITH A BB GUN and jay's like GET BACK HERE SO I CAN SHOOT YOUR GIANT TITS RIGHT OFF AS PAYBACK FOR BULLYING DANIEL. GET YOUR ASS HERE OR I'LL RIP YOUR BOTOX TITS OFF AND FEED IT TO MIRO AND EDEN BC 1) GOOD SNACK FOR THEM 2) MY PUPS ONLY DESERVE PREMIUM STEAK

tbf jay's not saying anything he's just exuding Murderous Energy (think jay in ch435) so ofc samuel's confused. this blond twink doesn't speak he's just chasing samuel with a bb gun

5. jay & gun

GUNJAY PARALLELS. THAT'S IT THAT'S THE TWEET

i've got more about the GunJay Parallels in another post which i am honestly too lazy to link bc u've probably alr seen it but i just wanna see the two daniel simps fight each other yk. i know jay's gonna get his ass beat to hell and back but i believe in Protective Hong Jaeyeol and Possessive Hong Jaeyeol rights like this perv is the guy daniel's been training with?? this is the bastard who basically tortured daniel bc daniel wanted to learn how to fight and be stronger??? oh boy the minute jay finds out about what gun did to daniel he'll sic the law on gun. or poison him

bc i believe in dumbhead!gun and STEM kid!jay supremacy.

jay, copying the anime he watched with daniel: お前はもう... 死んでいる！

gun, who received 0 intel about jay and wondering who tf this Blond Bastard™ is: 뭐?! この바보は누구

daniel, who only knows bits and pieces of jp bc he's an avid anime watcher: gun wtf is wrong with u.

daniel: also omg jay hi <3

jay, immediately: /////// <3

(that's him blushing btw)

i also want more interactions with jay and vasco and jay and zack and jay and johan and-

i could go on forever

thank you for the ask jann! wow this is. long