#I love how the format of this came out ! It’s meant to sort of look like a face card in a pack of cards

[mertensia]

” Is this just our secret ? “

Love love looove what these two are plotting this season, I cannot wait to see how it plays out !!

Alt version under the cut !

[atlabeth]

mine forever

request from @nghtwngs

pairing: nikolai lantsov x fem!tidemaker reader

a/n: SO sorry for posting this early and having to delete 💀 i was formatting and didnt realize i was not saving it as a draft lmao. but thank you for sending this in love!!! and PLEASEE send in as much nikolai as you want i miss writing for him so much

wc: 1.4k

warning(s): hurt/comfort. reader is insecure, nikolai is the sweetest as usual

join in on my 3k celebration!!

“You’re avoiding me.” 

Your eyes didn’t move away from the horizon when you heard Nikolai’s voice, though you felt your muscles tense. 

“Clearly not well enough,” you remarked. “Seeing as you found me.” 

“You know I’ll always find you,” Nikolai murmured. “But that means little if you will not talk to me.” 

Of course you were not talking to him. You did not know how to talk to him—not when you so clearly didn’t understand the issue plaguing you. 

All you’d ever known was the life of a Grisha. You were tested when you were young, revealed to be a Tidemaker, and whisked away to the Little Palace, where you’d been honing your abilities ever since. You rebelled against the one thing you knew, joined the side of the Sun Summoner, and now you were in the midst of a war for the very survival of your people. 

There were so few Tidemakers left after the Darkling’s massacre, which meant Alina and Nikolai were counting on you more than ever in their fight to reclaim Ravka. 

But when you needed your powers most, they disappeared. 

You— you just didn’t understand, because it didn’t make sense. You’d spent years studying the Small Science and how to wield it, how to manipulate the water around you no matter how miniscule. 

This was not merzost. You had never tampered with the way of the world, never attempted to bastardize the abilities you’d been granted.

Like called to like. There was a part of you that connected to the water, that allowed you the affinity for all of this.  

You had just… lost it. For no apparent reason. 

“There is nothing to talk about,” you stated simply. The cold of the railing shocked your fingers as you set your hand down, but you welcomed any sort of feeling. 

“Do not be ridiculous,” Nikolai said wryly. He came out onto the balcony and stopped beside you. You could see him looking at you through your peripherals, could feel his intent gaze. “Nobody avoids me unless they have a reason.”

You huffed a bitter laugh. “I certainly have a reason, moi tsarevich.”

“So we’ve gone back to titles?” Nikolai’s lips quirked up. “Shall I start referring to you as Grisha? Tidemaker, even?”

You scoffed. “That would be inaccurate.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “We’ve reached the root of the problem.”

“We hardly did anything,” you said. “Do you talk just to hear the sound of your own voice?”

“I do, as a matter of fact,” Nikolai said. “But you should know your scornful words have no effect when I’m aware of your true feelings.”

“If you are aware of my true feelings, you should know I would like to be left alone.” 

“You want to be left alone because you feel useless without your power,” he said. “Any man worth their salt would not fall to that, and fortunately, I’m worth quite a lot.” 

You finally turned to look at Nikolai, though you could not muster the full force of your anger when you did. He had that slight smile still, the glint in his eyes, and all you could think was that you didn't even deserve this kindness. 

“Because I am,” you said. 

He shook his head. “You are not. Far from useless, actually.” 

“You served in the First Army, didn’t you?” 

“I hardly see how that’s relevant—” 

“Just answer my question.” 

“...Yes,” he said. “I was infantry. The 22nd Regiment.” 

“And if you had lost the ability to shoot a gun, would you be allowed to stay on the front lines?” 

Nikolai shook his head. “I will not participate in hypotheticals to help you feel worse.” 

“Because you know it’s true.” You looked back out at the horizon—the sun was steadily setting. “I have no place here anymore.” 

He said your name with a slight huff. “That is not true.” 

“I’m not Grisha anymore!” you exclaimed as you whirled back to face him. “The only reason I have ever gotten anywhere— the only reason I am here, the only reason I ever met you in the first place— it is all because of my power.” You pulled your jacket tighter around yourself in the wake of a cold wind. The material was noticeably thinner than your kefta, but you could not bring yourself to wear it anymore. “I’m useless now. To— to Ravka, to the Second Army— to you.” 

His brows furrowed. “You are not useless to Ravka— and you could never be useless to me.” You averted your eyes, unable to meet the full weight of his softened gaze, and his frown deepened. “That’s what this is about then? 

“Don’t act like it’s so ridiculous,” you muttered. 

Nikolai had the nerve to laugh, and you glared at him. He held up his hands in defense, but he could not fully bite back his smile. 

“I apologize, lapushka, but I did not even consider that as an option for why you were so upset.” 

Nikolai took your hands in his, hands that had been the key to your power the entire life, that were failing you, and he held them like nothing else in the world mattered. “Do you know how absurd the thought of me not loving you is?” 

You glanced away, but Nikolai gently cupped your chin with a few fingers and tilted you back to meet his eyes. 

“Because it is,” he continued, letting his hand fall back down to grasp yours. “I love you with everything in me. I love you because you are you—not because of your powers. Not because you are Grisha.” 

“Who am I if I am not Grisha?” Your voice came out as little more than a whisper, near a desperate plea. You’d never felt weaker, never felt smaller. The only thing you’d known all your life had been ripped away from you, and you felt as if you’d been shoved into an endless void. 

Nikolai said your name softly as he squeezed your hands. “You are a soldier of great renown. A revolutionary on the right side of history. The most loyal friend someone can have. And lest you somehow manage to forget it, you are the woman I love.”

“You deserve better than—” you swallowed the lump in your throat. “—than some broken, failed Grisha.”

“You are not broken,” Nikolai murmured, and he never looked away from your eyes as he lifted your hand to press a kiss to the back of it. “We are merely on… a different path.” 

“A different path,” you repeated, and you could not help your wry laugh. 

“Yes,” he nodded. “And we will go down every step of it together. Do you understand that?” 

Nikolai fought for everything he had, despite his standing as a Lantsov. He was a soldier on the front lines, he rose through the ranks on the sea under a pseudonym, and now he was clawing his way through useless formalities in order to take back the throne that he deserved. 

And here you were—someone who was given everything because of some power inside you. And now you didn’t even have that. 

It just did not seem right. It did not make sense. For a man as powerful as Nikolai to stick by your side despite such a misgiving. 

“If you don’t, that is alright.” Nikolai shrugged. “I will just have to spend extra time showing you how much I revere your very being.” 

“Nikolai,” you murmured, and his grip on your hands tightened. 

“I cannot pretend to understand what you are going through,” he said. “I cannot lose what you have lost because I’ve never had it in the first place. But I can promise you wholeheartedly that we will figure out what is wrong. Together.” 

“And what if we don’t?” you asked. You couldn’t help it. 

“Then nothing will change,” Nikolai vowed. “Milaya, nothing can tear me away from you, whether you are Grisha or not. Do you understand that?” 

A part of you still could not. Who were you if you were not of use? 

But when you met Nikolai’s eyes, those beautiful hazel eyes that seemed to glow with the sunset, full of softness and admiration and love, you found that you could start to.

You may not have believed in yourself, but Nikolai did. And that had to mean something.  

“I’m beginning to,” you murmured. 

“Good,” he said, and his lips quirked into a smile. “But fear not, milaya. I hold enough love for you inside of me for the both of us in the meantime.” 

[spooklies]

Hay I loved your Yandere platonic Jason Todd HC could you please do more maybe with a friend with powers or something

# Control - Platonic Yandere Jason Todd & GN!Reader

♡ ... › He needed to keep control over them if he wanted to survive, unaware of the control he’s lose in the process.

— Written in HC Format

♡ ... › Warning(s) - Mild physical abuse. Child endangerment.

– It started with them taking pity, and then things began to escalate as she was forced to make a choice. Put her trust in this stranger in an act of selflessness, or make the smart choice and live selfishly? 

The rain was unrelenting that night in the streets of Crime Alley, and for Jason that meant it was a battle for not only food and water but for warmth as well. He’d made a home of sorts out of the material he could find lying around the dumpsters but because the material to begin with was as flimsy as they come, he ended up getting soaked anyway. 

So there he was, shivering beneath a cardboard box like some abandoned kitten, feeling more pathetic than at any other moment of his life. Each desperate gulp for moisture was akin to what he’d imagine eating gravel was like, dry and sharp. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from pondering the pros and cons of drinking out of a nearby puddle. If it meant surviving then he’d suck up what was left of his pride and do what he had to do. And as his thoughts continued to stray further into the pits of desperation, a shadow was suddenly cast over his form.

The cardboard box that had begun to drip and tear from the weight of the water was suddenly lightened, moving up with the growing cloud of water before being forced away somewhere else. Jason was mesmerized by the way the water had moved so unnaturally, and just as he was beginning to question who and what had done that, they’d stepped up and crouched in front of him, asking if he wanted them to dry their clothes for him as well with a wary look on their face.

It was obvious to him that they didn’t want to, so why bother offering in the first place?

At first, Jason glared, all the skepticism mustered into that look alone, but building trust came easy when they offered him an endless supply of clean water that came straight from the source above. He should decline, putting himself in a position where he was reliant on someone else for survival was never a good idea. But he was desperate, that much he could admit. And in his desperation, he made the choice to put his trust in someone else for the first time in a awhile just as they did the same for him. 

– After that night, Jason understood the importance of trust and how you could easily die without it.

His new friend explained to him that same night that their ability to manipulate water was meant to be a secret, and that if it got out then they would be in serious trouble. Jason listened intently, playing the part of the sympathetic friend as they stupidly told him something he could very well use against him if he so needed to.

They made it so easy. He almost felt bad, almost.

“And if that were to happen, then we wouldn’t be able to see each other again, right?” Jason had asked, the reality of losing this source of sustenance causing him to panic mildly. He kept all his thoughts and emotions reined in, aware that their partnership was still in the beginning stages. Fragile, and easily shattered if he didn’t play his cards right.

His friend nodded, nothing but seriousness in those eyes of theirs. “Let’s make a deal,” They held out their pinky, and that had Jason hesitating. Deals are what get you killed, it's what ultimately got his father killed, and it’s what could bring him down the same path if he wasn’t careful. “I’ll help you, that means anything related to water issues, and you help me by keeping my secret, deal?”

Jason thought it over for a few minutes, trying to think of all the ways this deal could backfire on him, but after realizing this would provide him more benefits than cons, he held his pinky and wrapped it around theirs. He made sure to give them his best smile, quickly understanding that all of this would be way easier than he had originally anticipated.

“Deal, but we have to know where each other is at all times, okay?” They nodded, their shoulders relaxing as he wrapped his pinky around theirs. It wouldn’t be good if they found someone else possibly better than he was to take care of their needs, that would mean he lost a good source of survival.

He needed control. And if there’s anything the lousy adults in his life taught him, it was that the best way to gain it was through emotional means.

Unbeknownst to him, his plan would backfire in the most unexpected way possible. 

– In the following years, the two of them became inseparable.

They’d both kept their promises to each other with a few unsaid rules being thrown into the mix. After they’d promised to always be where Jason was nearby or aware of, they would often get scolded whenever they’d wandered too far, or too close to someone that was on Jason’s danger list.

“I thought I told you to stay where I could see you?” Jason had a vice-like grip on their wrist, teetering on the edge of pain. It was getting harder for him to become aware of his growing strength as he got older, so they didn’t blame him whenever he accidentally caused a bruise or two.

Nothing could compare to what they’d been through with people much older and bigger than he was. And it wasn’t like he was doing it on purpose, so it was easy to ignore and play off his actions. 

“I just wanted to pet that cat…” It felt like a reasonable enough response when they’d initially thought it, but saying it aloud made their face heat up in embarrassment. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, we’re going back to our place,” His tone left no room for argument, not that they would dare. Especially not when he all but dragged them through the streets by their wrist.

– If someone ever bothered his friend, now referred to as his best friend, then he’d make sure that person would suffer.

When Jason finally became aware of the strength he contained it was… scary to watch first hand. They’d been too fearful to step in and stop Jason from throwing those last punches, but the stinging pain on their face was a reminder of why Jason had gone as far as he had.

After Jason was finished he turned to his friend, a relieved smile on his face at seeing his best friend now safe and out of harm's way. A notion he made sure was possible as the person beneath him took their final breaths. 

“I think… I think we should head back before it starts to rain, yeah?” He wiped the specks of blood off his face in a manner that was inappropriately nonchalant considering what had just happened. He stood himself off the corpse and moved so he was instead standing in front of his best friend, those same hands that had just taken a life now gently brushing against the side of their face that stung with the pain of their newfound bruise.

He was scowling, but they understood it wasn’t directed at them. “That fucking bastard,” He mumbled, and then louder asked, “Did he hit you anywhere else?” 

They swallowed, a heavy feeling in their chest. “No…” Jason’s hand moved to theirs as he easily interlocked their fingers. He was shaking, the movement only being noticeable due to their almost unmoving state. The contrast in their demeanors was like night to day, something they chose to focus on as he brought them back to their place.

– One night, Jason disappeared. And he didn’t come back for a while.

They had begun to fear the worst, thinking their best friend was lying on the street somewhere dead after picking a fight with the wrong person. Their fear had prevented them from leaving the building Jason had called theirs, hunger and for the first time thirst wearing them down as each day passed.

But they knew Jason wouldn’t want them to stay wasting away in their lonesome, he’d want the exact opposite of that. So after years of relying entirely on Jason for their survival, they left the house and thus began a new chapter in their life.

– And then, after almost a month of radio silence, came a brightly colored vigilante.

They had been getting ready for bed when they heard the distinct squeak of a window pulling open from not too far away. Immediately their heart spiked with anxiety, the worst scenarios coming to mind as they readied themselves for a fight, only to hesitate upon seeing a kid their age wearing brightly colored clothes they’d only seen a few times upon glancing at a discarded newspaper.

“Robin?” They questioned, startling back when the colorful boy practically jumped towards them and embraced them. The water from the cup they’d left on the floor flew up and wrapped itself around Robin’s neck in a noose of sorts, just short of strangling the stranger if he were to start harming them.

But… nothing like that ever happened. They hesitated, and the collar they’d made dispersed and made itself at home in the fabrics of Robin’s uniform.

“I’m sorry… I’m so so sorry,” Robin kept repeating apologies, and the longer he spoke the more that familiarity snapped into place. They felt tears well up in their eyes, their arms finally rising to wrap themselves around Robin as they began crying. “I didn’t want to be gone for as long as I was, but now I’m back!”

They hiccuped back a sob. Was this real? Has their best friend really been okay all this time?

“I thought… I thought you were dead!” They sobbed, Robin sniffled, but he wasn’t crying nearly as much as they were.

“No, no, nothing like that! I was so worried when I couldn’t see you, but I’m here now and I can finally take you with me!”

Their confusion drowned out any happiness the reunion brought them.

“What? Jason, where have you been? And what do you mean you’re taking me somewhere?” They weren’t sure where this sudden ball of unease came from, but the longer they stood there next to Robin– no, Jason, the stronger that feeling grew. 

Everything about the boy in front of them was different. And usually, different means danger. 

And so, they spent the next few hours catching up, all of their questions being answered in ways that made their suspicion out to be unreasonable. Were they overthinking things again? Jason always told them that they tended to do that. So was this truly any different? 

– Leaving the home they’d made together was difficult for more reasons than one.

Life all at once was suddenly moving way too fast for their liking. They’d assumed the worst of their best friend and thought him dead, and after spending a month regaining their independence they were losing all of that progress all over again with his return.

They should be happy, which they are, but it felt as if they were losing something else important to them right as they’d gained something back. A constant state of losing and gaining, but they struggled to comprehend which they wanted more, and which would benefit them the most in the end.

“Jason, what if I wanted to stay here?” It was completely hypothetical, but they regretted it almost as fast as they’d said it.

A beat of silence, a sense of dread filling them that they tried their best to keep from showing as Jason stared at them with an unnatural looking smile.

“No, you made a promise, remember?” Their eyes widened as they remembered what it was he was referring to. That pinky promise from the day they first met, a deal they had proposed in their desperation for a connection that didn’t originate from an adult wanting to take advantage of them. 

Jason wrapped his hands around theirs, a slight tremble in the gesture that they weren’t sure who it came from. 

“Plus, where we’re going you can learn how to use your powers without worrying so much about keeping it a secret! Doesn’t that sound nice?”

They… supposed that did. And if it’s Jason, then they can put their trust in him. Right?

[theamberwriter]

The Perfect Blend

Modern!Alpha!Levi Ackerman x Omega!GN!Reader || Tea Shop AU

Word count: 6.3k

So this is the first fic I’ve written in a while, and I cannot remember the last time I actually watched AoT. But my thirst for Levi can never be tamed. I hope this does him some justice. Also, I’m on my iPad. So the formatting may be a little weird.

Companion Art: [1] [2]

☕️📚

The Stem and Spine was the shiney new bookstore/tea shop opening on the corner on Prescott and Main. It seemed like ages since anyone had tried opening a store there. It was such a quaint spot. The historical building had detailed moldings, uneven red bricks, and chipped, dark blue paint. Six large, angled windows gave a panoramic view out to the bustling streets in your little college town.

It was the perfect spot to stop, drink tea, and people watch.

You were looking forward to opening day. You’d spent months crawling through every bookshop, online and in person, as well as every thrift shop trying to find one specific book. No one seemed to know of it’s existence. So you were silently begging the universe to cut you a break and let this new bookshop carry what you were looking for.

You’d only recently discovered their grand opening. An awkward omega gave you a flier. They were handing them out as people were leaving the grocery store. You were really excited, but maybe that was your inner bookworm talking.

Since the shop was right down the road, you decided to walk there on opening morning. You weren’t really expecting any sort of crowd. All of the college kids had gone home for the summer, so the streets had emptied out some. You enjoyed how quiet the summers were. So the long, winding line leading from the door of Stem and Spine was definitely a surprise.

You didn’t need to look for the book that badly. You could come in a month or so when things had died down some. You were going to head back home when you heard the people by you talking:

“I heard the guy running this place is hot as fuck,” said one.

“Did you hear what that girl in our study group said?” asked the other. The first shook their head. “Apparently his scent is like, super strong.”

The friend grinned, running their tongue over their teeth. “I can‘t wait to find out.”

Oh no, you mentally groaned then took a nice deep breath. The scents came one right after the other. A mangled mash up of pheromones. This line was almost entirely betas and omegas. And they were here for that alpha. You were never going to be able to shop there at this rate! As an omega yourself, you just knew they all would come from miles around until this guy was claimed.

You decided it was better to queue up, then maybe you’d actually get a chance to set foot inside. You waited for hours. You were sure those ahead of you would linger as long as possible and try to make an impression. That meant everyone had to stand in line longer.

By the time employees came down the line and told people they were closing for the night, your feet were killing you and your phone battery was nearly dead. All day and you’d only gotten a quarter of the way to the door! You could still see the spot you’d started from. A few people tried to get rowdy, complaining it was unfair that they’d been waiting all day. But their steam fizzled when employees threatened to call the police.

For two weeks, you checked the line for Stem and Spine. Day after day the line seemed to get longer. You saw a lot of returning faces, they must’ve been desperate. You even saw a handful of people getting escorted out by police! You also heard more and more rumors about what everyone was lining up for.

I heard he’s one of those hot, stoic types. I’d love to break him.

I heard that if you’re a beta or omega, just the guy’s scent is enough to make you jizz in your pants.

I heard he doesn’t like needy omegas, good thing I’m not like the others.

I heard he’s starting an entire harem - I’d love to be a part of that!

This is my eighth time going. I swear, I’m on the verge of making him my mate!

The rumors went on and on, getting more and more absurd. You wondered what this guy was really like, if he was really worth all of this. You weren’t interested, you just wanted a book! If anything, this was annoying. You figured it was probably annoying for him too, especially if he just wanted to do his job and not have to worry about anyone throwing themselves at him.

Finally, on a Sunday afternoon, you were able to set foot in Stem and Spine. It was quiet. No three block long line in sight. Sure, it was still busy but these people actually wanted books. They were all glued to the shelves, actually talking about books, and showing each other covers.

Inside was better than you’d imagined it. Everything was cream, gold, crimson, and navy blue. In one half was the tea shop. There were shelves of tea and accessories that lined the walls; loose leaf, prepackaged, diffusers, tea pots, honey sticks, spoon rests. As well as a long barista counter that had a large chalkboard and sizable drink list that was nothing but tea. There were a small handful of metal tables and chairs, and you remembered seeing some outside with umbrellas as well.

The other half of the store was the bookshop. There was row after row of books. Mostly fiction from your first glance. There were also displays for local authors and a shelf of new arrivals. You couldn’t wait to spend the day combing through. The entire vibe was cozy and the scent of jasmine wafting around was relaxing. You did wonder, however, how you were able to get in. Had the alpha been claimed? You didn’t smell anything overwhelming.

“Aaawwww, what do you mean he’s not here?!” You heard a girl whine. You were just starting on the second row of books.

“Mr. Ackerman isn’t here,” said the employee, irritation clear in their voice. “And no, I don’t know if he’ll be back today.”

The girl groaned loudly, but you didn’t hear her complain anymore. You figured she must’ve left. You wondered if she was the one who’d managed multiple visits.

“This has really gotten out of hand,” you heard the employee down the aisle say. They’d been stocking more books. “Great for sales, though.”

“That bad?” you asked. The employee looked at you, she looked tired. Her name tag read Mikasa.

“You have no idea,” she sighed. “I like working here. Levi is my cousin and a great boss, but these fangirls have just been too much. You’d think the fact that he ignores them would be a turn off. But they just keep coming.”

You didn’t realize you’d spent your whole afternoon in Stem and Spine until Mikasa came around to give you a five minute heads up. You were disappointed you didn’t find what you were looking for. But you still managed to find a couple hidden gems you were excited about. Maybe what you wanted was just too obscure.

You brought your books to the counter. As they rang you up, you noticed a clip board with a paper that read What Books Would You Like to See at Stem and Spine? Under that was a long list of handwritten titles and author names. You quickly scribbled down the book you were looking for. At least now there was a chance for it to appear.

Over the next month, you managed two visits to Stem and Spine every week. You and the employees actually started to recognize each other. You also started to see titles you recognized from the list. The mysterious Mr. Ackerman, however, still managed to escape your sight. Every time you went, there was a small posse outside just trying to grab a whiff.

It wasn’t until your first visit of the following month that you finally laid eyes on him. You’d just finished a series and were looking to start a new one. So you wandered over to the new arrivals section. You’d been there about half an hour when a heavy wave of lavender hit you. It filled your head, murking up your thoughts. You figured this had to be him, and the rumors were true - his scent was another beast entirely.

You shook your head to focus your thoughts. You liked this store, so this was something you were going to have to get used to if you wanted to keep shopping there. But you were also extremely concerned - if he was here, then that long line and hoard of omegas and betas would be too. You wanted to leave, but you were stuck between two books with money only for one.

You probably should’ve noticed the scent getting stronger. But you were so focused on reviewing the synopsis on both and thumbing through that you were oblivious. You didn’t wake from your stupor until there was a flutter of movement beside you. You glanced to your left to see a dark haired man in a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He set down the few boxes he was carrying.

This man, you realized, was where the lavender wall had come from. This was the infamous Levi Ackerman, owner of Stem and Spine. Mikasa had told you a bit about him in previous weeks. You liked talking to her whenever you came in.

“It’s rude to stare,” he said in a surprising tenor. His back was still to you. You cursed under your breath and turned back to the shelf. That was one way to embarrass yourself. You began musing between the books in your hands again.

After a long moment of silence, a voice said, “I’d pick the one in your right hand.”

You looked over to meet a bored pair of silver eyes. “What?”

“I’ve read them both. The book in your right hand was far more interesting.”

“Oh cool,” you said slowly. “Thanks. I would’ve been here for ages.”

You quickly placed the other one back in its place and scuttled away. You were just going to have to take his word for it. You didn’t want to hover anymore than you had. At the front, they packaged up your book and you were swiftly out the door.

Levi had been right, the book was very good and you were excited that there were four more books to follow with a movie planned. The next time you tried to go to Stem and Spine it was packed again. There was a line down the block and you just didn’t have the time to wait. Your shift at work started soon, and all you’d wanted to do was thank him for the recommendation.

You decided to head straight to work instead. Luckily, you didn’t have to wait long to see the bookstore owner again. The wall of lavender hit you before you saw him. You watched everyone around you turn to stare. It didn’t seem to phase him in the least.

Levi came to the counter and briefly talked with your coworker, who couldn’t seem to keep a straight face. When they disappeared to look for someone, Levi waited at the counter. This was probably going to be weird, but you really did want to thank him for helping you find a new series you absolutely loved.

“Hey,” you started, the book in your hand. He glanced at you briefly. “I, uh. You probably don’t remember me, but you recommended this book to me last week. And I, uh, I just wanted to say thank you. It was really good.”

“I told you it was better,” he stated. “I remember the other one you had - the author writes shit. It doesn’t have any good character development and there were a few glaring plot holes.”

“Oh, that’s good to know - I’ll definitely take that off my reading list.” You laughed awkwardly, carefully tucking the book away in your bag. “I was, uh, I was going to stop by the shop earlier. See if you were there - so I could thank you. But that line was just - woo!”

“I’m going to have to do something about that.” You weren’t sure if that was directed at you, but Levi seemed lost in thought.

Your coworker soon came back with someone in tow. They talked for a minute and then Levi and his intoxicating scent were gone. Afterwards, your coworker could not shut up about him. There was no way you were going to tell them about the bookshop.

In the days that followed, the line to get into the shop shrunk. But there was a continuous crowd that flurried around. A few employees you recognized seemed to be doing crowd control.

“I don’t care that you want to see him,” said one. “You don’t actually want a book or tea! It’s clogging up the shop.”

So Levi was doing something about the outrageous line. You were looking forward to being able to shop there again. The employees inside seemed less stressed when you went in and, at least, you weren’t brushing shoulders with anyone.

“Hey, [Name]!” Mikasa called as she spied you. She waved from her spot at the book counter where she was talking with Levi. You waved back at her, accidentally met Levi’s eyes, and then shuffled off into the book aisle to grab the next installment of the series.

You paid for your book, then went over to the tea shop. You didn’t know much about tea, but you figured you might as well start trying the different blends. There was a small display set up that recommended different teas for certain books. Like a nice citrusy Lady Grey to go with Pride and Prejudice.

“I don’t think that tea pairs with your book.”

You knew that voice. You turned to find Levi there with you, hovering, observing as you skimmed through the tea bags. You looked down at the pouch of English Breakfast Tea in your hand.

“You don’t think so?”

“You’ll want a black currant tea.” Levi reached just above your head and pulled down a paper bag with a raven on it. “I’m partial to this one.”

You took the bag, turning it over in your hand. You put the original pouch you grabbed back. Awkwardly, you smiled at him. “Uh, thanks. Guess I’ll go pay for this then.”

You weren’t sure what to make of it, it was probably nothing. But this encounter left you with a strange feeling. There were a few more like that to follow too.

“You’ll want a different tea for that,” he said as you picked up the third book.

“I can’t just make the black currant one?” you asked, baffled.

“Each book has a flavor that it pairs with. This one is more of a mint. If you pick wrong, you'll ruin the whole damn experience.” Levi turned the full power of his eyes on you. You were frozen under them. “Just like each person has their scent. Each scent has something that pairs nicely with it. For example, mine is lavender, yours is more of a sage. The two go well together.”

“Oh,” was all you could manage. That was the first time you felt the little flutter in your chest.

Every time you went to Stem and Spine to purchase a book Levi was there over your shoulder. He’d direct you to whichever tea he felt best went with it. He even started talking about the nuances in the flavors. How the aromatics helped, which shape of tea bag was optimal, ideally how long to steep it for. You became very knowledgeable about tea in the following visits. You were sure you'd be an expert by the time you went to pick up the last book in the series he showed you. But nowhere near as knowledgeable as Levi.

The next time you went, you saw Mikasa at the counter speaking with Levi.

"You can have the days off. Just fill out the request form," Levi said as you walked up to them.

"You're going on vacation soon, Mikasa?" you asked.

She turned her eyes to you. "My mate is going into his rut soon. I always make sure to take those days off to help him with his nest or anything else he needs."

You smiled at her. "That's really thoughtful, Mikasa. I hope, if I find someone, that they're like you."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a mate?"

"No." You shook your head and shrugged.

You could've sworn you caught Mikasa giving Levi a nudge and a sharp look. Levi gave her a brief glare back. Then his eyes turned to you, his gaze relaxed.

"Why?" he asked.

You laughed humorlessly. "No one's ever really stuck around or I broke up with them. One guy tried to get me to sell my book collection. He said that they were just a waste of time and money. So I decided that he was a waste of my time. There's nothing worse than someone who doesn't understand your hobbies."

Levi said nothing but hummed in response.

"Do you have a mate out there in this big wide world, Levi?" you asked.

"No," he spat curtly.

You didn't mean to gape, but you couldn't deny you were shocked. "Really?"

"What?"

"I'm just surprised, ya know? With your strong scent and how handsome you are... I just figured by now someone would have come along. That's all."

Levi looked away from you. "My scent is more trouble than it's worth. All it does is draw shitty little brats."

You chuckled. "I can see that, considering the long line the first month you guys were open. I also noticed the growing wall of banned people. – Well I just came in to grab something really fast before work. My shift starts soon."

The college students were starting back up for the autumn semester. The streets began to fill up with cars of fresh faces, new dreams, and overstuffed suitcases. You had a feeling there'd be a new influx of people at Stem and Spine.

The hunch was correct.

Before you knew it, the store was once again filled wall to wall with people seeking Levi's attention. He seemed increasingly agitated every time you saw him. Then he once again disappeared for a few weeks, causing the crowds to thin.

“I heard the author is writing the final installment,” Mikasa said as she rang you up. “It’s supposed to be out in a few months.”

“Really? I thought this was the last book?” You raised an eyebrow. You weren’t upset, just surprised. The story felt like it could easily be wrapped up in one book. You hoped it wasn’t going to be one of those strangling the plot lines scenarios, where the whole series goes down in flames right at the end.

“Nope, one more.” Mikasa shook her head. “I’m sure Levi will be upset.”

“Does he really like this series?”

“No.”

You met her with a curious gaze. Her eyes gave you nothing in return. You’d never really noticed how similar she and Levi looked until then. Both with silky black hair and unwavering grey eyes.

"I don't smell him around today. I take it he's still in hiding? I guess I'm on my own to find a tea, then," you laughed.

Mikasa handed you your bag, it was brown paper with a dark red book and tea leaf stamped onto it. You had a small collection you kept folded under your sink and used for various things.

"Hey, before you go," Mikasa started. "I'd like to consider us friends."

You nodded and smiled at her. "I'd like to think so."

"So then would you like to hang out when I'm not working? I was thinking about going to see the movie for this, it comes out soon. Would you like to go? I'll buy the tickets."

"That'd be awesome! I can pay you back."

Mikasa laughed, then waved her hand dismissively. "It's no issue, don't worry about it. Give me your number, and we can pick a date."

You exchanged numbers then wandered over to the teashop. You were only a little upset to be tea shopping alone. You were so used to having company. You wondered what type of tea Levi would recommend. You had to admit, you were starting to look forward to your shopping visits more knowing he was there. You were happier to see him than Mikasa most days. You were grateful for your newly formed friendship, so it made you feel a bit guilty. But you couldn’t deny that there was something soothing about listening to Levi’s passion for tea.

You thumbed through the pages of the book. Skimming without trying to spoil anything for yourself. You were just trying to get the feel. What flavor would this book be? Something dark and fruity, like a black currant? Or something a little lighter, more classic like the mint? You settled on an orange bergamot, this would have to work. You paid and then walked over to your job.

About half way through your shift, a familiar tsunami of lavender smacked you in the face. Levi strode casually through the lobby looking bored as ever. He had a bag in his hand. You wondered if he’d been out shopping. You met his gaze, immediately diverting your own back to your paperwork.

“Mikasa said you were in the shop today,” he said, the scent rolling off of him was strange and heavy.

You looked up, getting sucked into those silver pools. “Yeah, I came to get the next book in the series. I figured you were still keeping your distance. - Did you need my help with something? Did you need John again?”

“I wanted to make sure you didn’t pick a shitty tea.”

You scrutinized his face. It held absolutely nothing. He really came all this way to ask what tea you picked? Well, it was just the next street over. But he still had to go out of his way to see you. He didn’t have to do that. Your heart fluttered.

“I skimmed through, but I’m not sure I picked the right one.” You handed over the bag of tea you bought.

Levi rolled his eyes. “Tech, don’t spoil it for yourself, idiot.”

He took the bag, examining it thoroughly. He considered the ingredients for a long moment. You could practically see the cogs turning in his mind. Finally Levi handed it back over to you.

“Interesting choice,” he started. “But it works. I’m impressed.”

“Thanks, I really tried to put your lessons into practice,” you laughed. There was a long stretch of silence. “I suppose you’re probably going back to Stem and Spine, I won’t keep you any longer. But I appreciate you stopping by, I didn’t think you remembered that I worked here.”

Levi stood a moment longer, then placed the bag he’d been carrying on the counter. It was from his store. “I brought this in case you picked wrong. - I’d still like you to have it.”

You stood. “No, I couldn’t -”

“I insist.”

“At least let me lay you for it. Or exchange it for the one I bought!”

Levi was already walking away. “Just take the fucking thing. I picked it out for you.”

Then Levi was gone, but his lavender scent still swam in your head. You took the bag from the counter, peering in to inspect its contents. You were so curious what he picked. You pulled out a white bag of loose leaf tea with a rose stamped on it in pink. The name read The Start of Something Sweet, it was made with strawberries and rose. You couldn’t help but smile a bit to yourself.

Later that night you made yourself a cup using what you remembered of Levi’s impromptu tea lessons. You couldn’t keep the little smile off your face. Not even as you talked with Mikasa about your movie plans. You picked a date two Saturdays away. You were really excited, you could only hope that the movie did any sort of justice.

A few days later, you made another trip to Levi’s store. It was restock day. As usual, you beelined for the new arrivals section. You were disheartened to find your requested book had still not made an appearance. You groaned. Maybe they couldn’t find a distributor either. That’d be just your luck.

“Looking for anything in particular?” Mikasa asked, stopping beside you. “You look disappointed.”

“Yeah,” you sighed. “I’ve been on the hunt for this one book and no one has it. I’ve checked everywhere! I even put it on your recommendations list when you first opened. It’s just getting annoying at this point.”

“Maybe I can track it down for you and get you a rush order?”

You smiled at her gratefully. “You’d do that for me?”

Mikasa shrugged. “It’s no problem. I don’t see why not. What’s Levi going to do? Fire me?”

“Sweet, thank you so much! I’ll text you what I’m looking for.”

“Hey, I’m actually about to go on break. Do you want to go get something to eat with me? You have off today, right?”

You agreed and hovered by the counter while Mikasa grabbed her things from the back. You chatted idly with a few of the other employees. They were complaining about how busy it’s been since school was back in session. You hadn’t been surprised, of course. They did build the town around the university after all.

Once the scent of lavender began wafting in, everyone became tense. You noticed something was off. It was sharper and so sweet it was almost bitter and very dense and heavy. Levi stalked in, looking irritated. He gave a sharp glare to his employees, but didn’t say anything. Instead marching through the door that said employees only on it.

“Something must’ve happened,” said one of the employees you were talking to. “He was in a good mood this morning.”

You wanted to go after him. In fact, your feet even began to pull in his direction on their own. But you stopped yourself, embarrassed. Tea aside - you didn’t know him all that well, after all. The last thing he’d probably wanted was a random omega tailing after him.

You had a thought, a reflection of something he told you - a book and a good cup of tea always made his mood better. He told you in passing, he probably didn’t even remember saying it. You knew you’d seen your favorite book somewhere in the store. With any luck, it was one he hadn’t read. You swept through the shelves, quickly finding it, then went to find a matching tea. You’d already had one in mind. Mikasa emerged just as the cashier was packing it all up for you. You had them wrap it in brown paper.

“Did you find something after all?” she asked.

You felt warm. Did it get hot all the sudden? You looked guiltily at the items in your hands.

“Actually,” you started awkwardly. “These are for Levi.”

“Levi?”

“Yeah, he seemed pretty mad when he came through a few minutes ago. Could you - I don’t know - could you give these to him for me?”

“I think it would be better if you gave them to him yourself, he’s still here.”

Mikasa didn’t give you much of a choice as she steered you towards the door he’d gone through. She forcefully shoved you down a small hallway and into Levi’s office. He was furious when he heard the door open. The sharp scent was even thicker in here, nearly suffocating. But you couldn’t help your overwhelming urge to calm him.

“[Name],” Levi grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. His eyes were shut tight. “I know you can fucking read, the sign says employees only.”

“They have something for you, don’t be an asshole,” snapped Mikasa.

You thought you heard Levi mutter brat under his breath. He looked up at you, eyeing the items in your hands curiously. You smiled a bit. Avoiding his gaze, you admired how neat his desk was. You were sure, if you had a ruler, that everything would be evenly spaced apart.

“You seemed upset when you came in,” you said, swallowing thickly. “I remembered what you said and thought maybe a book and some tea would help? This one’s my favorite and I picked something that I thought went with it. - I promise I paid for it.”

You placed the items on his desk and slowly backed away. You tried to slip away now that your peace offering had been given. Mikasa, however, wouldn’t let you leave. Levi picked up the book, turning it over his hands. He studied the cover and read the synopsis. Finally, after a long minute, he hummed and turned back to you.

“I haven’t read this one,” Levi said. You stifled a sigh of relief. “You make interesting choices in tea, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” you said quickly and Mikasa finally let you out the door.

Mikasa didn’t bring up the incident over lunch. You, on the other hand, couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why did you do that? It was incredibly impulsive, but also inappropriate. That was basically the equivalent of screaming out how much he made your heart race and your palms sweat.

You tried not to dwell on it. But over the course of the week, you found yourself reflecting. You had hoped, more than you realized, that he would like what you brought him. You wanted his approval, not just his thanks. But you hadn’t been able to find the time to stop by the store and see if he’d read it. You’d been too busy with work, along with some plans with friends.

The next time you saw Levi was at your work again. He came bearing another bag. You were worried your coworkers would start getting the wrong idea. An alpha giving an omega gifts - how must that have looked to them? Then again, it was awfully presumptuous to think that the bag was for you.

But you were certain that Levi would never court you. Did you want him to, even? You hadn’t put much thought into the idea. But you didn’t hate the thought of getting to know him better. All you knew was what little he’d revealed in your chats while you picked out books and tea. Along with a little of what Mikasa had told you.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” you joked as Levi stepped up to the counter.

There was a certain air about him today. Maybe it was the way he’d slicked his hair back neatly. Or how starched the collar on his shirt was where it came out of his camel colored vest. He even seemed a touch more rested than usual.

Levi placed a bag on the counter. “This is for you.”

You couldn’t stop the sound of delight that came out of your mouth as you took the book out of the bag. It was finally, finally in your hands. After countless hours of fruitless searching, the damn book was finally in your hand.

“Holy shit,” you cried. “You found it! How much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house this time.” Levi reached in and pulled a small brown pouch out of the bag. He smirked, which sent a chill down your spine. “Cinnamon, something spicy to go with that dirty fucking shit you’re reading.”

You froze mid celebration, oh shit. It was indeed a book with a good chunk of smut in it. Your friend had let you borrow her copy, that’s the only reason you knew about the book in the first place.

“You read it?” your voice came out hoarse.

Levi clicked his tongue. “The important parts, to figure out which blend would go along with it. It’s no wonder you couldn’t find it, no self respecting bookshop carries porn.”

“It’s not porn!”

You were not expecting him to read it. But of course he would only read the spicy scenes. No context to the story or anything else. You were devastated.

“Mhm.” It did not sound like he believed you. With that, Levi turned and began to walk away. He called over his shoulder to have a good day, followed by the pet name they used in the book.

You felt warm all over, tingles chasing from head to toe. You stared after him until he was gone. Then you sat flustered in your seat with your cheek against the cool desk. You could feel a scream burning in the back of your throat. You were so glad there was a half wall so no one could see you.

When you finally got up the nerve to crack open the book you found an envelope. Your name was written in beautiful cursive on the back. Cautiously, you cut it open. Inside was money and a little note in the same scrawl.

I won’t hold this against you. I know your entire taste in literature isn’t trash. Here’s money back for the stuff you gave me. I can see why it’s your favorite.

L. Ackerman

PS. Don’t even fucking think about trying to give the money back.

It was a short note, but it was enough to bring that flutter back. You couldn’t help reading it over and over again.

Before you knew it, movie day was finally upon you. You dressed casually and were so excited that you got to the theater an hour before it started. There was no Mikasa in sight, so you sat on a bench and read. You didn’t start to worry until there was only fifteen minutes before the movie began and she was still nowhere to be seen. Not even a text.

You: Hey, just checking if you’re close by.

Mikasa: Sorry, I’m not going to be able to make it. Enjoy the movie, you’ll have to tell me what I missed.

You groaned. You did not want to see this movie on your own. Though, you supposed it wasn’t so bad. Lots of people went by themselves. You’d just been looking forward to some bonding time with your new friend.

“So this is what that little brat was up to,” said a voice behind you. You turned to find no other than Levi. His scent was just beginning to wrap you up in a field of flowers. He had two travel cups with him, and looked as attractive as ever. No white collared shirt today. That was replaced by casual clothes and tight fitting jeans.

“Mikasa?” you asked, forcing yourself to look away.

He rolled his eyes. “I should’ve known, she didn’t even read the damn thing.”

You stood in silence for a moment. You had to wonder if this was as weird for him as it was for you. You had to admit, you did not see this coming. You could only wonder if he was disappointed to see you there.

You cleared your throat. “Look, you don’t have to watch it with me. We can sit in separate rows -“

“Don’t be stupid. Here.” Levi held out a cup to you. “You didn’t get to read the first book with anything. - Let’s go see if they fucked our shit up.”

Levi grabbed your wrist, tugging towards the direction of your theater. Your skin tingled where he touched you. You weren’t surprised by the amount of stares, but each set of eyes you passed was still unnerving. You were glad to be in your seats where it’d be harder for them.

“I heard they’re already filming the next one,” Levi stated after a few moments. He wasn’t looking at you. He concentrated almost too hard on the screen, you thought he was going to bore holes into it. “We should go see it together when it comes out. Maybe grab dinner beforehand.”

“Like…a date?” you asked. It slipped out before you could stop yourself.

“What the hell else?”

You paused for a moment, twisting to look at him. You couldn’t figure out if he was serious or not. His cheeks gained a flush of pink. You smiled at him, then settled back into your seat.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

Levi nodded, but didn’t say anything else as the lights went down. Somewhere through the night, in the tension of the dark theater, your hand ended up enveloped in his.

In the morning Stem and Spine was your first stop. You were there as soon as they opened. Mikasa was doing the opening drawer. You watched as Levi went up and slammed his hand down on the counter. She didn’t so much as flinch.

“Oi,” he said. Mikasa looked up at him. “What the hell was that stunt you pulled yesterday?”

You walked up behind him. “Yeah, you did miss one hell of a movie.”

“I don’t know why you’re both so annoyed, it seems my plan worked,” she said bored, not even bothering to look up from the cash she was counting.

“How did you know we wouldn’t just walk out of the theater and not watch the movie together?” you asked.

“You both like that series too much. Besides, Levi may know a lot about tea, but he’s also stupid. He never does anything for himself. So while he may not have realized what he was feeling, we all could see it. He just needed a little push. And so did you, [Name]. I knew you liked Levi.”

“I never actually told you that, though. I never told anyone.”

“You didn’t have to. You could smell it in the air when you were around each other. Like a call and response. You two were perfect and you couldn’t even see it. I knew from the first day you walked into the shop.”

Levi took your hand. “Don’t look so fucking smug.”

Mikasa laughed as Levi took you to his office. As soon as you stepped in Levi shut the door behind you. He gave you a swift kiss on the cheek as he went to his desk.

“She’s right you know,” he started, intentionally avoiding looking at you. “We are the perfect blend.”

You couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree.

[olivepicks]

Hi! I was wondering if you can do a platonic Curtis gang randomly getting cuteness aggression for the younger Curtis sister!reader (like 12 years old)? Also can it please be hc’s? 😚🫶

‘ CUTENESS AGGRESSION. ’

— CURTIS GANG W/ KID SISTER! READER HCS

note. thanks for the cute request! i hope these are everything that you hoped they would be - i wasn’t exactly sure what i was doing, so i hope these came out right! <3

warnings. kid sister! reader, fem reader, foul language, mobile formatting

characters. ( all together ) darry curtis, sodapop curtis, ponyboy curtis, johnny cade, dallas winston, steve randle, two-bit matthews

oh, they all loved you from the very beginning, and even if they didn’t, no one dared to utter a single peep about not liking you - lest someone get overly defensive (darry).

it took no time for each member to feel some sort of brotherly connection to the youngest curtis sibling - even ol’ Dally was somewhat fond of your presence.

“you’re so fuckin’… this kid,” Dallas gritted out, and some would assume by that tone that he was irritated. and he was. he didn’t mean to forget his favorite brown bomber jacket at the curtis residence, but now, he feared he could never take it back.

it simply looked too cute on you. Dallas roughly rubbed the top of your head, easily tangling and messing up your hair before he could even stop himself. “keep the fuckin’ jacket, whaddo i care.”

his cuteness aggression comes in the form of over exaggerated cussing, and a lot of pacing and clenching his fists - because he just doesn’t know what the hell to do with the feeling.

Steve had a bad habit of unironically pinching your cheeks, or yanking at a small lock of your hair - not roughly, and not meant to be mean. he just.. does it?

if you pick up on any of his habits, hell you could just be mocking the way he laughs, Steve goes nuts. he can’t control how giddy he feels - you’re probably his favorite Curtis, next to Sodapop.

Steve actually likes to include you in things, unlike with Ponyboy. and you have him wrapped around your little finger - if you call him ‘Uncle Steve’, he’ll do anything for you.

“look man, she said Uncle Steve! what’s a guy gonna do? not get her the candy?” Steve huffed, emptying his pockets of your favorite candy into your younger hands.

yes. they will steal things for you if prompted - or hell, if they even just feel like it. Two-bit is the worst when it comes to this, being a veteran shoplift.

Two-bit is known for stealing anything that isn’t nailed to the shelf, so it’s no surprise that he just up and starts.. politely taking things. yeah, that’s how he phrases it.

and your reaction each time is what spurs him to steal again. “what? she’s too cute, ya can’t expect me ta not get her the stupid knife.”

(yes, he shoplifts a pocket knife for you. yes, Darry smacks him over the head and confiscates it from him before he can give it to you, much to Two-bit’s disappointment.)

“took me three hours to steal the damn thing for her, and now it’s in Superman’s pocket, man!”

Johnny’s cuteness aggression is very hard to notice, because he keeps it so well. he’s not one to be loud or lash out like the others in their obvious ways.

sometimes, whenever you grin that toothy grin of yours or say ‘thank you johnny!’ in that goofy kid tone of yours, he just stands there in silence, processing it — hands clenched.

“…no problem, kid.” that’s what he often calls you, kid. sure, they all refer to you as such, but he explicitly only ever refers to you as such. he really doesn’t feel cuteness aggression often, but he does love you like family - hell, he’d consider you more of his family than his own ma and pa.

opposite of that, Sodapop is a known hugger - the guy truly gets high off of plain old living. so, his little sister doin’ some cute shit? ohhhh, you bet he’s scooping you up into a tight hug.

“ohhh you, so damn - i, darn, cute! stop that!” Sodapop quickly corrected his foul language at the look Darry gave him, squeezing you into his arms.

this may be more of a Curtis Sibling! Reader headcanon than cuteness aggression, but Sodapop will often just walk around with you whilst hanging off of you. He just likes being close with his little sister.

“shuddup, i am not clingy!” Sodapop huffed, not even bothering to sit up from where he flopped over your legs.

with Ponyboy, it’s not so much as cuteness aggression as it is pride?? you two aren’t that far apart in age, and being fourteen, he just doesn’t view it as cute as the others do.

he often gets mad because some, like Two-bit, tease and say that he’s jealous of the attention.

the most he’ll get is what he calls a sense of pride, like when you pass a test he helped you study for. he’ll take you out to a movie with him, or just plain celebrate by giving you the last slice of chocolate cake!

“now don’t go tellin’ Sodapop i gave you his last slice, ya hear?”

last but certainly not least, Darry, your eldest brother. he likes to swear that he doesn’t get cuteness aggression, but it’s a bold faced lie.

sometimes he gets so excited or proud of just plain ol’ happy over how cute you are that he’ll scoop you up and give you piggy back rides! it’s horrible for his already aching back, but he can’t help it in the moment - he’s all smiles!

he doesn’t get like this too often anymore, especially once he became in charge of his siblings. the stress and worry often bogged him down - but there is the rare moment now and then where he gives ya an ol jump and piggy back ride. (when it happens, he realizes how much he misses being just your big brother..)

they all have their own ways of expressing it, some more than others, or not at all (Ponyboy). either way, they’re all more than happy to have you be an honorary member of their makeshift gang (even if some won’t admit it, coughcoughdallycough).

written by olivepicks.

[radioisntdead]

I don't mean to be dramatic, but the degree to which I need to know what Velvette does to shy singer reader the next day verges on pathological.

Good evening my dear! You are so real for that, I hope you enjoy!

Don't go wasting your emotion

Velvette x reader

Warnings: Power inbalance, things get wonky at the end because I was sleep deprived while writing, kinda trying out a format no idea if that's obvious or not.

Part two to this

Song used

Velvette took pride in her accomplishments,

she had a strong hold on hell's fashion industry, she had a HUGE following on all social media platforms, she was the youngest overlord, she was the self-proclaimed backbone of the Vee's, if she wanted something she would get it.

And what was something she wanted?

You! How unfortunate, or fortunate depending how you look at it.

"I wasn't jealous before we met,"

After your little stunt of practically serenading her and teasing her with the act of an almost kiss, the Vee became rather enamored with you.

Imagine her delight when you came into work the next day fully prepared to get a sort of revenge on you, although you were in a complete different outfit then the one you wore the night before, gone was the striking red and pink two piece, you now wore a muted green cardigan, blouse and some business casual work pants, the complete opposite of the night before.

If she hadn't seen you that night she might've have a tough time believing it was you.

"Now, every woman I see is a potential threat,"

Velvette kept tabs on you throughout the morning waiting for the right moment to corner you.

Unfortunately the morning was busy since a certain moth that should've gotten taken out by exorcists ages ago had another temper tantrum and wrecked havoc upon her floor, tearing apart a few models.

And that meant it took longer then she would've liked to talk to you.

"And I'm possessive, it isn't nice,"

She was extra snippy with everyone who interacted with you, her poor assistant who just needed to give you a run down on what clothes to pack and transport to a shoot next week got absolutely flamed, a coworker that held the door open for you was almost fired, another coworker that accidentally tripped you and apologized was fired.

"You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice,"

Finally right before the clock stuck noon she managed to catch you alone, you were at your desk writing something down.

"But now it isn't true,"

You let out a squeak as your chair, with you in it, was spun around.

Velvette stared down at you.

"Now everything is new,"

You were a complete and utter fool to think she wouldn't recognize you, and now you were paying the price for your foolery.

"And all I've learned has overturned,"

Cold panic filled you, immediately assuming she wanted to end your afterlife, you managed to duck under her arm, slide out of your chair and what I can only describe as a sad attempt at an army crawl mixed with an undignified shimmy but it got you free.

Temporarily anyways.

"I beg of you,"

Velvette quickly caught you pinning you against a wall, your eyes darted around as you felt her fingers gently hold your chin like you had done to her the night before.

"Don't go wasting your emotion,"

She leaned in.

"Lay all your love on me,"

And planted a kiss right on your pretty lips.

"It was like shooting a sitting duck,"

That kiss is what sealed your fate, because from that day Velvette began showing clear favoritism for you.

"A little small talk, a smile and baby I was stuck,"

Coming to visit you whenever she had free time, or on your breaks, demanding that you go on lunch dates with her.

"I still don't know what you've done with me,"

She somehow found your awkward demeanor to be rather charming, sure it would be nice for you to ditch the whole timid thing but that wasn't a deal breaker, perhaps within time you'd become that confident person she saw on stage that managed to completely and utterly enamour her full-time.

"A grown-up woman should never fall so easily,"

Velvette showed up for each and every one of your performances, causing a racket in order to show up if needed.

She personally designed clothes for you to wear during your club performances, making sure they fit you perfectly and that they were flexible enough that you could move around with ease.

"I feel a kind of fear,"

It sent tingles down her spine whenever you got on stage and switched from the timid little thing you were normally into someone beaming of pure confidence, she loved when you would blow kisses or anything of the like to her from your place on stage.

"When I don't have you near,"

She would film your shows and post them over her socials, often posting pictures of the two of you, particularly with her arm wrapped around you in some way, she quite liked having her arm wrapped around your waist.

"Unsatisfied, I skip my pride,"

Velvette would often take you out on all types of dates, her favorites were shopping ones, she could spoil you with anything your little heart so desired, or at least she could try too, you had a way of uno reversing her and paying for her instead.

Thank goodness you got paid for your little singing performances because you'd be screwed otherwise.

"I beg you dear,"

Was there a large power inbalance between the two of you, as not only an overlord and an average sinner but as Employee and Boss.

Yes, yes there was.

"Don't go wasting your emotion,"

But did Velvette care about that at all?

"Lay all your love on me,"

No she didn't give a shit.

But your coworkers did!

"Don't go sharing your devotion, lay all your love on me,"

You weren't naive towards the whispers and pointed or concerned looks directed towards you, you were pretty sure some of your co-workers and friends had a mock funeral for you.

Velvette quite liked you and she refused to let you leave.

"I've had a few little love affairs,"

Sure she had a couple of flings here and there, both when she was alive and after she died, but no one was quite like you, timid and awkward in the daylight and a shining ball of confidence in the night.

Like hell's version of Hannah Montana or a werewolf.

"They didn't last very long, and they've been pretty scarce,"

It went without saying that Velvette was a very jealous woman, she was never one for sharing

Not clothes, not items, and especially not you!

"I used to think that was sensible,"

Sure she technically shared things with the other Vee's like living space, utilities, employees that weren't you.

"It makes the truth even more incomprehensible,"

She didn't like that whenever you performed on stage others looked at you with such lust and desire that it would make the radio demon himself run away with disgust.

"'Cause everything is new,"

She made a point to post pictures of the two of you, together, usually with her hand, arm, leg or something of hers on top of you, just to show all of hell that you belonged to her.

She had you in her sinstagram bio and everything.

And she made you put her in your sinstagram bio despite you barely using the media.

"And everything is you,"

Brushing over that, Your relationship with her was filled with rather sweet moments.

"And all I've learned has overturned,"

She made matching outfits for the two of you, mostly tailoring to her own styles and colors as opposed to yours, it's not her fault she liked seeing you in her colors!

"What can I do,"

She practically moved you into the Vee's tower, making sure you were no more then a three minute walk away.

"Don't go wasting your emotion,"

Valentino once asked if he could borrow you for a film, saying that you could be a star, after all some people had a thing for dorks like you!

"Lay all your love on me,"

She ended up chasing him down with a fork.

"Don't go sharing your devotion,"

And ended up posting a few videos of his little temper tantrums much to Vox's chagrin, that was not good for the Vee's reputation!

"Lay all your love on me,"

But it did make a point to the other two Vees that you were off limits, Although Vox did try to get you to agree to sing a jingle for a product of his.

"Don't go wasting your emotion,"

You were back at that same club you managed to seduce Velvette at, singing another song you enjoyed while alive.

"Lay all your love on me,"

You wore a sparkling pink outfit, heart motifs were evident on it, Velvette stared at you from across the club with pride.

Look at you! Singing your heart out while wearing one of her outfits.

"Don't go sharing your devotion,"

You leaned against the mic stand, half lidded eyes on her.

"Lay all your love on me,"

She had taken to keeping a safe distance away from the stage during your performances, not wishing for a repeat of your nimble fingers under her chin as you sang to her.

She'd rather keep that in private.

"Don't go wasting your emotion,"

you blew a kiss at her.

"Lay all your love on me."

What Velvette wanted, she got.

And she got you, and you supposed you had her as well, who would've thought that performance of yours would've resulted in this?

Good evening folks! My apologies for this being delayed! I hope you enjoyed it! Also as the song was selected per the poll and this one won, y'all picked good because the other two of the other options were going to be angsty, anywho!

as per usual thank you for tuning in! Hope you tune in tomorrow for Wednesday angst with a certain Angel!

[snek-panini]

The last of my Binderary books, #10 and #11, are here! This is The Mathematical Improbability of Reaching the Stars by cassieoh and D20Owlbear and it is another very long fic that I had to split into two volumes. It's a wonderful Good Omens human!AU with believable relationship development and very likeable OCs. I like to go into summaries at this point in my binding posts but I have trouble pinpointing the reason I like this one so much. It's just compelling and I like spending time with these characters. It reads like an original story and yet it's undeniably a GO fic. I don't know how else to phrase it.

I had a major disappointment with the bind, though. As you can no doubt see in the photos above, there was major glue leakage when I did the htv and it ruined my book cloth. That's a homemade paper-backed cloth and it's this wonderful textured green fabric (I think it's polyester but it's shiny and lightweight) but it did not like that silver foil htv At All. Really sad that it turned out like that. The silver leaves were also an absolute nightmare to weed. So many teeny tiny pieces, and I had to do four of them. I stand by the design, it's very pretty and I still think it fits the book, but I have got to find another option for putting titles on homemade cloth. I've done five of them now and I have this issue every time.

More photos under the cut! It is still a very pretty set, even with the cover issues.

You can see the fabric texture really well on the backs, and there's no glue issue there either. Part of me wishes I'd left the front covers blank like the backs. I love how the spines turned out; that's black faux leather and it always takes htv like a champ. I like how I did the titles here too. I really wanted them on the spines but it's such a long title that I'd have had to scrunch it down really small to make it fit. Weeding tiny text is always a pain and it limits the fonts you can use and still be legible, but splitting it up like this? Love it. Looks so good on my shelf.

Silver foiled edges! I had trouble getting the foil to stick, like always, but I ended up sort of layering it over the unstuck parts and got this kind of patchy look that I love. Handmade double core endbands, and this is one of the most complex patterns I've done in endbands so far. I love them and think they came out really beautiful.

The endpapers are this beautiful chiyogami leaf pattern. I bought these for this fic before I'd even started typesetting it because I knew they'd be perfect. Chiyogami is my favorite thing to use for endpapers lately, I love it so much.

I went really simple on the typeset here. It's a contemporary story, as opposed to a lot of the historical and fantastical ones I tend to bind, and I thought the sleek typeset suited it. I'm not as in love with the title page as I could be but I do like it. It's about the text, not the flourishes, once you get into the meat of the story.

One fun typesetting thing I was able to do with this one happened in the headers and footers. Usually I do page numbers at the bottom, author's name on the top left and title on the top right, but the combination of two authors and a really long title meant the headers got really unwieldy. They were too long and bled into the body text. So I split them up like this, and I love it! Looks so sleek. I've been looking for an excuse to do it like this again on other typesets but it hasn't fit anything yet.

And that's that! I asked for author permission for these but never heard back, so I hope they're both ok with what I did. I'm overall pleased with the results (and in love with parts of it) and I know what I still need to work on.

This is the last of my Binderary books! 11 is too many! I'm never doing that many books in a month again! Now I've got everything posted I feel like I can move on to new projects, though it may be a bit before I have any new books to post. I've got a format experiment in mind.

[butterflywithsass]

The good, the bad, and the ineffable omens. What makes Good Omens special.

I'm not very good at making posts on here so sorry if the formatting sucks. It's the anniversary of season two, and thinking back on everything, it's incredible how much has happened since it came out. I might get a bit long-winded, so if that's not your thing, just scroll on by. I'm just gonna take a look at why I love Good Omens, why I love the Good Omens fandom, and what the future holds for all of us who love this story.

I guess you could say I'm a bit of a new fan. I watched the first season in 2019. I liked it but I didn't really think about it until I heard it was getting a second season, and I decided to watch it again.

This second watch came at a very strange time in my life. I'd left my very introverted homeschool life behind to go to an art school in another state. I was studying creative writing, and just beginning to dream that I might be an actual writer someday. I've always gotten intensely invested in stories, a part of my ADHD that I've always struggled with. I find a story, and it consumes my soul. I have difficulty expressing emotions in real life, so stories have been an outlet for me to feel things in the persona of a character. It's this incredible power that makes me love storytelling so much. I could go on and on about the beauty of this, but that will get a bit to much so I'll move on. Mah point is...

whenever I would get really invested in a story, my parents would indulge me, but would always feel the need to mention, "You know it's not real, right?"

Anyway, for the first time, I was away from home and I could really indulge in stories without the pressure to disconnect from it to avoid the judgment of my family. For the first time, I could just be in love with a story.

A lot happened during the first year away from home, not all of which is relevant, but around this time I started owning up to my identity as bisexual. Being at an art school meant I was surrounded by queer people from all backgrounds, not all of them had the same support I did, and I witnessed secondhand as my friends went through the pain of having homophobic families who would control what art they made and who they spent time with, threatening to withdraw them from the school if they used certain names or pronouns. It was common for my friends to have a sort of shorthand code for when it was safe to use their preferred name or pronoun. Some came from very religious households, and so religion had been linked very closely to repression.

Good Omens came at a time when I was stretching my wings both in my identity as a person and as a writer and has informed what I write about ever since. As a writer, my work often focuses on themes such as fate and free will, religion and passion, divinity and humanity, and apocalyptic images. Additionally, Good Omens encouraged me to embrace comedy in my writing and to explore the absurd and whimsical. It helped me let go of the vice that held me back from writing things I thought weren't intellectual enough, or weren't creative enough.

I also became aware of the people behind the show, and of course, I grew to admire Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. I admired how Neil Gaiman seemingly defied the inevitable fate of obscure and unsuccessful writers. To me, Neil Gaiman was an example of how writers could actually make it out there in the world. Terry Pratchett, I admit, took less of an interest in because he had been long dead before I became acquainted with Good Omens, and I mistakenly gave Neil Gaiman more credit for the tv show. If you want to know more about why I saw "mistakenly," check out @vidavalor where they talk about the other writers on the show and how much they contributed. It's really quite eye-opening and it gives me hope that the show can continue well enough without Gaimen.

I also grew to become a fan of David Tennent and Micheal Sheen. And when I say a fan of David Tennent, I mean a BIG fan. The Good Omens to Doctor Who pipeline is so f*cking steep I felt like Crowley during the fall. Not just Who, though, I watched stuff like Taking Over the Asylum, Einstein and Eddington, Around the World in 80 Days, Broadchurch, Jessica Jones, Escape Artist, f*king Single Father lol. I even got into Shakespeare because of David Tennent.

The love displayed by the actors for Good Omens feels truly special. Micheal Sheen's devotion to the story shines through in everything he says about it, and David Tennent, though not originally a fan, seems to have grown more and more fond of the story. I think it's not a reach of our imagination to say that the story has become very special to both of them, even more so than to us.

It's rare to see actors treat their roles as more than just a job. The occasional publicity stunt and press tour interviews aside, the roles actors take seldom stick with them, and I think it's a testament to the power of Good Omens that this is not the case for Micheal and David.

Season 2 came out of course, and we all know how that went down. I was has heartbroken as everyone else by the final 15, but I never had any doubt that the story was destined to have a happy ending.

Unlike some shows, where the story likes to flirt with tragedy to keep viewers hooked, Good Omens is not that kind of show. Amidst the pathos and drama of the Christian/Apocalypse setting, with literal heaven and hell involved, the story is relatively clean. I enjoy some Ineffible Husbands spicy fanfiction of course, but I'm glad that Good Omens has remained relatively kid-friendly. Queer themes are so often included only in "adult media," paired with dark themes and often explicit moments making them inaccessible to kids and cementing the idea that Queerness is inherently inappropriate. While Good Omens has the occasional adult reference such as Madam Tracy's side gig as a dominatrix or the 'seamstress,' they are veiled enough to pass. Even the sex scene with Anathama and Newt is comic enough that it can hardly be classified as one. As for heaven and hell, it would be easy to try and stress the darkness of hell through plenty of disturbing subtexts and the brutality of heaven, but here the show errs towards comedy, portraying both sides as corporate systems -- both funny and much more relatable evil than torture or traumatic scenes. It's easier to understand rude co-workers, degrading comments, overbearing bosses and endless paperwork than it is to understand the sources of our perception of good and evil.

Putting Adam Young as the center of the story of season one focuses the entire narrative. At the end of the day, Good Omens is about the ineffable nature of humanity defying all odds (or gods) betting against it. It's a humanist story, showing us that no matter how much the forces of good or evil might like to influence us, whatever we do will up to us.

This theme is constantly referenced, from Crowley's habit of taking credit for anything evil humans do and claiming it was his idea, to Aziraphale's constant assertions that humans are inherently good. It's exemplified by the baby swap disaster, which is a microcosm of this theme. No matter how much the powers above and below might scheme, they're plans generally end up being irrelevant to the choices of humans.

It's why Crowley and Aziraphale love humans so much. Humans are a guide for them, showing them how they can be more than just good and evil, and on our side, it's a hopeful thought to have, that the powers of good and evil looking down on us, instead of judging us, might actually have fallen in love with us along the way. It shows us that we are allowed to love ourselves.

The love that Aziraphale and Crowley have for each other is also at the heart of this story. While it has been discussed at length, it's for good reason. Because we all need a good love story. Amidst the uncertainty and ceaseless change, there is a constant, unbreaking bond between Crowley and Aziraphale-- steady as the revolution of the cosmos. Nothing in the scope of space and time is certain, but this is. We know that because we've seen it. Good Omens manages to create a love story on both a personal and an archetypal scale. On one level, this is a love story between two people from different worlds finding something familiar in each other. It's got the drama of starcrossed love, the steadiness of an age-old love, still with the butterflies of new feelings. As a queer love story, the hope in it is even more important.

Crowley and Aziraphale have all the qualities of two characters that are doomed by the narrative, and as much as I love those types of stories, this is a story about hope and it demands a happy ending. After all, if those two idiots can't get a happy ending, what hope do the rest of us have?

All this is to say, that while the final 15 was shattering emotionally, and still is, I never once doubted that all would be well eventually.

The recent accusations against Neil Gaiman came as a shock to me. I admittedly didn't know all that much about him as a person, but I looked up to him as a writer, as I said. The more that is revealed, the more truthful they become. I hoped that these allegations would end up as a big misunderstanding, and I questioned the timing just after David Tennent was attacked online for his support of the lgbtq community. However, the more information about Gaimen comes to light, the less it looks like a mistake.

This leaves us in a difficult position. It is not selfish to worry about the future of Good Omens. It is not foolish to be surprised. It is not naive to feel betrayed. It would be easy to come to the conclusion that 'no one should be trusted,' or to feel that the whole story has been tainted. It's so easy to write off the whole story as 'ethically complicated' so you don't have to examine your feelings critically. It's easy to 'boycott,' something so you don't have to deal with it, as if by not engaging with it, it's not real. I would urge you not to do this. boycotting a story is not as simple as just refusing to buy a product. Stories are part of culture and identity, to a certain extent, the person you are hurting the most is yourself.

There's a reason I spent so long describing why Good Omens is such an incredibly powerful story, because Neil Gaiman's actions negate none of that. The meaning of Good Omens is not dependent on the actions of the author. A truth is still true, even from the mouth of a liar.

Before I loved Good Omens, I loved Harry Potter. Despite JK Rowling's general shittiness, Harry Potter has brought goodness to people's lives, and even though some themes in the story ought to be examined more critically, the joy and comfort those stories brought also cannot be ignored. I was ten when I started reading Harry Potter. I was too young to grasp the homophonic or anti-semetic undertones in the story, and ironically, Harry Potter taught me to by an ally before I even knew I was queer. Before reading Harry Potter, I didn't know what gay was. After hearing Dumbledore was 'gay,' I did a google search and looked up the term in a dictionary. I remember my thoughts being, "you can do that?" and then, "why are people so upset?"

The point of this Harry Potter tangent is to say that while the intentions of the author may influence a story, the author ultimately can't control the effect the story will have on others. Once it is published, a significant part of it no longer belongs to them. They can't control what messages other people find in it, and they lose the right to decide what messages are true or not. If Neil Gaimen were to say today that Good Omens is all a very complicated metaphor for masturbation, that announcement would mean zilch.

Additionally, Neil Gaiman isn't even the only author! You don't have to give him all that credit to start with. Once again, refer to @vidavalor for info on the other amazing people who may have had a bigger hand in writing our favorite moments that we thought.

The Good Omens fandom has taught me not to be ashamed for loving a fictional story. I've been in the Lotr, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Marvel, Sherlock, and countless other fandoms, and I can easily say that Good Omens is the most supportive, the most accepting, the most decent online fan community I've found.

We can hang in there. We've loved Good Omens since the book came out, we've loved Good Omens since before I was born, and we loved it even when we lost Terry Pratchett. We loved Good Omens when we thought there would never be a show, and when we thought one season was all there would be. Good Omens has so many kind and talented people behind it and so much love for it. Neil Gaimen will not sink us now. He doesn't have that much power.

@davidtennantgenderenvy also has a video on this that is very thoughtful.

[ezwezz]

GIRLY PLEASE MAKE A YUNJIN X FEMREADER FIC w angst n cheating 🙏🙏🙏

why do you want me to hurt you bby!? gonna be sobbing while writing this

also! i'm sort of winging it with the format and scenario so hopefully it's adequate enough

'i love you'

parings: huh yunjin x fem!reader warnings: cheating, ANGST words: 1k

"i love you more than anything, y/n, no matter what."

yunjin's words from last summer were replaying over and over inside your head. you didn't know what warranted the sentimental flashback, it was just a normal tuesday night spent laying alone, staring into the darkness looming above you. perhaps you just needed the comfort.

you hadn't seen yunjin for 1 month now. the throbbing inside your heart had dulled down and you were left with a familiar emptiness spattered with the occasional 'i miss you baby' or 'sorry for not replying, i've been so busy :('.

you knew yunjin's career came with extortionate sacrifice on both ends, but loving her was all you needed. you'd loved her for two years now, despite the constant hurt of her absence.

"i love you more than anything....no matter what." you whispered the sentence. she'd looked so beautiful while saying it- her earnest brown eyes and furrowed brows as she gently cupped your face, the warmth of her body against yours. it was a fleetingly perfect moment, nothing could compare. you wondered if yunjin thought about it as much as you these days.

---

incoming call: yunijn

"y/n?"

"hey jen, everything okay?"

"baby listen, no matter what you see or what you hear, you have to trust me, i love you. never forget that."

"i love you too...but why are you saying this? has something happened?"

there was silence on the other end of the line. you knew something was wrong and it made your heart pound at an unsteady pace.

"yunjin...what did you do?" your voice sounded small.

"i'm sorry..." there was a quiet sob on the other end of the line, and you immediately knew. in that moment, your entire world came crashing down. everything you'd sacrificed for the woman you loved submerged you, drowned you, it tore you apart.

"i'm not going to ask for your forgiveness..." yunjin's voice drifted into the background as your mind swirled into a messy flurry of emotion. you struggled to comprehend what this meant, grappling with your own feelings, trying to figure out exactly how you felt.

"i'll talk to you later jen." you whispered before ending the call and allowing the tears to cascade down your cheeks. she couldn't even be there to face you herself, you resented her for being able to throw away your relationship like it was nothing.

---

sure enough, you awoke from an almost sleepless night to see every news feed headlining a picture of yunjin kissing an unknown girl outside a club. you switched your phone off, unable to answer any messages reaching out to you with condolences.

reality was a hard truth to face, and the reality of the situation was gouging into you. you never wanted to see her again, to hear her name or her songs.

"i love you more than anything, y/n, no matter what."

you scoffed as the words stung in your head like a venomous bite.

incoming call: yunjin

you immediately switched your phone to airplane mode.

---

the remainder of le sserafim's tour was shrouded with controversy and despite putting on a brave face, the guilt and heartbreak was eating away at yunjin.

you knew their tour was nearing its end, so of course you'd already packed up all your stuff from your shared apartment with yunjin and moved in with a nearby relative. you didn't know whether it made you a coward, avoiding yunjin like this, but you knew you wouldn't be able to face her before taking time to heal. there was the occasional mention of her that crossed your newsfeed, but you made sure to ignore each one, never taking the time to indulge in reopening fresh wounds.

you were home alone when you heard a knock at the front door. it was unusual considering deliveries were never scheduled for this time and you weren't expecting anyone, so you answered the door with caution, opening it just a crack.

"y/n?"

fuck.

you immediately closed the door, scolding your previous fears of creepy men as anything would've been better than this.

"y/n please, just hear me out." a muffled voice begged.

"whatever you're going to say is pointless. i don't want to hear it."

"i understand that but...i think we both need the clarity."

"i really don't need anything from you right now."

"please just open the door, then i promise i'll leave you alone."

"jen- yunjin...this hurts so fucking much. i've spent the past few weeks trying to erase you from my memory and now you're here, expecting me to just...let you near me again. you ruined everything." you could hear yunjin begin to cry softly, as were you.

"i know." she choked through tears. "i know nothing will change what happened and it's killing me y/n. i don't know what to do...i love you so much, you mean the world to me. i don't go a day without missing you and wanting to be near you. i know it's over between us, but please just let me say goodbye properly."

you had nothing to say to her, but you opened the door anyway. it was an impulsive decision fuelled by a fleeting sense of longing for your love, but you immediately regretted it when you laid your eyes on the fresh face that would eternally haunt you. you didn't have time to process the overwhelming surge of emotion before tender arms enveloped your body and held you in an excruciating embrace.

"let me go." you sobbed, not wanting this bittersweet familiarity. but she only held you tighter, her body trembling.

"i love you."

"don't you dare say that, not after..."

"i love you so much. i'll never stop loving you y/n."

"shut up jen, please just leave me alone." you finally succeeded in pushing the woman away, it was like tearing off a bandaid.

her face was streaked with tears and it looked as if she had lost weight. you can't have looked much better.

"i don't want you to forgive me, because you deserve better, you deserve so much more than me. but never forget that i'll always love you, even if our worlds never collide again. i'll always be waiting for you."

and as she began to retreat with her eyes locked onto yours, she uttered one last sentence: "i love you more than anything, y/n, no matter what."

then yunjin turned away from you, not once looking back.

no other sentence could ever torment you as much as that one. but little did you know, it would replay over and over in yunjin's head as she lay alone, staring into the darkness looming above.

[its-dean]

I’ve been posting on other online platforms about Fossil Fighters for a long time now, and most who are familiar with what I share know that a lot of my content has a heavy focus on original vivosaur ideas. With these vivosaurs I come up with, as well as the stats I create to go with them, I notice that there are often people questioning whether what I come up with would be balanced or not from a gameplay standpoint.

As I’ve gone on with developing this unique vision for my vivosaurs, I’ve also slowly refined my idea of Fossil Battles entirely. All of us are aware that both the original Fossil Fighters and Fossil Fighters Champions don’t have the best balancing in the world. There are certain cast members and even a few core game mechanics that allow so many otherwise memorable characters to fall to the wayside, and with the stats I was coming up with I was only further encouraging that type of hostile environment. The more I worried about whether something I was coming up with would feel realistic or balanced the more I considered the fact that the formula itself may have been broken in the first place.

There have been others in the community that have projected their own ideas of how to change things up regarding gameplay, things like adding new elements or even having customizable skills. Because the series felt like it had ended so suddenly there's become so much to dream for in a potential sequel. These are the people that inspired me to attempt something similar myself back when I was making my vivosaur last year. It inspired me to take a step back with my thinking and ultimately led to me creating a total re-imagining of the classic battle system we all know and love. 

That's the thing, the games may not be perfectly balanced, but I always find how these games work to be something that's just inherently fun in a very unique way. Above everything else, with this project I wanted the new system I was creating to still have the "feel" of having a good old-fashioned Fossil Battle. These games have incredible potential for an interesting competitive landscape, just if only some of those unbalanced mechanics were to be adjusted. This is what I strive to achieve the most with my ideas: an environment where every vivosaur has something practical to them, a format where you CAN win using your favorite vivosaurs. The only thing that should stop you is how well thought-out and unique of a strategy you can come up with.

Fossil Fighters Odyssey is a personal project of mine that I've technically been working on for over half a decade now. Still, I think it's most important to stress the fact that everything I come up with and will be talking about in this post is for fun. This shouldn't explicitly be seen as a vehicle for a potential fan game, I make these things for my own enjoyment and have no plans or obligations to turn any of these ideas into tangible content in the future. We all can pretty unanimously agree that it’s fun to dream about a theoretical continuation of this franchise, especially because of how it felt like it came to such an abrupt halt in a way none of us were really ready for. This project is simply meant to represent the changes I'd most want to see if that were to ever somehow happen, and that vision of mine simply might not appeal to your individual preferences.

But now moving to the fun stuff itself. I strive to be as in-depth as possible when taking into account how I would rework the gameplay, taking a comprehensive look at the entire series. To keep things feeling familiar while also feeling like an "evolution" of sorts, I found it most compelling to try and utilize standout mechanics from all three of the previous games. Yes, that includes Frontier because, while I can't defend its battle system as a whole, I do think there are some features it introduced that can really enhance potential team building and strategy (mainly referring to the boost system it uses).

Since there are far too many changes to cover in a text post, I created a PowerPoint to explain everything in a more presentable and organized way. The link to it can be found directly below this paragraph, with the presentation being separated in order of different areas of discussion, from how vivosaurs have changed to the differences in the battle system to new and altered abilities and so much more! Plus, attached to this post are the stat sheets for every single vivosaur, #1-300. My own vivosaurs as well as the 10 unique vivosaurs from Frontier are included in the lineup, and all the vivosaurs you're already familiar with have received numerous changes and enhancements to their skill sets so that they can thrive in this new Fossil Battling format.

Link to the PowerPoint (in case the picture quality is too poor to be able to read on this website)

FFO Mechanics.pptx

Link to all 300 vivosaurs and their stat sheets:

FFO All Vivosaurs.pptx

(Disclaimer: not all of the vivosaurs have artwork to correspond with their dino medals, but those will be hopefully trickling out down the line in the future.)

To round things out, I definitely want to thank the people that have already been supporting me and the things I create these past few years elsewhere. Without the level of the recognition and approval I see from the people who always respond to what I make, I definitely never would've come this far with developing my ideas. You guys are the ones who've been enjoying these things, from vivosaurs to characters to the overarching story I hope to one day be able to share with you all. I owe it to you for allowing myself to become as invested in my favorite series as I now am. And hey, depending on how people react to what I have here I may make another post outlining the more creative story and character elements I have in mind… 

Thank you to everyone who's been there for all this time, as well as anyone willing to read through everything I've been able to put together here, this project never could've been completed without you all for me to share it with.

[kimpossibly]

𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐄 𝐒/𝐎

REQUEST: Hi! I really love your works, if its alright with you, can I please request Enid Sinclair with a human/normie s/o who she loves very much but her s/o is being stalked by their crazy ex-girlfriend who wants them back and also happens to be a werewolf. — anon

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hiiiiii!! Thank you so so much for the ask, this is adorable! I didn't know if you wanted a fic or headcanons, so I kind of mashed them up and did both!! I hope you enjoy this and let me know if you'd like it in a different format! NOTE: E/n = ex's name

PAIRING: enid sinclair x gn!reader WARNINGS: crazy ex-girlfriends, fighting, stalking

Needless to say, it's a pretty big deal when someone at Nevermore gets involved with a Normie.

Some might even say it's taboo, but everyone knows that the Normie gets the short end of the stick nine times out of ten.

So when another werewolf and you start dating, our lovely Queen of Gossip Enid knows from the very beginning

She's super into the relationship despite never having met you — she'll always ask for updates or to see photos of the two of you

But she can't deny the blushy, crushy feeling she gets whenever she sees you

Of course, she covers it up with things like "Oh my God, they're gorgeous!" or "You guys look so cute together!", but it doesn't do much to stave off the way her heart speeds up every time she sees you in photos

Enid figures out pretty quickly that she possibly maybe sort of has the sliiiiiightest crush on you. But you were dating her friend, and that meant you were off-limits.

So Enid did what she could to stave off all those giggly, fuzzy feelings she gets whenever she thinks about you

It didn't really work that well but whatever

Enid was so busy trying to stamp down her feelings that she completely missed your relationship turning sour

That's why it came as such a surprise to her when you broke up with her friend out of the blue

Enid put everything she had into being there for her friend — giving her tissues when she cried, planning fun movie nights to take her mind off of you

And all good feelings she had towards you dissolved the moment you made her friend cry

So when she saw you at the Weathervane one day while she was out in Jericho, she was ready to give you a piece of her mind

As she walked towards you, she wrote an entire monologue in her head, ready to spit fire, but then she heard a sob.

Enid's prepared speech melted away the moment she heard a stifled sniff. Even though she could only see the back of you head, she could tell that your body was wracked with sobs. She blanched. She couldn't yell at someone who was already crying! The vision of E/n crying tried to push its way to the forefront of her mind, screaming "Hey, I'm here! Remember me?" But you were right there. So close and so broken. In that moment she resolved to swallow any venom she was prepared to spit at you. After taking a deep breath, she stepped up until she was beside you in the booth.

"Y/n?" she said, trying to keep her voice calm and gentle.

You looked up, your face red and puffy, confusion taking the place of sadness for a moment. "Sorry, do I know you?" you asked. Enid was taken aback by how polite you sounded. From the way E/n had told it, she expected you to sound much more harsh.

"I'm Enid Sinclair. I'm friends with E/n." she introduced.

That only seemed to make you feel worse. "Oh," was all you said, eyes shifting away from her and into space.

Enid hurried to lighten things up. "Can I sit?"

You said nothing but nodded, prompting her to slide into the booth across from you. She tapped her nails on the table a couple times, trying to figure out just where to go from here. "I go to Nevermore, by the way." was all she came up with.

"I know," you replied. "You followed me on Instagram a few weeks ago."

"Oh, yeah! I saw your post from the bowling alley a couple weeks ago, I really liked how you did your hair—"

"I'm sorry, Enid, I'm just a little confused." you gently interrupted her. "Why are you sitting with me? I should think that you'd be angry with me for breaking up with your friend."

Enid paused. She chose her next words carefully, not wanting to scare you away with the truth. "I was. But then I heard you crying and I figured you didn't need a virtual stranger getting mad at you. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Now that you weren't expecting. More tears rushed to your eyes as she spoke. "You...just want to know if I'm okay?" you asked, relieved.

And Enid just nodded. So you told her everything.

For the first time, Enid gets the whole story of your relationship, start to finish. From the time you met at a party in Jericho to the night you broke up, she hears about every date, every fight, every detail you had to offer.

And it's way different than what she had heard from E/n.

While E/n claimed that you had broken up with them out of the blue, you told her that you had broken up because she had been showing up at your house, at your school, at your work out of the blue with no warning.

She even began to show up at places you hadn't told her you were going to be, like the time you decided to head to the Weathervane for a quick coffee and found that E/n had showed up just moments before you, hoping to catch up.

Eventually it started to creep you out a little too much and you decided to break things off

Things started to make sense for Enid, and the picture became a little clearer.

And after you told the whole story, Enid sensed that you needed a quick pick-me-up, so she invited you shopping with her

And shopping with Enid is...an experience

She turns into a personal stylist for you, pulling out thing after thing that she thinks you would look good in — and she always has a reason

"Ooooh, look at this! Emerald green would bring out your eyes."

"This shade of blue will compliment your skin tone so well, just trust me."

She gets you giggling and smiling and it makes her feel like she's on top of the world

You make plans that day to do this again, much to Enid's excitement

You exchange numbers and head your opposite ways

Enid goes back to Nevermore feeling like she's on Cloud 9...at least until she runs into your ex.

"Where have you been?"

Enid freezes when a voice speaks from behind her. Oh no. She turns slowly on her heel, giving E/n an overzealous smile. "Oh, hey, E/n! I was, um, just out at the Weathervane for a coffee. I would've brought you something back, but I didn't know what you liked."

E/n seems to take the lie as she shrugs. "Oh, fun. Hey, you still down for dinner in the courtyard?"

An invisible tension releases from Enid's shoulders. "Yeah, definitely." she says, giving E/n a smile.

She smiles back. "Cool. See ya later!"

E/n walks away as Enid mumbles a freaked-out "See ya," before turning and racing back to her dorm.

It's then that she decides to keep your meetings a secret.

She doesn't want to hurt E/n's feelings, and she definitely doesn't want to make things worse for you, so the only reasonable option was to lie, right?

RIGHT?????????

This is the kind of stuff that eats Enid up — the moral gray area of Is this right or is it wrong?

It's the kind of stuff that leaves her lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out what to do next.

And every time she draws a blank

This whole thing haunts her right up until the day you agreed to meet up again.

You find her in a booth at the Weathervane that Saturday — she already ordered your drink, which she remember from looking at the cup you had the day you met (that's the kind of stuff that she remembers and never forgets)

This time you show her all your favorite things in Jericho — your favorite park, your house, your favorite landmarks

And when it's over and she needs to get back to Nevermore, you make plans to hang out again

Then that hang out comes and passes, and you decide to hang out again. And again. And again.

And suddenly Enid starts to wonder if this is more than just "hanging out."

"Hey, Y/n? Can I ask you a question?" she says out of the blue one day while you're walking around a park.

"Shoot."

"Say there are two friends, and they hang out all the time. I mean, all the time. And one of them kinda likes the other, but they don't know if the other likes them back, but they don't know how to ask...what should they do?" Enid says, her chest seizing with panic.

You pause, brows knit. "Hm." you say, frowning at nothing. "I dunno. Tell them, I guess. I think being straightforward is the best thing you can do in that situation."

Enid nods and you two continue to walk in silence. After a moment, you go to speak, "Hey, did I ever show you—"

"I like you!" Enid blurts out, cutting you off. You stop, but she keeps going. "I was talking about me when I asked that question. I really like you, Y/n, and sometimes I think you might like me too, but I never really know these things for sure, so I just sit and think about it a lot but then I wonder if I'm reading too much into things that that's never good, but then you said to be straightforward about it and—"

"Enid!" you shout, trying to make sure she can take a breath. She stops, looking back at you with terrified eyes. And, to her surprise, you smile. "I like you too."

She falters. "Y-You do?" she stutters in disbelief.

"I do," you confirm.

She doesn't know what to say. She didn't plan this far. "Okay!" she says. "Okay! So. Um. How do we—do you want to—or like, we don't have to, but—"

"Would you like to go on a date with me?" you ask.

And she just smiles. "Yes, I would. When?"

"Hm, how about..." you trail off, looking around. "Now?"

"Now?"

"Mhm."

Enid looks back at you in shock. "So this...this is a date now?"

"Only if you want it to be." you laugh.

She smiles even wider. "Yeah. Yes. I want it to be."

"Well then, come on," you say, beckoning her to keep walking with you. "I think there's a creek in the woods I forgot to show ya."

And, beaming like the sun, Enid follows.

Enid is just about the most thoughtful girlfriend ever

She remembers your birthday, your mom's birthday, your sibling's birthday, your pet's birthday, your anniversary, and any special date you mention. Ever.

She'll show up to a date with flowers and a little gift for some occasion you hadn't even known was happening.

"Happy two and a half week anniversary!" "Oh! I didn't know we were celebrating." "That's okay! I just like visiting the flower shop down the street."

She's also suuuuuper cuddly and will hold onto you wherever you go

She knits you gloves and sweaters and scarves and snoods and anything you request

And while she can't invite you to any dance seeing as you're keeping your relationship a secret from E/n, she'll host makeshift dances in which she'll force you out of your room for a couple minutes while she decorates it with streamers and a disco ball and hauls in a speaker

Then, she'll pull you onto the 'dance floor' (your bedroom floor) and dance with you until you're both on the verge of collapse

For a couple months, everything is perfect. You're perfect, and Enid spends almost every second in awe of you.

But, of course, the past always comes back to haunt us

Enid notices one day that you've been growing slightly distant. You would space out in conversation and never respond with more than a couple words. She would've been hurt if she hadn't been worried about you.

She never pried other than the occasional "You sure you're okay?", which you'd brush off anyway.

But everything comes to a head the night you have a panic attack while you're hanging out with Enid in your room and she pulls you into her arms as you sob. At that point, you couldn't hide what was going on.

"Enid, I...I don't feel safe anymore." you told her one night. E/n was showing up everywhere you went, even more now than she had before. She would ambush you on your way to school, begging you to take her back despite your intentions otherwise. She seemed to always be one step ahead, and you were beginning to panic.

And as Enid sat there, holding you tightly and running gentle fingers through your hair, she made up her mind: "I'm going to make this stop."

You looked up at her, eyes wide. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet, but I can promise you that E/n is never going to bother you again."

"Enid, stop." you say, pulling way and sitting up. "You don't have to get in the middle of this. I never wanted you to get involved and I don't want you to get hurt because of me." you say as more tears begin to stream down your face.

"Hey, look at me," Enid says, taking your face gently in her hands. "I just want you to feel safe. I'm not going to do anything bad, I'm just going to talk to her and try to figure things out, but I won't bring you into it. I promise. I'm going to fix this, okay?"

And, reluctantly, you nod. Enid smiles, kissing the top of your head and pulling you in for a long hug. As she held you, she used her finger to lightly trace something on your back: I LOVE YOU. She did that quite a lot, mostly because she was afraid to say it aloud. But it was true, she loved you. And she'd go to war for you if that was what it took.

You'll never forget the day Enid walked up to you at your usual booth at the Weathervane with a smile on her face as she sat opposite you

"E/n won't be bothering you any more." she said simply, taking a sip of the coffee you had ordered her.

You just frowned in confusion. "Enid, what did you do?"

"Don't worry about it." she said nonchalantly.

After a few more attempts to get her to spill what she had done, you realized she wasn't going to give up. So you settled on a smile as you watched Enid innocently sip her coffee.

"Hey, Enid?" you said, smiling at her. "I love you, too."

And right then, all Enid knew how to do was smile.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About The Owl House Pilot

Huh. Never thought I’d get to do this again, but oh well.

Salutations, random people on the internet! I’m an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And, above all else, I LOVE talking about The Owl House. I have an entire masterpost dedicated to talking about every single episode of the show and I’m halfway through a six-part review discussing everything that I love about it (Part Four's coming when it’s done. Let’s say…late June. Early July at the latest). I figured that after I’d finished that whole deal, I wouldn’t have anything left to talk about when it came to this series. Then, out of nowhere, the show’s original pilot leaked online…Sort of. It’s just an animatic with the show’s original voice cast voicing MOST of the lines, but it’s very much the pilot episode. It’s just not a finished product and I won’t share a link because I don’t think it’s exactly…legal. BUT I will at least share my thoughts about it because, well…Look at my blog. The Owl House has become the BIG THING that I obsess over for a reason and I love that I got to see what’s basically an alternate version of the show that I love. What do I mean?

Well, a pilot is MUCH different from a first episode. Where the first episode is meant to sell the show to the audience, a pilot is meant to sell it to a STUDIO. It can happen at any point of the story or act as the show’s first episode. Just as long as it shows off the characters, concepts, and tone, a studio can look at it, greenlight it, and allow the show to continue, BUT with some extra notes. Sometimes, those notes can change the rest of the series where others can keep the pilot good enough to stay canon. Some best examples off the top of my head are the pilots for Regular Show and Rick and Morty. You can tell that not much changed from the pilots of those shows and what was initially pitched, but there are clear changes in tone, animation, and even personality. Skips sounds a little more illiterate and Benson being more informed of the consequences of something as simple as rock, paper, scissors in the Regular Show pilot and Rick is noticeably more reckless and unprepared for situations in the Rick and Morty pilot. Nothing is set in stone with a pilot episode, even the ones that are canon. For the case of The Owl House, it’s pilot is no exception. A lot of it is just the same as “A Lying Witch and A Warden” at least in terms of plot and themes, but there are so many changes that show off what the series COULD HAVE been instead of what it was. How different? Well, let’s go through it all.

But real quick, I’m not going to do the “Like/Dislike” format I’ve done for previous reviews. Instead, I’m going to look through this pilot, note the changes it has, and share my thoughts on them. There’s also going to be a few spoilers to what happens in this pilot, so if you haven’t checked it out then I suggest giving it a watch wherever you can find it. It really is interesting to get a peak into what’s basically an alternate version of my favorite show.

With that said, let’s get into it.

Some Things Stayed the Same: Like I said, it’s basically an altered version of “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” The plot is that Eda uses Luz to get King back his “crown of power,” with some bits and pieces carrying over. Certain jokes that must have been too funny to get rid of, specific lines of dialogue that hit just the right notes, and some aspects of the characters’ personalities being just the same, proving that they're already perfect the way they are. It’s the changes, however, that makes for something more interesting. For one…

There’s More of an Emphasis on Comedy: As much as I love The Owl House, I’ll always admit that humor isn't its strong suit. It CAN be funny, really funny. But the jokes don’t land as well as something as Gravity Falls or Amphibia. I can say that a part of that could be because Dana Terrace wanted a more serious show, and we definitely get a sense of how serious it could be later in the series. Here, in the pilot, it definitely seems like there was more of an attempt to make the show comedic. King’s crown isn’t in a warden’s cell held within a magical barrier that only a human can get through. It’s in a Principal’s high school, locked in a human locker that Eda and King treat as something devious. Amity’s friends aren’t preppy mean girls who seem like they could cause conflict to Luz and her friends. They’re characters used for jokes who are amazed by Luz standing up to Lilith. There’s less of an edge and more of a lean towards cutesy fun, waiting until the very end to reveal something heavy. To me, it makes the pilot feel MORE like a Gravity Falls clone than the final product. Because while Gravity Falls has its serious moments, it makes it clear that it was a comedy first, both in the pilot and final product. Any moment of heart or drama was overshadowed by one hilarious joke after the other. Now, “A Lying Witch and A Warden” had a lot of jokes too, but there were also these moments that hinted at something more. You have the oppressive looking prison, the grand beam of light hiding human collectibles, a crazy chase from a threatening looking warden. And yes, the reveal that Warden Wrath was trying to go out with Eda was hilarious, but a warden who tortures a prisoner for speaking her truth gives a hint of how dark this world can be. Meanwhile, a principal sending a student to demon detention feels more like a joke, exaggerating how strict some principals can be.

And keep in mind, I’m not complaining about the pilot leaning more towards comedy. I actually laughed a lot more with it than I did with “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” I’m just trying to explain how the tone is definitely going for something different than the full series. It might have that darker twist in the end, but even that is nothing more than a surprise. I'll get into why later, but while it has darker implications, it doesn't detract from the fun times to be had. Not by much. From what I can gather from the pilot, it’s definitely going for a series with goofy, fun adventures with a bit of heart to it. It’s just missing that personal touch that’s in The Owl House. One good example of how?

There’s Not Even a MENTION of Camila: Before you say anything, this has nothing to do with me being Camila’s number one fan, to the point where I almost made a side-blog dedicated to her (I really should get on that, though…)

I bring up this change because Camila grounds the story in “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” She draws Luz close to reality and is the first thing that comes to Luz’s mind when in real danger, saying, “If I die, my mom will kill me!” More than that, though, Camila is the one real connection Luz has to the human realm. She has no friends nor adventures, but Luz always has Camila, with even the first episode hinting that. So when Luz starts getting herself into trouble or choosing to lie and stay in the Boiling Isles, it lets the audience get ready for the inevitable drama that could unfold when Luz finally tells Camila everything. By removing Camila, though, the anticipation of Luz telling her mom goes away with her. At least, it tells ME that there’s less of a worry about Luz basically running away from home. Either this version of the show is holding off from that for a future episode or that Luz and Camila’s relationship isn’t close enough where it matters. This is speculation, of course, but I still stand by that a sense of something personal with Luz is lost for the sake of having fun and epic fantasy adventures with entertaining characters. It’s still good and entertaining, and the pilot does offer something else that’s personal, but it’s not the same as The Owl House we all fell in love with. Though, it’s notable that our main cast stayed the same.

Luz, Eda, and King: Overall, I’d say that these three, personality wise, didn’t change much. King’s probably the least altered, being the exact same character he was in Season One aside from MAYBE having a design change (It’s hard to tell through storyboards). As for Luz and Eda, they’re more or less the same. There’s a BIG change with Eda (That I’ll get to later), but her devil-may-care attitude is very much the same, as well as her snark and soft nature towards Luz and King. It’s her magic that gets the real boost, being able to do more like teleport across the Isles and turn into a…softer version of the Owl Beast at will. It’s pretty cool to see the power that this alternate Owl Lady has. And then there’s Luz, who’s still the lovable weirdo we all know. Though, this version seems a lot more dim and I’m not really a fan. How does she mistakenly give a book report in geometry class? How did it take seeing Amity’s witch ears to realize that she belonged in the demon realm? Luz had her dumb moments in the show too, but not to this extent. There was still a sense of maturity and cognitive understanding that made Luz feel like someone that seemed weird but intelligent enough to think herself out of a situation. This Luz seems more weird and focused on using brute force on a problem. In a way, it makes Pilot!Luz more of an…emotionally driven Star Butterfly. A fun and capable character, but not the same kind I had made several posts and reviews talking about how much I love/personally connected to her. But, comparatively, I guess it IS the most minor change that could be done to this character. Now let’s move onto BIGGER changes.

The Boiling Isles: The look and feel of the Isles remains the same, but the fact that it’s more connected to the Human Realm is intriguing. From what I can tell, the Demon Realm treats traveling to the Human Realm like it’s going to a new country. You visit, make some memories, and, for some, send your children over to be a foreign exchange student of sorts. Except that racism seems to be encouraged in this regard as the demons and witches don’t see humans worth breathing the same air as them. And some think it’s more than okay to hunt down and kill if one human trespasses into their realm. And the reason for THAT is implied to be Belos’ doing. Er, I mean–*Checks the leaked pitch bible*--Emperor Pupa? Uh…I’ll just stick with Belos. 

And that’s extra fascinating to me because Belos being a witch hunter was a major twist that spoke VOLUMES of the kind of people he represents. To find out that this version is more anti-human makes me curious of what kind of angle the show would have taken. Would Belos have been your bare-bones fantasy villain or would the writers find a different way to tackle his symbolism? And is the reason why the Demon Realm is more open up to the Human Realm because he hopes witches and demons can report about their enemies for a possible invasion? There’s no way to know for sure because that version of the story will never come to be, but it’s interesting to think of all the things we COULD have gotten. The same goes for other characters.

Amity: To think, Amity was considered important enough to be included in the original pitch pilot alongside our main trio. It makes sense. Dana Terrace has gone on record in saying that Luz and Amity’s relationship was something she wanted from the get go, so it’s smart to establish it as quickly as possible. Though the route they take is definitely different. Instead of being enemies to lovers, Lumity, in the original pitch, went for the friends to lovers trope…kind of.

Luz, in this version, is someone so desperate for positive attention and respect that she latches onto the first person in school that was nice to her. Except that Amity was looking for some quiet and just so happened to look like she was supporting Luz when telling everyone to leave her alone. It was an act of kindness, but not one done in generosity. It still meant the world to Luz, though, making her go ALL IN with friendship. Only to be a little too forward and creeped Amity out to the point where she was polite enough to say “Thank you,” but you could see the desperation in her eyes to be anywhere but next to Luz. Yet Luz doesn’t see that. She’s still too focused that someone was actually nice to her that she blindly follows Amity into a new world just to return a weird looking passport. Because Amity’s Luz’s friend now and friends do nice things to each other. Only for Amity to accidentally reveal that she couldn’t care less for Luz and shatter her hopes and dreams in one fell swoop.

In a weird way, I’d say Luz and Amity are off on a better first impression here than in the original series. There’s no attempted dissections or witch’s duels. Just…Amity trying to be polite in Luz’s presence only to act like your typical mean girl when she THINKS Luz isn’t around. Tossing away the drawing is harsh for sure, but here’s the interesting thing: Amity didn’t know she was talking to Luz at that moment. She didn’t even get rid of the drawing until someone drew (haha) attention to it. If anything, it’s worth noting that Amity still kept the drawing on her. Almost like, despite being weirded out by Luz, Amity felt as though the drawing WAS cute and only got rid of it when she thought someone would question her for having it. Can’t have that Little Miss Perfect status shatter over something some human gave her.

Am I reaching as a Lumity shipper? Oh, most certainly yes. But we all know the inevitable conclusion between these two. We know where they’re headed. Dana has been pretty adamant about wanting it from the start and this pilot sets the groundwork well. Knowing where these two will end up, it’s easy to make connections and hypothesize what means what. Plus, look at the face of shock and amazement on Amity’s face when she sees Luz standing up to Lilith. That looks like a girl who’s…feeling things for this human weirdo. They’re not off to a ROARING start, but I can see how things could improve between Luz and Amity. And who knows, maybe this version of these two might end up dating sooner with how quickly they seem interested in each other. Again, am I reaching? Most definitely, but I went without any new Lumity content for over a year so LET ME REACH!

The point I’m trying to make is that this version of Amity definitely seems a lot more chill and polite at the start, even though it’s likely she still has issues of even being FRIENDS with a human. But not everyone starts off polite.

Lilith: Crazy to think that Lilith started out as…basically a one-off villain like Warden Wrath. At least, that’s what I gathered from the pilot. The pitch bible hints that there COULD be more to her, but at the same time she gets sent to a fire dimension and loses a hand. That’s one-off villain energy if I’ve ever seen it. But if she is meant to be something more, I would love to see what differences could come of her being the headmaster of Hexside instead of Bump and how she could either develop into someone better through Luz’s influence as a student or regress into someone worse as she makes Luz’s school life a living hell. Whatever could come from her, it was kind of fun seeing Lilith act as more of a threat with her…out of nowhere ability to turn into a bat monster. It’s a pretty cool design and I love that it was brought out due to Eda’s constant pestering, proving that Lilith is still the same insecure nut that I love. And it is pretty great that this pilot confirmed that Lilith really did dye her hair to look more serious. You CAN’T tell me that’s not why the Lilith we know ditched the curly red hair.

But that’s about it when it comes to changes towards characters and locations. Let’s talk about the potential differences in the ongoing story.

Luz Stays Trapped Instead of Choosing to Stay: I mean, technically she chose to stay by breaking that key for no reason, but that’s more of a consequence of not thinking things through. She didn’t NEED to break the key, Luz could have just as easily pulled it out. Instead, she kicked the dang thing, leaving herself trapped in this new world. And it’s here that I would like to once again point out how this makes Pilot!Luz different and what’s lost by not including Camila. The Luz WE know would have been more careful. She always felt like someone who fought smarter, not harder, even in that first episode. Luz didn’t fight Wrath head on, she rallied a prison riot that distracted him long enough for her to hit a firework ball into his mouth. She’s intelligent and resourceful, where this one…kind of is? It was smart to send Lilith to the fire dimension, but again, not a great plan to break the key. Plus, without Camila, this doesn’t feel like as big of a deal as it could have been. Camila was the first person in Luz’s mind as she destroyed the portal door in the Season One finale. In the pilot, with no Camila, it feels like a non-sacrifice or even that big of a deal. She’s stuck, sure, but Luz doesn’t really seem to care that much. She feels happy being with Eda and King and doesn’t seem to be in that big of a rush to get home. Plus, it’s not exactly complicated to get back. There was a whole line of portal doors in the beginning that Luz could potentially sneak through and there’s not yet an established cannon that makes it seem like getting a new key would be difficult or even complicated. Once more, it gives the impression that this version of The Owl House would be focused less on personal stakes and more like giving Luz that fantasy adventure she’s always been craving for. It would make for a fun show, but not the SAME show. However, it is worth noting that there could be some potential drama. Especially for one twist that was a JOLT to my system.

EDA WORKS FOR THE EMPEROR?!: WHAT?!

I’ll admit, I feel like the reason why this is so shocking is because of the Eda I know and the Emperor I learned to fear. I mean, Eda, the woman who would sooner eat her own fist before even CONSIDERING helping Belos, even before the witch hunter business, was originally meant to HELP him. Of all the changes that the series could have made, this was by far the biggest. Everything that I thought to be constant turned out to be a lie and I was NOT prepared for it!

But again, the reason why I got that big of a reaction is because it goes against everything I knew about Eda. If this was my first introduction to her, it’d be less of a shocking twist and more of a…hook. Like how Invincible’s first episode (Don’t watch if you’re a baby) ends with a character you THOUGHT you could trust doing this intensely dark thing. The rest of the season is leading you to figure out WHY this was done and how the other characters would react, making you want to see more as the show inevitably leads up to this big conclusion that changes everything you once knew. The same applies here, with the reveal making me wonder why Eda would do this, how long she’s been doing it, how it will affect her relationship with Luz, and whether or not it’d be an easy fix. And much like the ending of Invincible’s first episode (Seriously, NOT meant for babies), this hook makes me interested in wanting to see what comes next. Except I never will know because that came from a version of The Owl House that will never exist.

The pilot is interesting because it shows me what The Owl House COULD have been. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than what we got or even that it’s a better first impression than “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” It’s definitely FUNNIER, I’ll give it that, but it doesn’t make the original pitch better, it makes it different. Everything looks the same and sounds the same, but the overall feel of this pilot makes it something that would have had a different story, tone, and ideas on how to develop these characters. Would I have liked it? Absolutely. It seems like a fun time. But that doesn’t mean I like the show we got any less. This was more like…getting a peek into an alternate universe where a show I already love would have been vastly different. And after over a year without any new Owl House content aside from stuff that fans have made, this was a very pleasant surprise that leaves me excited for the NEW fan content that springs from all this.

But that’s enough talking about a show that could have been made. Time to get back to a series that came into existence and I still love so much. See you all then as you all milk this gift that the internet has given you.

[theredrenard]

Fic Title Ideas

I spent a good chunk of time sorting through my Spotify for fic title inspiration, and compiled a list of lyrics + their sources/links under the cut.

Fair warning, I did come up with these with a certain ship in mind so they’re specifically tailored to what was going through my mind at the time.

Enjoy, and keep being creative! 💛

Format: Lyric/Title "Song Title" Artist (Spotify link to song)

This list will be periodically updated as I find new lyrics

🌟.•*💫*•⭐️*~•.🌙.•~*⭐️•*💫*•.🌟

Can an angel fall past Hell? (Lived a life meant for someone else)

“Man Eater” Rivals (x)

No way out (You gave me light)

“On Accident” Nico Collins (x)

I swear (I only fell for you on accident)

“On Accident” Nico Collins (x)

Days like these, you wanna get away (Close our eyes, pretend we’re miles away)

“Thelma + Louise” Bastille (x)

They say that love is forever (Your forever is all that I need)

“Scene One - James Dean & Aubrey Hepburn” Sleeping With Sirens (x)

All my life I’ve been on my own (I used the light to guide me home)

“Stockholm Syndrome” One Direction (x)

You know what I’m thinking (See it in your eyes)

“Die for you” The Weeknd (x)

Open your eyes and see (The way our horizons meet)

“All of the stars” Ed Sheeran (x)

How do you fall in love? (Harder than a bullet could hit you)

“River” BRKN LOVE (x)

I know we only just met (So why do I feel invested?)

“Telephone” Waterparks (x)

I can be your best bet (Future favorite regret)

“Telephone” Waterparks (x)

I wanna kiss you every minute, every hour, every day (You got me in a spin but everything is a-okay)

“I Believe in a Thing Called Love” The Darkness (x)

My heart's in overdrive (You're behind the steering wheel)

“I Believe in a Thing Called Love” The Darkness (x)

A piece of you between my teeth (Keep me as a memory)

“Your Name” Artio (x)

So why do I still wake up, two in the morning (Cold sweat, screamin' your name)

“Why do I” Set It Off (x)

Screamin' my lungs out for you, not afraid to face it (I need you more than I want to)

“Shameless” Camila Cabello (x)

So many mornings I woke up confused (In my dreams, I do anything I want to you)

“Shameless” Camila Cabello (x)

There’s no hurry (Don’t you worry)

“Your man” Josh Turner (x)

I think I like you (Maybe more than I should)

“I think I like you” The Band CAMINO (x)

All my nights taste like gold (When I'm with you it's like everything glows)

“Waking up slow” Gabrielle Aplin (x)

I could rearrange (Would you do the same?)

“Waking up slow” Gabrielle Aplin (x)

It's like I never had a doubt (I love you like the sun came out)

“Waking up slow” Gabrielle Aplin (x)

I never thought I needed saving (I was right where I should be)

“What have I done” Dermot Kennedy (x)

Ever since the other night I've been thinking (About the way you smile golden)

“What have I done” Dermot Kennedy (x)

We were running in the dark (We were following our hearts)

“Falling Apart” Michael Schulte (x)

No grave can hold my body down (I’ll crawl home to [him]) *

“Work Song” Hozier (x)

*this lyric was changed from ‘her’ to ‘him’ to suit the ship I had in mind

If the Lord don't forgive me, I'd still have my baby (And my babe would have me)

“Work Song” Hozier (x)

I'm lost without you (A broken clock without you)

“Soft” Babygirl (x)

The world is ugly (But you're beautiful to me)

“The world is ugly” My Chemical Romance (x)

Blood on my shirt (Heart in my hand)

“Teeth” 5 Seconds of Summer (x)

I wish you were here (Won't you fall for me?)

“Fall for Me” Sleep Token (x)

I am yours to the end (Won't you fall for me?)

“Fall for Me” Sleep Token (x)

I don't wanna look at anything else (Now that I saw you)

“Daylight” Taylor Swift (x)

I don't wanna think of anything else (Now that I thought of you)

“Daylight” Taylor Swift (x)

Now that I saw you (I can never look away)

“Daylight” Taylor Swift (x)

I know l'm not the perfect lover (I can tell you love her)

“Lover” Plot Twist ft. Rose & Kennedy (x)

There's a space inside my mind (Where I keep on missing you)

“Missing You” The Vamps (x)

[morskisir]

i'm really curious why you dislike the comics? /genq /nm

ooooh the dreaded question. i can get really passionate about this (i care too much) so i'm going to be as brief and simple as i can. i'm aware many people enjoy the comics and that's fine. /gen you do you. like i said; i care too much

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: we have no clue how much time or dedication was given to the comics by valve; the poor writing isn't necessarily the fault of the writers and i have no personal beef with them! with that said, old man yells at cloud /ref under read more/keep reading.

the two main gripes i have with the comics are lack of planning and tone problems.

as i already said, the lack of planning- and therefore the poor writing- does not mean the comic team was incompetent (the art is quite good a lot of the time, actually), but this does mean it severely hurts the quality of the comics themselves. it's clear they aren't sure where they're taking this (as evident by whatever the fuck is going on with helen) and what the story is even supposed to mean. the tone goes hand in hand with the poor planning; the comics aren't sure whether they want to be purely comical and action-focused or a DARK comedy; having serious moments and themes in the story.

in the end, the serious moments come off as either manipulative (iykyk. i am not getting angry about this for 40 minutes again) or as if they're being made fun of (cough cough sniper).

they also struggle to really build up those moments, so sometimes it feels as if they just came out of nowhere. it's really jarring.

there's also just. not a lot of conflict between the main cast?? there isn't a lot of pressure put on pauling from the mercs via questioning her actions, etc. (we only slightly get this from spy. but like once) (i get that it's to show how much trust they have in her but, really? not a single thing?) (this could build up to like. a "grand betrayal" sort of thing but yknow. they didnt think about the build up to anything)

this is why i think making it JUST the RED team really hurts the story- they already have set dynamics and don't need to develop or sort through any conflicts they have with one another. medic only has conflict with sniper of all people. MEDIC. who went to join another team which was actively hunting his previous one.

the comics introduce conflict and new dynamics by straight up making up new characters?? as much as i love zhanna- she was primarily put into the story just to be soldier's love interest and have a fun dynamic with him.... i'm so sorry miss.

they could've done that with demo btw?? since demo and soldier are supposed to be friends?? unless actually the team differences DO matter (which the comics do not make clear at all, engie is randomly blue while the rest are red. okay. why? wouldn't you like to know.) so red soldier and red demo dont bounce off of eachother as much as blu soldier and red demo do.

i'm not formatting this at all but remember the poor planning? ahem. sniper timeline. why did you make him barely 30. i will fucking kill you he was always clearly meant to be, look, and sound like an old man. its in his concept art its in how he talks. raghghgh

they keep giving themselves problems by adding new characters cause then the main fucking mercs who people adore get no time for themselves (demo, pyro, scout, engie) they're just kinda......there. it sucks. but it's what we got, i guess. just how canon the comics are is questionable- but i don't care if they are.

it's free real estate i'm doing my own thing!!!!!!!!!!! fuck around find out!!!!! be gay do crime!!!!!!! *gets arrested by valve for tampering with copyrighted material*

anyways, after all that negativity; shoutout to the only stuff i enjoyed from the comics: pauling, heavy, the art. goob byeeeeeeee

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Hey, could you possibly do any headcannons or maybe a prompt for romantic yandere Billy Butcher? Thank you! Love your work so much, drink water and stay safe! -🎃

YEEEEES, I love Billy sm, it’s not even funny. Thank you for requesting this, 🎃 anon :-). [p.s. I will take your advice, and thank you for enjoying my work :>. Make sure to take care of yourself!]

Yandere Billy Butcher Headcanons

Warnings: Just generallytoxic, yandere behaviour, possessive behaviour, obsessive behaviour, stalking, attempted kidnapping, women looking out for their friends, very important spoilers for Billy's past so don't read this if you want them to be a surprise

Billy is more likely to be a yandere after a very specific inciting incident (a la the disappearance of his wife).

Resultingly, after Billy realises he likes you in a way that's more than platonic, he'll go feral.

He'll act as normal as he can, not wanting to alert you to the very dangers assigned to protect the likes of you and him.

Yet he's paranoid that you'll get taken from him somehow.

Thus, he enacts a plan.

It takes a long time to make Billy like anyone, especially now after everything he's been through.

So you must have something very special about you for him to want to pursue you (in more ways than one).

Billy will spend as much time with you as he can within the confines of his operations with the Boys and his own need to not draw attention to you.

Vought are around every corner, in the sky, in the ocean, trawling the land; he makes sure to take you to places they wouldn't patrol without a cause, out of the flight path and wrath of Homelander.

You knew nothing of this, of course.

You noticed how paranoid Billy was beneath his cool exterior.

Constantly looking over his shoulder whenever someone walked into the restaurant.

How his eyes cast up to the ceiling whenever the sound of an overhead plane pierced the air.

The way he held you impossibly close whenever he walked you home after a date.

You said nothing.

You wanted to believe that he was just quirky, that he was perhaps playing a joke, of sorts.

And, the first time you saw him at your work, never having told him where it was, you tried to maintain that belief.

But then it happened again. And again.

He was in his car a little way away from the building, in perfect line of sight of the window you were situated by.

Or, you were in perfect line of sight of his guardianship.

The first time, you could have excused it as not actually being him, but instead a remarkably similar car to the one he owned.

The fact that he never came in and visited you, or messaged you to tell you he was around, was what confirmed your suspicions that Billy was doing something he didn't want you knowing about.

Something bad.

You couldn't afford to leave work without a good enough reason, and something just told you not to investigate it. Not now.

Not when you were alone.

One evening, when everyone was leaving, you stuck close to a group of acquaintances.

They were going to a bra, one which, from the hushed chatter of the group, you knew would only cover a tiny amount of your journey home, the path deviating after a certain point.

You knew the bar was likely the safest option, but even then, Billy was a smooth talker.

The group wouldn't hesitate for a moment to unknowingly sacrifice you to him if it meant you would "get some."

They didn't know. How were they to?

You kept at the heart of the formation as they walked, trying to keep up with the idle chatter, keep up your smile, as you eyed Billy's car.

It didn't move. Didn't even look like it was inhabited.

The group parted not long after. And, in a last ditch effort to preserve your safety, you grabbed the hand of one of the girls.

She looked at you, concern growing on her face.

"Is...everything alright?" she said.

You threw a glance over your shoulder, then swallowed.

"Uh...I'm not...not sure,"

Your voice trembled, hands shook. The girl placed a small hand over yours.

"Is something wrong?" She glanced over your shoulder, then her eyes widened.

A large hand clapped your shoulder.

"Was wonderin' where you'd run off to, Sweets," Billy's voice was the horn which announced the Rapture. Your nerves fried, your resolve crumbled.

You watched the girl with pleading eyes. She squeezed your hand.

"Who are you?" she asked, gaze flitting between you and Billy.

You could hear Billy smirking behind you.

"Boyfriend," he said. "(Y/N) was supposed to come clubbin' with me after work, but seein' as you're on your way there, she must have other plans."

He was looking at you. You knew it. You didn't turn around.

"Y-yeah!" you said. "Sorry, Billy."

"Nevermind, ey?" He squeezed your shoulder. Hard. "I'll swing by soon to pick you up."

And with that, he disappeared.

You tried to suppress a tear.

When you felt Billy's presence had left completely, you released a breath.

"Was that really your boyfriend?" the girl asked, concern still carved into her features.

You shook your head. "No," you said, voice a hoarse whisper, throat having dried up. "Not anymore."

You were honestly surprised that Billy hadn't just taken you then and there, what with only one witness. Perhaps he was less equipped this time round than you thought. Less willing.

The girl stepped closer.

"If he starts bothering you again, call me, okay?"

She rummaged around in her bag with her free hand and withdrew her phone.

You exchanged numbers and you learnt her name.

Cassie.

You went everywhere together after that, friendship strengthening each day.

She was pretty proficient in this area of expertise, being a beautiful woman, she was subject to many attempts like the one Billy pulled.

But she had ways of protecting herself, and now you.

You found pretty quickly that the police weren't going to help you, for your lack of evidence and the lack of visible CCTV in the area he parked, there was nothing they could do.

You shivered as you realised that Billy had parked in a carefully chosen, manicured spot; one that was a blind spot and where he could watch you.

Somewhere inside, you knew it would only be a matter of time until Billy tried to pull a stunt like that again. But when he did, you knew you'd at least have Cassie to look out for you.

Little did you know.

Please reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself out tremendously :-)

Masterlist

Masterpost

[icology]

I think it’s pretty well established in many Team ICO fan circles, and there’s even a great post about it here on Tumblr by @frabjousvonniche, but for those unaware, the NTSC-U copy of ICO for the PS2 is a little undercooked. It was released in September of 2001 as the result of a shipping deadline that Ueda’s team couldn’t afford to miss. But frankly, ICO was not finished by that time and would not be sold to the Japanese market until December of that year.

For this reason, one can consider the NTSC-U copy to be a beta version of the title. But what it lacks in polish, it makes up for by providing insights. Rare is the opportunity for fans to have easy access to a completed game at different phases of development. And seeing the differences between these versions can show a lot about both the design process and what order the game may have been coded in.

But the strangest and smallest detail of differences, which really freaks me out on some level, becomes apparent when Yorda is taken into the void by Shadows. In the final game, Shadow Creatures are eliminated all at once by the same magic wave that turns you to stone and initiates the Game Over. This is already a little unsettling as a form of their dismissal, but they disappear like smoke, like you would expect of them.

This is not quite the case in the US version. When Shadows are eliminated by this magic wave, their disappearance is marked by a sudden, blurry red particle effect.

And this only occurs in this one specific scenario. No other means of defeating the Shadows can reproduce this.

I have a clip from ICO Speedrunner, Sanchopanda, to help demonstrate. It probably won’t work in the Tumblr ask format, but having the link should be enough. It occurs around 22 seconds in:

I’m all for interpreting this red particle effect in whatever way you want, but I can’t really shake from my mind the potential that it’s blood. And even further, I can’t shake questions of why that would only appear in this instance, and for what reason.

Maybe the confusion of the matter is the very reason this didn’t make it to the final release but it was clearly intentional and meant to signify something that at least one dev had in mind.

It’s intriguing, to say the least.

Tumblr ate your link but I went for a dive and I think this might be the clip you're talking about! The little red particles are visible and they do look like blood! Funny that when you defeat the armored soldiers in The Last Guardian, you can also observe a similar thing if you knock them down and rip off their helmets (which we can observe in this clip, for example). For both types of enemies, the sight of it is a bit bizarre, because they're supposed to be almost intangible little creatures, but that makes it feel like you actually hurt them.

It feels strange, almost like when you defeat the shadow kids that were sacrificed before Ico. I wonder if every shadow in the games is sentient or if there's some sort of robot/zombie like quality for the enemies where they just follow orders and don't feel any real pain.

Speaking of things that ended up being undercooked on the NTSC-U version due to the deadline... we also have the infamous Ico North American cover art. The one we all know and love was hand painted by Ueda himself, based on a Giorgio de Chirico piece titled "The Nostalgia of the Infinite". Much like the game, it wasn't ready when it came out in the US, so they were stuck with this eye sore that's odd enough to make you question whether you just picked up a bootleg copy. Who the heck is that kid?

The team actually talked about this in the bonus interview for the Ico/SOTC PS3 remaster and it made for a pretty funny moment which you can watch here.

(also... the Megaman cover they talk about is WAY worse. At least Ico's doesn't look like nightmare fuel and wow, how did I end up rambling this much? I'm gonna shut up now hahaha)