#I really should get in the habit of doing warm-ups tho

[mercuryartes]

Weirdly Specific Artist Asks~

2, 7, 20, and 27!

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)?

Characters facing right (so my left) is my default/easiest, but I'm trying to break the habit of relying on it too much. XD

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate?

I have (yet) to do miniature painting, but I'm always really impressed with the amount of detail one can achieve on such a small scale with paint.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy?

Hair! Long flowy hair, especially

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with?

No warm-up, we die like men. XD

[celuere]

NSFW Hcs for my fav genshin women <3

Including: Arlecchino, Clorinde, Navia, Mavuika x fem!reader

cw: strap-on/cock (not really specified, interpret it however you want), hair pulling, degrading, semi-public, breeding, cunnilingus, bondage, consensual somnophilia, not proofread

I always wanted to make one of these multi posts and I realized „hey alba you never once posted your sesbian lex hcs about your wives“ so here I am.

Starting off with FATHER herself. I could actually write a book about her bed habits.

95% of the time on the giving end. She doesn’t enjoy being on the bottom end that much. It‘s not like that she HATES it but she just loves the way your pretty pussy swallows her cock up without much troubles.

She had a hard day? Expect her to bend you over that desk of hers, sheets of papers and other objects alike getting shoved off (or proceed to fall down) while she fucks her frustration straight into you. And goodness you take it like such a good girl, every bad day for her is a wonderful day for you.

Bondage. Oh. My. God. This woman and bondage. Have you seen her bloodfire strings? THE THINGSSSS she could and WILL do with those are unlimited. Either to keep you propped up in the middle of your bedroom while toes are barely touching the floor as she runs her razor sharp nails over your delicate skin OR to just manhandle you into whatever position she pleases. She is nasty like that.

HER BOSSFORM THO. I COULD. TALK. ABOUT. HER. BOSSFORM. FOR ETERNITY. she is just BIGGER after transforming. Everything is. Including that dick. You literally had to beg her for ages to fuck you in her completed form but when it came down to it? She couldn’t even fit the first half inside when she decided to break it off because no way in hell she‘ll ever hurt you like this. So thigh-fucking it was. Afterwards it was your tits.

Doesnt have a high sex drive at all but when it comes to you… she‘d never leave your warm cunt ever again if the world bent to her own will.

Not often but when she feels like it will degrade the living hell out of you.

Actually takes her wedding ring off every time she is about to fingerfuck you. Wouldn’t want that pretty thing to get dirty;, right?

In my first point I talked about how tops most of the time but about the times she bottoms? My, she is such a sensitive girl the bare touch of your fingers on her pussy/tip has her squirming around, trying to control the blush creeping up her face. She is quite flustered whenever you take the lead, she has a reputation after all. What would her subordinates think of her when they found out that the Knave enjoys being spread open over the kitchen counter on a random Tuesday night? She just wanted a glass water (lie). Of course she didn’t just let you push her down (lie). What, NOOOOO she didn’t burn the wooden counter on accident during her orgasm (lie).

Actually can’t take that much into her cunt due to how rare this occasion actually is. It‘s so cute watching one of Snezhnaya‘s most feared diplomat struggle on her wife’s dildo. A cutie, isn’t she?

Breeding. Oh how much she loves seeing her cum ooze out of your spent pussy after leaving your warmth. How much she wishes for you to carry out her children.

Clorinde on the other hand…

A pillow princess through and through. It‘s so easy to make her obey, to make her flustered. The bare sight of you buckling up the strap has her blushing and her pussy throbbing

Oh how often you mercilessly feasted on her cunt in her office. In broad daylight. With unlocked doors. You stopped counting.

Not a brat AT ALL. Like she is just a needy doll for you, anything you ask of her, she does. Why should she play hard to get if her pussy is screaming to get filled up already?

Is actual amazing at dominating but if she wouldn’t get so easily flustered by your remarks…

LOVES scissoring, always grabbing after your hand first and intertwining your fingers as you both grind against each other like a bunch of animals in heat. It is just so intimate and soft - just how she likes it.

Being the champion duelist can sometimes be so hard… if she only had a gf at home waiting to fuck this day out of her brain until all that’s left on her mind is your cock filling her up over and over

Do NOT try anything public with her. She is so bad at hiding it, it’s pathetic. The first and last time you tried it you almost got caught because she accidentally let one of the loudest moans ever slip. Geez, control yourself a little.

Yes. You did got caught by none other than Wrio once. Where? In his own office. You just got SO tired of waiting for the duke so your hand just slipped out… underneath her skirt… and then she slipped out… right on his desk… he never invited you both over again. Only separately.

Perfect punishment for her? Push her head between your legs. Make her clean up the mess she caused. Of course while sitting on a dildo, naturally

Has a thing for clothed sex, both parties still being almost fully clothed… it gets her going way better than being completely naked so just grind yourself against her whenever you have a spare minute

Otherwise is really a vanilla. Not really into degrading, spanking, bondage etc. just praise her lots, tell her how good she is for taking your cock and you have her moaning all over the house.

But Navia is the complete opposite of her.

That woman’s hand would find a way into your panties in the most crowded places ever. May it be an Aquabus, a café or Opera Epiclese - expect her to fingerfuck you.

Such a cheeky girl, sneaking that strap underneath her skirt so you can cockwarm her in her office of the Spina while she files out paperwork. Only rewarding you after she is done with her mountains of work by bending you over and giving that pussy a good pounding.

Tons of begging for her. You want your pussy eaten? Beg for it? You want her to kiss you? Beg for it? You want her to stretch you out on her fat cock? Beg for it. Nothing brings her more joy than watching you plead for her.

It’s not a rare occasion for her to wake you up with her fingers slipping into you, slowly and gently pumping in and out of you as she whispers sweet nothings into your ear. Watching your squirm underneath her touch until you eventually realize what’s going on and beg her to go faster

But no she won’t degrade you. She is a huge praise, always cooing right into you ear how good your doing, kissing your ear and calling every French name under the song. My god she loves you so much it’s sickening

But every independent woman needs to lay back every once in a while, no? Eyes watery from how overstimulated her swollen clit actually is when you pull your lips away from it, only to move back down to stick your tongue back into her leaking hole. Your hair a mess from how desperately she is tugging on it, someone HELP her

A HUGE fan of watching your strap disappear inside of her. Better. In front of a mirror. In full nelson.

Tries to act like you didn’t make her see starts the night before but fails. Miserably. Just let her stay in bed.

Talks about breeding get this woman GOING. like yes. Tell her you’re gonna fill her up. Tell her you’re gonna get her pregnant. Doesn’t matter if it happens or not, the sheer thought of getting pregnant by her gf or vice versa… she is GONE.

Never once is careful with your undies. You always end up with at least one ripped pair every week. She is just too impatient. Why do you even wear clothes in the first place?

And lastly… Mavuika.

She has you melt over her strap, making you ride her lap like a good girl, sobbing and whimpering as the tip rubs your insides to mush. Your slickness already evident on her abdomen but she is nowhere near done with you.

One night a certain rumor started about ghosts haunting the stadium late at night. But it was just you getting the living daylights eaten out of you by your wife on her throne. How that happened? No idea. Your panties just disappeared on their own.

Shameless initiater. Entering her office just to drop off paperwork? She‘ll tell you to get rid of those panties and tell you to bend over as she is already grabbing the strap on from her cupboard.

Once you came back injured from the pilgrimage and normally, Mavuika had no plans on stressing you out further in the bedroom until the need got too unbearable for you. So she made the best out of the situation. Carefully placing your legs over her shoulders an burying her face between your legs. She was gentle, slow. But nonetheles leaving you breathless. She is at your back and call after all.

You forgot to count the times she ate you out against a random tree while you initially wanted to go for a walk to clear your heads. Hand closed over your mouth. Mavuikas tongue lapping up and down over your clit. It happened way too often

But when you had an argument? Oh that sex is gonna be good. Pinning you down on whatever surface is the nearest, cock dragging teasingly over your already soaked pussy when she starts to tease you. You want it? Then admit you’re wrong. Beg for her forgiveness or she’ll let you suffer all night alone with nothing to stuff your needy cunt.

Surprising her with lingerie? She‘ll drop anything. No matter what. No matter where. You‘re getting your shit pounded right on the spot. You’re not walking out of that room and still be functional. Nuh uh.

She loves to take those tits into her mouth. Tongue circling your nipples as her hand find their way to your pussy, lubing the fingers up in your slickness as she bites down while her other hand is giving your unattended girl a good massage. She‘ll never say no that. No matter the size.

Can be the nonchalant type to merely lean back and watch you bounce yourself on her lap. Completely naked. Only a blindfold decorating your flushed face as she has one hand placed on your hip to guide you over her dick. The other one is supporting her head as she is leaning against it. God somebody leannrnsnrnsnnw GIVE ME THAT WOMAN NEOOOOOOOOWWWW

[diorkyeom]

「✦」 oh, how i adore you | TEASER

joshua x dokyeom, non-idols, friends to lovers, fluff, slight angst, inspired by "jump then fall" by taylor swift

READ THE FIC | WANNA BE TAGGED?

teaser word count: 860 (full fic ~ 22k)

warnings: none

notes: this was meant to be part of a svt fest but,,, the disorganization of the mods bothered me so i dropped out lmao. couldn't abandon the fic tho, so i finished it here! there are vvv blatant references to the song lyrics but like. it's a very seoksoo coded song. what can i say.

summary: "and joshua… well, joshua had realised something. seokmin’s laugh was, without a doubt, one of the best sounds that he had ever heard." - in which joshua always has and always will do anything for seokmin, and perhaps that should have been his first sign that he'd well and truly fallen for him a long, long time ago.

Joshua had met Lee Seokmin for the first time during his third year of university.

It had been an odd encounter, but it had been an encounter brought on by one Yoon Jeonghan, and so when Joshua thought about it, by that man’s standards it hadn’t really been all that odd in the slightest.

“Joshuji,” Jeonghan had declared one afternoon, opening the door and flouncing through the small dorm into their kitchen, dragging a tall boy by his oversized hoodie sleeve behind him. “Meet the first-year that I’ve collected this year.”

Joshua, who had been peacefully sipping his fifth coffee of the day, didn’t even bat an eye at Jeonghan’s declaration. “Another one?”

Even in the present, Joshua could very truthfully admit that Jeonghan had been the sole reason he’d decided to carry on going to uni in Korea and not turn on his heel and return to the States three months after the first day. 

It was because Jeonghan had had this… thing, where he liked ‘collecting’ first-years in their literature department who he wanted to take under his wing. During their first year at uni, he’d latched onto Joshua, who’d been a confused Korean-American student that Jeonghan had, for some reason, taken an immense liking to. Their second year, it had been Lee Jihoon, prickly and snappish but who had a hyper boyfriend who Jihoon stared at with hearts in his eyes.

It was a weird, almost mother hen-like act from Jeonghan, but it was a sweet habit, and Joshua had long since given up questioning anything that he did. 

And so, a little absently, Joshua had turned to look over at Jeonghan’s newest adoptee, a polite smile on his face, before promptly freezing.

“Meet Lee Seokmin,” Jeonghan had said, proudly, like a mother introducing her favourite son. “Isn’t he just the cutest?”

Joshua blinked rapidly, because goodness, Lee Seokmin really was cute.

He was biting his lips nervously, tugging at the sleeves of his hoodie before Joshua finally made eye contact with him, and his eyes rounded as if surprised that Joshua had looked his way.

And then Seokmin waved, before ducking his head, as if attempting to (unsuccessfully) hide behind Jeonghan’s much shorter form. The action was so startingly cute that Joshua couldn’t help the genuine smile that tugged at his lips, giving a small wave back even if Seokmin looked too busy avoiding his gaze to see it.

“Hello,” Joshua said, and awfully, his voice managed to crack on that single word. Jeonghan stifled a snort. So, in order to cover the awkwardness, Joshua did something even more awkward, and stuck his hand out in Seokmin’s direction. “I’m Joshua Hong. Or, Hong Jisoo. You can call me whatever’s easiest.”

Seokmin had stared down at his hand for several seconds, confused, and Joshua wanted nothing more than to turn back time and restart this entire interaction because really, how much more embarrassing could this get?

Before he could retract his hand, trying to forget the handshake and hopefully forget the new layer of awkwardness, Seokmin leaned over and grasped Joshua’s hand, strands of hair falling into his eyes as he looked up at Joshua, eyes startlingly warm and earnest.

His hair was awfully fluffy, Joshua realised suddenly. And he had big eyes.

He looked like a large, adorable puppy, if adorable puppies were tall uni students who drowned themselves in oversized hoodies.

Seokmin’s cheeks were rather flushed as he shook Joshua’s hand, eyes wide. He had a brief thought that maybe Jeonghan had chased him around their apartment block until he finally reached their floor.

Jeonghan did that sometimes.

And then Seokmin smiled, so brightly like a blinding beam of sunlight, his earlier perceived shyness completely forgotten as he released Joshua’s hand and instead lunged forward to engulf the elder in a hug.

“Hello!” Seokmin chirped, arms still wrapped around Joshua’s shoulders, and when he pulled away, he was still smiling so widely that Joshua felt a little dazed. “It’s nice to meet you, Jeonghan hyung’s told me a lot about you. I like your eyes! Can I call you Shua hyung?”

Joshua blinked rapidly, surprised by the sudden and random bout of chatter coming from the boy, but Seokmin’s eyes were lit up with that white gold light and he was so cute that Joshua couldn’t be anything but endeared.

“Sure,” he said amusedly, and marvelled internally at how Seokmin’s eyes crinkled and he seemed to vibrate happily on the spot. “You can call me Shua hyung.”

Seokmin let out a small laugh, delighted. “Shua hyung!” he cried, and then launched himself into Joshua’s arms again, pulling him in for another hug as the elder stumbled back, arms wrapped securely around Seokmin for balance.

Jeonghan had met Joshua’s eyes over Seokmin’s shoulders, face set in a curiously indecipherable expression. When Joshua furrowed his brows, he just grinned, nodding proudly. “Seems like I chose my first-year very well.”

And, well, Joshua couldn’t say anything at that, because Seokmin still had his face buried in his shoulder and he was just so warm and friendly and also because—

Because Jeonghan might have been the tiniest bit correct.

[potential-fool]

yo idk if u take requests but i saw your “you in their clothes” post and loved it sm AHHHH can i ask for that but w/ harbor, chamber, and fade perhaps? u can add anyone else (ur free to ignore this btw!!)

Valorant x Reader: You in their clothes (part 2)

A/N: Ofc ofc!! You get the honor of being my first request dear anon <3 Apologies for Harbor tho idk how good I'll be at writing him, I'll do my best tho!

Pairing: Harbor, Chamber, Fade x reader

Tags: Fluff, Established Relationship, Sharing clothes, Teasing

Harbor

Immediately doting over you

sweet smiles and loving adoration

playful and loving teasing

Showing you off to everyone

You were spending some time on the couch with your boyfriend- Harbor, watching a movie in the living area of the Valorant HQ. You had a habit of not really asking for things, instead just taking them, so when you decided mid movie that you wanted to put on his zip up hoodie this was no exception.

Climbing up out of his warm grasp you sat on the top of the couch behind Harbor and tugged on his hoodie, a small chuckle left the man as you managed to tug his jacket off him.

"You know you could've just asked?" He said, a sweet smile tracing his face as you settled back into his arms, his jacket now on your back. "What's the fun in that?" You ask, a teasing grin on your face.

Neglecting to respond he instead decided the best course of action to be pulling you all the way up into his lap, pressing kisses all over your neck and face. "stahhAAAAaapppp-" you giggled, not really wanting it to stop.

"But where's the fun in that?" He asked you playfully.

Chamber (kinda nsfw)

Reacts either one of two ways: "What's the practical point of this?" or horny

probably takes it as a challenge

relentless teasing

tbh he probably thinks that you got your clothes dirty or sum

You wanted to get back at your boyfriend for teasing you so much lately, it was like an ongoing war between the two of you and though neither of you would admit it--even to yourselves--you enjoyed it. Last night Vincent had left you well.. frustrated. So tonight was your night to get back at him.

In his favorite pair of your lingerie, one of his dress shirts and ties you waited in your shared bed. You didn't have to wait long either as you heard the door open and Vincent walk in.

To say you took his breath away would be the understatement of the century, "Mon amor...~" He purred, making his way over to you, climbing on the bed and pulling on the tie around your neck to bring you closer.

You could tell he was struggling to keep his composure, and you reveled in his frustration, "What is it Vince~? Use your words~" You purred back at him pushing him back onto the bed and stradling his lap.

You two had a pretty great night ;)

Fade

Thinks you're small and absolutely adorable

either that or "OH NO THEY'RE HOT"

this is one of those things you do that make her think "what did I do to deserve you?"

cuddles :)

You were rummaging around the locker room right outside the range and decided that you'd have better luck in your girlfriend's clothes. Opening Fade's locker you pulled out her jacket and entered the range with your ghost.

Fade was heading over to the range when she opened her locker and found that her jacket was missing, before should do anything about it she spotted you in the range out of the corner of her eye. You were completely focused on what you were doing and the her jacket on your back just made Fade feel all sorts of warm feelings inside.

God you looked almost ethereal like that, the way your hair swept across your face and you effortlessly handled the bots before you. Blush tinted her cheeks and she only realized she was staring when you caught her eye when your practice was over.

[honeytonedhottie]

so you're my only hope and i really wish for your advice. it's humiliating to say my story but i really need help. so i was misdiagnosed with schizofrenia (i 100% know i'm healthy) i need to lie that i have schizofrenia because my mother needs money. and here comes my desires : revision and desired age/grade level and maaany more. i have no responsibilities literally zero! the way i manifest is i walk around my room and viseualise, affirm and overall manifest which is fun but the thing is do you think i should build healthy day routine instead of just pacing around my room all day long? could you provide me a routine? thank you for help because yall are saving me for real. it could be even self care habits to do every day anything to avoid pacing around

thank you for coming to me 💗 and im so sorry about ur story. im so happy that you know the law because you deserve all of ur desires and more!! 💗

so to build a healthy routine and schedule for urself. doing so builds discipline. im gonna give u some healthy habits, a morning and evening routine, and resources for those things. a good place to start tho is making a weekly agenda that changes with the week, something to switch things up every week. just make one 💗💗💗

—healthy habits🩰⊹ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ♡̴ ⋆⁺₊⋆

♡ moving ur body/pilates - i personally do pilates and i recommend it to literally everybody. but the basic idea is to move around (and that does not mean pacing in ur bedroom) i mean get ur blood flowing and get moving. it doesn’t have to be pilates it can be running, a sport, dancing, yoga etc

here’s a link to one of the pilates workouts that i recommend if ur a beginner : 

♡ get a hobby - some hobby recommendations: if u are good at writing try poetry, try teaching urself how to draw or paint or sculpt, learn how to dance, learn how to play an instrument, learn a sport, learn languages, become a good cook, write stories, start a blog, learn to sew or crotchet, learn tech, read lots of books, watch/listen to lots of podcasts. literally just get busy 

♡ meditating and journaling - this is so good not only for ur mental health but it can also improve focus and keep u grounded. keep a journal or start meditating every day

here’s a link to a guided meditation for self love : 

♡ self care - i LOVE self care. literally practice self care every single day. take care of ur nails, skin, hair, lashes EVERYTHING. be super intentional with ur self care bcuz it tells our brains that we are worthy of effort and it’ll LITERALLY make u feel like a princess. 

♡ manifesting - you mentioned that u wanted to do some revision so something that i recommend for revising is using SATS. or state akin to sleep. once ur in state akin to sleep go back in ur mind and revise whatever u want. or just do SATS before bed every night. this is such a powerful manifesting tool

♡ sleep - aim to get between eight to ten hours of sleep a night. you’ll look better, feel better, and your physical and mental health will just skyrocket 

—morning🌸⊹ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ♡̴ ⋆⁺₊⋆

♡̴ first thing in the morning, fix ur bed 

♡ open the blinds/windows if the sun is out, this all depends on what time u wake up but if the sun isn’t out just skip this step 

♡ stretch for a couple minutes 

♡ write down at least three things that ur grateful for (don’t write down what u aren’t grateful for AT THAT MOMENT, literally just write down three things that ur grateful for right then and there) 

♡ brush ur teeth and use a tongue scraper 

♡ have a glass of water with some lemon slices 

♡ take a warm shower and moisturize 

♡ skincare routine 

♡ put on an outfit that makes u feel pretty 

♡ if u get nauseous when u eat breakfast then try eating something light, but if that doesn’t work then listen to ur body and just skip breakfast. if that’s not the case tho eat a balanced breakfast 

THEN GET TO WORK ON YOUR AGENDA THAT I MENTIONED IN THE BEGINNING<3 

—evening🍥⊹ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ♡̴ ⋆⁺₊⋆

♡ take a warm shower and moisturize 

♡ 30-60 minutes of self care and pampering 

♡ make a yummy dinner that’s nourishing 

♡ read for 20 minutes or watch something that enriches u 

♡ evening yoga 

♡ drink water 15 minutes before bed 

THEN GO TO SLEEP AND HAVE SWEET DREAMS <3 

this is just an idea, or a basic guideline to follow if u need it. customize it to ur specific needs and day-to-day life. im so excited for all ur desires to manifest cuz u deserve it! mwah 💗💗💗

[liannelara-dracula]

What would the mukami's be like as a single parents?

Mukamis as Single Parents

Hi Love,

Gosh this is long overdue forgive me! But anyways I tired to make these worth your while. I tried to put in as much as I could but for some I just didn't have much in mind. Reguardless, I still added pictures of what their kids may look like.

-Liannelara

P.S. I will probably be on a writing spree soon so prepare yourself. :)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Prompt

Requests are open

Rules

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Ruki

He may not have his lover anymore but she left with a beautiful girl.

And ever since then, he vowed to make sure she'd have a better life than her parents.

He got good at it after some time.

At first, it was a little hard, because he didn’t receive too much guidance as a kid either.

He basically grew up on his own and thought himself everything.

Although he loves her and would do right by her.

He’s not going to let her down like his parents did to him.

He’d never leave her.

I mean he is all she has and she is all he has so it means a lot.

His daughter was about 5 to 6 years old when he lost his lover.

And he’s doing it on his own but he’s really gotten better at it.

He is strict but not overly strict like Reiji.

But he’s got rules, and he knows when his little girl is lying.

She’s not afraid of him tho, but she doesn’t like going in time out.

And she’ll defiantly argue with him.

She also isn’t super sensitive and doesn’t cry too much.

Mostly cause he tells her not to cry.

Ruki has definitely made her toughen up a bit with her being motherless.

Apart from this, she may have also a bit of his stoic personality and habits from her father, so expressing feelings often is less important/relevant to her.

This is how Uncle Kou is always given no love by her as she can cold like her father.

But Ruki finds that her adopting this trait from him is beneficial because that way she doesn't get hurt by letting others in.

Although she is still much less cold compared to Ruki, but in some way he likes that because it reminds him of how his lover used to be.

He makes sure she is academically successful and he teaches her how to cook.

I could just imagine his child sitting on his lap as they read a book together.

And even him just setting her on the kitchen counter and telling her to watch and taste test when he needs it. It's also for her to understand how cooked things should be and how they should taste.

Though whenever she asks him about her mother he doesn't like to talk about it, especially when she got older.

When she was a little is was easier for him to say she just passed away and all that stuff but as his daughter grew older she would ask about what she was like and that was a step Ruki never thought he'd get to.

Of course, it would depend on the relationship he has with his daughter, I picture that when she was little they were kinda close.

She depended on Ruki because he showed love to her and raised her.

So her dad was like her best friend, even if he isn't a "fun" dad she still cares about him because he's always taken care of her, and treated her well.

I don't see that he played with her too much but there where times when he would, especially when trying to cheer her up. So there where some tickles and some teasing about things.

Although there is mostly more heartfelt bonding and him giving warm smiles and telling her how she deserves so much.

When she got little older he would get colder at times as he kept trying to shut her out with his troubles and to protect her.

Even so she wants her dad to be closer and to tell her that he loves her because he doesn't say it that often.

And because she reminds him so much of his lover it he feels the extra need to protect her since Ruki would neer forgive himself if he lost her as well.

He'd feel so at fault and hate himself.

His daughter's appearance to her mother is uncanny but I also see she has her father's blue eyes.

And every time they fight it's like he's fighting with himself as they do look alike a bit, they are mostly alike in personality tho.

One thing he does say to her daughter often is how much she looks like her mother.

That's why its hard fro him to argue with her too.

Yuma

He'd have a little girl too!

She is a carbon copy of him, in looks.

Although in personality she isn't that brave or loud.

His calls his daughter "Pumpkin", sometimes he leans toward "little pig" and "little mouse".

But she loves to garden and so that allows him to connect with her and plus she's his little helper.

His baby is a handful though, at least he thinks so.

But she is the sweetest thing ever, she's even able to get on his good side and make him a softie.

Of course, Yuma only gets that way with his little girl.

I don't think it started that way though, because he thinks that because she's a girl she may not like mud, (it's sexist but they all are)

But that wasn't the case, his daughter was really fond of nature.

This may be because when she was only an infant he'd take her outside to hold her while he'd garden and so there must have been some connection.

Either way she loves hanging out with Yuma and always helps even when she can barely care anything.

But he also teaches her a lot of stuff about the plants and what thing s mean about the plants and how to grow them properly.

"Look here lil' mouse, if it's not red you don't pick it. Em' I clear?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then what'd I say."

"Don't touch, if not red."

"Yeah, exactly."

she has farm animals that he got her and especially loves the ducks.

She plays with them a lot in the water and feeds them bread to which Yuma supervises her.

sometimes she gets involved when he doesn't want her to and he agrues with her.

But because she is sensitve and Yuma yells more than half of the time, she can sometimes end up crying.

So at first its really hard for him to deal with his kid because is sensitive so he needs to find a different way to tell her things, well that was Kou's advice anyways.

Yuma also feels bad seeing his little girl cry and knowing he caused it he feels guilty. He also thinks of all the times he made his lover cry and how much it reminds him of her.

He apologizes a lot to his little girl by hugging her, and tell her that he's sorry.

Sometimes she has to apologize though, cause kids make mistakes.

Usually, though she's very kind for a kid, think for the most part she ended up getting used to her father's yelling and brash nature. So she eventually became less sensitive.

She normally doesn't try to argue with him, mostly cause she would get scared because she's seen him a bunch of things before. Its also because she hates loud noises, so she tends to cry when he's loud.

Although when she and him have been fighting and he wants to make up for it, she is usually in her little bed laying face down and crying or in her little hiding spot under a tree, which he happens to know about.

He goes to her and tries to talk and he sometimes has to bring her a sugar cube. promise her something, or just start tickling her to make her laugh.

"Hey, lil pig."

"Yeah?" She'd say still teary-eyed.

"I'm sorry about yelling, I didn't mean to get you scared . . . I brought you something, here. I know you like em'"

She'd look at him now, trying to wipe her tears away before accepting the sugar cube. She'd hold the cube up her mouth but look at him to make sure he wasn't mad, even after she was reassured she seemed worried to which he comforted her by pulling her in a hug.

Which he doesn't do very often.

"Daddy, please don't be mad. I'm sorry."

"You're a really sensitive one like your momma aren't yeah? . . . Ih what the hell."

Something he really loves is making his kid laugh, which he can do by tickling her or hitting Kou.

He also her makes her happy by braiding her hair, giving her piggyback rides, chasing her around in the garden.

as she got older she started to keep more things to herself.

she wouldn't tell her dad very much.

She was still shy, and wasn't the most talkative. She loved being outside though, and she got a lot tougher and strong.

Either way they don;t have the best relationship because she feels so different from her dad and while she wants him to understand her and be more sweet to her, he just can't help but be tough.

She feels that he can't understand her as a woman either so it just keeps getting harder, as he doesn't understand any trouble a girl might feel.

They sometimes talk about her mother and he's willing to tell her but he usually just tells her it's not too important.

That's why they sometimes get into fights because she feels like he doesn't understand her. But the way they make up is usually through him coming into her room with like a sugar cube or favorite food.

"Hey, pumpkin. I brought you this."

"Just leave it there."

"Gosh, this teenager attitude. I'm trying to apologize and you won't even let me."

"I wish Mom was here." She'd mumble but it was enough for him to hear and feel hurt knowing you'd prefer someone else over him.

"God, with the sensitivity."

"What is so wrong about having emotions? I don't understand how she ever got through it with you considering how brash you are!"

"Hey!--Look I'm trying to say I'm sorry but if you don't want to that's fine." He'd argue before leaving her be.

Later she feels bad for hurting his feelings and goes in the garden to back hug him.

Even though she's older now she still is his little girl and this always gets him ease up.

"I'm sorry about making things hard on you, I know you miss mom too."

Kou

Calls her his little angel

legit she is spoiled, so spoiled he sometimes wishes he didn't do that.

she is exactly like him, looks, personality.

She got it all.

He wasn't that great of a parent especially at first, I honestly think the only reason he got better was because this kid persisted on getting to know him and being close.

What also made him attached was her interest in becoming a singer/idol

She probably memorized one of his songs and he was just too touched.

And her get-up was enough for him.

So he's always singing with her to practice.

He teaches her how to dance, applies her makeup, does her hair, etc.

Kou really loves that she is bold and expresses herself.

She is probably best friends with Yuma's daughter who is much more shy.

But she is her best friend regardless.

Anyways, he probably has a secret handshake with his daughter.

And he teaches her about being a Diva, and being popular.

It's honestly so funny, she performs something every week in the living room and has her singing session.

And he just cheers her on.

Other times she just loves dressing up and he takes so many photos.

He tells her that she's the cutest and sometimes embarrasses her.

"Dad." She'd whine, not liking his jokes.

She doesn't like it when he takes her food.

"Stealing is bad, daddy."

He usually is just listening to her telling him about her day. Especially when he comes back from work.

She always tries to wait for him but she sometimes falls asleep on the couch.

But as she got older she got better about it and could wait for him.

They are pretty close even as she got older.

But his girl is sassy.

Azusa

He'd have a boy.

Azusa teaches him everything and he is just the nicest kid.

His child is so thoughtful of others.

He is very quiet though, but he is sweet.

He brings flowers to people.

And he loves animals.

Azusa had a hard time parenting at first but with the help of his brothers, he got a lot better at it.

Even though he did miss the mother of his child and could really use her help he managed to pull through.

He does his best to keep his son happy.

usually, he surprises him with gifts or by taking him outside to play or something.

He and his son are one in the same, they are both very gentle.

He pats his head when he does a good job.

the child is very sweet but not exactly tough tho.

I do not think he is super close with his son, but at least their isn't a lot of conflict.

Azusa is opening to explaining why he is a single parent tho.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

˗ˏˋ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ˎˊ˗ ©𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔~Present

[mintmatcha]

i cant look away from your sad deku au and my soft little heart wants him to get a hug from someone so bad even though i know the way uve written him makes him shy away from genuine displays like that. i cannot imagine what it takes to hide a smoking habit that long so even ur fwb-assistant didnt know. the boy needs to grieve mint oh my fucking god thank u for the heartache /pos

Assistant knew about the cigarettes a WHILE before they started having sex. reader's the only one who knows tho!

sad deku au

You don't know why you came tonight. You knew the invite was just a nicety, pity from someone who didn't want you to feel excluded, but now you're standing on a stranger's porch, listening to the party continue without you. By this point, you're used to it; proximity to Deku comes with a lot of these faux invitations, thinks meant more to impress him than include you.

But here you are, alone as groups of friends chatter along inside. It's like you're 18 again, excluded from the popular kids at prom once again. You take a long drag from your cigarette. After this, you'll go home, no goodbyes necessary.

Just as you pull your jacket closer, the reason you came pops out from the door, all smiles and kind eyes.

"I was worried you left," Deku says softly, closing the door as softly as he can behind him. He's dressed more casually than you've ever seen him, a stark contrast to the dress you had chosen for tonight. "Can I bum one off of you?"

You take another drag. "No."

He approaches you anyway, hand shoved into his pockets. His arms are tensed, triceps taut as he shivers, bulged against the cropped sleeve of his tee. It makes you think of the girl that was hanging on to them earlier and your stomach flips with an emotion you don't want to face.

"Enjoying the party?" you ask as nonchalantly as you can manage.

He leans in close enough you think the cherry will burn him, forehead practically against yours. He exhales with the weight of the world, a stark contract from the placid smile he's pinned to his cheeks.

"Not really."

You pluck the cigarette from your mouth and turn it towards him. With a gentle obedience, he takes it, lips pressed against your fingertips as he inhales. He's warm, hotter than the embers and ash that crumble between you. When he releases and you pull away, he stays there, much closer than a boss should be to his assistant.

"Go back inside, Izuku." You place a hand against his chest and tell yourself you're going to push him away. "Your girlfriend's going to be looking for you."

Izuku watches you with those, sad, sad eyes, red rimmed around the edges from lack of sleep. He'll never tell you what he's really thinking, but as his eyes flicker to your lips, you have an idea for what could be going through his mind.

"Okay," he lets his hands -which you hadn’t even realized had found your waist- drop to his sides, "You're right- Camie. My girlfriend."

You love how he says her name. Camie, Camie, Camie: like it means nothing to him. She dazzles everyone in the room and yet her boyfriend seems indifferent; you’d feel bad if it didn’t fill you with such glee.

“Hey,” Izuku says suddenly, “How do you feel about Camie?”

You start towards the stairs, heels crunching in iced over snow. “Why does it matter what I think?”

He doesn’t respond, but you feel him there, watching your back as you leave, waiting for something, anything-

At the edge of the top step, toes over the edge, you relent. “I think Camie really loves dating Deku.”

Izuku finishes the thought you were afraid of. “But not Midoriya.”

You throw the butt down and crush it beneath your heel.

“Goodnight, Izuku.”

And with that, you go home. He texts you a couple hours later, just after 2am, with two quick sentences.

-I broke up with her.

-I’m on my way.

You unlock the front door.

[miuszn]

Hi! I love ur writing sm and was wondering if you could do some,thing with Ellie where reader is maybe a little chubby (cause I relate😭) and gets a little insecure about herself or her body? Just Ellie comforting her but ofc if you don’t want to that’s fine!

hiii anon <3 first of all tysm im so happy to hear u like my writing 🥹🩷 n of course i can do that lovely !! just a heads up tho , since i don’t know what it’s like to be chubby this is just going to be a short drabble i hope u don’t mind 😭🩷 i’m just not rlly good at writing about stuff i haven’t experienced or struggled with ( i do have an idea of what it’s like to struggle w insecurities but due to diff reasons ) and i’m scared i’ll portray it inaccurately so i hope u get that hehe <33 that said , pls enjoy !!

— 𓆩♥︎𓆪 —

ellie and you loved taking walks together. that was sort of your thing. walking through the overgrown fields, enjoying the fresh air and the warm sunshine. that day, however, you weren’t exactly feeling the best. you struggled a lot with your self-esteem due to the fact you didn’t exactly fit society’s standard of skinny, but most importantly, you were thinking about how a lot of the girls ellie had been with before didn’t look a lot like you. thin, fit, whatever way you wanna describe it. it had been in the back of your mind for a few weeks, but it was a thought you could mostly overlook. but you couldn’t ignore it any longer once you went out with some friends to grab lunch and one of them made the god forsaken “should you really be eating all that?” comment despite your meal being a completely normal size. the insecurities you r thought were now behind you were all coming back at once.

ellie noticed the change in your demeanor and looked at you with concern. "hey, what's going on? you seem a little down."

“it’s nothing,” you shrugged, not wanting to burden ellie with your troubles. but she could always read you like a book.

"hey,” she stopped and held your hand, looking into your eyes. “i know there’s something that’s troubling you. what’s wrong?”

you looked down, feeling embarrassed. "well.. i know i'm not exactly.. thin. it’s just i know all the girls you dated before were all so fit and skinny and i’m not and it’s just-“

“hey, look at me,” ellie cut you off. “you don’t need to compare yourself to them. you’re beautiful and i love you regardless of whether you fit some stupid standard or not. besides, it didn’t work out despite all that. i’m with you because i love you no matter what you look like, okay?”

although her words did make you feel a little bit better, at least with that specific issue, you were still feeling mostly down from the comment your friend made and the fact no one else stood up for you then. still, you tried not to show it, but as always, ellie could always tell.

“i know there’s something else on your mind, babe. spit it out.”

you sighed and explained to her what had happened the day prior and how none of your other friends said anything about it, some even laughed but tried to hold it in to not hurt your feelings.

“let’s sit down for a bit,” she said, and you could see her eyes full of anger. “listen to me, i love you just the way you are. i wouldn’t change anything about you. who do those fuckers even think they are anyway? as soon as i find them i’m gonna beat the shit out of all of the-“

“ellie, stop,” you cut her off. “you don’t have to do that. i won’t hang out with them anymore and i don’t want to cause any issues.”

“they caused the issue the second they thought they had the right to comment on what you were eating.”

“i know that but- please. it’s not worth it.”

she sighed in disappointment, but understood. although you were sometimes grateful for her habit of beating up anyone who crosses you, often times it could just cause even more issues and you didn’t want to drag her into anything else.

she wrapped her arms around you and held you close. “you know you can always talk to me about anything. and you don’t have to think about what anyone has to say. i love you no matter what. never forget that, okay?”

you nodded, and that’s when it hit you. she truly loves you unconditionally. a few tears welled up in your eyes but you hid it out of embarrassment. you so felt safe and happy in her arms, especially now that you know for sure you don’t have to worry about her leaving you for the way you look, and that she won’t hold you up to any standards. you weren’t exactly sure what you’d do with your friends when you got back, but all that mattered to you in that moment was that you had her, no matter what.

[loversj0y]

'tis the damn season

chapter four - now im missing your smile

the final day hits you with a realization you can no longer hide from, with the combination of leaving and potentially losing him marking the day with the grim note of what feels like death row.

tis the damn season masterlist

pairing: cc!wilbur soot x gn!reader

this chapter is more angst-focused, but there is fluff as well. sad ending tho so... :)

trigger warnings: reader's mother is abusive (not physically) and father is emotionally absent. this will be talked about in extensive detail. alcohol, some suggestive themes, and a lot of anxiety, MAJOR TW FOR PANIC ATTACK

author's note: okay. we've reached the final chapter. which feels weird. i may eventually add more into this series, maybe a follow up or even some one-shots surrounding the story. i have a few in mind already actually. but yeah! i hope you enjoy! and i hope you end up as emotionally wrecked as my editor was! also i utilize a cliche in this chapter however. i dont care i love cliches in writing ao3 version is available here!

word count: 6.6k

You woke up to Wilbur singing softly. As you regained consciousness more and more, you recognized the song he was singing. 

“I knew that look, dear, eyes always seeking, was there in someone that dug long ago, so I will not ask you why you were creeping, in some sad way, I already know.”

It was Hozier. Like Real People Do, to be specific. You smiled, your eyes slowly opening. He was looking up at the ceiling, a soft smile on his face, though one hand gently played with your hair. You shifted, causing him to look down at you, but instead of being startled, he kept singing. 

“So I will not ask you where you came from, I would not ask and neither would you,” he gently kissed your forehead, “Honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips, we should just kiss like real people do.” 

You smiled softly, leaning up to gently kiss him. “Good morning,” you whispered. 

He kissed you back, holding you close, “Morning, love.”

“You were singing.” You commented quietly, and he nodded.

“Glad you noticed,” he joked. “Was just feeling sing-y this morning, I suppose.”

You smiled, leaning up a bit, “were you up singing for long?”

He pushed a strand of your hair back gently, shaking his head, “Not really. I’ve only been up for around thirty minutes, you just looked very peaceful, so I didn’t want to move and wake you.” 

“That’s sweet,” you hummed, “what time is it?”

“Just past noon.”

You nodded softly. Just under eight hours left together then. You sat up slowly, but Wilbur caught your arm and pulled you back down. You chuckled softly at his warm grin, “Wilbur, we have to clean, and I need to pack.” 

He hummed, “I disagree, actually. I think, if you were to look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, neither of those things falls there. However, right there, at the base, the most essential thing is actually us cuddling together and listening to some sweet, loving music together.”

You chuckled, laying your head against his chest. “Fine. But only for a bit.”

He cheered, grabbing his phone to start playing some soft love songs, all very guitar-based in their composition.

“Are you excited to go back to Brighton?” You asked quietly.

“Somewhat,” he shrugged, “It’ll be nice to be back in my place, but I’ll definitely miss being here. It’s not great being back here, but you know,” he gave you a soft smile, “there can be some hidden charms.” 

You flushed lightly, nodding. “I agree. There are definitely some hidden charms.”

He chuckled, wrapping his arms loosely around you. “I know you’re not excited to go back, but are you at least excited to finish Uni?”

“Insanely.” You laughed, leaning your head against him, “The studying is interesting, but my god, I’m ready to just be done with the constant exams and tests and being told my interpretations are wrong.” 

“Do you get told that often?”

“Sometimes,” You shrugged,  “I have a habit of putting romance in places it doesn’t belong.” 

He smiled, “Always the hopeless romantic, hm?”

“In a sense. I just find that people will try to love, even if they shouldn’t. I mean think about Shakespeare’s work. Romeo and Juliet, the classic love tragedy, but then there’s also an entire sonnet he wrote basically insulting a woman just to end it by saying he loves her. And even in Macbeth, Macbeth listens to Lady Macbeth’s sadistic urges because he loves her and trusts her. People always focus on the negatives of these stories without focusing on how much romance truly exists inside of them. People always call Lady Macbeth an insane woman, and while she is, she is loved. The story would hardly happen if she wasn’t loved.”

He hummed softly. The entire time you spoke, he looked genuinely interested. It was almost startling. You weren’t used to being taken seriously when you spoke about the things you loved to talk about. Usually, it was a faux nod and an “oh, yeah”, but Wilbur was paying full attention to each syllable. Even if he’d been doing this for the past two weeks, it still shocked you. You wondered how long it would take you to get used to this. 

“I like that interpretation.” He smiled softly. “Makes things seem less bleak. More crime of passion rather than just crime.” 

You chuckled softly, “Exactly. I’m not exactly an optimist, but I do find it prettier to look at things like that.” 

He nodded, “It definitely is prettier. See, these are the thing I want to know more about you. Just another thing to add to my list of things I’ve memorized about you.”

“I guess so. I wouldn’t say that’s exactly part of how I perceive the world, but it is part of how I view literature, so which is a big part of my life, so.” 

“Which is just the type of thing you could bring to lyrics. Some of the best lyrics are just allusions. Mostly to biblical things, but still.” 

“I don’t know about lyrics, but maybe. I could give it a go at some point. I’m sure I’ll have to write a lyrical piece in one of my writing classes at some point anyway.”

“I think you would be fantastic at writing lyrics.”

“I think you’re biased.”

“I absolutely am biased.” 

You laughed, burying your face against him gently. He kissed the top of your head, rubbing your back gently. 

“Do you think if I convinced my band to let us write an entire song about two frogs falling in love, anyone would notice?”

You threw your head back with a loud laugh, a wide grin on your face. “With your writing prowess? Only if you wanted people to.”

“Do you think it’d make for a good song?” He snickered under his breath, clearly trying to hide his own laughter.

“Oh, absolutely,” you laughed, “you just have to give them a good story. Like maybe - maybe they live in opposite ponds, and he’s been admiring her beauty, so he starts going over to try and get to know her, but she refuses to like him, saying he’s not worth her time. But then, he comes by every day to sit there with her, a lilypad away, and eventually, they start talking. And just when he’s about to lose hope, he wakes up to find her waiting in his pond, showing how much she’s fallen for him, and that’s how they end up together.” 

He smiled happily, “That’s a good story. Is it taken, I might use it?”

You hummed, “You can use it, under one condition. If you use it, you need to put one word in it, anywhere you want, but it has to be in it.”

“What word?”

You thought for a moment, trying to pull through every old scholarly vocabulary paper you’d studied. “Limerence.”

“Limerence?”

You nodded, “It’s like an obsessive crush. A crush, but all-encompassing and not entirely healthy. You have to find a way to use it without making their love seem negative.”

He hummed, “Okay. I can do that. Wish I knew that word for the E-Girl trilogy, would’ve been a good one to include.”

“I’m sorry, the what?”

He flushed, suddenly embarrassed. “It’s a bit hard to explain, okay? It’s these three songs that I have and they’re from the perspective of a simp incel type of guy who is obsessed with a streamer who he used to be in school with. It’s supposed to make fun of guys like that.”

You leaned over him, grabbing the TV remote from the side table and handing it to him. “Put it on, right now, please,” you giggled softly. 

He did so begrudgingly, clearly embarrassed to show you. He played all three music videos for you, and you grinned up at him. 

“Don’t be so embarrassed, they’re really cool.”

“I’m not embarrassed about the quality, it’s more about you seeing me playing a character like that.”

“Well, yes, but you’re just playing a character.”

“I know, but I’d hate to think of you seeing me like that. I care a lot about your opinion of me.”

You smiled softly, gently playing with his hair, “Don’t worry. I know how to separate you from your online persona, not to mention the art you create. I think the stuff you do is so cool. Plus, I like how goofy you are in your content and stuff, I find it quite cute.”

“Good, I’m glad,” he relaxed a bit, before speaking again, “You’ve been watching my content?”

You flushed lightly, “Mostly your VODs and such. I haven’t watched your Youtube content too much yet.”

He grinned proudly, “I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it.” He snickered softly before speaking again as if telling a private joke, “Have you checked if you’re subscribed? You know, most people don’t know that there’s a glitch on Youtube that unsubscribes you, so you should really double check.” He broke into laughter as he finished, and you rolled your eyes, kissing him. 

“With jokes like that, you should be lucky I haven’t purposefully unsubscribed yet.”

He gasped in mock horror, “How could you? When- when subscribing is completely free?” 

You both fell into laughter, holding each other close. You continued talking for a long while, trying to absorb as much of each other as you could. You had one thought that you simply couldn’t push out of your brain, it kept coming back every other moment. Today feels like an apocalypse. It was a thought that perplexed you, because you understood it without fully divulging it’s meaning. It more accurately felt like the moment before the apocalypse, where everything seems peaceful. Most people speaking about tragic events always talk about a warning feeling in their chest, but you didn’t feel that. And while it should have been comforting, you already knew what was coming, the tragedy of leaving him was not an unsuspecting one you had to rely on intuition to prepare for. It was something that you were aware of, something you knew was coming regardless of how much you wished for it to not. You could hear the clock counting you down in your head. Every second. Tick. Tock. It made you feel a bit insane. Tick. Tock. To have this constant awareness of the passage of time, counting down your seconds to leaving him. Tick. Tock. It felt like a death march. Tick tock. It felt like an execution. Tick tock. It felt like the end. 

Wilbur’s voice pulled you out of your head this time. He hadn’t noticed your descent into madness, staring at the ceiling and thinking himself. You wondered if the clock was ticking in his head as well. Even if it was, his demeanor for the time being seemed much more positive than your own. “What should we do when you visit Brighton for the first time?”

“Hm, I’m not sure. What could we do?”

He smiled, “We could go walking about the lanes, there’s a lot of nice shops there. I could take you to my band rehearsal, as well. You could meet Tommy and some of my other friends in person as well. We could go on the i360, and get a nice view. We should go to the beach, too. Wait until night so we get some privacy as well. We could swim, too, but we don’t have to. Depends on when you visit. But the beach we definitely have to visit.”

“That all sounds really lovely. Especially the beach. I can’t remember the last time I was able to stare out at the water.”

He smiled, “It’s settled then. We can’t do everything all at once, though, obviously. We have to save some things for each time you come to visit.”

“Oh, of course. We take it bit by bit. Though, I’d like to go to your band rehearsals every time if possible. If not, maybe then I’ll hang out with Tommy or something.”

He chuckled, “Okay, that’s a deal, then.” His voice drowned out the ticking, you noted to yourself with a smile. 

You sat up slowly,  “How long have we been here?” 

He grabbed his phone, checking the time, “it’s 2:30,” he sighed.

You stood, and this time he knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince you to stay longer. The ticking was faster and louder now. Ticktock, Ticktock, Ticktock. “We have to be at the station by 8:30, and the station is twenty minutes away, but because of traffic, we’ll probably be better off leaving at 8.” Five and a half hours left. “Right, let me change and finish packing first.” 

He sat up while you changed, standing slowly and stretching. He pulled out his jumper from your bag, handing it to you. “You should wear it. On the train.”

You smiled softly at him, pulling it on. Once you did so, you grabbed your phone, and he watched as you sent him a quick text of just a smiley face. You looked back up at him, “Just making good on our deal.”

He smiled, leaning forward and kissing you gently. You leaned into the kiss, holding onto his arms lightly. It was a delicate kiss, both of you seemingly feeling as though anything more than that could shatter the atmosphere. He placed a kiss on top of your head as well, before slowly pulling away. Neither of you said anything. Neither of you really needed to, you both knew what you were feeling. The mixed sense of dread and grief for something you haven’t lost yet, the feeling of knowing you have to leave something wonderful behind, the mourning of time passing. He helped you to finish packing your things, and together, you both brought your luggage downstairs, just to keep it at the door for later. Part of you felt bad knowing you couldn’t give him something like he’d given you his jumper. Your clothes wouldn’t fit him, and you didn’t have much else. After a moment, it came to you, but you decided you wanted to wait to give it to him.

He went to the kitchen, starting to clean up the dishes from the past few days, some of them needing to be cleaned and some just to be put away. While he did that, you focused on cleaning up some of the trash from the living room, such as some takeout and drink containers. You also made an effort to clean up the New Year’s decorations, and if a few of the stars he’d made were slipped into your bag, you were definitely none the wiser. The cleaning was mostly a quiet affair, Wilbur’s playlist was still playing softly from a speaker. You could hear him singing along occasionally, and it warmed your heart every time. When you’d finished taking all the trash out, you walked over behind him, arms wrapping around him. He smiled, taking some bubbles from the washing liquid and putting them on your hand gently. You chuckled softly, moving your hand up to blow the bubbles off. You pulled away from him, and he turned around. He took your hand, spinning you in a circle to the music. You chuckled, and before you knew it, the two of you were dancing around the kitchen to the music. You grinned wider with each step, and he kept a hand placed on your lower back. You moved in slow circles around the kitchen, eventually coming to one place and just swaying together with the music. 

“Look at me,” he spoke softly after a minute, and you did, slowly looking up to meet his gaze. 

He smiled lovingly, just observing your face for a moment.

“What are you doing?” You spoke up.

He smiled fondly, “Making sure I’ve committed you to memory.”

You flushed, reaching up to touch his face, “I love you.”

You watched and felt as his face lit into a grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a way you could only describe as endearing. Every time you said those words it felt like a wave of relief washing over you. 

“I love you too,” he kissed you lovingly, that grin never leaving his face. You kissed him back, and you knew you shared a similar grin. Neither of you wanted to pull away, the sheer amount of love being shared filling the both of you up entirely.

Wilbur did eventually pull away for air. He panted quietly for a moment, still staring down at you, before taking a look around the room. The place looked like there was no trace of you or Will ever existing there. It almost felt like a movie set rather than a real place now, with a lack of life throughout the room. It was still his parent’s place, but it didn’t feel real anymore. It was honestly chilling to look at. Wilbur seemed to feel it too. 

“We’ve still got about three hours. Want to go eat out somewhere?”

You both decided to walk to the main street. It was colder today, but, hand-in-hand, neither of us really seemed to notice. There weren’t many dining places open on New Year’s Day, especially not in a small town like this, but there was one place that was pretty much always open. It was a family-run restaurant, having been run for generations before you or Wilbur were born. It was a nice place, a bit run-down, but that wasn’t exactly any different from most of the places here. The family was always kind to you and Wilbur, letting you both hide out here sometimes after school in exchange for helping them clean up. Wilbur opened the door for you, and you both walked in. The place was empty, but it still had a warm atmosphere. There was a gasp, and you both turned in the direction of the sound. Wilbur pulled his hand away from yours, almost involuntarily, but he held your hand once again when he saw the source of the gasp.

“My goodness, my eyes must deceive me!” Liza, known more correctly as Mrs. Liza by all the younger kids in town, was one of the owners. She was an older lady, probably approaching her mid-sixties now, and her husband, Albert,  was one of the owners as well, though he primarily worked in the back of house. Mrs. Liza was always especially kind to you, knowing your situation, and she even hired you for a bit in high school to help out during the busy seasons. She walked over to you and Wilbur, a wide grin on her face as she pulled you both in for hugs. 

“Hi, Mrs. Liza,” you and Wilbur both said in unison. 

“You’ve both grown so much. I can’t believe it, it’s only been four years!” You chuckled as you hugged her back, a wide smile on your face. 

She pulled Wilbur in for a hug next before pulling back to get a good look at the both of you. After a moment, she gave a knowing smile at the both of you.

“Now, would you look at this? I predicted many years ago the two of you would’ve gotten together, I knew it, I told Albert, you give those kids some time, and they’ll be together soon enough. How long have you been married?”

You flushed, and Wilbur chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with a faint blush on his cheeks as well. “We’re not, actually. We just got together.”

She looked genuinely shocked, scoffing a bit, “What is this then? Is this your first date?”

You shook your head, still somewhat embarrassed, “We had a date last night at Wilbur’s place.”

She nodded, tutting softly, “Well, then, take a seat anywhere you’d like. We’ll make this a proper date. I’ll let Albert know the news, and he’ll prepare something extra special for you both.”

“Oh, you don’t have to–”

“Hush with that, dearie, just take a seat. We’ve got this covered.”

Wilbur looked back at you. “Back corner?”

You nodded softly. The back corner booth was always your and Wilbur’s spot back in school. The number of hours you would spend sitting there, whether you were studying or you were both ranting about how much you hated your classmates. You followed him, and sitting in that booth felt more like being home than being in your parent’s house ever did. 

“God, the conversations we’ve had here,” you hummed softly. 

He laughed, “Yeah. The number of times I’d just stare at you while you rambled on. There were so many times you would ask for my opinion on something, and I’d have to scramble for an answer because I was just so focused on how pretty you looked, especially when the sun started to set. The light would always hit your face at this perfect angle.”

You flushed softly, “How did I never notice?”

“I always made sure you were distracted,” he chuckled softly, “I’d get you started on some topic just to listen to you talk.”

“Is that why you asked me so many questions about the professors I hated?”

He laughed, “Yeah. I knew why you hated them, I just always acted like I didn’t so you’d start talking, and I could listen and admire you.”

You looked down shyly, focusing on a chipped piece of wood on the table. You still weren’t used to his compliments. 

“Is that why you’d walk me home all the time too?”

He hummed, “No. I also just like your company. As much as I’ve always crushed over you, you always were and will be my best friend first.”

You looked back up at him, a sweet smile on your face. “I know what you mean. I’ll always have loved you as my best friend before loving you as my…” you faltered. You and Wilbur hadn’t exactly put a name to what it is you’d been doing. You both seemed to consider each other as being together, but you couldn’t say exactly what it is you were. You couldn’t necessarily say he was your boyfriend, not only had that not been asked or decided, but you were leaving in under three hours, so it wasn’t like you could claim those titles. But you also couldn’t just say a friend, you were both far more than that. Even friends with benefits wasn’t correct, you guys had emotional involvements, so that wouldn’t work. Wilbur seemed just as conflicted as you, thankfully, but you didn’t have a chance to talk about it as Mrs. Liza came back with a bottle of wine and a basket of bread. 

“Just something to start you off properly. Albert is making your food right now. Wilbur, I remember you can’t taste quite well, so Albert is making sure none of the textures are ones you don’t like, alright?”

Wilbur smiled fondly at her, nodding, “thank you, really.”

She smiled happily, grabbing two wine glasses and pouring you guys both a glass. 

“This is really too kind, Mrs. Liza,” you chuckled softly.

She tutted at you, lightly flicking your forehead, “Nonsense, dearie. I’ve watched you two grow up, it’d be wrong of me to make sure you two aren’t having a wonderful time. I knew that you’d end up together at some point, I’d tell Albert every day how much you both reminded me of him and me. That’s also why this is the same wine he and I shared on our first proper date. He got me rather drunk, he did, but my goodness, it was worth it to see how much he already cared about me. A real gentleman, he is, just like you, William, I’d hope.” She chuckled softly.

Wilbur flushed, smiling appreciatively at her. “Of course. I try my best.”

She smiled happily, “Well, I’ll leave you two alone now to bond.”

She shuffled back to the kitchen with a soft smile. 

Wilbur picked up his wine glass, taking a look at the bottle for a moment, “Wow. This is… fancy. A cabernet sauvingnon, from France too.” 

You nodded, picking up my wine glass. “Guess they really believe in us.” You chuckled softly. 

He sat up a bit straighter, holding his glass up in a toast. “To our future.”

You smiled fondly, “To our future.” 

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock.

Mrs. Liza brought out your food, some nice home-cooking style food that felt familiar to both you and Wilbur. Albert ended up coming out as well, giving you both big hugs and wishing you both the best. You both finished eating, as well as finishing the wine which was fantastic. You both went to pay, but Mrs. Liza refused to accept the payment. Even so, you and Wilbur both left about fifty pounds cash on the table for them, feeling too guilty about leaving without at least paying something.

 You walked back to Wilbur’s place, and you both were quieter as you became more and more aware that it was time. You grabbed your luggage and lifted it into Wilbur’s car, and you drove off to the train station. The drive was quiet, but you both held each other’s hands like a lifeline. 

He parked at the train station, and you checked the time. It was 8:03 P.M. exactly. The ticking felt overwhelming now, and even Wilbur’s presence wasn’t helping. Ticktockticktockticktock. You started to feel your breathing pick up a bit. Ticktockticktockticktock. You guys were early, at least.  Ticktockticktockticktock. That at least eased your anxieties about being late.  Ticktockticktockticktock. Maybe you could just sit here.  Ticktockticktockticktock. Maybe you could just stay.  Ticktockticktockticktock. Maybe you could just stay here with him and everything would be perfectly fine.  Ticktockticktockticktock.

“-ey! Hey!’ Wilbur’s voice just barely cut through the ticking. You looked over at him, but you didn’t really see him. There was a faraway look in your eyes, unable to focus on anything. He held your hand tighter, gently moving your hand to place it on his chest, giving you something more tangible and solid to feel.

“Starlight, look at me, tell me, what’s something you can see right now?”

You wanted to reply. You could see him. But you couldn’t get the words out. You tried tapping on his shoulder gently, but your fingers were already trembling to the point where he couldn’t tell. 

“Okay,” he sighed frantically, “that’s not going to work.” He started overexaggerating the slow pace of his breathing, never once taking his eyes off of you. “You’re okay, you’re in the car with just me, we’re safe, we’re just here together, relaxing.” He repeated these affirmations until your breathing was slightly more controlled. 

He tried asking again, “What’s something you can see?” 

Your words still wouldn’t come out, but you were able to tap him successfully this time. “Me? Okay, okay, tap once for yes, and twice for no, okay?” 

You tapped once. 

“Do you want a hug?”

Two taps. That would just make it harder to ground yourself.

He nodded, “Is the breathing helping?”

One tap.

He nodded again, being even more specific in his slow breathing. 

“Alright, darling, I know you can’t say it aloud, so don’t worry about that, but I want you to find two things you can hear. Tap me three times when you have.” 

His voice. Soft music came through his speaker. Three taps. 

“Alright, very good, darling, you’re doing amazing. Now, same thing this time except, other than me, find me four more things you can see.”

The steering wheel. The buttons on the car radio. The flaked leather of the center console. The small Capybara keychain on Wilbur’s keys. Three taps. 

This time, you found your voice again, “I- I think I’m good.”

Wilbur let out a relieved sigh, nodding. He didn’t stop his slow breathing, though. He gently reached over, taking your other hand and holding it gently. It took a few minutes before you really felt like you returned to yourself, and you took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry,” you spoke softly.

He frowned, squeezing your hand gently, “Don’t apologize. Do you want to talk about it?”

You groaned a bit but nodded. As much as you hated it, you did know talking it out would help, “I feel… like I’m about to walk the gallows.”

He gave you a look, beckoning you to elaborate.

“It’s just… ever since I woke up this morning, I’ve just heard this clock in my brain ticking faster and faster until the train. It’s just felt so overwhelming, you know? Today entirely felt like a death march all leading up to this. And now… the idea of getting on that train feels so impossible, but I know that I have to. I feel suffocated by it. The obligation and the uncertainty. I want nothing more than to just remain here with you because I’m happy with you, but I know that I’ve put so much into my education and that I’m almost done, so I can’t just abandon it all. And I feel like for all we’ve talked about, nothing was truly settled, so I just feel like I’m walking to my death, that I’m going to get on that train and everything is going to change. I won’t be able to keep up, and everything is just going to get worse.” 

He frowned, nodding quietly. He looked at a loss for words. 

He spoke after a moment, “Some things are going to change when you leave. We won’t be cuddling in my old bedroom anymore, and we won’t get to see each other every day. But nothing else has to change. I know we… haven’t really defined ‘us’, but whatever it is we’re doing, we can continue. I know you’re worried about being busy, but as long as you try, we can make it through this. As far as school, we could try and find small things to make it a bit easier. Maybe we can try and find you a better place in London. I know it won’t fix things, but it could help. You spent years here holding on for something better. You can do a year, I know you can.”

You sighed softly. You knew he was right, but fuck if it didn’t annoy you how easy it was for him to soothe 75% of your anxieties. 

 He spoke up again, speaking sardonically, “You know, it’s almost funny. You dealt with so much in this place for so long that London became an escape. Now it’s backward. Now you’re trying to use this place to escape London”

You hummed softly, letting out a chuckle, “I wouldn’t say this place is my escape.” You looked up at him, looking into his eyes.

He flushed lightly, squeezing your hand a bit tighter. You knew he understood. He always understood. 

“You’re serious that nothing has to change?”

He smiled, giving your hand a gentle kiss, “Nothing that we can control. Though, we do have to talk further about the whole Twitch thing.”

“We still have,” you checked the time. 8:23. “Like 10 minutes.”

He nodded, “Well, there’s a lot we’ll have to go into, so we can’t talk about all of it now, but… some people online are pretty invasive. They’ll try to find information out about you. If they see your face, they might try to go up to you in public or stuff. Most of them mean well, but some of them don’t realize when they’re being invasive. I’m just worried about your privacy and your safety.” 

“Wilbur, I barely have an online presence. The most they could probably do is find me in our old yearbooks.”

“I mean, we don’t know that. I’m just worried they might try and be mean to you or treat you badly.”

You smiled lightly. It was reassuring to see how much he cared about your well-being. “I understand the risks. But truthfully, I think it may be the least of our worries. They don’t know what I look like, and they don’t know my name, and they don’t know we’re romantically involved. We’re safe for now, at least, and then, later on, we can discuss letting them know and such.”

He nodded softly, gently pressing a kiss onto my hand, “Alright.”

You gently moved a bit of his hair out of his eyes, “I really don’t want to go,” you whispered with a soft sigh.

He frowned, holding your hand to his cheek, “I’d follow you if I could. The first chance I have to visit, I’ll be right there, bearing the smog and crowds.”

“You’d do all that just for me?”

“I’d deal with a lot worse for you.”

You gently stroked your thumb over his cheek, sighing shakily. “God, this fucking hurts.”

He chuckled softly, “Always a way with words.”

You rolled your eyes a bit, racking your brain for some higher-level words, “I don’t need eloquence to describe the pain of leaving you. My love is simplistic and so shall my words be. The strongest pain is that which can only be described in the most uncomplicated terminology.”

He chuckled softly, “Really putting that English degree to good use, hm?”

You laughed, lightly hitting his arm, “You dick.”

“It’s a lot of big words, that’s all,” he laughed, gently squeezing your hands, “you could be using that soon-to-be degree for some really cool things, don’t forget that.”

“I know. Trust me, I won’t forget.”

“Good. Because I will be bringing a horde of people to your graduation that you could work for.”

“Oh, god,” 

“I’ll have an entire group of people cheering just for you and embarrassing you.”

“Do not, oh, god. At least wait until after the graduation when I pack all my things and hide in your apartment for two weeks.”

He grinned at that, perking up a bit, “So, what I’m hearing is, your graduation party will be at my apartment?”

“I wasn’t planning on having one, but I guess I’ll have some free time after graduation while I search for jobs, so… if you want to hold me one, I’d much rather spend it with you than people who only care about me as an academic reference.”

He threw his arms up in celebration, cheering, “I’m going to start planning now. I’ll make it a perfect sort of homecoming celebration.”

“Homecoming?” You gave him a coy smile.

He didn’t even blush, speaking with full confidence, “You’re my home too. I’ll always celebrate you coming back to me.”

Tears welled in your eyes with those words. “Fuck,” you cursed softly, “damn you and your amazing way with words.” you leaned up, pulling him in for a long, loving kiss. 

He chuckled lightly into the kiss, but he kissed you back with just as much warmth and love. The kiss took over everything; you were barely aware of your own bones because of just how much this kiss took over your whole being.

He pulled away slowly, gently placing a hand on your cheek. He took a slow, shaky breath. He didn’t want to speak. But he had to. “Love… it’s time.”

We both got out of the car. He got my suitcase out from the trunk while you pulled your backpack on. He placed a hand on the small of your back underneath the bag, and he slowly walked us into the train station. 

“You have your ticket already?”

You nodded softly. It was in your wallet. He continued to walk to two of you to the train line, and once you were there, he stood in front of you. Neither of you knew what to do for a solid moment before Wilbur reached over, pulling you in for a tight hug. You hugged him back desperately, a shaky breath leaving you.

“Don’t- don’t go ghost on me, okay? I can’t handle losing you again.”

You nodded quickly, holding onto him tightly, “Just be patient with me. I don’t want to lose you because one of us did something stupid again.” 

 As you spoke, you leaned out of the hug to take his hand. You gently slipped a bracelet onto his wrist. It was an old one, a simple leather cord with silver beading. You wore it every day, and in school, you were convinced it gave you good luck. While you didn’t believe much in luck these days, the bracelet still meant a lot to you, and Wilbur knew that. 

He nodded as well, “Okay. I can do that.” He looked down at the bracelet, tearing up as he saw it. “You don’t have to-”

“I know,” you gently squeezed his hand, “I just want you to have something of me.” He nodded, pulling you into a tight hug once more, and his breathing seemed to be just as shaky as your own.

It was time to start getting on the train, but you were going to make every last second count. You had tears in your eyes as you pulled out of the hug just enough to look up at him.

You placed a hand on his cheek, taking a shaky sigh before speaking, “you made this the best two weeks I’ve ever had.”

The tears in my eyes began to fall, and he wasn’t far behind as he pulled you in for a desperate kiss. If the kiss earlier took over your whole being, this one took over the whole world. In this moment, he was your whole world, the only thing that mattered. Time didn’t pass in this mental void you two remained in, it was just you and him. 

It couldn’t last. You pulled apart as the deadline continued to close in. 

“I love you so, so much,” He whispered, tears falling slowly down his cheeks. 

“I love you too, Will,” you sobbed out, arms refusing to let go of him. 

“Darling, you have to go,” he reminded you, his voice cracking as he spoke. 

You nodded, weakly and reluctantly pulling away from him. He quickly leaned in to give you another loving kiss, this one much faster. 

You exchanged the final “I love you”s before you trudged onto the train.  

…

Fuck.

You felt like a cleaver had come across your neck, only leaving the tiniest part hanging on. You knew this would hurt, but openly sobbing on public transit is a new low. The only upside was that, with this being a night train, you wouldn’t be bothered as you sat in your own sadness. You went to find a seat, sitting by a window. You could see Wilbur. He seemed to be holding it together a bit better, his eyes scanning as he searched for you in the window. You already found yourself missing his smile. He made eye contact, giving you a wave. You waved back, but it felt half-hearted. Without him next to you, you could feel all the uncertainty around your relationship, and the future start to bubble back up. He said nothing would change. He said you would be visiting each other. You just didn’t know if that was true. You were busy and so was he. You have already drifted apart from every other person in your life because of your harsh schedule… how would this actually be any different? Not to say you were planning on giving up, but you had to be a realist. Something would pull you apart. You couldn’t handle any personal relationships, your classwork and actual work never gave you a moment of freedom. You weren’t going to give up, you would try, you really would. But as the train pulled away, and you and Wilbur gave each other a final wave, you left behind a kind fantasy of the only person who felt like home and headed towards uncertainty.

taglist: @shubblelive / @superioritycomplexes / @your-shifting-gurl (send an ask/dm me if you want to be added)

[railroad-migraine]

Hey Poet! <3 First, thanks bunches for all that you do, your writing never fails to make me smile! If it's alright, may I please request Molly, Essek, Yasha and Caleb with a socially anxious F!teammate/friend or crush who's a half-dwarf? She usually passes for a short human, but her dwarven heritage shows in her body being hairier and a bit more thicc than the average human female, which makes her very self-conscious. Thank you and have a lovely day <3

Okay but first, you're adorable. And second, I never expected to have a request like this but I'm so so glad you sent it in. You're lovely, honey. Thank you x

~ Poet

Reassuring Fem!Reader about body hair

Caleb 💜

To be honest, as perceptive as he is, it's not something Caleb ever really regarded as something to be noted or commented on. Your hair is just another part of you, another piece of your body for him to admire - it's no different to how he loves your hands, your eyes, your smile... Cough not that he's ready to admit that he loves you yet tho cough

He's always looking out for you and can just sense when you're having a bad day. He gets them too. The perfect person to talk to about anxieties or insecurities with because he can share his own experiences with you. Together, you work to fight against the niggling voices in the back of your heads and grow stronger and accept this is who you are, and that's good.

He makes more of an effort to try convey how he feels for you. His pinky shyly links with your own and he mutters something about how nice you look today, how confidence suits you. You know he means it.

-

Molly 💜

Molly has never really been one to judge someone on their appearances, and you better believe he's not gonna start now. You are lovely. You are strong. You are healthy. You are so very normal (in a extraordinary way). You're hot, stop doubting yourself sm <3

King of reassurance and looking after you on days where you're less confident or more self conscious. Treats you like royalty, recommends and drags you to a spa day to treat yourself and ease your worries, make you feel pretty and comfortable in your skin.

Beauty standards and trends come and go. Your body, and the hair that comes with it, is yours for life. He wants you to learn to love it. If you let him, he sits you in front a mirror at a vanity and points out every single thing about your appearance that makes you special and beautiful and handsome. He kisses your cheek, and asks quietly for you to see yourself just as he does.

-

Yasha 💜

Yasha thinks you're the cutest thing. She's quite tall, and since you're smol in comparison, it's a huge win for her. Lifts you up like you weigh nothing, more than happy to hold you on her hip or on her shoulders. Likes how the sunshine catches on your hair and skin because you practically glow.

Is kinda hairy herself and stops shaving her arms when you confide in her. She never really had a preference to having or not having hair - it was more of a habit than anything else. She wants you to know that it's completely human to be as you are, and you don't have to change for anyone. Change because you want to, not because you feel like you have to.

She thinks that no one should feel like they have to conform to societal pressures and such. It can be hard, especially in the beginning, but she's with you every step of the way to give encouragement and reassurance when you need it. Beauty comes in many shapes and sizes, and you're no exception (°^°)

-

Essek 💜

Also enjoys the height difference. He's not super tall himself, but the levitation helps give the illusion that he is. Presses sweet lil kisses to your forehead when you least expect it only to see you flustered and smiley.

Hot boi finds it hard to grow hair anywhere other than the top of his head, so he actually likes the contrast between you two 🥺 You're soft and warm and he just holds you happily. There are qualities he seeks in potential partners, such as intelligence and emotional maturity and kindness. You have all of those. He likes the the shadows and the stubble and fuzz (no matter how thick) and everything that comes with you because it's you.

He also thinks it's nice that you physically show your dwarven heritage! He wants you to be happy and proud of your people, your background and where you've come from - it's just a reminder of how much he loves every single inch of you. Life is too short not to love your body, fluff and all xx

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

A Fresh Start [sneak peek]

This week I’m trying to focus more on my original work. Plus my goal for chapter 16 of ‘AFS’ is for it to be stupid long (y’all asked for long, y’all are getting long) so it’ll probs be out either this weekend or early next week!

As a treat tho, I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek of chapter 16 ;)

The sound of your fading footsteps made him heave a sigh of relief. Din let the ice water run over him for a moment more before shutting it off and reaching for a towel. Dank farrik. Din quickly pulled on his shirt and a pair of sweatpants before using the towel to dry his hair best he could. It’d be nice to dry it entirely before putting his helmet on, but that meant spending more time in the bathroom. Din scratched the scruff at his jawline and his stupid brain wondered if you’d prefer a clean shaven guy. He muttered a string of curses under his breath in annoyance at himself before shoving his helmet onto his head.

When he stepped out, he noticed Grogu waiting for him at the end of the hall in the arch that led into the kitchen. The little boy giggled while bouncing in place. Din tilted his head. “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into, ad’ika?”

“Where did⏤” Your voice drifted toward him. “Grogu, did you eat your buir’s sandwich??”

Grogu giggled again. Din chuckled and pointed at him, “Come here, you little womp rat.” Grogu squealed in excitement and rushed away. Din chased after his son who ran and jumped to avoid him. You laughed from your spot leaning against the kitchen counter. Din paused as he watched Grogu leap into your arms. He set his hands on his hips, “You think your ma can keep you from me, ad’ika?”

Din took a step around the counter, but stopped again when he noticed you mirrored his step with a smirk⏤ maintaining the same distance between the two of you. He tilted his head, lips curling into a grin under his helmet. You shrugged. “I promised to take care of Grogu and if that means protecting him from a Mandalorian…”

“I can respect that.” Din took another slow step in your direction and you stumbled back. Grogu began to pat on your shoulder as a warning. His son knew that if you really wanted to escape you’d need to start moving right now⏤ not that that would really stop him. “You know, you have a bad habit of challenging Mandalorians.”

The last time you had challenged him, while lying in bed with Grogu, Din ended up on top of you. That was the kind of situation he’d be more than happy to repeat. Grogu whined for you to run and Din found it amusing that his son was aware of any warning signs Din might have. You seemed to think you were still in a position of power when the exact opposite was true. 

“Mmm, not Mandalorians. Just you.” You smirked. Din felt feral. Combining the idea of an adrenaline filled hunt and his desire for you was an addicting prospect. He liked it way, way more than he should. “What’re you gonna do about it, Djarin?”

Din slipped his hands into his sweatpants pockets, the picture of casual nonchalance, and grinned in excitement under his helmet. “I can bring you in warm,” He didn't bother hiding the amusement in his voice, “or I can bring you in cold.”

@aheadfullofsteverogers​ @yyiikes​ @kneelforloki​ @c-ms1ut​ @sgt-morgan​ @luthienaliceisilra​ @fawn-kitten @missbabyjay​ @coldlamaspersonspy​ @dilfsaremyfavourite​ @jamesbuckybarnes @yorkeylover​ @teawrites01 @emily-roberts​ @djarinxore​ @impala1967666​ @shelbyteller @faithrenner​ @dindjarindude​ @dankfarrick29​ @rh1nestonecowg1rl @garbo-lesbo​ @anythingforattention @tearfulsolace​ @onceinamando​ @catharinaroxastova​ @uwu-i-purple-you​ @modiddys-blog​ @harriedandharassed​

I went back and forth on whether I should add the tag list? B/c it’s technically not a chapter and I don’t wanna disappoint anybody by seeing a notification and thinking it is, but I did it anyways. Sorry. I panicked.

[ffredmujkic]

wonderfully bizarre by bendigo fletcher is such a fish and chips song.

"And if I were to win for you the skin of a timbered snake - Would you consider me your comfort in danger?" it shows so much of gillions thinking that he could only be loved if hes earned it if hes able to show himself as someone useful.

"you could wear me like a ring" something something abt gil being status symbol. (the whole line in his, if u give fish a family, abt being adored but alone) going back to had habits (even if aware of their harm)

"You'd be the mercy under my cruelty- My revelation, bloodshed free" gillion's journery through out the campaign, his biggest change is being kinder. gentler. early campaign gil always chose violence, he saw that the only responsible action to take against a villian was to cut off their head. hes soften so much over the campaign. hes always been caring yet through his friendships with chip (and jay this just isnt abt them) he learns different methods to handling problems.

"Do you wanna get married at the Cherokee Cemetery?" he just wants to get married. hes unlearned at lot a LOT of toxic unhealthy things. but he clearly upholds marriage as still an important and loving act. i think that while their relationship is very anarchic, gil would still love a wedding. (purely my own headcannon tho)

"Where the blue grass creeps over deep decades of devotion. Warm underneath the frost" come on.

in the context of gillion though this can be further, hes incredible loyal to the undersea though it never cared for him in return. A country that made him harsh and serious despite his real personality when allowed to relax. the frost can be a strong yet harmful loyalty to the undersea. (it reminds me of that even if im stretching) his friendship with chip and jay allowing him to feel a genuine devotion which is beneficial too him, that is reciprocated.

"We can build a home in a bush of azaleas- Dress it up in true morale paraphernalia- You'll never be alone in your bad dreams- Because together we could never be lost"

gillion was taken away from his family at an early age. chip was an orphan with no memory of even his name, to than get his adopted family ripped away from him. his attempts to form a new one forcing him into a gang. the two of them have been alone for a very very long time with no family or even friends, no home of their own. gillion constantly failed in his training. chip is implied to have done things he didnt always want to do to make price happy. yet despite earlier bumps in the relationship, them clashing each disagreement helps to deepen their bond as they figure out whats okay with with each other. and they really are never alone after finding each other

"your eyes prescribe a meaning for everything I do. I even find myself believing most of the words I say as true" the most impactful moment for chip what enable him to grow into the person he becomes over the course of the campaign is the fight in epsiode 15. it forced chip to address his actions have hurt hurt someone he was growing to care abt. chip said he wouldn't lie to gil anymore and he meant it. theres times where he tries to lie and cuts himself off. they built a home with trust and communication

"We can build a home in a bush of azaleas" since the line is repeating ill only say, they feel so comfortable around each other. all three captains are each others home. but especially chip and gil the way they are always seeking each other, their friend's name always on the tip of their toungue.

"We can be defined by the things we want"

a major theme in the show (or at least grizzly is trying to make it into one) is desire. gillion while having a lot of autonomy, driving a lot of the plot. he is also honor bound to a internal law where he must always protect others. gillion never acts out of a true selflessness, his actions are born from being taught that this is simply how he should operate. Because he is inherently worthless than all those around him, he has been assigned to protect. Never does gil think abt himseld if it concerns another life. gillion must be selfless, he is never allowed to want for himself. which is wonderfully contrasted by chip who is always seen as a selfish bastard despite not behaving like it in a while.

"I'll be a life full of free haircuts from the one that I love" chip in his happiet dream imagines himself with all his crew and arlin hanging out happily on the albatross. chip always pictures himself doing this pirate thing forever, but he is only 19. and with the trauma that its brought him, the constant risking your life. i think its fair to say that what he actually wants is just a simple life with his friends

[yunarim]

ಇ. broken melodies | chapter 2

⇢ ⁺ THE SLIGHTLY CHIPPED FULL MOON ˖ Yuu realizes that Neige has something in common with Snow White and gets alarmed.

— PREVIEW (read for tags and synopsis) — MASTERLIST (open to read previous chapters) — AO3 ⁺ w.c : 12k+ this chapter contains mild usage of obscene language !

A sportswear designed for RSA remained in blue-and-white color scheme with a few additions of golden shades here and there. In contrast to the school uniform with dark blue trousers she wore yesterday, the sports outfit did a flip between top and bottom of the outfit, the pants being white with golden stripes and the t-shirt was dark blue this time, leaving a white jacket remaining optional. Yuu preferred the jacket being pulled on at first, but then, leaving Ambrose’s office and spotting Luan wearing it tied around the waist, she followed his example, tying it around a bit clumsily. She wasn’t really familiar with how it should look, always under the impression all the clothes she wears should look neatly on her, never leaving a room for a leisurely touch Luan seemed to possess.

She was called to the headmaster’s office early in the morning because of two reasons: to get her sports uniform and to get notified that the clock tower’s keeper would come and check it today. Ambrose, though ever so thoughtful and cordial, didn’t mention what the keeper is like. Yuu didn’t even notice herself she was quite attached to creating little scenarios in her head, and, following this habit, she still seemed unaware to imagining their meeting going from normal (meaning she won’t get kicked out of here, that would be normal from her perspective) to extreme (where she not only get kicked out but also get identity revealed and—).

In any case, Yuu spotted Luan and waved to him, corners of her lips rising slightly. A warm aura 

around him made her wash off the worries for some time, and when Luan reciprocated the smile she pulled, Yuu greeted him politely.

“Good morning, Luan,” Yuu caught up with him and they moved towards the sports ground.

“Morning…” Luan yawned and Yuu saw cute little fangs he clicked right after closing his mouth. The hair on his head resembled a bird's nest, he rubbed his eyes with his fists and made an intensified attempt to open his eyelids with his fingers, sighing heavily.

Her smile widened, seeing him being so effortlessly adorable, and returned her gaze to the hall. 

“Not a morning person?”

“Meh,” he shrugged. “Not that early morning, ‘kay? How in the world do you get up so early?”

“Mornings are magnificent,” Yuu started as they walked out of the main building. “The way sun rays feel on the skin resembles taking a bath with liquified gold…”

“Woah chill,” Luan said, astonished in a way with her highfalutin epithets. “It’s literally just morning. A good one though, since we’ve got a PE as a first class today, given I already overslept and missed the training with my personal trainer… Ugh.”

“Trainer?” Yuu repeated, but Luan just hummed mysteriously, nodding to her words. 

“Uh-huh, he’s a toughie. Reasonable tho, you would like him too. Not to mention I highly recommend you to exercise from time to time.”

“That’s why you look so sporty,” Yuu noticed, her gaze sliding down his hands, average for a boy his age and yet quite muscular if tensed. 

“You bet!” Luan’s beaming smile made Yuu giggle. “Even though you look like you might crumble just by a wind blowing. Seriously, are all of the Valley of Thorns girls that thin?”

“Valley of Thorns?..” Yuu repeated weakly when she noticed there were fewer people than in the main building. 

“Not from there? You just have to see Dawnshine Savannah women one day. Hope you won’t get a cultural shock or something.”

Yuu’s head was about to spin with all the new information received. Apparently those were the names of the continents? Countries?.. Yuu wasn’t sure if she should have pushed it further to get to know more without looking suspiciously, so she just chuckled and then suddenly gasped as they entered the sports field.

The sports field was not something as grand as the main building, however, a huge forest looming before her eyes with a carpet of fresh greens lined on it and a forest stretching in the distance fascinated with its beauty.

The air was so hot that Yuu could see it melting into inert, lazy waves, and while Yuu didn't like hot weather, she wondered what PE had in store for her.

She observed the territory, noticing new faces she hadn't seen yesterday, which was a bit strange, given their class was all present (when Luan finally came in the middle of the day), and as for now, Yuu saw unfamiliar individuals, wondering what was the deal. 

“Hm,” Luan said. “Guess we’re having joint classes today.”

“Joint?” She echoed.

“Yea, like, some of these people are second years. I don’t know why we’re having classes today with them, but who actually cares, right? It’s fine as long as it's fun.”

“I believe you’re right,” she agreed, not really following the concept of school as a whole, but accepting nevertheless. Moreover, Luan was definitely right about one thing — she hoped it would be fun.

Yuu talked with Luan for some time before a teacher finally made an appearance. Yuu felt how a gentle breeze came with him, tickling her nostrils and carrying a fresh aroma of green tea leaves, making her mind settle for a moment. Luan caught up with her, following her gaze when she looked somewhere near the gate, and noticed a new arrival.

“Oi, xiaohaizi! Good morning!”

Yuu gasped in amusement when the teacher summoned a broom, jumping on it and rising straight in the air, making a flip around his axis, and flying straight to the group of students gathered in the centre of the field. His long pitch-black hair was tied up with a red ribbon in a high ponytail. Yuu, following her inner beaming inquisitiveness, couldn’t tear her glare off his clothes, which reminded her of hanfu. His eyes of charcoal were slightly laughing at her unconcealed pry, and his child-like, almost pure features created an impression he was quite young.

He didn’t say anything about her curious mind, letting it be, and jumped off the broom he was riding, his hair cascading shoulders beautifully, resembling sea waves gently embracing a shore. 

“First of all, sorry for today’s inconsistency in the curriculum. You might have noticed there’s two classes today,” he said, fixing an unamenable strand of his hair and tacking it behind his ear. “It was overlapping, so we decided it would be best to just let it be. Second years, you’ll have lessons according to the schedule next week, okay?”

Nods of understanding and little ‘okay’s were heard here and there as a response to his words.

“Well then, good,” he nodded, smiling slightly. “Now first years! Let me introduce myself. Come a bit closer, hm?”

Everyone did as he said, and right after Yuu noticed how first years outnumbered second ones, but quickly returned all her attention to the teacher.

“My name’s Xiao Qian. I’m your PE teacher, but we will meet during social sciences classes as well. Let’s get along!”

Yuu bowed politely out of habit, when others just remained silent or at least nodded, and stared back at Qian who found her reaction quite amusing. 

“Where I’m from we appreciate those gestures of politeness,” Qian addressed to her, replying with a little bow as well, releasing Yuu’s nervousness. “Well then, let’s begin the lesson!”

Qian arranged the students in several rows. Yuu ended up in the first one on the left side, separated from Luan, who was standing at the very end on the right side. He winked at her as she hurriedly turned her gaze to him, and she smiled back, returning to stretching exercises.

Qian, who spoke to everyone in an absurdly friendly tone just a couple of minutes ago, turned out to be a rather serious teacher, whose gaze became stronger, if not even more severe. He carefully glided over each student, noticing the slightest movements, and alternately indicated which exercise was not performed accurately enough.

“Now off to the flying part,” Qian said, nodding when everyone finished stretching, ignoring heavy sighs of exhaustion, mostly let out due exaggeration. “Second years, I’m starting with you. First years, watch them closely.”

Yuu watched as a group of nearly 20 students came closer, making a row. She noticed how drastic the difference was between them and the second years, whose bodies looked obviously stronger, their eyes clearly beaming with a huge amount of experience. She was ready to peer into their movements with respect, extract something for herself, becoming a sponge, absorbing knowledge, but suddenly noticed one young man, slightly out of the crowd.

His pale coral hair, reminiscing sweet meringue, shone in light waves of curls under the bright sun, revealing the gradient of his locks, and light pink, weightless, almost transparent tips framed his delicate pale neck.

Yuu felt as if an otherworldly force caused her to peer into his eyes, riveting her gaze to his long eyelashes. His huge eyes, carved from two aquamarine crystals, endowed him with innocence, and his slightly parted plump lips as well as hummingbird-flutter of his eyelashes betrayed him, revealing his frustration. A fresh scent of salty sea waves embraced his only presence, putting Yuu’s mind at ease instantly. 

Yuu felt something wasn’t right with how otherworldly he looked, which was fun and absurd for her to point that out subconsciously. 

As other students demonstrated their skills, this boy nodded to the teacher and took the broom, taking a deep breath. He grabbed the broom, giving Yuu an impression he would break it with how strong his grip was, but he closed his eyes. Two seconds after, he flew the broom a couple of meters into the air, crossing his legs around the base of the broom, and glanced at the teacher, who smiled approvingly at him.

“That was a nice one,” Qian said when the boy came back to the ground, and thanked him. Yuu shivered at how sweet and gentle his voice sounded. 

She followed him with her curious gaze and parted lips slightly when she noticed a little tremble covering his legs.

Serene voice of pureness, huge spellbinding eyes and trembling legs?.. Think harder, Yuu said to herself quietly when it was their turn to practice broom-riding. Her gaze lingered on the boy, a scent of sea foam and salt was radiating stronger now that she noticed, and when he turned, his eyes met her own, wide and full of realization, to which the boy tilted his head curiously. 

“Ah!” She gasped, drawing the attention of those standing at her left and right, and quickly covered her mouth with hands. 

“Something the matter?” Qian asked, but she shook her head from side to side.

Actually, there was. All those features he possessed reminded her of merfolk she met in Ariel’s realm once or twice when she was far younger. Yuu was fairly hesitant to make an assumption based on just those little features, but, unaware of her own current place in the world she happened to enter, it tempted her to find out. 

As much as curious and eager to grasp the information she was, it would be unwise to do as she pleased, especially taking into consideration she didn’t know the boy. Her surroundings, this school, the people here, her own situation—all those appeared to be unanswered questions, and Yuu wasn’t sure if there was a way to figure out if she could receive answers at all. 

The boy did an enormously great job to conceal his trembling limbs, with how everyone seemed to not care at all. Maybe they knew, indeed, and yet they didn’t seem like it was the case, so there was a possibility the boy was trying to hide how hard it was to just stand with those legs on land, mention of flights remaining unnecessary. Yuu admired him for that, but before she could push her thoughts any further, teacher Qian asked her to try riding a broom.

And that was another issue to be solved. Yuu chuckled nervously, taking a broom from the teacher's hands, carefully observing it. 

“Have you ever tried flying before?” Qian asked, withdrawing a fan from his huge loose sleeve, and covered half of his face with it. 

As a matter of flying, yes, Yuu definitely has tried. Not to mention, she was outstandingly skillful with her flying abilities, but riding a broom? Fairy Godmother hadn’t taught her that, and why would she? There was no particular use in brooms in the first place, so she had no idea how it should have been done.

“... No,” she answered in the end.

“That’s okay,” Qian answered, closing his eyes for a moment. “Flying is a difficult matter. One can be an extremely talented magician but can’t ride a broom for life… Not under my watch though.”

He was right. As much as Yuu could fly, she wondered about broadening her horizons and widening knowledge she possessed. Moreover, she couldn’t fly long distances with her own magic, so broom-flying seemed fascinating enough to try.

“Alright then,” Qian looked strictly at Yuu. “No spell needed to ride a broom. Visualization is the key here. Imagine the broom flying, then put some wind magic in there to make it work. And always keep in mind that making a broom fly is not the main task here.”

“What is?” Yuu asked, making sure to remember all the processes he explained.

“Keeping your balance is,” Qian said. “Consider the streamlining of the broom you use, the way aerodynamic properties change depending on how you ride the broom and how strong wind currents are. Shifting your weight forward will bring the handle down and so make it descend, and also leaning forward and putting some weight in it will make you speed up and… Oh, I’m getting carried away. The main task for you for now is to keep your balance midair and to not fall. Try it. I don’t take ‘I can’t’ as an answer. There’s no option other than to do your best on the battlefield anyway.”

Yuu felt how heavy his last sentence was. Teacher Qian was speaking from experience and Yuu wasn’t sure if she was feeling to find out what kind of experience it was.

Yuu stared at the broom, arranging the information on the shelves of her mind. Technically it was the moment she would reveal her magic to everyone, but at the same time it was okay. The only thing remaining was to try finding out how exactly she needed to perform the right magic arrangements.

Qian mentioned wind magic. Even though Yuu’s magic did divide into elemental types, but it didn’t include wind. She took a deep breath, hurriedly trying to remember if there were any analogues of wind magic despite the flying spell itself, but Qian said it was all about visualization, not spells casting magic.

“I understand it’s your first time practicing, but please do hurry up,” Qian said.

“I’m sorry,” she replied.

He was right. If exposing her magic was dangerous to the point she would be handed out to the government, then trying to make a simile of wind magic could be postponed to the later. Yuu sighed and parted her lips slightly, deciding that for now she should just try combining two magic types together and relying on luck. She placed the broom almost in a horizontal position so she could sit on it, still holding the handle with her bare hands.

“Oh faila maira súrë, á ortëa ni ana the orwa fanyarë.” 

Yuu whispered so that no one could hear her, and recurrented wind flow to the broom, realizing she flew up slightly, her legs being on the same level as teacher Qian’s eyes. 

“Not bad for a rookie,” Qian noticed, smiling approvingly at her. “Try rising a bit.”

Yuu nodded, wondering how in the world did it work and how she remained steady. Still holding the handler tightly, she pointed it up, and the broom followed the direction she noted, making her rise almost half higher than before.

“Good, but you moved a bit further. That’s okay for the first try, but next time try adjusting it so you’ll go just vertically up, okay?”

“Yessir,” Yuu answered, pointing the handle down and going down, then jumping off the broom.

“I see you’re not afraid of heights,” Qian noticed. “Good job. You can come here after 4pm to practice if you want.”

“I appreciate your help,” Yuu said. 

The rest of the class went relatively in a calm manner, reminiscent of a lecture rather than a PE lesson. Qian added more details to how flights worked and then dismissed everyone. Yuu couldn’t manage to notice where Luan went, so she decided it would be okay for her to head out to the next class alone.

First she needed to change her clothes. Even though Ambrose said that it’s all arranged and she can be late for 5-10 minutes for the lessons because there were no places where she could change comfortably within school facilities, leaving the clock tower the only option remaining. Yuu appreciated the thoughtfulness, but decided she would never be late nevertheless, so she hurried back to the ‘dormitory’.

She quickly passed the forest she happened to enter yesterday where she met Neige. Memories flashed in her mind at once, bringing Yuu to recall the sad smile he wore that evening, wondering what could be the reason. Would he be okay with seeing her again?

Yuu never was a person to easily initiate a dialogue, let alone with a person who was apparently quite popular. Neige seemed like he didn’t want other people to know about that scene she appeared to become a part of. Yuu had no intention of telling anyone else—there was no person she could have anyway. And even so, Neige reminded her of a gentle light, leading a moth, that would be Yuu, to it, alluringly bewitching her and making her follow him. That was a fun, if not absurd comparison, given she was the one who possessed a ‘Butterflies’ friend’ title. 

Speaking of which, Yuu made sure no one was around and summoned a pink butterfly that eagerly greeted her, dancing around her face, and fluttered its wings in a joyful way.

“It’s nice to see you too, little one.”

Butterfly followed her to the clock tower, where Yuu summoned her magic wand and quickly changed her clothes with a magic touch, then made the wand disappear, and hurried back to the main building.

A tantalizing aroma of something sweet and baked tickled Yuu’s nose when the class ended and she went out of the auditorium, making her way to the cafeteria. 

Entering a familiar place, she allowed herself to stop for a second and enjoy the pleasant aroma of a pie filled with honey—it’s been a while since she last tried honey cake!—and hurried to gargoyles. 

“Good afternoon, Vittorio,” she greeted the gargoyle, smiling at him slightly. 

“Afternoon,” he confirmed. “Anything you’d like to try?”

“Ah, hmm…” Yuu observed today’s assortment and decided she’d go for avocado salad with cottage cheese as a main dish. “That one salad, please. And one slice of honey pie.”

“Coming right up,” Vittorio said, placing everything she ordered on the tray. “You should try the chamomile tea we’re serving today.”

“If it won’t be hard to serve for me, then I’d be glad to.”

“You sweet child,” Vittorio chuckled and poured hot water into the cup. “Drop the honorifics, kids here don’t use them nowadays. Here you go, enjoy your lunch!”

“Thank you very much!” Yuu ignored the ‘honorifics’ part and still bowed nevertheless, deciding where she should sit today.

She noticed the table she was occupying yesterday during lunch was already taken by someone else, as well as the majority of tables on the second floor. She frowned, trying to find another table for at least two with no one around, and succeeded — a table for three right next to the window. 

Yuu took a seat, enjoying the tea aroma floating in the air, and started consuming food, being quite impatient to try honey cake. She couldn’t be referred to as a sweet tooth, but sugary and honey flavors were still fairly tasty and could be enjoyed once in a while. 

Once Yuu finished the salad, she finally took a bite of honey pie, watching honey slowly flowing out of the cake, soaking the layer even more. She seemed to be out of the process for a moment, staring at the golden liquid absentmindedly, and immediately thought of Neige’s eyes. Would they remind her of honey under the sun rays, shining brightly? Or would his eyes, two precious agates, remain still with an elusive presence of loneliness? 

Yuu knitted the brows, sighing. He was so mysteriously enchanting, that Neige. Yuu hoped everything was alright, but a bitter feeling of something dubious was following her even now. How strange, indeed.

“Man, who would have thought that Neige would do another ad so soon.”

Yuu winced. For a second she thought that her thoughts had materialized out of nowhere and everyone could hear what she was thinking about so hard. She turned to her left, noticing a group of students taking the seats and discussing Neige, and as much as she valued privacy, it couldn’t be helped with how good and accurate her hearing was.

“You don’t say,” another student replied. “Dude’s amazing. No matter how hard we try, there’s no way we can reach his level.”

“To be able to study in the same academy as Neige…” Another boy added. “Sometimes I think I got too lucky.”

“Same here. I kinda think he’s unreachable.”

“Right?” The first to speak student nodded. “But imagine making so much money.”

“Must be funny in a rich man’s world,” a student answered, sighing dreamily. 

As far as Yuu remembered, it never was. People tended to be greedy in princesses’ worlds, but since she couldn’t grasp the main idea of money itself, she was as much from relating to these students talking. She has learnt it’s important to appreciate those who worked and earned money, other people’s effort and mentality for being that strong, but she also never worked for money herself. The word itself was vague and abstract to her, and when her Godmother told she should always pay back, it wasn’t necessarily money. Valuable things were far from just gold and banknotes, but what exactly?..

“Don’t you kinda think his play was overrated in the last movie though?”

Yuu’s ears twitched.

“Huh? Now that you said it… maybe it kinda was, yeah…”

“Doesn’t he like, always smiling and giggling here and there?”

“Hey, it’s not to that extent… Bet if they’d put you into it, you would resemble a robot.”

“Yeah, your acting is extremely lame dude, no offense.”

“Hey!!”

“Hey,”

Why… would they talk about him behind his back? Yuu frowned, drowning deeper in her thoughts. Neige was someone she saw once in her life, and even if he pulled an act during their first meeting, was he really such a hypocrite, yearning for money? Or was his play really that bad as they just said? No, she shouldn’t judge his character just by that and—

“Hey~”

“Oh?”

Yuu raised her gaze and saw Che’nya holding a tray with food with one hand, another one resting on his hip, his tail wiggling cheerfully. Yuu smiled a bit subconsciously, unaware of genuineness beaming from her. 

“Che’nya-san, good afternoon.”

“Good nyafternoon,” he grinned, taking a seat in front of her without asking, but Yuu didn’t seem to mind at all. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Just having a meal. What are you going to have, Che’nya-san?”

“Mmm~ Can’t you tell?”

Yuu threw a quick glance at his meal, recognizing fish in breadcrumbs and sour cream sauce in a small gravy boat. He resembled a real cat so much it was starting to be funny. 

“Fish,” she said. “I was expecting that at some point.”

“Right~” Che’nya consumed a small bite, chewing the food in a cute way as Yuu smiled at him adoringly. “How’s your day going?”

“Pretty much okay,” Yuu nodded, realizing she wasn’t uncomfortable sharing some information with him about herself. It felt good that he asked. “PE was fun.”

“Hmm~” Che’nya hummed mysteriously. 

He stopped talking for some time while eating as Yuu was watching people walking here and there, but when she returned her full attention to Che’nya and turned to him, she found him scrolling something with his finger on a strange device Yuu had no memory of. 

Asking Che’nya wasn’t the best decision. Was it something everyone had in the property? A small little box-shaped thing with purple stripes on its edges, plastic cat ears… Yuu was extremely curious. Is that… machinery?! Yuu felt her fingers trembling slightly in excitement. The box radiated slightly blue light and something Che’nya was looking at was running somewhere far away so fast that even Yuu’s vision couldn’t catch at least something. There was… text? Yes, it was some kind of text. But what exactly? And where did it go as Che’nya scrolled down?? 

Yuu watched closely, thinking the text Che’nya scrolled was coming out of the box, dissolving in the air while she didn’t see. But how? What kind of magic was it?

“O’nya~” Che’nya said, amused by her reaction and widened eyes. 

“C-che’nya-san,” Yuu stumbled, realizing she became too curious, and coughed. “Please don’t mind me.”

“Hm-hm~” He hummed, returning his glance to the thing Yuu thought was a box. “As you say.”

Yuu couldn’t follow Che’nya’s eyes fixing on her own, their roles switching, and now Yuu reminding him of a cat following a trembling sunbeam. And Che’nya didn’t seem to mind at all, quite enjoying her amusing reaction. 

“Oh,” Che’nya suddenly said, stopping his finger scrolling the pages (or what it was) as his smile dropped. 

“Is something the matter?” Yuu asked.

“Hm,” his eyes lost their sparkles for a moment. “I don’t like it…”

“Yes?..”

“Oi, Yuu! Hey!”

Yuu turned at a source of someone calling her name and spotted Luan at the entrance. She smiled at him when he approached their table, the aroma of freshly cooked meat and some herbs—she instantly recognized basil, green onion and a small hint of cilantro being mixed—lingered in the air as he bent down to look right into Yuu’s eyes. 

“Let’s eat together next time!” 

Yuu never realized his smile was that contagious until the corners of her own lips went up. It was the smile that couldn’t be concealed at all costs, Luan revealed his teeth and giggled softly, bright lapis of his eyes shining joyfully. 

“I don’t mind,” she said before thinking. “Even though you were the one to leave early today.”

“Damn, you’re right,” he gasped. Yuu wondered about the very first word he said, the ‘damn’ one. What was that?.. “Sorry ‘bout that. Oh.”

Luan finally spotted Che’nya glancing his way all this time and put his tray on the table before stretching out his hand. 

“I’m Luan!” He greeted his upperclassman. “And you?”

“Nya-ce to meet you, Luan. I’m Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. Che’nya for short~” He shook Luan’s hand, and Yuu noticed just now how strong his grip actually seemed. “Come sit.”

Luan followed his words and took a seat at Yuu’s right, still staring at the upperclassman. Apparently he wasn’t agast to his name.

“Which class are you?” As expected, Luan dropped any honorifics from the very beginning, his tail waving slightly as his ears twitched. 

“3-A, nya.”

“THIRD— Yooo bro you don’t even look like my upperclassman.”

“Luan, I don’t think it’s polite to—”

“Who cares?~” Che’nya reassured you it was okay. “As long as you’re having fun, everything’s nya-kay.”

Yuu blinked twice, awestruck by their similarity in enjoying fun things, but preferred to refrain from saying anything at this point. 

“You seem like a cool guy,” Luan nodded to himself. “Add me on MagiCam.”

“Sure, gimme your phone.”

Luan casually fumbled in his pockets and fished out another box-like device, larger in size than Che’nya’s. It was now decorated with a black-colored shining case with a pattern resembling claw marks and Luan’s name was written in giant impressive letters, and Yuu spotted how fancy and shining his box was, unlike cracked and dented Che’nya’s one.

But at least she could catch the name of the device! That was a phone. Yuu wondered what that little thing could do despite dissolving text in the air after letting it out of the device. She also had yet to find out what ‘MagiCam’ could be… 

“Oi Yuu,” Luan turned to her. “Gimme your MagiCam acc ID too.”

“Uhm…” She frowned. Now it was obvious that the phone was a thing that at least two of them possessed, and according to his words, Yuu obviously should have had it too. 

Even if she hadn’t.

“What’s the matter?”

“I, um,” she smiled sheepishly. “I don’t have a phone.”

Luan blinked at her, showing no emotion for a second before giggling.

“Lmao I almost thought you’re for real,” he laughed. “Ok now gimme your ID.”

Yuu threw a quick glance at Che’nya, thinking he would help her escape this peak of embarrassment, but he only leaned up to them, resting chin on his hands and grinning slyly. 

“No way,” Luan grabbed her by the shoulders. “You can’t be real!”

“I’m afraid I can…”

“Damn…” Luan mumbled and pulled quite a theatrically dramatical facial expression, covering his mouth with hands. “Valley of Thorns is wilder than I thought.”

Again that Valley of Thorns. Yuu started to await geography lessons the next day with quite an eagerness. 

Luan scrolled down the pages on the box—ugh, phone—and suddenly stopped just like Che’nya did not so long ago. Was there something frightening? 

“I guess some people just have a lot of free time,” he said, clicking his tongue. “So lame.”

“Right you are,” Che’nya said, drawing Yuu’s attention.

“Did something happen?” She asked as Che’nya gave her his phone and pointed to a message. An article?.. 

She needed some time to get used to the way text was written and how drastic the difference with a book was, but then checked the content closely and gasped.

↳✉ Neige is so annoying

↳✉ How tf did he win again

↳✉ Pathetic

↳✉ He’s just all about his youthful looks, he’s got no skills

↳✉ He should never play again lol

↳✉ This brat

↳✉ Wasn’t it revealed that his fanbase just bought 20k votes?

↳✉ I fucking hate him

Yuu covered her mouth with a hand, fixing her worried gaze on Che’nya who wasn’t smiling at all and seemed rather annoyed at what he read. Even though she didn’t understand half of the words—brat? Votes? What kind of votes? Also what is fucking?..—she could grasp the gist. The hate was spreading, and the words were surely venomous. 

“Some of Vil’s fans are sure crazy,” Luan exclaimed indignantly. 

Vil? Yuu didn’t know this name but decided not to interfere yet.

“There’s no denying,” Che’nya confirmed. 

Yuu bit her lip. Weren’t people… letting themselves too much to say? As she understood, Neige seemed to be quite popular, someone who was recognized at least within this school quite well. Well enough for people gossiping and saying terrible things. 

“He’s only a burden in the theatre club…” Luan quotted someone, as Yuu presumed. “Huh, there’s also people from this school hating him, too? Gonna give a good old punching.”

“Now now,” Che’nya calmed him down. “Creating more problems for him would be unwise. There’s another road to take…”

“Road?” Yuu echoed, meeting her his deep eyes glimmering with an emotion she couldn’t read. 

Yuu watched Luan’s fingers fly over the phone, a red button appearing on it saying ‘Report and block’, and even if Yuu didn’t fully understand how phones worked, she believed Luan did the right thing to do.

“Come to think of it, were you two introduced to the club system in the academy, hmm?”

“Clubs?” Yuu asked, wondering what was that.

“Yeah, I kinda heard of them. They say club presidents will hold somethin’ like an open day two weeks later to get new members, right?”

“Correct,” Yuu saw his striped purple tail waving cutely. “Is there any club you want to join?”

“I definitely want to, idk which one though. We’ll see,” Luan said, taking a huge bite of the dish he brought, and turned to Yuu. “Oi Yuu, what do you think? Have you found something suited for yourself?”

According to what Luan said, there was a theatre club. And that was the only information she received so far, making it difficult to say anything yet. Then again, what if everyone already knew which clubs existed within the school facilities, and she would look uninformed and even ignorant to the point of stupidity? 

“I’m not sure as well…” She decided to go with the safest option for now, catching Che’nya’s cheeky smile.

“Anything you’re interested in?” He asked her.

Yuu immediately frowned, knitting her brows together. Interests? It’s not like it was a matter of interests and her own preferences when it came to rescuing. Fairy Godmother taught her it was important to be a perfectionist, good in everything and especially in reacting fast when the situation could go under her own control. 

She tried going further to the shelves of her mind, observing them carefully and trying to pick at least something that could be interpreted as an interest or an activity she would genuinely enjoy and be good at. A block, the same as on the mirror she tried to cast, covered her memory. There was no clue. Nothing that could be attached to her, creating a certain characterization and attribute about her own personality. Her as a person.

“Yuu?” Luan looked straight into her eyes, slightly putting a hand over her shoulder. “You ok, buddy?”

“Buddy?..” She floated out of the ocean of her thoughts, taking a deep breath of fresh air when her classmate’s reassuring tone comforted her. “Oh, please pardon me.”

“Damn it sure hit you hard, didn’t it? Come on, you still have two weeks and even more time to think it over. We’ve got to see all the clubs nevertheless. You never know what you could find, right, Che’nya?”

“Indeed,” his tail wiggled, reassuringly reaching for Yuu’s hand and tickling it slightly, and Yuu noticed only now how closely they’ve been sitting. “There’s a way of applying for your own club if you feel like there’s no clubs fitting you.”

Yuu smiled weakly, but appreciated their help. 

Was it even right for her to think about such matters as clubs and interests? Certainly there was a princess, or maybe a prince to be rescued, and it was urgent. Once she rescues them, there will definitely be a way for her to return back home, so Yuu closed her eyes, letting her mind sponge the atmosphere of sweet happy school days and making friends. She must appreciate it while it is available, and once it is not…

She must do her best in order to not get attached.

Something ticklish was echoing within her head, causing Yuu to remember Neige again. Apparently he was a part of the theatre club and an actor himself, from what she heard. Yuu knew almost nothing about acting, but she encountered the consequences of being popular. Being watched. 

Princesses and Neige somehow seemed to have many things in common, and the major one was their popularity. Princesses were seen, there was no room for resting as someone was always watching them. Neige seemed to have minor differences compared to them that Yuu couldn’t confirm for now, such as was he a part of royalty or not, but nevertheless—he was being seen, and to the point of a viscous menacing trace following him. 

Figures of authority, princesses and popular people—indeed, if Yuu would pick the word to characterize all them, it would be ‘limits’. They may pretend well enough it was alright, to pull the masks of genuineness and happiness, as if nothing really happened when it actually did. Harvest of the popularity couldn’t be seen from the very beginning, it all started with seeds, which were growing within society not rapidly, but step by step, leaving the hints of their presence in people’s hearts and minds. Then they would grow, lingering in conversations and rumors, the leaves of rottenness falling everywhere, pollinating minds with already unconcealed hate and desire to see more. 

People tend to crave for more, they always have been, and they surely won’t stop. Yuu swallowed with disgust as someone walked behind her, saying something about Neige again.

And maybe… maybe it was Neige who she needed to rescue all along?

A pink butterfly was flowing around, following Yuu’s unhurried walk to the clock tower. Yuu breathed in a vespertine coldness and freshness, enjoying it after surviving under the hot sun in the morning, and hummed to herself as sea waves enveloped the shore, blowing around salty yet gentle marine fragrance. 

The clock tower was located on a separate from the other land cliff, making it a small island, which was connected to the main one with a stone bridge. Yuu came closer to the main door and stopped for a moment, a butterfly following her stumbling into her back. 

🗒 ➛ The building is currently being on maintaining checking. 

“Ah, so the person came,” Yuu nodded to herself, feeling her heartbeat going a bit more rapidly than before. 

Even if the person was the one who was checking this building for an unknown to Yuu amount of time, she thought of them not as the keeper, but as her guest she needed to welcome cordially. 

She went straight to the small kitchen, not even thinking about changing clothes, and pulled two cups out of the cabinet, then brewed jasmine tea. Gasping at the lack of appetizers, Yuu panicked for a moment. 

“It’s not right to serve tea without anything…” She mumbled, coming up with an idea.

She snapped her fingers, and a virid butterfly appeared. It gently tapped on Yuu’s nose and flew around with a pink butterfly, which was still there.

“Hello to you,” she greeted a butterfly, pointing at a small flower pot on the windowsill. “Would it be okay for you to grow a small rose? I need some petals.”

The butterfly danced around approvingly, and a cloud of green sparkles surrounded the pot. After making its job, the butterfly disappeared with similar sparkles, leaving a big bright red rose. 

“Great,” Yuu smiled. “Now to the fun part.”

She took a handful of petals and summoned a magic wand. All she needed now required a little visualization and creativity, so Yuu hummed joyfully, holding petals when with a dim light sparkles petals became caramelized and sugary.

“That would do,” she nodded to herself, the magic wand disappearing in the air. “Now I wonder where the keeper would be.”

She put two cups of tea and a small plate of caramelized rose petals on the tray, carrying it with one hand, and decided to go up to the top of the tower, right where the clock was located. 

Yuu saw a figure of a man bent over papers with astrological drawings and notes, and hesitated to approach him, who looked so unbelievably ethereal and unreachable. 

And before she could take at least one step towards him, a strange aura conveying his silhouette leaning over papers refrained Yuu from coming any further. It felt as if chains shackled her body, holding her in one place.

“Good evening.”

Yuu winced slightly. A low, velvety timbre, devoid of emotion, but nonetheless attractive and endearing, vibrated in the air, ricocheting off the walls and echoing around the room.

“Now that you’re here, I can go back,” he said, gathering his things before he straightened his back. “I’ll notify you next time I come. Stay safe.”

“W-wait!”

Yuu outstretched one available hand and tried to stop him with a gesture, and the keeper actually stayed.

“I brought some tea,” she said, pointing at the tray she was holding. “Would you like to share it with me?”

“... Alright. Would you like to have a chat then? Tea is the best when shared with someone,” he fell silent for a moment before chuckling slightly. 

Yuu smiled and finally came closer, still having a strong presence of… lack of the presence itself.

She came closer, putting a tray on a small table when the keeper offered her a chair she took right after him. 

“Is there anything you’re worrying about? Your pupils have been trembling since you stepped into the room.”

Yuu jolted slightly and looked straight into his eyes.

The keeper of the clock tower turned out to be a handsome-looking young man, despite the fact that in Yuu's imagination, he should have been respectably older. Porcelain skin on a pale face was adorned with a scattering of freckles, and yet despite such a childish perky detail, his light blue eyes betrayed an absolute emptiness in him. There was no patch of reflected light shining in them, and Yuu could not see the pupils, as if his eyes were made of void, revealing the fact that the artist had forgotten to finish this detail for him.

The unruly, light curls of his raven-colored hair cascaded over his chiseled cheekbones, and his thin lips were closed in a single line.

However, the most prominent feature was undoubtedly his left arm. The steel mechanism with painted floral patterns and perfectly machined hinges that replaced the original limb looked unequivocally impressive, but not intimidating.

And yet Yuu was frowning, trying to get deeper into his soul, to feel if it was warm or cold, was he radiating gnawing sadness or piercing happiness—he was empty, a bottle with nothing in it. 

As if he was dead.

“You look like you have a question.”

“Yes, that is correct, though I’m not sure if it would be okay to ask…”

“Let me guess… You wonder what I am,” he said so calmly it was startling. 

“I’m sorry for being rude—”

“You aren’t,” he noticed, his voice balancing between steady and emotionless but also cheeky?.. Was it even alright for her to describe his voice that way? “I’m sorry for confusing you.”

“Oh, no, that is alright… Please, enjoy the tea and the appetizer I prepared.”

“Appetizer?” He asked, taking a petal and observing it, a ghosty hint of curiosity appearing in his eyes for a mere moment. “This petal?”

“Yes, I’ve made it myself. It’s caramelized rose petals, they’re sweet but not too much. I hope you’ll enjoy it…”

“Thank you for your cordial welcome,” he bowed to her politely, receiving the same gesture from her. “Well then, my name is Prospero.”

“My pleasure to meet you,” Yuu replied. “I’m Yuu.”

“The pleasure’s mine. Ah,” he said after taking a bite of the rose petal and shifting his gaze to Yuu, his eyes softening slightly. “This is very much enjoyable, you did a good job. Not to mention you’re quite a creative little lady.”

“Thank you!” Yuu answered cheerfully, happy that her work was acknowledged. 

“To answer your curiosity from before,” he continued after sipping tea. “I’m this clock tower’s keeper, the shop keeper as well as an appointed school psychologist and a teacher. Remember well the psychologist part. If anything happens and you’ll feel like anything is too much, please come to me. I’m here to help with any problems you might encounter while studying. School life can be rather harsh sometimes. Especially given you’re the only female here… Seriously, what was Ambrose thinking.”

“N-no, that is alright!! The headmaster gave me a place to live, considering my situation. How could I ask for more…” Yuu mumbled.

Prospero drew a mechanical hand to his chin, humming to himself in a nagging way but not really saying anything, to which Yuu wondered what that could mean, and stared at his hand. Floral patterns shone beautifully in the dim lights of the clock tower, but now that she took a closer look, the steel part appeared to be fairly scratched?.. 

“Apparently you wonder what happened to my arm, right?” He asked, noticing how she winced and shook her head awkwardly. “No, that’s okay, it’s natural. Don’t worry, I just had… rather difficult past.”

“I hope it’s better now…” Yuu said quietly, catching sight of little emotion she couldn’t read at the moment. He was pretty hard to analyze in general. “If I can be of help, then—”

“Children must stay children as long as they can,” he said, spotting how her ears twitched. “No need to age so early. Even though I don’t really know how you faes age.”

“H-huh? You’re aware?”

“As everyone here among the school staff is aware of your situation. Don’t worry, no one will use it against you. Speaking of which, I don’t hide my own being, but would be much appreciated if you don’t blabber about it everywhere. I don’t really want to deal with an extra headache. By the way, I feel like you’ve been wanting to ask me about that all this time, correct?”

How do you even ask if you’re alive or not, Yuu thought, slightly annoyed, and took a deep breath.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Yuu said. “But you’re right about that, I want to know who… or what you are. Oh, forgive me for being rude—”

“Worry not,” he reassured her. “As to your question, I’m a puppet. Bonus points for you if you’ll manage to guess correctly from what material I was made. Don’t forget to visit my shop later on.”

“Puppet…” Yuu echoed.

No wonder his presence wasn’t felt at all. He’s no human, he has no soul or anything that could be counted as one.

Yuu dared to look at him, seeing he didn’t really mind her closer observation, and lost in thoughts and concentration. She had some experience in guessing people’s true beings—she was exceptionally good at finding merfolk—but neither human nor a magical being? Presuming objects’ properties wasn’t her best part, but Prospero wasn’t an object in the first place, though how he should be called if so remained unknown. 

His steel arm was out of place, but Yuu somehow was sure it’s not it. He didn’t smell like steel, there was almost nothing metallic in him, but a slight hint of something sylvan, carrying fragrant herbs aroma alongside with oak bark tickled Yuu’s nose.

“You’re,” Yuu raised her head and looked straight into his eyes, sure of her guess. “Made from wood.”

And with that being said, Yuu winced at her own assumption. Wait a moment, if was a wooden puppet, or rather a doll, then could he be?.. 

Pinocchio. He had a strange, absolutely absurd and unbelievable relation to Pinocchio.

Prospero chuckled and started clapping quietly. 

“Correct,” he grinned, and she wasn’t sure how this emotion felt. He was smiling, but what was the feeling within his chest? Was there anything at all? “I must say, I’m pretty much impressed. People think I’m a porcelain puppet.”

“You look like one,” Yuu admitted. “I was confused at first.”

“My master had outstanding skills. Anyway, as I’ve mentioned, I’ll guarantee a discount for you next time you visit. And please do remember my psychological services require no payment.”

“Oh,” Yuu muttered. “Right, you’ve mentioned that… kind of job?”

“I see you haven’t yet happened to visit a psychologist,” Prospero said. “Which is neither bad nor good. Even when we think we’re okay, it might be that we don’t. If you feel confused or anxious, or maybe even too giddy to the point it’s alarming, let me know. I’m here to help, alright?”

“Thank you very much,” she said, even knowing that there won’t be any need for that. Appreciating his good intentions, yet realizing she will leave soon, Yuu smiled at him and bowed. 

“Don’t mention it.”

The rest of the conversation went quite well as they discussed Yuu’s adjusting to the school and Prospero’s shop. He suggested she visit him tomorrow, at least to take a look at where he works and where to find him if something happens within the clock tower’s walls.  She nodded, thinking that she will definitely need to observe his relation to Pinocchio later on in the library.

And so she decided to do it the next morning before going to the lessons. 

RSA was an enormously large school. Yuu knew schools exist but no to the extent of knowing their average sizes, thus RSA felt grand and majestic in its own way. Every time Yuu walked within the facilities, she was being under an impression that the world is huge, blossoming in its glory and magnificence. 

Princesses' worlds had never been that large. 

What was strange to Yuu is that this world seemed to know no boundaries, whilst whenever she would try traveling in a Princess’s world, she would definitely meet a dead-end. A black wall full of nothing but void, symbolizing its end. At first Yuu was terrified, thinking it was some sort of an obstacle, but somehow Princesses couldn’t even see it, asking Yuu where she would go and for what reason. 

Fairy Godmother told her that their realms had limits and barriers that Princesses weren’t aware of. Which was quite puzzling to Yuu—didn’t it mean she needed to erase them, make Princesses free and enjoy the world they live in? And yet… 

They would giggle straight at her face, calling her cute and silly. Why would they leave when they met the Prince of their dreams? Why travel and broaden horizons? Indeed, they achieved what they needed and wanted, justice was settled, and Yuu’s work finished. 

Their worlds might have resembled big bubbles, very well imitating a real world with its spacious sceneries, but in the end it was nothing but a cage. And Yuu was fascinated with how lively and real this world seemed, given she only has been here, in the Academy, and didn’t know if there is anything else beside it, but the landscape opening out of the window in her room shown an endless sea shimmering with bright sparkles under the moonlight, giving her a ray of light ghosty hope.

She didn’t notice how she made it up to the Prospero’s shop. A small, quaint hut, nonetheless in keeping with the local architecture, appeared before her. Yuu made sure that it was open, and knocked thrice before she heard distant ‘Come in!’ somewhere from the shop, said in Prospero’s deep voice.

As soon as Yuu took a step inside, the wooden floorboard creaked. Had she been taller, she would probably have run into the hat hanging on the rack at the entrance. Fanciful paintings hung on the wall near the hanger, as well as framed dried rare flowers. Directly ahead of them was a cylindrical vendor's counter, behind which Yuu spotted Prospero rummaging through the merchandise. 

Behind him was a spiral staircase. To the right of the vendor's counter, there were many shelves and racks filled with various gear, flasks, boxes, containers, and other amusing crafts. Behind the stairs were racks filled with ordinary food, as well as flower pots randomly placed on the shelves. The crystal elongated hexagon chandeliers shimmered in pale pinks and dull yellows, giving the shop an air of mystery, as if Yuu had walked into a witch's stall.

“Good morning, Prospe— Oh?”

Yuu went further, curious and absolutely spellbound about every little thing in here, but before she could greet the clock tower’s keeper, she almost stumbled upon something… or rather someone?

“Hmph, watch where you’re going!!”

Yuu lowered her gaze and spotted… a dwarf?! It’s been a while since she last saw them!! Yuu stared at him, who was sweeping the floor, and then knelt down, looking straight into his steel gray eyes, fixing the unruly lock of his crimson hair and causing him to shrug her hand. 

“Oh, I’m deeply sorry… Are you alright?”

“What do you think you’re doing?! I’m not a child!!”

“Yes, I know,” Yuu smiled at him, wondering why his eyes would widen so suddenly. “You’re around 17 or 18 years old. Am I correct?”

“Hmph, you fool.”

“Grum, it’s impolite to answer like that.”

Yuu turned around to see another dwarf walking down the stairs and carrying some books. Unlike Grum who appeared to be the dwarf Yuu was talking to, he had ash-colored hair, brown eyes and was wearing glasses, a gentle apologetic smile plastered on his face. 

“Good morning!” He greeted Yuu before standing on tiptoes, and barely reached the shelf, but Yuu quickly ran up to him, helping to place the books at the right height. “Thank you, young lady! Please don’t mind Grum for his rudeness, he’s actually flustered you guessed his age right.”

“Oh!” Yuu gasped. “So is it 17 or 18?”

“We’re 17,” he said, outstretching his hand for Yuu to shake, so she did. “I’m Dominic. And you would be?..”

“I’m Yuu.”

“Here to buy something, Yuu? I can help! What do you need?”

“Oh, no, I was just curious…” She smiled sheepishly. Grum went upstairs, still sulking, as Dominic chuckled. 

“Which is also great!” He exclaimed. “You can pick anything eye-catching, and I’ll tell a story about the item. Or I can also pour some tea.”

“There’s no need, but thank you for your cordial welcome,” Yuu couldn’t help but pat his head, seeing Dominic’s tender smile. They weren’t children, but a child-like appearance made it impossible not to pat them and spoil a little.

“Dominic, look! Maybe this thing could help Neige?!”

Another dwarf came from upstairs, causing both Yuu and Dominic to switch their attention to him, blond strands of his hair were pulled out from under clips in the shape of musical notes.

“Don't run up the stairs,” Dominic nagged softly, but it appeared the dwarf didn’t really care as much. 

Yuu tilted her head curiously. Did he just mention Neige?..

“And before anything, greet the customer.”

“Oh, sorry!~” The sunny cheerful-looking dwarf finally noticed Yuu standing here all along. “Good morning!”

“Good morning indeed,” Yuu smiled. “What is your name?”

“Hop,” he smiled proudly. 

“I’m Yuu, nice to meet you, Hop.”

“So what did you want to show me?” Dominic came closer to Hop, taking a bottle with a soft lilac liquid in it and examining it before frowning. “Hop…”

“It says ‘sleeping pill’!! If Neige can’t sleep, then we must make him!” 

“Hop, no.”

“Why no…”

“I can’t give you that without a prescription,” Prospero said, materializing out of nowhere behind Dominic. “There’s only one person on the campus who can anyway...”

So Yuu wasn’t mistaken, they really have been talking about Neige. Somehow Neige and dwarfs in one sentence sounded extremely familiar to her, but she decided to not rush it yet, and then another dwarf with short jade green hair and hazel eyes wearing an eye sleep mask on his head came from upstairs.

“Dominic…I think… I found something…Useful…”

Dominic chuckled, tilting his head and asking what exactly he found.

“This,” another dwarf said. “Neige plays such a… terrifying loud music at night… Can’t sleep.”

Terrifying loud music?.. Somehow Yuu wondered if that could be true, given his image seemed rather tender and warm, but she shrugged those thoughts, knowing prejudice wouldn’t help. 

Another dwarf gave Dominic two cylindrical things that look like pills?.. Yuu bent over to take a closer look, but this device was unknown to her.

“Earplugs,” Dominic sighed. “Well, if it could help you, Shelpie… How much for earplugs, teacher Prospero?”

Prospero, starting walking upstairs, sighed, closing his eyes, and the next second his voice became dim and slightly annoyed. 

“For you? Nothing. It’s just plugs.”

“But we can’t—”

“Yes, you can,” Prospero already went up, and a loud thud of the boxes he carried was heard. “Timmy, help me out there.”

Timmy? Apparently there were more dwarfs than Yuu saw in the span of last five minutes. 

“I can’t just let him spoil us with so many things already…” Dominic mumbled, returning Yuu’s attention to him as Grum returned to the place where he was sweeping the floor and throwing a glance at her. 

“Do you perhaps work here?”

“We’re part-timing, you’re correct,” Dominic said, fishing out of his pockets a small amount of coins and placing them on Prospero’s desk while he didn’t see. “We sweep the floors, help arrange the goods, wipe the dust... You can see for yourself, although the shop is small, there is always a lot of stuff.”

Yuu looked at the bright red brooch on his jacket—come to think of it, other dwarfs had them. too—she also saw it on Neige that evening, wasn’t it symbolizing they belong to the same dormitory… As far as she remembered, Che’nya said it was called Edelwiese.

“You must be working hard,” Yuu said when Dominic took another broom and joined Grum, who  was still sweeping the floor. “Please remember to take some breaks from time to time.”

“You’re very kind, Yuu,” Dominic smiled at her. “Please don’t worry.”

She observed the shop for a while, carefully taking stuff in her hands, examining it and wondering how in the world did Prospero manage to find all those. Yuu also appeared to be lost in thoughts while observing things and noticing they were fairly… old, so to say, if not ramshackle. Useful even still, but old in any case. Which was strange, Yuu thought, switching her gaze to the shelf with snacks on it, which looked quite modern and unfamiliar to Yuu. What a strange shop it was, indeed.

There were even curious artifacts, enchanted jewelry, rare herbs, and gems that Yuu would love to acquire, but for lack of local currency, there was no point in doing so. Besides, after rescuing the princess or the prince, she must return home anyway, so, overcoming her curiosity, she shook her head and said goodbye to Prospero and the dwarves as she left the shop.

“Good afternoon, everyone.”

Emery ascended the tribunal, checking out if there was anyone absent, and starting the lesson right after.

“Today we’re going to discuss magic properties and to which types it divides,” Emery said, grabbing a chalk. “But before that, tell me which magic type you think you’re pretty much confident in. It’s alright if you’re not sure, just remain silent then.”

Yuu placed her chin on hands, watching Luan start fidgeting slightly in excitement. 

“Is there magic you’re confident in?” She asked him quietly.

“You betcha,” he giggled before raising his hand.

“Yes, Luan?”

“Wind magic!”

The way Luan smiled, raising his chin up, and giggled, reminded her of someone… Was it because of his youthful appearance and cheeky yet playful attitude?—

“Great,” Emery nodded. “Yuu? Maybe you have something?”

Yuu bent her brows, thinking hard. She was, indeed, quite a talented sorceress, but in terms of this world’s magic? It was risky to reveal, not even knowing the types the magic divided. Hearing Luan’s one helped her a bit, meaning it still divided at least on elemental types, but to what extent? Yuu first threw a quick glance on Luan, whose tail was wagging in anticipation, and decided to go with the safest assumption.

“Flora,” she said almost weightlessly. 

“... As expected,” Emery grinned in a mysterious way, which Yuu couldn’t really decipher. As expected?..

“You definitely look like a flora mainer,” Luan chuckled, explaining. “I’m afraid we’re not compatible in our types.”

“And you’re wrong,” Emery sighed, causing Luan to sulk a bit. “I said ‘which magic type you think you’re pretty much confident in’, not ‘you sure are confident’. We’ll see if it’s your best one, moreover, there’s not only one type. Not to mention you most definitely can combine wind and flora together, the one thing remaining is learning how to do it in a correct way. Now, let us continue.”

“Woah chill, you killjoy,” Luan giggled, knowing exactly well that Emery did hear him, but decided to let it slide for this one, continuing the lesson, while Luan earned a reassuring smile from Yuu.

“First of all, I see there are a lot of wind magic users,” Emery said, nodding to himself before turning around. “Or you think so. Next we’ve got fire users.”

Yuu heard a strange noise from Luan, seeing him knitting his brows together, wondering what this reaction could mean. 

As Emery started making simple diagrams and patterns on the blackboard, Yuu was following him, writing down the notes while Luan started swinging his leg under the desk casually, though still listening, quite interested in the subject.

“All in all magic divides into two groups, the first one falling into four elemental types, which are: fire, water, flora, and wind. The other one is the void element, which can be divided into dark and light types of cosmic magic.”

Yuu listened carefully, making colorful well-structured notes. 

“Woah, girl,” Luan bent over to peep into her notebook. “Your notes are so neat.”

“Thank you, it’s nothing,” she shrugged sheepishly. 

“Mine are a mess,” he chuckled, showing her a notebook full of his scribbles done in not so neat handwriting, but surely unique. 

“Does it really matter as long as you understand everything you wrote?”

“Right?? Thanks for saying that, Yuu.”

“Don’t mention it?..”

Yuu continued to listen to Emery from then on. 

According to him, magic could be performed in forms of combining elemental types altogether, or mixing both elemental and void elements. Every magic type had its own properties and features, for instance, water magic had major healing properties, whilst fire was supposed to be mostly damaging. 

Magic studies could be compared to any science — it was developing with time passing. Properties weren't too one-sided anymore, and even if main features remained, it didn’t mean there was no place for creativity and experiments. 

As Emery has mentioned, it didn’t mean that flora and wind couldn’t work together. Depending on the magic spell casted and incantations said, they could perform wonders, just like a fire-water pair and others. 

Yuu noticed that her magic didn’t really differ much. The only problem was, undoubtedly, the way she casted it. With Emery’s demonstration of a very simple wind spell, it appeared to be rough, quite raw and very concentrated. And most importantly, it was a wind swirl itself.

Even if she didn’t possess wind magic, she had other elemental type ones, but in any case her way of casting spells could create great problems, given she didn’t produce magic in its raw, bare form, but in butterflies. 

Moreover, she lacked a void element. Her butterflies could do much more, but she also didn’t really have an idea of what a void element could do in the first place. Not to mention it was yet to be seen if her butterflies and the local magic were equal in power, or did something overpowered one another. 

And the question was, how to convert her butterflies into raw magic forms. 

“Beside elemental and void magic, there is also another type called Unique Magic.”

“Unique?..” Yuu mumbled to herself.

“Some of you might have already discovered your own, but others are yet to do that, if at all. If you haven’t, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad magician. Not to mention some of those can be terrifying to the point you’d rather not use it at all.”

Emery sighed, putting a chalk piece on the desk and wiping his hands with a towel before twisting a strand of hair around his finger.

“Unique magics aren’t based on elemental or void types. They can, but it’s not necessarily. The most difficult and terrifying ones have something to do with a human's condition or mind. Please be especially careful when dealing with those or possessing your own.”

Yuu shivered. Their magic could do something like that?

“They can’t be unambiguously assigned according to a certain system or properties. Unique magics can deal with mind, can deal high damage or, on the contrary, have healing properties, can serve as a conductor, and many many more…” Emery seemed to be deep in his thoughts. “For example, mine is…”

“Excuse me, teacher der Licht,” Yuu suddenly said, raising her hand.

“Yes, what is it?”

“Is it alright for you to reveal one's unique magic?”

“Good question,” he nodded. “You might keep your own magic secret to your classmates, but it is obligatory to let the school staff know. In case something happens, we can take appropriate action and help if needed. As for school staff, our unique magics are open for you to check. Go visit the teacher's room if you’re interested. We also reveal our magics during the lesson, like I was about to do a minute ago. Now, if I answered your question properly, I shall continue.”

“Thank you.”

“So, as I was saying, my unique magic is called ‘I See the Light’. It allows me to declassify one’s own unique magic, so I’ll know how it works and what the conditions are, and cancel it after pronouncing an incantation.” 

Yuu gasped and shivered, eyes widening in shock. Unique magic could do even THAT? But did that mean—

“If you haven't discovered your unique magic yet, I won’t be able to see it.”

Alright, maybe there still was a way for Yuu to create an undercover for her own abilities. 

“And now let’s get back to the magic properties. Oh and please, those who know their unique magic, come to me right after the lesson ends, I’ll register them.” 

“Tch, pain in the ass,” Luan mumbled, scribbling something in his notebook, to which Yuu chuckled softly.

“It appears you already have one,” she whispered to him when he turned to her, smiling proudly.

“Yep,” he pressed a finger to his lips and winked at her. “But it’s a secret~”

“O-okay!” Yuu nodded.

She had her own secrets after all.

“Ugh… I’m… sorry… Are you alright?”

Yuu coughed, holding onto her magic wand and tightening a grip on it, watching a giant swirl of butterflies of different colors dissipating and covering her body, fluttering their wings with a genuine worry.

“Ha-ha, I’m okay, don’t worry about me.”

Yuu stood up slowly, her eyes meeting a majestic starry sky upon her, only glassy cover of the tower separating her and that magnificent scenery. 

Almost fifty butterflies were flying around, their wings reflecting in a dim light of the clock tower, and Yuu sighed heavily. How many hours have passed since she returned here, practicing and trying to adjust her own magic to the local one? She tried converting butterflies into spells, but all in vain — butterflies would just dissolve or scatter, frightened away. 

“Oh, little one, there was no need…” She said when an iridescent butterfly tapped on her hands, causing her to put the magic wand away and heal her fingers, lacking strength and grip. 

“Ouch,” Yuu giggled when a pink butterfly sat on the tip of her nose. “Alright, alright, I’ll take a break! Stop lecturing me~”

Yuu snapped her fingers, and all of the butterflies dissolved midair with a wave of sparkles, and took a deep breath.

All her efforts went in vain, but to her fortune, practical magic lessons will start only next year, so she had time. Which was also a trivial aspect due to her leaving soon right after a princess or a prince will be rescued. 

And there will be no more fascinating magic study. Again.

“It’s late but I wonder if the library is open…”

She took the jacket and threw it over her shoulders, then went out, meeting an exceptionally fresh and even slightly cold evening air, enjoying the way stars shone brightly in the anthracite night sky. 

Entering the main building, Yuu questioned if it was okay in the first place — an insinuating darkness covered school halls, clatter of her heels echoing and ricochetting of the walls. Everyone seemed to be sleeping as they should. Yuu couldn’t really feel the flow of time, orienting on the way sun rays flickered in the morning and how cold the air became at night. The clock she saw on her way to the library announced that it was already one past midnight and hummed, wondering if she should try adjusting to a human's sleeping schedule. 

Yuu opened the door to the library and peeked into it to make sure no one was there. Good, Aell seemed to be absent. She apologized to herself for intruding and went straight to the informational desk, checking out the section she needed. 

She then went upstairs, passing by the shelves with many intriguing books on them, but Yuu, mentally fighting with her own curiosity, swallowed it and came right to the section she needed to study magic adjustment. 

“That could be of help…” She mumbled to herself, choosing books. “And also that. And that also may… Hm?”

She felt a familiar presence somewhere at her left and turned, noticing none other than Neige sleeping at the desk, surrounded by piles of books scattered around his angelic features. Yuu parted her lips, not sure if it was right to come to him, but decided to take a moment to observe the situation.

But before she actually could do anything, she spotted another fairly familiar person approaching the table Neige was sleeping at. 

“Sleeping in the library again, hm?” 

The boy who she encountered at the clock tower on her first night here, the one she also saw here in the library the other day when Che’nya interrupted her! 

Come to think of it, she couldn’t comprehend that during their first, uh, ‘meeting’, but the boy appeared to be really tall. His hair reflected in a moonlight, the blue glow of his eyes looking majestically enchanting. 

He came closer to Neige, who still was sleeping, and bent over him, placing a bottle with something Yuu didn’t know what since the bottle was quite opaque, and smiled rather bitterly as he left. 

Yuu found herself lost in thoughts again, pondering if it would be alright for her to approach Neige and observe him, or maybe to at least check what was in the bottle. She turned around, making certain Che’nya wasn’t here like last time he prevented her from coming closer to the boys she saw, and chuckled to herself.

“Just what am I thinking,” she smirked and shook her head. 

No, it wasn’t right. He was sleeping, and despite him looking absolutely extraterrestrial and lovely, he was obviously tired. Yuu quietly made her way to a separate desk, placing the books on it and opening one of them, deciding to wait. She, unlike humans, had a lot of time.

Silence. There was nothing but silence. 

Yuu broke the silence that hung in the air by flipping pages, and even the muffled sounds of nature outside the window fell silent humbly, giving her a feeling of complete concentration and attentiveness.

Luckily to her, there was a way to modify one’s magic properties so they would take on a different form and shape, but that also meant the powers of the wielderer would change. It doesn’t necessarily mean they would go weak—history has known cases where it would increase greatly—but to make it work required a lot of experience from a magician. 

Yuu sighed, pressing fingers to her chin and tilting her head. Fairy Godmother has always been saying there’s no need for her to dwell on magic study that hard. Yuu knew some attacking and defensive spells to deal with evil powers in Princesses worlds, but nothing much further than that. The mere fact she discovered her magic was casted in a form of butterflies was rather terrifying at first since she thought it was forbidden and she’ll be punished for experimenting. Turned out it was alright but only if she didn’t push it, letting things remain as they were. 

Yuu took another book and was about to dwell on it harder, but heard sweet little mutterings, raising her head and meeting Neige’s sleepy eyes.

“Ugh… Huh? Yuu?..”

She smiled at him, waiting for him to awake fully, and took the books, coming closer to him.

“Is it alright if I sit here?” She asked, receiving a nod in return. “Thank you!”

“Good evening. I must apologize, you saw me in such a pathetic state…”

“That is absolutely okay,” Yuu shook her head. “I’m rather worried you’re having a bad time sleeping… Are you alright?”

Neige saw a bottle placed on the table and opened it. Sweet and gentle black tea aroma lingered in the air, and Yuu caught the notes of chamomile in there. 

Neige ripped off the small sticker Yuu didn’t notice that was stuck to the bottle. He giggled softly, sticking a sticker on one of the pages of his notebook, a ‘Cheer up! 🤗’ in a small handwriting was written down there. Yuu wondered if Neige knew the boy who brought the bottle.

“Please do not worry much,” Neige replied, taking a sip when Yuu looked at the books around him, all about math, history, alchemy, magic… What a vague choice. “Moreover, is it alright for you to be here that late? You should sleep well…”

“Thanks for your advice, but I’m alright.”

A brief silence hung between them. Neige opened one of the books, math one if Yuu wasn’t mistaken, and rubbed his eyes. 

“Um…” She broke the silence, meeting Neige’s lovely but exceptionally drained gaze. “How's the rabbit, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Ah,” he smiled gently. “It’s doing quite well. Dwarfs have been looking after… Ah, you might not know them yet…”

“Dwarfs!” Yuu smiled at him brightly. “I’ve met Dominic, Grum, Hop and, hmmm, Shelpie, was it?” 

“Oh, so you know them!” Neige giggled, his eyes filled with bright sparkles of genuine care and happiness all at once, his cheeks dusting with soft pink, and Yuu caught herself on a thought that the sound of him laughing warmly suited him like nothing else. “Actually, there are seven of them, ha-ha… They took care of the rabbit quite well while I, um, was busy.”

Yuu winced at the word ‘seven’. Seven dwarfs and sweet and kind Neige, possessing a lovely voice and a beauty she has never seen before… Huh. Somehow it didn’t sit right in her.

“Yuu?” He asked her worryingly.

“Sorry,” she shrugged. “I’m glad that the rabbit is okay. The dwarfs are surely thoughtful!”

“They definitely are,” he smiled.

Yuu frowned, still lost in her extremely ridiculous and absurd theory, but decided to try proving it in the most vague way possible.

“Do you perhaps live together? I’ve noticed you all have bright red brooches,” the way Neige didn’t lose his composure but was obviously not so comfortable with answering right away made Yuu to clench a piece of her clothes under the desk. She didn’t want to push him, but could he… could he really be a prince in distress she needed to rescue? If so… “I’m just living all alone in the clock tower since well… You see that my case is rather odd. That’s why I don’t really know about the dorms’ arrangement.”

“Oh!” Neige exclaimed, smiling away all the worry from before, which put Yuu on guard. He surely was genuine and cheerful, but now it was more suspicious and alarming than just carrying an image of an always happy person. “Right, you must be confused. Yes… We live together in one room. Though I must mention our case is rather odd, just like yours. It just… happened to be like that.”

“Is that so…”

The theory of Neige resembling Snow White herself started to sound not so preposterous as it was. Yuu decided she needed solid confirmation. She quietly snapped her fingers, and a pink butterfly appeared. Yuu pointed with her finger at the window, sending a butterfly there. A tingling feeling in her stomach made her frown with worry, but she proceeded to distract Neige.

“Are you perhaps a second-year student? Dwarfs said they’re all seventeen years old,” Yuu grinned.

“I am 17, too,” he answered gently. “What about you?”

“Oh, I am a first-year. As for my age…”

Yuu swallowed her worry when a butterfly flew over to their table. Neige gasped and stretched out a finger, welcoming the butterfly which danced around him. Yuu was sure she didn’t tell the butterfly that it must fly straight to Neige. It’s as if he was spellbinding every nature creature around himself… 

Just like Snow White did.

“What a curious color,” Neige whispered. “I’ve never seen a butterfly like that.”

“Curious indeed…”

A fae couldn’t lie. Yuu couldn’t too, deciding it would be for the best to not comment on that. Moreover, she confirmed her theory, looking straight at Neige and observing his features. Pitch-black hair, eyes shimmering like gold, lips red as blood… 

There was no denying.

“It’s already late,” Yuu said suddenly, gathering the books. “I should get going. I also suggest you go to sleep, Neige. Staying so late is bad for your health.”

“You’re right,” he nodded, seeing the butterfly flying away to the window and watching it with a glimpse of sadness in his eyes. “But I must stay a little longer. Don’t worry, I’ll go back soon.”

“As you say… Well then, see you later.”

“Good night, Yuu.”

She hurried away out of the main building and met the butterfly she sent near the garden. 

“He’s related to Snow White,” she dropped, a genuine worry plastered on her face. “I don’t know in which terms, but he definitely is.” 

The butterfly fluttered its wings rapidly, agreeing with Yuu. 

And if he resembled Snow White, then it meant he was the Prince she needed to rescue in order to return back home and do her duty as a Princesses rescuer. 

It will be a long sleepless night full of connecting the facts she had and making a plan to help him.

★﹒﹒NOTES ✧˖ 小孩子 (xiaohaizi) — little children. ✧˖ Oh faila maira súrë, á ortëa ni ana the orwa fanyarë — “Oh generous splendid wind, rise me to the high sky”. I genuinely hope I understand Quenya grammar right— ✧˖ As I've promised, here's some explanations about word formation used in RSA dorm names! — Pandora Charm (actually we just came up with that and called it a day lmao) — Kifurijua : Royal — kifalme (Swahili) Pride — Kiburi (Swahili) Sun — Jua (Swahili) — Merheronelle : Sea — Mer (French) Hero — Hero (English) Nelle — Just an addition — Huriirada : Freedom — Huriya (Arabic) Will — ‘Iirada (Arabic) — Edelwiese : Gems — Edelsteine (German) Meadow — Wiese (German) — Dýnamieisos : Power — Dýnami (Greek) Heaven — Parádeisos (Greek) — Florevel : To Bloom — Florere (Latin) Vel — Just an addition. — Sidhery : Elf — Sid (Irish)  Ery — An ending from the word ‘Fairy’ in English.

© yunarim 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.

[eolewyn1010]

Ok, I'm trying to resume this as I remember it being a way to hold myself a little accountable. Let's go over this day for a bit.

Things that went good:

I brushed my teeth twice, not just in the morning. Time to make that a habit instead of an occasional thing.

I did not give in to the munchies again. It's the antidepressant's fault that I'm hungrier than I used to be, but I don't need to go hog every time.

I did not stay in bed. I kept sitting in one spot for most of the day, but it was not the bed. Hurray for sleeping hygienics.

Getting used to drinking a lot of tea and water again, and whaddayaknow, I'm less snippy when I'm not dehydrated.

Things that went not so good:

I didn't get up when my phone alarm rang. I'm trying to get up earlier again, in tandem with going to bed earlier, but I have yet to condition myself to also feel obliged to get up and not sleep in.

I stayed in my nightshirt all day. When I'm not going anywhere and also have the excuse of warm weather, I don't really get dressed at home. I should, tho. Get used to the adulting, and habits are built day by day.

My mom and sis pissed me off just before dinner. Sulking! Is Not! The Way To Go! Next time, talk about it immediately; maybe salvage the situation and eat with them.

I still have two separate pending messages on Discord that I should have replied to. Very kind ones, too. I don't want to be rude to my writing friends; I just didn't know what to say. I need to rectify that once my brain doesn't get so panicked at the thought of social interactions.

Things I could do tomorrow:

Get dressed. I really need to get used to a sort of working day routine.

The dishes. Aside from vacuuming, it's the one chore I consistently shirk, but with the warm weather, that shit gets smelly after a day or two. It'll only take 5-10 minutes, I know that.

Calisthenics. I've been through my routine twice last week; there's no reason why I couldn't at least go for it once this week.

Reply to the two messages on Discord. If I can't think of a novel, I don't need to write a novel. Just reply.

Things that I could do these days:

I asked my mom to repair the toilet hinge on Saturday morning before she goes out. It's one of the things on our collective list that has been lying around for months, and it's been bothering me that we never get anything done from that list, so it's nice to have a tiny lil appointment for that. Baby steps.

My antidepressant is running out, so I need to go to my doctor next week for a new prescription. The lady who picks up the phone was very nice the last time, so I won't be terribly afraid.

I wanna get my friend in on a movie night, watch and judge the rest of Charité with them.

When I've rewatched it, I'll probably be in the mood to rant a bit; that would be a nice chance to get the last two drafts about the new season finished and blogged.

Have a look at one [1] of the waiting prompts in my inbox. No, not both of them at the same time, brain, just one.

[drag00ni]

Anon from earlier here. Thank you for answering my previous question. Do you have any advice on how to find some time to draw tho? I struggle with a lot of work and adhd and it ends in me drawing only one piece every two months and I don't know what to do. Sorry for bothering you.

hi again anon! and its no problem really i like answering asks

i usually doodle almost every free minute that i have and somehow build up a habit like that, drawing every day even if its just a little. i think what helped me is getting to like drawing certain things, be it characters, poses or certain body parts. what drives me is the fun in it that often pushes through my inability to execute any other action...

i know it wont work the same for everyone and building up habits is difficult but you can try making more smaller pieces that you may not even finish. maybe even dont plan on finishing them so they dont feel like a chore. they should only be for relaxing or warming up your hand. (you can attempt full pieces at other times when you do have enough time)

again im in no position to tell you whats right or wrong and there really is no such thing but you can try different things like that! find a scrap paper and a cheap pen while on a break and doodle, draw lines or figures, whatever you currently think of. personally i think when it comes to drawing what should matter most is having fun, no matter if you finish a lot or start many wips and never finish them.

eventually you can try upgrading your little doodles and attempt bigger things, just as long as it doesnt feel too forced since i know doing things youre forced to can be extremely difficult compared to other things. seeing drawing or mindlessly doodling as something relaxing could even feel good in-between work hours.

on another note, almost none of the art that i post is actually finished. i post many doodles and if i do color then either simple grey or a bit of flat colors. (you definitely do not have to post everything you draw but i post like 95% of what i draw, so mabe that is why it seems much all in all)

i hope this helps at least a little bit

[axolotlsupremacyowo]

The Return of Find the Word!

Hi! So, I'm bored and definitely need sleep, but can't. So! What better use of my time than to have this game make a little comeback! So yep! We're going with round two of find the word! This is gonna be super fun, I can tell already! Keep note tho, these snippets are gonna be from my newest works.

As for who I'm tagging? Hmmm! Well, that'll be my lovely besties! @mikaharuka @tsunderewatermelon @kayedium-writes @mrsmungus @bleepbloopbotz @sliebman10 @aislinnstanaka @hylianjo @justanotherpersonwhowrites @oceangirl24 @precambrian-sea-pancake @udaberriwrites @lena-hills and of course, open tag!

So, let's get on with this shall we?

Words for me!

expression, finger, gradual, breakfast, sympathetic

Words for you!

outlook, talkative, intensify, exchange, twist

Now! Here come all the snippets!

Expression (Momo's Ace Attorney Flufftober, Chapter 9)

Edgeworth nodded again and then ran back up the stairs, and a few minutes later he had come back fully changed and with bags. Bags, plural, specifically three big backpacks filled to the brim with whatever Edgeworth felt was “necessary”. Edgeworth carefully laid out the bags on the floor, looking up to Phoenix, who was staring down at the bags with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Surely Edgeworth was joking, right? When Phoenix saw the serious expression on Edgeworth’s face, he realized that he wasn’t joking.

Finger (The Things I Notice)

The first thing Klavier noticed was the adorable habit Apollo had whenever he was thinking. Whenever Apollo was deep in thought, he would press his index finger to the bridge of his nose. It was a habit that Apollo did even when they weren’t in the courtroom, like whenever Klavier would give Apollo a nonsensical riddle. It was a small thing really, something that he should have not noticed, but he did. Klavier watched as Apollo did that same habit in the courtroom.

Gradual (Hearts upon Hearts)

Pretty early on in their relationship, Alex had told Sebastian that he wanted to improve on the more intellectual things like reading, puzzles and games like chess and sudoku. Sebastian, confused at first, had suggested that he go to Maru instead, though he quickly caved when Alex had explained to him that he felt more comfortable with having Sebastian help him out first. After much insisting, Sebastian eventually agreed to help him. And so very often when time they spent time with each other, they often engaged in an intellectual activity like reading or puzzles for at least a few minutes. It was challenging at first, it really was. But slowly and gradually, Alex got better at understanding the books that he read and playing the games that he played. It was as though he was cleaning up the cobwebs in his mind, and he found himself delighted by this. Eventually, Alex was able to beat Sebastian at least once in most of the games they played. However, there was one game he had yet to beat Alex in. And that was chess.

Breakfast (Momo's Ace Attorney Flufftober, Chapter 9)

Phoenix Wright did not get up early this often, he had woken up early so infrequently that Trucy usually had to wake him for him to make breakfast. This time though, he had woken up early, a lot earlier than everyone in his house. He had woken up four in the morning, placing a chaste kiss on his sleeping husband’s forehead before he went downstairs to make preparations. He made food, packed bags, readied maps, and other various activities. Once he was done, Phoenix looked outside at the window, sunlight filtering through the windows. He smiled, the weather was warm, which meant that they could do what he had planned for them to do for weeks. They were going camping today.

Sympathetic (Ace Attorney: Maya Fey, Chapter 16)

“Tell me, then. What’s wrong?” Phoenix asked. (There’s no use trying to hide it from him…) Maya sighed. “Alright…It’s just…This is my first Christmas without Mia, first of many that is. I’m…bummed about it. I realized it this morning and I’ve been bummed since.” “Oh…Maya…” Phoenix said, giving her a sympathetic look. “I’m…I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.” “It’s okay, Nick…” “…You know, if it’ll cheer you up, the Wrights and Naruhodos are always gonna be there for you.” Phoenix said, a small reassuring smile on his face. “We’ll be here, through thick and thin, sickness and health, and in the courtroom and detention center.” Maya giggled, starting to feel better. “Thanks Nick, I appreciate it.”