#I say “idiot” and “dumbass” in the most affectionate way | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rebo-chan · 3 months ago

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I know it doesn't need saying that Reborn is a good teacher, the series points that out to us multiple times really coming to a full realization through Bermuda who connected that these kids growth was related to Reborn. It's really hard to summarize just how true that is to the series, because there are so many little moments and big moments alike. He's both stood as a background character, letting these kids grow of their own accord and make their own decisions, and also a main character directly stepping forward and helping them when they need it. Truly and wholeheartedly, he loves those kids and does put effort into them and learning who they are as people and what helps them best. The Vongola Kids and Reborn are a special pair and though Reborn isn't Vongola, that hasn't stopped him from going affectionate. He truly loves those kids. I wanted to list a few moments that are like important to me with those kids, excluding Tsuna for length purposes but also because the series is its own case study of Tsuna and Reborn's relationship. (Maybe another post someday tho!)

Starting in no particular order, with Lambo, the thing about Lambo and Reborn's relationship is that its mostly antagonistic in that gag sort of way. See though, Reborn is always the first person to remind Tsuna of who Lambo is. To remind him that IS his Guardian and he should be taken seriously. He is the one to remind Tsuna during Future Arc that Lambo was trying to hold it together and not complain too much even though he misses Nana and the one who tells Ryohei how to 'activate' Lambo's hidden potential by mentioning Nana. Something especially important for me as well is that scene in Shimon where Reborn goes "I shouldn't have brought him here." and Lambo has that whole I'M the one who wants to come with you all. There's a frame where Reborn has the most smug little smile, as if he predicted this outcome all along. And idk yall, he's!! he's watching these kids!!

For Gokudera, he doesn't mentor him personally at any point in the series but he does always choose mentors for him that really highlight the areas he needs to improve in. Shamal for his self-preservation, Bianchi with his feelings of worth, Fon for his impatience and reckless behavior. Something especially important to me about their relationship is that Reborn and Gokudera in daily life got each others backs LOL. They raid longchamp's house together and Reborn does like to tease Gokudera and prank him as much as he likes to do it with Tsuna. Something about Gokudera gets Reborn going, gets that mean streak of his forward. That's just his funny guy.With that being said, he does!! care about him!! In future arc, he often goes around checking on everyone to make sure things are going okay. To be a little more serious with it, I think it's really enjoyable that Reborn happens to pick people to be his tutors that Gokudera personally has beef with or would agitate Gokudera. I think in a way he knows that Gokudera grows best when he's challenged, and being with people he respects (Tsuna, Reborn) doesn't serve him as much as making him acknowledge outright where his weakpoints are.

SO YAMAMOTO, RIGHT. YAMAMOTO IS ACTUALLY JUST REBORNS FAVORITE IF YOU NOTICE. ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY. THIS IS HIS FAVORITE CHILD. TSUNA WHO?? The way he just jumps off of Tsuna's shoulder to get onto Yamamotos.. cmon.. at least hide..tsuna adores you.. (There's even a scene in Daily Life where Yamamoto is like petting Reborn and Reborn is just looking at him with a "c:" and Tsuna GRUMBLES TO HIMSELF ABOUT HOW IF IT WAS TSUNA TOUCHING HIM HE WOULD HAVE ALREADY BEATEN HIM UP) Sort of going off from how Gokudera is also lowkey always being pranked by Reborn, Yamamoto isn't and my friends and I kinda realized Reborn.. likes the idiots. He's a fan of the dumbasses. He's so nice to Yamamoto and Ryohei, while making clowns of the smart ones or bullying the 'annoying' ones. OKAY, but really. Reborn's recruited most of the Vongola kids into the family, Yamamoto being his pride and joy when it comes to that. He has that really funny moment in Varia arc where hes all 'Aren't I amazing for being the one to find Yamamoto? ^-^" He also is in charge of training Yamamoto for a little bit of Future arc too, and he establishes to the audience that Yamamoto is a natural born hitman. I think it's also fun that during their training too, he motivates Yamamoto by telling him that if he can complete his training and keep his carefree smile (someday I'll have to do a post about Reborn and his relationship with the Mafia as a whole bc ahh!!) he'll tell him his secret. He sort of activates this kind of like hidden competitiveness IN Yamamoto by doing that and ensures he brings it up throughout the training and gives little hints of 'Before I was a baby - Ah, I shouldn't have said that." It's a little bit of lighthearted taunting too. Or when Yamamoto is knocked down, he tells him that he's doing good, and Yamamoto's like "Yeah right, I bet you're not even trying." Also, a little small interaction that might even go unnoticed is when Yamamoto is attacked during Shimon and Tsuna gets that phone call. The whole time Reborn is quietly questioning "What's wrong? Did something happen to Yamamoto?" "What's his condition?" and then he tells Tsuna he'll head in first (Which honestly I believe is more of a Tsuna/Reborn thing than Yamamoto/Reborn thing, he probably wanted to spare him having to see whatever condition Yam was in but its fair enough to note. He also is the one that goes and investigates the locker room where Yam was attacked to get things started. He's sweet on the guy.

(FYI? WHY DO MY YAMAMOTO SECTIONS ALWAYS END UP THE LARGEST?? ITS NOT ON PURPOSE OR FAVORING IT JUST HAPPENS THIS WAY.) In terms of Ryohei, there's this sort of mutual respect thing going on. Don't get me wrong, he thinks the guy is a dumbass khjnkhj but he is always more than happy to play along as 'Master PaoPao' and he put thought into who would be good for Ryohei as a mentor. He chooses someone like Colonello (a dumb himbo just like him-) to train him and there's an undeniable pride in him in Future Arc when he sees TYL Ryohei where he tells him that he's really matured over the years. I believe Ryohei was also somebody that Reborn personally wanted to recruit into the Vongola family, seeing his potential from the beginning.

Hibari.. Oh, Hibari. Reborn knows exactly how to play Hibari, that's the Vongola's secret weapon. He gets Dino to train him, someone who can keep up with the exponential growth and the need for the training to be battling bc otherwise how else are you gonna prank this gremlin into getting stronger for the team. And that fucking um promise that Hibari will get an opportunity to battle him? Never happens, he just fucking lies to Hibari. By the time it may be plausible, Hibari is more focused on his real rivals, the other Vongola Guardians and the boss. ('This team is full of people who I really want to bite to death' 'Someday even the sky will be beaten to death' 'Mukuro's my prey') But I don't think the relationship between Hibari and Reborn is inherently Reborn manipulating our battle freak. Similar to Ryohei and Reborn, there's a quiet respect. There's that scene in Future arc, where Reborn goes 'I missed you, Hibari<3" and TYL hibari just smiles at him and goes, 'Same here, baby' like those two are!! pals!! In general, I think Hibari is a good example of Reborn's adaptability with these kids as it takes a certain kind of energy to ..deal with Hibari.

Chrome!! There's not a lot of Chrome and Reborn scenes, but the ones there are really sweet. He does check up on her pretty often when she's sick during Future arc as well as while she's training with Bianchi. The really important scene between them is the one that happens during Rainbow arc where he understands that her issues regarding Mukuro being free. You see something really fun about Reborn is that he's pretty good with guiding someone to their answer rather than answering it for them. In this moment, and the moment that catches Bermuda's attention, is the fact that all he had asked her was what she wanted to be to in relation to Mukuro. This helped her steady herself and allowed her to enter the battle, which ultimately protected them against Vindice. And that's so special to me, because it was the final push for Chrome to wrap up her arc about her conviction and her resolution of her own accord and it came from our delightful tutor. I think Chrome is our example of Reborn's job being to make Tsuna into Vongola Tenth results in more than just focusing on Tsuna. (The others too of course are examples of this!) ALSO DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE VISITED HER IN THE HOSPITAL TO HELP HER AND ALSO ASKED HER TO BE HIS REPRESENTATIVE AFTER HE HEARD HOW SHE RESPONDED? UGHHH. Reborn..Chrome...

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Mukuro! So Mukuro's relationship with Reborn is lowkey interesting to me sdkjhn. First of all, its implied that Mukuro knows about all the arco stuff in Kokuyo arc. As he calls Reborn an arcobaleno like it's a slur OTL. He also has his reservations about the way Mukuro comes to gain his powers, again Kokuyo when he called him a monster. During Varia arc, Reborn tells Tsuna that he should never forget what Mukuro had done to them previously. A sentiment he seemed to soften over, as TYL Mukuro aided in ending the war on Milefiore. By Shimon, they have a pretty funny interaction where Reborn catches Mukuro as an owl and then promptly kicks him after Mukuro was rude to him dhjkn. It all ends up becoming a thing where Reborn can understand where Mukuro comes from when it comes to his odd cold actions regarding Chrome. In a way, understanding that he too was trying to help Chrome. And I will never ever forget that moment where at the end of Kokuyo, WHERE REBORN SPOTS MUKURO HAVING POSSESSED SOMEONE AND COMMENTING THAT HE MUST BE LONELY AND IF HE WANTS TO PLAY AGAIN THEY'LL DO SO ANYTIME. yall.... mukuro do it. just admit that you're vongola........ Mukuro never makes his loneliness obvious, but with his upbringing it makes sense.. the way he never uses his teammates even though he acts like they're just his tools..god..Reborn sees through him and so do we..

HJEKDHN Not much of an analysis this time as just me listing my favorite moments between Reborn and the other Vongola kids.. Another long one.. I Need to make shorter posts yall.. BUT.. in the mean time!! if you guys have any favorite scenes with Reborn that I didn't bring up please let me know !! i love our lil mascot

#katekyo hitman reborn #vongola family #khr reborn

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moreespressoformydepresso · 10 months ago

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What are your honest thoughts on all Descendants boys? From both books and movies?

Oehh that’s a good question! I’ll base most of this off of the movies because I remember them more clearly. Sorry this is so late, I needed some time to sort out my thoughts. Let’s see:

Ben: cutie, golden retriever energy, needs to grow a bit more of a spine but as a recovering doormat I vibe with him.

He’s got a good heart, and he’s definitely going places, but I have no idea who decided a 16-year-old should be king. Hilariously, he’s a better king than his dad because he cares about all of his people, not just the “heroes”. But still, he’s 16, let him have his dumbass teenage years. He’s still in his phase of wanting to please everyone and that isn’t gonna lead to the best decision making. You’re king, Ben, you can overrule your girlfriend’s selfish idiotic plan of closing the barrier. Just tell her “the barrier was opened for you to come through too. If those kids aren’t worth the risk, does that mean you aren’t either? Should we throw you back?!” And she’s change her tune real fast. You gotta give some tough love sometimes.

Jay: cool, I wanna know his gym routine, pretty funny but rash, needs Carlos to temper his brand of crazy (love their bromance).

I love the narrative parallels to the movie Aladdin. Jafar thought himself so far above a street rat and now he’s raised his son to be one so he can continue being a con-man. In the movies, Jay is actually a very accurate representation of your upbringing shaping you into who you are. All Jay knows is stealing, he’s never been taught to pay if he doesn’t have to, so to him stealing’s perfectly fine. It’s normal. It’s a lot more subtle than the whole “who doesn’t like being evil” bit, but the core idea is the same: when all you’ve ever known is one perspective, that’s gonna feel like the objective truth because you’ve never had a chance to try a different one.

Carlos De Vil: Best (movie) Boy, my baby, I love him. What a little nerd (affectionate).

He’s a big part of why I willfully ignore the absolute stupidity that is the third movie’s ending. I’m sorry Mal, wtf is wrong with you??? You set your supposed friend’s abuser free for nothing but some empty platitudes and dare suggest you’ve become an empathetic person?!?! In the books, we get a lot more insight into just how horrible of a mother Cruella is, but even in the movies we see he’s had it bad because of how jumpy and nervous he is. Disney is still Disney so we don’t get much of the healing process, but we see how he calms down and adjusts to a normal life over the course of the movies when he’s out of the bad situation, which is pretty good by Disney standards. Cameron Boyce did an amazing job playing him (R.I.P Cameron) and seeing an abuse victim get comfortable within their own skin and getting the happy ending they deserve is always fun.

Harry Hook: Insane (affectionate), most fashionable drama queen ever, absolutely crazy, more than a few screws loose but in the best way possible, he’s hilarious.

So on the surface, Harry’s pretty simple. A dude who’s lost his marbles and flirts with everyone. He probably has some kind of moral compass, since he didn’t rip Mal’s throat out with his hook when she revealed her little stunt in D3, but it fell overboard at some point and couldn’t be found so nobody knows what it is except Harry himself. Also, he has his sane moments, like during that same confrontation in D3 I mentioned before where he says “And you, King Benny... you're probably gonna throw us all back inside.” It’s the first time I’ve heard him sound… not like Harry. It’s sombre and defeated, a little disappointed maybe? Either way it’s really good acting and it implies he can act completely “normal” but he just chooses not to, which makes me like him even more. He’s just a dude living his best life despite the circumstances he was born into.

Gil: adorable, hilarious, kinda clueless but in a good way.

I love characters that have no idea what’s going on half the time but are absolute sweethearts trying their best. He’s like- the opposite of his dad in every way and I’m living for it!

Gaston Jr and Gaston the third: I don’t have much to say on them, let alone separately, so they get a section together.

Honestly? I don’t remember having an opinion of them. They made Evie happy by wresting, which is cool so they get points for that. Seem like they’re trying to out-gentleman each other to win Evie’s heart and since they’re not being creepy assholes about it they are objectively better than their dad. Very much brawl over brains, the two of them, with their constant wrestling reminding me of Carlos and Jay except they’re both the muscle. Kinda cute sibling relationship, even if it’s in a VK-typical villain-flavored way.

Anthony Tremaine: squeeeee, my type is pretty boys who sigh in annoyance at everything, I guess? We only get scraps but I happily cradle them to my chest.

Uhmmm so Anthony’s personality is mostly up for imagination? The only canon information we have is that he’s most likely Anastasia’s only kid (someone on Tumblr pointed out that, in the scene with the wicked step-daughters, he’s referred to only as their cousin, not their brother) and he’s very bored with his cousins’ antics. Given A Twist In Time the potential drama is endless. Every time Anthony’s mentioned we’re reminded he’s pretty and has good style, and I love that for him. Dude lives on an isle of junk and still looks like a supermodel. Lots of room for my own ideas while still remaining within the realm of “could be canon” with just enough base in there that I’m not just creating an OC, and as a writer and artist that’s all I need tbh.

Hadie: cute, deserves better, I need more of him and Mal bonding

Mal’s half-brother, son of Hades, very cool. I like that he’s trying to turn good and having a hard time, because that’s very realistic for someone who grew up not knowing anything other than evil. Descendants 2 tried to tackle it with Mal, but failed miserably. We know Hades sucks as a parent in descendants (neglect is abuse) so that’s not gonna help him.

Dough: Awww he’s so cute with Evie 🥺

No really that’s it. He’s a nerd that gets the girl, has some very funny moments, but honestly most of his character is centered around Evie? And they’re cute together it’s not a bad thing but there isn’t much to analyze. He’s understandably pissed about someone like Chad getting all the girls while using them, but that’s also only ever seen in relation to Evie.

Chad Charming: what a bitch (derogatory), total coward, I hate him but he’s funny.

So I have no issue with characters who conduct themselves terribly (I love Audrey, (fanon) Anthony, Uma, and many others from many fandoms) if, and that’s a massive IF, they have a good reason for it. And I’ll count “because I can and I want to” as a good reason, because by that point you have someone who’s mean and owns it. I can appreciate the self-awareness and usually those characters are very extra so it’s entertaining. If not that, there needs to be a reason they are the way they are. Audrey has the pressure from her grandmother (and the borderline verbal abuse), Uma has the very real grievance of living in squalor on a run-down island full of the worst of humanity because she was born, what does Chad have? He’s spoiled. A spoiled brat. And he goes from that to an overtly whimpering coward with none of the pretense of superiority in any field. His one saving grace is that he’s a massive joke.

Diego De Vil, Clay Clayton, Gonzo, Jace and Harry Badun, Herkie, Aziz, Jonas, Lefou Deux, Li Shang Jr, everyone else I missed: no opinion, because they’re not relevant enough for the writers to give them a personality.

I have nothing I’m sorry. I barely remember reading their names and I don’t remember anything from the scenes they’re (mentioned) in to get an idea of what to talk about here.

That was… a lot lmao

#disney descendants #descendants #descendants anthony #descendants jay #carlos de vil #descendants carlos #descendants ben #descendants chad #chad charming #descendants gil #gil descendants #harry hook #descendants harry hook #hadie descendants #gaston jr #gaston the third #anthony tremaine #character analysis #?? i guess

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imaginespazzi · 4 months ago

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Nivi, bestie – first of all, an update exactly a week later? I’m so proud and we’re so spoiled! It was the best thing to wake up to this morning (my morning 😅) so thank you for that!

Starting off strong with Stephie throwing Colleen under the bus when she didn’t even do anything wrong but be boring LMAO, I love this kid so much.

Azzi realising that her kid is also not immune to the Paige Bueckers charm, like mother like daughter.

I know Thalia’s so done with Paige lol, like she out there just doing her job and doing it well, and yet she’s stuck with her dumbass client (affectionate) whose personal life is perhaps just a little too complicated.

That one-year contract boutta create a fountain of angst huh?

Not Stephie hitting the gym and lifting them weights! A fictional 5-yr old is putting me to shame, you hate to see it 😩

But oh my god, it’s crazy how much she loves P already and vice versa. Although, at this point, I’m just as attached to Stephie as Paige is, blondie’s not special 😒

“I missed you,” Stephie confesses, “did you miss me?” – Like this??? I can’t handle their cuteness omg.

And our first Pazzi + Stephie scenes – PERFECTION.

What would we do without kids and their lack of filter? Stephie is gonna bring these two idiots back together, brick by brick, revelation by revelation, and one innocent, inquisitive question at a time.

I cackled at Paige being insecure of what Stephie might think about her ice cream order lmao, like girl stand up! And then finding out they both have the same favourite flavour? Yep, that’s it, Paige you ARE the other parent!

“So do you wanna be a boring old tree or do you wanna be a big, strong Husky who bleeds blue?” – Um, this is leading the witness, your honour! But like a very valid point was made cause who does wanna be a boring old tree?

OK well if y’all still think that the other is the prettiest, most beautiful of them all, well then now KISS.

A Tim and Paige interaction – we CHEERED (and cried a lil)! And baby Stephie and P! Not Tim just handing Stephie over and leaving them, he’s prolly like “well shit, this really should be your baby too anyway” 😭

Now this last bit, Nivi, imma just live in denial for a little while longer okay? Cause it was a diamond ring! I didn’t hear or read anything about a wedding band. And no, I will choose to ignore this person being called “wife”. Cause I’m not ready to accept the fact that P might have been married to anyone else other than Azzi! 😤

But then the revelation of Azzi saying no to marrying P? That was the real dagger 💔

What’s next?

Imma sound like a broken record and I’ll keep saying it but scenes with Stephie are just too precious. I LIVE for them and will continue to do so.

I can’t wait for when she finally gets to cheer for her two favourite players courtside. OH and imagine during a post-game presser with Azzi and Paige, and Azzi brings Stephie along and she immediately goes to sit on P’s lap instead of Azzi’s and they’re both just in their own little world while Azzi tries to actually answer the questions, and everyone in the media plus the public is absolutely eating. it. up.

Speaking of Stephie and P though, “And Paige would never willingly hurt Stephie…but that doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t break her heart any way.” Is this foreshadowing that I see here, Nivi? You’re already gonna make me suffer through potential Drew and Azzi angst and now we might have to go through Stephie and Paige angst too at some point??

On top of that, I just know the flashback to Azzi turning down marriage with P or however that played out is gonna be heartbreaking AF. It’s all just gonna be too much for my fragile little heart to handle (but I’m secretly gonna love all of it cause you know how much I love my angst).

The happy ending will make it all ok though. Side note: I’m getting too much ‘the 1’ undertones, and that makes me stress a lil, but I know you wouldn’t do that to us 😌

Oh and I guess we’re gonna find out more about the “wife” eventually… (Nivi: It’s- Us: For the plot 😭)

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I just thought about the moment Paige has to spell something in front of Stephie, pray for her 🙏

And lastly, these lyric/song choices, Nivi! You’re really taking us back huh. My favourite nostalgic writer for a reason.

Favourite line/quote:

Azzi has always been the brightest star, at least in Paige’s galaxy, and she can’t help but let the next words slip through her lips, “she still is.”

As always, thank you for sharing your talents, we don’t deserve you 🥹💗 Enjoy the rest of your week, bestie, catch you soon!

-🙋‍♀️

BESTIEEEE! Can you believe I actually did that lmao? But yeah I would not get used to daily Monday updates because we all know me and procrastination.

#FreeColleen cause not only does this poor woman have to deal with Paige and Azzi's bullshit for the second time, she's also being unfair antagonized by a five-year old

Thalia and Colleen are gonna needa go out for drinks at some point with the way their clients are behaving

I love how everyone caught the foreshadowing with the one-year contract tee hee <3

Paige and Stephie are the definition of it's not blood that makes a bond and I adore writing the two of them together

LMAO sorry for the shade Stanford but unfortunately this is a #BleedBlue household for life and it just felt very true to Paige

AH I'm glad you liked the Tim and Paige interaction cause I know that was one of your ideas and it felt right to add it in. He looked at Paige was like "wait a minute why am I taking care of *your* child" and just dipped fr

TRUST ME! It will all make sense eventually!

There will definitely be more Stephie like I doubt we'll ever have a completely Stephie-less chapter

THAT'S SO CUTE OH MY GOD. We have a little bit of a while before we get into the season but I'm totally stealing that cause I love watching press conferences with kids.

Well if she hurts Stephie's Mama...

I'm so excited to write that flashback, y'all don't even know like I actually do have a little bit of that planned out and mayhaps there's more to it than just marriage...guess you'll find out!

LMAO I've got y'all scared with all my "the 1" references. I was gonna use it as lyrics but I figure y'all might actually lose it before you read it if I did that.

AHAHAHA poor Paige is gonna learn to spell just for Stephie

Lowkey been listen to my Nostalgia playlist while writing because honestly the single parent x ex trope feels very rooted in that era so a lot of the lyrics probably will me from around that time.

As always thank you for making me smile by paying my inbox a vist. It's always a good day when I check and you're here <3

#ask #fic talk #UCLA ANON LOML FR <3 #i keep think i needa change your tag but ugh i can't do it

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devilsrecreation · 6 months ago

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Headcanons and other stuff with Tamka since he still lives rent free

- In a human au, he is DEFINITELY Italian-American. Not only is he fluent, but he also unintentionally teaches Nduli some of the curse words since h curses so often. Sometimes he’ll rant in perfect Italian until someone says “….What?”

- Oh and speaking of the human au, I’m thinking of everyone having human names like ‘John’ or ‘Kevin’, so Tamka’s is Tommy cuz ofc it is

- He brags about his singing when in reality he’s pretty bad at it😭 (Though it’s strangely decent when he’s singing softly)

- He and Neema have a…complicated friendship. Neema often insults him for his stupidity every chance he gets and Tamka sometimes calls him an asshole. Having said that, they still have each other’s backs. Only they can insult each other lmao

- His relationship with his dad is, unsurprisingly, really rocky. Ever since Pua learned about Kiburi’s stunt, he’s been the most disappointed with Tamka. He knows his son isn’t the smartest, but he sure as hell didn’t raise him like that no matter how cocky he used to be back then. Tamka just chalks up their disagreements as Pua being bad at communication and always dismissing him in favor of the other crocodiles just because they were more intelligent (Tamka c’mon, everyone else’s parents had died. He couldn’t just ditch them). Even though Tamka’s said things he regrets, he still loves his dad and vice versa…especially vice versa. Tamka’s the only hatchling of his clutch that survived and Pua couldn’t afford to lose his only son, not after promising to watch over him when Kuimba died

- They do slowly mend their relationship by bonding over Kuimba. You’d think tamka wouldn’t remember his mom, but he remembers everything: her voice, her face, how loving she was, the lullabies she sung, all of it. They eventually apologize to each other for their past mistakes

- His mother had a pretty big impact on him. Tamka would trust anyone who reminded him of her without even realizing it, hence why he trusted the meerkat mob boss (who I’ll name Bosi, meaning ‘boss’) so easily. Bosi acted so sweet and motherly towards him, it was hard for him to believe she was only using him.

- Like Reirei and Goigoi, Tamka and his love interest, Erevu, have that smartass x dumbass dynamic. She thinks of everything and he supports her like the sweetheart he is :)

- Tamka almost immediately fell for Erevu when he met her. While he did find her beautiful, it was really her brains that made her even more attractive. It took a while for him to impress her, but they bonded over the fact that there’s more to the both of them than what meets the eye (ie. Erevu wants to be seen for more than just her beauty and Tamka wants to be seen for more than just his lack of brains)

- Tamka and Nduli both are really affectionate with their mates. Infinite nuzzles, compliments, and support coming from them

- He tries to be the best dad ever for his hatchlings in the future, especially with Kutojali. Unfortunately, he just ends up embarrassing them

- I agree with the hc that if TLG had cussing in it, he’d do it the most

- He’s shown to be a bit selfless at times, saying he’d rather be the one to get hurt than any of his best friends

- He and Chungu like to roughhouse sometimes. Tamka always wins, but Chungu has gotten really close a couple of times. Though he’s better suited for being Tamka’s emotional support in return for Tamka boosting his confidence

- I’ve said this before in the tags of a previous post, but he’s basically the self-proclaimed “leader” of the Idiots. Now if only Kiburi would let him be in charge of the float when he’s gone

- Even though his time in the mafia was really brief (like a day and a half), it kind of rubbed off on him. He’ll still make mobster movie references and intimidate others mobster-style

- You know what’ll make him change his ways? Saying he’s breaking his late mother’s heart. Works every time lmao

“You’re breaking your mother’s heart”

“MAAAAA! I’M SORRY, MA! 😭”

- He and Nduli have their own Youtube channel in the Zootopia AU where they do a bunch of comedic skits and do a bunch of stupid stuff (think Smosh). They’re also Kiburi’s biggest fans and have even done collabs with each other

#took me a bit to get all my headcanons in one post but i did it #i procrastinated but i did it!#headcanons #tlg outlanders #tamka #the lion guard

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ofstormsandfire · 7 months ago

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Do you have any good BotW/TotK fic recs? Yours or other people’s!

Boy howdy DO I.

Going to preface this by saying that I have preferences, and those preferences tend to veer towards gay shit and people who don't initially get along ending up ride or die, and as such a high proportion of these are going to be Revalink.

Anyway. The fic that got me into that ship, changed my brain chemistry, and is a large part of why I go !!!! about ghosts (literal and nonliteral) haunting the narrative, characters with amnesia who are supposed to be dead, and the Rito as a whole, is Pinesong by aperplexingpuzzle and that is the fic that makes me go "if you read NOTHING else in this fandom read THIS holy fuck."

(But also you should be reading other things too, because there is so much good shit and I adore it greatly I go back to reread my favorites regularly. Also check out the authors I mention apart from just the fics I link there is so much good fic I'm forcing myself to just pick one per author or else I will be here literally all day.)

Next up: Moonlight (every single night) by Heleentje. Do you like time loops? Do you like characters slowly, painstakingly figuring out how to get it right? Did you get very attached to Revalink from the last fic? how about some ~queerplatonic Zelink~ in this trying time?

Frankly, it is very hard to pick just one fic by Ginneke, they've got so many good ones but I'm going to have to settle on Flowers from your Beloathed, which is another Revalink fic set before the Calamity where, y'know, Revali is getting flowers from a secret admirer. Except he's Revali. Hilarity ensues and I enjoyed the hell out of this one ^-^

Also also. Come Morning Light by misscoconi. Post-Calamity, they are both idiots (affectionate) and I am starting to realize that I have a bit of a pattern in my taste in Revalink fics. Huh. I'll unpack that later actually.

Skybound Wishes by Baddrummer is unfinished (unlike most of the fics I've recommended here) but y'all. Y'all it makes me lose my shit in so many ways because I am a SLUT for creative fix-it fics and gratuitous weaving-in of references to other games in ways that still respect the established canon but respect all of it, y'know, not just doing the TOTK thing of "actually nothing pre-BOTW matters anymore and neither does BOTW lol."

...I am starting to realize there may be a reason why I don't have a lot of TOTK recs. Also if this post is starting to sound unhinged and disconnected that's probably because I'm bouncing between Tumblr and studying for one of my finals like a ping pong ball.

But I do have one really, really big fic rec for TOTK. Y'all should check out Show Me the World Outside by IllusionOfDeath. The Sages get to do things, the Divine Beasts don't just vanish without a word, the Champions get actual recognition, and you can tell that the author is the Linguistics Georg (affectionate) of the fanfic world.

Anyway I think I will shill myself a bit too since you gave me permission to anon! If you read no other Zelda fics by me, may I recommend no one ever mentions fear, a fic that... it really was, in a lot of ways, a love letter to the fics in the fandom that I'd read and loved before. You've got the Champions getting to live and have nice things, you've got Revali being a dumbass (affectionate), you've got gay shit, you've got Problems Being Caused by the Yiga Clan in the background.

...Oh god this post is getting. A little longer than I meant for it to I've realized. Um. I love fanfic and tbh if you end up reading everything I've recced and still want more, my bookmarks on AO3 are public and I tend to bookmark just about everything I've read and liked enough to want to find again.

......I should probably get back to studying now but thank you for the ask! I like rambling lol

#hopeposting #askbox #anonymous #fanfic things

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ochrearia · 1 month ago

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A bunch of shit list about mr Biff aka PoPr!BF

I need to write out stuff all in one place about my stupid versions of BF I'll make one for Beefer later on his own but I started Poly Propaganda first so I go in order

-This idiot is short. I don't care. He's 5'1 because I deserve to be taller than him. I think I made reference to him being like 5'5-5'6 in PoPr somewhere but that's retconned he's even smaller now. Fuck him in particular

-Look... I couldn't be bothered to write BF and GF constantly in my series so Biff's "name" in the series is Keith. I didn't want to call him boyfriend while also referring to him as GF's or Pico's boyfriend in the same paragraph and that's my reasoning

-Next level dumbass. Dumb and horny like base game BF except most of the horny happens Off Screen in the series SADSFDGFHGJ but he is stupid. Endearingly stupid

-Absolute menace. He will die on the hill of teasing someone even if it gets him killed, completely and totally worth it

-Loverboy... Oh this guy is such a loverboy it's so bad. So prone to being lovesick and constantly thinking about his partners that he's distracted from being a living person.

-I wouldn't necessarily say he's got depression properly but sometimes he just has. really bad days where he gets tired of everything and doesn't want to do anything other than lay in bed until it's the next day

-He does, however, have a fear of failure. He wants the people he cares about to be proud of him and can end up shutting down if he's presented with a scenario where they aren't and he thinks it's because he isn't good enough.

-This dude sleeps like a corpse. The fucking apocalypse could happen and the entire reinvention of civilization after and he'd wake up when it's done only thinking a few hours went by

-"Touch Starved" in the idea that his biggest love language is being physically affectionate and it translates to seeming like he's never had a hug before. He could've seen you an hour ago and he's going to hug you like it's been 7 years

-Proven to be "obsessed" with hearing the laughter of the people he loves. "Makes me happy to be able to hear that you're happy". Probably one of the reasons he might play into being stupid, if he gets laugh reactions out of it it's more than worth it.

-CANNOT FUCKING COOK FOR SHIT DON'T LET THIS MAN EVER TOUCH AN OVEN

-Hates his birthday. As a kid he never got the same "important" treatment from his classmates in school that they'd give to each other when it was someone's birthday, so he eventually learned that his birthday didn't matter. Acts like it never did, which makes his partners sad (They still celebrate it and remember it even if he doesn't)

-Hides his true singing voice behind his microphone, which had a mix of auto-tune and magic in it. Basically vacuums up his voice and auto-tunes it to that high-pitched beeping like base game before anyone gets to hear what he actually sounds like. He's not confident that his normal voice would be able to fit to any situation or beat like the auto-tune can.

-He's constantly flirty with his partners but holy fuck he canNOT take what he dishes out. His partners being flirty back stalls his brain and derails everything. Dumb becomes dumber

-Loooooves to be sung to. Would kill for 1 minute of his Pico singing to him. Would do anything for his GF to also do it. He's whipped.

-In context of RBGFverse, oh boy he's so attached to YS. He's got residual guilt over having reacted like a dick to him in the beginning because he's so important to him now. He's never had a sibling before and now he has a big brother and maybe he's too clingy about it but. He doesn't exactly know how else to act having no experience with it before

-Also suffers from RSD but nowhere near as bad as YS has

-In a brotherly way, it is ON SIGHT with Beef. Unspoken rule to annoy the fuck out of each other

-This hasn't been mentioned or referenced in PoPr itself yet but Biff is probably bigender. He just hasn't had time to really think about it because his thoughts are so full of his lovers and also having to do these damn ass rap battles

-Particularly sensitive nose when it comes to his GF's scented candle hoard. He cannot stand that shit he makes her keep them all in the kitchen LMFAO

-Wears a ring with dual pearls set in it, insists that those two pearls are Pico and GF. He has a weakness to sentiment... can be caught kissing the ring if he thinks no one is looking

-Likes being reminded the people he loves are alive. If you let him he will cuddle up to you and listen to your heartbeat for his own piece of mind

-Very easy to impress. He's got a lot of wonder in his heart for things he's never seen or heard before and if he thinks its cool he's basically going to get stars in his eyes over it. Tell him moreeee

-Seemingly shares the most "similarities" with YS (This may not always end up being a good thing when he's trying to be a menace to the big guy)

-As much as he is a menace, 99% of his actions can be traced back to a place of genuine care if you think about what he's doing for more than a second.

-Needs background noise to do a lot of things. Hates complete silence. Will have music on when he's doing tasks, and even when he goes to bed he prefers to be able to hear the cars driving by on the street below the apartment

-Paints his nails! Usually just black nail polish but if he's feeling particularly. Thinking about himself he might put the colors of the alt bigender flag on his nails just to, maybe try it out

Uhhhhhh I've probably forgotten a bunch of shit this is what I remember off the top of my head. Yeah. Thumbsup /silly

#rgbfverse #Soul's gonna show up and eat this out of nowhere /silly

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newobsessioneveryweek · 4 months ago

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Your headcanons are so cute!!!! 🥺🥺 (also about their friends thinking they're unhealthy, if Annabeth can judo-flip Percy and no one bats an eye, I think Sherman and Connor could probably get away with jokingly trash-talking eachother XD)

Sherman's love language being acts of service is so real btw. He'd probably try to do pushups with Connor on his back if Connor didn't completely refuse, because atleast one of them is smart enough to know that'd break Sherman's back 😭

(also.. you mentioned backstories?!?! my ears are open!! 👀👀)

I agree! How come Annabeth gets to break her boyfriend's spine on a whim but Sherman can't call Connor a loser?

Btw, the nature of their pet names are totally along that line. Sherman calls Connor loser and Connor calls him asshole. They've barely even dipped a toe into sweetie and honey cakes or the other sweet ones unless they're being ironic.

Sherman called Connor "dear" for the first time and Connor called him an idiot and told him to stop.

Connor: What's this 'dear' bullshit? It's fine when other people do it, but it just sounds weird coming from you. *shudders*

Sherman: then what the fuck do you want me to call you, dumbass?!

Connor: 'dumbass' is fine, just stick to the fucking formula!

Now they just do it to make their friends uncomfortable :]

Now...

You asked about their backstories...

You don't know what you've just unleashed. I know I'm the one who instigated this but I am also insane and should never be trusted with your mental wellbeing.

I made it very angsty for both of them

Here we go! Strap in!

Sherman’s backstory

⚠️⚠️Trigger Warning For Physical And Verbal Abuse And Violence⚠️⚠️ I've highlighted the triggering parts in red

So Sherman’s mother wasn't anything like the woman you'd expect the god of war to fall in love with. She was gentle and nurturing, and just all-around a non-confrontational person. But she still had a warrior’s spirit and fought for Sherman in other ways.

When Sherman was three his mother married a very well-off man who later abused her. Sherman didn’t know. His mother (her name is Bella) sometimes had bruises on her arms or face but she always said she fell or had some other accident.

When Sherman was seven and came home from school he heard his step-father shouting and peaked in through a window to find him yelling and hitting his mom. He got scared and hid behind the house until his father left in a huff (presumably to a bar). He came inside and saw his mother crying. When she saw him she wiped her tears and pretended nothing happened. Sherman didn’t say anything.

His step-father was never the most affectionate man but he wasn’t aggressive towards Sherman when he was growing up. But one evening a few years later Sherman woke up and heard crashing sounds and breaking glass downstairs. There was yelling too. He went downstairs to investigate and found his stepfather attacking his mother. His mother was bleeding from her head. His stepfather was swinging a bottle at her.

Sherman ran into the room to try and stop him. He yanked at his arm and started punching him but his father just turned and started hitting him instead, telling him that he’s useless and stupid and he’ll never amount to anything. At this point he’s kicking him in the stomach while he’s lying on the floor. When his mother recovers enough to stand she attacks him. She tells him to never touch her child again and starts beating at his back. He knocks her to the ground again and starts kicking her. Sherman panics and picks up a shard of a broken vase. He stabs his step-father in the leg.

When he falls down Sherman stabs him in the back of his neck and his shoulders. He dies. His mother is shocked. They hear sirens approaching. Apparently the neighbours had called the police. His mother tells Sherman to run, that she’ll tell the police that it was her that killed him. Sherman refuses but his mother’s insistence forces him to leave. She tells him how much she loves him and that they’ll see each other again soon. He spends a month on the streets before a satyr finds him and takes him to camp.

(He tells Connor that his mother was the bravest person he’s ever known.)

Connor’s backstory

⚠️⚠️ Trigger Warning For Parental Neglect, Self-Harm, Abuse, And Addiction⚠️⚠️

Connor’s mother, Ruelle, used to be an international interpreter/polyglot. She met Hermes at a business conference and they hit it off. When Travis was born she loved him like any mother would love their child. They moved to Virginia when she was pregnant with Connor and made friends with Julia and Marcus who were restaurant owners in town. They would always come around to make sure Ruelle was settled in properly and was taking care of herself and the baby. They would pick up Travis for play dates to give her space and alone time. When Connor was born everything was great for the first two weeks but then Julia started to get worried about Ruelle.

She would come over and Connor would be lying on the floor crying while Ruelle just smoked a cigarette in the kitchen. Julia checked on Connor and angrily asked Ruelle if she was even paying attention to Connor’s needs. Ruelle didn’t answer. Julia asked where Travis was. Ruelle said he was playing upstairs.

Julia insisted Ruelle go see a therapist. She refused and told Julia to mind her own business and worry about her own nephews. Julia said she couldn’t let these children suffer. Ruelle told her to just take them then. Julia did.

Travis and Connor stayed with Julia and Marcus for about two weeks before Ruelle called the police on her and told her that she kidnapped her children. Julia told the police that Ruelle was just confused and said she would return them to her care. She did so reluctantly. Julia and Marcus were worried. They taught Travis how to make baby formula and feed it to Connor just in case Ruelle wasn’t feeding them. They didn’t want to call child services because they wanted to give Ruelle a chance. She never went to therapy though and her mental state kept deteriorating.

Eventually after two months, upon Julia’s tearful insistence, Ruelle, also tearful, agreed to try therapy and started taking better care of Connor. However, on Connor’s first birthday both her parents died in a plane crash to visit her and she spiralled into a depression. She had the presence of mind to use the inheritance she received to pay off her mortgage but started neglecting the children. When Travis started going to kindergarten he had an excuse to leave the house and Julia could teach him to take care of Connor because Ruelle wouldn’t allow her near her house and would invite Travis over to her house to eat before going back home.

When Connor was two she married a man named John and together they spent their lives getting high and avoiding their responsibilities. John frequently beat Ruelle and went out to clubs and bars and partied and got drunk and cheated on her and all that jazz and because her life was so utterly shit she took out all her frustrations on her children. She would beat them, lock them in their room without food, force them to eat expired food and accuse them of trying to make her look bad if they didn't, and lock them out of the house at night.

Sometimes they would spend the night at Julia and Marcus but when they came back in the morning and Ruelle found out where they were she would go off at them and beat them up. John would just watch and not care because they were nothing to him. Once, when Connor was five, she broke his arm and didn’t take him to the hospital. She locked them in their room instead. When they woke up Connor’s arm was healed. At the time they didn’t know Hermes healed it while they were asleep.

⚠️⚠️Extra Trigger Warning For Self Harm⚠️⚠️

Their mother’s depression was still in full swing and she used to cut herself often. Connor and Travis would both walk in on her doing it and she would just look at them and say that they did this to her.

When Connor was turning six they ran away from home. They lived on the street for three years and were constantly chased by monsters and met shady people all the time. When Connor was turning 9, a satyr found them in New York and took them to camp.

(Connor hates his birthday because every year his mother would blame him and his brother for her life being so shitty because her parents died on their way to visit them and see their grandchildren for the first time.)

And that's that! Lemme know if you ever want me to reveal more stuff from my mind fic! Because I would love to :3🩷

#connor stoll #sherman yang #connor stoll x sherman yang #sherman yang x connor stoll #asks #I'll be sure to think of some more headcanons if you ever want to hear them :]

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system-of-a-feather · 1 year ago

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Also a lil more elaboration on this post from the OG guy in the system who talks this shit but it's also important to know when adopting radical self acceptance is that being a fucking idiot and a coward and crap literally has no inherent "oh Im a good or bad or cool or lame" person on it's own

Literally everyone is stupid in their own way and literally everyone has the things they are scared to deal with and face from time to time. I'm a part very dissociated from the concept of fear and my brain converts it fast to other shit, but I do fear letting myself down - both as a part and as a part ofba system - and doing harm by the few I deeply respect; momentarily I am prone to being scared of having my shit taken - trauma crap

That shits literally normal, being scared of shit is literally a completely normal and natural thing across almost all animal species (some argue all). There is no personal judgement attached to literally any feeling on its own.

The difference is whether you can look at that feeling and say "damn I'm scared and that a sucks ass feeling" and actually accept, address and deal with that feeling - or if you are going to deny-deny-deny.

And that isn't to say "Oh you are a stupid coward for wanting to deny it" because again, it is OK to admit you are scared and not ready to deal with something. That takes huge fucking balls to admit. If you aren't ready to deal with it, cool man that's fine, but do take a moment to actually affirm that with yourself - that CURRENTLY in the moment you are not ready to deal with it.

That is not "running away from it like a coward" that is acknowledging the truth of your current state and leaving space for it.

If you can get comfortable admitting that you are too scared to do something right now, you are inherently - in subtext - letting yourself know that 1) you accept that you are scared and it is a real thing about you that you are willing to embrace but also 2) that as much as that is a truth of your current state, that it is just that - a current state.

There literally is no shame or inherent judgement to be found in a feeling alone. Feelings alone don't mean shit. Feelings alone LITERALLY don't mean SHIT. It's how you handle and act in regards to them both internallyvwith yourself and externally with others that determines if you are being cringe (derogatory) or cringe (affectionate) and sorry not sorry, every action you do there will be someone who thinks you are cringe so theres no escaping being cringe WHILE being your authentic self.

Anyways, building radical self acceptance is a hard thing to do so I got mad respects for anyone building it. Most of the system doesn't get it yet either and so I get how hard it is and all.

I actively basically bully and harrass Riku about it 24/7 7 days a week 52 weeks a year for the past 3 years until they get it into their dumb skull. And while I call them a fuckin dumbass, I am pretty proud of how casually and readily they have learned to admit when they are being "a coward" which is easier verbage for them than outright saying "scared" which I'll take.

But honestly, get in touch with your vulnerable "not cool" parts of yourself that you are embarrassed about and just get used to stating it as it is. Those vulnerable and embarrassing aspects are only as embarrassing and insecure as you let them be. If you hide them and try to keep people from seeing it, of course you are going to feel scared to let others see it, of course you are going to feel insecure, and of course you aren't going to be confident when anything relating that comes up out of fear of your insecurity showing.

It's self assassination honestly. Judging your emotions and internal experiences like they mean anything other than a reflection of your current self and what you need us just not productive.

But I digress. Its a complicated and difficult thing to build and work on and itll always be more nuanced and specific to the individual than I can ever chart out in a casual ramble on some of my life philosophies and principles on shit.

So take home message? Try to stop judging your feelings and just, ya know, have them. They may suck but its just how it is in the moment and the moment can always change.

#alter: xiv #ramble #xiv rambles #emotional processing #ep rambles #yeah im an ep #recovery #healing #radical self love #radical self acceptance

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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 6 months ago

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lies are only as good as the person telling them (and you've never claimed to be) part 5

I just read all of the parts to your Red Notice fanfic, which is fuckin' cool as hell btw, and it got me thinkin'. What would it look like for Sarah & Hartley to actively work on being better to Nolan? And how would Nolan react with all this new kindness/softness from them? I imagine he'd question if it was actually real, maybe a few "what alternative universe did I stumble into" moments. Perhaps some healing for these three disasters (/affectionate). – anon

Read on Ao3 Masterlist (scroll to the bottom for the other parts)

Warnings: recovering from a gsw

Pairings: booth/bishop/hartley

Word Count: 3634

Look, alright, if you’d told him that after he got shot he’d wake up in a parallel universe where everything is actually sort of sunshine and rainbows, he might have laughed and asked if you’re sure if it was him who got shot if you’re the one doing the crazy talk. It’s not like bullets have reality-shifting properties, at least not the ones that he’s used to using, and hey, if you’ve got a line on those suckers, you probably stand to make a hell of a lot more money than talking to him about stupid hypotheticals concerning what happens when you take a bullet for someone.

Oh, yeah, did he mention he recently took a bullet for someone?

And not just any fucking someone, he took a bullet for the fucking Bishop. Fuck whatever he said before about reality-shifting bullets, if you’d told him he’d end up taking a bullet for his biggest fucking rival like it was fucking nothing, no body armor, no plan, just he’d see a gun and oops, there he goes, he’d shoot you.

“No shooting anyone,” another voice grumbles from beside him, “you’re in no shape to be starting a gun fight.”

“I’ll show you shape for a gun fight.” Alright, not his best, but he has just been shot.

The person who’d spoken next to him grunts, shifting in the—bed? Bed? Yes, he’s in a bed. Wait, who the fuck is he in bed with when he just got shot?—in the bed and looking over at him. A drowsy, not-at-all-bright-tailed-and-bushy-eyed Hartley scowls at him. What, is he mad Nolan woke him? He’s the idiot that decided to share a bed with someone who just got shot.

“Hey,” Hartley rumbles, and then there’s a hand reaching across the space between them to brush something from Nolan’s face. “How’d you—Sarah?”

“Is he making a mess in there already?” Nope. Nope, no way, he must still be out of it because there’s no way that was fondness he just heard in the Bishop’s voice.

“No, he’s still a mess from before.”

“Hey! You see how glamorous you look after you get shot, big guy.”

Hartley just shakes his head and gets to his feet with another grunt, which doesn’t make any sense to Nolan, because who is Hartley if not the person to gruffly threaten to make him more injured if he doesn’t watch his mouth, and he goes over to the tiny bathroom. The light turns on and he hears the sink run for a second before the big man himself is walking back over—wait, what’s he holding?

”Whoa, whoa, big guy, I dunno what you think you’re gonna do with that—“

“It’s a washcloth, Nolan. You’ve still got blood on your face?”

Now, Nolan would have some sort of snappy remark for that, but he’s too busy catching his brain up to the fact that Hartley just called him Nolan.

He’s not Nolan to Hartley. He’s Booth, he’s Hey, You, he’s Dumbass, Smartass, Asshole, even Son of a Bitch on occasion. He most certainly is not Nolan. Maybe the bullet did more damage than he thought; is he about to die in this bed and their last act of basic human decency is to talk to him like they cares bout him? Well, butter his butt and call him a biscuit, he’d never thought he’d go out like this.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Hartley’s voice says, startling him from his maudlin spiraling, “it’s not that much blood.”

”Easy for you to say,” and if his voice comes out a touch more strangled than he’d hoped, Hartley’s kind enough not to mention it, “you’re not the one with blood on his handsome face.”

There’s a hand under his chin, admirably gentle for someone that size, and then the washcloth is passing smoothly over his jaw—oh, it’s cold. It’s really cold. It…it sort of feels nice. Distantly, Hartley chuckles, so he must’ve said at least some of that out loud, hopefully not the embarrassing parts, but he doesn’t want to think about that right now.

“Stay awake,” and there’s a gentle shake to his chin, “we need to get some food in you before you waste away on this bed.”

He blinks and tries to rouse himself, but it’s like pulling a stick out of molasses. Everything is all syrupy and slow and Hartley’s hand is still tenderly holding his chin and the washcloth is still passing gently over his face…how long does it take to clean blood off?

“The blood’s gone. But you seem to like this, so I’m indulging you.”

“How kind. Hope you’re not expecting…’xpecting me to return the favor.”

“Well, how about the next time I get blood all over my handsome face, we’ll see?”

Nah, he’s definitely still woozy. He’s for sure about to pass out. Because there’s no way he’d be rational, of sound mind and body, with all his faculties, and have his first reaction to that be an insane amount of pining. He’s not going to have a pain in his chest that rivals the ache in his side over how badly he wants to take a shitty, cheap ass washcloth and stroke it over Hartley’s stupidly handsome face. He’s not gonna think about how badly he wants to do that, to touch him, no siree. He’s not. Not gonna happen. Never in a million years.

“You don’t have to be rude about it, know.”

Shit. Stupid brain-to-mouth filter not working. “Nah. ‘S…that’s Bishop’s job, right? She’s the one—she’s your partner. She gets to patch you up all…all th’ way and make you feel better. Not me. Not…not me.”

The following silence is way too charged for Hartley not to be making some incredulous or otherwise facial expression, but Nolan’s not paying attention anymore. He’s closing his eyes and falling back into a fitful sleep where he’s still arguing about whether or not bullets can change what universe you’re in. He thinks he feels the washcloth leave and only spares it a moment of regret before he’s out like a light.

***

The next time he wakes up, it’s not to Hartley’s brick shit house of a body next to him. Instead, sunlight slants through the partially drawn curtains as traffic whizzes by outside. The ache in his gut colons with a vengeance, whatever painkillers wearing off as he tries to heave himself up with a grunt. A quick peek at his stomach shows a decent bandage job—admittedly, a better on than he would’ve given himself—and a pair of pants that are definitely not his. He pokes at them for a second before deciding that hey, if Hartley wants to suffer through cleaning his blood out of his pants, then he can sure as hell do that on his own time. Nolan will not be helping because it’s his fault the pants got on him in the first place.

No sooner has he gotten himself to the edge of the bed, prepared to announce as much to Hartley’s face, does the door swing open and there’s the Bishop, standing there in all her glory. Red lipstick perfectly done, one artfully plucked eyebrow raised like some sort of forbidding school matron out of every boarding school boy’s dreams. She looks him up and down—and nope, he must still be out of it because it looks like her expression softens a bit. Or she’s just looking at him like he’s a stupid puppy that got himself injured. Yeah, that’s probably it.

“You’re awake.”

“Yep.”

“And lucid too, that’s good.” He squints and the corner of her mouth ticks up. “You woke up a few times before this, but it didn’t seem like you were…yourself.”

“Is that concern I’m hearing from you?”

“Treating a gunshot wound is one thing, treating an infection is another.” She leans against the door and looks him over again. “You’ve got more color back. Good. Do you think you can stay awake long enough to eat something this time?”

“As long as you give me a drink with it.”

“Deal.”

He blinks. Wow, that was easy. He doesn’t even register that Bishop’s leaving. He blinks again to clear his head and grips the edge of the bed, gritting his teeth and starting to heave himself to standing.

“Whoa, whoa!” Strong hands on his shoulders, then the side of his ribs, then cupping the back of his neck. “What’re you doing?”

”Hartley?”

“Yeah, it’s me, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Bishop said food. ‘M going to the food.”

”The food’s come to you, now lie the fuck back down before you pop all those stitches we spent all that time putting in you.”

”Jeez, take it easy, big guy, I’m not a…a…”

Hartley raises an eyebrow.

“Shut up, it’ll come to me.”

“I’m sure it will, Maybe it’ll come to you faster if you lie down.”

He puts up another good-natured grumble but lets Hartley ease him back down to the bed. He tries to draw the line at Hartley propping a pillow behind him but the man just gives him a look and reluctantly allows it. Not that he actually has much of a choice.

“Never thought I’d see the day that you’re willing to play nursemaid.”

“Injuries happen in this line of work. We all do what we have to.”

“You couldn’t have put a little more effort in then? Get one of those sexy nurse costumes and really make a thing of it?” Hartley just gives him another look. “I can see if now, that weird little card hat on your big, beautiful bald head—“

The door swings open again and in comes the Bishop, carrying a small tray of—oh, shit.

“I thought I asked for a drink.”

”Water is a drink.” She picks up the glass and hands it to him, meeting his glower with a polite smile. “Not too fast, now.”

“You both are acting like I’ve never been shot before,” he grouses, sipping at the water, “you, I get, but you!”

He points at the Bishop.

“You’ve shot me before, you know how it goes.”

There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flicker of something on the Bishop’s face and Hartley jumps in. “I’m surprised at you, Booth, I thought you’d be milking this a lot more than you are.”

“Excuse me, good sir, I have never milked a single thing in my entire life! I react with the perfectly appropriate amount of melodrama to every occasion.”

They both make doubtful noises.

“Okay. That smarts. As your patient, I think your bedside manner needs some work.”

The Bishop raises another challenging eyebrow and picks up the spoon, brandishing it like a threat. “Do we need to feed you too?”

“I’m not a baby bird, I can feed myself.” She smirks and holds out the spoon. He grunts and heaves himself up, straining for it—no, he is not sweating from this, his hand is not shaking, he just needs to— “See? Perfectly able.”

The Bishop hums and Hartley wordlessly moves the tray a little closer to him. He takes a victorious bite of the eggs in defiance of their judgmental stares and can’t stop the way his eyes widen. Fuck, of course they also had to be great at making omelettes. And if the way Bishop’s smirk widens, she knows what thought just crossed his mind.

“Taste good?”

“If we ever need to infiltrate a restaurant, you’re going undercover as the food snob.”

It’s as close to an outright compliment he’s going to let himself give, at least when her expression softens yet again into something akin to—

Nope. Not thinking about that.

“So,” he says, swallowing way too quickly and coughing a bit, “how much time did we lose?”

They snap back into heist professional mode and he doesn’t think about how good the omelette tastes as they talk shop.

That’s a lie.

He thinks about it a lot.

***

As it turns out, they only lost a few days. It’s not put them behind schedule; if anything, it’s actually filled the extra time Arlo needed to get the forgery done. Which means it’s time for the next part of the plan: actually getting their covers invited to the big gala that’s happening at the Louvre the night of the planned heist.

Nolan did make a pitch for letting himself come too—after all, all three of them are going to be there that night—but the Bishop talked him down.

It makes less sense for you to be there, especially if you’re injured. Besides, you’re planning on being part of the security team. If you’re going to have a pre-existing association with us, that makes that more difficult.

Which is true, but now that means he’s going to sit here in this cramped, shitty apartment all by himself while the Bishops are being their power-couple selves with the rest of the Parisian art elite.

Judging by the way Hartley keeps eyeing him as they prepare for this gala, he knows it too. He knows it so much, in fact, that he seems to be going out of his fucking way to make sure Nolan knows he’s as involved in this as they are, even though he’s not coming to the gala. Even fucking asks if Nolan can help make sure his walk is right again.

“The last thing we need is for one of them sniffing me out when there’s one less of us there,” he says while Nolan stares at him, agog and aghast, “so?”

Nolan immediately looks at the Bishop, because he’s not so oblivious not to know that this was the genesis of their whole fucking argument last time that ended with him getting shot, and she’s sitting right fucking there as Hartley asks him. She just raises an eyebrow and lifts a single shoulder in a half-shrug.

“He’s right. We have one less pair of eyes. Best take advantage of them while we have them.”

And no, he’s not going to think about the way she’s looking at him while she says it. He adjusts his somewhat precarious position on the couch and clears his throat.

“Alright. Show me.”

He’s never going to fully pass up a chance to ogle Hartley, not when he’s been given carte blanche to do so, but he can’t fucking shake the feeling of the Bishop being right there, on the other end of the couch. Every time he notices something and calls it out, she makes this little humming noise that sounds dangerously close to approval. And Hartley—Hartley’s listening to him. Not in that begrudging way where he knows Nolan’s actually got a point, or in that way where he’s filing Nolan’s most intimate details away to sharpen into scalpels later, he’s just—he’s listening. And every time he gets to the base of the couch, right where Nolan is, he looks down at them with those big soft eyes and fuck, Nolan is too injured and not nearly drunk enough for this.

“I think that’s as good as it’s going to get,” he says weakly, putting himself out of his misery about twenty minutes later, “you no longer walk like a cop, congrats.”

“Let’s hope it’s good enough for the gala.” The Bishop pushes herself to her feet in one fluid motion as Hartley goes to the kitchen. “Did Arlo give you a more concrete time frame for when the piece can be moved?”

“It’s, uh, supposed to be ready in a week. Something about…drying time and all that.”

The Bishop gives him a look that, again, is really riding that razor thin line of almost being fond and he suddenly cannot be in this room anymore.

“If that’s all you need from me, I’m hitting the hay.”

The both give him blasé remarks about sleeping well and he heads back to the bed. The bed, not his bed, he’s only allowed to sleep on it ‘cause he’s injured and even they are merciless enough to make him sleep on the couch while he has a bullet hole in him. He starts to peel himself out of his being-a-somewhat-person-during-the-day clothes, but no matter what he does, the stitches won’t let him move so much as almost enough to get the shirt all the way off.

“Hey, Hartley? Could use your big strong muscles for a sec.”

He shuffles around to get his pajamas all ready as the door swings open, but it’s not Hartley’s hands that reach up to help slide the shirt from his shoulders. Instead, cool hands with carefully filed nails ease the material off and his breath catches in his throat.

”You’re not Hartley.”

“He’s in the bathroom.” The Bishop reaches around to pluck the pajama shirt from the bed, one hand on his shoulder prompting him to hold still. “How far can you raise your arms?”

He manages to get them almost level with his shoulders before he has to stop. She hums, fabric rustling as she undoes the buttons, before she takes his hand and guides his arm through one of the sleeves.

Just breathe. Just fucking breathe. For the love of God, just fucking breathe.

She goes around to his other side and pauses. Nolan’s breath hitches in his throat as he feels her nails trace gently over the scar on his back. A bullet wound. The one she gave him over one of their struggles in…god, where was it? Laos?

“You didn’t stitch this properly,” she murmurs, voice way too soft, “it healed wrong.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly at an easy angle.”

She’s quiet for a few moments, before her touch leaves him. He fails let out the breath he’d been holding with any sort of subtlety, but she doesn’t seem to hold it against him. She feeds his other arm through the sleeve and walks to his front, slowly beginning to do up the buttons. Some part of him knows he should make another joke, say he can do it himself, or even just try and take over, but he doesn’t. He’s as useless as he was on that fucking beach when she looked at him with that fucking smile as Hartley put his arm around her. He can’t do a damn thing, not until she cues him for it, because as much as he’d like to imagine himself as anything else, he’d just a pawn in their game.

Right. The game.

“You should talk to Hartley,” he says, proud that his voice is only a little strangled, “you’re much better at playing nursemaid than he is.”

She doesn’t laugh, but she doesn’t scold him for it either. Instead, she just looks at him for a long, long moment.

“Get some rest, Nolan.”

And she leaves.

Fuck.

He does not throw himself onto the bed, he has more respect for his healing body than that, but he does glower up at the ceiling.

What the fuck are they playing? Has he not made it obvious enough that he’s not retaliating for the whole mess with the eggs? Well, he is, but they don’t need to know the specifics just yet. And yet they’re stinging him along like he’s—like he’s—like they were when they were still pretending Hartley was on his side, only now…

He closes his eyes and forces himself to take a deep breath. He’s been on this side of seduction plays enough to know what it feels like when he starts to slip. He’s so close to the edge that he’s practically kissing oblivion right now. He makes himself take one, two, three more before he opens his eyes again.

He knew what he was getting into. He know what they’d be like when he started working with them instead of against them. He knew they were going to try and fuck him over again seeing as it worked so well the last time. This world is not the world of sunshine and rainbows where every one gets their happy ending. This is the twist ending world, where if he’s not prepared to yank the rug out from under them, they’ll pull it from under him and whatever shit that happened with the eggs will look like fucking child’s play.

But as he soon as he thinks about it, his chest starts to get tight again and he’s handcuffed to a tree, in a sweltering jungle, mosquitoes making their livelihoods in his neck as he tries not to cry over a broken heart and a stolen egg. So he squeezes his eyes shut and lets himself live in the fake world for just a little longer.

The one where the Bishop carefully brushed her fingers over the scar she’d given him and button up his shirt for him when it hurt to much to raise his arms.

The one where Hartley took a cool washcloth and carefully cleaned his face, continuing because it seemed like Nolan liked it.

The one where they made him breakfast, the one where they slept in the same bed, the one where they cared.

He learned how to cry silently a long time ago and he’s never forgotten how. But maybe he has forgotten what it’s like to be cared for, and if even a phony imitation of it is here, then maybe…

Maybe there’s something to those reality-shifting bullets after all.

#dragonbabbles #fic #red notice #nolan booth #the bishop #sarah black #john hartley

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