#I'm not sure I'm happy with it now either

[theminecraftbee]

"You let me think you were dead, you know."

Jimmy winces, but he doesn't turn around to look at Grian, or Cuteguy, or whatever he's going by right now. He considers just walking away. He considers a lot of things, but he doesn't expect he'll be able to, because--

"Don't walk away from me, Jimmy."

When Jimmy turns around, Grian's only half-dressed as Cuteguy, wearing no goggles, the paints he uses to disguise his wings slowly bleeding out, streaks of bold pink and black dripping down otherwise dull brown patterns. Jimmy takes a moment to stare. He's not quite sure which name he's supposed to be calling the man in front of him. On the one hand, he's not wearing the goggles, his dark eyes fully visible to the world. On the other hand, he's still wearing most of the clothes, and there's escrima sticks still hanging from his belt, and while the paint is fading it's still right there, hiding the patterns that make the wings identifiable as Grian.

Jimmy shifts uncomfortably. "I did," he says, finally.

"You let me think you were shot in the head in front of me," Cuteguy says.

"That, uh, did happen," Jimmy says. Cuteguy gestures at Jimmy. Jimmy swallows. "Look, uh, it's not like it was super fun for me to wake up in the morgue either."

"You could have said something!" Cuteguy says. "You could have--you could have just, just rung me up and, and said--"

"Sorry man, it turns out that you getting me killed got undone?" Jimmy says, equally quietly, and Grian reels back in the same way that Jimmy imagines he must have when he was shot, too.

"Timmy," Grian says.

"I mean, I don't actually really blame you that much at this point," Jimmy says. "I don't really--it's not exactly your fault someone else shot us. I'm--I mean, I'm not happy with--you call him Forgery. Not so happy he didn't know that--yeah. But it's still a little... I did die, you know."

"You should have said something," Cuteguy says.

"I'm still kinda dead," Jimmy says.

"Timmy, I--I thought you were dead. I thought I wasn't ever--I'm sorry," Grian says.

"Oh," Jimmy says, because he's not sure what else to say. He both did and didn't expect an apology. It is, after all, Grian; it is, after all, Grian.

"I'm sorry, I'm--I was just, just yelling at you again because I was scared, because, because you're one of my best friends, and, and you were dead, Timmy. You were dead."

Jimmy's not sure what to say, or which of the person in front of him said that. He's fairly certain it's Grian. He's also fairly certain the world is grey and blurry again, and he has to take deep breaths, digging his fingers into his palms and trying very hard to remember that it's not really Cuteguy's fault, or even really Forgery's; until then, neither of them had understood how dangerous it was, either.

But it's not them that faced the consequences, is it?

Joel says it's fair to be angry. It's fair to blame them. Jimmy doesn't know that it is.

"I was dead," agrees Jimmy.

"Not going to say anything else?" Grian asks.

"No," Jimmy says.

Grian stares, and then it is most certainly Cuteguy who pulls himself together, shakes his wings until his feathers are straighter, and puts on a face that betrays nothing of the heartbreak or confusion or hurt he's feeling. Jimmy does, absolutely, hate it.

"Actually, I just wish... I don't know, man. Never mind," Jimmy says.

(He hates the way he doesn't recognize his own best friend some days nearly as much as he hates the way he doesn't recognize himself.)

Cuteguy stares for a long moment.

"Yeah, me too," he says. "Do... do you wanna come get sushi at that one weird place you like? Where you have the weird rivalry with that one server?"

"He insists salmon is the best sushi fish, and is absolutely wrong," Jimmy says primly, and then he nods, and even Cuteguy can't help but betray his relief.

They walk side-by-side, together. It doesn't really matter who they are now.

[tsuyalovebot]

ur writing is insane, i love it sm!!!

any thoughts on caleb with a biiiit of a gentle— soft ‘daddy’ persona? 😼

hello! first of all, thank you so much! i'm really happy knowing that the way i write for caleb is well received :] second, i am SO sorry this took so long to get out, i didn't even notice i had this in my inbox (; ; )

for caleb though, i can definitely see that coming to life. he's got a parental vibe to the way he nurtures mc. to look at it one way, our caleb right now feels very brotherly. a lot of it has to do with their banter and how he treats mc. another way of seeing him is when he's the colonel. very commanding, no questions asked, expectant, and domineering. i feel like a soft daddy persona would fall between those two. he doesn't need to be excessively stern, but he toes that line instead.

i don't know if i'm envisioning him correctly (i have never written for this specific persona before, and i don't often consume mentioned persona either). but here's my take nonnie!

most of the stuff caleb says and does comes off as nagging in the eyes of mc. he'd have to establish some sense of quiet authority over you to shift the narrative. making you feel protected and taken care of. maybe he cuts back a bit on the teasing from time to time, and whenever you start to edge into an argument (hah), it's then that i imagine he takes control of it. he did it before, surely; instances of him treating you a parent would their child. it kind of leaves you a bit more meek. not as resistant.

you'd cross the line in one way or another. he was trying hard to not really go too far — it wasn't that big of a deal, it was simply about your tendency to come home late when visiting skyhaven. but, the words leave you with such startling sharpness that it leaves the both of you reeling. and you watch, in real time, as caleb slips and slides from your fingertips.

"you know you were wrong to say that, right?" he starts. nothing gives away any sign of anger, irritation, nor vexation. the words come out measured.

he isn't chastising you. not yet.

and you know you were wrong, you knew that saying that obviously wasn't the smartest decision on your part. and yet, the bitter phrases still left you with ease. he's watching you now, expectant.

you're quiet. he notices.

"i'm not mad," he says, voice softer now. from where he's standing, he's tall and looming and pressuring. but with every tentative step taken toward you, subtracting the distance separating your bodies, there's nothing intimidating.

his hands find yours, tightly clasped on your lap. each digit that was wringing itself slowly undid the curl, the tight clasp. the expertise in his manner of undoing you was methodical.

"but you gotta be kinder, you know that." the assurance comes in a subtle form of advice, not at all suffocating. and yet you're nodding along with his words, letting him pull, wind you up in his arms, and sway side to side.

it's oddly soothing. you can't really curse at him like this, not that you'd try.

"so well-behaved. that's it."

your face buried in his chest in silent apology, his lips on your hair. when he uses his fingers to hold your chin and experimentally move your head, you don't resist, looking up at him. you don't know when you started looking for approval in those quietly commanding eyes of his.

"good. that's good," he whispers, smiling.

you blurt the words on instinct. "i'm sorry."

he hums. "you're forgiven. you gonna do it again?"

"no."

his smile widens, and he leans down. when he kisses you, it's slow. methodical. and you're like melted butter in those few seconds, even as he's settling the two of you down onto the couch. you're on his lap and kissing him, barely catching how he murmurs, "i know you won't."

[jeffrrandell]

Explanation for the connection I made lol 👇

I'm gonna at least slightly explain Tord and Gravy being roommates. I'm not going to lie to you guys, this was a joke made because when my friends and I were watching "Technical Foul" from 8 Crazy Nights we were like "that's like if Tord crashed at Gravys house tbh" and then it turned into "Tord somehow becomes Gravys roommate after he leaves Edds house, for like maybe 2-3 years. And it's almost like a Disney movie. Tords just happy he has a place to stay, and he knows Gravy is just soooooo nice but man is he annoying. So he's not mean to him, he just is autistic and only ever likes Edd anyway basically. But he warms up to em. Gravy works a ton of jobs, and Tord cleans up around the house. And an odd but actually important detail is Gravy smokes weed (because of all of these jobs), and Tord took interest in that. Getting high together kinda made it easier for his nerves to be calmed down, and it made it easier for him to realize "oh Gravy is just a guy". Of course afterwards, Gravy turns back to jumpy goofy Gravy, but Tord learned to appreciate the energy. Tord and Blonzie were already slight acquaintances, actually before Tord met Gravy. Somehow for whatever reason Tord ends up at the auto shop he works at, probably asked about a pile of spare parts that looked like junk and Blonzie said "take em". So they had that for a while. They're mechanically intelligent together. Plus Tord finds his stunts REALLY cool, as he loves destruction too. He'd love to invent little things for him to try out. They also both have "I'm gonna be silent now" autism. Anyway, he never in his life expected for Gravy to be like "meet my boyfriend" and "oh whataya know, it's the guy that calls me Tiny and gives me spare parts". Not sure if it makes sense for Tord to still be living with Gravy when he gets with Blonzie or not, but either way they'd make a really weird fun trio. Gravy definitely opened up Tords weird side for him. Because Tord is just so closeted around everyone, even Edd didn't know a few secrets about him (for probably crush related reasons, intimidation.) But with Gravy, it sorta didn't matter to him what he told him. He'd listen, and I mean it's sad but. Gravys a huge loser who's pushed around EVERYDAY, and for a bit Tords view on that was "well he has it worse than I do so he can't judge me"

But yeah, they're friends lol

In a WTFuture timeline, this was also a joke that turned out to be something that we all kinda liked. I believe in Tord clone theory btw! Basically one day, Not Tord shows up to Gravys house one day. Reminder that if this is a bad timeline, Blonzie is dead sorry. But yeah Gravy notices something is off about him. Very off. Like, somehow this Tord knows Gravy would call him "buddy" buuut.. Tord never called HIM "buddy". Blah blah blah somehow Gravy is in the Red Army. And I don't mean as a soldier, the last thing Tord wants is for him to die actually. As in any timeline, Gravy will work a million jobs. And that's exactly what he does. I'm talking coffee runs and goofy shit like that. Because to me, yeah Red Leader is "WOAAHH crazy leader man scary he's taking over the world" but it's EDDSWORLD, so he's also "aw man. My helmet stinky" "play just dance with me I'm bored" like y'know. Before this concept, I was like "yup. Gravy is the first to die in this timeline" and then it turned into "Tord wants to keep him alive because he'd be dead bored without him"

And I'm serious it's gets so goofy. To a point where THIS Tord also opens up to Gravy, crying about Edd and being like "I'LL JUST GET RID OF ALL THE COKE IN THE WORLD I CANT LOOK AT IT ANYMORE!!" and then he's like "😲💡" and then Gravy talks about his feelings too.

Potentially as well, since Gravy is trained in medical, he could also technically take care of wounded soldiers and almost act as a doctor but ONLY back at headquarters, he's not allowed to go anywhere he'd be in danger. Anyways. Yup. My sick and twisted mind.

[gothamite-rambler]

Cass coming out to her mother when she visited Gotham

Cass: Oh, mother I forgot to tell you. I am pretty positive... That I'm a lesbian.

Lady Shiva: What?

Cass: Yep. I brought my aunt Batwoman because she wanted to be a shoulder to cry on if you disowned me.

Batwoman (holding a bat): And I'd have a chat with you in private if you did.

Lady Shiva (stoic): Oh... Oh my word, lesbian? I didn't expect to hear you say that and now that you have. What is this feeling?

Cass: I'm not sure, your body language suggests either anger or shock.

Lady Shiva nodded, gulping nervously then went in and gave Cass the most awkward not the best parent mom hug. Patting her daughter on the back.

Lady Shiva: You left the closet for me? I am so happy you could... Is "out" the right word to use?

Cass (surprised she was being hugged): It's better than left the closet.

Batwoman sighed relieved as Shiva pulled away.

Lady Shiva: You're not having children with any women are you?

Cass shrugged.

Lady Shiva: Don't. Hold off on it. Kids are a commitment and sometimes you'll have them with a bastard who chose your sister first- I'm focusing on myself and for once that's not important.

Cass nodded with a smirk.

[solaris-amethyst]

💫Eterna Forest💫

✨Pairing: pokemontrainer!Hongjoong x pokemontrainer!gn!reader ✨Prompt: Hongjoong and his partner pokemon Pachirisu has gotten lost while wandering around Eterna Forest and the two of them bump into you and your partner Piplup, who also, coincidentally, happens to be lost. The two of you decide to team up to try and find your way out of the big forest. ✨Genre: Pokémon au aka set in the Sinnoh region, non idol au, fluff, comedy? ✨Word count: 5.6k ☀️Authors note: As promised Mina! Here it is🥰 @hongjoongspoetry hope you enjoy it! It turned out longer than I had anticipated but it was so much fun to write this💕 I'm contemplating making stories for the rest of the members now as well😅

Hongjoong looked around the vast forest. All he could see were trees and greenery, no matter where he turned he could not for the life of him find the way out. It was as if the forest itself had a personal vendetta against him solely to make sure he couldn't get out. His partner, Pachirisu, was perched onto his shoulder also looking around with his big round eyes.

"Let's face it Pachirisu... We're lost... I got no clue where we are and my map isn't helping me at all." He sighs before wrapping up his map and putting it into his backpack.

His pocketch light up with a notification and it informed him of the time. It was 14:30. It was the time he had promised his friend Seonghwa that he would call him from the tvphones at the pokémon center so they could chat and catch up on how things were going.

Seonghwa would unfortunately have to wait until he found his way out.

"Pachiii." His partner said puffing out his cheeks when he was unhappy with the situation before Hongjoong felt the squirrel lean forward and nibble his ear harshly.

"Ow ow ow! Stop that! I'm not happy either that we are lost but that's just the way it is." He gently pries Pachirisu away from his ear and said pokemon huffs before snuggling up to him as if to apologize for what he just did.

"It's in moments like this I wish I had caught a flying pokemon then we would have someone who could guide us from the sky." He says looking around, hoping to perhaps find a starly or maybe even a hoothoot but to his luck there were no flying pokémon around. And if they were Hongjoong were certainly not spotting them.

All he could see was just a wurmple climbing up a tree and a kricketot running away once it realized he had spotted said pokemon. The two of them sighs before Hongjoong continues to walk hoping that he will somehow find his way out before the day is over at least.

Not too far away from where Hongjoong were wandering around were you and your partner Piplup walking around trying to figure out how to get out of this darn forest as well.

"Piplup I really don't think we will find our way out today..." You sigh and your partner looks up at you from your hold with concern in his eyes.

"Lup?"

"We're probably gonna miss the contest in Eterna City... I had really hoped for us to get there in time to register and compete." You say feeling down about potentially missing the contest being held there, especially since you and your team had worked so hard practicing the introduction and combinations of attacks to make them stylish and powerful.

"piplup, pip!" Your best friend and partner raises one of his little flippers towards you as if telling you that the two of you will find your way out of here and will get to the contest before it's too late.

"Yeah... you're right! There's no need for me to be so down just yet! We'll find our way out of here!" You say with raised spirits before hugging him. Piplup made happy noises as you hugged him tightly, glad to see your spirits up again.

"Hmm let's see.. I'm sure this is the way! Let's hurry!" You say as you blindly starts running in a random direction, running through the thickness of the leaves and such you did not expect to crash into someone causing you and said person to fall down.

Him on his butt and you on your stomach.

"Ow ow ow." The two of you mutter at the same time and you quickly look up, feeling mortified that you practically tackled someone.

"I'm so sorry!! I didn't mean to run into you!" You quickly bow trying to apologize to the man who was gently caressing the part on his butt where he had landed.

"No it's okay I wasn't looking where I was going either." He admits before looking at you with a chuckle.

"Sorry but you got something in your hair." He motions towards you and your hand quickly shoots up to where he was pointing to find a twig and some leafs stuck.

"Oh thank you!" You thank him as you carefully pick it out of your hair.

"Ummm... you don't happen to know the way out of here and to Eterna City do you?" He asks curiously and you look at him in surprise before shaking your head.

"No sorry... I got no clue where I am currently, I lost my map when a shellos attacked us two with a water gun farther down the river." You tell him with a sigh while pointing to where you had come from.

"So you are as lost as I am then?"

"Seems so."

"Pachi!!!" Suddenly a ball of white fur was in front of you causing you to lean back in surprise causing the man to make a face and quickly reach for his friend.

"Sorry! Hey Pachirisu! Don't do that it's not polite to barge up in strangers faces like that! I'm so sorry for my partner, he just loves to do everything I tell him not to do."

That causes you to chuckle.

"Don't worry, there's no harm done at all. He's a charming little guy, aren't you?" You say going to scratch its chin when your own partner practically shoves the new pokemon off your lap before climbing up with a jealous look.

"Piplup pip lup lup!"

"Piplup! It is not nice shoving people or Pokémon like that! I'm so sorry uhhh... I never got your name?"

"Oh! My name is Hongjoong and this is my partner Pachirisu!" He tells you with a smile and you quickly bring out your Pokédex wanting to know more about his pokémon.

The device speaks up in a robot voice as you scan the pachirisu: "Pachirisu the elesquirrel pokémon. It makes furr balls that crackle with static electricity. It store them with berries in tree holes. It makes electricity with pouches in its cheeks and shoots charges from its tail. It lives atop trees. A pair may be seen rubbing their cheek pouches together in effort to share stored electricity."

"Nice to meet you Hongjoong, Pachirisu! My name is Y/n and this is my partner Piplup!" You say motioning towards the little penguin pokemon who is still glaring daggers at the pachirisu, who uses it's little paw to drag down it's eye lid and stick out its tongue to infuriate your friend, which absolutely works as you can hear piplup getting even more worked up.

"It's nice to meet you two!" Hongjoong says as he brings out his own Pokédex. He had only ever seen a piplup on a poster but never seen one in real life.

"Piplup the penguin Pokémon. Because it’s very proud, it hates accepting food from people. Its thick down guards it from cold. It lives along shores in northern countries. A skilled swimmer, it dives for over 10 minutes to hunt. It’s a poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care."

Piplup puffs up his chest hearing all the positive and impressive things Hongjoongs Pokédex says about its species and you can't help but chuckle finding him very cute every time he does it.

"Well it seems like you got a very reliable pokémon on your side." Hongjoong muses with a smile and you nod.

"Yeah, I can always count on piplup you know!" You pat your partners head gently.

"This might seem weird but were you perhaps heading to Eterna City as well?" He asks a bit slowly, hoping you will say yes and your eyes lit up at the mention of said city.

"We were until I lost my map. You were heading there as well weren't you? Perhaps we can try and find our way there together?" You ask hoping he will say yes because it had been some time since you traveled with another person and it was nice from time to time to spend time with other trainers and see what they've learnt so far on their own journey versus what you had learnt.

"I was just about to ask if you wanted to see if we could find our way together! I still got my map you know." He tells you looking relieved you said yes.

Perhaps it will be easier together he hopes.

The two of you get up off the ground, dusting yourselves off. Pachirisu makes sure to get up on Hongjoongs shoulder as Piplup awaits you to pick him up, making a pleased noise when you do.

"Do you think you could show me your map?" You ask and he nods quickly bringing it out of his backpack and holding it out for you to look over.

"Hmmm it seems we are somewhere around here." You motion to a spot on the map. "I think we should head in this direction." You point and your new friend nods since he has no clue where to go and your confidence makes him think you know where to go.

As you two walk you chat together talking about yourselves to become more acquainted.

"So what do you do? Are you a pokemon gym trainer or a pokemon coordinator?" Hongjoong asks you curiously and you beam at him.

"I'm a pokemon coordinator! I haven't been in many contests yet, I've mostly focused on journeying, finding new friends and practicing so when I do go to contests I do well." You tell him fondly and he nods, his eyes crinkling as he smiles a soft smile.

"Have you earned any ribbons yet?"

"I have!" You fetch out your ribbon case from your backpack and opens it to show him. Inside are two ribbons so far, one is purple while the other is green.

"I only got two so far but we worked hard for these two, they will always be super precious to me." You tell him and he marvels at the ribbons.

"They're so pretty! Much prettier than the gym badges if I'm honest!"

"Do you compete at gyms to later try your hand at the Sinnoh league?" You ask curiously, he didn't really strike you as the gym person type but you could be wrong.

"I started off at the gyms but I only got three badges so far. Then I realized my true passion is exploring Sinnoh and discovering beauty I've never seen before." He admits before continuing "So now I only do gyms if I happens to pass one by and feel like competing."

"That's so cool! I also understand you, it's not easy knowing what you want to do at the start of your journey. Like gyms, contests, performing, just traveling. There is so much growing and learning as you go and I think that's wonderful." You tell him with a smile and Hongjoong can't help but grow a little red in the face.

"You're like one of the first ones to think that way. Many think it's weird I'm not charging ahead with all the gyms. But I don't know. I'd rather travel with Pachirisu and find new friends and see where life takes me." He says as his partner snuggles its face to Hongjoongs cheek.

"How did you two meet?" You wonder out loud.

"Ah." He chuckles "We've known each other since I was four. He obviously didn't become my Pokémon until I was ten but I met him whilst playing outside. We'd play with a ball I had passing it back and forth and then when we got tired I'd share my snacks with him. We became inseparable very quickly and when I turned ten all I asked for was a pokeball so I could go out and ask if he wanted to join me on my journey and I am so incredibly lucky Pachirisu wanted to join me."

"Pachiii!!"

"I see he agrees." You say as the squirrel cutely asks Hongjoong for a snack.

" Mhmmm I'm very glad he does otherwise I'd be very sad." He gives his partner a poffin that he got out from his pocket.

"What about you? How did you and Piplup meet?"

"Oh we met at Professor Rowans lab when I went there to get my first pokémon! I just saw Piplup and knew, knew that that was my partner. It just felt right and I can tell you he felt the same way." "Pip! Lup!" Piplup agrees with that.

The two of you continues to wander around in the dense forest. The deeper you go in the forest you notice that fewer and fewer pokémon seems to appear the further down your path you get. Which is weird because earlier you saw bidoofs, buizels, starlys and burmys.

But now it was as if every single pokemon had disappeared.

"That's weird... Where did all the pokemon go?" You mumble looking around worriedly.

"I'm sure they're all just... sleeping?" Hongjoong says putting a hand on your shoulder to try and calm you down.

In reality he was a bit freaked out as well at the fact that everyone had just suddenly disappeared.

"You don't think we should turn back?" You ask stepping closer to him for safety.

"I think we should be good right? It can't be that bad." He says urging you two to continue to walk.

Oh how wrong he had been.

It only took you three minutes to reach a part of the forest where you could suddenly see more and more weedles. Even your pokémons started to become unnerved at the sight of so many weedles as the two of you come to a stop.

"I'm starting to think we should have turned around when you suggested it." Hongjoong whispers holding your arm to try and stop his trembling at the thought of potentially having wandered into a nest.

As you go to respond a bunch of kakunas starts to hang down in thin threads from the trees surrounding you causing you both to tense.

"This is really bad Hongjoong." You whisper hoping that what you think might happen won't actually happen but of course it's not your lucky day and what you wished not to happen happens.

A beedrill flies up from the bushes in front of you.

The giant bee is flying above it looking at the two of you intensely and the four of you freezes, all breathing stopped as if that would help.

It's just at the moment you think it might buzz away and not bother you that Hongjoongs pokédex decides to pipe up, having scanned the beedrill.

"Beedrill the poison bee pokemon. Its best attack involves flying around at high speed, striking with poison needles, then flying off. It can take down any opponent with its powerful poison stingers. It sometimes attack in swarms."

The noise from the device seems to agitate the beedrill and suddenly more and more pops up buzzing angrily.

"I think we should run Y/n." Hongjoong whispers and when he turns to look at you slowly he realizes you are no longer beside him but running away from the place causing him to start sprinting after you.

"YOU REALLY LEFT ME THERE?!"

"I'M SORRY BEEDRILLS SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!" You scream back at him as the beedrills buzzes after the four of you hot on your tails.

"AHHHH I REALLY WISH I HAD A FIRE TYPE NOW." Hongjoong yells and you can hear Pachirisu laughing loudly, finding his friends scared face hilarious.

"CAN YOU NOT LAUGH AT ME RIGHT NOW PACHIRISU?!?!?!" That causes his partner to laugh even louder in glee as you continue to run.

"P-PERHAPS AN ELECTRIC ATTACK MIGHT STUN THEM ENOUGH FOR US TO GET AWAY HONGJOONG!!" You yell before looking over your shoulder and screeching loudly when you realize how close the massive bees and their giant stingers are.

"YOU'RE RIGHT! PACHIRISU PLEASE USE DISCHARGE! Hongjoong tells his partner who lights up as he starts to charge up, lighting sparkling from its cheek pouches and Hongjoong hastily adds "NOT ON ME ON THE BEEDRILLS!"

Pachirisu jumps up from Hongjoongs shoulder and lets out its attack, discharging electricity towards the beedrills hitting them all with its powerful move. It momentarily stuns the beedrills who twitches and convulses from the electric shocks they took and you and Hongjoong takes this as the time to get out of there safely without worrying about being followed. Pachirisu runs after the two of you and climb up on Hongjoongs shoulder again once the two of you have stopped finally feeling safe enough.

“That was terrifying… and I was the one who said we should go that way after looking at the map.” You say defeated, your chest heaving from all the running, as you realize this could have been avoided had you looked a bit longer at the map.

“It’s also my fault because I said we should continue when you said we should turn around.” Hongjoong pants trying to catch his breath as his partner nuzzles him, making sure that the leftover electricity makes his hair go static, standing up in all directions.

“Well, we should look at the map once more and make sure we go the right direc-oh ummm Hongjoong.” You stifle your laughter “nice hairdo.” You point at his hair snickering and he glances up to see what you mean and let out the loudest groan which tells you this isn’t the first time this has happened.

His partner is once again laughing at him and you and Piplup can’t help but giggle but at least the two of you have the decency to try and hide it as he fixes his hair back to normal whilst scolding his friend.

“He does this every time if he got leftover electricity after an attack. I’ve even made a habit of always having a hat with me just in case I can’t get it down again.” He admits shaking his head.

“Oh wow I can’t imagine how annoying that could get sometimes but I do think it’s kinda cute, like you look cute with your hair all over the place.”

“You think I look cute?”

“Yeah.”

You smile liking the fact that you can see how the blush creeps up on his face once more. You hadn’t spent that much time with him yet you felt like this was someone you wanted to spend more time with, it was fun traveling together and you two seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to Pokémon’s and traveling in general.

“T-thank you.” He clears his throat before clumsily bringing out his map again. “Shall we take a look once more?” He says and you nod but this time you bring out a pokéball as well.

“Yes and this time I got an idea to ensure we will be on the right path and not get too lost.” You tell him before throwing the pokéball up in the air.

“Mismagius please come out and help me!”

Your beautifully haunting Mismagius comes out from her pokeball and she floats above the ground looking at you curiously before floating up to you to greet you warmly.

“Oh wow! A Mismagius!” Hongjoong says in awe stepping closer to you, that’s when your Pokémon notices the new person. She immediately hides behind you, still shy when it comes to new people and hiding behind you was a habit she had had since she was a Misdreavus before she had evolved.

“Yes Mismagius these are my new friends Hongjoong and Pachirisu!”

“Piplup, pip, lup pip.” Your Piplup seems to be encouraging her to come forward to say hi and it works because she floats out from behind you and up to Hongjoong. She circles him a few times before she seems to introduce herself to him by holding out one of her ‘arms’ and he takes it shaking it and giving her a kind smile.

“It’s lovely meeting you Mismagius.” Your friend turns shy again quickly hiding behind you as she giggles and you can’t help but laugh.

“Yeah it’s easy falling for that charming smile isn’t it?” You say looking back at her and she nods before giggling again.

“Okay! Now let’s check the map again all five of us and when we figure out where we should go I was wondering if you could use your psychic powers to help lead us as far as possible to Eterna City Mismagius?” You can hear her agree as she floats closer to the two of you who are now huddled around the map. The two of you discuss for a while where you could have possibly ended up after the mad dash to get away from the angry squadron of beedrills.

You both eventually agrees that you’re probably very far from Eterna City and where you originally started when you bumped into each other.

"Mismagius think you can create something that would guide us?" Hongjoong asks your friend and she looks intently at the map before her eyes start glowing blue, a telltale sign that she is using her psychic powers and after a while an arrow pops up in front of you.

"Oh that's amazing!" You hug her happily and she turns shy and bashful at your praise.

"This will make our journey much easier, thank you." Hongjoong also thanks her and she hides behind you once more. It's very clear she likes Hongjoong and it does surprise you a little bit.

She had always been shy and hesitant and mistrusting of people so seeing her actually like someone that wasn't you was a big feat. Perhaps it was Hongjoongs kindness that had won her over or his very kind eyes and that pretty smile?

He ends up laughing a little at her reactions.

"Shall we continue our journey? See how far we get today? I'm not so sure we will reach Eterna City before the day is over." He admits looking up to the sky where the sun sits lower than it had done earlier in the day.

"Don't worry about that, I got a sleeping bag and some food in my bag for situations like this." You tell him motioning towards your backpack trying not to feel disappointed about how you will miss the registration for the contest.

"Great, I got a sleeping bag as well!" He tells you as the two of you start following the arrow with Mismagius floating around you two making sure the arrow will not lead your group astray.

"So where are you from Hongjoong?" You question curiously.

"I'm from Twinleaftown!" He tells you. "It's a really small town near Sandgem town where Professor Rowans lab is."

"Oh! I think I know where it is then! You'd continue down the path through a small forest right? It's close to Lake Verity right?" You ask wanting to know if your memory served you correctly.

"Yes! I can't count all the times us kids would head to Lake Verity in hopes of seeing the mythical being said to live there! None of us had any luck when we were younger. Perhaps it's just a fairytale but it was fun going there with the hopes that you would be lucky enough." He chuckles at the memories and you nod.

"That sounds like something fun! I'm from Floaroma Town and the most exciting that happened there is I guess all the flowers planted there? Or perhaps the Valley Windworks... We didn't have any mythical beings to look for." You pout thinking how it would have been fun to chase that dream of seeing a rare pokemon as a child.

"I've heard Floaroma is beautiful during summer with all the flowers coming to life and blooming at the same time. I hope I get to see it one day."

"I can take you there if you'd like? I know exactly which time of the year is the best one for the flowers to bloom! And if we're lucky we get to see the roselias dance around the flower beds happily!" You tell him, already planning on when the best time to travel back home would be.

"I'd love that! Honestly I think we would make a good team traveling throughout the region together!" He admits shyly and you nod agreeing.

"We could see the world and perhaps you could help me when I practice for my contests as well! I always find it hard to figure things out when it's just me and my Pokémons working on it together." You tell him with a sigh.

The two of you continues to chat learning more and more about each other. You learn that Hongjoong has a friend who happens to also be a coordinator named Seonghwa and that they grew up together in Twinleaftown and left on their respective journeys around the same time. At first they had traveled together until they had decided they wanted to try traveling solo for a while to see how that would work out for them.

He tells you how he was actually scheduled to have a call with Seonghwa at the pokémoncenter but that he will probably have to call tomorrow instead.

"I just hope he won't be too worried that I didn't call him you know." He tells you as his shoulders sag lightly.

"I'm sure he will understand why you couldn't call him today. Things can come up when you're traveling the world alone and as long as we get there tomorrow and you can call him, then he won't be too worried." You assure him, patting his shoulder lightly.

"Yeah you're right about that. Thank you." He says earnestly, happy he could actually tell someone other than his pokémons about his worries.

To distract him a bit from what had him worried you proceed to tell him about the time you had by accident entered a cooking competition where you and your pokémons had to work together to create a dish which would be judged by the chefs in the village. Hongjoong had laughed loudly at that and asked how it went and you told him it was a disaster, your team which consisted of Piplup, who was too proud to realize he could not do everything he wanted and refused to back down, your then Misdreavus who kept on hiding behind you because she was so painfully shy around all these people watching you with curious eyes.

Mismagius had made an embarrassed noise at that, she was probably not overly fond having to remember that day and then of course your third and currently final pokemon on your team, Leafeon.

Leafeon was probably your biggest help as she cut up the veggies using her tail somehow but she was also at first not careful enough and had burned herself when she got too close to the fire. The contest had ended with you finishing last with a burnt meal and two pokemons you needed to nurse back to health after they had hurt themselves.

"Even if it was a disaster I had lots of fun actually. It was a good team bonding experience." You admit snickering at the memory of everyones shocked faces at the burnt dish you had so proudly presented them with.

"So your final Pokémon currently is a Leafeon?" He asks curiously and you nod.

"Yeah, I will let her out once we set camp and get ready for dinner." You mused.

"So is this story your way of telling me to do the cooking?" He jokes and you laugh loudly.

"I've become much better I promise but if it makes you feel better you can totally do the cooking." You say and the two of you joke back and forth for a while.

It is when you realize that the sun has almost set beyond the horizon that you two decide to stop and set up camp. The arrow Mismagius had conjured disappears as she allows herself to float around happily as you work on setting up your portable stove to cook some dinner. Piplup runs around checking the area curiously as Pachirisu follows him, probably to see if he can annoy Piplup some more.

"Is it okay if I let my other Pokémon's out as well?" Hongjoong asks and you let him know that he absolutely should as you let Leafeon out.

As Hongjoong throws up his pokéballs three new Pokémon's appear. A Riolu, a Snorunt and a Cranidos comes out and you marvel at his pokémons all of them looking so well cared for and happy to see their trainer.

All running up to greet him warmly.

"Oh wow you got such a variety! That's so cool and I've never seen a Cranidos before! Isn't that actually a fossil pokémon?" You ask as you stir the pot containing your food.

"Yeah it is, I found a skull fossil when I went to visit the Orburgh Mines and did some digging around there for fun and then at I think it was the museum they offered to revive it for me which I thought why not?" He told you as he petted said pokémons head.

"Oh wow that's amazing!" You marvel.

"Thank you."

"Ri-olu?" You hear next to you and that's when you notice his Riolu checking out the food you were cooking.

"It's almost done so if everyone get their bowls I will be able to serve food soon." You announce and suddenly you have all seven pokémon surrounding you holding their bowls eager to get some of the delicious smelling food.

Hongjoong laughs loudly at everyone's eager displays to get some food and jokingly runs to get his own bowl and get in line. You make sure to serve everyone including Hongjoong before filling up your own bowl and getting up to sit next to Hongjoong who is sitting near the crackling fire he had made earlier when you were setting up your camp.

"This is really cozy, I'm glad I ran into you earlier today." You mumble whilst blowing on your food to make sure it's not too hot before eating it.

"Me too, it's been a wild day today but I've enjoyed it so much and traveling together will be perhaps a little chaotic but fun." He admits before eating some of his food and making a pleased noise at the taste of it.

"This is great! I was a little worried after your story about the burnt food earlier but this is amazing." He tells you and you can feel your cheeks heating up.

"Oh it's nothing." You bashfully say trying to deny his praise but he shakes his head.

"No I'm serious it is great! You did such a good job!" He wouldn’t stop until you've agreed that yes you did a good job with the food.

“Thank you, it’s very sweet of you.”

The night sky is twinkling beautifully with stars and the moon is shining brightly above the two of you. Your Mismagius is floating around happily enjoying the night a lot as your other Pokémon’s start getting drowsy, most of them finding a place to lay down to sleep. You and Hongjoong makes sure to cover them all with blankets so they won’t get cold during the night before you both climb into your sleeping bags. You’ve placed them next to each other so you can easily communicate if needed.

Your friend Piplup wiggles into the sleeping bag so he can snuggle with you during the night, preferring the heat and the coziness of it all. Pachirisu does the same making sure he's on Hongjoongs stomach curled up nicely before promptly falling asleep.

“Goodnight Hongjoong, sweet dreams.” You mumble closing your eyes.

“Goodnight Y/n, sweet dreams.” Hongjoong mumbles back before falling asleep.

-the very next day at the Pokémon center-

“Finally you call! Do you know how worried I was when I called the Eterna city pokémon center five times at different times and you still hadn’t turned up there?!” Seonghwa berated Hongjoong through the screen of the tv and Hongjoong looked everywhere but at his friend who was scolding him harshly.

“Bun! Bun-neary!” Seonghwas partner Buneary was also on screen scolding him and Pachirisu and he let out a sigh before trying to explain.

“I’m sorry Seonghwa but we got lost, I couldn’t find my way out and then I bumped into my new friend here, Y/n!” He drags you into frame so Seonghwa can see you. “And they helped me out of the forest today! We got lost at first but then their Mismagius came and rescued the day.” He says and he can see Seonghwa relaxing a little bit.

“Okay fine but don’t do that again!”

“I won’t I promise I promise!” Hongjoong holds up his hands to show how serious he is and you decide to glance towards the tv to catch a glimpse of Hongjoongs friend and when you see him you gasp dramatically.

“Hongjoong you never told me you were friends with THEE Seonghwa!! He’s super famous in the contest world!!” You say before you turn to shake Hongjoong demanding answers how he could hide this from you.

You hadn’t understood that his Seonghwa was thee Pokémon coordinator Seonghwa that you were looking up to and Hongjoong tried to get in a word but he couldn’t due to how violently you were shaking him.

Seonghwa couldn’t help but laugh at the display he was seeing.

It served Hongjoong right for scaring him so much yesterday.

[emsdevs]

Can I please have 13 with Joseph Woll 🎁 happy birthday again! - em

a/n: here's the first celly post!! i'm so excited to get to all of these!! you guys made SUCH good picks!!

Prompt 13: "You deserved to know."

Birthday Celly 2025 Masterlist | masterlist

Catching up with Jo had been everything you could’ve hoped for. When he reached out a few days ago after he arrived in your hometown for the off-season, you could only hope it would go well, but it’s been like nothing has changed at all, like he never left and you two never lost touch. He’d had you laughing and reminiscing the whole time. That all went away, though, when you watched his smile turn serious.

“Look, there’s an actual reason I asked you to come here with me today,” you could see the nerves swirling in his eyes, making a pit grow in your stomach.

“Oh, okay, um, what, uhh, what did you need?” 

“So, there’s something I need to tell you—actually, a few things. First of all, I met this girl in Toronto,” he smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“That’s great, Joey,” you give him a tight smile, ignoring the way your heart clenches at the news.

“Yeah, so, um, we’ve been on a few dates, and I, uh, I think she’s waiting on me to make it, you know, official. But, uh, before I do, I really need to get this off my chest, and I need to know what you think about it,” he gives you a look, and you’re nervous all over again.

“Okay. What do you have for me?” 

“I think I’ve always been in love with you, and I’m not sure I can love anyone else until you turn me down,” he says it quickly, like it’s been fighting to come out of his mouth all day.

“What?” you were shocked, you never expected him to tell you anything like that.

“I’ve been in love with you since we were in middle school, but I was too scared to tell you before I left after I got drafted. I wanted you to know, but I chickened out. I didn’t think you’d feel the same. Now, I met this girl, and she’s really great. She is! She’s just not you. I can’t move things forward with her unless I know you don’t feel the same way. Either way, I still feel like you deserved to know. Especially if we’re gonna stay close after this, but I probably just ruined any chance of that. So, um, yeah,” he trails off at the end of his rant, unsure what else to say.

“I wish you would’ve told me sooner, Jo,” your face is still covered by a stunned expression.

“Yeah, so you wouldn’t be holding me back, right? I get it. It’s okay. Thank you for hearing me out. I’ll let you go now,” Joseph looks dejected, and you realize you could’ve been a bit clearer.

“No! I- I wish you would’ve told me sooner because we could’ve been together this whole time. I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember Joey,” you give him a reassuring smile, hoping that maybe now the two of you could be a little more than friends.

“Oh thank god,” he breathes out a sigh of relief, “Wait, so is this our first date?”

taglist: @heartsforjh @macklin-celbrini-71  @dancerbailey3  @joeyspuckbunny  @beenucks  @wolls-angel  @lukey-pookie-hughes43  @t0xicinvasion

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[thatoneautisticshark]

Okays for one I'm just now following and discovering your stuff and I am eating it UPPP I'm vibing with it yes!

Secondly! I loved this blurb of yours in particular! Obv feel free to ignore if you aren't up for requests or anything but I'm so down for this?? Idk how you feel about poly!141 though I think I've seen it mentioned a bit so far, but I would honestly just love to hear more of your ideas regarding that with poly 141.

Maybe Simon amd Price are the beginning of it, Price taking care of Simon and things going from there, then eventually Soap and Gaz get involved because of course they do! Maybe they fond out about Price and Simon's after mission care, maybe Ghost sees that Gaz is beyond stressed and tells him he should go to Price for 'help'! Maybe there could be a litttttle hint of angst and Soap having self esteem issues and he gets a little withdrawn because he can tell something is going on with the others that he isn't a part of, but he doesn't know what, Price would fix that real quick and make sure Soap feels loved and included. They all end up taking care of and looking after eachother, they're used to looking after one another but now there's more to it! They all end up involved with eachother and they get a happy ending because I (and the entire community) say so.

Also random bit of talk, but I just love the idea of 141 retiring together from the military, living together, even working together still! Coffee/tea shop for shits and giggles of course, but I think maybe something like a mechanics shop or even some construction or renovation stuff would suit them more! They're used to keeping busy and using their hands, fixing problems, they do well with the labor involved it's what they're used to.

Anyways!!!! Just thought I'd word vomit all of this out there lmfao, sorry for the novel written 🤣😭 I haven't touched Tumblr in a while which is crazy bc the cod men have not left my brain since I was last here. Anyways!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day thank you for reading this far!!!

hehehe! Thank you so much! I'm glad people are enjoying. None of my baby soap yet, but I wanted to post this before I go to bed :3

Gaz was the first to know what was happening between his lieutenant and captain, having had the … misfortune, although he wouldn't really call it that, of walking in on Ghost with price's dick in his mouth.

He hadn't even realised it was Ghost at first, with no mask on, and Jesus he was pretty.

And Price all flushed, and god the size of his dick. Gaz was happy for them obviously. But he couldn't say he wasn't a bit jealous.

Not of one or the other in particular, he'd love to be in either of their positions. But it wasn't a clawing nasty jealousy.He didn't get sour seeing them together.

It was just more of a, ‘Well buggar’ I can't get with either now. But all in all, Gaz didn't give a shit, he was happy they were happy.

But right now, he didn't want to think about it, his brain would twist it. He was sitting out by one of the fields in the rain. Just needing the fresh air, the getaway, something.

All the back to back missions, and then family drama did not have him in the best headspace, he was tired and exhausted and just wanted to shut his fucking brain down.

He was so in his head, he didn't even notice Ghost coming up beside him, until a large warm hand was on his shoulder, causing him to jump.

“Alright Kyle?”the voice came soft.

Gaz froze, unsure how to answer, he couldn't exactly be honest, but he didn't want to lie.

He hated lying to those he cared about.“Uhm…. Debatable?”

The hand in his shoulder moved to his hair. “Hm, how about we don't debate your mental state, and instead get you inside and dry.” It was phrased as a suggestion, but Gaz knew it was an order.

He nodded mutely, allowing Ghost to pull him up to his feet. A hand on the small of his back, leading him. Well that was certainly the intention. For Gaz currently it was much more of a grounding force. Had that touch not been there, he genuinely thought he might have burst into tears.

He barely realised where they were going until they were within the Superior officers building, but… they weren't going to Ghosts room?Gaz frankly didn't have the energy to question it. He trusted Ghost, whatever he was doing, Gaz would follow.

He blinked as Ghost led him into Price's room. He hadn't been in here much.but it was cosy, warm toned, many pillows around, blackout curtains, a few candles. All together something that already made Gaz want to relax.

Even as he shivered from the chill settling in. He had no clue why he was being brought here, but didn't argue. Price looked up from his bed, his eyes narrowing, at the state of Gaz.

He was pretty sure he looked shit. Eyes were probably red from crying, whole body drenched and shivering, being led by Ghost.He probably looked pathetic as fuck.

And now his captain was seeing this.

Before his thoughts could spiral more, Price stood up, walking over.Gaz wasn't quite sure what he expected, but it wasn't Price's warm hands gently cupping his face, thumbs rubbing his cheeks.

And it especially wasn't the soft coo “Aw��� sweet boy, your soaking. Come on, what's happening?” As the rough hands tugged him gently towards the couch. He vaguely registered that Ghost followed, the hand on his back not moving even as he was sat on the couch. It still being a warm, grounding weight.

Price knelt In Front of him, a hand on his thigh “How long were you in the rain love? You’re freezing cold.” Gaz couldn't even put together enough words to explain, he honestly wasn't sure.

Luckily Ghost spoke. “I know he was out there for at least an hour. The idiot” The last sentence was said fondly.

Price winced. “No wonder you are fully drenched, love. Come on” Price's calloused hands slide under the sergeants shirt. “You'll catch a cold” he murmured before directing his attention to Ghost “Si, you know where my spares are”

Gaz was so out of it, he barely registered he whined slightly when Ghost stood, stopping rubbing his back. Price immediately shushed him, in that same gentle quiet tone. “Shh relax darling, he is just grabbing something for me yeah?”

His tone was soft as he pulled Gaz's shirt off, chucking it aside. His hands trailing the skin warming it up, and gently soothing the younger man.

Soon Ghost returned, slipping one of Price's larger shirts over Gaz's head, and then slipping a larger soft pair of track pants onto him as well.

Gaz simply moved where they prompted, trusting them, as they dressed him in warm, dry clothes.He still wasn't sure what he expected but it wasn't both men then standing and sitting on either side, but he was too tired to question it and just melted against them.

Price voice was sweet like honey in his ear. “That's it Lovie. Settle down, it's okay”Gaz's eyes absently tracked over to Ghost, trying to get a glimpse of his expression.

His… boyfriend? Sex partner? Whatever was calling Gaz love. Was he not bothered?Ghost seemed to immediately understand the look, one of his unique skills. “We aren't monogamous, you know? I mean we don't even technically have a label on it, but price makes really good stress relief, if you like subbing.”

Gaz blinked, finally speaking for the first time since entering the room “I.. are you.. encouraging me to fuck him??”

His lieutenant shrugged “Not necessarily fuck, but he is good. Even if you keep all your clothes on, he can get you relaxed and in a sweet headspace, and you clearly need something Kyle”

They weren't monogamous? Not only that, Ghost was encouraging it, and price wasn't arguing? Gaz felt like his head might explode, he couldn't believe it.

He definitely wanted to.. but.. he didn't want to leave Ghost's side. And then that fucking power of Ghosts kicked in again.

“I can stay, Kyle. I don't have to go anywhere” At the nod he received he continued “just relax and be a good boy yeah? We'll take care of you”

Gaz had never considered himself a bottom, or submissive in any amount, he always topped. Even with soap, when they fooled round, there usually was no one in control, but if anyone was, it was Gaz.

But at those sweet, sweet words of praise, and Ghost gently tugging him onto the thick soft thighs, he melted. Fuck he would do anything they asked.

Price huffed a laugh. “Oh the sweet boy, yeah? You're gonna be so good for us” He murmured, stroking Gaz's hair.

Slowly, gaz's head started to drift off into a much nicer place. It was softer, gentler. Mission reports and recruit files fell to the wayside, briefings and emails were long forgotten.

Family drama, and exhausting missions were not even a thought as he leaned against Ghost's chest as Price's hands trailed across him, gentle.

Treating him as if he was important.A hand made it's way to his hair, he wasn't even sure whose it was, but it scratched the crown of his scalp just right.

The weight a comfort, in his damp hair. He, much to his mild dismay, began to drift off, sandwiched between the two men. He tried to fight it at first, but when Price gently rumbled at him to rest, they could continue another day, his eyes flickered shut.

[evienyx]

Hello! I adore your Concord fic so so much, to the point that it's actually now my favorite Sonic fic. Your characterization for Shadow is fantastic and I'm right there with you in thinking that movie Shadow wouldn't hide how much he likes Sonic or be mean to him, not after how much they bonded on the moon and during the fight afterward. Actually, your characterization for everyone is very on point, and Sonic is an absolute delight. I'm so sad that he and Maria never got to be friends for real, because Shadow (and you) is 100% right that they'd get along like a house on fire lol

Anyway, there's a song that I think fits Shadow and Sonic in Concord perfectly, and I wanted to share it with you! It's called "Stargazing" by Myles Smith, and I think it's especially fitting for this latest two chapters. :3

Also, I don't know much about the Superbowl, but I'm told that they do a lot of cool stuff during it other than just the game and that people have parties and stuff when they watch it, so I hope you had a fun time!

One of the most important things for this fic for me was making sure that the characterization for Shadow was Movie Shadow and not Games Shadow.

Now, of course, Movie Shadow is an adaptation of Game Shadow, there are a lot of similarities. However, his backstory is different, and more importantly his dynamic with Sonic is different. If we're being totally honest, in the movies at least, they don't even have the rivalry thing going on (yet at least). They were legit just straight-up enemies (reluctantly on Sonic's side until Shadow almost killed Tom and Sonic decided to lock in) until the conversation on the Moon, and from there they are (oddly in-sync) allies.

This is not to say I love Movie Shadow more than Game Shadow, I love the both of them for different reasons. Nor do I love Movie Sonadow more than Game Sonadow. They're both wonderful, and both have so much potential. It is very different potential from one another. Game Sonic would have to work double time to get that conversation out of Game Shadow compared to Movie Sonic who had it in all of two seconds. This is fine, and lovely to explore on its own, but it is important to me to acknowledge the difference and write these stories with the difference in mind.

I do plan on writing more fics for them, because oh lord this ship is so fun, and there are so many things that can be done with them. Obviously we've already got the more angsty fic that I'm planning for after Concord finishes (I'll release the first chapter on the same day as the last chapter of Concord), but even more than that I've got a few too many ideas sitting on a doc. I've got ideas for the movies, for the games, and even ones for complete AU fics that would probably use a blend of their personalities from both. I'm mentally ill.

Anyway, holy mother of god are you right about that song fitting them. It's actually kinda ridiculous, and makes me wish that I could draw at all because there is nothing I want more now than an animatic of the two of them with that song for this fic. I'm gonna be sick, thank you.

And, uh, yeah, the Superbowl has got kinda three big parts to it: Game, Half-Time, Commercials. The Game is the big final NFL American football game for the season to see who's the best team. It's the last game in the playoffs. Half-Time is when they have a super famous musical artist do a fifteen-ish minute show during the break that comes after the first half of the game. The Commercials are whatever ads play when you're watching at home, and they used to be really good, big productions with like storylines and stuff, but this year they weren't all very good, and I suspect it might be the use of A.I. but you didn't hear that from me.

I'm not a fan of either of the teams that were in the Superbowl this year (the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs), but I only vaguely dislike the Eagles and I really hate the Chiefs, so I was perfectly happy to see the Eagles win. Any love toward them is gone now that the game is over, though, and I am back to solely wanting to see my own team win.

[hawker-the-gary]

Hawk, you doing okay? You haven't posted an Incipere page in a while.

Hey, things have been busy and...now very chaotic. So I'll take the chance to respond your question to make two announcements, one that people on my patreon already know:

I'm working on a new comic project! It'll be a one shot with over 70 pages and I've been working on it non stop for the past month or so. I'll be honest here, Incipere is not doing well, it has very little engagement, very low update rate due to it being colored, and I know a lot of people don't find it as fun to read since it's an extremely flawed series. In turn, I also don't enjoy working on it as much as I used to either. It makes sense I mean, I wrote it when I was 16, it makes sense I've changed the way I tell stories now, heh.

So, I'm taking the chance to work on something new, something that I know I will enjoy at the very least. Even if it doesn't get lots of support, I'll be happy that I was able to finish something that I feel satisfied with. I don't plan on abandoning Incipere though! I just feel like I need to make a step forward to improve as an artist and story teller.

-Now, for the second announcement. This one is more important than the first as it happened so recently.

A lot of people may know about my little sister, and I'm heartbroken to say that she passed away this weekend...

It happened so suddenly, it was something everyone in my family knew it would happen due to her complicated health issues, but even then...one is never truly ready for these things when they actually happen. I can say that she passed away peacefully. Because of everyone's support via commissions and patreon, and even sharing my art, it all helped so that my sister could have the best quality of life she could.

Thanks to this platform, my sister's medical expenses were paid whenever our insurance wouldn't cover everything, I had been able to make hospital trips, buy medication, donate my own blood so she could live another day. It was all thanks to you.

I know I said I was working on a new project, but my sister's passing hit so suddenly, so hard, that I need to take my time to be with my family and friends. It's ironic, because my new project has elements of loss and grief as part of its main theme.

I apologize that I don't have the strength right now, I'll come back for sure, but right now my heart is shattered, and picking up a pen is hard.

Thank you all for your patience, I'll come back <3

[shawsimmer]

hi! do you have any tips on how to make teenagers look like actual teenagers? venus looks so good!

hi!! so i don't use the preteen mod, but i do use the shortest height preset from this set by luumiasims. so far there really isn't a huge animation issue because her friends are using the same preset and other animations with adults/kids (like hugging) don't look that bad. however, i'm noticing that there are some clipping issues when trying to pose her, though. i hate how teens are the same height as adults and i really wanted to play out the preteen/early teen life stage with the girls. other than the height preset, i think i just made her eyes bigger and cheeks fuller. i think adding blush and braces also make her look younger. i try to use hairstyles and accessories that look "younger", but tbh i'm having a hard time finding clothes for her atm. here's a photo to show what the shortest height preset looks like standing next to an adult and a child. i hope this was helpful!

more asks under the cut!!

byeee this is so funny. i forget i never really posted the beginning parts of this save so not many know the lore of these three. oh god, i'm gonna yap for a bit. short story of their relationship is eva & kato got together in their early 20s and were going to have a son named saturn, but sadly eva had pregnancy complications and they lost the baby. unfortunately, it made things really difficult in their relationship and they decided to break up. during their time apart, eva meets judah and falls in love, but she ends up cheating on him multiple times with kato (even the night before she got married to judah ) and they literally wouldn't stay away from each other. years later after both girls were born, she confesses to judah and they take time apart. i know what you are probably thinking, how tf does this end in the big happy family we have now? eva basically made it known that kato is her soulmate and she could never really be done with him. they would have never broken up if not for the loss of their son, but she was also so in love with judah and the family they had created together. she proposed the throuple idea (lmao the audacity) and both kato and judah were veryyyy hesitant, but ultimately, they both loved her so much that they decided being with her was worth it. at first, they decided to just move in together and kept their relationships with eva separate. ngl it was such a weird and tense time in my game and they would constantly get jealous/upset with each other. i ended up using a mod allowing more than one partner and things settled down. after some time living together the guys realized they actually fw each other and they were lowkey bestiess. they have been together #challengers style a few times, but they usually tend to be romantic with eva separately. i know it's a weird situation, but now i'm happy with how things turned out. no one holds any ill feelings towards each other and all three of them just really enjoy doing life together and parenting the girls the best they can. there's soo much more to it, but i tried to keep it as short as i could lol.

totally!! you don't have to credit me, but i would like to seee

hmm i'm not really sure. i normally label my sims as maxis-mix. maybe more alpha? i think i prefer alpha skin details and clothes over mm. my build/buy cc is a good mix. it's nice not having to force myself into one style

ty :)) i don't really play legacy challenges. having rules sometimes ruins the gameplay for me, though i do think they are super useful when it comes to using/playing with certain features of packs that i wouldn't mess with otherwise. i tried nsb 2.0, but i'm still on gen one lmao. sorry i don't really have any to recommend.

hi!! it's actually really easy if you have sims4studio and a photo editing software. i use photoshop. first i find either a painting or photo frame that i like, then i export the diffuse map in s4s. i take the png file and basically paste my photos on top of whatever was in the frame (in photoshop) and then i import it back into s4s & save. if you want an in-depth tutorial i could definitely make one, but there are also a lot of great ones here on tumblr and youtube.

had to ask my bf about this lol. i have 0 idea what any of this means:

cpu: amd ryzen 5 3600, ram: 16gb ddr4, gpu: rtx 3060, 1tb m.2 nvme ssd (x2), motherboard: asus prime b550-plus, 650w power supply

i think i've had this account since 2018, but i didn't start to really use it until around 2022. i was suuuuper involved in the simsta community at the time. i was always kind of intimidated by tumblr (and the people here) and didn't really know how to use it. now that just seems funny.

well, first i think i should mention that i absolutely do get bored and experience burn out. sometimes i don't touch the game for months. i feel like this is common and i know a lot of my friends experience it too, so don't feel bad about it.

not sure how great my cas advice is considering i feel like i make the same sim over and over, but one thing that helps me keep things fresh is using cc, presets, and aesthetics that i don't normally use. i find myself using the same skin details a lot and things can get boring. use that hair that you never touch, try out different aesthetics, mix and match different skin details together, utilize different sliders, pick a fun hair color, try different makeup styles!

when it comes to keeping gameplay interesting, my advice is to try not to micromanage everything. i knowww it can be difficult, especially if you have a certain storyline in your head, but i feel like if you control every little thing, it's easy to lose steam and things can get boring or unenjoyable fast. it's really fun to let your sims tell their own story and it keeps you guessing what will happen next, especially when they decide to do things you wouldn't normally choose for them. for example, when eva had her pregnancy complications it took everything in me not to cheat it away, but some of my sims wouldn't even have been born had i not let things play out. another example is when she decided to be unfaithful. it's not something i'd normally want my sims to do, but it created a whole different story that has been so interesting to play. also let your sims have flaws! not everyone is a saint. let them be mean, let them fail, and let them develop their own personalities as you play. i pay attention to their whims and choose to do the things they want. when my sims age up, i like to use the randomizer on their traits and pretend it's fate. now this isn't to say i don't have some storylines or things that i'd like them to do planned out, i just wouldn't recommend planning their entire life out all at once, you know? but this is what keeps things interesting for me, it may not be for everyone :)

as for the right time to take screenshots, it depends on your personal preference and what you want photographed. i personally take screenshots of my sims doing everything so much that i feel like a proud parent. every once in a while, i go through my screenshot folder from the beginning of my save and watch everything back like a movie :'). when it comes to actually posing my sims for a screenshot, i like to keep it to a minimum because setting everything up can sometimes take me out of gameplay mode lol. i really only pose them when i want to take photos to decorate their home or if there's a pose i really want to use to tell a story.

hi!! this is so nice :')) thank you!

i don't really have anything specific when it comes to posting on tumblr, other than using hashtags that help others see your posts. i don't care about numbers or anything like that. i post whenever i want, sometimes multiple times a day and sometimes once a month. i feel like as long as you are posting what you love, the right audience/community will find you. definitely interact with people in the community! there's so many creative people here that inspire me all the time. if you have specific questions about how to put sims up for download (like exporting their files) or anything like that, feel free to dm me! i'm happy to help. :)

ooo okay, so presets help a ton. northernsiberiawinds has some head presets and i use #8 all the time and it gives the head a narrower shape. here is a gif showing how i use sliders to pull the face down because i honestly don't know how to explain it in words and figured a visual would be of more help anyway. hope this helps! <3

[forestclan-clangen]

MOON 7 (Part 2)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

After the Gathering, Morningpaw and Talonpaw look at the stars together. Morningpaw feels comforted by this, but Talonpaw can't help but remember Shiverkit's - now Shiverpaw's - omnious statement from moons ago - "I'm worried about the hungry eye." He finds comfort in gently resting his tail on top of Morningpaw's.

(Talonpaw, apprentice, male, 11 moons) (Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 9 moons)

Windfur bosses Cloudthunder around, asking her to carry his stuff and help him reapply herbs for Olive. Cloud snaps back at him after one too many orders, and after seieng that Olive wasn't happy being handled right now. Windfur bristles in anger and leaves the nursery. Olive is thankful that Cloudthunder noticed she was at her limit. She's happy to have a clanmate like her.

(Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 40 moons) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 21 moons) (Olive, mediator, female, 63 moons)

---

Cloudthunder usually didn't mind spending time with Windfur. She knew he was saddled with the role of cleric early in his life, and became the sole medicine cat of ForestClan at far too young of an age. Out of a sense of compassion, she made sure that someone was looking out for him and helping him out, if he needed it.

But today, he clearly woke up on the wrong side of his bedding. She had asked if he needed any help, and he immediately set her to work without so much as a "good morning". She didn't want to complain, but she started feeling less like his friend, and more like his apprentice.

"Carry these for me. Thanks," he said as he dropped a pouch of herbs wrapped in large oak leaves in front of her. "I need to check on Olive."

Cloudthunder watched him grab sticks and moss before pushing past her and padding towards the nursery. Her tail twitched in annoyance, but she picked up the pouch of herbs and trotted after him. Her ears twitched as she started catching the conversation between Windfur and his patient.

"Can this wait?"

"No."

"I was just waking up. At least let me eat first."

Cloudthunder entered the nursery and saw Windfur hovering over Olive with fresh moss. The cleric was already untying the ropes that were securing her brace.

"Windfur." Olive's eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy.

"Give me a moment. And don't try to thrash your tail - I can see your muscle spasms. I told you that will have to be the last thing that heals," Windfur chided. The tom was disregarding Olive's frustration, which was very unlike him.

The last straw was when Windfur held out his paw to Cloudthunder. "Pass me the comfrey please."

"You know what?" Cloudthunder meowed as she put down the bundle of herbs. "Nope. You're gonna go to the cooking fire or the dry food rack."

Windfur looked at Cloudthunder with bewilderment.

"Why?"

His sincerity almost made Cloudthunder feel bad for him. Almost.

"Because you either didn't get enough sleep last night, or you didn't eat anything since yesterday. You've been bossy all morning and you haven't been paying attention to the way you speak to people." Cloudthunder's tail twitched with annoyance.

Windfur's fur bristled in anger. "I'm doing my job," he hissed.

"Yeah, and you're being as prickly as a porcupine about it," Cloudthunder retorted. "So yeah, you're going to go eat something and bask in the morning sun for twenty minutes. Then you can refresh Olive's poultice and make her a new brace."

Windfur looked like he was going to retort, his tail twitching in anger. Instead, he stormed out of the nursery and out into the camp.

There was a long moment of silence in the nursery.

"...Thank you," Olive meowed.

Cloudthunder's ear twitched in response. She watched Windfur across camp reluctantly picking at jerky from the food rack. "It's no problem. He's been bossy since this morning. It's out of character for him, honestly."

Olive huffed. "I've been dealing with him daily. I'm aware."

"Does he always shove you around in the morning like this?"

"No, he's amenable. Normally I can eat something before he'll refresh my bandages."

"I'll get you something now, then," Cloudthunder decided. She beamed at the brown molly. "Do you have any favorites?"

"I quite liked that roasted vole Barleywave made yesterday, if there's still some preserved," Olive replied. She gave her a look of gratitude.

"Can do." Cloudthunder bowed and padded towards their preserved food pile. She saw Windfur eating in a patch of sunshine, still appearing disgruntled, but taking large bites out of his food. Her whiskers twitched in amusement.

Yeah, he wasn't himself when he was hungry.

---

Shiverpaw is nervous while taking care of Olive, and the older cat notices. Olive offers to teach Shiverpaw a helpful skill - one that helps her feel more secure in her own paws. Olive feels like perhaps she still has a place in this world, and promises herself to stay - to teach cats like Shiverpaw...and her children, too.

(Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 7 moons) (Olive, mediator apprentice, female, 63 moons)

Morningpaw and Clouthunder meet a loner at the border. Morningpaw recognizes them, and is happy to see them! Their name is Tree. After spending some time speaking with them, Cloudthunder likes Tree's calming presence, and their knowledge on Nature's Mockery. She invites them into the clan, and they tentatively accept. It wouldn't hurt to have a home to stay in.

(Morningpaw, apprentice, female, 9 moons) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 40 moons) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 38 moons)

---

Cloudthunder was eager to stretch her legs that morning. The day was warm for the middle of leaf-fall, and the trees still had their colorful leaves. When Redstar asked if she could check the border alongside Morningpaw, she had no complaints whatsoever. Morningpaw seemed rather nervous, but then again, when wasn't she nervous?

As the two cats made their way towards the riverside border, Cloudthunder would glance behind her every now and again to make sure the apprentice was keeping pace, only to see Morningpaw staring at her feet as she padded behind her.

"How you doin', Morningpaw?" Cloudthunder asked.

"Huh?" Morningpaw lifted her head, her eyes wide. "Oh, I'm good."

"Glad to hear it! You enjoying your first leaf-fall?"

"Oh, yeah," Morningpaw's tail twitched. "I really like the pretty colors on the leaves. It's too bad that the pines don't change color, though."

"The conifers staying the same are what make them reliable, though," Cloudthunder said with a twitch of her whiskers. "Good ol' evergreens! Trees are neat, honestly. You wouldn't believe how many shapes and sizes they come in!"

Morningpaw let out a polite laugh in response.

Their conversation came to a close as they approached one of their borders by a small river. Cloudthunder appreciated it while it was still here - it normally froze or dried up entirely by leafbare. She considered taking a sip from it, until she remembered her mentor's chiding when she was a young apprentice. "Did you want to get violent stomach ills? Because drinking pond water is how you get stomach ills!" Cloudthunder wanted to swat at her mentor at the time, but now she couldn't help but remember the memory fondly.

As the two cats re-marked the border, Cloudthunder noticed that Morningpaw was acting odd. She kept scanning over the bushes on the other side of the stream, as though she was waiting for something to dart out of them. The warrior knew that Morningpaw was always a nervous cat, but this was getting a bit silly.

"Whatcha looking for, Morningpaw?"

Morningpaw bristled and looked away. "Nothing."

Cloudthunder raised and eyebrow. "You look like you're expecting something."

"I'm not."

"Well, okay. But remember that your nose will likely - " Cloudthunder cut her sentence short as the wind carried an unfamiliar scent. Her eyes narrowed and she started tasting the air.

"What? What is it?" Morningpaw asked as she started to mimic Cloudthunder.

The grey and white molly wasn't quite sure, actually. It definitely wasn't something immediately dangerous. Deep Root entities had a very distinct scent that she could pick up from at least twenty fox-lengths away. Wet, slightly acidic, and smelled like blood. This wasn't it.

After a few moments, she picked up that this had to be a cat. She looked at the other side of the river and her eyes narrowed as she could see a faint shadow hiding in the bushes.

Cloudthunder frowned and her muscles tensed. "Alright, outsider. I can both see and smell you. It's fine, you can come on out. We have no quarrel."

Nothing moved at first. Cloudthunder opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by a head of long, pale brown fur springing its head out of the bush like a gopher. The cat's emerald green eyes twinkled with a quiet mirth.

Morningpaw gasped. “Tree!” Her amber eyes were filled with relief as she started forward closer to the stream. "You're okay!"

Cloudthunder was genuinely surprised - Morningpaw knew this loner? Morningpaw, the young cat who jumped at shadows? Cloudthunder decided for the time being to be amicable, chosing to sit down. She tilted her head at the newcomer. “Who is this, Morningpaw?"

The cat calmly strolled out of their hiding spot, shaking themselves free of the stray twigs in their fur. Cloudthunder couldn't help but admire the golden tabby patches that dappled their coat and tail like autumn leaves. This one definitely took care of their coat.

"Hello again, Morningpaw," the cat meowed. They took their green eyes to Cloudthunder, and bowed their head. "And hello, warrior. My name is Tree." They sat down across the stream and wrapped their tail around their paws. "Happy to be acquainted."

Cloudthunder bowed back politely. "Cloudthunder. Likewise. Pardon me for asking, but I can't tell - do you have prefered honorifics?"

"Oh, good to know the lemonweed still works." Tree beamed and their eyes twinkled with joy. "I have been having a spot of trouble finding it this season. They and them pronouns are just fine."

Cloudthunder was impressed. Her ears twitched. Usually loners and rogues had basic knowledge of medicinal herbs, but more complex remedies and chemical changes were only known by Clan cats. This one must've had a good teacher. "Do you mind if I ask how you know Morningpaw?"

"O-Oh, it's nothing bad, honest!" Morningpaw sputtered out first. "I, um, I was out hunting with Iciclepool and Talonpaw. I was separated for a little bit chasing after a squirrel, and I ran into Tree. They let me keep the squirrel!"

"Well, that, and allegedly I should not be anywhere near these woods," Tree said with a smile.

"Well, sure, if you're just passing through," Cloudthunder meowed, her tail twitching. "There's...unsavory things out here."

"Oh, I'm aware. I'm unfortunately acquainted with them," Tree said as they liked their paw absentmindedly.

Cloudthunder's eyes went wide. "You are?"

"B-But you see, Tree says that they come from a place where there aren't any trees, but really huge fields!" Morningpaw interjected again. Suddenly, Cloudthunder noticed a spark of something in the apprentice's eyes. She couldn't decipher what it was. "Far away from here. Right?" Morningpaw turned to look at Tree for approval.

Tree stopped grooming themselves for a brief moment, looking at Morningpaw with an unreadable expression. Tree blinked slowly. "Yes. I have walked many miles and slept in many different places."

"Then..." Morningpaw padded closer, as though she wanted to leap across the river. There was a quiet pleading in her eyes. "Tree, I...I didn't get a chance to ask at the time. But, I thought, um..."

Now both Tree and Cloudthunder were focused on Morningpaw with anticipation.

Morningpaw stammered a few more times, failing to begin her sentence. She forced herself to stop, take a deep breath, then finally said, "I...I thought you might know about...about other territories."

Cloudthunder froze. Dread filled her veins. But she couldn't figure out why.

One part of her was curious, and excited. Yes. She, too, would like to know about territories Tree had seen - especially if they were from so far away.

But it was like a cold, harrowing seed was buried in her and finally sprouted. And she didn't know why.

"I just thought...maybe, if the monsters were maybe...not..."

A wave of understanding passed through Cloudthunder and Tree as they realized what the poor young cat was asking. Cloudthunder found where her dread came from. She stared at the floor as she remembered hearing about the very last patrols sent out by Lakestar to search for new territory. She remembered being just a kit, stumbling out of the nursery at night after waking up cold, and seeing her mother sitting on the camp gates, staring out into the woods. She remembered seeing her father climb up to her and beckon her to return to the den. She remembered hearing her mother cry in her sleep - "Mama, come back, come back," - but Cloudthunder never had the courage to shake her awake.

Tree must've felt Cloudthunder's sorrow, as they started purring quietly. "While I cannot tell you whether or not they're more plentiful here or elsewhere, I can confirm that I've seen them outside of these woods." Tree's ear flicked. "I find that whatever they are...they are attracted to Twoleg activity. And Twolegs span across vast territories, just like cats do."

Morningpaw's expression faltered, and the glint of hope that rested within her eyes were dashed. She looked devastated.

Cloudthunder instinctively placed her tail on Morningpaw's shoulder. While Cloudthunder couldn't muster the idea of leaving the territory, deep down, she understood Morningpaw's vision. She was always the quietest and most nervous cat in the clan. She abhorred violence and had frequent nightmares as a kit about Deep Root entities. If anyone wished to escape the Woodcrawlers - she couldn't blame a child for dreaming of a world without danger.

For a brief moment, she wondered if maybe she should take Morningpaw across the border during one of their excursions...maybe they could find Ferncreek, maybe he could offer Morningpaw the life of a kittypet...?

"But, I will offer you some hope," Tree added. "Namely...they are not invincible."

Morningpaw looked up from her paws, her eyes were watering. "...They aren't?" Morningpaw's voice was strained and small.

"Of course they aren't." Tree let out a small smile and blinked slowly at the apprentice. "They're just animals. Some animals are dangerous, like foxes...badgers...dogs, what have you. But animals still bleed, and make decisions. A dog can be chased off with enough intimidation and claws. The giant spiders are much the same."

"Giant spiders?" Morningpaw echoed, looking bewildered.

"Woodcrawlers," Cloudthunder reassured her. She understood what Tree meant; cats outside the clans had different names for the monsters. "They have very long legs, so some cats say they're spider-like."

"Ah, true, you would have a different word for it. What do you call the black effigies?" Tree asked.

"Black effigies...oh, do you mean the Nature's Mockery? The sort of...triangular plants?"

"Yes, those. And the floating lights?"

"Close, for us. Luring lights."

"Well, they are near their dens often, I suppose that makes sense."

"You've seen Fake Beings too, then?"

Tree's expression fell. "...Once. I thought I imagined it. A Zombified Twoleg."

"Unfortunately not." Cloudthunder's copper eyes filled with sympathy. "Ever heard a cat calling for help in an unusual manner?"

Tree gave Cloudthunder a horrified look, their ears slowly folding back. "...No."

"I...suppose a loner might avoid trouble where possible," Cloudthunder admitted. "Fake Cats exist too. They don't last very long, thankfully. The Twolegs seem to have the worst outcome. Cats are affected for about a week or two." Cloudthunder stood up from her spot. "I'm...surprised that you know this much about Deep Root entities, all things considered."

Tree paused for a while, processing this information. They took a deep breath before bringing their ears back to the side of their head. They gave their head a shake, as though forcibly flattening their fur."One meets strange things during their travels. A...Fake Cat is not one of them, but that may be a blessing." Tree followed Cloudthunder's lead. "Thankfully, I've learned the spiders - Woodcrawlers, I supposed you call them - don't do well without a hide to retreat to. They're ambush predators. Any bold enough to chase, tend to flee if you can tear out the tendons of one of their legs. I wouldn't recommend it for the same reason I don't recommend fighting a fox. But it does know how to flee, with enough persuasion."

Cloudthunder's pupils dilated at the idea of raking her claws across one of the bastards and watching it squirm. She knew that would be great hubris, but still - she could keep it in her reverie. With how much information Tree had about Woodcrawlers... "Redstar's gonna want to hear this," she mused out loud.

"Who?" Tree asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Redstar," Morningpaw mumbled. "She's our leader."

"Hey, Tree, I know this is a very bold request to make, from one stranger to another. But..." Cloudthunder offered a gentle purr. "Would you like to join ForestClan?"

Tree seemed caught off guard by this. "A cat colony, being welcoming to outsiders? That's a first. Morningpaw made it seem like I'd be chased off," they meowed, failing to suppress the amusement in their tone.

"ForestClan is...different," Cloudthunder admitted with a shrug. "Our methods would be considered advanced for some."

"More advanced than a cat using lemonweed to hide their chemical scent?" Tree asked with a twitch of the whiskers, their green eyes filled with amusement.

Morningpaw had remained quiet for much of their exchange, still chagrined. But upon hearing this comment, she said nonchalantly, "We can start fires."

"...You can what now?"

"Don't get the wrong idea - we don't really start them easily, per se, more like maintain the cinders," Cloudthunder laughed. "But yes - we do know how to start them, if necessary. It's hard, but it preserves food quite well."

"And we have dry bedding. And defenses. You wouldn't have to be alone," Morningpaw added quietly. Despite her mood, she sounded hopeful at the idea that Tree would stay. Tree seemed unsure about the prospect, but after looking between Cloudthunder and Morningpaw for a while, they sighed and began crossing over the stepping stones laid out on the stream.

"Oh, I may as well see, at least. A story to tell other travellers, if nothing else." Despite Tree's noncommittal statement, the way their golden tail flicked with interest as they padded in between the two cats told them otherwise. "Well, shall we?"

Cloudthunder suppressed a mrrow of amusement.

Something told her she was going to like them.

---

< PREVIOUS | NEXT>

[lunaandco]

his biggest fan

pairing: gavi x ofc

summary: alex's little brother is gavi's biggest admired. a fan meeting gets out of hand when her realises the girl he always had a crush on is accompanying a little boy.

author's note: watch me googling what's gavi's mom's name.

taglist: @htpssgavi; @joaosnovia

masterlist // I do not take requests

"Which name would you like on the shirt?" asked the retail worker. Alex smiled without showing her lips.

"Gavi!" exclaimed Aaron, his little excited face reminding her why she was doing this.

"Everyone's favourite, huh?" smiled the woman as she searched for the letters and number.

In Sevilla, evryone loved Gavi. He was the pride of the people, Los Palacios' latest gem. Alex hoped the woman wouldn't notice by their accent, that they were from Los Palacios too.

Alex ignored the ridiculous price tag and paid for the small sized Barça t-shirt. She had just gotten her first pay check, and she was happy to use it to give her little brother a birthday gift.

"Can I wear it now?" He was asking, as they left the store. "Please..."

"Alright, but be quick."

They were late for the bus, and Alex would probably have to haul Aaron to run faster and reach the stop in time, but she still indulged him. There had been no one there to be sweet with her when she was his age.

They got on the bus, Aaron proudly displaying his new shirt, as he chose one of the seats by the end. And as Alex predicted, he fell asleep as soon as the bus started moving.

There was a woman sitting on the other side of the aisle, but Alex was too busy accomodating her stuff as Aaron rested his little face on the window, to pay attention to her.

"Alejandra?" called a voice. She turned, confused. The bus form Sevilla to Los Palacios wasn't usually crowded, and the chances of meeting someone you kind of knew were high, but it always sent a rush of adrenaline through her spine.

Luckily, the person calling was a middle aged woman with a kind smile, and not a girl her age with a sneer.

"I..." The woman looked familiar, and clearly knew her. Alex took to long to recognise her: Gavi's mum. She checked that Aaron was still sleeping. "Hi."

"It's been so long since last time I saw you!" The woman was so warm, Alex felt like crying. "You've grown a lot. I can still reememebr when you were this tall;" she made a gesture with her hand, raising it to a very low height. "You managed to get Gavi to wear pigtails once..."

Alex's heart clenched. She did not remmeber the anecdote she was talking about. Her life before college was just a distant memory, something she did not want to relieve, even if it included Aaron's favourite footballer.

She smiled, nontheless.

"He was easy to manipulate into doing stupid things," she said. It was the last impression she had of Gavi, before he left. That he would do the things she told him to if she was convincing enough.

"Not at all. Aurora had been trying to get him to let her brush his hair for ages. It took you only fifteen minutes."

Gema seemed to reminisce those years with fondness. To that Alex didn't know what to say.

"It's probably a sibling thing. This little gremlin won't listen either," she pointed at Aaron, who was still peacefully asleep.

"Aw, another Barça boy?"

"And Gavi boy," Alex admitted, shyly.

"Must be cool to have an older sister that went to school with you idol, then."

"He doesn't know. I've never told him."

"Why not?" Gema seemed confused.

"He would not let me talk about anything else if he knew. He's a little shit like that," lied Alex.

"Ah."

Alex thought that the conversation would die down then, but she was wrong.

"There is a reunion with all the kids you went to class with, I heard. Gavi was wondering if it would be a good idea to go. If you're there I'm sure he'll..."

"I'm not going."

"Why not?" Gema was confused by the finality of Alex statement. She decided to stop ignoring the issue.

"I was bullied, in high school." She explained. "It was long aftet Gavi went to Catalunya, that is probably why you don't know. It got so bad I moved away with my mum to Sevilla and my parents divorced." Gema looked truly surprsised. "I will only be in Los Palacios tonight to drop Aaron at my dad's, and then I'll pick the first bus tomorrow morning."

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, I had no idea. Here I thought it was just bad luck that I hadn't seen you around in a long while." Gema reached to squeeze Alex's shoulder. This kind of compassion was what she had missed of teachers and her father during those tough years. "Is everything better now?"

"Yeah. I just wish I could get him to leave with my mum and me, but you know. Custody battles are bullshit."

"If there is anything I can do to help..."

"It's okay, thank you."

💙❤️

Alex watched as her father hugged Aaron and complimented him on his new shirt. After years of ignoring her calls for help, their realtionship was strained at best, non existent at worst.

"You should have chosen another player," said then her father, and Alex could have killed him. "Everyone here has the same shirt, how will you now it's yours?"

"Because he'll be wearing it," snapped Alex over her breakfast toast.

"Be nice to your father," ammonested his wife, but before Alex could tell her off and remind her she was not her mother, the house's doorbell rang. "Are you expecting anyone, sweetie?"

Alex's father shook his head, as he got up to chek who it could be. There were some voices, and then Aaron screamed.

Alex turned to see what was all that for, and her heart fell to her feet when she realised it was Gavi standing behind her father, wearing a plain white t-shirt and cream cargo pants. Aaron ran to Gavi's arms, who picked him up effortlessly.

For the child, it was like Christmas and his birthday all in one. Alex sat on the living room's table, her mouth open, as she processed the fact that Gavi was there.

"Hey," he said, ignring her father's confused stare. "My mum said you didn't have a bus ticket to go back to Sevilla." He winked, totally acknowledgeing that it was bullshit. "I thought I could give you a ride?"

💙❤️

"I'm so sorry about that," she said, hopping on his car.

"Don't worrty, it's alright. It's actually kind of sweet, when little kids get that excited to see you."

Excited was an understatement. Aaron had been jumping up and down, throwing himself over and over again at Gavi's arms. And Gavi had indulged him, smiling and laughing and overall being a sweetheart.

It had taken a long time to convince Aaron to let Gavi go with Alex, and a very serious pinky promise that Gavi would be back to spend more time with him soon.

"Still. I'm sure it can get overwhelming at some point."

"It does. But I really wanted to see you, so it was really no bother." Alex shot a confused glance at him. "My mum told me that she saw you yesterday."

Alex dropped her gaze, waiting for the pity party.

"I talked to Mario and Alejandro. They told me it was Sofía and her girls that did it...?"

There was a strange cadence to his tone. Not pitiful, but pissed off.

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever know why she hated you so much?"

"Not really."

It had happened out of nowhere, when Alex was fifteen. Suddenly Sofía and her girls decided she was persona non grata everywhere and that she should not be allowed a second of peace.

"I told Mario I l had always had a crush on you, when we were little." Gavi gripped the steering wheel harshly. "He must have blabbered and suddenly Sofía had a target."

"You're telling me, the worst years of my life happened because some petty jealousy? Over a boy?"

Alex's emotions were too big for her to consider how her tone was dismissive of Gavi's confession.

"I still have that crush, if it's of any help—"

"I don't care about your crush, oh, my God, I can't believe this is why she hated me so much."

Alex was reduced to tears, as Gavi skipped the sped limit. He drove with confidence, which she appreciated. The sooner she was safe on her mother's arms the better.

💙❤️

After leaving his car with a slam. Alex didn't expect to see Gavi again. At that moment, she had been too into her emotions to stop herself from burning that bridge, even for Aaron's sake.

But she was wrong.

In one of his calls, Aaron told her excitedly how Gavi had found him again, and invited him to watch a Spain game that would be played in Sevilla.

"You know I don't like those things, and I'm too petty to let your father enjoy it," said her mum when Alex confronted her about the fact that Aaron needed an adult to take him to the stadium. "You should take the second ticket. Gavi used to be your friend anyway. It can't be that bad."

"It could be, Sofía—"

"Sofía can eat shit. Gavi invited your brother, and you, let's not pretend that he isn't hoping you go with him; not her. You have what she never will. Enjoy it, will you?"

💙❤️

Aaron emited a small screech as he jumped on Gavi's arms again. The Spain tracksuit was fitted to his body, the backpack on his back made him look a lot younger than he was. Sofía smiled softly.

"Hey, Aaroncito. Have you been good, huh? Made sure your sister was happy for me?"

"Yes!!" Exclaimed Aaron, while Alex battled her blush.

"Isn't it true that your big sister is the best in the world?"

Alex averted her eyes. She could not look at the way he was smiling without feeling her stomach twist. Suddenly the victory Spain had earned against Denmark was not as sweet. A defeat wouldn't have Gavi in such high spirits and she would not need to confront to fact that his crush might not be one sided.

And that she might have missed her chance.

Aaron was using his little arms to cling at Gavi's neck.

"You should date my sister," he half whispered, half screamed. "That way you can know everything about her and stop asking me stupid questions."

Gavi's jaw fell open, as his cheeks turned red.

"That is treason," he attempted to joke, but it came out as stammering.

"Aaron!" Alex tried to reprimand her sibling, but she was blushing too. When had Gavi asked about her? When he invited Aaron?

"It's okay." He left the boy on the floor. "Maybe he's right, no?"

Gavi's stance was open, hopeful. Alex knew there was only one right answer.

"We could try," she half smiled.

[dawnoftime22]

tent.

| T.S

INTHAF series, Chapter 1

Warnings: None!

Summary: With the thought of being away from Taylor for such a long time, you finally decided to call her up, and with the idea of spending your time in a recently built tent — inside your house…

Word Count: 2.1k

Category: Fluff!

A/N: so...who could write a short series on a song that barely has lines? me. yes. don't expect much, but this is all FLUFF <333 enjoy!!!

P.S, this is a series that was originally from 2023 but never got worked on :] i won't mind if anyone will like it or not, I'm just really proud of it and actually finishing it, but love you all, hope you enjoy anyways<3

| Started on 26/11/2023, 8:33 AM |

| Finished on 29/12/2023, 11:13 PM |

Main Masterlist | T.S Masterlist

INTHAF Masterlist

"It's nice to have a friend."

|——————————— ���⸉ ———————————|

It was quiet as you were sat on your bed, relishing in the feeling of a peaceful atmosphere. The windows emitted daylight from outside, and the sheets of your bed kept you warm despite the cool air.

Currently, you were free to do whatever you wanted, having no plans for your day to do.

...Or, well, you had no other plans that could get in the way of your one singular plan for today. It was very important to you.

Taylor, your best friend since high school, has been busy in her music business, and you've been thinking of a way to spend time together once she gets a big break from her work. A tent was casually sitting in your living room as your finger lingered on her contact name. Oh. Yes. The living room— only in reason due to all the rain thats been outside.

Your thumb taps on the name eventually, and the screen changes to a calling one, a rhythmic tone sounding out from the phone. You put it against your ear, awaiting for the beeping to stop and a familiar voice to come through.

"Y/N!! Hi!!" Her voice comes out softly. From all the time you've spent away from each other, your mind plagued with worry, but the softness of her tone calmed it right down.

"Hey, Tay," You respond right back, her name coming from your mouth just as gently. A smile rose on your face, and she could hear it in your voice.

"We haven't talked in a while. What's up?" As you listened, her voice sounded happy, or excited. There was no background noise at all, and it didn't seem like she was stressed. At least relief flowed through you, with the hopes that you caught her at a good time.

But in her side, her face and day had brightened up the second she saw your name pop up on her phone screen, and now she was fidgeting with her necklace as she waited for your response.

You took a breath in. "Nothing, really, I just thought...are you busy at all today?" You were about to mention the plan of hanging out right away, but since she's been so busy, you didn't want any expectations of either of you being disappointed, so you asked her first.

You hear her hum through the phone, like the gentle melody of her songs as you waited. "No, I'm free all day," she said softly. With a soft sigh, you let yourself lay down comfortably on your bed, knowing that if you stood up, it would only make you pace the room as you talked.

You pressed your phone against your ear, making sure your grip wasn't too loose. "Wanna have a sleepover or something?" a pause went by, but then you simply blurted it out. "I have a tent in my living room."

A moment of silence went by. You could almost imagine her expressions. "What? What led you to doing that?" Her surprise was present in her voice, a soft laugh echoing over the call, and you giggled yourself.

"Well, I was thinking of going camping with you but...since you've been busy lately, I thought we could do a short and easy way to feel like we're camping without having to." You explained, trying to give her reasons to come over.

Another silence goes by as she processes your words. Either that, or her brain may have short-circuited. You thought the first one, because your own brain might be dealing with the latter. "It's also just been very rainy, and who doesn't like feeling like a child again, sleeping in tents?" you add in, although a slight grimace rises on your face at even the thought of a tent sitting casually indoors rather than outdoors.

"You...are so random sometimes." She breathes out a laugh, then goes quiet. You hear a small meow coming from the background, and it was obvious her attention had gotten distracted by a certain cat.

"And...?" You added, having not gotten an answer to your question yet, and your fingers brushed over your bedsheets to find something to soothe your own heart.

"Yeah, sounds like fun!" She says, her voice going up a bit at the end of her sentence, saying it with full honesty and excitement, while another meow sounds out again.

"Who is that in the background?" You asked with curiosity, the noise being adorably small like a kitten.

"That's Benjamin. He jumped on the piano keys." You hear some distant sounds of the piano keys being played, presumably, his paws hitting them as he walked.

Taylor had picked up your call while at the piano, that's for sure. You caught her in the middle of a practice or songwriting session.

Then you blinked after process of realizing she stopped playing to pick up your call, but another thought went by of this new cute friend.

"You got a new cat while you were gone?!" She hears your gasp through the phone, and breathes out a chuckle. "He sounds so cute and small..." you murmur, a smile upon your face. Some shuffling came through before she spoke up again.

"Yeah!! I saw him while filming a music video, so I thought why not..." she says, keeping watch on the small little kitten walking on the keys. You couldn't wipe the smile off your face, and you shook your head. She could have 50 or more kittens if she wanted to, and in another universe, she probably did have that many.

"So, your place, I'll be there in 20 minutes?" Taylor asked. Since you two were close, she had once focused to getting a house near yours, just so you could go to each other's places easily.

"Yeah! I'll see you later, then." You said, sitting up. She could hear the movement, but couldn't see them since you were on a voice call, and you could hear her keys jingling in the meanwhile, a small laugh going by. "Okay, see you."

"See you- And don't forget snacks! Specifically marshmallows!!" You manage to get your words out as you giggled. You already had your snacks ready, all you had to do was just put biscuits and chocolate, or put the marshmallows over a fire. Or well, in this situation, your stove.

"Okay, okay. Bye, now!" She said, almost urgently, and you had to stop yourself from questioning on if she had things to finish up first, or if she was excited. On the other side, she was first petting Benjamin's soft fur, smiling.

"Bye!" The end call tone sounded out, and you pulled your phone away with a smile as you laid back to your bed, content with the conversation you had.

A sigh leaves your lips. It had been so long, but the time went by like the ceiling fan spinning from your ceiling, fast and full of bustling wind. There was nothing else to do but wait.

You turned on your side, then got up, (although regretting it and cursing yourself for how fast you went), you decided against continuing your comfortable position on the bed, for the risk of being too comfortable, or sleep creeping in to the corners of your mind.

Your legs led you off to your already open door and to the living room, where the lights were dimly lit with an orange color, and the curtains were closed, leaving a cozy atmosphere in the room.

The kitchen was your target. There, the snacks were already sitting beside a backpack upon the kitchen counter. Opting for an easier way rather than getting them all in the tent later with your hands full, you instead pick them up and place them all in the bag.

There were books in the tent too, ready to read with a small reading lamp. After gracefully setting down the bag, you went back out and laid down on the couch, not wanting to get bored of the small space while waiting for Taylor.

You fiddled with the couch's material, fingers brushing against it before a sigh escapes. Your phone was an option for distraction, sitting face down off in the corner of your vision, but you had already spent far too much time on it when you were trying to decide on calling Taylor or not.

You grabbed a book instead, going to get youreelf lost in a world of fantasy to pass the time. It was only you inside the house, but for now, you focused on Taylor's arrival that will soon come.

|——————————— ⸆⸉ ———————————|

Once 20 minutes or so passes by, you soon hear the doorbell echoing through the front door. You nearly jump from the couch in eagerness, the ceiling having turned to be entirely the most dull thing you've stared at your whole life.

Walking to the door, the air was cold from the rain that had started dropping down just a bit ago. Your hands go to the doorknob, and when you get it open; behind it, reveals the blonde standing with a gentle look on her face, her eyes brightening at the sight of you.

"Hi. I brought Benjamin." She smiles, turning her body slightly to show you the small black, brown-ish eared kitten. You giggle, loving how she sometimes brought along one of her cats, although this was a new addition.

"He's very welcome to join," you say, noticing how the sky behind her had gone dark. Not only from the rain, but the sun having gone down. You didn't even realize the time was evening when you called her.

You move to stand aside, letting her enter your home just as she used to so many times before. She quickly notices the tent sitting in your living room, and her eyes were set on it. The warm atmosphere wrapped her in a comfortable feeling.

"You really did go all out," she says softly, but giggled, stepping in and admiring every aspect of your living room, and the way the tent actually seemed quite comfy.

"Anyway, great news that he's welcome, because he's been wanting to meet you." You could see the kitten stare up at you from the peekhole of the bag. She takes off her shoes, leaving them on the shoe rack before turning to you.

"Meet me?" You ask, slightly confused, walking towards the tent with her following off with you after she was done.

"Okay, this sounds silly, but he's seen pictures of you on my phone, and I kid you not, gotten my attention with meows and paws on the screen multiple times!" This time, a bright laugh comes from your lips, making the corners of hers, turn up softly. The two of you manage to arrive at the tent, it safely (and nearly silly looking) sitting at the living room.

You had prepared by leaving the zip closed before, so when you arrived, you take a glance at her with a corner of your lip going up. She looked at you with raised eyebrows, but also an amused smile. Your hands go to open it, a smooth sound coming from the zipper until it fully opened, and the sheet flopped down to reveal the inside.

You crouch to go into the tent, settling down at your own spot as you watch her get in too, her face awestruck. Inside, was a small camping lamp you had bought a few days ago, and a projector that shoots up a picture of the night sky up the ceiling of the tent, leaving it glimmering with stars.

"I can't believe you did all this." She breathed out, sitting down next to you as she stared up at the scenery above her. She shook her head, a growing smile on her face when she glanced at you.

She took off her cat backpack and opened the zipper, Benjamin jumping right out and beginning his new curious adventure of inspecting everything in the tent, including you.

"Aw, he's so tiny." You watched the kitten's paws pad around before their directions turned to you, and its beautiful blue eyes shined your way. It certainly reminded you of a certain someone, that's for sure.

Your hand reaches out, and Benjamin lightly sniffs your hand before walking in, making your hand touch his head. Your face melted into pure adoration completely when you felt his soft fur.

You continue petting him, ending up entirely with him in your hands, while Taylor was watching the interaction gently. Her eyes held a somewhat calm, loving look in them. You didn't see, because you were too caught up in the new friend you had gotten.

You held Benjamin in your lap before going to grab something in your bag at the side of the tent. Both the kitten and Taylor had looked, practically sharing the same face as your hands searched. Eventually, your hand got back out with two vars of chocolate.

Taylor let out a small "ooh!" when you set it down in between the two of you, her eyes tracing every movement of the sweet treat, realizing what the marshmallows was for.

She reaches back to the cat backpack, opening another zipper to the further back, and brought out her own treats; the bag of marshmallows you asked for. "Got the marshmallows." Her hands gently open the pack and grabs one...(four) and eats it, her face brightening at the delicious taste.

You smile at her, grabbing one for yourself and opening the chocolate bar, too, setting hers beside her. If anyone saw you, they would've thought they were seeing kids hanging out. But, who cares? The treats were quite delicious, after all.

As you were unwrapping the chocolate, she had popped the other marshmallows in her hand, off into her mouth, and now was grabbing Benjamin off your lap, holding the purring kitten close to her chest to pet him.

She waits until she's swallowed the food in her mouth to lay down on the floor, placing Benjamin on her stomach. As the relaxation started to sink in, he had his eyes closed, curled up comfortably. The warmth of everything was making up the most coziest atmosphere.

Her eyes searched the ceiling with the made up stars, as if looking for a type of constellation. You didn't even know if this projection had the actual night sky, but it would be impressive if it did.

You bit into your chocolate, letting it melt in your mouth as you looked at her every movement. The soft skin of your hands brushed against each other ever so slightly when you moved to lay down fully, letting your head rest against the floor.

A crinkle sounds out as she cracked open the chocolate pack too, casually eating it with the marshmallows— a sweet chaotic taste that can either be teeth rotting or delicious in your mouth. Probably both. The least is, you both will remember to brush your teeth very thoroughly later on, and drink some water.

You both watched the beautiful stars with a comforting silence that came over the moment, all of everything, finally, seeming to slow down for just a minute. Maybe an hour. Her guard was lowering down, and you could slowly see the work starting to get taken off her shoulders.

You soon moved to prop yourself up into a sitting position, looking over to your side once more. It didn't take much for Taylor to notice, and she turns her head to look at you, her eyes curious on what you were doing.

You grab a piece of a post-it note from the small pile of items, along with a pen that sat next to it, writing down something without letting her look. She smiles, her mind wanting her to move to see, but she waited patiently for you.

You lay back down, the paper with ink handwritten on it in your hand. Slowly, you put it on her lower stomach, right below where a sleeping Benjamin sat, as if she didn't just watch you do the entire thing.

She tries her best not to smile and instead put on a curious face, her hand going to delicately grab it. She holds it up to the ceiling, since she was laid down, and read the words. It was, 'I miss you :(', and her insides filled with warmth. The blonde looks to you, who's been waiting in anticipation.

"I'm right beside you!" She exclaims playfully, laughing. But in her heart, she knows what you're trying to point to is that she was missed by you, so very dearly in the time of her absence.

Her teeth caught her bottom lip, but the corners of her mouth was raised up in a smile. "I missed you, too." she says, her voice being so soft.

You didn't see it, but she had slipped the note into the pocket of her sweater...for safekeeping.

end of chapter 1. <3

INTHAF Masterlist

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

taglist <3 - join here! :]

@dmenby3100 @tia-thesimp @marvelwomen-simp @escapereality4music @fawnedolly @riaras-everthroner @lovelyy-moonlight @stevecore @midastouch013 @liloandstitchstan @maleahoswick @raven-ss @deadlymistletoe @bambisfawns @littlemissdelrey @natsxwife @orange15quote @bleachxbunny @hushwhennooneisaround @samsgf22 @gay4hotmilfs

[eemamminy-art]

SMALL MAL AND ALEX ARE SO CUTE THANK YOU FOR SHARING THEM!!!! (HAPPY SQUEEING)

I'm not sure which art you mean specifically, but I'm glad you like them!! :3 I'd love to draw more stuff from when they were kids, I think it's so fun to think about! I've had these arts side by side as my desktop wallpaper for months now, basically since I drew them!

I love thinking about like... Alex being kind of soft and sensitive as a kid, before he tried to push down that side of himself 😭 but Mal helps him find that again!! Idk if this is something you'd be interested in, but I had wanted to draw appearances for all the main characters in my fic as they looked in childhood so I sketched this over the summer, though it's very rough as you can see... : ') but I've never shared it before, and thought you might appreciate it!

Top row, left to right: Sebastian, Sam, Abigail, Penny (above), Maru (below) Bottom row, left to right: Emily, Mal (above), Alex (below), Haley

I've been meaning to either go back to it or redraw it sometime, maybe this will give me some motivation to finally do it!

[detective-and-dreamer]

something that happened just after lunar new year:

The festivities are over - all three days of them. Any last bits of cleanup have been left for tomorrow, or rather later today. This last round of visiting had kept them out late, and with a handful of corsairs still in the house there had been no chance of going directly to bed. Now they've made it, though, into the peace and solitude of a new year together. Locks of hair slip like dark silk between Emory's fingers as they pull pins from Nora's updo.

"It was nice." She leans into his touch, eyes closed. "Celebrating properly, or as close to it as we could."

"Aye." They reach over her to pluck her hairbrush and the little bottle of oil from the vanity. "...Thank you."

"Hmm?" She opens her eyes, meeting his in the mirror.

"For all this. Putting it together, moving stuff after you'd just gotten it arranged..."

"Of course." She says it as though it's the simplest thing in the world. "I enjoy sharing these things with you. I..." Her brows knit, and she reaches up to touch his arm. "I hope you understand how important every aspect of you is to me."

"I know. I got lucky." They start to smile, but it vanishes as they feel her fingers tremble against their skin. "You all right?"

"I'm fine, darling. And you know I'm the lucky one."

"Are we playing this game again?" Emory laughs, though it's weak - unlike Nora's racing pulse. "Really, Nor, what's wrong?"

"...I thought I would at least make it until you had a chance to sit down." Before he can ask what she means, she gets up -

- only to sink to her knees and take his hands in her own.

"My love, I would be truly lost without you. Both literally and in my own mind. You've been with me through so many journeys, my partner and my guide, and I want to go on so many more. You already know I intend to stay with you for the rest of my life. You know how much I love you and always will. But I want to say it in front of our families and friends. I want it to be known to the city, to the zee, to all of your gods and spirits." She takes a deep, shaky breath, pressing her face to his hands for a moment before looking up at him again.

"ᠠᠯᠲᠠᠨ, ᠴᠢ ᠨᠠᠳᠠ ᠲᠠᠢ ᠭᠡᠷᠯᠡᠬᠦ ᠦᠦ ?"

"...Say that again?" They choke on their words, just as she stumbles over the syllables in her imperfect accent. "I - Nora - " He isn't sure if he kneels or falls, but he's on the floor with her, pulling her into his arms, staining the shoulder of her nightgown with peligin-tinged tears. "Of course, of course I will, I love you - "

"I love you so much." Her fingers run through their hair, her own forgotten to pool and tangle around them. "I wasn't sure you'd want to, or that you wouldn't think I was only asking now that we have a child..."

"I-I didn't think you would at all, I've always just been happy that we'd be together..." He sits up to look into her own teary eyes and cup her cheek. "But I do want it. I want to call you my wife." The tears fall, then, and they let them run warm over their hand. "How long have you been planning this, then?"

"I've thought about it for a long time, but I made up my mind around the time we first started preparations for this event. Your parents agreed with me that the new year would be a good time for it."

"My - Nora, did you ask them for my hand?" He can't help but laugh - half at the thought of it, half in surprise that they managed to keep it to themselves.

"No, I told them I intended to ask you."

"Better, though you could've done it like a proper pirate and stolen me away - " Their laughter grows louder still as she swats their arm. She's giggling too, though, smothering the sound in his hair as he pretends to swoon into her arms.

"If either of us quotes one of those damned books during the ceremony, I think the other should have the right to walk out."

"'Course. That's for the wedding night."

Both of them end up as lost in laughter as they had been in tears. It's a perfect start to a new year and a newly redefined love.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello Nayra, we know that Lestat's character is going to undergo a change, but how much do we think Armand will change? A lot of people say they want to see him as more of a villain, but they still think Daniel is too evil or 'idiotic' for him, or that he needs a Don to be happy (I know that this last part isn’t incompatible with being a villain).

(Daniel... is too evil????)

And no, having a "dom" is not incompatible with being a "villain", in fact I would argue it has nothing to do with it?

Armand is Armand.

Anne wrote him as more of a "villain" first, and then realized through the relationship with Daniel that he wasn't. The show has already softened Armand considerably, though they also made him a bit worse in other aspects - then again, they did not show some of the other things Armand did canonically.... and which would have changed people's perceptions of him, I'm sure. *coughs* Frankenstein moment *coughs*

But nonny, there are no pure "villains" on this show. There are no "good", or "bad" vampires.

Yes, the vampires themselves grapple with this concept, but this show is not about "the good vampire" discovering their humanity - on the contrary, they obviously follow the books, and the books end... with the vampires accepting themselves as "other", as something most humans would call monsters.

There is a lot of catholic guilt in the chronicles, a lot of talk about good and evil, and coming to terms with it - but there are no "villains" in the sense of the word, just adversaries. And even those... can become allies. Or have their own motives, which might even be understandable.

Rolin said that he wants to leave the "unreliable narrator" and "memory is a monster" with season 3, so I don't think - if he really does that! - that Armand actually will change a lot.

And Lestat will not change much either - he has been changed before, in the tale we were told.

And now we will see the "real Lestat".