#Of course there's always something that gets lost in translation ; it's not a 1 to 1 process

[palskippah]

Hi! Nimona told him to do a thumbs up (also I hope you get the reference image because I couldn't find it ajkdsad)

There's some mpreg headcanons and drawings under the cut! :D

By the way the limit of images is 30 so I had to make some longer images with comics to save space and put more drawings 😭

-Also, small continuation from the previous drawing:

(I wrote baby album but maybe it should be those albums that people keep of the pregnancy process ajskd)

-When Ballister first started showing, he was a bit insecure about it, but Ambrosius helped with that, in the romantic sense of worshipping and whatever, but also like this:

Translation (did my best to see how to translate it sorry sdjksd it works better in spanish)

1 Ballister: I think it's too soon to be getting fat- Ambrosius: You know what else is getting fat? 2 Ambrosius: Who said that

-Ballister goes through the denial of needing new clothes, so imagine him still wearing the stuff he usually wears and Nimona coming from behind and picking at the clothes by his shoulder and going in a high-pitched voice, as if the shirt was talking - I'm tired, boss while Ballister swats her away and say, leave me alone, it still fits me >:(

(it doesn't)

>Also Ballister absolutely refusing to wear maternity clothes, the only one he got he was like, wearing it and looking very unimpressed, and Ambrosius' like, you don't like it? :( and Ballister says, No. It's ugly as fuck >:(

>So, he just gets bigger shirts and stretch-ier pants and that's it. Also he gets an oversized hoodie and he says that's gonna be his best friend the rest of the pregnancy, and both Nimona and Ambrosius gasp offendedly at that.

So-

Ambrosius (turning to look at Nimona): What the- hey, I am his best friend. Nimona: Course not! You lost that privilege with what happened that one time (she means the movie events, more than five years ago) Ballister: Ambrosius' my best friend, Nimona. Ambrosius: HAH >:D Nimona: Aw :( Ballister: Because you're my sidekick :) Nimona: :D Ambrosius: Hey, what now- that sounds better than best friend :(

-Ballister during most of the pregnancy is like, woo baby :) but at the very last months he's at least half of the time pissed off, tired and done with being pregnant.

(my incredible math skills in the next point)

>70% of that time he's mad at Ambrosius (who made him pregnant), 20% mad at Nimona (who consciously (and sometimes unconsciously) gets on his nerves) and the remaining 10 he's pissed off at Baby (and he gets sad about that one, because he's just a baby, so he redirects it at Ambrosius instead 😔)

>Ambrosius does his best to be of help but usually there's nothing he can do aside from being there (and sometimes getting out of Ballister's sight, if he's really angry- in the sense of 'I don't even want to see you now')

>Most of the time Ballister just cools off.

-Also Ambrosius giving him massages, sometimes randomly on his shoulders or his feet, and sometimes something more elaborated, like Ballister laying down and him using body oil, setting the ambient and all to massage his back (and Ballister almost always falls asleep in those).

>Sometimes tho he just does a 'chop chop chop' at his shoulders (it doesn't do anything besides amusing Ballister and keeping him company)

>Also Nimona said that of course he'd just randomly start chopping Ballister while Ballister does nothing about it, so Ambrosius starts chopping her instead

(made these two drawings with like three weeks of difference ajdkad)

(N/SFW thingies on the next four points and the next four images)

-Also with that previous point imagine Ballister waking up all angry, and Ambrosius just not knowing what he can do for him to stop being mad, but it turns out that Ballister had just woken up horny and pent-up.

>And once he realizes, he's like Ambrosius... (with intentions of getting some), and Ambrosius is like 🧍? because a second ago Ballister wasn't even looking at him.

-Also with this, Ballister is just very much hornier now (after the first trimester which was the worst) and Ambrosius doesn't mind at all - except when his jaw gets sore or he's running late for work because they lost track of time and also other situations ajsdks but usually he's delighted.

>(In the drawing Ballister just crossed one leg over the other once he heard Ambrosius coming in, because he can't maintain the position too long without getting uncomfortable sdjksj)

-Whenever Ballister is like >:c and looking in Ambrosius' direction, he immediately assumes that his husband is angry at him.

>Y'know when you look intensely at someone so they feel your gaze and look at you back? Ballister here is trying to apply that, but it doesn't work bc of the previous point askdad

-I had written sometime (I think) about them blaming Baby on literally anything that has more or less to do with him. If Ballister's crying, if he forgets stuff, if Nimona coddles Ballister too much and pisses him off, if Ambrosius wastes all the cleaning product in two weeks because he had been cleaning too much (he's nesting and realizes that sometime later), if Nimona and Ballister eat the weirdest stuff that at least he wouldn't eat in normal circumstances- and a long etc.

-During Ballister's pregnancy, Nimona works the most she had ever worked in her existence (in the biscuit factory):

-Both Nimona and Ambrosius are the most supportive c: yippie. Supportive husband/best friend and supportive sidekick/friend/sibling/etc

>An example would be of Ballister being tired, and if the time allows, the other two will immediately suggest a nap.

>Their collective naps usually last hours and they wake up disoriented, sweaty, with drool and the sheets marked on their faces.

>Also they wake up almost always stacked, Nimona always under the other two.

Translation

Nimona and Ballister: (snoring) Ambrosius: Fuck- what year is it? (tries to lift himself up)

-Also Nimona is the self-assigned pregnancy pillow, and at first Ballister had refused to let her do that, but as a sidekick she took it upon herself to make sure that her boss was comfy and could sleep well - and Ballister reminded her that that's not what sidekicks are for. She said, fuck off I'll do it anyways >:c

>Anyways he sleeps great with her help and earns himself a huge told you so from Nimona.

>I had written a thingy where just when she woke up she was like good morning boss :D while Ballister also said good morning and she hugged him while pushing Ambrosius away, even out of bed. I can't remember where I left it but once I find it, I'll see if it's good for posting pipipi Also Ballister and Ambrosius are corny husbands

>Also here I drew my vague idea of a bear bc I was too lazy to look for Nimona bear references sowwy

-Nimona sometimes shapeshifts into Ballister to make fun of him.

(This one joke gets lost in translation which is a shame but I'm gonna share the comic anyways sdjs)

>(She's messing around about names, doing a play in words using Gloreth's name while Ballister is already warning her to stop)

>Nimona urges them to get a name soon because Baby is almost born, and they're like yeah chill we're on it - and they're both sitting on the sofa, with Ballister's legs over Ambrosius' lap, while Ballister goes through their list on his tablet and Ambrosius focuses on giving him a massage on his feet.

They're like-

Ballister: So, Cyril? Ambrosius: No, my horse at the Institute was called that. Ballister: Right, then not that one... What about Casper? Ambrosius: Hmm... no. Ballister: Why not? Ambrosius: I don't know, I just don't really like it. Do you? Ballister: Eh, it's alright, I guess. I don't think Baby looks like a Casper, though Nimona: You don't even know how he looks yet! Ballister: You shut up, kid >:v Ballister: So, what about…

And they're making nearly to none progress but yeah sjdsd

>Also imagine Nimona (as Ballister) imitating what he does now that he's pregnant but x10 times more.

Translations

1 AUGHH- MY BACK 2 FUCKING AMBROSIUS! 3 Ambrosito? Can you get me a sweet treat? 🥺 4 I'M HUGE WAAA

>And while Ballister is like wtf I don't act like that, he turns to Ambrosius like, do I act like that? 😥 And Ambrosius, who was laughing to himself, goes, well... not so intensely, which is good enough for Ballister.

>But Nimona points out to what Ballister is eating with a mocking smile (and it is weird to be mocked by a version of himself that has a pink strand on his hair, but whatever), and he's like ? what? and realizes that he did ask for a sweet treat almost like Nimona depicted he does, because he did pull the big sparkly eyes and he did call Ambrosius Ambrosito while at it.

>Then he's wondering if he really complains about his back like that (he does, but as Ambrosius said, he isn't so intense about it, usually just holding his lower back and throwing his head back as he winces. Normal)

>(the yelling insults at Ambrosius is definitely not true. But he does throw daggers at him with his eyes when he's angry, he has to admit to himself)

>Now, about crying because he feels huge- yes. Very much true, but he doesn't wail. Just sobs and cries a river like the sensible, serious adult he is.

-Also that thing of knights don't cry and whatever. This one knight does cry, and he cries a lot (at least while he's pregnant).

>He cried once because he dreamt that Nimona was a little spider and even though he warned Ambrosius to be careful, he accidentally crushed her and he woke up not only incredibly sad but also upset with Ambrosius, even though he was aware that it was silly to get mad with him over a dream.

>Nimona was like boss :( while hugging him, and Ambrosius had to scoot a bit away because Ballister didn't even want to look at him as he wept. Ambrosius said a lot of reassuring words of I'm sorry, I think I didn't see her :( while Ballister was like, but I warned you so many times :'[

>Then he was like, I promise you, I'd never hurt Nimona. And Nimona herself said, yeah boss, I'd crush him first, don't you worry about it :) and Ballister said, but I couldn't protect you :''[ while hugging her harder.

>And both Nimona and Ambrosius are (internally) like, ohh, so that's what it's about.

>Anyways, just a bunch of hugging and comforting gets him to feel a little less sad and also Nimona saying, but you're great at protecting me now :D so, there's all that sdjksd

-Sometimes Ballister just breaks down over seemingly the most trivial stuff too (which is usually just the last straw over a bunch of other stuff going on)

Translation

1 Ambrosius: Balli? What happened? D: Ballister (with one eyeline going up and the other going down): Ambrosito, my eyeline's crooked* *the straw that broke the camel's back (his hair isn't cooperating) (his back hurts) (done) (clothes feel uncomfortable) (the baby won't stay still) 2 Ambrosius (doing Ballister's eyeline): Stay very still, love (focused) 3 (they're in front of the mirror) Ballister (laughing his ass off): BUT HOW DID YOU MAKE IT EVEN MORE CROOKED?! Ambrosius (embarrassed): Aw Ballister (holding his belly): Ow, Baby, don't kick me, sorry, sorry! I'll stay still now-

>(Y'know when a pregnant person laughs the baby inside gets all shaken skdsd I find it funny, so imagine Baby being like ??!! because Ballister keeps laughing too hard and shaking him all around and his kicks are like him going, stay the fuck still D:<) (Ballister's still weepy but now he's crying with laughter, which is better than him crying from being overwhelmed)

-Also Ballister's very scared of giving birth but he's very good at pretending that Baby will simply materialize in his arms rather than him having to push him out.

(Drawings based over this)

Translation

1 Ballister happy because his baby is almost born 2 (Remembers that he has to give birth to him)

-The day that he was in labor and all, imagine the water just breaking and stuff and Nimona being like 'okay everyone DON'T PANIC' while panicking and also Ballister's panicking too (Ambrosius' at work and when he's told he also panics and arrives at the hospital in record time still wearing his armor. The power of first-time father panic)

(But someone gotta be not panicking in the situation, so Ambrosius calms the fuck down and becomes the calming presence that Ballister can rely on c: also Nimona calms down too and goes back to being herself and is very good at distracting Ballister while he goes through contractions and the hours before pushing.)

>Also y'know how in TV sometimes someone else imitates the pregnant person's breathing exercises by going huff huff huff quickly ajsdkjd

>Also Ballister going Nimona what about the bags and also don't carry me there?! and her going shit right and ignoring the second half, then returning for the bags and grabbing them, all while holding Ballister like a doll (a doll with a little doll inside SJDS pregnant barbie)

En español pensaba que fuera = AYÚDENLO, SE LE SALE LA WAWA - NIMONA DEJA DE HACER SHOW

-Wrote a lil something about Baby's birth and Ballister going through kinda a rollercoaster of emotions because at the very beginning of the pushing stage he almost had a panic attack, but then everyone in the room helped him calm down, and when he thought everything was going great, the doctor offered Ambrosius to receive their baby, and of course his husband was very excited about it and said yes, getting dressed up in the medical gown, the facemask, the gloves and all that.

(Initially everything after that was supposed to go swiftly, but I thought, no, what if Ambrosius faints like some dads do? and after watching a TikTok of a woman whose partner did faint and they had to pause her birth to hold him up because he was like over 6 feet tall, I was like hell yeah that's it)

>When Ambrosius finally got between Ballister's legs to look, his blood pressure went the fuck down. And since he's pretty tall and the nurse that tried to catch him was pretty short, the other one had to join in and then the doctor too to avoid him slamming on the ground. The thing was that Ambrosius was clearly fighting very hard against unconsciousness, giving the three people holding him false hope about him finally holding his own weight, making them almost drop him multiple times.

>Sensibly, the situation was kinda scary, because the three people assisting his baby's birth were busy trying to hold his husband from fainting. Said husband was clearly fighting with everything he got to keep himself conscious, and Ballister could very much feel his baby crowning.

>But seeing three short people trying to hold Ambrosius up and yelping when they almost dropped him several times, and remembering that Ambrosius had been so excited about it but hadn't been able to even stand the view, and feeling pretty nervous because his main emotional support couldn't even keep himself awake-, made him crack up.

>So, he's laughing out loud and going every once in a while, owfuck- because it still hurts like a bitch, while the other three keep going, YOU'LL DROP HIM. BE CAREFUL, SIR?? SIR, CAN YOU HEAR ME? and Ambrosius' like, yea- (faints again)

>(they're well aware that they gotta deliver the baby, so they're doing their best to hurry Ambrosius to get out of the way)

>The whole thing had made Ballister's body feel weak from the laughter, and he had to try and calm down to have strength again and push the baby out.

>As you'd guess, Ambrosius didn't receive their baby, and had to sit down and eat something sweet to not faint again, but he managed to stay on his feet well enough to cut the umbilical cord yippie.

>So anyways, Baby out, wrapped and all that, Ballister kept laughing more quietly about it and saying that they should mark the date in the calendar to celebrate Ambrosius fainting over almost delivering their baby. And Ambrosius' like hmm, I don't know Balli, maybe we could use this date for our son's birthday, don't you think? and Ballister's like OH RIGHT and now started laughing at himself.

I keep thinking of new stuff that contradicts what I already have posted, sowwy

>Imagine Ambrosius practically begging Ballister to not tell Nimona, while the other says she'd love to know but also is aware that she'd never let Ambrosius live it down, so he agrees on not telling her. Both eventually tell both Nimona and Baby when the latter is older and inquired about his birth, and indeed, Nimona loved the anecdote, and never let Ambrosius live it down, since then.

-Ideas about Nimona infiltrating the room in the form of a nurse after Baby is born and blowing up her cover when she commented on the baby's nose being just like Gol- Mr. Goldenheart's. And also, his hair being black like Bo- Mr. Goldenheart's.

>At the beginning when they had been admiring their baby, Ambrosius had said, he got your hair D': pipipi (he cried the second Baby got placed in his arms, got a drawing of that but I don't like how it came out wah, Ambrosius' wearing a facemask and being all tear-eyed pipipi) and Ballister had said, he got your nose :D but Ambrosius had said no? that's just a baby's nose, how can you even tell. But after Nimona commented on it, Ballister's saying told you so, it's your nose, while Ambrosius' like, Mr. Goldenheart could be either of us (both smiling amusedly because Nimona's too silly and they clearly know it's her, but she's all idk who's Nimona?)

-Also, I don't know how to make that work with the idea that when she got kicked out to the hall for the pushing bit, she went to steal some flowers and balloons with 'it's a boy!' on them for Ballister. But anyways, I'll write that bit too.

-Also this is Goldenheart with their baby, and I drew it a while back but realized that I don't like it anymore, so I'll do a redrawing someday sdjksd

>Imagine that Ambrosius was in the hospital bed with Baby while Ballister was getting ready so they could leave to their home, and Nimona said pictures timeee and then took that pic, with Ballister pointing at Baby and being all :D Also, Ambrosius looked pretty good and all, and Ballister was all unshaven face, kinda messy hair, the hospital band with his name still wrapped on his wrist as he pointed at Baby, and yet there were some people online that were like ??! Ambrosius Goldenloin Goldenheart was pregnant??

>And the people that knew even if a little bit about the Goldenheart's life, and also because they still went out and whatever, were like ? no? didn't you see Ballister like, a week ago? (Where he was very obviously pregnant and Ambrosius clearly wasn't sdjkdj)

>Every once in a while, Nimona would remember about this and repost it again, even after Baby is much older.

And that's it! If you read till here, bless you ajsdkadj

I've got more stuff about mpreg, both written and drawn, so I hope to make another post like this sometime, they're very fun to make :D

[evilminji]

You think the Zone has its version of Comic Con?

Like? Think about it. You have literally all of time to work on it, your Magnum Opus, your life's work. That DREAM comic. All the supplies you could ever wish for. Endless paper. Endless ink. You can practice and practice for CENTURIES until it's JUST right.

Wouldn't you want to share it?

There are definitely Ghosts who have Obsessions that make them collect.

And two people meeting would lead to a group. Lead to a bigger group. Lead to a large group. A gathering. A crowd even. Eventually you need a Lair to meet IN. It becomes An Event.

People hear about it.

Want to bring other art mediums. Food stalls. Report on it. It grows. Shoot offs start happening. Niche meet ups.

But like?

Unlike comic con? It's all FREE. Sure, you might have fork over the ecto to make your copy. And yeah, weaker ghosts can only do that so many times. Will have to prioritize. But? They can come back after leaving for a nap. Ask a buddy to come with. There ARE work arounds.

Just? Imagine the unbelievable HIPE? Danny would feel? But be unable to TELL anyone about? Zone Con happens several times a year! Cause so many people wanna come. The Zone being infinite, after all.

Problem 1? They're using THEIR standard of a "year". Which is actual 5 earth years. So it's only happens every year and a half for him. And Problem 2? He can't even TALK about how excited he is about Z Con with anyone (outside his friends and family) because they haven't heard of it and might Ask Questions.

It's ALSO held in a part of the Zone that's like? Three days of flying away from the portal. And no amount of begging is gonna get any of his loved ones to camp in the Speeder for around six-ish days just to go to a Con.

So you can imagine his DELIGHT. His utter JOY and *Target Spotted* "!!!" Noise, when? In the crowd? He spots A HUMAN! Hi fellow human!!! Omg, wanna be Con Besties? *doesn't even wait for an answer*

So now? This sad, blonde, deeply lost and kinda alarmed, trench coat dude? Is Danny's new Z Con Going Bestie! You got a map yet, bestie? No? That's cool, he has one. By the way, he has human food in the Speeder if you nee-

YES!

Cause, see, here's the THING. John? Lost to the Realms Infinte. Or Infinte Realms. Translation was iffy... and on fire... like the rest of the building. It was him or the kids those psychos had kidnapped, for what fucked "ritual" the voices in their heads, that THEY thought were demons but frankly he's pretty sure was just feedback from-

Look, doesn't matter, he had to choose. He always knew someday he'd have too. That even twisting Luck and talking fast wouldn't quite be enough. And he had to decide, in that moment, which outcome mattered more to him. They get out safe, or he does.

Wasn't much of a question, was it?

So, there he is. Staring down oblivion and all those debts unpaid. 'Bout to see who's gonna come for him this time, and take what left of wretched soul. When? He bleeds on the FUCKIN two-bit crap circle they squiggled in God only knows what. Remembers that "oh YEAH, set dressings!" Sometimes when you focus too hard on insuring a Good Outcome?

You weird weird as shit byproducts happening on the side to balance it all out.

Or BAD ones.

He wakes up someone fucking green and crowded. For the life of him can't tell you which one it is. And THAT was of course, bout two days ago.

Biggest and most immediate problem? He... does NOT recognize what flavor of magical fuckery this is. Doesn't seem Fae. And doesn't smell like Hell. There are... there are honest to God BOOTH BABES hanging around. Hunks too. The view is LOVELY.

And nerdy.

Very, very nerdy.

But he isn't THAT out of touch. So he should recognize SOMETHING. Or at least the languages. But nope! It's like aliens and magic had a nerd baby and dipped it in GREEN. And the worst thing? Is there is food everywhere, but it all glows and John's not stupid enough to eat it.

Then? Sweet merciful fuck. Salvation! Some teeny bopper Barely No Longer Teen fresh faced INFANT of a Hero kid. With a SHIP. Who has FOOD and a clear idea of where they are. Hello~ John's new BEST FRIEND. Yes. Absolutely. Con Buddies, whatever.

Just feed me, kid.

Only? Once he inhales like 5 "Fenton rations"? He only gets half way through introducing himself before getting interrupted. Kid hears "magic" and "occult Detective" and just? Goes "oh! So you wanna check out the magic Ally with me? Sam wanted me to pick up some witchy stuff!"

..............how magic?

(In Which? Constantine becomes Danny's interdimensional Con buddy)

@the-witchhunter @hypewinter @hdgnj @mutable-manifestation @lolottes @nerdpoe

[cosmowgyral]

The Lying Fox is filled with a Love free of Lies

▪︎ Harrison's 3rd Birthday

This is a fan translation so please don't expect it to be 100% accurate. Creative liberties have been taken. All content belongs to Cybird. Reblogs are appreciated but do not repost. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

My boyfriend, Harrison Gray, is a cursed, lying fox.

Because he can see through lies, any secret or surprise gets found out right away.

Even so, every year on his birthday, I want try to surprise him somehow.

I thought about it for a whole month, and finally, it hit me.

If he’s going to find out anyway, I just won’t hide it.

Kate: Happy birthday, Harry! Here, your present!

Harrison: …Again?

I called out to Harry from behind as he was walking down the hallway and held out the present I’d been carrying.

He gave a small sigh, smiling awkwardly, clearly a little embarrassed.

Harrison: I’ve told you a hundred times, my birthday’s not until later. You know that, right?

Kate: Of course I do. There’s no way I’d forget my boyfriend’s birthday.

Harrison: This is the third present I’ve gotten from you, you know…

Seeing me beaming at him, Harry let out a sigh as if to say “good grief,” but… he looked kind of happy.

After getting the idea of not hiding it, I’d been giving him presents non-stop for about a week now.

It started with small sweets, then the book he’d been wanting, and even new clothes…

Every time we met, I handed him another gift.

And every time, Harry would look puzzled, but still thank me all the same.

Harrison: Thanks… So, what exactly are you plotting this year?

His mint-colored eyes locked onto mine, trying to read my true intentions.

But this year, I don’t have a single thing to hide.

Kate: I just thought I’d keep giving you presents until I’m satisfied.

Harrison: Huh?

He looked at me in surprise, clearly caught off guard.

I gently tapped the ribbon on the present and smiled.

Kate: I just thought… I’d try putting my feelings for you into something tangible.

When I walk through town, I always catch sight of things he might like.

I stop in front of clothes that would suit him.

There’s so much I want to talk to him about—he’s become a part of my everyday life in so many little ways.

So I came up with a plan to show him how much he means to me: keep showering him with presents until his actual birthday.

Harry let out a soft laugh, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and gently patted my head.

Harrison: I have no idea how you ended up with that plan, but… you seem to be enjoying yourself, so I’ll let it slide.

(I’m sure he already knows how I feel, even without all this.)

Even so, every time I hand him a gift, he smiles with that slightly embarrassed look I love.

I wanted to see more of that face so I even asked Crown for help.

Kate: Today’s present is from Liam!

Three days before his birthday, I visited Harry’s room and handed him a gift Liam had entrusted to me.

He sat on the bed, staring intently at the board game he’d just unwrapped.

Harrison: ‘Happy birthday! You said this looked fun the other day, so I got it for you. Try playing it together!’

He read the message card from Liam out loud, a soft smile forming on his face.

Harrison: Well, he did say we should play… might as well give it a try.

Kate: Okay!

The board game Liam bought was simple: roll the dice, move your piece, and race to the goal.

There were also cards you could use to interfere with your opponent.

So while it was mostly luck-based, it had just enough strategy to get competitive.

But...

(I lost again…!)

No matter how many times we played, Harry’s clever use of interference cards kept me losing every single match.

Kate: How did I lose to someone who kept rolling ones...?

Harrison: Even with worse luck than you, I used the sabotage cards way better.

He smirked triumphantly, waving one of the interference cards between his fingers.

Kate: Actually… I was with Liam when he bought the game. We talked about it.

Kate: We thought maybe with this game, we could finally beat you.

Harrison: Hmm...

He suddenly set the cards aside, reached out, and gently lifted my chin to make me look up at him.

Harrison: I heard you and Liam went out together. I get that you wanted it to be a surprise.

Harrison: But I don’t like being the only one left out…

Kate: Mm—

He bit my lip softly, teasingly, and smirked.

Harrison: Punishment.

With a chuckle, he pulled me down with him onto the bed.

[Chapter 2]

[heli-writes]

A dragon's heart, part 17.

Pairing: Barbarian!Bakugou Katsuki x female!reader

Summary: The dragonblood tribe is known for being cruel, barbarian warriors that slaughter, loot and rape all places they pass through. They are feared among the villagers and even bigger cities. Having lost most of their women to a plague, they're trying to ensure their tribe's survival by kidnapping women from other places. However, they're not the only monsters in human form out there. When y/n experiences this first hand, she has no choice but to ask for help from no other but the barbarian leader Katsuki Bakugou himself.

Disclaimer: explicit description of torture

[Please don't read if you are sensible to or triggered by the topics mentioned above.]

Note: Please applause our first translator entering the scene! Can you guess who it is? Spoiler: It's not our favourite broccoli!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17

Series Masterlist

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright, you boot-licking weak-ass excuse of a warrior, I ask you one more time: What orders were given to you by your king? Answer or your comrades will suffer even worse”

When the Todoroki soldier doesn't answer, Katsuki turns the knife that is already stuck in the man's leg. The man howls and fights against the restraints that bind him to the chair he's sitting on. When the pain ebbs away, the soldier spits blood at Katsuki's feet. He looks up at the chief with anger and determination behind his eyes.

“Fuck you. I not tell you everything. With honour, we die.”

Katsuki gives him a long, hard stare. Then a cruel smile spreads on his face. They've been torturing the Todoroki prisoners for a couple of hours now. They picked one by one, leaving the remaining stewing in fear for when they come for them. This one is the last one.

So far, they weren't very lucky. The four others that were brought in before this one didn't speak a word of Drakona and could only twitch in pain at the knives of their captors.

“Ah, so he can speak. Seems like it's your lucky day, bastard. Means that we two get to spend more time with each other.”, Katsuki grins at the man.

The man looks at him with exhausted eyes but the deep circles under his eyes don't hide the hatred in them.

“Do worst”, the man spits back and Katsuki only chuckles.

A good half hour later, Katsuki didn't get anything useful out of the man. Mainly because the man's hard to break. Most of the time he only spits out insults in very broken Drakona. Katsuki wonders if the information the man can give them will be of any worth considering how hard he is to understand.

Katsuki washes off the blood on his hands in front of his tent before entering his shared living space with y/n. There is no need for his mate to see that. The tent lies empty and silent upon his arrival. Katsuki frowns upon y/n's absence. He left her this morning munching on some bread before taking off to take care of the prisoners.

Did she run away again?, Katsuki ponders, I didn't give her any reason to be cross with me today, I think.

An unease settles over him, like always when y/n is up to something he doesn't know about. Of course, there is no harm in y/n wandering about the settlement and socializing with the other tribe members, but it's just... unexpected. Most of the other women don't, or at least only to a minimal degree. Furthermore, Katsuki's always on edge thinking that y/n might change her mind and take flight.

Katsuki turns on his heels and stomps through the village of tents with an air of authority. He doesn't want to ask any of his men if they've seen his mate. Probably, nobody would care but Katsuki thinks they might assume that he has no control over his own mate.

“Hey, Kats, where you off to?”, a voice calls out to him.

Katsuki was so deep in thought that he didn't notice that he was passing by Kirishima's tent. For a moment, he hesitates.

“Just lookin' for y/n.”, he tries to answer casually.

Kirishima laughs. “Always the attentive mate, eh?”, he teases and Katsuki feels the tips of his ear burning.

“I think I've seen her walking towards old woman Tomoko with a bunch of clothes. Maybe try your luck there.”, Kirishima tells him and Katsuki gives him a grateful nod.

Katsuki walks over to the old woman's tent and makes himself noticeable before walking in.

Y/n is standing in the middle of the room in one of her new dresses. Old woman Tomoko crouches next to her and cuts off the fabric at y/n's feet.

“Chief Bakugou.”, Tomoko greets her leader, “Have you come to check my progress with your mate's clothes?”

Katsuki does not know what she's talking about but doesn't want to look clueless in front of her, so he only agrees.

The woman stands up and holds up another dress. It is a thinner dress in a pink hue.

“We've already altered this one. Made is shorter and a bit firmer around the hips. Told her she might not want it firmer considering she might be with child when next summer comes, but she was very firm on this. Your mate certainly has her own head, don't you think?”, Tomoko chats away. Katsuki can only agree with her on that last part.

“Anyways, right now we're altering this one.”, Tomoko continues, “It's more suitable for the weather in the mountains, at least for her kind, I suppose. Although I've got to say I find all these dresses kind of ridiculous, don't you think? The fabric's so heavy, the skirt so long and even her arms aren't free. How can anybody move in clothes like these?”

Katsuki hums in agreement. “Don't know, but all the kingdom women wear clothes like this.”, he offers an explanation. Tomoko nods.

“Sure, sure, you're right. Then again, these women probably don't need to move much, don't they? The ones you brought at least don't seem to leave their tents very much.”, Tomoko points out.

“I guess so.”, Katsuki only answers. He doesn't feel like explaining to the old woman that that probably has different reasons.

“Well, I'm glad y/n's different. Poor thing doesn't understand a single word, but at least she's a bit more outgoing than the others, isn't she? Some may say she's a bit slow in the head, but I think she's a breath of fresh air around here.”, the old woman continues to chatter.

Katsuki's expression immediately darkens. “Who said that?”, he immediately wants to know. The old woman stops mid-movement sensing she probably shouldn't have mentioned that in front of the chief.

“Oh, you know, how people are...”, Tomoko tries to play it off, “It's just she's so slow at picking up our language so people assume she's not..., you know, so bright. But then again, it's hard to learn a language without a teacher and she's not a child anymore. Children are so much quicker at picking up these things. Anyhow, it's a pity I never learned the kingdom's language. You know, I had an aunt who was a half-blood and she spoke it fluently. Her mother came from...”

While Tomoko drifts off in a long explanation about her family's history, Katsuki's ears are still rushing with blood. Thinking about how members of his tribe say that y/n is mentally challenged does not sit right with him. Suddenly, there's a tuck at his hand. Y/n walked up to him and demands his attention. She presents him with a woven bracelet.

“Oh, yes, that. She made that out of fabric I cut off her dress. I wondered what that was about. It's quite pretty, isn't it? Your woman is quite resourceful, I have to say.”, Tomoko explains.

Carefully, y/n slips the bracelet over his right hand while Tomoko continues to explain the various things one can make with leftover fabric. Katsuki's head feels like it's about to explode. He forgot how much the old woman liked to talk. Y/n smiles up at him. Katsuki pinches her cheek in appreciation.

“Alright, old woman, I've got to get back to work. Make sure the dresses are altered the way she wants it.”, Katsuki interrupts Tomoko's torrent of words. The old woman abruptly stops her chattering and bows her head respectfully.

“Of course, chief, they'll be done by tonight.”, she tells him. Katsuki squeezes y/n's hand and turns to leave. He doesn't see the look of disappointment on y/n's face. She hoped that he would stay longer.

~*~*~*~

Katsuki lets the Todoroki soldier stew for the rest of the days. He's given a minimum of water. The knife in his leg is taken out and the wound is covered so that it doesn't get infected. After all, he shouldn't die on them that quickly.

He decides to visit the man before dinner. Maybe the prospects of food will make him talk. He enters the tent with a plate of hot stew and a slice of bread.

“Hungry?”, he asks while sitting down in front of the soldiers. The man stares right ahead.

Katsuki takes a spoonful of stew and shoves it inside his mouth.

“Ya' sure you don't want any?”, he asks challenging but the man doesn't answer him.

“How many days since you've last eaten? Two? Three? You must be starving.”, Katsuki points out.

The man grinds his teeth. “Not want the poison.”, the soldier bites out. Katsuki clicks his tongue.

“Poison? Buddy, we keepin' you alive. Be grateful, ya friends ain't gettin' any.”, he tells him. A mean grin spreads on the soldier's face.

“Sorry, mean I will not eat shit.”, he tells Katsuki. Katsuki grinds his teeth.

“Oh, sorry our food ain't good enough for the mighty soldier. Then again, maybe I should feed you like the pig you are.”, he replies and empties the hot content of the bowl into the man's crotch. The man howls in pain.

“Fuck you.”, the man grits out. “Ya, ye keep sayin' that. How's that workin' out for ya?”, Katsuki smirks.

“Now, I was nice to ya' but seems like ya' can't appreciate that. Maybe I should go back to doin' things the traditional way.”, he tells him and rams his thumb into the wound on his leg. The soldier screams out in pain.

“Katsuki!”

Katsuki whips around at the sound of the shocked voice behind him. Y/n's standing at the entrance of the tent looking white in the face. Slowly, Katsuki takes his hand off the man and turns around to her fully.

“What the hell are you doing?”, y/n demands to know. Katsuki assumes she wants an explanation, but someone else answers for him.

“What does it look like, honey? He's torturing me.”, the soldier says and lets out a croaked laugh.

Y/n stares at the soldier wide-eyed. For a moment, Katsuki is unable to move. Y/n storms past him, but Katsuki manages to catch her arm. However she twists towards the soldier on the chair.

“What do you mean? What's going on here?”, y/n asks the soldier. It's only then that Katsuki understands that they're speaking the same language. Of course they do, he curses internally.

“Well, you see honey, this lovely bastard over there...”, the soldier starts but he doesn't get to finish as the edge of Katsuki's hand makes a hard impact with his throat. The soldier makes a choking noise.

“Katsuki!”, y/n yells appalled and struggles against his hold but to no avail. He pulls her towards the exit of the tent. Y/n definitely shouldn't talk to this man. Who knows what lies the soldier will tell her.

“Bastard!”, the soldier chokes out in Drakona. Katsuki freezes for a second and turns back to him.

“You should better be careful how and to whom you talk around here.”, Katsuki says cooly but the man only grins at him.

“Scared I tell you girl the true?”, the man says and Katsuki sees red. Letting go of y/n, he storms towards the man and pushes him into the back of the chair.

“You don't talk to her. She's not yours to talk to. Don't even look at her. You understand that?”, he growls but the soldier only laughs.

“Best you knife my tongue then. But can talk no secrets then. Pity you.”, the soldier bites back. Katsuki takes a swing at him but y/n catches his wrist.

“Katsuki, don't. Are you insane?”, y/n yells. The soldier laughs in return.

“Clearly, he is.”, he points out, “But then again, he's from the dragon blood tribe. Haven't you noticed that, sweetheart?”

Y/n stares at the miserable man in front of her. His ragged clothes clearly are the remains of the kingdom's soldier uniforms. She's seen the uniform before on her brother when he said goodbye to her before joining the army. The soldier's face is covered in dirt and grime and his dark, purple hair sticks to his forehead in thick clumps.

She only wanted to look for Katsuki to tell him dinner's ready. She didn't expect to find him to torture a man who is clearly from the kingdom. She swallows hardly. What on earth is Katsuki up to?

“Cat caught your tongue, love?”, the man laughs.

Before y/n can respond, Katsuki interrupts. “You. Don't. Talk. To. Her.”, he presses. The soldier looks at him unimpressed.

“She not dragon blood tribe, right? Kingdom clothes and kingdom tongue. You steal her? Bet she prefer fuck me than you. Maybe she run away with me.”, the soldier spits into Katsuki's face in Drakona.

Katsuki doesn't want to lose control over his anger in front of y/n but the bastard makes it hard not to. “This is the last you see of her. Make sure to remember her form. It will be the last woman you ever see.”, Katsuki tells him.

Y/n's head whips back and forth between Katsuki and the soldier. Clearly, they're having a conversation she can't follow. She turns towards the soldier in front of her. Carefully, she asks: “Do you understand him?”. The soldier raises an eyebrow. “You don't?”, he returns the question. Embarrassed, y/n shakes her head.

Next to her, Katsuki yells something indecipherable and grabs onto her arm again, trying to pull her away again. Y/n struggles against him again. This time, Katsuki's grip isn't so hard since he gained some control over his emotions again. Y/n manages to free herself from him and takes a few steps back.

Y/n just stares at Katsuki. He's still red in the face from his outburst earlier. His breathing is hard and he tells her something pointing towards the exit. The soldier watches them with amusement.

“You know, he wants you to leave.”, he tells y/n. Y/n presses her lips together.

“Thank you, I figured as much.”, y/n replies and the soldier chuckles. Katsuki says something again, louder this time and tries to reach for her arm again. Quickly, y/n steps back.

“Want me to tell him something, sweetheart?”, the soldier offers.

Y/n stares hardly into Katsuki's eyes. It's one thing that the man she's stuck with is torturing somebody. That alone is a whole issue. Y/n isn't a violent person even though she knows in some situations one has no choice but to make use of it. But torturing an unarmed, tied-up man is something only people with no honor do. It's a whole other thing to hide that from her, get angry when she does find out and give her no explanation.

Y/n stands up more proudly. Shoulders pushed to the back, staring Katsuki down. He still looks angry as if it's her who is doing something wrong here.

Without looking at the soldier, she says:

“Yes, tell him that he's a dick.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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[Please comment beneath the last update if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters]

[magics-neptunes-things]

Love Heals Everything

Hi guys!

I feel like I haven't post for ages, and it's probably not only an impression. I had several things to deal with and I don't know how many of you are still here but... Here's my new story. It's coming from the Serie of Lia and the Firefighter.

Please enjoy ♥

You can find the other story of the serie here :)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Your leg nervously bounces up and down while watching your girlfriend evolving on the pitch. You feel the same proudness as every time, Lia is beyond amazing. She plays with everything she’s got, but you can’t help but feel nervous.

“Stop this, you make me nervous!”

You glance at Katie who hit you on your leg. The Irish girl is sitting next to you in the stand, keeping you company without her consent, her red card preventing her from going on the bench with her teammates.

You sigh and take a big breath, trying to steady yourself. You can’t help but be stupidly and excessively concerned about Lia. Katie knows this since she met you, just like everyone else finally. You always have been overprotective with your girlfriend since you met her.

You open the door of her car, the door of almost every room she wants to get in, you cook for her and put everyday healthy snacks in her bag in case she’s hungry between meals. When you are coming home later than her or working during the night, you leave her notes in your house for her to find and prepare her meal for the night, so she just has to put it in the microwave and enjoy her evening.

You act like her personal bodyguard when you are in a crowd, not wanting anyone to even put their finger on her. When she asked you if you wanted to be involved in any way in the preparations of the Euros with her you said yes, to have more time with her but to have a look about people surrounding her too.

In your mind, every single person can take her away from you.

Lia is clever, fun, kind, attentive, mindful, skilled and amazingly beautiful.

What you weren’t expecting, though, it’s that you almost lost her because of something you can’t control.

The first time you felt that weird spot on her body, you just asked her if she hurt herself during training. Lia just shrugged and told you she doesn’t know; it happens to everyone to have bruises without knowing where they come from.

But then that thing grew, and you forced Lia to talk about it to Arsenal’s team. You were beyond nervous when they sent her to take exams in London’s hospital. But then Lia asked to go to Switzerland to be treated and of course you followed her.

You love Switzerland, the peace and quiet of this country and their beautiful landscapes, but you must admit that you were everything but peaceful. You were a wreck of stress, unable to sleep even with Lia peacefully asleep in your arms. You took the habits to have her sleeping on you and when she isn’t, you put your head on her chest.

Just to be able to hear her heart beating.

You don’t understand a lot of German, only the sentences Lia told you and some basics, but it hasn’t helped at all during Lia’s stay in the hospital. Thanks God, Lia’s sister was here too, translating things when Lia was too concentrated with her medical team to do it.

Finally, you had the answer you were looking for. Unlike what was feared, it wasn’t a tumour, “only” an abscess. She still needed surgery for it, but at least she wasn’t in mortal danger.

Well, of course the operation could have gone wrong. You waited for five hours in Lia’s room, not wanting to leave for a single second, too scared to miss Lia’s return.

The nurses seem to take pity on you, bringing you tea and a food tray at some point of the day. You couldn’t eat anything, which might be a first in your life. Only when Lia came back in her room, still half asleep, did you feel like you were able to breathe again correctly.

You stayed with Lia the three nights of her stay in hospital, sleeping in a chair at first and then on a camp bed given by the nurses once again. When Lia is finally able to leave the hospital, you brought them a big chocolate box.

Lia wasn’t authorized to take the plane for several days after, so you stayed with her at her parents’ house. You distract yourself by taking care of your girlfriend (of course), but by helping your in-laws with cooking or even going grocery shopping. Lia took advantage of it to buy some things to take with you when you will go back to London.

Your girlfriend seems to get better very quickly, for general relief. She received a lot of calls from her teammates during her recovery and Leah and her girlfriend offered to come take you at the airport.

After that, Lia had a recovery at home at first, before starting to train with her teammates again.

Even at that time, you took her to every appointment needed, switching your shift with your co-workers. And, thanks to your knowledge with all that medical stuff, you took every morning and every night her pressure, just to be sure that everything is alright.

You insisted that she take another blood test, just to be sure once again. Everything was alright, every time.

But you can’t make the fear of losing her go away.

It’s still here, sometimes waking you up in the middle of the night. It’s a thing to fear losing her because she might fall out of love with you, but it’s something else to lose her if death comes meddle in the middle of your life.

Today is the first time Lia is playing again, and you are more nervous than if she was climbing the Himalaya alone. Your leg isn’t moving anymore but you will probably die of a heart attack soon.

Lia seems happy to be back on the pitch, running quickly to find her spot on the pitch. But you wince every time someone comes closer to her, jumping on your feet when she finds herself on the ground after a challenge from a player of the other team.

“For fuck’s sake sit down” Katie groans, grabbing you by your sleeve. “She’s fine, look. Running like a goat”

You groan and sit down again, looking at the clock. It’s only the 63 minutes. The next half-hour will be a long one.

********

After the game, you are waiting for your girlfriend in the VIP lodge with the other families. Leah’s mother tried to talk to you, but you can’t really repeat what you talked about. You were only concentrating on the door, waiting for Lia to pass it.

Katie never left your side though, talking for you to Leah’s mom and explaining discreetly why you were so strange. Katie puts a glass of champagne in your hands to help you relax.

It doesn’t really work to be honest. You were sitting on a stool, your leg jumping on and on. Katie gave up making you stop it, scrolling on her phone but staying loyally next to you.

She almost falls off her stool when you jump on your feet, Lia finally appearing by the door with Steph and Beth. In three big steps, you are in front of her, feeling a big relief when she passes her arms around you to hug you.

“How are you?” you ask, your face in her hair.

“I’m fine” you can hear the smile in her voice “Did you enjoy the game?”

You hum absently, looking attentively at her to see if you can see any discomfort or anything that should worry you. She’s wearing her Arsenal suit obviously so you can’t really look at all the parts of her body, but you will do it later at home.

“Next time give her a tranquilizer Wally. I never seen someone so nervous in my life”

You roll your eyes at Katie’s comment, passing next to you after she spots her own girlfriend. Lia gives you a curious look and you just shrug, passing an arm around her waist. Feeling her against you gives you peace and your heart might need some peace right now.

You are saved from Lia’s questions by Amanda coming to show you her daughter, Lia cooing lovingly in front of that baby. Who is cute, you have to admit. You smile and talk to her when she’s in Lia’s arms, picking her ribs to make her laugh. The giggle of the baby and Amanda talking about her progress help you to think about something else for a little bit. Which you appreciate.

At some point the baby goes back into her mother's arms and you take Lia in yours, hugging her from behind while she’s talking with some of her teammates.

“Do you mind if we go home?” Lia whispers to you at some point, tilting her head to have a look at you.

“Of course not. Are you tired?”

“A little bit” your girlfriend admits, and you don’t need more.

You grab her things with one hand, your girlfriend’s hand with another and take her to the parking lot. You kind have forgotten that there will be some fans asking for a signature there. Lia, like the sweet cutie pie she is, takes the time she needs to sign all the jerseys and pictures presented to her. You let her do it for several minutes, taking time to put her bag in the car before going back next to her for a moment, before finally stepping in.

“Cookie, it’s cold and your hair isn't dry… Maybe it’s time to go before getting sick?” you say softly, putting your hand on her back.

Lia turns to you and nod softly, excusing herself to the girls she was talking to. You kind of feel bad for her fans, but everyone got their picture or signatures, and you have to take care of Lia anyway. And you know they won’t hold it against you, since several months now your relationship has appeared on the social media and fans only gush over how protective and caring you are with your girlfriend.

You drive both of you to your house, proposing to Lia different dishes you can cook for her tonight.

“What about we just order in? You deserve to take a break too, Baby” Lia proposes softly.

“But we have to be sure that you have all the good nutrients needed for you to recover! The nurses said you need vitam… –“

“Y/N”

You look at your girlfriend with wide eyes, momentarily forgetting about the red light in front of you. Lia never calls you by your name, or only when you did something that you shouldn’t. Your surprise must be funny, because Lia can’t hide the smile creeping on her face.

“I am healed. My scar has healed well too, thanks to your care. Stop worrying like this, you’re going to develop an ulcer”

You roll your eyes and start your car again, driving for the last hundred meters until you are home. Lia’s hand found her way to yours during this time, silence coming inside the car again, only broken when Lia hums the song coming from the radio.

At home, you make Lia sit on the couch and start the laundry before going back to her to choose what to eat. She finally makes her choice for Nando’s and you let Lia choose what you will eat, just happy to be able to have some cuddle with her.

The end of the day between you was great, to be honest. You ate well, watched something you both liked and had a lot of cuddles and laughs together. You then went to bed and after some sweet words and more cuddles, you fell asleep easily.

But now, you are suddenly awake from your sleep, your heart pounding, your hands shaking and some sweat rolling on your neck.

You just have to turn your head to see that Lia is peacefully asleep, lying across the bed. Her breast goes up and down slowly every time she’s breathing and she’s alright. Not like in the dream you just had.

It’s not the first nightmare you have since Lia’s surgery, but you can’t get used to it. You carefully remove Lia’s legs on yours to sit on the border of the bed, pressing the palms of your hands against your eyes.

You try to concentrate yourself on the strange patterns coming from this gesture, but the pictures of your nightmare are too strong, and you aren’t able to fight against them. But you don’t want to wake Lia, so you stand up and silently go out of your bedroom. You don’t know what you could do, honestly. You feel tense, the only thing helping you when you are like this is a hot shower. But once again, you don’t want to wake your girlfriend up.

So you end up in front of the TV, munching blankly some of Lia’s favourite crisps. Your plan is to wait a decent hour to start breakfast and surprise your girlfriend in bed. But you have several hours to wait.

You are surprised in your plans though, a sleepy Lia appearing in the living room before the sun starts to rise.

“What are you doing?” she asks with a raspy voice.

You weren’t expecting your girlfriend to wake up. You jump out of your skin, making some crisps flying from your lap. While you stand, you can see Lia’s eyes going from the crisps, to you, to the wildlife reporting on TV and then to you again.

“I’ll buy you another” you mumble, kneeling to collect the crisps on the ground.

“Since when are you interested in pink flamingos?” Lia asks you, looking at the screen.

You frown and look above your shoulder to see the screen. You weren’t at all looking at it, lost in your thoughts once again. You shrug before standing up.

“Television programs are not particularly interesting at this time”

You cross Lia’s gaze, looking at each other for several seconds. You wonder what she’s thinking about, but you don’t have time to ask. She reaches for you, and you don’t hesitate to take her hand in yours.

“Come back to bed?”

You nod and Lia’s squeak can tell you that she wasn’t expecting you to put your hands around her waist and lift her off the floor and carry her up to your room. She giggles when you put her down on the bed, covering her before you lay down on her completely.

You know you won’t be able to fall asleep again, but you plan to give Lia some more sleep.

Her heart beating against your ear is comforting, just like the strokes in your hair. Like this, you feel good. You could almost fall asleep again to be fair, but you want to be sure that Lia is asleep before you. She’s the one needing recovery, not you.

But when you look up, Lia’s eyes aren’t closed. In fact, she was looking at you.

“What?” you raise an eyebrow.

Lia's green gaze is intense, and you have trouble continuing to look at her. You know what she’s doing, she’s trying to read or find something in your eyes.

“Stop that” you groan, hiding your face in her neck.

She lets you do it, but you know before she starts talking again that you won’t escape her like this.

“Would you tell me if something wasn’t right?” Lia finally asks you.

Her voice is soft, but she doesn’t really give you the choice to answer. You never talked to her about your nightmares or even how terrified you are at the simple idea of something happening to her. It goes way beyond what you ever felt before seeing her in that Swiss hospital. It was very different from the surgery for her knee.

So, you just hum softly for any answer. You don’t want to worry her.

“That is not an acceptable answer”

You know it. But you stay silent.

“Y/N” she tries again.

You don’t move at first, only squirming when she starts to poke at your ribs.

“Babe, stop” you whine “I’m comfy”

“Answer, and you will be able to enjoy this for as long as you want”

You sigh softly, knowing perfectly that you won’t have the last word here. Lia is the sweetest but she’s very stubborn too. An iron hand in a velvet glove.

“I don’t know how to explain it” you admit softly, sitting on the bed.

And you don’t know if it’s a good thing to explain the way you are thinking to Lia. You never hide anything from her and maybe your anxiety is harder to deal with because of that.

“I know you. I can see that something is bothering you, but if you don’t talk to me about it I can’t help you Pookie” Lia says softly.

“That is the point” you sigh again “You just had all those surgeries and medical stuff. You shouldn’t be the one helping, all you are supposed to do is recover and take care of yourself.”

“Actually, you are taking such good care of me that I don’t need to do anything” she smiles.

You could die for that smile, even if you are biting your bottom lips right now, not really sure about what she just said. She seems lost by your reaction, and you hate seeing her so destabilized. So, you take a big breath before answering. You don’t know what you will say but you know that you need to say something.

“I’m just scared” you finally say.

“I need more context”

Lia’s voice is patient, but you find yourself playing with a piece of the bed sheet covering your girlfriend. You turn the sentences in your head several times before actually talking again.

“I always tried my best to take care of you and protect you as much as possible. I can do it if someone annoys you, I can take care of you if you are tired or I can even take you out of a Café on fire. I can look for you if you are injured or uncomfortable, or tired after a training session, but… This time it wasn’t something I can protect you against. And that scared the shit out of me.”

Your eyes were focused on the bed while you were talking, but after some seconds of silence you hesitantly raise your gaze on your girlfriend. Lia is looking at you, of course she is, with so much softness that you feel your heart beating faster, for something good this time. Nothing to compare how you felt during her game. And definitely nothing to compare with how you felt during her journey in hospital.

“You won’t like to hear that, but you can’t protect me against everything in the world, Pookie”

Lia smiles when you pout, but cups softly your cheek with her hand.

“But you were there every second of it and I couldn’t ask for more than this. You were perfect. You always have been with me, since the beginning”

“I just don’t want to lose you” you whisper.

“You won’t. And you need to stop worrying like this for me. I’m fine, you know it. You came with me at all my appointments. You are going to make you sick.”

You bite your bottom lip, a little ashamed to have been caught. It was maybe a little stupid of you to hope that she won’t see anything. And you are pretty sure that it was way before Katie made that comment at the end of the game.

“Okay” you sigh “But you have to swear to talk to me if anything is happening to you”

“I swear I will” she answers easily, taking you again in her arms.

You let it happen, lying down again against your girlfriend. Once again you put your ear on her heart, passing your arm around her waist. The warmth of her body and the cover is great, and you finally can relax. Talking about it to Lia makes you feel lighter than you expected. You even feel your eyes becoming heavy.

You take a look at Lia to be sure that she will fall asleep again, before closing your eyes.

“I love you” you whisper, burying your face in her shirt.

“I love you too” she whispers back.

Two minutes later, you wear out of the world, sleeping peacefully for the first time since Lia’s health difficulty. And you have to admit that it felt good.

[sapphicantics]

Three’s Trouble, Four’s a Threat

Pairing: The Plastics x fem!reader

Summary: Just some headcanons on what it’s like dating the Plastics

Word count: 1.3K (27 bullet points)

Contents: poly!Plastics, bad girl!reader, Shane slander, mentions of violence

Note: HAPPY PRIDE!!!! I have a lot of fic ideas that I’m working on, several of which I’m hoping to put out this month, unfortunately none are ready at this current moment, but I wanted to post something on the first day of pride to welcome this month in and I’ve had these sitting in my drafts for months (technically a year as of March) so what better time to post them than now. A translator app was used a few times in this fic so incorrect Hindi translations are probably present, anyone who actually speaks Hindi please politely correct me on any mistakes. And before anybody asks, which you might not, this is not the same badgirl!reader (same fonts, different people) as my series. That said, I hope you all enjoy!

— — — —

SFW:

This relationship was a surprise to everyone because what do you mean The Plastics, the most perfect girls in school, are dating The North Shore Menace, the leather jacket wearing, motorcycle riding girl with tattoos and a nose piercing who’s always causing trouble (the words of one (1) Shane Oman who is obviously so very jealous they’re not with him)

You’re never actually causing trouble, just putting an end to it… in a rather violent manner

Of course, The Plastics are the only ones who know your whole “Menace” rep is a façade that stems from your home life and that you’re actually a major softie on the inside (but that stays between the four of you)

You’re always getting in fights to defend your girls, mostly with Shane Oman (sometimes some of his jock buddies too) who never seem to learn that this is not a battle they want. You’ve never lost a fight 😎, and honestly it’s embarrassing for them that they keep trying, but that doesn’t mean you don’t come out without some injuries. The girls always nurse you back to health after and make sure to thank you with lots of kisses and cuddles.

Possessive. Possessive. Possessive. You’re all possessive of each other (Regina the most) not because you don’t trust each other, but because you don’t trust everybody else at this fucking school to keep their hands to themselves.

To combat this, you got the four of you matching leather jackets. Each of them has your names embroidered at the top and say Property of The Plastics & The North Shore Menace on the back. This only succeeded in making you guys more possessive.

One day, you decided to try something different and showed up to school glammed the fuck up, by your own hand and not The Plastics who are stunned into silence at the sight of you - like I’m talking shiny gold hoop earrings, a thin chained shiny gold necklace with your zodiac sign on it, thigh high boots, a fitted strapless dress in your favorite color that accentuates your figure, and of course your embroidered leather jacket to finish the look - you know, the works. (Shane decided to be a dick and tried to use this opportunity to beat you up… he still lost) Regina tried to convince you to ditch after she saw you, but you refused and the three had to wait till after school to show you just how much they loved your outfit. The next day, there was a campaign going around with a long ass fucking name called ‘Be Like The Plastics and Get You a Girl Who Can Do Both’

Did I mention you have tattoos? Because you do, several of them actually. One arm is a full sleeve of basically your special interests and the other has a few tattoos that the girls designed to represent each of them. You even have their initials tattooed over your heart.

Addicted to their kisses. Regina’s kisses are rough and fast and demanding. Her hands are always either tugging you closer by your shirt or gripping your ass. Karen’s kisses are quite the opposite - they’re soft and sweet and gentle, often broken up with giggles, and her arms are usually wrapped around your waist in a hug. Gretchen’s kisses are definitely a mix of both. They start out slow and soft and gentle, but can speed up and turn rough faster than you can blink, her arms wrapped around your neck and tugging you as close as possible. All of their kisses leave you with hearts practically swirling in your eyes and smiling like a love-drunk idiot.

You never have to pay for anything anymore. They all have more than enough money to take turns buying things for you (look at anything for more than five seconds and it’s yours), but majority of the time Regina is buying for everybody.

Karen, Gretchen, and you always take turns cooking dinner when you spend the night at Regina’s because she can’t cook to save her life, but she is an excellent taste tester so it all works out.

You love to bake, it’s one of your favorite things to do. Cookies, cakes, brownies, muffins, anything sweet really. Honestly, you much prefer to bake over cook so majority of the time when you’re in the kitchen, you’re making something sweet. You’ve got each of their favorites sweets memorized and make them after especially hard days, on special occasions, or just at their requests.

Pet names go crazy with the four of you. You’ve all got different pet names for each other and they are all sickeningly adorable. Regina is Gigi, Gi, and Reg or Reggie by Gretchen, Karen, and you respectively. Gretchen is Mi Sol, मेरा प्यार (mera pyaar - my love), and Chi-chi by Regina, Karen, and you respectively. Karen is Mami/Mama, Ren, and Kar by Gretchen, Regina, and you in that order. Regina calls you dumbass and idiot (lovingly!) and also baby too while Gretchen calls you mi amor and Karen calls you जानेमन (jaaneman - sweetheart).

— — — — — —

NSFW:

Bottoms, the lot of them. Luckily for them, you love watching them writhe underneath of you.

Regina, despite being the apex predator of North Shore and having the three of you wrapped around her finger in public, is the bottom-est of bottoms in the bedroom. The number one Pillow Princess between the four of you.

Regina is a slut for praise and degradation, believe it or not. Call her a good girl and she’ll melt. Call her a slut and she’ll moan, but call her ‘pretty little whore’ and she’ll fucking scream in bliss.

She’s also a brat who needs to be reminded of her place sometimes, and what better way to remind her who’s in charge than a spanking that leaves her ass red, her pussy throbbing, and her begging for release? 😏

Contradictory to my first statement, Gretchen is a switch! Argue with the wall. Not only that, but when Gretchen is in top mode, she’s mean. Again, argue with the wall.

Gretchen loves edging you and Regina. Holy shit, it’s like her favorite thing to do when she’s in the mood - turning the two of you into absolute moaning messes who cling to each other and can’t cum without her permission lest you want to be edged for longer next time.

While Gretchen loves to do the edging, she actively hates being edged herself. She much prefers to be overstimulated and cum and cum and cum until tears are streaming down her cheeks and she can’t take it anymore.

Power. Bottom. Karen. Argue 👏🏼 with 👏🏼 THE WALL 👏🏼👏🏼 Listen, I know Karen isn’t book smart, but I strongly believe she is sex smart and knows a lot about sex. Like she knows what she wants from her partners and even though she’s on the bottom, she’ll guide you or Gretchen on how best to get her off that day.

Karen loves to be ate out. She loves sitting on your face and riding your tongue until her thighs are quivering and she physically cannot hold herself up anymore.

Karen’s got you and Gretchen wrapped around her finger in the bedroom. You two can never tease her for too long before either of you are caving to her demands and giving her exactly what she wants.

Surprise! The first time you guys have sex together, they realize you have nipple piercings, and oh wow, you’re so sensitive there. Even the lightest touch from the girls has you shivering and your hips bucking with pleasure. Yes, you can cum from just nipple play. Gretchen is always using this to tease you when she’s topping and always convinces Karen and Regina to join in (you hate it so bad, but you love it so much.)

Resident munch. Eating out is your favorite thing to do. Your ankles always end up crossed in contentment when your face is buried between any of their legs bringing them pleasure.

Mommy kink for you.

— — — — — —

All in all, while it’s a very shocking relationship to others (and also none of their business really), the four of you have a very healthy and loving relationship together filled with copious amounts of love and happiness.

[sprinklenoodles]

I think that out of all 3 movies, Sonic 1 Robotnik is my fav if we don’t look at the fact that he’s supposed to be, well, Robotnik. Like, sure, he’s not the most game accurate, but if we don’t look at that, I do just like him better.

In the first movie he obviously hasn’t gone crazy just yet. But not just that, he seems more rational, more confident. He doesn’t want revenge like in the second movie nor is it like anything in the third movie, he is just interested. There’s an alien on Earth and he wants to get to know all about it.

And while he is technically working for the government, it’s clear he couldn’t care less about that. He does his own thing and sees them as nothing but idiots- well, with the exception for one… for the most part.

It’s clear that before Sonic he had never lost, that he had never failed. He truly was the smartest person on Earth, and nobody could stop him or even try to contain him. If anything, it’s a wonder he’s working for the government in the first place.

And then there’s his relationship with Stone because of course I have to talk about that too. We don’t see a lot of them, especially Stone just sorta… disappears, but their dynamic is really interesting, especially when they’re around others.

Like, Agent or not, but we see from the very start that Stone is loyal to Robotnik, immediately ‘translating’ for him. And then Robotnik asks if he ‘can feel it’. It’s a very small thing, but we can clearly see that Robotnik values Stone more than anybody else, at least from what we’ve seen so far.

And then when we see Robotnik analysing Sonic’s footprint, he explains everything to Stone, even moving out of the way so he can see it clearly. He does also insult Stone is this scene, yet it seems more… mild compared to the insults he gives to other characters, something that continues for the rest of the movie.

Stone is also always next to him. Not behind him like all of the other agents, but always next to him. It’s a small detail for sure, but one I did just want to point out.

And honestly, there’s even more than that. I could most definitely go into more dept if you guys want, but I also want some sleep, so… Gonna have to leave it here for today. I just really like his character in Sonic 1, mostly because it’s just so different from the Robotnik we have almost everywhere else.

[dorabellingham]

Boyfriend material

headcanon

characters: jobe x fem!reader

request: yes!

may contain spelling and translation errors

1. King of well-planned surprises

Jobe loves to surprise you, but he doesn't do it in an obvious or cliché way. Instead of flowers at the door of the house, he books a private cooking class because he knows you casually commented on learning how to make typical food from somewhere. He listens to the small details and transforms them into big gestures. And the best? He gets a shy smile, a little embarrassed, waiting for your reaction, as if he didn't know he got it right.

2. He memorises your favourite playlist

Jobe knows all the songs you love. He has a playlist on Spotify called "For Y/n" and whenever he hears a song that reminds you, he adds it. The cutest thing is that sometimes he plays when you're in the car, just to see you sing. And of course, when they are separated, he sends a song from the list with a "I remembered you."

3. He's a great cook (but only for you)

Despite being a disaster in the kitchen when he's alone, Jobe makes a real effort when it's for you. He learns basic recipes and ventures with more elaborate dishes just because he knows you like them. It's always an event: he puts on music, tries to follow recipes on YouTube, and in the end, the kitchen is a mess. But he compensates by putting the food on the table with a proud smile, waiting for your compliment.

4. He is the best listener in the world

Jobe has a special talent for hearing you talk about absolutely anything. If you're talking about a book, about the new series you watched, or even about something you read in an academic article, he pays attention with genuine interest. He asks questions, gives opinions, and you feel like the most important person in the world.

5. He's absurdly affectionate in public

He's not afraid to show how much he loves you in public. Whenever you are walking together, he holds your hand, gives quick kisses on tour forehead or wraps you with his big arm when it's cold. He doesn't care if there are paparazzi around or if someone is watching - he just wants you to know that he is there, on your side, always.

6. He's the type who solves fights calmly (and hugs)

Jobe hates fights and discord, especially with you. He is the one who tries to solve everything calmly and by talking. Even when he is angry, he takes a deep breath, tries to listen to his side and speaks carefully. If he feels that the discussion is too heavy, he interrupts and says: "Let's breathe and talk about it later, I don't want to hurt you." And, of course, he never lets you sleep upset - he always ends the night with an apology or a tight hug.

7. He is super protective, but not in a possessive way

He is the kind of boyfriend who ensures that you feel safe all the time. It is protective in a subtle way - like being careful when they are in crowded places, holding your hand so they don't get lost, or checking the car before a trip. He is never possessive, but everyone knows that you are the love of his life.

8. He encourages your dreams (and remembers the details)

Jobe not only believes in your dreams, but also makes a point of being the greatest supporter. If you have a new project, he is the first to ask how he can help. He also remembers the smallest details, like when you mentioned that you wanted to go back to practising something, and sent cute messages before the first day saying how proud you were.

9. He is very organised, except when he is in love

Most of the time, Jove is super organised: the closet is tidy, the schedules are in place and he follows an impeccable routine. But when he's with you, it all falls apart. He forgets his socks on the couch because they were watching a movie together or leaves the bed untidy because he preferred to sleep a little more to the solo. He always says that you are the only thing that messes up his life - in a good way.

10. He's unbearably cute when he's jealous

Jobe is mature and confident, but even he can't resist a little jealousy from time to time. If someone flirts with you, he doesn't make a scene, but the closed look and the hand on your waist deliver everything. Then, he jokes: "Just for you to remember, you already have a very good english by your side." And of course, you love to provoke him just to see this reaction - which only makes him even more cute and in love.

[1000sunnygo]

One Piece Academy chapter 52 part 1: Disaster on the Mystery Mountain (Quick translation)

Index

[Editor's note: Events on the snowy mountain! The New World Middle team, lost and scattered...]

*wind howls*

Law: We know nothing about where we are, or where to go.

A deep snow mountain...

If you don't want to die, you're the one who should follow the instructions of the Health Committee Member between us, Crocodile.

Crocodile: All of you first years can't not act cheeky to save your lives..

!!

Law: Paid attention to your condition?

You were caught up in the landslide. Then you must've been hit by a wet tree, or something... and your drenched body couldn't transform into sand.

You've got skin lacerations and four broken ribs.

Crocodile: .....

You, what's the catch?

Law: Felt like it. It's boring to let someone die.

But right now, you're just an injured person who needs to be rescued. Don't order me around.

Crocodile: Kuhahahaha!!

Law:...

Crocodile: I'm the senior here. And you're a junior.

Crocodile: That's plenty reason for you to follow my orders.

But for all that trouble, I'll give you a small proposal.

I'm aiming for that rainbow gold treasure at the summit. (T/N: for now, I'm switching to 'rainbow gold' from 'Nijigane')

You coming with me?

Law: Rainbow gold... you believed the old man's ramblings?

Crocodile: Traditions and legends... when things like those exist, there's always a reason.

If it's something good, then I can use it for my School Utopia project...

If you help me climb to the summit, you'll get your share. That's a deal.

Law: *Shambles himself*

Aiming for the top - the same goes for me. But I have no interest in legends or treasures.

Mountain ridges are easy for airborne rescuers to spot. I'll search for our companions on my way.

Crocodile:

Law: Also, one more thing...

Law: Not that I want to believe, but the legend said something about a 'warm paradise overflowing with radiance'...

In worst case scenario, the reason to aim for the summit would be 'warmth.' That Heat Source.

Well... before it comes to that, I'll escape.

You better not be dragging me down, Shichibusei.

Crocodile: You bastard...

*rolling noise*

Law: What's that?

[Meanwhile, somewhere else..]

Luffy: Oi, isn't there a noise?

Kidd: That's just your stomach rumbling!

Someone: Oi~!

Luffy and Kidd: Hm?

Random student (Devil Dias): Long time no see, guys!

Luffy: Ahhh... Long time no see!

(...) Long time no see?

Kidd: The hell are they?

(T/N: These two met Luffy and Kidd in chapter 17, Kidd's 100 good deeds)

-

Hancock: Let's hurry, bones!

Hancock: Over there, there is Luffy!!

Brook: Ah, you're right! Luffy san-!

Hancock: We're here, Luffy~!

-

*teeth clattering*

Buggy: If yer a flashy fool, of course you'll look for the treasure at the summit! But...

Usopp:... the treasure or whatever comes after we make it back alive!! Let's look for our way back to the inn...

... Huh?

Buggy: Isn't that...

(two signboards. One says "treasure", other says "inn")

Buggy and Usoop: :''D

Continues in Reblog ⬇️

[zoeykallus]

In His Crosshairs

Crosshair x Fem!Reader (Enemies To Lovers)

Warnings: Cat and mouse tension/A bit of violence/Strong language

Masterlist

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Prologue

This is a Crosshair x Female Reader story, slow burn, sharp edges, and a storm of tension that doesn't let go. Enemies to lovers? Eventually. But not before distrust, fire, and silence have carved their place.

You’re a pilot, independent, stubborn, always walking the line between law and survival. You don’t pick sides. Not until the Empire’s deadliest marksmen sets his sights on you.

It starts with a warning shot. And it doesn’t stop there. ______________________________________________________________

AC:

Been gone for a long time, but I'm back for now. With a lot of help from my friend Lena, I started to write again. She's not on tumblr, but I still want to mention her here, because she did translate my stuff into English, plus a few inspirations and some dialogue parts came from her. So she had/ and probably will have, quite some influence on this project and future projects. She also wrote the Prologue, because I suck at Prologues 🙂 BY THE WAY I LOST MY TAG-LISTS! So if you want to get tagged here or on any other projects, let me know in the comments or asks!

______________________________________________________________

Chapter 1. Through the Scope

The cold bit through your jacket like teeth, relentless and sharp, even inside the rusted-out cockpit. One of those damn planets where it either rained or snowed, and of course, you’d landed on a day when it did both. You cursed under your breath while slapping the console, trying to coax power back into the battered system.

Something felt off. The job had been too vague, the contact too late. Cargo was supposed to be waiting, “harmless replacement parts,” they’d said. You didn’t care what was in the crates. You just needed credits. But now the signal had gone dead, the drop site was empty, and your gut was twisting in that way it did right before everything went to hell. And your gut was right, 99% of times.

Suddenly, you felt it. Not heard. Not seen. Just felt... a shift in the air, a weight on your spine. Something was off.

The first shot hit half a meter from your head.

Not a miss. Rather a warning.

You’d run. Blaster in hand, boots slipping over wet metal and cracked stone, breathing hard as you bolted through ruined buildings and abandoned outposts. But he, whoever he was, was always behind you. Not close. Just there. Like a ghost made of precision and patience. His shots almost forcing you into a dance.

And now, you’re tucked between two rusted-out cargo containers, breath fogging in the cold, fingers wrapped too tightly around a blaster you barely know how to use. You've never been much of a combat girl. You don't know if you’re sweating or freezing. Maybe both.

“You’re holding the trigger too tight.”

The voice comes from behind you. Smooth. Controlled. Deliberate.

You spin, heart leaping, gun raised. And there he is.

Shadowed, quiet. The long sniper rifle in one hand. Helmet under the other arm. Dark armor, almost lost in the dim light of the ruined compound. But his eyes are something else. Gold. Sharp. Measuring. He looks at you, and it feels like he's looking right through you. That tattoo around his right eye.

Crosshair.

You’ve heard his name. Whispered. Warned. The sniper who doesn’t miss. That imperial sharpshooter.

“You…” Your voice cracks before you can stop it, but you bite down, force your chin up. “You’re not a very good shot, missed me a couple of times"

There’s a flicker in his eyes. Barely. The edge of a smirk that doesn’t quite make it to his mouth. He steps forward, deliberate and quiet.

“I don’t miss,” he says. “I just wanted to see how fast you run.” Dryly and bolder than you feel, you say, "Well, fuck you, Sir"

You don’t know whether to laugh or scream. Maybe both. Your fingers ache around your blaster grip.

“What do you want? I’m not worth anything. I’ve got no intel, no connections. I'm nobody.”

He watches you. For too long. Like he's reading something behind your eyes.

“Not entirely true. Someone wants you. And I was sent to collect.”

“Are you going to?” you ask, sharper than you intend. Fear always comes out as sarcasm when you’re tired.

Another pause. Finally, he lowers the rifle, slow, deliberate. He wants you to see how he does it.

Not a gesture of safety, not a real compromise. A message: You’re still not safe.

“Not yet.”

He turns. Walks away. No rush. No explanation. Just the heavy weight of his presence fading from your line of sight, leaving you alone, your heart hammering, your lungs burning. "What the fuck...", you whisper to yourself.

And for the first time, you realize: You're being hunted.

You made it back to your ship by sheer luck and bruised knees. The hangar was quiet, far too quiet for a place that used to hum with generators and merchant shouts. Now, only the dull sound of your own heartbeat echoed between steel walls.

You'd thrown yourself into the pilot seat, hands flying over switches and controls. No power. Of course not. You muttered a curse under your breath. “Come on, you stubborn piece of sh... ”

A warning chirp lit up the console. Motion sensor: external perimeter breached.

You froze. "Give me a break!" Your breath hitched. Then, instinct took over. You dropped from the seat, grabbed your blaster, and pressed yourself against the side panel near the entry ramp.

Silence.

You heard something, footsteps. Slow. Measured. Unhurried. Like someone entering a party, making a dramatic entrance, by being casual.

The ramp hissed open. Fog rolled in around tall black boots. Armor, scuffed but maintained. A long-barreled rifle, cradled loosely like an extension of his body. And that face, sharp lines, distant, unreadable.

Your gaze caught on it again, the tattoo. A black crosshair, inked clean over his right eye, the center aligning exactly with his iris. It didn’t feel like body art, it felt more like a threat. A mark of identity and purpose.

That eye found you instantly.

“You're not good at hiding.”

You forced your voice to hold. “Kiss my ass. You’re not good at knocking.”

He stepped inside slowly, gaze never leaving yours. “Didn’t think you'd answer.”

You leveled your blaster at him. He didn’t even blink, nothing.

“Go ahead,” he said, voice low. “Shoot. See how far you get.”

You didn’t. Of course you didn’t. Because you could see it in his stance, the way how still he stood, how his hand rested casually near the rifle, but not on it. He didn’t need it. He could take you down without blinking.

“What do you want?” you snapped. “I told you, I don’t have anything worth your time.”

Crosshair’s gaze flicked toward your cargo hold. Something about his gaze told you, he knew something you didn't.

“You’re transporting unauthorized supplies. Sealed crates with no tags, no serials. You know what that means.”

“Well... actually I don't” You faltered. Because you didn’t know. You hadn’t asked. And now that he’d said it, you realized… you hadn’t seen the usual logs. No standard freight clearances. No pickup codes.

“What did I bring?” you asked quietly.

He tilted his head, just slightly. “Explosives. Medical stims. Weapons. Rebel caches.”

Your stomach dropped. You felt it, not guilt, not really. Just dread. That creeping, cold sensation that everything you’d touched had just gone radioactive from one moment to the other.

“I'm just the pilot,” you said nervous, “I... didn’t know.”

His expression didn’t change. But something in his voice tightened.

“That's what they all say.”

You bristled. “I don’t work for them, or the others... or whoever. I didn’t sign up for anyone’s war.”

“No.” He took a step closer. “You just flew straight into it.”

You backed up instinctively until your spine hit the edge of the console. He was close now. Too close. You could see the wear on his armor, the faint scar just beneath the tattoo. The way his mouth stayed a hard, straight line.

“You gonna turn me in?” you asked, voice low.

He looked at you for a long moment. That gaze, sharp, cutting, intense, felt like it went straight through you once more.

Then, finally: “Not yet.”

You paused, a little confused. What was going on?

You swallowed. “Still not? Why?”

He leaned in just enough for you to hear his words like a whisper.

“Still deciding.” A shiver running down your spine, almost making you shudder. Your body was making many weird things right now under its surface. Things you didn't really understand right now.

And with that, he turned again. Like he hadn’t just peeled you open with a glance. Like he hadn’t just cracked something in your chest you didn’t even know was there.

He walked toward the exit, paused, and spoke over his shoulder.

“Ship’s grounded. Power’s dead. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”

You blinked. “Hey, wait a minute...”

“There’s a shelter in the old comm tower nearby.” A pause. His gaze holding you in place for one more second, “I’m staying there. You can freeze out here. Or not." "Um... did you just invite me to your place or something like that?"

He didn’t wait and didn't answer. He was already gone. Leaving you behind again. A soft, resigned sigh out of your lungs. You hesitated, just a second.

"Damn it!"

Finally, you followed him. Because the hangar suddenly felt a hell of a lot colder.

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

[ryuusei-niu]

I want to talk about Leo and spanish, because I see a lot of "bilingual Leo" that doesn't make much sense.

Soooo, let me start with this: Leo was not born in a country that speaks Spanish. And only his family talked Spanish. Therefore he would know what the language is like.

But let's not forget that he lives in a place where people speak English.

Well, let me explain this theory based on my life:

I'm argentinian but my mother is Brasilian. Since I was little, Portuguese was spoken in my house. Portuguese was my first language because we were moving to Brazil and I spoke fluent Portuguese until I was 6 years old. But then we stayed at Argentina. So, I had a lot of problems because I did understand Spanish, but I had a lot of mispronunciation and I mixed words between Spanish and Portugues. Over time I had to adapt to speaking Spanish full time, almost completely forgetting Portuguese. Nowadays I'm almost 19 and I haven't spoken Portuguese for years, but there are a lot of words that I thought my whole life were Spanish and weren't.

Based on Leo's story, he might be similar to me in this stuff.

Having said this, let me tell you situations that happen to me with Portuguese that I think would happen to Leo with Spanish:

He forgot how to form complete sentences in Spanish. And even when he tries to relearn Spanish, it is difficult for him and he can't speak or write things in Spanish.

He almost completely understands if someone speaks Spanish to him, though. Maybe he would miss some words but he understands a lot reading or hearing.

He has Spanish words that he always thought were English.

"And then we went to the ferretería and... Why are you looking at me like that... I said something in Spanish again, didn't I?" "Yeah, you did."

Piper and Jason got used to it and know the words he always gets confused.

And there are other words that he refuses to say in English, probably the most common ones, just because he likes how it sound at Spanish.

So whenever he needs to talk about it, he asks Jason or Piper to do it for him.

"I want the... Jason, fresa" "Strawberry flavor, please" "Thank u so much, man"

There are a lot of words that sound funny in English because they resemble words in Spanish

"I'm embarrassed." "You're embarazaste?" "...Yes?" "Wow, Frank, what are you going to name the baby?" "I hate you very much."

Mispronunciations everywhere. But it's something that happens some days. But when it happens it is horribly noticeable.

I mean, he does speak English very well. But sometimes...

SOME LETTERS ARE REALLY DIFFICULT TO HIM SOMETIMES.

People bullied him when he started school because he mispronounced some letters. Like R.

(I think he would have the opposite problem than me, since I was pronouncing the r very soft or as a j without meaning to because in some Portuguese words it sounds like that. So I guess he would have a very strong R.)

Sometimes he would get angry with his mother for instilling Spanish in him so much and that's why the kids make fun of him for talk like that.

Now he miss that his mother speak in Spanish to him.

"DIOS MÍO.", "POR DIOS, JASON", "CHIN", "CARAJO", "JESÚS, MARÍA Y TODOS LOS SANTOS".

Sometimes he says a lot of things in Spanish and makes it seem like he knows how to say them but in reality he used the translator.

"is that a Spanish dictionary...?" "*Kick it under the bed* No, of course not, why would I have one? I know Spanish, muy bueno. Mucho."

"It's very plane." "What? It is not a plane, Leo." "Yeah it is? Like, It is not curved, it has no disturbances. Plane surface." "FLAT, LEO." "NO WAY IT IS THAT. THEN WHAT DOES PLANE MEAN?!#@+$-1(?!"

Now he understands why people looked weirdly at him when he said plane.

He also forget words in Spanish and remember them in English. When this happens he stares at the space and feels his whole soul had lost its essence.

'espanish'

As Spanish speaker, it's very difficult to say 'isn't'. #Team It is not.

"Taired. Terid. Teerid. Tarid. Tæ—" "Tired." "That thing."

"you know, the— the thing. El coso. The coso of the cosito of the cosa—" "You forgot in Spanish too, right?" "Shut up."

SONGS. MEXICAN SONGS THAT HIS MOTHER LISTENED BECAUSE HIS GRANDFATHER LISTENED BECAUSE THEM MAKE HIM REMEMBER HIS HOME.

He doesn't know most of this song, he never listen to this song like, wanting to. They were on the radio, or a CD that his mother was playing while working. But he has those songs on his soul and he recognizes most of them. He even knows how to sing them even if he didn't read the lyrics.

(I'm not Mexican, so please I want Mexican people to make a playlist of which songs he would know. Please I need to know)

He sometimes hears Nico speaking in Italian and for a moment he is there processing because he thought it was Spanish.

(also, this whole thing could apply to Nico and Italian).

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Hello I have more Welsh questions I hope that’s okay!

As always, the Duolingo disclaimer because some of their choices seem suspect. Like the first word they made sure to teach me was draig and it did seem a little racist to suggest to me THIS IS GOING TO COME UP A LOT IN WALES YOU HAD BETTER LEARN IT. Of course maybe I’m racist for assuming that’s connected to the Welsh mysticism nonsense and not the flag, or maybe draig does come up often on the streets of Aberteifi. I am here to learn with an open mind and minimal ego.

Anyway. Question one is indeed about places.

1. How do you decide whether a place needs a y with it? I can’t seem to tell, some countries have it and some don’t which confuses this dumb American. Plus it seems like no cities have it?

2. Also on the topic of cities, I can understand that there are places in Wales that have English names and that some don’t. Looks like Abertawe : Swansea v Aberystwyth : Aberystwyth. Two parter - part one, why did some get renamed while others stayed Welsh? Part two, is it preferred to just use the Welsh name? I’m wondering what common practice/preference is.

3. On the topic of common practice, I have a question that I am desperately trying to make as inoffensive as possible because it’s really about the trustworthiness of Duolingo than anything else. But it’s teaching me words that I want to make sure are appropriate. Ysgrifenydd/ysgrifennyddes and gŵr tŷ/gwraig tŷ. Are these still appropriate to use?

Thank you so much! I know you’re not the Welsh ambassador to the internet (or are you??) so I appreciate you being so generous with everyone 💛

I am, of course, 100% the Welsh ambassador to the internet. Or at least, I work in the Tumblr consulate. Ignore the people who say I'm just some random with airs and graces, they're just jealous and you're not to listen.

Okay, so:

1. Definite Articles and Placenames. It's not so much a thing you need to work out grammatically as it is just... part of the name. This sometimes happens in English too - Netherlands is an acceptable country name now, but originally it would have been the Netherlands, just because that's what the name meant. The lands that are low lying.

Welsh just has more country names than English that mean something like that, I think. Some are the same, e.g. (the) Netherlands/(yr) Iseldiroedd; that's a fairly one to one translation, in fact. Some are the same, but a bit more literal than the English has become; Switzerland (the Land of the Swiss) has lost the "the" in English by now, but in Welsh it still clings on as y Swistir.

And then sometimes, we have a very different word for somewhere, but it's no longer clear what the fossilised grammar was. I suppose the biggest example of that is Scotland - yr Alban. It's a bit lost to time, now, but 'Alban' has the same Old Irish root there as the word 'Albion'. Why the definite article? Unknown.

But, we do it for smaller places too, including cities. Welshpool's Welsh name is y Trallwng, which means, like, "the boggy pool", and I suppose it was once a notable enough bog that it was THE bog when giving directions, so the article stayed. This also spills over into Wenglish - the Hafod and the Gower in/around Swansea should both more correctly be Hafod and Gower, but at some point it was THE hafod when giving directions, and the Gower is the abbreviation of the Gower peninsula.

Anyway: TL;DR it's just part of the name, rather than a grammatical choice.

2. Translated Placenames. Part 1:

The short of it is, "Did enough English people settle there that they needed an English name/ the Welsh became Anglicised?" That's usually the rule. Sometimes this meant Anglicisation (Caerdydd-Cardiff), sometimes a ropey-to-exact translation (Penybont - Bridgend), and sometimes a completely new name (Abertawe - Swansea), depending on how easy the Welsh was to say and whether or not there was feature of note that the English focused on.

Occasionally, though, you get the opposite - Wrexham was Wrexham first, and got Cymricised to Wrecsam. It's a rare example of an English city we nicked, see. Founded by the Saxon house of Mercia, on land they'd nicked from north Wales, and then the Welsh reclaimed the area and went 'Ooh, nice city, was this here before?' It's possible it was first called Caer Fantell in Welsh, but it was Gwrexham by the 13th century, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Part 2: You use the name in the language you're speaking, UNLESS it is under active contention for some reason. The national parks are currently pushing to only be known by their Welsh names, for example, ditto a few of the mountains; so, Eryri instead of Snowdonia, Bannau Brycheiniog instead of Brecon Beacons, and yr Wyddfa instead of Snowdon. Also, in recent years they started inventing English language names for villages in Gwynedd for English tourists to feel more comfortable with, which has caused the outrage you'd expect; but those won't be coming up on Duolingo.

With that said, it's sometimes a Welsh Nash signal to only use the Welsh placenames even in English, so don't be surprised if you see people do it.

3. Appropriate words. Not sure what you mean by appropriate here, but I'm guessing you mean because they're gendered terms?

Welsh is a gendered language; that's how it works. In the modern day, there is a slide towards a lot of the old 'feminine' endings being dropped in favour of the masculine becoming used as a gender neutral term, but that's still under development; officially and formally, you still gender it.

I certainly prefer Not doing that. My first two graduate jobs were Conservation Officer and Conservation Manager; my preference was to use Swyddog Cadwraeth and Rheolwr Cadwraeth in Welsh. But others (usually older generations) would write Swyddoges Gadwraeth and Rheolwraig Gadwraeth sometimes, which I personally thought was a bit old fashioned and patronising.

But, I know middle aged women who prefer it, because it makes it clear that it's a woman doing the job. One person's oppression is another's liberation and all that. Also, cis though I am, I am admittedly not always comfortable with the strict trappings of gender, and that probably plays a part.

Bonus answer: dragons are the national animal and very much a symbol of identity, so that's just them being cute lol

Anyway! Thank you so much for trying to learn Welsh! Croeso a diolch.

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 3, Episode 2

Episode 2 starts days or maybe a week after episode 1. The curfews and phone ban is in place, so Wilhelm and Simon make the most of their one hour of phone sex talking.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm snapped a quick instant picture of himself and Simon at the palace in the last episode, using the camera we saw on his desk. The heart is still on his hand, so maybe it's the next day, or maybe he's been filling it in every day.

Cinematography: Intense red light typically symbolizes their mutual love, and this scene is overflowing with it.

Lost in translation: They both finish the phone call with "puss", which means kiss, but not exactly. It's more platonic, something you can say and do with your parents, or your kids, or end phone calls with. The other word for kiss, "kyss", is more romantic/sexual, and would be super weird to end a phone call with. Simon is using that word when he says he would kiss Wilhelm's collar bone birth mark.

Subtext: Of course Vincent doesn't believe anyone was bullied. He's the biggest bully, but what he does is just a joke, or the other guy deserved it. This is gonna be a recurring theme™ in this episode, how various characters look back on and remember, or choose not to remember, what happened to them.

Subtext: If you didn't pick up this meaningful glance, you're blind. The initiation porno was totally real, and Nils and August clearly remember it, and weren't as flippant about it as Vincent.

Culture: In Sweden, inner city schools are typically better and have richer students than the poorer schools out in the suburbs. This is the exact opposite of the typical US school demographical pattern.

Subtext: Wilhelm avoids Farima's question by evading it. Note that it does make sense that she doesn't know what's going on at these schools since she's an employee, she's not upper-class herself. Wilhelm's parents know though since they attended Hillerska, but they would of course never admit it either.

Culture: Ironically, this is exactly how the real-world Danish royal family handled the Herlufsholm scandal in 2022 involving prince Christian. Only when the media storm in Denmark got too intense did they pull him out of the school, while furiously denying knowledge of the abuse or that he was involved in any way.

Cinematography: We're in the cursed music room, but the light is soft and golden, and the scene is just cute. No fight this time.

Subtext: We're touching the theme™ again, but from Simon's perspective. He has the same outsider perspective we have; speaking up about abuse is always good, and if the school's closing because of it, that's an obviously good thing. There's plenty of scenes in this episode showing that most Hillerska students don't share this perspective, they really love their school, as fucked up as it is.

Subtext: Although it sounds like a rehearsed PR line and Felice is thinking about her girl group here, it's gonna come true for her and Sara.

Subtext: Yuck. No further comment.

Cinematography: The immediate cut to Felice getting her aggressions out in gym class shows us exactly what she thought of what the principal said and how much it pissed her off.

Blink and you miss it: Simon audibly sniffs Wilhelm's hair.

Blink and you miss it: Micke made dinner for both of them, but in her depression, Sara ignores the cooked food (Pyttipanna, btw), and makes herself a cucumber sandwich instead.

Subtext: Micke is a man on a mission, and he is constantly steering the conversation towards helping Sara get her driver's license. For him, it's a way to make up for having been a shitty parent.

Culture: Sweden has long been a holdout of stick-shift cars, and if you don't do your practical test in a stick-shift, you'll get a restricted license, so it's not out of the ordinary for Micke to be teaching Sara how to drive one. However, automatics have seen a sharp rise in the last decade, and in 2024 automatics will finally overtake them.

Culture: The green ÖVNINGSKÖRNING sign is compulsory in Sweden if a car is being driven by someone on a learner's permit, with a parent or friend as the instructor. There's also a red version of the sign, which indicates it's a student driver with a professional instructor in a dual control car.

Cinematography: The room is filled to the brim with things to do, there's a bazillion board games, they have books, magazines, fidget thingies, they're drowning in stuff, and yet the girls are still soooooo boooored just because they don't have their phones. Except Madison, who is knitting.

Subtext: Here comes the theme™ again, and Fredrika is firmly in camp denial. Everyone else is just lying and exaggerating! The wheels are starting to turn in Felice's head though.

Subtext: Nils and August are finally talking about the initiation without Vincent being present, and they can finally be honest about what they actually thought about it. It happened, they didn't like.

Subtext: Their idea of fixing it however is not to go out publicly and talk about it, but to just quietly stop the tradition, hoping they'll be the last ones. (Since there are no second-year students in the show, we have no idea what happened to them, so we're just gonna ignore that.)

Subtext: And here comes the reason that August wanted to put a stop to it. He was completely humiliated by it, and he doesn't want anyone else to know that he was humiliated, because that just makes it worse. This is also the reason that traditions like this keep on going, no-one wants to blow the whistle on it, because everyone was abused, everyone was a victim, it's hard for abuse victims to speak up.

Cinematography: The talk with Nils triggered an anxiety attack for August, and being inside his small room doesn't exactly help. Him going so close to the camera that he almost bumps into it really shows how he feels like the walls are closing in on him.

Culture: This, kids, is a standard Swedish landline telephone jack. For the longest time I thought phone jacks looked like this everywhere, but it turns out that this particular design was only used in Sweden and Iceland(!?!). You won't find these in newer buildings because landlines are pretty much dying out, and if there are phone jacks they'll probably be using the much more common RJ-11 standard.

Culture: This, kids, is an Ericsson Diavox phone. The former government phone monopoly in Sweden, Televerket, only allowed certified and approved phones to be used on the network, and they only approved a very small set of phones, so everyone had pretty much the same phones in their homes. However, in the 1980's the market started getting flooded with "illegal" phones from other countries, so the monopoly simply stopped enforcing the rule, and you could finally, finally, plug in that novelty Garfield phone that you always wanted.

Blink and you miss it: Sara is studying for her driving test, and she's reading about driving in the dark.

Subtext: We're gearing up for the main plotline of the season, dropping more hints that maybe Wilhelm's image of Erik wasn't complete, and what August says sows some seeds of doubt in him.

Subtext: This song is objectively not very good, please don't kill me, but it is very sixteen-year-old-boy-just-singing-from-his-heart, not thinking about the text.

Subtext: Simon isn't wearing anything purple, but just after he posts his song video, he picks up a purple shirt, drops it immediately, and then the camera lingers on it. Colour theory goes brrrrrrrr. He thought about Wilhelm, and then stopped because his music is more important to him or something?

Subtext: Unlike Simon, Wilhelm immediately understands how problematic the text is for him, and how people will interpret it...

Subtext: ...but since he doesn't want to hurt Simon's feelings, he lies about why he thinks the song was a very, very bad idea. And he cushions it by telling Simon that he thinks the song is jätte-jätte-bra. Giant-giant-good.

Subtext: Yes, but also no, and someone from the court really should have given Simon some media training and explained to him why he has to be very careful about what he posts. But it's drama fuel, which is why this disaster is allowed to happen.

Subtext: A nice little throwback to season 1, this is exactly what Erik told Wilhelm in the first episode, about making sure that their public image is carefully curated.

Subtext: That's some on-the-nose foreshadowing there, since Felice is one of the main causes for the school ultimately closing.

Subtext: We're back to the theme™, Fredrika is saying pretty much the same thing as Vincent. It didn't happen, and if it did, it wasn't that bad.

Subtext: However, Felice isn't playing along this time, she's starting to speak up about the issues, and the result is a long, awkward silence, because her friends are not willing to do the same.

Subtext: Wilhelm and the rest of the rich kids are of course all wearing pretty expensive high-end hiking gear, in contrast with Simon who is simply wearing one of his usual hoodies and his usual winter jacket that we've seen before. That's a damn fine jacket from Fjällräven, btw, the same company that makes the weirdly globally popular Kånken backpacks.

Blink and you miss it: Henry is getting dragged for his actually quite reasonable objection to the tent groupings.

Subtext: Felice physically distances herself from her friends, and joins Simon and Wilhelm, in a nice little foreshadowing of the show's ending.

Blink and you miss it: Did you miss the line in last episode where Ayub said they were also gonna go camping at Talludden with their classmates from Marieberg? Well, here they are, because they pitched their tents nearby, and decided to go check out the Hillerska camp. It's not just Rosh and Ayub randomly walking through the woods.

Subtext: In season 2, we learned that Stella has a crush on Fredrika that she thinks is one-sided, but Fredrika sure has some kind of reaction to seeing Stella being close with Rosh. Jealousy, perhaps? Not clear at this point in time.

Subtext: Read the room Fredrika, for fuck's sake. At least Wilhelm has started learning to recognize privilege. The other rich kids probably recognize their privilege, but they're mostly just enjoying how much better they are than the poor regular kids.

Subtext: But Wilhelm's still got a lot more to learn. Yes, technically he is forced to spend his summer studying, and technically it is a kind of work, but the underlying reasons are completely different. If he skips it or fails, nothing bad will happen to him, unlike the Marieberg kids who rely on their summer jobs to have any sort of spending money.

Lost in translation: Wilhelm's dad says that the queen is going to be "sjukskriven", which is more serious than someone deciding on their own to take some time off or to use some sick days. It means that a doctor has evaluated you and decided that you are not fit to work, and that if you're a regular person, you are eligible for sick pay for the foreseeable future.

Cinematography: Yeah, mommy is really sick and Wilhelm is feeling the weight of responsibility, but take a look at that sunrise! It's so pretty! Wilhelm is completely in shadow because trouble whatever, but look at how that light just pops, with the sky and the water and the sun on the trees! Beautiful!

[izumi-fanclub]

A3! Translation: Chikage SSR Card “Rouge Rose of Love” [Valentine’s Day Gossip]

How will Chikage deal with Valentine's Day this year? He receives a blessing and a curse of course.

Part 1

Chikage

Never thought I’d share lunch with Chigasaki.

Itaru

I mean, it’s just the pizza place if we’re looking at the big picture, that’s the only common link.

Pizza Shop Clerk

Thank you for waiting, here’s your parmesan and diavola.

Chikage

Thanks, diavola’s finally here.

Itaru

I’m surprised, I half expected it to look ridiculously red like some sort of challenge menu.

Chikage

Chigasaki-san, maybe you’re just not enough of a junkie?

Itaru

Ahaha, you’d be wrong.

Pizza Shop Clerk

Excuse me for interrupting your meal, but we’re passing out our new Chocolate Chunk pizza, would you like to sample them out?

Itaru

Hehh, looks good. Thanks for the food.

Pizza Shop Clerk

Thanks for your feedback! How about you, sir?

Chikage

Sorry but I’ll have to pass, my doctor told me to avoid sweets.

Pizza Shop Clerk

I see, I apologize. Please continue enjoying your meal.

Itaru

…Is that your new year’s excuse now?

Chikage

Whatever do you mean?

Itaru

It’s about to be Valentine’s soon.

Chikage

…Ahh, so that explains the chocolate on the new menu.

Itaru

That look on you, it definitely went over your head.

Chikage

Because I’m not interested.

Itaru

Senpai you might not be, but the female employees definitely are. I overheard them talking about giving out some love chocolate to a certain senior.

There used to be rumors of you having a fiancée, but they pretty much lost their status effect now.

You’ve gotten some before here and there too.

Chikage

Well, they say gossip stays around for about 75 days or so, someone out there probably thinks I’ve been married off silently.

Who am I to deny it, even.

Itaru

Come to think of it, you’re gonna go shopping with director-san today. Wouldn’t that be the perfect chance to get down on your knee?

Chikage

Kneeling in front of director-san in public would be too unfair to her.

…In any case, I feel guilty about pulling director-san into this mess, so I’ll try and think of something else.

Izumi

Wow, the star anises really have such a pretty shape to them!

Chikage

By the way, Tsuzuru said he’s gonna make fried rice tomorrow, buying this would make it more authentic, right?

Izumi

Hmm, that’s true but then again… they look so beautiful that it feels like such a waste.

Chikage

Then, how about we buy some cinnamon sticks and make some mulled wine?

Izumi

Sounds like a plan! Let’s go with that!

Spice Specialty Store Clerk

——Sorry to keep you waiting.

Regarding the spice you ordered, I checked and it seems like it’s gonna be delayed due to some logistics issues…

I apologize for not informing you in advance.

Chikage

No worries, so when can we expect to receive it?

Spice Specialty Store Clerk

I think you can get it in around 4 days.

Chikage

Four days from now… I have a meeting on that day, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it before closing time.

Spice Specialty Store Clerk

I’m sincerely terribly sorry…!

Chikage

It’s fine, it’s not like we’re in a hurry. I’ll come by again on the weekend.

Izumi

Oh, well in that case, should I get it in your stead?

Chikage

You okay with that?

Izumi

Yup, I happen to have some errands nearby that day.

Chikage

Then please be my guest.

Izumi

Mhm, leave it to me!

Chikage

…Sorry, thank you as always.

Izumi

What’s wrong? You’re suddenly all serious…

Chikage

Nothing, just a lot on my mind.

Part 2

Tsumugi

…Whew, this mulled wine really hits the spot, it’s got some nice spices on it.

Citron

Gets me feeling all warm~

Azuma

The star anise adds a beautiful touch to it too.

Chikage

Director-san said the same thing too, so my suggestion on using it for fried rice was a no-go.

Azuma

Fufu, that makes sense. That’s definitely like her.

So, where’s the director at?

Chikage

Looks like the sleep got to her. To think she was the one who was looking forward to it the most.

Itaru

Sleeping this early is gonna mess up her sleep hygiene.

Azuma

Yeah, I received some chocolate that goes well with the alcohol, I wanted the director to try them out too.

Sakyo

You’ve got that pricey stuff on you again.

Banri

In a few days the place’s gonna get flooded with chocolate from everyone, so director-chan still got a chance to eat some.

Tsumugi

You’re right, Valentine’s is just around the corner.

Itaru

In other words, the overpowered senpai is gonna have his weakness revealed soon.

Chikage

This is a serious matter though.

Itaru

Just call it schadenfreude I guess.

Banri

Ain’t that old news?

Tasuku

So do you have any counter-measures in mind already?

Chikage

Nothing yet unfortunately.

Itaru

At lunch you turned down that chocolate pizza talking about some “My doctor told me not to eat it.” excuse.

Chikage

If I use that excuse at work, it’ll stir up a different kind of trouble.

Tsumugi

Hmm, then again it’s hard to come up with a reason to turn them down especially when it’s done out of the goodwill of the giver.

Chikage

But this year I got a full day’s worth of meetings scheduled so I think I can manage.

Banri

Oh, well that’s a relief.

Citron

It is no relief! Just a temporary solution! That will not do! The same troubles will appear again next year!

Itaru

…He’s being sensible for once.

Chikage

I forgot about it this year and couldn’t do anything so far, but next year I’ll be on a business trip.

Citron

No! That is still a temporary solution!

Banri

Feels like the issue’s just growing.

Citron

That is why we should practice rejection together!

Chikage

Practice rejection?

Azuma

Fufu, well isn’t this interesting.

Tasuku

That’s to be expected, honestly.

Itaru

…I’m not surprised anymore at this point, but still, why me?

Citron

But of course! This is a family matter for everyone!

Chikage

Sorry, Chigasaki.

Itaru

Nah, you don’t sound sorry at all. …Sigh, it’s a relief I got up and finished an event early.

Chikage

So Citron, we went all the way out in Veludo way, care to explain why that is?

Itaru

Yeah, you can practice rejection at the dorms.

Citron

That much is obvious. It is because we are actors! This is the only place to practice!

Chikage

That’s…

Itaru

Do you mean…

Citron

Frankly, a rejection etude! Yes!

Passerby A

Oh, isn’t that spring troupe?

Passerby B

It is! Think they’re up to doing a street act?

Chikage & Itaru

…

Itaru

…I’m not sure if I’m up for this.

Chikage

Let’s just get this over with.

Chikage & Itaru

…

Passerby A

…He’s looking at his phone, is he waiting for a notif?

Passerby B Maybe he’s checking the time.

Chikage

“Are you here to meet someone too?”

Itaru

“Eh?” Chikage

“I mean, isn't it Valentine's day?”

Itaru

“Yeah that’s true, some lady hit me up and told me to meet her here around 1pm.”

Chikage

“What a coincidence, I’m here for the same reason.”

“Whenever I get called out like this on Valentine’s Day, I get excited like some highschooler wondering what it’s for.”

Itaru

“Yeah, I get you. Me too.”

“Forgive me for prying but… have you decided on an answer yet?”

Chikage

“Hmm, I was thinking of turning down——”

Itaru

“Ehh, you too?”

Chikage

“So you’re in the same boat?”

Citron

“——Sorry, I was late!” Chikage & Itaru

“No, it’s fine——”

Chikage

“Ehh…”

Itaru

“Eh?”

Citron

“Eeh!? Chikage and Itaru, why are you both here…”

“...No way, silly me! I accidentally sent the message to both of you!”

Chikage & Itaru

“Huh…?”

Passerby A

… So basically, one of them’s the genuine one and the other is a backup?

Passerby B

Woah…

Chikage

“Um, Itaru-san, do you have a second?”

Itaru

“Yeah, of course. I was meaning to talk to you too.”

Chikage

“You can reject first.”

Itaru

“Eh, no way, that’d make me seem like the backup. You should be the first to actually say no.”

Chikage

“That’s gonna be a different story.”

Kanazuka

So this is Veludo Way. It’s my first time here, but there sure are a lot of people… Huh? Seems like there’s a crowd over there.

Chikage

“——I’m not giving up, even if I was just the second option, I can’t let it end like this!” Kanazuka

!? Is that Utsuki-san and Chigasaki-san from the company…!? This is unbelievable…!

Part 3

Chikage

Thanks for your hard work throughout the meeting.

Employee A

Great job as well. Ah, since it’s Valentine’s Day, I prepared some chocolate.

Employee B

This calls for tea time, then. I’ll go make some coffee. You drink coffee too, right, Utsuki-san?

Chikage

I——.

Employee A

Oops, I think Utsuki-san will get some from his girlfriend later.

Yeah, that’s right. Sorry about that, Utsuki-san.

Chikage

…? No it’s okay.

Then, I’ll take my leave.

Chikage

(If I head over there now, I think I can make it just in time for closing time. I wonder if I should contact director-san about how the spices are.)

Itaru

——Hey, senpai. You got a minute?

Chikage

Chigasaki?

Chikage

Is it something urgent? If it’s not, just tell me about it at home.

Itaru

Looks like the gossip hasn’t reached you yet.

Chikage

Gossip?

Itaru

Apparently, even though your fiancée is dating me now, there’s a rumor going around that you haven’t given up on her completely…

Chikage

…Hah?

Itaru

A co-worker saw that previous street act we did and mistook it for a fight between you and me.

Chikage

Street act…

You surely don’t mean the one where Citron pulled a bootcamp over dealing with “rejection”, right?

Itaru

That’s right, after all it wasn’t rehearsed at all and we ended up just going with the flow of Citron’s act.

Chikage

…So that explains it, is that why I felt a weird vibe during the meeting earlier?

Itaru

We’re actors, that’s understood by regulars of Veludo Way, but the co-worker that happened to witness it was someone unfamiliar with the whole concept.

Then the gossip mill jumped on the bandwagon and said stuff like “Maybe there’s some truth beneath the surface of that act.”

Chikage

Talk about a pain…

Itaru

You said it.

Chikage

(I kinda took advantage of that in the past, so I don’t really have the right to complain.)

Chikage

… Speaking of, what happened to the rumor that Chigasaki’s sister is my fiancée?

Itaru

I don’t know, I think they just assumed you’ve broken up.

Then, what do we do? Looks like senpai’s history with love is getting pretty complicated.

Chikage

Whatever, it’ll probably just die down soon anyway so I won’t do anything about it, I’ll just head home.

Besides, hanging around you like this might be counterproductive.

Itaru

True that. I’ll wrap up my overtime work and head home early too.

Chikage

(...Not sure if it’s the rumor’s effect or I’m just being overly conscious of it, but I didn’t get any chocolate at all.)

(...It could be better, but I guess it still works out in the end, that rumor will die down soon, and I’m sure the director——)

Izumi

Ah, Chikage-san!

Chikage

Director-san?

Izumi

I got to the store early and had some time so I thought of bringing it to you directly.

Chikage

That’s right, I was just thinking of telling you to meet there since I could make it before closing time, but…

I realized I completely forgot to do it.

Izumi

Really now? That’s pretty rare for you, Chikage-san.

Chikage

A bit of an unexpected issue came up.

Izumi

Good on you for dealing with it.

Chikage

… Director-san, are you in a good mood?

Izumi

Fufu, I just found something good, is all. Ah right, the spices, here you go.

Chikage

Thanks. You’re a huge help.

(... There’s a ribbon on it, is this part of the service?)

(From an outsider’s perspective, they’ll probably assume I’m receiving Valentine’s chocolate out of context.)

(Not sure if the director noticed, but I feel the gaze of people from the company around for a while now.)

Izumi

What’s up?

Chikage

Nothing, it’s just that it feels like a gift when it’s ribboned like this.

Izumi

It is… kind of a present.

Chikage

Present?

(There’s something else aside from the spices I asked her to pick up.)

Chikage

…Does this bottle also have spice?

[ Option 1: Open and see for yourself ] Izumi Open it and check it out. Chikage Right here? Izumi Is it not good here? Chikage That’s not the issue but… well I’ll just open it.

[ Option 2: It’s nothing suspicious ] Izumi Don’t worry, it’s not fishy or anything. Chikage Should I be concerned? Izumi No, I mean it! It really is just a gift. Chikage Well, as long as it’s director-san, I’ll believe it.

Chikage

…Chocolate?

Izumi

Yup, they’re spice seeds coated in chocolate, they were pretty good when I tried them out at the store!

I bought it thinking maybe Chikage-san could enjoy it too, it’s Valentine’s Day after all.

Chikage

…

Izumi

Oh, don’t worry about returning the favor, a tasty curry made with the spices would just be fine.

Chikage

(I didn’t mean to drag you into this again… I’m sure the gossip’s gonna get updated tomorrow.)

…It’s not my fault anymore, it’s the director’s.

Izumi

Hm?

Story Clear!

[vortexbloom]

Velvet Nights (Bonus)

Pairing: Phainon x Excort Girl Reader

Fandom: HSR (Honkai Star Rail)

Warnings: Just fluff, Modern Au, lil bit of spice

─୨ৎ────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────୨ৎ─

Masterlist - Honkai Star Rail

Masterlist - Genshin Impact

Moodboards - Genshin Impact

Masterlist - Marvel

Boycott List

Velvet Nights (Part 1)

Velvet Nights (Part 2)

Velvet Nights (Part 3)

─୨ৎ────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────୨ৎ─

English isn’t my first/native language, so there might be misspellings etc.

I do NOT own any Characters !

Have fun reading this :D

Art by: @junnoelle on X (Twitter)

Phainon had always been an intense man.

When he loved, he loved fiercely. Possessively. Entirely.

And marriage had done nothing to tame that part of him.

You leaned against the balcony of your penthouse, the city lights sprawling beneath you like a sea of stars. The cool night air kissed your skin, but the warmth of the ring on your finger burned hotter. A reminder. A promise.

A claim.

You heard him before you saw him, footsteps deliberate, controlled, carrying the weight of a man who knew exactly what he wanted.

And what he wanted was you.

"You’re thinking too much," Phainon murmured, his arms snaking around your waist from behind. His lips found the curve of your neck, his breath hot against your skin. "I don’t like it when you get lost in that pretty little head of yours."

You smirked, tilting your head to the side, giving him more access. "And what do you propose I do instead?"

Phainon’s fingers brushed over your stomach before dipping lower, his touch slow, teasing. "I could think of a few things."

Heat coiled low in your belly.

Even after all this time, he still made you weak.

"You’re insatiable," you teased, pressing back against him.

Phainon chuckled, dark and knowing. "And you love it."

You did.

But before either of you could take it further, a small voice interrupted.

"Daddy?"

Phainon immediately stiffened. You turned to see your son standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Daddy, I had a bad dream."

Phainon exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair as he muttered something under his breath. Then, with a resigned smirk, he pressed a quick kiss to your temple before crouching down to your son’s level.

"What was it this time?"

Your son sniffled. "A big monster was chasing me."

Phainon’s blue eyes darkened. "Monsters don’t stand a chance against you," he said, voice low, steady. "Because you’re my son. And you know what that means?"

Your son shook his head.

Phainon smirked. "It means you own the monsters. You tell them to run."

Your son blinked. Then, slowly, a grin spread across his face. "I do?"

Phainon ruffled his hair. "Of course. You’re unstoppable."

Your heart clenched at the sight.

Because for all his ruthlessness, for all the ways he was possessive and demanding, Phainon was also this. A man who would tear the world apart for the people he loved.

"Come on," Phainon said, lifting your son effortlessly into his arms. "Let’s go back to bed. And if any monsters show up, we’ll deal with them together."

Your son giggled, burying his face in Phainon’s shoulder.

And as you watched them disappear down the hall, you realized something.

Phainon had always been yours.

And now, he belonged to something even greater.

A family.

A life you built together.

And no matter what, he would never let go.

Taglist: @ivana013-blog @kimura-uzuri

© 2024-2025 vortexbloom all rights reserved. Don’t repost, edit, translate or plagiarize my work!

Have a good day/night/evening/morning/afternoon ☼꥟☽

[otomehonyaku]

DIABOLIK LOVERS More,Blood Stellaworth Complete Set Tokuten Short Stories ☽ Azusa ver.

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE,BLOOD ステラワース全巻連動購入特典ショートストーリ English translation by @otomehonyaku Scans can be found here (courtesy of @karleksmumskladdkaka!)

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SUMMARY | This short story provides a slice of Azusa and Yui's daily life after the events of More,Blood. Yui takes matters into her own hands when she finds out Yuma gave Azusa a ghost pepper.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Please do not reuse or repost my translations elsewhere or translate my work into other languages without my permission.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You bury your rice in shichimi (1) all the time, so why don’t you try this? Yuma had said when he gave me—

“A ghost pepper…?”

“Yuma… cultivated these in his garden… and gave them to me,” I said, holding out the pepper to Eve. It elicited a small yelp from her, and she took a step back. “Why are you running away?”

“N-no, it’s… I just thought you were going to feed it to me.” Eve stiffened. Why was she reacting like this when spicy foods were so delicious?

Bangladeshi ghost peppers are officially called bhüt jolokia—the spiciest pepper known to man.

“Yuma went out of his way to cultivate this for you, didn’t he?” Eve said while she gingerly eyed the red pepper in the palm of my hand.

“For… me?”

“Yeah. He knows you like spicy things.”

“I see.” For some reason, it made me so happy to hear it that I put the pepper in my mouth straight away.

Or, rather, tried to, because Eve stopped me immediately.

“Eve?”

“Hold on! That’s the spiciest pepper in the world, you know? I know you love spicy, painful things like nobody else, Azusa, but even you should probably be careful with this one…”

“I… wonder, but… I’m the one eating it, so it should be no problem to you… right, Eve?” I replied, slightly taken aback.

Eve thought about it for a little bit before continuing. “That’s true, but I don’t like seeing you suffer, Azusa.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course it is!” Eve snapped, and snatched the ghost pepper from my hand.

“Will you eat it, Eve? Would you perhaps like to… suffer together?”

“N-no! I don’t mean it like that. I know it might be difficult for you to understand, but I don’t want you to get hurt, Azusa. Even when you want to.”

I had a difficult time grasping what Eve was saying. It was not the first time that she said something like this, but it just did not click. Besides, Eve always tried to stop me from hurting myself, but now it seemed that she wanted me to quit spicy foods as well.

“…Azusa, I’m not saying this to be mean to you, you know? I know you like spicy foods. I just want to make it a bit easier for you to eat first, alright?”

“Alright…”

As soon as I agreed with her, she began thinking up a plan. “What dish would go well with ghost pepper? Maybe a stew… but that might make the spiciness worse…”

“…”

Lost in thought, Eve disappeared into the kitchen. I unconsciously stared after her and began to think—even if I did not exactly understand why she did all of this, the mere fact that she went out of her way to help me made me unbelievably happy, I realised.

“Maybe I should… only suffer when I’m by myself, then…” I decided.

After all, if that is what made Eve happy, then it would make me happy, too.

“Azusa? Would you prefer stew or something deep-fried?” she called from the kitchen.

“Hold on… I’ll be right there,” I said, following after her and into the kitchen.

—I would have to thank Yuma again later, because thanks to him, I feel like I now know what brings Eve happiness.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

(1) Shichimi is a Japanese blend of seven spices.