#THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP ISNT GONNA WORK IS IT :(

[autism-prime]

Ben would legitimately break the no killing rule after rook explained what a twink was

Name a more iconic duo than-

A Twink And a Redhead

A Twink And a Redhead!!

A Twink And a Redhead

A Twink! And a Redhead.

[princesssmars]

unexpected

an ellabs x black!streamer!reader

some times your viewers expect you're in a relationship, and one time you spell it out clearly for them.

wc : 1.860

contains : reader is feminine ! the picture is more lightskin but all shades can read <333 ltlvc reference

a/n : coming up with chat usernames is so hard what the fawk??? but yeah while i ignore trolls the ones under these tags were pissing me off so i wrote this for my fellow black girlies <333 i hope u enjoy :)

lets get one thing out of the way, you loved being a streamer. now that you had a good following of a few thousand regular watchers, you were more than financially stable, got to do something you enjoyed as a job, and even made a few new streaming friends.

but when it came to those friends, every content creator knew simple friendships could stir up drama. you had heard of many cases of friendships being strained or ruined because of this job. more specifically because of the fans.

which is why you took an oath to leave finer details like relationships out of your work. if you did tell a story about that time you and your friends nearly got kicked out of a local mall's journey's, you would keep descriptions of friends brief and blank, even resorting to calling people "friend number one, friend number two..."

luckily most of your fans were more than understanding that you wanted to keep some of your life private.

most of them.

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case one : the first p.o. box

it was another po box opening stream you decided to start early in the day, wanting to show and appreciate chat with the things they got for you.

lululemonsz : babe i hope its a new keyboard urs is on a iv drip !

wariolover96 : open it open the box OPEN IT

shelovedantee : damn is there a bomb in it hurry up

you laughed looking at all the people in chat begging you to open the current package in your hand.

"everybody chill out. look, im gonna open the first one now."

you quickly got a pair of scissors to cut off the packing tape on both ends, hurrying to pull the cardboard from its place.

the chat started speeding up when your mouth fell open in shock, slowly reaching in and pulling out the keyboard. it was sleek, mechanical, and your favorite color.

biiiigpoo : omg isnt that thing like $250?

lululemonsz : this as the first gift is CRAZY

ilovestardewmc1237 : one of your viewers is in love with you

you couldn't even respond, turning the keyboard over and back again to admire the details of it. out of the corner of your eye you spot a little yellow sticky note at the bottom, bringing it up to read it without letting the camera see. once you got to the end, your eyes widened and you quickly moved on to the next gifts.

but the light reflecting from your window and monitor was enough for chat to see a few letters on the note. after that, your fandom quickly began talking of a person named "A" who had not only the money to get you crazy expensive keyboards, but was also able to fluster you with a small note.

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case two : the search history.

every so often, your mods would host little events on your stream. these could include giveaways, shitty chat therapy, and little games for everyone to play. today it was a challenege : the more bits people donated, the crazier stuff you had to do for them. it was all pretty tame, and the end goal was one you didnt think you'd manage to hit.

never doubt the power of charisma and a pretty face, because after only three hours you manged to reach that two thousand dollar mark, and chat was raving at what you'd have to reveal next : your search history.

ariagatorr : damn this lowkey invasive 💀

devonchcgo22 : and we dont give a fuck

plantsnparsnip : right open that shit up

"i hate yall, do you know that? like genuinely." you groaned, slowly movied your mouse to open your chrome history.

there wasn't much for chat to bully you about thankfully, just some light teasing about how much you use pinterest and asking what it was you bought on etsy. and just when you thought you were done, someone had to open their big damn mouth.

pian0picass0 : wait a minute why did you open ellies stream THREE times ????

chat started moving faster as they read the comment, everyone asking you to open the stream and show them what was going on. sucking your teeth and denying them as you had shown them what they wanted!

after quickly wrapping up the stream and giving your thanks and goodbyes, a portion of viewers went on a manhunt for any ellie who was streaming at the moment.

once clicking on the stream, they found it was just a casual stream with ellie. she was obviously pretty, but was super laid-back in her jeans and converse as she strummed some songs on her guitar.

"oh hey, welcome to the stream i guess. any requests? i was gonna practice some radiohead because my friend asked for it."

pian0picass0 : hey ellie! do you know who (y/u) is by any chance?

"'sup casso. uhhhh no i dont think i do. did she send yall over here? maybe ill check her channel out."

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case three : the enhanced dm's

"everybody shut the fuck up and lets start this stupid thing."

this was it, one of your biggest streams of the year. and also the most fun. and most aggravating.

the gist was simple. you and 5 other streamers were thrown into a discord call and whoever lasted the longest through the sleep deprivation and challenges won a heap of cash.

what the hell was it with you getting screwed over by challenges?

it didn't seem that bad. the host, a close friend of yours, told you to share your screen so everyone could decide something to tweet from your twitter.

now, your friends in the call didn't notice what was on your screen when you shared it, and if they did they didn't say anything. but never doubt the perseverance of your crazy ass viewers, because one took the liberty to see exactly what you were saying in that split second they could see your dm's, because they swore they knew that profile picture...

abby : don't worry you'll do fine

abby : you're not gonna get embarrassed by any of the challenges

abby : i hope

y/n : seriously

abby : come onn you know i'm rooting for you &lt;3

y/n : aww thanks bee

abby : yup. for the whole event i'm gonna be your personal cheerleader ^3^

y/n : oooo you gonna put on a uniform for me?

abby : don't push it.

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case four : the voice chat slip up

at this point, there was no point in acting like you didn't know the two streamers.

the first was abby. mostly posted fitness, health, and lifestyle videos on youtube, but would occasionally go live on twitch to talk with her fans or stream herself working out at the gym.

(you may or may not have admitted live that you found her by watching a few of her workout streams. whoops.)

and then there was ellie, a gaming streamer who was known for being chill and quiet when playing music but as loud as a plane engine when playing cs:go. don't even get her started on cod.

but luckily you'd manage to convince her to play some games with you on your latest stream! some stardew, maybe some overcooked. even if she kept burning all of the damn food.

leave it to ellie williams to always surprise you, though.

when you hear the du-dum of the discord join noise, your face lights up and your mouth opens to greet ellie before she beats you to it.

"ok, babe, which game we playin first?"

to make a long story shot, your chat went ballistic and you gave a stern talking to the red head after the stream ended.

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case five : the instagram post

most of the time you leave most of your notifications off to avoid your phone sounding like a constant alarm. but you're guessing your recent endeavor of babysitting your cute but horrifically grabby nephew screwed you over, because before you know it the sound of dozens on instagram notifications are waking you up and pushing your bonnet from where it slipped down your eyes before unlocking your phone.

at first it seems like a normal picture abby posted, standing in front of a mirror in her living room , flexing her arm and covered in a thin sheen of sweat after an apparent workout session. ever the show off.

but when you zoomed into a blip of color in the background, your eyes almost pop out of your head when you see it.

its you and ellie, you sitting in her lap while she showed you some stupid meme on her phone she said reminded her of you.

the post was only thirty minutes old but already had a few thousand comments, the previes of 'OMG?????' and "no fucking way" giving you a hint to what people were thinking.

you turned off your phone, tossed it back on the nightstand and went back to sleep.

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case six : the joint stream

y/nsstan69 : not an unscheduled stream ??? is it judgement day ???

onlycuntz : "ft surprise guest" girl we aren't stupid

you had to hide the smile from appearing on your face as you read through the comments of your chat. you knew some of them were probably smart enough to know what was going on. the three of you hadn't really been discrete in the days following abby's slip up post, and viewers jumped at the chance to point you out in the background of some of her workout videos. and to point out how you were staring at her.

assholes.

so, here you sat in the comfort of your cute gaming chair ready to tell chat the big news with your special guest.

"so, i bet some of you are wondering why im streaming off schedule, but i had something big in my personal life that i wanted to tell you guys! in a few minutes my gest should be here..."

your voice trailed off as you kept your eye on chat, seeing a bunch of comments that you werent expecting from this big announcement.

motionpickers : lmaooooo are they serious

lululemonsz : she's gonna be so pissed

you begin to turn around in your chair when two pairs of lips press a kiss to each of your cheeks.

"you guys are so unserious."

"and you are so bad at hiding things." ellie pulls up and extra chair and rolls it up to yours so her knees touch yours. she tugs your hand into hers to sit on her lap, ignoring when you pinch her with your nails.

"ignore her. we could tell what you were doing and figured we should all do it together," abby is on your other side, resting her hip on the arm of your chair. "so, go ahead. it's pretty obvious already."

"wow, thanks for the support you guys."

"anytime, hun."

uhuhstasia : i literally cant tell whos luckier

niatargaryen : IS ANYBODY ELSE FREAKNG OUT

ilovestardewmc1237 : is it appropiate to say i called this

[sakotisssss]

ranking of yugotalia ships?

im gonna do the most common ones + some rare pares

serbcro

sorry so basic but it’s just too good. they both are just so toxic it actually ends up working. they match each other’s freak but not in a good way. but it’s very interesting and i like thinking about how different their dynamic would be at different points of history. its different than serbbos because there isnt a clear power dynamic and i think they are both equally fucked up but in different ways. they dislike each other, but partily because they're way more similar than you'd think. to both of their dismay, they can understand each other in ways no one else can. this is only if its done right, i dont wanna see drazen as the twink and vuk as super manly. thats just not them.

2. serbmace

this is the only serbia ship (and general yugo ship) i dont see as insanely toxic. i think it would only be a short time thing, probably during the balkan wars before ww1 but generally they have good relations and i think vuk would enjoy being the protector and mace being protected. but i also think she's the only one that can make him shut up. its just so cute, both of them having like a small crush on each other throughout time and i think they'd work well.

3. croslo/serbmonte

im putting them in the same catagory because i feel kind of the same way about both of them. i think these are two ships that historically would work great, with cro and slo growing up together and monte always kind of wanting to be "one" with serbia. however, i feel both monte and slo are just fed up with the two of them in the modern day and do not get along at all. but the reason its not higher up is because i feel like this works better as a sort of sibling type of relationship rather than romantic. a lot of the times monte and slo cant stand serb/cro but at the end of the day they grew up together and both cro and serb kind of consider them their only genuine friend. still one of my favorite dynamics to read about

4.

sloserb

this ship is hilarious i support it. i lowkey feel the same about bosslo

4. bosherze

okay unpopular opinion, i know i know. i really do like the ship, i think its really cute especially in ottoman times with enis trying to constantly rizz up idriza and eventually her falling for him. i like how he's overly affectionate and she secretly loves it. he def wants to be the protector but idriza really is. but WOW is this ship toxic, especially in modern day, and in a more tragic way. the fact that they really dont like each other nowdays just doesnt sit right with me, and the bad beef between them is quite recent and personal. its intresting tho, two people that were forced together and ended up falling for each other only to be torn apart 30 years ago and now back to really disliking the other but still forced to be together. its genuinaly tragic, but i think its probably the ship that is the funniest. the scenerios of them make me laugh so hard, this ship is like a black comedy. both of them deserve better as enis just hasnt really been ever treated right and idriza literally has to run the entire house and gets no credit for it (ofc she's bitter). fr its the parents that should have divorced a long time ago.

5. monteherz

@danidandandadididan put me on to this and im obsessed. they would be such a better match, but history just didnt let that happen. sad.

6. montemace

ehhhh

7. monteslo

tall masc guy with tiny twink. boring and overdone. next.

8. crobos

no, would not work. they literally cant go two seconds without backstabbing each othe and its just ehhh. their friendship is really funny though

9. serbos

no, just no. unlike serbcro, where they've both traumatized each other, serbos is just a complete power imbalence. they have a lot of bad blood, and unlike serbcro have always been on oppisite sides. this is just vuk traumatizing enis. not a fan from a historical or a ship perspective. it just icks me out.

[wordy-little-witch]

I am also on the buggy-isnt-actually-human agenda 👀 also i cant believe i never thought if boabuggy mean girl squad bc ur so right (im gonna ignore the fact that canon buggy most likely isnt immune to her since he never once showed interest in alvida) which now brings me to: mean gurls boabuggyalvida 😌🧚‍♀️✨

YESSSSS THANK YOU ILY I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THIS

I actually have an ongoing fic with Buggy as non-human and him and Shanks being brothers and just- aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa BRAINROT OKAY

My favorite concept is making Buggy a type of faery. My fic specifically has him as a Harlequinn, solely bc it FIT and I am feral for clown/jesters/etc. I can go into detail if you want, but I don't wanna clog this one

But like.

Buggy is the ONLY person in One Piece with a nose like his. He's hyperaware of that, and it's his biggest visible insecurity. He loves shiny things, treasures, gold, etc. His luck stats are either MAXED OUT or in the NEGATIVES. He is so good at manipulating people ((silver tongue)), and his specialty is smoke and mirrors, enthralling the masses, and he only gets involved when either A) he HAS to, or B) he has reason to protect/claim something. He's an observer most of the time, and he facilitates observation in others as well. And don't get me started by the lure and draw he gives to others to his space, his territory, full of Power, Fortune, Whimsy and Joy. Gods. He's so fascinating I wanna study him under a microscope, wanna put him in Situations ♡♡♡

MOVING ALONG~

Boa+Buggy+Alvida hours

The only thing I think might be rocky is Alvida and Hancock butting heads over beauty, but honestly? I think once they warm up to each other, Hancock would actually be really relieved to not be called the cutest or hottest in the room. I also think the three would be each other's biggest hype sources ((but also refreshingly, brutally honest)).

Personally? I think Buggy might actually be immune to Hancock. When he saw Alvida, he had a passing thought of "Oh, pretty, anyway-" so maybe in Canon he'd also become stone but imagine how funny it out be if she tried stoning him, it didn't work OR he split apart and it only worked a little. Now she is BAMBOOZLED.

Like.... "why didn't this work? What are you, clown? Explain yourself!!"

"..... I mean. You're cute, I guess???? But girl that lip tint is not your palette-"

"What-"

"Here, try this one, I stole it like this morning, it's unopened-"

"Oh that is nice-"

And with that a friendship was born!!

Or alternatively

"Why didn't you turn to stone?"

"Hancock.... I'm gay."

"..."

"And also a bottom."

"......"

"You don'treally seem like a top, but... i mean, you're still pretty though????"

".................."

"OhSeasShe'sGonnaKillMe-"

"Did we just become friends?"

"*surprised clown noises*"

ANYWAY

Yes BoaBuggyVida mean girls bestie squad. Only thing to make it better is including Perona and/or Uta bc I feel like that would be. So much fun.

Also it changes the subtext in the Cross Guild situation a tad, bc Mihawk knows Buggy and Boa get on like a house on fire, he knows Shanks waxes poetic about the clown, and he is so confused bc the math isn't mathing, is he missing something?? Are the others just THAT delusional??? What is the truth?????

But yeah I have so many Boa+Buggy+Vida concepts and it is. So much. All the brainrot. I love the dumb little clown dude and his army of simps and girlboss besties

[quodekash]

its 1pm and im finally well-rested enough to watch last nights episode of abaab, wish me luck (im rly excited for more threezo pls gimme more threezo) 

im eating a pomegranate while watching so my commentary may be slightly limited 

NOOO CHER WHY ARE YOU SAD ITS GONNA MAKE ME SAD 

i just accidentally sprayed pomegranate juice everywhere 

this is my first time eating a pomegranate and im sitting on my bed 

i have a towel on top of me just in case and im glad i have it 

otherwise my funky hufflepuff blanket would look like a crime scene rn 

anyway back to the show 

awh :[ 

comforting kiss 

im gonna cry 

“its not a company owner and an intern. its just you and me.” GHEIBRHGERH THATS SO PERFECT and also makes me feel better cos i was still feeling a little weird about the power imbalance/age gap so yay 

THEY HUG

NO, BC YOU WONT BREAK UP 

THIS IS THE HAPPIEST FLUFFIEST SHOW, I WILL NOT ALLOW IT 

JACK, YOU AND YOUR PERFECT HAIR, HELLO 

THREEZO 

LOOK AT ZO’S LITTLE HEART JUMPER

I WANT IT 

THE ARM THE HAND ON THE ARM LOOK AT THEM AAAAAAATYFYTUUVJ (ft jacks perfect hair on the left) 

OMG

THATS AMAZING 

IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU JACK 

GJERKDGBKRHEBGKJREBJGRE 

ah shoot 

wait hang on 

what the hell 

ive been wondering whats in that folder since day one

ohhhh okay its a groupchat 

props to that one person for saying its none of your business 

yOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE?? 

i nearly dropped my pomegranate 

why was i surprised to learn he has a mother 

a lot of people have mothers 

thats exactly what she said, isnt it? 

bc theyre actually in a drama 

its gonna cut to a scene of her saying exactly that 

damn i was wrong 

thERE’S A HUG QUOTA??? 

damn then i guess im going to jail 

my hands are covered in pomegranate juice this feels like a murder 

hey, does pomegranate juice wash off? 

MY BOY AND HIS EYEBROWS 

HAH, SUCKS TO BE YOU (checks notes) oregano? 

i do love that and that’s very sweet, but bro needs his coffee 

already at two kisses and were not even halfway through the episode. if only tinngun could live up to their standard. 

(this is mostly a joke, im just really salty because tinngun COULD have kissed SIXTY-SEVEN FREAKING TIMES and they DIDNT and no i will not shut up about this i spent way too long combing through the show counting every single time they didnt kiss to not mention it every single time any characters kiss. shameless self promo here)

no wait hang on what the hell 

WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN??? 

“drunk or not, i love you” i see now why that line was significant 

and also the slight breakup foreshadowing earlier 

i understand it now 

they wont break up tho bc (i pull out a sword) i will not allow it 

(just kidding) 

(i dont have a sword) 

(if i did have one tho i would absolutely take it out of its sheath right at that moment) 

FRIENDSHIP COMFORT TIME 

YAY FRIENDSHIP 

they make me happy 

HIS PERFECT HAIR 

I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH GFYTDFYTFCUTVJHV

oh yay we get some tub time!! i cant wait to learn more about him so that i can pick him apart and do a character autopsy on him to find out how he works! 

is he speaking from experience? tub, what do you have going on in life? what have you gone through? tell me all about it :] 📝📝

is it texas chicken or is it kfc? 

MY BOYS 

IM GONNA CRY THEYRE SO FREAKING CUTE 

ilysm three 

RIGHT????? he gets it 

THREEZOOOOOO

i love them so much

NOOOOOO

CHE??? 

something good better happen 

(eret son of eret voice) is tha’ who i fink i’ is? 

it might not be 

if anyone knows who plays this man, pls lemme know 

NOOOOOOO NOT THE GAMEBOY 

OH IT GOT WORSE 

sir do you have the technical skills for this 

i know hes the head of a game developing company thing but the actual physical insides of a gameboy are an entirely different thing, right? 

i was waiting for the thoop situation to come up again 

the MOOD that this is-

i have finished my pomegranate and can confirm that the juice does in fact come off of human skin, which is nice bc i looked like id murdered someone 

👀

and how are you gonna do that, gun? 

idk man, i reckon id appreciate you as my big bro 

yayyy that was really good, a little bitter at times but really sweet overall. 7/10, would try again 

oh and the episode was also really good 

huge lack of threezo tho 

theyd better make up for it next week 

still good tho 

bye bye everyone! have a good day!! 

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

Lime for the poll runners’ ask game?

Lime -> participant(s) you’re rooting for the most?

i don't want to sway the votes so i won't do any propaganda for them after the poll starts BUT it's Wu Zetian/Li Shimin/Gao Yizhi from Iron Widow i just love the way their relationship develops so much and as someone whos unable to actually pick up a book and focus on it, the fact that i read iron widow in 4 days is amazing im still proud of that as silly as it is

yknow what ill use this as an opportunity to ramble about them askdgakdjk spoilers ahead but ill try to keep the major stuff out

for context the book has pacific rim style mechas, but instead of being drift compatible or whatever its usually a male pilot and his concubine whose life force he usually drains in order to pilot the thing, but theres a LOT of propaganda that makes girls want to be concubines, or families might wanna send their daughters for the money. im simplifying it a LOT especially cause theres more info u only learn later on as zetian herself finds out but anyway

at the start of the book zetian and yizhi are besties who obviously have feelings for each other. zetian is poor while hes very rich so their friendship is kind of a secret and they meet in the woods which i think is cute, point is its p clear zetian tries to mantain a distance, not allowing herself to admit her feelings. for reasons i wont say zetian decided to become a concubine to one of the like bigger more badass guys even if she doesnt believe the propaganda and knows she might die, she only tells yizhi this the day before

he shows up at her house the next day begging her family to let him marry her?????? which is sweet because he wants to protect her but that isnt gonna work bestie sorry she's a woman w a mission

so anyway she goes to the concubine thing and shes surprisingly powerful "for a girl" which yeah thats a super common trope but shes so much more than just the strong protagonist. shes extremely powerful in every sense of the word imo and i love her so much and i wish the world hadnt been so cruel that she had to become so strong. but anyway the guy she wants to pilot w picks her. MAJOR SPOILER they have to pilot the mecha on day 1 cause they're under attack and uhhh she kills him lol lmao she drains her life force instead which supposedly is UNHEARD OF

so they cant just kill her off cause that'd look bad instead they send her to be the concubine of the strongest guy (all of his concubines die after 1 fight) and thats Li Shimin my beloved my little meow meow hes looked down on and kinda treated like an animal cause hes a criminal and the only reason he gets to be a pilot is his powerful qi. anyway shes forced to live w him and turns out hes just a lil guy. like hes very big and scary looking but hes just a tired man pls he needs a break. she fucking survived piloting w him which nobody expected. so now theres a lotta stuff going on i wont get into but some ppl arent happy w this duo cause they're both very powerful and not exactly happy to serve. and Shimin has a drink problem.

IN ENTERS GAO YIZHI hes back babey!!! and he decides to help shimin w his alcoholism. its funny cause when they first meet his crush on li shimin is so fucking obvious zetian is like "huh i always suspected he liked guys too" but li shimin is just pissed cause this is the guy who wants to make him stop drinking

theres like 1 moment of jealousy that i can remember when li shimin realizes zetian and yizhi have a thing going on but its settled very quickly and they all kiss.

back to the drift compatible thing: at one point in the final battle zetian and shimin need more power and yizhi literally lends them his qi (its extremely rare for a third person to help) and its beautiful and they are so in love and i cant wait for the sequel

idk if any of that is coherent i kinda stopped thinking and just typed sorry for rambling on ur ask im just very passionate about them i love them so much i love iron widow so much i love xiran jay zhao so much (the writer) (you might know them from the live action mulan analysis video that went viral back when that movie came out) (check out their yt channel)

[musubiki]

omg omg omg i'm gonna geek out about writing quickly but the time skip redo is actually really cool??? like mochi feels like the glue keeping them all together is so it makes sense that they kinda scatter but still stay in touch kinda after she leaves,,,, also the idea of getting the gang back together one by one just feels kinda nice like its the ✨found family✨ vibes that the guild radiates that just has me🤧🤧🤧🤧 LOVE THEM SO MUCH

YES AAAH IM GLAD YOU THINK SO!!!!!!!!! i feel like this version is better exactly for that reason and also its a better driver for the growth lime goes through when mochi isnt there!!!

PLUS it also aligns better with what (in my head) seems to be normal around "grown" witches, which is that after that period of time where a witch is learning and coming into her own, she no longer has need for a guild and it effectively breaks up (which is why tiramisus guild as well as other older witches dont have their full guild with them. maybe 1 or 2 members stuck around because theyre friends but otherwise most witches guilds dissolve after said witch is done training and her power is in full)

the only thing that makes me sad about it is that i wish lime and the others were close enough friends to stay together as a guild after mochi leaves, like their friendship with each other isnt SOLELY dependent on her, but since there only 5 of them (and taffy is new), once mochi left, lime was the only other person who was capable enough to lead the guild. and since he took such an emotional blow i dont think he had it in him to essentially babysit the other 3. so with 2/5 members (and essentially the core of the guild) out of action, it makes sense that neither coco or oscar could ever "lead" the guild the way lime potentially could have (and taffy feels like he has no right to even try to fill that role). that being said, i do like the idea of them hanging out every so often to do side quests!!!!!

(essentially i think of this period as lime shifts into the "main character" role and it turns into a genshin style of adventure for him-- where he just travels around (lowkey searching for mochi) but mostly training, doing side quest/side quest chains, becoming stronger, and every so often he runs into a quest that requires you to bring along/interact with other major characters like coco, oscar, taffy, the merchant, other witches mochis met during her journeys, etc, but afterwards goes back to a solo journey. as a consequence once the guild gets back together it turns out lime has a bunch of connections in a bunch of different places)

and also!!! i maybe have mentioned this, but in my heart it feels unfair to have them all just.,.....waiting around for her. like obviously we all know she comes back to them, but from their POV shes essentially gone forever with no end date, and having them accept the mindset of potentially waiting around forever feels like a shitty thing to do, so im going to let them move on!!!!! (at least superficially. i dont think any of them would ever truly move on after mochi leaves. how would you ever just spend 2-3 years in this magic world of action and adventure and then just suddenly drop it all and go work a 9-5??? impossible. they all tangentially stayed in the magic community and would be ready at the drop of a hat to rejoin mochi if she ever came back and asked them to!!)

[hexballgate]

HEY U [shakes u like a baby rattle] ZARYA ASK TIME

1- what's her relationship w the other companions like? ik she's romancing karlach(?) but is she close w any of the others? is she NOT close w any of the others??

2- durge canonically loses their memories post-worm but I feel how much of them they regain is sorta up for interpretation? how much does zarya end up recovering, if any?

3- not a technical question ig but I saw u had saint bernard 2 on her playlist, why that over the first one :0

4- any fun facts or small things about her tht I might not think to ask about?!?! i love seeing tiny stuff ppl come up w for their ocs

THANKYOU for these I love talking

1. AUGH i love this question :]. Karlach is the only thing tethering Zarya to sanity, and has to constantly keep them from going on murder sprees with Astarion (who is purposefully messing w\ Karlach). His illegal invitations get worse with time just to see how long before Karlach snaps him in two. Shadowheart is shockingly trying to keep them stable as well though, secretly. Little wine talks and nights out with them. Her and Zarya are extremely close, if Zarya's not with Karlach then she's with Shadowheart. Wyll probably tries to fix them. The ultimate "With the power of friendship we can solve this!" Zarya says they hate him but secretly adores him. Zarya and Minthara are good friends as well, agd Jaheira and Minsc are like their aunt and uncle, and them and Gale show off to each other constantly (in a friendly way). They have sparing matches with Lae'zel, which calms them both down. They go for pizza afterwards (while bloody and bruised) :]. They actually hate Halsin though.

2. Some for sure!! They never fully regain their memory, but some minor ones come to them via little nostalgic items like the hopscotch in act 1. More major memories they constantly have nightmares over, and have some trouble figuring out what really happened and what's fake. Karlach and Shadowheart are working on a timeline to try and help Zarya, and are gonna surprise them with it. It doesnt help at all, but Zarya appreciates the thought. Karlach sometimes wakes up to Zarya just staring at them, and when they finally ask about it, Zarya admits they can't sleep after a particularly bad nightmare and likes reminding themself that Karlach's alive.

3. Yes actually! Zarya is still extremely morally grey even though they try their hardest to be good, and in my mind saint bernard two is accepting who you were isnt who you are, rather than saint bernard one is believing you can never be more than you were. At first Zarya believes that but with time Karlach helps them accept their past and start anew- I think they'd have a little superstitious ritual, where they both know its fake but it helps Zarya feel they're brand new. Anyway, post-game, when they start accepting that, I feel they fit more sb2 :)

4. Girl I have irrelevant facts you couldn't even dream of. This post is already long and I don't wanna induce any headaches, but pre-worm Zarya probably tortured Gortash in countless ways, while Gortash believed it was out of love. Zarya felt no such way and was just using him to sooth their desires. Also, while Zarya teaches Karlach to start slow, Karlach teaches Zarya how to start in general. Since Zarya used to show love through pain, they catch themself accidentally scratching or hurting Karlach in some way and is scared to touch her at all- but considering Karlach could of burned their skin off, she don't mind.

[goldenfox3]

Im really having trouble working out the climax of TF and i want to wrangle it out here but if i mention it it will potentially spoil the lead up but also sometimes its not about not knowing whats gonna happen its the tension from knowing whats gonna happen but the charas dont so you just stare at their slowly impending doom like a train wreck so 🤹‍♂️

ANYWAY incomprehensible rambling/potential spoilers for TF for chapters 10 through 18:

The Death Anchor is a former ballistic missile with a detonator still intact unbeknownst to Zoda. I would like to use this somehow but idk how even though i already have plans to start foreshadowing its involvement soon (like c10 soon) lmao. Like the Arrows come back later and all but Zoda is...at this point not really a presence in the fic and I don't wanna bring him in just for the sake of it. Unless someone else is affiliated with Deathriddle and eventually finds reason to use the stolen missile as it was intended for.

Similar kind of thing with Don Genie where I vaguely thought of bringing him in for funding Blood/affiliation with BS Group/is he also associated with Deathriddle??? who knows but didn't wanna just drag him in as a cheap easy villain. Like. He is an arms dealer and the Death Anchor is a stolen missile but what reason would he have to detonate an asset unless like. It was no longer useful or actively harming him or to sacrifice it for something more useful to him??? Idk

At first I only had the idea of one BF plotline but it would be funny if like. Rob meets the Ab Initio BF first for accidental lunch outing and then gets kidnapped another time by a diff BF (Black...Falcon??? To signify he's closer to BS???) and when he notices he can even tell the diff between BFs now he's like god fucking damn it I am getting WAY too familiar with Falcon's face

Wondered if it was too cheap to do an eviler evil clone plot. Realized they set it up themselves by saying BF isn't the only Falcon clone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

BF vs BF moment with Black trying to either bring in or terminate Blood on BS' orders and the I will be the true Falcon thing blah blah

The amount of power that Cap has to (reluctantly) call on will only increase as time goes on lmao. This has always been a man vs self fic or "man vs new untold power inside himself and the morality of such" fic but i also don't want to just fridge an eviler evil clone or even the main villain just like that as a lazy way of getting the hero to kill and angst. BS already got dealt with unsatisfactorily in GX story!

Blood isnt going to die i like him too much for that lmao. That being said that doesn't mean he's above targeting Rob (even if he likes him in his own weird way) to get CF to pay attention to him. I thought about an injured Rob still asking a really incensed CF not to kill Blood after yeeting Black (and BS himself if i go that route lmao) and CF freezing would be an interesting scene and BF getting pissed also and saying not to pity him he's TRYING to fight his RIVAL here it's his ONLY PURPOSE (even tho he knows deep down he doesnt have a snowballs chance in hell of winning after seeing CF level the fucking track)

This goes back to what i was saying about Rob with his weirdass fucking friendships lmao. I just think it would be an interesting character moment for all three of them. Rob asking for mercy for an enemy. Blood not knowing what the fuck to do when his purpose for so long won't even fight him. CF going what am i doing. What have i become. And so on.

[by-glass-and-waves]

oh dude dude what do you MEAN "sorry guys who are looking for delicious Courtship/Restart goodies" I LOVE DEPRESSION QUEST, and i love the fact that theres someone else out there that has a runaway narinder AU

the idea of a completely power hungry lamb who disregards narinder as a person is so uncommon, i dont think ive actually seen that dynamic played out in a story/hc tbh ??? so i am LIVING for this, it truly is the spice of life

n like letting him runaway n waits for him to come crawling back??? absolutely maliciously delicious content

but nARINDER OH NARINDER angry, break down, self imploding beloved!!! again there isnt enough completely broken down ISOLATED(emotionally) conceded narinders, so many au's have him conceded, but they always including the lamb trying to get him comfortable and okay, never narinder just being tolerated and treated like property or a trophy and i love that fucked up dynamic

i'd really love to know more abt baal and ayms place in the cult too, are they like mini trophies ? or are they just "eh another follower"

either way the idea of narinder self imploding to the point of complete isolation (running away) is such a good idea, im living for it !!! and the idea of a ratoo & narinder friendship from this has consumed my brain greatly, i love that idea i actually had a brain wave pic pop up in my brain, so i'll draw fanart of this AU later bc i adore it

WHOA I was at work and I was like "I got an aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" oh man I'm glad you really like the idea! I think I did see some fics like this (well not Narinder dips fics)

I will let you know that these qs making me go "wait hm this would fit into the AU better than my original ideas" so please bear with me!! at any rate omg aw thank you for loving these idees maybe I should just masterpost and mark spoilers for whatever comes to mind here also this is gonna be a long answer post pardon me

so spoilers for Depression Quest and Courtship I guess?

also trigger warning: depression, thoughts of self harm, mentions of mental breakdown

So this is me not reading cotl shit in like, literally months in order to try to preserve my headcanonideas like a loser but damn whoaaa I'm happy that you really like this AU

The initial idea actually did have just plain old Lamb being all okay bb i'll be here waiting for you when you ready I won't push you, I'll let you run away and live your life bb just want you to be happy uwu like they did want Narinder to love them back but they were fine with just making him happy and brought back the Bishops and stuff so they could reconcile but as said before, things didn't seem the same for them

Then as Courtship took form I kind of moved those kinds of feelings Lamb had to the new AU and really honestly removed them from the equation because I wanted to focus on Narinder and Getting Over It™ and just living his own fucking life instead

What did remain was Narinder's complete and absolute breakdown when he locks himself into the house they built for him and his eventual escape. Like goddamn, I was like this man needs to break

The amount of broken furniture, crying and screaming onto the floor and bed, throwing items at whoever manages to get into the house, laying down and staring at the ceiling in a catatonic state, etc

I liked the idea of him meeting other people and them remarking on his fallen status or having to hide his identity when interacting or going to public places and it's pretty much how I came up with the Ratoo encounter/friendship

Imagine Kudaai laughing when he requests a scythe and giving him the smallest, lightest one for his weak upper extremities

addendum: like after escaping he does get better like he runs into kudaai and gets scythe at least but he still sucks since his hands/arms more likely to spaz more when he exerts himself too much (aka combat)

Imagine Narinder trying to stay inconspicuous when he goes to Plimbo's stall at the Lighthouse, etc

Once the idea of resurrecting the Bishops came up around the time I started writing Courtship I kind of went, tbh Lamb would only do that to get Narinder back and then that idea of the Lamb just stuck

The Lamb knew where he was the entire time. The Lamb let him think he was finally free from them. The Lamb decided to uproot his life when he thought he finally found peace (by reintroducing his siblings) and from there the Lamb became the kind of famous hero/whatever who would 100% use Narinder as a trophy SO and show them off while he feels awful and drinks every night to cope

i'd really love to know more abt baal and ayms place in the cult too, are they like mini trophies ? or are they just "eh another follower"

So initial idea was that Baal and Aym weren't crazy about it but came around after Lamb invited Forneus for a visit, then they would be like yes Master should see how good Lamb is

Now thinking it over, it could have a good twist to it:

Baal and Aym think that Narinder should come around because Lamb is a good person and his life would improve

In this, his guardians become his jailers. They've become the ones most actively working for his "rehabilitation", and Narinder hates it because he knows it's another way for the Lamb to break him. He's thinking that it's their mortality that made them cave so easily.

Once Narinder makes it out, they want to make their presence known once they find him, but Lamb explicitly commands them not to until they say it's time. So they go and check on him and obvs this is stwess for Narinder since he feels like he's being watched

Still though, Depression Quest is more Narinder-based than Narinder/Lamb relationship-based because it's him trying to live in a new Lamb-ruled world while trying not to show off his shitty power level or something, Lamb didn't really pull up much once he gets out except for really sending Baal and Aym to keep tabs on him and maybe probably when the Bishops are resurrected but even then it's just like... there's still this kind of sad underlying everything.

So fun fact: a few of Courtship's ideas originated in Depression Quest! Such as the shared love for gardening/camellias by Leshy and Narinder, and the relationship/dynamic between Kallamar and Narinder. I don't know why but their relationship felt fucking devastating once I came up with it hence why I think Chapter 9/Kallamar's quest in Courtship has been my favorite to read and write so far.

Courtship and Depression Quest do share quite a few things, so I'm worried I might echo too much of the same shit should I actually come to write it. While writing out this answer I posted an unedited bit on a prototype for Leshy quest and you may see some parallels to the one for Courtship :o

the idea of a ratoo & narinder friendship from this has consumed my brain greatly, i love that idea i actually had a brain wave pic pop up in my brain, so i'll draw fanart of this AU later bc i adore it

pls show me when you done I want it I'm so glad you like it and yes Ratoo and Narinder friendship is one and only

I think there was more but it's like 2am and I have to wake up in like 3 hours and I think I should just do a fucking masterpost on these AUs

[zoidandy]

hi iso ^_^!!! 4 da ask game!!! #zoidandy fan 4 lyfe

2. when in canon does your self insert come in? do you have a scene in mind for your entrance?

5. does your self insert have any special powers or abilities?

11. what kind of outfit(s) does your self insert wear?

15. how does your self insert play a role in the plot of the story? do they help directly defeat the villain, support the heroes, etc.?

k fair warning for andy i interchangably use first and second person for him so. warning for that

2. Random rare cameos in eps. Like two at most in the first few seasons before theres an ep introducing me for real. Im like a running gag "whos that" "oh thats head of marketing his name is andy he doesnt do. anything". then as for the ep formally introducing me i think itd be a post-movies episode Where farnsworth has to have planet express make an emergency marketing ploy otherwise wed go bankrupt then zb's gonna be ljke "hey!lets just let the head of marketing handle this!" "we have a head of marketing?" and then there i am. Well if i was in the show most of what ive been doing wouldve been behind the scenes and most of my Friendship Blossoming with zb happened Off-screen but they very much did happen in flashbacks or whatever. Noone recognizes me Besides him and amy and maybe farnsworth and they all call me new guy. Anyway THATS when #romantic tensions Start to rise between me and zb when im formally introduced.

5. Oh theyre a time travel paradox. Idk if that counts as a power OR ability but in the futurama world You can time travel backwards in time but thatd create a time paradox clone and the clone OR the original (?) could die so um. But thats not gonna happen to either of them cayse theyre special. More about it here. and his trait of being a time travel clone isnt even treated as a big deal by him its like having a twin. Andys clone though doesnt work at planet express and i still have to work out the backstory for all that

11. hold onn

^ His face.

WORK OUTFIT. everyday outfit.

jammies. him in zbs clothes

15. running gag character baby!!!! Literally hes not there to do anything inportant hes there to be funny fail miserably at everything and marry zoidberg thats all.

[hellsbroadcaster]

Okay so putting this under a read more cuz -- I wanna talk about it and what it means for my Alastor. This will be about the season 2 leak so read at your risk.

I'm gonna admit just hearing it, it felt very anticlimactic. It's just weird, and probably because season 1 really painted Rosie as a bestie, a girls girl but i guess the twist isnt as bad as I thought?? Idk.

I do agree its kind of in bad taste, but the more I listened to the song, the more I can kind of fuck with it.

I would I'll give it a chance when I see it, but the idea of Rosie actually kind of being a boss and showing us she's still a demon too? I dig that actually. I also find their friendship to be a total facade now. it makes sense now when he introduced charlie to her and her first thing to Alastor was that she had a situation she thought he would be interested in. I think they keep it on the low for real for real but like, I feel like alastor respects her but also really hates working for her.

like in the song hes so annoyed. also her calling him a pet, very much like he calls husk his pet. kind of, showing Alastor hey guess what you're not all powerful. you have your pets, and your mine. AND HE HATES IT. NDKFLNDSKLFDS.

I actually would love to create a verse for that.

Depending on how it plays out when season 2 i may decide to roll with it. for now its just speculation and I'm totally up for exploring that idea for any open and interested.

[trickstarbrave]

.

my brain has like. an idea of end game moon and star voryn who has mantled kyne ending up back in the first timeline of resdayn.

nerevar is kind of a dick. they arent married. their friendship is strained but nerevar thinks its gonna be as good as it gets. voryn knows he needs to conserve his power to jump back and nerevar probably didnt mean to recreate the past like it and will undo this timeline anyways.

but he decides he might as well enough himself while hes here. he shows up unannounced to the palace. he asks nerevar for a drink. nerevar is skeptical but agrees, wondering if voryn has some horrible news to tell him or is planning to try and kill him

instead, after he lets nerevar drink (he let nerevar pick the alcohol as nerevar was paranoid about voryn trying to kill him) and lets nerevar act paranoid and snippy with him. he knows this nerevar isnt quite his husband and forgives him. he remembers all to well how much they hurt each other this timeline.

and then he kisses him. nerevar is stunned. voryn tells nerevar hes always been in love with him and wants him terribly, if nerevar will have him. its all nerevar has ever wanted and more and he throws caution to the wind. he doesnt care if voryn might just be doing this to kill him. he wants voryn more than anything. he will gladly accept his own murder if it means getting to lay with voryn.

voryn wishes in their first lifetimes he took the plunge. they could have enjoyed this. they wouldnt have been happy as they both had too many issues they hadnt worked through, but they could have had moments of joy and passion like this. instead they denied themselves out of fear

[mightbeorphanedidk]

MY OTHER IDEA

I made this one while zoning out at a school assembly and I acc really like it as a concept

so I've been wanting to play around with the criminal and cop duo (either romantic or platonic) and I'VE FINALLY FOUND AN OUTLET

okay so BASICALLY (this is REALLY long holy shit)

There's this cop right. His name is Vox. He works at a police department as a lieutenant, with his two detective friends Velv and Val. His boss is Carmilla, nearly everyone in the precinct is an overlord.

He has this case he's been working on for YEARS: There's a murderer in town, and this murderer always has killed clean and concise, akin to if a surgeon had cut someone's neck open. BUT the trademark with this killer is they always wedge an apple between the victim's teeth with a card or something that says "Courtesy of the Morningstar"

The interesting thing about this case is not the killings, but the murderer themself. You see, Vox has already figured out who it is; It's a contracted killer, potentially born into the business. His alias is the Radio Demon (or something related to audio) because he's infamously known for not having a face, so to speak. He only ever talks, and you only ever hear his voice, but never his face. Occasionally he'll pop out for you to see him, but he has a deer skull covering his maw. Vox doesn't know his real name, only the alias.

When he DOES pop out, it's only when he's SURE he can't get caught. Yeah he fucking.. like.. scooby-doo mystery inc traps Vox in different bounds and cages before coming out to make fun of him. But before Vox can ever figure anything important out, Alastor is running off

That's your exposition, right. The story actually begins at the end of one of the two's escapades, where Vox is currently tied up and Alastor is standing in front of him. The two are in some old suburban home and a corpse is behind Alastor as he taunts Vox. He says that Vox will simply NEVER be able to catch him, and Vox is like "oh yeah? ILL BEAT YOU WITH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP"

Backup arrives and Alastor's surrounded. He panics and begins looking around while wondering what to do, but Vox strangely notices that he doesn't look worried about getting CAUGHT, instead, he keeps murmuring about how he's gonna get into so much trouble, how he needs to destroy the evidence. AND THEN HE TRIES TO FUCKIN KILL HIMSELF

Luckily he's stopped before that can happen and he's taken into custody.

When Alastor wakes up he's in an interrogation room and Vox is sitting in front of him. He immediately realises that his mask is gone and he buries his face into his arms. Vox is like "dude you can stop tryna hide your face. I know you were born into the 'Morningstar' business illegally, you're not on any records or anything" And Alastor is like "It's not my identity I'm worried about you discovering"

Cue an interrogation scene where Vox tries to get information about the morningstar out of Alastor, but Alastor is NOT budging at all. He keeps rejecting the question, or giving some bullshit answer that doesn't help. Eventually Vox gets irritated and begins asking about what Alastor meant when he said he was going to get into trouble, and needing to destroy the evidence

Alastor feels a lil lightbulb inside his head go off; "Oh yeah, getting rid of the evidence!!"

So Alastor ends up in the police medical care place with bandages around his face. He's passed out and Vox is wondering what to do with him, before Velv is like "well if he isnt gonna tell you why dont you let him go and follow him"

"Velvette that is the stupidest fucking idea hold on that's pretty smart holy" But then what if Alastor finds whatever tracker they put on him? Well then tell Alastor that the police will lighten his sentence and get him help if he helps out, cus it's obvious he's sorta mentally disturbed

The two agree that this plan can't possibly go wrong, and now they only hve to wait for him to wake up.

When Alastor wakes up Vox IMMEDIATELY confronts him. Alastor hides his face underneath the covers like some teen caught reading a porno mag and DEMANDS for some sort of coverage. Vox hands him a face mask and Alastor takes it, allowing his eyes to be revealed. Alastor asks why he hasn't just killed him already, to which Vox is like "??? cus thats??? fucked up??? Okay listen bud from what i can tell you were probably born into the morningstar business but I have a proposition for you"

tells him the proposition

Alastor's like "are you fucking insane im not doing that idgaf about MY health"

oh that's interesting? "so whose do you care about??"

Alastor realises he's said too much and immediately goes quiet. Vox then is like "okay how about this question then; What's your name?" And Alastor's like "The Morningstar calls me <Alias>" "What do YOU call yourself?" "...Alastor."

*alastor somehow being convinced to help out*

"Okay listen I'll help you. BUT. You have to guarantee ONE thing"

"what"

"I have someone very important to me in the clutches of the family. it's been like that since I was born. You need to guarantee that they'll be unharmed and completely safe should I get caught. "

Vox is like dude it's okay we'll make sure YOU'RE safe too before Alastor explains that his being is too deeply rooted into the Morningstar-- If they go down, he goes down with them, but there is still hope for this one person to lead a NORMAL life. Vox agrees, and the two shake on it.

The rest of the story is just Vox and Alastor infiltrating and discovering who the "morningstar" is.

There'll be scenes of Alastor and Vox arguing and bickering, there'll be scenes of Alastor being tormented, breakdowns, etc etc

[caramelmochacrow]

ok im gonna be a hater really quick bc someone in the comments (sorry if that was anyone in particular--) of the munirei relations event saying something i kind of dont like.

they said that the munirei relations is like the stormy link story.

but the munirei relations isnt like the stormy link story, in fact, both events are barely alike. the only thing they have in common is the fact that the girls fight over something.

(cutting it to spare yourselves from my ramblings. i am very passionate about stormy link.)

here's a basic outline of the plots of both events:

munirei relations: rei realizes that she hasn't ever argued with any of her friends and feels left out so she tries to start one with muni because she's good at fighting with people. during the entire event, they try different things that could potentially cause an argument between each other but none of them work. after giving because both of them believe that fighting over something is a bit dumb they accidentally argue over natto being put on curry. even if the argument is small, the both of them grew a little closer a bit because of the argument because they learned a new thing about the other (muni liking natto curry and rei being able to slightly show more of her emotions)

stormy link: yuka and esora argue over how the performance will go, cute or powerful, causing a rift between the both of them that kyoko and shinobu need to fix. during the event, shinobu and kyoko try their best to help the girls fix their friendship and they managed to successfully do it after (iirc) using esoran as a way to bring them together and telling each other to apologize to by finding a middle ground. it's heavily implied at the end of the story that yuka and esora were faking it the entire time so that kyoko and shinobu could feel what it was like being them whenever they argued. (i could be incorrect with how kyoko and shinobu got them to reconcile because it's been a year since i read it)

looking at each event deeper, it's both so so different.

stormy link is esora and yuka telling kyoko and shinobu that this was what it was like to be them, they dont mind helping them out clear their issues, but sometimes they should just do it themselves. they literally chose the thing theyre arguing about to involve how their performance goes similar to how kyoko and shinobu fight over what kind of songs they should go for each performance.

munirei relations is muni trying to help rei argue with her so they can grow closer, but because of them trying to force an argument to happen it doesnt feel genuine. when they find something to actually argue about that was what brought them a little closer and in turn let rei have what she wanted.

but i dont know. im very attached to stormy link because it's the closest thing i'll get to having a yuka and esora relations event atm.

[littleblondesoprano]

I feel like you may be a good person to ask.

this is the situation: your partner tells you when they realize they are getting feeling for there best friend and tells the best friend about their feelings for them at the same time. then asks you both for a poly relationship with both of you and you both say that isnt what you want. then you as there partner to try and make thibgs work and heal because you love them so much, and their best friend tries and stay platonic friends dispite there feelings for your bf to stay in your bf life. and at first you are happy for your bf cause you didnt want them to lose someone they care about but now you are insecure about thier friendship with there best friend knowing they both have feelings for eachother. and you feel like you are healing and grievibg the relationahip you had before and havibg trouble believibg them and you dont want to tell them because you dont want them to leave. Any advice?

Thank you for trusting me enough to ask, first of all! I will answer this with the huge caveat that I am a person on the internet, and to always follow your own intuition/gut feeling on what to do! Especially if it differs from what I suggest.

So, okay, that's wonderful that your partner told you about their feelings for their friend, that's a powerful line of communication that we want to keep open.

But, let's look a little deeper. Have there been any tangible times in your relationship where they have rebutted your feelings, or been frustrated with you sharing how you felt? Not just annoyed, or caught off guard, but frustrated? Have there been documented times where they have tried to cheat on you with someone else? Are you feeling loved, heard, and cared for in this relationship in general? Not just loving them - is the love truly reciprocated back to you?

Now, we're gonna take all of those answers, and apply them. What I'm trying to do here, is to have you reflect on why you're having trouble believing your partner. If they haven't done anything, if you feel great beyond this blip, if this is the first time you've felt insecure and anxious - or the first time tangibly - we can be (fairly) certain your anxiety and insecurity are partnering up to cook up some fears.

Now, even if there has been proof positive of them not caring, not listening, or (I hope not) cheating, the odds of the worst case scenario are low. However, the balm to the wound is the same for both: communication.

To help assuage fears and suspicions, a very frank, very open and sensitive conversation is needed, I believe. If you need to, write down a list of what you want to address and take it with you - all your fears and worries - take them too! But just remember: your partner is probably going to be just as nervous as you, be sensitive, and do not accuse them of anything if there is no proof of it. (Also! Have this conversation when you both have the emotional time and space for it!)

I know you mentioned that you and the best friend (?) also don't want to enter into a polyamorous relationship and that's totally valid! I am not the most learned of people on polyamory - far from it - but I've seen it done before where, in this case, your partner is poly, but you and the best friend are not, and you just kinda...share? I'll look for the name of it, because there is a name for it, where you are not in a relationship with the best friend at all. But if this is totally off the table for you, don't worry about anything I've said in this paragraph! :D

But overall, I think this is a situation that needs to be handled gently, and with some reflection before any action should be taken. And when you're ready, I think having that sensitive, honest, and open conversation of feelings, and next steps is needed - or even a series of smaller conversations! Or an ever-growing dialogue about it! Whichever works for y'all.

Remember to give yourself space, as well as them, for their own feelings and thoughts on the matter. Take as much time as you need, both to process your own emotions and what is said; but remember that this is you and your partner together trying to figure out the problem and solve it, not you vs them vs their friend. Y'all are a team, and you got this! :D