#The kid is cute. the cat is cute - though felt like an odd side plot

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places

contemporary romance with a light paranormal mystery

follows a woman with ESP who gets onto a reality tv show where she has to stay in a mysterious house and document her stay - and every previous occupant has only lasted three days - and she’s determined to figure out what’s going on and get her abilities taken seriously

she’s quickly drawn to a man working on the show, and they begin a relationship - and she gets caught between him (and his cute 10yo daughter) and the house and her career goals

Black ace MC

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Sadly, I agree. I went into this looking for a different take on Origins and that's about it. Instead, I got the highlight reel for an AU without any of the meat that would make it its own thing.

The movie essentially relies on you knowing the show. It doesn't introduce the characters or the relationships or even the lore like you would in a normal movie. It just assumes that you already know all of that stuff. Take away the show and the movie falls apart, but the movie's different enough that you can't rely on the show. It needed to stand on its own two feet and develop this new world. Instead, it wasted time on largely mediocre songs that rarely felt needed.

This is a common issue with musicals that try to tell a complex story. They might have killer songs (ex: Greatest Showman), but when you actually look at the plot, it's nonsense. The best musicals are simple (ex: anything with fairy-tales) because the songs kill your run time.

There are several cute moments, but on the whole, I was not a fan. This would have been greatly improved by cutting most or all of the songs OR by having it be an origin story and saving this movie's ending for the sequel.

Highlights:

Elements of the Ladynoir banter

The Ladynoir song

Plagg & Tikki picking their Chosen

The idea of the ending, even if it wasn't earned here

Chloè being a more normal mean-girl bully without the insane power that she's granted in the show

Chat Noir's solo love song/singing voice

Gabriel being a good parent before the loss of Emilie. That's a personal headcanon that I always have and always will cling to as it makes his character far more interesting.

The power of love actually doing something positive for the good guys

The Ladybug and the Black Cat being treated as pair in terms of powers, even if the execution of that idea was odd

Lowlights:

No miraculous cure until the very end? We saw a lot of damage in those first two fights!

Whatever the heck they did with Plagg, especially when it came to his relationship with Adrien. Who approved the fart jokes? I know those are common in kids media, but they've never been a thing in Miraculous.

Adrienette being wildly underdeveloped

Tom following Marinette around/being a little too pushy, though I did like some of the dorky dad moments.

Chat Noir/Adrien being a bit of a jerk and never getting to show the kindness that defines him when he's being written well. Even the supposed Adrienette crush scene in the library is just basic human decency instead of him actually being kind.

Marinette's clumsiness. This is such a cliched way of giving a heroine a "flaw" without actually giving her a flaw, but at least the show uses it for humor and little else. The movie took it too far, making it feel like she needs medical intervention or something. She's not just mildly clumsy, she can't even walk to school!

Marinette's lack of friends. This is kind of a thing in origins, but it's one of the flaws in that episode, imo. It's common for heroines to have no friends at the start of a magical girl series, but that's because most magical girl series have a "let's make friend/learn about friendship" element. Miraculous doesn't, so there's no reason to give Marinette this issue. This is exacerbated by Adrien's setup, which screams "has no friends and needs to learn about friendship". Why Marinette was also given this issue is beyond me. The no friend thing makes even less sense in the movie because the movie focuses on friendship even less than the show does! You could cut Alya and Nino and lose nothing.

A severe lack of identity shenanigans. This is Ladynoir's movie, not a love square movie. I do love Ladynoir, but a big part of the fun is the identity-related hi-jinks that you get from the other three sides. You could cut the square concept entirely and have this movie play the exact same way.

The butterfly is just the evil miraculous now, which disappoints me as someone who has put a lot of time into lore fixing.

Meh-Lights:

Adrien not being isolated. I really like this setup for him, but the show never explained it, so it's a bit of a mixed bag that leaves you scratching your head and wondering if you're supposed to view the Agreste's as terrible parents. Getting rid of this does remove that issue, but it also massively changes Adrien's character. He's no longer trapped in his home and new to the world. He's just... some guy. Chat Noir is no longer a way for him to be free. Like, is he even a model in this? I don't remember it ever being mentioned.

The Emilie teaser at the end, which was just confusing and made the ending make no sense. Does Gabriel not know about this? Is Nathalie the one who hid Emilie away? I don't think so, but that is kind of how it comes across.

No akuma multiplication when you don't purify them. I've never liked that concept as it makes no sense lore-wise, but getting rid of it and still doing the purification was odd. Especially since there are no longer akumatized objects, which begs the question of how akuma are truly defeated.

Chat Noir uses cataclysm all of once and Ladybug never uses lucky charm. That not a major disappointment, it was just weird. Same goes for the yo-yo letting her fly.

Marinette's fashion design getting more love was fun, but ate screen time that should have gone to other things since she doesn't actually design anything in the movie.

Changing how Gabriel gets the miraculous. The show never explains how Gabriel knew about the miraculous in the first place, so having it be something that he seeks out after Emilie is gone makes so much more sense than random treasure hunting because they're too rich to consider adoption or surrogacy. Only magical slave children will do. At the same time, this changes everything about Fu and the Guardians, which was a weak point of the show in many ways, but it's still a core element of the narrative. Changing it without explaining the new lore leave me with a lot of questions, but so does the show, so meh.

In summary, I enjoyed a lot of the moments in this movie, but on the whole it's a dud. It tried to do and change far too much given its runtime and status as a musical. I'll probably re-listen to some of the songs, but it wasn't the fun alternative to canon that I was hoping that it would be.

Last night I sat down with my 15 year old niece (also a ML fan) and finally watched the movie.

Friends, it's not good.

The Good:

The animation is really pretty

The background djwifi is cute

The akumatized villains are really cool

"Watermelon!" 😂

The Bad:

I hated Adrien. We don't see any of his series kindness and he's kind of a jerk actually??? And I really didn't appreciate his pity party after Ladybug's rejection or his making everything about that when PARIS IS LITERALLY ON FIRE. Also he was pretty callous in the way he rejected Marinette.

I could see the ladynoir angle at least but it wasn't clear at all why Marinette even liked Adrien. I didn't ship the square in this at all though.

The singing. I don't understand why they made it a musical, but it wasn't a good choice. And using different VAs for singing can work but for Marinette it was jarring. We go from soft English speaking voice to deep French-accented singing voice and just no.

The whole plot line just felt really underdeveloped??? Like what even happened with Gabriel after his reveal at the end??

The ???:

So we're just making the butterfly the evil miraculous, eh?

Fu was just...weird

I think I need to go rewatch Origins as a palette cleanser.

Have you watched the movie? What did you think?

[alicemitch09writes]

first love

pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou x reader

summary: You never forget your first love.

author’s notes: This is what prompted the many angst fics to come in my repertoire. I’ll just to slowly transfer some of my one-shots that are reader inserts here on tumblr.

twenty one pilot’s cover of ‘can’t help falling in love’ really helped me in the writing of this fic. It’s a favorite of mine I keep going back to when writing fics. Reader is a musician, who plays the ukulele and violin and at the time when I wrote this (back in 2017), I was learning to play the uke, mostly for fun.

also available on ao3.

disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.

Wise men say, only fools rush in

But I can't help, falling in love with you

 They moved to Tokyo when she was 8.

And at a young age, she was pretty much a timid and shy girl, always hiding behind her parents whenever in the presence of new people, especially when she was being introduced. She wasn't very good with socializing, always wary and scared that she'd make a horrible impression.  And of people, in general. People were generally scary, especially those she was unfamiliar with. She found solace in music, due to her father's influence, who was a music instructor at a university. "When words fail, music speaks." He'd tell her as they played 'Heart and Soul' together on the piano, her mother taking a video of them from the side. And a little while later, by some miracle, she made friends with the local kids – Tetsurou and Kenma. The two were an odd pair, given Tetsurou's loud and mischievous demeanor being a total contrast to Kenma's quiet and well-behaved and aloofness. Still, they were the best friends she could ever have.

 Years passed, and the three were inseparable.

Over time, the two proved to be more trouble than they were worth – Tetsurou, with his never-ending schemes and provocation abilities, and Kenma, with his indifference to the world so long as he was playing his games.

Nothing's changed much of her, other than her ability to keep the dynamic duo grounded. Also, she had her flair for music. Still, she was terribly shy. Though she has a voice, she chose to stick to the background, wanting to be out of the limelight.

Tetsurou would scold her, saying that it was a waste because she had a good singing voice. In which, would make her blush. Kenma would say the same thing even without looking up from his game console. But Tetsurou's words resounded, her heart beating like a drum.

    Shall I stay, would it be a sin?

If I can't help, falling in love with you

   It was the clichest thing to happen – she fell in love with her childhood friend.

She fell for Tetsurou.

For all his cockiness, his mischievousness, his peculiar affinity with cats (ironic that they attended Nekoma), and his atrocious bed hair – she loved it all.

Of course, she'd never tell him.

She doesn't have the heart to.

Neither will she tell Kenma, being the perceptive boy he was.

Plus, she'd have to go against a throng of his admirers (who made up of about half of the female population, by the way). There was no way she had a chance. And besides, who was she to him but his ever dependable, timid and adorable best friend?

When he bought her a ukulele on her 16th birthday – he knew she had wanted to try to play it for the longest time, she knew that it was simply out of friendship.

For a while, she became the volleyball team's manager. And for a while, she was able to play it cool with her feelings. This was okay, she thought, its better like this.

"This is my best friend, (Last Name) (Name)." he says, wrapping his arms around her neck as he hugged her from behind, introducing her to two players from Fukurodani.

The shorter of the two – Akaashi Keiji, smiles. "Nice to meet you, (Last name)-san."

"Oh! She's so cute!" says the loud boy – Bokuto Koutarou. "Are you sure she's not your girlfriend?"

Tetsurou laughed, chin digging into her head. "I've known her forever, that'll be weird."

"Kuroo, you're hugging her too tight." Kenma says with a frown.

Best friend.

That's all she'll ever be to him.

    Like a river flows, surely to the sea

Darling, so it goes, this love was meant to be

   It was rare to find Tetsurou at his lowest since he was usually contented with whatever happened. But they lost, unable to secure a spot at nationals.

So when she found him all by himself at the gym, she knew he needed to be cheered up.

Taking her ukulele from her bag, she started playing. Tetsurou looked up just as she started singing. "You with the sad eyes don't be discouraged, oh I realize" she kneeled in front of him, watching him with careful eyes. "It's hard to take courage, in a world full of people; you can lose sight of it all, the darkness inside you, can make you feel so small."

She continued singing to him, feeling her heart beat faster with every line. It was so hard seeing this down, it was so unlike him. He rested his head on his folded arms, eyes closed as she sang. He always loved hearing her sing.

"And I see your true colors shining through," she wished her words reached him. "I see your true colors, and that's why I love you."

For a moment, she choked up. Not intending to say those words out loud, but they were part of the song, and the way she sang it with so much emotion that the look Tetsurou was giving her made her nervous. His golden eyes stared deep into her (eye color) – filled with so much emotion, but she focused on confusion, probably at why she had stopped.

Regaining her composure, she continued. "So don't be afraid to let them show, your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow."

Tetsurou cracked a smile, reaching out to ruffle her hair playfully. "When did you get so cheesy?"

"And when did you become this uncool?" she teased back, slapping his hand away. "Are you feeling better now?"

Sighing, he leaned his back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "A little, but thanks for coming after me."

"It's not the end of the world," she tells him kindly. "and after all, there's next year. Right, captain?"

The look on his face was priceless – clearly not expecting that. But their senpai had already decided, Kai and Morisuke were on it too, as was Coach Nekomata – before it broke into a grin.

His grin was the biggest she's ever seen.

     Take my hand; take my whole life, too

'Cause I can't help, falling in love with you

  Tetsurou got mad at her, saying painful words to her face.

Furiously, he turned to face her. She took a step back in surprise, clutching her ukulele to her chest. Then her instrument slipped from her hand, landing on the ground with a loud crack. The words coming out from his mouth were hard to bear, and she could just stand there taking it all in.

He didn't mean it really, but the stress and frustrations were just getting to him. She knew that.

"You know nothing. I never want to see your face again." He seethed.

When all was said and done, he up and left.

It felt as though the life was sucked out of her. She couldn't feel anything, she felt too numb to move. It only came as a surprise that she was still there when she found herself sitting on the ground, rocks digging into her skin.

Picking up her ukulele from the ground, she was surprised to find that it was still in one piece. Except for the scratches on the surface, and crack on the rim of the saddle boards. Funny, they seemed like an allegory.

Despite it all, the pain in her heart and Tetsurou's harsh treatment towards her, she found herself smiling. Hot tears streamed down her face, teeth digging unto her lower lip as if to keep her sobs in.

But the pain of it all was too much, she was only human.

Hugging her instrument to her chest, she allowed herself to cry, sobbing loudly, body shaking violently as her heart broke into smithereens.

    She heard that they had made it to the semi-finals, being one of the top four schools, which shouldn't be a surprise. Actually, it was secondhand information from Kenma. Right after what happened with Tetsurou, she decided to cut ties with anything associated with him, which was basically everything – the volleyball club, Kenma.

It was something she had to – no, something she wanted to do.

No matter how much it killed her.

           "Hey, let's make a little bet. If I win, you go out on a date with me."

"And if I win?"

"You won't ever see me again."

          Gentle strums silenced out the lull machines, the dripping of liquids. Faint scents of flowers and fruits hid the overly sanitized room, with walls too white and dull.

"But I can't help," her voice was quiet, low, eyes transfixed to her fingers on each string on her ukulele. "falling in love," a lone tear slips down her face, though a smile graced her lips. "with you."

In front of her, the television displayed the live coverage of the nationals - Nekoma won against Fukorodani, and then lost to Karasuno.

She smiled, hugging her ukulele as tears slipped freely.

The memory of the bet they made when they were younger came to mind, making her smile. That was such a long time ago, Tetsurou probably forgot all about that just as he forgot all about her.

"Don't worry, you won."

Now you won't ever see me again.

          He was surprised when they came back to school, she wasn't there. She was the first person he looked for since she was absent during the whole finals match. But she wasn't anywhere to be found – not in the library, the music room, the club room.

He had a promise to keep, and an apology to make up.

So it came as a surprise to him when his classmates' expressions turned grim at the mention of her name. Some had begun to cry, some looked away, nothing was making sense.

But one word was clear to him – cancer.

He turned to his best friend, who met his gaze. For the first time in his life, he saw anger in those usually stoic eyes. He knew then that he knew, he always knew. There was also pain, pain for his best friend's condition. And for (Name)'s sake, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Without a word, he ran, as fast as he can, ignoring the calls from his classmates, teachers, teammates. He had to get to her. He had to apologize; he didn't mean what he said. He wanted to see her, hold her, tell her he was stupid and an idiot-

           But he was already too late.

[oddsnendsfanfics]

It’s the Best Time of The Year

Genre: Fan Fiction (Night Hunter) Pairing: Lt Walter Marshall /Reader Warnings: Pure Fluff! Get your sweet tooth ready! Rating: G Length: Drabble Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.  

A/N: A little fluffy, okay a lot of fluffy, Christmas-ish Walter. 

Henry Cavill Master List

From outside the house, Walter could hear Holly Jolly Christmas blaring throughout, unlocking the door and trudging inside he kicked the snow off his boots before leaving them on the mat beside the front door. Typically, this would lead to him lecturing you about being aware of your surroundings. Anybody could break in and...he stopped seeing you and his daughter attempting to waltz through the kitchen.

Racks of cookies were littering the counter tops, various sized boxes took up what cookies didn't. Squares, pies, and handmade chocolates took up even more space on the table, spilling into the dining room. Someone had been busy. Blissfully unaware of his presence, you and Faye continued to laugh and dance. Aprons and cheeks covered in flour. Faye's dark hair had splatters of red icing here and there.

Foregoing the lecture, Walter gave in – this once. Watching for a few more seconds before clearing his throat to alert you of his presence.

“Walt!” You exclaim letting go of Faye, the two of you giggling like crazy, “You're home early.” You rush to give him a quick peck.

“Harper forced me out.” His laugh is soft and deep. Eyeing you and his daughter, he raises his brow. “Did I interrupt, ladies?”

“Not at all. We were working on dinner, while finishing up some baking.” You answer happily, smiling wide. The music continues to play, at a lower level, thanks to Faye.

“Hey dad.” The teenager hugs her father tightly. Kissing the top of her head, Walter takes a deep breath resting his chin there for a moment. “So, off early. Did Hell freeze over?”

“Language.” Walter mumbles, nudging her. “And no. I am home early, because I have decided to take a few days off. Harper decided I should start early. Come home and enjoy the chaos.”

“Excuse me?” Faye is wide eyed. “Did I hear that right? You, my father, Walter Marshall, are taking a few days off? Dad, are you dying?”

“No,” Chuckling Walter shakes his head. Sliding his arm around you, he pulls you closer. “I had some time to use and decided to spend Christmas home. Is that a big deal?”

Giggling, you wink at Faye indicating that there is more to this story than her father is telling her. Tapping her foot on the tiled floor, Faye wrinkles her nose. She's not buying it. No where in her memory, did she recall her father taking time off.

“Uh huh. Right, okay.” Rolling her eyes she scoffs.

“Why is that so hard to believe?” Walter glances at you.

“Because you never take time off. Ever.” You answer for Faye.

When Walter had told you that he wanted to take Christmas off, it was startling. He rarely took time off and always worked the holidays. Faye would stay with her mother, while Walter practically lived in his office. “Crime doesn't take Christmas off.” He would fuss. In the four years that you had known Walter, two that you were together, he hardly took time off for anything.  Upon further discovery, it seemed nobody could remember the last time the Detective took more than a day off. A whole week off, including Christmas, this really was some sort of Christmas Miracle.

“Which is why I have decided to take the time. Is it a crime that I want Christmas with my family?”

“No.” Faye shrugged. Stirring the sauce in the pot, Faye sighed. She was not buying whatever her father was selling.

“Why don't you run up, get changed, and we will have dinner nearly ready by then.” You gently pat Walter's chest, giving him another quick kiss. “Go, we can marvel at the impossible when you come back down.” Not missing the chance to tease him.

Shaking his head and muttering about what terrible influences you and Faye were on one another, Walter returned the kiss, before turning on his heel and heading to change out of his office attire. Downstairs you and Faye had reverted back to your antics, tossing a piece of lettuce at her you laughed when she smacked you with the salad spoon. Walter would pretend to ignore it, but you knew that he enjoyed the chaos. He especially loved that you and Faye got on so well.

He would tell you every time she came over, how much he loved that she had decided to love you as much as he did. It was pretty hard not to love her back. When you had started dating Walter, you knew he had a daughter, and an ex-wife. Both, who at times, gave him grief. You had quickly worked out that it wasn't in a malicious intent, they simply worried about him. Especially Faye.

“My god that smells fantastic,” Walter commented walking through the house to rejoin his family.

“Faye made it,” You beamed with pride, arms wrapping around Walter's torso. You loved how warm he always was. Even more so since the winter had once again came. Snuggling into his side, you felt him relax while you watched Faye finish dinner.

“And who made all these?” He gestured to the baking.

“It was a joint effort.” Looking over her shoulder from the stove, Faye answered with a smile. “We're taking some down to the station tomorrow.”

“They will love that,” Walter smiled softly.

“Since you're off for vacation, we could use the extra pair of hands.” Faye winked, sticking out her tongue. “Or if we take you to work, will you end up staying, because crime doesn't take Christmas off.” She did her best impression of her father. You couldn't help but snort a little.

“Hush, you.” Walter bumped you with his hip. “I can go to work and not work.”

“Oh really?” Faye challenged. “Why did you all of a sudden decide to take time off, anyway?”

“Well,” Walter cleared his throat, leaning over you to reach for a snowflake shaped cookie, “I wanted to take some time to celebrate.”

“Should we tell her?” You ask watching Faye's expression. Confusion growing.

“Think she can handle it?” Walter teased.

“Yes!” Faye urged, bouncing on her feet. “Yes, tell me!”

The suspense was going to kill her. There were a million things in her mind. Whatever her imagination was telling her, you could only hope this was going to be as good. Faye was a good kid, you had worked hard all afternoon, worrying that you would let the cat out of the bag. Walter would have been fine with you sharing the surprise, but you wanted him to be there, too.

“Okay, but I want you to know that this changes nothing. I am still going to love you and...”

“Oh my GOD!” Shouting and squealing, Faye waved her hands excitedly. “You're pregnant!”

Wide eyed Walter nearly choked on the second cookie he had swiped. Laughing, you can feel his heart racing like a damn cheetah. Her face was priceless, but it was time to break her poor little heart.

“Uh, no.” You pout and shrug. “No brothers or sisters, yet.”

“Okay, so then what...”

“We're getting married.” Walter announced, unceremoniously. His eyes bright and his smile infectious.

“Dad!” Faye exclaimed, her hands wildly waving in excitement. “You were supposed to let me help you. Holy shit, how bad did he screw this up? Where's your ring? He did buy a ring, right? I told him about the...”

“Faye,” Walter's tone was stern.

“He didn't screw it up, at all.” You pat his chest, beaming. “And there is a ring, but it had to be sized. I'll have it back next week, but I have pictures.”

“Oh my god, I NEED to see them!” Shouting happily, Faye forgot about the dinner she was making. “Let me see! I need to see it! Dad! This is amazing!” tears in her eyes she hugged Walter's neck tightly.

Hugging his daughter, tight, Walter felt a wave of relief. He had assumed that Faye would take the news well, but one could never be too sure in these situations. Letting go of his neck, Faye wiped her eyes quick, before attacking you in her next hug.

Excitedly squealing as she loosened her grip, Faye paused. “Who else knows?”

“Us, you. We wanted to tell you first.” Walter spoke, as he took over dinner.

“How long have you...”

“Four days,” You wipe your own tears. “Oh my god, Faye. It was so perfect and so unexpected. Your old man has charm.” You giggle like a teenager. “I was getting ready for work...”

“You asked her while she was getting ready for work? Dad,” Faye rolled her eyes at him.

Walter shrugged it off. Whatever, you'd said “yes” that was good enough for him.

You had been upstairs in your bathroom, getting ready for work, when you'd walked out to Walter in the hall way. Kissing you, he took a step back, revealing the black box in the palm of his hand. No words. No grand gesture. But you knew exactly what he was asking. Tears, blurring your vision you allowed him to open the box and slide the slightly larger than needed ring on your left hand.

“It was so cute, though.” You defend your fiancé – You can't help but mull the word over. It feels so...odd to think of Walter in such terms.

“Dinner,” Walter announced turning off the gas on the stove. Not that it mattered, the two of you were still talking about how he had proposed and the things you loved, verses what Faye would have had him do differently. Whatever. You two would eat when you were good and ready.

“This is so amazing! This is going to be perfect. Can I come dress shopping with you?”

“I would hope my maid of honour wants to come dress shopping.” Catching Walter's eye, you winked.

“Really? I don't know...wow.” Breathing deeply to steady herself, Faye shook with delight. “Really? You want me?”

“Yes, silly!” You exclaim, hugging her again. Oh god it felt so good to tell Faye the news. Your head would have exploded if you'd had to keep this quiet any longer.

Grabbing your hand, Faye linked her fingers with yours, the two of you twirling around laughing and chattering about weddings. Walter was comfortable to lean against the counter watching the two of you dance around like fools. Dinner would keep, he could heat it in the microwave later. Dancing and singing to It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas, you broke away from Faye, dancing over to Walter.

“May I have this dance?” You wink, pulling his arm.

Unfolding his arms, he allowed you to take his hand. Expertly twirling you around, Walter smiled when Faye whistled. Who knew her dad could dance? Moving you back to him, Walter held you against his chest gently swaying to the time of the music. He had spent a few nights this week dancing happily around the kitchen, living room, hell even the bathroom with you. It was silly, but Walter was beginning to enjoy the laid back approach to life.

“Faye,” Walter furrowed his brow, sighing. Pretending to grump as she recorded the two of you.

“What? You two are adorable. Dad, when did you get those moves?”

“I happen to be a fine dancer,” Walter let go of your hand, grasping Faye's free hand and taking her by surprise. Quickly handing off her phone, Faye carefully followed Walter's lead.

Laughing when Walter spun her around, sending her across the room, Faye caught her balance on the edge of the breakfast table. She could never remember her dad having this much fun or laughing this hard. Dancing around, you laugh when Walter quickly dips you pulling you back up and kissing you softly. Faye's mock retching noises going ignored.

“Thank you,” his lips against your, Walter smiles.

“For?”

“For saying yes and agreeing to marry me. For making me take time to enjoy my family.”

“It's nearly Christmas, Walt. A few days off, a party or two, it won't hurt. You work hard, sweetheart. You need to relax.” You lean into his chest, inhaling the scent of amber and sage.

Clearing her throat, Faye stood with a cookie in her hand, nibbling casually. “Uh, I know that you said I wasn't going to have a sibling, but um...could you not make one right now.”

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

[sukifans]

KEEP THE CHANGE // sokka

SUMMARY: this very attractive guy comes in every night during your graveyard shift at the 24-hour diner you work at, always doing something on his laptop. he might be selling organs on the black market, but he tips, like, really well.

WARNINGS: language, mentions of sex, guns/robbery, panic attacks, generally darker themes, all characters are 20+

WC: 5.5k

A/N: anotha one. 5.5k words accidentally. i plan on doing a part 2 and maybe more at some point, but for now i just had to get this idea out

⇦ 𝘔𝘈𝘚𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘓𝘐𝘚𝘛

Things I Know About Him:

1. He’s very attractive.

The bell above the door jingled and you looked up expecting to see an exhausted, slightly smelly middle-aged trucker like usual. When instead it was a cute guy around your age — tall, smooth tan skin, dark brown hair in a ponytail with shaved sides, wearing black joggers and a white t-shirt that showed tribal-style tattoos inked over the toned muscle of his arms — the smile you usually had to paint on for customers was genuine for once.

“Hey, how are ya?” you asked, standing from the table where you’d been rolling the cheap silverware in paper napkins.

“I’m fine, how are you?” he responded politely, shifting the weight of the backpack strap he had slung over one shoulder.

“Better now that there’s a new face in here. Just you tonight?”

“Seems that way.”

“Alright. Grab a seat wherever you’d like and I’ll bring you a menu.” You waved your hand out to gesture at all the open tables in the empty diner.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Just a coffee would be great, thanks,” he said as he made his way to a booth in the corner.

“You got it.” You moved behind the bar top to fill your pot with coffee and brought him over a chipped ceramic mug on a plate. You met his eyes when you set it down in front of him and you were almost struck frozen by how beautiful they were. They were the color of the sky on those perfect cloudless summer days when the sun seems to shine a little hotter; the color of the ocean in those tourist trap vacation agency promotional posters. You shook yourself to quickly recover, though given the opportunity you would’ve gladly stared into his eyes for the rest of your shift.

“Thanks,” he said, flashing you a small smile that revealed a peek of white teeth. The hell was a specimen like that doing in a place like this? He looked he belonged in one of those Calvin Klein ads.

“No problem. Let me know if you need something else.” You turned away when he nodded an acknowledgement as he pulled a laptop from his bag, hoping you didn’t look as flustered as you felt.

2. He takes his coffee weird.

The first time you saw him make his coffee you were horrified. You watched from behind the counter, amused at first, as he poured white sugar from the dispenser into the drink for a nonstop ten seconds. Sure, some people had a strong sweet tooth; that wasn’t too bizarre. You had to cover your mouth to stifle your irrepressible groan of disgust when he started drinking without even stirring to dissolve the crystals.

After some time it stopped being so horrifying and just became funny. You always had to avert your gaze to choke down your laughter when you spotted him crunching down on the undissolved sugar. If he hadn’t been so attractive it would’ve been creepy, but when he did it, it was... almost endearing.

3. He has money.

Every morning as the sun started rise you would turn to look at his table only to find him gone, leaving only neatly stacked dishes and a twenty-dollar bill behind. Even if he only drank coffee (total: $2.43, with tax, free refills), he would leave the bill. The first couple times he came in and did this you scanned the parking lot to look for him but it seemed like he’d vanished into thin air. After a week, you confronted him.

“You know, the coffee is only like two bucks,” you commented as you refilled his mug.

“I know,” he said.

“You’ve left a twenty here every night.”

“I know.”

You furrowed your brow. “We can give change here, y’know.”

“Keep it.”

“That’s a lot. Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He obviously wasn’t a man of many words, so you dropped it. If he had money to burn and decided to burn it on you, you’d take it. “Starving artist” isn’t just a saying, after all, and this shift didn’t exactly rake in the tips.

4. He has something either illegal or important (or both!) on that laptop.

He always sat in the same spot: a booth all the way in the corner with his back facing the wall, computer sitting close to his chest. It looked very suspicious, for someone who was probably trying not to look suspicious. No matter how many times you tried to sneak a glance at the screen while you refilled his cup you couldn’t catch anything. You’d have to practically be on his lap to see something and, well, it wasn’t that kind of establishment and you weren’t that desperately curious.

At least you knew it (probably) wasn’t some sort of freakish porn — he never wore headphones and his hands were always above the table either typing, lifting his mug, or scribbling something in chicken scratch in a worn moleskin notebook. It wouldn’t’ve been the first time someone had tried to use the diner’s free wifi for something like that. You would’ve hated to have to ban him for life.

Things He Might Be Doing:

1. Selling organs on the black market

2. Making a new-age tech startup selling GPS microchips to helicopter parents

3. Running the r/TheRedPill forum

4. Investigating conspiracy theories

5. Starting new conspiracy theories to hide The Truth

6. Solving crimes/murders online à la Don’t Fuck With Cats

7. Anonymous

8. Undercover detective trying to crack the cold case of a family member’s/close friend’s/lover’s suspicious and untimely death that was ruled an accident

9. Government whistleblower putting together a groundbreaking report

10. Robot gaining sentience and plotting uprising

11. Clone seeking revenge on his creator

12. Robot clone gaining sentience AND seeking revenge now that he can Feel

13. Studying/writing/doing a project/anything else realistic and boring

With a sigh, you looked up from your scribble-filled notepad. There he was in all his glory: laptop out, half-drunk coffee to his right, notebook under his elbow to his left, a pen stuck behind each ear and one in his hand that he tapped thoughtfully against his chin. What he didn’t realize was that the cap of the pen was off, leaving dark marks on his skin. The sight made you shake your head with a small smile. You turned to fill your pot with “fresh” (quotes added out of legal obligation) coffee for the trucker that sat at the bar top with a patty melt.

“Ah, fuck,” you heard from the corner booth. When you glanced over you saw him wiping his tongue with a handful of paper napkins, black ink all down his chin and the front of his shirt. The pen must’ve exploded while he was biting on it (a habit of his, you’d noticed). Even the trucker guffawed when he saw the mess. You headed over to his booth after refilling the other man’s coffee.

“I’d offer the Tide pen I keep in my purse, but I don’t think it’d do much for you,” you commented as you replenished his coffee. He glanced up at you with a grimace.

“I appreciate the gesture,” he sighed, huffing when he realized the napkin dispenser was empty. You scooped up the pile of ink-saturated paper.

“I’ll get a few rags.” He nodded in thanks and closed both his laptop and notebook, shoving them out of the way on the seat next to him. You brought out a couple rags soaked in warm water and wiped up the mess on the table while he scrubbed his face. Even after his skin was rubbed raw, there was a tinge of black around his mouth.

“Thanks-” his eyes flicked to the plastic name tag you wore on your chest, “-(Y/N).” He knew your name from how often he’d come in but he wanted to be extra sure.

“Sure thing,” you said, waving your hand. “I see you in here a lot but I’ve never gotten your name.” When he only hummed in agreement and didn’t provide a name you pursed your lips. “So, what is it?”

“What’s what?”

“Your name,” you giggled a little.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s not that important.”

Okay, weird. Maybe he had an odd name and he was embarrassed. “If I guess it will you tell me?”

“Sure.” He visibly seemed to relax a little. So definitely an uncommon name that he didn’t expect you to guess, then.

“Can I at least know what it starts with?”

He hesitated. “An ‘S.’” You smiled.

“Righty-o, Steven. Can I get you anything else while I’m here?” You pulled out your small notepad from your apron pocket and held your pen at the ready.

“Ah, no. I’m alright, thanks.”

“Alright, Shawn. Let me know if you think of something.” The corners of his mouth quirked up into a grin at your little game as you pocketed your notepad and walked away, soiled rags in hand. When you came back out from disposing of the rags, the trucker was gone and it was just the two of you left in the diner. Soft music crackled from the old speakers hung from the ceiling and he was back to typing away. You felt a little panic in your chest — he’d been coming in every night for the past month and a half and that was the most conversation you’d ever had with him. You had your in and you couldn’t let it go to waste now.

He looked up from his screen, eyebrow quirked, when you slid into the seat across from him. “What’s up?”

You shrugged. “Nothing. Just talking to my best customer named... Sam?” He shook his head and you groaned.

“Best customer?”

“Of course. I think you singlehandedly paid my utilities this month, Simon.” You folded and unfolded a paper straw wrapper idly as you spoke.

“Ah, I see,” he nodded. “Is that all it takes to get in your good graces?”

“Pretty much.”

“Sounds like you need a sugar daddy.”

“Are you offering?” You gave him a teasing grin that made his cheeks color pink.

“I, uh-“ he stammered and you laughed.

“Seth, I’m kidding.” You rolled the straw wrapper up into a little ball and flicked it at him around the laptop screen. It bounced off his chest and he chuckled nervously.

“Right, of course.”

“So, what do you do all night on that computer, anyways?” Self-consciously, he lowered the screen and you rested your cheek on your palm, propping your elbow on the table.

“Just some work,” he answered evasively. Right, illegal or important or both — the age old question with this guy.

“At night?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Well, you work at night.”

“Because I have a day job, too. And I like nighttime.”

“Me too.”

“Which one?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

You sat back in your seat, a little embarrassed at getting carried away and prying. “Sorry, I’m just curious. I don’t have a lot of regulars on this shift and I just think you’re... interesting.”

“Interesting? How so?” He smirked in a teasing, knowing way that made your heart flutter and your face burn.

“A cute guy that comes in at the same time, every time, to do work in the middle of the night and always leaves a massive tip is pretty interesting, at least by my standards.”

He faltered. “You think I’m cute?”

“You’re alright for a nocturnal weirdo, Sebastian.” You winked and stood up, smoothing down your uniform. “I should probably get back to work. If Mack sees me sitting down with someone he’ll watch back the security footage and clock me out for however long I was here.” You jutted your thumb out behind you to indicate the cook and manager of the diner who you could both hear clanging around in the kitchen.

“Sounds like a hardass,” he said as he pulled his screen back open.

“Yeah, well...” You shrugged again. “It is what it is, y’know? Anyways, just shout if you need anything. It was nice talking to you, Shane.”

When he left at sunrise as usual, there was an extra five dollar bill on his table along with the usual twenty. You grinned when you picked it up and saw that on it he’d written down a phone number and simply signed it from “S.”

5. His name starts with S.

“What are you so happy about?” Zuko asked when he saw Sokka’s grin as he came through the door.

“What? Nothing,” he said, purposefully setting his mouth into a neutral mask. Zuko rolled his eyes and sipped his tea, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“What did you do, Sokka?”

“Nothing! What, a guy can’t just be in a good mood?”

“No,” he deadpanned. Sokka scoffed.

“Right, I forgot I was talking to the guy who hasn’t had a good mood in like ten years.”

“Thirteen, actually.” Sokka shot him a look but Zuko’s face was serious. “Just tell me what you did. You’re usually tired and grouchy when you get back in the mornings, not smiling to yourself.”

“Christ, fine,” he huffed, yanking open the fridge to get a water bottle. “I gave a girl my number. The one at the diner.”

Zuko set his tea down and crossed his arms over his chest. “You did what?”

“Look-“

“Are you fucking stupid? With what we do, you’re just out and about giving your number to random women?”

“I’m sorry, we? You just got here, Prince Pouty. I can do what I want.”

“You’re putting everyone at risk, and for what? To get your dick wet?”

“I gave her a burner number for an app on my phone and she doesn’t even know my name. No one’s at risk.”

“You’re being selfish. This is bigger than you.”

“I’m allowed to have a life outside of this bullshit, whether you like it or not.”

“If it’s such bullshit then why do you still do it? No one’s forcing you to stay up all night digging for information and hacking people.”

“I can’t exactly do anything else now, can I? What am I supposed to tell employers I’ve been doing for the last few years, sitting with my thumb up my ass?”

“That is basically what you do, isn’t it?”

Sokka slammed his hands down on the counter angrily. “You can go fuck yourself, Zuko. You have Mai-“

“Mai is for appearances only.”

“-and Aang and Katara are together, and ever since Suki...” Sokka trailed off and then shook his head. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Just for your shitty attitude, I’m gonna take her out on a mind blowing date, and bring her back here, and fuck her on your stupid little trundle bed.” Zuko opened his mouth to respond but Sokka cut him off. “Don’t bother. I’m going home and going to bed. Tell Aang and Katara I stopped by,” he grumbled, slamming the door behind him as he left. He felt a little bad about probably waking up his sister and her boyfriend, but Zuko had been grating on his nerves since he got himself tangled up in their business and his misplaced self-righteousness about a little flirting was the last straw. The prick didn’t need to overcompensate for being Ozai’s son by meddling in his love life. He could do without that, thanks.

Sokka was still grumbling to himself as he jiggled the key in the door to his small and slightly dingy studio apartment a few blocks down from Aang and Katara’s. Once he was in, he kicked off his shoes and bag by the door, stripped down to his briefs, and flopped into bed to immediately pass out despite the slats of sunlight filtering in through his ratty blinds. As he fell asleep he couldn’t help but think of you; you and your playful banter and your pretty smile (the real one that made your eyes crinkle, not the fake one you gave to creepy travelers passing through) and your many questions that he had to carefully evade. One day maybe he’d be able to explain himself, even if it would take a while to get to that point. That is, if you gave him a chance in the first place. He couldn’t exactly blame you for turning down someone whose name you didn’t even know.

He just really hoped you wouldn’t.

The next night at the diner was as achingly slow as any other Tuesday. So far only “S” had come in and still he just sat in the corner, drinking his coffee and doing whatever he does. You had texted with him briefly once your shift ended in the morning, but you had to sleep and then get to your other job before your shift at the diner so there wasn’t much time for flirty messages. Instead, you sat at a table nearby to roll silverware, offering small smiles whenever he glanced up and met your eyes. The warmth in your cheeks whenever he smiled back was becoming achingly familiar. You vaguely wondered if your face might as well just get stuck like that.

Finally, someone new came in a few hours after midnight. He wore a ball cap and a large black jacket, hands stuffed in the pockets. You gave your usual spiel in your syrupy-sweet customer voice as you rose from the table to slide behind the counter and prep a cup of coffee for him. As you talked, you noticed he kept glancing around shiftily and had yet to remove his right hand from his jacket. There was something about him that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Sokka had been half-listening to the one-sided exchange when a sharp intake of breath and the sound of shattering glass made his eyes snap to you. You stood frozen behind the counter, hands raised to your shoulders, staring at the men who held a handgun level with your chest. His stomach dropped as he took in the scene, blood running cold when your terrified gaze drifted to him and then shot back to the gun trained on you.

“Sweetheart, I’m gonna need you to empty the cash drawer for me, if you don’t mind,” he said in an eerily cool, level voice that made your skin crawl. “Don’t try anything, I just want to get the money and get out. I‘d hate to have to hurt you.” You nodded, trying not to let your hands shake, as you shifted over to the register. Out of the corner of your eye you could see “S” subtly reaching for his phone, hopefully to call the police. This also caught the man’s attention and he trained the gun on him now. “Don’t think I don’t see you, pretty boy. Give me your phone.”

“Alright, man. Take it easy,” “S” said as he stood slowly with his hands up, holding his phone in one. He carefully made his way over.

“Here,” you said to distract the man. He looked over at the paper bag you held that looked like it only had a couple hundred dollars in it at most.

“That’s it?” the man barked. “I know you have a safe somewhere, you bitch. Open it and give me the fucking money.”

You stared, wide-eyed, and willed the tears welling up in your eyes to go away. “I- I don’t have a key-“

“Fucking figure it out!” he shouted, making you jump. Sokka felt white-hot anger bubbling in his chest when he saw a tear slide down your cheek as the man unlocked the safety on the gun. Without pausing to think, he leapt the last few feet between himself and the guy to knock the gun away. You screamed and ducked down when a shot fired off, but the man missed widely when his arm was hit and instead blew out one of the panes of glass at the front of the diner. Sokka kicked the gun across the floor and grabbed the man by the collar of his jacket before slamming him against the bar top. While he was winded he yanked his hands behind his back and shoved him to the floor on his stomach, shoving a knee into his kidneys.

“(Y/N), call the police,” Sokka said, trying to keep his voice calm. You peeked over the edge of the counter and then jumped up when you saw the state of the two men.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll, um- I’ll do that.” You fumbled with your phone, struggling thanks to how badly your hands shook. You screamed again when Mack burst out from the kitchen wielding a sawed-off shotgun. “Jesus fucking Christ, Mack! Took you fucking long enough to get out here, didn’t it? Poor Stanley had to take care of it!” You gestured angrily to the situation in front of you and Mack rolled his eyes with a huff.

“I was calling the cops, kid. Relax, you’re fine,” he said and you balled your hands up into fists.

“Relax?! I swear to God-“

“(Y/N),” “S” interrupted gently and you whirled around to face him. “It’s under control now. You’re okay.”

“You could’ve gotten hurt or worse and I-“

“But I didn’t. See?” He gestured to himself as Mack secured the man’s hands together with some zip ties from the back office and then to one of the barstools that was bolted to the floor. You didn’t respond to that and instead furiously wiped away the few tears that had tracked down your face.

“After you give the cops your statement, go home for a few days,” Mack said, sitting heavily in a chair that faced the man and holding the shotgun in his lap. You opened your mouth to protest but he silenced you with a hard look. “You’re shaken up, kid; can’t have you working like this. Besides, it’ll take a couple days to get insurance to replace that glass.”

You relented with a sigh and dropped yourself into a booth seat, folding your legs against your torso and resting your forehead on your knees to hide your face. You squeezed your eyes shut and sucked in a few deep, steadying breaths to hopefully push out the panic that still pierced your chest. You tilted your head up when you heard someone sit down across the table from you to see “S” giving you a concerned look. Self-consciously you wrapped your arms around your shins and pulled yourself into a tighter ball.

“Hey,” he said softly, “I know you’re okay, but are you, like... okay?”

You put your head down again and shrugged. “I guess.” You knew it was obvious to him that you weren’t, but you were thankful he didn’t push. Both of you were quiet for a few minutes and you could faintly hear sirens in the distance. All you wanted was to give your statement and go home.

“My name’s Sokka,” he said, finally breaking the silence. He drummed his fingers against the table nervously. You looked up at him again and gave him a small, watery smile.

“That’s a nice name,” you whispered with a sniffle.

Once you gave your statement and the police had taken the guy away in cuffs, you left the diner and were surprised to see Sokka sitting on the curb in front of the doors. He looked around at you when the door opened and he stood.

“You didn’t have to wait,” you said as he dusted off his pants.

“I know. I wanted to,” he said and looked you up and down. “You sure you’re alright? I can sit with you for a bit.”

You shook your head. “No, that’s okay. Thanks, though.” You both looked up at the sky in silence. The horizon was starting to fade from the inky black into a rich purple, stars still glinting above your heads. Dawn would be coming soon. Without a word, you walked side-by-side to your cars that were parked next to each other. When you popped your door open he looked like he wanted to say something, but instead he just gave you a closed-mouth smile and a small wave. You gave him an affirming head nod and slid into the driver’s seat. He waited until you drove away, car disappearing around a corner, before getting into his own.

As you walked up the stairs to your apartment, keys clutched in your hand, your heart was pounding again. Your eyes started to sting and you quickened your pace until you were practically sprinting to your door. After fumbling with the lock for a second you threw yourself inside and slammed the door shut, breath now coming in hard gasps. You slid your back down until you collapsed onto the ground. You curled yourself into a ball again, pressing the heels of your palms harshly against your closed eyes and feeling the tears spilling from them. You were not okay, you were not alright, you were not fine. Not at all.

You could barely see your screen through your tears, but you made the call anyways. It made you feel silly and weak but, God, you were so fucking scared. You just needed someone’s voice to ground you back in reality and he was the first person you thought of.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Sokka.” You winced at the way your voice cracked; how it wavered.

Obviously, he noticed. “What’s wrong? Did you make it home okay?” Guilt and regret panged in your chest when you heard how worried he was. You shouldn’t’ve called, you were being stupid.

“Yeah. I-I don’t know why I’m s-so upset but I’m really f-freaked out. It’s st-stupid, I’m sorry for b-bothering you,” you whimpered to the relative stranger on the other end of the line. You screwed your eyes shut and pressed a hand to your chest; you felt like you had been sprinting and you couldn’t catch your breath.

“You’re not bothering me, (Y/N), and it’s not stupid. What happened tonight was fucked up and you’re having a perfectly normal reaction. Just take some deep breaths, okay? You sound like you’re having a panic attack.”

Doing as he said, you tried to even out your breathing to bring your heart rate out of the stratosphere. “Okay, okay. I, um- Sokka?”

“Yeah?”

“Um, this might s-sound weird, but... do you think you could, um, come over? I‘ll make you breakfast.”

“Oh, uh-“ he hesitated and despite yourself you started to panic again.

“You d-don’t have to. I-I know you’re probably t-tired. I shouldn’t’ve asked, I just don’t want to b-be alone right now.”

“Hey, hey, stop that. It’s okay, (Y/N). I just don’t want to make you, like, uncomfortable or anything. Strange guy in your apartment, and all,” he chuckled nervously. “Not that I’m... strange, or anything.”

You giggled through your tears. “Oh, you’re strange, alright; but I like that about you. Besides, I know your first name now. We’re practically best friends.”

“You know what? You’re absolutely right.” He laughed a little and the sound made you feel a bit better. “Just text me your address and I’ll be there in a few minutes, okay?” The tenderness in his voice made your damp cheeks warm.

“Okay,” you sniffled. “Sokka?”

“Mhm?” You could hear him rustling around at the other end of the line along with the faint jingling of keys.

“Can you stay on the phone with me?” you asked sheepishly.

“Whatever you need, princess.” The pet name slipped so easily from his lips that he didn’t even notice. You, however, felt your face burn hotter and a twist in your belly. From anyone else’s mouth you would’ve thought you were being made fun of, but he said it so earnestly that you just felt warm and tingly, like you were talking with a grade school crush.

“What?”

“Hm?” he hummed distractedly and you cleared your throat.

“You called me princess.”

“Oh, sorry.” You hoped he was blushing as badly as you were. It sounded like he was, if one can sound like they’re blushing. “It’s just... something I call people sometimes. Habit.”

“It’s okay,” you said. “It’s nice. I like it.”

“Interesting,” he responded. You could hear the suggestive lilt to his voice and it made the corner of your mouth turn up a bit.

You used to think that Sokka was a quiet man. Now, you knew you were wrong and he had always been too heavily focused on his work those many nights at the diner to properly flaunt what a motor mouth he was. He had no trouble sitting on the phone with you while he made his way over to your building, chatting away about... something — many somethings, for that matter. The details weren’t important; all either of you cared about was his almost prodigious ability to keep your mind distracted with idle talk. Despite your state he even made you laugh a few times. You were feeling better by the time he softly knocked on your door, although your legs still felt wobbly and weak when you stood to let him in.

When he saw your puffy, bloodshot eyes and the tear tracks that shone on your cheeks he felt an odd squeezing in his chest that left him a little winded. You had changed into a large faded t-shirt and leggings, your hair loose and falling delicately around your tired face, which had been scrubbed clean of makeup. He realized this was the first time he had ever seen you outside of the context of your work. Even though you surely felt like shit, in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but think you still looked adorable. He felt a strong urge to wrap you up in a tight hug, but held off. This was still new territory for you both and he had no idea how you would react to physical affection from someone so new in your life.

You greeted him with a tiny smile and closed the door behind him. He suddenly became acutely aware of how sweaty his palms were now that he was alone with you in your apartment.

“Do you want any coffee or tea or something? Water?” you asked. “I- I started making waffles, if you want one. Or do you want something else to eat? I have-“

“(Y/N), please,” he chuckled. “You clocked out. You don’t have to serve me.”

“I know,” you sighed, twisting a strand of hair around your fingertips. “You came all the way over here, though.”

“It was less than a ten minute drive.”

“Still.” You stared at him expectantly and he rolled his eyes as he sat on your couch.

“Just make me one of whatever you’re drinking. I’m not picky.” You nodded and turned into the kitchen to prepare a second cup of lavender chamomile tea with honey. He accepted it graciously when you handed him the mug with some tourist location stamped on it. He took a sip and was surprised when he actually liked it – he had never much been one for tea. You sat down in the armchair adjacent to the couch and set your mug on the coffee table.

“Thanks, Sokka,” you murmured. He waved his hand dismissively.

“Seriously, (Y/N), it wasn’t any trouble. I’d rather be here and know that you’re okay than sit in bed and worry.”

“Not that. Well, yes; thank you for coming over, but... I was talking about at the diner.”

“What about it?”

You could feel tears pricking at your eyes again and you swallowed thickly. “You saved me. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”

“I’m sure you would’ve handled it.” His eyebrows shot up when you shook your head aggressively.

“He might’ve shot me before Mack came out if you hadn’t knocked his gun away. And you didn’t even have anything to defend yourself with!”

“I was okay, princess; I’ve trained in fighting in stuff. I had to do something. I couldn’t live with myself if he’d hurt you and I hadn’t at least tried to help.” At this admission, your tears fell freely again and you choked out a sob. Sokka looked panicked and he leaned forwards, fluttering his hands uselessly. “Oh, fuck. Are you okay? Did I say something?”

You shook your head. “No, no. You’re just really sweet and I’m really emotional. And tired.”

“Do you want a hug?” he offered hesitantly. You looked over at him and saw his cheeks had gone pink. With a nod, you stood from your chair and curled up with him on the couch, letting his strong arms wrap around you while you cried into his shoulder. He squeezed you tightly against his chest and said nothing. He just closed his eyes and rested his cheek on top of your head, trying to ignore his own tears that threatened to spill when he felt the way your whole body shook like a leaf.

Even once your sobs subsided to sniffles you made no move to get up. Your very bones felt heavy with exhaustion and the way Sokka held you was warm and comforting. You both eventually fell asleep like that, embracing on your couch, your mugs of tea and the bowl of half-prepared waffle batter on the kitchen counter forgotten for now.

[hercleverboy]

A ramble about Spencer and Maeve

A/N : another ramble that no one asked for! i just a lot of thoughts that i have to get out somehow so enjoy this mess :)

- Lets kick this off with my first point:

- Spencer was in love with the fantasy of a future with maeve that he’d created

- he was in love with the “what if’s”

- but nonetheless he did love her. she was probably what reid would call his one true love.

- but they weren’t the best, by any means

- i prefer to think he ended up with max, despite her lack of appearance in the finale (but that’s a whole other rant)

- I think maeve and Spencer were a good match.

- they were on the same level intellectually, and it was nice as an audience to watch how smiley and flustered he got when he spoke to her, as we’ve never really seen much of that before.

- though there are a lot of holes in the plot

- I mean her boyfriend worked in the fbi, and she didn’t think he could fix her stalker problem?

- I can understand she didn’t want him to get hurt but come on

- he’s faced worse in the field before than psycho stalkers

- and with the teams help?

- in Zugzwang, they figured out who her stalker was within hours

- it seems silly that he didn’t even attempt to figure it out without her knowing.

- he could’ve easily done so, and then dealt with the consequences when he told her “hey, I know you told me not to but I figured out who you’re stalker is, you’re safe now”

- although I do wonder if Spencer very deliberately didn’t look into it.

- maeve became a secret. someone that was his that no one else had to know about. hell, he only told the team he had a girlfriend because she was missing.

- I wonder if he liked the idea of keeping her hidden, perhaps it granted him a sense of control he hadn’t felt before?

- maeve herself wasn’t an awful character.

- I will admit, she was bland. honestly I couldn’t tell you anything about her apart from the fact she was a geneticist.

- and she almost seemed a bit too perfect for Spencer

- a bit too much like him

- but I think that was the point.

- her sole purpose as a character was to be brought in, have reid fall in love with her, and then for her to die tragically in front of him to traumatise Reid.

- and it worked.

- as an audience, we don’t care for maeve, we only care for Spencer.

- And seeing him so hurt, hurts us.

- whilst it had its flaws, the plot was actually executed pretty well.

- Zugzwang makes me cry every damn time.

- and don’t even get me started on Alchemy.

- “I’m not sleeping because when I do I dream of maeve”

- are you kidding? that’s freaking adorable

- and like many of Reid’s storylines, the writers didn’t drop this one so quickly. he continues to mention maeve.

- putting her picture up at the memorial during that day of the dead episode

- mentioning her to Kate in 10x01 “X”

- and even in 12x22 “Red light”, she’s brought up again during his showdown with Cat Adams

- when Cat’s telling him about how Lindsey supposedly sexually assaulted him in Mexico.

- “I told her to pretend to be maeve”

- oof

- and again- her cropping up in the finale.

- i think maeve turning up in the finale was a little odd.

- it was sweet that she was his kind of ‘guide’ on the other side and I loved that seeing her finally gave him the closure he needed after losing her all those years before.

- honestly all of their scenes in the finale had me in tears, thinking how well deserved they were for one another, and what a happy life they could’ve had together.

- I just have one problem :

- the scene where Reid is listing the things he loves

- he lists learning, reading, teaching, making a difference and then -

- “you. I love you.”

- love. As in present tense. Not past tense, “I loved you”

- and I think that this line, while incredibly sweet (and made me cry just now when I watched the scene so I could get the quote)

- it sets Spencer back a little as a character.

- on the one hand, of course he still loves her. you never recover from losing someone the way he lost her.

- but I feel that the purpose of maeve dying was really meant to propel Spencer forward as a character, to give him some character development.

- so him telling her he still loves her, seven years or so after she died, kind of sets him back a little. It makes Reid seem like he’s still stuck in the past, still stuck in the dream of a life he could’ve had with maeve, even after all those years. as though he would never be able to move forward, despite the introduction of a new love interest for Spencer (max).

- however that doesn’t stop the scenes he shared with her in the finale from being so cute my heart couldn’t handle it.

- Final statements —

- I really liked Spencer and Maeve, I would even go as far to say I ship them. But I completely respect those who don’t, cause I can see why you wouldn’t.

- maeve was a little bland, a little too well suited for Spencer but at the end of the day, wasn’t that the point? For him to fall for someone so seemingly perfect, to dream of a perfect life together, only for her to have such a bitter and tragic end?

- I’d say they were pretty damn adorable, and were a good match. but ultimately they weren’t meant to be.

- let me know what you think ;)

[purplesurveys]

1264

Who are you subscribed to on YouTube?  Oh man, I’m probably subscribed to over a hundred, if not 200. I’ve subscribed to channels relevant to interests I’ve had over the years, and since it’s not my habit to do spring cleaning on my feeds, the subscriptions have just keep piling up even if I no longer keep up with literally like 98% of them.

Do you like to go to the farmer's market?  I don’t think I’ve ever been in one yet. They aren’t very common here and the ones we do have are pricey and mostly inaccessible to the everyday consumer, I’m sure.

What will (or was) the color of your wedding dress be?  I wouldn’t want any other color than white.

What's your favorite melon?  I don’t like fruits.

What was the name of the last pet of yours that died?  Arlee. Technically my family mostly considered her as just Nina’s pet, but the sting was felt all the same when we learned she died.

When was the last time you wished the day would just get over with?  Yesterday, because it was Friday. Pretty self-explanatory, I wanted to get to the weekend so I can finally let go of work for a couple of days.

Name one person you've never had a fight with:  Andi. I think we’re both afraid of pissing the other off, which works out for us lol.

What are you currently listening to?  I can just hear the really loud whirring of my electric fan because it’s a grossly humid day today.

What would you rather have: cat or dog?  Dogs.

Who is your least favorite person in real life?  I have a lot of uncles I just don’t like.

Do you ever watch anybody's live stream of... anything, really?  Technically, yeah. I will sometimes tune in to livestreams of lofi music on YouTube, but I do it to listen, not to watch. 

Does your house have security cameras?  No.

If you go grey as you age, would you dye your hair or let it be?  I think I might dye it for a certain period of time, but I also think I would eventually reach the point where I’ll just accept it and slowly let go of the dye.

What was the last establishment you stopped going to due to bad service? What happened?  I haven’t run into much bad service, but I’ll never forget how long my order and bill took for Mad Mark’s. I never really vowed per se to never go back there again and I definitely didn’t confront the staff, but I haven’t eaten there since that incident.

What soundtrack do you listen to the most?  Not a big soundtrack listener.

Was there a family secret you weren’t told about until you were an adult?  Nah, they’re kept from us until now. The biggest one I’ve heard about was having a kleptomaniac in the family but we were never told who it is.

Do you have an opinion most people you meet seem to disagree with you?  Yeah, my dislike for fruits.

What’s something you like to have many options to choose from?  Clothes, I guess, like bucket hats. I don’t shop a lot and clothes aren’t a priority in my budget, so when I do pick out clothes, it has to be exactly what I want so that I don’t feel it was a waste of money.

What’s the strangest decorative object you own?  We have several quirky, disconnected decor in the living room from gifts we’ve acquired over the years. One object I can tell you about is the polar bear glass figurine we have on the coffee table.

What’s a thing you couldn’t imagine doing with your life right now?  Dating around.

What’s been your proudest moment?  Managing to stay alive this year and turn my life around for the better when I thought there was no hope.

What’s the filthiest non-pornographic movie you’ve seen?  Eyes Wide Shut, probably.

Do you know anyone who doesn't seem to be fond of animals?  I don’t think so. Like any animal...? I would find that quite odd, honestly. And I wouldn’t want to be friends with them if we weren’t already close .

Are you planning any outings or trips anytime soon? Whereabouts?  No, nothing set in stone. I do want to fly out to South Korea soon, though.

Do you know anyone who has a phobia of a certain animal?  I know a few people who are afraid of dogs.

Is there a particular brand of technology/electronics that you prefer?  Yeah, Apple.

Is there a singer whose voice gives you goosebumps/chills?  Hayley Williams and Jin, especially when he’s belting; and I don’t listen to her much, but I find that Billie Eilish has a unique voice that sounds really nice.

And is there a singer whose voice you simply can't stand?  Selena Gomez for some of her songs, Meghan Trainor for most of her songs.

Are there any authors that are particularly dominant on your bookshelf?  No.

Have you seen any photographs or videos that made you smile today?  Sure.

Which item in your fridge are you most looking forward to consuming? My aunt sent over this gigantic-ass slab of salmon that I can’t wait to eat as sashimi. I already had a few pieces last night and it was hea ven ly.

Has anyone you know got into a new relationship lately?  Hmm, I don’t think so. I know my coworker Dev got into a relationship a few weeks ago but it fizzled out as soon as it started because the guy was shitty.

If you menstruate, do you experience much PMS prior to it?  Only on the emotional side; I rarely get physical symptoms. I usually feel down or emotionally heavy a few days before my period.

Have you ever had a tattoo covered up or added to?  No, I don’t have any tattoos. Can you remember the last time you had a sudden change of mind?  Hmm, like last night. I wanted to stay up to maximize the weekend, buuuut I decided against it and slept instead since I had been up since 2 in the morning.

When was the last time you did something on a whim?  Two weeks ago when I impulsively dropped a thousand bucks to have cheese tarts delivered to Angela and Reena, hahaha.

Were you raised by both of your parents? If not, then who raised you?  My mom, grandma, and one of my aunts were the main people who raised me. Dad works overseas, so he was never at home much.

Have you ever began a relationship with someone you knew for less than a week?  No, I wouldn’t do that.

Has one of your friends ever tried to ‘hook you up?’  Mik tried to pair me with one of his friends just days before I finally implied on social media that I was no longer in a relationship. It was a cool ego boost but I declined, since my emotions were still super turbulent then. Andi tried to initiate sex with me once too, but I also declined.

What is your card game of choice?  I hate card games; I can never seem to understand them lmao, though that’s really more of a me problem than anything else.

What is your favourite books series?  Growing up, I really loved the Septimus Heap series. But the thing about it was that I got into it while the series was still ongoing; and with how bad my attention span is, I always forgot the events/plot whenever the newest book came out. 

So whenever that happened I had to read the entire series from Book 1; eventually the number of books I had to reread/revisit became too many (it was a seven-part series) and I simply just lost the time to read and I never got to know about the conclusion.

Do you prefer landmarks or street names when being given directions?  Street names – more precise. Landmarks to me can be pretty subjective – a green building might look blue to me, and I could just end up being lost.

Do you read the prologues in the beginnings of books?  Sure.

What was your favourite gym class moment?  If I genuinely like or already play the sport that was being taught. That’s why PE table tennis was a lot of fun for me.

Do you think that ocean boardwalks are fun?  I’ve never been on one but I imagine they are fun, yeah.

Do you dread when people ask you to sign their yearbooks?  That’s not a tradition here.

Do you have a favourite Scooby-Doo movie?  No. I was too young for Scooby-Doo in a sense that I do remember watching the movies as a 3/4 year old as they were kept on in the background at home, but I didn’t get any of the plots/didn’t really appreciate the films.

Do you think it’s cute when toddlers try to run away and fall down?  Sometimes, yeah. If the fall looked nasty I would obviously be concerned.

Do you enjoy listening to your grandparents tell stories of their past?  Honestly, only one of my grandparents would be the type to do this but he’s been dead for six years now. It’s a big shame he passed before I could bond with him the way I had always wanted to. My three other grandparents are either too closed off or too quiet to share stories from their youth.

Do you have a crush on someone? Nah, nothing more than a celebrity crush.

If so... what does his/her name begin with? 

What attracts you to them? 

Do they know that you like them? 

If they don't know, why didn't you tell them? 

Name two people that you miss:  Angela and Laurice.

Have you ever seen Titanic?  More times than I can count. I’m sure I memorize like 80% of the script, too.

Have you ever swam with dolphins?  No. I’m not so sure if I’ve seen dolphins, either. Maybe I have? Or maybe I’m confusing it with whales...idrk.

When was the last time you had a stomachache?  Wednesday.

What's going to bed early for you?  11 PM or midnight.

Do you want to have a big family in the future?  I used to, but I don’t think that’s the future I want anymore. One or two kids should be okay.

What was the last thing you did that gave you a rush?  Technically speaking, an orgasm, I guess?? Lmao idk

Favorite Nicholas Cage movie?  I don’t think I have one.

Have you had your Covid vaccine yet? Which one, if you have?  Yeah, I’m fully dosed. Sinovac.

If you've had your vaccine, did you experience any side effects?  I was suuuuuuper tired right after my first dose and I wanted to be knocked the fuck out, but I went right back to work after the shot because I am allergic to filing leaves hahaha. Second dose went smoothly.

What's the next item of clothing that you intend to buy for yourself?  A bucket hat or maybe one of the Fila x BTS shirts because the collection is actually quite cute!

What Facebook groups have you found the most helpful?  I join Facebook groups to be entertained, not because I actively look for advice.

Do you like your butt? Why or why not?  Yeah. It...has a good form hahahahahaha.

Have you ever personally been a victim of homophobia?  Yes, a few years ago I went to a food park with my ex-girlfriend. I was already not feeling my best that day to begin with, so having to see an old woman stare daggers at us for what felt like years really stung. I felt small under her look and almost cried, but in the end I felt angry that I momentarily felt shame about my relationship. I decided to just piss the woman off on purpose and do PDA right in front of her.

Do you think you’d be happier if you had a pet? I have two dogs at present and I know they make me extremely happy.

Who was the last person you went on a date with?  Gabie.

Were you ever hospitalized as a little kid?  No. The first and only time I was hospitalized (other than being birthed), I was about 12, I think.

What’s your favorite way to curl your hair?  I don’t do that. I rarely style my hair.

At what age did you start swearing?  I was 11.

What is something you physically can’t do?  Ride a bike.

What do like better, apples or oranges?  I don’t like any fruits; but in terms of flavored stuff, I like orange-flavored food, especially chewy candy, slightly more.

Around the holidays, do you hope for snow?  Well, no.

What are your top two favorite bands?  Paramore and Against Me!

How many people do you 100% trust?  There are a handful. I generally trust easily just because I like to believe all people are kind and loyal – but I can also take it away in the snap of a finger.

Do you care what others think about you?  Not so much.

Has anyone ever called you a bitch?  Sure.

Did you watch Teletubbies when you were younger?  Yeah but just super super faint memories. It wasn’t one of my main shows.

Do you have any licenses other than your driver's license?  I don’t.

Could you live the rest of your life without eating meat?  I doubt it. I could try, but I think I’d get cranky and start looking for meat way earlier than I would like to admit.

Have you ever had a rolling backpack?  Yup, if you mean a stroller. I think I’ve answered this on a previous survey.

Did you make any money today?  No, because it’s a weekend. What was the highest place you've ever jumped from?  Nothing dramatically high. I’ve had acrophobia-themed nightmares in the past, so even though I don’t actually have a fear of heights, the idea of jumping from a high place still makes me antsy.

Have you ever gone swimming in a river?  Not that I can recall.

What was the last souvenir someone got you?  I dunno if it counts but Andi bought merch from the AEW shop but made sure to also get a CM Punk sticker set for me :(

Do you have a favorite remix of a song?  Remixes have never been my thing. What do you think is the most saddest sounding instrument?  Piano.

Do you really pay attention to the ratings on movies?  Yeah they can definitely affect the level of appreciation I hold towards a film. For instance, if I genuinely enjoyed a movie only to find out it has average to bad reviews, it invites me to think more critically about the movie.

Do you have a favorite species of wild cat (tiger/lion/cougar/etc.)?  No.

If you had $500,000, what would you do with it?  Give half to my parents and let them do whatever they wish it. With the remaining P12,500,000, I’d probably get myself my own condo and have it fully furnished, then get braces, then get a new phone and laptop. I’ll have a bunch of money still left, I’m pretty sure – the rest of it I’ll save.

Did the last person you touched lips with have a kid?  No. I mean, I have honestly no clue what’s going on in her life now, but I know she doesn’t want kids so this is very unlikely.

"First loves are never really over." Is this true for you?  It’s true in a sense that she left me a lot of trauma and self-esteem issues that will irrevocably always be a part of me now even though I’ve worked hard to resolved most of them by myself.

Did you like Michael Jackson before he died?  Yes, because he has always been my favorite singer’s role model.

What are some things that would make you break up with someone?  I don’t know how to answer this question, honestly. All the red flags were thrown and tossed and slapped into my face and down my throat for six years yet I never left. I don’t actually know what my limits are, and I believe it’s because my coping mechanism has to just accept things and suck them up no matter how bad they get. That’s what I’m trying to change for myself now.

What was the worst breakup you've ever had?  I’ve had two breakups with the same person, and the second one was worse.

[kyoka-jirou]

Hi, I'd really like a Bakugo x reader or Tamaki x reader(I'm not picky though there's a soft spot for.tamaki) soulmate au where there's a 'spark'/tingle the first time you touch?

YES! This sounds so cute!!! Since I already have a Tamaki request in my inbox, I'll do a Bakugo one for you ;) [I did change the AU a bit.. for plot reasons.. 😂😂]

Bakugo Katsuki X Reader | Sparks

a soulmate au in which you first touch your soulmate you feel weird tingles. then, both of your quirks (if you have one) will never work against your soulmate.

(Warning: Cursing, [it's Bakugo 😂])

You had been part of class 1-A for a while now. Transfering from Shiketsu High had been a bit weird, but they accepted you like you'd been there since day one.

It had been a bit rough, getting used to being attacked and targeted by villians twice a week, but eventually you just got used to it.

"Hey, Y/N!" you heard from besides you, "-you ok?"

Sighing, you replied, "Yeah I'm fine, Jirou."

The young girl bumped her shoulder against yours, pushing you to the side.

"No you aren't, Y/N." she deadpanned, "You've been holding that popsicle for so long it melted already."

Looking down, you realized that yes, you did have popsicle juice pooling on the table.

"Huh."

"Oh my god." Jirou sighed, laying her head against the table, "What are we going to do with you."

"You could throw me away in the garbage can?"

Jirou lifted her head and stared at you blankly.

"Alright, alright." You joked putting your hands in the air, "I was only kidding."

A few moments later, she asked, "So. When are you going to finally confess to Bak-"

"-Throw me away in the recycling bin instead."

Cue a large groan from your purple haired friend.

You laughed, "Sorry, Ji. It was too good to pass up."

She shook her head, a smile on her face.

You sighed, "I don't know, Ji. It's not like we could be soulmates. The chances of that happening are next to none."

She smiled, "Well, Y/N, you never know."

--------

"Today we'll be pairing up in one-on-one battles. Your partner has been randomly selected. So it could be anyone." Mr. Aizawa stated blankly.

"Sensei!" Iida called out, not waiting for a response, "-There is an odd number in our class, how does that work out?"

He sighed, "The one left out will fight against Shinsou from the General studies course."

You smiled, already pumped for what was to come.

----

"L/N and Bakugo."

You froze. Ok, maybe you weren't as excited as before. Walking over, you clung to Jirou's arm and she sighed.

"Ok, I get why F/N is clinging to me like a monkey, but Momo? I get that we're soulmates, but seriously? We aren't even fighting each other."

Momo stiffened before backing away. "Sorry."

Ji oh-so-secretly grabbed her arm again.

"I didn't say to stop you weirdo."

You, however, could hardly pay attention to the rest of the conversation, as you were shaking with fear.

Your quirk was almost useless against his. Sure, you could turn into any feline, but avoiding explosions? What was your quirk good for then?

Wallowing in your terrible plans to evade his blasts, you didn't notice that the person in question was looking at you softly, intrest being the only thing on his mind.

----

Soon enough, it was your turn to fight against the powerhouse known as Bakugo Katsuki.

So, there you were, standing right across from your crush, who looked at you like you were some kind of prey.

Oh great. Is he gonna try to kill you too? At least let you confess first!

Actually, no, that was a bad idea.

"I'm gonna blow your ass to pieces!" He snarled.

"Kinky." You responded flatly.

Oh god. What did you just say?!

You looked up just in time to see him charging at you. Squeaking, your only instinct then was to evade.

Poofing into oblivion like a Thanos snap, you appeared twenty times smaller in the form of a small tabby cat.

'Run, run, run, run' was your only thought process.

So, you ran, and as speedy as a cat skidding away from a cucumber, you were gone.

"Stop running away you damn extra!" He roared.

'Hmm, let me think about that for a second.. oh wait nevermind, ain't nobody got time for that when you're about to be murdered.'

Yeah, sorry, but no.

Soon, you were playing a game of cat and mouse. But, ironically, he was playing as the cat.

'Oh fuck me gently with a chainsaw.'

"I got you you shitty Neko."

Releasing a horrific guttural scream, you transformed back into a human.

"Hell no!" you shouted, but it was too late. You tried to roll out of the way, but he already had a hold on your arm.

You tensed, bracing for the pain.

-but the pain never came. Instead it was a weird tingling sensation across your body.

Slowly, you opened you eyes, looking at your arm, seeing a whole bunch of explosions, then looking back at your arm.

Then, you exploded into laughter.

"T-That's all y-your q-quirk does??" You choked. "Pftt!"

He looked at you with confusion and anger.

"What do you mean 'that's all it does'? You shitty extra, you broke my fucking quirk!"

That's all it took, and you were a laughing mess. The almighty Bakugo's quirk was useless against your Neko powers!

"You little-" suddenly he froze. "-Holy shit."

Meanwhile, you were still laughing.

"Oh my god." He sighed.

You looked back up at him, still wheezing a bit. Trying to calm your heartbeat.

Until you met his eyes. They were- soft? He had a warm look on his face. AND WAS THAT A SMILE?!

Ok, now you knew you were dead. This was some kind of joke, right?

"L/N." he started. "You have no clue what just happened, do you?"

You slowly raised a brow.

"Well, I know that this is most likely a hallucination caused by me passed out after you most probably burnt the flesh from my arms, yes."

He stared at you blankly.

"No, that's not-"

"Or maybe," you pondered, "I'm dead, and I'm trapped with you soul for the rest of eternity. Oh my god I'm dead aren't I?"

"No, L/N-san that's not-"

"Oh my god I am dead, you just called me something other than extra-"

"L/N!" He shouted. Your gaze shot up to him.

Holy shit you forgot how hot he was.

"Yes..?" You replied meekly.

"You know that weird tingling feeling you just felt?"

"-oh my god, my arm is just gone now isn't it-"

"No!" he groaned, "Jesus Christ F/N we're soulmates!"

Then, without warning he pulled you in for a kiss.

-----

Bonus:

He pulled away and you were both panting for breath.

"That was my first kiss you asshole." You gasped.

He stared at you. "Really? That's all you have to say right now?"

"No." You replied, "I wanted to tell you to get the fuck off of me, you smell awful."

[goingoverthegardenwall]

Chapter 3: Schooltown Follies

Since there have been stories, there have been stories that anthropomorphize animals. Folks have imagined creatures behaving as humans in every corner of the world, in myths and fables and fairy tales from ancient cultures to today. So by the turn of the 20th century, when a mycologist known for painting incredibly detailed images of fungus decided to instead write and illustrate stories about animals in contemporary clothes, it wasn’t exactly a new idea. But perhaps that makes it more impressive: despite the multitude of animal books for children that have been published in the last hundred and fifty years, the work of Beatrix Potter still stands out.

She’s not alone, of course: no good conversation about humanized animals in Western kid lit can last long without mentioning Richard Scarry or Margaret Wise Brown or Arnold Lobel. And Peter Rabbit’s extended family is quite British, which puts it at odds with the nostalgic Americana of Over the Garden Wall: it’s not for nothing that our assortment of animals in Schooltown Follies includes a raccoon and an opossum. But the timeless quality of Potter’s work is still felt in this episode in two ways. First, while the show has a cartoony lens, the school animals are far more anatomically accurate than Beatrice or the frogs of Lullaby in Frogland, evoking Potter’s signature field guide style. And second, there’s a mischief to Potter’s animals that makes them feel more like real children than the cute but bland residents of Scarry’s Busytown, and mischief is the name of the game when Greg comes to schooltown.

Schooltown Follies is full of clever tricks, but perhaps its most clever is introducing animals with human qualities (they wear clothes, play instruments, and walk on their hind legs) but not giving them voices. It’s generally great comedy fuel, showing the inherent ridiculousness of a school for sorta normal animals, but it more importantly allows the episode a silent movie feel, with plenty of physical humor enhanced by characters without dialogue. That style completes the episode’s subversion of Beatrix Potter’s oeuvre: she wrote stories about naughty animals learning that they should behave, but in this vaudeville version, the only way to save the day is by misbehaving.

“Then I’ll do what I need to do, I guess.”

Despite being one of our three main characters, Greg trades a full character arc for a comic relief role. At the beginning of Over the Garden Wall he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun, and at the end he’s a chatty kid who never gives up and loves fun. This doesn’t mean he’s fully static, as he matures enough to accept some responsibility to others instead of seeking entertainment for himself: he abandons a potential happy ending to try to save Wirt with the Beast, and returns his stolen Rock Facts Rock in the last shot of the series. But even this obligation to help out is present early on: Schooltown Follies is the first of his two focus episodes, and the foundation of his eventual heroism is established right here.

And frankly? I think it’s okay if he’s not that dynamic. Greg doesn’t change as much as Wirt or Beatrice because he doesn’t have nearly as much to overcome, and he still contributes to the show without forcing the crew to juggle three distinct arcs. Our older kids are on a shorter timer to grow up, and have clearer negative traits (Wirt’s got no confidence, Beatrice is a jerk), and while we can accuse Greg of lacking social cues, he’s so young that it’s not indicative of a larger problem. He’s just acting his age, albeit in a heightened way for entertainment, and to lose that innocence this early in his life would make this show a serious downer.

“Heightened” is the general mood of Schooltown Follies, where Greg’s less realistic behavior fits much better than The Old Grist Mill’s bottom-of-the-barrel aside. This is an episode where Two Old Cat, an old-timey bat-and-ball game that evokes a similar old-school era as our old school, involves searching for actual old cats, somehow finding them immediately, then realizing one is too old to play and must instead be taken care of by a raccoon in a newsboy cap and overalls.

While there’s plenty of humor to go around in Over the Garden Wall, this is the only fully silly episode. Our other lighthearted outings come with dark twists: Songs of the Dark Lantern introduces the Beast, Lullaby in Frogland reveals Adelaide, and Babes in the Wood turns out to be the most somber episode of the series with context. Here we almost get a parody of such a twist, with characters repeatedly mentioning a wild gorilla on the loose apropos of nothing, then revealing that the gorilla is Miss Langtree’s paramour trapped in a suit. It’s a ridiculous setup to a ridiculous punchline, aided by casting Thomas Lennon for a few lines of dialogue (his read for “I. Was. The gorilla” was worth every penny), so there’s never any sense of danger. Jimmy Brown and Enoch are equally harmless in the end, but I doubt any little kids watching are gonna get nightmares about the ape suit.

This mood is enhanced with song, but among the many musical moments in the series—Mad Love is the only episode without singing in some form—Schooltown Follies stands out by not letting any of the numbers finish. We begin and end the episode in song, but Greg doesn’t have the last lines for Adelaide Parade figured out, Langtree’s Lament faces numerous interruptions before being cut short by the bell (they actually did a full version though!), and Potatoes and Molasses gets stopped first by Mr. Langtree, then by the end credits. Even Miss Langtree’s piano rendition of last episode’s Patient is the Night halts when Greg mashes the keys. It’s the perfect atmosphere for an episode about a kid who loves fun, but is easily distracted and hasn’t developed good planning skills.

Which isn’t to say that Greg is dumb, but that he’s prone to winging it in a way that sets him apart from Wirt. While Wirt rambles his thoughts aloud, Greg takes action without telling anyone why, making his decisions appear random in a medium that often explains motives concretely to young viewers. Wandering in his own direction has become a running gag by now, and while he sets off to make the world a better place, he instead plays outside with animal truants. He’s jolted back to his quest by the bland food and dull atmosphere of lunch hour, and his irrepressible energy lightens everybody’s day without much effort. When Mr. Langtree steps in as an antagonist, Greg decides once again to do something about it, this time saying explicitly that he has no plan, but everything works out again. We get an excellent joke from his decision to rob Langtree right after he becomes sympathetic, but as usual, Greg has bigger ideas behind the humor that he just hasn’t articulated. 

While Greg is busy delightfully saving the day, Wirt and Beatrice ease into a sniping side story that establishes their relationship for the next few episodes. They got off on the wrong foot in The Old Grist Mill and twisted that ankle in Hard Times at the Huskin’ Bee, so by now Beatrice doesn’t even try to hide her disdain and Wirt gets fed up with it. This is the perfect type of subplot, one that develops our characters and fits into the theme of the episode—Wirt’s rebellious obedience bounces off Greg’s rebellious call to disobey—but doesn’t distract from the main story.

Beatrice is helpful in opening up Wirt’s snotty side in a way that allows us to cheer for him. Until now his biggest conversation partner has been Greg, and it’s tough to side with Wirt when he’s mean to Greg, but Beatrice is an equal in terms of sparring, and her rudeness is a more understandable motive for Wirt to be obstinate than Greg’s playfulness. Our last episode had him aimlessly suggest staying in Pottsfield, and he’s similarly bound to this new location, but his different attitude changes the entire story. After two episodes of dithering, it’s nice that they let Elijah Wood play a character who’s funny on purpose for a spell, reveling in annoying Beatrice.

And even though he doesn’t know what to do, we actually get our first heroic moment from Wirt here. Greg saved the day in Grist Mill, and the situation resolves without much issue in Hard Times, but Jimmy is saved from the gorilla costume because of Wirt. True, he only interferes after being commanded to by Mr. Langtree, and he clearly has no idea what to do, and he trips over his shoelaces rather than contribute in an intentional way, but it sets the stage for his rescue of Beatrice in our next episode. Deep down, when he’s not overthinking it, the kid is capable of bravery when it’s asked of him. And it’s wonderful that for all his differences from Greg, both share an impulsive approach to heroism when they decide to help others. It’s almost like they’re related.

Beyond getting a few good digs in at Wirt, Beatrice extends her meanness to Miss Langtree, which makes her pestering of the boys feel less personal: it’s not that she hates them, she’s irritable with everyone. But we also get the first hint of her warming to our heroes, letting Greg have his fun at the concert and telling Wirt to finally tie his shoes with just a tiny speckle of fondness. While she gets a bigger friendship moment in Mad Love, when she’s essentially forced to get to know Wirt better, it’s neat to see Beatrice gradually come around instead of flipping a switch after a major story event.

We’re about to get our next big Plot Episode, introducing the Beast and adding new doubts about the Woodsman, so a silly episode is just what we need. It’s our third in a row where something sinister turns out to be okay: obviously the gorilla is an example of this, but Mr. Langtree is similarly an intimidating presence who ends up being a regular man. Even the creepy squirrels from the opening shots of the Unknown’s dangers in The Old Grist Mill return as comic relief. We’re fully primed to look for goodness where we see wickedness. Just in time for us to learn to fear merry opera echoing from the woods.

Rock Factsheet

Greg’s spiel on hot dogs might not summon the Rock Fact Rock, but it certainly evokes the stone’s spirit.

Where have we come, and where shall we end?

Adelaide Parade and Potatoes and Molasses will both get dark reprises, and the former also gets the rare jolly reprise as well. But we unfortunately don’t get a harrowing future scene featuring Langtree’s Lament.

Two Old Cat is part of a list of bat-and-ball games mentioned by a rambling background teen in The Unknown.

[bi-disaster-artist]

Billy Hargrove x Reader

Hey y’all, plot twist time

Billy only realized he liked you after you punched him in the face.

It was at a party, and he hit on your friend. The music was loud, the beer was flowing, everyone was having fun, and you were there because so was she. She’d just broken up with Steve Harrington, the “King” of Hawkins High, and wanted to get over him by getting shit-faced. You wanted her to be as safe as possible, so you followed her there.

You two had been there for about an hour, nothing really happening, other than stalking Steve, when he showed up. The new guy. The asshole who outranked assholes. His name was Billy Hargrove and he was smoking hot. Your friend, Vanessa, didn’t really notice him, as she was still staring at her ex, but you saw him.

He swaggered in, acting like he owned the place. You hated him. Ever since he got here, he had been a thorn in your side. You weren’t exactly the nicest either, being rival to Steve’s gang, the Queen Of Hawkins High. So, when Mr. Fancy Butt took over Steve’s place at the top, you got shaken.

Vanessa, being your number 2, and best friend, had noticed that Billy was in your interest. She tried to push you two together, with which many an interaction ended in a scuffle. So she stopped trying, and many of your fellow students avoided being in the same room when both of you were together.

You hated his guts, and he hated yours. He was too full of himself, and needed to accept that a girl was higher on the social status than he was. You were too full of yourself and needed to accept that he would eventually knock you down and put you in your place.

Billy’s eyes met yours, and he made his way over, smirking. He waded through the crowd of drunken teens, and leaned against the island you and Vanessa stood at.

“So, how are you lovely ladies doing?” He asked, blue eyes twinkling with mirth.

“Fuck off, Hargrove. We’re here to have fun, not babysit the less fortunate.” You turned away, and he turned his attention to Vanessa.

“Well, that’s unfortunate. Your friend here looks a little lonely, maybe she’d like a good night?” He sneered at you, moving closer to Vanessa, who looked extremely uncomfortable.

You struck, ringed fingers connecting with his smug face. He stumbled, looking shocked as blood poured from his nose. Blue eyes met brown in an icy glare. Those dark lashes fringed the scariest stare you’d ever seen on anyone, and his lips curled into a psychotic smile.

Billy roared with laughter, scaring you and Vanessa, who looked terrified and more. “You little bitch... don’t know when to quit do you? You’ve got more fight than Harrington, I’ll grant you that.” He lunged for you, fist nearly connecting with your nose as you ducked.

You ran the opposite way, out of the door, as the kids inside yelled at Billy for trying to hit you. Looking back, you saw him stumble out of the door, sporting a black eye and more blood on his mouth. Maybe Vanessa hit him. Something in you stirred, and you felt a little bad.

He leaned against the house, and held a can to his face. Damn, you knew how to fight. He chuckled, wincing when the smile pulled his split lip. Maybe she wasn’t so bad, if she was really willing to punch him in the face. Most of the bitches in Cali just let him do whatever he wanted, no one questioning his reign.

You were different, feisty, but you did really care for your friend. Billy didn’t mean to push you so far, he was just being a jackass to be a jackass, and Vanessa wasn’t his type. Neither were you, but messing with you was fun. He didn’t expect to get whacked though.

He noticed movement in his field of vision, and looked up. You had walked back towards him.

“Hey, asshole.”

“What do you want?”

“To apologize. Is your nose okay?”

“Why do you care?”

You looked him in the eye.

“You remind me of a lion that got hurt and is fighting to keep his place as king.”

Oh.

“Okay.” He looked at the ground, as you sat in front of him. You reached out to pat his knee.

“Did you really mean that about Vanessa? If you did, I’ll match that black eye.”

He laughed again, rolling his eyes.

“As if. She’s not my type,” he stared at you, as if he was trying to communicate telepathically. He was weird, you had to admit.

You shuffled closer, and hesitantly held out your hand to pet his hair. He nodded, so you pushed your fingers through his curls.

“Your hair is soft.”

“Thanks.”

“This is weird.” He grunted in agreement. “So... sorry for almost breaking your nose.”

“S’ok.”

“Have you gotten into fights before?”

“Yeah,” he looked sad as he said that, an odd look on someone who is so intimidating. You decided to push it.

“With who?”

“My dad.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah...”

“I’m sorry.”

“S’ok.”

You felt even worse now. Billy Hargrove, resident asshole hid under this mask, and now you’d just almost broken his nose. Jesus. “Can I ask you what your type is? I don’t like you like that, just curious.” You wanted to know more about him, at least more than he let on.

“Hah, you don’t wanna know.”

“Yes I do.”

His head tilted up to look you in the eye. Blue met brown again, but less icy, and more, scared. Why should he be scared?

“You aren’t one of those types are you?”

“What? A homo?” You jokingly asked, but regretted when he flinched. “Oh, no, dude I was joking. I mean I’m not a homo, but I’m not totally into guys-“ oh fuck now you’d done it. How in the ever loving fuck did you fuck that up.

Surprisingly, you didn’t immediately get called “Fag”, or something like that. Instead you got a shocked looking Billy, staring into your face.

“You aren’t straight?”

“Uhh, no?”

“Oh-“, and now you had a sobbing hunk of a teen boy on your lap. Who hurt this poor kid? You stroked his hair, quite surprised at how this night ended up.

“Hey, Billy? Are you alright? What’s wrong?” You grabbed his shoulders to lift him up, but he just dug his face into your shoulder. “Uh, Billy?” Running your fingers through his hair seemed to calm him down, so you kept that up. Stroking the soft, fluffy curls like a cat, while he cried into your shoulder.

Thank god no one walked out.

As his cries lessened, you hugged him tight. “Are you okay?” You asked, full of genuine concern for a boy you’d wanted dead two hours ago. He looked up, cheeks tear stained, and eyes red. He nodded, and hugged you.

“I’ve been so, so scared of anyone finding out about it since we moved. That I’m... not straight.” He sniffled, looking rather pathetic. You felt pride that he told you, but concerned about him bottling it up.

You smiled, and decided to joke. “Well, here I am... are you full homo, or half, like me?” He grinned shakily. “Half, I guess.”

“Well, than we make a whole homo together, how about that?”

He laughed at that, throwing his head back, nearly hitting it on the wall. “I guess we do, Queenie.”

“Queenie?”

“Better than bitch.” He stuck his tongue out, rather childishly at you, and you laughed.

“Wanna go home?” You asked, willing to hang out with a new friend for a little bit. His laughing demeanor vanished, replaced by fear. He shook his head, curls bouncing. You put your hands up in surrender. “Do you want to go to my house? My parents aren’t home.”

“Can we watch Rocky?”

“Sure, ya goof.”

That Monday was weird. Everyone was on edge at you and Billy being friends, especially after getting into a fight at Tommy’s party on Saturday. They all thought you two had gotten together or something, and just shared power now.

In actuality, it was two gays just being friends, and helping each other out with dates and decking evil parents. Cute.

[xcvierhq]

mark tuan. cismale. he/him.  /  one act of kindness gone wrong.  /  have you seen xavier zhang at the beach recently? i remember them being so dynamic, but they seemed a little melancholy today. it must be tough going through such hard times at only twenty five. even then, they still remind me of chipped nail polish, laughter after dunking a friend underwater, cold beer on the rooftop at three am, and wistful frowns.

BACKSTORY:

xavier was born into a family of emigrants from taiwan & he was raised in palm beach by two loving parents, with occasional visits from his uncles and grandmothers. his childhood was, thankfully, uneventful except for a few injuries every now and then because he was an active child, who liked getting himself into any sorts of trouble.

he finished high school with average grades, even though he was intelligent — xavier mostly focused on his friends and social life to actually try and achieve a lot in school, which resulted in him becoming friends with people who were up to no good. however, he was still a guy with a rational head, which is why he managed to stay out of serious illegal things, and later on, he cut off all communication with them because they always tried to have too much force and influence on him.

he worked odd jobs in order to save up, even though his parents were wealthy; they had bought him a nice house when he turned twenty one, and he felt bad about his parents spending money on him, therefore, he told them to let him save money by himself. when he finally gathered a large sum of cash, xavier went on a backpacking trip with a friend and traveled around the world for a year, gaining new experiences and discovering his true self.

unfortunately, with so many ups in his life, it was inevitable for him to have his downs. when he came back home and got himself a well-paying lifeguard job, his old friends reached out to hang out again and after a few persistent rejections, xavier finally gave in and agreed to cautiously meet up every now and then.

however, when one day he was asked to pick up a drunk friend, he accidentally got himself into serious trouble. when he arrived at the place, the other man was keying cars and destroying property ‘for fun’, and before he could stop him, the drunk man had caught sight of a patrolling officer first, prompting him to run away and leave xavier all by himself in the scene of a crime. they charged him, an innocent man, of vandalism.

instead of a sentence or fines because he was deemed a first time offender, xavier got a lot of hours of community service and this surely dampened his mood for a good while. he was angry at himself for being naive in a sense, hoping that those people have somewhat changed, and angry at the world for such injustice. he’s still trying to recover from this turn of events and not be bitter, and enjoy the summer, even though it’s hard to do wearing an orange jumpsuit during some hours of picking up trash and removing grafitti. 

PERSONALITY:

he’s kind, bright, loud, and intelligent, always devoted to please some people and help them out. usually the life of the party and the type to help a grandma cross the street or offer to pay for someone else’s food if they’re a few dollars short at the store. however, he’s not innocent or naive — he has a side to him that most people are surprised to witness when they get to know him better. he doesn’t have a short temper, but if he’s holding a grudge, he’s holding it forever. he also tends to get jealous easily, which is exhausting because he also gets romantically attracted and involved pretty often. the man is very adventurous and loves adrenaline filled activities, but he’s also reckless and tends to neglect his own health, making this combination very dangerous. he’s social and loves meeting new people, and he makes friends easily, but he also doesn’t trust them right off the bat, especially now that he’s gotten himself involved in bad business. xavier also makes a lot of jokes, puns, and sarcastic remarks, which is why it’s pretty fun to hang out with him, especially because he’s good at coming up with things to do and cater to everyone’s needs and wishes. however, these days, he tends to keep to himself and be less active and all over the place, but he’s still the same person once you break through his shell. 

TRIVIA:

one. thinks his parents were wasted when they named him xavier. two. can’t cook for shit, but makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich. three. experiments with his hair color a lot. his current one is blonde + washed off pink. four. if he wasn’t a lifeguard, he’d work in an arcade. five. has broken far too many bones throughout his life. six. despite having them sometimes, he’s not too fond of one night stands. seven. his favorite number is seven. eight. he really enjoys retro things and out-dated game consoles. nine. has a caracal kitten named jian (comes from the word jiān that means sharp or pointed) because of their pointy ears. ten. he doesn’t have a driver’s license, but he has a bicycle and skateboard. eleven. listens to any kind of music, but he loves indie rock. twelve. he used to babysit his neighbors’ kids when he was in high school. he gets along with children very well and really likes them. he’d also love to have his own someday.  thirteen. his favorite poison of choice is beer. he doesn’t smoke or do drugs.  fourteen. knows some martial arts, but he’s stopped doing them. fifteen. has a jam filled donut with powdered sugar at least once a day. sixteen. bisexual and biromantic.

WANTED PLOTS/THREADS (from your muse’s point of view):

one. i agreed to watch your cat except i didn’t know it was a caracal and now i have scratches all over me and i’m really really mad at you. two. you looked cute but i didn’t know how to approach you so i pretended to be drowning just to get your attention. three. you liked me before you went on this backpacking trip and now apparently you’ve forgotten about me? excuse me? four. how do you manage to fuck up ramen? you need cooking lessons from me! five. we’re close friends and we just had a one night stand. awkward. six. i was nice and agreed to hep you drag your drunk ass home but now you’re a blubbering mess and you just threw up on my shoes. seven. i really need swimming lessons, but i’m so bad at this and i feel awful to take up so much of your time when you’re supposed to be saving people. eight. i volunteered to dye your hair but i got the wrong color and now you look awful, i’m so sorry. nine. i keep distracting/teasing you when you’re doing your community service and it’s hilarious. ten. you’re always on the rooftop at odd hours and sometimes you’re cold, so i always keep you company and bring you a blanket.

[askteamheadphones]

Well! I guess someone has some explaining to do— on both sides i guess!

It was a little odd to be sitting in Kurusu-kun’s room, with several eyes staring directly at him. What was more jarring was Morgana, who looked like a completely normal cat, was now staring at him and asking him questions with his tiny little voice. He’s heard it before, but having it directed at him was so weird. Yosuke fidgets in his seat and turns his head to look at Minato. As usual, his roommate looks unaffected by the turn of events.

It would seem that their peculiar lives would continue to get even more peculiar. Yosuke wonders if they’re ever going to get a taste of normalcy again. He wonders if he would prefer normalcy over all the supernatural shit that’s been happening to them, but the hum of his inner voice, the voice of his persona, reminds him that despite everything he’d never want to go back to a normal life.

“How did you get into the Metaverse?” Morgana asks, paws delicately posed in front of himself. His tail moves behind him slowly, almost hypnotizing. His eyes, now that Yosuke managed to get a good look, are an uncanny shade of blue. It reminds him of Teddie.

“We were looking for you,” Minato pipes up, for once talking instead of letting Yosuke do the talking for him. “And then we found ourselves there… In that Metaverse-thingee you’re talking about. That’s what you call the other world?”

Makoto nods her head, and pulls the seat across from them so she can sit down. She rests her elbows on the table and leans forward, looking much like she’s used to interrogations. “That’s correct. So from what I understand, this really was a coincidence then?”

“That’s right,” Minato talks again, taking the lead. It’s really surprising to see the shift in his demeanor. He’s sitting up straight now and his voice is still soft but clear, and he has an air to him that leaves no room for disagreeing. “But I’m thinking you’re having a hard time believing that.”

The rest of the teenagers look uncomfortable to be there. Ann, Ryuji, and Yusuke have taken up the space on Akira’s bed. Akira is situated beside Makoto, though his expression is hard to read.

“Yes,” Makoto continues, with an almost flawless poker face. “We’ve been told that there is another person to be wary of, one who bears a black mask, such as yourself Arisato-san. So you have to understand that we can’t really trust you so instantly.”

“That’s fair,” Minato replies with a shrug. It really is, they can’t prove their innocence.

“But we want to help you,” Yosuke says, a little too loudly, a little too enthusiastically, and he winces a little bit at his own volume before toning it down. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but you’re dealing with Shadows, right? We can help you. We’ve dealt with them before.”

Akira, Morgana, and Makoto share looks.

“You’ve dealt with them before?” Akira asks, and somehow he feels more threatening than he looks. Yosuke wonders if he’s said something wrong. “Where?”

Yosuke scratches the back of his neck, and shifts his gaze to Minato again. How much should he share? Should he tell them everything? And even if he did tell them everything, it didn’t prove that he or Minato are trustworthy. He takes a deep breath and sighs, before shaking his head. “Have you heard of the Inaba Murders?”

Akira’s expression changes slightly. “Yes.”

“I was involved with that— My friends and I were,” Yosuke continues. “The reason it took so long for the cops to solve the case was because another world was being used to murder, a world where Shadows were roaming free,” he explains. He continues to explain the rest of the story, leaving out the embarrassing secrets of his friends, and the emotional turmoil they all had to go through. He explains it like he was explaining a history lesson, and it was over faster than he expected it to be.

“So you two have been fighting for that long then,” Ann speaks up. She looks awed, almost like she’s amazed.

“He’s been fighting longer than I have,” Yosuke says with a small smile, nudging his elbow into Minato’s side. His smile softens a little, then he places a hand on Minato’s shoulder. “Do you want to tell them about…?” he hesitates. He knows Minato doesn’t really like talking about what happened to him and his group, he knows that Minato gets cagey and uncomfortable. It’s not his story to tell, not unless Minato gives him to go signal to.

Minato folds his arms across his chest, a gesture Yosuke knows is emotionally defensive. “I’ll talk,” Minato says to him in a whisper.

“He was involved with the Inaba Murders,” Minato starts. “But I was involved with the Apathy Syndrome cases.” Minato’s story is a lot more shorter than Yosuke’s, but that’s only because Minato didn’t want to share more than what was necessary. He completely leaves out the fact that, for a while, everyone thought that he was never going to wake up again.

Makoto’s poker face was gone now, replaced with curiosity and realizations. Like she was putting the pieces together. “I’ve read up on those cases,” Makoto answered them back. “Both the Apathy Syndrome cases and the Inaba Murders,” she clarifies. “I, uhm, read about them on the police database,” she prayed her sister would never find out, “and the documented files were so vague, almost as if whoever wrote them was confused. Like they didn’t really know what was going on.”

Yosuke nodded, and relaxed a little bit. “Well, how can you explain another world to people who wont believe it?”

“That’s why you can talk to us about it,” Minato tells them. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, flipping through it as he looks for something. Hidden under several other cards, he pulls out an I.D., and slides it across the table towards Makoto and Akira. “What the regular police can’t handle, things like the supernatural, our organization steps in.”

“Oh yeah!” Yosuke exclaims, slapping his hand against his forehead. “Duh!” He pulls out his I.D. too, slides it across the table and grins. “We’re Shadow Operatives and it’s our job to deal with stuff like this!”

“Reserved members,” Minato mutters. Yosuke steps on his foot under the table. “What? We are.”

Yosuke grumbles but relents. Right, honestly is the best policy and all that. “Yeah, yeah. Fine. We are reserved members, but only until we graduate.” He scratches his head and slumps in his seat. “All we’re allowed to do is look out for people who have the potential, and hey. I guess you guys fit the description?”

Minato clears his throat, reaches over to take back his I.D. “Yeah, we found you but ultimately it’s still up to you if you want to join us or not. It’s still up to you to trust us too, we’re not going to force you. But I’m sorry, now that we know, we’re still going to keep tabs on you just to make sure that you’re not plotting against the world or something.”

Yosuke takes his I.D. back as well. “Since we’ve told you our stories, can we listen to yours?”

The Phantom Thieves look at each other. They seem to be in agreement, though mostly shocked. All this time, they were around people who could fight like they could, all this time there were more people out there like them, with the gift of persona. It almost felt like they were all connected somehow, and it was hard to doubt no matter how strongly logic begged them to.

So they tell their story, how it started with Kamoshida, then Madarame, then currently Kaneshiro. They talk about their speculations, and explain that the Phantom Thieves have nothing to do with the current Psychotic Breakdowns that have been happening lately.

“Like Apathy Syndrome…” Minato mutters.

“Yes! I was thinking the same thing,” Makoto agrees. Whatever doubt she had for them was waning, now she saw them as an opportunity to learn more about these cases, to try and figure out whatever she could to see the whole picture. “Arisato-san, could we perhaps exchange emails? There’s much I want to talk about but,” with a glance to her watch she grins sheepishly. “It’s getting pretty late.”

The two exchange emails quickly, but Minato gives her a small smile. “I can try and get the documents for you, though only the hard copies. It’s safer that way,” he explains. “But I can’t promise you that.”

Akira seems more than happy to know that Minato wasn’t a bad guy or anything.

“If you betray us,” Morgana warns, though it doesn’t seem as threatening coming from a cute cat. “There will be hell to pay!”

Yosuke laughs lightly and nods, courageously reaches out to scratch the back of Morgana’s ears. “We’ll help you however we can.”

As everyone parts ways for the night, the two Shadow Operatives linger in front of Le Blanc’s entrance. Minato looks up to the moon as he always does and sighs. Yosuke follows his gaze and frowns. “I don’t think we should tell the others about this just yet.”

“They… I think they trust us, only because they already like us,” Minato admits. It’s pretty naive on their part, he’s just glad that he and Yosuke were actually not bad people.  “They didn’t tell us not to tell anyone but, I don’t want to betray their trust.”

Yosuke laughs though there’s not much humor to it. “Ahhh, if something goes wrong Kirijo-san’s going to kill us for not saying anything earlier.”

Minato shrugs. “We were young once too,” Minato grins. “Kids and their secrets, right?” he knows that if he were to tell Mitsuru, the young Phantom Thieves wouldn’t be able to completely trust him as a friend. He didn’t want that, and Mitsuru tended to take things to the extreme.

“Hey, stop making us sound so old,” Yosuke laughs genuinely this time, and punches Minato’s arm.

“I guess,” Minato grins. “But we have to be good senpais. No secrets between us.”

Yosuke raises his fist. Minato looks at it, then bumps his own against it. “No secrets.”

Extra:

“How are you getting home, Kitagawa?”

Yusuke looks for the source of the voice, finding their new allies approaching him. “Ah, it would seem that the last train has left,” he admits with a small frown. He was extremely glad that the two older persona users were friends. He’d already grown fond of them.

“Yeah? Where ya’ heading?” Yosuke asks, his hands shoved into his pockets to keep them warm.

“Ah, the Kosei dorms…” Yusuke mutters. “I was planning to walk there—”

“That’s too far to walk!” Yosuke yelps, he looks aghast at the idea. “We can call you a cab if you—”

“I don’t have the funds…” Yusuke sighs with a small frown.

“Oh, no problem. It’s on me,” Yosuke says, already leading the three of them towards the road. But before he can raise his arm to call a cab, Minato puts his hand on Yosuke’s elbow to stop him. “Whatsa matter, Minato?”

Minato turns to Yusuke. Yusuke has to stop himself from leaning down to hear his soft voice. “Does your dorm have a curfew?”

“Ah…” that completely slipped Yusuke’s mind. The last time he missed curfew he had to wait until someone came out, and that took several hours. “Yes, there is, and it would seem that it is passed that time.”

“Bummer,” Yosuke looks sympathetic. He’d never had a curfew, his parents were slave drivers sure but they gave him plenty freedom to roam around at night both in the city and in Inaba. “You could sleep over at our place,” he suggests without skipping a beat.

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Yusuke tries to interject. He feels mildly embarrassed.

“Akira said to be ready for tomorrow, right?” Minato says, and looks fairly serious. “So you should be well rested.”

Yosuke’s already got Yusuke by his elbow, dragging him along the street towards their apartment. “Yeah, that’s right! And we may have been fighting for a while now, but that other world is still new to us so you’re going to have to be prepared in case either of us screw up.”

“I wont screw up,” Minato points out. He’s on Yusuke’s other side, almost as if he were making sure the young artist could not escape their hospitality. “It’s mostly Yosuke, he’s very clumsy.”

“You know, you’re a lot more talkative when it’s to talk shit about me,” Yosuke pouts.

As the roommates bicker, Yusuke finds himself finding comfort. He was severely thankful that they were friends.

[jungnoir]

college boyfriend!joshua

a/n: special thanks to @choco-seventeen for giving me the idea of barista!josh which ended up being the best idea ever,,, get rdy to die yall

here it is, our long awaited gentleman of seventeen!! requested by this darling~

i’ve never written anything for josh (which is appalling) and seeing as he’s now,,, like a bias,, i mean i kinda have to don’t i

i’m going to pretend that a straight week of searching for joshua scenarios did not help encourage this

so, lovely josh has always had a love for animation

ever since he was a baby, he’s always found a joy in watching cartoons, so his parents always put on some colorful children’s movie for him whenever he got fussy, or when he’d wake in the middle of the night from a terrifying dream and he’d need some calming down

this kind of comfort of seeing characters of all colors, shapes and sizes gave joshua an abundant imagination as a child. he always found he liked the fantastical feeling of animation that live action didn’t really provide him

anything could happen in animation, and anyone could be anything and look anyway that they liked, which was part of the appeal for him

as he got older, he was exposed to anime (lol) and he found that he enjoyed the more mature animation just as much as the kind marketed for children

and he didn’t discriminate either! he could watch anything from tokyo ghoul and death note to your lie in april and haikyuu!! 

but his favorite kind of animation lied in the love of studio ghibli films

something about the wonder of each film enthralled joshua so much as a teen, bringing him the nostalgia of his childhood that he loved so much

to all of his friends in high school, they had always expected joshua to get a stable, lackluster office job and stay in california with his family, which, originally, was the plan

but the films had inspired him to take a leap, so after applying to a few universities in seoul and getting accepted to the good majority, josh finished up two years of college in california before packing up everything he had and all the money he’d saved from odd jobs through his high school/college career and booked a flight straight to seoul, south korea

he obviously wasn’t flying completely blind, as he did have a friend living there already by the name of vernon

long story short on how the two met, bonding over xbox live can lead to long-lasting friendships ok

after a few years of friendship, countless nights of Skype calls and planning to meet one day, joshua had taken the first step and vernon’s family were more than happy to let joshua stay with them until he could get onto his own two feet (not that there’s any rush!! vernon totally doesn’t mind having an older brother around)

joshua was no stranger to korea either, having been taught korean since a young age by his parents, so he was pretty much set to start his new life in korea, even if his parents were pretty sad to see him go so far and so soon

they knew joshua had been a good kid his whole life, and he was making sure every connection and plan he had for his new life was laid out just right so he wouldn’t make things hard on himself and his family, and that was all they could really ask of him

for the summer before school started in korea, vernon takes to making sure joshua is settled in and at least semi-good at making his way around seoul without a problem

there was that one time,,, where he did get lost for like five hours and showed up back at the chwe house with an assortment of baked goods and sweets and exclaiming that “this stuff is so much better than the stuff in california!!”

vernon: you realize that we all thought you were dead right

josh: *blink blink* hm? :)))

but i mean before vernon knows it, joshua is freakishly adapted to life there and he’s suddenly like a local, making friends with literally everyone he meets because everyone is so fascinated by the american boy!! yet it’s funny cause the way josh saw it, vernon was v similar to him in a lot of ways, so he was a lil overwhelmed to find all of vernon’s friends were like !!! a foreigner !!! tell us everything

and sure, vernon hadn’t been to america since he was about five except to visit family, but they were all sooooo excited to hear about things from joshua’s perspective compared to the younger boy’s

so josh obliged, always talking about his experiences overseas and the other kids would be like :o or :D because!!! to josh that was all just boring everyday stuff to him but to them this was all so cool and interesting, and the way they felt about america was the same way josh felt about korea tbh

after a year in college in seoul, joshua was well settled down at the school

since he’s like,,, one of the best english speakers in school (save for a handful of other students who were bilingual their whole lives, foreigners, or just really good at the subject asjdijisa) he’s always willing to help his friends out with english class projects and he coaches them by speaking to them in english at random intervals

like they’ll be having a completely korean conversation and then all of a sudden josh is like “explain the plot to howl’s moving castle in english” and they’re like o shit here we go

but it’s really helpful??? they all get amazing grades bc of his pop quizes

all hail english professor hong jisoo

but, ok, everyone is so confused because that’s….. not what he goes to college for

like he’s verbalized that he loves learning and that being an english teacher in korea would be great for him bc he loves to show people the joy of learning! but animation was his first love

he’s v passionate about it, and he’s made several short films where the characters were stylized after his friends and their experiences (with their permission of course)

he actually did one on jun’s story of coming to korea for the first time as a chinese transfer student and entered it in a small film contest and won!! and jun was so happy that he cried ok

joshua was on skype with jun to jun’s family back in china and they were all gushing about the film after josh emailed it to them

basically if joshua ever needs to flee to another country, jun’s home is open jun’s mom said joshua has privilege of jun’s room before jun does

despite being really good at animating though, joshua is actually kinda shy about showing his work. he’s even shy showing it to his friends with the exception of vernon and jeonghan, the latter of which passive-aggressively convinced joshua to do it and is now joshua’s biggest hype man

“jisooooo. jun got a movie and I didn’t??” “…what would a movie about you even be about? you don’t do anything but sleep” “it could have been about how much you love me!!”

to placate him joshua showed all the lil drawings of chibi!jeonghan joshua had done over the year and jeonghan wouldn’t stop smiling and hugging josh all day jfc

jk jk tho jeonghan is super supportive and whenever people ask him (or don’t. they usually don’t ask but whom the fuk cares jeonghan says) about joshua, jeonghan just guuuushes about the boy and all of his great art and shows them joshua’s v tentative instagram page of his art. there’s only a few pics of outlines and some small clips of films he puts together, but jeonghan will gas his boy up so bad you’d think joshua already had an oscar

on the side, joshua has a job at the campus coffee shop

and like,, idk if you understand just how much of an accumulator of revenue that boy’s face is??

joshua is pretty humble so whenever his friends tease him and say that most of the customers that come to the coffee shop are there for his face, he downright refuses

but i mean,,, it’s true,, the majority of customers come during joshua’s shifts

and if josh isn’t working, it’s like a funeral home

it gets so bad the school is like “do u wanna like work here forever bc we’re totally down with that”

josh is like “lol no”

but he’s really good at his job and not many ppl notice that!! some jealous dudes think the only reason ppl even buy coffee from the shop is bc josh is serving it and they’re deluding themselves into drinking it, but josh is actually an amazing barista

u kinda get creative with coffee when you’re living off of it to graduate ajsiodha

he’s also king of latte art don’t fight me on this

he was playing around in the back one day on his break when he got an idea to make some art in a latte, bc he was at a creative loss with his art on paper, and he just made this v simple couple of hearts here and there, and then suddenly he was making all kinds of designs that ppl loved

his favorite is a little cat design that is so friggin cute ok. everyone loves it

everyone except you,,, who had no idea this was even a thing

between classes on certain days, you have about two hours of free time to yourself, so you like to escape to your favorite coffee place to study and relax

you usually didn’t like to go during this certain time in the day bc the shop was always bustling with customers and you really rather preferred to be in a smaller crowd. so basically, you’ve never seen joshua

you haven’t even heard of him bc you’ve always been pretty in your head when it comes to your studying time

u basically zone out the minute you can smell the coffee beans

but a friend of yours held you up in your last class, so your two hour break diminished to fifteen minutes, and you still hadn’t had your coffee

you practically bolt toward the coffee shop, but your eyes bug out of your head when you notice that for once, there’s a huge crowd of students there, something that never happens when you’re there

so like, groaning internally, you force yourself into line before anyone else can get in front of you and delay you even further

but like… the line is moving at snail’s pace

you can barely see up front, all you know is that someone is taking their sweet time making coffees

in fact, 70% of your time is swallowed up just waiting for the line to move up

you’re jittery, knowing class starts soon and you already don’t have that much time to book it to your next class at this rate, but you have to have your coffee

finally,,, you reach the front….. and….

“hi there! what can I get you this lovely afternoon?”

in the words of jeonghan again, whom the fuk-

“u-hhuhhhuuu hhh ????” 

windows has shut down unexpectedly

this beautiful specimen of a man is smiling down at you without a worry in the world, blinking softly with the longest, prettiest eyelashes you’ve ever seen on a guy

his hair is short and well kept, roots dark and colored with highlights of chestnut throughout

he’s in the uniform but that’s really only black slacks and a half apron; he’s wearing a really nice baby blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his collarbones are just slightly exposed with only two buttons undone at the collar- !!

“do you need a minute?” he asks, looking concerned at your vacant expression

that seems to snap you out of it (or maybe the frustrated swears from behind you do), and you sheepishly apologize, spitting out the first thing that comes to mind, which is definitely not your usual order, “small latte, please”

his eyes light up when you answer, “would you like the art too?”

you furrow your brows and he stares at you for a good moment before he realizes,, wow u really don’t know about his latte art? that’s literally all ppl come here during his shift for

but he does notice he’s never actually seen you during his shifts before

hmm. interesting

“i… i do latte art. it’s kind of… sort of a thing? i don’t know, um, would you like me to make you something in particular?” he says, suddenly a little flustered

you know. you know deep in your heart that you have zero time to spare and that you really shouldn’t be late for this class… but also,,, why the heck not

“surprise me!” you say softly, letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding

joshua perks up and he nods (probably harder than he should have) and quickly puts in your order for your latte 

you quickly scoot to the side and another boy takes over in his place as he turns to make your coffee, and you can’t help but watch his calm, gentle hands as he prepares it

there’s no rush in him, no sloppiness detected, and you can tell he takes pride in his craft

he pours the steamed milk with no difficulty, pouring it with such smooth precision that it hypnotizes you, even as he’s half turned from you and you can barely see what he makes

it’s only when he’s done and handing over your coffee with a smile that you realize,, you’re holding a mug

you forgot to ask for a to-go cup!

but like,,, if you put it in a to-go cup now, it’ll ruin his art

yet, you’re so late for class already……..

he looks at you with even more concern when he just catches you staring at the small tulip etched into the surface of the coffee, and he’s about to ask if you’re alright when you suddenly smile at him and say “you’re beautiful”

in ur mind, you’ve just told him the art he made in your coffee was beautiful

it takes u like,, eight seconds to register that is not what you said AT ALL

but by the time you realize your mistake and wordlessly try to motion to the cup he’s already laughing gently behind his hand, eyes locked on yours, and when he’s done he says “i’m sorry, i’m not making fun of you… you’re just… very sweet. i hope you enjoy the coffee”

part of u still wants to correct yourself, maybe save some of your pride, but instead, you simply sigh and accept his compliment that low (high) key makes your heart beat a little faster, and you quickly whisper a “thanks again!!” before skedaddling

and josh just watches with a soft smile, and can’t seem to get the strange new customer out of his head even after his shift

he doesn’t even mention that you’ve stolen the mug when his co-worker asks about it in bewildered confusion

“just say I broke it” he tells him, and goes back to work like nothing happened

the next day, you come in much earlier and find that the shop is void of a crowd, much to your relief and quieter dismay

holding in your hands the mug that you had washed and stared at in disbelieving horror the whole night in your dorm, you walk up to the counter and hold out the mug to the cashier, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion when you start to ashamedly explain exactly how you had snuck out one of the mugs

but before you can even get anything out, josh suddenly appears from the back, tying his apron just as he spots you and he goes “oh!! hey, mug stealer”

your face flashes in mortification

“i swear it was an accident-” “don’t worry, no hard feelings. I already covered for you so I mean, it’s practically yours anyway. you didn’t have to bring it back”

but you still hold it out, sighing “it made me feel bad, ok? i can’t look at this shame cup anymore”

joshua snorts bc

shame cup

ur too fucking cute for him

“ok, well, let’s make it not so shameful” he says, carefully taking the mug from you and going over to the coffee machine “latte, right? same as usual?” he throw over his shoulder

the girl at the cashier actually knows you, has served you for the last few years, so she shakes her head and tells him that’s not your usual, which makes him a little surprised and he apologizes, saying that he’s since switched around shifts with someone else so he’s still adjusting, so he’s about to ask you what you usually get when you blurt “latte’s fine!” 

and ok, yeh, you’re not getting a latte for him of course

obviously

he just smiles that beautiful smile and gets to work, and the cashier gives you a small, very indiscreet wink much to your chagrin

you shuffle to the side and watch joshua work again, smiling as he gets ready to pour the milk, when he asks what kind of art you’d like

“can I have… wait, what are you good at?” “hm, well, my favorite is a kitty” “kitty it is!”

he quietly makes your kitty, lip tucked between his teeth and you can tell he’s working hard 

he sets the cup before you (this time in a foam cup, just in case you have to run and didn’t remember to tell him again), and watches with pride as you beam at the art, your eyes shining

before you even think about it, you’re whipping out your phone and snapping a photo of it for instagram, before you realize you don’t simply want to credit “random handsome campus barista” for something as beautiful as that

“what’s your name?” you ask, and joshua tells you, and you quickly type down his name in the caption before tapping the photo to add a tag “do you have a instagram?”

and though he rarely ever uses it unless jeonghan prompts him to, joshua spells out his username for you and you tag him successfully, posting the photo just as joshua’s back pocket vibrates with a notification

“thank you so much, joshua. you’re really good at this you know” 

and josh hears it from everyone a lot. all of his customers and co-workers compliment him often so it’s not like he’s unaware of his talent

but there’s just something about the fact that you complimented him that makes him blush, but he just bows a little at you and thanks you softly as you depart to find a table to start studying

of which,,, u do not do lol

even tho it’s barely 10 posts, you spend quite a while looking through joshua’s instagram

they’re mainly shots of his art, of which you soon find out that his major is animation and film development

the captions are v minimalist, but in the comments to his friends and others who’d found his insta, he’s cutely gushing with lots of exclamation marks and the like about how his work is coming along, having casual convos about the others and how their lives are going, and responding to compliments with v heartfelt thanks

because he doesn’t post much, you check the posts he’s tagged in and see a bunch of candid, secret pics of him from all kinds of funny angles, most from students and some parody ones from his friends

by the time you decide to check how much time you have left until your next class, you find you’ve got about a half hour to cram whatever you were going to study within two hours into half of one and get to your lecture on time

so as fast as your legs will allow, you quickly hit follow on his instagram and stuff everything you have back into your bag before sprinting out, missing joshua’s small goodbye and wave in your haste

he smiles anyway, and later when he gets off his shift, he checks his notifications and finds he has a new follower… you

he totally misses everything his professor says looking through your instagram for a good hour and a half

so it goes on like this for a while, you getting your coffee from josh now that half his adoring fans are usually in class when you go to see him, and the two of you casually chatting about this and that

he talks about his major, you talk about yours, and a pure friendship forms

with josh, you really feel like you can talk to him about anything and he understands

he speaks slow, soft, uses pretty words but they’re never overrated. he talks to you with the utmost respect and attention, 100% focused on you whenever you’re around. you’re honestly surprised no one has snatched him yet, what with how much of a catch he is

and like,, you know that anyone would kill to date him because not only is he talented and beautiful and a certified dorkozoid, he’s considerate, kind, feminine…. he almost feels untouched by this world and everything in it

maybe that’s why, you usually think. he’s a catch. anyone would be lucky to have him and you’re having regular chats over coffee and you can tell ppl are jealous

but he just feels too good for you. for anyone

you can’t think of one person on campus that would be good for him. not necessarily that there isn’t anyone… it’s just… who?

as months pass and winter gets colder, you find yourself feeling the effects of being single ten times more

so your friends are like!! are you still head over heels for that barista?? let’s set you up on a blind date to get your mind off it!!!

you’re only like 60% against it

because honestly, even though you’d do anything to work up the courage to date joshua, you wouldn’t mind getting a little dolled up for someone and having fun on a date

so your friends set you up with some guy who’d meet you at this italian place in the city on friday, and you anticipate the day, even telling josh about it when he has time to listen

“ahh… heh, a blind date? you must be super excited” 

instantly you can tell something is off with the way josh talks, but he still keeps that pleasant smile, even tho it doesn’t quite reach his eyes

for the next few days leading up until friday, josh feels a little more reserved to you, not as open as usual and somehow always a little out of it when he talks to you

even when you ask, he just smiles (and it is nothing like his real smile) and tells you he’s fine

so come friday, you’re all dressed up and you happen to walk past the campus coffee shop and see joshua going in for a late shift, so you wave to him on your way and

fuck

fuck

he can’t even manage to say anything, completely speechless as he sees how absolutely stunning you look

and how he wishes you’d turn into the shop, grab his hand and tell him you were excited for your date

but instead, you’re meeting someone else, and all he can hope is that they care about you half as much as he does. even half was a feat

he suddenly catches up to you before going in, grabbing your hand, and you blink up at him in confusion when he says “be careful. text me when you get there please? so i know you got there okay. and… and text me, or one of your friends on your way home, please. you don’t know who this guy is or what he might do. just… have fun. be careful.”

you look at josh, his eyes showing such worry and concern for your well being that you pull him into a quick hug, smiling into his chest as he lets out a sigh, “of course. i’ll be good. plus, i have a pocket knife and a full can of pepper spray just in case he tries to get one over on me”

he chuckles, feeling a lot more relaxed as he hugs you back, “let’s trust you come back with that can still full and that knife still clean, alright?”

eventually, he has to send you off, and you head to your date

you arrive by 6:55, having been told that he’d be there by 7, and so you anxiously look around, knowing you were supposed to be on the lookout for a guy in a navy blazer

but… all the guys in navy blazers are there with someone already

by the time it’s 7:30, the waiter has come by twice, asking if the other member of your party is coming

and by 8, you’re sure he’s not

so you begrudgingly order dinner, eat it in angered silence, and don’t even bother to text your friends he didn’t show. you get your leftovers boxed and order one slice of strawberry cheesecake and leave, your eyes stinging and your heart hurting, but you get back to the school just fine

and at first, you were going to just head back to your dorm. 

but you walk past the coffee shop, and you look through the windows to see it’s still open and josh is still inside, cleaning up and shutting down for the night

before you can think, you’re rushing inside, glad he hadn’t locked the doors, and as soon as josh looks up in surprise to see you, he’s shuffling out from behind the counter and scolding you with “you never told me if you arrived or not. why are you back so early? you look sad, (y/n). what happened? what did that bastard do-” “I have cheesecake. you want some? take it or leave it”

you look hurt, but you keep up the stony expression and he just quietly nods, following you to a booth in the very back

he says nothing as you take out the cheesecake, says nothing as you go into the back and grab two forks and hand him one, says nothing as you take the first piece and sigh, over-exaggeratedly praising the dessert

he says nothing because he knows better. instead, he just listens as you begin to babble about the day, about how excited you were for today all week, how your friends had gassed up your blind date so much and how you had spent two hours eating by yourself, too embarrassed to cry or even tell your friends

he watches as you quietly struggle to pick up a strawberry, the sauce drenched fruit slipping off your fork as your hand trembles with words unsaid

so, he slides out of the booth and into yours, slips an arm around your shoulders, and makes you put it down

“it’s okay. i’m here” he says softly into your ear, and you let it all out into his shoulder

all of your tears and makeup stain his shirt but he couldn’t care less, his only priority in holding you close and comforting you

he wants to beat up your blind date, make them feel terrible for ever passing up an opportunity to spend a night with you because gdi, you were amazing and lovely and he wished he was in that bastard’s shoes

you guys stay like that for a while, you simply relishing in his comfort and joshua wishing he could help you feel better, yet not knowing how

but then he gets an idea

“do you want me to show you how to make latte art? you mentioned you were interested once”

at first, you’re kind of like??? now of all times?? but you also can’t help wanting to get your mind off things, so he helps you slip out of the booth and leads you to the back in the kitchen

there you see his sketchbook and laptop up, seeing he had been working on something before he’d gone to clean up

he goes to get some coffee together while you look over his work, smiling when you see he’s intricately drawing a character at a booth in what looked like a coffee shop, but as you look at it longer, something starts to click

“josh?” you ask, and he hums, filling up a cup with some coffee “Is… is this me?”

he glances back at you and his eyes widen some when he sees what you’re looking at, but he turns back around to play it off before you can say anything “ah, yeah. i needed to warm up so… i thought of you and drew”

“this looks way too detailed for a warm up” you say with a smile, tracing your fingers over the drawing, half of it colored in, the other half still white parchment paper and blending in to the colors where they end

josh snorts, making his way over to you and closing the notebook, “look at you. you know me too well, it seems”

you simply nudge him and he places the coffee cup before you before handing you a metal cup of steamed milk, “so, we’re going to start out with making a simple heart. it’s really important how you guide your hand. i don’t expect it to be perfect, so just try, freely”

he hands you the cup and you nod, turning the spout toward the cup and trying to carefully pour in the shape of a heart, but it becomes a deformed swirl too soon

josh still smiles, telling you to attempt to fix your mistake, but you continue to find it hard, somehow making the swirl more prominent

“josh, please help me” you whine with a small smile, and he nods with a laugh, reaching his arms around you

and,,, you’re caged against the counter, his hand coming to rest above your own where you hold the milk, and his head leans down to whisper into your ear how you should pour, murmuring “it takes a bit of practice, but once you get it, it’s satisfying”

you can’t even focus on the damn coffee bc he’s so close sasjhnasi

he keeps whispering in your ear, helping you try to fix your mistake, and then he grabs a toothpick and starts to trace the swirl into something of a shape, looking a lot better than before

“see?” he whispers by your ear, smiling even as your heart beats so hard you bet he can hear it against your back “not so bad”

you turn your head slightly, only able to move so much with his arm around you and body behind you, keeping you practically pushed up against the counter

he just looks at you for a moment when he sees the look in your eyes, mouth going a little dry

it must be the moment, or maybe the mix of emotions you’d released earlier, because you can’t find the nervousness from before anywhere near when you knead your fingers into his shirt and pull him in to kiss

his lips taste like coffee and stolen sweets, and he moves his body only to turn you around for better access to your mouth, his large hands closing around your hips and squeezing

he’s careful but he is not shy. he kisses you like he’s been wanting to all night, and if you asked him, he’d tell you he had 

you get so caught up in his heady kiss that even when he lifts you onto the counter and pulls himself between your legs, you don’t stop to laugh or marvel at his strength you didn’t know he had. you just thank god that he’s closer

after a few moments, he ends up pulling away, your lips chasing his with a frustrated whine that has him nearly buckling under his weight “my boss will kill me if we make out in the kitchen”

“then let’s take it somewhere else, dummy”

joshua has never locked up the coffee shop faster

after that day, he finally asks you out, and of course, you say yes

your friends apologize to you, feeling absolutely terrible for what happened with the blind date, but you honestly couldn’t care less bc if you hadn’t been stood up, you may have never gotten the chance to kiss joshua

everyone, and i mean everyone can tell there’s something different about josh come monday

he’s so much more peppy, so much more friendly, he’s practically beaming like a ray of sunshine,, like more than usual

and it’s so obvious why when you come in, stealing a kiss from him when he gets your coffee to you before you leave

josh’s co-workers are like??? is this allowed?? wtf is this allowed????

joshua’s boss doesn’t care cause it’s FRICKIN CUTE

a majority of joshua’s suitors back off when they find out he’s taken, but of course they continue to come bc josh is amazing at making coffee and no one is petty enough to stop coming just bc he’s taken lol

if joshua was an amazing friend, he’s an even better boyfriend ok

turns out that one drawing of you in the coffee shop was not the only one

he draws you often, and his favorite you to draw is a cute lil chibi version which he swears is so cute bc like,,, u small

boy literally giggles whenever he thinks about it

you: it’s really not that funny josh-

joshua: YOU’RE SO SMALL

actually made a chibi ver of himself and animated your chibi selves to kiss

he sent you the video and you look at it before you go to sleep every night bc it’s so cute

is always hyped for animated films and you can never get him as excited for live action films

he goes absolutely nuts for disney and stuff but he’s also a fine tuned indie animated film connoisseur of course

sometimes he’ll be like “so i watched this film last night called blah blah blah and it was about blah blah blah and…” and you don’t know wth he’s talking bout sometimes but you just listen to him babble bc u love him

scolds u if you haven’t seen a particular movie/anime/cartoon and then proceeds to force you to watch it

but you actually end up liking them?? and some of them become your comfort movies just because they remind you of josh

will send you animated couples and be like “this is us”

even if you two have nothing in common with the characters? it could just be a cute scene and he’ll link it back to you two

jeonghan LOVES you…. and also will fight you for joshua’s attention but he still loves you

he prides himself on being “joshua’s best friend” but then you meet vernon and vernon is like “he was my best friend first” so you go from a love triangle to a love square

if you added in all of joshua’s admirers it’d be like a love….  enneacontakaipentagon

(that is a thing)

since it’s a lot to go back to america to meet josh’s family, you instead meet vernon’s family in place of them, who despite only knowing josh for a year feel like he’s their second son

they gush about how much they love him and his influence on vernon and vernon’s lil sister and it’s just,,, so precious

but you can tell he gets homesick sometimes, and when family holidays come, he gets particularly sad

vernon’s family works hard to make it easier on him so they set up a skype date with his family every holiday and you watch josh as he talks about how his graduation is coming up, how he can’t wait to visit them, how he misses his mom’s home cooking and how nice life is in seoul

he introduces you to them over skype as well and they’re so kind and lovely!! they absolutely spoil you with love and attention and only have lovely things to say about you

then one day, you get a call from vernon’s mother

she tells you that secretly, they’ve been setting up for joshua’s parents to come visit, and they want you to keep it secret, as well as keep joshua out of the house the day they arrive so he doesn’t catch on

which,, proves harder than you expect

even on spring break your lovely boyfriend only wants to stay in and catch up on shows with you so you have to literally drag him out of the house to hang with jeonghan and vernon at the mall

while you’re all out, joshua just happens to see a shirt while you’re all shopping

it’s a tank top with the word “california” written across it

and usually, josh would just ignore little things like that, but as he stands there, he starts thinking of home and his family who he misses like crazy

it’s not like him, but a few tears slip past his eyes before he wipes them away, attempting to hide it before one of you saw

you did, but you don’t say anything, instead hooking an arm with him and leading him elsewhere, practically bursting with the need to tell joshua what was awaiting him at home

you manage to keep it secret though, even as you smile wider than ever on your back to vernon’s house

of course,,, josh is highly concerned

“why are you smiling so much? what are you hiding?” “dang boy, can’t a girl just smile a lil bit” “not like that. your smile is too big. it’s creeping me out”

if you weren’t driving you might’ve socked him in the arm

you carefully pull up to the house and joshua’s eyebrows furrows when he notices vernon’s parents’ car is parked somewhere different than it was when you all left 

“v, did your parents go somewhere?” he asks, but vernon simply shrugs and follows a grinning jeonghan out of the car, leaving just you and him alone

he stares at you for a bit, the smile still on your face, and then looks back at the house, the wheels turning behind his eyes

“what are you waiting for? i don’t know about you, but I wanna meet the hongs sometime this week, thank you”

his eyes widen a little bit and you’re laughing as he tumbles out of the car, rushing toward the front door as you trail behind, hearing a chorus of elated screams before you enter the house

when you do, you see josh all wrapped up in between his parents, all three of them crying into each other as jeonghan, vernon, and vernon’s family watch with smiles just like yours

for the rest of the day, you spend it with josh and his family, catching up on all that they’ve missed along with getting to know the hongs personally

they’re just as sweet in person as they are over skype, and they absolutely love poking fun at josh to you whenever they get the chance

the sound of josh’s embarrassed “mooooooom” in the background as she tells you about josh’s anime phase and how she’d seen an episode of one of those shows and had to have a talk with him afterward

you: what were you watching, josh?

josh:… i have since refined my taste

by the time the night ends, you’ve got enough embarrassment fodder to last you months

“please don’t take anything my parents said seriously okay. they live to make my life terrible” he tells you over the phone that night, after vernon’s family told you it was getting far too late and you should be heading home

highest of keys, josh was hoping you’d stay so late that they’d let you sleep over but knowing he had two (2) sets of parents in the house now, they’d probably make vernon sleep between you two and that’s the closest you’d get throughout the night

“i don’t know about that. those baby stories were comedy gold” you grin into the phone, laying on your back and smiling up at the ceiling

he scoffs, “just wait till i meet your parents. they’ll tell me all the crazy stories and i’ll have so much blackmail i won’t even know what to do with” “isn’t it funny how i met your parents, who live in california, before you met mine who live here?”

he smiles into the phone, “’s okay. makes us a unique couple. i was starting to think we were far too daydreamy. almost feels like a movie.”

“i’m surprised you haven’t turned it into one, actually” you say, playing with your shirt hem as sleepiness starts to creep up on you and you let out a yawn

“i promise one day i’ll make a movie about us. now go to sleep, i’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

you yawn again but oblige, and you say your goodbyes before hanging up and laying down to fall asleep, a content smile on your face

but then your phone vibrates under your pillow not twenty minutes later

confused, you pull it out, and find a video message from joshua

carefully, you open it, unsure of what you’ll expect, but find a seemingly quickly drawn stop motion video of chibi!you and chibi!josh kissing each other’s cheeks

you smile tiredly, shaking your head at the boy, but as the video comes to an end, a speech bubble appears above chibi!josh’s head, his eyes turning into hearts as he speaks to chibi!you “i’ve been debating on when to say this for a while, but i’m proud to be the first of us to say it: i love you”

the video ends, and you giddily dial josh’s number once more, the boy picking up just as quickly as you had called

“yes?” he says softly, voice tinged with slight worry

but you just chuckle, “jerk. i wanted to say it first. now let me go to sleep… i love you too”

[chopperiv]

Template credit goes to @trashwarden

So I’ve been playing a lot of Dragon Age recently, found this relationship template thing and thought I’d give a go at it. Lines extending from the player character are their feelings towards the other character, lines extending from other characters are their feelings towards the PC (with a gradient where the colours meet). Descriptions of each chart under the cut.

Warden Dribnif Aeducan was a fun piece of work. A total asshole, but he was fun to play, definitely my favourite playthrough of DA:O. Dude was an avid non-believer in magic, despite falling into a relationship with Morrigan, and nothing--absolutely nothing--could convince him it was real. “She’s not using magic,” he would say to Alistair. “She’s just flashing some pretty sparkles that distract the enemies long enough for me to plug them with arrows.” “What? Then what’s she making the sparkles with, if not magic?” Alistair would reply. Dribnif would shrug. “Some kind of glowing mushrooms made into a poultice or something. Trust me, I know my glowing mushrooms. I’m a dwarf, you know.” “Yes, I can see that, but...how do you explain her transforming into a spider? That’s clearly magic.” “It is not. Morrigan just throws a big black woollen cloak over herself and sticks some black tree branches out from under it. I dunno, she seems to enjoy it, and our enemies seem to be dumb enough to fall for it, so I let her have her fun.”

I noticed that with a lot of these templates I’ve seen filled out, there’s a lot of green lines or yellow, very few purple or grey, and I’ve never seen one with a black line (save for maybe one towards Loghain that I’ve forgotten about). Not with Dribnif Aeducan. He was a very polarizing PC. He had strong opinions and he would not hesitate to let you know them. 

Alistair and him were on good terms for most of the game, but all of Alistair’s friendliness towards him was vaporized by Dribnif’s decision to induct Loghain into the Grey Wardens. Dribnif wanted to remain on good terms, but Alistair never forgave his former friend. 

Dribnif himself never forgave Wynne for her constant nagging and berating him for his love for Morrigan, though she wasn’t quite as vehemently rude to him back. 

Oghren and Dribnif were thick as thieves. Both being dwarves, they found common ground complaining about Orzammar and drinking. 

Leliana didn’t appreciate Dribnif claiming her Maker didn’t exist (Dribnif thought religion was stupid in general--why worry about some kind of gods or ancestors or whoever having a hand in things when events are happening and affecting people right now?), and Dribnif didn’t appreciate her attempts to usurp him as the party’s archer.

Dribnif was thrilled to have a qunari on his side smashing heads in, and Sten appreciated Dribnif’s bluntness and pragmatism.

Loghain felt to Dribnif like a stopgap replacement for Alistair, but he came to genuinely respect the man, and actually ended up considering him more of a friend than he ever considered Alistair to be, to the surprise of all involved.

Loghain’s daughter Anora, on the other hand, rubbed Dribnif the wrong way from day 1. Maybe it was her odd speaking style that always made it seem like she was trying to hide something, maybe it was her inherent ties to the man that Dribnif at the time considered his biggest enemy...whatever it was, Dribnif decided he couldn’t trust her on the throne and cooked up a plan to get the country’s ruler in his pocket. His plan got Alistair a wife and a kingdom and got himself a top-tier general and veteran fighter in addition to his friend on the throne...but for some dumb reason Alistair didn’t seem very appreciative, meaning most of Dribnif’s work was pointless. Jerk.

Dribnif gushed about having Shale under his control for at least a full month after activating her. “I HAVE A GOLEM YOU GUYS THIS IS AWESOME.” Shale, for her part, tolerated him, but eventually came to respect the squishy short man.

Dribnif never liked elves in general, but saw promise in Zevran as a hostage he could possibly use to blackmail the Antivan Crows. Unfortunately for him, the plot backfired when Zevran swore loyalty to him before demands could be made. (Probably for the best, honestly.) Dribnif never forgave Zevran for a) being an elf and b) trying to kill him. He also couldn’t believe that Zevran couldn’t even open a simple locked box.

Dribnif always had a thing for tall women. The revealing outfit probably helped too.

DOG. DRIBNIF LOVE DOG. DOG’S NAME WAS WESTLETON AND HE WAS GOOD DOG.

Bonus Dribnif chart:

Nathaniel was a decent enough guy, and as a fellow archer he and Dribnif traded archery tips. (Bows were so good in Awakening that I often brought Nathaniel despite the weapon usage overlap.)

Dribnif was faithful to Morrigan, but if they hadn’t been together he probably would have made a move on Sigrun. A cheerful, stabby dwarf who’s a member of the Legion of the Dead? Sold.

Oghren and Dribnif were always pals, but Dribnif helping him out with his family troubles really solidified things.

Anders was a swell guy. Dribnif was more of a dog person than a cat person, though.

Justice is one of my personal favourite companions. Dribnif liked him too. Justice does not understand this thing you call “friendship”. What a guy.

Who is Velanna again? She’s the aggressive mage girl right? Bah. Elves. Dribnif was not a fan.

Champion Bongo Hawke has one of my favourite designs I’ve ever made for a character (and I was disappointed I couldn’t get him looking just right when he came back in Inquisition). He was a snarky bastard and supported the mage rebellion, though he had to kill Anders because what the fuck, guy. His unusual name was the result of me wondering “why would everybody only ever refer to him as Hawke, even his own blood relatives?”

Carver: “I’m not calling you that, no matter how you plead.” Hawke: “Come on, brother, don’t be like that. You know as well as I do this is the name that father wanted for me. You can’t keep calling me Hawke when we’re both named Hawke.” Carver: “Don’t care. Still not going to do it.” Hawke: “It’s a fine name! It’s our great-grandfather’s name!” Carver: “Great-Grandfather was insane! He stabbed fruits and furniture out of fear they were getting ready to steal his ears!” Hawke: “But he and father was very close, so father wanted me to have his name in his memory.” Carver: “His name was Matthias! He only starting referring to himself as Bongo after father was born! Bongo Bongongus, drum-lord of Southern Ferelden!” Hawke: “...I like that name. Maybe I should get everyone to call me Bongongus instead?” Carver: “NO”

Anyway, relationships.

Bethany was a nice girl and Hawke loved his little sister but she died.

Carver and Hawke didn’t see eye to eye for the longest of times, but eventually, after Carver returned from the Grey Wardens and got over his emo teen phase, their brotherly bond deepened.

Hawke was willing to overlook Merrill’s whole “blood magic” thing because...fuck, man. She’s really cute. Her accent is adorable.

Varric is the absolute best friend a guy like Hawke could ask for. Especially considering Hawke was very snarky. They had great banter.

Hawke and Tallis always had a rocky relationship, but the reveal that she was qunari put him over the edge. Bongo’s not a fan of qunari, after the whole trying-to-destroy/enslave-Kirkwall incident.

Hawke was ok with Anders, but he was very wary of the whole “Justice/Vengeance” thing and the fact that Anders never shut up about mage opression. Maybe it was because he grew up as an apostate and hadn’t witnessed the horrors of the Circles firsthand, only heard about them, but Hawke felt that Anders could stand to lighten the hell up a bit, at least once in a while. And then Anders went and started the Mage-Templar War. Hawke was forced to execute him. Fun!

Hawke’s uncle is a DICK and no one likes him

Isabela was cool, but she skipped town during the whole qunari thing and never came back. Rude.

Aveline was Tank-Mom. Hawke relished in getting her and Donnic together and brought her on pretty much every outing. (Aveline is rad u guys)

Fenris. Ah yes, the Western JRPG Protagonist. He was a dick because Hawke was a mage. Hawke didn’t much care for his dicketry. They did not get along.

Sebastian respected Hawke, but Hawke thought the guy needed to put a damn sock in it. OK. YES. PIOUSNESS AND STUFF. SHUT UP ABOUT THE FUCKING CHANTRY.

Inquisitor Verganon Lavellan was a good, polite man who went to elf-church and did his homework and ate his vegetables. He also drank from the Well of Sorrows, because screw you Morrigan I know more about this shit than you do, I am an elf mage

Cole’s a good kid. Like most of the companions (and players), Verganon took him under his wing, and encouraged him to be more human. Kid got a girlfriend out of it, so...I’m calling this a win.

Verganon thought Leliana did her job well enough, so he left her alone and didn’t try to soften her up. Why would we want our spymaster to be a big softie, anyway? It’s not like he knew her back when she was fun and actually went on adventures with the PC, though (as you can see above regarding Dribnif and Leliana’s relationship) she didn’t go on many.

Cassandra and Verganon had a strictly business oriented relationship. They went out, killed things, came back, said goodbye, and went about their business. (I mean, I still did her personal quest, but...)

Dorian’s a mage. Verganon’s a mage. MAGE BUDDIES.

Apparently Verganon was too elfy for Sera. Shove it up your quiver, jerkwad. Mythal does exist, and so does Fen’harel, so presumably the other elven gods do too. I WAS RIIIIGHT

Vivienne was far too hypocritical for Verganon’s tastes. Ok, so you want to reinstate the circles, fine...but would you want to spend your days cooped up in a tower taking orders from templars? No, not a chance? And there you have it. We at least shared a specialization so we could run into battle with our lightsabers carving shit up.

I AM DRINKING FROM THE FUCKING WELL OF SORROWS MORRIGAN OUT OF MY WAY S L U R P

Blackwall started off being someone Verganon wasn’t sure about, but as time went on his snarky nature and genuinely good heart won him over. (Also I really like his personal quest.) Although he’d never admit it, Verganon always did harbour a small crush for Blackwall...’s beard. It’s so majestic. HOW DID HE GROW IT HIMSELF, IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN BESTOWED UPON HIM BY THE GODS. ELVES CAN’T GROW BEARDS SO JEALOUS

Continuing on Hawke’s trend of people making friends with Varric...Verganon made great friends with Varric. Love that dude.

Iron Bull and Verganon killed a dragon together. After you do that with somebody you’re kind of automatically best friends. Then they went drinking and Verganon got fucking trashed

Cullen’s aight. Dig the collar.

Josephine’s politeness matched Verganon’s nicely, and he couldn’t get enough of the way she blushed whenever he gave her a compliment. Before long he was head-over-heels for her and somehow wound up in Val Royeaux trying to stab a man for her affections.

...Goddammit, now I want to go replay the series again. I’ll be back once I’ve completed all three games again.