#This whole ordeal is one of the reasons why he is so...not confident in his own abilities

[commanderfloppy]

random question for you: what's the deal with rococcus's time in the vigil? it sounds like it was a Ride (TM) @kerra-and-company

Yeahhh it kinda was, I’ll start from the beginning.

TW: Uhh death and talk about war and stuff.

When Rococcus was born he had dream with a very clear cut Wyld Hunt, he was a soldier and fought a dragon..ok well we know what you’re doing.

So after about a month of getting to learn some basic principles of the world and Ventari tenants he is sent off to join the Vigil. He is ok with this because ‘my hunt is pulling me towards it and I like the idea of protecting people :)’

Once in the vigil baby recruit Roco gets taken under the wing of an older sylvari who was also called to join the vigil, Delwyn.

Rococcus really appreciates this new mentor and also develops a bit of a crush on them? (Kinda, it never fully formed since they still kept their distance sometimes so roco never really felt any solid attraction, kinda that ‘this person is really cool I like them as a friend…I think?’ Limbo)

The first year or so in the vigil are pretty good! The missions Roco went on were mostly focused on helping people escape the grasp of dragon corruption, clearing travel routes, getting aid. There were rough moments and some losses, but he was helping people and this was his destiny it’s fine it’s good..

Then the pact formed and the fight turned to Zhaitan. This is when things started to go to shit. Roccocus already felt a lot of strain from the fact that the pull of his Wyld Hunt got a lot more magnified the closer they got to Orr, the pressure of knowing this is what he’s meant for and that it was getting closer was a lot.

Once the assault on Orr started a lot of casualties happened, including ones full of squadmates he once knew, and because he’s a guardian (with purifying flame magic) it fell to him to thoroughly burn those fallen soldiers so they couldn’t be revived by Zhaitan, even those who hadn’t quite died yet (Delwyn helped by putting them out of misery swiftly before the cremation happened though).

So yeah now he’s here at this shit ass place that smells like dead things, basically everyone he’s known has died and he was the one who had to see them dead. And this whole time as horrible things happen around him an invisible string of fate is pulling him along, closer to even more suffering, (which he’s becoming less equipped to deal with because all this stress is making his magic start to fuck up and get weaker).

This all comes to a head during the final attack on Zhaitan, through some way (possibly the airship they were on crashing) Rococcus and Delwyn are stranded on the ground as the air assault continues, but things are close to being finished. While the injured Roco and Delwyn wait for rescue, some leftover risen from the ground assault attack them. He tries his best to provide cover with his magic, but it doesn’t work well enough and the barrier breaks. Delwyn is shot dead before his eyes as the last risen falls.

He sits there on the battlefield, the pull in his chest dissipates, it’s done…he’s done… everything is over

So uhh all his friends died and he got fucked up…have this drawing…sorry

[bomber-grl]

Dipper Pines x Drop dead gorgeous!reader

Pairing(s): Dipper Pines x Gn!Reader

Dipper is awe struck when he sees you for the first time

I mean the first few interactions between you two consisted of a very flushed Dipper and usually only ever did he interact with you if someone else was near

Particularly Mabel since she probably became your friend first

Yknow, because of obvious reasons

Anyway the inevitable happens and you two start dating

One thing to mention is how exhaust replaced dippers initial giddiness as soon as Stan and Mabel found out you two were finally together

They continuously teased the two of you and especially dipper when you weren’t around

Particularly because of how many people were lined up to date you and he somehow happened to be the “lucky one”

Stan and Mabel obviously used this to make sorta harmful jokes about how they didn’t know why you chose him

He obviously knew to ignore these said “jokes”

He’s pretty much learned to atp

This sorta plants seeds of doubt in his mind and a bit more humiliating, he becomes a little too self aware

More than he’d like

When the two of you get together and do your usual nerdy adventure hangouts (as Mabel and Stan like to call it) you take note of how distant he is

It’s sorta hard not to

But when you decide to bring it up he deflects so badly and eventually lets you know what’s been going on

He’s pretty embarrassed about the whole ordeal

Of course he decides to just tell you especially if you’re persistent and you reassure him it’s alright

Usually when the two of you are walking around town you two are constantly getting teased and called cute together

It’s sort of endearing in your eyes but it’s easy to tell that dippers embarrassed

He actually likes that it’s known you’re together but let’s be real here, he’s new to being in a relationship so he’s easily flustered

Let’s continue shall we?

You’re usually scouted by modeling companies and when you let dipper know after a particularly harsh encounter with a model scout? He honestly believes you

Although that doesn’t exactly reassure him- if only it worries him

Literally makes him sorta scared you’d be kidnapped by the gnomes to be their new “bride”

(Bride in quotations because even if you’re not a girl dipper doesn’t doubt that the Gnomes could care less if you are, as long as you’re beautiful I guess)

So besides the constant business cards you get and constant teasing, you also get asked out

A LOT

Guys and girls and everyone in between (or outside) ask you out all the same and if dipper were any more insecure it would not work out

Plus this continuously humbles him each time he works up the confidence to be more bold 💀

Not to mention how the SUPERNATURAL falls for you

He’s not surprised, again but DAMN he gets it

Everyone wants you 💀

Well besides all those points I’ve made that could be perceived as negative-

Let’s talk about how dipper sees you

I mean you’re an attractive person and he knows it

No you don’t get it, he knows it

He could look at you for hours and not mind

You’re both beautiful inside and out which is why dipper likes you

He really though you’d be those weird stuck up guys Mabel likes or those “popular “ posh” girls like Pacifica

So knowing you’re kind and just goes with whatever dipper needs to do?

Yes that definitely has him caught up with you

[last-herondale]

Almost

Bucky Barnes x FemReader!

Angst, heartbreak, longing, unrequited love

Hello! It’s been a while, but here is my Bucky fic that I promised from my poll!

The night air was cool and crisp against your skin. The wind was blowing slightly, not enough to be uncomfortable, but enough to cause stray pieces of your hair to swirl into the night as you leaned on the balcony of the Avenger’s tower. You could hear the music from the party inside, its rhythmic beat softly booming from within. It was Steve’s birthday party and it was a lively event that you, Nat, Sam, Bucky, and surprisingly Tony, had spent weeks planning. The guardians had flown in for the occasion, as well as Carol and Thor, who had Loki in tow with him. The night started off simple enough with a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was just Steve, Bucky, Nat, Sam, and yourself at dinner while Tony was busy finishing the party preparations with Bruce.

You had wondered if dinner would be awkward at all. It had been 10 months since Bucky and Nat had broken up, and it had been a strenuous ordeal for the whole team. Nat had broken it off with Bucky, for personal reasons she had told you in confidence. You knew they had had problems during their relationship, problems mostly stemming from their mutual inability to be there for each other emotionally. It was a tough reality to face, for both of them. You often felt like the bridge between the two of them, being the one that both parties were able to confide in. It was hard to be impartial to either side.

On one hand, Natasha was your best friend. She had been ever since you joined the team. She had been dating Bucky when you first joined the team, and your friendship only seemed to strengthen once they broke up. You loved Nat, and treasured her friendship more than anything in the world. You were very surprised when she told you that she started seeing Bruce Banner a few months ago. Even though Bruce seemed like the opposite of Bucky, in all accounts she seemed very happy with him. And you were happy that she was happy…

But on the other hand, there was Bucky. He had been devastated by the breakup. He had wanted nothing more than to drown away his sorrows in booze and fill his nights with endless distractions. You had been very surprised when he had called you one night, asking if you wanted to hang out with him and Steve. Nat had been out with Banner that night, and the tower felt lonelier than usual, so you agreed.

The three of you had spent the night drinking and playing darts. It had been a fun night of laughter and jokes. You were almost glad to see Bucky as he once was, happy and carefree, but as the night wore on, and Steve tapped out around 4 am, it was just the two of you left at the bar. The two of you just sat at the bar, sipping the last of your drinks when you asked him how he was doing.

His facade had slipped away, the smile he had forced all night was gone, and instead he put his head down and let out violent sobs of anguish. “I miss her, god, she was…everything.”

It broke your heart to see him so miserable. You never knew he was in such a poor state. It had been 7 months since they had broken up at that point, and as far as you or Nat knew, he hadn’t seemed like he was upset about it. Why he decided to be so open in front of you… you couldn’t understand. But you comforted him, as best as you could. You stayed with him all night, agreed to take a walk with him and let him vent to you until the sun came up. When he finally passed out on your couch at the avengers tower, he woke up hours later and left without a word.

You thought that was the end of it. That it was just one drunk night that had him so emotional, but then he called again. And again. And again. Hanging out with Bucky started to become a normal part of your routine. Half of the time it was always with Steve, the three of you hanging out. But then Bucky would want to hang out with just you. Mostly you both would talk, sometimes drink, sometimes watch a movie or even sing some karaoke once the liquor started to hit. It was…nice.

You had made sure it was okay with Nat, of course. Asking her if she was bothered by you hanging out with her ex, but Nat seemed undisturbed.

“It seems like he needs a friend, and I know I haven’t been around for you a lot lately either. I’m okay with this, really. Whatever it is— and whatever it becomes.”

Despite your many assurances that nothing was going to happen between you and Bucky, Nat just brushed it off and teased you further about it. She was in a really good place with Banner and she seemed genuinely thrilled with the idea of you and Bucky becoming an item.

The idea had crossed your mind a time or two. Mostly when you were very intoxicated and alone with Bucky. It was hard not to be drawn in by the beauty of him. You’ve caught yourself staring at his arms when he was throwing darts more times than you’d care to admit, and whenever he would throw his arm around you in a fit of laughter, you couldn’t help but feel your stomach flutter.

Getting to know him on a deeper level made the idea of not wanting him even harder to deny. He was still very much hung up on Nat, that was clear, but whenever he let himself be vulnerable and he talked about his past and the things that haunted him, you couldn’t help but feel connected to him in a way that you hadn’t felt with others. Everything about him seemed to be drawing you in. It was a maddening cycle trying to stop yourself from catching feelings, but it was one you fought for the longest time.

Until tonight. The party had been the biggest eye opener to you since you started being friends with Bucky. Dinner was not an awkward affair, much to your surprise. Nat and Bucky were cordial with each other at the dinner table, even sharing a few laughs as you sat between them.

“How have you been James?” Nat asked. Bucky gave her a small smile. “I’ve been alright. I heard about you and Banner, congrats by the way.” Banner had proposed to Nat a few weeks ago. To your surprise Bucky had taken it rather well.

“Thank you, we are very happy,” Nat beamed. She gave you a quick glance and smiled. “Have you seen anyone Buck?” You opened your mouth to protest to Nat, but Bucky just laughed.

“I have been talking to someone for a little while now.”

You felt your heart drop to your stomach. This was the first you had heard of this. You kept a steady grin on your face as he continued talking. You thought you saw Nat flash you a Quick Look, but it was so fast you could have thought you had imagined it.

“Well, that’s awesome. I’m happy for you Buck,” Natasha smiled.

“Yeah, we’ve only been on a few dates but so far it’s been going well.”

The rest of the dinner felt like a strange blur. You remember sitting there, you remember eating, and you remember getting into the car to head back to the tower where the surprise party was, but any other detail of the night faded away into nothing.

Why did it bother you so much? You had no right to lay claim to all of Bucky’s attention. The two of you were friends, and nothing more. You had set that boundary yourself, for yourself to stop yourself from getting hurt. But then again, you had never gotten as close to anyone as you had with Bucky. There had been people in the past, those you thought had the potential to hold your heart, but nothing ever worked out with them.

When the party returned to the tower, an uneasiness settled deep into your stomach as people began to arrive. You tried your best to distract yourself with trivial tasks such as handing out drinks, messing with decorations, or just following Sam around and letting him talk your ear off. But as the party grew, so did the uneasy feeling in your stomach.

Who was this girl? Would she be here tonight? Would you be able to handle it if she was?

As these thoughts were swirling around your head, you decided that maybe it was time to talk to Nat about your feelings. You searched around wildly for any sign of her or Banner but came up empty. You saw Bucky momentarily, he was talking with Steve and your eyes met for a single moment but you quickly looked away. You needed air.

So, that’s when you stepped out of the party and had been hiding ever since. You sent a text to Nat to meet you outside whenever she could. You stood there a bit, swirling the drink in your hand and enjoying the breeze on your flushed cheeks. You heard the sliding door open and you turned expecting to see Nat.

“I need to talk to— oh, hey,” you caught yourself and pitched your voice higher as Bucky closed the door behind him.

“Hey, doll,” He said, his usual playful tone was a bit strained, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” you replied quickly, a bit too quickly, “I, uh, just needed some air.”

You moved a bit from your spot as he came to stand beside you. The smell of his cologne hit your nose as he sidled up next to you on the balcony, the leather of his jacket brushing against your arm momentarily. Your chest felt like it was contracting, being so close to him. As if the proximity alone was enough to unravel your whole being.

“How are you enjoying the party?” You choke out, refusing to look him in the eye, focusing instead on the city skyline below.

“It’s fine,” he began cautiously. It seemed, “It would be better if you would talk to me though.”

Your back stiffened at his words. You said nothing and yet he continued. “You’ve hardly said a word since dinner and we both know that isn’t normal. You didn’t even laugh when Sam made fun of Banner’s bowtie in the car.”

“Yes I did,” you said weakly.

“If you’re gonna lie to me, can you at least look me in the eyes?”

It was the brokenness in Bucky’s voice that made you turn to face him finally. His eyes were searching yours, trying to read every detail from your face. You bit your lip to keep it from trembling.

“Please, just tell me what’s wrong,” he begged quietly.

You opened your mouth, wanting to answer him, wanting to take away his discomfort at this moment, but the aching of your heart prevented words from coming out.

A choked out noise came from your lips just as the sliding door opened.

“—and I told him, I said—- oh hey!” Scott Lang said in a slur of words, having some unfamiliar guy in tow behind him.

“This are my buddies! Barnes and—“

“Leave Lang. Now.” Bucky said with icy venom.

You didn’t have to look to know that Bucky’s cold tone was enough to do the job as the door slammed shut again.

You wished you could follow Scott out of the situation, but you couldn’t. You took a deep breath, summoned your courage, and downed your drink in one fell swoop.

You shut your eyes right and clenched your jaw a moment as the liquor burned down your throat.

“I’m in love with you.”

The silence that followed there after was deafening. You opened your eyes and looked at Bucky. His expression was soft, his eyes a bit wide with the information, but there wasn’t any hint of anger or disgust.

“I…” he began, “I don’t deserve that.”

His eyes finally looked away from you, as if it was his turn to be embarrassed. His turn to feel ashamed.

“Look, you’ve been everything to me lately. You’ve put up with me when other people wouldn’t— when other people haven’t. You’ve cared for me, truly cared… and it’s lit a fire in my soul again. A fire I thought would forever be extinguished when Nat—- when we broke up.”

His eyes flickered towards you for a moment here and there. You held a steady gaze out towards the balcony, letting his words sink in as you felt your heart shudder at each word.

“I owe you more than I could ever pay back, and that’s why I know— I know I don’t deserve you.”

Suddenly your felt his bare fingers under your chin, his hand gently tilting you gaze to him. Tears fell down silently and touched his hand.

“Listen to me, okay, please,” he begged, his voice catching slightly, “I love you. Okay? I love you, I do. But you deserve more than me. You deserve someone whole, someone who has all the love you give them in turn equally back to you, and then some. I want what’s best for you, and I know deep down that I am not that.”

You did everything in your power to not turn into a whimpering mess, you held his gaze, ignoring the tears. You took a ragged breath and moved your chin enough for him to drop his hand.

“Tell me about her.”

Bucky sighed and put his hands in his pocket.

“She’s nice. Has her own issues, but she’s more like me. Broken like me.”

You nodded, wiping at your face in vain. The tears kept coming, even if you didn’t feel sad. Even though you were pissed.

“I’m happy for you,” you said as happily as possible. You took a step towards the door but he moved in front of you, gently placing his hands on your shoulders.

“Wait, please.”

You didn’t fight him. You met his gaze in defiance and you swore you could have seen a smile creep on his lips.

“There she is,” he murmured.

You couldn’t help but smile a bit at him. Even though a million emotions were running through your mind at the moment, the idea staying mad with him never stuck for long. Even now.

“I need you to know how much I care about you. I need you to understand that. If you hate me for it afterward then I can live with it,” you opened your mouth to tell him you could never hate him but he kept going as if to purposefully stop you.

“I would still be in a very dark place if it wasn’t for you. I value your life significantly more than mine. I would die for you, I would kill for you. You are everything to me and more and I am so honored to be loved by you. I treasure you, I adore you, but I am no good for you. Please understand that. You deserve so much more than I have to offer. And I would hate myself if I broke your heart. And I would. I already have. And I hate myself.”

Suprisingling the tears stopped. You looked at Bucky and studied his face. He was sincere. He was broken, that you already knew. He had more ghosts than anyone else could ever imagine, and past that haunted him daily. But he was Bucky. And he was kind and he was gentle, and he was fierce and loyal.

And you loved him.

That feeling would not easily go away, no matter how much Bucky might wish for it to. But you decided then that you would hold onto that feeling for now. Even though he warned you, had told you he did not want anything further. It would be harsh. It would be devastating. It would be soul crushing.

But it would be yours.

“I think I need some time.”

That was all you said further. His hands dropped from your shoulders and you walked back into the fray of the party. You could feel his eyes on you as you walked through the lobby. People were dancing and drinking and laughing and having a blast. You walked past them all, not paying them any mind. Nat found you, tried to talk to you but you just brushed her off as you found the elevator.

You held yourself straight. Composed. Even when the door to the elevator closed and you were alone. Even when you walked down your corridor and found your way into your dark apartment. It wasn’t until you changed from your party clothes into your sleepwear, curled up in your bed, alone in the dark, that you began to cry.

[qiu-yan]

a lot of what nie mingjue does makes sense if you consider his specific code of ethics, his position, and the fact that he's known for pretty much his entire life that his cultivation path will kill him and has accepted this fact entirely....but the one thing i don't understand is why he swore brotherhood with jin guangyao. from nie mingjue's point of view, jin guangyao is already the guy who faked a suicide to escape from nie mingjue after nie mingjue tried to bring him to justice for straight-up murder, and that's not even getting into all the fear, anger, and trauma nie mingjue must still be bearing from the wen yao confrontation at nightless city. why would you want to tie yourself via sworn brotherhood to someone who has already done all this shit to you?

consider also the fact that nie mingjue knows his saber cultivation will lead him to become more unstable, impair his judgment, and may even affect his perceptions of reality - which means that he needs confidants he can trust. jin guangyao, via the whole suicide gambit, has already proven to nie mingjue that he is not trustworthy. so if nie mingjue knows that trustworthiness is necessary and that trust is something he's going to need, why would he choose to tie himself to someone he already thinks of as untrustworthy?

some potential reasons i can think of (written from nie mingjue's pov, so they might read uncharitably):

first (1), there's nie mingjue's stated reason of "wanting to correct jin guangyao from the path of evil" (something along those lines). there's at least two different ways you can take this:

1A: nie mingjue wants to do this in order to protect others from jin guangyao: first, nie mingjue sees jin guangyao as an emerging threat no one else has yet recognized, and so wants to keep an eye on jin guangyao / keep him in check. if jin guangyao can be "corrected to the righteous path," then fewer innocent people suffer. second, nie mingjue wants to protect lan xichen from jin guangyao. from nie mingjue's pov, lan xichen has been completely taken in by jin guangyao's charm, so jin guangyao could pose a danger to him as well; by inserting himself into the sworn brotherhood, nie mingjue can be there to protect lan xichen.

1B: nie mingjue wants to do this in order to save jin guangyao himself: nie mingjue still loves jin guangyao and wants to save jin guangyao from the path of evil, for jin guangyao's own sake. confucius (and aristotle, and marx, and a whole bunch of other dudes) does say that if you see your friend doing something morally wrong, then as their friend you have a duty towards them specifically to object to their behavior.

second (2), there are also some more practical / political reasons:

2A: the sworn brotherhood secures a more stable future for nie huaisang, since it entails long-term connections with the jin and the lan.

2B: a sworn brotherhood between high-profile members of different sects after the ordeal of the sunshot campaign could help in encouraging more postwar intersect unity, which would be necessary and beneficial in a time period in which everyone's still struggling to recover from the war. this sworn brotherhood ties the jin, the lan, and the nie together as allies, meaning they can share resources and information as they rebuild. of course, this does entail the exclusion of the jiang - but my personal opinion is that they all lowkey expected jiang cheng to fail and for the jiang to decline / be absorbed by another sect.

third and finally (3), there are the simple interpersonal reasons, unrelated to morality or politics:

3A: nie mingjue still cares for jin guangyao and therefore still wants a relationship with him. at the moment he swore brotherhood, he was still willing to try and mend things with jin guangyao.

3B: nie mingjue wants to make lan xichen happy, and lan xichen clearly wants the sworn brotherhood.

3C: if nie mingjue refuses to swear brotherhood, lan xichen may very well go ahead and swear brotherhood with jin guangyao anyways. which would lead to lan xichen and jin guangyao becoming closer, while lan xichen by contrast drifts further way from nie mingjue.

probably some aspect of all of these (plus some other reasons i forgot) are true at once. what's interesting, though, is that one can construct two overlapping yet also separate categories of reasons - separated by whether one believes nie mingjue still holds personal affection for jin guangyao or not.

[blues824]

i saw the first years reacting to ciel!mc. so could you do jack,epel,rook, and kalim reaction to fem lizzy!mc. she is basically the epitome of a girly girl with a ditzy personality. however that facade changes when in chapter six, when they get surrounded by the S.T.Y.X robots she precedes to slice them down left to right showing that she is a skilled swordswoman and she told them the reason why she hides her amazing skill is because she thought they will leave her for being 'unladylike'.

Jack Howl

The first time you met him, you called him cute and started petting his tail. Had it not been for you holding it, his tail would have started wagging. His face was glowing red as he asked you to get away from him and stop petting his tail. You were definitely very bold for doing that, but now you have his attention.

You always dressed up in a very girly fashion, now that he thought about it. Once the two of you were in a committed relationship, you actually asked him to help you pick an outfit. It would be this whole ordeal, be it in Ramshackle or a date to the mall. Having him wait outside of the fitting rooms so that you could show him the clothes that you liked did make him a bit embarrassed and flustered, but he thought that it was better that he do it rather than someone else.

Now, this girly personality dropped when you grabbed your two swords and slashed at the STYX robots. You moved with such grace, and after the whole ordeal he asked why you hid your talent. You looked down as you said that it was unladylike, but he responded that you were acting very much like a lady for defending both him and yourself.

Kalim Al-Asim

He’s also very bold, so you were affectionate from the very start. He doesn’t mind you dressing him up and helping him choose an outfit that would match yours. He instead loves it, and it makes you look like a couple. You even help him choose one of his fancy bows to wear for the day, and he wears it with pride.

This man just loves spoiling you by bringing you to the mall and even his homeland of the Scalding Sands when you are on break and purchasing gifts for you. As grand as you are, you have been very overwhelmed by the amount of gifts he gets for you. It was on one of these trips where you saw a blacksmith forging a sword that looked familiar, and you quickly walked by it to try and get the memory of your life back in London out of your mind.

But, the events of Chapter Six really did not want you to forget. You slashed apart the robots with the swords that you had brought with you. Kalim was shocked that you were such a talented swordswoman, as he had not pieced it together yet. After, he asked why you never told him, and you told him that you were afraid he would leave you for not being ladylike. A few days later, you received two new swords with a gold pommel as well as a golden quillon, with a note addressed from your boyfriend that he loved you and hoped these swords would do well.

Rook Hunt

As much as he liked to stalk you, he still didn’t know too much about you. To be fair, once he had expressed interest in you, you already confided in him a few times. The way he made your heart swoon reminded you of how the young maidens within the old romance novels you poured over were swooning over their knights. 

Yes, the hunter knew about the effect he had on you, because you had the same effect on him. His heart called out for you, and when he couldn’t see you he would sit down and write a small couplet about his feelings. He’s found that it’s the best way to express his feelings and retell them to you later. He did not hold back either, and it sounded like you were dead once you read them.

That aside, he had somehow not known you were a talented swordswoman until you came slashing in at the STYX robots. He was using his bow and arrow right alongside you, and you both made quite the team. Afterwards, he asked how you came to have such a skill, and you told him that you always had it back in your world, but you hid it because it was unladylike to fight. He immediately pulled you into his arms while shaking his head, saying that he found you absolutely beautiful with a sword (or two) in your hands.

Epel Felmier

You both were complete opposites, and he at first found you to be very annoying. However, you showed him a level of kindness that he had not experienced before, and he soon found himself completely in love. You would actually distract Vil by asking him to dress you up rather than Epel because you were obsessed with the Victorian style of dresses (which wasn’t far off, considering you had teleported to Twisted Wonderland in a dress similar to the patterns that Vil was looking at). 

It was through said Housewarden where a gown and a matching suit for the two of you. Because of the slight bit of inspiration, Vil had thrown a ball within Pomefiore. You were absolutely beautiful in Epel’s eyes. He said so himself, and his rural accent accidentally slipped out. You giggled as you led him in a waltz (this man probably only knows how to line dance). At least he didn’t step on your foot.

What really threw him in for a loop was when the events of Chapter Six took place and you came in, swords swinging. The country boy let out a gasp as he saw his girlfriend absolutely destroy the STYX robots, along with his Vice Housewarden. Afterwards, he asked how on Earth you were so skilled with a blade, and you were a bit flustered and embarrassed. You said that you had learned since you were young, but you hid it because it was unladylike. He didn’t mind it though, and thought it was so cool.

[year2000electronics]

HIII I'm immediately obsessed w your Just Say Yes au like GRHRGGRH I'm gnawing on this foreverr. as a sweater twins enjoyer though it's UGHH. angst <3 . but angst </3

even when mabel and dipper eventually reconcile (because I'm getting the feeling they will, at least someday) could mabel and ford ever reconcile? I'd imagine she blames him more than she blames dipper for the whole ordeal, and with stan inadvertently kinda making it worse (not to mention bill just. being bill.)

UGH and he'd probably still be too stubborn to admit or apologize even to his niece (I say this w love I promise). god save ford from the wrath of an arts and crafts girlie. the multiverse couldn't prepare him for her.

this is a tough question, and one i have been GNAWING on. ive been working on a full plot for just say yes beyond just the initial premise (there's a lot of stuff i have to consider! i'm even trying to consider whether there even should be an eventual weirdmageddon or not) so its like, i dont know the ending to it all yet, but i know that i want like. a happy ending but REALISTICALLY happy, yknow? so its not all kittens and rainbows but i think dipper and mabel are definitely gonna make up and theres gonna be the chance to heal. the chance is so important.

but that still leaves the question of the stans, and by extension, the stans' now-splintered relationship with their "opposite" pines kids. its tempting to say mabel never want to talk to ford again, right? he came into their lives, punched their grunkle in the face, made everything awkward and stressful for the entire time he was there, and by the end of the summer, took her brother away and then was part of the reason he became a paranoid shut-in.

but i think it eats at her that they have something in common that nobody else currently alive can say they have.

a friendship with bill.

it's not JUST that bill is some master manipulator, its more about what he represents for both ford and mabel. both of them were approached by bill during a period in their life where they felt more lonely than they ever had before (especially in the wake of a rift between them and their twin) and bill purposely used that against them. how can they explain to people that they confided in bill, and they ignored the signs? how can they explain why on earth they would trust a DEMON? who could sympathize with the twins who sold the world?

i think thats what could be the key to mending the relationship between all four of them. ford being the one to reach out to mabel after everything's done, after she either helps billie bring about weirdmageddon or ALMOST bring it about depending on what i decide. i think for ford, whos been slowly realizing that he is hurting the people he loves, and has been forced to reckon with that because unlike fiddleford and stan, he's living with dipper and seeing him slowly grow into a reflection of his own negative traits. and he realizes that him and mabel separating was In Large Parts His Fault.

the fact that ford would reach out to mabel and try to extend the olive branch during the period of her life where she probably feels the most like a pariah, more alone than even before billie, to say "sometimes we do selfish things. but that doesnt make us irredeemable" is a sort of atonement for both her and himself, and also a way for him to admit that yes, he did hurt people

[bau-drabbles]

dancing with your ghost

a/n: enjoy! and apologies if it's ooc for him 💀 it was written in a rush :)

maeve's death affected spencer relationship with you more than realised, he just didn't know the true extent of it until jj points it out

"what are you doing spence? you shouldn't be in here, not like this" jj entered the room, to see him buried in files. his curly hair was tousled, like he'd been running his fingers through it countless times. and judging by the tense lines on his forehead, she guessed it was one of those days. he was distracted, his fists clenched tightly around the folders.

she'd gone to you just moments before, wanting to know what had happened. she could see the pain in your eyes but you didn't want to speak so she didn't force you. and how could you?

the anger practically swallowed you whole, making you see red whenever his name was mentioned. she was your closest confidant in the bau, jj knew spencer was the reason for your pain. and despite you telling her over and over not to confront him, she did so anyway. it had to be done.

however today, the atmosphere was different. spencer was different. so were you.

"she had you, so it's fine. i'll talk to her tomorrow" he hated how selfish he sounded, how cold he was. but those horrible thoughts he tried to keep at bay poisoned his mind, the darkness trickling in through the cracks of his facade.

the fight you both had just hours before killed him more, he needed you. he always did. so why was his feet planted firmly on the ground, refusing to seek you out. why did it feel like there was a knife in his heart, twisting deeper every second he was away from you? why did it feel like his whole world was about to crash down at any given second

he tried to keep himself distracted but all his mind would replay were those haunted pictures of his ex lover. how helpless he was, how completely lifeless her body felt, how he could prevented it all. and it absolutely obliterated him in pieces.

he would wake up in cold sweats, looking to his side where you'd be snoozing away peacefully. and he reminded himself that you were there and safe and sound.

until the next time you wouldn't be.

"come on spencer, doesn't she mean anything to you? don't you love her?" jj's voice was sharp, tired of the eggshells she was walking all around him. she knew she was being unfair but she also knew how it felt to be hurt by him, how it felt to be completely isolated from him.

to her surprise, he whirled around, his lip curled into a sneer. she'd never seen him so agitated before

"love?? how can i trust in love? how could i ever trust in something that could be so present in one moment and so absent the next?" spencer scowled, slamming down the papers he had in his hands.

painting you in a bad light, he thought would make the whole ordeal easier. he could pretend he never loved you but his heart betrayed him. for every beat yearned for you only. every thought that ran through his head was consumed by you. like your soul was in his body, coursing through his veins.

"do you love her?" her voice interjected, coming closer.

"what kind of question is that?" spencer raised a brow to which jj rolled her eyes.

"answer it spencer" she spoke again firmly. he knew there wasn't a way out, she would know if he was lying. he wasn't very good at keeping those for long anyway. he slumped back into his chair, his arms wrapped around him tightly. his sorrow painted so glaringly obvious upon his features, he wondered if he would ever have a happy life.

one where you would be there, one where he didn't need to run from his happiness. one where he didn't need to constantly look back in fear.

perhaps that life simply didn't exist for him

"so much so, it consumes me daily" he whispered the sentence, he never thought he could've ever loved another human so fiercely. so passionately. so much like his old love

"then trust in that. if you can't trust in love, trust in y/n. trust her, trust in her love. go to her and make amends, she needs you as much as you need her, spence. i promise you" jj eagerly spoke, hoping he would spring up and dash out the door. but some things don't happen as they plan.

"these issues are not surface level jj. they run so much more deeper than that. don't you think i want to trust y/n? don't you think i want to give her my all?" the files were on the floor as he stood up, his head in his hands. it felt like to was going to explode with how many thoughts were crammed inside.

"why don't you? take a risk for once in your life spencer"

"i do take risks, calculated ones" he mumbled, his arms wrapped around themselves.

"and what of this?"

"this.... is not calculated. i cannot determine the outcome of it. i'm not in control, my heart is. and i don't think i could bear if it breaks again" finally what jj had been waiting for, the turth finally had revealed itself. but it was more complicated than she realised.

"it's maeve..... isn't it?" jj's voice was softer this time, shocked by his confession. there was no use in hiding it anymore. the dark rings around his eyes, his sunken face, all of it due to the nightmares that kept him awake at all hours of the night. the fear that once he achieved you in his arms, it would be taken just as quickly. he nodded, a sad smile while his eyes began brimming with tears

"i see her every night and every night it ends with her being shot. i could have done something to prevent it, i know i could have. and i'm so scared of that happening to y/n. she's not from our world jj, how could i subject her to a punishment like this?" it feels like he's underwater, his breathing hitched in his throat. his eyes water, biting his lip to stop the trembling. but it wouldn't work, nothing would.

"that wasn't your fault spence, we didn't know she would do that. nobody would" she touched his hand, her baby blues watering at the pain her friend was going through. just when the slightest bit of happiness fell into his lap, it was snatched away before he could've enjoyed it.

"that's just it. i should've known. y/n could enjoy a life where she wouldn't constantly be worried for her life at every turn, she could free. free from the life i could give her, free from me..." the tears dropped like pearls, down his face and onto the desk. with every drop, it cut jj deeper. that she too was helpless in that nothing she could do would remedy his pain and yours.

"spencer..." each cracked word he spoke she felt her heart break further. how you would never know the true extent of his behaviour, how even after all this time, the nightmares continued to plague him. and he didn't tell anybody, not a soul.

"i lost maeve, i can't watch y/n suffer the same fate. she deserves so much more than i could ever give her" his voice is strained, trying his best to keep his composure professional but each thought drove him further and further to insanity

his hands reach out to his wallet where there's a small picture of you. his fingers shakily traced your picture, you were so happy. his mind was trying to engrain the beautiful smile you donned into his mind forever. so that when tomorrow arrived and he'd no longer be there, that thought couldn't hurt him. he'd only remember your smiling face

but it would hurt, of course it would.

[j0elmill3r]

okay but imagine baby girl millers first day of kindergarten. joel is an absolute mess.

Pairing - Joel Miller x Toddler!Daughter!Reader

Summary - Joel's baby girl has her first day of preschool and he's an emotional mess, but baby girl just wants her daddy to stop embarrassing her.

Warnings - For the first time, possibly ever, I think I can say none!

A/N - Ah yes, Joel is emotionally fragile but for a totally wholesome reason this time.

Joel Miller Masterlist

He could do this.

Joel Miller was a brave man. He knew that he could do it, he had to do it once, years ago with your older sister Sarah. But that was years ago, and he'd emotionally recovered from it once, but he wasn't sure he could handle it this time.

The dreaded first day of pre-school.

It almost bothered Joel at how unbothered about this whole ordeal you were. You were going to be away from your dad, who was all that you had known in the short time you've been living, for a whole 6 hours. He did, however, forget, that he had since gone back to work in the 3 years following your birth, so you weren't entirely shaken up by the idea of being without him. Joel just had the typical dad worries - would you miss him? Would you make friends? Would any boys try and make advances on you? And for the poor boys' sake, he hoped that the answer to that was no - Joel had scolded Tommy for teaching you how to throw a punch at the prime age of 3 years-old; She's got to learn some time, Tommy had told him.

Joel looked up at the rearview mirror as he pulled up to the red light, smiling as you watched the world go by through the window, a small grin on your face as you spotted the car beside your dads.

"Daddy look!" You pointed at the dog, whose head hung out of the backseat window of the car. Joel looked at the dog and smiled, turning back to look at you. "Puppy." You told him confidently, proving to him that you did, in fact, pay attention when he was reading to you at night. Joel chuckled to himself as he pulled away, the red light turning to green.

"Yeah baby, that's a puppy," He confirmed to you, albeit with a sad smile. He was so proud of your development, but it pained him to see you grow up so quickly, he felt selfish for wanting you to stay a baby forever.

Pulling up outside of your preschool building, he parked the truck, exiting the driver's side, and headed to the backseat, where you sat in your car seat, your barbie backpack down at your feet. Joel unbuckled you from your car seat, picking you up with one arm, and reaching down for your backpack with the other - The small, child-size backpack looking comedically small on his broad shoulders. As he carried you into the playground, Joel felt the waterworks building, placing you down on the ground and kneeling down in front of you.

"I wanna go play now, daddy," You whined. Joel paid no mind to your whining, pushing stray hairs away from your face.

"Now, daddy won't be gone for long, okay? When the little hand on the clock gets to 2 I'll be back to get you, baby," Joel said. "And it's okay if you're sad or want to cry."

"I'm not sad, I wanna play, daddy," You repeated, taking no notice of your dad, on the edge of breaking down into sobs. As you looked back at your dad, it was then you took notice of his emotional state. "Huh? Why y'crin, daddy?" You asked him, trying to repeat the gentle tone that Sarah used to talk to you when you were upset. Joel sniffled as he looked up at you, his big baby girl.

"I'm okay, baby girl. I just love you, okay?" You nodded, pulling your sleeves up to wipe away the tears from Joel's eyes. He sighed out and hugged you tight, wanting to hold you for a while longer before the bell rang to take you away from him for the day.

"I love you too daddy," You assured him, going on your tippy toes to kiss the top of your dad's head. Joel smiled at your comforting gesture, now realizing that you would be okay without him. He took a deep breath to compose himself, taking a look at you before kissing both of your cheeks, and smiling as you giggled. "I'm ready now daddy." You told him.

"Okay baby girl, have a good day," Joel yelled, watching as you ran off from him. A sad smile fell on his face as he turned away after you had gone into the building and disappeared from his vision

Yeah, maybe he couldn't do this.

[ho-for-joequinn-fics]

Display of Death

A/N: Just another Emperor Geta fic, this time inspired by a dream I had. The beginning part and smut wasn’t part of the dream, but I wanted to add some sort of backstory for the reader and extra context for this. Either way, enjoy my fellow Emperor Geta whores. This one is a dark one 😘

Emperor Geta x senator’s daughter!Reader (the reader’s age isn’t specified in this fic, but she can be in her 20s or 30s depending on your personal preference.)

warnings: 18+ only! This fic is not for minors, so DNI! mentions of a character being drugged into a state of incapacitation, psychotic!reader, possessive!reader, descriptions of murder, dismemberment and public display of a human corpse, horny!Geta (he’s into that savage murder shit 😏), unprotected p in v smut, profanity, etc

At first it wasn’t easy for Emperor Geta to choose the woman he wanted to make his future Empress. He had met several candidates over the course of a week and not a single one met the high standards he held, neither of them had the bravery, bold confidence, vulgar display of power, or even the beauty that he was looking for.

That was until you caught his attention.

You weren’t even one of the women that were chosen as a potential candidate, you were just the daughter of a senator who kept you out of the limelight of the Roman Empire your whole life. Of course that finally backfired on your father when you managed to drug him with the sedatives you asked your lifelong caretaker to smuggle in to you so you could sneak out for a night to finally have some sense of freedom.

You were wandering the grounds of Palatine Hill when you unfortunately ran into General Acacius, who also happened to be accompanied by Emperor Geta. You hadn’t met either of the Emperors prior to this, your father made sure to keep you as far away from them as possible, and with reason.

“Y/N? What are you doing out so late by yourself? Where is your father?” The General had a nervous frown on his face as he marched towards you, but you simply rolled your eyes in response. Your father had him wrapped around his finger when it came to making sure you were out of the public eye.

“Is it a crime to go for a late night walk?” You crossed your arms over your chest, ignoring his question regarding the whereabouts of your father, you didn’t need him getting in the way of your plans. “Last I checked, I’m a grown woman who has every right to do what I want without my father’s selfish ass controlling my every move.”

“You know how he feels about you going out--”

“And I don’t give a damn how that piece of shit feels!” You snapped, a fire in your eyes as you stepped towards General Acacius and jabbed your finger into his chest. “I don’t care who the fuck he or you are, if I want to choose my freedom over his ridiculous prison-like rules, then I’m going to! I’m done letting him keep me hidden away like I’m some sort of fucking embarrassment to him!”

“You know that’s not why he keeps you out of the public eye.”

“The other senators don’t keep their daughters hidden away like he does with me. Now why is that, huh? Tell me!” Your anger was rising and patience wearing thin, not paying any mind to the Emperor who was now completely enamored with you and the rage you exuded, you were the full center of his attention.

“I can’t say.”

You laid a harsh smack across the General’s face before forcefully grabbing him by the jaw so you could stare him in the eyes. “Tell me or I’ll fucking kill you, Marcus.” Your cold, dark eyes held truth to your words, which had him swallowing thickly. He knew you weren’t fibbing, he could feel the blade of the dagger you were now pressing against his jugular.

Where the hell was she hiding that dagger?

“He keeps you hidden from them.” His eyes flicked towards the right in the direction of where Emperor Geta was standing watching the whole ordeal play out, but his voice was barely above a whisper so Geta couldn’t hear his answer to your question.

You laughed bitterly at that, sheathing your dagger back into its place before stepping away from General Acacius. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. Keeping me prisoner all these years because he’s afraid they’d corrupt me? Well the joke’s on him because he’s the reason I turned into a full blown psychopath!”

You clenched your fists by your sides as you turned away from him, now staring back towards the direction of your luxurious home where your incapacitated father currently resided. “He’s lucky I only drugged him into a coma, I very well could have slit his throat like I wanted to. I have some restraint, you know.”

The General zoomed past you towards your house to make sure your dad was still alive and breathing and you only scoffed before turning to finally face Emperor Geta, taking in the sight of his extremely handsome features for the first time since he became Emperor. The way he was staring at you with a carnal desire made your heart pound away in your chest, but it’s what he said next that filled you with an excitement you’d never felt before.

“I’ve finally found my future Empress.”

~

Thanks to Emperor Geta, you finally earned the freedom you’d been craving for the majority of your teenaged and adult life. He ordered for your father to be arrested for wrongful imprisonment and had him stripped of his senatorial title. Your father begged for leniency, but Geta wasn’t having it. He told your father his punishment was lenient enough because he could have had him killed instead. You wouldn’t have minded that, if you were being honest.

Word spread quite quickly that Emperor Geta had chosen you to be his Empress-to-be and to say that most of the girls who were actual candidates were displeased about that decision is an understatement. They discussed amongst themselves how it was unfair that he chose you instead of one of them and came up with a plan to try and get Emperor Geta to change his mind and pick one of them instead. Little did they know, that plan was going to backfire.

Those girls had zero clue of how psychotic you were, how when something was rightfully yours, you would fight for it to the death, and of course that something in this case was Emperor Geta. The night you two first met, he took you back to his chambers at the palace where you spent the whole night into the morning talking and getting to know each other. By morning it was as though you’d known each other your whole lives, you were officially inseparable.

The girls enacted their plan as soon as possible, deciding they would one by one flirt and be extra friendly with Emperor Geta until he caved and chose one of them to be his Empress instead. Except only one of them was able to attempt their plan before you got your hands on her and showed the rest of them you were not to be trifled with. When you realized what they were up to, it had your blood boiling and thinking about how they had the audacity to try and steal him from you when it was you that he clearly wanted, not them.

After stealing borrowing some weaponry from The Colosseum armory, you stalked the first girl who attempted to flirt with Geta and steal his attention and heart from you, waiting until dusk and when she was completely vulnerable before striking her down. When your time to shine arrived, the first thing you did was repeatedly force your dagger into her spinal cord to render her paralyzed. The maniacal laugh you let out as she collapsed with pained gasps sent haunting shivers right through her.

Your pupils were blackened with a murderous rage as you stood above her, staring down at her with a twisted grin as you unsheathed the sword you had taken from the armory. “You see, this all could have been avoided had you not schemed behind my back to steal what’s rightfully mine. I don’t take lightly to jealous little girls thinking they can convince my husband-to-be into picking one of them over me. There’s a reason he didn’t choose any of you. If only you could have gotten that through your thick skulls so none of you had to die.”

“Please...” She gasped, trying to reach out to grab you but unable to do so due to the traumatic injury to her spinal cord. “You don’t have to do this.” She really thought begging and pleading was going to help her case. How cute.

“Too late. I’m already committed.” You gave her a wicked grin this time before severing one of her arms clean off with the newly sharpened sword, watching with a sadistic sense of pride as blood spewed out of her wound. Her anguished scream had you inhaling deeply through your nose with closed eyes as you relished in the delightful sound, your grin only growing more wicked. “Aaahh I love the sound of suffering in the evening.”

Not another word was spoken from her before you were quite literally hacking her into pieces, your final blow cutting her head clean off her torso. But you weren’t done with her yet, oh no, you had to show all of the other girls the consequence of trying to take what’s yours. The first thing you did was impale her head on a stake and publicly displayed it for all of Rome to see come tomorrow. Then you scattered the rest of her remains around the spot where you placed the stake and used her blood to write a warning on the adjacent wall.

After arriving at the palace not long after finishing your deadly duties, you quickly cleaned yourself up before slipping into bed in Geta’s chambers, finding comfort in his bed rather than your own. He wasn’t there at the moment, he was still unfortunately dealing with some important matters regarding the next gladiatorial contest at The Colosseum, but you were quite content either way. Your adrenaline was still rampant after what you’d just done out of full blown possessive love. You couldn’t wait to tell Geta all about it.

~

Screams of terror. That’s what woke you out of your peaceful slumber and it had you grinning deviously knowing exactly what the screams were about. Geta stirred beside you, opening his eyes with displeased grumbles about how it was too early to be woken by people screaming bloody murder.

You turned on your side to face him with a cheeky grin, reaching to gently brush your thumb against his cheekbone. “That would be my fault, my love. It seems someone’s discovered my lovely display of death that I put out last night.”

Geta gave his head a curious tilt to the side, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean by "display of death"?” He knew you couldn’t have killed your father and put him on public display as a way of getting back at him after all those years being imprisoned in your own home since he was now locked up for life himself, so who exactly did you kill?

“Why those girls who were chosen as candidates to be your potential future Empress were conspiring against me to steal you away from me, so I taught them a lesson by brutally murdering and dismembering the first girl who even dared to try stealing your attention and heart from me. Now she’s on public display for everyone to see and know that their future Empress is just as sadistic and unhinged as the Emperor she’s set to marry.”

Geta’s heart fluttered wildly in his chest at your confession, falling even more in love with you over the fact that you were so willing to kill over him. Grinning widely at you, he reached out to cup your cheek in his hand. “Oh, my beloved, you are so beautiful, violent, and vulgar. I just knew I made the right choice in choosing you to be my Empress.” Immediately his lips were on yours, his other hand cupping your other cheek as he rolled over until he was positioned on top of you, rolling his hips forward to let you feel how hard he’d become.

You moaned wantonly at the feeling of his hard cock grinding against your clothed center, rocking your hips in tandem with his own movements as you reached to start stripping him of his sleep robe. “Please, my liege, I need you.” You murmured into the kiss, your fingers gliding down the center of his bare chest towards his erection where your fingers wrapped firmly around the base.

“Whatever my bride-to-be wants, my bride-to-be gets.” He mused as he brought his own hands down to start ridding you of your own garments, carelessly tossing them to the floor before bringing you into another kiss just as he glided his length through your arousal soaked folds. “Mmm... Already so wet for me?” He pushed into your sopping cunt then, earning a mewl mixed with pain and pleasure from you as your walls swallowed up each thick inch of him.

“Oh my gods, you’re so big.” You whimpered, your eyes rolling into the back of your head once he set a steady rhythm in thrusts, your legs wrapping firm around his waist while your hands gripped onto his broad shoulders. You could already feel the fire within your belly growing, knowing you probably weren’t going to last very long seeing how this was your first time and you had yet to build up your sexual stamina. Your eyes moved to look up at Geta as he fucked into you, your gazes meeting and further feeding the fires growing within both of you.

“You feel so divine, beloved. Buried inside you is my official favorite place to be. Not even the deadliest of gladiatorial contests beats being buried inside this perfect wet cunt of yours.” He moaned delightedly as he kept your gaze, resting each hand at either side of your head nestled against the pillows beneath it, grinning from ear to ear at your pleased moan in response to his words. He dipped his head down after a minute to start kissing and nipping along your throat, then up towards your jaw, working his way back towards your mouth where he kissed you with fervor.

Tongues collided as you returned his kiss with matching passion and energy, your fingers working their way into his hair where you gave harsh tugs as a way of showing how good he was fucking you, the nails of your other hand dragging down the length of his shoulder blade. “Just like that, my love. M’not gonna last very much longer.” You murmured with a particularly harsh squeeze around his length, earning a guttural moan from his throat that sent shivers of arousal right through you.

“I’m close too. You just feel so good, beloved.” He sighed contently, lowering one of his hands to find your clit so he could rub gentle but quick circles into it, pulling a pleased cry from your throat. “Let go for me. Want us to cum together, can you let go for me?” He hummed as he kept up his pace and force in thrusts, applying a little more pressure to his rubs on your clit until you were finally clenching tight around his cock and coming undone with a loud cry of his name, him right there with you as he filled you with a guttural moan of your name.

“Thank you.” You panted, finally breaking the silence after the two of you came down from your highs, Geta’s head lifting from where he had nuzzled it against your breasts with a satisfied smile. For your first time being intimate together, this was better than how either of you imagined it to be, but you knew the more sex you had, the more mindblowing it would become. Personally he couldn’t wait until you were ready for him to make you scream on his cock while he fucked his heir into you.

“Mmmm thank you.” He leaned in to press a softer kiss to your lips this time, pulling back after a few moments with a smile. “Shall we get dressed and check out that lovely display of death you created?���

“I would love nothing more.”

Thank you for reading! I know it’s kinda short and the smut isn’t the best I’ve written, but comments and reblogs are highly appreciated 🥺

Tagging: @userchai @myherometalhead

[winterlogysblog]

4KOTA ✨142✨aka I have a BONE to pick with Nakaba

Oh boy, this chapter is a lot and I honestly want to make separate posts about several different things but I don't have enough patience for that so this is going to be a long one so buckle up.

This entire chapter is just all about setting up conflict for the chapters to come. We have this whole thing with the Drug of Yore, Nasiens, and Mertyl.

I also noticed that Phao overheard Diane and Tioreh's conversation so the rest of the kids are also gonna be involved in this whole ordeal one way or another.

So, the Drug of Yore. The source of all of this.

In the previous chapter, it's heavily implied that King is going to give Nasiens the Drug of Yore and for plot's sake I guessed that Mertyl will witness all of this unfold and that is exactly what happened.

Nasiens was upset about several things, mainly why is King giving this to him when Mertyl is sick and why did King give this to him now. Nasiens has been in the Fairy Realm for two years now and has been trying his hardest to find a cure for Percival then King comes in with the Drug of Yore which is essentially the medicine of all medicines.

Now, I don't think Nasiens has clued in that Mertyl is just a human in the Fairy Realm. Because Mertyl being human is the problem here, he's not sick, he's perfectly fine and healthy he just can't handle the Fairy Realm's atmosphere. That's why King didn't give the drug to Mertyl and since this is a rare drug he's probably not gonna risk it (even if that's his kid) and even if he did try to give it to Mertyl it's not gonna work.

Now, I looked back on the Grudge of Edinburg movie and I'm confident to say that the Drug of Yore is the same medicine that King used on Elizabeth, it's in the same bottle too. However, I also noticed something. In the movie, the bottle has a generous amount of elixir, but right now in the manga, it's almost empty, and the amount of elixir in the bottle is perfect for just a single dose. Which means King must have used this drug on someone before. This led me to a rabbit hole. I lost my good mind on this.

My guess is that King has given the Drug of Yore to Mertyl at least multiple times already but noticed that it's not working so he stuck with giving him the pills. This also explains why Mertyl has heard of the drug before when this is supposed to be an ancient secret medicine, he just forgot about it because it's been such a long time. This led to a shortage of the drug since King had been giving it to Mertyl this entire time. As said by King, it's a rare drug extracted from flowers on top of the Sacred Tree and these flowers only grow once every millennium (1k years) so this thing is not easily accessible, and it probably takes time to produce. Most likely the reason why it took 2 years for King to give the drug to Nasiens is because that is how long it took for King to acquire the perfect amount for at least a single dose that Nasiens can use. Besides, as per King's phrasing he's not even sure that it's gonna work on Percy.

On that note.

Will the Drug of Yore work on Percy?

In a sense yes it will but all it will do is bring OG Percival's soul back to the body, not our Percy. But it could also work because our Percy has more connection to the body than OG Percy. Maybe Nasiens could use the Drug of Yore as the main ingredient of the actual drug that he'll give to Percy to bring him back.

King messed up here but that doesn't make him a bad parent it actually makes him a realistic one

King's main fault here is not talking to Mertyl and apparently any of the kids about the whole adoption thing right away resulting in Mertyl's ever-growing insecurities, which realistically I really can't blame him for because it's a hard topic to discuss but really? It's been 18 years and you didn't say anything.

No parent is perfect and parenting is hard and Kiane is trying their best to be as good parents as they can for their 7 little munchkins. They mean well and obviously love their children a lot they just fumbled the bag on this one. I could also see Mertyl at fault here for not trusting his parent's love for him but again I can see why he felt the way that he did.

I don't think the reason King didn't give it to Nasiens right away is because he wanted to keep him there. That is a pretty selfish and petty reason and I know King, he's not that type of person, especially when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. I can actually see King not revealing that Nasiens is his kid ever and just being content to see his kid again and see the kind of person he grew up to be. To King, it's enough that he knows that his kid is alive and well. Nasiens will most likely realize this in the future, with the help of Lancelot (probably) (I love Lance I have to put him in everything lol this is his fam too yk)

We really haven't seen either King or Diane's side of the story, we don't know anything really and I still have enough trust in Nakaba that he'll give us a good reason for all of this. We'll probably see that next chapter (hopefully) cause with these types of dramas usually the parents' POV are the last ones shown.

They love Mertyl

Seeing both Sixtus and Tioreh's actions alone I can say that they love Mertyl to bits even if Tioreh knows that Mertyl is not his biological brother and I guess she's the first one to figure this out, she's upset at the idea that Mertyl won't be family anymore. Sixtus also shows great admiration and love for his big brother. And hey! even if Mertyl is human and not their actual kid he's still their big brother. They're acting like Mertyl's gonna be replaced or something when Nasiens is just an addition to their family and Mertyl is not going anywhere because he's forever part of their family.

This whole thing boils down to misunderstanding really, everyone has their own interpretation of the situation and people keep running off before anyone can explain anything (classic) I hope, boy I hope this will be resolved quickly and fast cause I hate seeing my babies suffer.

[thatcheesyler]

Working on a lee!Striker, lers!Fizzarolli and Blitzø fic, so uh..lmk what you think so far 🫠

Just Clownin' Around (WIP)

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

Some say that singing a whole ‘fuck you’ song to your boss and then quitting your job while saying goodbye in a surprisingly good impression of your boss's accent might not be the best thing for one's mental health. But why should Fizzarolli care? He's thriving in Hell with his huge boyfriend and rekindled childhood friend, for fuck's sake.

Anyway, since the whole thing with Mammon, Fizzarolli had a bit of a thirst for more revenge gnawing at the back of his mind, thinking about all of his and Blitzø's shared enemies, and how much he'd like to see them bleed. Of course, when he told Blitzø about this vengeful fantasy of his, the other imp was more than enthused about getting some sweet, sweet payback. After all, Blitzø's company had been a bit short of the thrill of homicide lately, anyway.

So it was settled, the two imps would meet up at a bar and discuss the finer details.

-Lil’ time skip-

“Hmm…but which one do you think deserves to be hunted first? Striker, or Crimson?” Fizz asked, taking a sip from the straw in his glass of Beelzejuice. “Well, Crimson may be a bit off limits anyway, Mox probably wouldn't want his big daddy to get hurt unless it was by his doing.” Answered Blitzø, absentmindedly tracing one of his fingers along the cracks in the wooden bar counter top.

So that just left Striker…”But, that western cocksucker is most likely the only thing stopping Stella from killing Stolas herself. Plus, I promised Loony that I wouldn't kill anyone today because it’s her birthday.” He continued, going silent for a while, just in case Fizz was brainstorming and didn't want to be interrupted. And apparently, he was.

“..Wait, he's super self-confident. Which means, all we have to do is exploit a weakness that's embarrassing enough to catch him off guard, and threaten to blackmail him with it. Right?” It wasn't a terrible idea. But, what the hell kind of a weakness would have such an effect on a guy like Striker?

Contemplating his inquiry, Blitzø skimmed through his memories with Fizz, trying to pinpoint any specific events that involved embarrassing weaknesses that an imp would have..and wouldn't you know it, the murderous imp finally came up with a reasonable suggestion.

“Ey, Fizz, remember when we'd have those stupid dares where we'd take turns in watching each other perform, and then point out any flaws afterwards by..tickling the other person in a way that accommodates to those flaws?” Blitzø commented, smiling slightly at the fond memory, but a little flustered about the topic as he was usually the more flawed one when performing. Thankfully though, the other imp only really picked up on the main idea that he was putting down, a wry smirk now building up on his face at the thought of using this against Striker.

“It's perfect! We won't hurt Striker, but if we record him being humiliated like that, we could threaten him with the blackmail of posting the video!” Fizz replied cheerfully, slamming down a $10 bill on the counter before gripping Blitzø's arm and yanking him out of the bar. Fizz dragged him eagerly all the way down to the Wrath ring, ignoring the whiny protests that spewed from his friend's mouth like gunfire and instead focusing on tracking down Striker, while keeping his phone safe so that they can record the whole ordeal when it happens.

Sure enough, the two eventually stumbled into the weird cavern that Striker called his home, making sure to keep quiet as they leapt behind the nearest boulder. Breathing out groans of pain between whistling a casual tune, the cowboy in question was currently standing near the unrealistic statue of himself and cleaning up his burn wounds from when he tried (and failed) to kill Fizz.

“Hey, you think you can do that introduction thing that Robo Fizz did? It might be fun.” Blitzø whispered to his friend, who, in response, nodded and took a deep but silent breath.

“Hiya kids, it's me, the lovable Fizzarolli!” Fizz started, jumping up onto the boulder they were hiding behind and watching as his voice startled Striker a little.

“Say, would anyone here like to play a game with me?! It'll be so fun, I can guarantee it!” While the cowboy demon scowled and reached for his angelic gun, Blitzø shot a bullet of his own towards said gun, making it inaccessible as the two former clowns suddenly launched at him.

It took quite a hassle, but eventually they managed to pin Striker to the same part of the train tracks that Stolas had been restrained against a while ago. They then tied his arms down either side of his head with his own angelic rope, doing the same for his legs and tail. “You two fuckass clowns ain't gettin’ away with this. I will get my vengeance, just you little fellas wait..” Striker sneered, allowing a brief dark chuckle to sleep through his teeth afterwards. To which Fizz and Blitzø both looked at each other with unbothered expressions.

Setting up his phone on a nearby rock, Fizz pressed the ‘record’ button and began speaking like the whole thing was a vlog.

“Hey there, all you imps, sinners, overlords and deadly sins! Today, we have a very western guest with us. Say hi, Striker!” Fizz announced, moving out of the way so that the recording showed a clear view of the cowboy, bound helplessly to abandoned train tracks and frowning spitefully all the while.

“Go fuck yourself.” Was the only thing that Striker planned to say for most of this. Unfortunately, things never seem to go according to plan for him. “Only off camera. Now let's get down to business, shall we?” Blitzø responded, smiling along with the other clown imp.

“You're a selfish bitch that only cares about money. Understandable, however, fucking up my only ticket to the human world and then also trying to kill my friend, that's not as excusable. So, we're gonna return your ‘favour’ by humiliating you and then blackmailing you with the recording of it. Sound good? Good!”

Before Striker had gotten a chance to respond, Fizz had started talking again, reverting back to his show voice for this next part.

“Earlier I asked if you wanna play a game. And now, we're gonna play whether you like it or not! The game is called...’Don't Laugh’~!” Upon saying the name of the game, Fizz lifted his robot arms up to shoulder height and bent his fingers into claws, wiggling them simultaneously to give a hint as to what was about to happen, with a shit-eating grin on his face the whole time.

The cowboy tensed, it was subtle but it was noticed, now slightly struggling against his binds as the reality of this ‘game’ began to fully sink in. “Oh you gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me..” Striker murmured, feeling a few butterflies swarm in his stomach, something that had rarely ever occurred before. He despised the way the sensation affected him, making his body twitch in anticipation whenever someone made even the smallest movement, making him feel vulnerable, making him feel weak.

“Tch, and what kinda sick pleasure will it bring ya this time? Y'know, since everythin’ appears to be a sex thing with you two.” He remarked with a tiny smirk, clearly aiming to piss them off some more, despite his better judgment and the fact that it was just going to make everything worse for him.

Dammit, even those weird ass mini singing imps were here to watch.

His attention was yanked away, however, as Blitzø's hand then reached out towards him, and he tensed up once more, instinctively sucking his stomach in. But, the imp merely grabbed the cowboy's hat and placed it on his own head, earning a ‘seriously?’ look from both of the other demons, and an extra eye roll from Striker, who was getting fed up with this. But then Fizz's voice sounded out again, still speaking as if the whole thing was a scripted performance. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's time for the game to start! Alright cowboy, are you ready?!”

“Listen, I don’ know what you jester twinks are plannin’ to accomplish with this, but I can assure ya, you ain’t gon’ pull a stunt like this again once I get my reve-HENGE!!” Striker's threat was abruptly cut off by the overwhelming sensation of a robotic hand squeezing his side experimentally, his voice raising up to a slightly embarrassing high pitched tone as this happened.

The cowboy attempted to recover by clearing his throat and forcing back the anticipatory nervous smile, refusing to let his captors feel like they were winning. Said captors, however, now adorned ear-splitting smirks that caused the butterflies in Striker's stomach to temporarily double, a few more harsh tugs being acted out on the angelic restraints. “I said ‘are you ready?’, not ‘bore us with monologue’. But still, at least people on Sinstagram will enjoy the bickering. But seriously, don't laugh!” Fizz replied smugly, refocusing his attention on the imp's outfit.

There were a few scorch marks on his shirt that didn't burn through the fabric, so of course, Fizz decided to fuck around a bit and trace ever so gently over those marks, relishing in the way it made Striker flinch and gasp quietly. Yet, his resolve held true, the scowl on the cowboy's face didn't budge, but not did the angelic rope, unfortunately for him.

“Alright it's my turn, move over bitch!” Blitzø demanded, playfully shoving his friend out of the way and cracking his knuckles, before starting to spider his fingers along Striker's sides. This time, it resulted in a wobbly grin showing through for just over a millisecond, the ticklish sensation making Striker wriggle away from the pursuing hands with a bit of desperation.

[ssahotchnerr]

aaron 😭😭😭 taking the kiddos back to school shopping <3333

jack and your daughter for instance - you're the one who takes them clothes shopping, so aaron's in charge of the supplies. it can easily turn into a chaotic mess and therefore everyone gets into a bad mood LOL SO he makes it as orderly and organized as possible (just as he is). he doesn't want them just throwing everything and anything they see into the cart - aaron has the lists in hand, everyone ventures through the aisles, and he goes through the lists according to what aisle they're in so it's not a back and forth kind of ordeal. and it makes it sooo much more easy and quicker.

jack's well practiced - he doesn't need as much help, can read his school supply list himself and grab materials with little to no assistance from aaron, aaron just double checks to make sure jack is getting the correct art supplies, sized binder or paper, things like that. AND jack helps out his baby sister too hehe 🥹 he shows her everything 'the cool kids' have 😭 since he's experienced, after all and he wants her to be the coolest kindergartener there is <3333 baby girl sticks onto everything jack says <333 getting exactly what he describes and tossing it into the cart with no hesistation. hehe and aaron is just besides himself watching 🥹🥰💓💞 he loves them both so much <33333

aaron letting your daughter pick out a (and her first🥹) super fun backpack and lunch box 🥹 <3333333 hehe he shows her the backpack aisle and her eyes just LIGHT UP with allllll the possibilities. aaron helps her narrow it down too - to her favorite color, fav princess, super hero, movie or anything she happens to love <3 he also explains to her to pick out one that has a lot of space, maybe one that has a matching lunchbox that snaps to the front, one that has a lil side pocket for a water bottle. and as they're doing that, jack's also eyeing all the backpacks 👀 he finds one he LOVES, and one that's a bit more grown up because he's more grown up, he's beginning to outgrow having a themed bag - like spiderman, star wars, etc. - and opts for a plain colored one 🥲

and once the lists are complete and the hotchner fam makes their way home - hehe everyone’s showing you what they picked out aka what daddy let them get hehe <3 because the main highlights are obviously things that weren't actually on the lists 😭 the set of markers that have more colors than the usual for example, jack's thrilled he got mechanical pencils rather than the wooden ones, folders than have designs instead of a solid color.

and your daughter 🥹🥹🥹 is SO excited about her new backpack <3333 hehe it's absolutely ginormous on her since she's a tiny little thing - it swallowing her makes aaron want to cry LOL - how is his little baby going off to kindergarten??! 😭😭😭 and she literally refuses to take it off too, she wears it around the house and you and aaron practically have to rip it off her to make sure it remains new for at least the first week of school 😭

when jack shows you his new backpack, you give aaron a look like - jack’s backpack from last year was perfectly fine and useable, he only needed a new lunch box BUT he just offers you a shrug LOL. it's hard for him to stay no to the kiddos, and he didn't want jack to feel left out since baby girl hotchner got a new one, AND he wants jack to feel confident returning to school so if that means getting a new backpack, then getting a new backpack it is <3 and of course once he explains the whole reason why jack got a new one, you totally understand (and it makes you a tad sad because jack is growing up 🥺😭)

aaron helps label all the supplies too <333 it's a team effort by all - aaron goes through the list again, tells the kiddos to grab something, they hand it to him, he labels, hands it off to you, and into the backpack it goes 🫵🏻 and the hotchner are allllll ready for the new school year <333 🥰

[cxncordia]

@oceanicxeyes - When the Sun met the Sea

It started when they attacked that girl during the sports event.

Two weeks ago, Toño and his friends saw how one of the students from the Infinite Academy pretty much transformed into a scaly abomination in front of them and with great bravery and strength stopped her. In the nick of time, Toño was able to undo the spell that had been placed in the poor girl. It was a whole ordeal but it was doable, she got to be healed from the horrible experiment placed upon her.

This had made the Teporingos, a group of five mages and Toño, become alert about the situation. Regina had mentioned having had premonitory visions about the arrival of the new enemy and Moises had his sights set on the Infinite Academy, a school for the rich elites that was heavily secured and, behind closed doors, dedicated to the pursuit of dark magic.

The Teporingos were the protectors of this city, the Verbena mages who took care of the land and protected it from evil that sought to take it away. Moises had tracked one of the professors of said Academy and after having investigated her, it seemed that Professor Yuri Aparicio, in charge of Etiquette and Decorum of the Academy, was also one of the Cinco Brujas that belonged to the group of Nefandi that Toño and los Teporingos were trying to elminate.

Tracking her by the whole city, Toño finally stopped when he saw the red-haired woman enter the bar. He had to follow her, to pursue her and to gather all the information necessary to stop this new enemy.

However, when he stopped the motorbike only a block away from the bar Tacho realized of a particular situation that the young Mage had not come to consider.

"And how do you think you are going in?" The small talking chihuahua scolded Toño from his back pack. "Do you want a disaster for us? Don't be a fool!"

"Disaster? But what do you want, Tacho?" Toño asked, frustrated by the small dog's scolding. "I told you that we need to investigate!"

"Investigate from afar, Toñito." The chihuahua explained. "This is an adult establishment and they won't let you get through."

"Well, I could disguise myself as an adult, you know?" The boy explained to his companion. "We are supposed to hide our powers in public! An adult will have no trouble entering and seeing what is going on." Toño took the backpack and adjusted it over his shoulder, the leather jacket squeaking when the straps were pushed back. The young mage found a place to disguise himself, sliding in the back alleys where the stench of urine and trash was almost nauseating.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop...You can't make a spell like that!" The small chihuahua practically barked from within Toño's backpack.

"Why not!?" Toño huffed. "Just wait and see!" Toño focused his energies, trying to imagine how he would look when being an adult and words in Nahuatl flew from his mouth. "Huapahua," Toño pronounced in a whisper. He had learned these from his Mentor, Huey Tlanextli. Taking a deep breath and soon Toño could feel how his height and his hair was growing. How his muscles got firmer and his clothes were getting tight around him.

Being a mage really made all these experiences so interesting.

When looking himself at the reflection of the window, Toño couldn't believe it: that really wasn't him, those were now more the face of an adult. "Hehe, nice..." He cooed, touching his chin and starting to notice how different his skin felt.

"What are you doing!?" Tacho scoffed in surprise. "Magic should not be used for fun!"

"Relax, Tachito. I got it all under control." Toño responded with more confidence than he would have. He then moved away from the narrow space and back to his bike. He took the helmet and put it back on the motorcycle, starting to look back towards the location, and once again thinking of a plausible and reasonable line for this adventure. He took a pair of glasses that Moises had given him, so that the Teporingos could see what he was seeing, set them on his face and walked towards the establishment, this time, pretty sure that nobody would notice him. Or the dog in his back pack.

As he approached the door, a sound, beautiful and enigmatic was heard. The light tone of a humming echoed with delight. Toño could not help but to try to follow the origin of the song with his eyes, completely forgetting that he was supposed to approach the front door, right at the entrance. A beautiful blonde man, with flowy hair and blue eyes was singing in the establishment. The boy's eyes met him for an instant as Toño grew enraptured by the tune.

For a second he felt as if he was carried by the waters themselves, the feeling of the breeze enveloping him and the gentle embrace of the water surrounding him. He remembered those days, one summer break, when he and his Dad got to visit the beach back when he was only ten years old. What a beautiful and soulful tune this was!

[missmeinyourbones]

YOU WISH IT WAS ME, DON’T YOU? 

cw: fake dating, wedding cake testing, friends to lovers, mutual pining, so sweet i suddenly have a cavity, oikawa is a big fat nerd pass it on

You don’t think you hear him correctly the first time. 

But when he repeats himself, brashly confident and clearly enunciating his syllables between teeth and tongue, you know you’ve heard him right.

You can’t stop yourself from blurting out a genuine, “And why the fuck would we do that?”

Your words are harsh but granted, it is a stupid request.

Oikawa has officially decided the two of you should go to a bakery for wedding cake testing—to pretend to be an engaged couple. In public. As friends. Platonically. For fun. 

He must’ve gotten hit in the head at practice. 

“For free cake, obviously,” he shrugs, clearly not seeing an issue with his brilliant idea. “Come on, there’s gotta be a brain somewhere in that pretty little head of yours. You should use it every now and then.”

You ignore his backhanded tease (and the way your heart skips over the word “pretty” leaving his lips in reference to you.) 

You pray your poker face is decent enough as you send him a glare that’s meant to be intimidating. However, the smirk growing on his face let’s you know it’s mediocre at best. 

“Tooru, that doesn’t even make any sense,” you try to reason with the idiotic proposal. His head innocently turns to the side in confusion, so you begrudgingly elaborate. 

“We can just buy a cake,” you rationalize, as any normal person would. “I’ve seen your paycheck and trust me, you can afford it.”

His tongue prods against his cheek in amusement (and pride) at your dig before he continues with his act, whining like a child and pouting his stupid lips. 

“But that’s not the point,” he drawls the word out for at least three full seconds. 

He takes a dramatic inhale, “This makes it more exciting, it's like—a whole extravagant thing!” His hands fly out by his sides, showcasing the grand gesture of how fancy the idea seems in his puny little mind.

While he thinks he’s painting an intricate picture, you aren't seeing his vision. 

“It’s a silly and overdramatic ordeal, all for some lousy cake.”

At your pessimism, he scurries his way over to where you mope on his kitchen barstool. He’s never been one for utilizing personal space, but the conversation topic at hand has you overthinking every single thing he does. He’s so close you can feel the wind of his movements, the air of his dramatic exhales. You do yourself a favor and choose to look anywhere that’s not his face. 

Stopping right before you, his hands clasp together in a begging formation as he borderline pleads. 

“You won’t need to worry about anything, I’ll handle it all. I’ll book it, drive us in—I’ll even pay if they actually saddle us into buying something!”

When you finally pull your gaze away from your fidgeting fingers and up to his face, his eyes are glimmering with excitement. Though your stare would appear exasperated to most, he knows there’s love behind it. He can feel it. 

“All you need to do,” he whispers with a knowing smile, “is come.”

You ignore how your stomach flutters. His word choice has you blushing and fuck, you can’t tell if he’s doing it on purpose or not.

You sigh with irritation and though Tooru knows you’re not quite done putting up a fight, he’s already won. The look in your skeptic eye tells him you’ve already agreed. 

“If we like the cake, they’re going to expect us to follow up, with, like—actual wedding plans,” you try to reason. 

“So we get married,” he easily concludes with a smile. “Well, maybe. We’ll see how this first date goes, huh?”

You overlook the wink he shoots you and how it makes your cheeks flush hot. “And if we get caught?

“That’s what makes it so fun. Our own dirty little secret.”

Okay, he’s definitely doing it on purpose.

“But that won’t happen,” he casually concludes, shrugging his shoulders with blasé confidence, “I can be very convincing.” 

A silent staring contest ensues and Tooru knows he has you in the palm of his calloused hand. He watches as you struggle to fight off the smile that fights to work its way from the corners of your lips and across your entire face. Serving the final blow, he pokes your side gently and watches the grin take over.

“Do you ever tell the truth?” your eyes roll but your smile makes up for it. 

He shrugs happily, “I like to lie.”

…

“And this is our white chocolate ganache filling.”

You don’t know why you’re here. 

The bakery is small, cozy. A family-owned business that sits on the corner of Main Street downtown. You pass it sometimes on your daily commute to work, allowing yourself to ogle at the pastries in the display window if the weather is nice enough. 

The sweet woman scheduled to run your consultation was waiting for you both by the door when you arrived. She’s an older woman, small in stature but her kindness makes up for it. You can tell she loves what she does by how she’s gleaming at the tiny details of your supposed love.

How Tooru opens the door for you, how he fixes your hair when you remove your coat, how you blush when she addresses the two of you as the soon-to-be Mr. And Mrs. Oikawa.

Eager to get the process started and sit you down, she goes through all of the assortments of flavors in what feels like one singular breath. Af if she’s some kind of dessert-wizard, she begins to list all possible kinds of combinations. Some sweet and fruity, others dense and rich. 

It’s an overwhelming scenario in general, and knowing the truth behind the matter makes it all the more intimidating. 

“It all looks so great,” you sheepishly stutter behind a smile, “I don’t even know where to start, honestly.”

The baker continues to overflow with excitement, “Wherever you want! It’s all yours—but we do have one tradition. For your first bite.”

Tooru indulges, now intrigued by the mystery, “Do tell.”

The woman blushes like a cherry tomato. 

“You have to feed it to each other,” she practically oozes with excitement, “as practice for your actual big day! It’s a good luck thing we like to encourage all of our couples to participate in.” 

She eyes your brief exchange of worried glances before carefully adding, “Only if they’re comfortable, of course!”

The hole you’ve dug yourself in just keeps getting deeper and deeper. 

You slowly nod your head in faux confidence, an act Oikawa clearly sees right through. 

“Yeah, sure,” you reluctantly agree. Almost immediately, a hand is on your shoulder and a pair of lips is skimming the shell of your ear. 

“Look, we don’t have to—”

“Just pick a flavor, Tooru,” you snap. 

He decides on a classic strawberry shortcake blend. 

The tiny sample square is bright and endearing. Vanilla cake covered in a blush white frosting, stuffed with a flavored whip, and decorated with a sugared strawberry sitting bold on top. It looks delicious, almost so perfect that you don’t want to pry your shaky fork into it. But Tooru does, so you follow suit. 

He makes the first move. His grip on the utensil is tight in a way that he hopes comes off as sturdy, as he slowly maneuvers closer to you. Like feeding a child a spoonful of mashed vegetables, he mimics an airplane before teasing. 

“Open wide.”

With a subtle glare, you do. And he does the same. And the two of you are equally guilty of watching one another's lips curl around the metal and savor the airy sweetness dancing on your tongues. 

It’s incredible. It’s delicious. And it’s the first one.

“Oh my god,” your fiancé for the evening practically moans in bliss, “Oh god, I think I died and went to heaven.”

Normally, you’d whack his arm, but given the circumstances (being the faux relationship you need to sell and how delicious the cake truly is), you resist the tempation. 

“Okay, normally I’d call you dramatic, but it’s actually really good.”

Tooru opens his eyes in a daze before placing his hand over his heart in a swoon. 

“And my very own personal angel? Yup, this is definitely heaven.”

...

The afternoon gets easier. You try nearly every flavor the bakery has to offer, every combination the woman recommends. From dulce de leche to lemon raspberry to chocolate mousse, everything tastes incredible and leaves your stomach fluttering with a fullness it's never known. 

At least you think that's the cakes doing, and certainly not courtesy of the man sitting beside you. 

With all flavors consumed and the consensus being weighed, the woman eagerly awaits your thoughts.

Tooru’s hand finds the small of your back as you sit in the cushioned chairs of the bakery. “What do you think, darling? Which one’s your favorite?”

An instant fire dances in the pit of your stomach—burning bright and contagious and terribly loud. 

“I think I like this one the best,” you decide. Pointing at the strawberry shortcake, Oikawa beams.

“Knew you were gonna say that one!” his tongue darts between his teeth as he grins. “Me too. I mean, you do have great taste, after all.”

Tooru generously tips the sweet lady for the free consultation, and you don’t miss how his smile grows in size when she wishes you a happy and healthy life together. He thanks her without a second thought. 

“We’re probably gonna take a day or two to think some things over, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll be in touch!” He practically hollers as he guides you out of the door and back into his car.

Stuffed to the brim with sugar and batter, you're exhausted. Amid the biggest food coma of your life, you crawl inside his passenger seat and immediately close your eyes. Though not asleep, you keep them shut when you hear him curse beneath his breath and close your door. 

“Shit, I think I left my wallet on the table. Be right back!”

…

Oikawa’s car pulls into your driveway. Once the car is shifted into park, he’s removing his hand from the steering wheel and turning to where you ;lazily slump in his passenger seat. 

He raises his eyebrows in amusement at your tired and full appearance. Catching his eye, you groan in response and lean against the window. 

“I’m so full, I can’t even breathe.”

“And you call me dramatic,” he scoffs with a smile on his face. 

You turn to him, sincere and delicate as you ask, “Are you happy? You got your dose of free cake.”

“Ecstatic,” his tone is soft, but he means it. “Iwa-chan’s gonna be mad when he sees my cholesterol levels, though.”

A laugh breathes through your nose, “He’d find a way to be mad at you, anyway.”

After a moment of quiet breathing, you dramatically sit up with a sigh, stretching your body and unbuckling your seatbelt. Tooru uses your movement as a distraction to reach for something in the backseat of his car.

When you face him to say goodbye, a tiny to-go container sits atop his car’s center console. His eyes dart from the box to your face, a silent request for you to open it. 

Your brow crinkles in confusion, so he laughs and answers your silent question. 

“A thank you,” he softly elaborates, “for coming with me.”

You hide your blush, “I think if I look at another piece of cake, I’ll start bleeding cream cheese frosting.”

“Oh, just open it,” he begs.

Inside the box sits a single piece of strawberry shortcake, the very first flavor you tried and your ultimate favorite of the day. It's a tiny slice, but its size isn't what you hone in on—a little frosting heart sits smack dab in the middle of the top, a detail Tooru had personally asked the woman to quickly add when going back into the shop. 

While it’s a small gesture, it’s a reflection of his true intentions. As childish as he is, he didn't bring you along today just for some free cake. He did it to spend time with you—it was just an extra perk that he got to feed you cake and call you darling while doing so. 

You melt in honor at the pretty pastry in front of you. 

It’s no wedding or proposal or confession in the slightest, but it makes you smile, and Tooru hopes it's a step in the right direction. 

[mystwrites]

I’m (Not) Ticklish

Summary: Rengoku tries to make Giyuu smile and finds out the best way to make him laugh

A/N: Day 5 of Tickletober!

Making Giyuu smile was a thing the Hashira all had placed bets on. Everyone tried for months to make Giyuu laugh or smile but nothing seemed to work. Sanemi and Obanai didn’t bother to participate, Gyomei didn’t want to bother Giyuu and Muichiro kept forgetting. The only real contenders were Tengen, Shinobu, Mitsuri and Rengoku.

Everyone had grown annoyed that Giyuu wouldn’t laugh or smile no matter what they did but it only served as a reason for Rengoku to finally decide that it was time to pull out the big guns. As an older brother, he succeeded in making Senjuro laugh in countless ways. From terrible jokes to some slapstick humor, he managed to do it all but one technique that never failed was taking his little brother by surprise and tickling him. How had no one thought about tickling Giyuu?

Chuckling with confidence, Rengoku cracked his knuckles and set off to find Giyuu. He found the Water Hashira with ease, knowing he’d be by a small river, skipping stones on his day off from missions. Walking over, Rengoku placed an arm around his fellow Hashira, smiling when Giyuu looked up at him.

“Hello Tomioka!” Rengoku chirped, giving Giyuu a warm smile.

“Hi.” Giyuu replied, softly. He never was a man of many words but it didn’t bother Rengoku one bit.

“I have come to ask you a simple question, my friend.”

“And what could that question possibly be…?”

Rengoku laughed and whispered into Giyuu’s ear. “Are you ticklish?”

The question took Giyuu by surprise. Who would ask such a silly question? Looking at Rengoku, he noticed that the look in his friend’s eyes meant he was going to launch a tickle attack if an answer wasn’t given within a few seconds.

“N-no! I’m not ticklish!” Giyuu stammered, taken aback by the question Rengoku asked. “W-why would you ask that? Wait…is this the ongoing bet you guys have in regards to making me smile?”

“It sure is!” Rengoku replied, smirking. “Now answer the question.”

“I just did.” Giyuu deadpanned, skipping another stone across the water. “I told you that I’m not ticklish.”

“Hmm? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you!” Rengoku said, cupping his ear. “Speak up, Tomioka!”

“I said I’m not ticklish!” Giyuu snapped. “Don’t you da-AAAAHH!!”

The Water Hashira jumped away as Rengoku poked his sides, Giyuu deciding to try and make a run for it. Rengoku chased him for a few meters before he launched himself at Giyuu, taking them both down and rolling on the ground, grass getting caught in their hair.

Successfully taking Giyuu down, Rengoku wasted no time digging his fingers into Giyuu’s stomach, the fabric of the corps uniform barely offering the man protection from the sudden sensations he hadn’t felt in years. Bursting into laughter was inevitable and Giyuu tried to cup his mouth, Rengoku’s skilled fingers bringing those hands back down upon finding the weak spot at the center of his armpits.

“WAIT!! Wait, wait!! Lehehet’s tahahalk about this!!” Giyuu bargained, laughing as Rengoku tickled him.

“What is there to talk about?” Rengoku asked, laughing as he rubbed his thumb in quick circles underneath Giyuu’s arms. “You lied to me! You are ticklish!”

“Ihihi’m NOT ticklish!!” Giyuu argued, laughing harder and harder as the tickles continued.

“What?? What did you say? You’re not ticklish? But you’re laughing so hard, Tomioka!” Rengoku teased, laughing as he found a weak spot directly at the center of Giyuu’s ribs. “See? You’re ticklish!

Giyuu was about to argue, claim that no matter what Rengoku said, he was in no way ticklish. He knew it was going to be a futile attempt however. With Rengoku now tickling him like his life depended on it and the fact that he was already hysterically laughing, there was no possible way Giyuu could convince him otherwise. He kept repeating that he wasn’t ticklish in hopes of this whole ordeal coming to an end but this only serves as a reason for Rengoku to continue and find exactly where he was ticklish.

The neck, sides and stomach caused Giyuu to giggle hard, less of a reaction than Rengoku liked. His armpits, ribs and thighs gave stronger reactions, Giyuu’s belly laugh loud contrary to his normal speaking voice. Rengoku liked this version of Giyuu and laughed, encouraged by the lack of fighting to continue.

“Are you still not ticklish, Tomioka?” Rengoku chuckled, a smug grin on his face.

“Nope!” Giyuu replied, popping the “p” with a hint of sass, something Rengoku never saw. “N-not tihihicklish!”

“I can prove you wrong!”

“B-but Ihihi’m not tiihihicklish!!”

It was time to go for the kill. Cracking his neck, stretching his arms and pressing his right fist into his left palm, Rengoku chuckled and quickly grabbed a hold of Giyuu’s leg, holding his right ankle tightly, attempting to take off his zori while Giyuu tried to kick him in the face.

“WHOAAA!! Tomioka! Don’t kick me!” Rengoku laughed, finally succeeding in taking off Giyuu’s footwear. “WHOAA!! You almost kicked me again!! OW!! Hey!! Stop!! Ahaha!! Owww!!”

“No!! Dohohon’t you dare!!” Giyuu growled, kicking Rengoku in the chest multiple times to try and escape. “Rehehengoku! I am not…RENGOKU!!”

“Not ticklish, hmm? Haha! You are the world’s worst liar, Giyuu Tomioka!” Rengoku teased, reaching up and squeezing Giyuu’s thighs before going back to scratching the bottom of his foot.

Squirming and flailing about, Giyuu cried out, sitting up and weakly shoving at Rengoku, sitting up to slap at his attacker’s back as hard as he possibly could to no avail. Falling backwards, Giyuu held his hands up to cover his face, unable to stop himself from laughing, knowing that Rengoku has proved him to be a liar. He was still ridiculously ticklish and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Wheezing, Giyuu screamed out as Rengoku tried to remove his socks, kicking more violently and landed multiple blows against the Flame Hashira’s back. Letting out a scream, Giyuu kicked with all his might, gasping as his foot connected with Rengoku’s face.

“OWWW!!” Rengoku exclaimed, rubbing his cheek. “Ahaha! What a kick!! That hurt pretty badly!!”

“I-I’m sorry!!!” Giyuu squeaked, sitting up and nervously looking at Rengoku who turned around to face him. “You had it coming! You can’t blame me!”

“Well…I suppose I did. But you’re still gonna get it!! I didn’t completely deserve to be kicked in the face, did I??” Rengoku growed, Giyuu being shoved down playfully.

Rengoku turned around and sat on Giyuu’s waist before he tickled up and down his sides, going from the hips to the armpits. Giyuu screamed for a few more minutes but was slowly growing tired, his hysterical laughter dying down. Sensing that Giyuu was too fatigued to laugh anymore, Rengoku finally stopped, smiling and giving Giyuu a pat on the stomach. He flinched, a soft giggle escaping.

“Still not ticklish, Tomioka?” Rengoku asked, holding out his hand.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am ticklish…” he grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Don’t tell the others that I’m ticklish…it will be hell for me.”

“Why not? You’re fun to tickle!” Rengoku argued, attempting to poke Giyuu’s sides. “We will see you smile more!”

“NOOO!!” Giyuu shouted, slapping Rengoku’s hands away. “Don’t tell them! I will kick you in the face again if you tell anyone!”

“Okay, okay!” he laughed, pulling Giyuu to his side. “Let’s go back. I promise I won’t tickle you anytime soon!”

Anytime soon?!? Giyuu sighed and his blank expression returned. He couldn’t avoid Rengoku’s tickle attacks if the other decided to launch one, he was the big bad tickle monster after all but one thing was for certain, the others never knew he was and he didn’t want them to know anytime soon. He grabbed his zori sandals and slipped his feet in, following Rengoku who waited patiently for him and as promised, didn’t say a word to the rest of the Hashira when they went to meet with Kagaya.

According to the other Hashira, Giyuu was absolutely in no way ticklish and couldn’t smile. That’s the way it always had been and Giyuu wanted it to stay that way.

[imwintr]

cold

pairing | corky x reader

prompt | “it’s a camping trip, and one character’s forgotten their sleeping bag” by scealaiscoite wc 1406.

Deciding to join the vandals on their Dayton run picnic was a last minute decision. Having never spent a substantial amount of time with any of them other than seeing a couple of them over your neighbor Kathy’s home in passing, it would be fair to say that you were skeptical about attending. Though Kathy’s husband Benny seemed friendly enough, no amount of friendliness would be enough to convince you that hanging out with a motorcycle club that had been recently accused of arson was a good idea. 

The only reason you even initially even considered the idea was because although you and Kathy had been neighbors for well over a few years, you hadn’t become friends until recently when she stopped by asking to borrow some sugar. She confided in you about Benny’s injuries and the whole Lakeside ordeal, so you decided to attend on behalf of her “moral support”. It wasn’t like you had much of anything else to do in the coming days regardless, having already taken several days off from work. 

Since you weren’t staying for the entire duration of the run–and obviously didn’t own a motorcycle–you settled on staying for two nights before heading back on the road. Already not being the biggest fan of camping in general, you attempted to shove down the ensuing dread that was bubbling in your stomach to no avail. That feeling only intensified when you actually arrived on the grounds and saw the copious amount of people that were already there. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take you long to locate Kathy, who quickly introduced you to some of the other wives and girlfriends who had rode in with their partners. She furthermore introduced you to the Vandals’ leader and founder Johnny Davis, who you were initially wary of because of what you learned beforehand, but meeting Betty made you believe he still had to have some decency left under all of that bravado. Afterwards, you started getting approached by some of the members themselves despite Kathy’s attempt to swat the majority of them away–especially one Vandal in particular.  

This wouldn’t actually be your first time meeting Corky, though all of your other interactions were in passing with only a few words spoken. He asked you to remind him of your name before taking a seat next to you, causing Kathy to roll her eyes before resuming her conversation with Gail. Knowing that a good bulk of the guys in the club were bums who had no foreseeable future other than risking their lives riding motorbikes, you could understand why she was trying to steer you away from getting involved with any of them (not to mention the present circumstances she was dealing with in her own marriage). 

“Enjoying yourself?” he questioned, pushing his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose from where they had begun to slide down. You had to admit it, you found him pretty attractive, although you would never admit that out loud, nor would you willingly allow yourself to develop any feelings for him. He was probably just humoring you or trying to be cordial since it was technically your first time at one of their events. Little did you know that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

“I guess so, is this what you guys call fun?” you attempted to joke, which he thankfully seemed to pick on and gave you a laugh in return. Someone else decided to sit down on the other end of the bench, causing him to scooch over to where your legs and arms were brushing up against each other. Surprising yourself, you didn’t immediately move away from the contact. That awful feeling of dread you initially held when you arrived was long gone, replaced with an odd giddiness that made it difficult to keep a smile off of your face or keep yourself from laughing at each dumb joke he made. 

Never having been the type to hastily fall in love or believe in something as ludicrous as love at first sight, this was entirely foreign to you–and made your current behavior borderline unrecognizable to anyone that knew you beforehand. It wasn’t like you were constantly irritable or anything of that nature, but it wasn’t uncommon to see you donning an unamused expression when someone attempted a romantic advance. If someone were to tell you a week ago that you would be practically cuddled up next to a member of the Vandals a week later, you would have asked if they were feeling alright. As the day went on, you spent the rest of your time witnessing some of the club members’ absurd antics and listening to the girls conversate about what was going on in their relationships. 

By nightfall, groups had begun to break out and settle around individual campfires before turning in to go to bed. It was only then when you noticed how cold it had gotten with the sun having gone down, leading you to venture out to your car to retrieve a blanket. Noticing your return, Corky gave you a teasing smile before he asked “Still enjoying yourself?”. Rolling your eyes, you took the seat he had saved you between Wahoo and himself, and nodded before pulling the blanket tighter around your shoulders. “Are you cold?” He questioned, his smile fading and his eyebrows raising in concern. 

“A little bit.” you admitted sheepishly, suddenly feeling foolish for not packing better and being more prepared for the weather. “But I’ll be alright–” you were cut off mid sentence when you felt him gently grab your elbow so your arms and legs were touching just like before. 

“Better?” 

“I guess.” responding with a shrug, you giggled when he rolled his eyes in response, mirroring your actions from earlier. Around a couple of hours later, you guess he had gotten tired because he eventually decided to lay down on the log and propped up his leg behind you. You did your best to ignore Kathy’s playfully judgemental stare but it was kind of challenging when you were practically sitting in between Corky’s legs (which are quite long by the way). 

By the time everyone had decided that they were turning in for bed, you had really begun regretting your decision to just sleep in your car instead of bringing sleeping bags like everyone else and sleeping closer to the campfire. You weren’t looking forward to the cold leather in the backseat of your car, especially after sitting next to a human body heater and a campfire for several hours. Once you bid Kathy goodnight, you began walking out past everyone rolling out their sleeping bags to your car that was about 30 feet away. Hearing someone softly call out your name, you whipped your head around to see a familiar face removing his sleeping bag from his bike. 

“Where you going?”

“I didn’t bring a sleeping bag so I’m just gonna sleep in my car.” Saying that out loud caused you to cringe internally. Why didn’t you just bring a sleeping bag to a camping trip? 

“You’re gonna freeze, just take mine.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t.” Apparently your back and forth was getting bothersome because someone from a nearby sleeping bag hissed for you to quiet down and go to sleep. 

“We can just share it.” He suggested before picking a spot to roll it out for the night. Despite not wanting to cause anymore of a commotion than you already had, you were still milling over whether or not to just share the sleeping bag with him or just head back to your car–but you made the decision to stay. If it was anyone else you would have been overwhelmed and anxious–but to your own bewilderment the man who was beckoning you to lay down next to him, whose legs were comically too long for the sleeping bag he owned–did no such thing. 

Squeezing in next to him you were immediately met with an arm snaking its way around your shoulder to pull you closer to him. Rolling onto his back he left the arm around your shoulder and placed the other one behind his head, leaving you enough room to rest your head on his chest. There was no nagging feeling deep inside telling you to get up and run away, instead–you felt oddly at peace. 

Maybe hanging out with the Vandals for a few days wouldn’t be so bad.