#WOW THIS IS LONG

[uhhhh-em-draws-stuff]

So Spider-Man AU won!

Red Hearts is the daughter of the head scientist Bridget Hearts at wonderlabs, a lab specializing in genetic mutation. Her mother wants her to follow in her footsteps in the scientific world, but Red has no interest in science. She wants to pursue art but isn’t allowed to, so she sneaks out at night to use spray paints across the city. Bridget isnt an abusive mother, rather just strict and emotionally distant. Red is enrolled at a science specialized high school even though she has no interest in it. There she met her best friend. Chloe Charming. Chloe is the daughter of the NYPD captain charming and Ella charming who was friends with Bridget in high school. Red has been secretly harboring feelings for Chloe for months now and refuses to tell her, convinced they aren’t returned. As of this point Chloe feels nothing but good friendship for Red.

One night while staying late with her mom at her lab, an escaped spider bites Red on her upper left arm. Red smacks it away and doesn’t think anything of it until she gets home and immediately passes out on her bed face first. She wakes up in the morning and notices she can see without her glasses. Then she walks toward her mirror and notices something is different about her appearance. Her arms are much more muscular than before and she has definition in her abdomen. “oh that’s new” she says. She spends much of her morning trying to control her sudden strength and stickiness, weirdly enough. Red makes it to school in one piece, barely, causing Chloe to worry.

Over the next few weeks she creates a suit and starts dealing with small crimes in her area, to captain charming’s dismay. She creates a persona known as “the red spider”

Meanwhile with Bridget, she is trying to genetically engineer ways to enhance brain performance, but she tested it on herself too early and turns her mind into a Jekyll and Hyde like state with “Bridget” and “The Queen of Hearts” the queen of hearts quickly becomes the red spider’s #1 enemy.

One night the red spider saves Chloe from being mugged in an alley. Chloe starts saying how she can’t shake the feeling that she knows her. The spider refuses and says she must be confused. Chloe slowly rolls up the bottom of her mask and the spider let’s her. She stops just above her nose. She leans in and kisses her in the pouring rain. A few moments later she pulls away and stammers a goodbye and runs into the night leaving a confused Red behind.

The kiss stayed on Chloe’s mind for days, why did she do that? Who did she even kiss? Whoever it was her father despises. She also feels strangely guilty. Feeling like she betrayed Red, but she doesn’t like Red like that? Right?

Afte one particularly bad fight with the queen of hearts, Red manages to swing to Chloe’s bedroom, seeking bandaging, knowing she has to reveal her identity to Chloe. She slips in through the window, Chloe staring mouth agape from her bed. Red slowly pulls off her mask and looks up at Chloe. The two stared at each other for what felt like forever, until the moment was broken by red wincing and clutching her torn up stomach. Chloe rushes over and helps red pull down her suit to her waist and sets her down against her bed. She heads to the bathroom and comes back with a cloth, water, and bandages. She starts to clean the blood and grime off. Once a good amount was cleaned Red noticed Chloe looking at her newly there abs.

“Is THE Chloe charming checking me out?”

Chloe turns the color of Red’s hair and goes “WHAT? NO! ….those are just…new, is all”

Once red is all bandaged up, they lay in Chloe’s bed, side by side. Chloe sighs and says “so we have some things to talk about” Red turns to her and goes “okay I’m sorry i didn’t tell you but I didn’t want you to get hurt and about the kiss, I’ve liked you for like ever and I would’ve let you kiss me even if you didn’t know it was me, but you do now, so I don’t really know what that means for us but-“ the blue haired girl cuts her off with a kiss, placing her hand on the side of Red’s face.

“If you couldn’t tell, I like you, too”

“Oh, really? Couldn’t tell after you kissed me twice.”

A few weeks later the red spider and the queen of hearts have another particularly heated battle. In the last move, the queen throws her cards and the spider creates a reinforced web to bounce them back at her, hitting her square in the stomach. As she lay on the ground, her mask slipped off. The spider slowly approaches the figure and realizes the figure looks familiar. As she reaches her, the cold shiver of realization goes down her spine. Her mother is the queen of hearts. She just HURT her mother, possibly fatally. She rips her mask off and kneels next to her.

“Mom, hey, you’re gonna be okay”

“Red? Wha..what are you doing here?”

“Mom I’m the Red spider. I just hurt you, I’m so sorry please hold on I’ll get help-“

“Red, there isn’t time. I’m going, we have to face it”

“No no no no no no no mom you’re gonna make it, just let me get help”

Bridget grips onto her daughters hand with the little strength she has left.

“Red. Listen to me. I’m dying. Right here. There are some things I want you to do.”

Red nods signaling for her mother to continue.

“I’m leaving wonderlabs to Maddox, I know it was never your dream. You still have a share in the company but all of the stuff I do is left to him. I’m sorry I tried to force science on you, I just wanted you to be successful.”

Bridget takes a shakey breath.

“Keep in touch with chloe, she’s a good girl with a promising future. Maybe one day she’ll work at wonderlabs. I’d love to have her brain there.”

Red feels the tears welling up in her eyes start to fall.

“I love you, Red. I know I didn’t say it enough but I do. So please get out of here so you aren’t wanted for my murder. Go, I love you.”

And with that Bridget was gone. The queen of hearts, the head of wonderlabs, her mother. Gone.

Red flees the scene. She cleans up and prepares to face the press that night. Her funeral was the next week. She was asked to say a few words. She got to the podium and started sobbing immediately before she could say anything , she stepped down and let Maddox talk instead.

The city doesn’t see the red spider for a while after that.

After 6 months, the spider comes back, but something in her air was off, it was more reserved, less chatty, less there, but the city was glad to have her back either way.

Behind closed doors the spider cries in the arms of her girlfriend almost every night, plagued with nightmares and guilt she can never share.

[max-icons]

On the topic of Mouthwashing though, I really do wish we got more time as Curly's POV to get a better understanding of the rest of the crew and their personalities.

Jimmy's pov he views Anya as weak, constantly fawning, a nervous wreck, incapable of thinking for herself. He views Swansea as this drunken, fat oaf who's never spent a day in his life being successful at anything other than one bottle down the drain away from complete spiral. He views Daisuke as his rich boy who's never had to work a day in his life and has absolutely everything— including the internship, handed to him on a silver platter. And he views Curly as this absolute. A thing to idolise, a thing to destroy, a stepping stone but also a helping hand. He utterly loves hating Curly, and he loves the hate that comes from it.

Jimmy rarely talks bad about Curly, only ever swapping the blame off himself but he never once talks badly about him the same way he does to the other crew members. Curly is his paragon, something he spent years and years of chasing, being so far and yet so close to, and when he finally feels like he could finally surpass him, or even simply be equals for once, Curly gets the opportunity of a lifetime at a job he hates. How selfish, how utterly pathetic and selfish for Curly to hate a job that makes Jimmy feel powerful. He likes it there, he is in control. And that resentment starts to truly build when Jimmy realises how selfish Curly is for wanting to escape from something that enables Jimmy so much.

But when we finally see through Curly's eyes, Anya is fun, she is enthusiastic, she loves to make jokes, she loves to draw, read, and even has what seems to be an budding relationship with Curly himself, taking to his comment about being fit to fly in her eyes like it's a common exchange of flirting between the both of them. She is at ease around him, her walls have dropped, and she feels safe to talk to him, and even attempts to try and get him to open up more to her.

Daisuke is capable, he is enthusiastic, a hard working Intern who really enjoys what he does, engineering. Curly is receptive of this, and isn't even the one to reprimanded him when he sets off the sealant foam because he can see the good in him, because he can see that he was genuinely trying to help. He never once comments about him being stupid, or lacking, or in any light that could implicate that he hasn't worked hard to get where he is, even if he did have assistance from his parents, he still met that mark of passing for internship.

And although not much is expressed with Swansea, we know that they're capable of being honest with eachother, and allow themselves to joke between the both of them. And when Curly does have to step in and act like a Captain, he even goes as far to trust the axe directly to Swansea himself. In a ship where absolutely everything has to go through him, everything needs clearance and everything needs to be triple double checked, he trusts Swansea with the axe.

And onto Jimmy, Curly can see his faults, the cracks and the damage Jimmy has on the surface, but insists on seeing something deeper within him too. Constantly reminding him that "They'll figure it out" and just to take "One day at a time" because he is genuinely reaching out to Jimmy and attempting to give him support. Despite the ugliness, he is looking at Jimmy with a lens of the bigger picture, his overall achievement of being his co-pilot, his friend. Curly was genuinely proud of Jimmy for accomplishing what he has, and acknowledges that it wouldn't have been wasted considering he has had it rough back on earth.

We can see both of their stark personalities in also how we see the ship itself. Everytime we are through Jimmy's perspective, the ship is destroyed, blanketed in a red hue constantly, it is crowded, suffocating, rusting and breaking apart at the seams. Even right before the ship is actually crashed, it is not long before his entire senses are overloaded with the red flashing lights of an emergency warning. He lives in that sunset, in that firey essence of destruction and death.

But through Curly's eyes? We see sun, clouds, happiness, warmth, we see the moon, the twinkling stars. The beauty of a lived space, the calmness and the comfort of the Tulpar. Celebrating birthdays, playing board games, reading books, enjoying life to their fullest on the ship. We know he enjoys simple food, trucker food. That caffeine keeps him up, that he refers to Polle with joy, referring to the statue as "Ponyboy", mentioning that he loves Anya's and Swansea's music choices on the radio.

And then suddenly his whole life is utterly consumed by that red, firey inferno. Constantly blaring in his eyes, burning away at his skin and even more constant reminder of the white, hot death that awaits him.

Everything in this game is through the lense of a cynical, self absorbed unreliable narrator who sees kindness as a weakness and lashes out accordingly. I would kill to have seen and experienced more as Curly, but I think the lack thereof is intentional. A nod to just how truly empty and vulnerable he has become, stripped away of all things that made him, him. Both in appearance and personality, all taken from him by the one person he thought he could trust.

[dreamlandcreations]

Imagine calling Halbrand yours when you get drunk...

• previous part •

Imagine calling Halbrand yours when you get drunk...

It was Thranduil's fault! He knew you didn't handle alcohol well, and instead of worrying about you when you missed your 100-year meeting, he got all mean and sent three bottles of the strongest wine he could find and his favourite and most trusted servant - not that the spoiled brat would would admit it - and made you drink all of it in one sitting.

As you drank you started to complain to the man watching your suffering.

He surely wanted you dead, surely!

Who needs enemies when you have friends like this?

You finally got an answer when you started to plan what you would do in revenge when you met again, to which your "guard" answered that the prince would love to welcome you next time, exactly 99 years later, if you can be in time, his words.

Halbrand, following your rather loud answering curses, wandered into the room just in time to catch you when you tried to stand and immediately lost balance.

Elrond found you a few moment later with your head in the man's lap as you held on the lying sofa despite your insistence that you could stand just fine.

Your brother didn't miss a moment to tease you, claiming that Thranduil has strange ideas of courting. And you did not notice but Halbrand tensed at the comment, Elrond was watching close though, seeing the relieved exhale too after your reaction of disgust at the idea, claiming that the princeling is like a brother to you.

Elrond pretended to be hurt, and you rolled your eyes and said you were just friends. To which came the quick response that you seem to have too many friends lately as he eyed Halbrand with a strange look that you missed too.

You broke the silent staring contest when your brain finally caught up. Looking up to Halbrand with a sad smile, reaching up and finding a strand of his hair to curl around your finger to get his attention, you say that he is not a friend. Not like that, because he doesn't trust you with his secrets.

With your mood quickly changing, you cheerfully continue your conversation with the servant as slowly sit up you drink the remaining wine, telling him that you will go wherever you want, whenever you want but if his prince insist on being mean, you will just spend time with your king. Making Halbrand's heart skip a few beats, not just with your comment but the following deliberately exaggerated kiss on his cheek before you are turning to bicker with your brother once more.

• next part •

[starfinss]

Efflorescent — Tighnari

𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮: Genshin Impact

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Tighnari + Reader

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: NSFW

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 8,495

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺: Triggered by unseasonably cool weather, Avidiya forest is alive with rare flora. Upon going to investigate it, you and Tighnari get more than you bargained for. 

It was supposed to be an ordinary expedition. And by all accounts, it was, until you found that stupid clearing.

The weather that week was uncharacteristically cool for Avidiya Forest, as ushered in by a passing thunderstorm, and the change in temperature had caused flora that rarely bloomed to come to life, painting the forest with splashes of color, and it wasn’t until a few days after the storm that you began to take notice of the unusual plants.

So when Tighnari had rushed to your room that morning, rousing you from your slumber, you were just as excited as he was to go look for rare samples.

The conversation as you walked into the tree line was full of quiet excitement, the clinking of the glass sample jars in your rucksack almost musical against the morning stillness. You were used to the characteristic balmy humidity that was omnipresent in the rainforests of Sumeru, and the cool breeze felt lovely against your skin. The sky was perfect blue, cloudless and painted with streaks of gold and marigold hues as the sun rose.

The Akademiya would never allow this.

You smiled to yourself at the thought, knowing full well how strenuous it would be to get permission to do this if you were still with the Akademiya. You’d have to talk to your instructors, get permission, write a paper, write another paper, write a proposal, and the list goes on. It was all far too much for you, when all you ever wanted was to go out and discover.

“What are you thinking?” Tighnari asked, head cocked slightly to the side, eyes inquisitive.

“Just about how nice this is,” you replied, pulling your rucksack up higher on your back.

“It is quite beautiful,” Tighnari said fondly, “I wonder if we will find any Avidiya Lilies.”

You hummed in assent, your interest showing in the way your eyes lit up. You’d only seen the flower he mentioned as a bud, coiling along vines encircling trees. It only bloomed when it was cool enough, just after a storm, and since the cool had lingered, you were wondering if the flower had remained in bloom, just as Tignnari was wondering.

Small animals skittered past you as you walked, shroomboars and foxes paying you little mind, as they were used to the presence of the forest rangers such as yourself and Tighnari. You loved it out there; totally at one with nature, and filled with a sense of peace like no other.

Avidiya Forest was like a living organism, so full of vibrancy and life, awash with color and all sorts of smells. If you were hungry, you could stop and forage for mushrooms. If you were thirsty, there were plenty of clear streams you could drink from. Nature provided, and that was one of your favorite things about it. You took a deep lungful of forest air as you walked, a smile spreading across your face.

“There!” Tignnari cried, his voice hushed as he knelt beside the path, “creeping silkweed.”

You knelt beside him, studying the small, pale blue blossoms, which were blooming on a fallen log, attached to a delicate vine. Your fingers brushed against the fragile petals, and you withdrew your shears from your pack.

Carefully, you snipped off a segment of the vine, packing some soft dirt and clear water from a nearby stream into the jar before adding the sample. With a satisfying click, you screwed the lid closed, replacing the jar in the rucksack.

“I’ve only seen those in bloom at twilight, and even then, they often stray closed. It’s amazing to see them in bloom right now. When the conditions are right, they’re supposed to glow. It’s very beautiful.”

You stared at the remaining flowers on the vine, admiring the way the pale blue of the petals tapered off into white the closer it got to the soft yellow of the center. Veins of deep indigo laced up and along the petals, a beautiful contrast to the gentle color.

You stood when Tighnari did, listening intently to the information and facts he was giving you, happy to have the field experience rather than just looking at drawings of plants in a dusty textbook.

Tighnari looked like a painting in the fresh morning light. The dark of his hair was a sharp contrast to the lush green around you, the chartreuse of his bangs elegantly framing his pale, delicate face. Your face felt warm as you watched him, and when he saw you looking, he gave you a friendly smile.

“Is there something on your mind?” He asked gently, his eyes genuine, and you blushed, tearing your gaze away from his face.

“No, I was just listening. You were talking about the hypanthium of the silkweed blossoms?”

Tighnari nodded, eyes lighting up as he continued on talking about the various parts of the flower, and you went right on listening.

It wasn’t until about two hours later, when you were sitting down to rest and refresh yourselves when you caught your first lungful of something new.

You paused mid-gulp as you drank from your waterskin, moving the spout away from your lips as you took another deep breath. It was something you’d never smelled before, like jasmine and lavender, vanilla and lemongrass. It was indescribably scrumptious, smelling of earth and flowers, of your favorite incense, all at once, shifting, sending your senses into overdrive, even if it was still rather faint, requiring several deep breaths to get another whiff of; the kind of scent that you had to take several lungfuls to fully appreciate, or to even place. You had to wonder, out of academic curiosity and for more selfish reasons, where exactly that wonderful scent was coming from.

“I see that you smell it, too,” Tighnari mused.

You nodded, and suddenly, you were aware of how nice Tighnari’s voice was. It was musical against your ears, making you smile.

“It’s new,” he continued, frowning, “I’ve never noticed it before, and with my oversensitive olfactory system, it would have been very evident.”

“Is it dangerous, do you think?” You asked.

“I doubt it,” Tighnari said, glancing sidelong at you, “do you know of anything that would smell like this?”

You shook your head. “It smells like… like many things. All of them are wonderful. Maybe it’s supposed to draw in certain insects, or animals. I don’t know what made it this strong. That’s interesting.”

Tighnari’s brows pushed together, and he was clearly deep in thought.

You’d never noticed just how good looking he was before. You already knew that Tighnari was handsome, that was obvious. You were attracted to him, as many undoubtedly were, and he was a very dear friend. But right now, lit by the sun filtering through the canopy above, he looked more incredible than anything you’d ever seen. With him this close to you, you could smell the earthen scent of his soap, and—

“I’d like to take a sample.”

His voice snapped you out of your staring, and you coughed to hide your embarrassment.

Get ahold of yourself. Think about all of that when he isn’t less than a foot away. Collei already teases you enough.

Truthfully, you wanted a sample, too. You were always hungry for new information, and this was no exception. You eagerly pulled a sample jar from your rucksack, passing it to Tighnari. He sniffed the air once, then a second time, before motioning for you to follow him.

“I learned about plants like this in the Akademiya,” Tighnari explained, “they’re bait, like you said, for small animals and insects. I don’t think the plant is carnivorous, it’s just a way to spread the pollen around, since the scent is nearly irresistible. I’ve never heard of it affecting humans, or my species, this strongly before, however.”

You remembered something like that in a textbook, but the name of the flower in question escaped you. Also, the flower you were thinking of usually affected animals roughly the size of a squirrel or a fox, and not the size of a fully grown person.

The scent got stronger as you walked, off the beaten path and into a clearing.

You stopped after stepping past Tighnari, your breath caught in your throat as you took in the sight before you. There was a waterfall tumbling off a cliff and into a clear, glimmering pool. The pool was lined with stones worn smooth, as well as large slabs of slate. Patches of young grass were peeping through the cracks and bleeding into the small, surrounding meadow. Soft, golden sunlight was scattering through the leaves, casting speckled patterns across the grass, gleaming on the water.

Finally, there, growing on the stone wall, nestled in a curtain of vines beside the waterfall, was a blanket of lotus-like flowers. They were reddish pink, some tinged purple, with multiple layers of petals circled around a small yellow center. Filaments, thickly coated in pollen, were protruding from the flowers’ centers, and you imagined that this was the most likely cause of the powerful scent.

“There they are,” Tignnari said, and you were suddenly hyper aware of his athletic form at your back. The scent of that soap you noted earlier was mingling deliciously with the overpowering fragrance of the flowers, with the scent of his skin, which was somehow all you could even think about now.

“Yeah,” you said, clearing your throat and turning to face your companion, “any idea what they are?”

His brows furrowed, lip catching between his teeth as he pondered your question, and you couldn’t stop yourself from admiring how unbearably attractive that simple action was. You swallowed thickly, turning away from him about three quarters, just to give yourself some time to breathe.

If only you could remember the effect those flowers had on such animals, but, as it often happens in times of need, you were drawing a blank.

It was Tighnari’s turn to clear his throat, and the intonation made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

���Shears, please,” he said, and you forced yourself to nod as you passed them to him, a jolt of electricity passing up your spine when his fingertips brushed against yours. He clearly felt it too, because he looked at you for a handful of seconds before gingerly pulling away with the shears.

Blushing, you trailed after him as he approached the tangle of flowers.

Tighnari’s eyes were lovely. Two toned, fading from brown into forest green; eyes like you’d never seen before. They were one of your favorite things about him, among other things. The cut of his jaw, the way the space between his eyebrows creased when he was focused, as he was now, carefully taking a snipping of a couple of the fragrant blossoms.

You forgot to breathe until he handed you back the jar, and that was when you got your first direct hit of the scent. It was like being kicked in the chest in its intensity. It made you dizzy, as you cradled the blooms in your hand, putting soft dirt and water into the jar, placing the flowers down and fastening the top. You put the jar into your rucksack as carefully as you could with your hands shaking as badly as they were before you gently pushed the bag aside and sat down on the soft grass.

Your head was spinning. You could hear your own heartbeat in your ears, like how you can after you’ve been running.

“I need to rest,” you said.

“It’s the scent,” Tighnari said, his voice lower than it was before, “something is… wrong.”

Oh, Gods. You were getting warm. And not normal Sumeru weather warm, worryingly, feverishly warm. You pulled your shawl off, draping it over your rucksack and rolling up your sleeves.

Tighnari rolled his shoulders back, softly breathing as he sat down beside you, and you could feel that heat spread across your body at an alarming pace. You could hardly take your eyes off him, and you watched with rapt attention as his tongue flicked out to wet his bottom lip. What were you feeling?

Everything was warm and getting even warmer; everything was hot, and you felt like you were suffocating.

“Stop that,” you blurted, “stop— everything.”

Tighnari looked puzzled. “Stop— stop what? I’m not doing anything.”

The crease between his eyebrows was back as he studied your face, and you felt yourself grow miserably warmer.

“You’re perspiring,” he said, softly, “I am, too. Whatever this is, it is affecting both of us. Your breathing is accelerated, as well.”

You realized it was. Your breath was coming in quick, shallow bursts, and you consciously tried to take deeper breaths. You quailed away in surprise and needless alarm when he reached for you, and when he pressed two of his fingers to your pulse point, you felt like an electric shock went down your body, stronger than when he’d touched you before when he took the shears.

“Your pulse is very quick,” he noted, “but still strong. It’s much too cool for you to be suffering from heat stroke, but it is hot out here all of a sudden, isn’t it?”

You nodded absently.

“Mydriasis,” he muttered, “I suspect with myself, as well. Archons, it really is too warm.”

Sure enough, the dueling color of his irises was thickly ringed around the pale circumference of his pupils, which were widely dilated. His breath was quick, matching yours, and you felt heat begin to simmer beneath your skin, nearly suffocating where his hand still lingered, though gloved, against the skin of your throat.

Your own gaze fell to his lips, soft and full, and you realized just how badly you wanted to kiss him. You’d wanted to kiss him before, in several instances, but doing so would irreparably damage your platonic friendship, which was the last thing you wanted. Now, you could not give less of a damn. You’d give anything to feel his mouth against yours, to feel his skin—

Stop. Stop, Archons help me.

“The scent,” Tighnari said, voice lightly breathless, “there’s a-a correlation between the scent and these symptoms, I think the microgametophytes in the air, combined with the odor is having a physiological effect, on the both of us.”

It took you a handful of seconds to process his words, because the sound of his voice was suddenly the most distracting thing in the entire world; no song you’d ever heard could compare, and the heat beneath your skin was becoming nearly unbearable.

“Pollen,” you said, your brain catching up, “you think it’s the pollen?”

“Yes,” Tighnari said, the hand on your throat dropping to the curve of your shoulder, “it resembles oxytocin, in a very heavy dose, coupled with accelerated lutrophin production, driving reproductive urges.”

It clicked in your head.

Your face turned several shades of red, and you nodded once. Of course. What better way to spread the pollen than to draw in whatever unsuspecting animal, slather the stuff on its fur or whiskers when it leans in for a sniff, and then passing it along when said animal gives in to its reproductive urges and—

“A-an aphrodisiac.”

Tighnari’s eyes darted away from your face, then back to meeting your own gaze.

“Correct.”

The implication hung heavy in the already suffocating air as the sounds of your breathing overlapped, interrupted only by the thrum of the waterfall.

“T-the water,” Tighnari said, his voice strained, “we should—”

“Tighnari,” you said, addressing him, and you intended to continue speaking, until you noticed the way his breath hitched as you said his name. It sent a wave of suffocating, shameful arousal down your body, and you tried your best to ignore it. His hand against your skin was searing, even through the glove, and it took everything in you not to reach out and touch him.

Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh Gods—

“The water,” you repeated, finally, your eyes flicking to the waterfall, “right. Let’s wash off.”

You figured that this plan was flawed, as the water was probably saturated in the pollen, but you were so overheated that as you hurried to unfasten your clothing, the feel of the air against your skin was a mercy. You pulled at the various buckles fastening your Forest Ranger uniform to your body, pulling off your blouse, then your shorts and boots, but as you did, something caught your eye as Tignnari moved to unfasten the toga he wore over his clothing.

There, straining at the front of his trousers, was a distinct shape against the dark fabric. It was hidden by the excess cloth before, but now that this was gone, the evidence of the pollen’s effects was more than evident.

But you weren’t the only one with wandering eyes.

You realized that Tighnari’s eyes were riveted to your bra-covered chest, to the now-exposed skin of your waist, and you watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. An exquisite flush painted his perfect, pale cheeks as he realized you saw him looking.

Quickly, he pulled off his gloves, then tugging his sweatshirt over his head, leaving him bare chested, and oh, you were an absolute goner. His chest was much more muscular than you imagined (and not that you did), toned and lithe and lean, with hard ridges of muscle in all the right places. Of course, he’d have a great body, you reasoned, with all the activity he does, and like the other rangers, you were certain he stuck to the strength training and cardio work you were supposed to do to keep in shape.

You tore your hungry gaze from his body, standing up to step into the water, which was colder than you expected, reaching your mid thigh as you stepped into the pool. You tried to focus on you and not how the space between your thighs was aching, and you stretched your arms over your head with a breathless sigh.

A soft splash filled the air, and a ripple traveled across the surface of the water as Tignnari stepped into the pool as well. When you turned on instinct to look at him, you wished you hadn’t, because you were helpless, your eyes raking down his defined chest, lingering on the thin threads of battle scars, his body tapering off into a trim waist, where his underwear hung low on his hips. It took every ounce of your waning willpower not to jump him right there.

His erection was even more evident through the thin cotton of his underwear, and you realized you could see the flush of pink through the now damp fabric as it clung to his skin, and absently, sinfully, you wondered what it would be like to put your mouth—

No, no, no—

But then your focus was brought straight back to him as he moved closer, his hand reaching out to catch a droplet of water traveling down the curve of your waist with his thumb. His eyes weren’t shy with their wandering, and you knew it was the pollen talking, but Gods, it felt nice, for him to look at you like you were the most exquisite thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

“I-I apologize,” he whispered, but he didn’t sound apologetic.

His hand remained on your waist, fingers tracing a pattern against your skin, causing you to shiver, and your own hand rose to catch his wrist, stopping him. The feel of his skin on yours was like someone applying a salve to a burn, and you had to stop yourself from sighing embarrassingly in pleasure at the sensation.

“Terribly sorry,” he said, sounding even less sorry, and his voice was lower than you’d ever heard it, “I— I can’t seem to help myself. I will go to the far end of the pool—”

“It’s fine,” you said, a little too quickly, your voice light and breathy.

You realized a little too late that you were moving closer to him, and by the time you had, you could feel his breath fanning against your skin, sending violent shivers down your body.

There was a warning in Tighnari’s eyes, but not a particularly firm one, that disappeared with every passing second as his gaze fell to your lips, raking down your body, and you almost lost your composure when he caught his lower lip lightly between his teeth again.

“May I—” Tighnari asked, finally, a note of need leaking into his voice, “may I kiss you?”

Your breath left your lungs in a dizzying swoop as you gave in.

“Gods, yes.”

That was all it took for him to surge forward, his lips connecting with yours more gently than you expected, but that didn’t stop you from tangling your hands into his hair, pulling his body close to your own. You felt his arms wind around your waist, holding you flush to him, and when your tongue swiped along his lower lip, he didn’t hesitate to give you access.

And everything rapidly went downhill from there.

The kiss was messy and uncoordinated, your tongue tangling with his, and you felt one of his hands rise to cup the base of your skull, holding your mouth to his, only separating every so often if only to reconnect. You were suddenly being crowded against the edge of the pool, his arms going on either side of your body to cage you in. Your thighs parted as his hips moved against yours, and he groaned lowly into your mouth when you finally made contact with him where he needed it most.

He was so hard. It had to be uncomfortable to be confined by the little fabric he was wearing, and you wanted so badly to touch him, but he beat you to it, one of his hands trailing up your body to palm your breast through your bra before fumbling with the clasp. You were about to lift a hand to assist him when he managed to unhook the garment, and you broke the kiss briefly to discard it.

“I can’t stop,” Tighnari mumbled against your lips, breathless.

“Then don’t,” you urged, and Tighnari’s grip on your body tightened.

His palm felt like perfection on your flesh, and you whined into his mouth when he rolled your nipple between two fingers, tugging gently and making you arch your back into his touch. His hands were calloused from years of working with them, with the soil, with his bow, and the rough skin sent delightful tingles up your spine.

Your hand slid down his torso, feeling the dips and curves of his defined abdominals, and you reveled in the sound of his breath hitching, his muscles tensing as your fingers crept closer to where the waistband of his underwear met skin.

“Can I—” You started, and he nodded, reconnecting your lips in a chaste kiss.

“Please,” he panted, “please.”

You’d never seen Tighnari anything but composed, so to see him like this was as disarming as it was arousing. You palmed him gently through the thin fabric, and at the sound of his breath catching sharply in his throat, you pressed a little harder.

That elicited a more extreme reaction. Tighnari groaned against your lips, a sound that prompted a cry of your own, and his hips pushed forward against your hand. You squeezed him through the fabric, your fingers dipping past and grazing just the very base of him, making him shudder, a stricken hiss escaping his lips. Fascinated by his reaction, you teased the clearly sensitive flesh with the soft tips of your fingers until he caught your wrist.

“Don’t tease me,” he murmured, his voice firm.

Tighnari guided your hand to his waistband, and you slowly pulled it down to tug him free. You paused for a moment, breath unsteady as you took in the feeling of him against your palm. He was thick and heavy, and long enough to make you dizzy with arousal. He groaned softly as you explored the new territory, mapping out the spots you knew contained the most nerve endings with your fingertips. Finally, you wrapped your fingers around him, stroking slowly.

“Oh,” he gasped, eyes half lidded as he broke away from your mouth, “oh.”

You rested your forehead against his as you looked down to where your hand was encircling him, and you felt him throb against your palm, the tip of his dick visibly twitching. You bit back a moan as his breath expelled itself through gritted teeth.

“Rub the tip— yeah.”

An obscene moan fell from his lips as you slowly circled the tip of his cock with your thumb, and you spread the leaking precum around the sensitive flesh, aiding in your motions as you stroked him, long and slow.

“Fuck, that’s good,” he muttered, eyes slipping closed.

Gradually, you sped up, squeezing where you observed that he liked it, and he grabbed at your body, hands on your breasts, the curve of your ass, and you knew he was unable to focus on anything other than the sensations he was feeling at that moment. He let out a quick, stuttering exhale as you squeezed gently, biting back a groan.

You picked up the pace, and he was canting his hips along with your hand, his breath leaving his lips mixed with an incoherent praise as he buried his face in the crook of your neck, sharp teeth sinking into the soft skin of your shoulder. He laved the damaged flesh with his tongue, soothing it, and you couldn’t help but moan, thighs rubbing together in a futile attempt to alleviate the pressure building there.

Tighnari’s mouth trailed down your torso, his lips closing around one of your nipples, and you gasped, back arching, your free hand flying to his hair, the sensitivity making your head spin. You knew it was the pollen heightening your senses like this, but Archons be damned if you weren’t enjoying it. You wanted him inside of you more than you’d wanted anything in your life. You wanted anything inside of you. And so, when he pressed his palm between your thighs, his head rising to lock his lips against yours, it was like he’d read your mind.

“Dammit, You’re so wet,” he seethed, breath heavy, expelling through his teeth, “I can smell it; how aroused you are. You’ve wanted this, haven’t you?”

Your face turned pink, but you nodded, squirming against his hand as he pushed your panties aside, his fingers finally sinking inside of you.

“Good,” Tighnari said, breathlessly, “I’ve wanted this, too.”

You cried out into the crook of his neck as his fingers filled you, stretching you so perfectly, and you were helpless as you ground your hips down, your fingers tightening around Tighnari’s cock, drawing out a needy groan.

He wanted this, you dully registered, just like you did. That meant he liked you, he felt the same, he— oh Gods you couldn’t think.

“I love the way you touch me,” he whispered, his voice hushed and chaste, “don’t stop, please.“

He whispered more hushed praises into the crook of your neck, hips bucking as you stroked him faster, and his thumb found your clit, making your legs tremble. His fingers weren’t very practiced, but he knew where he was touching, finding every spot inside of you with a certainty that made your knees feel weak, and you gasped sharply, inner walls fluttering around his fingers, making him groan. The pressure on your clit increased, making your hips jump, your heartbeat pounding in your ears, and it wasn’t long before you were grinding down onto his hand like a bitch in heat.

“Tighnari,” you gasped, head falling back.

“Our tactile receptors are affected by the pollen,” Tighnari said, ever the academic, even like this, “making us more sensitive, increasing oxytocin, making everything more intense.”

You were barely able to formulate a response, your brain fogged with desire so strong it was making you dizzy.

“Just don’t stop,” you gasped, back arching into his chest,

He curled his fingers inside of you, making you cry out.

“Not a chance.”

All eloquence and academic vocabulary flew out the window as you stroked him quicker and quicker, his words replaced with moans of ecstasy mixed with your name, muffled by your skin or filling the open air. You felt him twitch against your palm, his hips bucking harder, and from the deliriously pleasured expression on Tighnari’s face, you knew he was close.

“Fuck,” he gasped, “don’t stop, please, please—”

He was going to cum, and you could tell by the way his thrusts grew uneven, eventually stilling to let you control the pace, working him closer and closer to his release, making him hiss through his teeth.

“Ah… shit,” Tighnari blurted, his jaw clenching, face laced with a stricken expression, “don’t stop, I’m so close—”

You wanted to tell him you weren’t going to stop, but all you could manage was a desperate moan as you ground down on his hand, your head falling back at the divine pleasure, and Tighnari’s groans of ecstasy grew louder, mixing almost incoherently with your name as you continued to jerk him off, your rhythm in tandem with his own as he worked his fingers inside of you.

Your climax was creeping up on you faster than you wanted it to, urged on by the increased sensitivity from the pollen. Your free hand knotted in his hair, your fingers raking upwards to wrap around the base of his right ear, making him groan.

“M-my ears— Not usually that sensitive,” Tighnari stammered, puzzled, his expression hazy, “feels good normally, but not— oh.”

You hummed in assent, fingers rubbing where his ears met his scalp, making him cry out against your skin, the combination of sensations clearly overwhelming to him. His fingers were now curling inside of you, making your eyes roll back in your skull, hips moving with his hand as you squirmed in his hold.

All it took was one more squeeze at the base of his dick to send him over the edge.

“C-cumming, I’m cumming,” Tighnari’s gasped, and with a final buck of his hips, your fingers were coated with white, dripping down your knuckles, painting your stomach, and there was so much of it, hot against your skin. You worked him through his climax with sure, even strokes, and he wasn’t softening, even as you milked him dry.

The sounds he made were madly erotic, his face the perfect picture of ecstasy as he rode out his blissful high, his ears drooping to the sides of his head as his face pressed against your shoulder, teeth sinking into your skin once again.

He yanked your hand away abruptly, even as he continued to twitch, and you were suddenly on your back, laying at the side of of the pool, his hands tugging your panties down and off your legs. He held your thighs apart, pinning you in place as his mouth took the place his hand had been, his tongue hot against your cunt.

Your cries were far too loud, but you were beyond caring about volume as he held you down and devoured you, your clit trapped under his tongue, between his lips, and you were aching to be filled, but he wasn’t giving you that satisfaction, not yet. You were already so close, and all it took was that one final push before you toppled over the edge, sobbing his name, your hands knotting in his hair, but he didn’t even slow, not even as you convulsed under his touch.

Tighnari’s tongue flattened against your clit, dragging up in broad strokes, and you felt your head pitch back, gently knocking against the stones beneath it as you tried to close your thighs instinctively, but were barred from doing so. You felt Tighnari’s hands grab at the backs of your knees, hitching them over his shoulders as he moved closer.

“Please,” you cried, desperate and dizzy with torturous desire, “please, please, fuck me.”

You heard him, felt him snarl against your cunt, more animal than human as he sped up his pace, taking your clit into his mouth and sucking hard enough that it made stars dance across your blurry vision. You were suddenly cumming so hard that you couldn’t even breathe, your mouth wide open in a silent scream, back arched off the ground, your hands locked in a white knuckled grip in Tighnari’s hair as you clenched down hard on nothing.

He was gentler this time as he helped you through your climax, pulling away finally when you were incoherent with pleasure. You lay there, panting hard, your eyes half open as you tried to recover, but even that wasn’t enough. You could still feel the effects of the pollen coursing through your system, and from the way Tighnari was looking at you, it was the same for him.

“I’m on a birth control tonic,” you said, propping yourself up on your elbows to look at him, “just— please, Tighnari, I feel like I’m burning inside.”

Tighnari’s hands went to rest on your parted thighs, pulling you forward and towards him, to where he stood, still thigh-deep in the water. Your own legs were submerged up to your knee as he pulled you flush to him, his cock pressing against your pubic bone.

“I won’t be able to stop,” Tighnari warned, “I apologize if it becomes too much, but I can’t promise you that—“

“Please,” you whined, growing more and more desperate, “I need you, I can’t take this anymore.”

That was all it took. Tighnari nodded a single time, once he was sure of your consent, and he reached between your bodies to line himself up with your entrance, slowly sheathing himself inside of you.

You made a soft, breathy whine as he filled you, a sound he juxtaposed with a heavy groan. The stretch was almost enough to send you over the edge right there, and if it weren’t for the effects of the pollen, you’d probably have felt more pain from the intrusion, but all you felt was a dull ache and a hint of discomfort.

“Oh, Gods,” Tignnari whispered, and you watched his hands flatten on the stones beside your hips, muscles tightening as he took in the new sensation.

His head tipped forward, his breathing heavy and uneven, and you used your thighs to pull him closer, disregarding the whisper of pain in the back of your mind as the pure relief of being filled up overtook you.

“Stay still, stay still,” he growled, the very threads of his control slipping away as he spoke, the warning clear in his voice, but you didn’t listen, pulling him forward again.

Your actions were met with a sound that was produced deep in his chest, like a warning an animal would give, and it hadn’t even occurred to you how the pollen would affect someone like Tighnari, someone with non-human heritage as opposed to yourself, and as he drew himself out, only to press back in again, your mind went blank, all semblance of scientific curiosity tossed out the window.

Your cries of pleasure mixed with his as he repeated the motion, again, and again, and again, and oh Gods, you couldn’t even think. The pace he adopted was clearly with your comfort in mind, but it was rapidly becoming not enough. You needed more, all you could fathom was how much you needed more.

“Faster,” you gasped, your voice barely there, but he heard you, as evident by the way his ears perked up.

Tighnari snarled, his grip on your body tightening, and when you whimpered, he lost control completely.

His fingers were sure to be pressing bruises into your flesh from how hard he was gripping your body, but you didn’t care, not when every cell in your body was demanding more, more, more. You were vaguely aware of your volume, and you put the back of your hand over your mouth in a half hearted attempt to quiet yourself, but it basically did fuck all, especially when Tighnari reached up to yank your hand away, pinning it by your side.

“I want to hear you,” he rasped, “every single sound you make, I want to hear it.”

Your brain fogged further with desire, fueled by the low, rough timbre Tighnari’s usually gentle voice had adopted, and you whined, back arching off the pleasantly cool stones beneath your body. With his words, every last shred of dignity that you’d feebly been clinging to evaporated.

Tignnari hiked one of your legs over his shoulder as he inched closer, rolling his hips in a way that made stars blast across your hazy vision. You’d never been this aroused before in your life, and all you could do was squirm and cry out as Tighnari fucked you absolutely dumb.

“Need more,” Tighnari hissed, his hands sliding along your body, “need more, needmoreneedmore—”

He let out a low, keening moan as you tightened around him, your hips bucking against his, toes curling. You felt like your sanity was slipping through your fingers like a palmful of sand, and you realized with a sudden shock that you were about to cum, and you were about to cum hard.

The climax hit you with the force of a tidal wave, and your body went stiff, back arching off the stones, hands scrambling for purchase and finding nothing. Your mind was a sea of empty thought, stars bursting across your vision as you convulsed, pulsing around Tighnari’s cock, and he wasn’t even pausing, a snarl tearing from his chest as he pushed deeper inside of you.

Your continued climax was making you lightheaded as you panted for breath, the decline less of a decline and more of a work up to yet another peak as Tighnari kept a steady, dizzying pace, making your eyes roll into the back of your skull. Everything was too much, but it still wasn’t even slightly enough, a bizarre oxymoron that sent shockwaves dancing across your electrified nerves.

Tignnari twitched inside of you, making you whimper, and you looked up at him through your lashes, watching his face. The mask of delirium was back, Tighnari’s eyes wild as he drove himself towards his own climax with deep, even thrusts that grew more and more unsteady.

“Take it,” you heard him rasp, “take it take it take it—”

He shoved himself all the way inside of you, and with a sudden shout, he twitched sharply, and you could feel him filling you, stuffing you full with searing heat. Somewhere in the back of your pollen addled mind, you were glad that your birth control tonic kept you from getting pregnant with a guarantee.

You could feel his cum leaking out of you, and when he noticed, his fingers swept along the curve of your ass and shoved the liquid back inside of you, a sensation that made you let out a startled moan.

Without pulling out, Tighnari was shifting, switching places with you on the stones, where the sat himself down, with you in his lap. The sudden change of position caused you to sink down, pushing him deeper inside of you, a sensation that made you gasp sharply. You appreciated some aspects of the shift, however, as this gave you full access to his body, and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders as his hands found your hips, dragging up and along your waist.

He said nothing as he found your mouth, joining it with his in a kiss far more gentle than you’d been expecting, an expression of affection amid the suffocating lust that afflicted you both.

Slowly, you moved, rocking your hips as you sank back down onto him, a motion that made you cry out, a sound that mingled almost musically with his own cry. His nails dug into the plush of your thighs, one hand sliding down where you were joined with him to rub circles against your clit, an action that made you stiffen sharply, almost started by the burst of sensation.

His mouth left yours to trail down your throat, teeth grazing against the spot he’d bitten before and making you shiver. He was moving with you as you rocked your hips, one hand on your waist to help you along, his hips bucking to meet you every time you sank back down onto his cock. You heard him whisper your name, and you bent to kiss him again, an action he returned with vigor.

Your fingers combed through his hair, meeting where his ears met his scalp, and you heard him gasp into your mouth as your nails grazed against the sensitive skin. He broke the kiss to tuck his face into the crook of your neck, keening desperately, his grip on your waist tightening.

“Keep touching me there,” he finally managed, and who were you to deny him?

Your nails dragged along his ears, making him groan, and you felt his arm wind around your waist, taking over controlling the pace as he pushed you down onto his cock, guiding you as you moved. You somewhat appreciated it; your thighs had been growing sore. You assisted him by rolling your hips as you moved with him, something he rewarded with a sharp buck of his hips, making blurry stars scatter across your vision, a shrill whine tearing itself from your throat.

Tighnari pressed down on your clit, making you tense, teeth gritting and eyes squeezing closed, and you felt him trail open mouthed kisses down your throat, overloading you with sensation, and you sobbed his name as he tugged you closer, filling you so completely. You felt like you were going insane, and not one part of you wanted it to stop.

You couldn’t even speak as your climax drew closer, only able to let out a strangled cry as Tighnari’s teeth sank into the delicate skin of your shoulder, the pain barely noticeable as it mixed with the overwhelming pleasure. If anything, it just heightened it all, your nerves going off like fireworks under his touch.

With a sudden gasp, your climax slammed into you, making you still as the sensations hit you with enough force to make you dizzy. You were vaguely aware of the sounds Tignnari was making as you tightened around him, muffled by your shoulder, and you were suddenly under him again, sprawled across the stones once more, hands pinned above your head with one of his as he fucked you at a near punishing pace.

His eyes locked onto yours as he moved against you, and you couldn’t even imagine what your face looked like. You could feel tears of overstimulation on your cheeks, sweat on your brow, and you were sure you were an absolute wreck, but so was he. His hair was a mess, the chartreuse of his bangs intermixing with the dark of the rest of his hair, and his face was flushed a rather lovely pink, eyes half lidded. His ears had fallen to droop on either side of his head. His lips were kiss swollen and pink, and you were sure your own were the same.

Tighnari’s free hand slid down your body to hike one of your legs up around his waist, gripping at the plush of your thigh, and you whimpered as his nails bit into the tender skin. You were so sensitive it was almost unbearable, and you tossed your head back when his thumb pressed your clit again, letting out an unrestrained wail, tears beading in the corners of your eyes, and you felt Tighnari kiss them away before joining his mouth to yours once more.

You knew he was going to cum from the unsteady way he was breathing, and you were too, far too sensitive to stand anything else. You didn’t know how much more you could take; everything was blurring together in a cacophony of noise and sensation that left you straining against Tighnari’s grip on your wrists.

“Fill me, please,” you gasped abruptly, surprising even yourself, and Tighnari pulled back from your mouth to gaze at you, eyes wild.

“That’s what you want?” He snarled, “you want me to stuff you full of my cum? yeah? You wanna be filled?”

You nodded rapidly, his words making suffocating arousal course through your veins, and you felt him pick up the pace, forcing you into another dizzying climax, your back arching sharply off the ground. You could just barely hear him whispering praises over the thrum of blood in your ears, and you let out a strangled whine as his mouth connected with your nipple, making you thrash in his hold. He wasn’t even letting you breathe, and all you could think about was him, all around you, mixing with the scent of the pollen in the air in an intoxicating fragrance.

Mercifully, he removed his hand from between your bodies, simply resting it on your hip as he chased his own climax next, whispering your name and filthy praises as he drew closer and closer, his pace growing uneven.

He finally reached his end with a low, nearly possessive growl, holding onto you with a bruising force as he stuffed you full once more, heat blooming in your belly, uncaring about the way his cum was leaking out of you. His teeth were gritted, eyes squeezed shut, and you felt his grip on your wrists loosen just enough that you could wrestle free, so you pulled him down to meet you in a fierce kiss.

He finally slowed, his breath heavy and uneven as he came down from his high, his forehead resting against yours as he remained still, softening inside of you. You relaxed back onto the stones, pleased by the cool temperature they brought, soothing against your burning skin. Your breath was still quick and thin as you recovered, and you could still smell the pollen in the air, but exhaustion was taking over, forcing your eyelids to close.

Tighnari pulled out of you, and you whined at the sudden emptiness, but recovered quickly as he tugged you onto the grass and to his chest, nose nuzzling into your hair where he pressed a kiss. Neither of you were able to speak, completely spent, and you shifted slowly to wrap an arm around his bare waist. The pollen’s scent was falling into the background as the exertion began to wash over you, and you could tell it was the same for Tighnari.

You were asleep in a matter of seconds, pressed close to him.

Warm.

You were warm. And it was dark. Well, darker. You’d been sleeping, you knew that much. The sounds of Avidiya Forest were present around you, as well as the sound of a waterfall. Your brain was lagging behind as you woke, still groggy from such a deep slumber.

You were pressed against something solid and warm and breathing, and when you opened your eyes, you almost jumped from your skin.

Tignnari was laying beside you, sound asleep. He was holding you in his arms, in a possessive, tender way, and it was suddenly all flooding back to you. The pollen. That damn pollen.

Your brain finally caught up, and you remembered. You expected you should be sore, but you weren’t. You felt more satisfied than you ever had before, completely rejuvenated. You lifted your head to look over at the curtain of flowers, only to find that the blossoms had closed, taking the pollen’s scent with them. It had also fallen dark, the sun already setting. You’d been asleep for a while, but after that, you supposed that wasn’t surprising.

You focused back on Tignnari. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, so relaxed. Every bit of tension had been drained away, leaving him looking soft and gentle. You reached a hand up to cup his cheek before you could stop yourself, and he started you when he leaned into your touch.

“Hello,” he said, voice still thick with sleep, and you felt your cheeks beginning to warm.

“Hi.”

And there was your anxiety. What if Tighnari thought that what you’d just done together was a mistake? Things surely wouldn’t be the same after that, you knew that much. He couldn’t just fuck your brains out and then act like nothing happened. That wasn’t how Tighnari was.

But then, he was leaning in to kiss you, and every single doubt was expelled from your mind. It was a soft, gentle kiss, full of tender emotions and care, and it made your heart stutter in your chest.

“Was I too rough with you?” He asked after pulling away, and you shook your head.

“No. It was… it was good.”

Tignnari raised his eyebrows. “Just ‘good?’”

You blanched. “N-no, it was more than good. It was amazing.”

A soft, tender chuckle. “I was only teasing you. You were amazing, too.”

A few moments of comfortable silence passed before he spoke again. “That wasn’t how I imagined that happening for the first time,” he said, a laugh in his voice, and you turned to look at him, trying not to show the surprise on your face.

From the way he was smiling, soft and affectionate, you’d failed on that front.

“I fell in love with you quite a while ago,” he said, “I thought I’d been clear in my advances, but maybe not. I care for you very deeply, though. If you don’t feel the same, I—”

You cut him off, scoffing derisively at the sheer absurdity of that statement, with a kiss. He held you to him, cradling your face in his hands, until you both ran out of air.

“There’s my answer, then,” he said with a smile. You answered him with another quick kiss.

“I love you, too,” you said, “I thought you didn’t feel the same.”

Tighnari snorted, eyes glittering with mirth. “I suppose we’re both a little dense, then.”

You sat up, stretching your arms over your head. “We should wash up. And head back. It’s gotten late. We’re probably missed.”

Tighnari sighed, sitting up beside you. “As much as I’d rather stay here with you a while longer, you’re most likely correct. Collei is probably beside herself with worry.”

You stood on unsteady feet, and Tighnari followed you to the clear pool. The two of you rinsed your bodies off until you felt sufficiently clean before redressing. You were careful to make sure your sample jars were well sealed before you picked up your rucksack, shrugging it onto your back.

“Ready?” Tignnari asked, and you decided he looked lovely in the first rays of moonlight. You smiled at him, taking his outstretched hand in yours and squeezing.

“Yeah.”

Hand in hand, you walked back to Gandharva Ville, basking in the natural symphony of the forest.

Fin.

[kairithemang0]

Thinking about the fact Curt probably spent 4 years thinking about the night Owen fell, ways it could've gone differently. How he couldn't have set the bomb for 3 minutes, how he couldn't have eaten that banana and dropped the peel, hell, couldn't have even gotten caught in the first place. So much time wasted trying to rewrite the ending so that he and Owen could've both made it out in one piece.

Owen, on the other hand, spent those years thinking about that night entirely differently. He saw all the bad parts of it, remembering all the wrong Curt did. He drank on the job, he was overconfident, he didn't even attempt to save him. He thought their relationship was stronger than that. I believe Joey Richter once mentioned Owen's feelings for Curt died the second he saw Curt walk away. Owen didn't even think about the fact that there was no time, he probably believed Curt's recklessness would lead to him thinking he could save Owen, and that even if they didn't make it, they'd die together. So, of course, Owen grew bitter. It was probably even worse after he joined Chimera, I'm sure they knew Owen was sensitive to the topic of Curt, and they used that against him to make his hatred even worse.

They both went on such different paths after the fall. Owen mentions that he probably spent as much time hating Curt as Curt did hating himself. Curt still hates himself for it, he confesses to Tatiana that it still bothers him even 4 years later, he tells us this in Spy Again as well with the fact he's trying to convince himself that killing Owen shouldn't be bothering him so much anymore. Owen, therefore, still hates Curt. Whether he would still hate Curt or not without Chimera's involvement is up to interpretation, however I would say he wouldn't be doing anything like what he does in the show without Chimera around.

It's so fascinating to me the way they both ended up 4 years later, how much they both changed. Curt keeps saying during the show that he wishes he was still "the old Curt". The invincible super spy who used cool gadgets and was confident and didn't have this looming fear of losing people he cared about again, that's the old Curt. This "new Curt" is afraid, he opens up to people, he's less confident and he screws things up and he doesn't know how to fix it. He wants to be his old self, but also, he of course can't forget the fall, the fact that it was his fault Owen fell. And Owen can't forget the fact it was Curt who left him, Curt who led him to be stuck with Chimera, Curt who ruined his life. What's scarier is that Owen still can't shoot Curt, even after all that hatred. Curt still gets into his skin, even though Owen as the DMA was so confident that he could stay focused and be able to kill Curt, and that he'd enjoy doing it. Even then though, Curt's the one who takes the final shot, after Owen egged him on so much. I wonder if Curt could've killed him without Owen's taunting. I think he knew one of them was going to have to die going into the staircase scene, and he knew he needed to stop Chimera at all costs. Still, I don't think he would've been able to kill Owen so easily if Owen hadn't been making it easier. "That secret died the night you left me for dead" is where Curt finally convinced himself that he could kill Owen. He was so hurt by it, but finally came to the conclusion Owen was actually gone. I guess "here's some advice, Curt, it's called moving on, do give it a try" was just Owen's way of really sealing his fate.

[little-pup-pip]

Not a request, but I wanted to ask if you have any advice for running a blog like this? I have an agere moodboard/stimboard blog and have had it for a while now but still don't have any requests, I don't know if there's a way I can make myself more known in the community? I really enjoy making this stuff but it's kind of sad to see nobody see my content or request stuff for me

Hey friend, this is an interesting question!! I've answered a similar one before, which I recommend checking out! I've tried to make my answers here different from that post, but all I can really tell you is what seems to work for me, so I hope this helps!

1. Consistent posting!! I'm talking at least a post a day. I have posts already queued up for the next five days, because consistent posting helps people see my new stuff and helps me keep a consistent posting schedule!!

2. In that same vein, the more you post in general, as long as you use the agere tags, the more likely people are to see it! My posts had the highest general visibility when I was posting three new moodboards a day!!

3. I've said it before and I'll say it again, a good way to get requests is to post self indulgently about things that inspire you!! Not only because chances are someone else likes the same things you do, but because it allows people to see the style of boards you're offering! I started my blog by making a bunch of posts about bluey, after all!!

4. It always helps to engage with others in the community! Reblog stuff with nice tags, comment on posts, request stuff from others, play people's games, and be an active and friendly person!! Even if it doesn't boost engagement on your account (it probably will), you can make friends this way!

5. I've also said this before, but I firmly believe that focusing on notes is not a good way to run a Tumblr blog. This is the post into the void, post for yourself first, yell about cool things with your friends site!! I understand that not getting new requests or lots of engagement is frustrating, but not everything needs to get hundreds of notes, just try your best!

6. I want you to remember that sometimes it's all about luck. In my case, I got a lot of my followers before making moodboards was common on agere Tumblr at all, which was lucky. Just try your best, you never know when something you make will end up being popular! Finally, try to have fun, because that's what we're all here for!!

[anhonest-puck]

what's your opinion on lotf being taught in schools? because it's great that teachers encouraged reading it, and let students explore, but bad teaching can ruin a book, and no one enjoys something as much if it's forced :/

i can never decide if compulsory reading is good or not, what do you think?? :)

this is a great question!!

i think it’s great that we’re being exposed to this book because of the lessons it can teach, but you’re absolutely right; bad teaching is what kills this book. there’s so much mischaracterization of the characters (roger especially,) and that, in my opinion, is one of the main things that’s one of the main killers i believe. and again you’re totally right with that!! it’s INSANELY difficult to really listen in and pay attention to a book that you’re forced to read, even if you really do enjoy it. being forced to read books is what completely killed my interest in reading, and i wouldn’t pick up a book on my own for a solid three or four years. but, like to everything, there’s pros and cons to compulsory reading. i’d say some of the pros to c reading are: it can expose you to books you could have never read, and it can possibly lead you to want to discover more and find a deeper meaning! however, and like i said before, it can absolutely kill the interest to read. i’ve found that when middle schoolers and high schoolers are able to free read and then write an essay or complete project, that it’s way easier for them to talk about something they truly enjoy. but yes, i 100% think that lord of the flies is an essential book to read for freshman/sophomores, specifically. i feel like if students were given the opportunity to do projects on books they got to choose themselves and really enjoyed, it would encourage more to get into reading and helping them discover books they truly like instead of overlooking them because they avoid reading. it really is a great book once you’re given the opportunity to look into it and dig deeper into it! it’s such a well written book, and it’s such a shame that it’s been ruined for so many people due to awful teachers and teaching styles.

again, thank you so much for this question i had fun speaking my mind and answering it! :) (so sorry for the long response, i had a few points to make BABA!!)

[gogandmagog]

I need your thoughts in a Gilbert who didn't meet Anne until later in life- let's say at redmond

For the sake of historical accuracy, PLEASE PICTURE ME DOING THE RASPUTIN DANCE as I read this. I love this ask, and I stan the asker. 🫡❤️

I think we’ve briefly talked about this before, in a superficial sort of way, but I’m obviously thrilled to get a little (read: okay, a lot) more detailed.

What would Gilbert be like, if he hadn’t met Anne until Redmond?

Anytime anyone takes this approach in fanfiction… I admit; I cower in a corner and try to look away. Of all the Anne multiverses, this is my least favourite. Like, easily. This notion makes my head and my heart say OW OW OW. For me, a big part of why Anne and Gilbert went in so deep was the heft and weight of the history between them. Their story is a slow burn that lasts well over a decade, these two idiots-in-love have known each other since they were 11 and ‘nearly 14’ respectively. We have all the good stuff, right? Their initial meet-cute-to-end-all-other-meet-cutes, the frenemies, the one-then-two-sided pining, the grand gestures that give way to an honest friendship (no one makes Anne laugh like Gilbert does, and he’s the SOLE fellow she feels comfortable enough with to share her honest feelings with, also see: Rollings Reliable)… it just means so much to me. When we take that away, we take away so much of what makes them… them.

But of course, you can rely on Gilbert himself to articulate these thoughts, too.

“Yes, it’s beautiful,” said Gilbert, looking steadily down into Anne’s uplifted face, “but wouldn’t it have been more beautiful still, Anne, if there had been NO separation or misunderstanding . . . if they had come hand in hand all the way through life, with no memories behind them but those which belonged to each other?” — Gilbert ‘the absolute sweetest and most poignant peach’ Blythe, Anne of Avonlea

But hey. Let’s go there anyway, because it v interesting and natural to wonder and speculate about.

To make it make sense, we must first subtract Anne from Green Gables, and Avonlea.

And 🥴… there’s a lot of collateral there. Minnie May Berry would’ve suffered the most and pays for the Anne-void discrepancy with her actual life. Lavendar Lewis? She would’ve never reconnected with Stephen Irving… and Mister Harrison would have stayed estranged from his wife. There’d be no A.V.I.S., although that seems like teeny-tiny in the wake of the rest. On the flip side, would Matthew have lived longer had the boy meant for Green Gables actually been sent? A solid maybe. And Gilbert? He would’ve never had any sense knocked (cracked, slated) into him.

Before Anne arrives in Avonlea we have a couple canon descriptions of Gilbert, thanks to Diana. We learn that he ‘torments the life’ out of the girls (and further, that they like it), and that he’s “aw’fly” handsome. We first see him pinning Ruby Gillis’ hair unto the back of her desk chair. A hot minute later, he’s all but desperate for Anne to look at him. Moreover, he thinks Anne should look at him.

“Gilbert Blythe wasn’t used to putting himself out to make a girl look at him and meeting with failure.” — Anne of Green Gables

Without Anne? Gilbert Blythe is probably a bit of cad (need that gif of Josie Pye saying, “Gilbert Blythe is rake” right here). Just kind of a regular hoe. BUT. We have a canon quote to support this, too.

‘Even in quiet Avonlea there were temptations to be met and faced. White Sands youth were a rather “fast” set, and Gilbert was popular wherever he went. But he meant to keep himself worthy of Anne’s friendship and perhaps some distant day her love; and he watched over word and thought and deed as jealously as if her clear eyes were to pass in judgment on it.’ — Anne of Avonlea

I feel in terms of just straight-up facts, we can reduce Anneless Gilbert to :

1. a smarty pants in an academic sense,

2. a smarty pants in the jokey non-academic sense

3. popular

4. cute, and aware he’s cute; that ‘teasing smile’ never really quits and he carries on winking ‘with inexpressible drollery’ just whenever he sees fit

This list looks a lot like the Gilbert we canonly know, until we arrive at…

5. egotistical on a degree level of… eh, medium-rare?

Without Anne to ego-check him; Gilberts pride remains fully intact, and what’s more, it’s grown and developed into a mature and self-assured vanity by the time he lands in Kingsport. Without Anne, by the time he’s 17, I think he’s probably walked home and/or kissed every pretty or exceptional girl in a good fifteen-mile radius. I would alsooo guess that Avonlea folks imagined he’d eventually settle down with Ruby. But what they don’t know is that he’s gone kissed every last one of the fine Gillis sisters. Even the oldest ones, Myra and Sara. I would also confidently speculate that this boy’s rather cavalier with his Romeo-ing ways, too, and that he’s inadvertently hurt some very real feelings… without even fully realising it. He just doesn’t take anything… seriously. Which Gillis sister did he kiss first? Oh, don’t ask him. He doesn’t remember.

And let’s support this guess with another semi-related and semi-justifying canon quote?

"Did I ever correspond with Ruby Gillis? I'd forgotten. Poor Ruby!” — Gilbert ‘dashing out heart hopes everywhere’ Blythe, Anne of Ingleside

But awoooo, settle down? No, Sir, not Gilbert. Gilbert wanders into Redmond a bachelor, free and clear of any responsibilities or ties, back home. ‘Excellent creatures though they are,’ there’s not been a single girl that he’s crossed paths with that has yet been able to stir his deeps… or even his shallows.

ADDITIONALLY… he walks into Redmond maybe two or three years earlier than he did in the books. Because without Anne, Gilbert has no reason to give up the Avonlea school – he saves his would-be room and board expenses by living at the Blythe homestead, and very simply and economically gets to college all the quicker for it. He does still want to be a Doctor. He has a great-uncle that’s a Doctor over in Four Winds, and Gilbert still believes…

“It’s a splendid profession,” he said enthusiastically. “A fellow has to fight something all through life . . . didn’t somebody once define man as a fighting animal? . . . and I want to fight disease and pain and ignorance . . . which are all members one of another. I want to do my share of honest, real work in the world, Anne . . . add a little to the sum of human knowledge that all the good men have been accumulating since it began. The folks who lived before me have done so much for me that I want to show my gratitude by doing something for the folks who will live after me. It seems to me that is the only way a fellow can get square with his obligations to the race.” — Gilbert ‘getting rather sentimental now’ Blythe, Anne of Avonlea

Now here’s where I fall off and digress again. I believe this is the end of educated guessing and reasonable fact-inventing about what an Anneless Gilbert probably looks like.

But for bonus points, what happens with this version of Gilbert collides with a version of Anne that never made it to Avonlea? Do they still get together? Likely. But HOW?

If someone put a gun to my head (lollll) and made me write (as previously denounced, I realise) a fanfiction about it (warning, it’s definitely gonna be giving… sensationalist and 🤌🏻 fanfictiony, but really if you’re gonna go AU… go AU; all this fully recognising that this would never be a LMM setting), here’s how I’d try to pull it off:

Anne, by the time she’s fourteen, has run away from the Hopetown Assylum. It’s nothing but hunger (Anne of Ingleside), verbal abuse, maybe worse abuse, and (despite the name) hopelessness there. Anne’s resourceful, we know she has a special knack for making things happen, and she decides to strike out on her own. But not without a plan. There’s not a lot of jobs for kids out there that also come with a safe place to lay their heads at night (though she might make up her mind to sleep under a nice obliging tree, should the need arise; “I had made up my mind that if you didn’t come for me to-night I’d go down the track to that big wild cherry-tree at the bend, and climb up into it to stay all night. I wouldn’t be a bit afraid, and it would be lovely to sleep in a wild cherry-tree all white with bloom in the moonshine, don’t you think?” ), so she, playing to her strengths and daring to dream, thinks of drama and being a stage actress. She gives a spectacularly good reading of Tennyson’s “the Lady of Shalott” to a Hopetown Theatre manager who not only pities her but also finds her wildly entertaining. Alas… he cannot offer her a job. He tells her, though, that he has contacts with W.W. Cole Circus (they toured Nova Scotia in the 1880’s, I checked this out too; I have whatever unimaginative disability it is that requires even fantasies to have bearings in reality), that W.W. Cole is always looking for cheap labour while they tour. Only!! They really just hire/have use for boys. (We can circle back to déjà vu-ish Green Gables problems here.) Anne, however, doesn’t care. She’s got a lead. She knows she can work just as hard as any boy, and means to prove it. She’s given a job (mucking elephant stalls, for starters) on a trial basis (circling Avonlea again), and does such a bang-up job that she’s kept on for a week. She becomes an instant friend with “Nova Scotian Giantess” Anna Swan. (Also a real person, from a real W.W. Cole circus circuit, pls see above regarding fantasies borne from reality. She was 7 feet, 11 inches tall, 400 pounds, and eventually married another ‘giant’ from Kentucky). Anna advocates for Anne to be kept on permanently (trying to @ Aunt Josephine almost, here). Anna, who is emphatically religious (irl when she retired, she went on to teach Sunday School at her church) and ladylike and kind, sees to Anne’s studies and upbringing when they aren’t performing. She recognises Anne’s academic abilities and leverages her own position to see that Anne is promoted, as the years carry on. Anna, duh, encourages Anne to save her wages—enough to get herself through four years at Redmond college… that she might go on to have a career outside the instability of circus acts. By the time Anne is 20, she’s far more widely recognised as Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald, and she’s a terribly accomplished trapeze artist and a very elegant acrobat (let’s throw in one minor incident where she fell off a tightrope and broke her ankle here, as we circle back to Avonlea ridgepoles), as well as especial homies with every tiger and elephant and cigar-smoking-chimp that graces the ring. She woefully wears the assigned pink tights and costume, despite often still lamenting that “red haired people should never wear pink.” She also has finally saved enough of her wages to get herself a B.A.

Her very last performance sees her signing off at W.W. Cole’s Kingsport show. Who do you bet’s in the audience? Gilbert Blythe. The football captain, Lamba Theta inductee, incumbent class president… who also, as it happens, is there escorting one Philippa Gordon.

“I saw only one really handsome fellow among them. He went away before you came. I heard his chum call him Gilbert.” — Phil Gordon, Anne of the Island

Gilbert’s taken with ‘Lady Cordelia’ at first glance. Phil’s also taken with her. The two spend the rest of the show trying to spot Lady Cordelia in her support roles of the other acts. Is that Lady Cordelia lighting the fiery rings? At any rate, for Gilbert, the deeps? Shaken, stirred, invariably earthquaked, when he and Phil get to make actual introductions at the end of the evening production, as they and the rest of the crowd walk out, stage-door style. Anne, on the other hand, is unimpressed at best.That boy was “awfully bold to wink at a strange girl” (he’s not even the first fellow to wink at her in the last thirty minutes)… all while another girl was on his arm, no less. Rather a splendid chin, though. 👀 Maybe one could say he was equally as handsome as he was bold.

“But, of course, the one I like best I can’t get. Gilbert Blythe won’t take any notice of me, except to look at me as if I were a nice little kitten he’d like to pat. Too well I know the reason. I owe you a grudge, Queen Anne.” — Philippa Gordon, Anne of the Island

That small matter aside, who else might be in attendance? I mean, Roy Gardner, of course. (This could easily substitute his, “And you are the Miss Shirley who read the Tennyson paper at the Philomathic the other evening, aren’t you?”)

Days later, and still wanting to know exactly who she was, Phil catches sight of ‘Lady Cordelia’ (wearing Redmond colors, at that!) reading epitaphs at Old St. John’s cemetery, and we slip back into canon here. Almost. Phil and Anne become fast friends, as is natural and fitting, but far less can be said for poor Gilbert, who now has a very awkward time trying to gently cast off Phil while simultaneously wanting to cosy up to her new freshette friend. After all, Anne is Gilbert’s ideal woman.

If Gilbert had been asked to describe his ideal woman the description would have answered point for point to Anne, even to those seven tiny freckles whose obnoxious presence still continued to vex her soul. Gilbert was as yet little more than a boy; but a boy has his dreams as have others, and in Gilbert’s future there was always a girl with big, limpid gray eyes, and a face as fine and delicate as a flower. — Gilbert Blythe, Anne of Avonlea

For Gilbert to finally win over that ‘Queen Anne, my Queen Anne, queen of my heart’ we’ll need to see academic rivalry, a relationship-mending grand gesture (these two starting off on the wrong foot is a canon event, and I cannot interfere), Gilbert Saves a Life or Two (lots of congenital health problems for people of Anna’s size, her hand is shooting right up as a volunteer for this incident, and by now Gilbert is nearly white coat qualified), one rejected proposal after two years of genuine friendship, Anne and Roy fully courting, and Gilbert Blythe’s to ego finally give way to the purity of his dreams and aspirations.

“He had made up his mind, also, that his future must be worthy of its goddess. She held over him the unconscious influence that every girl, whose ideals are high and pure, wields over her friends; an influence which would endure as long as she was faithful to those ideals and which she would as certainly lose if she were ever false to them. In Gilbert’s eyes Anne’s greatest charm was the fact that she never stooped to the petty practices of so many of the Avonlea girls—the small jealousies, the little deceits and rivalries, the palpable bids for favor. Anne held herself apart from all this, not consciously or of design, but simply because anything of the sort was utterly foreign to her transparent, impulsive nature, crystal clear in its motives and aspirations.” -- Anne of Avonlea

And ultimately, this seems like a good place for that old case of typhoid for Gilbert and for Anne to realise her feelings, too. It would take Gilbert a full four years and nearly dying trying, to put a ring on it. For my last trick (read: in conclusion), here's a cute lil’ attempt at more canon justification for this utter nonsense (if you just squint):

"Mother dearwums," said Jem, "can I have those old ostrich feathers in the garret to sew in the back of my pants for a tail? We're going to have a circus tomorrow and I'm to be the ostrich. And we're going to get an elephant." "Do you know that it costs six hundred dollars a year to feed an elephant?" said Gilbert solemnly. "An imaginary elephant doesn't cost anything," explained Jem patiently. Anne laughed. "We never need to be economical in our imaginations, thank heaven." — Anne of Ingleside

SO FRIENDS. ROMANS. @batrachised.

What would yooooour take on an Anneless Gilbert be? An Avonlealess Anne? I’m sooo curious.

[anormagees]

have i done this before? lol ･ﾟﾟ･｡ this is gonna be a long one

Reasons To Be Beautiful - Hole

Love hangs herself With the bedsheets in her cell Threw myself on fires for you 10 good reasons to stay alive 10 good reasons that I can't find Oh, give me a reason to be beautiful So sick in his body so sick in his soul Oh, give me one reason to be beautiful Oh, and everything I am

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ୨⎯ (divider by : @natsusaki ) ⎯୧

[isolarya]

charlie

charlie seems like one of those characters who will be secretly quite deep, let's see if he lives up to that

he's funny because he has to be, I think, both for himself and for others

humour is like his coping mechanism but also something he genuinely likes, it's his way of having a strong exterior

he doesn't respect authority, like basically at all, defies them when he can

that's probably part of the reason he's quite mean to cameron, because they're on two different ends of that scale and they judge each other for it

probably why he likes keating too, because keating is authority that doesn't mind that disrespect, which then makes him respect keating

comfortable with his friends and cares about them (again, their difference in priorities is probably why he argues with cameron)

stereotypical school hating funny kid

unafraid to do silly things out of nowhere, quite blunt (towards cameron, anyway)

walks the line between teasing and making fun to the rest of his friends well

pretty comfortable with neil and definitely proud of him for basically defying authority and being more like charlie and its great to watch

the one thing he seems to get really mad about is when someone (cameron) does the exact opposite of what he believes - charlie believes in defying authority and in neil and etc, so when cameron goes against all that he explodes

he will do what he wants to no matter the consequences (also I'm convinced he would try to punch mr perry if he could)

what's really interesting here is that before I did these, I didn't really get why charlie was so hostile to cameron, but now I get its an opposition in beliefs and everything makes sense now ohhhhh (was I stupid for not realising this before like is this something most people realise without having to read the script several times and make character studies)

to me, charlie is closer to one of the protagonists than one of the side characters, mostly because of his conflict with cameron

also his character depth absolutely lived up to my expectations by the way

[thefloatingwriter]

hello!! i’m curious about your playlist post since you said they were songs from your beetee playlist. i was wondering if you could elaborate on why the songs fit him? particularly foreigners god bc i love hozier

i just love reading your takes on beetee!

i’m so so so glad you asked this!! and i’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my take on beetee’s character!! 💗💗 i love hearing that people like to hear my insanity about this one random guy.

okay. i’m going to go in order with the poll so foreigner’s god will be last but i have a Lot of thoughts about that one so it might be the longest rant lol!

allies or enemies — the crane wives:

this song definitely fits my interpretation of his inner conflict in his arena, which will be explored much more in second chapter of the beetee fic, but in short, he had an ally during his games who died in front of him. before that, he had the misfortune of having a relationship similar to rue and katniss’ with her. the ally was a dead ringer for his younger sister adeline; black hair, dark eyes, they were even the same age. watching her die was for obvious reasons insanely traumatic, and it made him question exactly who his ally had been to him.

devil’s advocate — the neighborhood:

this entire song is about the voice inside your head telling you you’re not good enough or that you’re a lost cause, which is basically exactly what beetee thinks of himself, mainly because of other people’s perceptions of him. he get better later on at changing his own opinion of himself, but it takes a lot of personal growth so.

also he is plays the devil advocate A Lot because he loves provoking arguments (and pissing people off. that too.)

nobody — mitski:

this relates a lot to how beetee tries so hard to be what his mother wants but never fitting it because (as he later figures out) he will never be her sister. it doesn’t help that he looks so much like her either.

it also touches on the feeling of alienation (which i will talk about way more in the foreigner’s god section) that beetee feels commonly.

2Econd 2Ight 2Eer - will wood:

this is the easiest song to explain: it makes no sense and beetee doesn’t either. he’s also kinda crazy so the song really does fit insanely well.

foreigner’s god — hozier:

foreigner’s god is all about colonialism and the alienation and isolation people feel towards one’s own culture that results from it. beetee is latino on his mom’s side, french on his dad’s. his parents never made him feel different for it, and he learned both spanish and french at home, or at least the snippets that still exist in Panem. the problem was that he learned the hard way that you didn’t speak another language traditionally of an oppressed group outside of your own home. french was okay; the peacekeepers from One thought it was fun since they had to learn french at the Academy. spanish… not so much. he was treated with his first experience with the whipping post because of it. he was eight.

but it’s also about isolation, in many forms. he’s the oldest of his siblings, doesn’t have many friends due to going to a school outside of the Stills, doesn’t even really feel connected to his parents. he's a child of mixed ethnicity who has darker skin than most of his siblings (and most people in Three, for that matter), whose so smart it’s commonly isolating, whose the only kid from the Stills who went to a school in Stepanov, who was the first person from the Stills to earn a full ride scholarship to Three’s college (or an offer to go to college at all). the constant feeling of being separate from who would be his peers under normal circumstances has made him feel isolated and constantly “other”.

thank you so much for the ask!! i love absolutely any excuse to talk about beetee (in case you couldn’t tell lol) 💗

[lpsotd]

Hello I am in a horse fixation are there any unicorns? And can you show like maybe all the horses there are?? Idk why im asking when I can look this up on my own but, idk I find it fun to ask you hehe :)

i answered a similar ask here !! however there are A Lot more horses than the ones i shared in that post. so i'd be glad to share some with you !!

#1081 - #1331 - #1605 #1616 - #770 - #1717 #1777 - #1820 - #2247 ------------------------- #1879 - #1881 - #1880 #1964 - #2431 - #2087 #2302 - #2666 - #2417 vv info about each pet below vv

#1081 is one of the generation 3 'tubes' pets, coming in a halloween themed tube alongside monkey #1080 :o)

#1331 is apart of the generation 3 'barnyard' pets 3-pack - alongside them are chick #1329 and collie #1330 :o)

#1605 is a generation 3 'pet pairs' pet - they are buddied up with rabbit #1606 :o)

#1616 is a generation 3 pet and one of the 'blythe loves littlest pet shop' pets - their playset is called 'playfully plaid' and they are paired with blythe #B4

#770 is a generation 3 'portable pet' and they are one of the fanciest pet types - this series of portables in particular is titled 'gift set'. alongside this horsie is their friend parakeet #771, wearing their fancy shades

#1717 is a generation 3 pet, they come in a carry case that was exclusively sold in kohl's stores - their buddies are rabbit #1714, butterfly #1715, cockerspaniel #1716, cat #1718, peacock #1719, and squirrel #1720 :o)

#1777 is a generation 3 pet that comes in this multi-pack of 20 pets - including shorthair cat #1764, bulldog #1765, rabbit #1766, corgi #1767, dragonfly #1768, duck #1769, rabbit #1770, persian #1771, fish #1772, guinea pig #1773, hamster #1774, hermit crab #1775, horse #1776, iguana #1778, kitten #1779, mouse #1780, pig #1781, scottie #1782, and toucan #1783

#1820 is a generation 3 pet included in the 'prized pets' line up of paired pets - alongside them is deer #1819. not technically a unicorn but they are wearing a unicorn horn headpiece .. so i guess that counts ?? sadly to my knowledge there are no unicorn lps (there really should be though,) so this is as close as we're gonna get

#2247 is a generation 3 'blythe loves littlest pet shop' pet featured in the 'fashion shoot' playset that was sold exclusively in target stores. alongside them is penguin #2244, corgi #2245, husky #2246, ladybug #2248, shorthair cat #2249, and blythe #B31

#1879, #1880, and #1881 are the generation 3 'petriplets' set of horsies. siblings, do not separate !

#1964 is one of the two special generation 3 pets that came with a copy of the 'biggest stars' nintendo ds game that was sold at toys r us. they are paired with poodle #1965

#2431 is one of the generation 3 fifth wave of blind bag pets. and is also one of the pets that has real hair :o)

tumblr will only let me post 30 images per post, so sadly i cannot show the pictures for the last 4 horsies. i hope this post was worth reading - sorry i didn't really go in depth about each pet (words are hard for some reason and i couldn't find a lot to say). there are more horses, so if you want to shoot another ask about them i'd be glad to share them all with you :o)

[tedspankoffskisbignaturals]

👉👈i'd like to hear about your drawing

OKAYOKAYOKAY SOOOOOOOOO

OUTLIARS AND HYPPOCRATES A FUN FACT ABOUT APPLES. WILBUR CROSS. HATCHETFIELD. I HAVE THIS BITCH PLANNED THE FUCK OUT.

UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE ITS LONG

highlighted in red is what i need suggestions for if anyone has them??

Did you know that the hole in the apple didn't come from the outside in?

(that one painting with wilbur (his eye is showing through a hole in the apple))

It was eaten from the core

(corpse on ground, knife through chest)

and out to the skin

(starting to stand up)

And that's why you'll never find the worm in it

(wilbur licking the bloody knife (FREAK))

But a few bad ones won't spoil the eyes,

(becky sitting in a tree, eyes around her)

if they fall far enough from the tree

(falling from the tree)

The rind is all you see, leave Eden with my

(wiggly cultists)

seeds in your stomach

(wiggly closeup)

Well, this disease is defined by its treatment,

(hands holding wiggly doll)

you people make me sick

(linda doing little hair flip thing because god i love her)

Parlance of imbalanced, cambia's been challenged at best

AstraZeneca's just theoretical

Prints of your fingers in the Rorschach jigsaw, say you saw a treasure map

Straight-jacket and tie, psychiatric supply, while we tragically try to fit into a trap, but

Who'd want to be human anyway? (Ay, ay, ay, ay)

Who pilots all these crude machines?

(pokey/hive)

Why'd you come into this world or come out that way?

(wilbur portal)

Like freaks of nurture, well, isn't it funny?

(Well, not ha-ha funny, but y'know, funny)

(crossnamara)

'Cause I doubt that you would even if you could change

(lexethan+hannah (happy))

You think it makes you special, but it makes you strange

(hannah (the Horrors))

I doubt that you would even if you could change

(golden treasure)

The things that make you special are the things that make you strange

(roller rama kids)

I am the shadows cast aside by gallows, and you the red-hot sky

(willabella)

And if you're believers, then why would you grieve for the dead

Instead of a devil that you never prayed for?

(willa and wiggly)

You become immune to my toxic fumes

My dose-dependent presence in your life

It's all subjective, all due respect to the collective mind, but

(pokey pokey pokey)

Too weird to love, too scared to die (ay, ay, ay, ay), too alien to take you home

(inevitable)

Horrified at the sight of my reflection in your eyes, I don't belong there

(emma looking at paul)

Well, it's your conclusions that make mine delusions, so I make you sane

You can thank me later

(inevitable again, maybe a little dip....)

Well, I doubt that you would, even if you could change

(nerds)

You think it makes you special, but it makes you strange

(dead nerds)

I doubt that you would, even if you could change

(hollweane)

The things that make you special are the things that make you strange

(holloway alone)

Who'd want to belong to anyone? (Ay, ay, ay, ay) I mean, what do people even do?

So, if you love me, let me let you go, my love (ay, ay, ay, ay), so I can be no one

(holloweane (holloway reaching out a hand to duke?))

When Chuang-Tzu awoke, he sat up almost choking

Spat out a butterfly and said, "Five more minutes, please?

(the summoning)

You wouldn't believe the dream I just had

I mean, you were there, and you were there

And you, and you, and you were there"

(pete staring at ruth, richie, solomon, tessburger, mark) (based on silly little hc i am not immune)

'Cause I doubt that you would, even if you could change

(ted boasting)

The things that make you special are what make you strange

(homeless man)

I doubt that you would, even if you could change

(bill and alice)

The things that make you special are the same that make you

(watcher world fight)

I doubt that you would even if you could change

(droid23 happy (paulkins))

You think it makes you special, but it makes you strange

(droid23 murdering homeless ted)

I doubt that you would even if you could change

(wilbur going into portal)

The things that make you special are the same that make you strange

(wiley)

[dntclosemt]

19days head canons pt.2

He Tian definitely cries about little mo.

I mean he obviously did in some chapters before, but I’d like to think he cries about him when he’s alone.

Just sitting there in his spacious apartment just thinking about how much he loves and cares for that read haired boy who saved him (literally). I could definitely see him getting into deep thoughts about what is he gonna do when he has to leave Mo or how is he gonna leave him? 

And we know that he’s gonna leave sooner or later eventually. But, how can he leave him when Mo is just starting to realize how much he loves He Tian? I think that after He Tian leaves everything’s gonna crash down. (obviously)

If you read the recent chapters then you know that Mo and Jian Yi has created some kind of bond. For instance, in earlier chapters jian yi was the one who wanted to help guanshan get out of that scandal w/ she li which was a faulse case of him sexually assaulting some girl, even though Mo almost killed the love of his life [ZZX]. Then chapters later he went on to go see Mo in the hospital, afterwards he went to defend Mo by trying to stand up to she li. Even after that, when Mo called Jian Yi his friend after She li (once again) hurt him. 

“Why do you have to go around messing with my friends?” -Mo

“That wannabe hero Jian Yi is your friend?”-She li

Lastly in the previous chapter Mo asks He Tian if they can go see Jian yi. So at this point they do have a bond that they’ve created. But don’t forget Jian yi leaves a couple of days after high school starts so that means he’s also losing another person he cares about; along w/ ZZX, even after Jian yi told xixi not to leave him but he ends up leaving instead would be like a slap in a face.

So eventually Mo and ZZX will have to create a bond to fill those empty holes inside of them </3.

Im pretty tired but that’s all I have even though this was supposed to only be about He Tian and Momo but I got carried away >-<.

[blubushie]

can u explain everything in ur dni list and y u have it as dni? i think itd be funny

Yeah, sure. I think it'd be funny too.

Having to cut this in half cuz it's long.

Are vegan (vegetarians are fine). -> I can't stand vegans. Oh my god, can I not stand vegans. Every vegan I've met has been an insufferable idiot who doesn't understand that going on an all-plant diet is still destroying ecosystems. Growing their crops requires space, this space results in deforestation, the widespread use of pesticides and poisons kills billions of animals every year and results in that poison being passed down the food chain, killing animals that aren't the initial target of the poison. Vegans act like hunting is luxury while not acknowledging native land rights, while not acknowledging that for many people hunting is the only way for them to survive multiple months through the year, vegans consider themselves holier-than-thou and are sure to remind you of this. Too many vegans deny basic biology of human being omnivores--this is why we have canine teeth, pointed molars, and incisors in the shape we do--or they make the argument that despite being omnivores, there is no reason to eat meat as we live in the "modern world" and therefore supplemental vitamins are readily available. This is ignoring how expensive these supplements are, and how unavailable they are to many people. Also M*lbourne vegans chucked red paint on my car and I still find flakes sometimes between the slats. Cost me almost $200 to have it powerwashed off and to pay for a new advertisement sticker.

Are a cyclist (bikies, you're on thin fucking ice) -> Cyclists can't stay in their fucking bike path and keep riding in the street. What's the fucking path for if you're not gonna use it? Bikies are on thin ice because they're like cyclists but Cooler.

Don't like flanno -> All I wear is flanno

Are scared of snakes -> I love snakes and, as pest control, I'm tired of explaining to people that you're more likely to be bitten by a snake while trying to move/kill it and that you should just leave snakes be.

Are scared of bugs -> I love bugs

Unironically say "NAURRR" (Aussies are exempt) -> As an Aussie it's just... really fucking annoying. Get better jokes. This one's overused.

Drive a manual (I'm jealous of you) -> I cannot drive a manual because I always second-guess myself when I shift gears and then shift to the wrong gear or accidentally ride the clutch.

Scream when you're afraid or startled -> I don't do this normally except when I'm on the horn with someone and do it as a heads-up that I'm muting myself to talk to whoever's interrupted me. Also this'll kill you in a survival situation.

Don't take your shoes off indoors (WTF is wrong with you?) -> It's gross and rude.

Have never loved the stars too fondly -> I love astronomy.

Claim your favourite flower is roses -> Cliché.

Like the colour pink -> People always think this is a misogyny thing but no, it's a trauma thing. Additionally in the Australian mental facility I was in as a kid, my room was painted a soft pink and so now I just hate this colour as a whole.

Don't wear a watch -> I always wear a watch. It's dependable when your phone dies.

Don't like vegemite (WTF is wrong with you? x2) -> I'm an Aussie.

If you DO like vegemite, DNI if you eat it at level 6 or anything below 3 -> I'm an Aussie.

Eat vegemite plain off the spoon (WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU? x3) -> I'm an Aussie.

Call all cattle "cows" -> I'm also a stockman and this is annoying. Cows are female cattle who've had calves, bulls are unneutered male cattle, heifers are female cattle who haven't had a calf yet, steers are neutered young male cattle, bullocks are neutered adult male cattle.

Use chapstick (let your lips split like a real man) -> I don't use chaptsick and eventually my lips stopped chapping.

Weren't sacrificed on the altar of Victoria Bitter -> Aussie and bogan.

You drink Foster's -> Aussie and no one here drinks fucking Foster's.

Call thongs "flip-flops" (wrong) or "jandals" (inhuman) -> THEY'RE THONGS.

Are a ranga -> Rangas are redheads. Gingers are ok. Rangas don't have souls.

Wear neon colours (hunting orange is fine, safety green is only permissible for tradies) -> Eyestrain. Also people who wear neon make me nervous as someone who hates attention being drawn to myself in public.

Like wearing shoes -> I hate shoes.

Wear socks and ESPECIALLY if you sleep with socks on -> But I hate socks more! Autism no like.

Like maths (you're an alien) -> I am very bad at maths. I know enough to be a sniper but even then I usually use a calculator and/or my Kestrel app.

Wash your face every morning -> Exfoliate with sand like I do.

Don't know how to change a tyre -> Everyone should know how to change a tyre because you never know if you're going to need it. You might need it, someone else might need it, etc. It might save your life some day. Life skill.

Think heat above 80F/25C is "unbearable" -> I'm an Aussie, suck it up.

Have never ridden a horse -> I pity you.

Don't know the difference between revolvers and pistols -> It's annoying.

Have, at any point, unironically uttered the phrase "assault rifle" -> You don't know anything about firearms and don't have a leg to be standing on in conversation regarding them.

Are from M*lbourne (Victorians, you're on thin fucking ice) -> See the "vegans" thing. Also M*lburnians are largely up themselves and the whole city suffers from Tall Poppy Syndrome. You're not better than anyone, cunts.

Are from New Zealand -> Basically M*lbourne but a whole country. I'll admit a lot of my "hatred" is just for show, though. You're our dickhead little brother and we hate you and also love you. Nobody fucks with the Kiwis but us <3

Are French/speak French (Africans, you're on thin fucking ice) -> Bad experiences in regards to the language, but as far as nationality goes, see "pompousness."

Are Canadian -> Bad experiences with Canadians.

Are French-Canadian (double-wrong) -> Very bad experience with a pompous French-Canadian.

Are English. The rest of the UK, you're on thin ice. -> Pommy cunts. You're not my dad!

Are from a city with a population higher than 1mil. People from cities with populations of 30k to 999k are on thin fucking ice. People from cities/town/shires/villages with less than 30k I love you. -> I grew up bush in a town with a population of like. 5. And now there's zero.

Think "bogan" is an insult -> It's not.

Don't shave with a knife (people who use straight razors, you're on thin fucking ice, people who don't shave at all I love you) -> I shave with a knife in the bush and straight razor when I'm around people (because getting caught shaving with a knife is a good way to have your girlfriend yell at you for being stupid).

Have never been sunburnt (only for people who can get sunburnt) -> Get skin cancer like a real man (like I have).

Don't like camping -> I love camping.

Own decorative towels and ESPECIALLY if you get mad at people for using them. It's a bloody towel and I'm using it for its intended purpose -> This has happened to me too much and I get pissed every time. Why do you have it if you're not supposed to use it? How am I supposed to know it's not meant to be used?

Believe in astrology -> I don't trust people who judge others off their fucking star sign instead of their actions.

Have a skincare routine and/or wear makeup -> I don't like people who are vain. Life's so short, who cares about your appearance, go out there and enjoy life.

Drive a Toyota Prius -> You're probably a shitty and/or obnoxious driver, you either speed or drive too fucking slow, never use your indicators when changing lane, or cut people off.

DON'T love thunderstorms -> I love thunderstorms.

Were born after 2023 -> You do the maths.

Think catching toads to get high is "animal abuse" (the toads are fine unless they're cane toads, fuck cane toads, all my mates hate cane toads) -> It's not. The toads are fine (again, unless they're cane toads, which I kill because they're invasive species).

You microwave water for any reason -> Jostling microwaved water causes cavitation bubbles to burst, which can make the water itself spray you. This results in boiling water drenching your arms and probably face. This is how you get severe burns. Stop doing it.

Have never been to a B&S ball -> They're fun and I pity you.

Don't believe in aliens -> I refuse to believe we're alone out here.

Are taller than 158cm/5'2" -> Fuck you for being taller than me!

Take multivitamins (aka you are healthier than me) -> Fuck you for being healthier than me!

Haven't read my fic (minors exempt, do not read it) -> Please read it if you're an adult, I put my heart and soul into this shit...

Don't like bush ballads or sea shanties. I'm going to show up at your house and aggressively sing Waltzing Matilda at 3am outside your bedroom window -> I like sea shanties. And the sea.

Think the term "blackfella" is racist -> It's not, it's the preferred term for black (native) Australians.

Would give me up, tell a lie, and hurt me -> Get Rickroll'd.

Don't bless the rains down in Africa -> Get Tito'd.

You shave your eyebrows -> No eyebrows makes me nervous since I kinda depend on them for reading faces (autism)

[malaierba]

Curently thinking about the Kara being adopted fic. Ngl, I kinda wanted to know what his original family was like? Imagine he was supposed to live a life of luxury since his biological parents were rich, but fate intervened, causing Kara to be where he is now, with his brothers??? Idk why, but I some times think of how crazy it would be if Kara's parents would have lived. Not me making another AU somehow 😭

Oh, I never really gave his original family's background much thought beyond "I wonder if he was born before or after the sextuplets, it'd be funny if he was actually older / younger than everyone lol". The thing that had me losing sleep was thinking about him making the effort to know more about his parents, the way he'd mourn them, the way the others would help him through it, bruh I literally daydreamed for days on end about them going to Sapporo and what that'd be like for everyone, if the fact that he was adopted ever came up in a fight and how everyone would react aksfjksdf etc.

That said, I think that wondering about what any of the sextuplets would've been like if they had been raised without siblings is a question that can get pretty, PRETTY meta.

After all, one of the main themes in Osomatsu-san is that the siblings are kind of unhealthily codependent :-/c They're too used to their group dynamic and they're so used to being othered by others on the basis of being sextuplets and not being the best at integrating social groups that aren't their own*, that they simply can't break out of that status quo for good.

(*parenthesis: I've seen people argue that even Todomatsu, for all that he brags about being socially savvy, only really manages to engage people on a superficial level. You have to pay attention to the type of conversations he has with his friends to realise that. Honestly? IDK. Personally, I'd argue that from a writers POV there's not a lot of motivation to hint at him having meaningful conversations with extras, and that's why all his friendships SEEM superficial. It could be that Totty's issue is just that he's not serious-serious about rising in the social pyramid properly. And part of the why could be the point I discuss below)

Expanding on the last point, I think Totty actually exemplifies perfectly how the sextuplets kind of keep each other stuck, wether intentionally or through the power of inertia. And I say this while keeping in mind that Matsunos one through five were actually behaving (as much as they can lol) UNTIL they realised that Totty had lied about being a sextuplet, being a NEET, etc etc, which is hurtful af and these guys are unhinged in a group so ofc they were going to sabotage.

Wo with that in mind, what would it mean for Karamatsu of all people to not be INSIDE that type of group?

I think the one AU were we get to see a glimpse at what everyone would be like had they been raised as only children is Denki Mystery (MY BELOVED), in which Karamatsu actually happens to be raised by Matsuzo and ends up becoming a journalist for a supernatural magazine (love that for him lol, love that he still had Matsuzo's influence and I choose to believe that's how he maintains a vague fixation on the 80s, love that he studied journalism which is not an easy career, love that he ended up working in a spooky magazine, love it).

So! To answer your question! in the context of the Adopted Kara AU, I think an Only Child!Karamatsu would be a lot like Karatsugu, in that he'd be forced to be more down-to-earth. Karatsugu still has some Kara-Kara moments, but for the most part he's independent and unafraid to speak out his mind, and it shows... and it's just a flavour thats ever so slightly different from canon!Karamatsu like, yeah, we Karamatsu wander on his own a lot, we see him say stuff that's unpopular with characters like Totoko and Choromatsu and Totty, but Karatsugu... He just does it different. I wonder if its his journalism training showing through. Like, he still plays the role of mediator and pacifier alot, much like Karamatsu; He tries to keep the group from fighting too seriously, but where Karamatsu sometimes falls to group mentality or is simply too passive, Karatsugu often surprised me with dialogue that felt more assertive, more rational than Kara's, more based on him trying to be objective.

I think an OC!Karamatsu would also feel a bit more absorbed by whatever interests he has. I remember reading an analysis on Ozou (Denki Mystery!Osomatsu) that highlighted how, without siblings and without the role of the eldest, Osomatsu felt even more listless than usual. Unlike Karamatsu, Osomatsu doesn't really have interests that are obvious to us viewers (besides gambling?), let alone hobbies to hyperfixate on to the degree that Kara does. Osomatsu is very comfortable in the place he takes within the sextuplets dynamic. Without it, Ozou gives off the feeling of being nice and caring and chill, but he's distant in a way, it's like something's lacking. It seems that he struggled to make connections that allowed him to explore himself through others, which landed Ozou in the role of a nice taxi driver, a guy that's everyone's good friend but no one's best friend. His is perhaps the saddest story in Denki Mystery.

I started talking about Osomatsu because it is my belief that Choukei were both HEAVILY influenced by their role as eldest siblings. Karamatsu less so than Osomatsu, as he's the second eldest, but still. Karamatsu is also the type of personality that seeks connection, that is gregarious, that likes to maintain good relationships with those he's close to. We've seen in canon that Karamatsu is sensitive to both friends and family's moods, that he'll go along with what they want if it's what they expect of him (even if he doesn't always want to, it took 3 seasons for him to realise that he can opt out of situations if he wants lol), that he can and will act responsibly almost on instinct if he decides that he must.

Without siblings, Karatsugu just gives off this vibe that he really, really fixated on journalism, and everything that involved his father's job. Which makes sense... this is a bit of a headcanon, but I feel like fantasy plays a big role in the way Karamatsu relates to and understands reality. Like, Kara is a biiit of an idealist, he's an empath too, he's introduced to us as an ex-actor. I can't help but see him as the type that relies on stories to (try to?) understand how other people see the world. He's aware that he plays different roles for different people but he also wants to play the lead, and because he sometimes gets too lost in his own fantasy world, the end result is the flamboyant, nonsensical guy we all know and love.

You know what grounds him most effectively? His siblings. Sure, there's many skits where the joke is that his siblings (mainly Choromatsu and Todomatsu) fail at bringing him back to reality, but in other Ososan media we also get plenty of moments where either: 1. Karamatsu gets serious because someone asks him to drop the theatrics seriously enough, or 2. He realises that he's in a situation where HE (no one else!) NEEDS to get serious, so he gets serious.

So, Karamatsu without siblings? This guy who seeks connection so desperately? I think he'd end up looking for it in other people, but also in things like stories, music, things that let him know that what he thinks and feels is something that others also think and feel, hobbies that let him believe that he can connect with others on that level too.

Karatsugu for example, is amazing in that its our dear ditzy Kara-kara, filling out so, so confidently the role you'd expect a journalist to fill. He's interested in others, he quite evidently uses his job as a way to get to know more about the world around him + the people who cross his path, he poses good questions a lot of the time, he suspends disbelief too since, well, he is working for a supernatural magazine. He's just a perfect mix of eagerness to connect with people, tamed by the hat of professionalism and by the fact that he HAS had to learn to be self-reliant.

So with all that said, when I think of OnlyChild!Karamatsu I kind of envision a guy that's going to be soooo into his hobbies, so very extra about them, a musical theatre kid through and through that's just ever so obviously quite lonely. Like... you know all those sad!Karamatsu fics? Where Kara is secretly lonely and whatnot (love them btw, fic writers you are valid idc what people say), when in canon he's happy-go-luck for the most part and his introspective moments mainly show after he's had a reality check?

I think this Karamatsu, heart-on-his-sleeve, wants-to-be-useful, empathetic Karamatsu, would feel somewhat jealous of his 5 cousins. Because see, it's one thing to be a only child on your own, and to have no one to compare yourself to, your reality is the default and that's that. It's quite another to have cousins and to see that they get to always have someone to play with, that they've got each others back for the most part, that they make a group you kind of want to belong to but that you just can't integrate in the way they do.

It'd be interesting because on one hand, I do see Karamatsu as being vulnerable to being taken advantage of in an attempt to "belong", but I also think that deep down and especially as time goes on just KNOW the he can't belong. He'd definitely end up with a sense of individuality that's stronger than what current Karamatsu has... and on the other hand, he'd actually feel as othered as fanon!Karamatsu sometimes is made out to be.

Because lbr, in canon, no matter how eccentric Karamatsu is, part of the reason why he's not self-conscious about it is that in the back of his mind he's comforted by the knowledge that no matter how far he takes his bits, he'll always have a group he belongs to, a group he loves and that he trusts to love him. He wrote them a song for gods sake lol. When you're on your own, being a dissonant note (especially in a society like Japan's) takes a lot more spoons.

I want to trust that, much like Karatsugu, a Karamatsu that feels self-conscious, that's still searching for the confidence to be the way he wants to be, would eventually find it. I just think that, again, like Karatsugu, it'd be a bit more subdued. He's still kind of eccentric and extra for sure, but its below the surface. I think he'd be aware of the fact that his flavour of personality is hard for most people to swallow, unless its a bit diluted.

And much like Karatsugu, I think it'd still be very important for SC!Karamatsu to find a way to be a part of the quintuplets lives. The difference would be that on this AU, they aren't all on similar standing. He's on one side, and they're on another side. I can see Karamatsu, especially as a child, trying hard to be The Cool Cousin, to embrace the role like it makes him especial: The cousin with the big house, the cousin that's always down to enable his other cousins, the cousin that his cousins are all jealous of because he takes english, and guitar, and singing classes, and he gets to keep all his toys for himself, nevermind that he has to play on his own (and not by choice), obviously for the most part.

He's The Cousin, in the same way that Chibita is An Orphan, and Totoko is The Pretty Girl. Because the Matsunos are An Unit, "i am you and you are me", they are a freaky little group and everyone else exists outside of it.

Anyway. Childhood and teenage loneliness aside, it'd probably pay off in the sense that SC!Karamatsu would probably be more of a functional adult than canon!Karamatsu currently is. Totty would be jealous of him and would try to leverage his ridiculous cousin to raise in society (like with Atsushi lol?), Choromatsu would attempt the same thing but through his responsible skit (I think the incredible relationship they have in canon Ososan would be completely gone which is so sad), Jyushimatsu and Osomatsu probably just still appreciate the cousin that's always down to having fun, probably not much of a relationship with Ichimatsu (for better and for worse)... and that'd be it.

The Matsuno siblings together create a dynamic that's too difficult to penetrate. Of all of them the only ones we've seen successfully form relationships with people outside their group are Jyushimatsu (Homura, Eitarou and his mom, essentially all the recurring characters), Totty (Atsushi, Sutabaa friends), Karamatsu himself (Chibita, biker friends), and I'm reluctant to count Osomatsu since Totoko and Chibita he's known all his life.

I can't help but think that Karamatsu would probably end up like Totoko's brother: A cool guy that in the best of cases, finds his path outside of Akatsuka Ward, and forcibly cuts ties with everyone in there as a result. If he remains in Akatsuka, he'd either be like Atsushi or Chibita (mainly called upon when the Matsunos need something from him, and in the best of cases, to tell a melancholic story once per season at best)

And if you ever asked him if he liked being a single child, he'd 100% tell you that it was fine, but he would've loved to have a little sibling.