#alas I'm not a stranger type beat

[anglerflsh]

are you called anglerflsh because you like TMA or is it just a coincidence

Because anglerfish are my favourite animal! Coincidentally, they are my favourite animal because I love their implication and simbological use, so it's not far off from being a TMA reference

[mariocki]

New Scotland Yard: My Boy Robby? (2.13, LWT, 1973)

"Why?"

"It's the hearing in the magistrates' court tomorrow. They wanted to frighten you. Show you they were serious."

'But they must have known that I'd phone you?"

"People who live in their sort of world often miscalculate the effects of violence and threats on those who live outside it."

[weirdsht]

My Beautiful Stranger, My Soulmate - Cale/Fem! Reader

notes: for some reason i have a thing for continued love, maybe the reason why i'm single is because my soulmate is in another timeline/dimension /hj ... anyways this was the fic that i've wanted to write for the longest time but had no time for hehe

tags: female reader, novel spoilers (KRS' past and some war stuff), angst? not sure, continued love-esc, told in Cale's pov, one-sided admiration, strangers, Cale is whipped, mentions of abuse

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are currently closed but my ask are still open (read pinned)

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Everyone wants to have something constant in their life. Something that would keep them grounded. Something that would give them a sense of normalcy when everything else feels crazy. 

For most, a person will be their constant and their pillar. Choosing a loved one in their life that supports and cares for them. Just someone they can go through during the tough times in their life.

Kim Rok Soo’s case is the same… for the most part, that is.

The difference that sets him apart from the average person is the fact that his constant person is a stranger.

He knows what she looks like. Knows her mannerisms. Has seen her for almost his entire life.

Yet he doesn’t know her name. Doesn’t know what her speaking voice sounds like. Has never had a personal interaction with her. 

Is this considered to be a type of parasocial relationship? Maybe, but Rok Soo can’t be bothered to find out.

Kim Rok Soo’s first interaction with his constant was when he was a child. During the short while of his life where he was happy, complete. When his loving parents are still alive. That was the first time he saw her.

It was during daycare. The daycare is separated into morning and afternoon sessions. His parents had enrolled him for the morning sessions.

At first, he didn’t want to go. Even as a kid he had preferred the peace his house could offer compared to socializing with the outside world. But alas, it wasn’t like he had a choice, his parents had already enrolled him so he had to go. Plus either way, he has to attend school sooner or later.

That’s why he goes, albeit reluctantly. He participates in whatever antics the teachers/caretaker does even when all he wants to do is go back home. For him, daycare was extremely tiring.

However, all that tiredness was wiped away when dismissal arrived. And no, it wasn’t just because he was excited to see his parents and go back home.

It was actually because of the girl he saw. She was a cute kid, wearing a cute dress with her hair tied in those typical twin-tailed hairstyles girls her age would have. Rok Soo didn’t see her in daycare so she must be part of the afternoon session.

Since then, he looked forward to attending daycare just to catch a glimpse of her during dismissal.

Unfortunately, Kim Rok Soo’s life took a turn for the worse at such a young age. Tragedy had befallen upon him. His parents died and his uncle is a piece of shit that hits children. It was no surprise that he had forgotten about that pretty girl in daycare.

The universe seems to not want him to forget though.

Because then why else would he see her again in the playground he runs to whenever his uncle's house is too much? Why else she be there when they were far from the town where Rok Soo attended daycare?

‘It must be fate’

That’s what little Rok Soo thinks to himself as he watches her and her friends play on the monkey bars. He just watches them from inside the castle fortress thing that no one ever uses. The sand underneath him served as his cushion.

Sometimes he wants to join, he wants to befriend her too. But he isn’t really one for moving around, for playing such physically tiring games. Even if he was, his injuries from his beatings are stopping him from doing so. Hence why he was content with playing with the sand beneath his feet while watching her laugh as she tried to not get caught by her friend during a round of tag.

Despite what Rok Soo says, his constant isn’t as steady in his life as he wants her to be. There are long periods of his life where he wouldn’t see her.

Which was why he was internally overjoyed when he saw her not only taking the same bus as him but also going to the same library. They seem to have the same schedule, and the same free time allocated for reading books in the library. The library and the novels they held were already Rok Soo’s safe space, his constant’s presence only made it more heavenly.

Kim Rok Soo knows that his constant doesn’t know who he is. Even if he remembers seeing her almost every day, in her perspective he was just a random, faceless stranger.

However, sometimes there are incidents where he would think otherwise. Is he being delusional? Absolutely, but who would call him out? The voices in his head? His already used to blocking them out.

One incident was after the day she didn’t go to the library. Rok Soo was a bit concerned as this was the first time she skipped her usual library session. The next day after that, someone had left a canned drink on his desk. It’s the drink she usually buys from the vending machine. As a matter of fact, Rok Soo had never seen anyone else pick that drink except for her.

So sue him for being delusional, but that was definitely from his constant.

When the cataclysm started, Kim Rok Soo was sure he would never see her again.

But the universe had other plans.

No matter what happens, fate seems to be pulling them together. Intertwining their destinies.

Kim Rok Soo should be happy and should be overjoyed that he gets to see her.

However, he isn’t.

In fact, he wished he hadn’t seen her.

For maybe then he could’ve lived in ignorant bliss.

“Hurry and go! I’ll hold things down over here!”

Rok Soo’s constant commanded firmly. This is the first time he has heard her speak, and god does she sound heavenly. However, this isn’t the time for this. The eclipse is still happening, barrage after barrage of monsters is still coming after every shelter.

Still, he can’t help but admire her for a second. She’s so strong, so cool, so put together.

He just wishes she hadn’t been so selfless.

The skinny man couldn’t help but hold onto the hem of his clothes. Staring at her as if begging her to come with him using his eyes.

“I’ll be fine. You should go first, I’ll follow soon.”

Lies

Kim Rok Soo knows that she won’t be following them anytime soon. He is well-aware of the fact that after this the next time he would be reunited with her is in the afterlife.

That’s why he tries to convince her even though he knows he will ultimately fail.

Years passed after that and Kim Rok Soo never saw his constant again. How could he when she passed away? When she sacrificed herself for his sake and others.

Despite the accumulation of the time and people Rok Soo met, he never forgot her. He could never forget her. Sometimes he would just sit in silence, remembering how her voice sounded. Relishing the first and last words she spoke to him.

This did not change even after he became a team leader. As a matter of fact, the only change is that now he’s mourning for three people, instead of one.

His longing for her was strong. It did not disappear even after becoming Cale Henituse. He would still think of her despite turning over a new leaf, literally turning over a new life.

Cale longs to hold her again. This time not just the hem of her clothing but her hand. He wishes to have a proper conversation with her. Longs to ask her why she likes that canned drink that no one else drinks so much.

He longs to get to know her outside of the things he has observed. Wants to be the cause of her smile, and not merely watch others do it in his stead.

But alas, he couldn’t.

For not only is she dead, but his in another world.

Or at least that’s what he thought until he saw a familiar face standing up for him during the noble's meeting.

“Personally, I think we should just be grateful to Commander Cale Henituse. If it weren’t for him and his people then our kingdom would be in graver danger that we would not even be able to conduct such a meeting.”

She looked exactly how Cale remembered her. Her voice still has that same firmness in it, telling everyone in the room how she also wields power despite being younger than all of them.

“That’s correct young master. However, there are still some things that should be addressed. Such as that necromancer–”

“She has a name, it’s Mary. And she’s not a mere necromancer, she’s a revered hero of our kingdom. One of the people who had defended our kingdom from the Indomitable Alliance.”

Cale didn’t know he could fall deeper after all these years, but he just did.

“Due all respect my lady, but you are still young. I think your emotions are getting the best of you. Mind you that you are not even the heir of your household.”

The ugly noble tried to retaliate to which Cale’s constant only raised her eyebrows at.

“Oh my, how disgraceful… A noble pulling the age card just because his nearing his expiry age. Now forgive my disrespect, but you started it first… How dare you look down on me, the top 1% contributor to this Kingdom’s economy? I have built a name for myself outside of my family’s influence while all you have is your family’s standing. And emotional? Really? Of course, I’m emotional, the lives of our citizens are at stake and all you mongrels seem to care more about powerplay like the hungry bastards you all are. Is it because you’re not on the front lines? Is it because you think you can do what Commander Cale Henituse did? Then I dare you to do so at this very moment. Go to the frontlines and defend this kingdom you all claim to love very much!”

A deafening silence followed the young woman’s speech. Even Alberu had to take a double take. Everyone is tense, they don’t know what to say. Can’t refute what she said.

“I’m sorry for my outburst, Your Highness, Commander Cale. I simply cannot tolerate such disrespect when you are pulling most of the weight during these trying times. Please, let us proceed with our original agenda.”

Her poise never left her, even as she tore down every noble inside the room. Contrarily, the more she speaks, the more it looks as though she also possesses Dominating Aura.

At her insistence, the meeting got back on track. Most of the nobles were already silenced because of her, Alberu and Cale only had to deliver the finishing blow before wrapping everything up.

Once everything was done and settled Cale made plans to talk to his constant. Get to know her name, and finally interact with her. He knows that in her eyes his just a stranger. Someone who has no personal connections with her. But that doesn’t stop the redhead. He can always start forging their connection right here, right now.

He’ll do anything to not let her slip from his grasp once again.

And so the commander slithers his way towards where she is. He already had it all planned out; he’ll start the conversation by thanking her for standing up in Mary’s defence before asking for her name, and then he’ll let things flow naturally from there.

Despite running the simulations in his head, the only thing he could do once he was face to face with her was standing there. Face marred with shock and mouth unable to form words?

The cause?

Oh nothing much, it’s just because of her greeting.

“It’s nice to finally meet my beautiful stranger from Earth whose name I still don’t know. I’m [Name] [Lastname], may I know Commander Cale Henituse’s Earth name?”

[homocrafting]

turns out whatever instinct in me makes me want to make tma aus is unstoppable and all consuming. so here's qsmp tma au focused on the brazillians:

cellbit- he HAS to be the archivist ok this man is so eye aligned it's not even funny. HOWEVER because qcellbit and fcell are the same person, Events happened to him before he became the Archivist, ala from the archives grian. local paranormal enthusiast finds dead half eaten bodies, gets arrested for it (he SWEARS he didn't eat those people), goes to prison for 10 years, goes nuts (becomes F!Cell), kills himself in the island, wakes up in his room and Felps tells him "bro you disappeared for 10 days are you ok" and he's just like. What.

Worth mentioning that he fucking speedruns the archives. also known as the qsmp. Cucurucho, who is kind of like elias but a bit less (I inagine the Host would be elias, wjoever they are), thinks "wooo new archivist I wonder how long it'll take them to find out abt the horrors" and then cellbit shows up 3 days later running on 2 hours of sleep and 20 mugs of coffee with a consipracy board connecting a bunch of statements and theorizing about entities

ALSO the web is around him like all the time. if you pay attention there's at least 2 spiders near him at all times, usually hidden because he squishes them when he sees them. he's tangled in the web of lies that is the plot I'm making for this au and his ass is NOT beating it

Felps- Stranger type of guy who doesn't even know and takes like. a year to realise something's up with him. don't worry abt it ok I don't know why he's stranger-y to me either. it's the vibes just trust me

Mike- ok so. I am Very unsure for pac and mike, PLUS I've not seen herobrine a lenda, which means I don't know all their backstory, BUT I'm thinking Lonely for Mike, so far? he kind of distances himself from everyone after richas dies with him, so far is the only person I've not seen much gay happenings happen to, tends to disappear to fuckall nowhere apparently, as one does. also the fact that, back in prison, he seemed to have the most difficulty connecting with others.

also, the Desolation hates him personally. he doesn't know why. his house has burnt down thrice. he gets burnt by the littlest things for no reason. he's banned from the kitchen. an avatar of the desolation tried to kill him once. he watched his own son die in front of him. this is based on nothing from qsmp or anything I've seen Mike do I just think it's funny

Pac- I can only think of Vast and Spiral for him tee bee eich. Leaning heavily towards the Vast because, you know. gestures to the giant hide and seek maps, and also O RAIO, even though I have 0 context for that. he just... he explores the world and made giant hole (yeah yeah holes are the buried but consider: it's big.). it's his "I can show you the world" vibes. again dude just trust me

note abt tazercraft: both of them are very, very touched by the Spiral. reason? Chume Labs

Forever- I'm thinking either the Buried (mostly the digging aspect- he's destroyed a whole mountain and dug up and entire desert), or the Hunt (his intense hunt for Phil's love, the insane grinding that could be seen as hunting for resources, the werewolf hc my beloved). Leaning more towards the Hunt bc dogboyyyyy

The plot I have in mind is very different from the tma plot, but I'm not sure of everything yet, so for now you get this little bpnus :)

[CLICK]

[Cellbit]

We've been back from the Adoption Center for about a day now. Not a timely update, but things happened, and, well.

We found... we found a weird... creature. It- he? Acts human, although he can't talk. He communicates with us through a little notebook, and overall acts incredibly childish. He sure looks like a child. One with- with some material akin to... to egg shells as skin. He has hair, despite apparently being all... eggy. It's black and curly, covers his face. He doesn't like it when we try to move it away from there, but we're working on a safe way to see what's under there.

He seems not to know where he came from, but I know he's lying. It's- there's no way he doesn't, not with what he said, I don't care if Pac and Mike or, hell, Felps believes him, He called us fucking- he called us dads! That's the first fucking thing he said! It has to be some kind of trap, some kind of spy, I don't know yet but when I find out I'm going to fucking-

Shit. That wasn't too professional. Alright, where were we.

We brought him to the Institute. Forever and I weren't thrilled about the idea, but it was 3 against 2. I can't believe Felps would- I get Pac and Mike, there's something wrong with them I'm sure of it, but Felps? I underestimated his braincells. What am I talking about, he doesn't have any.

(Soft chuckle)

We, we named him Richarlyson, he seemed to like it. We asked his name first, but all he did was draw a- (Snort) a stick figure shrugging.

The only clothes he has are a singular oversized Brazil shirt. The moços and Felps want to go buy him clothes.

I don't know how they'll justify the kid having, I don't know, pure white hard skin, but they said not to worry about it, so I guess I won't! I won't. I fucking won't.

... I'm gonna follow them tomorrow. Just to be safe.

That's all for today, I'm gonna go- I'm going to check some statements, see if there's anything even remotely related to this.

This is Cellbit, Head Archivist of the QSMP, which I still don't known what stands for by the way, signing off.

[CLICK]

[luckystarchild]

Most of the time kuwabara's love for yukina seemed very superficial to me, I don't really know the concept of love at first sight but it clearly looked like kuwabara simply liked her because she looked pretty?! Ofc falling for a girl because she looks pretty is not a bad thing but if yukina looked more yokai like and resembled even a bit like hiei there's no way kuwabara would've gone out of his way to rescue her in the first place he might even say she reminds him of a certain someone and stayed at home.

People really think kuwabara's love for yukina is pure and selfless but there's nothing selfless about his love for her. He's nice to her because he likes her and wants to become her lover. Being nice to person you like is also not a bad thing but it does not give you the right to treat other girls like crap because they're not the one you like. kuwabara does this in the manga, anime and even in the live action.

The way he puts yukina on a pedestal and act like the other girls matter very little to him is not really a knight in shining armour kind of a thing.

Kuwabara is a not a great guy, he's just a goof ball who's a sucker for yukina's good looks. He might be attracted to her personality as well but who knows how he will react if yukina were to be rude to him like hiei?! Will he still be attracted to her?

I'm not saying that kuwabara is bad guy but he's not really the perfect down to earth good guy of the group either.

I see where you're coming from with a lot of this. Allow me to offer a few additional thoughts to chew on.

One can definitely argue Kuwabara's "love at first sight" was triggered by Yukina's looks, but something else likely furthered his instantaneous feelings for her: his psychic powers. Before they even meet in person, he gets in her head and sees her past while trying to rescue her. He witnesses her memories of her escape attempts and the way she was tortured. He gets a first-row seat into her trauma, and that triggered a depth of empathy for Yukina that turned a crush into what appears to be "love at first sight."

But here's the thing: Information and intimacy are not the same thing.

Kuwabara received a bunch of information about Yukina when he saw her memories, but that doesn't mean he shares emotional intimacy with her. Alas, Kuwabara (being an inexperienced teenage boy) doesn't understand the difference. To him, his feelings of love/like/lust + his knowledge of Yukina likely make him feel like they share a deep bond of true love.

But to Yukina, Kuwabara likely seems like a stranger. A nice, kind stranger, but a stranger nonetheless. She didn't share his memories in return, after all. She has neither information nor intimacy.

(And this take on her lack of feelings for Kuwabara is supported in canon. Throughout the series, we see her react to his overtures with confusion, not reciprocation or affection. She outright runs away from him in the final chapter when he tries to connect with her.)

But Kuwabara isn't being malicious with his feelings of unearned intimacy. To him, I'd argue that intimacy likely feels very real. His experience within her memories was real. It happened; he saw them; he felt how she felt in her darkest hour. But he's so young, and so inexperienced, I don't think he has the perspective to realize that what he received was information, not intimacy. He lacks the perspective to see the difference.

With that in mind, I don't think I can call Kuwabara a bad person, or even "not a great guy," for chasing after Yukina like he does. I think he's the beating human heart of Team Urameshi, and the most down to earth dude in the bunch. But he's still a teenage boy in the end, and his youth and inexperience led him (as youth and inexperience have led us all) to making some less-than-stellar choices. I can't really blame him for that, even if I don't approve of it.

I agree that if he'd known Yukina was Hiei's sister, or if she'd had a different personality type, or if she wasn't as pretty, his feelings about her might have been completely different. An entire "what if" fic about how his thoughts on her would change based on minor differences in his knowledge would be very, very interesting, that's for sure.

[tiredassmage]

💔 …someone who broke my muse’s heart & 👀 …someone my muse likes, but doesn’t trust.

Y'all just on FIRE tonight with GOOD QUESTIONS. Hhhhhmmmm.... Let me continue to try to dodge some of the more well-tread beats of my characters' stories and go a little more outside the box.

Y'all apparently really liked Roric at the beginning of this Febhyurary, and I'm very glad for that because he's wonderful! Unfortunately, February was hella busy, so... no more Febhyurary happened for me, but! We'll take this opportunity to elaborate a little on why he's here!

An Ala Mhigan native who ended up fighting on both sides of Imperial lines, despite his best efforts to remain with his homeland, Roric is actually the biological father of Airi, belonging to @fatewalker-phoenix. This he... mostly doesn't know. And Airi certainly grows up not knowing. Because Roric was a bit of a slip in her dear mother's obviously impeccable decision-making skills because... maybe the whole ruggedly handsome and good at carrying a toon, we're not here to judge. It's one of those oopsies, he didn't know she was married, he didn't necessarily ask, she certainly didn't tell, her senses kicked in sometime after and... long story short, Roric was told his silence was incredibly valuable, thank you very much, and... no, he wasn't going to be allowed to ever see what was very, very likely his child. End of contact, goodbye, good day.

While heartbreak might be a little strong for his ultimate feelings for Airi's mother, he is... really just a giant teddy bear who was maybe a bit soft for the idea of being a father. He would've liked to step up to the plate and been there and instead he was more or less threatened with blackmail.

Tough shit for those high on their horses merchant types though because, by chance or fate, his very daughter became a Warrior of Light and showed up some years later to kick the Imperials clean outta Ala Mhigo! And he even got to see her do some of it. So, really, who's the winner in the end..?

Shay, you've been adopted, too. You don't get a choice. He's your new father figure.

As for your second one, I'm going to dip into some Endwalker spoilers, so I'll meet you caught up friends below the cut.

Someone we like, but we don't necessarily trust... A tricky one because most of my beans don't really like people they can't trust. Astor's a prime example, but... let's talk about Elpis. Yeah, we're all gonna need the tissues again.

He really wanted to trust Hermes. He did. But something.... Something he didn't exactly voice to Venat, mind. He had... no evidence, really. But an unsettling worry was coiling slowly in the pit of his stomach.

There was a reason he had been shown here. At that time. To these people. And, clever Meteion.., she basically saw it herself.

Astor's not exactly a stranger to keeping company with conflicting doubts and questions about the deeper meanings and machinations of the universe. And what he didn't see with Hermes was... anyone else that saw it, that was there to catch that stumble.

This, ultimately, was more of a... dread than a complete lack of trust. And, gods, did he hate being right to worry. Especially knowing that nothing would change. Ultimately, this had all already transpired.

He could see it. But there wasn't a damn thing he could have done that would have been enough.