#and correct me if i'm wrong here stiff but

[terrortwinunicorn]

Wepa! It's A Wedding

Damian's POV

I woke up the next morning to see y/n nestled beside me, still lost in dreams. Today, we would be telling the last part of our Angelo and Ginger wedding story, but obviously, knowing Demi, she'll want to hear about y/n being Sandy and me traveling across the state to be at her opening night performance, Bruno and Claudine's fortieth wedding anniversary, and Angelo's fourteenth birthday party. We still had so many more memories to share.

Y/N moans lightly and not her normal morning her joints are stiff moan. It's not even the moan I earn while we make love. It's her something bad is happening moan. She whimpers in fear before she let out a blood curdling scream. Her eyes flew open and she sat up so quickly she gave me whiplash. She's panting and tears were streaming down her face.

I quickly sat up and wrapped her in a hug. She hugged me so tight that I felt the breath temporarily leave my body as her body slammed into mine. She is crying uncontrollably and shaking, and I rub her back.

"Baby, what's wrong? What was the dream about?" I asked.

"It was him again. He was chasing me but it was different. He hurt you and Luis; I had to watch him do it," she cried. "He then grabbed me, throwing me to the ground and he, he, he, he," she starts to hyperventilate.

"Shh. You're safe," I soothe "He is in jail remember?" I remind her gently. She nodded but didn't say anything "And besides I would kill him with my bare hands. He would never get near you," I kissed the side of her head laying back down and holding her "I promise you. He will never be able to get near you."

"I, I, I, I, I'm so sorry Luis," she cries as she holds me close.

"It's okay, amor," I kiss the top of her head. "How about you and I take a relaxing bath? It's only seven. Maybe a warm bath will help calm you down."

She shook her head. "No. Just hold me," she sniffles.

"Okay. I will just hold you," I said. She snuggled into me. She sighed and it sounded like she allowed the weight of the world off her shoulders.

"Gracias amor de mi vida," she whispers, her fear slowly seeping into the air. I continue to hold her and rub her back. I kiss her forehead as she holds onto me.

"Eres bienvenido, amor de mi vida," I said as there's a knock on the bedroom door. "Enter," I said.

The door opened and Demi poked her head around it. "Everything okay? We heard the most terrifying scream."

"Everything is fine. I just had a bête noire," y/n said quietly as we still laid in bed.

"A what?!" asked Demi entering the room.

"Bête noire," y/n laughs lightly, "It's French for black beast. Black beast is basically a being invading your dreama causing a nightmare," she explains as Demi sat on the end of y/n's and my bed.

Demi put a hand on my foot, probably thinking it was y/n's, and squeezed it. "My God y/n, your foot is HUGE!" she said.

"Sis that's my foot," I said.

"Sorry," Demi said making the oops face as she removed her hand.

"My foot is here," giggles y/n as she wiggles her foot under the covers.

Demi put her hand on the correct foot and squeezed it. "You okay?" she asked, y/n.

"I'm fine. I am very lucky to have Luis here this time," y/n pats my chest.

"Do you have those *bête noires* often?!" Demi asked.

"Not as often as I used to," Y/N admits. "But they do reoccur, especially around the same time every year. Luckily, Luis isn't as busy with house shows anymore."

"We all aren't. House shows are few and far between now," said Demi "Which is nice because we actually have some down time."

Y/N nods "I like it because I get more snuggles," y/n grins as she snuggled into me.

"That's one of my favorite things too. Plus, I get to spend each night practically with you in my arms," I said, kissing y/n's forehead, making y/n sigh softly.

"I will give you two some time," said Demi "You want me to make breakfast?"

"How about we go out for breakfast for a change?!" I asked.

"Can we go to Delicioso Desayuno?" asked y/n, sitting up and looking down at me with a huge smile.

"What is Delicioso Desayuno?" asked Demi.

"Only the best Puerto Rican breakfast outside of Luis's or Mamá's," said y/n looking at Demi.

Demi laughed lightly "I'll take your word for it," she said.

"They have the most amazing tortilla de plátano, quesito, and they have the second best mofongo after Mamá's," said y/n licking her lips, and I can tell whatever fear she had was now gone.

I chuckled "Let's go before you start to drool," I said sitting up.

Y/N subconsciously wipes her mouth "I'm not drooling," she said.

"I know that, but you're about to. Let's go there, get you your amazing tortilla de plátano, and quesito," I said, kissing her cheek.

"I'm going to let Matt know we're going to breakfast," Demi said, standing. "I'll give you two time to get ready."

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Delicioso Desayuno

I parked the car and we all exited y/n's SUV. I took y/n's hand as we walked to the entrance of one of y/n's and my favorite restaurants. We actually stumbled upon it years ago when we first moved to Orlando.

"I think you two are really going to enjoy it," y/n said as I opened the door, ushering y/n through before allowing Demi in, and I followed Matt in before rejoining y/n.

"I do too," I said, lacing my fingers with y/n's as we walked up to the counter.

"Cuántos?" asked the greeter behind the counter. (How many?)

"Cuatro," I said. (Four)

The greeter grabbed four menus and silverware and led us to a table. He set down the menus and silverware.

"Your waiter will be with you shortly," the greeter informed us.

I held y/n's chair. "Gracias, amor," she said as she sat.

"De nada, mi hermosa esposa," I said as I sat beside y/n while Matt held the chair for Demi.

"Thank you, Babe," said Demi as she sat across from me. Matt sat beside Demi, and across from y/n.

"You're welcome," said Matt as the waiter walked over to the table.

"Hello. My name is Shawn. I'll be your waiter today. Can I start you off with something to drink?" he asked.

"Coffee," said Demi and Matt together.

"Orange Juice," said y/n.

"I'll have the same as the beautiful lady to my right," I said smiling at y/n as Shawn wrote down our drink orders before hurrying off.

"So," said Demi as she began studying the menu, as "Before Your Love" by Kelly Clarkson plays over the restaurant's speakers. "When are we going to hear about the wedding?"

"We can start after breakfast," I said. "Or," my attention is drawn to y/n, who was singing quietly but loud enough for our table to hear.

Demi smiles softly as y/n begins The Power of Love by Céline Dion. She is absolutely absorbed in the menu, she doesn't realize she's singing.

"Does she?" Demi asked quietly as Matt looked over the top of his menu. His eyebrows raised but he smiled nonetheless.

"Nope," I said as y/n sings along with the song, "She's doing better. Otherwise, she wouldn't be singing."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Y/N said as the waiter placed her juice down.

"Just drink your juice, Shelby," I laughed.

Y/N glanced over at me, a small smirk on her face. "Clever M'Lynn," she teased.

I let out a hearty laugh before kissing her forehead. "Doing better, Babe?" I asked.

She nods as 'I Swear' by All-4-One began. Y/N and I both started laughing. Demi and Matt were looking at us like we had gone bonkers.

"This was supposed to be the song that played while," y/n began, "You'll see. It's part of the wedding."

"Then can we start?" begs Demi.

"After breakfast. On the car ride back home. For now, let's talk about something else, like how you two will be leaving after today's story, allowing y/n and me to have newlywed time," I interject with a raised eyebrow.

"I think that's fair," said Matt. "They literally had their wedding night alone. We have been at their place for nearly two weeks."

"Okay. But I still want story times," said Demi.

"As long as you limit the interruptions," y/n smirks.

Demi opened and closed her mouth. "Fine," she grumbles.

"Then we can make Tuesdays story times. Since you work Mondays, Demi, Matt goes to work on Wednesdays, and Luis works Fridays. And weekends are date nights for Luis and me," says y/n.

"Sounds fair," I said "Especially since I have to travel on Thursdays for the following day."

"Sounds fair to me too. You come home early on Tuesday. We have dinner together, whether it be at the Martinez's or our place," said Matt, and y/n giggles lightly beside me.

"What?" I asked.

"The Martínez's," she grinned. "I still can't believe that."

I smiled. "Me either," I admitted.

"Te amo, esposo," she said, cupping my cheek as I rest my forehead against hers.

"Te amo, esposa," I said, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"You know you two make me have to see a dentist on the daily with all the sugar you two dish out," Demi teases playfully.

Y/N giggles as she looked at Demi. "Sorry Sis," she said. "But what can I say," she looked at me before placing her hand on top of mine. "I can't help myself."

"Sugarpie Honey Bunch," I chuckled and Matt and Demi exchanged glances before they shrugged.

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We ate breakfast and had small talk about how odd it was that Demi and I were no longer travel buddies. How working on Fridays made it hard for Y/N and me to have little weekend getaways unless she came with me. The conversation was light and easy.

As we approached y/n's SUV, Demi ran ahead to the car, with Matt hanging back with us as y/n and I walked hand in hand, after y/n had gotten sick by the entrance and puked in a bush by the corner of the building where she had run to.

"You okay?" Matt asked y/n as he carried the leftovers. Demi was busily unlocking the SUV and getting it started so we could just get in and leave.

She nods, but I could tell she was not doing too well. The nausea was brought on quickly, as was the tossing of her cookies all over the bush.

"That poor bush," mutters y/n.

I chuckled, "Babe, I think it's been through a lot worse than you upchucking on it. After all, this is Florida." Y/N gave me a weak smile as I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Let's go home."

She nodded as I helped her into the SUV. She buckles as I got into the driver's seat.

"You okay y/n?" asked Demi.

I pulled out of the parking spot and headed down the road.

Y/N nodded, "Fine. I don't know what happened. I normally can eat tortilla de plátano without any problems. But today," y/n paled, "Luis, stop the car!"

I slammed on the brakes and quickly pulled over as y/n unbuckles before she opened the door and spilled her guts onto the pavement below.

"Babe," I said placing a hand on her back. She shook her head.

I glanced into the rear view mirror and saw the comcern etched across the faces of Demi and Matt.

"Y/N?" said Demi.

"I'm fine," she said as she sat back up and buckled "Can we just go home? I wanna change into comfy clothes and walk down memory lane well this portion of memory lane."

"Of course," I said, taking her hand and lacing our fingers before kissing the back of her hand. "Thank God we got ginger ale at home."

Y/N sleepily looks over at me and nods; when she was ill, it took everything out of her.

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We arrived back at our place, y/n's and my place. She went upstairs and took a shower before changing into something more comfortable.

"Feeling a bit better, amor?" I asked as I opened my arms. She sat beside me and snuggled into me.

"A bit. But I would feel better listening to you tell the story of Angie and Ginger's wedding," she said, laying her head on my chest before draping her arm across my torso.

"Okay," I said, kissing the top of her head as she snuggled even further into me, a content sigh leaving her lips.

Demi brought in some ginger ale and saltines for y/n. "Here you go, sis," she said before sitting beside Matt. "Alright, time to finish the story."

"Thank you, sis," said y/n taking a sip of ginger ale.

"You're welcome," said Demi, as she settled back into the sofa.

"Okay. Fourth of July fell on a Monday in two thousand and five," I began.

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Monday, July 4th,2005

Y/N and I woke up the same way we fell asleep. Tangled in each other's arms and stark naked.

"Mm,Morning," I said as y/n's eyes fluttered open.

Y/N settled into me "Morning," she murmured as I kissed her cheek.

"How did you sleep?" I asked.

"Well after we fucked?" she blushes "Like a baby. Your dick is definitely a good pacifier."

I chuckled but blushed "Thanks," I said kissing her cheek again "But we have to get up, dressed and over to the Ottomanos in hour."

"Mm. What if I want to spend time here with you?" she murmured as she grabbed my hand, kissing the palm.

"As much as that sounds like heaven on Earth, we are part of the wedding," I said as she snuggled into me more.

Y/N grumbled lightly, "Fine," she said as we untangled ourselves.

We reluctantly got separate showers and dressed before heading downstairs, where Pops has made homemade sausage and egg sandwiches.

"Those are so you can eat and run," said Pops.

"Thanks," we said.

"I will see you two later at the wedding," said Pops "Your garment bags are hanging up by the door."

"Thank you Señor Martínez," said y/n.

"You're welcome y/n," Pops said.

"Luis, I will meet you later. I have to go over to Bruno and Claudine's because Ginger and her bridal party need to be at the venue to get our hair and makeup done." She kissed my cheek before grabbing a breakfast sandwich and left.

"Luis, before you go, I need to talk to you," Pops said, gesturing to the chairs.

"What's up, Pops?" I asked as I sat down.

"I don't know how to start," he said.

I gulped "Is everything okay? Are you sick?" I asked.

"No. I'm fine. Perfectly healthy," he said but paused as he massaged his temples. I know he was trying to figure out how to tell me what he needed to say. "It's about last night."

"Last night?" I asked, suddenly feeling as if the air had been ripped from my lungs.

"Yes. I, well I heard you and y/n," he said.

I felt my heart leap into my throat. "You heard us?" I asked.

"I did. Were you two at least safe?" he asked.

"If you mean did we use a condom? Then yes we were safe," I said slowly "Pops don't let y/n know you heard us. I will let her know."

"Fine by me," said Pops "But you better head to the Ottomans now."

"Okay. I will see you at the wedding then," I said.

"See you at the wedding," he said.

I walked from the kitchen to the front door, grabbing my garment bag before leaving the house.

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I arrived at the Ottomano residence just as y/n and Bianca were leaving to get on the limo bus.

"Hey there," I grinned, "Got a sec?" I asked while taking Y/N's hand.

"Uh, now?" asked y/n. "Luís, I kinda gotta get on the bus," she gestures to the bus as Bianca climbed onto it.

"It's kinda important," I said.

"Okay. What's wrong?" she asked, her demeanor changing. "I know I heard your pops stop you from leaving."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, that's why we need to talk. I'm just going to lay it out there. Pops heard us being intimate last night."

"He what?" asked y/n all color instantly draining from her face.

"Pops heard us having sex," I said.

Y/N let out a breath of air that sounded like she was deflating a balloon. She swallowed hard before looking at me. "So he heard us. Was he? Is he upset?"

"No. He just wanted to make sure we were safe," I said, "I reassured him we used protection."

"Good," said y/n as Bianca calls y/n's name from the bus. "Luis, I gotta go. I will see you at the end of the aisle."

"You will," I smiled before she pressed a kiss to my cheek and ran down the stairs to the bus.

I jumped when a hand was slapped on my shoulder. I spun to see Salvatore. He was already in his tuxedo. He was the best man..

"Hey, everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Good, then get in here. You have to get dressed. We have to be at the venue shortly," said Salvatore.

"Oh okay," I said.

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Arriving at Serenity Springs where the wedding and reception were being held, the place was abuzz with activity.

Angelo and those standing up for him, myself included, were led to the groom's quarters. The wedding was taking place outside at the gazebo in the center of the gardens.

I am lost in my own thoughts when I get a poke to the ribs. I looked around; it's Angelo.

"Bro where did you go?" he asked.

"Nowhere and everywhere at the same time," I said, buttoning my shirt cuff. "How are you?"

"Nervous but thankful this is almost over especially I can finally tune out Karen," he said.

I snorted back a laugh. "But you still have to put up with her. She's, after all, your mother-in-law after you say I do and Layla's grandmother."

"Don't let her hear you say the g word. She'll eliminate you where you stand," said Angelo, as Salvatore helps him with his tie.

"Heaven forbid she's recognized as a grandmother. Is that why Layla refers to her as Karen?" I asked.

"Yup. Layla calls Ma and Pops Gammy and PawPaw, but Karen and George?! They're Karen and George; neither one wants to be referred to as grandma and grandpa or anything else that makes them sound old," explained Angelo.

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"They sound great," Demi said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Karen and George nearly had a stroke when Layla had her daughter, Tegan, last year. They said they're too young to be great grandparents," y/n murmured as she snuggled into me. I rubbed her arm and she sighed contently.

"Does Ginger allow grandma?" asked Demi.

"She does. And Claudine is Nonna," y/n explained.

Demi's eyes teared up at Nonna. "How sweet," she said with a smile.

"You okay?" asked y/n.

"Yeah. I just love that Tegan has a Nonna too," said Demi.

"Teagan is lucky to have Claudine," y/n said.

"She is," I agreed.

"Back to the story!" said Demi.

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The guys and I were watching the guests arrive and being seated by the wedding planner's assistants.

"How many people are coming?" I asked Angelo.

"On my side one hundred. On Ginger's side? Only two hundred and fifty," said Angelo.

"Three hundred and fifty people? Holy fuck," I said.

"Yeah. Hence why Ma and Pops said, if you want that many people, you should pay for the wedding," said Angelo.

"And they actually agreed to that?" I asked.

"You have never seen Ma angry, have you?" said Angelo.

"No," I said.

"Let's say it's not pretty," said Angelo as we are led outside to get ready to head down the aisle.

The wedding planner's assistant lined us up: Angelo at the beginning with the officiant, Salvatore behind them, and I was behind Salvatore, with six other men behind me.

The wedding planner's assistant taps Ginger's brother on his shoulder, signaling for him to start down the aisle, as Four Seasons began playing.

After Ginger's brother, Harrison, there were two friends of Angelo's from his work: Daniel Hartman and Jack Lauren. Then, his cousins on his mom's side: Ezra Grant, Keegan Grant, and Jeremy Dugan, and then me.

As I walked down the aisle I spot Pops and he gives me a smile and quick wink. I give him a smile and a quick nod. At the top of the aisle I stood in front of Jeremy who is 5'9" so the height difference was noticeable and I caught Karen out of the corner of my eye looking like she sucked on a lemon.

I shook my head, trying to hide a smirk as I saw Karen lean over to George, gesturing to me, and he nods as he mumbled something to her.

The first to come down the aisle were friends of Ginger's: Laney Hilton, Mallory Madison, Jayne Carrington, Michelle Graham, Ashlee Prescott, and Catherine St. James. They wore dresses of aquamarine. That's when my eyes fell on y/n at the top of the aisle. She looks gorgeous in the spaghetti strap, tea-length (so I'm told) A-line dress.

"Wepa," I said under my breath as Salvatore leaned back.

"She is gorgeous, isn't she?" he asked. I just nodded as my eyes were on y/n and y/n only.

Salvatore chuckled lightly as he moved back, and I caught y/n's eye as she winked at me. I felt my cheeks grow warm, so I knew I was blushing. I quickly winked and mouthed, 'You look gorgeous.' She blushed lightly and mouthed back, 'You look caliente.'

Once Ginger's best friend Tiffani Chance walked down the aisle, the song swelled into the wedding march. Ginger appeared at the top of the aisle. George had refused to walk Ginger down the aisle, so she stood there alone. I saw Angelo let out a slow breath as Layla waved at Ginger.

"Hi Mommy!" Layla called out, making everyone chuckle.

Ginger waves and blows Layla a kiss. Angelo quickly wipes away a tear. I caught y/n out of the corner of my eye. She smiles brightly as she dapes her eyes with a tissue.

Once Ginger made it to the top of the aisle. Ginger stopped.

"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" asked the officiant.

George grumbled as he stood "Unfortunately her mother and I do," he said before sitting.

The officiant looks at Ginger and Angelo who both signal to continue.

"If anyone can show just cause as to why these two should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace," the officiant started.

We all looked at Karen and George. They kept silent so Angelo took Ginger's hand and helped her up the stairs of the gazebo.

"We are gathered here today to join Angelo Michael Ottomano and Ginger Alison Fitzpatrick in holy matrimony," the officiant continues, "Angelo, do you take Ginger to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," said Angelo.

"Ginger, do you take Angelo to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?" asked the officiant.

"I do," said Ginger with a smile as tears began to fall.

"Angelo and Ginger have chosen to write their own vows," said the officiant, and Karen scoffed in her seat. Y/N turns her head, and I see the fire light in her eyes.

"Stuff it, Karen," y/n defiantly spats. "Let them do this. It's their wedding, not yours!" Karen looks at y/n, and y/n stands her ground. "Try me!"

Karen huffs and settles back in the chair. I smirk and cover my chuckle with a cough, as does Salvatore.

"Angelo and Ginger face each other and join hands," said the officiant. They did as they were told, "And begin when you want."

Angelo nods to Ginger telling her to go first.

"Angelo, when we met on the first day of kindergarten, I never imagined I had met my future husband and the father of my beautiful daughter. But today, as we stand before family and friends exchanging vows. I am the happiest I have ever been. Not only do you provide me with endless love, but also endless laughs and blessings. You make me happy and I honestly can't wait to walk into this new chapter in our lives. I love you more today than I did yesterday and I will love you more tomorrow than I do today."

Ginger smiles and I catch y/n dabbing her eyes. She looks at me and I wink at her. She blushes lightly as she looked at Ginger and Angelo as he took a deep breath.

"Ginger, you're the love of my life. When we met in kindergarten, I will admit I had the worst case of puppy love. As we went through the years and our bond grew closer, so did our love. I knew you were my forever. Now today, as we pledge our love to one another, I'm looking forward to the next chapter with you beside me. I love you, Ging," said Angelo.

"The rings please," said the officiant as Tiffany and Salvatore hand him their respective rings. He placed them on his book before holding one up, "The ring is a symbol of undying love. It has no beginning and no end. Angelo, please place this ring on Ginger's left hand and repeat after me..."

"Ginger, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness," said Angelo, sliding the ring onto Ginger's finger.

"Ginger, place this on Angelo's finger and repeat after me..."

"Angelo. I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness," said Ginger sliding the ring onto Angelo's finger.

After that, Angelo and Ginger turned to the officiant. "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. By the power invested in me by the great state of New Jersey, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Angelo, you may now kiss your wife," said the officiant as Angelo gave Ginger a sweet kiss before the officiant pressed on. "It's my pleasure to present to you the new Mr. and Mrs. Angelo, and Ginger Ottomano."

Angelo and Ginger turned to the guests, who rose to their feet, applauding, while Karen and George didn't. Angelo and Ginger had their hands interlaced as the processional music began. They walked down the steps before getting Layla from Mrs. Ottomano's lap. The small family walked up the aisle.

Salvatore offers his arm to Tiffany, and she laced her arm through his. I was up next, offering your name my arm, and she smiles at me as she laced her arm through mine.

"By the way, Squish, you look breathtakingly gorgeous," I whispered, as we walked up the aisle followed by the rest of the wedding party.

"Pookie, you're looking pretty caliente," she whispered as the wedding planner and his two assistants directed us to a small garden.

I chuckled as we got ready to take more photos while the guests had a cocktail hour. After about an hour or so of taking photos, we headed into the venue and to a small room to await introductions.

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The Reception....

Y/N and I are waiting with the rest of the wedding party. The DJ was hyping up the guests before introducing us. "Gettin' Jiggy With It" by Will Smith began.

"Introducing the wedding party," began the DJ, "Harrison Fitzpatrick and Laney Hilton," as they enter the ballroom. This continues until "Luis Martinez and y/n y/l/n." Y/n and I enter, dancing and laughing.

After Salvatore and Tiffani are introduced, we lined up to create a gauntlet: guys on the left, girls on the right. We raised our hands, creating an arch as the DJ began 'Celebration' by Kool and the Gang.

"Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Angelo and Ginger Ottomano!!!!!!" the DJ announced as Angelo and Ginger ran down the gauntlet and onto the dance floor, with the wedding party joining them as we all danced.

After the burst of energy we head to the wedding party table set up just behind the Sweetheart table for Angelo and Ginger. Y/N sat between Salvatore and me. To my left was another bridesmaid, Catherine St. James.

"Today has been fun," said y/n as she took a drink of water.

"Well, you certainly made it entertaining by putting Karen in her place," I smirk, as does y/n.

"That's why it's been fun," she laughs as she gives a sarcastic wave to Karen, who was staring at us.

"Y/N, stop," I playfully scold.

"What? I was waving to our dear Karen," she giggles as she brings the glass of water to her lips again, taking another drink.

I smirk and chuckled, "You are having way too much fun with this," I said.

"Moi?" y/n said, feigning innocence.

"Yes you," I said nudging her playfully.

"The bar is open," announced the DJ.

"You want your jack and coke?" I asked y/n.

"Actually, can you turn that into a piña colada? Because why not?" she quipped.

"You want two? One for each hand?" I chuckled, and Y/N's smile was like sunshine.

"Nice Garth Brooks nod, Luis," she chuckled, "but let's not go overboard, one is plenty!"

"One piña colada on the way," I said, kissing her temple before standing up.

I walked to the bar.

"What can I get you?" asked the bartender.

"A piña colada and Jack on the rocks," I said.

"You got it," he said, and went to work making the piña colada.

I felt a tap on my shoulder before a hand went down my back grazing my ass. I smirk thinking it's y/n.

"Cou-" I turned to see Lucia. "Oh, it's you. Never heard the term 'keep your hands to yourself'?" I asked.

"Oh you love it and you know it," coos Lucia as she took a drink through a stirring straw.

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe if it was y/n, I would, but you?" I raised an eyebrow. "Not so much. So what do you want, Lucia, besides wanting to grope me?"

"Oh Luis. Weddings are romantic," she coos as she runs a hand down my chest while I grab her wrist gently.

"For people who are together, which we are not."

"Oh, you're still on that? But silly, we are," she reaches up to touch my cheek, but I quickly step back.

"Don't touch me!" I said, looking at Lucia.

"But Luis," she pouts, "you used to like when I touched you." She steps forward as she reaches up to touch me again, but her hand is knocked away as y/n stepped in front of me.

"Lucia why don't you take a looooooong walk off a very short pier," sneers y/n.

Lucia scoffs as she placed her drink onto the bar "And if I don't?" she said stepping into y/n's space.

Y/N smirks as she expertly grabbed the nearly full drink Lucia sat down "I don't know you still might get a little wet," said y/n as she raised her hand and dumped the liquor onto Lucia's head. Lucia screams "next time Lucia leave Luis alone or you will be shoving a toothbrush up your ass to brush your teeth."

Lucia huffs as she walks away from us. Y/N turned to look at me. I chuckled, "You're a spitfire, do you know that?" I asked as the bartender set down our drinks.

"I've been told that," she remarked, as she sipped her piña colada, clearly enjoying the gossip.

I grabbed my jack on ice before kissing her forehead. "Let's get back to the table," I said, putting an arm around her waist, ushering through the stream of people that are waiting to get their drinks.

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After dinner, it was time for the dances. First up was the first dance. Karen nearly hit the roof since Angelo and Ginger chose 'I Swear' by All-4-One as the song for their first dance.

Y/N gives me a nudge and points at Karen, laughing, "She's gonna lose it; she's not thrilled about them picking 'I Swear' for the song."

"She's turning a nice shade of red," I chuckled.

Layla wonders onto the dance floor watching her parents sway to the song. Angelo and Ginger stopped and Angelo picked her up. They began dancing again. Y/N raised her camera taking a picture of the moment. I see the tears rising in her eyes.

"Crap," she murmured, using her cloth napkin to dab her eyes.

"You okay?" I whispered to her.

"Yeah. The moment just got to me. Lo siento," she said.

I smiled and said, "You've got nothing to feel bad about. I think it's sweet too," giving y/n's temple a kiss.

Y/N smiles at me before the DJ begins calling the wedding party. "Luis Martinez and Y/N Y/L/N," he called as I stood buttoning my suit jacket. I offered Y/N my hand, who smiled as she placed her hand in mine, standing. I led Y/N to the dance floor.

The DJ began 'You Had Me From Hello' by Kenny Chesney. I took y/n into my arms and we began dancing to the romantic ballad.

"Y/N?" I said as I glanced down at her.

She looked up at me, her gorgeous green eyes meeting mine. "Yes?" she said.

"Thanks for helping me out earlier," I said.

"You mean with Lucia?" she said. "No worries. I saw she wasn't getting the hint. No one comes after my bestie," she touched my cheek before caressing it with the side of her thumb, "I will always have your back, Luis."

"And I, yours y/n," I said.

"Siempre," she said with a smile, holding up her pinkie.

"Y para siempre," I said, hooking my pinkie with hers.

I bent down and kissed her forehead as we continued to dance. The song eventually ended and we walked back to the wedding party table as we watched Angelo and Mrs. Ottomano have the mother-son dance.

"Claude looks so happy and sad at the same time," y/n said.

"I know," I said draping my arm across the back of y/n's chair.

"I hope one day she can dance with you at your wedding, Sally," y/n said looking to Salvatore.

"One day, y/n. One day," Salvatore smiles.

"And I can't wait to dance the night away," y/n smiles "Especially with you," she looks at me "because obviously you're gonna be my plus one."

I felt my cheeks warm and knew I was blushing "That sounds like an amazing time," I said.

Salvatore chuckled "Y/N you're gonna be my best woman," he said as y/n turns to look at him a smile painting her lips.

"Really? Honestly thought you would ask Angelo to be your best man," she said.

"And have him plan my bachelor party? You have met him, right? God only knows what debauchery he would plan," he said. "You would at least take my wishes into consideration."

"Then it would be my honor," she said as Salvatore kissed her forehead.

"Luis, promise me you will be my plus one?" she begs as she turns to me.

"He will be a groomsman y/n," said Salvatore "He will be at your side," he nudges her.

She grins before looking at me. I raised an eyebrow, "Are you serious?" I asked.

"Deadly," said Salvatore. "We have known each other since you were thirteen," he said. smiles "I consider you one of my friends."

"Well then yes. I would be honored when you do get married to stand up for you," I smile.

"Fantastic," smiled Salvatore as did y/n.

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"And when Salvatore married Giovanni a few years ago we kept our promise," I said.

"And what was awesome about it is that Claude was just as happy dancing with Sally as she was dancing with Angie at his wedding. But Sally's wedding is another story for another day, mi amor. We got sidetracked," y/n laughs lightly.

"You're right. How about we skip to the garter toss and bouquet toss?" I chuckled. Y/N tilted her head up and smiled at me.

"I don't think they wanna hear that," giggles Y/N.

"Hi Demi Bennett-Adams. Pleasure to meet you," said Demi, extending her hand.

"Hi Demi. I'm Y/N Martínez, pleasure to meet you," Y/N giggles.

"I would very much love to hear about the garter and bouquet tosses," Demi said with a giant grin.

"You would?!" y/n teases. "I couldn't have guessed."

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"Single gentlemen come to the dance floor for the garter toss," said the DJ.

I stood up along with a couple of the other groomsmen, Ezra Grant and Jeremy Dugan, as did some of the guests. We headed to the dance floor as one of the wedding planner's assistants set a chair on the dance floor, just as Angelo led Ginger onto the dance floor.

Y/N and some of the other girls from the wedding party stood off the side of the dance floor as the DJ began Dancing In The Streets by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas. Angelo knelt in front of Ginger. Y/N covered her eyes as she knew Angelo would do something stupid. Y/N peeked through her fingers causing me to chuckle beside Ezra.

Angelo smiles at Ginger, gently lifting some of the material of her tulle skirt and placing it underneath. Y/N smirks lightly as she glances sideways at Karen, biting back a laugh as I turn to see Karen turning beet red. I quickly move from my spot over to Y/N.

"She is about to blow," I chuckle as y/n snaps a picture of Karen with her digital camera.

"I know, and I love it!" y/n giggles as I put an arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.

"I can see," I smirk as she glances up at me.

"Luis, you can't tell me you don't," she says, elbowing me lightly as she snaps a picture of Angelo underneath Ginger's skirt. Claudine was cradling a thankfully sleeping Layla. "Thank God Layla is asleep."

I nodded, "Yeah," I said as I tilted my head. "What the fuck is he doing?" before looking at y/n.

"With Ange? I’m not ready for that rollercoaster," she chuckles, her smile making my heart do a quick tango.

I smile with a nod "That's true," I said as Angelo finally emerged from underneath the skirt with the garter in his mouth.

"Get your game face on for that garter! If I snag the bouquet, you’re on garter duty," she joked, giving me a playful nudge.

“Okay. Okay,” I said, putting my hands up as I chuckled, heading back to the group of guys getting ready to catch the garter. I stood behind them once Angelo turned his back to us.

"One. Two. Three!" said Angelo before throwing the garter over his right shoulder. I caught it. I see you cheer as it landed in my hand. Angelo laughed as I held up the garter.

“Now all the single ladies!” calls the DJ. The run for the bouquet became like a herd of elephants. I caught y/n as she was knocked off kilter.

“Thanks, Pookie,” she said with a smile as I set her back on her feet.

“De nada, Squish. Now catch that bouquet,” I kissed her forehead as she joined the group of single ladies.

I stood aside, watching Ginger shine on the dance floor to 'The Bitch Is Back' by Elton John, while Karen looked like she was ready to throw a tantrum!

Ginger faked throwing the bouquet a few times. A few of the girls knocked Y/N forward lightly, but she caught herself. I let out a breath of relief as I knew she wasn't hurt. When Ginger finally threw the bouquet over her head, it sailed right into Y/N's hand. Her mouth dropped.

“WOOOOOO!” yells y/n, holding the bouquet over her head. I chuckled as she ran over to me. “I did it, Pookie!!!”

“I can see that,” I chuckle.

“Now you,” she taps me with the bouquet on my stomach, “get to,” she taps me with the bouquet on the chest, a smile on her lips, “to put the garter on me!” She taps me with the bouquet on the shoulder as I put a hand on her hip.

“Better get ready,” I grin at her before Ginger and Angelo pulled us onto the dance floor.

“Let's go!!!” laughed Angelo as Ginger got y/n to sit onto the chair.

The DJ began playing "Hey Mr. DJ (Keep Playin' This Song)" by Backstreet Boys.

I began chuckling as Y/N blushes, covering her face as I caught her doing her "sexy dance" to it one Summer night in 1998, when I looked into her bedroom window at the Ottomanos from my bedroom as they looked into each other's rooms. I hooted, and she ducked under the window sill.

🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷

“Please tell that story at some point!” said Demi.

“That was the summer of 1998; we will get to it eventually,” y/n giggles lightly as she sat up. “Babe, continue. I have to use the bathroom.”

“You okay?” I asked.

"Fine. I just have to pee,” she said, kissing my cheek. “Excuse me.”

I watched as she left, and I quickly turned to Demi and Matt.

“Where was I?” I asked.

"Getting ready to put the garter on y/n,” said Demi.

🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷

As the bass of the song filled the ballroom of Serenity Springs, I began dancing, making y/n start giggling as she punched my shoulder while I got on my knees in front of her.

“Luis Berrios, you're trouble,” she shouted at me, but no one but me heard her.

“The best kind of trouble, y/n y/m/n,” I smirk.

She rolls her eyes before I kiss her cheek, and then I begin putting on the garter on y/n's leg. I felt my heart skip a beat as she looked me in the eyes while I do so. She winks at me. Once on, I stood helping y/n to her feet, and she began dancing to the song.

The DJ was watching y/n as she moved to the song, as some of the guys in attendance began cat calling and yelling 'Hey Mr. DJ keep playin' this song for me'.

“Dance floor is opened,” says the DJ as he began 'Kiss' by Prince. The wedding planner's assistant removed the chair, and y/n quickly threw the bouquet to Jaymes as he sat at the nearest table. Then, she grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the floor.

“I take it we are dancing?!” I said into her ear. She bit her lip and nodded as she began grinding against me. “Squish, remember our parents are here! Y/N, at least half of the guests on Angelo's side are your family!”

“And?” she asked looking at me as the dance floor was full of couples bumping and grinding “We are over eighteen!”

“Okay, fair,” I said as the DJ began "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" by Prince. Y/N squeaks as we began dancing, and Y/N was singing along.

Salvatore and Jaymes joined us on the dance floor and Salvatore and y/n began hopping and bopping along to the song. I continued to move as y/n bounced back to me as Salvatore was to her right and Jaymes was to my left.

“Pookie let's have fun!” she said as we groove to the instrumental interlude of the six minutes and twenty-nine seconds song.

“You’re right!” as the song picks up in tempo before 1999 by Prince began. I chuckled as Angelo played this non-stop from January first nineteen ninety-nine to December thirty first nineteen ninety-nine, as he made sure it played at his New Year’s Eve party that y/n also was at.

“Sally, did you arrange this Prince tribute?” giggles y/n as she leans towards Salvatore.

"Duh! It's Prince!" laughed Salvatore.

“Your reception better be non stop Prince and Michael Jackson songs!” she laughs.

“You know that's right Mio piccolo tesoro!” says Salvatore.

🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷

“That night went on forever. Poor Pops stayed until the very end. After all, he was y/n's and my ride home,” I said, as y/n had rejoined us a while ago but had fallen asleep on my chest.

“Mm. That was one of the most fun weddings we ever attended, at least until Sally and Gio's,” she murmured as she stirred awake.

“But another story for our Tuesday story nights,” I said, kissing her forehead. “But for now, I think it's time we go to sleep.”

“I'm kinda sad to see this story end,” said Demi with a small frown.

“I know but we have Tuesdays to now look forward to. So first Tuesday where will it be our place or yours?” I asked looking at Demi and Matt as y/n sat up and stretched as "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" by Prince plays softly in the background.

“It only seems right to host you two,” said Matt.

“I agree,” said Demi glancing at him before looking at us. “Next Tuesday we host you two.”

“What do you want us bring?” asked y/n.

“Just yourselves,” said Demi.

“Mm. 'Kay,” y/n yawns.

“Let's get to bed. We will, after all, be saying goodbye to our guests tomorrow,” I said.

“Like we agreed,” said Matt.

And just like that, the story of Angelo and Ginger's wedding week was officially over. But Storytime Tuesdays was only beginning.

Tag List: @eringobragh420 @magicalbuttertarts @madhatterbri @keekee-23 @loki69zowens @caramara3 @bloodlinesbabe93 @miss-kuki-nz @surdelcielo @elaineoneill570 @hotwheels1108 @violetpenguinkris @southerngothicpunk @silassstingy @beccalynns-world @twistedprincess-92 @80sprincess1 @hardcoredisneynerd @brideofinfamy @mzv11 @bangchansmami @mamis-girly

I hope you all enjoyed the Another Storytime series. Stay tuned for more in the Best Friends Series. 💜🖤

[angeart]

mhm alright here it is

because we made bugsonas and then kept talking about eepy cuddle piles on top of flowers <3 so obviously i went ahead and drew it.

left to right: me, @stiffyck , @wren-kitchens and @loveroped

your local crackers crew

[nymphea0]

Then can I request a continuation of that oneshot with Matthias? I was wondering what their marriage life and parenthood is like. Thank you in advance!! 🥰

The Duke And His Secret

Yan! Matthias x Reader

Oneshot Story (Special Chapter).

(Warnings : Balcony mature scene at the end.)

*Minors are prohibited from reading this story🚫*

Manhwa : 울어 봐, 빌어도 좋고.Cry, Even Better if You Beg. Cry, Even if You Pray.

Author & Ilustration : Solche & Van Ji

Word Count ; 1.395 word.

Hello this is Neva🦋, hope you have a nice and happy day, it's been a long time since I updated any story whether it's manhwa or Oc. sorry about that, I'm currently very focused on making a "supernatural" expecially Vampire character series project investigating and deepening it so that the character I make doesn't seem stiff and my darlings enjoy reading it. So heres some matthias cup of tea story (^3^), hope you like it Anon🦋, Lots of love - Neva🦋��

Might have some bad grammars, correct me if there are any mistakes in the words in the story I wrote. Anyways i hope you all enjoys my story, much love.- Neva🦋

- Main story : The Duke and His Secret

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The residence of the Duke of Arvis, the kingdom of Berg.

The atmosphere of the residence was very cheerful, full of laughter from the 2 children of the opposite sex.

One had jet black hair like the color of a crow's feathers, with bright blue eyes like the sky. The other had snow-white hair with amethyst purple eyes.

The servants in the residence could only blush in excitement seeing the two children who were only 8 years old.

2 children, siblings, with different genders. The older brother was a man with black hair like a crow, while the younger sister, a woman with snow-colored hair.

Both of them played and ran with each other in the garden

While on the other side of the garden under the tree, there was a table with a complete set of tea and also a light side dish for the mouth that went well with tea, Pastry.

There were two women sitting there, one was no longer young, estimated to be 80 years old, while the other, still looked young but not so young, estimated to be 50 years old.

The two women were, Elysee von herhardt, and Norma Catharina Von herhardt, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, who were both watching their grandchildren.

Felix Von Herhard and Airedith Von Herhard. Felix and Aire. Siblings who were only 1 year apart. The servants said they were Irish twins. Because they were only 1 year apart.

Norma stared at the two little children playing with each other, the woman was no longer young, she felt very sad if she couldn't play with them.

While Elysee occasionally smiled and drank tea elegantly, her eyes staring towards the balcony of their manor house. There Elysee could see her affectionate son and daughter-in-law.

In fact, as Elysee remembered when Matthias brought you to the Herhardt residence for the first time, a forced marriage that made your parents agree, you really didn't like being close to Matthias, but as the saying goes, struggle will never give disappointing results. The fact that Matthias desperately shows that he does love you, sincerely even though his way at the beginning was wrong.

Slowly you accepted Matthias, he never forced you to make love or do things he wanted but you didn't like, he listened to your wishes, all your anger, even though at the beginning you were afraid Matthias would hurt you, but he didn't do that.

Matthias even went to a psychiatrist to help overcome how to eliminate apathy and grow an attitude of sympathy and become caring and willing to accept differences of opinion, rejection and so on.

There Elysee could see how Matthias kissed your cheek affectionately, if Elysee remembered again the woman wanted to laugh at how Matthias' expression said love but with a flat expression.

Like father, like child. The fruit does not fall far from the tree, that's Matthias, just like his father.

.

.

You are relaxing on the balcony, enjoying the hot spring, so warm but shady.

Down there, in the garden, you see your mother-in-law, Elysee and Matthias' grandmother, Norma, busy staring at Felix and Aire who are playing with each other, your and Matthias' children.

While your husband? Matthias, the man is busy cooing affectionately behind you, kissing your bare shoulder affectionately because you are wearing an Off-shoulder dress. Damn, this man knows the opportunity in adversity.

Many things have happened during the 9 years you have been with Matthias, you have faced the ups and downs together, but you know that Matthias wants to learn and tries to prove himself. As a result, the man becomes like a cat in heat, always wanting to be close and not wanting to be far away.

"Matty! Don't bite! Later mom and grandma will see, I'll be embarrassed"

You complain because this time Matthias bites and sips lovingly leaving a mark on your bare shoulder.

While Matthias, the man is only busy kissing, sucking your shoulder and neck, his hands also don't stay still on your thigh, stroking affectionately. Never mind that it was currently in public, but fortunately the balcony railing was 100% covered with carved marble, so the people below only saw that Matthias and you were just hugging.

"Don't refuse like that my love, it's your own fault for wearing such revealing clothes, this is called an invitation for me"

Matthias continued kissing and nuzzling your shoulder and neck.

"Felix and Aire are already 8 years old, isn't it time for them to have a new sibling?"

"No! Wait until they are 10 years old, then a new sibling"

Too bad, your husband didn't accept the rejection, instead Matthias stared with a mischievous grin.

.

.

Elysee chuckled softly at what she had just seen, causing amazement at Norma and the 2 little kids who were currently sitting in front of them, resting because they were tired of running and playing.

Norma snorted and drank her tea slowly, softly asking.

"What made you chuckle so cutely Elysee?"

Elysee just smiled shaking her head, and poked Felix's cheek which was a copy of Matthias and also rubbed Aire who was busy eating pastry.

"Nothing mom, I think we need to build another house"

Blinking one eye mischievously at her mother-in-law Norma, while Norma who was given that just laughed happily.

Wiping away tears slowly because she was tired of laughing. Norma knew exactly what Elysee meant, a new presence, a new member, Felix and Aire's future sibling.

"Well, at least our Matthias is full of energy to want to have lots of children"

The two middle-aged women laughed together, making the two little children in front of them look at each other, shake their heads slowly and just continue eating the pastry served in front of them.

.

.

.

On the balcony, Matthias was still busy kissing your shoulder and neck affectionately which was so tempting to his desire.

His hands were so adept at entering your lower dress, rubbing your soft thighs gently with full squeezes passion.

"Matt! Not here!"

You tried to protest Matthias, but like talking to a wall, Matthias ignored your protest.

Until his ladder slipped into your underwear, rubbing your sensitive intimate area slowly.

"Matthias!?". The more firmly you refused, the wilder Matthias became.

"What love? I know you enjoy it"

Matthias naughtily sucked your neck slowly, while his 2 fingers were busy moving back and forth in your sensitive area, so deep and expert.

You were only able to hold back your moans, afraid that a servant would pass through the balcony door or Grandma and mother would see you both suspiciously from down there, as much as possible you acted normal.

"Come on love, don't be so shy, I know you enjoy it"

Your ass was slapped lightly by Matthias deliberately full of temptation.

His hands got faster when he felt your walls squeezing his fingers.

"Want to come out love? Yes? Come to me love, came to my hands"

Until, you came hard! Both of your hands covered your mouth to muffle your moans, your eyes closed while your legs shook unable to bear the weight.

While Matthias' fingers were still busy moving slowly, down there, Matthias could feel and see the puddles of water falling. You squirted, it turned out.

Matthias chuckled softly and kissed your cheek tenderly.

Matthias passionately devours your lips, forcing his tongue into your mouth, tracing every inch of your mouth. Claiming it to be his.

You who are out of breath try to pat Matthias' chest, but Matthias this man is full of passion, so you bite his lips and scratch his neck, causing blood spots on his lips and neck.

Matthias just winces softly before pulling your hair back, not too roughly but not too slowly, enough to make you look at him.

Matthias' passionate eyes stare directly at you, whispering sensually right in front of your lips, while licking the corner of your lips affectionately.

"Feels so good love? Do you want to continue here or in the room hmm?"

Damn, your fate is so unlucky to marry this shameless nobleman but god, you cant hold your heart, you love this man, as same as matthias love you.

His secret, his little heaven secret.

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Tag list; @snowflakes666 @nerdygoateepeanut @blurryperrtymoonlight @luminethebest @scenicelixir @n4muqr @cannyyyyy @athena-roy @sirenetheblogger @rai-xxx @thehopingfairy @ryusooze @yaoduriaa @merveeeeesworld

Please dont steal my work, or use without my permissions, Always be good people Dear. Much love, Neva🦋🦋.

©️Nymphea0 2024 , OG story, Project Dark Manhwa Character Story.

[rocketbirdie]

YOU. You are correct about Cloud Strife. Everything you say about him is CORRECT

Hi I'm going to use your ask as an opportunity to go on an unhinged tangent about him below the cut.

I believe that EVERYTHING about Cloud Strife as a character makes total sense once you realize: it's autism.

Here's a character whose entire arc revolves around the erosion of his identity and his desperate attempts to adhere to an ideal image, at the expense of his own wellbeing; and how self acceptance is the thing that brings him back from the edge of despair.

Youtube theorycrafters waste hours of their lives trying to piece together Cloud's psyche, when the answer is just... autism. It really is that simple. I will die on this goddamn hill.

In Trace of Two Pasts, we learn that even as a toddler, Cloud really was just... like that. Unemotive and awkward. And the entire lifestream sequence in the OG shows us a young Cloud who behaves in baffling ways. Tifa and her friends invited Cloud into their group, but he rejected their friendship while simultaneously harboring a seething jealousy. How the heck does that work, huh?

Viewing this through the Autism Lens™️, his approach make way more sense. Fearing his own inability to read and reciprocate their intentions, he pushes them away, and the resulting loneliness crushes him. He mistakes that loneliness for anger. He turns that anger outwards and gets into fights. Because the other kids don't understand him, Cloud sees them as stupid and immature. It's the perfect recipe for disastrous distrust. The tragic result is that, when Tifa gets into her accident, Cloud is immediately blamed by kids AND adults. He's seen as inherently dangerous and unpredictable, even though he did nothing wrong. It's like they were already looking for the perfect excuse to hate him.

The worst part is, because he struggles to articulate his own thoughts and feelings, he starts to just... accept what other people say about him. He's a pain in the ass. He's a selfish brat. He could try being a bit nicer. Any attempt that he makes to argue, backfires and proves their points even more. He's being childish. He needs to get his shit together. Nothing's ever good enough for him. He stops fighting it and lets people drag him around and violate his boundaries, because no matter how loud he yells or how intelligently he argues, nothing he says ever reaches their ears. He trims away more and more of himself to try and appease others and nurse the constant emotional pain. (And that's not even addressing the entire traumatic *waves hands* everything that he's gone through by the time he reaches Midgar! That would have to be its own tangent lol.)

It's hard to watch as a player; the secondhand embarrassment of Cloud's social blunders is immense. Some people don't like Cloud as a video game protagonist, which is perfectly valid. But a lot of times, they justify their opinion by perpetuating the same damaging language. He's an asshole, he's a weirdo, he hates people. The irony would be hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating. I know Cloud is just a fictional character, he doesn't need to be defended from harsh criticisms. But I can't help but wonder what these players think about the "weird people-hating assholes" that they meet in real life.

It also makes me wonder if they were even paying attention. I think the games make it pretty damn obvious what's going on. He's an asshole because other characters treat him like one before they even get to know him. He hates people because he doesn't understand them, and they don't even try to understand him. He's a weirdo because he has a strange way of showing how deeply he loves and cares, and he's afraid that his love will be misinterpreted like every other emotion he's ever dared to show.

The autism is everywhere. It permeates his entire being. It's in his silly responses when he takes things too literally. It's in his painfully practical way with words. It's in the stiff expressionless look and the flat tone of voice. It's in him constantly adjusting his gloves, shifting his weight, looking down at his feet. It's in his questionable idea of what you're supposed to do with your body at a yoga session. It's in the half a dozen flustered high fives, it's in the motion sickness. It's in the contagious eagerness with his special interests in SOLDIER and materia and chocobos.

It's in the moments where the facade crumbles and we get to see the real Cloud, the one that Aerith knew was in there— the one that Tifa finds in the lifestream— the one that Zack gave his life for— the Cloud that cherishes the whole world. He's got so much of everything inside of his heart, and he doesn't know how to get it out. You'd be a weird asshole about it, too.

[leidensygdom]

hello!! i love your art so much, your colors are beautiful and your characters are just so 👁️👁️ and i adore seeing them on my dash :)

i had a question about how you do the details on your fabrics: how do you keep the patterns on clothes on a body looking so,,, clean and readable while also making it make sense on the form under it?

like the cape/sleeve(? idk what it is but it looks cool as hell) on the magnolia commission pattern looks so cool and it's still readable on the fabric (like, if i wanted i could probably do a silly sketch of it) BUT ALSO it seems to make sense with the folds so it doesn't just look unnatural and stiff?

i'm so sorry this is kind of a long ask but like. would you be down to talk about your process for patterns on clothing? it's cool if you're not, that's totally fair, just figured i'd ask

have a wonderful day!!

OOOH Thank you so much for the ask!! I wanna do a more in depth tutorial, but I tend to make patterns in two different ways, with one being fully hand-drawn and the other playing with mesh transforms or the... Uh, liquify CSP tool? Let me find examples

This is an example of a fully hand-drawn pattern. No trickery here- Only trying to eyeball everything. It's kinda a lot of work to draw it manually, but it's the more convenient option if the character I'm drawing doesn't have files for the patterns, or if the files are a bit too different from my usual style, as they could potentially not look great with my linearted or painted style

And then- For cases such as Nolia's cloak, I did the entire pattern as a separate file, then placed it using Photoshop's mesh transform!

Here's a WIP file from when I placed all the patterns after finishing the lineart, where you can see them in full contrast. I tend to keep my patterns in different files- The black parts here are not joined with the base color of the cloth, so I can bring nice highlights and texturing when they're meant to be golden inlays, for example. Now, the Photoshop mesh transform is a bit finnicky to use, and I don't have any proper step by step of it- I could potentially record how I do it someday. But let's take the humble cylinder and demonstrate it quickly:

So, the mesh warp tool is the one on the right- You can see these sort of blue lines creating a mesh. I'm sure CSP has it in it's pro level or something? Correct me if I'm wrong. You play around with the different sections, move it to the right place, and put it on the cylinder. This is a very simplified form. You can make many subsections to your meshes (that's 3x3- you can have stuff such as 20x20) for when you have multiple folds.

And then you can just shade your pattern accordingly so it fits the volume of the drawing, and- ta-daa!

This is by no means an easy method. Sometimes you can get away with the Liquify tool (which CSP has and it's very decent), which I've used when the pattern in question was over a simpler surface with few folds. It takes some practise to use that well, and it isn't gonna be the best for complex ones, but it's also an option. Let me do a lil compilation of some patterns I've done and which tools I used for each!

The tool I use highly depends on the time I have, the level of finish for the drawing, and so on. CSP's liquify is probably the fastest but gives simpler results, drawing them manually works better with some styles and more organic/less geometrical patterns, the mesh tool takes a bunch of time but it's great for small repeating patterns that are meant to be very precise or geometrical.

If people would be interested in it, I may someday do a video tutorial of me doing a pattern and then putting it over a folded cloth. I do hope this can help a bit tho!!

[jazeswhbhaven]

Do you think Mammon (and the other demons) would get confused by modern slang like saying "this is ass" in a negative way or if something is of poor quality

because Mammon likes ass and he'd most likely get confused about it idk

Ah good thing to talk about, anon. This is going to be long I apologize in advance lol

I will lead in with this, apparently when MC said the word "dildo" Satan, Sitri, and Ppyong had no idea what that was and it confused me because like??? Avisos has a literal dildo vending machine wtf you mean ya'll don't know what that is?

And it makes me think they just call stuff like that something else in their language and that's why they were unfamiliar with the term.

So with modern slang and AAVE (yes there is a difference) the devils in this universe would take the phrases very literal and therefore you'd have to explain.

Now, for Mammon when it comes to phrases like that because he does take it literal. My OC Astra uses phrases like "You've got me fucked up" "On God?" "Catch this fade" "Meet me outside" you know the drill. She always has to clarify because otherwise...lol

Mammon's response to "UGH This is ass..." would be "??? I'm pretty sure the only ass here is yours and mine <3" and then you have to explain.

Satan would try to level with you and understand your "funny words". Leviathan hates it when you speak that way because he deems it "too informal to comprehend" but he's just jealous he sounds incredibly stiff when attempting to say the same things. Beelzebub loves phrases like that and intentionally teases you by having you believe he doesn't know what you mean but he does. Belphie may 50/50 understand since he talks hella informal so he just vibes and doesn't ask for you to clarify.

Funny enough I'll tell you anon who I think would know most of every human speech dialect and that's Lucifer, Asmodeus, and Amy.

Lucifer? Due to age, and his observation of human activity. Asmodeus is a no brainer since he spends a lot of time on earth. Amy? Because it's his hobby to study that and he prefers speaking that way to confuse and upset Sitri because he can't stand how "proper" he speaks when there's absolutely nothing wrong with informal speech if you are conveying the same thoughts and feelings correctly.

But you'd never catch him saying skibidi rizzler in the same sentence.

Also bonus: If Minhyeok was into K-pop and the hip-hop/rap culture that's in Korea, he'd know some phrases. Granted you may have to correct him as some times a lot of AAVE is not used properly so it sounds odd. (gyat being the worse offender lately....)

[writingsoftarnishedsilver]

a personal post/reflection on ai use

some of you reading this may have seen the message i received accusing me of using ai to write my work. i wanted to take a moment to talk about how it made me feel and, more importantly, the impact that accusations like this can have on writers in general.

I won’t lie: seeing that message in my inbox, being told that the stories i spend hours writing aren't “real", that my effort and creativity don't belong to me, was really disheartening. then i had to defend my own writing against these accusations and that wasn’t exactly fun. and while i know i shouldn’t let it get to me, the truth is that it does, because I'm a real person!

It’s made me overthink everything i write. I already reread my fics multiple times before posting, checking for flow, consistency, and coherence, but now, i find myself second-guessing every sentence. Does this sound too robotic? Is my phrasing too formal or too stiff? Or maybe it’s not polished enough? Maybe it's too polished. What if i accidentally repeat a word or structure a sentence in a way that someone deems “ai-like”? Will i be accused of this again?

I want to be clear also that this isn’t about seeking sympathy. I just feel it's important to remind people that fanfic writers are real people with real emotions. We write because we love it, because we want to share stories for others to enjoy for free. And yet, there are people out there who treat “spotting ai” like some kind of witch hunt, who feel entitled to send accusations to complete strangers without any basis for it.

And I don't say this to be elitist, but for some context, I have a master’s degree in computer science. I work in tech every day. I specialize in machine learning. When I say there is no reliable way to tell whether a passage of text was written by ai or a human, i'm not just making shit up. ai detection tools are completely unreliable. they give false positives all the time, and they are, quite frankly, complete bullshit.

And I get that there are legitimate concerns about ai-generated work in creative spaces, especially when it comes to art, writing, and other forms of expression that people put their hearts into. I have taken ethics courses in ai for this reason. I understand why people are wary, and i’m not saying that those concerns aren’t valid. But this is exactly why we should be mindful of how we engage with content. If you don’t like something, if you suspect it was ai-generated and that bothers you, the best thing you can do is simply not engage. don’t read it, don’t share it, don’t support it.

But going out of your way to harass people, to send accusations without evidence, to act like you’re some kind of ai-detecting authority is not just absurd, but it’s harmful to real people because you will inevitably get it wrong!!!

At the end of the day, this is fan fiction. no one is paying for this. no one is being scammed. so why do people act like they need to police something that’s supposed to be fun, creative, and freely shared? if you love stories written by real people, support those writers. but please, stop making this space even more stressful for the people who are already here, giving their time and creativity to share something they love.

And if you still think making accusations about people using AI for their writing is the correct and virtuous thing to do, I invite you to read this online thread of freelance writers discussing the legitimate harm that has come to their livelihood due to the false positives of ai detection tools and false accusations.

[mikuni14]

Jack & Joker - Ep 8

I finished the remake of Love Mechanics on Sunday, and a new episode of J&J on Monday - what can I say, watching War's characters not having the best time is a whole experience 💀

Another really good episode of J&J, this show is great, although the first crack in this perfect picture has appeared, which I hope won't go in the direction I predict.

This is of course the introduction of the most infuriating trope in the form of the relationship between Joke and his father (and brother). This is such bullshit. Everything here is wrong and it pisses me off. The gaslighting, that Joke's feelings are invalid and wrong, that he's corrected, told what he 's supposed to feel 😬 The father who is openly cruel and says things that no child should ever hear from their parent. The pathetic attempt to whitewash him by saying that he secretly loves Joke with his stash of soups as a proof, and that he ultimately ate the meal prepared by Joke (ignoring the fact that he did this only and exclusively because he was hungry), after rejecting his peace offering and insulting him again. The Oppan series has shown such a father, who is horrible at the beginning and says horrible things, although in reality he truly loves his children and wants good for them. And what does that father do when he sees that with his intentions alone he will not rebuild the relationship with his children? He apologizes, lets go of his expectations and prejudice, learns how to be a good father, even buys books! And seeing HIS efforts, his children respond to them and to him! Except in J&J it is not even that: Joke's father loves an idealized version of his sons, and the one who fits into this version is always praised and basks in the light of acceptance and parental love, and the one who doesn't fit into this image is an outcast, constantly rejected, mocked and criticized. Loving your child in secret, and rejecting him publicly and to his face is NOT good parenting ffs!! I REALLY don't want to see Joke and his father reconcile, especially if they build their relationship on the conditional love of the father and on Joke's self-sacrifice, trying to fit into his terms.

..............

I'm very happy that first Joke

and then Grandma

said exactly what I think and what irritated me so much about Jack's behavior in the last episode. Jack made the decision himself, without talking to his loved ones, making the decision for them without asking for their consent. It's good that the series addressed this.

I love Joke's pure love, when even in the greatest anger he's able to stop and react to Jack's suffering. I love the scene when Joke is clearly agitated and sees Jack trying to hide the agony he is going through - and suddenly Joke's face changes and he reaches out to Jack… War is such a good actor ✨

Yin is also great. I really like how he shows with his whole body how Jack feels in a given situation. For example, how apathetic he is in scenes when Joke gets mad at him, how his arms hang lifelessly when Joke shakes him or screams at him, how he gives in to Joke's anger.. Also when he is with Rose, how he reacts to her, to physical contact with her, how stiff and reluctant he is, which can be seen for example in the dance scene (although he can also comfort her, which is a natural reflex for him). I like how he hesitates when leaving Joke, following Rose, how he can't help but look at him one last time. Jack also, even when he receives all of Joke's anger, doesn't get angry at him or offended and his protective and caring instincts also take over when Joke is hurt.

And how he embraces Joke WITH ALL OF HIMSELF, melting into him, adjusting to his body. Oh boys... Everyone knows you are together, you even sleep like lovers, who are you fooling 🥺

I also like how you can see that Jack is suffocating with what he has to do, how you can see from him, how he tries at all costs to show that everything is ok, and how it's getting harder and harder for him to act in front of Rose and Joke - that's how I interpreted his stony face during the argument with Joke in the hospital, his sudden silence, because if he let go of his emotions for even a second, he could have let go of all his iron control, on which his sanity now hangs.

The juxtaposition of the cruel games played by the demoralized rich with the kind game played by the grandma was also shown very nicely.

I'm very happy that the episode ended with this scene this time. Very lovely and very natural cuddling, their conversation and behavior very much in their character (very VeeMark too lol). I'm also very happy that we have probably finished the era of the depressed, rejected, abandoned, constantly insulted, jealous, lonely Joke.

(What's with that manhandling Joke's body, Jack? And what about letting him do that Joke? 🤔🤨 not.fooling.anyone.)

(I love them so much.)

[periwinkla]

1-4 ending JP -> ENG comparison

Keep in mind: -Notes are in small text -The / is meant to separate paragraphs (I'll use it when it gets too visually messy) Disclaimer : I only studied Japanese for a little while. AA dialogue is pretty simple though. Also English isn't my native language either. Feel free to correct me on anything wrong here. Also note that I'm not trying to make the translations sound natural, I'm mostly trying to explain what the words are saying, sometimes I'll be more literal than others. Translation =/= localization.

Phoenix 終わったな、御剣‥‥。 Owatta na, Mitsurugi... So, it's finally over, Edgeworth.

Edgeworth ‥‥‥‥‥‥ … 成歩堂。 Naruhodou. Wright.

Phoenix ん？ N? Yeah?

Edgeworth: ‥‥‥‥‥‥ … ‥‥その‥‥、 なんと言えばいいのか‥‥。 ...Sono... nan to ieba ii no ka... I… I'm not sure how to say this.

Maya そういうときはね。 “ありがとう”って言うんだよ！ Sou iu toki wa ne. "Arigatou" tte iun da yo! I know! I know! Try "thank you."

Edgeworth そ、そうなのか。 So, Sou na no ka. I… I see.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

あ、ありがとう、成歩堂。 A, Arigatou, Naruhodou. Th-thank you, Wright.

Phoenix ど、どういたしまして。 Do, douitashimashite. Y-you're welcome. They sound fairly stiff here. Phoenix's response isn't exactly formal by Japanese standards... I'd say it's casual/formal, but the stuttering makes it stiffer, I feel. Also compared to how they behave in 3-5, I think it's very different. Will elaborate in a future post when I get to analyze that dialogue.

Maya うーん‥‥イマイチ、 ハリアイがないなあ‥‥。 Uun... imaichi, hariai ga nai naa.. I think you could have done better than that!

Edgeworth ム‥‥スマン。 こういうの、ニガテで‥‥。 Mu... Suman. Kouiu no, nigate de... Oof! S-sorry… I'm not good at this sort of thing.

Maya もう！　ダメだなあ、御剣検事は。 Mou! Dame da naa, Mitsurugi Kenji wa. You got a lot to learn, Edgeworth!

Phoenix （‥‥やれやれ‥‥） (...Yareyare...) (Dear, dear…) (this is not at all important but I noticed it's an expression Phoenix uses a lot: yare yare...)

Gumshoe うおおおおおおおおおおおおおっ！ Uoooooooooooooh! Whoooooooooooooop!

さすがッス！　自分が見込んだ だけのコトはあったッス！ Sasuga ssu! Jibun ga mikonda dake no koto wa atta ssu! Amazing, pal! You pulled through just like I thought you would!

糸鋸　圭介。この恩は一生、 わすれないッス！ Itonoko Keisuke. Kono on wa isshou, wasurenai ssu! I'll never forget this! I owe you one, pal.

今夜は、パーッとやるッス！ 自分がゴチソウするッス！ Kon'ya wa, paa tto yaru ssu! Jibun ga gochisou suru ssu! And tonight, let's party! Dinner's on me!

今月から給料がちょっぴり 下がったッスが、気にしねッス！ Kongetsu kara kyuuryou ga choppiri sagatta ssu ga, ki ni shine ssu! Yeah, my salary went down a bit this month… But who cares!

Maya ほらほらほら、御剣検事。 イトノコ刑事を見ならうの！ Hora hora hora, Mitsurugi Kenji. Itonoko Keiji wo minarau no! See, Mr. Edgeworth? You should take a lesson from Detective Gumshoe!

あんな感じにやると、カンシャの キモチが伝わるんだよ！ Anna kanji ni yaru to, kansha no kimochi ga tsutawarun da yo! That's how you say "thank you"!

Edgeworth ‥‥ム。 な‥‥なるほど。 ...Mu. Na.... Naruhodo. Mmm. I… I see. Note how he basically says Wright's butchered JP name, which is a pun for the game (it means 'I see' / 'I understand') but it also means that the gap between them is somewhat getting narrower. It could just be for comic relief, but...note that when he attempts to thank him the first time, he calls out to him with 'Naruhodou', but now on his second attempt he says 'Naruhodo' before trying to thank him. Unfortunately the subtletly and ambiguity of this cannot be localized. By the way, he also uses 'Naruhodo' before the final trial in T&T, will elaborate on in at a later date. (I don't know whether there are other times other than these two, I haven't analyzed enough transcripts yet)

コホン。 Gohon. ahem

う、うおおおおおおおおおっ！ U, Uooooooooh! Whooooooooooooop! This is, and I'm completely serious here, one of my most favourite scenes. Note the difference between Edgeworth's and Gumshoe's shouts: in the JP, 4 'O's are missing in Edgeworth's shout, while in ENG, 1 'O' is missing - the localization was careful enough to add that tiny difference, and although I am not sure why they reduced it to one single 'O', it's still interesting they differentiated them all the same.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

ダメだ。‥‥ヤッパリ、 私なんか‥‥。 Dame da. ...Yappari, Watashi nanka... I… I feel foolish. literal translation: No, that's not right. As I thought, / someone like me... *'someone like me...' : the underlying message seems to be: 'As I thought, something like this/acting like this wouldn't fit someone like me'

Maya まあまあ、少しずつ 慣れていきましょうよ。 Maa maa, sukoshi zutsu narete ikimashou yo. Don't worry. Take it a little at a time. You'll get used to it.

more literal translation: Come on, come on, little by little / let's get used to it! It seems to me Maya says it in a way to mean something like they'll do it together, so he shouldn't worry - implying he's not alone (anymore), again Japanese can be subtle so I'm not sure, but considering Maya's empathic character, I'd say that's what she meant. In any case, she's trying to encourage him. Very sweet! Phoenix （こんなスナオな御剣を 　見るの、１５年ぶりだな‥‥） (Konna sunao na Mitsurugi o miru no, juugo-nen buri da na...) (It's been fifteen years since I've seen Edgeworth this… unguarded.)

more literal translation: It's been 15 years... since I've seen Edgeworth (act) this honest (with his feelings)... Phoenix is saying that it's been a long time since he's seen Edgeworth be honest/sincere with his feelings/upfront with his feelings. The localization gets the meaning across very nicely. Lotta おっ、いたいた！ O, ita ita! Hey, y'all!

Maya あ、ナツミさん！ A, Natsumi-san! Lotta!

Lotta いやー、アンタら。 カッコよかったでー。 Iya, antara. Kakkoyokatta de. Y'all were great in there!

Phoenix ありがとうございます。 Arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you!

Lotta おッ。ニイちゃん。 無罪、おめでと！ Oo, Niichan. Muzai, omedetou! Yo, Edgeworth! Congrats!

Edgeworth ム‥‥お、おおきに。 Mu... o, ookini. Er… thank y'all very much. ookini = 'thank you a lot' in Kansai dialect (which is the dialect Lotta uses) I find it adorably funny that first he tries to imitate Gumshoe to thank people and now he's trying Lotta's ways...

Lotta ウチには、最初から わかってたんやで！ Uchi ni wa, saisho kara wakattetan ya de! I knew you were innocent from the start, of course.

あんたが無罪だ、ってなあ！ Anta ga muzai da, tte naa! Just look at you! You wouldn't stick your hand in the cookie jar even if no one was there! The ENG adds a lot here which wasn't in the original. in the JP, she basically only says: 'From the start, / I knew! / That you were innocent!!' (I think this is mostly done to convey Lotta's character, since the dialect wouldn't have been enough here to convey that I believe)

Edgeworth ‥‥たしか、初日の 検察側の証人だったような‥‥。 ...Tashika, shonichi no kensatsu-gawa no shounin datta you na... You… were the witness on the first day of the trial, weren't you.

Lotta まま。まあまあ。 細かいこと、気にしなさんな！ Ma ma. Maa maa. Komakai koto, ki ni shinasan na! Yeah, well, let bygones be bygones, eh?

Phoenix そういえば、ナツミさん‥‥、 今は、何を‥‥？ Sou ieba, Natsumi-san..., Ima wa, nani o...? Speaking of which, what are you doing now, Lotta?

Lotta おー、今か？ 大学にもどったで。 Oo, ima ka? Daigaku ni modotta de. Who, me? Aww, I went back to college.

スクープカメラマンになる夢は、 もうオシマイや。 Sukūpu kameraman ni naru yume wa, mō oshimai ya. I gave up trying to be an investigative photographer pretty quick.

Phoenix そうなんですか‥‥。 Sou nan desu ka... Really? That's too bad.

Lotta あれ？ Are? Huh?

Phoenix ？ ?

Lotta あそこにいるの、公園の マンジュウ屋、ちゃうか？ Asoko ni iru no, kōen no manjū-ya, chau ka? Isn't that the hotdog guy from the park?

Phoenix ‥‥え？ ...E? Huh?

Larry ‥‥死ぬんだぁ‥‥。 ...Shinun daa... It's over, Nick! My life is over!

Phoenix な、なんでおまえが そんなカオしてるんだよ！ Na, nande omae ga sonna kao shiteru nda yo! Wh-why the sad face, Larry!? What happened now!?

Larry 成歩堂ぉ‥‥。 オレ、そろそろ死ぬからさぁ。 Naruhodouo... Ore, sorosoro shinu kara saa. Oh, Nick… I'm not long for this world. (Just funny how he drags Naruhodou's name out in a wail here.)

Phoenix い、いやいやいや。 I, iya iya iya. Uh… you don't look sick… literally like 'n, nonono' but meaning something more like 'wa, wait wait wait' - it sounds like he's about done with Larry's histrionics and possibly shaking his head in denial...

Larry カズミがよお‥‥パリ 暮らすって言い出して‥‥、 Kazumi ga yoo...Pari kurasu tte iidashite... It's Kiyance! Sh-she's goin' to live in Paris! Paris, Nick!

置いていかれちまったんだよぉぉ！ Oiteikarechimattan da yooo! She's leaving me behind!!!

Phoenix （‥‥やれやれ‥‥） (...Yare yare...) (Larry, Larry…) I noticed Phoenix uses this expression a lot. It's quite funny to me, reminds me of an old man that is about done with his youngings' shenanigans.

Larry お。御剣。いたのか。 O. Mitsurugi. Ita no ka. Yo, Edgey! There you are!

Edgeworth ム。そりゃまあ、いる。 Mu. Sorya maa, iru. Um, yes, here I am.

Larry おめでとうな、御剣。 ‥‥コレ、オレからのお祝い！ Omedetou na, Mitsurugi. ...Kore, ore kara no oiwai! Congrats, Edgey! Here… a little gift from me in celebration!

Edgeworth “お祝い”？　‥‥めずらしいな。 "Oiwai"? ...Mezurashii na. Celebration? That's unusual for you.

Gumshoe お。アンタも後で来るッス！ ゴチソウするッス！ O. Anta mo ato de kuru ssu! Gochisou suru ssu! Harry Butz! You come along tonight too! My treat, pal!

Larry は、はあ。 楽しみにしてます。 Ha, haa. Tanoshiminishitemasu. Huh? Uh… thanks! Looking forward to it! （オイ、成歩堂） (Oi, Naruhodou) (Yo, yo, Nick!)

（アイツ、オレを取り調べした 　刑事だぜ‥‥） (Aitsu, ore o toriirabeshita keiji da ze...) (That's the suit that questioned me!)

（ゴチソウって、まさか 　カツ丼じゃねえだろうな‥‥） (Gochisōtte, masaka katsudon ja nee darou na...) (When he says treat… that's not police-talk for prison food, right? Right?)

Phoenix そ、それはないと思うぞ。 So, sore wa nai to omou zo. Uh, I think you'll be fine, Larry.

Edgeworth ‥‥成歩堂。 ...Naruhodou. Wright…

Phoenix ん？　どうした？ N? Doushita? Yeah? What's up?

Edgeworth ‥‥金が入っているぞ。 矢張がくれた封筒。 ...Kane ga haitte iru zo. Yahari ga kureta fūtō. That envelope that Larry gave me. It's got money in it.

Phoenix そりゃそうだろ。 “お祝い”だからな。 Sorya sou daro. "Oiwai" dakara na. Well, yeah. That's not that strange. People give money away to celebrate sometimes.

Edgeworth ３８００円だ。 3800 en da. It's $38.00, Wright.

Phoenix ‥‥また、ずいぶんハンパな 金額だな‥‥。 ...Mata, zuibun hanpa na kingaku da na... Huh. What a weird amount. I mean, it's not a little, but it's not a lot either.

‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

３８００円？ 3800 en? $38.00 exactly?

Maya ‥‥ななな、なるほどくん！ ...Na na na, Naruhodo-kun! N-N-Nick!

小学校のころ、御剣検事が盗まれた 給食費って、たしか‥‥！ Shōgakkō no koro, Mitsurugi-Kenji ga nusumareta kyūshoku-hi tte, tashika...! Wasn't that exactly the amount of lunch money that was stolen from Mr. Edgeworth in school!?

Phoenix さ‥‥３８００円‥‥？ Sa... 3800 en...? $38…!

ままま、まさか‥‥ Ma ma ma, masaka.... No… (I think the shock-induced stuttering in this line might be meant to parallel Maya's previous one. Cute!)

‥‥‥‥まさかああああッ！ 矢張、お前ェェェェッ！ ...Masakaaaaa! Yahari, omaeeee! No!!! Larry, it was you!!! There is a fun pun lost in translation here. Larry's JP name, Yahari, means 'after all/as expected/as I thought' - so Larry's name can be intended both as a vocative and a figure of speech here. "After all, it was you!" = "Larry, it was you!" The phrases basically overlap in JP, as if he were saying them at the same time.

Edgeworth 何をイロめきたっている？ 成歩堂。 Nani o iromekitatte iru? Naruhodou. What are you so surprised about, Wright?

Phoenix え？ E? Huh?

Edgeworth たしかに矢張は、あの日 カゼで学校を休んでいた。 Tashika ni Yahari wa, ano hi Kaze de gakkou wo yasunde ita. Larry was absent that day from school, right?

だが、だからといって 犯人でないという理由にはならん。 Daga, dakara to itte hannin de nai to iu riyuu ni wa naran. But that doesn't automatically rule him out as a suspect.

Phoenix え！ What?

Edgeworth １５年前の、あの日。 15 nen mae no, ano hi. Think back to that day, fifteen years ago.

休んだはいいが、タイクツだった 矢張は、学校に来てみたのだろう。 Yasunda hai ga, taikutsu datta Yahari wa, gakkou ni kite mita no darou. Larry took the day off, but he was bored, he came in to school anyway.

そして、まあ‥‥、ちょっと 手が伸びてしまったんだろうな。 Soshite, maa..., chotto te ga nobite shimatta ndarou na. Then he saw the money lying there… and the rest is history.

Larry 伸びちまったんだろうねえ、 イヤハヤ、これが‥‥。 Nobichimattan darou nee, iyahaya, kore ga... I never was good at History! Heh… The joke is a bit different here, Edgeworth jokes that Larry's hand must have 'stretched out' , but I suppose 'slipped' is more apt. And Larry is like 'Yeah, guess it must have slipped!' The translation would be something like: Edgeworth: And, well, / his hand must have ended up slipping (must have slipped). Larry: Yeah, guess it must have slipped, / eheh, well...

Phoenix ‥‥‥‥‥‥ …

御剣‥‥まさかお前、 ‥‥知ってたのか？ Mitsurugi... Masaka omae, ...Shitteta no ka? Edgeworth… you didn't know, did you?

Edgeworth ‥‥アヤシイとは思っていた。 ...Ayashii to wa omotteita. I suspected.

literal translation: I thought it was suspicious. (I find it endearing that he suspected but didn't say anything - despite how he acts, Edgeworth is really a softie most times, even towards Larry who he has the rightful urge to murder more often than not) いつもの矢張なら、 お前をかばうのはオカシイ。 Itsumo no Yahari nara, Omae o kabau no wa okashii. I just couldn't picture Larry protecting you like he did that day.

みんなといっしょになって、 ここぞとばかり責めたてただろう。 Minna to issho ni natte, Kokozo to bakari semetate daro. Everyone else was saying you did it. The whole class was against you, remember?

Phoenix ‥‥うむむむむ。 ... Umumumumu. Yeah… too well. Phoenix's blabbering is hilarious here. He's in utter denial. Like he's nodding at what he's saying but he's refusing the knowledge to enter his brain.

Edgeworth 成歩堂。もしかしたら お前は知らないかもしれないが、 Naruhodou. Moshikashitara Omae wa shiranai kamoshirenai ga, Wright, you may not know this, but we used to have a saying back in school.

この男は、こう言われていたんだ。 “事件のカゲにヤッパリ矢張”と。 Kono otoko wa, kou iwarete ita nda. "Jiken no kage ni yappari Yabari" to. "When something smells, it's usually the Butz." The saying actually means : 'In the shadow of an incident/trouble, after all, there is Larry' There is the usual pun 'yappari Yahari' so I think the localization of the saying and his name was done very well to render the original meaning.

Phoenix そのコトバなら、イヤというほど 思い知らされてるよ！ Sono kotoba nara, iya to iu hodo omoishirasa reteru yo! I know, I know. I would translate this more to: 'If you're saying that, why didn't you tell me!'

Edgeworth ‥‥いやあ、成歩堂。まさか、 キミが気づいていなかったとは。 ...Iyaa, Naruhodou. Masaka, Kimi ga kizuite inakatta to wa. Really, Wright. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out! '...Why, Wright. It can't be, / you hadn't realized.' This is so funny to me, in both versions. In JP it sounds a bit more teasing and cocky, but still. It sounds like to Edgeworth, shouting objection and reprimanding his classmates and teacher as a 9 year old was no big deal. So he didn't care to mention, thought Phoenix would figure it out. If not, no big deal. To Phoenix, it was life-changing. Phoenix is having a (mid) life crisis.

Larry 意外だねこりゃあ。 Igai da ne koryaa. Well, this is sure an unexpected turn of events, eh?

Phoenix ‥‥御剣。 ... Mitsurugi. Edgeworth…

Edgeworth ん？ N? Hmm?

Phoenix 言えよ！ Ieyo! You should have told me! Here it may look like a whole different thing but it's mostly that there is no other natural way to translate this. 'Ieyo' is just the imperative of the verb 'ieru', 'to tell'. It kinda gives the feeling of 'But (then) tell me, dammit!'

Maya まあまあ、なるほどくん。 もう１５年前のコトでしょ？ Maa maa, Naruhodo-kun. Mou juugo-nen mae no koto desho? Now, now, Nick. It was fifteen years ago!

これって“じこう”ってヤツ だよね？　御剣検事。 Kore tte "jikou" tte yatsu da yo ne? Mitsurugi Kenji. Don't you think the "statute of limitations" has run out, Mr. Edgeworth?

Edgeworth そういうこと、だな。 Souiu koto, da na. I'd say so, yes.

Larry そういうことだよ。 Souiu koto da yo. There you have it! In JP version, I found it funny how Larry parrots Edgeworth's words. 'Souiu koto' means 'it's like that'.

Phoenix ‥‥まったく‥‥。 ...Mattaku,,, Grr…

お前らにカンシャして弁護士に なったぼくの立場はどうなるんだ？ Omaera ni kansha shite bengoshi ni natta boku no tachiba wa dou narun da? Where does that leave me!? I became a defense attorney because of what you two did!

Edgeworth 感動的なまでのお人よし、 といったところだろうか。 Kandō-teki na made no o-hito yoshi, to itta tokoro darou ka. Well, I'd call you a goody-two-shoes to the extreme.

Larry とんだお調子モノ、とも 言えるよナ！ Tonda o-chōshimono, tomo ieru yo na! Yeah! And you get worked up too easily, too!

Phoenix し、死刑だ！ コイツを死刑にしてくれェッ！ Shi, shikei da! Koitsu o shikei ni shite kuree! D-death! The death sentence for both of you!

‥‥こんなことなら、 検事になりゃよかったあ！ ...Konna koto nara, kenji ni narya yokattaa! Man, if I only had known, I'd have become a prosecutor!

Edgeworth ‥‥それは私も同じだ。 ...Sore wa watashi mo onaji da. The same goes for me, only the other way around…

“もしかしたら、自分は父親を 撃ってしまったのかもしれない” "Moshikashitara, jibun wa chichioya o utte shimatta no kamoshirenai" For the longest time, I thought that I might have killed my own father. These are provided as literal phrases he thought: 'Could it be, I myself was the one that ended up shooting my father.'

“自分は罪人かもしれない” "Jibun wa zainin kamoshirenai" I thought I might be a criminal. "What if I'm a criminal, myself.'

‥‥私は、そういう自分を 罰する意味もあって検事になった。 …Watashi wa, sou iu jibun o batsu suru imi mo atte kenji ni natta. I became a prosecutor in part to punish myself.

Basically the same, but instead of saying 'in part' he says that was one of the reasons. He says he became a prosecutor for that reason as well (among others), the reason being that of punishing himself. ‥‥こんなことなら、 弁護士になりたかったよ。 ...Konna koto nara, bengoshi ni naritakatta yo. If I had known the truth, I might have become a defense attorney after all. 'If it were like this (if I had known), I would have wished to become a defense attorney.' The way he says it seems way more heartbreaking in Japanese. Naritakatta = wanted to become, which here becomes 'I would have wanted to become' because of context. I translated it as 'would have wished' because it seems more apt here. Naritakatta expresses a desire for something you had wanted in the past. 'I would have gone for being a defense attorney'... It indicates that someone wanted to become or achieve something at some point in the past, but for some reason, they were not able to fulfill that desire.

Phoenix ‥‥御剣。 ... Mitsurugi. Edgeworth…

Edgeworth かわるか、成歩堂。 Kawaru ka, Naruhodou. Want to switch, Wright? Says the same thing... and it sounds so resigned in both versions. It's curt, and their conversation ends just like that. Breaks my heart.

[professional-yapper]

Fingertips

RDA! Jake x Omaticaya! Reader

(first attempt at smut wish me luck)

Warnings: smut obv, sub Jake, hand kink, dacryphilia, dom reader, piv sex, mild choking, does reader sticking their fingers in his mouth count as a warning, pretty mild ngl I'm just testing the waters, Jake's probably horribly ooc tbh

Jake has always been... a little interested in your hands. Maybe it's the three fingers as opposed to his four. Maybe it's their dexterity, the ease at which you can do things he finds difficult, with his clumsy demon hands.

Whatever the reason, it's beginning to catch your attention more and more, how he'll allow his own hand to brush against yours as you walk side by side, how he insists you do things for him so he can watch your slender fingers at work, and even when you talk, he watches them instead of you.

You've observed this little quirk of his for weeks now. You don't want to make mountains out of a molehill, after all.

But those weeks of observation conclude that, yes, yours are the only hands he stares at so shamelessly, and yes, you're not seeing things when his expression grows almost longing and hungry when he looks at them.

So you've decided to do something about it. After all, Jake is beautiful, for all his odd ways and alien features. You'd be the stupidest girl in the tribe not to make a move, knowing what you know.

Which, if you're correct, and you're sure you are, is that Jake Sully has a thing for your hands.

You're on a walk with Jake, talking quietly in Na'vi, gently correcting him when he stumbles over a word here and there, making unnecessary hand gestures just to watch the way his eyes instinctively track them.

You smile to yourself at that, deliberately gesturing right in front of his face. He goes almost cross-eyed trying to follow it, and you laugh abruptly.

Jake startles, eyes darting to your face as his cheeks flushing like a child caught misbehaving.

"You're staring an awful lot, little demon," you hum, slipping your hand under his jaw, tilting his face upwards. "Something wrong with my hands?"

You feel his Adam's apple jump against your knuckles as he swallows hard. "No," he manages, watching your face as his flush deepens in hue.

"No?" you repeat. "Then what is it?" you coo innocently, tilting your head to one side in mock curiosity.

"Nothing!" he said defensively, batting your hand away and turning his back on you.

You can't help but smile, running a hand up his tail and along his spine as you draw nearer, revelling in the way he shudders and presses back into your touch. "I think it is something, little demon," you say, pressing your body against his back, looping your arms around his neck playfully, your tail coiling against his thigh.

"And so what if it is?" Jake demanded, folding his arms and keeping himself stiff under your touch. "I can stare at what I want, can't I? No rules saying I can't."

"So fiery," you tease, resting your chin in the crook of his neck. "My intention is not to upset you, little demon. I am merely curious about what is so interesting about my hands."

He huffed but didn't push you away, his ears tilting backwards to catch your words. That alone gives you an idea.

"In fact," you say airily, tilting your face up and nipping at the tip of his ear, delighting in the way he gasps and jerks in your arms, "I find it rather endearing."

"You do?" Jake said, sounding like he was trying to disguise the pitiful hope in his voice.

"Mhm. I just want to know what it is that makes them the object of your attention," you prompted as he turned in your arms, keeping them lazily draped around his neck. His pupils are blown wide, chest rising and falling a little unsteadily as he looks at you, ears pricked forward.

"They're- they're pretty," he admits, swallowing dryly, searching your face for any sign of disgust or judgement. He finds none, which gives him the bravery to soldier on. "And your fingers are really long, and-"

"Why is them being long so appealing to you?" you said amusedly, shifting one of your hands to take a hold of his chin, thumb pressing into his bottom lip.

He draws a trembling breath at the touch, mouth falling slack.

Fucking perfect, you think as you look at him, drawing on your limited knowledge of demon curses to form the thought.

That mouth is practically an invitation all its own, and you accept it eagerly, slipping your thumb between his lips, and press down on his tongue.

Jake whines around the digit, a sound you never thought you'd hear him make. "Yeah? you like that, little demon?" you murmur, watching in rapture, your own pupils blown wide as you force him onto his knees, pressing steadily on the floor of his mouth.

He looks up at you, his own hands finding homes at the backs of your knees.

You could get used to this, honestly. The sky demon on his knees for you, lips wrapped obediently around your thumb as he looks up at you. He's normally so cocky. Rebellious and loud, tearing up the quiet village with his alien language and strange ways.

Not that you hate it, but you love this much more.

"Just look at you, little demon," you purr. "If you could see yourself now, on your knees with my thumb in your mouth."

He moans at the thought, grip tightening your knees.

You decide to indulge his love of your hands a little further, freeing your thumb from his warm mouth with a wet pop, ignoring his whimper at the loss. He's hard already, you note, spreading his knees and trying to rut into the forest floor like some kind of desperate whore.

His noises only grow louder as you make your next move, which is forcing two of your fingers into his mouth, practically down his throat, keeping his tongue pinned down and the walls of his throat fluttering helplessly against your fingertips as he chokes a little around your fingers, eyes growing glossy.

He makes a garbled noise around your digits, eyes wet and hopeful as he looks up at you. You have to give him credit for never once breaking eye contact.

"What was that?" you prompt, eyes glinting as hot desire pools in your stomach, but you don't remove your fingers, instead forcing him to try and speak around the intrusion in his mouth.

"Please," he manages, or something that sounds enough like it to get his meaning across.

You smile. Victory. You don't even know what the competition was, but this feels like a victory nonetheless. "Please what?"

He just whines with frustration, bucking his hips up against nothing, seemingly too embarrassed to say what.

You force your fingers deeper into his mouth, until you feel the back of his throat. He gurgles incoherently, fat tears beginning to roll down his cheeks, his grip remaining ever-tight on your legs. "Little demon."

He still doesn't say anything. Probably because your fingers are halfway down his throat.

But you relent anyway, pulling your fingers out of his mouth momentarily, kneeling before him, forcing him onto his back- making sure he doesn't injure himself as you shift his legs to lie flat. You straddle his hips, feeling his erection press up against your core. You hum with satisfaction at the feeling.

Jake looks up at you, practically quivering, face wet with tears, lips glossy with drool, his hands on your hips as he tries feebly to buck up into you.

"Beautiful," you muse, before leaning down to capture his lips.

He gasps into your mouth, and you can feel his chest jerking against your palms as he struggles to even his breathing out. You don't know if you want to let him. You like him like this, teary and drooling and breathless and desperate.

But you're impatient. You've indulged him enough, you think, as you roll your hips against his, sighing at the delicious friction, but it's nowhere near enough.

You shift back onto his thighs, fumbling with the strings of his loincloth while he watches blearily, half-broken pleas falling from his lips in a ready river, mostly incoherent and entirely pathetic.

Finally, you manage it, and his cock springs free. It's as pretty as the rest of him, and you tell him so, smiling rather pridefully as he whines and thrusts into air, precum already dripping onto his stomach.

You raise your core above it as it twitches in the cool air and, though it seems impossible, his pupils dilate further, and he grows louder, tugging at your hips, trying to encourage you down. "Please, baby, please-" he gulps.

"Hush," you say firmly, and force your fingers back into his mouth, effectively shutting him up as he lets out a strangled moan around them.

Slowly, painfully slowly, just to tease him, push him a little further, you sink onto his cock, gasping at the stretch, head lolling back, back arching as he bottoms out inside of you.

He fucks up into you like a feral animal, eyes rolling in his head as your warmth encases him entirely. For a few moments, all you can do is let him, moaning shrilly yourself as his thrusts punch the air out of your lungs.

But you regain yourself, albeit less sane and more intent on fucking him into the forest floor.

You adjust your grip on his chin, your fingers in his mouth, his drool bubbling around your knuckles and down his chin. "Poor dumb baby," you coo with mock-sympathy, beginning to ride him like a thing possessed.

He makes a shrill noise, fingers digging purple bruises into your hips, tears still steadily trickling down his cheeks.

Then one of his hands finds your clit and rubs a harsh circle into it, and you gasp, jerking atop him, your vision flashing white for a moment, familiar heat welling in your core.

Jake's hips begin to stutter against yours as his eyes roll once more, the walls of his throat pulsing against your fingertips.

You, at the last minute, yank your fingers free and crush your lips to his, both of you moaning as you come. Hard.

He sobs a little into your mouth, holding you down on him as his thrusts grow feeble, his seed filling you with a comfortable warmth. "S'good, so fucking good," he blabbered, like he couldn't bear to shut up now he didn't have your fingers down his throat.

"I know, I know, little demon," you pant, pressing your nose to his tear-wet cheek, taking in the scent of him, your arm locking around his shoulders, holding him against you as his movements finally still.

You sit there for a moment, cuddling him close as he wheezes into your neck, his cock still twitching inside you as you both come down from your highs.

"So..." you manage finally, pulling back a little to grin at him. "Hand kink much?"

Jake groans at your use of English, covering his eyes. "Shut up."

First smut down woohoo it's only uphill from here folks

[oldwritingm]

Hiiiii! <3 been scrolling through your Ninjago masterlist and I saw there was no HC/drabble/fanfic about a reader who has a culture (or I'm just blind and didn't see it T~T ) anywho, it made me think....I hadn't seen any head cannon of reader x ninja (+ pixal my baby✨) who the reader had a Portuguese culture (and I'm just deprived to see no Portuguese babies in there).

Just the basic stuff like speaking the language, or the food? The habit? I don't know how to explain but it's not something really in research or deep, just the basic stuff.

Here some ideas to help ya if you got no idea ! <3 :

-men usually shake hands with men as a greeting

-we usually smile to anyone and anything in politeness

-We do small talks with anyone, also a sign of politeness

- family events are a somewhat must

-we like to dress nicely (sometimes fancy) to meet family

-PDA is appreciated and somewhat encouraged in public

Etc...

Also, if you feel like you can't write it because it's too complicated, ten thank you for reading! ✨

Of course!!! I really hope this turned out okay ^^ I’ll admit that I didn’t really know too much about this culture beforehand, so please let me know if I’ve gotten anything wrong!! It was fun to do research though, super interesting stuff!!

Ninjago - Ninjas With a Portuguese s/o

Cole

He LOVES hanging out with your family

Ever since he reconciled with his dad, he’s realized just how important family is

So of course he admires your family’s closeness!

Whenever you invite him along to a family function, he’s already putting on his shoes and a nice button-up shirt

He makes sure that you approve of his clothes before you leave

He has an okay sense of fashion, but he just wants to make sure his outfit isn’t inappropriate for the occasion or anything

He’s always super careful to make sure he doesn’t offend your family

Sometimes it’s kind of cute to watch him balk or scramble to correct himself

Even your family finds it amusing

Of course, he’s never actually said something offensive, but he’s still super cautious

He also just tries to have fun and get along with your family!

They adore him ofc, he’s the perfect balance between respectful and friendly

As time goes on, they start to ask where Cole is when you show up to family gatherings alone

You have to explain that sometimes he just can’t make it, especially because of his ninja responsibilities

That’s another reason they love him btw; he has the coolest stories

And he’s a great listener to their stories in return! :)

Jay

He is ALL OVER the PDA thing

He’s a very physically affectionate person, whether he likes to admit it or not

Actually, it was you and your family that helped him realize this

Of course he likes being affectionate with you, but he learns to be affectionate with others too

It started when one of your friends/family members gave him a hug

He was really stiff and awkward at first, but after it was over he realized how warm and fuzzy he felt

From then on he was hooked

He immediately transformed into this super affectionate person

Not just with your family/friends, either; he starts being super affectionate to his family/friends too

The other ninjas tease him about it at first, but he doesn’t care

He’ll hold hands, hug, sit shoulder-to-shoulder, anything that involves touch

He just LOVES being able to show his affection like that!! So much easier than words

(I headcanon that he’s not very good with words when it comes to showing love)

And he loves having the favor returned! (By you or your family/friends)

Makes him feel accepted :)

Congrats, you’ve found a way to finally validate our anxious boy

Honestly he might get a bit carried away with it, so beware

Zane

Zane’s more of an explicit learner than an implicit one when it comes to social culture

(Meaning he can’t really pick up on cues; you’ll have to verbalize things)

So you’ll have to explain your culture to him

But he really loves hearing you talk about it!!

His eyes literally sparkle while you speak

For one, because no one’s ever done him the favor of actually explaining social culture

But also because he can see how important it is to you, and he thinks you’re positively lovely when you’re impassioned

He’ll remember every word, and do his best to practice what you preach

Sometimes it comes off as mechanical or forced (it kind of is), but he gets the hang of it the more he practices

And he’s eager to get practice, which means…

More family time!!

Though it does make him nervous, he likes being around your family so he can practice your teachings and learn more

Your family probably thinks he’s a little odd, but he’s got the right spirit

Being accepted by them would be so validating for him… like all his hard work paid off

AND he’d be close to the people who are important to you!! Double win

Lloyd

He’s another one who really likes being physically affectionate

He’s a huge cuddle bug; this we know

So when he learns that he can hug your friends/family too, not just you, he takes the opportunity

(He still loves you the most, of course, he just likes showing others some love)

It’s mainly the hugs that he likes

Hand holding is a bit uncomfortable when it’s not you, but he won’t reject a hand he’s offered

Cheek kisses are great though :]

He always gets this dorky shy smile whenever someone (especially you) kisses him on the cheek, even if it’s just a greeting/goodbye

It takes everything in him not to giggle like a schoolgirl when he gives one back (for the first little while, anyway)

At first he was a bit awkward giving kisses back, but he warms up to the practice pretty quickly

He used to be just a cuddle bug in private, but by the time you’re done with him he casually practices PDA like it’s nothing

Kai

I’m going to be so honest with you rn. He is going to struggle with the politeness thing

As much as he tries to be cordial and put things gently, if he’s mad that’s all going out the window

If, for whatever reason, you or your friend/family member sets him off, he’s not going to waste his energy on being nice

Cold stares and crossed arms are the least of it; consider yourself lucky if that’s what he does

At the worst…. Be ready to hold this man back

This is pretty rare though, he does try really hard to stay positive

On the topic of trying hard, though, he’s really worried about your family liking him

He knows how important they are to you and he wants to be liked by them

So he’ll always try his hardest to control his temper and follow their polite customs

Unfortunately you will have to be the outfit police when it comes to family gatherings, though

His idea of “nice clothes” is very different from the actual definition

Like, you’re expecting a nice button up and slacks, then he comes out in a tank top and varsity jacket and jeans ripped like he got into a motorcycle crash

He is devastated to learn that, no Kai, those are not appropriate clothes

He’ll still change though, dw

And he’ll be happy about it if/when one of your family members compliments his outfit :)

Nya

Ohhh man….. she LOVES learning about your culture

She wants to know all the details

And she’ll go beyond what you tell her; she’ll do her own research

She’s super eager to test out what she’s learned

She impresses your family first try

Especially because she’s so eager to listen to them

She grows really close with your family, and she secretly starts to consider them an extension of hers

Totally not because she was raised with little to no actual family

She will cry if they start to think the same of her

It might be a little weird for you, with her being so enthusiastic to partake in your customs, but she’ll cut back if you let her know it’s weird

She’s just so excited to learn, especially about something that involves you :(

And she’ll be happy to teach you about her culture in return!

(I headcanon that she’s Chinese :) so if you’re interested she’s glad to share)

Overall she’s just super enthusiastic and supportive regarding your culture!!

She will fight anyone who isn’t

Thank you for this request!! And thanks so much for reading, take care doves <33

(divider by saradika)

[lily-alphonse]

Sam/Haley?

(Saley? 🤭)

Saley? Or Ham. LMAO

Hmmmmmmm this one. This one irks me. They sure would be pretty though.

I'm itching to put them in some kind of AU because my mind screams that they don’t make sense in their current context. There has to be an inciting factor like both working as camp counselors in a nearby town or going to college together or something. (Or… Scooby Doo AU? A little Fred/Daphne dynamic perhaps?)

Like maybe Haley has considered it, kinda liked the rogue skater, class clown thing Sam had going on. But she was always expected to be with the star athlete.

Ok wait maybe the inciting incident is Alex coming out as gay. That could work. Farmer shows up, we have an “oh no he’s HOT 😩” moment and Haley is left in the dust.

She’s pissed at first but then realizes she’s free. She can truly do whatever she wants. Who is going to care, now that the rumor mill is abuzz with Alex’s scandal?

She experiments with her fashion. Tries new hobbies. She goes to visit Emily at work and even gets a little tipsy and dances. And one Friday night she sees Sam there playing pool with Sebastian and she can’t help herself. He’s so fucking tall and edgy, it’s an exciting kind of intimidating. But Haley can be intimidating too, despite her size.

“Sebastian. Sam.” She greets them both with her arms crossed and an easy smile.

“Uh. Hi.” Sebastian is the first to respond, straightening up from where he was lining up a shot.

“In light of recent events I feel the need to ask if either of you are gay,” Haley starts.

“What?” Sebastian asks in disbelief.

“No,” Sam says immediately.

Haley meets his eyes with a predatory sort of smile. “Alright, prove it. Dance with me.”

Sam kind of chuckles and bites his lip, looking over at Sebastian. “Man I know we’re in the middle of something but…”

Sebastian rolls his eyes and points to Haley. “You, wait there two turns. If you still want him after I kick his ass you can have him for tonight.”

Haley chuckles. “Deal.”

It’s actually kind of torture, in a good way. She has a front row seat to watch his body move, his eyebrows furrow and tongue sticking out when he’s concentrating.

She doesn’t know much about pool, so she doesn’t care that Sebastian is right about kicking his ass. All she cares about is the man rounding the table to meet her, as Sebastian goes off to find Abby.

“Hi,” Sam says with a cheeky smile down at her. He isn’t shy, getting close and personal already.

“Hi,” she gives him her best flirty smile.

“Still up to dance with a loser?”

“Can’t really be considered a loser with the hottest girl in here on your arm.”

He chuckles at that, taking her hand to guide them to the dancefloor. She’s caught a bit off-guard by his forwardness but damn if it isn’t sexy as hell. And his hand is big 🫠

His hands move to her waist on the dancefloor and they sway with some distance between them to continue speaking.

“I don’t know how you can be so confident about that by the way," He says once their settled into a rhythm.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean, just look at Pam. You’ve got some stiff competition.”

“Oh har-har very funny,” she rolls her eyes but fights a smile.

“Ooo tough crowd.”

“I’m tough to please.”

“I can imagine. But correct me if I’m wrong Princess, seems like you’re already sold on me.”

The sudden nickname almost gets her flustered. She decides to ignore it. Ignore it and definitely not file it away in her brain to obsess over later. “Not sold at all, that’s why I asked for a dance and not your hand in marriage.”

“I see. This is my test drive then?”

“You could call it that.”

“You look beautiful.”

It’s obviously a line. But it comes so suddenly that Haley does get flustered this time. “I know,” she blurts, and then, “thank you.”

His smile widens at her blush. “I’m serious, I like the new look. You seem more like yourself.”

“Myself? And how would you know?” she raises a perfect eyebrow at him as its his turn to get sheepish.

“Oh, well I just mean like, I don’t know. It suits you. You seem happier.”

She thinks about that, looking at his shirt instead of his eyes. She has been feeling happier. She sighs and leans into Sam, closing the distance between them to lay her head against his pounding chest. He stops swaying, surprised. She smiles at how fast his heart is going under his facade.

“I am happier, I think.”

DAMN OK I DONE GONE AN CONVINCED MYSELF LMAO these two are kinda fire ngl I think theyd both be sassy and flirty the banter is top tier

Send me any Stardew Valley rarepair and I will tell you how I would make them work! (Even non-marriage npcs) If youre lucky you may get a mini fic out of it. Check the list below to see if Ive already answered yours

Rarepair Masterlist

[karlachismylife]

Oh no when I say pressure I mean I haven't been able to crack my back in over a year now, never been able to pop my hips intentionally and the times I have it was painful, if I sit wrong I can feel each notch of my spine due to the pressure, my neck always feels stiff, the whole nine lol. I feel like it would be a hassle initially working all that out pfft

I know it sounds bad and it is but I've lived with it since I was 18, so it's just kinda my daily now. I just like to imagine having 4 men who most of them know what they're doing to help, Soap would learn after that first scare probably.

But also the image of Simon just sneak attacking me to pop my back is hilarious, ambushed with love and care lol

(for people out of the loop - first post here)

I have actually tried to imagine OVER A YEAR worth of tension and pressure and I think my fucking hips started hurting just from that. I'm so sorry, love, that must be really messing with, like... everything. You're so strong for going against that and pushing through, wow. I probably wouldn't be able to.

But yeah, no, sure, Price is like totally relating cuz that man avoids doctors better than he avoids getting his spine all fucked up, so he also has years of fuckuppery in those intervertebral discs and everything. He's there to hear you out whenever you want to just vent about this shit, and he'll offer you advice on how to cope when it gets bad. Ghost will fix both you and him up, can you imagine though Price's face if you handle everything being cracked better than him? All red and panting while his Lieutenant pushes a vertebra into its correct place, but trying to put a brave face in front of you, because you didn't even squeak! How the fuck do you do that??

Soap sure learns after that first time, even though he's still apalled at how long you had to endure it. He's so impatient, he'd get fed up with constant stiffness and pain too quickly and would be clawing at the walls, and you went so long?? Honestly he'll probably try to coax you do some "stretching" and "flexibility training" so it doesn't get so bad again. But if you're actually limited in those departments, he isn't the one to push. He's the one who tries to be the most helpful in all the other aspects of it, like helping around the house if you get nasty pains or somethng. Also the god of nape and neck massages, that he can work out the best out of all of them!

And Gaz is just going all-out to be romantic about it. Ghost is practical and efficient, sure, and he is immensly loving with that little ambush of his or when he just lays you and Price down and goes ham on your backs (does he do it shirtless "for convinience?" yes he does. also he gets hard from being able to help you out, sorry), but Gaz is next level when he offers you a massage and help with fixing your hips up. Candles and shit, even music to drown out the cracking if you don't feel like listening to your bodily symphony. He thinks it's beautiful in a way, though - cuz that's the sound of him helping your body feel better. And if it gets too painful, he'll make sure to soothe you, tender kisses all over your skin and gentle hands stroking you while he praises you for being strong and good.

Also they find the comfiest chairs and matress for you 100% to help with the pains.

[thoughtsonhurtandcomfort]

Shun the Light - Ch. 6 - Thin Mints

Slow Burn | Refuge | Decision | Mend | Hunger |

Author's Notes: I wanted to lighten things up a bit so here, have this. Sorry I haven't made a taglist yet.

Content Warnings: vampire whumpee, werewolf whumpee, exhaustion, mention of being burned alive, hunger

----

His visitor sleeps for so long that Dante checks in a couple times just to make sure he isn't dead...and to remind himself that what happened was real.

Exhausted by the ordeal, Dante ends up sleeping through the next day himself. At nightfall he wakes as usual, still a little weak and sore but feeling almost normal.

He checks the other bedroom. Sure enough the man is still there, still real, still asleep. Dante has to force himself not to stay in the room and stare at him, or worse, touch him just to feel warmth again. To distract himself he heads down to the piano and practices from one of the few songbooks he hasn't mastered yet.

That's what finally reaches Matteo through the thick fog of sleep. The soft music and even softer bed provide the gentle sort of wakeup his worn body needs. He comes close to dozing off again just because he can, but he's just awake enough to remember where he is and why.

Moving feels like trudging through thick mud. His limbs are heavy, his joints stiff, and he's so, so hungry. Twice he nearly trips down the stairs but he safely reaches the lower floor and follows the music to a nearby room. There he stumbles and falls, bumping into an end table holding a lamp. All three go down with a crash.

The music stops abruptly.

Matteo breathes tremulously through gritted teeth. He props himself up and rubs his aching side.

"Ow, ow..."

I'm so sick of being in pain.

Across the room the vampire stands but only crosses halfway before hesitating. Matteo can sense him holding back, lingering. Afraid.

Matteo is afraid, too.

He gets back to his feet. He must look as pitiful as he feels, because the vampire takes one look at him and visibly relaxes. The tension shifts into awkwardness.

"Are you alright?"

"No. No, I'm really not."

He glances out the window, across the overgrown lawn that disappears into a pitch black forest. Wind howls, the harbinger of a coming storm.

"Um. Do I need to leave?"

"You should," the vampire replies, but when Matteo's face falls he's quick to correct himself, "I mean that someone must be looking for you by now. And they can't...they can't find me."

Matteo swallows around the growing lump in his throat. He understands, of course he does. To be caught by the wrong person would be a fate worse than death. But...

"Trust me. No one is looking for me."

The vampire's piercing gaze softens.

"So you're - you're a drifter or something?"

"Or something."

Matteo's stomach chooses that moment to growl. He rubs at it and sighs.

"No, you're right. I should go. But, um. Any chance you have some food around?"

"No - wait. Yes."

--

"...okay, I have to ask..."

"I had to get them to go away somehow."

"So you bought all the Girl Scout's cookies?"

Stacks of colorful boxes line the counter, unopened. Matteo checks several for expiration dates and finds they're still good.

"I can't eat them. Everything tastes bitter now."

"No thin mints? That's worse than being burned alive," Matteo jokes as he starts tearing a box open. He pauses, realizing that just maybe the vampire didn't want to be reminded of his immense suffering...

But when he looks over there's a strange look on the vampire's face. It might almost be called a smile. He quickly turns away, but not before saying,

"Have as many as you want."

[body-face-words]

Olivier Awards

We'll be looking into mainly photos so take this with a grain of salt.

Facial expressions can be lost and because this is an award show people pose and try to look their best.

The body language in this post will be more prominent because it could be an unconscious decision on how DT/MS/GT/AL show themselves. On the other hand, they've been taught (most likely) how to be in award shows and in front of cameras. The facial expression can be forced because they're aware that they are being photographed.

I most of the videos and images are sourced from @ingravinoveritas @/fuckyeahgoodomens and @/michaelsheendaily (not tagging on purpose) plus a few others. Because there's many videos here I'll be linking the posts.

First off, we'll be looking at MS/AL during the red carpet. That includes the videos and photos taken. The photos and videos happen at the same time so we'll have a better image of the body language and facial expressions.

The first thing want to point out is how Michael and Anna smile. Michael, throughout the carpet, had the same smile. One way that people try to make their smile look real is by smiling really big. Even though his eyes are smaller and the corners of the lips are lifted, the cheekbones aren't engaged, just lifted because the wide smile is stretched (except for the last two images).

Here we can see how he goes from his genuine smile to his default 'photograph' smile. Doesn't mean he wasn't happy to engage with people, he was just posing for the camera.

Something to note about Anna is that she doesn't smile much in her daily life so when she does smile, real or not, she doesn't know how it really feels and it looks off. It's asymmetrical, her lips stretch out but never curve up and her eyes + eyebrows stay the same. Her cheeks are always tense as well (I'll go more into details on another post). The only instances of her where it seems like she's really smiling is one on her instagram from Michael's 54th birthday and the image below.

This is them arriving (please correct me if I'm wrong) to the awards. Michael walks along side Anna, not too in front, just enough to guide as they spot the cameras or people.

They aren't looking at each other, but Anna is naturally smiling. Her face isn't tense, eyes smaller, corner of lips raised, cheekbones also raised and her eyes are soft.

Michael acting surprised at the sight of the people. His eyebrows are raise and hit mouth open, but the white part of his upper eyelid isn't visible. He's just putting up a show. That could be why Anna is smiling or they couldn't been talking or any other reason.

These three videos are also from the event. The first two on the carpet and the third before the posed pictures.

As far as body language goes, Michael is more often than not, in front of Anna while she holds his arm. In a dynamic/relationship whoever stands in front or leads while holding hands is the one who's the 'leader'. This role is usually taken by the man in a man/woman dynamic/relationship.

Michael doesn't tug at her or drags her along. He gives her a cue 'okay let's go' doesn't wait for a verbal response, then they both move and walk semi-parallel to each other. He's not dragging her or walking ten steps in front, they're walking as a unit. They've been to enough award shows to have a good idea of where to go and how to look.

Now the third video (before the carpet photos) is them taking pictures with people. That's also where the gif above took place.

The video starts on 00:10. Anna moves past Michael while touching his left shoulder to go greet/take pictures with fans. Michael turns at the touch then goes back to the fans. Even though he's far away from the camera, a smile can still be seen.

She stops for a second next to him before she gives her autograph to a fan. As she's walking to Michael, she's looking down then looks to her left until she see's the man signaling to her, asking for an autograph. She's surprised - eyes widen, stiff face. Anna takes pictures with two other people.

Throughout this video, neither of them interact except for one second during the beginning when Anna touches Michael.

Michael continues going down the line as Anna takes pictures with a few people then follow Michael. They both don't look at each other, even when Anna is waiting for Michael, she looks around or at other people. Michael is focusing on the people in line and not paying attention to where Anna is. He continues to move without her.

He never turns to where she is. They never touch each other, only when the press are taking pictures.

Overall they aren't hostile to each other. They just don't care what the other is doing. Michael is there to give an award and Anna is there as his plus one (most likely). When they are not longer close to the fans and it's just them two in front of the press, then they pay attention to where the other is. However, there is never any eye contact there either. Michael gives her the cue then they move, but never look at each other. In couples (or people who have feelings for each other) eye contact or the want to look at their partners faces is mostly present.

Focusing just on Michael -

He's tired. His smile throughout the evening, let's his smile fall when people aren't looking directly at him very and picks it back up quickly. In the video where he tells Anna to go, his smile stiffens and the corner of his lips go more horizontal.

Here, Michael is leaning towards Anna, but his body isn't touching her much and she's standing with her back straight. He has his picture smile (really forced) while she's trying to do a smile. The left corner of her left (our right) is slightly raised, but her eyes and brows stay the same.

The name for the line that runs from the corner of the nose down to the corner of the lips is called the nasolabial fold or nasolabial furrow. Her left fold is also raise (because of her lips) making her face be in a sneer, which shows disgust, displeasure, viewing something/one as inferior, despise, viewing something/one as worthless, and is usually always tied with feelings of superiority. Depending on the situation that face is also made when feeling impatient and wanting to move things along.

Her left eye, if you zoom in, you can see that it's slightly more closed than the right eye, but that has nothing to do with this. She tends to smile asymmetrically all the time. People usually always have one eye smaller than the other and with time it can change which eye is smaller. Morphosychology talks about this personality traits tied with the facial structure (if you would like a post about that let me know).

----

Now in this video MS/AL and DT/GT are edited to be side by side.

With David and Georgia, David in most award shows, looks down to speak with her during pictures (it happens a lot so it could be planned or a habit).

David's and Georgia's smile look more bright. We can see their face relaxed as they smile for the camera after they speak to each other. He is also leaning towards her as we can also see in this image:

Their chests are pressed together and his hand (a guess) is probably located on her mid to lower back. Georgia's head is tilting up, to where David's head is. Their smiles are stiff because a picture is being taken but all in all, they are comfortable with physical contact. David's chin is also up, but that's his default so it doesn't play much of a role. Like stated in previous analysis, sticking your chin out is a way of defiance, aggression, or self confidence in some cases.

In this video David is talking about how he hadn't done any Shakespeare plays in over ten years and how he never thought he would do Macbeth. His composure is relaxed, but still nervous. He took two breathes in which means he's trying to calm himself because he's nervous or agitated.

David and Georgia, like MS/AL, had forced smiles for the camera. Stiff, eyes stayed the same, cheekbones aren't lifted.

The first image shows pure smugness and pride. Left lip corner is raised while the right one stays neutral. With asymmetrical smile, they usually mean smugness, feelings of superiority that's why you see a lot of people who label themselves as "alphas" smile like that.

David, perceives himself as attractive or feels like he looks good.

The second and third images are him smiling genuinely. Between David and Michael, David was more relaxed and felt content with most of the evening.

Here's more pictures of him genuinely smiling.

The forth image is a fake/forced smiled. There's more pictures of him forcing a smile, but like Michael, there's too many and would be overkill to put point out all of them.

How to spot a fake/forced smile: tense face, eyes and/or brows stay the same, cheekbones are only lifted but not engaged, corner of lips stretched or horizontal, and the eyes look neutral/without emotion. There's a sweet, happy, or prideful look in the eyes when it's a sincere smile.

In regards to Georgia, her presence there doesn't bother David and he makes sure to include her. They communicate throughout the evening and Georgia, from what I found, kept to herself. Her composure was neutral, no outward discomfort.

I already talked about the video backstage where she is signaling and probably telling the other three what should happen.

---

During the award ceremony -

Michael in this video is presenting an award. He appears on 0:30.

This is his main face throughout the video. Tense smile. Not saying it's not real, because there are moments in the video where it looks real, however we can also see how forced it is after every pause in his sentences. It is real, just tense. Could be out of nervousness or some sort of inner conflict/tension on his part.

David during the ceremony, was genuine in his reactions. His surprise -

also genuine. The times the camera was on him, showed his real reaction.

----

Now moving onto this moment:

The second image is edited by me and the black is there so the lights in the back doesn't hurt our eyes too much.

Getting this out of the way: their smiles are fake because is picture is being taken and they're aware of what their faces are doing. So we'll be looking at the body language.

Now, Georgia isn't entirely comfortable with Michael.

He's touching her waist, not holding. Michael isn't pulling her closer, just resting his hand there. His left hand could be on David's waist or somewhere on his back.

Georgia is also resting her right hand on Anna's waist. Anna, from the look of her shoulder, is resting her left arm on Georgia or Michael.

David's right hand somewhere on Michael's back.

Edit: it's been pointed out that David could have his right hand on Michael's right shoulder. If you zoom into the image, you see something on his shoulder, that doesn't look like part of the suit.

Looking into Anna and Georgia, they both seem to be comfortable enough around each other.

Georgia's lips are pressed thinly against each other. She's either not comfortable with Anna - being this close to her or having to touch her - or she's not comfortable with Michael touching her waist. There's discomfort on her part.

Anna is just trying to pose her best for the picture. She's probably leaning closer to Georgia so the picture turns out good, or because she's comfortable with Georgia and naturally leaned in. Could be either.

Georgia's left arm is stiff. Maybe because she's holding her clutch back and/or doesn't want to touch Michael too much. He's a step back to where she's standing, probably so they all fit in the picture.

Looking at it the other way, she's blocking him. Kind of like when you don't want to speak to the person next to you, so you just turn your back to them. In this case, Michael does have his hand on her waist so her discomfort could come from there. Or that's her forced smile face.

Both David's and Michael's smiles are for the camera. Doesn't mean that they weren't happy or anything like that. Just means they were posing for the camera.

Moving onto the body language. Because they are taking a picture, we have to take into account that both David and Michael are leaning both to the right (their right) so that they all fit in the picture.

Usually, when two (or three) people lean towards each other or lean in the same direction, that means they get along well. In couple, this is an excellent sign that they are getting along in recent times.

David and Michael both leaned in, while Georgia and Anna stayed standing straight.

David having the Olivier's folder in front of him could be in order to show the logo or because there isn't any other comfortable way for him to hold. Based on the situation, it doesn't seem like he felt the need to hide or somehow defend himself by putting the folder (a barrier) in front of him.

Over all, for David and Georgia, the evening was tranquil even when we take into consideration the backstage video.

Michael felt the need to have to plaster on a big smile. Could be that he was having a rough day/week or just wasn't feeling at 100%. Anna was like usual.

I feel the need to reiterate that just because their smiles for the cameras weren't all that genuine, doesn't mean that they weren't happy to see each other and by they I mean David and Michael. We don't have any images or videos of them interacting normally. Mostly just with Georgia and Anna and the backstage video, we only see the from above, not their faces and we don't know for certainly what they were talking about.

If I missed anything, please let me know! This day was very long and full of images and videos, so I could've missed something.

[leggerefiore]

Empty Café

cw: fluff, confession fic

pairing: Ingo/Reader

Summary: A strange man lingers in your café, catching your attention. You think he's cute.

----

You giggled at the man who had been sat at your café for hours now, just scribbling away at a pile of paperwork and going onto his computer. He was quite a looker, with his dark, knitted mock-neck top and slacks complimenting his natural paleness and light hair. You smiled at him as you took his cup again for a refill. His order had just been a plain dark-roast coffee. Seeing as he drank it all, you could only presume that is how he normally took his drink.

His presence was not unwanted, seeing as your café was a smaller, out of the way one, but the amount of work he seemed to be going through was strange. You wondered if he was usually busy or if this was normal for him. The sound of the saucer being placed on the table caught his attention from the sheets that had consumed him. His neutral facial expression, yet gentle eyes, made you all the more curious about him. You smiled at him softly.

“Are you okay?” you asked finally, “... You've been here for so long and haven't taken a break from your work even once.” It was concerning to see someone possibly overworking themselves. You typically did not bother people with conversation, but something about him was so distantly familiar.

“Ah, thank you for your concern,” he started, voice strong and a bit laid, “I'm quite fine, I assure you. I was just trying to get caught up on some things I had let fall behind.” His words were a bit reassuring. Still, you also could not help but notice his lack of eating, too.

“We sell sandwiches,” you told him, “... I'll make you one, on the house.” His eyes grew wide as they finally took a glance at the clock on the wall. The soft pink that dusted across his cheeks was a pretty sight. Who was he? You wanted to assume he was a model. If he was not, he certainly could be.

“No need for that, I'll pay,” he shook his head, “... Do have a muffuletta sandwich?” He asked, trying to gaze at the menu board hung up behind the counter. You nodded.

“Mhm, sure do,” you beamed at him, “I'll have that right out for you.” And, you were still going to give it to him for free. His company had been enough for the day, as it did get quite lonely when you locked customers. The sandwich was easily prepared as you brought it back out to him. His thanked you so politely and finally took a break from his work to eat. You tried not to watch him too much, as you went back to the counter.

Time passed as it usually did, a few customers lingering and most taking their drink to go, but he remained. You felt oddly attached to him, even though you barely said a word to each other. When he finally started to pack up and came to pay at the counter, you genuinely grinned at him.

“Say, are you a model?” you questioned him as you worked your POS machine. His stiff expression broke as a small laugh came from him. He shook his head.

“No,” he replied as he placed his card back into his wallet, “You're the second person to ask me that since I moved here.” The small smile on his lips warmed your heart. Well, your intuition may have been wrong, but at least you made him smile. “I work in the subway,” he explained, “... If you ride it, you'll probably catch me around the Gear Station.” Suddenly, it stuck you.

He looked so different out of his uniform!

“Oh,” you gasped, “Are you Emmet?”

The sudden laughter from him alongside the shaking of his head made you fall into hysterics, too. Well, he certainly looked like Emmet! “I'm his twin brother, Ingo,” he corrected, “Thank you for letting me stay here for so long… I really do enjoy venues like this.” You nodded, a bit stunned at the thought the odd Subway Boss you met on a late trip back from Undella was a twin.

“No problem,” you told him, “Feel free to come back whenever. I really did enjoy your company.” Ingo agreed to return and bud you farewell for the night. You sighed and got ready to close.

You regretted not trying to talk to him more now.

Well… You supposed you would just have to wait for his return. Or, maybe, you could actually try your hand at the Battle Lines.

~

A week had passed since then, and you rode the train back home after closing late one night. Few people joined you on the train, most choosing to ride back into the city rather than out of it. You yawned and rubbed at your eyes as you shifted your bag around. The gentle movements of the train were seriously about to rock you to sleep. You closed your eyes for a moment and…

… Felt a firm hand on your shoulder, shaking you awake. Startled, you tried to jump away from the tight grasp. Your eyes surveyed around you and found a familiar face gazing at you. His clothes may have changed since then, but you could recognise him easily. Ingo seemed a bit startled, too. He released your shoulder and stood up tall. “… We meet again,” his voice was still loud, yet the gentleness was there, “You fell asleep on the train. It's come back to the station, now.” Heat rushed into your face as embarrassment coursed through your veins.

Averting your eyes, you let out a sigh. Nimbasa. You were stuck in Nimbasa. Standing up, you politely bowed your head at the man. “I'm sorry for this,” you spoke courteously, “Thank you for waking me up.” You had been a bit tired as of late, but you did not think it was enough to fall asleep on the train. Ingo remained with stiff body language.

“… How far is the station from your home?” he asked, clearly concerned, “I hope I do not sound like a creep, but I simply am worried about letting someone like you walk alone so late at night.” He was worried about you? You felt a small smile on your lips.

Shaking your head, you replied, “Don't worry, Ingo. I'm not too far away.” You readjusted your bag and stood up tall. It was a lie, honestly, but you were not about to burden someone apparently as overworked as him with that. “I'll call a friend, and they'll come get me,” you explained, “Once again, thank you for waking me up.” He nodded and led you off the train and into the station proper. You quickly sent a text to a friend letting them know your situation.

“Please do be safe on your return to your home,” Ingo's voice was softer now, “… Do not overwork yourself, either.” You smiled at him.

~

You were working a few days later and cleaning some dirty equipment when the bell chimed, signalling the entrance of a customer. You chirped out a greeting as you turned around but stopped midway. Ingo stood near the counter alongside… You presumed, Emmet. He was truly a twin. While you had not disbelieved him, it was more stunning to see two identical people in person. Ingo gave a polite grin to you, while Emmet beamed brighter than the sun.

“Ah, hello,” Ingo greeted you, too, “Did you make it home safely the other day?” You nodded as the smiling twin took his time to eye your dessert display. “I believe you mentioned knowing of my younger brother previously, but I wish to introduce him again,” he pulled Emmet away from the sweets, “This is my twin, Emmet.” His brother waved excitedly at you.

“Oh, you are who brother was verrry worried about,” Emmet's tone almost sounded like he was teasing, “Check safety, do not fall asleep on the train!” You laughed at his tone. He was certainly more animated than his older brother. Their fashion styles were completely different, you noted. Emmet wore a baggy sweat shirt, while his brother had taken to a fitted sweater and overcoat.

“I don't plan on it,” you assured them both, “What would you two like today?” You quickly took down their orders. Emmet seemed to want to drown his coffee in sugar and sweet cream in comparison to how Ingo still took his plain. The younger also ordered a slice of marble cake. They sat down at a table and quickly feel into an easy discussion about the subway and pokemon battles. You continued your cleaning until you heard coughing. Turning around, you saw Ingo's face bright red and Emmet lightly patting his back.

“I-Is he okay?” you asked in a panic. Emmet nodded and motioned you over.

“He is just flustered,” Emmet's eyes cut into his brother, “Thank you!” You calmed down as Ingo regained his breath and shot a glare at Emmet.

“My brother made an ill joke,” Ingo explained, “I am sorry to have worried you.” You shook your head. You backed away as you headed back to the counter. “… Hey,” he called out, “Er… Are you free any time soon?” You flinched.

“… Shop's closed on Mondays,” you told him, “That's my day off, usually.” Emmet giggled at his brother as he switched his gaze between you and his brother eagerly.

“Could… Would you mind meeting me at the Gear Station?” he asked, “I would like to spend some time with you…” You felt warmth rush to your cheeks as you realised his words. Was he waking you out? Judging by how Emmet was acting, you felt like he was.

“I'd love to, Ingo,” you told him.

The sweet, relieved smile he gave you made your heart warm.