#and anyway i think we could do with more platonic fics and art and stuff
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solarballs-confessions · 5 months ago
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I feel like a hypocrite sometimes cause I don’t like SB ships but I ship osc characters (object show community) I keep the mentality that “I shouldn’t ship planets 💀” but I ship object characters which is technically the same thing so fuck 💀💀 I’m so conflicted about this HELP ME OUT—
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ddlcbrainrot · 7 months ago
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What are your ships in ddlc? I noticed you do all the ships- If you ship all then what’s your favorite ship?
Now, whoever you are how did you that i was thinking of talking about my ship opinions soon?? mind wizard
SO, here’s the thing : when it comes to ships in genera it takes a lot for me to actually have OTPs and stuff and this is especially true in ddlc for me. For me shipping is more of a “sure, i could get behind this” sort of thing, except if once in a blue moon i find that one ship that alters my brain chemistry but believe it or not that has not really happened to me with any of the ddlc ships. It has happened with the game as a whole, but not really with the ships. The only one that has come close i’d say is sayonika but that’s more bc they happen to be the characters that i think about the most
That being said, i’d say i ship every ship in the game, simply because i could honestly see all of them working out in one way or another. Sure, they’re are some i like more than others but generally all of them work. And yes, this includes the Mc ships even though i like them less bc the side stories blew it out of the park with the chemistry between the girls
Speaking of the side stories, they are the sole reason i got into the shipping side of the fandom lol. The base game, as influential as it was for me, never really ignited any shipping sparks ig. I actually could not care less for the shipping before the side stories, bc most of it felt kind of trope-y ironically enough. Like, Natsuri was the big one, which was only popular bc of the whole opposite’s attract thing (not that there’s anything wrong with that ofc, it just never really resonated with me). Sayonika was a victim of what i like to call the “leftovers syndrome” where two characters are shipped bc they are the only ones left to be shipped with.
And Mc.. well let’s talk about that actually. Mc x Yuri is well… how do i put this. They have absolutely nothing in common. I don’t necessarily hate this ship however, if i see it done right i can like it. Mc x Natsuki was alright, the banter was fun, they actually have things they can talk about, it’s overall a nice ship. I will say i prefer them as close friends, but if i was to see media (fan art, fics, mods etc) where it’s done right, i can appreciate it. Mc x Sayori is also a ship i can enjoy from time to time, probably the most out of any Mc ship. Again, i do prefer talking about their friendship more though but now that i’m writing this down i realise i’m just a slut for male/female friendships. Mc x Monika truly depends on what context the characters are given. Are we talking about non-sentient Monika x Mc? Bc that can be pretty fun. If we are talking about sentient Monika x Mc, i see a very interesting dynamic (not a particularly good one) where Monika is basically using Mc as a vessel for the player in her desperation. Can Mc feel this dynamic? Does he understand in some way that he’s the second choice, even if he doesn’t know the truth about their world? How does it affect him? Its fun to ponder about this ig, but it doesn’t really make for a healthy relationship
Then the side stories came out, where the characters evolved from their one-dimensional tropes into actual personalities with enticing dynamics between them and i was immediately sold. That being said, i still don’t really have an OTP per say, bc as stated before all of them could work out. Which is definitely bc of how we get to see each of them interact individually in each side story. In every side story, we see each character interact with the other and learn how to grow as individuals because of it. I could see each pairing happening individually, i could see them being a poly couple, maybe even a qpr, or just a very close friend group too! There is a lot of love between the characters, whether that is romantic, platonic or something in between im not 100% certain on, but the love is definitely there.
Anyway, you also asked what my favourite ship would be, and i’ll probably say Sayonika since most of the media I consume tends to be with them
WOW this was a long post. Hope i didn’t bore you too much. Thank you for the ask!!
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forabeatofadrum · 2 years ago
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Do you have zimbits fic recs? I’ve never really gotten into Check Please fic, but I just got Madison in the mail and now I wanna read more zimbits but don’t know where to start!
YOU GOT MADISON?????? ASAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!! My order hasn't been shipped yet so no spoilers, but you ask and you shall receive. It got long, so I am putting it under a cut in no particular order. ALSO the new Tumblr post maker is absolutely fucking terrible and it took so long to format this because of it. The whole idea of creating "blocks" in posts is stupid and it doesn't function well ANYWAY FIC TIME.
Set Your Old Heart Free by IBoatedHere
Jack doesn’t find Bitty after graduation. They don’t kiss. Jack doesn't go to Madison for the 4th. They still fall in love.
It's a simple premise, but so well executed. I uhhh always cry at the end and I love to read Jack's thoughts.
when it’s over (you’re the start) by @whoacanada
Jack goes to sleep in Providence next to his boyfriend and wakes up in Montréal to discover he's been in a coma since 2009. Refusing to believe Samwell, Bitty, and the Falconers were all a dream, Jack tracks down the real Shitty, Lardo, Ransom, and Holster to find they’ve shared the same group hallucination for years. Now, they’re on a mission to find Bitty, the love of Jack’s non-existent life, and the only member of SMH they can’t seem to get in contact with.
What it says on the tin. It is a "what if" story and it is great.
i'll see you with your laughter lines by the_one_that_fell
Eric Bittle was fourteen when his soulmate died.
They'd never even gotten to meet.
This is a great story, but heed the warnings. It's an interesting spin on the soulmate trope, because yeah, you can argue that Jack died when he overdosed, even if it was just for a small moment.
like a handprint on my heart by the_one_that_fell
"Dude, we've got an over-competitive golf dad, a badass art freak, a pre-med lax bro on the verge of a breakdown, a chronically naked rugby player, a beat-boxing giant, and an itty-bitty, baking figure skater - there's no way we came together accidentally. This was fate."
"Or it's the normal progression of human beings making friends. Chill out, bro."
(Or, the one where no one plays hockey, but it still manages to bring them all together.)
I have so much to say about this story. SO MUCH. It once gave me a breakdown when I was feeling super lonely, cause the fic is about friendship. Zimbits is just a part of it, though. Everyone gets a moment to shine and it's so good.
don't you look charming (here in the eye of a hurricane) by @whoacanada
In 2009, Jack Zimmermann doesn't just walk away from his future, he packs a bag and runs.
ANGST ANGST ANGST!! This fic captivated me so much. I don't know what else to say!!!
My Words on Your Skin by There_Once_Was_A_Girl
Jack and Bitty have a unique soul connection, they can write back and forth to each other by writing on their own skin. They know each other long before they've ever met. But when Jack overdoses Bitty thinks he's lost the love of his life forever.
Just like the other soulmate AU fic above, this takes the soulmate idea and runs with it. What do you do when you believe the other is dead?
you’ve got my number by ambrosius
It’s not as if Jack was totally inept when it came to technology. He could handle his Tweeter (Tweety? Twits? Twitter? Did it really matter?) just fine and if he’s honest, he much preferred texting to calling most days. So when he gets added to a group chat full of strangers, well, he’s pretty sure he can handle whatever comes next.
This one is so good. I am a bitch for epistolary stuff and I am glad it exists.
Graduation Dayby IBoatedHere
It takes Jack 50 days to finally see what's been right in front of him for the past two years.
Groundhog Day AU, but make it Zimbits. Jack doesn't kiss Bitty when he graduates, and that's fine, right? Well, looks like the universe disagrees. Also this fic has a real good platonic Jackshit moment.
Will Wonders Never Cease by @porcupine-girl
Eric has landed his dream job: social media manager for the Providence Falconers! Not only does he get paid to tweet, for an NHL team at that, but it’s a job where he’ll be able to make good use of his magic - when nobody’s looking, of course. Everyone on the Falconers is a joy to work with… with the notable exception of Jack Zimmermann. Eric understands that Jack doesn’t like social media, but he could certainly be a little more polite about it.
Luckily, Eric has support from his Samwell buddies, as well as his best friend - a man whose face he’s never seen, and whose name he doesn’t know. They met on an online forum where witches can gather anonymously, since it isn’t safe for them to advertise their existence in a world where magic isn’t trusted. They’ve been friends for years now, but Eric is only just starting to realize that he might have deeper feelings for someone he can never meet face-to-face.
THIS FIC!!! Jenna, I don't know if you read my fic Ebb & Flow, but I mentioned this fic in the author's note, because it was a huge inspiration. It's a secret identity magical She Loves Me AU. It sounds bonkers, but it is so goooood.
if you're going through hell (keep going) by @whoacanada
Eighteen years ago, Samwell suffered the tragic loss of one of their most promising young athletes. Ever since rumors have circulated that the school is haunted by the ghost of Eric Bittle. At least, that’s the only way anyone can seem to explain why the locker rooms smell like freshly baked apple pie on game days instead of the usual, omnipresent hockey funk.
Now in the twilight of his career, Jack Zimmermann is facing his own mortality and the last item on his bucket list?
Return to Samwell and disprove the rumor that his long-dead boyfriend is haunting Faber Memorial Rink.
MAIN CHARACTER DEATH!!! WARNING!!! And not like the previous soulmate AUs where the one thinks the other is dead. Bitty dies and Jack moved on, but he has to face the past, because people claim Bitty's ghost is real. Jack decides to find out himself.
Inertia by @foryouandbits
At the age of seven, Eric Bittle is tackled so hard in peewee football, it feels as though he's been knocked into another dimension. At the encouragement of his father, he avoids contact sports until he receives a scholarship to play hockey at Samwell University. The result is the same: every check on the ice hurts so much that Eric hallucinates another world. Eric spends the rest of his freshman year attempting to prove himself to his captain and his coaches. He questions his worth, his talent, and his sanity, and in his search for answers, he uncovers long-hidden secrets that change everything he has ever known.
I loved this one. It is an interesting take on dimension travel and Coach in this story is so great as well. I highly recommend it.
Ice Crew Please! by @petals42
Jack Zimmermann was drafted first by the Providence Falconers when he was eighteen years old. He is good at hockey. Very good. His team won the Cup his second year and now, in his third year, they are looking good. Jack should be on top of the world. And some days, he manages to convince himself he is.
He’s not, of course.
Enter the Ice Crew.
AKA: The Ice Crew AU
This sorta!fic is a fic about friendship thawing Jack Zimmermann's heart. Jack realises he's kind of a dick towards the ice crew of the Falcs and so he gets to know them, including Bitty. It's a good fucking friendship fic.
All shall know the wonder by me, lol
When Bitty decides to skate on Sunday mornings, he didn’t expect to meet a nice, handsome man who cannot hear. The Sunday mornings lead to a deep friendship that slowly leads to more.
Yes, I am finishing this list with a shameless self-promotion. I have 28 fics on AO3, 27 of them being Zimbits (one Holsom) and this is my favourite. Yeehaw.
That's it for now. There's a lot more in my Check, Please! fic tag. Also, hi to the people I have @'ed. If y'all know the tumblr URLs of some writers mentioned on this post, lemme know so I can add them.
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critter-genfic-events · 1 year ago
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Critter Genfic Bingo!
Critter Gen Week starts in one week! From August 17 - 23rd, we’ll be hosting a week of art, meta, and gen fic for critical role.
But what if you just found out about Critter Gen Week, or life happened and you didn’t get as far as you’d hoped?
Well, we’re having Critter Genfic Bingo!
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The dragon is by Icongeek26, the D20 is by Michelle Lukezic, both from The Noun Project.
How this works: Starting on August 24th, there will be a form you can fill out with a couple of questions.  Once you fill it out, we’ll send you your own customized bingo card. Then, write a gen fic to fill in a prompt square, and try to get bingo! Any fic that is a prompt fill can be added to a collection, and if you get bingo, you’ll get a nifty image as a reward.
Have more questions? Then -
What kind of questions are you asking me? We’ll need a way to contact you for your bingo card. But mostly, it’ll be on what mix of prompts you want:
General Prompts - Everybody gets these
Critter Gen Week Prompts - If you already participated in gen week, you might not want these, but if you missed out, here you go!
Whump Prompts - The hurt/comfort stuff. Or hurt, no comfort.
Typically Romantic Prompts - Do you want to subvert some romantic tropes? Write a coffeeshop AU focusing on running a coffee shop? Have people share a bed platonically? Go for it.
The last question is to see if you have any suggestions for prompts that we haven’t covered yet. It might or might not show up on your card!
I’d like to see a prompt list. Sure thing, here you go: Genfic Bingo. Remember, you don’t have to fill out every single prompt on your card to get bingo, so don’t worry too much about the things you don’t want to do.
When is this due? There is no due date - This is a rolling event - meaning it doesn’t have a start or stop. You can request a bingo card at any time, and you can turn in your bingo card whenever.
What do you mean ‘get bingo’? For the purposes of this event, bingo includes any horizontal, vertical or diagonal line with prompts filled. We’re also counting it as bingo if you fill all four corners. The middle space is a ‘free space’ and you automatically get it.  You do not have to fill all 24 prompts to win!
I know you just said that I don’t have to fill all 24 prompts to win, but I took that as a challenge. If you do a full blackout with 24 prompts filled, you’ll get a special image for being an overachiever and my respect.
Do I have to do a separate fic for each prompt? nope!
Okay, I wrote my fic. What now? If it’s on tumblr, tag it critter genfic bingo  and we’ll reblog it. If it’s on AO3, we’ll add it to a collection.
I got bingo! How do I get my sweet sweet badge of honor? You’ll fill out a form! I’m going to be asking you for a) the contact name and b) which tropes you used, and link to the fics
By gen, do you mean general audience? Nope. There is no requirement for this to be child friendly. Put your blorbos in the blender as much as you choose.
What counts as gen fic? We’re defining gen fic as fanfic that does not have romantic or sexual relationships as the main focus of the work. If any romantic or sexual relationships could be removed from the story and the story would have the same general amount of emotional and logical coherency, or the relationship all happens off screen, it’s probably gen.
Genre definitions are always a little slippery, and we’re not cops. We’re trusting the participants to be acting in good faith. If you think it’s predominantly gen, then it counts.
I’m more of an artist. Can I participate? So this event was thought of as more of a way to bring visibility to gen fic, but if you want a prompt list anyway, you can still ask for the bingo card. 
I want to talk to other critter fic writers or have a place to brainstorm some of my ideas: Check out the writer’s corner! It's got space for prompts, sprints, and other writers willing to be soundboards! If you’re interested, message @professor-rye
I have questions you didn't answer! We also have an askbox!
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enigmaticexplorer · 6 months ago
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A lot of intense feelings happening in this chapter. And none of them are good!
I'm not blaming Daria...I try really hard to not blame Daria in this fic, because I can't imagine what it would be like for her.
Haha I feel this. The first two Parts of this story make Daria a strong antagonist. And that's intentional. This is all in Kazi's POV and we're seeing everything through your world view, so Daria had to be presented as antagonistic because that's how Kazi feels about her. It's only when Kazi starts to open herself to her sister again that we get to other sides to Daria :)
I am very intrigued by whatever is happening with her and Cody.
Same 😌
I'm not sure what his motive is yet, but it fascinates me.
Fox is a fun guy. He's so full of contradictions: he wants to earn Neyti's trust just like his brothers but he keeps her at arm's length; he wants to settle down but he won't commit if his brothers don't; he sees Kazi as a means to an end but he's also starting to like her (in a platonic way) and it scares him. Anyway, Fox's Muse recently posted and I hope that sheds some light on his motivations and actions :)
Honestly, Cody is the only one of this group of clones who really has a pretty good handle on interpersonal relationships, which of course is not surprising.
I imagine at night, when the others have gone to bed, that Cody forces Wolffe and Fox to sit at the basement table while he criticizes all of their behaviors/actions around the women/kid. He's so done with his brothers' inability to create peace 😂
But I've been thinking about it a lot since that art came back on my radar yesterday. Your fic was the first thing I thought of when I saw it.
I love seeing how people picture characters, so both art pieces were a lovely insight! I've actually seen that Fox artwork before and I LOVE it. It's a fav of mine.
I felt a pain my chest, because I felt so bad for Fox. He didn't mean any harm, he's just not good with this stuff.
What I love about this moment between Kazi and Fox is that it's the first time Fox sees just how protective Kazi is of Daria and Neyti. We learned in Cody's Muse that the men were aware of the tension between Kazi and Daria. And Kazi has kept her distance and made it clear that she's unhappy--to the point that her disgruntlement can be taken as aloofness towards Daria and possibly Neyti. This moment--her snapping at Fox after he made a comment about her sister and her kid--is the first time Fox sees that protective side in Kazi. And it makes him realize the similarity between her and Wolffe. I know you've read ahead so I'll mention Chapter 17: We learn that Fox is constantly trying to figure Kazi out. The way that Kazi was forming a character study of Wolffe, Fox was doing the same for her. She's a means to an end for him (as we'll learn much later in both his Muse and Part IV of this fic) and so this moment sheds some light on her character and provides new intel for him to analyze.
There is no way I could have brought up the intel with Wolffe. But Kazi sure did!
It's something I love about Kazi and Wolffe--their inability to let something go. This argument has been long in the making, and it wouldn't have mattered if it happened that night or a different week, they would've exploded on one another. They were both harboring so many mistrustful opinions against the other and they needed to let it all out. Both Kazi and Wolffe tend to internalize their emotions which obviously leads to intense bottling (not healthy lol). They're control freaks who think emotions can be restrained and they're not prepared for when the pressure heats too much. Explosion is always inevitable. And neither of them held back! I've written them so similar because, as much as I love the opposites trope, I find it more realistic when people are together because they're similar. And boy, are Kazi and Wolffe similar in a lot of ways. They just refuse to acknowledge it at the moment haha.
Thank you so much for these comments! I love reading through them!
I Yearn, and so I Fear - Chapter V
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Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
General Summary. Nearly a year since the Galactic Empire’s rise to power, Kazi Ennari is trying to survive. But her routine is interrupted—and life upended—when she’s forced to cohabitate with former Imperial soldiers. Clone soldiers. 
Pairing. Commander Wolffe x female!OC
General Warnings. Canon-typical violence and assault, familial struggles, terminal disease, bigotry, explicit sexual content, death. This story deals with heavy content. If you’re easily triggered, please do not read. For a more comprehensive list of tags, click here.
Fic Rating. E (explicit)/18+/Minors DNI.
Chapter Word Count. 4.6K
Beta. @starstofillmydream
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3 Helona
“These symptoms are extreme for this stage of her illness,” Healer Natasha said.
Kazi didn’t respond as she studied her sister. 
Asleep, Daria looked fragile. Easily breakable. Like the glass dolls common in Reformist households on Ceaia. The dolls with unblinking eyes, perfectly plain skin, and rosy lips. 
Sweat glistened on Daria’s forehead. Her breathing was shallow yet slowing, courtesy of the anesthetic med-spike Kazi stabbed her with an hour ago.
The fear in her sister’s eyes—the sheer terror—when Kazi pinned her to the ground was imprinted in her mind. 
It happened so fast. 
Kazi had only just returned from work. Exhausted, she visited Neyti’s empty room to place a new stuffed animal—a space whale—on the pillows. On her way back, she caught sight of Daria in her room, staring at a wall, rocking slightly.
“Daria?” Kazi asked hesitantly. 
Daria flinched. “Where are we?” she whispered. “Why am I here?”
The fear in her sister’s voice moored Kazi to the floor. She was so tired—mentally and physically worn to the bones—that she could only stare at her sister. Confused. Uncomprehending. She took one step forward but Daria collapsed to the floor. Her hands flattened against her ears. Her body curved into a ball. She panted for air. 
It was the sound of her panicked breaths that snapped Kazi into action. She snatched the med-spike from the hallway closet. The medicine had sat there, unused, for months. 
She had never expected to use it.
And she hadn’t expected Daria to start crying, begging, her not to hurt her. 
Scared and unnerved, Kazi stabbed Daria with the med-spike. Her sister fell limp beneath her. 
The only good thing about the situation: Neyti was downstairs sketching, and Commander Fox and trooper Nova were gone, so no one witnessed the ordeal. 
“I thought you said her medicine was supposed to prevent these symptoms.” Kazi faced Healer Natasha, folding her arms across her chest.
After endless appointments with Ceaian healers unwilling to treat Daria, Kazi was relieved to meet Healer Natasha. 
A decade older, Healer Natasha was quick to diagnose Daria, create a treatment plan, and enforce necessary care all within two weeks. The healer was dedicated to Daria’s treatment. Determined to ease her suffering and preserve the stability of her mind for as long as possible. Her kindly personality and patient attentiveness made her respectable and trustworthy.  
However, months ago, Healer Natasha claimed a morning and nightly potion would curb Daria’s symptoms. That severe episodes of forgetfulness and panic were improbable the first fifteen months of the disease’s three-year timeframe.
The disease wasn’t supposed to progress for another eight months. 
“The potions should be working.” Healer Natasha studied Daria’s pulse and scribbled a note onto her datapad. “Their efficacy is tested and proven. There must be something interfering…”
Kazi swallowed a bite of fear. “How much time do you think she has?” 
“Possibly a year.” Kazi blanched and Healer Natasha offered her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. I can ease the symptoms as much as possible until the next stage.”
“The next stage is—”
“Loss of memory. I advise moving her to the medical center for 24-hour care.”
“You said Stage Two won’t happen until Telona of next year. At the earliest.” Her heart was beating far too fast, and she swallowed, forcing her breaths to calm. “You said she had at least two years to live from Telona. She’s only been sick for seven months.”
“Daria’s disease is an anomaly, and one we have little information to study,” the healer said gently. “The disease has few similarities across patients and we still don’t know the cause or if it’s curable. I am operating based on what I have researched, but much is left to the unknown.”
Kazi knew all of this—they had talked about it before. But it didn’t make acceptance easier.
Seven months ago, she was working in Ceaia’s capital when she received a comm message from home. Nearly eight years had passed without word from her mother, and she had rarely spoken to Daria in that time. So the comm message shocked her. She didn’t know what to expect.
That night, she quit her job, packed her belongings, and bought a one-way ticket back home. 
The local healer didn’t know how to treat Daria and the few droids available were just as useless. Kazi threw herself into researching Daria’s symptoms, cross-referencing potential illnesses, contacting various healers across the planet and then expanding her search to neighboring systems. She argued her way into consultations with the most renowned healers. 
All of those hours researching, all of those days she spent trying to find a solution, were ultimately futile. The last healer they saw on Ceaia claimed the disease was a progressive destruction of memory and mental functions. There was no cure. 
In private, the healer had advised Kazi to stop wasting her time and monetary resources on her sister. To instead enroll Daria in a 24-hour hospice center. The pity on his face at her immediate refusal still rankled her. 
Through it all—the dozens of consultations and various healers—Daria became more withdrawn. Reclusive and quiet. Kazi assumed it was a combination of shock and grief. 
Their mother was no help. Daria was her pride, and her hope for the future, and Daria’s inability to marry into society left her depressed.
Her hopelessness didn’t matter much since she passed away a few months later. From heart failure. It wasn’t a shock considering she was in her early seventies. She didn’t have Kazi and Daria until her early forties, as Traditionalist and Reformist culture encouraged, and the combined stress of Kazi leaving home at eighteen and the onslaught of Daria’s disease was too much for her to handle.  
Kazi thought their mother’s death would upset Daria. To her surprise, her sister became less morose and reclusive. 
“I don’t have much time,” Daria said one day, her smile forcibly brave, “and I won’t waste it moping.”
Healer Natasha placed a hand on Kazi’s shoulder, her fingers dark brown and scarred. “You should prepare yourself for the possibility that Daria’s illness is progressing at a faster rate.”
“I understand.” Kazi observed Daria’s pallid features. “Thank you for coming by tonight. I know it’s not in your contract—”
“Daria is my only patient. I’m here for her.” Kazi nodded her gratitude while the healer packed her bag. Once her instruments were sequestered away, Healer Natasha straightened, a frown marring her features. “A question, Ms. Lucien: has Daria encountered anything at home that could have increased her stress levels in the past months?”
The last three months zipped through Kazi’s memories, like a holofilm fast-forwarded. The clones’ arrival was the sole anomaly. But had built a rapport with Commanders Cody and Fox, and on some occasions, she even cooked with the former. 
An indicator of high stress probably emerged from—
“We’ve had a few disagreements about the future,” Kazi admitted.
“The future?” Healer Natasha hefted her bag. “Her future?”
“No.” Kazi scrunched her nose. “Mine.”
Healer Natasha nodded in understanding, approaching the bedroom door. “It would be best to avoid stressful conversations as they can exacerbate her symptoms, especially conversations about the future. Patients suffering from terminal disease struggle with both the unknown and the desire for a future. Talks about what you will be doing in a year or two can increase distress.”
Late evening sunshine bespeckled the surrounding jungle when Healer Natasha left. Kazi locked the front door and leaned against the wall, pressing her palms to her eyes. 
Her head felt too heavy. Too full. Like it was stuffed with wet sheep wool and she couldn’t stop it from expanding and thickening. 
Deciding fresh air and the setting sun might ease her headache, Kazi wandered to the sunroom. She expected to find Neyti absorbed in a sketch. Instead, she stumbled on a puzzling sight.  
Outside, Neyti sat among the ferns, a canvas on her lap and a paintbrush in her hand. For a brief moment, Kazi was distracted by the canvas and paints. The ones Commander Cody had gifted Neyti a few days ago. She hadn’t seen Neyti use them before and the sight eased some of her tension. She made a mental note to tell the commander when he returned to the house from his mission. He would appreciate it. 
And then she took in the entire situation, and former elation gave way to exasperation.
Rather than painting, Neyti was scowling, her knuckles white against a paintbrush. Scowling at Commander Fox and trooper Nova.
The clones must have returned from the Marketplace while Kazi was speaking to Healer Natasha. Each carried a bag of groceries, but it was Commander Fox who also held a cup in his hand. He stood a few meters from Neyti and was gesturing to the cup. Behind him, Nova grimaced. 
Commander Fox took a step closer. He started to kneel. 
Eyes narrowed, Neyti brandished her paintbrush and stabbed it in his direction.
“Oh my fucking gods,” Kazi muttered under her breath. 
The commander lifted a hand in surrender, and he slowly lowered the cup to the ground. Neyti swiped at him. Again. Kazi hurried outside.
“Neyti.” The girl blinked at her. Kazi gave her a long look. “We don’t hit people with paintbrushes.” She turned on the commander. “And if she doesn’t want whatever you have, don’t pressure her to accept it.”
Commander Fox shrugged, his casual demeanor forcibly unruffled. “I was going to leave it there and walk away.”
Kazi turned her attention back to Neyti, lifting an eyebrow. Neyti glowered at Commander Fox and then lowered her brush. A frustrated huff spoke her true feelings. 
Sharing a look with Commander Fox—the clone’s mouth pressed in a hard line—Kazi accepted the cup he placed in her hands. Lemony shaved ice filled it to the brim, and she felt herself start to smile as she knelt on the ground. Neyti eyed the cup suspiciously.
“This is a treat,” Kazi explained, spooning a lump of ice.
“I told her that,” the commander said. A distinct line wrinkled between his eyes. “I thought younglings liked dessert.”
“They do.” Nova’s voice was quiet, softer than Commander Fox’s. His hair was longer than any of the three commanders and a yellow tattoo of a rising sun lightened his left cheek. “Guess the problem is you.”
Commander Fox rolled his eyes. 
Ignoring them, Kazi offered the spoonful of ice to Neyti. The girl hesitated. 
“It’s really good, I promise,” she encouraged. 
When Neyti continued to eye the cup, Kazi shrugged, taking a bite for herself. Commander Fox had opted for a simple flavor: lemon with a hint of mint. It wasn’t half bad, though she preferred lemon and lavender. 
“You know,” she said, meeting Neyti’s intrigued gaze, “shaved ice is popular on Ceaia.”
The pointed comment was a theory she had developed the last few weeks, and Neyti’s reaction—her lips parting and former suspicion melting into interest—partially confirmed it. 
Neyti set aside her canvas and paintbrush, and Kazi handed her the cup. Carefully, Neyti spooned a small mouthful of the ice and took a tentative bite. 
Her eyes widened. Fascination, and subtle delight, lit her face. She took another, larger bite.
A quiet, hoarse chuckle emanated from the clone commander, and Neyti stiffened. A disparaging glare darkened her face. To Kazi’s slight amusement, Commander Fox winked. An angry flush darkened Neyti’s face. The little girl shoved herself to her feet, huffed her annoyance in Commander Fox’s direction, and stomped toward the closest tree, collapsing among its knotted roots. 
“Good going,” Nova said. Shoving the commander in the shoulder, he grabbed both bags of groceries and strode into the house.
Commander Fox slid his hands into his trousers’ pockets, watching Neyti. “You have your hands full. With that one and your sister.”
The amusement in his tone—the suggestion behind his comment—made Kazi stiffen. He had no right to judge Neyti and her sister. He had no right to make them his entertainment. 
“Don’t talk about Neyti that way,” she said coldly. “And don’t talk about my sister, either.”
The commander blinked his bemusement. “I wasn’t—”
“I have work to do.” Stepping away, she settled her attention on Neyti. “You should go inside. I think it’s best if you don’t bother her.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw but Commander Fox inclined his head, retreating into the house. 
The moment the back door snapped shut, Kazi grimaced. Maybe she was too quick to judge him. Maybe she shouldn’t have snapped at him. And she probably should have thanked him for thinking of Neyti. For buying her a treat. 
But Kazi couldn’t muster the energy to care. To feel ashamed for her behavior. 
Stress had gnawed through her muscles and was now working on her bones, dull teeth steadily eating her away. 
She wondered how long she would last. 
It didn’t matter, really. Once Neyti was adopted and Daria passed away, there would be nothing left to concern her. And no one to know her.
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The bluish glow of Eluca’s three moons washed across the first level while Kazi mopped the hardwood floors. Unable to sleep, she thought the repetitive motions would soothe the amalgamated mess of conflicting thoughts pounding inside her head. So far, it hadn’t worked.  
She needed to access the bank codes for Bash. And yet she still didn’t know how to.
She needed to research Daria’s disease and see if there was an explanation for her rapid progression. And yet she knew it was ultimately futile.
She needed to reconvene with the adoption center and confirm Neyti’s application. And yet she had to wait for Neyti’s testing. 
She needed to call a mechanic and get the kitchen fixed—the squeaky drawers, broken cabinets, weak faucet grew more problematic by the day. And yet she couldn’t muster the fucking energy to make one comm call.
The house was dirty. She hadn’t properly cleaned the kitchen, living room, and sunroom in a month, and her bedsheets were unwashed for more than three weeks, and she hadn’t dusted in a long time, and there were crumbs—fucking crumbs—on the kitchen counters because the adults in this house were too lazy to properly clean the fucking counters after a meal. 
Living room floors scrubbed and drying, Kazi made her way to the kitchen. A glance at the chrono heightened her fatigue. 
She closed her eyes, telling herself not to cry. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn’t. And she despised lack of sleep. Her head felt too heavy to think and her muscles too slow to respond. She would most likely opt out of a swim and then she would miss an important workout and—
Kazi opened an upper cabinet and retrieved the sole bottle of alcohol in the house. A bottle of aged red wine. 
Daria couldn’t drink because of her medicine, and Kazi disliked the lack of control she experienced when she did drink, so alcohol was in short commodity. The bottle of wine she was uncorking was a gift from the neighbor a kilometer away. An older man she hadn’t spoken to since, though she did wave whenever she saw him drive by. 
A short pop and the cork fell away. A regular glass filled to the brim. A dark red unsavory.
At the first mouthful, Kazi nearly spit it out. Gods, she hated wine. Too sweet. Too thick. Too many uncomfortable memories. 
Another mouthful and she closed her eyes. The image of Daria, pale and sweaty, begging not to be hurt, seared her mind. Her eyes flew open. She released a shaky breath.
The urge to run spasmed down her spine. The urge to leave the house, leave her sister and Neyti, and just run. 
Run far away. Away from the responsibility, away from Daria’s suffering.
Kazi stared at the dark wine, its color too reminiscent of blood. Her hand started to shake and she set the glass aside. It was pathetic, but the bloody glass reminded her of her first, and only, time fishing with her father. 
She was five, eager to prove herself a reliable sailing companion. 
They sailed to one of the islands, her father cast a line, and they sat for an hour. Waiting. It was a rare day. The sun peeked through Ceaia’s usually gray clouds, its rays a gregarious warmth. 
Little Kazi had high expectations. For both herself and the experience. 
The line snagged, and she and her father shared an excited grin, reeling in the first catch of the day: a fish longer than her arm and quite fat. She watched her father kneel on the wooden boards. The fish squirmed and struggled. Kazi no longer felt excited. 
Her father raised a long spike. She kept watching the fish try to escape. To return home and live. Her father stabbed the fish in its head.
The sight haunted her nightmares for an entire year.
The fish wriggling. Blood oozing from its scales. The sound of its tail smacking the deck.
It took a long time for the fish to quiet and then still.
Little Kazi sobbed. She sobbed over the pain and suffering of a fucking fish. 
Startled by her reaction, her father abandoned the rest of the trip and they returned home. And so began a life avoiding the signs of pain and suffering. 
More difficult to avoid than Kazi had expected considering her mother owned the local apothecary and served as a healer on most days. She had forced Kazi and Daria to accompany her during busy hours. Daria helped. Eager to ease patients’ suffering. Eager to do good. Kazi stood in the corner, hands pressed to her ears, trembling as she listened to grunts of pain. Screams.
She took to running away. To avoid it all. 
The day her father died, she was ten, and she saw him in the med-center bed. His body was broken; his face was swollen. He had reached for her. His pain was too similar to Daria’s. 
Except his death was different. 
His sudden absence left her shocked and grieving—there was no time to prepare. She had eaten breakfast with him that morning, and he was gone by dinner.
Daria’s illness prolonged her pain and suffering. 
There would come a time when her little sister no longer remembered her. A time when Daria wouldn’t even know her own name. 
And Kazi wasn’t prepared for it. No matter the façade she wore, she wasn’t prepared. 
Swallowing another mouthful of the sweet wine, Kazi drained two-thirds of the glass. She was about to force herself to finish it when the front door banged open.
The glass fell. Its shatter was as loud as a blaster shot in the silence of night. Wine splattered her freshly mopped floors. 
Heart slamming against her chest, Kazi peered around the staircase wall and toward the entryway. A glaring Commander Wolffe followed by a narrow-eyed Commander Cody shadowed the hall. The front door snapped behind them, the lock sliding in place.
The anger emanating from them was palpable enough that Kazi’s stomach dropped. Tension slithered down her spine and she retreated into the middle of the kitchen, the bar serving as a barrier. 
The clones trudged toward the bookcase, Commander Cody offering her a grim nod before disappearing into the basement. Commander Wolffe paused beside the bookcase. He tucked a small, worn notebook into his utility belt and lifted his gaze to hers. 
A blackening blob puffed his right eye. His tetchy expression reminded her of their last conversation a few nights ago. The conversation when he rudely dismissed her. 
Tapping her fingers against the counter, she studied the harsh lines of his face. 
Mouth pressed in a thin line. Shoulders rigid. Jaw clenched painfully tight. 
“Do you want to discuss the intel?” she asked.
It was like poking a shark with a fishing pole—purposeful agitation with the expectation of a reaction. She knew she should ignore him. Clean up the glass and go to bed. However, she wanted to antagonize him. Because he was rude and dismissive and she needed to know why he no longer wanted to share intel. Needed to know why she wasn’t considered good enough for him.
“I told you,” he said, voice taut with restraint, “I’ve changed my mind.”
“Why.” 
The commander regarded her. Bored, unfazed by her question.
“I don’t understand you.” She chuffed a sardonic laugh. “You were the one who asked me to work on the intel—”
“I don’t believe you’re capable of handling it.”
Her lips pursed. “I attended one of the most prestigious universities in the Outer Rim. I received not only my first degree in basic analytics, but I received a second and third degree in military and political intelligence. Military analytics is my specialty. I’m more than credentialed to analyze your intelligence. More than you probably are as a soldier.”
Commander Wolffe released a scoff so full of scorn her vision reddened. The commander’s outline blurred at the edges, and she knew she needed to walk away. 
“What’s your problem?” she demanded. 
A moment of silence passed. The commander seemed to be wavering between his two options: engage or back away. His soldiery background must have won out because he squared his shoulders and let the bookcase close. He took a step closer, countenance ornery. 
“My brothers and I are the ones out there. Running missions. Risking our lives,” Commander Wolffe said. His voice was low, strained with a rising rage that set her on edge. “We don’t have room for a shoddy analytic job. We don’t have room for mistakes.” 
“My analyses are not shoddy,” Kazi hissed. “I dedicate time and effort to make sure they’re the most accurate they can be—”
“I know you don’t give a shit about the lives of my brothers. But I do.” He levelled the full weight of his glare on her. A glare full of vitriolic antipathy. “And I won’t put their lives at risk based on your analyses.”
Kazi blinked her shock, straightening her spine. This asshole was questioning her credibility. Questioning her effectiveness at a skillset she had honed for eight years. The skillset she dedicated years of her life to perfecting in order to escape the forced life of demure housewife and child-bearer. 
“I would never put someone’s life at risk.” Heated rage turmoiled beneath her skin, churning hotter and faster. “You have no right to judge my skillset—”
“I reserve every right to question your credibility. These are my brothers at risk—”
“Then why did you ask me for help?” 
“I miscalculated.” He shrugged. “I realize now you’re lacking the quality we need.”
Internally, she flinched, and it took more effort than she cared to admit to keep her features unruffled. His opinion didn’t matter. She knew her skillset was credible and refined, but she couldn’t entirely dissuade the self-doubt it procured. 
“You’re the one who asked me for help, and now all you can do is ridicule my work?” A hollow laugh broke loose. “You’re pathetic.”
Commander Wolffe jerked away, his nostrils flaring and scowl hardening into deep fissures. He took a breath. And then another. Never looking away. 
“Are you going to bring men around here?” The question caught her off guard but she didn’t miss the blatant mistrust and scorn. “I’ll need to know. For security purposes.”
Kazi eyed him for a long moment and then realization crashed into her. 
The commander had overheard her argument with Daria. A good portion of it.
The judgment in his gaze—the expectation that she would risk their operation for a male—was despicable. And it pissed her off even more.
“That’s not a problem you need to worry about.” She fisted her hands at her sides to steady herself, both from the wine blurring her vision and the defensive anger howling to get out. “Instead of worrying about who I spend my time with, maybe you should worry about your own missions. Since they’re clearly ineffective.”
It was a low blow. A punch straight to his ego and she knew it. She relished in his nearly imperceptible flinch. 
“I thought you were running rescue missions, Commander.” She gestured to the empty entryway. “Where are your rescued soldiers?” The taunt was cruel and horrible and she would regret it the moment the conversation ended, but in the moment, she wanted him to hurt. The way she was hurting beneath his criticism of her character. “Maybe if you had an accurate analysis—”
“Shut up.” 
“What? You don’t like hearing the truth? Your missions are pointless and do nothing for the good of the galaxy—”
“I’m rescuing my men. I’m doing something. What the fuck are you doing?”
Commander Wolffe took a step closer to the bar, running his tongue along his teeth. Kazi widened her stance, refusing to balk beneath his hostility. 
“You’re a nobody from a backwater planet that thought it could rebel against the Empire.” The commander leaned across the bar. “What good did that do for your people? For the galaxy?”
Kazi suddenly felt both cold and hot. How he knew about Ceaia, she wasn’t sure, but it threw her off-kilter. An attack on a vulnerability she tried so hard to bury. An attack on the guilt she harbored for her cowardice.
“You wanna talk about doing nothing for the galaxy,” Commander Wolffe growled, “let’s start with you running from your planet. You could have stayed and fought. And instead, you saved yourself—” 
“It would have been a massacre.” Her voice was quiet, underscored by a slight tremble. “Staying would have done nothing—”
He snorted. “You’re a coward.”
“I’m trying to help others. The rebel network—”
“Is an idealistic group of people. They naively believe they can take down the Empire—”
“And is it not naively idealistic to try to rescue clone soldiers from the Empire?” She snickered and the commander stilled, his features stony. “What’s the point? There are hundreds of thousands of clones. You can’t save them all.” 
“You wouldn’t understand.” He cocked his head, his sneer belittling. “Your home life is fucked up. You have a kid who doesn’t trust you. Your relationship with your sister is estranged. You’re a shitty sister and even shittier caretaker. And you wouldn’t know the first thing about familial duty.”
The accusation burrowed into her chest and flayed open the encaged emotions she worked tirelessly to repress. Her insides felt cold and tears—from both hurt and self-righteous anger—pressed at the corners of her eyes.
“How can you judge me for my home life when you don’t even understand the meaning of it?” She swallowed, ignoring the blood welling in her palms beneath her fingernails. “You’re a clone. What do you know about familial duty?”
The commander’s upper lip curled. “I have brothers—men I care for. Men I’m trying to save. Every mission I run is for them. What have you done for your family? Nothing.”
“You don’t know what I’ve done for my family. You don’t know what I do for them. You have no right—”
“And you had no right to question me—”
“You’re a paranoid bastard.” A tear eased down her cheek and she furiously wiped it away. “You’re so fucking paranoid because you turned on your own people. Your actions allowed the Empire to rise and the Republic to crumble. And now you expect any and everyone to turn on you because you were the traitor first.”
She was done with this argument. She was so fucking done with him.
“Ridicule the network; ridicule me. I don’t care. But you’re not the selfless hero you believe you are.” Stalking toward the staircase, Kazi threw him a final glare over her shoulder. “If you don’t trust my work—or me—then you can leave.”
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Masterlist | Chapter 4 | Chapter 6
A/N: Next chapter release – February 8th
This is where the fun begins.
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Tag: @ulchabhangorm
33 notes · View notes
luimagines · 3 years ago
Note
Hey, I’m not sure how to explain this but getting straight to the point, I’m the person who runs the yandere-linked-universe blog and I’m pretty sure you’re pinkittwice.
So, I was just wondering what ideas you might have about the chain being yandere for one person. Like, what would the dynamic be and how they would behave as yanderes, you know that kind of stuff.
I hope it’s not too much to ask but I’m just curious to see what you might think of it since you’re pretty much the only person on the sight that I know of who also writes things involving lu and the reader. I’m not unhappy or dissatisfied in any way but it does get a little lonely being the only person who writes stuff like this. Sorry if this is too weird.
Masterlist
Yahaha~! You found me!
Everybody go check out their stuff @yandere-linked-universe
They do cool art sometimes and are even writing a whole fic which you can find right here.
It's really well written and I'm excited to see how the story progresses and where it goes- especially endgame.
And I'm assuming the ask means if they were yandere in the same circumstance than in the story.
That being said, I'm still going to apply the rules I have set for the Links. Like how Sky was never with his Zelda and similarly how Time and Malon never really happened. As for Wind, he will not be platonic unlike in the fic mentioned above- I will explain this in his section I promise.
Also, disclaimer, I'm not good at horror and I've never written for these types of characters before. But if you want headcanons then I'll provide the brainstorm that I've been cooking up of ever since I got this ask. (And it was a while ago I'm sorry for the wait.)
I'm also including some songs that I think best fit their rose tinted glasses ideal. Not necessarily yandere and can apply to Link being in love with you in general but it's as close as I'm going to get to making a playlist.
I might come back and change them to stalker songs and add these songs to a separate list entirely but maybe not...
Content under the cut!
It's long, brace yourself.
As a group, I think jealously would run high.
Everybody wants the attention of a single person and there's eight other people as competition.
If the group was tight knit as we like to portray them, it won't last long.
If dear reader was a little caring or naturally falls into a healer/medic position in the group, the group becomes more reckless, less caring about their personal safety- if only to get a momentary caress from the love of their life's fingers as their wounds are tended to.
There's less group unity and alliances between them form.
If the reader isn't a fighter well...
They would take turns guarding their prize and fight to be the one to do it.
Leaving you behind when they go to dungeons is a must.
They won't risk you getting a scratch on your person let alone putting you in a potentially dangerous situation.
They try to keep all their weapons away and out of reach. Less you get any ideas and try to fight with them or worse, get hurt playing with them.
Or try to fight against them. HAHAHAHA!! How crazy would that be?
Like you would stand a chance.
When you're simply traveling with the group, your designated spot is on top of Epona, hands down, no questions asked.
Not only would be easier to keep an eye on you, and make it harder to get away, but Twilight has personally asked Epona (through Wolfie) that if they were ever ambushed, she was to take off with you and get away from the fight no matter the cost. She'll always come back to him anyway- so if you're tied to connected to her than all the more reason for him to be the one to retrieve you when it's all over.
The others don't like how Twilight gets to be the one to greet you first. But Epona is on Twilight's side and everyone knows it.
So they wait their turn.
You're on top of Epona even if you're a fighter as well.
If you can prove your salt and fight with them, they actually don't try to keep you away as much as they can (because now it means that they can spend more time with you!)
It instead becomes a competition to be your partner. Among the younger ones anyway.
The older ones, are less concerned now by you fighting, and more by the younger ones who keep trying to be by your side (even if that's their spot) and try to keep them out of your way.
Every bump and cut you get is treated immediately by who ever reaches you first.
It's once again a race.
The group, as yandere's go, do not know how annoying they're being nor do they plan to stop.
If you told stories of your past conquests, it a mixed bag of awe, adoration and anger for you even being put there to begin with. These thoughts are not voiced however, and they instead stew and simmer and grow into their possessive tendencies.
Because they would protect you, honor you, worship you and you wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again. Not if you were with them, not if you stayed with them, not if you were in their Hyrule.
There's a slight knee jerk reaction when you bring out your items to take it away because it's dangerous. But not only would that piss you off, it would take away what little protection you have on your person and they don't want to take any risks when it comes to your safety.
I wouldn't share too much if I were you.
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Now as Individuals they're all different, obviously.
Let's explore that.
Time
He's the most dangerous
I'm starting this off with that
I'm talking the most calculating, scheming and devious of the whole group
He know he's in charge and that the others will listen to him regardless if they actually agree with him or not
Because he's the leader
His grip on the group lessens as time goes by and their unity dissipates
But he's delusional and he doesn't realize it
However, because he's already in this position, he takes it upon himself to take care of you
And others let him
Less work for them to focus on when they can be by your side instead
You never have watch
You're always in the middle of the group
He'd gladly send the boys ahead of you into danger to make sure that they deal with it before you even get there.
The others let him with little thought because it's for you
So they go for it
Time however, is somehow, never the one to go ahead, instead waiting behind (with you) while they go ahead and deal with the issue
He gets away with this 8/10 times
Mostly because he rotates who's he's sacrificing
Dad! Time is not here- not anymore
But he lets them near you because he's only biding his time
You're meant to be
Soulmates, if you will
If a little time with you is all those boys need to stay in line and listen to him then he'll allow it
Because they're only boys
He's a man through and through
They have nothing on him
And you deserve more than a mere boy
He has some other concerns on his mind while the boys fight each other like street dogs
Time has to think about your future together so he daydreams the most out of the group.
He doesn't really have a home and a roof over his head for himself- let alone you and he knows he'd have to change that
He thinks about staying as a permanent employee at Lon Lon Ranch
He can save enough money
Buy a house
Maybe some land
And enough things for you and him to make a comfortable life without any worries
Maybe even start a family?
The dream is a reprieve form the headache that are other boys who won't leave you alone
Pray you don't end up in his Hyrule
EVER
This is just the gateway he'd be waiting for to keep you all to himself
Fighter or not it's dangerous to travel with them
You're in danger
And he won't stand for that.
He doesn't know how exactly he'd do it
But he plans to leave you at Lon Lon Ranch, waiting for him, for when he comes back after the mission
He'd have to find some kind of way to actually keep you there and find you when you inevitably try to leave the Ranch
But he's traveled all over his Hyrule
There's no place you could go that he doesn't know about
As the adult of the group, he'd step over all the others
He's not going to listen to them when they try to stop him
They don't know as much as he does
They haven't experienced as much as he has
He knows that this is the best and only option to ensure that you're safe and well taken care of
He'd doesn't mind leaving you as prisoner to the Gerudo instead either if the others start to really get pushy
It won't be comfortable and it won't be glamorous
But they'll definitely keep you in one place
And he can walk in whenever he wanted thanks to that note from the chief from a time long ago
Pick you up, take you away and you'll be his
He daydreams a lot
And he knows that you'll choose him
You have to
He's the best and only option
He's never felt happier thinking about you and the life you'll both have
He's struggled so much anyway
Maybe you were the blessing the goddesses owed him for all his work in his youth
And surely they aren't so cruel to give you to him and then take you away by some monster attack or some terrible unforeseen fate
He can't have that either
So he'll take the first and best out he's given
But while you're here with him...
He's looking at you like you're magic
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Warrior
Warrior is the least dangerous
He knows the feel of being on the receiving side of someone's obsession
He was ignorant for a long time about it
But he wasn't sure how to feel comfortable in his own skin again when he found out about it
He can see how the others are starting to show similar obsessive tendencies and tries to mitigate what he can
He does a lot of damage control
It's what he's trying to do anyway- he's not very successful
Warrior is the one who's challenging their train of thought
Why do they think this is ok? Why don't they ask you for your opinion? Why do they not give some time alone to recharge? Why don't they lay off?
Because it's totally for your benefit- AND THEIRS
Because it's not ok
He doesn't see himself follow the exactly same train of thought
He doesn't see himself doing what they're doing
He's just annoyed that they're the ones doing it
Warrior becomes the very definition of hypocrite.
However- because he's the one acting as your advocate- the others don't consider him as much as a threat and therefore more inclined to listen to him at this point in time than Time himself
It also means that they don't fight him as much when he wants time with you. Mostly because in their eyes, he's not interested
They're wrong
At some point in Warrior's attempt to keep the group together and keep you from going crazy or hating all of them, he begins to gain ulterior motives in his mission
He begins to play the role in an attempt to win you over.
Because- see, he's not like them
He won't violate your space
Go through your stuff
Or keep you from doing what you love
He's the one to say you should join them in fights, that you should stay, that you can hold your own
Since he's the main strategist in the group, he takes into account your skills and always places you at a distance from the fight or from the most obsessive the group.
He knows that their one track mind could kill you or them and there's still the darkness to defeat.
They don't have the luxury to afford this kind of distractions
When the others aren't paying attention to him, he'd pepper you with compliments and flirty lines, playing up his charm and suave attitude
He becomes the perfect gentleman
You'd never know that he's crazy
Just join him and be with him- that's all he wants
He loves you so what more is there to offer you?
He's got the status, the looks and the means to take care of you so you wouldn't have to worry about anything else
He'd be the best husband that Hyrule has ever seen
He'd hate to have the group scare you off with how over the top they've all been.
He knows the group is being annoying with being by your side all the time and how they don't let you be and how there's always someone by your side even when you're at your final straw
Warrior is the one who takes over guarding you when you need to pee or bath and actively argues on your behalf to let you take care of your hygiene.
He's not always successful but it's the thought that counts right?
Hyrule agrees with him most of the time and since Hyrule seems to be the only one who still cares (somewhat) about the mission, they make an agreement
Warrior isn't at all concerned about the others and know that you'd come around to him eventually.
Since he's not like the others
You're his first thought in the morning, his last thought when he rests his head to sleep and there's nothing that he hasn't been doing that wasn't for you
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Hyrule
Hyrule is the least possessive
Mostly because of his low confidence.
I've mentioned in a previous post that is unrelated to this, his love language is physical touch- so he's all over you
There always have to be some way that he's holding you- whether its a hand on your shoulder or the small of your back, maybe he's holding your hand or maybe he's just pinched the edge of your tunic
But he's careful to not go beyond what you're comfortable with
He doesn't want to you to pull away from him
Because the others will not hesitate to push and pull him away if you so much as hinted at not wanting him near you
So he plays it cool
Hyrule also gets concerned when there's too many injuries to go around and he needs to heal the group
Because if you hurt then he can't spare anything else to help you
It's one of the few things he thinks that he's useful for- so if he can't do this little thing for you then why does he bother?
There's so many other guys here that could easily sweep you off of your feet and have so much more to offer you
He doesn't have any land
He doesn't have a house
His Hyrule... isn't the most welcoming and he doesn't like the idea of bringing you from one dangerous situation to another
Especially since he's being hunted for sport back home
It doesn't stop him from trying to win your heart obviously and he tries to show you and win you over in whatever little ways he can.
He's the gentlest with you
Whatever hurting you, he'll heal
Whatever scaring you, he'll deal with
Whatever danger comes your way, he'll end it's miserable existence
He- like Time- daydreams a lot but he's trying to live for the moment
He's almost resigned in a way- that you won't pick him
He knows they're on borrowed time, he knows that something dangerous can take you away from them or that he could be the one to be taken away instead
So he's trying to make up for it in the time that you do have together and spend every second by your side that he can
Because the group gets a little more reckless in their attempts to impress you and be dealt with (whether you're healing them and tending to their wounds or just yelling at them)
He heals the group a lot little less
If they're going to be stupid and get hurt- then he's not going to waste his magic when they're only going to do the same thing the next day
Soon, with enough time and patience, Hyrule begins to hoard all the healing potions as well.
It's an attempt to keep them away from you so when they're hurt he can step in and just get them healed up in a minute
But it also works to keep the group from getting too reckless
It's not his intention but he takes it as it is
If they get hurt too much anyway then that just means less competition for him to deal with and a higher chance with you!
Because of his low confidence about you actually ending up with him, he becomes one of the more mission minded of the group, probably right after Warrior
Since they both have their sights on eradicating the darkness instead of focusing on their love lives (for different reasons) this is the first alliance to be formed
Hyrule wants you to be his but he's at a crossroad
He knows Warrior has a lot of charm to win you over and has the means to make sure you live a good life
He knows it's more than he can ever give you
But he's fairly certain he can take Warrior in a fight
One well timed Thunder Strike and Warrior wouldn't stand a chance
Not to mention that they've been fighting side by side now, so he knows what to look for to bring him down
He doesn't think it'll come to that though
Warrior doesn't seem that interested with you anyway so he doesn't worry about him
Which just leaves the problem of winning your heart
He wonders what life would be like he can love like you do
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Twilight
Twilight is the most protective
It's his wolf instincts and his caretaker instincts combined.
He's used to being the one to look after everyone else
Being his village's primary babysitter and all
But wolves are family animals and they protect their mates
He's the one to fight to keep you away from the fights, whether you can handle yourself or not
He can Four agree with this and it's the second alliance that forms
You must be protected at all costs and there's many things around that can injure you, or worse
So they both try their hardest to keep you safe and secure
If bubble wrap existed in Hyrule you would have been wrapped in it and then wrapped again for good measure.
He's the first to run up to you and the first to drag over Hyrule or someone with a fairy or a potion to treat you
He's not afraid to start punching anything that dares to threaten you
Forget the sword
He'll just start swinging... or maybe just go full Woflie even if he's not in his form and go for the jugular
He lets you ride on Epona more often than not and refuses to let you work more than you should
He's quick to carry things for you
He tries to impress you by being a handy man and tries to fix whatever he can get his hands on for you
He's not good at it
But he tries
His love language is acts of service so he's trying
You don't really need his help though
But let him get it out
And tell him that he's doing a good job please, for your sake
He talks a lot about his home life with you and he ask a lot of questions about your own
He's comparing notes
Trying to see what way of life you'd be more comfortable with and how he can accommodate to it
He tries to win you over with the simple life and he paints pretty pictures of having a ranch and a farm and letting you have all and any animals you want
Wolfie make an appearance every other day instead of simply whenever it's convenient
If you're a dog lover then it's even better.
Twilight is not afraid of taking advantage of it to give you all the kisses and cuddles he can get away in his other form
The others would have to fight the each other just to get kisses from you but Wolfie gets special privilege's
He gets kisses no problem
He's not above using it to his advantage
Epona is always on Twilight side and while he's in wolf form, he tells her all about you and how much he loves you and all the ways he finds you amazing and spectacular
Because you're riding Epona more often than not, he tells her to watch after you and to keep your safe and to get to a safe area if they ever get ambushed
She doesn't know how human romance works, so she agrees.
Link is her master and her best friend, so she trusts him with her life and you're important to him, clearly, so you're important to her too
He's not going to lose you like he lost Midna
She left him behind with barely a glance behind
You won't leave him at all
He'll make sure of it
The others won't take you away from him either
Four seems to be the one who's most on his side right now and together they can lessen the competition
He'd hate to fight the guy and maybe they can come to an understanding but he knows he's got the brute strength that Four lacks not to mention Wolfie and Epona as well
So maybe he'll listen to reason
His world used to be so grey with no change in either direction
An eternal twilight
You became his light in the gloom
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Sky
Sky is the least violent
He actually falls in the middle of both protectiveness and jealousy.
But he's more set on letting each of the boy pick each other off (not unlike Time) and then he'll figure out who's left over to deal with them then.
Sky also isn't one to fight off the other people who you interact with
He's not going to go confront the person or drag you away and definitely not going to start swinging
He still feels uncomfortable if you aren't by his side but he'll make up for it when you're done by sticking to your hip
Sky doesn't want you to feel cramped by only talking to the group
But he does get a little jumpy when you're beyond his line of sight.
That being said- he will let you out of his sight
Not for long periods of time, mind you, but he's not going to be in your shadow the entire time or demand to be glued to your hip
He's arguably the most normal out of the group- the least yandere if you will
Still crazy though
Sky is also one to agree with Warrior and Twilight.
He's not a part of any alliance but between wanting you to be safe and still wanting you to be healthy and clean (he knows how being clean helps out ones moral and he doesn't want you to be depressed when you're with them) he'd let them do the fighting and arguing for him and when they lose a bit, he'll say something and add to their cause
He's trying to be chill and he plays on his harp when you're nearby.
If you come sit next him to listen and chill- he will absolutely be over the moon
He will go through some of your things to make sure you have anything and everything you'd need for their adventure
But he won't take away your weapons or go through your diary (he wouldn't be able to read it anyway)
He does try to ask you in some roundabout way if he has permission to do that.
It'll be long winded and vague and a total play on words, so be careful to what you agree with when he asks something of you
Sky although is the least violent, that's in regards to other humans
Monsters have learned to keep away from him when he's on the battle field and if they haven't learned that...
They will
He's the one that tries to have your relationship mature and grow naturally.
Sky is going to simply be your friend first and show you that he has your best interest at heart
So when you talk to him about your problems and how the others are driving you crazy, he'll give you advice, tell you he's on your side and openly give you outs to avoid the others.
If you want time alone and the others begin looking for you, he'll tell them you went in the other direction and he'll send them on a wild goose chase.
Since he's on your side, he tells you to at least let him know where you're going and for how long so he can distract the others.
He's not concerned about you running away, since the others are going to do the work for him
Four and Twilight and Wolfie can find and hunt you down in a heart beat and you'll be together again
He won't blame you for running away, there's a lot of people who won't leave you alone in the group and it annoys him too
And Hyrule, Wind and Time keep you within the group and close by so he never has to worry about not knowing where you are at all times
Warrior and Wild keep you well fed and well taken care of
And Legend makes sure that you always have a potion on you and has even given some power rings to ensure your safety
So all he has to do is butter you up by being the least persistent of them all and you'll fall for him and you can be together forever and ever and even be the start of Hyrule as everyone knows it
Wouldn't that be nice?
While he may not be the most musically inclined of the group, he's the one to serenade you when he gets the chance
He plays his harp more often than not, trying to get the notes out that he hears in his head when he looks at you
His life was such a simple song before you came along but now... It's a symphony, he wants you to know this
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Four
Four is the most controlling
He's the one putting restrictions on you left and right and is the one to never want you to leave his side- let alone his line of sight.
You see, he's got these voices in his head that bounce ideas off of each other.
When one might be, hey that guy is talking to you
The other responds with, he's close to you too
One might say, you're smiling and it's beautiful
Another says, why is it directed at that guy?
Which snowballs to, you're a little too close, a little too nice, is he flirting? Has he touched you? Is he trying to make a move?
And then he's even more possessive and it grows and spirals and next thing he knows, he's next to you again and chewing the poor guy out for no reason when it was a simple conversation about the weather and directions.
And that's in public
Now add in the threat of monsters and traps and many other dangerous that surround the group as a whole
He's paranoids in the extreme
So when Twilight suggests that they tie you to Epona and keep you where he they can always see you, he's the first to agree
In fact he feels as if Twilight is the only one who's actually looking out for your well being
Wind tries to throw fits and get the two of them to back off but he's just a kid, what does he know? He should know better anyway, he knows how dangerous this journey is going to get, so why is Wind trying to actively put you in harms way?
Twilight a least can get Wind to listen to reason and Twilight's better at explaining it than he is so while Four'll yell, Wind is really Twilight's problem.
He doesn't like the idea of fighting is friends but he can see that well... He's the only to notice that they're not as close as they used to be when you first joined.
He thinks that Warrior can feel it but Four is the one who'll say it out loud.
Four is actually the most trigger happy out of all them, he's not afraid to break character and yell at some poor passerby who's too foolish enough to even look in your direction
He's the angry guard dog in public and it's a little hard to reign him most of the time
Twilight agree with him in this but he's also the one to hold him back
The last thing they need is to be kicked out of town
But if while you're there maybe he can get something for you?
He's the kind of person to make something for their beloved but he only knows how to make weapons and tools
Things that he's never going to give to you and actively tries to keep them away from at all costs
Yes, if you have your own weapons he'll also try to take them away
He'd rather see you angry than injured
No, he does not see how being weaponless in a fight will lead to more injuries and no, he not going to listen to those who try to tell him that.
Maybe he can learn how to make jewelry and gift that instead?
A pretty thing like yourself should be adorned in more beauty.
And he can save enough to make it with rubies and diamonds and any gold that he can salvage in Hyrule
He'd give you and make you anything you want
You'd be dripping in jewels if he had it his way
He also knows that the voices try to point out his flaws and all the ways that he's really not that appealing to any potential partners
It doesn't matter that he's merged and they all have the same flaws
But whenever he's next to you and things are calm, the voices are quiet and he feels like him
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Wild
Wild is the Most violent
Like Four, he does not care if it's a simple conversation, if someone else is taking up your time and attention then he will want to start swinging.
He's usually held back by Warrior and Time since Twilight typically has to restrain Four
But if you're in danger? Real danger?
He becomes the equivalent of the Fierce Deity, no mask required
The battle field becomes a blood bath by his hand alone
Sure the others will want to to cause some destruction as well and destroy any and all threats to you, but Wild goes the extra mile
Forget Twilight going feral, he has an excuse- but Wild?
He'll go ballistically feral, even going as far to drop his weapons to rip into the threats with his hands and teeth
He has to make sure there's absolutely nothing in between you and him
He's not afraid to throw away his whole good guy reputation and even the reputation of the hero in order make sure he's the last man standing
Wild is now taking notes on how the the group fights and how they defend themselves, defend you and try to figure out the best ways to take them down
If there was ever to be a physical fight within the group, he'll not only be a part of it but most likely also the instigator
Wild has already lost all his friends and family before, he can't afford to lose anyone else
Besides his Hyrule has so much more to offer you than some of the others
Not to mention he has his own house- in a safe village- with low monsters around it- and barely any reason to think that he wouldn't be able to provide for you
He's got the rupees he needs from his monster farming and everything's nearby. Whatever he can't get, he can teleport to and he wouldn't have to leave you alone for long periods of time.
Wild goes out of his way to buy you clothes since the others have taken care of your other needs (much to his chagrin)
But he also makes sure you have the best portions of the meals he makes
He keep tracks how much you ate and when
He always there to give you a snack if you even mention of being peckish
He knows the others won't mind if he dotes in this manner
Not only because it's for you...
He has all the food anyway.
When he sees that you're wearing Legend's old tunic, he instantly hates it
He and Legend are less of an alliance and merely on tolerable terms- not that Legend notices or cares- because of this and Wild knows that your clothes have taken a lot battery
He wants to you be warm and protected
But he also has a lot of extra outfits
So he takes a page out of Legend's book and gives you some as well
He's a little disappointed you don't wear them as often but he knows that most of them are specialized for certain terrain- Legend's is more of a catch all kind of deal so he can understand the need for general uses
He's not happy about it
But he understands
The crazy thing is, you wouldn't want to end up in his Hyrule either
Pray you never do
Like Time, Wild has been all over his Hyrule and has traveled to all the nooks and crannies
He knows that he can hide you away without the others ever knowing what happened to you
Not even Wolfie would be able to track you
Why?
Because (and this is from AoC) he can teleport more than one person at a time, so he can just take you far away and somewhere secluded, somewhere where you wouldn't be able to leave
Hebra region? In the cabin where he learned how to shield surf? Or play the snow bowl game?
Gerudo Wasteland?
Akkala Region? With Robbie? It's hard to get past the guardians and the high level monsters...
Or maybe ditch you in the mountains with Paya in Kakariko Village?
Or maybe leave you on the Great Plateau? You can't get down without a paraglider...
Life with you is the only reason he's still on this journey instead of just taking you and leaving
The darkness is still around and it threatens his future with you
But it looks bright in his head when all is over and he's so happy that he met you
Life is now pink! And he won't take off his rose tinted glasses any time soon!
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Legend
Legend is the most possessive
As some people have headcanoned in the past, he has a problem letting things go
He's lost so many people he cares about- he knows that items are a little harder to lose
He's the Collector- the Hoarder
Naturally when he sees something that he wants, he'll stop at nothing to make it his.
However, since he has a problem coming into direct contact with his own feelings, he's projecting
Legend instead tries to keep you at arms length and fails miserably
He doesn't want to fall for someone only to have them be ripped form him again, and again and again,
He cares for the group still even after their disagreements and eventually mistrust
He doesn't want to leave this little family they've made for themselves and has disillusioned himself into thinking that he can save it before it's too late
But in his fairytale ending, you're with him
Legend, though, still knows that their time will end and everyone will eventually go home so by the time everyone begins fighting and jealousy runs amuck, he's trying to hold everyone at arms length
When you don't give him attention, he's prone to get angry and may very well at times act like he hates you
He doesn't like it when you so much as breath in someone else's direction
You're his and his alone, why is anyone else even worth your time and energy?
But he's not going to say this out loud
So he's frustrated with himself and pouts often
So he's stuck in a cycle of self hatred and jealousy and not willing to do something to change it
But when you do give him attention, he's melts into a puddle
He's at your beck and call if so much as say his name
There's very little that he isn't willing to do for you or get for you, anything to make you happy
He's also quick to give you power rings to protect you even if he's against you fighting
Legend is also going to give you an extra tunic if (/when) your clothes take too much damage and they're too far gone for him to fix
It's a power move on his part
Not only does he feel giddy with boyish excitement when he sees you in his old tunic (that definitely has some kind of magical properties to ensure your safety), it's also him marking you as his property
And the others know it
Wild does a similar thing so you can at least have a change of clothes but Legend is quick to tailor them when you're not looking to not fit you and be uncomfortable
He's the one going through your things for sure
He need to know that he's the one who's taking care of you
He needs to know you have everything you need
He needs to know if there's anything that you're lacking so that he can sweep in and provide it for you
He's not really planning on taking out the competition or is planning beyond keeping you by his side for the day
He (like Hyrule) is living for the moment, because he's afraid he's going to blink and you'd be gone and there would be nothing else left for him
But you won't be gone
He's going to make sure of that
He's got tunnel vision for sure
But since he's also trying to not fall for you and get his heart broken, it becomes a game of hot and cold with a whole lot of minefields in between that could set him off for (what looks like) no reason
He hates you- no he doesn't- he wants nothing to do with you- he wants to be your everything- he's not going to write you poetry or braid your hair or fall asleep listening to your heart beat- he would kill for that to be his reality- he hates that you're all he's able to think about now- don't leave him please
He's not crushing
He's not
He is
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Wind
Wind is the least protective- Still protective but arguably not to the degree of the others
You see, he knows that the others protect him because he's the youngest
And he's not blind
He can see that they're just as, if not more, protective over you
He can see how you hate it and how much it annoys you
He's not going to make that same move
And as a bonus, since the others are protecting you anyway, why should he put in the work and protect you as well?
There's enough people watching you all the time
With the others taking care of it, he can plan on winning you over
He's going to give you as much freedom as he's able to get away with
It'll put him as your favorite
This immediately puts him at a crossroads with Four who's somehow a hair's breadth away from tying you up and chaining you together by the wrists
They fight against each other the most
He plans on marrying you
It's honestly in the same degree of young children that say they're growing to grow up and marry their dad or their mom
Because obviously you marry the person you love and you stay with them for the rest of your life
And he loves you.
So that's what he plans to do
Win you over is step one
Then he (and you) just need to wait a few years for him to get older
And then he'll marry you
He does not see a problem with this plan
Typically I make the reader the same age as him to avoid the worst of it but in this case, this does not matter
I'd say that if you're older, he'd get more easily attached to giving you the freedom you've been missing
With him by your side obviously
Because you're older- you're an 'adult'- you can take care of yourself
You're so cool in his eyes
The others, naturally, see a problem with this
Not only out of jealously at the very thought of it not being them to marry you but because they know he's young and if you're older, (say closer to Twilight and Warrior's age) then they can see the problem it'll prove to be for you from a moral stand point
The others (mainly Legend and Four) bully tease him when you're not around about how selfish he is to even think about making you wait, when you could easily marry one of them instead, so why would you ever choose him?
He tries not to let it get to him because he does hang out with you more than they get to- so maybe they're really just jealous that his plan is working
Wind has the more innocent approach to this whole ordeal out of the whole group
His obsession isn't healthy, obviously, but he at least the excuse of being young and not knowing how to deal with crushes
Because he's awkward with it, (and he knows it) he's actually pretty quick to shut away the worst of it when he's spending time with you, less you think he's weird and push him away
Not only does he not want that to happen, but he's heard the others come up to you countless times regarding him and his behavior and if you'd like him to leave you alone
Because they will deal with him if you so much as say one word of annoyance
The choice is yours
If you indulge him when he wants your attention then he's more like himself and becomes the most normal out of the whole group
He becomes the him when you first joined
Before the obsession
Wind becomes your safest bet in terms of keeping your sanity intact and it's the groups saving grace to keep up any illusion that they're still normal
Wind is dealing with a highly flammable vial of puppy love concentrate
All in the form of budding teenage yandere hormones
If you had met him any later in his life, the cocktail would have no doubt exploded into the form of the other's behavior and he'd seem like a completely different person instead
He's almost like a lost puppy, always following you around and being in your shadow
It would be cute if he wasn't crazy
Wind adores you though and he wants you to know that
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ladyartemesia · 4 years ago
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Yooo your love story straight out seems like an e2l slow burn tumblr fic. Do you have any plans using at as a plot?? I would def read it 👀
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I don’t know if I would truly call it enemies-to-lovers because—although I got irritated with him and his behavior and did snap at him from time to time—we were not really enemies. In fact we were barely friends for most of the years we knew each other—
Well.
Ok. So that’s not totally true...
We fought online constantly. From the time we graduated college (where his crush first developed and I routinely forgot his name) the two of us were always fighting on social media—usually about politics—and occasionally about other things but both of us were too smart to ever truly get the better of each other so there was a grudging respect, (his mom said he used to yell at his computer screen about me). We had it OUT several times online even though we rarely—if ever—spoke in person.
My poor sweet boy DID get himself in trouble over me in more ways than one though—even if we’re weren’t close yet...
His college girlfriend set him up to fail asked him who he would date if the two of them weren’t together and he answered immediately—vehemently—
“Viola. I would definitely date Viola if I could.”
🤦🏻‍♀️ (oh...honey...no)
(That would become a huge THING in their relationship. Every time they got into a fight his ex would shout “why don’t you just go date VIOLA then?!”—When he married me he said he felt like a real winner in that particular collection of conflicts. Playing the long game I guess 🤣😂)
Back then I was all about the music/dramatic arts scene and I was dating a string of empty headed pretty boys who bored me nigh unto death because I was young and completely stupid.
In contrast my someday-boo was painfully quiet and shy (though not really with me because he was too busy trying to prove me wrong), but everyone who met him or spoke to him really liked him and respected him.
After college we were were still in the same extended social circle (and—as previously mentioned—fighting online), but I went to grad school and my not-yet-husband decided to chill for awhile and take a job as a landscaper while he figured his life out and... here’s where it gets complicated because...
—that’s where the girls came in. You see... he’s always been a really nice guy... maybe a little too nice 🤦🏻‍♀️
The term fuqboi tends to conjure up impressions of a cocky frat bro who slyly shags his way through a mountain of willing women with disconnected efficiency and a subtext of emotional constipation.
But that would not be the case here.
You see my husband is a listener. He’s an INFP. He, unlike many of his brethren, understands emotions and can really make a woman feel seen. Combine that with his good looks, brilliant mind, and broody nerditude and you have a recipe for women who were ‘just friends’ randomly dropping to their knees (and a lot more) for him.
Never one to stand in the way of a lady’s dreams, pre-me-hubby figured that if they were that determined to (*insert miscellaneous sexy stuff here*) with him then—well—he’d let them.
I mean why not, right? No harm done.
Wrong. 🤬
And here is where our paths truly began to merge (in the real world) for the first time.
As the FOURTH girl (just in my friend group) he graciously allowed (🤦🏻‍♀️) to have her wicked way with him sobbed in my arms, I became determined to put this ridiculous man-child IN his PLACE—this time in the tactile world as well as the virtual one.
...Poor Liz
She realized that he had absolutely no desire whatsoever to be in a relationship with anything other than his WoW account and she was insistent that he had broken her heart.
So I cornered him and we had it out. (Call me meddlesome, but to be fair he was four friends deep at this point.)
The problem was that... the more I talked to him...the more he was not really what I expected... I found myself...oddly...intrigued?
Later it would come out that I was the first girl—ever—that he actually pursued. And I was not even aware of it for like the first three months.
He was pretty slick after all when it came down to it.
That man convinced me to ‘help him’ with women—to make sure he didn’t get himself into another situation where some girl with heart eyes was tearing off his clothes and expecting commitment.
HE ASKED ME TO BE HIS ‘EXCUSE.’
🤦🏻‍♀️(...I know. I’m an idiot.)
“We can hang out. You’ll teach me how to spot if a girl is about to catch feelings and take off my pants. And I will have an excuse when they call as to why we can’t hang out” (—and ...they really were always calling. It was wild.)
....I mean he WAS shy! It SEEMED plausible!
So yeah my dim self agreed to it. (🤦🏻‍♀️)
I considered it a valiant attempt to save the rest of my social circle from the most clueless ‘accidental’ fuqboi on planet earth and maybe even an opportunity to teach him how to be a real human being and what not.
And before you think ‘fake dating’—we weren’t. We were just hanging out as friends. You see when I went to yell at him (and chased him down after he laughed at me and tried to escape) we ended up talking in his car for like four hours. And then that happened like three more times randomly so... I... actually... wanted... to be his friend... 🤷🏻‍♀️
I was still 110% not interested romantically.
Your girl (me) was after some bland banker dude (🤦🏻‍♀️) and so I blissfully fell into friendship with my actual soulmate without a single second thought. And I never worried about either of us catching feelings because I had a crush on someone else and he had heavily implied that I was not his type. (He told me later that I just assumed this and he simply never corrected me 🙄)
I don’t remember falling for him. I never decided to. I never thought about it...
But one day after the whole crew was hanging out at a restaurant (and the waiter kept giving me free drinks which may have pissed my once-and-future man off) the two of us went out to his car to have our customary three hour post-chill chat...
I was teasing him about something—some girl he was still attempting to untangle himself from—and I said—as had become my habit (seriously I said this so many times as a joke)—“It’s too bad I’m not your type—you could just tell her you have a girlfriend.”
(Now. I know what you’re thinking. But I was still firmly on team platonic ok! I was just a flirt. And maybe part of me was starting to feel weird things about him—but those feelings weren’t like anything I recognized so I thought I just needed to cut back on sugar or something.)
(Have I mentioned I’m an idiot?)
ANYWAYS he looked me right in the eye. So serious. And instead of saying “that’s too bad”—LIKE he ALWAYS did—he said—
“You...are my type, Viola... You’re exactly my type.”
To which I responded—“....What? No I’m not. You said I wasn’t.”
“Never said that. You assumed.”
“You LET me!”
—followed by a good ten minutes of me having an existential crisis/yelling at him for allowing me to believe he didn’t find me attractive and lulling me into a false sense of security. He was infuriatingly unapologetic.
At the end of it all he asked me to give him—give us—a chance.
And I agreed to go out on a few dates with him (mostly to prove to myself that there was nothing there).
(🤦🏻‍♀️)
The only thing I ended up proving was that I was wrong about what I wanted and even more wrong about what I needed.
You see...
Those weird feelings turned out to be love.
(🤦🏻‍♀️)
And it was a really special experience to sit in a room full of girls who had cried in my arms over him—girls I had lectured repeatedly on the dangers of his heartless ways— and admit that I was his girlfriend.
🤦🏻‍♀️
Love was—and continues to be—nothing like I expected and frankly I couldn’t be happier.
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... to answer your questions
1. I have considered writing a fic based on our story called Broken Road. The title is taken from an old Rascal Flatts song that—as insanely cheesy as it is—really reminds me of us. Don’t know if I will actually write this. Thought about it a lot though.
2. Tags I would use for this story?
#enemies-to-lovers / #idiots-to-lovers / #college au / #outgoing!fem reader(me) x shy nerd!accidental fuqboi / #reader is also a huge nerd actually / #she’s just a loud one / #frenemies-to-lovers / #the love is requited / #they’re just idiots / #pining (his) / denial (mine) / #reader has terrible taste in men / #except for that last one / #she really redeemed herself there at the end
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garbagevanfleet · 4 years ago
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Brightest Blue (series)
PART ELEVEN
Pairing: Josh x reader Warnings: talk of sex and such, feelings Summary:  Things are changing. New state. New school. New roommate. You just pray things are going to click into place.
Notes: alright, this is terribly late again because im a depressed snail at heart, but its longer than usual, so i hope that makes up for it. If you read my fic at all, i love you. If you interact with this fic in anyway, i want to wed you. 
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taglist: @valleyd0ll @satingrass-maidensfair @guitarfingers @thebohemianpenguin @peaceisouranthem @oblvions @hansonobsessed @myownparadise96 @anditsmywholeheart @kill-fear-the-power-of-lies @bigblack-catattack
MASTERPOST
You woke up in a daze of fuzzy but pleasant memories. You were trying to blink the sleep from your eyes when Josh entered your line of sight. He had emerged from the hallway, completely naked save for the necklace he’d been in the night before, little water droplets slipping from his curls to his shoulders. 
You shot up in bed, and as you did, the comforter fell away from your body. It took you a moment for you to realize that it was the air hitting your bare skin that was making you feel chilled, but it didn’t last long. Your face turned beet red as you quickly picked the sheet back up to cover yourself. 
He was giving you an odd look - somewhere between amused and concerned. “Are you alright?” he tried cautiously, still standing there stark naked. 
“Josh! You can’t just walk around naked,” you complained, stuttering on your words as they came out. 
He snorted a laugh. “What? First of all, this is my room. Second of all, it’s a little late to try and protect your modesty.”
You rolled your eyes at him until you realized what he was talking about. “Oh my god, we had sex last night,” you whispered to him like it was a secret, a tiny smile on your lips. 
He nodded, breathing a laugh. “Yeah.”
You experimentally shifted in your seat before grimacing up at him. “That would explain why I’m sitting in a damp spot.”
You could only describe the laugh that escaped him as a cackle, honest and unabashed. “Gross.”
You had to say you agreed with him. 
There was a cautious moment, where you stared at each other, both unsure of what to say. 
“Are we good?” he tried quietly like he was a little scared of what you were going to say.
You patted the spot next to you and he clambered in as he was told. You leaned against him as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder. 
“Of course, we are,” you assured, nuzzling your head into the crook of his neck. 
“If it’s going to make you feel better to pretend it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be mad.”
You pulled away and looked up at him with a frown. “What are you talking about?”
He shrugged, sporting a nervous smile. “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
You heaved a big sigh, shifting to look into his eyes. “Josh, I want you to listen to me really carefully, okay?”
He nodded.
You slowly reached up to cup one side of his face in your hand. “I don’t regret it - actually, I had a really nice night. I just think that it would be best for everyone involved if it didn’t happen again. We probably shouldn’t be romantic...or naked around each other.”
The expression he wore seemed like an understanding one, at least to you.
“You want me to make pancakes? Maybe chocolate chip banana?” you offered, giving him a cheeky smile. 
He couldn’t help but match it. “Yes. You’re probably going to want to put your tits away first though.”
“You first,” you quipped, smacking the back of your hand against his peck. 
+++
The rest of the weekend, the two of you spent watching Christmas movies on the couch (even though the holiday was more than a month away) while you worked on sewing the costumes. Josh had offered to ask the theater department if you could borrow a sewing machine, but you had been way too afraid of it to try and use it, so it sat in your room alone. That did, however, leave you to sew 26 costumes by hand. Well, more like 24, since Rachel had two of them mostly done. 
You were finding it oddly fun though, even though your fingers hurt by the fifth stitch or so. The hardest part was making sure you worked on the basics of every costume first - your instinct was to work on one at a time until it was perfect, but you knew you had to be smart about time management. Luckily, even though it was only near mid-November, Michigan’s weather was lovably unpredictable. The weather station had called for snow only through the weekend, but, in reality, it was Monday evening by the time it was done dumping snow - giving you a full three day weekend. 
Kate had been sending you pictures of the pieces of the set she had taken home with her to work on, and you couldn’t hide how impressed you were with her work. You would almost be offended at how good it looked if you hadn’t known she was an Art History major with a heavy side of sculpture work. 
In the last two weeks before the production, you barely got to see Josh. He would walk you to school, but then you usually wouldn’t see him for the entire rest of the day. You tried to wait up for him on Thursday night, but you ended up falling asleep on the couch, and woke at 1 am to him gently patting your shoulder. 
“Hey, you should get up and go to your bed.”
You blinked up at him, sitting up and brushing your sleep-mussed hair from your eyes. 
“You’re home so late,” you scolded half-heartedly, pulling your borrowed sweatshirt closer to your face. 
“I know, sorry. There’s still a lot to do, especially after we got snowed in last weekend,” he replied, sitting gingerly on the armrest. 
“I told you that I’m happy to help however I can.”
He smiled at you, but you had to admit that he looked over-tired. You’d been watching him burn the candle at both ends for three days straight. “It’s a lot of stuff that only I can do. Like going over the music and making the final set diagrams.”
You hummed in understanding as a response. 
“Want me to carry you to bed? You can come sleep in mine if you want,” he offered through a crinkly-nosed smile. 
You grinned back at him, genuine at first, but it quickly turned melancholy. “Josh,” you said under your breath. “I’d love that, but I don’t think it’s good for us to share a bed anymore.”
His expression fell, face turning blank. He nodded at you, standing and giving you a disappointed smile. “Sleep well,” he wished, patting your shoulder again once before retreating to his room. 
You stayed on the couch for a while, your knees tucked up to your chest, as you sat in your guilt. You had known it was stupid of you to have ever let things turn anything other than platonic with him - it had been undeniably fun, but he was your roommate, for fuck’s sake. You had to see him every day, eat your meals with him. Had you not selfishly let yourself go there in the first place, you’d be cuddled up beside him tonight. 
It had been so lovely having any kind of affection - platonic or otherwise - that you let yourself get carried away. 
When you finally got up and went to bed, Josh’s light was still on, his door shut for one of the first times since you moved in. 
+++
Kate took you out for breakfast on Saturday morning to a local hole-in-the-wall that she swore had the very best pancakes she’d ever eaten. She had shown up in a puffer jacket that looked so warm, it made you jealous. 
You’d been chatting easily about your classes and the play, but when you had finished your first cup of coffee, there was a lull in the conversation. 
You hadn’t meant to say it, it just bubbled out. “I slept with Josh.”
She glanced up at you through her jet black lashes, stony-faced. “Yeah,” she replied, way too calm, sounding like she was wondering why you were even telling her.
You blinked at her for a moment. “Did you hear me? I had sex with Josh.”
She nodded. “Do you want me to pretend like I’m shocked?”
You grimaced at her, and in a whiny tone, responded, “Yes, please.”
A nervous laugh escaped her as she fixed her features to display a surprised expression. “You did what?!” she asked - purely for your benefit. 
You groaned at her. “Okay, I get it. I feel so bad about it, Kate.”
Her cherry lips shaped into a puzzled frown.  “Why?”
A deep sigh filled your ribcage - you had been hoping it would clear your head, but no luck. 
“Because I desperately miss being able to be platonically intimate with him and it not being awkward. Before this, I was sleeping in his bed from time to time when I got too cold and we would cuddle.”
“Why can’t you go back to that?” 
“Are you listening? I slept with him,” you groaned. “All I can think about is him on top of me now.”
She scoffed, her chipped nails tapping against her glass of diet Coke. “Imagine how he feels - Josh had real, honest to god feelings for you, I think. Like for a while.”
“You said that, but I don’t know. How do you know that he didn’t just want to sleep with me? Like not in a conscious way, but what if he just wanted affection? What then, Kate?”
She had one dark eyebrow raised at you as she sipped at her straw. “Because I know that’s not true.”
“How would you be able to know that? Because you see him sometimes at school-” 
She cut you off with a confident smile. “I know because I talked to Jake about it.”
You almost blew past it - that is until you realized what she had said. The two of you shared a long, silent moment as you stared at each other. 
“You’ve been talking to Jake?” you asked, trying to keep your tone even so she didn’t know how excited that made you. 
“I have talked to him in the past, yes. He said that he already knew, but he was able to pry it out of Josh when he was drunk once.” 
You stared at her. “Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here right now, I think we can both agree with that. But can we start with you and Jake?” 
She huffed a disbelieving laugh as she set her hand on yours on the table comfortingly like she was trying to cushion the news. “Josh has some feelings for you - the real kind.”
In an effort to prolong the moment that it was time for you to speak again, you picked up a bite of your breakfast and popped it in your mouth. The moment always comes though, no matter how long you try to put it off. 
“I can’t,” you said quietly, shaking your head in disappointment. Then when she prompted you with a confused look, you finished. “I can’t risk it. I mean, maybe there could be something there, but he’s my roommate. And my best friend - there’s no way I’d ever get lucky enough again to find someone I connected with like that if things went sour and I had to move out.”
She licked her lips absently. “My advice would be to think about it - for literally as long as you need to. I’m confident that you’ll figure out what you want.”
You nodded, not entirely convinced one way or another. “It’s hard because he’s so fucking cute,” you said in faux disgust. 
“And sweet,” she added. “Don’t forget that.”
You shot her an accusatory look. 
After a long pause, a smile found its way to your lips. “How cool would it be though if we were both dating one of them?” 
She laughed, picking a syrup-covered strawberry off her plate and chewing it with care. “Not me, I can’t be tamed. Jake is really hot and everything, but I got shit to do, you know?”
You scoffed at her. 
“I’m definitely keeping him in my contacts though,” she said with mischievous eyes. 
+++
 You didn’t directly see Josh for the rest of the weekend, though he left evidence of his presence scattered through the apartment. He had left his hair mousse out on the sink and the toothpaste cap off of its tube in the bathroom, some crumbs of a sandwich he packed for lunch in the kitchen, and a note on his bedroom door. 
Can you please feed Penny a couple of flakes for dinner? If you have any time today, I’d appreciate it if you could spend some of it with her. See you sometime soon! - J
You plucked the paper off the door where it was barely hanging by a thin strip of green floral tape and smiled as you read it again. 
His bedroom was dim, hid away from the sun by his closed blinds. The desk by his door was covered in books - textbooks, music books, books for his English lit class, and one you’d seen him reading for fun on more than one occasion. On the hardwood floor next to his bed was a stack of papers, and even though you knew you shouldn’t you crouched to peek through them. 
They appeared to be rough drafts of plans for the play - nothing too exciting, but they were charmingly eccentric. He had done little doodles of his ideas for sets and props, even a whole sheet of costume ideas that caught your eye. You pulled it from the messy stack and folded it into your pocket. 
Careful not to spill any water, you moved Penny in her globe to your bedside table, but as you stared at her through the glass you frowned. 
You pulled your phone out and snapped a picture of her, trying to make sure you got an accurate portrayal of her size. She looked at you, sticking her lips out of the water in search of food. You remembered Josh’s warning about overfeeding her the first day you’d met him and it brought a genuine smile to your lips. You promised her you’d be back, holding your finger just above the water and letting her press her mouth to it. 
On the ride over to Petsmart, you had called your mom, asking if it would be okay if you borrowed some cash, to which she agreed to after her usual line of questioning. When you pulled into the parking lot, you checked your bank account just to make sure it transferred okay, always nervous that you’d get to the register and your card would decline.
You spent longer than you should have reading articles online as you studied the tanks, all set up in rows for purchase. They weren’t as expensive as you’d expect a water-sealed glass box to be, and after you were confident you had picked the right one, you still had plenty left in your budget for the dressings. 
You picked a couple of fun decorations - a fake log for her to hide in if she wanted to and one that looked like part of a broken Greecian statue. The part that took you the longest was picking out the healthiest-looking plants. You had read that goldfish often like to eat live plants, but you couldn’t bring yourself to buy fake ones - the plant lover in you knew it was a cardinal sin. 
A very kind cashier agreed to help you carry your haul to your car, even helping you shift it all correctly so you could make it fit. You left him a secret tip, even though he denied at first, and thanked him profusely.
Getting the tank into the apartment was the hardest part. You realized just how lucky you were that you didn’t live above the first floor. 
By the time you got the tank situated back on his dresser, your muscles - especially in your legs - were protesting, but you weren’t done yet. You grabbed an empty ice cream pail and started to fill the tank, one trip at a time until it was about 3/4’s full of water. 
The decorations had to be shifted multiple times before you liked their position enough to start pouring in the gravel around them. A Youtube tutorial taught you exactly how much of each chemical to add and how to put together the filter, and then you left it to cycle as you returned to your room.
Perched on your bed, you pulled the sheet of costumes from your pocket and studied it. You pinned it to your corkboard. Undeniably, the cutest design he had come up with was for the door mouse - grey fabric, huge ears, and a rope tail. 
The rest of the unfinished costumes were in a cardboard box by the side of your bed - you hadn’t moved it anywhere because you knew you’d be back at it before too long at any given time. You bent down off the side of your bed and rummaged through the different fabrics until you found the one you were looking for - a grey-blue faux suede deal. You were pretty sure you had enough to make it work. 
You fished your phone out from where you had buried it under the covers when you shifted and called the one person that could help. 
“Hello?” Kate mumbled, sounding like you’d just woken her up despite it being noon. 
You giggled at her. “Hi, I’m playing my best friend card. I know you’ve helped so much, but can you please please come work on these costumes with me?”
She hummed and then went silent for a good, long moment. “Give me ten to wake up and get dressed.”
A beaming smile spread across your face. “Kate, I love you so much. I’m going to Venmo you money to get coffee and donuts, okay?”
“Hmm, I do like donuts.” She sounded pleased.
“Good! Bring Jake too.”
+++
The knock on your door came a half-hour later. You jumped from your bed, racing to let them in. Jake was dressed in the softest-looking flannel shirt you’d ever seen, a drink carrier in his hands that housed three drink cups. 
“Okay, so there are three jobs that need to be done. Measuring and marking, cutting, and sewing. If we each take one of those jobs, I’m confident we can finish a couple of the costumes today. I’ll let you guys pick first,” you informed as you lead them into your room. 
“I’ll take cutting,” Kate said, prompting Jake to reply that he’d like measuring. 
You handed Jake the notebook of measurements with a grin. “Rachel,” you started with a sneer. “Did a lot of the calculations for us, thank god. All you have to do is measure out the fabric. The tricky part is making sure you do it in a way that will leave enough fabric for the rest of the costumes.”
“Not a problem,” Jake responded with a smirk. “And I think her name is just ‘Rachel’, not ‘Rachel’.”
Kate shot him a look on your behalf. “I think she was just making a referencing the fact that Rachel left your brother with a huge ass list of things to do completely alone, not that she was jealous.”
“Jealous of what?” you asked accusatorily, a scowl painted on your face. 
Jake put both of his hands up in defense., but he didn’t appear apologetic in the slightest. Smugly, he said, “I’m just saying-”
Kate reached out and smacked his chest. “Jake, shut up. Okay, what one should we start on?”
“I’m going to have Jake start with this one.” You turned to the page in the notebook that showed the measurements for the door mouse, laying it out by him. “This is the main fabric. Kate, I have a lot of the Queen of Heart’s fabric measured and marked already, so I’ll have you start cutting that. There’s a lot of little pieces to that one.”
Kate looked at the six different fabrics you’d laid out for her, one eyebrow cocked at you. “Have you been getting any of your own homework done at all?”
Your cheeks flushed as you nervously rubbed at the back of your neck. “Let’s stay on track, shall we?” you replied, pretty much answering her question. “We’ve got one week until the production, and I know the costumes have to be done at least a day ahead of time.”
They both just stared at you in varying stages of disbelief. 
“Don’t look at me like that. We can do this,” you assured, sounding a hell of a lot more confident than you actually were. “Now let’s get to work.”
+++
When Josh got home, you were nearly sleeping on the couch, the remains of your current project in your lap. You peeked at the clock.
10:54 pm. 
“You’re home so late,” you whispered, for no particular reason. 
“I know,” he agreed, wiping his hand over his face after he took his jacket off. 
“Come sit with me a minute,” you requested, shifting so he would have space. He gave you a grateful smile, immediately crossing the room to do as he was told. 
After a moment, he cautiously wrapped an arm around your shoulders. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly. 
You gave him a smile. “Yeah, it’s perfect.”
You knew he must have been tired because he wasn’t talking a mile a minute like you were used to after not seeing him for long. 
“Are you hungry?” you asked.
He hummed, sounding like he was close to passing out. “I am, but I can make myself something.”
You scoffed, “Absolutely not. You got get into bed and I’ll bring something to you in a second.”
He reluctantly got up off the couch and clambered into his room. You waited patiently for him to notice the surprise, grinning to yourself when you heard him gasp. 
You listened as you made him a sandwich, and you couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but you knew he was talking to Penny just by the tone of his voice.
As you rounded the corner into his room, he turned and gave you a smile as bright as the sun. 
“Did you do this, or did Fish Santa come early?” he asked, his finger pressed against the glass of the tank. 
“Well, kind of both,” you responded through a laugh as you sat next to him on the bed and delivered his sandwich to his lap. “You can consider it your early Christmas present.”
He stared at you for a long beat, looking like he might cry. You knew you’d never be able to handle that, so you pulled him in for a hug, tightening your arms around him when he hugged you back. 
“You’ve been working so hard,” you whispered. “I miss my best friend.”
He turned his face, pressing his nose into your cheek in a move that felt a step or two farther than friends.
“I’ve put everything I have into this,” he admitted, and you were too scared to ask if he meant the play or something else. You sat like that with him for a long moment before he pulled away, giving you a thankful smile. 
“I’m sure you need time to decompress, so I’ll leave you be. Eat and then get some sleep, okay?” You stood and headed for the door, turning when he called your name. 
“Thank you,” he said.
228 notes · View notes
janiedean · 3 years ago
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I feel bad for all the nice J*nsa shippers who like their ship for whatever reasons (tropes, pretty art, aesthetic appeal, whatever) and know it's not canon but get associated with the misogynistic Dany hating crowd who act like Jon being attracted to Ygritte is J*nsa foreshadowing because red hair (I guess Jon should fuck Edmure Tully too? Omg give me Dark!Jon getting revenge on Catelyn by seducing her brother!) Tell me something. I'm new to the fandom but was J*nsa popular before the show? And I've heard something about the OG J*nsa shippers being alienated by the new shippers who insisted it had to be canon and acted like the series is called, "A song of J*nsa #danysux." I don't find that hard to believe because I know people who are now ashamed of calling themselves J*nsa shippers. Like, at this point, it's not only rival shippers who hate it. Even Gendrya/Braime/Jon stans/etc have started disliking that ship. You know your fandom is a problem when people who have nothing to do with Jnsa have a problem with it.
me: reads this ask
me: iwastheregandalf.gif which I can't find now but
okay anon buckle up because I am sadly well-equipped to answer this ask but before I do lemme tell you dark jon seducing edmure to take revenge on cat is LITERALLY THE BEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD but *clears throat* ALL RIGHT THEN.
disclaimer: as anon says I have no issue with like the shippers mentioned by anon in the beginning and ngl I agree, I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO FUCKING STAKES in the j*nsa vs j*nerys war and the only het jon ship I gaf about is jon/ygritte and we all know where that ended up I just... have been here since 2011/adwd was over and all the fic around was just for the books under secret lj communities and asoiaf qualified for yuletide and I have... seen... things.... and I actually have like uh had... beef... with some people in there and I know things bc ppl who hated those others told me stuff so anyway *sigh* buckle up anon I'mma tell you the story of jon shipwars through the years
in order, the old gods help me here, under the cut bc this is long as fuck
when I got into fandom also given what numbers were on ao3 one ship was popular and it was sansan. no like sansan was lit. the only asoiaf ship on ao3 with more than 200 fics. jb had twenty when i checked first. jc had like around 100-ish because of the show but sansan dwarfed anything. I posted the first jon/ygritte fic on the ao3 tag and the fourth throbb fic and like the others were all reposts from lj kinkmemes. nothing was popular before the show except for sansan when it comes to huge numbers bc grrm doesn't like fic and it was all hush hush until the show made it impossible to control and that ship was the one with a huge enough fanbase it actually had numbers, so like... j*nsa wasn't popular in the way nothing else was popular until it got screentime on the show
now, that stated, j*nsa had a... fair amount of fic for a rareship which was mostly book-based and from og shippers that were there from before the show and liked it for what it was but literally none of them thought it was gonna be canon, like it wasn't huge or anything but it had a small but dedicated fanbase who did their own thing and thought it was fun/liked the idea but that was it
that fandom had their own niche of hcs that they cultivated and shit except that like... at the end of S5/beginning of S6 there was a surge in shipping for... well obvious reasons bc it was obv sansa was getting to the wall and that would have been all nice and good but a) it was the time puritanical shipping was starting to take root and the 'shipping sansa with sandor or tyrion is hella problematic' rhetoric had started to circle coming from sans*ery shippers mostly but I'mma not open that fucking can of worms here, b) while the ending of S5 had more of a theon/sansa spike, the j*nsa stuff started getting big
now here we have to mention my villain origin story ie: j*nsa fandom had this one stan whose name I won't make because honestly it's been years and if she's still around I don't want her to remember I exist who was a bnf, wrote for... the website that created the whole larry/carol thing etc who was really fixed on this thing that j*nsa was actually canon and started writing extremely popular meta about it. now you're gonna ask how do you know, I know because this person once wrote a meta named 'why robb stark is a dick' and I told her that it was really fucking bad meta and she took it so badly she kept on trash talking me on her blog/her podcast (I was apparently the insane robb stark fangirl l m a o good lord) and like that was when some sane ppl who argued with her informed me in pvt that she was basically harping on the CANON thing when they'd have been okay with like... it being crackshipping and that she was basically cultivating a hoarde of followers who were harping on them/the ogs and basically ostracizing them;
I would like to add that this person - before her tumblr got 'accidentally deleted' and remade it therefore deleted most receipts for, er, her so-called meta which included stuff like ned and cat raised sansa as a sexual object and only wanted to sell her like cattle - had at some point started a round robin fic thing where... some of the characters mocked openly said stuff that some of the og fans had said specifically targeting them and people in that side basically went harassing anyone who didn't agree with that specific notion
now never mind that this person basically coined an entire term to describe ppl who liked white guys and excused all their wrongdoings out of my conversation re robb basically lying about everything I said as if I didn't have the receipts and tried to sell shirts with it and it didn't work and like then she got kicked out of her own website because she was telling her commenters disagreeing pretty shitty insults (considering I was called psychotic for disagreeing with her that time I don't doubt it) I think at some point she stepped back from fandom bc idk wtf she's up to these days and I don't want to, but basically at that point the dam was broken and there was a bunch of puritanical shippers harping on anyone who didn't agree with j*nsa is canon endgame stuff
this also includes an incident when those ppl were like... passing themselves as throbb shippers and ended up trying to tell t*hramsay shippers off the theon tag based on moral reasons and I ended up arguing with all of them (and they were all from that crowd) which in turn landed me in contact with other og j*nsa shippers who were like detached from that fandom bc those same people harassed them away as well ssooooo fun
anyway when S6 happened everyone was high on it and whatnot but I wasn't gonna begrudge them that I mean... you shipped it for years, canon is delivering you, good for you, but then j*nerys happened
god j*nerys happened
aaand basically...... I mean personally I was there like are y'all seriously arguing about the best incest jon ship out there but like basically the j*nsa endgame side was like AH JON IS PLAYING DANY SEE IF IT DOESN'T HAPPEN, the j*nerys obv got defensive af and both sides were sort of alternatively shitting on jon/ygritte anyway and depicting any other romantic rship jon could have as abusive™ and during S8 it just got worse and like I tried to stay out of it but basically from what I'm seeing now idk how the j*neryses are doing but on the j*nsa one it's ah jon's gonna play dany anyway and she's going to go insane like in the show so SHOW TRUTHING EVERY OTHER WAY and like again denying that sandor exists or that tyrion exists and like I barely touch my corner (sansan) but I ended up arguing with j*nsa/th*nsa people on twitter who were antis and is2g it was white-hair inducing and I know for sure the sansa/tyrion shippers were harassed to hell and back throughout so FUN
and even if the show didn't go there now since everyone there banked on the jnsa endgame thing and admitting you're wrong is like... not a thing, they still haven't let go of it and attach to that ship any shred of evidence which honestly is grasping at straws half of the time (like... the sansa/alysanne parallels like guys please no) and which is why every other ship is starting to get fed up, attaching canon proof of stuff from other ships onto theirs see that batb argument and jb is platonic but jonsa is not nvm taking all the sansan stuff and throwing it on j*nsa but then denying that sansan has canon evidence (like guys I had to read sansa touching his shoulder when saying gregor wasn't a true knight wasn't meaningful and we were seeing things please) and blah blah blah
this also goes hand in hand with the fixation on like... villanizing dany at all costs and like is2g I have zero investment in dany or her storyline I don't even remember it and I don't particularly care abt her either way and sure af I'm not for j*nerys endgame but like.... some stuff I read is completely excessive esp when fixing on how she's a completely mad tyrant who's gonna have to be put down and like... guys no
(also there's some srs stannis hate in that corner which I honestly don't get why they even care abt stannis but I had to read stuff like ppl don't recognize that dany and stannis are the real villains in this saga and like........ idek)
I think most of the og shippers are gone or don't ship it openly bc they don't want to be attached to the drama but like I also think they're pissing off everyone else bc like... I mean a bunch of them also were down with sansa being paired with other ppl as long as it meant a good ending for her except those ppl were... like everyone but the ppl she has actual contact with in canon which meant that at some point sansa/gendry was a thing and like.... you can imagine why arya/gendry shippers & arya stans were fed up, and there's also this tendency to behave like sansa is the center of the entire saga which like these books is named a song of jon snow basically can we pls make peace with it and personally I've had it with both j*nsa and j*nerys people since they started with that dumbass JON/YGRITTE WAS AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP rhetoric but I'm also fed up with the total ignoring that sandor exists/depicting us as delusional and honestly I also was by proxy fed up from the harassing of the sansa/tyrion shippers soooooooooooo
there were also instances of 'well theon is an acceptable choice other than jon bc he can't threaten her' which... i mean we all know what that meant and I'm not even commenting it bc it's one AM and I have no force to but I don't have to explain why it's not a progressive take now do I
there were also metas about how cousin incest being legal in half of the world means that jondany is a worse incest and j*nsa doesn't count as such and I was basically there like guys please just fucking own up to it but honestly I chose to forgot where I read that and I couldn't find the link if I tried
tldr: no one wants to admit that it's not gonna be endgame which considering the amount of fic they have on ao3 is imvho useless bc they have more content than like.. anything I ship that's not jb or that's actually like canon *cries in joncon/rhaegar but I mean renly/loras is canon and has less fic than them* so idk what's the problem with enjoying that instead of insisting it's gonna be canon when not even the show validated it while show truthing anyway when the only show truthing that can be truthed is the small council made of minorities and possibly jon eventually fucking off with the wildlings but not like that but like most people who thought it wasn't gonna be endgame had left/were made to leave by the time S7 rolled by and at this point since wow isn't out yet everyone is fandom-grasping at straws to find stuff to discourse on and we're here beating dead horses *shrug*
so that's... how it is but I would again like to point out that I don't judge ppl on their shipping, I don't particularly care about this entire feud bc I only ship jon with ppl he's not related to in whichever way and I try to stay out of this mess bc I don't really care to argue with ppl who have already decided to bend canon to whatever they want and will have to realize that it's not what grrm wrote at some point but like I have a very good memory and the above rant is as objective as possible also bc again I don't literally have a stake in that race I just think romantic/endgame j*nsa is not a thing and that ppl should stay in their lane and not harping on other ppl who ship whatever in general but especially when their ship is the most popular thing in fandom in the first place /two cents
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bob-events · 3 years ago
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Friendship Bonanza Prompt List!
International Friendship Day is right around the corner, and our AO3 collection is going out to our authors any minute! That means we are excited to announce the prompt list for the friendship bonanza - which we have hidden under the “keep reading” because it’s ridiculously long. If you’d like to make a “gift” for any of the prompters, you are welcome to, and we just ask that you either post it to the AO3 collection and tag them (but please mark it as a “gift fill”) or post it on Tumblr and tag them AND us so we can share it! Happy Friending
@nowinnablewar AO3: unseelieCollapsar Will Accept: Fanfic, Other types of media Prompt 1: Skip bounces ideas off Easy Company for the letter he wants to send to Faye. Prompt 2: Easy Company craft a plan to get back at Sobel without getting caught. Prompt 3: A Yank staff correspondent (Reader or OC) interviews the officers at the Eagle's Nest. Prompt 4: Three Musketeers AU with Toye, Luz, Guarnere, and Buck
@softspeirs AO3: sunlightdances Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: Speirs being soft (either gif moments from the show, art of your choice, or platonically with a canon character, or paired with an OC!) Prompt 2: Nixon + "I wish I didn't care about it" - gifs showing him caring about other characters canonically or fic with platonic friendship or background romance with an OC Prompt 3: Lipton being Easy's Mom and Dad. Fanart, a fic of a missing scene, or gifs from the show! (Post-war AU feat. a background romance is also ok too) Prompt 4: Any happy, smiley moments between Easy boys. Gifs of happy moments, fanart, or a fic of a moment we didn't see on the show! DNW: Character/character slash fic, modern AU
@serasvictoria AO3: Caren80 Will Accept: Fanfic, Other types of media Prompt 1: Chuck and Babe are supposed be doing guard duty at Membury airfield. Chuck takes Babe to a pub instead (this genuinely happened by the way). Prompt 2: It’s Christmas and since Easy is still stuck in Bois Jacques in Belgium, Joe Liebgott decides to share a Hershey bar with Chuck and Tab as a present. Prompt 3: We all know that Luz and Perconte ended up in a barn to steal eggs, but what happened before that scene? Who even came up with the idea to begin with? Prompt 4: It’s 1946 and word reaches Bill that Joe Toye is really struggling with the loss of his leg. He decides to show up at Joe’s place unannounced with Babe and together they will do their utmost to make sure that Joe cracks a smile. Prompt 5: After hearing Joe say that he could use some brass knuckles right before D-Day, Bill finds some for him.
@josephtoye AO3: corawrites Will Accept: Fanfic Prompt 1: Joe Liebgott & Floyd Talbert, one is trying to set the other up, or some other banter-y kind of situation Prompt 2: Johnny Martin & Bull Randleman, any historical AU Prompt 3: Buck Compton & Joe Toye, do with that what you will Prompt 4: Shifty Powers & Carwood Lipton, anything wholesome DNW: Any other characters, angst is okay provided it has a happy ending, no romantic pairings please
@churchkey AO3: churchkey Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Don Malarkey & Skip Muck. Canon-era. Don's not in love with Skip , he just wants to spend the rest of his life with him. Maybe the two of them talking about their plan for being "together" (as besties) after the war. Maybe some cute "I've never told anyone else this before" intimate self-revelations. Maybe Don's reaction to Winters splitting them into different platoons. Basically I just want any chapter in the epic love story of their friendship. Prompt 2: Don Malarkey & Skip Muck Post-War Fix-It. Don's the best man at Skip and Faye's wedding, wondering how this is going to change things and if anyone will over love him the way Skip loves Faye (bonus points for background Don/Joe [Toye that is]; pining, long-distance flirting, whatever) Prompt 3: Dick Winters & Harry Welsh. Post-VE Day. Dick is crestfallen after Nix leaves. Harry feels bad for him. He really does. He's also kind of like "now you know how it feels, don't ya?" Still, he hates to see his friend suffer. Just a couple of sad, lovelorn bastards being miserable together. Prompt 4: Dick Winters & Kitty Grogan/Welsh. Post-war or Modern AU (hence you decide if she takes Harry's name). Would super love these two just doing some GBF things together, shopping, getting coffee, complaining about their husbands and trading gardening tips. Maybe the convo gets a little spicy after dark. Maybe they've each got some private dilemma the other helps to solve. Or maybe they just wander around a flea market looking for good deals on Fiestaware. Prompt 5: Lewis Nixon & Harry Welsh. Post-War. ROADTRIP! (Bonus for background Winnix but it's not necessary). DNW: anything sci-fi/fantasy; OCs; xReader; Tab
@how-are-those-nuts-sarge AO3: whoahersheybars_3up3down Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: Historian AU - one character worked at a museum/was a historian before the war and geeks out over a few things while deployed to their friends = any character/s. Prompt 2: Penmanship - one character has lovely handwriting, but something/s hit them HARD during the war and they write much less pretty; with one of their friends' support, however, their hand steadies and they heal (lotsa metaphors there I know 😅) = any character/s. Prompt 3: Chess - one character teaches the other to play chess = any character/s. Prompt 4: Bicycle - one character finds a tandem bicycle in Austria and convinces the other to go on a ride with them = any character/s. Prompt 5: Anything with Bill & Babe, Malarkey & Skip & Penkala, or Dick & Nix, I love their friendship dynamics so much.
@speirstookmysoul AO3: speirstookmysoul Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: mentor/mentee bonding Prompt 2: shoulder clasps Prompt 3: overdramatic arguments about non-important subjects Prompt 4: "getting mistaken as family and not correcting whoever’s mistaken”
@kmorecoffee AO3: vintagelavenderskies Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: gene and renee: diasastrous, chaotic cookie decorating! the rest of the gang can be involved too for extra chaos because who doesn't love chaos. anyways: gene and renee try to make holiday cookies but something goes awry. too much salt and not enough sugar? distracted and accidentally burn the cookies? luz plays a practical joke and switches out sugar for salt? go crazy! Prompt 2: gene and renee: stargazing!!! all the stargazing :) just two friends, vibing, talking about life and whatever comes to mind Prompt 3: can be modern au: chaos in the coffee shop! just the gang's shenanigans at the local coffee shop. mayhaps there's an ongoing bet of how long it takes luz to get banned? DNW: speirs. i mean, i guess he can be like mentioned or featured. but not too much speirs.
AO3: Muccamukk Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Renee & Augusta/Anna: Any backstory about how/if they knew each other before, their different points of view on things. AU where Renee doesn't die and what they do after the war. Would prefer racism not be the focus of the story, though it can be an element. I like it when there's queer characters and romance isn't the focus. Prompt 2: Winters & Guarnere: Something with them getting to know/respect each other better set early in their relationship, especially between Day of Days and Bastogne. They have such different outlooks, but in the end very similar values, and I'd love to see that explored. Maybe they get stuck together and have to survive? Prompt 3: Randleman & Garcia: I'd love to see more of Bull mentoring the replacements, especially Garcia, and how their relationship changes as the replacements get combat experience and integrate with the company. Would love to see growing respect for each other. I like it when there's queer characters and romance isn't the focus. Prompt 4: Guarnere & Martin: They have matching tattoos! They got in so much trouble with each other and were so ride or die even post war! Bill went to Martin's wedding! Pat and Frannie wrote too each other during the war. I would love them getting to know each other, or small moments of affection. Or just write about Pat and Frannie. That's fun too. Or Bill & Bull & Johnny. Or Bill & Joe Toye. Basically any configuration of this is great! Prompt 5: Powers & McClung: Basically them chilling in the woods silently understanding each other? Healing through chilling in the woods? Comparing their experiences as country boys on opposite sides of the country? Post war stuff where Shifty's so badly hurt and Earl's PTSD? I like it when there's queer characters and romance isn't the focus. DNW: Focus on character death (mention of canon stuff is fine), graphic sexual violence, hopeless endings of utter sadness, character bashing, zombies, AUs that change the setting (turn left AUs fine, AUs that add magic etc fine). PoV characters having strong racist or homophoic views.
@papersergeant-pencilsoldier AO3: papersky_pencilstars Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: Airborne OT5 (Liebgott, Grant, Mcclung, Ramirez, Babe) missing scenes - can be fluffy or angsty (fallout from Chuck getting shot?), dealer's choice! Prompt 2: Mortar Trio - Early days at Camp Taccoa Prompt 3: Dukeman & Perconte & Tab (bonus Trigger?) teasing the replacements Prompt 4: Renée LeMaire  & Gene Roe- (everybody lives AU) connect postwar (I would die if this was a letter fic, but it absolutely does not have to be!) DNW: webgott (platonic or romantic background)
Prompter # 11 Will Accept: Fanfic Prompt 1: Dick, Nix, and Harry being involved in some shenanigans during their downtime in Mourmelon. Prompt 2: Bill and Babe reminiscing and sharing Philly stories. Prompt 3: The friendship between Smokey and Lip because I think it deserves more hype :) DNW: Nothing NSFW
@dansssks​ AO3: danesaber Prompt 1: Dick & Nix: The time they offered to protect Kitty for ice cream and Vat 69. Prompt 2: Spina/Babe/Gene: College AU? Prompt 3: Spina & anyone: They show Spina all their booboos Prompt 4: Mortar Squad: Any au, cannon or modern Prompt 5: Harry and Moose: Go sheep shopping as a present for Winnix on their new farm.
@anthrobrat AO3: anthrobrat Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Any of the Last Patrol OT5 (Chuck, Babe, Lieb, McClung, Ramirez) owning a business together - coffeshop, bar, accounting firm? Don't care. Can either be a post-war or modern AU setting. Prompt 2: Skinny Sisk and anyone being bros during the war. Maybe him and Frank deleted scenes in Bastogne fox holes Prompt 3: Shifty & McClung shenanigans during leave. The cat story is hilarious, and I'm sure there are more, and I just love these two because they are so calm and collected but McClung is a total wild card. I would also take a modern AU of them being besties. Prompt 4: Shifty and Popeye being best friends after the war maybe? I just imagine them at each other's weddings being disasters. I would also take the two of them as friends in a modern AU Prompt 5: Any friendship prompt that gives life to the lesser known characters would be awesome imo. DNW: Speirs or Lipton as main protagonists.
Prompter # 13 Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: shifty powers and floyd talbert - mermaid/fisher au Prompt 2: babe heffron x reader - ice hockey/team manager Prompt 3: dick winters x reader - college au! tutor au Prompt 4: easy company boarding school au DNW: pwp/smut
@mercurygray AO3: mercurygray Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: Harry + Nixon - marriage, divorce, and everything in between. Prompt 2: Shifty + Smokey - Guess we're not in Kansas anymore - or Mississippi, or Virginia. Prompt 3: Tab + Grant - Chuck's really just here to keep Tab out of trouble. Prompt 4: Bill + Babe - First jump's the hardest - and while the jump into Holland is easy, what comes after it is not. Prompt 5: Tipper + Luz -  Tipper's pretty good at impressions, too. DNW: Liebgott and Webster (as a unit; individually they're fine.)
@lyselkatz AO3: Lysel Will Accept: Fanfic Prompt 1: Any group shenanigans/friendship fluff including Skip, Smokey, Nix, Bull. Prompt 2: "The guys are stranded on base without pass (or requisitioned to work overtime to meet an important deadline/exams, if modern AU) Prompt 3: Smokey does his best to cheer his brothers up with his peculiar brand of silly (Valentine) gifts. Extra ❤ if Skip and George offer their help. Chaos and ensemble fluff ensue. (+ playing Cupid/background ships if you like)" Prompt 4: "Lieb and Hoobs are bored so they decide to troll Web. Since it's valentine's day soon they'll play crack!cupid for fun. Prompt 5: Web is a shark nerd and Pat has a great shark smile. Infallible logic, right? (Input from the other guys /ensemble shenanigans are welcome)" DNW: Nothing I can think of, since it's a friendship fest
Prompter #16 Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: found family taking care of each other (feat. liebgott being happy and content <3) domestic fluff Prompt 2: anything fluffy coffee shop AU or flower shop or tattoo parlour or bakery or anything along those lines Prompt 3: university AU but they are the professors! DNW: webgott, fantasy AUS, omegaverse, mpreg, anything mafia related, not too much angst
Prompter #17 Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Era switch: take the boys and put them in the Vietnam War. WWI? The Korean War? The American Revolution? Any conflict that you're comfortable with. Prompt 2: The Pacific AU? Put the BoB men in the Pacific. How they get there or why they are there is all up to you. Maybe their parachute infantry regiment was simply assigned to the PTO instead of the ETO after training. Maybe Japan didn't surrender as quickly as they did. Anything. Prompt 3: Supernatural AUs are my favorite. Preferably I'd love to keep them based in the WWII era, but you can switch it up if you'd like to -- I'd be fine with that! Any type of supernatural is cool with me. I'm aware this might be super vague but I really don't mind whatever you go with :) Prompt 4: Role-switching scenarios: putting men from within the series in each others' positions. DNW: Romantic shipping, characters (Cobb, Sobel, any higher ranking officers above Winters like Sink), modern-day AUs, aged-down AUs (high school/middle school/college with the purpose of aging down = no); a/b/o trope; nsfw (no sexual material; show-level gore okay).
@mariamegale AO3: mariamegale Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Babe and Julian being best friends. They are snarky, excited, happy and having a good time together. Bonus if their boyfriends are Eugene and Spina, accordingly! Prompt 2: Baberoe. They're dating, but they're dating their own best friends. With romantic feelings taking the back seats, I'd love to see a healthy relationship of two people in love but doing normal platonic things because they're also each others' best friends in the whole world! Prompt 3: Roe and Spina being tired doctor friends, meeting up in between shifts or calls, being tired and exasperated and just having their sandwiches and a moment of god damn peace. Prompt 4: George Luz and Babe Heffron being best friends. They'd be a disaster, but that disaster that also knows how to step the fuck up if shit gets serious. But mostly they're a disaster. Prompt 5: Joe Liebgott and Eugene Roe. They're roommates, they're pals, Joe likes smoking weed, playing mario kart and complaining about whatever dipshit he's gone out with now, Eugene is trying to make it through med school and enjoys the soothing background chatter of Joe blabbering on about this guy's shirt, or whatever. DNW: Canon era (Ambiguous era is fine if you don't like writing/drawing modern!), Carwood Lipton, OCs, xReader stuff
@mizunoir AO3: mizunoir (but I use 49thpersona for reblogging stuff) Will Accept: Fanfic, Other types of media Prompt 1: Hogwarts AU! Would be lovely if it would include Babe. I leave it up to the artist if they would like to portray one specific house endeavours or all 4 houses befriending. Prompt 2: Stargazing, can be set in modern times or in the original timeline. For angsty interpretation it would be nice to read/see some Eugene and Spina bonding. Prompt 3: Stargazing (original timeline or modern times). For more crack-ish one it could include for example: Luz, Toye, Guarnere, Babe etc. But I leave it absolutely open - include whoever you want! Boys share their music taste. Bickering and reminiscing of the good times free of war ensues. Can be platonic, can be slightly shippy, AU or modern - up to the artist. Preferably including Babe with Eugene.
@thrillingdetectivetales AO3: ThrillingDetectiveTales Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart, Other types of media Prompt 1: Bill & Babe: Bill talks Babe through gay panic about his extremely obvious crush on one John T. Julian, convinces him to ask Julian out, and demands to officiate their wedding (not necessarily in that order) Prompt 2: Harry & Nix (with bonus Buck?): commiserating about trying to keep Dick out of trouble Prompt 3: Blanche Nixon & Ann Winters: they know each other because their idiot brothers are """"friends"""" but they both know what's up and cover for Dick and Nix at various times throughout their lives Prompt 4: Kitty Grogan & Franny Guarnere & Pat Martin: they meet because their fellas are on the line together and keep each other sane throughout the war Prompt 5: Floyd Talbert is everyone's best buddy DNW: No mpreg/pregnancy in general, no rape/non-con (dub-con like drunk!sex or sex pollen or hatesex is fine), no modern AUs, no ABO/dynamics, no kidfic.
Prompter #21 Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Speirs & Shames: These stern, "unlikable" men are just not very social or nice, but they get each other. Outcast gay solidarity. Prompt 2: Kitty & Nixon/Winters: Nixon and/or Winters gets to meet Harry's special girl at last. Harry's made her sound like the romantic lead of a novel and really cool, and they are completely unprepared for the tall, awkward chess club captain. Prompt 3: Babe & Guarnere: Post-war readjusting of a friendship. Disability, marriage, kids on the way, Babe is gay. You know, the usual. DNW: xReader, OCs, hopeless angst, AUs, heavy focus on heterosexuality
@aloraundomiel AO3: ElfLadyArwen Will Accept: Fanfic, Fanart Prompt 1: Dick admires Eugene’s medical skill and always shows interest in learning from him while he’s on the job. Eugene uses it to his advantage, making sure Dick takes care of himself (because shaving doesn’t count) under the guise of ‘teachable moments.’ Any battlefield setting would work. Prompt 2: Nix and Harry are joined at the hip, two class clowns who wind each other up.  When one gets them into deep trouble, the other one is always there to get them out again. Prompt 3: Dick Winters is jealous of Ronald Spiers ruthlessness/ability to detach and athletic prowess. Ronald Spiers is jealous of Dick’s empathy and ability to earn loyalty through compassion. Each man agrees to give the other lessons in order to be more well rounded leaders. DNW: Please no Blithe. Never Blithe. You can leave out Compton too.
@bandofmorons AO3: bandofmorons (pseud for sonsofmahal) Will Accept: Fanfic Prompt 1: Babe & Lieb friendship!! I don't have a ton of specifics for this, I just want them being friends and getting into shenanigans but also being supportive of each other... like they're just guys bein' dudes but they're also pretty close ya know! They take care of each other when they need to! Ideally this would be a modern AU, maybe they're college roommates or something? Prompt 2: But mostly I just want to see them goofing off but also being helpful when shit goes down or something, because that's what friends are for. Prompt 3: Some kind of traveling AU with the 5 officers (Winters, Nix, Harry, Lip and Speirs) all as friends and how going on a big trip like that can strain a friendship when something goes wrong or just from people being tired from traveling so much... maybe it's a cross-county roadtrip, maybe it's spring break in Europe, maybe they're going backpacking in New Zealand or something.. I just wanna see how all those 5 boys' different personalities interact on a big logistical venture! Prompt 4: I'm not picky about who necessarily but I want to see Webster getting close to & forming a close friendship with someone in Easy! I feel like in the show/fandom he gets a bad rap for being pretentious (which, fair) but I think it would be awesome to see him becoming good friends with someone and feeling more accepted among the company bc of it. This could be a canon-compliant thing or it could be a modern AU where the boys are all friends. Background Webgott would also be cool as long as Lieb is supportive of Web befriending more people. DNW: explicit sex
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radiosandrecordings · 4 years ago
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I wrote a big long post, and I’m not quite sure what my point is and also it’s 2am so by the end it’s pretty much nonsensical but I just wanted to get some feelings out in words, it’s more of a For Me thing really but idk, someone else might feel similar so: 
Been thinking about Stuff recently and as I am want to do with every thought that rattles through my hollow little head, I’ve tried sifting it through a jmart lens. This originally came from a discussion I was having yesterday about how the fan base has changed a lot since jmart became canon, especially in terms of new people listening. But it was more in the context of it... I think there’s a tendency when people listen, specifically ones who came because they’ve seen fan art or they heard ‘omg canon gays!’ (It’s really becoming the new Night Vale and I have Thoughts on that but that’s for a separate post) to listen through the show as a means to get to them being ‘a canon couple’. 
And I suppose there’s a route I could go down here where I talk about how that’s kinda derisive to the show to treat this whole complex story as only a vehicle to get you to the concept of boys kissing, but to me it’s more like... I mean ‘fandoms’ as they are now, really do have a tendency to put an emphasis on romance as the main thing to be focused on, even in media where it isn’t found, that’s old hat. But I Don’t Like That. I mean, obviously I love romance stuff, I read as many fluffy jmart fics with 0 bearing on canon as the next person, I’ve been writing those since season 3 when we had no idea this was coming, when it was still ‘the dinghy’ to a lot of people.
But the whole kind of overview of it is reductive not just to the show but to other forms of relationships I think? Again this isn’t TMA exclusive, this is a common thing, I’m just filtering through one specific thing here. One of my favourite quotes from Jonny was from the S4 Q&A, when he was explaining why Daisy and Basira aren’t a romantic couple, which is a whole OTHER thing and people’s ignoring of his whole logic for that has made me kind of prickly against the ship now, but that’s another topic. Anyway, he says “So, with each relationship within the series there is a specific thing that I’m trying to explore. A specific dynamic that I feel is- is the core of the relationship in something that I am really interested in exploring.” And I adore seeing TMA through this lens. With each character Jon meets, trying to figure out what it is that their specific dynamic with him is supposed to convey. How the whole show is about how people interact with each other and that’s why to me when you boil Jon down to his only relationship being his romantic one is just feels off. 
Like I adore jmart, I truly do, and I get why they’re the most common. Romance is easy and fun to write about, and they’re the two main characters, they’re the ones we lock onto because we spend so much time with them. But if you sat me down and told me to make a list of my favourite dynamics in TMA, personally I would have them ranked third. I would rather talk about Jon and Georgie all day firstly, and then after that Jon and Gerry. Maybe there’s not as much to say for those two dynamics as their is for jmart due to the sheer amount of jmart interaction and content we have in canon, but I think the dynamics that are being explored there are more appealing to me personally to look at. 
Another thing is this notion that relationships only really start when they’re agreed upon to be a reciprocated romantic partnership, and I think that’s something often missed when people rush forward to get to S5 and see them act all coupley. This idea that their interactions only matter if they’re in service to a ship. I don’t think people ignore them interacting before that, but more that people have a tendency to hone in on the parts they think they can point at and go ‘See, see, that’s where he has a crush on him!’. As if their dynamic wasn’t interesting in itself before it became romantic, and only holds worth once they have feelings for each other in a romantic manner rather than simply caring about each other, or even how they might not care at the start. Like, if you are friends with someone for five years, and then get a crush on them for one year, and then start dating, you have had a relationship with this person for six years but the one year of your feelings being romantic doesn’t change the five years to be un-platonic, you were just friends then even if feelings came later. 
Side note -  Obviously the romance gives it obvious appeal and reason for acclaim because if you come to TMA from out of an audio drama sphere, you are likely starving for healthy gay content and so of course you want to focus on that bit of rep. But there’s better media for that, audio is full of it, just because TMA is the popular show doesn’t mean it’s what you’re looking for if you genuinely don’t like horror or the story it’s telling and are only there for the romance. You can shop around a bit until you find the story you want, I promise you it’s out there if you go looking.
Back from the side note - I think what I mean to say is. This is probably me venting my frustration at allonormativity a little in pushing romance as The Superior Dynamic and all other relationships a character has as side notes. Though obviously there’s the caveat that Martin is Jon’s most important relationship to him, hell he called him his reason! But maybe I’m just a little frustrated at their romance being treated as a crux of the show instead of one important thread in a whole woven tapestry of themes and relationships. Again this isn’t dunking on anyone for making fluffy content because I will be sitting here gobbling that up, it’s just more of a... Vent at the way relationships are viewed in general? A bit of a “Funny, you criticise the prioritising of romantic relationships over all other kinds but yet you partake in the writing of non-relevant fluff fics!” I know, but there’s absolutely a place for them because they’re Good I think I just feel like they shouldn’t be the overwhelm if that makes sense? Even some of the stuff I’ve said here now that I look back doesn’t even really apply to jmart specifically so it’s more just. throwing my thoughts at a wall and using jmart to understand some of it I guess. 
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jisungffs · 4 years ago
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coffee breath - felix.
words: 5.1k
reader: gender-neutral
genre: fluff
tags: best friend!felix x aromantic!reader, coffeeshop au, non idol! au, implied lgbtq!felix, minho is a minor character, minsung is mentioned. this whole thing is strictly platonic, none of this is meant to be romantic. just a cute fluffy fic honestly. the end has a little tension but not a lot.
warnings: THIS WHOLE THING IS PLATONIC, DON’T READ IF YOU WANT ROMANCE, swearing, multiple descriptions of food.
requested by @aritodla​, check her out, she’s an amazing artist and a really sweet person overall. 
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Lee Felix was a sweet boy. He had kind eyes, freckled cheeks, and an air of infectious happiness around him. He always tipped generously, he never got angry at the staff, and he always cleaned up after himself. Lee Felix was a sweet boy. And it was a shame all you knew about him was his first name and his coffee order.
 Even though Felix only started visiting your coffee shop a few weeks ago, you could tell he was a genuinely nice person. Everything about him was lovable.
Like the way he always said thank you after you took his order. 
Or like the way he gripped his coffee cup with both his hands when the weather was cold.
Or the way he had a billion stickers on his laptop, adding a new one every week.
Or the way his eyebrows furrowed when he wrote something down..
Or the way he nodded along when he heard music he liked.
Lee Felix was a sweet boy. And even though you didn’t know much about him, you really wanted to. Because Lee Felix was sunshine. And you were in need of warmth. 
It was a sunny day — one where it was warm enough to find solace in cafes and under the awnings of fashion stores, but not warm enough to make you want to curse out everything around you. The perfect weather, really. It was on this day that Lee Felix decided to wear his Twice t-shirt. It was barely noticeable — just a little white logo on the breast. It looked like a regular black tee from a distance. But you noticed. Because not only did you want to get to know Felix, you were also a huge fan of Twice. 
Felix gave you his usual order of a cappuccino and a chocolate scone and went back to his seat.  Felix liked Twice! You wondered who his bias was. Or what his favourite song was. It was really cool that Felix liked Twice right? You finally had something in common. 
You drew a little Twice logo on the coffee foam. You didn’t even realize it. It was pretty usual for you to draw about what’s on your mind, and your cafe didn’t exactly have strict rules about foam art. 
Felix was once again on his laptop today. You could recognize the colourful sticker-covered laptop from a mile away. His brows furrowed as he typed away, only getting up to collect his order. He was back in his seat and was about to continue whatever he was doing when he noticed the logo on his coffee, drawn on foam. His eyes widened slightly, his mouth broke into a grin. You noticed him getting his phone out and taking a picture before you had to attend to other customers.
-
It was a windy night. Felix was already in the cafe by the time your shift started, and was peacefully nibbling on a muffin while doing something on his laptop. His eyes never left the laptop screen. He checked his phone from time to time, but never spent more than a few seconds on it. From the looks of it, he was unaware of everything outside his screen and his table. 
The closing shift never had a lot of customers. It was just Felix, you, and a couple of regulars in the little cafe. 
And the regulars had already left by the time you were done cleaning up. It was five minutes until closing time, and Felix was still there, probably not knowing he was the last one there. You knew you had to tell him he had to leave soon, but you didn’t know exactly what to say. You weren’t the best at the closing shift.
You approached his seat awkwardly. “Excuse me…? Sir…?”, you said tentatively before gently tapping on the table.
Felix jumped slightly at the interruption. He quickly looked around the cafe. “Oh”, he said smally, “Am I the last one here?”
“Yes, and the cafe’s closing soon”, you said with a patient customer service smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t even realise”, he laughed. “I was working on some music and I guess I got carried away”
“Well,”, you struggled to find something to say,” If you like to sing, we have live music on Fridays”
What was that??? Who says that??
“I’ll keep that in mind”, he laughed, shutting the tabs on his laptop. 
His phone screen played the Fancy MV, connected to headphones lying on the table. He was probably streaming it, and your mind raced at the conversation starter.
“You’re streaming Fancy!”,  you said without thinking. You immediately cursed yourself for not spending more time thinking about what to say. He barely knows you, for god’s sake.
Felix didn’t seem to mind. “You like Twice?” Felix said with raised eyebrows and a goofy grin.
“I do”, you replied, mirroring his grin, “Chaeyoung’s my bias.”
Felix's eyes widened. “Wait a second!”, he said,  “Were you the barista who drew the logo on my coffee yesterday?”
“That was me!”, you said laughing.
---
It was a sunny day - the kind where you technically could go out, but it was just a lot more comfortable staying inside. You started mixing Felix's drink as soon as he came to the counter. Felix looked pleasantly surprised. “Guess I don’t have to order anymore”
“I mean,” you said with your eyebrows raised, “You do have to try other drinks at some point, you know? You’ve ordered the a cappuccino and a chocolate scone everytime you came here, and they’re not even that good”
“Hey!” he cry-laughed. “Don’t you dare say that about my cappuccino.”
“By the way,” you added, “I think you’ll like the music today”
Felix raised his eyebrows. His lips quirked up when he realised a lo-fi playlist of Twice songs played through the speakers. 
-
It was an average day -- the awkward phase between afternoon and evening, the weather so ordinary there was nothing to comment about it. Felix shaked his head as he reached the counter and saw you start to make his drink. “Oh I’m not having that today”
You raised your eyebrows, “Oh?”
“Yeah”, Felix said, fixing his posture and smirking. “I’ll have a black coffee, please”, he said in an over dramatic voice.
“Brave today, are we?” 
“Yes, and”  he said like a child boasting about his most recent tag game, “I won’t add any sugar to it”
“Oh boy”, you sighed, shaking your head.
Five minutes later, Felix’s (black) coffee was ready. Five and a half minutes later, Felix’s black coffee was at his table. You watched as he took his first sip.  His entire face scrunched up at the bitter taste. He noticed you looking at him. He gave you a thumbs-up, still wearing the most pained expression known to man. Felix should not drink black coffee.
It was a windy day, the thick grey clouds above threatening to spill over during the night. Felix apparently wanted to prove a point, seeing as he once again ordered a black coffee (no sugar).
“But you hated it yesterday!”
“Clearly you didn’t see the thumbs up”
“Yeah, I was too busy looking at the agony on your face”
He pouted, “But I want a black coffee~”
You sighed. “This will be your villain origin story”.
Not surprisingly, Felix had the same expression of disgust as soon as the black coffee touched his lips. Still not surprisingly, he kept up the cool-edgy-guy-who-drinks-black-coffee schtick.
-
It was a cool yet humid day - the most polarising weather possible. It was a lonely afternoon with hardly any customers in the coffee shop. It was a weekday afternoon, after all. Felix came into the store wearing a black hoodie and a smug grin.
“Please don't tell me you want a black coffee”, you said even before he fully got to the counter. The boy clearly hated the bitterness, but wanted to prove a point anyway. 
“Hey, this was your idea!”, he laughed.
“We have more than cappuccinos and black coffee, buddy. We don’t have to go into the extremes right away”
“Well I’m hoping that if I keep drinking the black coffee, I’ll get used to the disgustingness.”
You shook your head and laughed. “Tell you what,” you clapped your hands together, an idea hitting you. “I’ll play around with some ingredients and make you something I think you’ll like.”
“Ohhhh”, Felix said. "That sounds fun"
"Yes and maybe it'll help me add drinks to the menu too", you grinned.
"I shall not show you mercy, O worthy opponent". Felix spoke with a British accent, bowing to add some flair. 
You played around with steamed milk, vanilla syrup, espresso, chocolate powder, and sugar. Plus whipped cream for good measure. A few minutes later, the drink was ready. Felix came up to the counter and looked at the drink in mock apprehension. 
"I call it the Felixir", you said, . "Get it? Like Elixir?"
Felix let out a laugh. 
“I know. It’s dumb. But!”, you said, "I played around with a bunch of stuff I know you like. It has chocolate, espresso, whipped cream and some other stuff. I have no idea how it tastes, but my barista senses told me this would be nice".
"I trust your barista senses". Felix took a sip of the Felixir.  Whipped cream made a button on his nose. Felix's lips curved into a smile. His half-moon smile shined through. "Your barista senses rock", he said, punching the air.
"Do you like it?"
"I LOVE it. I don't know how you got my favourite ingredients so spot on."
You laughed. "Barista instincts, my friend". 
Felix took another sip, holding the cup with both hands.
"Anyway," you continued, "this one's on the house. You deserve it for enduring the black coffee".
"This is so much better than black coffee", he babbled. "Black coffee has so much caffeine in it?? I was practically vibrating all of yesterday". 
"Black coffee is for people with a lot of shit to do and not enough energy to do them", you agreed. "This one has espresso too, and also a shit-ton of sugar, so you might still vibrate today, just letting you know."
"I'll take being a popular kid's iPhone if it means I can have whipped cream and caramel and the other stuff".
-
It was a sunny day. Ladies in sundresses waited for their dates outside the cafe. 
“Not a lot of people here, huh?” Felix commented.
“It’s a weekday afternoon, what do you expect? Only teenagers on their lunch breaks come here. And you, for some reason”
“How could I stay away from my favourite barista?”
You rolled your eyes. “Since you’re here anyway, let’s talk. I’m bored.” Was that too blunt?
“Cool, what do you wanna talk about?”
“The meaning of life, God, or Twice. You pick”
“Trick question, Twice is God and the meaning of life”
“You’re too smart”
Felix stroked his hair back, “I know”
You roll your eyes. “What are your favourite songs by them?”
“Literally their entire discography, but Fancy or TT if I had to choose”
“Fuck yeah. Those songs are queens”
Felix looks at you approvingly. “We should hang out sometime”
-
It was a clear day. Trees danced around in the wind. Another afternoon where there was hardly anyone in the little coffee shop. Felix ordered his Felixir once again with a cheery tone. You spent some time cleaning up the kitchen and rearranging the items on display. Felix was waiting near the counter once you got done, absent-mindedly checking his phone. He put down his phone and gave you a bright smile when he noticed you coming back.
You smiled back. “What’s the occasion, bub?”
“Nothing, I’m just a little bored and I wanted to hang out with you”
“Well, there aren’t a lot of customers so I guess that works out perfectly”
“How’s your day going so far?”
“It’s pretty boring, to be honest. Maybe I’ll watch a movie when I get home. My shift ends in like half an hour.”
“Whaaat? I was planning to watch a movie too! I live right upstairs, actually”
“Really? That explains why you’re always here”, you laughed.
Felix laughed back. “I have nothing to do today”. Felix gave you an expectant look.
Oh. 
“Me neither”, you said casually. “Do you think we should watch something together?”
“Yes!” He giggled. “I know I’m not the best with invites, but  I’m glad you picked that up”
“Honestly, I’m surprised I got that. I’m really awkward with invites too”
“More reasons to be friends, then”
“We live closer than I thought, by the way. I live across the street. It’s a five-minute walk.”
That afternoon was a pleasant one. Breeze played with the little children on the street. Felix and you were sprawled on the couch, mindlessly watching the trashy movie on TV. An orange cat ㅡ his roommate’s apparently ㅡ decided to laze around on Felix’s lap, his hand absentmindedly stroking its soft fur. 
“Why are early 2000s movies so much more dramatic than they need to be?” Felix commented.
“Right? I remember watching this as a kid and it wasn’t half as bad”, you replied
“So it’s true then. Adulthood only makes things go downhill”
“Hey now you’re the one being dramatic”
“Wrong, I’m always dramatic”
“Your apartment is pretty nice, by the way.”
“Thank you. You’re free to come over whenever”
“Won’t your roommate mind?”
“Not really. Minho’s out most of the time and he brings over his friends all the time too.”
You smiled. “Hey also,”, you said. “Since we live pretty close by, we can hang out at my place some time too!”
“That sounds great”, he smiled widely.
-
It was a cool day. Most of your patrons huddled themselves in hoodies and cardigans. Felix ordered his drink before giving you a curious look. “Did you come to the cafe yesterday?”
“No, I didn’t have a shift. why?” you asked, slightly thrown off.
“Oh that explains it”, he said, “I came in yesterday and you weren’t there. The other barista didn’t know how to make my drink. Or even what it was, actually. And," he paused, "I missed talking to you”
An embarrassing smile crept up your face. “That’s so sweet”, you said, barely audible.
Felix was about to walk back to his table when you said “Hey actually,”
Felix turned around. 
“I downloaded a really awful movie yesterday. Wanna make fun of it together at my place?” you said, just a little hint of nervousness in your voice. “My shift ends soon. But like, you don’t have to if you’re busy or something, we can always-”
“I’d love to,” he smiled. 
The evening was breezy as you and Felix laughed over the hilariously, excruciatingly bad movie.  Felix and you bonded very fast, apparently. Felix was resting his head on your shoulder. It felt so… natural. It was effortless. And comfortable. It was as though your bodies just did what felt familiar to them. You felt Felix’s body shake every time he laughed. You added sarcastic retorts every now and then, Felix joining too. The movie was terrible. But this moment with Felix was beautiful. 
-
It was a breezy summer day, about a month after Felix came over.
 Loving Felix was easy. It was second nature. Felix just clicked with you. The line between friends and best friends blurred quickly. And based on how much he spammed you with messages and how much he visited the cafe and how diligently he memorized your schedule and how many times you hung out,  he loved you too. 
Your phone buzzed.
felix:
are we doing anything today?
 maybe
im in the mood for hot dogs i think
oooooo should we go to the park then?
yes !!
after my shift sounds good?
yesss
(ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*.✧
You used to find those emoticons cringey until Felix started using them. Now, it was just fucking adorable.
(。•̀ᴗ-)✧
The park was a few streets away. It was a big one. Preteens ran around and played frisbee with their friends or their dogs or their parents. But the two of you luckily found a park bench ever-so-slightly away from the noise and the chaos. 
As you sat there talking about nothing and everything, you quietly took in Felix's features. His skin was radiant in the setting sun. His freckles, darker from the sunlight, looked like little flecks of chocolate. His eyes lit up whenever he talked about music. Or cooking. Or you. His cheeks rose and fell with his words, his eyes crinkling up when he smiled. 
It was a beautiful moment. You lay your head on Felix's shoulder, half lost in thought. The sun painted the park in a subtle shade or orange. The kids around the park laughed and jumped, being loud and being kids. Felix had stopped talking by then, too busy taking in the sunset. His head rested on yours, your hands almost touching. It was a beautiful moment. But moments with Felix were always beautiful.
-
It was a cold night. You snuggled into your blankets, intently watching something on your phone. 
Your phone buzzed. Felix sent you a meme.
you:
???????? why are you awake
it's 2am
go to sleep
why are YOU awake ????????
im watching something 👉👈
im just reading fics and stuff akdkkdj
what kind of fics 👀
they're fluffy stop making everything dirty
i can't stop me (by twice)
sjskksksjjd
oh also
do you make the brownies and stuff?
or is that someone else
in the cafe i mean
that's me babeyyyy
why tho
i like them :D
:"D
baking w you would be fun 🥺
🥺🥺🥺
im good at baking
and so are you
but maybe we should yeet away the recipes and do whatever
baking is supposed to be precise tho :(
if it fails we eat the cookie dough and erase the whole thing from our memory
nice
i mean
im supposed to be precise with the cafe stuff too but the Felixir wouldn't exist if i followed the rules
now you're getting it
when are we doing this?
buddy
we live five minutes from each other
just come over whenever
fuck planning
im *this* close to straight up giving you my keys
me too tf
hell yeah
also this isn't distracting me from the fact that you need to sleep soon
i feel kinda sleepy actually ngl
sleep.
okay 👉👈
gn !! ily
and please sleep soon aksndn
ily2
 okay :]
-
It was a clear, pleasant afternoon, your curtains swaying in the breeze. The smell of freshly made cookies wafted through your apartment. Felix sat on top of your counter, his legs swinging. Felix took one of the newly-made cookies into his hand and regarded it intently. “Looks pretty good so far. It’s a little bit hard but that’s obvious, we added a lot of ingredients and didn’t adjust the flour properly”
“So much for experimentation”
“We did add a lot of fun stuff though, so my money’s on it tasting good”.
You both bit into a cookie. It was… alright. It wasn’t bad, but you expected it to taste a lot better or a lot worse. You both gave each other disappointed smiles. “Underwhelming.”
“But hey! It wasn’t bad!” Felix added.
“True. Still thought the cookies would be more… more. You know?”
“I know. But who cares about that?” Felix put his arm on your shoulder, “Making this with you was the most fun I had in a while and I couldn't care less what they ended up tasting like.”
You let out a small smile. “I love you”
“And I love you”
You looked up at him. His soft brown eyes were warm with affection.
“Now,” Felix continued, “The cookie dough’s gotta be better right?”
You laughed. “The cookie dough is chocolate sludge at this point”
“Yeah, maybe using M&Ms as chocolate chips was a bit much”
“Probably. But let’s race. Whoever finds the most M&Ms in the dough wins.”
“I already know I’m winning”.
-
It was a drizzly night. Streetlights reflected on the wet asphalt outside Felix’s apartment. Felix and you had decided to have an impromptu sleepover. It was almost 3am, both of you slightly delirious from the caffeine and the staying up. You were yelling at the TV, desperately trying to get your character to do something, damn it. Felix just smirked beside you, his character easily attacking yours. He was choosing not to kill you quickly, which was almost more annoying than dying straight away. It wasn’t long before Felix won the game. You pouted in annoyance.
“Maybe I should start killing you quickly so you won’t be loud and Minho won’t yell at us for making noise”
“This game sucks”, you pouted.
“You’re just new to it. Did you know you can do twice as much damage if you press B after you attack?”
“Really?”
“Yeah! And do you know how to dodge?”
“No” you said like a kid admitting to breaking something.
“Why did you make me skip the tutorial?”, Felix laughed.
“The past is in the past, Felix. How do I dodge?”
Felix spent a few minutes teaching you which buttons do what and which attacks are effective when. It only took a few slightly frustrating runs before you almost came close to beating him. Maybe he was going easy on you, but that didn’t matter. It was fun. 
“You are learning, my protégé”, he said approvingly.
-
It was a chilly evening. Old white sheets lay spread out on your bedroom floor, your furniture haphazardly moved to the living room.  Felix had texted you earlier that day, promising to help you paint your room. You were almost done painting half a wall when you heard his familiar deep voice. “Hey! Missed you.”
“Missed you more”, you smiled.
“What do you need me to do? How may I be of assistance?” he curtsied.
You rolled your eyes. “Just grab a paint brush and do that wall over there. Just make sure it's even and don’t get any on your clothes.”
“You say that with a million paint splatters on you”, he laughed. 
Felix got to work. Neither of you really talked. It seemed that Felix was lost in thought, letting his hands do the painting. But it was fine. Because moments with Felix were always beautiful, even the silences. 
You were finished with your first wall when you decided to play calm music on your phone. Soothing guitar chords filled the silence. 
It was hard to keep track of time. Five songs? Six songs? Maybe an hour? Both of you had made a lot of progress with the walls. It didn’t matter.  What did matter was Felix. Halfway through the third or fourth song, you noticed Felix singing to himself.
 It was barely audible, he probably wasn’t even aware of it. But his voice was soothing. And soft. 
You had never heard him sing before. You wished you did. You could listen to it forever. Felix’s singing voice felt like sweaters and cozy winter days. 
You didn’t say anything. You knew he’d be embarrassed if he knew you noticed. But the rest of the painting session gave you butterflies, to say the least.
-
It was a chilly day. Felix was hunched over his stovetop making ramen while you dramatically read out a fanfic to him from the table. You just finished the kissing scene when Felix let out a disappointed sigh.
“I know right?” You commented.
“I don’t get it. Don’t you think they’d make way more sense as just friends?”
“Waaaay more sense. I feel like the kiss scene is just so unnecessary.”
“I don’t get why writers think everything should have romance in it. I mean, love is friendship right? I mean, for me, it is.”
Your heart stopped. A smile crept up your face. You continued reading out the fanfic, but you didn’t focus on it at all. Because Felix said love is friendship. Love is friendship. Love is friendship!
-
It was a cold night. You were all bundled up in bed with a hoodie and a blanket. Felix was on the phone with you, refusing to hang up despite being half-asleep.
“Seriously Felix, you can’t even keep your eyes open”
“Mm. But I want to talk to you”, he yawned. His half-asleep voice was deeper than usual and very quiet.
“Alright bub. What do you want to talk about?” You started to feel sleepy too. 
“I don’t know. Maybe how amazing you are?”
You laughed. “Fuck off”
“No but… your hair is so soft. And your coffee is really good. And you’re awesome. What the heck. I love you.” he said. He spoke slowly. You could tell he was almost asleep. 
“I love you too you beautiful bastard”
You were met with the sounds of soft breathing.
Felix was very endearing when he was half-asleep. 
-
It was a rainy day, rain knocking against Felix’s living room windows. Felix shared a blanket with you atop the couch. You leaned on Felix, your head on his chest. His heartbeat  synced with the rain on the window. Felix’s arm draped your side. Both of you focused on the movie in front of you. It was a good one so far. The plot was well written, and the actors were doing a good job. 
A door creaked open behind you. Felix and you turned to look at the source.
Felix's roommate, Minho  entered the living room. He looked well dressed in a leather jacket and chunky black boots. "Do you think Jisung will like the jacket?", he asked Felix.
"He's gonna love it", Felix replied, smirking.
“Alright, I gotta go”, Minho said, picking up his umbrella and walking to the door. He looked at you. “Sorry we couldn’t talk today, y/n, but have fun with your boyfriend”.
He was already out the door before either of you could protest. Felix looked at you awkwardly before turning back to the TV. Felix was not your boyfriend. And clearly he wasn’t very comfortable being called that. To be fair, neither were you.
 “I’m sorry about him”, he sighed. Both of you looked everywhere but each other.
“Don’t be," you said, “ I know people think we’re dating because we’re comfortable with each other and stuff.”
“Right. But hey, you’re my best friend and you always will be.”
You smiled. “You too”.
It was nice being best friends with Felix. Everytime you’ve been this close with someone, they all seemed to expect more. They all seemed to expect romance. But that just didn’t work for you. Romance was weird.
You’re my best friend and you always will be. 
Felix wouldn’t mind, would he? Probably not. But what if he’s mad you didn’t tell him yet? What if he thinks you don’t trust him? Or maybe his whole view on you will change and maybe he won’t like you after that. What if that happens?
You’re my best friend and you always will be. 
You’re his best friend and you always will be. It’ll be alright. It’ll be harder the longer you wait right? 
What if he really will be mad at you though? He’s your best friend, why haven’t you told him yet?
A mere few seconds passed before you shifted off his chest. Felix sat up, sensing your tension. He paused the movie. "Y/N?"
Fuck it. It’s too late to ignore this now. You looked into his eyes before turning away.  “I’ve been holding off on telling you something.”
Felix’s voice filled with concern. “Tell me.”
You took a breath, trying to keep yourself from panicking. You were too nervous to look at him. “Minho joked about us being together and I know neither of us see each other in a romantic way, but I just… I don’t know why I haven’t told you this yet. But… it’s not just you. I don’t feel romantic attraction to anyone. I’m aromantic.” 
Felix put his hand on your shoulder and moved closer to you. Your thoughts were still racing, your heart rate still high, your breath still shaky. You were still too nervous to look at him.
You kept going, “I haven’t told you this. I know. And I’m sorry. But you’re still my best friend and I hope you don’t think I don’t trust you or something. I love you, okay? I just… I guess I just don’t like coming out. But I just had to today for some reason. I’m sorry if this makes you view me differently.” You thoughts were still racing after you said what you wanted to say. Your hands shook slightly.
And Felix noticed all of that.
He put his hand on top of yours. “Y/N”, he said gently.
You hesitated, then looked at him. His eyes were warm. His smile was understanding - the smile of someone who’s done this before. The smile of someone who’s already dealt with the emotions you were having. He gently pushed your head back onto his chest. “Breathe with me.”
His chest raised as he took a breath. You closed your eyes and took a breath too. He let it out in a few seconds. So did you. He took in another breath. 
Felix spoke softly. “Coming out is hard. Even if it’s to someone you love. What you just did there takes so much courage. And I’m so, so proud of you. I love you so much. And our love doesn’t have to be romantic for it to be deep. I love you. And nothing will change that.”
You buried yourself in his chest.
 His chest rose and fell with every breath he took. You breathed with him. His heartbeat was calming. 
 I love you. And nothing will change that.
“Thank you.” you said. “For everything.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“Felix?”
“Yeah?”
“Is it weird?”, you said quietly, “That we’re always so close together? I really like being with you. And hugging you. And cuddling you. But I won’t do it if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“No. It’s not weird. Not to me. I love this. And we can do this all day long without it meaning anything more than friendship.” Felix gave you a forehead kiss. “Besides,” he said, “What good are best friends if they don’t give you hugs?”
You hugged him tighter. “I love you so much”
“I love you so much too.” His voice was warm and kind and understanding. You didn’t bother holding back the tears. 
Lee Felix was a sweet boy. And Lee Felix was the sun, giving you warmth and love and reasons to wake up. Lee Felix was a sweet boy. And the universe was a thing of beauty to let your love shine through.
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a/n: this took a really long time to write bc of personal stuff im sorry, but this req made me realize i was aromantic skaskdlkdlk :’D. remember my requests are open so feel free to request stuff from me and i’ll try not to take eight years to do it. take care yall
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inkwell1013 · 4 years ago
Text
Quiet Hands - Persona 5
Pairing: Yusuke & the Phantom Thieves (platonic), Yusuke & Natsuhiko (familial)
Genre: Oneshot, Angst with a bit of fluff, Found family.
Word count: 2.9k
Warnings: In this fic, Yusuke deals with a lot of internalized ableism and ableist remarks from Madarame. There is also some physical abuse, emotional abuse and depiction of a panic attack. The r slur is also used. Please bear these warnings in mind before proceeding. 
Summary: Madarame never understood Yusuke. He was quick to punish Yusuke for fidgeting. Yusuke learns that loud hands get him hurt. It is much better to have quiet hands. It is better to hold down all the stuff that makes him different. It is better to be who Madarame wants him to be. The Phantom Thieves seemed to disagree with this.
- - - - -
Yusuke was a creature of unbreakable habit. He enjoyed order and structure, and liked to know when he was expected to do things and how he was expected to do them. The slightest disruption to his routine would send him spiralling, leaving him in a horrible mood for the rest of the day.
Today was one of those days. Madarame had invited a guest over without warning Yusuke beforehand, and that had sent him into a tantrum of epic proportions. He didn’t like strangers and he didn’t like surprises, so this was a particularly detestable event in his eyes.
Madarame dragged him downstairs despite his vehement protests. “I don’t want to,” whined Yusuke, trying to pull his arm out of Madarame’s grip. “Let me go!”
“Oh, grow up Yusuke!” snapped Madarame. “You’re not a little kid anymore, and this whining is completely unacceptable for someone your age. Sometimes you must do things you don’t want to do. That’s life, and complaining isn’t going to change anything. Now, you will behave and act normal in front of this curator, or I will ground you for the rest of the week. Do you understand me?”
Yusuke squirmed in his grip. “But it’s so difficult Daddy. I don’t like new people.”
Madarame scowled. “I am not your father. What do you call me?”
“Sensei,” sniffed Yusuke. “Do I really have to do it Sensei?”
“Yes, the curator is expecting to meet you. I’m not having you embarrass me again,” said Madarame, shoving Yusuke into the living room.
The curator stood to greet them as they came in. He was an aggressively friendly man, who immediately went to shake Madarame’s hand with a wide, toothy smile on his face. “Is this your son?” he asked brightly.
“No, he’s my student. I took him in after his mother’s death,” explained Madarame, pushing Yusuke forward. “Why don’t you say hello Yusuke?”
Yusuke mumbled a hello, doing anything to keep from making eye contact, which was made difficult by the fact that the stranger seemed to be attempted the exact opposite at every opportunity. “I apologise for his behaviour,” said Madarame. “He’s a little shy.”
He punctuated the last word with a sharp glare. Yusuke curled further in on himself.
“I understand,” laughed the curator. “My daughter’s shy too. Anyway, what layout are we thinking for this new exhibit?”
Madarame and the curator launched into a lengthy conversation about the upcoming exhibition, thankfully leaving Yusuke out of it. He didn’t want to talk anyway.
All this stress of meeting a new person was making him feel a bit shaky. Similar to how a kettle filled with boiling water needed a way to release the rising pressure, he had found his own way of release. It varied by situation and circumstance, and today it had manifested as fluttery fingers. The curator hadn’t noticed, still engrossed in the work that Madarame was showing him.
Madarame shoot Yusuke a murderous glare and reached over a hand. He pinned Yusuke’s wrist to the table, forcing his hands to a standstill. The curator happily continued with the conversation, having not noticed at all.
“Quiet hands,” hissed Madarame. “You know the rules.”
Yusuke knew he was in trouble.
Nothing happened until the curator left. Madarame was cruel, but he wasn’t stupid. He never struck Yusuke in public and never in front of others - he had his reputation to worry about after all - but things were different behind closed doors.
As soon as the front door slammed shut, Madarame struck, like a viper leaping from the brush. He yanked Yusuke forward, sharp nails digging into his wrist. Stumbling, Yusuke desperately tried to regain his footing, but was thrown of balance again when Madarame smacked him on the side of the head, sending him lurching to the left. He was lucky enough to grab a hold of the coffee table before he hit the ground.
His ear was ringing with discordant chords of a half-finished song, and his vision was blurred, but he could still make out Madarame’s scowling face.
“Sensei, I—”
“Ten fucking minutes! That was all I asked,” screamed Madarame. “And you couldn’t even do that. What is wrong with you?”
Yusuke stared down at the ground. “I don’t know…” he muttered.
“You don’t know?” Madarame said incredulously. “I’m not having a retard for a student. You need to learn to control yourself. No more of that stupid fidgeting. I’ve let it go on for far too long anyway.”
“But I can’t control it,” said Yusuke.
“You will learn. You are not a wild animal that is completely lacking in self control. I raised you better than that.”
“Sensei, you can’t—”
“I’m doing this for your own good Yusuke. No one is going to take you seriously if you act like that. Now go to your room and think about what you’ve done,” spat Madarame. “Don’t think I’m feeding you after this outburst.”
 Things only got worse after that. Madarame stayed true to his word and punished Yusuke for the fidgeting whenever he saw it. That didn’t mean that Yusuke stopped though; he just learned to hide it in front of his mentor. He learned to bottle it all down and release it when he was on his own so he could avoid the punishment.
Even so, the pressure was always building, hissing and screaming to be let out. Sometimes he couldn’t stop it from erupting out of him. Those where the worst days. He would be left shaking and crying, scratching at himself, trying to alleviate that crushing feeling deep down in his soul.
He was only hurting himself – he knew that – but it was the only way to make himself feel better.
Madarame didn’t understand it, just as he had never understood anything about Yusuke. As always, he resorted to violence. He would smack Yusuke on the back of the head every time, repeating the same words.
“Quiet hands.”
Like how a dog can be made to salivate at the sound of a ringing bell, Yusuke was conditioned to associate exhibiting these behaviours in front of others with fear. With pain. Whenever Madarame had guests over, he played the role of the perfect protégé and dutiful student, exactly how Madarame wanted him to, so that he could avoid his ire.
Not once did he question it.
Madarame just wanted what was best for him.
That was the only explanation.
 As sad as it was to admit, Yusuke had never had friends before he met the phantom thieves. He had always been too busy with his art and studies and never had enough time to socialise. No one at his school liked him enough to talk to him anyway.
The closest person he had to a friend when he was a child was Natsuhiko, who had been more like a brother to him, but Natsuhiko left when Yusuke was ten years old. Ysuuke didn’t even get to say goodbye. He just found his bed empty one morning and was informed of his departure over breakfast. Yusuke never quite forgave Natsuhiko for leaving him like that.
The Phantom Thieves were a motley crew, but they were the kindest people Yusuke had met in a long time, so he was happy to call them his friends. They were all kindred spirits, people who had been beaten down and abused by the world, and people who wanted change.
He found solace in their friendship. It was comforting to be around people who were so much like him, who had similar pasts and experiences, and who could understand him.
That day he was reminded of how kind the Phantom Thieves were.
Yusuke had started yet another one of his passionate rants – this time about an artist from the Edo period, who was well known for his unique handling of colours and composition – and instead of blowing him off and ignoring him, as he had expected them to, everyone was paying attention to what he had to say.
And he loved it. Art was a second parent to Yusuke (it had certainly done more to raise him than Madarame ever had) and he would happily ramble about it for hours on end. Once he got going, he could rarely force himself to stop.
There was a lull in his ramble, and he realised how rude he was being. “I apologise,” he said. “I let that go on a bit long, didn’t I? I have a bad habit of running my mouth. It won’t happen again.”
“We don’t mind man,” said Ryuji. “Art makes you happy and shit. We get that.”
“It’s like me and computers,” added Futaba, who was crouching on the couch and fiddling with the ends of her hair. “Sometimes you’ve just got to talk about these things.”
“Whatever makes you happy Yusuke,” said Ann.
“We’re your friends,” explained Ren, leaning dangerously far back in his chair. “We only want you to be happy, and if this is what makes you happy, go for it.” Haru and Makoto nodded in agreement.
Yusuke couldn’t stop himself. He felt bubbly and ecstatic. All that energy had to go somewhere and he found his hand flapping, quite without his input or permission. He rocked on his heels, riding that wave of joy.
It didn’t last long however, and a wave of horror came crashing down upon him as soon as he realised what he had done. Everyone was staring at him and he was frozen in place.
It was like he was the painting in Madarame’s palace. That damn thing haunted his dreams. He would never forget it – the reminder that he was nothing than a thing to the man who raised him. The man he thought of as his father. It sneered at him, as he tossed and turned, reminding him that he would never truly be free.
A tiny sliver of his brain knew that Madarame was gone, and couldn’t hurt him anymore. But it was overwhelmed by everything else that was screaming at him that he was in danger. That he needs to run and not look back. But he couldn’t even do that.
They’ll only hate you after this.
He tried to force himself to say something – anything – but couldn’t force out a single sound. He swore that he couldn’t breathe. Everyone’s eyes were on him. His heart was racing, pumping adrenaline through his veins that he wouldn’t even use because he was too terrified to run, let alone move.
“Yusuke is something wrong?” asked Ren, ever the gracious leader. Yusuke wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle it if Ren hit him. He was usually so composed, but Yusuke knew he packed a mean punch. He had seen him use it on shadows before.
Maybe, if he uses it on you, you’ll turn to dust and blow away as well. Then you won’t bother them anymore. They’ll be happy that you’re gone.
“I can’t— I don’t— I need—" he stammered, unable to form the words correctly. Everyone was staring at him. This was so humiliating.
Ren cast a desperate look to Futaba, who nodded and swayed to her feet. She inched toward Yusuke and reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. Yusuke flinched and she pulled away.
“You need to breathe Yusuke,” said Futaba. “I know it’s hard, but you need to breathe. In for four, hold for seven, and out for eight. Come on, do it with me.”
Yusuke took in a single shaky breath. And then another. Soon, his heart stopped palpitating at a million miles an hour, and he finally felt stable.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I don’t know what came over me. I- I don’t know. It simply happened.”
“It’s okay. You were just having a panic attack. Have you never had one before?” asked Futaba.
“No…” said Yusuke. “I can’t believe I lost control like that in front of everyone. This is mortifying.”
“No one’s going to judge you or anything. These things happen,” said Futaba, with a shrug. Everyone else nodded. “Do you know if anything triggered it?” she asked.
Yusuke chewed on his fingernails, a nervous habit that he never managed to kick, despite Madarame’s best efforts. “You’ll think it’s stupid.”
“We won’t. Trust me.”
“I am different to other people,” he admitted. “I always have been. When I was young, I had bad habits that were beginning to cause problems, so Madarame took it upon himself to… fix my issue.”
Futaba frowned. “You don’t mean..?”
“He used to hit me. It was never anything that bad, and never enough to bruise or scar, but it was adequate, and corrected the problem. I believe losing control and exhibiting that behaviour again in front of others was enough to remind me of it. I apologise for worrying you all.” He bowed his head, staring down at the ground.
There was a long, empty silence, which was broken by Ryuji. “Dude. He was abusing you.”
Yusuke blinked. “And that’s… bad?”
“Of course it’s bad!” exclaimed Ann. “He hurt you. It’s no wonder you’re afraid of him.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Ren, staring Yusuke down.
“I didn’t think it was important…”
Futaba walked over to the couch and took her previous crouched position. “So, Inari, are you autistic?” she asked.
Yusuke scowled. “I don’t see how that’s relevant. I was diagnosed as a child, but I grew out of it.”
He was a little surprised when Futaba cringed and Ren shook his head. “You don’t grow out of autism Yusuke,” said Ren, as gently as he could. “It’s a part of who you are.”
“But I’m not autistic anymore! I’m not. Madarame fixed me,” exclaimed Yusuke.
“Man, not to rude or anything,” interjected Ryuji. “But he lowkey traumatised you. He didn’t fix shit.”
“Hitting someone for stimming is like punishing your puppy for wagging it’s tail,” said Makoto. “You’re just doing what your body wants you to do. It’s normal. We all do it.” She gestured between herself, Futaba, and Ren.
Yusuke’s eyes widened. “You mean, you’re all like me?” he whispered.
“Yes,” said Ren “You’re not alone.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled, rubbing at his face with the sleeve of his shirt. Why was he crying? “You’re all too kind.
Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Nah. We’re just not shitty people like that bastard. Sorry if that’s rude or whatever, but it’s true.”
Yusuke couldn’t stop himself from snickering. “That’s absolutely true. He was a grade A asshole”
“Group hug!” announced Haru, launching herself at Yusuke. Soon, Yusuke found himself in the middle of a crushing group hug with every single Phantom Thief except Morgana, who was still peacefully sleeping on the windowsill.
“You’re a bit weird,” said Ryuji. “But you’re our weirdo.”
 It was Yusuke’s turn to decide where the group went on their weekly outing, and he chose the planetarium. Natsuhiko had taken him there once, when Yusuke was about ten years old. Looking back, he knew it was because Madarame had come home drunk again and Natsuhiko didn’t want him to see that.
It was funny how many of his good memories were tainted by hindsight.
Even so, the day stood out in his mind. It was a single happy moment in the sea of abject misery that was his childhood. Natsuhiko had spent the entire evening pointing out different constellations and telling Yusuke stories about them.
Even after Natsuhiko left, Yusuke remembered the stories. He would trace the constellations onto his palm and whisper the stories to himself, desperately clinging onto the few things he had left of Natsuhiko. He remembered every single word, exactly how Natsuhiko had told him.
He and his friends found their seats and settled down. The lights flickered on above them, stars appearing in the dark expanse. He remembered Natsuhiko daring him to try and count them. It was impossible; there were just too many. An incomprehensible number.
It was beautiful. He would paint it, but he could never capture its majesty quite right. All the swirls of purple and blue and black, with pinpricks of light shining through, filled the entire domed ceiling. It would never fit on a canvas.
Futaba leaned over and whispered to him, “Do you know any stories about the stars?”
“Are you sure you want to hear?” replied Yusuke. “You know how much I can go on about these things.”
“Of course. We all want to hear!” said Ann. Yusuke looked around to the smiling faces of his friends and couldn’t help but grin himself.
“Okay,” he said, flapping his hands, as he collected all the right words. Flapping was his favourite stim. There was nothing quite like it for that fluttery, excited feeling in his chest. “Can you see those three stars over there that form a line?” he said. “They are a part of a constellation called ‘Take No Fushi’. They represent a bamboo cane, being held by a young girl. The story stays that she and her sister were carrying buckets of water balanced on canes of bamboo, when they were attacked by a fearsome Oni. There was no escape, so they climbed a rope towards the sky. The elder sister became the moon, and the younger sister became the stars that trail after her…”
Everyone was listening to him. No one minded his stimming. He knew, for the first time in years, that it was okay to be himself around those he loved.
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vagarius · 4 years ago
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misukazu 21
(if you saw me fuck up the other one no you didnt)
EDIT I THINK THIS ONE GOT A LITTLE FUCKED UP TOO BUT IT’S... READABLE...
questions from this post, and answers originally written for this thread!!
If you had to change the pairing’s very first meeting, how would you change it?    their canon first meeting is already so good SHDGFLJASHG but if i had to choose a different one that's still within the context of mankai... meeting as kids and losing touch and coming back together completely different at mankai
What song fits your pairing the most?    uhhHHhhHHH i don't have a real answer but i do have a partial playlist for one of my misukazu aus and the only two songs in it are furaregai girl by sayuri and champagne's for celebrating by mayday parade and i feel like that says enough sldhgalsdhfalsh
What is your favorite AU/prompt idea/trope for your pairing?     ALL MISUKAZU AUS ARE GOOD but. i really love any au where their first meeting is in the future and both are still kind of lost but they're Older and it's hard to let themselves fall into the easy trust they find in canon. i just think that'd be neat.
Do you prefer canon ideas or do you have your own headcanons for them?     I'VE SAID THIS MANY TIMES BUT CANON MISUKAZU GIVES OFF MADE FOR EACH OTHER VIBES AND USUALLY I DON'T VIBE WITH THAT BUT THEY REALLY ARE WHAT THE OTHER NEEDS... AND I THINK EVEN IF THEY HAD TO PART THEY'D STILL BE ABLE TO BE BETTER PEOPLE BC THEY HAD MET
Favorite canon moment of them?     THERE ARE SO MANY but the one that immediately comes to mind is misumi carrying drunk kazu to bed (latest bday line) because drunk kazu is so soft and it implies that misumi wanted to wish happy birthday to kazu pretty late... what did he want to give him...
Least favorite canon moment of them?     hmm... there's not really one i can think of??? IM SORRY I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY I LOVE ALL THEIR CANON MOMENTS
Favorite headcanon trope/idea? (Your own or someone else’s)    this is somehow both vague and very specific but i think misukazu gives off this vibe: He's beautiful. I can't tell him. or "Kazu is always beautiful~" Don't call me that, Kazu thinks. I'm not. so... insecurities i guess ????? AJSHAJJD
Favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics?     THIS IS GOING TO SOUND SO CHEESY but i love how /real/ they allow themselves to be around each other. misukazu at their best is when one thinks "you're you. and i love that you" and the other knows this. i just. THEY VALIDATE THE OTHER SO MUCH CRIES
Least favorite aspect of them/their relationship dynamics? (Can be headcannon)     this isn't a "least fav" so much as "it makes me sad" but if either of them showed any sign of not being interested anymore the other is more likely to give up then push anything. sort of like "it was bound to happen, so i'll enjoy now until they drop me" or EVEN WORSE they think the other would be better off without them and pushes them away. so yeah the fact i can see one of these happening makes me sad.
If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together?     they give off "everyone knows we're dating but us" energy but at the same time i feel like they'd acknowledge there's something and just not define it bc a) they don't need to (misumi) or b) they're too nervous to (kazu). in other words i think one day they are holding hands and misumi says "kazu? is this dating?" and kazu holds his breath before asking "do you want it to be?"
If you had to take them and plunk them into another fandom, what fandom would that be? Why?     i think theyd be hilarious in any sports animanga (kazu is manager tho bc noodle arms but maybe they bond when misumi walks him through some of his usual training menu one night - ahem. anyway) BUT ALSO horimiya au...
How hard is it write/draw your pairing? Scale of 1-10.     AJDHAJDHSF I REALLY LOVE THEM SO IT COMES PRETTY EASILY... but sometimes you try to put them in tropes and realize they would Just Not Work Like That. idk where i'm going with this. but yeah. anyway 3 for sankaku.
Is there a pairing that you think rivals them?     in terms of what i ship, i tend to ship kazu and misumi individually with a lot of dif charas AJDHAKD. but in terms of like... in-universe "rival" pairings: kazu side: tsuzukazu (maybe, lbr it would take them 273924 yrs to actually get together), kazu x someone from winter (i... have my reasons but they'd take longer than what this answer entails) misumi side: ... surprisingly none that i can think of ahdjahd
Which character of the pairing do you like more? (Would you ever pair yourself with them?)     you know that tweet that's like "sometimes a ship is just your two favs"? yeah that's misukazu for me. but if i had to choose... misumi AJDHAJHDSF I HONESTLY WASNT THAT INTO YUME UNTIL THESE TWO CAME AROUND (NOT COUNTING 707)... but yeah if they wanted to hold me in their arms i wouldn't oppose
Which character of your pairing would be the one to break up with the other? Why?     OOOOOH BOY well. i think it could be either of them. i don't think they'd break up for lack of love but too much love and wanting the other to be happy and thinking that the only way to give them that is to let them go. so i guess the question is which of them would be more likely to be selfish and hold on. thinking this way, i think misumi would be more likely to break-up, bc kazu has lots of friends who are better than him!! and misumi is more ready to leave if he thinks he needs to than kazu is. now im sad.
Are they relatable as characters or as a pairing?     THE NUMBER OF TIMES I'VE BEEN CALLED KAZU KIN... in all seriousness kazu's struggles with speaking out and (shinobi spoilers) his uncertainty over his future hit real close to home... while i don't relate as much as misumi, his struggles always manage to tear my heart into pieces... ((oversharing alert) i guess what really separates me from misumi is his struggle with his desire to connect with family who has treated him poorly... whereas im more "lol fuck you") tldr i relate to kazu slightly more LOL
Did you once/ever dislike one/both of them?     i never disliked them but i was NOT expecting either of them to shoot up so quickly into my favs list ahdjahdjf. also i started shipping them Immediately After reading summer main story so there's that
On an estimate, how many posts have you made about them?    as of september 28th 2020 i make up 11/78 fics on ao3 in the romantic misukazu tag and 2/12 in the platonic one. i may have brainrot.
What made you decide to ship them?     TBH I FINISHED THE MAIN STORY AND WENT "OH MY GOD... THAT'S MY SHIP" but now that i'm here i continue to ship them because they have the potential to bring out both the best and the worst in each other and i'm all about that
Favorite genre for them? (Angst, fluff, etc.)     angst. i just. angst hurt/comfort all the way. im so sorry babies.
lol you thought there would just be 21 ANYWAY EXTRA 1: how do they spend breaks/vacation?    they'd travel a lot when they're older!! kazunari loves to travel and misumi would follow kazunari anywhere (also, new triangles!!) so they go somewhere new whenever they have the time. however i think eventually one or both of their future careers will take them anywhere and everywhere anyway, so their "ideal vacation" might turn into an evening in, cuddling and catching up (as if they didn't already send play-by-play updates over the phone of whatever they did during the day)
EXTRA 2: first date?     i don't they ever have an explicit first date, but if asked they'll cite the time they had a picnic in the park turned triangle hunt turned accidental dip in the duck pond. at least, kazunari will. misumi just tilts his head and wonders what you mean.
EXTRA 3: gifts?     IM FEELING REALLY CHEESY SO I'M MAKING THIS ABOUT ANNIVERSARY GIFTS they both end up getting each other jewelry (although kazu was really really nervous bc he wasn't sure if misumi would wear it). kazu gets misumi a bracelet (with triangles, of course although misumi only wears it sometimes because he doesn't want to lose it) and misumi gets kazu a pair of triangle earrings "so we can match!" and kazunari combusts at the implications
EXTRA 4: sharing clothes     THEY'RE ACTUALLY AROUND THE SAME SIZE (and tend to wear baggier stuff barring kazu's skinny jeans)... but they have completely different Styles so it's still really obvious when steal each other's stuff ahdjajdkaf. as cute as kazu would look in sumi's sweatshirt i think the much more likely scenario is kazu wrapping misumi in his jackets because this boy nEVER BRINGS HIS ANYWHERE anyway just. accidental shared wardrobe misukazu.
EXTRA 5: lake house au    consider: kazunari living in a house on the shore of a lake for a summer for Art Purposes (and a little bit for Dealing With Life purposes but he's not gonna admit that) and meets his lake neighbor misumi who kazu thinks might be a ghost or spirit for a while but he actually just lives further down the lake and misumi unknowingly helps kazu with his Life Issues and maybe they fall in love
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foursideharmony · 5 years ago
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Collateral Damage (Part 3)
Summary: Roman gets into trouble while questing in the Imagination. Rescue arrives, but will the rescuer be all right?
Word Count: 2,108
Relationship(s): Platonic LAMP, with some extra Prinxiety focus
Warnings: It's a whump/hurt/comfort fic, sooooo... hospital/clinic setting, some really disturbing imagery including fire and darkness and other unpleasantness, medical sutures, poison, illness, description of inflamed wounds, Remus mention, nightmare mention
Logan taped down the last bandage and stood back, admiring their handiwork. “There. I think we can put him to bed now.”
“He looks better already,” said Patton. “A little like a mummy, but I think he'd be okay with that. Remember that one Halloween?”
“Patton, that was Christmas Eve.”
“Oh. Right.”
Roman had begun visibly improving shortly after drinking his antidote, which made sense. His scratches remained a bit swollen, but the other two Sides had disinfected them, daubed them with ointment and patched them with gauze, and the prince was now resting peacefully and well on the road to recovery. Logan estimated thirty-six hours before his rapid recuperative powers (something they all enjoyed, as non-physical beings) brought him back to full health.
He waved the examination room away, transforming it into a small but pleasantly appointed hotel room, with Roman tucked into a full bed and a smaller cot alongside. Putting the Creative Side back in his own room would have been ideal, but they couldn't enter it from the common space without him being conscious to allow it.
“One of us should stay with him until he awakens naturally,” Logan said, “and I volunteer.”
“All right,” said Patton. “I'll look in on Virge after he's had a chance to rest up. And I'll keep an ear out for Thomas and let him know what's up if tries to call on us.”
“Excellent plan,” said Logan, changing from his medical garb into a simple combo of tee-shirt and sweatpants. He maneuvered onto the cot as Patton sank out and was soon dozing.
Fire. Fire and hot darkness and and pain, a dull yet insistent pain that was everywhere with no way to locate its source. And the fire was black fire, doing nothing to light up the oppressive, suffocating darkness. And the darkness was made of voices, too whispery quiet to be heard clearly yet at the same time so loud that they were like physical blows to his ears, inflicting more pain and more fire.
He couldn't move and he could barely breathe (the fire was somehow also water) and everything was wrong and everything hurt and he didn't understand why. There was no such thing as time—no past to remember in order to understand, no future to anticipate so he could plan—there was only an eternal present of pain and darkness. And fire.
~~~~~
Roman woke slowly, feeling unusually refreshed for a mere nap. It took him a moment to realize that no, it hadn't been a mere nap. His back was dreadfully sore at first, but the pain receded into the background as his awareness brightened, and he remembered.
He opened his eyes and glanced around as much as he could without moving just yet. A modest bedroom, furnished in subdued colors. Morning sunlight filtering in through medium-weight drapes over either a large double window or a sliding glass door. A framed piece of art on the wall, its image invisible behind the reflection of light on the glass cover. A bureau and a small television. So, a hotel room—not luxurious, but far from the worst place to be. He tried to sit up a little to take in more, but found himself hissing in pain as something twinged in the small of his back.
Suddenly Logan was there, standing up from wherever he had been and fumbling for his glasses on the bureau. “Roman? Are you awake? Is it morning?” He paused to yawn and change back into his daywear. “Don't try to get up too quickly or you'll pull on your sutures.”
“Sutures...” Roman repeated, easing himself up more carefully and reaching around his own back to feel the knobbly knots under the bandage. “Was it that bad?”
“Just in one spot. I put in two sutures to close up a laceration. I doubt you'll need them long.” He paused again, and cleared his throat. “How do you feel?”
“Well enough,” said Roman, just before his stomach rumbled. “Strike that—I'm starving. I don't suppose...I might get breakfast in bed?”
“Not from me, you won't. It should be safe for you to get up and walk as long as you're careful. Come on—Patton and Virgil will be very pleased to see you on the mend.”
“I owe Virgil, for sure,” Roman said. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and gingerly got to his feet. “These are nice pajamas; did you put me in these? I just need to make one little addition for the occasion.” He reached into the hem of his sleeve, like a magician doing a scarf trick, and drew out a swatch of gold-tinted chiffon which whipped around the shoulder opposite and knotted itself, creating an impromptu arm sling.
“Roman, that is entirely unnecessary. Your arm suffered only superficial damage.”
“It's for the 'recuperating hero' aesthetic. Let's go eat!”
~~~~~
Patton dumped an extra spoonful of sugar into his peppermint tea...yeah, it was that kind of morning. He was trying not to be morose, but it was tough going when the last he'd seen of his fellow Sides was Roman unconscious and Logan settling in for a bedside vigil. He wondered whether it was worth making breakfast, and for how many.
There came a soft sound from the stairwell, and then Logan's unmistakable imperious tones. “Descend slowly. Don't disturb your dressings.”
“I know how to walk down stairs, Logan.”
And just like that, Patton's morning was 100% better.
“KIDDO!” he bubbled, his sock-clad feet slipping on the kitchen linoleum as he hastened to meet Roman. “Look at you, almost all better! Wait, what happened to your arm? I thought...”
“Aesthetics,” Logan said flatly.
“So it's safe to hug him?” Patton said, not even waiting before sweeping Roman into a joyful embrace. “Anyway, we should have a special breakfast to celebrate your recovery! We can make it together! You two do me a favor and get out the stuff, and I'll go wake Virgil!” He all but leapt up the stairs, buoyed by relief and delight.
Patton and Virgil had an understanding. Patton was allowed to enter Virgil's room without specific permission under the following circumstances: 1) He was reasonably certain that Virgil was in there, 2) He was entering for the purpose of either gently waking him up or rescuing him from a presumed panic spiral, 3) He knocked first anyway and announced his intention to enter, giving Virgil a chance to deny him if it was a bad time.
Patton knocked on Virgil's door. “Virge? Kiddo? Roman's up and he's doing great! We're gonna make breakfast together.”
There was no response, so he rapped again, said “I'm coming in,” and did so.
And just like that, Patton's morning was 100% worse.
“Logan!” he blurted before he had even processed the entirety of the scene. “LOGAN!”
There was a crash of dropped dishes from the kitchen, followed by the rapid rhythm of someone charging up the stairs. Logan appeared in the doorway, his jaw dropping.
Virgil sprawled fully clothed on his bed—pale, trembling, panting, whimpering. His eyes, open a crack, were rolled back until only the bloodshot sclera were visible. The sheets around him were damp with perspiration. Patton repeatedly reached a shaking hand toward his face to offer comfort, but pulled back every time, unsure whether he should make contact. “What do we do?” he pleaded. “What's wrong with him?”
“I can't say without more information,” Logan confessed. “But it looks like—”
“It's the poison,” Roman said, having just arrived. “That's what it does without the antidote. It's one of my brother's favorite dirty tricks, so I know all about it. But I don't understand; he wasn't wounded! Unless...”
He shrugged out of his bogus sling and gently lifted Virgil's left hand, undid the zipper on the sleeve cuff, and turned down the fabric. Two punctures, one larger and deeper than the other, were revealed in the soft, pale skin on the underside of the Anxious Side's wrist. The flesh around them was horribly swollen and red, with inflamed blood vessels visible through the skin, radiating out from the wounds.
“The thorns penetrated after all,” Roman said. “It must have been so slight that he didn't notice at the time. The poison takes time to fully kick in.”
“Oh, Virgil,” said Patton, finally overcoming his hesitancy and ruffling Virgil's sweat-drenched hair. Virgil flinched away from the touch, his head thrashing back and forth until he finally flopped over entirely, facing away from them, and curled up into the fetal position. “He's burning up,” Patton said, following Virgil to the other side of the bed. “Roman, do you have any more of that antidote? Please say yes.”
Roman rubbed a hand over his face. “It's too late for that. There's about a two-hour window. After that, the only thing to do is ride it out. It's not going to be a good time for any of us, Virgil least of all...but he will make a full recovery. Remus doesn't go in for lethal stuff, on the grounds that dead people can't pay him attention.”
“He's not wrong in that. Roman, you have suffered the full effects of the poison before?” said Logan.
Roman nodded.
“Please tell me whatever you can about it. It may help advise a course of action for treating Virgil's symptoms until his system purges the toxin.”
“Nightmares,” Roman said softly. “He'll be knocked out for a couple days, and the fever will give him fever-dreams...bad enough, right? Now try to picture fever-dreams designed by my brother. Better yet, don't.”
Logan adjusted his glasses. “Would reducing the fever alleviate the visions?”
Roman shrugged. “Maybe? It can't hurt.”
“I'll set up some cold compresses,” said Patton, rising from his kneeling position. “And we should move him. This is no place for a sickbed. You two are already showing some under-eye smudge.”
“I do find myself becoming increasingly unsettled,” said Logan. “Thank you for spotting that, Patton.”
“I volunteer my room,” said Roman. “The atmosphere of pleasant fantasies should help to combat the nightmares.”
“You two work on that, then,” said Logan. “I will inform Thomas so that it doesn't catch him off guard if Virgil's suffering spills over onto him. In fact, he may be able to counter it from his end.”
The three of them nodded to each other, and they got to it.
~~~~~
It was a day and a half before Virgil woke up.
Roman had been watching him, as usual—it was his room, after all, and by concentrating he could modulate the atmosphere to produce only the sweetest and most beautiful of ideas, though he could only hope they were filtering through to Virgil's lowered awareness. He was changing the cold compress, which was a bit trickier than just removing one wet washcloth and replacing it with another, cooler one, because the delirium had Virgil recoiling almost violently when anything touched his head or face. The way to calm him, they (actually Patton) had discovered by accident, was to pick up his hand and gently massage the pad of his thumb.
Roman was in the midst of this process when Virgil's hand abruptly tightened on his, and then the Anxious Side's eyes flew open and he let out a brief, barking yell.
“It's all right!” Roman said on reflex. “It's just me, Virgil, I'm right here and you're safe. You're safe. You're safe, Emo the Frownfish.”
“P-Princey...?” Virgil said, his voice barely a squeak.
“Yeah,” said Roman. “We're taking care of you. You'll be okay.”
“D...d...don...”
“Don't what?”
“Leave. Don't leave. Please.”
Roman had been planning to go inform the other two that Virgil was awake, but after a plea like that, it was completely off the table. They would find out sooner or later. “I won't,” he said softly, squeezing the hand he was still holding.
There was a long pause while Virgil sank back into the pillow, whimpering.
“I know,” Roman said. “It hurts. It'll stop hurting pretty soon now that you're awake.”
Another pause, and then Virgil said, “Have you really been here this whole time?”
“We took turns, actually. But I'm glad I'm here now, so I can thank you properly for rescuing me the other day. You were my hero, Virgil. The least I can do is be yours for a little while.”
“Sap,” Virgil muttered, proving that he was going to be all right.
The End
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actuallylorelaigilmore · 5 years ago
Text
you feel like home
Post-4.01 fic, includes episode spoilers. After the census and Schneider's big announcement, Penelope tries to come to terms with what her life will look like once she's truly alone. Her efforts do not go as planned, especially once Schneider has more news she wasn't expecting.
Penelope x Schneider, ODAAT. available on ao3 with extra author’s notes.
She held on tight to the bigger questions that had been piling up since Victor’s wedding, when Schneider left her sitting alone in the middle of a perfectly nice conversation. When she watched him and Avery dance as though nothing ever broke between them.
Aren’t you supposed to avoid huge, sudden changes in your life? She wanted to ask him. It can’t really be that simple to start over, can it? Do you miss me as much I miss you?
Ever since Census Brian stopped by her apartment, it felt like the whole world was conspiring to make Penelope feel more alone than she had before. Even when she first separated from Victor, there were parts of her life that kept her focused, that distracted her...that didn’t feel quite like this. 
She’d had the kids to look after, her mother to argue with, and Schneider striding into her house at all hours. New job, new empty bed, new medication she resented having to take.
But now she was 42, and her life was settled. Her Mami was proud of her, in her own complicated way. Elena was waiting for college acceptance letters and Alex had a girlfriend. Penelope had never been better at her work, and she might be lonely, but she was used to the loneliness. 
Nothing about this was new--so she didn’t know why it was bugging her as much as it was. 
She found herself thinking about the year 2030 a lot, not as some abstract concept but as a specific point in time that felt like it was coming right for her. Elena would be in her late twenties, probably far away, and Alex would be independent, too. They wouldn’t need her as much, if at all. 
Penelope would like to believe that her Mami would still be behind her curtain, as vibrant and healthy as ever, but she was an NP. She knew time had already been kinder to Lydia Riera than lots of people her age. What were the odds she would stay that lucky?
And then there was Schneider. 
It took her a few days after the census to realize she hadn’t even included him in her mental picture of what 2030 would look like. 
That was for the best, Penelope thought. He was already visiting less since his reunion with Avery, and now that his girlfriend would be moving in....she doubted that would mean the two of them spending extra time with the family. 
They had invited Avery over a lot in the beginning, but she rarely tagged along with Schneider for dinners or game night. Schneider only came down for morning coffee these days if he woke up alone, and Penelope didn’t know if that was because the duo preferred his fancy espresso machine when they were together or if Avery was actually avoiding them. 
Whatever the reason, Penelope missed him. She could admit that to herself. But she refused to interfere with Schneider’s happiness, so she wouldn’t be admitting it to him. She texted him more instead, checking in, asking after his AA meetings or wondering if he would make it to movie night.
She held on tight to the bigger questions that had been piling up since Victor’s wedding, when Schneider left her sitting alone in the middle of a perfectly nice conversation. When she watched him and Avery dance as though nothing ever broke between them. 
Aren’t you supposed to avoid huge, sudden changes in your life? She wanted to ask him. It can’t really be that simple to start over, can it? Do you miss me as much I miss you?
It was lonely, Schneider’s absence at the dinner table or on their couch. Especially because no one else in the family seemed to feel it. Her kids were dating, and her mom had whatever platonic thing was still happening with Dr. Berkowitz. Everyone was growing outwards from the roots of their family, and she knew that was how things should be. 
Growth was good. Change was healthy. Nobody was doing this to abandon her.
It sucked anyway.
So as 2030 crept into her thoughts whenever she had a spare moment to feel the anxiety and strange sense of grief that heralded her soon-to-be empty nest, Penelope deliberately imagined a Schneider who settled down upstairs with Avery, and kept drifting away. 
In ten years, he would be the best friend who was reachable when she really needed him, but not around most of the time. He and Avery would get married, a picture-perfect couple. Maybe they’d stay upstairs, but they probably wouldn’t. He would lease his place to another hipster and they’d move somewhere more upscale to start a family, or adopt purebred dogs, or whatever rich people did when they had endless money and time.
Penelope tried to accept that picture, feel it like it was real, so she could get used to it. She wanted to embed it deep in her heart, where it wouldn’t be able to hurt her as much when it happened. 
It made her feel like she had lost Schneider already. 
And that left her raw and open and unprepared for his midnight text a few weeks later, asking her to come upstairs. 
****
Penelope offered a quick and grateful prayer to the God she only kind of believed in when he opened his door and he wasn’t visibly drunk. She was still waiting for the next relapse--it had only been five months. A part of her might always be waiting for the next relapse.
“Hey, Pen,” he said, stepping back to let her in. 
She sat on his couch, realizing as he joined her that his place looked different. Emptier. Less...bright. 
Penelope hadn’t visited as often lately; with Avery living there too, boundaries seemed more important. But she knew that the art missing from his walls had been an Avery purchase. Primary colors, splashes and curving lines that probably cost thousands of dollars.
The scarves and hats Avery always seemed to have draped everywhere--chairs, counters, wall hooks--were gone too. The entire apartment was less colorful now. 
So was Schneider. 
Even his blue eyes looked a little grey tonight, Penelope thought. And asking him felt cruel, when it was obvious what happened. But she knew talking would help.
“Avery moved out,” he said before she got the chance to broach things gently. “A couple hours ago, they picked up the last of her things. I haven’t been able to sleep."
Penelope held herself steady as Schneider leaned against her, staring blankly forward. “I knew you would come. Thanks for that.”
“Whenever you need me,” she reminded him. “I wouldn’t have promised it if I didn’t mean it.”
“Tomorrow’s Wednesday,” he thought out loud after a few moments of silence. “I won’t keep you long, I know you have an early schedule on Wednesdays.”
She blinked, trying to remember if she had told him that. They’d talked so rarely lately, it didn’t seem likely. But Schneider keeping tabs on her wasn’t new--in fact, it was the most familiar and comforting reminder of their friendship she had felt in a while. 
“That doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay.”
“Did you call Nick?”
“Yeah. I called him after we broke up this morning. The movers took a while,” he added.
“Ah. So she didn’t just...move out.”
“No.” He sighed. “I thought this would bring us closer, but somehow it did the exact opposite. The more time we spent together, the more it didn’t work, and we tried harder to make it work and that just made it hurt more.”
“Oh, Schneider.” Breakups were always hard, but this was his first serious relationship. Of course he fought to keep it; of course he was devastated to lose it again. She reached for his hand and held tight.
“Yeah. Today we were having this stupid fight about scrambled eggs, and both of us sort of stopped in between the yelling and looked around, like what are we even doing right now? And so we stopped yelling, and we talked. About everything since she moved in: how she didn’t want to play games or watch movies with you guys, how scared she is that I’ll relapse and how unprepared she was to live with a recovering alcoholic. About the life she knows she wants eventually, and the one I really don’t.”
Penelope was still holding his hand, but she tried not to squeeze harder on instinct. “Does Avery want kids?”
Schneider shook his head, and she exhaled. “No, it’s not that.”
He knew her, though. Schneider let go of her hand to wrap an arm around her, a silent show of support while he continued. 
“She liked that I had real world skills, that I’m more than just another rich guy--but she likes her money, too. Even though it makes her feel guilty. I guess she thought that eventually we were going to move on from this place, and this version of my life, and into one that was more like hers. Ballrooms and regattas and the stuff I tried to get away from.”
“Oh.”
“Yep.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d be lying if she said she was surprised. But Schneider didn’t need an I told you so. Penelope settled for the truth.
“That sucks, Schneider. I’m really sorry.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re gonna be okay,” she added, with the wisdom of experience and the affection of friendship.
“Sure,” he agreed, his temple resting against the top of her head. The hopelessness underneath his agreement broke her heart. 
“You will be,” she insisted. “It’ll take time, but you’ll see."
“No offense, Pen,” Schneider said quietly, “but you were still hoping to have a future with Max a couple of months ago. If you weren’t over him two years after you broke up, I don’t see sunny skies ahead.” 
Penelope turned to face him. “Well, you don’t have to. I can see them for you, until you do. And in the meantime, you won’t be alone.” 
“Remember that, okay?” She pulled him into a hug. “You’ve got us, always. You’ve got me. And I know what it’s like to survive a terrible breakup.” 
Schneider was hugging back, his cheek against her hair. His breath tickled her ear when he replied. “It wasn’t terrible. That’s the worst part. It was barely...anything. Like we used all our feelings up.”
“Pobrecito,” she murmured, rubbing his back and holding on. There was no cure for heartache. And it would be tougher for Schneider, going through it sober again, she thought. 
The decision was an easy one--she made it without even considering other options. 
“All right,” she said, sitting back up. “You’re staying with us tonight.”
“Pen--”
“No arguments. I won’t hear it, Schneider. This is what family is for. Let’s go.”
The hint of a smile he gave her was barely there, but it was more than she’d seen since she arrived, and Penelope considered it progress. 
****
She texted her mom while Schneider grabbed a few things, and Lydia was awake and waiting for them when they arrived downstairs. 
“Sit,” she told Schneider. “I will fix you a little something.”
“Lydia, it’s super late. Let’s all just go back to bed.”
“You will sleep better fed,” she chided him.  “And I will sleep better if you are fed. You were not at lunch or dinner.”
He sank into the couch, giving up. “Well, then. Thanks.”
Penelope watched as Schneider closed his eyes and relaxed. She knew she had made the right call--now, he was home. With her Mami fussing over him and the kids to look forward to seeing over breakfast in the morning, maybe he really would sleep.
“Lupita,” her Mami said, “You should rest now. I am here.”
She nodded, eyes on Schneider for a few moments longer. Penelope couldn’t have said what she was looking for, but she found it when he seemed to feel her attention and straightened up. 
“Your mom’s right, Pen. Go to bed.” 
She knew he was remembering the same things she was: his last breakup with Avery, the last time she wasn’t paying close enough attention to his pain, their last long hug on a couch while she tried to comfort him. 
“I’ll be right here,” Schneider assured her.
“Good.” The soft, single word was full of all those memories, and fears she only shared with her support group friends. She nodded at them both as she exited to her room.
Exhaustion hit as soon as Penelope shut the door behind her. She had managed to keep it at bay while Schneider needed her, but now it was back, ready to tug her into sleep. She settled into bed, comforted by the faint sounds of her mom fussing over her best friend, and was nearly unconscious when a realization joined the fatigue running through her.  
She might not be alone in 2030 after all, her mind whispered. Schneider might still be beside her.
And if that was still a possibility, what would that look like? Without her kids to treat him like a goofy friend, or her mom to treat him like a second son, where would that leave her and Schneider? What would their relationship look like?
What did she want it to look like?
She hadn’t had to think about that, when he was living in bliss with Avery. She hadn’t had to examine the fuzzy edges where her feelings blurred around missing him, and try to understand what they meant.
Now, lying in her dark room alone, it was a picture as clear as the ones Schneider turned into photo puzzles of her family. 
By the time the next census came around, Penelope wanted Schneider in the picture with her. Fully. No Photoshop. 
She was in love with her best friend.
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