#and for some fucking reason i want cabbage

[katyobsesses]

.

[azulaaaaaaah]

atla/tlok characters that i think did *it* (but i just can’t prove it)

this is the most unserious post i’ve ever made. (AND I WANT TO PREFACE BY SAYING BY *IT* I MEAN KISSING)

Sozin and Roku

and history will say that they were just great friends…

this is the only one where ill legitimately die on this hill

like i’m 90% sure roku just showed Aang their friendship in the flashbacks to prevent awkwardly explaining to a 12 year old monk that he was romantically and/or physically involved with the person who committed a g*nocide against his people

LIKE CMON WHY IN THE WORLD WAS SOZIN SO PRESSED IN THE BACKGROUND OF ROKU’S WEDDING ??? AND FOR NO REASON?? WHY WAS THEIR FRIENDSHIP SO INTENSE?

sozin i feel loved roku (to an obsessive level) and roku literally dgaf. king shit

Wan and Raava

genuinely what the fuck was going on between these two. like i don’t even have any words

canonically at the very least it was a domestic partnership

S2 korra doesn’t make sense at the best of times. imagine trying to explain the intensity of this pair’s devotion to each other, to someone who hasn’t seen the show- all the while knowing raava is a disembodied spirit practically older than time

she’s the embodiment of everything good and light in the universe and he’s just wan. (and he’s wanough <3)

‘do you think we’re soulmates in every life?’

‘bet’

‘wait that’s not what i-‘

Cabbage Merchant and his cabbages (or at least a cabbage)

yeah i’m not touching this one with a 10 foot pole

Every member of the red lotus squad

ah yes it’s my favourite evil polycule

amidst plans to kidnap children and topple monarchies what else is there to do except… kiss.

let’s be real there’s something so inherently romantic about being apart of an elite, vaguely murderous anarchist squad

they all share one exact bed. it’s canon

(p’li somehow big spoons all of them)

The S2 Nomads

these dudes are the textbook definition of anti-monogamy

like they’re obsessed with love so i fully believe that they think ‘it should be spread amongst others’ or some shit

oh to be a travelling communist nomad in a band, wandering the wilds with my wife, and our several partners

they’re somehow the opposite of the red lotus and yet the same. they all share a single bed/sleep area

The dangerous ladies (but all separately)

i don’t ship any of these particularly and yet can still admit that it’s canon

ty-lee and azula have kissed bc azula probably made up a dumb excuse like ‘oh i don’t want my first kiss with a guy to be… erm… bad’

mai and ty-lee have kissed because they both probably have genuine, vaguely deep rooted romantic feelings for each other

mai and azula have kissed to purely spite zuko (and yknow what ty-lee too)

HOWEVER A KEY ASPECT TO THIS DYNAMIC: azula is completely unaware about the ty-lee and mai thing. it’s uh… better off that way.

Hakoda and Bato

i ship this about 50% but like… it’s got to have happened once right? considering all that down time they spent together on a boat away from the repercussions of water tribe society…

also considering they were leaders i doubt the other warriors were in a position to ever call them out on it

like cmoooooooon what’s a little kiss between the homies every now and again?

hakoda is where sokka gets his rizz/flagrant bisexuality from and i can’t change that guys

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Just One Reason: When We Met

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: Lloyd Hansen

masterlist - to be added

Summary: A chance encounter at the sandwich shop doesn't end how you expect.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

As you approach the sandwich shop, another pedestrian comes up from the other side. You open the door and hold it for them, waiting patiently for them to go first. The place isn’t very busy, you can wait an extra turn to get your food. 

The man barely acknowledges you as he enters. You’re used to that. In the city, manners run down the gutters with the rain and litter.  

You follow him inside. As he stomps to the counter, poking his ear in agitation, you stand back in a single-person queue. You check the chalkboard menu for the soups of the day. Oh, cabbage. They make the best cabbage soup you’ve ever had. 

You bounce on your heels as your gaze wanders over the monochrome wall art over the handcrafted wood tables. You open and close the flap of your crossbody purse. Your father always said you flutter like a hummingbird. Never quiet still and a little skittish. 

Behind the glaze of your distraction, the man’s deep snarl breaks through. You blink and lean to see around him. The cashier bats her lashes and puffs out her cheeks, “sorry sir, we discontinued the Mexican wrap, but the chipotle is similar--” 

“I don’t want the fucking chipotle,” he cups his ear and growls as he pushes his head into his hand.  

“They don’t send us the cilantro lime sauce anymore, sir,” the employee explains. “But I could add some peppers--” 

“Can’t you understand me?” He snips. 

“Erm, if you... if you put a bit of cilantro on, it would be close, wouldn’t it?” You ask, cringing as your thoughts spill out without intention. 

The man glares over his shoulder as his cheek pits derisively. He squints and shakes his head. He throws his arms out and faces the cashier again. “Whatever. Give me the damn chipotle with cilantro. I’m starving.” He reaches back for his wallet, “some fucking week...” he mutters. 

He slides the leather wallet above his pocket but it catches and falls from his grasp. He growls and bends to retrieve it. “Another fucking thing...” 

You watch him pick up his wallet and finger his ear again. It seems to cause him pain. The cashier watches helplessly. You feel bad for both of them. It just seems like a miscommunication. 

“Um, excuse me,” you wave two fingers at the cashier. “Can you add a cabbage soup and I’ll for both?” 

The employee blinks and the man snaps up with a scowl. They both stand in silent surprise. He finally shakes his head. “Why would you do that?” His tone makes it sound like an accusation. 

“I don’t know. Seems like you’re having a bad day and I can?” You shrug and cautiously step forward, “can I also get an iced raspberry tea?” 

“Uhhhh, sure,” the employee keys in the items. 

“Sir, did you want a drink?” You twist back to the man as he stands aside with a leery squint. He just shakes his head. 

“Alright, that’s everything. No cookie today,” you dig in your purse. “Debit, please.” 

She hits total and you pay. The receipt juts out of the machine and you step to the side to wait with one last thanks to the cashier. You tuck your card away and slip your phone out as your hands long to fidget. You know the man is staring, you can feel it, but you don’t want to piss him off even more than he already is. 

The lull that follow is torturous. The man’s wrap is up first and you wait for him to take it. He hesitates and you hand it to him. 

“I hope it’s still good,” you say with a smile at his throat. You’re too scared to look him in the eye. 

“You know I have money,” he grits. 

“Oh, no, that’s not... it isn’t... just a nice thing. Like, maybe one day you can pay it forward. I don’t know,” you rock sheepishly and look behind the counter. 

He nods and backs up. The cashier puts your soup up and your iced tea. You thank her and take your food.  

“Have a good one, sir.” 

You shuffle away to the table in the corner. You sit, self-conscious as the man lingers. Is he mad? You don’t think you were rude. 

The man sighs and goes up to the counter, “hey, look, I’m... sorry,” his words are stiff as if he could choke on them. “Thanks for the wrap.” 

“Oh, uh, okay, sir,” the cashier sounds shocked. “Um, enjoy.” 

You stir the soup and blow away the steam. As you scoop up a spoonful, the man approaches. You look at the velvet toes of his loafers then follow them up. He sits without invitation. 

You stare at him and lower your spoon. 

“Thanks for the wrap,” he says. “I was being a—jerk.” The last word is stunted as if he meant to say something else. “Mind if I eat with you?” 

You look around. The place is empty. You shrug. 

“Sure,” you grab the iced tea and swirl the ice. “Be nice to have company, I guess.” 

He hums and shifts in the chair. He peels away the wrapper and you sip from the straw. You put the cup down and stare into your soup. Your eyes flick up again and you find him staring. 

“Lloyd,” he offers his hand across the table, “but you can just call me that jackass who yells at people.” 

You give your name in return, his change in tone soothing your nerves. 

“You been here before?” He asks. 

“Once in a while,” you say. “When I can afford it. It’s a special treat. They have good soup.” 

He nods and looks down at the wrap, “yeah, food is pretty decent.” He lifts the wrap but doesn’t bite into it. He hovers it before him. “You know, you didn’t have to be nice to me.” 

“You never know what other people are going through. Sometimes, they just need some kindness,” you say. “And if they’re just a butthole, well, you’re not going to change that by matching their energy.” 

His brows arch, and he tilt his head. He sucks in his cheeks thoughtfully, “well, I think I’m just a butthole, as you put it. Thanks for giving me a chance.” 

You don’t know what to say. It’s awkward. You usually eat alone. You don’t have anyone to eat with, not since dad passed. Still, not all change is bad, is it? You’ve already faced the worst kind of change. 

You lean forward and take a bite of your soup. Sometimes making someone’s day easier makes your own a little brighter. As of late, none of them have been more than gloomy. 

[ghostofbambifanfiction]

Under the cut: a snippet from another random Jily oneshot I started a while back and have never been arsed to finish.

There are terrible venues at which to stage a first date, and then there's a noodle canteen.

Admittedly, a noodle canteen is not the worst place for a first date—his mate Peter once brought a girl to a family funeral—but it is the worst kind of restaurant.

Reason one of two: James can't even order the fucking noodles that the aforementioned noodle canteen is known for. He is not particularly skilled in the art of using chopsticks, and even on a fork, noodles have a pesky habit of sliding off and spattering sauce everywhere, which is a first date Don't. A first date faux pas. A first date tragedy. James only ever goes to this place for its teriyaki salmon soba, but the risk to his shirt and his dignity is too great.

He orders the spicy miso mackerel instead, which comes with brown rice and is tasty, but decidedly not salmon-esque.

Reason two of two: it's a noodle canteen. He and his date aren't sequestered away at a private table, where any other major mistake on his part might go unnoticed by all but the woman he's with, but jammed right at the end of a busy public bench. To James's left sits a man who could easily be found walking calmly away from an explosion in a major Hollywood blockbuster, manoeuvring chopsticks through his own noodles with silky expertise while he listens to his stunning girlfriend talk about some prick from her work, who sounds like a right sort; not that James is eavesdropping, or at least, he'll deny it if anyone asks.

Point is, he's a little off his game.

All right, he's a lot off his game. He's several miles off his game. He'll need to take the Eurostar if he ever hopes to reach the vicinity of his game, but that would leave him in France, which is the only scenario that could make this evening worse.

At the very least, it's warm here in the restaurant. It's colder than his vegetable crisper outside.

"Is your food good?" he asks Chloë from Hinge.

Chloë from Hinge, who suggested the noodle canteen in the first place, pops a generous forkful of kimchee into her mouth and shrugs. "Yeah, it's alright."

James tries not to be put off by the fact that she's speaking to him through a wide-open mouthful of fermented cabbage. Or that they both promised to wear Christmas jumpers on this date and she turned up in a silver halter dress instead.

He wonders if she's spoken through a wide-open mouthful of fermented cabbage because she wants to put him off.

It's not beyond reason to think it. Chloë's interest in James appears to have waned since she asked him for his astrological sign over their gyoza starters and replied, "Wow, huge red flag" upon learning that he is Aries, and with such blunt distaste that he's still not sure if she was joking, because she did not clarify her position during the awkward silence that followed. Everything has been weird since then, with James feeling forced by circumstance to supply most of the conversation while she's stared at him with glazed-over eyes, has not asked to see a single picture of his cat, and winced when she learned that he shares a flat with his brother.

Is that a bad thing, sharing a flat with one's brother at his age?

James is only twenty-five, which is practically the first flush of youth and not nearly old enough to cross the roommate-having threshold that separates "pushing it" from "downright embarrassing." The downright embarrassing age is forty, which he thought everyone knew.

Besides, Sirius hasn't yet learned to function properly without him. He'd forget to take his vitamins and wouldn't set up standing orders to pay his bills, if he didn't live with James. He wouldn't know to separate whites from darks when he laundered his clothes—or maybe he wouldn't launder his clothes, just purchase more clothes whenever they grew dirty. James has had to learn to handle all of that stuff because he lives with Sirius. In many ways, it has been excellent practice for fatherhood, which should count as a plus in his favour. Chloë's profile says she wants to have kids.

And while James is hard-wired to believe that, when it comes to women, he must be the one to blame when things go wrong… he's starting to think that Chloë might be the problem.

He's really not sure what's happened. She called him fit a bunch of times on Hinge, where they got along quite well.

Now she seems annoyed to be here.

If he could, he'd ask the too-attractive and intelligent-seeming couple next to him for their thoughts on the matter, but they're happily enjoying their cherry blossom lemonades and the woman (who is eating teriyaki salmon soba, an extra rub of salt in the wound) has already slanted one-too-many pitying half-smiles in his direction. So she probably thinks the fault all lies with him.

"It's bloody cold out there, isn't it?" he offers, which is just pathetic, really. The weather was the first topic they touched on when they sat down, but she's not been buying anything else he's selling, so here they are again.

His other option is to explain the work that goes into taking care of the adult toddler he lives with, but he doubts that she'll be interested.

"Freezing," Chloë replies, addressing her cabbage.

"Makes me wish I was on a beach somewhere."

"Yeah. That'd be nice."

"Last time I was on holiday I was with my family in Greece. One day it was so hot my mum said you could fry an egg on the ground, so we tried it—my brother and I—but it barely wound up partially cooked," he starts to ramble. "She was all grouchy when we told her about it, said we shouldn't take her words so literally, but she's a chef, so I personally think she was mad that we'd found a chink in her knowledge."

"Mmm," his date agrees. Then she drops her chopstick on the table with an ungainly clatter. "D'you mind if I go to the toilet?"

Freedom! his mind sings. Whole MINUTES of sweet freedom from this torture! "Go right ahead."

Chloë doesn't need telling twice. She slides off the edge of the bench and unfurls at speed, rising to her high-heeled feet with the slightest wobble and shouldering her purse. James watches her retreating back as she hurries away, thankfully (or tragically) in the direction of the toilets, rather than the exit.

He's not sure how he feels about that.

As humiliating as it would be to get ditched in a noodle canteen, the relief of ending this night early would almost be worth the trouble.

With a laboured sigh, he pushes both hands through his rumpled hair once, then bows his head over the long table in a move reminiscent of a lonely Ken, one elbow on either side of his plate, cradling his forehead with the tips of his fingers.

The sooner he gets out of here…

"Sounds like your mother wound up with egg on her face," quips the beefcake.

James lifts his head from his hands at once.

"Oh god, Kingley," the beefcake's stunningly pretty girlfriend (James can only assume she's his girlfriend, like calls to like and all that) groans, regarding him with disgust. "That was too cheesy to stomach, I'm leaving right now."

The beefcake ignores her and twists in his seat to face James. "You know that your date's not interested, yeah?"

"I'd gleaned that."

"I mean it's been painful to witness. Hasn't it?" The beefcake (Kingsley?) turns back around to solicit his companion's opinion, but she merely (kindly?) rolls her eyes and tosses a lock of red hair behind her shoulder with great delicacy and grace. "Just awkward as arse. I'm almost queasy thinking about it."

[audsthoughts]

I get it, live actions aren’t for everybody and that’s totally fine. Not everyone’s gonna like it. But to shit on the stupidest things, or draw the dumbest conclusions??? Blocked. Y’all look dense as fuck. Views will be mixed as they always are, quit clogging up the tags with your negativity and find some chill 😂 The originals are still there to watch or read and enjoy…so go do that…it’s literally on the same app 👏🏻 I’m trying to be understanding I am, but some of y’all are so damn hung up you’re letting it completely destroy something you’d otherwise enjoy

Anyways!! Here’s some of the stuff I loved from the atla live action!

•cinematography, soundtrack, costumes - all on point

•getting to see the airbenders flourishing!!! Also the dude who played Gyatso?! Didn’t think I could love him more!! Even though it was painful as FUCKKKK getting to see the first invasion of the fire benders was an epic masterpiece

•speaking of, the first scene?? With the earthbender soldiers in the fire nation?? Iconic

•Omashu: unpop opinion I’m sure (bc y’all hate change but simultaneously hate when it’s carbon copy????????🤦🏼‍♀️) I loved how they incorporated like 3 or 4 episodes into one, and they flowed really well together. Jet is FOINEEE. Mechanist was perfect & his son is a freaking badass, amazing casting! Even though it was change, the secret tunnel scenes were still really freaking cool and the badgermoles were SICK AS FUCK. Also I love that Bumi was still cooky but not just randomly cooky? Like mans was run down from being king basically the entire war…which FAIR. And it made sense that he was peeved with Aang BECAUSE they were such good friends. Like the other avatars being mad at him? Yea that’s whatever. But for Bumi it was kinda personal. Also CABBAGE MAN WE MISSED YOU 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Oh! And the way they mentioned other episodes like they were lore when Zuko was trying to find Aang? That was an amazing way to tie back to the OG series

•I love how they incorporated the blue spirit, Koh, the fog of lost souls & parts of the ep where sokka and Katara got sick & Aang had to get them frogs - just reimagined it. Oh also Hei Bai! Yea, I loved that whole episode. Koh & Hei Bai were SCARY as fuck, it was awesome!!

•HAHN MY BELOVED…I ADORE YOU! Favorite character that they added/changed. Katara getting the other women involved in the battle?! Tui & La? The oasis?! 😭😭 stunning!!!! I also LOVEDDDDD Aangs avatar spirit that he turned into, literally perfect! And I loved the change that he gave himself over to the spirits wrath..fucking SICK. Also right before aang turned into the spirit/whatever that’s called, I was praying they’d do the line and thEY DIDDDD!!!

•Fire lord Ozai?? 😳😚 nothing needed to be said - perfection

•Kyoshi?! The Kyoshi warriors?! SUKI?! - speechless

•I like that they’re making more of a point to show how smart Sokka is! Mechanist calling him an engineer…I hope they play more into that! Ik they did a bit in the show with the subs (cartoon), but still

•”~hE rAn~” seriously my favorite line, I was DYINGGGG!!! The scenes with Zuko and Iroh, Zuko before the war meeting, the leaves from the vine being in the background at the funeral….ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME?! Zuko’s crew being the crew he SAVED?! And when they find out they all do the fire nation bows to their prINCE?! 😭😭😭😭

I’m being fair y’all - things I don’t love/hope they change:

•this one I’m 50/50 on - I don’t love that they tried to give Kuruk a reason for disappearing. They tried to pull shit from Korra to make him look meaningful & not useless as an avatar and it didn’t hit for me

•some of the wigs: obviously we won’t see Yue again, but I wanted her hair to be white. I didn’t love the wig but it wouldn’t have been as bad for me if it wasn’t so grey. Also do NOT love Azula, Tylee or Mai’s hair. Ik they look just like the show but whether that’s wigs or their actual hair (I’m clueless) it needs some serious improvement. Azula’s looks great down, I just don’t like how big the side pieces are that frame her face when it’s up.

•Katara, my love, I am PRAYING part of your development is also going to be her becoming more outspoken and badass, bc this season we saw the tiniest of glimpses of it, not a fan (unless it’s a part of her development…she did grow up in a tiny ass tribe so I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt)

• IK they’re going with a much more serious Aang, but pleaseeeee give us some actual moments of him being a kid. We saw that like twice 😭

•Dante is the PERFECT ZUKO, I will hear NO slander. However, I need him to be more of a dick. I’m hoping we’ll get that when he gets super desolate when they’re on the run & then we have Zuko alone & he has his inner battle. I need snarky dickhead Zuko, so you can truly see the big differences between what he’s fighting (himself vs. who his dad wants him to be)

Have fun kids!

In case I haven’t made it clear, idgaf if you disagree. I go so hard for these live actions because it’s fun! It’s just supposed to be fun and different and new. If you get so serious about it you’re ALWAYS going to be disappointed, there’s no way around it bc nothing is ever going to be as good as the original book, the original show, the original tale. OG atla is ALWAYS gonna be the winner, nothing will compare! So sit back ~relax~ and find some joy in the little things

[ideas-scattered-dreams]

/ / silence? anger.

fandoms: genshin impact AU: SAGAU player au?

imagine that... You were just minding your own business and playing genshin as you always do when u have free time. you always do farming, collecting, taking pictures of your characters, doing quest as the usual. You hummed being satisfied of your works, you ran up in hills and killing some hiluchurls with your characters of choice. you were a silent player playing this game, like most games u play always being silent and if needed to talk you would. you never really need a reason to talk, what would the character do? reply? that's laughable. Though, the thought of the characters replying is nice, as you can have a conversation with someone your familiar with and don't need to be uncomfortable with each other... you smiled and chuckled at your own delusion, a character wouldn't be programmed do so here, but u don't mind to think of that way.

The character u control is enjoying your presence and your elegant face in the skies. they don't mind being used for your own gain or just to have fun in general. though they wish to hear your voice rather than a sigh and a hum. they have seen a lot of your emotions that are visible on your face but not once voiced it out... until now ofc. 🌙━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━⭐ You were currently doing a quest that involves... ill abort or albert. you HATED that guy with pure sin and anger, u couldn't stand to be around him, you would glare and just avoid him at all cause, especially when u use barbara (or main her), but i guess this was your unlucky day, you had to interact with him. You saw him behind the cathedral... again. agh you knew why he is there but u cant program him to just leave and jump off a bridge to the water,' now what does he want..' you approach him hesitantly just moving your character slowly, like micro slow. agh... When u got close to him u couldn't stand him. like omg he ugly asf, you wish u could actually kill him with your character right now... you grumble and had a frown adored about your face, teyvats skies grew gray and winds grew harsh... the citizens wonder why u are angry and upset.. they couldn't have that right? if you were angry at someone, they should be disposed off quickly... the character u are using glared daggers at abort or albert for making you upset, this man just had to anger their grace with his presence.. before abort finishes his first sentence, you beat boxed that bitch hard. "stfu u looking like that one father that cheated their wife with a fuckin maid and still say your sorry even when u got her pregnant, what's up with you goofy ah outfit? bro looks like a a fuckin cabbage that your hair complements lookin like mayonnaise and what is with your posture? man even madame ping and the other granny grandpas has better back sides, you look like a whole ah gorilla, what's with the hair? did u dye it yourself bc u want to fit in the blonde air way? you look like bakugo madapaking katsuki Walmart version, bro i see others lookin like u in this game but you be the WORST one, bro looks like dottores failed experiment that lived a day to tell the tale. are u fucking jobless to stay here and fucking stalk our sweet deaconess barbara? i aint even surprised by you being jobless, bro i'd be surprise if your not homeless. bro thought he was albert Einstein but bro is just a weirdo stalking mf don't even stare at me with those fucking eyes i wish to PLUCK OUTTTT... "

You panted from that long speech and walked away from him, not looking back to see his shocked face and a group of acolytes behind him including Jean looking angered and disgusted. You were to upset to do your routine with your character for now as u are tired from yelling at abort... maybe u will ignore his quest and do another later.. you sat them down on one of the cathedral seats outside and planted a kiss on your finger and placed the kissed finger to your characters lips and exited.

After you left, teyvats skies thundered infront of abort, the characters you used has their weapons out ready to murder the fuck out of abort.. i mean.. you wont notice if he is gone right your grace? 🌙━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━⭐ the next time you logged in the game, you dont see abort anymore, like he just.. didnt exist in the first place... but who are u to question? good radiance he is gone, this made your mood happy and hum. this isnt a dream right? this feels 100% real, hah. what a nice reality.

[ghoulsbeard]

The nervous mite of an envoy stuck himself to Sev's side for some blight-fucked reason or other, certainly not for the company. Through each of the meetings and partings that night— Bodahn's son, tactics, treaties, Zevran's gashed arm— he could not shake the flaming bastard. At supper, the boy gawked at the rising swath of moons and stars and let his soup go cold.

"Eat," Sev barked at him, and snapped fingers in his face. "We march three leagues tomorrow."

"I've never..." he flung up a hairy hand, grinning at the skies. "It doesn't end?"

Poor little fledgling, Sev could hear in Morrigan's voice. Couldn't be much older than Jowan. "Go sail the Boeric and find out."

Laughter from the crowd at the fire; a lute being tuned. Leliana was in the mood for music. The boy began peering round, this way and that, about as obvious as the horns on an ogre. "Um. Are we alone?"

"We're encamped, man. No one's alone."

That got him a wry little smile. "Feels like home. A bit."

"You can reminisce with Surana. Tell me what you want."

He didn't like that, did he. He really was too young; young enough that Sev didn't know him by sight, he must've just harrowed a year or two ago. If he thought long enough he'd place a name to the narrow, fine-boned face. Patch of black fuzz over his lip. Cowlick. Someone had done his haircut with a pair of dull scissors.

The boy quailed under close examination. He'd taken to hiding behind his soup bowl as he gulped the cabbage, cold. "I don't want any, ah, favors. I don't mean— I'm sorry, I had to—"

"What d'you want from me that you can't have got for the last four bleeding Bride-forsaken hours?"

"Nothing, I swear! I had it... somewhere...." He was rummaging through his robes. Sewn a pocket in the lining, then. Good lad. "He told me to be careful about it. Don’t let no one see."

The letter was written on the back of a tincture for rashvine, in Niall's crabbed, scratching hand. Faint grids of charcoal behind the words.

A chuisle, it said at the first.

He folded it carefully along its creases to ration out later, one phrase at a time. "Thank you," he forced up, for this shivering boy who'd taken such a kind, stupid risk. "Conall, was it?"

"Colm," the boy said, breathing over his hands before he shoved them in his armpits against the night wind. "Where can I sleep?"

"Anywhere east of the creek." But don't be a wretch to the lad. The night was fair, he ought to practice holding the shape— he'd sleep in his fur. "See that tent— there? Beside the bard."

"The little one?"

"Hands off the bottles. They're poison. The blanket's yours." Young Theirin was ambling over, arguing with the dog. "Oi. Warden! Our envoy needs a proper coat."

The boy Colm was looking at him like Liathari in the warden camp: big eyes like stars. Circlers were a sorry lot. He ought to know, he'd gone barmy over an illegible letter. "Talk to Surana. She's archmage here. She'll see you sorted."

"I know," said Colm, through chattering teeth. "I saw her in the tower. Demons. And miracles." He leaned in, shivering hard. "I volunteered."

[aclowntiny]

Hii! First of all, congrats con 600 followers, you deserve that and so many more, I'm literally in love with your work :) I was wondering if I could request a San scenario with the following prompts (from the lists you reblogged):

“Urgh, why do you always insist on doing nice things for me?” “Because I enjoy it.”

“Can’t you just accept when people do nice things for you?” “No, I can’t.”

“The only reason why I’m letting you get away with shit like this is because I like you, you dense fucking cabbage.”

I was thinking kind of best friend au, but they both have feelings for eachother, BUT, they're both in denial about it. You can decide how the rest goes, thank you so muh in advance!! ~

yELLS thanks sweetheart 🥲 in love with my work whAT 🥹💕 thank you for being here with me! I love this request so here is your SAN-ario 😄 ps: look up the definition of mon petit chou I dare you

Mon Petit Chou- Best Friend!San x Gender Neutral!Reader

Word Count: 2282 | Best Friends to Lovers | Warnings: language, mention of drinking but no actual drinking lol, slightly suggestive?

You weren’t sure when the fuck this all started, just that you hated it with the burning passion of a thousand suns.

Your life had been peaceful, safe, mundane even, and so help you if you’d ever complained about it you were going to invent time travel just to go back and smack yourself one in the face for it.

Somehow, against all common sense, bro or whatever codes, and hope of joy you’d developed feelings for your best friend. The two of you had known each other for the past four years, meeting in your final year of high school at the dance of all places. Neither of you dated then, so you were there in a state others perceived as ‘alone’, each of you seeing it as with friends, with the while school, and leaping into the fray of energetic dancing. And that was how you ended up doing the cupid shuffle together and, for some reason, the old YMCA routine. You’d shook and jumped to Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off and the legendary Amor Fati by Kim Yeonja, all the simultaneously memed and beloved songs you could dream of. Some people assumed you were a couple and you two burst out laughing as you told them you’d literally just met. Like, you exchanged names after they said that.

San was easy to talk to, especially after seeing each other in sweaty teenage abandon first. He was no pressure, no butterflies- until now, for some forsaken reason, when your heart had decided to abandon all reason and beat like a mother when San pulled you into a hug or smiled that dimpled smile you’d looked at countless times- why was it special now?

Sure, you’d always acknowledged he was good-looking, but in the way people talked about celebrities outside their preferred gender- just acknowledgement, nothing deeper. But suddenly you found your brain rushing out from under you like a yanked rug, wondering what his lips would feel like against yours.

And dammit, you were dead-set on never finding out.

Making a move at that point would be platonic suicide, torpedoing the best friendship you’d ever had, and frankly you’d lost too many with age, time, distance, drama to do it again. And not with San. Even if it was like life’s Master Ball and you only got one forever friendship, it was going to be San. You’d already aimed and pitched, and no petty, new, frustrating as all get-out feelings were going to knock that off course.

If only San got the memo too.

Maybe it was simply a matter of increased awareness thanks to your nascent problem, but it was like he’d grabbed the knob full force and dialed all the charm and sweetness to eleven, sensing your pulse skyrocketing for a thousand tiny reasons you wanted to shoot down like clay pigeons.

It was chilly the other afternoon? Here, take his jacket. You forgot your sunglasses? Did you want his? What ring size were you? Here, compare to his- go on, just see if it fits. And by jove, you will never carry a single remotely heavy object again if Choi San can help it.

“Why do you always insist on doing nice things for me?” You groaned, head rolling to fix your best friend with a look.

“Because I enjoy it,” he replied simply, contentedly, the most plaintive of smiles on his face as he tilted his own head down for a brief respite on your shoulder.

Curse him and his adorable love of affection. “Well, ah, what can I do for you?” You spluttered, indignant at no one but yourself.

“It doesn’t have to be a transaction. I know you’ve had people around you make it seem like it is, but you don’t have to repay me. I know you’d help me if I needed it, too.”

Biting back a response about you surprisingly not actually needing him to carry your shopping bags, you just sighed and thanked him, shuffling along the mall tile with slightly less relish. He’d always been like this- selfless, kind, loving, and you’d always loved those things about him.

So when he sat you down at the food court, gingerly resting your bags on the shiny public-eatery metal seat adjacent to yours as he scooted yours back, what else could you do but smile and thank him? San asked you what you wanted for lunch, and you told him you didn't mind, to which he shot back that he didn't either. Then you told him to pick, and he told you to pick, and you both bickered playfully back and forth until you got tacos.

Ugh, just like an old married couple.

~

"Can't you just accept when people do nice things for you?"

"No," you crossed your arms in mostly-mock-obstinance, "no, I cannot."

"I swear, you'd make me pay you back if I bought you a candy bar," San rolled his eyes playfully, fixing you with a fond smile.

Because if you're always paying for me when we go out, you wanted to say, I can pretend it's a date. I can get it in my fat fucking head what it would be like to have you as my boyfriend and never get it back out.

"Money is designed to be exchanged for goods and services," you actually said.

"This isn't a service," he replied, putting an arm you didn't care was sticky with sweat around your shoulders, extending the water bottle toward your hand, "it's me caring about you."

Hot from exertion as you were, you instantly melted under the warmth of his half-embrace, accepting the water bottle. "And you know I appreciate it. I'm just not used to getting cared for."

"Then I'm not doing my job!" Your best friend exclaimed, eyes glinting. "I'm always going to be here to take care of you, so get used to it!"

"I think I started figuring that out when you brought three different blankets and a plushie the first time I watched a movie with you," you told him with a teasing smile.

San's smile fell almost into introspection, getting a bit more serious, which you didn't expect. "You joke, but I mean it, (y/n)."

Almost against your will, your head nodded solemnly, though your own smile couldn't fade, in fact it widened dumbly as a side effect of your hammering heart. "I hope so."

And then, as if he hadn't said something so infuriatingly sweet, San patted your shoulder, stood up from his squatted position, and took your water-bottle-free hand in his, pulling you up, too. You could have sworn he gave your hand a squeeze, but it was so brief, maybe you imagined it.

"Alright, so are we dancing or what?"

~

Sometimes you wished you guys drank more. That you could hit the edge of blackout and do something you'd barely remember, nor regret, and butt so hard against the line it finally broke and reformed in less questionable territory. That some alien substance in your veins could be blamed for anything dubbed unthinkable, and you'd have already rehearsed any laughter necessary if San wanted to make middle-school ew, gross jokes as if your lips transmitted cooties.

But San was a lightweight, and neither of you enjoyed that scene. The two of you were more the types to get coffee twice in a ay and laugh too hard at stupid things like the word guava on a caffeine buzz.

"We're fun enough even without alcohol," San often joked to you.

So the drama-flick drunk confession, intoxicated makeout, was out. Best not to duplicitously offer a drink in exchange for-

"(y/n)? I think it's all done," San's voice cut through your mental spiral.

You almost had to shake your head out of it, vision having faded to a zoned-out blur, obscuring even the shape of his wide, tank-topped shoulders as he had bent over your car.

Now he was at your side, wiping his hands on a cloth like some sort of professional mechanic, not just your best friend who insisted you didn't need to pay someone like that just for an oil filter and a change. A change which had cost him the dove grey of his garment, something you could hardly help asking why he'd wear such a light color of for that.

"San, your top, it's all stained!"

As he tossed the rag aside, he tilted his head down, bobbing it in recognition of the black smudge marks. "Well, at least it wasn't expensive."

"I think I know how to get it out if you want. You could always go get a new-"

Before you could even finish your sentence, he was stripping, yanking the top off from the bottom hem and leaning against the knob of your garage door. Despite the clear invitation to go inside and, you know, do exactly what you just said you were going to do, surprised crossed your (very warm) face, effectively sealing you to the concrete floor. The only process your brain could perform in that moment was trying to figure out if you had the world's best or worst luck.

"Oh, uh-" Trying not to stare, your eyes very pointedly searched San's face.

Your best friend frowned slightly, expression halfway to the innocence you were used to, and somehow that almost made it worse. "What?"

"Just," you hesitated as you accepted his now inside-out tank top, skin-warmed fabric heating your hands, too, which you glanced down at beneath San's intent gaze, "didn't expect you to be this comfortable is all."

San crossed his arms, face falling first in shock, then shaping up into almost dark amusement as a different, more incredulous smile rose to his sharp features. "Are you kidding me?"

Oh, no. You made it weird. This was it. Or maybe he just thought you were doubting his friendship, which he shouldn't. Everyone knew unironically doing the YMCA bonded people for life. Or sharing blankets. Or...ah, crap. Not now. "No, it's great, I'm really glad you trust me. I trust you, too, you know. Maybe I don't show that enough, but that's why you know so much about me, and I really appreciate you-" Your rant suddenly fell short as your eyes betrayed you, drifting down slightly and absolutely ramming your train of thought into a wreck. "You know, always being there for me and being so thoughtful and pretty much being my favorite person ever-"

“The only reason why I’m letting you get away with shit like this, with seeing me like this," he motioned over his, well, quite fit torso, "is because I like you, you dense fucking cabbage.” The moment the words left San, his face fell into his hand, out of frustration or embarrassment it was hard to say. Probably more the latter, knowing how sweet your best friend was. He didn't use strong language...well, almost ever.

Train wreck take two. Not a single word rose to your mind, only sensations, for a solid three seconds, during which all you could do was stand there wide-eyed, venture a step towards San, two steps. Finally you spoke, feeling like an idiotic teen sitcom character as your dumb response left your lips. "You like me?"

"Yes," San sighed, posture deflating a bit against the doorframe, "I'm sorry. Sorry for the language, and just...I hadn't really planned on how I was going to say it, but it definitely wasn't like that. You deserve way better than that. I just... sometimes I feel like you like me back, but then I wonder if you're pushing me away. And you have every right to do that, especially if I've messed up our friendship, I can just-"

You cut him off, harnessing the motion of his lips for greater purpose against yours. San responded instantly to the kiss, hands cupping your face and pulling it deeper into his like you were air and he'd spent his whole life underwater. Your arms wrapped around those broad, bare shoulders, hands resting at the back of his neck.

"Wait, you like me?" Ok, you felt better about how dumb you seemed, as those were San's first words out of the kiss.

"Yes, you, what was it? Ah, yes. 'Dense fucking cabbage'," you quoted back at him with a merciless grin, arms tightening their grip ever so slightly.

"Oh, no," he winced, "that's going to stick forever, isn't it?"

"Yep," you breathed, leaning in for another kiss, the feeling of San's lips a hundred percent better than you could ever have imagined, so much warmer and realer and this time sweeter, sliding against yours like he was coaxing it out of you.

This time, upon pulling away you gave the side of his face a light, playful slap, enjoying the touch of his sculpted features against your palm.

"You're stuck with me now, mon petit chou."

San shook his head at the return of your devious grin, and you reveled in the blend of utter bliss and what did I get myself into painting his face as his hands snaked around your waist, twirling you in a little impromptu dance and dipping you down.

He smiled lovingly this time, sending your beating heart melting and surprise turning to joy across your own face. "As long as you keep being you and you'll let me do nice things for you now- no, scratch that, spoil you."

Keep being you. Holy shit, what a balm for the soul.

Cocking a brow, you shot back, "You spoil me and I embarrass you? Hardly sounds fair."

"All's fair in love and war," San responded, eyelashes fluttering.

You most definitely forgot to wash his top after that.

[starwriterulia]

Perversity and Loathing - Chapter 1

CONTAINS HEAVY SUBJECT MATERIAL THAT MAY TRIGGER READERS WITH ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND PTSD. SOME CHAPTERS CONTAIN 18+ CONTENT.

This is a reboot of Tomb of the Goshenite Stargazer Dragon. (post)

Fandoms: DC Comics, Batfamily, Thalassic Space (OC)

Characters (In order of appearance): Faith Lawson (self-insert), Barbara Gordon (Batgirl), Dick Grayson (Nightwing), Ra's al Ghul

Word Count: 7174 # (See update below A/N)

TW: Rape and stabbing (Ra's al Ghul to Faith Lawson)

A/N: Oh my God, this reboot is so much better! This, this I can work with. Tag list in the replies of people who liked/reblogged any part of the previous version of this story. You're not obliged to read or leave a comment, I just thought I'd let y'all know about the reboot. Thank you for reading! ^w^

Update: I realised, like, two days ago that there's no fucking way I would survive this, and I'm only getting around to it today 'cause I've got two days off work. So, uh, half of this chapter is different (and I gave Barbara her earpiece, forgot to in the original version)! And yes, I pasted all of the original onto a Word document so I didn't have to retype all of the lore. But this means I have to restart Chapter 2! This is fine! This is totally fine... :')

I don't have the energy to finish this in one day, I'll try again Friday!

Dividers by @cafekitsune

My legs were heavy as I ran up the gravel hill in the cold of morning fog to the off-white house on Carmen Hill Road my family lived at for a year. I turned to the right, passed the backside of the house, and took a sharp right, opening the white door with a window to enter the boot room, then an identical door to enter the kitchen. It had a white fridge, green counters, an island light-oak cupboards and cabinets, and checkered laminate flooring. Left of the front door was the table my parents made in 2008 that they broke while moving from the house on sixth street to the homestead on Highway 27, positioned between the island and the wall hosting the front door. A bay window alcove occupied the wall left of the table and island, looking out onto the deck my parents had built with help from my mom's family. A wall with a door to the improperly built basement, the reason my parents were glad this house was only a rental, and a brief space with a door to the deck separated the kitchen and living room, which had off-white carpet and a large window on each wall. The wall opened to the immediate right of the door I came in from, and there was a laundry room with large, unpainted wooden stairs that had no railing. Following this was a bathroom, then the master bedroom.

I was alone, and it was silent. If I go up the stairs, I'll be pulled under and taken to the second floor of the House Filled With Darkness and be woken by either my dad's face on a moose head, or a Five Nights at Freddy's animatronic. But I want to go in my room and dance! I've got plenty of room to dance, at this house. Ugh, but I'm so hungry!

I walk towards the fridge and open it. I feel myself wake up, leaving the dream, and see the early morning sun. I grumble and close my eyes, assuming I've destroyed the illusion, a brief throbbing in my brows.

Barbara shared the migraine. It pulled her from sleep with a groan, her eyes parting briefly to look at Dick. He pried open his right eye and whispered, "Are you OK, Babs?"

"Yeah, but something's off." She answered. Dick caressed Barbara's right arm, as it wasn't against the bed, opening his eyes fully.

There's lamb, poultry of some kind, a carton of eggs, a carton of milk, other condiments and dairy products, and the crispers are filled with a cabbage, an onion, a few heads of garlic, two turnips, a bag of carrots, a produce bag with several tomatoes, an eggplant, and is that a bundle of okra?

"Who's fridge is this? We never had eggplant or okra."

"I believe that's my fridge, dear." I turned and saw Ra's al Ghul. Naked, like I suddenly was aware of being. I gasped, seeing his cock, and snapped my head away, shutting the fridge.

"She's in trouble. Ra's is there. They're both nude."

"Oh shit. Do you know her?"

"No."

'Did she intentionally choose Barbara, knowing Batgirl's identity?'

"Are you usually nude in your dreams?" I heard him lick his lips, and hum lustfully.

"Sometimes. I sleep nude, though." I pinched my left wrist. I looked over my right shoulder at his face. "How did you do that?"

"We're both actually here, aren't we?" I nodded, furrowing my brows and frowning. "I don't know how I did that. I fell asleep with thoughts of a girl like you: short, a cute face, bright eyes, nice hair, though I wonder what your natural colour is," My dyed black hair was grown out by three inches. "And a delicious body." His brows raised as he eyed my breasts, stomach and thighs.

"Fuck, he's gonna rape her." Barbara said. Dick sighed heavily.

"How much do you weigh?"

"165 pounds." Ra's hummed. "You should leave so the dream can end. You shouldn't interrupt things like this, it's dangerous for both of us." Ra's chuckled and shook his head.

Barbara rapidly said, "She told him to back off so the dream can end. It's dangerous for both of them. But he just laughed and shook his head."

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" I couldn't stop my lip from trembling.

"Babs, can you use your link with her to separate her from Ra's and have everyone wake up? I don't want either of you to get hurt."

"Come on, dear. Don't be scared."

Barbara shook her head in the pillow. "I dunno how to safely do that, like Zatanna would. She needs me, Dick. I can't leave her."

"Please leave, Ra's."

"She knows who he is, too."

"He is infamous." Dick tilted his head.

"Go back to Earth Prime."

"She's not from Earth Prime?" Barbara said.

"Oh. She's from Earth-33." Dick said.

"No." Ra's licked his teeth, baring them as he closed the two steps between us. I briskly walked towards the window, left of the fridge and looking out to the deck.

"C'mon, run!"

"He'll be too fast for her, Babs."

"What's the matter?" Ra's calmly opened the drawer closest to the fridge and found a butchering knife. He walked towards me.

"He's got a knife!"

"Shit."

"I-I can't!" I gripped the window alcove, kneeling.

"Can't what, dear?"

In a tone of realisation, Barbara said, "She can't run."

"She can hear you, a little!"

"I think so."

"Just please leave!"

"I already told you: no." Ra's lunged down and stabbed my right ribcage. I screamed, releasing the wall, my legs unfurling and my bottom hiting the floor, tears collecting in my eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest and tucked my head into my arms. Ra's grabbed my left arm, then my right, forcing each to the side. I uselessly scratched the floor and pressed my head against the flooring.

Barbara screamed, grazing her fingernails against the sheets and pressing her head into the pillow. "Babs!" Cried Dick.

Ra's pushed the knife deeper into my flesh.

Barbara's torso curled up. Dick gently took hold of her shoulders.

His left hand crossed over his right arm to hold my left shoulder and used his body weight to lower my upper body to the floor. I made a stuttered wail and thrashed my legs.

Barbara kicked the air. Dick removed himself to avoid her motions.

Ra's lowered his pelvis and pushed his whole penis into my vagina, and I screamed, "No! Fuck you!"

Barbara howled and writhed. "Ow, fuck!"

"Babs!"

Ra's withdrew the knife and stabbed my left ribcage deeply, thrusting his hips. I shouted, "With this knife, I sever the Phantom!"

Barbara opened her eyes. Panting, she sat up and looked at Dick.

"And with my blood, I craft the Clicker!"

"I can still hear her."

"I place it into the Bonded's hand!"

"What's she saying?" Dick asked. Barbara felt the fingers of her right hand forcibly move to hold an item.

"And with the Clicker, from here to the Bonded's roof Ra's al Ghul and I shall go!"

Barbara opened her hand and saw a white rotary lamp switch. "She was improvising a spell. She gave me this Clicker that she just made. It should move her to our roof." She flicked the switch.

Our minds parted. Ra's and I moved to a roof. The early morning sun shone in Gotham, too.

"And now our minds aren't connected!" Barbara said, leaving the switch as she scrambled out of bed and put on her costume.

Ra's pulled out the knife and made a long, shallow cut from the left side of my ass to the lower end of my thigh. I wailed and fisted my hands.

Dick followed Barbara's lead, putting on his earpiece and tapping and holding it for a second, hearing a beep, then tapping it three times. "Recording audio". Said the automated voice.

"She's still with Ra's?"

"Yep! Must've been the only way for both of them to leave!" Barbara pocketed the Clicker, then put on her cowl and earpiece. Nightwing put on his mask. They went to the window, and Batgirl opened it.

Ra's made an identical cut down my right ass and thigh. "You look so beautiful."

"Fuck you." I sobbed.

Nightwing said, "I'll fight him. You dress her wounds so she can make it to the hospital!" Nightwing and Batgirl grappeled onto the roof.

Near the edge of the far side of the roof, I whimpered a Ra's drew a deep, long cut down the outer sides of my left ass and thigh.

Batgirl threw a batarang, knocking the knife from Ra's' hand, and the knife fell to the street below as Nightwing ran to Ra's and the young woman.

Nightwing wrapped his arms around Ra's from the back and tore him away from me.

Ra's gracefully landed on his feet and began to fight Nightwing.

Sobbing, Batgirl knelt beside me. "I'm so sorry!" She used her left hand to put pressure on the wound of the woman's left side, and hastily cleaned and dressed it with items from her belt.

"It's OK, it's only his fault!"

"You really can't run?"

"No! My dwarfism comes with hypotonia." I bent my right arm in front of my face to show Barbara that my forearm was short.

"Ohhh."

"I haven't been able to move since I broke my left patella in high school."

"Shit, I'm sorry!" Batgirl tended to my right side.

"This is a waste of my time. I already got what I wanted." Ra's said. He kicked Nightwing away, then used magic to fly to the next rooftop.

"DAMMIT!" Dick yelled.

"What's your name?" Barbara asked, as Nightwing hurriedly came to us and knelt to Batgirl's right.

"Faith. Faith Lawson. Sorry for making you feel all that, y-you were just the first person I thought of, when I realised Ra's activated my powers. Your status as Bonded was temporary, y-you're free, now."

"Don't worry about it. I'm honoured you thought of me, first."

"I can't heal myself. I'm a wish-granting creation dragon, not a restoration dragon."

"That's fine. We'll get you to a hospital right now, OK?"

"No. 778 [XXX] [XXXX]. Her name is Donna. Call her now, please."

"OK." Batgirl interacted with her glove. I heard ringing from her earpiece. My head felt heavy. I shut my eyes. Rrring...

"No!" Said the vigilantes.

"Faith!" Batgirl cried. Rrring...

A voice like Kelly Sheridan's Barbie said, "Hello! This is Faith Lawson's phone, but my name is Donna the Dress-Up Dove. Who is this?"

"Hi, I'm Batgirl. She said to call this number."

"Yes, my emergency life alert was activated. I see that you are on a rooftop with staircase access. Please knock on the door five times." Nightwing ran to the rooftop door and hammered upon it five times. Two seconds passed. The door knocked back. "Open the door for me, please!"

Nightwing opened the door and stood in its way. There was a seven-foot-tall white dove animatronic with fuchsia eyes, a yellow beak and feet, fully feathered wing sleeves, and a fuchsia pink dress with a pleated A-line skirt and a heart cut-out chest with DDD cup size. "Whoa!" Nightwing said, stepping aside.

"Sorry if I scared you!"

"Y-You're OK!" Nightwing said, as Donna's heavy feet stomped over to Faith as Batgirl moved to rest Faith's head on her lap.

"Perfect! Of course a seasoned vigilante like you knows how to help a medical professional."

"M-Mhm." Batgirl stammered.

Donna's torso popped open, and a grey tabby anthropomorph, 5’7” (173cm) tall with D cup sized breasts and wearing a layered purple and blue Romanian-style skirt, jumped down and knelt where Batgirl had been.

The cat, a mezzo-soprano, raised her arms to the sky and said, "Freyja! Ἥρα! Skuld! Ουρανία! Siee ylotutr chilad afnad cotmae! Retutrna thoe timae thoat' wa'si sitotlaena!"

[randybutternubber]

Heyyyyyyy do you have any funny head canons on the children :-9 if they squabble and stuff in your opinion. Give me the sillies !!!!! (I do too but I wanna hear urs)

YOU HAVE OPENED THE GATES OF HELL PREPARE FOR MY BORDERLINE SEVEN PAGE ESSAY ON THESE RANDOM FUCKING CHILDREN

I decided to do the ones that get less attention in general, especially since I have the most thoughts on them

HCs under cut because I may have gone overboard with the length

Ghost kid

Best friends with a batmin ball that had a very poorly drawn face on it from the age of six to eight.

Sebbo (spoon girl) buried the batmin ball using a spoon as a shovel after it got neutered by the barber (he thought it was a bug and shat his pants)

Not a native of the nowhere and was taken to the nowhere on Halloween, hence the ghost costume

Lost their arm pretty quickly after being taken to the Nowhere. he’s quite a friendly child and is very compassionate towards animals, but unfortunately, this has its downsides as not all animals in the Nowhere want help.

Friends with Sebbo

Has been squatting in houses since day 1 of living in the Nowhere and has no plans to stop

Would go CRAZY for squishmallows

Doesn’t have well formed empathy/sympathy for humans but is super compassionate towards animals

Zero concept of gender and doesn’t care what you call them, he just want to pet your dog

Nonverbal but has very expressive body language

Spoon girl

Her name is sebbo (based off of game files)

She sneezes like a middle aged divorced golf dad and due to her nose bleed these sneezes are NOT victimless

LEGENDARY rage tantrums

Literally only wants to watch gen 1 my little pony, Formula One, or a very specific documentary about some random Swedish sheep wool factory

Swedish

If you compare her to pippy longstockings you will end up needing to go to urgent care for a rabies shot

Calls ghost kid Ande (sounds like Andeh) which means spirit in Swedish. (His file name is actually spöke for anyone wondering, which also means ghost/spirit in Swedish. The only reason I’m not giving him the Sebbo naming treatment is that spöke absolutely does not sound like it’s spelled (sounds like Spurkeh) and Ande actually sounds like a name. I’m a quarter swedish and have a very Swedish family on my white side so I got the most incomprehensible Swedish lessons in the car ever, so please don’t roast me in the reblogs if I got this wrong, I remember like five words and this is one of them, same thing with Korean😭

Living embodiment of “ANDE WE’RE 10 NOW, WE SAY CRAP, NOT POOP”

Broke one of her legs at some point in the Nowhere and ended up in the hospital (HC based off of concept art where she was in a wheelchair and using crutches)

Has severe trauma revolving around doctors and medical stuff

Has never seen another ginger in her entire life but will fight to be the alpha

Warrior cats kid

Expert at digging and climbing out of holes, THE CHILDREN YEARN FOR THE MINES!!!

Rusty

Has a cleft lip

This isn’t a HC but something that not a lot of people realize; he has a lisp

Only reason I’m not drawing him as ginger because of his name is because I also designed Noone as ginger and he lost in a 1v1 to a rabid cabbage patch kid. He’s been through enough

He’s around 14

Very lithe

Despite being a trapeze and tightrope performer, he is TERRIFIED of heights, making his experience at the circus even worse

The dummy has been malding over Rusty for a ridiculously long period of timeand bro had no fucking idea and nobody even knows the reason why 💀

Also a warrior cats kid but kept in on the downlow. Yes he did name himself Rusty after firestar but if you tell anyone he will cry

Noone

A nice kid but will deadass ask some of the most insensitive questions and has NO idea. Also verbally cooked a middle aged man and spent like a whole episode sassing him so she can definitely be mean if she wants to

Also has really severe medical trauma along with trauma from being paraded around on TV because she was the first person to be cured of whatever the shit water sickness is

Her real name was Ruth, but once she started forgetting her parents (they basically ditched her anyways 😭) she started just using Noone as her real name

Master of inappropriately prolonged periods of intense eye contact

Really dislikes/is afraid of dolls/dummies because of what happened to Rusty/in JuJubee’s toyshop

Very untrusting of people post Nowhere abduction because of how Otto treated her and because of the ferryman. Plus basically every kid she met in TSON was met with a terrible fate (Goo kid is probably alive but she doesn’t know that)

Autism (all these children got some sort of neurodivergence though, I mean just look at them)

WORST BACKSEAT DRIVER EVER (ASKED TO LEAVE THE ROWBOAT)

Has a few scars on her face from her right before she had a seizure when getting clockwork oranged. She tried to take the mri suction thingies off her head but she ended up scratching up her face in her panic

[startanewdream]

I need to rant because well this needs to be said:

I’m going to go as far as saying I don’t trust people who like Snape and hate James. Yes, he was arrogant and bullyish towards Snape, but let’s not forget James main target was the blood supremacists, and guess who was one? Snape. His best mate was a neglected boy who didn’t feel like he fit in with his own family and their views. What did he do? He opened his home as a safe space for him. His other best mate was a werewolf, and instead of being afraid of him or degrading him, he became an animugus so he wouldn’t be alone on the worst days of the month. His other friend was a reject and probably wouldn’t have been popular in any other house (including Slytherin), but James took him under his wing and looked out for him. Everyone does stupid shit when they’re young, but they learn from it and MOVE ON. You know who didn’t move on? Snape! He was bitter because the woman he loved chose the man he loathed, then he joined a group that targets/tortures/kills people like the woman he loves, then, trying to be the ultimate kiss arse to his dark lord, tells him about a prophecy of a child who will be his downfall, then begs the dark lord to spare the woman he loves when he find out the prophecy is for her child, not giving a crap about her son or husband, then, when she dies, he’s like, okay I’ll become a professor and bully little children because it’s all in the name of "love", then when the son of the woman he loves has his first lesson with him, what does he do? Bully him, then he bullies a child that had his parents tortured by his stupid friends and that child his so afraid of him that his boggart takes shape of Snape, then he promotes spoilt blood purist narcissist ferret when he bullies the child of the women he loves, then he throws a temper tantrum when a dementors kiss isn’t given to the of the men he thinks is responsible for the death of the women he loves but it was actually all Snape’s fault because he wanted to kiss his dark lords arse and become his favourite by telling him about the bloody prophecy, then he "accidentally" lets it slip that Remus is a werewolf isolating the child of the women he loves from anyone who cares for him, then he continues to bully of the child of the women he loves even though he realizes he’s different, AND then the audacity of the man to rip a photo of a happy family and take part of a letter just so he can get himself off with his right hand in secluded broom cupboard… That photo belonged to Harry and Harry only. How the fuck is that poor cabbage (in @seriouslysam8 word) supposed to touch or look at that picture again knowing what his ex professor/man obsessed with his mom did to that picture. He didn’t come to the good side or join the death eaters again because he cared for Harry. He was looking for redemption, hoping that the guilt he felt for get it the women he loved killed would lessen. Again, for purely selfish reasons. If he cared for Harry, he would have checked in knowing what Petunia was like, Snape was abused as a child, so he should have noticed the signs of an abused child when he saw Harry, he shouldn't have bullied innocent children that lost loved ones because of his and his friends' actions. We saw one memory of James bullying Snape, how many times did Snape and his friends bully the Marauders? How many times did they bully Muggle borns? What did Snape do as a death eater to innocent people before the Potters died? How many people did he torture, hurt, and kill? You can't say none, because he would have had to prove himself to be just as evil as the rest of the DE, and I'm sure there was some type of initiation to become a death eater. The main question is: if it wasn't the Potters and it was the Longbottoms who were targeted instead, would he have confessed to Dumbledore? The answer is no. which is why Snape isn't a good person.

Okay I think I’m done for now, sorry just needed to vent! 😅

#tell me you hate Snape without telling me you hate him

If you ever wanted to accuse me of sending an anon ask to myself, this was the most probable of them all.

100% agree with you, anon.

[melanie-ohara]

Gideon Souls - FINALE!

I was fed up and unrelatedly sad yesterday, but my guide and irrepressable, wonderful cheerleader @amethystasari was absent for reasons of Dragon Age Veilguard, so I pressed on alone. I tacked up a pretty picture of Crystal Farron, took a deep breath, and got to my grim work.

First of all I tracked down Dark Sun Gwyndolin, who is doing things with gender that have never before been seen in the realm of Lordran. I joined the covenant, and got very little from it. I feel like I've been missing out a lot not having multiplayer but also I don't want to deal with other humans

Then it was back to the DLC to clobber Kalameet after the trouble I had last time. It took a couple of goes, and I just didn't enjoy it very much. Fighting a great big dragon or a monster or something is a lot less rewarding, becuase when it kills me I think 'well of course it killed me, I am but a bug to them', and then when I finally get it I feel like it got unlucky.

Oo, the calamity ring, that sounds like a fitting reward for hunting a deadly enemy, I wonder what it does -

Oh I see. Oh very funny. Thanks so much.

I took a couple of runs at Manus and then decided he was still a bit too hard, so I left the Father of the Abyss for later and went back to the future to visit the Abyss in the present day. Apparently they flooded all of New Londo to contain it, so I was expecting a little more than dev-void.map. I knew already that the key to the four kings was to smack them hard and fast so you don't have to deal with more than one at a time, but I think probably I leaned into that a bit hard, because there was a good five seconds between each king appearing.

stupid wet cabbage looking motherfucker

Mostly I just let them hit me and then healed between kings, so I had no estus left by the time the last one showed up for an ass-kicking. I am back to one-shotting bosses, and it feels very good.

I was not accosted by another snake guy, which I thought happened here, but never mind. Seath the Scaleless time.

I really, really hate the Crystal Caves. Dark Souls and precision movement already don't mix, but making the platforms invisible is a real stupid, real irritating move. I died a bunch in here, and then - determined to never come back - one-shot Seath. The approach is harder than the boss. Just awful

Gee I wonder if I'm meant to do something with this crystal...

As soon as I determined that his big magic attack inflicted curse, I was not going to let him kill me because I was not fucking doing the purging stone run. The good news is, I didn't have to uninstall the game

Not pictured is the Demon Firesage, who I also one-shot. Apparently demons in this game are particularly easily put down by the light armour/heavy weapon build.

I wandered down to the next boss, and whose summon sign did I run into? My good friend Solaire! Obviously I brought him into the Centipede Demon fight.

This thing is just no fun to look at.

Solaire threw some completely useless firebolts at it and I hit it with my big sword, and it very helpfully died.

Thanks Centipede Demon, for dying when we hit you.

Right around the corner I fould Solaire again, only he seems very sad now. I guess his search for his 'sun' isn't going so well. Anyway, off we go to horrible Lost Izalith. This place sucks. Nothing but lava and dragon butts. The Bed of Chaos also sucks. After my exciting parade one shotting bosses for most of the afternoon, I fell down a hole and died.

Bad, bad boss.

Anyway, I went for an explore. Apparently I should have met Siegmeyer down here but he wasn't in the room with the horrible blender cthulus, so I went and found Solaire again. His new hat looked terrible, and he got mad when I told him that, soooo...

No more Solaire. Sad. Anyway!

There really is nothing else going on around here, so I went back to the Bed of Chaos. Basically I did it one section at a time, taking advantage of the one good design choice they made, until it was finally done.

Stupid little bug dickhead.

That just leaves Manus, and Gwyn.

Manus first. I hate the run back here, yet again, and I had to do it a bunch of times. In the end, I got fed up and put on the heaviest armour I could with the Favour and Protection and Havel rings while still fast rolling, and tanked my way through it. Havel's armour gave me so much poise I could heal through a couple of his lighter attacks, I don't know how I ever beat that guy.

Manus dead, Dusk saved. Sadly, this did not change the future, and Oolacile was still eaten. Oh dear.

With a very difficult boss defeated for very little reward, I went to tackle the final boss.

I'll admit, I was sort of thinking I might one-shot him at this point. Oh, my hubris. I was doing okay unless I had to heal, at which point he made it impossible to back up and find space. After getting fed up fighting the same five black knights every couple of minutes I gave up on beating him fairly, so I put on the Havel ring and armour and started tanking. With the sheer damage output of the black knight sword (which I now have six of), it was just a race to see who could hit 0hp first. I won, easily, which felt like cheating

Such a bad look. Hate it.

It's back to the Gideon black for the final cutscene, where Gideon sacrifices herself to restart the world, which feels in character.

Again, not an iron railing, but we take what we can get

So that was Dark Souls, starring Gideon Nav. The first half was great! the second half was mind numbing.

Next up is Dark Souls II, which I will be playing as Camilla Hect. I've seen what a strength build can achieve, let's see what I can do with dexterity

[princess-of-the-corner]

Also, the Mechanist and Teo now live in Omashu instead of the Northern Air Temple, Oma and Shu were lesbians, the Nomads appeared a whole season early, and the Mechanist has a name (It's Sai).

Additionally, unlike in canon, Bumi is considerably more bitter over Aang disappearing for 100 years, even if he didn't intentionally run away this time (his status as the Avatar was kept a secret from the other children, and he only wound up in the Iceberg because he was caught up in a storm when he went to fly while clearing his head).

Also, while TV Tropes is sparse on the details as to why, apparently Jet tries to assassinate Bumi for some reason (???) and the Cabbage Merchant actually gets two fake-outs while peddling his wares before screaming his iconic catchphrase.

(Also, they did Hakoda dirty.)

Ah. Hm. It. Hm.

The whole thing with the Northern Air Temple was it. It should've. Why? That was a whole big plot point it doesn't make sense for any of it to be in Omashu. Like even if you want to cut out the whole debate re: respecting the cultural sites of a dead culture vs. utilizing the space for people who need it and have no where else to go, part of the plot there was that the Mechanist was being leveraged with the group's safety, with his son's safety, so that he'd make Fire Nation Weapons. If he's in Omashu, he should be relatively safe! At least until the beginning of Book 2 but that's a whole other animal.

Bumi being bitter is.... kind of a bad look?

Like like like. Don't get me wrong: He had a right to be upset to some extent. But he wouldn't even fucking know about any of this! He would've spent the last 100 years thinking that Aang died in the genocide, unaware of him escaping and getting frozen. Like /maybe/ you can say there was probably a time between Aang running and the genocide so Bumi may have found out that Aang went missing. But between the unknown number of things that may have killed him plus a whole genocide hunting down Air Nomads? He shouldn't really see it as 'what a bitch running away and hiding'. ESPECIALLY when Aang shows up 100 years later completely unaged like clearly something happened!!

Doubly so when in this continuity Bumi wouldn't know it was Avatar shit yet. But also in either continuity, Aang ending up in this situation wasn't his fault. Total accident. Like?? Bruh.

Jet what the fuck.

Dare I ask what happened with Hakoda?

[tashdemetriou]

TBOSAS SPOILERS!

I am gonna start by saying that I went into this movie knowing it would not follow the book scene for scene, character for character, and so on. This is not my first book-to-movie adaptation (obviously) so I knew what to expect, time constraints have to be met, of course. That being said, under the cut will be my review with spoilers.

I loved that the first scene of the movie was the Dark Days, it really set the tone for Coryo's POV in my opinion. I also REALLY enjoyed that the movie was split into three parts, but I also feel like they could've done a neater transition.

I am a bit sad we didn't see him disappointed by eating boiled cabbage YET AGAIN lmao, but that is more of just a funny little tidbit I would have enjoyed. My poor Sejanus, my beloved... was treated like the stale piece of bread at the bottom of a bag that everyone throws away. In the books, he was everything that Hope represented as a reader, pointing out the cruelty of the Games, calling out the Capitol and so on... in the movie he is nothing but angry and it never shows his one-sided friendship with Coryo, how he fully trusts him, brings him food his Ma prepared, never even made any significance between how he was LITERALLY feeding Coryo some days. It erased all of his kindness just to show this pent-up rage against the Capitol. I was really looking forward to seeing Clemensia in the hospital, I am not gonna lie. The mutts in the original movies were hardly visible, it isn't really translated that the ones in the first movie look like the tributes, I wanted to see just this one person being a mutt and show the absolute HORROR of what it actually is. I am not even talking about anything CRAZY, just some scales prosthetics and contacts to show how the snakes changed her. It felt very lazy. The cut to Lucy just having a guitar randomly was fucking wild lmfao, like I understand that scene would've been too much of a filler, but it is never even hinted at that Coryo tried to get the guitar. Dr.Gaul was amazing, ngl I did truly love Viola as her. The games themselves were so rushed though? Like, they really wiped everyone out with the snakes lmfao, that was so stupid to me? All of the scenes in D12 were just... so rushed. It seemed like there was no training or anything and he just was out there doing this job randomly as a peacekeeper, like dude did nothing else lmao. Idk, as someone who really enjoyed the book, when I thought I wouldn't, the movie was very lackluster. Not even showing how awful Snow really is by literally living with Sejanus' parents after literally being the reason he was killed is INSANE. Like, I really thought it would capture WHY he became this villain but it's more like... he is mad because his girlfriend left :( idk, it was very lackluster. It has been a few months since I last read the book, I might reread it and update this review in a reblog but.... so many scenes were cut, so many details that while yes were inner monologue in the book could have been some how portrayed in the movie but it wasn't. idk how this movie has such a high rating lmao, it by far the worst one imo.

If you are curious of my THG film ranking I would say from best to worst is MJ 1, CF, MJ 2, THG, and then TBOSAS... like this shit was mediocre at best. If you haven't read the book, then great, you will probably love it. But idk... it was lacking SO much.

I have other thoughts, but I am running on little to no sleep so I cannot think properly, I might add more at another time, but yeah. Mostly I am just upset at the lack of character for Sejanus. Nothing about his death or anything was as heartbreaking as it was in the book.

[diamond-dangeresque]

Day 5 — Love

1336AE, New Kaineng City—Downtown Wajjun

"When are you heading home?" is the first serious question out of Zhou Yao's mouth once the ingredients have been fully delivered and the waiter leaves their table. They and Chihiro begin grabbing some ingredients to shovel into their boiling hotpot stock. The smells of bone broth and spices waft in the air, vegetables and mushrooms adding further to their fragrance when they're slipped into the boiling liquid. The sound of others' conversations blend into background noise. All that feels to be here is these two, one dressed in their nicest casualwear and the other casual but still half-armored with a blade sheathed at his hip. Even amidst the noise of the noonday lunch crowd, the question feels like it carries its own echo.

Chihiro looks quizzical at how to approach this question before deciding bluntness might be the best approach here: "Not sure I want to, really."

Yao looks up, stopping their getting-ready to dunk some rice noodles into the soup. "I don't understand."

"Hm? What's not to understand?"

"I mean..." They put their chopsticks down and lace their fingers together, resting their chin atop it. "Your merc company–"

"The Mistblade company," Chihiro answers, "what about it?" He takes a sip of water from his glass.

"Well...don't you have that 'selfmade business' to go back to?"

"It kind of runs itself at this point." The Revenant shrugs. The waiter returns with a long flat plate full of meat cuts, laying it at an empty part of the table and leaving again. "Dragon's Watch as a guild is as good as dissolved—our whole reason to exist got fulfilled, I guess—but people will always need a sellsword for something, and between Briar and Surt and Fossa they have the whole thing covered. I'm just a figurehead bringing in the occasional paycheck now." And, of course, all the Whisper agents who use 'being a sellsword' as a cover for their own jobs. "A faaar cry from back when I was its head and only employee."

"And your...niece, was it? You'd leave her behind?"

Matsu. Fuck. That topic was far more sensitive. But it had to be dealt with if Chihiro wanted whatever exactly was between him and Yao to work out. Holding secrets ends badly with folks like them. "Matsu's been...honestly, she's been fine without me for a few years now."

"That's a pretty cold way to talk about family..." Yao grabs a slice of pork and begins to dip it into the broth, swirling it amongst the mushrooms and vegetables before fishing it all out into a small bowl and beginning to eat.

Chihiro sighs. "It's not like I hate her and I'm doing this on purpose; it's just..." Chihiro does the same, continuing his chain of thought: "You separate for a few years due to duty and your only family left being put under protection and then you just get used to only occasional family meetings."

"Protection???" Yao repeats, mouth half-full of cabbage/radish/pork. They swallow, forcing all that down with a tall drink from their own glass of water.

"Yeeeeeah. I made some very scary enemies back in the day. They liked trying to fuck with my family since they knew fucking with me was useless." A pause. He shoves the cooked pork down his gullet alongside some sliced shiitake, lotus root, and sweet potato wrapped in a leafy chard piece. "I...I already lost a grandmother and two nephews to this crazy bitch years and years ago. She would have killed Matsu too if Matsu didn't decide to wander off and look for me. And when I learned said crazy bitch wanted to finish what she started with me personally..."

The color drains from Yao's face. "Oh gods. I'm so sorry." And here they were comfortable believing this sort of thing was reserved for either the worst of the gang wars in the Echovald or a really bad day from the Purists. They knew some bad stuff went down in Tyria a number of years ago, but...

"It's...it's alright. It's all history at this point, and the context is good for you to know."

"Is." Yao slips some potato slices into the broth alongside some cauliflower. The conversation got awkward-feeling fast, but backing out would only make this all the weirder. "Is she okay?"

Chihiro's response is an involuntary chuckle, and then adding to that, "She's been trying to get permission from her mentor to head to Cantha for months now. The second she learned I ended up here she decided she was gonna try and beat my head in for—her words, not mine—'heading somewhere amazing and ditching her like old socks'. I think she's fine."

"Not that," Yao sighs half-amused, "though that is good to hear. I mean...is she okay? Because if I remember my math right, she was pretty young when all that went down. Even coming from me, that's a lot for a kid to go through."

Oh. The memories come back to him again, clearer this time, fresher. Old wounds began to stir and sting again. "Honestly...I think she was more okay than I was. She was pretty motivated; I...I just slumped for a while. Kinda only kept moving 'cause of her and 'cause of work."

"I don't know. You're pretty motivated when you want to be. Which is often, from my own observations."

"Times were much worse back then, and I hide things very well." Ah, there was that mask again, slipping back on in the face of sorrow.

"Maybe around others. But you're terrible at hiding from me~." Yao smiles a bit more. Chihiro reciprocates. But the smile fades as the engineer's expression sobers a bit. "Sorry if all this opened up some bad memories. Wasn't my intention. It just all seemed...I don't know how to word this. Odd?"

"Like I said, it's all history at this point," he responds, opting to grab some more meat and soak it into the broth alongside some sweet potato chunks. "And you help a lot with me coming to terms with all this. You've been a big help, actually."

"Don't be ridiculous," Yao says, waving off the Revenant's compliment and trying their best to mask a small blush. "I make good conversation, that's all."

"No, really! You..." Without the blindfold, Chihiro looks straight on at Yao, with Yao returning the eye contact. "You're wonderful to be around. Most people I've been with, they're pretty content to be with the front I put up: the charming, handsome warrior of Divinity's Reach; the enigmatic Pact Commander, leader of whole armies with the world on his shoulders; the roguish godslayer, the willing apostate. But you, Yao?" He breaks that eye contact for a bit, is looking away with those big blue eyes that everyone else says are so scary and pointed when the blindfold is off, but right now to Yao they're eyes seeking answers to a question Yao thinks Chihiro has been asking himself for a very long time. And those eyes look back, lock back on, to them. "You're the first person who's been okay with me. Just me. No titles. Flaws and all."

"The things you think are flaws," Yao responds, tone softened and kept to a half-whisper, "are what in fact makes you so charming. Not that you don't have things to work on, but you also like to beat yourself up for things you really shouldn't."

"Please." The Revenant finishes off his half of the meat platter, moving on to dunking some noodles into the broth. "You don't have to flatter me."

"I'm serious! There's this scrappy charm to you. Your sense of justice, your willingness to see things done right when it matters, and even your brash personality, it all comes off as endearing."

"Not when you first met me," the Revenant chuckles as he scoops his noodles into a bowl with his chopsticks.

"Because I didn't know you then the way I know you now, obviously," is Yao's retort, "but now I have context. You're not just some loudmouth foreigner who brags about being a hero and uses your name as a bludgeon to get your way like others say you are and do." Yao takes their own noodles, thinner and clear unlike their partner's choice of thicker buckwheat, and soaks it in the diminishing broth. Their voice softens. "You're a sweet man. Gentle in spite of your strength. You care deeply about others, more than you let on. You worry about the consequences of your own actions more than your own actions itself at times. And you're actually pretty smart, in your own way."

Chihiro has to hold back a larger chuckle while eating his noodles. When he does finish, he responds, "Uh huh. Yao, I can hardly work a jadetech toaster, let alone half the things in this city. My jade bot still tries to slap me. By all accounts, I must be a moron in your eyes."

"Yet you can run circles around this country's best fighters and their strategists. And your dungeoneering is second to none, else the Royal Archivist Soviety wouldn't have gotten half as far into Northern Kaineng as they did. Intelligence isn't just about knowing how to troubleshoot tech or being able to understand how guns work. Even if Rama teases you on that."

What was left of the mask Chihiro made for himself to wear for Yao has long since slipped off. He doesn't know what to say to this. He doesn't know if Yao is just trying to soothe his well-bruised ego or if they're genuine about their words. But on thinking of their time together, on thinking of his feelings towards the Engineer and all they've said to each other and done together, a sensation in his mind and heart smother the doubt. Compared to most others, Yao seemed genuine, truly in belief, of their words to Chihiro.

Only Belinda ever felt this genuine. And even she, gods rest her weary soul, still bought some of that façade.

Maybe these past few months together weren't just a fling of convenience or fun.

The waiter passes by and Chihiro flags him down while maintaining eye contact with Yao. He finishes his thoughts as best as he can, keeping his voice steady, "Like I said before: Dragon's Watch is done since all the dragons save for Aurene are dead, the Pact has nothing to do now with all the international threats done and over with, and my company thrives and lives without me at its wheel. With nothing to do, usually, I wander." His gaze almost wanders away, just a moment, to the open sky above them. "I get restless. I leave everyone I know because I don't know how to stay still. So committing to things, committing to people, I find it hard. Really hard. I don't..." He pauses, gathering his thoughts as he also hands the waiter a coinbag for the lunch payment. "I never felt at home in Kryta with the Seraph or as a mercenary. I never felt at home in Ascalon, temping with the Adamantine or bashing Separatist heads in. I almost felt at home with the pirates—" —but Mai Trin burned all that to the ground years and years ago. "—but that wasn't really enough either. Home for me is where I feel I can finally stop. Where I can rest. I've been looking for years. And, well, now I feel at home with you."

The words seemed a lot more flowery for Chihiro than he normally uses, or so Yao tells themself. But once the words finally process in their mind, their eyes widen. If this is what they think it is... "I... Chihiro, don't be ridiculous, what are you sa—"

Oh for fucks sakes. "Yao, I love you."

There's a silence that grows heavy between the two, masked only barely by the clammer of the other restaurant patrons chattering away about whatever. Yao remains stunned, mouth drying by the second. Chihiro can hear his heart practically trying to drill itself out of his ribcage. It was now or never, the Revenant told himself. If he could hear the echoes and spirits over the sounds of the crowd plus his own heartbeat, they'd probably be rolling over with laughter. He never felt so un-suave and dopey in his life until now, trying to wax poetic and just barreling through a thesaurus instead. Was it the lack of alcohol? Was it because this wasn't an act, there isn't a guardrail he can hold onto, no comfortable excuse to press a button and self-eject out of a scene with? Is it because the thing he feels for this Engineer goes deeper than any of his previous flings?

(Or was it because the last two people he was truly serious with died? The Revenant dreads the day in which lover's plot #3 calls for Zhou Yao...)

"Wow. Oh wow. This is..."

"Yeeeah, I figured this wasn't going to work," Chihiro half-mumbles as he scoots his own seat back to get up, trying with desperation to grab the last pieces of his broken coolguy mask, "sorry for wasting your time, I'll grab my things and—"

"Stop right there," Yao tells him, themself standing up before their (friend? friend-with-benefits? lover?? beloved??? uhhhhh) can dash into the night like he's said he's done before. "I'm trying to process all these thoughts, you are not running from this until I do." Chihiro feels his feet freeze in place. They walk over to the Revenant with the warmest smile he's seen yet from them. "Gods, you absolute dummy."

Chihiro's ears tingle. He looks back, then Yao does, at the restaurant. It seems their talk has drawn some attention to them, what with people staring and whispering to each other about that noisy couple and making a scene out of their spat.

"Hm." The Engineer hums, threading their arm around Chihiro's. "Maybe we can continue this talk at my apartment. Privately."

"Uhh." Yao leads Chihiro to walking from the restaurant.

"For the record: I love you, too. You just gotta find a way to not draw so much attention when you do these things~."

[annionebutme]

"This is it." Harry announced as the popped back to existance and his stomach stopped churning.

The cat huffed into his ear dismissively.

"What? Alright it's small, who cares? The garden part is big. You'll like it." He was quite proud of the garden, having done most of it himself. It was full of quiet little places to sit and relax, watch the sky. Spring had just started and much of the garden was now in bloom with snowdrops, hellebores, and libertia. The hedges around it were high enough that he could no longer see into his neighbour's back yard which seemed to be used as a dump more than anything.

"Mreow." The cat prompted, clearly done with the outside world.

"Right then, we'll go inside."Harry opened the door wide, careful not to bump the cat on the doorframe. "I'm not much of an interior person." He said, somewhat sheepish even if cat's were unlikely to complain the same way Ginny had. "I got some stuff for you though. I've got it in the sitting room 'cause I thought maybe you'd be more comfortable there than in my room." He moved past the entryway to the main room of the cottage, which was the kitchen, dining area, and sitting room, kneeling down in the corner. "You've got a bed here nice and close to the fire. A water dish and a food bowl. Close so you don't have to move far while you're recovering. I've got lots of cat snacks and food. Your bathroom is over in the other corner."

The cat jumped down gingerly from his shoulder. To sniff the space. He looked cranky about the food bowl he must be hungry. Harry stepped over to the pantry and pulled out a selection of cans, then placed each one to carefully face the cat. "I got a bunch of flavours so just pick what you like."

"MeerrrrOoow!" the cat hissed at him for. Harry just picked one for him at random. The cat didn't even sniff at it. Ah well. He'd eat when he was hungry enough.

Harry grabbed a pan for his own dinner. Salmon that he'd caught himself in the nearby river and scaled, gutted and filleted yesterday. The recipe was simple enough: butter and whatever herbs were in his garden. Today it was chives, celery leaf, and parsley. Mostly because it was left over from the other fillet yesterday. He added thinky sliced potato the the pan for the same reason. When he turned around he saw the cat had sat itself at the small dining table and was watching him intently. Harry put his meal down and turned to get his cutlery. When he turned back the cat had already gotten to his dinner. "What the fuck?" He yelled, yanking the plate away protectively. "You have your own fucking dinner! Go eat that!" His dinner was gone, either badly contaminated or mostly eaten. He'd go hungry. He'd... he'd breathe. He gave himself a moment to adjust, to remember that he had instant noodles and canned soup in the pantry, and crackers and biscuits and food growing in the garden. Broccoli and sprouts and cabbage. He looked at his dinner, just a few little bites gone from one side. There would be enough for both of them. "Sorry." He said to the cat, who was looking quite angry. "I get protective over food. It's from when I was a kid. I've been working on it. Here." He grabbed a second plate and cut off the small portion of salmon that had been contaminated and placed the dish in the cat's corner. "Here. You should get to eat what you want too."

The cat moved to sit in the chair opposite Harry.

Harry moved the plate in front of the cat and they both ate happily. After dinner he threw out the cans and the food dish. They'd go food shopping tomorrow.

Part 3, Part 4