#and maybe this will inspire me to draw more

[museanddream]

For Your Ears Only || Laia Codina x reader

Summary: Laia is too loud but you can’t say no to her. You’ll just have to deal with the consequences later. 🔞

Inspired by this drabble by the incredible @vixwritesagain - this story picks up where hers ends. Big thanks to Vix for a) inspiring this fic with her wonderful words and b) giving me permission to share this!

Word count: 3k

…

You should’ve learned your lesson.

An entire day of teasing, of Misa’s exaggerated and increasingly caricaturistic impressions of Laia’s moans, of wanting to spend every precious second you can with your girlfriend but also not wanting to give the rest of your teammates the opportunity to remind you how loud you were last night.

You should know that you need to be quiet or risk more of the same tomorrow.

Well, it’s not you that’s the problem.

Still, the way that Laia’s moans are muffled around the two fingers in her mouth is hardly doing much to deter you from causing a repeat performance. Quite the opposite, actually. You’re too far gone to change your mind now, tomorrow’s inevitable teasing be damned.

You lick at her cunt, timing the strokes of your tongue against her with the thrust of your fingers into her mouth. She tastes like heaven, like nectar on your tongue.

When your tongue flutters against her clit, Laia’s head falls back and your fingers slip from her mouth. The lyrical moan she lets out is what you imagine heaven sounds like too.

You really need to invest in an actual gag before the next camp.

Or, at the very least, manipulate the room plan so that you’re not neighbouring Jenni and Misa.

“Laia!” you chastise her, though there’s very little bite to your words.

“I’m trying,” she apologises. Even as she says it the second half of her words morph into another whine.

You find it hard to be mad at her for making so much noise. One; you’ve heard her unrestrained moans too many times before to think that this is the loudest she can be, which means she really is trying to stay quiet. And two; she looks far too pretty, splayed out and writhing against the crumpled sheets, for you to actually be annoyed.

With nothing in Laia’s mouth to muffle her sounds, you reluctantly lift your tongue from between her legs and start kissing up her body. And while your intention is to cover her mouth with your own to stop any more noises escaping, as your lips travel between Laia’s hipbone and her navel and her breath catches in her throat, you’re reminded that barring last night, it’s been weeks since you had her body laid out in front of you to explore properly.

So maybe it’s your fault when your lips pass across the ticklish spot on her ribcage and she inhales with a sharp hiss. Maybe it’s your fault when your tongue finds her nipple and swirls around the puckered bud once, twice, drawing out one of your girlfriend’s familiar mewls. Maybe it’s your fault when you finally settle on top of Laia and slot one of your legs between hers and she lets out a moan that fills the room.

“Laia,” you warn her again, though you continue to rock your thigh against where she’s hot and wet for you. “Baby, they’ll hear you.”

Laia pays no notice, instead more intent on pawing at your ass to get you to roll your thigh against her again.

Despite your better judgment, you’re happy to oblige.

You swallow her answering moan with a kiss, rocking against her core until her slick coats your leg.

Without breaking the kiss, you send one hand down Laia’s body and slip your hand between your thigh and her cunt. Her legs fall open obediently as your fingers slide easily through her folds, exploring without much of a purpose except to tease.

“Please,” Laia mumbles against your lips.

“Will you be good for me?” you whisper back.

Laia nods eagerly, threading her hand through your hair to pull you back into another blistering kiss.

As you kiss her back feverishly, your fingers graze over her clit with a few lazy circles, then dip lower to tease at her hole. Her hips buck beneath you, no doubt trying to coax you inside her, but instead you collect her arousal with your fingertips and drag them back up to smear around her clit.

“Stop teasing,” Laia half-growls.

“I’m not,” you say, pushing your hand lower and sinking two of your fingers into her.

It’s definitely your fault when Laia’s reaction is to let out a wanton moan, because you don’t think to muffle it with a kiss until the sound has already filled the room. But you kiss her anyway, even if it’s too late, capturing the sound that follows when you press down with the pads of your fingers inside her.

Laia is perfect as you fuck her. The way that her hands claw at you, one tight around your bicep and the other dragging blunt nails across your back. The way that one of her legs hooks around the small of your back, using it as leverage as she grinds upwards in rhythm with your thrusts. The way you can feel her clenching around you each time you find that one spot inside her that you know drives her completely wild.

Perfect, until her head falls back again and she lets out a hoarse “oh fuck” that’s just a fraction too loud.

“Laia, baby…”

You slip your fingers out of her as you hush her, though when you immediately move them to rub tiny circles above her clit, Laia lets out a breathy sigh of pleasure.

“I know, I know,” Laia replies, eyes fluttering closed in a way that makes you pretty sure that she’s only half-listening to you.

You watch her closely, admiring the tiny details in her face as you play with her clit. Her forehead crinkles with the exertion of trying to keep quiet, her eyes screwed shut in pleasure and her lips slightly parted. You commit it all to memory, knowing that national camp is short and it won’t be long until the memories are all you have.

“Get the strap,” Laia murmurs, eyes flickering open again.

Your fingers fall still on her clit and you tilt your head to the side as you look down at her.

“Baby, we both know you can’t stay quiet when I fuck you like that,” you remind her.

“But … but I need you.”

I need you. Words that you often hear through the phone late at night, when it’s only your own fingers between your legs and Laia’s melodic moans are choked by the phone’s tinny speaker instead of filling your room.

You’ve waited ages, too long, to hear her say those words in person.

So why would you deny her now?

Besides, hasn’t the damage already been done?

“You really have to be quiet,” you remind her, as you roll off her and wander over to your open suitcase. The strap is barely hidden beneath a t-shirt, your favourite dildo already fitted into the harness from last night.

“I’ll try,” Laia assures you. “I promise.”

But with the way she stares at you as you step into the harness and tighten it around your hips, her lips parted and pupils blown, you’re pretty sure Laia wants you enough to agree to anything right now.

“Hands and knees,” you instruct Laia as you kneel your way back into the bed. “If you need to make a sound, use the pillow.”

Laia scrambles into position like she thinks you might change your mind if she doesn’t do it quickly enough, rolling onto her front and pushing her ass towards you as she raises herself onto her knees.

“Fuck, baby,” you praise her, bringing your hand down onto her ass cheek with a slap, then squeezing the flesh appreciatively. “You really want this, don’t you?”

“Always,” Laia nods in response.

You slide your hand between her legs, teasing with your fingers. Then, when Laia pushes herself back again, you reach for the cock strapped to your hips and nudge the thick head against her entrance.

“Yes,” Laia breathes. Her head falls forward, forehead pressed to the bed between the arms that hold her weight.

The way that Laia offers herself up to you so willingly has you losing your mind in all sorts of ways. It takes all the self-restraint in the world to hold back from letting yourself get lost in the moment and start pounding into her.

Instead, you push forward with your hips slowly, filling her inch by inch. Laia hisses and gasps as you move, pretty noises for your ears only, until you’re sheathed fully inside her.

“Fuck, Lai.” It’s your turn to groan, palming her ass with both hands and spreading her cheeks so you can see where the purple silicone stretches her open. “You’re taking me so well.”

“I’m yours,” Laia tells you. “Always yours.”

The possessive beast within you stirs, pulling out halfway, then thrusting back inside.

“Yes,” you growl. “Mine.”

The pace you set is a steady one, not too fast while you let Laia get used to the feeling of you inside her. But it’s really hard to control yourself, the way she presents herself for your pleasure and the extra shine you can see on the toy each time you withdraw, requiring a lot of restraint to not just start rutting into Laia with abandon.

The sounds she lets out are thankfully soft. Breathy gasps, pretty grunts each time you fill her, all much quieter than Laia’s usual volume. Where her head is turned to the side, one of her cheeks pressed to the pillow, you can see the way her face is twisted with the exertion of trying to stay quiet, or maybe just the sheer pleasure of it all.

“You can go harder,” Laia suggests, between choked groans.

You know you shouldn’t. You need her to stay quiet. You really shouldn’t-

“Beg for it.” The words spill from your lips before you have the chance to stop them. “Beg for me.”

“Please,” Laia urges you without hesitation. “Harder. I need it. Fuck me properly.”

It’s this, Laia’s thinly veiled implication that what you’ve been doing so far isn’t quite to her satisfaction, that makes you lose your mind.

You grab Laia by her thighs and manhandle her until she’s flat on her stomach beneath you with her legs wide enough for you to slot between them. In your roughness, the toy slips out with a pop, slick with her arousal, but you’re quick to wrap your fingers around the wet silicone and nudge it back between her legs.

In hindsight, you should’ve expected Laia’s groan of pleasure as you fill her in a single swift thrust, far louder than any she’s made since you started using the strap. But all you can focus on is how much you want her, all the pent-up frustration from spending the entire day being relentlessly teased by your other teammates each time you even glanced in Laia’s direction, flooding out of you as you start to fuck into her properly.

“Fuck!” Laia cries out. “Like that!”

You curl your body over hers, arms planted on either side of her shoulders as you lean towards her ear and growl, “Yes? You like it when I fuck you like this?”

Laia nods as much as she can with you practically pinning her to the mattress.

“Yes! Feels so good!”

“Fuck, baby.” You muffle a groan of your own by pressing your lips to the tanned skin of her shoulder blades. “You feel so good too. I can feel how tight you are.”

Still, you don’t relent the vicious rocking of your hips, filling her over and over again, drawing sound after pretty sound from her lips.

“Shhh,” you hush her half-heartedly. You have no intention of actually forcing Laia to shut up, though your sex-addled brain knows you should probably make more of an effort to be quiet.

Even if Laia herself was quieter, the sounds of your sex fill the room. The chatter of the television you turned on when you arrived back to your room in an attempt to mask the sounds you knew would soon follow seems to fade into the background, drowned out by the rhythmic creak of the mattress below you, the occasional thump of the headboard against the wall.

Even the slick sounds of the toy filling Laia over and over seem amplified.

“Don’t stop,” Laia pleads,

“Are you going to come?” you ask Laia.

She doesn’t answer with words, but you see the frantic nod of her head.

Her confirmation is all you need to realise how close you are too.

This position has always done it for you. Having Laia beneath you like this allows you to grind your clit against the harness each time you rut into her, a delicious pressure that builds you towards your peak without fail.

“Gonna come soon,” you warn Laia, as you manage to slip your hand between her body and the bedsheets with only the tiniest stumble to the rhythm of your hips, eager fingertips seeking out Laia’s clit.

“Yes!” Laia cries out. “Want you to come with me.”

The way you fuck into her has her grinding against your hand. She’s so wet that you barely need to do anything except hold your fingers in place and let friction do the rest.

Even just the thought of feeling her fall apart beneath you has you rapidly hurtling towards your own peak.

“I’m so fucking close,” you manage to gasp out. “Are you gonna come with me, Lai?”

Laia lets out a sound to the affirmative, somewhere between a whimper and a squeak, as she continues to hump your hand.

“Yes!” you encourage her. “So good for me, baby. So perfect.”

“I’m coming! I -”

You feel it as it hits her, the way that her body tenses beneath you, then writhes as much as she can where you’ve got her trapped against the mattress.

But it’s the sounds she lets out that tips you over the edge into your own orgasm, the soft pants as it builds, the few seconds of complete silence when it finally hits her, then the absolute wail of pleasure that spills from Laia’s throat as it wracks her body.

Your movements are almost non-existent as you work through your climax, the way that Laia clamps around the toy meaning that you can only really hump the harness as wave after tidal wave of ecstasy courses through you. You manage to muffle your own cry of pleasure by sinking your teeth into the nearest thing, which just happens to be Laia’s shoulder.

As your body goes heavy, you melt into Laia until you’re practically one person, until you can’t tell where you stop and she begins. Her skin is soft beneath you, her hair tickling your cheek where you nuzzle into her neck. You just want to feel every inch of her body against yours.

When the last tremors of your orgasm have subsided. you pull out of Laia carefully, pressing an apologetic kiss to the red mark forming on the back of her shoulder, then roll off her and make quick work of discarding the harness.

Afterwards, Laia pulls you close, her hot body nestling against yours as you both catch your breath and calm your racing hearts.

“You promised me you’d be quiet,” you murmur amusedly, wrapping your arms around Laia and pressing a kiss to the wispy tendrils of hair at her temple as she snuggles into your side.

“No, I promised you I’d try. There’s a difference.”

She smiles lazily up at you, clearly pleased with her loophole in her post-orgasmic haze.

“You’re the worst.” You roll your eyes, then squeeze her affectionately. “But I love you. So much. I wish the only time we get to spend together wasn’t like this. There’s so much more I’d do to you if we had more time and privacy.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

If Laia’s noise is half the problem, her insatiability is the other half. The mischievous glint in her dark eyes is very hard to say no to.

“Don’t tempt me. We’ve got a game in two days so we really need to sleep. You know I had to invent a migraine to explain last night’s poor sleep score to the performance staff?”

Laia chuckles under her breath as she replies, “I pretended I had bad dreams.”

“They’ll figure us out soon. We won’t be allowed to share a room again.”

A wicked grin stretches across Laia’s cheeks as she rolls fully on top of you and cups your jaw as she says, “Then we should make the most of it while we can.”

She leans in for a kiss and you respond slowly, with absolutely no intention of letting this escalate, just content with leisurely making out with the person you’ve spent so many weeks missing the company of.

Until you hear a sudden noise from next door that forces you to break apart, the creaking of a mattress and the distinct sounds of two different headboards hitting the wall in different rhythms.

“Oh Laia!” You hear Misa’s poor imitation of your voice drift through the wall.

“Yes, baby!” comes Jenni’s exaggerated echo. “Give it to me! Right there!”

“Oh yes, just like that!”

“More! More!”

The banging stops and you hear Jenni’s loud cackle, clearly pleased with herself.

Your cheeks burn as you picture Jenni and Misa jumping up and down on their beds as they impersonate the two of you, realising only now that you’ve heard them exactly how thin the hotel walls are.

You wrap your arms tighter around Laia, as if holding her close will protect you both from the embarrassment.

“We don’t sound like that,” Laia mumbles into your chest.

“We don’t,” you agree. “But you did.”

You can still hear Jenni and Misa’s raucous laughter from next door, no question in your mind who is the butt of their jokes.

“If I murder them both tomorrow morning, will you help me hide the bodies?” you ask Laia softly.

Ever the perfect girlfriend, Laia is quick to agree.

“Of course!”

[seneon]

all these grunge toya tropes coming in but the author is literally a goth so how about a grunge toya x goth reader ?? they'd make such a power couple omg...

★ DRUNK && DEADLY ( GRUNGE¡DABI )

"are you drunk, or just on the verge of death?" grunge boy of the school asked at keigo's party as he watched your fingers tapped against the small glass cup repeatedly.

"i am death. and maybe a little drunk," you responded almost immediately as he pours whiskey into your cup, causing you to sit up straight and raised a brow at him. "are you encouraging me?"

dabi snorts and downed his own fair share of whiskey. "yes. i wanna see the darkest angel of death losing all senses of reality."

"weirdo," you commented and sipped the whiskey, the strong flavours running down and burning your throat before you let out a gasp and coughed a bit.

"strong, isn't it? it's jack daniel's," dabi asked and poured himself more, drinking it like it was merely water to him.

of course the grunge kid would be expected to drink so very often. all they do is destroy themselves on the inside and possibly out as well. that's your view on grunge kids anyways.

it's the same for him. he sees you as an odd creature rather than human— someone who drinks blood and eat souls. he refers to you as a freakish reaper of his death, and it always sounded like music to your ears.

"i'm assuming you're not going to drag me out to a cemetery after this party and, i don't know... crawl into my skin?" dabi asked, his gaze locked onto your black-stained lips as it presses against the glass cup to sip on the whiskey.

"i will, now that you suggested it."

"that's hot— crawling into my skin n' all."

and you wondered just why your words couldn't get dabi to stay away from you. if anything, he finds you extremely fascinating and unique, that fact drawing him close to you everytime. despite you slurring in your words while you're almost on the road to drunkenness, you're still pretty deadly to him.

but that's okay. dabi likes to meddle with death anyways.

note. to all goths, i heart you all. especially @solvisun 🖤 totally not a self insert inspired piece hehehaha

© SENEON 2025 ♱ do not repost, alter, or translate.

[tricoloreddango]

☆ Struggling to take their size ☆

Jing Yuan, Dr Ratio, Wriothesley, Zhongli x fem reader. [Inspired by Mydei version]

cw: smut, soft dom, praise, size kink, Zhongli having draconic features, breeding kink for Zhongli, fear of pain during intimacy. [back to m.list]

Not suitable for minors!

—

Jing Yuan

Patient, gentle, warm. Jing Yuan has been always like this with you, and the current situation didn’t make him any different. Struggling under him on bed, your legs wrapped tightly around his waist, he felt a sense of duty to help you deal with his size—especially when you were crying out for him like this.

“Jing Yuan… it won’t fit!” you whined sadly, your legs tightening around him, as you felt frustrated that he could have fitted only the tip of his fat cock into you so far.

Jing Yuan chuckled, the lightness of his laugh meant to tell you that the situation is not as bad if he’s here, gripping your hips gently. “Is this how little faith you have in me?” he teased with a warm smile, before he leaned down to press a kiss onto forehead. “I’ll take care of you, don’t worry, my dear.”

Holding an eye contact with you in this position, he attempted to get you to loosen up for him, by teasing and stirring your wet entrance and folds with his tip, while peppering your face in little presses of his lips. Gently moving his hips back and forth, Jing Yuan was keeping the tip caught in your hole, drawing out even more arousal from you. Just his tip made your tight hole feel parted away for him.

You were given a messy, sloppy kiss while he kept relaxing you with his cock like this, until he was finally able to push inside, letting you feel the fullness and stretch you desperately missed for the moment prior; even if now Jing Yuan’s cock felt as if it was splitting you apart. He wiped the kiss drool off of your now dazed face.

“See? You opened up so nicely for me… just leave the rest to me,” he reassured with a tighter grip on your hips. Jing Yuan started with a slower pace to let you get used to him even more, but kept the strokes nicely deep and strong for his beloved, cursing quietly at how much pleasure your tight heat was giving him already. He even lowered his heavy body on top of yours, to let his weight reassure you further, and for him to enjoy the warmth and softness of your own body.

Dr Ratio

“If you won’t stop squirming, it won’t really help your case, you realize that?” Veritas sighed. He was lying behind you on your side, on your shared bed, one of your legs bent forward to uncover your pussy for him, but you just wouldn’t let him do his job. Veritas knew you had a tendency to unnecessarily stress yourself out during intimacy, worried about his size even if he had proven you many times that there’s nothing to be stressed about. And while Veritas could be patient and methodical if needed to be, he required your cooperation too.

“What are you even so worried about, hm?” he asked more quietly with a gentle press of kiss onto your ear, the low timber sending a chill through you. His left arm was under your body, wrapped around your torso and letting its hand fondle your breast. The other hand, kept that leg forward steadily.

“What if it doesn’t fit this time? Maybe I’m—“ you said worryingly, but he didn’t let you finish the sentence. “I’ll make it fit, as I always do,” he hushed you sternly. He did not mean to be rough with you, but sometimes it was needed to bring you back.

His heavy cocked rubbed itself against your slit, right between your lips, making you stop your talk and moan instead. The glide was smooth, with the extensive foreplay Veritas has given you a moment ago… it was just your anxiety holding you back. But him playing with your breasts like that, his cock frying your nerves or your slit and rubbing against your clit too, you were giving into the pleasure instead.

“Veritas…” you moaned out, throwing your head back against his hard chest. “Yes, I’m here,” he said more softly. His hand on your breast slipped down between your legs instead, now circling on your clit with more pressure than just strokes of his cock. He kept his right hand on your thigh steady, its strength not letting it close under the sweet stimulation.

Soon, he was slipping his cock into you with ease as his arms held you caged, and your worries were now replaced with you spilling out whines for more. So full of Veritas, feeling a prickling warmth of having your walls stretched for him, needing to grab onto the bedsheets ahead of you… even breathing was getting difficult, entirely overwhelmed by the pressure of him inside your pussy.

“Now, no need to whine anymore… you’ve taken me so well after all,” he said with a pride at his results, and his hand lifted itself up from between your thighs to turn your head to the side, by your chin, and give you a heated kiss. It was then when his heavy thrusts began, and he pressed his body tighter to yours, tightening his jaw as you were provoking him to be too vocal for his own liking. Veritas buried his face in your neck, muting his low-toned moans, as he set on the challenge to have his balls slap your skin hard with his fast pace and strong force, forcing your folds to spread for his wide girth each move.

No stress was left in you, other than the one of you wanting to come.

Wriothesley

You were impaled on Wriothesley’s fatness of his cock already, resting on top of him with his hand on your hips and giving him such a perfect view of your lovely body, but… you were too scared to move. Wriothesley filled you up so nicely, you could feel him put a pressure on your cervix and still not be inside fully, base remaining unwrapped by you; but you didn’t have a mental fortitude to move when you were so full.

“No… Wriothesley, I can’t do it like that!” you cried out. “You’re too big!”

“I’m too big?” he said cockily, with a rub of his hand on your thigh, meant to be calming. “You say that almost every night, and yet here you are again, all nicely filled up by me?” he feigned confusion.

The hand on your thigh went up to your clit, circling it around, even more when you moaned. “Y-yes, but… it’s different in this position. I feel like a skewer,” you said shakily with a whimper at another roll.

“Should I help my beautiful girlfriend then?” he inquired lowly, his eyes once again going up and down over your bare and impaled figure on top of his body. Seeing you so full of him… he wished he could abandon any duties and fuck you for the rest of the weekend on this bed, in this room in the fortress.

When you nodded eagerly, he grabbed your hips again with his big and scarred hands. “Alright, anything my princess demands…” he teased with a laughter ending up breathy, because when he started to grind into you to help you ease, the squeeze of your pussy was bit too much for even him and he groaned. He rolled his hips back and forth, letting your walls be teased in pleasurable ways with his cock grinding inside of you, making you both crazy. Suddenly, it didn’t feel that scary. Not when you he was hitting against your g-spot with grinds like this.

It felt so good, you didn’t even notice when Wriothesley was lifting you up a little, and helping you with small thrusts. Your pussy swallowed his size eagerly, and you felt stretched on him to the maximum, but it was no longer unbearable.

“There we go, all ready for me…” Wriothesley praised, and lifted you off his cock by your hips even higher, before forcing you down on his cock more harshly. You let out a silent scream, but felt gladder than ever, and had to quickly grab onto muscular chest to hold onto, as he took you for a ride.

Zhongli

Your lover was more on a leaner side, so the first time you gave yourself to him, you didn’t expect his size to be… that. Dragon physics, almost disproportionally big to his size, were a problem for you even years later.

Your bottom hanging in the air, your face down onto the pillow—it was a position as if Zhongli was being meant to breed his mate. The spread of you like this was very enticing to him and his nature. Even when you squirmed and cried, telling him it will hurt.

“Will hurt?” Zhongli asked with a small amusement, his hands rubbing your sides as he was behind you on his knees, just the tip of his thick cock inside. “Hurt”… as if Zhongli would ever let this happen. As if he didn’t always make you desperate for more.

“My love, I always make myself fit into you in the end. You can relax by my side, I won’t let it hurt,” he said calmly, before he lowered his head to kiss between your shoulder blades. It made you feel more comfortable, but you still were anxious by how your hole kept trying to force his cock out with how tight your pussy felt on him.

“But it’s too big…” you complained with a sniffle. “It won’t enter!”

“Shhh…” Zhongli kept his tip out and in, moving his cock like that, and put his finger into your hole, right next to his tip to help you make space inside your sweet walls. You mewled at additional pressure, but his finger quickly rewarded you with a rub against your best spot. “Zhongli…” you whined, feeling fuller and better.

“You’re doing great…” he praised, leaning to kiss your nape. When your pleasure and wetness grew even more, Zhongli started to finally push his thickness into you, making you gasp. “Yes…!” you were so relieved, even if even more overwhelmed by your walls being forced to accommodate for Zhongli.

Your hips up in the air wriggled, your tears stained the pillow with your face below, and with a sight as erotic as this, Zhongli had no choice but to start fucking you roughly. He thought of how you, soon, will be full of his seed dripping out of you, and was fantasizing that one day, it’ll turn into something more—in any case, your belly will be left bloated in both scenarios.

His hands on your hips, he snapped your lower body against his abdomen back and forth, his balls slapping against your clit. “You took all of me. Now you’ll let me have you properly, won’t you?” he asked through teeth, hissing at how much your pussy squeezed on his cock.

You could have only nodded into the pillows in ecstasy.

[portraitofalinkonfyre]

For writing requests, could you write something with Wind and an older sister reader?

Glycerine

Pairing: Wind & Reader

Warning(s): None, just some found-sibling fluff!

Notes: Inspired by "Glycerine" by Bush. This is actually a bit angsty so prepare yourself lol.

Masterlist

You found Wind on the beach, sitting on the pale sand as his outstretched legs toed the line between surf and sand. It was a beautiful afternoon on Onset; the sun was high, the sky was clear, and tears had no place on the young hero's salt-swept cheeks.

"Wind?" you called, toes scrunching when they met sun-warmed granules, your boots kicked casually onto the grassy bank meters away. "Buddy?"

There was a gasp. The Sailor's shoulders jumped. He whirled to face you, already rubbing beneath his sea-colored eyes with a fist. He said your name, once, and forced a smile that looked entirely too watery for comfort. "H-Hey... I thought you were teaching Aryll how to sew."

You shrugged, taking a seat beside him. A part of you wanted to cringe at the thought of all the sand you would undoubtedly find on yourself when this was over, but a larger, stronger part whispered that it was worth it. For him. "I was, but she's a quick learner, like someone else I know."

Another soft, uncharacteristic smile, nothing like the blinding grins he usually treated you with. The muscles in your jaw ached as they fought to keep a neutrally-friendly expression. "Yeah," said Wind, sneaking unusually pensive glances at the roaring ocean. "Wild's pretty sharp, huh?"

Your brow furrowed. You scooted an inch closer. "I meant you, kid."

This time, he looked at you. This time, he seemed to see you. "I'm sorry," he apologized. A habit, you assumed, though it was wholly unnecessary. Tone heavy with an emotion that had your heart twisting in your chest, he continued: "I've just been... thinking."

Oh dear, it was one of those days. You planted your hands behind you, using them as makeshift anchors to lean back a few inches. A thick, salty breeze swept through the beach, further ruffling Wind's nest of hair. You debated running back to the house to grab a brush, but refrained. "About?"

Silence. You didn't push, but you did watch. Red-rimmed eyes, fidgeting hands, suspicious stains on the sleeves of his tunic. In so many ways, Wind was a fully-fledged adult. He could fight, swear, and scream, but it was always the little things that reminded you just how young he was.

The hero chewed his lip, knees drawing up to his chest. Your eyes flicked to the pants he wore–a gaudy orange that you weren't sure had come from teenage rebellion or a treacherously misguided fashion sense–and immediately settled on a small rip near the right ankle.

"I know Legend's prickly, but he'll help you with those if you ask," you mused, almost to yourself. Wind immediately glanced at his pants, and a heavy breath slipped past his chapped lips. Too sad, too old; something was definitely wrong.

"Oh, wow, I hadn't..."

'Noticed it' went unsaid, so you decided to fill the silence.

"You're only going to miss her more if you stay out here," the words slipped off your tongue like silk, though they could have weighed more than a thousand sparkling suns. Maybe they did, and you were simply used to the reality where hard things were said without a second glance.

"She'll miss me if I go back," said the young, vibrant, effervescent hero in a tone that was so melancholic that you briefly considered calling Time over from the comfort of the home's sleeping area, but the memory of him downing no less than four bottles of Elixer Soup suggested the eldest hero had plans that didn't include comforting whichever boy decided today was the day for a long-awaited existential crisis.

You sighed. You closed the distance, wrapping your arm around Wind's shoulders. They were broader than you remembered, but you'd be damned if you let the fact that he was growing intercede with hug timeTM. It didn't take long for the Sailor to accept his fate, shoulders finally dropping as he exhaled a breath typically observed in divorced men in their forties. You'd have to tell Warriors that one. "It's hylian nature to miss someone," you said; gently, not because he was a child, but because he needed it. "It means she cares. Means you care."

"Does it?" was Wind's response, and you couldn't help the snort that escaped you.

"Of course it does," you paused to let the meaning sink in, then added with a conspiratorial grin: "Didn't anyone tell you not to question your elders?"

Wind's ears perked up, but you couldn't find it in you to regret giving him an in. "Yeesh, I didn't know you were that old."

"Rude, I'm actually like, super young," you huffed, injecting as much faux irritation into your tone to hide the fact that you were secretly rejoicing the spectacular return of his borrowed dad jokes, because, really, one could only spend so much time around Warriors and Time before they too found themselves corrupted. You shifted in the sand, gaze turning to the sun, hovering above the horizon like a firebrand, and a small part of you was glad Twilight was currently consumed with that tile game Four played almost religiously. "It's getting late," you told the Sailor. Softly. Kindly.

Wind's toes curled in the waterlogged granules. A foaming wave washed forward, crashing against the boy's pruning skin. His response was a mere whisper above the roaring surf. "She cried when I left," a sandy-colored head leaned against your arm, soft enough that you could have pretended it wasn't there at all.

"Everyone cries, Link," you reassured him, though the results had yet to be seen. "It's what makes us hylian."

Silence.

You heaved a breath.

"Give your sister a hug, kid."

A pair of arms wrapped around your waist, and The Hero of the Winds began to cry in earnest.

"How is he?"

You were torn from your thoughts at the sound of Warriors' voice, glancing up at the Captain, who looked just as tired as you felt. His armor was nowhere in sight, leaving him in an off-white button-up and a pair of tan trousers.

A sigh forced itself from your lips, and you finally spared a glance at the sleeping boy on the mat next to you, one of your arms caged in his tight embrace while the other rested on your stomach. It had taken some convincing--and a hell of a lot of luck--to get the youngest hero into bed, and you hadn't the heart to tug yourself away when he latched onto you, face buried in the soft flesh of your bicep.

"Better," was your response, the ghost of a yawn tugging at the heels of your words. "If you couldn't tell, he's had a rough day."

The floor creaked as Warriors got comfortable beside you, keeping a respectful distance as he settled on one arm, gazing down at the both of you. "I'll say," he murmured, quiet enough that you hardly heard it. A pause, then: "You should rest."

This time, you didn't bother stifling your yawn, uncaring of how it might negatively affect your case. "Someone's gotta keep watch, Wars."

The Captain was unimpressed, raising a perfectly manicured eyebrow in obvious disagreement. You were almost jealous. "Yes, me. You're going to have just as rough a day as the Sailor if you don't sleep."

You rolled your eyes, hoping to draw things out as much as possible. You didn't want to leave Wind alone, you couldn't. "Pshh, who needs sleep?"

The floor groaned just as Warriors opened his mouth to offer what you assumed to be a spectacularly-planned rebuttal, only to let it click shut when Time's rumbling baritone filled the small room. Fuck. "What's this about sleep?"

Warriors cerulean eyes found yours, and it was a battle unto itself not to hiss at the smug glint that filled them. He nudged your shoulder, and you went ramrod straight, praying it wasn't enough to disturb Wind. "Just trying to convince a certain someone that insomnia isn't the answer."

That jerk!

"Is that so?" You could practically feel Time's gaze on you. Piercing, all-knowing; like a fucking owl. The floor groaned once more, and you turned your head to watch Time settle on your other side, directly behind Wind. Between him and Warriors, this was turning into a very unnecessary hylian sandwich. "The Captain is correct," said the eldest hero in a tone that sounded like he was laying down a law rather than talking about something as mundane as needing sleep. "Rest. We'll take turns."

"After you drank all that sleepy-time soup? I think not," you shot back, feeling a bit braver than usual. Maybe it was the night, or maybe it was because some twisted part of you wanted to be the only one to protect the youngest hero. "You two need it more than me. It's hard being old."

The Captain sputtered in quiet disbelief. Legend would be proud. "You think I'm old?"

"Actually, the word I meant was 'ancient'–"

"You're so lucky the Sailor's here."

"What're you going to do, lecture me to death–?"

"Quiet, you two," Time interjected, sounding every bit the old man that he was. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes, allowing yourself to fall silent for Wind's sake. Warriors made a huffing sound, but also quieted, shuffling to lean against one of the beams protruding from the wall. "There's no reason for all of us to stay up," ugh, that's why you were doing it for them! The Hero of Time said your name like an errant child, followed by a very punctuated: "Go to sleep."

There was no fighting with Time, you knew. He would win, and you would still be on your back next to the youngest hero whether you wanted it or not. Fucking heroes, always trying to look out for others before themselves, and Hylia knew the boys practically drooled at the prospect.

With a drawn-out sigh that rivaled Wind's in supposed age, you let your head fall against the woven mat, a springy thing that would have coaxed you to sleep hours ago had it not been for the boy clinging to your arm. "Fine," you relented, a mere breath in the inky, candle-shadowed expanse of the room. Eyes shut, but not asleep, you mumbled: "Night, Wars, Time."

Warriors' arm stretched over your stomach, his hand reaching to pat down the hem of Wind's shirt as it stretched up, revealing pearly flashes of the Sailor's skin, warm with sleep and rising with steady breaths, not unlike the gentle rocking of a ship upon the Great Sea's waters. Even after the youngest hero's modesty had once again been preserved, the Captain didn't move his arm, and you suspect its purpose was as much to keep you in place as it was to correct a potential wardrobe malfunction. "You're a jerk," you mumbled in half-hearted exasperation.

The Hero of Warriors' chuckle was loud in your ear. "Takes one to know one."

"Children," said Time from the other end of the sandwich, and you rightfully shut up. Fuck him, you could wield a sword as well as any of the others, which meant you were basically an adult by those criteria alone. Plus, you were dashingly attractive and that had to count for something!

Whatever, dad, you thought with an imaginary eye roll, because the eldest hero practically had eyes on the back of his head. He would know, and you were in no mood for another lecture after the one you received for aiding Wild in his quest to ride animals that were most certainly not meant to be ridden.

Sleep never came easy when you were worried, but something was different. While Warriors wasn't mashing himself to your side like Wind seemed intent of doing, the Captain was no less warm, and it was a battle not to hum when an errant insect brought him scooting closer, the heat from his chest soaking into your other arm. It was becoming increasingly obvious: you were trapped by these lovable dorks, and when Time's miraculously un-armored arm swung over to plant across the three of you, the deal was all but sealed.

Darkness blackened the corners of your vision, and the last thing you saw was Wind's sleep-soaked grin uptick in the candlelight.

Someone was calling your name.

You cracked your weary eyes open, ears straining to catch the ghostly mumble of your name; a strange, simultaneously booming and whispered call that seemed to ring in the very recesses of your eardrums. A soft groan left your mouth, only for something to slap down on your face.

"Shh, shh, they'll wake up!"

...Huh??

There was something– nay, someone above you. Someone with stormy blue eyes, wavy blonde hair, and–

"Wind?"

Wind grinned at the sound of his name, his teeth glimmering porcelain in the faint candlelight. His hands returned to your shoulders, shaking softly, and you realized you were still in bed, surrounded by the limp, sound-asleep frames of Time and Warriors, the latter of whose arm was still slung tightly around your stomach. "That's me," he whispered, nearly vibrating with excitement. Ominous, but you were here for it. And, as if the Goddesses themselves had heard your plea for answers that weren't complete horseshit, he continued: "I thought of a new game to play! But I need to test it out first."

Ah, right. If anyone liked games, it was Wind, and you were his all-too-gullible partner-in-crime. Only, these types of exchanges usually occurred at respectful hours of the morning or afternoon, prompting another, less exhausted groan from your mouth. "Can't this wait until morning, bud?"

The Sailor paused to consider the conundrum. "I just..." fuck, he was bringing out the wet baby seal eyes. Little bastard knew you didn't stand a chance. "I don't want to forget it..."

As predicted, your resolve crumbled in the face of his patented sad animal eyes. "Okay, okay," you relented, sitting up on your elbows, keeping your tone especially low to keep the adults trapped in their slumber. "But you have to help me get past Wars, yeah?"

"Duh," was his response, and you had no choice but to crack an equally conspiratorial grin as the Sailor helped you lift Warriors' arm up. He held it as you slid free, snagging a stack of blankets from the corner as a decoy.

Until the Captain grunted, expression scrunching as he registered the change in warmth, and your soul nearly burst out of your chest. Gently, shoving Wind to the side, you bent down to whisper in the Captain's ear in your best barmaid sexy voice: "I'll be just a moment, sugar, then we can continue where we left off ;)"

Another grumble left Warriors mouth, but it was significantly softer, and punctuated by a smacking noise as he attempted to kiss the blanket pile, which would have made for spectacular blackmail, if you were being honest. Where was Wild's Shiekah Slate when you needed it?! With the Captain distracted, you slipped around him, linked arms with Wind, and skipped into the pseudo-darkness like the troublemakers you were.

Once outside, you turned to the Sailor. "So! What's up, buttercup?"

"Well..." and thus began Wind's explanation of his latest 'game', which honestly sounded more like an excuse to run around on the beach than something with actual rules, but, once again, you were here for it. Until he got to the part about rolling in the waves in the dark. Especially when he got to the part about rolling in the waves in the dark.

When he was done, you placed your hands on your hips and grinned like the responsible older sibling you totally were. "That sounds super unsafe, so it'll totally be fun!"

Wind's mirroring grin could have outshone the sun, which was especially helpful considering it was nearly pitch black outside. "Right?! I bet we can get Wild to play today, too!"

"Wait, don't you mean tomorrow?"

"Huh? It's totally today; you were asleep for a while."

"...Wind, were you watching me sleep?"

"What? No! That was Time," the Sailor jammed his thumb into his chest, not passing up an opportunity to throw shade on his brothers. "I have manners."

You raised your hands in faux distress. "Ah, my mistake, good sir! My deepest apologies."

"You should be!" There was a roar, and Wind's head instantly whipped to the foaming surf. "Okay, let's go play before Time and Warriors wake up."

"I'd love nothing more," you patted his shoulder, subsequently raising your palm to meet his in a high-five that rang through the beach like a particularly juice ass slap. Not that you knew what one of those sounded like, per se, but with Legend and Warriors' playful rivalry still going strong, you didn't need to.

"Last one to the waves is a crab!" Wind yelled, dashing towards the waves, with you hot on his heels as an answering whoop tore from your throat.

The game without rhyme or rhythm carried well into the night, until the early morning light bathed the crashing ocean and footstep-marred sand, kicked up from hours of play. Your legs ached from running, and you were sure even Sky could have overtaken you in a race at this point, but it didn't matter. You were free, and you were having fun.

"Can't catch me!" Wind screamed in delight when you tried to tag him, dancing just out of reach like the agile little shit that he was, but you had been preparing for this moment your entire life, using the last of your energy to perform a sort of lunging dive, catching him in the stomach and sending the both of you rolling into the shallow waves, coughing and sputtering as you fought to catch your breath, soaked from head-to-toe and damn proud of it.

"You were saying, you slippery munchkin?!" you giggled, nose throat sore from all the saltwater inhaled over the course of the night. The Sailor sorted, reaching into the shallows and flicking a clump of seaweed at your face. You shrieked and dodged spectacularly, but he was ready with another, larger wad that managed to smack against your cheek, effectively sending you into another half-sputter, half-laughing fit as gallons of saltwater soaked the thick fabric of your tunic and trousers.

"Eat weed, loser!"

"Never!"

Your hand sunk into the sand and, before you knew it, a large clump of it was flung in Wind's direction, catching him in the blue-clothed chest.

Wind gasped.

"Oh, it's ON."

The following ten minutes devolved into what could only be described as a sand-ball fight to the death. Sand was thrown, dignity was abandoned, and you were absolutely positive you would be picking granules out of your holes and hair for the next month, but the sound of his laughter was worth every single grain.

It was only when the front door to the house slammed open and a near-frantic Warriors stumbled outside did you pause, sand pouring from your half-cocked hand. "WHERE–" the Captain caught sight of the two of you, covered in dirt and grinning like the maniacs you were, and simultaneously looked like ten years of his life had been spontaneously snatched away. Rumor has it his groan could be heard on the next island over. "–oh, you've got to be kidding me..."

"I'm a crab!" You called over the waves, eager for yet another opportunity to screw with him.

"Actually, you're a–" Warriors paused, placing his hands together like he was about to pray that your stupidity didn't infect him, too. His mouth moved with exhausted desperation: "Calm, Link, calm."

You and Wind exchanged a glance, but it was quickly broken when Time's silhouette filled the doorway, face curiously blank as he surveyed the scene over the defeated captain's shoulder.

A beat passed.

Time turned on his heel. Time went back inside, steps heralded by Warriors' betrayed whimper. You and Wind high-fived.

It wasn't always easy staying positive when it came to life, but with them, you were willing to try.

Whew! That was a long one! I was super inspired for this, and I hope y'all enjoyed!!

A 'lil extra for y'all:

"Time to get back to bed... sugar," Warriors visibly cringed at your appointed nickname, arms crossed over his chest, and Time looked a hairs-breadth away from smacking his palm to his forehead in exasperation.

You and Wind exchanged a glance that spoke a thousand words. Ignoring the vexed shouts from the older heroes, the Sailor jumped on your back and the two of you sped off into the sunrise, whooping like the madlads you were.

[solarpunkani]

Things To Do To Maintain Hope In These Trying Times

Okay so look. This isn't the desireable outcome for me and my fellow solarpunks, but I personally find that I have two options right now--panic and wait for the worst; or dream of, hope for, and work towards the best that I can manage. And I prefer that second option. Is a single individual going to be able to remold the societal systems we find ourselves in, reshape the fabric of our government and turn everything for the better in the next four years? If someone can, it's not me.

But what I can do is do stuff to make things better, lighter, and more hopeful for myself and my community around me, through actions big and small. So here's what I plan to do, or hope to take on, to keep myself from absolutely doomspiraling. And if this list helps you, inspires you to take up an action I'm doing or to try something completely different, by all means that's amazing! What's more solarpunk than inspiring others to be more solarpunk?

Anyways

1: Trash Cleanups and Other Volunteering

I joined a mutual aid group a few months back and lately we've been doing a lot of trash clean ups, which I find really fun! It also helps feel like I'm making a tangible, helpful difference in my community--the areas look nicer for humans, there's less litter issues for plants and animals--it's just a general improvement! I have recently found nothing gets me fired up quite like a trash cleanup these days. I would also like to join more volunteering/mutual aid groups in the area, I'd just have to find ones that fit my current work schedule (and aren't a huge commute to and fro). Maybe someday this year I'll get the courage (and time) to join the Food Not Bombs in my city for a few events!

Maybe picking up trash at parks and ditches and intersections isn't going to improve the entire nation's situation, I'll never claim that it would. But improving the world around you, even a little bit, can help get the ball rolling for other changes--maybe people will start using a park more once its cleaned up, maybe native plants will reclaim that ditch and create a new habitat, maybe people will see us cleaning and see our flag and check out other stuff our organization does! Bit by bit, we're contributing to a brighter, cleaner future.

Maybe I'll get the courage to clean up some trash on my own, who knows.

2: Make Stuff With My Hands

This covers a lot of things, and not always a physical thing to hold. Maybe it's crocheting little plushies, or hats and cardigans, or anything I feel like to accomplish something. Maybe I'll learn to sew more things, or how to embroider. Maybe I'll draw, or write more short stories, or work on my longer projects.

Sure, some things can be made to give away or donate, or can be made with a specifically solarpunky end goal and message. But honestly, even if I'm not writing solarpunk short stories or drawing solarpunky art, if I'm writing or drawing anything it helps bring me hope--and brightens the day of my friends who enjoy it too!

3: Gardening and Sharing

It's winter as I'm writing this, which means its about time to dive headfirst into garden planning and seed starting! Even the process of watching something grow from a tiny little seed to a fully-grown plant brings me hope, and every different kind of plant gives hope for a different reason! My pollinator garden helps me take action to assist the native pollinator species by giving them a place to feed and grow, and the more kinds of native plants I provide the more habitat I create for them! And the fruits and vegetables I grow bring a sense of accomplishment with each harvest, and satisfaction as I share them with family, friends, and neighbors! I am still chasing the high of sharing bowls and bowls of tomatoes and peppers with my cul-de-sac.

In addition to my own personal garden, my volunteering group is looking into adopting an abandoned community garden and bringing it back to life! If we can (still waiting for approval), it'll bring access to fresh veggies and herbs to the nearby community, and if it goes well we may even try to take up more around town! I'm really, really excited about this project!!

Maybe sharing produce from my garden will inspire my neighbors to create their own (I'm already lowkey claiming credit for inspiring one neighbor to start growing tomatoes last year), and share their extra produce, and inspire more people to garden! Maybe talking about my pollinator garden and sharing seeds with my friends and coworkers will create more interest, and more habitat for for local creatures! Maybe if I yap about milkweed and tree snags hard enough, people will see the expanses of grass on the sides of the road differently, or find a different species to advocate for!

Then of course there's the possibility of guerrilla gardening. While there are a lot of reasons I haven't taken it up super hard yet (not finding good sites, not having a lot of money for throwaway seeds, not wanting to be a black woman in the south doing 'weird stuff' on the side of the road, etc), maybe I will. In any case, I have brought up the idea of scattering wildflower seeds at some of the sites we clean up to my volunteering group--if that idea gets taken up, that could in a sense be guerrilla gardening, right?

4: Clean My Goddamn Room

"Ani what does cleaning your room have to do with hope in these trying times" Clean room, clean mind, more room to start seeds, less environmental stress. Maybe just doing a few chores when I'm feeling anxious can help me take time to think things through instead of downspiraling, or can help me work my way through a plot hole in a story, or think of a new project to take up.

Maybe for you guys its not 'cleaning your room,' maybe its some other task. Sometimes doing a small, mundane task for yourself can give you the vibes and energy to take up another challenge!

5: Encouraging Others

I've said it before and I'll say it again, is there anything more solarpunk than encouraging other people to be more solarpunk?

Even if you aren't waxing poetic about the values and virtue of the solarpunk movement, being a source of hope and light for others can do a surprising amount to get things done! For example, if I personally can't muster the courage to go to an FNB event or a rally, or if something comes up and I suddenly find myself unable to garden this year or keep doing trash cleanups, if I--through talking about my hobbies or sharing resources on how to start or just existing and vibing with my gay little NPC bounce and chatting about sunflowers in a checkout line--inspire five other people to take up an action, that's five more people taking up an action. And that action can lead to them doing more and more, bigger and better things. If I help a friend feel better when they're feeling down, maybe they'll have the energy to help others, who'll then help others, and help make the world just that much brighter! Even if the action is unrelated to what I personally am doing, it'd still be a beautiful and amazing thing! If me sharing my crochet projects inspires someone else to take up leatherworking or sculpting or woodworking, that's still more creative energy in the world! If me talking about native wildflowers burgeons an interest in native trees, or grasses, or hell even something like green building design or community planning somehow, that's someone developing an entirely different skillset than I could ever imagine, which can be used to do amazing things!

I'm not gonna pretend like its going to be all sunshine and rainbows from here on out! We're still talking about the person who literally refused to leave the house yesterday because she was so anxious something might happen, after all. But if I'm given a choice between wallowing in misery and anxiety and despair, or doing anything I can--even the smallest things--to make things a little bit better and brighter for those around me? I know what my choice is.

[tired-teacher-blog]

Characters : Tattoo artist Aizawa/ Florist fem reader

Featuring : Eri/ Hizashi Yamada/ Nemuri Kayama/ Oboro Shirakumo/ Emi Fukukado

Warnings and Genre : Fluff/ Romance/ Smut and Angst in future chapters/ Multi Chaptered Story

Summary : In a desperate attempt to get closer to the tattoo artist dominating every speck of your brain, you decide to pay him a visit one evening as a client seeking his service. This encounter will prove to be the beginning of something much bigger between you two, but will this new found passion be enough to stand against the difficulties your future holds?

Notes : Loosely inspired by this/ Art below is by the wonderful @/ael-draw who gifted me this gorgeous piece.

Masterlist|Second Masterlist|Third Masterlist

Chapter Count : Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 • Part 6 • Part 7 • Part 8 • Part 9 • Part 10 • Part 11 • Part 12

_ "Thank you, have a lovely day." you bid the young couple goodbye and watch as they walk out of your shop, arm in arm while the girl held her beautifully wrapped present of lilies and dahlias to her chest.

A sight such as this one used to fill you with warmth and give you desire to work harder in order to see more of the happiness and love-filled-eyes of the people carrying the blooms for themselves or their loved ones.

Used to..

Yes used to, because as of recent, a sight such as this one has become no more than a reminder of your strained, so called "relationship" with the man you allowed yourself to fall head over heels in love with, and you hate yourself for that.

You hate yourself for not taking into account the possibility of his past coming back to hunt you both, you hate yourself for selfishly thinking that you could perhaps replace Eri's mother one of these days, and you especially hate yourself for not admitting the depth of your feelings when you had the chance, because truthfully, that would be the last thing he'd want to hear right now, it would only confuse and make things even harder than they already are for him.

You sigh heavily and look up at the ceiling, a snide smile curves your lips as you start thinking about the irony of it all.

You've always imagined the moment when you would finally say the words "I love you" to him, it was supposed to be perfect, just as you pictured, perhaps after one of your dates when he drops you off and kisses you goodnight, but instead of watching him walk back to his car, you would pull him by the arm and claim his lips again, deeper this time, catching him off guard and taking control, then -and only then- would you mouthe the words into the kiss before finally pulling back and watching the blinding smile illuminating his face as he whispers them back.

_ "Huh, that would have been beautiful but.." but truth be told, you no longer imagine that blinding smile, nor hear him whisper the words back, if anything, all you can see is hopelessness and sorrow on a shell of what that man used to be, because that's all what's left of him.

You pick up your phone and check your recent conversation to see if he has replied to your unanswered messages when you were lost in thought, but alas, he has not..

The decision is yours to make, you can either keep clinging to him and to your false hope of having things back to normal, or you can just let go and walk away so he could probably have another shot at happiness.

Both answers are nothing less than a death sentence to you, so maybe you should consider what's best for him and Eri instead.

You put down your phone and almost wince at the sight of your tattoo, as memories of how it came to be comes rushing back like a hurricane, it's what started it all, a once source of joy that is now but a painful reminder.

The little bells hanging at the entrance ring when swayed by the opening door of your shop, bringing you back to your senses as you prepare to greet your new customer, "hello and welco.." but the rest of the word gets stuck in your throat when you recognize the newcomer.

_ "Hello." It's her.

_ "Oh, Ms Fukukado.." what is she doing here again? 

She offers you a smile and closes the door after herself before stepping inside, it has been a while since you last saw her which was during that fateful evening at your boyfriend's place, as a matter of fact, you haven't seen much of him either ever since, but that's beside the point..

_ "Can we talk? I know you're busy so it doesn't have to be now," she's only a few steps away from you now, her elegant presence is as overwhelming as ever, "but here is my number, you can give me a call whenever you get a chance and we'll meet for a coffee, please, it's important." and with that she waves you goodbye and vanishes just as quickly as she has appeared, leaving you standing stiffly in your spot, eyes wide open and lips slightly parted as you held her business card with a shaky hand, wondering if that really happened or if it was just a figment of your imagination..

_ "Hey beautiful."

Oh he's finally calling after more than a week of avoiding you, and hearing his soothing voice almost brings tears to your eyes.

_ "Hi.. Shouta, how are you?" you would actually like to curse at him, to yell and reprimand him for ignoring you the way he's been doing for days, but you cannot find it in yourself to do so, all the agony and confusion are now washed away with a simple greeting he mouthed from the other end of the phone.

_ "I've been terrible without you," he lets out a sigh, and you can almost imagine the tilt of his head on whatever surface he must be leaning against right now, "I'm sorry for everything, you were caught in the middle of what's happening and had to suffer through it all."

It's true, completely and utterly true, you feel powerless and shackled by the whole ordeal, like a caged animal..

_ "No don't say that, I'm totally fine I promise," oh the lies..

He remains quiet for a while, the only thing you could hear from his end is the sound of his deep breath, and you wonder if maybe he has caught your bluff.

_ "I want to see you tonight, can I visit you after work?" and he finally speaks again.

Your eyes widen at his request, it's what you've been waiting for in what seemed like forever, to the point that it ceased sounding possible, but now that it's finally happening, something is compelling you to refuse.

Perhaps you're afraid that seeing him again, will only make parting ways all that harder, and maybe it's because of the woman staring at you from across the table as you spoke to him, "can I.. call you later? I'm a little busy right now, I'm really sorry."

You instantly regret the answer as soon as you speak it, granted, it's more than he has done for your sake lately, but you still hate the way you worded it.

It has never been this way between you two, so maybe this is actually another sign that your time together should come to an end..

_ "Yes of course I don't mind, please take your time, we'll talk later." you cannot see his face, but you can clearly feel the pain in his voice, and with those last words of his, the line finally goes dead.

_ "It's him I see," she scoffs before crossing her legs and leaning more comfortably against her chair, "I appreciate you not telling him that you came to see me."

_ "Yeah, it's not a problem, but you still haven't told me what this is about." your heart is racing in extreme restlessness, no matter what she has to say, it can never be in your favor.

_ "I think you know what I want." she places her cup of coffee on its saucer with a loud clink.

_ "You want me to disappear from Shouta and Eri's life." you comment knowingly and watch as she slowly nods in agreement.

_ "Everyday I spend away from them is torture, do you have any idea how painful it is to watch your child grow from afar? To see the only man you've ever truly loved with another woman?"

It's strange, she doesn't seem as smug and derisive as she usually is, because right now, the look in her eye is almost.. pained?

_ "I'm sorry, but you're the one who abandoned both of them and disappeared without a trace, that was your decision not mine, so why do I have to suffer the consequences? Eri is your daughter and that's something that will never change, but Shouta.." you choke on your words and stop yourself before bursting in tears, you cannot understand your reaction because what she asked of you is exactly what you've been already considering, but only now has it finally sunk in, that that's probably where you're headed, and it's terrifying.

"I know I'm asking too much, but please understand that this is my child and her father for we're talking about, isn't it fair for us three to be together? If not for me and Shouta then at least for Eri, she deserves to have both her parents around."

It's a compelling point that you've been running away from for a while, but maybe it is time for you to face the reality and do what you must.

The woman in front of you seems sincere with her intentions, she came back to right her wrongs so what gives you the power to deny her that?

_"You're right, I will back off I promise."

To be continued..

[cherryblossompink303]

Patience: ~A Challenge from Lobelia Girls Academy!~

➼ pairing: Kyoya Ootori x Reader ➼ summary: the host club gets a reaity check from an interesting group of visitors ➼ what to expect:  "I was sent to ouran for a reason, and...we're being patient, it's a lot easier to be patient here than it would be there" ➼ warnings: The zuka club, Tamaki's views on wlw ➼Part Eight | Part Ten

"I don't understand why I have to dress up as well Tamaki" while the ball gown you had been urged into was gorgeous you had to admit that it was not practical, the rare occasion that you would rather be in your uniform.

"For authenticity of course y/n if we are going for the more traditional European fairytale you would know first hand" Tamaki is failing at fastening his suit of armour, "Don't think I forgot that you grew up in France Tamaki I know that this is a ruse I just don't know what for..." You squint at him in skepticism.

"But you look so beautiful as princess" Tamaki starts crying, you roll your eyes "I thought our clients were meant to be the princesses" the last thing you needed to do was draw attention to yourself, it was the whole point of keeping your engagement to Kyoya a secret. "I'm inclined to agree with y/n, tamaki having her dress as a princess, while cute, may inspire rumors in our clients"

Cute? CUTE? You didn't think that the word was in Kyoya's vocabulary. "I'm just going to go change I don't need any client Jealousy it isn't good for the club" before you get the chance the move however the doors swing open, two girls that you do not recognise enter, which is when you remember that there were schools visiting for the cultural fair.

Snapping into host mode the other club members suddenly appear in position "Welcome ladies" Tamaki instantly taking on the knightly persona he has created for himself "Well, well, well, I see you ladies are from another school. I certainly hope we haven't startled you. We love first time guests"

Tamaki's eyes twinkle as he approaches the two girls "I'm glad you've come, princesses. My darlings even if the world were to be destroyed, I'd put my life on the line as your faithful knight and servant" The girls look less than impressed at Tamaki's 'chivarly'

"Oh my, do you you really think you'd be able to protect us?" One of them asks "That's awfully arrogant don't you agree?" Oh no. you could practically hear Tamaki breaking from across the room. "You think that's what a woman wants to hear? well you're wrong"

"Come on, give him a break, sister Suzuran, men are just lowly life forms who don't care about anything other than perpetuating their testosterone-laden image. By 'protecting' us he's actually attempting to disguise the fact that he is weak and unable of even protecting himself"

You and Kyoya exchange eye contact as if to question if they were being serious

"You're such a clever girl, Hinagiku"

Tamaki stands "Don't you think that's a little harsh?" You have to admit that Tamaki is keeping a much cooler head than expected, perhaps because the girls are strangers to him but you would have thought he would have had a crisis by now.

"Fine, then, what do women like you want to hear?"

A voice emits from far away, presumably from out in the hall "Maybe something like 'i would never leave my lover alone'" the next thing you know a third student appears with Haruhi in her arms "If we fight, it'll be together" she spins her "if we fail, we fail together"

"Even if I were to die, I promise you that I will never leave your side my love" She kisses Haruhi's than, you and the rest of the host club look on in shock, clear having missed a few pages. However it does kick off the crisis you were expecting off Tamaki.

"Benibara, we thought you'd never show"

"What are we going to do with you?"

"So tell me where you found this young lady"

"I just met her outside of the school" From the look on Haruhi's face you are willing to bet that 'met' isn't quite the right word."She may be dressed as a boy, but I knew the truth" while you were slightly surprised that the girls had put it together so quickly given that Haruhi can convincingly pass as a boy to the entire school you were also slightly cautious on how loud Benibara was announcing it in the hallway.

"She has so pretty, maidenly eyes" the way that she span haruhi around and dipped her strangely reminded you of tamaki "Uh, thanks, I guess" it soon progresses in all the girls fawning over Haruhi while the rest of you uncomfortably watch on.

"Wow her skin is incredibly soft"

"Isn't it though?"

"I think this ones going to be a diamond in the rough"

Tamaki has had enough, running to the girls "Don't go touching my Haruhi without asking my permission!" he is quickly rebuttled by benibara "Leaver her alone!" leaving Tamaki to crawl back to you "She punched me! Shes so violent!" he bursts into tears "Get ahold of yourself"

"Guess the rumours we heard are true, you guys are just a bunch of weak little punks with no sense between you" Kyoya finally gets a good look at them "Those uniforms, I assume you ladies are from the Lobelia Girl's academy?"

Benibara smirks "That is correct" the girls jump into a costume change and montage

"St Lobelia Academy, high school second year, Benio Amakusa"

"Second year student, Chizuru Maihara"

"First year student, Hinako Tsuwabuki"

"We are the members of the St Lobelia Academy's white lily league otherwise known as-"

"The Zuka Club!"

The host club doesn't really know what to make of it. The twins are the first to burst out laughing at the name "Oh man! What a name! The Zuka club? My stomach hurts"

"The Zuka Club! That's priceless"

"You shouldn't underestimate the zuka club!" Renge's cackling can be heard from far away as the whirring of the platform she uses to enter starts up once again. You roll your eyes "oh god"

"I may not know much about instant coffee, but I'm fascinated with girls schools. St Lobelia Academy. It is truly a woman's world there. The zuka club is a group of strong young maidens who consider women to be superior in every way. The club prides itself on it's 30 year history. It's a society of maidens, by maidens, for maidens. Zuka club activities include 'maiden tea parties' 'the maiden debate forum' but most importantly musical reviews performed by the society's top members"

In the time that it took for renge to finish rambling you had gotten the chance to slip out to change and return, as did Kyoya "You sure have a vast wealth of knowledge Renge"

"Well i've always admired St Lobelia's I just couldn't go to school there, though what would I do without any boys?" Renge disappeared quickly much to your relief. "A maiden's beauty, it means possessing a spirit pure enough to not give in to power or lust"

"As a girl, you, for a girl, you. We've had quite enough of all your oppressive male contempt for womankind"

"And our pride comes from having meaningful relationships based on equality, because we're the same sex. And yes, that include relationships of love"

"Yeah you tell them Benio"

"You're awesome Benibara"

While you were sat confused at the...certainly set beliefs of the girls the rest of the club had gotten bored, moving on quickly "Whatever, we're so over it"

"Why don't you gals just scram?"

"I find it hard to believe that you silly boys have nothing to say about our sublime female love" Chizuru speaks up.

You raise an eyebrow, turning to Kyoya who had moved to reading "Didn't she call the other one sister not five minutes ago?" the observation made him smirk, attempting to hold back a laugh.

"What is she even talking about?" one of the twins asks, continuing to ramble about their games "You should feel sorry for them hinagiku their patented host skills don't work on us. Now they're flusterest and don't know what to do with themselves"

"True. I must say I'm glad we decided to perform here. It was fun to sneak a peek at the notorious Ouran host club"

Honey turns to you "Are we really notorious?" you shrug "I suppose" while you will take any opportunity to call the host club out on something you did not like the seemingly high and mighty standpoint the zuka club was taking.

Benibara suddenly appears next to you, apparently only now noticing your presence "Oh? Another maiden? Tell me these pathetic men have not lured you in with their schemes" you had to resist the urge to burst out laughing at the view that Benibara had built up in her head "I'm not a client, trust me if anything they are victims to my schemes"

"What?" Kaoru looks up from the DS, resulting in you elbowing him to distract from the questioning. "You're not a 'client' of this so called host club? then pray tell why are you here?"

"She's my fiance" Your face fell at how nonchalant Kyoya was about revealing that fact to pretty much strangers, wanting to remind him that it is supposed to be a secret. You didn't even know why that was what he chose to reveal, he could have easily enough said that you were a club member. Perhaps it was to deter Benibara from treating you the same way as she had Haruhi.

"So they have lured you in, poor thing dragging you down with them, the both of you, the host club's president may be a petty little halfer, but he shouldn't be using his looks to create a fictitious romance! Attempting to fool the heart of a pure, young maiden is demeaning! Your so-called 'club activities' are nothing more than debasing macho fantasies"

"If I may butt in, these lot may be idiots but they aren't scheming to take advantage of women, the girls at this school are smart enough to know what a host club is in premise and know what they are entering into when they request a host. They aren't exactly luring the women in they come on their own accord" leaning back in your seat trying to picture what exactly they thought the host club was but coming up empty

"Oh you are in so deep, they have told you so many lies you've started to believe them to be true, and now they have entrapped you into an engagement! I promise you, we will bring this club down! The Ouran Host club will be abolished"

You raise an eyebrow, you think that the reaction is a bit dramatic until you remember they are literally theatre kids. "I see, I understand your concern, but do you think maybe we could finish this later?"

"Are you saying that you're not going to face us?" Benio asks "Not at all, it's just that our president is still bedridden from the initial culture shock"

"You see Tama-chan is having his nappy time right now"

"Wake him up!" Benio seethed "Excuse me. I made some coffee. Would you ladies like to have some?" the zuka club fawn over haruhi and her coffee, which seems to snap Tamaki from his nap.

"You girls have it all wrong! Don't you see there's nothing to be gained in a romantic relationship between women? If that were the case then why did god create adam and eve?" You put your head in your hands, praying that you heard Tamaki wrong, but knowing that you probably didn't, karma instantly faces him as he burns himself on coffee. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"You've gotta be more careful senpai" Haruhi kneels down to bandage him up. You turn to Kyoya "So at what point was I going to find out that you have been 'dragging me down with your lies'?" You laugh, Kyoya smirks, pushing up his glasses "Just wait until they find out our engagement was arranged"

"This little conversation doesn't seem to be going anywhere" Benio yanks you and Haruhi away from the hosts "Now that we know what's going on, we can't allow these maidens to stay here. We'll prepare their paperwork and have them transferred to Lobelia at once and we'll welcome them into the zuka club"

"Huh?!" You couldn't help but see the irony in the situation that they were accusing the host club of holding you and Haruhi captive yet also declare to steal you both to Lobelia without even asking.

"Hey, just wait a second, will ya? There seems to have been some misunderstandings here. I mean first of all you called senpai a 'halfer'"

"He is a halfer! He's half french half Japanese" Honey chimes in "Well, uh, anyway, I don't think it's fair for you to pick on the host club just because you don't think they have the same history as you do" you add.

"We barely have any history. We were just founded two years ago"

"Yeah the boss created it whenever he started highschool here"

"Be that as it may saying their club activities are only held to satisfy their appetites is just wrong, I mean it's not like the host club is charging their guests or anything"

You grimace at Haruhi's point knowing that Kyoya's going to correct her any second "While I wouldn't call it a charge, we do have a point system. We offer priority services based on the winning bids of auctions held on our website" You pinch the bridge of your nose,trying to point out to Kyoya that he was not helping Haruhi's point.

"Check this out Haruhi, your used mechanical pencil just sold with a winning bid of 30,000 yen. Good for you"

Haruhi rushes over to the laptop the two of you were stood next to "What?! But I thought I lost that pencil! Why didn't you tell me about this before Kyoya-senpai? I had no idea you were collecting money!"

"So you thought we were all just working here as volunteers? While it''s not much, because of the expense of organising events, we happen to make a small profit from the online auctions"

"You can't sell other people's things without asking permission! That's stealing!" The twins slide in at an attempt to diffuse the situation "It wasn't stealing. You dropped it on the floor" Haruhi looks furious.

Tamaki bursts out crying, rushing over "I'm sorry Haruhi! It's not like we were hiding it from you! Here you can have mind it's got a cute teddy bear on it" Haruhi rolls her eyes "Senpai I don't want your pencil"

"Well to make it up to you how about i do this? I'll tell you the secrets to my success and my fondest memories"

"Not to be rude senpai but I'm not really interested in that information" Tamaki goes to sulk in the corner at the reply, leading the zuka club to swoop in "Oh you poor dear, I can't believe they've been deceiving you"

"Why don't you two just dump these losers and come with us?"

You shoot Kyoya a glance questioning why they were so dedicated "I kinda have an attachment here so..." you could have sworn that in the corner of your eye you saw Kyoya smile. "Oh, well it has been a long day, we'll give you both some time to think about it. We'll come back for your answer tomorrow. Well then, adieu" The zuka club spin out the room.

Haruhi sends death glare to the rest of the club "I'd better be going I've got some thinking to do" She storms out leaving Tamaki wailing "Why did you have to tell her the truth? You just added fuel to the fire"

"Tamaki you shouldn't be mad she found out if you knew she was going to react like this" You point out, you weren't in charge of the auctions, that was Kyoya's side of things, you just assumed they were of photobooks not used pencils "The facts are the facts" Kyoya shrugs.

"Maybe we should've asked before we sold her pencil on the internet"

"Yeah, for all we know, it was a keepsake from her mother"

"Nah it was just a freebie they were giving out at the electronics store"

Tamaki finally calms down into a more forlorn expression "Gentlemen, just think about it. Haruhi may be basically indifferent, but if she had to choose, we know that she tends to favour men's clothing. And besides, when she first joined the host club, didn't she tell us 'being a host and getting fussed over by a bunch of girls might not be that bad' Why didn't I realise this before? Perhaps they would be a better match for Haruhi. Maybe she'd be better off with the Zuka club"

"I think you're reading way too much into this senpai, even if Haruhi is attracted to women that doesn't mean she's going to transfer schools to be with some strangers, her scholarship probably wouldn't even transfer over. She's just mad because you went behind her back" You cross your arms, confused on why Tamaki was being so dramatic.

"Haruhi is smart enough to pass the Lobelia scholarship test"

"And they have the money to pay off the 8 million yen debt she owes us"

"Haru-chan is going away?"

"She's perfect for a girl's school"

"What are we going to do?"

"Calm down, it'll be alright, listen to what I have to say. I have a secret plan." You face palm, knowing that they aren't going to see sense until Haruhi tells them directly. "Okay, whatever, you're going to go ahead and do it anyway why do I try?"

♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡

"You're not considering transferring are you?" Kyoya asks while the two of you walk to his car that afternoon. "Huh?" the question catches you off guard, you thought it had been made clear earlier. "You seemed...frustrated earlier, you know that you aren't tied to ouran? if you really wanted to transfer to Lobelia a good point could be made to your father to allow you to transfer"

"I wasn't, I'm used to Tamaki's antics by now, besides I don't think it would be helpful" you reply, looking at all the displays for the exposition "Hm?"

"I was sent to ouran for a reason, and...we're being patient, it's a lot easier to be patient here than it would be there" You smile, entering the car.

♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡        ♡

You decided to walk into school with Haruhi this morning, not wanting to get unceremoniously swept up again, however you find the Zuka club waiting for you as you approach music room 3. "Hello young maidens"

"We've come for your decision. Are you prepared to leave?"

"We're ready to confront those ouran host club idiots and set things straight once and for all"

Haruhi raises an eyebrow "Set what straight?" Benibara slides over "That you should come with us and go to school with your own kind" she starts dragging the two of you off "She does know other girls attend here right?"

The host club is plunged into darkness as they open the door to the music room.

"Ouran!"

"Ouran!"

"Ouran!"

"Ouran!"

"Ouran!"

The lights flicker on to reveal the host club "Ouran! Host club welcomes you!" The sight stuns you and seemingly the rest of the girls, you had to admit when Tamaki said he had a plan this was the last thing you expected, the entire host club dressed up as princesses"

“Oh, Haruhi, y/n, welcome back.” Tamaki greets in a red ballgown with pink accents, almost a princess version of the knight costume he had been wearing the previous day.

Honey twirls to the front in a magenta gown, his blonde hair also done up with extensions and beyond garish makeup, “Look, y/n-chan! I’m a princess now! Aren’t I cute?!”

Benibara gasps in offense, “What is the meaning of this?! Are you trying to make fun of womankind?!” she demands. All the while, you’re still beyond confused.

“Make fun? No, that’s not it at all. Everything's going according to plan. Our strategy is guaranteed to make even a crying child smile. It's the freebie campaign!”

"Oh Tamaki" You shuffle away "You ladies have lived sheltered lives at Lobelia so you might not know that commoners are weak. They have a weakness for free things! Haruhi, you may be distracted by the Zuka club, but choose us and you gain not only a host club full of brothers but sisters as well! See, this way you can experience feminine bonding while staying in the host club"

"I am right here?" You point out, rolling your eyes through a laughter however, because you had to admit,this was entertaining to watch. "Isn't that a great idea? aren't I pretty?"

"We’re the Hitachiin Sisters! Which one of us is prettier?” They appear closer to you, fans covering their mouths.

“I’m just teasing you,” Hikaru whispers as Kaoru laughs haughtily.

“Listen, Haru-chan! You can call me Big Sis from now on.” Honey seems to be the least uncomfortable in his attire. Even Usa-chan is decorated with a red bow and bold lipstick.

“Why you! Do you idiots really think you can win her over like this? I’ve had enough of your fooling around!”

Finally, seemingly both of your exteriors crumble, and you burst into a fit of laughter. Not amused chuckles or snickers, but whole-hearted laughter at their show of… whatever this might be.

“This is too much! What the hell are you even trying to do! Oh man, look at those outfits!”

The twins and Honey start chasing Haruhi around the room telling her to call them big sister. "What were you thinking? What's gotten into you guys?"

"We did this because we don't want you to leave the host club"

You approach Kyoya "What did they have to do to get you on board with this one?" he shakes his head "I don't want to talk about it" You laugh.

"So maiden, have you made your choice?" Haruhi stands "Yeah I have, I'm sorry but your club is not for me I think the idea of a girls' school is great, and your views are very unique and interesting. But I came to this school with a goal and a plan for my future so while I appreciate your offer, I really already knew that I was never going to leave ouran academy"

"Haruhi! So why were you acting so angry yesterday if you weren't going to leave?"

"How'd you feel if I stole something of yours without asking you?"

"I told you all this" You shook your head.

"Um… Benio?” Chizuru begins as she watches the interaction, Benibara lets her eyelids slip closed as she sighs.

“Yes… I know. We’re not going to give up on you” She leans over to you.

“I swear this to you. Someday we’ll come and rescue you from this place and your arrangement! And when we do, we’ll abolish the Ouran Host Club!” Benibara affirms with vigor and a smug smirk.

“Well, adieu~.”

Just as they twirl through the door, the three of them simultaneously slip on banana peels just as the doors to the club room close.

“Until we meet again.” you cross your arms and sigh in exasperation.

The lights flicker out, and Renge’s platform rises from the ground for the second time this episode, except this time with a monkey at her side.

“And so, a new rival, the Zuka Club, has appeared. From this point on, the story’s gonna get even more exciting! What’s gonna happen to our beloved host club boys and y/n next? Hang in there, Host Club! Don’t give up, guys!” Renge munches on a banana.

"Hey its not your job to cook things up!"

With that all over you finally take in Kyoya's appearance "I must admit you wear it better than i do" Kyoya rolls his eyes through a laugh "Shut up" You laugh. "Oh sorry 'mother kyoya'"

Next time on patience 'A day in the life of the L/N family!'

Tag list (reply to be added): @skottch @cgmajor @rebirthbunbun @bbybubbles @blueberry19000 @katgirl05 @smellslikelovinglies @veras-fanfic-reblogs @sadprimrose @mirtalikesdr @sleeplesssskeleton @ritzes28 @crackpeole @rory-cakes @renjunniex @II-kita-san-II @angelicwillows

[stephdrawsjohnlock]

Fandom Trumps Hate 2025!

Looking for a scene drawn for your story? A piece to help inspire you to write a fic? A new icon? How about covers for your story with full print-ready Graphic Design service? Maybe a pinup, or some trading cards (up to 10)?? Maybe a gift for someone, or just your vision of a character(s) (up to 3 character sheets) for your AU?

Well, that’s just some of the stuff I’m willing to offer for this year’s @fandomtrumpshate​​ Charity Event! FTH is a WONDERFUL community project that supports amazing non-profits through donations for fanworks via this wonderful annual event!

I am offering ONE fanart Piece for BBC Sherlock or Good Omens!

Because of my day job's circumstances this year where I will be guaranteed to be indisposed for about 3 months and unable to work on my personal projects, I feel I am only able to offer up one piece this year instead of my usual 2 to 4. This will be my sixth year, and the piece will be for either the BBC Sherlock or Good Omens fandoms, starting at 10$ for the non-profit of your choice!

Here are some past FTH pieces I’ve done, if you’re interested in seeing the scope of the work you would be getting from me:

2020:

GO - :FTH 2020 – Lagniappe for Big_Edies_Sun_Hat:

GO - :FTH 2020 BONUS – Réveillon for Big_Edies_Sun_Hat:

2021

SH - :This Year: (FTH #1 for @discordantwords​​)

SH - :Burlesque Johnlock: (FTH #2 for @ohlooktheresabee​)

2022

SH – :A Quiet Moment: (FTH #1 for @totallysilvergirl)

SH – :Against the Wall: (FTH #2 for @anarfea)

2023

SH – :Let Me Come to You: (FTH #1 for  ShakespearelovedLadyMacbeth)

SH – :Couch Cuddle: (FTH #2 for @discordantwords)

SH – :More Every Minute: (FTH #3 for @totallysilvergirl)

2024

GO – :Come On, Dear: (FTH #1 for Box Human)

GO – :You're Alright?: (FTH #2 for mltrefry)

====

And of course, you can browse all my art (primarily fanart) to see my range:

@stephdrawsjohnlock​​

stephdrawsfanart on Instagram

@stephratte​​ (Primary Multifandom Art ​Blog)

stephratte on deviantART

I will draw any ship from either of the above fandoms, though I do prefer Johnlock or the Husbands. All my work is done digitally at a minimum 2000x2000 print-ready piece in Procreate. Traditional media (markers, India ink, and pencils) is also available if you prefer, done on illustration or marker paper at the paper’s size, with the option of acquiring the original if you choose. I will also do it at a requested size if you have a preferred format for something specific (like a book cover or a comic panel). Feel free to DM me if you have any questions before bidding on me, or to see if I am able to draw what you would like!! I want you to be satisfied that I can achieve what you want!

The browsing begins on February 21, and the bidding opens on February 25! I hope I once again get a chance to do a fantastic piece for one of y’all!! I love doing this so much, so keep an eye out for the official info post link once FTH officially opens!

Thank you to everyone who is interested!

**NOTE!! If you've bid on me before and want to try again, I've changed my User Name this year to this blog's name, StephDrawsJohnlock (I-J), for easier finding once the listings are posted!

[bogkeep]

okay i Finally. finished wind and truth

first i wanna preface that maybe i should've waited to read/listen to this book until i was in the right mood for it, and until i had some better Quality Audiobook Focus Time (which is usually when i work with clocks at school) instead of scattering it piecemeal throughout my winter break. at least the second half i've been listening to while assembling watches at my practice placement, which has worked very well.

as for the Mood, i just haven't been vibing that much with brandon sanderson's work lately, not because it's Bad or anything, it just hasn't been scratching the right itch. i still feel dismayed with all the worldhopper business and the MCU feel that they invoke in me. i also feel like the last two books have had more of a pathologizing bent to them, bringing contemporary psychology into a high fantasy world in a way that feels Weird. i loved the first three stormlight books so so much and they didn't feel Like That, i think. granted, i also read them for the first time before a kind of. uh. a period in my life that for better or for worse changed who i am as a person, and my tastes in stories might just have Changed.

i think the two first books especially have a much more limited scope, and stayed very close to their worldbuilding, which was a huge draw for me in the first place. but with the introduction of more and more Cosmere Lore and Off-World Characters it has gotten harder for me to keep up and keep invested in the larger plot, like... first we establish a lot of rules and now we insert elements that don't follow the established rules so keep up!! same goes with the modern psychology aspects - inserting concepts from our contemporary culture, particularly concepts that our perception of which changes frequently as we learn more about them, into a world as alien as roshar, just. feels intrusive! obviously i think roshar should have therapists, but it seems incredibly odd to me that nobody on this planet has "invented" therapy in any form for thousands of years. idk. i don't know how to feel about kaladin's therapist arc! thematically, as a synthesis between his medical identity and his military identity, i'd buy it. he's always been inspiring and has experience overcoming bad brain times. but in practice... idk!!! idk. i think angling it explicitly as therapy made it weird to me.

it was similar with shallan's plurality - book three had her accepting her plurality, and book four had this incredible intro with her being open about it, changing her hair color to indicate who was fronting, veil making friends with kaladin and adolin as her own person, i Loved That So Much. but then the book got like, Really medical and clinical about it, like you can tell the author talked to some people for increased accuracy, but it... mh. reducing shallan's alters from their own people to "no we are Purely a coping mechanism who only exist as training wheels to you" made me so sad. like, Thematically i understand why shallan's story is taking the integration route, but it made me so sad to fridge veil over it! like, several characters in these books get arcs centering about accepting their personhood and their right to exist in peace and make their own choices, but veil and radiant Don't Get That because the story hammers in that they're Just coping mechanisms. i would personally much have preferred that for shallan's character development, they relinquish their burdens to her (her Memories and her Violence) and then they could stay and exist and find identities beyond those burdens. maybe that's a radical take but it is my take

ANYWAY sorry that's a lot of lukewarm dismay. here's things i enjoyed:

- ace jasnah !!!! jasnah is ace.

- i really liked kaladin's, dalinar's, szeth's and adolin's arcs !

- genuinely dalinar is an incredibly written character and his arc over all five books is really really good and i think about dalinar moments often. i love that he has changed so much and still finds new ways to change. i can't believe it took like five books for me to go "wait is the way of kings just The Bible. is this an allegory for the bible" and even then i still think it works so so well. like i think his story would rule even if it was just straight up the bible and nohadon is jesus

- kaladin and syl dancing together <33333333

- very happy for renarin and rlain congrats to them

- the more i think about adolin's arc the more i love it. i love that he lost a leg Possibly Permanently. i love that he had a Privilege Revelation in the middle of a life or death fight. i love that he forms bonds with spren without oaths that rules so much

- gavinor as odium's champion was an inspired choice!!!!! i'm sad that he got sidelined so early when things could get soooo juicy

- i am So pleased szeth fired his spren. i am also very pleased that his spren got character development

- oh god when i realised szeth's mental illness arc was moral ocd. yowch (complimentary)

- szeth's story in general... man !!!!!!!

anyway that's what ive got for now. my freshest impressions straight from the oven

[space-person-frfr]

Real tho, if someone making a sans-centered sees a confession saying that that person hates sans-centered aus it would just demotivate that person to continue their au, people sometimes don’t realise that we need ANY AND ALL aus we can* get to have the fandom stay alive, it’s literally what the fandom is made of!

Don’t demotivate people just because you don’t like a popular trope and if you really wanna get it of your chest, say it without talking too negatively about it!

Also this has been said a lot but make the content you want to see! (or something like that I don’t exactly remember) (also this includes aus where sans is not in the spotlight, dead, killed off or just non-existent, especially if it’s your way of expressing the fact that you don’t like aus that focus around sans without discouraging others)

You have no excuse! If you say you aren’t creative, you just need more inspiration and time.

If you say you can’t draw, write! (I’m sure if you are motivated enough and actively want to do it you can make some lovely art anyway)

If you say ya can’t write than you can just talk about the idea you have without writing fanficion, just a post talking about how the au works and the personality’s of characters and how they look, eventually people will see it and maybe make designs for your silly characters.

I draw a bit but it’s time consuming for me, so I wanna make posts about the characters I’m making when I have done enough world building. I also don’t have an excuse.

Even though not everyone can like what you’re making, someone will. Just think about that when feeling demotivated, someone likes or will like what you’re making, maybe your friends or family or just a complete stranger on the internet.

* edit: ANY AND ALL NON-PROBLEMATIC AUS WE CAN GET (Or else it’ll lead to drama and negativity and that would just cause more harm than good)

Transcript: y’know what, fuck it, i’ll say it, i LOVE when people self indulge themselves in the fandom! i fucking LOVE the sans centered aus!! I FUCKING LOVE the overpowered ocs that could solo fiction!!!

even the stuff i don’t really like (mostly) is worth loving! because i just MOTHERFUCKING LOVE people expressing their love for a game in the way they like to do it!!

[rizrice]

i want to start writing a bit about my ocs here, i feel like the tumblr community is a cool place for that

[livsmessydoodles]

shenanigans

[feketeribizli]

bite each others dick off now. now. now

[insufferablemod]

waiting

[northstarscowboyhat]

Fashionably late as always, but happy 1 year to Undertale Yellow! I'm very grateful for this beautiful fan game bringing me so much joy and inspiration!

[surreal-duck]

some business to take care of