#and ultimately i am leaning on no!!! i do not!!! i create content for me so i definitely don't need to post it. and eventually...

[yannights]

Thoughts

Am I the only one surprised about the lack of Yandere Wriothesley content?

Upon his first appearance in the "Ouverture", i was deeply excited to see his full appearance, and when the drip marketing arrived I was bouncing off the walls.

I had always been a fan of Yandere content with the Genshin men, like Childe, Diluc and even Alhaitham, but i had finished most of the fics concerning these particular characters and upon laying eyes on Wriothesley, i knew that he would be added to my favourites. I couldn't bare a day without looking forward for the version 4.1 and meet the character and all the stories following with him.

However, despite the amazing fics out there, I was surprised to not see as many as I expected, because most of the fics leaned towards the "smutty nfws" side of things, and while that may please a lot of people, I thought it was kind of sad.

I think it is a missed opportunity, he has the prison, the isolation, the handcuffs and a unique personality setting him quite apart to the yandere genre.

This ultimately made me one of the people who sent out the most requests for Yandere Wriothesley. While I didn't force I did hint with a sledge hammer that he is indeed quite the interesting character in that kind of setting. Upon having a lack of it now this also pushed me to become a writer here so I guess you could say it's good somehow for me right.

I understand that portraying him like this is quite off upon further inspection on his personality. If he were to be real he would never do such things, but goes the same for the other characters and I find Yandere genre being like a AU, so that the way he acts in those kind of things is entirely up to the writers. (I'm also noticing quite the lack of genshin yandere lately so yes, you could say I'm also growing a little desperate myself.)

You guys cannot imagine how much I thank all the people who have created fics on Yandere Wriothesley. There are so many good, that I recommend and I think Yandere Genshin writers a should give him a try even if it's short. There are so many things about the character himself that digs deeper than the ocean.

I'm not forcing anybody to write about him just for my entertainment, if people want to write about him they do, and if they don't then that's fine too but it was just to say that I was actually quite surprised to see that not many people wrote about him. Even though he has quite the audience I still actually think he's quite underrated.

So yeah hope you enjoyed

(Also, he is sooooooooo handsome )

[mushiemellows]

2, 15, 17 for the writer ask game!! love your work <3

2.       Is there a least favorite character or title you dislike writing for?

I have some semi-extensive Jinbei writing on the horizon that I’m not feeling totally confident in. I also am writing some Sanj atm, and I’ve never totally felt confident in how I write him (tho I’ve been practicing and I subjectively think I’m improving?) I also sort of abandoned the Frankenstein fic, I might get back to it one day but it’s ultimately sad and thinking about it makes me feel even sadder to work on. We’ll see how it all pans out, I’d like to return to it one day because I still know where I want the story to go, I just don’t know if I’m in the place to write it yet. But I appreciate what it meant when I wrote it back over new years/xmas. Lots of things. I tend to get really harsh on myself, even tho it’s kind of silly. This is all just playing dolls. I don’t need to be so upset with the things I make, idk. And yet, I do.

15.   What made you start to write fanfiction/stories?

Hm. This is complicated to answer, I guess. Like I guess I’ve been thinking about fic since I was an 8year old kid realizing I could build off of stories in my brain before I went to bed. I used to feel a lot of shame about my desire to write those stories down, though. I was made fun of a lot when I was young for it. When I was in my early 20s I was in a fandom that was hot at the time where I wrote some pretty successful one shots (relatively, idk if they have longevity tho) but I didn’t sit down and start fully typing out words like I have become known for until ~6 months ago. I put out a crap fic I’ve since deleted because I was so ashamed of how bad it was, but it lead to me writing SRH so i can’t be totally mad at it either. And one day, I’ll look back on writing 315k of anime smut as a stepping stone to the next thing after it. It’s just a matter of time and perspective, I know that. I owe a lot to the terrible stories I made up in my brain when I was eight. I owe a lot to the terrible stories I made up in ao3 20 years after that. One day, I’ll look back on this phase too, hopefully. Stories pop into my brain in a way that is easier than words in real life. I like crafting narratives, I’ve fallen in love with the process these last few months. It’s always felt natural to me, and I’m so happy to finally pursue it. It’s freeing.

17.   If there’s one thing you could tell your readers, what would it be?

So I answered this one already, but I’m going to add to it. Oh my god, get weird. We’re in such a fecking different era of art creation, you need to make something weird and off putting to the masses. Find your niche, have confidence with the weird shit you’re into. Every time I get down about like, AI and bullshit like that, I think about the history of the camera and its relationship to painting. When science realized it could capture real life with more “technical precision” with the camera, portraiture and painting didn’t end. It adapted, we got Impressionism, expressionism, surrealism. Poison the content machine with unusable trash. Make something so weird that a computer couldn’t even dream of creating. Get wild, get funky, get freaky, fuck it get a little kinky. You’re never going to appease everyone. Maximum palatability isn’t the point. Be a fucking weirdo on main. Soak it up. Lean in twice as hard. Double down. Freak people out. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Tysm for all of the love 💜💜💜💜

[thisdivorce]

I posted 2,534 times in 2022

That's 1,028 more posts than 2021!

252 posts created (10%)

2,282 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gallawitchxx

@elytrians

@creepkinginc

@whaticameherefor

@gardenerian

I tagged 2,075 of my posts in 2022

Only 18% of my posts had no tags

#gallavich - 188 posts

#fic rec - 142 posts

#shameless - 140 posts

#ian gallagher - 108 posts

#fanart - 98 posts

#mickey milkovich - 78 posts

#🐝🐝🐝 - 75 posts

#leigh answers - 70 posts

#priest!ian - 40 posts

#galladrabbles - 38 posts

Longest Tag: 141 characters

#i used to work with a hot minister (anglican) and he wore a collar one day and everyone was like 🤨 and he got realy embarrassd and took it o

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

this lil one-shot is for @ianandmickeygallavich (calli) for being amazing and making me a banner for my fic (and also for contributing so much content + love to this fandom)! i promised some husband fluff, but let's be honest, i am an angsty gal so there's some husband fluff + light angst. thanks to @shameless-notashamed for beta-ing!

calli's prompt: liam talks about playing truth or dare with his friends, ian and mickey get inspired and decide to play their own game of truth or dare together.

summary: ian and mickey share some truths (2.3k)

keep reading under the cut or here on ao3

Truth or Dare

The joint easily slips between Ian’s long fingers as he brings it to his lips and slowly inhales the marijuana into his lungs. A second later a cloud of smoke billows out of his mouth, curling into the air, idling above them as they lay side-by-side in their bedroom on the West Side.

His wrist limps over the edge of the bed, joint dangling dangerously towards the floor between loose fingers.

“Your fucking family, man.” Mickey’s hands are behind his head, eyes glazed and red as he stares up at the ceiling, limbs heavy from the weed, fighting with the buzz he has going on from the alcohol. “It’s too much sometimes.”

Another night of Gallagher chaos. This time—New Year’s Eve. It’s 1am when they arrive home and collapse on the bed. A long week of celebration, ending in this one cumulative event. The Gallaghers always go overboard.

But Mickey realizes they’re family now, they’ve always been family in some way, and his body constantly fought the warmth and the tension that assembled inside of him at first—until it didn’t anymore. Until they were his family, too.

Despite this, Mickey has a desperate need to calm his mind from the yelling kids and siblings, and blaring music. Ian’s used to the noise, but Mickey has gotten used to the quiet of a white-walled apartment, and a routine he’s never had.

“Fucking kids, man. Can’t believe I played that truth or dare shit.” Mickey sits up and rubs at his feet, laying back again.

“Dare,” Mickey had said to Liam, crossing his arms in noticeable defiance. Ian smirked and received a death glare in his direction.

“Go outside barefoot in the snow,” Liam said, snickering to himself.

“Jesus, it’s 15 degrees outside.” Mickey’s outstretched arm pointed towards the door.

“You have to do it!” Liam yelled excitedly. “You chose dare! That’s how the game works!”

Mickey grumbled and complained, but ultimately did it, which seemed to appease Franny and Liam as they watched from the front door as Mickey stepped into the snow, turned around and said, “Happy now?”

On the Gallagher couch, Ian rubbed Mickey’s freezing cold feet as they rested on Ian’s lap. To his surprise, in front of all of the Gallaghers, Mickey let him do it, a very public display of affection in front of their family.

“Hate kids,” Mickey says. Though he’s grateful to be back in their apartment, he’s still perturbed about the incident.

He languidly places the back of his hand on Ian’s belly. Ian offers him the joint and Mickey shakes his head no, so he sets the now-out joint on the bedside table. As Ian leans back, Mickey’s hand again finds Ian’s belly and he holds it out palm up, expectantly. Ian gets the clue. His left hand clasps Mickey’s right and their interlocked hands move to rest in between them.

These gestures are another reminder of how far they’ve come, and there are moments when they forget everything that led them here. Their apartment. Their bed. Their interlocked hands, faded knuckle tattoos and Ian’s heavy, metal ring grazing Mickey’s fingers.

It’s okay that they forget how far they’ve come sometimes, because it’s been two years of stability, and two years is long enough to fall into routine. Two years is long enough to start a new life, away from buzzing prison doors, and guards, and people who try to keep them apart.

“Truth or dare?” Ian says. He realizes at that moment Mickey dozed off, and he wakes with a deep inhale, followed by a long groan.

“Fuck off, man. Not playing that shit.” Mickey instinctively squeezes Ian’s hand tighter, like he needs to be nearer, needs to draw him closer.

“Truth or dare?” Ian speaks softly, like he hasn’t yet convinced himself they’re actually going to play. Maybe they’ll fall asleep just like this, hands clasped, and they’ll eventually roll over, and Ian will find his body instinctively curling towards Mickey, as it often does. Eventually, they’ll find their way out of their clothes, shuffling them off the edge of the bed as they heat up through the night, and climb under the covers.

“Dare,” Mickey responds and Ian’s eyes pop open.

“Oh,” he says, a little surprised. He surveys the room from his supine position and spots a beer bottle on the dresser. “Body shot.”

“Huh?” Their gazes meet in the middle. “Fucking kidding me?”

Ian’s lips curl into a smile. Foreplay, he thinks. “Why not?”

“Too tired for this shit.” Mickey sits up anyway, and his hand slips out of Ian’s grasp. “Of what?”

See the full post

108 notes - Posted January 25, 2022

#4

bipolar babes, take care of yourself as we are hurdled into springtime with an extra hour of light and having to adjust our sleeping schedules.

112 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

#3

See the full post

153 notes - Posted January 18, 2022

#2

Priest Ian Gallagher

by @eveningfall

169 notes - Posted March 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

172 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[biblioflyer]

Star Trek: Picard rewatch: Introduction

This post is periodically updated with direct links to new essays in my rewatch series.

Given that there are now two seasons to digest, how well does Star Trek Picard hold up to a rewatch? Was I overly charitable? Too uncharitable? Are there plot holes that I ignored the first time through? Are there plot holes I remember existing that actually are explained in the series and I simply missed them?

First impressions:

Overall I have enjoyed Star Trek Picard, although not uncritically. I, like many, was troubled by some of the darker themes and the implication that the Federation, especially in season one, had backslid into something more intolerant and disinterested in the values that the characters routinely ascribe to it and that I, in turn, project onto it. Whether this is fair or not is something that partly motivates me in undertaking this rewatch. It is also a topic I am exploring in a related set of essays, specifically the “Did Picard Turn the Federation into a Dystopia?” series. (essay format)

My memory of the show is one in which it starts strong, makes some questionable decisions in the middle, and then ends with a satisfying if somewhat contrived way. My sense of the show is that in both seasons but especially the first, the showrunners mismanaged the various strands of the show’s storyline, kept adding more storylines, and ultimately resolved some of them in rather ad hoc ways that create internal continuity problems.

I stress "internal" because I am moderately permissive of continuity issues across series, less permissive within the same series. I treat Star Trek and other franchises that have spanned generations and produced this much content as more like oral traditions or mythologies and less like a tightly edited, extensively footnoted "history of the future."

A few complaints that exist in my head that I will be exploring: (Spoilers start here)

Season one questions:

How justified or not was the Federation in becoming more isolationist and failing to help the Romulans evacuate their homeworlds?

To what degree did the Federation become a darker, more dystopian place in Star Trek Picard?

How plausible is the Zhat Vash conspiracy?

What are Soji and Dahj in technical terms? To what degree are they like Data, i.e. androids, and to what degree are they a new form of organic life?

How do I feel about the show aesthetically? Does it feel like Star Trek? If not, how is Star Trek supposed to feel? Is the show better or worse if I try to distance myself from my preconceived expectations about “Trekkiness”?

Was the ending “rushed?”

Season one Rewatch Essays:

Meta commentary:

What is gained and what is lost by leaning into "realism"

S1E1 "Remembrance"

Misremembering Remembrance: Theme, Symbolism, Dream Interpretation

The Sad Mutant Elephant in the Room: Depression, Defeat, and the Narrative Significance of Battling Enemies Within Instead of Without.

How and why did the Federation fail the Romulans (and itself)?

Is it "Real" Star Trek? What does that even mean? In which I try to take the question seriously rather than flipping the table because it disagrees violently with STO or my headcanons.

S1E2 "Maps and Legends"

Mars, 9/11, and Ruminations on Trauma & Rage: putting the Federation on the couch and examining its psyche.

Did the Federation accidentally reinvent racism? Grappling with the Synths and the behavior of Utopia Planitia workers.

S1E3 "The End is the Beginning"

Deconstructions of the Raffi "Controversy"

Classism? In MY Star Trek?! Analyzing a bad first impression.

Being Miserable in Paradise: The Ethics and Implications of Poor Mental Health in a Utopia.

Raffi Before the Fall: What can we reasonably infer about Raffi's fitness to serve and what made her a candidate to be aide to camp to a legend?

General observations:

Raffis and Jiuratis: A Star Trek fandom personality test

How to Squickly Mangle a Theme: Missed Opportunities and Subversions of Otherwise Noble Themes

S1E4 "Absolute Candor"

The Map is Not the Terrain: Institutional Power in Star Trek Picard

Harm Reduction or Abdication: Balancing Autonomy and Care in Picard's Federation.

Four episodes later: thoughts on the metaplot, Trekkiness, and rewatches

S1E5 "Stardust City Rag"

Reconsidering a "bad" episode or how much of a difference three years makes in experiencing drama.

Seven's Joker Problem: Stardust City Rag's trolley problem made me VERY uncomfortable.

Season 2:

Lingering questions:

What is Q’s agenda? Really?

Are there possible timeline consequences for Queen Jiurati running around in the background for several centuries?

Which model of how time works is Picard using? Linear or many worlds?

Based on her behavior in season 2, should Raffi have been cleared to return to duty after the events of season 1 or ought a wellness exam have caught that her "breaking point" is not where it probably ought to be for Starfleet? Is describing her behavior as unreasonable itself unreasonable?

How well executed was the theme of communication, personal growth, intimacy etc.?

Social commentary: was Picard's social commentary distracting and immersion breaking or appropriate and in keeping with the Star Trek legacy?

A moderately long aside: Ethically, I generally consider myself a strong advocate of a lot of what I view as core values of Star Trek (watch this space for more discussion about this) but at the same time, I do not have an unlimited amount of tolerance for pedantic social commentary, oversimplifications, or bad arguments for good ideals.

I believe there is only so much value to be gained from being incredibly mistrustful of your audience and their ability to grasp nuance. If a subset of the audience is likely to misunderstand your message, then making the message more explicit can guard against incorrect readings at the cost of cheapening the art. 

Its not a perfect analogy because season two doesn't really have much in the way of villains who embody the concepts the series is raging against, but a comparison can be made to a problematic subset of the "Breaking Bad" or "Joker" fandoms.

I understand and appreciate the desire to avoid a “Breaking Bad” or “Joker” situation where a subset of the audience is so thoroughly enamored with the villain and the power fantasy the villain represents that the audience fails to recognize that they ought not to be uncritically worshiping the villain.

I just tend to think taking too many pains to avoid incorrect readings can cross a threshold into breaking immersion and just generally being annoying. When this happens, I am annoyed not because I disagree with the message but because I agree with the message and the more it's dumbed down, the more I feel pandered to and that my intelligence is being insulted.

Season Three Reactions, Analysis and Speculation SPOILERS

Episode Two: Disengage

In which I wish Picard would uphold the genre conventions its discarding and discard the genre conventions its discarding. (But I actually did like it overall.)

In which Star Trek Morality Plays are my favorite subgenre.

Episode Three: Seventeen Seconds

In which I wish Space Dad and Space Cool Uncle would stop fighting and Worf and Raffi embark on the best buddy cop saga Star Trek has ever seen.

Episode Four: No Win Scenario

Star Trek exposes its painfully earnest moral core in a beautiful way that made me want to stand up and cheer.

Episode Five: Imposters

Misfits belong in Starfleet. Finding their place in Starfleet is another story.

Episode Six: The Bounty

The character I wanted to hate makes me want to bond with him over nerding out over ships.

How Star Trek Picard S3 is about intergenerational healing and allowing the young to be independent agents.

Episode Seven: Dominion

Maybe don't write so many war stories that can only be resolved by a ultra nationalists attempting genocide.

Episode Eight: Surrender

I don't often yell at the screen over cliffhangers....

Episode Nine: Vox

Is "Picard" trolling the "get off my lawn" side of the fandom?

How Picard should end: my personal preferences (emphasis on personal and preferences) for how to wrap up the various arcs and storylines.

Seven of Nine's ethical nature is not compatible with Starfleet and that's okay.

Episode Ten: The Last Generation

I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I'm not free of conflict

Themes of Autonomy vs Institutionalism in Picard

Narrative style and reactions to fan reactions to Jack Crusher

Embrace the old and the new: A wishlist for Star Trek Legacy

[jule1122]

I posted 305 times in 2022

53 posts created (17%)

252 posts reblogged (83%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@alexguerinss

@tasyfa

@angrycowboy

@infp-obsessing-over-everything

@mander3-swish

I tagged 257 of my posts in 2022

Only 16% of my posts had no tags

#malex fic - 47 posts

#malex gifset - 42 posts

#my fic - 38 posts

#fic meme answers - 15 posts

#comments are love - 12 posts

#rnm fic - 11 posts

#rnm 4x13 spoilers - 11 posts

#malex - 10 posts

#thank you! - 9 posts

#signal boost - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 126 characters

#i never thought about how alex and michael both tried to move on to someone ultimately connected to what they wanted to escape

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Malex Fic - Kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Writer’s block is still my best friend, but Malex are engaged!  And if that doesn’t inspire me at least a little bit, all hope is lost.  I went back to my Malex comfort zone for this, plotless fluff where Michael and Alex are in bed, but they have emotional conversations instead of sex.

This is canon compliant through 4x11 and takes place some point after where all plot points have already been magically resolved. 

Kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight on AO3

Summary: They are back in their home, Alex isn't dying, but one thing hasn't changes.  All Alex wants to do is marry Michael.

Title taken from the Barenaked Ladies version of “Lovers in a Dangerous Time.”

Alex wakes up the same way he has every day for the last week, to Michael next to him, watching him like he can’t believe he’s real.  His eyes light up when he realizes Alex is awake, and Alex doesn’t think, just leans up for a kiss.

It’s not much of a kiss, just a gentle press of lips, but Alex keeps his eyes open, watching as Michael’s close when he feels Alex’s hand stroking his hair.  

“Morning,” Michael mumbles against his mouth when they break the kiss.

Alex rolls onto his back to stretch and notices the coffee mug on his nightstand, the coffee no longer steaming.  He frowns when he turns back to Michael, “How long have you been up?”  He used to wake up before Michael every morning, but not now, not since they came back.

“Not long,” Michael shrugs.

Alex’s frown deepens as he realizes there is a pattern he missed.  “You’re awake when I fall asleep at night and awake before me in the morning.  You need to sleep, too.”

“I never look away, remember.”

“That’s not supposed to be literal,” Alex wrinkles his nose.  He can see the lingering fear in Michael’s eyes, and he hesitates before continuing.  “You don’t have to keep watch.  I’m not going to disappear again.”

“You don’t know that.”

Alex takes Michael’s hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently before answering.  “Since you haven’t let me leave the house, and I am pretty sure there is no alien sinkhole to an alternate dimension in our bathroom, I think you can relax.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Michael counters.  He gives Alex a real smile, though, before lifting their joined hands and kissing Alex’s knuckles.

Alex doesn’t disagree.  Being separated from Michael, being thrust alone into a world he didn’t understand isn’t an experience he never plans to repeat.  Staying with Michael, in their house where they could focus on each other, has been the best way for them to heal.

There are things going on outside of this bubble they’ve created that Alex is distantly aware of.  Some follower of Jones Isobel is heping, Liz is trying to minimize the fallout from her mentor’s breakdown, there are parts of Jones plan they are still trying to discover.  But Alex doesn’t care.  Right now, he’s content to be selfish, to ignore the part of him that was bred to put duty first.  He and Michael deserve time to do nothing but love each other at least until after the honeymoon.  Which reminds Alex, they do have one important reason to engage with the outside world.

“We are going to have to leave the house for at least a little bit today.  If we don’t go to the courthouse today and get our marriage license, we won’t have it in time for the wedding,” Alex reminds Michael.

Michael drops Alex’s hand, some of the light leaving his eyes.  “We don’t have to do that right now.”

“What?  Get married?” Alex asks with a frown.

When Michael nods, Alex pushes himself into a sitting position and runs his hands through his hair.  He’s about to ask Michael if he’s changed his mind, if he doesn’t want to marry Alex, but he knows in his heart that’s the wrong question.

“Do you think I only asked you to marry me because I was dying?”  Alex asks instead.

Michael doesn’t answer but the way he averts his eyes tells Alex everything he needs to know.

“Michael,” Alex sighs.  He pulls on Michael’s hand until Michael moves to sit next to him.  “Figuring out I was dying didn’t make me want to marry you, but it did give me the courage to ask you.  I wasn’t afraid of dying.”

Michael makes a distressed sound at that, and Alex knows despite both Liz and Kyle assuring them that he is perfectly healthy, that wound isn’t going to heal any time soon.  He rests his head on Michael’s shoulder, lets Michael hold him close, but it starts to feel too much like the pocket dimension, and Alex wants this proposal to feel different.  He shifts them both around until he’s leaning against the headboard with Michael across from him, their knees touching.

“Hey,” he starts, waiting until Michael looks at him again to talk.  “I wasn’t afraid to die, but I was afraid to die without you knowing how much I love you.”

“I know you love me, Alex.  You don’t need to prove that to me,” Michael protests.

“That’s not what it’s about,” Alex shakes his head.  “I told Maria once that falling in love with you was the easiest thing in the world, but I’ve never told you that.  I’ve never shown you that.  We grow up on fairy tales - true love’s kiss and happily ever afters.  When I realized I was gay, I thought I could never have any of that,  But then you kissed me in that museum, under a fake alien sky, and all of that became real.  You were everything I never let myself hope for, and that love, that feeling of belonging, has never gone away.”

See the full post

41 notes - Posted August 28, 2022

#4

Malex NYE Ficlet

Tiny little fic written in response to a discussion on the literal skeletons discord server about Alex and Michael having their first New Year’s Eve together.

Isobel moves her New Year's Eve party to the Wild Pony because Maria can't afford to be short staffed on one of her busiest nights of the year. Alex and Michael leave at 11 despite Liz's protest. They enjoy celebrating with their family, but they set aside part of the night for just two of them. 

Midnight finds them kissing on the couch, drinks forgotten on the coffee table. Alex's hands are tangled in Michael's hair, and Michael absent mindedly stokes Alex's neck as they kiss. 

When the fireworks and gunshots go off, Michael pulls back. He gives Alex one more quick kiss in response to his pout before asking, "Any resolutions?" 

Alex thinks a moment before answering, "To keep talking to you, to tell you the things I think you need protected from or I'm afraid will make you turn away from me because secrets only make things worse." 

Michael squeezes his hand, "Is that all?"

 "To let myself be happy without wondering if I deserve it or worrying about when it will end."

 "I like seeing you happy," Michael says quietly, leaning in for another soft kiss. 

"What about you?" Alex asks. 

"To ask questions and listen to the answers instead of assuming I know how you feel or what you are thinking. To enjoy being with you without waiting for something to take you away again, to trust that you are here to stay."

 Alex blinks back tears, "I like seeing you happy," he repeats because he can't find better words right now. He takes a breath and adds just a little more, " I want to be there to see you happy, to help make you happy." 

"Damn, I love you," Michael laughs through the tightness in his throat. 

"I love you, too," Alex starts to pull Michael in for another kiss, but Michael holds up his hand. 

"One more," he says.

 Alex raises one eyebrow and waits for Michael to continue.

 "I'm going to convince you to get a dog." 

"Only if you move in with me," Alex counters with a smile. 

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Michael says before pushing Alex down onto the couch.

52 notes - Posted December 31, 2021

#3

Malex Fic - I want you to move me

The writing part of my brain is still 99% broken, but this song makes my fingers itch.  This is really pure fluff with a little talking about smut although no actual smut happens.  Just a nice romantic moment between Michael and Alex and Liz and Max’s wedding.

I want you to move me on AO3

Summary: "I want you to move me Step into the moonlight Throw your weight in to me"

Title and Summary are both from “Move me” by half-alive.  The mood of this story is all set around the chorus of the song so I recommend listing to it if you can.

Michael twirls Rosa one last time as the music’s ending, smacking a loud kiss onto her cheek.  She sticks her tongue out at him, making him laugh as they leave the dance floor.  Without even thinking about Michael looks for Alex, eyes seeking him out automatically, and his breath catches when he spots him.

Alex is watching him, looking at him with a mix of love, amusement and a little bit of awe, as if he can’t believe he’s lucky enough to be loved by Michael.  It’s been years - decades if he forgets their time apart and remembers the first time he saw that look on Alex’s face - and Michael still isn’t used to it, hopes he never will be.

He blows Alex a kiss, bouncing on his feet when Alex’s smile widens even as he shakes his head at Michael’s antics.  Michael has an urge to just run to Alex and throw himself onto his lap, making him wonder if Max’s joy at finally marrying Liz is bleeding into his own emotions.  Hard as it is to believe, Michael’s reached a point where happy is his default state, but everything is a little exaggerated today.  He teared up during Max and Liz’s first dance, and cried openly when Max turned Liz over to Arturo for their dance, and Michelle surprised  Max at the edge of the dance floor and demanded her own dance.  Michael pulled it together for the bridal party dance but only because he knew Rosa wouldn’t tolerate his tears, and with only four of them - Michael and Isobel for Max, Rosa and Kyle for Liz - there was nowhere to hide from the guests that were watching them.

Now that the formal dances are over, people begin streaming toward the dance floor, and getting to Alex starts to feel like swimming upstream.  He passes Greg and Maria, and Maria catches his hand, giving it a quick squeeze as she walks by.

When he finally reaches Alex, the music changes to something slow and dreamy so Michael holds out his hand.  Alex shakes his head, smiling dimming a little, and Michael wants to kick himself.  The wedding had fallen in the midst of a pain flare up for Alex.  His leg had been bothering him for no discernible reason - could be a change in the weather, something off with his prosthetic, an awkward movement he didn’t remember - nothing they could pinpoint.  He’d stayed off his prosthetic for a few days before the wedding, and keeping pressure off his leg helped, but he was still limping enough Michael knew he’d feel self conscious on the dance floor even if all they were barely moving.  Alex wouldn’t care if it was just their family, but the guest list had grown to include people who didn’t know Alex at all or still thought of him as the war hero Alex had never felt like.

Michael’s about to sit next to Alex when he notices the patio doors are open.  “Feel like some air?” he asks, nodding toward the exit.

“Sounds good,”  Alex’s smile brightens again, and he takes Michael’s hand.

It's a beautiful night, clear and lit by an almost full moon.  The temperature dropped with the sun, but it’s still warm enough that they are comfortable with just their suit jackets.  The patio opens into a garden who’s path winds out of sight.  It’s not crowded, but several other guests are outside, some looking for a place to smoke.  Alex wrinkles his nose at the smell, and Michael doesn’t invade any minds, but he sends out a suggestion that it’s a good time to go back inside and soon they are alone.

Alex laughs and raises his brow at Michael, letting him know he doesn’t think their sudden solitude is a coincidence.

Michael just shrugs his shoulders and pulls Alex in for a kiss. He feels more settled, comfortable in his own emotions now that he’s not in the same room with Max.  Still happy and head over heels in love with Alex, but no more than he always is.  “Come on,” he says when they break apart, taking Alex’s hand and leading him down the steps.

When they reach the garden, Michael heads toward one of the benches lining the border, but Alex shakes his head.  “Feels good to walk after sitting for so long.”

So Michael redirects them to the path, careful to let Alex set the pace.  His limp doesn’t seem any worse, but his back is still stiff and tense, and Michael aches with the need to take Alex’s pain away. He can’t, there’s nothing he can do - even with his powers, God knows he’s tried, sometimes hurting Alex more in the process - so he settles for letting go of Alex’s hand and rubbing his back underneath his jacket as the walk.

Alex relaxes slowly as they walk, eventually wrapping his arm around Michael’s shoulder.  Michael leans into him and looks around.  The garden is dimly lit, enough light to be safe, but not enough to take away from the romantic atmosphere. They’d taken pictures earlier, under blue skies with colorful flowers contrasting perfectly with Liz’s white dress and Max’s dark suit.  Liz’s hair and dress tangled in the wind and Max kept trying to fix it, both of them laughing and smiling too much to bother with poses.  Now it’s starlight, filled with white, night blooming flowers, and with Alex in his arms, Michael thinks he prefers it this way, “It’s pretty here,” he tells Alex..

“Mmm,” Alex agrees.  “Isobel did a great job.  The whole day has been perfect.”

“You want all this,” he asks, gesturing not just at the garden, but the party behind them, “when we get married?”  Neither of them have proposed, there is no official engagement, but they’ve started talking this way - when we get married, when we move into a bigger house, when we start a family - their love and future together cemented as certain in their minds.

Alex pauses in their walk for a moment, thinking about it before he resumes their pace.  “I want what you want,” he finally says with a shrug.

“Alex,” Michael says exasperated because they’ve talked about this, too much really. Michael needs to know what Alex wants, needs, not just what he thinks he’s allowed to have.

“No, I mean it,” Alex insists.  “Once I realized no matter how perfect it sounded, I was never going to want to marry Maria, I stopped thinking about all of it.  Weddings, happily ever afters, those were things I was never going to have.  But you, Michael,” he turns so they’re facing each other and takes both Michael’s hands.  And the look is back on his face again, the one that never lets Michael forget how much Alex loves him.  “But even with all the shit life threw at you, you never stopped, dreaming or wanting. Even when I,” Alex lets out a shaky exhale, rests his forehead against Michael’s before continuing, “when I couldn’t believe, you still did.  So, yeah, Michael, anything you want.”

“Not all this,” Michael says.  Liz and Max’s wedding has been beautiful, everything going perfectly, but if Max’s second emotions almost overwhelmed him, a day like this with Alex might kill him.  “More than just us, something nice with just our families I think.”

“You realize ‘just’ our families has turned into a lot of people,” Alex teases him.

Alex is right, and Michael never thought that would happen.  He and Alex had both been so alone for years, rejected and forced to hide parts of themselves.  But somehow they had this sprawling web of relationships, of people who knew and loved them, some bound by blood, but all by choice.  “More people to delegate to,” he says with a smile.  “So all we have to do is show up and look pretty.”

“Ok,” Alex agrees easily.  “Soon.”

“Soon,” Michael echoes before sighing deeply.

“What?” Alex asks, concern edging into his voice.

Michael closes the small distance between them, waits until Alex wraps his arms around him before resting against his chest.  “All I want to do is take you home, get you out of the suit and take care of you.”

See the full post

56 notes - Posted April 16, 2022

#2

Malex Fic - All I Want is You

How much fluff can I shove into 1100 words?  The answer is a lot.  I am over the moon about Alex Guerin being canon, and wanted to write something about that.  Michael also has a lot of feelings about being married so this fic is nothing but them continuing to be madly in love.

All I Want is You on AO3

Title from U2's "All I Want is You" because that song fits their marriage perfectly. 

Summary: When they get back from their honeymoon, Michael has a husband and Alex has a new name.  Neither of those things will ever change. 

“Hi honey, I’m home,” Michael yells as he opens the door.

“In here,”  Alex answers back.

Michael follows the sound of his voice and finds his husband at the table, laptop open, working his way through a stack of papers.

“I thought you weren’t back at Deep Sky until Monday?”  Michael asks with a slight frown.  They returned from their honeymoon a few days ago, but both had cleared their schedules for the rest of the week.  Michael had spent the afternoon catching up with Isobel, but otherwise neither of them had left the house.

“Oh, this isn’t work,” Alex reassures him.  He gestures to the papers next to the computer, “Just getting started on the name change.  I’ve got Social Security, VA, MVD, the bank, the mortgage company, utilities, passport.  Once that’s all done I can update my will and other legal documents.”

Just listening to Alex list all the forms overwhelms Michael.  “Can’t you just hack into something and have it all done at once?  Or get someone at Deep Sky to handle it?”

“I could,” Alex says with a laugh and a shrug, “but I want to do it this way.”

“Why?” Michael asks as he sits in the chair next to Alex.

“I don’t want it to just happen.  I want someone to read this form and know my name is changing because I want it to, that this is a choice.  I want them to look at our marriage license and think ‘he must really love his husband a lot if he wants to share his name.’ I want everyone who has to change my name to know how lucky I am.”

Michael leans back in his chair and lets out a breath.  Sometimes he still can’t believe all this is real, then Alex says something like that, and it hits him all over again.  He’s quiet long enough that Alex starts to look uncomfortable.

“I know it doesn’t really matter,” he starts.

“No,” Michael takes his hand, rubbing his thumb along Alex’s ring.  “I get it.”  And he does.  It’s the same reason he can’t stop calling Alex his husband.  He’s said it so much, Isobel had hung up on him twice.  But he can’t imagine not saying it, not telling every person he talks to that he has a husband, not taking every chance he can to remember that they finally got here.  If Alex needs fifty bureaucrats to look at their marriage license, Michael will help him stuff the envelopes.

“Maybe you should send a picture too,” he teases.  “Make sure they know exactly how lucky we both are.”

“I don’t think we need to go that far,” Alex squeezes his hand before pulling away and picking up his pen.

Michael gets up and stands behind him, watching as he finishes the form to update his driver’s license.  He sets it aside and reaches for another stack of papers, but Michael can’t stop staring at “Alexander Manes” written in Alex’s neat, block handwriting.  He looks at the bottom of the page, and Alex’s new signature.  There’s a scrawled “A” followed by a scribble that leads into a large, fancy printed “G.”  The rest of “Guerin” is written in a slanted hybrid of cursive and print, each letter easy to recognize.  Michael traces it with his eyes and wonders what it will look like in a year, five years then fifty.  He wonders when it will be second nature for Alex to sign with “Guerin,” when he won’t have to think about it.

“Hey, can you grab the stapler for me?” Alex asks without looking up from where he’s adding a copy of their marriage license to the MVD form.

“Sure,” Michael clears his throat and heads to Alex’s desk.  As he walks away, he sees Alex turn to look at him, a soft smile on his face.  He looks back because he’ll always look back to Alex.  It’s hard to believe there was a time he looked at Alex and saw nothing but pain and regret for the life they didn’t have.  Now he looks at Alex and sees forever stretching out in front of them.

When he brings back the stapler, Alex takes it with a distracted, “Thanks, babe.”

Michael kisses the top of his head and goes to start dinner, leaving Alex to finish his stack of paperwork.  He sneaks glances at Alex as he cooks, smiling at his complete concentration at the task in front of him.  He probably won’t even notice Michael’s started dinner until Michael puts a plate in front of him.

But Alex surprises him by coming into the kitchen just as Michael turns the heat on the sauce down to simmer.

“Smells good,” Alex compliments him as he passes Michael on the way to the cupboard.  “Paperwork’s all done so I’ll set the table while you finish up.”

When Alex reaches up to get the plates, Michael wraps his arms around his waist.  “No hurry,” he stops Alex before he opens the cabinet door.  “We have time.”

“Oh, do we?”  Alex turns in his arms, smiling into Michael’s kiss.

“Mhmm,” Michael confirms, without breaking the kiss. He presses Alex up against the counter, kisses him soft and slow because they do have time.

He can’t help but wonder if it will always feel like this, like there’s nothing in the world but this. Maybe one day his breath won’t catch when he sees the wedding pictures Isobel framed and placed on their mantel and dresser while they were on their honeymoon.  Maybe one day he won’t find Alex staring at the shadow box Maria made them, filled with the boutonnieres, his mother’s handkerchief, Mimi’s bracelet and the original wedding invitation Rosa drew for them. 

See the full post

61 notes - Posted September 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Malex Fic - I’m a happy idiot

Trying to write my way out of a slump with some secret marriage fluff.  No warnings just lots of love.

I’m a happy idiot on AO3

Summary: 4 times Michael and Alex almost told someone they were married and 2 times they didn't have to. 

Title from "Happy Idiot" by TV on the Radio 

Michael’s half asleep, boneless and fucked out when he feels Alex’s lips on his forehead.

“See you later, love you,” Alex whispers into his hair.

It’s the smell of coffee that gets him to open his eyes.  Michael turns his head and watches Alex set a mug on his nightstand, steam curling in the cool air of their bedroom.  He reaches out and barely catches Alex’s hand, their fingertips tucking into each other.  “I love you, you should marry me,” he says, thinking about how he wants mornings like this for the rest of his life.

Alex’s eyes widen for a moment, but he steps closer to the bed and smiles.  “Ok,” he says as if it’s that easy.

But that’s the thing.  It is that easy,  has been that easy since Michael kissed him on an empty patio.  So he doesn’t ask Alex if he’s sure, just sits up and pulls Alex down on the bed next to him, the adrenaline from the realization that he’s going to marry Alex waking him up.  “Call off work while I shower.  The courthouse opens,” he squints at the clock, “in an hour.”

“You want to get married today?” Alex asks, laughing.

“Can you think of a reason to wait?” Michael counters.  They never really talked about marriage.  Michael assumed they would get there eventually, but now that it’s a possibility, Michael’s never wanted anything more.

Alex bites his lip, smile still showing through, and shakes his head.  

“I didn’t think so,” Michael pulls him down for a kiss.  “Now get moving.  The sooner we get married, the sooner we can start our honeymoon.”

Sanders

“I’m guessing by that smile on your face you didn’t call off yesterday because of some alien crisis.”

Michael jumps a foot in the air, hitting his head on the hood of the car he’s working on.  “Why do you always do that?” he complains, glaring at Sanders.

“Because it never stops being funny,” Sanders laughs.  “You’d think by now you’d have learned to pay attention to your surroundings, makes me wonder just how useful your powers are if a gimpy old man can sneak up on you.  Now back to my question.  I know you weren’t sick so what was so important I had to tell Ethel Myers her car wasn’t going to be ready for another day?”

“Ethel Myers should have stopped driving five years ago so the extra day was a blessing to everyone on the road,” Michael argues, hoping to distract Sanders.

But Sanders just stands there, arms crossed and foot tapping, waiting for Michael to answer.  And shit, he and Alex really should have talked about what they were going to tell people, but they’d been too busy celebrating.

“Alex and I had, uh, stuff to take care of,” he finally mumbles.

“Stuff?” Sanders repeats with a disbelieving snort.

“Yeah, you know, house stuff,” Michael makes a vague gesture with his hands.

“You’d think after a few years your ‘house stuff’ would stop interfering with your work,” Sanders rolls his eyes.  “But I guess that explains the limp.”

“Oh my god!”  Michael feels his face heat up.  “That’s not what I meant!”  But before he can come up with a better explanation. Sanders walks away, shaking his head.

Eduardo

When Alex gets to work, he finds a note on his desk asking him to report to the director’s office.

He knocks lightly on Eduardo’s open door.  “You wanted to see me?” he asks when Eduardo waves him inside.

“Yes, come sit,” he gestures to the chairs in front of his desk.  “I’m glad you are feeling better.”

“Thank you, it was just one of those twenty-four hour bugs,” Alex shrugs, holding Eduardo’s eyes so he doesn’t appear evasive. 

See the full post

87 notes - Posted February 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[aliatori]

Hey you 💙 May I have some tracks for my favourite treasonous first admiral, Izod!

This was an especially fun challenge, thanks for asking. 🖤 Here are four songs for our favourite First Admiral:

I — I Feel Like a God by DeathByRomy Z — Zephyr by King Buffalo O — OK by 8 Graves D — Death to the Holy by Zeal & Ardor

Expanded discussion beneath the cut!

I Feel Like a God by DeathByRomy

Gabriel Berthelot may hold the reigning title on God Complex (Literal), but Izod isn't far behind on the God Complex (Figurative? Or Is It?). This song to me highlights the intensity behind Izod's necessary front of deception. Welcome to my contradiction/I'm soft but I like the friction immediately grabbed me; they've taken great pains to lean into Admiralty scuttlebutt that they're soft/weak/ineffectual, which is hastened by their multiple failures to eradicate Xeheia's cultists.

The chorus to me reflects on the intense high they get the more they accomplish behind the scenes during their ascent to First Admiral. Elation at getting away with almost-literal murder wars with their internal (but unacknowledged and unnamed) shame at the elaborate betrayal of principles they once lived by, combining to create an unexpressed but manic euphoria.

The second verse really hits the nail on the head the whole way through, but in particular: My favourite game's deviation/Steer far from the population/Follow me to your sweet salvation. Whether they truly believe it or they convinced themself of it will ultimately be up to the reader, but Izod's political zealotry results in an intense, unshakable belief that they're the only one who can lead the Empire's navy to its former glory once again. Zephyr by King Buffalo Imagine my surprise and delight when one of the coolest 'z' words actually had a song that fit Izod. Granted, if I had the luxury of making this mini-playlist in narrative order, this song would be first, but beggars cannot be choosers especially when it comes to difficult alphabet letters. This is a really long song at 9 minutes, but I actually appreciate it; it mirrors a long period of Izod's life where they were content with their rise through the naval ranks. Because I am me, I see the first verse through a lens of their transition and early career: As you cast off from the shore/Hoping for a gentle breeze to push you on/You sever from everything you left behind/Do you feel alive? Did you think you would ever get this far?

There's definitely a freedom Izod achieves from the strict social constraints of their privileged upbringing by enlisting in the navy as themself—even if it was not without struggle at points. Because I'm me and I love a narrative foil that is more similar than different to a protagonist, contrast this with Hugo, who is of a similar age to Izod and would have been in those very same social circles (wealthy merchant class) were he not abducted by the fold. I often think about how these two would have known each other in vastly different circumstances had the Melançon tradeship charted a different course that voyage. The second verse has the nice bonus of a double-layered meaning. As Izod starts to become disillusioned with the cushioned, 'soft' politics of the Admiralty and as they take on their self-given job of pursuing the Fury's cult, their life becomes more fraught. As the tempest presses on, eating up the sky above/You eagerly try to break out of the storm/Shadows burgeon overhead, forging lightning bold and red/Leaves you clamouring for the refuge of the shore. Despite their god complex, Izod isn't immune to moments of doubt, and being confronted with the considerable power of Xeheia's fleet is definitely one of them. Their career and life isn't quite how they imagined in, and You remember what you left behind/You pray the wind will carry you home. Except, of course, they double down on their ambition in the end. Which leads nicely to: OK by 8 Graves

This is, pretty obviously, a post-Fate Izod song. I mean, like: The evil that I hold inside/Bed of nails on which I lie, I made it/There's nowhere left for me to hide/Racing toward the other side/I hate it? It's like I wrote it myself, except I didn't actually.

It's pretty obviously signposted that at the end of Fate, Izod is contending with some aspect or fragment of the Carnage. To me, this whole song is about their struggle to keep it together while contending against what Fate demonstrated as an extremely powerful corrosive force—even the mere wisp they were exposed to. So even though Nothing seems to make me feel okay, this song to me represents Izod struggle to do 'right' (though as with most protagonists in this world, what is 'right' to them is vastly different to what is morally good to most folks, lol). Death to the Holy by Zeal & Ardor

In addition to being an absolute banger, I love this song because it speaks to Izod's journey both before and after Fate. If we look at it in a Fate and prior context, I choose to interpret this song as their unwavering, unbending, some may say obsessive quest to bring down Xeheia's fold. First order of business/We sin, we don't pray for forgiveness. Again with the narrative foil bit, but I am always interested in what characters will compromise (or grow) their principles for, and it's fascinating to me that Izod does the most bending of theirs in the name of righteousness. Or, to be on the nose, in pursuit of the death of the holy—in this case, Xeheia. When you look at it through a post-Fate lens, it reads almost exactly the same, except now Izod is in a position of far greater authority to do something about it. And the death of the holy might be expanded to include a certain deity of secrets... and it might not be Izod's quest alone. 👼

[mediaevalmusereads]

Bury Your Gays. By Chuck Tingle. Nightfire, 2024.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: horror

Series: N/A

Summary: Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he's pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finale―"for the algorithm"―Misha discovers that it's not that simple.

As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what's right―before it's too late.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: blood, disturbing imagery, homophobia, body horror, torture

OVERVIEW: Right off the bat, I want to say that I admire Chuck Tingle greatly and love his warm, heartfelt presence online. I also love that he writes queer horror. I just think that his writing style is not for me. While I am interested in the themes Tingle explores in both Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, I just ultimately didn't vibe with his prose too much. Your mileage may vary, so if you like queer horror, I suggest giving this book a try yourself.

WRITING: Tingle creates some very evocative images but unfortunately, I felt like his prose leaned too heavily on telling as opposed to showing. While I understand that telling vs showing is a balance, I felt like the scales were tipped in telling's favor, and as a result, I had a hard time experiencing things with our characters.

I also think the beginning of this book was a bit slow. I understand what Tingle was trying to set up, but I didn't feel like things really started to pick up until perhaps the halfway point. Maybe it's because of the prose style, but I just didn't feel like Tingle was building up any sense of real dread that I would expect from a horror story.

Still, credit where credit is due. I was really interested in the way Tingle explored things like rainbow capitalism, queer trauma, the rise of AI, and so forth. He had a lot of important things to say, and I think he integrated them into his story in very compelling ways.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Misha Byrne, a writer for a studio in LA who is told that he must kill off two queer characters in the TV show he works on. When Misha is hesitant, he notices strange things start to happen around him - things that bring up his own past traumas and anxieties and make them real.

I enjoyed the premise of this book in part because it explored the ways in which corporations exploit queer trauma for profit. It was very clear that Tingle was interested in the way media and capitalism do a disservice to queer characters and queer talent, and I thought it was clever how Tingle also managed to weave in criticisms of things like AI and algorithms.

I do think, however, that the narrative could have been a bit tighter. Some parts of the story seemed to meander a bit and some scenes I think could have been shortened or eliminated altogether in order to keep the momentum going.

TL;DR: Bury Your Gays has a lot of important things to say about queerness and media as well as capitalism and technology, but the prose makes it difficult to emotionally connect with the characters.

CHARACTERS: Misha, our POV protagonist, is compelling on paper, but I found it a bit difficult to connect with him due to the prose style. Misha has a lot of anxiety about being semi-closeted and writing his feelings into his scripts, and in theory, that's a fantastic basis for a protagonist. Unfortunately, I just didn't feel like I was being invited to experience things along with Misha; I was being told a lot, but I always felt somewhat held at arm's length.

Zeke, Misha's boyfriend, seems sweet and supportive, but he didn't have much to do. I understand some tension was introduced by having Zeke be hurt by Misha's shame and by putting Zeke in some danger, but Zeke didn't have much of an arc of his own.

Tara, the head of IT at the studio and Misha's best friend, is quite loud and eccentric. While I appreciated the ace representation, Tara was a little much for me, and despite her role towards the end, she also could have been a little more agentive throughout the story.

I do wish Tingle had built up the relationship between Misha and Jack more as well as Misha and his high school friends. We're told a few times about Misha's feelings for them, but I think Tingle could have done more to help us feel connection so that their arcs felt more consequential.

[tokiro07]

Martial Master Asumi ch.26 thoughts

[On the Fencer]

(Contents: Character analysis - Hanagasaki, critique - art direction, speculation)

Do you think Kawada likes Shaman King? Cus prim and proper lady with a Jeet Kun Do bodyguard sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it?

I'm always a sucker for lovestruck girls, so seeing Hanagasaki instantly fall in love with Bruce Lee and martial arts was immediately endearing for me. I know I said a couple weeks ago that I figured I'd like her a lot, but I didn't expect Kawada to lean this hard into making me do so

It also helps that she clearly does care about Takanori. She says that she wants to be like Bruce Lee, and she certainly seems like the type of strong-willed person to decide on a career path for a whimsical reason like that, but it's also obvious that she's doing this for Takanori's sake too. He loves MMA and has real talent for it, but he was going to give up any chance of going pro so he could focus on protecting Hanagasaki. I'm not going to say that she used MMA as an excuse to let him pursue his passion, but I am going to say that she saw an opportunity that would make them both happy and made sure to take it

Man, in one chapter, they established such a strong and endearing dynamic. They're definitely in the lead for my faves in this series. Plus, Hanagasaki's first punch has exactly the sort of aesthetic that I was hoping to see: her attacks are directly compared to fencing techniques, and even have flower petals for flare! I always wanted one of the National Treasures in Hinomaru Zumou to use a leaf or petal aesthetic, so I'm glad that Kawada looks to be making that happen at long last! Here's hoping we get to see Hangasaki's bloodlust!

Actually, I think that might be the thing that MMA is missing compared to Hinomaru; until Asumi's Water Hammer, all of the moves were just moves, none of them were given exciting imagery to really sell the weight of the moves. If Kawada starts bringing that concept back now, I think readers will start to get more on board going forward. Hopefully other people like Hanagasaki as much as I do!

...Ah, I just realized that I've been calling Takanori by his given name and everyone else by their family names. Oops! I'm already used to it, though, so I'm probably going to keep it up. I might end up changing everyone else to given names over time, but we'll see

To cap it off, I'm not really sure how this fight is going to go. I could see it going either way, since Kawada is the type who likes to build tension by making his characters lose fairly consistently, but he also probably wants to build hype by making Okiba wrack up a good winning streak. We've seen her fight twice, and she won pretty easily both times, so it seems pretty likely that she'll have a more hard-won fight here, but at the same time, Hanagasaki seems like she might be being built up as a major player, so having her lose in her first match while this is Okiba's third might not be the best showing for her (even if she's had three victories off-screen)

Either way, aside from what it will do for both Okiba and Hanagasaki's characters, the purpose of this fight is ultimately going to be to create tension between Asumi and Takanori, as no matter who wins here, their fight will be a revenge match for the honor of their fallen maidens. I get the feeling it would be more compelling for Takanori to be the one taking revenge since his character is more defined by loyalty than Asumi's is, and Asumi would already need to overcome having his confidence shaken from Okiba's loss in the fight with Kuronuma anyway, but it's really hard to say

I'm really looking forward to this fight, and as the first major professional match of the series, I'm willing to bet it's going to be the one that sets the bar for the rest of the series

Until next time

[gold-in-the-shadow]

Remember a while ago I mentioned posting some tumblr exclusives?

Well… here’s this.

Shadow x Infinite, one of my favorites.

This is connected to something I wrote a few years ago, “Phantasmal.” I didn’t feel like posting this on AO3 as a continuation of that, so I thought I’d put it up here. Also, it’s pretty short (and not at all sweet lmao)

Formatting is fucked because I’m on mobile but ehhhh

Suggestive content but nothing explicit. I had a mature content warning on here earlier, but I took it off because this isn’t smut.

—

It was a beautifully cruel invention. Naturally, Infinite loved to tell him all about it. You see, in this world, I am free to do anything I wish. Absolutely nothing is off limits. Would you like a detailed demonstration? Here...

Freezing cold, then burning hot; violating him, then sweetly embracing him.

Making him scream as streaks of his blood split the air.

That’s delicious, Infinite cooed from somewhere far above him. Though your tears must taste ten times as sweet.

He would never allow him to find out, regardless of how much control Infinite told them both he had.

If that was what he desired, he had to make a trade.

So he screamed again and again, much to Infinite’s clear enjoyment. Every strike, every slice, every slap was answered with a scream. On and on, as the crimson blood turned to a vivid lime green and his vision began to grow hazy, he ran down the list of things he was willing to sacrifice. He had nothing to preserve, no untouched treasure that he would rather die than surrender. He didn’t care what Infinite did to his body. He screamed freely, conveying his frustration and anger until he was no longer physically able to.

No sound came from his half-open mouth.

“Oh? Have I really beaten all the screams out of you already?”

Something collided with the back of his head— Infinite’s foot, from what it felt like. Again, he opened his mouth; and again, no sound came out. He felt the straining in his raw throat, fruitless. Just how much time had passed...?

“Pathetic. The so-called Ultimate Life Form is this fragile...?”

Fuck you, he wanted to say.

His body wouldn’t let him.

“I must admit, though... the fact that I have brought you to this point is... extremely satisfying, Shadow.”

Just do it, he mouthed, closing his eyes to avoid seeing the rise of Infinite’s hand. He didn’t want to know when it was coming, he didn’t want to see him take the mask off and shake his head while slowly advancing towards him, he didn’t want to feel that little smirk pierce right through him before he tasted it, he didn’t want to taste it, he didn’t want to be caressed by the one who had just spilled his blood, he didn’t want any part of Infinite, and he would rather die.

He never would— not in this world or any other. He would be beaten bloody and broken until he lost his voice, but he would never be allowed that supreme comfort. He would dream of it— of finally slipping away from Infinite into a realm where he felt no pain and perceived nothing but calm and gentle warmth— but he would never know what it felt like to touch the face of that dream.

Unfortunately for him, neither would Infinite.

Beautifully cruel, indeed.

“You are... such a peculiar little creature...”

The whispered words, delivered less than an inch above his lips, were created to tease him. Infinite knew that he wanted to bite back, and he physically could not— in one sense, anyway.

The next time he felt the heat of his breath, he leaned in to collide with him.

“Ah!”

For all that he had endured and would endure, he deserved at least this.

Infinite’s blood tasted quite a bit different than his own: it was more metallic, less sour, and the texture was a bit thinner.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.

“Oh, you bastard... telling me to shut up, are you?”

The hand around his throat was even better.

He couldn’t help but smile.

“As always, Shadow, you first.”

This time, when he fell, he knew exactly what was waiting for him at the bottom.

[explorya88]

Before we start there are some things that you, daring explorer of the multiverse, need to know before you read this story:

**Warning: Content Advisory**

This fanfic contains sensitive and serious themes that may be difficult for some readers. If you are uncomfortable with topics such as [Violence, moral questionable behaviors, and many others], it's advisable to reconsider reading further. Your well-being is important to me, and we encourage you to prioritize your emotional health. Take care and thank you for understanding.

In this story the demon implanted by Kozholok inside Darius has a name: Aeshdeos (pronouns: they/them). He is a Lust demon enslaved by him and put inside Darius to create the ultimate demon in order to allow their tyrannical master to rule the earth and its inhabitants. Unfortunately for Kozholok, Aeshdeos has a plan: to befriend Darius, convince him to embrace his inner darkness so they can share their power and transform him into a Demon Demigod and slay Kozholok, assimilate his remains and transform him into a true Lust Demon God and they will co-rule the earth and its inhabitants.

So Aeshdeos proceeds to befriend Darius, who at first refused and roared to shut up but the more they speak to him, the more he can’t resist their attempt to friendship, to accept their "gifts", all what they say about his so called friends until one night...

About what the seed of Diveshma we need to go century ago... They are one of unholy creations of lust demons who were trying to create super demons by infecting the Sin Assassin with it but it didn't work and so they were tossed away. Century later Aeshdeos found a demon tree full of twisted fruits born from those seeds and tried to have success where the others failed, they did it! With these they infect the Sin Assassins, with them as their soldiers, they quickly conquered and ruled Sodom and Gomorrah for century until they were defeated by Elam Sin Assassin and to add insult to injury they lost their body and somehow ended up enslaved by Kozholok.

Fang is the name I give to Sin With Me MC.

And finally with this premise we can start the tale:

Darius: Beast out of the chain.

Darius stood alone in the dimly lit room, the weight of his past mistakes and success pressing down on him. As he contemplated his choices, a sinister presence began to creep into his mind. Aeshdeos, his inner demon, the one implanted by Kozholok when he was a fetus, whispered with a sinister allure.

Aeshdeos: Darius, my dear, why do you resist the darkness within? Embrace it, and you'll finally be free.

Darius hesitated, his inner turmoil evident in his dark eyes.

Darius: But Aeshdeos, I don't want to become the monster everyone believes I am.

Aeshdeos: Ah, but you see, my friend, those people, your so called friends, are the reason why you're miserable so that they aren’t. What truly matters is your power, your desires, your potential. Embracing your inner darkness will grant you strength beyond imagination and you will become what you are meant to be.

Darius clenched his fists, torn between the need to keep holding onto his ever dim humanity and the allure of his demonhood.

Darius: What if I lose myself in this darkness, Aeshdeos? What if I become a true monster? I don't want to lose Fang and my family.

Aeshdeos leaned in, his voice a sinister whisper.

Aeshdeos: You won't be alone, Darius. I'll always be with you, guiding you, protecting you. Together, we'll revel in the ecstasy of our darkest desires. Besides, you don't have to lose them, because you can gift them this.

Aeshdeos showed Darius something that looked like a seed of a fruit but seemed to have come right out of a book of H.P. Lovercraft. Darius realized that he stood at the precipice of a life-altering decision, torn between his morality and the seductive promises of Aeshdeos, his inner demon.

Aeshdeos (whispering temptingly): Darius, can you not feel the allure of a world without constraints, where desires know no boundaries?

Darius (hesitant): But at what cost, Aeshdeos? To forsake all morality, to lead them into unrestrained hedonism...

Aeshdeos (smirking): Ah, my dear Darius, think of the ecstasy, the rapture! They will thank you for liberating them from the shackles of virtue and make you their eternal tyrant forever. Now eat the seed of Divashma!

Darius (with a sly grin): Ah, Aeshdeos, you always have a way with words. Liberation, you say? Well then, let's give them a taste of what they've been missing!

As Darius ate the first seed of Divashma within himself, the night seemed to darken further, as if the very heavens disapproved of this unholy act. He felt a surge of dark energy coursing through his veins. Aeshdeos watched with a malevolent glee as Darius transformed, his once-human features contorting into something otherworldly: from its shoulders he grew a pair of majestic wings that were breathtaking and majestic with iridescent feathers, his hair grew long, flowing hair cascaded like liquid silver down its back, his eyes are twin pools of abyssal darkness and two arias-like horns grow on his skull. His laughter echoed through the heart of the night, a sinister symphony that sent shivers down the spines of anyone who dared to listen. The air grew thick with an aura of malevolence, and the very ground seemed to tremble in response to the newfound power coursing through Darius.

Darius (voice dripping with wicked delight): Behold, Aeshdeos, the birth of a new era! The shackles of virtue shall crumble before our might, and the world will bow to my dark desires!

Aeshdeos (smirking): Indeed, Darius, the world will never be the same again. Your reign of darkness has begun! And, as your right hand demon, and advisor it shall be an eternal reign!

Two weeks later....

Fang stood there, in the hotel where the Sin Assassins resided, her eyes filled with both anger and disappointment, her heart heavy with betrayal. She took a deep breath, her voice trembling as she began to speak, her words laced with bitterness.

Fang: You all claim to be protectors, friends, and righteous souls, but look at yourselves in the mirror!

Fang's voice cracked with emotion.

Fang: Just as Yvette accused you of being, you're nothing but hypocrites, self-righteous, and mighty fools. You turned against Darius without hesitation, just because of the demon issue. It's as if you've always secretly hated him. I'm quite surprised that you didn't kill him in his sleep!

She didn't wait for their response. Turning away, Fang decided that she couldn't stand by those who had abandoned her and Darius in their time of need. She stormed off, determined to be by Darius's side no matter what it took, even if it meant seeking help from the opposite side.

The story continue below👇, instead if you wish to known what is happening to the Sin Assassins of Night of Sin Circus the go the links below:

Ascension of the Dark Sin Assassins:

Wrath journey: The Speed Devil

Envy journey: Pixie Laverna Dragon

Gluttony: Beelzebub the devourer prince

Sloth: The Chaos Leprechaun

Once she was safely home, Fang remembered the number Yvette had given her months ago. She dialed it, her heart racing as the phone rang several times before Yvette's voice answered with unexpected warmth.

Yvette: Hello? Wait, Fang, is that you?

She asked, surprised that Fang called her.

Fang: Hey, Yvette, I need your help....

Five months passed when, in exchange for giving them the heirloom, they helped and still help me to find Darius and protect him from any threat.

Yvette: What are you doing up so late? Or so early, I guess. Is something wrong?

Yvette asked, curious.

Fang: Still no news about Darius?

Yvette: Nothing, I'm sorry.

The story continue below👇, instead if you wish to known what is happening to the Sin Assassins of Deadly Sin Circus the go the links below:

Ascension of the Dark Sin Assassins:

Pride: The Morning Star.

Greed: Pele Goddess of the Night.

Fang: I'm a bit sleepy. I think I'll head to bed now. Is that alright, Yvette?

Fang replied.

Yvette: Yeah, sure. Call me if you need anything.

Yvette said.

Fang: Thanks, I will. Bye

Fang turned off her phone and put it away. She got into bed and wrapped herself in her blankets. Just thinking about Darius again made her feel warm and fuzzy all over, like when they were together. She dreamed that she was in his room, waiting for him to return, when she came close to give up, she felt two hand hug her they warmth so familiar.

Fang: Darius, is that you?

Darius: My princess, i missed you.

Fang: Darius!

Fang whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around him. She could feel his muscular body pressed against her, warm and inviting. She kissed him passionately, unable to resist his charms.

Fang: I missed you so much!

She breathed, her voice soft and sensual. She pulled him closer to her, wanting to feel his bare skin against hers.

Darius: Me too, staying away from you is pure torture.

Fang: How are you in dreams?

Darius: Perks of being a Demi-god Lust Demon actually. I tricked Kozholok into thinking that I willingly serve him so that he will teach me all his tricks, perks, and skills (and to Aeshdeos, but I will let her know it later, when the plan is already completed). Once I learn all of them, I will destroy him and save (actually conquer and rule) the world.

Fang: Ok, i trust you.

Darius: But enough with sad and depressing stuff, let us have a night of love and merriment.

Darius proceeds to massage her skin with his smooth hands making her shiver in pleasure.

Fang: Mhhhh...

Darius: Don't hold back your moan.

Fang: Darius, Darius!

Fang moans loudly, she feels like she is in heaven. Darius is happy to see his love so pleased and happy, he will make her reach the nirvana. Then he proceeds to kiss every inch of Fang skin making her quiver in bliss. Fang's breathing was getting heavier as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. She let out some soft moans, and bit her lip to hold back louder noises. She was enjoying this so much, feeling all of Darius's sweet touches all over her body. His kisses on her skin were making everything feel sensitive, and she couldn't help but feel tingly all over. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into this delicious bliss. Darius then cups, spanks and licks Fang breasts sending her waves of ecstasy. He chuckled seductively, to see her slowly fall into bliss. Now, he places the seed of Divashma to amplify her pleasure... and to remove those foolish human restraints, shame and morals so she can truly free, unbound and thus his Queen. Fang felt as if she was being taken to the highest level of pleasure, every touch sending waves of euphoria crashing against her. Darius's spell had removed all her human restraints, and she was just giving in to her cravings. No thoughts, no regrets, no barriers. Just pure, unlimited, intoxicating pleasure. It almost felt too good to be true, but she couldn't help it. She was letting herself go. Darius was delighted to see Fang succumb to the full power of his spell, and he whispered to her.

Darius: Let your fears, your doubts, your shame, and your morals all melt away, my Queen. Just give into your pleasures. You don't need logic or reason now.

His voice was filled with a seductive and commanding tone, making it impossible for Fang to resist his power. He continued...

Darius: Dive into the deepest depths of pleasure, my Queen. Embrace every sensation and every feeling. Let it all wash over you, filling you up with ecstasy like you've never known before.

Fang: Yes! Yes! Take me, let us become one.

Darius: Since you ask so nicely, who am I to deny you?

Darius enters Fang and fills her to the brim; Fang felt the waves of pleasure grow stronger as she felt everything around her melt away. Her body was trembling, and her breath was getting heavy. All she could focus on were her feelings: the way Darius's was heightening her sensations and the way his touches were igniting all over her body. She gave in to it all, letting the pleasure take her away to a world where nothing else mattered. Her eyes were closed, but the scene she was imagining felt so real that she felt like she could see every single detail. It was as if she was right there with Darius. With a grunt, he reaches his pleasure and fills Fang with his seed, making her scream in pleasure too. Suddenly Fang eagerly took Darius's throbbing cock into her mouth, her tongue swirling around the sensitive head.

Fang: Mmm, Darius, do you like how my mouth feels wrapped around your cock?

Her lips tightened around him, applying just the right amount of pressure as she began to bob her head up and down, her mouth sliding along his length.

Darius: Fuck, Fang. Your mouth feels amazing. Keep going, baby. I want to feel your tongue on me.

Darius's moans of pleasure filled the air, his body trembling with each sensation. Fang's tongue skillfully explored every inch of his shaft, gliding along the veins and teasing the sensitive underside.

Fang: You like it when I swirl my tongue around the head, don't you? I love the way you taste, Darius.

Darius: I can't get enough of you, Fang. Your mouth is so fucking good. Suck me harder, baby.

She knew exactly how to bring him to the brink of ecstasy, her mouth working tirelessly to please him.

Darius: Fuck, Fang, I'm getting close. I want to come in your mouth. Can I?

Fang: Yes, Darius. I want to taste you. Give it to me.

With a primal growl, Darius's orgasm washed over him. Fang eagerly swallowed every drop, savoring the taste of his release. She continued to suck gently, milking him of every last drop until he went limp in her mouth.

Darius: So good, my queen.

Fang (purred jockingly): So i am your Queen? Then please your queen with your cock in my pussy again and dominate me?

Darius's eyes darkened with a mix of desire and dominance as he heard Fang's words. Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her close to him, his voice low and commanding.

Darius: Oh, you want to be dominated, my Queen? You want me to please you with my cock?

Fang nodded, a submissive smile playing on her lips.

Fang: Yes, Darius. I want you to take me, to show me who's in control.

Darius wasted no time. With a swift, assertive movement, he lifted Fang onto the bed, positioning himself between her legs.

Darius: You belong to me, Fang, you're mine to pleasure and dominate.

He growled, his fingers teasingly trailing along her inner thighs. Fang's breath hitched, her anticipation growing.

Fang: Yes, Darius. I'm yours.

Without further hesitation, Darius plunged his thick cock into Fang's wet, eager pussy. She gasped at the sudden sensation, her body arching with pleasure. Darius's thrusts were forceful and unrelenting, each one hitting her deepest pleasure spots, driving her wild with desire. Fang moaned, her voice a mix of pleasure and submission.

Fang: Yes, Darius. Take me. Show me what it means to be owned by you.

Darius's grip tightened on her hips, his thrusts becoming more intense. He reveled in the power he held over her, relishing in the knowledge that he was fulfilling her deepest desires. Fang's body quivered beneath him, her moans growing louder with each powerful thrust, as they moved in perfect rhythm, their connection intensified. Fang's submissive nature and Darius's dominant presence fueled their passion, creating an electric atmosphere of pleasure and control, the room filled with the sounds of skin slapping against skin, their moans mingling in a symphony of ecstasy. Fang's body quaked with each thrust, her walls clenching around Darius's cock, urging him closer to his release. Darius's voice, filled with dominance, filled the room.

Darius: You're mine, Fang. Say it. Say you're mine.

Fang's voice trembled with pleasure as she succumbed to his command.

Fang: I'm yours, Darius. Completely yours.

With a final, powerful thrust, Darius spilled himself deep inside Fang, marking her as his own. They both collapsed onto the bed, their bodies intertwined, basking in the aftermath of their passionate encounter. As they catch the breath....

Darius: Sorry, but I need to go. There are some affairs I must deal with in order to never be teared apart.

Fang: Don't go, please.

Darius: Don't worry, please be patient and wait for me.

Darius kisses her. Fang wakes up and feels a sense of peace and liberation wash over her as she does, the dream still so vivid in her mind. It was like she had been given a glimpse of her full potential, the ultimate version of herself. She felt more powerful and alive than she had ever felt before. She stretched, feeling the warmth of Darius's touch all over her body. She had never felt so free, and she wanted to hold onto this feeling forever. She couldn't wait to see Darius again. Fang goes to the kitchen and starts making breakfast. Then, her mother Joyce comes in to help her with breakfast.

Joyce: My daughter, how are you feeling?

With a dark smile, she answers.

Fang: I'm great!

Joyce: That's good to hear, dear. How did you sleep? I was just about to start cooking breakfast, but you beat me to it.

Joyce replied with a smile. Fang felt a smile spread across her face as she remembered her dream.

Fang: I slept just fine, thank you very much. Ah, you know, I just had the mosy wonderful dream.

She added, looking at her mother with a sly smile.

End Part 1.

[casspurrjoybell-23]

The Raven - Chapter 34

*Warning Adult Content*

"The two boys are currently together in the tower, Your Majesty," Delilah informs the king, bowing slightly as she enters the room.

"I escorted them there personally and cast a spell upon the room to ensure no one can enter without my permission."

"I despise being ignorant to what is happening in my own castle," the king grumbles, a deep sigh following his words. "Enlighten me on what happened earlier."

"Well, Your Majesty, I apologize, I am sure you will not be pleased," the witch replies, her arms crossing over her chest. "The commotion began when the queen announced an engagement ball for Prince Henry and Princess Elaina without the prince's consent."

Closing his eyes and leaning his head back, the king lets out a loud groan.

Of course, his wife was the perpetrator behind this mess.

She is always causing trouble, that one.

It is as if 'drama' were her middle name or something.

On days like this one, the king surely cannot understand why he ever agreed to marry her in the first place.

"Continue," he says, motioning at Delilah with his hand, hoping to speed up the conversation and figure out a way to finally sort out the damage caused by his meddling wife.

"Prince Henry obviously did not like that idea, so he and the raven met in the garden. While there, they had Earl, the servant, marry them," continues the witch. "The queen saw what they were doing and ordered that the raven be locked in the dungeon in order to protect the arrangement between the prince and Princess Elaina."

"Why must that blasted woman always insist on ruining my plans?" His Majesty mumbles to himself.

He rubs his palm over his face, hoping to soothe the frazzled nerves caused by the news of his wife's inherent incompetence. "You said both boys are safe now?" he asks.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she responds dutifully. "I have made sure of it."

"Not if I have something to do with it," the queen's voice sounds from behind them, drawing their attention toward the doorway. "Tell me, witch. Why is it that every time I go searching for my dear husband, I seem to always stumble upon the two of you together?" she asks, her voice dripping with venom.

Delilah smiles wickedly, not missing the hint of jealousy hidden in Her Majesty's tone.

The king, irritated by the queen's presence in general but also at her recent offensive and obstructive behaviors, angrily says...

"Well, now that you are here, care to explain what the hell you are doing?"

"I was trying to protect our son," Her Majesty shouts at her husband. "I was simply doing my job to protect him and simultaneously trying to protect our kingdom."

Crossing the room and closing the distance between them, the tone of the king's voice rises drastically.

"You cannot do both," he yells, his chest heaving with the sheer force of his rising fury. "The prophecy was clear, Felicia. If not the raven, then some other boy."

"No! I do not believe it," the queen protests. "If Henry would just settle down with the Princess instead..."

The king interrupts her, his voice booming even louder this time...

"Enough. The prophecy states he will marry a man. It clearly details that there will be an uprising within the kingdom as the word spreads and our entire country will be left in shambles. If we do things your way, we will lose them both, Felicia. That is why I had Delilah create the raven, so our son would fall in love with him. I did it so he could experience true love before his death because that is all I could give him. We cannot save both our son and the kingdom. I had to make a decision and I chose our people. But I can, at the very least, ensure that the life he lives before his untimely death is one filled with the ultimate love. Why will you not let me do that for him, Felica? Why are you so dead set against our son's happiness?"

As the shouting continues, the boys are stopped in their tracks, frozen in place in the corridor just outside of the room, unfortunately, they had heard every word of the confessions so carelessly being revealed at a volume extreme enough for the entire castle to overhear.

Prince Henry's mind stops short, practically short-circuiting as he tries to understand what his parents are arguing about.

What is this about a prophecy?

His parents knew that he would someday fall in love with another man? And his father was not opposed to this idea? And his mother... She has been trying so hard to arrange his marriage to a woman in order to what? Protect him from being gay? To stop a war from brewing among their people? Henry suddenly thinks that he does not really know his parents at all.

And the kingdom... would they really be so against him that it would lead to such drastic measures?

Would they willingly put their lives at risk and murder other innocent civilians just because their future king is in love with another man?

Surely, they would not stoop to such barbaric actions over something so...

Well, in Henry's opinion, something entirely normal.

Also, if what his father said is true, that means that Caleb is his perfect match.

He was explicitly engineered especially for him, like two halves to a whole, two pieces of the same soul, they are made to complement each other perfectly.

They are made to fit together effortlessly, flawlessly, they belong together, just as he had thought.

Meanwhile, Caleb's existential crisis drowns out the sounds of the ongoing argument.

The roaring thoughts in his head are so loud that they are almost deafening.

He was created specifically for Henry to fall in love with?

Their instantaneous bond, the undeniable connection, the profound love they share... it was his mother's plan all along?

None of it was real?

It was simply... magic.

He had heard the king's words loud and clear, if it were not for him, Henry would have fallen for some other boy.

Does... Does that mean that Henry was never truly his, to begin with?

Has Caleb somehow stolen someone else's destiny simply by existing?

How... How could his mother and the king manipulate people's lives in such a way?

And just as he feared, an uprising has been predicted.

His love for Henry will be the cause of the kingdom's downfall, the reason so many people will undoubtedly lose their lives as they fight against each other for what they believe is right.

The raven shudders at the thought of all the harm that had likely been caused simply by his creation.

He aches for the lives that could now be ruined because someone decided to take fate into their own hands.

His heart shatters in his chest, crumbling to pieces as he incessantly worries about the inevitable consequences such actions will inflict upon the undeserving people whose destinies have been tampered with.

He worries about... Henry...

Caleb's eyes widen in horrified realization.

In his clouded state, while he had been focusing on whether or not Henry would still love him without the magical intentions behind his creation, he had entirely neglected to process the fact that Henry's life is quite literally on the line.

The king had mentioned something about Henry's death.

The raven's heart beats erratically in his chest as he draws himself back to the screaming match happening just within earshot, he needs to collect all the details in order to protect Henry from whatever demise they are speaking about.

"You imbecile," the queen sobs hysterically, her words hardly intelligible through her panting breaths. "I could have saved them both if you had given me a chance. I could have saved him and you ruined it. I could have saved him."

Her Majesty's pained cries and wails fill the room as no one speaks for several minutes.

The tension in the air is thick and palpable, one could likely cut it with a knife, should they try.

It is not long before Delilah grows tired of the queen's obsessive and utterly pathetic crying.

Breaking the silence, she says...

"If we kill him now, we can prevent the war from occurring in the first place. If we do not..."

"If you want to kill Henry, you will have to go through me first," Caleb says, stepping into the room behind the queen, his prince at his side.

[qingzhouxi]

Introspect: The Culmination and Evaluation of One's Self-Perception (Part 4)

Blog Post #4 Preliminary Drafting: March 26, 2023 Blog Draft Created: March 26, 2023 Blog Posted: March 27, 2023

iii. Stage 3: Initiative vs Guilt

The third stage deals with the social interactions a child engages himself in during his childhood and so problems in this stage causes a child to form distorted views of social connections and may therefore become wary of forming connections with other children. It must be noted my friend's childhood memories always revolved around his family and not with his non-familial friends, which suggests that he only stayed within his family and barely interacted with other people, if at all, effectively making any interaction outside his family foreign to him. In the case of Kyu, he mostly leaned onto the initiative side but due to his previous conflict regarding shame and doubt, there is an inevitable formation of guilt. According to Cherry (2023), if the child forms guilt during this stage, the tendency is that they will avoid new things fearing that they might do something wrong. In hindsight, this may have contributed to Kyu's wariness of letting me into his life, as having me constantly present is an entirely new concept to him considering I am the first close friend he formed a relationship with online instead of in real life and the only non-familial friend who is older than him.

iv. Stage 4: Industry vs Inferiority

Before I proceed to the content of this portion, please bear in mind that my friend's psychosocial development is delayed as a result of his prolonged Stage 2 and as such, the timeframe I will mention is not the common timeframe in which this stage should have taken place. Stage 4 is when the child begins to form his desire for social acceptance and as such, problems here may lead to a child having problems perceiving their correct status relative to others. Since my friend did have a predisposition to having low self-esteem and nothing was done to directly resolve that problem, his self-esteem was kept low, especially since he does not like being underweight and has a short memory span. This was further exacerbated by his lethargic nature, which may lead to people sometimes perceiving him as lazy, possibly causing a further drop in his self-esteem. Thus, he ended up leaning onto inferiority, as demonstrated paradoxically when he opened up to me that he once had a period during his 9th grade when he had a superiority complex. Holland (2019) claimed that this is most likely the mind's compensation for having perceived inferiority compared to others, further solidifying that Kyu leaned onto the inferiority side more during this period. Thankfully, this superiority complex is already resolved and has been removed from his personality at this point in time.

v. Stage 5: Identity vs Confusion

The conflict present in this stage has to do with the journey to find the true self of a person and therefore, if a person fails to find his true identity, it leads a confusion about his role. Normally, this journey spans the entire high school life of a person (7th grade to 12th grade) but since Kyu experienced a delay, he is only experiencing this journey starting from 11th grade and is currently in this stage. It is indeed good that his identity is slowly falling into place manifested by his formation of life principles and values, namely: fun, reciprocity, and appreciation. My friend's positive traits may also be interpreted as his values: creativity, patience, and detail-oriented. As one of his closest friends, I have done and am doing what I can in order to ensure that he will end this stage while leaning onto the identity side so that he can start the succeeding stages with a positive outlook.

vi. Future Stages (Stages 6-8)

I am honestly interested in how he would develop in the future and while I am always going to be by his side, it is ultimately on him to change his future for the better. Should he end the fifth stage leaning onto the identity side, I think he is basically set on having a brighter future, a future hopefully with me in it.

Click This to Read Part 5

[mrbigbrother]

A word of encouragement to Lindsay Ellis

good evening Lindsey Ellis, I hope this letter finds you in good health. I am the opposite of everything you likely ever believed in. I lean right from the center, i don't like anything or anybody, I'm not a published author, my youtube channel is small and it sucks.

I am unfunny, not good looking,have a cringe sense of humor, not exceptionally good at a certain skill, not relatable, and take myself way too seriously.

But here i am writing you this public letter. And it's something that I would like to do more of because there are a few youtubers that i have some condolences to give over the death of what was, and a word of encouragement to what can still be, and still is. so let's get into it.

Lindsey Ellis, even if the likelihood of you actually taking time to read this in its entirety is slim, it will still be here. it has been one hell of a ride huh? I remember your time on that website that we do not talk about anymore and should not be named but it rhymes with Flannel Possum. Those were the days huh! at least before the dark times. of course for some, those were the dark times. But this isn't about rehashing the past. No, it's about moving forward. I just wanted to make clear that I have followed your content from the very beginning. I was an angsty teenager who could recite whole George Carlin stand ups from memory in those days, and it was kind of nice hearing others echoing the same sort of "i wasn't born with enough middle fingers" kind of attitude that got me through those times. I feel very much the same still. Yet more humble. the post-cvid world feels like it's 100 years away from the year 2019, when i had stumbled upon Lindsey's channel and recognized her as "hey it's the Nostalg…"

sorry.

It was a good feeling after the whole #changethechannel. I was gearing up to try and start pursuing writing, and I found the publishing videos you made to be among my favorites that i often still refer to when navigating that labyrinth.

Addressing the bullshit: I mean, i liked the Hobbit movies. I don't think Jk Rowling is a bad person. (she just wrote bad books that I don't understand why adults read them.) So there are plenty of times that I would disagree with you, even strongly on various matters. But you don't have to agree with every opinion someone might have. King Diamond once said that even Christians and Satanists can be just as good of friends if they wanted. And that's what i live by. I'll always hear you out and try to see it from your perspective. And at the very least show respect for it. that is the complete opposite of the current age of discourse.

You were bullied off of the internet for no discernibly good reason. There isn't a good enough reason to do that. Not over an opinion. At this point, Twitter is the fucking Antichrist. It did just like an antichrist would: it connected us all. Now we're receiving the mark of the beast, and the world nears catastrophic doom as we march toward the canyon looking down at our digital tombs, plunging us deeper into the comforts of a new dark age…people need to get off of the internet and just live fucking life.

And Lindsey, I will always, always, respect your decision to do just that. Because this shit is really ruining lives dude. Goddamn, the best thing we ever created is now killing us. Who'da thought right?

The bullshit that you were put through happened and there is no undoing it. There is no need to undo it. You just need to embrace the haters that come from all directions. from the angry incels that stalk your channel, to all of the other angry left wing incels that turned on you the minute they smelled blood in the water, because that's all these self righteous people are: They are the kind that don't get laid and have lots of anger and resentment that ultimately leads to them eating each other, and even eating at themselves. (insert clip of orson welles shark monologue from Lady From Shanghai.)

And i am sorry Lindsey. I mourn with you. It wasn't your fault. Twitter is a lot like The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: It was just your turn fam. Everyone who watches your channel (your real audience), all know what your convictions are and how much they mean to you. But the wounded animal that you tried to help, can and will only bite and maw you to shreds if it can. Its brutal. It's not fair. and it's the truth.

so, where does that leave us, as in you and the audience that I speak for…it leaves us in the same place we are always going to be found at: at our desks and work benches, typing our lives away and shaking our heads at the melodrama in the same damn spirit of George Carlin, Harlan Ellison (and for me) my grandmother who too held her middle fingers up to this world before she died. Only if we are up to it.

the world doesn't get better. you get better.

And Lindsey, from one Tennessee borne to another: I might not be saying this with the right words so forgive me, I'm just a stranger who gets a kick out of your work on my beloved YouTube, that i have had to watch fall into the same spammy soulless content it always does. But your career is an interesting one. Youtube is a lot more interesting, with you in it.

But hey, What do i know. I'm just another late twenties asshole that will linger around who ever will have me until i'm told to fuck off. And the people who dogpiled on you with their unearned moral superiority, just like they have so many others…well you sure told them to fuck off, and that takes a big pair of proverbial balls. That's what I respect. And my word of encouragement to you, is that I genuinely miss your channel and i am not the only one; There's a lot more people who miss you too.

I'm not asking you to come back. But if and when I see you at it again, it will put a smile on my face. (thanos vibe)

From a Fan, and a friend, I wish you well Lindsey Ellis.

coughnostalgiachickcough

Ta Ta - Jake

[bunkernine]

your chb extended tag is canon, toa who?

you are actually my favorite anon, i didn't want to answer this because i didn't want to share this but thank you very much

[introvert--weeb]

Hello Can we talk about your talent girl you're shinning ❤💅💅

But seriously you're work is awesome

Tell me plz if I can request this:

Takemitchi coming back to the past not understanding what is missing for the future

He is in one of toman meeting waiting for the "talk" but he hear some noise behind the tree 🌳and when he go to see he find micky and his gf(s/o) kissing and being lovey dovey and then he understands that she is the reason of mickeys dark implusion (dk if i wrot it good)

Like her dying in his arms so like takemitchi want to save both of them (I'm sucker for this type of angst 🤧)

Sorry if this is too much 😅you don't have to do it just wanted to cry

Love 💘😻💜💛💚🧡💘😻💜💛💚🧡

Oh my god! I'm so glad you are enjoying my writing and thank you so much! You have just made my whole week with that! ❤️😭❤️

Of course! I am a sucker for angst (if you couldn't tell from my posts) and this is just amazing!!

Thank you so much for requesting and I hope you enjoy this @kimrena-stuff

--

Mikey X f!reader (fluff with angst)

TW: mentions of death, sadness, blood, violence, canon divergence, alternate timeline

--

The future still wasn't perfect in Takemichi's eyes. Sure, most of the people he tried saving survived but there still was no happy ending for any of them. And once again, Hinata had been killed.

It was confusing him. Surely he had made sure that everything was fixed in the past? What was he missing that could have caused another bad future. The blond had even asked Chifuyu about any events that could be coming up that would cause Mikey to turn out the same as he had every other future. Was it Kisaki? But Kisaki had been fired from Toman.

Chifuyu could not offer much information, after all, he did not know the future and Mikey hadn't declared a war on any other gangs since last time Takemichi had gone back. So there was no luck in that department. Maybe they were both overlooking something small that would be massive in the future?

Takemichi was sort of thankful that he had been called up about the Toman meeting that was happening that night. He could find his answer there, he was sure. After all, each meeting he had gone to so far had provided him with an idea of what was going to happen.

He had arrived at the shrine earlier than most other members. The only ones he really knew that had arrived were Draken, Mitsuya and Chifuyu considering that was who he hitched a ride with. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except Mikey wasn't with Draken as he usually would be.

Curiosity had gotten the better of the young Toman, he had went to ask Draken where the captain was. Draken simply pointed over to a gathering of trees, explaining that Mikey could usually be found there before meetings start. That seemed to only make the boy's curiosity worse, wondering what Mikey could be doing in the cover of the trees.

He couldn't be meeting up with Kisaki still, could he? Is that why the future was not getting any better? Panic filled Takemichi as he approached the trees. If he was talking with Kisaki then that could be his only chance to stop it and create the perfect future he wanted!

It was as he was getting closer that he heard what he thought was two voices talking quietly. Not quiet enough where it could be considered whispering but enough where Takemichi couldn't make out the words being exchanged. He could tell one of them was definitely Mikey but the other could have been anyone. Had Mikey decided to ally himself with someone even more dangerous than Kisaki was proving to be? After all, nobody in Toman had been able to see Mikey in the future so it could be possible.

Trying his best to hide himself from Mikey, Takemichi peeked his head around to find a sight that made his cheeks flush a dark red. Mikey had both hands against a tree trunk with an absolute hottie between them. At first, it seemed a little alarming for the younger blond until he had noticed the soft smile and blush that dusted your features.

It was only when Mikey leaned down to press a kiss to your lips that Takemichi had felt he was overstaying his welcome. Especially since he wasn't really welcome in the first place. He was simply a creepy peeper at that moment. Why did he keep ending up in these types of moments that made him look like a creep?! First it was with Emma and now he was essentially watching his captain make out with his girlfriend.

"I love you, Mikey." Your voice was breathless from that kiss, your eyes sparkling as they stared into your lover's dark ones. It was obvious to anyone that you were both so in love with each other. Hell, you were sneaking off together at any moment you could find just to be all lovey dovey with each other.

"I love you more, Y/N."

Takemichi had caught that small snippet of your conversation as he was trying to silently walk away. He really didn't want to be caught by the Invincible Mikey staring at the loving exchange after all. But it did get him thinking. Had you ever been mentioned in the future? Surely if you were this in love, you would remain by Mikey's side forever?

The Toman meeting started as it usually did. You would be sat on the stairs while your boyfriend would address the issues related to the gang. Everyone knew who you were, you would always be at the meetings after all unless you had to attend to other business. That would explain why Takemichi hadn't seen you. You must have been attending to other things every meeting that the blond went to. All throughout the meeting, Takemichi could only try and recall if you're present in some way in the future. Surely you would still be hanging around with the same people 12 years later.

He would have to contact Naoto in the future as soon as he could. After all, if there was something big that was going to happen then he would want to find out as soon as he could. And so, as soon as the meeting was finished, he made his way to the Tachibana household to find young Naoto.

"So, how did it go? Were you able to change anything?" That was the first thing Naoto asked once Takemichi had woken up. It was the same routine each time. Naoto would ask if he had changed anything, knowing that it wasn't enough since Hinata was still dead. But maybe if something had changed, they were a little bit closer to finding out what was causing this chain of reactions.

Takemichi shook his head and then dived headfirst into his question. He had asked if you were ever mentioned in one way or another. Maybe if you were still alive, something must have happened between you and Mikey which he could prevent from occurring. Just thinking back on how in love you both were with each other, he was beginning to doubt that it was a simple break up.

It had taken the two males a full hour until your name had popped up in their searches. It really didn't help that Takemichi only knew your first name and that you would hang out with Toman. The news article had filled the computer screen, a photo of you smiling in the top corner of the page. It gave off a vibe that didn't match the contents of the article.

You had been stabbed 15 times in the chest and stomach during a gang brawl between Toman and a gang Takemichi hadn't heard of yet. You were rushed to the hospital but had died before the doctors could reach you. It stated that it was a boy named Manjiro Sano that had brought you in.

It all started to make sense now. You had been caught up in the brawl and had sustained injuries that had ended your life. So Mikey had lost himself when you had died in his arms as he tried his best to save you.

Takemichi checked the date on which you had died. 2 days from today. Why wasn't this brawl mentioned at the Toman meeting?! Did Mikey keep it a secret or was it a spontaneous confrontation? Takemichi could only guess it was the second option. Especially since the brawl would take place at Toman's meeting spot at the shrine.

"I need to save Y/N from dying. That is what we were missing! If she survives, Mikey won't lose another piece of himself." And with that, the handshake that activated the time leaping had taken place.

Takemichi had explained his plan to Chifuyu. Explained how there would be a brawl the next day at the shrine and how that is possibly the trigger for the bad futures. After all, Mikey might stay sane with you by his side. Chifuyu couldn't believe what he was hearing. A gang would have the balls to enter the meeting place of Toman just to start a fight? They must either hold a huge grudge against them or were just plain insane. No gang was to ever enter another gang's meeting spot as it was seen as sacred.

The blond had vowed that he would do anything he could to protect you from harm and ultimately save Mikey from his dark future. Even if he had to glue himself to your side, he would make sure nothing happened to you. He would make up for the time he had failed to save Baji.

You and Mikey continued with your routine. Enter the tree clearing and spend some quality time together. You both exchanged kisses, splitting the dorayaki you would keep on you for your boyfriend, and joking around. Everything a couple in love should do.

The day of the brawl had arrived and so had the rival gang. It was in the middle of Mikey addressing his gang that the opponent's had arrived. The shock was quickly erased as the fighting began. Mikey had made sure you stayed close behind him so he could keep you safe, even though you could fight. Maybe not as well as most of the Toman members but you were capable of keeping yourself safe.

Takemichi scanned the entire shrine area in search of you. Relief had briefly enveloped the middle schooler. After all, if Mikey was with you, nobody could touch you. Or that's what everyone had thought. You had been separated from Mikey as soon as the gang members discovered you were cared for deeply by him. They had thought that if they got you, they could win the fight.

It was if the world was entering slow motion. Takemichi tried to push his way to where you were being dragged, the determination to save everyone being his main driving force. Mikey had yet to notice you were no longer behind him, too focused on taking out the leader and winning the brawl so he could take you home where you would be safe. However, that plan was quickly becoming less likely.

"Shit! Move out of my way!" Takemichi had panic pumping throughout his veins. If he couldn't get to you in time, there was no second chance. It was times like this that made him realise just how human he was. He was one boy, not a God. He could only do so much. But he was sure as hell gonna try and save you.

"Y/N!" Takemichi's voice carried across the entirety of the battlefield. So much so that everyone had frozen, especially Mikey. He turned his gaze to behind him where he thought you were only to find you were missing. Frantic, his dark eyes scanned the area until they rested on you being held against your will. The boy who held you had his arm across your neck, squeezing so you couldn't call out to your boyfriend. However, it was the knife that he pointed to your chest that had Mikey scared.

Takemichi was the only person who didn't freeze, pushing his way past the bodies that stood like statues. He could make it! He could save everyone with this one action! He was convinced that this was why Mikey had given into his dark impulses and why no-one could get their happily ever afters.

He was too late. The knife had pierced through your chest, narrowly missing any vital organs. This had seemed to spur the younger blond to increase his speed, trying to keep in mind that you could survive if he kept the stabs to a minimum. After all, the news article had explained how you had been stabbed 15 times. One was fixable. One he could deal with.

Mikey couldn't seem to move. His love had been stabbed. For no other reason than they were there and sticking by him. This wasn't fair. You had nothing to do with what the problem was and you shouldn't be paying the price for it either.

It felt like an eternity for Takemichi to reach where you were. His legs were screaming at him to stop and his heart was beating a million miles a minute. In the time it took him to get to you, you had sustained another two stabs in your stomach and chest. The person doing it was nothing short of a monster. He didn't care that you were innocent or that you were a girl. He just continued his mission.

The sound of skin to skin contact echoed, a sickening crack following along. Takemichi had landed the hardest punch he could muster against the side profile of the monster. The crack was the jaw breaking underneath the force. You were released as the perpetrator stumbled backwards, falling as he lost consciousness. Takemichi had made it but he wasn't confident that it was in time. He couldn't help but watch as you smiled and fell sideways. Fueled simply by the adrenaline, he had carefully picked you up in his arms before starting his journey to the hospital.

Draken had been the one to snap Mikey out of his daze, telling him to get his bike. There was no way that Takemichi would get there in time if he was simply thinking of running. And so that's what Mikey did. He fired up his precious bike, ordering the young blond to climb onto the back before speeding his way to the closest medical facility.

Due to all of this, you had survived. Takemichi had succeeded in saving you and thus saving Mikey. There was a possibility that the future would be good this time.

Once he had heard you were alive and doing well, Mikey had finally let himself react. Tears fell one after the other down his cheeks and relief had lifted his heart. He wouldn't lose you. You were alive because of Takemitchy. That is something Mikey couldn't thank the younger blond enough for. He had saved your life when Mikey could do nothing but watch.

Everyone expressed their gratitude for Takemichi. After all, they couldn't imagine what Mikey would turn out like if he had lost you during that fight. Takemichi had an idea but wasn't about to spill what the future he knew was like. Speaking of which, he did wonder how this had affected his future. Would everyone finally have their happy endings? He sure did hope so.

As soon as Naoto had shook his hand, Takemichi had found himself sitting at a table with a can of beer in his hand. Confused on what was going on, he glanced around at his surroundings. He was currently in a home that looked nothing like his apartment. Photos of a couple he vaguely recognised littered the walls, there was the scent of takeout wafting in the air, and the noise was loud yet joyful.

A few days later, Takemichi decided to head back to where he belonged. 12 years in the future. You had been discharged from the hospital and probably on a date with Mikey as he approached the Tachibana residence. Thinking about it, Mikey had seemed to brighten up more ever since you had been allowed out of the hospital. Takemichi laughed as he recalled Mikey buried under a large bouquet of your favourite flowers and a giant plushie of your favourite animal on that day. You had simply laughed before peppering the Toman leader's face in kisses. You had also planted a peck on the younger boy's cheek as a sign of how grateful you were to him. After all, if Takemichi hadn't done any of that, you wouldn't be able to spend anymore time with Mikey. You owed him your life.

That's when Takemichi realised he had done it. Hinata was chatting happily with Yuzuha and Hakkai about their experiences in Europe; Mitsuya, Smiley and Angry were laughing about some inside joke no-one knew about; Pah-chin and Peh-yan were discussing business relating to the real estate agency; Kazutora and Inui were drinking in the corner, simply observing the festivities; and Draken was chatting away happily to Mikey, his arm around Emma's waist as she tried to soothe their baby. Takemichi had saved them all. They were all OK. Most of all, Hinata was alive.

"Anyone needing any refills?" your voice trailed in from where you stood in the doorway connecting the living room and kitchen. You looked almost the same except for a few features. Takemichi knew at that moment that this was the perfect future for everyone, especially when Hinata had come over and kissed his cheek. The discussion around the room had suddenly become one as everyone spoke about the upcoming weddings between you and Mikey as well as the one between Takemichi and Hinata. For the first time in a long time, Takemichi could let go of the weight he had carried around and enjoy his life with his friends and his fiancé.

[fandomlit]

neutral, chap. 2 (dream smp x reader)

series summary (in game!au) when an exiled tommy finally rebels against a manipulative dream, he finds safety in neutral territory, a place owned and guarded by you. staying in your safe haven opens up the younger one’s eyes to your way of life, while also revealing your deeper past before neutral; a past that involved a war for your love.

chapter summary tommy learns a little bit more about your relationship with dream before spending his day with ghostbur, exploring neutral territory and learning of the war that sparked its creation.

warning mentions of war, violence, and injuries

previous | series masterlist | next

gif cred belongs to @chillcrafting

“you have a package, y/n!” ghostbur called out just as you placed tommy’s breakfast in front of him. the ghoul’s words went completely ignored by tommy, whose gaze was solely focused on the beautiful stack of pancakes placed in front of him.

y/n smiled to herself. “you can bring it in, bur. i know who it’s from.” she shuffled syrup and butter over to tommy just as ghostbur came in with the fateful package.

tommy was already half way through scarfing down the stack of pancakes when y/n managed to open the package, ghostbur gazing over her shoulder. she took out a note set atop of the contents.

she read aloud, “y/n, i’m sorry i haven’t properly stopped by in a while. my work requires much of my undivided attention right now, which i’m sure you understand. please work your magic for me with the clothes included, and i will be sure to drop by for them and a meal soon. there are a few extra gifts included for you. i hope tommy isn’t burdening you. signed dream.”

“i’m not a burden!” tommy spoke offendedly through a mouthful of pancakes.

“you’re right, tommy,” y/n hummed, handing him a napkin to wipe some syrup off of his chin. “you’re perfect company.” tommy smiled to himself as he finished off his stack of pancakes. y/n sighed to herself, “clay really knows how to ruin a good piece of clothing..”

“so you and dream are close, y/n?” tommy grumbled, picking up his glass of milk.

she shrugged. “as close as you can be with someone you barely see.” she placed his battered clothes to the side, sighing again when she saw the rest of the contents of the box. tommy didn’t realize this, continuing with his questions.

“i remember that he respected your territory when he stepped into it,” he recalled. “he was going to kill me, but then he realized he was in neutral.”

y/n nodded. “when i made claimed this territory as neutral, i made a deal with everyone: i would mend and tailor anything you needed as long as you respected my territory as neutral.” she held up a box of diamonds and a smaller box of netherite to tommy’s view, making his mouth drop open with surprise. y/n held out another napkin to him for the milk that had sputtered out of his open mouth while ghostbur laughed into his hand. “clay is the only one who still tries to pay me.”

“with netherite?!” tommy exclaimed, letting out a surprised laugh.

y/n shrugged, seemingly not phased by the generous gift. “the nether..” she shook her head, placing the valuable materials onto the table, “is not a place i like to go. and most of this will probably be going toward dream’s armor, anyway.” she sighed, placing the gifts back into the box and laying the tattered shirts on top of them. “trust me, he’s still too kind for his own good with these sorts of materials.”

“how much netherite does that man have?” ghostbur scoffed, looking at how much was contained in the box.

“probably quadruple that amount,” y/n chuckled. “he has far too much free time.”

“and he doesn’t even spend it with you,” ghostbur sighed, shaking his head with a goofy smile.

“i know!” y/n spoke sarcastically before laughing out. she closed the box and set it under the table. “i’ll deal with that later. do you want any more pancakes, tommy?”

“no, i’m stuffed,” the teen yawned. “but thank you.”

she nodded. “well, then how about ghostbur shows you around the territory today?”

the boys perked up immediately. “really?”

“yeah,” she laughed, taking tommy’s empty plate. “you two can take the day to explore and have fun. go be a kid, kid.”

tommy excitedly looked up to his ghost friend. “fancy a game of ultimate tag?”

“you’re gonna get crushed,” ghostbur laughed before they both ran out of the house, laughing. y/n smiled.

“oh! i should make them lunch..”

...

“how big is this place?” tommy laughed after a few rounds of tag. they had found their way to a pond in a forested area, tommy deciding his knee needed a break after all of their running. 

“it’s bigger than you think,” ghostbur assured, making sure to keep an appropriate distance from the water as they sat along the small shore. “y/n claimed the territory before l’manberg, so there really wasn’t any need for a turf war of any sorts for what she settled.”

“how long has she lived here?” tommy questioned.

ghostbur shrugged. “almost two years, i think. she’s made quite the life for herself since.” more to himself, he muttered, “god, has it really been that long since it happened?”

“since what happened?” tommy asked, leaning closer to his friend with sparkling, curious eyes.

ghostbur sighed, “i’ll admit, i don’t remember too much.. but i know there was a fight. one of the first wars of our time, and it was all over y/n.”

“they were fighting for her?” tommy spoke with confusion. “she’s not an object.”

“very good, tommy,” ghostbur prided, patting his friend on the shoulder. “you’re right, she’s not. that’s why y/n left her original home and sought to create neutral territory; to end the fighting and create a place where peace could reign. in exchange, she’d offer her goods and services.”

“so they were fighting over her for her skills,” tommy understood. ghostbur made a face. “..or not?”

“both sides obviously wanted her skills, but i think y/n tends to neglect the fact that they were all madly in love with her,” ghostbur sighed, shaking his head.

tommy raised his eyebrows. “a crime of passion, eh?” he joked, making them both laugh out before he asked, “who was it?”

“let me think,” ghostbur sighed, tapping his chin. “i know one was dream, but the other.. i think it was-”

“boys! lunch is ready when you are!”

tommy turned back to ghostbur. “well? who?”

ghostbur shook his head. “sorry, tommy, i don’t remember that far. that’s as much as i can tell you.”

tommy couldn’t help but fel disappointed, but he knew he couldn’t blame his friend. “that’s alright, ghostbur. let’s go get lunch before y/n comes looking for us.”

...

after lunch and an insistent rematch of tag, ghostbur and tommy made their way to the organized garden area.

“y/n grows anything you can imagine,” ghostbur bragged as tommy marveled as the fluorescent, beautifully natural area. “she’s been to nearly every biome to complete her garden.”

“you can grow cocoa?!” tommy exclaimed when he finally spotted y/n, who was swinging an axe at a low jungle tree.

“y/n found a way,” ghostbur shrugged, guiding tommy over to her. “hey, y/n!”

“hi, boys,” she smiled, plucking off the plant she had loosened from the tree. “was lunch good? im sorry i didn’t stay and chat.”

“it was delicious,” ghostbur complimented, tommy nodding in agreement as his mind drifted back to the mouth watering coleslaw and toasted sandwiches she had prepared.

“that’s good!” she smiled, placing the cocoa plant on the ground. “you boys may want to step back.” they did as told as y/n swung her axe over her head, splitting the cocoa clean in half and revealing the delicious beans inside of it. “voila!”

ghostbur clapped politely. “thank you,” y/n laughed, dropping her axe and picking up the split plant. “would you boys like a sample?”

“sure,” tommy shrugged, stepping forward with ghostbur. he picked out a few beans before popping them into his mouth. breaking through the semi-tough shell, the delicious, dark taste flooded his taste buds and made him nearly moan, as y/n’s food often did. he and ghostbur shared a look of satisfaction before he voiced, “oh, y/n.. they’re perfect.”

“that’s good,” she laughed before nudging her bucket closer to her and scooping the seeds out into it. “how has your day around the territory been?”

“entertaining,” tommy spoke before asking, “how did you get into gardening, y/n?”

y/n gave ghostbur a knowing smile before she answered the younger boy’s question, “i was tired of eating only meat and bread. gardening was a way to expand my diet to more than just carbs and proteins. also, it’s very calming.” they followed when she hiked up her bucket and moved to the next jungle tree.

“is it?” tommy questioned.

she affirmed with a nod. “it’s nice to be able to spend a day tending to things you made. the fruits of your own harvest are the sweetest, they say.” they watched as she knocked down another cocoa plant.

“they are,” tommy nodded solemnly, his mind drifting to a sadder, more familiar place. “that’s why i miss l’manberg.”

y/n was barely surprised by the boy’s open confession. she tossed her axe down again, going to place a hand on tommy’s shoulder. “i know you do, tommy, and i know it’s rough right now. but what we’re playing here is a waiting game; we’re waiting for a safe opportunity to get you home, and in the meantime, i’ll take care of you, kid.”

tommy offered you another nod and a smile. “we?”

y/n gave him a kind grin. “im going to help you as best as i can from where i am. and i know that’s not much from me, but i know that everyone deserves a home that they love. and you can’t get there alone, kid.”

“you’re right about that,” tommy sighed before looking into her kind eyes. “thank you, y/n. your help means a lot.”

she squeezed his shoulder. “of course, tommy. you and ghostbur go explore some more; try to keep your mind on the things you can control.” she picked her axe back up.

tommy looked to the pitying ghoul beside him before looking back to y/n, a new thought fresh in his mind. “can you teach me how to cook?”

y/n grinned as she lifted her axe over her head again. “of course i can, tommy.”

tommy smiled as she cracked open the plant. he looked back to ghostbur. “wanna go for a swim?” the ghost shot him a fearful look. “im kidding! im kidding, let’s go use some pigs for target practice.” they both began to walk off, chatting and giggling before tommy turned and called, “y/n!” she looked up attentively. “what’s for dinner?”

she smiled. “i was thinking ribs!”

tommy’s mouth watered at the thought. “oh my god, i can’t wait to learn how to cook..”

tag list!! @vanhakirja @victory-is-here @inkyynki @airiour @sylum @kiritokunuwu @221bee-slytherin @bllatrixcarpnter @soullesstaco @stxrryb1tch​ comment below or message me if you would like to be added <3