#anyway should i start saving for the mirror: Yes or Also Yes But More Yes Than Regular Yes

[izzy-b-hands]

I am realising how many spots I missed trying to shave the back and sides of my head last night (down to skin this time bc it grows back so fast and it gets so hot in the summer bc my hair is thick)

This isn’t necessarily an excuse to start saving towards the Boomtown Rats mirror in their shop, but also, I could totally ask Housemate to put a lil hook on the opposite bathroom wall to the main mirror, and we could like. put that there for haircuts and find some cool art to habitat the hook the rest of the time and then the mirror could otherwise reside in my room unless needed for the aforementioned haircuts (bc I don’t yet have a mirror in there and I didn’t think I really needed/wanted one?? until I realised I was trying to style my hair in the flip view/selfie view of my phone camera a few days ago and was like. Oh.)

But also. Isn’t it?

[rafeandonlyrafe]

baby shoes

words: 2.3k

warnings: 18+ only!, smut, best friend!rafe, childhood friends to lovers, pretty fluffy :), p in v sex, unprotected smut, breeding!, pregnancy kink?, no actual sex while pregnant but lots of like. bump descriptions?

rafe rolls his eyes as you let out a squeal, already knowing what is happening.

“oh. my. god.” you pick up the baby shoes off the shelf, a pair of sparkly flats with the cutest flower straps you've ever seen. “rafe, they're so tiny!”

you hold them up for him to look at as if he's never seen baby shoes before, despite you pointing them out to him every time you're out shopping together.

“yeah, real cute.” he says, keeping his voice completely monotone.

“rafe, don't be so sour.” you pout at him. your friendship is an unexpected one. started in kindergarten and has only grown closer since, your sweet nature in contrast to rafes hard exterior.

“y/n.” rafe sighs, taking the baby shoes from your hands as he sets them back on the shelf. “we look at baby shoes and onesies every time we go to target. i brought you here to buy you a pair of boots, let's go.”

rafe tries to usher you down the aisle. despite you also being a kook he refuses to let you (or, really, your parents credit card) pay for anything.

you nod and continue to the women's section when you cross by a pair of ugg boots made for toddlers and stop in your tracks. “raaaafe!” you coo.

--

look how cute this baby is rafey

“are you serious?” rafe questions reading your text message. “im laying right next to you.”

“too much work to roll over and show you.” you shrug, both scrolling on your phones, having just gotten back from a long day. so long rafe insisted you slept at his because it was closer. only one block closer, but you didn't argue. rafes bed is also yours, and yours his. you've always shared, no need to change now just because you're older.

“that baby isn't even that cute.” rafe huffs out.

you turn over now, rolling onto your stomach to glare at him. “rafe cameron, you are such a dick!”

“oh, so you'll roll over to yell at me?” rafe questions, a smile on his face. usually he wouldn't take shit from anyone, but you're not just anyone to him.

“yes because you deserve it asshole. that baby is adorable.”

“yours would be way cuter.” rafe grins, knowing how flustered you get talking about having a child of your own.

“okay, true.” 

--

“what the fuck is going on?” rafe questions, his mouth literally dropping as he walks in.

“oh my god!” you squeal. “you told me you were coming over at 2, you idiot!” 

rafe looks at the time on your alarm clock. 1:55. rafe may have not knocked before letting himself in, but he figured it was fine. 

“what are you wearing?”

“it's… it's a fake pregnancy belly. my friend carly who works with the school plays said they were getting rid of it bc it was getting old… and i asked to have it.” you shrug, your embarrassment melting away the longer you talk about it.

“why would you want that?” rafe questions.

“i just wanted to see what id look like.” you shrug, turning again to look at yourself in the mirror, running your hands over the tshirt stretching around the plastic material. “i think i look cute.”

rafes eyes are on the round swell of your belly. he thinks you look more than cute, he thinks you look so ravishing he wants to make that belly real right this second.

“gonna take a shower.” rafe makes a turn towards your bathroom before you can argue, saving himself by locking the door behind him.

-- 

“why are you in a mood?” rafe just entered your house but he can already tell from the look on your face that something has upset you.

“freaking kelsey is pregnant.” you spit her name out like it's an insult. she's been your sworn moral enemy ever since she “dated” rafe in the fourth grade and told him he had to choose between staying friends with you or dating her. he chose staying friends of course, but you've despised her anyways since.

“okay…” rafe waits for more reasoning to you being so upset.

“that should be me.” you whine, not ashamed as you throw a little tantrum, stomping your feet on the ground.

“it can be.” rafe shrugs.

“huh?” you question, plopping back on the couch behind you, waiting for rafe to join you for movie night.

“you're not a kid anymore, y/n. you're 21. have a baby if you want.” rafe simply states.

“i- who would i even have a baby with? im single.” you've been single a majority of your life. there were flings in high school, but no one that lasted.

what you don't know if rafe contributed heavily to those relationships ending. he had staked his claim on you, and no guy was worthy in his eyes.

“id help you raise a baby.” rafe says without really thinking, sitting down on the couch next to you, not flinching as you turn to place your feet on his lap, always wanting to stretch out and get comfortable.

“you would?”

“im with you all the time anyways.” rafe nods. “if you had a baby id basically be their dad anyways.”

“id want that.” you admit. “you're the only guy out there i trust enough to get me pregnant.” you're not really thinking about your words themselves as you press your fingers to your stomach, imagining it filled up with a baby, with rafes baby.

“alright, we gotta talk about something else.” rafe shifts on the couch, pushing your feet off his lap to turn himself slightly away from you.

“wait why?” you question, sitting forward.

“just… change the subject.” rafe takes a deep breath, trying to calm down the boner that is growing in his pants.

“no, tell me!” you move closer, which only makes rafe turn away more. “tell me, rafey!”

he's never kept anything from you, and shockingly you can't figure out why he's behaving like this now.

“jesus, stop!” rafe scooches away when you grab onto his arm, trying to get him to face you, to look at you.

“tell me!” you complain again.

“because im fucking hard okay!” rafe shouts, standing up from the couch. “it's getting me fucking hard thinking about getting you pregnant so change the fucking subject!”

you sit on the couch in shock, eyes wide open. you know you shouldn't, he's your best friend after all, but you find your eyes moving lower, and sure enough, the front of rafes pants and tented, cock pushing away from his body.

“i-i-” you stammer.

“you nothing. okay? we forget this happened. just stop talking about getting fucking pregnant and stop talking about me being the one to do it.”

“but i want it to be you.” you blink up at rafe, head suddenly clearing. you do want it or be rafe. he's the only one who should be waking up in the middle of the night with you when your baby cries. he's the one you want to experience every milestone with. he's the one you want filling you up over and over until your tummy starts to swell.

“we can't go back.” rafe says, his tone suddenly serious. “we can't go back to just friends.”

“i know.” it's all you need to say for rafe to surge forward, dropping his knees to the floor as he kisses you, mouth easily dominating yours. you let out a soft moan as his hands cup your jaw, keeping you close even though you press yourself into him, hands fisted in his shirt.

“let me have you.” rafe pants against your mouth. “i need you. let me fill you up.”

“yes.” you nod. “yes, please. take your clothes off.”

you don't care that you're in the middle of your living room, you immediately tug your shirt off over your head, bearing your breasts to him. rafe knew you never wore a bra when in your own home, but seeing your bare tits is still a shock.

he doesn't even take his shirt off despite you tugging at it, cupping your chest as he leans in, mouth wrapping around your nipple.

“oh my god!” you squeal, fisting your hands in rafes hair, holding him close to your body as his tongue flicks over your nipple, hardening it quickly.

“i… im sorry baby i need to get inside of you.” rafe feels crude, tugging at your shorts to pull them down your legs, tossing them away.

“i need you too.” there will be plenty of time now that you've admitted feelings for each other to take your time, to go slow and learn each other's bodies.

rafe stands up, looking down at you in just your underwear, eyes glassy with lust as he pulls his shirt off, followed by him tugging his pants down, finally getting your eyes off his face as your eyes move down. you reach forward, hand rubbing over rafes length, annoyed that the fabric of his underwear is not allowing you to see him properly.

“fuck, stop.” rafe takes a step back. “im supposed to cum in you. get you pregnant. you're gonna make me bust.”

you smile, flattered that your simple touch can cause him to almost lose it.

“where do you want me.” you whisper. you aren't a virgin but you certainly aren't as experienced as rafe. while you know he partakes in hookups at parties you don't attend, you were never interested in sleeping around just for the sake of sleeping around.

“just lay back, baby.” rafe let's out a huff as you turn from sitting on the couch to laying down, your breasts falling beautifully as you wait for him to make the next move. “let's get these off.” rafe pulls your underwear down, but you keep your legs together to hide yourself for a little longer.

rafe shucks his underwear off next, praying his throbbing erection doesn't cause him to cum the second he gets inside of you.

you let out a low moan just from the both of you being naked. “gonna kneel down. wrap your leg around me.” rafe helps position you, spreading your legs as his eyes take in your wet cunt, pretty and perfect as he wraps your knee around his hips as he sinks himself down, moving to drape his body over yours.

“ill go slow.” rafe says, hoping he can stay true to his word as he reaches down, running his cock briefly through your folds, obsessed with the way your expression changed into one of pure pleasure.

“okay, just at first.” you nod. you need slow to open you up, to stretch your walls to allow rafes size, but you dont want it to stay slow, needing to feel him pound into you, make a mess of your cunt.

rafe sinks in with a gasp as your tightness and warmth envelops him. “fuck.” he mutters out, eyes squeezing closed as he inserts himself until he’s fully buried inside you pussy.

“feels real good rafey.” you pout. “cant believe we didn’t do this sooner. could already have a baby by now.” “oh, im gonna give you plenty.” rafe bends down to kiss you, letting himself get lost in the kiss, focusing on your mouth against his to distract from his throbbing cock.

“move.” you gasp, starting to grind your hips. “move.”

its all rafe needs to start smashing his hips back and forth, rocking into you in a steady but fast motion, aiming every time to get his cock as deep inside of you as possible.

“yes, yes!” you squeal, hands gripping his shoulders. as good as rafe thrusting into you feels, you want his cum more than anything. you begin to squeeze your pussy around him every time he pulls out before thrusting back in, and you can tell from the way rafes mouth hangs open that he likes it.

“fuck, im already close, sorry.” rafe has never had a problem cumming too early with anyone else, but hes never been with you, his best friend who he’s been head over heels for since kindergarten, who is begging to have him put a baby in your womb.

“cum in me. please.” you don’t even care about your own orgasm. you don’t even want it, already feeling so overwhelmed from the way rafes cock swells inside of you.

your eyebrows raise when you realize what the warmth spreading inside of you is, never having let a man take you without a condom. you let out a moan to match rafes as he cums, flooding your insides as he grinds into you. 

you wrap your arms around his shoulders, pulling him down onto you, not caring about the weight as you squeeze your cunt, milking any last drops out of him.

--

“oh my god, i’m gonna cry its so cute.” tears brim in your eyes as you look at your finished nursery, rafe having done the last of the decorations when you were napping, putting the final touches on.

“you're so cute.” he hums, wrapping his arms around you as he stands behind you, also looking over the room. 

“thank you. its perfect.” you sniffle.

“you’re perfect.” rafe has been overwhelming you with compliments lately, wanting to make sure that you know he is still very much attracted to you with your pregnant belly. “and beautiful. and hot. and sexy.” “oh, stop it.” you roll your eyes with a giggle, turning to face rafe.

“it would be inappropriate to have sex in our babies nursery, wouldn’t it?” despite the baby not even being here yet, rafe looks around the former guest bedroom and realizes that it simply wouldn’t be right.

“you’re not getting me on the floor anyways.” you press your hands to your stomach. seven months along with rafes baby.

“probably for the best.” rafe places his hand on your back, leading you out of the nursery and towards your bed. “wanna eat you out on our bed anyways, mamas.”

taglist: @drewstarkeyslut @forstarkey @f4ll-for-you @dilvcv @drudyslut @jjmaybankswifes-blog @rafescokenostril @jjsmarijuana @seeingstarks @angelofcigs @cece45450 @babygorewhore @vanessa-rafesgirl @michelleisheres-blog @outerbankspov @drewstarkeyswifehoe @cutielando @kamninaries @buckyswhxre @rafeinterlude @bellbottombaby @deeaardiary @rubixgsworld @wearemadeofstardust0 @leighbronk @starkeysheart @pradabambie @tobesolovelysstuff @alexiskirkland @rafestar @brioffthegrid @juniebugg @magicalyoura @cokepewpsii @mysticallystilinski @luvdella @aerangi @folklorsweet @soilderpoetandking @auryyz

[netherfeildren]

How to Endure Ardor:

Pairing: Joel Miller x F!Reader

Summary: Joel teaches you how to love him.

Rating: Explicit 18+

Content Warnings: Post outbreak; QZ Joel Miller; I'm saying this, but the setting is sort of ambiguous anyways, Stream of consciousness, Character Study, Alternating POVs; PIV sex; The troubles and toils of breaking up and then making up with a fucked up old man; Uncaring Joel; Mentions of painful sex; Toxic relationships or situationships or whatever you want to call it; I think I'm addicted to the idea of a Joel who'll never love you and I should probably see a doctor about it

A/N: she remembers how to write, who'd of thought!

Word Count: 1.3K

Read on AO3

This is a lesson:

“Tell me again,” she says, and it’s a begging.

A begging like what? Something that carries shame and smallness in the shape of it. Stay a little longer. It humiliates him for the wretchedness it pulls from him. Joel, please. Seeping blood the color of her supplication. Please, she says, please. And who else says please to him anymore? Who asks him for anything anymore but her? The only ones who ever had are long past and gone, and he can’t even barely remember they were ever really there to ask anything of him to begin with—can’t remember what it feels like to owe someone something and want to give it to them in a way that will actually make him. 

Tell me what again? That I want you? That I’ll stay? That I love you? I’ll come back, he says instead, the only thing he can promise and keep. And he wonders if it humiliates her too, the way he lies, the way he runs, the way he swears, the way he always comes back and comes back but never returns with the things she needs. A humiliation just like it is a begging. 

The thing they have: it’s strange, fickle, honest in its lies, very, very ugly. An ugliness that is shocking in a world gone to rot already. The sky doesn’t shine anymore and they bask in it. 

But also, and, the thing they have: it’s physical, saving.

This is obvious too, even if only to them.

He slides inside and you’re what? Hot and wet and slick, and—yes, a thing like a dream, but still only a thing. Something to have, something close to desire, but not quite, more like biological want. Woman turned possession. In his mind this is an excuse, a reason, a begetting. Like, what—like what? Like when you want a thing very badly but it is very bad for you, and you need to make up any excuse to have it, lie and lie and lie—to your mother, your best friend, the mirror—a begetting like that. Easy to understand only if you’ve been there. 

It started simple, it started like nothing, it started like the first time you meet someone and you know they’ll matter, you know they’ll mean something. So it started like what? Like a lie. 

Shifts at the QZ, long and toiling and reminders of the sort of life that died in an outbreak of monsters, only if for how unlike that past it was. Humans or fungus or—

—men who hurt—you, men who refuse your love, Joel Miller.

The crutch of your age, of you being weaker or smaller or in need, him being easily felled, wooed, easily conquered by something young and given without a try because there was never the opportunity for trying before. 

Now, it is like this: you take my cock and you take my come and you take my nothing, and I give so little and yet you still find a way to take and take and take, leech of a girl, dream of a girl, hungry. And with the excuse that it’s only in a way you contrive for your own self. But in the end, what does that make you? What do I make you into? 

These are the things he asks himself. 

Perhaps she goes away for a time, tries the route of escape, of variety. But when she inevitably comes back because addiction is riddled always in the same sorts of ways: did you try different bodies? Did you try different flavors and sounds? Did you look for me in all of them? 

The answer is usually yes.

At reunion’s turn: he rolls her over to face her, Joel, damp and panting and trying to be something—perhaps better, more honest—after a season of variety and honest attempts and shut eyes. He’s so hard for her, always is. 

Again: he slides inside and you’re what? His, undeniably. Not yours. Something to want but not desire because it’s too romantic a notion, and yes, there’s a difference even if he can’t put into words what that difference specifically is. Body and heart, perhaps, definitions that differ between disparate anatomical parts or levels of deniability. 

Nothing either of you have ever been able to put into words when lust and love aren’t things you can even say out loud for the shame of them, even if they exist within said same anatomy. 

You come together, the season passed, the separation passed but still kept at hand for the next time the closeness becomes too much. 

“Tell me again,” she says, and this time he remembers what she’s asking for.

“I fucking missed you, baby. Missed this pussy.” Because he can’t say it’s her heart he missed. Because Joel Miller does not have honesty in his arsenal. 

He spreads you wide, knee to shoulder so it hurts and pulls, so it’ll be sore and reminding tomorrow. The slap of his pelvis against the back of your thighs is obscene, wet and lewd, a string of girl cum keeping you connected, such togetherness, curve of your ass to the root of his cock—the two of you are together again. 

You know what I thought, when I tried to go away, you say. He doesn’t want to know, but he doesn't tell you so either, only slides in again, the mouth of your womb right there, threatening. I’m never going to feel like this again, and I hate how certainly I know that. He wonders if the unsaid part is that he’s the recipient of that feeling, the hate. 

He wonders if the pinch inside him is hurt. He wonders if the throb is love. 

All he says because he can’t say the rest is, I missed you, I missed you, and if he could look himself in the mirror—something that’s twenty years past lost—he’d ask: are you alright? Just tell me you’re okay. And it sounds in your own voice and with your own care and the feel of your own warmth. Is there anything I can do?

Other times, he sees himself through your own eyes, and then he knows for certain that the throb is love 

So he makes up for lost time, hard—and if it was a thing he knew how to be— loving. Mouth to cunt first, primed and soft and begging, making you come again and then another once more, then inside of you. Slow, splitting you open, red cunt like a wound, balls slapping wet, pulling out to watch the gape of the space he’s carved for himself. His cock is so hard and missing you something desperate. And he’s reminded of what it is to really miss something in a way he hadn’t been in twenty years of apocalypse, he’s forced to realized that it’s been so long since he’d had something to love that he’d not realized the feeling of missing that long past someone had gone away, only faint memory remained. 

Violent, is what this makes him after that realization—thrusts turning hard and punishing. How dare you give yourself to me? How dare you then take yourself away? You come around him again, the gift of your orgasm. How dare you not be able to accept the little I’m able to give when I’m trying so desperately fucking hard to give you even just this? 

He fucks you mean, he fucks you in the way of a man who doesnt know how to say the things he needs to say, in a way that’s confusing, that could make a less discerning woman feel only the hurt. 

But then again, you know him.

Fucks you in a way that is a little bit like love.

And so, amidst all of it, there is an honesty amongst the lies. A truth unspoken that they both know—I’ll come back because I need you, because you’re the only one who can give me the things I'm not strong enough to ask for out loud. 

You’re not sure which of the two of you is the one saying it.

Netherfeildren's Masterlist

Updates Blog

[emptysekai]

guide to ad-free youtube for mobile via. youtube revanced

since youtube vance is no longer maintained and youtube is cracking down on adblockers here is how to download youtube revanced which has the best options for customising youtube features; including removing youtube shorts popups, sponsorship segments in videos, hiding unused buttons, bringing back dislikes, and more! [official revanced github]

this guide is for android only. sorry apple users idk how to help you. your device doesn't have to be rooted. even if it is, you should still be able to follow this guide. if you have youtube vanced installed, revanced shouldn't clash, so you don't have to uninstall it if you don't want to.

installation guide:

1. download all 3:

i. microg (this will let you log into your youtube account) [apk mirror] (scroll past description, download the latest one)

ii. revanced manager apk [github] (select the latest release, scroll to the bottom in assets, install the .apk file)

iii. latest youtube apk [apk mirror]

2. open revanced manager

3. select in this order: "patcher" -> "select an application" -> "storage" (note: if your phone asks you to let the app have storage access, say yes)

[id. two screenshots of the revanced manager app. there are red markings drawn overtop, indicating areas to select mentioned in step 3. the three spots are circled by a red square, an arrow pointing towards it, and a circle with a marked number to indicate the order at the end of each arrow. id end.]

4. select the youtube apk you downloaded

5. select patches. you can tap "recommended" or "default" or turn on/off patches you want

6. once you have selected, select: "done" -> "patch"

7. wait as it intialises youtube revanced. when it's done select "install" (note: if your phone gives you a warning that the app is blocked, select: "more details" -> "install anyway")

8. if this worked, you should have youtube revanced installed, and you can log in like normal. if this didn't work, read the next part.

(under the read more are troubleshooting solutions + other alternative apps)

issue a) if the botom right now says "open"

1. select: 3 dots on the top right -> "export apk"

2. save it

3. open whatever file browsing app you use (most phones should have a default one that comes pre-installed called something like "files" or "my files". if you don't have one, you can go to the play store and search "files" and pick one. if you aren't sure, i use "files by google")

4. find the exported file and install it (it will be called something like "youtube-revanced-versionnumber.apk")

5. if this worked, you should have youtube revanced installed, and you can log in like normal. if this didn't work, you can read the next part.

issue b) can't build or install youtube revanced with no option to export

1. something may have gone wrong with the file installation at some point, so try a clean start. to do this, uninstall:

i. revanced manager

ii. youtube revanced

iii. microg

iv. (optional) disable/uninstall the default youtube app

2. follow guide from step 1 again, hopefully it works. if it's still not working, you can try other alternatives. i've listed some in the next part of this post

alternatives:

libretube, newpipe, songtube, vuetube, astron, puretuber

i haven't used any of these personally, but i haven't seen any problems with them. let me know if there are and i'll remove it from the list.

you can also use youtube through your web browser with adblock add-ons. i'm not sure whether youtube has affected their mobile site though. with the firefox app you can use ublock origins (for ads) + youtube high definition (for general quality fixes)

[kirarinlovesidols]

Prologue part 2.

Before we start i must put a warning (more like explanation) here since some of you were confused lmao. I did talk about it in my lore post but thought i should put this here too.

But basically MC and Nahida's roles were not only switched but also changed slightly, the story of sumeru as well.

Like, the reader is called LESSER LORD Rukkhadevata cause they take on Nahida's role of being the bird inside a cage.

Nahida is called GREATER LORD Kusanali and is the OG archon who helped deshret save the desert. She just didn't die, just shrank in size and somehow retained her memories.

Does that mean a lot of shit in Sumeru would change? yes. But this isn't a genshin story so what happened there will rarely be mentioned in detail.

Anyway that's all, sorry about the confusion.

⟥────────✤────────────────────⟤

⟥────────✤────────────────────⟤

You were usually nervous if not straight up shy but now? now you’re just angry. You had to deal with the stress of getting chased around by a creature you do not even understand where it came from, apparently got transported into another world and now you had to listen to people calling your powers unstable. That was an insult to the Irminsul itself and even YOU weren’t just going to stand by it.

If you thought the stares of the other students were overwhelming then, now it’s almost unbearable. In normal circumstances the cowardly Lesser Lord that you are would just hold her head down and try to ignore it but everyone has a breaking poing, this is yours.

“Is she Fae? i mean look at those ears!”

“I guess so? what other explanation would we have?” The gossiping was getting a bit out of hand and coming from the dorm that was apparently under the red haired boy so he glared at his underclassmen to get them to shut up.

“Grrrrrrrr!”  Grim growled from inside his cube-like prison, wondering what the hell was it even made out of? why couldn’t he burn it? and why did it smell nice in there?

“He…isn’t yours?” Asked Crowley dumbfounded

“No, i’ve never seen him in my life.” You said with a deadpan expression, arms crossed.

The man nervously cleaned his throat– “*Ahem* Then I shall have it expelled from campus. I shall even spare it from being served as dinner.”

Your face IMMEDIATELY contorted in disgust at the thought of the people here eating a cat. Now that was vile.

“My, but I AM kind. ...Someone take this away, please.”  Crowley just settled for ignoring you and held the cube in front of him, expecting someone to come and dispose of the creature inside.

“Oh, right!”  With a snap of your fingers Grim was now free from his prison but being held down by the glasses wearing boy with the weird charismatic voice of earlier.

“Leave it to me, headmage. I’ll be sure to properly deal with him.”  With a merchant’s smile on his lips the boy walked past both of you. However…you didn’t miss his whispering, low yet you could barely make it out.

“I have never seen such magic before…i MUST have it…” You’ll….pretend like you didn’t hear that, it’s for the better. Your powers aren’t something one can easily steal anyway.

“Nooooo! Let me gooooo! You fools better remember my name!”  Grim’s voice started fading in the distance the further he got dragged from the mirror chamber.

“Cause I'm gonna go down in the annals of magic history! Just you wait!”

Your expression softened as you felt a bit sorry for him. There must be a reason to why he was so desperate to stay despite being a…monster? creature? whatever he is. Still fascinating though.

“I hope he can get back home safely…” You whispered to yourself before hearing Crowley let out a big sigh.

“Well, that was quite the unexpected fracas. I hereby declare that orientation has concluded.

Housewardens, please escort your students back to the dorms.” At his permission the students who happened to be sitting down or browsing their phones stood up, preparing to move.

Some of them still stared and some others did a sign using their thumb and pinky while mouthing “call me”. What did that even mean, call who? where?

“..Hm? Come to think of it, I don't see Housewarden Draconia of House Diasomnia anywhere.” The masked man wondered cupping his chin.

“And that surprises you? Dude's a total recluse.” The animal-eared boy said followed by a quick yawn.

“Wait a sec... Did anyone even invite him?” The red eyed boy asked.

“If you're that worried about him missing out, maybe you should have told him yourself.” The pretty boy examined his nails, they still seemed to be drying.

“Maybe, but I don't know him too well either…” The red eyed young man looked to the side apologetically.

You wondered why were they playing ping pong with the idea of inviting this “Draconia” person to an important ceremony. You weren’t an specialist but wasn’t it normal to…check? or…communicate properly? 

“Draconia... Like, Malleus Draconia? THAT Draconia?”

“Holy shit i didn’t think the rumors were true…is it too late to backpedal?”

“I wonder if my mom would be mad if i just went home early.”

At this point you were starting to feel a stress headache setting in so you rested your hand on your forehead and closed your eyes for a few minutes, so when you came back to the land of the living all these people would be gone.

“....kkha……R…..Miss Rukkha!”  Oh. You didn’t really….hear that.

“Please pay attention when people are talking to you.” At that she just gave him a look that only said “I’m so very sorry”.

He seemed to accept the “apology” and resumed talking.

“Well, Miss Rukkha This is a most unfortunate turn of events, I'm afraid that you will not be attending Night Raven Collage after all.” He sounded relieved to finally get rid of you which was rude to say the least. He could at least pretend.

Not that you care about him caring about you but…it’s not very nice, alright?

“Surely you realize that I cannot very well admit a female student with unstable magic to my academy, right?”   He put a hand on your back in the same way a father would to comfort his children, which made you VERY upset again.

First of all. How many times are you going to have to say your powers ARE NOT UNSTABLE! you felt like you were truly going to lose it and show him true unstable. However he seemed to realize you didn’t enjoy that term very much, your face spoke volumes, so he straight up just talked over you to avoid hearing what he considers to be whiny bullshit from some random ass girl who…honestly….scares him a little bit when angry.

“BUT! worry not. The Dark Mirror will see you safely home. Now, step into the gate, and visualize the place you came from.”   You were going to let that one slide since he was going to send you home, FINALLY.

You cannot BELIEVE you’re going to say this but…your cage back in the Sanctuary of Surasthana is looking real comfortable right now, you just want to sleep for another 500 years actually. Being around people is wonderful as it’s draining.

And yet…a small part of you screamed at you for even accepting to go home. You’re finally free! run away! go live your life!

You crushed such thoughts under an airtight sense of guilt.

You had no right to run away or to have some life outside of Sumeru. Even if you were usually held captive there STILL were things you could do for the people, that’s why you used Katherine as your proxy sometimes. And….Greater Lord Kusanali would be worried if you disappeared. You didn’t want to give her anymore grief than you already have.

So you stepped in front of the mirror, closed your eyes and imagined yourself back in your prison.

“O Dark Mirror! Return this soul to where it belongs!”   Crowley extended his hand as if issuing a command.

Yet…

Nothing happened.

Nada.

Utterly disappointing.

“Ahem* L-let us, er...try this again. O Dark Mirror! Return this soul—” He commanded the mirror to try again only for it to cut him off.

“There is no such place.”   At that your heard dropped. You were already starting to get nervous but huh? what do you MEAN there’s no such place? it can’t send you back?

“What?” The man demanded an explanation but was just as confused as you were.

“There is no place in this world where this soul belongs,none.”

You flinched. 

You already knew that. You knew there was no place for you anywhere. Not in Sumeru, not in the Akademiya, not in the desert, not even…in another world.

“How can that be? My, but today is a veritable cavalcade of impossible phenomena!” The headmage held his head on his hands, ready to give up — “This has never happended throughout my long tenure. I must confess that I am at something of a loss”

He looked at you again, ignoring your obviously sad expression.

“Tell me: From what land do you hail?” That question hurt you even more.

You just smiled bitterly, holding back tears. Your eyes lidded with sadness highlighted your face as you answered.

“Teyvat….”

The man shook his head lightly.

“I'm afraid I am not familiar with such a place.”

⟥────────✤────────────────────⟤

Never have you thought you would get out of your cage. If you told your past self she would be able to actually experience the world with her own body she would’ve laughed and…then started crying, maybe.

At the moment you found yourself sitting on top of a dusty couch inside a VERY creepy dorm. The ceiling had a bunch of holes, which wouldn’t be too bad since that means at least the light of the moon would be able to get in but tonight it’s raining. Hard.

You didn’t like the dark and you didn’t like being alone, it leaves you to your own thoughts…and that’s all you’ve ever had for most of the time.

A sigh escaped your mouth as you decided to think about things to occupy your head, like…the fact you can use your powers! right, that. You pull your hand up and watch as dendro energy accumulates there easily. Since you can still use these powers it must mean your link with Irminsul must still be active. Which must also mean…this world can’t be too far away from Teyvat’s firmament.

Crowley said he would find a way for you to get home and even offered you a place to stay even if it was falling apart by the second. So knowing at least you have something as important as the link with the world tree comforts you slightly.

Still…you wondered how Greater Lord Kusanali was doing…did she realize you’re gone? is she sad? is she looking for you? You hope she is.

In almost perfect comedic timing you get a scare from a lightning bolt that seemed to have fallen dangerously close to the dorm. The noise that followed was a tree falling. You flinched at the sound vibrations it caused.

That must’ve been one big tree, yikes….

And if it weren’t enough you suddenly hear a very familiar voice.

“GWAH! It's pouring out there!” Grim just showed up out of literal nowhere soaked to the bone. Yes it scared you as well.

“W-what are you doing here! didn’t you get kicked out?!” You held a hand close to your heart in a feeble attempt to calm it down.

“Bwahaha! That look on your face is priceless! Like a bat that got blasted by a water gun.” He grinned and then shook the water off his body, on you. Deadass.

“Urgh! you didn’t have to do that! now i’m soaked too!” You closed your eyes and tried to shield yourself as much as you could, to no avail though.

“That’s called revenge for locking me up! anyway, you really thought i wouldn't just sneak back onto campus the second I escaped pryin' eyes? You all got no idea what I'm capable of!” Grim puffed his chest as a smirk graced his face.

“I get that you’re very persistent, if anything.” You took off your now soaked robe and materialized your usual garments. Your dress was way too long and it dragged on the dusty floor but you could just either wash it later or outright float.

Grim looked at you with a clear judgmental expression— “Your magic is so flashy, kinda hurts my eyes!”  He rubbed his paws on his face to prove his point. 

“I’m not the one spitting fire everywhere, mister.” Your hands rested on your waist as you “scolded” him.

“Why did you come back anyway? Aren’t you afraid they’re going to kick you out again?” You floated high up to the ceiling and using your pointer fingers you made a little “square” as if you were scanning the holes on the wood or just pretending to use a camera. After a few seconds dendro energy formed and filled the spots where the water was coming from.

You weren’t as creative as Greater Lord Kusanali when it came to your Irminsul powers but you still could do somethings with it. Still, this was a power used mainly to create, not destroy.

“Alright, fixed.” You floated down back to sit on the couch just in time for Grim to answer.

“Isn't it obvious?” He climbed on the little coffee table in front of you and waved his paws excitedly.

“I was born to do this! I'm a magical prodigy who's got the makin's to become one of the greatest mages who ever lived! So I've been waitin' and waitin' for that black carriage to come for me, and yet…” — His gaze seemed to get sadder for a second before shrugging it off and going back to normal.

“Hrmph! That Dark Mirror's got no eye for talent! That's why I took the initiative and came here myself.”  He jumped down from the table and motioned for you to go to the side.

“Scoot over! it’s freezing here!”  Oh. You were kinda taking a lot of space. You moved your legs to rest on the floor properly and smiled at the cat.

“Well, Grim. I think that’s very cool of you to chase after your dream, surely you can become a great mage.”  It was genuinely impressive of him to try and take fate in his own hands — uh…paws. His eyes were full of hopes and dreams, just like the children of sumeru whose dreams you used to watch over.

Needless to say he did a double take, not used to such kind words coming from anyone much less humans.

“W-what? that’s so cheesy! don’t say that kind of stuff out nowhere! myahh, so lame!”

Obviously a bit embarrassed the cat just hissed and swatted at her, only managing to look cute in the process. Still that was rude!

“That’s so rude! i was just trying to say i believe in you!”

You two bickered for a few minutes until Grim went deathly still.

“Hm? what is it?” You ask in confusion.

“Did you…hear that?” He seemed to be staring pretty hard at something so you turn your head to see what it was about.

“Hear…what?” Ok, now that was scary. You aren’t the best when it comes to stuff like this.

“I think it came from the corridor…” Grim squinted as if trying to make out something in the shadows.

“Want to go take a look? i’ll go by myself if you’re scared.” You didn’t want to force him even if you were kinda scared as well. At least floating was better than just stepping on old moldy wood.

“Who are ya calling scared?! I’m way ahead of ya!” Getting on all fours and jumping off the couch the cat bolted straight into the darkness of it.

⟥────────✤────────────────────⟤

“Grim are you sure you heard something?” You floated near him with one of your dendro constructs floating behind you. It wasn’t as effective as a torch but at least it offered some light.

“Yeah i am! i’m not lyin’!”  He hissed again walking slightly behind you, which was ironic considering how enthusiastic he was about finding out the source of the noise earlier.

Creeeeaaak….

Your long ears twitch as you turn your head. Ok, you’re back to being scared.

“I think I just heard something?!” In a panic you tried to direct the little dendro sphere to illuminate the area. 

What a fucking mistake.

“Boo.”

“AHHHHHHHHH! G-GHOSTS!” A scream rips through Grim’s throat.

Yup. Straight out of a classic fontainian horror movie.

The ghost’s face made itself visible due to the eerie green light of your little sphere. It was sincerely terrifying and you wondered why did your powers have to be neon green. Now that’s just foul. You felt your body freeze as you barely stopped yourself from opening a new hole on one of the many unstable walls of this dorm, literally you got jumpscared so badly you lost control of your hability to fly.

Your stomach sank and your breathing stopped as you saw how you were 5 centimeters away from hitting an actual wall.

“Hoooly Archons….” Your voice trembled.

“Yee hee hee... Bwa ha ha ha ha ha.” And to make it worse the ghost was laughing at you both. Your face burned in embarrassment but also anger for being put in such a predicament and in such an embarrassing pose.

You properly stood straight and immediately regretted ever being scared, for the supernatural being was anything but.

A goofy face, a top hat….really? he looked like a character from one of the books you read to children when borrowing Katherine’s body.

“We haven't had visitors in ages!” Said the ghost with the top hat. “All the people who used ta live here got scared of us and ran away.” Another one popped up from behind him. They both wore top hats so it’s best to just call one big ghost and medium ghost for now.

You looked down at Grim who only shivered pathetically.Yeah, seemed like you would have to do something about this yourself.

“We just want a new ghost to play with! What do you say, buddy?” The big ghost was getting a bit too close for comfort so with a flick of your wrist your dendro construct homed in on him and immediately changed shape as it got close, changing into a rectangle. Basically just a longer form of the cube prison you had kept Grim in before.

And you thought you had him, you really did.

Except your target literally phased through it. You couldn’t constrict something that was incorporeal after all.

Nice one, dumbass. You better take that L as well.

You gasped as realization hit you. SEE? this is why you weren’t good enough! if it was Greater Lord Kusanali she wouldn’t even have done something so stupid!

“Grim?! do you want to maybe help me?” You said panicking yet AGAIN. If this kept going they could possibly kill you two since they mentioned they wanted more ghost buddies.

“I'm a master sorcerer! I ain't afraid of any dumb ghosts!” Amidst his shivering the cat managed to talk the talk but couldn’t walk the walk. His fire missed the ghosts by a mile due to having his eyes closed which just raised your concerns tenfold.

“Nuh-uh. Not even close.” A new ghost mocked the sorcerer-wannabe, this one a lot thinner? let’s just call him tall ghost.

“Over here! Over here! Ah ha ha ha!” The big and tall one kept circling him as if toying with his inability to actually hit his targets.

“Grim! You’ll set the entire dorm ablaze if this keeps going, please open your eyes and aim properly!” Even YOU had to dodge one of his blasts. His pyro energy was strong, there was just not sign of control much less technique.

“Shaddup! I don't need any lip from you, human!” Now he was just taking out his frustration over being incompetent on you, absolutely unnecessary.

You hoped that what you’re about to say doesn’t get you in trouble with Crowley later.

“Listen! maybe if you get rid of them mister Crowley will let you enroll in the academy! wouldn’t that be nice? being a hero?”  You felt so bad for using his pride like that, truly another thing that just made you different from Kusanali and deserving of being called the Lesser Lord. She would never use something as dirty as manipulation to get people to listen to her. But this is all you can do so you would dwell on such thoughts later.

“Myah...?! Hmph... I'm Grim, Master Sorcerer! How come I can't even hit one of these little-” Another missed hit that ended up making a very obvious burn mark on the wood. 

“Grrrr! Stop ganging up on us! yer a buncha cowards!” Ok that wasn’t enough…so you’ll have to try harder.

“I’ll help you! surely if i tell mister Crowley how cool you were he’ll understand!” Yup, you’re so going to drown in guilt later.

“Ugh! You tell me which way the ghosts are!”  Grim finally gave in to the idea of teamwork and turned to you. He was expecting some kind of quote or something ridiculous but most certainly not you picking him up and using him a flamethrower.

“HEY! THIS ISN’T WHAT I MEANT!”  The monster struggled and even scratched you a bit. His claws were very sharp so a little blood trickled down your arms. Pain wasn’t anything new, however it’s been at least 5 centuries since you got hurt.

“I-I’m sorry! this is just way easier! i’ll make it up to you later!” That was all you could tell him before one of the ghosts went in for the kill again.

So in this very goofy way you and Grim made sure they disappeared. By the end you were both mentally and physically exhausted.

Archons you had no stamina at all, this was horrible.

“We did it…we did it Grim….” You said while trying to get your breathing to go back to normal.

“Aw, geez, I was scared outta my-” He ceased immediately and coughed before resuming—

“I mean, they didn't faze me one bit! just a walk in the park for a mage of my caliber! Whaddaya got to say now, ghosties? That's right!” Well that’s rich coming from the guy who was shivering so bad he looked like a whole chihuahua.

“Sure Grim…you’re truly amazing…” You rolled your eyes. Buttering him up was for the better after all.

“Good evening. In another gesture of my immense kindness, I have brought you dinner.” Crowley let himself inside the dorm only to see you wearing some weird clothes he had never seen anywhere before and a very much not-thrown-outside Grim.

“Wait. That's the creature we ejected for causing trouble at orientation! What is it doing here?!” He looked at you as if expecting some kind of explanation, you just gave him an apologetic smile and shrugged. The cat just got in, that’s all.

“Takin' care of yer ghost problem, that's what. You're welcome, by the way!” Grim’s forked tail swayed in annoyance.

“What’s the meaning of this Miss Rukkha? But you know, on that topic, I do seem to recall that this dorm had a mischievous ghost problem…Ah, yes... That's why it was abandoned, in fact. The ghosts scared away all the students. And you're saying that you two joined forces to drive them away?” He stared at both of you with a weird expression on his face, you didn’t like that.

“ ‘Joined forces’ ain't exactly how I'd describe it, More like I drove 'em away, and the human watched. Don’t I deserve a can of tuna for this?”  What? you tried! what you could do was limited! the enemy was incorporeal and Irminsul didn’t allow nor you or Greater Lord Kusanali to use desctructive powers! what else were you supposed to do?

“T-That’s not true! I tried to help! it’s just that…my powers were completely useless against something that can phase through walls!”  There was no reason for you to explain yourself to this figure of authority yet you did, you felt like you had to.

“Would you two be so kind as to demonstrate your ghost-eradication methods for me?” Oh yeah, he’s planning something.

Grim hissed at that.

“One, no, 'cause I already wiped 'em all out. And two, no, 'cause where's my tuna?!” No one ever said there would be tuna, he literally made that up.

“I will play the part of the ghosts. As for the tuna, you'll receive it when you defeat me. Oh, what generosity, Crowley…” The masked man wiped an imaginary tear from his face. 

“Ah, you gotta be kiddin' me. I gotta work together with the human again?” Grim looked at you with an expression that said “dude i’m tired of this”. And you felt even more offended. You had been nothing but kind to him! why was this pyro cat so mean? still you did say all of that about him enrolling earlier so…you’ll feel even worse later if you don’t at least try to get him inside NightRaven.

“It won’t be that bad, this could be your chance to show off and enroll!” You gave him a wink followed by a thumbs up.

⟥────────✤────────────────────⟤

After another “””””””””ghost hunting””””””””” session and a convoluted conversation you managed to get Grim enrolled.

His happiness made you a bit happy as well. Maybe it was his childish behavior but you felt like you couldn’t leave him alone.

And you couldn’t anyway, since the both of you are now the “janitorial team”. You read in a book once a saying that went “Those who don’t work shall not eat”, so cleaning up the school seemed like a fair deal considering he was letting you stay here despite being from another world and breaking rules.

Besides, taking odd jobs like these would allow you to have more freedom and  check out the books inside the library, maybe they had something about sending you back to Teyvat.

You stared at the ceiling while laid in the bed you had to share with Grim since it was the only clean one and you both were tired, ruminating on why you had the feeling things would go wrong.

Well, you shall know for sure when the sun rises up again.

⟥────────✤────────────────────⟤

I've been writing this since 1pm, it's 1am now.

I take so long to write smth so cringe, oh my god.

As always, sorry and boy am i tired!

Part 3 should be coming in sunday and the final part on monday.

After that i'll be addressing the love interests and then start book 1.

Also taglist before i forget: @coffee-or-hot-cocoa

[espinosaurusrexex]

The Karens of the World

BuckyBarnes x Female!Reader modern au

summary: Aunt Karen is possibly the worst person you know. So when her annual Independence Day party arrives, you try to give her as little reason to pick on you as possible. Not being single for once should cover most of the topics she complains about. So you ask your friend Bucky to play pretend.

a/n: So I tried this website @nana1000night (make sure to check out their own chats) posted about and my ideas just started overflowing. I wrote this so quick, there may be some tenses errors, but the concept was so fun, I hope you like it.

word count: 4.1k

warnings: fake dating trope, grumpy!Bucky AND protective!Bucky, bullying, a Karen (this should say it all, really), self-doubt, body dysmorphia, mentions of violence, and sooooo much fluff!

･ﾟ✫* 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 ｡✭･ﾟ

↑ This movie altered my brain chemistry and also he looks so good OKAY BYE!

“Don’t do that. Don’t do that now, I really need your help,” you plead with a solid stare. But Bucky just broodily stares back at you with an unfazed expression. “Just answer the question, please.”

For a moment it seems as though he‘s squinting his eyes even more at you, trying to assess whether you are kidding or not. But you aren’t. You are in desperate need of help.

“Fine,” he finally breaks.

“Yes!” You exclaim before collecting yourself. “I mean: cool, cool... So, I’ll send you the details later and we can go from there.” You are a little nervous, but that’s what stressful situations do to you. And well, today definitely categorized as one. 

“You’re a great friend, you know that, Buck? The best there is!” A desperate attempt to save the situation, but Bucky isn’t having it.

“Yeah, kid. Text me, do... whatever.” He huffs before he stands up to leave. You just wrinkle your nose at the little nickname he frequently calls you. It is stupid, but you don’t want him to call you ‘kid’. You would prefer it if he called you 'doll' or 'sweetheart' like he does all the other women. Hell, you’d even settle for your actual name, but he never calls you that. 

You watch as he walks towards the door, but before he reaches it, he turns one more time just to send another annoyed look your way. Talk about being childish.

That was a week ago. And Bucky and you did, in fact, not ‘discuss the details later’. Bucky has merely stared at your messages, cursing himself for having agreed to the stupid plan you laid upon him. But he was committed to doing it anyway and the sooner it was over, the better.

You stare at your phone in silence, the simple text from Bucky making your stomach turn over and over. 

I’ll be there.

He has written. And now there is no going back. Which is what you had planned, right? But Somehow, you are still nervous about the whole situation. 

You stand in front of the mirror while tugging on the outfit you picked out for today. It is simple and light - perfect for a summer barbecue party. But you can’t help yourself when you look at your reflection. Your aunt Karen would have something mean to say about it anyway - she always does. And if it isn’t the lack of a partner (which is a problem you have temporarily solved for the day), it will be your body or your hair, or the way you speak, or the things you pursue in life. Karen is a textbook housewife, who has nothing to do all day but organize PTA meetings and condescend to everyone who doesn’t live up to her standards. And she has invited to her annual 4th of July party in her suburban family home in New Jersey. It wouldn’t bother you that much if meeting her wouldn’t always be connected to a huge amount of self-doubt and general mental chaos. It just bothers you that Karen makes you hate the parts about yourself you have never looked at critically before. 

Your phone pings again - Bucky is here. 

He just sits in the parking lot of your apartment building, his hands clenching the steering wheel tightly, and his eyes - as always - broodily staring ahead. He’s never done anything like this - He’s never pretended to be in an actual relationship. What if something goes wrong? What if they all see through this charade? Bucky wants to help you with your little ‘family problem’, as you have called it, but at the same time, he hates the situation he finds himself in because of it.

Bucky sits up straighter when he finally sees you running out of the door and towards his muddy truck. You look pretty, even if your hair is a little tousled from the small run you just did.

“Hey,” you greet with a smile after Bucky stares for a little too long. “Nice shirt.” 

Bucky looks down on himself. He is wearing a striped short sleeve button-up that fits him very well, and you have to admit, that your eyes linger on the strip of skin revealed by the two undone buttons a little too long before they sway back to the window when you get inside his car. You feel your skin go up in flames at the thought of it again. Hopefully, this will all go well. 

He isn't used to compliments, Bucky notes as he starts the car and backs out of the parking lot. This is just a courtesy; an easy greeting from a friend - no, actually his fake girlfriend for today - to loosen up the tension both of them feel. Bucky clears his throat while making a conscious effort to look away from the woman in his car, who makes him feel kind of... nervous all of a sudden.

The car ride is silent: no music, just the humming of the engine roaring in the background as you stare out the window and watch the trees pass by. Though when Bucky finally pulls into your aunt's neighborhood, you tense up and your hands become clammy - this feels like a really stupid idea all of a sudden. 

Bucky parks the car on the street in front of your aunt’s huge house and looks at you. He raises an eyebrow upon noticing how timid you suddenly look.

Crap. Had this been your plan all along? To get him to agree to pose as your fake boyfriend, to have to face your terrible aunt?

Bucky swallows thickly when he takes in your state. “Do we really have to go in?” He asks still hopeful that you would just allow him to turn around again, but that obviously doesn’t happen. 

“Unfortunately, we do.” You sigh after taking a deep breath to mentally prepare yourself. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? Just a little white lie to get you through the day. It will be over before you know it. “Thank you again for doing this Bucky, it really means a lot.” You smile one last time and then you get out of the car. 

Bucky just watches as you walk towards the suburban home, impatiently waiting for him on the sidewalk where the driveway begins. He isn’t ready for this, but he had promised you.

❁ ❁ ❁

Your heart begins pumping in your chest when Bucky straightens up and takes your hand in his, the other hiding in his pocket. This is actually kinda nice. A squeeze of a hand then the ring of the doorbell. Two times. 

“Oh, how wonderful you finally made it!” A slender woman with a blonde bob opens the door with a wide smile: Aunt Karen. “More than fashionably late, I see.” And then her eyes wander beside you where Bucky stands tall and steady with his hand still etched in yours. “Oh my, honey, is this the boyfriend you’ve been telling me about?”

Her eyes shine and for a moment it looks as though they were to pop out of her head from the way she’s gawking at Bucky. Okay, you get it, Bucky is good-looking. No need to think about breaking up your own marriage about it. Your roll your eyes before reminding yourself that you should restrain. The day has just started and you are ready to leave again. 

Bucky looks at you uncomfortably, but your hand in his grounds him a little bit. He can’t make you deal with it alone anymore. He agreed to help you and this is - unfortunately - his mess as well now. God, he should remind himself to not be this stupid more often.

“Yes,” he swallows, “we are... uh... seeing each other.” Great job, that definitely didn’t sound forced. Bucky looks between you and your aunt for a moment, trying not to cringe at his own words. 

You just send him an apologetic look before entering the house and let Karen pull you into a tight hug. 

“Well, you have certainly gained little since the last time I saw you, I can barely fit my arms around you, honey,” Karen jokes but it hits deeper than that. “Must be that relationship weight, don’t we know it, huh?” Unbelievable, not even one minute in and she is already going at it. 

You try to ignore the anxiety pooling up in your stomach as you watch Bucky squeeze aunt Karen’s hand a little too tightly. There’s nothing wrong with you, but these comments never cease to make you hate yourself a little bit.

Bucky smiles when he notices the discomfort on Karen's face after the handshake. She silently shakes her hand out and forces a bright smile, but he thinks the message came through. So, he decides against saying something just yet.

“Come on into the yard, the guests are all there!” The blonde woman rushes and leads you through the kitchen and out onto the porch from which you have a nice view of the party. There is a buffet set up, your uncle is at the grill, talking it up with his friends and the rest of the crowd is scattered across the lawn. Some people are playing corn hole and if the hostess weren’t such a pain in the ass, you could probably enjoy this party. 

Luckily, Karen disappeared into the crowd once she greeted you, now there’s only Bucky and you.

“Thank God you’re here! I couldn’t stand talking to Grandpa Stan a minute longer. He’s all about his World War Two stories again.” An annoyed redhead approaches you from the side and your mood instantly lightens. You turn and see Tasha greet you with open arms and a playful smile. “You look nice!” She says upon seeing your expression and her smile quickly falters.

“Oh, no. What did she do this time?” She watches intensely, her hands squeezing your shoulders, but now that your cousin is here, there is no need to dwell in the state of depression Karen has put you in. 

Bucky just stays silent as he watches you interact with the redhead. He’s trying to stay off to the side, as he doesn’t really know anyone very well. He’s not a social person, which was yet another reason why this whole thing had been a bad idea from the start, but now that he has seen why you needed a fake boyfriend, he is determined to honor his role for the day. He’d do anything to make Karen feel defeated and unsupported after what he has just witnessed. Because whether he likes it or not, you are his friend, and nobody messed with his friends like that. 

A sense of protection overtakes him every time he sees Karen pass by close to the both of you, And Bucky has to restrain himself a couple too many times from laying his arm around you. 

He watches people laughing and talking from afar, his face blank from expression, his hands in his pockets to keep himself from reaching out to you. 

“Tasha this is Bucky.” You suddenly say and pull him closer, your arm remains around him and he is kind of glad that you officially give him permission to touch in this fake relationship. He blushes a little startled at the gesture anyway. He’s not used to it, but it's kind of nice. 

“Bucky Barnes, right? Yeah, I’ve heard my mother talk about you.” Tasha says and Bucky just rolls his eyes. “And I see you’ve met her, too.” She laughs and Bucky knows she’s an ally. “I wish you good luck for today, our family is a menace.”

“Thanks.” Bucky looks over to Karen who is mingling with her guests and a wave of disgust overcomes him. “Hopefully she won’t ruin this holiday.”

“Oh, she will. You can count on it, actually. But with time you’ll learn to deal with it. We have Karen bingo cards at every event to cross off things she does or says. It’s fun if you make it fun. Don’t let her antics bother you too much. The suburbs are the only place she has something to say and she holds on to it for dear life... I pity her most of the time.” Tasha rambles on and on and Bucky takes a liking to her with every word. He smiles and so do you. 

“Anyway, I gotta get Grandpa a beer but feel free to mingle, and,” Tasha turns to you as she grabs your hand for a brief moment, her eyes staring into yours intently. “Come find me if she gets too much, okay?”

You just nod at your cousin. Tasha is amazing and she always manages to calm you down after yet another unpleasant encounter with your aunt. God knows why she was cursed with such a pain of a mother, but Tasha makes the best out of it. 

Bucky smiles and looks at Tasha walking away. He seems to have already relaxed with her somewhat, so he tries to take her advice and ignore Karen’s antics. Maybe this won’t be so bad. 

❁ ❁ ❁

It's about 30 minutes later when you are off to talk to some other family members who haven’t seen you in a while and Bucky has decided to check out the buffet. He eats in silence, his gaze swaying over the yard - people watching. He finds comfort in it every now and then. But unfortunately, his peace isn’t lasting long. 

“So Bucky, tell me. How did you and my niece meet?” Karen appears next to him and holds out a bottle of beer to him.

Bucky is a little startled but he swallows his hot dog and uses the time to come up with a story. What would you want him to say? Some romantic crap, probably, but Bucky would much rather tell her that you met at a burn-all-Karens petition downtown. Still, he can’t completely ignore his intrusive thoughts, so he simply takes the bottle and answers with a straight face as he watches Karen's expression falter.

“In prison.” Hopefully, this would shut her up.

"Oh? You are a prison guard?” She asks with intrigue, adamant that he is still the glorious man she makes him out to be, and Bucky just sends her a knowing smile. 

“Something like that.”

The blonde bob shakes in his peripheral. “Well, it was only a matter of time until she would end up there.” Karen shrugs but Bucky feels anger bubbling inside him. 

“What do you even mean by that?” It becomes harder to control himself now. 

Your eyes move over to Bucky as you let your relative’s speech about the perfect lawn mower pass by you in a breeze. He looks slightly irritated and uncomfortable, his shoulders are tense but he’s holding up well, and Karen doesn’t seem to suspect anything. Of course she doesn’t, though, she is shallow. 

“I just can't seem to believe that an attractive and interesting man such as yourself would settle for someone so... bland.” And just like that, snobbish middle-aged white women made it to the top of his blacklist. 

Karen sips on her cocktail with a winning smile, she must have known how insecure she could make you with the confidence that radiated off of her right now. 

The paper plate in Bucky’s hand crumbles at her words. His anger is clearly written on his features, turning solid by the second. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

It just bursts out of him, he can’t stop it - it just feels right. How dare this bitch call you boring? You of all people and not him? The anger crawls up his neck with every second he has to spend close to your aunt and at one point he can’t take it anymore.

“Bingo!” Someone yells from the back of the yard, but Bucky just looks at Karen with his death stare.

“Your niece is the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. She’s smart and kind and courageous and so unbelievably goodhearted. You don’t know how lucky you are to have her in your life. And yet all you do is patronize her. The fact that you don’t see that is seriously pathetic. You are a grown woman, for god’s sake. I highly recommend that you fix your attitude or I won’t be responsible for what happens next,” he sneers into Karen's flabbergasted face. 

The whole party has gone quiet. People have stopped talking and are all turned to look at the disturbance with the potential to bring far more entertainment than anything else that they’re doing. 

You decide to intervene before something else happens. You rush towards Bucky after excusing yourself and drag him out of the yard with a solid ‘Can I talk to you, babe?’. Bucky just glares at Karen for good measure before he lets himself be led away by you. He’s tense, with his hands clenching in fists, he looks like he’s ready to strangle your aunt - as if there is a lot more at play than your feelings in his response to her. 

“I swear... that woman...” He grumbles with vicious eyes, he grinds his teeth in frustration and the muscles in his jaw pop a little. 

“I know, but... well, that’s just how she is.”

“How have you gone this long without knocking her over with a bat?” You need to refrain from laughing out loud at Bucky’s comment.

“I can’t change it. Punching her won’t help. But, hey,” you push a white paper into his hand and upon short inspection, he realizes it’s a bingo card. “We can make fun of it. New round just started.”

You hug him and push a quick kiss to his cheek before you step back and let him calm down a bit. Bucky has to smile at the card in his hand and he looks down to hide the small blush creeping over the heated spot on his cheek. His hand covers the place you kissed and he doesn’t know what to do with himself. When did he start feeling this way?

“Come on now. I want you to meet my Grandpa. I think you’ll get along well.”

❁ ❁ ❁

“Meet Stan, my grandfather.” You say once you reach the small circle of people that gathered around your grandfather. 

“Pleased to meet you, sir. My name’s Bucky Barnes.” You watch them shake hands and Stan’s eyes brighten at the additional listener.

“Pleasure to meet you, young man. Grab yourself a beer and sit down I was just about to tell the story of how a grenade ended up going off right next to me.” 

You exchange a short look with Tasha who has heard the story about as often as you have before, but when your eyes sway to Bucky, you notice the intrigue in his body language. He scrambles to sit down close to Stan with his hands folded over his knees.

“You’re telling me that you survived a grenade? A literal grenade?” Bucky’s eyebrows shoot up and it's like watching a child on Christmas Day. “You’re either tough as nails or incredibly lucky, sir.”

So, hooking Bucky up with your grandpa was a great success. He seemed to be the first person that was actually interested in Stan’s stories from the war. And while you had to not worry about Karen steering up more arguments with Bucky anymore, you watch him interact with the rest of your family with awe.

The day passes by and Bucky seems to catch a conversation with Stan every now and then. He’s interested in history and your grandfather seems like the perfect source for the answers he’s been seeking. But when the moon rises and the fireworks have died down, you decide it's time to go home. 

Bucky is talking to your grandfather again when you approach him from behind. In a weird shoot of confidence, you wrap your arms around him and place a gentle kiss on his shoulder. 

“Are you ready to go home?” You’re a little nervous but you don’t pull away, and Bucky is strangely content with the amount of physical contact he’s gotten today. Still, he tries to stuff the weird feelings in his chest away when he turns in your arms. 

“Yeah,” he looks at you with soft eyes, “I think I’m ready to go home.” But you can’t help but think that his statement holds a little more than the answer to your question. 

❁ ❁ ❁

You smile when Bucky opens the car door for you. You didn’t expect it, and it almost looks as if Bucky didn’t expect it either, but you’re not complaining. He starts the car in silence but this time, there is faint music coming from the radio. The street lights pass by the window as you look out until your apartment complex comes into view. 

Once the car is parked again, you turn around to Bucky. He makes no effort to move and it doesn’t bother you at all. It’s nice in the car. Cool from the AC and Bucky’s presence is a pleasant addition to the calm the car ride home has brought to you.

“Thank you for coming with me today. I know it wasn’t exactly what you expected and I am so sorry for my family. They are a lot... I just...” You fumble with your fingers before looking back up at him again. “I don’t think I would have survived this party without you. It really means a lot.” You finally finish and it feels like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. 

Bucky is quiet for a while, thinking about what you have just said. He feels weird thinking about how many of these family gatherings you had to endure without anyone stepping up for you before, and he has the strong urge to just cradle you in his arms and protect you from all the Karens of the world - let nothing ever touch you like that again. He had seen your heart break a little today and he didn’t like it at all. 

His eyes avert from the windshield when he turns to you and gazes into your eyes intently. There’s a lot going on in them, but it all radiates comfort to you. And then, almost like a button has been pushed, he grabs your chin and pulls you closer, his hand running down your cheek. There’s a moment of complete standstill. Everything is zeroing in on him and then, after a beat or two, he pulls you into him and kisses you. 

It's short and it's sweet but it holds more feelings than you have ever gotten from a kiss. When he pulls back, his eyes just run over your face. He doesn’t know what just happened and neither do you. It’s like a wild dream - a good one.

“What... what was that for?” Your whisper barely reaches his ears and Bucky struggles to construct a proper sentence with the way your eyes lock with his in awe.

“I... It’s... I just... couldn’t help myself,” he confesses while still shaking out of his trance. Uh oh. What if this was a mistake? 

He attempts to pull away reluctantly, but you stop him. “No, no it’s fine,” you grab his hand and place it back on your face, “do it again, please.”

Bucky’s breath staggers when you say that and for a moment, he freezes completely. Is this really happening? And how is he feeling like this when he didn’t even see you this way when this day started? 

The grip on his wrist is gentle, but he’s glued to you. Everything, every sense of his is pulled in your direction until you completely consume him. And he lets it happen. You haul him onto another kiss and this one is even better - more passionate, more... just more. He can’t get enough of you and he wonders how he has gone so long without it - this feeling of flying when you touch him.

Your hand grabs his shoulder and your fingers push into his tender muscles. It feels good, though and Bucky strives to have you even closer. The warmth is all-consuming but he doesn’t mind in the slightest, that the night outside his car is a hundred degrees or that just an hour ago this was all pretend. It certainly isn’t anymore.

“I really like you, Bucky. I hope my family didn’t chase you away. I know that they can be a handful sometimes, but you handled them so well and-“

“Doll,” Bucky stops you and your heart skips at the nickname. His eyes are shining in the dim light falling through the windshield, but you can still see every speck of grey in the deep blue. He’s trying to convey how he feels, but he believes it’s not enough. His nose nudges yours and then he whispers softly: “I really like you, too.”

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[shrimpalbuspotter]

Do you think that If there were other wealey/potter kids in slytherin that it would take away from albus's story and character? Also what do you think are the certain traits that are a must for writing him? Like AUs can change his character but what things need to be the same to still be albus?

GREAT QUESTION BECAUSE I ALSO WONDERED THIS A WHILE AGO.

No, I don't think Albus being in Slytherin was the root of his problems. Yes, people wouldn't care as much because he isn't the FIRST Potter/Weasley, but he's STILL Harry Potters child and unless it was James Sirius that was Slytherin, it would have still been a big deal. (It would've been a big deal anyway). Now if Harry was the one in Slytherin, nobody would care. Infact, Slytherin would gain a pretty good reputation. BUT there's one issue, Albus Potter is terrible at magic, and he hung around with Scorpius Malfoy. THAT was what really made all the bullying start, so that would keep his character on track and not change much of the story. We even see in the play that Albus and Harrys issues don't lay in him being a Slytherin, so they'd still have the fight, and he'd still try save Cedric!

Now onto the next question. Some quintessential Albus things that I personally think are important to his character are these:

1. Being a Slytherin. I think taking away this key part of him, or even just any of the traits that come along with it, ruin his character. If you show me an Albus who is brave and disregards his safety and would throw himself infront of an avada for people, I will not recognise him.

2. Being sharp tounged/surly. This may just be me, but i think him being able to bite back at Harry on the spot in a way that really hurts and isn't just a playground taunt is amazing. He had to go through shit to get a backbone and by god he won't let it go to waste. Timid, shy Albus just doesn't work well for me, it feels like doing an injustice.

3. Being bad at magic. One of the biggest things with Albus is the fact he has no talent. His dad was Harry Potter and he's the saviour of the wizarding world, who learned to cast a Patronus at 13, who tutored a group of students in DADA at 14, who survived the killing curse 2 times, and many more things. Albus was terrible at spells, he was surprised he could perform Incendio whilst going into third year (a first year spell), he only learned expeliarmus in 4th year, and he couldnt even get his broom to lift. But these things are IMPORTANT! Because he has so much pressure put onto him as Harry Potters son and he SHOULD be working extra hard to make up for being in Slytherin, but he doesn't even try. He only learns spells that would be useful to him in a situation, but otherwise he just can't find it in him to even care. I dunno this is just important okay okay.

4. His relationship with Harry. I dislike people thinking Harry should've been the perfect dad, and that he should've understood Albus. Harry probably doesn't even accept the fact he experienced abuse or bullying, nevermind trying to understand his son who is open with the fact. Their relationship and their reconciliation at the end of the play is essential, because it shows that they both care about eachother so much and just don't know how to show it. It's sweet.

5. Scorpius always has to be his bestfriend. Even if it starts with them being enemies and becoming bestfriends. If he isn't even mentioned in a fic or characters act like they don't know him... God... SOB.

6. LOOKING LIKE HARRY. Albus needs to look into the mirror and feel sick at the sight of his face because a young version of his dad stares back at him. He needs to become a teenager and find appreciation in the sallowness of his face, in the murky green of his eyes, and the awkward way he stands, because he finally looks different from Harry and its all he wanted. He loves his dad, but he needs people to know he's a seperate entity. Yeah... yeah this is essential for sure mhmhmhm

7. DRY HUMOR. THATS IT. PLEASE MAKE HIM SARCASTIC.

Okay that's it uhh I guess SOME of these could be taken away and it'd be fine but overall Albus needs to be characterised as a self proclaimed git who pretends to hate his dad that he is a replica of and is always sad slash angry except when he's around his bestfriend. Thanks you for the ask..🙏

[octuscle]

So I activated the "Blending In" preset in the Chronivac and set it to Slow Burn mode. I'm not sure how long it would take to make changes, but to have some fun, I also made sure I'm only partially aware.

Went to this gym nearby, though maybe it was bad timing that there were those toxic school bullies and big meatheads. Well, they're actually fine when they start talking with me like I belonged. Maybe they're alright.

Of course you're not one of them. You play the cello in the school orchestra, are active in the student council and are involved in animal protection. But still, it was cool with the guys. Their tips sounded quite useful. And after you had a big protein shake with the boys after training, you had a lot of fun farting in the competition. No question, you came in last place.

Then outside the gym they went back to pretending they didn't know you. Nick, the alpha meathead, almost ran you over with his motorbike in the gym car park. Anyway, maybe he just didn't see you.

The next morning you wake up full of energy. You jump out of bed, do 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups and go to the bathroom. Hehehehe, should there really be some beard fuzz? You shave every morning anyway, hoping that the beard will finally grow more. Maybe that will finally be successful. Don't bother with the shower. Today you're going to the gym again after school anyway, so you can take a shower then. A quick sniff in the armpit. Still working. To save time, you put on yesterday's gym clothes for school.

In class today you find it harder than usual to concentrate. In maths you actually nod off for a few minutes. But Nick actually greets you in the corridor with a fist bump. And he even talks to you when you finally get to lie on the weight bench and lift weights after school. After the workout, the boys ask you if you'd like to come watch football in the diner. You'd love to. But you have driving school today. You want to finally get your licence for the motorbike.

The next morning, when you go to the bathroom after your run, push-ups and sit-ups, you notice that you didn't shower yesterday. Armpit check. Fuck, you finally smell like a man. And the hair in your armpits finally comes out. You pose in front of the mirror. Yes, the training is paying off. And the protein shakes too. You'll be further ahead in the next farting competition.

You forgot to do your homework at school. That has never happened to you before in your life. When your French teacher asks you how you want to excuse it (en francais, s'il vous-plait), you let out a loud burp. You have detention. The boys in the back row applaud. And burp even louder. Gym is cancelled today. Or rather, it will take place for all of you without dumbbells during detention. With burpees and farts. When you are released, your teacher has to hold a handkerchief over her mouth and nose.

On the way to school, Nick and you have a race on your motorbikes. Shit, you lose. And the winner gets to fart in the loser's face during the bench press. Nick's farts are the worst. Thank God the first two hours are sport. Football is your favourite hobby after pumping iron. And Coach is very happy with you. Let's see if the quarterback position works out for you next season. At the end of practice, Coach reads out a message that you are specifically asked to shower after practice. Classmates and faculty have complained. What pussies! But you combine the pleasant with the useful. When jerking off in the shower, you become second in width to the cum.

Saturday at last! All day in the gym and then cruising with the bikes in the evening. Nick is already waiting for you, talking football with your old man. And about the army. If graduation doesn't work out, this could be a real alternative for you. Your father was in the Navy Seals himself and, unlike your mother, doesn't think it's a bad idea.

At the gym, Nick is whining about how envious he is of your beard growth. And how shitty he thinks it is that his parents don't allow him to get tattoos. Anyway, after the summer it's either college or military academy. Then you can do whatever you want.

[lurafita]

I need immortal husbands who accidentally travel back to current times from like a century or two in the future. And Alec is super relaxed because while he keeps in shadowhunter shape just in case, he has been retired from official clave business for over a century and malec are currently the owners of a small island b&b. And anyway island life Alec falls through a portal and lands in season 1 and has to tell himself to chill out.

Anyway, you are the place I send my weird fic ideas I don’t have time to write. I love reading yours when you post them!

If season 1 Alec, then immortal future Alec probably has a bit more to tell him than just to relax. A lot of fans like to forget that early Alec had some major hangups that fortunately he grew out of. But an older self coming back to this mirror of the past, and dragging him into a room and telling him exactly what a bullshit statement "Downworlders are slaves to their instincts" is, would just be *chef's kiss*. Also how there was more to life than leading an institute the way his parents and the Clave want it to be led. That adhering to tradition too stubbornly stands in the way of progress. That life is nothing but a meaningless list of tasks to complete if you aren't true to yourself. That the respect of his subordinates isn't earned by standing in his family's shadow. That loving your siblings doesn't mean that you should go along with every cockamamie idea they have. And yes, he uses words like cockamamie now. And so on. Just imagining the possible butterfly effect of change it could bring if Alec got an early start for a change of perspective, and did things differently. Especially if this meant that he and Magnus would get together quicker. And then when future Magnus steps through a portal to collect his husband (it probably took him a bit to figure out what happened and where Alec ended up), future Magnus can take a bit of a crack at past Magnus as well. Why not give him a head's up about the whole Valentine disaster? Why not deal with Iris Rouse sooner? Why not lay the groundwork to cut ties with Camille once and for all? Why not prevent Ragnor's death? Why travel back in time at all if you don't change things for the better. Magnus isn't worried that these changes would affect his and Alec's relationship. They have stood the test of time. They are rock solid. And they both believe in their love. So many lives can be saved, relationships repaired, diplomacy practiced, and so on. Two Magnuses going up against Lilith and Asmodeus? Two Alecs leading the institute to a frontal assault against Valentine, Malachi and Altertree? Hell, maybe they can even help Johnathan. At that time, he hasn't commited any atrocities yet. And then they can go back to their time and island living. With the added occasional visit from Ragnor, who is promptly tlaked into babysitting the latest kids that Malec have adopted, so that they can have an anniversary date under the stars.

Keep the fic ideas coming. I love responding to your messages. XD

Hope you are doing well, and remember to drink enough water.

[spideystevie]

hi sweet allie!! may I request 💘 with the prompt "fixing their tie" from "little romantic gestures?" ur an angel i love u happy valentines day <3 xo, @familyvideostevie

sweet sweet emma!! happy valentine’s to you, too! i love you <3 had one idea for this initially and then went a completely different way after consulting a friend. anyway, very excited about this one even though it became more of a tying the tie instead of fixing it but alas same concept! hope you enjoy - [0.9k] | join the party!

There’s an agonizing bite of nerves under Bradley’s skin this morning as he gets ready. You’d been skirting around each other all morning, hurrying to get ready in a rush after waking up late.

Your baby sister graduates college today, a huge feat that she’d told you felt almost impossible. When it came time for invitations to the ceremony, Rooster was one of the first people on her list. He nearly cried when you’d told him, something he made you promise not to mention to anyone. 

After all these years it didn’t come as much of a shock to you. He’d basically become her older brother by association when he started dating you and she looked up to him almost as much as she did you. 

Even still, Bradley was nervous. He’d been to family dinners and that one New Year’s Eve party, a Thanksgiving once too, but those all felt like something on a completely different scale than this. It feels like something more intimate, reserved specifically for blood, being one of the few invited to watch your sister walk across a stage. 

He knows it’s silly, a little bit juvenile even, to feel like he’s going to somehow mess this up or be a disruption. He can’t count the amount of times your mom has told him he was a part of the family now. She still insists each time he’s around that he drops the formalities and just calls her mom. 

His tie not cooperating with his shaky hands isn’t helping his nervous antics either. 

“Need some help?” your voice is a calming siren breaking through his anxious reverie. You’re leaning against the doorframe, halfway in the bathroom with a sweet smile on your face.

He looks at you through the mirror, his hands stilling on the fabric material of his tie. A sheepish look crosses his face as he turns around to face you. You use it as an invitation to step forward and take the two ends of the tie into your hands. 

“Thought you’d be a pro at this by now,” you tease him, a gentle probe that’s softened by your smile when you look up at him through your lashes. A flustered shade of pink rises to his cheeks. He shakes his head as he watches your hands move.

“So did I,” he says and you laugh. A small pinch forms between your brow from concentrating, eyes focused on making sure you get the knot on his tie right. This close, you wonder if he can feel your heart accelerating in the slightest over an action so inherently intimate.

Silence settles over the bathroom save for the sound of your hands on the tie and the fabric brushing against itself as you start to tighten the knot up towards the collar of his shirt.

He takes the time to just look at you, memorizing the lines and slopes of your face. He thinks you’re radiant. 

“And…done,” you nestle the top of a knot in a spot you hope is comfortable for him. One of your hands smooths down the front of the tie, adjusting it just a bit to make sure it’s perfect. Your eyes drift back up to his face to find him already staring at you. 

“What would I do without you?” It feels like there should be a teasing bite to it, but he says it with such sincerity, it makes your head spin. Because yes, you did up his tie for him but you also managed to silence any wavering thought in his brain. There’s a warm adoration coating his features, an intensity that makes your chest feel funny in the best way. 

You stare at him for a beat, enough for your gaze and his to flicker towards each other's lips. A heat rushes to your face as he lowers his face down to yours. You use the hand still resting on his chest to grab at his tie and tug him down to meet you fully.

If your usual demeanor and bright smile weren’t enough to quell his nerves before, the way you’re kissing him definitely is. His hands fall against your waist, his lips soft against yours. You kiss him like you’re not running late for a graduation ceremony, like right now in this moment time’s paused and resting in the palm of your hand.

You pull away, both of you a little dazed but full of lovestruck smiles. You take a step back and towards the door to grab your shoes. He takes a second to breathe before following after you. The two of you pull on your shoes by the door and just as he’s about to open it to leave, you stop him. 

“Wait!” you rush out and he pauses, hand wrapped around the door handle ready to pull it open. You step forward into his bubble of space again, shifting his tie that you’d caused to go askew back into place. Your hand lingers against his chest for a moment, palm against the fabric of his shirt and tie. 

You step back again, your hand falling back to your side. “Okay. Now we can go.”

Bradley can’t resist, he pulls you in by the small of your back to kiss you once more. It’s over sooner than the last but it leaves you just as doe eyed and blinking. 

You make it inside and to your seats near your parents in the nick of time and all at once his nerves seem to return. It’s different though, they mix with a swell of pride in his chest, one that grows only stronger when your sister’s name is called. She spots him in the crowd with ease, cheering loud next to you and her face lights up. 

When he sits back down with you, he feels more at home than he has in years.

[theadventurerslog]

Quest For Glory II: Trial by Fire | Part 1

The Adventurer's Log

Release Date: 1990

Here we go! Spielburg was saved and Cinder Win was whisked off to Shapeir, the homeland of the Kattas--Shema and Shameen--and Abdulla Doo. Like the first game, I've watched this game played so overall it won't be a blind play, however the wizard-specific parts and puzzle solutions will be mostly new to me.

The intro opened with a djinn watching our crew riding Abdulla's magic carpet...

And he laughed at me. Rude. At the end of the first game there was a dragon. Hints at more to come? Just cool stuff?

After some swooping around and credits we landed in Shapeir where it was time to look the part of a desert hero because the previous outfit just wouldn't do according to Shema.

New game, new kingdom, new outfit! A hero should look the part!

With the intro complete it was time to get started with character creation or character import. Thankfully, importing your character is a very smooth easy experience at now. I suspect less so originally. You can rename your character, but Cinder Win is eternal.

We opened in the Katta's Tail Inn, chatting with Abdulla. The inn was only just set up but has become the centre of Shapeir's entertainment. "Where else can you watch Shema dance?"

This'll be my base. Free food and room! No more sleeping in the flowers for old Cinder.

And I got a bit of bad news hinting at the main plot point to come.

The Emir of Raseir, Arus Al-Din has gone missing...

I asked about the Emir. He said Arus 'was the kindest of men, quick to hug you and call you brother" but not very brave. Aw.

I also asked Abdulla about Shapeir to which he said the land of Shapeir may be plagued by Elementals and Djinns but would always stand as long as there are heroes. Like me!

And I asked about money and found out I'd need to find the money changer.

I checked out my character sheet and new portrait! Look at Cinder being all magic-y!

Ah yes the game introduces the communication skill which can be used for things like bargaining. I wonder how the stat is determined on import... That looks like a pretty darn good starting score to me.

Otherwise, it was time to check out Shapeir and enjoy the sights. Which means it was time to talk to everyone and look at all the things before setting out to explore and getting lost.

I asked Shameen about the Emir and the city of Raseir. Those who were driven from Raseir spoke highly of the Emir, but of his brother Ali Hasan (Sierra really really likes using the name Ali in Arab themed places...), they merely spit. Raseir was a city much like Shapeir "a mirror". Now it's said it's foreshadowing of what's to come.

Then I exited out into the plaza! And was immediately thrown sales pitches.

Map! Compass! Souvenirs!

I can't buy anything until I convert my money. I asked Alichica for directions to the money changer... he gave me directions. So many directions. Spoiler alert: they didn't help, though that was more my fault.

I went down first which is the city exit. There are riding-sauruses! Sauruses to ride! But the seller won't be here until tomorrow.

I went back up into the many alleyways of the city. So many...

I want that map.

I got very lost and confused. I lost track of my directions immediately so Alichica's were not helpful. After a lot of wandering hopelessly I stumbled out into another plaza though, the fountain plaza.

Baskets, lamps aaand magic shop!

The magic shop is owned by Keapon Laffin who is a gnome, so he is quite the character full of ridiculous wordplay, rhymes and puns down to his name as seems to be the gnomish way in QFG. I approve. He's great.

He has spells to sell but some of them I already have. The ones I need to get are Force Bolt and Levitate. He sells Erasmus' Razzle Dazzle, so if I had given up on Erasmus' game at least I could have gotten it here. I'm glad I didn't give up, but nice to know anyway.

I asked him about magic and learned of Aziza who lives off the east end of Shmali Tarik... if I can find that... And he talked about WIT -- the Wizard's Institute of Technocery. I learned of that in the first game, and now it's somewhere here in Shapeir. I'll need magic to find it.

There were plenty of silly things to examine. And a Rosella puppet!

(She was sort of being made into a puppet for Lolotte...)

With the map in the game manual I attempted to find my way to the money changer again... I still got confused and ended up going in a circle and landed back here at the fountain plaza. The map in relation to the game corridors is confusing! And I'm not very good at directions! And aaaa!

It took a few tries, but I made it! I looked up an image of the in-game map I don't have yet and found it a bit easier to follow.

I met Dinarzad (what a name... I'm guessing a play off of Scheherazade?). There was also her guard, Franc, full of money puns.

Clap clap clap. He's certainly not gonna Buck the pun trend in this game.

I had a 172 gold. I got 113 dinars in return... because of her fees. I got curious and looked that up which I don't want to do too much, but again, curiosity and I'd rather have fewer money woes this time around. Her rate is based on much you give at a time and is apparently best to do 50. So I tried that and ended up with 154 dinars by the end. Yay!

Then I made my way back to the fountain plaza which I discovered seems to be split into two screens? I was very confused for a moment. The second half has food sellers--Scoree and Sloree--named after Corey and Lori Ann Cole, the creators of Quest for Glory. There was also the apothecary. I avoided it all for the moment to keep going onward to the starting plaza because I wanted that map before anything else.

I successfully bargained for the map and compass bringing each down from one dinar to 50 centimes! Half-off!

Map and compass!

The really nice thing about the map is once you've found a location you can just click to go it automatically.

I went back to Keapon Laffin and bought my two spells. Bargained successfully there too knocking 10 dinars off each!

While I was there I remembered to try asking him about Erasmus and happily got an actual answer.

Fenrus too!

And I asked about Katta for an unsurprising pun.

I bought a brass lamp in the fountain plaza. I'm sure I'll want it at some point.

"The shiny brass lamp is engraved on the bottom: 'Aladdin Lamp Co.'"

Evening fell so I went back to the inn to eat.

I went back outside to practice some magic. I was successful for a time until a guard came and told me off for casting in town. He warned me. I thought he was gone, and tried again, or maybe I was hooped regardless after that initial warning, but I got arrested and agame over... And I forgot to save beforehand so I had to buy my lamp and eat again. Oops!

I tried dipping my toes into the desert and fired off a few force bolts and a fire bolt, but then a pack of jackalmen showed up... I ran and fled back to town. It also wouldn't let me use levitate out there.

Turns out run isn't the command to use here. It's escape. So I had a bit of a panicky moment thinking I couldn't run away at all.

It is pretty at night though. Look at that sky!

But this screen right outside town wouldn't let me use my spells at all. So, I took the risk and back to practicing carefully back in town until I ran out of MP.

Levitate!

I realized I didn't talk to Shameen all that much before so I did again. It turns out when the katta had been driven from Raseir, the Sultan here welcomed them in here. Raseir is just in a bad way.

Then while the night was young, I still decided to get Cinder to bed.

A productive first day for getting stuff. And I even managed to already flee from something.

Onward to Day 2 next time. I'd like to find Aziza and the Adventurer's Guild. Actually enter the apothecary. Maybe get a saurus? Generally explore more and gather more information. I want to get my map filled in with as many locations as possible. The less I have to wander those street corridors the better...

[narastories]

what we can have

I want to say ‘this is a weird one’ but let’s face it: when have I ever written something that’s not?

That said… this is: a) a crossover b) wizardbaron

Fandom: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher, The Fetch Phillips Archives Series - Luke Arnold Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Harry Dresden/Johnny Marcone, Thurston Niles/Fetch Phillips Tags: Crossover, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dimension Travel, POV Alternating, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Marcone POV, Fetch POV, in terms of the Dresden Files it's set after Fool Moon, in the FPA universe after OFITF, pining Wizardbaron, established Philes, because I said so, somehow Philes ended up being the emotionally more mature couple in this which is hilarious, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Fae & Fairies, Niles & Marcone bromance, Fluff

Summary:

John Marcone has a bad start of his day when he manages to get his favorite wizard to help him, only for them to be transported to a different city. Fetch Phillips also faces trouble when a self-proclaimed wizard and a trigger-happy mafia boss enter his café unexpectedly.

The story of four men grappling with the unpredictable nature of magic and their impractical crushes.

Read on AO3

To answer a few questions you might have in advance:

Can I read this if I haven’t read the Dresden Files?

Yes, totally! There are a few minor spoilers from book 1 & 2 but nothing big. If you are familiar with the general premise of the Dresden Files, you should be fine.

Can I read this if I haven’t read the Fetch Phillips Archives?

Technically, yes, but from the FPA perspective, this takes place after the third book, and there are some pretty significant spoilers alluded to. If you have no intention of reading the FPA or don’t care about the spoilers, you should be fine. However, I think if you like the Dresden Files, you should really give the Fetch Phillips Archives a go, and maybe save this fic after you read the first three books ;)

Nara you never seemed like a huge Wizardbaron fan, how come you wrote this ship? Can we expect more Harry x Marcone fics in the future?

GODS I HOPE NOT

I’m sorry for being so antagonistic about this. I have a real love/hate relationship with Marcone and this ship.

I get everything I ever wanted from enjoying Harry/Nic and Fetch/Niles. The reason why this fic ended up being Harry/Marcone is because they are much closer in vibe to Fetch/Niles, and I thought Marcone and Niles would get along pretty well. These ships and characters mirrored each other nicely so Marcone fit my idea better.

If I could have gotten away with making this Harry/Nic I would have, believe me.

I will always respect Wizardbaron enjoyers as the backbone of the DF fandom. And I also liked the idea of writing something that they could realistically enjoy without having to descend into the rarepair hell with me lol

I have no intention of writing more wizardbaron tho, sorry. Although as all fanfic writers know we have limited control of what we end up writing, am I right?

Also I re-listened to Even Hand while editing, and I highly recommend the audiobook version of that if you’re far enough into the DF series. It’s narrated by Mr. Author himself (btw I don’t know why I always call him that but you know, I think I’d better stick to Fae rules and don’t call him by his name on a fanfic lmao) and he clearly had so much fun with it. Certain implications for future theories aside it’s also one of the good parts with Marcone.

Anyway, if you read all that ramble i love you hope you enjoy the fic <3

[halt-kun]

My Hero Academia Chapter 427 - Who was Togura Shigaraki, really ?

Should I be working on my PhD ? Maybe

But I also need to read that chapter

Anyway

Okay so a tv special on Shigaraki

well, he did kill a lot of people

I wonder where this is going

Because if I ever watched a documentary on some random murderer dictator-wannabe and they ended it with "but he was a misunderstood child with trauma", I would riot !

But let's see what's the angle there

OOOO SPINNER CHAPTER

I'm HYPED

the guy with an unrequited crush

what happened to the quirk AFO gave him ?

Thanks Doctor

clearing things up, pleases me

Well that's a bit ironic considering what Shigaraki did to mostly random civilians that weren't actively against him but yes Deku is a murderer technically.

Even though he just gave AFO what he wanted, his quirk

Well now he's calming down

Spinner really gives me the same vibes as Sensui and Itsuki

Well I'm crying, this hits home a bit with the rise of the far right in France (though we (the left) won). My brothers long for destruction in a similar way because they feel rejected by the system (even though they're ciswhitestraightdudes)

So : CAN Deku save Spinner ???

This could destroy me

Spinner really gives the black incel from the countryside vibes

Deku is calm

Spinner, he was your hero of course, and at least for someone who would probably be akin to some alt right geek, at least, your "hero" was rooting for you and thinking about you.

Not just using you for your money because you think you're a loser who won't amount to anything worthwile

Shigaraki's last words to spinner in an alternate dimension : "you should invest in crypto bro, you'll get rich and have women"

I'm noticing now that I don't know enough about the japanese political system to really understand what is represented here. Spinner and Heteromorphs were definitely supposed to mirror the civil rights movement from the US and yet, did he really try to represent somealt right incel there.

Or is it just a byproduct of Spinner character he didn't realize would come to be ?

To my knowledge, Hikikomoris can share this aspect of incel geeks in japan but I don't really know how it's been lately.

I thought my cultural background was closer than that between US and Japan but it's true I've followed US politics more lately

Let's continue though

Well it hurts Spinner, I understand

But you'll have to move forward and accept his legacy, he didn't only affect you but a lot of other people too and not just "positively"

You'll have to move forward at some point, if not for you, for him.

He's not here anymore, take the time to process your grief, but you need to becomes your own hero from now on.

I truly hope you can fight on your own and take part in the reconstruction of Japan toward a better country.

YES

YES

YES

YES

VERY GOOD

YES I KNEW HE WOULD GET IT

You can be a hero Spinner, to yourself but also to others

you have to begin with yourself too

will you join us ?

And save all the Shigarakis laying in wait, ready to succumb to despair ?

Hahaha nice Deku

but yeah, he won't forget about Shigaraki for as long as he lives

TEARED UP AGAIN

yay Shoji, the GOAT, he saved you too in a sense

Oh shit, does it mean Chisaki interacted with Eri ???

Not a good idea, how'd it go ?

Well, even them will work toward redemption it seems

I doubt Eri will forget too

she's traumatized and it's probably lying somewhere, repressed very deep into her psyche.

Thanks Tsukauchi, but a good psychiatrist would be a better idea, she already has a good support system

she needs professional help to complement it

if needed

Oh first years already !? Too bad they'll get expelled in a matter of hours

Oh god no please

fangirls

and Mineta

kill him right now if he even dares to go back to his perverted mind

Is there even a guy in there ?

Anyway, very good chapter

Is MHA going to have one of the best conclusions among mangas (especially big WSJ mangas) ? I'm starting to believe it !

[aliasrocket]

Two things, one Rocket is a stranger in his body. Two, any advice for writing? I struggle with descriptions and describing dialogue and I overthink it because it sounds dumb. So any advice? 🥺

Yes. Rocket definitely feels a dissociation between himself and his body. I can understand how that feels to a certain extent.

As for advice for writing, I feel honored that you came to me for help! I hope my ‘guide’ will help you!

Advice for descriptions and describing dialogue!

Actively do the things you’re trying to describe.

This is especially useful for beginners because once you get into the groove of writing your imagination gets stretched over time to the point that you know what you want from a scene but anyway, what I mean by this is if let’s say there’s a character that struggles with their body image and they have a closet with a mirror, instead of just saying “he walked over to the closet and saw his reflection. He hated it.” You can try to go over to your closet and pretend you’re looking into a mirror.

This will get your brain to start thinking about how it would feel to look into a mirror and hate what you see. You’ll also get to see stuff that you do by instinct so your writing comes out much more humane, if that makes sense? For example, maybe you touch the mirror out of pure instinct. You could write the character doing that and it would give more life to your fic because it’s something we would all probably do.

Show, not tell.

This one is basic english writing 101 but this quote has saved my writing. Let me give you an example.

She turned around in the middle of the argument. She exhaled and inhaled, the situation getting her anxious and her palms sweaty.

This is good! But “the situation getting her anxious” is telling the reader that she was anxious, instead of showing the reader. So whenever you write, there should always be a lot of questions in your head, like what happens when someone gets anxious? Both in their head, and to their body? Once you get this instinct, you’ll be able to come up with stuff like this.

she turned around in the middle of the argument, and she felt her head swing around with her. Her hands were tossed above her head, her sweaty palms cooling to the ventilation above as she exhaled. She swayed left to right, almost like she was trying to cradle the heart that was pounding against her ribcage.

I mean I’ve been writing fanfic for years so take it one step at a time. I recognize this instinct isn’t easily acquired so just try to remember if you want the reader to feel what the character is feeling in that scene and you aren’t able to feel yourself filling the character’s shoes in that moment, then maybe you’re ‘telling’ more than ‘showing.’

It’s okay to use ‘said.’ Dialogue is simple most of the time.

I cannot stress this enough. Teachers in school always say ‘said’ is such a bad word for a dialogue tag because it does nothing to describe the way someone says something but sometimes, people just say things. It took me years to accept this face.

But obviously if it’s a really emotional scene and someone is begging someone to stay, then ‘said’ would be horrible. But if two people are just talking, especially if it’s a calm setting, they’re more likely to just say something more than anything else.

Now let’s say you do need to describe the way someone says something. Dialogue is one of the simpler things to describe in writing, it’s just a dialogue tag and that’s it, really. Everything else you use to describe the way someone says something just goes back to the two points I mentioned above, because their actions play a huge part in the dialogue too.

Now if you’re struggling to find more complex dialogue tags, besides Thesaurus.com, I also like to use these websites :

This is also good for any other simple word you’d like to replace with a more complex word, too.

This is more suited for dialogue tags and has saved my writing multiple times.

I hope this was helpful!

[ohjustkreat]

Moments In Between

A Shuri x Riri One-shot Series

Available on Wattpad/AO3 (Kreat)

************************************

There was no battle that Shuri had fought or enemy she had faced that caused her to be as nerve ridden as she was today. Finally after every trial and tribulation, she was marrying the love of her life. Their relationship was far from a fairytale, yet Shuri and Riri both knew they would have a happy ending.

"Shuri, I can feel your nerves over here. Do the rest of us a favor and keep them to yourself." M'baku said, earning him a glare from Shuri.

"Bast, leave her alone, M'baku. She has a right to be nervous. It is their union day." Okoye defended. "So, are you ready?" Okoye said as she put her hands on Shuri's shoulders.

"More ready than I've ever been for any moment in my life. I get to marry my soulmate."

"Yes, yes, kisses and rainbows. Save your speech for the ceremony." This earned M'baku a glare from both Okoye and Shuri.

"I only speak the truth." M'baku said as he raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders in innocence.

"Shuri, don't listen to him. It's your day and you can say whatever you please." Okoye said, smiling and looking at Shuri through the mirror.

*knock* *knock*

All three pairs of eyes turned towards the source of the sound as the door opened.

"Shuri, it's almost time" Nakia was smiling as she entered Shuri's quarters.

Shuri exhaled as the dropping feeling reappeared in her stomach. "Nakia, how does she look?"

Nakia's eyes lit up at the mention of Riri. "Shuri, she looks absolutely beautiful. As do you."

"Thank you. I'm just ready to see her. Actually, I'm not sure what I'll do when I see her."

"Just don't freeze and you'll be fine." M'baku inserted, wearing his signature charming smile. Shuri looked at him with agitation as Nakia and Okoye stifled back a laugh.

"Okay, enough teasing our Bride." Nakia said, still laughing.

"I was only trying to give advice." M'baku said.

"Try some better advice." Shuri said.

"Fine, you want advice?" M'baku for once turned to a more serious tone. He took a deep breath, preparing what words were about to leave his mouth.

"Always so dramatic," Okoye said as M'baku cut his eyes at her.

"As I was saying." M'baku started as he turned his attention back to Shuri. " Shuri, I know that this life has not been easy for you, but it has given you someone to share it with. Someone who loves you. Do not let your past wounds bleed on the heart who loves you now, in the present. I wish you two the best in this life and the next." M'baku surprised everyone with his words. Pulling Shuri into a hug, he whispered into her ear "I love you, little panther, and I am so proud of the woman you've become." Releasing her, he looked to see there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Nakia attempted to pat away the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. Okoye on the other hand let them fall, not caring for the makeup she was wearing anyways.

"Now, I have another bride to go and offer my great wisdom to. We'll see you out there." M'baku gave Shuri one last meaningful look before leaving out the door. Over the years, M'baku and Riri had grown close. M'baku was mostly just intrigued by Riri's smart mouth and her ability to sometimes out banter him. And to no one's surprise, she had chosen him to present her to Shuri.

"I should be going to. Congratulations, Shuri." Okoye said as she gave Shuri a quick hug and left out the door.

With it just being them, Nakia took advantage of the moment. "Shuri, I wasn't sure what to say on this day. How to say, I'm so amazed by who you've become. The strength it took to get to this point, physically or mentally, I'm proud of you. I also see the way you unconditionally love and care for Riri. How protective of her you are yet, gentle. I know your mother and brother approve. And they are here with us today. You look at Riri the way T'challa would look at me. That's how I know you two are meant to be. You look at each other as if you're the stars that light up each other's sky." Nakia dabbed at the tears that had started to fall from her eyes.

"I wish they could have been here. I wish you and my brother could have had a day such as this. I told myself today was not just about the love Riri and I share for each other. But about the love and sacrifices of everyone, ourselves included, for us to get to this point." Shuri felt her eyes start to water. "Bast, no more deep talks. I'm going to cry enough at the ceremony."

Nakia chuckled, " Okay, you're right. Are you ready?"

"Now or never, let's go." Shuri took a hold of Nakia's arm. She had chosen Nakia to present her to Riri. She only felt that it was right. She also was thankful to have Nakia's support. Shuri was close to shambles,the epitome of a nervous wreck.The couple had stuck to the long tradition of being separated the day before their ceremony. She hadn't seen Riri in over 24 hours and now the next time she would be seeing her, would be as her wife. Walking out of her bridal quarters', Shuri prepared herself. It was time.

******************************************************************************************

Riri looked into the mirror. Her dress fit her body perfectly. Months of designing and tailoring her wedding dress had paid off. She was in awe of the intricate designs , the details of everything from the hems to the stitching. It was perfect. Riri felt beautiful for the first time in a long time.

"That dress isn't going anywhere and neither are we if you don't get out of that mirror."

"M.J. a girl only gets married once, well one time that truly matters." Ayo and M.J. both chuckled.

"And I'm lucky enough that this will be my only wedding. Shuri knows not to play with me." Riri said jokingly.

"Or she'll have to face me. And I might not have a cool super suit like everyone else but I don't play about my Riri." M.J. added in from her spot on the lounge chair.

"That will be a very quick fight." M'baku inserted as he walked through the door

"Mimi!" Riri calls the nickname out in excitement.

"Ah, you know how I hate that name." M'baku said in annoyance.

"Which is exactly why I used it. You can't be mad, you came up with it." Riri argued.

"Ah, on any other day you would not get away with that, but today is a very special day. I also know that you're just as much of a wreck as Shuri is. You two are perfect for eachother. Both small and emotional. Like two lovesick puppies."

"M'baku, did you just come to insult me?" Riri asks.

M'baku laughs, "Of course not, I came to present you to your bride to be. Now, stop deflecting. I know you are a complete wreck right now. So, what is on your mind?"

"Everything." Riri said as she turned around to face M'baku, backing away from the full length mirror. "Today, is one of the most important days of my life. Am I supposed to feel a certain way?"

"Mm, I suppose not."

"Don't get me wrong, bro, I've been practically shaking since this morning. Like, this is really about to happen. I honestly couldn't see myself with anyone else."

"I don't think anyone else would be willing to put up with you." M'baku adds.

"I said the same thing myself." M.J. said.

"I like her. And who are you?" Asked M'baku.

"Oh, I'm M.J. Friend from M.I.T. And you must be M'baku.'

"Yes, I did not think anyone else could stand this one." M'baku jokes, pointing at Shuri.

"Eh, she's not that bad." M.J. responds.

"Okay, if you two are done making fun of me-"

"Ah, don't be so upset. " M'baku says as he walks further into the room.

"Okay, everyone. We do have a ceremony to get to. M'baku, make sure she actually gets to the palace and on time. M.J., you all set to go?" Ayo says, making way towards the door.

M.J. gave Riri one last hug, "I'm so happy for you, girl." She said so that only Riri could hear her. Releasing her, she gave her one last look over and continued out the door with Ayo.

"Honestly speaking, you both really are a wreck. What is the worst that can happen? Do you think Shuri's going to say no."

"Very funny, smart ass."

"I'm just saying Ri. I honestly get sick everytime I am around you two and your kissing and cuddling. It's not enjoyable for the rest of us."

"And it's only about to get worse." Riri said, sticking her tongue out at him.

M'baku rolled his eyes. "I know. Speaking of, you are about to step into a union. I may tell a joke here and there-"

"Pfft" Riri interjected.

"BUT I am serious about this. What you're about to do is nothing to take lately. And I know you love Shuri deeply. I have never seen a more perfect match. The love you share is genuine. And Riri, if and when things get hard, just know I'll always be here. To talk to, confide in. I've grown to think of you as a little sister, Ri. And although I serve the throne, this gorilla will tame the Black Panther if she hurts you, without hesitation." M'baku pulled a now crying Riri in for a hug.

"I knew you were a softie."

"Oh shut up. You're the one who's crying." M'baku said, releasing Riri ," Are you ready?"

"I don't think I'll be more ready than I am now. I feel like I've been waiting for this moment all my life and didn't know it until now."

"Well, let's not wait any longer." M'baku offered Riri his arm. She took it and exhaled heavily, looking towards the door.

****************************************************************************

The Golden City was at its most festive. An overwhelming sense of excitement had consumed the city in the days leading up to the wedding ceremony. People from all over the nation filled the streets, celebrating the union to come. Today was no different. Bells could be heard in the distance. ringing out, signaling the wedding party's arrival. The residents of the city were dressed in bright colors, none dawning white. If not among the crowds in the street, they were standing or sitting on their balconies or outside their homes. Just hoping to catch a glimpse of the new brides as they made their ceremonial march through the town. A gesture that had come to symbolize a new couple walking into their life together.

Inside the Citadel, Shuri waited patiently outside the throne room. Nakia standing beside her arm in Shuri's. For some reason, Nakia had grown nervous as well.

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

Shuri felt a spark ignite inside her as she knew the ringing of bells meant it was officially time for her to walk down the aisle.

"Let's do this." She said as the tall and heavy vibranium doors opened.

Standing on either side of the aisle were various members of their friends and family. Shuri didn't notice everyone who was there as she was focusing on this moment. Gracefully, she made her way down the aisle. Nakia, who had released her arm, was not standing to the side of her. Shuri didn't think she could grow more nervous. She was wrong. As the crowd remained standing, the more rings from the bell were heard throughout the palace room.

'Here we go' Shuri thought to herself, her hands sweating. As the doors opened for a second time, Shuri tried to prepare herself. It failed. As the doors opened and Riri came into sight, Shuri forgot anyone else was in the room. Shuri had seen Goddesses before, but none of them came close to Riri. Sun gold fabric seemed to hug every curve on Riri's body. The heart-line shoulderless dress was adorned with gold dusted patterns. Each hand sewn over the period of a few months. A long train followed behind Riri as she made her way down the aisle. Shuri felt as if the sun was walking towards her. Her natural curls stopped just below her shoulders and seemed to move with her as she walked down the aisle.

Riri, who was now standing at the end of the aisle, stood and waited, her tears now matching Shuri's. Riri couldn't believe she got to marry someone so breathtaking. Shuri's was wearing a traditional white wrap. The designs matched those of Riri's dress. The same golden color, but stitched along the sides of her wrap. Over her shoulder was a shawl, white in color. It was blank except for the panther emblem that had been stitched into the middle of it.

"May we begin." The Golden tribe elder said. After receiving a nod from both Shuri and Riri, he continued. "Today, we gather in this great place, the Golden Citadel, for the union of most honored citizens. Shuri Udaku, of the Golden tribe, Daughter of late Queen Ramonda, the Black Panther, and Bast' Champion. And Riri Williams, of the Western world, the Iron Heart and the people's champion. Who will be presenting these women?"

"I will" Nakia stated first as she stepped forward.

"I will." M'baku added as he stepped forward.

"Do you both in good faith present these two to each other? Recognizing this as a confirmation of your belief in the idea that they will honor and love each other for an eternity. This act is a representation of your witness of their strength of union."

"Yes." Nakia and M'baku answered simultaneously.

"Brides, you may now turn and face each other."

Shuri was met with Riri's teary ones. Each at the other. No words had to be exchanged for them to know how the other was feeling in the moment.

"Today, today I, an elder of the Golden tribe, have the great privilege of joining you together. We will begin with exchanging vows. Shuri?"

Shuri clears her throat as she takes Riri's hands into hers. "Riri, I wasn't sure what to say until now. I prepared something, but those words don't do this moment justice. Since the moment I met you, I have had the sense that we belonged together. I didn't know what it meant then, but I do now. In our journey together, we have lost so much but have been blessed to find each other. I feel as though the universe created us for each other. Rather it be in this lifetime of the next, I wll always find you. I will always be there to love you, protect you, and support. You have given me the greatest gift. The gift of living again, being able to love again and to know that I can be loved. You are my stars, my moon, my sun, and my entire world. I'd die a thousand times over before I had to live in a world without you in it." Shuri finished and noticed the drops falling from her eyes. She was speaking from the heart and it showed.

"Now, Riri." The elder said.

"Wow, okay." Riri said as she gathered herself and tried to pat away the tears that were falling.

"Shuri, we found each other at a time when I was alone. And I needed you in a way that I didn't understand. Oftentimes, I find myself wondering, how we got here. How we made it through everything and it reassures me that we were meant to be. Not only have you made me a part of your family, but you make me into a better person. One who isn't afraid to be vulnerable or want to be isolated from the world. You brought me joy at a time when I lacked it the most. I look into your eyes and I see home. I feel a peace come over me that nothing else has ever brought me. My love for you goes across universes and it has no end. Whatever the world decides to throw at you, at us, I'll always be by your side fighting until the end. Whenever you're not by my side, a piece of me is missing. I have become yours as much as you have become mine. Our souls dancing with one another for an eternity. I have loved you, Shuri, for what seems like a lifetime. And I'll love you for the rest of this one and the next."

At this point very few guests were not trying to stop the tears that were now falling. Even M'baku had shed a tear or two at the sight of the two women professing their love for each other.

"Will the bearer bring the rings forward." The Elder called out among the crowd.

Shuri and Riri both looked at M.J. with slightly annoyed looks.

Just then a frantic looking M.J. sprung up "Oh sheesh, yea that's me." She said as rushed forward. "Sorry about that, here ya go." She said, smiling apologetically. The couple had designed matching gold-plated vibranium wedding rings. A closer look at the rings would show a black panther designed as the ring band, whose tail flowed up the shoulder of the ring and into the basket that was holding a heart shaped diamond.

"Shuri, please place the ring on Riri's finger." Shuri gently placed the ring on Riri's finger/

"Now, Shuri Udaku, do you take Riri Williams in union? To have in this lifetime and into the next. To protect not only her body, but her mind, soul, and image as well?"

"I do." Shur said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Riri, please place the ring on Shuri's finger." Riri did as she was instructed.

"Riri Williams, do you take Shuri Udaku in union? To have in this lifetime and into the next. To protect not only her body, but her mind, soul, and image as well?"

"I do." Riri said, smiling through teary eyes.

"This union has been confirmed and witnessed by the ancestors, elders, tribal leaders and the honored guests of our couple. I now pronounce you wife and wife. You may now kiss you-"

The elder member didn't get the chance to finish as neither woman wasted no time capturing the other in a kiss. Breaking apart, they were met with the cheers of their guests and the sounding of the bells. Letting the rest of the city know the ceremony had been completed.

Shuri picked Riri up bridal style as they made their way through the palace. They walked the streets for the first time as a couple. They were met with congratulations from every person they passed and were given several gifts. The festivities lasted for days after that. The couple spent every moment together, relishing in newly-wed bliss.

[drsteggy]

So idk this has all been on my brain of late and I just want to dump it out and Facebook sure isn’t the place to do it.

I’ll start by saying I’m AFAB cis straighty mcstraighterson. Like I’ve thought long and hard about these things for a long time and yeah, maybe I hit the Demi romantic spectrum because I classically do not recognize flirting unless the person finally says hello yes I am interested. Like the guy I married had to actually kiss me because I was very well he is just cuddly I guess and he got tired of waiting for me to move. And I feel that’s possibly a very large maybe.

But anyway. I got obsessed with a Zelda game to the point I went I would like to become the Zelda game, even if it’s just on a temporary basis. Early on in the process someone asked me if I was crossplaying or genderbending my Link and I decided that I was a guy when I wore my champion's tunic. And I really didn’t have an answer for that So I started to spend more and more time trying to come off more dude like.

And like, I get I’m playing at this. I understand that. This isn’t a struggle over my identity. I’m playing in a sandbox and I am trying to be respectful of the people I see out here who do struggle with this thing that seems on the surface it should just be a Fact to the point that total strangers feel they should just know that about you. Like, I see my privilege here, I get that, but it’s also been interesting to explore? I hope I’m not sounding like a jerk here.

But like there’s this thing where it’s are you wearing a costume or are you trying to be a character and the more times I put the things on and the more comfortable I got with being blonde and changing my contours the more I thought about what does this mean for me…and idk maybe I still don’t know.

I hit a point where every once in a while I’d fool someone in a photo, but I never fooled anyone in person.

Until this year. And I have no idea what changed other than I probably got better with practice.

I was off at some con and got into a conversation with a young person who told me he was trans pretty quickly and when we traded names, he gave me a confused look and came back with the masculine version of what I gave him. When I corrected him, he tilted his head and asked for pronouns and I told him she/her and he still looked skeptical and I was like….what’s this.

One day I did my make up and looked in the mirror and went wow I really really look like my dad, I never saw it before.

Then I went to NYCC and the days I wore the blue tunic (Gerudo Link fools nobody, unless you’re considering the point of that gear I guess) I had a few people kind of stop and then refer to me as they because they were not sure. And I was very well this is pretty interesting.

And I’m working on an upgrade for the new game. I haven’t put the entire thing together because I’m off to a con in like 48 hours and doing the whole deal can be Something so I am saving that energy for when it’s needed. But I did take some test images and while I’m really pleased with the costume (it’s going to be so bad ass when it’s entirely done, totally wearing that to GameStop to pick up my copy of the game) I also realize that if I take my face out of the equation, I’m not sure what the gender presentation is either.

So I’m super looking forward to going all out in drag here and see how I get addressed this weekend. I’m not sure I’ll offer up corrections.

And like, this has just been roaming the front of my brain and it’s better dumped out and I dunno.