#been thinking about these boards all day. next post when i have energy will be a compilation of these two being goobers

[lake-cosay]

sooo the fandom found some boards with new lore about reflections!

there's one new thing directly stated by lake:

when a prime dies, they're replaced by an "inert," who's not alive like other reflections. (i wonder how fast theyre replaced? if the reflection has to play dead until the body isn't by a reflective surface and they can be replaced?) technically, this one line is missing from among other lines that made it into the show, so there is a chance they took it out because they decided it wasn't canon anymore

everything else is implied, like lake suggesting reflections probably don't need to eat

(my logic being that anything that needs to eat to survive probably feels hungry, even if that sensation may feel different to them)

lake enjoys food!!! not surprising, i wonder if they'll enjoy less as it becomes not new anymore, or if that's something they'll always enjoy. but them being able to eat (in my opinion) implies that they do have organs, and yes, jesse, probably can go to the bathroom if they eat. (@jesse-cosay pointed that out first lol)

and, while we all pretty much gathered this anyway, lake does mention that they're pretty sure no reflection has ever made it off the train:

(also, don't mind me being sad about all the escaped reflections who were murdered before they ever got to live. and lake's definitely thinking about that, too).

these boards are all by jacob winkler, you can find them here

[4linos]

beyond the scrubs

han jisung x fem!reader

synopsis: new nurse jisung struggles with constant mistakes under a tough but skilled mentor, but their relationship evolves as they both learn the value of patience and support.

wc: 3578 ٩(ˊ��ˋ*)و ♡

a/n: i’m sorry but reader is kind of mean in this they make up for it though so don’t worry. :>

Jisung was a bundle of nerves as he stood in the break room, eyes wide as the schedule for his first day of orientation was posted on the board. It was his second day at the hospital, fresh out of nursing school, and everything was still new—still overwhelming. But today was different. Today, he’d be shadowing you.

He had heard a lot about you from the other nurses. You were experienced, patient, and always had a kind word for patients, even when the shifts got tough. And, he had to admit, you were pretty—really pretty, in fact. The way you carried yourself, confident yet compassionate, was something he admired from a distance. The idea of working under you for the next few weeks filled him with both excitement and an inexplicable sense of nervous energy.

You were helping a nurse and adjusting your stethoscope when he saw you in the corridor. Jisung couldn't help but believe you seemed like someone who had it all together because you were calm and professional. He didn't. But he was determined to make an impression on you today. "Hey, Jisung," you called him as soon as you saw him standing outside the nurse's station. His heart skipped a beat when you gave him a brief smile. "Ready for your first shift?"

"Y-yeah, absolutely!" A bit too enthusiastic, he stuttered. "I’m really excited to work with you." You gave him a clipboard after nodding and rearranging the papers in your palm. "All right, let's begin. You'll help with assessments today, and I'll show you the ropes." Jisung gave a hearty nod. He had to do his best, and he would. Especially with you, he didn't want to leave a negative impression.The beginning was fairly easy. You showed him how to take vitals, examine patient history, and do basic medical assessments.

Even though his hands were a little unsteady when he took his first set of vitals, Jisung made an effort to remain composed. He worked very hard to carry out your instructions precisely because he wanted to impress you. His hand slipped, though, and the cuff tightened too quickly just as he was ready to take a blood pressure measurement. When he fumbled with the stethoscope and knocked off the blood pressure cuff, the patient was shocked and sat up abruptly.

Shocked, Jisung blurted out, "I'm so sorry." "I didn’t mean to—" Your patience was already starting to run thin, so you let out a little sigh. "Jisung, you have to focus. This is what you've been trained for. Your nervousness shouldn't get in the way.” His face flushed slightly as he nodded. Although you weren't directly rude, your tone was very cutting. While he had only just begun, he was already making mistakes in front of you.

Later, in an effort to prove that he could manage the more challenging responsibilities, Jisung jumped in too soon when you were helping a patient move from their bed to a chair. He almost caused the patient to lose their balance since he miscalculated their level of mobility. "Jisung!" you yelled, protecting the patient from falling. Your tone was sharper than usual and you were obviously frustrated. "What were you thinking?”

Jisung's cheeks were burning. His words wouldn't come out, but he wanted to clarify that he was only trying to help. In his mind, he had failed miserably.

With a stutter, he said, "I—I just wanted to make sure everything was smooth," hardly meeting your eyes.

With a quick sigh, you squeezed the bridge of your nose. "You are not here to brag; you are here to learn. And ask for help if you're not sure."

Jisung nodded, his confidence fading away by the second. He thought he was an idiot. It always seemed to end badly when he tried to impress you. You left him in charge of seeing a few patients during your lunch break. Jisung made an effort to pay attention strictly to your instructions, but he was still having trouble. He accidentally knocked over a tray of medication when visiting a patient's room to see how they were doing, causing a mess all over the floor.

When you got there, he was crouching on the floor, frantically trying to collect the pills back into their bottles. "Are you kidding me?" you whispered to yourself. You wanted to roll your eyes, but you stopped yourself. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying—he was just... constantly messing up. Jisung looked up at you and repeated, "I'm so sorry," in a tiny voice. "I’ll... I’ll clean it up."

Right now, you didn't have the energy to show kindness. You knelt beside him and helped him finish gathering up the pills, saying quietly, "It's okay." But you couldn't get rid of the gnawing annoyance. It was beginning to seem like his inexperience would make your day even more difficult, even though you knew it wasn't entirely his fault. The remainder of the shift followed the same pattern: Jisung made a lot of effort but was never successful. You were growing increasingly irritated as the day went on. Every mistake served as a reminder of his true lack of help, and you realized that you were becoming less helpful to him than you should have been.

You were worn out by the end of the day, and Jisung seemed to be as well. Even though he was still trying to keep himself composed, you could see how his shoulders drooped and his eyes averted from yours whenever you talked. "All right, Jisung. Before we wrap up, let's go over everything," you stated, sounding less patient than you had at the beginning of the day.

"okay," he mumbled.

You bit back a sigh. You didn’t want to be harsh, but it was getting harder not to be. When you looked at him, his gaze was downcast, almost as if he were apologizing for existing. You felt a pang of guilt, but your frustration was louder.

"You need to be more careful tomorrow," you said sharply. "And stop trying so hard to impress me. Just... focus on learning, alright?"

Jisung nodded quickly, his face flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, of course. I—I’ll do better."

As you both clocked out, the shift ended in an uncomfortable silence. Jisung seemed to shrink even more under the weight of his failures, and you couldn’t help but feel the distance growing between you two.

You hated that it felt this way, but you didn’t know how to fix it, either. Maybe tomorrow would be better. Or maybe not.

Either way, it felt like you both had a long road ahead.

—

The hospital was bustling, the air thick with the usual sense of urgency. Jisung was trying his hardest to keep up, but it seemed like every step he took just led him to another mistake. He could feel the weight of your eyes on him every time he did something wrong.

Today was no different. You had asked him to distribute medications to a few patients, a task that should’ve been routine, but his hands were shaking. He double-checked the names, he double-checked the meds—yet his nerves made everything feel ten times harder. He’d just graduated, and he was still struggling to get his footing. He didn’t want to mess up, especially not in front of you.

When Jisung reached a patient's room, he hesitated for a split second, but then quickly handed over the medication, thinking he had everything under control. The patient took the pill without hesitation, but there was something off about the whole exchange. The medication seemed to be for a completely different patient. He hadn’t double-checked properly. He’d gotten distracted.

By the time you came into the room, it was too late.

"Jisung!" you snapped, your tone piercing and brimming with anger. "What the hell are you doing? It's the wrong medication!” Eyes wide, he froze. The patient was confused, but you took action right away to clear the air. Damage had already been done when you hurried to get the medication and ensure the patient's safety.

"Why do I continue struggling with everything by myself?” With a loud voice that was a mixture of despair and rage, you went on, "Are you really going to keep making these simple mistakes?" "If you’re just going to mess everything up, maybe you should get out of the way and let someone else do the job properly."

He knew that the remarks were meant to shake him into action, yet they still pierced him. Still, Jisung felt small at the time. He was unable to look you in the eye. He muttered, "I—I'm sorry," but you were already turning to leave, your body seething in frustration.

The remainder of the day was a blur of mistakes, each one getting worse. Jisung had trouble focusing on anything. He was certain that he wasn't suited for this job and that he was failing at everything. He made a lot of attempts to gain your approval, but each time he failed, he made matters worse.

You assigned him a different nurse to shadow by the afternoon. When you said, "Go work with Felix today," you were abrupt. "Maybe you’ll do better with him."

Jisung's heart fell.

Although Felix was nice, it was obvious that you had had enough of him because he was now being removed from your supervision. Trying to hide his disappointment, he nodded and went with Felix to the next patient room.

Felix had just as much experience as you did, if not more. In contrast to your direct, no-nonsense approach, he was patient and kind to Jisung. With his constant smiles, jokes, and easy explanations, he helped Jisung feel a little more comfortable. Nevertheless, the feeling that everything was falling apart continued.

You were on your way to the break room when you heard a low voice talking to someone as you passed the staff lounge. "Are you okay?" Felix's tone was polite and warm as he asked. In an attempt to mask what was happening, Jisung sniffed. "Yeah, just... it’s been a rough day." After a brief period of silence, Felix gently asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jisung sighed deeply before his voice broke. "I just feel like I've ruined everything. Like I'm not worthy." Felix was silent for a while. A chair began to rustle, and soon Felix's voice could be heard once more. "You're new to this. Making mistakes is normal. But seem to be way too hard on yourself. What's happening?” Jisung hesitated, his words barely heard above a murmur. "I just wanted to show her that i was capable. I thought... I thought she was really nice. I thought she was pretty, too. I wanted to show her I could do this, you know? But everything I’ve done today, I’ve screwed up. I feel like I’ve let her down."

Felix's voice became even softer. "I know she's hard on you, Jisung, but it's not because she doesn't believe you can succeed. She knows you can, which is why she is pushing you. Don't be so hard on yourself. We've all been in your position. even her.” Trying not to cry, Jisung sniffed once more. "I just have the feeling that I might not be meant for this. I keep failing, even though I wanted to show her that I could manage it.” You were still while you stood in the hallway. As you listened to him, your heart hurt. He was just putting in a lot of effort. You were oblivious of the amount of pressure he had to put on himself to live up to your expectations. You hadn’t realized how much your sharp words were hurting him.

He wasn’t just a clumsy new nurse trying to find his footing—he was someone who admired you, someone who wanted to prove he could be more than just a rookie.

You stood there for a long moment, conflicted. You didn’t want to intrude, but at the same time, you knew that this was a moment for you to act. But you didn’t step into the room. You just quietly continued with your day, letting the weight of his words sit with you.

The next morning, you woke up early, a quiet resolve settling over you. You couldn’t just let the previous day end the way it did. You had been too harsh on Jisung, and it wasn’t just the mistake he’d made. It was your reaction to it.

You grabbed a coffee on your way into the hospital, thinking of how to apologize. You’d never been one to be overly sentimental, but this felt different. This wasn’t about him being a bad nurse—it was about you, and how you’d let your frustration cloud your better judgment.

When you got there, Jisung was seated at the nurse's station, nervously shuffling papers with his head down. He appeared to have had little sleep, and you felt guilty once more. With your coffee in hand, you approached him and placed it silently on the counter in front of him. Startled, Jisung blinked up at you. With hesitation in his voice, he questioned, "What’s this?"

"A coffee," you replied plainly, your eyes gentle. Then you put a little note beside it. Despite your inability to find the correct words, you managed to write something that seemed sincere:

I’m sorry about yesterday. You're doing good. Don't give up and don't be scared to ask for help when you need it. You're not alone. [y/n]

You said nothing else. You simply turned to go, but as you did so, you could feel his eyes on you, looking at you with a mix of appreciation and confusion.

—

After the coffee incident, everything felt different in the days that followed. You and Jisung's interactions had a slight change. Although Jisung first appeared hesitant, he immediately accepted your apologies with a small, shy smile. Because of the decreased tension between you two, you realized that you were more understanding of him, particularly when he was having trouble. You were actively working to further his potential, even though it wasn't like you hadn't seen it before. He cared about doing his work well, and it was evident that he wanted to get better. There existed a part of you that valued that.

Jisung was given a particularly challenging patient one morning—an elderly man who was rude and demanding. All morning, he had acted aggressively toward the staff, refusing to take his medication and making disparaging remarks about the standard of care. Jisung appeared to be struggling to control the situation as he still tried to get the hang of things. When the patient shouted louder, you could see his shoulders hunch and his eyes dart to you for support. You said softly, "Hey, it's okay," as you approached Jisung. "I'll take over for a while with Mr. Kim. You go out to take a break.”

Jisung paused, obviously attempting to manage things on his own, but as you looked at him encouragingly, he nodded appreciatively. You took charge of the situation gently as you entered the room in a composed, commanding manner. You recognized the patient's difficulties while simultaneously speaking in a respectful manner. You had mastered the delicate balance over the years, but Jisung was clearly still learning how to do it.

After a few minutes, the patient’s tone softened, and he grudgingly accepted his medication.

Once you were out of the room, Jisung gave you a small, grateful smile. "Thanks, I... I didn’t know how to handle him. He was just so... rude."

"You’ll get there," you reassured him. "It’s all part of the learning process. You don’t have to take it personally when they’re like that."

Jisung looked a little more confident, and you could see a sense of relief in his expression. "I’ll try not to next time."

"Good," you said, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. "But don’t forget—if you’re ever in doubt, don’t hesitate to ask for help."

It wasn’t just the patient encounters that changed, though. You started to make more of an effort to help him with the technical aspects of nursing as well. Whether it was giving him feedback on his charting, offering tips on patient interaction, or even just showing him how to use equipment more efficiently, you took the time to mentor him with more patience than before.

One afternoon, during a break, you pulled Jisung aside. You weren’t sure what had made you want to do this, but you felt like it was time.

"Jisung," you said softly, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to talk to you for a second."

He looked up at you, a little startled. "Yeah? Is everything okay?"

You exhaled, feeling the weight of your previous actions. "I’ve been thinking a lot about how I treated you when you first started. And I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry. I wasn’t fair to you, and I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I’ve been tough on you, and I feel terrible about it."

Jisung’s eyes softened immediately, and he gave a small, understanding smile. "It’s okay. Really. I... I know I’ve been messing up a lot, and I get it. I think you were just frustrated. I get it."

You felt a sense of relief wash over you. "I don’t want you to feel like you’re not doing well. You are doing well, Jisung. You’re just new, and it’s okay to make mistakes. I should’ve supported you better."

His smile widened a little. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. And... I’m sorry too, for messing up so much. I want to be better."

You nodded, smiling back at him. "You are better. Every day you get better."

As the weekend approached, you found yourself getting more comfortable around Jisung. He wasn’t just a trainee anymore; he was someone you could talk to, someone you actually enjoyed working with. There was still that initial spark of admiration you’d felt for him, but now it was tempered by mutual respect.

That Friday, as the end of your shift neared, you threw out an invitation you hadn’t planned on making but had been thinking about all day.

You looked over at him and said, "Hey, a bunch of us are going to the bar after work," "Usually, Felix and I go with a few other nurses. Do you want to join us?” Jisung's eyes became a little wider. "Oh! Yes, of course, I would love to.” You said, "Good," with a tiny smile on your lips. "It will be fun. You deserve a break.”

That evening, you found yourself at the small bar that all the nurses and hospital staff frequented after shifts. The atmosphere was laid-back, a welcome contrast to the chaos of the hospital. You, Jisung, Felix, and a couple of other nurses sat around a table, talking about everything but work. The drinks flowed freely, laughter echoed around the room, and for the first time in days, you allowed yourself to relax.

You discovered you had a lot in common with Jisung, who was unexpectedly easy to talk to outside of work. You realized how much you two had in common. you both loved music, and you shared some of your favorite songs with him. He was interested in photography, something you had experimented with when you were younger. You even shared stories about awkward childhood experiences and your shared passion for late-night snacking.

You two realized at the end of the night that you had been talking for hours on end without even realizing how quickly the time had passed. Everyone had gone home, leaving the two of you standing outside the bar in a comfortable silence.

"I had a great time," Jisung said, his voice quiet but sincere. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Yeah, me too," you replied, your heart unexpectedly fluttering. "I’m glad you came."

He hesitated for a moment, then, asked "Can I... walk you to your car? I mean, since it’s pretty late and all."

You smiled back, a little surprised by the gesture, but it felt nice. "Sure."

The two of you walked in silence for a few moments before stopping in front of your car. Jisung looked at you, his expression soft but uncertain, and you could see the faintest trace of vulnerability in his eyes.

"Thanks for tonight," he said, his voice a little lower now, as if unsure of what to say next.

You tilted your head, feeling the moment shift, something that had been building all night, maybe even all week. You weren’t sure why, but in that instant, you felt drawn to him in a way you hadn’t expected. You leaned in, your movements slow and deliberate, and before you knew it, your lips brushed against his in a brief but meaningful kiss.

Jisung’s breath hitched slightly, and when you pulled away, you both looked at each other, surprised by the tenderness of the moment.

"Goodnight, Jisung," you said softly, smiling a little more than you expected to.

"Goodnight," he replied, his voice almost shy, but there was a warmth in his smile that made your heart skip a beat.

As you got into your car, you couldn’t help but think about the way the night had unfolded. Maybe things had changed between you and Jisung in more ways than just professionally. Maybe it wasn’t just a mentor-mentee relationship anymore.

—

nini’s notes 111324

hello everyone (: i hope you’re all doing super well.

i hope you enjoy this, i was never going to post because i didn’t know how to end it so the ending is definitely/feels rushed so sorry about that 😭. this was originally supposed to be kind of a love triangle thing between jisung, reader, and chan but i didn’t end up liking how it was turning out :>

this was inspired by a snippet of the new show st. denis medical i actually haven’t had time to watch it yet but i heard that it’s really good & accurate. Lol.

asks are always open if you have a question, concern, or request!

-🎀

[dianneking]

The Affair - Chapter 1 (Larissa/Reader)

Hiya! As part of my weekly writing challenge, I wrote this chapter over two writing sessions, and I chose not to wait for the fic to be finished before posting. It'll probably be a couple of chapters all together.

Pairing: Larissa Weems/You Rating: Mature

Tags: Morally Ambiguous Character, Swearing, Boss/Employee Relationship, Infidelity, Second-person POV, Teacher Reader.

Link to AO3 in the title

Next Chapter >

The Affair - Chapter 1

Waiting in the snow for a married woman , you thought, moodily pulling your scarf up to cover your freezing nose as yet another car passed, how the fuck did my life come to this?

You had never been one for thrills in life. If anything, you had been pretty boring: you’d always liked English class at school, always got straight As, never stepped a foot out of line. You never felt the need to, nor the appeal of being rebellious. You’d gone on to get a bachelor’s degree and teacher’s certification, and then you’d gone on to teach English in a string of small town schools.

There was only one aspect out of the ordinary in your life up until now; you could never settle down in one place.. You felt a restlessness, a pull towards something you still hadn’t found, and after a couple of years in a place, it inevitably built up until it was too strong to resist. And so you packed your bags, applied for a job somewhere else, and started anew. 

You didn’t think Jericho would be much different. Small town, 5 thousand inhabitants, only spots of interest a tacky historical reconstruction site and a school full of outcasts. The same one you had applied to. Nothing much to offer. You’d give it a year or two at most. 

You didn’t really care about the fact that you were teaching outcasts. They might drink blood or howl at the moon or whatever in their spare time, but they were teenagers that had to learn to write a proper essay just like anyone else. You prided yourself in your work ethic and told that to the board when they interviewed you. Apparently they appreciated that. Or there was nobody else who had applied. There had been some accidents during the last school year, apparently. The board had repeated several times that it had been a one-off and it had been taken care of definitively.They had all seemed very defensive about the topic. 

Once again, you shrugged it off. You had no time to waste on rumors and things of the past. The school had its quirks, sure, but all schools had, each in their own way. You settled in your quarters on the school grounds, and started reviewing your lesson plans taking into account the notes left by the previous teacher. You settled in for your usual routine of lessons, tests, marking that you were familiar with by now. 

And then she barged into your life, throwing routine and predictability to the wind. 

Even with your aversion to gossip, you’d heard about her. Larissa Weems, the best principal Nevermore had ever had, mysteriously injured in the line of work, supposedly trying to protect the school, and hospitalized for months after that. When talking about her, voices dropped to a whisper out of respect - or fear, you hadn’t been able to ascertain that. 

The day she had come back, you’d have thought royalty was about to visit the school, with the amount of fretting, of preparations, of nervous energy filling the halls and rooms. You’d had to let your classes work on assignments because they had been unable to listen to one word of what you were explaining. You had rolled your eyes in the privacy of your room. Seriously, you’d seen plenty of disruptive principals in your years of teaching, but one who could be so distracting even before she had set foot back in school? That was a first. 

You felt obliged to show up as well to the welcoming committee. The whole staff was there, as well as the student body. Some had even prepared signs, and there was a white banner draped along the balcony on which was written, in red paint, a very wonky Welcome back Princ. Weems . 

It was cute that she was so beloved by her school, you thought, but you were also thinking of how to recover the day of missed lessons, and how to optimize the next days’ so as to go back on track. You tried not to be too miffed about it. 

All of the thoughts of lesson plans and all of the lingering irritation at them being disrupted fled your brain at the sight of the first foot stepping out of the car. Shiny, varnished black shoes, showing off a milky ankle, and a shapely calf that look longer than any you’d seen (not that you made a point of looking at women’s legs all the time, but sometimes your eyes did wander…)

The skin on show was sadly cut off below the knee by the modest hemline of a woolen dress and it was at that point that Nevermore’s principal exited the car in all of her towering beauty, and your mind went completely blank, cause in all of their gossip everyone in Nevermore had forgotten to mention a small, key detail about the principal.

She was stunning. 

The most beautiful woman you’d ever seen was standing before you, waving and smiling regally, as the whole school cheered. You almost didn’t notice all the jubilant ruckus, your eyes too busy raking all over her figure, as if trying to commit every single detail to memory. Her slender, elegant hands, wrapped in leather gloves. The perfectly-tailored coat, in the same fabric and color as the dress. The sparkle of her gold jewelry in the pale winter sun. The perfect proportion of her face, the way the bright red lipstick brought attention to her smile.

Her light eyes were roaming all over the crowd, as if taking stock of known faces and new entries. Finally her gaze fixed on you, and you could see a spark of amusement flicker on her face at seeing you.

You belatedly realized that you had been gaping at her like a fish out of water.

The day after you had still been beating yourself up about the humiliation at being caught slack-jawed staring at your boss when she visited you in your classroom after you were done with the day’s lessons.

She rapped against the doorframe, but strode in before you could say anything. You scrambled to your feet, awkwardly, while she covered the distance from the door to your desk in a couple of long steps. She was wearing another dress today, a tartan dress with a belt that cinched her waist, underlying the shape of her hips and chest while still being completely work-appropriate.  

“So you’re the new teacher they have hired to replace poor Collins.” It wasn’t a question, but you nodded anyway. “I’m Larissa Weems. Usually, I have the final word on new hires. The board does a wonderful job but sometimes they lack a certain sort of practicality in their assessment of candidates, as it happened with the last hire. I wasn’t convinced by her spiel, but the board insisted and…well. I should have trusted my gut instinct.” Her eyes grew distant for a second, before focusing back on you with a hard gaze. You could see the speckles of lighter and darker blue mixing in her irises, and the perfectly applied make-up that highlighted their natural beauty.  You tried to shake yourself out of her charm. She could be trying to fire you, and you were busy ogling her! That’s not the kind of person you were! You cleared your voice, trying to think up something to say to help your case.

“I…”

“I know you have been hired already, and I am sure you are a perfect fit for the role. I’d just like to have a little chat together, nothing too formal, just getting to know each other a little bit better.” She smiled as she said that, and while you were sure it was supposed to be a polite smile, you couldn’t help the shiver that went down your spine at that. 

She looks like a predator closing in on prey , your mind unhelpfully suggested. 

You swallowed, suddenly conscious of your sweaty palms and increasing heart rate. 

“O-of course, ma'am." was all you could meekily say. 

"Perfect." she purred. "Meet me at seven sharp at the Lilac Lounge. I'll have a private booth reserved."

To be continued...

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[cosmal]

you said hurt/comfort? maybe reader always gave to much of themselves in relationships (like they buy a lot of gifts, they’re the first one asking to hang out, stuff like that) and never had as much effort in return (w their ex partner for example idk) and when james (who’s love languages i hc are all) gives as much effort as reader does, and like buys them gift without reason, reader is just crying bc omg someone cares about me

this was really about me lmao i need comfort and very long sorry

pasta

summary no one has ever cooked you dinner before. james fixes that for you.

content james potter x fem!reader

note this req is literally from nov but i wrote it like two months agar and never posted im so sorry. also combined with this! request.

James bursts through your door with a mouthful of apologies already on his tongue.

"Sorry, I tried to knock but my hands were full!" he says breathlessly, holding a ridiculous amount of bags in his hands, mumbling sorry's for scaring you.

You stand at the bottom of your hallway with a hand held to your chest. "You okay? Do you need a hand?"

"Don't move a muscle," he says firmly when he reaches the kitchen bench, heaving his groceries up onto the marble with a groan. You move your hand to your lips to stifle a laugh.

"I don't want to be rude," you move to stand next to him at your kitchen island, "but what are you doing here?" You say it with a softness. He usually calls or messages you before he shows up at your flat.

"We made plans, remember," he says smiling. He kisses you on the side of your head before composing himself, starting to unpack the bags.

"I went to Morrison's and bought a bunch of stuff. Thought I'd cook you dinner." You did make plans, they were your idea. You didn’t expect him to do anything for you, you expected to maybe take him to the park for lunch or something.

"Oh," you say lightly.

You watch as he unpacks. Cloves of garlic, parsley, thickened cream, fettuccine, eggs, and pancetta. It looks like all the helpings for a carbonara. There's a Sara Lee chocolate bavarian sat to the side with frosted ice all over the cardboard that you assume is dessert. You've only been together for a few months and you're yet to have a homecooked meal together.

You're sure you've never had anyone cook you dinner before. Not without a reason or a special occasion. You worry suddenly that you've forgotten an important date.

You hum and smile along as James buzzes around the kitchen with enough energy to power a small country. You fret that you're tamping down his good mood but you're trying to remember your anniversary. And the first time you kissed. The first time you met. For a second you think you've forgotten your birthday.

He says something to you and you crack an uneven smile.

"Sweetheart?" he says again. He stops where he's got the side of his knife pressed into a head of garlic.

You blink. "Sorry, what did you say?'' You try to hide your emotion. Your voice is scratched with dread and you bite down into your lip to stay calm.

"I asked you how your day was," he repeats, setting the knife on his chopping board. He's grated half a block of cheese while you've been stuck in your head. You hope you haven't embarrassed yourself.

"Have I missed something?" you ask, voice drenched in worry. You hide your hands under the kitchen bench where you pick at your nails.

"Hmm?" he hums, eyebrows pinched together.

"You're cooking me dinner," you say, James's confusion worsens, "Is there a special reason?"

"Not really," he shrugs all blasé. This makes it worse. You don't understand.

"Then why..."

"Did you already have plans?" James worries, smile faltering. His confusion warps into something like embarrassment. "Sorry, honey, I didn't even ask."

"No, Jamie, it's not that!" you backtrack, feeling more awful than before. You just feel out of your own depth. "I've just never..."

He moves around the bench to stop where you're sitting on one of your bar stools. Your knees press into his thighs he's so close. "What's the matter?"

You grab his hands before you pick your nails raw. You think about hiding your embarrassment in his chest but decide against it. If you get too close to him you might forget bout the entire reason you're upset. You'd rather it that way but you're sure he wouldn't.

"I've never had someone cook for me," you admit quietly. You warm with a prickling heat and squirm in your rickety bar stool.

"Oh," he says, all sullen. "Well, that won't do."

You look up at him and worry you look pathetic. He cracks a smile and you're sure it's on your behalf. "What?"

"No one ever has cooked for you?" he asks. He's not rubbing in, he sounds shocked

"No," you say. You sound stupid, you're sure you look it too. You want to crawl up into a ball.

"Y/N, I know you've had boyfriends before." He knows about your past relationships and how they weren't the best. But surely they'd at least made you dinner. James overestimates them sorely.

"They never did any of this stuff for me," you sniffle. The first tear is a shock and then James is looking at you all upset and confused and the next one isn't as startling.

He wraps his arms around your back and holds you close to his chest quicker than you can reach to wipe your face. He presses slow and hot kisses into the top of your head and your tears worsen. They're sticky and thick, his cotton shirt catches the brunt of your embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," you mumble with the side of your face smooshed into his firm chest. It's too grounding and your tears don't slow like you wish they would.

"Hey, don't be," he says, smoothing a hand down your trembling back, "You deserve things."

You don't say anything, rubbing your cheek against his shirt. He tuts. "You deserve a relationship with effort, Y/N."

You hiccup. "I've never had someone care about me like you do."

James holds you so close you worry you're hurting him. He turns his head until his cheek is pressed into your hair and takes a breath. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," you say and try not to disturb where he's resting on top of you. You like it more than you should. "It's okay."

"It's not."

"It is," you sniffle and pull yourself from his hold. He lets you go though with a hesitance. "It is because now I've got you."

James finally cracks a smile. "Right," he sniffles to compose himself, "right and I'm about to make you the best carbonara of you life."

"I'm excited." You wipe the remnants of your upset from your cheeks and smile wetly.

"Good."

James sets to work. Buzzing around the kitchen after he'd plugged his phone into your sound system. Shuffling the playlist he made a week into your relationship. He sings his heart out, stirring whatever it is he's got going on in the pan.

You sit at the edge of the bench with the biggest smile on your face when he starts to serenade you. Wooden spoon held to his mouth, he sings an awful rendition of Lay All Your Love On Me by ABBA. You laugh so hard you think you might be too sick to eat the pasta.

Later on that night when you're too full to move, James slides a box across the table and says, "I also got you this." With the prettiest grin you've ever seen.

You're overwhelmed with love for you to be upset. Your boyfriend is lovely and you think you might be the luckiest girlfriend on the planet.

[spaceagesparkledust]

Random Doctor Who hcs: Sleep (Doctor edition!)

Does 9 sleep? Like. Like does he actually sleep??? 

The answer is no. 

“I don’t need to sleep I’m Time Lord.” he says with bags under his eyes. 

Gets nightmares pretty often when he does sleep.

Will take short little nod offs in the console room. 

Sleeps/relaxes in his leather jacket and jeans. Rose thinks this is so weird and gets on him for it all the time. She winds up buying him a soft jumper on some planet they stop at. He shows up in sweatpants and the jumper one day and rose and Jack just stare at him for a hot minute because he looks so wrong. “He looks so naked.” Nine gets so offended about it (they’re trying to say he looks fine but yeah they're laughing a bit). “You just look so…normal.” “Oi!” “No, no it’s not bad. S’ different.”

He actually learns how to relax a bit. He considers it a bit domestic, a lot domestic actually, and he looks so unintimidating in sweatpants but……maybe. 

Ten. Oh Ten. 

Dude got a pair of pajamas on his first day of being alive and has kept them ever since. They’re his favorite. He loves them so much that Rose has to take TenToo to go find a pair like them. 

Stays up with Rose talking about the most random things. Rose listens as long as she is able before she falls asleep. Her favorite lullaby :)

Like 9, he’d rather be tinkering with the Tardis than sleeping so he mostly does that. But he has taken up reading. Twilight’s getting wild. 

Has thought about asking to sleep with Rose. As in next to Rose. on the same bed. He immediately talked himself out of it. 

Martha has to make him sleep. “You just got possessed by a sun go to bed!” 

Generally sleeps less while Martha’s on board.

Gets bored and walks into Donna’s room to talk to her while Donna’s trying to go to bed. She indulges him sometimes but other times she just wants to go to bed. 

Has fallen asleep during movie nights with Donna and has denied it. 

Sleepovers with Donna. 

Cuddles :) 

Incredibly sleep deprived throughout the whole mess that is post-journey’s end. Like emotionally sleep deprived. Desperately in need of a nap. 

11 HATES sleeping. Hates it. If he’s sleeping, he’s going to be still, and if he’s going to be still, he’ll start thinking and we can’t have that. So he just…doesn’t. 

To keep himself occupied while traveling without Amy and Rory he tried going to sleep. It was a very bad, no good, horrible experience for him and he decided he just simply would never do that again. Hasn’t been in his room since. 

Will nod off from time to time but will not go to bed. Rory gets a bit concerned but maybe this is normal for time lords. Who’s he to say?

Trying to put him to bed is like working with a fussy toddler. You will have to cajole and shove and push and bribe him and it will not work. Just give up. 

Thinks pajamas look nice but has no need for them because he doesn’t sleep. 

The experience with the Dream Lord was enough for him thanks. 

12? Doesn’t sleep. Sleep is for the weak. 

Absolutely falls asleep standing up. 

Tries an energy drink once. Gets addicted. Is banned from energy drinks from now on. 

He and Clara pull the worst all-nighters you’ve ever seen. Its fun for them. 

Doesn’t own pajamas but he does own a really corny t-shirt Clara bought him that he would wear if he did sleep. But he doesn’t. So. 

Fourteen NEEDS a nap. Desperately. 

Is incredibly tired but has so much trouble going to sleep its unreal. 

Will stay up stargazing or tinkering with things in the house that don’t need to be tinkered with. Takes apart every appliance in the house until Donna and Sylvia yell at him to stop. 

Sleeps in an actual bed in an actual house because Donna made him. She was not about to have him sleep in the TARDIS.

Rose makes him a blanket fort in the living room. 

She stuffs it full of stuffed animals and puts up fairy lights. “It’s bigger on the inside.” 

It’s incredibly comfortable but unfortunately for every other member of the house it takes up a good chunk of space. (Rose and the Doctor do catch everyone getting a lot of use out of it though)

Lives in hand-me down pajamas until he can get his own but secretly loves the hand-me down pajamas

[lavenderchqn]

𝐶𝛨𝛢𝑃𝑇𝛦𝑅 𝟎𝟎𝟕 — INVESTIGATION BOARD (1K WORDS) 𝑅𝐸𝐷 𝐿𝐼𝑁𝐸𝑆 — lyney x f!reader smau

𝑆𝑌𝑁𝑂𝑃𝑆𝐼𝑆 —

Second year of university should've been everything you thought of it - more studying with human interaction sprinkled throught... What it definitely wasn't supposed to be was an investigation saga where one of your friends goes missing out of nowhere

𝑃𝑅𝐸𝑉𝐼𝑂𝑈𝑆 — 𝑀𝐴𝑆𝑇𝐸𝑅𝐿𝐼𝑆𝑇 — 𝑁𝐸𝑋𝑇 𝐸𝑃𝐼𝑆𝑂𝐷𝐸

“Hi! Good to see you. Nice to meet you in person, Furina.” You opened the door to the last expected visitors. Lyney, Lynette and Furina are standing in front of [Y/N], with some snacks. She promptly lets them in, taking some stuff from their hands. 

“Pleasure meeting you too…” Furina answers, albeit a tad shy. 

“Clorinde and Charlotte are setting up the games and Navia is getting some snacks ready.” She mentions, leading the arriving guests into the tiny dorm. “What can I get you started with?” 

“The usual,” Lynette answers, setting down cookies before heading into the living space and greeting the remaining girls. 

“Oh, uh… Do you have any tea, perchance?” 

“Absolutely! I’ll show you the options in a sec.” [Y/N] brings out a can of energy drink handing it to Lyney. “Unsure if you want it in a glass, but I  think you like this flavour.” 

“No shot you remembered?!” He takes it with quite the shock on his face. 

The only other time Lyney and [Y/N] met happened months ago when the girl came to collect a pillow Lynette took during one of their sleepovers on accident. Back then, Lyney’s drinks of choice had less caffeine compared to these days, yet the flavours he fancied stayed the same. 

“It just stayed in my brain for some reason.” 

She gets the water for the tea going not before remembering the offer she made to Furina. 

“Here’s the available options.” The girl sets a basket full of bagged tea in front of the girl, ready for her to pick. She does it promptly, not forgetting to ask for some sugar.

Charlotte puts down the most devious plus four of her life. Lyney up to this point was one card away from winning… His brilliant strategy to win turning out utterly impossible to accomplish. 

“Pick up.” 

“Wait, no shot you can’t stack cards?!” Lyney looks at Charlotte with utter horror on his face. 

“According to Uno’s twitter post, those are the rules. Pick up.” 

“Uno doesn’t know their own fucking game then…” He sighs, taking the loss and 4 cards. 

“That’s what you get for only playing online.” His sister shoots him a deadpan look, drawing a card herself. “Uno.” 

She’s gotten lucky, instantly getting the required colour. Lyney shoots her a dirty look, albeit agreeing with her silently. Furina had to convince him quite a lot for him to consider coming to play “normie” versions of board games. He was used to sitting in front of his setup playing these games with his friends online.

“It’s much easier, and there’s no cleanup required,” Lyney said, on his voice call with Furina a few hours prior.

“I know, I know… But there are some things you can’t experience stuck in gaming chairs,” 

Looking back, this is what Furina must’ve meant when speaking of experiences happening only in offline play… Looks of envy, future revenge incoming or crocodile tears pleading not to get skipped or nuked with cards… 

“Uno out,” Lynette says with a soft, yet accomplished expression on her face. A bunch of words of congratulations mixed with sighs of defeat fill the room. 

With the staple of the girls’ mandatory game of UNO now being 

Navia instantly starts to eye the box of monopoly that had been waiting this entire evening. 

“How about monopoly next?” She asks, getting mixed reactions. 

“You’re not the banker this time,” Clorinde states. 

“What?!” She looks at her appalled. “I think I’m a great banker, thank you very much!” 

“Didn’t you steal money for yourself last time we played?” [Y/N] gets up picking up some mugs from the floor. “Lyney, Furina would you like something more to drink?” 

All this time, she was making sure that the first-time guests of hers were taken care of in the best way possible. Always offering more drinks and snacks and checking if their pillows and blankets were comfortable… 

“Oh, that would be lovely.” Furina smiles at her, standing up to help her with the tableware. “Thank you so much again for inviting us, as well as being a magnificent host.” 

“I’ll get that started then,” She quickly takes their mugs, signalling for them to stay in the room. “I can handle the cleanup, you stay here.” 

Time sure goes fast when you're in good company. By the time a break time is called during a session of monopoly, it’s already dark outside. 

“Clorinde, can you drive today?” Navia asks, lying down on the floor. “I don’t wanna drive at night…”

“Yeah, I can do that.” She answers, noticing how dark it indeed got. “What about you three? How are you getting home?”

“Oh, I live quite close to the campus.” Furina perks up. “I’ll probably walk— ” 

“Absolutely NOT.” She gets shushed by Lyney, whose expression says more than a thousand words. “If Wriothesley hears that you did that, especially after their department announced a person went missing, I will have my head chopped.” 

“Oh please…” Lynette rolls her eyes at him. “You can be honest and say you’re worried about your bestie…” 

“Man, speaking of that weird kidnapping situation — I started investigating that a few days ago.” Charlotte gets up, garnering attention to herself. 

She walks to a board covered by a bedsheet… courtesy of [Y/N], who didn’t want the guest to experience walking into THAT. By the time it’s off, you can see many pictures of currently known missing people, their contact, gauged days when they went missing… It’s a lot. 

“Holy shit, how did you make this?” Lyney comes closer, looking at all the detailed information. “If I wasn’t scared of journalists before, I sure am now…” 

Curiosity also gets to Furina, interested as to how much information a singular board can hold… and how much Charlotte would be able to gather in a few days. By the time she gets there… something is not right. 

She freezes in front of the board, eyes wide with shock realising the linking thread about three missing girls specified. 

“Oh my god. I know all of them.”

𝑇𝐴𝐺𝐿𝐼𝑆𝑇 — OPEN

@state-of-grac3 @santaluna @meigalaxy @romyoia @meurtreofcrows @floweringanna @moonjellyfishie

for the people who's @ are in italics, it's because for some reason whenever I tag you it just doesn't show up whenever I save the chapter...

date of posting — august 7th 2024

[soulandunconscious]

dead poets in efteling

a/n: first hc post yippieeee!! i know this is soo niche and there are about three people who understand this but its been in my head for weeks and it needs out. if you're unfamiliar, efteling is this really cool theme park in the netherlands with a kind of dark fantasy theme. i was there yesterday and if you saw someone eating shit at the baron 1898 that was UHHHH NOT ME GUYS

first of all, cameron is extremely stressed out about wasting time/money so he wants to be there the second the gates open. If they’re staying in a hotel or bosrijk, he’s insanely anal about getting the extra half hour but they never end up getting it bc half the guys are still asleep

they go with mr keating (who had to pester the board for months about why it’d be beneficial for their education) and thank god because every single one of the guys is directionally challenged. if it werent for him they’d criss cross through the park all day

keating makes them sit at the fabula restaurant for like 20 minutes so he can drink coffee and plan out their walking route. cameron nearly has an aneurysm

everyone but cameron is running around that restaurant like children

charlie is hogging the slide, meeks and pitts are at the climbing section, knox is locked in on feeling the textures and the game where you merge your face with a penguin. spends five minutes trying to type in his email

neil and todd are mainly walking around trying to see everything, until todd gets jumpscared by the jumping snake. from then on he’s staying 10 feet away from any kind of structure in this building

cameron is sitting at a table with keating trying to explode him with his mind. keating is unfazed

when they finally go on a ride they go on fata morgana first

pitts is so insanely in tune with the present and his inner child that he fully locks in during every dark ride. EVERYTHING GETS HIM during the fata morgana. the negative energy makes him so on edge that he screams at everything 

everyone else is fine for the entirety of the ride except for the dentist scene where they all go ‘eugghhh’ in unison

they go on the baron 1898 next and knox is like eughhh i dont know guys cuz hes fucking terrified of heights but he won't actually come out and say it. they manage to convince him to get on cuz he's extremely sensitive to peer pressure

meeks and pitts are constantly playing no one knows (efteling heads up) in the line (in every line tbh) but they can’t control their volume. they’re always screaming when they get an answer right and it stresses cameron out

charlie wants to play with them but he's horrible at it cuz he keeps asking subjective questions

when they get on the coaster, knox is already having heart palpitations from the sight of the witte wieven. he then sees 1. how insanely high it is and 2. how theres a whole crowd of people on the ground staring up at them. right when the cart tips a little over the edge and hangs there, charlie (in the most sincere voice) says 'omg i think my seatbelt is undone!' n knox fully faints for a second

they don't let him go on rollercoasters anymore after that. he mainly rides the train and waves at every passerby

they go on sirocco (teacups ride). keating has mostly been keeping a neutral face and sharing history/poetry tidbits so he can argue that they have, in fact, learned somethng here. but on sirocco this guy goes HAM

hes 1. really strong and 2. obsessed with this ride so he's spinning it like crazy. he's in there with meeks and pitts who are having a grand old time

neil and todd are in a boat together and todd has this really blank expression. neil is extremely worried he's getting motion sick so he's constantly like 'are you good? should i stop spinning it???' and todds like 'yeah im good :)'. neil does not believe him and refuses to keep spinning it

the people who ARE getting motion sick are cameron and charlie, who somehow ended up in a boat together. neither of them are willing to admit it so they're both turning green and staring at each other to see if one of them will cave

they both end up puking

they go on droomvlucht and decide to test out the virtual line. when they get the notification that they can get on cameron freaks the fuck out cuz hes scared they'll miss their slot even tho its fifteen minutes. hyperventilating all like 'WE HAVE TO GO NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW'

while they wait for their time slot they go to the volk van laaf

neil and todd and meeks and pitts both go on the monorail. theyre on the monorail when their slot opens so they look down and just see a tiny little cameron waving his arms and screaming 'WE NEED TO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'

todd runs over the second they're off the ride cuz he's stressed, but the rest REFUSE to be rushed

knox has found the loof and eerhuys and nearly jumps out of his skin when vader laaf starts moaning and moving his feet

charlie would think this is very funny and start calling him freaky laaf if he werent stuck at the stairs that make noise, spamming the steps

when they're actually on droomvlucht, neil is constantly talking about a midsummer nights dream. pointing and pogging like 'OMG ITS OBERON'

neil in general chronically talks through rides. todd's content to listen

meeks gets jumpscared by the troll at the end and still has a horrified expression at the photo op

fairytale forest!!!

charlie is obsessed with everything that's interactive, specifically the troll king and the parrot. makes it say all sort of horrific things

obviously he's pogging at the mermaid boobs

also will not stop thirsting over the wolf. he is FRONT ROW at an evening with wolf even though he doesn't understand a word

the interactive bit pitts likes is the gnome that opens the door and just like. mutters at everyone. he thinks it's the funniest shit EVER.

todd is LOCKED IN at the fairytale tree. looks up at keating with these huge eyes as if to say 'thats u'

meeks has figured out how the app works and how to make kniesoor say ur name. knox is convinced it's witchcraft and then BEGS steven to show him how it works

i actually don't believe kniesoor knows the name knox but who knows!

they go on the halve maen (swinging ship) and cameron, still traumatized from the sirocco endeavor that he insists on sitting in the middle

everyone else refuses and since keating doesn't want anyone to be alone, he sits next to cameron

what cameron didnt really consider is that since the movement in the middle is a lot more subtle, it's likely to make you even more sick

keating's looking at him the entire time and going 'are you okay?' meanwhile camerons there like ._.

in the tips, a screaming contest breaks out between the two halves. charlie and knox start it and everyone joins in. ppl gets tired and kinda stops putting any effort into it at some point. as a joke, at the very end when it slows down, charlie says ‘imagine someone just fully yawps right now’ and todd just. does it

knox is mortified. charlie gives todd five dollars for the effort

in the vliegende hollander all of them are kind of tired and the line is stressing them out. they don't fully understand what the ride even is so when the dark ride portion starts everyone is kind of tense. to diffuse tension, during the fog portion, meeks yells 'OMG CHARLIE PUT UR VAPE AWAY'

they eat at polles keuken and neil gets the magic water

charlie is inspired and gets it too. nearly knocks over a waiter with how excited he is

of course they go on symbolica after

oj punctuel is camerons spirit animal. everyone wakling through the opening steps and he's like yuo guys... poor oj...

charlie DEMANDS to sit in the front row so he can press the buttons

todd gets terrified at the whale/fabelvis part. he just doesnt like things that are underwater

when they see polle they're like omg that's our guy!!

at the end knox spends all his money in the gift shop

meeks buys those cards with seeds in them but refuses to ever plant them

pitts buys a raveleijn sword

charlie buys a stuffed animal of the wolf

cameron buys a magnet

todd buys the book of fairytales and buys keating a pen

neil buys a droomvlucht puzzle

i have a thousand more ideas but i feel like this post is already WAY long so if anyone is interested in a part two lmk x

[marimeeko]

Unnamed Fix-it fic: Chapter 2! (Post 431, Angst, hurt/eventual comfort, mutual pining and idiocy, BAKUDEKU)

Alright, I'm sending this one. I have had a bit of a war with myself over the sequence of events, but I think I have it figured out. I will continue to be anxious about it though. Lol.

Also I estimate this will be about 5 to 6 chapters. I think. I will try not to get carried away, lmao.

This chapter is admittedly cheesy-sweet but like...whatever, it's fun. 🥲

//Chapter 1//Chapter 2//

"With that, let's take our break for lunch!" Izuku clapped his hands together, cheerfully dismissing his class of first years. The classroom began to buzz, students beginning to sweep all of their worksheets and study materials away into their bags.

"Oh, it's a bit early," Izuku corrected himself, finally checking his watch. The time usually escaped him when he did his lectures, but today it had gone at a stellar pace. "So, does anyone have any last questions before we are all packed up?"

No one thought to raise their hands , so Izuku carried on with erasing the board behind him.

Someone next to the window looked at Izuku and raised their hand and asked,

"Midoriya-sensei, DynaMight hasn't crashed our class to bring you lunch in a while! What's going on?"

"What? DynaMight?" Izuku laughed, thoroughly not expecting that question at all. "Well, he's really busy, and he's working on his own agency now, so I imagine he's off taking care of that!"

The classroom then started to whisper, excitedly, about the prospect of DynaMight having his own agency. Izuku smiled to himself as he got back to erasing the board, thinking fondly about Katsuki having become a favorite of his students. Most kids their age, and even the kids in his class, tended to like more...agreeable, or charismatic heroes, as well as ones higher than Katsuki on the ranking list. Mirio, of course, was quite popular, not just for his power and his record of saving, but for that honest, goofy personality and golden retriever energy.

Katsuki had his audience, for sure, but they skewed typically towards young adult males who liked his powerful quirk and take no prisoners attitude in battle.

However, the students in Izukus orbit seemed to have taken a shine to the bombastic hero. Not that Izuku could blame them...Kacchan was still amazing...

"Midoriya-sensei! Does that mean you're going to go work for his agency??" Kota shouted this time. The classroom went quiet quickly, everyone anticipating the answer.

Izuku froze, hand still raised, eraser pressed to the board.

He had already shown his students the suit that now allowed him to do hero work, and given them a rousing demonstration of how the suit replicated his former powers, and it had honestly been one of his funnest days teaching to have his students try to catch him in it. The kids were inspired to see their legendary teacher back in action, so it was only natural, he supposed, for the kids to have questions on how he intended to do his hero work going forward.

But the question still caught him off guard somehow.

The eraser in his hand finished it's streak as Izuku turned back around.

"Well...I'm a teacher, so my place is with you guys!" Izuku cheerfully explained. "I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do both..."

That drew mixed reactions from the class.

"You can't just stay in here," Kota suddenly rebuffed. "You're too good, Deku, and you have the suit now! Think of how many people you could save!"

Izuku was floored, but immediately waved away the praise in a panic.

"Kota, wait, hold on, it's not that easy-- and I'm hardly at the level I was back then," Izuku inwardly flinched at how much he sounded like the awkward teenager he used to be, as he turned bright red and his hands waved in front of him. "Kacc--DynaMight and I--"

"You can't deny, though, that you two made an incredible team!" A girl from the other side of the class spoke up, her glowing eyes piercing right through Izuku. "We've all seen the footage from the war, Midoriya-sensei! Y'all were unstoppable against All for One and your chemistry's insane!"

A chorus of students agreed in time with her.

Izuku scratched at the back of his head frantically, "Guys, that was 8 years ago, and we..."

And we have different lives now; he wanted to say, but somehow, the words stuck in his throat.

"Sensei... did you and DynaMight... break up?" Another student with animated hair who always visually reminded him of Burnin piped up.

A very heavy silence seized the classroom, and 20 sets of eyes rounded on Izuku. Izuku could have heard a pin drop, and suddenly realized that even his breath had stopped dead in its tracks. The implication, the words hung uncomfortably in the air.

"I-we...wait... what??" Izuku stammered, trying to inhale again. Green eyes looked around at his students, utterly confused. "You guys, that's not what happened," he tried to laugh, but it came out as sheer panic.

"It would explain why he hasn't shown up to bug you for like, a week..." Kota scoffed with his arms crossed. "He's always acted like a huge jerk."

"Yeah, but not with Midoriya-sensei," another girl countered, whirling around to face Kota. "You've known them the longest, there's no way you can't see how different he acts in our classroom, Kota-kun!"

"DynaMight was here just last week for that communication demonstration!" Came a differing perspective from the elected class president, a stern girl who reminded Izuku so much of Tenya. "Anyway, it really isn't our place to assume about Sensei's personal life, I think this has gone far enough, don't you all?"

"T-thank you, Arisa-San," Izuku thanked the girl, with a deep sigh that was punctuated by the tone of the dismissal bell.

As deeply pulled in to the sudden drama as the students had been, their switch was immediate. Having already packed away, they all got to their feet in a hurry and the clamoring for lunch began. Voices rang past Izuku as they gave their departing thanks for the lesson, and well wishes for lunch, and even a few of them commenting,

"I hope he shows up today, Midoriya-sensei!" "Don't worry, Sensei, it'll work out!"

And the class rep herself stopped on the way out, bowing deeply and apologizing on behalf of her classmates for intruding.

Izuku could do little else than stand there, where his feet had been rooted in shock, waving his beloved students off to their break, bowing his own thanks to the girl. She really was like Iida, he couldn't help but smile.

The noise and chaos filtered slowly out of the room, and Izuku's held breath escaped him in a rushing sigh.

"Where on Earth did that come from?" He weakly mused, melting down into his chair.

It had been almost 2 weeks exactly since he saw Katsuki at the reunion and the subject of the agency had first been broached. True enough that Katsuki had shown up to UA to do that presentation on communication, and it had gone perfect, but had remained mostly business. But the kids were right, and he somehow hadn't realized until now that Katsuki hadn't shown up unannounced with an extra Bento during his lunch hour for several days.

He hadn't realized that it had become such a habit that even his kids were counting on it happening frequently. Somehow, they had noticed the absence of Katsuki barging in their unlocked window, and he hadn't.

Izuku's gaze shifted from the stack of papers he was sorting, to the window in question. All he could see outside of the glass was a perfectly blue sky.

He pushed his chair back and approached the window, and slid it open. It was unlocked, as usual. Katsuki had perfect enough timing somehow that he rarely ever actually interrupted any of his lessons. It's like he waited for the bell.

Izuku pressed his hands into the sill and leaned out, looking out on the city far away from the secluded location of UA. As if he was hoping to spot a far away figure growing closer and louder on his way. He honestly wondered sometimes if Nezu and the security team were aware of Katsuki exploding himself onto campus just to see him. If they were, they hadn't said anything.

Izuku pulled himself back inside, and slid the window gently shut. He found himself missing Katsuki's presence, and now mourning the several days that the absence had gone unnoticed.

But he didn't demand or ask questions of Katsuki. He enjoyed his company on lunch breaks, and the meals he cooked were delicious. He couldn't ask for more from his childhood friend and rival, couldn't be greedy with his attention. If Katsuki had to spend time elsewhere, doing other things, Izuku was far from argument.

Scarred hands lingered on the glass and the pristine frame. Izuku's softened green eyes pointed downward, seeing the image of Katsuki sliding it open, not hard enough to damage, but definitely enough to make an entrance. Sticking one boot in first, the other knee folded up to his chest, face mask pulled back over his forehead, and often smeared in a layer of soot. Izuku could see clearly, the mental image of Katsuki carrying his two Bento, leaning against the frame of the window, with a rough, teasing "OI, Sensei," and a smirk.

Izuku ran his fingers along the frame.

Suddenly, a sadness panged in his chest, because there was no mark of Katsuki being there...he always made sure to clean the frame after lunch... and no sign of him showing up.

Today it would be like the other days, Izuku would head down to the UA cafeteria, a pile of papers in his hands to pour over until the next class would begin. That's just how it was.

"Different lives," Izuku murmured to himself. Then tore his gaze away from the window to get going.

That's all it was...right?

As he passed his desk, he grabbed his Suit Case with the bold, green and black "18" on it, the decal being a memento that had been included when All Might and Katsuki had given it to him. He never went anywhere without it these days.

The metal in his hands, the heft of the technology within, gave him an idea. After all, he had a small window of time later, if he hurried...

--

It was just past sunset when Katsuki finally stopped on the ledge of a building, echoes of his explosions hanging in the air and smoking out of his gauntlets. Breathing only a bit heavy from the workout of flying over the tops of buildings, crimson eyes settled on the streets below.

The afternoon had settled down quite a bit and the evening promised to be calm, at least, from where he stood, mid patrol.

He checked the time, it was a perfect point to stake out the area and take a breather.

As the lights turned on throughout the city, Katsuki crouched into a squat position, and felt the tension ease out of his calves. A lot of running around and responding to incidents earlier had left him feeling the physical strain of the day etching slowly into his muscles.

His stomach grumbled lowly. It had also apparently been a while since his last meal.

He grimaced, he was exceedingly aware that he had forgone taking his lunch hour at UA. In fact it weighed heavy on his mind lately.

There was guilt about it nagging him, he didn't really like avoiding Izuku. But there was also a feeling of necessity, as if he was protecting his peace, as some therapist might tell him.

Or maybe it was Izuku's peace he was protecting. Letting him have that space to do what was special to him...even if it included being away from Katsuki.

He shook his head, blonde spikes flapping around and bangs batting his face, before burying a gloved hand into his hair. What was he even thinking? Protecting Izuku's peace?

It was bullshit and he knew it. He just didn't want to feel hurt when looking at his most important person. But if he was so important, why would he ignore him like this? It was stupid. He knew it was stupid.

He could just hear his father's lectures in his head, telling him there was no reason to think that Izuku and his relationship had to change, just because Izuku told him no. Then his mother chiming in with telling him he was being overdramatic, and most likely an asshole.

Yeah, he probably was, he thought with a puff of a sigh.

But, at the same time, Izuku hadn't really reached out to him much, either. And that made him so much moodier.

A grimace almost overtook his face, before he suddenly heard something behind him-- sounds of footsteps, nimble, but deep, as if they were iron clad. They leapt across unseen rooftops, and punctuated with the sounds of blasting air.

Wait-- he knew those sounds...he knew exactly what made those sounds.

Katsuki turned to look over his shoulder, and sure enough, there was Izuku, bounding gracefully closer, clearing the last gap to the rooftop Katsuki was perched on with a perfectly timed blast of the One For All replica suit. Izuku landed with another "clomp-clomp" of his boots, and jogged across the roof, a huge smile obvious on his face, even through the darkness.

"Kacchan!" He called out excitedly, thrusting a hand up to wave. In his other hand, a dangling plastic bag, Katsuki had to surmise it was from a convenience store.

"Kacchan, so glad I found you!" Izuku panted as he came even with Katsuki, who suddenly found himself on his feet.

"Hey," Katsuki greeted, somehow surprised to see Izuku there. "You took a patrol tonight?"

"Not exactly," Izuku said with one last deep in hale and exhale to catch his breath. "I have plans with Uraraka in a bit, but I wanted to find you, first..." Izuku explained, and then reached for the bag that was swinging on his arm.

Katsuki shoved down the feelings spiking through his heart at the mention of Uraraka.

"I um...I know it's not much, it certainly doesn't beat your cooking! ...and I would try to do better, maybe get some good takeout or something if I had more time, but--" Izuku pulled out a package, clear plastic, containing a trio of rice balls, and held it out to Katsuki. "But I-- I didn't see you at lunch today, or really, in a few days, and I just wanted to make sure..." Izuku was rambling, and he knew it.

Katsuki's wide eyes jumped from Izuku's face, to the offering and back to Izuku, but somehow couldn't find the words. The way the colorful lights from the cityscape played across his freckles, his scar, and his bright green eyes didn't help the feeling that he wanted to lean in...

"I just wanted to make sure that, you know...you got a good meal in?" Izuku finished, voice trailing off as if he was becoming more embarrassed by the second. When Katsuki took a moment to respond, Izuku's cheeks heated up and his confidence wavered.

"I mean...if you have, that's good too, you don't have to take it. You probably had something good earl--"

"Oi, quit muttering, you're gonna drive me insane," Katsuki retorted, but Izuku's heart lightened to hear a subtle fondness behind the commonplace demand. Izuku felt Katsuki's hand weigh down his as he took the offered food, the plastic creaking as it changed hands.

"Actually, I haven't eaten in hours," Katsuki smirked, holding on to the meal as he took a seat on the ledge of the roof, boots dangling down the side of the building. Izuku didn't hesitate to sit down beside him.

Katsuki wasted no time in grabbing the first rice ball and taking a large bite. Izuku watched him with a smile, seeing the hunger Katsuki felt clearly melting away. He then turned and looked out on the city with Katsuki.

For a moment, traffic several stories below dominated the quiet between them.

"It seems quiet tonight," Izuku mused. Katsuki nodded.

"Yeah, or we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop," Katsuki added, around a mouthful of food, his eyes, obscured by his pitch black mask, narrowed suspiciously at the easy shift he had had that day. "Too bad you have a date or whatever with Round Face, something fun usually happens around 8 or 9 when the weirdos come out, you could get some real Hero Work in," Katsuki ribbed, starting in on the second rice ball.

"Oh, I really couldn't, right after that I have to get some coffee and get through a bunch of essays! We have a really busy unit, right now, and it's almost finals!" Izuku cheerfully declared. "But, um...next week....I think I might have a few free blocks of time?"

Katsuki rounded on the final rice ball, and considered his words carefully before saying anything.

"Whatever works, Sensei," he settled on earnest support. "And don't you dare get addicted to caffeine like an idiot. If I catch you with a bunch of 5-Hour Energy garbage drinks like that dumbass Kaminari, it's on sight, Izuku."

Izuku laughed, and smiled so warmly at Katsuki, the blonde thought he might melt. So he looked away as he chewed, feeling his face getting obnoxiously hotter.

"I really did miss you at lunch, Kacchan." Izuku sighed after the fond laughter. "So did the kids, believe it or not! They uh...they actually thought we had broken up. Does that sound like they thought we were dating??"

Katsuki choked on the food in his mouth.

"They what??" Katsuki strained around a couple of coughs. Izuku blushed deeply and looked away.

"Yeah, I uh...they caught me off guard, too." Izuku nervously said. Then he had some realization and looked back at Katsuki with a hint of panic in his eyes. "Oh wait... please, don't let that stop you from coming in, I really do want to see you more, and the kids love you, they mean well, but..."

"Izuku it's fine." Katsuki said, a little harsher than he meant to. He was still so floored. "Let the brats think what they want, I guess. If it bothers you, tell 'em to shut up, be a mean teacher for once."

"Sorry," Izuku whimpered, fingers fidgeting in his lap. "I dont want you to be upset with them, I think I shouldn't have said anything..."

"I'm not upset with them," Katsuki growled. Then sighed, trying not to sound like the angry asshole he knew he could be. He closed his crimson eyes and took a deep breath. Time to try for a little honesty.

"You're important to me, Izuku. So I guess...it's like a compliment," He opened his eyes and stared down at his hands, clutching the empty plastic container, feeling the comfort of his now full stomach. "It means they can see how much I care for you."

"Kacchan," Izuku smiled the warmest smile yet, city lights dancing on his blushing face. "I hope if that's the case, then they can see the same in how I care about you!"

He said it so easily, so innocently, that it killed Katsuki on the inside...but in the warmest, most enticing way.

"And...I do want to work with you more, I promise," Izuku added. "When my schedule opens up, let's coordinate! I'll be able to take a few shifts here and there!"

The offer is still open...Katsuki wanted to say. Please, take it, be my partner, and then go out with me for real. The words pounded on the inside of his head as if they were caged, and demanded to be spoken.

"Literally any time, Izuku." Katsuki said softly. He hoped, selfishly, that there was enough heart and meaning inflected in his words that even Izuku would catch it. If he could just beam it into the skull under all of those green curls, he would.

For a moment, their gazes connected, and that was all Katsuki needed, to see those expressive doe eyes focused on him, and him alone. Izuku, even at 25 years old, had no idea how beautiful he was, and was anyone going to tell him?

Would Uraraka tell him?

Abruptly, the moment ended, and Izuku pulled out his phone, eyes widening immediately.

"Kacchan, I do have to go, though, sorry," Izuku apologized, and jumped to his feet. Katsuki followed after, ready to see him off, despite the disappointment. Truth be told, he had been in one spot too long himself and needed to move his patrol along.

"Don't go for any of the crap in the cafeteria tomorrow, nerd," Katsuki ordered Izuku gruffly as the quirkless hero knelt in a few stretches before him. He held out the plastic container from the rice balls, and Izuku accepted it into the bag he still held, promising wordlessly to dispose of the trash. "I'll pay you back for the food today and then some."

Izuku lit up the rooftop with one final smile.

"I got it, Kacchan!" He chirped, and turned with a flip of his yellow cape, and started heading off with a final wave over his shoulder. "I look forward to it!"

Katsuki watched as Izuku took off, teal lights from the suit streaking off into the dark and once again bounding across rooftops and alleyways.

He grabbed the back of his neck with a hand, and warmed up his hand just a bit, enough to swallow some of the tension in the muscles. Turning back towards his city watch, he thought to himself that maybe his dad was right...he could still be with Izuku even if it wasn't quite what he had imagined.

With a figurative and literal leap of faith and confidence, Katsuki took a step and plunged off the roof, igniting his quirk with loud, popping explosions and shooting off into the night.

---

(To be continued)

* I also realize that I initially wrote this with the wrong timeline in mind; so correction: when Katsuki said that it had been a week since he'd given Izuku the suit, it had actually been a month according to 431 itself. This is currently about 2 weeks after the reunion dinner. Izuku at this point has had the suit for about a month and a half, then. Sorry for the mistake!(I had started writing a bit before the translations started becoming reliable)

* in another vein, I am going to address the convo in the car and the whole sidekick/partner thing, just kind of with my own interpretation how it went and how it was MEANT to be received by izuku, bc that is the biggest gripe i have about 431 as we all know. But that conflict is for next chapter.

*at the risk of this chapter being too cheesy, I included like, half of a silly idea I had in a previous post of mine where all the kids hear that izuku has a date planned, and they assume that it's with Dynamight. So when they hear that it's with uravity instead, they are shocked and immediately think that the worst has happened and Bakudeku broke up, despite Izuku telling them that they weren't a couple.

*cheesy or not, though, the fluff is a nice reprieve from all the angst 🥲

***hope you enjoy! Next chapter whenever I can manage it!

[a-d-nox]

web of wyrd observation: why barbie's wyrd web just makes sense

after going to see Barbie in theaters, i came home and was wondering what makes barbie - barbie? so i looked up the day she greeted the public. and i was super intrigued by her wyrd web.

9-9-18 REPEATING 

9 is representative of the hermit - the hermit is someone who can be alone comfortably, which is exactly the point of a doll. you can give barbie to a child/person and they can entertain themselves. 9-9 - one hermit is the doll and the other is the person playing with the doll! the hermit is meant to be a reflective card that asks you to do some soul searching as to what you want and need - playing with barbie is meant to showcase that you too can be whatever you want to be just like barbie. add in 18 - the moon, which is about "self-deception," or make-believe as we called when we were children. the moon is also meant to help you see the hidden aspects of yourself and what you want most. which again... is the point of barbie.

3 AS THE CROWN NUMBER

the truest barbie girl of the major arcana - the empress. barbie's highest self being the essence of "divine femininity" just makes so much sense to me. let's not forget barbie was designed for creativity inspiration while also showing the power of feminine energy. and she did that, just like the empress.

6 AS THE FLOW NUMBER

the Barbie movie definitely illustrated for me that the balance of femininity and masculinity is necessary for the success of barbie. if one entity has too much of the power (the whole board room being male, barbieworld never having a ken on council, etc.) then there will be issues in the "business realm" (which is the message of the lovers). in terms of love, while barbie doesn't need ken, it is important that they still respected each other and communicated in a healthy manner (which is definitely depicted in the movie). same can be said on the business end of things - barbie has "skinny, blonde bimbo" energy, so the company has to keep their products inclusive (keep evolving) or risk being cancelled.

21 AS THE MONETARY NUMBER

the Barbie movie is a perfect reminder of the world card that is represented in her matrix - recognition for success, cyclic change, new chapters, etc. if barbie hadn't been a success, we would have never had one barbie movie let alone many (i could never forget the animation versions lol)! nor would we have collectable barbies! the collectable barbie is the energy found in this number - the world is literally a woman surrounded by a laurel (it looks a bit like barbie in her box, if you ask me)!

15 AS THE PARTNERSHIP NUMBER

i think it is a little funny that the partnership number is 15 - the devil. barbie is supposed to be a feminine icon - she doesn't need a man to make her dreams come true (which is showcased in the movie). BUT YET WE HAVE KEN. ken is a destructive concept when thinking of barbie as strong and independent - it's contradictory to have barbie be an independent woman who doesn't need any one, but then make ken - her boyfriend ("patriarchy" lol - cause a woman needs a man to be accomplished in life *clown emoji*). it's the toxic contradictory energy of having a ken for a barbie that makes the devil an un-ironically perfect number for this doll.

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[landinrris]

Ok since all of the other Norrix fics have been asked about and that's my #1 ship, I vote for "May 2024- Martin’s Birthday" :)

Ah this thing that was supposed to be finished like two and a half weeks ago and is suffering from missing-first-scene syndrome because I can't figure out how to start it (even though I know what I want the scene to be).

Anyway, this is supposed to be a small fic that revolves around Lando and Martin spending Martin's birthday together. Lando goes through the day with him, trying and failing to figure out what to post for him, and keeps coming up empty. He eventually posts those two stories- one accidentally and one on purpose.

-----

One of the best things about visiting Martin in Amsterdam is the quiet boat days through the canals. No one bothers them like this even if he’s sure plenty of people know what Martin’s boat looks like. The privacy never ceases to astound Lando even nearly two years in.

Today is no different save for the fact that Lando feels significantly less like death than he did last time he was on board. This time, he’s able to enjoy the nice breeze that comes off the water— gets to unapologetically watch the way Martin calmly steers the boat with one hand while his other rests along the edge behind him, fingers barely brushing the sleeve of Lando’s shirt.

It’s such bone-deep satisfaction made more so by how accomplished Lando feels and the fact that he gets to celebrate Martin’s birthday with him this year. Lando catches Martin’s eye and smiles, wishing he could lean closer to kiss him. All he trusts himself to do is tilt his head down in the direction of Martin’s hand as if to mentally lean into the touch.

“Should we get a picture?” Martin’s father asks in the lull of his mother updating everyone on an ongoing dispute with one of the neighbors. “I swiped the Polaroid from the living room.”

“Did you make sure it had film this time?” Laura asks from a few feet away, an allusion to something Lando doesn’t know the backstory of.

Her father throws her an unimpressed look. “I did, as it happens. Come closer so you can be in the shot.” He probably intends on gathering them around for an attempted selfie, but surely they deserve a family photo they can more easily post without worrying about too much information getting out.

“Here, let me take one for you all,” Lando offers. Predictably, he’s met with a chorus of protests, but Lando waves them off. “No, I insist. Get a family pic for the birthday boy.” He sees Martin roll his eyes at the mention of birthday boy but doesn’t pay it any mind.

It takes a little maneuvering to get them all situated, Martin’s mother taking Lando’s spot on his left while his sister and father are off to his right. They press in close to the center of the frame while Lando positions himself to take their photo. The sound of the shutter followed by the film being pushed through the rollers is satisfying. Maybe this should be what Lando takes up next.

He pulls the slide free from the rollers and presses it facing the bottom of the camera like Martin showed him once— when he’d laughed and said, “No, you don’t actually shake it, let me show you.” He hesitates on whether he should hand the camera back to Martin’s father or not.

His father does reach for the camera and photo but not to put it away. “Alright, your turn.”

Lando swears he almost falls where he’s standing, but he’ll blame it on another boat’s wake they rock through. “What?”

“Yes, your turn. Give them room, you two,” he motions to his daughter and wife. And then suddenly, there’s room next to Martin as there had been before. Only this time, Martin pulls him closer and settles his hand not on the wheel against the back of Lando’s neck. It makes Lando so incredibly warm inside, filled with an energy inappropriate for the time and place.

He can smell Martin’s cologne from this close and thinks about not moving away once the slide spits itself out of the camera. Martin doesn’t let him go either, content to let Lando relax against his shoulder while Martin’s father sits back down. They don’t say anything, but they don’t need to— the same thoughts are likely going through both of their minds.

A few minutes later, Martin’s father speaks up. “Oh, these came out lovely.” They pass the photos around, eventually getting to Martin and Lando.

It’s true, the photo of Martin and his family looks like a family should. Happy and pleased to be with each other to celebrate a birthday. The photo of Lando and Martin stops the breath in his lungs, but part of that might be because Lando’s not sure if he’ll ever get over explicitly couple-coded pictures of them together. Pictures where they aren’t going for an element of plausible deniability. One of Lando’s hands is resting out of frame on Martin’s thigh— decidedly not platonic.

“You were looking for a photo to post earlier, weren’t you?” Martin teases quietly, his head bent close to Lando’s.

Lando snorts quietly because yes, he had been trying to figure out a picture to post, but surely this was not going to be the winner if only because he hadn’t had coming out immediately after winning his first race (and on Martin’s birthday) on his Bingo card.

“Maybe I’ll save this one for the actual coming out if it ever happens, yeah?” Not that Lando ever necessarily wants to formally. But at the very least, it’s more open than he’s ready for people to see. People have seen enough of their relationship in the last month.

“That’s the post we’re joint-posing me and you kissing after the next win?”

“Yeah, we’ll save it for that one.”

Martin hums and turns to pull his phone from his pocket before taking a photo of each of the Polaroids even if he’ll likely only share one of them. He doesn’t keep it out for long enough to post— probably will once they’re back on land, but before he focuses his full attention back on the water, he leans closer to Lando and presses a kiss to his temple, so quick Lando thinks he hallucinates for a moment. The small and smug smile on Martin’s face is all that remains.

[batbirdies]

Hi! Love your stories but I was wondering what is your writing process? I want to start writing Batfam but it's so intimidating with making creators like you, I just feel like I'll never measure up! What do you do for inspo? Do you plan out every chapter? How long does it take you to write? Do you already know how the stories will end?? Sorry if this is to invasive!

Aw thank you so much that’s very flattering!!

I would try not worry about “measuring up” to anyone as much as that’s easier said than done 😅. Just remember there will always be readers who like your work even if you think it could be better.

As far as your questions no worries! I’m happy to answer questions like this :)

I get inspo from lots of things! Mainly reading really good fic inspires me to write. As far as ideas they come from everywhere! Sparked by other fic often where I think “this is a cool idea but what if this part was different?”

Or sometimes by reading fic I didn’t love lol because I like the idea but want to execute it in a way I prefer.

Otherwise I think discussing ideas and head canons with others is one of the best ways to flesh out and get new ideas. Discord is the way to go. (As far as finding discord servers to join, this can be hard, but if you ask around there are usually some open to inviting new people)

Do I plan out every chapter? I’m inclined to say yes. Usually I write a first draft of the entire fic, then I start a rewrite and post each chapter as I finish the second draft of it. This usually leads to big changes and deviations from the original draft as I go, so I don’t always stick to the plan and often have to go back to the drawing board but yes, I do have a plan.

For me trying to write a publishable draft without a rough draft feels like trying to draw perfect line art without a sketch. It’s just doesn’t work for me.

How long does it take me to write? Honestly impossible to answer 😂 it varies drastically. I wrote CCAKT in about year including first and second draft, the second draft reaching 250k words. I also wrote Live While Breathe and I’ll Come Out Right on the Other Side that same year. Which amounts to roughly 340k words of second draft in one year. The 23k of LWIB was done in about 3 days. So I wrote a LOT that year and fast.

This has since not been the case lol. Took me about a year and half to finish the 31k of overcoming our antecedents. Then theres Penny drops.

I’ve been working on it for like 2 and a half years at this point and I’ve been incredibly slow trying to get the next few chapters out because I keep being unhappy with them. And also because I’ve had some health issues and it’s been hard to have the energy to work on it. I have taken significantly long breaks from writing all together at different times because of fatigue and burnout. But I try to stick with things and eventually finish long projects.

Do I already know how a story will end? Again, yes and no lol. I always have a plan of how it will end from the beginning, but with long fics i inevitably hate my original plan by the time i get there and have to totally rework what i previously had in mind. (This is really the reason i do a first and second draft, my rewrite is always SO much better in my mind than my original ideas)

Short fics are less that way and I usually stick with the plan.

Having said all of that I definitely want to emphasize that everyone is going to have a different process that works for them! Best thing to do is try different methods. I know I’m rare for fully drafting stuff and rewriting it so that might not work for you, but I know @cdelphiki does the same thing. She’s the only other fic writer I know that does it tho lol.

@coyote-nebula plots more with timelines and lists and then writes her scenes out of order but in perfectly publishable prose from the beginning, then does heavy editing run throughs and keeps notes on points to remember when she’s continuing long fics. (I am not nearly so organized)

And of course there’s many other methods! Best thing to do is jump in and try some stuff!

[pickinglilahs]

Blackeclipse for the soul

Part 28; Part 29; Part 30; Part 31; Part 32 Remember when I thought this was only going to be two or three parts? I know this chapter is on the short side, but I haven't added a chapter in so long 😭 (Throws and runs away)

The boys were way too keyed up to fall asleep.

They had sent Kreacher to Potter Manor after confirming that he was, in fact, freed. James also sent a note to his parents saying that they had sent Kreacher over, and everyone was okay.

Sirius had excitedly gone to open the chest, intending to start clearing the curses, but Remus had stopped him. Regulus was staring at it with a haunted look in his eyes. Understanding, Sirius stood and went to hug his brother.

They held onto each other for a long time, whispering occasionally.

Remus took his distraction to re-shrink the trunk and hand it off to Kingsley, who put it in his school bag.

Adrenaline still coursing through him, James had taken his nervous energy down to the kitchen for snacks while he was out posting the letter, though Remus had been loath to let him go alone.

While they waited, Kingsley decided they should send a note to Peter with an update. Remus agreed and took the paper Kingsley had written on, folding it into a bird and sending it off to Benji's dorm.

By the time James returned, the four boys had migrated to the doubled-bed. The brothers were leaning on each other against the headboard with Remus and Kingsley facing them.

Setting the food between them, James sat next to Remus, who leaned in to whisper. "I think Orion died."

James blinked at him, then looked over to the brothers. He nodded in agreement. They didn't have a good relationship with their father, but it was nothing like the horror of Walburga's parenting.

It must have been strange, mourning a parent like that.

Not quite sure how to help Regulus, but knowing Sirius, at least, would want to be distracted, James eventually piped up, "Operation: Fuck with Snivillus is coming up; what all do we have left to do?"

Sirius looked at him, eyes slowly coming back into focus. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. "We have the Polyjuice, and the girls are on board. Peter wants to set rabbits loose, so he and Benji will be doing that the day of. You talked to Poppy, right?"

Remus nodded. He made sure to explain that Sirius would be running around as him and showed her the study to prove it was safe. She hadn't liked it but understood that it was necessary.

Kingsley raised his hand, "Can I ask a question?"

He was looking at Remus, who nodded apprehensively.

"Does this prank have to do with the rumors Snape's been spreading about you being a werewolf?"

James, Sirius, and Regulus all stiffened, but Remus just sighed. "I was wondering how long it would take you to catch on."

"I promise I won't tell anyone! It's really none of my business; I was just wondering." Kingsley held his hands up in surrender, making sure everyone—especially Regulus, who was glaring daggers—knew he meant no harm.

Remus gave a bitter chuckle. "It's fine. Really. Been wondering if I should have just told you and Benji when we first mentioned the prank." He ran a hand over his face. "Guess I was just deluding myself into thinking you wouldn't notice."

Regulus leaned forward, grabbing onto Remus and pulling the older boy into his lap. Remus went without protest; mostly just grateful Regulus was coming out of his head.

"I really won't tell. I just figured you would prefer to know that I know."

Remus nodded. "Yeah, makes things easier this way." Then, after a beat, "You're not... like..."

Kingsley shook his head, giving Remus a strangely sad look. "...My uncle was turned, —when I was really young—and he was one of the gentlest people I've ever met. He moved back to Kenya because of Britain's laws, though."

Remus nodded, then snorted with derision. "Maybe I should move there too. Lots of room to run, I'm sure."

Regulus squeezed him and James reached out to lay a hand on his ankle.

Sirius barked a laugh. "You wouldn't last two hours in the heat, Moons. Besides, you'd never be able to convince Mam to move that far."

Remus sighed, half wistful, half bitter, "I know." Then he yawned, hiding his face in Regulus' shoulder.

Sirius yawned right after, so Kingsley stood, pulling Sirius back to their own bed.

James came up to lay beside Regulus, who snuggled down, shifting Remus on top of himself.

Once James had deposited his glasses on the nightstand and closed the curtains, Remus reached out a hand to brush a curl from his face. "How are you feeling, Sunshine?"

He hummed noncommittally. "Donno. Just... coming down from the adrenaline, I suppose." He closed his eyes and leaned into Remus as the other boy began to stroke his cheek. "How about you, Starshine? How are you holding up?"

Regulus closed his eyes and sighed, his hands tightening around Remus' back. "Ask me again in the morning."

Remus turned his head to kiss the collarbone under his cheek.

James rolled on his side, using one arm as a pillow, he threw the other over Remus' back. "We're here, Love, if you want to talk. Or if you want to skip class tomorrow and just stay here."

"James." Remus' tone was chiding, but the corners of his mouth were threatening to twitch into a smile.

"What? Tell me you wouldn't skip in a heartbeat if it would make him feel better."

Remus sighed and turned his face into Regulus' chest, rubbing his nose along the other's collarbone as he shook his head.

Regulus' chest moved in a silent chuckle. "Thanks, but skipping class isn't going to change anything. Wouldn't do anyone any good."

Remus kissed Regulus' collarbone again before setting his head back down. "He is right, though. Anything you need, Cariad. Don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

"Thanks."

"Always."

@starchasersunseeker @poetrypirate @niad4827 @bradley-95147-blog @shyshadows430

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

Annon-Guy: What's your opinion on the Split Timeline thing introduced in XBLAZE Lost Memories? You know, the idea of the XBLAZE World and the Bloodedge Experience World being seperate from the BlazBlue World and each othe I mean.

This is actually a really fun question, and I’ve been procrastinating on answering it because I have a whole theory related to it but I don’t want to get into it without being able to cite my sources, you know??? Unfortunately today will STILL not be the day I really get into it, because I’ve been in and out of the hospital and still have not found those sources I wanted. Whoops.

But let’s at least get to an initial answer. Usually I hate split timelines in stories; I like consistency and I like making huge conspiracy boards full of connections I’ve noticed. A split timeline is a smart move for writers when a series gets too big; it alleviates the pressure for absolute consistency between different authors. It gives them room to be more creative, to explore more- it also gives them room to make minor mistakes. But like I said, I really really love my concrete consistency. Split timelines kind of take away narrative tension for me, too; I can’t get too excited about what xyz event means for the rest of the series, because it may not have even happened.

Interestingly, I actually really like BB’s split timeline set up. This is a unique case, and I originally didn’t like it, but then I saw a post on… I can’t remember if it was Reddit or Steam or what, I want to find it so I can link back to it and discuss it more in depth. Someone was positing the theory/interpretation that the three separate “timelines” (BB, XBlaze, Bloodedge) actually do occur in one reality.

Remember how at the end of CF, Terumi (and, like, everyone a little bit) was trying to kill Amaterasu to end this world, and create a new one???

Or how Sechs in XBlaze wanted to “return everything to the Seithr,” also ending his world???

In the west, when we hear a story has "multiple timelines" or a "multiverse," we think of stories like Marvel and Homestuck. In these stories, there are infinite worlds operating in their own, separate 'bubbles,' but existing effectively simultaneously.

The post posited that BlazBlue’s setting uses a different interpretation of “multiple timelines/universes,” more rooted in Asian culture. Like concepts of reincarnation or the Hindu Yuga Cycle. In these types of stories, there are many 'worlds'- generally far too many for the human mind to count, but still a finite number. And only one exists at a time. The next is born when the previous dies.

The idea here is that each separate BB-verse setting happens in a linear order, one at a time, going about its own business until the world is ‘ended'- that is, where it dissolves and "returns to the Seithr," the Boundary.

From this, it is recreated and begins again- or the next setting begins. After enough repetitions, certain events may end up drastically different- or someone may manipulate the recreation process to influence the ‘new world.’

This would be Susano'o's plan at the end of CF, and part of the promise that Izanami was selling to everyone during the fight for the Azure.

This would also be what the Origin did to start the C-series, using Amaterasu to influence the world’s next ‘rebirth,’ and then refusing to move on/let anything change.

I wish I could get deeper into this subject, and I hope I do at some point, because it completely changed how I interpret BlazBlue’s setting and several plot points and I really love it. I wish it was a more popular interpretation in the fandom. I’d also like to look deeper into the story to see if I can cite some points that give evidence to this theory.

At some point when I have more energy I'd love to revisit this topic, explaining it better and citing some sources from the BB series that I believe support this interpretation.

For now, what do you all think???

[wevelocityteampresents-blog]

Inspection Completion

While I was out on Sunday, I kept myself busy with Pokémon Violet.

I wanted to focus on my classes at the academy. But due to the limited amount of screenshots I can take now, I decided to inspect the last few Pokémon Gyms.

My first stop was Alfornada City.

I guess it was a good thing she picked me to inspect these Gyms in her place.

I’m not THAT beautiful.

Why does this seem oddly connected to my life?

After I was finished with all of that, I moved on to the Montenevera Town Gym.

No one except me. (And a few other people...) These “Master” recipes are nice. But I know a few recipes that can provide even better powers.

Who’s she calling a rookie? I’ll bring out my best Pokémon just for this match.

A queen on her stage...

At least she knew what she said was wrong.

Before I scaled the mountain, I went to Area Zero to finish Miraidon’s training.

His Defense was only boosted by a small amount. But it should be good enough for him to stand a chance in battle!

Before I left Area Zero, I found these research papers that managed to catch my attention considering recent events.

Even though the name is blanked out, and the number of characters in it doesn’t match up with its actual name, it’s pretty clear the Pokémon Turo was referring to is supposed to be Terapagos.

A shell made of interlocking hexagonal plates, what seemingly appears to be the properties of all known Pokémon types. Terapagos meets the professor’s description perfectly.

While there is the possibility Terapagos is the main source of Terastallization energy, I’m more intrigued by how early it was mentioned in these games. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding a Pokémon like this, and it was never officially unveiled to the public until a few months after the Scarlet and Violet versions were released as part of an upcoming update. Even though its data isn’t in the games yet, I imagine that if Terapagos were hiding in the files as this series’ super secret Pokémon (in a similar vein to Mew or the mythical Pokémon from the XY series), then it would’ve probably added more value to it. Give it a signature attack and ability that could make it a powerhouse on the battlefield, and you’ve got a highly memorable Pokémon!

In all honesty, I’m surprised Terapagos ISN’T a mythical Pokémon. It would’ve added so much to the lore and could’ve had the same impact as Mew or Jirachi. But considering the troubled development of these newer entries, I guess that wasn’t possible... But it’s still a fun thing to think about!

Alright, back to the blog post.

After I was finished with Miraidon, I went to the Glaseado Gym to fight Grusha.

Glad he got back into boarding.

And he’s also gotten more nicer towards people. A perfect growth in character!

A thunderstorm came later on that day...

For this final part of the inspection, I thought I could have a little fun with it by taking on Grusha with only one Pokémon: Miraidon.

With Miraidon’s stats and abilities, he just might be able to win it. (I’m using this as practice for him.)

You can watch the match in the Paldea Web Stadium.

I think that’s already been established years ago.

You’ve still got your personality. Besides, it’s not like you can stop being a Trainer or choose to focus on one sport for the rest of your life.

And that takes care of that. That tournament is as good as mine! Now I just have to head back to the academy. (...If nothing else gets in my way, that is...)

Of course, I had to reward my Pokémon with some food.

For this dish, I tried using as many spicy ingredients as possible.

And I’ll add a dash of this Spicy Herba Mystica to complete the recipe.

It’s not much. But it’s still a good start when it comes to sandwich recipes!

That should do it for now. Next time, I’ll take on the Academy Ace Tournament and win some more ribbons for my Pokémon.

[sharysisnhmoonshadow]

Where have I been?

Well, the last year has had a lot crammed into it, resulting in a severe lack of creative energy. There’s a lot for me to unload, so if you skim, or scroll on by I won’t be upset. I just miss my time spent here and on AO3 and just want to explain my absence to those mutuals I miss the most.

I’m gonna start with the negative stuff and end with the good, so I can end this post on a high note.

First off, the California horse community was hit hard last year with EHV-1 (equine herpes virus) outbreaks, and some of those turn into a neurological strain called EHM. This is very often fatal, and even when it’s not, the prognosis is not good.

In April, our barn had two horses die in a 24 hour period, and once EHM was confirmed the facility went under state mandated quarantine. Four weeks of twice a day temperature checks and very strict rules of conduct to prevent spread. Thankfully, Caeli and her stall row all remained healthy and unaffected, and luckily no more horses were lost. Our barn even delayed a scheduled board increase because no one was actually able to use the facility.

Quarantine got lifted in May, board went up, and they then immediately said everyone needed to have their horses out by October 1st.

I relocated Caeli on June 1st. Many abandoned ship within two weeks of the news but I wanted my damn deposit back.

And then on June 24th I said goodbye to Gavin. , my beautiful asshole, and grumpiest of grumpy bettas. He deserves his own post and update, and so there will be a separate update just for him.

There’s more but I think that’s enough heavy shit for one post. Now how about some good highlights?

I participated in my very first horse show! I never thought we’d be able to with all her injuries. We had a lot of fun and did pretty okay!

There was even a costume class.

I visited a place I’ve wanted to visit since I was a little kid.

And have generally spent a lot of time enjoying nature.

May my next post be filled with more fun and light hearted things.

[hearts-and-bodies]

Hi :) Do you think you’ll be updating A Short History of the Forever at the End of the World soon? I miss your wonderful writing 💕

Hi! Thanks for this message.

Towards the end of last year, I unfortunately suffered... I don't want to sound too dramatic, but the only way I can really describe it without giving away personal details is that I suffered a personal, life-changing tragedy.

This came at the end of the year in which I was also diagnosed with cancer.

Just when things were starting to look up on the health front, this tragedy struck and it has literally floored me. At the moment, I'm just surviving day to day, but everything is a struggle.

Writing has always been something that makes me feel better, but at the moment, I don't have the energy even for that.

I fully intend to finish all my fics, but at the moment I can't say when that will be. Prior to the tragedy, I had actually written... I'd estimate about 80% of the next chapter (around 5k words) of A Short History of the Forever at the End of the World, so in all likelihood, when I do get back to writing, that will be the next thing I post.

I also just want to thank you for reaching out and your kind words. As dumb and cliché as it sounds, hearing that someone is enjoying something that I created and spent a lot of time on really is lovely and heart-warming.

So, just to keep you going until I'm able to post the full chapter, I've added a little snip under the cut from the part of the next chapter that I'd already written.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Snip from Chapter 8:

As Armie sucked his last bone clean of meat, adding it to the small pile by his feet, he sat back with a contented sigh, realising it was the first time he’d been properly full since he left the Hub. To be honest, it was probably even before that. Particularly, considering the constant rationing and frequent mandatory AE board imposed periods of fasting, which usually coincided with food stocks being so low that mass starvation was considered a likely possibility.

Armie licked his fingers one last time and looked across the group gathered around the campfire to where Timmy sat between Esther and Victoire.

The firelight played across Timmy’s face, the muted glow painting warmth across the smooth planes, while flickering shadows danced in the hollows. As Armie watched, fiery embers glinted like the promise of distant stars in Timmy’s eyes as he leaned forwards and took a bite of the cooked meat he held delicately in his fingers.

As though sensing Armie’s gaze, Timmy looked up and caught Armie’s eye, swallowing and slowly licking his lips.

Armie caught himself smiling.