#but it is--and this is important--nothing. its not anything.

[aurorangen]

So is this pain finally gone for good?

Transcript & Bonus:

Veronica stood there in cold silence. The truth is she's ready to get out of Strangerville. Her upbringing wasn't necessarily bad; she just felt confined in this town. Veronica's mother figure has been Otilia all her life, which meant being treated like royalty. But she knows. She knows more than she should about the [REDACTED] experiment and how she is part of it. And she knows what they are doing here is far too dangerous. Even with its risks, she thought writing to a pen pal would spread the word about Strangerville's existence.

Now having an opportunity to live away from the place, she hopes to warn people about it. However, with a bodyguard by her side, that task was deemed impossible. And who is Vincent Kingsley? Is he somehow related to [REDACTED] like her?

...

Otilia: Let's get this over with [sips tea] You two have been given this task for a reason. [The two agents glanced at each other for a brief second; they were determined to do their best]

Otilia: One of you will act as my dear Veronica's bodyguard. As you may know, Veronica is extremely important to [REDACTED] and the situation here has been under control. [sarcastically] That's ever since my lunatic cardiac surgeon brother has returned tch! Supreme Orders have allowed her to explore the outside world.

Otilia: Oh, she is so young. I hate to see her confined in Strangerville all her life! She wants to attend culinary school, so she can. But she must come back straight after she graduates! One of you will protect her and ensure nothing happens that could endanger what we are doing here.

Otilia: And yes, she may bring Betty if she wishes! [pets Betty the boxer] Anything to make my Veronica feel at home there! The other will try to find Vincent Kingsley and see how he is doing.

Otilia: Now why would we do that? Well, these are Supreme Orders and Mr Kingsley's words. Mr Kingsley simply wants to know if his son is healthy. When you find him, you must attach a GPS tracker, so we know his whereabouts. We don't know what he looks like, we only have childhood photos and data from the records.

...

Veronica: Who is Vincent?

Hopefully, you understand Veronica better through this post. She is related to the [REDACTED] experiment in some way and she knows what they are doing here is not good. The biggest takeaway though, is if Vincent is related to [REDACTED] too, given how Supreme Orders want to know how he is doing 👀 I don't want to ruin the plot at all, but I hope you've been paying attention to my posts! Also here are the posts where you first see these agents: Bodyguard and Barista.

[tessieee]

“Out of everyone in the Human Realm, why me?” MC x Main 7

Pairings: Obey me! Lucifer x MC, Mammon x MC, Leviathan x MC, Satan x MC, Asmodeus x MC, Beelzebub x MC, Belphegor x MC

༺═────────────═༻

It had been a particularly long day at R.A.D. Your professors droned on about subject matter you had been too drained to read about the night before, results for a test you were not confident about came in and you did way worse than you were expecting, and your nights grew shorter as you tried to keep up with the particularly hard material you were given that week. 

Once you finally arrived at the House of Lamentation, you kept your interactions with the brothers curt– no one failed to notice your slumped shoulders and distant answers. Your door shuts behind you, your body sliding slowly down the door. Dark thoughts raced through your mind a mile a minute as you buried your head into your hands. Why am I even here?

 The weight in your chest became heavier as the days went by and it wasn’t unusual for you to have days where you'd feel like you were incompetent. That there would be so many better choices for a human exchange student other than yourself. There are smarter, prettier, more athletic people. Why you? 

Not much time passes before you hear a knock at your door, and you promptly let the demon in.

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • · Lucifer ~

The first thing he notices about you is your teary eyes, usually filled with the same wonder for life he lost so long ago. It broke his heart to see you this way. Still, he remained stoic; someone had to be levelheaded. 

“I brought your dinner.” His eyes trail up and down your vulnerable figure, taking in your emotional state. “If there is anything I can do to alleviate your distress, please tell me.”

And there he was, sitting on the floor by your bed right by your side. He’d insisted that you accompany him to his room but you refused to move. Curled up into a fetal position, you were basically cemented onto the ground. At first, he’d been taken aback by your sudden outburst– the sobs that racked your chest while you spilled your whole day onto him. All he did was sit there and listen, which was just as much as you could’ve asked for. Lucifer trailed his hand to your upper back, caressing it softly until you leaned into him. When you finally took your face away from your knees, he was greeted by your puffy eyes and snotty nose. You felt embarrassed but the day had taken its toll on you and you were too tired to care. 

Lucifer gazes at you sympathetically, he knows better than anyone what it’s like to have days that wear you down. He also knows that outbursts with the intensity yours had aren’t just from momentary things, this was something you’ve kept over time. He curses himself for not noticing sooner, perhaps he could’ve had this conversation with you sooner.

“This might be stupid but,” The demon perks up at your shaky voice, raspy from the lament. “I just felt so pathetic. I started to question… Why me? Y’know?”

“I don’t. Do you mind elaborating on the subject?” His expression shifts from sympathy to confusion. 

You sniffle, finally regaining consciousness after the crying spell. Wiping your tears from your red, swollen eyes and taking a deep breath, you finally answer his question.

“I mean- I just feel so… Insignificant.” You start, looking off to the side, almost ashamed to admit this out loud. “Out of everyone in the Human Realm, why me? What’s so special about me?”

You continue, once again allowing the words to spill from your lips.

“There’s nothing about me other humans have if not more! What if you all visit the human realm one day and you meet other humans and you realize that I’m not..”

“Not what?” 

“I’m not anything special. Nor important.” His expression became more tender as you admitted the main thing that had been bugging you all this time. He could see the way a weight lifted off your shoulders and your teary eyes seemed to relax. At last, your body relaxes the muscles you never recalled tensing up in the first place. A comfortable silence ensued in your words, followed by Lucifer pulling you closer to him so your curled-up body rests more on him. You take a moment to notice he’d been sitting criss-cross the whole time. This distracted you enough to let out a sigh of relief. The eldest demon brother rests his head on yours, planting a gentle kiss on the top of your head and taking in your scent. “You’re missing the bigger picture, here.” He murmured.

“Huh?” Your thoughts were so loud, you almost missed it.

 “It’s offensive to yourself to take away so much credit from a remarkable human.”

Tears welled up in your eyes again.

“My brothers and I have been around much longer than you. We’ve all known humans; what they're like, and what they’re capable of. You may not be worthy in your impossible standards, but to us– to me– you are more than enough.” Fat tears roll down your puffy cheeks once again, yet these are silent. You smile at your lap as his words sink in, allowing yourself to relax more into Lucifer’s frame. He welcomes you in, allowing the both of you to share a moment. He believes in you, he always has. “Thank you, Lucifer.” You sniffle, sincerity laced in your words. “Thank you so much.”

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Mammon ~

 No words are exchanged between the two of you; simply relying on facial expressions to end up in your favorite spot to gossip in the room. However, at this point, it was unfair to reduce your bed to simply gossiping. Over time, Mammon had practically moved in at this point. He kept a spare charger and toothbrush there– you never complained.

He cradles you gently in his arms and lets you cry, similarly to how you had comforted him countless nights after arguments with his brothers that got out of hand. You two were a team, the terrible twos, two peas in a pod. He was your first, and you, his human. The sight of you broken down in his arms, distraught to no extent, truly unsettled something in him. Moments you had spent with him fly through his head as he searches for a sign as to when you started to feel this way. Was it something he said? Or did? To be fair he did only sell one thing, but if that’s what had you in this state then he’d go to the ends of all three realms to get it back. 

 The secondborn ran his fingers through your hair, being careful to not tug too hard on the tangles. Cooing quietly, attempting to soothe your obvious pain in any way possible. To his relief, you eventually calmed down enough to tell him what exactly was going on. You don’t think much as you tell him about your day, running by every incident in every class. Mammon takes note of the way your body shivers and grows colder as you speak of the anxiety-inducing day and doesn't miss a beat before messily throwing your comforter over the both of you. The cool cloth smelled like a pool of the both of you, taking you back to a multitude of memories of the both of you staying up far longer than you needed to simply talk.

“And with all of this, I just couldn’t help but think that I’m just not good enough.” You cry out weakly, exhausted from your outpour. “That if you met literally any other human you’d realize I could never live up to them. You’d all forget me!”

Hearing you say this tore his heart apart. 

“Oi, whaddya’ even talking about?” He was dumbfounded by your feelings. How could his human feel this way? His human! The thought of you being anything along the lines of what you claimed to be confused him. You could just look off to the side, heat rising to your face in slight embarrassment. He was acting like you'd just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Don't go sayin' stuff like that about ya'self. I'll sock you in the face if you do."

You scrunch your nose in amusement before returning to the same sad pout. Doubts continued to cloud your mind just as quickly as they left.

“Out of everyone in the Human Realm, like, ever. Why me?” You hiccup quietly, wiping a tear with the side of his shirt leaving behind a small, damp, glossy spot. Mammon flashes you a look, usually, this would earn you a playful shove but this wasn't something he'd fix with jokes or banter. He supposes he’ll let it slide. For now.

“Well… cuz’ yer’ uhh..” The avatar of greed struggles to find the words to properly express the utter adoration he has for the human in his arms at this very moment. At the same time, he dealt with the shock of hearing such a thing come from you. The thought alone of him giving someone else the same time or feeling the same way for someone else just made him uncomfortable. He swore he'd end the person who inspired this insecurity in you. So many feelings seem to cancel out the moment he attempts to say them out loud.

“Listen, I dunno’ why or how Diavolo picked you, but I’m damn glad he did.”

You don’t hide your disappointment at the short response he gives you. Luckily you read his expression as deep in thought, so you give him a moment. 

“All this time we’ve spent together, Human, is the most fun I’ve ever had running get-rich-quick schemes or even getting my ass whooped by Lucifer or– or in class–” He stops himself before he can continue rambling to you.

“Point is, yer’ irreplaceable! There's like a trillion humans, right?” “Well..!” You start with a gentle correction before he continues. “An’ there's only one you. I’m lucky to be the one to enjoy you, so don’t go round’ letting others enjoy you too, kay?” His words tug at your heartstrings resulting in a big goofy grin spread upon your pink and puffy lips. You nod your head at your first man, being more than happy to comply with his request. No one gave you such validating reassurance quite like he did. Who could blame him? You were his human after all and when you struggled he promised himself he'd be there just as much as you were there for him.

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Leviathan ~

“I-I know you’re upset! So I brought some snacks and games– or we can just watch something and not talk! Your choice! Or– or we can talk about it. Do you want to talk about it?” The rambling demon stands at the foot of your door, your red eyes and tear-streaked face look up at him sourly. You almost felt bad since he was being so nice and his attempt at comforting you was so cute. 

“Hey! Don’t zone out on me like that!” He pouts, brows furrowed with worry. “Do you want to be alone?” “Not really, please come in.” He nods and complies, blushing furiously at the position he found himself in. What would others think if they saw him going into your room alone?! With presents! And a desperate expression!

“Set that stuff down anywhere,” You sniffle quietly, looking up at Levi whose arms were full of comfort items he’d brought for you. He awkwardly dumps some of the things on your bed and the floor in no particular order. The air between you two is tense, he wonders if he’s the right person for this job. Then again, he wanted to be the one to comfort his player 2. 

“Can we just play Devilkart™ for a little bit?

“Please.”

And so, the two of you played Devilkart™ until you could finally breathe without sniffling every five seconds. The quiet time allowed for you to relax, usually Devilkart™ nights are full of yelling curses at each other and bets as to who’d win, but tonight you both just sat there in comfortable silence. The sounds from the TV comforted you, the soft lighting of it in your dark room and warmth from Levi’s body shifted your mind from its corner in your brain. 

 After a couple rounds, you scooted closer to Levi who failed to react nonchalantly as you felt his body tense when your head rested on his shoulder.

“Wh–oa. You okay? 

“It’s not fair, I could never be as great as some of the humans out there. I’m not worthy of being here.”

“What?” He blinks, shocked by the sudden confession. Your words process in his head and hit too close to home. You sounded like him.

“That’s… that’s not true and you know it” Levi shifts the position you two are in, this time allowing his arms enough space to hold your shoulders. As to make sure you hear what you’re about to say— as if he could yank you out of the slump you were in, dust you off, and the balance would be restored.

Was it bad he wanted to kiss you?

“What if Diavolo picked a celebrity, or a model, or an idol!?” Your hands trail to his wrists, holding tightly but not pushing away. More tears race down your face, shameless and loud. 

“You’d all have no idea who I am— out of everyone in the Human Realm, why me?” 

“Because you’re— you— you’re special! How do you not see it?” His voice raised slightly, getting heated as you did. Leviathan takes a moment to lower his tone again; it was beyond him why you felt this way, he couldn’t fathom someone so perfect ever feeling anything but. If he had your charisma, your good looks, your wit— he doesn’t know what he’d do but he just knows it wouldn’t be feeling this way and it certainly wouldn’t be seeking out the comfort of an otaku.

“You’re like… my— my confidant! Thanks to you my stats are— they’re stronger than ever!” You could cook an egg on his face, burning to the touch. 

“Really?” His reference momentarily allowed you to sniffle your emotions down. Knowing him, he was anxious out of his mind to confess how he felt. 

“D’aw!” You coo teasingly, sniffling once again and rubbing your cheek against the hand still gripping onto your shoulder. The atmosphere alone felt hot, he was flustered. 

“Levi, that was sooo sweet!” 

“Huh?! What’s with that shift?!”

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Satan~

He had noticed that you were struggling in class, confirmed by when you went to his room one night to ask for help with an assignment. Since then he’d been trying to help you, you seemed okay. That didn’t prevent him from being disappointed in himself when you came home and locked yourself in your room. 

Satan had been in your room way less than you’d been in his. His hand gripped your favorite book tightly as he stood awkwardly in your room. You let him in, now what. It was unusual for him to go into situations unprepared like this, he needed a moment to gather his thoughts. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” You shrug, dejected by the day’s events. Exhaustion took over your body and the last thing you wanted was to expel your burden onto him. Satan’s expression softened from seeing your mood shift. At least you weren’t crying anymore?

“Lets lay down. How’s that sound, hm?” He nods towards your bed, you lead the way.

The avatar of wrath displays impossible softness around you, stroking your hair with one hand and skillfully holding onto your favorite book in the other. You feel the vibrations from his chest where your face lies, his rich voice bringing your favorite characters to life. He’d introduced you too the book not long after you first made a pact with him. Since then, you’d read the copy of it he and you shared. The book was loved, usually Satan wouldnt be able to stand the tattering of a book but the little notes and scribbled annotations peppered on the margins stood out. It was more than just a story now; a display of your blossoming friendship, the small fingertip touches whenever you’d exchange the book between you two to read the week’s notes from the other, and the way you began to look forward every time you planned an exchange of the book. 

“There are few people whom I really love,” He reads, leaning his head on top of yours. “and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more I–”

Satan stops himself; he took note of the way your breathing steadied and your eyes drifted shut. Your form lay against him peacefully as he slowly put the book away and readjusted your position so that you could both drift off to sleep.

When you woke up, there was a cup of tea by your nightstand. Steam was still emanating from the top of it– you take it in your hands and blow gently. Too tired to process the absence of warmth that Satan’s body provided before he left, you take a small sip of the herbal liquid. 

“Ready to talk about it?” He appeared from the front of your door, shutting it gently behind him. His brothers were worried sick and flooded the fourth eldest with questions about how you were doing and if an intervention was required. He simply reassured them that everything was under control. 

“In hindsight, it’s kinda’ silly. I don’t want to trouble you with it” 

“If it’s about you, it's never silly. Talk to me, please?”

You sigh, eyes dashing to the side as he approaches the side of your bed taking a seat for himself. The sip of tea you took sits warmly in your mouth, any attempt to stall admitting to him how you felt. You swallow hard.

“I just feel like… In comparison to other humans, I fall short.” You tangle a hand through your hair tugging at the strands gently. The demon on your bed shifts his body more towards you. You had his attention now– intrigued by your insecurity he stays silent hoping you tell him more.

“Makes me think, out of everyone in the Human Realm, why me?” A short pause fills the air with tension. “I wish I was special.” 

“But you are the most remarkable human I’ve ever had the privilege of spending time with.” His words seem to heal something in you. You wondered when you began to care so much about what he thought of you. “Truly, I have never caught myself admiring a human with the same intensity.”

Your heart skips a beat while he’s speaking. The grip on your mug tightens and the look on your face reads disbelief. How long has he felt this way? 

“Ad–admiring? Satan..”

“Believe me when I say you are anything but unremarkable. You’ve worked your way into all of our hearts… Mine especially.” A soft blush crept onto his face, you noticed. 

Satan held much more passion for you than you originally thought. Your arms wrap themselves around his neck to bury your nose in the crook of his neck and he wastes no time before returning your affection. You couldn't quite put your finger on his scent, but you knew it smelt like home. 

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Asmodeus~

Asmodeus followed you to your room the moment he saw your teary eyes. The two of you had been inseparable since you arrived at the Devildom. Whenever your attention wasn’t being demanded by all of the other responsibilities you bore simply by being a human and existing in the Devildom, you were in his room. No one had ever made him laugh the way you did, regardless of what you two were talking about. Lady Luck worked her magic when he met you. 

“Oh, darling…” A sympathetic look laced his porcelain features at seeing your trembling shoulders. Choking on your sobs, you shove your hands towards your face being embarrassed to be seen this way. You felt like a mess, you probably looked like one too. Overhearing your classmates during lunch enlightened you to what they considered you to be. Sometimes you forget that outside your circle of love provided by the exchange program, a lot of demons still had to shift their mindsets when it came to humans.

Little time passes before the avatar of lust takes your body and pulls it close to his. Seeing you this way made him anxious, though he’d never admit it out loud, he liked how it felt. Asmo wanted to care for you almost as much as he cared for himself and it showed. He never missed a chance to offer you some sort of joint self-care sessions that you grew fond of over time.

“That's it, love.” He cooed, peppering kisses on the top of your skull as you spilled muffled wails into his designer sweater. “Cry it out.”

 Panic struck his face for a moment, maybe putting more thought into drabbing down before comforting you would have been the smart choice. What a silly thought! It was impossible for someone like him to drab down. 

The texture of the cashmere comforts your nose that you’d rubbed raw.  was broken by the demon’s quiet humming. An unfamiliar melody lulled you to a less troubled state, gentle and kind. Asmodeus’ flirty behavior turned you off when you first arrived in the Devildom. Back then everything was so new and overwhelming and a part of you couldn’t stand all of the demons around you. Being received with such affection was a foreign feeling to you which you just excused as ingenuine. That didn’t stop your mind from wandering every once in a while– with all the touches on the shoulder when he’d run into you after class, the back rubs when you’d spend the night gossiping in his room, the charged eye contact when he would do your makeup– you couldn’t help but look forward to the next time he would be around.

“Darling, why don’t you tell me what’s going on now?” His cold hand soothes your red-hot face, your sobs had eased into quiet huffs. “Keeping this to yourself won’t relieve the pain in your chest.”

A sigh follows Asmo’s words. You never had to deal with anything alone now that Asmodeus was by your side. His presence felt so bright in comparison to yours– how he always knew how you felt and what you needed was what confused you. To have someone be so attentive to your needs and the push and pull of your emotions was new to you. When you drowned in your feelings he was always there to save you. For a while you were suspicious of his intentions– unsure if the interest he took in you was anything genuine. But now you realize that you had never felt so seen by another entity before and by having someone to help you recognize your worth, you began to appreciate life.

“I can’t shake the feeling that if you guys ever meet another human… I don’t know Asmo, this is pointless, I feel better now!” This earns you a deadpan from the demon.

“What about me interests you so much?” You raise your voice, eyebrows arched with annoyance. Emotions clouded your judgment making it easy for you to fall back into your old thinking habits. You found it unfathomable for someone to care for you without hidden intentions and not knowing if Asmo had any frustrated you.

“I don't deserve this!” Your hands motioned between the two of you pointing out his affection.

“Asmo, I feel awful.” You frown. “I had an awful day and heard awful things from the people in my class and–” Silence. 

“Out of everyone in the human realm, why me?” Asmodeus furrows his brows, exhaling sharply. Your words didn’t go without hurting. He figured that he had nothing to hide from you so that that would earn him some trust. This didn’t stop him from brushing it off; your insecurities already haunted one person and he couldn’t make it become two for your sake. 

“Because a human quite like you is hard to come across. Your soul is like a diamond, love. The toughest, shiniest, most eye-catching diamond.”

“You don’t mean that.” Bitterness is laced through your words. You didn't understand why he felt this way about you. The unknown regarding why he felt that way flustered you, everything about your borderline erotic friendship with the avatar of lust flustered you.

Your heart skips a beat and a quiet sniffle breaks the silence. Asmodeus made you nervous. Sure, he was never shy with letting you know how he felt about you, but you were at your lowest and here he was; with you. Then it dawned on you. Anyone else could’ve come to check on you but it was Asmodeus who followed you straight to your room, as if he could feel what you felt. You wanted someone to chase after you and somehow he knew that. It irritated you and made you swoon at the same time. Realization dawned on you. The demon cradling you in his arms wasn’t the root of your frustration but the fear of being known the way he knew you.

 You learned a lot from your time with Asmo. Thanks to him you knew you deserve the love he gave you. 

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Beelzebub~

After hearing your door slam shut the brothers could only shrug at each other. They shared confused looks until they all landed on Beelzebub, who had been shoving some of your favorite snacks into his pockets and grabbing some for himself on the way to your room. 

“Should we come too?” Belphegor chimes in. The sound of your door had stirred him awake. His groggy expression provoked a softness in his brother’s face. 

“I think that would overwhelm them.” He says, barely swallowing the food in his mouth before speaking. “Be right back.”

Hastily he makes his way up the stairs to your room to not be tempted to eat the snacks he saved for you. Luckily, the ones he brought for the road had been devoured after you let him into your room.

Beelzebub was faced with your red nose and teary eyes. With a sharp inhale, he pats his bulging pockets which he packed full of snacks for the both of you. 

“Hey. Can I come in?” You nod and sniffle. A weak smile graces your sad features at seeing the avatar of gluttony at your door. Over time he’d become less aloof around you and since you’d started to spend more time together you had a firsthand experience of how loyal and caring he really was. Having him there in your room checking on you made you flustered, you liked it— you like him— a lot.

His large hands dug into his pockets, emptying out the contents before taking a seat on your bed. Beel pats the seat next to him which you trudge over to and take a seat. 

“Beel?” You rest your head on his shoulder. The bag of your favorite chips crinkles loudly as you tear it open. “D’you ever feel like you’re nothing special?”

This confused the demon by your side. What did you mean, nothing special? He couldn’t imagine you and those words being in the same sentence, much less spoken by you. Spending time with you and knowing of your equal fondness and understanding towards Belphie made you practically perfect in his eyes. To him, you oozed kindness. Yet he understood where you were coming from. To be reduced to one word to summarize your entire being was an experience he was far too familiar with, even with loved ones. Seeing your hurt-ridden face felt like a punch to the stomach. 

“All the time.” The words come out quietly from his mouth as if he’d also been admitting something. His strong hand reaches over your body and into the open chip bag you had yet to eat out of. The sounds of his crunching serves as white noise while you think. You couldn’t possibly fathom someone like Beel feeling the way you do. If you looked like that you’d probably be an asshole, you were hot so you figured you’d never have to be nice to anyone. You chastise yourself for your thought process.

“People will have their idea of you,” Beelzebub rubs your back gently and an empathetic look in his eyes glistens in your direction. “If that's all you are to them it says more about them than you.”

Your smile becomes genuine as he cheers you up. Perhaps he’s the type to pay attention during the pep-talk before a big game of Fangol. The thought made you laugh sadly. Beel catches a glimpse of your expression. He smiles too.

“Yeah, you’re right.” You say a thoughtful frown etched onto your features. Reaching into your bag of chips you grab a couple to hold in your mouth while you and Beel sat there. The plush mattress dips under your weight as you take a seat right behind where the sixthborn was sitting. He turns to look at you with confusion but you take his face in your hands and gently turn it the other way. Beelzebub doesn’t question you when you start to run your fingers through his ginger locks and he knows better than to comment as you start to braid strands of his hair together. 

“That tickles.” He says through a mouth full of the chips you made the mistake of abandoning on the floor near him. You give him a tired giggle which is all you can muster up. The demon gives himself a couple of seconds to finish up the bag before continuing with his point. He felt like it wouldn’t be fair to you to just leave it like that. A part of you still looked upset.

“There’s no one like you out there.” Assuredness drips from his words. As if he’d practiced this in the mirror a million times over before heading to your room. “Not in all the three realms.”

“You’re special to us all and I..” He hesitates for a moment, furrowing his brows in thought. Why did he feel shy all of a sudden? A light blush dusted his cheeks as thoughts about you ran through his mind. “Really think you’re special.” 

“Very detailed, thank you, Beel.” You say with feigned satisfaction. The hair you were braiding slipped from your fingers as the demon turned to give you an incredulous look. Laughter bubbles in your chest at seeing the way his head tilted, you were fond of the demon and not fond of the way it felt like you’d just kicked a puppy in front of him with the expression he was shooting in your direction.

“I’m kidding.” You slid your arms around his neck, resting your weight on his built shoulders. That’s a feeling you’d never get tired of. “Thank you, Beelz”

A large hand trails toward your forearm, which grounds you in the moment. Suddenly you both become aware of how close you are to each other. You can feel his breath on your arms; he’d pull you closer if he could. 

“Yeah.” The simple response from the demon certainly didn’t speak for his complex feelings for you. He knew he’d do anything to keep that pretty smile on your face. 

• —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Belphegor~

“Hey, you’re kinda’ being really loud. Do you mind– uhm…” 

Belphegor was faced with the unexpected. He assumed that when he’d go complain to the human you’d apologize, laugh it off, and invite him in– which he would’ve reluctantly accepted whilst already falling asleep in your bed– but there you were, sobbing and glaring furiously at him. Did he even do anything?

“Whoa, alright what’s with the face? Let me in.” You grumble something under your breath that you’re glad he doesn’t hear. The door creaks as he pushes through it and scans your room, eyes locked onto your soft, unmade bed. Not that he cared.

“I dunno Belphie…” You stare helplessly as he walks by you. “I don’t feel good right now.”

He shrugs you off. There’s nothing he couldn’t help you get over. Someone like you shouldn’t have to be worried about anything. You have one of the most comfortable beds in the Devildom and seven doting demons who care about you— if that isn’t the makings of a stress-free life he didn’t know what was.

“Kay’ then.” The demon makes himself comfortable on your bed. You helplessly watch as he curls up in your crying spot. 

“What I meant was that I wanna’ be alone?” 

“Belphie?”

He was fast asleep. Of course, he was! Why would you expect him to respect your wishes? Frustration displayed itself proudly on your face as you watched the seventh-born sleep. You were jealous of how peacefully he slept.

“Whatever. Why would you care?” You mumble, taking advantage of the fact he was knocked out cold. “You of all people would agree I’m not shit.”

The floorboards creak quietly as you pace around your room, rubbing up and down your arms for comfort. If you stopped moving you’d likely start crying again and you’d rather not wake Belphegor just for him to see you cry.

“Of course I’m not special.”

“This is so stupid. Now I can’t even have a pity party in peace.”

 You feel the tears well up in your eyes again. Just when you managed to stop them your tear ducts were betraying you. The steady flow of tears began once again, your chest heaving with sorrow. No sounds escape from your mouth until you have to inhale again. Trying to keep yourself quiet, you slap a hand over your mouth. Heading to the bathroom to cry seemed like the only valid solution at this point.

“Why do you want to be special so bad anyway?” The avatar of sloth’s drowsy voice snaps you out of your ramble. His eyes shift lazily across you, taking in your distressed appearance. You whip your head around towards him making a pathetic attempt to clean your face from the tears and snot that expressed your dread.

“What?” You stutter out. A quiet yawn is emitted from the demon before he sits up to face you.

“What’s so good about being special that it deserves to have you pining for it like this?” This earns a scoff from you. 

“You were listening the whole–” You cut yourself off before setting off on the demon. To alleviate the pressure of an oncoming headache you pinch your nosebridge, hoping the tension won’t get worse. “Belphie, I feel like I’m gonna break down. If you don’t care to help then leave.” 

Mentally you cursed yourself for allowing Belphie to see such a side of you. Even when you were trying to be stern your voice shook with uncertainty and hurt. He seems to visibly soften with your words, understanding that now wasn't the time to banter or push your buttons. It wouldn't be fun to see your reaction if he did. Belphegor stifles a yawn which turns into a long sigh.

“You’re pacing y’know” You shoot him a furious look before he speaks again. “Look, it's just lame you think this way cuz’ you don’t even have to try to be unique.”

You let him talk this time. 

“It’s what draws people to you. I mean, who else can deal with our problems the way you do and then still have energy to give after.” A soft grin graces his lips. “I’d be exhausted.”

Damn it. How emotional were you exactly? Tears slipped out of your eyes as he spoke, your heart holding on to every word and the knowledge that Belphie did understand. Part of you was afraid you’d just be brushed off by the demon but after everything you had been through with them made it silly for you to think so. Belphie cared for you too, in his own way. He nods to the side you usually sleep on and makes room for you to lie by him. Not much time passes before your head is resting on the nook of his shoulder and his fingers trail shapes lazily on your side. You always forgot how tired breakdowns made you. You always forgot how safe sleeping by Belphegor’s side made you feel, ironically enough. Whether you were special or not to everyone else stopped concerning you so much now that you knew how special you truly were to someone who never would’ve given humans a chance in the first place. With your mind finally at rest, you could drift off to sleep.

༺═────────────═༻

Oh mty glob finally its done T_T I'm so sorry for taking a billion years on these I tried my best to not make any part longer than the other or anyone OOC. Im super anal when I see a character I really like is OOC so if anyone sees that and has tips for how to write them I'm all ears!!

Thank u for reading <3

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

[3584-tropical-fish]

@xenoliith thank you for asking and giving me an excuse to ramble more about this topic! Fair warning that this will probably go on several tangents

Also disclaimer that I am approaching this from a geology standpoint, as opposed to a hydrology or biology or any other standpoint, but also that all scientific fields are interconnected and to understand one you must have a grasp on all others! And also I am not yet an expert on this. We’re working on it though

Under the cut because this got. long.

Okay, so! Firstly: what classifies as a tidal river? I wasn’t actually certain on this, so I’m going to work with the definition provided by Wikipedia:

So a tidal river must be affected by the tides, and while it is not necessary for the salinity to be higher than your average freshwater river, having a higher salinity does add credence to any “tidal river” classification.

Let’s consider salinity first, because that’s something I have more of a grasp on. The average salinity of our oceans is 35ppt (parts per thousand), or 3.5%. For water to be classified as brackish (which is what you’d probably expect in a non-freshwater tidal river), the salinity must be within the 0.5-30ppt range, and anything less than that makes the body of water fresh. We know that the White Gull river — especially in its lower reaches but even further up river — hosts a variety of organisms that you’d typically see in an estuary (delta) environment, like crabs, shrimp, limpets, oysters, and barnacles, all of which are adapted for varying levels of salinity, but usually waters that fall into the brackish range. So I do think it’s safe to say that the white gull is a brackish river, perhaps not all the way to its headwaters but certainly incredibly — and unnaturally — far upstream (and, judging by this post, that’s what’s happening here. The Trawler-man and his angels are a pollutant that is increasing the salinity of the river, and making it act in ways it shouldn’t. Which I think is very important to keep in mind! As scientific as I want to be, there is still Weird Shit going on).

As for the tidal setting, I’m going to be referencing these three types:

As defined in the Wikipedia page from earlier, these different environments all have different tidal ranges (meaning: the distance between low tide and high tide, on average (since these fluctuate throughout the year)). We don’t know the measurable tidal range of the White Gull, so we’re going to have to reverse engineer that based on what we know about the environment. And, honestly? I think it’s a macrotidal environment. There is no mention of barrier islands, which may just be because no one mentioned them even if they are there, but if no one mentioned them, then I can’t prove that they exist. Macrotidal environments also result in large estuaries, wide tidal flats, and marshlands, which is fitting for the White Gull!

So what does this mean for the river as whole? How far do the tides reach upstream? Let’s consider that currently, the Chesapeake Bay’s tidal range is ~1m, meaning it has a much smaller tidal range than the white gull likely has, and making it microtidal.

Fun fact that I learned recently: the same tides that impact the Chesapeake Bay can also be seen in upstate New York. Now, those tides are nothing massive, they’re like. A millimeter. But my point is that tides affect most bodies of water, even by a little bit. And if the White Gull is macrotidal, it has ranges of >4m, which could probably reach and significantly impact a large portion of the river. How much exactly I can’t say, because I don’t know how long this river is, but I feel like it’s safe to say that they reach pretty far upriver. And considering how much they talk about the tides in the Parish? Undoubtedly this is a tidal river, even if the reason it’s a tidal river is Weird God Shit.

So to actually answer your question — I don’t think velocity matters! For one, it isn’t involved in the classification of tidal rivers, and for another, this was an outlying event; the river doesn’t usually move this fast. Which leads me into my tangential point about the discharge rate of this river!

So, I’m going to work in theoreticals, because we don’t have the data to determine the exact discharge rate (meaning: how much water passes through the river channel, in meters cubed per second) of this river. What we do know is velocity, that Q = uA (or, discharge equals flow velocity times cross-sectional area of the channel), and the continuity principle (that the discharge at the beginning of a channel must be the same as the discharge at the end (Qsub1 must equal Qsub2)

Up at the headwaters of the white gull, the river is shallow enough for Carpenter to walk in it, and is presumably not very wide. We can assume that, like most rivers, the river widens and deepens as you go downstream, and we know that eventually it widens into a delta. So, from the aquifer to the delta, there is a net increase in A. In order for Q to remain the same, that means u must decrease. This means that even though the river is moving very fast near the Grand Aquifer, by the time the floodwaters reach the lower delta and, eventually, the ocean, the velocity would have decreased significantly, depositing silt and clay all throughout the delta and overall appearing much calmer, and more easily influenced by flood tides (since, if there’s less energy pushing out into the sea, it will be easier for energy from the tides to push in and upriver).

This is true at all times, but as I said, this was a unique flooding event. Base flow (or, the discharge of the river on your typical day, when it’s not impacted by flooding) would be significantly less, and the river would overall flow much slower.

I don't really know how to conclude this, but I suppose I might as well go all in and propose my theory as to the general ecology and behavior of the White Gull River, because dear god have I thought way too much about it in order to write this. So, to start:

The White Gull starts high up in some mountainous/hilly terrain. There are likely several smaller tributaries that all lead into it, and they're all probably very small streams. Since they're in the mountains, they have steep slopes and very turbulent flows; they move fast and dredge up a lot of sediment, which they transport downstream.

When we get down into the flatlands, the river has the space to widen out and, importantly, meander. Hayward makes a joke about oxbow lakes, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was a river that had meandered enough to create a couple! This is also where Jon Ware's comment in the season 1 q&a about the Trawler-man's two mouths being a joke about cut banks and point bars comes into play: As the river meanders, it flings the water around bends, which increases the velocity and causes it to weather away more sediment. It deposits that sediment on the point bars, where the flow is slower.

Out here, the river is wide and deep, and it flows slowly. It's depositing all the sediment that it weathered away in the mountains and at the cut banks, and we're probably getting a fair amount of wetland formation as this sediment is deposited. Think early season 1, Marcel's Crossing and Roake's bungalow and the marshland Carpenter and Faulkner start in would probably all exist around this portion of the river.

At some point, we hit the Saint's Dam, which dramatically slows the flow velocity, causing a lot of sediment to be deposited behind the dam, which in the future may cause it to fail! If anyone in this universe cared enough, someone should probably be keeping an eye on that! On the other side of the dam, there's undoubtedly an increase in velocity because a lot of water is rushing through smaller apertures in the dam. This dredges up a lot more sediment, which is carried downstream, and eventually to the delta.

The delta is where all the fun stuff happens (I love estuaries so much, and this is it). The river widens out, slows down, and deposits a LOT of sand and silt and clay, which provides nutrients for the plants and animals living there. Also impacting the delta is a massive tidal range, so the marshes that are forming are dealing with a lot of saltwater incursion, sediment deposits from the ocean which are brought in by flood tides, and the expectation that there will be large swathes of land that are sometimes covered by brackish water, and sometimes not. This is the environment that the Trawler-man thrives in, this is where the crabs and the barnacles and the oysters thrive, and this is where Carpenter grew up.

From here, there's nowhere else to go but out to sea. Any sediment that wasn't yet deposited in the marshes is flung out into the ocean, where it will likely take a very long time to settle out (it's only clay by this point, and is incredibly small so would have a very long settling time). You may have some tidal flats forming at the very far end of the delta, and maybe there are plovers that live there. Maybe worms and more crabs burrowing into the earth, here accustomed to mostly saltwater.

And I think that's all I have to ramble about. I forgot that I really love river environments and the geology that leads to them and the animals that live in them, but hopefully you enjoyed my tangent :)

Not that anyone asked but looking at a.) the fact that Carpenter says that it’s clay being torn from the riverbank by the floodwaters of the White Gull and b.) The Hjulström Curve:

We can determine that the flow velocity of the White Gull River in TSV45 was approximately 150-300 cm/s.

What does this mean? Absolutely nothing, I’m going to be so honest. I just find this amusing

[hannieween]

the soulkeeper’s betrayal — prologue

When Jun realizes that something has gone awry in his kingdom, he has no choice but to ask for help from his estranged wife. Though not without paying a price.

› pairings: wen junhui x female reader › aus: hades jun, king jun, exes to lovers, husband jun › genres: angst, fantasy, fluff, smut (18+) [none in this part] › word count: 661 words

› 🎧: things we lost in the fire – bastille | nfwmb – hozier | end of the affair – ben howard | lover please stay – nothing but thieves | conspiracy – paramore | only – ry x | cosmic love – florence + the machine | caught up – sights & sounds, nicole dollanganger . . . listen on spotify

› this fic is part of the greek gods collab ✧

» read more

no warnings apply in this part

› prologue, the journey

The morning felt stale under a colorless sky, announcing a cold and cloudy day ahead. A soft whooshing sound preceded the breeze that swept through the forest, rustling the leaves of the timber trees.

The leaves had begun to turn a vibrant shade of yellow, the King noticed. As he gazed at the land before him, he felt the urge to bend down and pick up the leaves that had begun to blow around his feet in the wind, creating a soft, crumpled blanket on the ground. 

He paused for a moment, aware that the wind was whispering something from afar. It carried with it the distant, melodic calls of phoebes, their voices echoing through the crisp air of the morning.

Junhui tilted his head forward, allowing the cool breeze to brush and sweep between his eyelashes as he closed his eyes. With a gentle, respectful gesture, he bowed to the wind, feeling its whispers in his brown hair.

The earth would gradually grow barren and lose the sweetness of spring. This was familiar to him; he had witnessed the signs time and time again. Yet this time it carried a significant weight—it meant that you were on your way here, it meant that you were coming home for the very first time since you had met. 

With a deep, steadying breath, he straightened his neck, feeling the anticipation rising within him, he felt an exhilarating rush of energy coursing through him. Slowly, he opened his eyes to the land stretching before him. 

Paradise. Where the sunlight seems almost tangible, it rises but never reaches its zenith. Colorful waves of grass stretch far and wide, dotted with small mounds of tiny white flowers, inviting anyone to rest their head on them.

This place was beautiful. At least this side of his kingdom was tranquil and robust with color. The birds choose to seek shelter and sleep here. It is where the souls who were granted peace would grow quiet and witness the king of the lands spend his mornings.

The place reminded him of a long-lost childhood. The music from the phoebes, the cold but gentle breeze. He wanted to run, he wanted to become one with the wind and not feel anything at all.

But alas, the dread came.

“What are you doing here, Clotho?” he asked, his voice was low and raspy from not speaking to anyone in what felt like months.

“It is time. Must follow tradition,” she said with a gentle tone, but Junhui knew better. He knew she was pressing on the importance of your arrival there. One of the Fates, only doing her work, but vague as to how to be tactful. 

“I am aware of that. Thank you,” he replied, turning to face her, turning his back on the land.

Her pale face looked stricken with worry and embarrassment as she lowered her eyes to the ground. “Forgive me.”

Jun raised his gaze to the silvery sky, trying not to roll his eyes. “You have nothing to apologize for,” he said coldly. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

Clotho frowned. Those around him saw his apathy, and they took it as a sign that he was grieving his break-up with you. They were right; his heart was heavy with sorrow, even if he refused to show it. Beneath the surface, a storm of grief raged within him, slowly consuming him, even if he wore a mask of calm.

You came into his life in the most devastating way imaginable. Like a merciless wave, washing away everything that preceded you, leaving only you. Your arrival was not only abrupt, but it was like a shock that altered the course of his existence, forcing him to deal with the remains of the things you made him feel.

But then he lost you, all because of a lie. Now, as autumn slowly awakened, you were coming to him; it was time to make amends.

Only if you let him.

› author's note: heeeey (❁´◡`❁)

this is the prologue to a one shot i have planned to release on november 16th!

this is kind of a challenge for me because i never write detailed descriptions of places. i hope you like this one-shot. hehe

toodles!

support me on ko-fi? 🥹🩵

© RIGHTS RESERVED TO HANNIEWEEN I DO NOT ALLOW TRANSLATIONS, CONTINUATIONS, REIMAGINATIONS OF MY WORKS OR THEIR REPOSTING ON OTHER WEBSITES.

[burningcheese-merchant]

"I'm Sorry" - BurningCheese Short #9

Gonna be traveling somewhere soon, probably won't be back here for a few days. Wanted to leave you all with a story before I go. (I wrote it sometime ago, I've just been waiting for a good time to drop it. I guess now will do haha)

Plan on answering asks and posting BurningCheese kids when I get back (I have almost 100 asks in my inbox and I feel really bad for leaving them there. I'm genuinely sorry to you all, I actually am reading what you send me, I promise I won't leave you hanging forever. I answered a couple today and I'll keep it up soon). In the meantime, eat this short story where we see our favorite couple take an important step together, and Burning Spice take an important step himself

"I'm sorry."

Golden Cheese blinked. "I... Pardon?"

"I'm sorry," Burning Spice said again.

"You're sorry?" she echoed. "Sorry for... what?"

He paused for a long while before he answered. "For Beast-Yeast."

"For Beast-Yeast?" Slowly, she turned to face him, eyeing him critically. "And where is this coming from, exactly?"

"Why does it matter?" Burning Spice asked, keeping his gaze trained on the bustling city far below. "I am sorry. That is all I have to say."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And... what? You think that means anything? You think one, single apology will change the past? You think it's enough to atone for all of your heinous crimes?"

"No."

"Then what audacity is this? Why even say it?"

"Because I want to," he said. "It's as simple as that."

Another long pause, longer than the last, came and went before Golden Cheese spoke up again. "Why should I even believe you when you say such words?" she asked. "What reason do I have to think you're being sincere?"

"Someone such as I saying it at all ought to be reason enough. You think I'd ever utter something so soft and pathetic to anyone else, for any reason? Even under penalty of death?"

"...Hmph."

A third pause came - shorter than the first two, because Golden Cheese couldn't bring herself to wait any longer than that.

"And what makes you think I forgive you? Or that I would ever even consider doing so?"

"You allowed me into your kingdom," he said, still refusing to look at her. "Into your palace, even. Here we stand together, watching your subjects from afar. You snuck me in so no one would see or notice me. Perhaps you don't forgive me at all... but you've let go enough that you've allowed yourself to do this much. Haven't you?"

"I..."

The fourth pause made itself known, hanging over the two of them as they stared down into the busy streets of the Golden Cheese Kingdom. It showed itself out when, at last, Burning Spice turned to look at Golden Cheese.

"I'm sorry," he told her one more time. His voice was soft. Quiet. In his eyes and on his face were emotions that only he himself would know how to read.

Golden Cheese looked right back at him, her eyebrows knit and mouth set in a slight frown. She said nothing, instead only nodding slowly, tentatively - unsure of how to acknowledge him, but willing to do so nevertheless.

When the fifth pause came, it weighed down on them both terribly, though who felt its burden worse was hard to tell. The silence was thick, tense, awkward. Granting cover to all the words Golden Cheese couldn't bring herself to say. Making up for all the words Burning Spice didn't have left to give.

Everlasting, like the city bathed in gold and neon lights waiting beyond the balcony railing and stretching on endlessly into the horizon.

--------------------------------

I will let you all decide for yourselves what led to this moment, and what happened afterwards.

[waterfae]

A Good Pillow [Part 4]

Summary: A glimpse of your budding friendship with Ominis and your growing feelings after the events in the Scriptorium.

Pairings: Ominis Gaunt x Reader, Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Warnings: canon-typical violence, mild language, angst, comfort, fluff, friends-to-lovers, unhinged Slytherins, complicated relationships, house-neutral reader, no use of Y/N, no beta

Word Count: 2.7+ K

Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The dormitory was still empty by the time you arrived, which you had hoped would be the case when you entered the common room and noticed the majority of your roommates still gathered near the fireplace. You hurriedly ascended the steps that lead to your room and closed the door behind you, thankful for the solitude. Leaning against the frame, you let out a breath – unaware, until that very second, you were even holding it – and slowly brought a finger to your lips, grazing the spot where Ominis’s own had been. You could still feel the warmth and it made you absolutely giddy! Excited by the memory, you made a running start towards your bed and hurled your body onto it, landing face first into a pillow as you let out a squeal.

He kissed you.

Ominis Gaunt kissed you.

The thought made you suddenly lift your head from its cushion and push the rest of your body up from the bed, onto your knees. Your eyes went wide with recognition: it was your first kiss. You had never been kissed before and Ominis, of all people, had just given you your first one; you couldn’t think of any other wizard in the entire world you would have wanted to share this moment with. Over and over again, the idea of it churned in your brain. It filled you to the brim, leaving room for nothing else but him; his permeating scent, the heat of his breath, the sweetness of his lips as it repeatedly brushed against yours, his gentle caresses, anything and everything Ominis, all the way to when he walked you to the entrance of your house.

“Just one more.” He whispered as he tilted your chin up towards him, “What I should have done the last time we were in this very spot.” He added with a coy smile before pressing his lips against yours for the second time that evening.

Your hands reached for the pillow and brought it towards you before burying your face into it once more and letting out another squeal. It was so difficult for you to contain now; a dam had burst and all the feelings you had tried so hard to keep within came flooding through – all the pining and agonizing over whether or not to reveal your innermost desires, relishing in his touches in, what you thought were, secret. All the while, he had been experiencing the same struggles within himself.

As you stared up at the ceiling, everything – all your thoughts and emotions, your fantasies, all the memories leading up to this – seemed to blend and swirl within the vortex of your mind; it kept you up well into the late hours of the night. You weren’t sure when you finally fell asleep, only that when you did, you were gripping onto your pillow and holding it against your body imagining that it was still Ominis in your arms.

Potions was your first class the following morning and you had barely passed through the threshold of the classroom when you caught Imelda’s eye, as if she had been waiting specifically for you to make an entrance. Oddly enough, you had an inkling that she wasn’t the only one; she just happened to be the most obvious about it. Had you missed something? Did the previous night’s musings somehow render you oblivious to something more important? An essay? A test? Something else entirely? They couldn’t possibly know already, could they? You wondered. Immediately, you noticed her make a beeline towards your usual work station as you cautiously settled into your seat.

“Well, if it isn’t our main character.” Imelda said with a smirk, maneuvering swiftly in a way that had her sitting upon your table top and looking down at you.

You had to tilt your head up in order to shoot her a questioning glance. “Not even a good morning, Imelda? What’s all this about?”

“You mean you haven’t heard?” Imelda glimpsed around the classroom slightly impressed before she leaned down towards you and replied with a smug grin, “Gaunt cornered Sallow in the Slytherin common room last night and all hell broke loose; fists were thrown...spells were cast...prefects eventually had to intervene...even Professor Ronen was summoned.” You were left speechless at her revelation; this was the furthest thing you were expecting, “Apparently, the topic of discussion had been you.” She paused and pulled back, straightening herself to prepare for your next reaction, “I heard Sallow swung first.”

“W-What?!” You said with a gasp. The information left your mouth agape as you processed her words: Sebastian and Ominis had gotten into a physical altercation...because of you? You couldn’t think it to be possible; there had to be more to it than just that. You sat there, frozen in horror at the thought that not only had the two boys fought, but that Sebastian had the capability to throw a fist at his own best friend – a blind one at that. Not that you ever pictured Ominis to be helpless; you were sure he was fully capable of defending himself if need be. But the principle of it all! You thought, completely disregarding the fact that Sebastian Sallow had at one point ‘crucio’ed your arse.

“I had just come back from a flying session, so didn’t actually see the entirety of it. Just the tail-end.” Imelda took that time to beckon another Slytherin girl, “But McDowell was there last night.” She placed her attention onto the girl who had made her way over, “Weren’t you, Violet?”

“If you’re referring to last night’s incident, then yes, I was; a good number of us were there.” She settled in between the two of you and leaned against the table, “Quite the spectacle.” She examined you with a cheeky grin, “For someone who isn’t even a Slytherin, you sure do surround yourself with us lot.”

“We’re excellent company.”

Violet laughed at Imelda’s remark and looked up at her, “What would you like to know?”

“Everything.”

She let out a little snicker, “Well, I’m not sure if I can tell you everything, but...I did hear Ominis start by telling Sebastian he should treat his friends better. Honestly, I thought he was referring to himself. Jealous, y’know, that Sebastian was off spending more time with other students.” Violet regarded you as she said this, “But when Sebastian said it wasn’t any of his business, Ominis claimed that since you were his friend too, it was his business. Realized then that he wasn’t talking about himself at all.”

“You must be so proud of yourself. Having those two boys fighting over you.”

“Shut up, Imelda.” You could feel the heat rising to your cheeks at her comment, imagining how her response might have differed had she known what already transpired between you and Ominis, “About me. Not over me.”

Violet rolled her eyes and continued, “They were hush-hush after that – whispering in the corner – didn’t hear a peep out of them for a while and thought maybe that was it, until –” She paused for effect, “Ominis called Sebastian a liar, manipulative, and uncaring.”

Imelda oooh’d and leaned forward to listen more intently; you did as well, more distressed than anything else. Violet grew animated, encouraged by both of your reactions.

“Obviously irritated him, that did. Said it was untrue and that he cared a lot. ‘Only about one thing!’ That was Ominis. He went on to mention his sister, how he didn’t know when to stop – whatever he meant by that – and that he hated seeing you hurt because of him.” Violet gestured towards you with a mocked pout, “That’s when Sebastian grabbed him by the lapels.” Your eyes widened in shock, Imelda’s too, as Violet imitated him by taking two fistfuls of your cloak.

“Merlin’s beard, Violet!” You untangled yourself from her and swatted her arms away, “People are watching.” You motioned to your other classmates, some of whom had begun to listen in for the first time while others, who had already heard the story, listened again simply to compare another point-of-view to the gossip heard earlier that morning.

“And do you know what he does?” She carried on with a laugh, ignoring your warning, “That Ominis Gaunt – I’m telling you –” She sounded wickedly fascinated at this point, “Bold man...tells Sebastian to go head and hit him.”

“He did not.” A disbelieving voice suddenly called. It was Samantha Dale, unable to keep to herself any longer and engrossed by Violet’s retelling of events, “He wouldn’t. Ominis couldn’t possibly fight Sebastian. That’s his friend. Also...he’s blind!”

“He did though.” Another Slytherin, Priscilla, decided to pipe up, “It’s true, he really did say it. I was there as well.”

Samantha’s jaw dropped, “So that’s when he hit him then?”

Violet shook her head, “Not at first. Sebastian actually just...laughed it off. Said he wasn’t about to hit a blind man. He even let him go.” She paused and made an expression that read as though she were trying to make sense of a puzzle with missing pieces, “I didn’t hear anything, but...Ominis must have said something.” She looked over at Priscilla quizzically, who in turn merely shrugged, also unaware of what might have been said between the two; none of the Slytherins there that night seemed to know – a commonality in all their recounts, “Because that was when he took a swing at him.”

Only a few people gasped, but it was clear that everyone was more concerned with one very specific thing: what did Ominis say to trigger such a reaction out of Sebastian?

Imelda chimed in, noting that it was at this point she had entered the common room and the scene before her could only be described as, “Chaos. Absolute chaos.”

Violet, who was undeniably having far too much fun gossip mongering, commenced excitedly, “Both of them were really squabbling after that and everyone else had gone mad; people screaming and shoving, trying to get away, trying to break it up, trying to egg them on...” She kept a tally by using her fingers to make each point, “I saw Sebastian get one more hit in before Ominis used ‘depulso’ to send him across the common room.” A greater number of people gasped this time, more shocked it seemed by Ominis’s retaliation than the initial blow he had received, “All the prefects started showing up then. Professor Ronen too not long after. Sent everyone back to their dorms.” She let out a sigh, signaling the end, “Took off twenty points each and gave them a week’s worth of detention.”

“Teen. Aged. Imbeciles.” Imelda remarked with a shake of her head and hopped off the table, landing next to you.

You didn’t even notice, still processing the entire tale. That evening had already been a particularly eventful one having infiltrated a goblin-filled mine and your own personal conflict with Sebastian. You were so lost in elation after your time spent with Ominis, you hadn’t stopped to even consider that he would be the one unavoidably going back to the troubled young man. You somehow felt guilty for both of them and it saddened you that Ominis’s night had not concluded as blissfully as yours.

Imelda suddenly nudged you with her elbow, breaking you from your thoughts, and nodded towards the door, “Speak of the devils.” She and Violet then scurried back to their work stations as your attention turned to where she had directed and found the two Slytherin boys making their way to their respective seats.

“Good morning.” Ominis said softly as he neared you, his hand gingerly brushing against the small of your back as he passed.

You shifted your gaze to take in his entirety and noticed a split lip and some bruising around his cheek, an attestation that he had, in fact, been involved in some kind of scuffle. You stood up and, without much thought, brought your hand up gently to his face. He winced slightly when you swept your fingers over his injuries.

“You’re hurt.”

“Don’t fret, darling.” A blush rose to your cheeks; he’d called you that before, but it felt different now, “Just minor injuries.” He reached up and took your hand in his, leaning into it for a moment before placing it back down to your side.

You peered at him skeptically, which he seemed to have sensed because he soon added, “I assure you, it’s not as bad as it seems...despite whatever stories you may have heard.”

Violet, who was seated at the station across from yours, let out a snort and smiled, feigning innocence, as if to say ‘I don’t know what he’s talking about.’

Professor Sharp emerged from his office then and greeted the class. You pried no further and allowed Ominis to claim his seat at the next table over, across from Imelda. You took your seat as well once the professor began his lecture, but not before stealing a glance at Sebastian, who didn’t seem to have any visible signs of injury. He was staring at you, expression unreadable, and you wondered what might be going through his head...if he was even sorry. With a sigh, you set your focus to the front of the class.

Class ended once every student finished brewing their Droughts of Peace, though not many were able to achieve the silver vapor that was meant to emit from their cauldrons. Garreth managed to set both his and Natty’s robes alight, Ominis caused Imelda to gag and vacate as a strong sulfuric odor emitted from his, and Violet’s began to produce green sparks.

You had every intention to follow up with Ominis once you cleaned up your area, perhaps even suggest to have lunch together in the Transfiguration courtyard; it would give ample opportunity to discuss the array of topics currently plaguing your thoughts. With your bag over your shoulder, you headed in his direction, but were quickly intercepted by Sebastian, causing you to stumble backwards.

“What on earth –?” You never got to finish as you felt his fingers wrap around your wrist and promptly pulled you out of the classroom behind him. You struggled at first, calling out his name as you attempted to break free, but he ignored your protests. You only ceased when you caught sight of the discoloration on his knuckles; curiosity had too much of a hold on you by then.

“Did you tell him?” He eventually asked as he came to a halt in the middle of a less crowded corridor. He didn’t bother to look at you.

“I beg your pardon.”

“Ominis. Did you tell him anything?”

You stood before him, letting his question sink in and suddenly the guilt you had felt earlier left your body and the irritation from the previous night seeped back through in its place. Of all the things, that was what he was worried about? You roughly pulled your arm back from his grip and this time he let go. “Wonderful. So on top of being ignorant, I’m also traitorous.” You let out a dry laugh before giving a more appropriate response, “No. I haven’t told him anything.”

Distraught, he ran his fingers through his hair, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Did you really have to hit him?” The question flew from your lips before you could stop yourself.

He turned to face you now, disapproval apparent on his features, “Are you siding with him?”

You huffed, “I’m just trying to understand what happened, Sebastian.”

“He was being disrespectful.” You knitted your brows together, distrustful of his claim. “Talking about things he clearly doesn’t understand. You. Me. Our friendship. Anne!”

“And you thought giving him a good wallop was the best solution?” You rubbed your temples, “What did he even say?”

Silence. As you waited for an answer, you could tell he was thinking of how to give you one, face scrunched up in consternation. More time passed and he still hadn't given anything. He appeared to genuinely be struggling and for a split second, you almost pitied him. Almost. You wished he would have a proper conversation with you, something you doubted would happen anytime soon. The thought crossed your mind that perhaps he just wasn’t ready yet, especially with everyone’s emotions still running on high. You decided to not push any further than he was willing.

“Forget it.” Despondent and exhausted, you started your way down the corridor, “Send me an owl once you’ve gotten your head out of your arse.”

A week later, Sebastian sent you that owl.

a/n: Previous chapter was going to be the final one after the first extension, but then a reader hoped for it to continue and I too got curious about where and how far this story could go. So here we are! Thank you for your continued readership. Likes, comments, and reblogs are always greatly appreciated and my askbox is always open. ♡

[deidaraworshipper]

I love Deidara.

He’s such a multilayered character, however it’s overshadowed by the way his character is presented and the fact there are other and more important characters to focus on.

His devotion to his art makes him a strangely sad or bittersweet character. His concept is unique and contrary to the most common and popular concept of art; something long lasting.

Deidara’s art is centred around the present, a single moment that can only be experienced once. The present is fleeting, every second that passes is something you can’t get back. A single moment of impact that ensures no future and the destruction of the past; an explosion. Deidara’s art is not only an explosion itself, but both the destruction it causes to what’s in its path, and the destruction of the clay sculptures he uses as its foundation. His art isn’t focused on the past or future. It ensures a single moment in the present (explosion) of destruction (erasing the past).

Considering how the Narutoverse is set around wars and generally full of violence, it would make sense for the art pieces of that verse to be based around telling stories of the wars or advertising for a better future (like Jiraya’s original works), Both of which are based on the past and the future.

It’s easy to see how Deidara’s art would be viewed as ‘unartistic’ or ‘unappealing’. Contrary to popular opinion, Deidara is a smart character who understands other people and how they work. So considering that, why does he seem to assume people look down on him and his art even when they don’t say anything negative (ect; Sasuke, Itachi)? Maybe it’s because of the lack of recognition he’s received. He’s hates people who don’t recognise his work, because that’s what everyone does.

The path of an artist is a path of misery. Most people see artists as people who create, however Deidara is someone who destroys. So what does that make him, in the views of others? Caring about the opinions of those who differ than you is nothing but demeaning. So it’s better to simply view yourself as superior. You’re right and they’re wrong. Deidara’s art is true art, and nobody else’s is. To me, the scene where he aggressively refused his own admiration in Itachi’s abilities, is a clear indication of insecurity and doubt. If he acknowledges someone who doesn’t even share his views on destruction, then he’d be denying the certainty in his own art and be saying ‘my belief and concept can be beaten’.

This is why I believe him to be bittersweet character, whether he himself knows it or not. He’s complicated, maybe because he’s so simple at the same time. Yeah, he’s this short angry blonde dude who likes art- but it’s because of the fact he’s present as that and nothing more, which makes him feel complicated once you actually look at him.

Naturally, this is my perception. I haven’t even read his offical wiki pages or whatnot, so maybe I just completely bullshitted this because I’m desperate to ramble about this stupid guy. Hell, I’ll probably change my opinion on him by next week 😭 anyway I hope someone found my yapping interesting. Please don’t come yelling at me if you disagree.

[atangledfate]

She just could not imagine being all alone for so long. Her life had never been easy, and it was always full of strife of its own. But to think of facing that all alone without her Uncle, her brother, or jewel felt like such a scary scenario. She didn't want to imagine that kind of life so she naturally felt bad for Kalak and just wanted to change that part of her life. Or at least she wanted to be as much of a friend to her as Kalak would allow her to be. She knew from whisper that Wolves could be a bit fickle about opening up. Or maybe that was just whisper? she couldn't say for sure.

As for the Devas, she didn't know enough about them but it sounded like they meant well. A tough group of warriors and thinkers trying to look out for there world! Sounded like the justice hall! from one of her comics, only far more real and way more important. Though at Kalak mentioning she might accidently lash out from the touch, it made her think of how much alike she and Whisper were.

" Ah! right Sorry--- I'm uhh, still gettin' use to that with Whisp, guess im to use to just huggin' or being physical with my friends. but i'll try and keep that in mind for the future! "

However at the mention of metal Sonic she gripped the back of her neck as if an old wound was bothering her. The memory of getting her ass beat by Metal was still kind of fresh! She survived and even got her licks in, but he was nothing to sneeze at. If anything Sonic told he was true she hadn't even seen a fraction of his full power and she likely just got lucky he didn't come at her at full power.

" Dunno, you folks from Flora are pretty tough, but thing is... everytime Metal loses. Eggman just improves Metal a little more... so by this point... he's crazy strong. I can say that... cause i got put in the infirmary by the guy..."

"Uh, I guess so? Never really thought about it until now, though I tend to keep myself busy." Kalak wasn't thinking about it too much as she had her pet and met nice people from time to time. Though guessed she could see how it could be lonely. Not much of a social life when she focuses on other things. "Though as I said King Renard's wife is super nice, even if she's only a stand in member. The D'vas is supposed to be diverse so it's in the best interests of all of Flora." The wolf knew a royal becoming a full member of the D'vas would lead to a lot of complaints. Not to mention then there'd be two from canine country.

Kalak's body tensed up at the little jab, having to fight in instincts as she was aware it was playful, though years of battle conditioning made things like that dangerous with her. "Yeah, sure, though maybe don't do that. I'm not being rude, just, I'd rather not go all auto fight mode and hurt you." The wolf thought it best to be honest with Tangle about this so she could at least tell the other's not to do stuff like that. Guess those social condition classes helped to keep it under control.

"Tall Lady doesn't think of Metal Sonic has a threat, though I'm not sure. Though I guess I'm the weakest member of the D'vas, and she seems to have a lot of crazy magic spells to let her move super-fast. I'm not the fast so maybe I just think he's a bigger threat to me. Not sure how hard he hits, though hopefully I can take it." Kalak could only guess at one point or another she'd come across Metal Sonic.

"Oh, he's well behaved, and is even super good with strangers," Kalak said, standing up before forming some magic in her hands before opening a portal. A second later a large red spider walked though, about the size of the wolf herself before it rushed her. She stopped it and began petting it. "I missed you too boy. Who's a good boy? You are, that's right, you are." She would scratch under the spider's belly as she said this.

[httpvomitello]

If it's okay with you can we please have a reader who has wings instead of hands x rise turtles where the reader likes to pick them up and fly with them at random. (Probably has to perch on raph but oh well.)

But anyways they'll get the turtles to do stuff for them they can't do. (Like microwaving food.)

Owwn, that's cute. Hope you like it! ♡♡♡♡

Feathered Love *⁠.⁠✧

The first time you swoop down and grab him mid-stride, he lets out the loudest, most dramatic scream

“¡Dios mío, I’m too young to die!” he yells, flailing until he realizes it’s just you.

Once he calms down, he plays it cool, acting like he wasn’t terrified. “Oh, you wanted a piece of this? Understandable.”

Secretly loves the thrill

He’ll start teasing you with fake warnings when he knows you’re about to fly off

“We flying to the moon today, featherbutt?”

Once you perch him on a rooftop, he immediately pulls out his phone to take selfies, claiming it’s for “mission intel.”

At first, Leo is confused when you ask for help with small tasks, like microwaving your food

“Wait, you can fly but you can’t press a button?” he teases, already on his way to help

He’ll make a show of it, dramatically placing your food in the microwave. “Behold, the Great Leonardo, Master of the Microwave!”

Secretly loves being able to help you, even with simple stuff

He’ll even start adding little flourishes, like garnishing your food before handing it over.

The first time you lift him, he’s completely stunned. “WHAT THE—PUT ME DOWN!”

But once he realizes you’re strong enough to carry him safely, he relaxes (sort of)

“THIS IS AMAZING!” he smile, loving the view.

Definitely becomes your personal perch

His broad shoulders and solid frame make it the perfect spot to rest after a flight

If you swoop in while he’s training, he’ll roll his eyes but allow it. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Low-key protective. “If you get tired, don’t push it, alright? I don’t need you getting hurt.”

The moment you ask for help, he’s already doing it without a second thought

“You need this heated up? Got it.”

He’ll carry your plate back to you carefully, grumbling about how the microwave beeps too many times

If anyone teases you about needing help, Raph is quick to shut them down. “They’ve got wings, what’s your excuse?”

Starts learning what you like so he can prep stuff ahead of time. “Made you some noodles earlier. Just need to heat ‘em up.”

The first time you pick him up, he’s annoyed. “Excuse me, I am conducting highly important research!”

Mid-flight, he’s already analyzing the physics. “Fascinating. Your wingspan must generate significant lift to carry my weight.”

Once he gets used to it, he starts requesting flights for “aerial reconnaissance” of his inventions

Loves the practical applications of your abilities, but don’t expect him to admit he enjoys the experience

“For science, of course. This has nothing to do with the exhilaration of flight.”

If you drop him off on a high rooftop to test one of his drones, he’ll praise your precision but remind you: “No sudden drops, darling. My heart isn’t built for such shocks.”

Donnie initially suggests creating a custom gadget for you to handle small tasks. “Why rely on others when technology can assist?”

But until then, he’s happy to help, albeit in his own way. “Your reliance on me has its perks. Now, let’s adjust your caloric intake.”

He’ll program the microwave to the exact time and temperature for optimal results, refusing to let you settle for less

“Perfection takes precision, my feathered love.”

Also insists on taste-testing anything you ask him to heat up. “Quality control is essential, after all.”

Absolutely loves it from the get-go. “WHEEEE! I’m flying, baby!”

He spreads his arms out like he’s Peter Pan™ every time you lift him, fully embracing the ride

Constantly begs for “airtime.” “C’mon, Y/N! Just one more lap around the lair!”

You often catch him jumping up and down, yelling, “Take me, winged guardian!”

Loves being perched somewhere high, where he can “survey his kingdom.”

If you fly him at night with a great view, he’ll insist on having a mini picnic up there. “Best date idea ever, right?”

Mikey thinks it’s adorable when you ask for help. “Aww, don’t worry, I gotcha!”

He’ll happily microwave your food and even plate it up like a five-star chef. “Presentation is key, my love!”

Sometimes he gets overly enthusiastic and starts adding sauces or sides without you asking. “Trust me, this combo is fire.”

If you ask him for anything else—like reaching for things or opening jars—he does it with a little flourish. “Mikey at your service!”

Will absolutely turn it into a fun routine. “Okay, Y/N, what’s today’s special?”

[louloulover]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ℌ𝔬𝔤𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔰 𝔇ℜ★

I have changed some things for my own enjoyment, the history is made up. I haven't changed the original story of harry potter. I simply added my own things. ⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★〘ℌ𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣〙

☘Family Magic - Rune's father has been on the earth for more than a thousand years, back in history Vikings were users of a ancient magic. The real magic of the world, They danced, sang and used magic one with themselves. The magic could only be passed on through blood. But as the Vikings fought and the people slowly decreased in the world. So did their true blood. Leaving Rune's father to be the last true blood user. The magic can be passed on, but memories will be passed on. Memories come from ancestors. The magic used in todays world isn't the same, nothing as powerful.

☘Parents - His father was one of the Heads of the people, he went into hiding once they were all gone. Rune's mother is a Russian hairdresser. They were brought back to Scandinavia so Rune could be with his people and learn magic from his father. But once his father gave Rune all of his power he was gone. Rune and his mother moved back to Russia. His mother is knowing for being the best hairdresser for muggles and wizards. His mother possesses regular magic.

☘Runes magic - Although Rune isn't full blood his father transferred all his magic and being. So Rune is the strongest being, who can shape nature and anything he chooses. He doesn't use a wand, he can but he doesn't have to. He uses his body.

»»───※ ·ℜ𝔲𝔫𝔢·ℌ𝔢/ℌ𝔦𝔪· ※───►

Rune has knowledge of all his ancestors, the magical runes that cover his every inch of his body shows how powerful he is. ₊˚⊹☾

★Important - He can take away his tattoos simply, but the rune his father put on his back stays. It shows the magic has been passed down.

★Features - Rune possess dark black hair, green like the earth eyes. Eyebrows like his father, big bushy and angled down. When he smiles it is a smirk, sharp canines show from his mouth. A piercing on his left ear, a hoop stays there.

★Body - 6'2''. He is fit, and very tall. Not as tall as the twins. He gives off confidence and pride. (Harry Potter Tyler Durden lmaoo)

★Animal - Rune owns a Crow, connected with his ancestors it is his messenger 'owl'. He also owns a dog at school, (my dog from here) instead of other pets.

★Outfits - He wears colors, often crazy color schemes but somehow works? he walks in a robe or just underwear in his shared room. You will never catch him only wearing black.

its hard to find images of crazy guy outfits, so imagine them with weird color combos ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

➶ ｡˚ °》𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈?《✧ ˚ 　· 　　

＞Honestly, i just want to have fun. That's why I gave myself such power. I don't want to deal with classes or sticking to a schedule. I want to go here for fun with friends, flying and of course the creatures. I want to see them all, fly with them, feel them.

✦ » 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒆? « ✦

＞He was asked by Dumbledore (6th movie) to come protect his school, he knew something was going to come up this year. He has been trying to find Rune but it toke him years, and having to talk to the Merlin to even get to me.

(yes Merlin's going to be the Merlin from the show Merlin.)⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

＞He agreed if he has freedom to do what he pleases, so really he is just to hang around the school. Allowed to enter wherever and whenever. You may see him on top of the highest part of Hogwarts watching the stars, napping on furniture in the halls, playing with his dog in the fields, and throwing items at quidditch players while they practice. || He is still keeping the school protected as he does so ||

Oh and of course hanging out with his brother Casimir..

˚୨୧⋆｡This post toke so long omg, I would love to hear of other people's dr's or even link your scripts in the comments if you want! C:

I'm going to make a post of the other characters in Hogwarts, as I've added some characters. The link will be posted below this once its made!

[smallishzine]

Just a small heads up, if you include shipping you may wanna make it clear that there are ships and what ships are there. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with shipping, especially since I’ve seen people say Joel thinks it’s a bit weird to be shipped with anyone other than Lizzie (needs to be fact checked, this is just what I’m seeing in boat boys comment sections). Maybe consider making the ship stuff a separate section or just telling people in advance (pinned post, bio, anywhere clear works) that it includes shipping so those who don’t like it can walk away.

important info about the zine plz read even if you didn’t send the ask:

thank you for the heads up! We’re about to get super rambly and vaguely off topic but we promise all your points get addressed. This is actually a great opportunity to clarify, because I realized I didn’t explain myself particularly clearly, if some one does choose to include shipping, its all going to have to be subtext (as always except for shadowbeans whose alternate ship name I still refuse to use), but that is for non-canon ships. Regardless of how people feel about it, c!Joel and c!Jimmy did in fact kiss in Real Life smp, and c!Joel and c!Sausage did in fact have a child together in esmp2, so we’re not gonna rewrite events. Basically when I say shipping in the context of this zine I mean taking relationships the c!Joel had with other people and creating moments that didn’t necessarily happen but feel plausible for the characters that are able to be interpreted as romantic as well as platonic. Also, everyone’s definition of ship art is different, so the level that I was thinking is pretty mild (and btw I’d like to interject here that this is not me dissing on shipping or ship art love shipping so much that I found a ship called the relation and I never left it, but I also know that people have all sorts of comfort levels with different things so this zine is going to be dry docked but I assure you that out there on my super secret personal blog we are very much lost at sea). Like, to give some examples of what would be okay versus not okay for the zine: kissing is pretty much off limits, honestly mostly because that’s a pretty boring zine piece, there’s nothing going on except the ship, but anything where any sort of romance is up to the interpretation, such as hugging, handholding, spending time with, these are all normal things, but also this can’t be the focus of the piece. Please no one just draw like Joel and someone hugging and call it a day. Implied shipping is allowed to feature in your piece, not be the main focus of it. That’s just not an interesting zine piece. Valid art/writing, still amazing stuff keep sharing it on the internet it’s very interesting, just not in the context of this zine. Anyway, you are correct about not everyone being comfortable with that stuff, so if any piece comes off as really shippy without violating the guidelines we’ll make sure to label it correctly, but also, I should make it clear, I’m really hoping that shipping doesn’t become the focus of this zine. It is a Joel zine, so Joel should remain the focus, and any shipping would be subtextual and not central to the zine. There are many great Joel ships out there with lovely content to consume, but that’s not really the focus of this zine. Also, that aside, if Joel doesn’t want his character (because we are talking about shipping cs here. Cc!Joel is a lovely person, but this zine is going to be in-character. Also while cc!Joel should absolutely be respected in what sort of fan content he wants people making about him, his character is, well, just that: a character. Its like saying you can’t ship two characters from an animated tv show because their irl voice actors aren’t comfortable being shipped. It’s just two different things) shipped with characters who don’t belong to his wife, he should probably stop making his c! kiss all those men. And have children with them. And send them love hearts in the mail. And call them babe. If he did it in canon it’s probably safe to say we’re good having them do it in fan content. But again shipping should be an extremely small part of the zine if it’s there at all and should be subtextual enough that even people who don’t ship can still positively engage with the zine!!! If it needs a warning, it’s probably too shippy.

also all this aside if I’m handling this wrong guys I’m sorry I’m only one person and it’s really stressful trying to please everybody I promise I’m trying my best but I just wanna get together with a bunch of other people who share this strange fascination with the bean man and make art and writing about it I don’t wanna get canceled or something I promise I’m trying my best. I’m really struggling to balance my love of creating shipping fan content and realizing that not everyone is comfortable with that and it’s really difficult and stressful I just can’t we all just draw and write what makes us happy I just want this to be a fun experience and being yelled at on the internet for drawing two characters who’s ccs aren’t in an irl relationship being something other than friends is not my definition of a good time. I’m not accusing you anon of doing anything like that the ask was very respectful but I’m worried this post will prompt less polite people to come and yell at me.

-mod Dinn

[itslovelyamari]

"Atta Girl."

Ellie x reader

Reader gets injured, Ellie gets protective.

---

The morning sun peeked through the heavy clouds over Jackson as you pulled on your jacket. Ellie sat on the edge of the bed, her leg bouncing anxiously. Her fingers fiddled with the loose thread on her flannel, and you could feel the tension radiating off her.

“You sure you have to go?” Ellie asked, her voice tight.

You stepped closer and rested your hands on her shoulders. “It’s just a patrol, Ellie. Jesse and I will be fine.”

She scoffed, shaking her head. “Yeah, ‘cause nothing ever goes wrong on patrols.”

You bent down, forcing her to meet your eyes. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

Her hands gripped your wrists, holding you there for a moment longer. “I hate this. You’re too damn important to me to—” She stopped herself, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Just… don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

You smiled softly, brushing her bangs out of her face. “Stupid? Me? Never.”

Despite herself, she smirked, but the worry never left her eyes. She stood and pressed a quick kiss to your lips. “You better come back in one piece.”

---

The patrol started off quiet. Jesse was his usual easygoing self, cracking jokes as you both scanned the snowy woods for any signs of trouble.

“Ellie didn’t look too happy about this,” he commented as the two of you dismounted your horses to check a suspicious cabin.

“She worries,” you replied, shrugging. “It’s her thing.”

“Yeah, well, I’d worry too if my girl had to patrol with a guy as handsome as me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Oh, please. She knows you’re more into Dina than you are into this patrol.”

He laughed, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “You got me there.”

But the light mood didn’t last. As you exited the cabin, the sound of crunching snow caught your attention. Before you could fully turn around, a group of four armed strangers emerged from the treeline, surrounding you and Jesse.

“Well, well,” one of them sneered, a wiry man with a scar across his jaw. “What do we have here?”

Jesse’s hand twitched toward his pistol, but the man raised his rifle. “Ah, ah. Wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

They were after you. You could see it in the way their eyes lingered, their leering gazes making your skin crawl. When one of them lunged, Jesse acted fast, shoving you behind him and firing a shot. The bullet found its mark, dropping the man instantly.

Chaos erupted. Another one tackled Jesse while a third grabbed you, his filthy hand clamping around your throat.

“You’re coming with us,” he growled, dragging you back as you struggled. Your vision blurred from lack of air, but adrenaline surged through you. Kicking wildly, you managed to knock him off balance. His grip faltered, and as soon as you hit the ground, you grabbed your knife and drove it into his neck.

Blood sprayed as he collapsed, lifeless, and you gasped for air, your leg burning from a deep gash you hadn’t noticed in the fight. Jesse dispatched the last man and ran to your side, his eyes wide with panic.

“You okay?” he asked, hauling you to your feet.

“Yeah,” you lied, wincing as pain shot through your leg.

“Bullshit.” He glanced at your leg. “You’re bleeding bad.”

“No time,” you said, limping toward your horse. “We have to get back.”

---

By the time you and Jesse made it back to Jackson, the sun was setting, and the town was buzzing with activity. People swarmed around you, shouting questions, their worried faces blurring together.

And then Ellie appeared, pushing her way through the crowd. Her eyes locked on you, dark with fury and fear.

“What the hell happened?” she demanded, her voice shaking as she reached for you.

“I’m fine,” you tried to assure her, but your wobbling knees and blood-soaked pant leg said otherwise.

Ellie’s jaw clenched as she threw your arm over her shoulders. “Come on.”

She led you back to your shared home in silence. Once inside, she sat you down on the couch and grabbed the first aid kit. Her movements were quick and precise, but her lips were pressed into a thin line.

“Ellie—” you started.

“Don’t,” she interrupted, her voice low. “Don’t even try to explain right now.”

You watched her clean and stitch your wound, her hands trembling slightly. The air between you was thick with unspoken emotions.

When she finished, you broke the silence. “So, I guess you could say I showed that guy who’s boss.”

Ellie’s head snapped up, her lips twitching despite herself. “Atta girl,” she murmured, her tone softening.

You reached for her hand, pulling her to sit beside you. “Hey,” you said gently. “I’m here. I’m okay. Thanks to Jesse.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she buried her face in your lap. “I was so scared,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “What if you didn’t come back?”

You ran your fingers through her hair, your heart aching at the vulnerability in her voice. “But I did. I’m here.”

Ellie clung to you, her tears soaking into your jeans. You held her close, whispering reassurances until her breathing evened out.

The two of you stayed like that, wrapped in each other, finding comfort in the fact that, for now, you were safe and together.

Too cuteee💕 I take requests!

[homophyte]

re: botanists are too busy post i have very bad news for you guys about the mad science botanists are in real life conducting. it sucks

[plantsonplutoart]

April fools just passed and so I’m touching up inks for a lil marauders comic I made. I had to share a wip of my favorite panel. They’re so stupid <3

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Wei Wuxian eats a watermelon. Yep!

[haunted-xander]

Sometimes I think about Urianger's role in and feelings on the Thancred-Ryne dynamic and I think watching it kills him a bit inside. For several reasons.

Like, to begin with there's the guilt he's been carrying with him since he ushered Minfilia to the first, how he effectively killed the person Thancred cared about the most in the world and who's "death" ended up causing Ryne's entire Situation. He looks at what's happening between them and can only think "I caused this" even though that's not really true. No one person is responsible for this outcome, it's a culmination of several circumstances and the consequences of them. Logically, Urianger knows this. But it doesn't matter, because his guilt is overpowering his logic.

And also, like. What Thancred is doing here, the way he's knowingly letting Ryne be and stay hurt because he literally cannot bring himself to tell her his feelings, is the exact same mistake Urianger made with Moenbryda. Of course, the circumstances are vastly different, and the potential consequences to Thancred telling Ryne the wrong things or her misinterperating it is far greater (being a matter of literal life or death), it's still the same sort of paralysis they are trapped in.

And he knows it. He sees it. But he can't say or do anything about it, he doesn't have the right to. He acknowledges the mistake, but he hasn't really improved upon it yet. He still doesn't voice his thoughts and feelings as he should. He's also non-confrontational by nature, he doesn't argue or try to change peoples minds, he probably doesn't think he has any place to.

So, he tries to help in what little ways he can. Because he doesn't want it to become Monebryda again, he doesn't want to know he stole not one but two people from Thancred. So he does what he can. He tells Ryne little tidbits about Thancred, things that help her understand him but are safe to share. Nothing too deep, nothing too personal. Just small things, things that are purely factual, because he can't afford to give her a false image of who Thancred is. He teacher her fun and interesting things, because Thancred isn't in the mindset to provide her with non-essential skills.

I like to think Urianger has brought it up with Thancred at least once, during one of his stays. But nothing would've come of it. Not really. Unlike Y'shtola, Urianger isn't pushy, he'll bring it up once or twice and when he sees this won't go anywhere, he gives up. He wants to help, but he knows that persistance only does do much, and he is not the person who has the resiliance needed to push and push until Thancred finally budges (because he won't budge, it won't help anything but to sour things further by adding aditional stress to an already strained dynamic).

And like. Urianger gets it. He gets it because he's been the same way- not saying what he should to someone he loves more than anything else because she was meant to figure her life out herself, and 'steering' her in any direction by telling her his feelings (regardless of if the 'steering' is intention or not) will go against that. He gets it. He gets it and it's all the more painful for it. He knows it can't just be fixed by acknowledging it or with encouragement, something needs to happen to break the stasis.

I think this is probably why he stayed behind while they went off to Nabaath Areng. This is the very last chance they have to say what they want to, and he can't afford to be the anchor anymore. This is about them, not him, he can't let their resolution be buffed by his presence, so he stays behind. Which was probably for the best. Ryne got nervous when Urianger said he's staying behind, probably not too excited about being alone with Thancred (well, not alone, but WoL doesn't count) so soon after she had ran away crying. But she needs to be nervous. For anything positive to come out of this Thancred and Ryne both can't afford to be too relaxed. As sad as it is, the stress is necessary for anything to happen. He knows it. Does he like it? Absolutely not, but nor does he like his other plots. At least no one dies this time if it goes right.