#but it might get me out of work ! so i still think we should try it

[daveth-isnt-dead]

Coalescence part 1/3

Summary:

She’s so nervous that her breath catches in her lungs and doesn’t come back out, from her side she can hear Viktor’s foot tapping a frantic rhythm against the tiles. Without even thinking it through, her hand finds his and grabs it tight. He doesn’t pull back, if anything he holds hers even tighter. The question rises once again, unbidden. What are we? AKA: She works with Viktor for seven years, she is in love with him for five of them.

Contains: she/her pronouns, supremely slow burn, me pretending to know what science is

Word Count: 7,722

Read on AO3

What are we? She wonders, sitting across the room from the two brilliant minds behind Hextech. Not friends, certainly; colleagues barely. Strangers, probably. She hadn't exactly been looking for assistant work, but after years of flitting between different fields of study but never finding anything that really stuck, an assistant position offered her the freedom to study whatever she pleased without the looming threat of expulsion should she continue skirting the requirement of choosing a major. Heimerdinger had a hand in this, of course. She’s noticed recently, he’s had a hand in a great many things. Didn’t want to forsake a bright mind over some simple indecision, he’d argued, and then tossed her headfirst into the very new Hextech lab without much of a warning. 

She mostly sits in the corner, brings coffee even though neither of them ever actually asks for it, and works on her own research well out of the way of whatever potential explosion brews on the other side of the room. They had a lengthy discussion the day she first joined, both of them up in arms as if Heimerdinger had just assigned her to keep an eye on them. He had, but she had very little interest in doing so and told them as much. 

“I keep to myself.” She’d said, “You’ll forget I’m even there.” Then, remembering that she was supposed to be an assistant, added, “Unless you need something, of course.”

They rarely ever need something, at least not something that they can’t already work out between the two of them. She feels a bit like a hanger-on, and an unwanted presence, but it’s better than expulsion. So she ignores the other side of the room as best she can and quietly flips through a textbook about whatever has her attention that month. Most recently it’s pottery, and she hopes that she might be able to sneak out of the room and try her hand at the wheel in the fine arts wing of the academy before it’s locked for the evening. 

She peers up from her textbook to look at the clock on the wall. It’s just an hour until then and from what she can hear behind her it seems they are still very much in the middle of something. They probably wouldn't even notice if she were to go missing. 

So she closes the cover on her book and tucks it under her arm, spinning around in her chair to announce that unless they need anything, she’s headed to another department for the end of the day, only to stop in place when she realises that Jayce is missing. “How long has he been gone?” She asks, more to herself than anyone else. 

Viktor, who’s hunched over a pile of notes on the other side of the room gives her a dismissive gesture over his shoulder and doesn't even bother turning around. “Only fifteen minutes, he’s getting dinner.”

“I could have done that.” 

He shrugs, “He thought you seemed busy.” and then, peering at her over his shoulder, “He also thought the walk might help clear his head.” She clutches tightly at the book under her arm, suddenly feeling a bit guilty about her plan to leave early, especially with the sun already setting and Viktor now alone in the room. She bristles, almost defensively, “He really should have asked me to do it, that’s the only thing I ever do around here.”

Viktor hums, “Indeed.” She wants to get angry at first, to snap at him. It wouldn't help any though, it’s not like the two of them really wanted an assistant. How infrequently they ever ask for her help is proof enough. They wanted her here as much as she wanted to be here: very little. Even still, they’re stuck together and letting Viktor have it over something that wasn’t his fault would only make things worse. So she bites her tongue. 

“What did he need to clear his head of?” She asks, trying to wrench something from him that might result in at least a shred of goodwill, “Are you having trouble?”

In the month or so that she’s been sequestered in the back corner of the lab, she hasn't overheard anything more than a minor setback, the occasional explosion. Though in her mind, an explosion is still at least a lesson in what not to do. Progress is progress. This is the first time she’s seen either of them truly stumped. 

“We’re at the edge of a breakthrough.” Viktor replies, “But we cannot seem to get over it.”

Decision made, she places her book back down on the desk and starts walking over to the other side of the room, “Hard spot to be in, are you just going through your notes?” He sighs, “For now, yes. Though it hasn’t helped any.” 

His desk is large enough that there’s space for her to lean up beside him. He looks tired when he peers up at her, though from what she’s seen of him, that’s pretty normal. Positioned where she is, she covers up most of the setting sun as it streams in through the window, all but for one perfect beam of it that slices down the right side of Viktor’s face, straight across his eye. Her head tilts, had they always been so golden?

“Do you want to talk through it? I’m a good listener, and saying it out loud is probably more helpful than just re-reading your notes for the hundredth time.” His brow creases, and he leans back a little further in the chair. The beam of light hits his hair now, making it shine almost orange, “Eh, I suppose it couldn’t hurt, at least until Jayce comes back.” he tilts his head in the direction of Jayce’s desk, “Go get his chair, he won’t mind.”

She does as he says, wheeling the chair over and parking herself beside Viktor, resting her elbows on the desk. He shoots her a look out the corner of his eye, and she quickly removes her elbows. “Sorry.”

“Be careful with the things on my desk, I’d prefer it didn't become more disorganised than it already is.”

“Duly noted.” She replies, instead resting her hands in her lap and rotating her chair to face him a little more directly, “Ready when you are.”

She doesn't understand all that much about his explanation, though there are little moments here and there that resonate with her, or that sound familiar enough that she can grasp the concept. Some parts she recognises from hearing the two of them talking about it behind her, but overall she’s just stunned at his retention and how quickly he elaborates on such complex topics. She leans forward in her chair, watching intently at his sharp gesticulation and the way his brow creases when he struggles to find the right word. She nods along even though she doesn't completely understand because the important thing is to get him thinking about it, whether she understands doesn't matter one bit. 

“-but we’ve already established that it cannot be done that way, so all of that work just needs to be thrown away and-” “Why not?” He stops mid-thought, eyes darting to hers, stunned to hear her speak after so long. He laughs, incredulous, “Why not ? We’ve already tried it and imploded.” She still doesn't quite understand the difference between imploding and exploding, but it's irrelevant, “Did you figure out why?”

“It was too hot. We couldn’t produce enough power inside of the casing without it imploding. We did try reducing the power and adjusting the-” He cuts himself off, suddenly turning back to the desk and resting his chin in his palm. His eyes dart across the various notes and blueprints sprawled there and then after a few agonising moments he lets out a breathless chuckle, “We never tried adjusting the casing for airflow.” She smiles, the feeling of it on her lips aching with an unfamiliar fondness, “There you go.” she stands from the chair and heads back over to her desk, “I suspect you’ll be busy until Jayce gets back, then. So I might head home.” a glance at the clock confirms that the fine art wing will be well closed by now, but she finds herself not minding all that much, “Enjoy your dinner.” At first, she thinks that he isn't going to answer, the room filled with the sound of a desperate pen scraping on paper, but just as she reaches the door, he whirls around in his chair and says, “Thank you, for permitting me to talk at you for almost an hour. It helped.” What are we now? She wonders. 

“I’m glad.” She says.

___

What are we? She can’t help but ask herself, giggling at Jayce’s face when his finger is met with a strong zap from a prototype that Viktor had just told him not to touch. 

She still sits on the other side of the room, still makes her way through a growing pile of assorted textbooks (philosophy, currently, operatic theory last month). But now it’s different. Now Jayce calls her name with an excited wave whenever they make a new development, and Viktor regularly uses her as a springboard when he can’t get his own thoughts straight. Her favorite thing though, is when she and Jayce sit cross-legged on the floor to eat lunch, unwilling to move any of the notes and prototypes strewn across the desks to create space for eating. Viktor is hard to pull from his desk, even at lunch, but with enough prodding from Jayce, he will at least spin his chair around to face the two of them while he eats instead of remaining hunched over his work. 

“Okay! Okay!” Jayce says, instinctively shaking his injured hand as if to dissipate the last of the electricity, “Don’t touch, I get it.”

Viktor huffs, but she can tell he doesn’t really mean it, “All this time and he still doesn’t know how to keep his hands to himself.” his head inclines in her direction, his expression of false irritation shattered by the crooked curl at the corner of his lips, “Can you believe this? Even after my warning.” Another laugh bubbles up and out of her, “Wouldn’t be the first time he’s touched something he shouldn't.” Jayce points an accusatory finger in her direction, “Hey! You know I didn’t realise that pastry was yours, you can’t keep holding this over my head.”

Viktor quips back with something that she doesn't quite hear, and she just laughs before spinning her chair back around and returning to her textbook. The three of them must be friends now, she thinks, peering over her shoulder to see that Jayce and Viktor have returned to working on the prototype. At the very least, they like her well enough to tell her what they are working on, even though that information is still strictly confidential outside of the lab. She has their coffee orders memorised, which must mean something. It's been over six months now and while she doesn't have much to offer scientifically, she likes knowing she's there to bounce ideas off when nothing seems to stick. She smiles to herself, flipping through her newest textbook, but retaining very little of it. The new prototype behind her is loud , it's the sort of sound she could easily tune out if it wasn't constantly stop-starting and fluctuating in pitch. 

From behind her, she hears a sudden panicked stream of consonants leave Viktor’s mouth and then the aching pitch of the prototype’s whirring begins to climb and climb until there’s a loud thunk when Jayce shuts off the power. Though her shoulders tense up beside her ears, she doesn’t feel the need to turn around, “Everyone alive back there?” 

Jayce lets out a breathless, nervous laugh, “Yep!”

She hears the rhythmic click of Viktor’s cane as he crosses the room and then after a moment he says, “Just having trouble getting the new prototype to resonate the way the older one did.” “Hah.” She replies, “Just be careful, another interval up and we will have lost our windows.” Silence for a moment, and then Viktor asks, “ Why? ” She spins around in her chair, the two of them are standing by the prototype, both blinking at her owlishly. Her brow furrows, “The sound.” she says, gesturing in the direction of the machine, “It’s hitting just an interval down from a high C. It’s the resonate frequency of glass, a loud enough noise matching the pitch will-”

“Yes!” Jayce exclaims, beaming wide, “The glass would begin to vibrate and then shatter.” Viktor hooks his cane over his arm and leans backward against the desk, “And this is good news, how?” She stands from her desk, buzzing with excitement, “Your resonance problem. Maybe it isn’t just about the power being produced by the crystal, maybe it’s also about the sound .”

His eyebrows jump, and then settle into a thoughtful crease as he cups his chin with his palm. “If organic magic is cast by humans, it wouldn’t be a far reach to assume that there is also a vocal component.” he hums, “If we could find a way to adjust pitch without reducing power then…” he smiles and his eyes meet hers, “You spend a good deal of time in the music wing, yes?”

She nods, “Tuning forks?”

Viktor’s smile grows wider, “Ah, like you’ve read my mind.”

She isn’t used to walking around the halls of the academy with another person beside her. Though she’s pretty comfortable with Viktor and Jayce inside of the lab these days, they rarely, if ever, spend any time together outside of it. She arrives later than they do in the mornings and leaves earlier than they do in the evenings. These days she also goes out for lunch on her own and brings the food back with her. So she keeps peering over at Viktor to make sure she is matching pace with him, clenching and unclenching her hands at her sides because she doesn’t know what she should be doing with them. 

“You study music, then?” Viktor asks after several minutes of walking in complete silence. 

She startles at his voice, not expecting to hear it, “On and off.” He hums, “You keep busy.” “I usually lose interest if I stay with one subject too long.” She admits, tucking her hands in the pockets of her slacks.

The silence returns, thicker than before. Viktor’s cane clicks on the tiles, the sound at least keeps her in tempo with him, so she doesn’t need to focus as hard on how quickly she’s walking. She takes a quick peek at him and sees that he’s just staring forward. The two of them are passing by a set of windows and his profile looks very sharp when backlit by the afternoon sun. It isn't often that she sees him outside the dim lighting of the lab. His eyes turn to meet hers and she quickly busies herself with picking the already cracked nail polish on one of her fingers. 

“Have we been of interest to you, then?” He says, the corner of his lips turning up in a smile, “Enough that you haven’t lost it?” She hadn’t really thought about it, for the most part, she still considered her time in the lab a requirement from higher-ups at the academy, but was that all it was anymore? She shrugs a shoulder, “For now.” she smirks, “Hard to lose my attention when you continually blow things up.” Viktor tuts, “There hasn’t been a single explosion this past month, besides, it’s all part of the scientific progress, yes?”

“If you say so, I’m not exactly an authority on the subject.” The two of them turn a corner and the angle of the sun changes, Viktor squints a little when the light hits his eyes, he sighs, “To think I was about to say that it’s nice to be out in the sun.” He lifts his free arm to cover his face from the light. 

She laughs, ducking her head to hide her smile, “It’s just upset with you for spurning its advances for so long.”

His brows settle in a scowl, but she can’t help smiling wider when she realises that it doesn’t reach his eyes which instead shine with a playful warmth, “Very funny.”

“I try to be.” She increases her pace a little, turning around to face him. Her backward steps slow at the sight of Viktor awash in the bright light of the afternoon sun, squinting his eyes to keep her in focus. Her continued smile is almost involuntary as she beckons him closer, “C’mon, just down the hall. If we’re quick we can get you some more sun exposure on the way back.”

The older version of the prototype hums on the bench before her, crystal spinning in a consistent whirl. It’s far less refined than their newer attempt, still assembled with whatever pieces they could find around the lab and the metal casing jitters and quakes a little under the strain. She still likes the older prototype better, all its rough edges and shaky frame, it’s a whole lot less commercial than that new chrome casing they’ve been working to perfect, but progress is progress, she supposes. As she lays three of the tuning forks out in front of her, Viktor and Jayce peer down at her expectantly and she isn’t used to feeling intimidated, so she doesn’t like it all that much. 

“I’m pretty good at picking notes by ear.” she begins, “But it’s more uh…mechanical sounding than I’m used to, zippy-” her brow creases, “or zappy? Maybe?” she gestures to the forks, “it’s somewhere within this range though.”

“Go on then!” Jayce says enthusiastically, “Give it a try!” She sucks a breath in through her teeth and grabs the fork that’s tuned to a G4, lightly tapping the prongs on the corner of the bench. The vibrations run up from her fingertips all the way to her elbow and the sound is inconsistent at first, until she raises the fork up vertically and holds her hand still. From behind her, she hears a sharp exhale of breath and then Viktor’s voice much closer than she was expecting. 

“Got it in one.” He says, and she peers over her shoulder to find that he’s leaned in closer to observe. He smiles, “You do have a good ear.”

He’s right, the sound emanating from the fork matches the ethereal pitch coming from the Hextech prototype so exactly that the two sounds begin to merge. She can’t help the smile that tugs at her lips, “Well, I guess the two of you need to figure out how to get your new prototype to hit a G4.” She spins her chair around and passes the tuning fork to Viktor, the sound comes to an abrupt stop when the prongs make contact with his palm, “My work here is done, I’ll be at my desk if you need me.”

She has the weekend off, and the day she comes back Jayce immediately grabs her hand and tugs her over to the other side of the lab with such enthusiasm that she almost topples over. She doesn't even have time to put down her bag. He beams from ear to ear as he positions her in front of the bench the prototype has taken up full-time residence on. Viktor is sitting at the bench, finishing up some last-minute wire connections when she arrives. He spins his chair to face her, and removes his goggles (leaving red rings around his eyes that she resists the urge to tease him about later) before rolling himself out of the way.

“Watch!” Jayce says enthusiastically, stepping towards the device and turning it on. As before, the crystal begins to spin, faster and faster, the casing whining under the pressure as the power builds but fails to resonate. Then from the other end of the desk, Viktor picks up a small remote connected by a set of wires and as he adjusts the knobs, the sound that the crystal creates adjusts in pitch, warbling and quivering until it settles confidently on a perfect clear G4. 

A laugh escapes her, unbidden and she oddly feels like she might start crying. Jayce grabs both her hands and exclaims, “We did it!” “You did it!” She returns excitedly.

“ We did it.” Viktor corrects, and she suddenly realises that we now includes her. 

Friends. She confirms to herself, standing up on her toes so she can wrap her arms around Jayce, she gazes at Viktor from over his shoulder and is pleased to find his eyes look especially warm when he smiles. Friends, she reiterates. 

___

The next six months pass quickly. With the resonance problem fixed, the rest of the research and prototype building seemed to come easily, with only a few notable explosions. Most of the work was still theoretical and Viktor spent hours glowering at the blackboard while Jayce put things together and then pulled them apart. Lots of the original prototypes were cannibalised for parts and she hates to see them go. Jayce was a good sport when the first prototype they ever made had to be put in storage to clear up space, laughing with her as they wrote a terrible farewell poem for it. Viktor did rest a comforting hand on her shoulder as she acted out an exaggerated goodbye to the project because even though the faux waterworks were in jest, it was as if he could somehow tell that her insides ached at the ever-persistent march of change. 

Much of the stress in the lab was around the looming threat of presenting their ideas to the council for more funding, diagrams needed to be drawn and chicken scratch notes needed to be copied into a much more legible format. That was her job for a while, hunching over her desk and transcribing notes, yelling at Jayce over her shoulder for his miserable handwriting and calling Viktor over for translations on what she started affectionately calling ‘Viktor-isms’ 

“You can’t keep giving new concepts names without explaining what they relate to.”

He scoffed, “I think it’s fairly obvious what an AOE Expansion Stabalisor is.”

She looked at him over her shoulder, incredulous, “Will it be obvious to Councilor Hoskel?”

Viktor cringed, “Ehh…allow me to draw up a diagram.”

Her best asset these days is her ability to boil down complicated concepts to their most simple forms. To essentially translate the inner workings of geniuses to something comprehensible by the layman. She has a large bound book that she is compiling all of the most essential notes into and a presentation that she is helping Jayce to draft. 

“Oh, I’ll help you write it, but I’m not speaking.” Jayce huffed, “But Viktor says he doesn’t want to speak either! It’ll just be me up there.” She laughed and gently punched him in the shoulder, “I’m sure you’ll knock ‘em dead, big guy.”

They aren’t just friends anymore. They’re something else. Something closer to family. She spends more time in the lab than she used to, abandoning her textbooks to instead work on the presentation, to sit and listen as Viktor goes on one of his hour-long rambles that slowly starts to become more comprehensible the more she listens to them. She likes listening to them. The smiles on their faces when she first decided to come in on a weekend even though she didn’t have to are still burned into her brain. Jayce’s smile was as bright as it always is, while Viktor’s was subtler, quieter; but to her, it was utterly incandescent and she couldn’t shake it from the corners of her mind for the next few hours. 

“Miss?” A voice says, ripping her from her musings and back into the present.

She blinks a few times, remembering where she is and then replies, “Sorry, Professor Heimerdinger, what did you ask?”

“No worries at all, dear girl.” He says, adjusting himself in his seat, “It’s been over a year now since I first asked you to work in the Hextech lab and I just wanted to make sure the three of you were getting along.”

“We are.” She replies sincerely, “Very well.” Viktor falls asleep in the lab sometimes. One winter afternoon she found him asleep at his desk and couldn’t bear to wake him up, so quickly and quietly, she left the lab and hurried across campus to her dorm room to grab one of her spare blankets. He hadn’t stirred while she was gone, so she took the time to tuck it around his shoulders before returning to her desk. Jayce cames in an hour later and she gestured furiously to Viktor’s sleeping form before he could let out one of his usual, very loud greetings. Holding a finger to his lips, Jayce nodded and they both silently returned to work. The blanket lives in the lab now. 

“That’s good, very good,” Heimerdinger says with a nod. His white eyebrows curve in a sympathetic arch and he leans forward in his chair, “I know that it was a shock to find that your patron had withdrawn their support last year, and while this likely wasn’t what you wanted I hope that it was of some value to you.” He laughs, “Though I do also think those boys need someone keeping an eye on them.”

She laughs, “Even now? They’re making steady progress, I’m not certain they need much monitoring.” “I know from experience that a scientist can so easily become trapped in a box of his own making, but with all your studying and your knowledge across such a wide breadth of subjects, I’m not sure those boys could keep you in a box if they tried.” He smiles softly, “They need that, or they won’t get anywhere.”

“Oh… thank you.” She mutters, pretending to be very interested in whatever is going on outside the window to avoid having to reconcile what sounded like a very genuine compliment. 

“You don’t have to stay in the lab with them if you no longer want to.” Heimerdinger says quietly, “I’m essentially your patron now and I can easily assign you to another department if-” “No!” She says sharply, then shakes her head, “Sorry, that was rude. Um, I mean, no thank you. I’m happy where I am.” Heimerdinger chuckles to himself, “Well then, are you majoring in the sciences after all?” She snorts, “ No , I don’t have the brains for it.”

Two weeks ago she caught a miscalculation in Jayce’s notes, prevented the destruction of yet another prototype. It was just pattern recognition though, she’d become so familiar with the strings of numbers and formulas in their notes that the anomaly practically screamed out to her in bleeding red writing. She was better at understanding what they spoke about now, and able to help with wiring when either of them needed extra hands, but that’s just retention, muscle memory.

Despite her depreciation, Heimerdinger smiles knowingly, “That, I find hard to believe.”

Just a week later she sits next to Viktor in the council room, eyes darting across the expressions of the council members trying to gauge any sort of reaction. She knew they had Councillor Medarda’s vote at the very least, but she’d never even been in the council room before now and had absolutely no way of knowing what direction each of them swayed. 

He must see the look on her face, because, in hushed tones, Viktor starts giving her the limited information he has, “Hoskel will vote the same direction as Medarda” he begins, leaning close to her ear,  “Kiramman has a soft spot for Jayce, Heimerdinger has hopefully swung in our direction but other than that, I have no idea.”

She swallows and turns to look at him, “No, thank you, that helps.” she heaves an uneasy breath in her throat, “I don’t like it in here.” Viktor chuckles, “Me either, but look at Jayce go, there’s a reason he’s the face of this operation.”

It’s true, he’s a natural. While she sits completely tense in the shadows, he gesticulates just enough and speaks at just the right volume. She spent so long helping him to perfect the script for the presentation that she can practically follow it along with him. 

Then it comes time for him to show the new prototype, the final version, the one that sings a perfect G4 and resides in a casing that doesn’t rattle or whine even when the gemstone is generating full power. She’s so nervous that her breath catches in her lungs and doesn’t come back out, from her side she can hear Viktor’s foot tapping a frantic rhythm against the tiles. Without even thinking it through, her hand finds his and grabs it tight. He doesn’t pull back, if anything he holds hers even tighter and they both hold their breath as Jayce activates the prototype. 

A clear and beautiful G4 fills the room, an angelic hum that sounds like magic in and of itself. When all the tensed muscles in her body release, it takes all her willpower not to burst into tears or laughter of utter relief and when she turns to Viktor he looks exactly the way she feels; exhilarated, soft and warm after months of anxiety just melted from him. He smiles and oh god. 

The question becomes more singular, we now refers to two people instead of three and oh god , what are we?

___

What are we? She wonders one year later, frozen in the doorway of her childhood bedroom, holding her breath as if it will prevent him from noticing she’s there. Viktor stands beside her single bed, weight resting on his cane as he leans forward to peek at the old doodles she pinned to the corkboard years ago. He’s smiling. 

Bringing both Jayce and Viktor to her father’s house had not been on the docket earlier in the day, but sometimes fate has its own ideas. The next and hopefully last presentation to the council is coming up tomorrow morning and they have spent the last few months working on a 1:250 scale recreation of the final idea. It took a long time, but it’s finally gotten to the point that they can reliably transport a medium-sized object from one side of the room to the other and if they push the power, they can even manage to move something halfway across campus. 

It was her idea to provide a more accurate visual aid, that if they were planning to push the project as a vessel for trade routes, the council would likely grasp the idea better if the object they were transporting actually looked like a dirigible, instead of the old metal crate they had been using during tests. While Jayce agreed with the idea, it had come pretty late during preparation and he was worried that there wouldn’t been time to get it finished while they also worked together on drafting the presentation. It was Viktor who insisted on building it. 

“I used to assemble these sorts of contraptions for fun .” He’d said, already arranging a collection of metal pieces on his workbench, “Besides, I’m going to be far more useful working on this than I am working on your script.” He peered at her from over his shoulder, “I don’t share your gift for linguistics.” 

So while she and Jayce poured over notes and collected the most legible blueprints they had available, Viktor tinkered at his desk, welding and folding metal. It didn’t take him long at all to finish it, two whole days in the lab with very brief breaks for meals when she or Jayce forced him to eat something and a trip or two to the textile department for the fabric components. She had a great deal of fun inflating the miniature airship and shooting it back and forth through the miniature Hexgate, but the night before the presentation they were overcome with concern at just how long it took for the dirigible to appear on the other side of the room. 

Viktor huffed and pushed his hair out of his face as he stared at it, “It should only take a second for it to make the journey, but now it’s taking four .” He pinched the bridge of his nose, “It must be something to do with the shape? Previously we were using a square object, far less complex.”

So he and Jayce set to adjusting the prototype while she made a few last-minute changes to Jayce’s speech. The problem came when they tested the Hexgate one last time, they had overcorrected and the dirigible emerged on the other side of the room at a greater forward velocity than they had been expecting and collided directly with a pile of discarded scrap metal. Her head shot up from her desk just in time to watch as it started falling to the ground, kicking her chair out from behind her and diving for the airship, letting out a grunt as the heavy object landed in her arms. 

Luckily she had been quick enough on her feet to prevent any structural damage, but the collision had torn a hole in the fabric and unless they managed to get that fixed before the sun came up, it wasn’t going to fly during the presentation. 

“It’s okay!” She said quickly, the moment she caught the look of quiet horror on the inventors’ faces, “The textile wing will be closed, but I have a sewing machine.” “In your dorm?” Jayce asked, expression quickly losing the air of misery it had just a moment ago. 

She grimaced, “No. not in my dorm and you’ll both have to come, I can’t carry this thing on my own and I probably need to disconnect the fabric so I can put it through the machine.”

Presently, her hand grips tightly to the open doorway, still holding her breath as she watches Viktor rest his cane against the bedside table and take a seat on her childhood bed, leaning down quickly to rub at the muscles in his bad leg. When his eyes dart up and he sees her, he freezes, “Oh, hello.” he clears his throat, “I got lost.” She snorts, “How could you get lost in a two-bedroom house?” she leans against the doorframe, unable to stop her smile, “You’re a terrible liar.” “I wasn’t lying.” “If you say so.” She replies, looking down at her toes just to avoid the broiling gold of his eyes, “I’ve got the machine set up on the kitchen table, so if you’re done snooping -” “I wasn’t snooping .” He interrupts. 

She crosses her arms, finding that she likes the incredulous expression he’s making, almost as much as she likes seeing the sharp lines of him juxtaposed with her soft floral bedsheets, “Then what were you doing?”

He sits up straight, loosely gesturing to her corkboard, “Admiring your work.” His expression settles into a soft smile, “Were you looking to study textiles when you joined the academy?” It’s been a long time since she’s been in this room. She visits when she gets the chance, but always heads back to her dorm instead of staying the night. The corkboard is covered with old clothing designs, swatches of fabric, and a button here and there. She shakes her head, “No, not really. It’s uh, it’s the family business. I haven’t thought about it all that much since taking up studying.”

“You said that your father wouldn't be here.” She nods, “He’s at the workshop, tomorrow is the busiest day of the week. He usually stays there the night before so he can get a head start in the morning.” a sigh escapes her, “My mother used to force him to come home every night, but, well…” Viktor doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. 

“My patron was one of my father’s customers. He offered to do his alterations free so long as he took care of my patronage at the academy.” She chews on her lower lip, not really sure why she is telling him all of this, “I think he expected to make some money from me, that I was some sort of genius, but I was indecisive and refused to major in anything, so he withdrew support.” Viktor laughs, “Bad luck for him then.” he says, wincing a little as he pulls himself back up from the bed, “You’re one-third of Hextech now.” She hums aloud as he crosses the room, shifting in the doorway to give him space to slip past. “Yeah,” she replies and the hand not on his cane rests briefly on her upper arm as he passes, lingering maybe a little longer than it needed to, “I guess I am.”

Her body goes slack against the doorframe, her chest expanding with a warm sigh as she watches him turn the corner to the kitchen, clearly not lost. Their relationship hasn’t changed all that much in the past year, they joke around a lot more and physical contact is more common, though it’s little more than a hand on a shoulder or the usual tight handholding at any and all presentations they give to the council. They’re friends, she reasons and whatever in her heart is telling her that it’s something else is just causing problems, an unnecessary ache. She sighs again, peering into her bedroom and imagining him still sitting there, smiling at her. It’s only when Jayce calls her name that she manages to recollect herself, calling out a quick, “I’m coming!” before they start wondering why she’s lagging behind.

___

Has something changed? She wonders. Even with the tall ceilings and open windows, the ballroom she’s trapped in feels suffocating. She sucks a shaky breath in through her teeth and continues clutching the stem of a champagne glass she’s been holding for over an hour now without actually drinking it. Jayce is planning to give an address shortly, about the success of the recently completed Hexgates, but he rightly refuses to start until Viktor arrives and it’s been long enough that she’s starting to worry he may have decided not to come altogether. 

The last two and a half years were the most difficult for the three of them. A project of such an enormous scale takes up a lot of time and a great deal more hands than the team alone could provide. Viktor quickly learned that he hated working with other people, and most nights at the lab were spent making changes to blueprints, running tests and complaining about the construction team. 

“I swear-” Viktor began one day, furiously scribbling notes on a blueprint, “-I wouldn’t be surprised to find that one of those people ate all of our crystals just because I didn’t specially label them inedible .” She’d laughed, sitting at the desk next to him and updating the construction resources with less technical language, “Be nice. If I hadn’t been eavesdropping on you for three years I probably wouldn’t know what any of this stuff means either.” Viktor sighed, “You’ve done much more than eavesdrop .” his pen stilled for a moment and his golden eyes met hers, “I can be nice, I promise.” Without thinking, she’d let her head drop to rest on his shoulder, “I know you can.” He made no move to shift her off of him, even though the weight of her head was surely going to affect the use of his dominant hand. After a lapse of comfortable silence, he let out a chuckle and inclined his head in her direction, “That cannot be comfortable.” “It’s not.” She admitted, “Your shoulder’s pointy.” “and yet you are not moving.” “That’s right.” 

��Suit yourself.” He replied, his voice barely a whisper. Before quietly returning to his writing.

Jayce grabs her attention from across the room, gesticulating wildly. She knows him well enough to immediately recognise that he is asking if she has any idea where Viktor is. All she can respond with is a concerned shrug before pointing to the nearest door, implying that she will go look for him. Jayce smiles in thanks and then returns to the gaggle of investors surrounding him. The champagne finally gets drunk, it probably would have been nicer an hour ago when it was still cold, but she needs two hands to maneuver her dress. The glass clinks when she leaves it on the nearest flat surface and starts heading to the doors, half considering never coming back, whether she finds Viktor or not. 

Not that she ever makes it through the door, because she almost bumps headlong into him as he makes his way inside. 

“Viktor!” She exclaims, half shocked and half relieved to see him. 

His mouth twitches up in a smile, “Sorry I’m late, outfit problems.” Her eyes dart down involuntarily. His suit is mossy green and the colour brings out the gold in his eyes. He looks good and she is about to say so when she notices the rudimentary steel and leather brace on his leg. Her chest cavity fills with the ice-cold chill of dread and Viktor must see it on her face because he quickly supplies an explanation. 

“Never many chairs at these things.” he says, gesturing to the brace, “A precautionary measure.”

She wants to believe him, wants so badly to believe him. The calculations all match up in her head though, him an hour late, the brace clearly made and not purchased. Four and a half years is a long time to watch someone, especially when watching as intently as she has been for at least the last two. He places more weight on his cane than he used to, and struggles to do anything that involves both hands while standing up. Even from across the lab, she can hear the way he hisses each time he has to rise from his chair and when the setting sun streams in through the window the same way it did that first month in the lab, the shadows settle deep in the hollow of his cheeks. 

“Good idea.” She forces herself to say, ignoring all of the evidence because any other explanation would be preferable. Instead, she returns to what she had intended to say from the beginning, a truth far less daunting, “You look very nice, by the way. Can’t even tell you had outfit problems.” He laughs, though it sounds a little too much like a wheeze, “You’re too kind. Anyway, let’s go find Jayce before he starts worrying.” They’ve already missed the boat on that one, Jayce is in the midst of a nervous sweat when they make their way over. His eyes also dart down to the brace on Viktor’s leg, but she watches in real-time as he dismisses the thought, gives the both of them a quick hug and shakes the nerves off before his address. 

“I’m surprised you survived so long without me,” Viktor says cheekily as Jayce heads over to grab Councillor Medarda’s attention. 

“So am I.” She replies, peering up at him with a smile, “You know I hate these big events.” Viktor returns her smile and his face melts into such a warmth that all the signs of deterioration seem imaginary for just a moment. Somewhere across the room, Councillor Medarda clinks her glass to grab the attention of the room, but right before Jayce begins his address, Viktor leans down to her ear and whispers, “You look very nice too, sorry I didn’t say so earlier.”

The feeling of those words resonates so warmly in her chest that she can’t resist holding onto them and just as Jayce steps forward, just as the usual nerves begin to set in, Viktor’s hand reaches out and grabs hers tight. The way it always does. She smiles softly to herself and rubs her thumb across the protrusion of his knuckles in thanks. Maybe nothing has changed, not really, she might just be imagining it. Even if the bones in his fingers feel more pronounced. 

Applause fills the room when Jayce finishes, at one point he even has the good grace to point out where she and Viktor are standing in the crowd, which she hates , but knows she should appreciate. He’s his usual ball of sunshine self when he comes over, beaming wide and wrapping his arms around the two of them. 

“That went great !” He exclaims, hands still shaking with the usual adrenaline associated with speech giving, “I can’t believe that we’re closing the chapter on Hexgates, whoo!” Viktor chuckles and pats Jayce on the arm, “It’s still early days yet, lots of time for things to go wrong and lots of modification on the horizon.” “I know, I know . It still feels good though, doesn’t it? To have finished something?”

She laughs, “This is probably the first thing I’ve ever finished in my life, so thank you.” her eyes drift to Viktor and then quickly back to Jayce, “Both of you.”

“To finishing things!” Jayce exclaims suddenly, and follows up with, “Wait, we need drinks, one second!” “A veritable font of energy as always,” Viktor says a few seconds after Jayce disappears.

“Pretty sure he’s already had a few drinks.” Viktor looks at her cheekily, “For the nerves, I’m sure.”

“Oh yeah, definitely just for the nerves.” She replies, watching as Jayce gets caught by another throng of investors on his way over to the bar. She sighs, “Poor guy, I’m glad I don't have his charisma.” Viktor hums aloud, “Do you think he’ll know to check the balcony when he comes back?”

“It’s only the place we always frequent at these events.” His eyes light up, “That’s a yes, then?”

“Always will be.” She replies, trying not to get lost in the way his eyes crinkle in the corners. She clears her throat, “Let’s hurry, it’s too hot in here.”

It’s like a shock of electricity when his free hand presses against the small of her back and when she peers up at him to find he is already looking down at her, the question rises once again, unbidden. What are we?

[vickytaa]

𝕯𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘? 𝕻.2.

𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔯𝔶: A new video in collaboration with Sam and Colby, where the group enters an abandoned church full of mysteries. What starts as an exciting adventure quickly turns into a nightmare. Y/n will have terrifying nightmares and must fight her fears after entering the darkness. Part 1.

"She... The girl was one of the few people who saw a nun, even though the place is abandoned. Some say they couldn't stop seeing her when they looked in the mirror, others say it was just that moment, and others say they stopped seeing her but strange things happened around them. What they did notice was that there was a kind of pattern, when the person was afraid, the nun's curse was even stronger, as if..."

"As if it was feeding on fear." Colby finished.

My body began to shake desperately, fear coursing through my veins. I tried to look at Matt, who was also scared but was trying his best not to break down there.

We all looked at each other, knowing that the best thing was to keep me company. "Honey, you..." Matt tried to calm me down, but I interrupted him, "Stay with me. Please, Matt," I begged, grabbing his shirt as if I would die if I didn't.

Matt hugged me tighter as I rested my head more and more against his chest. "I was scared, Matt." He pulled away a little, but just enough to see my face. My eyes were full of panic, even though almost an hour had passed since the incident. It broke him to see me like this, because normally I was the strong one, the brave one, but now? now I was scared.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're with me now, I'm not going anywhere." Matt said. The words hung in the air as I tried to reach them, to believe them. I knew Matt wasn't going to leave my side, but I was scared of what might happen. What if I go back to the darkness?

Matt sat me on his lap, to have me even closer, showering me with small kisses to try to calm me down. My body began to tremble as my mind replayed the scenarios over and over again, each time feeling more real. I tried to push those thoughts away to drown myself in Matt's love and security.

Another hour passed, and the event was almost forgotten, at the back of my mind. I was laughing at a joke Matt made to make me feel something other than fear. "Matt, I think... I think we should continue with the video," I said, now sure that nothing else was going to happen.

Or so I thought...

We started looking for the others until we found them about to do the 'Estes method' where the person doing it is blindfolded and listens to words coming out of a 'special' radio, through headphones.

It was my favorite part of Sam and Colby's videos, but I still felt a little scared to get back into the game. So, when they asked who was going to do it, I immediately said no.

"I'll do it," Matt said, "I'll go with you," Chris followed. We all agreed and started with the method.

"If any person or being is here with us, please communicate through the devices," Colby said.

Silence.

"I repeat, if any being is here with us, communicate through these devices."

Silence, again.

We all started asking questions every now and then, but with no answers, as if neither Chris nor Matt could connect with the entities here.

Few insignificant words came out despite the long time they were there. Colby touched Chris's shoulder while I touched Matt's.

When they took off the equipment, we explained that it hadn't worked well, and they replied that we could try again. Despite the fear, I didn't want to miss out, for me, the best part of the video, so I decided to be brave and offered to do it.

At first, everyone hesitated, but after insisting a little more, they let me.

I sat in the wooden chair, with the headphones and blindfold on. Matt rested his hand on my thigh to assure me that he was there.

"Death," I heard the neutral voice from the headphones, "Death," I repeated exactly the same, interpreting the tone.

"Father," "Father."

The words weren't making much sense, but I was sure they were answering the questions the others were asking.

Shortly after, I heard a small, gruff laugh, which made me jump a little in fear, as I felt it in my right ear, as if a man was there. "A small laugh, like an adult man," I said.

The meaningless words quickly reappeared, "Fire," "Broken," "Eight," among others.

Suddenly, that gruff-voiced man's laugh was heard again, "The man's laugh again," I said, now a little scared, since normally words or things don't repeat.

Matt's hand was still there, motionless, squeezing my leg every now and then.

The radio went silent, no more words came out of there, until a deep voice said, "Are you afraid of the dark?"

My body tensed quickly, my hands began to shake. It was the same voice as before. I'd had enough.

I desperately took off the headphones and threw them on the floor. My hands traveled to the back of my head, to untangle the knot and take off the blindfold. I quickly opened my eyes, and there...

There was nothing.

Only darkness.

"No, please, not again!" I started to scream desperately, the air trapped in my throat. My eyes filled with tears and poured down my face. My head was killing me, and I slowly started to feel dizzy, my legs were slowly giving out and my heart was getting tired of beating.

I closed my eyes but quickly opened them at the feeling of being shaken. "Y/N!" Matt said, his face was practically inches from mine, but I could read his panic from miles away.

My mind was clouded, as I did nothing. The tears were falling down my face, but I couldn't feel them anymore. Nor did I feel that warmth of Matt when he hugged me.

I was exhausted. My legs felt like I'd run a marathon, and breathing was as hard as if I were at the top of the highest mountain.

"Let's go home," Matt said, hugging me and carrying me to the car. I wanted to stay there to finish the video they'd been planning for months, feeling guilty for ruining it, but at that point, I was so weak I couldn't even form a word.

Matt said goodbye to everyone and took me to the car. He quickly started it and began to drive. The tiredness was killing me, and since I got tired of fighting it, unfortunately, I lost and fell fast asleep.

The softness and comfort of my bed woke me up. "Matt..." I tried to look for him but my eyelids were too tired to open.

"I'm here, love. Let's sleep," Matt said, gently wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me as close as possible.

Hours passed and the tiredness never came. I really tried to fall asleep, to follow Matt, but I just couldn't.

I decided that the best thing to do would be to get some water and go back to bed, it was simple and quick, right?

Right?

The scenes of today were in the back of my mind, while the glass of water was in front of everything. I slowly got out of his embrace and got up to go to the kitchen. The house was silent, which indicated that Nick and Chris hadn't returned yet. I felt a little bad for ruining their video, but I also didn't want to stay there to continue suffering.

The lights were off, a cold breeze passed, sending shivers down my spine. There was a strange tension in the air, as if something was going to happen, but I decided to ignore it.

I grabbed the glass and poured myself some cold water, trying to calm my nighttime thoughts. I was already out of there, I was with Matt, there was nothing to worry about. Or was there?

I turned to leave the glass on the counter, and there I saw her.

Kneeling in front of me, the nun again.

Panic and fear ran through my veins. I was frozen, not knowing what to do. I dropped the glass on the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces, but I couldn't hear it anymore, I could only hear the nun's sobs, getting louder and louder.

"Matt! Matt, please!!" I started to scream desperately, but for some strange reason, I couldn't hear anything. No matter how hard I screamed, nothing came out of my mouth.

I grabbed my throat in desperation. My eyes wide open, I watched as the nun slowly stood up in front of me, clearly towering over me.

Her burned hands detached from her face, moving slowly towards my neck.

Tears streamed down my eyes without stopping, my body completely frozen, all my strength trying to scream or get something to wake Matt up, but nothing helped.

The nun's hands, cold and dusty, began to squeeze my throat, cutting off my breath.

This was it, there was nothing else to do. All my strength spent, my soul slowly leaving my body.

𝕴 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘.

𝐕 -

[cringe--is--dead]

꧁✬◦°⋆⋆°◦. 𝓜𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓸𝓮 ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂

꧁✬◦°⋆⋆°◦. 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓶𝓪 𝔁 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂

A/N: I got sick, sorry these are all gonna be so late.

At the team's holiday party, you and your boyfriend do your best to avoid his best friend, who seems way too determined to get you two trapped under the mistletoe for you first kiss.

This wasn't the first time you and Kenma had been invited somewhere as a couple, yet from the way his team fawned over the two of you, you'd have thought it was.

It wasn't always bad, sometimes it was sweet; Yaku teased the two of you sure, but he noticed whenever you or your boyfriend were uncomfortable and backed off, Kai simply made sweet remarks about how you two complimented each other well, short phrases that had both you and Kenma beat red.

Kuroo, to no ones surprise, was the worst.

When you two first told him you were dating he thought it was some type of prank; you and Kenma had been pining over each other to him for so long he had grown hopeless. Turns out, late-night video game sessions can do a lot of good.

That being said, this was you first holiday party as a couple, and for almost 90% of the time thus far you two were avoiding said team captain.

It wasn't a big "high school party", there was no spiked eggnog or blasting music. Yamamoto tried and got told off rather humorously. There was food, drinks, some weird American Christmas music Kuroo found, ugly sweaters, and presents.

And mistletoe.

"I can't believe him," Kenma looked like he was trying to burrow himself deeper into his sweater, one you had picked out for him, knowing if you didn't, Kuroo would, and that would have been worse.

You shrugged, taking a sip of your eggnog before making a face; it may not be alcoholic but it wasn't great, "Really? This seems exactly like something he would have done."

Kenma paused, before letting out a rather loud sigh, leaning so he was against your shoulder, curling so his body was angled towards you, "It is. That makes it worse. I should have known he'd do this."

You smiled down at him, though he couldn't see you, "He kept us too busy with party favors to even think about his meddling."

"Stupid ploy of his," Your boyfriend muttered, glaring at the wall in front of him.

"Maybe we can turn the tables? Trap him under some mistletoe with someone else. I'm sure if you called Bokuto he'd come over."

Kenma shook his head, "One, I don't need to deal with Kuroo and Bokuto, secondly, Kuroo would think it was funny and it wouldn't work the way you're thinking."

Sighing, you tilted so your head was rested against his, "Damn."

You could feel him nod, "Damn is right."

The music could be heard through the walls, and you only felt a little bad that you and Kenma were hiding in Kuroo's mom's office. You both knew it was only a matter of time before he came searching there for you, but you'd be ready to either shove him out or book it.

"Maybe we can trick Yaku and Lev under the mistletoe," He suggested quietly, "Cause a distraction so big Kuroo forgets about us."

You hummed, "That works until demon-upperclassmen-Yaku torments you at practice."

He groaned, "Might be worth it."

You laughed quietly, setting your cup down, "You know," You started before you could second guess yourself, feeling the familiar flutter of nerves in your stomach, "If it were more private I wouldn't mind kissing you under mistletoe."

You felt him stiffen against you, and for a moment you screamed at yourself mentally, but he relaxed a second later, a quiet huff of laugh coming from him.

"Yeah," He reached across to take one of your hands into his, "Me too. He's only doing this cause... well," He cut himself off, and curiosity got the best of you when he didn't finish his thought.

You pulled away some, looking at him, your hands still connected, "Well what?"

His cheeks were pink, and he was doing his best to avoid eye contact, "I had... mentioned wanting to kiss you. Maybe. But not knowing when. He joked about mistletoe at the party. But I forgot until we showed up."

You think almost everyone was caught by surprise at the sheer amount of mistletoe hanging from doorways.

You waited, giving him time to feel comfortable looking towards you, a small smile on your face, "You know... you could have asked me?" Your voice was soft, teasing, "Considering I'm your girlfriend, not Kuroo."

He huffed, half-annoyed, half-laughing.

"I'm serious, just ask me if I want to kiss you. No mistletoe necessary."

It took a second for him to fully process what you said, and his eyes widened a fraction. He visibly swallowed, his grip on your hand tightening slightly.

"Will... can I kiss you?"

The simple question, even if you were expecting it, had butterflies explode in your stomach, your heart fluttering in your chest. Your palms felt embarrassingly sweaty.

"Yes."

You'd, embarrassingly, imagined what your first kiss would be like when you were younger. Entering your teens, it seemed like the biggest deal in the world. You'd have this prince charming of a boyfriend, someone boisterous who took you on spontaneous dates, someone who dipped you under the stars for your first kiss.

No part of you had imagined having your first kiss, hiding away in your friend's mom's office to avoid public humiliation at his goading.

No part of you imagined how it actually felt. All those dreams felt so silly now.

Kenma's lips were warm against yours, your hands still holding one another's. The kiss didn't go any further than this, and it only lasted but a few seconds, but it was enough.

He pulled back first, cheeks far more red than they had been when he asked, and you were sure yours were no better. Despite the anxiety that had been clear on his face, he was smiling, something so soft it made all those nerves disappear as if they'd never been there before.

"Think that was better without the mistletoe," You murmured, and he nodded in agreement.

It was quiet between the two of you for a moment, before--

"There you two are!" Kuroo was standing in the doorway, looking a bit frazzled.

You and Kenma didn't have time to react, but it seemed like Kuroo was too focused on something else to even notice.

"I'm hiding with you, I got Yaku and Lev under the mistletoe and I think--"

"Kuroo Tetsurou!"

[lucabyte]

How do you get your siffrins to look adult? I keep accidentally giving them a baby face but I WANT THEM TO LOOK GROWN AND EXHAUSTED LIKE HE DESERVES

okay so i legit think i fail at making siffrin look adequately adult like half the time but here's a general breakdown of my like. thought process when im actually um. thinking .

So first of all heres my general tips for proportioning a face, and how i attempt to keep the roundness of sif's in-game proportions while also like... drawing them more realistically? i had to practically reinvent a Human Style for drawing isat fanart since im a furry artist so a lot of this is fresh in my mind, luckily(?) for you i suppose.

This newness also means you can like, watch me fight and struggle against how the hell to do this in my earlier fanart. so feel free to try and see what changed as i pieced it together.

Another note is body proportion. You note giving him a baby face specifically, but some of it MIGHT be that you're drawing the head too big for your style? Try and figure out how many "heads tall" your figures are and tweak the numbers until you find what looks "adult"

Here I cracked open one of the comics I used CSP Model refrences for (albeit feat Loop, who i envision to be the exact same height as siffrin. i am NOT a tall loop truther i think its funnier when that bitch is five foot NOTHING!!!!!)

drawing sif with adult proportions can be deceptively difficult though on account of their Being A Tiny Motherfucker. Mostly here though, I find that the best way to do this is to drop like 1/3rd of the length of an average drawing figure's legs. Short people tend to have short legs. I know this on account of a lot of my ocs being 5'3" and below (... for... reasons...... unrelated to my own... height.... 100%.... ) so once again I think a lot of this can come down to trying to fiddle with numbers and noting down what works.

OKAY NOW ONTO SOME MORE SIFFRIN-SPECIFIC DRAWING TIPS. like these are what i find myself doing to make them look older if i accidentally baby face them myself

The above kind of chibi-er doodle style im still not sure has Siffrin looking adult enough for my liking (someone who considers them minimum 28) but considering they're presumably genuinely a deceptively baby faced guy at least by game's start (even if they should probably look. unhealthy.) it's like... forgivable.

the bald spot is basically fucking cheating in terms of "making them look older" lbr but i am so fucking insistent on it and i punch the air in celebration every time i see anyone else do it. winner is ME!!!!

Anyway. the body hair thing is funny considering we basically have Word Of God that siffrin is not the kind of person who ever likes being naked/even having their feet out in a casual setting. but like. hi its me the weird fucked up miserable nudity guy. of course im drawing every pockmark and texture on their body.

Another note here is, on their naked form, I avoid overly smooth lines for outlines of the limbs and torso. This avoids making them look "sexy twink thin" (not my bag at all) and instead gives the impression of loose skin from fluctuating weight, uneven fat distribution, skin becoming baggier with age. I also let joints jut out and look sharp wherever I can. This is because im an asexual pervert who likes the human form the mostest when i can see 'imperfections' This adds to the haggard nature of it all, by being reasonably honest about what the kind of persistent decade-long neglect of self care and implied malnutrition would do to a guy

Last note: eyes. i find i end up drawing a vague glassy black smear with a hint of white for the sclera for siffrin like. a Lot. Eyebags to show weariness is not my preferred method as I find it, to be rude, a bit of an overused shorthand. Plus, while sif in game does get eyebags, they're usually more on pushed expressions where they're forcing their face. So I put more emphasis on drawing the folds of the upper lid (which the game does not do) to make them look weary.

I dont think i can elaborate on my opinions on How To Draw Eyes without it becoming a way the fuck too long essay because "drawing emotions good" is like. my number 1 goal in every drawing so even if everything else is scuffed to hell I HAVE TOOO get the eyes right because theyre the most emotive part of the face. if i cant capture an emotion correctly the drawing isnt getting fucking finished is the thing, so....

Luckily for me, drawing over eyes and continously tweaking them by painting over and over and over and redoing them can have the side effect of making them look over-detailed and thus worn/tired/agonised. yes this is why i draw loop's face so scrunched all the time. All I can say for this though is to do a lot of studies of both real life faces & the most emotive cartoon faces you personally have experienced. So like. steven universe is great for this because rebecca sugar is so scary at drawing eyes. theyre so fucking scary at it. or sometimes i just go stare at rebecca's old comics because jesus christ. anyway.

??? but yeah hope this helps. its something i feel like i have a genuine hard time with too, especially since im so intent on keeping their face round & my artstyle is genuinely very cutesy even when i am being weird soo ...?

tl;dr:

draw the eyes smaller, give them a chin, the canon nose helps a lot & dont forget the bald spot. everyone draw the bald spot. for me.

[razorblade180]

Streamer AU 8

Part 7

Weiss:*concentrating*

Blake:Yooo. Another night, another stream. Where’s she at?

Jaune:Alice in Wonderland. She’s still getting used to the controls.

Blake: Chat should keep count of deaths.

Weiss:Chat, you’ll get timed out. Don’t listen to her.

Blake:Are you at least having fun?

Weiss:Oh definitely! I actually was in a play about Wonderland when I was little. Feels nostalgic.

Sunny Day: “We’re you Tweedle Dee or Dumb?”

Blake:Haha haaaa!

Weiss:Sun stop trying be funny now that Blake is here.

Sunny Day: “I’m always funny.”

Weiss:Wrong.

Ruby:*joins call* How’s our little gamer doing?

Weiss:I wish enemies have health bars.

Ruby:Oh, oh so you don’t know?

Weiss:…What?

Jaune:Remember how you chose a weapon and it affects your stats?

Weiss:Did I cheat myself out of a health bar!?

Ruby:You’ll get it, but you would have it already if you picked the sword. Chat, nobody tell her what level she needs.

Weiss:WHAT!?

xxxxxx

Yang:Sorry I’m late to the-

“DEEP FREEZE!”

Yang watches the Weiss run around enemies blasting blizzard and clearing areas rather proficiently.

Yang:Someone is gaming.

Weiss:Everything changed with this spell.

Yang:I am not surprised.

“Goooo!”

“The spamming begins”

“Literally in her element”

“How she fights in real life”

Jaune:Pfft, Weiss, can you actually shoot ice like this in a fight?

Weiss:Ummm, I don’t see why not.

Ruby:By the end of this game, Weiss is gonna change her entire fight style to be like Sora.

Yang:Honestly that would be a really cool IRL stream! Just a list of abilities that Weiss has to try to do! Weiss! How much money!?

Weiss:*shrugs* I gotta beat the game first.

Ruby:I’m starting a poll in chat.

Blake:For what?

“Who do you think is most worthy of a keyblade?”

Blake:No, don’t do that! I won’t win!

Weiss:This means a lot to you I guess.

Blake:Some people have their dreams of going to Hogwarts; I wanted a keyblade.

Jaune:I wanted to go to Hogwarts.

Lotus Chef: “Just sneak in 👍”

Jaune:Ren!!!!

Yang:Listen, he beat me to it.

Weiss:Ba- *clears throat* Hey how long is every world?

Jaune:Maybe an hour so? Generally speaking.

Weiss:Cool. Maybe we can get two done.

Ruby:Or get stuck on the worst boss in the game.

Weiss:…*looks at Jaune*

Jaune:It’s not the worst boss.

Weiss:*squints*

Jaune:It’s true!!!!

Combat Ready made a prediction poll. Will Weiss beat the boss in 10 or less tries?

Ruby:Oh yeah, betting time! Penny your brain is beautiful!

Weiss:My chat and call are full of enemies.

Sunny Day: “I’m here for you.”

Weiss:Fuck off, Tweedle Dumb.

Blake:Is Neptune Tweedle Dee?

Neptune: *joins call* Neptune has been minding his own business. Sunny Day is acting on his own. *leaves*

Ruby:Leaving your leader like that is crazy work.

Yang:I respect it.

Ruby:Hehe whaaat?

Weiss finally makes it back to the table in the game, spawning Trickmaster.

Weiss:Oh…

Ruby:God, it’s so ugly now. It used to red and black.

Blake:90% voted you’d lose by the way.

Weiss:And just like real life, 10% of people are gonna eat like kings.

xxxxx

5 attempts later, Weiss is staring at the game over screen deeply.

Jaune:…Need a break?

Weiss:I’m just processing.

“You’ll get it in the 11th try”

“Please, I need the points!”

“This is a fucked up boss to have in the beginning.”

“Cheat and use Jaune.”

Weiss:Guys I’m not even mad yet. Also he’s for hints and guiding, not cheating. I beat FFX alone! I can handle this!

Ruby:You’re only level 10, on proud mode. Kinda have to remember that.

Weiss:Yeah…is it cheating if I grind? *hits continue*

Everyone:It’s a JRPG

Weiss:Fair enough. I’ll get a few levels.

Jaune:No more than lvl 14.

Weiss:Oh trust me, I do not plan on being here forever. You guys might have to entertain chat a little bit while I zone out some.

xxxxxxx

Blake:You never did answer who you played as in Wonderland.

Weiss:Cheshire Cat.

Blake:Really!?

Weiss:I was the only one okay with wearing the ears.

Yang:Damn….

Ruby:Are you trying to tell me little kid Weiss was somehow the least racist in her class?

Weiss:Little kid Weiss wasn’t racist.

Cross Hare: “As supposed to grow up Weiss!?”

Weiss:No! I’m not- Velvet we had lunch together today! Look, all I’m going to say is young adolescent Weiss saw a lot of White Fang member incidents and formed opinions…

Blake:That’s fair.

“Sounds suspicious to me.”

Blake:Guys, my parents love Weiss. That might actually be the only approval that matters.

Jaune:Didn’t Weiss amaze all of Menagerie.

Blake:Uuuugghh, why’d you remind meeeeeee.

Weiss:Tell the story.

Blake:Chat? Chat, I love Weiss, but I fucking hate this woman. Historically speaking, she’s a bad cook.

Weiss:“Historically” is insane.

Yang:Blake invited us to Menagerie to meet her parents and take part in what’s essentially an island cookout feast.

Cross Hare: “I REMEMBER THIS DAY!”

Blake:Without telling anyone, Weiss decided she was going to practice cooking this seafood gumbo that’s well known m the island to try and make a good impression.

Ruby:In hindsight, you did invite a Schnee into essentially enemy territory.

Blake:All she had to do was be polite and wave! Instead she asks my own mother if she could use the kitchen and make a traditional cuisine! I was stressed for the first half hour until suddenly…a scent is in the air. Spices. The correct spices. Now there’s an entire community looking around as this petite woman in an apron is swaying to our music and cooking our food.

Yang:I’m going to fucking honest, it’s so easy to forget Weiss is musically trained. Meanwhile Blake has two left feet.

Blake:I could live with that. What I couldn’t live with was when the food- *breathes in mic* When the gumbo was ready, it tasted better than any I ever made. My own mother told me this, and I couldn’t disagree.

Ruby:It was sooooo good!

Blake: Weiss “I had a cake butler” Schnee, showed up to my home island, cooked a dish with my, and danced with my people better than me. She out Faunesed a Faunus and I have sworn I can never let this happen again!!

Weiss:Everyone said bye to me! They were so nice.

Ruby:Weiss I’m letting you know right now if I ever take you back home and I discover you practiced wrangling horses, we are fighting in the dirt.

Yang:You get one time to bake an apple pie for my dad and if it’s better, hands. You don’t see me learning opera.

Weiss:I am an over achiever.

Jaune:Keep in mind, she’s still weak with most dishes.

Weiss:Cooking is hard!

Obtained Ripple Drive

Weiss:Oh, new stuff. *opens menu*

Jaune: *looks*… Weiss? Why isn’t dodge roll equipped?

Weiss:….*covers face*

“Weiss….”

“Girl…..”

“How have you been living?”

“You are throwing!!!!”

Yang:*wheezing* It could be worse. You could’ve beaten the boss first.

Weiss:Alright everyone, back to the boss!

xxxxxx

Attempt number six was practically a joke. She beat the boss in four minutes flat.

Weiss:Are you kidding me!?

Ruby:Shake it off. Now you know to double check. Penny, please pay out the believers.

Ruby:That was half my channel points…

Weiss:YOU BET AGAINST ME!?

Ruby:I hate this boss! I thought it would cause trouble.

Jaune:Imagine if Weiss is better at this game than you?

Ruby:I’d cry.

[curlsblade]

Curly tossed and turned, his blanket tangled around his legs. His mind was alive with thoughts of Ponyboy. He had dreamed about him earlier—his soft laugh, the way he’d smiled when they made eye contact in church, that tiny smile that made Curly’s heart flutter in a way he couldn’t explain.

In the dream, they were in a park, just the two of them, sitting on the grass in the late afternoon sun. Ponyboy had his head leaning against Curly’s shoulder, his breath soft against the skin of his neck, and everything felt so… right. So normal. They didn’t have to hide anything, didn’t have to pretend they were anything other than what they were—just two people, existing in the same space, enjoying each other’s company.

Curly’s heart clenched in his chest as he thought about it. He had woken up just as he’d leaned in to kiss Ponyboy, and the feeling still lingered, like something between a memory and a dream.

It felt so real. So close.

But then, the sound of muffled voices from the hallway pulled him from his thoughts. He frowned, glancing toward the door. It wasn’t unusual for someone to be awake in the house—Tim, maybe, or one of his brothers. But these voices were different. He could hear Angela’s unmistakable voice, and it sounded like she was on the phone.

Curly groaned and rolled over in bed, but then Angela’s words filtered into his thoughts.

“Yeah, Ponyboy Curtis is so cute,” she was saying, her voice carrying through the thin walls. “He’s different, you know? He’s not like the other Greasers. He’s… he’s just so sweet. I think he might even like me. We talk sometimes at school.”

Curly’s chest tightened, and his heart started to race.

Ponyboy? Angela?

Curly clenched his fists under the covers, trying not to let his mind go to that place. He tried to push the thoughts away, tried to ignore how the idea of Ponyboy with Angela made him feel like something was twisting inside him. But no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t go away.

Angela kept talking, oblivious to the effect her words were having on Curly. “I mean, he might not know how I feel yet, but I think it’s kind of obvious. He’s been looking at me more lately. I don’t know… maybe he just hasn’t worked up the nerve to say anything, but I’ll wait for him to make the first move.”

Curly squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the thoughts of Ponyboy, smiling at Angela, his soft eyes lighting up the way they always did when he talked to someone.

The thought of Ponyboy with someone else made him feel… strange. He didn’t like it. He didn’t want it.

And yet, he had no right to be upset. He wasn’t dating Ponyboy. They hadn’t even had a real conversation about what was happening between them, let alone anything more. So why was it so hard to ignore the idea of Angela, with her perfect smile and her delicate hair, getting closer to the one person Curly was too scared to talk to?

He rolled over in bed again, burying his face in the pillow. He felt like an idiot. He’d been dreaming about Ponyboy all night, picturing him the way he always did, like they were something more than just two guys who crossed paths in a town full of misunderstandings.

But now, hearing Angela’s voice, it hit him. Maybe Ponyboy didn’t feel the same way. Maybe he was just being friendly, just being nice, and Curly had read it all wrong. Maybe Ponyboy never even thought about him the way Curly thought about him.

His chest tightened at the thought.

The sound of Angela’s voice faded as she hung up, and for a long moment, Curly lay there, staring up at the ceiling, unsure of what to do with all the thoughts swirling in his head.

Maybe the way he stared at Ponyboy, the way his heart had pounded when their eyes met, had made it clear that he cared more than he should.

But it wasn’t like he could just tell Ponyboy.

Not when they weren’t even really anything yet.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth, but as he finally drifted into an uneasy sleep, the image of Ponyboy smiling at him lingered in his mind. It was the one thing that kept him grounded, even as everything else felt like it was slipping out of his reach.

[jjs-brainrot]

2024 is coming to an end, all my anime from the current season finished up and next season has yet to be begin. it's time for me to actually sit down and figure out what my top 10 anime were for this year!

God damn was this an amazing year of anime for me. Every season had multiple shows I was hardcore obsessing over with a surprising amount of them outright entering into my top 10 of all time. I'd say I'd be surprised if 2025 can match it, but a lot of the shows I was obsessing with are getting continuations next year so I might end up with back to back peak years.

10. Yuru Camp S3

The greatest propaganda camping has ever received is back again to try to convince you that you should totally buy some camping gear and drive out to the nearest camp ground. You will surely not regret both of these decisions!

Yuru Camp feels like it's the platonic ideal of the iyashikei genre. It has just the right mixture of beautiful scenery, slow and chill vibes, the right amount of goofy humor and some really delicious looking food to make you feeling rejuvenated (and a bit hungry) every episode.

Season 3 has been particularly notable as its the first season being handled by Eight Bit instead of C-Station. While I'd say it's still as strong as previous seasons, the environmental backgrounds definitely felt like a step back compared to the previous 2 seasons and movie. It wasn't bad enough that it put a damper on my enjoyment of the series but it was a noticeable downground. The rest of the animation was pretty solid though with some of the later episodes (7 and 8 in particular) being incredibly creative and fun.

It's Yuru Camp. You should watch Yuru Camp if you haven't already…. You will not regret any purchases you make after watching Yuru Camp…

9. Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

The classic medieval fantasy/economic/romance/drama series has returned to once again lure unsuspecting otaku with the promise of a cute wolfgirl, only to lock the door behind them and reveal that they've been signed up for an econ 101 class.

It's an updated adaptation that's much more faithful to the light novels then the first anime was. Not too much to say until we get season 2 as it covered a lot of the arcs the first anime covered. The one exception being that it actually animated book 3 which the first anime skipped over in order to cover book 5 (or rather 90% of book 5… I'm still salty about that…)

Holo is still a complete charmer, Holo and Lawrence still have excellent chemistry together and the economic drama is still top tier.

8. Dungeon People

Dungeon Keeper Yuri or the other show from this year from a mangaka thinking long and hard about how a fantasy dungeon would actually work. Though Instead of looking at it as an ecosystem like Dungeon Meshi, it approaches the idea as a workplace with its own logistical and management issues that need to be addressed in order to function.

It's mostly a pretty chill series but it also doesn't shy away from exploring darker topics like how the dungeon management deals with sexual assault and murder amongst adventurers.

Both of the protags (Clay and Belle) are fairly morally grey characters with neither having any qualms about killing when the job calls for it. There's also some strong coworkers yuri going on between them as well.

Kinda got overshadowed by Dungeon Meshi, but it's another really interesting examination on the idea of fantasy dungeons with some light yuri elements on top.

7. 'Tis Time for "Torture", Princess

The princess will be pampered, cared for and provided more friendship then she's ever experienced in her life until she divulges state secrets of frivolous quality.

An extremely chill little comedy that manages to be both extremely funny and incredibly relaxing as the same time. The closest series I can think of to compare it to is Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (and maybe The Helpful Fox Senko-san to an extent). Just a nice series of skits about a character getting pampered.

Each of the "torturers" having the own niches (i.e. the titular Torture Tortura (yes that's her name) being a foodie, Krall being an animal lover, Youki and Inki basically playing around as the princess' best friend, etc) does a good job of making skits varied enough to never get stale.

Very good series to chill to after long day at work. Also has a season 2 on the way.

6. Dungeon Meshi

It's Dungeon Meshi, one of the best fantasy and foodie series to come out in decades.

In truth, the fact that I've been keeping up with and recommending this series for like 8 or 9 years now kinda does lower it a bit on my list since most of the novelty has faded over the years and most of the stronger moments of the series will be in the second season.

That being said, this adaptation has been fantastic so far with it easily being a contender for one of Studio Trigger's best works.

5. Mayonaka Punch

Desperate simp vampire girl wants to suck a cancelled youtuber girl('s blood) dry, the cancelled youtuber wants to reach 1 million subscribers. Win-win!

An absolutely hilarious comedy that also manages to pull out some pretty strong emotional guy punches when it feels like it and has an absolutely exquisite cast of girls who suck (pun intended).

Easily up there with Shirobako and Ya Boy Kongming as one of PA Works' best anime.

4. Shangri-La Frontier

A trash game loving birdman plays an actually good game for the first time in his life. Alternatively: LetMeSoloHer the anime.

One of the very few VRMMO anime that's… actually about the joy of playing an MMO? Honestly it feels weird to say but it feels like almost ever other anime that takes place in an MMO is either an isekai or a romance where the MMO aspect is just a forgettable backdrop. The only other series I can think of that did something similar to Shangri-La Frontier is Bofuri. So it's weirdly an untapped aspect of the genre.

Shangri-La Frontier really does nails every aspect of enjoying an MMO excellently though. The fun of first loading into a game and trying to figure out the basics, gushing about the game to one of your old gaming buddies and getting them interested in it, finding another old gaming buddy you didn't realize was also playing the same game as you, learning and mastering a raid with your friends, getting real into the lore of the game and even taking a break from your main game to play other games to recharge your love for the main one.

The entire cast is a wonderful collection of gamer cryptids with the main 3 protags being up there as one of my all time favorite trios as they're just as easily likely to help each other out when it counts as they are to stab each other in the backs for the laughs. They absolutely nail the "gaming buddies who've known each other for years" vibes.

It easily has the most stellar fight scenes this year with The multi-episode Weathermon fight alone absolutely deserving to top everyone of those "top x anime fight scenes" lists people put out there.

It's painful how under talked about this series seems to be for how good it is.

3. VTuber Legend

Lesbian VTuber gets drunk and loudly talks about how much she loves to fap to women. Proceeds to awaken a new fetish in every one of her coworkers (never the same one).

Hilarious, unhinged, gay af, probably the second kinkiest yuri this year and is the gold standard all future VTuber anime must be compared to. It gets it. It fully understood the level of unhinged insanity it needed to be to represent what watching VTubers is actually like and does so with flying colors.

Awayuki Kokorone is my oshi of all time. May she forever suffer the consequences of being a human lightning rod of fetishes by becoming a chew toy for every woman in her life.

Easily the one of the funniest comedies to come out this year and is well worth watching even if you have 0 interest in VTubers.

2. Gushing Over Magical Girls

Girl who really, really, really, REALLY loves magical girls gets black mailed into joining the evil organization that fights them. This turns into an unexpected positive for her as she finds out that she really, really, really, REALLY loves domming magical girls.

As wild as "the extremely smutty, borderline pornographic bdsm yuri magical girl show was one of the most compelling and interestingly written shows this year while also being the most hilarious" is to say… The extremely smutty, borderline pornographic bdsm yuri magical girl show was in fact one of the most compelling and interestingly written shows this year while also being the most hilarious.

It's easily one of the most kink positive anime series I've seen, and I think out of every anime from this year, this one might well have had the biggest impact on me. The general themes of self-accepting ones own perversions and kinks genuinely got me accepting and being way more open with my own and others'.

The bdsm magical girl show made me a better person which is a hell of a thing to say.

1. Girls Band Cry

RAISE YOUR MIDDLE FINGERS WITH ME! (or at least you pinkies as we sadly can't have the actual members of TogeToge flipping their audience off every live show…)

Hands down the best band anime yet, easily a rival to Studio Orange's work as one of the best 3DCG anime out there and without a doubt the best completely original anime released this year. It's writing was consistently strong from beginning to end with a few episodes outright being some of the best 20 minutes of anime this year (episode 8 and 11 in particular). The entire cast was super fun with Nina in particular being an incredibly interesting protagonist. And god the music is some of the best out of any band anime with Togenashi Togeari easily being up there in my top 3 bands of all times and I've basically not gone a single week without listening to every one of their songs on repeat.

Girls Band Cry might be the most near perfect anime in years and is easily the series I'd most recommend everyone pick up from this year (now that you can actually do so legally cause god damn was it a crime that this one wasn't picked up by streamers when it aired).

[a-forbidden-detective]

‘It’s between lovers’

RonToto shippers, we have our own version of Gojo-Geto off JJK0 or the Whisper scene from “Lost in Translation.”

I admit that plot-based voice cancellation is the least favorite trope of mine. But, what is it exactly?

Sometimes, one line can change everything — for the characters as well as the audience. So, often, if that line has to come up early on, it will be cancelled out by some other noise, such as a truck passing or a plane taking off, or, in the case of dream worlds and other special cases, for no obvious reason whatsoever.

After being annoyed trying to find out from the mouth of Sofia Coppola what actually could Bob mean when he whispered something to Charlotte , she had this to say on the film’s 15th anniversary,

Just acknowledging that week meant something to both of them and it affects them going back to their lives. People always ask me what’s said. I always like Bill’s answer: that it’s between lovers – so I’ll leave it at that.”

Or Gojo’s words that made Geto say “You should at least curse me at the end.”

The only thing that was definite and official is that Ron says“thank you” to Toto, courtesy of Crunchyroll.

But Ron’s speech was long and if you look at Toto’s reaction it would be a life-altering moment. This isn’t the simple declaration of comradeship. This is something more intimate thinking that the anime crew knows the implications of these scenes to the viewers. They understand what are we going to say after we watch the scenes unfold. The effects, the way the story will evolve after this arc.

Toto’s pupils are dilated for one. His mouth is a complete O. These appearances are not part of the manga. These are anime exclusive.

What did Sherlock say about dilated pupils?

Irene Adler: Oh, dear God. Look at the poor man. You don't actually think I was interested in you? Why? Because you're the great Sherlock Holmes, the clever detective in the funny hat?

Sherlock Holmes: No... because I took your pulse: elevated; your pupils: dilated. I imagine John Watson thinks love's a mystery to me, but the chemistry is incredibly simple and very destructive. When we first met, you told me that disguise is always a self-portrait; how true of you. The combination to your safe: your measurements - but this… [taking her cell phone] ... this is far more intimate. This is your heart, and you should never let it rule your head.

How about the scientific side of it :

Why Eyes Dilate: Increased Oxytocin

Oxytocin is the warm and fuzzy love hormone released after intimate connection. In empathic, healthy people (i.e. not psychopaths), oxytocin gets released after a hug, a sweet conversation, seeing a baby, or connecting strongly with someone. When oxytocin releases, pupils often dilate too.

The censored dialogue might irritate me along with the non-announcement of season 3. But, I still keep optimistic bc for the meantime we have these chapters animated. It is in our power to reinterpret it through fan fiction and fan arts. I just hope that this is not the end of interpreting Akira Amano’s work to our TV or handy screens.

[milkoomi]

₊˚⊹ ᰔ a guide to building confidence ᝰ.ᐟ

confidence doesn’t come easy when we live in a world full of standards that we feel like we have to follow and uphold. let go of those standards and focus on you and what you want for yourself.

let’s begin !!

ᝰ.ᐟ posture

your posture might be one of the first things people notice about you! so stand up straight, bring your shoulders back, and lift your head up high! having good posture isn’t just good for your back, but it’ll also make you feel more regal, classy, and come off as more confident.

people always tell me that they love how i hold myself, and part of that is thanks to my posture! i walk into any room with my head held high and standing tall because i want people to see that i hold myself to the highest standard and i want to feel that way too!

ᝰ.ᐟ maintain eye contact

this is a hard one, for me at least. it’s something i’m still practicing! but being able to maintain eye contact not only shows that you’re engaged in a conversation, but also shows that you aren’t afraid to communicate with whomever you’re speaking to!

i’m neurodivergent, so eye contact is not one of my strong suits, but what’s helped me in conversations is to look at the person who’s speaking while i listen and once it’s my turn to speak, i’ll maintain eye contact for short periods of time as i talk and then gradually continue to keep the eye contact going! it also helps if you look at one of the eyes of the person you’re speaking to and focusing on that rather than their entire face!

ᝰ.ᐟ speak up

for my soft spoken babes out there, you are allowed to get a little loud! if you’re someone who tends to hear “i’m sorry, what?” or “i can’t hear you” you gotta speak up! as someone who was told that all throughout my younger years in middle/high school, i got tired of it really quickly, so i started to raise my voice a bit whenever i spoke. now, i’m not saying you have to go out and start yelling at people, but just use a bigger voice whenever you talk!

it also helps to articulate your words more! mumbling can be a sign of anxiety or insecurity, so be clear with your words. speak with clarity!

ᝰ.ᐟ be, unapologetically, yourself

when you start doing things because you want to or because it makes you happy, you start feeling so much better about yourself. immerse yourself in things you enjoy rather than what people say you should enjoy. live for yourself, play by your own rules, and stop succumbing to what other people want from you!

get that hair cut, dye your hair that color, wear those clothes & accessories, do your makeup how you want to, get into the hobbies you’ve been dying to enjoy, listen to the music that makes you feel good! be your most authentic self!

ᝰ.ᐟ dress to impress yourself

to go off of that previous point, it’s important to wear what you feel the most comfortable in! wear what makes you feel good and makes you feel like the best version of yourself!

don’t dress for anyone else but you! you should be the only one you’re trying to impress! if you feel great in the clothes you decide to wear, then keep wearing them! find a style that you feel like you would absolutely devour in!

ᝰ.ᐟ learn to accept criticism

“but you just said-!” hold on, babe!!! i mean this in a professional sense! when it comes to your job, career, and/or your education, learn to accept that constructive criticism from your mentors/teachers/higher ups!

i used to dread being told that there was something i needed to improve on, but it turns out that that constructive criticism helped me grow in my field, in my schooling, and even as a person. learning to accept that kind of criticism will help you more than you think. it allows you to continue to grow, to see what exactly it is that still needs a little bit of work, and with that information you can hone and sharpen your skills, your knowledge, and yourself which will lead to more personal growth! and with that growth comes more achievements, and with more achievements, the more confidence you’ll have for yourself!

ᝰ.ᐟ stop the negative self-talk

if you don’t like being put down by others, why would you do that to yourself? continuously putting yourself down or talking poorly about yourself will only continue to bring down your own confidence. the insecurities will only take over even more if you keep bringing yourself down with negative self-talk.

be kind to yourself. you should love yourself as you love your friends, family, and partner(s). you deserve kindness, especially from yourself! make it a daily goal to look in the mirror and compliment yourself the way a loved one would!

𝜗𝜚 final notes 𝜗𝜚

building confidence isn’t an easy feat, a lot of this is so much easier said than done, but if you want to have personal growth you have to put in the work towards making yourself better, and make sure you’re making these changes and going through these growths for you and not anyone else. i know a lot of us want to be treated a certain way, so start with treating yourself that way!

live and love, babe.

sincerely, juno ⭑.ᐟ

[creampuffqueen]

Not to Plan

Korrasami Week 2024 - Free Day

Summary: Korra accidentally mixes up her schedule, leaving her on airkid babysitting duty the same night she's meant to go on a date with Asami. Chaos ensues.

Word count: 4613

----

“Hm…” Korra brushes her fingers through her hair again, lower lip pouting in concentration. “Do you think this is too much?” 

From her perch on her bed, Ikki shakes her head emphatically. “No way. You look so beautiful, I bet Asami is gonna pass out when she sees you!” 

Korra grimaces a bit at her reflection in the mirror. “I don’t think making her pass out is exactly the kind of impression I’m going for, Ikki.”

The young airbender ignores the comment, bouncing off the bed to stand at Korra’s side. She spends a long moment examining Korra’s outfit every which way, before stepping back and stroking her chin thoughtfully – not unlike the way her father strokes his beard in the same motion. “Actually, you could probably use something more.”

“More?” Korra snorts, “Really? I feel like this is already a lot.”

“No, trust me, you need more,” Ikki replies, pushing Korra backwards and forcing her to sit down on the bed. “I know these things. Aunt Kya let me help her get ready for her date with Chief Beifong the other day. I know just what you need!”

Korra isn’t entirely sure if she should be putting her date night appearance entirely in the hands of a twelve year old, but the swirling in her stomach won’t let her relax. She and Asami haven’t seen each other in days, and haven’t had a proper date in weeks. She knows Asami won’t mind what she wears, but her girlfriend always looks so stunning when they go out, and Korra wants to try and make her feel the same way.

“Here we go!” Ikki, who had used the time Korra was lost in her thoughts to rummage around in her dresser, now triumphantly brandishes a large makeup palette in both hands. “I knew Asami left one of these over here at some point.”

Korra’s stomach flips again. “Makeup? I don’t know, Ikki, I’m not very good at that stuff, not the way Asami is –”

“You’re not putting it on by yourself,” Ikki admonishes. “That’s what I’m here for! Now, close your eyes and let the master work…”

A quick glance at a nearby clock confirms another one of Korra’s fears: she’s running out of time. Arguing with Ikki will take too long, so instead she braces herself for what she might see in the mirror afterwards, and closes her eyes.

The chatterbox airbender falls silent for the first time all day as she works, gently blotting and swiping different powders onto Korra’s face with surprising precision. A few strokes over her cheekbones, some soft taps against her eyelids, a smear of gloss over her lips, and…

“Done. Do you like it?”

Korra’s eyelashes flutter as she parts them, peering back at herself in the mirror. She looks… good. Really good, actually. 

Ikki glances up at her, eyes wide, still silent. She opens her mouth to speak, but Korra sweeps her into a hug before she can. “It looks fantastic, Ikki. Thank you.”

The clock on the dresser chimes for the half hour mark, breaking their embrace. Korra stands up, brushing her dress off in an attempt to keep it as smooth as possible. “Alright, time to go. Thanks again for helping me get ready.”

Ikki vaults off the bed, voice restored. “No problem! Let me get my shoes and then I’ll be ready to go too!”

“Go too – wait, what?” Korra tries to call after her, but Ikki is already out the door, sprinting down the hallway to her own bedroom. “Ikki, what do you mean, go too?”

“Mom and Dad’s meeting with President Moon is tonight, remember?” Korra bites back a shout of surprise, whirling around to stand face to face with Jinora, who has seemingly appeared out of thin air.

“Meeting with the president…” Her stomach drops. “Oh no.”

Jinora’s mouth tightens into an awkward grimace. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

Korra responds with a grimace in kind, voice panicked and soft. “I did.” Things have been so busy lately, keeping her away from her girlfriend, that she jumped at the offer of a date without bothering to check, well, the date. And now she’s double booked herself. 

“Are your parents still here?” Korra asks desperately.

“They left half an hour ago,” Jinora replies.

“What about the air acolytes?”

Another wince from the teenager. “Dad gave them the night off because you said you’d watch us.”

“Jinora, Asami and I have a table for two booked at Kwong’s Cuisine. How am I supposed to fit four more people there? Not to mention, it’s a date.”

“I can stay behind if you want,” Jinora offers, voice a bit too even for Korra’s liking.

She narrows her eyes. “Didn’t Kai just get back from a relief trip yesterday?”

The blush on the younger girl’s face gives her away instantly. “Maybe.”

Korra sighs, placing a hand on Jinora’s shoulder. “Nice try, kiddo, but not a chance. If your dad found out I left his fifteen year old daughter unsupervised on the island with her boyfriend… I think you’d have to start searching for the next Earth Avatar.”

“That’s not fair, though!” Jinora protests, “You’re getting to spend time with you partner, why can’t I?”

“Because I am an adult,” Korra reminds her, “And you are not. Besides, with you four around it’s not like we’ll get to spend any time alone. Speaking of - Ikki, Meelo, Rohan, let’s go!”

Jinora huffs, crossing her arms in the universal symbol of teenage frustration. Korra lets her, remembering how she was doing the same thing only a few years ago. The other kids emerge from their rooms at her call, thankfully looking put together enough that she can haul them over to the ferry.

Or, wait – Rohan’s shoes are untied.

“Is everyone ready?” Korra asks, heading over to the youngest of the airbending children to help with his shoe situation.

“I gotta tie my shoes first,” Rohan pipes up, plopping himself onto the floor and grabbing at his laces.

“Here, let me help –”

“No Korra, I can do it by myself!” The five year old insists. Korra bites the inside of her cheek, trying to keep her cool. Normally she wouldn’t have an issue waiting for Rohan to tie his own shoes, but they’re on a time crunch tonight.

“Rohan, we need to go. Let me just tie your shoes real quick.”

“I can do it!” He repeats, scooting away from Korra’s grasp. Slowly, moving at what must be a tortoise-slug’s speed, he pulls his laces tight and begins the delicate process of making a neat bow. 

Korra watches intently as Rohan ties his first shoe, and then starts on the other. The second shoe seems to pose more of a challenge, the boy sticking his tongue out in concentration, fingers clumsy and tangling. They’re going to be here all night at this rate.

“The right shoe is always harder,” Rohan complains, and yet when Korra offers once again to help, he rejects her outright, once again demanding he be allowed to do it on his own. 

Then, to Korra’s utter devastation, the horn of the ferry waiting at the dock trills – once, twice, signalling the boat pulling out to make its journey back across the bay.

The three older kids wince in unison. Korra wants to slam her head against the wall, regretting every decision she’s ever made. She missed the ferry. There won’t be another for a few hours. Making it to this date is seeming less likely by the minute.

“Got it!” Rohan cheers, breaking the tension. He launches himself upwards and kicks his feet, showing off his shoelaces: two perfect bows, tied all by himself.

“That’s great, Rohan,” Korra praises weakly. The five year old beams, surging forward to grab her hand, none the wiser to the dilemma now facing her. 

“Maybe I should just call Asami and reschedule,” she mumbles. Nevermind she hasn’t laid eyes on her girlfriend in nearly a week.

“You can’t reschedule!” Ikki gasps, “You spent so much time getting ready!”

“I know, but we’re already late and –”

“We can take Pepper,” Jinora offers quietly, lifting the visage of teenage angst for a moment. 

“Yes, yes, let’s take Pepper,” Ikki agrees. She grabs Korra’s free hand, tugging her and Rohan along behind her. “Besides, I read in this magazine that ladies should arrive to dates fashionably late. The writer said it’s good to build tension.”

“What magazines?” Jinora probes, “We don’t get magazines here.”

Her little sister pointedly ignores her. Korra holds her breath for the inevitable spat, but thankfully Jinora decides to just ignore her in kind. Thank the spirits for that, at least.

Somehow, in the first stroke of good luck she’s had all evening, Jinora’s bison is already saddled up and ready to go. She chooses to ignore the obvious reasoning behind it, instead focusing on making sure her clothes stay clean on the flight over. 

“You should let Asami make you a wingsuit,” Meelo suggests as Jinora yip-yips her bison into the air. “Then all of us could have just flown over, no bison required.”

Korra sighs, leaning back against the saddle. “Maybe next time.”

Meelo nods sagely, advice given. He sticks a finger into his mouth, playing with a wiggly tooth. “Do you think Asami could pull this thing out with pliers? I’m a bit strapped for cash right now.”

“Airbenders don’t have money, Meelo,” Jinora calls over her shoulder. When she turns around again the ten year old sticks his tongue out at her, making a face.

“She won’t have her toolbox with her at dinner, so I doubt it,” Korra tells him. “What do you need money for, anyway?”

“It’s never too early to start saving for retirement,” Meelo replies nonchalantly. Korra honestly can’t tell if he’s joking. 

Though the flight into the city is short, Korra still can’t help the anxious tapping of her foot that starts up as the minutes tick by. And then keep ticking by, as Jinora searches for a place to land her massive sky bison in the middle of the Republic City Downtown. 

By the time Pepper is secured on the outskirts of a park, Korra is nearly ready to pull her own hair out. “Okay everyone, time to get a move on!” She hoists Rohan into her arms as she starts a strict pace, trusting the older three kids will follow.  

They tumble into Kwong’s about ten minutes later, sweaty, flushed, and messy. Korra can feel blisters beginning to form on her heels from her fancy shoes, and she dreads coming across a mirror and having to face her reflection looking like this. Truly, it’s a miracle that the doorman actually lets her inside the restaurant. 

“I have a reservation for Sato,” Korra gasps out, attempting to wrangle a squirming Rohan. 

The host raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Of course, Avatar. However, I remind you that your reservation is only for two diners.”

“Can’t you just pull up a few extra chairs?” She replies desperately. “This one can sit in my lap, and the others –”

“I can sit in my own chair!” Rohan interrupts, his tiny round face aghast. 

“I know you can, Rohan, but…”

“Korra? I thought I heard your voice!”

A sense of relief washes over her, muscles relaxing, face crinkling into a smile of its own accord as she turns to look at the one person she’s been dying to see all evening. Asami.

Her girlfriend looks utterly gorgeous, as expected. Hair pinned up in a way that leaves it flowing over one shoulder, jewelry glittering beneath the candlelights, red dress hugging her sides – at this rate, Korra might be the one passing out from her beauty.

“Asami!” Ikki and Meelo trill, nearly tackling her in a hug. Asami oofs as they barrel into her, but catches them and holds them both close with a smile.

“Hey guys, what are you doing here? Korra and I weren’t expecting company tonight.”

Before Korra can attempt to explain, in the most tactful way, that she’s been relegated to the role of babysitter for the next few hours, Jinora steals her thunder with a decisive “Korra forgot she was supposed to watch us tonight.”

“Uh, forgot, is not, um, exactly what I’d call it –”

Jinora rolls her eyes. “You forgot.”

Korra smiles sheepishly in Asami’s direction. “Okay. I might have forgotten. You look beautiful, by the way.”

“‘Sami is so pretty,” Rohan agrees from his perch in her arms. Asami, still locked in a double embrace from Meelo and Ikki, positively beams.

“Well, thank you both. How about we go sit down?” She pins the host with a pointed stare. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem to move us to a larger table with more seating.”

The man sweats beneath Asami’s gaze. Dabbing at his neck slightly, he nods hard enough that Korra wonders how his head stays on. “Of course, Miss Sato, right away.”

Meelo tilts his face upwards to glance at Asami. “I need you to teach me your ways.”

She laughs at that, somehow far more okay with this entire situation than Korra would expect anyone else to be. “Maybe another time.”

Asami manages to wriggle out of her hug-trap, coming close to twine Korra’s fingers with her own. “You also look beautiful, Korra.” She emphasizes her compliment by pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. Korra could melt from it.

“And your makeup – did you do this yourself? It looks amazing.”

Korra chuckles, shaking her head. “I can’t take credit for any of this, honestly. Ikki all but dressed me herself.”

Asami gives the younger girl another dazzling smile. “Well, I guess I’ll have to thank you then!” Pink tinges Ikki’s cheeks as she looks away, suddenly bashful. 

The host comes to announce that their new table is ready, and Asami ushers them all to follow after her. Rohan begins to squirm again in earnest, little arms outstretched in earnest desperation. “I wanna be with ‘Sami!”

You and me both, kiddo, Korra sighs internally. But, to keep things running smoothly, she sets Rohan back onto the floor to let him sprint to Asami’s side and cling to her hand. All Korra can offer is yet another apologetic glance. 

They attract more than a few stares as they settle at their table, each less subtle than the last. Korra can feel their eyes burning into the back of her head, making her begin to sweat. Oh spirits don’t let me start sweating here. She cringes to imagine what she must look like at this point.

“This place is so fancy,” Ikki murmurs in awe, staring enraptured at the small chandelier above their table. 

“Yeah, yeah, but is the grub any good?” Meelo asks, snagging a menu from the table. He props it in his lap so he can read and wiggle his tooth at the same time. Korra doesn’t have it in her to chastise him about putting his fingers in his mouth in public. 

Thankfully, she and Asami have managed to be sat next to each other, and her girlfriend turns to kiss her cheek again. “Anything in particular you’re hungry for, love?”

Korra bites her lip before she can reply with the first thought that comes to mind, all too aware of the little ears sitting nearby. “Um. Not sure yet. Definitely something with meat though; I’ve barely left Air Temple Island these last few days.”

Jinora tosses her menu onto the table with a long-suffering sigh, pulling their attention in her direction. “The vegetarian options here are shit.”

Her younger siblings gasp in unison, utterly affronted. “You can’t say that!” Rohan all but shrieks, Ikki and Meelo quickly repeating the sentiment. 

Asami glances at Korra, raising an eyebrow in a clear question of should you do something about that?

Korra just sighs, leaning in close to whisper in Asami’s ear. “She’s trying to get a rise out of me because I wouldn’t let her stay back on the island with Kai.”

Not that Korra isn’t empathetic towards the teenager’s need to let off some steam and test a few boundaries in the process, she can’t help but wish Jinora chose any other night but this one. This dinner is already going to be tough to get through without her angsting in the background the entire time. 

“Best to ignore it for now,” Asami whispers back in agreement. Beneath the table, she grabs Korra’s hand and squeezes, a silent support. Korra squeezes back, grateful for the backup.

Somehow, with their combined forces, they manage to find a meal that each of the children both can eat and want to eat. Jinora’s assessment of the vegetarian options was correct – they really are shit. 

The wait for their food passes in a blur. Korra can barely get more than a sentence to her girlfriend, their conversation constantly interrupted. Ikki’s babbling questions. Meelo’s current obsession of would-you-rather scenarios. Rohan’s excessive storytelling that never seems to have an endpoint. Korra wants to sink into the floor in frustration.

There’s a brief respite when the food finally arrives, with everyone eagerly digging into their plates. However, it’s only for a moment; Korra soon has to dedicate her attention to making sure Rohan chews with his mouth closed and Meelo uses his napkin. 

And then the kicker comes.

“Korra, I need to use the bathroom.”

The waterbender barely suppresses her sigh. “Can you hold it for a bit, Rohan? Everyone’s almost finished, and then we can go home.”

The young boy shakes his head gravely. “I can’t hold it. I drank too much water.”

“Okay then. Let’s go potty real quick. Come on, I’ll take you.”

Rohan hops up from his chair, and it quickly becomes evident how dire the situation is – he’s squirming in place, rocking back and forth, bouncing from foot to foot. 

Korra offers her hand. “The bathroom’s this way, Rohan.”

Despite his obvious potty-dance, Rohan still takes the time to point at Asami. “Can ‘Sami come too?”

“Asami is gonna stay with your siblings, buddy.”

“But I want her to come with us!”

Korra takes a heartbeat to pray to any spirits around for a bit more patience. “Do you want Asami to take you instead?”

A firm shake of his head. “No, I want you and ‘Sami.”

There really isn’t any time to argue, if the speed of his wiggling is anything to go by. “Fine. Asami, will you come to the bathroom with us? Jinora, you’re in charge for five minutes and five minutes only.”

“Nobody’s in charge of me!” Meelo protests, but Korra drowns him out, gesturing for Asami to follow as she nearly drags Rohan to the bathroom. An accident on these nice carpets is the absolute last thing she needs tonight.

Inside the bathroom, Rohan’s independent streak is still going strong, the five year old insisting he can do everything himself. For this, Korra hopes he’s right. With Rohan finally inside a stall to take care of business, she gets a second to lean against the counter and just breathe.

A soft hand twines with her own. Asami leans on the counter beside her, resting her head gently on Korra’s shoulder. “Well, tonight has been interesting, to say the least.”

“I’m so sorry,” Korra apologizes frantically. “I swear I didn’t mean for this to happen at all, and now I’ve ruined our first night together in weeks. I’m going to make this up to you, Asami, I promise.”

Asami leaves the counter to face Korra directly, green eyes alight with amusement. “Korra, you don’t have to apologize. Sure it’s not what we planned, but I love any time we spend together. Even if it’s not exactly perfect.”

Her hand comes to rest on Korra’s cheek, stroking it softly. “Besides, if tonight’s chaos means I get to see you like this… I’d say it’s pretty worth it.”

Korra blushes at the compliment, though she doesn’t look away. Asami grins wider, eyes flickering down to her lips. They lean in together, noses brushing, and –

“Finished!” Rohan announces from his stall, causing the two women to jolt away from one another, ending their kiss before it even starts.

Korra steps from Asami’s arms, smoothing her dress again. “Alright, come on out and wash your hands so we can get back to the table.”

There’s a pause. “Can you help me wipe?”

Asami smacks a hand over her mouth, muffling her sudden giggles. Korra can feel her face falling in devastation.

“No problem,” She mutters, heading into the stall. “No problem at all.”

~~~~

It’s clear there’s some sort of issue at their table before they even reach it. Korra can hear the raised voices from the moment they leave the restroom, carrying over the quiet chatter of the other patrons. They’re attracting stares again. 

Korra and Asami share a glance when they hear another cry of anguish and increase their pace, hurrying back to their table full of unsupervised children. 

The sight that greets them isn’t too pretty. Meelo is sobbing, tears and snot both pouring down his face. Ikki and Jinora are somehow arguing with each other even louder, pointing accusatory fingers over their brother’s shaking shoulders. 

“What is going on?!” Korra demands, rushing to their sides.

“I SWALLOWED MY TOOTH!” Meelo wails, another round of fat teardrops leaking from his eyes. 

“You what?!”

“Meelo swallowed his tooth!” Ikki repeats, voice panicked. 

“And it’s Ikki’s fault!” Jinora adds, scowling.

“It is not my fault!” Ikki shrieks, loud enough that Rohan, still standing with Asami, covers his ears. 

“You challenged him to see who could eat their food faster, and he ate so fast he didn’t notice his tooth fell out when he was chewing! It is totally your fault!”

Meelo cries even harder. Korra is at a loss for words.

“The – the tooth spirit isn’t gonna be able to leave me any present because I swallowed it,” Meelo hiccups, cheeks reddening.

“You should make Ikki give you her next tooth,” Jinora suggests, completely unhelpfully. That option only starts another round of tears and another round of yelling.

“All of you, QUIET!” Korra shouts, finally fed up. The three children pause, eyes wide. Meelo’s sobs soften out to sniffles, and the girls’ expressions quickly shift to ones of guilt. 

“How about I go grab the check?” Asami offers, scooping Rohan into her arms. “I think everyone’s done eating. I’ll meet you guys outside, okay?”

Korra nods in agreement, thankful for the help in wrangling the unruly mob currently disguising itself as children. She steps over to Meelo’s seat, lowering herself onto one knee – a bit awkwardly, due to her dress.

“Hey. Look at me, buddy.” Meelo sniffs again, wiping his nose. “I promise you, the tooth spirit is gonna know about your lost tooth. They’re a spirit; they don’t need to see your tooth to know you lost it. But if you want, when we get home, I can help you write a note just to make sure. How does that sound?”

Another sniffle. Meelo nods slowly. “That sounds good.”

Korra smiles, gently ruffling his hair until she sees the start of a giggle. Meelo situated, she turns to Ikki next.

“Ikki, it wasn’t your fault Meelo swallowed his tooth on accident. You couldn’t have known it was loose enough to fall out that easily. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“I didn’t mean it, I swear,” Ikki promises earnestly. “And I’m really sorry that you swallowed your tooth, Meelo.”

“There we go, that’s what I like to see,” Korra encourages. “You two, go catch up with Asami at the front while she pays the check. Jinora and I are gonna grab Pepper and come pick you guys up.”

With all the younger kids gone, Korra can focus her full attention on the teenager in front of her. But rather than try and force her to talk, she just gestures to the side door. “Come on, let’s go get your bison.”

She and Jinora walk side-by-side, completely silent. They reach Pepper after only a few minutes, and climb up the saddle together. Korra no longer cares about the fur or messing up her dress, so she makes sure to give the massive sky bison extra pets for her hard work. 

Jinora, sat on Pepper’s neck, slowly turns to look at Korra, eyes downcast. “I’m sorry, Korra. I haven’t been exactly… helpful tonight. I know you were looking forward to your date with Asami, and I’m really sorry if I’ve ruined it.”

Korra thinks back to Asami’s words in the restroom – how was that only twenty minutes ago? A soft chuckle escapes her lips. “It’s anything but ruined, don’t you worry.”

Jinora sighs. “Still. I’m sorry. I know I’ve been really annoying.”

“Listen to me,” Korra replies gently. “You are one of the most special, talented, important teenagers in the entire world, Jinora. But you’re still a teenager. I think we forget that sometimes – me included. So sure, you weren’t on the best behavior ever tonight. We all have bad days. There’s nothing you’ve said or done that can’t be fixed, I promise.”

Jinora surges from her perch to wrap Korra in a hug so tight she hardly breathe. “Thank you.”

Korra pats her back weakly, wheezing slightly. “No problem, kiddo. You know I’m always here for you.”

They linger in their hug for a few more moments, then Jinora finally releases her to grab Pepper’s reins. The sky bison makes the journey back to the restaurant in under a minute, then hovers outside until Asami and the other kids finally emerge from the front doors.

“There’s nowhere to land!” Asami calls into the sky, hands cupped around her mouth.

Korra peers over the edge of the saddle, grinning. “Not a problem. Hold yourself steady; I’ll air-spout you up!”

Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan create small whirlwinds of their own to propel themselves upwards, each of them landing expertly into the saddle. They join Korra at the side, watching her next moves with eager anticipation.

Asami is far better at being air-spouted than Mako ever was, even in her fancy dinner dress. The wind whips around her as Korra spirals her arms, and when her black locks tumble into her face she just pushes them aside and keeps smiling.

The air built up, Korra flicks her wrist, and Asami’s feet leave the ground as the air-spout carries her – right into Korra’s waiting arms. 

“Stuck the landing,” Asami giggles, wrapping her arms over Korra’s neck. Jinora gives another yip-yip, and Pepper takes flight for Air Temple Island. 

“You know I’ll always catch you,” Korra replies, letting herself get lost in Asami’s green eyes. 

“Kiss!” A small voice demands from their side. Korra breaks their gaze to glance downwards, finding Rohan clinging to her dress, chubby cheeks parted around an excited smile.

“Yeah, kiss!” Ikki joins in, bouncing eagerly in place.

“KISS, KISS, KISS!” Meelo chants, pumping his fists in the air. The other kids quickly join in, even Jinora, from her place at the reins.

“I don’t think we can deny them,” Asami laughs, the faintest hint of pink flushing over her cheeks. 

“I don’t think we can, either,” Korra agrees, a laugh of her own bubbling up from her chest. 

They lean in together, eyes closed, noses brushing. Their lips find each other like magnets, drawn together helplessly. Asami sighs into the kiss, and it’s the most beautiful sound Korra has ever heard. 

She kisses her back with the same excitement, heart fluttering. The rest of the world falls away, leaving only this. Only Asami. 

Their date night hasn’t been ruined. Not by any means.

----

thanks so much for reading! this will be posted on ao3 as well.

hopefully i was able to properly capture the chaos that comes with watching children lol

@korrasamiweek2024

[bowsnstrings]

What Do I Do?

Onyankopon x Black Coded Character ✌️🏾

Summary: Going to the club is supposed to be stress free, especially when going with friends. But, when Milana sees her handsome plug with a girl, all she can wonder is what will she do?

Warning MDNI!: Mentions of weed, Mentions of drinking, Original character with original descriptions.

Word Count: 3.6k

Oh, Milana’s for sure ready to go home. Ladies free before eleven and she, Mikasa, and Sasha arrived just in time at 10:45 to turn up, and it was already a disaster. She let both of them dress her up, because she was too nervous trying to pick an outfit for herself. Of course the two decided to dress her up in the most revealing set they could find and her tallest heels.

“I just want to be comfortable, girl. Besides I never wore this out the house before.” Milana whined as she tried to tug the top down a bit to at least cover her first few ribs. It sat just under her breasts, making them look bigger, along with the midi skirt resting at the top of her ass leaving a long gap of skin.

“You are comfortable, it’s crochet. What’s a more comfortable material?” Sasha giggled on the bed next to Mikasa as she opened another one of Milana’s candles to smell.

“Yeah, plus you look hot. And when a queer woman tells you that you look hot, you’d better believe them.” Mikasa didn’t even spare another glance as she replied, only reaching for more items on Milana’s nightstand.

“Get out of my stuff, Mikasa. And, you tell me I’m hot like everyday.” She rolled your eyes and turned around to face them both, leaning over Sasha who laid in her pillows.

“So? Anyways, I think we should make a pact that if we both turn 30 and are still single, we should just get married.” Mikasa shrugged casually, sitting on the bed and looking at Milana while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“If I’m 30 and still single, just end my miserable existence.” She deadpanned, Sasha and Mikasa laughing like it was the joke of the century.

“Alright girl, we get it. But don’t act like you’ll be single still for long.” Mikasa giggled out with a smile.

“Yeah, you’ve only been single-”

“All my life?”

“Right.” Sasha wheezed, holding back more of her unnecessary laughter and tears.

“Just ‘cause you have a man doesn’t mean you can rub it in my face y’know.” Milana rolled her eyes at Sasha’s antics and her dramatic gasp of false shock.

“Excuse me, I have a fine ass man. Thank you very much.” Oh God, if she never hears about Connie’s ass again it’ll still be too soon. That man sure does love Sasha down though, and it’s cute to see them both together after all these years.

“Oh, please excuse me. Just because he’s fine doesn’t mean you have to tell us every five seconds.” Milana pointed out, Mikasa calling out an “Amen” behind her.

“Uhh, yes it does. In fact I have to remind you because this is the first time you’ve acknowledged that he’s fine.” After two years of them being together you’d think she’d stop trying to convince Milana that he’s good looking.

“Girl, everyone knows Connie is fine.” She sighed in defeat, giving into her friend as she fist pumped the air in victory. “He’s just not our type.” Her bracelets jingled as she gestured between herself and Mikasa.

“What’s y’all’s type then?” Sasha rolled her eyes at the two of them, crossing her arms as she looked for a response.

“For starters, breasts.” Mikasa made everyone laugh, pausing the conversation until they both looked at Milana expecting an answer.

“I don’t know. I guess I want tall, dark, and emotionally intelligent.” She sighed, laying back on her bed and tossing her hair from behind her head. Sasha was giving her the stink eye for messing up the hard work she put into straightening her hair, but Milana couldn’t care less right now.

The two of her best friends cooed down at her, rubbing at her shoulders with affectionate hands before Sasha spoiled the moment with her big mouth. “Emotionally intelligent might be too hard to find though.”

“Screw y’all.” Milana mumbled, hiding her face in her hands to cover a smile as they all started laughing again. “Whatever, let’s just go get some drinks and forget about my nonexistent love life.”

That’s exactly why she was trying to dance away the thought now, her hands wrapped around her middle as she prayed the shot of tequila she had earlier would start giving her some liquid courage. She swayed her hips side to side slowly, breathing almost mechanically as she tried to remain cool, calm, and collected.

The goal was to look nonchalant, unreadable, mysterious. Probably not as nervous as she looked right then, making eye contact with some random guy lingering at a table. Oh wow, she was definitely clutching her purse tighter on her shoulder after one look at him. He was staring her down heavily, his teeth clamped over his lower lip while drunkenly looking like a creep.

When their eyes caught each other, he mistakenly took her look of disgust for something more of a compliment. Christ, she was about to bite her acrylics in fear. She quickly spun on her heels, turning and walking off the dance floor to find the bar.

Milana’s breathing was downright labored trying to make it there, weaving through the crowd and feeling closed in. Why did she feel so exposed? Maybe it would’ve been easier if Mikasa and Sasha were with her, but she didn’t even know where they had gone.

Their small table was empty, and they all had their bags with themselves. She could try calling them but she wouldn’t even be able to hear over the loud music. Milana sighed, feeling slightly lonely and shy all of the sudden, wanting to be anywhere else but at the club of all places.

Once she made her way to the bar, she jumped at the chance to snag a stool with space between other people. At least she got the opportunity to breathe for a second and recollect herself. The bartender looked like a nice enough girl as well, leaning in to hear her well.

“What would you like tonight, hon?” The woman questioned while looking at the screen to pull up a tab for her. Milana leaned over slightly, one hand wrapped around her midsection as she cupped her mouth with the other.

“Can I get a house special, please?” She asked, trying to speak louder over the noise around them.

“Which one, you like something sweet?” The bartender must’ve guessed based off of how timid she was being.

“Yes please, the sweetest you have!” Smiling with a nod, the woman left to go prepare whatever she rung up, leaving Milana in her own world for a second. Her eyes scanning this area of the club while tabbing her thighs over the yarn of her skirt. Her bracelets made waves of jingles she could hear and feel, comforting her slightly in her effort to have a good time tonight.

As her head followed her line of sight, she turned to face the all exclusive vip section, large booth tables with loud partying and bottle girls crowding all around. The sparklers looked pretty as they fizzled out onto the floor, women in tight dresses and tall heels shaking ass all around the flashing lights. It was all captivating, but probably too much to actually be around.

Milana hummed along to a familiar song as she roamed over the sofa in the middle, her eyebrows scrunching when she noticed some familiar blonde hair with highlights. Sasha? What was she and her big mouth doing in a section? Her mouth fell agap, noticing the scene playing out in front of her. Connie sitting on a sofa, holding Sasha in his lap as he smoked a blunt, her hand rubbing over his buzz cut as he caressed her back gently. They looked like the epitome of the perfect couple, and she would’ve smiled at the sight if it weren’t for who was sitting right next to them.

Ony. No, Onyankopon. The guy who dropped her off some weed a month ago, the one who’s been on her mind for weeks on end, and the last person who she wanted to see right now. Please anything but him, she was just starting to feel more comfortable.

He looked so good too, a handsome furrow to his brows as he held a phone to his ear, shaking his head at whoever he was talking to. Wow, he was criminally attractive, even when looking irritated. Black sweats with a matching hoodie, black and white Jordan’s clean as ever on his feet, with a beanie covering his head. A scowl on his face as he adjusted his chain, rotating the iced out Cuban link that glittered under the strobe lights.

His eyes seemed to be scanning the room, like he was waiting for someone, when a girl came up to him. She was… pretty. Like something that came out of a man’s imagination of the perfect woman. Her proportions out of this world in a way that couldn’t be anything but bought, a cocky smile to her face as she walked around holding up her skirt while she moved. Confident, like she had been pretty all her life, and was heading Ony’s way to lean all up into his face.

He didn’t move back, eyes narrowing in on her, mouth turning up into a scowl. That’s all she could make out before his face was covered momentarily by the girl’s hair as she whispered something in his ear. It looked intimate, like she had caught them in the middle of something that she wasn’t really supposed to see. It took a while until she pulled away, and he looked up at her, a calmer expression to him, when his eyes shifted left and made contact with hers. Oh no.

“Here’s that drink for you.” The bartender set it down in front of her, an orange cocktail, pretty with a light layer of foam and a slice of passion fruit. A shot of something bubbly to go with it.

“Thank you. It looks great, what’s it called?” She gave her full attention to opening her purse, grabbing her wallet and phone to take a picture.

“A pornstar martini. With a shot of Prosecco.”

“A what?” Her mouth dropping in shock until she remembered she was in public. There was no way that woman said that to her. The woman laughed softly, causing Milana to cringe at herself for blurting that out. The both of them paused when they heard a rich, deep voice behind her.

“Milana?”

She turned in the stool, eyes wide at the realization that Ony was out of his seat and standing over her. With a smile too, pretty and casual, both rows covered by diamond grillz that sat over them, shining brighter than the sparklers at his forgotten table.

“Hi-It’s just Lana, no one calls me Milana. We don’t have to be so formal, I don’t even know why I told you about that-” She stopped herself, getting the feeling that she wasn’t saying the right thing and started over. “Sorry. I’m just surprised to see you here.”

Ony’s eyes crinkled slightly, his smile growing wider. Hands in his pockets, acting like being nonchalant was in his job description. A blunt tucked behind his ear, resting there for whatever reason, eyes lazy and slightly red around his brown irises. “Nice drink.”

Her face immediately flushed, embarrassed to think that he might’ve caught the name by accident and was gearing up to make fun of her, in the middle of the club of all places! This was officially worse than her worst nightmare. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, when Mikasa quickly stepped in, appearing out of nowhere.

“Girl, there you are! I was looking everywhere for you. Connie and his friends decided to crash the same club so now we’re joining them.” Mikasa rambled, barely sparing the scene in front of her a glance until her eyes widened in realization. Her best friend was sitting and talking to a man in the club by herself for the first time… ever.

“Hey, Mikasa.” Ony nodded to her, eyes barely moving from Milana as she sat there trying not to combust in her seat. Mikasa looking between the both of them curiously, a wide grin sliding onto her face.

“Hey, Ony. Funny seeing you here.” She said, obviously referring to him standing in front of Milana. Her face and gestures not too subtle, if she could give her friend a high five right now, she would’ve done it. The man only leaned his head back to see his table from where they gathered.

“You two come join us.” He decided, not leaving any room for discussion, reaching a hand out towards Milana. She looked down at it questioning his action then realizing that he was offering to help her out of the chair. Her hand slid into his, different than when he passed her those prerolls a while ago.

This felt flirtatious? She didn’t really know due to lack of experience, but she could tell by the way he was holding her. His other hand was gentle as it rested on her arm, helping her to get on her heel clad feet. “Put her drink on my table, Ronnie.”

Did he just pay for her drink? Her mouth opened to decline, watching him already begin walking her to his section by her hand. “Do I get a drink too, Ony?” Mikasa called after them, snickering behind her hand as she stayed to talk to the bartender.

“Ony, that’s really not necessary.” She said almost incredulously, this whole scenario throwing her for a loop. What was he doing, and why? That little nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to run for it the second she got a chance. There’s no way he’s just being nice for no reason.

“Calm down, Mama. It’s my treat.” He smiled so reassuringly, but inside he couldn’t help but feel anything but intense. Fuck, he’d been waiting so long for this moment. Patiently checking his phone, standing by, counting the days until she needed him again. He thought she’d call by now, but realized he underestimated how shy she was.

Milana looked so good too, tiny even in those bamboo heels, but walked as graceful as ever. One hand trying to cover her stomach where a cute belly button ring sat, body covered in that grey and purple set that accentuated everything on her. Her hips round then sinking into her waist, his hands itching to follow that curve, eyes trailing up to where her tiny excuse for a crop top showed off her pushed up breasts.

Her hair straightened, and he was able to see more of her face, especially now that her glasses were missing. Makeup covering those light freckles he got a glance of last time, instead highlighting her natural features. Long fluffy lashes batting up at him as her mouth scrunched into a cute pout, glossy pink lips and brown liner making his mouth water.

Ony eased into his seat, hand still holding onto Milana as all eyes turned to them. Sasha and Connie both looking at their respective best friends in shock, wonder, and amusement. Squirming under their gaze, she turned to Ony, eyes cast downward to hide her face. “Where should I sit?” She asked with a meek whisper.

His legs spread, and she thought she was about to topple over as they moved slowly under her gaze. A chuckle she couldn’t hear leaving his mouth, seeing just how dazed he could get her in seconds flat. Pulling her by her hand to sit on his waiting thigh, her feet swaying off the ground as she sat perched on top of him.

“Oh.” Was all she could muster out, her brain about to explode trying to figure out what this meant. Thankfully, Mikasa cut in once again, placing down her forgotten drinks in front of her along with a cranberry vodka for herself. Milana’s hand shaking as she grabbed her shot, downing the Prosecco with one nervous gulp, wondering why life had to play jokes on her like this.

Seriously, she never once even flirted with a man before this and now she was sitting on the lap of a guy she didn’t even have the courage to call. Her body was basically vibrating, Sasha and Connie snickering in their seat while looking at her, this is the last time she’s ever going to the club with them.

She would’ve at least made an attempt to get comfortable in her current situation if it weren’t for the same girl from earlier suddenly returning. Up close, she was unfairly pretty, long straight bundles of hair flowing in behind her. Her lips constricted in a scowl as soon as she made eye contact with Milana, making her freeze up and ready herself for the storm that was brewing.

“You have my eighth?” She asked, voice low with disdain and eyes practically staring a hole in the side of Milana’s face. Ony’s hand coming down to rub his thumb against her knee, his expression never changing as he basically ignored the girl standing over them. For a moment, there it was just a staring match between the two girls as he sat there, seemingly in control.

“You have my money?” Ony asked, his hand producing a small bag like it was a magic trick, tossing it onto the table next to the woman. Milana’s arms crossing over her body, a brave face put on, trying to act like she hadn’t noticed the girl seething at her. If he was going to act like she wasn’t bothering him then she would too.

“Don’t act brand new now that you got some girl in yo’ lap.” She smacked her lips, snatching up the bag and leaving the cash in its place, Milana looking to Sasha momentarily to share a look of agreement that whoever she was needed to leave.

“Yo, Deedra? You still on Ony’s dick like that? Think it’s time to move on, huh?” Connie didn’t even bother hiding his amused smirk, obviously poking at a sensitive subject. Ony never said anything else, just watching how the higher he slid his thumb, the more breathless Milana became.

Deedra, or whoever that girl was, decided she had enough of the back and forth, especially when Ony wasn’t really fighting back. Everyone watching as she stormed off, and the tension left with her, leaving the air clear to breathe again.

“What a weirdo.” Sasha rolled her eyes, laying back into Connie’s arms more.

“Yeah, but uhh-what’s up with this?” Connie pointed out, his hand gesturing between Milana and Ony who was currently tossing his head back with a smack to his lips.

“Don’t worry about it, alright? Just taking care of her tonight.” He outright smirked while she only tried to avoid everyone’s teasing eyes, picking up her drink and trying to calm her nerves.

“Speaking of taking care of her, we’d better take Milana home. It’s getting late, and I want to get home as soon as possible.” Sasha squealed as her man laid a kiss to her neck, everyone groaning at their constant displays of affection.

“Actually,” Ony cut in, another shock added to the night as he gave out a kind gesture, something he wasn’t too keen on dishing out to everyone. “I’ll take her.”

“Really?” Milana asked, her hand coming up to sweep her hair to the side, exposing her bare neck to him. He thought about adding a necklace there, a nice chain, matching his on her lovely hot chocolate skin.

“All you have to do is say please.” Ony wanted to add the fact that if she said please he’d take her anywhere she wanted to go, especially if she wanted to come home with him. He watched in amusement as she finally raised her head, stuttering through her sentence.

“Could you take me-me home, please?” The anxiety was eating Milana up, being so close to him, enough to smell his cologne. It was strong, masculine, but not overpowering. Earthy and

woodsy with hints of sage and patchouli, it was perfect.

“Oh you’re a good girl, aren’t you?” Ony chuckled at her reaction, that high gasp of shock she let out at his whispered words. Eyes trying to avoid his as her body tried its best not to get close to his chest, and she was failing miserably at both. He had her right where he wanted her. “Always doing what you’re told. Bet you’ve never broken a rule in your life.” He said as he leaned down, getting in her face, making Milana practically melt into his waiting body behind her. “Why are you trying to please me, Mama?”

“Please you?” She asked breathlessly, turning her head to watch as his dipped down low to get closer to her ear. The background of the club melted away, leaving her alone in the moment with him.

He nodded, a mischievous glint to his eyes while he used his hold on her to rest his hands on each side of her waist, further caging her in. “You’re making it real hard, y’know.” Before she could ask what he meant, Ony straightened back up, his hand smoothly sliding around to press against the small of her back.

Milana gasped, arching away from his hand in shock, her body pressing into his momentarily until she got used to the warmth of his palm on her skin. He scanned her face, making sure she was okay, then readied her to get on her feet. “Let’s get you home, pretty girl.”

[rocknrollsalad]

rating: gen cw: nothing i can think of tags: steddie as dads, sometime in the future, happily married, bickering as a sign of love, steve harrington needs to argue with someone, family game night, fluff, sweet stuff, word count: 993

written for @steddieholidaydrabbles prompt "fairy tales"

-

“Remember that one promise I made you when we got married?” Eddie asked, walking into the kitchen Steve was cleaning.

“I remember them all. You mow the lawn a lot less than you said you would.”

“That’s because you’re so particular!”

“Don’t you dare. It’s because you don’t want to rake up the clippings, dude. You know that, I know that, but it’s so necessary.”

“It’s not,” Eddie glared at Steve’s back, steam coming out of his ears as he tried to get himself back on track. “That’s not the one I mean, either.”

“Can you…be more specific then? I feel like me guessing is just asking for a fight.”

“Maybe that’s what I’m going for.”

Steve turned around, bubbles up to his elbows and eyes bright enough to light the darkest caves. “Are you? Because I’ve been pissed off about that fucking grocery store bullshit all day and I could-I could just really, I mean. Oh my god, it would be so nice to yell and fight.”

“You already yelled at them,” Eddie threw his hands in the air, they were never going to make it to the point here but now he was feeling a bit guilty for getting Steve’s hopes up like that.

“I don’t feel any better,” Steve said plainly, shrugging his shoulders and looking at Eddie like he should understand.

Rather than respond, Eddie stayed quiet long enough that Steve knew he wasn’t getting the needed fight. He turned back to the dishes and took his frustration out on the spaghetti sauce-soaked plates.

Eddie knew he had to tread carefully. Steve was ready to go and it wasn’t going to take much now that Eddie had dangled the carrot.

“Okay, so I mean the part where I said I’d never ask you to fill in during dnd…again.”

“We learned that lesson in the worst way.”

“The closest I ever came to thinking we’d break up was after that,” Eddie nodded. They both paused for the flashback of that argument.

“I sense a ‘but’ coming though.”

“Well, not a ‘but’ so much as a technicality? We agreed you’d never fill in but nothing was said about just joining a campaign. From the beginning.”

“Do you think that’d go any better?”

“I do!” Eddie said, leaping across the kitchen to get into Steve’s space. “Because it wouldn’t be any campaign. I wouldn’t even invite the guys.”

“Just me and you? I don’t want to play pretend sitting around with you. That’s why you still have the Hellfire Club. Go play with them.”

Eddie sucked in a breath but held his words there for a second. “What about the kids?”

Again, it stopped Steve’s dishwashing and he looked at Eddie. It wasn’t a no but it was an invitation to say more. Eddie had to play this very carefully. This was closer than he expected to get.

Their kids were old enough, in Eddie’s opinion, to try their hands at Dungeons and Dragons. At nine and five, it wouldn’t be the full by-the-book campaign. An introduction to the core concepts though, an easy campaign with a focus around things they love, and the safety of their dads.

Eddie just had to get Steve on board.

“Okay, so I’ve spent the past month or so writing down what I could remember of those fairy tales you used to make up as bedtime stories. You’re actually really good at storytelling and you know how much they both loved them.”

Steve sighed, rinsing his hands off and giving Eddie his undivided attention. Reluctantly but Steve didn’t do much enthusiastically. Eddie knew how to read this and how to move forward.

“Well, they’re an amazing basis for a campaign. We could just putt around in our own little fairy tale world and learn the rules, fight a troll, and work together. It’d be chill, I promise. More about learning than anything else.”

“So why do you need me? Can't you just play with the kids?”

“I could. I will if you really don’t want to, though I might bring in Will and Gareth for numbers if that’s the case. But I want you there. They’re your stories and I think it’d be fun to finally play with you after all this time. We’ve got a short window where the kids are learning before they either get too good or don’t want to play.”

“You have…really thought about this,” Steve laughed.

“Actually, yeah, but it’s all sincere. It’s the perfect time to bring you into this with a perfect exit. It doesn’t need you so if you don’t want to, it’s fine, but I’d love to do this as a family. Something, something practicing safe dice rolls at home first,” Eddie tried to laugh, knowing the joke wouldn’t land and that it was barely formed.

Steve folded and unfolded the towel he’d dried his hands with, thinking this over. “For the kids,” he finally said.

Eddie’s mouth dropped open, the statement ping-ponging around his brain as he tried to process if it was, in fact, a statement and not a question. Then he said “No fucking way,” with several different inflections.

Before Eddie could vibrate out of the room, Steve put a hand on his shoulder. “I have a no-questions-asked exit though. If it gets anywhere close to what happened last time, I leave the game, you write me out, and we never, ever, ever try again, okay?”

“Yeah! Of course! I mean, I’d expect nothing less!! So, alright, you always told stories about this prince, did you see him as a fighter or what?”

Before the question finished, Eddie darted out of the kitchen to grab a notebook. He had pages of questions for Steve. This would take a lot of working out between them before bringing in the kids but Eddie was willing to do the work and Steve could keep doing chores. It was perfect. This was all going to be so perfect.

[shewhoeatssand]

I want to befriend Kaneki and meet with him and email him forever

[lilowoof]

ngl gamers, I think I'm gonna inevitably lose to the hormones and depression in the near future XD

Can't bring myself to be active cause I'm using a lot of energy to not vent post all the time. But fuck it, into the tags I go!

[arolesbianism]

Thinking abt Sif Odile duo looping au again and I wanna be able to plot everything out more coherently but act 5 eternally looms overhead and boy I do not wanna look up

[tardis--dreams]

Me panicking because i have 9 missed calls and 5 emails talking about my absence and how "a colleague could take over for me" vs. Me knowing it's really not that important no matter how pushy a client is and that on top of it I'm underpaid and have way to much overtime so i shouldn't even care