#but more platonic but if you ship it this fic can go either way

[doctor-bus]

just outlined a whole ass fic (we'll see if I can actually polish it, but imo it's pretty good so I hope so) and I'm just sitting here going. when I post this. do I tag it as the platonic or romantic ship.

[bamsywrites]

And Comes Dawn pt iii

Pairing: Sauron/Halbrand x Reader, more ships/love triangles to come, though, so stay tuned.

Summary: the deciver has decided he must get rid of you until a stranger reignites his curiosity in an unexpected way.

Word count: 2k

Notes: let me know if you wanna be tagged. I was not expecting this many people to like this fic. Thank you so much for the feed back, I read every comment and reblog multiple times. Keep any and all feedback coming. I'm super invested in this series and have so many plans that I'm so excited to write.

Tags/warning: male masturbation, nothing super explicit but sauron has some pretty unhealthy kinks, slow burn, saurons post nut clarity is murder plotting, sauron being sauron. galadriel finally shows up, cliffhanger

Series Masterlist

“She does nothing but sit there, day in and day out. Our rations are wasted on her!” 

“All of us sit and do nothing because there is fucking nothing to do.”

Halbrand and the older man were fighting again. Halbrand had become annoyed that the other had declared himself the de facto leader of the raft, and his anger exploded when it was proclaimed you had not 'earned' your rations. He had obviously found it absolutely insane and when you made no sound or protest, he took it upon himself to make it known how insane it was. 

“I am the leader here. I have organized the rations, I have kept order, and I have directed where we go.” The other man seemed offended. He had proven himself to be rather arrogant, and you held no surprise that he would suggest such a thing or believe that he was the leader of the raft.

“Oh great Lord of the Raft. How difficult your job must be. Deciding if we die a little to the west or a little to the east.” Halbrand rolled his eyes as he spoke. 

“Be sarcastic all you want. She's lucky we don't throw her in.” 

The air stilled and a dark shadow passed over Halbrands face, his jaw clenched and in a moment he had grabbed the other by their shirt, “The moment you do that is the moment I feed you and every single person on this raft to the wyrm.” Their faces merely inches apart,  Halbrands voice was cold, full of hatred, and it sent a chill over everyone on the raft. The older man stared up at him with fear, a fear so palpable and intense that it was as if he was looking into the eyes of the great foe himself. 

“Halbrand,” you spoke softly, fingers gently wrapping around his wrist and moving him away. “This is not what I wish.”

He turned to look at you and his gaze softened,tongue peaking out to wet his lips. The air flowed again, and the darkness lifted, “You wish to starve? Because that's his wish, that's his plan. He wants to make our supply of food last longer by taking the very little portion you have. He knows you would never say anything to him, and you can not ask me to sit back and watch you starve, sweet one.” His eyes searched your face as he spoke with such earnest conviction. 

“I do not wish for you to murder in my name,” you replied in a passionate whisper. 

Halbrand nodded, sighing softly, “Then I will not,” he leaned closer to you, so his lips were next to your ear, and you could feel his hot breath on your skin. Your breath caught in your voice as he whispered softly, “Know that I would, though. If you only asked, I would burn this raft and everyone on it to keep you safe.” 

He pulled away and pressed a soft kiss to the crown of your head as you stood speechless. The butterflies in your stomach exploded. This was new. Your interactions had been purely platonic until this point. He never presented himself as someone more than a friend, and you had been content with that. Yet you enjoyed the feeling of his lips on your forehead and greatly missed them when they were gone. 

The talk of murdering everyone else was one you didn't wish to dwell on. Perhaps it was hyperbolic. Perhaps said in anger. Either way, those were thoughts for another time. Now, you would embrace the shivers and butterflies. 

“Well, your highness, she will be eating today and I will ensure it,” Halbrand gave the man a pointed look and the other simply nodded, his eyes still swimming as if he'd seen some great horror but you were too fixated on the ghost of Halbrands kiss that lingered on your forehead to pay it much mind. 

~

He'd taken the deception too far when he placed that kiss upon your head. He regretted it the moment he did it. The taste of your skin stained his lips, and it was all he could think of. Your skin felt unbelievably soft and he could just imagine what your lips would taste like, your tongue, your cunt. 

Your cunt. The thought of it had been all consuming. Warm and wet. Soft and velvety. He ached to feel it, to taste it, to take it. The thoughts had led to his current position, standing at the edge of the raft with his cock in his fist. This act felt below him but the thoughts wouldn't leave his mind and he needed some relief from them. From the thoughts of you. 

Thoughts of your cunt. 

Warm and wet. Soft and velvet. 

His eyes fluttered, and his breath caught in his throat. He hated every second of this. He had no control. Ever since you looked up at him with those eyes of yours, eyes he wanted to make weep as you choked on his cock. He breathed a soft curse as he imagined your sweet, innocent eyes looking up at him with your lips wrapped around his cock. His thumb collected the precum from his tip and worked it around his shaft, the soft wet sounds filling the night. 

Would you be inexperienced?  Had someone claimed you before? You were his and his alone, his precious sweet one. The thought of someone else having you first filled him with such rage. He would drench his hands in their blood and paint your body with it as he fucked you. His hands around your neck, squeezing enough to feel your life thrumming underneath his fingers. 

You were his and his alone. No one else could touch you, no other lips taste you, no other cock take you. He'd burn all of Middle Earth to ensure it, torture any man who dared look at you. He'd carve his name into your flesh, lick the blood off your skin. A growl escaped his lips, the thought of his name scared into your soft skin. His hand tightened around his cock and his movements increased in speed. 

His breathing got more ragged as he got closer to his peak,  your name tumbling past his lips in a choked whisper. He could almost imagine you whining and whimpering his name, his real name.  That was what sent him over, the visual of you impaled on his cock and desperately calling his name. He groaned loudly, his seed shooting into the water. 

Breathing heavily, his eyes closed. Almost immediately, the cacophony of thoughts entered his mind. That had been a brief reprieve, but now his existential crisis continued. What was his purpose? Who was he now that his master was dead? Power and control, how could he have both without sacrificing the other?  

And then your smiling face flashed through his mind, the sound of your laugh...-

This couldn't continue. No amount of curiosity was worth this loss of control. He was a god, but his mind as of late had been reminiscent of a teenage boy. Thoughts may plague him, but he would forget you within the age. He needed you gone, dead. The longer you stayed alive, the longer these damn lustful thoughts would plague him and be his undoing. He was slowly losing his sanity because of you. 

The problem was he couldn't do it. He tried mere minutes before giving into these urges, but as he looked at your sleeping face, he couldn't bring himself to push you in and under the waves. In thousands of years, no one had been able to still his blade or stay his hand with such ease. He couldn't look at you and take your life. He could not be the one to do it, that thought alone proving to be more a reason for your death. Weakness was not something he would tolerate. 

His mind called out to wyrm, calling it to their location. If he couldn't do it, he'd give the task to something else. By nightfall tomorrow, you'd be gone. You'd be at the bottom of the sea or in the belly of the beast. By nightfall, he'd have his mind back. 

Why did the thought of your death fill him with such dread?

~

He wouldn't even look at you. You'd greeted him in the morning, and he ignored you. You sat next to him, and he moved to the other side of the raft. You watched as his eyes bore into planks of the raft. You wet your lips and pulled it between your teeth. He was your first friend in a very long time, and now you had lost him for reasons that escaped you.  You were utterly alone, lost at sea, and you struggled to find hope here. All you could do is close your eyes and remind yourself that falling into despair would do nothing more than make the situation worse and more hopeless.

You watched the clouds pass in the sky, counting them, and your fingers tapped away at the wood. Every few moments, you had to blink away the tears that had started welling in your eyes as you thought of losing another person you cared for. Suddenly, you sat up as you heard what you thought was a voice in the air. You squinted as your eyes examined the fog.

“There's a voice on the water.” You spoke quietly. 

Almost instantly, bickering broke amongst the others. To save her or not. You shook your head, “We're not leaving her to starve and die!” 

One of the others pulled her up and gave her water as you grabbed her a chunk of bread and looked for a piece of cloth or something that could bring the stranger some warmth. The bickering continued as you searched and returned with a piece of bread.

“Suppose you'll be sharing your rations?” the old man asked. 

You couldn't help the roll of your eyes, “Damn the rations,” you kneeled and handed the stranger the bread. “It's not much, but it's something. Are you hurt?” 

Before she could answer, one of the others asked, “What are you doing out here?”  

The stranger took the bread, “I was separated from my ship.” 

You looked at her with empathy. Of course, you could understand. She looked over at you as if to answer your question next, but she stopped, her eyes examining your face as if she knew you but was unable to place how. It made you uncomfortable, made your heart still. Has your past caught up with you all the way out here? 

“She doesn't look dangerous,” the other woman spoke.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Halbrand spoke, and you were about to protest when you saw the point to her ears. Your blood ran cold, and you moved back from her. 

“Remove your hand from me, sir,” the stranger spoke, her attention returning to you. “I know your face.”

You quickly stood up and stepped back. This could not be happening. Not here. Not now. Perhaps the elf could save you, or perhaps she would convince the others to throw you into the sea. The sins of your father would never stop chasing you, it seemed. 

~

“I know your face."

His head snapped your direction at this revelation. What did that mean? How would an elf know you? He watched your reaction, the fear and shame passing over your face confirming that there was a story there. He cursed silently.

All day, he avoided looking at you. All day, he had convinced himself that you were nothing more than a naive human, that the warmth he felt had to be in relation to this new form getting used to the world around him. There was nothing special about you. Nothing at all. He repeated it over and over, though he never really believed it. He could sense the darkness and calamity swimming through the ocean towards them, the beast he had called, and he had convinced himself that your death would solve his internal struggle. 

But now, this damn elf had reignited the curiosity with vigor. It felt as if an inferno burnt through him. He had to know more. He knew when the wyrm came, he would be unable to leave you to death. You were the most curious thing, and it was infuriating. 

Who were you? 

previous next

[antimony-medusa]

Okay so.

Look. At this point I am old and I am tired and I am pretty firmly coming down on write what you want just archive lock it or something and tag it please. If I am hitting tropes or trends or ships that don't do it for me, I can simply click away and my day is not ruined. Cancellation is not on my radar at all. Okay. So. With that out of the way.

Look. Sometimes, when you are pushing the boundary of platonic possessive and platonic kink-adjacent stuff, if you lead special emphasis on the fact that everybody involved is related, it doesn't necessarily make it magically more platonic. It just gives it extra vibes. Specifically you are like STRONGLY invoking incest as a kink right now, my guys. This is getting dire. Like I'm sorry but if someone is lying down half asleep listening to the "sounds of kissing" and one of the people doing the kissing keeps saying how good of a brother the other person is, like, you can smack a "platonic kissing" tag on that one all you like, and I can even follow you on a faith journey and believe that you intended that to be platonic, but uh, the first reading of that one is distinctly like— man, please. I'm dying here.

In the same way that if you have an interaction— say, you did a cuddle-potion fic, and you say to yourself "man these guys are getting handsy, if they're both dating age this would look kinda sketchy'' so your solve is to make one of them twelve and then suddenly you have made your slightly off-colour fic take on a whole new tone— in the same way that making one of the characters underage isn't a magic button you can press to make something fully platonic no matter what, making your characters related isn't going to make it magically platonic if they are say, all in the same bed and one of the characters is feeling the mattress move as his brother and father cuddle each other and say how much they love each other.

This isn't even an isolated incident. Please.

If you are looking at your interaction and going "man this kinda looks like ship" and you want to make sure people don't think it's ship, aging down the character isn't a magic solve, and making them related isn't a magic solve, not when the rest of the tropes you are pulling from are pulled directly from romance and porn. You just invoked a DIFFERENT kink on top of the first one you had. Like you might not know that that's where the tropes come from but guys. Please. The solve for this scene is either changing it substantially until it no longer looks like ship, accepting that it looks off but you don't mean it that way and go "if people misunderstand this it's not my problem" or maybe considering the option that what you want to write is ship. I keep hitting this stuff and going "are you SERIOUS" and then it gets worse.

Or maybe, idk, you're specifically into all the people being related like that. You do you, the contents of your Ao3 account is not hurting anyone. But in that case please for the love of GOD can you please consider tagging it?

[solar4seekstron]

I. Don’t. Care.

TFIDW!MTMTE!Yandere!Possessive!Drift x Cybertronian!GN!Reader x TFIDW!MTMTE!Yandere!Toxic!Ratchet Onshot

Introduction Movie/Series Oneshot Masterlist

Content: 18+

TW/Tags: Toxic relationship, mention of Abuse, Shower scene, a few make out sessions, nonconsensual touching and action, Drift being a switch, Ratchet is pretty quiet and one note in this but he’ll do more near the end. He’s just the quiet type. Bit of manhandling, viewer discretion is advise, abuse, This is basically a dark fic so Ratchet and Drift act like their darkselves, Happy ending.

Notes: Reader is the same height as Drift and Ratchet. Shown a few times in the fic when two bots touch forhelms it means trust and respect. Can be for both romantic and platonic relationships. Drift is in his 2nd form for the lost light

You were a former Autobot Guard. You worked alongside Rodimus and Ultra Magnus in the Lost Light ship.

You once worked alongside Red Alert as well before his passing.

You were also the Conjunx of Drift and Ratchet. You three became a poly relationship after the two got together sometime after joining the Lost Light.

You’ve had a crush on them both for a good while.

But never made an effort to confess. Seen as only a good friend before. That was until one day when Ratchet and Drift appeared in front of your berth room.

Drift having a large grin on his dermas while Ratchet only had a smile when you greeted them. That was the night the two confessed and asked for your cervo to be their Conjunx. Taking you by surprise.

Honestly, you just thought the two were just straight-up gay. But guess they have a thing for neutral bots as well.

Since then they made sure to bond with you that very night. They were so gentle and sweet the entire time. Like as if you three have been together long before.

But you couldn’t help but have this feeling of dread. Like as if there was something else just sitting there the entire time.

Days went by since then. Things remained mostly the same and your spot alongside Ultra Magnus Rodimus. You took notice of the two though.

The way how Drift and Ratchet always seemed annoyed and upset whenever you had to go to work in the morning.

Sometimes the two even tried to take turns with getting you to take the day off and just spend time in the room. Either it be both or one of them.

Today was no different. Get yourself polished and ready for your day before making it for Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, and Springer's meeting.

You looked in the mirror of your shared berth room with the two.

Drift has already left to meet up with Cyclonus for sword training while Ratchet didn’t start his shift for another hour. You smiled as you checked out your frame before turning around to look at Ratchet.

His arms were crossed and a frown was plastered on his dermas like always.

You made your way closer to him before leaning down to gently hold his cheeks. You then spoke as he just stared at you. “I’ll be home before dinner. We can order your favorite dish at the bar you like on the ship.”

Your dermas soon touch his. The kiss sweet but his remained a little. Colder and Still. He’s returned it though. His cervos moved to hold the side of your waist while he held a firm grip.

The kiss lasted for a little while longer. When you chose to pull away, you were stopped when he kept his firm grip on your waist.

You kept trying to pull yourself free but instead, he wouldn’t budge.

You tried to brush it off with a chuckle. Your dermas only a couple of inches from his while his frown remained. He would keep staring at you.

“Ratchet I’ll be back before you know. And besides you know you’re allowed to visit.”

He continued to just stare at you. Before reluctantly letting you go. “I’ll see you later then. Then at home.”

Your smile remained once you gave him a small peck on the dermas once more. You then stood fully straight. Then make your way to the door before turning your helm and waving bye. Ratchet doing the same while remaining on his spot.

The door shut behind you. You let out a small. Breath that you’re sure he wouldn’t hear. “Phew. He’s getting worse every day.”

You started to walk to Rodimus and the others. Clocking in and greeting the others as you pass by. Rodimus was already waiting for you inside as he was holding a data pad and was speaking to Rodimus.

He would turn to you once Ultra Magnus walked away to speak to Springer.

Rodimus with his usual grin soon greeted you. “Hey! There’s my favorite bodyguard!”

You chuckled as you walked closer to stand by him. “How are the Mrs? Still cranky about you coming to work instead of staying home?”

He wrapped an arm around your shoulders as you responded. “He tried his best again this morning to keep me from coming in. He was more upset than he usually was before.”

Rodimus let out a chuckle. You both make your way to the meeting room.

”I don't understand those two. Drift is a part of my team and yet he gets upset when you come in two.

Honestly, he’s the same guy who asked for today off so he can spend the day having a date with Ratchet. At least I think that’s why.”

You were a bit confused and spoke.

“Strange, Ratchet never said anything about having a date with Drift today. More like just angry that I was leaving than a night with Drift. Or something.”

You and Rodimus looked at each other then shrugged. Once in the room, Rodimus took his seat. You stood next to him with cervos behind your back.

Another guard on the other side of Rodimus as the meeting soon starts.

But the meeting is instructed when the doors to the room open. The door faced toward Rodimus. Who now sat there confused when he saw Drift being the one to open the door. You looked confused as well.

Both you and Rodimus exchange looks before looking back at Drift.

Who made his way over as he spoke. His voice was stern. Something both you and Rodimus weren’t used to hearing.

Drift then asked for the guard on the other side of Rodimus's chair to move so that he may take the spot. The guard looking at Rodimus for permission.

Rodimus gave an unsure nod. The guard walks out of the room. Drift taking the guard's spot.

You stood there while the meeting commenced. During it, you noticed that at the corner of your optic. Drift was glancing at you. You’d then feel a pull in your spark. It’s Drifts.

The meeting lasted for a good while.

You and Drifts spark pulling at each other. He wanted you to look at him while you just wanted him to cut it out. After a couple of hours. The meeting was finally over.

You and Drift waited for Rodimus to stand. Both walked behind him as you made it out of the room. It wasn’t until Rodimus made it to his office.

With both you and Drift in. The door closed is when he finally spoke.

“Drift, what was that? You said you were taking the day off?”

Drift then spoke. “Apologies. I just had a change of Spark.”

You glanced at Rodimus who did the same to you. Then you both looked at him. You finally speaking.

”Drift that was a very important meeting. You can’t come and go as you please-“

”What makes you think you can speak to me like that? Ratchet said you thought about taking the day off. You’re never home and we barely see you.”

”Drift me and you have the same job. And Ratchet is a medic for the ship. Checking patience and most times he isn’t even off the clock since he’s the best on this ship.

I chose to come in because I owe Rodimus to keep working for him. And we’re old friends. You think he doesn’t miss me too?”

You bit back. Driftonly glared at you while Rodimus stood there quietly for a moment.

Rodimus then walked over to Drift and spoke to him.

“Buddy listen. I get it they’re your Conjunx but they have a job just like you. Why don’t you go back to your shared berth room and I’ll let them out early today, alright?”

Drift just stared at him before looking at you. You just stared back at him when he finally responded. “Fine..”

He walked over to you. Place a gentle cervo on your hip and place a soft kiss on the side of your helm. He then gently whispered “I’m sorry, sweetspark. I’ll see you at home.”

From there he walked away. Leaving you and Rodimus alone. You let out a soft sigh before turning toward Rodimus. Who was currently leaning against his desk.

He seemed like he had something on his mind. You then made your way over to him and bow your helm. “Sorry about that. I’m not sure why he did that.”

Rodimus remained still with his arms crossed. He just looked at you as you spoke. After you finish. He then spoke.

”Is everything alright back in the room? I never even Drift acted like this before. And I hope Ratchet isn’t treating to in such a way either. I’ve noticed they’ve been a bit more controlling when it comes to you.”

You just let out a sigh before you spoke with your voice softer and almost tired.

”They’ve been acting like this for a while. I’m not sure why it started but, every day becomes a bigger challenge more and more when all they do is argue with me.”

Rodimus's optics widen a bit before asking once more. “Would it be inappropriate if I ask…….?” You then responded.

“No, they haven’t been able to interface with me because they only end up ruining the moment by trying to make me quiet.

”Quite? That doesn’t sound like them. So they want you to be something like a housewife?” You let out a chuckle. “Yes. That….” You remained silent. You then looked at Rodimus with a more softer expression.

“We’re good friends, right? I can tell you anything?”

Rodimus's smile on his dermas grew a bit wider as he looked at you. “Well if you’re kind enough to listen to my troubles. I hope you can come to me to listen to your troubles.”

He said warmly. Your smile growing a bit. And so you continued.

“Honestly, it’s getting more and more hard to live with them. At times Ratchet seems to try to hold back from hitting me. And Drift is so controlling of what I do and eat. So when we’re in our berth room it’s hard to enjoy their affections.”

You sighed and rested your cervo against the desk. Rodimus stands fully straight from leaning against his desk.

His cervo was placed on your shoulder as he spoke.

”Y/N…Are you in danger?” You looked at him before speaking.

“I don’t believe so. But I….” You remained silent for a moment. “I’m…starting to fall out of love with the two. I. I don’t remember when it started. But I just can’t when I’m around them. I- I want to leave. It’s so miserable there.”

You teared up a little. Feeling yourself sad and shaking a little. Rodimus noticed, taking a step closer and giving you a gentle hug. His helm leaned down next to yours.

You soon return the hug. Crying softly into his shoulder. A few minutes went by until you both pulled away a little.

He then pressed his forhelm against yours. You both stared at each other before he spoke. “Whenever you’re ready or need anyone. My help. I’m just a comm call away. Alright?:”

You continued to smile. Giving him a nod. “Go ahead and continue your shift. I’ll let you know when you’re allowed to leave.”

You thanked him. Bowing your helm once more before making your way out of the room. The day carried on from there. But your spark still felt that pull. This time both Ratchet and Drift.

Unsure of what to say or do once you return.

———————————————————————————-

Before you knew it, your shift was over. Rodimus had let you out earlier. Wishing you a good day. It was just past 2.

You made your way over to your shared berth room. Your spark lets the two know you’re getting closer. As you opened the door, you had forced a smile on your dermas.

Ratchet and Drift were currently making out on the berth. Ratchet sitting on the berth while Drift was on his lap.

Basically in each other's arms. Their kisses filled the room. You ignored them. Locking the door behind yourself and making your way to the counter and washroom.

Putting your sword down. You then closed the door behind you. Getting in the shower to clear your mind. It always helps.

So, as you got started with in-between your frame, you started to think about Rodimus. Not letting it get through your spark so the others won’t know.

On the other side of the door, Ratchet and Drift finally pulled away from their heated kiss.

Drift held the side of Ratchet's helm while he smiled with almost a grin.

Ratchet looking more tired than happy. With a small smile though on his dermas.

The two then turned their helms toward the door for the shower. Then look back at each other. Drift places another passionate kiss. Whispering against the kiss as he stared down at him.

”Let me talk them them. And you go get reservations ready mm?”

Ratchet just nodded while his cervos gave Drift's waist a nice squeeze after gently rubbing them while kissing.

Drift then made his way off him. Standing up and walking over to the shower room.

You don’t hear him as you continue to think. There was a shower curtain between while your mind wandered. Still feeling the touch of Rodimus when he hugged you along with the other times you both were affectionate.

Before and after creating a relationship with Drift and Ratchet.

You continue as you rest your cervos against the wall along with your forhelm.

Optics closed. Even thinking about the good times you had with Drift and Ratchet before their actions and responses started to act differently.

You continued until you felt two arms wrap around you from behind.

You remained still and turned your helm towards the side to look at him. His helm was next to yours. Along with the front of his frame against the back of yours.

Your helm then resumed facing the wall while he spoke.

”I’m sorry for my behavior this morning sweetspark. I never meant to embarrass you.”

His cervo then gently held your chin making you turn your helm towards him like before. His smile is still there. “Won’t you face me sweet spark?”

You hold back a sigh. Slowly turning around as the shower oil falls behind him.

You then leaned your back against the wall. His cervos remain around your waist, keeping you close. His forhelm against yours while he kept smiling.

Your arms go around his arms and cervos holding the back of his shoulders. You both stare at each other before he starts another kiss.

This one is heated and passionate. His first kiss to you on the dermas of the day.

You hesitated, not really in the mood. But you know he’ll get mad at you if you don’t respond. And so, you returned the kiss. Trying to give the same passion in return to him. This continued for several minutes.

He soon forced his glossa past your dermas. The shower sounds out his moans and his cervos gripping the sides of your waist and back. Before moving to your aft.

He pressed you harder against the wall, his panel against yours. Trying to get some more action out of you. His cervos movin to under your things. Making them wrap around his waist once he picked you up.

Your back frame is still pressed against the wall. Your cervos moving to hold the side of his helm.

You know what he wants.

But while he continued you both then feel a very strong pull through both sparks from Ratchet. Drift pulled away a little and let out a chuckle. He then looks back at you.

”Someone’s getting jealous. I suppose he should get back to Mr. grumpy pants.”

Your fake smile is still there as you give him a nod. He gives another long and lustful kiss this time. Holding each other close until you both felt it was time to get out.

You both then walked out. His cervo holding yours after cleaning up.

Ratchet was ready for your date tonight. The three of you make your way to your favorite place to eat on the ship.

————————————————————————————-

You stayed quiet the entire time. The three of you sitting at a round and circled booth as you waited for your energon. Being between the two as they chatted.

Their cervos holding each other on the table.

Drifts other cervo holding yours under the table while Ratchet's own remained on the table. The two speak about possibly having a sparkling. And who will carry them.

You just started to zone out. Their weirds became white noise for you as you looked down. You could only let out a sigh before looking at Ratchet.

He was staring at you y the side of his optics while Drift continued. From there, ratchet finally spoke once more once Drift was finished.

“Maybe Y/N should be the carrier. They have the best frame to grow a sparkling and to have carry.” You just stared at him with wide optics.

Drift then let out a sad grown and spoke.

”Why not me?” Ratchet responded with a bit of an annoyed tone.

“Because if you didn’t get rid of those thighs then you would’ve been picked first to carry our sparkling. And besides my body isn’t that well functioned to create a sparkling in my spark chamber.”

Drift just grumbled while you looked back and forth at them. The two looking at you with a small mile. Drift's smile only grew wider than when he spoke.

“What do you say, my love?”

He brought your cervo up, still holding it. Bringing your cervo to his dermas. Speaking once more. “Would you like that, my dear? Be the carrier for both of your Conjunx? That will make us very happy.” He kissed the back of it. You just kept staring at him with optics that showed almost worry. Something Ratchet noticed.

”Sweetspark? Do you not like that idea?” Ratchet asked. Scooting a bit closer to you before speaking. You stumbled with your words.

You looked across the table. Looking at the exit the two stared at you.

You finally spoke. Your only way out. “I need to freshen up. I wasn’t able to fully before we left.” The two just stared at you for a moment.

Glancing at each other. Ratchet looked back at you. Reluctantly he scoots down the seat to give you a path. You got out and as you stood Ratchet grabbed your wrist and whispered.

“Don’t take too long. Our Energon will be ready.” You just gave him a nod.

He finally letting your cervo go.

You made your way to a room next door. A place for bots to freshen out and polish a bit. Like for dates and such. Once in you just stared in the mirror.

Rodimus words flowing in your mind. You take in a deep breath and walk out. Making your way towards the two. Both seem like they’re in deep conversation. That’s until they noticed you.

You decided to sit next to Drift where he’s in the middle. Before he can get out to let you get in the booth. He let out a soft chuckle before scooting closer to you and placing his cervo on your lower back.

Whispering into your audio sensors with a smile.

”Sweetspark, you’re always in the middle.” You glanced at him and spoke. All the while ratchet just watched. You responded.

”I just wish to sit here, sweetspark. Is that alright?” You forced another smile.

Drift just stared at you. His optics show he wishes to do and say something. But he’s holding back. The energon soon comes and is placed in front of you three. Drift takes the spot in the middle.

The dinner continued while you all ate in silence. From there young mind wondered.

Until you finally gained your courage. “Um. Ratchet. Drift. I’ve been thinking and I think now is a good time to…speak.”

The two just glanced at you before looking back at their food and seemed to not pay much mind. You continued. Your voice is soft and steady as you plan out your words as carefully as you can.

“Drift. Ratchet. I’ve loved all these years and times together but……I” Ratchet soon interrupted you.

”Come now Y/N. You’d be a great carrier for both our sparklings. And of course, Drift will carry my sparkling. You carry both of ours. The perfect balance. If you’re still unsure then we can talk about it back in the berth room.”

Drift nodded in agreement.

You just looked down at your food. Tired and unsure. And so, the dinner continued.

—————————————————————————————

After dinner. The three of you made your way to your shared berth room. Ratchet gripping you cervo while you just looked down.

Unsure while walking, your spark grows more and more nervous each moment.

Once upon return, Ratchet let both you and Drift step in first. Once the door closes behind him. His arms wrapped around your waist. Pressing a soft kiss on top of your shoulder.

Letting his helm remain next to yours as he looked down. His optics glance at you with a stare.

”You’re not trying to make us sad now, are you? Make us miserable or lonely. You love us don’t you?”

His voice was deep for a moment. He just stared at you a moment longer. You struggled to find your voice. Drift coming up to you.

His cervos holding the side of your helm and he leaned his own closer to yours.

”You love us. Don’t you sweetspark?”

You are trapped. And there’s no escape right now. So, swallow your fear. You finally opened your intake. Giving them a satisfied response.

“I do. I do love you both.” You remained silent. Drift and Ratchet continue to stare down at you. You then spoke once more.

“I just. You both have changed. Not as cheerful or calming as you both once were.” One of Drift's cervos on the side of your helm moved to hold your neck. Giving it a gentle squeeze.

This made you hold your glossa. He optics piercing. Ratchet is the one to speak next.

“Maybe if you didn’t think about other mechs and always leaving to work to be with him! Then we wouldn’t be so damn cruel.” Ratchet's arms gripped you tightly. You stumbled with your words.

“I-I don’t mean to. It’s just-“

”Just. What?” Ratchet spoke. Drift finally let his cervos off you. Walking over to the large berth and sitting down. Ratchet then turned you around by the shoulders, gripping your arms tightly.

Then keeping you close while his voice remained deep and stern.

”After we have our sparklings. You’ll realize, your place is with us. So get that damn bot out of your mind and thoughts. You took an oath to be faithful. So be it. You going to stop acting up?”

His helm is close to yours now. Right in your face.

You just stand there staring at him. What else can you even say? “Y-yes Ratchet. I’m sorry”

He remained silent for a moment. Drift has gotten into the birth. Energon cups ready for the both of you with his usual smile. Ratchet cervos moves to hold your hips and press his forhelm against yours. Pressing forward, forcing your forhelms to touch.

His spark giving you a lot of pressure. Ratchet gave you a small smile when you submitted. Releasing a deep chuckle.

“There’s my Sweeetspark. Why don’t we lay together…and think of sparkling names. Hm? Doesn’t that sound nice?” You just gave a nod.

His dermas connect with yours with soft passion.

Drift watching with glee as Ratchet tries to start a make-out session. You thought being the first to pull away.

”Let’s uh..lay down yeah?” Ratchet let out a deep chuckle. He guiding you to the berth with him. You of course being put in the middle. You decided to sit up.

Drinking your energon while Drift placed soft kisses on your shoulder.

Ratchet drinking his then lying down. Drift whispering into your audio sensors but loud enough for Ratchet to also hear.

”Well since we figured all that out. Why don’t why try to fix up the mood. Hm?”

He spoke, his cervo moving to your thigh, then just over your panel. Ratchet just rolled his optics. You turned your helm to him a little.

About to speak but he was fast to beat you to it. Placing his dermas on yours while his cervo started to rub against your panel.

You kiss unsure, Drift doesn’t seem to care. His cervos gently pushed you back into the berth while he continued. Ratchet looked at you both before turning his frame to face you both.

Your frame started to panic when you heard Drift's panel click. You thought fast.

Pulling away from the kiss. Your cervos gently presses against Drift's shoulders. He seemed to be upset as he stared down at you. “I’m..really tired tonight. Maybe another time. Once my attitude gets better?”

Drift just stared at you. Before letting out a deep chuckle. “I suppose you have a point my dear…sleep well my love.”

He layed on his side of the berth. Lying on his back. A grin on his dermas while his optics closed. You remained on your back. You glance at Drift before looking at the ceiling.

Ratchet returned to his back. His arm making its way under you and bringing you closer.

Soon making you lay on your side. Your cheek on his shoulder. His arm around your waist. He then whispered. His voice is both low and threatening.

“You’re quitting your job tomorrow. Or else.”

His optics glared down at you. You just stared at him before looking down You remained quiet. Then looked away closing your optics.

Feeling his cervo press into your stomach. You both fall asleep in silence. At least. The two did.

——————————————————————————————

It was late at night. Still in Ratchet's arm. Only switching positions. You were still on your side while Ratchet was on his side then. Both arms are wrapped around your waist.

Drift on his side behind you with both arms around both you and Ratchet as much as he can.

Are you still awake. Very slowly, you move your frame to sit up. Make sure to move Drifts and Ratchet arms off you. Sliding up. Be as careful as you can. Falling off the berth with a small thud.

You checked. Seeing the two haven’t woken up. The two initiatively cuddled each other while letting out soft hums.

Slowly you stood up and made your way to the door. Your frame shaking a little. Just as your cervo was about to reach for buttons to the door.

You felt a hard pull in your spark. Causing you some pain. Looking behind you, you say Ratchet sitting up. Drift still fast sleep.

You slowly walked back. Knowing he’ll get more mad if you don’t. You felt your frame struggling to stop shaking from fear.

Once in front of him, you just looked down. Ratchet gently patting his thigh. Telling you to sit on his lap. Slowly you moved your legs over his. Take your place on his lap. Your knees against the berth.

You looked down at him. While his optics stared up at you with a dim light in his optics. His cervos placed their selves on your hips. Having a very firm and tight grip keeps you very close. He would whisper in a deep voice.

“We both know Drift is out like a light right now. So tell me. Why were you about to leave?”

You stumbled with your words. “I-I just. The idea of having sparkling scared me. We don’t even. Have our own house or more than one room!” You whispered in a hushed tone.

He then spoke to you once more. “Well…that’s an understandable reason I suppose. But. You should come to me first. I am a doctor….Why don’t we go to the shower room? We don’t wish to wake up Drift now do we?”

You just nodded. Getting off his lap slowly. His cervo holding your wrist and guiding you to the shower center in the room. The door closed behind him.

“Sit on the counter.” You do so. Your back towards the mirror. Ratchet made sure the door was locked. Soon standing in between your legs. Cervos on your thighs.

”Now Y/N, what will you do tomorrow when you wake up?” You just stare at him before responding. “G-give my notice t-that I’m Q-q-quitting.”

He responded with a smile. “Good. And what will you do after that?”

”Carry….carry both your and Drift sparklings. Become a carrier to both sparkling f-for the rest of my life alongside you and Drift.” One of his cervos gently held your chin.

The grip is very strong. “I’m sorry if I scared you sweetsaprk. I just can’t imagine a life without you. A life without both you and Drift. You both belong to me. You’d never break my spark, right?”

Slowly you shook your helm. You finally spoke while staring down at him. “Ratchet please-“ Silence.

Your words paused. Before you can process, you realize your helm was turned to the side. Your optics were wide while ratchet remained still. But Ratchet then grabbed you by your arms pulls you off the counter.

Turning around and slams you against the wall behind him. You both still facing each other,

You then felt his frame press harshly against your own. You finally feel the slap on your cheek. Ratchets are all in your face now. An angry expression covered over his own. His tone was rough and hush.

”You think you’re slick? Thinking you can just go around doing as you wish without my knowledge…..” Your helm was turned to the side while he spoke, optics shut tightly. Trying to not cry.

“Try to do this one more time. And you’ll deeply regret it. I say what goes. So be more like Drift and go to sleep. And sleep.”

Your frame continued to shake. Waiting for Ratchet to just do whatever he needed to do next. Flinching when you felt him press the front of his helm to your sigh.

“I’m sorry my sweetspark. I get so mad so easily. Why don’t we go la down more before it gets later. After all, you’ll be a stay-at-home carrier.” His cervos have moved to hold your waist. Pulling you closer.

Placing a soft kiss on your sheet and neck.

He then pulled you with him back to the berth. Drift is still peacefully asleep.

You now facing Drift. Ratchet hugging you from behind with a small smile. Small tears fall from your optics. Struggling to keep them in the entire time. The hours went by. And the tears never stopped.

—————————————————————————

That very morning you pretended to be asleep. Drift got up before you and Ratchet like every other morning. You took this chance when you watched him get in the shower.

With ambition on your mind. You made your way out of Ratchet's arms. But his arm squeezed tightly around you.

His dermas close to your audio sensors as he asked. “And where are you going?”

“I…wish to shower with my other Conjunx of course. I-is that alright?” You turned your helm towards his. He just stared at you before nodding.

You made your way out of the berth. Ratchet going back to sleep. You made your way to Drift. Glancing behind you to see Ratchet optics closed. You then had the craziest idea pop into your helm.

This can be your one chance…You looked back at Ratchet. He was soon snoring.

He was always too tired for anything. So with a shaky break, you quietly made your way to the door. You might never get this chance again.

And so, all in one fast motion. You quickly opened the door. And Ran.

Running down the hall past some bots before transforming. Soon feeling a very heavy pull in your spark. It was from Ratchet. You ignored the pain the best you could.

Soon calling Rodimus, who of course sounded cheerful. “Hey! What’s u-“

”Rodimus, please! I need your help! Ratchet and Drift are trying to keep me home and things are getting worse! Just- Just please I need your help!” You interrupt him in a panic. You then feel another heavy pull rom Drift now.

”Alright alright, where are you now?” he asked with worry.

”I’m headed your way. Please if you can help me get away I’ll forever be in your dept!” You were so close now. Rodimus then responded. “Don’t worry, me and Ultra Magnus will keep you safe! Just stay on the call with me!”

You responded. “Ok ok.”

You were got to the doors. Transforming and getting inside. The guards didn’t stop you. Rodimus having told Ultra Magnus to let the guards know.

Once inside Rodimus made his way out of the long hall and hugged you once you got close enough.

Ultra Magnus is there to help comfort you. The two worried since you.

Sounded panicked over the comm. Rodimus kept holding you and asked what happened.

You responded, still in a bit of a panic. “Ratchet. He wants me to quit my job. Last night he hit me and slammed me against the wall when I tried to leave.

They..they want to sparkling trap me and keep me locked up..” You cried in Rodimus's chest.

His cervo rubbed your back while Ultra Magnus informed the others. Rodimus then walked you to his quarters next to his office. You two then heard Drift and Ratchet at the front doors while the guards kept the two back.

Their pull to your bonds getting harder to ignore.

Ratchets' voice booming for you to look at him while you and Rodimus kept walking.

Your frame shaking. Rodimus trying his best to comfort you the best he can. Once he closed the door. He held you as you broke your bond with the two. Causing you much pain. Once the pain was fading.

Rodimus ticked by your side for the rest of the day.

Both Ratchet and Drift are being dealt with.

————————————————————————-

A few months passed since then. Drift and ratchet were sent back to Cybertron for your safety. Everything that happened was kept secret.

Rodimus made sure to give you a room close to his own so he’ll check up on you.

You continued to work for him. You both even grab lunch at times.

Eventually, you felt yourself become more and more safer with the ship and Rodimus. Your old feelings from before everything happened.

Where now coming back to you. Do you mind only having been racing since.

You were unsure if Rodimus even felt the same for you. You start to remind yourself how he’s the leader of an entire ship. He’s either not interested or is seeing someone else.

Trying to get the thoughts out of your mind.

That is, until one day while you were on your shift. Rodimus seemed to be speaking to a purple femme. Those two seem to be close. Never seen or met her before.

You remained still, staring forward when the two walked out together.

The two departed as they both smiled at each other. You glanced but looked away when Rodimus turned to you while the femme walked away.

Rodimus noticed you looking. Casually taking a step towards you as his cervos go behind his back.

You kept looking forward. Your mouthguard is on as your optics look forward.

Rodimus stood next to you, silence between you both for a moment before he finally spoke. “It appears it’s time to start our lunch?” You looked at him before closing your optics, then nodding.

Rodimus's smile grew a bit larger. He then opened his office door, gesturing for you to enter. “Let’s try a different spot this time. Shall we?”

You were a bit surprised but just nodded. Walking in. Take just a few steps in when you hear Rodimus's door closing. He walked behind you.

Placing his cervos on your hips as he spoke next to your audio sensors. “I see you watching me while speaking to that femme. Jealous?”

He teased. You let out a small sigh before responding. Turning your helm a little to look at him. “I just had no idea you had a Conjunx. Curious was all.”

He let out a deep chuckle. Moved to step in front of you as he spoke. “That femme is my oldest friend. And she’s Skids Conjunx.” You were surprised. “Oh.” You said surprised.

He continues to smile down at you. His cervos holding your chin to make you look at him after you just looked down. You stared at him as he spoke once more. “Come on, let's have some energon. Shall we?”

He walked to his desk. You soon follow behind. Having a nice lunch together, for the day.

Tags: @acceptme33

I got a little too into this BUT MAN WAS IT WORTH IT UGH!!!!!! I hope you guys were able to enjoy this. I didnt feel like making a sad ending with this one.

As always a repost is appreciated and i hope to you guys in the comments and the next one!

[licorice-tea]

I Wish You Knew I Was Real

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x reader

Content: strawhat! reader, fluff and feelings, confessions, midnight snacks (literally), mentions of WCI but no huge spoilers, reader has no specified gender

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: first fic of the new year! i don’t usually write for sanji so i hope this isn’t ooc… anyway, enjoy! also lmk what you think bc idrk how i feel about this one 🤷‍♀️

It’s well past midnight when you sneak into the kitchen of the Thousand Sunny to fix yourself a snack. It wouldn’t really matter if you get caught, seeing as it’s your ship too, but you’d rather not wake up or bother your crewmates.

“Y/n?”

You pause your chopping to find the source of the voice, Sanji, standing in the doorway. He yawns behind his hand as he walks in, “It’s the middle of the night, what are you doing up here?”

“I just got hungry.” But as soon as he’s close enough to see your hands working on cutting up fruit, he seems appalled. “What’s wrong?”

In Sanji’s mind, you should never have to cook for yourself. At least, not when he’s there on the same ship. Not when he would always be so willing and ready to help you out; to use his skills to please you.

“Why didn’t you wake me up? You know I can do it for you, sweetheart-“

“That’s why I tried not to wake you up. You need to get your rest, but I guess I was too noisy, huh?”

Sanji shakes his head determinedly, then gently moves his left hand over yours to take the knife while also holding your waist with his right so that he can maneuver you away from the cutting board. You let him, and he explains, “I get plenty of rest; if you ever need something, y/n, you can come to me. Day or night.”

You hum in acceptance of his statement, and feel content with simply watching him cut the apple into slices from your place beside him. He finishes creating the perfect little slices quickly, then goes the extra mile by carving small triangles out of the peel of each. A smile grows on your lips as you realize they’re meant to look like little bunnies; and they do.

“Cute,” you muse quietly at his creation “Thank you, Sanji.”

The cook smiles to himself before looking over at you, “I thought you’d like them more this way.”

This makes you laugh before replying, “Like a kid who only eats dinosaur shaped nuggets?”

“No, no,” he chuckles as well, “but I know you have an appreciation for aesthetics. Besides, I was right wasn’t I? You think they’re cute, so that’s all that matters.” Sanji says while plating the bunny-apple slices.

You scoot closer, so that your sides are pressed against each other, in a futile attempt to reach across and grab the plate. But, Sanji stops you again with his gentle touch (he’s always so very soft with you, rather than overbearing and borderline obsessive. But, you’d like love him either way.)

His right hand stays on your wrist as his left reaches up into a cabinet to grab the honey jar. He makes a display of lifting a generous amount of honey using the honey dipper over your plate, and drizzling it over the apples. Enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, but not so much it will create a sticky mess.

“Perfect.” he gestures for you to go sit at the kitchen island, but you insist you can “carry the plate just fine.” To which Sanji replies, “I know, but I don’t mind. I like taking care of you like this.”

There’s a faint tinge of red on his cheeks, but you’d never mention it. Especially not when your own, not so platonic feelings for the cook seem to constantly be in the back of your mind these days.

You take a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island, and Sanji presents your midnight snack with a flourish. “Enjoy, y/n.” He’s walks away to wash his hands, and you expect him to return to sit beside you, but then he walks toward the door.

“Sanji…” He pauses and looks back at you, “Do you want to stay?” You feel sort of awful asking, really, because he’s probably tired, but something inside you just can’t let him go.

And sure enough, his lips curve up into a smile. “I thought you’d never ask!”

He pulls out the stool next to yours and slides onto it, then rests his arm on the back of your seat. The proximity is not unwelcome- you felt it never could be when it came from him- but even if he was, he’s not invading your space. More so creating a kind of link between the two of you, and a feeling of closeness beyond the physical.

You take a bite of one of your apple slices, only to frown slightly when you pull the half eaten slice away from your mouth and realize you’ve destroyed the bunny. Sanji nearly laughs, for he has a similar empathetic disposition and knows how you feel, but then he notices something.

There’s a smidge of honey left behind on the corner of your mouth, which you have not taken notice of, because if you had you surely would’ve licked it up. Even the thought of that sight could make him act a fool, but he’ll try his best not to (just for you.)

“Look here.” he says in a near whisper, and you do. With no other words, he cups your chin and wipes the honey from your lips with his thumb. Your eyes go wide at the first action (when he touches your face to begin with), but they seem to soften when you realize what he’s doing. Sanji takes notice of this too, and just offers a smile. Because what else can he do?

He’s a flirt; he knows that, and so do you, and everyone else he’s ever met. So if he ever were to make a move on you, there’s no way you’d take him seriously. Then again, that’s why he tries to tone down his flirting with you in the first place. He can’t stand the thought of you being under the impression that you’re the same as every girl in the world is to him; because you’re not. You’re… special, in a way. He feels bad saying you’re his favorite of the many objects of his affections, because he has genuine love for so many people (you are though.) But, he can say with certainty that his feelings for you are the only serious ones. No matter how many women he tries to woo on all the adventures of the Straw Hats, he’ll always come back to you. Sanji will always choose you.

“Um, Sanji?” His hand is still on your jaw with his thumb on your bottom lip, so you pull it away with gentle force. “Sanji?” Hearing your sweet voice pulls him out of his stupor (the first time, he was concentrated on simply the sound of your voice.)

“Sorry, sweetness, I uh… Your pretty lips distracted me for a second~” Sanji purposely exaggerates his tone a little, so you just accept his reasoning with a giggle.

“Sure thing, Sanji.”

You eat your apple slices in comfortable silence for a bit, thinking of the aforementioned feelings you’ve been harboring for the chef since… Who knows- but you didn’t realize these feelings until you saw him for the first time after 2 years spent training apart. There had never been such a strong excitement in your voice as when you called his name that day, and he launched himself onto you in a tight hug. You had walked to the predetermined meeting place and entered the bar together, hand in hand. It felt so natural, too; like your hands were meant to fit together. Of course, you’d never voice these feelings, because if Sanji had feelings for you surely he’d tell you. Eventually, you hope. This brings about another question in your mind;

“Why do you like women? I mean, like, every woman we meet, even if she’s an enemy?”

He shrugs slightly, “At one point, the only people who were kind to me were women. Remember I told you about my mom and my sister?” During the Whole Cake Island experience, Sanji had in fact explained more about his relationships with his family members, and you recalled how his mother and sister were the only ones that showed him any sort of empathy.

“Mhm… That makes sense.” a moment of silence passes, as you’re a little nervous to ask this next question. “And why do you like me?”

The cook’s eyes widen like a deer in headlights, and he glances at you before concentrating on the surface of the island table. “I… I like this crew because you’re all my nakama. But…” It’s unusual to hear the typically very passionate man say something so quietly. You tilt your head as if to say, “Go on. I’m listening,” so he continues, “You’re important to me, y/n.”

“Good, you’re important to me, too.”

“Really?” Sanji seems a little shocked, “You know, I… I try not to be the way I am with women, with you, because I want you to take me seriously. I want you to know I mean it when I say nice things or do favors for you. I want you to know that it’s real.”

“I do take you seriously.”

Then, he takes a deep breath and puts both of his hands around one of yours, “And I want you to take my feelings for you seriously, when I confess them to you.”

“…Didn’t you just…?”

He grins and shakes his head, “No, y/n. When I confess the type of feelings I have for you and the extent of them, I’ll do it much more romantically than this.” Sanji looks positively giddy now, smiling and tightly (but not uncomfortably) holding your hand. “I just want you to know that what I feel for you is real.” And with that, he plants a chaste kiss on your cheek. It’s nothing like his occasionally vulgar and pg-13 methods of wooing women, but it makes your heart skip a beat. You’re sort of at a loss for words…

This time you’re the one pulled out of a daze by the other’s voice when he says, “Goodnight, y/n.”

“Oh, goodnight Sanji.” You smile at him, and he smiles back before nodding at you and leaving.

Even if that wasn’t a real confession, and maybe the timing wasn’t quite right, you were still biting back a smile as you rinsed off your plate and placed it in the dishwasher. But now you have a real confession to look forwards to, according to Sanji.

[vladdyissues]

Lately Ive seen some awful things about antis and haters making threats and getting artists banned from Tumblr and X. Im new to the Phandom and love pompep but Im scared i'll be targeted if I write and share pompep fics. How do you manage sharing your work so bravely?

Firstly, welcome to the Phandom—and especially Pompous Pep! I have a simple protocol for enjoying a drama-free Tumblr experience:

Preventative Action

1. Find your community. Follow other Pompep fans and supporters and reblog their things. Don't be afraid to leave nice tags; we love and welcome interactions :) You can also join the Pompep Discord server if you enjoy chatting (DM me for details).

2. Turn off anon asks. This will solve 99% of all potential problems, and you can turn it back on whenever you want. Antis are cowards who prefer to hide behind the mask of anonymity. They seldom have the courage to say something with their whole username.

3. Block the obvious haters. This is a big fandom, and at some point you're likely to come across people openly hating on pompep, either on their bio, pinned posts, or comments. Block them. For an added layer of protection, add their username to your Filtering Options.

4. Tag your work appropriately. When posting, make sure your work is tagged correctly (the #pompous pep tag is especially important) so people who like pompep can find it and those who want to avoid it can block the tag. Use Content Labels when applicable.

5. Try to avoid using the platonic tag (#badger cereal) and the romantic tag (#pompous pep) at the same time. Some fans are really touchy about this. I'm not, and I think there are legitimate cases where use of both is applicable, but if you want to minimize friction, just stick with one tag or the other.

If you're not sure which tag to use, ask yourself what your intentions are with your art or fic. Is the goal a romantic relationship? If so, use the pompep tag. If it's truly ambiguous and could be seen either way, use the platonic tag first. You can always add another tag like "okay to tag as pompep", just to let people know they can interpret it however they please.

Responsive Action

If the above guidelines aren't 100% effective, here's what you do:

1. Don't feed the trolls. If you receive any negative asks in your inbox, it's important to NOT engage with them. Delete them, ignore them, don't let them get to you. Antis thrive on attention, so let them starve. Eventually they'll move on when they realize they're not going to get a rise out of you.

The same goes for any negative comment left on your work. Just delete it, block the person who left it, and pretend it never happened.

These asks and comments may come in the form of questions. Example: "How can you ship Danny with Vlad? That's [insert gross accusation here]" Resist the urge to answer these questions. They are not made in good faith. This person just wants to start an argument.

2. Report any harassment. If by some chance you receive a seriously hateful ask, like threats of violence or abuse, take a screenshot for proof/safekeeping, then report the message and the user if they're not anonymous. If the ask is anonymous, use the meatball menu (•••) at the top right to report the message and block the anon.

Final Words

It takes time to develop a thick skin and Don't Give A Fuck attitude, but it can be done. You are a phan. You have every right to be here and enjoy this fandom in peace, just like everyone else. Anyone who believes in harassing others over silly things like which cartoon characters should be allowed to kiss clearly has nothing better to do with their life. The sooner you shut them out, the happier you'll be.

Regarding media: Artists attract a lot more negative attention than writers for reasons I won't get into right now, but if you're mainly a writer, you will enjoy a much quieter fandom experience. Wherever you post your stories—I recommend AO3; DM me if you need an invite—follow the same advice there as I've given here: make sure your work is tagged correctly; support your fellow Pompep fans by reading and commenting on their works, building that community; moderate comments if you're concerned about negativity; block and mute users if they give you any trouble, and you'll enjoy a much more positive fandom experience.

There is strength in community. When you start making new fandom friends, you'll feel a lot less lonely, and that will give you the confidence you need to really have a good time here.

Wishing you the best, anon!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Dear Raven ven venny ven, do you have any favourite ships in the twst cast? If so, why?

I don’t have any ships among the TWST cast that I’m crazy about! That doesn’t mean I “hate” all the combinations, it’s just that I feel neutral about most of them. I would say I’m pretty open to considering rare pairs and all kinds of tropes (enemies to lovers, childhood friends, etc.), but I’ve yet to find one in TWST that solidly lands with me.

Certainly there are dynamics I enjoy—the Science Club boys, for example—but do I see them being romantically engaged with one another? Eeeeeh, debatable. I could really go either way.

It’s actually easy to (temporarily) influence my takes on certain ships 😂 Sometimes I’ll listen to my friends talk ad nauseam about a ship they’re super into and their excitement is so infectious that it rubs off on me. I’ll go, “Wow, that really is a cute interaction! I can see why you ship them.” This had happened before with Malleus x Cater a few years back, though now I’ve returned to a neutral state on it since the shipper friend hasn’t been as active talking about the two. I appreciate my friends for popping off because even if I don’t have the same passion as they do for the ship, it helps me see the characters and their interactions under a new lens or from a different angle. (I actually wrote a fic where Cater takes Malleus to a maid cafe, inspired by my friend’s speeches about the duo. It’s meant to be platonic, but I think it could also be read as romantic if you choose to view it that way.)

I get easily influenced by fan art too, even if I don’t know the creator on a personal level. A few weeks back, I saw this Jade x Jamil post and it was so wholesome and tooth rottingly sweet (even though it was a ship I did not gave the time of day to before) 😭 And then I started to think about their similarities (both vice dorm leaders, both passive aggressive, both manipulators, etc.) and gradually convinced myself “Hey, it could work!” Now that I’ve had some time to be weaned off of the fan art though, I’m back to that baseline feeling of neutrality. It’s the exposure therapy wearing off/j

On the topic of Yuu (they’re technically a part of the TWST cast), I’m particularly lukewarm about any ships involving them—and Yuu ships are the only exception to my “I’m easily influenced to change my mind” rule; I’m always neutral about Yuu ships. They’re a blank slate, so the dynamics they have with other characters changes drastically depending on what “kind” of Yuu they are. I don’t have a Yuusona of my own, nor do I project onto Yuu, so I find little value in their character (or lack thereof). This extends to ships too; because I don’t see (my) Yuu as a “real” character, I also don’t see the potential in shipping them with those in the cast. I’ll support everyone’s right to their own Yuu and related ships, but I don’t necessarily get gung-ho about them unless I know the creators well. This is because the familiarity I have with them then extends to their Yuus; I can see bits of them and their own personalities and experiences in their Yuus, and that makes me feel like I have a more meaningful bond with whatever their interpretation (and romantic involvement!) is.

Of course, there are also some ships that I don’t like or that personally make me uncomfortable (for example, incest ships) 💦 I don’t want to like… yuck your yums, so I won’t go into explicit detail about which other ships I’m not a fan of or would prefer as platonic. Regardless of how I may feel about those, I don’t want to give the impression that I’m going to judge you for what you do or don’t ship. You do you—just be sure to respect boundaries and don’t push what you ship onto others, especially if they have indicated they’re not into the same things you are.

Just to make things clear, please do NOT send me asks like “Here is my ship and here is why you should consider it!” and “How do you feel about [Character A] x [Character B]?” or any variant (which includes polycules, love triangles, etc.). I will also not be responding to asks pressing me for which ships I dislike. I won’t be providing a tier list either since there are way too many possible combinations to account for. Shipping talk with strangers/the public makes me anxious and I’d rather not have that level of stress on a consistent basis.

Thank you for understanding ^^

[spockandawe]

You know what I can't get enough of? Speculation about what the fictional novel Proud Immortal Demon Way says about its fictional author. Because it would be completely possible to make a story like this without that connection. I'm not sure I've read any other transmigration story where the author was a character, so just that addition adds a lot of interesting texture to the situation even without getting deep in the author's head, but it's so interesting how deep I can speculate in so many directions if I think about getting in his head.

And oh man, I could talk for AGES about how Shang Qinghua and his iconic protagonist reflect each other, but a lot of people have written about that already! Including in the medium of fic, which is my favorite way to consume that kind of crunch. So let's talk about familial neglect and mistreatment and the author's favorite character.

Honestly, when I look at how iconic this ship is, I'm astonished there aren't more hit novels where the author gets yeeted into their own book and has to navigate platonic or romantic relationships with their own characters. A lot of the parallels between Shang Qinghua and Luo Binghe are about them being alike in ugly and vulnerable ways, ways I don't think either of them likes about themselves, and regarding aspects of their personalities that I don't think they'd be happy discussing period. Like, Binghe very much hates himself, that's right there on the page. And Shang Qinghua is a ridiculous character, he's very funny, but he's also not stupid. He's very aware of who he is and what he is, and makes a decision to behave the ways he does. I'm typing this up because I was scrolling through an old chat looking for something and tripped across a conversation about shang qinghua and fawn trauma response.

He knows he does this thing! He has an easy opening to turbokill Mobei-jun while he's unconscious and decides to go the route of begging for his life and trying to ingratiate himself after Mobei-jun wakes up instead, which is a much trickier process. He says it himself, that Mobei-jun is his ideal, that he embodies everything Shang Qinghua wants to be, that etc. And that's hilarious and all, especially in light of the eventual romance and the clownery it takes to get there, but in classic svsss fashion, it also becomes a lot sadder when you add up all the pieces and see everything Shang Qinghua hates about himself.

In some ways he's an even more avoidant narrator than Shen Qingqiu, he deflects and jokes like a motherfucker, so it really is a matter of assembling all the pieces and seeing where there are gaps. But what really underscored the connection for me was Mobei-jun's reaction to parental neglect. Because that's what pushed Shang Qinghua into being an author in the first place, his parents divorced and remarried and kinda just.... forgot about him.

Mobei-jun's dad doesn't exactly do that, but he is operating without a mom in the picture, and rather than remarrying, he just chooses to ignore the thing where his shitty brother is persistently trying to kill his son. That really sucks! But Mobei-jun never shows the smallest hint of weakness or vulnerability over this, even when it would have really helped to use his words, like 'hi my uncle is coming to kill me and i trust you to protect me.' He's everything cool, aloof, arrogant, proud, all a bunch of adjectives that really do not apply to Shang Qinghua. Mobei-jun honestly looks like a boring character if you just stick to the main story, because he's so self-contained and controlled. Compare and contrast to Shang Qinghua, who accidentally outs himself as a transmigrator like two minutes after showing up and proceeds to be hilarious for the rest of the book.

(Brief aside to say that I don't think Mobei-jun is necessarily a happier or healthier person for all of this, lmao. The conversation that fawn reaction thing came from was talking about freeze (tee hee) versus fawn in response to threats or stressful situations. But that goes along with the svsss theme of people used to engaging with this universe as a fictional property coming to terms with the depth and complexity of other people's emotions and not just seeing them as simplistic not-real characters in a book)

(Additionally, this makes the ship hilarious as a take on 'opposites attract,' but also it gives me actual Emotions that Shang Qinghua's ideal who he wishes he could be, purely incidentally, he is able to value and love Shang Qinghua in a way that Shang Qinghua can't and doesn't seem to totally understand)

And what's very interesting here. Is that Shang Qinghua made these two characters, Luo Binghe and Mobei-jun. His protagonist ultimately reflects a lot of his own vulnerabilities and insecurities (secretly and quietly in pidw, much more.... overtly in svsss), and Mobei-jun corrects for his vulnerabilities and insecurities. He's the person Shang Qinghua wishes he could be, which is basically... the opposite of Shang Qinghua, to an almost comical degree. And he then gives Mobei-jun the VERY BEST plot armor he can devise. It's hard for a male character to exist near a stallion protagonist without getting swept up in rivalries/suspicions/etc and getting killed by the protagonist, but he makes sure that his favorite character is safe from these things. He's protecting the character he wishes he could be from the character whose faults most reflect his own. That is very sweet and weird and sad, and that's very reflective of the svsss experience, I think.

[furst1ded]

Thoughts on Shipping Alastor from an AroAce person

(this entire thing is copy and pasted excerpts from a Discord rant so if the grammar is funky, that's why, I just felt like giving my 2 cents on the topic)

Aroace people can still participate in romantic and sexual interactions. All being aro/ace/aroace means is you don't feel romantic/sexual attraction upon seeing other people. You can feel it later on or in waves or could never feel that attraction but still can participate and love others in a fulfilling way. Some aroace people are fine performing intimacy onto others but dislike reciprocation, others are the opposite where they're fine receiving but not giving. It's a spectrum.

The nuances of asexuality and aromanticism aside, you can be in a relationship without being in a relationship. Platonic relationships beyond friendship are a thing (QPRs for example). But like, I get it. Not everyone who ships Alastor keeps it confined to a QPR. And his character seems pretty sex-repulsed and romance-averse. But here's the other thing. He's fictional. As long as his character remains aroace in canon, fans taking the silly radio man and making him kiss the devil isn't taking away from aroace representation.

This next bit is coming from me as an AroAce person myself. I ship Alastor. I write/read him kissing people and fucking and acting romantic. And guess what? It's related to expressing my sexuality. Alastor is one of my favorite characters in anything ever and I love that there's a character that represents a facet of myself in a popular media. I relate to him so goddamn much and that's why I ship him. He's a fictional character I like that I project onto, so I use him as a way to navigate and explore romantic/sexual relationships that I'm never going to participate in myself. He's not real so I just puppet him around to live through vicariously in the scenarios I don't want to be a part of myself but find super interesting. It's not anything new, I do the same with my own characters in the stories I write them in, it's part of storytelling, I just use him for a specific type of story for a specfic part of myself.

It's not like we're hurting anybody by shipping him. We're not drastically effecting canon and making him an alloromantic. I've seen plenty of fics that ship him that either make it a QPR or they thoroughly explore the nuances of his asexuality and what subtype of sexuality he is and how he navigates it and I love those fics because they speak to me on a spiritual level. Grayromantic Alastor, demisexual alastor, sex-repulsed but romance-favorable Alastor, sex-repulsed and romance-averse Alastor in a one-sided ship fic, etc they're all so important to me because it helps me live out my own sexuality and romantic orientation and explore myself.

I get it. Not everyone is respectful. Not everyone feels the way I do and use characters in this way. It can suck seeing people just ignore his sexuality when asexuals and aromantics don't get much in terms of screen-time. But you can't control everybody and what work they put out. And trying to censor stuff like that does more harm than good. I just explained why fics involving Alastor are so important to me. They normalize QPRs and aroaces being in relationships. That's probably what pisses me off the fucking most. If we're not allowed to write about aroaces being in relationships or romantic/sexual situations, you put aroaces into a box. A box where every aroace is perceived as sexless and loveless, which just isn't true. A box where aroaces are prudes or infants who can't handle hearing the word "sex". It's just so frustrating. You can be mad at fics that expressly rewrite or stomp on his sexuality, sure. You can't stop them, but you can disapprove of them. But let the rest of us have our fun making the literal devil and TV head man have the hots for a man whose teeth are yellower than the sun, Jesus Christ.

TL;DR: asexuality is a spectrum, I'm aroace and use shipping as a way to explore and express myself and I know I'm not the only one, trying to suppress works where an Aroace character is seen participating in romance or sex can actually be harmful in that it promotes only one idea of what being aroace is, and at the end of the day the character I'm talking about doesn't even exist.

[luvo27]

just so we're clear: the reason i used so many words to describe the steph &/ cass relationship in the fic that does not exist is because the theme of that nonexistent fic is about the wonderfully complex nature of aspec relationships and how language serves and also fails to accurately describe them and the way that the world can try to impose a type of relationship in an attempt to either understand or make more palatable what is not something that can be easily understood, and so boiling it down to steph/cass or queerplatonic steph/cass or steph&cass would go against what i'm trying to do, even if the fic in question literally does not even exist. so why am i still talking about this nonexistent fic?

this is an excuse to talk about my feelings regarding aromantic and asexual representation on ao3. (note that i say on ao3, and not in fandom in general because this is me talking about my specific personal experiences, which mostly take place through ao3)

BIG DISCLAIMER THAT I WENT BACK AND ADDED IN BECUASE THIS WENT OFF THE RAILS: this is based on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and FILLED WITH MY BIASES and was written IN A HAZE. (that being said this is something i've thought a lot about over months if not years.)

that tiny disclaimer aside, it goes without saying that fandom as a whole is primarily motivated by shipping, and so fanfiction on ao3 is primarily focused on shipping as well. shout out to this one time i was in high school and reading fic and someone asked (with good intentions) what ship i was reading for, and when i answered none, they asked (again, with good intentions,) what the point of doing that was. this, as you might imagine, made me feel weird to say the least! anyways, go on ao3 and the majority of fandoms will have an m/m pairing in the top most written. go into a small number of fandoms, and an f/m or f/f ship will hold the top spot. (femslash in fandom is a completely different topic) how many fandoms have platonic relationships at the top?

anyways i got curious so working off the knowledge that i have i did some quick looks at a handful of different fandom tags. fandoms which had platonic relationships at the most popular that i expected: dream smp and teenage mutant ninja turtles (all media types). honestly i was a little surprised to see that platonic relationships were at the top for both batman (all media types) and batman (comics), and I was expecting umbrella academy to have a platonic relationship at the top, but it was actually Dave/Klaus! in dr who and related fandoms, there aren't any platonic tags that break the top 10. and ohoho, here's where we get into it: dimension 20's top written relationship was fig/ayda, followed by riz/fabian in second place.

luvo, why did you say here's where we get into it? well, i just talked about the way that fandom focuses on shipping over platonic relationships, but i'm here to talk about aro/ace characters! in ao3's advanced search, if you look for fics with 'asexual' in any category, there are as of 1/7/2025 a total of 67,515 works. looking up 'aromantic' in any category whittles it down to 26,845 works. out of the over 14 million works posted on ao3? (number pulled from wikipedia) these are small numbers, but IT GETS BETTER. if you click on the AROMANTIC TAG, the top written relationship in the AROMANTIC TAG is a SLASH SHIP. (Alastor/Vox, Hazbin Hotel at 533 works.) sort fics under the aromantic tag by kudos, and the first fic under the gen category instead of m/m or multi is the 6th work down, and overall, gen works account for 6,950 out of 18,413 works under the aromantic tag.

my point being, only a small number of fics written with platonic relationships add to aro/ace rep in fic, and following that, when aro/ace characters ARE represented, it seems to be...how do i put this...typically with a shipping lens?

let's take a step back. I want to ask the question of how many canonically aromantic and/or characters exist. just. exist. wikipedia has a decently respectable list of asexual characters in fiction, as well as a much shorter list of aromantic characters in fiction. quick disclaimer that some medias are not represented such as podcasts (jon magnus archives?) or ttrpg shows (riz gukgak?)

what i will point your attention to is: how many of these characters are made explicitly aromantic or asexual within the text of their media? answer: not a lot of them. the majority of these characters have their sexualities confirmed in behind the scenes type things, such as Victor's (Arcane) voice actor saying he's asexual in an interview, Lilith (Owl House) confirmed asexual? or aromantic? over a charity livestream and twitter, Max (Miraculous Ladybug) confirmed asexual in a tweet, etc etc. kudos to Todd and Yolanda (Bojack Horseman) for being confirmed asexual in the media they're portrayed in! these all taken from the asexual characters page, the trend follows in the page about aromantic characters: namely, that if characters are aro/ace, typically explicit confirmation of these identities takes place outside of the media they're portrayed in.

why is that important? because without an explicit confirmation, it makes it a lot easier for denial of these identities to occur. yes, maybe it was the intention of the creators, but look. once a story leaves the author's hands, it belongs to the audience and intentions often have little to no bearing. additionally, if you're reading this then you probably understand that people will also deny coding characters as being gay or bisexual without an explicit onscreen kiss or declaration or some such. and why is this important?

putting the pieces together: characters can be confirmed as allo lgbtq+ through physical acts portrayed explicitly in their stories. characters who are aro/ace, well. more often than not, they can't. they're relegated to being coded as such, and confirmation, no matter how strong the coding, can often be easily ignored or possibly never even heard of.

do not get me wrong, I GET IT. Characters exist in settings where they don't have the word aromantic, or maybe it wouldn't be in character for them to say it as such. I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY. one of my most popular fics i've posted is about Riz Gukgak and his struggle with internalized aphobia. the words aromantic or asexual do not appear ONCE in the fic. In the sequel, A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHARACTER has to say the words, and RIZ NEVER ACTUALLY CONFIRMS HIS IDENTITY. I UNDERSTAND THE STRUGGLE.

let's continue down the riz gukgak train. here are the facts: a sizable number of fans of dimension 20's fantasy high would say that riz gukgak is heavily aro/ace coded, with scenes such as:

making up a fake partner ("Clearly you haven't been kissed yet." ... "Actually, I'm dating somebody in the Baronies." Fantasy High Sophomore Year, Sophomore Start, 1:26:55)

being told that he is afraid of his friends leaving him for romantic relationships, (“The years will go by, and everyone will find someone that matters more to them than you do.” - Fantasy High Sophomore Year: Fearful Symmetry, 46:24)

telling his dad that he doesn't want to have sex ("yeah, I don't know... it just isn't happening yet? Like, not even just the act is not happening yet, like me wanting to do it." "It's not happening?" "It's not happening yet. And my friends are all like, [whispered] super horny." - Fantasy High Sophomore year, My Green Heaven, taken from a conversation around the 33 minute arc)

additionally, in an adventuring party episode of a spinoff series, the seven, Brennan Lee Mulligan says that Riz is asexual. ("...in a scene, Murph's character lies about having a partner, like a romantic partner, because Riz is ace, is asexual." - Adventuring party, season six episode eleven at 31:22 )

with all the love to my friends over in the d20 fic server for hunting these quotes down for me. truly my life is made all the better by the d20 fic community in a way that i will never know how to describe

here are some more facts! late march of 2024, with the release of the episode Baron's Game, I was lurking around the fhjy tag on tumblr. given the nature of the internet, there was discourse about riz and his identity, or his lack thereof. apologies to my d20 friends reading this who i love a lot, my rendition of a summary of said discourse follows below:

"if he's only coded to be aro/ace, that doesn't make him actually so. Brennan Lee Mulligan isn't the person who plays Riz, and him saying that he's ace is in behind the scenes content for a different show. Additionally, he only says that Riz is asexual, not aromantic. And even if Riz is aroace, aroace people can still be in romantic and sexual relationships, or a queerplatonic one!"

"why does it seem like everyone is ignoring the fact that riz is aroace? Kristen Applebee's sexuality (lesbian) would never be erased to ship her with a guy, so why are so many people doing it to Riz? Writing Riz in queerplatonic relationships is inaccurate because he's shown to be uninterested in relationships resembling anything like romantic ones, it seems like people are only interested in writing queerplatonic relationships as an excuse to write aromantic characters in the ship dynamic they want to," etc, etc. you get the gist.

let's get something straight about my stance on what people can and can't do with fictional characters: you can do literally whatever you want forever. ship riz in a romantic and sexual relationship. don't. whatever. i do not care. i do not care. he's not real. he's a fake character. he is a character. he exists for the audience to do literally whatever they want with him forever. i'll argue for someone's right to ship this character in whatever way they want. if they go down i go down with them-

ahem. sorry. my overall stance on fan creation crept into this thing that's supposed to be about how aro/ace characters are represented in fandom. whoops.

no, but let's talk about that. so, my personal interpretation of riz gukgak is that he's aroace and both romantically and sexually repulsed. i'm fairly confident in saying that my interpretation is supported by canon. some of my friends interpret riz and fabian seacaster's relationship as a queerplatonic one and they write fic about it, and i've read some it it, and i enjoyed it a lot!! and their interpretation is also supported by canon!! some people will interpret riz as simply being a late bloomer! or demi! or whatever! and guess what!!!! this will also have basis in canon!!!! gasp. shock. it's almost like stories exist for a wide variety of people to interpret them however they want to and i'm back to my philosophy on how we interpret stories in general stay on task luvo this is already too long.

so. recap. there aren't a lot of aro/ace characters who exist. often, their sexualities are reliant on coding due to the nature of the identity, and confirmation if it exists is often found behind the scenes instead of in the media. relatively, there isn't a lot of aro/ace fic on ao3. within that aro/ace fic, there's often relationships tagged with the typically romantic and/or sexual slash.

let's talk about aro/ace characters written in relationships of the romantic, sexual, and queerplatonic variety. mostly the queerplatonic variety. look, the thing is that sometimes it's easier to write a good story explicitly about being aro/ace if it's also a story about finding a queerplatonic relationship. sometimes it's easier to write a good story about being aro/ace if it's a story about finding a romantic and/or sexual relationship. writing the story comes down to the same reason so many aro/ace people struggle to find their identities in the first place: how do you find something that isn't there? sometimes, you do that by focusing on what is there.

let's keep going down this train. there aren't a lot of aro/ace characters. there are a hundred million different unique and complicated ways to have a romantic, sexual, queerplatonic, or straight up platonic relationship. Every single story written about aro/ace characters in relationships of any kind will resonate with someone, whether that's the person who wrote it, or someone who will read it. people write fic about characters in queerplatonic relationships that are exactly like what would generally be considered a conventional romantic relationship, and the only difference is that the characters refer to it as a queerplatonic relationship. thinking ungenerously, maybe this fic was written by an allo writer who just wanted to write a ship. The thing about fanfiction and its growing popularity, is that i would put money on the fact that this has happened, and at least one aspec reader stumbled upon it and their mind was blown and they felt seen.

the first fic i ever wrote with an aroace character tag was 1.8k words, posted over a year ago, and quite honestly i don't think it's very good. i wrote a second fic with the same character tagged as aroace again almost half a year ago, and again, not one of my personal favorites. but I got comments on those fics where someone felt seen, and were happy that they got to see this character be aroace, and were happy to see that this character got a happy ending, if a nontraditional one.

and remember when i brought up the slash fic under the aromantic tag? if you look under the tag Queerplatonic relationships, at the time i'm writing this there are 14,400 works. 5,941 of those are gen, the rest fall into m/m, f/f, m/f, multi, and other. the thing is, there isn't a signifier for queerplatonic relationships. a lot of the time to indicate one, authors on ao3 will use &, /, or a combination, or whatever. the fact of the matter is that the words romantic, platonic, and queerplatonic are doing so much work to carry such a wide variety of how a relationship is expressed, and even if there was a symbol to indicate queerplatonic relationships, (which there are in some places. the comic fan fiction author archive uses ~ to indicate qprs,) there are a hundred thousand different ways for qprs to look like.

um so. i started writing this like maybe 2 or 3 or more hours ago and i don't even know if i have or have ever had a point and this is extremely rambly and not organized in the slightest, but if i do have a point, it's something like:

there aren't a lot of aromantic characters. there aren't a lot of asexual characters. there aren't a lot of aro/ace coded characters. there definitely aren't enough to encompass the incomprehensible number of ways that people can experience or express their identities, and there are never going to be. the human experience is too wonderfully diverse for that, and it's too difficult to distill into the pitifully small vocabulary we have. my point might be to touch grass. by which i mean, don't like don't read, and remember that people are just that: people, with lives and worlds and perspectives of their own, and some of them you will never be able to understand, and sometimes you're not meant to understand them, and they are deserving of love regardless.

[fermiomoriblog]

The pitfalls of every Sunny ship

Diving straight into the hot coals with the first post. But it has been on my mind lately.

The setup in Omori is naturally quite mentally (and in some cases physically) taxing on every main cast character, and a shipper can very easily be overenthusiastic about getting a "happy ending" for their preferred pair, glossing over inconvenient problems and dynamics. I think that it really is rather contrary to the game's themes that this occurs, but it is also understandable that not everybody does a full psychoanalysis of every plot point in their story. I'll list some "common" problems I've personally encountered with people making content about sunburn, suntan and sunflower. I'm more familiar with the dynamics common on ao3 than elsewhere, so if you have any other observations or things to add, please feel free to do so.

# OMORI SPOILERS BELOW #

Sunburn

The "canon" ship. The fact that the ship is explicitly mentioned in game means that the ship is viewed as the "default", and it can lead to some lazy dynamics or lack of justification. You have to remember that no matter what headspace says (and headspace says a lot of things that aren't true), the first thing Sunny and Aubrey did after four years is beat the shit out of each other. Sunny knows nothing about the Hooligans, even though we do, and Aubrey thinks Sunny abandoned her (which is a feeling unlikely to abate after the truth). There needs to be basis for the ship as well - they aren't going to just pick up where they left off (presuming they had anything to leave off in the first place) right away. Which leads us to the first common problem:

Basing the relationship entirely on the past

This is the default reaction and requires the least writing creativity, so it is not surprising that it is common. Simply porting the HS dynamic or the swing scene to the future and copy-pasting is fun and cute and all, but it ignores the fact that both Sunny and Aubrey have changed massively. There's a lot of guilt that is going around, both with Sunny for obvious reasons and Aubrey for pushing Basil in the lake, and Aubrey has a bunch of new, closer friends whom depending on your interpretation are either theatre kids or delinquents. This is not really just going to get talked away on the swing set - they involve third parties.

I would venture to argue that this is actually a very problematic pitfall, despite it being generally not a very serious transgression in real life. Omori, as a game, is about moving on from the past. If you write a fic where the characters forget about bad things in the past but hang on like hell to the good things... that's Headspace. You've just put Sunny in a new Headspace.

Getting Basil out of the way

Even among sunburn/suntan shippers, it is pretty generally accepted that Basil was somewhat attached to Sunny even before the accident. So if you don't want to do sunflower, how do you deal with that?

You can write angst, where Aubrey and Basil end up fighting over Sunny. Weirdly, I've never seen this actually happen (probably because it's too heartbreaking). You can have Basil go to therapy, and get rid of an unhealthy attachment. You can also go the seriously angsty route of Basil hating Sunny for abandonment, Sunny hating Basil for his role in the incident, or a less intense version which just puts a barrier between the two. You can also have Sunny reject Basil. Or you can argue that the attachment was platonic, which is entirely fair.

What you cannot do is have Basil be romantically interested in Sunny, but "get out of the way" for Aubrey "so that Sunny can be happy". Or, well, you can do that, but you can't frame it as anything but serious angst from Basil's POV.

Unfortunately, many, many "pure fluff" Sunburn fics do this, because "pure fluff" fics don't want to untangle the whole thing as most methods involve some degree of emotional turnmoil. This is no ordinary infautation - Basil has waited for Sunny for four years. Nursing unrequited love like that is really, really painful. It is certainly not something that someone with Basil's character and history can do with a smile on their face. If you need any further convincing, I point you to Note to Self: Don't Be Gay in Faraway Town by witheredahlia.

A version of this which I think is a lesser sin (because it is at least framed with some nuance), but a sin regardless, is Aubrey getting annoyed at Basil for "stealing" Sunny's attention from her. This gets dangerously close to the reddit comments you see about "the friend group will be better off if Basil never joined".

Suntan

Despite sunburn being the "canon" and sunflower being the natural alternative, I actually think that this is the default. After all, Kel was the one to bring Sunny out, generally saving his life, and is his first friend, etc. Kel is also a clean slate character, with nothing anyone can particularly hold against them, and as a result suntan is the "healthiest", "least questionable" ship. This commits the customary mistake of believing Kel's parents when they say "eh, it's Kel, he'll be fine".

"Kel's fine"

No, he's not. He's spent the better part of four years trying to forget the happiest times of his childhood, and has been going around doing nothing but fixing and saving other people, putting others' needs far above his own, for the entirety of pre-canon and foreseeably for a good part of post canon as well. Suntan, especially with Sunny still in a vulnerable state post-canon, can very easily be written into Kel being Sunny's unpaid, untrained therapist, and his mood/health being Kel's only/majority source of validation. Kel's self-worth independent of his friends needs addressing and development, and without a lot of development, Sunny alone is not really equipped to provide that.

In all fairness, while I would be somewhat confident in saying that the majority of canon-compliant sunburn fics run into the problems above, suntan fics do usually handle it better. That might just be because there aren't that many suntan fics though.

Sunflower

It goes without saying that sunflower has the highest potential to be unhealthy. But precisely because of that fact, people writing sunflower are usually very careful to address it. Either the fic is written as a work exploring codependency/attachment/trauma/other general unhealthiness (which you can make your own judgement on whether it's a legitimate art form or problematic), or there is at minimum an attempt at pacing, therapy and general juggling of the various mental issues the game leaves Sunny and Basil with (for a shining example, see These Days Without You by Smitty1899, my go to answer for when anyone says "but sunflower toxic!!1!").

The issues that can make sunflower unhealthy and problematic are generally pretty obvious - shared crime, codependency and attachment, commitment and abandonment issues, and the whole "getting together before their friends forgive them" thing (which can still be done well, but from the POV of especially Hero can be kind of eh, and unlikely to be conducive to a healthy relationship given that it kind of depends on their friends' pending "approval".) As a result, there aren't a lot of works that don't address them in one manner or another. However, I do think there is one major pitfall that some fics fall into in the other direction:

Having everything in the relationship be dependent on someone else's approval.

In an attempt to make sunflower as healthy as possible, some authors make it so that Sunny and Basil effectively never make decisions on their own. There's always a third party present to psychoanalyse them, tell them what's fine and what's not, etc. and every step they make in their relationship is with the express blessing, support and help of the rest of their friends. The problem is, that's not healthy either.

I feel that the value of sunflower is greatest in the context of the themes of the game of moving on and forgiveness. Making it so that Sunny and Basil hang on to their guilt forever and robbing them of any "right" to decide for themselves what makes them happy is very much contrary to that - they're on crutches for the rest of their lives, and the point of the good ending is the hope that they won't need to be. It also is just not a good thing for any third party to intervene so extensively in a relationship.

Conclusion

Omori is emotionally deep, with many, many themes to explore. Ships in Omori have unique meanings and themes, which in a canon compliant context is quite hard to simply wipe away. Rushing into a ship with insufficient pacing and development, which works in "cute" fandoms, generally leaves lots of outstanding holes in Omori.

This post doesn't necessarily mean that I think less of any particular ship mentioned - to reiterate, every ship has unique meanings and themes which is interesting to explore and form a part of the message of the game. It is however true that some pitfalls in some ships are easier to fall in, and overlooked, than others, and the obvious problems get a lot more bashing than the non-obvious ones. (Yes, sunflower bias. Sue me.)

And of course, in a plotless or AU context, cute art is cute art.

[selkiemoonssss]

I noticed you posted a drawing of soriel, super cute btw!

What's your opinion on that ship anyway?

Short answer: Yeah! I really like them. Their dynamic is cute!

Long answer: I love them. They have alot of potential to both happen (to some extent) in deltarune, and the exiled queen ending. Let me explain how I kinda see it happening in the exiled queen ending (without giving away like major spoilers for what I'm writing, that I'm still debating whether or not soriel will be present in there?)

Okay, so imagine this. Your brother dies, and so does the king. The former queen who was missing tries to take back the throne, but monsters don't like the policy of treating humans as friends and so she's exiled back to the ruins. You're like 'heck with it' and go along with her. Not like there's anything worth sticking around for back in snowdin anyway, right?

Anyway, so you bond with this lady. It's more than just talking by a door, you see her every day, and she's the best. You cook together, you look for snails, you garden, you so everything, to some extent, it gives you some sort of purpose, although the pain never leaves.

Though, in the healing promise I can kinda just see them, yknow?? Their relationship is great platonic or romantic (its very underrated, hence why I love the exiled queen ending as their relationship really shines!!

And then there's post pacifist, everything really seems like it's going to go okay, it's fair that you might want to settle down now, right???

I might not have done the explanation justice, but I really do like them, romantic or platonic :3

(Also,,,,, because I like them either way, I'm stuck between which I should make them in the fic I'm writing.. help)

[mono-dot-jpeg]

child support - kafka & himeko

summary; you miss your parents but it's okay, you got new ones now.

genre/extra tags; fluff, found family, himeko & kafka give me divorced couple energy but in a good way, possibly ooc kafhime, almost mute! reader, kafka pays the child support, comfort vibes only, slight angst ig????

[gender neutral reader] [platonic] [7-8 yrs old! reader]

[warnings; implied child abandonment, describing hypothermia symptoms (in the first-ish half)]

word count; 1.1k

a/n; you know it took me a solid few moments and a google search to figure what kafhime was bc i forgot that shipping exists for a moment. i don't really engage in shipping especially when i know that some people,,, transfer over to games from the same company they like and those people can be... weird or in my face about shipping. but who am i to judge. also kaf and hime can be interpreted as just two rude besties or just platonic (/hj) this fic is more long winded than i expected. idk, it was a little bit difficult to figure out. but hope you enjoy!

cold. everything was so cold.

how have you even managed for so long? you thought you were a goner. the people who first found you almost thought you were a goner with how despondent you were stuck in the old rickety house you once lived in. you were so tired, so gone in your mind, you couldn't feel anything. you were lucky to live, that's what you heard from the doctors.

why did fate leave you like this?

"hello dear. are you feeling any better?" a gentle motherly voice rings in the warm room. the room was a bit warmer than the rest, maybe it was just for your sake or this was just a normal thing. you weren't sure. you lived out in belobog after all. a palace of ice and a hundred winters. but it's not like you remember much of what even got you out in the dangerous cold in the first place.

you feel a hand press against your forehead. "colder than winter itself. poor kid." the same voice speaks again. "perhaps she can help me out for this." the hand moves away from you, making a weak cry leave your lips. "sorry. sorry. i guess it isn't warm enough for you in here." she apologized. "perhaps pompom can find some more fluffy blankets."

you twist and turn as her open thought chatter starts to wake you up more. you turn to rest on your side and find an unfamiliar woman as you're in an unfamiliar room. you choke up in fear as you struggle to get up and keep yourself far away from her.

"dear, you're barely even recovered! don't move too quickly!" it's too late for her words and you can't even get that far away. your tiny body is heavy and you only manage to move not even 2 inches away. the red head doesn't make any move to startle you. "i know you must be scared. i'm here to help you." she lowers herself to face eye level with you. "do you remember anything?"

you don't say a word and stare.

"we don't have to talk about it. you don't need to say anything. just nod or shake your head, does that sound okay?" she smiles gently, hoping to appear as not as scary to you.

you hesitantly nod.

"thank you for answering. you must still be feeling cold, right?"

nod.

she grabbed a nearby blanket, "is it okay if i drape this over you? won't touch you or anything." she glances at you, making sure you either nod or shake your head.

you slowly nod, remembering how cold you are.

she doesn't make any fast movements, noting your flinchy behavior. she wraps the blanket around your shoulders gently but you still flinch when it touches you.

"now what's this about a little child?" you flinch at a new voice. another feminine voice that you find a bit more melodic than the warm tones of the other. then another lady enters. you inch towards the farthest corner of the bed.

"kafka, you're going to scare them."

"aw, don't be so mean." she pretends to sound hurt but her voice is teasing. "where did you find the kid?"

"in belobog. outside of the city. well, trailblazer, march and dan heng found them. they were stuck in the freezing snow." kafka's face grimaces at the thought of seeing you stuck in the snow helpless without anyone able to find you. "but anyways, you should head out, lest the others know about you being here so suddenly."

"i paid for the items you're giving to the little star, at least let me stay for a little while longer." himeko sighs before realizing.

"i forgot to introduce myself-" the red head looks over at you who is covered in blanket, attempting to hide yourself. "see, you did scare them!" she muttered to the other. "i'm sorry about her, dear. my name is himeko. this is kafka."

"sorry for scaring you, little one. i tend to do that." kafka hummed. "well, that aside, miss himeko over here and i, we want to take care of you. but we can't be doing that when you're stuck in your little cocoon." she gently chuckled. you slowly get out of the blankets, head peeking out to look up at the lady. "well, that's a start. have you eaten yet?" she asked.

you don't say anything but your belly grumbles.

"i know what would take care of that." himeko smiled. you hear the knocks at the door but no figure enters but you hear shuffling. "pompom got some food for you, himeko!" and you find yourself face to face with a cute living rabbit in a conductor's outfit. himeko gets up opening the door and grabbing the plate of food.

"thank you pompom." himeko hummed as she closes the door. kafka soon moves to sit by the bed. you still stay head peeked with the blankets as you stare at the plate of food and then himeko. himeko walked over. "this is for you, dear. you can stay on the bed if you want. me and kafka will be right back." the redhead places a hand on kafka's shoulder, slowly pushing her as they both leave into what you assume is a bathroom. once they do, you can hear them talking but you're too focused on eating to care about the conversation.

you finish eating and you're feeling much better than before but it doesn't stop you from keeping away from himeko and kafka. it makes them a little sad but they're so patient as they converse with you as if nothing's wrong.

you don't really answer or say anything really. you just nod or shake your head depending on what they ask you. and they seem satisfied with that.

"can you give us your name? unless you're still uncomfortable."

you tell them your name weakly.

"what a lovely name. now. i'm sorry that we have to get a little heavy but, have you always been living out of the city in your home?"

you give a small nod.

"what about your parents?" himeko speaks softly and carefully. she watches as your eyes water and you shake your head. "oh, sorry, sorry. let it out." she moves to sit by you in the bed. kafka sighs.

"of course we couldn't have known about that but would you like to stay with me and himeko? i know himeko wouldn't want to leave you in a state like this."

you think for a moment, well.. there's nowhere else to really go. you nodded. and you watch as two gentle smiles grow. you feel a bit calmer and you can feel some reassurance that you have a chance to continue your life.

[gaybananabread]

Hi!! I saw you had the last day of tickletober available, and I feel like it would be really cute with ler Dipper and lee Pacifica. (Can be platonic or romantic. I ship them but you don’t need to in the fic if you don’t want to) 💖 Maybe they’re having a tickle fight and Dipper ends up winning, and since she’s not used to them he makes sure she’s all good afterwards and gets her water and maybe ask is she wants a hug or if she wants to watch a movie. 💖

TickleTober Day 31 - Aftercare

~WHOOO it's been a month! This is such a perfect way to finish it up; a nice, fluffy fic for one of my oldest fandoms. I ship them, too, and I chose a little pre-relationship pining vibe for it. I mostly followed the prompt, though I kinda just had Dipper do all the wrecking. Thank you for requesting, and I hope you Enjoy! Happy Halloween everyone!~

(Sorry this got posted on the 1st, I fell asleep writing it last night😭)

Lee: Pacifica

Ler: Dipper

Summary: Pacifica is hanging out at the Mystery Shack with Dipper. After a simple card game takes a silly turn, the two realize how amazing physical touch is. Especially from each other…

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!

“Dipper, come on! This is- It's so childish!” Pacifica practically screeched the words as she ran around her side of the table, mirroring Dipper’s movements.

They were supposed to be playing one of her favorite card games, “Gossip Gals,” but one of the questions had been a little too flustering for the girl. So Dipper, like any rational teenage boy, decided to attack her for information.

“Just tell me if you're ticklish or not! I'm gonna find out either way!” He laughed as he tried to reach her, circling the table between them. The card game had seemed silly at first, but after that question, Dipper couldn’t find any complaints.

“No you’re not!” Trying out a risky move, Pacifica jumped up onto the Pines’ kitchen table and attempted to jump over Dipper. She’d underestimated how far she had to jump, however, landing directly on Dipper. Instead of bracing himself, he wrapped his arms around the girl as they tumbled to the ground.

Nobody hit their head, and Dipper emerged victorious; he had his arms around the blonde’s waist, securing her.

“Dipper! You little brat, let me go!” Pacifica glared daggers at the boy, trying to squash any and all giddiness from her tone. She was about to get tickled, no doubt. She could barely remember the last time that had happened; maybe a nanny had done it? Whatever the case, it had been a while.

“Nope. Not until I find out,” he grinned, placing his hands on her sides. Usually, he’d be a flustered, blushing mess. The game had somehow given him a boost of confidence, which he was milking for all it was worth. “You can either tell me, or I test it myself.”

“I don’t know!” The words came out a lot more shrill than she had intended. The girl cleared her throat before speaking again. “I-it’s been a while, okay? I don’t remember.”

“Oh.” The boy paused for a moment, letting that sink in. Pacifica’s parents were terrible; they’d probably never done that to her before. Heck, they probably hadn’t even hugged her in a few months. He had to show her. “Guess I’ll test it then.”

"What?! That’s not what- GYEEhehehehe! Dihippeheher!” Pacifica cut herself off when she felt him squeeze her sides, squirming against his chest. A buzzy feeling danced under her skin, making it impossible for her to hold still. It rooted itself deep in her stomach, a giddy smile stretching across her cheeks.

The most embarrassing part? She’d liked it.

Pacifica couldn’t remember if she’d liked it before, but then again, she could hardly remember ever being tickled before at all. While they made her squirm and squeak, the fluttering buzzes of the tickles made her feel so light and happy.

“Wow, you are ticklish, aren’t you?” Dipper’s sudden surge of confidence shriveled at the sound of her merry laugh, giving way to fluster and affection. He loved her giggles; they were so loud and pitchy. Compared to her typically-perfect facade, they were like a diamond in a pile of ashy coal: bold, different, and enticing.

“N-nohoho duhuhuh!” The girl managed to sass him through her giggles, weakly batting at his hands. She was giving herself away. Dipper knew how hard she could fight when she wanted to get away; the little smacks were barely even a fraction of that intensity.

“Shut up,” Dipper huffed affectionately, moving his hands up to her ribs. That got a nice reaction; the girl immediately shrieked, clamping her arms to her sides for protection. Unfortunately for her, she‘d trapped his hands against the sensitive bones; he had no intention of leaving them there without action.

“Dihippeheher, dohon't! Ihihi’ll- GYAAAHAHAHA! OHO GOHOHOD! DIHIHIHIPPER!”

Pacifica arched her back as the intense sensation flooded her nervous system, eyes squeezing shut. She…she was really that ticklish? How could she forget that?!

“D-IHIHIHIPPEHER, PLEHEHEASE!” The girl's laughter was borderline frantic at that point, her mind a swirling mess of shock, stimulation, and a touch of curiosity.

Scared of overwhelming her, Dipper quickly put a stop to his tickling, pulling his hands back when Pacifica’s elbows released them. “A-are you okay,? Did I go too far? Do you want some water or a snack or something?”

Pacifica just spent a moment giggling, trying to get her head on straight. That had been…a lot. She’d definitely liked it, but she’d never felt so overwhelmed before. It completely consumed her thoughts…which, to be honest, was kind of nice. She didn’t have to think about her actions or how perfect she seemed; she could just laugh.

“I-Ihi’m okay, dummy. Even if you did try to kill me.” Pacifica made sure to be dramatic about everything, huffing and crossing her arms. When he met her eyes, however, he saw a genuine happiness in them.

Dipper wanted to ask if she’d liked it, but he could barely answer that question himself; his cheeks burned at the thought of actually asking out loud. There was something else on his mind, too…

“Do you wanna…watch a movie on the couch? O-or something? It’s fine if you don’t, I just-”

“Yeah, I’d like that. Don’t have a heart attack over it, you nerd.” She gave his shoulder a little shove, then used it to help herself to her feet. Dipper scrambled after her, feeling his face burn for almost no reason. Being flustered was the worst...but he also loved it around her.

Pacifica settled herself down in the middle of the couch, forcing Dipper to make one of the most difficult decisions of his teenage life: sit right next to her, or a respectful distance away?

She made that decision for him.

“Ugh, get over here. It’s not rocket science, nerd.” Pacifica rolled her eyes and scooted over, patting the spot right next to her.

It’s not because I like him or anything. I just…don’t wanna be cold. Yeah. It’s cold.

With a burning blush on his cheeks, Dipper settled in next to her. He blindly put a movie on, barely registering the screen as his mind raced with varying thoughts of “ohmygodohmygodohmyGOD!”

It turns out he’d picked The Princess Bride. Dipper had seen the film a thousand times, so the familiar voices of the characters and memorized scenes calmed his mind, actually returning a bit of his confidence. Dipper tuned in to the little voice of his crush in his head, relaxing next to her. He even did the awkward yawn-hug thing, stretching his arm across her shoulders.

Pacifica’s breath hitched at the contact, her brows shooting up as she glanced over at him. Where did that confidence – as cliche as it was – come from? Well, alright then…

As if she was challenging him to back off, the blonde leaned against him, lying her head on his chest. To her surprise, she felt his hand hesitantly settle on her head. He gently scratched her scalp, testing the waters.

The action had started off spiteful, but…well, she wasn’t complaining. Dipper’s touch felt nice, and the warmth of his chest was actually pretty comforting. Letting out a little sigh, she closed her eyes and let herself fully relax against him.

Dipper was dying inside, his face burning as he tried to keep all his screaming internal. He’d suspected that he might have been developing a crush on the Northwest, but…yeah. There was no dying it anymore. He let himself peek at her face, a smile tugging at his lips.

I’m so glad I asked that question…

[multifandomfanficss]

Home Is Wherever You Are P1

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

With a very heavy emphasis on platonic!Christopher Smith/Peacemaker

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: You jump in front of an explosive device to protect Adrian from the blast and end up getting separated from him with no way back.

Warnings: mentions of trafficking, mentions of child abuse, panic, meltdown, crying, divorce, mentions of August Smith, cannon typical Peacemaker violence and language

A/N: In July I started cooking up a new idea with the help of my friend @countlambula and what was originally meant to be a 2 parter moved to a 4 parter and somehow I ended with 7 parts?! Not quite sure how that happened! I’m very excited to share what I spent a huge part of my summer working on. I hope you guys enjoy!! Also despite the main ship being Adrian x Reader there is A LOT of platonic!Chris content in this fic so I really do hope Chris fans can read and enjoy this! I loved getting into the thick of Chris’ backstory for this! All of the 11th Street Kids have their own importance in this series, but it is very Adrian and Chris centric. Please enjoy!!

“I love you.” You sighed in relaxation, smiling as you were gently woken up by your boyfriend.

“Well somebody has to.” Adrian joked.

“Shut up!” You lightly hit him on the chest, laughing.

“Never.” He smiles, kissing you. You could look at his beautiful, infectious smile for hours. Your phones both buzz at the same time, an indication that it’s probably a text in the 11th Street Kids chat because you both got it.

“Didn’t we just get home from a mission?” You groan.

“There’s no time to rest for super badass super cool heroes, babe.” Adrian kisses you on the cheek quickly before getting out of bed.

“Okay, but if we have to pair up there is no way in hell I’m going with Chris again. Last time he told me I looked like his sexy babysitter growing up. Like who the fuck says that? Our lives aren’t some shitty porno and it’s almost like he doesn’t even give a fuck that we’re dating.” You sigh.

“Yeah he constantly tells me that you’re way out of my league. I think his exact words were I’m in little league and you’re on major leagues, but I don’t know. I was never on the bowling team.”

“I think he meant baseball, honey.” You smile at him, finding his little knowledge of sports cute.

“That might actually make more sense with his home run and base metaphors! It took me way too long to figure out what that shit meant. Why can’t people just say what they mean?” He questions.

“Because they’re trying too hard to sound smart. I think sometimes not saying things they actually mean, but understanding that’s not exactly what they meant makes them feel smarter. They don’t know lots of facts like you do and they definitely can’t come up with intricate strategies either.” You smile at him, taking his hand in yours. You watch his smile grow, but there’s something more behind his eyes. He seems moved.

“How do you always do that?” He asks.

“What?”

“How do you always make me feel so smart and validated?” He clarifies.

“Because you are smart. You’re a hell of a lot smarter than Chris and if anyone gave you a second and actually listened to you, they’d realize that. You helped save the world last year. There’s no way they could have done that without you. If it weren’t for you, Chris’ dad probably would have killed him that day, honestly.” As you speak Adrian starts to realize.

“I tried to tell Peacemaker about the gaps in the armor, but he didn’t listen.” He reminds you.

“Well that’s because he’s too deep in his own bullshit to see past it. He should have listened to you, but this isn’t just about him being stubborn. I don’t think most people would have noticed such a small detail like that. Give yourself some credit.” You kiss him again.

“You know you’re like everything to me right? I’ve never felt this way about a person before. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had feelings for other people, but like…it’s like I just never fit in as a kid. I just kinda felt like an alien who crash landed here as a baby and I know I’m not, but I just didn’t feel human. You make me feel human.” He’s giving you that look he gives people when he’s worried he’s said something a little too out of pocket or strange.

“I get what you mean. It’s almost like we were made for each other. We’re each other’s rocks…wait does that sound too cheesy?” You look at him, blushing.

“No! I love rocks! I had a rock collection when I was a little kid!” You giggle at how cute he is.

“Me too! My mom would find rocks in the machine every time she did laundry because I would stuff my pockets!” You tell him and you both laugh. Then your phones go off again, interrupting your good morning. You sigh. “Harcourt’s gonna kill us if we’re late.” You kiss him one more time before getting out of bed and heading to the shower.

“Let her kill us.” He laughs, smirking, following you to the shower.

Several hours later you found yourself sneaking through a warehouse. You didn’t quite know what to expect, you just knew a lot of people had gone missing at the hands of this guy. You figured maybe they were being killed off or trafficked. If you knew what you know now maybe you would have done things differently. Maybe you wouldn’t have even done them at all. You wished you were at home with Adrian. Adrian. You may never see him again…

You were running after the guy when he pulled a grenade on you. Adrian had survived a grenade once, but you didn’t think he would survive again. You on the other hand were testing out new armor from ARGUS that could probably withstand the blast, so you did what anyone would do for the person they love the most. You pushed him out of the way. Your ears were ringing and everything was so bright. You think you hear Adrian and maybe some of your other teammates screaming your name, but you’re not sure. Suddenly you’re on the ground, but the ground is different… you try to open your eyes, but they’re still strained from the bright light and now you feel lightheaded and nauseous. You black out.

You wake up to arms shaking you.

“Adrian?” You question in a whiney tone. You open your eyes to find a construction worker looking over you.

“I don’t know who that is. What even happened to you?“ You blinked a couple times, moving around slowly, getting your bearings. “You’re in my construction site for the new factory warehouse that’s going up. What happened? Did you slip down the dirt mound and hit your head?”

“I- I must have…” Your voice trails off as you try to make sense of everything.

“This is going to be so much paperwork.” The worker sighs.

“I’m sorry… what town am I in?” You ask.

“Evergreen, Washington.”

“I don’t remember there being any big construction sites like this recently.” You try to think of any signs indicating any recent work sites.

“We just broke ground yesterday. I’m surprised you didn’t see it on the news.” The worker helps you up.

“I don’t tend to watch the news. My boyfriend thinks it’s depressing. I usually get my news elsewhere, but I’ve been a little busy to read up on it in the past few days.” You smile at the worker, thinking of Adrian.

“Like the newspaper?” He asks.

“No, online.”

“On what? You wait in line?”

“No… like the internet…” You give him a confused smile.

“Oh, I don’t mess with that new stuff. I don’t want robots in my house, stealing my information. You young people always just want things faster, faster, faster.” You tried to refrain from giving the man an odd look. He’s probably from one of the more rural areas. You knew how radically conservative Evergreen could be at first hand, having met Chris’ dad and been told stories of how he grew up. You were just happy Chris’ dad was dead. As awful as that sounds you’d hate to run into him.

“Yeah…” You give a nervous laugh. “Well thank you, but I should probably head out before your supervisor notices.” You quickly excuse yourself, walking down the street. You pulled out your phone, but had no service, so you put it away. That’s odd. Usually there’s dead zones in town, but you didn’t think it was this bad. As you walk down the street you see a beautiful vintage car parked by the side of the road. It’s in pretty good condition.

“I love your vintage car! What year is it?” You ask the woman getting out of it.

“What this clunker? I got it from my parents. It’s only an 81, but I guess it’s getting old now. It’s got tons of miles on it. They just got a new car, so they gave me their old one.” She says, locking her door.

“They didn’t wanna keep it?” You ask in shock.

“Why would they? It’s old.” You look at her in confusion before she excuses herself to walk into the grocery store. Guess some people just don’t know the value of collectibles.

Today has been fucking weird. How did you even end up in that construction site anyway? You must have gone for a walk this morning and fell in, but it’s a little alarming you don’t remember. You could walk home, but it’s just so far. You walk into a nearby corner store hopping they have wifi to connect to. You couldn’t call Adrian without service, but maybe if you could get wifi you could get him a message to come pick you up or you could order an Uber.

You walked into the building and made your way up to the counter. “Hi, do you have wifi here?” You ask.

“No, sorry we don’t sell that.” The teenage cashier dismisses you and goes back to the pad of paper they’re doodling on.

“Okay… do you know anywhere near here that has wifi?” You ask.

“I don’t even know what wifi is. I could call the hardware store and see if they have some.” They look at you like you’re the stupid one.

“What do you mean call the hardware store?”

“We have a phone behind the counter.”

“How do you not know what wifi is? Wireless internet?” You stare at them, losing your mind a bit.

“You think we have a computer here? This is Evergreen. Half the town is poor as shit. You’re not gonna find a computer in a gas station. Go to the library. They just got another one.” The teenager rolls their eyes at you.

“Can I at least use your phone?” You ask, trying to keep your patients with the idiot in front of you. How do they not know what wifi is?

“You have to use the pay phone next door. My boss said this is a business only phone.”

“The pay phone… What is this? 1985? I didn’t even know pay phones still existed.”

“Well some of us again can’t afford a cellphone. Not to mention, my mom says they fuck with your brain.” They roll their eyes again.

“It’s the 21st century who cares what their mother says? Practically everyone has a phone?” You give them a strange look.

“I don’t know what you smoked before you walked in here, but you’re still half a decade away from the 21st century.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” You look at them dumbfounded before it all starts to register. The comments about the internet being new, no wifi, no cellphones, the vintage car. You feel your ears start to ring as your eyes begin to tear up. You feel like you’re underwater. You take off, booking it down several blocks. You’re out of breath and you have a cramp, but you don’t care. You keep running. You’re sweating, but you keep running. You can taste metal in your mouth, but you keep running. You keep going. You have to. Finally you reach it. You stand in front of the building, catching your breath as you watch people walk in and out of Henelotter Video. Your heart is in your throat.

“No…” You look at it and begin to cry in shock at what was once your headquarters… or you guess what will one day be… That day hasn’t come yet. You walk over to a newspaper box and grab a free local paper. You see the date says August 31st, 1994. Fuck. You drop the paper, rushing to the back of the building. You collapse on the ground against the back wall of a building that should feel more familiar to you than it is. You remember now. The grenade must have been some sort of weaponized time travel. The people weren’t being killed or trafficked. They were being displaced in time. You sob quietly, not trying to cause a scene. This wasn’t supposed to be this way.

You lean against the building staring out at the parking lot, the parking lot where you shared your first kiss with Adrian. You had just gotten back from a mission that he was a little too reckless on and you needed to tell him how you felt in case you never got the chance again. You look over at the dumpster, clean of the graffiti it will one day be littered with. That was the dumpster he was hiding behind when you first met him as Vigilante.

Adrian… You may never get to see your perfect boyfriend again. He was by no means actually perfect, but he was perfect to you. He was your personal version of perfect and you knew you’d never find anyone else like him again. Now you may never see him again…

You cry until it starts to grow dark. You wonder about what you’ll do. Anything you do could change the future. What if changing the future makes it so you never meet Adrian or what if you change something and it branches off into a different future and you get stuck away from him in a parallel universe? You’re not a time travel scientist. Anything could fucking happen! The only thing you do know is that you’re alone and it’s getting dark. If you’re getting your timeline right, Chris’ dad would be coming out soon with his awful fucking army and you knew if they tried to fight you, you wouldn’t be able to take all of them on your own. They rule the streets in these years. You pull out your wallet from your pocket to find you have enough money to at least go get dinner. Your debit card won’t work, but you have just enough cash. You head to Fennel Fields because you knew it would probably be the only consistent thing left in town. You just wanted something familiar.

As you’re seated, an overwhelmed waitress rushes past you saying “I’ll be right with you!”

“Take your time. I practically have all the time in the world… like 30 years of time…” You whisper the last part under your breath. The overworked waitress runs back to you and apologizes.

“Hi, my name is Diane. Can I get you something to drink?” You want to order a soda, but decide against it to save money.

“Uh… I guess water will have to be fine.”

“You don’t look so sure. It’s free refills.” She smiles at you.

“I- I’m okay…” You stutter, tired. You could really use the caffeine, but shouldn’t.

“Well if you could have any pop in the machine which one would you pick?” She asks.

“I’m really fine with water…” You laugh nervously.

“Just humor me.” She smiles at you.

“Uh…maybe a Diet Coke…” You smile shyly at her. She leaves and comes back with a Diet Coke.

“On the house.” She smiles at you again. Something about her is so comforting.

“Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly-“

“Take it. You look like you’ve had a long day. I know I have.” She smiles at you.

“You’re very kind.” You smile back, taking a sip, letting the cool bubbly liquid trickle down your throat, which is sore from crying.

“Now what are we doing for food?” She asks.

“Uh…I’m gonna be really honest with you. I know most restaurants won’t let you order a kids meal if you’re over 12, but I’m really tight on cash, so I was hoping to maybe get the chicken tenders and fries?” You try your luck and she gives you another comforting smile.

“Great choice. I’ll go have the kitchen whip it up.” She walks away without any other questions.

You stay and eat at the restaurant for a while. Even long after you’re done, you stay and enjoy more free refills just so you’re not out on the streets.

“You know we’re technically closed right?” Your waitress, Diane asks.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I’ll leave…” You start to collect your things as she begins to sit at your booth with a bin of silverware and some napkins.

“No, please stay. Mind if I join you?” She asks.

“Um…no.” You smile. “I don’t mind at all.” Truth be told you loved Diane. She had such a comfortable, familiar air around her. Even in all of this chaos, she felt like someone you could trust. She starts rolling silverware as you sip on your drink.

“So what’s your story? Are you running or were you kicked out?” She asks.

“What?” You look at her confused.

“You just look scared and tired and like you’re not quite sure what to do. It’s none of my business, but you just look like you need someone on your side is all.” She smiles again, hoping she didn’t overstep.

“Why were you so kind to me? I walked into this restaurant with thirteen dollars to my name and you didn’t even roll an eye at me.” You question her.

“Just doing what I think is right, I suppose. It’s been hard for me too lately. My husband just left, so I picked up this second job to make sure my kids will be alright.” You shoot her a sympathetic look.

“Um…kicked out…I guess….” You open up. Being exiled from your time period is sort of like being kicked out.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” She asks. You shake your head silently. She finishes rolling the last bit of silverware before standing up and putting the bin behind the counter nearby.

“Let’s go. I’m taking you home with me.” She smiles.

“Oh, no! I- I couldn’t possibly-“

“Yes, you can and you will. I’m a mother. I’m not going to let a young adult with nowhere to go and no money sleep on the streets.” She cuts you off. She couldn’t be too much older than you, but clearly motherhood had aged her.

“You don’t even know my name!” You protest.

“What’s your name?” She asks.

“Rey” You panicked. It was the first name to come to your head. You and Adrian had watched Star Wars yesterday.

“Well then, Rey, let’s go home.” She insists.

“I can’t just stay in your house. That’d be rude.” You continue to debate.

“Then work for me.” She says.

“What?” You question her.

“I’ve been wanting to hire a nanny, but haven’t been able to afford one. If you come stay at my place, while you’re there you could watch the boys when I’m at work and in return you would have a roof over your head and food to eat. It sounds like a win-win situation.” She proposes. It isn’t a bad idea. You worry doing just about anything else would have an insane impact on the timeline. How much could one family affect everything?

“Are you sure about this?” You ask.

“More than sure. There’s something about you. You just seem…right.” She tells you. You smile.

“Okay…let’s go home then I guess…” you say as you follow her out of the restaurant. On the drive home she tells you about her kids.

“I have two kids…officially…” She starts.

“What do you mean officially?” You ask as you watch the passing streetlights illuminate her face.

“Well my son’s friend is always over, so more often than not it’ll probably be three boys. I let him sleepover a lot even though he’s a handful because every time he sleeps at home he comes back the next day with bruises. I can’t do anything about it because…well…that’s just how the town is…I think if I said anything things would just get worse, so I keep my mouth shut and put out an extra table setting for supper.” Her hands tighten on the steering wheel as she speaks.

“That’s so awful. I’ll never be able to understand parents who do that to their kids.” You sigh.

“Me either. If anyone laid a finger on either of my boys I’d kill them.” Most moms would be exaggerating, but you saw fire behind her eyes. You knew she loved her kids and she wasn’t fucking around. When you get home and walk inside you see a toddler with tight brown curls running around the living room in nothing, but a diaper.

“Dorian?!” Diane yells through the house. She catches the giggling toddler who has food on his face.

“Dorian Gut Chase! I told you your brother had to be in bed by 8!” Diane starts to scold her son who could be heard from the other room playing video games. Oh fuck.

“I’m sorry. Can you please hold Adrian. I don’t want him getting into anything else before bed and it seems like Dorian and Chris are upstairs killing aliens on the Super Nintendo instead of watching him, which is why I need a nanny in the first place.” She shoves Adrian in your hands. Holy fuck.

“Hi.” You hold him stiffly in your hands.

“I’m Adrian! I’m three!” He tells you just about the only thing every toddler is trained to say upon meeting a new person, shoving 3 fingers in your face.

“I know.” You say back. That’s probably not what you’re supposed to tell a three year old when they introduce themselves, but it’s not like he’ll remember anyway. You’re too in shock to care.

“What’s- what’s- what is your name?” He asks, stuttering out the words, obviously new to keeping up conversations.

“Rey, could you bring Adrian upstairs to help get him ready for bed please?” Diane calls and you remember you told her your name was Rey. Fuck if only baby Adrian could catch the joke in all of this. This is so weird on so many levels.

“I’m Rey, I guess, and we’re going upstairs now.” You tell him.

“Is it bedtime?” He asks.

“Um yeah. You’re up a little late, bud.”

“It’s not late!” He protests in his squeaky voice.

“What makes you think it’s not late?” You ask, as you walk up the stairs.

“I’m not tired!” He says.

“What time do you think it is?” You ask.

“Um 2- 2- 27” He giggles.

“That’s not a time!” You laugh at him, pretending to almost drop him. He breaks out into a fit of giggles. You had almost forgotten who you were holding.

“You’re really good with him. It’s almost like you’re a natural. He’s usually not this happy with strangers. He loves you!” She says, pleasantly surprised. If only somebody else could see the irony in the situation. Freud would love to be a fly on the way during all of this.

“Oh…uh…thanks.” You smile, as Adrian situates himself in your arms, hugging you closely. You would do anything to have Adrian back. Well this is sort of Adrian, but… you wish you had the older version. You wanted your Adrian back.

“I’ll take him from here.” Diane offers. “Check out the guest room. It’s the one at the end of the hall.” She says, taking Adrian from you.

“Thank you. You’ve been really kind.” You smile at her.

“It’s no trouble. You’re doing me a favor.”

You bid your goodnights and head to the guest room. You sit on the bed and think for a moment. This is so fucked up on so many levels. Forget about how you could fuck up the timeline… How are you gonna fuck up your boyfriend?! Not to mention, what kind of fucking ethics are involved in nannying your future boyfriend? He’s fucking three! He’s impressionable! On one hand this is weird, but on the other hand it might be your smartest move. Free room, free food, and you know how Adrian, Gut, and Chris’ lives are supposed to play out, so maybe you can stick to the script of your own timeline a little easier. This might be the easiest way to change as little as possible. You sigh, flopping onto the bed. You pull out your phone. The battery is only half charged and you have no way of charging it, but you don’t care. You need him. You pull up a picture of him that you took this morning in the van on your way to the warehouse, as tears come to your eyes. You open your voicemails and play one he left for you the other day.

“Hey babe, it’s me. I’m just calling because I know you had a bad day today and I was thinking maybe I could bring takeout home from the restaurant and we could just have a movie night? I just wanted to know if you were feeling chicken parm or meatballs or if you wanted to just scratch dinners and have me bring home a pizza. Just call me back when you get this. I’m really proud of you- uh…not that I’m not always proud of you. I’m like totally proud of you all the time and I’m rambling again and this voicemail is about to be like 10 years long, so uh bye I love you.” As soon as the voicemail ended you played it again, letting your tears fall freely. After you’re sure everyone is asleep you sneak into toddler Adrian’s room to check on him. He’s fast asleep in his bed. You let your silent tears continue to fall. He starts to move in his sleep. He seems distraught like he could be having a nightmare.

“It’s okay. I’m gonna take really good care of you, just like how you always take really good care of me.” You put on a teary eyed smile, giving him a kiss on the top of his head and adjusting his fallen blanket to cover him better. He seems to look more comfortable now. He stays fast asleep as you sneak back to the guest room for the night.

[fumifooms]

Mind if I ramble at you for a bit.

So I read both of your Marcille/canary rarepairs and the Fleki one inspired me to share a one-shot idea I had a while ago (that I am never going to write). Anyways the idea behind this is that it happens in an AU, where Canaries recruited (arrested) Marcille at some point in the timeline (maybe during her brief stint as Dugeon Lord).

Anyways in the one-shot Marcille would have a mental breakdown, when she realizes that her sentence is longer then most of her friends´ remaining lifespan and she will likely not meet them in person again (not to mention the irony in the fact that her effort to prolong the time she has with her friends she lost the chance to the time they have, Marcille will be avare of) and Fleki ends up comforting her.

I also consider a second part, where Marcille "repays the favor" when Fleki has a bad trip.

I didn´t ship Marcille/Fleki before your post, so the original idea was gen, but it could work as shipping fic as well.

I also consider some other one-shots in this AU (which I decided to call Jailbird AU), like Marcille managing to peacfully resolve a conflict between the Canaries and some people living in a dungeon (maybe goblins since they didn´t appear in the manga/anime), or her interacting with Mithrun (maybe she could make him a soup after they end up stuck in a dungeon together and run out of food), since as you pointed out those two have a nice potential dynamic (platonic or romantic).

Also Falin and rest of the party would definitivelly mount a Marcille rescue operation, which would make for a nice inversion their situation at the begining of the canon.

Makes me wonder how well would Marcille get along with the other members of the unit and what their interactions would be like.

The way the canaries are is that there are two prisoners for one warden right, but Marcille could be assigned as a temporary third charge… 🤔 Especially since the canaries are understaffed, probably under Mithrun and not Pattadol then because Mithrun is much more high ranked and experienced than Pattadol. As a past dungeon lord she’d be considered higher threat I imagine, but she’s capable so like Mithrun after his dungeon stint they’d really want to recruit her. This mithrille fanartist makes some canary!Marcille AU art like this one that I find super fun to think about… Yeah they’re right Mithrun would treat newbie recruit Marcille like that (carelessly and ruthlessly) pfft, since canaries assigned to Mithrun used to die a lot regularly before things stabilized with the current group I like to think of wether or not they expected Marcille to die soon and if they’re fine with that. Not like Mithrun would hesitate to strike her down if she stepped out of line— but she seems to get along with Pattadol so that could give them some hope, so either way, stamp of approval.

Wether Marcille would get along with each canaries or not imo:

Pattadol: Yes. Pattadol’s soft on Marcille, she thinks she’s sooo sensible and smart and thinks her dunlord thing was just an unfortunate turn of fate that she’s already forgiven for. They chat a lot, each other’s favorite coworker. If it wasn’t for Mithrun being the top leader I feel like Marcille could sometimes get carried away and take over with leadership of the group tbh gdvgd, and Pattadol may or may not notice she’d doing it and let her. Marcille gradually climbs up the canary ranks au? Would be fun

Fleki: I def think she’d be the one both poking fun at Marcille, about how she’s new to everything in the canaries and how dramatic she can act, and the one to lighten up the mood and be friendly because she’s open and casual like that and the one to tell her to relax. Their relationship could be a little tense especially with how judgy and critical Marcille can be, and how singeing and uncaring Fleki can be. Marcille’s "you didn’t do this for friendship because it’s the right thing to do?! How heartless!". But especially with time and familiarity they’d grow closer and Mariclle would be sad Fleki keeps people at an emotional distance and Fleki doesn’t let her in more- "Fleki may seem rude and crass and lowbrow and a rotten egg and- but she’s a good egg if you take the time to crack her up a bit… She’s my rotten egg… I prommy…" Also her overbearing mom friend tendencies would kick in and she’d want to get Fleki to be healthier. Lycion-Marcille "spend less time high and be with us we love you" alliance pt 2. Ty for coming to my ted talk. Imagine Fleki climbling Marcille like she did w Otta in that one beach page. Dramatic duo <3 Anyways so yes they’ll often banter and chat and have disagreements and sometimes bad synergy but ultimately they trust each other’s judgement and work well together—

Lycion: ehhhhhhh. Lycion’s easy to get along with but equally distant, and more judgy than he appears, and I don’t think Marcille would try to get closer, if not just in curiosity to figure him out. Their dynamic would fall flat a lot imo. But I do think he’d also poke fun at her idealistic gullible nature kinda like with Pattadol, would find it fun to string her along with tall tales and push her around in these small jokey ways, especially if she acts holier-than-thou even at this point in her life (bc I do think he’d tend to have more patience and empathy for a fellow inmate). Don’t ship it don’t ship it don’t ship it Fumi Marcille falling for a mysterious werewolf help Marcille you cannot "you should love yourself and your body ✨✨" him out of this

Cithis: No, but Cithis might like to mess with her. I think Cithis would find her too loud though. Too dramatic too talkative too bumbly too annoying— Chilchuck does always call Marcille clumsy so there’s that. Cithis hates rich people and Marcille like Pattadol does give that vibe, and unlike Pattadol Marcille’s not her superior so I think she’d show more cold disinterest than mean playfulness bc there’s little power dynamic to play with and dunk on there. Pattadol playing favoritism with Marcille would def fan some flames though. Cithis would find out Marcille’s not so bad and untolerable over time but there’ll always be some cold rivalry vibes crackling I feel, maybe Cithis takes pity on her and takes her under her wing somewhat at one point. Eh. I think Marcille would get the vibe to steer clear of her esp with Pattadol’s warnings about her, think of her kinda like how she treated Toshiro or Namari after she left, but also……. À la Chilchuck the harder someone tries to be closed off and mysterious the harder she wants to befriend them and learn everything about them.

Otta: Decently yes! The inmate she gets along best after/alongside Fleki. She’s sociable and generally friendly though the less flashy type, she’s the most mature and tends to be quieter than the chaos duo Fleki & Lycion. Otta would also find Marcille easily overbearing I think but she’d tell it how it is and try to help her integrate. And then brag about how good of a person she is for it lowkey~ Jk haha or is she. They’d both talk seriously and joke together. Ultimately the Fleki-Lycion-Otta-Marcille quartet is a fun one to sit with at a table.

Mithrun: Both terrifying and unapproachable and the person she feels like she can talk to plainly with the most imo even if he doesn’t always respond much. She appreciates him being smart but thinks he’s reckless. His words and judgements are harsh but often something she has to grapple with and accept— Pattadol’s very kind on her (sometimes overwhelmingly so) and sort of a rookie that follows orders so Marcille has trouble talking strategy or for real for real™️ with her, and Otta’s approachable and levelheaded but well- Not necessarily the most moral or that knows what she’s speaking about. Fleki’s easy to talk to plainly with but isn’t often constructive, Lycion’d be great actually but they don’t talk like that. Mithrun? Academic and experienced and blunt and there’s no pretenses ever. Maybe Cithis would want to drop some of her Mithrun-caring duties onto her but I doubt it tbh. On ship travels she might get overwhelmed and seek some quiet in his room tbh, and he says he doesn’t care either way… she could read books in there or talk onesidedly. Idk idk idk, them……..

Marcille starting out trusting no one and vowing to keep to herself and go unnoticed for the time she has to serve, but being surrounded by so many mysterious cool people that aren’t as bad as she wwass bracing herself for…… And wanting to know everyone’s tragic backstories. Mithrun’s is pretty much common knowledge and she learns it quickly through gossip, maybe from Pattadol, either once she starts taking an interest in her coworkers or a bit before and it’s what piques her interest because before then she found him so senselessly rude & she tends to assume people are black and white at first… He might even overshare himself like he did with Kabru and she’s on the edge of her seat all the while gdbdg. Pattadol has nothing to hide or so she says so she tells Marcille all she wants to know about herself. Marcille eventually learns about Lycion I think but Fleki she has to fight tooth and nail to get anything except one liners casually dropped randomly here and there and what do you mean you have a brother?? Cithis will never let her know anything so gossip or such is her only way but tbh Marcille doesn’t dare.

OKAYYYY that was way longer than I thought but hopefully it’s some fun food for thought lol. I still think I’ve thought about Otta the least but I’ve started paying her more attention a while ago esp when I realized she’s pretty much the Chilchuck equivalent of the group. -Squints and suddenly gets a vision- Chilchuck’s a mix of Otta and Fleki………… Me liking flekille so much suddenly makes even more sense to me hm

Any and all canary Marcille AU is very fun, here I was thinking halfway between ‘she becomes a canary in a canon divergent ending where the demon isn’t defeated and Laios isn’t king’ (which would def make the Mithrun-Marcille dynamic even more interesting) and her having become a canary pre-canon someway sometime somehow. I also like AUs where Marcille went to jail post-canon in general, I have some old laimar and marchil wips with that since the manga wasn’t over then and I thought she might spend some time in prison but have an early leave because of Laios’ power and influence and good behavior hehe. Here’s one fun other canary Marcille I just stumbled upon~!

"Not to mention the irony in the fact that through her effort to prolong the time she has with her friends she lost the chance to the time they have" beautiful mwah… Jailbird AU is a banger name