#but that'll be all for today. i think that's enough. aren't i? writing too much?? xD

[windmaedchen-oceanhorn]

More Valen & Fay Headcanons

I've done some digging today, and I found more pre-release backstories. I really needed to get my thoughts sorted and put out, so there is no drawing this time... 🙇‍♀️

Let's just say, overall, I like all these previous ideas and will use them as the basis of my headcanons, as long as it is possible to incorporate them into the current canon of AFK Journey.

So you understand what's from the beta backstories, I marked them appropriately. Since this folder is pinned publicly in the AFK Journey Discord, I assume there is no harm in sharing it here also. 💎 = Fay's backstory ⚔️ = Valen's backstory 🪙 = Atalanta's backstory 👣 = AFK Journey game

Here we go...

Stoutstone Isle is known for its gemstones and other natural riches (💎).

Fay bemoans her being inferior to her parents, both "smart" Evergreen Conservatory scholars. (👣, Fay's Mystery Theater II)

Fay has been absolutely spoiled by her grandfather, so she can be certain of his love and adoration (💎), but I can imagine that she feels insecure about her parent's love AND Valen's love for her. Valen more so than her parents, but they all kinda left her behind after all and she is beyond the moon to now be roaming the world with the Evergreen Conservatory (👣), having the chance to do stuff that'll impress them all.

I still think Valen's father is the one born into the ruling family of Stoutstone Isle. He became a scholar of the Evergreen Conservatory and got to know Valen's mother there. Both spend most time on the main continent but visit occasionally.

Valen has not forgotten his sister and he sometimes writes her a letter (💎). She hates him for leaving, but loves him for at least sending her elaborate letters from the mysterious outside world. I bet, upon meeting her bro again after so many years, the first thing she does is telling him off for his horrible handwriting. xD

I think I will stick to the explanation given here as to why Fay and Valen don't ACT like they know each other during the Remnant Peaks main story arc. I am inclined to believe, however, that for the two little sidequests "Fay's Mystery Theater I & II", they know who they are even if they are not mentioning their relationship specifically. This revelation happened off-screen and since their backstories aren't further elaborated on in-game, it isn't revealed here either. Merlin knows at that point.

They act close enough that I think it's too odd and unbelievable that they still don't recognise each other.

But I admit that they COULD be acting a lot more akin to the first AFK Journey trailer IF THEY DID know each other then.

The Japanese release is close at hand. If someone was willing to keep an eye open, it might be worth checking out their conversations in Remnant Peaks and that side quest. The Japanese like to address siblings with certain pronouns and I would not be surprised if Fay, at least, would have this implemented in her speech whenever she talks to Valen. (But how adorable would it be if Valen did the same to his little sister? xD)

Fay's backstory explains why Valen and her join Merlin in the first AFK Journey trailer. Miasma (I take it, that's maybe an early version of the corruption appearing all over the place, announcing the return of the Hypogeans) has appeared on Stoutstone Isle and Fay ventures out to find her brother and with him, a solution to the Miasma problem = trying to safe their home island. (💎) Since this doesn't quite work with current canon, I have to ditch this particular part. At least to the extend that the Miasma is known to Fay. I don't rule out that Stoutstone Isle may have to be rescued by Merlin, much like the Dark Forest, at a later point of the game.

Valen's beta-backstory made him a member of the Gray Foxes for possibly the entire 8 years after he has left home and before meeting Merlin (⚔️). However, in the current canon he reveals that he's lived in Holistone for "a long time" and the theft of the Faith Stone seems to have been a couple of years ago, too. My personal estimate is that he was about 5-6 years in Holistone… and thus about 2-3 years with the Gray Foxes.

Just as Valen was a member of the Gray Foxes for some time, so was Atalanta! In Atalanta's beta backstory it is revealed that she was a lone wolf, fighting on her own, with huge trust issues. None of her colleagues would work with her, except for Valen. When he insists to help the villagers fight after a job done, Atalanta is basically just walking away, leaving him to fight alone. Of course, while she had every intention to not turn back, she sees hidden archers about to burry their arrows in Valen's back, and she just can't NOT help after all. Without showing herself, she leaves Valen to fight alone in the front lines, but she does take out the enemies in his back. She doesn't admit it, but Valen later knows that she stayed and helped, since he found her arrows all over the battlefield. (🪙)

Even though their relationship was a professional one, and probably not a close one, I could imagine that Valen considered himself in debt to her. So when Atalanta "slipped" away from the HO in Remnant Peaks… it was, as surmised by other fans, done on purpose by Valen. In such a way that he specifically won't lose his face, though. Thus Valen might have paid back what he owed to her. I still have to think more clearly about the violence and crimes in this game, but hey, the Faith Stone WAS a pretty valuable item and proven to have been stolen by Atalanta. If she had been convicted, in all seriousness, I don't think a death penalty would be all that unlikely. Bandits are killed on the spot for way less. (See Hendrik's backstory, AFK Arena).

When Atalanta appears during Remnant Peaks, even though there is no "hi, how have you been" between her and Valen, it is HE who advocates for her being their guide. A reference to their shared past and another "opportunity" given to her to be trusted? ;-)

Reading Atalanta's backstory made me understand her a bit better. But I must still admit, that she doesn't click with me at all. I'd even say, I kinda hate her. But THAT makes me actually appreciate her existence since I can like other characters even more thanks to her. xD

And that is it for now! Thanks for considering my ideas and please do let me know what you think! You can always message me or send an ask. 🥰

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Drama CD - Hijikata Biyori Track 21 Eng translation

I didn't mention it last week, but apparently SSL, Tsukikage and Ginsei are going to get Chinese releases... so maybe there's hope for the other games getting English releases... eventually?

And yeah this is late again, but it was too hot and i got carsick two days in a row... I just really can't deal with driving after a certain amount of time, though it's odd that I don't have the same issue with transit.... and also it's too hot. i hate hot.

btw, there's a chance of me moving my posts to saturday if my schedule changes too much in the future. don't know when i'll be able to determine this for sure.

anyway, enjoy!

Hakuoki Drama CD - Hijikata Biyori Track 21 - Tangerines

Translation by KumoriYami

Hijikata: Hey, Souji! What are you sitting here in a place like this for? You're blocking me. Get out of my way!

Okita: Ah, Hijikata-san. I'm not hindering you. Why are you always in such a hurry at headquarters?

Hijikata: For me, it's weirder for you to say that you aren't busy.

Okita: Rather than that, the weather is so nice today. I can't believe that my day's going to end with a sermon.

Hijikata: Aah?

Okita: Weren't you lecturing Heisuke and the others/Heisuke again? After preaching, you can't relax, Hijikata-san.

Hijikata:....What are you saying?

Okita: Well, maybe it's because you haven't had something sweet/had enough sugar? Forget it, I'll give you a tangerine.

Hijikata:......Give me one.

Okita: Yes, please.

Hijikata: What's the deal with the tangerines?

Okita: I got them from Sano-san. He was saying that although it's out of season, these tangerines are delicious.

Hijikata: Oh, haha. So then he bought too many. It's for that guy.

Okita: That's because girls love sweets.

Hijikata: In that case, wouldn't manju be better?

Okita: I bought some manju the other day.

Hijikata: Haha, that's very thoughtful.

Okita: Apparently tangerines are good for beauty too.

Hijikata: Really?

Okita: Additionally, they can help prevent colds, and if you dry the skin and use it in a bath, it'll apparently warm your body.

Hijikata: Oh, it's quite versatile.

Okita: Well, it's better than Ishida Sanyaku. [😆]

Hijikata: Hey, what did you say just now?

Okita: Nothing. Ah, right, right. Tangerines have other benefits that are particularly useful to Hijikata-san.

Hijikata: Yeah? What are they?

Okita: Preventing aging/Age prevention.

Hijikata: Ha?

Okita: It's because Hijikata-san looks like he's aged more recently.

Hijikata: Hey! Souji, how am I older!

Okita: It's because since you've come to talk to me, you keep furrowing your eyebrows.

Hijikata:……

Okita: Please live a long life, Hijikata-san

Hijikata:……

Okita: There are wrinkles between your eyebrows.

Hijikata:…No one thinks that they're going to die young. However, we don't know when that'll happen.

Okita: Oh, that's true.

Hijikata: You should also live a long life.

Okita: Ha, I'll kill people so that they don't kill me. Even if you don't like it, you can live a long life that way.

Hijikata: Ah, you're right....... This tangerine is delicious.

Okita: Haha… Really/That so? Then I’ll give them all to you. Well then, I have something to do.

Hijikata: Hey, there's too many...

Okita: Ah, right, right. There were an insect crawling over that tangerine just now, so be careful.

Hijikata: Huh? Why didn't you tell me that earlier? Souji! Hey, wait, Souji!

---end---

The JP of the title is mikan but I didn't feel like writing out Japanese oranges or mikan since the tl I used said tangerines and mandarin oranges. 😅

too lazy to.

and it's too hot.

[kabie-whump]

Spinning the Whump Wheel - Part 2

The Wheel chose...

Drugged!

I've been itching to write more Angel Dust whump so that's what I'm gonna do. This takes place somewhere around the end of season 1 but before the battle.

// forced drugging, Angel-typical sexual content including non-con mentions, Valentino (i just found out that "#tw valentino" is a real tag and that's hilarious to me), some offensive/ableist language

~~~

It had taken many hours of puppy-dog eyes from Charlie, but Angel had eventually agreed to commit to getting sober for good. It hadn't been easy. The withdrawals were a bitch at their best and near-deadly at their worst, but somehow he had survived the worst of it and is now going on two months sober.

The thing is, Angel's job is way harder when he's actually aware of what's going on.

It used to be so easy to get in front of the camera and let himself get carried away just playing whatever role was assigned to him. Now, Angel can't stop getting distracted by anything and everything.

Wait... I'm being too loud, aren't I? Should I save it for the climax? Wait, now I'm too quiet. What is my face doing? Ugh, that light is blinding me. Oh good, I'm finally going numb down there. That'll make things easier. Hang on, has this guy always been this damn ugly? It doesn't matter, no one's looking at him anyway. They're looking at me, shit. Pay attention! Face. Legs. Tits. That's it. I'm nailing it now. Or, am I getting nailed? Haha, good one Angel.

"Cut!"

Angel freezes. The actor on top of him pulls out and lets go of his throat, sitting back on his heels.

Behind the wall of lights and cameras, Valentino rises to his feet. He stalks over to the bed, and Angel feels himself shrinking into the blankets.

"Something wrong, Val?"

Valentino huffs. "Are you seriously asking me that right now?"

Shrinking back even more, Angel can only nod meekly.

"You've had off days before, Dust, but this?" He gestures at Agnel with disgust. "We've got hours of footage and I can't use any of it! It's all shit! Why're you being such a spaz today?!"

"I... uh..." Damn, Valentino is so much scarier while Angel is sober.

"Now you can't even talk right! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Val! I'm just... I've been tryin to get clean and it's messin with my head. That's all it is."

That explanation seems to piss the overlord off even more. "You're fucking sober?!"

Angel nods, averting his eyes.

Valentino visibly forces himself to calm down, a cold, unnerving smile settling onto his face. "Well, why didn't you just say so, baby? That's an easy fix."

Angel's gaze snaps up to his boss. "Huh?"

Then Val's hand is grabbing him roughly by the chin and pulling him close. "Here you go, baby." With a wave of his hand, Val summons a few pills.

"Oh- uh... No thank you." Angel tries to back away but Val keeps a tight grip on his face, squeezing hard enough for his mouth to pucker open.

"What'd you say? I can't understand you," Val says, his voice getting darker by the second. "It almost sounded like you were refusing my gifts, but that would be absurd, wouldn't it?"

"Val-"

Valentino takes the opportunity to shove the pills into Angel's open mouth. Then he slaps a hand over his lips, keeping him from spitting them out.

"Swallow," he growls.

Angel does it before he can even think about resisting. There's some stupid part of him that wants this. Wants the excuse to be high again. He can go back to Charlie crying about "he made me do it!" and "it wasn't my fault!" and then she can't get mad at him.

But he'd worked so hard...

Val releases him and shoves him back onto the bed, then turns him so he's laying on his right side. Angel knows what he's doing. The drugs will kick in faster this way.

"Keep shooting," Val says nonchalantly as he retreats back behind the wall of camera equipment.

Angel squeezes his eyes shut as he feels hands on his body once again.

Sorry Charlie. Maybe next time.

~~~

The wheel was made by @ofinkandstardust

[master-kohga-dating-sim]

Something About Legacy

something for @bugger-loz,, I got bored and decided to write something for Dark Disciples lol. Bit of lore and stuff for Gyba here ft. Kohga being a gayass

Note: the blights names have been changed; thunderblight is Rajan now

Word count: 973

Characters: Gyba, Sakiru, Sooga, Kohga (briefly), Rajan (mentioned)

“I'll show you how to do it first. Watch closely.”

Sooga nodded to the footsoldier in front of him. Gyba watched him cross his katanas in front of him to block the oncoming broadsword. When the opposing blade didn't recoil, he slid his swords apart with enough force to send the footsoldier stumbling back. Gyba nodded in confirmation.

“Good. Let's do it together now. Copy my movements.”

He nodded again. This time, both footsoldiers lunged forward. Gyba crossed her scimitars like how Sooga did, just in time for the broadsword to collide with them. Her wrists strained to suppress the blade. It inched a bit closer to her face before she gained the strength to split her swords and stagger the opponent.

“Good!” Sooga said. “Remember, timing is key. Don't wait too long after the blade hits to push back. Now, try to utilize the opening it gives you as an opportunity to strike. Watch me.”

Sooga did the same thing again, crossing his swords to block and attack. This time, once the footsoldier recoiled, he lunged. Three reverberating thumps sounded through the arena as Sooga's swords beat against the footsoldier’s projected shield.

They continued like that for a while, Sooga demonstrating a new move and having Gyba repeat it until she got it right. Off to the side of the ring, Sakiru and Kohga watched them closely. Gyba's hand became steadier with each swing of her swords. Like melting metal, her movements turned from stiff to fluid before Sakiru's eyes.

He looked down at the Sheikah next to him. Kohga was staring just as intently, attention unbroken by Sakiru moving. His mask hid his eyes, but Sakiru could still tell for sure… he wasn't looking at Gyba.

Gyba followed suit as Sooga sheathed his swords. As she hung a towel around her neck, he unzipped the front of his uniform a bit and took a swig from his canteen. “I think that'll be it for today. Next time, we'll work on your form a bit more.”

Sooga left with Kohga, the shorter man’s gaze still clearly fixed on Sooga's open uniform. Gyba joined up with Sakiru and stretched. “How was that? Pretty good, huh?”

Sakiru nodded as they turned and walked away. “Mhm. You're getting a lot better with reaction time. It's good to see you improving.”

Gyba nodded and puffed out her chest in satisfaction, crossing her arms. “Yeah, I'm getting real good at this whole thing. I’m pretty talented, aren't I? I can do some real damage.”

“You're still not going on Sooga's missions.”

She slumped over and groaned.

Sakiru sighed. “You're not ready yet. It's still too dangerous.”

“You always say that,” she grumbled.

“You're fifteen years old. You can't just go out onto a battlefield at that young. Real fighting isn't like your training, there's a lot of real risk that you're not going to be prepared for. For now, you will stay here and train with Sooga.”

Sakiru's explanation didn't do much for Gyba. When they got back to the main part of the hideout, she went back into her room without a word.

Now that she was alone, she had a chance to get out for a little bit. As soon as she couldn't hear Sakiru’s footsteps anymore, she ran over to the Yiga tapestry above her bed and lifted it. The break in the stone bricks was still there, just wide enough to get through if she crawled on her stomach.

The passage was tight and full of bugs. Spiders, beetles, ants, sometimes centipedes or scorpions. It would be revolting to anyone else, but it instilled a strange sense of pride in Gyba. The way that the little creatures scurried out of her way made her feel royal, like all her little subjects were clearing a path for their queen.

She was hit with a cool breeze as she emerged from the tunnel. The ledge it led to was the perfect spot- nestled in the corner of the plateau, just low enough to be out of the snow. Off the edge, the sprawling desert was laid out before her. Twisting dunes and ancient ruins that spoke of her past were hardly of any concern to her- all she wanted to see was the swirling sandstorm and the beast lurking within.

Even so far away, Vah Naboris’s calls were just loud enough to reach Gyba's spot. The sheets of sheikah stone rattled with each massive step and kicked more sand into the air. Through the haze, the familiar magenta glow of the Divine Beast’s eyes found the pilot’s daughter.

“Hey dad,” Gyba said, trailing her fingers through the sand. “I'm doing okay, I guess. Sooga taught me how to block today, that's pretty cool. But Sakiru still won't let me go out.”

Another cry from Vah Naboris. She waited for it to finish before she kept talking. “Yeah… I just think I'm getting really good and that I could handle something like that. I'm supposed to go and find the source, yeah? That's not gonna be easy, shouldn't I get some real practice instead? That training ring's no good for me. It's just getting boring at this point.”

Both her and the desert were silent for a minute. Vah Naboris kept walking, the weight of its legs pounding the desert. “I hope you're doing alright in there, dad. I know…” she thought back on when Rajan was still around, that thing he always said when he’d brag about how he got the scars on his chest and stole the Thunder Helm from right under the chief’s nose. “...I'm gonna be like you. I'm not gonna let anyone stop me, and I'm gonna find that source. Just you wait, just everyone wait and see.”

The Divine Beast cried out again. Gyba smiled.

“I'm gonna make you proud.”

[walkingtalkingsomething]

✨Taylor Swift Makes Everything Better Lyric Prompts✨

It's exactly what the title says. I find song lyrics in general very inspiring and have a notebook of ones that strike me for one reason or another but don't have the 'whatever' that's needed to write them. And I unapologetically stan the hell out of Ms. Swift and am so often struck by her word choices. So this is my collection of the TS lyrics that conjure up the most thoughts - minus a ton of sad ones because I am just too soft to be putting that much angst into the world 😊

Taylor Swift

•He's the song in the car I keep singin', Don't know why I do - Teardrops on My Guitar

•He's the time taken up but there's never enough and he's all that I need to fall into - Teardrops on My Guitar

•I'm taking pictures in my mind so I can save them for a rainy day - Stay Beautiful

•It's hard to make a conversation when he's taking my breath away - Stay Beautiful

•Take me back to the creek beds, We turned up 2am darlin' in your truck and all I need is you next to me - Mary's Song (my My My)

•Friday night beneath the stars in a field behind your yard, You and I are painting pictures in the sky, And sometimes we don't say a thing, Just listen to the crickets sing, Everything I need is right here by my side - I'm Only Me When I'm With You

Fearless (TV)

•And as we walked we were talking and I didn't say half the things I wanted to - Hey Stephen

•The way you walk, Way you talk, Way you say my name, It's beautiful, Wonderful, Don't you ever change - Hey Stephen

•They're dimming the street lights, You're perfect for me, Why aren't you here tonight? I'm waiting alone now so come on and come out - Hey Stephen

•Have you ever thought just maybe you belong with me? - You Belong With Me

•Never wanted this, Never wanna see you hurt, Every little bump in the road I tried to swerve - Breathe

•And you were wild and crazy, Just so frustrating, Intoxicating, Complicated, Got away by some mistake and now... - The Way I Loved You

•Don't know how long it's going to take to feel ok, But I know I had the best day with you today - The Best Day

•I like the way I can't keep my focus, I watch you talk, You didn't notice, I hear the words but all I can think is we should be together - Jump Then Fall

•Well I like the way your hair falls in your face, You got the keys to me, I love each freckle on your face, I've never been so wrapped up, Honey I like the way you're everything I ever wanted - Jump Then Fall

•I had time to think it over and all I can say is come closer, Take a deep breath and jump then fall into me - Jump Then Fall

•The time is gonna come when you're so mad you could cry but I'll hold you through the night until you smile - Jump Then Fall

•Untouchable, Burning brighter than the sun, And when you're close I feel like coming undone - Untouchable

•In the middle of the night when I'm in this dream it's like a million little stars spelling out your name/In the middle of the night waking from this dream, I wanna feel you by my side standing next to me - Untouchable

•I'll leave my window open because I'm too tired at night to call your name, Just know I'm right here hoping that you'll come in with the rain - Come In With the Rain

•I said, 'Leave,' but all I really want is you to stand outside my window throwin' pebbles, Screamin', 'I'm in love with you,' - The Other Side of the Door

Speak Now (TV)

•And you stood there in front of me just close enough to touch, Close enough to hope you couldn't see what I was thinking of - Sparks Fly

•Drop everything now, Meet me in the pouring rain, Kiss me on the sidewalk, Take away the pain 'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile - Sparks Fly

•Get me with those green eyes baby as the lights go down, Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around - Sparks Fly

•And lead me up the staircase, Won't you whisper soft and slow, 'I'm captivated by you, baby, like a firework show' - Sparks Fly

•Maybe this is wishful thinkin', Probably mindless dreamin', But if we loved again I swear I'd love you right - Back to December

•I'm scared to see the ending, Why are we pretending this is nothing? I'd tell you I miss you but I don't know how, I've never heard silence quite this loud - The Story of Us

•This is looking like a contest of who can act like they care less, But I liked it better when you were on my side - The Story of Us

•This night is sparkling, Don't you let it go, I'm wonderstruck, Blushing all the way home/This night is flawless, Don't you let it go, I'm wonderstruck, Dancing 'round all alone - Enchanted

•Please don't be in love with someone else, Please don't have somebody waiting on you - Enchanted

•Your hands are tough but they are where mine belong - Ours

•Got a feeling your electric touch could light this ghost town up with life - Electric Touch

•When Emma falls in love it's all on her face, Hangs in the air like stars in outer space - When Emma Falls in Love

•Emma met a boy with eyes like a man, Turns out her heart fits right in the palm of his hand, Now he'll be her shelter when it rains, Little does he know his whole world's about to change - When Emma Falls in Love

•Pass me a note saying, 'Meet me tonight', Then we kiss and you know I won't ever tell, And I can see you being my addiction, You can see me as your secret mission, Hide away and I will start behaving myself - I Can See You

Red (TV)

•You come around and the armor falls, Pierce the room like a cannonball, Now all we know is don't let go - State of Grace

•We are alone just you and me, Up in your room and our slates are clean - State of Grace

•These are the hands of fate, You're my Achilles heel, This is the golden age of something good and right and real - State of Grace

•Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of you, Memorizing him was as easy as knowing all the words to your old favorite song - Red

•Put your lips close to mine as long as they don't touch, Out of focus, Eye to eye, 'Til the gravity's too much - Treacherous

•And I'll do anything you say if you say it with your hands - Treacherous

•I can't decide if it's a choice getting swept away, I hear the sound of my own voice asking you to stay - Treacherous

•Two headlights shine through the sleepless night and I will get you alone, Your name has echoed through my mind and I just think you should know that nothing safe is worth the drive and I would follow you home - Treacherous

•'Cause there we are again in the middle of the night, We're dancing 'round the kitchen in the refrigerator light - All Too Well

•You took the time to memorize me, My fears, My hopes and dreams, I just like hanging out with you all the time, All those times that you didn't leave it's been occurring to me I'd like to hang out with you for my whole life - Stay Stay Stay

•Find myself at your door just like all those times before, I'm not sure how I got there, All roads, They lead me here - The Last Time

•I imagine you are home in your room all alone, And you open your eyes into mine and everything feels better - The Last Time

•In dreams I meet you in warm conversations - Sad Beautiful Tragic

•'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello", And your eyes look like comin' home, All I know is a simple name and everything has changed - Everything Has Changed

•Come back and tell me why I'm feelin' like I've missed you all this time, And meet me there tonight and let me know that it's not all in my mind - Everything Has Changed

•The delicate beginning rush, The feeling you can know so much without knowing anything at all, And now that I can put this down, If I had known what I know now I never would've played so nonchalant - Come Back...Be Here

•If I was standin' there in your apartment I'd take that bomb in your head and disarm it, I'd say I love you even at your darkest and please don't go - Forever Winter

•There's a chain 'round your throat, Piece of paper where I wrote, "I'll wait for you", There's a key on the chain, There's a picture in a frame, Take it with you/And the note from the locket, You keep it in your pocket since I gave it to you, There's a heart on your sleeve, I'll take it when I leave and hold it for you - Run

1989 (TV)

•And I wish you knew that I miss you too much to be mad anymore - I Wish You Would

•He's so tall and handsome as hell, He's so bad but he does it so well - Wildest Dreams

•I said, 'No one has to know what we do,' His hands are in my hair, His clothes are in my room, And his voice is a familiar sound - Wildest Dreams

•You'll see me in hindsight, Tangled up with you all night, Burning it down - Wildest Dreams

•Say you'll see me again even if it's just pretend - Wildest Dreams

•Broke your heart, I'll put it back together, I would wait forever and ever - How You Get The Girl

•Lantern burning, Flickered in the night for only you - This Love

•In losing grips on sinking ships, You showed up just in time - This Love

•This love left a permanent mark, This love is glowing in the dark - This Love

•You're still all over me like a wine stained dress I can't wear anymore - Clean

•Didn't it all seem new and exciting? I felt your arms twisting around me - Wonderland

•One look, Dark room, Meant just for you, Time moved too fast, You play it back - You Are In Love

•No proof, Not much, But you saw enough/No proof, One touch, But you felt enough - You Are In Love

•You keep his shirt, He keeps his word - You Are In Love

•One night he wakes, Strange look on his face, Pauses then says, 'You're my best friend.' - You Are In Love

•Got love-struck, Went straight to my head, Got lovesick all over my bed, Love to think you'll never forget - Slut!

•Adorned with smoke on my clothes, Lovelorn and nobody knows, Love thorns all over this rose - Slut!

•And I break down, Then he's pulling me in, In a world of boys he's a gentleman - Slut!

•When you hold me it holds me together and you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever - Suburban Legends

•"Come here," I whispered in your ear in your dream as you passed out - Is It Over Now?

•Only rumors 'bout my hips and thighs and my whispered sighs - Is It Over Now?

•Oh Lord, I think about jumping off of very tall somethings just to see you come running and say the one thing I've been wanting - Is It Over Now?

Reputation

•And I can't let you go, Your hand prints on my soul, It's like your eyes are liquor, It's like your body is gold - End Game

•My name is whatever you decide and I'm just gonna call you 'Mine' - Don't Blame Me

•Echos of your name inside my mind, Halo hiding my obsession, I once was poison ivy but now I'm your daisy - Don't Blame Me

•And baby for you I would fall from grace just to touch your face, If you walk away I'd beg you on my knees to stay - Don't Blame Me

•I get so high everytime you're loving me, Trip of my life everytime you're touching me - Don't Blame Me

•Long night with your hands up in my hair, Echos of your footsteps on the stairs, Stay here honey I don't wanna share - Delicate

•Sometimes when I look into your eyes I pretend you're mine all the damn time - Delicate

•Salute to me, I'm your American queen and you move to me like I'm a Motown beat and we rule the kingdom inside my room - King of My Heart

•And all at once you are the one I have been waiting for - King of My Heart

•Is this the end of all the endings? My broken bones are mending with all these nights we're spending up on the roof with a schoolgirl crush, Drinking beer out of plastic cups, Say you fancy me not fancy stuff - King of My Heart

•There is an indentation in the shape of you, Made your mark on me, A golden tattoo - Dress

•All of this silence and patience, Pining and anticipation, My hands are shaking from holding back from you - Dress

•Say my name and everything just stops, I don't want you like a best friend - Dress

•Inescapable, I'm not even gonna try, And if I get burned at least we were electrified - Dress

•I'm spilling wine in the bathtub, You kiss my face and we're both drunk - Dress

•And I woke up just in time, Now I wake up by your side, My one and only, My lifeline - Dress

•All my flowers grew back as thorns, Windows boarded up after the storm, He built a fire just to keep me warm - Call It What You Want

•I'm laughing with my lover, Making forts under covers, Trust him like a brother, Yeah, You know I did one thing right, Starry eyes sparking up my darkest night - Call It What You Want

•I recall late November, Holding my breath, Slowly I said, 'You don't need to save me, but would you run away with me?' - Call It What You Want

•Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere - New Year's Day

Part. 2

[bunnymallowo]

When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! then, send to your last ten people in your notifs (anonymously). you never know who might benefit from spreading positivity <3

Okay! Tsym for this, umm let me think..

Books

Books make me so happy, I really love just being able to sit down and read, its on of my favorite things to do, besides writing. Its so nice just to be able to get lost in another world, where you don't have to be yourself. And you don't have all the responsibilities of the real world

2. The outdoors

I love love LOVE being outside, especially in the spring and fall. All of the colors and smells of the different plants and flowers, brings me so much joy. Sometimes I go and just sit in the woods by my house. And i'll just sit there and watch and listen to whats going on around me.

3. Nighttime

The cool, gentle breeze at night time is like nothing else i've ever experienced. Everything is so calm, and laying in the cool damp grass, looking at the stars; nothing could be better. Its so quiet, and when the night is clear and there's just a sky full of start, there's nothing more perfect than that (Except you😉 haha). And the darkness is so calming. Like, you don't have to pretend to be someone you aren't, you don't have to be anything. You can just let yourself get enveloped and comforted by the shadows of night. And the darkness of night, mixed with the cold. I don't feel like I have to try to be good enough for everyone. I don't need to always pretend to be fine, and happy. I can just simply exist, and feel comforted. The night feels like a safe, protected place. Because even though I'm awake, the rest of the world (sorts) is "sleeping" and I can be alone, somewhere that makes me happy.

4. My friends

I really do love my friends, (most of them) are usually always there for me, and they're people I can have fun with. Sure we do stupid shit sometimes, but everyone does. I love them to bits, and one of my friends got me a bracelet that says "Friends are the family you choose", and I really do believe that's true. No matter what kind of home life you've come from, you can always find friends that'll be there for you

5. winter

Winter and snow make me really happy. Because it means i get to go skiing again. As well as it gives me an excuse to make and drink hot chocolate. Plus the holiday season is during winter, so I get another reason to buy people gifts. Its so fun to see their reactions to the gifts, even if they aren't the most expensive. Winter is also great, because I love watching the snow fall. Especially when its the really big, fluffy snowflakes. I love looking at the individual snowflake crystals, and seeing hoe different they are. Rolling around and playing in the snow is really fun too.

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

A/N:

Out of this list, I think Nighttime and winter make me the happiest, there are other things, but these are the top 5

Don't forget to stay safe and rink water<3

Please eat something today if you haven't already

[look-at-the-soul]

Hi! It's gossip girl❤️ omg I'm so sorry this is only getting sent now' I wrote most of it the day after I sent the last one and then the anxiety hit and's now I finally have time to finish it! But I hope you're doing well today❤️❤️ 

And awe!! The puppy🥲🥲🥲 I think all dogs just deserve the biggest hugs🥰🥰 🥰🥰 

And lol 😂😂 You do sound like a mom but like it's totally correct😂 Moms have the best advice (usually)😂 School is very expensive and it doesn't stink when people aren't able to make it though! I have a few friends who've done that and it's not fun!😭 and Omg! That's crazy about the engineer! 

And ohh that's great about part 4 of The Runway!! I a saw it on my dash today but haven't had time to read it yet!! I did see that it's a bit of a cross over though 🤭🤭🤭🥰🥰 Baby Lenny Desreves all the hugs too😂

And omg the snippets😂😂 I think I have like 10 individual ones right now that I have bits and pieces of😂 Just the other day I wrote like 2k words but for about four different stories😂😅Omg you're totally right! We are worse than lawyers😂😂 

🥰🥰🥰 I think you are definitely a safe spot!❤️❤️ And OMG NO! I promise you taking time to reply doesn't trigger my anxiety at all!  You are absolutely perfect! I can't really explain why my anxiety happens on here very well🥲 I know here it happens like I'll post something and be excited to post it and then I'll see a lot of other people will be active at the same time and that'll kinda pysch me out and I'll hide for a few days😅 Or I'll have time to get on and see a lot of stuff on my dashboard and then I'll start feeling bad like if I don't interact with every single post and say something people will thing I don't like them or don't care what they've work hard on. I do it's just sometimes the idea of saying something is scary😅😂 and that's really not a good explanation if it at but it's the general gist! 

Oh no! I'm sorry people tired to pressure you in high school/college about that stuff! I'm the same way right now about drinking (nothing against it, it's just not super my thing) But I am lucky enough that the friends I do hangout with more often don't pressure me into doing anything I don't want to! Like the friends I'm closest with now we have a good number of similar interest but on the stuff I'm really into (like Peaky Blinders and Reading and stuff like on here) I haven't met many people offline to talk to about it. So even when I do have the fiends I have, it don't have anyone who I could tell everything too. Also honestly most of the activities I enjoy that aren't like writing fics aren't sports but are like woodwork or building so it's a bit harder to find people around me that are into it under forty😂😂😅😅 Plus being as introverted as I am it can be harder to get out and meet new people to do stuff😅 Buts it's pretty good! I have the friends offline I have and they really are great, and my family is great, and Everyone here (like you🥰) is great too! So even if I'm not super close with one specific person I'm happy knowing everyone I do know🥰🥰

And yes! You have absolutely helped!🥰 interacting off anon has become much easier, even if I still go through spurts of it! And for somethings like requesting I still do use anon and like I'll let the person know how much I liked it on anon, but I'll also try to say something about it off anon too now😂😅 Which may sound weird, but I guess it's a way for my to let the person who I requested it from know I saw it and liked it without having to tell them I'm the one so did it (because for some reason that makes me nervous too) And then I can let them know I liked it off anon too so I'm a little less 👻 like😅 

And yes! I have been on a bit of an inspiration spree! But a at the same time I'm having a hard time finish things now😂😂 I'll jump from idea to idea and have a bunch of little collections now. So I guess I have a bunch of mini back up stories😂 

And you're totally right! Alfie is an absolutely gem! Tom Hardy did a great job!  The world needs more Alfie content of all kinds and Cyril!! 🥰🥰I like to imagine he lived happily ever after and got all the treats he deserves! SK give us the truth!!😂😂!!And thank you! I'm glad you liked that little idea! Alfie's so fun to write! He's honestly the biggest idea kick I've had recently! 😂😂 And OMG yes!! Alfie would absolutely read it aloud and and explain things to Cyril!! He'd probably ask the pup for opinions on what to write back! AND OMG! He'd make Cyril "sign" his paw print at the end of each letter!!🥰🥰 That may be an idea I have to hold on to!

And oh I don't know! I haven't seen the movie with Ripner yet (it's Red Eye) right? Though I've seen like the gifs! But I really can't imagine someone being more coocoo than Crane😅😅 Once you got past that man's iron clad shell he'd definitely be into some kinky stuff (and that's totally ignoring his glaringly obvious fear kink😂😅)  But his is definitely funny at times! He's got that dry humor that just pops out at times😂  But he definitely like changed between those two scenes! I love those gifs😂 And I did see that request and loved it🥰🥰🥰 It was such a good fic!!

OMG OMG OMG!! STEVEN MCGARRETT MY DARLING LOVE😍😍😍 Tell me more😂😂🥰🥰 I actually have had a few fix ideas for that series too, but Hawaii Five O is definitely another one id my comfort shows (Along with NCIS) but I get what you mean about Scott Cann (Danny, Who's also the son of the Dad in Elf?) being in other stuff and Alex O'Loughlin (Steve, who's apparently Australian?😂) not being in much! I think Alex was a producer of Hawaii Five O though so I thing he's done more of that stuff recently! But omg I absolutely adore that show! I feel like Danny and Steve have a similar friendship to Alfie (Steve) and Danny (Tommy) if that makes sense😂😂

And yes! The mail stamping videos make it look so easy!! And lol I've done that before😂 And I agree that the bigger stamps can be easier, even with the polish it can be hard to get some of the super small designs! 

I hope your concert went well (I think you said it was at the end of May?) And OHH YES YES YES! Luke Bryan all the way!! I think one of the first songs I was able to fully memorize was "Play it Again" 🥰🥰 I love his work! And Jason Aldean and Brad Preasly too🥰🥰 

Thanks for the chat! And I'm so so sorry it took me so long to get this back to you😅😅 I promise I'll be quicker next time🥰🥰

I hope you have a great week🥰🥰 XoXo GG🥰🥰

Hello darling!! Please don’t apologize specially if it’s because you went through an anxiety episode, how are you doing now? ❤️‍🩹 I’m doing alright thanks! Well not so well got an ear infection and the meds are making me feel terrible but I’m hoping to get out soon!

Right? 🐾 they have so much love to give us and that’s all they ask in return ♥️♥️

Hahahah now I don’t know to take it as a compliment or feeling old 👵🏻 🤣 just kidding! I’ve always been like that, worrying about people around me thinking of 1,000 they will mess up and me trying to prevent it LOL but I do hope something in my advices works for you ☺️ yeah unfortunately and to think it’s so hard to get a job and make enough money to monthly payments (but don’t you worry about it yet! You have to focus on school ☺️ and that’s enough for now). Right? But I also know people who are very successful in fields completely different to what they originally studied and that’s amazing!

Oh yes!! 🤭 I had the idea to make a crossover between The Runway and The Photoshoot did you read it afterwards? Should I do it again? 📸 aww I love Lenny!!! Need to start working on part 6 tho and I’m thinking about maybe finish it in part 8 to continue working in something else… a new Emmett or Robert Fischer story 🤔🤐🤫

WOW!!! You have a lot of WIP 🚧 love it!!! Have you been able to write some more? -how’s the summer job going btw?- 📖 will the wip list ever end?? (Deep down I don’t want it to end, I just want to write, write, write..) 👏🏻👏🏻 that’s amazing!! It means you let the ideas flow freely 🥰

🥹 this is the best thing I could’ve read! ❤️‍🩹 thank you for that *jumps on the screen and gives you a tight hug*

Don’t worry about it, really (I know it’s easier said than done..), but the thing is tumblr is kind of messed up somehow, one day I logged in and all I could see it was posts from like a week ago, and I refreshed like 5 times, sometimes I don’t see a story being posted right away, but a day or two later and thanks to a reblog (reblogs are magic btw)… other days the tags won’t work 🤷🏻‍♀️ a lot of things can happen in between, but I totally understand how you feel, when I hit the post button I get so nervous and sometimes there are interactions, sometimes there are not, but I think well the story/part is there in my masterlist for anyone who wants to read.

Something I’ve learn is no matter what you do, you will never get it back, but do it anyways. I’m always sharing and reblogging stories because I know how important it is, I’ve noticed it doesn’t work in both ways, but a few days ago I saw a post about if it’s only for one single person that likes your work, keep doing it for that person, or if you only have like 30 people, imagine 30 people in your home right now, that’s a lot! 🥰😍 do what you feel comfortable with, start little by little, a small comment, a thought, whatever makes you feel good, just know it’s natural that you feel that way, but who knows? Maybe your small comments ignites something in the writer and you end up finding a nice friendship? 💖

It’s alright, it’s part of growing up and growing out of people too… keep those friends close! Your close group has a huge impact in the person you become, oh I feel ya! Non of my friends like PB either 🥺 too bad.. and frankly Im terrified of speaking about tumblr in the real world, what if the people I know read what I write?! I’d die from embarrassment 😅 Can you imagine? I haven’t told my best friend scared what she’d think of me, so we better keep company each others on here, we can be anonymous bff 👯‍♂️ … ohhh what kind of woodwork?!

I’d looove to be more DIY, I have my Pinterest invaded with bedroom and living room projects, library, the outdoors decor but I don’t do it 😂 perhaps that’s why I love to add it to my character Yael in the Photoshoot 📸 hahah no but maybe you can find people! The other day I found a woman presenting her work as carpenter 🪑 the pieces I saw were amazing!! Can we make an introverts club please? Noisy people make me feel uncomfortable and when I go to the office I come back home with no energy left 😔 which made me remember I found a book for introverts, I will read it and tell you more about it, maybe you find it interesting, that’s lovely! And so true everyone is amazing with their characteristics 🥰

I started just like that, as anon sending small messages to a couple of writers on here until I was brave enough to say hey it’s me! 😁 and it’s been a lovely community ever since! Oh you’re so right! From the requests I’ve post, I always wonder if the person who sent it actually saw it (because sometimes it takes me so long to write it), so it’s nice if you go back to give a little comment off anon and let the person know 😍 hahah and then you’re no longer a ghost 🤣

Hope you have been using that inspiration spree to the max! I love to read the little snippets you send me, haha but that’s good your mind is working at speed! ☺️ have you been able to finish any of them in the mean time? That’s nice well, at least to me I’ve a few like that so if I feel frustrated at a story I turn around and there are another four little ones screaming at me -I feel like a mom of triplets or something if one starts crying the rest of them as well - 😂😂🤣 the same goes for writing or is it just me?

I simply cannot imagine someone else playing Alfie’s part, his mannerisms are very particular and he’s really funny (Idk if that was SK intention) but he nailed it! Aww yes! Loads of treats for Cyril! (I wonder what happened to him in real life) I try to include him whenever I can in a story, and recently I’ve been reading a couple of Alfie stories. Have you been writing for him? OMG that’s the best idea ever! I can totally picture it 🤩🤩 bet he’d ask Cyril for advice too, but the big question is are you writing it?

Yes it’s Red Eye ( can be confusing with Red Lights too!) 😅😂 you’re so funny but yes Crane is a bit coocoo 🤭 but Ripner wins the award, so creepy that he had been watching the girl and knew all about her… oh my 😈 do you think so? 🤭 but now that you mention it… yes I bet there’s a kinky side to Jonathan 😏 I think my favorite side of him would be his sarcasm god I think all of his answers are oh no this idiot is talking again… *rolls eyes-* haha aww I enjoyed writing for him!

Would you believe me if I say I googled Alex a bit ? 🙈 guilty! Turns out he was so stressed and into his character he had to go to rehab for it for a while, I think he’s missing from half a season or something like that… and he actually lives in Hawaii ♥️ oh I used to watch that show too! Dinozzo made me laugh so hard! And the girl at the lab Abbi was hilarious! What? Scott is related to Elf? Really? *shocked* oh wow!! Guess being a producer is something common then, since Cillian also became a producer of PB and I just heard Margot Robbie was also a producer for Barbie (I guess I should have become a producer instead of my real life job!) definitely!!! That combo sounds similar to Tommy and Alfie! 😂 how great is that you also like them!?!

Side note: I gave up the stamping 😂😂 I wasn’t made for that lol guess I will have to find a new hobby now… there’s a show I used to see “Justified” with Timothy Olyphant (guess the last name is wrong), he was sarcastic as hell and I loved it!! But they took it from the channel and now is back on Hulu (which I don’t have) :(

Oh yes! The show was unbelievably great! It was packed, loads of people from all places but we got some good places, standing, I had the time of my life, I’m planning to go and see them (Westlife) in Boston or Chicago next year, I need more 🍀🇮🇪💚 I’ve been listening to their music and their new album took me by surprise, it has an awesome electric sound, so different from all the previous albums… yeah! Almost, end of June ☺️

Have you been to any concert lately? Oh “play it again” is a great song! Love it! I wanted to see Luke in Las Vegas (he had a residency), but the dates wouldn’t work… those 3 are my favorites for country music, haven’t heard them in a while tho..

And I finished this one! I’m still missing one you sent a while ago I will try to finish that one before you reply to this (sorry about that)

Oh before I go! Have you seen Oppenheimer yet? Did you went to see Barbie too?

And I will leave the answer to your previous message here because I’ve been reblogging a lot of stuff 🤭

Loved this chat so so much! 💖 like always it’s a pleasure to hear from you GG, I hope you’ve been doing fine! And looking forward to hear from you! ♥️🥰

Take care, enjoy your summer! Write some more, have a blast you’re so young, and whatever you do, do it from the heart ♥️ ✨

Talk to you soon, xoxoGG 😘

[hillvalleyhuh]

WHERE YOU SHOW FAVORITISM DIFFERENTLY

aka you bully people to show love<3

just thought i would start something fun for the rebrand of this blog lmao and lately, sagau (this au has turned into a pretty broad term lemme know if i should tag it as smth else) has been ROTTING my brain i love the concept behind it

this is me being self indulgent because this is EXACTLY how i would act in genshin–im not a very nice person but i show my love differently

if you guys want more characters or want to request something else, feel free to send me an ask!

includes: gender-neutral reader w/ the main bois aka albedo, childe, diluc, kaeya, and zhongli!

want other characters? take a look

Albedo

at first he doesn’t even know you’re teasing him!!!! honestly he’s just glad you want to be around him at all

you probably call him “chalk boy” just to rile him up but he doesn't even care he's like uwu a nickname? for moi? like binch i'm trying to piss u off stop looking cute!!!!!

at most you're like a cat who tries to get his attention you're semi aware you're being an inconvenience but why won't he pay attention?? (he is but this is too fun) WHAT DID YOU DO???

you think he’s paying too much attention to his experiments? boom knock over a flask!!! he’s writing something down while you’re talking to him? my pencil now heheheh that'll show him!! whatever you say

your grace.,...,.,.,just ask him to talk to you

(no he can't know!!! my pride my dignity!!!!!!)

he thinks it’s cute–he probably even does it purpose because he’s a smart lil f*cker smh if you think you're so smart why aren't you looking at me?? HUH??? stupid head*ss go back to ur chem set binch

you probably say that more times than you can count like who does he think he is??? a GENIUS??!!! your grace...,,yes

be careful though! he isn’t afraid to tease back even if you are the creator! most people think of him as apathetic with no feelings but you see right through him

“Oh? Does their Grace believe my worship is not enough? I thought you liked it when I experiment. Then what else are you here for? Hm? You couldn't have come all the way up the mountain just to stare at me...right All-Creator?"

Childe

he loves it he wants all your attention!!! he doesn't care if it's "mean"!!!! <3

"their grace wants to tease...me?"

YES U HOMICIDAL MANIAC KEEP UP

if you like banter he's your harbinger!!!!!!!!!!!!

"damn ajax you didn't die today? :/"

"well your grace tomorrow is a new day :))"

if you fight you would banter during it and he probably is like probably *heart eyes*

if you aren't however

you, an all-powerful god: no ajax I'm not gonna fight you...

childe: coward smh didn't know the creator was such a loser :/

you: *glowing eyes of DEATH*

there is SO MUCH you can bully about this man

"ajax please.,.,.,that isn't how you hold a bow"

very much high school rivals who are secretly into each other vibe

he truly loves how fun you are which makes him worship you even more if that's possible

however if you team up with scaramouche he gets SO pissy it's insane like the both of you are UNSTOPPABLE it really is scary

and obviously the more he pouts the more you bully him like c'mon babe don't give me more ammo

"Your Grace! Please don't tell Scaramouche how I fell into the lake that one time! Oh? You did? Your Grace whatever shall I do with you? Fine, fine it is a funny story. However, would you like me to tell him how you warmed me up afterward?"

also consider:

you and him are interchangeable in this exchange it depends on the time of day lmao

Diluc

oh

ohohohooh

he is SO fun to tease

at first he would just let it happen with just an odd look on his face...can't upset the creator now can he?

for the first couple of times he probably truly thinks you don't like :/ he's used to hearing people call him grumpy

but after a while and the years he's spent with kaeya he finally realizes you mean no harm

"damn master diluc who made you so grumpy today? did someone tell you that your hair looks really messy today? :/ i mean it does but they didn't have to tell you to your face...how rude"

he just rolls his eyes and continues making drinks and then checks the mirror in the backroom when you're not looking does his hair look weird DOES IT???

honestly the patrons at angel's share have never seen diluc so calm and it's when the creator is bullying teasing him?? you really are the creator!

and oh boy when he realized you do it out of FAVORITISM?? he turns red whenever you tease him it's so cute

you could tease him how stupid his superhero name is or smth when he's doing his nightly duties and he'd act like you just gave him the biggest compliment ever

you: diluc you are so lucky that most of the knights are dumb as rocks because YOU are so stupid how has nobody figured out you're batman the darknight hero?? you barely even change your appearance? i bet you change your voice to seem lower to look cooler stars above i hate you

diluc, turning into a strawberry: im in love with u

after a while he'll tease you right back, we all know that man is a bundle of dry humor wrapped up in a coat and it'll leave you flustered every time

"Thank you, your Grace I'll take your suggestions of my after-dark identity into consideration. I consider myself blessed to have such a thoughtful and amenable God watching out for me. Are you this considerate to all of your loyal subjects or do you just give me your special attention? Should I get down on my knees and thank you properly?"

Kaeya

oh lord what a menace

right off the bat he sees right through he KNOWS you tease him because he likes you because he's exactly the same

you know "how 'bout it boss" line? yeah he probably calls you boss instead of something appropriate like your actual titles he wouldn't dare call you by your actual name though that is a privilege he does not deserve

honestly the two of you probably get into fake fights on purpose just for the drama of it all

"what kind of person let alone GOD forgets to blow out a candle? you could have burned the city down? i cannot believe our "all-loving" creator hates us so that they would do this"

"maybe if you stopped drinking and put away your tits this wouldn't have happened...were you so drunk last night that you couldn't have done it yourself?"

he would probably joke that your "old world" didnt want you and spat you out to teyvat and you're like "you know what? you're probably right lmao"

he'd laugh it off and so would you but on the inside he's like did i offend them?? oh my god kaeya what the F*CK??? was that too far??? what is wrong with you????????

the knights would be MORTIFIED by the way he speaks to you

one day however a knight tries to tease you and kaeya goes OFF absolutely bonkers

he can tease you but no one else he's a bit jealous/protective

you tease him more if you find out

"Hm? Of course, I defended your honor, Boss. We can't have people thinking they can go about slandering our good creator's name. Why, yes, I do tease you from time to time but that is only in good nature and a form of worship. If you want, however, I can show you a different way I worship you."

Zhongli

now i don't want to be stereotypical with mr zhongli here, but honestly you two look like an old married couple bickering

you know those ones at restaurants that are like "i hope i die soon so i dont have see your ugly face anymore" and the other one is like "yes yes go to hell honey anyways we'll share the soup <3"

yeah that's how it goes

people are still like "wow how cute" so like who cares lmao

he thinks it's very amusing whenever you're mean to him because most of the time it only happens around other people

like once you guys are alone it's sappy as hell and he wouldn't want it any other way except nobody believes him when he says how kind you and how you even cook for him from time to time

flame his *ss for never having mora while you're paying for everything he wants ok sugar baby zhongli

you and hu tao are absolutely the worst though please do not team up against him

he counters this though by pretending how honored he is that the all-creator picked him, a lowly humble man

he is VERY grateful and shows it but cmon..."lowly humble man"? stfu morax you used to eat gods for breakfast

zhongli: everyday i thank rex lapis for allowing this union between the creator and i. i do not know what i did to deserve his praise or their grace's...rex lapis truly is amazing

you: are you f*cking kidding me

all in all though it is very cute he would be saying how pretty you look today and kisses your hand and meanwhile you're blushing super badly and you're like "you're ugly and i hate you"

he responds with a smug lil smile every time that makes you want to punch him

"Well, your grace, as much as I enjoy your teasing and vice versa, just know that I mean every word when I say how grateful I am for you to bless me with your companionship. I will gladly be the brunt of every scathing joke you make if it means I can hear your lovely voice."

[t0shii]

% comforting them when they're upset

.! oikawa, tsukishima, matsukawa (sep) x gn!r

.! angst + fluff/ breakdowns, crying, etc. lightly proofread bc im lazy so sorry for any mistakes.

.! im so sorry if this is absolute word vomit or horse shit 😭 i tried my best though 😌 uhhh sorry for not posting yesterday i got my daith pierced and i was in a lot of pain after that so i didnt feel like writing anywho enjoy this 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 p.s. i was originally gonna write for mad dog but i was struggling so i went with mattsun instead sorry. also idk why matsuns ended up being so short i didnt do him justice i apologize 😩

oikawa

— always gets discouraged when his knee bothers him. today was one of those days. his coach had made him sit out of practice because he had been limping a bit. he came home distraught and you noticed right away.

"what's the matter toru?" you asked opening your arms for a hug, which he accepted, wrapping his arms around your middle quite tightly. "my knee is bothering me again 'n coach made me sit out. it's just not fair." he mumbled into your shoulder. you could feel his tears soak through your shirt. you nodded and responded, "baby, he just doesn't want you to hurt yourself. i know it's not fair but-", "but i wanna play volleyball, i wanna get better and practice." he said, aggravated that you weren't exactly on his side, still he held you tighter.

"toru, baby, look at me." he does as told, and you bring your hands up to wipe his tear stained cheeks,"toru, you can't strain your knee anymore than you already do, you know this. i know you only want to play volleyball, baby i know, but you have to be patient." he nods in agreement and you do the same, then guiding his head back to your shoulder, "i know it's frustrating toru, but you can't force it, y'know? he wouldn't make you sit out if it wasn't for your best interest. you know that, deep down."

the two of you had been cuddling on the couch, his back against your chest when you heard him sniffling again, "toru, what's wrong?" you ask softly, sitting up slightly. "i'm so useless, my own knee can't even work right. the team deserves someone better and so d-do you" he hiccuped, hiding is face in his hands. you felt guilty for not comforting him more earlier. "toru, that's not true at all." you stated, forcing his hands into yours, "take it back right now." he looked at you confused. "toru oikawa i said take it back right this instant." you said a little sterner than before.

"no." he managed to get out through sobs, and you knew the stern method wasn't going to work this time around. "toru, please. you're not useless at all, not to anyone, not to the team, and especially not to me. you're the best teammate, friend and boyfriend anyone could ever ask for and your knee just needs a break sometimes, you just need a break sometimes and thats okay. needing a break doesn't make you useless or weak, toru." you say softly, guiding him to a sitting position, hugging him closely and tracing small, comforting shapes on his back.

"you're so so strong toru, and you're an amazing person, an amazing boyfriend, you're such an amazing volleyball player and i'm so proud of how far you've come since highschool." you say, kissing the crown of his head. "you mean it?" he asks leaning back to look at you, "i always do, toru. i love you more than anything, and i'm so so fucking proud of you, but you have to know, it's okay to need a break sometimes and it doesn't change who you are as a person and it definitely doesn't make you weak or useless. he nods in response, burrying his head into the crook of your neck. you both stay like that, you whispering words of affirmations, him listening fondly until he feels better a little while later.

tsukishima

— he usually didn't let the stress of professional volleyball get to him like this, but he couldn't help it he would be lying if he said he wasn't overwhelmed, from interviews, to extra practice to prepare for the overseas games he had coming up, he was exhausted, to add onto it all he had been neglecting you and he felt horrible for it.

you knew practice was going to be running late since your boyfriend had told you in advance, so you weren't initially worried as to why kei had been coming home late at night. this night in particular was the fourth night in a row kei been home late and you starting to grow concerned. you hadn't seen him hardly at all that week, which was unusual because he always made time for you no matter what. worried, you decided to stay awake and wait for him to get home.

when the time finally comes, your heart dropped at his appearance, he looked absolutely horrible, as if he hadn't slept right in weeks. "why are you up?" he mumbled, taking his shoes off rather sloppily, uncharacteristic of him. you made your way closer to yoir exhausted boyfriend, "kei, i'm worried about you. i know you don't like me meddling with your career, and please don't misunderstand my concern for that. i'm just worried you aren't getting enough rest and i've barely seen you at all this week." you said, crossing your arms over your chest.

you knew something was wrong when you saw the tear swell in his eyes, but he just stood there awkwardly, you walked closer toward him, "kei, what's wrong?" you ask, extending your arms toward him, which he basically fell into, he started sobbing immediately, shocking you initially. "i'm s-sorry for neglecting you this week, i didn't mean to i-i just-", "kei, i'm not worried about that, i'm worried that you aren't taking care of yourself properly." you mumble, patting his back comfortingly. to which he shakes his head no."work has been too much recently, i can't sleep and i barely have time to even think. its just practice, interviews, practice, interviews i-i can't handle it all anymore, y/n." he sobbed into your shoulder, you were speechless at his vulnerability.

"kei,-", "but i can't stop now because that'll make me a failure and i don't want to let you down and the team too, i just want to make everyone proud but i think i'm falling behind." he cried, fiddling with the hem of your shirt. "kei, you could never let me down. actually, i think i've been letting you down recently, i don't tell you this enough but, i'm so so proud of you kei, so proud you don't even understand, i'm sorry for not expressing that enough to you. i understand that you feel as if you're falling behind but overworking and stressing yourself out isn't going to help you improve, kei, and i know you also know that."

"you're working yourself sick, kei and i can't stand here and continue to let that happen so you're taking a day off whether you like it or not. tomorrow will be a me and you day, how does that sound? i'll call your coach in the morning." honestly, you wouldn't have let him say no anyways, and he knew that so he just nodded his head. "look at me kei, you have to tell me when you're feeling overwhelmed. it's not good to keep things in like this, it's just like you tell me." he nods his head, but avoids eye contact, "and i'm not disappointed or upset at you, you know. but i can't read your mind, so please just tell me when things start to feel like they're crashing down on you 'kay? i'll help you just like you help me." you smile, he looks at you and nods, hugs you closer and whispers an "i love you" into your ear, which you return.

matsuwaka

— you knew his work was stressful and emotionally and mentally exhausting, so there were always worries in the back of your mind that he would become too overwhelmed, well today your worries became reality.

"welcome home issei." you called from the kitchen as your boyfriend walked through the door, though he offered you no response, which made you frown. "issei?-" you gasped when you felt a pair of strong arms sneak their way around your waist, "jesus, issei, you scared me!" you giggle placing your hands atop of his own, but you realized he was not laughing with you. "issei, baby?" concern laced in your tone as you maneuvered your way around to face him, "what's wrong baby?" you ask, taking his face in your hands to wipe at escaping tears.

"work was rough today." was all he said as he melted at the feeling of your thumbs running back and forth on his cheeks. "oh issei, i'm sorry." you mumbled, kissing the tip of his nose lightly, "is there anything i can do to help?" he didn't know why but something inside of him snapped when you asked him that, and sobs escaped his lips, he could only hide his face in the space between your neck and shoulder because for some reason he felt... ashamed to be crying in front of you like this. "please just hold me." he cried, so you did just that, shushimg him when his sobs got violent, rubbing your hand up and down his back soothingly.

the both of you stood there for a good 15 minutes before you spoke up after he had calmed down a bit, "is there anything you need to get off your chest? you don't have to tell me now or even at all but i want you to know that whatever is bothering you, you can tell me, anything at all. i know your job is mentally exhausting and honestly i dont even know how you do it but i dont want you thinking you have to carry the burden of it alone, okay? i'm so proud of you, so so so proud of you issei, i just wanted you to know that."

you felt him nod in the crook of your neck, a soft, "thank you." sounding shortly after, "of course." you responded, kissing his shoulder a few time.he wasn't sure when he would feel completely ready to get things off his chest but he felt loved knowing that you would always be there to comfort him, and for that he was forever grateful.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #198

Happy New Year! (If it is not new years, please disregard.) Today we're crossing into the 2020 servants; hopefully this build makes that clear.

Today we're building Katsushika Hokusai, the daughter/fatheroctopus painter duo, most famous for... waves? And also making a deal with Cthulhu. We're grabbing some levels in Creation Bard for the former, and Hexblade Warlock for the latter. Don't worry, it'll make sense as we go.

Check out their build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet over here!

Next up:

Race and Background

Oui is a Human. Her dad's an octopus, which is weird, but we'll deal with that later. Also, we're making her a variant human for cool stuff. She gets +1 Wisdom and Charisma, as well as Animal Handling proficiency to get along with her parents and the Magic Initiate feat, which uses her Wisdom to cast druid spells. Since magical paintbrushes aren't an official weapon in D&D 5e, we'll call it a quarterstaff instead, which means you can use Shillelagh to make it fancy and magical for the duration. It also turns the damage die into a d8, deals magical damage, and uses your wisdom instead of strength to hit things and deal damage. You also get Frostbite to splash cold water on people, and Protection from Evil and Good. You can cast that last one once a day for free, and it'll protect you against aberrations (plus celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, and undead) for ten minutes with concentration. They'll have disadvantage to hit you, and they cant' charm, frighten, or possess you, and any existing effects of that ilk you can shake off with advantage. No spoilers, but that'll come in handy soon enough.

You also get the Guild Artisan background, because you paint for money. That gives you Insight and Persuasion proficiency.

Ability Scores

Make your Charisma as high as possible. You paint good, and you have the mental fortitude to keep an elder god from yeeting your soul from your body. Good job. Second highest is Dexterity, painting lifesized waves in the air around you doesn't actually need all the backflips, you just like to show off. Your Wisdom is also pretty good, it's hard to paint things you can't see well, and again that whole "mental fortitude" thing. Your Constitution is pretty good, you handle all-nighters pretty well. That means your Strength isn't great, but we're dumping Intelligence. You're kind of a hick, after all. Plus, really? Swordbeauties?

Class Levels

Bard 1: You weren't born with the squid powers, so we'll grab those up a bit later. Right now you're just a plucky young artist with a dream. As a bard, you get proficiency with Dexterity and Charisma saves, as well as three skills of your choice. Performance and Nature will help you paint nature, and Arcana will help you find the squid guy in the first place. You get Bardic Inspiration, Charisma Modifier d6s per long rest, and you can give one to your allies to boost one attack, check, or save by however much they roll. Nothing like some tasteful nudes to get the spirits up. You also get Spells that you can cast using your Charisma. Friends makes it easier to pass charisma checks against a creature for a minute, but they'll know you magicked them afterwards. Thankfully, getting paid doesn't take that long. Minor Illusion helps you bring your paintings to life, but just a little bit. It'll create a still object or sound that lasts for up to a minute. Creatures can tell it's an illusion with an investigation check, or by touching it. You also get Animal Friendship- your dad can be hard to get along with. Color Spray weaponizes your paints to blind creatures in the area, and Illusory Script lets you write one thing, but really write another. I'm sure you can argue this should count for paintings as well. Oh, you also get Dissonant Whispers. You're a Foreigner, you can be a little creepy if ya wanna.

Bard 2: Second level bards become a Jack of All Trades, adding half their proficiency to skill checks they aren't proficient in. You're an anime character, it's an unwritten rule you should be good at everything. You also get a Song of Rest, adding a d6 to healing your party does over a short rest. On top of that, your bardic inspiration becomes Magical Inspiration, letting your allies add it to the damage or healing of a spell. Finally, grab the spell Silent Image for moving images, so now you can paint birds and/or waves and have them look just like the real thing. Now, third level of bard is where things start getting funky, so before we can do that, let's make a deal.

Warlock 1: Bouncing over to warlock lets you become a Hexblade, which sounds kind of weird, but there's a reason for that. You don't do weird mind stuff like the GOOlocks, and you don't really use Tentacles like the Fathomlocks. What you do need though, is a fancy magic brush, and a fancy magic octopus. There isn't a familiar-based subclass yet, so we had to go with the weapon-based one, and we'll pick up your dad later. Anyways, starting off as a Hexblade lets you invoke a Hexblade's Curse as a bonus action, dealing your proficiency in extra damage to the cursed creature, crit on 19s, and heal yourself when the cursed creature dies. The curse lasts 1 minute, and you can use this once per short rest. Hokusai also become a Hex Warrior, turning one non-two-handed weapon into a special weapon at the end of a long rest. Now your brush uses your Charisma to attack, nice. Unfortunately, this doesn't include magical damage, but you can stack this with Shillelagh if you really need to. You also get another set of spells with your Pact Magic. These slots recharge on short rests, and it means your multiclassing doesn't mix slots like most spellcasting classes would. You can still use one kind of slot to cast the other kind of spells though. Speaking of spells, grab Eldritch Blast for some paint splashes, and Mage Hand for a pseudo-octopus that'll grab things for you. Cause Fear lets you paint a really creepy thing one target can see, forcing a wisdom save and scaring them if they fail. Arms of Hadar will give you a little bit of tentacles, as a treat. They'll force a strength save on creatures near you, dealing necrotic damage and making them too gooey to take reactions.

Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, mini-feats to help you cope with only having two spell slots. Grab Armor of Shadows for free Mage Armor on yourself at will. Your family is your armor, and I mean that literally. Stop wearing your dad, it's creepy. You also get a second one, but we're saving that for the next level. Don't not take one now though, I'm just saying it won't matter in the long run.

Bard 3: Now that your pact is sealed, we can get the real living paintings going. If you're thinking 'bout an inking feel free to shuffle levels around, I just want to hit Font of Inspiration quickly. As a Creation bard, Hokusai gets an Inkling of Potential, adding extra effects to her bardic inspiration. Ability checks let the user roll twice, attack rolls deal extra thunder damage, and saving throws add temporary HP to the user. She can also enact the Performance of Creation, creating a nonmagical item nearby. Currently it must cost less than 20 times your bard level, and it has to be medium or smaller. You can do this once per long rest, or by spending a 2nd level slot, but doing so destroys the first object if it still exists. Right now this only makes medium objects, but a 5' wave of water is nothing to sneeze at. You also get Expertise in two skills, doubling your proficiency them. Pick up Insight and Performance for the ultimate style-copying skills. Finally, you get second level spells. We can't focus too much on non-charisma abilities, but this'll give you a leg up on seeing the true nature of things. It gives you advantage on any one kind of ability check for up to a minute.

Bard 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Charisma. Now you have more inspiration, better spells, and a bigger brush. Charisma's good, you'll like charisma. You can also paint Dancing Lights and a Phantasmal Force now. The former lights up an area, the latter creates a phantasmal creature or object that only one creature can see for up to a minute. It can break the illusion with an Investigation check, but until then it treats the thing as completely real, rationalizing away inconsistencies. It also can take a bit of psychic damage if the illusion would cause harm within 5' of itself.

Bard 5: Fifth level bards become a Font of Inspiration like we talked about earlier, giving you inspiration recharges on short rests instead of long ones. Your inspiration also jumps to d8s. Finally, grab Major Image for more major illusions than minor image. It creates an object up to 20' on each side, and includes effects like sound, smell, and temperature, as long as they wouldn't deal damage. You can also move the illusion using your action. Same rules apply to breaking it though- investigation check or just touching it.

Warlock 3: Finally back in warlock, you get your pact boon, and the Pact of the Chain gives you Find Familiar as a ritual, and you can skip your own attack to attack with your familiar. Wildly enough, Octopus is already a rules as written option for Find Familiar. Awkward point; octopi can only be out of water for 30 minutes. Good luck with that! On top of that, Mirror Image lets you paint duplicates of yourself, making it harder to hit you. Boom, evade skill achieved. You get three extra copies, and every time you get hit, there's only a 25% chance of actually hitting the real one. If an illusion gets hit, it's destroyed, so the odds go up to 33%, then 50%. You also put in the Investment of the Chain Master, giving your dad a flying speed, the ability to attack as a bonus action, magical weapons, your DC for saves, and you can react to give the little bugger resistance to one instance of damage. Literally everyone else's dad is dead already, try not to add one more to the pile. Except for Romani's, but that's sad in its own way.

Warlock 4: Another ASI, max out your Charisma. It's good, you use it for literally everything. For spells, Mind Sliver deals psychic damage an makes the target's next save a bit harder to make. You also get a Crown of Madness, which gives you control over a creature's attack action. Just because you're less spooky than Abby doesn't mean you're not spooky.

Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get a new invocation and third level spell. Summon Shadowspawn lets you paint one of three kinds of shadowspawn, creepy little things that can scare people by screaming at them. They'll obey your commands, and it'll last up to an hour, until they hit 0 HP, or you drop concentration. Your last invocation is the Gift of the Depths, letting you breathe underwater and swim as fast as you can walk. Now it's slightly less awkward to carry your dad around, yay. You can also cast Water Breathing for free once per long rest.

Bard 6: Finally back in bard now, sixth level creation bards can put on an Animating Performance, turning a large or smaller item into a Dancing Item with its own stats and everything. You have to use your bonus action to command it in battle, but you can inspire people at the same time. I'm not sure how well animating water would work, but it's something to look into. You also learn how to Countercharm, spending your action to give creatures near you advantage on saves against being charmed or frightened. For something better, grab Intellect Fortress. For up to an hour, you'll resist psychic damage, and you get advantage on all Int, Wis, and Chr saves.

Bard 7: Seventh level bards get fourth level spells, like Hallucinatory Terrain! Now you can paint a landscape- literally! It's only 150' in range, but that's still plenty of space to mess with people. It doesn't really change anything, but forcing people to look at non-euclidean geometry is its own reward.

Bard 8: Another ASI. Bump up your Dex now so you're less likely to get hit, then grab Phantasmal Killer to paint a scary creature that will follow the target around and beat them up. It's a shame only one creature gets to see it.

Bard 9: Ninth level bards get a better song of rest, but more importantly you get fifth level spells. Legend Lore will help you see the true meaning of things more easily, and the more you already know about something the more you'll learn. That's why your Arcana and Nature skills are so high. Oh, wait, sorry, one sec...

Bard 10: And that's why your Arcana and Nature skills are so high... starting now, with another round of Expertise. Your inspiration also jumps to d10s, and you learn Magical Secrets, two spells from any spell list you can cast. On top of that, you get Prestidigitation to paint up small objects. For your secrets, Conjure Animals lets you paint up some real animals that'll attack enemies for you. Alternatively, you can Control Water to make those waves we've been trying to do with way less fuss than a Song of Creation or Animating Performance. It does come with the limit of using existing water, though you can also Part Water, cause a Whirlpool, or Redirect Flow with this one.

Bard 11: Eleventh level bards get a sixth level spell, and True Seeing will help you see All Things in Nature, letting you see through illusions, invisibility and the like.

Bard 12: One last ASI; bump up your Constitution for better concentration and more HP.

Bard 13: Your Song of Rest is a d10 now, and you get a seventh level spell. Prismatic Spray is the return of Color Spray, but it's taken steroids. Now it deals plenty of damage of a random type to each creature in its area, or it has a chance to shove them into another dimension or petrify them.

Bard 14: Your last goody from the college of creation is a Creative Crescendo, allowing you to paint up to your Charisma Modifier in items when you use a Performance of Creation. Only one can be a biggun, the rest have to be small or tiny. Also, your max size is Huge now, and a 15' cube of water will make a pretty big splash. You also get another round of Magical Secrets, grabbing you Conjure Elemental for a more symbolic approach to flooding people, and Wrath of Nature to paint a landscape that'll really fuck with someone. The grass turns land into difficult terrain, the trees will slash at enemies nearby, Roots and vines restrain enemies, and Rocks will throw themselves at enemies, knocking them prone on a failed strength save. It's not mind melting geometries, but it's still mess with people's heads.

Bard 15: Your ultimate level gives you a d12 inspiration die. You also get one last spell, of the eighth level. Feeblemind will handle all the mind melting the last level failed to live up to, forcing an intelligence save and dealing damage regardless. On a failed save, the creature's Intelligence and Charisma drop to 1, and it can't cast spells, use magic items, talk, or understand people. The only ways to fix this are with another Intelligence saving throw (every 30 days) or using Greater Restoration, Heal, or Wish.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Like the regular Hokusai, this build has a great deal of flexibility, with pretty good AC, HP, and physical attack options to get up close and personal, as well as ways to buff allies and attack with spells at a distance.

Speaking of spells, they give you a lot of crowd control options. You can create extra allies with summoning spells and Animating Performance, blow them away with waves from Control Water or Performance of Creation, or keep them tied up with various illusions.

You're also really good at fighting other spellcasters. Spells like Protection from Evil and Good and Intellect Fortress will shore up most of your saves against fancier spells, and you can use Feeblemind to completely shut down anyone who isn't a wizard or artificer.

So piss off your patron and kick the ass of their flunkies, easy! Wait, there's still cons.

Cons:

Okay, so there are some problems with throwing waves all over the place: they're hard to control where exactly they end up. Also, your best wave requires real water, which won't always be available.

On a similar note, you specialize in summons and illusions, both of which tend to require Concentration saves. Yours aren't that great, and on top of that it means you can only have one up at a time. Unless you're cool with an elemental running around willy nilly, but that fits into Con #1.

Your Familiar can only stay on dry land for 30 minutes at a time. If you're going to play this in a landlocked campaign, switch the octopus and last invocation for something else, it'll be a pain otherwise.

Okay, she isn't perfect, just make sure you carry an aquarium with you, problem solved, right?

[petrifact]

Write Your Own Adventure Lesson 9: Research for Your RuneQuest Adventure

This lesson discussed what research might need to be done for an RPG adventure, both of the fictional setting and of relevant details taken from the real world, and asked participants to write down what research they would have to for their particular adventure. Here's what I wrote:

I've already been doing some research about Glorantha to write my adventure. In particular, I wanted to find out as much as I could about the Lismelder Tribe and the Upland Marsh. There's not that much about either in seventh edition materials (though the Gamemaster Adventure book does have some information on the Lismelder tribe), but there was more in earlier editions, in Tales of the Reaching Moon #19 and Wyrm's Footprints #15, so I skimmed through those sources for anything that looked relevant or useful. (I also asked questions on the Chaosium forums and got very helpful responses from the posters there.)

Again, it turns out I missed some important material about Ten Spear, so I apparently didn't research it as well as I thought. Oh well. Moving on...

As for some real-world topics of research, well, the RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha core book mentions that the lismelder Tribe "are famous for their great beer", so I figured maybe Ten Spear could have a brewery. But I really don't know anything about how beer was brewed in the Bronze Age (heck, I don't know anything about how beer is brewed today), so that's something to research.

Oh, yes, and (at least) one more thing. I wanted the spirit in the shard to be the spirit of a long-dead Beast Man of an extinct species… but I hadn't decided on what that species was. With the exception of the ducks, the established kinds of Beast Man of Dragon Pass are all based on creatures from classical mythology and/or medieval beliefs, so I wanted to find some other suitable part-human mythical creature that hadn't been used, but I hadn't settled on what yet. (I can think of a few—the onocentaur, the cynocephalus, the sphinx—but I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting or don't know about.) Oh, hey, and I just found one that I think would work perfectly: the draconcopedes. A snake with a human head mentioned in some medieval bestiaries. That'll do. At least, assuming it checks out when I verify the sources and make sure it's not something made up by some Wikipedia editor.

Hm, wait, on second thought, maybe not. Glorantha isn't a medieval world, after all; it's a Bronze Age world, and while the manticore, for instance, may have been best known from medieval bestiaries, its roots go back to ancient Persia. The earliest references to the draconcopedes seem to be from the Middle Ages, so it's not really old enough. I'll keep looking.

Oh, there's the lammasu, of course. Eh, maybe, but it's not really grabbing me. The buraq… hm.

Hm, here's a part-human part-goat creature, but that may be too close to the broo: https://www.eranshahr.com/myths/ghara-gharnagh

There's also this turtle-person from the same site: https://www.eranshahr.com/myths/ab-laku

Wait, aren't there those ancient cave paintings of antelope-man "therianthrope" figures? Oh, yeah, here's what I was thinking of: https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2020/06/the-strange-and-controversial-prehistoric-sorcerer-of-the-cave-of-the-trois-freres

Though apparently it's more controversial than I realized. Still, I'm just looking for an ancient myth to use for inspiration; I guess it doesn't matter too much if it's completely authentic. If I'm going for an extinct type of Beast Man, that might be a good fit. Of course, there isn't really an established name for this figure (aside from the clearly unusable "Sorcerer")… but I guess I could just call them "antelope men", and that would be fine. I'll tentatively go with that for now, though I'll keep my eye out for something I like better. (Hm, interesting, there are also cave paintings of bison-headed figures, apparently: https://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/My%20Documents/Therianthropes.htm Well, I think I'll stick with the antelope for now.)

As for the Bronze Age brewing, I found a few sites with some interesting information on that, including the "oldest known beer recipe" https://www.realmofhistory.com/2017/09/22/oldest-beer-recipe-mesopotamia-ninkasi/ , a description of discovered ruins of an ancient Green brewery https://www.livescience.com/61590-oldest-beer-in-greece.html and an article about Bronze Age beer-brewing in Ireland https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/unearthing-bronze-age-brewing-1.953684. Oh, and this could be useful: a video of a reconstruction of brewing techniques from a 3800 recipe https://ne-np.facebook.com/BeoirFestonline/videos/recreating-a-bronze-age-beer-for-the-modern-world/708828930137367/ Okay, I think there's enough here I can get a sufficient idea of what a Bronze Age beer brewery may have been like.

Oh, yes, one more thing. I was going to have beekeeping as one of the village's more significant industries, so… I guess that's another thing to research. Though this page looks like a promising start: https://www.agriculturalmuseums.org/2020/04/16/how-has-beekeeping-changed-over-time-an-archaeobeekeeper-and-an-archaeological-open-air-museum-in-germany-showcase-pre-and-proto-historic-beekeeping-methods/ Oh, and here are a few more documents I can look at: https://www.evacranetrust.org/uploads/document/2949b8a5ef604548975b4b0eb7d9e738cd654435.pdf https://www.apicultural.co.uk/tears-of-re-beekeeping-in-ancient-egypt

(Okay, yeah, I could make those links clickable in this Tumblr post but, eh, it's taking me long enough to make all these posts as it is, and I need to spend time actually working on the adventure. You can always copy and paste the links if you really want to see where they go.)

[azurevi]

enstars charas with an overworked s/o

First time writing enstars🤡 this took kinda long becz exams but i hope its good ^^ also kinda self indulgent hhh

Characters : natsume, ibara, leo, tatsumi, arashi, keito

Natsume

Natsume watches from the doorway as your head bobs about, hands tapping unrhythmically on the keyboard. You're already falling asleep, yet you still refuse to go to bed. 

Normally he won't interfere with your work, knowing that you're fully capable of making the right decisions, but it's a pain seeing you pushing yourself so hard. 

"Still working?" he steps in, holding a steaming drink in his hands. 

Your head snaps up at his voice, and you nod. It's a project that you've put off for far too long, and of course, you have to suffer the consequences. 

"The deadline is two days later, if I don't finish this section today I probably won't make it in time,"

He sets the mug beside your hand, observing your wandering gaze and disheveled hair which you must've been running your hand through. "I don't think you can finish it, though. You already look worn out."

You raise the mug to your lips and take a sip of whatever it holds. The drink tastes sweet and refreshing in your mouth, and almost instantly your muscles relax. "You aren't any better, you know,"

That's true. Being a nightowl himself, Natsume's words don't really seem all that persuasive. At first you would lecture him about how little he rested, but you gave up eventually. You suppose he's built differently, seeing as he can still perform well after only three hours of sleep. 

"Pretty sure I'm in better condition," he says, pulling a chair beside you and popping down. The wood scraps against the floor, creaking slightly. It's usually a sound that you find unbearable, but you seem to have missed it as you try to continue your work.

"Come here, love," he stretches his arms out, wiggling his fingers expectantly. You raise a brow, contemplating whether you should give in. It won't be a surprise if you fall asleep right away in his arms. 

"But work…" you sigh, tearing your eyes from him. His shoulders drop immediately, a frown forming from the rejection. "You're just gonna leave me hanging? How cruel…"

You know he's just messing with you when he let out a dramatic huff, but somehow his defeated look still tucks at your heartstrings. 

"Fine, fine…" you sigh, sneaking your arms around his torso and burying your head into his neck. His chest hums with satisfaction as he digs his fingers into your messy hair, soothing out knots he finds along the way gently. With every stroke you're getting drowsier and drowsier, and you know that you're supposed to be working, but the feeling of his hand running through your locks and the steady rise of his chest convince you to stay. 

You fall asleep almost immediately after you close your eyes. Natsume calls out to you and smiles when he hears your slight snoring instead. It's probably the best to get you to the bed and tug you in, but he decides to stay in his spot for a moment longer and relish your presence. 

Ibara

Ibara knows from experience just how hard it can be to sway you when you’ve made up your mind. That’s why he doesn’t try to sweet talk you or lecture you into sleeping. 

No, if he really wants to get you to listen, he will have to trick you into it. 

Almost like a hunter watching his prey, Ibara leans against the doorway as he tries to come up with a flawless plan for his mission. Several empty cans are littered around the desk and he can already smell the aroma of coffee from so far away. You had your fist in your hair, and every once in a while you had to stretch your muscles awkwardly from the lack of movement.

“Don’t you think you deserve a break?” he walks towards you, peeking over your shoulder at the work you’re struggling with. It’s yet another project for the other units, and you seem to be stuck in a dilemma.

“I don’t feel like sleeping without finishing this,” you say.

“Right, but I think you added an extra 0 here,” he points at the paper you're working on, where the value had been increased tenfold because of your negligence. 

“Oh goodness,” you sigh deeply, immediately erasing the zero. “How amateurish of me,”

Ibara watches as you rub the space between your eyes, trying to soothe the looming headache that was making your work even harder. “It feels like all the muscles in my body died,”

“You’ve been sitting for hours after all,” Ibara suddenly smiles, his eyes diminishing into thin slits. You don’t need to hear anything to know that he’s plotting something behind the smile. “What if I give you a short massage?”

Well… that is unexpected.

“A massage,” you repeat.

“That’s right,”

Now that is interesting. You’ve heard from Hiyori about how good Ibara’s massages are for more times than you can count, and it’s something you’ve always wanted to try. It just keeps slipping your mind. A massage sounds just as appealing as a five star meal right now considering how tired your limbs feel.

“Come on, I promise it’ll be worth it,”

“Fine,”

His smile widens even more. “Alright then! Please get onto the bed,”

“You wanna do it on the bed?” you frown. “I’ll fall asleep,”

“It’s not gonna be long,”

This sounds way too risky especially with the amount of work that’s still unfinished, but his grin is unwavering, as if he already knows what your answer will be.

“God, alright,” you admit defeat and throw yourself onto the bed face first. There is a moment of quiet shuffling before Ibara settles himself behind you, making sure he isn't crushing you under his weight. His hands find their way to your back, and start working their magic.

"Normally I would get massage oils, but that'll be for next time," Ibara says in a low voice, as if trying to lull you to sleep. Hiyori was right about his skills -- you don't think you've ever had a massage so satisfying before. Somehow, he just knows where to knead and how much pressure to put. With every passing minute your muscles are getting looser, as is your mind. You almost feel bad experiencing this for free.

You're about to fall asleep when something suddenly jolted your consciousness, like a big slap to your face. You have no idea how long you've been laying down in that hazy state, but you've still got work to do.

"That was the most incredible massage ever but I have to work now…" is what you're trying to say, but the words come out too jumbled and incoherent to be understood. When you try to get up, Ibara presses you back down, insisting that he's not done with the massage yet.

"I'm going to fall asleep for real," you argue weakly as your body slumps back into the mattress. Ibara watches as your words cease and your face loosens up, mouth slightly ajar as you finally indulge yourself to sleep. Maybe you'll be mad at you in the morning, but seeing you rest makes everything worth it.

Leo

This is so, so ridiculous. 

You've been telling Leo to go to bed for the past two hours, but did he listen? Evidently not, seeing as he's clinging to your arm with half-lidded eyes that are failing him every two seconds.

"Just go to sleep first, kay? I still have tons of stuff to do," you flip the pile of complicated documents around, not wanting to spare them another glance. Alas, there isn't much time left before your work is due, and the only way you can think of to tackle this is to keep pushing through no matter how worn out your body feels.

Your head is throbbing and somehow your sight just won't focus. You're pretty sure you're starving too, but you feel no incentive to leave your seat and grab snacks. No, you have to finish your work as soon as possible.

This might've been a lot easier if not for Leo. In the middle of your working he suddenly jolted awake and whined about wanting to cuddle with you. It's no surprise though, considering how often the two of you cling to each other during your sleep, but tonight just doesn't work out.

"Aren't you tired too? I can't sleep without you…" Leo mumbles.

"Pretty sure you're falling asleep as you speak," you say, even though you shouldn't be the one talking right now, not when you're also getting groggy just from his warmth and presence. 

When you turn to look at him, his face is squished against your arm, mouth slightly ajar as he snores. To prevent him from waking up again, you decide to tuck him in.

Which is a big mistake, because just the sight of the bed is enough to knock you out. Also because Leo's not letting go of your arm even in his sleep.

"Come to rest, please…" he mumbles quietly and you sigh. Trying to work when your body is screaming isn't going to do much anyway, you suppose, and you flop yourself onto the mattress with the boy. Leo may be childish at times, but everything he does comes from wishing for your wellbeing. 

Tatsumi

Lying to Tatsumi feels like committing the worst crime ever, but the guilt of going to sleep with your work still unfinished is even greater. 

That explains why you're here under the dim light of the desk lamp against Tatsumi's advice, trying to fight the sleepiness getting to your head as you type away on the keyboard. Just a few more pages and you will go to sleep, you decide, but 'a few more pages' is looking a lot like five essays right now.

You lean back against the chair, throwing your head back. You dare not close your eyes, because you're sure a second longer than an usual blink and you'll be a goner.

"Come on, come on…" you return to the original position, shoulders slumped and eyes squinting as you try to string sentences together. What is usually an easy task has become an impossible mission, and the voice at the back of your head suggesting you to give up isn't any help.

Absorbed in your work, you fail to notice the ruffling of the blanket and the shuffling of slippers behind you. When Tatsumi sets his hands on the back of your chair and calls you, you flinch dramatically.

"Oh," you sigh after calming down. "Did I wake you up?"

"Not really," he says. "I thought you agreed to go to sleep,"

You grimace at his words that remind you how you made a false promise with him when all he wanted was for you to take care of yourself. "I know I did, but I couldn't really fall asleep thinking of all this stuff," you gesture vaguely at the screen.

"I don't think you're doing well though," 

As if trying to prove his point, a yawn escaped your lips and tears blurred your vision. "I suppose not,"

He sits back onto the bed, reaching out so that he can hold your hands in his. "It's no use trying to work in your current state, you know? I know that you're feeling stressed out from all the work piling up, but rest is important for your productivity too. And I'd hate to see you overworking yourself," he pressed a kiss to your knuckles. "Let's go to bed first, and we'll tackle whatever's on your plate tomorrow, alright?"

He doesn't have to say much to sway you. It's one of his charms anyways -- being able to persuade you without even trying.

Arashi

Arashi glances at the clock. 1am. You've been working at your desk since 8, and she can see that you're already starting to fall asleep.

"Sweetheart? You should go rest," she says softly, resting her arms on your shoulders from behind. This brings your mind back to the present, and you sigh realizing that you've zoned out once again.

"Is this due soon?" Arashi asks.

"Not quite, but I don't want to pile everything up. I'm supposed to finish this part today but so many things happened that hindered my plans," you rub you the corners of your eyes. "And I'm already feeling tired,"

"Then you should probably sleep, right? Lack of sleep can mess your face up easily," she turns to cup your face, professionally observing your skin and missing the blush on your face. "You still look cute, but I'd be really sad if you became a victim of sleep deprivation~"

Her voice sounds light and casual, but you can tell that she's genuinely worried about your health. You pull her into a hug, burying your head in her clothes. She always gives the best hugs, hugs that understands you without having to exchange words, hugs that reassure you and rid you of anything on your mind, that remind you even if the world turned its back on you, you'd still have a home to come to.

"Let's go to bed," you suggest, voice woozy. 

"Sure, but let's do some skincare routine first!"

You always enjoy doing routines with her even though you're never one to pay much attention to yourself. But something about her being close and taking care of your face makes you feel at ease, and with her soft hands working on your cheeks, you quickly fall asleep.

Noticing your dropping head, Arashi lets out a sigh before carrying you in her arms, planting a light kiss on your forehead

"Sweet dreams, my love,"

Keito

When you started dating Keito, Kuro was quite delighted. One because he never believed someone could actually put up with the man, and two because someone can finally keep an eye on his atrocious working schedule.

What he didn't expect though, is that you're just as much of a hard worker as Keito. 

As the night passes, the two of you are still working incessantly. Except from the occasional small talks, there's only the sound of paper and keyboard in the room. The tea he brewed a while ago has already been emptied. You turn to look at the green-haired man, and although you can only see his back, he doesn't seem to be too affected by all this work. Perhaps his monstrous workload back in Yumenosaki Academy has turned him into a machine who doesn't feel tired.

But that can't be true. Surely, overworking a lot doesn't make you immune to it. Keito may not be vocal about how he feels, but he's still a human, and he's bound to feel tired,

The tapping sound on his end pauses abruptly as he turns to you, only to meet your observing eyes. This startles him a bit, and you let out a small chuckle.

"You should go rest-" he glances at the clock on the wall and frowns. "-it's already so late,"

"You're one to talk," you retort.

"I can still function without sleeping, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard,"

There it is again. He never seems to acknowledge his own weaknesses, only paying attention to others as he hides his feelings inside the myriad of work thrown at him each day. 

"No one can 'function without sleeping', Keito. You're not a superman,"

"..." 

Keito's shoulders are still tense, but he seems to be deep in thought as he isn't working on the computer either. After a moment of silence, he shakes his head and resumes typing. Perhaps he's reminded of his responsibilities, of the various roles that he plays, and how he can't afford to let anyone down.

As always, it's hard to move Keito. You brush it off and turn back to your work. 

It isn't until Keito stands up to get himself a new mug of tea that he realizes how drained you look. Your eyelids are drooping and even from far away he can notice errors on the computer screen. Your figure is slouched, leaning towards the table like you just want to fall asleep right there but can't.

"You should really go to bed," Keito walks to you, hand resting on the chair's rail. 

"Are you going to come with me?"

"What?"

"Are you going to come to bed with me?" you repeat.

"I still have work,"

"Then I'm not gonna rest yet,"

Keito raises his brows. "Are you threatening me with your own health?"

"If this is what I need to do for you to rest, then so be it,"

Silence fills the room. He watches as you tap away on the keyboard, re-typing every once in a while because your fingers just can't seem to find the keys. It's almost painful to watch.

"How incorrigible," Keito sighs. "Alright. Let's go,"

You jump to your feet immediately, dragging him to the bedroom. "No sneaking out after I fall asleep, okay? You have to rest for real,"

"Fine," Keito grunts.

The moment his head falls onto the pillow, he swears he can slip into dreamland right away. You throw your arm across his torso and he instinctively rests his head atop yours, listening as your breathing becomes more and more calm.

The both of you may be hopeless cases, but you always find a way to hold each other up.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to Gang of Secrets!

I'm very late today at writing this because life ;-; You know it's a bigger episode when they start off with a problem. Ladybug doesn't want to detransform so she's desperate to find reasons to remain Ladybug. I love how the entire time, Chat Noir knows something's wrong and wants to get her to talk about what it is, but she just tries to pretend she's fine. If anything, Chat Noir would probably be the best person to talk to considering everything he's dealt with too both with Kagami and his responsibility as Chat! She could mention that she was seeing someone but they broke up because of her secret, and she could tell him how much being the Guardian's having an affect on her. All perfectly well and good without exposing any identities or things like that with questions for details asked. Instead she puts up a front with him and pretends she's okay in front of him and it's just so sad. :/ I understand why she doesn't, probably because she doesn't want him to know how much she's struggling. But ugh my heart hurts for her. Chat: I know where we can go where we won't have to talk! Ladybug: Yes, take me there Chat! *in the theater* Ladybug: You lead me into a trap. I MEAN HE'S NOT WRONG THOUGH! Not many places you can go where it's okay or encouraged to not talk without there being an awkward silence. But that cracked me UP. Also that casual attempt to wrap his arm around her lolol still hasn't give up, I see. I also find it simultaneously hilarious and extremely depressing that Ladybug's ranting like that in the theater because of a romance movie. When your heart is broken, that's probably the last thing you want to be doing. And Chat Noir yanking her down asking that she be quiet 😂 Literally just rants her entire love life out for everyone including Chat to hear in that theater. CHAT NOIR, YOU BETTER BE LISTENING BECAUSE SHE'S TALKING ABOUT ADRIEN HERE "She takes a long time to tell him and stutters and blah blah blah" lol sound familiar, sunshine? If anything please have him recall this later and be like, wait, didn't Ladybug say girls stutter around a guy when she likes him? BAM. Then he's off on his path towards Marinette. I can dream. Ladybug: And how do you know if he loves her? IMPOSSIBLE. Adrien: No, Marinette couldn't possibly be in love with me. *eyetwitch* But at the end of the day. This is Marinette ranting to Adrien about how she had to give up on Adrien and then couldn't make things work with Luka because of her secret. Ooof. And poor Chat having to apologize for everyone because Ladybug's disturbing them XDD THE GIRL SAVES EVERYBODY'S LIVES PRACTICALLY EVERY DAY AND THEY'RE PISSED SHE'S RUINING A MOVIE THEY CAN JUST REWATCH? 😂 She's clearly having a hard time right now, c'mon people! Chat can tell she has a broken heart. This boy is so sweet. He wants her to at least admit that and talk about it so she can feel better but you know, Ladybug's stubborn. I WANT TO GO SWIMMING LET'S GO SWIMMING CHAT, WOO HOOOOOO! Ladybug acting like Chat to hide her pain just like how Chat acts like Chat to hide his pain. YOU KNOW WHAT, IT'S FINE. :') It doesn't matter how much pain she's dealing with, those pictures mean too much to her to remove them. x3 Thanks Juleka for showing us how sad Luka is now, that's very helpful. Marinette's been going into the bathroom at school to cry, and then had planned stupid looking glasses to hide her tears so people wouldn't have to know she's cried because wearing a ridiculous pair of glasses that's embarrassing is better than being asked what's wrong. Because the pain I feel for her wasn't already enough. Ugh I adore Trixx. Trixx being the voice of reason when Tikki's not there, trying to help and letting her know that Tikki may need to rest too when she's so upset it doesn't cross her mind. And the tears in her eyes when she apologizes to Tikki for not thinking of her like she should. ;-; SO MUCH PAIN. OH DANG Alya was literally a second away from seeing a detransforming Marinette lol But she did say DETRANSFORMATION or well in the English dub it'll be "Spots

off" I love Rose, she's really sweet. and considerate But she also shouldn't be touching things in others rooms like that. I never liked it when my friends went around my room touching stuff. Also didn't help that a couple of them stole from me... but it's just not a cool thing to do. Would've probably ended up much better had she not had to desperately hide an exposed Miracle Box. But then we wouldn't have had what happens so it's all good c: Marinette saying she doesn't want to be friends with the girls anymore

It hit Alya deep. Everyone else is like *le gasp* but her eyes all shrunken like that, you can tell it really got to her hard.

This entire exchange right here. Alya's glance at her in the first picture is piercing, like I can feel that OOF feeling in my chest when I see it. The new music dramatizes it so well that a lot of people probably didn't pay attention to it the first time around. Can we just appreciate how these animators got all these emotions so right and did such a good job animating everything for us? And those that work on the music too? Everything's so spot on. Marinette's red-rimmed eyes is so well done. "No, it can't end like this!" Awww Alix getting super upset too x3 I honestly think Alix could be the next one.... you know what I mean BUT I'll wait until the end to talk about it. Trixx pulling a Plagg and rescuing Marinette! x3 I seriously love Trixx, I really do. I know the other Kwami's got mad, but if he hadn't done that it would've been disaster, probably. And the episode wouldn't have ended how it did! And Plagg knowing it was Trixx who caused the Eiffel Tower to be all weird xD Why do I get the feeling the relationship between Trixx and Plagg would be like that of Chat Noir and Rena Rouge? And I want to point out, we got 7 whole seconds of Adrien again! Aren't we lucky? The last time we got so little of Adrien in an episode was when we had his parallel episode Lies. I don't think that'll happen this time but I do hope it means more Adrien later on. Ladybug: They're after Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chat Noir: Okay but remember everybody likes her (so don't go thinking she's a bad person for causing their akumatizations) Yes, I read between the lines. Ladybug being able to get through to Lady Wifi and have her deakumatize herself was absolutely amazing! I know Chloe was the first to fight off being akumatized but once you're akumatized it's obviously extremely hard to break. That says a lot about Alya. "Because you're an incredible friend, Ladybug." One, AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Two, did you notice the little jerk of her head, gesturing to Ladybug like that when she said it?? It's the little details guys that make this so good. 😍 "Chat Noir, nooooo!" Guys, we got our tiny little Marichat scene! It's not actually real, but still! (okay but why do I also get this really weird feeling like something like this may end up being real later?) Alya giving Ladybug that hug 😭 Marinette has such good, supportive friends. I love them all. x.x YES THANK YOU. Alya's finally realizing there are more things going on with her than just boys. One of the things that's always irked me since Chameleon is that any issue Marinette has, be it with Lila or otherwise, she always assumes it has to do with Adrien. Of course, at the time she didn't know she was Ladybug but she should've still listened and realized there's something else up. But now she finally is noticing and I love how she was going to respect her regardless and not push. Pushing has always been one of Alya's characteristics, but she knew whatever it was was something too big and serious to push her on. "Marinette, I'm your best friend, and I always will be." 😭😭😭 This episode brought me so close to tears so many times. Marinette admitting she's keeping secrets, lying to everyone. Admitting that that's why she draws a line between her and Adrien, and why her and Luka didn't work out. Alya saying however heavy it is, they'll carry it together (MY HEART) And then Marinette saying "If I tell you, things between us will never be the same. It's going to destroy everything, change it all." It sounds like this girl is thinking about Chat Blanc and oop there's the sound of my heart breaking again. So much paaaain. "Je suis Ladybug." YESSSSSSS Why they had to leave it off on a cliffhanger But YESSSSSSS First, the expressions she had flash on her face, the gasp 😮, then the expression like she's trying to get her mind to process. Then if you notice, Marinette gives a little nod, as if letting her know that it's true. Then the way her eyebrows furrow and pulls her into the hug as she understands all that she has on her shoulders as that music plays. I'm getting

emotional just writing this. 😭 This episode is just so amazingly good in so many ways, I don't think I can actually cover it all. I'm very impressed. I've loved nearly every episode this show has put out, even those that a lot of people seem to hate. But this one, I don't see how this could actually be hated if you're trying to think of everything that happened from Marinette's point of view, her thoughts, feelings, struggles, depression. I will say, personally I hoped Chat Noir would learn who Ladybug is first. He's been such a good partner, very thoughtful, always putting his life on the line. He's also been dealing with a lot of the same struggles. I felt like he deserved to know first. However, this isn't about who deserves what, it's about what Marinette needs. It's not that she doesn't want to tell him who she is! Don't misunderstand. There are many times throughout the past 3 seasons where she wants to or regrets not being able to. But now, Chat Blanc's in her mind. She knows what could happen if she tells him with Hawk Moth still there, so she can't do it. So instead, she tries to pretend in front of him that she's fine even though talking to him about everything would help and fix so much. In her mind, that's not an option. I just hope that when he finds out she told someone else first, he doesn't think that she doesn't trust him enough to tell him. Next I thought maybe Alix. That way it'd be more understandable to Chat that she'd know, after all future Bunnyx clearly knows and said to Ladybug that she chose her because she's capable of keeping secrets (notice how Alya said that to Ladybug in the alley? I bet Alix will find out in the near future. Maybe not this season, but she'll find out.) But that's for another time. But now Alya knows! Her best friend, the one to have her back and will no doubt have it even more so now! Watch out, Lila. Alya doesn't hold back so I can imagine how vicious she could be to her (and I can't wait). And that brings up a very interesting thought. Alya will realize Adrien has been the only one to have her back in Lila situations. Why would he do that, hmm? When everyone else was so sure Lila's an angel and Marinette must be bad for saying anything negative about her. Journalist Alya, incoming! There's also the matters of Alya bringing up Marinette's feelings for Chat Noir because duh, everybody can see how much she loves him! There are even photos of them kissing, one of which happened in front of Alya's own eyes! Though affected by an akuma, they all know that kiss didn't happen because of it. And of course, Alya has brought up twice in the show so far that Adrien and Chat Noir could be the same person. And last time Alya said that neither of them could be Ladybug and Chat Noir. Except, she's now found out that Marinette is Ladybug. So maybe Adrien could after all be Chat Noir. I look forward to seeing how their new dynamic is. I wonder how this affects their relationship with the other girls. And I'm most curious about how Nino and Adrien may react to this change. I thought during Truth and Lies both that their best friends were going to find out about their breakups. Gang of Secrets was Alya finding out. Even though I feel like another parallel episode is just wishful thinking, I can't help but think it may be a possibility. Nino and the boys are going to wonder what's up with Adrien too. They're going to wonder why he's not with Kagami anymore so suddenly. So what if i the end, Chat Noir ends up telling Nino? I could see it, if this takes place shortly after Gang of Secrets, where she tells Chat that she's confided her identity in a very close friend and somehow they agree that he can tell someone too that he trusts to make it fair. It'd be an amazing way to exercise Ladybug's trust in Chat Noir too. Then we'd have both Alya and Nino in on it, keeping their best friend's secrets for them without knowing about the other one. Oh that'd be so beautiful! And also let them keep their Miraculouses too after the charms are given to them and Alya has the ability to break

free after being akumatized. I adore Rena and Carapace so much I'd be ecstatic if they kept them. 😭 Anyway, so much potential can come out of this episode and I honestly cannot wait until episode 4!!

[novelistash]

Wattpad & Twitch?

I saw the term Writeblr. Am I a Writeblr? Is Writeblr a page or a person? Well, this Jon Snow has been dipping their toe into the wide world of Wattpad. Any other writers on there? Drop your links! I've been reading stories live on Twitch, and it's been a lot of fun! There's a lot of lost talent there, as with all writing spaces, but it definitely needs some help finding air to breathe.

Why did I decide to read Wattpad stories live on Twitch? Read more. (I hope I'm using this feature right.)

About two and a half years back, I decided that it was time to stop dragging my feet and get traditionally published. (Well I try to get trad pubbed.) I knew that Twitter would be the place to promote and Wattpad would generally be the place to share, but I also knew those places would be full of competition. November was coming up so I thought, "why don't I live stream Nano? That'll be fun." It wasn't.

As much as people don't want to read, they definitely don't want to read while an author is writing. Twitter had a very small writing community then and I haven't seen it get any more popular. Which isn't to say it couldn't get popular, but I don't think it works as a way to GET an audience. I could talk about those who've found moderate success, but if I'm going to do that I'd like to talk to them and maybe interview them. Something I've considered putting on my ghost town of a YT channel.

Regardless, I was on Twitch for about a month. I never gained any kind of following and every viewer I saw on those channels were people like me, those who were trying to promote their own writing. So, yes, I could gain followers of other writers, but I couldn't build a brand that way. I had too much experience with similar platforms to think otherwise. If I wanted to get readers, I needed to be on the platform that readers were using.

That lead me to more or less wasting two years on Twitter. I mean, I met some cool people while on there and had good interactions. But was it good for my brand? Did it help me find readers? I'd say a resounding "no" on both parts. The funny thing about Twitter is that it's great at making you think that people care about you. Shit post about a bad day? Hundreds of replies. Link to a blog going into detail about that bad day? Now you're starting to see how little people actually care. At some point I can go into the nuances of my time in the trenches of Twitter, but the point is that it didn't help my writing career.

For me, the biggest problem with Twitter was the same problem with all writer-centric spaces: we are sellers without customers. I like to describe these spaces as towns of vendors. We each have our vendor stall set up, and see lots of people walking. This is great! That means there are customers! Except all of those people walking on the street are also vendors. They're only there to sell their own wares. Yes, there's mutual inflation and reciprocal commerce, but writers make a poor basis for a readership. If someone is selling eggs, they want to sell to bakers, cooks, and the common man, not their fellow ranchers.

Regardless of fame and fortune, I want a readership. I write for myself, yes, but once those words are on the page, I want someone to read those words. I've been writing for over twenty years by this point and during that time my perspective has almost always been, how do I get readers? It's a natural question to ask, but it's driven by selfish desires at its core. I think for the writers of today, the bigger question might need to be, "how do I get people to read?"

The larger problem with readers, is that there aren't that many of them. If there are ten billion eggs in a town of a hundred, most of those eggs are going to rot. And even though most everyone knows that the general public doesn't habitually read, there seems to be this stigma against talking about it. Ever since I started writing, the talking point has always been "people thought comics would destroy the novel, but it didn't."

Okay, so, there are still readers, but could you say that a majority of the people read? Comic books, television, movies, and video games all offer more senses than the written word. They offer experiences that books never can, so why would anyone choose to read a book when they could instead watch that same story play out on screen?

Well, the written word can actually offer things that other media can't. In general, novels are closer to the emotional landscape of the story. Books invite the reader to be a part of the creation process, rather than a passive observer. The lack of a spoken word or portrait lets the reader construct whatever voice or face they desire. Beyond all of that, readers tend to spend more time with a book than any other media. (I'll hold off on a thorough debate of the narrative quality of iterative gameplay loops in video games for the time being, but I'd be hard pressed to find someone who enjoyed Preston Garvey's procedurally generated missions more than any of the designed quests in Fallout 4.) The point is that the written word is not without value, simply that its qualities are losing appreciation.

That's where the idea of reading stories came about, not as a way to increase my visibility, but as a way to increase the number of readers in the world. Opera single handedly created a boom in book sales by doing little more than talking about books. I think that modern entertainment can take interest in reading farther. Podcasts and Twitch streams are filled with content that is actually dead air, but people will tune in and listen. They connect with the player, the streamer, the speaker, and they are content to be apart of somebody else's discovery. A big part of what makes Twitch successful is simply watching these personalities react.

Wattpad is literally an endless supply of new stories that are available for free online. For some, anything that isn't traditionally published is a book not worth anyone's time. But there are hundreds of thousands of people submitting entire novels to literary agents every single year. Statistics alone supports the idea that great books are not going to get the representation they deserve. What are those thousands of unpublished authors supposed to do with their novels, wait patiently for exterior validation?

I don't think there's any shame in self publishing a novel and Wattpad and platforms like it are a perfectly reasonable way of putting out that content. Is there under edited content on Wattpad? Of course, but can anyone in good faith say the same isn't true of all published works? Yes, some writers are just starting out, and they dump their content onto Wattpad, but I don't understand why that's immediately a reason to balk. The writers liked the idea enough to bring it to life. Sure, finding a way to manifest those ideas is complex and difficult, but I honestly believe that a first body of work can still have an unironic entertainment in them.

I've been streaming on Wednesdays from 10am-noon pacific time. I might change that moving forward, but right now it's looking like I'm only going to be adding more time. If you're interested in joining me for story time, check me out on Twitch.

https://www.twitch.tv/ashnovelist

[punkscowardschampions]

Zelda & Zach

ihatemyguts: [Ready for a flimsy excuse to talk lmao] ihatemyguts: Question, would Lauren actually be 👍 or 👎 if I turn up to her stream? ihatemyguts: Couldn't tell inandout: ecstatic inandout: her 👚👕👖🧦 could come off inandout: it's hard to tell if she's joking ihatemyguts: I will 🏃 to 🧼 my 👀 ihatemyguts: and time my tip really well before that potential eventuality inandout: smart move inandout: people pleasing ihatemyguts: She was nice, funny ihatemyguts: no 💩 nosing but yeah, I'm not in a position to be picky inandout: she's good at the "older sister away at uni partying but still there for you" role ihatemyguts: do you have a real one? inandout: I've got a brother, he's older than her and less of a party animal ihatemyguts: Mine too ihatemyguts: he's not as old as her but first date @ 18 isn't far off the vibe inandout: Robbie would call that hella awkward inandout: but I don't think mine has had one yet at 21 inandout: unless it's with a 🤖 he created ihatemyguts: that would be as impressive as it is 😢 inandout: he only likes to flex academically impressive muscles inandout: and believes no girls are interested in that inandout: despite being at uni ihatemyguts: 💔 ihatemyguts: Bless inandout: Lauren would knock his head together with every dream girl of his he's surrounded by until it fell off inandout: I'm a pacifist though ihatemyguts: Brothers are stupid ihatemyguts: his 💭👸 might be the stereotype of a cheerleader that doesn't even exist ihatemyguts: just ⏳⌛️ inandout: wouldn't leave me shooketh to find out you're onto something inandout: he does watch Love Island ihatemyguts: 🧠 representation, man ihatemyguts: you do not always get the girl at the end and if you do, you'll have so little in common you should just put her back inandout: I had a mental image of him just forcing a girl back up onto these high shelves we have in our kitchen inandout: not today, honey ihatemyguts: 😂 ihatemyguts: if only people were shelvable ihatemyguts: keep 'em in storage 'til you're feeling 💯 inandout: + if I'm heroically expected to get her down, the stumbling block is that the 🍪🍬🍭 are kept up there ihatemyguts: she'll have to eat it all to save you right back inandout: a love story inandout: we need to pitch it to Netflix ihatemyguts: I have done so much research for this ihatemyguts: Robyn can write it ihatemyguts: Rich can DEMAND actually disabled actors, and Rosie can ask nicely inandout: you have to be the lead, then the viewers will be on edge of their seats when you eat the 🍪🍬🍭 ihatemyguts: Lauren might 👊 me for it inandout: the spotlight would give her a seizure ihatemyguts: Awh ihatemyguts: lucky teen dramas are so moodily lit ihatemyguts: think twilight not spring breakers inandout: so dark that everyone has to squint and give themselves a headache inandout: dizzying camera angles inandout: getting our own back one symptom at a time ihatemyguts: may have to 🔪🔪 someone to make 'em shit their pants ihatemyguts: but you can nominate your brother, that's cool inandout: let him come back as a 🤖 at the end ihatemyguts: how's his Arnie? inandout: hmmm inandout: borderline racist? inandout: but we're Jewish and he's Austrian, I don't think he'll come for us ihatemyguts: not gonna go zombie for that ihatemyguts: definitely free pass for life on all the racial jokes @ their expense inandout: the shortened life span will help make up for it too ihatemyguts: no 🤖 ending? ihatemyguts: 👎 inandout: abrupt fade to black inandout: hopefully ihatemyguts: Iconic ihatemyguts: see your vision inandout: much as lingering death rattle would be an epic punk band or album name ihatemyguts: 🤔 ihatemyguts: you're a frontman, right? inandout: self nominated ihatemyguts: I see it inandout: you're drums ihatemyguts: only if I get to be on a dramatic raised platform above you all at the back inandout: if you swear not to 🚿 us with 💩 ihatemyguts: it would bring the horror ihatemyguts: very Carrie ihatemyguts: but 🤞 inandout: very Slipknot ihatemyguts: I'm down for a mask situation inandout: I'm not 🥵 ihatemyguts: Valid ihatemyguts: but you're cute, people will wanna see you inandout: cute is 🐕🐩🐈 or 🐖🐑🐐🐄 inandout: we can't start an animal band unless you can talk to them and ask if they really want inandout: ...some kind of rockstar life ihatemyguts: True, Ozzy was NOT asking those 🦇 if they were about the fame inandout: and they became another casualty of inandout: sickening ihatemyguts: is that the deal ihatemyguts: my bowel has decided not to work so I get to speak to animals? ihatemyguts: 🤙 inandout: that's a 10 episode series pitch ihatemyguts: god knows there has to be a redeeming feature of a sick kid ihatemyguts: can't be an arsehole who's suffering, not relatable and not enjoyable -10/10 inandout: you can only be an arsehole if yours works inandout: hooray for me ihatemyguts: lucky ihatemyguts: don't wanna flex on you by sparking up, really inandout: can you drink? It's a no for me ihatemyguts: it's iffy ihatemyguts: like it's not great ihatemyguts: but if I don't get big sister at Uni levels, technically inandout: technically same, but who wouldn't wanna get to that level inandout: who's doing it for the taste? ihatemyguts: I personally LOVE the taste of rotting fruit inandout: I have no sense of smell and barely any of taste and even I know wine and beer are both bad inandout: maybe the first sip of spirits will change my life ihatemyguts: that's a dangerous game ihatemyguts: it's already supposedly scentless a lot of the time ihatemyguts: you'd get wasted real fast inandout: not a date then ihatemyguts: not for long ihatemyguts: 🏥 is a fave haunt obviously but not ideal, even for a 2nd date inandout: 3rd? ihatemyguts: s'one way to end up in bed ihatemyguts: sure inandout: kids at my school do keep asking me if I've ever hooked up in hospital inandout: that being my number 1 priority each time ihatemyguts: 🙄 ihatemyguts: like it's some cringy show mums would watch ihatemyguts: with the staff or with all the random hottie in their prime that are just roaming the corridors, yeah, alright inandout: + 🏥 = PICC  in case there weren't a high enough risk of getting caught or mild peril ihatemyguts: the thrill of it all ihatemyguts: worth being sick for all the steamy romance, honestly inandout: don't forget the nurses inandout: another fave topic of everyone in class ihatemyguts: yeah, the stress eating and shift work makes 'em 🔥🔥🔥 inandout: no 💐 allowed to keep the atmosphere romantic either ihatemyguts: 💔💔💔 ihatemyguts: sure your class is not concerned about the vibe inandout: well read inandout: they just wanna touch a boob inandout: which is a good song title ihatemyguts: with potential to make a b-side literally about 🍑 ihatemyguts: high🖐 inandout: hi-hat, drummer girl ihatemyguts: badumtss inandout: 🎤 drop ihatemyguts: 🙇👏 inandout: Lauren swears she'll keep her clothes on to play Breath of the Wild ihatemyguts: I'm honoured ihatemyguts: and not at all disappointed ihatemyguts: 😉 inandout: her wardrobe of onesies are incredible inandout: they'll cheer you back up inandout: 👽🤖🐛🐲🦕🦑 + more animals than you'd have time to chinwag with ihatemyguts: obviously, I need to see this to believe 🖖 inandout: like a 🦄 she has one of those too ihatemyguts: thanks for the inside scoop ihatemyguts: can pretend I'm fully psychic now ihatemyguts: get all those oddly specific requests out inandout: that'll spook her inandout: I'm for it ihatemyguts: 🔮🗣🐒 ihatemyguts: not trying too hard to compensate, AT ALL inandout: I hadn't seen the others before today inandout: that was cool ihatemyguts: For real? ihatemyguts: It seems like you all hang like all the time, from the outside creepin' in inandout: you heard the commander, we're not supposed to post pics or personal stuff ihatemyguts: still a weird rule ihatemyguts: like, I get it, online predators, poor defenseless baby disableds, not ideal ihatemyguts: if it was an IRL group, we wouldn't be going by quippy puns on our name badges inandout: [gives her his socials and Lauren is of course in his friends so she can add her too] inandout: I was gonna suggest a meet up but didn't wanna get shot down inandout: the point is, some of us can't get out and about inandout: hasn't passed me by ihatemyguts: that's true ihatemyguts: there has to be a way we can include everybody though, everybody that would possibly want to ihatemyguts: Christ, if we as a group can't think of accessibility solutions ihatemyguts: but my point is, drop you a 💬 if I have any 💡 inandout: @ Rich inandout: he'd figure it out ihatemyguts: right? ihatemyguts: not that I'm desperate for company but frankly ihatemyguts: no, it could be cool inandout: and she won't say, despite what I said about trading on her fame, but Lauren's anniversary is coming up inandout: she'll want company for that ihatemyguts: I don't know if I should know, and I know I'm not gonna ask her ihatemyguts: but it can't be a fun anniversary, anything we could do to make it less of a shit time ihatemyguts: why not inandout: you're in inandout: cool ihatemyguts: 👍 ihatemyguts: the social engagements I won't need to turn down for this ihatemyguts: busy 🐝 I ain't inandout: I wanna ask if you had loads of friends before inandout: it seems like you would ihatemyguts: Kinda ihatemyguts: and not everyone turned into total cunts either, not trying to be that tragic heroine ihatemyguts: awkward adjustment, mainly for me, I know but ihatemyguts: wish I had a cool illness, you know ihatemyguts: can't make 💩 work for me inandout: what's a cool one? ihatemyguts: there's no cool one to have, I know that, like, intelligently, I get it ihatemyguts: but at least if you've got a decent story or you aren't essentially shitting yourself to death as your quirky symptom, people are more into it ihatemyguts: it's stupid but inandout: something that makes you faint dramatically inandout: that'd be netflix worthy inandout: the harder the name is to pronounce, the better ihatemyguts: exactly, providing I do it gracefully and look pretty whilst doing it ihatemyguts: 'cos what's the point in this pain if I can't peddle it to the masses inandout: you could look pretty doing it ihatemyguts: oh yeah ihatemyguts: the glamour would be unreal 😂 inandout: 🍃 ihatemyguts: 📽 ihatemyguts: cinematic inandout: American Beauty and you're the plastic bag ihatemyguts: that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me ihatemyguts: okay, Katy Perry inandout: leave Robbie to do the 🐯 roar ihatemyguts: she's cute ihatemyguts: no offense to you but inandout: how many dates are you two going on? ihatemyguts: do her parents let her out of her house, legit ihatemyguts: 'cos that will change the answer a lot inandout: only for 🏥 inandout: but she'll wanna come to the meet up ihatemyguts: then, we'll have to go on loads of dates ihatemyguts: so I can convince them I'm very respectable and not at all contagious inandout: I know JRA sucks but they'd put her in a bubble if they could ihatemyguts: I get it but also ihatemyguts: stop ihatemyguts: actual case of how it's being dealt with making it worse, when I was in hospital, the first time ihatemyguts: there was this tiny kid, and his ma was like...just insane, which is understandable but, it weren't helping her or him inandout: she could outgrow it when she's 16, that'll shake them up ihatemyguts: serious? ihatemyguts: damn inandout: it happens inandout: that's the J inandout: for being a kid ihatemyguts: I had no idea ihatemyguts: like you stop growing and it stops fucking with you, basically? ihatemyguts: that's cool ihatemyguts: if it happens ihatemyguts: worst fucking false hope if it doesn't inandout: yep inandout: sweet or bittersweet 16 ihatemyguts: like 5 months, she said? inandout: I'm gonna go to the party inandout: you should come ihatemyguts: Yeah? ihatemyguts: you think she meant it ihatemyguts: you can tell me if it was just politeness 'cos she is inandout: loneliness inandout: but she likes us too ihatemyguts: how long have you been in the group? inandout: they gave me the info when I was 12 inandout: I didn't wanna use it then though inandout: last summer I decided to ihatemyguts: I feel you ihatemyguts: like, what should we have in common ihatemyguts: but that's actually like any friendship, you got sat next to them one day in class or they shared with you at break ihatemyguts: I was just being a dick about it inandout: there are those inandout: like fibro inandout: but the core group are cool ihatemyguts: Everyone was decent ihatemyguts: if you're a dick you just are, regardless of our shared experiences ihatemyguts: but that is more than I've got with some of my old friends, that's just facts, whether you wanna accept it or nah, you know inandout: yep, me and my 🤖 brother have nothing shared inandout: his DNA is fine ihatemyguts: how was that ihatemyguts: like, was he mad guilty and did you wanna stomp on his lungs a 🤏 bit inandout: some days inandout: but Lauren says I'm better looking than him so what else matters ihatemyguts: 😂 inandout: how's your brother doing with your 💩 life? ihatemyguts: He doesn't say a whole lot ihatemyguts: that was a thing pre 💩 life too so ihatemyguts: guess he gets to keep being mysterious and my illness feels the least invisible when I'm the only kid let out to the 🚽 multiple times a lesson ihatemyguts: 🤷 inandout: you could suggest home school inandout: Robbie's an expert, she'd do you a pro slideshow ihatemyguts: I already miss people inandout: okay, okay, we'll bring the first date forward inandout: I'll escort you to the party ihatemyguts: what's the dresscode? this is vital and I know she's already said inandout: 👑💎 ihatemyguts: Oh good, you'll look extra adorable ihatemyguts: it'll be the usual trial picking which tiara to wear but think I'll survive inandout: Maybe you can take her shopping for your first date ihatemyguts: 💡 idea I'll have to claim as my own inandout: 🙇 ihatemyguts: do any of you go to the same schools ihatemyguts: or are you meant to not know that, either inandout: I don't know where either R goes inandout: and I'd remember Lauren or Rich if they'd been at my school, I think ihatemyguts: I reckon ihatemyguts: shame ihatemyguts: not that I reckoned there'd be an underground network of secret disabled kids at mine but oh well inandout: there could be inandout: you didn't need to find out before ihatemyguts: True ihatemyguts: ⭐ not being the one though ihatemyguts: have to do some more subtle digging inandout: my school has some invisible and visibles besides me ihatemyguts: statistically, there's no chance I'm the only one inandout: most of the ones in our camp have mental health stuff though inandout: or dyslexia, ADHD etc ihatemyguts: hadn't even considered those kinds ihatemyguts: got a lot of studying to do ihatemyguts: that's how it feels ihatemyguts: I barely get what I've got, never mind the endless possibilities of how a human can be slightly fucked inandout: they tend to have their own forums anyway inandout: not that Rosie wouldn't welcome them with a sleepy hug ihatemyguts: ☺️ inandout: it's less 🏥💉🩸 I guess? inandout: sort of 💊 and 🗪 ihatemyguts: Definite crossovers but not fully the same deal ihatemyguts: I see my pharmacist so often we're on date ... ihatemyguts: dread to think inandout: people don't wanna feel like others don't understand them somewhere where they're going for solidarity inandout: or that they can't get a sentence in over all the rest that are being typed ihatemyguts: it is pretty nervewracking ihatemyguts: even if yours is decent inandout: I used to be a big lurker inandout: some days I still am inandout: Lauren will always fill up the gaps ihatemyguts: you need all types, I reckon inandout: same ihatemyguts: like families ihatemyguts: even the creepy uncle inandout: if I don't have one does that mean I'm destined to become him? ihatemyguts: only if your brother finds a cheerleader ihatemyguts: you're probably alright inandout: he could adopt Robbie and let her live cage free ihatemyguts: that was a bit creepy ihatemyguts: oh my god, it's started ihatemyguts: 👹 inandout: damn inandout: much to think about inandout: a life to reassess ihatemyguts: if you're actually going ihatemyguts: thanks ihatemyguts: for being cool inandout: you were cool first inandout: I didn't lead a revolution ihatemyguts: you had to be cool enough not to shoot it down inandout: I'm so cool I've fallen at the creepy uncle fashion hurdle inandout: can't get a 🧢 on without a haircut inandout: it's all about the 🧦 now ihatemyguts: you know how to paint a picture ihatemyguts: even though I can now stalk your socials in my own time inandout: easier to explain you than Lauren inandout: my friends at school were shook by her ihatemyguts: I can imagine ihatemyguts: she'd be happy with that though 😏 inandout: she was inandout: [posts a selfie with his best attempt at a creepy uncle aesthetic because I doubt I'm finding a gem like that from Finn] ihatemyguts: oh my god ihatemyguts: 👏 ihatemyguts: that would be fully #triggering, top marks inandout: ♟ your move inandout: wine mum or vodka aunt ihatemyguts: Oh, I have perfect wine mum clothes ihatemyguts: had very bad taste a few years back and the 👻 are hanging about ihatemyguts: hold on inandout: I can't make the baited breath comment twice in a day, that's too much inandout: and I know I did in group ihatemyguts: 💔 I'm not special enough inandout: come back tomorrow for new puns ihatemyguts: [selfie in Amma's weird little girl/suburban mom clothing 'cos was not a mood] ihatemyguts: are you sure? inandout: damn inandout: come back tomorrow for a new photo challenge ihatemyguts: alright ihatemyguts: you're on inandout: cool

[sirsparklepants]

Guess what, y'all, this is now a full-fledged fic with endgame Harringrove, and since my friends aren't into that, y'all get snippets as I write! Have one of Steve and Billy bonding. (comes after this bit)

"Your mom's a trip," he said to Steve. "Did she give us wine in actual glasses while we're working on a car?" 

"Yeah," Steve said, smiling wryly. "She wouldn't be a good hostess if she didn't pour us a glass while she's having one, and I think she'd rather have a root canal than serve wine in anything but the right glasses."

"Jesus." Billy shook his head. Rich people were weird. "Doesn't she care she's gonna have to scrub engine grease off of 'em later?" 

Steve laughed and took a sip of his own wine. "Ah, no. She doesn't do the dishes. That'll be me scrubbing the fingerprints off tonight. Price of still living at home, I guess."

"Better than me," Billy found himself saying. "I help with the chores, too, but I think I just stuck myself with balancing the checkbook and shit on top of it today."

Steve polished off his wine and held out his hand for Billy's glass, also empty, looking interested. "Yeah? How'd you manage that? My mom would never let me, she says we'd go broke in a month and that's why I can't live on my own yet."

Billy followed Steve as they went into the kitchen and tried not to stare. This was the first time he'd been properly inside the Harrington house, and it was a lot. "Got bored, did a budget," he said, watching Steve's hands on the corkscrew instead of his face. "...might have gotten myself caught with my hand in Susan's purse."

Steve paused. "You're kidding," he said. 

"Nope," Billy said. "I was just gonna balance her checkbook, she's always like ten dollars off every week, I hear her bitching about it all the time. Sure was awkward, though." He didn't think about the lurching, gut-deep certainty that had hit him for just a moment that Susan was going to tell his dad - never mind that she'd kicked him out months ago. 

Steve laughed, though, and poured them both more wine. "Can't believe the keg king does math for fun," he said, leading them back out into the garage and handing Billy his glass back. It wasn't quite mean, but it could have been, if Steve said it right. Billy's stomach twisted in a way that could have been unpleasant, but wasn't. 

"You'd go stir crazy enough to do math too, in the house all day with nothing to do but read and watch TV," Billy said. "Can't drive anywhere with no car."

"Well, we'll fix that," Steve said. "Now come on, it's been more than half an hour since you've told me about some piece of your girl that makes her better than mine and I think you might cry if you go much longer without it." 

"Just cause you can't see the beauty of an American make -" Billy started, and that was it, they were off again. 

I’m really in my feelings tonight about both Stranger Things and physical disability so in grand fandom tradition I smacked out a fic about it. I make no promises about accuracy to either Billy’s injuries on screen or actual rehabilitative medicine in the 80s; this is based on my own experience entirely. 

—

The chest wound wasn’t the worst of it, really. Probably would have been if he’d been awake for it, but the first six weeks after Billy almost died, he spent in a medicated haze somewhere so classified he never knew the name of the facility or the faces of any of its staff while they worked out if that thing was still in there somewhere, hiding. By the time he was transferred to somewhere a little less secure, he was mostly knitted up there, if shockingly weak. 

No, the worst of it had come a few days into week seven, when a surprising number of tearful reunions had been gotten out of the way (he blamed getting weaned off the morphine). A nice woman with a sweet voice had come in to explain to him exactly what the extent of his injuries were. Turned out humans just weren’t meant to hold a demonic force from another dimension. It, him, the Mindflayer, he didn’t know what Billy was capable of, really. It made him go longer, work harder, than his body could take - that and the strain of fighting it, of breaking through enough to save Karen Wheeler, to rev the engine, to turn on him at last, had… damaged him. The woman used words like “cortisol” and “parasympathetic nervous system” and “pervasive joint weakness”, and Billy stared at her blankly. When he finally understood what she was getting at, he squeezed the rails of his bed until his knuckles turned white. 

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