#by reading thirteen/rose fanfictions

[microcroft]

going full pepe silvia mode on my theory that ruby sunday is the doctor and rose's daughter

[pinguwrites]

Kinktober 2023 | Day Thirteen — Cillian Murphy + somnophilia, dd/lg

Pairing -> dark!cillian murphy x step-daughter!reader

Warnings -> DARK!!!, smut (minors dni), little girl/good girl nickname, somnophilia, daddy kink, non-con, stepcest, reader is implied to be underage (near college), don't read if you're not comfortable, infidelity, cheating/implied cheating, wet dream, fingering, masturbating

KINKTOBER 2023 MLIST

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this out on time, I was too tired to write it the other day.

Disclaimer: This is not a reflection of Cillian Murphy's actual life. This is completely separate and is not intended to harm him or his family in any way. DNI if you're a Yvonne hater. This is only fanfiction and this is just for fun. + quotation credit - The Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose) by The Brothers Grimm

“. . . ‘Then he went on still further,’” Cillian read, his thumb loosely brushing the page of the book, “‘and all was so quiet that a breath could be heard, and at last he came to the tower, and opened the door into the little room where Briar Rose was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away; and he stooped down and gave her a kiss’ . . . Are you listening?”

You were not. You had fallen asleep a few minutes back, your chest slowly rising and falling by the rhythm of your breathing, little snores escaping until the noises finally died down and there was no sound but the closing of a book and the shuffling of the bedsheets. 

Cillian didn’t know why you always insisted on bedtime stories. You were almost an adult, about to go to college and mature in every way. You liked to debate with your friends, to discuss philosophy and life, and on occasion, you even divulged to him your fantasies, sexual ones — things you never talked about with your mother. He supposed it was something about the comfort, the nostalgia of childhood, to have someone you trusted tuck you into bed and kiss you goodnight.

Cillian brushed your hair out of your face and started to caress your cheek affectionately. He loved you, that was the one thing in this world he was sure about. His broken marriage with his wife, your mother, had long past the stages of blissful happiness, and the only thing keeping him in this unfaithful marriage was you, his stepdaughter, his very own sleeping beauty. 

He couldn’t imagine a future in which you were absent. These past ten years, where he had watched you grow up, learn and fail, and guide you to be the person you were now, felt the most important of his life. If you were gone, what was he supposed to do? Dwindle away his life with work? Pursue a fruitless romance with another woman? No. His life’s purpose was here, taking care of you, protecting you like no other man could do. 

You needed him, and as it turned out, he needed you.

You turned around in bed, instinctively moving your body near Cillian. He froze for a moment, but didn’t push you away, and instead pulled you closer, close enough so that your breasts (absolutely beautiful, he thought, she’s changed so much) were pressing up against his chest with one of your legs draped over his body. 

It was at that moment that he decided he was going to stay for a while longer, make sure that you were comfortable and at ease before returning to his own room. It was his job as your fatherly figure, no?

About thirty minutes had passed by in this position. Cillian was rubbing your back soothingly, leaving feathery kisses all over your face, when you suddenly let out a sound, a strange sound, one that he had never heard come out of your mouth before — a moan.

You were rubbing up against him. He could feel a dampness form on his pants. Is she having a wet dream? he thought, his face heating up.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just ignore it, not with the way he was gaining an erection.

Cillian felt sick on the inside. Dreams like that were normal, he wasn’t supposed to be getting hard at his daughter having one. But he couldn’t just leave either. What if you needed help? What if you woke up, confused about what was happening to you? He had to be there to explain it all.

What am I thinking? She’s almost eighteen, she knows what it is. 

But still, it was better to have an adult there. Just for comfort. 

He tried to stay as still as possible, but the little moans and whimpers got too much for him. You just looked so innocent, despite the situation. Your lips were slightly parted, your eyebrows creased, like an angel receiving pleasure for the first time.

“Fuck,” he breathed out. His erection was painful at this point, trying to escape from his pants but left to the confines of his morality. He had to keep it in. Yes. He couldn’t hurt his daughter because of his desires.

But as you kept rubbing—humping at this point—he reasoned that he could help you with yours. 

He lowered his hand to your stomach, hesitating for a moment, before deciding to go through with it. He slipped his fingers inside your pants, making sure to keep them outside your underwear.

You reacted when he pressed his thumb to your clit—a little shudder, one that encouraged him to keep going. How could it be wrong if you liked it? How could it be wrong if you needed it?

“Little girl,” he whispered. “Does that feel good? You like it when Daddy touches you like this, don’t you?”

Almost as if you could hear him, your pushed your body against his hand, craving more of his touch like a desperate little thing. The spaghetti strap of your top was slowly beginning to slip off, but Cillian didn’t bother pulling it back up. He was more focused on circling your clit, and palming his cock with his other hand.

“Good girl,” he praised. “Such a good, little girl.”

This night had turned out better than he expected. Maybe this didn't have to be the last one.

Taglist:

@rainyforest777

@thatwitchybitch420

@madeinuk

@gentyleman

@henrywintersdearestgirl

[agerefandom]

Agerefandom 2022 Masterpost

This is a belated collection of my content from 2022! If you’re interested, here are the previous years: 2021 and 2020! 

In 2020, I wrote eighteen fics: In 2021, I wrote twenty-two. In 2022, I only wrote five full fanfictions, but that’s probably because I was writing so many more headcanons this year! Here are the fanfictions I wrote last year: 

Angels At The Window (Hazbin Hotel, caregivers!Charlie and Vaggie, regressor!Reader) As Sleeping Amber  (Phantom of the Opera, regressor!Erik, caregiver!Christine)  Flourishing In Sunlight  (Avatar: The Last Airbender, postcanon, regressor!Katara, careiver!Zuko)  Fancy Tuna and Frantic Texts  (Ouran High School Host Club, regressor!Haruhi, caregivers!Tamaki and Kyoya)  Natasha Is Young (Great Comet of 1812, regressor!Natasha, caregiver!Helene)

In 2020, I wrote thirty-two headcanon posts! In 2021, that went down to nineteen, but in 2022 I wrote forty-three headcanon sets! 

regressor!Gary King (World’s End)  caregiver!Jareth (Labyrinth)  regressor!Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel)  flip!Sans (Horrortale)  regressor!Adam/creature (Frankenstein)  caregiverse!Sundrop and Moondrop (FNAF Security Breach)  regressor!Brahms Heelshire (The Boy)  regressor!Severus Snape (Harry Potter) caregiver!Pennywise (It)  caregvier!Annabelle Crane (Magnus Archives)  regressor!Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice musical) regressor!Jade Harley (Homestuck) caregiver!V (V for Vendetta)  caregiver!Val Frizzle (Magic School Bus)  regressor!Stanley Pines (Gravity Falls)  caregiver!Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)  caregiver!Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)  caregiver!13th Doctor (Doctor Who)  regressors!Anna and Elsa (Frozen)  regressor!Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)  caregiver!Count Dooku (Star Wars)  caregiver!Caleb Widogast (Critical Role)  caregivers!Ruby and Sapphire (Steven Universe)  regressor!Dana Scully (X-Files)  regressor!Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein)  regressor!Stevonnie (Steven Universe)  caregiver!Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)  regressor!Sam Winchester (Supernatural)  regressor!10th Doctor with caregiver!Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)  regressor!Eleven (Stranger Things)  regressor!Bea and caregiver!Mae (Night In The Woods)  regressor!Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)  regressor!Yuri (Doki Doki Literature Club)  regressor!Sayori (Doki Doki Literature Club)  regressor!Natsuki (Doki Doki Literature Club) 

Disney Caregivers Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)  Belle (Beauty and the Beast)  Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)  Bruno (Encanto)  Tiana and Naveen (Princess and the Frog)  Oogie Boogie (Nightmare Before Christmas)  Ariel (The Little Mermaid)  Captain Amelia (Treasure Planet) 

Under the ‘keep reading’ I’ve collected links to my thirteen favourite moodboards from the seventy-three I made in 2023, and some of my favourite art and edits as well! 

Favourite Moodboards: 

caregiver!V 

regressor!Will Graham

regressor!Dipper Pines

regressor!Erik/Phantom

regressor!Peter Parker

regressor!Kylo Ren

caregiver!Count Dooku

regressor!Charles Xavier

regressor!Cal Strider

caregiver!Bakugou 

regressor!Shigaraki 

regressor!Noah Czerny 

caregiver!Jasper Cullen

Favourite Art/Edits: 

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow

regressor!Jade Harley

regressor!Angel and regressor!Charlie edits

regressor!Himiko Toga

regressors!Mae and Gregg

regressor!Ashton and cg!FCG

regressor!Bruno Madrigal

[fairyniceyeah]

asks 3,6,17

Hey Anon^^

Thanks for the ask! I do love those games and introspective XD

3. Who is your favorite character to read? To write? 

Like I said in my Sicktember post: I tend to hyperfixate on fandoms and characters a lot, so much that it’s making being a multi-stan hard. Of course, right now I’d say Woozi (SVT) and before that maybe Hajoon (The Rose), Hongjoong (ATZ) and maybe Lee Know (Stray Kids) – basically my K-Pop biases.

In fiction I tend to fixate on male supporting characters – Derek Hale (Teen Wolf), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars), Legolas (Lord of the Rings), Enjolras and Combeferre (Les Misérables), Alec Lightwood (Shadowhunters).

In writing I do tend to really need to write about my fav, in reading if the story and writing is good, I don't care that much.

I guess that doesn’t really answer the question but it truly switches a lot and I can only tell you the pattern.

6. When did you start reading and writing fic?

I started writing as early as I could hold a pen and actually spell. When I transferred to a higher level education school (the German school system is kinda hard to explain) I started doing the extracurricular called “Creative Writing”. Back then some of the older girls told me of fanfiction but I didn’t even have a phone for reading and I didn’t even really care for it back then. I started writing what one would call fanfics around that time though and then at some point started posting on a German fanfic website. I actually checked out my account just now and I am so embarrassed by the fics omg. Guess twelve/thirteen years old was too young to write good stuff...

But yeah, the first fic I ever posted was in October 2014. I’d say that I started “writing” fanfics in my head when I was much younger though.

17. What are your top 3 favorite tropes of all time? 

I gotta be honest, I first had to google what "trope" actually means, since I wasn’t sure if it’s more like the general style of the fic (Sickfic e.g.) or like a plot point (Sharing a bed e.g.). Since apparently everything is a trope, I guess:

-Sickfic

-(Emotional) Hurt/Comfort

-Whump

What a surprise, right? If that is not what you meant with tropes please let me know!

Lots of love,

🧚🏻‍♀️

[doverstar]

I love your fic so much! I absolutely love reading people's fics of "niche" ideas (I mean that in a good way like unique! Hopefully it doesn't come off as rude!! D: ) Because you can really see it's their child and like a labor of love!! Also thank you so much for adding to 11/Rose we're starved for centric fics😔

Take all the time you need!🧡

(also pls tell me about your writing process if possible, I'm envious of how you keep things so connected in a long format!)

It did not come off as rude and thank you so much! With Doctor Who there’s infinite room for people’s niche ideas. It’s the greatest idea for a show in the whole world; you can do whatever you want! I think the best way I can describe what you’re asking about regarding my writing process is Notes. I make a big messy document on my laptop for everything I write, long or short, called “[Insert Title Here] – Notes (or Pre-Write)”. In it, I talk myself through what the story is about, what happens, the themes, and how it ends. There are sometimes charts and color coding but mostly it’s me babbling in word form until I have it all down. Then I can go through it later and stick to what I want to do without getting off-course or distracted!

Here’s an example of one of my Notes documents, for a Stranger Things fic specifically:

Obviously, not everything I first write down in the Notes babble has to be what happens—it’s just something I can look at when I write the story to remind myself what I wanted to do, and if the story takes a different direction while I’m writing it—because of the flow or because it makes more sense—then I do that instead. Notes is just me being organized instead of winging it. I used to wing it when I was thirteen and writing Phineas and Ferb fanfiction, the old glory days –

Then, when Notes has been vomited out, I move on to a pre-write, which is not always the traditional sense of the word you learn in schools – it’s just me writing a paragraph under each chapter title to explain what happens in the chapter and whose POV it’s from, and I mark like Balto on tree bark any strand of thought or prop or character arc I want to carry over or change in the next chapter(s). For example, with Lost and Rewritten, I marked in each chapter’s pre-write (with blue letters) where I wanted to mention the Void detector, because it’s part of what Rose is noticing and what Rose is missing, and it’s basically a physical prop for why she is/isn’t seeing what’s really going on. It’s less about what the actual Void detector is telling her and more to show where Rose is at mentally after Doomsday. If that makes sense? Anyway, that’s how I connect things! Notes. I used to just do whatever felt correct without Notes, but in my old age, a little more background direction is necessary. Thanks so much for the kind words and for reading what I write!

[spookydxck]

I should probably get some of the basics out of the way before I start to ramble on.

My name is Katelin, I'm twenty-two (until July), and I live and work in England. I've used tumblr on and off for years, the longest period was back when I was 14/15 where I wrote fanfiction. Gotta admit I wasn't half bad, considering I ended up with close to 11 thousand followers at one point. Which looking back on is crazy.

Now I'm back for myself, to share my love for books and the peace they give me when I can wholeheartedly throw myself into them. Before August last year, I probably hadn't picked up a book since I was about thirteen, but since August I have read a whopping seventy-three books.

Twenty-three of those are towards my fifty-two books in one year goal, making me ten books ahead of schedule.

Mostly they are all spicy romance but I'm dabbling in other genres. I've read a couple thrillers by different authors , but I am looking forward to starting The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden when I get round to it.

I think first up on my never ending TBR has to be A court of thorns and roses by Sarah J Mass, so come along and experience my bookish journey as it unfolds.

[incalculablepower]

@hprecfest | week one

day one | a favourite fic under 5k

a dream of winter by Delphi (1.4k words) summary: Three glimpses into the life of Kendra Dumbledore. (An interpretation of the ambiguous description of the character in Deathly Hallows.)

One of my favourite things fanfiction is capable of is correcting canon -- not just in no-one-dies fix-it fics, but by taking clumsy exposition at its word and expanding on it. This fic takes the odd description of Kendra Dumbledore in DH and breathes life into her as a Mohawk woman living on Godric's Hollow.

day two | a comfort fic

the secret diary of hugo granger-weasley, aged thirteen and a half by @floreatcastellumposts summary: Rose says that I am an oblivious moron, but would an oblivious moron have such a deep and sensitive diary? I don't think so. No one knows how I suffer in this ridiculous family. Written for SIYE's The Burrow Secret Challenge 2016, and inspired by Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole.

A particularly great comfort read for this time of year: Hugo, who Flo characterizes perfectly as an awkward, oblivious, serious teenager with a diary, tries to get to the bottom of a mystery at the centre of a busy Weasley Christmas.

day three | a podfic

the last enemy by @shootwithintenttokill @chdarling's Marauder's series is already one I recommend to everyone (even non-fanfic reading HP fans) and @shootwithintenttokill's undertaking of turning it into a podfic is so impressive. New chapters are slotted into my regular podcast listening routine and they're an excellent way to re-read TLE and pick up on all the wonderful foreshadowing in CH's fic.

day four | a fic with art

no amount of therapy can help by The_wig_is_a_metaphor summary: The entire internet is aware of occultist youtuber Lord Voldemort's infatuation with niche content creator JustHarry. The entire internet is baffled.

This is a Muggle HarryMort Youtube AU told epistolary-style with screenshots, comments, text threads, and it's the funniest thing I've ever read. Every single icon and screenshot is a joke and I still find new things to laugh at on every reread. As a bonus, this fic inspired one of my very favourite confused-bi!Ron-Romione Muggle AUs, HOW TO BUILD WATER WHEEL by doshu

day five | a non-ao3 fic

not as a last resort by Arabella summary: Hermione and Ron, a snowstorm, and Hagrid's cabin. Takes place during fifth year. This story was written prior to the release of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

Now only available on a wayback machine capture of sugarquill.net, one of my first favourite fics and my introduction to the "only one bed trope"! This fic surprisingly holds up, despite being written before half the series' worth of characterization. Some things make me laugh looking back (like the fanfic writers' steadfast belief that the yule ball would be an annual event) but overall it's just as sweet and romantic as the first time I read it when I was 14.

day six | an unreliable narrator fic

the disappointments of cormac mclaggen by morgs_writes(orphan_account) summary: Cormac McLaggen has a hard life, made even worse when Ron Weasley starts stealing everything Cormac desires.

Oh Cormac, HUGE BOY, one of my problematic faves, thinks he's the one who holds all the power when it comes to the Slug Club holiday party. 🙄

day seven | a canon compliant fic

the mountain tomb by @nought-shall-go-ill summary: A man and a woman meet at the base of a mountain. With no memories, they don’t know each other, they don’t know their past, they don’t even know their own names. All they know is that they have a difficult journey ahead that they must take together — one that they fear could destroy them in the process.

Since I read a lot of canon-compliant fic I wanted to choose something for this rec that really pushes the boundaries of what that can mean. This fic is misty and ambiguous and fantastical (even for fanfic of a fantasy series) and so worth reading.

[abrthephantomq]

Alex is High & Live Streaming - Chapter 1

October 8th, Sunday, 4:24 pm

I’ve been cycling various pieces we’re working on – Stellar, Just Talk, Little Green Men, Dear John… Well, those are the original pieces. I’m not including the Legendborn fanfic Cas’d started, or our fanfics for the Shared ‘Verse that we’d started months and months ago, but we looked at some of those, too. 

Writing is a fucking pain in the ass. Doing it every day is a pain in the ass. I understand that we need to do it. I understand the idea is to get us into the habit of writing, even when we don’t feel like it. It’s also to get us into the habit of not paying attention to word count, because paying attention to word count as opposed to time spent writing in the past meant we burnt ourselves the fuck out on it. 

And that was when we were working full time, too. 

I have no idea how I did any of that. How we did any of that. Fresh out of a divorce. Working at least 32 hours a week, depending on which job we were talking about. SIngle parenting our autistic child and housing our addict brother and his long-term girlfriend. 

Like, yeah, we’re a fucking DID System. Surviving is what the System is fucking built for. Emotional needs get fucking pushed aside for the sake of just pushing through and getting to the next moment we can fucking breathe. Over and over and over again. 

DID Systems are also built for stealth. Ten years ago, I would’ve denied the possibility that we were one. And I was well aware that DID Systems could actually fucking exist – I’d even met a couple of people (online) who were Systems themselves. Hell, I remember the first time I’d even heard of Multiple Personality Disorder – thanks, Maury Povich. 

Imagine it: Little Alexander Briar Rose, approximately age 11, maybe age 12. Tilting their head sideways a little as they watch a woman with a supposed 300 alters switch from one alter to the other and thinking to themselves: 

“...That’s not how it works, though?” 

We never examined that thought further. 

And at the time we’d already started writing. All the time. In notebooks, on loose leaf paper, on any flat, thin surface we could put pen on. Read everything we could get our hands on, too. We were a particularly big fan of Goosebumps, Animorphs, and The Secret World of Alex Mack. 

It’s hilarious, now, to think back on that particular era of our life. Goosebumps – Cas. Animorphs – me. The Secret World of Alex Mack – Alicia. 

Andrew likely had existed back then, too, but we wouldn’t recognize him as separate until high school. 

Or, well. 

I wouldn’t recognize him. Cas did. Alicia, well. 

Alicia didn’t recognize any of us as separate. We were characters. I was “Leg,” she was “Arm,” and Andrew was “Hip,” and Cas was “Jazz.” 

So she gave him recognition. But y’know, not in the way that would make anyone raise a fucking eyebrow. After all, at around the age of 6-7, we learned that talking to ourselves out loud was something that people looked at you kinda funny for.

And we were juuuuust high masking enough as an autistic child to realize maybe we shouldn’t do that. At least, when other people weren’t around. And somehow as an itty bitty child we realized that writing in a journal back and forth was probably a bad idea, too. So we wrote a normal journal. Detailing what happened that day or whenever we felt the need to. Y’know. Like a normal kid.

Chances are our mother probably read the journals we did keep in elementary school. 

Mom wasn’t really that big on letting her kids have privacy. 

At least, to some degree. She didn’t frequently read things that were private, but she did it just sporadically enough – especially once we were a teenager – that it makes me wonder if the only reason I think that is because we didn’t catch her, all the other times. 

Granted, I think she would’ve said something, if she’d read half the fics we were writing by the time we were twelve or thirteen years old. By then we’d figured out that fanfiction exists, and that people could be gay. Or even bi! 

Our first few fics that we posted dealt with angst, depression, suicide. Rape was a common theme, same with domestic abuse and violence. Discrimination based on someone’s sexual identity. 

And then I started watching Invader fucking Zim, and I was obsessed. Enemies to lovers paradise, that show, if you’re a baby queer. A baby monster-fucker, even, though that was a realization that wouldn’t hit me until much, much later. 

Some of those fanfics still exist on fanfiction.net. ArmAndLeg. You’re welcome for the time capsule. Every once in a while I wander over to that account, consider deleting all of my old works, and think better of it. 

They’re a microcosm of the various issues I – we – weren't ready to tackle yet. Things I was aware of and hyper-fixated on as a teenaged writer and never fully understood why until I was much, much older and we started deconstructing our trauma history.

I wasn’t the only one of us who wrote. Alicia wrote, too, back then. I think technically you could say that all of the writing we did back then was writing we did together – some of them were just more clearly influenced by me and the things I wanted to write about, and the others were more clearly influenced by her and the things she wanted to write about. 

And then we started dating our ex-wife sophomore year of high school and writing slowly but surely eroded as a hobby of ours. Marching band and sucking our ex-wife’s dick became more important. 

I’m being crass, but the fact remains that a shitty decision I made nearly twenty years ago, at this point, nearly completely destroyed…. All of us. It did destroy Alicia. It nearly ripped the only way we processed emotions safely completely from our life, too. 

Our ex-wife had high expectations of us. She wanted us to be masculine, where she was feminine. She wanted us to take charge, be the “man” of the relationship – all behind closed doors, of course, because she hadn’t realized she was trans yet. And then when she was seventeen she’d decided to join the Delayed Entry Program for the USMC. 

Within a couple of months of that, she decided that our relationship was toxic. That I was toxic. So she broke up with us – with me. Right before Christmas break.

And I mean, in some ways, she wasn’t wrong? Teenagers are fucking toxic, inherently, unintentionally. They’re sponges just like their itty bitty under 10 year old selves. They’re just sponges that are adult-shaped, as our best friend John would say. And I hadn’t realized that my boyfriend (remember, she didn’t know she was trans yet) was actually becoming an abusive piece of shit. So our relationship was definitely toxic.

See, what I had actually done was that whole – “I can fix him,” – thing. And Alicia agreed with me. We had some communication back and forth between our parts back then, but again – Alicia never thought we were actually separate personality states. I was either Leg, or Savin, or that annoying voice in her head, but I wasn’t, y’know, an actual separate person.

And I mean…. I’m not? All of us are technically the exact same person, we all live in the same fucking body, for fuck’s sake. 

But Steven, you might be asking yourself – why are you referring to her as your ex-wife when you clearly broke up in high school? 

That’s because, dear reader, we just kept fucking. A handful of days after Christmas, Carolyn (not her real name) wanted to hang out. Drove us in her shitty little Mazda econo-box of a car to a secluded corner of a park that wasn’t attached to either of our neighborhoods. 

Hey, have your hormones been all out of whack since we broke up? 

No? I mean, yes, if you consider the fact that I haven’t been horny at all… 

I was the horny one, obvs. I’m still the horny one. It’s literally how all of the System defines me at this point: “Steven’s the horny one.” 

Um, no. I’m not, actually. I’m just occasionally really horny, and I also was blessed with the fucking sense of humor of a 13 year old boy and like playing around with sexual innuendos (in your endo) because I think it’s fucking hilarious. But – it’s occasionally, I really only save the sexual innuendo comments for those who aren’t offended by that kind of thing, and generally, my imagination nowadays is better than actually having sex with another human being.

But after Carolyn broke up with us, I was appropriately fucking heartbroken. Alicia was appropriately fucking heartbroken. Neither one of us had even thought of sex, the entire week or so between her, “Our relationship is toxic and I’m breaking up with you,” and, “Have your hormones been all out of whack?” 

So, naturally, we ended up having sex in that tiny Mazda econo-box car. Because I was seventeen years old and stupid, like all seventeen year olds are. 

The sex didn’t stop. But we still weren’t dating. We sure as fuck argued like we were dating; she still critiqued every single thing we did, the entire time we weren’t dating. 

It continued until we graduated high school, and she shipped off to Parris Island, South Carolina, for bootcamp shortly after. During bootcamp, she apparently prayed to God to give her guidance. 

Oh, she’d kissed our best friend Melissa, the night before she shipped off, by the way. Which I found out after the fact, because Melissa is – well, was, as she died in a car accident at the ripe ol’ age of 24 – a true friend. And understood that we still had feelings for Carolyn, and that maybe we’d want to know that she’d kissed her. 

On top of that, Carolyn had asked her out. And she didn’t know what kind of response she should give her. 

I argued for dating Carolyn. I thought maybe Carolyn would treat Melissa the way she needed to be treated.

And then Cas told her that before she makes her decision, though, she should know that Carolyn had continued to sleep with me during our senior year of high school. Something that Carolyn had not told her. Or anyone else. 

(I say Cas was the one who told her, because now I can tell that he did it in that, “I’m telling this because you’re my friend,” kind of way, but he really just wanted to be petty and sabotage Carolyn’s trying to get with Melissa because Carolyn’d been such a huge ass to me/us. He’d never liked her, had always argued for how she was abusive, and no one else ever listened to him about it.)

(When I tell you he’s still bitter about it, he’s still a little bitter about it.)

Anyway. 

Melissa said she’d write Carolyn a letter turning her down. And really, at the time, everyone thought Carolyn was still a boy. A man. Whatever term you feel comfortable using for a 17-about-to-turn-18 year old. 

And Mel’s a lesbian. She just hadn’t figured that out yet. But also, kinda ironic, because Carolyn ended up being trans, but… y’know.

So – to bring me back to the one tangent I was on. Carolyn had asked God for guidance.

That question was about whether she should date Melissa, or us. 

And then Melissa turned her down. 

She asked us back out. Said she’d realized that during the course of the however fucking long she was at bootcamp at the time, that she’d not given us a real chance. That she loved us, and wanted to get back together.

I cried. Alicia cried. I think Cas cried, too, but in that “oh fucking goddamnit no,” kind of way. Andrew was probably like oh score, someone who’ll throw us around like a rag doll and leave bruises on our body while fucking the shit out of us (he really likes it rough). 

Of course, there were more than just the 4 of us, even back then. But I honestly stopped keeping track of the others. Cas kept track of some, through high school, instead, but he didn’t get all of their names. Or they’ve been, ah, partially-integrated with the Main 4, in the sense that they’re very much still a part, and they do have a voice, but their voices are filtered through us. 

Being a System is complicated. And there’s not really a whole lot of our childhood and teenaged years that we remember in detail enough to piece together. As a queer, neurodivergent kid in the 90’s and early 00’s, there was….just a fucking lot, that happened. 

I took her back, by the way. Obviously. And not even a full year later after I received that letter and sent it back, we were getting married. I was nineteen years old. She was still eighteen. 

She was old enough to go to war, and we were old enough to get married, but neither one of us were old enough to get drunk at the wedding reception. 

Make it make sense. 

(I can’t make it make sense. I’m never going to make it make sense, we were teenagers. Human brains aren’t done developing until at least 25, and now there’s evidence that maybe it goes on into our 30’s… how the fuck could we have known what we were getting ourselves into?) 

Anyway. 

In the past 3 years since Andrew and I stepped forward in a way that Alex could not reasonably handwave away, we’ve come to learn that there’s about 20 of us. We’re not even sure if that’s actually the right number – I get the sense that it’s actually lower than that, now. That some folks merged or something like that.

We’re not under insane amounts of stress, anymore, since we stopped working back in February. Yes we’re stressed and anxious, still, but now we’re also on Zoloft and have hydroxyzine for our fucking severe panic attacks. We’ve been doing a lot of mental health work, attending therapy weekly, doing Shadow Work on our own, exploring our spirituality as a group and learning how to reshape our reality so that it’s less…fucked up. 

But – we’ll go with 20. We were sexually abused as a young child, our mother was not…well, she felt like an emotionally supportive parent, but she really kind of wasn’t, in retrospect, and we were heavily bullied by one of the girls in our catholic school class from kindergarten through fifth grade – because we were neurodivergent and didn’t know it. 

You wanna know how many of us there were before we met Carolyn? 

Five. 

You wanna know how many of us there were in 2014, when we finally moved out of Carolyn’s house and started living on our own? 

Sixteen. Seventeen? Alex was the last of the ones Carolyn caused. Either way – 11-12 of us, all because of our ex-wife. 

Number 18 came in 2018, during a horrendous fight we had with John – we were dating back then, I saw them as abusive, Cas did not. Cas believed that we could turn things around – that they were actually capable of learning how to do better, same as we were. (He was right.)

Numbers 19 and 20 happened at the same time – or well, I suspect that 19 actually happened earlier, but we didn’t know about them until 20 showed up. Either way, we became aware of them in February/March, 2023. After we’d had this huge, huge panic attack on our physical birthday that caused us to go to the ER because we literally thought we were dying of a stroke. 

I’d explained it to John once that even though I stopped keeping track of all the times the “thread” split off in different directions, I could still feel roughly when those splits happened. And yes, I know it’s not actually splitting, if you go off the current theory of Structural Dissociation – where y’know, as a kid we all start out as having multiple parts that eventually merge into one cohesive identity – but “splitting” is how I’ve conceptualized that deep nick that prevents the pieces from fitting together anymore. 

I feel like I mixed my metaphors together, there. Eh. You guys understand what I mean. 

If you followed all of that, I commend you, honestly. It’s gonna get weird from here on out. 

– Steven

[clairetalon]

Masterpost for active stories

So, I figured I’d create this pinned post in case you’re interested in finding and reading anything I write. I’ll try to list all the current stories that get regular new chapters and where to find them, plus update it when I produce other stuff. Pretty much all of them are drama stories (either fantasy or sci-fi) with action/adventure and F/F romantic elements. You can click the titles to get to the story links

Fanfiction 

(Posted on: My AO3 account. When: Roughly once a week for each)

The Moths Who Chased Fate Fandom: Honkai Impact 3rd Main characters: Kallen Kaslana, Yae Sakura + most Thirteen Flame-Chasers and CE characters + a couple of HSR and Genshin ones Summary: An alternative world where PE Sakura and Kallen try to forcibly alter their fate, to escape the cycle of humanity’s doom by going into another reality. (sequel to Of Moths And Roses) Dragonblood Fandom: Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim Main characters: Yarun Svalen (Female Nord/Redguard Dovahkiin), Serana, Tarinwe Kaereah'eylin Ayrennith (Female Altmer OC) Summary: My canon-divergent version of Skyrim’s storyline, with the former legionnaire, Yarun, as the Dovahkiin and her entering the political powder keg that is Skyrim in the Fourth Era, where Serana is the only one she can trust A Realm Sundered Fandom: Final Fantasy XIV Main characters: Joltin Dazkar (Female Au ra Warrior of Light), Y'shtola Rhul, Lyse Hext, Kjat Sja-naris (Trans-female Viera OC), Jhera Rakkan (Female Miqo'te OC), Fordola Hext Summary: A split story of my heavily canon-divergent version of FFXIV’s plot. Follows the journey and creation of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn on one side, and the imperial Battalion Subzero performing spec ops missions against Eorzea on the other. Dawn of the Damned Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic Main characters:  Zal'riva Vivees (Female Twi'lek Sith Warrior), Valcera Nih'etat (Female Mirialan Sith Inquisitor), Ktila (Female Chiss Jedi Knight) Summary: More canon-divergence, this time in a revised version of the original SWTOR plot, but with fewer paths, different masters, different companions and intermingled with characters from previously separate stories. Follows the two former slaves Zal’riva and Valcera on their dissimilar journeys as Sith, plus the Jedi Ktila who finds her fate cursed by the most dangerous Force entity in the galaxy.

-----

Original fiction

(the full epub and Kindle versions with cover images etc get posted later on to Amazon and other digital book stores, seen on my linktree)

A Eulogy to Ahjula: First Verse Posted on: My Wattpad account When: Roughly once a week Main characters: Eyren Katlattar, Nivra, Malkiz, Hiekari Izoru nå Kevalen, Imtoryat Kohja namek Zawósk, Easfan, Soraya Summary: A once flourishing continent was devastated by a sudden darkness that fell from the sky, known as the Shadow Herd, which shattered the Ahterilion Empire that ruled the land. Here in the aftermath, where lords fight over remnant power and monsters roam forbidden areas, a young former knight named Eyren is providing her services to those who cannot fight for themselves. What she doesn’t expect is that Fate is watching her stride and her journey is about to take a monumental turn. By the Unshackled Flame Posted on: My Wattpad account When: Roughly every 2-3 weeks Main characters: Eireki, Miva’yon Summary: The story of the witch Miva’yon and her necromantically resurrected companion, the former holy knight Eireki, as Miva’yon tries to travel a land filled with depraved necromancers, strict mage academies and zealous churches, in her journey to find the freedom from a world which rejects her

[bluehoodiewoozi]

BlueHoodieWoozi Masterlist

PS! Search “avy recommends” on my blog for some great fanfiction works by other authors!

♡ OT13

Serenity Street 17 (ongoing!)

Reactions

Drabble series:

THIRTEEN DAYS, THIRTEEN ALTERNATE UNIVERSES

AUTUMN SEMESTER DRABBLE MARATHON

♡  SEUNGCHEOL

drabbles:

“My Pillow Doesn’t Smell Like You Anymore” [350 words /// fluff]

“I Hate Laundry Day” [547 words /// fluff, jealousy]

♡  JEONGHAN

coming soon

drabbles:

"Can't you feel the sparks?" [437 words /// royal au, angsty?]

♡  JOSHUA

drabbles:

“Don’t be silly. I want to stay up with you.” [690 words /// fluff]

"I'm yours" [511 words /// soulmate au]

♡  JUNHUI

coming soon

♡  SOONYOUNG

Double Trouble (6k)

[Platonic Hogwarts!AU] Hufflepuff!Soonyoung might be too curious for his own good. He enlists the help of an equally enthusiastic and curious Ravenclaw to solve the mystery of the several odd disappearances of one Kim Mingyu.

“Right? Right.” (13,5k)

[Soulmate!AU] Your soulmate mark might be broken, but at least he will always be there for you. 

drabbles:

“Where are you going? Don’t go.” [440 words // fluff]

♡  WONWOO

coming soon

♡  JIHOON

Broken Pieces (5.3k)

[Soulmate!AU] Your friend broke your soulmate’s heart, leaving you to pick up the pieces of both his and your own heart.

Neverending (14k)

[College/University AU] With the help of his friends' advice, Jihoon goes on a quest to become the best boyfriend he can be.

drabbles:

“Will You Nap With Me?” [935 words /// fluff]

“That’s... That’s not yours.” [356 words /// fluff]

“I read somewhere that red roses mean love.” [1.1k words /// fluff]

♡  SEOKMIN

coming soon

♡  MINGYU

Fools in Love (10.5k)

[College/University AU] When Jeonghan made you declare a stranger in the library your new boyfriend, you had a very different outcome in your mind.

drabbles:

“In the Cereal Aisle? Really?” [722 words // fluff]

"I'm gonna make him sorry." [715 words // fluff]

♡  MINGHAO

coming soon

drabbles:

“Choose me.” [263 words // ???]

♡  SEUNGKWAN

The Beach House (9.7k)

[Enemies to Lovers AU] Maybe Vernon made a mistake by inviting both you and Seungkwan to the beach house, or maybe he was smarter than the two of you combined.

drabbles:

"I love you, I hope you know that" [565 words /// fluff, comfort]

♡  VERNON

drabbles:

“Can you teach me?” [371 words /// fluff]

♡  CHAN

coming soon

[hood-ex]

Helloo i really like your fanfics and i wanted to start writing for nearly 10 years but never have. So can you give me some general tips? Also i ran out of good fics i cant find new ones to read so can you suggest some? (Dick centric or any batfam titans related ones would be great) hope i didnt ask too much :)

Sure, yeah! I've actually written a few posts on writing fanfics that you can take a look at:

Fanfiction 101

Filling in a plot structure

Building conflict around your villain

As for fics, I really haven't been reading any new batfam fics recently, but I will offer you two Dick and Donna stories. I think the first one's characterization is on par with The New Teen Titans characterization.

if you just call me by BeatriceEagle

“Dick.” She squeezed his shoulder. “Dick, look at me.”

Slowly, as if he were pushing against a terrible force, he lifted his head.

“I have known you since I was thirteen years old, and I have known you in a dozen other lifetimes, so I need you to believe me when I say that there is nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you.”

Dick held her gaze. He looked like he was searching for something in her eyes, so Donna held still and hoped he found it.

“Did you really know me in other lives?” he asked.

i'll carry you 'til you carry on by Mayarene Rose (Paradise_of_Mary_Jane)

It’s past noon and Dick still can’t bring himself to get out of bed and into the living room. He’s cocooned in the covers, not quite shivering from a non-existent cold but not quite warm, either. He’s been awake for a few hours already but the thought of even attempting to lift his head from his pillow is exhausting. It’s getting bad.

Not the worst he’s been but slowly getting there. He knows someone’s about to come bursting through the door soon. Someone always comes through the door. The Titans have a sixth sense for days like this. They never seem to hold it against him, no matter how much he thinks they should.

[randomsnakesimp]

Okay. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna take the leap and say: Phobos is the victim (sorta).

Quick disclaimer: I am going to abuse plot holes and cartoon logic for my cause in a very nitpicky way. If you dislike that, I can completely understand, and I hope this warning will save you a lot of reading.

Also, this won't go into just headcanon territory, I'll put those in a separate post. Everything here I'll try to keep based on actual information from the comics and what I made of them.

That said...

Let's take a look at this scene:

(for a quick translation of the important part, the mother says: "No, Phobos, Meridian is meant for your sister. That's the law. The crown is hers.)

What we can see here are a few very important things:

1. Phobos is at most 5 years older than Elyon.

2. The name "Phobos" is not an edgy nickname he gave himself. Five-year-olds don't go around calling themselves Phobos. So his parents, for some reason, gave him that name.

3. His mother is very adamant about him not even touching the crown and reminding him of his sisters' birthright.

So, after establishing what I would call more or less facts, what else can, relatively savely, be deduced here?

- Since Elyon never noticed anything weird about herself, she can't have aged slower than earth children. So neither can Phobos. This would mean that, as she was kidnapped after her mothers death as a baby, he would have been five. So, he either tried his best to rule at age five, or the council we see as Elyon rules stepped in for him for a while

- this would then mean two things: we need an explanation as to why Miriadel, Alborn and Galgheita fled explicitly from Phobos (I'll give my explanation a bit further down) and second, Phobos' reign of terror wasn't even thirteen years, and a lot of that time he was a child/teen and could not even have been mature enough to rule.

- This also means that Kandrakar pulled up the veil when Phobos was at most five, likely younger, and that the so called "Seal of Phobos" also existed at that time, as both the veil and the seal are seen in the flashback depicting Elyons abduction. For Kandrakar, this, too, I will try to explain soon, but as for the seal, I find it most plausible that the theory @ror-witch used in their fanfiction, of the seal being a royal heirloom and named after each ruler, is true.

- His and his mother's relationship was neither as bad as some assumptions go, but neither was it that good, probably, or at least it wasn't in his perception. See how his memory is of her cradling the baby the entire time and talking more about his sisters birthright than about what he has/can do? Yes, it's only a short memory, but I think it's clear that it's a summary of what he remembers of his mother.

- Phobos desire to rule Meridian does not stem from something deeply sinister, but rather from a childish spite. Five year old Phobos probably just wanted the crown cause it looked nice and shiny, and he was fabulous even back then, but after his mothers words, he sulked and decided to show her. That's his motivation.

So, now let's go a bit further and look at some other things we can deduce from the rest of the comics:

- Phobos has a huge dungeon, a wall of roses that turn people into more roses if they touch it and his plan for the annihilation of Meridian is "Well, Cedric and I hide in the castle and...we'll see". He hates the people of Meridian, but he doesn't seem to have it in him to directly attack anyone until Elyon is there and even here, when he has her knocked out in their duel or locked up as Endarno, he isn't unnecessarily cruel. He's not evil in nature, he's more of a very dangerous child throwing tantrums. ( Cedric is kinda similar, and they both start losing it toward the coronation, but I sincerely believe that before that, there would have been a chance for them to come around )

- The only person he ever tortures or even hurts directly is Cedric. Because one, he likes Cedric and so gets more extreme emotions around him, and two, Cedric never says anything, and just plays it of afterwards, so I don't know if he even fully realizes what he's doing, like a child hitting someone. If Cedric ever just said "Stop it, you're hurting me", Phobos would probably need an entire week to process that input.

- Phobos is VERY reclusive, and he doesn't want anyone to have even pictures of him, and while that could be a God complex, I get some highly insecure vibes out of it, in a vulnerable narcissist kinda way, in that he is massively overcompensating. I gotta admit, though, that I cannot put my finger on why, so maybe take this with a grain of salt and decide for yourself if you agree.

- Kandrakar never orders the guardians to help Meridian in any way, just to make sure nothing oozes out. They likely pulled up the veil for their own protection, so Phobos wouldn't be able to spread far enough to become a real danger, rather than to protect innocent people, as clearly the Meridian people mean shit to them

- while the guards are widely feared in Meridian, Cedric seems to be viewed as... not very frightening or important, as some random merchant feels comfortable clinging to his cape (and rightfully so, apparently, as Cedric just tells him to piss off and doesn't care any further). This further leads me to believe that Cedric is rather unhealthy devoted to Phobos and his tantrums while their shitty ass reign leaves a lot of free space for unsuited people to become guards and tyranize the people.

- the King and Queen seem to have died in rapid succession, and shortly after the scene shown above, yet she looks perfectly healthy in that scene.

Now, what do I make of all this?

I believe the line of events to be as follows:

I don't think Phobos traveling back in time is a viable theory for mainly two reasons: I think his mother would be less chill around him if she saw/heard about his reign herself, and I believe that it would have been mentioned somewhere along the way if that were the case. Instead, what I believe happened is that the oracle had a vague vision of Phobos nearly taking over Kandrakar. Deciding in their random mood swings that today was a day of action, they had the people of Meridian informed that the next male born to a queen would become a dangerous tyrant, pulled up a veil and set their guardians to make sure nothing oozed out.

The veil, of course, made the people of Meridian feel trapped and a horror of the unborn prince who would ruin their lives spread.

So, when Weira gave birth to that prince, a full blown panic spread, so much so that she, in a fit of hysterical emotion, named him after that boust of panic. Of course, people tried to kill the prince basically from the moment he was born, and he was met with barely concealed resentment.

Soon after, Weira and her husband died - whether they were killed, or fell ill, or died in an accident, I have no idea, but I wouldn't completely rule out an assassination either aimed at Phobos and accidentally hitting them or the strain making at least one of them fall terminally ill.

Either the people rioted and Phobos' magic panic reaction or the leftover loyal guard was enough to fight them back, or the people succumbed to their fate at this point, slumping into the state of despair seen throughout the comics. But in the end, five year old Phobos had to be handed the throne. I assume the council still had some say at this point, but he did manage to get all pictures of him destroyed - this order was likely due to the fact that they were mostly caricatures.

So he grew up with the very volatile combination of a shitton of power and no one able to tell him if he was being stupid on one hand, and feeling unloved and unwanted on the other. He withdrew, likely also due to countless assassination attempts or things he perceived as such, and went into a negative feedback loop of being unable to mature and take responsibility, therefore being a shit ruler, therefore being hated, therefore having no one to help him, therefore being unable to face and grow from his mistakes, rinse and repeat.

So, Meridian was plunged into chaos, yet he seemed fine more or less just sitting in the new playroom he made for himself in the gardens, sporadically giving out an order or two and having generally no idea about anything that didn't directly concern him.

Enter Elyon. Now, she send him of the rails, as she was a danger to his lifestyle AND a reminder of all the sentiments he'd be drowning in alcohol if he wasn't too much of a recluse and education denier to know of that option. He doesn't even try. He just lets Cedric, the one person he trusts, handle her, like everything else, and somewhat plays along sometimes, when he feels like it. This is where he passes the point of no return and starts actually trying to kill people, culminating in him creating an army to wipe out Meridian. I still believe that even at this point, in his head, what he's doing is just throwing a nice toy out the window just so his sister won't have it.

[best-enemies]

Author: inteternity

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Pairing: Academy era Thoschei, bit of Thirteen/Dhawan!Master

Chapters: 1/1

Well, here we are!

I've been thinking about this fanfic for a long, long while. I think I read it as soon as it had been published, and it just stuck with me, in my memories, for how beautiful it is.

And today I was just talking to a friend about Thoschei fanfiction, and how I'd read this one once and couldn't remember the title, but knew the description of the plot by heart. And I promised I'd send them the link, so I figured the folks from the Best Enemies server (shoutout to them for being awesome) could maybe help.

So not only one of them found the fic, but actually WROTE IT. It was Kat, aka @ineternity-ao3 who did such a fantastic job this fic became part of my personal canon.

The Doctor finds an old photo album inside the TARDIS. The pages are filled with memories of him - and her - through a rose tinted lens.

This is a simple but such a lovely plot that filled my heart with warmth and that bittersweet feeling that only the Doctor and the Master can give us - the longing they feel when the other isn't around and/or looking.

The thing that spoke to me the most, perhaps, was the description of the details of those pictures. Kat wrote it in a way that we can see the Doctor's feelings through her eyes, the way she looks at the photos and her mind travels back to those times.

This passage here really made me giddy:

"There’s a quirk to his lips, slanting, open in a half-smirk, caught in a moment of bliss. Her eyes linger on the junction between his neck and shoulder, surveying the sliver of sun-kissed skin that exposes itself to the lens. She can feel the soft brush of his eyelashes on her neck as they flutter shut, closed so lightly that each long lash only just tickles the top of his cheek.

Her eyes trail down his arm until she reaches his wrist. Slim, bare skin peeks from under woollen, grey sleeves. His hand grips the inside of his thigh, fingers ghosting over tight grey cloth-

She slams the page shut, breath coming in short gasps."

I mean!!! Was he posing the way I pictured he posed!!! Did Theta take the picture!!! Was he posing for Theta!!! Is it how time lords send sexy pics!!!! I'm-

*Ahem* I also love how all the pictures reflect different moments of their lives and tell stories of them, giving clues or details about how their lives played out. It's heartbreaking to find out how their lives, especially Koschei's, turned out so different from their dreams. The Doctor managed to fullfil hers, but with the Master, that might've been more complicated.

I'm just so happy to find this fic again. It's one of those that are so good that I add to my list of things that 100% happened, at some point, in canon, and we were blessed that someone has been so brilliant to write and share it with us. Thank you so much Kat! I absolutely, wholeheartedly, will shout my love for Muse into the wind forever.

[digitalworldbound]

koukari 24 or kenkari 30? sorry for the challenge :p but if you're not comfortable with the pairings, go ahead with takari! :3

Pairing: ken x hikari

Summary: “I can’t talk to cute people, okay? I don’t know how to flirt!” (#30 from the prompt list)

Author’s Notes: I was revisiting my old fanfiction from when I was thirteen, and it reignited my love for cheesy AUs. So, I present to you my first ever KenKari content (I apologize if it is bad, but I've tried my best!)

on the corner of thompson rd. and fifth street stood a quaint structure with walls that appeared to sag and well-worn stairs. a seemingly hand-painted sign hung above the door way read : ♡ book 'n' brew ♡

in full honestly, the crooked hearts would of been enough to draw ken in completely had he not been on a search for a new coffee joint. earlier that september morning, a bug placed strategically in his starbucks cup stirred up the motivation to search for a more tasteful choice in brew.

mindless trotting about lead him to the worn, brick steps. many customers were slightly deterred by the haggard appearance of the building, but ken thought otherwise.

it was charming and smelled of home. plus, the little pink hearts were hard to dismiss.

pulling the smooth handle and trapping the chilly air behind him, ken opened the door and stepped in.

the store was quite small, as expected, but seemingly transported him away. warm fairy lights hung on the edges of tall, oak bookcases. the lights made ken’s dark cerulean eyes dance with wonder. while the oak cases were aging, they were sturdy. books lined the shelves in every way imaginable. when the books filled up the shelves vertically, the left-overs were placed haphazardly in the spaces between, whether that be on top of, in front of, or behind other books. the smell of well-loved pages filtered through the air, mixing with the smell of freshly brewed something.

the coffee! ken reminded himself.

humming a mindless tune under his breath, he made is way to the countered that was nestled in between two bookcases. plants, napkins and even more books littered the counter top. the owner, however, was nowhere to be found.

"hello?" ken’s crystalline voice called out.

"how may i help you?"

ken made a noise of surprise, not expecting the light, feminine voice to come from behind him.

a girl emerged from behind one of the bookcases, her hair swept to the side and held in place with a barrette. she looked ethereal in her loose dress, the extra fabric making her look like a bird ready for flight. she coughed quietly, her amber eyes drilling into his own with curiosity.

blush erupted like wildfire across ken’s cheeks. the tips of his ears burned in embarrassment. he was caught staring, but the stranger’s beauty was disarming.

"so?" the owner lightly suggested, a gentle reminder that ken still had yet to respond to her initial question.

"oh, yes! i was wondering if you had any coffee?" he finally spoke up. all too late, he realized his mistake. a flush rose to his neck, and ken had half the mind to run out of the store and never return.

raising an arched eyebrow, the stranger purposely flitted her eyes over to the obviously placed coffee pots, before turning her attention back to ken.

"hm, i would say that i do." she chuckled. her dress gently swayed behind her as she slipped behind the counter. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled in his direction.

"obviously." the boy muttered under his breath, embarrassment consuming him alive.

"pick your poison."

ken pretended to ponder his options. on a normal day - which this wasn't - he could always go for a medium roast coffee with creamer and two sugars, but today felt inexplicably different.

"i think i might go with some oolong tea today, if it isn't any trouble."

"of course not, silly. it's one of my personal favorites." the barista smiled. she turned around, completely engrossing herself in the task at hand while ken decided to explore the shop.

his fingers danced on the spines of novels and novellas, enjoying the way they felt beneath his fingertips. as a child, ken never had the attention span for reading. he was always distracted by the butterflies or colorful markers or dandelions. these things were real, and for him, the words in the books weren't.

consumed by his thoughts and the texture of the spines, ken drowned out the shop owner's declaration of warm drinks.

when the surprisingly small hand cupped the boy's shoulder, he jumped, knocking several books from their perch.

"oh no, i'm so sorry. usually, i'm not this clumsy." he offered, quickly picking up the fallen objects and shoving them haphazardly back onto the shelf. anxiety swirled in stomach; he felt like an absolute fool.

the owner simply smiled and pushed the small mug into ken's cold fingers. how long had it been since he stumbled into the shop? ten minutes? an hour? the thoughts were washed away with the first sip of tea, as the warm, comforting flavor washed away the flush on his cheeks.

"my name's hikari," the mystery barista offered, turning towards the door behind the cluttered counter space, "yell for me if you need anything else." she smiled, then disappeared.

"i'm ken ichijouji!" he called after hikari, but it was too late. her delicate frame had already slipped away, disappearing into further into the shelves.

with a barely distinguishable pout on his pink lips, ken sipped his oolong tea languidly and perched himself in recliner nestled into a dusty corner. the cloth on the seat had once been beautiful, ken was sure. years of patrons had worn away the bright red velvet into a thread-bare pink. it was s comfy, so ken snuggled himself deeper into the chair.

glancing around, he browsed the titles nearest to him.

viva by e.e cummings

pride and prejudice by jane austen

star girl by jerry spinelli

the hobbit by j.r.r. tolkien

hikari apparently had an interest in most things, not unlike ken. they just had interests in different places.

losing interest in the books quickly, ken demolished the luke-warm beverage and placed his dirty mug (that he now realized adorned the same little pink hearts as the sign that hung above the entrance way) next to the coffee pot and hurriedly yelled out his goodbyes.

he closed the old, wooden door, walked down the brick steps, and turned onto thompson rd. his stride was strong and his gaze was fixed onto some imaginative point on the horizon.

ken was on a mission.

-

the rest of his week was rough, even by ken's standards. book 'n' brew had been closed for the past five days, much to his dismay. ken had inherited the ability to burn water and couldn't be trusted to make his own tea. with the name-brand fix no longer being an option, five whole days without caffeine had put ken on edge.

it was a rather dreary sunday. the rain fell in sheets and drenched the ken down too his sock-less toes. inky black hair plastered to his forehead; his eyelashes had already clumped together. his wet sneakers lead him down the familiar cement of thompson rd. and his heart leap into his throat when he saw the lights on in the infamous bookstore.

the warm atmosphere was once again barren of any patrons (besides ken, of course). hikari was much easier to spot, given that she was directly behind the counter. ken’s heart-rate picked up; he was almost giddy.

hikari's hair was swept to the side again, the ends barely dancing across her shoulders. her billowy dress had been replaced by jeans and a t-shirt. an apron hung loosely off her thin frame. she wore the tea stains like accessories. his heart gave another weird flutter.

however, before he could question his reaction, ken became far too preoccupied with the smells of the quaint shop. cinnamon wafted around his ears while cocoa assaulted his nostrils.

the owner physically perked up when the wind chimes above the door sang a song, signaling the first customer of the day.

rain dripped from his clothes as ken walked towards the delicious aromas while mulling over the half-baked plan that he attempted to conceive a week prior.

it wasn't much. he just thought that hikari was impossibly cute and wanted an excuse to strike up a seemingly casual conversation. the only problem that presented itself was the fact that ken absolutely despised reading.

so, during his caffeine withdrawal, ken invested a part of his meager wages into a hoard of "spark notes" books. these were easier to understand and got straight to the point, anyways. every morning of his coffee-less week began with a literary classic. much to his dismay, the plots bored him to tears. lovers would fight and makeup, enemies would always become friends. books were too predictable.

nevertheless, when the shop was finally reopened, ken had the basic knowledge of not one, but five(ish) novels to use as conversation starters. he wanted to be prepared to keep her interest, no matter how small his understanding of the material.

"hello, hikari!" ken chirped, a bright smile spreading across his wind-nipped cheeks.

"good morning, ken ichijouji, how have you been?" though she was talking to him, her eyes never left the countertop she was cleaning. the shadows under her eyes did not go unnoticed, but ken decided against bringing it up.

" i'm great! i've been put off, though, as your shop hasn't been open in nearly a week."

hikari chuckled darkly, her eyes meeting his for the briefest of moments. "don't worry about that. i'm here now. would you like anything to sip on or any novels to escape into today?"

ken was slightly confused by the unusual turn hikari's behavior. her voice was no longer sweet, but laden with exhaustion. however, he let none of this deter him from his mission.

"yes, please. i would like a coffee with creamer and two and a half sugars, please."

the blue-eyed boy watched intently as hikari made his drink. In an effort to bring a smile to her face, ken joked that his preferred his coffee the color of his sun-kissed skin. despite how stupid it sounded, her cheeks warmed as she giggled. looking like an idiot was worth it if it meant that hikari would laugh like that.

"so," ken began as the silence settled in, "have you read any good books lately?" he took a quick sip of his coffee and let the warmth sink to his icy toes. september was almost over, but the chill of october was already creeping around the corner.

the corner of hikari's mouth twitched, and ken’s heart soared when he knew he made the correct choice.

"hm," the young woman started, her body relaxed against the cluttered surface of the counter., "i had you pegged as more of a 'movies-are-better-than-books' type of guy." her elbow grazed a stack of books that were balanced precariously on the edge.

"ah, well, of course not! i have loved reading since primary school." ken stuttered out. his face was a shade of deep red, resembling the worn-out velvet of the chair he was sat in. the lie sat uneasily at the pit of his stomach, but ken pushed it aside.

"well, to answer your question, i just finished the book thief by markus zusak." by now, a smile had warmed up hikari’s amber eyes, brightening the mood. rain still splattered against the shop windows, but the pair paid little mind.

"what was it about?" inquired ken. while he had no interest in reading, he certainly had an interest in whatever hikari was talking about. her slow, languid voice soothed him.

hikari eagerly rambled on and on about the characters and plot, being careful to only tease at the spoilers. ken stared intently into her eyes. he didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but he loved every minute of her voice ringing in his ears.

the coffee sat abandoned in his lap, warm long gone and chilly. the raven-haired boy took a drawn out sip, absentminded. furrowed eyebrows and a quirk of the month made hikari giggle in the midst of her story-telling.

once hikari’s story lulled to an end, ken began to talk about the books he didn't really read. he steered away from specifics and danced around with the big ideas. though her attention was divided behind between making herself a cup of tea and ken’s pride and prejudice synopsis, she seemed at ease.

"you remind me of Lydia Bennet, actually.” hikari’s hair whipped around, her eyes wide with surprise. ken was too preoccupied with the speech he prepared, one that he was sure would enthrall her. “you have that aura about you.”

“i have the aura of girl that would run away with a grown man at the age of fifteen?” the incredulousness in her voice snapped ken from his coffee-induced stupor. He hands shook. oh god, i should have read the book.

“the sparks notes didn’t mention that part.” his mouth reveals him before his brain can put a stop to it. “oh, god, i’ve ruined everything. i can’t talk to cute people, okay? i don’t know how to flirt!” his absolute, all-consuming panic must have been obvious from the way the warmth crept across his face.

her giggle caught him off guard. “how can you laugh at a time like this? i just compared you to a mother’s worse nightmare.” ken was miserable, doing his best to disappear into the cushion of the recliner.

“because it was endearing to watch you pretend to know what you’re talking about.” hikari said simply, her cheeks pink.

ken only hummed in response, not trusting his voice to respond. Instead, he basked in the warm atmosphere and tried to gain the inertia to take himself to work. while they sat in comfortable silence, mulling in the conversation, hikari leaned down and pried the empty ceramic mug from ken’s now-cold fingertips.

the contact sent a shiver down his spine, his heartrate skipping sporadically in his chest. he was on fire.

and ken knew.

he knew by the blush that rose in the girl’s cheeks, and the look of confusion still in her eyes. ken knew that coffee was good, but it had never tasted better than when he was with her. he had never tried so hard to gain the attentions of the girl, never expecting himself to be willing to do research on a subject that didn't interest him just for the sake of conversation.

the realization shook him to his core.

ken knew that he was falling for her.

so he did what he was best at.

he ran.

"oh my, look at the time. i am going to be late for my shift. it's been good. thanks for the coffee." he slammed a wad of money on the counter and rushed to the door, wind chimes tinkling after him.

hikari's goodbyes were caught in her throat.

[the-hs-etaverse]

How the Homestucks Are Reacting to Quarantine

Yes, they’re gods on Earth C, but that means they need to be that much more responsible. Well, they’re not all responsible, but we’ll get into that.

John: He’s holed himself up in his house. He goes out for walks and flights on occasion, but other than that, he hasn’t broken quarantine. He’s okay with it, in all honesty. He’s used to being h- hom-, he’s used to b, to being homest- (okay his depression is actually getting worse and Rose is very concerned about him but)

Rose: She hasn’t left the house in five months. Quarantine started two months ago. This is what she’s been dreaming about her whole life. Kanaya is the only reason she still has a vaguely-normal sleeping schedule.

Dave: He’s committed to this quarantine, but he is not having fun. Dave needs to move around. He’s dying. Having to sit through endless romcoms with Karkat is not helping. The only thing keeping him sane is doing ironic MSTs of Dirk’s MLP fanfiction. (And also secretly skipping over days on occasion.)

Jade: Oh, no. She is NOT going through this again. She was alone on an island for thirteen years. She was alone on a ship for three years. There is no way in heck that she’s going to stay in her home for weeks on end. So she doesn’t. She teleports nigh-constantly. She goes on grocery runs for everybody. She sleeps at a different house every night. At least she’s good about washing her hands and wearing masks.

Jane: Oh my God she is a neat freak at the best of times, she is NOT having fun right now. Nobody is allowed over her house, not even Jade. (Terezi tried to break in but she just hasn’t been able to crack Jane’s security system yet.) She’s also ridiculously well-prepared for this, being the CEO of a baking conglomerate and all. People keep asking her to send them baked goods, but she refuses on the grounds that “I might get you sick. Do you want to get sick? I don’t want to have to come over there and revive you.”

Roxy: She’s just chilling, you know? She’s going stir-crazy, but hey, Callie’s with her, and she’s got Discord for video calls, and she’s got like fifteen video games she’s been wanting to play, so she’s fine. Callie has to remind her to step away from the computer at least once a day. She has even less of a sleep schedule than Rose does.

Dirk: You think Dave is going stir-crazy? Dirk is literally climbing up the walls. Like, Jake’s had to chase him down from the bookcase five times. The only reason he hasn’t broken quarantine is because Jake does puppy-dog eyes at him whenever he suggests it. That, and he rigged the home security system to taze him whenever he tries to leave. He has written 350k worth of MLP fanfiction over the past four weeks.

Jake: He would absolutely much rather be outside talking to people, but he is bound and determined to do the right thing. He’s trying to build his own elliptical. He refuses to let Dirk help. It’s not working.

Aradia: Showed up three weeks in. Five minutes later, she saw Terezi raiding an abandoned Waffle House on the news. She presumably noped on out. But then again, she hasn’t been answering her DMs, so who knows?

Karkat: He’s actually having a good time. An excuse to not leave the house and watch as many movies as possible? That’s what he’s always wanted! Just, don’t turn on the news in his presence. He can and will rant about the stupidity of everybody for hours. Only by pure luck has he not yet seen Terezi on camera.

Kanaya: She’s literally already dead, so she’s definitely in the at-risk population. Rose will not allow her to leave the house, despite her protestations. The only other living person she has seen is Jade, when she stops by for a grocery run. Even then, she’s not allowed to be in the same room as her. She’s considered teleporting the heck out of there but she also doesn’t want to risk infection.

Terezi: Ha, you thought she would stay in her house? Think again! … Okay, actually, she did try staying home, but she went feral (read: more so than usual) after only four days. She hasn’t been home since. Everyone’s had to chase her away from their house at least once. (Dirk went, “God, I wish that were me” after her third tazing.)

Calliope: This whole quarantining thing is reminding her uncomfortably of her first (and last) eleven units of being chained in her room; but hey, she has Roxy and Animal Crossing. What more does a cherub need in life?

[duskowithapen]

Of Flowers And Tattoo Needles Chapter Three

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A Resolution

“Don’t you dare tell her, bug!”

Luka wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. Adrien had walked into the tattoo parlour proper, standing toe to toe with his fiancée, having a full argument in front of them. If Adrien is in a relationship with this Kagami, then what was up with the pet names and the forehead kiss?

“Why are you so intent on keeping this a secret?!” Kagami demanded, waving her rapier under the blonde’s nose threateningly.

“I wanted it to be a surprise!”

“You know that I hate surprises!”

“But this is a good surprise, I promise!”

“Adrien, I swear if you got a dragon tattooed onto your chest I will do something drastic!”

“C’mon Kagami, like Marinette would let me get something so obvious-OH-GODS-DON’T-IMPALE-ME—”

Much to Juleka’s displeasure – she was watching the argument with one of her signature ‘ah yes, chaos’ smirks – Marinette intervened before blood could be shed. “Maybe we could all calm down and talk this out like rational, non-violent human beings. I don’t think bloodstains will do anything for my shop’s reputation.” She pressed a hand to her hip and started Adrien down. “Unless you want to keep playing the scaredy cat, chaton?”

Adrien’s mouth dropped open. A hand was held dramatically to his chest. “So cruel m’lady!”

Kagami huffed and lowered her weapon, turning to give Marinette a bow. “My apologies, Mari-hime. I shall eviscerate him outside.”

“Let’s just not eviscerate anyone, hmm?” Marinette sighed.

The pout that appeared on Kagami’s face made Rose giggle, and it seemed to remind the swordswoman that yes, there were other people in the store. In the back corner, while the redhead was intent on his work, the client was watching them. Kagami bowed again. “I did not realise you had other clients, Mari-hime. Was this a bad time?”

Marinette waved a hand towards the couches. “It’s okay, Gami-chan. I was about to get Luka’s tattoo started, but I should probably help my idiot of a best frien before he gets himself killed.” Adrien visibly wilted at the look Marinette gave him. She turned an apologetic smile onto Luka, and he blinked at the full force of those beautiful bluebell eyes focusing completely on him. “Are you okay if I postpone your tattoo for a little bit? I promise this won’t take too long.”

Luka shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was really missing his guitar now. “I’m fine with that. You’re not the only one wanting to know about someone’s tattoo,” he directed at Kagami, who hummed questioningly. “My sister and her partner have been pestering me about my tattoo all morning.”

“See!” Adrien burst out, “Keeping your tattoo secret until it’s finished is normal Kagami!”

A loud clap stopped the argument from restarting. “Alright! If everyone could just sit down, we can get this cleared up,” Marinette said in a tone that demanded total obedience. There was a glint in her eyes that suggested great violence on those who did not comply.

Luka was very lucky that he was standing in front of one of the couches in the first place. That tone of voice, that look on her face… he dared any man not to get a bit weak in the knees.

“Sounds like a plan,” Juleka murmured as she brushed past, shooting him an uncomfortably knowing look as she sat by Rose’s side. “Considering that Luka thought you and Adrien were together. Care to explain how he could have come to that conclusion?”

There was a moment of silence. Luka and Marinette’s faces flared up in identical blushes. Adrien’s face reddened slowly as he bit his lip. Kagami’s eyebrows rose past her fringe. In the back corner, the client was still watching like the whole situation was a soap drama.

Then laughter.

Luka’s head snapped up as Kagami of all people started giggling, stern face crinkling into a smile as she tried to smother her amusement behind one fist. Adrien finally took a breath, losing his battle with the laughter he’d been restraining. His tugged his fiancée down onto the other couch with him. “Oh god, really?!”

Marinette dropped into the seat beside Luka, face hidden behind her hands. He leaned in a little. “I feel like I’m missing something?” He said lowly.

A blush still stained her face when Marinette looked up. Despite their closeness, she didn’t shift away. “Just a little, yeah,” she replied hoarsely. “I just feel so stupid. There I was, practically throwing myself at you, and you seemed interested, and then Adrien walks in, and oh god, you must have thought I was some floozy, that I was flirting with you despite having a boyfriend – which we’re not by the way, I swear I’d never cheat on you – I mean, if we were together I wouldn’t cheat – not that I’d cheat on Adrien if we were together, which again, we aren’t – but I wouldn’t have said those things or done anything if I was with someone else, but you didn’t know that, and ugh it’s all just a great big fucking mess –” Marinette stopped with a sudden inhale as Luka pressed a finger to her lips.

“It’s okay, Marinette,” he whispered, ignoring their avid audience. “I admit, I was confused, but I figured I could try and clear it up today anyway. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d made a wrong assumption,” he said with a self-depreciating chuckle, “I’ve never been all that good with people. I find it easier to communicate through my music than anything else.”

Marinette opened her mouth to reply, and Luka had to restrain a shiver at the feeling of soft lips against his guitar calluses. “I really am sorry, Luka. I keep forgetting how mine and Adrien’s… dynamic can be seen by other people.” She paused for a moment, looking away, before continuing, “And I think you communicate pretty well like this. Better than my anxiety-fuelled rambling anyway.”

Luka leaned in a little closer, drawing his finger down her chin and barely brushing her neck before pulling it away. “I thought it was kinda adorable,” he whispered.

Adrien coughed, pulling the two out of their haze. “Uh, I just wanted to apologise, Luka. I’m a very touchy-feely kinda person, and I keep forgetting that not everyone, y’know, hugs and kisses and just generally touch their friends as much as I do. I was… isolated as a kid, and I never really got the concept of personal space.” Now, didn’t that sound concerning?

He waved a hand at the nervous looking blonde. “That’s okay Adrien. I can get a bit touchy too – I shouldn’t have made assumptions. People have thought the same thing about Juleka and I before.” That had made for a very awkward conversation as they explained to the landlady no, they weren’t teenage lovers, but siblings who had decided to move in together.

“It’s all the nicknames,” Juleka said with a smirk, “Wasn’t it your dad you asked if he needed to design two wedding dresses, Adrien?”

Marinette groaned deeply and twisted to bury her face in Luka’s shoulder, hand grasping his jacket just in front of her face. “Don’t remind me,” she said, words half-muffled, “I can’t look Mr Agreste in the eye anymore!”

“Out of curiosity, where did the nicknames come from?” Luka asked, trying to keep a straight face as he wrapped an arm around Marinette’s waist, holding her to his side. Based on Juleka’s fake retch, he wasn’t very successful.

It was Adrien’s turn to blush, as he grabbed Kagami’s hand. “Well, like I said, I was an isolated kid. The only kind of unsupervised social interaction I got was when I played Ultimate Mecha Strike online. When I was thirteen, I met a player called Buginette03 – who tuned out to be Marinette – and we got pretty close, despite not sharing our real names. I’d ask Bug for advice when it came to my father, or later on, social stuff, and then she’d ask me for help when her anxiety spiked, or she started catastrophising.”

“And he’d use me as a sounding board for his awful pickup lines,” Marinette cut in, finally pulling her head away from Luka’s arm. It suddenly felt very cold. “You are such a cat-ch is a horrible excuse of both a line and a pun.”

“Hey! It worked with Kagami, didn’t it?”

Both Marinette and Kagami rolled their eyes. “Obviously, she took pity on you, kitty,” the tattooist said, deadpan.

“I found your determination in finding a successful line pitiful enough to be amusing.” Was Kagami’s response.

“Meowch!” Adrien said, insulted. “So cruel, ganging up on a poor cat!”

Marinette rolled her eyes and turned to face Luka properly. “Anyway, after almost a years worth of playing with each other and chatting, we decided to… reveal ourselves, I guess? I was so surprised when I realised that the snarky, goofy LostKittenOnTheCatwalk was actually in my class.”

Adrien slapped Kagami gently when she scoffed at his username. “Hey, I thought it was funny! I was thirteen!” He shook his head for a second. “But yeah, I was both surprised but not when I found out that Marinette was Buginette. Like, once I knew, I wondered how I could have thought it was anyone else.”

“We tried to date for a little bit,” Marinette said, taking up the narrative. “We thought that it was a ‘meant to be’ kind of thing, but it didn’t really work out.”

“We’re partners, but not? We work better as close friends, or siblings, rather than lovers,” Adrien looked at Marinette with a small smile. “I’m just glad that Marinette chose to remain friends with me. Probably not her smartest move,” he said with a shrug, “But oh well.”

Kagami flicked Adrien in the shoulder as Marinette pulled a pencil out nowhere and threw it. “Don’t get started on that again, chaton,” The tattooist said sternly. “We were both young, and stupid, and made you, stupid mistakes that we both learned from. And I will get Kagami to bash that into your thick head if I have to!”

Adrien waggled his eyebrows halfheartedly. “Not wanting to bruise me up yourself, m’lady?”

Marinette’s response was a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. “I think I’ll leave that dubious honour to Kagami. Besides, I already got to stab you.”

“Indeed,” Kagami said with a frown, “I am still waiting for an explanation of your tattoo, Adrien.”

“Well-look-at-the-time-gotta-GO!” Adrien was on his feet in an instant, sprinting out of the store. “See-ya-later-guys-bye!”

Kagami followed suit with a low bow, a murmur on how nice it was to meet them all, and then she was gone, smirk crossing her lips and sword held firmly in one hand. Luka wasn’t sure if he should be worried about Adrien’s safety or not.

His attention was pulled away when Marinette patted his arm. “They’ll be alright,” she soothed, “Kagami’s been stressing out over a fencing competition for a while, so Adrien’s been drawing out the whole ‘no you can’t see what my tattoo is’ thing so that she’ll actually take a break. Pretty sure this is the first time she’s left the dojo for something other than food or sleep for a week.”

“What is Adrien’s tattoo?” Rose asked, leaning forward.

“I’ve still got the concept page, if you’ll just give me a moment…” Marinette jumped up and rifled through her desk, returning with a thick, tattered at the edges sketchbook. She flicked it open to a drawing of a curled up dragon the size of Luka’s palm. It was Chinese style – all long body, short legs, fur crest running down it’s length, flowing whiskers – in various shades of black and red. The crest was a pale shade of yellow, contrasting with the dark gold underbelly. Lighter gold made up the claws and teeth. The eyes were, surprisingly, a rather normal brown. The dragon was curled into a circle, with it’s jaw open. Interestingly, it wasn’t breathing fire, but rather a stream of what appeared to be wind, portrayed in curling lines of grey that created clouds around the dragon. Scattered throughout were tiny gold stars.

“It’s beautiful, Marinette,” Luka breathed, glancing up at the blushing artist. “You’re incredibly skilled.”

Her stammers were covered up by Rose’s squeals. “It’s so detailed Marinette! I take it that the dragon is meant to be Kagami?”

“Ye-yeah. It’s inspired by a story about the dragon of the stars, which was one of Kagami’s favourite when she was little, and Adrien wanted to have it curled up over his heart to show how she both owns his heart and protects it – thus the clouds and kina scary expression.” Marinette traced over the drawing slowly. “Definitely one of my best works.”

“Just one of your best?” Luka asked lowly.

When Marinette looked up, a blush still tinted her cheeks, but there was a determined spark in her eye. “Yeah. There’s this messy haired florist who’s getting my best tattoo at some point, if he still has time to have it done?”

“I’m all yours Marinette.” And oh, how Luka hoped he could make that literal.

“Well, that’s our cue to leave,” Juleka said with a smirk, grasping a protesting Rose by the shoulders and pushing her towards the door. “I expect progress photo, big brother!”

He just waved a hand in her direction, not taking his eyes off Marinette’s. “Yeah, yeah, I will, you impatient brat.”

When the door shut behind them, Marinette extended one ink-stained hand. “So. Ready to get stabbed?”

Luka took it. “By you? Always.”

A few days later, after tattoos were drawn, inked, admired, wrapped and cared for, Luka appeared outside Charmed Ink. In his hands was a large bouquet of flowers – Pink orchids, larkspur, daffodils, cherry blossoms, blue morning glories and hyacinths. In the very centre was a single lilac.

For love beginning.