#cover the bread first and immediately move on to the next thing

[space-blue]

I'm a born and bred Parisian. I left the country 10 years ago and never stopped the slander.

When I'm asked why I dislike France so much I just shrug and say "it's full of french people".

It's shorter.

The Least Intimidating bakery in the village has closed for good so now I’ve got to go to the Intimidating Bakery, it’s awful. If you don’t have a PhD in being French I don’t recommend going to that bakery, here’s the humiliating account of the 3 times I’ve visited it so far:

the first time I went in there I pointed at one of those extra-skinny baguettes and said “a flute, please” feeling pretty sure of myself, and the baker said “… that’s a ficelle” (you idiot) (was implied) “a flute is twice as large as a baguette.”

That’s insane, first of all, a flute is a skinny instrument. Call your fat baguette a bassoon, lady—I made some timid remark about how it would make more sense for a flute to be a skinny bread and the baker said, “In Paris it is. I thought you were from the South?”

oh, that hurt

I guess I’m from the part of the South that’s so close to Italy the bread’s waist size matters less than whether it’s got olives in it, but I left the bakery having an existential crisis over whether living in Paris had made me forget my roots

the Least Intimidating Bakery just had normal baguettes vs. seedy baguettes vs. horny baguettes (easy mode, some have seeds, some have horns), while the new bakery has breads that are only different on a molecular level—there’s a good old loaf and then another, identical loaf called a bastard? google told me a bastard is “halfway between a baguette and a bread” but denouncing them like “those are not regulation-sized bastards” would get me banned from the bakery for life

on my 2nd visit (while I stood in line discreetly googling baguette terminology) there was an English tourist who asked for a baguette while pointing at what was either a rustique or a sesame and I felt a bit worried for them, but the baker just clarified “this one?” to waive any responsibility if they found out later it wasn’t a classic baguette, then handed them the bread without educating them in a judgmental tone and I felt envious

I know it’s because she thinks the English are beyond saving but still it made me want to come back with a fake moustache and an English accent so I wouldn’t be expected to play bakery on expert mode just because I’m French. I asked for a pastry this time and the baker asked “no bread with that?” which felt cruel, like she wanted me to sprinkle myself with ashes and admit out loud that my level of bread proficiency isn’t as advanced as I once believed it was

The third time I went, I had lost all self-confidence and I hesitantly pointed at a bread and said “I’d like this, uh—what is it called?” and the baker looked at me in disbelief and said “That’s a baguette.”

God.

for the record, if that stupid bread had been flanked by a skinny bread (ficelle) and a fat one (flute) then yeah of course I would have known to call it a baguette, but in the absence of reference points I now felt lost and scared of being called a Parisian again

it’s hard to express the depth of my suffering so I’ll just let the facts speak for themselves: this morning a French person (me) stood in a French bakery in France surrounded by French people and pointed at a baguette and said “what is this called”

[sweetheartsofpanem]

Soft Things Stay - Soft Things Survive

Previous Part

warnings: refer to series masterlist

pairing(s): refer to series masterlist

word count: 3.75k

series masterlist | main masterlist

You wake up to the smell of something warm.

Not bread. Not herbs. Just sunlight and skin and sleep. The kind of warmth that lives in bedsheets and lingers in cotton and settles between two people who don’t feel like hiding anymore.

Haymitch is still asleep beside you. One arm tucked under your pillow, the other thrown across your waist like he forgot he’s allowed to let go now.

You don’t move.

Not because you’re afraid. Not even because you’re sore—though your body does ache in quiet, tender places.

You don’t move because there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.

The air is still. The curtains sway gently in the breeze from the cracked window, and outside, birdsong weaves through the soft hum of summer heat.

His thumb twitches against your hip.

You glance over just in time to see his eyes flutter open, lashes heavy with sleep, a faint crease between his brows until he sees you there—watching him, calm and unbothered.

“Mornin’,” he rasps, voice low and wrecked from sleep.

You smile. “Technically not morning anymore.”

His hand flexes, pulling you closer by the curve of your waist. “Still counts if we haven’t gotten up.”

You hum, tucking your face against his chest. “That logic’s gonna get us in trouble.”

“Nah,” he murmurs, kissing your temple. “That logic’s gonna keep us in bed.”

You snort softly.

For a while, neither of you says anything. You just breathe. Let your fingers trace lazy lines over the scar on his stomach. Let his hand move up and down your back like it belongs there.

After a few minutes, he asks, “You okay?”

You nod into his skin. “Better than.”

He pulls back just enough to look at you. “Not too sore?”

Your smile turns a little shy. “A little. But… in a good way.”

His eyes soften.

“You?”

He shrugs, a sleepy little smile tugging at his mouth. “Little wrecked. But I’ll survive.”

You roll your eyes, but your heart’s not in it. “We should probably get up.”

“We should,” he agrees. But he doesn’t move.

Neither do you.

Instead, you settle back in against his chest, and he tightens his arm around you like the day can wait. Like this moment matters more than breakfast, more than time, more than anything.

You whisper, “I like waking up next to you.”

He presses a kiss to your forehead.

“You’ll get tired of it a few years in.”

Eventually, the heat of the room—and the way your thighs stick together under the covers—becomes too much to ignore.

You stretch first, wincing a little, and Haymitch immediately shifts beside you like he’s ready to fix it.

“You okay?” he mumbles, hand already finding your hip.

You nod with a sleepy smile. “Just sore. You’re very… thorough.”

He groans into the pillow, arm flopping over his face. “I knew you were gonna say something like that.”

“You love it.”

“Unfortunately,” he mutters, peeking at you through one squinted eye. “We smell like sex and sweat and bad decisions.”

“Excuse you,” you say, sitting up with a wince. “We made excellent decisions.”

He laughs, scratchy and unfiltered, and you swear it shakes something loose in your chest.

You toss him a glance over your shoulder. “C’mon. We should probably shower, sunshine.”

He groans again. “That sounds like a proposition.”

You tug the blanket off him, smirking. “That sounds like hygiene.”

“Low blow, honey.”

But he gets up anyway, grumbling about his back and his knees, and follows you into the bathroom with sleep-tousled hair and bare feet that slap softly against the tile.

You start the water while he leans against the doorway, arms crossed, watching you like you’re something worth waking up for.

Once the shower warms, you both step in together.

No rush. No urgency. Just warm water and the kind of closeness that doesn’t ask for anything.

He stands behind you, hands gentle as he helps you wash. You pass the soap back and forth, your fingers brushing, your movements slow and unbothered. He lathers shampoo into your hair like he’s done it a thousand times before, like this is just what he does now.

You let your head fall back against his shoulder, eyes closed.

His hands are steady. Careful. Reverent.

Not once does he touch you like he wants more. He just wants to care.

“Still good?” he asks, mouth near your ear.

You nod, voice soft. “Still good.”

You turn to face him when the water rinses the last of the suds away. His hair’s plastered to his forehead. His chest glistens. And somehow, it isn’t overwhelming to see him this way—it’s comforting.

He lifts your hand to his lips. Kisses your knuckles.

“Think we’re clean enough to be decent humans again?”

You laugh, pushing his hair away from his forehead. “Clean enough to try.”

He grins, pulls you close, and rests his forehead against yours.

And you stand there a little longer than you need to, just letting the water fall, just letting this be real.

The bathroom is fogged up, the mirror useless, steam curling around your bodies as you step out of the shower—clean now, warm and soft-skinned, wrapped in towels and something even gentler than that.

Haymitch heads toward the bedroom, towel slung low on his hips, leaving a trail of damp footprints behind him. You follow, your own towel tight around your chest, still clutching at the ends like maybe the moment will slip if you don’t hold it close.

He opens the dresser without asking. Pulls out clothes for you like he’s done it a hundred times, like it’s just another thing he knows how to do now.

“Didn’t think you’d wanna put the old ones back on.” He nods toward the bed.

You blink at the soft pile he’s made on the bed: a fresh pair of your shorts, one of your sports bras, and—his shirt. Clean. Faded. Probably older than you.

“Yeah,” you say, voice quiet. “That’s perfect.”

You move to get dressed, but Haymitch reaches for your clothes before you can.

He kneels in front of you without ceremony. No grin. No smirk. Just care. He helps you step into the shorts, one leg at a time, then eases them up your thighs, his hands warm and slow, smoothing the fabric into place.

He presses a kiss to your knee on the way up, just like he means it.

You hold your arms up without a word, and he gently guides the sports bra over your head, adjusting the straps so they lie flat against your shoulders. It’s not sexual. It’s not awkward. It’s just love.

When he reaches for the shirt, he hesitates. Looks at you first.

“This one okay?”

You nod. “I like when clothes smell like you.”

His mouth twitches into something soft and crooked. “Lucky for you, I’ve got an unlimited supply of laundry disasters.”

He pulls it down over your head, smoothing it carefully over your body. When your face reappears, he just looks at you as he pulls your hair out from the collar.

You sit down on the edge of the bed in his shirt with clean skin and messy, damp hair, and he looks like he wants to freeze time.

“You look like you belong here,” he says, voice rough.

You smile, small and sure. “Maybe I do.”

He presses a kiss to your temple. “Then you’re not going anywhere.”

You reach up and pull him in, kissing him once—just enough to say thank you, just enough to say everything else.

“Thanks for helping me,” you murmur.

“I’ll do it every morning,” he says, brushing your hair off your face. “Just say the word.”

The house smells like dust and sunlight and something warm from the kettle.

Haymitch stands barefoot at the stove, one hand resting on the counter as the coffee finishes brewing. His damp hair sticks up at odd angles. He hasn’t bothered with a shirt.

You’re perched on the counter, the hem of his shirt brushing your thighs. Your legs swing a little, bare feet tapping the cupboard below. You’re watching him like it’s your new favorite thing.

And maybe it is.

He turns to glance at you over his shoulder. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I’m gonna burn the whole goddamn pot.”

You smirk. “You can’t blame me for admiring the view, sunshine.”

He rolls his eyes, but you don’t miss the way the corners of his mouth twitch.

He pours two mugs and walks one over, pressing it into your hands with a gentle, “Careful.”

You take it, fingers brushing his. “Thank you.”

He leans a hip against the counter beside you, sipping his own with one hand, the other resting casually on your bare thigh like it’s something he’s always done.

It isn’t. But it could be. It feels like it.

You take a sip and scrunch your nose. “Still tastes like burnt earth.”

“And yet,” he says dryly, “you keep drinking it.”

“Because I’m loyal,” you say, bumping your shoulder into his arm. “And too lazy to learn how to make it myself.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute.”

You glance up at him, eyes soft. “I’m lucky.”

He turns his head toward you slowly, his gaze lingering. And you can feel it settle in the space between you—the way his hand on your thigh tightens just slightly, the way his eyes don’t drop to your mouth, just stay on you.

“I was thinking,” you say, voice a little lower now, “that maybe we don’t make a big deal out of this.”

He raises a brow. “Out of what?”

“This,” you say, gesturing between you. “No panic. No overthinking. Just… keep doing what we’re already doing.”

His smile is small, but it reaches his eyes.

“You mean the part where I take care of you and you wear my shirts and call me sunshine?”

You grin. “Exactly.”

He nods once. “I can do that.”

You rest your mug on the counter, sliding off to stand between his legs, and wrap your arms around his waist, face pressed against his bare chest.

He sets his mug down too, one hand coming up to cup the back of your head and the other pressing into your lower back.

And for a moment, there’s nothing but soft breathing and a slow heartbeat and the scent of coffee and clean skin.

“I like it like this,” you whisper.

“Me too, honey.”

The quiet is perfect.

You’re still tucked into Haymitch’s chest, the steady beat of his heart under your ear, both of you swaying gently in the kitchen like the moment might never end.

The front door slams open hard enough to shake the windows.

“Are you alive?!” Peeta’s voice echoes through the house. “Because it’s almost noon and we were two seconds from breaking in!”

Katniss’s voice cuts in, sharp and flat, “We just did break in.”

You jerk upright in Haymitch’s arms.

He groans, dropping his head against your shoulder. “Should’ve stayed in bed.”

Peeta comes skidding into the kitchen like a concerned little brother mixed with a labrador retriever. “We knocked! No one answered!”

Katniss strolls in behind him, entirely unbothered, glancing between the two mugs, your damp hair, Haymitch’s complete lack of a shirt, and the way you’re wearing one of his.

She blinks. “You’re alive.”

You blink back. “We’re alive.”

Peeta stops short, eyes flicking from Haymitch’s hand still resting on your waist to the way you’re very clearly wearing his clothes. His eyebrows rise.

“Oh,” he says.

Haymitch sighs, arm tightening around your middle like he’s not about to explain a damn thing. “You two don’t believe in knocking and waiting?”

“We did,” Katniss says. “Waited a whole fifteen seconds.”

“Which is generous,” Peeta adds. “You’re both usually outside by now. We thought maybe you’d murdered each other.”

You lift your coffee and sip with perfect calm. “We were showering.”

Peeta chokes. Katniss doesn’t flinch.

“Not like that!” you sputter, then pause. “Okay, a little like that, but mostly we were just—showering.”

Katniss squints. “You look embarrassed.”

“You look embarrassed,” you mutter.

Peeta’s already walking to the cabinet. “I’m making toast. I feel like I earned toast.”

Haymitch leans close, muttering near your ear, “You feel like murdering them or should we just suffer through it?”

You smile into your cup. “I’m feeling generous.”

“Lucky them.”

Somehow, toast becomes a group activity.

Peeta insists on slicing the bread just right—“angles matter,” he says with the dead seriousness of someone who once made art out of icing—and Katniss has already commandeered the butter and a knife she absolutely doesn’t need to wield like a weapon.

You lean against the counter, your coffee now stolen and shamelessly half-gone in Peeta’s hands, while Haymitch stands beside you looking one wrong word away from kicking them both out.

Peeta takes a bite of toast and talks through it. “You two are glowing.”

You roll your eyes. “We just showered.”

Haymitch raises a brow. “And now you’re eating my bread.”

Peeta shrugs. “You disappeared. We were worried. This is a stress snack.”

Katniss finally speaks from where she’s standing at the table, arms crossed. “You made it weird.”

“You’re the one who broke in,” Haymitch mutters.

Katniss points at your shirt. “She’s wearing your shirt.”

You raise both hands. “This is slander.”

Peeta snorts. “That shirt is three sizes too big.”

Haymitch sips your new coffee without asking. “Yeah. It’s mine.”

Katniss just nods once, like she’s solved a riddle. “Thought so.”

You look between them, lips twitching.

“Do you guys want to move in or—?”

Peeta, absolutely without shame, “Would you let us?”

“No,” Haymitch says flatly, passing you back the coffee like he’s resigned to sharing now. “We’d die.”

Katniss peels an apple with the butter knife like it’s a war strategy. “You could just lock the door next time.”

“Why?” you ask. “So you can pick the lock?”

She raises a brow. “I would.”

Peeta grins, chewing. “We just didn’t expect the two of you to sleep in. Ever. It’s like seeing a ghost. A very flustered, very shirtless ghost.”

Haymitch groans and rubs his face. “This is why I drink.”

You grin up at him. “Hey, technically you have Peeta to thank for the woman you love being here.”

He smirks, tilting his head. “You’re not wrong.”

Katniss throws a piece of toast at the both of you.

The kitchen turns into a battlefield of crumbs and coffee.

Katniss claims a chair and eats toast like it’s a tactical maneuver, gaze flicking from one cabinet to another like she’s assessing escape routes. Peeta spreads jam on his third slice with so much cheer it might as well be a holiday. You’ve reclaimed your spot at the counter, perched beside Haymitch, who has given up on keeping his mug and now just drinks from whichever cup is full.

“Do either of you actually know how to eat quietly?” Haymitch mutters, chewing around the last bite of toast you handed him.

Peeta raises both hands, jam knife still in one. “I’m a peaceful man.”

Katniss doesn’t even blink. “He says after busting in like a wild dog.”

Haymitch nods at her with dry approval. “You get to stay.”

You nudge his arm. “I get to stay, right?”

He glances down at you, mouth twitching. “You’re under review.”

“Unbelievable,” you mutter. “I’ve worn your shirt for twenty minutes and already my privileges are revoked.”

Peeta watches this entire exchange with narrowed eyes and a very smug grin.

“You two are disgustingly functional now.”

You shrug, smiling. “Sorry we’re thriving.”

“Not sorry,” Haymitch adds.

Katniss stands, brushing off her hands. “You’re gross. Let’s go sit down before I throw toast at your heads again.”

You all migrate to the living room, plates and coffee mugs in hand. Peeta grabs the floor without complaint, stretching out like a cat, while Katniss takes the arm of the couch and folds her legs like a bored monarch.

You end up tucked beside Haymitch, knees pulled to your chest, still glowing in the way that only comes after something real and vulnerable has settled in your bones.

Haymitch rests his hand on your thigh, thumb rubbing absent circles.

No one mentions it.

You all just sit there, eating toast and sipping lukewarm coffee, while outside the wind rustles gently through the trees. Someone starts laughing over something small—probably Peeta—and it spirals into something dumb and chaotic, like it always does.

You let it happen. Let yourself sink into the sound of it. The comfort of them. The weight of Haymitch’s hand. The warm buzz of being home.

And for once, you don’t feel like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.

This time, the quiet doesn’t feel fragile.

It feels earned.

Katniss leans toward the window, squinting past the smudged glass. “It’s warm out.”

Peeta props himself up on his elbows. “We should go outside.”

Haymitch groans, leaning his head back dramatically. “That was not part of my plans for today.”

You nudge him in the ribs. “Sunlight won’t kill you.”

“Unconfirmed.”

Katniss stands, brushing nonexistent crumbs off her pants. “Come on. It’s not even humid yet.”

Peeta’s already grabbing the mugs. “I’ll bring the rest of the toast.”

“I’ll bring the attitude,” Haymitch mutters, but he stands anyway, squeezing your knee before you move to follow.

The four of you make your way out the front door like it’s something you’ve always done—like it’s always been this easy.

The breeze is soft. The grass is still damp in the shade. Birds flit between branches, their songs weaving between laughter and footsteps.

You all settle on the porch steps and the edge of the yard, toast in hand, coffee set to the side. Katniss lays back in the grass like she’s trying to merge with the earth. Peeta drapes himself dramatically next to her.

You sit on the top step beside Haymitch, your thigh pressed to his, his arm stretched behind you lazily, fingers curled into the hem of your shirt like a tether.

No one talks much.

No one needs to.

There’s something about the sun on your face and the smell of summer on the air that says everything you could’ve tried to put into words.

And when Haymitch leans in to press a kiss to your temple—no fanfare, no teasing, just soft—Katniss doesn’t flinch. Peeta doesn’t say a word.

It’s just part of the day now.

Just part of you.

You’ve been outside for maybe thirty quiet minutes when it happens.

Peeta shifts beside Katniss in the grass, squinting up toward the porch where you and Haymitch are still curled up together, and says, “Wait.”

You glance down.

He points between the two of you. “So… does this mean Y/N is like… our mom now?”

Silence.

Absolute, stunned silence.

Then Haymitch says, without missing a beat, “Absolutely not.”

Katniss immediately sits up like she’s preparing to set something on fire. “You did not just say that.”

Peeta looks wildly unbothered. “I mean, think about it—Haymitch is basically our dad. He grumbles. He threatens violence. He leaves the room every time we express emotion. It tracks.”

You stare at him.

He shrugs. “I’m just trying to understand the family structure here.”

“We’re not—” you start, then stop, because honestly? You don’t even know how to respond to that.

Katniss points her toast at him. “If you say the word ‘mom’ again I will throw you into a ravine.”

Peeta bites into his toast. “You wouldn’t.”

She stands.

He immediately scrambles to his feet, laughing. “Okay, okay! I take it back!”

Haymitch sighs next to you, rubbing his eyes like he regrets every life choice that led him to this moment.

You lean in and whisper, “I think he likes the idea of a stable family dynamic. That or he’s trying to get himself killed.”

“Probably both.”

Peeta yells from across the yard, “Can I still call you mom if it’s ironic?”

Haymitch stands up. “That’s it. I’m going back inside.”

You burst out laughing as he pulls you up with him by the hand, muttering under his breath the entire way.

“You’re not actually mad, are you?” you ask, grinning.

“Mad?” he snorts. “No. I just refuse to live in a world where we’re already parents to two feral teenagers.”

You barely make it inside before the door creaks open behind you.

Peeta’s voice trails in right after, “Wait, but seriously—do I get chore privileges if you’re my new parental unit or—”

Haymitch groans. “No.”

Peeta skips inside like he’s just won a prize. “Fine, but if I don’t do the dishes later it’s your fault, mom and dad.”

You swat at him as he slips past you. “Peeta.”

“What? You guys are nurturing and emotionally available now. It’s a compliment.”

Katniss pushes the door open behind him with the flat of her palm, muttering, “I’m moving into the woods.”

You and Haymitch exchange a look—his already exhausted, yours cracking into laughter.

The house is still warm with afternoon light as everyone moves back inside.

Haymitch flops onto the couch like he’s reclaiming territory. You sit beside him, tucking your legs beneath you, and he tosses a throw blanket half over your lap without looking.

Peeta reclaims the rug, stretching out like a sunbathing cat.

Katniss paces once, then grabs a book off the shelf and sits next to you, flipping it open like it personally offended her.

“Do you guys always do this?” you ask, amused. “Just break into people’s houses and stay?”

“Yes,” Katniss says without looking up.

“No,” Peeta says at the exact same time.

You smile. “Cool. Glad I live here now.”

Haymitch doesn’t say anything, but his arm drops behind your shoulders, and you feel his fingers brush your neck once, twice, then settle there.

And maybe no one says it aloud, but the shape of the room changes.

Like something clicked into place.

Like it’s been this way for a long time—you just hadn’t caught up to it yet.

Peeta breaks the silence again. “So are we doing dinner later or are you two still in honeymoon mode?”

Haymitch throws a cushion at him.

And then you all settle again—not quiet, not really, but steady. Comfortable. Easy in the way that only happens after surviving hell and still finding reasons to laugh.

Outside, the breeze stirs the curtains.

Inside, the house breathes with the sound of not being alone.

Next Part

[yyawnjun]

SING ME TO SLEEP

0.7k wc ; sick!reader x dokyeom ; fluff!! ; being sick during summer sucks. I hope y'all are okay and are having beautiful days ; no proofread, so sorry for any mistake !! ; @kflixnet

You could hardly stand up, you were shaking, and you were starting to feel very cold. The problem was that you had chills in the middle of a really hot summer.

You were at home, waiting for your boyfriend to arrive while curled up on the couch with a blanket. He had to work all morning and would return in less than an hour. You weren't at all hungry, even though it was lunchtime.

Even yet, you forced yourself to get up and cook something easy for Dokyeom's meal because you knew he would be hungry. As soon as u stend up, you can feel your fever getting worse. And when you finished cooking, you hurried into your room and hid beneath the blankets.

You would have taken a quick nap so that you would definitely be better. Or so you thought.

Dokyeom arrived home exactly one hour later, excited to tell you about his morning training. However, he became concerned after he didn't find you in the kitchen or in the living room and did not hear your reply to his call.

As soon as he entered your room, he saw you between the blankets, still flipping back and forth from your headache.

He touched your forehead lightly and measured the difference in heat between you and him before saying, "You're hot, and you caught fever."

The thermometer quickly confirmed this as well.

"I will sleep a bit and I will feel better" you replied covering your eyes with your arm.

"Babe, I am here. Let me help you now" he said in the sweetest tone ever.

His touch on your forehead was so gentle and cool, and his words really did taste like honey. So you just nodded at him.

"I will bring you something to eat, so then you can take this med. Then I will bring you a cold towel to put on your head so the temperature will go down." He said, leaving the room quickly and returning a few minutes later.

"Just a bite, and then you can go back to rest," he said, handing you a piece of bread.

So you did as he said, and forced yourself to eat. After that you took your med and you were immediately ready to go back to sleep.

"Here is your water and some candies in case your throat starts hurting," explained the man.

He also managed - while sitting on the floor next to you for the whole time -  to place a cool towel over your forehead and curl up you with a light cover.

He muttered, "Sleep for a bit now, baby," and then caressed your head—just long enough for you to fall asleep.

He stayed with you.

He stayed at your side the entire time. He was now watching you while seated in a chair, observing your breathing and sleep. You were breathing more quickly than usual and had a constant, anxious state of sleep. You continued to move around, opening and shutting your eyes.

After a few mins, you were awake again. "If you can't sleep, I could sing for you." he asked while looking at you.

You nodded to his idea and replied with the first thing that came to mind: "You will be such a good dad."

Oh, how these words moved touched this man's heart..

He then started singing your favorite song. His voice was so soft and calm that he was able to hit every note at the exact moment, showing once more how talented both as a singer, as a person, and as a lover. 

You eventually allow yourself to be lulled by the melodies and the voice. Even if you would have stayed up to listen to him, sleep was eventually taking over.

All of sudden all of the sounds around you vanished slowly vanished, and you finally managed to rest.

He didn't move for a few minutes and leaned down to place his lips on your forehead and closed his eyes. His eyes were closed so he was focused fully on you.

"The fever has gone down." he whispered.

You were overcome by sleep, as though it had been a mystical kiss from an magical prince. He stayed a little while longer, watching as your breathing settled back into a regular pattern and you began to drift off to sleep. He only got up to go and prepare you something to eat when you woke up.

And then he came back, and he sat next to you to watch patiently.

As a prince would do for his princess, as a husband would do for his wife, and as a lover would do for his soulmate.

[cozzzynook]

Rodimus giving birth and feeling something is wrong. There's so much blood and his little one isn't coming out. Ratchet ends up breaking his leg to get their sparkling out.

-Bread.

This ask took so long because I wanted it to be one of the best things I could go back and read. I wanted this to be long.

-

Carrying was…both a beautiful and difficult thing.

The beauty in this was growing a life in his forge tanks that was combined of his own cna and his partners Drift and Ratchet.

The two were conjunx and he was their partner they planned on conjunxing, though he had plenty doubts of being conjunx to them or it lasting long since he was more than a few servo fulls. The two immediately rejected such ideals and told him to get those thoughts from his processor.

Try as he might to hide this insecurity and fear getting sparked made it impossible to do so. He had no choice but to work on the unrelenting pressure that was his thoughts and feelings. And it was all thanks to the result of a glowing orange bio fluid that covered the small pipe rod that he slipped into his valve and rested on the edges of his gestation tank that led directly to his forge.

The glowing light meant one thing and one thing only.

He was sparked.

His frame was so heavy and tired because it no longer worked for only himself but another life that was steadily growing and forming inside him. Made up of Ratchets cna and transfluid and Drifts energon and spark energy.

Truly the bitlet had a mix of all these things from each of them. But he always deep dived the intricacies of it this way. It felt more romantic, more connecting, this way.

He was not as connected during his first few weeks of knowing as he was now.

The first few days he was in denial and determined each of the eighteen tests he took were all flukes.

Then he moved onto the stage of sobbing his fragging optics out and getting angry punching his desk while static bubbles caught his windpipe because he didn’t think they’d want a sparkling and he knows he’s a mess he doesn’t want another person fragged up because of it. Bad enough his now courting conjunx had to deal with it, he didn’t want to burden a fresh new spark with himself too.

Of course Drift found him crying in the lower decks during the dead shift.

Rodimus snuck from berth because he was now hungry and couldn’t recharge without eating.

He hated how he gave in so easily to the cravings, consuming energon just the way Ratchet liked it while eating thick and bitter shaved metals, one of Drifts favorite snacks.

The mech took one look at him as he was crying on the floor eating and put it together so fast Rodimus didn’t have time to sniffle twice or blink the tears away.

Drifts reaction was a helm turner because he was immediately so happy and excited at having a sparkling to being completely concerned about Rodimus and what he wanted.

…he ended up crying into Drifts shoulders while eating because he was still sad and worried while so happy Drift accepted their sparkling but he was also still incredibly hungry and wanted more fuel.

Thats how Ratchet found them half an hour later.

Drift smiling at Rodimus like he had a bolt loose while Rodimus was blubbering as he fueled.

Ratchets processor was still sharp as ever so he could understand what Rodimus was saying pretty well and all things considered he handled the news fairly well.

Did he have to sit down in shock?

Yes.

But did he pull Rodimus and Drift into a tight hug before something clicked in his helm and he was berating Rodimus for keeping it hidden for so long and immediately ran diagnostics on Rodimus calling him a sparked bolt brain?

Yes.

It made Rodimus’s blubbering heavier but it was a good heavy all things considered.

After that Rodimus was never alone seeing as Ratchet or Drift or both mechs were continuously glued to his side.

In the day during his shift Rodimus was with either Drift or Ratchet who stayed next to him on the bridge. If it was after his shift he went to the medbay with Ratchet or the training room with Drift. He hardly spent time by himself save for napping in berth when he didn’t feel like being around either of them or felt a burden. He would not admit a third option of not being able to stay awake because his frame was heavy and tired and his optics would close on their own. He refused to admit such a thing.

Not that he would need to anyway.

Ratchet and Drift knew by how hard he now slept and how often he’d fall into recharge in the middle of watching tv, while sitting for longer than a few kliks, in the wash racks when they took baths together or when he was almost done fueling.

Ratchet and Drift thought they were hilarious putting his fuel or metals under his olfactory sensors and watching him start to eat while still asleep just before waking up and yawning.

That annoyed him every time and he still wishes he could pretend to choke just so they’d stop.

He didn’t want to endanger his sparkling so he didn’t but he really wanted to scare them and get his own laugh. So he decided pranking them in a different way would be better.

It took some patience, quite a bit actually their species carry for a very very long time, but he did it. He got the two back when he was almost a month away from emergence.

He needed their help getting up since he was so big he couldn’t see his own pedes anymore let alone a wide space of the floor in front of him.

The two didn’t ever complain about having to lift him but they did grunt from the strain.

The first few times made him angry at nothing and everything but after that it just made him cry. Another thing he finds himself doing as he looks back.

The prank he played didn’t require tears per se but they did require a real enough facial expression of pain.

Something he did almost perfectly when he stood up and used expired easy clean up energon to pretend his forge fluid broke and that the sparkling was coming.

The look on both their face plates was a memory he couldn’t wait to share with their bitty and a memory that made him almost pee himself with how hard he laughed.

Making it to the bathroom doesn’t count as peeing on one’s self. Ratchet was completely wrong about that just like he was wrong about his assumptions moments that felt and were long ago.

It was mid afternoon when he woke from a surprise nap he didn’t feel coming. He yawned, stretched his arms a tad, shifted uncomfortably with great effort and looked around the room as he felt cramps tangling his tanks.

His forge felt lower and heavier than before and his sparkling was wiggling in an odd position they’ve never done before.

He thought something was off but he didn’t want to raise alarm and it was nothing so he kept himself on guard for anything else strange and decided to get up and waddle around.

Maybe his sparkling just needed some exercise?

Whatever it was he hoped he was doing the right thing.

Getting up took a lot of effort and since Drift was on shift and Ratchet was probably in the medbay he had to get up himself. It proved as challenging as he thought it would and after five minutes he gave up.

His lower back struts were beginning to hurt and his hips were aching from the strain while internally punishing him. He could feel pain strike across his tanks but he’s been feeling that for a while so he’s figuring it was false pulses again.

He was ready to start tearing up at being stuck and immobile when he heard pede steps and Ratchet came into the berthroom.

“Kid? Ya alright?”

Ratchet had an optic ridge raised as he looked him over and he sighed in relief, holding his hands out with an apologetic look Ratchet told him to quit with.

“Yer sparked kid, of course ya need help and I’m old but not that old,” his conjunx growled out, a lot less grumpy than usual.

“Sorry Ratch,” he laughed a tad breathless once standing at an awkward angle to get some comfort. The pain felt like it was growing and the locations were both normal and odd compared to what Ratchet and the books told him.

He was starting to wonder if something was really wrong when he felt the sudden urge to empty his waste tanks.

He hissed, holding his heavy and definitely low tanks as he bent forward, deeply venting as he attempted to ground himself in the pain while Ratchet asked what was wrong with panic in his voice.

He decided to voice his concerns to Ratchet but before he could his modesty panels opened on their own and he felt his waste and forge tanks release themselves without his permission and he gasped from both shock, embarrassment and pain.

“Oh frag, yer in labor kid. Alright, they’re a tad early but this is completely normal and safe. What I want you to do is breathe for me kid, can ya do that?”

He nodded his helm as he remained bent over holding Ratchet’s servo as he called First aid to prep the medbay for emergence and then called Drift who yelled so loud Rodimus could hear it.

The mech got an earful from Ratchet who was helping him slowly waddle towards the wash racks to clean himself off since emergence took a while and he didn’t want him sitting in his own waste, neither did Rodimus, as they waited for Drift to speed inside.

Ratchet was talking to help him stay grounded as they got inside their large bath tub that had room for four mechs when Drift came panting in the door way.

“Bout time ya got here,” Ratchet grouched playfully as he let Drift hold Rodimus up who was still in pain that seemed to only be growing with every passing minute.

“Ratty, it took me less than three minutes and I was on the other side of the ship. Cut me some slack like Roddy. You breathing alright Roddy?”

Drift’s words would’ve been soothing and comforting if not for the steady pain that was becoming so unbearable he grit his denta and now Drifts servo.

“Roddy?”

He felt something drop inside him and with it his knee struts.

Drift caught him at an odd angle but kept him from hitting the ground as Ratchet rushed over to scan him.

“Kid!”

He felt something burning within his tanks and inside his valve that didn’t at all feel like the description he read about in the books and felt the need to push but couldn’t because something felt wrong and his spark knew not to do anything.

But everything hurt so much and it felt like he was on fire from the inside as he felt the weight pressing against his valve tighten and constrict before wiggling and he felt his optics flicker making his vision black as he realized he was screaming in intense pain that momentarily blacked him out.

He was on his back in the water with Drift holding him up bracing him on both sides of his stabilizers while Ratchet looked worried as he felt around his valve and tried to put a servo inside him only for it to be blocked.

“Frag!”

Rodimus felt his spark drop at the loud curse and he screamed gripping Drifts servo at the next pulse that felt worse than the last.

He felt his tanks constrict and something pushed against his hip making him scream out in agony as something moved the wrong way against his internals, hip mesh and valve making it feel like it would rip.

It took five kliks for the pulse to end and by that time he struggled to open his optics and hear what Ratchet was trying to tell him.

“Listen to me kid. This is gonna hurt bad, real bad but its the only way I can make the pain go away and get our sparkling here and keep you alive. I promise, you will be fine after this,” Ratchet promised for all their sakes.

Rodimus understood what he was saying but another pulse came and he tightened his grip almost crushing Drift’s servo but the mech just comforted him and braced him for what he knew was coming.

“Okay kid, on the count of three yer gonna be in extreme pain but Drift’s gonna run you to the medbay where we can fix ya and the sparkling, alright love?”

He sobbed and nodded his helm.

The pain was making his spark hurt and he wanted to comfort Ratchet who never used that name unless he was scared but he couldn’t.

He was just so hot and hurting he couldn’t do anything but try to breathe.

“One,” Ratchet was tense and making optic contact with Drift who felt terrified but had to trust Ratchet, “two,” Rodimus felt a pulse coming on and grit his teeth groaning at the pain as he felt it pass after seven kliks. His frame growing weak as he noticed the glowing life energon in the water.

“Three!”

He felt Ratchet’s servo shoot and wiggle inside his valve and push what he realized was their sparkling back and he smashed his other palm down on the center of his hip and yanked it outward before pulling their sparkling out.

He wailed in agony from the sudden onslaught of pain that wouldn’t grant him the empathy of blacking out.

He stayed awake wailing from the nano klik Ratchet broke his hip to free their sparkling that was stuck to the nano klik he was being laid on the medberth and given powerful sedatives that almost failed to cut through his pain.

The very first thing he saw when he woke was Ratchet and Drift curled up on either side of him while two tiny bundles laid on his chassis.

He woke them with his crying as he touched along their delicate mesh face plates, feeling their dermas, olfactory sensors, optic ridges and the softest part of their closed optics that began to twitch and flicker from his touches as a tiny arm cane up and tried to move him.

They had all their digits and Drifts frame type with his claws.

Their helms had finials just like Drift but they had Ratchets optic color and shape. They even had his scowl which made Rodimus laugh the two sires awake.

They worried over him, Ratchets love language of fussing came full force as he told Rodimus he should’ve woken him immediately while not really meaning it as he checked him over.

Drift helped make it easy for him to hold the twin sparklings that had Ratchets mesh coloring and biolights.

He felt sad they didn’t get anything from him and he was the one who did the hard part, how unfair.

“Beautiful,” he cried, careful not to move since his frame was in a mess of pain and still healing. It would be for a long time Ratchet explained.

The sparklings dropped together and were coming out together which is why it felt so wrong and hurt so much and how they got stuck.

Turns out one mech was hiding behind the other and in true split spark fashion they had the same spark beat down to the last detail almost.

Its easy to miss and thats why no one saw the other or could tell.

He smiled, kissing both their helms.

“You sure made an entrance,” he joked.

Drift and Ratchet weren’t as thrilled by his joke and truthfully he was riding on carrier after emergence high. By the evening or next day he would be a traumatized mess.

But for now, he just wanted to enjoy being with his conjunxs and sparklings.

Primus knows he won’t be doing this again.

[ashwhowrites]

oh would you write about eddie x girlfriend reader whos recovering from an eating disorder & he’s on full support and comfort. today she decided to let eddie have control over what she eats for the day. at some parts (maybe like bread with chocolate or some snacks) she starts getting overwhelmed & cry’s & he’s there, comforting her, giving her head/forehead kisses, holds her hands, talks to her & eats with her, so she doesn’t feel alone.

and i would really like to read more about wayne, so maybe the next day she asks wayne to decide what she’ll eat today & he’s really excited to be there for her & help her in such progress. both munsons comfort her & she’s so thankful!<3

I hope this is what you were looking for and you enjoy it. Thank you for requesting <3

⚠️ mentions of ED

Recovery

Y/N was recovering from an eating disorder, trying every day to move one step forward. It was hard to do on her own, so her boyfriend vowed to help her every step of the way. Which he did. Eddie was so patient and supportive, she never felt that before.

She wanted to give herself a small challenge to push her further. She asked Eddie to pick what she'd eat throughout the day and he was so excited to help her. He immediately agreed with a huge smile and began to work on his list.

"Breakfast is served," Eddie announced, proudly placing the plate in front of her. He sat down next to her in his chair, with a plate for him as well.

Y/N looked down at the toast covered in Nutella, overwhelmed by the thick spread. She felt tears welling in her eyes but tried to remain calm. Eddie placed his hand on hers and squeezed it.

"We'll go slow. Just breathe. Here I'll even cut it in half and we will start with that." He said, using a knife as he cut the toast in half, taking a piece and throwing it on his plate.

"Not as scary, right? Just half the toast. We'll do the first bite together." Eddie said, picking up his toast as he held it in his mouth. She looked at him as she slowly picked up the toast. Both take a bite.

"That's my girl!" Eddie cheered as she swallowed the first bite. Eddie pressed a chocolatey kiss to her forehead.

"Ew Eddie!"

~~~

For lunch, Eddie decided on sandwiches. His sandwich was loaded with turkey, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. She felt herself getting overwhelmed as he placed down his plate.

"No worries, baby. You get the most spectacular sandwich combination out there!" She smiled when he placed down peanut butter and jelly, the bread cut into a heart.

"And if you want some, no pressure, some grapes." A small bowl of grapes is placed between them.

Eddie slowly ate with her, taking small bites as she ate. He made sure they always finished eating at the same time so she didn't feel pressured to eat faster.

Just like breakfast, he walked her through it, squeezing her hand and kissing her forehead when she finished.

~~~

After dinner, Y/N felt very proud of herself. And Eddie reminded her just how proud he was.

The next day, they were visiting Wayne. Y/N thought why not let Wayne decide what she eats for the day?

Wayne was just as excited as Eddie, she laughed at the resemblance. Wayne didn't eat well-balanced meals as it was, so she had a feeling he'd pick the most random things.

And he did.

She had a day filled with snacks and not meals. But she liked it.

"Wayne, she's not eating cookies for lunch!" Eddie scolded him, but Wayne brushed him off.

"I think the girl wants cookies, maybe milk?" Wayne asked, Y/N lit up at the idea.

"Oh my gosh, yes!"

Eddie groaned as Wayne and Y/N sat close on the couch, both diving into the cookies.

"Grab the milk will ya?" Wayne asked through a mouthful of cookies. Eddie looked at him with a disapproving look but grabbed the milk anyway.

Dinner happened to be tomato soup, something Eddie approved of this time.

"I'm proud of you, kid. Just remember that." Wayne said as they prepared to leave. Y/N smiled at his words, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

Some days would be harder than others, but at least her boys were always there to help.

Tags!

@bmunson86 @mxcheese @ladymunson @michaelfuckinglangdon @z0mbie-blah @biittersweet @mirrorsstuff @somethingvicked @micheledawn1975 @ago-godance @magnificantmermaid @tlclick73 @hargrovesswifee @cityofidek @manyfandomsfanvergentreblogs @silky-luxe @lokiofasgard616 @loving-and-dreaming @eddiemunsonsbitch69 @thegemaqua @ashlynnkennedy @strangerthingsstories5255 @harringt8ns @pleasinghellfire @whoscamila @stusdollface93

[shimmering-star]

THE ART FROM THE HEART

☆ Navia x artist!fem!reader

☆ Genre: fluff

☆ Warnings: none! Anxious reader (?) (Men and minors dni)

Enjoy reading!

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

　　　.   　　˚　　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 　　 　　　　 ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖✶ ✦　　

“Stay still, or else I will make a mistake in your portrait. I don’t want to ruin it, not the look of my beloved”. You furrowed your brows, looking into each little detail on the canvas. You were a perfectionist in everything, especially when it came to the art related to your girlfriend. It felt challenging to concentrate today; lately, you became a little ball of anxiety, as your love described you. Thoughts about your upcoming art exhibition, the first one for you, made you endlessly nervous. And you wanted Navia’s portrait to be the centre of it, as she was the one who never let you down and made you keep going for all these years with her energetic spirit.

“Oh, come on, don’t be that serious about it. I’m sure it looks like a masterpiece,” – she said, coming closer to you and tapping your shoulder. Her long, golden locks were shone on the sun. Sometimes you thought that she was your only light in life — the sun that comes after the long, cold night. And the one that you never want to lose, ever.

—“Hey, are you listening, Y/N?”— she asked.

“Sorry, love, I got distracted,” - Your painting picked your gaze once again. It seems perfect, but something feels odd. The Navia on the canvas is somehow different from your beloved, which doesn’t make any sense. “I’m sorry; I think I would need to redo it or add some details. Can you please�� “She didn’t let you finish; her gloved finger gently landed on your lips.

“Shush, my flower. I’m sorry that I’m about to turn down your request, but you should rest now. Your creation is more than perfect for me. I’ll definitely put it into the frame later, but if you are not sure, let's go unwind? We’re on a date after all; I need to drag you out of your troubled mind sometimes,” – she said, patting your head. Of course, you couldn’t argue with your girlfriend. Plus, persuading Navia was nearly impossible even for you. “Sure thing” — you replied as she took your hand. Your fingers intertwined immediately, and you felt your tangled worries were slowly washing away.

Navia was telling you something, but you couldn’t concentrate. You were else were, watching the way she moved so gracefully, like the petal of the rose on a wind. Suddenly, everything disappeared as you felt her hands covering your eyes.

“H-huh? What is going on?”

“No need to worry; l’m just brining you to the place where are we going to have our date.”

“Weren’t we already on a date?” This question received no answer. As you walked forward together, you felt a sudden feeling of being loved. Her soft hands warming face, the aroma of her perfume enveloping you, like an invisible cloak, brining you comfort. “We are here!” — she happily exclaimed.

When you opened your eyes, a scene from the finest landscape painting greeted you — a picnic on a shore. A big basket with the fresh bread stood in the middle of the blanket, surrounded by other tasty dishes. Desserts caught your eye; they were all yours and Navia’s favourites. The view from here was magnificent—a city below and plains and forests of Fountain beyond. Right above you, you noticed some cutesy birds that seemed like they were inviting you both to sit down.

“Surprise! Do you like that?”

“Yes, I do, very much,”- you said. You should have seen yourself smiling this moment. Your lips reaching from ear to ear. “Oh, love, you really have should just told me, we could organise it together and— “

“I wanted to surprise you. Come on, sit down,” — she said, making you settle on the blanket.

For the next hour you both were happily talked about this and that, savouring the desserts, you found out were cooked by your beloved.

“They are so tasty Navia! Hundreds of thanks to you, love.”

“My flower, no need to thank me that much; I just wanted to spend some time with you. Oh, look at me...” You raised your eyes towards hers. She gently took your chin, swiping a cream from a dessert with her thumb.

“That’s better, “— she said, not quick to let go. Her gentle finger brushed your lip, admiration and care evident in her eyes. She bit her lip. Red as a tomato, you felt her passionately dive in for a kiss. You returned it that exact second, lost in that moment of passion. The kiss tasted like vanilla from macarons. Your fingers ran through her silky hair, trying to get even closer to her. The minute felt infinite, but soon you ran out of breath. No one was saying anything, while you were trying to catch your breaths. After a moment of silence, her happy giggle rang in your ears: “You are so cute when you are that blushed.” Your beloved gently picked a blossom and put it behind your ear. “Y/n, you are pretty as this flower, no... even more beautiful than it” Navia giggled once again, making you smile wider.”

After a long time of being engaged in various activities, both exhausted, you collapse onto the blanket. Your head rests on her soft thighs, and the soothing patting nearly lulls you to sleep.

“Y/n?” — she asks.

“Yes?” – you respond, not bothering to open your eyes.

“Will you marry me?”

“What!?” Startled, you lift your head from her legs, sitting there in disbelief as the proposal sinks in your mind. “You mean it?” You felt heat rising to your cheeks once again, while Navia remained silent. Instead, she presents you a small black box, containing a beautiful gold ring with a carved rose on it. You didn’t answer anything, but with overwhelming feelings, you leaned and kissed her once again, showing her your acceptance.

“Of course.”

You love Navia — for her character, charisma, quirks and her radiating presence. The rest of the evening you both spend cuddling together under the soft blanket, witnessing the dawn and being ready to greet the night and a new coming day full of adventures together after that. As the dusk was gathering, you realise your artwork has been missing your own emotions, the way you saw Navia. And now you are ready to show this on your painting.

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

　　　.   　　˚　　 　　*　　 　　✦　　　.　　.　　　✦　˚ 　　　　 ˚　.˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　 　　 　　　　 ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖✶ ✦　　

Happy new year everyone!

[smh-yoon]

FIVE. love like yours - kakashi hatake

༻ ∘ ❀ ∘ ༺

Hime had not wasted any time once she had found an apartment for herself and Kiyoko to share, waving Hideki off when he spluttered some nonsense about his unease staying alone in a whole new country. It was a lie, as he had no problem adjusting and going off on his own just after they'd moved to Konoha for the first time. It left a bitter taste in her mouth to think he was likely out doing despicable things while she was alone, trying to get her bearings as she adjusted from having everything to having nothing. 

She had traded in the dowry after the first week of travel, and it would be enough to cover at least a few months of rent for her and Kiyoko. 

Luckily, the place she had chosen, the same complex as her previous life, had enough space for two futons on the bedroom floor, where her and Kiyoko would sleep. There wasn't much to fill the drawers or the closet, and before long, she would need to get a larger wardrobe for herself and Kiyoko. Since the Leaf encountered every season unlike an eternal winter, they would need more versatile options. 

For now, the cozy apartment would have to do. She had entrusted the extra set of keys to Kiyoko and ushered her to use the bath first, even though Kiyoko had protested heavily. It seemed as though she was still insistent on serving Hime. 

After finally convincing Kiyoko to clean herself up, Hime took the time to unload the sealed scroll on the living room floor. There was a few articles of clothing she'd packed, but nothing else of note, aside from an out of fashion robe she must've grabbed by mistake. Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of treasure in here that her father had been desperate to find? 

Reaching into the pile of haphazardly thrown clothing, a small pendant on a thin chain slid onto the floor with a quiet clink. 

The pendant was a purple stone, round and smooth, cased in gold with a gold chain. Hime had never seen it before, but maybe it had fallen out of the small box the dowry came in. It might prove to be useful as a last resort if she needed to pawn it off for money, though she was hopeful Kiyoko would be able to find a job and that she would make money soon enough as a shinobi. 

"Kiyoko, I'm going to run to the market for groceries." A flustered sound of protest came from the bathroom, and Hime let a grin tug at her lips as she heard Kiyoko's hurry to try and get ready. She was already sure Kiyoko would insist to go, which is why she was already standing at the door when she called out again. "I'll be back in the next hour."

Locking the door behind her, Hime glanced at the landscape view she had from her door on the upper floor of the complex. Though it was nothing special, she felt refreshed at the sight of Konoha bustling in the streets. 

Wasting no time, she had curated two full paper backs of groceries that would last her and Kiyoko the next few weeks at least. Grinning at the bread-maker, she bowed her head in gratitude as he stuffed two loaves into one of the bags. 

"Ah, Hime!"

The grin almost immediately fell from her face, and she pretended not to hear Hideki's voice, turning in the other direction from where his voice resounded from. 

"Wait, Hime!" Gritting her teeth, she turned and tried to wipe the unpleasant expression from her face. He had easily caught up to her, grinning and out of breath in his hurry to reach her. "Oh, Hideki. Are you out for the market too?"

There was a small pouch in his hands, and glancing over it briefly, Hime knew it wasn't any groceries. However, she played the naïve act, making her way through the crowd with Hideki at her side. There was no way she was going to lead him to their apartment, even if he could find it some other way. 

"Not really, I was just wondering around when something caught my eye. I managed to find a place to stay, too! I can't believe you wouldn't let me stay with you Hime." He faked a pout, laughing quietly when Hime rolled her eyes. 

"Well, I'm sure neither of us would be comfortable living with you, no offense. You're still a stranger, no?" 

Hideki had gone silent, and it made Hime's stomach twist. This was what happened when he was angry before. He would go deadly silent, would give her this awfully mean look, and if he was feeling up to it, he would say horrible things. She hadn't experienced that yet in this life. 

Turning around, she watched him grin, the corners of his lips twitching as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Yeah, I guess that's true, huh? I want to know you more, Hime."

A lie, she knew. He would play up his interest in her, ask all sorts of questions, make her feel special with empty words and gifts, and when she fell for him, he would withdraw. A sort of manipulation she would always fall for in the past. She knew better now, was wiser, although now younger.

"I have to start training soon, so I don't think we'll be able to see each other much. I thought you were looking for a fresh start?" 

Hideki had all but begged Hime to let him tag along on their journey to Konohagakure, saying he needed to get away from his family, get a chance at a life he made himself. That was the only reason she agreed, and plus, he would need to be close for her to exact her revenge. 

Before Hideki could respond, a small form appeared from the shadows of a nearby alleyway, a white fox mask with a red triangle down the forehead on his face. 

"Hime, you must come with me to engage in the process to enforce your training as a shinobi." 

He paid no mind to Hideki, who was startled by his appearance, trying to get in a word of protest when Hime smiled and nodded, gesturing towards the bags in her hands. "Sure, but I need to get these to my apartment first. Would you mind escorting me?"

The fox gave a curt nod, stepping beside Hime as she threw a smile over her shoulder at a still bewildered Hideki. She said nothing more, face falling as she turned forward and began towards her new home. 

Hime knew who the fox was, but if she was lucky, he didn't know that she knew. Itachi was a brilliant child, and she had only ever heard stories of his intelligence and skill. Besides this, he was still a kid. If she could get a moment to gain some sort of trust, or respect, with him, it might give her a chance to prevent the massacre, or get her an in with Kakashi. 

"So, you must be fox? I saw you and.. who was it? Dog? When I first arrived in Konoha." 

Itachi said nothing, his gaze discreetly sliding to her. Sure, she had been given the opportunity to become a shinobi, but her skills hadn't been tested previously. How skilled was she? She was able to detect himself and Kakashi, even with their speed. Granted, they weren't in any hurry, so maybe it was just a matter of chance. 

"I know you aren't supposed to communicate outside of orders as an ANBU, but could you perhaps help me unload these inside? I would hate to leave them to my friend."

Hime was playing a tough game, one she had no idea if she would win. She knew absolutely nothing about Itachi, and even less about his character. He could refuse and she would feel foolish, or he could come into her home and end up learning her entire life story. She could be compromised from just the few belongings she brought, if he was really as smart as she had heart he was. 

As she stood anticipating an answer, he simply reached out and carefully took one of the bags from her hands, allowing her to reach out and unlock the door. Relief washed over her as she shot him a smile, leading him inside to the small kitchen and setting the bags on the counter. "This won't take long, we just moved in, so nothing to really sort." 

Again, Itachi was silent, unpacking the bag he had taken from her hands and gingerly setting the contents on the countertop. As stoic as he was for a kid, he was still careful and polite. 

In only a few minutes, Hime and Itachi had finished unloading the groceries and put them all away neatly. Hime could hear Kiyoko quietly finishing settling in the bedroom they shared, no doubt aware that Hime was not alone. It was in Kiyoko's previous employment to never interrupt when a guest is over. Hard habits she had learned would have to break if Hime was going to help Kiyoko have her own life- outside of being a maid. 

Sighing, Hime put her hands on her hips and shot Itachi another smile. "Thank you for your help. I think you have a bright future in ANBU yet," she joked, heading towards the front door again. 

"Kiyoko," she called out, turning her head back towards the direction of the bedroom door. "I'll be leaving again, groceries are in the cabinet." She turned to Itachi, or fox rather, and whispered to him in between her sentences. "When do you suppose I'll be back? Can't leave her all by herself for too long, you know." 

Itachi remained stoic in posture, saying nothing for a moment before he spoke. "Before sundown. We'll be back before the sun sets."

Hime grinned at him, calling out to Kiyoko the repetition of his own words as she opened the door and stepped out with him. 

"Now, lead the way, fox."

༻ ∘ ❀ ∘ ༺

[mothertaeraesa]

zb1 maknae line as studio ghibli characters

pairing: maknae line × gender neutral reader

genre: bulletpoint format, studio ghibli au, fluff, slight angst

warnings: none

word count: 1.7k

author's note: these scenarios are loosely inspired by each of the characters and their respective movies, as well as all of these can be read as platonic or romantic

maknae line | hyung line

shen ricky | haku, "spirited away"

Your chest heaves in slight panic, as you bring your knees towards you for at least some kind of protection

One moment, you're traveling with your parents to your new home and everything is going fine

And then the next, you're stopping and heading towards a tunnel that popped you out at an alley filled with lanterns and food stalls

Now, your parents are pigs and you feel hopelessly alone

It causes tears to prick the edges of your eyes, and you bury your face into your lap with a shaking head

This has to be a dream, this cannot be real

Maybe if you tried hard enough, you'd wake up in the car with your parents talking to one another while this was all just from a midday nap due to the exhaustion of moving

But you try to concentrate on waking up and nothing happens

You had already tried to cross back through the tunnel, but the high tide had blocked off the path

Just as you're about to allow them to stream down your face, the snap of a twig and the heavy rustle of bushes has you freezing and on high alert

Turning your head towards the intruder, you're about to let out a scream, but the young boy is two steps ahead of you and covers your mouth with his hand, effectively silencing you without a peep

He squats beside you and presses his side into yours, bringing his own finger to his mouth to signal for you to keep quiet

You're too paralyzed with fear to disobey and can only nod, as he seemingly pauses and waits for something to pass

After a moment, the stranger removes himself from you and digs around in his clothes before holding out a bun for you

When you turn away silently, not wanting to take food from a stranger like your parents had, the boy insists and places it into your hand

"Here, eat this. It'll keep you safe." He speaks for the first time, voice low before he pulls out his own and takes a bite

You hesitate, tears finally falling once more at how overwhelming everything is, and the bun is too warm and smells too comforting not to eat any

"Do you know your name?" The boy asks once he notices you slowly taking bites from the bread

"My, my name is Y/N," you manage to whisper with a sniffle

"I'm Ricky."

kim gyuvin | pazu, "laputa: castle in the sky"

Clutching onto Gyuvin's waist, you keep your eyes screwed shut as you try not to think about how high up you are

While heights usually wouldn't be an issue for you, the turbulent lightening storm had really tested your limits

Burying your face into his back, you murmur for him to let you know when things have calmed and it's safe to look again

The boy just hums in acknowledged agreement, as he tries to fly you both to the agreed-upon location

He hoped that things would go smoother from now on, and the two of you would have no more issues on your way to Laputa

Some time passes by as Gyuvin navigates and you hold onto his back for dear life

"Y/N, I think we've arrived." He finally says, landing cautiously and tapping your shoulder lightly

Pulling away, you take in the sight of the lush fauna around you both with a hitched breath

Laputa was more beautiful than you could imagine despite how deserted it was, but then again, the place had been viewed as a myth and almost secret utopia

Gyuvin glances over at you with a grin, admiring how awestruck you were by everything

"C'mon, let's go check it out," the boy suggests while getting out of the plane, helping you as well

The green grass feels plush beneath his feet, and he can't help but be in disbelief himself

Taking his hand, you drag Gyuvin after you with a laugh that he immediately reciprocates

Neither of you could finally believe that you had made it and were finally here

All of the cat-and-mouse chasing with Goliath had finally been rewarded with the final destination of Laputa

You both hurry over to the edge, gazing down at the clouds and paths below

A friendly robot passes by, and both you and Gyuvin give it a tiny wave before glancing at one another and giggling quietly

Intertwining his hands with yours, the boy tugs you along the field, pulling you into him and his chest

You hit it with a tiny thud, but Gyuvin catches you and wraps his arms around your waist, protecting you while you two hit the ground with a laugh

He keeps his arm out for you to rest on, as you lay on your backs for a much needed break and watch the clouds role by

park gunwook | sho, “arrietty”

Park Gunwook was completely and utterly bored

Sure, he enjoyed spending time at his mother's house and visiting with his great aunt and housemaid, but there were only so many cheek pinches and wide smiles he could take before his face ached

He had nearly read every single book in the house, and it was getting to be just a bit too hot to stay in the meadow all-day

So here the boy was, dragging his feet and wandering aimlessly in search of something to pique his interest

It happens in a flash, but out of the corner of his eye, Gunwook thinks he's spotted something moving across the floorboard and near the vents

The boy pauses in his tracks, head tilting as he attempts to make out what he had seen without disturbing it

Creeping over slowly with light steps, Gunwook crouches down and gets to his hands and knees

He pokes his head around before he spots it; a small person holding a sugar cube and struggling to get the item back through the vent's grates

Out of all his years of living Park Gunwook has yet to see such a sight, but it seemed his boredom had disappeared in an instant as a wide grin spreads across his face

You try and use all your might to get both you and the sugar cube back to your home, but you feel as if you're being watched

Turning around quickly, the sight of the human boy has you scrambling and forgetting the cube in an instant

You don't have it in you to scream, but you're scurrying along towards the vent faster in order to not be caught

Clearly, you don't do too good of a job because the boy continues to get closer

"W-Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Gunwook says suddenly once he notices how terrified you seemed to be by your frantic movements

You manage to slip through just in time to avoid the huge hand coming your way, and hide in the shadows of the vent so he can't see you

Everything tells you to run back to your family, tell them what happened, and start packing your things to find another neighborhood house, but you're too tired and the adrenaline has made you fatigued

"I'm, I'm sorry, please come back..." Gunwook attempts with a frown, saddened at how quickly you ran away

Maybe his eagerness had gotten the best of him, but he truly just wanted a friend

You don't make it known that you're still around, but the sight of the sugar cube being slipped back in through the grates as you still

Waiting for footsteps, they don't come until about a minute has passed

Gunwook dejectedly begins to stand up and walk away before he sees you hesitantly peek through the grates with a small wave

han yujin | sosuke, “ponyo”

“Yujinnie!” You draw on, calling for the boy as you attempt to finish packing up the boat. "Hurry up or I'll leave without you!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Please don't leave without me!"

You glance up from securely fastening the picnic basket into place to see Yujin hurrying towards you; backpack flapping around, captain's hat on his head, and bangs falling into his eyes

"You know I was just joking," you say with a giggle, hoping in the boat and taking a seat

"I know... I just don't like making you wait." Yujin admits with slightly red-tipped ears, handing his things for you to take as he prepares the boat for departure

Once everything is all set, you and Yujin set off, the town flooded from the massive storm from the night before

Things are relatively peaceful though, as other people float around on their own boats while you wave and pass by

You allow Yujin to steer and take charge, opting to point out where to go instead, and the boy eagerly listens

"Yujin, look!" You point out, swaying the boat a bit in excitement

Jellyfish, turtles, and other various sea creatures swim below the surface and through the crystal-clear water

The both of you go on like that for a while, Yujin captaining and you just enjoying the sunny day

After a while, you two stop for the simple lunch of sandwiches and tea that you had prepared before chugging along once more

The chirp of the birds and woosh of the water eventually lulls you to sleep, as you fold your arms on the edge of the boat and rest your head silently

"Isn't it beautiful out, Y/N?" Yujin asks a few moments later, eyes round at the scenery around him. "Y/N?"

At the lack of response, the young boy turns his attention to your sleeping figure with a tiny tug at the corner of his lips

Suddenly, the boat slowly comes to a stop in the middle of the water

Yujin looks around puzzled before realizing the boat had run out of fuel

Throwing another glance at your unmoving figure, the boy takes off his captain's cap and gets into the water without hesitation

He begins swimming and pushing the light boat along to where you both had been planning on meeting his mother at the senior center

Although it may seem like a lot of work to do alone, he didn't want to wake you, he wanted to prove to you that he was reliable

And that he would do anything for you

[barren-heart]

From Panera Bread You Came, To Panera Bread You Shall Return.

Guillermo's been working at Panera Bread for about a week now. Luckily, his old manager agreed to give him his old job back.

A Nandermo first kiss one-shot

Blood and violence. Hurt/comfort. Somewhat Christmas-themed. No death. Post-s5. Nandor/Guillermo.

Author’s note: I wanted to write in script format, but got too lazy tbh and I also wanted to keep some of the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Canon compliant for the most part.

Bright lights flicker in a near-empty Panera. The lampposts outside are lit, as snow drifts towards the ground in thick piles.

In the lobby, Guillermo mops the floor. He’s focusing on a spill of broccoli cheddar soup that accidentally fell off the table as he was cleaning. He sees the cameras and waves them in.

“So, yeah,” Guillermo says. He sits at a table, camera facing. His title reads, Former Familiar and Bodyguard. Panera Bread Employee. “You can probably tell that I’m no longer working for Nandor and the vampires. I moved out about a week ago, I guess.”

A flashback to Guillermo cleaning up his room at the Vampire Residence. He takes his suitcases and the vampire portrait of him and Nandor. The room is just as empty as when he moved in.

“It was just getting a bit, you know, sad,” Guillermo continues. “Not being a vampire anymore, I just didn’t really feel like I could go back to being a familiar. So,” he pauses, “I left.”

A cut back to Guillermo looking at Nandor’s closed coffin as he lays a letter on the table. A moment later, a cut to Nandor picking up the letter as his face grows solemn.

“I’m trying to find my purpose in this world now.” Guillermo smiles. “There’s so…so many possibilities of who I can be. I have my whole life ahead of me. But, searching for your next passion doesn’t really pay the bills. So, in the meantime, I got my old job back at Panera. So that’s…that’s good.”

The documentary crew flashes edits of Guillermo performing various duties inside of Panera. Kids run into tables, knocking food onto the floor. Loud customers shout at him as Guillermo tries to remain calm.

When the camera cuts back to Guillermo’s talking head, his smile fades. “Can’t believe this time, last week I was mopping up blood in the Fancy Room, and now I’m mopping up soup.” He laughs. “Crazy how things could change so quickly.”

“Guillermo?” A man behind the counter says. “Do you mind taking the trash out?”

Guillermo stands, ending the talking head segment. “Yeah. I can do that. Sorry.”

“Oh no, take your time,” The man says smiling to the cameras. “I’m sorry, did I come off as a bit aggressive there? I’ve been working on not sounding too demanding, you know? I learned that from the Being a Better Boss self-help book I read last summer.”

“You’re good, Chris.” Guillermo laughs to himself. His boss has no idea the orders he was given as a familiar. “I’ll take it out now.”

“Okay, be careful out there,” Chris says. “It’s looking like a blizzard. Haven’t seen snow like this since when I was a kid in Vermont.”

The camera follows Guillermo as he grabs his coat and scarf. The cold is much harsher with the wind.

He drags the rather heavy bags of trash out the back door. He can barely see as he lifts the trash bags into the dumpster. It was nothing like the human bodies he would bag daily for the vampires. Come to think of it, taking a whiff outside, maybe there is rotten flesh in there?

“Guillermo, is that you?” A voice calls out.

Guillermo immediately recognizes the voice. It’s his master, or ex-master now? He left the vampire residence so suddenly that he wasn’t really sure anymore.

Out of the shadows, Nandor appears. His hair disheveled and cape covered in snow. Almost like he’d been there for hours.

Guillermo meets him under a streetlight. “Have you been waiting here for me?”

“Yes. Not long, though. Maybe two…or three hours?”

“Three-three hours?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you while you worked,” Nandor says. “So, I waited here until you were done.” Nandor points to a body slumped against the wall of the building. “I had a light snack while I waited.”

“That would explain the rotten corpse smell…” Guillermo whispers to the camera.

"I like what you've done with the place." Nandor observes the scenery. "Very twinkly lights."

“Oh, no that’s the…you know…” Guillermo stops, knowing well he shouldn’t say Christmas in front of Nandor. His voice lowers to a whisper, “Holiday lights.”

“Your roommates must be so festive. So very human and not vampires at all.” There’s a smile on Nandor’s face, but it’s absent of joy. If Nandor could tell the truth, it’s painful that Guillermo left again, this time to be with humans.

“Uh, yeah. They…they are human.” Guillermo says. "Do you think I live here?"

"Well, now that you don't live with us anymore, I thought you would move in where you work."

"Actually," Guillermo says, his eyes on the snowy ground beneath him. "I live with my mom now."

"Oh, Silvia?" Nandor genuinely smiles. He enjoyed Guillermo's mothers’ company the last time he saw her. So kind and full of energy. And so many photos of Guillermo. "How is she?"

"She's doing-" Guillermo begins to say. “Wait. How did you find me? I never said I was going to work here.”

“I thought you would return to something familiar. Just seemed like something all humans do. I flew around to all the Paneras in the area, until I saw you in the window. I came to congratulate you on your new job.”

Guillermo smiles to himself. “Oh, I thought you’d be upset that I left.”

“I’m not upset. I actually think that it’s okay.”

A cut to talking heads of Nandor in his room. “Am I happy with Guillermo for leaving? Of course not. But, I’m not upset. Little rascal is probably thinking about apologizing right now. He’s probably on his way home. What, it’s been, like, just a few days?”

Someone talks offscreen.

“A week?” Nandor says.“Really? Oh. Maybe I should try and find him, then?”

When the camera cuts back, Nandor says, “I know you were looking to find some greater purpose and you’ve found it here at…The Panera Bread.”

Nandor gives a quick look to the camera.

“Uh, yeah,” Guillermo says. “Well, it’s-it’s temporary. I, uh, don’t really have much of a work history with 14 years working as a familiar. Uh, my old boss is actually still working here and got me my job back.”

“That asshole?” Nandor says, remembering the guy was such a dick. “Yes, I remember. Fucking guy.”

“He’s actually pretty cool now. Mellowed out a lot.”

“Oh?” Nandor says. “That’s-that’s great that you have such a mellow boss. Really…cool.”

A moment of silence passes between them.

“How’s the gang?” Guillermo says, wistful. “I miss them.”

“They’re, you know. Moving on. Doing lots of things. With stuff. Vampire stuff.”

Guillermo feels a pang in his heart. He shouldn’t expect a heartfelt plea to come back, especially with how sudden he left. It still feels like it was the right thing to do in the moment.

The sound of a door opens behind them. It’s Guillermo’s manager, Chris.

“Hey, just checking to see if you died.” He sniffs around. “Almost smells like someone died.”

Chris takes in the dead body. “Hey, what the fuck is that?!”

Nandor approaches Chris. “You will not remember seeing the dead body on the ground and will go back inside and finish your duties for the night.”

Before finishing his hypnosis, Nandor adds, “And you will give Guillermo a raise in pay.”

“Yeah, everything looks good,” Chris says, leaving. “I’ll see you inside. And hey, you’re getting a raise on your next check there, buddy.”

Once Chris is inside, Guillermo says, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I kinda did, though. Didn’t want him to remember the dead body there,” Nandor says whispering as if someone could overhear.

“I meant the raise part,” Guillermo says.

“Oh.” Nandor continues in a normal tone, “You deserve it. I know how hard you work. And how important it is to tell someone that you appreciate what they do for you. I want to wish you well in your new position. And I’m sure you will do just great.”

“Thank you, mast-” Guillermo stops. “Um, Nandor.”

Nandor doesn’t comment on the change of title. “Of course.”

“I should probably get back inside,” Guillermo says. “Fly safe. It’s really snowy out here.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Guillermo turns towards the camera, away from Nandor. A few tears well up in his eyes.

“Oh, Guillermo?” Nandor says. “One last thing.”

Guillermo faces him again, sniffing his tears back. “Yeah?”

Nandor steps closer. He reaches inside his cape, and pulls out a dozen of flattened red roses. “I forgot to give you these.”

“Flowers?” Guillermo sniffs them. A few are wilted, and some petals fall to the ground.

“Sorry. They were alive when I picked them.”

“Wait. You picked them? It’s the middle of winter.”

“Yes. I picked them from a nice grave I found while flying.”

“A grave?” Guillermo eyes go wide.

“Yes,” Nandor continues earnestly. “I saw them lying there and I thought of you.”

“You did?”

Nandor continues, “And I wanted to tell you that…I’ve missed you.”

“Really?” Guillermo swallows. “I’ve missed you, too. I’m sorry for leaving. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay. I really wanted to stay. I just don’t know if I belong there anymore.”

“You do belong there, Guillermo. You were more than just my familiar, but my greatest companion. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Marwa’s wedding scene plays and then we cut back to Guillermo. The camera zooms in on his face. He grins, now realizing. “Maybe you don’t have to think about that.”

“What do you-“ But Nandor doesn’t finish as he notices Guillermo leaning in towards him. Nandor mimics him, leaning in as their lips finally meet. His hand brushes along Guillermo’s neck and down his coat. He wraps his arms around Guillermo’s waist.

A familiar feeling of heat creeps up Guillermo’s chest and into his throat. The hairs on his arms raise as he wraps his hands around Nandor’s shoulders.

A voice stirring breaks them apart.

“What was that?” Guillermo says.

The body against the wall moves. “Ughh. Is there anyone there?”

Guillermo eyes Nandor. “I thought you said he was dead?”

“Yeah, I thought so,” Nandor says. “I just had a little snack. I don’t think I drained him enough.”

“Hey there,” Guillermo says approaching the body. “I can help you. Are you okay?”

The man, probably in his 40’s, slowly stands while gripping onto the wall. “Yeah, I think-” He slips on a puddle of his own blood, his head hitting against the wall as he falls with a thud to the ground. He doesn’t move.

Guillermo covers his mouth in shock.

“I think he’s dead now,” Nandor says. He kneels beside him. “Little man, are you alive?”

Nothing.

Nandor rolls him over. “Maybe we let the snow cover him up?”

Guillermo sighs. “I’ll get a trash bag.”

When Guillermo comes back, they both toss the man into the dumpster.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Nandor starts, “that was the guy yelling at you earlier. I could see it through the window. He said some bad things about you as he left.”

Guillermo smiles to both Nandor and the cameras. “I think we should leave before any cops show up.”

“Good idea.” Nandor reaches his hand out to Guillermo. “Can I fly you home? I’m sure Silvia is worried about you.”

Guillermo puts his hand in Nandor’s. “How about our place instead?”

[belit0]

Mafia modern au

Raizen and Fuyumi making their way to a school supply store but encountered a aggressive dog that was tied in a mailbox or something skkdkd

Fuyumi having a fear of large dogs she jumps and clings to Raizen for her dear life.

After a safe distance Fuyumi would immediately get off Raizen and now embarrassed on what happened, all red and saying sorry repeatedly kskdkd

Insisting on buying him something to eat like a snack or drink

How would Raizen handle that? Skkdkd

I have to post the other one with Fuyumi's lore about dogs and Madara's ones IM CATCHING UP I SWEAR

It started out normal enough.

Just a walk to the school supply store—nothing dramatic.

Nothing to text moms about.

Raizen walked a step ahead, hands in his pockets, eyes scanning the path in that calm, half-distracted way of his.

Fuyumi followed beside him, quiet, composed, clutching a small notebook to her chest as they exchanged the occasional comment about pencil grades and highlighters.

The sun was out, breeze gentle, and the air smelled faintly of fresh bread from a nearby bakery.

Everything was fine.

Until it wasn’t.

She heard it.

A growl.

Low. Rattling. Dangerously close.

And there it was.

A massive, scruffy-looking dog—tan and dark brown, tethered by a leash knotted around a crooked mailbox post. Its body was taut with tension, ears perked, eyes locked straight on them. The leash strained with each bark, the metal mailbox creaking as if it might give at any moment.

Fuyumi froze.

And then, in the next breath—she moved.

Or rather—launched.

She yelped—a soft, high-pitched sound of pure panic—and jumped straight at Raizen, arms flung around his shoulders like a terrified cat clinging to the last stable thing on earth.

And Raizen—trained by instinct, chaos, and being the eldest of four—did the only thing that made sense:

Caught her.

One arm under her legs. One behind her back.

Full bridal carry.

He turned on his heel and walked -calm as stone on the outside, a storm raging inside- down the path and around the corner, away from the mailbox and its very questionable guardian.

The dog’s barks grew fainter.

Fuyumi’s grip didn’t.

Her face was buried in his shoulder, the tips of her ears visibly red.

She refused to look up the entire time.

Only when Raizen finally paused beside a vending machine did she uncoil like a spring, scrambling off his arms as fast as humanly possible and nearly tripping over her own shoes.

-I—oh my god—I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—! I wasn’t thinking—!

She bowed slightly. -I’m so sorry, that was so embarrassing, I panicked—!-

Another bow. -I hate big dogs, I really do, they just—!-

Another. -I’m sorry— wait, I said that already—

Raizen just blinked.

His arms were still slightly outstretched from the carry.

-You good now?

Fuyumi covered her entire face with both hands.

-No.-

He let out a soft breath—half laugh, half sigh—and leaned against the vending machine with that ever-neutral look, letting her burn red beside him.

-That’s the most dramatic thing you’ve done since you tripped on the stairs last week.

-Oh god, I'm sorry...- She let out a muffled groan from behind her hands, then peeked through her fingers. -Let me at least get you something to eat. As an apology. Please.-

Raizen glanced at the vending machine, then at her—still pink-faced and flustered, fingers tapping nervously at the hem of her sleeve.

-...Pocky.

-Done.

She inserted coins faster than he’d ever seen, bought a box, and offered it to him with both hands like it was a peace treaty.

Raizen took it.

And when their fingers brushed—accidental, brief—Fuyumi flinched again.

This time, he smiled a little.

-You’re lighter than Ame.

Fuyumi blinked.

Then turned bright red.

-Raizen!—

She nearly dropped her change.

He just unwrapped the Pocky and offered her the first stick without a word.

Still blushing, she took it.

Still red, still recovering—but smiling now, a little, beneath the fluster.

And together, they kept walking.

Carefully avoiding all mailboxes from then on.

[phsycoswagger]

fleeing the shadows: chapter 3

“Get up, we need to finish packing.”

Ilse woke with a start. Arne was standing over her, his auburn hair falling into his face. She layed back down in bed, but immediately sat up with excitement when she remembered. Her eyes went wide, and she smiled. Today was the day they were moving to Solterro. She jumped out of bed, rushing to their shared bathroom. 

Arne was combing his hair back, securing it with a rubber band in a half-up, half-down hairstyle. She thought he looked amazing like that. 

“Goodmorning, love.” She said, kissing him on the cheek. “Samuel and Vera should be here in an hour.” He nodded and handed her the hairbrush as he walked past her, heading downstairs. Ilse separated her long blonde hair, tying them into two braids. She tried brushed her bangs down, but eventually gave up and just straightened them. They never stayed down by themself. Her and Arne finished packing their few boxes, two for each of them. She walked downstairs, looking around at the empty level. A bittersweet ache filled her heart as she looked at the empty shelves, once filled with trinkets and pastries; the familiar smell of freshly baked bread now gone. It’s alright, she thought. You and Arne will have a bigger, better shop in Solterro.

She repeated this moto as she finished sweeping the downstairs level. Ilse changed into her work dress, a comfortable white thing with a tie around apron. She didn’t really need the apron, since she certainly wouldn’t be baking today, but the outfit felt incomplete without it. Samuel and Vera’s car pulled up soon after, Ilse’s heart filled with excitement as they walked in. Solterro would be their new start. It was the land of dreams, people said. That’s what they said about Eldoria too, but Ilse knew this time would be different. Vera walked in first, she looked less happy than Ilse had seen her in a long time. She had always been bad at covering her emotions. Ilse just assumed she was nervous. Samuel came in next, she was surprised to see him in a very fancy outfit. he was wearing a flowing white shirt, with a too small black button up vest over it. His dress pants were far too short for him, but looked freshly ironed. 

“Wow, Samuel, if I didn’t know you, I could mistake you for a royal!”  Ilse said, smiling. 

“Don’t you think it’s a bit… much?” Arne chimed in, Ilse had almost forgotten he was here. 

“I just really need to get in this time.” He said while adjusting his shirt cuffs.

“I don’t think they take clothing into account when selecting guards.” 

“Well, it never hurts to make a good first impression, does it?”

Vera stepped in before Samuel and Arne got too heated, they would be in a car together for the next 10 hours, after all. Arne kept his frustration painted on his face, staring lasers into Samuel’s. Neither of them wanted to look away first.

“Well, who’s ready?” Ilse said awkwardly, clapping her hands together. 

Arne and Samuel both looked at her, then at each other, before giving up and picking up boxes. They carried them to the trunk, moving Vera and Samuel’s things out of the way. Ilse felt horrible they had to live in this car, but they had refused every time she offered them to stay. It hurt a bit knowing this would likely be the last time they spent time together, as they were going their separate ways once they reached Solterro. Vera would go back to her and Samuel’s father, and Samuel would come back to Eldoria to serve the royal malitia. (If they let him in this time) she thought it was odd he would want to serve for a neighboring land, instead of his home country. He said it was because he wanted to serve his kingdom, but Ilse had a sneaking suspicion it was because he didn’t want to go back home. Vera had mentioned something about a fight, but Ilse didn’t really hear. Now she wished she payed attention better. Ilse and Arne would buy a cheap property, and start a new shop. Ilse would bake and Arne would sell, just like the way it always was, but hopefully this time with cheaper prices. And what she was excited for most of all, her and Arne would be married. One of the main reasons they were moving, the age were you can legally get married is a year younger than here in Eldoria. Which means they could marry at 17 instead of 18, which just made her happier than anything. This is exactly what god would have wanted when he placed them together. In just a few weeks, she would be Ilse Molstrom, and no one would ever call her Ms. Stoen ever again because she would be Mrs. Mostrom. She repeated it over and over again. 

Ilse Mostrom, Ilse Mostrom, Ilse Mostrom. It had a nice ring to it. They got comfortable in the car, Samuel was driving for the first half, and Arne would for the second. Ilse leaned against the window, situating her soft blue blanket around her as she settled down for the ride. She glanced at the castle, through the window in the opposite end of the car. It was hard to see, but it looked just as grand as it always had. She would miss looking at it everyday. Then she turned to her window, and watched her home get further away as they started their journey to Solterro. All that lay ahead was her future, and she couldn’t wait to see what it brought.

[welcometoneverland-98]

Laughter Lines // 4 - The Common Room

Slytherin table had clapped once I was sorted into their house, my brother standing up immediately to clap with the biggest grin on his face and that was when people started talking. 

    Another Black was sorted into Slytherin. 

I then proceeded to do something for the first and last time during my time at Hogwarts. I looked around the tables and wondered what they were thinking about me in that moment and what made me never do that again was the look that had settled in the twins' faces once they had caught my eye. Their heads moved down, and that was something that I knew as shame. Shame that they were probably ever seen talking to me during the trip here. I never again felt the need to search for approval from people that I never knew.

    Dinner had been served, my brother was sat next to me as he chatted away with other students and tried to introduce me to some that he considered their friends. Some people at our table looked at us the wrong way, they had probably been brought up by parents who knew our own father and they probably knew us as the son of a traitor or a coward, well they were very wrong but I was not going to be the one to prove them wrong in that moment.

"Oh sister you have to meet Ivy and Alijah" my brother spoke as he took a big bite of the bread he was holding, he then proceeded to chew and point his finger to the boy and to the girl that stood on his right.

    "We've heard quite a lot about you already" said the girl, a small smile on her lips as she looked at me. She had light brown hair and greenish eyes "my family is thrilled to see the Black family thriving again"

    I nodded my head at her statement, not really sure of what I should tell her. The boy next to her just gave me a forced smile and kept on eating his dinner, too focused on the food and on some other conversation he was having with a boy that stood right in front of him. Dinner was passed just like this, empty conversations and comments being thrown my way and me being silent throughout most of it. 

    Walking towards the common room was a new way to figure out how the entire halls of the castle worked, we were told that most stairs liked to move around and to be careful with that but us, Slytherins, didn't really have to go up but rather go down. I didn't share one last look with the twins before they headed to their dorm because I knew they wouldn't even be looking back. There was no possibility of a friendship and that was made clear during dinner after the sorting hat. 

    On the way down to the dungeons one thing that I could all of the sudden feel was this slight change of temperature. A coldness started to spread around the stone walls as it also got darker with every step we took and it could sure bring uneasiness to anyone who was not used to such a cold feeling surrounding them. We reached a door and the prefect spoke the password out loud, making it open up right before our eyes and for the first time I saw the common room. 

    What was once covered in stone was now covered in dark colours and a green tint. Tall chairs were spread carefully around the room, there was a beautiful lit fireplace and from the glass tainted windows we could see the water from the Black Lake. We were now underwater and for once it had never felt so comfortable and like home as it was feeling right now. The room had this strange feeling of comfort to it, and the first year students were going around the room, smiles on their faces as they also seemed to be in awe of their new living space.

    I could now understand why my father was said to have his room always in these colours and how proud he was of this house. For a dungeon it sure was a beautiful one. 

It would've been lovely, really, if I could say that I spent my first year making a lot of friends and wondering around the castle in search for adventures to get myself into, but the reality was nothing like that. The rest of my first year at Hogwarts was spent mostly inside the common room with a quill in my hand as I wrote letters to my mother, or with books as I sat down on the couch and would sometimes stare out the glass windows to try and see the giant squid passing by on the lake. The only conversations I had were with my brother and his two friends and I wanted to have grand stories to tell my mother, about how his friends were now my own friends as well and we all laughed together but that was not my reality.

    My first year at Hogwarts was not how I ever dreamt it to be. I had left the train with excitement and when I was finally back on it, ready to go home for the summer I wished that maybe I wouldn't have to return for another year.

[beauty-and-passion]

Beau! Hello! How are you doing?

Hi! :D It's so nice to see you again! I really missed our conversations, can't wait for more of them to come soon! <3

This summer has been pretty busy for me. I studied almost every day - but it's summer, it's hot and my will to study was below zero, so I skipped a few days here and there, did other things, studied in the morning only and so on. Still no idea about the results, but when I get them, I will let you know :)

In the meantime, I still enjoyed my time by doing other stuff, like:

Cleaning

I love organizing things and since I finally had some time, I took the chance to:

Write a full inventory of the garage/storeroom where my family has been accumulating stuff for years

Buy a couple new storage racks for my apartment and move some furniture around. Still not over, but it's an improvement

Also, since my mother finally realized that yes, we have a lot of stuff indeed and we can rid of some of it, we went on a cleaning spree and cleaned:

The woodshed which had everything inside except for wood. There was even a sewing table!

The front garden of my house and that meant removing a shit ton of plants because my mother decided it was a great idea to plant them all together. She literally put two palm trees inside the vineyard. Those have been hard to tear down, but when me and my brother finally did it, the satisfaction was immense

We still have to move some stuff and properly clean the storeroom, but we have to wait for my uncle first: once he takes some furniture away, we will be free to keep going.

Keeping healthy

Since I went to the gastroenterologist and he told me to change my diet, I lost 7kg immediately and I feel WAY better. But it's still not enough: I plan to lose 7 more kilos, just to be in perfect health and to keep being healthy, even if I gain a couple kilos back in the future.

In order to do that, I kept (and try to keep) a schedule made of:

walking at least 6000 steps every day

spending at least one hour doing exercises and yoga 5 days a week

following the healthier diet suggested by the doctor, which is made of fresh fish and meat, fresh vegetables, almost no bread, gluten-free pasta, rice, couscous, no milk and no processed products. It was hard the first few days, now I feel bad when I don't follow this plan. I don't miss junk food and I still allow myself a treat once in a while. Also, since I am lazy, I cook once a day and double the amount, so I can eat for dinner and have a meal ready for the next day's lunch. This way, I'm always covered and I don't feel like resorting to junk/fast food (I also got rid of everything unhealthy, so it would be impossible anyway).

trying to get a better sleeping schedule: my alarm clock is set at 7:50 every day except for the weekends and I allow myself to get a 1-hour-long nap in the early afternoon. I also try to go to sleep around midnight, but still end up sleeping at 1am, so there's still room for improvement.

Writing

Studying was hard, but writing has always been great. And when I can have a schedule, it's even better :D

I started with two hours, every day. Right after dinner, when my mind was still fresh - and the weather gets cooler too. Then, around 10pm, I move on the couch and watch a few YouTube videos, before going to bed.

Some days, I didn't want to write a single line and had to force myself to write at least for one hour. But there were also days in which I wrote one or two hours more than planned. And now, I can write a few hours in the morning too and that means double productivity! :D Also, after sitting for so long in front of a screen, the exercise session in the late afternoon is even more enjoyable.

Small trips

I couldn't allow myself to take a longer breaks this summer. And that means I won't be able to visit Greece, so I took small trips to my uncle's farm and 1-day long trips to a few places.

In July, I visited Gaeta and Sperlonga (Italy). Those are two beautiful towns between Rome and Naples, with wonderful clean sea and beautiful sights. Sperlonga was especially cute, because the oldest part of the city is on a hill, so there are a ton of narrow streets, white-painted walls, corners decorated with seashells and painted tiles, tiny stairs and little plazas. It was nice.

In August, I visited Rovinj (Croatia): that's another little town, with a wonderful green sea. While we were there, we took a boat trip and visited the nearby fjord and wow, it was just like a postcard from a Norwegian fjord. And the trip was very enjoyable too: the boat owner offered us drinks and gave us interesting insights about what we were seeing.

I have two more trips planned for the next week: a water park tomorrow and a small cruise trip next week. Then, nothing else for now. Maybe will do something for Christmas and even New Year, but we'll see what offers we can find.

What about you?

What did you do these months? How did you spend your summer? How are you spending these last few days of August? And do you like to sleep as much as my cats like it?

[chaletnz]

Iquitos: Gateway to the Amazon

I must’ve slept immediately when my head hit the pillow because I didn’t stir until 8am when my first alarm went off. Groggy, I managed to remember that alarm was to get up and switch on the hot water so it could heat up for my shower. The next alarm hit at 8:45am and I forced myself up for a warm shower and shave with what would likely be my last hot water for the next 4 days or so. Not that it would be necessary once I reached the Amazon rainforest. My bag was mostly packed so I just threw a couple things on top and then headed down to check out and retrieve my change that was promised in the morning. It was a ghost town however and I didn’t have time to wait so I booked myself an Uber to the airport which only took about ten minutes. I knew the luggage drop takes forever so I checked in my bag first and then went for breakfast at Tanta. I ordered the French toast but they told me they didn’t have the bread for it so I chose the continental toast with butter and jam instead. I was asked if I wanted butter and jam – obviously! When the toast finally arrived, along with my flat white and pineapple juice, there was no jam but some pancake syrup that he told me was honey. Very disappointing. The second I stood up to go and pay, some guy swooped in and took my table so I was left awkwardly standing around waiting for them to take my money. On the plane, a lady and her toddler had tried to claim my window seat so I told them politely in Spanish that it was my seat and they moved – of course I want to see the mighty Amazon river from above! And it truly was a sight to behold. I was exhausted but the excitement and beauty of the Amazon kept me wide awake to take all my photos and videos as we flew into Iquitos airport. The thing that stood out was that there was just miles and miles of thick green foliage cover without any roads. Only the river to divide up the forest. There were patches of clouds that rained heavily into sections of the rainforest while other parts were under blue skies. I retrieved my bag from the carousel and began my negotiation for a ride to my hostel. The first guy in the airport asked for 50, then the second guy asked for 100 so I just laughed and walked outside. It was a bidding war outside, I felt like a celebrity being mobbed by paparazzi. Some offers were being yelled out “35!” “30!” and one guy yelled “20!” so I took him up on it and loaded myself into the back of his mototaxi. He spun a story about needing 25 soles since he needed to pay the exit fee for the airport so I just gave him the 25 and sat back to enjoy my ride to the hotel. First impressions of Iquitos were that it was dirty, hot, muggy, and noisy. It was approaching midday when I arrived, and every street was full of mototaxis zipping up and down with their loud engines. Not every street had a traffic light so they would all slow down and cross the intersection. There were very few cars and trucks in the city to my surprise but it makes sense because Iquitos is the largest isolated city without road access. Any vehicles must be flown in or taken on a barge up the river. This city is man’s last civilization in the heart of the jungle. I was relieved that my room was already available to check in when I arrived at the hostel. It was very primitive, a private room with my own bathroom, cold water only and a small fan to beat the 30 degree humid heat. Yet it only cost $9 for the night so you wouldn’t hear me complaining! I quickly realised though that this wouldn’t be sufficient for my 2 nights in Iquitos city after spending 3 in the Amazon with power only for 3 hours a night – I desired air conditioning as a treat for surviving those conditions. While the wifi was spotty, I was able to browse and book another hotel a little closer to the central city with air conditioning for about $25 per night, with air conditioning listed in the title in all caps. Hooray!

[dapper-lil-arts]

IM GONNA BLAB ABOUT HOW I BEAT EVERY LEVEL ON THE HARDEST DIFFICULTY YAY

This campaign was SO fun. Every level was more of wonderful things, or just complete innovation and I adored every second of it– The god powers were fun to experiment with and the new myth units were fucking AWESOME, so hey, in light of me having done this last time, let me explain how I beat each level on ludicrous, because why not:

1 -  Shennong’s Chosen: This one is pretty easy, its essentially a tutorial, but on ludicrous, is kind of a test of how good your micro is. Abuse Yan Feifeng’s shield ability, (Even waiting for it to recharge between fights!) and very much stand around after each encounter to let Cangjie heal all your units. Important to state, in the final battle, your forces cannot win head on- you NEED to hit the enemy with the god power of firestorm they give you or you lose– But the AI is programmed to run away from it sometimes, so try and keep them in the area. (thats awesome thooo)

2 - Houyi’s Pride: This is one of those simple and easy levels where you cant leave the classical age, but it also means the enemy is easy to deal with. Now, they do have access to myth units and you don’t, and you don’t have access to healing, but its not that bad. For starters, sending people to convert the scattered villagers is a good move to get your economy booming as fast as possible, especially with wood, because that’s your bread and butter.

Also you can’t build walls, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build blockades! Build like three armories in the south and the enemy will be compelled to go from the top, build a barrack or two on the east pass and the enemy will be compelled to attack the barracks instead of your soldiers, giving you a very cheesy advantage. This level is just classical age fun, heh!

3 - Stronger Together: This level starts a troubling trend where the enemy has three bases and you only have one– But it's not that bad. If you worship Houtu, she can give you the earth wall power, and you can spam that for some very cheesy protection that breaks the enemy AI.

Behold. they are stuck.

That, coupled with the free extra sages you can get attacking the north pass can allow you to cheese this mission pretty thoroughly and enjoyably– I’m glad I played this before the patched whatever AI defect makes them be stuck on earth walls, because WOW, lmao.Still though, I kept exploration to a minimum and just dominated the right area of the map as I built an army capable of flattening Nuchow.

4 - The God Trap: This level isn’t hard at all, it’s another micro adventure level that rewards exploration. Not much to say other than explore every corner of the map before attacking the main base, and to be very careful to not lose important units in every bout! You can cheese the final part by using flood on the big enemy force and then fei beasts when they’re amassed together.

5 - Overcoming fixations: How cool is it that you can pick where you start this mission on???? SO awesome. I pick the right, since it provides you with less areas for the enemy to attack you from. I adored how the mission has both a rush and a build up aspect to it– You really have to destroy that first ballista fast, but then take your time with the next ones– After that, it's just a matter of building  up and advancing slowly!

You can destroy the entire pirate base with flying myth units with basically no resistance, btw– It was very fun to discover that. It's a bit challenging to find out where the enemy CAN attack from since the waters are shallow, too– You have to cover all your bases.

Also there must be an oversight bug, but you can build a wonder in this mission, something I absolutely abused heh. I hope they don’t patch this!!

6 - Reality’s Collapse: I don’t know why but this level is a real cakewalk! The enemy boat waves come slowly, you can easily mount a resistance to it. You should immediately move all your soldiers and a bit of your villagers to the westernmost area of the map where there’s a new settlement there.

From that, just build a solid attack force and push directly towards the enemy! You can use the flood power to really damage the final attack force, so even if you’re struggling, you’ll push through. A minor disappointment in some of these levels is that a time limit really does discourage exploration! You have to focus on being incredibly aggressive, no time for relics or settling on other islands. But hey, this makes the levels a lot more exiting and adrenaline pumping, heheh!

7- Shattered Underworlds: This level is pure fanservice, and I LOVE it. My inner child was squealing with delight. It’s a very micro intensive mission, you’ll need to take your sweet time and save frequently!

The order I would recommend doing this on is Greek -> Norse -> Egyptian -> Atlantean! Be sure to take the greek shades with you and NOT waste them in a fight, because you can send them to scout every one of the next areas for you, even collecting things!! For example, in the norse section, you can spot and take every frost giant immediately, and in the egypt area, you can trigger the ambushes early, making it so the mummy minions will die off with time BEFORE you need to fight them!! Its brilliant hehe

The atlantean part is a bit difficult, be sure to use the atlantean forces at your disposal for assistance! They tell you to collect some coral shit but I honestly have NO idea what it’s for.

Save all your god powers for the chinese section and it’ll be a cheesy awesome win, heh! (though the frost power might be more useful in the atlantean part!)

8 - Divine intervention: Hooo boy, defense levels. They’re either incredible or fuckin hard, i’m happy to say this one is fun. You start on the mythic age and with a solid collection of god powers to use and upgrades already taken, Use that. Double-wall every entrance to your base immediately, send a Kuafu to build a settlement on the south as soon as possible, and make sure your east force is the strongest, because that’s where you’ll be attacked the most. I kind of saved all my favor for the earth wall power- It wasn’t pretty or even smooth, but it allowed me for a pretty solid win. After you get your armies going properly, you can diverge all your citizens to the wonder and finish the mission way faster, something I find awesome– It’s like the sacred relic mission from the egyptian campaign but on CRACK! I love it.

There’s some wonderful resemblances to the finale of the og campaign and even more wonderful differences. This campaign’s climax is masterful.

9 - Duel of the Deathless: I wish we could have taken that wonder with us 😭 But this mission is still PHENOMENAL. It’s a mix of ‘rush to build something’ with ‘high octane defense’ with ‘high octane ASSAULT’ and somehow it mixes INCREDIBLY. For starters, the enemy can only attack you from two areas, you need to rush to double wall the two areas. Not just that, but there’s two settlements on the south and west of the map that NEVER get attacked, you need to send a kuafu to each to get your economy boosted on triple ways, heheh. To compensate for you not building any troops, there’s three atlantean reinforcements you can get to fill your troops AND THEY’RE ALL HERO FANATIC AND ARCUS THEY’RE SO GOOD!!! AUGH I LOVE THEM– to the north of your base, very close, on the path of the western settlement, and on the south of Brokk and Eitri’s base, RLY far, but still useful! You need to build five sages to charge the titan gate, but this will mean basically no healing– You can even have Cangjie help build it, but honestly, I wouldn’t. Hell– I might even say not building the titan gate at all might be better. Chiyou can be beaten by spamming pioneers, provided you take all your heroes with you and your base is kind of undefended, it's a time sink to kill it, but it’s not hard, provided you’ve amassed enough resources to spam pioneers.

Building five or so imperial academies on the Nuwa base to the south should do the trick to help you out on this.

The enemy will attack with a sage hero that can copy your myth units, so be REALLY careful to not let him convert your Yinglong. That dragon is an INCREDIBLY useful tool in this mission,you need to cherish it. Hell, with Zhuques and Quinglongs, you can attack Chiyou WITHOUT being attacked back. These aerial myth units are some of the best around and Shennong will provide you with PLENTY!

You are handed every tool to beat this level, you just have to perform admirably and do well. OH and be careful, if you do release your titan, its highly likely he gets stuck on the podium her rises from! Better save your game before you let him out or you coult risk NOT having a titan. And the enemy will not be sitting around letting you just use a titan to demolish their base, titans are NOT very strong in this game. (that or they nerfed this poor soul) Either way if you got this far, victory is assured, and god, this level is incredibly fucking fun. So many rewards for exploration, for proper building of your base– And its so fun to see an incredibly similar map o the previous level, but recontextualized!! So cool!

Overall, this campaign is insanely enjoyable, the gods are amazing,the levels are really well composed, the heroes are very fun to follow (I especially love how Yan Feifeng is a sopping wet guy out of his depth and Houyi is a super cocky ass that can backup his big talk, heheh.) and if nothing else, this makes me so excited for what might come next!!

Like– Are they going to make a sumerian pantheon and make a campaign with the tale of Gilgamesh?! Are they going to make an Aztec pantheon with sprawling civilizations and mountainous levels??!??!?!?!?

ARE THEY GOING TO RELEASE FOURTH MAJOR GOD DLCS SUCH AS DEMETER AND SELENE?? I NEED THEM!! (Granted I think Selene might classify as a minor god) BUT STILL!!!!!

There’s so much they can add to this game, and the dev team is doing SUCH an incredible job– I only hope they keep at it. I hope this game keeps getting content for YEARS to come.

And now I've beaten all of the new Age of Mythology expansion on the hardest difficulty -v-

[jupitermelichios]

So I’ve been playing a lot of skyrim lately, because it’s video game comfort food, and I decided it was time for my Redguard Dovahkiin to settle down. (Actually I specifically just wanted to be able to adopt some of the random orphans you meet because I felt guilty about them, but you need to be married before you can do that so that there’s someone at home to take care of the kids while you’re off galivanting).

So I travelled around a bit, chatting up likely looking npcs until I found one I both liked and didn’t feel guilty about marrying (I feel bad if I marry one of the warrior adventurer types, making them be a stay at home mum) and settled on an obnoxiously cheerful argonian called Shavee because her life was frankly shit, and I thought she’d probably be good with kids.

So off I go to Riften to the Temple of Mara to arrange the wedding. I book it in for the next day, realise I didn’t bring anything nice to wear, and spend the night before the wedding robbing every house in the city in the search for something to wear. Eventually decide everyone in Riften has terrible fashion sense and break down everything I stole into raw materials and use them to craft myself an outfit and some jewellery that i’m pretty happy with. I even carefully pick out my fanciest looking sword to wear.

(don’t know why I bothered, frankly, shavee turned up wearing a shirt covered in suspicious stains and weilding a pickaxe, it’s like she doesn’t even care about this marriage)

(also for comedy purposes, bear in mind I play with survival mods that mean my character needs to eat and sleep to live, and I literally spent the entire ingame night on this and forgot to eat and drink anything either and then just downed four bowls of wolf stew right before entering the temple so I didn’t starve during the ceremony. also I discovered during the wedding that I am dying of rockjoint, which I contracted from sleeping in a pile of hay on the floor of a skeever infested cave, so even being six foot tall and jacked can’t make up for the fact that I am exhausted, running a fever, and probably covered in wolf which I spilled because my joints are slowly atrophying, and even the fanciest clothes in the world aren’t going to cover that up)

so I enter the temple, and my finance is there, and Lydia my housecarl, and some random NPCs the game thinks are my friends because I did fetch quests for them

One of the random NPCs is Lisbet. Atfter I did her fetch quest, I then did another quest in which I discovered Lisbet is secretly a cannibal and part of a demonic cult that worships the daedric prince of decay by kidnapping priests, sacrificing them, and then eating their corpses. Raw. I think the raw meat is the sticking point for me here honestly.

I ultimately decided not to sacrifice the random priest to a daedric prince in exchange for one magic ring and all the raw human I could eat, because frankly, that doesn’t sound like much of a deal to me. I was expecting there to be some kind of dialogue choice where I could nope out at the last minute, but it turns out there isn’t one, so after they drugged the priest and tied him to the altar, I just got out my sword and started swinging.

I killed most of the cult (including the town butcher, because I had brought meat from him before and was extremely pissed off that he might have been secretly feeding me humans) but a couple of them got away, which I figured was fine because they weren’t trying to kill me.

Except it turns out, if any of them escape, then every time you see them in the future there’s a random chance that they’ll fly into a violent rage and try and murder you.

Lisbet is at my wedding. Lisbet decides that clearly me marrying this random argonian woman with two lines of dialogue is the happiest day of my life, and she cannot allow me that happiness, when I’ve taken so much from her.

So she tries to kill me. Only she can’t, because I’m stuck in a pre-rendered wedding animation, and also she’s sitting next to Lydia, my faithful retainer and owner of a really big axe.

It also turns out that Lisbet is essential, meaning she can be knocked unconcious but not actually killed because she’s needed for some quest or other. And the minute she wakes up from unconciousness, she tries to kill me again, so Lydia knocks her unconcious again, and I’m stuck, I can’t move, because I’m supposed to be in the wedding animation.

Except Shavee has, not unreasonably, see all this and decided that she doesn’t like me enough to risk getting murdered, and has done a runner, leaving me at the altar, but more importantly, leaving me trapped in a broken pre-rendered animation, so all I can do is stand there at the altar, staring at the space where my fiance was supposed to be, listening to the sounds of Lydia trying and failing to beat a cannibal to death behind me.

Okay, I think, clearly this wedding isn’t going to happen, I’m going to go for the registry office option and complete the wedding using the dev commands. I do this. The priest gives me a wedding ring, and I can finally move again. I chase after Shavee, who has an impressive turn of speed on her, and eventually catch up right by the city gates. I try to talk to her.

Apparently using the console has completed the wedding for me, but not for her, because she still only has the same 2 lines of dialogue she usually has.

Clearly this is working, I can’t leave my kids with someone who can only say 2 things and doesn’t even know she’s their mum, that’s irresponsible.

I try loading from inside the temple. I get the same problem.

Eventually I figure out that I need to use the dev controls to disable Lisbet’s entire existence in the universe.

Shavee and me get married. As the priest reads the vows, I stare at Shavee and wonder why she couldn’t even be bothered to put on a clean shirt. I wonder what kind of mother she’ll be.

Once the ceremony is over, and I’m happily married to the dirty green lizard of my dreams, and we’ve agreed that until I can make her recognise my extremely nice modded house exists I will share her single bed in the unheated flophouse in Windhelm she calls home, I re-enable Lisbet, because I’m worried I’ll forget if I leave it too long.

Fun fact about skyrim, it loads in quite a lot of npcs and objects by dropping them from the sky. I have no idea why this is the case, but it’s objectively the funniest way to load in objects.

I re-enable Lisbet. She falls from the sky, clips through the roof of the temple, and lands in the pew beside Lydia, stands up, draws a knife, and is immedately beaten unconcious.

I no longer care, because Shavee now has all the exciting new spouse-only romantic dialogue options like “Could you cook something for me” and “have you made any money lately”, and I know she’ll be a great mother.

I limp to the door of the temple, while around me the guests not involved in the Lydia-Lisbet murder cycle scream and duck for cover.

I open the door to the temple, immediately collapse and ragdoll down the steps, which is how I discover I am dying of rockjoint.

I limp to the orphanage down the street, adopt two kids, and then finally remember that I’m carrying garlic bread, which as we all know, cures all known illnesses.

When I emerge back into the street, full of the joys of motherhood and garlic bread, I find the town in disaray. Lydia is chasing Lisbet through the streets with an axe and a dragon is circling overhead, burning npcs to death. People are running for shelter, screaming, while the guards try to take down an entire dragon using only the worst bows and arrows in the game.

I decide that as a parent, I have to think of my own safety first and leave them to it.

I head out of the city, intent on returning home and figuring out why Shavee refuses to move in with me. A man hanging around the stables challenges me to a boxing match. For want of anything better to do, I agree.

Halfway through the fight he dodges at the wrong moment and I punch one of his horses in the head.

Two guards attack me while I desperately try to surrender. My kids will miss me, but I’m prepared to go to jail for my horse crimes, I’m an honest citizen. Also my horse crimes seem somewhat less important than the dragon.

The guards refuse to accept my surrender. I am stabbed to death. As I collapse in front of the indifferent horse, Lisbet exits the city, followed by Lydia. The last thing I see before I die is Lydia swinging her axe at Lisbet’s face.