#every visit has been an absolutely surreal experience

[gu6chan]

Your post about The Most American Sandwhich just made me imagine Leonard as an American... Leonard scuttling about at a Walmart parking lot, trying to fit all the food he bought in the trunk (enough to hermit away for the next few weeks begote he has to restock again)

this is a bit late but this has me WAILING........ american leonard, what groceries will he buy........ do you think he would treat him also to The Most American Sandwich

now introducing: the U.P's youngest resident

also during the process of scribbling in his hoodie i looked at it and almost started crying

[ultravioletfuture]

ULTRAVIOLET VISIONS: We Are Back Online!

May 10, 2024 - portal.rwb

Welcome back everyone to a brand new edition of ULTRAVIOLET VISIONS! It's been months since our last blog post on here and it's honestly been long overdue for some updates. Before I get into the usual music recommendations, discussions, and shoutouts, I just thought I'd give an update on everything going on with me and the label and some explanation for certain delays like with shipping and these blogs.

In August we will be hitting our 2 year anniversary since UVF's initial launch and it has been an absolute blast working on this project. Since Day 1, I've wanted to build a platform to emphasize and promote all of the amazing music I've been a fan of in this scene and giving them a place to really shine and highlight them for the hidden gems that they are. Every single release felt like such a great success in my mind, regardless of sales or numbers, but mainly just due to the fact that we were able to turn someone's digital release and give it a tangible, physical form. With music being so heavily emphasized in the digital space these days, there's a special feeling when getting to hold a physical release in your hand like a tape or a CD. Things have changed a ton since the start of this label (mostly for the better!) and it's been a hard time for me personally to balance everything going on in my busy life. I still have every bit of passion and determination inside of me to continue on with this project as when I first started 2 years ago, but I definitely feel like in the past year or so I haven't been able to live up to my ambitions and fulfill the goals I strive for. There's a lot more I could be doing to improve the whole experience on everyone's end regarding UVF and I really want to focus on just cleaning things up and trying to stay on top of new releases and updates. Currently we have a couple releases lined up for UVF that I'm excited to share, but I wouldn't feel comfortable continuing to put releases out knowing there are still delays for orders. Once all pending orders have been shipped out, I can't wait to continue on with expanding the UVF catalog and sharing more music with you all. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me with any concerns regarding your orders and I'd be happy to give you any info you need.

With all that being said, let's kick things off with a recap of all the latest updates regarding artists on the UVF roster!

UVF Updates

Spring Dream

On April 21st, TRUMAN! hosted the "Spring Dream" show at Complex24 in Denver, Colorado with most of the returning roster from the previous "Snow Dream" show. Truman was kind enough to invite me to play and with some planning, I was able to book a flight for the weekend and play my first ever live show!

Our trip to Denver was amazing and we had such a great time hanging out with everyone for the show! This was actually the first time I would be meeting any online mutuals so it was pretty nerve racking, but everyone was insanely kind and welcoming. Since starting our Lunar Data Garden project, Truman and I have gotten to know each other a ton and meeting in person for the first time was pretty surreal. Despite all the nerves, Truman was a great host and took us all around Denver. As soon as we landed we got some Korean BBQ and just yapped in person for the first time. The next day would be our one big day to pack as many things to do as possible before we had to really get into "show mode" come Sunday. We got these fire breakfast bagels, went to the Museum of Nature and Science, visited the Aquarium, stopped by a 4/20 music festival downtown, and ended the night at this super cozy bar with one of the best burgers I've had in forever. I swear all I was thinking of in my head after touring around Denver that day was "God a bacon cheeseburger and a beer would fucking smack right now" and when dinner came around it's like Truman read my mind immediately lol. Sunday rolled around and I met up at Truman's apartment to practice our sets when I met Sam (sigiliyph) and Aiden (Atekin) for the first time! They were super chill and we all practiced our sets for a couple hours before the show. Truman and I rode together to the show and bonded as we feasted on Wendy's Biggie Bags. When the actual show started, the energy was super sick and intimate in comparison to any other show I've been to. It's been a while since I've gone and been to any concerts or shows before so just being around people interested in similar music as me in this super underground venue was such a nice feeling. Without going into extreme detail over everyone's set, I just wanna say that everyone killed it and brought so much energy to the show that night! The whole night felt like it flew by so quickly and the thought of finally having to leave was starting to kick in. Shoutout to Luxury Noise, Big Baby Profit, Charlotte, Astrid, Aiden and Sam for sharing this night with and being super chill people to talk and hang out with! Thanks to Big Baby Profit for setting things up to get our set's recorded! You can watch both my portal.rwb set as well as the world's first Lunar Data Garden set over at the ULTRAVIOLET-FUTURE youtube channel. The Lunar Data Garden set will also be compiled into a Live Album over on the LDG Bandcamp page so be sure to support us there as well.

New scarecrow_ Album, "Our Shadow"!

Progressive Vaporwave artist scarecrow_ is back with their latest album "Our Shadow"! After the release of their ambitious double album "Flora & Fauna", scarecrow_ returns with another 10 boundary pushing tracks that further expand their already vast and intricate take of the NUWRLD style. Starting off the album, "Awake" takes us on a 7 minute expansive journey through multiple different switch ups that somehow blend coherently into each other. The track ranges from it's bright and punchy vocal stabs in the opening to it's melancholic arpeggio passages in the midpoint. I love the way that scarecrow_ can pack so many different styles and layers into one track while constantly keeping the listener on their toes, waiting to see what happens at every turn. Other standout tracks to me include "Lover" for it's tight groove chaotic energy throughout the track. "Station" is a track that takes you on a slow journey down a dramatic path of hard hitting drums and waltz-like melodies. At the halfway point, the song comes to a halt and transforms into this eerie slow building vocal chant that increases in energy as layers of drums and synths pile on top of each other beautifully. The vocal refrains on this track are very reminiscent of something you'd hear on a Giant Claw record. The penultimate track "Separate" is an instant favorite of mine for it's mind boggling production. Easily being the glitchiest track on the album with chops that will leave your ears begging for more, "Separate" is what I can only describe as a stroke of pure genius and masterclass in song structure and creativity. One of my favorite tracks I've heard all year for sure. "Just For Now" ends the album off on such a bittersweet note, wrapping the album up beautifully with a bow on top before crashing into it's destructive and explosive end in the later half of the track. Overall, scarecrow_ proves themselves once again as being one of the most forward thinking artists to come out of the Vaporwave genre in recent years and continues to expand the sound of their already vastly diverse catalog. As always I HIGHLY recommend this album as well as any of scarecrow_'s previous works. If you go into this extensive catalog of music with an open mind, I promise you'll come out the other end with your mind blown. As the title suggests, when I first discovered scarecrow_'s music 2 years ago I was truly "Never The Same" ;) . As previously mentioned, scarecrow_ also released their last album "Flora & Fauna" on ULTRAVIOLET-FUTURE! The album is available on CD and Minidisc if you would like to support both scarecrow_ and I in the process. Personally, this was one of my favorite albums of last year and I was super proud of how the whole CD and Minidisc design came out.

"Heaven's Medallion", a New Album under the Two Circles side alias, out://of//bounds

After the release of their all encompassing record "Inbetween Everything" back in December 2023, Two Circles is back with a brand new album under their more ambient/slushwave side alias out://of//bounds! "Heaven's Medallion" delivers us a heartwarming and enchanting collection of 6 songs that take your mind through a journey that can only be brought by Two Circle's signature charm. The first track "Amulet (魔法)" warps us into an empty plane as a heavenly landscape begins to slowly expand before you. The track slowly envelops every nook and cranny in your brain with its lush pads until suddenly you are stuck with a yearning melody as you stare into heaven itself. "Sailing the Cloud Sea // City Limits" is s slow 2 part endeavor as you traverse through this 10 minute trek. "Sailing The Cloud Sea" is a relaxing boat ride as you stare into a sea of clouds before you and lose yourself in the bright pink skies. Reaching the second half, the clouds begin to clear as we enter "City Limits" and view the city thats ahead of us. Beautiful ocarina melodies flood our ears as we arrive at our destination and dock for now. In "世界の木" , we are confronted with the almighty "World Tree" as we seek for answers from within through the means of connecting with the environment around us. A melancholic resting point to gather our thoughts before continuing on the rest of our adventure. Dawn approaches as "Eventide Nightfall // Moon In Front" brings us into a dreamy, spiraling lullaby where we can slowly melt away as layers of synths cascade onto the night sky. "The Balance of Many" leaves us to gather our things as our journey comes to an end. Pillowy synths build up as we connect one last time with the heavenly atmosphere that's been painted before our eyes. After travelling through clouds and dreams, "Heaven's Medallion" is there in the end, waiting for us to reach out and grab from the skies. As always, this new out://of//bounds adventure doesn't disappoint and will leave you filled with emotion and a sense of what I can only describe as 'home". With every new installment, I'm consintantly blown away by how effortlessly Two Circles is able to build entire worlds in front of you and paint sonic masterpieces for you to pick apart and add to your library of emotions. In case you missed it, Two Circles released their magnum opus "Inbetween Everything" on ULTRAVIOLET-FUTURE late last year! Minidiscs have sadly sold out but the album is still available on CD if you'd like to pick up a copy and support both Two Circles and I. The album is also accompanied by a spectacular visualizer that's available to watch on the UVF youtube channel as well as Two Circle's youtube channel. I can tell they put their entire heart and soul into the visuals they created so I highly recommend you all check it out whenever you get the chance.

UV Spotlight

Moving on from all the happenings with our UVF artists, I wanted to share a couple albums that I've been a fan of and have had in my rotation recently!

"Accela" by Lila Tirando a Violeta

I discovered this album while randomly digging through Bandcamp a few months ago and have been pleasantly surprised with how heavy yet beautiful this album sounds. "Accela" is a mind-melting amalgamation of heavy distorted electronic music with brilliantly crafted sound design experiments sprinkled throughout. The album is entrancing yet abrasive leaving you stranded in this desolate landscape filled with prickly electronics and hellish growls. Definitely might be a more challenging listen and not for everyone but has definitely peaked my interest since first discovering it. The album is also available on cassette through their Bandcamp page if you'd like to support Lila Tirando a Violeta either physically or digitally!

"No More Tears" by Venus Death Trap

Venus Death Trap seems to be an artist that popped up out of nowhere but has made quite a splash with this latest record to come out on Business Casual. "No More Tears" is a brand new hour long record with 17 tracks ranging from bright, upbeat tracks like “You Know I Love You, Right?”, to more NUWRLD styled tracks like “Love Me” that are very reminiscent of albums like “I’ll Try Living Like This”. I’m always happy to hear any new albums in the scene that take heavy inspiration from acts like death’s dynamic shroud so this will be right up your alley if you’re looking for more music in that style.

"👁​点​击​と​👁" by 👁️‍🗨️📲

Legendary Vaporwave duo 👁️‍🗨️📲 delivered with a monumental new album, “I Click With My Eye”. Honestly, I couldn't give all my thoughts here and could probably do an entire video on this album, but in short, this feels like the ultimate culmination of Vaporwave as a genre up to this point in time. A time capsule of sound that has just taken the past 10 years of Internet culture and jam packing it into a 50 minute experience. The Visual Album that accompanies this album is a must watch imo and truly elevates the entire album to a whole new level. 👁️‍🗨️📲 has truly cracked the Vaporwave code and concocted a generational album. The album was released on Kats kill Records along with a beautiful vinyl release that currently has a couple copies left on overstock so grab one while you can!

"The Wrong Side Of The Soul" by アバドン

アバドン (aka Abaddon) released their latest record "The Wrong Side Of The Soul" towards the end of last year, and ended up on my AOTY list. The album is filled to the brim with Abaddon’s usual fusion of heavy electronic instrumentals and glitchy vapor fueled vocal sampling. Abaddon has slowly and slowly perfected their style and you can see them finally reach a point with this album where they are able to show off their creative ideas to the fullest. The album was also accompanied by a gorgeous cassette release under Cityman Productions so be sure to snag a copy for yourself!

"ミ​ラ​ー​リ​ン​グ TOWER" by NUWRLD Clubhouse

Every year, the NUWRLD Clubhouse discord server comes together to form a yearly compilation made by various artists in the mixtape club. This year we decided on finally making a remix compilation of DDS remixes titled "ミ​ラ​ー​リ​ン​グ TOWER"! The compilation features 36 remixes of various songs from the vast DDS catalog. This has been a big passion project for members of the mixtape club and we are super happy to finally have it put together and released! Unfortunately, the compilation is only available to mixtape club members at the moment, but many of the artists have released their remixes on their various platforms to check out. Nevertheless, the DDS mixtape club is one of the best things this scene has to offer and would be a great excuse to check out over 3 years worth of NUWRLD monthly mixtapes! Also big shoutout to Two Circles for coming up with the cover art for the comp since they did such an amazing job I seriously can’t get enought of it!

Finally, I just want to give a huge thank you to everyone out there that checks out and reads these blogs! Writing these blogs up has taken up a lot more of my time than I had expected which is why I haven’t gotten one out in a while, but I figured we were long overdue for a new post. As always, it would be greatly appreciated if you share the blog with your friends or anyone who might be interested and be sure to join our Discord as well as follow us on our social medias to keep yourself updated with all of our releases. Hope you all have a great Friday or whenever you end up reading this and I’ll catch you on the next blog post 💜

-portal.rwb from UVF

[pontevoix]

@bakgos​  : '     ma!     ' keisuke greets over the phone , elated , enthralled , all too enveloped in sunshine with the way he dons the biggest grin , much too big to be fully captured over a phone screen. facetime isn't enough to handle his joy , not when akari's spoken her first word & it just so happened to be dada    ⎯⎯    perhaps you could argue she meant either kai OR keisuke , & though kaito has keisuke's entire heart , keisuke's about to take this situation as his own victory. ' she said her first word! & it was for me! '

it’s not their custom to call or facetime in the middle of work day. granted, keisuke’s schedule is a little more irregular than hers; his hours stretch too long. only recently has he learned to use his days off — thanks to the help of a son . . . & now a daughter.

akari is a warm thing, & she’s adorable —- mitsuki knows that akari makes everything dissolve into something softer &

mitsuki remembers a years’ ago beginning. two months pregnant, & she spent time jabbing her own abdomen with her index finger & laying her palm flat against her stomach & promising that she would not be one of those mothers who abandons everything for the sake of parenthood. it’s not a bad thing to do so, but she had seen it done unsuccessfully.

for record: keisuke has done it successfully.

his decision to be a parent has been so conscientious that the threat of misery is minimal & benign. it’s obvious in the way that he dotes & shines with every nonword akari garbles &

apparently, every word that akari offers. dada is a series of sounds that may be a mistake or may be a victory but — if asked ? mitsuki sides with her son. therefore, keisuke is absolutely correct in assuming that akari’s first word was for him, &

it’s amazing to be a grandmother. which is . . . a broad statement, but mitsuki at twenty years of age woke up each day & thought of herself in the first person. now, years later, she wakes up & thinks of herself in first person &

from the isolated first person alone, it’s surreal to have come to a point of life where two generations have followed after her —- first person includes the plural first person as their family is expanding &

it makes her feel younger & more alive to have this experience that akari gives her, that keisuke gives her.

she never realized ( until recently ) that being a grandmother is not separate from being keisuke’s mother —- she is a grandmother because she is keisuke’s mother, not because keisuke is her son.

& so as a mother, she sees keisuke’s excitement & she takes a gross screenshot on her phone of their facetimed conversation because she knows how to do that & because

she didn’t see akari’s first maybe word. she did see keisuke’s thrill as a parent & that’s worth recording as his mother. it’ll be something she can boast about later to akari, but

right now ? she too is elated, enthralled, all too enveloped in the story her family makes —- their facetime is short & frantic & it’s a shared moment rather than a conversation &

it’s amazing to included as a grandmother, as a mother. mitsuki had spent a fair amount of time knowing & disguising the feeling that her maternal performance has been ( sometimes ) subpar but shared moments like these mean that

something she & masaru did was enough to be included.

it leaves her humming in the kitchen later, when she makes a cup of tea & when she folds herself over her husband’s shoulders when he squints through his glasses at his phone —

in the family group chat, they send an invite to keisuke & katsuki & kaito & everyone & everyone. mitsuki & masaru will provide dinner & gifts for the children &

mitsuki will argue with katsuki, fuss over keisuke’s hair.

including family in moments means building moments. so . . .

mitsuki will make damn sure that it’s hard to refuse her invitation to dinner.

including family means blackmailing her children to visit so that she can hear akari’s next few words & the next &

so she can continue hearing her sons’ words. even if they’re annoying.

[sikkimtourpackage]

Mystical Darjeeling: Land of Tea & Tranquility

If you’re looking to escape into a land of serene landscapes, crisp mountain air, and stunning tea estates, then Darjeeling is your dream destination. Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas in West Bengal, India, Darjeeling is known for its scenic beauty, captivating culture, and, of course, its world-famous tea. Choosing a Darjeeling tour package offers travelers a chance to explore this vibrant hill station and immerse themselves in everything it has to offer. From picturesque tea gardens to awe-inspiring mountain views, Darjeeling promises an experience that’s nothing short of magical.

1. Darjeeling’s Scenic Beauty: A Himalayan Wonderland

The journey to Darjeeling is a visual treat in itself. With breathtaking mountain vistas, dense forests, and charming villages along the way, you’ll be captivated from the moment you start your ascent. Your Darjeeling tour package will likely include a visit to the iconic Tiger Hill. This viewpoint, located at an altitude of 2,590 meters, offers one of the most stunning sunrises you’ll ever see. Watching the sun cast a golden hue over the peaks of Kanchenjunga, the third-highest mountain in the world, is an unforgettable experience.

The town itself is surrounded by lush greenery, and every turn offers a postcard-worthy view. A well-rounded Darjeeling tour package will also include stops at beautiful spots like Batasia Loop, a spiral railway track that encircles a manicured garden and war memorial. Here, the views of the mountains and the passing toy train add to the surreal experience.

2. Exploring the Tea Gardens: Darjeeling’s Crown Jewel

No trip to Darjeeling is complete without visiting its legendary tea gardens. Darjeeling is renowned globally for its unique tea, which has a light, floral aroma and a distinctive flavor profile. With a Darjeeling tour package, you’ll get the opportunity to explore these tea estates, learn about the intricate process of tea production, and even taste some freshly brewed tea. The sprawling tea plantations, with rows upon rows of tea bushes against the backdrop of misty hills, are a sight to behold.

Among the must-visit tea estates are the Happy Valley Tea Estate and the Glenburn Tea Estate. Here, you can tour the plantations, interact with tea workers, and gain insights into the art of tea cultivation. Many Darjeeling tour packages also offer the chance to purchase authentic Darjeeling tea directly from these estates, allowing you to bring home a piece of this enchanting region.

3. Heritage Sites and Cultural Experiences

Darjeeling boasts a rich cultural heritage that reflects a unique blend of Nepali, Tibetan, and Bengali influences. While exploring with a Darjeeling tour package, you’ll come across numerous monasteries, temples, and colonial-era buildings that tell the story of Darjeeling’s diverse history.

The Ghoom Monastery, one of the oldest in the region, is a popular stop on most Darjeeling tour packages. With its ancient Buddha statue and traditional Tibetan paintings, this monastery provides a peaceful escape and an opportunity to learn about Buddhist culture and traditions. Another landmark is the Japanese Peace Pagoda, a beautiful structure that symbolizes peace and unity. Here, you can participate in traditional prayer sessions, which add a spiritual touch to your journey.

4. The Famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, popularly known as the Toy Train, is an integral part of Darjeeling’s charm and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Riding the toy train is a highlight of many Darjeeling tour packages and offers a nostalgic glimpse into the past. The train winds through steep hills, over narrow bridges, and past stunning views, giving travelers a unique perspective of the area.

For those opting for a Darjeeling tour package, taking the toy train from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, or even on a shorter route between Ghoom and Darjeeling, is an absolute must. It’s not just a mode of transport but a journey back in time, with vintage steam engines and traditional carriages that take you through the heart of Darjeeling’s landscapes.

5. Adventure Activities for Thrill-Seekers

Darjeeling offers a range of adventure activities that cater to thrill-seekers and nature lovers alike. For those looking to add a bit of excitement to their Darjeeling tour package, there are numerous options, such as trekking, river rafting, and paragliding.

One of the most popular treks in the region is the Sandakphu Trek, which takes you through dense forests, colorful rhododendron bushes, and offers panoramic views of four of the world’s highest peaks. For water enthusiasts, river rafting in the Teesta River is an exhilarating experience that provides the thrill of navigating rapids while surrounded by breathtaking mountain scenery.

6. Shopping and Souvenirs: Taking a Piece of Darjeeling Home

Your Darjeeling tour package wouldn’t be complete without a shopping spree. The local markets in Darjeeling are filled with unique handicrafts, woolen clothing, and traditional artifacts that make perfect souvenirs. The Mall Road, also known as Chowrasta, is a popular shopping destination where you can find locally made Tibetan jewelry, handcrafted items, and beautiful Thangka paintings.

Tea is the ultimate souvenir from Darjeeling, and most Darjeeling tour packages include stops at tea shops where you can buy a variety of locally produced teas. These teas make a thoughtful gift and provide a way to savor the flavors of Darjeeling long after you return home.

7. Best Time to Visit and Weather Guide

The best time to book a Darjeeling tour package is during the spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) months. During these times, the weather is pleasant, and the skies are clear, offering ideal conditions for sightseeing and outdoor activities. Winter, from December to February, can also be charming if you don’t mind the cold, as Darjeeling is known for its beautiful winter landscapes.

Monsoon season (June to August) is generally less recommended due to heavy rainfall and landslides, which can impact travel plans. However, if you’re a fan of misty, romantic landscapes, the monsoon adds an entirely different charm to the region.

8. Cuisine: Savor the Flavors of Darjeeling

A Darjeeling tour package offers you a chance to indulge in the region’s delicious cuisine, which blends Indian, Nepali, and Tibetan influences. From momos (dumplings) and thukpa (noodle soup) to churpee (a local cheese) and Darjeeling tea itself, the culinary experiences in Darjeeling are diverse and memorable.

For food enthusiasts, a stroll along the local food stalls on the streets of Darjeeling is a treat. The fresh flavors of local ingredients, combined with the warmth of traditional Himalayan dishes, provide a satisfying culinary journey.

9. Plan Your Dream Getaway with a Darjeeling Tour Package

A Darjeeling tour package offers travelers a well-rounded experience, taking care of transportation, accommodation, and a curated itinerary. Whether you’re traveling solo, with family, or on a honeymoon, a tour package can help you make the most of your time in Darjeeling by ensuring you don’t miss any highlights. Most packages include guided tours, which provide fascinating insights into the history, culture, and natural beauty of the region.

In conclusion, Darjeeling is a mesmerizing destination that captivates the hearts of all who visit. Its majestic mountains, serene tea gardens, rich heritage, and adventurous activities offer an unforgettable experience. When you choose a Darjeeling tour package, you’re choosing to immerse yourself in the beauty and culture of this Himalayan gem. Whether you’re admiring the sunrise over Kanchenjunga, savoring a cup of freshly brewed tea, or exploring historic sites, Darjeeling promises a journey that will leave you with cherished memories for years to come.

So, why wait? Book your Darjeeling tour package today, and let the enchanting hills, vibrant culture, and breathtaking landscapes of Darjeeling weave their magic on you.

[lutethebodies]

LTB Worldbuilding Wednesdays: The Woodlands of Haervudt

A weekly series in which two of my BG3 Tavs describe the original homebrew 5e world they live in.

Cannor’s Guide

“The Greatwood is overwhelming. Its natural beauty dominates the senses, but it’s a stark and sublime beauty—the kind that transfixes you right before it devours you, the kind that’s so unpredictably wild and feral that it’s uncannily surreal. There’s a saying in the Old Northwest that goes ‘If the world’s people vanished at sunrise, Nua would reclaim Haervudt within an hour.’ I’ve only been there once, but I can confirm that’s absolutely true—and not just because of the capricious power of nature. The people here—of all ancestries—languish in a strange and resigned disaffection that pervades every psyche. Some of Haervudt’s more resilient residents might untether themselves and flourish individually, but collectively their numbers are so few among the already small population ratio of civilization-to-wilderness that their inherent luminosities are but pricks of light in the vast dark forest.”

“And the forest is punishingly vast and dreadfully dark. It wasn’t so long ago that the near-abandoned nation of Unvaalia was overrun by trees that look primeval but definitely aren’t. Thick tracts of woodland carpeted what were once farms, moors, and bogs, immediately growing a canopy that smothered out most sunlight. The ancient Erynnath may have been decimated by the Deathwave many millennia ago, but when they came down from their highlands and up from their caverns to reclaim these lands with magic and might, they came to stay. Many live among the trees like their eastern Anuelidathi kin, but many more live in impenetrable fortresses high in the mountains, or in tunnel networks below the surface. Outside those settlements is anyone’s guess, so of course everyone has guessed to excess. Greatwood trees are said to move and speak, and monsters allegedly prowl and prey on foolish forest wanderers. I didn’t see such things when I was in Haervudt—but again I was only there once, and I saw merely a fraction of it.”

“And what I saw were simply people, with all the foibles and flaws of people everywhere. The Graadti elves are too flush with arrogance to share what ancient wisdom remains in their culture, and their Mordti kin are too mired in smug self-importance to accept any hypothetical good-faith overtures along those lines anyway. Local dwarven clans keep to their stonerealms; the reclusive Bherunni and hidden Zharunni far outnumber the handful of agreeable Khorunni spilling over from the hills of Monskava and Veirmaark. The few Vaali left behind by their culture’s many migrations are too fearful to try accomplishing anything beyond what they already know. Each ancestry’s capital reflects that; remote Evedrinath is often closed to outsiders, subterranean Precorrinath (if it even exists anymore) seems to move locations among the Webways, and drab Scovasond rots in malaise on its lonely shore, as if it longs for early release in some hastened afterlife.”

“Some say ‘so why visit or even bother with such a place?’ and I don’t blame them. However, my limited experience there left me with the feeling that Haervudt is ripe for transformation. The vacuums here waiting to be filled are much bigger than the rigid claustrophobia stifling the indomitable souls who resist it. For every hundred elves or dwarves who jealously retreat to the highest and deepest parts of Nua, there are scores—like the devout Rhynna, the dutiful Vital Volunteers, or even the displaced tribe of Anuelidath I traveled there with—who proudly share their knowledge and insight of Nua with less-ancient peoples. For every score of Vaali who looks askance at the wilderness on their doorstep, there are dozens who brave the Greatwood’s thickets or Wild Sea’s storms to sustain their friends and families. It is those people who meet every year at Isgenhadath to reaffirm the alliance that stitches together this enormous country’s scattered cultures.”

Ruy’s Reckoning

“The Greatwood is a sparsely populated, extensive, and unforgiving wilderness of both natural and magical origins. Haervudt is much more than its namesake forest—its rugged mountains, cavernous underworld, and lonely coastline take up at least one-third of the region’s area—but its relatively recent and rapid reclamation by nature and nonhumans in 365 AD is what defines the Greatwood throughout Aviridia. The coastal strip of Finrest is the only human-controlled slice of what was once Unvaalia, the Vaali homeland in the Green North for nearly a century. Vaali who remain there claim Haervudt’s rule despite regressing into a backward, near-pastoral life of subsistence agriculture and aquaculture, and have no choice but to maintain peaceful relations with their reticent neighbors. Much less is known for certain about the non-human regions of this land—the wooded Morenndarae, thermal highlands of Echilimae, and extensive subterranean spaces below both—but thanks to the yearly renewal of cross-cultural alliance at Isgenhadath, some hard facts and useful information have trickled out amongst the legends and lore. We present what’s known for certain in this book.”

Area: 232,887 square miles. Population: 1,514,622; about 10-15 people per square mile. Capital: Scovasond. Main settlements: Scovasond (Woodsound; small town), Graasegra (Greygrass; small town), Koltekaapel (Coldchapel; small town). Fortresses: Kammeholdt (Oldkeep), Tahael (The Toehold). Woodrealms: Adennilath (The Redeemed), Isgenhadath (The Embassy), Evedrinath (The Unconquered), Precorrinath (The Underground). Stonerealms: Zudonad (Hall of Hearths), Beluzad (Hall of Mirrors). Rulers: The Council of Ambassadors. Languages: Vaali, Erynnathi, Unnakhi, Divilathi. Economy: Open mercantile and bartering, producing coal, cod, copper, furs, herring, hops, hides, iron, rye, silver, (contraband) timber, wax; trading for alum, cottons, gold, linens, paper, steel, sugar, wheat, and woolens.

All text and imagery taken from "The Nua Gazetteer, Volume 1" by Keir DuBois (2022).

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[svnflowervol666]

Pinky Promise (dad!Harry)

Word Count: 2.1k

Summary: Harry introduces a certain special someone to the newest addition of his family.

Author’s Note: Surprise! Here’s some boy dad!Harry on this fine week night. I feel like Harry is almost always written as as girl dad (guilty as charged tho), so I wanted to show the boys some love. I didn’t really call this one an ‘x reader,’ because this one’s mostly about Harry and his bub, but the missus is still there, don’t worry! I hope you enjoy and as always, feedback of any kind, likes and especially reblogs are super helpful to keep me motivated to post more. Take care and TPWK.

     The Styles household was always filled with noise. Whether it was contagious laughter echoing off of the walls in the kitchen, the pitter patter of pudgy feet bursting through the back door from the garden, or the low humming of the secondhand record player coming from the living room. The sounds were comforting, reassuring to those that lived there. While the ruckus caused by something like which Joni Mitchell song Harry should play on the guitar before bedtime or what color everyone’s nails should be painted each week might seem chaotic to some, it represented a kind of tranquility that at one point did not seem possible to grasp.

    But today, in the modest, ivy-covered cottage with a pastel-yellow door, it was quiet. The sun poured in from the two open windows of the living area, filling the room with a still brightness that only London could emote. Dust particles danced in the light, drifting along through their own invisible current. The beginnings of the city could be seen in the distance, visible in a foggy haze with promises of sweet treats and adventue-packed days. But no sound, as the newest member of the Styles family had commanded the attention and affection of everyone within its walls.

    “She’s so little,” the youngest spoke up. Although he was now technically the oldest. He outstretched his hand out to caress the petite foot that stuck out from beneath the periwinkle-colored muslin blanket.

    “I know,” Harry replied, watching the swaddled newborn’s toes curl in reaction to being tickled by her brother, “I remember when you were this tiny, too.”

    “I was?” he asked, scratching at his chocolate brown curls that never laid flat.

    Harry nodded in affirmation, recalling the early morning when his son had been born prematurely. He’d spent nearly ten days resting in an uncomfortable vinyl recliner beside his girlfriend’s, who was now his wife, hospital bed counting down the minutes until the nurse would give them the “ok” to go visit their bub in the NICU. Harry stared in awe at his newborn through the glass of the incubator, using the open portal on the side to reach in and stroke his cheek with the faintest of touches. He was covered in wires and tubes, surrounded by monitors and beeping machines, all tasked with keeping his underdeveloped organs afloat. It was the most pitiful thing he had ever seen, and Harry still has those nights where he’s plagued with memories from the hospital. While the day he became a father was most certainly the best day of his life, it was one of the most traumatic experiences he’s ever been through.

    “Mhmm. You were actually even smaller when you were born,” Harry prodded, playfully wiggling his eyebrows at him.

    “No I wasn’t! the toddler jabbed back, crinkling his nose up at his parents, his aquamarine colored eyes turning into tiny slits on either side.

    “Umm, yes you were,” Harry’s wife replied with a chuckle from where she sat beside the rest of her family on the couch, “We bought the tiniest size clothes we could find and they still didn’t fit your teeny little bum.”

    The boy sat confused, trying to comprehend how a person could be smaller than his sister, let alone be so tiny that clothes didn’t even fit them.

    “Well, I’m big now. Right?”

    “Much bigger,” Harry reassured him, “But now that you’re bigger, you have t’ take care of your sister. You have to teach her how to be kind and share your toys with her. Think yeh can do tha’?”

    “Yes! C-can she swim with me in the pool?” he stumbled over his words, overjoyed by the idea of someone always being around to play his sacred water games with him in his nana’s pool.

    “Not yet, bubba,” Harry laughed, tickled by his son’s enthusiasm, “We have t’ wait until she’s a little bit older. But I’m sure she’d love to swim with you at Nana’s when she knows how.”

    “Okayyy,” the boy replied, slightly defeated.

    “Do you want t’ hold her?” Harry asked, gesturing to the sleeping bundle in his lap, her puffy eyelids closed peacefully as tiny, sporadic grunts left her little belly.

    “Yeah, but I don’t know how,” he professed, his plush, pink toddler lips turning down into a frown.

    “’S alright, I’ll show you,” Harry then carefully shuffled from his position on the couch, turning so that he was facing his son.

    “So, first, you have to make sure you hold her head because she can’t keep it up on her own,” Harry started, reaching over to place the baby girl into his son’s arms.

    Unlike the last time, Harry’s hands didn’t shake. He wasn’t afraid like he was before, when his arms trembled as he took his newborn son into his arms for the first time, petrified that he was going to accidentally smother him or drop him and that the worst thing he could imagine would come true. No. This time, his hands were sturdy, protective over his new daughter as he was preparing to introduce her to his firstborn for the very first time.

     Harry’s wife looked on lovingly as his son took the baby from him excitingly, his left hand cupping her head gently. Her tired eyes were filled with love when he wrapped his arm protectively around her little tufts of peach fuzz in the best way that a five-year-old with mediocre hand-eye coordination could.

    “You also have t’ hold her bum so she doesn’t squirm out of your arms.”

    Harry took his son’s hand into his, guiding him to place his tiny forearm along the baby’s back with his palm resting on her diaper-clad bottom. When he was confident of his son’s grip on the infant, he pulled back. He made sure to hover over him with his brawny, tanned arms just ghosting over his son’s. Just in case.

    The boy was elated. His sister was warm and soft, and she looked like one of the stuffed animals that he slept with every night. He couldn’t believe that the person he talked to in his mother’s belly every night for nine months and gave kisses to each morning before nursery school was here and real and now she gets to live with him forever.

    “She’s so cute,” he spoke in gentle whisper this time, remembering what his mum had told him about being quiet around the baby so that she doesn’t wake up cranky.

    He was absolutely smitten over her. Everything about her was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his brief time on Earth: her button nose that sat perfectly above her lips, her miniature fingers wound tightly her fist as if she was ready to fight, her little tongue that barely poked through her mouth each time she yawned. He could stare at her forever if he could.

    Instinctively, he pulled her into his bony chest for a hug, squeezing a little too harder than he should have. The baby girl tensed in his grasp at the motion, the beginnings of a shrill whine escaping her pruney lips.

    “Whoa, bub. You have t’ be careful,” Harry intervened, loosening his son’s arms so that the baby rested peacefully in the boy’s lap again.

    “She’s fragile. You can’t squeeze her like that,” the boy’s mum reminded him.

    “Sorry, Baby,” said the boy as he reached down to press his tiny lips to her eyebrow.

    Her forehead wrinkled up at the contact, similar to one of auntie Gemma’s baby puppies, thought the boy to himself. He also thought that she kind of looked like one of the puppies too, but he kept that to himself.

    Harry and his wife watched their children interacted, how his son was brushing his thumb along her skull, how her face relaxed at the steady motion. They were already in sync with each other, already comforting each other just by their presence. They were both besotted with their daughter, but Harry thinks he might be just a bit more in love with her than his wife. Harry had gotten used to raising his son, while he taught him to be a kindhearted and gentle creature, there had always been a degree of roughness to which he interracted with him. His daughter, however, was made of glass, Harry had convinced himself. He vowed to do whatever it took to make sure she never shed a single tear because of him or anything else he had control over.

    Now, Harry had two babies. One boy and one girl, just like his family before this one. The similarities slightly terrified him. His son was soft and gentle and loving, just like Harry had been as a child. He was sensitive, always yearning to be held and touched in the way that Harry had when he was his age. His daughter, even though she was only a few days old, was already a stubborn little fighter like his sister. She cried her lungs out within her first few hours of being born, kicking and screaming until it looked like her face was turning blue. She hated the harsh lights that the doctors shone in her eyes and their cold hands that poked and prodded at her belly like she was a science experiment. It wasn’t until she was in the arms of her family that her wailing subsided.

    It was thoughts like these that felt surreal to Harry. He never saw himself as someone that could be in the position he is now. He’d always thought he’d be an eternal bachelor, someone who only ever stayed with someone for a certain period of time before everything inevitably blew up in his face and he’d be back at square one. He never thought that he’d be the type of person with a wife and a white picket fence and a slew of babies; he never thought that he could be the type of person who could be this happy.

    “Bubby, can I ask you to promise me something?” Harry asked as he scooped the boy into his lap, making sure the baby was secure so that the three of them laid in one pile on the couch.

     He pulled his wife closer as well, making sure they were shoulder to shoulder and he felt surrounded on all sides by the ones he loved the most.

    “What?” his son asked, peering up at his papa with huge eyes that resembled saucers, his long, dark eyelashes brushing his brow bones.

    “I want you to promise me,” Harry began, wrapping his arms tighter around his two babies, resting his chin in the crook of his son’s neck, “tha’ whatever happens t’ the two of you, no matter how many times you get into fights. No matter how mad you might make each other. That you’ll love her. No matter what. That you’ll always be her big brother.”

    Harry hadn’t realized, but his voice trailed off near the end. His voice was just above a whisper, so quiet that only his son could hear. He pressed his lips to side of his bub’s forehead, an attempt to soothe both his son and himself.

    “Can yeh do that f’ me?”

    The boy in Harry’s lap pondered his father’s words. His finger went absentmindedly to stroke his sister’s hand, astonished when her fingers unfurled from the tight fist they’d been bound in all day. He slipped his pinky into her palm just as her muscles relaxed so that she was now clutching tightly to his digit.

    He had no idea of the weight that Harry’s words carried. He had no idea of the thoughts of uncertainty that haunted Harry about never getting to this point in his life. He doesn’t understand the cruelty that exists outside the walls of his home besides the pesky little boy in his class that borrows his crayons and doesn’t give them back. He doesn’t know that other children don’t grow up in homes with parents that love each other like his do.

    He didn’t know any of these things, but he sensed that it meant a great deal to Harry, and he wanted to make sure that his father knew he could count on him for anything because he loved him with all of his heart and Harry proved that to him every single day.

    “Pinky promise, papa,” the boy responds, loosening his hand that was wrapped around his sister to offer it to Harry.

[weirdcanucks]

Today I’m sharing Hemal Jhaveri’s piece on Pro-Trump insurrection attempt and sports teams’ White House visits. 

Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump insurrectionists was a surreal, chilling but predictable end to a chaotic, racist and violent administration.

Donald Trump has always made it clear exactly who he is. And yet, players and teams, as they didn’t want to admit they stood by what Trump believes, have pretended that the they were somehow honoring the institution, or feigned to be “apolitical,” when the question of visits came up.

“From my side of things, there’s absolutely no politics involved,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said ahead of the teams 2017 visit.

“Every time you get an invitation from the president and being at the White House, it’s going to be a great experience…it’s been a tradition, I think, for many years. We’re not going to mix politics with sports,” Capitals Nicklas Backstrom said of their 2019 visit.

Wednesday’s pictures of frenzied and armed Trump supporters taking over the Congressional floor should be enough to dispel the myth that supporting Trump, in any way manner or form, was an apolitical act. Crowding next to him for a photo op meant ignoring all the violent rhetoric that lead up to Wednesday’s events.

Every visit to the White House is a political act, because it’s implicit support of not just the office, but the man in the office. If it hadn’t already been clear for years, yesterday’s events left no room for doubt what the current man in office is terrifyingly capable of. When players chose to stand next to him, that is the leader they propped up.

Apolitical is a privilege granted only to those who don’t have to worry about the consequences of political actions. For a long time, plenty of athletes have used it as cover. Trump’s inciting of an insurrection should make clear it’s not an acceptable excuse, but an act of moral cowardice.

[violet-knox]

The Family Secret

Chapter 5: Home

Pairing: Young!Snape x Reader

Summary: After spending what felt like forever in the hospital, it’s finally time for Severus to come home. 

Word count: 3093

A/N: Last chapter! Thank you everyone who’s made it all the way to the end! I hope this chapter lives up to the rest of the story and wraps it up nicely. It’s been a long journey starting with the idea of a summer visit to Cokeworth and travelling with the knight bus way back in July of 2020, and I had no clue where I wanted the story to go from there. I’m absolutely thrilled at the experience this story has brought me and I’m very grateful for the support I was given this month with each chapter being posted. 

Since this is the end of this story, I will resume posting my requests and new chapters of LSL next week, alternating between them. I really enjoy posting on Saturdays, no pressure to post on work days and I can take my time putting the post together, so I think from now until further notice, I will continue to post on Saturdays (probably more like Sunday for some of you on the other side of the world). Hopefully this is a schedule everyone will enjoy (let’s see how long i can keep it up this time) and I can’t wait to continue growing my masterlist (which is getting really long and I should probably do something about that). 

Previous Chapter - Chapter 1

Days passed by like weeks, each one just as exhausting as the last, your worry over Severus whenever you were forced to leave him growing until you couldn’t take it anymore. Every day you’d ask if he could be released, pleading with them to let him heal at home, but ‘no’ was all you heard until finally, by the grace of Merlin, they let him leave the hospital and you would no longer have to spend the night complaining about leaving his side. 

You wasted no time running to Severus, finding him dressed and ready to go. You stood by the door and watched him walk towards you, your feet springing to life as you leaped on him, almost toppling him over as you finally gave him a proper hug. You wrapped your arms around him, your bodies pressed together as you buried your face in the crock of his neck. His small chuckles music to your ears, the way his hands ran up and down your back, pressing you into him. He had his strength back, he was whole again, happy and free. You closed your eyes and wouldn’t dare move, too scared to let him go. But of course, as they always did, your parents walked into the room saying it was time to go, only this time, you knew Severus would come along with you and that was the only thing that gave you the strength to push him away. You took his hand and made your way down the halls of the hospital, beyond ecstatic you wouldn’t have to come back here again tomorrow.  

“So, I’ve decided what I want to do after Hogwarts,” you said to him as you walked through the hospital doors, leaving that horrific chapter of your lives behind, keeping your eyes forward. 

“Oh?” Severus smiled, looking over to you in admiration. He loved your optimism, your ability to turn any situation into a positive and he loved how much you cared for him, your grip on him never faulting. 

“I want to be a healer,” you said firmly, smiling right back at him. Severus burst out laughing almost immediately, the irony of your choice rather amusing. You giggled in return, never offended by his hysteria, but simply elated with the sound of his joy. His face was glowing with life, his skin warm beneath your touch, his smile radiant and his booming voice a thing of miracles. Not one week ago was his voice taken from him, the pleasure of hearing it stripped from you. But now, to see his lungs able to take in such a breath as he laughed was the best gift you could have ever received. 

“Why is that funny?!” You asked, a bit taken back by his sudden outburst, wondering what was on his mind.

Severus shook his head as his laughter died down to a smile, his eyes beaming at you, looking at you with admiration. “No, I think you’ll be an amazing healer.”

You smiled back at him, opening the car door and pulling him inside, refusing to let go of his hand as you slid into your seat. Severus wouldn’t dare loosen his grip on you, knowing it would absolutely shatter your heart as it would his. For a week he’d been leaching onto your company, letting it heal him, and for a week, he felt himself become enveloped with sadness every time you left him in tears. He couldn’t wait to get back to his life with you, to return to Hogwarts and finally find himself home again. 

“I’m glad you’re alright,” you said, getting yourself comfortable, sitting as close to him as you could, your head on his shoulders, his arm pressed into your chest, his fingers interlocked with yours. You ran your free hand up and down his arm, until his own hand stilled it, grasping it to rest between you both. 

“Me too,” he whispered, resting his cheek atop your head, a few strands of his hair falling over his face. Severus had always resented car rides, only ever getting the privilege of experiencing one when he grew old enough to help his parents with work or chores. But this car ride made him forget the past and it couldn’t even compare to the one he’d enjoyed when Lily’s mother drove them to the movies for her birthday. He could feel the peace of the city moving past him back then, his life belonging to him and him alone. For the first time in his life, he could do what he wanted, spend his life how he liked and he was happy he’d found you to spend it with. 

All in all, this wouldn’t have been his optimal choice for introducing himself to your parents, but they seemed so nice, so supportive and he knew your influence likely had a hand in how they treated him this past week. He couldn’t imagine what your father had to sacrifice to take on the night shift every day just to look over Severus’ recovery, but he was grateful for it. He felt accepted, like he’d always been a part of your family. It was odd knowing there were people who cared for him as much as he did you, but it was a good feeling. He felt important, like he had purpose, a reason to go on, to live the best life he could. 

Having you lead him inside as he entered your house was such a surreal feeling. He knew he’d been here once before, but he was so out of it last week, the pain in his chest, the worry sitting in the back of his head too overwhelming for him to analyse your home. Your house felt welcoming, the sitting room open for all, the walls splattered with pictures of you and your parents. His imprint was nowhere to be found, no indication that he’d so much as stepped inside the house before, and yet he felt home. 

“Severus, (Y/N).” Your father called for you both, his eyes giving away the seriousness of whatever talk he was about to give you. You looked at him in worry, holding Severus tighter than before. You couldn’t have him ask Severus to leave, not after everything you’d been through and you weren’t ready to hear a lecture about your safety and the dangers of sneaking out at night. “Have a seat. There’s something we need to discuss.”

Severus felt his heart drop, his legs shaking in fear of what your father would say next. You could feel his nerves, his eyes heavy with worry as he looked at you. Smiling, you squeezed his hand as you led Severus to sit on the couch adjacent to your parents. You moved as close to Severus as you could, holding his arm with both your hands, showing him you wouldn’t let anything they said change how you both felt right now. You would defend him, his right to stay with you in this safe warm bubble until September came.  

“That policeman who spoke to you both last week,” your father began and you felt Severus shift in his place, both of you suspecting where this was going. For you, it was about finding assurance in his safety, but for Severus, it was about keeping himself informed to keep you out of harm's way. “After that night at the hospital, he contacted child protective services and a case against your parents was opened.”

Your father spoke mostly to Severus, but you kept yourself hung on every word as if they were meant for you. Anything that concerned him directly affected you whether your father liked it or not. You were invested in him, living happily with him, planning a future with him.

“We don’t know all the details, but we do know the police tried to visit Eileen and Tobias Snape to ask a few questions and instead found their home bare. They spent about a day searching for them before releasing a warrant for their arrest,” your father spoke calmly, doing his best to ease you both into this new development, but you couldn’t help wonder how long he’d known about this, how he’d spent all week waiting for Severus to come home, for the pressure you felt to melt away. 

“What?!” Severus could hardly believe what he was hearing. Of all the possibilities he thought would come of the interrogation with the policeman, this was not one of them. He wasn’t sure how to feel, what could possibly be going through the minds of his parents right now. “What of the house?”

It wasn’t the most prominent question he could have asked, and judging by the look your father gave him, it wasn't the question that was expected to be asked of him, but he needed to know. It was now the only thing left tying him to his childhood, the only piece of his past left to hold him back. He needed to know if it was something that would come back to pull him into the horrors he’d lived through, or if he’d been truly freed from the cruelty of the life his parents had given him. 

“The house currently remains under the name of whoever owns it, I assume your parents, and if they were to be tried, they will need someone else to make their payments, otherwise the bank will take ownership of the house.”

Severus nodded, bowing his head as he thought through what could happen next. His parents had no one that would care enough to help pay off their mortgage. No one except him. It was up to Severus whether or not he wanted to let the house die in the loneliness it felt now, or revive it, build it anew and create memories he perhaps wouldn’t grow to hate. He held the key on his past possessed with the power of ridding him of everything he’d resented over the years. He shouldn’t have hesitated to slam the door shut, lock it and toss away the key, but it was hard from him to let go. As much as he hated Spinner’s End, that house was the reason he’d grown to be who he was, the potential he held within him. 

“Severus, there’s something else you need to understand.” Your father leaned forward and you both gave him your full attention again, your hearts beating furiously as you waited to see what more you’d missed this past week. “Your parents were declared unfit to raise you, which means child protective services filed to put you under their care.”

“No!” you immediately protested, completely heartbroken at the thought of Severus having to leave you for a bunch of strangers who wouldn’t care for him like you would. Your father raised his hand, asking you to wait until he was finished, but you couldn’t contain yourself. You couldn’t take any more of this. “He’s not leaving! I won’t let them take him!”

“I understand (Y/N),” your father stayed calm as he tried to go on and for the first time since you saw him that day, you let go of Severus’ hand just to throw them over his shoulders, hugging him as tightly as you could. Severus gently wrapped his arms around you, bowing his head to meet your shoulder. It could have been worse. His parents could have found him before all of this and cleared it all up with the authorities, but they didn’t and at least this way, he could still see you, he could still be with you. “Your mother and I have discussed this, and we know that in the Wizarding World you are of age Severus, which means you won’t need legal guardians once you leave for Hogwarts. Until then, we’ve decided to take up the responsibility of becoming your legal guardians.”

Both of you were left speechless, frozen as you stayed with your arms wrapped around one another. It seemed too good to be true, a golden ticket just handed to you after the headache of a week you had. Loosening your grip on Severus, you looked over at your parents and giggled in glee. You were so blissfully happy you weren’t even sure how to react.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Severus spoke in such a small voice, his tone neutral. You’d never seen him so starstruck before. Even if he never showed it, he'd always been sure of himself, always knew how he felt, what to say, but for the first time ever, he was completely helpless to the situation. Your smile grew wider as you took his hand again, pulling back from Severus to look at your parents with such gratitude. 

“We’re just glad you're safe,” your mum smiled at him, standing from her seat. “I’ll go make lunch, I’m sure we’re all feeling a bit famished after everything that’s happened this week.”

She walked out of view and you felt yourself relax, taking in the fact that it was truly over. Everything had worked itself out; Severus was safe, and you didn’t have to worry over him all summer anymore. You could finally enjoy your time together and perhaps for once, Severus could have a summer that didn’t end with him looking forward to a new semester at Hogwarts.

“I’ve moved your belongings into the guest bedroom. I suggest you start unpacking. Tomorrow, we can drive by your house to pick up anything you left behind.” Your father gestured down the hall before he stood to follow your mother into the kitchen. Finally, you were left alone and you couldn’t do anything but let out your happiness, throwing your head back with your arms in the air as you sighed loudly.

Severus looked at you and smiled, sitting back with you, watching you let go of all the stress he’d caused you this past week. Your arms fell down in your lap and he reached out to take your hand for once. You gladly squeezed back as he tightened his hold on you, seeking for the comfort you’d so graciously let him lean on this past week. He was happy to see you finally let go of your worry over him. He never wanted to weigh you down and he didn’t want to be the source of any of your stress. 

“Let’s go unpack,” you said, pulling him off the couch and leading him down the hall. The guest room was much larger than he would have imagined, larger than his room at least. The bed was large, a queen-sized mattress sitting in the middle of the room against the back wall. Two nightstands stood on either side of the bed, a few picture frames hanging around the room, bringing the room to life. His trunk was at the edge of the bed like it had been sitting there for years. You walked inside the room and sat on the bed, watching him as he opened up his trunk to find everything he held dear in this world safe and sound, ready to settle into his new home. 

“Your parents are generous,” Severus said as he shuffled through his trunk, removing his clothing and stacking up his books to one side. He’d never accepted help like he had from you this past week, and to have your parents do what they did, offer him a home and welcome him into your family was an absolute astonishment to him. He’d grown up around people who wouldn’t think twice about passing him by, assuming the worst of him because of where he lived or the clothing he wore on his back. But not you. You were the first to have ever truly accepted him for all he was, and now your parents had done the same.

“They wouldn’t turn their back on someone I love, Sev.” You were of course grateful for what your parents did, but you weren’t all that surprised. It was the right thing to do after all and it broke your heart knowing Severus didn’t understand that. He’d been so used to rejection, his parents treating him the way they did, this town shunning his side of the street, even his childhood best friend, abandoning him after everything he’d been through.

“They don’t know me,” Severus knew he shouldn’t question the generosity he was shown today, but he couldn’t help it. Your parents gained nothing from helping him, they didn’t know him and had no reason to trust him enough to let him live in their house for a few months. It didn’t make sense to him in the slightest, and his curiosity got the better of him.

“They know enough.”

“Like what?” he pushed, the urge for answers growing greater as he got closer to an explanation. 

“They know that you’d always been there for me, that you stuck by my side at Hogwarts when no one else would. They know you care for me and that I care for you. And they know you’re brilliant and deserve a chance at happiness.” Your eyes twinkled, a smirk smeared across your face as you spoke to him. 

Severus smiled as he closed his trunk, placing his clothing atop it to be put away later and carrying the stack of books to one of the nightstands. Taking a seat next to you, he ran his fingers along your hairline until his hand rested over your jaw. He looked at you as he felt you leaning into him, placing a hand over his, returning his smile.

“Your dreams are too optimistic,” he said softly, secretly hoping you were right. He would love nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with you, to support you as you’d done him. 

“I beg to differ. I think they are completely realistic.” Severus chuckled. You always opposed his pessimism, the light in the darkness he lived in and he had no idea what he would do if that light ever went out. For years he’d tried to imagine it, living without you, trying to stay independent, but he couldn’t do it anymore. It was too exhausting, and it wasn’t worth it. You’d never once given him a reason to doubt you’d do anything but stay together, and he was happy for it. He let himself dream of the future he wanted, the life he needed and no matter how impossible it seemed in the past, it was definitely one that seemed probable now, one he’d fight the world to have.

~

Fin

~

@sleepysnapesnake​ @wanderingtrails​ @darkthought15​ @bush-viper-cutie​ @fluffymadamina​ @dracos-mudblood​ @mitchiesdungeon​ @severuslovebot​ @ravenhopeflyte54​ @cuddlebunny0330​ @flowerdementia​

Edit: I’m so sorry I forgot to tag some of you yesterday! Forgive me 😖

@lizlil​ @eave3​ @serena-9623​ @1975weasley

[melodiesofblueroses]

hi! ✨ i read your fic of seiichiro bonding with the reader of cinnamoroll and i loved it! 🥺 do you think maybe you could do a part 2 to that fic where seiichiro takes the reader to sanrio puroland and they’re so excited? and the moment the reader gets to meet cinnamoroll, at first they’re in shock that their favorite sanrio character is right in front of them, but once cinnamoroll waves at them and opens his arms out for a hug, the reader eventually hugs him and they start crying out of happiness and also because cinnamoroll IS JUST SO DAMN CUTE? (omg and bonus points if cinnamoroll realizes the reader’s crying and is trying to wipe their tears away like “no, please don’t cry! be happy ^w^” and seiichiro is just watching the intereaction with a soft smile on his face) thank you so much 😃

Aww this was an absolutely adorable request! I had such a blast writing it, though it did end up a bit long, hope you don't mind! I'm pretty sure I'd also burst into tears if I ever got to meet a sanrio character since I practically grew up with them. Plus, the cuteness would simply be too much for me 🥰 Thank you so much for the request! Remember to take breaks and drink water! I don’t know about you, but it’s been pretty hot recently where I live, so don’t forget to take care of yourself!! Hope you enjoy 💕

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-𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: seiichiro x gn!reader

-𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: fluff

-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: ~2.1k

»»————————-　♡　————————-««

the moment the plate of the glorious golden cinnamon roll was placed in front of you, you had to pinch yourself to make sure that this wasn’t a dream but rather reality. it wasn’t a dream that you were now in puroland; it wasn’t a dream that you were now seated in the cinnamoroll dream cafe; and it certainly wasn’t a dream that you were enjoying this experience side-by-side with the handsome and dependable student council president of your school: seiichiro minamoto. this all felt too good to be true. i mean, never in your wildest dreams did you think that you would find yourself surrounded by everything cinnamoroll, alongside a fellow cinnamoroll lover at that too. you wanted to savor in each and every moment so that it was ingrained into your mind. this day was already becoming perfect. 

when you snapped back to your senses, gazing at the rather large cinnamon roll situated right in front of you, your mouth began to water. the sweet cinnamon and sugar aroma that wafted through the air didn’t help either. the dough looked so golden and buttery, the icing a beautiful pure white and light blue, and the little cinnamoroll foam topping on top was just way too adorable. how could you even eat something as pretty as this?

“gah, this is so cool,” you mumbled to yourself, containing a small squeal so that you didn’t just erupt into a little fangirl session right then and there. it looked so perfect and beautiful, but the smell was also making you quite hungry. from all that walking you did and excitement you felt as you visited the puroland attractions, you definitely deserved a snack, no matter how cute it may have been. immediately, you cut out a small piece and ate it, instantly humming in content. it was so warm and buttery and melted in your mouth. there was so much cinnamon goodness though it was perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the icing. sure it might’ve been a bit too sugary and sweet, but you didn’t seem to take notice since you were currently too caught up with the fact that you were eating a cinnamoroll themed dessert. if only you had taken a picture beforehand to commemorate it (you were too caught up in the excitement to even consider it). 

the smile never left your face the entire time you ate your dish, though you could’ve sworn you saw seiichiro smile from the corner of your eye. that thought made you quite flustered and caused you to choke up a little, embarrassed at the fact that he had caught you in that little self-indulgent moment of yours. gosh, what if he could tell that you were quietly squealing to yourself? perhaps he even found it to be quite adorable? geez, that thought made you so flushed, and you felt your cheeks begin to warm up. quickly trying to brush that thought aside, you directed your attention towards seiichiro and his snack. it was most likely all in your head anyway. seiichiro was a really sweet guy that everyone loved; there was no way he was pining after you. “what did you get seiichiro?”

his drink looked so dreamy from afar, with its side drizzles and sweets on top. there was even one of those iconic chocolate wafer sticks placed in the brown colored whipped cream that sat atop the drink. sure it was nothing more than a sugar concoction, but it was the perfect thing for a pick me up. the both of you needed the energy anyway, especially since there were still quite a bit of attractions to get through. 

“i got the brown sugar boba tea,” he replied, taking a sip from it. “it’s a bit too sweet for me, but it’s still quite good.” the smile that followed did nothing but attack your heart. why’d a simple smile have to look so good on him too? “but how are you enjoying your cinnamon roll?”

“it’s good!” you replied a bit too enthusiastically, though you decided to blame it on your current sugar high. “it’s so buttery and sweet, the perfect snack to satisfy my sweets craving. plus, it has cinnamoroll on it.” you picked up the foam and showed it to seiichiro, still in awe at how adorable it looked. it felt so nice to have someone to bond over the cute puppy mascot with you. “gahh, i can’t wait to meet him. i bet it’s so magical.”

“meeting cinnamoroll always makes me feel better,” seiichiro chimed in. he was happy to see you enjoying yourself and absolutely couldn’t wait for you to meet cinnamoroll. puroland and cinnamoroll were indeed magical, and seiichiro was glad that they were able to help out someone else. “it’ll be worth the trip.”

“i don’t doubt that. when does the meet open though?”

“hm, about two hours from now.”

“damn…” you were starting to grow a bit impatient. don’t get me wrong, you absolutely adored the fact that seiichiro was kind enough to invite you to puroland, and the sights here were something else, but you also were really looking forward to meeting cinnamoroll. taking another bite out of your dessert, you began to imagine just how it would be like to once and for all meet your adored mascot. you might freeze on the spot from all the excitement, perhaps tear up a bit. it was pretty hard to predict how you might react to finally meeting the puppy that you admired so much, but whatever happened, you knew that it’d be a perfect experience at the end. the time to meet cinnamoroll couldn’t have come any faster. 

~

the moment you saw cinnamoroll in front of you, a mere few feet away from where you were standing, you had to pinch yourself to make sure that this wasn’t a dream but rather reality. it wasn’t a dream that you were at puroland; it wasn’t a dream that you were standing in line with seiichiro, waiting for a chance to meet cinnamoroll; and it certainly wasn’t a dream that you were about to meet your hero (maybe it was a bit of a stretch, but you really did adore cinnamoroll who helped you through the toughest times). and just like that we were at the beginning again. 

there were a few people in front of you right now, and you were trying your best to calm your nerves before you got to meeting him. every sensation and feeling had left your body at the moment, replaced by nothing but a mixture of nervousness, adrenaline, and excitement, though it was mainly nervousness. everything felt so surreal, as if it was nothing but a hazy dream. it still hadn’t settled in that you were really going to meet cinnamoroll even if he was right in front of you. maybe it was simply your nerves or because you had believed that you weren’t going to be meeting him so soon, but you were finding it rather hard to believe that that was actually cinnamoroll. how would you meet him? oh gosh, what if you fumbled with your words or shook his hands wrong? what if you made a complete fool out of yourself? those thoughts did absolutely nothing to help calm you down. 

before you could continue overthinking about how you were going to approach cinnamoroll, you felt a heavy hand on your shoulder. it was warm and comforting; it was reassuring and calmed down your nerves immediately; it was seiichiro. looking up at him, he gave you a soft smile. 

“you must be excited,” he chuckled. 

“yeah…” you muttered, averting your gaze back to cinnamoroll. he must’ve caught on to how tense you were and wanted to try to ease your anxiety. he must’ve felt the same way when he first met cinnamoroll after all. you were honestly really grateful that you had him by your side. seiichiro really was a dependable and sweet guy, always wanting to help out others. if it weren’t for him, you probably would’ve fainted on the spot right now. he helped keep you standing upright. 

by the time it took you to calm down and reset your mind, it was you and seiichiro’s turn to meet with cinnamoroll, though the shock of it all made you freeze up. it took a good few seconds for you to move from your spot, prompted by seiichiro’s gentle push. and soon enough, you were standing in front of your most beloved character, who was dressed in his cute cafe outfit. geez, he looked even more adorable up front in person! his floppy ears were the cutest, and his soft smile did nothing to quell your nerves. this was all so surreal. it still hadn’t settled in that you were, in fact, standing in front of the cinnamoroll right now, so the most you could do was stand in front of him in awe. it really didn’t feel like this was reality but rather a dream. 

but the moment cinnamoroll waved at you and held out his arms, motioning for you to hug, it all hit and came crashing down at once. you were physically there at puroland, physically in front of cinnamoroll, and physically meeting him. it sure didn’t feel like reality, but you were damn happy that it was. and when the realization hit, your tears came flowing all at once from the sheer happiness and joy you felt at that moment (plus, he was just way too cute for his own good). you couldn’t believe that you were finally meeting cinnamoroll, the adorable white puppy mascot that helped you through all your good days and bad. he was always there for you, and now you finally had a chance to meet and thank him for all he’s done for you. is this was heaven felt like? ok, that might be a bit of a stretch, but you were on cloud nine at the moment. 

you immediately jumped into cinnamoroll’s arms and tightly hugged him, taking in his warmth. it was rather comforting and promptly relieved you of any nerves or adrenaline you had left over. the tears never stopped, however, although it’d be more accurate to say that they couldn’t stop. you were just too euphoric at that moment, and the tears naturally flowed because of it. the fact that you were able to revel in cinnamoroll’s touch was a dream come true. 

when the two of you pulled away, cinnamoroll seemed to have noticed your tears with the way he tried to wipe them away and comfort you. needless to say, you were quite taken aback when his stubby arms gently caressed your cheeks, but it felt so nice. sure, it did tickle a bit, but the action only made you feel flushed. his touch was way too reassuring, and although he never spoke, you could tell what he was trying to say from what his touch conveyed: “please don’t cry! i’m right here for you!” 

alas, this only made you cry harder. the fact that your favorite character was reassuring you (for real this time too!) made your heart melt. cinnamoroll actually cared for you, and it was one of the only things that you had ever wanted to hear. he was simply too sweet. you didn’t care much for what the scene might’ve looked like for those on the outside, seeing a random person burst into tears at the sight of cinnamoroll. all that mattered at that moment was the fact that you were meeting cinnamoroll. 

unbeknowest to you, seiichiro who was standing behind you certainly did think that it was a cute sight. you looked rather adorable as you embraced cinnamoroll, clearly fixating on nothing but him at the moment. it put a smile on his face to see you enjoying himself. in fact, seiichiro was enjoying spending time with you at puroland as well! it was always nice to spend time with a friend, especially one who was just as much as a cinnamoroll fanatic as he was. he totally understood how you felt right now. meeting cinnamoroll was always overwhelming and emotional, at least for him anyway. it felt as if a heavy burden has been lifted, and for a few moments, everything was perfect. 

and for you, everything was in fact, perfect. i mean, you finally got to visit puroland and meet cinnamoroll! that itself was more than a perfect day in your eyes. not only that, but you also got to spend the day alongside seiichiro, someone that you considered a friend. it really wasn’t everyday that you met someone who unironically loved sanrio, cinnamoroll in particular, so you held him close to your heart. plus, he invited you to meet cinnamoroll, so he must be a great person (you kid yourself, of course, but you really did love seiichiro).

cinnamoroll really did help bring people together. 

[danteinthedevildom]

A Royal Pajama Party “Analysis” - Part 2 (of 7)

A continuation from the previous post! Here, we pick up with MC actually in Diavolo’s room with him, preparing for the sleepover. This covers content from the Story Key-locked chapters of the Devilgram, so here’s your cursory warning for spoilers!

Another point towards how important MC is to Diavolo, and how unusual it is for someone to actually spend time with just him. The fact that you’re there, on your own, with him, is something he’s still struggling to comprehend. Demons don’t just do that, not with him; maybe if other demons are there, like he suggests - “since everyone came with you last time” hosts the implication that he thought you came because of them, because everyone was together, and not for the sole purpose of seeing him - but never just one-on-one.

This idea that he has someone content to just be alone in his company? It’s still new to him. It’s something he’s still wrapping his head around, as much as it’s something he’s always wanted. He’s so used to being a secondary thought - to being a host for friends spending time together, and never a friend being spent time with - that you actually being there is surreal. Like a dream, or perhaps a mistake. 

You’re not just there to hang out. You’re there to stay the night. You’re there, with him, without interruption. For one whole night, he has your attention, and your attention alone. There’s no second guessing here that you’re only visiting the castle to spend time with someone else; no second guessing that your eyes are drifting elsewhere, or that you’re having more fun with others. It’s you and him, in a setting he’s never gotten to experience before. 

Of course he wants to savour it. Of course he wants to enjoy this very rare, very special moment he gets with you. You’re always surrounded by others; the brothers, or the Purgatory Hall boys. Barbatos is never far from his side. This moment, just the two of you, for a whole night, where he can finally be himself and have fun as any other demon would? It very, very likely means the world to him. 

I’m likely not overstating when I say this is a night he’ll remember for the rest of his very long life, regardless of whether you end it romantically or platonically.

Diavolo is so behind on what it’s like to be a normal demon - and so excited to be spending time with you - that he’s come up with a list of things the two of you can do together. There’s a better screenshot for this a little later on, so I’ll go in more detail on that there, but there’s two points I want to make here:

A) Diavolo’s so desperate to make this night something special, he actually pre-planned the sleepover to make it more enjoyable for you. That’s how much your time together means to him. He doesn’t get to see you much; he wants to make every second count.

(And maybe, if you enjoy the night, you’ll be more likely to come over again.)

B) There’s a literal list of things Diavolo wants to do with you. When he thinks about doing something with someone? You’re his go-to. There are experiences he wants to share with a friend he cares for and who cares for him just as much, and he’s chosen you to be that friend. 

(Here, you essentially say that you love the onesies. It’s one of the options you can choose.)

Diavolo made everyone a set of onesies because, to him, that’s what helps make an evening (and subsequent sleepover) more enjoyable. This is really what I meant by him living the childhood he never got to have. You don’t actually need onesies to make a sleepover fun, and to a lot of adults, it’s something of a childish aspect (as is the concept of a sleepover at all); they’re something you enjoy when you’re young and the idea of dressing up as a dragon is exciting, not what you do as a fully-grown adult (who is more likely to be embarrassed by the concept, as Barbatos is). 

The fact that Diavolo isn’t aware of this - or perhaps outright doesn’t care - suggests the entire experience is brand new. He’s excited because he’s never had the chance to do this before, and his inner child - the one that never really had a chance to live - is thriving. 

It also shows a lot of inexperience regarding the concept of sleepovers. Diavolo... really doesn’t know what to do. Case in point? He didn’t get the idea of the onesies from his own mind or understanding of sleepovers:

He was told by Asmodeus that pajama parties have to come with “adorable leisure wear”. 

There are a few implications here. 

One, Diavolo went to Asmodeus for advice. He often does this when he wants to set up events, if only because Asmodeus is a big party animal and up-to-date on the party scene - but the fact that he did it for this? For a sleepover? It says a lot. 

Diavolo has no idea what a sleepover entails. He’s absolutely clueless on what they are and how they work. He’s never had one before; never seen how they function. He likely doesn’t realise that a sleepover can really be nothing more than spending your time talking before calling it a night and crashing in bed. 

So, knowing his own ignorance, he went to the one demon most likely to know what they are - and not just that, but how to throw the best sleepover possible. He wants this to be a night for he and MC to remember, after all; the better the party is, the more fun he thinks the two of you will have. 

In other words? He’s so determined that the night be good, he went to someone else to learn the things he never got to live. 

Two, Diavolo fully trusts Asmodeus on anything regarding parties. This isn’t a huge point, but I want to note this because it has come up before. 

Diavolo, in chats, has expressed upset over not being invited to Asmodeus’ parties, and in Devilgrams, has asked for Asmodeus’ help in setting up events. He knows this is something Asmo’s good at and that will likely make him happy, as well as something that allows Diavolo to spend a little time in his company. 

So, it’s not just MC that he tries to get close to - it’s everyone. You’re just... the most reciprocal to his attempts at friendship. 

That said, though, he trusts Asmo’s advice enough to go back to him for more. Which says a lot! He’s a prince; he could have someone else do the research for him, and he probably has a party planner of some sort, since most royals actually do considering the amount of ceremonies they host. Instead? He personally goes to Asmo and asks for his thoughts. And not only does he listen to them, but:

Three, this is still a novelty to Diavolo, but it’s also something he’s taking seriously. He’s not just reciting Asmodeus’ words directly - you really can hear Asmo’s voice in the first screenshot, as if he’s saying them verbatim - he’s also praising Asmodeus for the knowledge he was given as if it’s some sort of secret law Diavolo wasn’t aware of. 

Which absolutely makes sense. Diavolo’s gone to Asmodeus about various events before - such as the colour party in the Concealed in Colour Devilgram - and much of those come with a set of “rules” that make the events what they are. It’s entirely possible that Diavolo genuinely thinks you have to wear onesies for it to be a proper pajama party. He doesn’t have the experience to tell him otherwise; he’s never had one before!

Plus, we all know how theatrical Asmodeus is. The chances of him emphasising that “a pajama party just isn’t a pajama party without onesies!” is fairly high. Diavolo wouldn’t know better. So, naturally, he’d make everyone a onesie, and include them in this sleepover he’s set up to pack everything he never got to experience into. 

This is the final set of screenshots for this post, since the next really does need its own, but! This is the part I mentioned before, noting that Diavolo actually, legitimately wrote up a list.

Firstly? This is a list of things he wants to do with you. It’s not just a sleepover list - although it is, since a lot of what follows are typical sleepover-related events - but a list he’s written up specifically for your time together. 

I cannot express how sad this is. This is how little Diavolo gets to see you, particularly one-on-one. This is how little Diavolo gets to do with anyone. This is what Diavolo sees as thrilling for a night of fun.

Watching a movie with you, and eating popcorn. 

It is the most mundane thing anyone could come up with. This is the sort of thing you do spontaneously at a sleepover - “hey, anyone wanna watch a movie? I think we’ve got popcorn in the cupboard” - and yet... it’s something so unique to him, he actually wrote it down. 

Movies take time. At least an hour and a half. The fact that he’s never had the chance to do this with you before suggests he’s never had so much as an hour and a half of free time spent just with you, without anything else going on - and you're someone perfectly willing to visit him at the drop of a hat.

It's sad to think that part of Diavolo's struggles in making (and keeping) friends may entirely revolve around how difficult it is to spare time for the beings he cares about.

It's likewise sad to think that this time is so rare, he openly tells you he'll cherish the mundanity of watching a movie.

Moreover, these are the experiences he sees as prime importance for the very lengthy time you're sharing together.

He's the Prince of the Devildom, and there are almost definitely events that humans have never been able to experience before going on across his kingdom well into the night. He could take you to events beyond comprehension; to scenes that would enrapture you and fill you with awe; to places you would never be able to reach without him by your side...

Yet all he wants to do is watch a movie with you.

If it's true that he doesn't get to spend much time with you (if any at all) in a casual capacity, Diavolo is explicitly showing here that what matters most to him is time spent in personal, close contact. He doesn't have to make your time with him grand and ever-lasting; he just wants to share these normal, plain, everyday experiences with you.

You make him feel normal. You afford him to exist in a way he simply can't at any other point in time, with anyone else. This is more special to him because of what it represents. Because it's you, and him, doing something everyone does. Because you're his friend, and he's doing friend stuff with you.

It's a little awkward - a little stiff and formal with the list and the setup - but it's only because he knows he doesn't get much time with you, knows he might not get more time with you for several months, and he's so out of touch with how friendships work he wants to do everything in a single night.

In other words? You're his friend. He wants to know what it feels like to have a normal friendship with you. And he wants to stuff every rare moment he gets in your company full of activies he's not been able to do with you before.

Which brings us to the second point: the importance is in his wording.

He's wanted this for "quite some time". There's an implication that he's not just spontaneously come up with a bunch of activities he thinks you'll enjoy or that are typical to the sleepover experience; he's chosen things he's been dying to do with you. Things he's been sitting on for some time, patiently waiting for the chance - for the perfect alignment of stars - to actually bring up to you.

Maybe these are things Diavolo has always wanted to do. Things he's noted down and planned out since he was a child, having heard other demons talk of them, so he could experience them at a point in time where he finally had friends of his own. Maybe they're things he's only thought of doing more recently, clinging onto the hope that he could actually plan for experiences, even in the tentative quiet of his own mind, with your arrival. It's hard to tell.

But in either case? He is so genuinely thrilled to be able to spend time with you, he has enough ideas - enough experiences he's never shared with someone before - that he's fully capable of making a list.

This is how isolated Diavolo was, and still is. This is how much of his childhood - of his life - he missed out on. This is why he's so enthusiastic to spend any time with you he can.

He has an entire back catalogue of perfectly generic things he's simply never done.

That has to be one hell of a lonely life if something like "watch a movie together" is something he's been wanting to do "for some time". That has to be one hell of an isolated life if this, to him, is his most desired item on his itinery - and not the thousands of things magic and rulership leave in potential at his fingertips.

Which leads me to conclude this post on one, final question.

How long since your arrival in the Devildom has he wanted to spend simple time with you?

+++

And thus, we conclude part 2! Thank you for reading this far once again. Hopefully it was enjoyable! 

The next set of screenshots dip into the movie experience with Diavolo, and are a tiny bit lighter than the previous two posts. 

So, if you’d like, hop over to part 3!

[devildominatrix]

Could you do on we’re MC dies and becomes a angel and likes to visit them and they say something like “ I always knew you were a angel” plzzz

Thank you so much for the request!! I’m so sorry it took so long, I took a small break from tumblr! You didn’t specify a brother so I did all of them, so prepare yourself, this is a long one!

I hope this is what you had in mind :)) (if not I can redo it, just let me know ;) )

Enjoy!!

Warnings: Mentions of death, alcohol abuse

Genre: Angst to fluff, comfort

Always an Angel || Brothers x MC

The day you left Devildom was a grim and unexpected one. Your stay there ended earlier than expected at the hands of a lower demon and a moment of opportunity. It wasn't until later that the brothers found you, bleeding out in the street, and once the demon in question was caught, he would not leave in one piece. The brothers were sadistic beings after all. Grief-stricken, the boys mourned, all of them gloomy and on edge, and this grief would not go away on its own, after all, they might never see their beloved MC again.

As for you, your death was slow, you never wanted to experience that again. What happened after was something expected, after all, you were fully aware of the two other realms apart from their own. There were many other spirits by the gates to the angel realm awaiting judgement, so it took a long while for your turn to come around, months even, but when time came, you became an angel, just like your distant ancestor Lilith. You looked divine in your new look, white, gold and black clothes adorning your body. The realm itself looked absolutely surreal, shining and bright in every way, unlike the place you spent your time as a exchange student in. However, you couldn't find peace, even in death, as there was so much left unresolved back in Devildom, so many things left unsaid, feelings not yet explored. This mean you would not just sit still and accept your fate, so you went to Michael himself to ask and plead to be able to go to Devildom.

Surprisingly, he agreed once you explained, and so that's how you ended up contacting Diavolo, and now you sat in his office, late at night.

Lucifer:

You explained the situation to Diavolo, talking and trying to get him to let you stay. You also asked about the brothers, how were they doing and what happened after the incident months ago. Engaged in conversation, neither of you heard the knock on the door, nor did you hear someone come in until they dropped whatever they were holding. At the noise you turned to look at the source, only to find a dumbstruck Lucifer looking at you in shock. Smiling sweetly at him, you stood and moved towards him, never before seeing him in such a state. You hugged him and it took him a few minutes to respond, but once he did, he held you so securely, as if you would disappear at any second. 

He got to see you again! 

He didn't even care that Diavolo was in the room as he held you, and not that he would ever admit it, he had tears in his eyes.

"I always knew you were an angel." he whispered shakily into your ear, hugging you like his life depended on it. A vulnerability that has never been seen before in Lucifer.

Mammon:

Once you finished talking to the demon prince, he escorted you to the door of the House of Lamentation, telling you your room has not been touched since you died, the brothers, especially Mammon, not allowing it. Wishing Diavolo goodnight, you quietly crept into the building, heading for the one person you've yearned the most to see after all this time: Mammon. 

You reached Mammon's door in a matter of minutes, so you knocked and waited. After a few minutes with no reply, you started to think he was asleep, it was late after all, so you tried to open the door. Luckily, it was open and you slid in, closing is quietly behind you. Frankly, the room was a mess, like if a group of wild animals was let in loose, which was weird because Mammon always valued his belongings. Analysing the mess, you found no sign of the avatar of greed. 

Where could he be? 

One other place sprung to your mind. Your room. After all, he hung out there with you all the time before the incident, so it would make sense right? Right. You made your way down the familiar corridor, past the other bedrooms. You'll greet the others in the morning, Mammon was your priority now. Before you knew it, you were in front of your own door, hesitating slightly. How was he going to react to seeing you again? Was he going to be happy or will he be hurt? 

Pushing those thoughts away, you gently opened the door, wincing when it creaked slightly. Your eyes immediately found the sleeping form on your bed, hugging your pillow. Your heart melted at the sight, all of a sudden feeling guilty for leaving him, even though it wasn't your fault. Sighing, you walk closer, admiring his handsome face, though it wasn't how you remembered. Dark circles adorned his eyes, tear stains evident on his cheeks, and you could tell he wasn't eating as much with how his cheekbones seem to stand out. Reaching out, you stroked his cheek gently, trying not to wake him up, but the slight touch took him out of his slumber. You didn't seem to register at first, as he rubbed his eyes. It was minutes later that he was staring at you dumbfounded, and honestly, he looked cute with his messy hair and gobsmacked expression, though the obvious sadness on his face broke your heart. 

"M-MC?" His voice was gruff and raspy, as if not used for a long time. 

"Hey Mammon." You smiled sweetly, yet sadly, as if apologising for what had happened. In seconds, you were wrapped tightly in his arms, until he broke the embrace, looking at you with fresh tears running down his face.

"How- How are you here? I tho-I thought I'd never see you again!" Looking into your eyes, he searched for any type of answer. 

"I made a deal with Diavolo and Michael so I could come see you again. I'm just sorry it took so long." You whispered, wiping his tears off with your hands. He pulled you in again, whispering "I always knew you were an angel."

Levi:

After making a deal with Diavolo, you made your way to the House of Lamentation, Barbados accompanying you so you were safe. Approaching the familiar building and saying goodbye to Barbados, you made your way inside, one destination in mind. You had to see Levi first, no matter what. You missed him like never before, and couldn't wait to see him after all these months. 

Making your way down the corridor, you approached his door, knocking loudly. Having no response, you knocked again, this time hearing a noise from inside. The door swung open revealing a tired Levi, who looked ready to snap the neck of whoever came knocking, until he saw you looking up at him. Your bright eyes, your stunning face. He froze, an unknown expression overtaking his face, one of disbelief. He snapped out of it after a few minutes, backing away, hurt written all over his face.

"N-No. I-I- If this is a trick, this is a new level of cruel." He started off with a yell, but it turned into a whisper by the end. 

"Levi. It's me, I'm back. I became an angel and made a deal with Michael and Diavolo. I'm back." You stated softly, walking towards him carefully, guilt eating away at your gut. All of a sudden he rushed towards you, pulling you into a hug, even though he wasn't a touch-y person.

"I-I always thought of you as an angel, I just didn't expect you to actually become one." He said, slowly growing flustered.

Satan:

After a while, you bid farewell to the demon prince, declining his offer to walk you to the House of Lamentation. You needed to think how you were going to approach the brothers, especially Satan, who was the most important to you. How will he react? 

You reached the door, and slipped inside silently, making a beeline for one specific room. as you walked by, though, you noticed damage around the house, as if things were thrown about, broken and ripped. You prayed it wasn't what you think it was, but you already knew the cause. Once you got to your destination, you knocked, knowing he would most likely still be awake, engrossed in a book. After a second, the door opened, his blue-green eyes widening at the sight of you. 

"MC?" He breathed out, shock evident on his handsome face as you smiled softly at him. 

"Hey Satan." Your voice was like a melody he thought he'd never hear again. After all, it was months since he last saw you.  Before you knew it, he engulfed you in the most secure embrace you could've ever imagined.

"Don't scare me like that again. I almost thought you weren't coming back." He scolded lightly, still hugging you tightly. You giggled, content in the position you two were in, after all you were back. He pulled away, much to your protest, to look at you.

Leaning in, he whispered "I always knew you were an angel," before pressing his soft lips to your own.

Asmo:

When you died, Asmo felt empty loneliness fill his heart, something he wasn't used to feeling, and therefore he didn't know just how to cope with losing you. And so he drank. Drank himself senseless every night, so much the brothers were concerned. Even Diavolo noticed the last time he went to visit, which he also mentioned to MC in his office. 

When you heard that, your heart broke. The avatar of lust, the boy you loved, reduced to such a state. You thanked Diavolo for telling you, and bidding him goodbye, you ran to exactly where you thought you'd find him, being given the new information. Your favourite bar, the one where the two of you used to hang out all the time before the incident. And sure enough, he was there, nearly passed out at the bar. Going up next to him caught his attention and now he was staring at you wide-eyed, cheeks flushed from the drinks consumed. You smiled sadly, guilt eating you up. Before you knew it, he latched onto clumsily, tears coming to his eyes.

"M-MC! Y-You're back! I thought y-you wouldn't come back. I-I-" His words were slurred and small hiccups interrupting every other word. You hugged him back, running your hand up and down his back in comfort.

"Shhh... I'm here. Let's get back home, yeah?" You said gently.

"I-I always knew you were an angel! You really are one now, though!" 

Beel:

After the incident, when you didn't come back for months, Beel felt less and less hungry, worry and guilt of not being able to protect you eating at him every day. It was just like when Lilith supposedly died, he wasn't able to protect her, and now you were gone too. As time went on, that sorrow deepened, and he began believing you were not coming back. Belphie mourned with him, trying to tell him it wasn't his fault, and all of them couldn't protect you, along with the fact that you wouldn't want him to be this way. 

What he least expected was to come into the kitchen, all those months later, to see you, a cake in your hands, and a soft smile on your face. He froze, all those feelings coming back to him at once, and he rushed towards you, putting the cake on the side as he hugged you like you've never been hugged before. 

"MC, you were always an angel, but now you actually are. Thank you for coming back." He said, his voice muffled by the embrace.

Belphie:

Belphie being the avatar of sloth, could sleep through the end of the world, but ever since the incident, he couldn't even get a little bit of rest. Nightmare fuelled his restlessness, the image of your cold body in the street was one he could not erase from his mind. He hoped that you would miraculously come back to life again, just like you did last time. Even though he hasn't spent much time with you, he grew attached quickly. He had guilt lingering on his mind since he killed you, and now there was a whole new layer of guilt clouding his every thought. He wasn't able o save you. 

He knew that you would become an angel, but as the months went by, he started doubting that you would go back to Devildom. Why would you? You had died twice while here, and he was sure you wouldn't want to come back to the place it happened. 

These thoughts went through his head often, making him go into overdrive and eventually he would pass out from exhaustion. 

This is exactly what you saw when you went up to the attic room, his form sleeping on the bed, though he kept stirring. As you got closer, you noticed he looked... tired. exhausted beyond words. You made up your mind that you wouldn't wake him tonight, he needed the sleep, that was evident. Instead, you laid down next to him, cuddling into his form. You would explain everything in the morning.

Or so you thought.

"M-MC?" His voice was rough and sleepy.

"Hey Belphie. I didn't mean to wake you." Your angelic voice brought him to reality, as he peered at you in shock. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer.

"Y-You came back! You really did! I knew you would become an angel, you were always one anyway!" He felt the hole you left fill again, happiness welcoming him once again. Of course the dark thoughts still lingered, but that wasn't important to him right now. You were back.

[melforbes]

seaglass blue annotations

hello! i just posted the last chapter and thought i’d put together some ~fun context~ for that fic. it got way way more attention than i ever expected and for something i feel i didn’t put that much effort into i think i did in the end put a lot of effort into it so i might as well talk about it and answer some potential questions.

my favorite book of all time is the sunlit night by rebecca dinerstein (yes, that one) and something i find really compelling about that book is how sparing the prose is, forcing the reader to fill in certain gaps, and i think having to fill in those gaps makes the book a really acquired taste with which either you love it or hate it and there’s not really an in-between

i also really adore how in that book the natural world backdrop comes to life, something i find really challenging to write. recently i even read into thin air, the book about the 1996 mount everest disaster, and even though the writing was superb, i still had to google what the hillary step was because i couldn’t picture it on my own. i don’t know how people write nature because to me it feels damn near impossible, but this sparing approach really worked, so i thought i might try it out. i tend to be longwinded (gestures vaguely at this post) and wanted to have certain parts of this be a lot smaller and more contained without negating impact. whether or not i made it work is anyone’s guess. definitely not my normal style, so to speak

based on the comments i’ve received i think this might be everyone’s favorite part. in my mind age of consent by new order was playing in the background. in pretty much every fic i have a scene like this one and all of them are based on the poem first base gold by rh*annon mcg*vin from her book branches (censored because she has a tumblr and i don’t want her seeing this haha)

i absolutely can’t do the poem justice by describing what it’s about, but the simplest, most basic interpretation of the poem is that there is no better place to kiss than right here, right now, because of the past. i really like that imagery and tend to use it a lot. she as a writer has been a big inspiration for me and if you’ve read my fic true minds i should add that the nonfiction inspiration for that was directly as a result of one of her youtube videos. i particularly love how the last paragraph (stanza? im not a poet) is one big run-on sentence that’s jovial and tongue-in-cheek and colloquial and straightforward. it feels triumphant in a quiet way to me and i love how it’s done. obviously my attempts at something similar are nowhere near as insightful, but still, the most basic image of this is that there is no better place to kiss, and that’s how i felt about the two of them finding pudding in the supermarket

this part is autobiographical; while writing this last year, i went through six months of intravenous drug treatment, a month and a half of which involved long days of doctor visits on every weekday. when you’re on stuff like that for a long time you end up with a central line for better access (potential plot hole in all of this: scully never had one) but for a month and a half i got poked almost every day and strangely enough it got harder over time. the first couple you never feel, but a week or two later you start flinching, and if the needle goes in the same vein each time, it hurts the more it gets prodded. i reached a point toward the end of the in-office visits in which i would bleed a lot every time i got poked, and i can’t watch anything like that happen to me so i was looking away each time, and when i felt that the nurse was done, i would look back over, and sometimes i would be looking down at a pool of blood that i hadn’t expected to see. it’s weird, you don’t actually feel yourself bleeding, i would’ve expected a hot bloody feeling but instead it felt like nothing. and when i say a pool i mean that it would drip down beneath my elbow, stain the sheet they’d put underneath, and i wouldn’t get all of it off until i showered. i didn’t necessarily find it scary, but it was surreal and kind of pulled me out of normalizing the experience i was having. for a very long time needing iv drugs was my greatest fear and i was surrounded by that then and fine, and then, there was blood all over my arm, and like, haha, this is actually not fine. you’d think something else would’ve been scarier, but it wasn’t. and now looking back at this paragraph i wish i’d edited it differently but hey that’s life

i’d never really understood the purpose of religion as a self-driven part of life until i took anatomy in college. i was raised catholic and though culturally i understand having a religion and being raised with one, i’ve never really reached for religion when i wanted answers, and i haven’t personally understood why that’s someone’s first option. and i know there’s been plenty of commentary on the hypocrisy of dana scully as a catholic who believes in science, yada yada yada, i think everyone has read all of that by now. but what struck me while learning anatomy is that there is a kind of neuron we don’t know the function of. there are four kinds of neurons, and one of them is still a mystery to us. and then, there’s all of these different parts of human bodies that exist in a certain perfect way, but why do they exist like that? to support life, yes, but why is it that we can make comparisons? why were irises not the same color? and we name valves of the heart after religious figures. we are so hell-bent on meaning that something literal will never be enough. and all of that made me think that dana scully has god to fill in what science won’t answer, at least not yet. and there’s definitely a bigger conversation about science as denial of indigenous cultures that i am nowhere near qualified to start. after taking those classes, i think i would be more shocked if she wasn’t religious. you can ignore pretty much all of the paragraph above but it was important to me that at some point in this fic she willingly conceded that she didn’t know what would happen and that she didn’t have answers. with illness, there is no logic, there’s no thinking your way out of it, and i think that would plague her for a long time. to me, she only would accept her death when she could say she had no idea what would happen, she has no answers, there’s nothing filling in her gaps anymore, and she’s comfortable with that. and i put all of that in a paragraph about my thoughts on god because it made sense to me. there are times that just feel like you’re in a movie and there’s no one else you can say caused them. it’s not enough to build belief on but it’s enough to bring a certain kind of wonder. also one time my parents insisted on watching stripes because it was so funny and when watching it none of us found it funny at all and my parents grimaced and were like what were we on that made that good back in the day so that’s in here now haha

and now, the biggest question: does she die at the end? when i came up with the idea for this fic, i knew the beginning and ending but not the middle, and i posted this as a smaller project (ie: chapters below 3,000 words) while illness made my bigger projects harder to work on and essentially flew by the seat of my pants the whole time. i wrote the last line a long long time ago and have always seen the ending as written as the concrete ending. when i started writing this, i never intended for there to be a definitive answer to whether or not she dies. i like premature endings (the ending of girls burn brighter comes to mind) and i think that this works better without saying whether or not she lives. and i also have a hard time with giving a definitive answer because this fic very much is about death and having her die would, of course, be traumatic, but showing her living instead i think ruins any takeaways people could have. i’ve never had cancer but as a chronically ill person i think i can speak to how you never actually win with illness; the best you can do is tie, and sometimes, no matter how much effort you put in, you “lose” anyway, you lose spectacularly, and all of your effort was for nothing. i wholeheartedly believe that humans can’t emotionally or logically process natural disasters or illness, hence why much of the talk about illness in this is from mulder’s perspective as he experiences her terminal illness secondhand; that way, he doesn’t need to (but still likely will) find logic or reason or meaning for death from a terminal illness, so his discoveries and his coping mechanisms aren’t as urgently needed. had i written a chapter that describes how she lives, i think that the discussion of death in this would be voided altogether. and i also don’t believe the ending would be much different whether she lives or dies; there’s still the need for death acceptance and talking about dying, whether or not she lives, and none of the story in this fic would have happened had the characters known she would live. the whole point is not knowing.

for a little while i toyed with writing an unofficial sequel of sorts in which i spelled out what i think happens after the ending, but after realizing that that would end up being longer than the original fic and would also have some massive plot holes, i decided against it. i do have my own version and i don’t want to share that version because i never really intended for my version to be some kind of genuine sequel in which every question gets answered and everything is wrapped up and happy ever after and whatnot. it was just where my brain wandered in the same way it wanders when i watch an open-ended movie. all of that to say, if you think she lives, then she lives. if you think she dies, then she dies. it’s your decision. i’d much rather you choose than me. i never marked this as “major character” death on ao3 because, well, she doesn’t die in this fic. whether or not she dies after the fic ends, that’s for you to decide. 

thank you for taking the time to read my writing. i never expected this to blow up (it blew up for me at least, for a while it was my most popular fic ever, with i think thousands more hits than anything else i’d written) and the response has been mind-boggling and wonderful. i don’t respond to comments often because it makes me feel like a pompous jerk (”thank you for enjoying this! i, too, enjoy this thing i have written! oh ho ho!” is how it sounds to me in my head, whereas when other writers respond to comments to me it just looks like thanks man have a good day, feel free to call me a weenie) but i’ve appreciated all of them very much. THANK YOU! i hope your new year is a Whole Lot Less Shit than 2020. i don’t plan on writing more msr because i don’t really have any ideas for them. thank you for making my last time special <3

[shoryubug]

Charlatans:  Chapter 1: Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

As most of you already knew, I was updating the intro to this story to clear up some stuff...and because I wanted to just...get some information set up, since I really didn’t like the thoughts going on that Adrien might be an idiot, and that Marinette would leave without informing Chat Noir about what was going on. The two of them respect each other, and she treats him as a partner, a friend, and an equal. On top of that, some Gina sugar, before getting to the Lila and Mallory salt! Which while mild, is going to culminate itself in the next chapter.  I hope you guys like this redo, and that you like the ideas for the trip I’d set up for Gina and Marinette!  Also once again, the original idea of a fake ladybug au was never mine to start with, I’ve seen it done over and over again by various people my personal favorite one being Checking Sources but if anyone knows who originally came up with the idea, please let me know, I genuinely do want to give them credit for the idea!  Also for the most part, everything after Marinette getting back home is kind of the same, for the most part, save for the conversation with Tikki when Tikki makes her go to sleep.

It had come out of nowhere when Gina had decided to visit, and pull Marinette out of school, leaving the poor girl without any notice and without any ability to contact her friends about what had happened, instead just her parents had known, as it was a surprise for her after all, Tuesday night Gina came like the whisper of a breeze before a storm, powerful and fresh, but pushing all the right buttons to make a person comfortable and happy, and Marinette couldn’t deny it, being around her Nonna made her happy, so to go out and traverse Brussels, Vianden, and Milan, then come back home to Paris had seemed like a dream come true in a way. While Marinette knew she wouldn’t be able to spend as much time as she might have preferred with Gina, the small bit that she was being allotted for this trip was more than enough for her. Sending Marinette and Gina up to rest together for their early day, getting up at around the same time that Tom was to begin prep work for the bakery just to ensure that they’d make their seats on the train at Gard Nour station in order to reach Brussels effectively, Marinette let out a sigh of joy. 

Of course, her parents had been more than certain to pack up her clothing for this surprise, gathering as much as they could for her in a duffel bag, though now, they had no idea of the actual true necessities, a satellite phone that she’d been slowly paying off in order to keep in touch with the world about what was going on in France from nearly anywhere else in the world, all in preparation since her fourteenth birthday when Gina had made her the promise about taking her away for some time, and the horse miraculous glasses, which lay hidden inside the gramophone that Wang Fu had left to her after he passed the title of Guardian over to her. Softly she pressed in the combination to open the device, and with a nimble quickness her fingers softly opened each compartment until she found the correct one and pulled out the glasses, setting them in center of the neck hole in her shirt, ready to use should the time call for it, though now only appearing to be a cute accessory to anyone that asked. 

“I hope that I can actually have some fun on this trip, you know, without the usual Ladybug worries...” Marinette whispered to Tikki who zoomed out of her purse and nuzzled up to Marinette’s cheek. 

“I think you don’t have too much to worry about! After all, Hawkmoth has been a little slow lately, so maybe you’ll be okay!” Tikki offered as Marinette sighed. 

“Should I give Chat the number to my satellite phone in case anything goes wrong, or should I just keep updates from the Ladyblog and just let him know I’ll be gone for a bit?” Marinette asked as Tikki held a small hand up to her own face and gave it a small bit of thought, the anxiousness creeping through Marinette’s features. 

“You should definitely let him know you’ll be gone, but if you want to keep your identity safe, don’t tell him about the satellite phone, just tell him you’ll be keeping updated with the Ladyblog! He might be able to help you get information from there faster in case Alya is slow to update!” Tikki offered as Marinette nodded, calling on the transformation magic then ducking into her closet, in case her parents had chosen that moment to pop their heads in. Pulling her yo-yo out she set up the call feature and was sent straight to his voicemail, which...made sense, especially if he wasn’t exactly active at that moment. 

“Hey Chat! I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be going to be out of Paris for a while---” she began before she realized that if he had known her as Marinette...which he seemed to already, then that might complicate things from her own absence...especially if he was going to go to Alya at all to get her to update the Ladyblog in a timely manner. “Uhh...my family wanted to visit Lyon and I’ll be out of school and I can’t exactly avoid going with them, but if there are any problems here in Paris I’ll come in with the horse miraculous, so no need to worry about me! But I will be keeping tabs on the state of things from the notices on the Ladyblog, so as long as there’s a notice on there I’ll make an appearance!” she offered, before closing the yo-yo, hanging up the call, then detransforming. “We should get some rest Tikki...” Marinette offered as Tikki nodded in approval, letting loose a small yawn.

The trip with Gina had been more than Marinette had ever expected, getting to visit the Cathedrale St-Michel was amazing, the architecture of it alone was just so fascinating, and for all of her life Marinette had only really had interests in fashion due to Gina, she had never thought to look into buildings, but now it was as if an entire new world was opening up to her, giving her more room to explore, but then going off to the Place Royale had given her the same level of attraction and affection toward this new field of wonder, the various shapes, the way everything was held together, how something so historic could still hold so much presence in the lives of so many people, and how it alone could bring in people like her and Gina to envision and experience from it...it was like a fascinating and beautiful new avenue, and suddenly she was lit with excitement from every which way...and this was just the first part of the first day! 

The Belgian Royal Museum of Fine Arts was another avenue that gave Marinette a lot of inspiration, Gina following after her, a bit bored herself with the idea of a museum, though Marinette had all but ran through the area, her sketchbook in hand, sketching up a storm as she gazed longingly at each and every painting in the museum, her mind fluttering about. The only problem with all of it was that she had yearned to take photos with her normal phone, but knowing the roaming charges would be astronomical, she opted against it, and when Gina had remained too far behind, Marinette had taken a moment to give Tikki a small treat inside her purse, and allowed for Tikki to come out for a brief second to view her sketchbook and the painting she stood in front of, sharing a soft moment with her wonderful companion. Soon after though, due to Gina’s boredom, the pair had left to the Atomium to take many goofy photos together and get some lunch, ending the tour of Brussels at the Mont des Arts, before Gina rented a motorcycle and Marinette had stuffed the horse miraculous in her purse, practically chaining it across her front, as they rode the next three hours out to Luxembourg. 

Finding a hotel for the night, Marinette had been certain to check up on the Ladybug one more time, having absently checked it moments throughout the day as if it were second nature, still coming up with nothing she was overjoyed to find just that...there was nothing. Another day when Hawkmoth wasn’t going to make an appearance. 

The few days of exploring with Gina were absolutely wonderful, doing a tree climbing course in Vianden and proving to Gina that she was fitter than she might seem (though that was entirely thanks to her job as Ladybug!), going on the chairlift and looking down at the town below, visiting the bronze bust of Victor Hugo and taking photos with it, then visiting the Chateau de Vianden to close that day out...it was almost surreal, she couldn’t believe how small the world looked from above in the chairlift. She’d been in planes a few times before in her past, but to actually watch as something gets smaller below her without the benefit of her Ladybug suit was strange and exhilarating, and then to outdo her grandmother while climbing the trees was something else in itself. Gina had attributed it to all of her energy, but she and Tikki both knew better as they joked while they waited for the others in the tree climbing course to meet her up above. And throughout that day she also continued to check in on everything gradually, though before they had left the Chateau de Vianden and had taken a plane out to Milan, she had checked again, still coming up empty from the Ladyblog. 

The day in Milan had been strange...it dragged on for Marinette, she didn’t really like the city, because it had been too stuffy, there were too many religious things to visit, and she just wasn’t all that interested, but she stuck it out for Gina, as Gina had done for her back in Brussels, and eventually the two had gone to have lunch together, both agreeing that after visiting the Opera at Teatro alla Scala, they would make their way back to Paris, and then spend whatever time was left getting ice cream and cooling down with the rest of the family. 

When they had finally taken a plane back home to Paris and the two of them had gotten to the bakery, Sabine handed Marinette a packet of homework, with a note on it from Alya, which simply said “CHECK YOUR MESSAGES GIRL!” and Marinette waited on it, while she wanted to give her friend some attention, she was more interested in spending some more time with Gina and her parents, going off to have dinner with them, and when she was finally ready to get upstairs, she turned her satellite phone off, turned her normal phone on, put the horse miraculous away, and then went to check her phone for the messages Alya wanted her to read, and it was as if everything in the world had come to a screeching halt the moment that she read a single text from Alya.

>>>GIRL, YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT, LADYBUG IS A CONFIRMED STUDENT HERE IN OUR CLASS!

She felt her heart contract, no...no they couldn't be close to finding her identity. No. This wasn't possible, she was so careful!

As the panic set in she couldn't bring herself to respond to Alya. "Tikki...we might have a problem, Alya said someone in our class is Ladybug..." she whispered.

"What?!" Tikki's high-pitched squeal painted her ears.

"I don't...I don't know how this could have happened!" she whispered.

"Well...if Alya didn't say anything about Ladybug being you, maybe they don't really know yet!" Tikki pointed out and finally Marinette was able to breathe in relief, her heartbeat finally slowing to a more steady pace.

"Y-you're right! I shouldn't worry! I should go to bed...tomorrow we can figure this out!" she whispered as Tikki flew to her pillow and Marinette curled up in the bed herself. All that she had hoped was that whatever was going on, Chat hadn't heard about it...but that was wishful thinking, wasn't it? She had been absent from the city for a few days, which means that whatever Alya had said was probably on the Ladyblog...OH MY GOD IT WAS PROBABLY ON THE LADYBLOG! She thought, reaching for her phone she began to scroll upward before Tikki flew through it and huffed, glaring Marinette in the face.

"It's time to sleep!" Tikki stated as Marinette sighed.

"I know but I just thought we should check the Ladyblog in case Alya posted something on it!" Marinette rationalized.

"No! You can worry about it tomorrow! Besides, you've been checking the Ladyblog all week on the trip, and right now you need a clear and level head so sleep!" Tikki insisted, and with hesitation, Marinette relented.

For once, she hadn't slept through her alarm, and rolled off of her bed, rushing through her morning routine, and zipping off to school after she had finished. She had a lot of time to spare, which was a surprise, but as she made her way through the school doors and into her class, where she found Alya sitting, her best friend's eyes went wide for a minute before getting back to normal, as if a realization washed over her for a moment then faded.

"Hey, Alya! So what was with your text? I would have responded sooner but as soon as I got home I was just exhausted and kind of passed out, and this morning I forgot to respond! I'm so sorry!" she apologized before Alya's eyes perked up again.

"You are NOT going to believe the scoop I got for you! There's this new girl in our class, Mallory, and she's Ladybug! She even has the Ladybug earrings and looks EXACTLY like her!" Alya whispered. "She even knows stuff about the Miraculous that only Ladybug would know!" she whispered, which deflated Marinette's mood. Well...at least...it wasn't that her identity was outed.

"Oh...I mean...are you sure she's really Ladybug? It...seems a little too good to be true..." Marinette offered, which Alya rolled her eyes at.

"Are you going to get upset at this girl like you do at Lila because she's also spending time with Adrien?" Alya asked with a huff, and Marinette rolled her eyes. Of course, it always came down to jealousy, even if she didn't actually know that this Mallory girl was interested in Adrien.

"Alya...I don't know anything about this girl...I've been gone a few days, remember? Besides, if Ladybug is adamant about identities being a secret then why would she tell you before she told Chat Noir?" she offered, which Alya again huffed at.

"She didn't just tell me, she told the whole class!"

"Well then that makes it even less likely that she's actually Ladybug, don't you think?" Marinette stated flatly before a girl who could almost be her double walked up the aisle and let out an angry huff.

"You must be the girl Lila told me about, Marinette, right? Well you don't have to believe that I'm Ladybug, but you should at least not try to drag me into your drama!" she snapped as Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Then you shouldn't lie to the class about something so serious." Marinette countered as the girl scoffed and stomped up the stairs to her seat in the back. Whoever that girl was, she definitely wasn't even a good replica of Ladybug, all she had were similar looks to Marinette's own, nothing more, she clearly couldn’t replicate the way that she carried herself as Ladybug, she stood too straight and poised, and even as Ladybug that was something that Marinette struggled with, and if anyone actually believed that Mallory was Ladybug then they really were blind.

@sofmimis @tinyterror333 @xmenlov @calicokitkat @galaxykrystal123 @yin-390 @littleacecutie @draw-me-some-stories @im-a-useless-and-shitty-blob  @wild-lady-luck @siamxshade @lenamau @justafanwarrior @random-posts-and-stuff @gwennex @thezestywalru 

[hangryandlazy]

africa jul 19

wow lol it’s taken me 2 years to actually put this post together. a LOT has changed since then and it makes me immensely happy to recognize how lucky we were that we’d had 2 insane years of travelling right before the pandemic hit. but this post is not to dwell on that, so let’s get on with it!!

this was our amazing 2019 africa trip~

jun 30, 19 ••• we make our way from hong kong to the netherlands on klm airlines. i distinctly remember how impressed i was with the quality of service and the comfort of the 12ish hour flight. after around 16 hours of commute, we just want to stay in and chill, so we order room service and call it a night early. i recall wearing a fun t-shirt that read, “not to be rude, but shut the fuck up” which i personally find hilarious and endearing, but which made the guy at the front desk quite uncomfortable. lollll oops!

jul 1, 19 ••• yay! we had a full day alone in amsterdam. we (i) decided to walk from the hotel to the town center, because it’s fun experience new cities by exploring them on foot!! why not? you come across many things that you just couldn’t have planned to find.

look how beautiful the canals in amsterdam are! anywhere you turn, it’s picturesque.

we had lunch at wagamama because i saw that the avant garde vegan, gaz oakley, had done a collaboration with them at some point, so there are some guaranteed vegan options. we then walk around the bloemenmarkt and find our way to the cannabis college, which had 2 verdampers for rent! yesssss! i was so happy. 

we explored and walked around more, then stopped by a coffee shop to smoke a bit more. there was a lovely vegan cafe right next door, which i’d been eyeing when we went in to smoke, so we had a top up on coffee and matcha there. we saw a cute frenchie across the road and missed the dogs so...

we had dinner at this place called cafe frijdag (which means Friday!) which was delicious! so happy that amsterdam had vegan options for me

jul 2, 19 ••• we got up bright and early to meet my parents for breakfast and we go to the airport to catch our flight to kigali. about 10 hours later, we were buying sim cards at the kigali airport. we then checked in to the radisson for the night, and it was feeling very surreal to be in africa. i remember feeling anxious.

jul 3, 19 ••• today started on a somber note. we went to the kigali genocide memorial. i cried a lot, especially at the exhibit with the photographs of only a fraction of the victims during that time.

then we drove at turtle speed to our next hotel, which was a loooong long way away. we arrived at the lake kivu serena hotel in time for a very late lunch. the cuisine here consists of rice, tortilla-like wraps and papadum-esque crispy rolls.

this fruit tastes disgusting... it looks like a tomato but isn’t sweet at all. i only remember spitting it out, trying another piece from another plate, and still hating it.

thankfully everyone wanted to relax and take it easy, so we ordered in for dinner and spent the rest of the night chilling.

jul 4, 19 ••• we drove out to see the border between rwanda and the democratic republic of congo. we were told to be very careful about taking photos of the police officers there, so we were. it felt strange to take photos of the border, i’m clearly very ignorant of the relations and history. it was a very busy juncture, with a sea of people crossing this way and that, lots of cars bumbling about and a lot of fruit, as i recall. hahah.

we then drove out to see a makeshift hot spring. we were asked if we wanted to take a dip, but none of us wanted to..... felt bad saying no, but really not worth it, sorry.

https://vimeo.com/568059672  (okay, i’m unable to embed more videos so links will have to do until i figure out something better...)

we took a boat ride along the lake, but there wasn’t that much to see around there, it was pretty dirty and murky... reminded me of the hong kong harbor, with trash floating around. it was also freezing, so i wasn’t having any fun at all.

we went to the gym and worked out a little bit because there was a lot of time to kill in between returning to hotel and our private pre-planned bbq dinner on the beach. we were lucky enough to enjoy traditional rwandan dancing which was absolutely gorgeous.

jul 5, 19 ••• we spent most of our morning in the car, having crossed the border to the republic of uganda. we stopped by a cute cafe along the way for lunch, but it was a grueling 4-5 hour car ride to mahogany springs, which was our hotel for the gorilla trekking. we managed to arrive around 715pm, by which time it was pretty dark and scary outside. the other car had broken down twice, once in the dark as well, so spirits were low and there was a lot of muttering and grumbling done under people’s breath. everyone was ravenous by the time dinner was served, but despite how late it was, it was absolutely delicious and i was happy! (also grateful for our car not having broken down)

jul 6, 19 ••• we woke up VERY early in anticipation of gorilla trekking. we waited around the hotel lobby after some coffee and biscuits for breakfast. it was an awful lot of waiting, but i didn’t sense anything wrong until i saw how pissed off our tour guide looked. it turns out our permits had gotten stolen! probably bribes.

here we were mucking around, still anticipating gorilla trekking.

we didn’t let it slow us down though. i actually am grateful for how things turned out because we wouldn’t have gotten to experience uganda like that without this turn of events. we joined a community tour that showed us how tea is harvested, how coffee is grown, harvested and round, as well as how bananas may be used to make juice, beer and gin! very cool

african tea leaves

jackfruit??

these are flowers from the coffee tree

the different stages of the coffee plant

this is henry, he owns this coffee plantation. here, henry shows us how to the use this contraption, the purpose of which is to grind coffee beans into powder

here henry is, sifting the coffee powder

here are my parents, having the time of their life (lol at my dad)

fresh bananas

these are the different stages of a banana’s life: from raw to ripe to fermenting. it can be made into juice and liquor.

we then visited a local school, where we were entertained by kids from kindergarten to 6th grade. we learned about their mission and goals to educate the younger generations by providing classrooms and a dining hall and even dorms for boarding. the singing and dancing was BRILLIANT. loved every single second of it. wish i’d joined in and not cared about what anyone thought.

we stopped by a women’s community center and saw a lot of cool crafts and art. that was on the way to the batwa pgymy tribe. we learned how they integrated with the batwa community. they showed us some dances they have dedicated to the gorillas, for which they are very grateful because it brings tourists in and therefore gives them an income. they showed us how to use a bow and arrow to hunt, and how they weave baskets and make handicrafts.

alan with the leader of the pgymy tribe

one of our guides spotted 2 chameleons, which was super impressive. he even brought the chameleon down close to us so that we could see it. i won’t ever understand how he was able to spot it in the wild, and from so far away as well.

we returned to the lodge and had lunch. the veggie stir fry was pretty dang good. it was served with posho, which is a maize bread, beans, and also matate (???) which reminded me a lot of plantain. back at the hotel, we chilled (without tv or wifi) until dinner. alan fell asleep, and i kept myself busy sorting out photos. dinner was early, and our night was early because we were promised gorilla trekking in the morning!

delicious!

jul 7, 19 ••• we were up and ready to leave by 7am. we were in the clear! we drove a little bit to the bwindi impenetrable national park for some entertainment (dancing and singing) from local students and a hilarious briefing on what to expect and do’s and don’ts of the trek. 

we then had separate meetings within our trekking groups. ours was quite big, with 10 tourists, because michael and our guides had spent HOURS the day before handling our stolen permits. an exception was made to accommodate us all, so our group consisted of the starke’s, alan, kerstin, a couple from oregon, and an english family. we had to get in another car and drive a bit to the mountain, where we met our porters and then began our trek!

the hike up was difficult, and at times i legit feared for my life because the mud/rocks were loose and one wrong step would have had us tumbling down the edge of the mountain... and that was me at age 28!! cannot imagine how my parents were feeling...

alan with meddie

as we made our way to the gorilla family, we encountered a solo young male who was soooo friendly, he cut across our group, like right down the middle, and he even reached out and touched my mom on her jacket! it was wild that a gorilla was that close to us, and then he left as quickly as he had joined.

this is the photo my mom managed to take when the young gorilla male was right next to her

we kept on hiking and found a large. our guide, meddie, told us that we were lucky to have found such a large family doing a whole bunch of different activities: we saw mothers nursing their babies, babies swinging from the trees and playing with one another, sub adult males beating their chests and other members of the family eating and feeding. we even got to watch as a silverback gorilla pulled a very healthy poop out of its butt, and we ran into him snacking again later on.

on the way down, it started raining a little bit. we all slipped at one point or another, but it was especially dangerous for my dad so we all had to slow down our pace a little bit to match his speed. thank god he had a porter there to help him out and save him. 

we returned to the same place as where we had started our morning for a debriefing, and we each received a certificate to show that we had been on this trek. we waited around a little bit for the other group to arrive, and were once again very grateful that our experience was much more pleasant. one lady in the other group had to leave the trek on a stretcher, and the others were caught in the rain on their way to the gorillas, so it must have been a cold and awful experience on their end. 

us after the successful completion of our gorilla trek!!

we headed to a local inn nearby where we had a late lunch and could change into dry clothes. we then drove a bumpy 4 hours to mweya safari lodge, located inside queen elizabeth national park. we made a couple of stops along the way (one of which was in the middle of nowhere so that people could go pee out in the open where animals are potentially roaming around?!?!?) and when we finally arrived, it was already 830/9ish pm.... we insisted to order room service because we were pooped, and we got showered and hit the hay.

this cute sign was outside the lodge!

this super old school cash register was at the lodge too

jul 8, 19 ••• today started off with a game drive, early in the morning! 

we drove around the gorgeous park and saw elephants, warthogs, antelope, eagles, all sorts of bird and butterflies, buffalo and weird-looking lemur or ferret creatures. we thought it was great, but some other members of the group were underwhelmed. 

this is the view from the car we sat in for the safari

this gorgeous tree houses sooo many bird’s nests! do you see them?

cute antelope we saw on the tour

after lunch at the hotel, we went on a boat tour around the kazinga channel. i think it was called lake edward? we saw many animals again, including crocodile, elephants, buffalo, all sorts of birds, and hippos.

favorite photo of my parents ¨̮

we followed a few elephant cuties along the bank. it drizzled for a little bit in between.

dinner was delicious. it was a great buffet, although i was severely grossed out by the ants that joined us on the dining table.

there were so many animals on the grounds of the lodge. don’t be fooled by how cute these guys look, we saw them fight over raw meat at some point! we also saw a warthog stroll around.

jul 9, 19 ••• we were up bright and early today for a quick breakfast before heading right on out. on the way to entebbe, we stopped by a local motel for lunch. the service was SUPER slow (maybe because we had such a huge group together!) but it was delicious and worth the wait! i ordered a coleslaw and avocado vinaigrette (this was THE HUGEST AVOCADO i’ve ever seen in my life?!?!?), a veggie biryani and some of paul’s aloo matar. we then filed back into our cars for several more hours of “african massage” to the next destination. had an early night, i think we ordered room service to the hotel room and tried to get our butts to bed as early as possible because it was another EARLY day the morning after.

we stopped at the equator in uganda to take some photos, of course!

i was sooo happy to be able to order room service! we felt like we were finally back to civilization... 🥺 we had wifi and tv and hot water... ugh it was amazing

jul 10, 19 ••• my alarm was set for 4am this morning.... 🥲😅 we left the hotel at 5am for the airport and obviously i was tired and grumpy and just in a crappy mood overall hahahah. our first flight was barely 45 minutes.... to mbarara i’m guessing?? i was assigned a middle seat on my own originally but no one was in the aisle seat so i moved over woohoo! our first layover was 2-3 hours, not too bad. we hung around at the lounge area. 

our second flight was to harare. alan and i managed to snag 2 joined seats towards the back end of the plane so that we could watch conan’s traevel shows on his ipad. there was a pretty scary drop when we were descending imto harare. i think we just stayed on the plane for about half an hour so some people could get on the plane and join.

we flew about 3 hours more to cape town, and we were EXCITED to arrive. it was a hell of a time checking in, and it was a nicer hotel in a nice area so we decided to just stay in and order room service again. we had a slow night and it was SOOOO needed. cape town felt a lot closer to the first world and we were enjoying and appreciating it to the max. we even started playing pokemon go and its harry potter-themed equivalent (oops forgot the name), but to be fair, we didn’t get cell phone service everywhere we went, so it would cut on and off.

jul 11, 19 ••• eek, cape town was COOOOLD! luckily i brought a jacket along, we really really needed to cover up and stay warm! got to sleep in a bit, we left by 830am to drive to the pebble beach by the water to take some gorgeous photos. we stopped by chapman’s peak for another photo op, then drove to boulders beach in simon’s town to see the penguins!! it was such a dream, loved every second of it.

i believe this was chapman’s peak??

what a model

this was at the pebble beach at the cape of good hope. 

saw a cute ostrich on the way somewhere

next we went to cape point. we took the funicular to the top, then hiked up to the lighthouse. we took pots of great pics but omg it was EVEN MORE freezing there. we had lunch at the two oceans restaurant. fancy and delicious! the calamari was bomb, the arancini was alright, but the main of chickpea and mushrooms was delish. after lunch we headed right on back to the hotel.

when i said it was cold, i wasn’t joking... it was FREEZING at the top. i had a horrible time because i don’t do that well in the cold

alan and i walked over to woolworths to get water and makeup remover and snacks. on the way back we stopped by PLANT for dinner. i was sooo excited to try out their vegan fast food, so i ordered a lot of the menu. we got the quinoa salad, mac and cheez, seitan lasagna, schawarma, pot stickers, siu mai, spag bolognese, tiramisu, milk tart and a bunch of other random vegan snacks. i was in HEAVEN. even though some of the stuff was cold by the time we got back to the hotel and ate, it still tasted DELICIOUS. i was soooo impressed.

this was the lasagna. omfg i need an encore of this restaurant one day!!! wish i knew how to cook like this

jul 12, 19 ••• today we went to a wine blending workshop at grande provence winery. the first step was to blend 3 different mixtures. after tasting them all, we decided the last blend was the winner, with 40% zinfandel, 10% shiraz and 50% cabernet. so then we blended up a big bottle of it, corked it, thew on a hand-signed label, and then walked around the beautiful indoor and outdoor art galleries.

this was our group!

wine blending is literally mixing different wines together in different proportions and figuring out which you like the taste of the best

there was a lot of cute art at the winery! i loved all the dogs and greyhounds around the property. these 3 dancing pigs came a close second

we drove a little way for lunch at another beautiful vineyard. i had a charcoal ciabatta, tomato quinoa salad, root veggie risotto and steamed veggies on the side. we skipped the wine tasting because our lunch overran a bit and our bus driver buford said that the traffic would be pretty heavy on a friday afternoon and it wouldn’t be worth it to be stuck on the bus. so we just walked around the cute little town we were at, franschhoek (??)

there was a lot of cute art and small local shops around this town! we strolled around and got some souvenirs ¨̮

love this

we had a dinner booked way ahead at fyn restaurant. it was stunningly delicious. i loved every single course and was thoroughly impressed.

UGHHHHH just soooo good.

jul 13, 19 ••• FINALLY we had a day to sleep in!!!! we let our group know the night before that we didn’t want to join the walking tour around the city. we woke up and made our way to the company’s garden, which was directly next to our hotel. we played harry potter wizards unite and ran into the tour group. my mom told me later on it was a good decision of ours not to join haha.

we walked to addis in cape for an authentic ethiopian meal experience. we washed our hands at the table, ate the whole meal with our hands, and finally i was able to taste injera. it was 100% teff injera and it did not disappoint. i ordered a vegan platter while alan got a combo. the amount of food was PERFECT for us, we finished every single thing. 

we ordered dessert but the hot berries never showed up and the ice cream was interestingly very gummy and very very sweet. the coffee was strong and served with a beautiful platter.

after that, we needed to walk our full tummies off. we headed to the waterfront, where there were many shops and stalls in indoor and outdoor malls. it was just a really good time walking around there and we saw soooo many things. there was bubble tea in south africa, a yogurt bar that made me sooo happy, dogs were up for adoption, and a bootleg jabbawockeez performance at the city square. we walked back to the hotel after that and got ready for bed.

jul 14, 19 ••• we woke up at 430am to head to the airport by 530am. we caught our first flight from cape town to johannesburg, then transferred to a direct flight back to hong kong. it was a TIRING trip but wow, the memories!! really want to go to back soon

[shijiujun]

fear no more (when you’re with me)

Lu Yao is scared of almost everything, and Chusheng doesn’t get it.

“Why would you be scared when you have me?” he asks, genuinely bewildered.

(or once again, a nonsensical, incoherent and self-indulgent ficlet where Chusheng takes care of everything for his Lu Yao)

---

Chusheng lived on the streets for a few years where he got involved in too many fights to count, way before he met Boss Bai and was taken under the man’s wing. He had to stare down people that were larger than him, fiercer than he was, scarier too. When he slept on the streets, he shared the space with rats, cockroaches and the likes. If he didn’t want to go hungry, he had to fight for leftover food in the garbage too between buildings.

From early on, he understood that if he wanted something, he had to fight for it. What use was fear? Being scared didn’t fill up his stomach and it sure as hell didn’t keep other assholes from hitting and bullying him.

After he met Boss Bai, the man began to teach him how to fight, how to channel his strength efficiently and properly, and how to make sure that people respected or feared him. He was strong now and could fight anything that came his way as long as he faced it head on. The uncles and brothers he grew up around didn’t let fear control them either. 

There just aren’t that many things in the world left that scare him anymore. This is something that comes with experience and age. It’s the case for him, and it is the same for everyone else, Chusheng believes.

That is, until he meets Lu Yao.

“It’s a dog, it’s barking at me!” Lu Yao panics from where he jumped over Chusheng’s back earlier.

Staring at the chihuahua incredulously, Chusheng thinks he is hearing Lu Yao wrongly. “What- It’s a small, tiny dog, San Tu. What are you even scared of?”

“It’s barking at me! Shoot it!”

The dog continues to bark at Lu Yao and the tall, gangly genius refuses to get down from his back, even going as far as to grab his gun from the waistband of his pants. When the dumbass gets like this, shit always happens, and his theory is proven correct when the windows to his car shatter from a misfired bullet.

Chusheng has never seen anyone like Lu Yao. How can anyone be that brilliant and intelligent, and also this timid at the same time?

Where he has long since outgrew his fears, Lu Yao has them all, and more.

The man hides from trouble the second he spots it - hiding inside the train while Chusheng beat the hired goons up, averting his eyes when he saw the beheaded corpse, running away when people chase him, using Chusheng as a physical shield when You Ning or anyone else confronts him, and the list goes on.

Lu Yao is scared of everything except dead people (if the corpse is whole), which is ironic, if he thinks about it.

There’s a rat running around Chusheng’s office one day, and before You Ning can even take off her shoe and chase after the rodent, when Chusheng turns around, Lu Yao is already standing on top of his table, hugging his hands to himself.

Chusheng deals with the rat quickly, trapping it with his cup and then calling for Ah Dou to come in and remove it.

A few days later, one of their cases brings them to a dilapidated, dark and eerie warehouse at the ports. Lu Yao insists on standing outside the door, and when Chusheng rolls his eyes and moves to head in with his men, Lu Yao grabs at his elbow and stops him. He forces Chusheng, the great Inspector Qiao, to accompany him outside while his men checks out the place. It turns out to be empty and they find the lights to illuminate the whole space ten minutes later, but even then, Lu Yao is pressed closed to him at his back with every move after.

A confrontation with one of Boss Bai’s brothers, one of Chusheng’s uncles, has the men threatening to cut off Lu Yao’s fingers one by one for daring to suspect one of their brothers for the case they’re on. That has Lu Yao so frightened he actually faints.

Chusheng can only look towards the heavens and pray for mercy.

Lu Yao backs off when beautiful women at the club approach him with a predatory eye. When one of their enemies actually brings a gunfight to the station, Chusheng finds Lu Yao hiding under his table after he deftly knocks the culprit out. 

A trek through the forests on the outskirts of the city in the middle of the night has Lu Yao flinching and jumping at every little sound. A visit to an abandoned three-storey building which used to serve as a prison back in the older days and Lu Yao is clutching at his sleeve, refusing to let go as they check out the scene.

“I don’t understand,” Chusheng finally says one afternoon, turning around to look at Lu Yao who is crouched low in his seat in the car, hiding while Chusheng faced off with two men who followed them out of the restaurant, looking for trouble.

“What… what do you not understand?” Lu Yao asks as he straightens, confused and awkward.

“Why would you be scared when you have me?” Chusheng continues, absolutely exasperated as he crosses his arm, staring at Lu Yao with a raised eyebrow.

The man returns his stare from the backseat for a long while. Chusheng writes it off as a lost cause after Lu Yao has been silent for too long, and gets back into the driver’s seat.

Chusheng doesn’t know fear anymore, but a few weeks later, he supposes he comes rather close to the feeling again. Seeing Jiang Zhi Qing and his men carry a body in a potato sack, coming out of the restaurant Lu Yao went into earlier. Lu Yao is now nowhere in sight.

He manages to save San Tu then, but as his sources inform him of Lu Yao’s siblings and father moving, moving to remove him from Shanghai, away from him by any means possible, Chusheng begins to worry. He starts to fear, the first time in more than a decade. 

He fears that if he’s not careful, he’s going to wake up and Lu Yao will be nowhere to be found, whisked away to somewhere that Chusheng cannot reach.

Chusheng suggests to Lu Yao that he leave Shanghai for a bit with You Ning while he sorts all of this out. He is almost entirely certain that Lu Yao will agree, given his penchant for running away when trouble comes knocking, so when Lu Yao shakes his head and simply continues reading the case document in front of him instead, Chusheng doesn’t understand.

“Why don’t you want to go? You should go, San Tu. I’ll make sure they can’t reach you,” he frowns.

“I don’t want,” Lu Yao responds, almost indignant. “Why should I go? I like being here where I’m not disliked, and you pay me handsomely- well, not really, you could do better with my wages, but the thing is, I like it here. Where would I even go?”

“Anywhere,” Chusheng shrugs, helpless. “Anywhere at all. Anywhere is better than here. Jiang Zhi Qing already tried to kidnap you once. I don’t have to tell you how powerful your siblings are, right? And don’t try to hide it, when you heard that your Dajie was coming to visit you earlier, you shuddered. You’re scared of her, so why won’t you go?”

The more time he spends with Lu Yao, the more Chusheng understands that he is willing to do anything if it means Lu Yao is safe and happy. This is the most he can do for Lu Yao right now. The triads are a big thing in Shanghai, but against political power and status which Lu Yao’s sister has in spades, her talons sinking into places even they cannot reach, there’s only so much Chusheng can do.

He’s not confident that he can protect Lu Yao from this one.

“Well,” Lu Yao begins, peering up from the document and staring pointedly at Chusheng before looking away in a pout.

Chusheng gets distracted immediately as he actually finds the pout cute. He’s done for, he knows that.

“Someone asked me a while back why I would be scared… when I have him?” Lu Yao ends the sentence in a rush, as if embarrassed. “And he’s right. So this is me… trying to be less scared.”

He is floored. He truly is, and Chusheng doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry in this situation. However, Lu Yao’s response has strangely chased away the uncertainty he’s been feeling for a while now, just like that.

Sitting against the edge of the table right next to Lu Yao, Chusheng bends down and asks, “Are you sure? You’re so sure that I’ll be able to protect you?”

Lu Yao’s face is mere inches away from his as he looks up to return Chusheng’s gaze.

“You said that I have you,” Lu Yao swallows, his eyes unsure. “Did you mean it?”

Chusheng can say no right now. He can laugh it off, hit it where it hurts and get Lu Yao far away from Shanghai. Logically, he knows that, but when Lu Yao is looking at him like this, when Lu Yao relies on him, when Lu Yao needs him-

How can he say no to that?

He’ll deal with Lu Yao’s troublesome family when they come.

“Hnn,” he hums in assent, “You have me, for as long as you want me.”

At the answer, Lu Yao does a pretty good imitation of a deflated balloon as the tension in his body leaves him, and says, “I thought you were going to say no-“

Chusheng cuts him off and captures his lips with his own suddenly. A hand cupping the side of Lu Yao’s angular, handsome face, Chusheng deepens the kiss until Lu Yao can hardly remember his own name when they break apart.

He looks pretty dazed, Chusheng thinks smugly.

It takes Lu Yao a minute to come back to himself, but when he does, his face turns a lovely shade of red and he pushes Chusheng away, standing up.

Seeing Lu Yao scramble away and head for the door, the fondness that wells up in his chest at the sight is surreal. There he is, his timid Lu San Tu.

“Where’re you going?” he asks, amused. “Is that it?”

“I-“ Lu Yao spins around, then takes two steps to the left before regretting it and turning back. “I- I’m going home. You- You figure out what to do with my Dajie. I’m- I’m going home.”

“Shall I send you back-“

“No!”

Chusheng winces as Lu Yao strikes the back of the couch, then trips over a cabinet leg in his fluster to leave the office. Shaking his head, Chusheng decides that he will not press Lu Yao for now.

He’ll have to figure out some way to deal with Lu Yao’s Dajie and the rest of his family.

After all, Lu Yao is counting on him to drive away all his fears and Chusheng has resigned himself to the fact that he will give Lu Yao everything he wants, if only the man opens his mouth and asks.

===

*Dajie - Older sister

*Based loosely on the ending of ep 24, I took liberties with the timeline a little bit

*We’ll only know what happens when Lu Yao’s sister comes visit him this week probably, I await with bated breath