#everything is so dang tiny

[pixlokita]

Hehehehhf what should’ve happened tbh TTwTT Mike would’ve loved to see it 🥹💖 this is so lovely ;v; thank for drawing the beepas 💖💖💖

today I saw this post (down there from @pixlokita ), and knew what I had to do.

I HOPE Y'ALL CAN READ THIS! I MADE IT DURING MATHS AND ACCIDENTALLY TOLD MY CLASSMATE THE ENTIRETY OF BALL PIT AU'S LORE. BUT WHO CARES!

Also just realized I forgot to add Michael's reaction, but he'd be in tears from the cuteness

(the anatomy may seen a bit off, fighting at block🥲)

Some context if needed

I

V

This takes place in the evening of page 34, Michael finally woke up but he still dizzy, but why was Gregory mad? First, Henry kinda had to feed him chicken nuggets because he wouldn't stop mumbling insults about Evan because he laughed at him, and also Greg ruffled Evan's hair to get revenge. By this point he was still being held hostage by Henry (aka that "stop holding my hand! let go")

[keeps-ache]

hm hm hm !!

[like-wuatafauq]

Laying on my childhood bed, then hearing and seeing popping fire from outside and calling out to my dad and actually having him come quickly to my room just healed something in me I never thought could be healed....

[zorosangell]

⛥ﾟ・。 rice crackers

synopsis: after nami discovers a little girl stowing away on the sunny, the crew comes together to interrogate her... but she won't stop claiming to be your daughter

cw: lots and lots of fluff, comfort, zoro is emotionally constipated, your daughter's name is Yuki (i just picked something random), you and Zoro art not together yet, etc.

a/n: ending might be kinda rushed i'm tired

"And I'm out!" you cheered, throwing down your winning hand with a flourish, donning a triumphant smile.

"No way! You have to be cheating!" Usopp exclaimed, accusingly, looking down at the cards with wide eyes. "That's thirty-four times in a row!"

You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you looped your arms around the huge stack of rice crackers, pulling them closer.

"No need be a sore loser. You know I won far and square," you teased, letting out a small giggle as you stuck out your tongue at the sniper.

"Like hell you did! My strategy was flawless! It was foolproof! There was no way you could've beat it!"

"What strategy?" your brows flattened, "Usopp... we're playing Go Fish. I don't think there's much to it."

"So? My brilliant mind can formulate a strategy for any kind of game, no matter how simple," he bellowed, proudly, as if that was some sort of feat.

"Yeah... brilliant."

The three of you, completely bored out of your minds, had plopped yourselves down on the deck to play some cards, hoping to pass the time until you arrived on the next island.

The boys had already done their daily fishing, as well as their daily kitchen raid, having sang with Brook and hung out with Franky a little bit earlier.

Meanwhile, you had already completed your training for the day, as per Zoro's workout regiment, having met with Robin for your two-woman book club after you took a shower.

But now you were completely free, and figured scamming the boys out of some food would be a good way to kill time.

"Dang. I coulda swore my strategy was gonna work," your captain huffed, glancing down at his hands, which held well over half of the deck.

"Luffy, why do you have so many cards?" you asked, raising a brow.

"More is better right?" he asked, a little lost.

"Is that how you've been playing this whole time?" Usopp sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose

"That's alright," you assured, smiling cheekily as you split your huge pile of rice crackers in half and slid some in front of Luffy. "We can share."

"Really?! Thanks, (y/n)!" Luffy beamed, eyes starry as he began to stuff his face.

"Hey! Why does he get a cut and I don't?!" Usopp fired back, feeling excluded.

"'Cause he's not a sore loser," you pulled down your lower eyelid, sticking out your tongue once again.

"No fair!"

"(Y/N)!"

Suddenly, Nami burst from her office, the door slamming harshly against the wall and sending a jolt of shock down your spine.

'The hell?!'

Surprised, the three of you turned toward the balcony, where Nami stood with furrowed brows, her body positioned in a way that concealed something behind her.

"Jeez, Nami, what's your problem?" Usopp asked, brow raised.

"Yeah, what's all the yelling for?" Luffy agreed, shoving another fistful of rice crackers in his mouth.

"Nami, my love! Is everything alright?!" Sanji came twirling out the kitchen, lovesick, as usual.

She scoffed, her attention laser-focused on you.

"(y/n), when were you going to tell me you had a daughter?! And why the hell is she stowed away in my office closet?!"

"WHAT?!"

You nearly laughed, absolutely gobsmacked by the words coming out of her mouth.

Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji's jaws nearly fell to the floor, eyes as wide as dinner plates as they turned to you, utterly shocked.

"(Y/N), YOU HAVE A KID?!?"

"NO!" you scoffed, incredulously. "I'VE BEEN WITH YOU IDIOTS THE WHOLE TIME! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL SHE'S TALKING ABOUT!"

"Mommy?" a tiny voice perked up, peeking out from behind your navigator's leg.

Your head snapped over to its source, and your heart nearly dropped to your ass once you got a good look.

It was you.

Or, well, not you exactly, but a younger version of you.

From her hair to her skin.

From her skin to her eyes.

From her eyes to the look on her face.

The only distinguishable differences between you two being both her youthful expressions, and her sharp scowl, which eerily resembled that of the ship's swordsman.

Though that scowl instantly melted away once she locked eyes with you, a blinding smile stretching across her lips.

"Mommy!"

Running out from behind Nami, she jumped up on the railing and launched herself off the balcony, much to your dismay.

"No!"

Without hesitation, you dove forward, catching her in your arms before pulling her into your chest, tucking your knees in to shield her from the impact as you rolled in the the grass.

In that moment, something in you awakened.

An instinct?

An obligation?

You weren't sure.

But something deep within your spirit couldn't stand seeing the little girl hurt, past the fact that she was a child.

You felt a sort of responsibility for her, despite barely having known her.

"What were you thinking?! You could've seriously hurt yourse—!"

Your scolding stopped once you felt something staring at you, forcing you to look down at its source, only to see the girl looking up with starry eyes, absolutely in awe of the sight before her.

"Mommy, you're so pretty!" she marveled, tiny hands rising to cup your face. "You look different!"

Your heart nearly melted at her wonderment, a small smile rising you your lips.

"Honey, I think you have me confu—"

"Is everything alright out here?" Robin asked, concerned, as she emerged from the cabin, looking around at the scene on the deck.

"Yohohoho! That thud gave me such a fright I nearly jumped out my skin!" Brook cackled, walking alongside her. "Or I would've if I had any..."

"Yeah, what's all the commotion? Someone fighting?" Franky asked, following after them, taking a swig of his bottle of cola.

"(y/n), why didn't you tell us you had a daughter?" your captain smiled, walking over to you. "She looks fun!"

"DAUGHTER?!" the three newcomers exclaimed.

"Woah! Uncle Luffy!" the girl gasped, taking a moment to look the boy over. "You're so tiny! Last I saw you, you were this big!"

'Uncle Luffy?'

She jumped out your arms, landing on the grass and standing on her tippy-toes, reaching her hand as high as she could.

"See?"

"Last you saw me?" he raised a brow, rubbing his chin in confusion. "But this is the first time I'm meeting you..."

"Okay, I think we need to get a few things sorted out," Nami sighed, joining the three of you, the rest of the crew watching intently.

It was now abundantly clear that you had no idea who the little girl was; but, even so, her uncanny resemblance to you was enough cause for suspicion.

They needed to get down to the bottom of this.

Carefully, Nami squatted down to the girl's level, resting her arms on her knees.

"Hun, can you tell me your name? And how you got here?" she asked, sweetly.

"Uh-huh!" the girl nodded, eagerly. "I was at home with my daddy and we were playing hide and seek, and I was hiding in the closet. But my daddy is so bad at hide and seek and I started to get sleepy waiting for him to find me. So I took a nap."

She shifted from her heels to her tippy-toes, swaying as she told the story.

"But when I woke up I was on mommy and daddy's old ship, and you were at your desk, Auntie Nami."

'Auntie Nami?'

This was just getting weirder and weirder.

"You think its 'cause of a devil fruit?" Sanji asked, taking a drag of his cigarette. "Someone put her here?"

"I doubt it," Robin shook her head. "We're in the middle of the ocean. With no other person on board and no island in sight, we're out of range. No one should be able to reach us here."

"Unless she stowed away from the last island and is making all this up," Usopp suggested. "What if this is all a trap?"

"Hey! I'm not lying!" the girl pouted, cheeks puffed.

"A trap that looks exactly like (y/n)? I find that hard to believe," Franky shrugged off, turning to you. "You sure she's not yours?"

"For the millionth time... yes."

"But... mommy?" her pout deepened, saddened by your statement. "It's me..."

Walking forward, she pulled a necklace from under her shirt, holding up a small, heart-shaped locket for you to see.

It was gold, with beautifully intricate engravings lining its surface, its clasp sealed with the tiniest emeralds you'd ever seen.

"You don't remember me?"

Carefully, she opened the locket, allowing you to lean forward and get a look at the picture.

And once you did, you nearly fell right through the floor, utterly shocked.

There sat a picture of you, Zoro, and the girl, wide smiles adorning your faces as the swordsman seemed to be lifting you both up at the same time, you sitting pretty in his beefy arm, and the girl sitting on the back of his neck, holding his forehead for purchase.

The two of you looked slightly older, not drastically seasoned with age, but obviously distinguishable.

It couldn't be more than ten years in the future...

But that wasn't the only thing that caught your attention.

After scanning over the whole photo once again, your eyes immediately trained on the matching, gold bands adorning both your ring fingers, the dots slowly beginning to connect—evident by your expression.

Noticing your shock, the others huddled around, stealing their own glances and sharing their own looks of surprise.

You and the swordsman not only marry in the somewhat near future, but also start a family together.

An incredibly happy family, if the image was anything to go off of.

Your entire world was being flipped upside down.

Never, in all the time you'd known him, did allow yourself to believe the two of you would end up together.

Sure, your feelings for Zoro ran deep—deeper than they'd ever ran for anyone else—but you knew nature of your relationship.

You were his best friend.

From what you knew, he'd never felt any romantic inclination toward anyone, too immersed in his goal to focus on anything else.

You thought you were just a training partner.

Just a buddy to drink with.

Just person to talk to over night watch.

Just a friend to cover during battle.

Not a lifelong partner.

Not someone he'd want to have a kid with.

Taking note of your spiral, Nami set her hand down on you shoulder, grounding you, before she turned to the little girl, one last question in mind.

"Honey... could you tell us your name?"

She nodded, looking up at the whole crew with an expression of pride.

"My name is Roronoa Yuki! And I'm gonna be the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

You nearly fainted right there, the rest of the crew gaping at the irrefutable evidence.

This was, indeed, you and Zoro's daughter.

On the balcony above you all, a spit take was heard, everyone turning around to see the man of the hour staring down at the girl, eye wide and bottle of sake long forgotten as he attempted to rationalize what he just heard, as well as the sight before him.

"Daddy!" Yuki beamed, utterly elated to see the scowling face of her father.

Eagerly, she waved at the man as he stood there, quite literally struck dumb.

Someone had a hell of a lot of explaining to do...

"Wait... I don't get it," Yuki muttered, voice small as she ate a fistful of rice crackers, turning to the green haired swordsman next to her. "You're not my dad?"

She seemed saddened by the fact, as well as confused, seeing as the man looked exactly like her father.

"If I'm bein' honest, I'm a little lost, too. I came into all this a little later than everyone else..." Zoro admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But if what Robin said is right, then I am your dad, just from a time before you were born."

Her little face lit up with understanding, "Ohhhhhhh. So before you and mommy fell in love?"

Zoro's breath slightly hitched at the wording, still trying to process the multitude of thoughts and feelings racing through his head.

After Nami and Robin gave him the brass tacks breakdown of who Yuki was and how she got there, he felt the sudden urge to lay down, emotionally overwhelmed by the whole situation.

His future was sitting right next to him, eating a stack of rice crackers.

Now don't get him wrong, his uneasiness—and slight embarrassment—about the whole situation wasn't because of you, or the girl, or anyone else for that matter.

It was because you had to discover his feelings like this.

Or at least get an idea of it.

You were one of his closest friends on the crew, someone he had fought alongside since the beginning (you being among the first to join).

Someone who had saved his life as many times as he'd saved yours.

Someone who would help him to bed after a wild night of drinking and parties.

Someone whose touch sent his heart into a frenzy, and made his head spin.

He wasn't stupid.

He knew what these feelings were.

He knew what these feelings meant.

He was in love with his best friend.

Yet, rejecting that fact made it less real, less daunting, and thus, less bothersome.

But it was hard to remain in his bubble of denial and tranquility when the living, breathing evidence defying him was chowing down not too far away.

With a sigh, Zoro glanced at the small girl out the corner of his eye, watching as she stuffed another heaping handful of crackers into her mouth.

God, she looked just like you.

It was almost baffling.

Shaking his head of the thoughts, he decided now was as good a time as any to ask some questions.

"So... am I training you to be a swordsman?" he asked, awkwardly, eyes slightly shifting away from her.

"Mhmm!" Yuki nodded, looking up at the man. "We started a few months ago, and its super hard! But you always tell me that the path of a swordsman is lined with countless trials, and if I wanna be the best, I gotta beat them all."

She grinned, determinedly.

"So I always push myself harder."

Zoro smiled, slightly, warmed by his daughter's determination.

She was his, for sure...

"What about hand-to-hand?" he asked again, intrigued.

"I do that with mommy," she answered. "She says she was always better at it than you."

He half-chuckled, half-scoffed, almost amused by the statement, "She wishes... you should see her now."

The rest of the crew had gone ashore on an island they'd come across, hoping to find a way to send Yuki back to her correct time.

This, of course, left Zoro on ship watching duty, which, in this case, translated to baby-sitting duty.

Just then, a smirk rose to his lips, his ego slightly boosted by the awe-struck look of the child.

"One thing you shouldn't forget, kid, is I don't lose, with swords or without."

"Except in arguments with mommy..."

His breath hitched, brows flattening at the remark.

'Shoulda figured that one...'

He couldn't win arguments with you now.

When you'd get all up in his face—brows furrowed, finger poking his chest, tone dangerous—was, oddly enough, one of the times when he found you most attractive.

You looked hot when you were mad.

And every time, without fail, he'd be too busy staring at you to pay any attention to what you were saying, which would only result in more yelling.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, kid..." he started, seriously, the girl looking at him with confusion at the sudden change in demeanor. "I wanna know something."

Yuki nodded, ready for his question.

"What's your mom like in the future?"

The girl instantly lit up, perfectly ready to gush about her beloved mother.

"She's is the nicest, toughest, most prettiest mommy in the whole, wide world!" she exclaimed, exuberantly. "She told me all the stories of her awesome fights and adventures on the sea. Even the super scary ones!"

A small smile stretched across his lips, warmed by the girl's overwhelming adoration for you.

"She did, did she?" he nodded for her to continue. "Stories like what?"

"Like how you guys were swallowed by a giant whale!" she exclaimed. "And how you met the warrior giant pirates! And how you went to war with the World Government and saved Auntie Robin!"

Practically bouncing with excitement, she grabbed Zoro's sleeve, clutching it tightly with enthusiasm.

"And how you and Uncle Luffy fought two, huge dragons!"

He smirked, pride puffing his chest at the memory of injuring Kaido, as well as the dragon he decapitated back on Punk Hazard.

It all must've sounded pretty fantastical to a child.

"That's why I can't wait to get strong! I'll be able to have my own adventures!" she stated, dreamily. "Monji's already learning from Uncle Sanji how to cook yummy food! And you and mommy are teaching me how to fight! So we'll be ready to join a crew in no time!"

"Wait..." he paused a moment, not recognizing a name. "Monji?"

'Don't tell me...'

"Mhmm! My best friend! Uncle Sanji is his dad, so he's teaching him everything he knows about kicking and cooking!"

The idea nearly gave Zoro heart burn, the man's calloused hand coming up to clutch his chest.

Not only did Curlybrow have a son—the fact that he was able to settle down already mind-boggling enough—but he also had the audacity to allow the little brat to fraternize with his daughter.

Who knows what kind of pervy, ero-cook nonsense he was teaching the kid?

The way Yuki was gushing about the boy didn't bode well at all; her little self went on and on and on about how strong and kind Monji already was.

Zoro could practically see it.

His little girl falling in love with and marrying Sanji's son, forcing the two of them to become family forever.

A fate worse than death.

"Hey, wait," he realized, suddenly remembering something gravely important, easily surpassing all the other questions he'd asked you. "If I'm your dad... and (y/n)'s your mom... then that means you know how we got together..."

Yuki nodded, tucking a small strand of hair behind her ear.

"Mhm. You told me one time," she confirmed. "You two were on a battlefield when it happened."

Intrigued, Zoro listened closely, his gaze not leaving the girl for a moment as she continued.

"Mommy got injured really bad, and you had to keep the bad guys from hurting her while Uncle Chopper patched her boo-boos. But once she was okay, you pulled her up and gave her a big kiss! Mommy says it was soooo romantic!"

Zoro playfully rolled his eyes at the cliche.

Who knew future him would be so cheesy?

Either way, he wasn't complaining. He ended up with you, and that was all that mattered.

Though... he did have one more question...

"Hey, do—?"

But his words were interrupted by soft snores, the man looking down at his lap to see the little girl had laid her head down on his thigh, no doubt falling asleep after all her excitement.

The swordsman's heart melted slightly, and his shoulders sank, his calloused hand coming up to swipe a few stray crumbs from her cheeks before resting on her back.

As much as he hated to admit it, he could get used to this...

The little girl napping on his leg brought out a certain instinct within him—one that burned with the will to protect her and her happiness at all costs.

All the awkwardness and emotional outpouring would be worth it if they came to this outcome...

And as you boarded the ship with the rest of the crew, solution to the dilemma in hand, you couldn't help but think the exact same thing—your eyes settling on the sight of your sleeping, soon-to be husband, and your snoring, soon-to-be daughter, laying peacefully together.

You could get used to this, too...

[astonmartingf]

YOU'RE SO REAL FOR THAT! ; F1 GRID

f1 grid x driver!reader . . . gen z f1 driver ranks previous crushes in f1 in a new tiktok video that sends fans in a coma /real

amgf well well well, guess who's back (hopefully) uhm i'm enrolled and officially an intern 😀👍 we love to see that, i made this before hungary i think? but yeah, i have too many drafts and no will to write, i'm blaming the new season in wild rift 😋 and because i've been busy with the internship thingy... a lot of seminars and preparations to do sooooo i hope you enjoy this like always

yourusername uploaded a new video

. . . view 736,937 comments

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[lustlovehart]

Dang over 700, that’s impressive congrats!

If you still have requests open, maybe we can see/hear more about Sebek? I love the idea of him as a swamp monster tsundere dumping flowers on MH! Reader and find him fun~

Summary: Humans are pests. They’re the reason Malleus has fallen from grace, and why Lilia is no longer in his prime. He hates you, and everything your job stands for. He hates the way you’re not like them. He hates how you’re too kind. He wants to hate you, yet he can’t at all.

Warnings: Tiny bit of Tsundere Sebek, He thinks about 💀 you (he changes his mind dw guys!!), Mentions of his monster crimes, Little tiny hint of obsession, Implied human eating, Sebek sketch at end!

Your feet are dipped into the water, ripples cascading off where the limbs land, tranquil and cold, the shadows of the trees just further enriching the experience.

The one thing that isn’t relaxing about the water however, may as well be the guardian of the swamp, who’s practically breathing down your neck.

“Well human? Have you had your fill of this sacred marsh? I will not have you linger here longer than necessary! I only allowed you in to show the true essence of beings like us.”

Despite what leaves his mouth, you have a striking feeling that he won’t throw you out.

Because, that’s the fourth time he’s said that, and he’s yet to drag you out.

Through the close proximity, you place your palm on his face, softly pushing him away in your annoyance, yet like a magnet, he attracts himself right back to you, finding his place in the area to be right by your side.

“I’ve drowned many of your kind, don’t push me away so carelessly…!”

“Have you drowned me yet?” He stutters for a moment, racking his brain to find a suitable excuse as to why that is. He stops when you lean back on the grass, looking up at the sky as you lay down.

But to your dismay, he finds one.

“My liege wants you alive, so we must do what he wants.”

“You want the best for him right? What if the best for him is getting rid of me?” You’ve once again stopped any retort on his tongue, your eyes fluttering shut. Your feet continues to dangle in his waters, breath steadying as you let the sound of dew drops falling into the marsh invade your ears.

In your slumber, you don’t notice the way Sebeks scaley face is centimeters away from yours, trembling inhales. You’re right. Getting rid of humans is the best for his liege, for… all monsters really.

His clawed hand reaches up towards your throat, his nails scratching a line in your skin. Webbed fingers tremble, he could, he really could…

He could help everyone.

…

His hand falls, his forehead falling onto yours. His skin is rough, but he takes care in placing his head softly on yours to not wake you up. His palm follows in suit, laying itself on your throat, cold blood feeling the warmth of your mortal body.

And your heart. He remembers reading about human hearts, how they’re important to they’re bodily functions. Without it, you’d die. It’d be easier than killing you himself. He doesn't know which is better, for himself. He could take pride knowing he rid the world of one more wretched monster hunter, or he could rest in comfort knowing you passed in peace.

Sebek doesn’t notice the way the plants have emerged from the water, taking hold of your legs. There’s a particular branch that caresses your face in a certain manner, one completely inappropriate for a human. His mouth hangs up, immediately ripping the wood from your flesh. He throws the twig away, his head turning when your visibly stir at the motion.

He’s not well versed in human care. He's read about it, but obviously he’s never acted upon it! His hands fumble, if he’s correct, one of the quickest ways to knock a human out is to hit them really hard…! But… He doesn’t wanna do that—

Ah, you’re asleep again.

Sebek carefully lifts himself from your body, water dripping onto the grass from his hair. He slowly backs himself into the water, the only part visible being his head, before entirely disappearing into the murky water.

He realizes something in the comfort of his pond.

He… He wouldn’t need to kill you if you just… never left. Neither would you ever disturb the peace of any other beasts.

Under that water, he ties a knot, petals floating above the marsh at his bouquet. As well as a hand, that drops deep down. A coworker of yours. He’s unsure why you’re the only one he’s not too keen on consuming, yet he can so easily do it to those you know.

It doesn’t matter. They’re the same. Taste the same too.

…

You awake to a lonely sight, Sebek gone from the scene. Though, your chest feels heavier than usual. You look down, and an array of different plants and greenery fill your vision. It’s wrapped in flimsy wood bark, moss tying the piece together.

There’s a note hastily inscribed.

Human, leave soon.

Even without reading the message you know it’s Sebek. You assume it’s from his human hatred he writes such mean words.

In truth, that’s part of it. You’ll never know the other is him not wanting to see the corpses at the bottom of his home. Or maybe you will. Especially when you notice a shiny pendant gifted inside the flowers. Assuming it to be a sweet gesture from Sebek you smile at it. Such a happiness slowly fades when you feel a certain familiarity with the necklace.

… You feel like you’ve seen this before.

[peachsukii]

unbreakable bonds ꒰ no quirks au | childhood friends | friends to lovers ꒱ ⇢ a collective of family bonding and little moments between you and katsuki.

『♡』  k.bakugo x fem!reader ꒰ tags & content ꒱ emotional hurt/comfort, fluff, tooth-rotting fluff, happiness all around ⋆ ˚ʚɞ — just wanted to write something sickly sweet and it’s been sitting in my drafts forever. reader has a little sister that helps bond the two of you together over the years. cross posted to ao3 | word count; 3.3k -`✧ katsuki bakugo masterlist

You were too young - a little over three - to understand the day your mom brought home your little sister. You'd been secretly asking the universe for a sibling, someone to share everything with. Ask and you shall receive! But, you never knew just how much she would shape your life into what it is today.

The Kingdom - Elementary School

Fourth grade is when you and Katsuki started to play after school together on a daily basis. Him and Izuku would come by and grab snacks from your mom while you went back to the park around the corner, playing pirates and super heroes with the other neighborhood kids. Every so often, your mom would ask for you to bring your sister along. You never minded, even though she was your baby sister in first grade. The boys would pick on her - lovingly, of course - to make her feel included with the rest of the pack. She loved being around you, cooing and giggling away as she'd hold your hand and squeal with delight.

One day at the park, she'd declared herself to be queen of the castle as she stood on the slide, proudly puffing out her chest with her hands on her hips.

"I am the queen, and what I say goes!" she pointed to you and Katsuki. "Sissy will be the princess and you will be our royal guard, Katsu!"

You chuckle. "Isn't the older sister supposed to be queen?"

She does her best impression of a royal laugh, projecting her voice theatrically. "Not in my land! It's my kingdom and if you don't like it, I'll send you to the brig!"

"You're confusin' pirates 'n princesses again,” Katsuki taunts playfully.

She stomps her foot on the slide. “Silence in my kingdom! Izu will be my knight!”

Katsuki pouts. “Hey! Why don’t I get to be the knight?!’

“Cause I say so! You’re the royal guard cause you’re tough. Izu is the knight because he’s brave!”

You can’t help but let out a loud ‘hah!’ at her comment. Your sister never failed to push Katsuki in the cutest ways - he probably was thankful to be an only child whenever you guys would go home for the day.

Katsuki huffs at her declaration, taking the challenge with stride. “Fine! I’ll show you who’s tough and be the best dang guard in the whole world.”

“Do I get a cool set of armor, queen?” Izuku asks, bouncing up and down at the bottom of the slide.

“Of course! Only the best armor and ponies for my royal kingdom.”

She sits and pushes herself down the metal slide, rocketing off the edge past Izuku and barreling toward Katsuki. She trucks into him at full force - but, being small, that force isn’t much for him to withstand.

“What the heck was that for?!” he yells while catching her before she hits the wood chips.

“A test of your toughness, Katsu! And you passed! You’re deserving of a spot in my kingdom,” she giggles, mashing his cheeks together with her tiny palms. He protests her closeness and tries to fight her off, setting her feet back on the ground while she’s wiggling in his hold. Watching the two of them act like siblings themselves always made you feel so warm and fuzzy inside, knowing your two closest friends also adored your sister as much as you did.

You meander over to grab her from him. “Alright, I think you made your point, queen. Your guard and knight have other duties to get to.”

She waves goodbye to the boys over her shoulder as the two of you stroll home for dinner. She gleefully remarks how cool they are and that she can’t wait to marry them someday.

You can’t help but giggle at the thought. “Both of them? Wow, all to yourself, huh?”

She pouts and whips her head upward. “No, sissy! We both get one!”

”Oh yeah? Because you’re the queen of the kingdom, you get to pick?”

“That’s right! They’ll have to fight to see who gets to pick you!”

You roll your eyes, shaking your head at the thought. You’re only ten years old, the thought of boys fighting over you was hilarious.

”Promise not to tell Izu, but I think Katsu would win that fight,” she whispers, tugging on your hand to get you to lean over closer to her face. “He’s taller and faster!”

The thought of marrying Katsuki flashes in your mind - you have zero clue what that even looks like, but you imagine him bringing you flowers on the playground or giving you a bite of his ice cream. A blush creeps over your cheeks and nose at the thought. Your sister catches your reaction and gasps dramatically.

“You like Katsu?!” she exclaims.

You shush her. “No! Don’t go yelling that!”

That’s a big fat lie. You liked him a lot, he was your favorite person, but you’re kids.

It’s just a harmless crush.

───

An Enchanted Afternoon - Elementary School

A week later, the four of you returned to the playground after school. Snacks from your pantry in hand, the bunch of you sit on the swing set to eat. Your sister seemed extremely eager today, more so than usual. Once you all finished eating, she demanded your attention.

"Gather 'round! Your queen summons you," she declares, arms raised above her head. You and the boys huddle around her.

"Katsu, go fetch flowers!" she orders as she points to a nearby patch of grass. "Zuzu, clear out the sandbox of any villagers."

There wasn't anyone else here today, so that job was easily done. Izuku doesn't say anything and smiles as he heads over to the sandbox as ordered. Katsuki is confused, nose scrunched and arms crossed.

"Why do I need to get flowers?" he asks, tapping his foot in the wood chips.

"Do you dare defy your queen?!" she shouts, grinning wickedly. He obliges, sauntering over to the grass to find a few spare daisies.

"What's all this for?" you ask, genuinely curious to her plans. She doesn’t answer you as she grabs you by the wrist, dragging you over to the sandbox.

A few minutes later, Katsuki comes back with a handful of daisies, picked and pruned clean of any dirt and weeds. Izuku stands on the edge of the sandbox patiently.

”Perfect! Katsu, Sissy, please approach your queen.”

You play along and stand in front of her with Katsuki. It’s amusing how small she is in comparison to the two of you, easily shadowing over her figure.

“With my knight as witness, I give the blessing to the princess and royal guard to be married forever!” she exclaims, waving her hands around to mimic casting a magic spell.

You're pretty sure she got that line from a princess movie, but that doesn't make the sentiment any less adorable. You begin to chuckle to yourself, smiling ear to ear before turning toward Katsuki. You're expecting him to be disgusted, repulsed by something so sickly sweet, but are shocked to see him standing with the flowers outstretched in your direction. He's biting his bottom lip and avoiding eye contact by staring directly at your feet.

"H-here," he whispers meekly, pushing the flowers into your hands. You've never seen him so shy before - that's usually Izuku's demeanor. His unexpected affection makes your little heart flutter in your chest.

"Thank you 'Suki," is all you can muster up the courage to say, your mind running blank on the right thing to say. It's just an imaginary scenario...It's not real, not like you're actually marrying him. Katsuki exhales, turning his back to you to hide his strawberry colored cheeks.

"Now you're together forever!" you sister raves, dancing on her tip toes with satisfaction.

Maybe that was the moment she bound you two together with some unknown magical force, or it was a mere coincidence. The sappy part of your young brain believed in fairytales and chose to believe she was weaving your golden string to him, binding you two for life.

───

Leftovers - Middle School

”Yo, brats! Come eat already so I can get the hell outta here,” Katsuki called from your doorway. He’d come by with leftovers from his mom for you and your sister, since your own mom was working later that day. The two of you were still…friends? You weren’t sure. Being in seventh grade and all, he started acting like you weren’t cool enough for him. He did the same to Izuku, starting to ditch the two of you for other kids in class to hang out with at lunch or walk home with. Did it hurt your feelings? Absolutely. But you didn’t own him, he was allowed to have other friends, even if it did suck to see him less outside of class.

“Coming!” you called back, skipping down the hallway with your sister in tow. She happily ran into the entryway, hugging Katsuki by the waist. She was taller now, but still much smaller than him as a fourth grader.

“Hiya Katsu!” she gleamed up at him, rubbing her face against his uniform jacket.

He grunted, uncomfortable with her sudden affection and poking her in the forehead to release her grip. “Let go, squirt!”

He turned his attention to you as your sister finally let go of him. “Here, take these. I gotta get to practice.”

”Thank you! Tell your mom we said hi.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

You hand the containers to your sister as she wanders off to the table. Before Katsuki opens the door, you tap him on the shoulder.

“Hey, are you alright?”

He scoffs at your question. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem distant lately. Wanna come by sometime for a movie marathon?” you ask, tilting your head and giving him a warm smile.

“We’re not kids anymore. Got better stuff to do.”

Ouch, that stung. Your smile fades away as you reply. “Well…I know. I just miss hanging out with you.”

“You have Deku an’ that other group of bitches you hang out with, ya don’t need me.” His harsh comment has notes of jealousy intertwined in his words. He goes to put his hand on the door again before you take a step forward to stop him.

“Kat, they’re not a replacement for you. You’ve got your own friends now, too since you’re on the soccer team. You’re saying we can’t hang out 'cause we have different friends?”

He glares at you before pushing past you and pulling on the front door.

“Hey!” your sister shouts from the dining area. “Katsu, that’s not nice. My royal guard doesn't act like that!” She’s always thought of Katsuki as a guard since your elementary school playground days.

“Cut the shit! We’re not kids anymore!” Katsuki rebuttals with a growl of frustration.

He makes eye contact with you. “We’ve grown apart, end of fuckin’ story. Get over it.”

He slams your front door closed and leaves you standing in the entryway, your eyes stinging from the urge to cry. You feel a small gust of wind rush by as your sister is sprinting to the door, throwing it open and running outside without shoes on.

“Hey!” She calls after Katsuki. “Get your butt back here, Katsu!”

He turns on his heel. “Hah?!”

She stomps on the ground, fists balled at her sides. “Apologize to her!”

Katsuki cackles, a little too manically. “For what, brat?”

“You’re being a mean jerk to her! She doesn’t deserve to be yelled at like that. Friends are friends forever, idiot!” she yells, her cheeks puffed and eyebrows scrunched together.

You can’t help but stifle a laugh at her calling Katsuki an idiot and turn your head to hide your amusement.

”That’s not who you are, Katsu. That’s not how you treat your princess!”

He pinches the bridge of his nose and screws his eyes shut in annoyance, exhaling dramatically. He locks his gaze on you, storming back up to the doorway. He roughly ruffles your sister’s hair as he passes by her as a pseudo apology. Katsuki sucks the air through his teeth and shoves his fists in his pockets as he stops in front of you.

“Look, ‘m sorry for yellin’, okay?” he sighs, kicking a foot against the pavement. “I'll come over Saturday, we’ll have that movie day ya wanted.”

"You don't need to if you feel forced to hang out with me." Your eyes shift to your feet to avoid looking at his reaction.

" 's fine. I'll be here at noon, don't pick anything lame."

With that, he turns to leave for a second time in silence. You watch him disappear around the corner and can't help but feel like a burden for asking him to make time for you. As if reading your mind, your sister shakes you out of the negative train of thought while walking back to the house.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s just being a dumb boy. That’s what my teacher says when boys are mean for no reason.” She grins a toothy smile up at you and grabs your hand. “Come on! Foods getting cold!”

Katsuki rounded the corner and waited to be out of sight before palming his face in anger. He had no idea why he said those things to you. None of it was true, especially that you’d grown apart. If anything, he was jealous of your friends and missed seeing you all the time. But he couldn’t bring himself to say so, like always. Ever since middle school started, he’d harbored some unknown rage inside of him that lashed out every chance it could. He hated it and didn’t know what to do to stop it - hence trying out for the soccer team, looking for an outlet for the pent up emotions in his body.

Katsuki secretly hoped you wouldn’t end up despising him for it. Even after all this time, he still thinks of you whenever he sees a patch of daisies.

Maybe one day he’d be brave enough to tell you about it.

───

Running Late - High School

The front door to your home opens as Katsuki slips inside, kicking his loafers off by the door. Your younger sister peaks over the kitchen counter while spreading jam over her toast and nods in his direction.

"Hey Katsu, pretty sure she's still asleep upstairs," she calls, rolling her eyes. "I tried to get her up three times, maybe you'll have better luck."

It was hard to believe that she was already in her freshmen year of high school - shit, it’s crazy that you and Katsuki were seniors. The age of playground days and summer adventures went by in the blink of an eye.

He makes his way to the kitchen island, leaning over to ruffle your sister’s hair - some things never change.

"Thanks, bean. I'll get her ass movin’."

“Stooop! You’ll mess up my hair!” She whines as she pulls away, fixing a few stray pieces of her fluffy mane.

“Ya look fine, don’t sweat it,” he compliments while heading for the staircase. He makes his way to your bedroom on the second floor. The door is surprisingly cracked open - he taps on the doorframe to grab your attention.

“Come in,” you call, lying on your bed facing the wall above the covers while scrolling on your phone. You presume it’s your sister until a soft kiss is planted on your cheek.

“Mornin’ sweets,” Katsuki whispers, rubbing your shoulder to turn you to face him. He sits on the edge of your bed beside you. “You wanna be late for our last first day of high school?”

You shift to sit up and drop your phone to your bed, reaching to cradle his face in your hands.

“No, I just wanted to steal a few kisses first,” you mumble as your lips quietly meet his. Katsuki places one hand on your cheek while the other lightly grazes your back. After a few moments, the two of you part with a soft smack. You stand and straighten up your uniform skirt, flattening a few of the panels to work out any stray creases.

“Do I look okay?” You ask, spinning around for Katsuki and showing off your uniform. Your hair was pulled into a pretty ponytail with a few pieces framing your face. The only make up you had on was some lip gloss - you valued sleeping in over doing a minimalist makeup look today.

“Y’always look good,” he sighs, standing to his feet. “Let’s get movin’ before bean suspects somethin’.”

You hadn’t told your sister about your relationship with Katsuki. Sure, you guys had been friends since you were children and he’s always around…how would she know the difference?

The two of you patter down the hallway and skip down the stairs to the kitchen. Your sister is waiting for the two of you, arms crossed and tapping one foot impatiently.

“Finally! Get your damn shoes on,” she orders while pushing you toward the door. She does a double take at Katsuki while you’re putting on your shoes, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Katsu…are you wearing lipgloss?”

Oops.

Katsuki’s searching for something to say as his face glows scarlet. He puts a hand on the back of his neck and turns away, grumbling while attempting to hide his embarrassment.

“Oh come on, you two. I knew you guys started dating months ago. You think I didn’t notice?”

You spin around to face her, cheeks puffed and eyebrows scrunched. “You never said anything?!”

She laughs, walking up to Katsuki and placing a hand on his shoulder.

“If you ever hurt her, Katsuki, I’ll knock your lights out. I know where you sleep,” she threatens, grinning mischievously. Katsuki pulls her into a headlock, ruffling her hair a second time.

“Deal, but I plan on stayin’ alive.” He lets her go, chuckling as he smooths out the pieces of hair he messed with.

Seeing the two of them get along never fails to make your heart swell with joy. Katsuki has always treated her like his own sister - one that he could easily give back at the end of every day, anyways.

She turns with a huff with her hands in the air.

“You both have my blessing, you should know that. I didn’t marry you two in a sandbox for nothing!”

───

Today Was A Fairytale - Current Day

“It’s an honor to be doing this for a second time. You’re in luck, my vocabulary has grown exponentially since our sandbox days.”

There’s a wave of laughter through the crowd at your sister’s lighthearted joke. You can’t help but smile as Katsuki’s fingers dance across the back of your hand to regather your attention.

God, he looks so damn handsome in that tux. His usual wild hair is slicked back and tamed - an extremely rare sight. Carmine eyes stare back at you, full of devotion and excitement for this next chapter in your fairytale.

“By the power vested in me, and these people as my witness, I pronounce you two as king and queen of the kingdom!”

Friends and family alike cheer and whistle as you and Katsuki intertwine, kissing each other for the first time as husband and wife. He spins you around and dips you low, kissing the tip of your nose playfully.

“I love you,” he mouths, a silent profession of adoration - reserved just for you.

The two of you strut down the aisle to the dance floor in the reception hall, the DJ already queuing the first dance song. Katsuki gently tugs you by the waist, pulling you closer to him as he begins to sway side to side when the music begins to fill the room. You rest your head against his chest and get lost in the moment.

Right now, the world belongs to the two of you. Every worry, struggle, and hardship is stripped away from your lives to give you the peace you deserve.

There’s one thought that lingers in your mind as you catch a glimpse of your teary-eyed sister watching you from the corner of the dance floor, latched onto Izuku’s arm for support.

She tied that golden string with an unbreakable knot.

tags 💥 @slayfics @maddietries @queenpiranhadon

[thekoldun]

so after all that time being told he was a loser and feeling like a fuckup and being ragged on by fucking Dave it turns out that all along, Dang was responsible for overseeing the single most profitable collection of rentable porn on this side of the country. All that time that Dave was puffing himself up as a go getter and a hustle grinder and then ran away after getting slapped twice and now the government probably took all his stuff in asset forfeiture so now the IRS owns a stupid tiny sportscar.

Everyone gets what they want.

You are real. You are everything. And everything is you.

What a fucking season. What a beautiful season.

[drchucktingle]

Mr Chuck, wizard of gay romance, I consult ye. Without knowing a damn thing about the plot of the book I'm writing other than it is gay and has themes of hunger, consumption, joy in spite of suffering, and the fleeting nature of life, how should my story end?

well to create we need to consume, this is how we produce energy and multiply and build. since beginning of time from frothing volcanos to tiny microbes CREATION and CONSUMPTION are linked. in addition an act of creation is an act of love, it is filling the empty void with SOMETHING and that is as powerful and important as it gets

i think what confuses MANY buckaroos is they get caught up by the consumption part. they see this equation i have laid out and say 'well if consuming leads to creation and creation is to point then we must consume everything as a moral imperative.' i mean HECK that is capitalism in a dang nutshell right there. if you trot this path it says the bigger fish should eat the little one, and that war and power are sort of innate. you see a lot of goofball conservative philosophers with melted brains stop here and set up shop to peddle their sad wares

THE PROBLEM IS consuming everything that you can DOES NOT ACTUALLY LEAD TO MORE CREATION IN PRACTICE. maybe sometimes in the very short term, but at the end of the dang trot it leads to destruction on a massive scale. if the biggest fish eats ALL the little fish then it is not just the little fish who dies it is BOTH of them. if you seek power through TAKING AND CONSUMING all that you can you will do more harm than good. you may puff up your chest for a little while but eventually you will go beyond your means and crumble.

consuming yields the best results when you do it in sustainable way, when you share with your neighbor, when you build a community. this is because LOVE is the best fuel and love thrives when buds work together to create a greater whole than themselves. even if you use example of TAKING through violence, ten little cave buckaroos as a team will always take down one big cave buckaroo. COMMUNITY PROVES LOVE. TEAMWORK PROVES LOVE. CONNECTION PROVES LOVE.

fortunately, as much as scoundrels want to convince us that fighting and violence and TAKING is the best way to grow as a dang species, it is not. humans thrived not because of some primal hierarchy (as goofball conservatives say) but because we started villages and societies and systems of working together. the buds who put their chips behind the BIGGEST FISH are only seeing one part of the picture. YES sometimes in the animal kingdom the biggest beast will win the fight, but that is why THEY ARE BEASTS AND WE ARE PEOPLE. we evolved to greater heights as we grew bigger brains for sharing and empathy and love and complexity. WE STARTED COMMUNITIES, BECAUSE WITHIN COMMUNITY CREATION AND LOVE THRIVE. THE 'REAL' BIGGEST FISH IS KINDNESS.

so hunger and consuming are ACTUALLY an important part of creation. they are part of bringing joy to this timeline, so long as you are not endlessly hungry even after you are full, and so long as you are not consuming what could be better shared with a bud.

hope that helps with your story buckaroo

[haaam-guuuurl]

Can we talk for a second about how K has fully adopted and adapted their powers and so dang well? They are the little kid who loved pink and the sulky teenager who renounced it and the young adult confronted with it being in their nature and who started to come to terms with all facets of their personality through their magic. They are the Itsy Bitsy Spider. They are cutesy and friendly yet also powerful and edgy. They knit tiny pantsuits for their talking squirrel. They are chronically online in a whole new way. They use fairytale names for all their programs. They are wanted by several countries. I know K still has a whole bunch of new issues (go touch some grass, honey!!) but I just really love seeing this evolution for them, especially with all they went through with their gender and powers and everything last season.

[smilesatdawnmain]

Have you ever thought of how The Day The World Eclipsed would be, if you made it with Xiotain and MK. Cause like I could see Wukong being ran ragged by two little toddlers. But then I can also imagine how adorable it would be when Macaque met the twins, the original meet scene was adorable, but like it would be even more adorable! Just a thought I had!

WELL DANG IT!!

-----

Macaque's voice was hoarse as he whispered, "Here? You mean... now?" He had anxiously awaited the chance to meet his child, but he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly!

Wukong acknowledged with a nod, his gaze shifting towards the direction his clone was approaching from. Macaque tensed, his eyes tracking the route into the distance. Though there was no one in sight yet, he could clearly hear their approach.

The sound of the nimbus cloud cutting through the air filled his ears along with the chatter of Wukong's clones, who were busy answering trivial questions. And then he heard something else- the faint beating of two tiny hearts.

He inhaled sharply, startled when chirps filled his ears, consuming his waking breath with their high pitched tone and sweet resonance. 

“Two…?” he whispered. He touched his ears, confused and spooked. “I-I hear two??” he looked to Wukong for answers, “Why do I hear two?!”

His ex-partner gave him a puzzled sideways glance, then his lips formed a sheepish smile. "I-I'm sorry Mihou," he stammered, realizing his mistake. In the midst of his excitement and nervousness, he had forgotten to mention a crucial detail about their son's birth. Or should he say, sons? "You thought you heard one heartbeat, but there were actually two," Wukong muttered, his eyes focused on the approaching sounds. "We have twins, Mihou. Beautiful little twins."

"Twins?" Macaque echoed. He took a step back, blinking rapidly as if it would clear the confusion. He had been bracing himself for fatherhood, had been preparing himself for one child, one baby monkey. But two? There was a flutter in his chest that he couldn't describe, an odd mixture of terror and joy. It was too soon. Everything was too sudden. Twins? How could he handle twins?

Just before he could express his worries, Wukong's clone glided into view on a nimbus cloud, swooping around the tree line before landing. The clone dismounted and Macaque quickly slipped behind Wukong's back, hoping to avoid being seen by the curious cubs who were about to appear. Wukong in turn tensed, eyes wide and tail holding perfectly still. He scratched his cheek awkwardly, trying not to smile when he felt Macaque’s hands holding onto his back to steady himself.

“Deep Breathes,” he instructed.

Macaque panted, struggling.

The clone was soon joined by the rest of his fellow clones, each of them grinning with the joy of introducing the two newest members of their family to Macaque. They stood aside to allow Wukong's original body to step forward, making room for him to approach the eagerly chirping young ones, who seemed engulfed in their own little conversation. The toddlers each with their own little backpack, filled with things for their day.

Xiaohua was attempting to descend from the cloud, his pudgy leg reaching out in search of solid ground but coming up short. He chirped a call for his Daddy to help him, all while MK watched curiously. One of the clones stepped closer, scooping Xiaohua up from his arm pits to instead settle him back on the cloud.

“Wait a moment, Bud,” the clone mused. Xiaohua pouted, wanting to explore.

Macaque's heart raced, finding it was hard to breathe. His mind spun with questions, his pulse thrumming in time with the joyful chirps. As Wukong grinned and walked forward, Macaque swallowed hard, his palms sweating against each other as he clutched his ex-partner’s back tighter, half hiding behind him.

"Wukong," Macaque stammered, unable to look at his ex-lover as he tried to calm his erratic heartbeat. "I... I can't, I..."

"Shh, it's okay," Wukong cut in gently, reaching back to squeeze Macaque's hand reassuringly. "You don't need to do anything. Just meet them." there was a small twinkle in his eyes, “They are excited to meet you.”

Macaque sharply lifted his head, “They are…?”

"Of course," Wukong replied warmly. "They've heard so much about their Baba, they can't wait to meet you." He extended his arm out for Macaque to come out.

Macaque hesitated for a moment longer before slowly stepping out from Wukong's back.

His heart thumped against his ribcage as he stood in front of the two tiny monkeys. Their eyes were brimming with innocence and wonder, their features an endearing blend of their parents' traits.

“Oh…” Macaque whimpered, these two everything he thought they would be and more. Macaque touched his chest in awe, happy to just- just stare. They were so small and perfect. One had chocolate brown fur, his eyes as golden as Wukong’s with six little ears on his head like him. On his face was a little heart with a spot of freckles upon his chubby cheeks. The second, had fur almost pure white, like when he himself was little, before it turned black. He had Macaque’s color face marking, that shaped similar to a butterfly. Macaque’s eye brows, Macaque’s eyes… But both had Wukong’s grin.

He made a sound similar to a whimper.

"Dada!" The little one with golden eyes, MK, chimed, breaking the silence. He had noticed his Father and stood, pausing when he saw Macaque. His eyes doubled in size to the stranger and yet- he knew who this was. His Dada had been telling him all week. This was his Baba.

His Baba he was finally getting to meet.

Wukong grinned as he waited for Macaque to speak and introduce himself. Instead, all Macaque did was gape, speechless under the magnitude of the moment.The toddlers were oblivious to how their appearance had turned their Father into a stammering mess, just curious of this new adult.

“Xiaoxiao-” ML reached out for his Brother’s hand, who was still preoccupied by the new land around them, distracted. “Xiaoxiao,” silencing the chippering scamp to also turn his head, MK pointed to their Baba. “Look,” As soon as Xiaohua saw Macaque he ducked his head a little behind his brother, clearly shy.

“Macaque, this is Xiaotian and Xiaohua.” Wukong gestured to them both. “Boys… Meet your Baba.” Wukong added softly, reaching over to gently squeeze Macaque's shoulder. "This is your Father."

The little one with white fur, Xiaohua, peeked up from behind his brother, his eyes wide with a mixture of curiosity and shyness. He'd heard stories about his Baba, tales of bravery and strength and kindness. And now here he was, standing right in front of him, as pretty as the moon.

Macaque sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at them, his heart aching with an overwhelming surge of love. He was entranced by their curious gazes and the familiarity of their features - the softness of their cheeks and eyes. They were perfect. Everything he dreamed they would be. Oh gods-… he was gonna cry.

"Wukong," Macaque managed to choke out, his voice blubbering, "They're... they're beautiful." He reached out a shaky hand, as if to touch them, but quickly retracting it as if he thought he might burn them if he did.

Seeing his struggles, Wukong shifted with his hand to lower the nimbus cloud to the ground, slowly guiding Macaque in the same direction, “Let’s all sit down,” he says gently. Macaque didn’t try to argue, letting himself be lowered to his trembling knees.

The world felt surreal as Macaque settled on the soft grass, the ground cradling him in a way that felt both grounding and weightless at the same time. As he sat there, surrounded by the warmth of Wukong’s presence and the innocent awe radiating from his children, he finally exhaled—a long, shaky breath that released a cascade of emotions he hadn’t known he was holding.

This was real.

This was happening.

He was a Baba.

"Come here, loves," Wukong encouraged softly, motioning for Xiaotian and Xiaohua to join them. The boys looked at each other, sharing a glance. As they debated listening to their Dada, Macaque’s ears flattened, a strange heat on his face.

Wukong’s soft and sweet call to the kids had been… adorably sweet, and it had startled him. They were his loves…

He cursed himself for finding his sweetness to them endearing.

“Coming, Dada,” MK was rolling off the cloud first, a bit braver to strangers then his Brother. He wobbled forward, sniffing the hair with a velvety nose. Xiaohua quickly followed suit, his small face peering up at Macaque from behind MK. As soon as they got close enough to his Dada, realizing MK wasn’t going to stop-, he rushed from behind Xiaotian to Wukong, hiding behind his back just as Macaque had a little bit ago. “Daddy,” he whispered.

Wukong smiles, rubbing Xiaohua’s back assuringly, “Yes?”

The child’s fingers clung tightly to Wukong’s shirt, his eyes never leaving Macaque’s face. “He’s got six ears, Daddy,” he pointed to them.

MK was bouncing, grasping his ears, “Like me!!”

Xiaohua nodded, “Like MK…”

“MK?” Macaque asked, looking at Wukong. Wukong blinked a few times then laughed sheepishly again.

“Like um.. M-Monkey Kid?” he says.

Macaque’s jaw fell open, stunned, yet also not surprised at all that Wukong would name on of their sons after him… AND ADORABLY SO! He clicked his teeth in a clear annoyance, but paused when MK patted his chest.

“Monkey Kid!” he declared, a savior to his Father, who exhaled in relief. “And Xiaoxiao is- uh… Xiaoxiao.”

“I’m Xiaoxiao,” the other toddler nodded, stepping out a bit more, “I-I like- I like Mangos.”

Macaque stared at him, a soft smile spreading across his face. What an innocent thing to say. “Mangos, hm?”

“I like peaches!” MK waved his hands around, getting close enough to stand before his Baba. Without hesitation he was scampering into Macaque’s lap, eager to touch is clothes, his scarf, and the fur of his arms. Macaque held perfectly still, letting the child do as he wished. His lips were squiggly, trying to hold back any tears.

The child smelled like sweetbread and milk, so sweet and eyes so round. He was talking more and more, Macaque bobbing his head and listening intently.

“I like to color, and paint- but I gotta be careful cause-cause I make messes. I help clean messes.” he babbled a few things, most slurred and unable to be fully understood in his toddler talk.

“I-I see,” Macaque nodded, his voice strangled but his smile sweet.

Xiaohua peeked out from behind Wukong, his shyness still evident in the way he tucked his chin. Still, it looked like so much fun over there-, “Daddy, can I… can I sit with Baba too?” His voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

“Of course you can,” Wukong replied, his tone gentle and encouraging. He bent down slightly, offering a reassuring smile that seemed to fill the air with warmth. “Go on, It’s okay.”

Macaque turned his head quickly to the approaching toddler, eyes wide. He swallowed thickly, slowly opening his arm a little in hopes to entice the boy closer.

With hesitant steps, Xiaohua made his way forward, glancing back at Wukong for reassurance before flopping into Macaque's lap beside MK. MK didn’t stop talking the entire time, his tail wagging and slapping at Macaque’s arm with little control.

“And I like juice and toys and- Hi Xiaoxiao- and blankies and—and Dada’s stories!” MK beamed, his enthusiasm spilling over like a bubbling pot.

Xiaohua nestled closer to Macaque, drawn in by the warmth radiating from his Baba. A shy smile broke through his timid demeanor as he clutched the edges of Macaque's scarf, feeling its silky softness between his fingers.

Macaque’s heart swelled with an unfamiliar joy, and it was all he could do not to break into a grin. He felt like a giant in their little world, these tiny beings weaving themselves into his life with laughter and innocence. “Stories, hmm?” he repeated softly, looking between the two boys.

“I like stories,” Xiaohua whispered.

“Do you?” Macaque’s voice was a melody, soothing and rich as he leaned closer to the boys. “What kind of stories do you like?” He closed one of his eyes when MK suddenly touched his cheek, startled when his pudgy hand curiously explored the expanse of his Baba’s face.

“Adventures!” MK shouted excitedly, his eyes sparkling, “Like when Dada fights bad guys and saves everyone!”

“Adventures,” Xiaohua nodded. He reached his little hand up to copy his brother, hesitating. Instead he touched Macaque’s chin lightly, curling his fingers through the fur there.

Macaque turned into his hand a little, eyes fluttering for a moment. Xiaohua smelled like wild mountain flowers…

The two of them together had to be the sweetest smell he had ever encountered.

MK gently patted Macaque’s velvety muzzle. He watched the older monky wiggle his nose in response, and felt his own nose crinkle in anticipation. MK examined Macaque's facial marking next. It was a deeper shade of red than his own, with intricate little hills that forked off from the center in a unique pattern. The color was like Xiaoxiao’s.

Then, there was his fur.

MK’s fingertips ran across the small white patch of fur near Macaque’s right eye. Perhaps age, perhaps stress- perhaps the effects of the Witch's magic; Macaque wasn't sure.

At the touch of it, Mihou flinched, holding his breath as his Child investigated, tilting his head curiously at the altering color of fur. Delving into the blacker tufts, he rubbed the strands between his fingers.

"Its..." he trailed off. Macaque's lower lip trembled, not sure how to explain that his fur just wasn't that soft. MK's eyes lifted, a sparkle to them. "XiaoXiao,” he gasped, as if realizing something and wanting to share with his Brother.

“It’s like blankie,"Xiaoxiao had already caught on, curiously touching Macaque’s fur.

Macaque openly stared. Huh??

MK and Xiaohua tugged themselves closer, tails swaying behind them as they examined their Baba for the first time. Little fingers exploring, searching, mapping out Macaque’s face to memory as they had done with their Dada so many times before. 

“They have a blanket,” Wukong spoke, since the children were too distracted to answer, “It’s their favorite thing. I’ve used it since they were babies,” when Macaque looked at him with an emotional look, his voice grew softer, “You remind them of their favorite thing.”

Macaque blinked, the weight of Wukong's words settling over him like a gentle fog. He felt a rush of warmth bloom in his chest, an unfamiliar tightening that tugged at something deep within. "Like their favorite thing," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else. The thought echoed in his mind as he continued to feel the boys' tiny hands traversing the terrain of his fur, discovering every ridge and curve. MK didn’t hesitate to bury his face against Macaque’s shoulder to nuzzle him, startling the older man.

He dare not move, shifted, or lift his arms, less he scare the children- but that didn’t seem to stop them from doing whatever they wished with his own form.

“Baba,” MK tells him, watching Macaque’s eyes tremble at the use of the name, “You smell like chocolate.”

Xiaohua gasped, standing on his Baba’s lap to press his face to his neck. “Chocolate?” he gasped, making Wukong snicker, knowing how much his second son loved the treat, “Chocolate!!” he squealed.

Macaque blinked a few times, trying to sniff his own fur. When Wukong only nodded knowingly, he figured it had to be true.

Macaque stared at his son, mouth agape. His brow furrowed as he opened and closed his mouth in slow motion, unable to find the right words.

MK scampered up Macaque's arm and onto his shoulder, chittering excitedly with an unmistakable tone of acceptance, adoration, and delight. Xiaohua was bouncing, giggling as his shyness fell, touching Macaque’s ears next. He rubbed them, always touching MK’s ears too since they were soft. Macaque felt awash with elation as MK and Xiaohua squeaked in admiration.

He understood nothing that was happening, but his children seemed happy with him. His children... liked him.

Macaque's voice sputtered out like a radio station losing its signal. "MM-hmm," he managed to utter, but his ears betrayed him as they twitched in different directions. His vision blurred...

He quietly cursed.

Macaque’s face crumpled, tears streaming down his cheeks and dripping onto his scarf. His body trembled as the silent sobs wracked him.

Wukong’s broad smile faded as he watched those heartbreaking tears. His heart yearned to reach out and brush away the tears that had started to roll down Mihou's cheeks, but he stayed rooted in his spot, feeling helpless. He wanted to offer Mihou comfort, yet his presence seemed like the last thing Mihou desired. 

“Oo…” Xiaohua felt a droplet fall onto his nose and looked up to see the monkey's eyes closed, face wet and quivering. His chest heaved with emotion as his children reached up and tenderly patted his stained cheek. “Baba sad?” Xiaohua asked. He got a little closer, hugging the man and pressing his head to his chest. MK hugged Macaque’s head, patting it.

“Shh..shh..” He leaned up and gently pressed his lips to Macaque's chin, just like his Dada had done when he was feeling down.

Macaque's shoulders sagged, and a whimper escaped his lips. He tugged the boys further into his arms, his hands trembling.

His sons. His babies.

He was never letting them go again.

----

HOW DARE YOU PUT THIS IN MY BRAINNNNN!

[nondelphic]

Hello, hope you're doing well and that I'm not bothering you. I know this blog is for relatable writing posts, and I very much do find them relatable (kudos to you), but I was wondering if I could ask for some advice. Why you? IDK, you seem like a nice person, and you do writing stuff, so I figured why not ask? You don't have to respond, but here goes:

Just, how do you get started? I have so many scenes (literally entire dang novels and story arcs) in my head that are quite vivid, I can hear the dialogue, vividly see the scene and map out everything in my head, but the second I try to put it on paper (or google doc), my brain just freezes up and shuts down, partly out of fear of not being able to do good or cringing hard at it. I know people say to just do it and get it out since a bad draft is better than nothing, but, how do you convince your brain to sit down and actually write out the scenes?

I probably kind of just answered my own question, but it would be nice to get some feedback from an internet stranger (technically speaking) who knows this sort of thing. Anyways, I hope you're doing well and that you have a good day/night :)

Do feel free to ignore this though, I don't want to be a bother.

nondelphic writing tips: overcoming the "brain freeze" when starting to write

first off, thank you for reaching out!! i feel you on the vivid mental movies that suddenly go static the second you try to write them down—this is such a common struggle, and you’re definitely not alone (ノ_<、) so here’s the thing: your brain knows what it wants to create, but perfectionism is sneaking in and hitting the brakes. it wants it to be just right before it’s even out of your head, which is a recipe for freeze mode. here are a few tricks to warm up (i hope something helps!!):

✧ start tiny

instead of aiming to write a full scene, jot down one line of dialogue or one tiny detail you see in your mind. sometimes just easing in with a line or two makes the brain relax, like “oh, we’re just dipping our toes in, not jumping into the deep end.”

✧ embrace cringe

if it helps, tell yourself that this draft will be messy, and that’s okay. i call it the “potato draft” stage—ugly but foundational. no one needs to see this stage, so just spill whatever comes. you’re capturing the vibe of your story idea, not the final masterpiece.

✧ trick the brain with “notes”

try writing scenes as if you’re just jotting “notes” or a “sketch” for later. it’s weirdly freeing and convinces your mind that it’s not permanent, making it easier to just get words out.

writing is about building up that “just write” muscle, so even if it feels clunky at first, you’re moving forward, and that’s progress! i hope this helps a bit, and sending good vibes and hugs your way (っ˘ω˘ς )

[waywardstation]

Don't Fall Asleep

Chapter 3

Ingo plays a card game with Akari while staying with her for a second night. They both hope everything goes as well as the first night.

FINALLY the chapter where Ingo and Akari find out what's really going on!!

CHAPTER 2 HERE

OR read on AO3!

BE AWARE this chapter involves a scene where Ingo experiences a fabricated death, and how it feels is described in an adequate amount of detail, if you as the reader want to be wary of or avoid that.

Enjoy!

—————

“Ok, next one. Would you rather…” Akari squinted at the card’s small print before blurting out a laugh. “A, perpetually feel itchy, or B, always feel like you’re about to sneeze?”

“Oh,” Ingo shook his head, laughing a little with her. “Both are horrible!” He thought about it intently, leaning his elbows against the table and resting his chin against his clasped hands.

The two of them sat at a table Akari had pulled out near her irori, surrounded by game cards scattered about from the many previous rounds before. The sun had long since set, and dinner had been finished a couple hours back; with Ingo’s tattered uniform folded up on top of his makeshift bed and Akari’s extra layers tucked away in her dresser, they had gotten comfortable, and had nothing left to do but play the game until they decided to sleep – which Ember had already since done, curled up and listening to them both from where she lay curled up in the blankets on Akari’s bed. 

“Hmmm… alright, I’ve got my answer.”

Akari then considered the pair of cards in her hand. Ingo could tell she was trying very hard to think like him and try and figure out his choice — if she guessed this one correctly, she’d win the game. She only needed one more point, but then again, he did too, so it was close.

Finally Akari picked out the second one, presenting it to Ingo; it had the letter ‘A’ on it.

“Incorrect!” He announced, causing Akari to smack her hands against the table enthusiastically (And inadvertently scare Ember out of her sleepy stupor).

“What? No way! You’d seriously rather need to sneeze forever?” She shouted at him. “That’s horrible!”

“It sounds favorable compared to constantly scratching at an itch that will not go away!” Ingo couldn’t keep his laugh out of his voice. “I just couldn’t go with that option.”

“Yeah, well, if you feel like you’re always about to sneeze, you’re always gonna be walking around taking those weird deep breaths and gasping,” Akari shot back at him, before imitating the buildup to a sneeze with dramatized expressions and noises. “Ah, ah, agh-! See? You’d look insane!”

Ingo only laughed again at her display, shaking his head. “Then it’s good that this is only a hypothetical choice, right? Alright, next one.”

He leaned forward to reach for the next card in the pile, holding it close to read it.

“Would you rather… wake up one day as A, a Slowpoke, or B, a Magikarp?” Ingo made a face at the question. “Hmm.”

“Oh, this one’s hard,” Akari hunched forward, face scrunched as she tried to decide. “Uhh… ok. I got it!”

Ingo then looked at his pair of choice cards. If he got this one right, he’d win. If not, Akari would have another chance to do so. He did not mind either outcome. With a bit of uncertainty, he held up the ‘B’ card.

“Nope!” Akari raised her hands up. “Wrong!”

“Well to be fair, I couldn’t recall what a ‘slowpoke’ was in order to properly assess,” Ingo excused himself.

“Oh, dang-” The celebration died down as Akari realized. Another card, while few and far between, had mentioned something that he couldn’t recognize. She should have picked up on that and discarded it or explained, but she had gotten too into the game, and Ingo never pointed it out, preferring to guess rather than stop everything just to have her explain. “You should have told me! They’re like these little pink guys. Uh, imagine like, if a bidoof was shaved.” She kept thinking. “And if it had a long tail. And big eyes, and curly ears, and these tiny pointy teeth!”

Ingo made a face at the horrific creature his mind conjured up. The description sounded sort of familiar, but surely what he imagined was much more hideous than the actual thing. 

“And you’d prefer that over a Magikarp? You’d have the opportunity to evolve into Gyarados.” He was well aware of Akari’s admiration for big, powerful Pokémon.

“Ok yeah, but Slowpoke’s evolutions have one thing that Gyarados doesn’t.” Akari held her hands up off the table, flexing her fingers open and closed. “Hands! Opposable digits!”

“Alright, fair point.” Ingo would also prefer those to fins regardless of how big or strong he’d be, he supposed. He’d have to ask if Akari could draw these Pokémon out for him later, but for now, he just set the card aside with the others. “Your turn to draw.”

“I’m gonna get this one right, prepare to lose!” Akari grabbed up the next card from the stack and held it close, like she didn’t want Ingo peeking before she read it – as if that would change anything. “Would you rather A, get married with clown makeup on your face, or B, give a huge speech on stage in your swimsuit?”

“Every card is just presenting two equally horrific scenarios!” Though he was more amused with it all than opposed to it. Repeating them to himself quietly, Ingo then weighed the options in his head. “Alright, I’ve got my answer.”

Looking down at her choice cards, Akari went between them, thinking hard again. She really wanted to get this one right and win, Ingo could tell as he waited and watched her. Finally, the teen held up the ‘B’ card for him to see.

Ingo let the tension hang for a moment before he clapped his hands together, a smile in his eyes. “Correct!”

“Really?” Akari gawked, as if she had expected to be wrong, but that quickly gave way to joy. “Yes!” 

But then joy gave way to mirthful curiosity; Akari leaned against the table with a big grin, thoroughly entertained with Ingo’s choice. “So you’d seriously rather do the swimsuit speech over the clown makeup wedding?”

“I have publicly spoken enough times by now to find it the significantly less stressful option… even in these hypothetical circumstances. And I could deal with hiding behind a podium while I spoke, if it meant I didn’t have to frame and hang up the results of the wedding photography.” Ingo defended his pick. “I am surprised you’re surprised, seeing as you bet on that choice.”

“I guessed! I didn’t know!” 

The earnest confession made Ingo laugh. He reached forward to begin collecting the cards. “Well, you won the game regardless, so congratulations to you, Miss Akari.”

“Can we play again?” Despite asking, Akari began to help Ingo, grabbing her piles and handing them to him as he stacked them all together. “One more game?”

Ingo considered it. While it was admittedly a very enjoyable game, and quick to play between only two people, it was getting late (the game’s addictiveness was entirely to blame, he was genuinely having fun), and unlike Akari, he did not adapt as well to altered sleeping hours – something he couldn’t let get any worse being as exhausted as he already was. “As enjoyable as it is, perhaps tomorrow we can continue; it may be best to mind our sleep schedules now.”

“Oh. Yeah, of course – I’m sorry.” The disappointment was superficial, quickly dissipating as Akari realized that Ingo had had sleep on his mind since this morning. He needed to get to bed.

Ingo handed Akari the full deck of cards, and she packed them away back into their box. Pushing her chair back, she got to her feet and went to put it away in her unit’s storage chest. They did play like, five games anyways, and she was kind of tired too. “But if we play again tomorrow, we gotta do it with Rei and the Professor, and Zisu too! I need to know how they’d answer some of these!”

As Akari put the game away, Ingo went to pick up the lanterns that they had set on the table.

“Done?” He looked over as Akari closed and locked the container. She nodded, so Ingo blew the set of lanterns out, one after the other. The room first dimmed, then darkened entirely, save for the few weak embers glowing in the sandpit.

The wood flooring creaked quietly as they headed for their beds. Akari gently lifted up a sleeping Ember just enough to slide beneath her covers, and Ingo moved his folded coat and hat over to get under his own blankets.

“I like these sleepovers,” Akari yawned from across the room. “We gotta do them more often. It’s more fun when one of us isn’t sick.”

She had a point, as most of the times he’d stayed over here, or she’d stayed with him, it had been when one of them had come down with something, and the other had come over to help out. Or when unfavorable weather had prevented them from getting back to their own places. Though, it seemed Akari had forgotten that he wasn’t staying over tonight just to play cards, he was staying here out of her own hopes that company and a different sleeping environment would prevent another instance of his recurring nightmare. So in a way, it sort of still felt the same.

“We can certainly schedule more in the future.” Was all he said instead.

"Goodnight, Ingo.” “Goodnight, Miss Akari.”

He had expected that to be it, but after a moment he heard Akari again in the darkness, quieter. “I hope being here, you sleep ok again tonight.”

So she hadn’t forgotten.

“Thank you, I hope so too.”

He really, really hoped so.

Ingo turned onto his side and pulled the blankets over his shoulder, up to his neck. His heavy eyes glanced around the dark room again – the simple walls, the wooden flooring, and the irori with its heated sandpit. It all didn't feel as foreign as the night before. There was no reason to feel guarded.

Ingo closed his eyes and settled into his pillow. Despite being hesitant about staying tonight, he was grateful for the company, and for the game that kept his mind entertained and focused on fun things. He was comfortable and relaxed. Last night was ok. Tonight would also be ok, and tomorrow would be too. 

–––––

Darkness, at some point, gave way to dim light.

Ingo sat up, rubbing his eyes again as the familiar sound of the starlys’ morning songs reached his ears. He looked over to see waking light filtering through the unit’s window, and once again Akari and Ember still laid fast asleep under it, curled up together.

Another night had been kind to him it seemed, and for that he was grateful. Very, very grateful.

Leaning into his knees, Ingo sat there in his gratitude, taking in the gentle sounds of the morning until he became aware of the dull, empty ache in his stomach. He glanced over at Akari a second time — she had wanted him to make those pancakes again, hadn’t she? Now would be a good time to start on that.

As quietly as he could, Ingo once again got up, got dressed, and slipped through the door to head over to Choy’s store for some fresh ingredients.

The air was crisp in the way only early mornings could make it as Ingo closed the door behind him, and stepped out onto Jubilife’s street. There were a few people out and about as usual under the pink sky, and Tuli and Ginter were just pulling their Ginkgo Guild cart into its usual spot as he made his way across the road. Reaching Choy’s storefront, he began to assess the various boxes of berries that had been set out.

“Good morning, Warden Ingo!” As Ingo browsed the wares, Choy greeted him. Giving a glance to Ingo’s product of interest, the shopkeeper walked closer. “Back again already; returning for a repeat purchase, I’m assuming?”

“Good morning, Choy. You are correct,” Ingo nodded his head. “Same as yesterday, I’d like a-”

Ingo stopped as something fluttered sporadically from under his rib cage. It pressed noticeably before relaxing, leaving a tingling heat to fade into the flesh around it.

“-Ahem!” Ingo coughed into his fist reflexively, and Choy gave him a rightfully concerned look. He stood there for a moment, then tried again. “Apologies. I um, I’d like a fourth pound of oran berries, and some of those c- ghk-”

The Something pushed again, hard. Ingo’s hand went to the hot pressure beneath his sternum, clutching a fistful of his tunic as he leaned forward against the boxes. It wasn’t so kind as to relax this time, instead cramping tighter with another breath, another beat of his heart.

“Warden?” Choy was reaching out to him now, but Ingo reflexively stepped back for a reason he couldn’t even explain. He choked again and the cramp twisted with another wave of pain, pulling everything attached inside with it. Every breath was tightening it. It was like his heart was-

A heart attack.

He was having a heart attack, wasn’t he?

What else could it be? Was this what it really felt like? He didn’t know.

This couldn’t happen to him — he was healthy. Wasn’t he? He was young… enough. Surely. He had no pre-existing medical conditions. None that he’d known about, at least. Right? 

He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. He’d lost all that out in the berating snow he’d woken up in. The sudden realization sent a bolt of fear through his chest, which only seized another heartbeat into cramping against the twisted tightness.

A crowd of Jubilife’s villagers were suddenly around him as he took another step back into the street; he hadn’t noticed them gathering. Ingo sank to his knees, and hands too concerned with grasping at the bloated blaze in his chest couldn’t catch him when he collapsed over onto his side. To his horror, the circle that had gathered only moved away to make room for him. 

A painful gasp, filling lungs squishing the fragile, failing, distended heart against his breastbone. They were all just standing there, staring down at him. And he could do nothing but stare back from where he laid against the ground, a sideways view of just their legs. 

He was aware they were talking all around him, but he couldn’t make out what anyone was saying. He was too busy clutching at the still-tightening cords inside his chest.

Why was nobody helping him?

…No one could help this. Pesselle was probably just several yards away inside the Galaxy Hall, but she wouldn’t have what he’d need to stop this. What he’d need to be saved. No one in Hisui did. He was going to die out here on the street, a spectacle. Did he know anyone in the crowd? It hurt so bad inside him. Akari was going to find him like this. Probably after everything had already… happened.

“Augh-!” Ingo gasped as it pulled again, hot agony pulsing in another wave. His ribcage was compressing another swell, his lungs twisting with it. It felt too big. His body reflexively curled with the pull, as if that would lessen the searing strain. 

Wait, wait, please — He wasn’t ready yet. This was too sudden. He had so many people he couldn’t leave yet, so many things he still had to do and say, all of them suddenly nothing but blanks in his collapsing mind.

As Ingo blinked the stinging tears from his eyes, he saw it. Behind the spaces of the crowd that had gathered who stood slanted in his sideways view, just a few feet away, were the legs.

The gangly, stretched black legs. Standing in a way where they were perfectly aligned with his tilted view against the ground. As if it was the rest of the world that was slanted, not its broken stance. 

The legs exceeded his failing vision, jutting up to the left and out of his field of view. They just kept going, leaving him unable to see the body they were connected to. Their direction went right into a building anyways, if he had his placement right. What he was seeing just couldn’t work. 

But they were there.

This thing was here with him. Watching him. 

“Would you rather.” A voice he could suddenly hear, whispering right in the ear that was pressed against the ground. Ingo couldn’t even turn his head – it would pull everything inside even tighter with it. “A, this happen here, in front of everyone? Or B, out on the mountain when no one is with you?”

The bloated bundle in his chest, already straining too tight, twisted again. Amongst the fire searing everything inside his chest, something tore.

“AHGK!” Halfway between a choke and a cry, Ingo recoiled. Something that was suddenly tangled tightly around him constricted with his movements, and wood cracked hard against him as another horrific scream rang out to his right.

“Ingo!” It was Akari’s voice he realized, shrill and panic-stricken as he gasped where he lay. Ember was yowling. Everything was so dark, he couldn’t see. He felt hands grab his side within a moment, yanking on him to pull him over onto his back. Had she finally come outside and found him? “What? What?” 

Turning his head, Ingo blinked hard, and the darkness gave way to both Akari’s form, leaning over him and looking scared out of her minds. Ember was still howling and pacing around the room, set off. He was lying against the wooden floorboards of her unit, covered in cold sweat and tangled in all the blankets that had made up where he slept. The still-night sky poured weak ambient light into the room through the window, and rain beat hard on the roof above them, just like the sensation buzzing in his chest. B-bmp. B-bmp. B-bmp-

He was still in Akari’s unit. And it was very early in the morning, if not the middle of the night.

“Akari-!” A gasp more than a sentence, Ingo blinked through the residual tears meant for the pain as his heart refused to stop pounding — a particularly scary sensation at the moment. He was flooded with emotions; relief that it wasn’t real and he was alive. Frustration that he had once again been subjected to such torment. Shame that he had done this in front of Akari again, at such a time of the night when he’d startled her out of sleep. And profound terror that it had been different this time, and had felt so authentic, so painful. 

It was all so overwhelming to realize.

It had happened again. 

Despite changing his environment to feel more at ease, to escape the dread, it had happened again. 

And it had changed to fit the location. It had taken the game, something that had been a comfort, a reprieve, and twisted it.

It had maintained feeling realistic. The thoughts, the sensations were all so vivid, so visceral.

“I’m so sorry, I thought-! ” Ingo sucked in a deep breath through tight teeth, holding his chest as he tried to sit up. There was no pain anymore, but he could still feel the sensation. He had died just moments ago. “My heart-!”

“Is this what it’s doing to you?” Her appalled reaction only brought another swell of remorse that she had to witness this. This was so much worse than what she’d seen at The Wallflower, and he knew it. This was exactly what he was afraid would happen. “Ingo, this is- this is… horrible! I didn’t know it was like this!” 

Another lingering tear slipped out as Akari wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. Ingo held her back with one arm reluctantly, feeling her head press against his shoulder — he didn’t want her to feel his heart still hammering inside his chest. He kneaded his free hand against it.

Ember was still upset. Growling, she whipped around and yowled in their general direction, looking around restlessly with her quills sticking up.

“It’s ok, Ember!” Akari reached out and pulled her partner Pokémon close between them. “It’s ok!”

Ember pressed against them both, quills still raised but reducing her aggression to a low growling. She turned in the small space and pressed her forehead against Ingo’s side, huffing. She stayed stiff like that, staring around the room with her head against him, but thankfully it seemed she had calmed down. Akari turned her attention back to Ingo and held him tightly, letting him process and giving him a chance to calm down and say something. But when he didn’t, and it became clear he wouldn’t break the now-heavy quiet that was just stretching out longer and longer, she decided she would. 

“…I’m sorry you had to go through that again.”

The warden stared right through the floor with distant eyes. With half his mind still floundering somewhere else, he left her hanging in silence for longer than he meant to. He sputtered when he finally realized. 

“No, no… it was,” He sucked in a breath, a stalled understanding finally clicking on what she was referring to. “different this time.” Another pause, wondering if he should go further. “I believe I was once again led down the wrong tracks. This isn’t a recurring nightmare.”

Akari pulled back to look him in his eyes. “What?”

—————

“Here, it’s not as good as what you can do, but it’s the best thing I can make.”

With Ember curled up comfortably in his lap as he mindlessly pet her, Ingo tilted his head up to see a cup of steaming tea in one of Akari’s hands, and a full plate staring back at him from the other – A large helping of fluffy yellow eggs and crispy pan-cooked shredded potatoes, the latter of which she’d salted generously. 

Scrambled eggs and hashbrowns, that’s what they were. Wow. That was something he hadn’t had, much less thought about, in… as long as he could remember.

“Thank you,” Ingo graciously took the cup and plate, staring down at the latter as Akari sat down beside him with her own. She didn’t sound too proud of the meal’s quality, but it looked plenty fine to him — he was so focused on it, he hadn’t even realized Ember still hadn’t left his lap for Akari’s.

After he’d woken everyone up four hours before the sun was set to rise, Ingo had known there was no going back to sleep. Not for anyone. Even though he felt like he hadn’t gotten any sleep in the first place, he was too nervous to do so, and Akari was too concerned to leave him alone.

So as the hours had passed, the both of them had sat together and talked about it by her irori, where the heated sand in the pit warmed them. Ember had even chosen Ingo’s lap as her place to curl up as opposed to Akari’s. The level of clinginess had been admittedly uncharacteristic and a little surprising, but Ingo had appreciated that she had wanted to comfort him. Only when the earliest glimmers of sunlight began to peek through the window did Akari get up and declare she would make breakfast today, telling Ingo to just sit back and relax.

And so with no strength to argue, he resigned himself to running his fingers through Ember’s warm fur as the teen began to prepare breakfast for them both. 

“Are you gonna work today?” Akari asked in between mouthfuls of egg and potato.

“No. My schedule at the dojo is open for the day.” A rather short reply for the considerable amount of time it took to answer. “So I am slated to depart for the highlands, to visit Lady Sneasler and her kits.”

“Mmm.” Akari hummed in acknowledgement. She was being careful with him, talking carefully. She had been since his nightmare, and a part of him was disappointed that he’d made her feel like she had to do that. “Can I come with you?”

Or B, out on the mountain when no one is with you?

Ingo’s eyes hardened, tearing the phrase out of his head with a harsh mental rebuke and crushing it. He then turned to consider Akari’s offer, softening. “Yes. Your company would be appreciated. Thank you.”

“Of course.” Akari spoke into her hot cup of tea as she took a sip, careful again. Ingo began to eat, and they were quiet until he set his empty plate down beside him, and went back to petting Ember again.

“Do you still not know why it’s happening?”

It was asked with a reserved voice. Ingo knew it was coming from a place of wanting to help, but being scared it would pressure him to open up to her about something he maybe wouldn’t want to. Perhaps about some unshared traumatic event that had possibly happened recently.

That was not the case, and as morbid as it sounded, Ingo didn’t know if he was thankful for that or not. It gave no possible reason or explanation for this suddenly happening, and no hints about how to diminish or get rid of it. And that’s what bothered him the most. “No. I don’t. None of it makes any sense to me.”

The first true instance of these nightmares had dup up the raw, forcefully-buried memory of a horrific accident and intensified it horribly. But this one, it had reached down so deep that it had dredged up a fear from the very pit of his stomach, so visceral yet dormant, he hadn’t even been aware he feared it – the possibility of suffering a failure of health that Hisui had neither the technology or knowledge to save him from.

Now that it had been pulled to the forefront of his mind, it terrified him.

What was he possibly going to experience next? What could be worse than that? Ingo didn’t know, but he was stricken with the notion that his brain could somehow find the answer. Why was his mind turning on him so viciously?

It was all over the place, except for one thing. There was one constant.

Those legs. That stretched out Somebody that he could never see. It had been there with him again.

What was that even supposed to be? Was it someone he was supposed to know? Was that why he couldn’t see the rest of them? Was it possibly the man who looked like him? No, NO. That immediately felt wrong.

So then, what was it supposed to be? A representational figment of death? Did his subconscious think he was going to die soon?

“The only recurring thing, the only constant has been this… well, has been these legs.” Ingo forced words out of his mouth, so that he could focus on those instead of the ones spiraling down in his head. “These last few instances, I’ve seen something standing close by to me.” And every time he had spotted it, it happened to be closer to him than the last. “But I’m afraid I can never see anything clearly past the legs. They’re just too long, and too dark to make out.”

There was no response, just silence, and Ingo thought he’d have to return to the horrors swimming in his head. Maybe he’d started delving into things he shouldn’t with her.

“Legs?” Akari finally reiterated. The amount of concern in her voice caught Ingo off guard.

“Yes,” Not knowing what else to say, Ingo turned to see Akari was now staring right at him, and Ember had raised her head up, the first movement she’d made since she first settled onto his lap.

“Did it have one big eye?” Suddenly not at all careful or gentle anymore, Akari pointed at one of her own, shutting the other for emphasis. 

“Uh-”

“-Or what looked like a neck full of these huge, thick red teeth?” She next pointed at her neck, exposing it by tilting her head up.

“I don’t… know-”

“-Or like this weird, long white hair that’s stuck up above it?” She raised both arms straight above her head.

“I- yes- yes, it had that, I believe-” Ingo was growing genuinely unnerved. She was acting like she knew what this was.

“But you’re not-” Akari stopped herself and studied him with scrutiny. “You said it happens every few nights? The last time you had one was last night, then two nights before that was uh, the other one,” She was trying to construct a timeline in her head. “When did you have a nightmare before that?”

“I don’t know,” Ingo looked down at his fingers, trying to solidify the hazy math in his head. “I know the night before the nightmare involving Draugr, I was alright. And… the night before that was fine as well. But I believe the night before that I had a- well, I wouldn’t say it was a nightmare. Perhaps more of a premonitory dream-”

“So then that’s three nights,” Akari kept track for him, though she spoke slowly, as if trying to keep track of something herself. “Was the next gap between the nightmares four nights?”

Ingo thought about it for a while, muttering to himself to recount the events and count with his fingers. His frown pulled when he stopped, concerned with the answer, though not understanding why past the fact that Akari had guessed it. “I believe so… yes. It was.”

“Oh man,” Akari stood up and began pacing and shaking her hands out, which only fed Ingo’s unease as he watched her. “Oh man. Oh man, Ingo-”

“What?” 

“-I know what this is!” She didn’t stop pacing as she talked. “This is a Pokémon! You were right the first time! That’s why Ember was so worked up, she could tell it was there! Ember-!” Akari gestured to the now-alert quilava. “-That’s why she hasn’t left your side, she knows! These- these nightmares! The nights in between getting closer together, it’s all like a countdown! At least, I think it is- I mean, I know what’s supposed to happen at the end of all this, I just didn’t know it came on gradually-”

“What kind of Pokémon would cause something like this?” Ingo tried to get her back on track before she spiraled too far. He didn’t know what she was talking about, and all this buildup was scaring him — had he not been taking this as seriously as he should have? Akari’s own reaction wasn’t helping. He couldn’t recall a Pokémon that could do all of this to a person, but he also knew he had lost knowledge of many, many Pokémon that he either hadn’t personally encountered here in Hisui, or that Akari hadn’t described to him, just like the Slowpoke from last night. Was this one of these Pokémon?

“Does Darkrai sound familiar to you?”

His gut recognized it in a way his brain did not, telling him that this Pokémon and what it was doing to him was serious, but not being able to explain why. “Um, Somewhat-”

“It’s a Pokémon that makes people have these terrible nightmares!” Akari barely gave him a chance to finish his sentence, spilling out her explanation now. “It like, enters your dreams while you sleep, and turns them into nightmares! I think it feeds off of them, or thrives, I can’t remember- but it will keep people asleep and put them through nightmares that don’t end-!”

“Akari-” Ingo attempted to get her to slow down.

“-But you keep waking up after them! You’re not stuck! But you’re so tired, and they’re happening closer together; maybe it just keeps deciding to return to you, or maybe it’s like, counting down – the nights are like perfectly following a pattern! And then you’ll- uhm, we need Cresselia, the feathers-!”

Another Pokémon that only sparked a glimmer of familiarity. Ingo couldn’t keep up with all of this, but it sounded like she was saying this thing was invading his brain and exploiting his worst fears to harvest them, and that it was only going to get worse from here. “Akari, please, I can’t understand-”

“Ingo, if you go back to sleep, you’re not gonna wake up this time!” Akari stopped pacing now, turning on her heels to face him.”The pattern, it’s- the next day is tomorrow! It has to be tomorrow! It’s going to keep you asleep, stuck in a nightmare that keeps going on and on indefinitely! And I don’t have a feather, and Cresselia isn’t here, and-”

Akari’s words gradually blurred at the edges as sleep deprivation pressed on it. He didn’t understand what she was talking about but he knew that he had known at one point. And this thing , it was eating his mind. His mind, when turned against him like this, terrified him. It was an inaccessible vault that kept everything about him out of his reach. But this thing, it could go in there and find whatever it wanted – worries, fears, insecurities, trauma – and twist it into just the right shapes to reach down deep and activate the most raw, visceral, and ghastly reactions it could ever want. 

It already had. Twice.  

This thing looked for weakness, and uncertainties in the psyche. And Ingo, in this broken, empty state Hisui had left him in, was a man with many more uncertainties than he was even aware of.

No wonder it had attached itself to him like a parasite. No wonder it kept coming back to him.

“-Ingo. Ingo!”

The static lifted, and Ingo’s thoughts gave way to the worried teen shaking his shoulder.

“Ingo, you cannot go back to sleep.” Akari’s expression was firm now. More confident, more sure of herself. “Do. Not. Go. To. Sleep. Ok? Not until we figure this out.”

The thought of forgoing even more sleep already made his poor, exhausted body ache for it, but the thought of experiencing all of this without end was as unbearable as it was terrifying. Ingo blinked, frazzled. “Alright. I will keep my engines running.”

“Ok, good.” Akari then pulled out her Pokéball and held it out. “Come on, Ember.”

Jumping down off Ingo’s lap, Ember returned compliantly. Ingo wondered if she was going somewhere when she pulled on his coat, urging him to get up and follow. “Now you and me, we’re going to the Professor’s office to see if we can find anything on Cresselia, and where to find it.”

[fug0th]

Pst! You know what time it is? New cosplay time! I decided to remake one of if not my favorite cosplays in my collection, Naven Nuknuk from Epithet Erased

This has been by far my most time consuming build (as well as expensive). this cosplay took a total of 279 hours over the span of roughly 8 months to make. That time doesn't include redoing sections or details that didn't make it into the final look.

And now for a detailed look at this whole outfit because dang, I put so many tiny details in.

Starting off with the earring and beads, I used a tequnic called lampwork to make them. The best way I can explain lampworking is like miniature glassblowing

Lampwork uses glass rods heated in a flame to create generally small pieces like beads or buttons. Lampworking can be incredibly detailed. While I'm still fairly beginner at all of this I was able to learn a tequnic called implosion to make the flowers look more 3 dimensional. I also used lampworking to make the buttons on the undershirt!

I did all the 3d modeling for parts like the glasses and the belt buckle. (Stealing pictures from my Instagram because the progress tracker i use corrupted my images)

While I don't usually focus on the 3d modeling in my builds it's a huge passion of mine. After making a model of the belt buckle I put my 3d print into casting clay. After carefully removing it I poured tin in to make the final belt buckle.

I also taught myself basic leather working and tooling to add some apple blossom inspired designs onto the belt and painted it.

Next thing I think I should talk about is the embroidery. I wanted to incorporate more details about naven into his outfit. After asking jello some questions we came to the conclusion that the embroidery should be lillies and carnations. Because of my constant insanity I hand embroidered everything. I also did some embroidery on the pants and used an embroidery floss that changes colors in the sun for fun.

Before I get any questions about materials I'll add in, the white shirt and embroidery are both silk. I struggle to embroider with cotton dye to the sound and feeling it makes, and I felt like being fancy so silk shirt too. The pants are a cotton twill (pretty much jean fabric without the indigo) and the green strips are silk. A perfect Segway into the tatting and knitting!

For those who don't know tatting is a traditional form of lace making found in many different places around the world. There are 2 main forms of tatting, needle tatting and shuttle tatting, I tend to use shuttle tatting due to how nice and portable it is. I thought tatting would be fitting to add to navens outfit due to it's other name, farmers lace.

And now for the big beast of this outfit, the knitting. Like with everything else in this outfit I dyed the yarn myself. It's 80 percent wool to 20 percent silk blend.

Huge thanks to jello for suggesting so many ideas, this outfit wouldn't be nearly as cool as it is otherwise.

Anyways I hope all y'all like the outfit! I had so much fun making this insanity

[allieebobo]

Merry Crisis—Cast of characters

Romance-focused x Slice-of-life x Queer x Non-Euro-centric x Character-based

Demo | Features | Dev log | Back to Main Post | COG forum | Dedicated tumblr | Ko-fi

Credit: The wonderful amazing INSANELY talented @dumplingcatho made these STUNNING character portraits!! I am still reeling from how dang good she is. I swear she probably made a deal with the devil for this talent but I shall not question it.

Nat [M/F]

The soulmate/ex/best friend.

Your ex. Your parents never approved of them, but you suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. Despite the breakup, you’re still friends, and worse still - you still live with them in a tiny shoebox apartment. New York rent, man—it's hard to say no even though you know you should be moving on, and moving out.

Height: 6′2 (M) | 5′11 (F)

Nationality & race: African-American

Occupation: Post-doc fellow, working towards becoming a tenure-track professor.

Description:

Warm, twinkling eyes, and big, infectious laugh. Can swing from nerdy charm to extreme goofyness at the drop of a pin.

Loving, thoughtful, and kind to a fault. Relaxed, gentle demeanour

The kind of friend—and partner—you can trust with your life.

An incurable optimist.

Loves people, art/movies (especially talking about them with friends), food/cooking, their two dogs. 

Nat's dogs

Kiho [M]

Breed: Cairn Terrier

Age: 8

Description: Proud, small, intelligent, standoffish, with a stern grandpa energy. Apparently, a reader/player told me long ago that Kiho means "big boss" in Finnish colloquial slang and that was so perfect that it stuck. If Kiho were human he'd wear an old patagonia vest and spend his weekends fishing (not very adeptly).

Liz [F]

Breed: Border collie

Age: 3 (adopted when MC and Nat were already together.)

Description: Not exactly literal golden retriever energy but... close enough. A ray of sunshine, playful, easygoing, happy-go-lucky and a voracious eater (she eats everything), loves playing in puddles and has a special love for chewed up tennis balls.

Qiu [M/F]

The estranged first love / soulmates.

Your first-love (or platonic soulmate), from junior college. You’d not kept in touch, and now, they’re ridiculously successful. But, according to your intel, still…single.

Height: 5′8 (M) | 5′4 (F)

Nationality & race: Chinese Singaporean

Occupation: Public prosecutor

Description:

Extremely intelligent, with a sharp, cutting wit.

Ambitious, determined, and a bit cynical / jaded.

Dark, piercing gaze, with a completely unreadable expression.

Formal, a little bit stiff, and always impeccably dressed.

Aloof, almost intimidating presence despite their relatively average height/slim build.

Loves a job well done, being useful, stimulating conversation, and solving problems. Peace and quiet.

Shay [M/F]

The charismatic stranger.

Your neighbour (Auntie Pearl)'s new tenant. Sexy, confident, and unabashedly unconventional. Your mother definitely does not approve, but you might not be able to resist their roguish charms.

Height: 5′10 (M) | 5′6 (F)

Nationality & race: Chinese (Peranakan) Singaporean

Occupation: Lead singer & guitarist in a rock band

Description:

Thick, sweeping eyebrows, expressive eyes that twinkle at the edges, and a permanent roguish half-grin.

Tan, athletic, with an undeniable swagger to their walk. Has a penchant for sleeveless muscle tees. Good with their hands (and... possibly other parts of their body).

Adventurous, resilient, unflinchingly honest, and uncompromisingly true to themselves / the people they love.

Loves the outdoors (and constant motion), music (especially rock, reggae and soul), dancing, soccer, nature/plants (including gardening).

Other asks

[fluff-a-nutter]

Gangles Secret

((Ler!Jax Lee Gangle. SFW Only! Not a ship!))

Gangle sat on her bed sniffing quietly as she doodled in her journal. Her comedy mask had been broken again and drawing always helped her feel better. The ribbon character was drawing some slightly embarrassing sketches of herself being tickled silly. She had always wanted someone to gently tickle her, but she could never ask for it, so this was the next best thing.

Gangle was so deep into her doodles, she didn’t hear her door open or the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Hey crybaby, Ragatha says I’m supposed to come apologize for breaking your mask again so- heeeey, whatcha drawing?” Gangle nearly threw herself off her bed at the sound of Jax’s teasing voice.

“J-Jax! Nothing, just doodles!” She stammered out, holding her journal close to her chest. If she could blush, she would have been beet red in the face. Jax raised an unconvinced eyebrow and snatched the book from Gangle, causing her to cry out in a panic.

“Jax no!” The resident bunny snickered as he opened the notebook. Luckily, the more embarrassing stuff was more in the center.

“What, you drawing something nasty? My, my Gangle, I didn’t think you were so dirty minded.” Gangle whimpered and tried to grab her journal back, while Jax wandered in circles while he flipped absently through the pages. He had to admit, most of the sketches were actually pretty good.

“Dang, kid. You aren’t half bad at this drawing thing. I’m sure Caine would love you to design something for new scenes or- oh! What’s this?” Jax’s rare compliment was cut off as he saw Gangles tickle art. He looked at the drawings and then at Gangle, who looked ready to sink into the very ground.

“J-Jax…. Please don’t tell the others.” She whimpered, twisting her ribbon hands nervously. Jax’s cheeky grin faltered a bit. He was torn- on the one hand, he totally wanted to tell the gang. On the other hand, he was worried that might break poor Gangle, and loathe as he was to admit it, he cared about her feelings.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell ‘em. Scouts honor.” Jax held up 3 fingers in a salute. Gangle relaxed a tiny bit.

“Yah know, if this is the sorta thing you want, I’d be happy to give it to you.” Jax said, closing the book and setting it to the side. Gangle looked stunned.

“R-really? You don’t think it’s weird.” Jax’s grin returned.

“Oh, it’s weird as [BLEEP]. But that’s nothing new here.” Jax plunked himself on the bed next to the drama character.

“So! What’ll it be? You want me to, Yah know.” Jax raised his hands and wiggled his fingers at Gangle, who couldn’t suppress the tiniest giggle.

“U-Uhmmmm….. okay. Just be gentle?” Jax smiled brightly and stood.

“I’ll be right back! Don’t move.” Jax sprinted out of the room, leaving Gangle confused and flustered. What on earth was Jax up to? She didn’t have to ponder this very long before the rabbit came back with an armful of tickly supplies. The sight alone made Gangle feel strangely giddy inside.

“Jax…. Wh-what is all that?” She asked as the bunny laid everything out.

“Just a few supplies. Your drawings had a ton of this stuff, so I thought you might like ‘em.” Jax explained gesturing to the assortment of feathers, paintbrushes, and what looked a bit like makeup brushes.

“O-oh…l-…..Jax you really didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me. It’s okay if you don’t want to do this.” Jax turned to face her, planting his fists on his hips.

“Are you kidding? What about me says I wouldn’t take this opportunity to mess with you?” Gangle fell silent. He did have a very good point.

“Now! Where to begin?” Jax drawled, pacing in a circle around Gangle, twirling a long feather between his thumb and index finger. He may have promised to keep her secret, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t gonna tease her relentlessly. Gangle giggled nervously as she eyed him.

“J-Jahahax. Don’t do that!” Jax smirked cheekily at her.

“Don’t what? I’m just trying to find a perfect spot to attack first.” Gangle squeaked and hid her face shyly at the teasing. Jax grinned viciously and swiped the feather under where he chin would be, causing her to squeal.

“EEK! Jax it tickles!” She tittered uncovering her face so she could halfheartedly bat the rabbit away. Jax smiled and retracted the feather, checking to make sure Gangle was alright. She gave him a wobbly smile.

“Y-you stopped.” She remarked. Jax nodded.

“Want me to continue?” He teased, flicking the feather across where Gangles stomach would be making her flinch with a fit of giggles.

“Y-yehehahahah.” Jax beamed and switched his feather out for a paintbrush.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He replied using the brush to stroke shapes along Gangle’s mask, while his free hand skittered lightly between her middle ribbon loops making sure to keep his touch light, sending her into fits of bright laughter. When Jax switched tools again and used the makeup brush beneath her chin and along her jaw, Gangle squealed with laughter, hiccuping in between giggles.

“Jahahahax! *hic* Nohoho mohohore! Pleahehehease!” Gangle wrapped her satin hands around the bunny’s wrists and gently pushed, signaling that she was at her limit. Jax took the hint and ceased his tickles, dropping the brush.

“Heh, you okay Gangle?” He asked, while the masked character caught her breath.

“Hehehe yeah. Thanks Jax. I-I needed that.” She answered, smiling shyly at the purple rabbit. Jax waved her off.

“Hey, no problem. And, if you ever want more, you know,” Jax paused and wiggled his fingers lightly at Gangle,

“Just come visit your old pal Jax and I’ll getcha good.” Gangle nodded and smiled softly.

“O-okay. I’ll try.” Jax winked and stood.

“Oh, by the way. You really should smile more. Even without your comedy mask it’s nice.” Gangle made a flustered noise and chucked a pillow at Jax who ran out laughing. But she did feel much better and when she joined her friends for dinner, her comedy mask was fixed and waiting at her spot with a note that read,

“In case of emergency, here’s your smile.”

The small doodle in the corner was a messy self portrait of a certain rabbit. Gangle considered herself very lucky indeed.

A/N: Hey guys ! Thanks for reading! I was inspired by an incredible piece of art done by @unnamable-lee! The lee!gangle drawing they did was absolutely adorable, so naturally I had to write a fic for it. Hope you all enjoyed!