#having gotten the 'i have to write about these feelings now in some way or i'll explode' stuff out of my system

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

why praising someone’s fic while at the same time tearing down other writers’ fics may not be the positive comment you think it is

first of all, I feel like I should be bringing this up because I’ve gotten comments where people praise my works (which I appreciate) while in those same comments they later say what they dislike about other writers’ fanfics, in a rather harsh manner, and while I know my commenters probably don’t have any ill intentions towards me, and while they never actually name the writers whose works they don’t like, I still don’t agree with and I certainly don’t condone the way they trash talk other writers’ fanfics either. so I think I should just bring this up, not to attack or target anyone specifically, but to hopefully make general readers see why comments like these are… not actually helpful to anybody.

before we begin, I also like to humbly point out that comments I’m talking about aren’t “oh it’s so hard to find a fic this good” or “your work is better than most of the fics I’ve read” because personally I think comments like these are harmless, not because I think my fic is “that good”, not because I think my work is “better than others”, but because no other writers were insulted and if my readers say they prefer my work — it’s all personal preference — then I’m honored, and the last thing I wanna be is a Comment Police, but I’ve unfortunately seen a lot of comments, especially lately, where other writers were rudely insulted in the name of praising the writer whose work is being commented on. I’m not gonna provide screenshots because I’m not gonna put a target on anybody’s back, but here’s to give an example of what I’m talking about,

“I like your work so much. It’s so hard to find a fic this good when most of the (insert character’s name) fics I’ve read are so bad and so out of character. I hate when some writers write (insert character’s name) as some sort of (x) and (insert another character’s name) as some (x), I think it’s so out of characters and so cringe that it physically makes me want to throw my laptop away. It feels like reading a garbage written by a bunch of five year-old kids or something. I wish I could set those trash on fire. Your work is not like those shitty fics though and it’s amazing to finally see a good fic.”

this is the kind of comments I’m talking about. because for me, personally, I don’t actually feel good receiving a comment like this, even though the commenter praises me and never actually mentions other writers, whose works they dislike, by names.

and again, the last thing I ever wanna be is a Comment Police, because I usually appreciate every comment I got, no matter if it’s just a heart emoji or a simple sentence like “I liked this”, I love and appreciate them all. but here we go;

WHY INSULTING OTHER WRITERS IN THE NAME OF PRAISING A WRITER WHOSE WORK YOU COMMENT ON IS NOT A POSITIVE COMMENT

comment like this can put a harmful pressure on the writer whom you praised and make them think that they now have to be extra careful to make sure their work is “good enough to please you”, otherwise they might get torn to shreds too. and instead of writing for themself for fun, which should be the most important thing about writing fanfics, they now feel like they have to write because they have to be good enough to earn their readers’ approval. and that just sucks out all the joy of doing something that was supposed to be a hobby, something writers do out of love and passion and not because they were pressured into doing, not because they were pressured into “being good enough and staying good enough”.

“if you’re this comfortable insulting other writers under my work, how can I know you’re not insulting me and my work under someone else’s comments section?” is a valid thought the writer you praised may have, even if they were too polite to tell you that.

“I hate when some writers write (insert character’s name) as some sort of (x) and (insert another character’s name) as some (x), I think it’s so out of characters and so cringe that it physically makes me want to throw my phone away.” how do you know the writer you praised hasn’t already written something like this in their drafts? how do you know they don’t plan on writing something that you deem “cringe and out of character”? it may not be your intention, but your comment certainly can be read as a subtle “hey, don’t you dare write something like this because I don’t like it!!!! I better not see it from you!!!” I shouldn’t have to tell you how entitled this is.

“this is so out of character” if a writer wants to write their favorite character like this, they can. why? because they write whatever they want and they write for themself, not for you.

fanfiction is not — and never will be — your average novel you see while visiting a bookstore, buy it with your money and bitch about it when it turns out the book is not to your liking. because fanfiction is free. fanfic writers write for themselves and for fun. fanfic writers write whatever they wanna write, because they themselves are their own primary audiences. not you. they’re only kind enough to share with you their works. for free. if you dislike a fic, keep that to yourself and move on to something you do like. don’t be entitled by insulting something you got for free, something that wasn’t even made for you at all.

you obviously can dislike a fic. of course, it’s your opinion. I mean I won’t say I like every fic I’ve ever read, but the thing about disliking a fic is that you can just exit said fic, forget about it and move on to something else without feeling the need to insult the work or the writer, be it directly or indirectly, because, again, fanfiction is not a movie you watch on Netflix or a book you bought with your money. fanfiction is an art, a hobby and a passion created by an artist for the artist themself.

a reminder that comments are public for everyone to see, not just the writer you praise. so while you didn’t mention any other writers whom you insulted by names, there’s always a chance of innocent writers finding your comment and thinking the part where you insult other writers’ works is about their works. and that can very negatively affect them too.

fanfiction doesn’t have to be “good enough for you, random reader”. fanfiction just has to bring the writers joy. and that’s what make a fic good enough.

if you really enjoy someone’s work, tell them that you enjoy their work, tell them what you like about their work. don’t turn their comments section into your own space where you can vent and trash talk other writers, because you are bringing that negativity to the writer whose work you said you enjoyed. and I can only speak for myself but, as a writer, I don’t enjoy seeing my comments section turn into a negative and unkind space where my fellow writers are being insulted.

[quitefawnish]

just thinking about reader having an nsft tumblr acct and tf 141 being obsessed with it..

cw: sexual content, slight voyeurism?

soap is the first one to stumble on your tumblr account. he originally got tumblr because he wanted inspiration for meal planning and thought about making his own fitness blog.

of course, he eventually went down the rabbit hole of hornyposting and after a few weeks, he discovered you.

you had started this blog to feel better about yourself, or at least that’s what you told yourself, maybe you just liked the attention. either way, you started off slow, posting in a sheer shirt or just a bra but not wanting to show off too much.

it only took a bit of prodding and pleading from your followers to get you to post your whole body. that’s where johnny first saw you, in a post where you did a full body reveal (sans face for obvious reasons). it had a few thousand notes and was the top picture for some of the tags you used.

soap practically felt his eyes bulge out of his skull at the sight of you, this perfect lass posting pics like that for free??? he was quick to follow you and then look at the rest of your posts, spamming you with likes as he went through your entire blog.

he contemplated keeping you to himself but knew the others would appreciate you just as much as he did, so he saved the original post he saw of you and sent it in the group chat. their messages were immediate, something to the effect of “holy fuck.”

that’s where the obsession with you started, and soap acted as their drug dealer, sharing in the group chat when you posted a new photo. of course, the other three knew that they could coax your username from johnny and they could make their own tumblr account to follow you but they found it more exciting getting your pics this way. one thing he did share with them was your throne wishlist which was full of lingerie and cute clothes you might want.

you had posted in sets you had gotten from other followers and the guys were interested in how they could buy you things too. your eyebrows practically disappeared into your hairline as you checked your phone and saw that your entire wishlist had been bought out. even the stuff that you put on there as a faraway desire, like the pair of mary jane’s you had been eyeing or the marker set that was too expensive to justify buying with your own money.

you always tried to thank people who bought from your throne personally, dming them on tumblr and sending exclusive pics in the things they bought for you. problem was, it was all under anonymous accounts and you didn’t get any messages owning up to the shopping spree. you decided to make a post asking who just bought you all that stuff and that you’d like to thank them.

soap was quick to message you, claiming responsibility for the gifts bought. you both get to talking and he mentions how he shares your pics with his mates, and how they get so excited when he sends a new picture of you. you respond back how you’re honestly so flattered, and you’d like to talk to them as well and thank them for their contribution to your wishlist.

eventually, you find some app or website that you can use to chat with them while not giving out any personal information. of course, when the things they ordered come in the mail, you make sure to send them plenty of videos and pictures.

they are hooked.

now it’s almost like you have four sugar daddies, paying for your bikini waxes (if you want them, they don’t mind hair down there yk), sending you money for groceries, for getting your nails done, or just because. sometimes, they even compete between the four of them to see who can make you the happiest (determined by the amount of exclamation marks you use when thanking them).

a/n: this is so self indulgent and kind of based on some of my experiences when i had an nsft blog on tumblr lolll 🙈 anyway, this is kinda unedited and rambling but would any of you guys want me to write more w this concept?

[folkwhoreberry]

Hi, i wanted to request ollie bearman x fem!driver!reader.

Okay so a little bit of context, they're childhood bestfriends(since karting), grew up together, were part of fda lived in maranello together loved italy, teammates in prema finished f2 championship 1-2 in the standings, heading into f1 with haas and mclaren. They've been dating for a year now (Grid knows about it fans dont).

Currently live in london together, but y/n is missing italy a lot, so ollie surprises her with a trip to italy for valentines and they do all the fun stuff , like cafe hopping, going to the beach(fluff), some slow mornings to themselves relaxing or not(smut maybe), having icecream (straciatella).

You can go any direction with this,just a fun idea.

Cant wait to read anythsing you write!!

(In)visible string

ollie bearman x reader

or... the one where homie café hopping is in the fda’s blood

word count : 1k

warning : coffee bleh, english is not my first language!!

on the radio : invisible string by taylor swift

☕️🧸

valentine’s day had never really been your thing, but ollie? he made it impossible not to care.

it started with karting, as all great love stories do - or at least, yours did. you and ollie, barely more than kids, racing around like you owned the world. from there, it was years of growing up together, your paths intertwined as you both moved into the world of real motorsport. prema, the ferrari driver academy, and now - somehow - both headed into formula 1. ollie with haas, and you, freshly signed with mclaren.

living in london together was great, but something about italy had gotten under your skin. you missed it. you missed the slow pace of maranello, the late nights wandering through the cobbled streets, the endless supply of stracciatella ice cream. there was something irreplaceable about italy, something you couldn’t quite put into words.

ollie knew it too. you didn’t talk about it much, but he always knew when you were feeling a bit off. you’d find him on the couch next to you after a particularly quiet evening, his arm wrapped around you, gently asking, “what’s up?”

this time, though, you hadn’t expected anything. so when valentine’s day rolled around, and ollie handed you a plane ticket with a smirk on his face, you blinked at him, utterly confused.

“we’re going to italy, love,” he said, grinning. “thought you might need a small hit of mice nostalgia.”

you blinked again, barely processing. “you booked us a trip?”

“well, technically, paul helped - he owed me after I covered for him at that press event.”

“ollie!” you exclaimed, shoving him lightly. “you can’t just use favors like that!”

he shrugged, completely unbothered. “I mean, I can. and I did. now pack your bags. we leave tomorrow.”

and just like that, you were on a plane, heading back to the place that felt like home.

——————

italy in february wasn’t exactly warm, but it didn’t matter. stepping out of the airport into the crisp air, you could feel your heart lifting. maranello greeted you like an old friend, its narrow streets and hidden cafes as familiar as the back of your hand.

the first thing you did was drop your bags at the airbnb - some gorgeous little apartment ollie had found in the center of town - and immediately head out for coffee. because obviously, coffee.

ollie held your hand as you walked through the streets, laughing at something ridiculous you said, his thumb brushing over your knuckles. it was a small gesture, but it grounded you, reminded you that this was real.

“you know what we should do?” he asked, as you sipped your espresso. “café hop. hit every spot in maranello.”

“we’d die,” you deadpanned. “caffeine overdose.”

“ah, but what a way to go.”

you couldn’t help but laugh. “fine, you idiot. café hopping it is.”

it wasn’t just cafés. it was everything. ollie had planned it all out - the slow walks, featuring ice cream, wandering through the streets of milan just for the hell of it. you hadn’t realized how much you needed this, the break from everything, from racing, from the pressure. it was just you, ollie, and italy.

——————

“you’re insane,” he laughed, his breath warm against your ear.

“you love it,” you grinned, your arms wrapping around his neck.

“yeah,” he said, softer now, his eyes meeting yours. “I really do.”

valentine’s day itself was quiet. no grand gestures, no over-the-top dinners. just the two of you, slow mornings and lazy afternoons, wrapped up in each other. you spent the day lounging in bed, watching the sunlight filter through the windows, casting golden hues over the sheets.

ollie was sprawled out beside you, his hair a mess from sleep, a lazy smile on his face. “this is nice,” he murmured, half-asleep. “just us.”

you hummed in agreement, your head resting on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “we should do this more often.”

“what? sleep?”

“well, yeah. but I mean, just be. without everything else.”

he opened one eye, glancing down at you. “I’ll quit haas if you quit mclaren.”

you snorted. “tempting.”

“we could open a café in maranello. live off stracciatella ice cream and espresso.”

“and caffeine overdose?”

“exactly.”

you smiled, shifting closer to him, your hand resting on his chest. “you really do think of everything, don’t you?”

“it’s a gift,” he said, his hand trailing down your arm, his fingers brushing your skin softly. “also, I just really want ice cream.”

“fine, let’s go,” you groaned, rolling out of bed. “but if you eat all the stracciatella again, I’m leaving you in italy.”

“as if you could ever leave me,” he said, a teasing grin spreading across his face as he followed you out of bed. “I’m way too charming.”

“debatable,” you shot back, grabbing your jacket. “now come on, lover boy.”

the rest of the trip was a blur of laughter and stolen moments. you’d spent so much of your life in italy, but it had never felt like this. this was different. this was you and ollie, no pressure, no cameras, no fans speculating about your every move. it was just… easy.

when you finally got back to london, you were reluctant to leave italy behind. but as you stepped into your apartment, you felt something shift. it wasn’t the place that made home; it was who you were with.

and with ollie beside you, london didn’t feel so bad after all.

“so,” he said, dropping the bags by the door and stretching. “what’s next?”

you smiled, walking up to him, wrapping your arms around his waist. “maybe… café hopping in london?”

he groaned, throwing his head back in mock despair. “my heart can’t handle more coffee.”

“oh, but caffeine overdose is the way to go, right?”

he looked down at you, eyes sparkling with that same mischievous grin. “yeah, well. I might have been lying.”

you laughed, standing on your tiptoes to kiss him softly. “liar.”

“only when it’s convenient,” he whispered against your lips, pulling you closer. “now, about that coffee…”

————————————————————————————

a/n : missing italy so much omg take me back to maranello rn ml

[amostimprobabledream]

When blood runs warm (Law x Reader)

Okay okay so I've only been watching One Piece for a few months, I don't know WHY I'm writing for a character I haven't even properly met in the anime yet but unfortunately Law is very much my type, sooo...here this is, excuse me. Also available on Ao3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/63259555

There had always been something about the ocean that comforted you. The way the waves roll in and out like breaths, the call of gulls overhead, the smell of it. It’s hard to describe, but you’ve always associated it with relaxation.

But that was before.

You sat on a deckchair, holding a book up to your face. You can’t really say that you’re ‘reading’ because you’re not. None of the words on the paperback clenched in your hands are sinking into your brain.

Partly it’s to do with the noise.

You know the group, you’re closest to Nami since she’s your co-worker, but her friends have dropped into your office to pick her up for after work drinks or meet her for lunch that you were familiar with their faces long before she started inviting you to join her. But even with being well aware of Luffy’s eating habits or Zoro and Sanji’s passionate dislike of one another and so on, but on the beach it’s like somebody took the dial of their volume and turned it all the way up. Right now they’re busy trying to set up a volleyball game and arguing about who is on what time and if the net is secured and whatever else people can possibly find to disagree about volleyball before you even start playing it.

But the other reason?

Is also sitting on a deckchair a few feet away.

You’ve met more people thanks to Nami – as much as she has a bit of a temper on her, you can’t deny she’s also a very sociable person and friends of her friends are also friends. Apparently, the guy sitting near you is called Law and he’s a “friend” (though he insisted otherwise) of Luffy’s, which caused some raised eyebrows since Luffy is goofy and happy-go-lucky and Law is…not.

He's also fucking gorgeous. Dark ruffled hair with some scruff on his chin and he’s well-built – apparently, he’s a doctor but he has to spend some time in the gym to have a torso like that. Even more intriguing is the tattoo spanning across his pecs, some kind of symbol in the middle though you’re not quite sure what it is. He has some on the backs of his hands too but you’re too far away to read the words.

He also seems completely disinterested in everyone around him running around in skimpy bathing suits, instead frowning down at some thick-looking book in his hands that could well be a medical textbook. You don’t know anybody who would sit reading a medical textbook at the beach, but since Law is acting like he was dragged here at gunpoint, you wouldn’t put it past him.

You turn a page, shifting in your deckchair. You should be enjoying yourself more than you are, but you feel a little self-conscious. Though you’ve gotten to know Nami’s friends, you’re still not one of them and you don’t want to make a total ass out of yourself by barging in on what they’re doing. Plus, jiggling around trying to smack a ball sounds like a recipe for disaster.

You want to say something to Law, strike up some kind of conversation. But he looks both irritable, hot and also engrossed in whatever it is he’s reading. Wait, no, that’s three things. Still, you know there’s nothing more annoying than someone interrupting you when you’ve gotten to the good part of a book with “What are you reading?!”

So you sit there in the shade, wavering in indecision, watching Zoro spike a volleyball directly into Sanji’s face and the blonde spit a truly impressive stream of vitriolic swearing back. A smirk tugs at your lips. Some things stay constant, which is reassuring.

Luffy has much less compunction with bothering Law than you do, and approaches with a grin.

“Hey, Traffy! We need another player! Come and play!” he demands, like a kid on the playground.

“You don’t need me.” Law counters, not even looking up from his book. “You have enough people.”

“Yeah but Usopp said he thinks he’s got sun stroke or whatever so he’s sitting the next one out.” Luffy pouts. “C’moooon, don’t be so boring!”

Both of you know he won’t drop this until Law agrees, so he heaves himself to his feet with a sigh, like it’s costing him a great amount of energy to do so. Though you’re disappointed he’s walking away, you take a moment to enjoy the sight of his muscular back and narrow, grabbable little waist as he follows after a bouncing Luffy.

Maybe now you can actually concentrate on this novel now you’re no longer being distracted. But no sooner do you settle onto your side and flick the page again, still not particularly taking what’s happening in, when you heard footsteps scuffing the sand and glance up.

“Hey, are you done tanning?” you ask Nami with amusement.

“Not quite, but I’m taking a break. You’re not going to hide in the shade all day, are you?” Nami teases. “C’mon, let’s go check out some of those tide pools.”

You smile. That does sound kind of fun, and you know she likes her gemstones.

“Sure, why not?”

You toss the book back onto the lounger and follow after Nami. You were starting to get a little chilly sitting in the shade anyway. You follow her across the soft white sands, taking in the expanse of sea, the clear blue of the skies, and feel a surge of invigoration rush through you. So what if you can’t bring yourself to talk to Nami’s hot acquaintance? You’re not working and hanging out with a bunch of people at the beach on a beautiful day. It could be worse.

The tide is starting to come back in, slowly but surely, and you make sure to keep an eye on it as you and Nami scramble over the rocks, peering into the little tidepools, though there’s not much in them besides some confused fish or the occasional crab.

“Oh, look! I think I see a starfish!” Nami says.

“Really? Show me!”

Nami’s enthusiasm is infectious and it’s nice to be doing something other than just sitting there. It's only a bit later that you realise you’ve both wandered away from the shore considerably, and now the tide is starting to return – it’s crept past the rocky outcrops and is sloshing around knee-height where you are.

“Hey, come on, let’s head back, the tide’s getting further in!” Nami calls to you from where she is, scrambling nimbly down the rock.

You descend more slowly and follow her, wading through a tangle of seaweed that brushes over your skin.

“I’m coming, hang on a second!” you say. “Nobody can run through water, y’know!”

Your feet keep sinking into the soft, wet sand beneath you as you follow after Nami back towards the shore, where the volleyball game is still going on with ferocity-

Pain.

Pain lances through your body like a shock of electricity. Right at the bottom of your foot, something sharp had pierced the flesh and you let out an involuntary cry, the saltwater stinging where the pain had bloomed, which stings like a bastard. Tears well in your eyes and you freeze, not wanting to aggravate whatever had just happened.

“Why are you just standing there? Hellooo?”

Oh fuck, you hadn’t accidentally stepped on something poisonous sea creature that had been struggling against the waves, had you? Nausea grips you at the thought. It couldn’t be a jellyfish, they don’t usually just sit at the bottom of the sea waiting to be trod on…

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Nami’s voice comes to you, urgency and concern blending together as she waded closer. Her eyes flick down and she flinches. “Oh my god!”

Blood has blossomed from the cut around where your leg disappears into the choppy waters, unable to see your foot thanks to the sediment stirred up by the lapping waves and your own footsteps. Your heel is throbbing, tremours of pain snaking up your body from your leg upwards. Your other leg wobbles as you shift most of your weight to it, you’d lift your foot but you don’t want to spill any more blood into the sea if you can help it.

“Shit,” says Zoro from his spot, eloquently.

By now everyone who was playing the game has stopped too, much to your dismay, but the red circling you isn’t exactly something you can hide.

“Quick, we need to get her a first aid kit!” Sanji says, beginning to shrug off his little short-sleeved hoodie.

But before he can heroically rescue you from the cruel ocean, he’s almost literally pushed aside by another figure, swirled in dark ink and with an equally dark scowl on his face.

All you can do is stare up at him like a deer in headlights as Law stalks towards you, the waves sloshing around his legs. His eyes flick down to the redness swirling about you and you’re grateful he’s able to maintain a poker face, you don’t want to see how bad it is reflected clearly in his expression.

“What happened?” he asks, and in a different situation you might have taken the opportunity to admire the thick, dark tattoos writ large across his muscular chest. His voice is urgent but controlled – you instinctively recognise it as his “doctor voice”.

“I don’t know, I was walking and suddenly there was a sharp pain and then my foot was bleeding.” You say, goosebumps breaking out across your flesh and you have the peculiar urge to cover yourself up, now feeling vulnerable in just a bikini. “It probably looks worse than it is.”

You have no idea if that’s the case, but it’s something you’ve heard people say about injuries before, and it sounds good, business-like and professional. You’ve got this, you’re not freaking out and panicking and causing a scene and-

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Law says, shortly.

Just as you’re about to rue the fact you’ve already managed to annoy him and you’ve barely even spoken to him, suddenly Law is right beside you. Without a word, he bends and wraps one arm around your back and the other hooks behind your knees. With a squeak, he suddenly just casually lifts you up out of the water. With your foot previously buried in the sand, it stings anew as it makes contact with the salt water, and you hiss between your teeth. Blood drips into the ocean, the bottom of your foot coated in it. You see a droplet of it, vivid red as a ruby, fall from the ball of your foot, flashing maliciously for a split second in the dying sunset. Your body shudders, both from suddenly being pulled from the water and the pain.

“You’re alright,” Law says to you in a far more soothing tone than before – you feel it rumbling through his chest. “I’ve got you.”

He's just saying it so you don’t freak out and struggle, you know that, it’s probably a part of medical training to keep patients as calm as possible, but even with that logical explanation in your mind, you can’t stop the pulse of pleasure him saying that to you in his smooth, deep voice.

“Shit, that looks bad.” Sanji says. You notice he looks a little irritated at the sight of Law carrying you out of the sea like some kind of bodice-ripped novel cover – no doubt he’d have liked to do it himself.

“Sanji!” Nami scolds him.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t even hurt much.” You lie – it hurts a lot, but Luffy, Zoro and the others are also staring at you and you’d probably tell them you were fine if your leg was falling off it meant you could stop being the centre of attention, because this is so embarrassing.

Law scoffs, as if he knows you’re lying, and strides down the beach with you, like you weigh nothing at all and he does this sort of thing all the time. If it wasn’t for the bolts of pain lancing up your leg every second, you’d be appreciating how nice being carried by him is – he’s a natural.

“Oi, make yourself useful,” he calls over his shoulder. “Someone go to my car and get the first aid kit. My keys are in my jacket pocket.”

He sets you down on a vacant deckchair, sitting and propping your foot in his lap so it doesn’t get any sand in the cut. You grimace as blood mixed with water drips onto both the lounger and the fabric of his board shorts, but Law doesn’t bat an eyelid. You suppose he must be used to this kind of thing.

Luffy brings him the medical kit, peering curiously at your foot.

“Didja see anything when you got hurt?” he asked, tilting his head.

“No, the water was too murky.” You reply, watching as Law flips open the box and begins rooting around for bandages.

“Huh. I’m gonna go see if I can find anything!”

Luffy runs off, like a dog chasing a frisbee, and you’re relieved everyone else seem to have decided it best to let Law do his thing and resume what they were doing. It was making you uneasy having so many eyes on you, over something as annoying and inconvenient as this.

Law inspects the cut before he begins cleaning the blood off the bottom of your foot. His touch is surprisingly gentle, and you watch him quietly, aware of how warm his hands are on you, his fingers strong against the smaller bones of your feet. He sprays the area of the cut with disinfectant, which stings but you don’t even flinch – cutting it hurt far worse.

“Lie back and stick your foot up.” He instructs. “It’ll lessen the blood flow.”

“Do you think I’ll need stitches?” you ask as you do as he says, unable to keep a tinge of misery out of your tone. You don’t want the last part of what was otherwise a fun day to be ruined by being whisked to the emergency room.

“We’ll see if the bleeding stops,” Law replies, and his voice is so sure and confident that you immediately feel slightly better. “If it doesn’t, then yes. But hopefully it won’t come to that. Let’s get you bandaged.”

“At least it wasn’t a jellyfish.” You say dryly.

He gives a soft huff that might have been a laugh, and you can’t stop the bubble of pleasure that you said something that amused him, it feels like a victory. Law reaches into his first aid kit and plucks out a roll of bandages, before he gently takes your foot. His hands feel warm, and you can’t help but notice how nice they are. Strong fingers, tattoos on the backs of them. You can’t properly make out what they are with the light in your face, but they look pleasing whatever it is.

He starts bandaging up your foot and you can’t help but hiss a bit at the pressure on your feet, the bandages quickly staining red, throwing your mind to blood on snow. You realise belatedly that you were holding your breath.

“Just hold still a bit longer, there’s a good girl.” Law says, not looking at you but his eyes on his hands as he makes sure the bandages are secured.

Once again, your body seems to have other priorities, and a spike of arousal hits you like a punch to the gut. You’re very much glad that any twitch or odd reaction to that can easily be attributed to being in pain or simply responding to having someone you don’t know well touching your feet. Still, the words roll around inside your head, good girl, good girl.

“Sorry, this is probably the last thing you wanted to be doing at the beach.” You say.

“I’m not exactly a beach kind of guy, so this is hardly some great loss.” Law grunts as he works. “Anyway, I’m glad I was here, it’s always better to have someone around who has proper medical knowledge.”

“Still, that must be kind of inconvenient.” You muse. “Always having to be on alert in case someone gets hurt and needs help, even if you’re supposed to be on your own time. It’s not like if somebody steals a handbag, suddenly an off-duty lawyer is called to prosecute. Or if someone faints from hunger, if you’re a chef standing nearby, you’re not meant to just whip out a grill and serve him lobster or something.”

Law looks at you like you’re a complete idiot and you instantly shut up, blushing. God, you must either sound stupid or completely ungrateful at his help. You’d like to go bury yourself in the sand somewhere, but good luck doing that on your fucked up foot.

Once he’s done bandaging you, he gives your foot a little squeeze.

“How does it feel now?” he asks and you really wish he’d stop talking to you like that, in that smooth, deep voice. “Any numbness? Tingling?”

Oh I’m tingling alright, but not on my foot.

“No, nothing like that.” You reply, wiggling your toes. “It aches a bit but it’s not so bad now.”

“Good. Hopefully it should stop bleeding within a few hours or so.” He says. “But for now you’ll just have to stay off it as much as possible.”

“Why, you going to carry me to the car when it’s time to pack up and leave?” you ask in a teasing voice.

He glances over at you and raises his eyebrows.

“If necessary, yes.”

Why does he keeps saying things that throw you off balance? Is he doing it on purpose? You bit your lip, then glance over at your stuff.

“Well, thanks for keeping me a little company. I was getting bored with the book I was reading anyway.” You say.

“Oh yeah? What is it?”

“It’s the third in this series I’m reading, it’s a fantasy series about a boy who enters other worlds through a drawing, but I’m finding this one kind of boring.”

“Wait, you know that series?” Law sounds surprised. “I picked up the first book a while back, but I haven’t found the time to finish it yet.”

“Oh, I loved the first one! The way they set up the whole quest was so much fun.” You say, unable to stop yourself from gushing about it. “Have you read the author’s other series about the princess?”

“No, but I’ve heard it’s good.”

“So good!”

Before you know it you and Law are busy geeking out over various novels and comics you’ve read, with Law even recommending you some of the latter and you recommending him the former. You’re so into talking about it that you stop worrying about getting blood on everything or if you look okay in your bikini or if you’re annoying him by talking too much. It all sort of just fades away as you lament how you have to wait until next year for the new series of an anime you like to come out.

“Hey you two, we’d better get out of here, the tide’s getting closer.” Nami approaches, holding both her bag on one shoulder and yours as well, and tosses you your hoodie. “Last thing I want is to end up stranded.”

“Right, yeah.” You say, pulling it on and zipping it up, now the sun is slinking off over the horizon, a chilly breeze is creeping in. “Be right there!”

Nami nods, then turns and yells for Luffy and Zoro to dig Usopp out of the sand before the water reaches him first, and a smirk tugs at your lips.

“You rode here with Nami, yeah?” Law asks you, rolling his eyes at the racket going on behind you.

“Yeah, she picked me up on her way.” You ask. “Why- ah!”

Law stands and gives you a wry look.

“Don’t wriggle, I’ve already carried you before, it’s not a big deal.”

“Just warn me next time.” You reply, but you’re glad you don’t have to hop up the steps to get to Nami’s car and risk your bandages getting all soggy and sand-encrusted.

Law smirks at you and your stomach twists as he carries you up to Nami’s car, depositing you in the back as if you’re made of something fragile. You fight back the urge to grab his arm or something.

“Thanks,” you say, which is only a fraction of what you actually want to say, but now you’re not alone with him in your little nerd bubble, your previous enthusiasm has vanished.

He just nods at you before he shuts the door, which feels like full stop to your unfinished sentence. You try to keep your expression casual as you buckle yourself in, and Nami slides into the driver’s seat with a groan.

“Man. The beach is fun, but I’m beat.” She says. “Want to stop for drive through somewhere?”

“Sounds good,” you nod, as the car sets off. Nami side-eyes you as you switch on some music and sit back without saying anything.

“Okay, what? Why that kicked puppy face?”

“Nothing, I just realised I left my flipflops on the beach.” You reply with an embarrassed smile. “Oh well, they didn’t exactly cost much.”

“Uh-uh, try again.” She demands and you huff. She knows you too well. “Does this, by any chance, have something to do with a certain doctor?”

“Just…I feel like I annoyed him.” You reply, fiddling with the zipper of your hoodie, dragging it up inch by inch and listening to the satisfying rasp of teeth. “You know, ruining his day off and talking too much.”

Nami snorts, but her expression is not unkind.

“Trust me, if you were annoying Traffy, he’d let you know.” She says, shooting you a playful, teasing smile. “And he definitely didn’t seem to mind whatever it is you were talking about.”

You lean back in your seat with a little smile. Maybe you’ll hear from him again – both your numbers are in the group chat Nami set up for today’s trip. Perhaps he’ll be curious to know how his ‘patient’ is getting on, or he’ll update you on if he decided to take you up on the book you told him to read. Maybe.

A pop song both of you love comes on shuffle, and Nami grins and begins joining in, the wind whipping through your hair as her car shoots down the road. With a small smile on your face, a strange feeling of possibility rising in your chest as you think of Law and wonder what he’s listening to, if his mind is wandering to you like yours is to him, you find yourself singing along.

[fictionalcreator]

This whole thing has given me such a specific vision of a scene please bear with me

(haven't started part 2 yet so setting this in a vague time before Cale and the family pull off their daring stunt to trick the White Star into coming to the Lands of Death. They key part is that Cale has acquired information on another ancient power that may come in handy, but more importantly, they need to keep it out of the enemy's hands—if another arc works for that, we can easily use that as well)

(Also lovecherish you are so right Survival would see Ron as an inherent threat. It can tell. This is a man who's honed his whole body into a weapon, a knife in the dark. The blood of his past will never be fully washed from his hands. Blood that is mostly from his fellow man, unlike Choi Han and the rest. But, unlike the young master, who trusts and treasures him as a person both in spite of and because of this, Survival only sees a killer. A danger.)

Parts in [brackets] are just sections I would've expanded on more if I wasn't writing this as a first draft in a post, perhaps with some dialogue or something written more in the voice of a character

Edit: that was the initial intent of the brackets and it's still kind of there but it also evolved into something of an artistic choice over the course of writing this excerpt so...do with that information what you will

Fuck.

Cale cursed to himself as the rock and silt settled above him with a low rumble.

He'd come down alone to challenge the trial of another ancient power, one that had been recorded in Choi Jung Gun's records as a potential earth-attribute. It didn't seem to be very strong (White Star would definitely target the Blood-Stained Rock first), but so long as there was a chance that it was an earth-attribute that the White Star knew about, Cale couldn't just leave it be. Cale was never one for leaving hanging threads, after all, especially when those threads had the potential to become their noose.

If the damn White Star managed to complete his collection and balance his plate, everything would become that much harder.

So, Cale and his companions had tracked down the location, compiled some information, and agreed that Cale would go alone, having the most experience with ancient powers, while the others would wait at a nearby town for up to 6 days. Even if it really was an earth-attribute and Cale couldn't acquire it (lest he destabilize his own plate), he assured them he had a way of depriving the White Star of it.

Of course, the others wouldn't be completely idle in that time. The Mercenaries' Guild and the Molans were still fighting it out with Arm for control of the Eastern Continent's underworld. Choi Han, Eruhaben, and the children would be providing some backup without straying too far.

That was plan. That had been the plan. They had been so confident that no one had entered before them.

Motherfucking bastards.

Cale had entered the cave system and made it to the temple at the end without any particular troubles. The ancient power spoke to him, as per usual, and like the others, the power had a bit of a strange personality and forced Cale to complete some test. It was a bitch of a test, requiring him to use his other powers to a greater extent than he'd expected for a power Choi Jung Gun had described as "trivial," but still, not as bad as the Sky Devouring Water's trial.

That is, until someone interfered.

The temple collapsed in on itself, and the power flared in anger.

—Another has influenced the test. The contract is broken. I shall not be moved from here.

Fuck.

Cale felt the power retreating as the ceiling crumbled. It burrowed deep into the earth, far from his senses, escaping as Cale was forced to throw up his Indestructible Shield to protect himself. He tsked, feeling low burning anger at the now obvious fact that someone had gotten one up on them.

The power had clearly said that this was due to "another," not any natural phenomenon. Someone set this collapse off. Cale could only hope that it was larger than they were expecting and that the bastards got themselves caught in it as well.

[He had no recourse for this, and feels like such a fool for it. His plate is already taxed from the trial, he can't summon the strength to break out on his own. The most he can do is shield himself. Even if they're nearby, his companions should all be busy with their own tasks, and his ancient powers are still suppressed, unable to speak. He'll just have to wait. To endure. And trust that they'll find him.]

[Lucky for him, he has experience in sitting very still and doing nothing for hours on end. He carefully controls his breathing, bringing in the bare minimum amount of oxygen. He doesn't think that the collapsed building is airtight, but it's not anywhere near well-ventilated. He shrinks his shield until it's a more economical size, sits, and stops thinking.]

[Or at least, he tries. He tries to stop thinking. It used to be so easy. It should still be easy. But it's hard. For some reason it's gotten difficult not to think about anything. Not to think about their faces and voices, how worried they'll be, how much they'll scold him for getting hurt again (even though he's perfectly fine), and how angry they'll be at the people who did this. He can almost hear a little dragon going, 'I'll destroy them all!' and he can't quite help the smile it brings to his face, in spite of the viciousness of the words.]

Yes, he trusts them. It doesn't even cross his mind that they won't find him. They'd flip over the whole mountain if they had to.

And so he'll sit, and he'll wait, for as long as he has to until—

His hand trembles. A wave of exhaustion washes through him, far too slow and comforting for the situation. His vision blurs. He's lightheaded from the lack of air. The silver thread tying him to the shield wavers, and with a harrowing sound, the rock inches nearer.

Cale freezes. He has to forcibly remind himself to breathe. There's something there, in the depths of his chest. Something he hasn't felt in years. A sort of animal instinct. A deep, instinctual fear.

The fear of death.

Funny, he'd thought he'd gotten over that a long time ago. He had gotten over it. How else could he casually curse at the God of Death and feel nothing from that god's Divine Item?

So why were his hands so cold now?

Never mind. He doesn't need to waste precious energy on questioning that.

He tries not to think. [who knows how long he spends like this] Tries to summon his usual detachment that allows him to look at things objectively. He doesn't need to be afraid right now. That's a useless emotion which will do nothing for the situation.

He assures himself that he carefully cut away and boxed up and thrown out his fear a long, long time ago. He doesn't need it. He doesn't want it. It's not going to come back right now.

But then the rock slips by another inch and he flinches.

His hands are shaking and it spreads up his arms and he scolds himself for wasting energy on such a useless thing.

It'll be okay. They'll find him. He doesn't need to think right now. Doesn't need to feel. They'll find him. They'll find him. But will they find him in time—?

Cale feels a wave of nausea overtake him.

Stop. He doesn't need to think right now—will they find him in time? He doesn't need to th—in time. Stop it. He can't be doing something like this—in time. Will they be in time? Stop it stop it in time STOP—

———

—i don't want to die—

———

In the meantime, the lackeys who infiltrated the temple from another route and initiated the collapse are having a rough time.

[Indeed, they hadn't expected the results of their sabotage to be so effective. To the point that it collapsed not just the lower floors, but both of the passages out, as well, leaving just the central chamber intact. Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence. Perhaps this was their punishment for interfering with the test.]

[Judging by the sounds, the tunnels should have only collapsed halfway, leaving the entrances intact, but they were still unequipped for the mining it would take to get themselves out. They cursed their luck and fiddled with their spells and video communication equipment, trying to get in touch with their allies outside.]

[As they were doing that, they didn't notice one of the flagstones in the corner shift and get pushed aside. By the time they noticed, there was already a slender man who looked to be more dirt than human pulling himself up through the crack.]

[How Survival managed to eke out a path like that, who can say. It simply finds a way. That can be said to be its specialty.]

[The lackeys froze. They looked at Cale. Survival looked back at them. Overcoming their initial shock, they shouted, "Kill him! Quick!" and rushed forward, blades pointed at the stick of a man.]

Cold, dead eyes analyze their every movement. Taking in every step, every tense of fingers on the knives' grips, every breath. It took them all in and calculated, perfectly, the right time to step to the side, reach, strike a joint, and effortlessly disarm the first one to reach it.

[Weapon in hand, it again moves with surgical precision to deliver a fatal blow. Then another. Then another.]

[Before a full 10 minutes had passed, it is the only living thing left in the chamber. The blood of the dead lies splattered on the floor, staining its hands and flecking its clothes.]

[Survival looks around. This is a decently secure place, but lacking in resources. It takes the food and water from the fallen and calculates that it can survive for at least an additional 12 days. This is not good enough. It must find a way to leave.]

[It attempts to break through the rock blocking the entrance. However, this rock is in much larger pieces, and is overall much sturdier than what it managed to break through below. Its attempts end up damaging its hands.] Undesirable outcome.

[It can feel its energy dipping low.]

Rest is required.

[Survival backs away from the entryway, finds a small alcove, and curls up inside. It will rest for the minimum required time before attempting to find another path to escape.]

———

[In the meantime, the others have not heard anything about the small quake. It was so deep in the earth that even those skilled experts didn't feel anything. It is only when time is up and they attempt to go down into the temple that they realize that something is wrong.]

[The path is blocked. They move quickly to avoid having panic set in.]

[Raon, Choi Han, Rosalyn, and Eruhaben move together. Eruhaben is a last-minute addition to the party, who was not scheduled to be in the area, but with his dust attribute disintegrating the rocks before them, they have a much easier time of it.]

When he finally break down the last stone in their way, Eruhaben clears away the lingering white-gold dust and looks up, across the large stone chamber. His eyes immediately find the all-too frail form of their most treasured person, curled into an alcove in the opposite wall.

Eruhaben sighs dramatically. "You unlucky bastard—?"

Before he can finish the thought, he stops short.

"Cale-nim!"

"Human!"

Choi Han and Raon rush forward, pushing past Eruhaben. Or, at least, they try to.

"Wait." Eruhaben's voice is uncharacteristically cold and low.

It freezes the two in place, and they both realized something that was so unbelievable that they hadn't even noticed at first.

Cale is pointing a knife at them.

Cale was sitting in an alcove, knees pulled up to his chest, as if he'd been sleeping. He was staring at them with a level, even gaze, but his eyes were cold and cutting, even more so than usual. There's none of the typical clever glint. No subtle, hidden warmth. No spark of life. No recognition.

Just a cold, hard stare. Analyzing them. Calculating the potential threat.

It reminds Choi Han of some of the animals he faced in the Forest of Darkness, the ones that had enough intelligence to size him up before deciding whether or not to fight him. He doesn't like that comparison.

Quickly, they take in the rest of scene. The bodies on the floor, presumably humans, surrounded by pools of drying blood. The large magic circle around what should have been the path further down into the temple, now also collapsed. The blood stains on the knife in Cale's hand.

"Eruhaben-nim," Rosalyn joins them in the cavern, staring at the scene with carefully contained horror, "the ancient power...can you still feel it?"

Eruhaben takes a shaky breath. "Yes. It's faint, but it's still free."

Rosalyn bites her lip. "He failed the test."

"Because someone interfered." Eruhaben's voice darkens with anger. If these people had not already been dead, he would have destroyed them himself.

Choi Han is gripping his scabbard so tightly that his hand is shaking, and Raon is looking back and forth between them and the bodies and Cale. "But...what does that mean? What does that have to do with why the human is—why he's—!"

Cale has apparently finished his evaluation and deemed them not an immediate threat, and thus, slowly lowers the knife.

"Human!" Raon doesn't miss the opportunity to dart to his side, pelting him with questions like, "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Who did this to you! I will destroy them all!" with Choi Han following with swift steps.

However, neither of them get a response. Cale—or whatever this animal in Cale's body is—hardly even looks at them. It keeps its eyes trained on Eruhaben. Perhaps it can sense that the ancient dragon is the strongest thing in the room?

"Could it be...a kind of backlash?" Rosalyn hypothesizes, keeping herself calm by analyzing the available information.

Everything seems to be leading to the conclusion that these outsiders interfered with the test, causing something to happen that was making the young master Cale act like a cornered animal.

Eruhaben draws a deep breath. "Right now, there's no way to know for sure. All there is to say is that our young master isn't in his right mind at the moment."

Eruhaben glanced over the bodies on the floor.

Indeed, while Cale was capable of defending himself when push came to shove, he always preferred the path of the fewest fatalities. Not to mention, if he'd actually had all his wits about him, he would have certainly left one of the attackers alive so they could interrogate them for information.

With the attackers not wearing the Arm uniform, they could only guess at if they were hired separately by the White Star, or if they were truly unaffiliated and targeted this place for other reasons.

Unlucky bastard.

Eruhaben sighed again. "At any rate, let's not linger here. We'll show the uniform to the Molans and have them track down any information they can."

Rosalyn nodded and finished his thought, "And in the meantime, let's get the young master-nim to a safe place?"

Eruhaben managed a slight smile. "Yes, let's."

"Did you hear that? Come on, let's go, human!"

[Raon tugs at his sleeve but Cale, or the power called Survival, doesn't budge. It doesn't trust these overwhelmingly powerful people who appeared out of nowhere. They aren't hostile at the moment, but their potential threat is unimaginable.]

[It doesn't let Choi Han touch it. It shrinks away whenever the loyal knight's hand draws near, and that's enough to stop him.]

[The stalemate continues, more and more anger filling Eruhaben at the thought of what his dear child had to endure down here, until Raon pulls out an apple pie.]

[Survival looks at it. When Raon offers it, Survival accepts it readily.]

High-calorie food source. Should be consumed sparingly.

[It eats two bites before grabbing a relatively clean strip of cloth from its "nest" and wrapping the rest.]

[The others watch, dumbfounded. Raon tries to offer more apple pies, assuring the human that he doesn't need to worry about saving them, but the words don't register. Survival accepts the pies, then proceeds to similarly wrap them in cloth and stash them behind itself in the alcove. When it shifts to the side, the others can glimpse at what else it has back there; food and water, likely taken from the attackers' bodies.]

[This was all...oddly sophisticated for a mere animal instinct. There was more happening here. Perhaps the backlash of the test damaged his memory in some way?]

[At any rate, after several rounds of manifesting apple pies and cajoling and trying very hard to remove anything from their bodies that could be considered a threat, they finally get Survival to, very reluctantly, trail behind Raon.]

[Ron, Lock, and the kittens are waiting for them outside. Survival does not like this. The minute it sees the wide open skies with the bright afternoon sun and the 4 new people, each with an aura that's terrifying in it's own way, Survival wants to go back in the cave. The cave is secure. It's dark and quiet and now there's even a way out if it needs to get more food or water.]

[They don't want it to go back but it tries anyway. It doesn't point the knife at them because they're still not showing open hostility, but when Choi Han catches it by the arm, it struggles. Survival is shockingly strong, wringing far more strength from Cale's lanky frame than any of them would be able to guess, but it's still no match for a sword master.]

[That said, it struggles hard enough to leave bruises on the arm where it strained against Choi Han's hand. Choi Han despises this. Deeply.]

[To their collective dismay, when it becomes clear to Survival that it cannot overpower Choi Han and make its escape, it instead flips and becomes incredibly docile, letting itself get dragged along without a sound. They know, off of some baseless instinct, that short of killing it, it would quietly accept anything they did to it right now. It makes them sick.]

[Doing exactly as you're told, making as little noise and taking up as little space as possible so as to not upset the person who holds your life in their hands...that too is a kind of Survival.]

When Cale was Kim Rok Soo, back at the company, he never scared anyone. Sure, they worried for him, they feared his Records or they felt a subconscious chill when making eye contact but-

Rarely has he ever scared them.

Except the week he disappeared.

He got trapped underneath rubble, like his first meeting with Lee Soo Hyuk, but no one was there to save him this time. Three days, he was trapped; an uncanny parallel, maybe even more than a coincidence. But on the third day… something changed. He gained a new ability, something that snapped inside of him like a key that forgoes unlocking the mechanism entirely and breaks the lock itself.

He lifted a building off of its foundations.

The metal holding together the crevice he was huddled in snapped and groaned, while the rocks and concrete scratched and shattered like glass. He forced his way out and walked.

He walked away from the company.

If he had been within his mind, he would’ve gotten help, accepted food and water and healed his injuries.

He wasn’t. Within his mind, that is. He was strong, his senses had heightened to find food and all of his necessaries, but he couldn’t remember anything from his life as Kim Rok Soo.

Kim Rok Soo at this moment had fallen asleep, and Survival woke up. For 4 days, Survival walked, ate, drank, and breathed the life of Kim Rok Soo.

If you could call it living.

Eventually he was found, wandering and dirty, and seeing his team members let Rok Soo wake up, and Survival fell asleep.

Cale Henituse hasn’t had to do that. No, not yet, but time catches up eventually and Cale found himself in a perilous situation again.

Trapped inside of a collapsing building with no way to contact his friends who are expecting him to be back in 6 days. They were in a different world, so Cale only had a portion of his abilities, but it should've been enough. It hadn't.

4 days inside of the building, which shuddered and broke multiple times around him, finally, Survival opened its eyes.

It had taken longer because of Vitality of the Heart, but with all of his abilities weakened extensively, he had no options for escape.

Survival looks around dumbly. Within its own consciousness, it’s doing calculations. The structural integrity. The state of his body. The nearest food source.

Lifting the building off of its body is easy, but it takes several hours to progress its way out of the collapsing caverns. Survival breathes heavily, but doesn’t hesitate as it finally breaks through the side. The building tips over and crashes on the opposite side of where it is. Survival blinks from the impact, but only because of the dust.

It wanders for 3 days.

Finally, it gets found. By bandits.

It massacres them and steals their resources.

Soon after that, news breaks out about the supposed single-handed wipe out, and Raon finds him. Raon tries to speak to it, but after it deduced that Raon wasn’t a threat nor food, it walked away.

As a smart and clever dragon, Raon observed Cale before being so abruptly insulted. Multiple attempts to bring Cale back into those eyes, all failed attempts, Raon teleports the unwilling stranger back to the empire.

It doesn’t speak, it doesn’t respond to touch beyond a stern glance, and it only does the bare minimum to survive. It tried to store food under its bed after eating “enough”, and no amount of begging convinced it to not store the rations. It hasn’t bothered to use its powers either- like it doesn’t know it has them.

All attempts to speak are futile.

Choi Han even tried Korean, but it didn’t show any sign of understanding.

Rosalyn does research with Raon and Choi Han on what could have caused it.

Then they hear about the collapsed building. They hear about the bandits who had supposedly died a few days afterwards. Raon figures out that- yes- the stuff Cale had with him at the time used to belong to bandits.

A week after becoming Survival, days after being found, Cale opens his eyes on a bed.

“… They found me?” He muttered it so quietly, whisper soft, but Raon- apparently sleeping by his legs, jumps up with wide eyes.

“Human!”

Cale wants to sigh. How long was he asleep this time? By Raon’s expression, it must have beaten his previous records.

“Is it you? Is it really you? Say something! Say my name!”

Cale blinks in confusion. Two minutes ago he was dozing off inside of a dark hole that was close to collapsing, now— Raon wants to hear his name?

“… Raon Miru? Are you okay?” Cale sat up, ignoring his stiff body and pulling Raon into his lap. He seems to have lost a little weight?

“Human you must absolutely tell me everything you remember!”

While saying this, Raon was ordering everyone to stay out of Cale’s room with the exception of Choi Han and Rosalyn, as well as informing Beacrox to bring up food and to prepare tea.

Cale observes Raon, who is earnestly distressed for some reason, and concedes.

“The last thing I remember was falling asleep in a collapsing building.” Rosalyn gasps. She just entered the room with Choi Han, who is staring at Cale with a cold gaze.

“Why were you in there?” A chill runs down Cales spine at Choi Han���s voice.

“The conmen didn’t expect the building to collapse, they had likely planned something else. It just happened out of nowhere.” He doesn't say that he got lucky. He was next to one of the buildings main supports at the time, and the crumbling structure formed a bubble around him by chance.

Rosalyn goes pale.

Raon shouts, “I will destroy those bastards that made you go in there!”

“They’re already dead.” Cale shakes his head. Rosalyn covers her mouth. He hadn't said he got lucky, but it's obvious that he did. Did they almost lose Cale, and hadn't even known?

‘Three times…’ He’s been lucky with collapsing buildings three times now.

“Cale-nim…” Choi Han places a hand on his shoulder and Cale freezes in fear. “After the building collapsed, a bandit camp was destroyed, single handedly, a few days after. Raon found you wandering- with their stuff on you.”

Immediately, Cale figured it out. It must be an ability. He recalls the similar event that happened in the past and the dots are easy to connect.

But- he can’t say anything about that with Rosalyn in the room.

So all he says, is…

“I guess some part of me really wanted to live.”

[mostowa]

7x07 Corner of Random Thoughts

This is my favorite ep of the whole season so far. We finally got emotional episode, which, I think some people forgot (writers especially), Rookie is good at. I love the weight to the storylines they bring and I missed that in the beginning of S7. This is why Corner of Random Thoughts will be long and sectioned (not so random) for some clarity.

TIM IN THERAPY/FLASHBACKS

When we got sneak peek with Lucy's flashbacks @theflyindutchwoman wondered if we get Tim's perspective, cause in 5x01 we didn't. And I'm so really glad we did. It feels so much more mutual than 5x01, it feels so much more vulnerable. And I'm here for it.

I don't necessarily agree with the fact that thing's been "solid" between them recently. But this supports my idea (which I don't really like) that "small doses" was at least some part of The Talk we've been waiting for and that with it they checked boxes of kindness and appreciation without showing them to us afterwards. This is also what I think is happening with an ensemble cast shows and writing whole arcs weirdly, when you have to divide screentime.

I love how you can see Tim's gears changin when the terapist calls him on I language. I love how therapist says "IF it was a mistake" and then makes a small head shake after. Those small things give me much more hope than I'm willing to admit.

I really think Tim might've been… hopeful (???) morning after, but Lucy's bolting scared him so much he is now convinced he made a mistake. He is doubting his judgment because of how she reacts. I think this dynamics is really perfectly depicted in @cfr749's "Beneath Your Beautiful" and they are both in this dance now.

Lucy's Flashbacks are a direct parallel to 5x01 but they also show how she is determined to compartmentalise this. There is no emotional comentary here other than her denying this. We're back to "ex-sex" thinking. AT THE SAFE HOUSE

Tim/Nolan might be my favorite new dynamics in this series. Like, seriously, they are both clueless about emotions and letting go of control but in a completely different ways. Tim closes up and toughens up and Nolan treats everyone as they are little kids. Seeing this mushed together is joy.

"Hard to sleep when she's not there" and shot to Tim is pure emotional gold mine. Makes me want to write a fanfic about those sleepless nights…

I love how reluctant Tim is towards being "emotionally unavailable" like it's still some crap he'll distance himself from. :D It's giving me a heavy reformed!Tim vibes and I'm here for that.

I also love how the talk starts with Nolan asking Tim about Isabel and ends with Tim reflecting on Lucy. This means that he thinks about her all the time and that she is more important to him than Isabel. I mean, this is obvious, but it's also nice to note that in a full-circle moment like that.

Eric kills the talk. The pain is there. The vulnerability is there. The "small doses" are there. It's the same pain that was in 6x10 and I'm here for him and Lucy to cure this pain BY GETTING BACK TOGETHER ALREADY. Lol.

IT'S ALSO THE FIRST TIME THAT WE SEE PROGRESS TIM'S MADE. He reflects on how he gave up, how he didn't fight. He's obviously not there yet with reasoning behind it. But he'll get there.

In the meantime Lucy's still in denial and we haven't gotten any one scene this episode on her doing any reflection about her situation with Tim at all. xd

The simple fact that Lucy called for Tim with Seth situation is huge for me. I mean, we all know that they trust each other professionally 100%. I just think in any universe it would be normal for them to have any kind of doubt whether they should bother another one in such situation. The way they showed there wasn't any doubt at all is huge for me. It's like I love it. Even though it's nonevent.

I think it's also the fact of how close they remain despite everything they have been through in their relationship. It's absolutely amazing and I feel this strongly this season (for some reason). Maybe it's written that way to divide their personal and professional spheres, but maybe it's just my perception of this. OTHER STUFF

James and Nyla are the most adult relationship in The Rookie. Change my mind after watching this scene in interrogation room, because James is the wise man proposing for them to face the truth and to deal with consequences regardless of the outcome.

I love Celina this season so much. I'm waiting for more storylines and more depth in her.

I love how much depth Bailey got this episode. It's amazing how well they shifted perspective from badass-almighty Bailey to badass-broken-protective Bailey. I love it so much more.

Like, Miles has a really big, texan heart. And I missed this kind of heart in The Rookie. PROMO I am pretty confident that we are getting Tim and Lucy in trouble because of Seth. There is no other reason they would veil this with "putting a two of their own at risk" in the synopsis.

[multifandomkisses]

Sleepy Drawings

Warnings/Notes: Omegaverse au, Alpha!Hope, Omega!Reader, Fluff, purring and rumbling mentioned.

A/n: Saw a reel about this and i just HAD to write about it

You had gotten the idea from Instagram, a reel about some girl drawing on her boyfriend’s back. A cute idea you thought to yourselves as your eyes drifted to the other side of the room where hope was dozing on her bed. Perfect.

With a hum you slid of the end of your own bed and made your way over to hers, you attempted to be quiet, but her hearing was so perfect her eyes already began to open as she sat up her gaze questioning.

“What are you doing?” She mumbles, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she pulls her mouth into a cute pout before she reaches for you. A whine escaping her when you evade her grip easily and instead move back out of her reach.

You couldn’t help it; she looked so cute right now. The sun hitting her bare frame perfectly, her hair cascading down her shoulders. The personification of beauty.

“Let me try something?” You whisper tucking a pierce of hair behind her ear and softly pressing your lips to her own. “Please, my love?” You mumble against them, and she nods through her confusion trusting you completely.

You grin then instructing her to lay on her front, moving to grab a brown marker that matched her crescent moon mark perfectly.

“Lay on your front.” You order and she does so though you sense her hesitation, clearly trying to find out why you wanted her to do this. She simply huffs as she waits to find out, her face laying gently on the pillow as you tug the covers low enough to have access to her back.

A soft kiss to it is all that’s needed to calm her, her whole body relaxing as you softly caress her bare back placing a few kisses here and there. Her body shaking slightly at the low rumble she lets out with contentment.

“I’m gonna draw on you baby, that okay?” You ask softly kissing between her shoulder blades between your words and she nods letting out a small chuckle.

“That’s what you want to try?” She muses, and you roll your eyes at the smug cockiness in her voice. “What are you going to write Babygirl? Your name? Want people to know I’m yours that bad huh?”

Her teasing only makes you roll your eyes and nip at her shoulder, “No. If I wanted to show everyone, you’re mine I would just mark you” you give her shoulder another harsh nip to prove your point. “O-okay” She breathes. And you smirk always so pleased with how well you can affect her.

You decide to be merciful, uncapping the pen and beginning to doodle patterns across her back, humming to yourself as your focus the swirls and shapes around her birth mark. One of your hands on her hip rubbing soft soothing circles into it to keep her still and calm while you draw.

“Nearly done my love, then you can see it” you whisper placing a kiss to the back of her neck and she lets out a sleepy and content hum. Barely opening her eyes as she mumbles for you to keep going, clearly enjoying the feeling of the marker on her skin.

With a few more added details you pull the pen away and cap it, admiring your work as it dries. You smile softly down at hope, her body so limp and relaxed under you. Her eyes shut as she fades in and out of sleep once more. You internally coo and hug softly climb in with her, hugging her back and placing a few kisses to it before pulling up the covers and falling asleep against her. Your soft purr mixing in with her rumbles, the room filled with your sounds of bliss.

It was a few hours later when hope woke up, gently turning over to see you still deep in sleep she smiles at you softly. Placing a sweet kiss to your forehead before slipping out of bed, her curiosity peaked at what you had drawn earlier.

She walks to the mirror and turns her head to see, her heart melting when she sees the delicate patterns adorning her back and shoulders flowing to her lower back. The delicate lines and the way it matched so perfectly with her birthmark making her feel so loved by you.

She tiptoes back over to you, slipping back under her sheets. Her face softens even more as your body moves to curl against her, still fast asleep as you nestle yourself in her strong safe arms.

[rottenherbs]

Just a Squib (pt.9) // F.W x squib! Reader

Summary: With this newfound trust for Fred, you both made your way back to your appt to pack. Could he answer some questions in the mean time?

Word count: 1.7k

Authors note: I tried my best to write this realistically as someone who had no idea of the wizarding world and how one would react to new information. Kind of a hard one! But you can sense y/n is slowly trusting Fred and letting her walls down hehe.

[masterlist]

Much love, Saige 

———

Fred left you at the counter and stepped just out of ear shot to make the phone call. Watching the back of his head shake with inaudible whispers brought you anxiety. This wasn’t the right answer. Your insistence to get answers suddenly weighed on you. Had you spoken out of fear? Fear of never knowing the answer, fear of not knowing who you were, fear of knowing who you were?

 You tried your best to not watch him, his eyes met with yours every few sentences, a soft smile as  he did his best to keep a brave face. He would constantly look to make sure you were still there. His body language was tense, the conversation visibly not going well, but his face showed an innocence that you believed. 

With a deep sigh, you turned to face the counter, fidgeting with your water cup aimlessly. The cool water grounded your senses and calmed your racing thoughts. 

Your inner doubts crept up with every passing second.

An hour ago you despised him, wanted him thrown in jail, shown and embarrassed by the masses for stalking you…but now you felt confused and childish. Asking for his help. Who have you become? 

Maybe he put a spell on you. Maybe it’s some wicked magic. Or maybe he slipped something in your drin-

Your thoughts were interrupted by Freds presence. His arrival back to the counter started you, jumping slightly at the sound of his voice.

“They said they’ll arrange something tonight for you.” Fred announced, taking his seat next to yours, he hadn’t noticed how timid you had gotten since he left. 

“Who’s “they”?” You probed, interested in any and every detail that could be told. 

“My family - well… mainly my mum I suppose. But your brother will be there.” Fred’s voice trailed off. “She’s lovely. My mum- I mean.” Fred coughed lightly, a sense of awkwardness rushing over his face.

 “I’m sorry. I suppose this all is very confusing for you. I just .. never thought i'd have to reintroduce you to my family.” His eyes met yours, happy at the idea of you relearning everything about your life, but deeply worried you wouldn’t fall back in love with him again. 

Sitting in silence for a moment, Your eyes scanned around the coffee shop, unsure what was to come next. 

“Ahem.. well we can take the floo network, if you're comfortable, otherwise I know the train system pretty well.” Fred tapped his finger against his chin, wondering how well your stomach would handle the floo network after all this time. 

“Maybe we should stick with the trains.” You interjected, already feeling a sense of unease at using magical transportation. You couldn’t remember what Floo was or how it worked, but you already were exhausted and a good long train ride might be soothing. 

“Right, that's probably for the best..” He smiled, nodding his head sheepishly. “You can ask me any questions you have on the way.” 

———

Fred walked you back to your apartment, little conversation happening as you walked. Luckily for you both it was a short jaunt, but nonetheless it was uncomfortable. The cold winds had you both tucked tightly in your jackets, walking quickly to keep up with his long strides. It was unsettling how casually he escorted you to your own apartment. He had no need for your directions, and you had no energy to give them.

Once you both got to the front of the building, Fred stood to the side and allowed you to unlock the door 

“What? Don't you want to use some spell to unlock it.” You taunted, a subtle attempt to clear the air between you two. Freds eyes lit up at the opportunity, not catching the faint sarcasm on your tongue. 

“I can if you wan-“ He started, stuffing his hand in his pocket to retrieve his wand. 

“No! No. Just-“ You held your hand out, laughing lightly at his eagerness. “Keep it in your pants. You're on thin ice you know.” You pointed a stern finger up at him before turning and unlocking the door manually. 

“Hey - you asked.” He chuffed, walking in behind you, taking his hands out of his gloves and massaging his frozen fingers. 

“Hmph.” You replied, suddenly feeling conflicted in the comedic timing of your encounter. Your mind bounced back and forth on your trust of him, yet see how the walls you kept building up were softed and broken over time. 

Tensing your shoulders, you rounded the stairs up to your appt, sensing your walls forming again. Before you both arrived at your room, you turned and faced him.

”Have you ever come to my apartment?” You asked with strong conviction. Freds brows furrowed, as if the question was insane to ask. 

“No dear god no. Never inside.” He shook his head, showing a firm persistence of absolute belief in his words. “That was always a rule. From the start.. but your brother was the one to break that one.” His hand scratched the back of his head sheepishly. You couldn't tell if he was annoyed that your brother broke it, or if he was just too scared to do it himself. 

“The package.” You whispered, suddenly feeling like things were coming together, small puzzle pieces latching together in your mind with each new bit of information. 

Fred watched your eyes dart, suddenly fretting your keys between your fingers, attempting to open the door to your apartment quickly. He knew to let you take it at your own pace, but worried how’d it all settle. 

Scrambling around your apartment, you stepped over your whining cat, searching your desk space for the round object.

”Who is this sweet thing?” Fred lulled, picking up the large orange cat and holding it close to his chest. 

Your mind wandered over your belongings, suddenly worried that you had lost the orb. Realizing that you had been moving too fast, you took a deep breath and took a step back, focusing for a moment on Fred. 

“I um.. never named him.” You shrugged, watching him caress the feline sweetly, swaying him softly as he took small steps left and right. “I suppose he is just Cat.” You added disapprovingly. Saying it out loud made it seem worse, you loved that cat more than life itself. 

“Never named him? That’s downright awful.” He spoke, planting small yet feverish kisses across the cats face and body. He squirmed lightly in his arms, settling after a moment. You were astonished by how comfortable he was in Freds arms, so quickly. If only the cat had warmed up to you that fast. 

“What can I say, commitment hasn’t exactly come easy to me.” You chuckled sarcastically, finally seeing a small sparkle out of the corner of your eye. Snatching the orb and holding it out in front of you, your eyes became more focused, waiting for Fred to notice. 

“Ah yes.” He said softly. His demeanor changed ever so slightly, suddenly back from his daze to reality. For a second he relished in the calm atmosphere he shared with the cat in your space, all while forgetting the tall task that was in front of him. 

“It’s a snitch.” Fred said plainly. 

“A snitch? It can listen to me!” You held it closely to your ear, hoping to hear small ticks or cranks as if it was a small microphone. Your eyes widened in fear. 

“Noooo no no no no.” He laughed, letting the cat drop to the floor. He held his hand out urging you to pass the orb. 

“It’s a wizarding sport.” He threw it in the air a few times, catching it flawlessly. “Your brother was a seeker, a mighty good one at that. He has to find this in a field and catch it.” He caught it once more, holding it softly between his forefinger and thumb, activating a small click and revealing two incredibly thin wings on either side. The snitch hovered in the air between you two before moving around the room. 

You felt your stomach drop at the sight. It moved as if it was living, the beat of the wings flapped at such a velocity it reminded you of a golden hummingbird. It flew around your head as if it was tied to you, barely slow enough to keep your eyes on it. 

“Its…” you started, holding your hand out to catch it, missing several times. 

“Frustrating?” Fred laughed, watching you intensely. 

“Fantastic.” You whispered, mesmerized entirely. You suddenly felt like everything Fred had spoken of was real, not fiction. This small beautiful piece of magic was in front of you, and a gift from your supposed brother nonetheless. 

“Here. Just hold it steady.” Fred walked over, reaching to your wrist and holding your arm out. You flinched slightly at the touch, but relaxed as he kept his eyes on the snitch. Your heart raced, but allowed him to continue, intrigued. 

Your hand shook slightly in the air, the room becoming silent between you twos; only the sound of the small mechanical zoom of the snitch barely audible. 

In a minute's time, the snitch hovered around your hand, acting almost curious to your gesture before quickly slipping the wings back in place and landing heavily in your palm. You clasped it quickly, not sure if it would fly away again. 

You looked at Fred with childlike wonder, a large smile plastered across your face as soon as you caught it. 

His heart ached, wishing he could snatch you up himself. To hold you tightly between his arms like he used to. He could see your spark come back, one moment at a time. 

You shoved the snitch in your coat pocket, a deep sense of relief came over you, finally understanding what the gift was. Clearing your throat, you looked around your room, unsure where to start. 

“How much should I pack?”

[xoxoavenger]

Hi, I saw your post about wanting some bycky requests I may have one.

Could you please write some Bucky x Fem!Reader where the reader is Tony's daughter? You can choose the plot, I kinda like imagining her being a cop or something like that tho

Feel free to ignore if you don't like it ♡

thank you for getting the ball rolling! I always have reader be adopted, just to have the story be more inclusive (and also to help make the age gap less crazy lol) and I also made reader a SWORD agent instead to fit the storyline, but this helped so much, thank you!

Win

pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Stark!Reader

summary: Bucky's running for Congress, and he needs a win to help make some change. Y/N's just trying to support him the best she can.

word count: 2799

warnings: reader is adopted, age gap (MCU is in 2027 everyone so by my math reader is like late 30s, Bucky is mid-fourties, but you can imagine it however you want there's no specifics), if you're new here reader calls Bucky 'James' bc i like that and think it's cute, Bucky has some issues, written pre-Thunderbolts movie release so there could be some future inaccuracies

masterlist

Bucky knew he could never actually retire.

It was a nice thought, but in practice he hated how fucked the world was, how much he seemed like part of the the problem. It's why he's running for Congress, so he can make a difference in a way that doesn't have anything to do with violence.

He's in a deep in paperwork when she walks in, pantsuit ironed to perfection and a folder of papers he's sure are for him in her arms.

"Mr. Barnes," She smiles, and Bucky's never been more happy to see her. "I've brought some papers from Media, most of them about you smiling more. I told them you shouldn't lie before you've even gotten into office, but they refused to see how smiling could be this big of a problem. So clearly, they don't know you very well." Y/N Stark is a ray sunshine in Bucky's office, and he doesn't know how he got her.

SWORD agent Y/N Stark, adopted by Tony Stark after Nat saved her from the Black Widow program just before meeting Tony in 2008 while she was in Budapest, believing that Y/N had been the last of the Red Room. Y/N had been just 16, and Natasha wasn't in the greatest place to be a guardian. To be fair, neither was Tony, but at least she also had Pepper. Y/N changed her last name before she turned 18, since her parents had given her up as a baby and she didn't like her past defining her. Bucky had first met her when fighting at the airport in 2016, and after they went into hiding Bucky had talked Steve into sending Y/N a package just like Tony had gotten, and she had called. They began dating in secret, as she helped SHEILD rebuild itself as SWORD, and was granted entrance into Wakanda to visit him as he healed from the trigger words. They were finally getting back to where they had been before the snap, when Bucky had disappeared and Y/N had lived five years in grief.

But now Bucky was trying to figure out how to get her to retire and work with him, because he thinks a change might be exactly what he needs to make him feel better. The more he learns about politics, the more he doesn't know how to make the change he wants to.

"Well," Bucky leans back in his seat, stretching his back. He's been sitting all day, a harsh change from his life before, but he honestly likes it. It feels nice to not be conditioned to fight at every second, to be able to relax even just a little bit. "I hope you told them I'm not doing that." He says lowly, and his fiancé rolls her eyes with large grin.

"How did I end up with a hundred and three year old grump?" She asks, walking all the way in and dropping the papers on his desk. Bucky reaches up and pulls her into his lap, pushing her jacket back because he loves to see the leather vest she wears that holsters her gun over the white button up blouse.

"It's actually a hundred and ten." He says. He knows that she knows this, that she knows his actual birthday even if everyone likes to pretend that he wasn't frozen and used by HYDRA for years which makes him actually in his late thirties, maybe early forties.

"Ugh, old man." She says, but her smile is painted on, almost like the opposite of her.

"You love it." He leans his mouth up, and she leans down to give him a quick kiss. This isn't enough for him, and he leans back in to chase her lips.

"James, people actually work in this office. They don't want to see a couple macking in the middle of the day." She says as she gets off his lap, which makes Bucky upset.

"Macking?" He questions, because she's always using these words that he has no idea what they mean.

"Come on, grab your papers and let's go." She doesn't explain the word, instead holding out a hand that Bucky only grabs onto, not letting her pull him up and out of his seat.

"I can't leave yet." He wants to, he really does, but he has so much work to do. The election is coming up faster and faster, and he feels his opportunity to change things slipping through his fingers.

"James," She whispers, yanking on him to no avail. She frowns, and he wishes for a moment that he could just stop everything and go home with her.

"I can't lose." He tells her softly, and she just nods, even though she doesn't fully understand.

"Okay." She lets her hand slip out of his, and Bucky wishes that he could go back to those nights they spent in Wakanda. They were so unrushed, so calm. "I'll see you at home, then." She calls over her shoulder as she exits the room, a smile on her face even though he can hear the hurt in her voice.

"I'll bring dinner." He says, knowing that he always drives past her favorite restaurant. He needs to make it up to her, but she's shaking her head with her lips tight.

"I won't count on it. Maybe we can go out to dinner on the weekend." She says, and he nods in understanding. He's late to get home a lot, but this is important to him. Doing this without Steve, without Y/N's name or money, it's almost like he has to prove that he can make it in society.

"I love you," He says, and when she responds he turns back to his work. It's the last thing he wants to do, but he refuses Y/N's offers to get him a full team with a full New York office. He's going to do this on his own.

He can do this.

~

When Bucky loses the election, he wishes he could say that he saw it coming.

He knew about the people calling him unfit, knew about how a lot of people thought he was emotionally unstable despite his record of therapy. The people who never forgave him for his crimes, the ones that he was under mind control for, the ones he doesn't even remember committing. But for a second, he thought that they could look past that and see the good he was trying to do. Y/N calls as soon as the news is announced, but Bucky is already packing his shit up and leaving the the office.

When she gets home, his metal arm is disconnected from his body and hidden away somewhere. In his right hand, he has a stiff drink, and he's staring at the tv, on a low volume but playing the news.

"James," She whispers, slipping her shoes off and walking over to him. "I'm so sorry, babe." She tells him, walking onto his couch and folding a leg under her as she puts a hand on his shoulder.

"I wanted to do something." He says, eyes glassy. He doesn't even look at her, but he's not really looking at the TV anymore. "Ever since I fell off that train 1945, my life hasn't felt like my own. I haven't done anything to help anyone. All I've done is watch my own life pass before my eyes, watch the families of people I killed," A tear falls, and his face scrunches as tries to hold it in.

"You helped save the world." She says, not mentioning the fact that Bucky doesn't seem to think that she was a good thing. He's clearly in a dark place right now, and her bringing herself up isn't going to help anything. All these comments from people who have nothing better but to hid behind a screen have him slipping back to before he went to therapy, and Y/N hates this. "You saved those hostages when everything was going down with the Flagsmashers. You are a good man. You have done good things. You can't let these people who think they know your past get into your head."

"I just feel so helpless." He finally looks at her, and her heart breaks. "I saved the world, but did I really make a difference? I didn't sacrifice myself like your dad did. I can't lift Thor's hammer like Steve. I'm not Captain fucking America. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could do this one thing. This one fucking small act. But my life doesn't change. I can't be the White Wolf, because I'm already the Winter Solider." His voice cracks, and Y/N pulls him into her arms. She wishes people could see Bucky Barnes the way she does, the way he loves, the way he cares.

"You would have made a great Congressman." She tells him honestly, pushing some of the long hair he's been growing out away from his face. "And I'm proud of you for trying. We'll find a way to get you to make a difference the way you want to. This wasn't your path, but that doesn't mean that you aren't destined for change." He smiles through his tears, and they share a chaste kiss before Y/N helps him to the shower.

~

Three weeks later, Y/N wishes she could say she was surprised when she sees Bucky standing in the middle of New York, staring at the Void that Y/N had been sent out to collect data on.

"James?" Y/N screams over the wind, and Bucky's eyes widen. Even if he didn't hear her voice, he would have known because she's the only one that calls him by his first name. She's done it since they met, and every time he asks why she just laughs and doesn't answer the question.

"Oh, fuck." He mutters, causing everyone to look over at him.

"What?" Alexi asks loudly, never one for subtlety.

"What on God's green earth do you think you're doing here?" She asks, walking up to Bucky. She feels the need to slap her fiancé, hit him with the new ring he got her, but she controls herself.

"Y/N," Bucky starts, turning around and looking at her. The metal arm is reattached, his tactical suit on. When she left his morning he was still asleep, but she did know that something was different lately. This problem they were having with a super human who had insanely terrifying void powers, and they had basically no information about them. She had been so busy that she didn't have time to figure out why Bucky was acting different; she naively assumed that he was healing after his loss. He walks closer to her, trying to keep their conversation private.

"I swear," She looks beyond mad, and Bucky knows everyone is watching them. "I have too many thoughts right now to fully articulate how I'm feeling." She tells him, and he knows he deserves this.

"I meant to tell you," He truly did, but he just never felt like there was enough time. This was conversation that required more tact than he thought he had at the moment. It's not that he was trying to lie to his fiancé, but he knew he wasn't actively telling the truth.

"Are you gonna introduce me to your new friends?" She asks sarcastically, waving at them all around Bucky's body. She recognizes Natasha's sister, Yelena, but that's about it. As she scans the rest of the group, however, she sees another face. "Oh, you've gotta be shitting me." She says, watching John realize that she's locked in on him.

"No, no, no, Y/N, please, just let me explain," He grabs her around the waist when she starts to march over to him, because while he would never underestimate her he also knows that John is a different person with the serum in him.

"John fucking Walker, James? Really?" She yells, loud over the quiet, deserted street.

"James?" Yelena repeats with a small smile, and Y/N turns her murderous glare to the ex-Black Widow.

"Who the fuck are you people?" She asks, letting Bucky turn so he's facing the team and on Y/N's side.

"We're the Thunderbolts!" A large Russian man in a red yells, smiling widely. Y/N blinks, then looks at Bucky.

"That's not our name." He says to her, as if that actually matters.

"Oh my God," She whispers, because she's not sure what's actually going on anymore.

"I am Yelena. We've heard a lot about you, Y/N Stark." Yelena says with a smirk, and Y/N forces a tight smile. She puts emphasis on the last name, because even though they only knew each other briefly, Y/N had met Yelena in the Red Room once or twice.

"Thanks for the introduction. As for the rest of you, except off brand stars and stripes over here, could you please tell me what this is?" She asks, because she figures her fiancé isn't going to tell her now.

"We're a team." A girl in a completely grey suit says.

"Like the Avengers!" The man in the red suit yells, and Y/N turns to Bucky.

"No." He disagrees, and she just nods, eyes closed. "I swear to you, Y/N, I have tried to tell you, but I didn't know if you'd understand. I just, I needed to do something." And she gets it. She knows that he's been having this issue, and she knows it had to have been hard for him to tell her.

"I'm still mad at you." She says with a sigh.

"I know." He smiles, putting a hand on her back and pulling her forward to kiss her forehead. "Now, you should get out of here. We can take care of this." He gestures to the giant Void that was looming in the distance.

"I have to do my job, James, I can't just,"

"You can join us!" Red suit says once more, and Bucky turns to glare at him before Y/N can say anything. She jumps in, not wanting to deal with the threat that is probably going to come out of Bucky's mouth.

"I have a job. But this seems like such a great group." She says sarcastically, aiming it at John, who scowls.

"I am not that bad." He argues, and Bucky has to grab her arm to ensure she won't jump him.

"I don't think anyone has lost a job faster than you fucked up being Captain America, you absolute shit stick." She tells him, which clearly strikes a nerve.

"You wanna talk about losing Captain America? Are we sure Bucky here was your first choice?" John has that smirk that Y/N wants to slap right off his face, but she's not sure he wouldn't kill me.

"Are you kidding me?" Yelena yells over them, and Y/N knows she should feel like a scolded child, but she just feels rage at John Walker. "There's a goddamn Void behind us that is eating people, and you two are fighting over the fact that he annoys you?" She looks at Y/N, who is somehow even more angry

"Yelena, I don't know if you're mad at me because N,-" Bucky is placing his right hand over her mouth, knowing exactly what Y/N was about to say and how she was going to single handedly take this team down. Everyone was very volatile, and he knew that the slightest thing could set them off.

"Please, just let me handle this? I'll see you at home." He is not above begging, and he knows he has to in order to get her home.

"I was sent here for a reason." She argues, because she's not gonna let her man stop her from doing her job.

"By the time you get what you need, we'll have taken care of this. So just go home,"

"Do not tell me-"

"Y/N, please." He finally looks at her with big eyes, and she is trying to hold her ground.

"This is my job, James. Ya know, the job that pays for our apartment." She's not mad anymore, because she knows Bucky just wants to protect her. But she won't back down without a fight.

"What if I pick up dinner?" He sweetens the pot, and she sighs.

"If you're late, Barnes," She threatens, leaning up to kiss him. He smiles at his win.

"I won't be." He has no way of knowing if he'll be late or not, they both know this, but it's the thought that counts. She gives him one more kiss and then walks away, listening to the conversation between the Thunderbolts.

"Who woulda thought Bucky had a sugar mommy." John says, and while Y/N can't see it, she hears Bucky's fist meet his face and Yelena's laugh.

"You deserved that." The Russian man says, and Y/N couldn't agree more. 

//

taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187  @one-sweet-gubler @theoraekenslover @thefandomplace @mcueveryday @icequeen1371 @kenzi-woycehoski @multifandom-boss-bitch

[pockykierra]

What is happening with STQPA?

Hi all! I've gotten quite a few comments and messages asking about STQPA, and I want to have a conversation about it, because I feel bad leaving people wondering what's going on with it.

The next chapter is still about 3/4 the way done, as I mentioned a few months ago - but, unfortunately, it might stay that way for awhile.

Not gonna lie, I had the wind taken out of my sails about halfway through writing the next chapter. I don't like to talk about negative things on my blog, but I will say, a large part of what made writing hard was the amount of discourse and drama happening within the fandom.

Even before all the horrible stuff with the creator came out, I was struggling to be as excited for GO as I have in the past. There is drama in every fandom, but I've been in the GO fandom for a long time - since I read the book in my teenage years - and I've never seen it like this. The amount of change that happened within the fandom, especially after the 2nd season, really took me aback. Most of it was good, I will say! I don't want to discredit all the amazing, wonderful people I have met since writing for GO. But the bad was bad enough to take me out of it.

And then when all the stuff with the creator did come out, that really dampened my already waning excitement. Not to mention, I've had some people that were, and still are, really, really angry at me for how long of a wait there was between chapters of STQPA, which has not helped.

This isn't to say I'm giving up on STQPA. Its one of my favorite stories I've ever written, and I still have all my ideas written down and ready to go when I feel ready. Maybe I will be in a couple months, maybe I will be once the 3rd season comes out, but as of right now I need some time.

Thank you, and I appreciate all he kind words that have been left for me over the last year or so. All the friends I have made while writing for GO have been amazing, and even if I'm distant from the fandom for a little while, I still love you all <3

[loilooloo]

☽｡⋆ debonair pt. 1

🐈‍⬛ chat noir x reader

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ syn: you knew chat noir was hopelessly in love with Ladybug already, but you just couldn’t help falling for him, even if it meant getting your own feelings hurt.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ author’s note: many of you who have followed me since last year know this isn’t the usual fan base I write for, but I’ve been so into miraculous lately. I hope those of you who enjoy the show enjoy this too.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ content warning: nothing graphic! All villains are made up and so is the storyline!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

𐙚 background:

It’s officially been a year since you received your miraculous; that fateful day when you bumped into master Fu. He granted you your miraculous, and along with that you met your Kwami Roaar, the Kwami of elation, aka your biggest supporter and best friend. You hit it off right away and being granted the miraculous was the best thing that has ever happened to you. Before that, you were just an average student at Françoise Dupont.

But now you fight villains alongside your partners, Ladybug and Chat Noir whom you both admire. It’s been just the three of you until recently. Ladybug has been leaving you and Chat to fight the villain alone while she leaves to hand out miraculous’ to your other hero counterparts. She’s been leaving you guys out in way, completely deserting you and Chat in the dark. You could tell she was in constant stress due to Shadow Moth’s increasing powers and her new role as guardian so you didn’t pry or speak out as much as Chat did.

𐙚 monday:

You shut your alarm off annoyed since you had only gotten 4 hours of sleep due to fighting an akumatized villain all night. The fact you had school made your mood decline even more! You quickly got dressed before saying goodbye to your mom. You walked to school as always and admired the view before catching up with your friend Marinette. “Hey Marinette! How are you?” You exclaimed. You had apparently frightened her since she jumped and yelled, classic Marinette.

M: “Oh hey y/n!! I’m good, and you?”

You chuckled to yourself after seeing her usual klutzy behavior.

Y: “I’m good, just a bit tired.”

M: “Ha yeah, tell me about it.”

Y: “Did you have a long night too?” You asked

M: “Something like that.” She replied

The two of you reached school and started walking to class before meeting with Alya. School was boring… as always and you snoozed through class as you always did. That was until Roaar emerged from your pocket.

“Sleeping again y/n? I told you, you have to start paying attention in class so your grades don’t slip!” Said Roaar.

“Roaar, you know you’re not supposed to be out right now!” You said worriedly, quickly shoving her in your pocket. You sat up because you knew Roaar was right, but started zoning out until school had finally ended. You were so relieved as you packed your bags.

Alya and Marinette approached your desk. “How about some ice cream, girls?” She asked. “And I convinced Nino to bring Adrien ;)” she slyly whispered to Marinette who immediately began blushing and stammering her words. Although Marinette’s admiration for Adrien was supposed to be a secret between the girls, she made it quite obvious due to her aggressive blushing and… interesting behavior around him. “Sure why not!” You reply to Alya. “Great! The boys will meet us there.” Said Alya.

The three of you walk to the ice cream parlor and begin to order. You can see Marinette looking around for Adrien, sooo discreetly. You laugh to yourself before spotting Nino and Adrien. “Hey Marinette, I think there’s someone behind you.” You said. She quickly turned around to see Adrien and her face turned cherry red. “That’s a new shade” you thought to yourself. After everyone ordered, you all sat down and enjoyed some ice cream while discussing school and video games.

˚. ✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧̣̇˚. time skip ˚. ✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧̣̇˚.

You had just gotten home before you heard the news reporting a new akumatized villain. You quickly jumped into action. “Roaar, stripes on!” You said before jumping out your window to find the villain. You met up with Chat Noir and Ladybug on a rooftop near where the villain was attacking. “Looks like we have a villain and a sentimonster in our hands” said Ladybug as she pointed to a demonic-looking girl followed by a giant spider. “Yuck!” You cringed at the disgusting spider?? Thing?? “Let’s just get this over with I can’t stand spiders!” You said. “Oh I thought you had no fears Plumera” Chat said, teasing you. “I just can’t stand spiders! They’re so hairy, just like you and your hairballs Chat.” You said smirking. “Enough talking, let’s get into action.” Said Ladybug, sternly.

You gave each other a determined look and sprung into action. Chat jumped on the spider, attempting to stop it from causing more damages as Ladybug went straight for the akumatized villain. The villain quickly shot lasers at Ladybug but she dodged every single one. You looked to Chat and noticed he was having some troubles with the sentimonster which was about to stomp him. You quickly dove from the ledge you were on and kicked the spiders leg, saving Chat. “Looks like you were the damsel in distress this time” you say, letting out a chuckle. “Yeah yeah, let’s not forget about the multiple times I’ve saved you on a mission.” He replied. “Hmm? There aren’t enough times to remember” you snorted. You both heard Ladybug scream and quickly turned to her. You saw that the akumatized villain had trapped her and was about to laser her. Chat quickly saved her and swooped her up. “Yet another save m’lady” you heard him say flirtatiously. You couldn’t help but feel jealous. You knew Chat was in love with Ladybug, but that couldn’t stop you from crushing on him, even though you didn’t want to. Truth be told you were jealous of Ladybug. Jealous of all the nicknames she would get called by Chat, jealous of how much power she held over him, and most of all jealous of how much she meant to Chat. There were many instances the two completely forgot about you during a mission which in turn led for them to get closer.

You sighed before jumping on the roof, regrouping with them. There were many times you felt that the trio should’ve been a duo, and those emotions got stronger any time you saw Chat and Ladybug low-key flirting. You pushed your thoughts aside as you walked towards the two superheroes. “Get it together Plumera” you whispered to yourself.

“This villain is too powerful, looks like we’ll need the help of my lucky charm!” Ladybug called.

The charm blessed Ladybug with… a pot of honey? You all looked at each other confused. “Maybe the spider wants a sweet treat.” Said Chat. “Maybe the honey is used to attract bees to the villain so she’ll get stung! Aha!” You theorized. “Stung…?” Said Ladybug. “I’ve got it! I just need you two to stall a bit!” Ladybug said as she yo-yo’d away. “Ugh again!” Chat said annoyed. “We have to trust her.” You replied.

C: “But how? She does this all the time! Always disappearing. And lately she keeps adding new heroes on the team.. it’s like we’re not even a duo, I mean trio anymore!” He said.

A duo, you thought. A duo, not a trio…. A duo.

Chat saw your face and knew you were upset. He realized how much his abrupt sentence had hurt you.

C: “I didn’t mean to.. you know what I meant..” said Chat.

“It’s fine” you mutter before jumping at the villain. But it wasn’t fine. You were enraged. Your emotions completely taking over you. You began charging at the villain and attacking, the two of you exchanging kicks. You dodged lasers left and right. You could feel yourself becoming tired but centered your energy and continued to battle. You saw Chat in the distance fighting the giant spider, and it looked like he was losing real bad. “Ladybug hurry up” you muttered, grunting as the villain picked you up and threw you down.

You were getting weak and the villain could see that. She sent a final strike your way, a giant laser beam. You put all your energy together and ran towards it. “Clout!” You screamed as you threw a punch at the laser. You greatly overpowered the villain and she fell to the ground. You found the akumatized object, an Erlenmeyer flask in her hand. Ladybug arrived just in time to release the evil akuma. She had a friend with her, it was Vesperia. “Great seeing you again Plumera!” Vesperia exclaimed. You breathlessly nodded, not being able to fully respond properly as you were extremely weak. “Plumera, go recharge your Kwami, we need all hands on deck to fight this sentimonster.” Said Ladybug. You nodded and ran to the nearest ally.

“Roaar, stripes off.” You grunted. You hand Roaar a piece of durian and she looked at you concerned. “Are you okay y/n you seem a bit down.” She said. “Did Chat and Ladybug leave you out again?” She asked, with an angry expression on her face. You sighed. “Something like that.” You looked down, waiting for her to finish eating. “Y/n, please don’t give up! I know how much you want to be with Chat, so just try your best to focus on the goal, okay?” She said. “Okay, I’ll try, but for now, Roaar, stripes on!” You said, ready to fight yet again.

You jumped to Ladybug, she had just sent Vesperia to a secure hiding spot. “Chat will trip the spider with his stick, and while it’s distracted, Vesperia will hit it with venom. I want you to hit it with your clout after, okay? It’ll be the final blow.” Said Ladybug. You nodded and jumped to a nearby area. You waited until Chat started the plan, and began preparing yourself. You saw Vesperia hit the sentimonster with her venom and after that you charged for action. “Clout!!!” You screamed as you jumped at the spider.

The sentimonster was finally taken down. You let out a sigh. “I can’t wait to get home.” You said to yourself. Ladybug set the feather free and fixed everything with her miraculous ladybugs. You all regrouped on a rooftop and put your fists together. “Pound it!” You all exclaimed. “I have to take Vesperia’s miraculous back now before I transform back. See you guys next time!” Said Ladybug.

As you were about to leave, you heard Chat calling you. “Plumera, wait! Don’t go yet.” He said. You were annoyed and most of all tired! All you wanted was to just go home and lay on your bed. You rolled your eyes before turning around. “Why? So you can leave me out of your ‘duo’ again?” You asked.

C: “You know I didn’t mean it like that”

Y: “Then how did you ‘mean it?’”

C: “I-i just wasn’t thinking, I’m sorry Plumera. You know Ladybug and I are so grateful to have you on the team.”

You looked down, trying not to break. “Yeah.. sure. I’ll see you next time.” You said before heading home. “Plumera- WAIT!!!” You heard him yell, but you weren’t listening.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ author’s note: yall want a pt. 2?? Sorry not sorry for the angst!

[lilacsandstone]

making this its own post bc it ended up longer than i expected lol

a few months ago i made a post theorizing abt mumbo's lore for s10 and in retrospect the conclusion even based on ep 39 was pretty obvious However i still predicted it so yay

now onto some smaller theories ive been thinking abt since the lore drop:

i am a grumbot s10 truther. esp after all the lore in s9 with the empires crossover!! it might be a reach but i think ultimately the huge computer mumbo's building is going to be s10's version of grumbot

he hasn't kept his database updated but i'm wondering if when he built it he meant for it to connect to the computer? as like part of his memory

the main thing i'm getting tripped up on is why is there a chicken involved??? there's no way it's going to go fully according to plan, and iirc in the video he a few times describes the computer as housing his consciousness instead of a way to transfer it to something else. my gut feeling is he's going to upload his brain to the computer for the transfer, only to get stuck inside the computer. that or grian's going to get involved and complicate things lol

on the topic of grian. yes i think he's going to be part of this lore somehow. and totally not because i miss s7 and i'm delusional. the missing waffle from the start of the season just feels like a chekov's gun situation to me. like if he isn't involved in the lore AT ALL then why bother removing the waffle from the mc skin? he started aging as soon as it was gone. he had gotten it originally to replace his own soul. something happened that took grian's soul out of him, making him age rapidly/making him mortal. something is here and theres still pieces missing and its driving me crazy hgjfdg

im thinking about his starter base now too. incredibly convoluted, a home that is unreachable from the outside--you need to be (re)born into it. surrender your mortal possessions so they can be stored separately, giving yourself access to a previously locked door. meticulously end your own life to recreate a message that only you can understand. your consciousness is transferred to an enclosed, suspended space (a sort of cloud?). you can access your belongings for as long as you stay inside. mumbo's starter base wasn't separate from magic mountain row. it was the prototype.

and if you don't believe me about the bases being connected. while writing this i have picked up another piece of the puzzle. back in episode 3 of mumbo's s10, he mentions the comments were calling the mothball an impossible build structurally. do you remember what he did to make it "structurally sound?" CHICKENS. he put leads on chickens and tied the leads around fences on the support beam to look like tension cables.

so why did he abandon the mothball for this new computer? iirc, he started getting annoyed about having to remove his items each time, and not being able to access his stuff without dying each time first. there wasn't enough space in the mothball, and his items were getting stored outside instead. very inefficient. but most importantly: the structural chickens died. after that point, the mothball "fell".

so knowing that now, how is he planning on keeping this chicken alive once he puts his consciousness into it?

well! since grian is apparently the key to immortality, mumbo is putting his consciousness into poultry man.

(lmao jk for that last one could you imagine)

if you guys have any of ur own ideas/theories feel free to add onto this!! im so excited for him to reveal more of the story he's going for :D

[the-mountain-flower]

Happy Day 10 of @crustables-fanart-week! Here's a one-shot:

Day 10: Hand Holding

Falst hates his claws, and Dainix provides some much-needed comfort.

Content warnings: body dysmorphia, self-hatred. unintentional self-harm

Falst was never not bitter about how useful his claws were. He’d just gotten good at ignoring it, pretending he wasn’t frustrated. He could worry about how it felt to use them when he didn’t actively need to.

He nearly laughed at the irony when carving into that large Life lacrima at Hilltop. Writing the part about removing them with the very same claws he wanted to be rid of, was nearly ironic enough to overshadow the discomfort. Nearly. He still thought of not having that part of him with something almost like relief.

He had lots of nightmares, he’d gotten used to that too. A reoccurring theme in his nightly fear was claws. Specifically those of a certain monster that had scarred him physically and emotionally as a child.

“First time I can remember hating these,” he’d told Dainix a while back, “like I was halfway there already.”

Most of the time he could ignore it. Brush it off or push it to the back of his head to upset him next time he slept, then move on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a foolproof plan. Sometimes it was just... too much for him. He often couldn’t even tell what set it off, it just happened, and his bottled-up emotions would start overflowing.

He really tried not to let it get to him. He couldn’t afford to break down. It made him vulnerable. He needed to keep his guard up as much as possible.

He really tried.

But sometimes it was just too much.

It was a good thing Kendal didn’t need nearly as much sleep as the rest of them, and was pretty alert even when resting. Falst couldn’t manage staying alert right now, even if he tried.

Falst was lucky, he knew that. He had people he could trust. People who could keep watch for danger anywhere nearby, and that meant near Falst as well. He could actually be in a position of relative safety with other people, and not have to stay as vigilant as usual. It was something he was so, so not used to. Nor should he let himself get rusty, or start depending on them too much.

But maybe it was why it was so much harder to hold himself together this time. Because he knew, even if he didn’t want to admit it, that he didn’t need to stay vigilant this time. He didn’t have that excuse to try and hold it back. And maybe having friends for the first time when he was so unused to it, affected his emotions, too. And he knew they’d try to help him if they knew...

Godsdamnit. He couldn’t let any of them see him like this. He couldn’t look weak.

Which is why, after waking up in the middle of the night from another nightmare, he had positioned himself in the rocky terrain in a way that no could see him from the entrance of the stone tent-like structure Erin had made. He’d already opted to sleep outside of it, so it wasn’t too hard. Dainix was also sleeping under the stars- apparently the small, confined stone space made him anxious, which was understandable- but his stillness and slow breathing indicated he was still sleeping, and Falst was quiet enough not to wake him.

He sat with his back against a boulder, knees tucked against his chest, and tail wrapped around his legs. His vision was already blurry, and his shoulders shaking. He hated it, but he knew he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Despite the tears rolling down his cheeks, and the heavy, staggered breathing from his heavy chest, he made very little noise. Over the years, he’d managed to make himself cry silently, for safety reasons. Which made it suck worse, given the first time he’d needed to be completely silent despite the tears.

He kept his hands clutched in tight fists, thumb beneath the other four. He wished he couldn’t still feel the surface of his nails against his skin. And he tried hard to keep his fingers in a position where the tips of his claws wouldn’t pierce the skin.

He hated it.

He tried so hard not to think about it. About how they were hard enough to be unaffected by basically anything. About how they were sharp enough to carve through stone. About how easily they could tear through flesh.

He hated them. He hated his claws.

He disliked most of his body. His nose that made every environment a sensory nightmare. His eyes with their slit pupils and predator-like appearance. His pointed ears that picked up every aggression and threat. His fur that looked deceptively subtle but was just thick enough to not be able to pass off as normal. His tail that provided an extra target and was the most obvious thing about him that shouted to the world that he was a ferin.

Most of it... wasn’t as strong as it used to be, though. Maybe Kendal was right.

He didn’t stop hating his claws, though. Because he’d been so scared of them. It was similar with his teeth, four of them sharp canines designed to tear through flesh, but they were easier to ignore. He’d once gotten so desperate as to start trying to pull his claws out of his fingers. An attempt that had lasted a few seconds at most. At one point, he’d had to talk himself chopping off his fingertips. That was probably the worst idea he ever had, or ever would have, and he knew it. That kind of thing was why the first thing he’d carved onto that Life lacrima, had been the segment about getting rid of his claws. Which he now knew was a hopeless endeavor.

No matter how much he ignored it, he’d never been able to shake the feeling that his claws were that of a m-

“Falst?”

Falst froze. Well, not ‘froze’ exactly, he was still shaking.

“Falst?” Dainix whispered from behind him. “You there?”

Falst swallowed hard, willing his throat to clear. He tried to sound normal when he responded, “Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Damnit, he definitely sounded like he’d been crying. He hoped Dainix didn’t come closer, or try to talk to him. He knew he was too tired to effectively hide his... emotional episode.

Those hopes were dashed when he heard the sound of footsteps in his direction. Then of someone sitting down beside him.

“What’s wrong?” Dainix asked gently.

“Nothing.” Falst’s voice still sounded faint and broken.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“Nothing I’m not used to.”

“Falst-”

“Bad dream. That’s all.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“...Alright.”

Dainix didn’t leave. Instead he... he put his arm around Falst’s shoulders.

Falst’s first instinct was to push him away.

His next instinct was to lean in.

To his own surprise, he gave in to the second one.

Damn it, why are you like this?

He didn’t know how long they sat like that. The moons hadn’t visibly moved from their positions, so it couldn’t have been that long.

Falst... was starting to feel himself calm down. That was strange. Usually the presence of people during moments of vulnerability did the exact opposite. He really, really wasn’t used to having friends.

At one point, he even noticed his clenched fists loosen up a little, making it so his knuckles were no longer white with tension.

Which turned out to be a mistake.

“You’re bleeding!”

Falst lifted his head just in time to see Dainix grab Falst’s hands in his. Both of his palms had traces of dried blood on them. It was soon clear that he wasn’t actively bleeding, the skin already closed with little to no traces of scarring.

“It’s fine.” Falst insisted, voice still weak. “Just scratched myself a little.” he mentally cursed himself for somehow not noticing despite being so focused on the area.

Dainix clearly wasn’t having any of it. He looked down at Falst’s hands, with flakes of red on the palms and fingertips. Then he looked back up at Falst, and... for some reason it looked like he’d figured something out. Put the pieces together in the puzzle that was the truth behind Falst’s words.

“That bad dream you had,” he asked gently, “did it have anything to do with these?” He brushed one of his thumbs over the surface of one of Falst’s claws.

“How... you are scarily insightful, you know that?”

“Sorry.”

Several seconds of silence passed between them, before Falst’s damned emotions got the better of him again.

“It was.” he whispered.

For a moment, he wasn’t even sure Dainix heard him. Then Dainix squeezed his hands reassuringly.

It felt strange, being held like that. Nice, though. He wasn’t sure how Dainix managed to do it without making him feel trapped. Falst let his head rest on Dainix’s shoulders, strangely comforted when Dainix reciprocated the gesture.

“If it helps,” Dainix said softly, “I don’t think your claws are a bad thing.”

Falst scoffed, “Sure.”

“No, really.” Dainix insisted. “I’ve seen lots of actually monstrous claws, and these,” Dainix raised Falst’s hands in his own so they were at eye level with Falst, “aren’t that. Because they’re yours. I’ve seen you use them to spellcarve, and to climb to otherwise unclimbable places, and I’ve seen you use them to protect yourself and those you care for. That makes them pretty amazing, and I hope you know that.”

Falst had no clue how to respond to that. He didn’t think anyone had ever talked about his claws like that, himself included. He was grateful that Dainix’s couldn’t see the blush creeping up on his face.

They sat there in silence after that. Falst didn’t know how long. All he knew is that he was very tired after his emotional episode. And Dainix was a very warm, very comforting presence.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep leaning against him. He didn’t realize he had until the increased brightness provided by the sunrise woke him up.

And he realized he’d spent the night so close to Dainix, and at some point while sleeping their hands had changed from Falst’s being held by Dainix’s.

Now their fingers were intertwined to hold each other close, Falst’s hands laying perfectly to fit within Dainix’s.

Judging by the slow breathing, Dainix was still asleep. Which was good, because that meant Falst could let go and it would probably go unnoticed.

And... that he could hold on a little while longer.

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

This was meant to be a ficlet like the others, IDK how it got so long lol. Not complaining tho, I like how it turned out :)

Remember to drink water, eat food, take your meds (if applicable), and get enough sleep. Love you all, and have a great [insert time here]! <3

[stoneybun]

Schlatt x reader with tummy issues? 🥺

Schlatt taking care of their partner with stomach aches, nausea, the like? Being so gentle and so caring? GAHHH MY HEART

Up to you if you wanna write about it! 💕

FIRST OF ALL GHUGHFD HIIII I LOVE UR WRITING Also absolutely I'll write abt this!!! I'm a constant tummy ache survivor lol Schlatt x gn!reader You felt like you were going to fucking die (not actually, but we love being dramatic about tummy aches.) You were used to small stomach aches throughout the day, not too phased by the more dull ones that would come and go. Right now, though, it felt like your insides were on fire. The only reason you weren't going to the ER was because you knew it was semi-normal and you could take care of it. Right now you were curled up in bed with Jambo snugly curled into you, [redacted] laying on Schlatt's side of the bed. "Sweetheart?" You lift your head from the pillows you previously had your face shoved into, having to peek above the orange fluff ball curled into your chest. He was helping. Trust. The look in your eyes made Schlatt's warm gaze soften, a small frown showing on his face. "Hold on," he murmured, leaving the room for a few moments. You already knew what he was doing, faintly hearing cabinet doors opening and closing along with him mumbling to himself as he was trying to gather everything you possibly could need right now. It melted your heart in the most addicting way possible, in a way only he has ever done. "Can y' sit up, babydoll?" he asks as he comes back into the room, large frame towering over you as you were still lying in your shared bed. "Yeah," You had hardly even started to move before you feel a hand on your back between your shoulder blades, giving you silent support as you slowly sat up. "Gimme your hand," he murmurs, waiting for you to hold out an open hand and let him place your medicine into it, the one that would calm the burning sensation in your tummy. Then he holds out the water bottle in his hand, it being your metal 'emotional support' one you picked out on a vacation together. He has a matching one, having gotten each other's favorite colors. You grasp the metal bottle covered in some vinyl stickers, the straw part in the cap already being flipped up for you and Schlatt presses a kiss to the top of your head before deciding to climb into bed with you. "C'mere," he grunts, waiting until after you were done drinking before he gently ran his hand up your back. You turn towards him slowly, your eyes catching the sight that makes your heart instantly melt. His pupils were dilated, a gentle smile on his face that grew once your eyes met his, his loose curls messy on the top of his head. You swear you blacked out at the sight, your brain processing how the fuck you got so lucky. "There's not a single thought behind your eyes, doll," he taunts, his smile widening into that smug grin you knew so well. "Funny comin' from you," you grumble, making him roll his eyes fondly with his lips pressing into an amused smile. Instead of saying a response, he keeps one hand on your back, bringing his other hand to cup the back of your head before pulling you down onto him, letting your head rest on his chest while he instantly cuddled you close to him. You couldn't help but let out a pleased giggle, making him start chuckling, it rumbling in his throat. "Y' got somethin' else to say, huh, toots?" he quips, making you just huff as a wave of dizziness and nausea hit you. This always happened as your stomach started to soothe itself, not sure if it was the medicine or just your body giving you another 'fuck you' in retaliation. You absentmindedly let out a whimper as you curled into him, making Schlatt's laughter die down, his expression softening again. "Aw, my lil' angel," he coos, wrapping his arms around your waist and hugging you close as you laid on top of him, nuzzling your face into his neck and feeling the scratchiness of his chops against your skin. He starts to run his knuckles up and down your spine, pressing a kiss to the top of your head as his other hand rested on your hip.

This alone makes your heart flutter, trying to control your breathing as you slowly started to feel the stinging pain dull a little. He continued to hold you with a comfortable silence, the only noise in the room being you two breathing long with faint purrs from Jambo who was tucked into Schlatt's side alongside [redacted.] The longer you two laid there, basking in each other's presence, the more heavy your eyes felt. It was only about 3 in the afternoon, but wasn't that prime nap time? Either way, you end up drifting asleep to the sound of Schlatt's heartbeat under your head and the feeling of his featherlight, soothing and loving touch while he now was massaging your scalp and playing with your hair. Schlatt loved how easily you could fall asleep on him, making him feel all warm and fuzzy how he could comfort you so quickly just by showing you a fraction of the affection he has for you. It also just made his heart happy seeing you at peace like this rather than in pain, knowing he helped make you feel better enough to finally rest. "There y' go, hun," he murmurs to himself, not being able to resist the urge he had and pressing a kiss to the top of your head before pulling you closer to him, nudging his cheek against the top of your head as his arms comfortably wrap fully around you again, letting himself slowly drift off with you.

[trash-ainu]

Oh my gosh, thank you for tagging me @perlen-gold!

So I took some time, sat down, and went through your works, so I could come back with some specific compliments as well as examples of what I think you do really well! :3

❤️ I love how illustrative and imaginal your writing is! You mention you work meticulously on each stentence, and it shows -- because not only are they beautifully worded, they are also rich and very evocative. For example, I noticed that one way you contribute to that expressiveness, is by using strings of really original compound adjectives (from one of your works, i jotted down "ink-soft lace," "iron-veiled flanks" and "gold-leaping warmth" as examples!) I think they're really well constructed, and with your other poetic word choices and methaphors, it paints a vivid image of the story in a reader's mind :3 Not only that, you manage to do this in a way that doesn't make the sentences feel over-crowded and too long -- and I feel like that is a great achivement on your part and something you should defintely be proud of! ❤️ You've got a good grasp on your flow and pacing. Now, I feel like it is marginally harder to get good pacing in works that are written in styles that lean towards ornate and poetic. What comes to my mind is classical literature -- but there, elaborate language was often used in order to stall the action and slow the pacing. And yet, I feel like you are able to maintain a good flow, despite the fact you write in a poetic way. This makes things written in your style feel borderline ballad/poem-like, and I think it's ultimately what makes your style original and distinct! ❤️ The way you handle first person POV is great. Personally, I tend to struggle with writing in first person a lot, and I have absolutely no talent for it, so I have less insighful remarks to give about it X'DDDD But it's all the more reason for me to praise you for it, because you manage to deliver a great story directly through a character's eyes, in a way that is engaging and fun to read :3 Phew... I may have... gotten a bit over-excited about conducting a literary analysis, I hope that's okay😅😅

Alright -- now a compliment for myself? Hmm...

I feel like I'm good with characterisation? Digging into the psychology of characters and finding ways to show who they are in the story has always been the most enjoyable element of writing to me. This led to me working on a lot of character studies, so I developed that part of my writing skillzz kinda naturally 😆 On top of that, I play a lot of tabletop RPGs, and those are mostly about finding ways to interact with the world in an in-character way, so... yeah!

Omg, okay, I don't really have many writing friends here, much less writing friends that share their writing, or are familiar with mine, so ahkjfdgdh With absolutely zero pressure to do this, imma tag:

@winds-of-zephyr416, @dragonofmordor, @mai-komagata, @skaelds, and @kanskje-kaffe

And, of course, if this is something anybody else wants to take part in, feel more than free to!❤️❤️

I want to do a compliment exercise. I got the idea from a poll I saw.

First, vote on this poll:

Now, reblog and tag 5 writers that you would want to see do this (no pressure, of course)... and in your CAPTION (not tags), give 3 compliments to the person you reblogged this from's writing. In your TAGS (not caption), put what your answer was.

Give yourself at least one writing compliment too, while you're at it.

If you reblog it from me, don't worry about doing the compliments since almost none of you have actually read my writing (if any of you have 😅).

If you really want to do the compliments for me, you can compliment something else but it isn't necessary when reblogging from the original source.

Let's get a compliment/positivity/love thread going. ❤️

[spotaus]

Thinking about Orchid and her connection to my take on Gender (because this was meant to be about her and the Crew but it just devolved into a character analysis kinda??? More trauma-dumping maybe???) This is very much an oc/personal rant so feel free to ignore it 🫡

So, Orchid started off as a character I didn't really think much of (hear me out this is going to be relevant) because I wanted to add a 'girl' character but didn't know what to *do* with her, y'know? She was always going to be the strongest one there, she had the odds stacked in her favor with her parents. She was always going to be the gloomy side-character to match Reset's energy. But I think she's gone through every stage of Generic Woman I could possibly find.

At first she was angry and abrasive (think Fell!Sans) where every other word was a curse and she was likely to throw the first punch then laugh as she kicks her enemy while they're down. This was when Reset was a cartoonishly self-centered villain whose goal was simply to prove others wrong. Then Orchid became a sort of sisterly figure. This was short-lived, but she was the one comforting people who Reset would torment, but would ultimately follow his orders, because at this point he was actually a danger and sadistic. And then there was the phase where the story mellowed out and she became the token Goth Girl who, yes she was strong, but was heavy on the 'whatever' energy. Then there was her Era of deep self-loathing and anxiety about her worth that held her back and made her a much more timid and meek character who would only lash out on occasion.

Now, Orchid is the best of those iterations I've written yet. She's calm, level-headed, and a natural leader. Her father raised those traits into her. But she's very reactive, and can be silly, and when she's comfortable it's likely that air of importance transforms into something more comfortable and familiar. She laughs loudly and grins wide, she likes loud video-games but loves to read in the quiet. She's extremely disciplined, and normally no one can get through her tough exterior besides her best friend, Reset. She does what she does for her own enjoyment, sure, but she's thought of every angle and makes her choice to help Reset and control the others with her whole chest. She still worries she won't live up to her invisible expectations, and that and her loyalty are her two driving forces.

I know that Orchid is important to me because she's the longest-running female oc I've had. I have a rough relationship with womanhood/girlhood and I know looking back that Orchid recieved every ounce of my distaste for being a woman that I could shovel into her. That never made her less of a character, she was actually always one of my favorites, and rarely was she a 'punching bag oc'. I just... projected onto her a lot. And she's a good sign of how I've learned who I am. I've decided that my own femininity is something I could live without. I'd rather not associate myself with it, and I'd like to leave it in my past, focusing on a future where I'm not tied down with any gender roles or expectations. That won't happen, but I've come to terms with it myself. Orchid though? I figured out through her that I don't have to hate women characters. My own distaste for my circumstances doesn't mean I have to push it onto my characters (on God I've never expressed anything rude to actual people, that'd be rude as hell and uncalled for, but I have a bad habit of disliking fictional women in media). So, Orchid is a well-roubded character finally. She has motivations abd goals and a *lot* more depth than I ever expected her to. She's happy with being a woman, she's content. She's not treated differently for it in unfair ways by those she cares about, so she doesn't mind it. She likes to wear pretty outfits and lets Reset add bows to her ribbons. She doesn't let being a woman hold her back in the slightest.

So, yeah. Orchid is one of my babies. If I ever leave this Fandom behind for good, she's one that's coming with (Ichor, Orchid, and Pretender all have human designs I can use elsewhere lol-) but in the meantime I'll just rotate her around in my brain for a while longer.

If I'm right, she's been with me for nearly 5-6 years and I went through a *lot* with her as an outlet. So, she's kinda just like an old stuffed animal. A lil ripped, matted fur, maybe a stain or two, but there's a story there and that makes it important beyond belief.