#hey yknow i was gonna say i don't really think he was right that part of his magic as a kid came from the fact that he WAS a kid

[offthewall1979]

i wonder if - and i don't think he would've expressed this publicly even if he did feel this way - part of his fascination with children came from being such a special child, and kind of wishing he still was that special child. being talented as a child, in some ways, gives you a leg up. you're extra special because you're a child, and that amazes and entertains people.

personally, i think that michael's child voice is one of the most beautiful voices there's ever been. not versus other child voices, versus ALL voices ever. i don't wanna say i like it better than his adult voice, but... it's a near thing. his vocal coach, who he worked with for decades, said michael wanted to have a child's voice. i suspect he didn't just mean A child's voice, he meant HIS child voice. he talked high, he sang high, he sped up his voice to make it higher at times. i think he understood what a gift his child voice was, maybe better than some of the people around him.

i think he found kids interesting because he didnt experience normal childhood, but also, maybe he thought some of the magic he had as a kid came from the fact that he WAS a kid. and once he was an adult, he saw the magic that he felt was now missing in himself in kids.

[ourceliumnetwork]

i'm remembering why i don't stay on dating apps for long and why i have a hard time making connections with folks in general. if i have to teach one more fucking person about polite conversation with people you do not know yet, i swear to GOD.

[mamawasatesttube]

my ideal timkon don't get together until they've both already done some queer realizations and dated other guys a little bit, in part because on tim's end, i think he's been in love with kon since he was 17, but at 17 tim didn't even know he was bisexual, forget anything else. and his feelings for kon were so big but also so constant that he didn't even realize they were there or significant because they've always been there and been huge. for years. so he putters along and does his time in the torment nexus (the closet) and languishes a bit but slowly starts to figure it out.

meanwhile kon dates someone, mostly like omg im dating a guy this is ALLOWED !??!?! and its pretty lowkey and casual and doesnt last bc like . super identity issues, right. kon would Never just tell someone, but secrets and casual relationships dont last long etc etc. but just the entire principle of kon dating someone and then being like yeah idk im not really feeling it like hes nice and all but i think hes more interested in like… yknow, my hot bod, than me. its whatever tho. and tim just being SOOOOO mad that someone would date kon and not absolutely adore him. tim will not be unpacking why hes so mad about kon having a shitty boyfriend. obviously its just bc kons his bestie and deserves better. (😶)

so he's just grouchily tinkering on some upgrade for his car to get the grumpy energies out. like WHATEVER! (angrily turns socket wrench) he's not saying kon should dump the guy or anything (angrily turns socket wrench) but he's just SAYING, kon can do BETTER!!!!! (angrily turns socket wrench) and kon DESERVES better!!! kon deserves someone who will treat him RIGHT!!!!! (angrily turns socket wrench) like if TIM was gonna fuck kon he wouldn't do it like a goddamn quickie and just fucking leave (angrily grabs the next size socket and scoots further under the car) like kon OBVIOUSLY doesn't like that so why won't this guy GET THAT!!!! (angry tinkering noises) if he's that shallow he can go find himself a sexy body pillow to screw!!! leave kon alone!!!!

and cassie sitting on a chair nearby is just like. sorry what was that? "if i was gonna fuck kon"? did you just say--hey tim? hey. can you go back a step?

and tim's just. obviously this is a hypothetical everyone considers about kon. look at him he's . you know. besides, tim's just talking as his best friend who wants the best for him! ugh stop trying to read into it cassie, that's not the POINT--

[mehwmidklpe]

YKNOW WHAT I NEED mortal reader having visions of percy in his past adventures and they start to paint those visions to make sure their not going insaine (they are) and percy sees of the painting of him in Tatartes fighting

Ofc if you don't what to do it you don't having to AND TAKE YOUR TIME!

You felt like you've been going crazy.

Visions.

They've been haunting you for weeks. You can't get rid of them.

Every single one of them had to do something with Greek mythology.

Every single one of them had to do something with Percy Jackson.

You couldn't lose them, so you started painting them.

To make sure you weren't going crazy, that what you saw actually made sense.

Only it didn't.

Your best friend flying on a horse didn't make sense.

A lady with an arrow who turned inot animals didn't make sense.

A man with talking snakes didn't make sense.

Another man with a lot of tools on an island with Percy could've made sense, but it just didn't.

You couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't think. Those visions cam whenever you least exoected it.

You were lucky enough to say you never had gotten one infornt of Percy.

Oh!

Of course you talked too soon!

Percy was ranting about something as he sat on your bed, a smile on his face.

The smile was really cute, he must've been very passionate about what he was talkkng about.

Such a shame you didn't hear any of it.

You felt this feeling in your stomach, a feeling you've unfortunately grown very familliar with the past few months.

No.

Nah-ah.

Not now.

Not right now.

Not infront of Percy.

Never mind, here you go!

'Percy stop!'

He didn't stop.

"Y/n?" Percy asks with a frown, confused and a bit worried at your behavior.

You could barely hear him as you stood up and walked away.

With a frown, Percy rushed after you. "Y/n? Hey, what's wrong?"

He watched as you walked into a room full of paintings and quickly grabbed an oil palette before finding an empty canvas panel.

Without saying a word, you quickly started painting as if you were in a rush.

You were stressed out, Percy could tell.

"Y/n what's going on??" Percy demanded.

Percy didn't stop.

He wanted to choke this goddess.

Choke her with her own poison.

Percy had never seen someone paint as fast as you, but you looked like you were going crazy.

His sea colored eyes twitched as he saw what you were painting.

That was him.

In tartarus.

Percy looked around the room to take a look at all the paintings.

Suddenly he felt dizzy.

It was as he was looking at a gallery based on his entire life.

His heart was beating fast, a beep echoing trough his ears. And though it all, you were still painting.

"Y/n!"

He snatched your arm, forcing you to stop painting.

That was thd moment you finally snapped out of it and looked at him.

Your gaze flickered all over his face, as if trying to stop seeing that hideous, angry version of himself you saw in your head just seconds ago.

Instead you wanted to boy you fell in love with back.

The boy swallowed. "What is all this?? How do you–Why–??"

"I don't know." Your voice trembled.

"I keep getting these vision. Visions about you and these Greek gods and monsters and wars. I'm trying to understand."

"That's why you've been studying Greek mythology so much lately.." Percy realized.

You nod. "I don't know what's happening to me Percy.. and I don't know why you're in all these visions and what the heck they mean cause what the–"

"They're real! I'm a demigod, thise visons are things that happend to me trough the years, my dad is Poseidon, you're a seer." He blurted out.

You paused. "What?"

"Remember Rachel?" Percy asks. "Yeah, of course, we were friends until she loved to another schoool." You recalled.

Percy nodded. "She's like you. Only she's the Oracle now."

You frowned. "What?"

"Y/n, listen. What I'm gonna say may sound crazy, but we're friends so I need you to believe me." Your friend spoke to you.

He took a deep breath and then snapped. "Greek mythology is real, I'm a part of it, lt dad is a god, Poseidon, I'm half god, I've been going to a camp for halfbloods for years now, I've been in wars, saved the world a couple of times, made enemies, lost friends, the casual Greek stuff."

You blinked.

Blinked again.

"What?"

"Remember last year. You said you were pivking up my birthday gift, next thing you knew everythung went black and before you knew it you were laying in my bed?" Percy reminded you.

"What does that have to do with anything?" You asked him.

"You fell asleep because of a curse, meanwhile the war against Kronos and his army happened, I played a big part of it..." He sighed deeply before continuing.

"but when I saw you laying there.. with that amazing gift in your arms.. holding it so tightly as if you couldn't let go without knwoing I got it for my birthday. I had to get you to safety."

You just stared at him. "That doesn't make sense. There never was a war in Manhattan."

Percy scoffed at that. "Of course it doesn't make sense, Y/n. None of this does." He shook his head.

"But you know how you kept complaing about how you kept seeing weird things, but people always told you you were crazy?"

"Percy–" "It's because you can see what I see. The mist can't trick you." He went on.

You didn't even know whst to day. This all just was way too much.

"I'm a demigod, you're a seer."

You shook your head. "No. No. That can't be, I'm just–I'm going crazy, there's something wrong with my brain, I know that. There's something seriously broken. But the Greek mythology, I'm not a part of that, Percy, I can't–"

Percy grabbed your cheeks and pulled you into a kiss.

That waw the last thing you had expected.

But it was also the only good thing that has happened in the last few stressful months.

And you actuallyet yourself have it this time.

When he pulled away, his forehead rested against yours, his breathing ragged.

"I know this sounds crazy, Y/n." He assured you.

Then his hand came up to tuck a strand of your soft hair behind your cheek.

"But it's true. And I know that this feels selfish, but it feels so good to know that you light just understand. That you can see what i see. You know how great that feels?"

You nodded, a single tear falling down your cheek. "Honestly I thought I was actually crzay. The only one who saw it."

Percy shook his head. "You have me. And I have friends you'd love to meet who can see just the way you do." He assured you.

You smiled at that. "That sounds nice." "Knowing that you're not alone? It does, doesn't it?" He smiled back.

You held onto him tighter. "Are you okayn" you know what has happened to him. You knew better than anyone.

You have seen what happened.

You have felt what happened.

You felt the same pain he felt.

"Yeah. I'm okay now. Just.. now you know.. you're gonna gave to face a lot of trouble " Your friend who was now not-much-just-a-friend antmore warned you.

You shrugged. "I was getting bored anyways." You blinked away your tears.

"Great, but don't get yourself killed."

"You're not getting rid of me anytime soon."

"Wouldn't want it any other way."

His respond made you smile again.

Percy's thumb wiped away your fallen tear. "I'll do anythung to keeo you out of any harm." He promised.

"Worry about yourself first, Percy. You deserve it." You tell him.

You paused. "That and rest." You added.

And so he let himself finally rest for once.

In your arms.

If this was bad, I'm literally falling asleep while writing this so bear with me.

[jensensitive]

It's not always an easy thing to make breakfast in the morning when there's so many people around. Jostling for what exactly everyone's individual tastes are wanting that morning, or not wanting, or just how much coffee is left, or where the tea went, or who did the dishes last night and why there's stuff on your favorite mug. It's good though, he likes it. It feels right, having his family so close to bug him. He doesn't really like peace and quiet as much as he does the people he loves making themselves known in his life and routine. And the smell of coffee and feeling like it's a new day worth waking up for because everyone's there and alive. Right now it's just him and Sam in the kitchen, but your little brother being annoying is all just a part of it.

"You're like a middle aged divorced guy obsessed with his car, but without the excuse of ever actually having been married."

"Who wouldn't be obsessed with my Baby, she's hot as hell."

"She's never gonna love you back, Dean."

"Hey, that's not nice, I treat my girl right. Take her out on the town. Just last night, she and I went for a nice long drive, real romantic like."

Sam snorts.

Mary walks into the kitchen.

"Hey, mom, there's coffee if you want some. I'm doing pancakes, whether Sam wants 'em or not, you up for pancakes?"

"Always. I'm not gonna say no to pancakes."

"See, that's the right answer, Sam."

"Whatever, I just don't wanna throw up in the middle of my run."

"Seems like there's an easy solution to that where you still get pancakes," Dean quips.

Mary makes herself a cup of coffee at the kitched counter and grabs the milk beside Dean to put some in her mug.

Dean turns back from flipping the pancakes to look back at Sam. "Are you just bugging me about this because you've finally got a girlfriend so now you've got some kind of leg to stand on in how much of a loser I am?"

"Oh, I always had that leg to stand on."

"Sam." Mary chides.

"Sorry, Mom, I'm just messing around."

Dean smiles at Sam getting talked to. "He's just jealous of me and my girl and our long and loving commitment."

"Yeah, real jealous." Sam rolls his eyes. Dean is drinking his coffee, but he knows Sam is rolling his eyes.

"I took her out last night. " Dean offers a low whistle. "You should have seen her, man. Making heads turn left and right, she's still got it."

"Yes, she's so pretty, she's so hot, she's so stunningly blah blah blah, you understand how weird you sound, right?"

Mary smiles. "I think it's sweet. He really likes her. What did you guys do together last night."

Sam groans. "Not you too, come on."

"Took her out for a nice dive-in dinner, curly fires and a burger, with the tray that clips to the window of course, only the best for my girl."

"How romantic." Sam deadpans.

"Then we went for a nice long drive, just us and some Zeppelin, yknow. You gotta have some quality time."

Mary nods. "Your father and I used to do something very similar," Mary answers with a gleam in her eye.

"Yeah, see she gets it." Dean gestures from Sam to Mary.

"It's weird, you both are weird and I'm not participating in your perverse afflictions."

"Zeppelin never sounds better than on my Baby's tape deck."

"Yeah we know you really love a big deck." Sam snorts at himself.

"Yeah whatever." It's Dean's turn to roll his eyes.

Mary turns to him. "So what's her name, when am I gonna meet her?"

Sam starts coughing somewhere in the background.

Dean is just lost. "Huh? Who?"

"Your girlfriend. No pressure or anything, but I'd love to meet her, see who's stolen my son's heart."

Sam barks out a laugh. Dean just blinks. "Huh?"

"She thinks you were talking about an actual human woman, you weirdo." Sam spells out like he's a complete idiot. He might feel his ears turning bright red at the realisation.

"Oh," he chuckles awkwardly. "No, no woman."

"No, he doesn't date actual women anymore, only personified objects that he gives female pronouns."

"Dude, shut up, it's not that weird."

"He was talking about his car."

He should just say it. "Actually." Why shouldn't he just say what he's thinking. "Well, it wasn't just me and Baby, we might have drug Cas along, heh." He huffs at himself awkwardly. " I mean why would I need a girlfriend, I have Cas," he says it like he's joking, so he is. "And my Baby. What more could I want than that."

Sam just sighs deeply like he does when he doesn't think one of Dean's jokes is funny. Well, to be fair, it wasn't.

Mary just lays a hand on his on the counter. "You sound like you're happy." She smiles at him. "And I've already met Cas and Baby, so you don't even need to introduce me."

Sam is just shaking his head as if they're still joking, but Mary is looking at him, and actually seeing what he's saying. And he has to give her hug and try not to cry. "Thanks, mom."

[zozilly]

GHD|| Sailor Song by Gigi Perez is very Chrysanthe and Miraak...

[Edit: I wanted to @99corentine because this is their lovely fic that's consumed my life and also opinions]

So I was thinking about this fic, because I found it, read it on my flip phone, chewed it up and swallowed it in 12 hours over the span of three days, and I realized it is a very fitting song for these two at the beginning of their lil freakyship right after Miraak leaves Apocrypha. Now because I'm autistic and Skyrim is like the only thing I've consumed for two months now, I will be copy-pasting the lyrics and explaining.

[I saw her in the rightest way Looking like Anne Hathaway]

okay so this is to me, Chry seeing Miraak's face for the first time. I mean he was whipped, absolutely head over heels when he first met the guy, but like..... yknow?

Laughing while she hit her pen and coughed, and coughed[unrelated they didnt have pens.]

[And then she came up to my knees Begging, "Baby, would you please Do the things you said you'd do to me, to me?"]

THIS. this is my part. my lil bit. my absolutely pathetic mommy issues emotional neglect having ass itches amazingly for this bit. ABSOLUTELY this is both of them. Chry to Miraak in the "Hey I'm the most wet-cat man you'll get, and I am a tradgedy for you, please love me in a way that makes me forget those moments after thralldom." Miraak in his fucking "Silgron I have been trapped as no more than a pet for 4000 years, you are *mine* and you promised me so much, in exchange for small favors and such. I *need* you. Like I need no other."(because he is dramatic and a queer. and also has chewy amazing sour patch kids flavored character development that I enjoy normally.)

[Oh, won't you kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor? And when you get a taste, can you tell me what's my flavor?]

theyre both patheti and love starved with extreme guilt.... like pooka what do you want from them?

[I don't believe in God, but I believe that you're my savior]

THISTHISTHIS... Chry literally was saved from thralldom by Miraak and Miraak from Apocrypha!!! Chry is wholly hesitant to really belive in the divines, clearly stating he steps outside those boxes, and Miraak literally says he doesn't give a crap because his gods were the dov, whom he rejected. but he owes his freedom to Chry, and vice versa.

[My mom says that she's worried, but I'm covered in this favor

theyre both without parents.

[And when we're getting dirty, I forget all that is wrong]

gay fucks get emotional when they say gex

[I sleep so I can see you, 'cause I hate to wait so long I sleep so I can see you, and I hate to wait so long]

telepathy, must I say more? No? ok I will<3 Chry has said he's gonna go beddy bye so he can talk to Miraak.

[She took my fingers to her mouth The kind of thing that makes you proud That nothing else had ever worked out, worked out]

Miraak and his oral fixation<3 and his past with that one priest or wghatever.... I read that bit at like midnight....

[And lately, I've tried other things But nothing can capture the sting Of the venom she's gonna spit out right now]

oh? Chry thriving off of Miraak being possesive??? oh????

[Oh, won't you kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor? And when you get a taste, can you tell me what's my flavor? I don't believe in God, but I believe that you're my savior I know that you've been worried, but you're dripping in my favor And when we're getting dirty, I forget all that is wrong I sleep so I can see you, 'cause I hate to wait so long I sleep so I can see you, and I hate to wait so long]

we done this b4

[And we can run away to the walls inside your house I can be the cat, baby, you can be the mouse And we can laugh off things that we know nothing about We can go forever, until you wanna sit it out]

when they when they in lakeview... when they they when...

[auspex]

VtM Fangfest 2024 Prompt 6: The Hierophant

Hello! Here is my sixth fic for Fangfest 2024 :)

All my fics will be about characters that are previously established, so you might not have context for everything mentioned or hinted at within :( Feel free to reach out to ask I love explaining!

I've never really posted my writing before so be kind!

my first fic is here

my second fic is here

my third fic is here

my fourth fic is here

my fifth fic is here

This fic is about the Gangrel from the game I am the storyteller for, Blood and Silicon, which has its own blog run by the player @chiss-ticism here: @sanguineasylum. The starting phone call dialogue is from in game - @vtmgremlin played Blake and BIG SHOUT OUT TO @eric-the-bmo for transcribing!!!

The cold wind blew smoke and sparks from the fire towards Nelida’s face. Repressing a shudder, she composed herself and answered her ringing cellphone.

Nelida picks up after a moment's hesitation. “Hello?” As she picks up, Rico gives her a look, and listens in. Whatever. 

“Hey, it's B! I'm calling from a different number 'cause my other one broke. Sorry for the late-night call, do you remember that guy I was telling you about? That asshole? Hunter?” She didn’t know a guy named Hunter, but the way he emphasized that word… “Yeah, him? A few of his friends are in town, and they tried to start a fight, but we just took off. Just lettin' you know in case he comes by and tries to give you trouble. Probably stay out of the city for a little while. Yknow, Hunter and his crew are somewheres down there- they like to prowl downtown, so.”

This must be Blake calling - a new Gangrel, who had recently visited their little camp in the forest for the first time a week or so ago. “Wait, is- What- Do you think Hunter is coming tonight?” 

“Eh, I don't think so. I think for the most part he kinda took off with his buddies, but they're probably gonna be somewhere downtown. Who's to say. I do think the sheriff's probably gonna be looking out for him too, 'cause he knows he likes to cause trouble, so.”

The sheriff? Like this was some Camarilla city? No, he surely just meant kine legal trouble, right? “Um. Can you come over to talk?”

Blake inhales sharply. “Eh- I would if I could, but the problem is I gotta head out tonight, just in case, 'cause I gotta head up somewhere warm for the holidays. Y'know, family and all that.”

“What the hell. Are you talking about?” Nelida may not know much about Blake yet, but she highly doubted he actually had family he could go visit. But it's time to worry about herself, and her pack. If he’s leaving, then perhaps she should too. 

Before Blake can reply, she continues. “Should I head somewhere for the holidays?"

He replies, still casual. “I mean, if you want. I'll just say probably stay out of downtown for a little while. Uh, probably around South Market Street. Probably don't go around there’.

That’s downtown, which he had mentioned before, but this was near where Baron Harrison makes his domain. She didn’t know much else off the top of the top of her head about the area. “Okay... Wasn't planning on it, but thank you? When can we talk more about this?”

“Uh, probably be back in town... sometime next year.” 

“Next year!?”

“Y'know, after New Years!” Blake actually laughs. 

Oh. Cheeky. “Well, you better have a story for me then.” He still owed him one, and now this story clearly was one that involved her. Or at least, one that could. 

“I'm plannin' on it. But y'know, I gotta go and make a story happen first for me to tell you one.”

“What the hell.” She caught herself before saying his name on the phone. “Are you sure you can't stop by really quick?”

“Nah. I gotta head out soon, so- Yeah, just wanted to call and let you know. I don't want this call to go on for too long- I'm sure you need your beauty sleep- so Merry Christmas and all that, happy holidays. Also, probably don't call back this number, 'cause I actually had to borrow a phone from somebody- like I said, my other one broke, so.”

Was he implying he needed help? “Do you need.. assistance?”

Blake had hung up. 

“The fuck was that all about?” Rico stared up at her, crouching over the fire. 

“I’m not sure,” Nelida pursed her lips. “Something odd happened tonight for sure, we may be in danger. Blake must have uncovered something, he did say we don’t have to leave or anything though. Not that you would leave even if the place was on fire.” 

“Nope.” 

“Do you know anything about South Market Street?” 

Rico scratched his head as he replied. “Uh, the Hecata and Harrison had a small dispute over the area once, since resolved, it's a tourist trap area with a cathedral, not much else of note. Why?”

“Blake said to avoid the area.” 

“You gonna elaborate?” 

“He seemed to imply hunters.” 

The group was silent, listening to the crackling of the fire. Nelida began braiding her hair, and then continued. “This wouldn’t be the first time there were hunters in the city.” 

“Nope.”

After a moment's pause, Melinda, one of the newer Gangrel, spoke up. “Uh, mind filling me in?” 

Rico and Nelida looked at each other. 

Nelida’s eyes glimmered looking into the fire. “In the 80s, before your embrace, kindred society San Jose was settling down. The Tremere had accepted that there was no way they could push out the Hecata, and sequestered themselves to the North. A gang of Ventrue took it upon themselves to push down any would-be-upstarts, and so any who called themselves ‘baron’ only laid claim to small areas. Kindred were masters of their own domain.” 

Mel scratched the back of her neck. “Not like now.” 

Rico snorted, and Nelida gave her a small smile. “Well, do you know much about another kindred’s domain? Could you tell me what goes on in the Hecata’s turf, or up north, where the thinbloods are now?” 

She shook her head.

“Right, no, we don’t know much other than what they tell us. And no kindred talks about their own business - we’re secretive, and for good reason. So, back then, no one knew what was going on in the city at all, only across the street from their own haven. There was no coordination to look out for threats. We were all blind. Now - keep in mind, this was the 80s, so kindred did not have to contend with the Second Inquisition. No one was worried about kine hunters.”

Melinda smiled. “Y’all were careless.” 

Rico cut in. “Hey now. Me and Nelida, we were minding our damn business out here. Wasn’t our fault.”

“Yes Rico.” Nelida finished one braid and moved on to another. “But we are still affected by other’s recklessness. Now shh, let me tell it.” 

Melinda spoke up. “Wait, do we not like, need to do anything? Do we have time for this or should we be preparing for an attack or something?”

“No, I think he just wanted to give us a heads up. There’s nothing to be done, unless you have friends that you wish to warn. Now let me fill you in, like you asked.” The winter wind whispered and Nelida lowered her voice. “San Jose was experiencing a population boom. Whatever kine was your preference, it was not hard to find them. The Camarilla was not threatening the area. Unlife was good.” 

“So good in fact, that new kindred were moving in too. Without any centralized leadership, arguments over territory were common. Rico made his place here, and allowed other Gangrel to join him, but other clans were a lot more fractured. The Toreador and Malkavians practically drove each other out.” 

“Harrison is the reason why there’s no Roses in the city?” 

Nelida smiled. “Harrison wasn’t here yet. As I was saying though, there was conflict, and conflict draws attention. There was a Toreador named Miguel, a wonderful guitarist, beautiful, exactly who you are probably picturing right now. He had a penchant for attending concerts within the local music scene, even fraternizing with mortals there beyond one-night-stands. Unfortunately for Miguel, one of his favorite bands frequented venues in an area claimed by a Malkavian at the time named Gloria.” 

“Gloria got sick of seeing him, and despite warnings, he would not stop interacting with kine she considered hers.” Rico looked like he was about to say something, but was silenced by a look from Nelida. “She was known to kine as the landlord, a rather cruel one at that, and Miguel took advantage of this. He spurred those she collected rent from into action, protests and such, and had the bands support it.” 

“But some of the mortals he was supporting dug a little too deep, and found that she had been a landlord for two decades, despite only looking 30.” She looked from the fire into Melinda’s eyes. “If you wish to involve yourself in mortal business personally, your identity has an expiration date.” 

“Two of these kine, a couple, were assigned to keep looking into it. I do not know when they began to suspect something supernatural, but they surely caught wind.”

“Miguel won his fight, and Gloria ceded some territory to him. However, many months later, the couple confronted Gloria directly one night, and she was found staked and beheaded in an alley behind her haven.” 

“Such is the price of making mortals fight your battles - they have their own too. Miguel had put them on the scent. This all caused quite a stir, right Rico?” 

“Oh? Yeah. Yeah we were all freaked out by that. Gloria had been here for a long time, and she had a lotta connections. We didn’t know what those hunters had found by searching her shit. I mean, I wasn't too worried about myself and my pack, but others were. And soon enough, another Malkavian was reported killed, and another.” He stood up as he continued.

“After the third death we all really started to get our shit together. In the end it was actually the Tremere who found the pair. Probably tortured them for info that they didn’t fully share with the rest of us, but whatever. The final deaths stopped. But ever since then, kindred who live in the city or own shit have been a hell of a lot more careful. Plus, some people just started leaving, good riddance. It was getting too crazy here. And I thought things were pretty peaceful, until, well.” 

There was only the sound of the fire for a few seconds, until Melinda spoke. “Until tonight.”  

[italiansteebie]

"where's steve?"

"hey, how are you?"

"wh- where is steve?"

"hello. nice to see you."

"ugh, oh my god. hi, robin! it's nice to see you too! now where is steve?"

robin rolls her eyes at the child in front of her. couldn't she get a moments peace to think about nancy? or the fact that she hasn't practiced her clarinet piece in like 2 weeks? oh shit... she should really do that.

"i don't know,"

"wha- how could you not know?"

"i'm not his like, keeper, or whatever, dustin!"

"i mean you kinda are..."

seriously. that's what these kids see her as? just some random girl who showed up just to hang around steve?

"look. i don't know where he is, check eddie's. now get out or rent a movie. geeze."

dustin huffs and spins around to the door, grumbling something about "best friend my ass, doesn't even know where he is." and all robin can do is roll her eyes. she watches as dustin gets on his bike and pedals away. she sighs and picks up the phone next to her, punching in eddie's number.

"munsons, what's up?"

"hey ed."

"oh hey bucks! what's going on?"

"figured steve was over at yours and was gonna warn you that dustin's on his way."

she hears eddie sigh and shout the message back to who she presumes is steve.

"thanks bucks. saved us a whole lotta embarrassment there."

robin thinks about that for a second, "oh ew! im hanging up now."

eddie laughs and she cuts the sound off by hanging up the phone. she shakes her head, how did she find herself with these people? stupid scoops ahoy. stupid russians. gross.

her thoughts are interrupted by none other than max mayfield waltzing into the store. she's got her thick ass glasses pressed against her face and a slight scowl that seems to be her default. "hey red, what ya lookin for?"

"uh. im not sure actually. i just didn't want to be home anymore."

robin beckons her over to the counter, motioning for her to hop up and join her. "can i ask you a question, max?"

"yeah, sure..."

"el is like, your best friend, right?"

"mhm."

"do you know where she is right now?"

max squints at her, which is a funny scene because her glasses make her eyes huge, "i don't know, at home, maybe? why?"

robin sighs, hoping of the counter and pacing for a moment, "dustin came in and demanded to know where steve is,"

"how would you know that? you're not his keeper."

"exactly! that's exactly what i said. i- im just wondering, is that all you guys think i am? steve's friend? i thought, yknow... after we saved the world i was your friend too."

max scoffs. "don't listen to anything dustin says. he thinks i know where lucas is at all times. he's got this weird thing about girls. if we're not with our guy friends or boyfriends then we're not like... a person or whatever. it's stupid. he's stupid."

robin laughs at that. "yeah, he is."

"i think of you as my friend anyways."

"you do?"

"yeah. i like you better than steve. we need more girls in this 'world saving' club."

robin nods, smirking at her. "you're a pretty cool kid mayfield."

"i know."

max hops off the counter, hesitating before she wraps her arms around robin for a quick hug. she makes her way back to the door, it chimes as it opens, "see ya later buck!"

robin shakes her head and smiles. and then she scoffs, "i am not that dinguses keeper." she moves to the tape cart, pushing it as she sorts the new movies, muttering, "steve is the least interesting part of my life, like i play clarinet. and i saved the fucking world! steve's keeper. huh! what a concept."

[askthedespairkids]

closure

*After the couple makes their leave, the party begins its wind down. People begin to say their goodbyes as they leave to enjoy their last night before whatever may happen tomorrow while others begin to clean up the site.*

Sly: *With all the clean up done Sly sits against one of the nearby trees playing with his knife, not really looking to leave*

Hey, are you not leaving yet? I know assassins don't conform to our lowly normie sleep schedules, but you should probably still go and rest. It's been a long day.

Sly: *Orochi’s voice breaks him from his thoughts* Haha very funny. You don’t have to babysit me yknow. I’m sure Yokozawa is tired of waiting for you to get him down from the flagpole anyway.

*He giggles, bemused* I know, I know. I figured I should let him stew for a bit after how he spoke to Okanaya-kun, but I suppose I should actually go and collect him. Try and get some sleep soon though, okay? Best to not ruin your sleep schedule now of all time.

Sly: Yeah yeah. *He pauses for a moment* You have a good rest of your night Kamisaka. I’m just gonna…enjoy the atmosphere for a little bit longer.

*After Orochi leaves, Sly sits there finally all alone. He doesn’t particular do anything, he just sits and waits. Though as time goes by it becomes unclear what he’s waiting for. Nothing happens around him. After a while…*

Sly: *He let’s put a sigh* Well Maki, you won’t be able to say I didn’t try at least. *He shrugs to himself and begins to slowly walk towards the dorms under the night sky*

*As Sly walks up the path back to the dorms, Maemi comes into view, leaning against one of the trees on the pathway. From the way her gaze is fixed on him, it's clear she was waiting for him.*

*She pushes herself off of the tree* You certainly kept me waiting. The last one to leave. In the time it took for you to leave, Kamisaka-san managed to rescue Yokozawa-san and have a small conversation with me...*She tries to hold an annoyed glare, but it doesn't feel genuine*

Sly: Kept you waiting? I was giving you a chance to come talk to me. Figured it would’ve been during the festivities. Especially after seeing you go after Kurosaki. Guess I got the wrong idea about you. *That last sentence carrying a hint of venom in it*

You didn't leave yourself many opportunities to pull you aside...

*She sighs* This is already starting on the wrong note. Can we start this over?

Sly: *His promise to hear her out echoes in his head again and he sighs* I’ve been making too many promises lately….Sorry bout that, yeah let’s start over.

*She shuffles awkwardly, playing with her hair* I, um...I'm sorry. For everything. For tricking you. More importantly, for using Harukawa-san to trick you. I used leverage against her so she couldn't refuse and it put you in the middle when it wasn't something you should've been kept in the dark for if we were going to involve you.

Sly: *He looks at her, unable to hide his disappointment* You still just don’t get it Maemi.

I...I figured I didn't. It was thoughtless what I did to you. I still don't fully understand the ins and outs of it all, which just makes it worse.

Sly: *He takes a deep breath* Of course using Maki, someone you know I trusted with all I am, really pissed me off. And her going along with it hurt me in a way I didn’t think she was capable of doing. But that’s not what this is about. It plays a part but it’s not the biggest thing.

The biggest thing being?

Sly: You. Being tricked into helping Kurosaki is one thing. Having Maki help you in doing so is another. But what I really hate about this whole thing is how you did it. You made me think…you made me think you were in danger. You made me think that if I went about something the wrong way someone could take you away. You made me think that someone was gonna kill you. You used the fact that I care about you and you specifically to make me move as if I was a puppet.

Yeah...I did. I should have been honest with you from the start. It...wasn't right of me to make you think all of those things. I got so blinded trying to help Yuuki I didn't stop to consider you or anyone else. It was awful of me...If I'm going to be transparent, I was never planning on revealing it was all fake. I was hoping that when Yuuki found out Shirogane losing all her memories, he would give up. But I should have realised his talent would lead him to the truth...I'm sorry, Sly. To have gotten you wrapped up in all of my...bullshit. Not just my own baggage, but Shirogane's. And Yuuki's. And I suppose also Amami-san's.

Sly: I don’t care about that Maemi. This baggage you talk about, I would’ve gladly carried some of it had you just talked to me. I’m glad we helped Kurosaki. I truly am. Seeing him come back after your talk and smile the way he did was refreshing. But I simply just don’t want people I care about purposefully using that against me. I’m not someone that’s been taught to care about or trust many people. Opening up to somebody and them using that to manipulate me…what am I supposed to do with that?

...There's not much you really can do, is there?

I...I can't take back what I've done, Sly. But whatever I need to do in order to find some semblance of the friendship we used to have, I'm willing to do it. I just...I'm not used to people truly caring about my wellbeing. I think I've forgotten what it's like to be...cared about, I suppose.

It's my own fault. I denied Yuuki a friend back at Hope's Peak. Someone he could find solidarity in. Despite believing I could trust you, I never...truly believed that you would really care if something happened.

Its just all become such a mess...and I don't know what to do with it now. For the first time with you I just feel...lost. After years of it always feeling so easy to be with you, I don't know what to do now. And I don't know what to do to make it better. If I just...if I just let Yuuki in back then. If I actually dealt with all this, maybe I wouldn't be like this now. Hurting you. You've just become another victim.

Sly: *In hearing that word, he chuckles a bit to himself* Sorry, I don’t think I’ve ever been called a victim before. It’s usually the other side of the coin. It’s especially funny coming from you. *He sighs* If you were me Maemi what would you do?

...*sighs* The problem is that the thing you're most upset about is the thing I thought you would be the least upset about...honestly, I wouldn't forgive me. I was shocked when Yuuki said he would want to rebuild our relationship. I don't really think I deserve it, and I don't think I can give you an unbiased opinion on what to do...but I want to do whatever it takes. I...don't want to lose you. Not after everything that's happened.

Sly: Look, maybe it’s the atmosphere of the day. I’m really happy I got to be apart of something so nice before a day like tomorrow. With that said I don’t forgive you. Not yet. But I do understand your thought process and in the end you’re okay and Kurosaki is okay so I guess I accept your apology. I don’t want to go into tomorrow with any regrets and I get the feeling I don’t want to lose you either, it’s literally the reason I’m so mad so there’s no real point in letting the unnecessary drama linger on.

Then...where do we go from this point?

Sly: Hmmm. When this is all over, if you’re able, I want you to start seeing Gekkougahara. At least one time. You do that and I’ll feel a lot better about us moving forward.

Okay...Yeah, that's fair enough. I'll vow to do that...in that case, when this is all over, if we make it through this...

I want to tell you about it. The whole killing game...it got covered up by Hope's Peak for so long, it should be exposed in the end. I...don't know what would happen to Shirogane, but frankly keeping it hidden has just made my life more difficult...I want you to be the first to hear about it all

Sly: I’ll be ready to listen when you’re ready to speak.

Thank you...

*She rubs at her arms* We should...probably get some rest. Fun aside, it's been an absolute saga of a day. It's like the Endless Eight Arc in the Haruhi Suzumiya anime.

Shall we...head back to the dorms?

Sly: You know I have no idea what that is but yeah I’ll walk you to your room. No need to be so shy

Shy? *She giggles* Don't be so absurd.

END OF DAY 6

DAYS LEFT BEFORE THE FIGHT: 1

[coffee-leaves]

Honestly doomerism fucked up my life big time

Like the mentality of "no don't try cause there's no point cause you Already know you're gonna fail so it's just a waste of time and effort and investment making yourself Care about something that's already fucked from the get go"

Idk I always have it but sometimes now I'm just like whatever bro who gaf and do the thing and it turns out well!! And I'm like damn. Why'd I not do that before. Is she stupid?

(more yapping under the cut 💀)

Like I should just Do The Thing more. I used to always say (to my irl friend, when I have to do Human Interaction) "OK but what if they tell me to kms" and then cited the 600 ways I could fuck up the conversation and random imagined person would be like "lol idiot kys" and I was like what if that happens and at some point he was like "ok well that's not going to happen, but even if it does so what. Like you're not gonna kys because random person told you to." And I was like oh. You kind of right.

Like shit!!! He kind of right!!! So What fr!!!

I should really just Do The Thing more huh. Like it hasn't turned out bad yet and one day it probably inevitably will at some point but then that's also whatever. That's a problem for Tomorrow me.

Back when I was a chronic lurker and hadn't gotten over my shit yet I was Terrified to send a chat message like I was convinced if I sent a gl or a pats at the wrong time or my question was Just annoying enough I was gonna get permabanned and all my appeals would get rejected because the streamer would hate Me Personally

And I wanted to make friends in the community for so long and I'd see everyone hi ing each other in chats and I'd be like damn I wish I could do that too. And then I didn't for like months and months cause I'm lame asf and the first time I hii d someone (I think fynn? Probably lol) and I got a hii back I was so happy like I was giggling type shit

And then when I first started doing art (shoutout lem lemoniedrops for being the final push that made me start lol) I never fucking tagged shit (I still don't) and I censored every single searchable term in all my posts to hell and back because being Perceived by literally anyone terrified me and I still remember when beefsalad first liked a post and followed I was DEADASS stunlocked for at least 5 minutes. Like I was just staring at the notif like shit fuck shit fuck how did he find this

AND YOU KNOW WHAT ITS AWESOME like fuck bro that's my streamer 👉👉 that's him. 🥩🥗. Like holy shit

Like I was so ultrascared of. Random bs?? Like no bro you're not special everyone chats Everyday and have you ever seen a single !drops chatter get banned no so you're Not Going To Be Banned either bro

Anyway life is Awesome. Always do the thing. I love doing the thing. I remember when I started like having mutuals. Like I could actually point at someone and be like that's oomf and it really is oomf like fuck I was soo happy I was like I HAVE FRIENDS THAT SHARE MY INTERESTS IN SILLY BLOCK MEN!!!!! yay!!!

I love mcsr so much genuinely the community is so beautiful and awesome and nice and actually I still have this one doomer tweet on my priv where I was like (blah blah blah I'm never gonna be part of the community unless I try and I can't because blah blah blah) and yknow what THABK GOD I TRIED

Like hey. Me from 13 March? Yeah you're Gonna try. And it's gonna fucking work. Stop being a pussy GET YO HEAD IN THE GAMEE

Shoutout all my irls for keeping it real lowkey... I talked to my other guy friend about a similar thing with a more irl context and he was like "oh no I have to do the bare minimum?? Inconceivable; you're telling me I have to put in Effort?" Or something along those lines and I was like ok well when you put it that way. It does seem quite silly.

Because it was quite silly in retrospect like yeaa putting yourself out there's scary but maybe you'll find other people and isn't that fucking awesome enough to negate it lowkey

Holy yappatron Erm

[direct-from-orzammar]

1, 13, 18, 28 for helsi and/or alistair! :3

At this point this ask game has become an excuse to hype eachother up about our Brosca ladies.

Ask game!

1: My first impression of them

Alistair didn't actually leave *that* strong of an impression on me my first run of DAO. I think I was dead set on a Leliana romance that first run (and I didn't even do it right, had to do it again on a future run). But also I had heard about Alistair from someone else before I played DAI for the first time (which was my first DA game). I think only seeing King Alistair in DAI and the traits that my then friend chose to prioritize, I didn't realize he was such a goofball. It wasn't until a couple runs into DAO that I romanced him with Helsi and then well...I was smitten.

Not a first impression technically, but Helsi didn't have quite as much of a soft side to her when I first kinda came up with her. I think it was more once shes started bouncing off of other characters and making friends and falling in love that I had a stronger idea of who she was. That's just sort of the nature of actually writing with a character and putting them into Situations(tm). You start to see aspects of them that you wouldn't have otherwise.

13: Your favorite friendship they have

Less one person, but the way that Alistair talks about the Wardens that died at Ostagar lives in my head rent free. I'm a little sad we don't hear Alistair talk about the people he knew before meeting the HoF. You don't see them interact but there's a lot of grief in what he doesn't say, yknow? Alistair tends to dance around what it hurts to face. Once you learn that about him, you can start to read more into what he says without saying. It also just makes it all the more tragic that he come into such hot water with the wardens come DAI (since he stays a warden in my worldstate)

For Helsi, honestly it's Morrigan. I think even before they open up to eachother about the abuse they've both faced, they can both see themselves mirrored in the other. Morrigan doesn't always agree with Helsi. Morrigan also thinks that Helsi has bad taste in men. But I think they understand eachother in a unique way. Of course Helsi helped Morrigan escape Flemeth's grasp. She knows enough about the pain and fear that came with her own abusive home life.

I'm gonna cheat and give another for Helsi. Zevran. The more I think about it, the more I see some connecting threads between the Crows and the Carta, especially in the notion of them being gilded cages. Similar to Morrigan, Zevran and Helsi can find similar pain in eachother. While they can't make it go away, they can at least understand it and support eachother. I think all three of them have the wildest sense of gallows humor together though.

18: How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

My headcanon for Alistair is that as a young kid, he was relatively well behaved. But as Isolde started mistreating him he started acting out. But that gave more of a "reason" to see him as a problem. I'm hard on Isolde but also Alistair was a child.

Helsi was a lot quieter as a kiddo. She tended to shut down and try and hide when Kalah was in a bad mood. For a long time, she tried to be as invisible as possible to protect herself. Unfortunately, gaining the independence and strength to actually stand up to Kalah did come with joining the Carta, which came with Beraht's abuse on top of Kalah's. Part of it was also the process of gaining the courage to carve enough of an identity for herself to realize who she was beyond just what version of herself would cause her the least pain. It's an ongoing process for her into adulthood.

28: The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

Hey Alistair, I love you but what the FUCK is up with some of the comments he makes about Morrigan in DAO? Like I get that he's being immature and he's going through it but also calling Morrigan a bitch and antagonizing her at every step wasn't really helping much. That and yelling at Helsi over Isolde's death. yes, the situation was stressful but taking it out on Helsi was a bad move. So less a single event and more then habit of misdirecting his frustration.

For Helsi...I think there are a couple of times she's twisted the knife more than necessary out of anger, metaphorically speaking. I'm not sure exactly how she's going to word some of her confrontations with her (metaphorical) demons as I write out her story. But those are the moments she's going to regret the most, the ones where she was crueller than needed, or harsher than needed.

[possibilistfanfiction]

Hey there! Just wanted to let you know that I love your writing. I love the universe you've created for ava and beatrice. I could have said Avatrice but the thing is you write them so beautifully as individuals, all their triumphs and losses, that it doesn't feel right not to acknowledge them as they are on their own as much as they are as a couple. Anyway! I pretty much have bookmarked all your work and I keep suggesting your fics on Twitter, I'm pretty much your unofficial publicist at this point, proudly so 😆

I just finished the multitude of loving and once again you made me laugh and smile and cry and you made my heart warm and for a while, my depression didn't feel as debilitating. So thank you. I don't know what you're gonna write next whenever inspiration strikes, but if you ever do another outside pov, would you mind writing one from Diego's? I guess I'm biased because aside from your fics, I've been obsessed with do a flip by sunsafe and it warms my heart to see Diego in fics because well, I think it's safe to say that he was the one who loved ava first, he was there by her bedside and all and so it would be lovely, to know how he feels and thinks about ava and beatrice, after all the years of living his own life, after all the years wishing to see his sister, his best friend, his... Ava, because there's no traditional title that really fits them, after all the years wishing that ava is okay and... Alive, more than just surviving because even when he was a child he knew, ava was meant for such a bright and grand life, just because she was all that herself.

Anyway, just an idea, of course. My rambling is not in any way meant to pressure you into writing it 😆😅 I hope you're having a good day wherever you are. Cheers!

[first of all i love do a flip!!!! 100/10 recommend if anyone hasn't read it!!

anyway, here's a little diego pov in the butch bea universe. he's like 18 or 19? idk. yknow just roll w it :) ]

//

university is busy as hell, and it's cool that they pay for your doctor's appointments and, when you actually started getting the care you needed, you were able to do basically everything in the normal, big wide world with regular meds and check-ins — but mostly you just want to play rugby and flirt with girls (not well, but you're 18 and always kind, so who cares your success rate) and pass all of your classes. when you got adopted it had seemed like a miracle, and so you don't take any of this time for granted — not the bright sun or the grass stains on your knees or how rachel plays with your hair when you hang out in her dorm.

you don't think much of it when you get a random email from beatrice gu-knight, partially because emails are a pain in the ass and partially because nico brought over a six pack of stellas and his nintendo switch — you're the mario kart champion, undisputed — but, in the morning, when you open your phone, you think your heart might stop in your chest.

Hello Diego,

I hope you're well. I know it might seem strange to get an email like this from someone you don't know and have never even heard of, and, if you don't wish to follow up or connect, please just let me know, and that will be the end of it.

But, in the hopeful chance that you do: my name is Beatrice (she/her), and I'm reaching out to you because Ava Silva is my life partner. We've been together for a few years now and she talks of you often, and fondly; I know from her stories you were an extraordinarily joyful and sustaining part of her life at St. Michael's, and, if nothing else, I hope you understand my deep gratitude for that. I work in tech, so I was able to find this email address for you in the hopes that you might want to reconnect with Ava. We live in Los Angeles, and she's, as I'm sure you remember, wonderful. Maybe even more wonderful now, as I hope you are too.

Again, if you are at all uncomfortable, please feel no pressure to engage in any way; I won't let Ava know, so don't worry about that. If you would like to reconnect, though, you can respond to this email, or call or text me at my cell listed below. Thank you.

Warmest regards,

Beatrice

it takes you a few seconds to get it together, because, what the fuck, first of all. second of all, ava — one of your favorite people ever, and someone you miss every day. who apparently has a very proper and seemingly kind partner named beatrice, and lives in california. ava is alive, and probably really happy. the last time you saw her she was scared and upset and you had thought she died before that. you had thought you would never see her again.

Hey, this is Diego, you text the number on Beatrice's email. you think about the time difference, and, sorry if it's the middle of the night for you

it takes a minute or two, but then your phone vibrates. Diego, wonderful to hear from you! I'm glad my email wasn't too intense.

and, like, maybe it was a little, but your calc III professor is a fucking nutcase, so you kind of have a high bar.

Ava works late sometimes, so don't worry about the time difference right now

it's sweet, you think, that beatrice doesn't work late, or, whatever, maybe she does, but she's up because ava is awake. because ava will be coming home, or finishing up in an office. you wonder about their life, what their home looks like and if ava's laugh is still just as awesome. and, like, what is ava's job? is she still paralyzed, or can she walk like she had the last time you saw her? you're glad for her, honestly, that her partner is a girl, because ava thought boys were hot but also seemed to like girls more �� so, like, how did they fall in love? it's funny to imagine ava as a grownup, with a partner and a home and a whole life, but it's also the best.

do you want to facetime tomorrow or something, you text, because you don't really know what else to say, but you want to find out: about your sister, and the life she's apparently built. you think — if ava is anything like how she had been when you were younger — you definitely want to be in it.

I would love that, beatrice responds immediately. you work out the details and, eventually, you go to class and try to have a normal day. but ava is out there, happy, in california, with a partner who clearly cares about her. it feels like a gift, even to know. it feels like a gift, to get to be in her warmth again.

/

beatrice, when you answer the facetime call at exactly the second the clock hits 7 pm your time, is beautiful. it doesn't surprise you, not really, because you remember ava being pretty, and, even more than that, fucking awesome. beatrice is younger than what you think someone with that formal a name would be, with short dark hair that flops into her eyes, which are kind of gold in the light through the window of whatever room she's in. 'hello, diego,' she says, and, yeah, ava probably loves that accent.

it makes you laugh, but, like, in a nice way, to know that ava has a whole partner. a whole entire person who shares a life with her, who helps her with stuff and — beatrice is a saint for this — laughs at her puns.

'hey,' you say, feel awkward and a little sloppy in the face of the chic big oil painting behind her, the hoodie you know is expensive because your friend artur had had it marked on his stockx for, like, months now. 'uh, i'm diego. nice to meet you.'

beatrice smiles, and you see her freckles, and you realize, in a flash, a truth you know implicitly — that ava loves this person. ava picked this person to spend her life with. the world is cruel, you know better than most, but the world is also so, so kind.

'i'm so happy you responded to my email,' she says, less formal and with a slight laugh, mostly with joy. 'ava is the best, and i know that — she misses you. she loves you, a lot. i've always wanted to meet you.' you kind of don't know what to say, and you're relieved when she shakes her head. 'sorry, i'm being a lot again. believe it or not, this is my first rodeo with something like this.'

first rodeo sounds foreign from her, and it inexplicably makes you laugh. 'you're doing fine.' you realize that beatrice is just as nervous as you are, maybe even more: she loves ava. she has a whole life with ava. 'i — does ava want to talk to me?'

'i haven't told her yet. i wanted to see how you felt first, without any pressure, and i didn't want her to feel disappointed. but i know she will be... overjoyed, to have you in her life again, if you want.'

'yeah.' you think of ava's jokes and how full of life she was, even when she didn't have access to much of it herself. you think about the clumsy drawings you had made her, and how happy she was every time she got to go outside in her wheelchair. 'i do, want that. a lot.'

beatrice's smile is relieved and grateful. 'i can talk to her, then, and then maybe you two can set up a video chat? i know she'll be beside herself with excitement.'

'yeah,' you say, and you can't help but smile looking forward to it. it doesn't sound like ava's changed much, in the good ways, which is super cool. 'i'm excited too.'

/

your palms are clammy and you feel like you might throw up, but beatrice had sent you a link to a zoom and asked if the evening worked for you; you're so thrilled but also, like, what if ava doesn't like you anymore? what if she's way way cooler than you, or too grown up, or just bored by your life? it had been one thing, to lose her when you were young and confused, to have to grieve her absence so obliquely — but it would be an entirely different thing now, to know she's alive and has a life of her own and just doesn't want you in it. you don't really know how you would handle that. ava was your friend and ava was your sister, in the ways that really matter.

but, you realize very quickly, all of your anxiety was for nothing, because ava's face pops on screen — older, and her hair is shorter, and there are slight laugh lines settling into the skin around her eyes, but she mostly looks the same — and her smile is so warm and then she starts to cry and laugh and, yeah. if you do too, it's fine. no one else is in your dorm room anyway.

'hey,' she says, the first to get any words out. she's sitting up, and she waves, and you feel like you're seeing a real life miracle, right there on your computer screen. 'you look so old. i really missed you.'

'you look so old too.' she grins. 'i really missed you.'

it's a little stilted at first, probably because you're both overwhelmed, but then it's just... the fucking best. ava is a bartender, 'mostly for fun,' she says, which, whatever that means, and she still loves the beach. they apparently have a house right by the water. she starts crying again when you tell her you got adopted, that you're not so sick anymore because you have good doctors and caring parents, that you're in school to become an accountant.

'the family business?' she says, choked up, after you tell her that your adoptive mom is one too, and that she wanted you to be able to take over one day if you were interested.

it's as unbelievable to you some days as it seems to her, on bright mornings or when you get to go skiing in the cold snow, when your friends pass around a joint or when you get to go to a museum, whenever you want. 'yeah,' you say —  a family; you learn ava has one too. 'it's pretty incredible.'

/

'holy shit, ava.'

she just laughs, letting you go in front of her into her house. well, her and beatrice's house, you guess. you'd facetimed and texted a bunch with ava in the past two months, so you had figured out they were kinda loaded, and they'd both picked you up from the airport in a very sleek, fancy volvo, but, like —

'this is nuts.'

you think you might immediately cry again when you notice, right away, how there's not a single part of the house you can see that isn't accessible for someone in a wheelchair. ava had told you that she can walk but some days has a lot of pain and a hard time with mobility, and that beatrice was awesome and she had a good chair and even a van and a service dog, but you never could've imagined this. their house is huge and beautiful, like something you'd see in an AD tour you like to watch when you're stoned. ava has a cane today, and beatrice trundles in with your bag — she had insisted, quietly, but with a look that told you it would be totally pointless to argue.

'your house is awesome,' you say, to both of them.

beatrice smiles gently. 'we redid it last year, for accessibility. i think it turned out great.'

'wanna see the best part?' ava says, using her cane to bounce a little on the balls of her feet and you have to clear your throat because you had known her for so long. you had loved her for so long, your best friend in the entire world, who was smart and funny and bursting at the seams to feel it all, to really get to live.

'dude,' you say, 'of course.'

'i'm going to put your bag in your room,' beatrice says. 'and then i have a work call. but i should be done after the hour, for whatever you'd like to do, if you want me to join.'

'of course we want you to join,' ava says, and beatrice blushes and then gathers herself and kisses the top of ava's head before she offers you a thumbs up — nerdy, and it makes ava snort — and then lifts your bag like it weighs two pounds or something. 'love of my life,' ava says. 'definitely doesn't have a work call, but she's been stressed all week about making sure she gives us time to ourselves but doesn't seem aloof. huge weirdo.'

'she's hot.'

'ew, diego.'

you shrug. 'all i'm saying is that, like, i get it. not for me, because she's, like, super gay, but you know. for you.' you take a breath. 'sorry, i'm just excited.'

ava laughs. 'bea is super gay, it's true.' she points to a button on the wall nearby and then floor to ceiling glass doors that separate the living space from the patio. 'now, check this out.'

it's pretty fucking wild that ava went from the horrible orphanage, and tons of abuse that you were too small and too weak and too scared to stop, to a whole house that opens up to a day bed and an outdoor kitchen and dining area and a hot tub, a small patch of grass, and then the sea behind — but in the best kind of way. the kind of way that makes you want to tell everyone you meet that things can get better. that good things will happen to good people, at least sometimes. at least ava, who is the best of all of them.

ava motions for you to come with and walks outside, and then it's, like, genuinely the best thing ever when a black and white dog — korra, who ava sends you pictures of all the time and has featured in multiple zoom calls — who was napping in the sun, perks her head up and you swear she, like, dog-smiles at ava. 'hi, good girl,' ava says, and then claps her hands once and korra obediently, and happily, comes to ava's right side and sits, leans her little head against ava's thigh.

'i can't spend this entire time crying,' you say, and ava laughs. 'can i say hi?'

'of course,' she says. 'she's not usually formally working at home, unless i'm having a really bad day. which, you know, i'm not, but they do happen sometimes.' she shrugs and you kneel down in the sun and pet korra's soft ears as she nuzzles your face.

'she's so cool,' you say, and then kiss the top of her head and her nose. 'hey korra! i'm your uncle, i guess?'

'yeah! uncle diego.'

it makes you beam, to sit on the patio with ava as she shows you some of the tasks korra has been trained to do, and tells you about her bar you'll go to later, and points toward their outdoor shower with a sly smile. you do her the courtesy of fake gagging, although you really are just mostly happy for her, with her partner and her dog and a house that was built just for her.

eventually, beatrice comes outside, carrying a very intense charcuterie board. she places it down on the day bed, between you and ava, korra happily snoozing at your feet.

‘hi baby,’ ava says and scoots closer to you, then tugs on beatrice’s hand until she sits. ava kisses her temple. ‘this is very extravagant.’

‘well, we have a guest,’ beatrice says. ‘there’s wine inside, if you’d like a glass.’

‘i know nothing about wine,’ you admit, ‘but if there’s one you think… pairs? well with, you know —‘ you gesture to the elegantly laid out spread of food in front of you — ‘then i’ll trust you and go with that.’

ava grins. ‘yes, beatrice. be our resident sommelier, please.’

beatrice rolls her eyes, again with a blush, but then stands, ignoring ava’s pout. ‘i’ll be right back.’

‘she’s, like, really nice.’

ava lays back with a grin. ‘well she’s on her i was raised by diplomats and nannies most proper behavior right now. i don’t get charcuterie boards like this… ever.’ she takes a bite of cheese. ‘but bea is wonderful. she’s brilliant and funny and so, so kind. she’ll loosen up. i’m really excited you get to spend time with her.’

‘i’m thankful she reached out. i — i’m so happy to be here, and to see you.’

‘me too, my dude.’

beatrice comes back out with fancy real crystal glasses and a bottle of wine she explains is a vintage napa chardonnay, which mostly just makes you think it’s expensive. it probably is, with the way she efficiently uncorks it — ava practically drools, annoying, and you elbow her in the ribs — but it’s, like, really good. at least compared to the cheap wine you sometimes have with your friends when you order greek food.

‘diego,’ beatrice says, measured and anxious and, if ava’s stupid expression is anything to go by, endearing, ‘as you know, i like to surf. although it’s quite early, i was wondering if you might like to join me tomorrow? one of my best friends is an excellent instructor and the wave report looks ideally calm. ava thought you might be interested, if you’d like to learn?’

‘yeah,’ you say. ‘of course. that sounds sick.’

beatrice grins, relaxing a little. ava squeezes her hand. ‘i find it quite fun. it can be hard at first, but it’s nice to be in the water.’

‘diego gets his astounding athletic ability from my side of the family,’ ava says, patting you on the knee.

‘your side of the family?’ beatrice arches a brow.

‘yeah, the orphan side,’ you say, an old joke coming back to you, and ava gives you a high five.

‘i —‘

‘don’t think about it too hard, beatrice. diego also gets his bisexuality from my side of the family too.’

‘now that i’m willing to believe.’

ava winks at you, and then settles back into beatrice’s side.

/

admittedly, you're exhausted, so the mezcal margarita — smoky and just the right amount of sour — is hitting harder than you thought.

'okay,' ava says, 'boys are easy to flirt with.'

beatrice rolls her eyes.

'they are, bea,' she insists, then looks to you. 'sorry, diego, but boys are just... simple. they see someone hot, especially me, and there's, like, no thoughts.'

you think of the way luis had kissed you one night at a party — with his strong hands and his strong jaw and the rough, delicious scratch of his beard — after you'd just offered him a drink politely, so. honestly, that tracks.

'girls, though, diego.'

you laugh.

'you know, people who aren't men.'

'yeah, of course.'

'difficult. i just — whew.'

'aren't you, like, basically married?'

'well, yes, we're domestic partners. but beatrice is horrible at flirting. she's just lucky she's brilliant, and beautiful, and handsome, and funny.'

beatrice rolls her eyes again, although a blush spreads across her cheeks. 'i think i have more women try to flirt with me than you.'

ava huffs. 'that's because you're just — ugh.' she turns toward you. 'bea has grown into being a lesbian magnet. i once was superior. plus, boys flirt with me too.' she claps you on the back. 'either way, between the two of us, we'll teach you everything you need to know.'

'they won't,' one of their friends says, sliding in next to beatrice, who smiles and kisses him on the cheek. he's maybe the hottest person you've ever seen, with tattoos down both arms and a neat fade, probably a few years older than beatrice. 'i'm keiko,' he says, and offers his hand. his handshake is so strong and you feel yourself blush. 'i own the dojo beatrice goes to.'

'my favorite sparring partner,' beatrice says. 'partially because i have never lost.'

keiko waves her off.

'uh, i'm diego.'

ava laughs, delightedly, at how flustered you clearly are.

'well, if you want advice on boys, i am quite successful.'

'i'm sure you are.'

ava gives you a high five, mortifyingly. 'that's my man.'

'i'm cutting both of you off,' beatrice says.

'one shot, bea, please. come on. all we have to do is walk home.'

beatrice sighs dramatically and runs a hand through her hair, and keiko nudges her in the shoulder. 'for once in your life, beatrice, have a little fun.'

it takes a moment, but she laughs. 'fine. one shot, and then home.'

/

you surf the next morning, early as fuck, but you’re kind of jetlagged anyway and it’s really beautiful to watch the sunrise while you rest on a board. you haven’t popped up and you got tired pretty fast, but beatrice’s friend, ray — and beatrice herself, obviously — are patient and relaxed and don’t seem to care at all.  ava wanders out eventually, setting out a towel and drinking a to-go cup of coffee. she waves happily and blows a kiss in beatrice’s direction, who blushes. it had made you laugh, quietly, when she had put a special bucket hat designed for surfing on after she situated her wetsuit.

‘i don’t want to get sunburned,’ she explained, and then handed you a bottle of spf 100 sunscreen and a zinc stick.

eventually you ride a wave in on your knees, laughing, and then go sit by ava while you watch ray and beatrice and the rest of their little crew surf the next set, bigger on the outer break. you can tell beatrice shows off, for ava and, maybe a bit, for you. it's still early, and ava's happy to sit back in the easy quiet.

'hey,' you say after a while, during a break in sets, 'so, beatrice introduced me this morning as "ava's little brother".'

she turns to you, studies your features carefully, just like she always would when you were in the orphanage, trying to pay close attention. 'did that feel okay?'

'other than the fact that i'm taller than you —'

'— hey —'

'— of course,' you say. 'i love being your brother.'

ava scoots closer to you and bumps your shoulder with hers; you have your wetsuit down around your waist and she has one of beatrice's hoodies on, but you've mostly dried off by this point so you put your arm around her shoulders and tug her to you.

'do you, uh. sister? sibling?'

ava smiles. 'either is great.'

'okay.'

'thanks, diego.'

'nothing to thank me for there. i should be thanking you, honestly. all expenses paid trip to a bougie beach house in california to see someone i've missed so much? the dream.'

she sniffles. you don't know all the details but you know ava has been through some real shit after she — came back to life, you guess? 'i missed you too, so so much.' she clears her throat and wipes under her eyes. 'in the spirit of being your cool older sibling, what mild to moderately wild things do you want to do here. i don't want your parents to be mad at me so consider wisely.'

'tattoo.'

'do you have anything planned that you would want?'

'well, no.'

ava laughs.

'what? beatrice has cool tattoos.'

'she is a staunch believer that you should plan your tattoos in advance. but think of something and then next time we'll get you all set up with her artist, if you want.'

there's a level of maturity and care that's a little unexpected but, like, really cool? really nice. it's kind of weird and makes you a bit emotional, because ava is grown up. she's still an idiot, and constantly annoying, and very funny — but she's gotten to get older, and so have you.

'we could dye our hair,' she says, shrugging. 'easy to rectify, if it's a disaster.'

'i'm so in, man.' your hair is darker than hers, and you have no idea if she knows what she's doing, but you trust beatrice — with her neat hair and neat house and neat clothes and seemingly undying love for ava — to monitor the situation.

'maybe we can do the bi flag.'

it makes you laugh, imagining how silly it would look. 'what about just purple? like, a light purple situation.'

'i've done that before,' she tells you excitedly. 'loved it. definitely time to return.'

'deal. also, i want to try california weed.'

ava grins. 'we would have let you last night, you know, but you were actively falling asleep at the bar after one cocktail.'

'it's the time difference, i swear.'

'sure it is.'

'well, bea loves her edibles. she's very particular about them. i'm... much less particular about joints, but we can start off chill. maybe this afternoon. and then we can have tacos.'

'that sounds like a perfect day.'

she smiles. 'yeah,' she says. 'even more perfect because i get to share it with you.'

'gross,' you say, although you might suddenly cry. 'sappy.'

'yeah, yeah. whatever.'

you keep your arm around ava's shoulders and watch beatrice and ray trade tricks the next set, and then they both call it and walk, laughing, toward you. ava struggles to stand with a frown, and you offer your arm for her to take if she wants. she does, smiles quickly in thanks and then, you know too, moves on without a word. she kisses beatrice soundly on the mouth, then pushes her goofy bucket hat off her head, fastened around her neck and resting on the back of her shoulders, and then gratuitously unzips her wetsuit while ray rolls her eyes.

it's a whole big world, you learn more and more every day. ray joins you for breakfast and then ava takes you shopping while you're pretty sure beatrice just naps. ava uses her chair and brings korra, which is mostly just the coolest thing in the world to you, because she has a whole van customized too, and she just — you had known, when you were younger, when ava would get to go outside in her chair, that nothing was limiting her other than care, and access. you had been limited too, and you ached with it. you ache differently now, because ava navigates her day fully and independently: a wheelchair lift for the stairs, and a huge, beautiful closet and kitchen where she can reach everything without having to stand, and korra, who can turn on lights and open doors and brings you a juice from the fridge when you sit down and mention you're thirsty; ava grins with the command and then praises korra, and you scratch her soft head and even softer ears.

beatrice does supervise when you and ava dye your hair, but ava mostly knows what she's doing, and really gets distracted the most when she looks over at beatrice in lowslung joggers and a cutoff tank and a beanie, leaning against the doorframe quietly, a fond expression on her face. ava wears crop tops and wideleg pants and expensive sneakers and you both end up laughing when you have your matching lavender hair.

you eat edibles that make everything feel lush and slow and perfect, and beatrice laughs softly at ava's ramble about her arms, and she orders a ton of her favorite chinese food that you eat on the patio at sunset. you take some pictures on your film camera, at sunset, and beatrice takes a few of you and ava. you wish you could go back in time and tell both of you, when you were small and sad and scared and abused, that things would be this beautiful one day. that things would be this good.

ava and beatrice eventually say goodnight before they head inside to their bedroom. there's too much light pollution in los angeles to see many of the stars, but you know they're there all the same.

[antidotefortheawkward-art]

Hi I have a question.

I hope it's not disrespectful to ask but how do you feel about people that cosplay sūn wùkōng? (hope I spelled that right, I'm not sure where the accented letters are off the top of my head so I'm relying on google)

Should it be off the table entirely since he's kind of an important figure in China or in some cases an actual God people believe in? Should it be only Chinese people could cosplay him and anyone else doing it would be cultural appropriation? Or could anybody cosplay him as long as you do some research and are respectful to the culture?

Sorry if it's rude to ask.

Hey there! Not rude to ask, don't worry.

Please note that these are all my personal thoughts on the matter and that other Chinese people may feel differently and their perspectives should also be considered. Also, I will not be not putting the TLDR at the start because I believe the reasoning I go into is important to understand my intent and perspective.

--- Personally, I don't think there's a straightforward "yeah thats fine" or "no thats bad" answer for something like this, so I'm gonna start my explanation on my thoughts by first talking about Chinese people cosplaying Sun Wukong.

-

Yeah Sun Wukong is an important figure and in some traditions, an actual god people still actively worship. However, he still has a large pop cultural presence and is thus one of the more "approachable" sort of gods in Daoist culture (like, there's a noticeable difference in tone between how people discuss him versus, say, Bodhisattva Guanyin or CaiShenYe).

We grew up with JTTW in a different way than we did with other bits of folklore and religion, so, at least among those who don't actively worship or have a family tradition of worshiping him, there's a more relaxed attitude surrounding Sun Wukong as a character. And thus, there's a lot of people who grew up watching the different adaptations goofing off with their friends by heading to the local trampoline park or renting an actual white horse in JTTW cos服。There are a lot of JTTW cosplay memes floating around Weibo and Douyin and such. So within the context of Chinese culture itself, cosplaying Sun Wukong is all fun and fine as long as you're not like, doing wildly inappropriate stuff in his image yknow (like idk being rude and disrespectful at one of his IRL temples).

I also want to note that this relaxed attitude is also due in part to how Daoism and Chinese folk religion are so passively dominant in Chinese culture as a whole. "The dominant religion defines what is secular" and all that. Cosplaying Sun Wukong as a Chinese person in China and fucking around isn't really challenging much within that context, since JTTW is such a constant and a given.

---

So now let's talk about cosplaying Sun Wukong when outside of the context of Chinese culture and when coming from a culture that doesn't have a history of JTTW tradition (because JTTW is important to lots of other East and Southeast Asian cultures outside of just Chinese culture).

There is nuance here, but overall I personally think it's fine, GIVEN THAT YOU PUT THOUGHT INTO THE COSPLAY.

If you're being respectful and recognizing that Sun Wukong is an important figure, generally I think you should be fine, but I personally think there's also like a sliding scale of "yeah thats fine 👍," considering how many versions of Sun Wukong exist. Like, if you're cosplaying the cyberpunk Sun Wukong skin from the MOBA "WangZheRongYao," which is clearly just a generic donghua boy with Sun Wukong flavor that's not really meant to be taken all that seriously, that feels very clearly "yeah, go nuts" to me. But if you're cosplaying the Sun Wukong from Shanghai Animations' 1964 "Havoc in Heaven," I feel like you should be a bit more mindful of your portrayal- especially since his design incorporates Chinese opera face-paint, which is a cultural art form and has a history of being mocked and likened to "clown makeup." Honestly in the case of Sun Wukongs that have Chinese opera makeup, I might say I personally would not be comfortable with someone who isn't Chinese cosplaying such designs, for the reasons stated previously.

So use your critical thinking skills when looking at a Sun Wukong you'd want to cosplay, and try to use your best judgement.

Of course, the basic respect concerning cosplaying Chinese characters should also apply:

Don't treat hanfu as some costume piece (like, the cosplay as a whole is a costume, but be mindful of how you talk about the cultural garb itself).

Don't try to make yourself look "more Chinese" or something and end up doing yellowface (I can't count how many times I've seen white people cosplaying cdrama/donghua characters and doing "eye make-up" to achieve a monolid or "fox-eye" look).

Be mindful of how you're acting as someone who isn't Chinese (for the love of god, no folded prayer hands 🙏, or throwing in random bits of Chinese into your vocab unless you're earnestly trying to learn one of its dialects (honestly if you're learning, maybe still don't speak in Chinese while cosplaying because from an outside perspective that doesn't know you're learning, it can still be uncomfortable and give off the impression that you're not taking this seriously))

All that being said, if a Chinese person, or someone else from a culture that JTTW holds importance to, tells you that they're uncomfortable with your portrayal, please be respectful and listen to what they have to say.

On that note, I do also want to say that personally, I myself find it uncomfortable seeing white people specifically cosplaying Sun Wukong, due to the history of the folklore and traditions of people of color being hijacked and disrespected and exploited by white people.

-

TLDR: There's nuance. Cosplaying as Sun Wukong is popular and fun in China due to the space SWK occupies in Chinese culture. Generally cosplaying as Sun Wukong should be fine, as long as you're thoughtful and respectful and acknowledge his importance. -Please also use your best judgement, as some iterations of Sun Wukong may be more approachable than others (due to factors such as a cultural art form being integral to their design). -Please also exercise the baseline respect needed when cosplaying Chinese characters (mindful of cultural garb, yellowface, stereotypes, etc). -Please also listen to the thoughts and concerns of people whose cultures JTTW holds importance to, and be respectful if they are uncomfortable with your portrayal, taking steps to help alleviate that discomfort (even if that means just, not cosplaying Sun Wukong in the first place, because people have their valid reasons). -As for my personal thoughts, I do not feel comfortable seeing white people specifically cosplaying Sun Wukong, due to the history of white people disrespecting, exploting, and hijacking the folklore and traditions of people of color.

[joshstambourine]

A Seconds Glance

"Hi I have a request for either Josh or Jake 💛 can I get a story where they see a girl, either at school or they can already be famous in this, and is instantly enamored. I don't know if you've seen The Virgin Suicides, but if you have then something similar to when Trip sees Lux for the first time. I'm interested in how those two would go about getting a girl's attention when they have a crush.💕💕💕" - Anonymous

//Hi Doll! I can’t say I have seen that--- but I will try my best to write something that I feel matches the idea you had. 

I’m gonna be repeating this forever--- but again, I’m so sorry it took me so long to get this request out for you! I decided to go with Josh being in school for this one.//

Warnings: Cursing, awkward beans

Word Count: 1969

Synopsis: Josh had never really believed in love at first sight... but yet....

Josh Kiszka x Fem!Reader

The first day of sophomore year. For most this was just the start of another school year; a sudden reminder that a new binder or fun pencil case is exciting for all of 10 minutes when it comes to actual classes and work. But for Josh… this year felt like it was filled with possibilities. It sounds like some sort of stupid thing you'd see on a motivational calendar, but it really truly did.

Josh hadn't imagined for a second that he actually would have a chance in making music his career; and yet, he had spent all summer with his band mates playing for different occasions and pubs. All the while they were working, working hard on writing songs that they could be proud to play for others.

All of that said, Josh was returning to high-school this year with a new found amount of confidence and excitement; it showed in every step Josh took. His one hand held loosely on to the arm of his backpack, walking in time with Jake.

"But what do you think? Would it look good on me?" Jake inquired, fingers lightly playing with the mid-length pieces of hair on his head.

"I mean… I don't know…" Josh lightly starts, glancing at his twin and begins to take a good long look at him.

Jake's eyes widened just a touch, his expression becoming one that said, 'Well…?'

"Uh… honestly I don't really know Jake. I've never seen you with anything else than this." Josh admits, then snickers a little, "Except for that one time when we decided it'd be fun to take those scissors and---"

"No, that's fine, I didn't need to think about that." Jake immediately stopped him, his hand going to take a full dive into his mess of dark brown hair. 

"Cmon, it was really funny though. Ma really lost her shit when she saw your head like that." Josh continued to muse, hands folding into his pockets with the utmost of ease. 

Jake shook his head in a mournful way, "I can say I will never go back to a buzz-cut again… not without a fight."

Josh's smile never faltered, it was his laughter that changed, softening into a bit of a sigh as they reached the double doors at the front of the school. With a swing of the doors they both were making their way down the hallway to their lockers.

"Meet by Mr.Shapiro's class before lunch?" Jake questioned, to which Josh nodded. No matter which school the twins went to the teachers seemed to know that the best course of action was to keep them separated. That said Josh and Jake always had separate homerooms at least, through most of their time in school.

"See ya in a bit." Josh waved, taking a few steps back before turning on his heels and heading to his own locker.

Josh's excitement to be back in class showed on his face more than he probably would have wanted. A few pencils in his hand along with a binder filled with blank paper and tucked away dividers.  

As soon as Josh stepped into the class room his eyes were met with many familiar faces. Some of these people he had been in school with since kindergarten; like Meg, a rather tall blunt faced girl with long kinky black hair. She simply threw a peace sign Josh's way as he stepped through the doors; he eagerly returned it, bringing a small smile to Meg's lips. 

With some brisk steps Josh moved to place himself at the back of the classroom, just behind Meg. He threw his things on his desk without much thought. Despite there being a good number of kids he knew... there seemed to be equally just as many new kids. 

Leaning on his desk Josh moved closer to Meg, "Where the hell did these guys come from?" 

Meg's brow lifted as she leaned back a little, "Know the high-school on the east side?" 

"The one where you can get crack for super cheap?" Josh inquired, 

Meg's head bobbed, "They closed it down, so now we get half the kids that went there." She explains with her head resting on her hand in a bored way. 

"Oh shit really? That's a lot of kids---" Josh was quick to respond, glancing around the room. 

"Oh yeah... way too many in my personal opinion --- not that anyone cares." Meg mutters, beginning to click her mechanical pencil. 

Josh's eyes were still taking in all the new faces as he started to respond, "Wow aren't we positive today." 

Meg sighed, "Eh.... I'm just not excited, Justin and I broke up over the summer and I'll have to see him in history." She began to explain, "Things are just really tense, yknow?" 

She waited a moment for him to give some comforting... but still idiotic response, however none came. It finally got Meg to turn and look at him, as she did she immediately noticed that Josh's eyes had widened just a touch, cheeks dusted a light pink. 

Meg followed the line of his eyes to a beautiful young woman. The expression he wore was more than enough to tell Meg that she should move. 

Josh was so busy just... taking the new girl in that he didn't even notice Meg slip to the free desk to the side of the one she was previously sat in. Josh just couldn't put his finger on it, there was something... something so breathtaking about her. Was it her eyes? Or maybe how her hair fell around her face? He couldn't be sure. What he was absolutely sure of was that he had never had a moment in his life where he could hear music just by looking at someone. 

"Hey... do you know if this desk is free?" A new voice shook Josh. It was her. She was standing at a desk to his left with a bit of an awkward air. 

He was just so shaken. What did she say again? Something about a desk? Josh's lips parted, "Uh--- I uh, what did you--?" 

"No that one isn't open, but the one just in front of my dude Josh is, right Josh?" Meg interrupted, pointing to the desk ahead of him. 

"Oh y-yeah, that one's open! Definitely 100% open! It couldn't be more open even if it tried!" Josh started spouting, he really wasn't even aware that his mouth had moved, and that was clear in the fact that it just kept moving when she had come to sit down. "Do you need any pencils at all?? I have like 20!" He continued, though his hand held one full sized pencil and one shorter than the average person's pinkie... both chewed on. "I mean not on me but--- who needs a pencil right?" 

The girl laughed a little awkwardly, her gaze moving from Josh to Meg and then to the desk. "No, no I'm okay thank you though." She slipped into the chair, keeping her gaze frontwards. 

Meg looks to Josh with a shocked look, 'What was that??' She mouthed, 

Josh responded with an absolutely mortified expression. He would never say he was the smoothest guy on the planet, but he had never been that awkward in his life. 

Meg shook her head before reaching out to tap the girl's shoulder, "I'm Meg!" She introduces, "And that goober is Josh." 

The girl lightly moved to glance over her shoulder at Josh in a shy way. "It's nice to meet you both. I'm (Y/N)." She hummed with a sweet smile. 

"That's a pretty name, isn't it Josh??" Meg quickly said, trying to get him to continue the conversation in a less awkward way.

Josh nodded very enthusiastically, "The prettiest name I've heard in a long time!" He said with a smile, 

(Y/N)'s cheeks began to hold a flush of their own. "Oh! Uh... th-thank you!" She sputtered out. 

'OH FUCK. She's so cute.' Josh thought to himself, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat with a shaky swallow. 

Little did Josh know that (Y/N) was thinking something very similar. She might not make it as obvious as he was, but being so much closer now... being able to see the warmth in his brown eyes, seeing how his wavy brown hair came to cup his cheeks --- she couldn't help but continue to stare back at him. 

The only thing that could pull them both out of the little trance they had fallen into was the bell. Both of them quickly looked toward it, followed by a man's voice at the front of the class. 

"Alright everyone, take your seats!" 

(Y/N) was reluctant but she turned herself to look toward the front of the class. A little bit nervous, but mustering an ounce of courage she tore a piece of paper from her notebook quietly and began to scribble something down. 

Josh hardly got anything out of that language arts class, he was way too busy trying to figure out what excuse he could make to talk with (Y/N) again. He was just rattling through every little conversation starter he had ever heard in his life... but none of them felt like they would work. 

Before long the bell had rung overhead once more and everyone was shuffling to grab their things and head to all of their next classes. 

Biting his lip, Josh was determined to catch (Y/N) before she could head off to her own next class. Luckily for him she had a similar idea. Both turning to each other as they stepped out of the classroom, it was painfully quiet at first. It seemed as if they were trying to get their thoughts together really. 

Finally they spoke, 

"Hey would you---" "I was wondering if you'd---" 

At once. 

A small awkward laugh left their lips, "Please, go ahead I was going to say something dumb---" Josh quickly said moving to rub the back of his neck. 

(Y/N)'s lips parted as she let out and unsure chuckle, eyes moving downwards for a moment. "I was just going to ask if you would mind if I joined you for lunch? I just am new and don't really have any---" 

"Yes!" Josh quickly said, "Yes absolutely. You didn't even have to ask, you could have just showed up if you wanted to!" He quickly says to her. 

The speed he seemed to talk at entertained (Y/N) a heck of a lot. A smile creeping across her face, "Okay! Thank you!" She responded. 

"Do you know where the cafeteria is? I can show ya if you want??" Josh quickly continued, "I mean I'm sure you could find it on you're own, you seem very smart and capable. Most women are to be honest; I remember reading an article about how men need to---" 

"That would be really great actually." (Y/N) smiled in a gentle way. 'He's even more nervous than I am.' She thought to herself. 

"Oh-oh! Okay cool! Uh, do you know where Mr.Shapiro's class is?" He asks, 

(Y/N) seemed to think for a minute, "113... right? I have him for chemistry this afternoon I think." She mutters. 

Josh swiftly nods his head, "That's the one!! Meet me there okay?" He says. 

(Y/N) nodded back, understanding the little plan they now had. "I'll see you in a little bit then?" She lightly asks. 

"Yeah absolutely." Josh began to grin, suddenly beyond excited. Even as she began to walk off to her class all he could think about was how sure he was now that this year was going to be fantastic. 

That was until a warning bell played overhead, "Oh shit--" Josh jumped in shock, immediately beginning to run to his next class.

//That's all for now lovely! I do actually have an idea on how to continue this one if anyone would like! Pretty please let me know in the comments if that's something you guys would like 💜//

[aggressivelyclueless]

For the ask game, how about 4, 8, or 28? <3

ok here we go

4: how many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? care to share one of them?

ok. uhm. it's a lot. entirely too many. let's say a dozen, because that makes me sound relatively put-together nvm it's way more than that i just checked the list and holy shit. but! i will share a pitch. it's one that i have been wanting to work on for a while:

circus gothica corpse au. danny leaves the body behind every time he goes ghost, reinhabits it when he comes back. freakshow finds this out, immediately makes an act out of literally murdering this boy. repeatedly. for money. this belongs in the Hey You Wanna See Something Fucked Up? category (a lot of my fic does, somehow).

8: share a snippet from one of your favourite dialogue scenes you've written and explain why you're proud of it.

k im going to be blunt here: dialogue is my weakness. always feels awkward to write; looking at it is less-than-great; getting it to *hit* is extremely difficult for me. maybe idk one or two lines out of an entire convo will be organic but for the most part they feel fake. like talking heads, yknow?

however.

the whole final convo from Stalemate felt a little less-crapshoot-y to write, iirc. this bit in particular vvvv

[wes] ". . . you think I'm not gonna catch you sooner or later, you think you're not gonna get sloppy one of these days and - ?"

"No," said Danny plainly, "Honestly, I don't think you will. Maybe sooner or later you could, sure. You could catch me pulling all sorts of stunts, if you really wanted - but that's just like I could overshadow you at the drop of a hat and make you chuck your laptop off the roof."

Weston paled. "You wouldn't."

Danny shook his head again. "You're right. I wouldn't, and you know enough to believe me when I say that. And you know what else? Maybe this is a game - but if either one of us loses then we don't get to start over and play again."

^^^^ i think really sums up their whole dynamic. danny treats it like a game: he pulls wes' tail, wes pulls his tail back, and it's fair. and he expects that it will stay fair, that neither one of them are supposed to "win."

but then the scales are tipped too far and they both have to make sure theyre on the same page. as it turns out, they werent, not exactly. i also really like this line from danny:

"just so long as you know for yourself, and you're sure you wanted the ending you're after if you come too close to getting it."

basically: a reminder to wes that if he wins - succeeds in outing danny's ghost half - that the consequences of that will be real and that's game-over.

yeah maybe it's bc i like exploring their dynamics in various ways but these two are super interesting together and i think maybe most of their interactions have been fairly easycoming? compared to a lot of the dialogue i write, anyhow.

28: share three of your favourite fic writers and explain why you like them so much

ok first off @floralflowerpower bc i am low-to-medium-key living for the ghostbusters crossover they started

second off @anthropwashere bc it’s all super well-written

and third off @lexosaurus bc the ability to dual-wield angst and shitposting is too powerful. i could never.

[xnchxntmxnt]

OMG HAPPY 2OO LUV!! ILYSM, AND YOU DEFINITELY DESERVE MORE!! AS EXPECTED I'M HERE FOR THE MATCHUP EVENT AND I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING LATE KSDJFHSDF

1 | name : amie 2 | pronouns : s/her 3 | preferred gender : doesn't really matter 4 | self-description :

— it's ya clown sho <3 anyway, i'm an ambivert but more inclined towards the introvert side. my MBTI is INFJ and i'm a Gemini. i'd describe myself as someone who's very observant? yea, i guess. i'm awkward and you know it. My favorite color is blue, specifically sapphire, but i love all pastel colors. My fav show is Chicago Medical and all the psychological and crime thrillers out there are my favorite ( silent patient is my #1 though ) I love painting, playing piano and basketball!

— what i look in a partner you ask, uh, someone who can tolerate my silence. there are times when i go quiet for a whole day, i'll barely speak, no interaction nothing. i want someone who'd not exactly 'deal with it' but 'understand it.' also, i want someone who i can talk to without any hesitation. i have a hard time opening up so i don't do it but when i do, i spill almost everything. i might cry, might have anxiety attack, i might even shout. i know it's not very healthy but i want someone who can help me with those. plus someone who i can read with please <3 cheating and not having any respect for personal space would be the major deal breaker for me

5 | gen. aesthetic : my fashion sense starts from sweats and ends in sweats. i'm a big fan of those oversized hoodies and shirts, like something really comfy. however, i do have a collection of formal wears like blazers and dress.

6 | color/s to describe myself : red, actually. if not read then blue. it switchers but red 90% of the times.

7 | fav song/s : literally everything by Chase Atlantic and The Neighborhood. However, my absolute favorites are some of the famous classical pieces like Experience by Ludovico Einaudi and Chopin's Ballade No. 1 Op 23.

8 | fav genre of music : classical music ( Beethoven, Einaudi and Chopin own my heart )

Lol this is very lengthy I'm sorry, btw congrats again!

I looked into MBTI, I looked into zodiacs, I went off of what you said

Here he is, the man, Seijoh’s do-it-all guy

HANAMAKI TAKAHIRO ur new boyfriend

There is not enough content for him, anyway

How You Met

Bear with me here

Think about this

Artist!hanamaki

You love painting? Art club.

Idk if youre actually in any art club but shhh

Anyway, it was probably some sort of community thing full of tons of different age artists (bc you’d have basketball or something after school and he had volleyball)

So like once a week on thursday afternoons everyone gets together and does all sorts of artsy stuff

Everyone listens to lo fi music (or you can bring headphones) and chit chat and just paint for a couple hours

Its in the back section of a library (bc the library near me does stuff like this its awesome) so if you want you can go read a book while you wait for things to dry

One day the person that ran it suggested you talked to the new guy

He was about your age, it was his first day, they didn't know what all he was good at, and tbh they thought you two would look cute together

Just the vibes yk

So you set up your canvas and stuff next to him and introduced yourself

And you guys just vibe to the playlist

He’s REALLY good

Compliments you a lot too

Which is fun because he’s cute so it makes you a little flustered

You find out you guys go to the same school and he’s on the VB team

And says he has a (practice) game that weekend and asks you to come if you can

Which you do

And they win! So its fun!

Matsukawa basically asks you out for him though

He’s heard all about you already

“You don't get it issei! She’s so pretty!! God, she touched my hand and I thought I was gonna die!!!!!” “the enthusiasm is new for you” “shut up asshole” (conversation from the night before)

So he walks up to you after the game and is like “Hey so,,, we’re going out to get some lunch, you wanna come?”

Makki thinks HES flirting with you and is pissed off about it

Until you all sit down for lunch and oh, the only open spot for him is next to you (since when is matsukawa willing to sit between iwaizumi and oikawa??)

He asked you out after art club that week (Mattsun threatened not to give him any more monster for the rest of the month if he didn't get the guts to do it)

General Headcanons

You date hanamaki, you're also dating matsukawa

There’s no separating them (good thing ur MBTIs work together too, especially for strong friendships)

This was literally my first thought

So

Good luck with both these trolls

More on that later

Of course he’s going to be worried if you go radio silent for a while, but he'll understand

There are some days he’s not gonna wanna talk either

He’s really supportive on your bad days of course

Expect a random text in the middle of the evening from him

“Hiya sweetheart, just wanted to remind you that you’re beautiful, I love you, and I hope your day is going well.”

When he’s having a bad day, the same thing is all he needs from you to keep moving

He’s a really honest person. If you want to talk to him, be prepared not to get any sugar coating. If you tell him to shut up because you don’t want advice, he will. But if you expect advice from him, expect brutally honest advice. Subtlety is not his strong suit, so when it comes to advice, he’s going to tell it like it is. He's just trying to help, yknow?

However, he’s pretty good with people, so will know how to comfort you when something is bothering you. Tea and cuddles? Gotcha. Dancing at 11pm because neither of you want to sleep yet? On it. You want him to hold you? Perfect.

He’s not like...the most touchy person? There are some things he’s really indifferent on, and other things he’s stubborn as hell with. Whatever you wanna do, though

His weakness though

⚠️this part is slightly little bit suggestive⚠️

He will randomly walk up to you and pull you against him, give you a really deep kiss, smirk and walk away like nothing happened

Like hands in hair probably almost making out and then just

Walk away

Because that’s how he kisses and it’s breathtaking every time

It’s either little temple kisses or forehead or cheek pecks or something

Or that

And probably leaves you flustered and it’s funny (to him) (and to me if I was there with you) (bc that would be funny)

Hmm I’m thinking

I’m thinking hair dye dates

He needs help doing his hair from time to time Y’know (he doesn’t he just likes spending time with you) and he wants to make it pink again

So he teaches you how to do his hair and even offers to dye yours one day

Either just a strand or the ends or everything, up to you

Imagine having twinning hair dye with makki isn’t that cute

I think it’s cute

I said ur platonically dating mattsun right

Yes you are now

He absolutely adores you and loves how much makki loves you

Probably would have asked you out if makki didn’t but he was really pushing for makki to because he was just all over you in the beginning

He wasn’t overly attached to you romantically so being friends? Perfect. Sounds great

You two get along wonderfully though like you act like siblings once you warm up to each other

Again, very brutally honest person, but a little more awkward so doesn’t know what he’s saying might come off as he’s acting like a dick

He doesn’t try to though and he does really care about you

Flat out told makki if he breaks up with you and breaks your heart he’s gonna kick his ass (makki doesn’t know he had the same (less aggressive) conversation with you)

Tbh all of the VBC at seijoh loves you

Oikawa loves talking to you he thinks you’re great for makki

Gets you in on he and makki and mattsun’s antics

Iwa thinks you’re good too he just doesn’t know you as well

I think that kunimi would like you (he was almost a runner up--)

Kindaichi too

The first years just think you’re cool even if they won’t say it out loud

Seijoh VBC loves you

You got mattsun’s approval

And hanamaki loves you with literally everything in his life

So

You’re pretty set with your strawberry baby huh

Date Night!

SLEEPOVERS

I was waiting for some matchup to come along that gave me sleepover vibes

In a perfect world where you could do sleepovers with your bf because most parents would,,,not let that happen

Imagine…

He shows up at like 7:00 after practice, pizza in hand because he picked up dinner

You two eat, chat about your day, he probably scarfs down half the pie bc it’s after practice ofc he’s hungry

So when you guys are done eating you head up to your room

And make pillow fort

It’s mandatory

Different design every time, but there’s a pillow fort nonetheless

And then when there’s just enough room for the both of you to climb in

You get a blanket and a couple pillows and one of your phones or laptops or whatever and watch a movie and cuddle

When the movie is over you guys break out the face masks

You ever wonder why he has such great skin? It’s thanks to you (or if you don’t have masks, he picks them up on the way home from practice)

But anyway you guys talk shit about people for a while and sit with the masks on (it’s usually him talking about how Oikawa is a bitch as much as he loves him) (or about whatever he and Mattsun were talking about lately)

You both get chances to vent while the masks sit on your face and you just vibe with music (usually that you pick) (he listens to like,,,meme songs and like CORPSE yk)

After masks you guys make/get some snacks and munch on those during another movie but this time you’re in comfy jammies and more relaxed Y’know

Less paying attention to the movie you’ve seen a million times and just vibing in each other’s presence and it’s just really sweet

Fall asleep on his chest

Let him fall asleep on yours

Either way, you’ve got him whipped for you he loves you

Not that he doesn’t already but that’s his favorite thing ever so please just let him do that

Always makes sure to tell you he loves you before you sleep too

If you fall asleep first he takes embarrassing pictures of you with your hair being a mess & you best bet he sends them to mattsun because “she’s so cute omfg” “dude” “dude what” “you’re so fuckin stupid” “?” “Whatever—good luck being whipped just tell me when you need to get a ring, k” “you’re such a jackass” “yeah yeah Gnight”

Zodiac/MBTI

Okay so I’m not doing a big long paragraph for all this BUT from what I understand, Gemini/Aquarius are really compatible, and ENTP and INFJ are known as “perfect matches” sO (I had a really hard time deciding between Atsumu and Makki because they're both ENTP)

Psst Gemini + Leo is compatible and so is INTP + INFJ,,,, so, again, asking you to marry me sho 💍💍

Aesthetic/Vibes

Playlist

Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C major, BWV 846

Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi Trio (meme song)

Sky Full Of Stars by The Piano Guys

Someone To You by The Piano Guys

Shut Up And Dance - Simply Three

Runners Up

Miya Atsumu, Tsukishima Kei