#honestly those are mild notes and as a whole the entire thing was so FUN that it didn’t really even matter

[sugaggukkie]

watched the new jeans lolla performance and CHEESED through literally every second of it!!! congrats to the funnest cutest sweetest baby girls on an excellent american debut

[nectardaddy]

dirty dancing - higuruma hiromi

cw: MDNI, highly (and I mean highly) suggestive, talk of sex, teasing/suggestive banter, dirty dancing, mild degradation [use of the word "whore" at reader], pet names [honey, baby], drinking, drunkenness, language, she/her (ma'am is used once), reader calls him an old man but there's not an age gap

notes: minors if you interact with this AT ALL you're getting blocked on sight, established relationship, written in the lens of him so it's a bit bitter, maybe a bit ooc? but he's drunk so I'll use that as an excuse, lmk if I missed any warnings

Higuruma much prefered bars over clubs, no longer a fan of the drunk antics that came along with the sleazy aesthetic. Being a bit older, and a bit wiser, he had sense enough to tell you no when you asked if he'd rather frequent a club.

But all it took for him to cave was a sickly sweet "please" and to gaze at him lovingly, batting your pretty eyes as you looked up at him. Finding himself eating his words once you dressed yourself in practically nothing, all for the sake of going out. Good god why did he say yes?

It took all but his very will to let you out of the house like that, better yet a venue where the whole point was to garner a few looks amongst the sea of people who danced. Thinking to himself, you'd get more than just a few, he'd have to all but cover you the entire night - he'd be damned if anyone dared to look you over.

He stayed at the bar majority of the night, allowing you to do god knows with friends you had met up with throughout. Nursing a whiskey and sighing like this was his last stand, he was a little too old to be occupying places like this. Sure, there were people well over his age patronizing the club; but this, truly, was not his forte anymore.

Cheeks already dusted pink, and his mind swimming gently, he rolled his eyes as he set his empty glass back on the bar. 'All for the sake of you having fun,' he thought. The music was too loud and shitty, at best, and those who sat next to him were sloshed and obnoxious. Why did he say yes?

Dark eyes met with your own as he watched you make your way towards him, laughing and stumbling as you were too drunk for your own good. Lights dancing off your skin, a ghost of a smile etched on his features. 'As long as you're having fun.'

But his eyes went wide as he felt your fingers grab at his tie and pull, seeing the playful glint in your eyes made him swallow hard. In that moment he realized you had every capability of completely breaking him. "Come on, old man," your speech slurred from the amount of alcohol you had. "You look pitiful just sitting there, I honestly feel bad for you."

"I'm a charity case now?" He questioned, all the while allowing you to pull him along. He was a wholeheartedly, down right, whipped bastard for you. Letting you pull him along, by his tie of all things, like a love struck puppy, through a sea of people.

"No," you reassured with a laugh. "You're my project." Voice loud from the music and people around, he felt his jaw tighten at your words. Hand still wrapped around the black fabric of the tie, you pulled down, forcing him to your level with a smirk. Dear god you were going to be the death of him. "I'm going to make you have fun," you mused. "You're going to dance with me - and you're going to love it."

He'd be lying if he said your words didn't scratch an itch in his brain, "yes ma'am." Letting just a touch of sarcasm grace his statement as it fell from his lips. He certainly knew dancing in a place like this was far from modest, borderline erotic as his eyes scanned his surroundings before returning to you. You were going to drive him mad, out right corrupt him where he stood.

While he knew it would be scandalous, this was point blank debauchery.

Slender fingers digging into the fabric covered skin of your hips as you, shamelessly, grinded against his crotch. His brain short circuited and his mouth went dry, he couldn't think a single coherent thought as your ass against his hips was all consuming. He could have sworn the last of his whiskey hit him right then and then, that was the only compelling reason, for him at least, to his actions.

"You're doing this on purpose," a sinful whisper in your ear, being so close he could feel every inch of you. The satisfying shudder your body felt from his words alone was enough to have him continue. "Honey, if you wanted to fuck, you could've just said that," he mused. "You didn't have to come out here to dance like a whore."

"Where's the fun in that, baby?" You asked rhetorically. Unfortunately for him, you turned, the delicious feeling completely ceased as you faced him. Looking into your eyes, the playful glint had turned - a warped desire taking its place as you gazed up at him. Hard pressed against him, the swarm of people around making the distance between practically non existent. He all but completely lost it.

"Tell your friends we're leaving," a quick statement, with a passionate force behind it that made you weak at the knees. Tired eyes now filled with lust and determination, you swore you felt your heart skip a beat. "If you want to dance like a whore, I'll treat you like one."

I haven't written anything this suggestive in a hot minute so I hope I tagged everything oof. Eat it up!

[inkfamy]

So if we're going to be talking about hot weather in the UK again, I have a story of USAmericans Also Being Unable To Tolerate Hot Temps In The UK.

I worked in a hotel, and it was summer and probably somewhere ~20°C, gross and hot and sticky and as soon as you moved you were sweaty and cranky. We had a family from Texas coming to stay in one of our apartments.

As soon as the family arrived, I could see they were hot and bothered (literally) from travelling from the airport (our public transport also doesn't have very good air con), they were flushed and carrying big suitcases and told me they were surprised at how warm it felt because they were used to summers in Texas.

I took them to their apartment and started showing them around and helping to bring in the bags, and I think they had a moment of mild horror when they stepped over the threshold and realised the temperature inside was almost the same as outside. They asked me how to work the aircon and I apologetically explained that we didn't have air con and tried to reassure them that opening some windows to get some air movement would help a lot. They honestly kind of freaked out about the no aircon situation, and were really quite flurried opening windows and being a bit worried about how hot and uncomfortable they were. At one point one person triumphantly pointed to a panel on the wall and said to me "it DOES have air con!" and I had to gently explain that it was a central heating panel and how that worked.

(A quick note, they were not at all rude and I completely understand their worry about not having air con in the heat. This post is not to make fun of them)

Seeing they were very stressed and hot I offered to bring them a fan. They asked for a fan for each room and I told them that we only had 3 entire fans in the whole hotel which were meant for staff rather than guests, and that I would be giving then the one from reception. They were quite taken aback but grateful. I brought them the fan and softly encouraged them to ensure all the doors in the apartment were open, windows at each end were open, and to sit down in the room with the fan and drink some cool water.

Thankfully they felt better! But they told me several times through their stay that they couldn't believe what the heat was like, given that they were used to (and normally able to cope with) much higher temperatures at home.

But my point is! it's always looked on as a bit silly that the UK can't cope with 26°C but the thing is that the UK really can't cope with temperatures like that, it's the humidity and the buildings and the lack of infrastructure for heat and that people don't know how to safely navigate hot temps (most people here will see the sun and go to a beer garden to drink for as long as possible) and did I mention it's really really humid. Those poor Texans ^ aren't an outlier either, I consistently hear the same surprise at how hot <30°C feels to people well used to temperatures that hot and higher.

The unusually high temps we're seeing across the world are concerning everywhere, even if some places have comparatively "low" temperatures that are normal elsewhere.

[anotherobeymeblog]

Obey Me cast relationship with MC songs (2023 edition)

Found this post when scrolling through my old posts from 2020 and decided it would be fun to give it another crack now that 1) we have a LOT more canon material to go off and B) my taste in music has expanded past just grandma songs (not that I don't still enjoy grandma songs ofc) Also adding Diavolo, Barbatos, and Solomon since I have a better grasp on their personalities now. (Well, only barely with Barbatos, but we'll get to that lol)

Warnings: mild spoilers for lesson 16 of the original game in Belphie's, some of these songs use gendered language when talking about the significant other (implied female: Mammon; implied male: Levi, Asmo) *this doesn't mean MC must be that gender in those scenarios*

Lucifer: Honey Moon by Birds in the Airport. Okay, starting off on a somewhat angsty note lol. But look me in the eye and tell me I'm wrong. "...tear open every exit from the maze inside my mind" like come ON that's literally what MC does with Lucifer. Whether he'd verbalize any of this is another question entirely, but also isn't the point here.

Mammon: Fair by The Amazing Devil. I hemmed and hawed over this for a while, tbh. Wasn't sure if it was a lil too soft for his outwardly prickly ass, but I eventually settled on "this is him but he sure as hell isn't admitting it any time soon". The trouble with tsundere characters ig. But anyway he's a dork and the trying to make his partner laugh when they're mad at him felt very on-brand.

Leviathan: A Shitty Gay Song About You by Ezra Williams. I've associated Levi with this song for quite a while now. It has it all. Goldfish, self-deprication, pining, it's great. Oh, for Levi to lend me his sweatshirt tbh.

Satan: Cat Serenade by Beetlebug. Absolutely adorable song. It has cat metaphors, it has pining, it has the whole "I used to never open up to anyone but here we are", it's just super Satan in a lot of ways.

Asmodeus: Freckles by Kevin Atwater. I mean it's just adorable, first of all. But second of all, the theme of actually falling in love with someone for real when you're used to more casual relationships is pretty fundamental to Asmo's relationship with MC.

Beelzebub: Strawberry Mentos by Leanna Firestone. Idk maybe this is a bit too straightforward but even outside of any food references, it's such a sappy, sacchirine love song that it really does feel Right for Beel, big babey that he is.

Belphegor: Grace, Anatomy by Homemade Haircuts. Okay, while this isn't really addressed in-game, if he ends up in a relationship with MC, the shit that happened in the attic is gonna be weighing pretty heavy on his mind for a long time. Between that and his general abandonment issues, this song is an excellent reflection of his feelings about MC (at least early on in the relationship), even if most of it is stuff he would never actually say out loud.

Simeon: Chai Tea by audrey. Yeah, yeah, I know the title sounds more Barbatos, but the song itself is just so cozy and easygoing. (Of all the possible words to describe Barbatos, I think "easygoing" is about the last thing that would come to mind). All the other love interests are a bit more... uh... intense. Whereas this song is literally just being incredibly sappy and drawing a quiet comfort from the other person's presence even without talking about anything in particular.

Diavolo: Touch Starved by BB Bean. This doesn't require much elaboration, I don't think. The title says it all. Like honestly. "I'm just tired of the bubble, I just wanna hand to hold" is deadass how he acts in every surprise guest (at least in the og game, less so in nightbringer lol). Just wants to feel normal smh

Barbatos: A Wistful Waltz by Teddy Hyde. Okay, I need to apologize to Barbatos stans bc I struggle so much to figure this guy out (which I suspect is the point, but it makes it damn hard to come up with headcanons for him). But based on my tenuous grasp on his personality and... odd dynamic with MC, I think this should fit the bill. It's subdued but with that underlying intensity that I always seem to pick up on with him.

Solomon: Painting Roses by Dresses. I actually don't have much explanation for this, but Solomon in Nightbringer especially is just. He's such a fuckin disaster, man. (I actually was torn between giving this song to Solomon or Satan, but I ended up going with Sol in the end)

[connorsnothereeither]

as a fellow writer, how do you typically plan your fics? i tend to just kind of wing it and figure it out later so i'm curious about what you tend to do

I had so much fun answering this question but I’m so sorry it’s so long of a response akagkagskav

(Also this post contains mild spoilers for both On the Edge of Worlds Unknown and My Blood Between Your Lips on AO3)

Honestly most of my fics start completely winged! Both Brink and Blood were entirely winged for a good chunk of the word count, but I do have a system that I put in place when the fics get too long.

I tend to hit my “winging-it” limit around 25 chapters into a fic, and at that point I look at all the plots currently happening, note them down, and do planning from there. I would love to go in depth on the way I plan writing somewhere as like a video or livestream or something, but to summarise as best I can (which is still kinda long, my bad haha):

Most of my fics are planned by sub-plot (which I like to colour code) and by chapter, which I number. I like to look at what’s happened so far that I’ve winged, and conceptualise the “end point” for those themes/ideas. From there I take it in chunks of planning about 3-5 chapters ahead at a time. To plan those, I note down in 1-2 sentence summaries of what’s gonna happen in each of those coming chapters (I don’t always stick to them, but it’s just my rough guide of what I think should happen to bridge the gap between where the story is and where I want it to end). Once I write those chapters, I reassess where the story is at, and from here I just keep doing that process until I hit the ending I came up with (or one I prefer)!!

As an example, this is my chapter planning list for Blood! (Here is where the spoilers start btw)

Starting at chapter 26 (after that 25 chapter mark) you can see where it’s split into the “hunter subplot” (blue) and “vampire subplot” (red), and the rough summaries for each chapter. I have a similar (if a little more complicated method) for the Brink fics, where I just do the same process of building on chapters across the books (this is the planning from Edge, which because I was building off the final chapters of Brink planning started at Prologue/Chapter 1)

I have some other methods which are more context and fic dependant. For the Brink books I have a spreadsheet that lets me track which date chapters take place on, depending on their colour-coded subplot, because of how spread out it is chronologically (on the right), and with Blood I have a little bullet point list which lets me keep track of which things happen when and in what order in the far more condensed timeline, where several where the whole plot is all happening at the same time over a few days (left).

So yeah!!! I don’t know if this was in any way helpful or interesting or made sense to any brain other than mine lol, but this is generally how I plan most of my longer fics!! I’ve never gotten to like,,, lay it all out and explain it before, so this was really fun!! Like I said, I’d love to go more in depth somehow, but I’m not sure how to do that in text format without it becoming convoluted haha

[stargazer-balladeer]

S/o’s birthday but locks themselves in their rooms because they don’t feel special [Genshin Impact]

Characters Included: Aether, Childe, Diluc, Kaeya & Venti.

Notes: Ayeeee! Since it’s my birthday today, why not make this? :))) I actually got carried away 🥲 this is around 3.5k words in total. Hope ya’ll like this!

Reader’s Gender: Neutral (tho i think there’s a slight implied female hehe…)

Warning: probably some swear words here and there knowing me- and mild suggestive themes in kaeya’s part 

[albedo, scaramouche, xiao]

Aether remembers your birthday more than he knows his- like srsly, he’s the kind that remembers his s/o’s bday more than his. He’s also the kind that celebrates it privately unless you want to celebrate it with others, which he doesn’t mind. He might have a hard time deciding what kind of gift you want, but sooner or later, he already has one (or multiples bc he can’t decide-). 

Imagine his confusion when your day finally arrives but he can’t find you anywhere, even Paimon, who was excited to celebrate your bday (“oohh~ I can’t wait to eat the cake!” - Paimon), seems confused. Probably the culprit in planting worry in the travellers head as she jumps to conclusion that you might’ve been kidnapped. 

Luckily, he checked your house before he could report it to the knights of Favonius or the Qixing (like any normal person should do really-). When he received no reply, he takes out the spare key you gave him and entered your house, an invasion of privacy he knows but it's an emergency- 

Knowing that you’re in your room when he can���t find you downstairs, he knocks on your bedroom door softly while calling your name. Imagine his (and Paimon’s) relief when the door cracked open. Immediately engulfing you into a hug, he lets out a sigh of relief. He then proceeds to ask you what you were doing inside your room when it’s your birthday. His heart literally broke when you stated your reason. Tightening his hold around your figure, he smiles bitterly, knowing that feeling all too well..

“That’s not true. None of that stuff is true. Everyone deserves to feel special on their birthday, most especially you. We’ve brought some food, and cake of course. Also some gifts from other people. If you want, do you want to celebrate it with just the two, or rather three, of us?”

You, who was a literal angel in his eyes deserve the world. He honestly wants to find whoever put that idea in your head but that was reserved for another moment. For now, his main priority is your happiness. Guiding you downstairs where Paimon was (she left when aether hugged you, knowing you two needed privacy. also the cAKE-), he watches as your eyes sparkle at the sight of the cake. 

Grinning softly he made sure you had fun with your birthday. Even though it would be more fun with more people, it feels more special if it’s celebrated with just the two of you. Staring you with pure adoration as you laughed merrily at the sight of Paimon stuffing herself with food. He couldn’t help himself but lean forward to place a kiss on your forehead and then on your lips, leaning back with a smile on his face. 

“Happy birthday, my love. May many more to come. Maybe next time, we can invite other people. Though I don’t mind if we’ll celebrate it with just the two of us only-” And Paimon! Don’t forget about Paimon!” “Yes yes. And Paimon.”

Similar to Aether, he would most definitely remember your birthday. After all, it holds a special place in his heart, alongside his family. And since this boi is rich af, he would most definitely try to spoil you on your birthday. Piles of expensive (or just cheap yet meaningful) gifts, reservation to a high-class restaurant in Liyue Harbor, and all that glamour. 

Actually, he didn’t find it odd that he didn’t see you immediately, thinking that you overslept or just relaxing in your house. But he soon finds it weird when it’s already around 3 in the afternoon and no sign of your face in the crowd, something he raised a brow at but shrugged it off. It isn’t until it’s almost the time of the reservation he made when he finally realized what’s going on. 

When he arrived at your house, dressed in a suit similar to Zhongli except it’s entirely black and white, waiting for you to come out. After a couple of minutes, he soon got concerned and decided to enter your bedroom through the window (pls do not do this at home). Startled at the sudden appearance of your handsome yet cheeky boyfriend, he stares at you with eyes asking the questions he didn’t dare to tell. 

Knowing he will get his answer one way or another, you decided to tell him about your dilemma. After you finished explaining yourself, silence surrounds you, which is quite worrisome since your boyfriend is known for his rather talkative behavior. Blinking in surprise at the sudden embrace of the 11th Harbinger, his hug was rather tight but not too tight that it cuts your oxygen. Speaking in a low, faint voice, a surprising feat for him, you can make out what he said as clear as day. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve noticed it sooner. I was trying to be a perfect boyfriend for you but I guess I failed in that aspect. You know, if you feel like you aren’t special enough to celebrate your birthday, then what about me? Me who stained his hands with the red blood of his enemies, always engaging in a fight, clashing with other blades. Insecurity is really an asshole huh? Let me make it up to you now. Let’s not anymore go to that stupid high-class restaurant, c’mon, up you go. You better dressed comfortably when I come back or else…”

Leaving you quickly before coming back immediately, this time in more comfortable clothing rather than the stiff suit he wore earlier. This time as well, he entered your house normally through the door. In his arms, he was holding a bunch of stuff and proceeded to dump it on the living room table. It was different kinds of movies in different genres, you spotted some of your favorite movies in them (makes you also wonder where he got these from since you don’t remember seeing these in the room he stays-).

He would suggest making a pillow fort, and while making the pillow fort, he proceeded to smack you with one. Which ensued a pillow fight between you two. It successfully made the both of you a laughing mess by the end, filled with feathers. Childe then carries you bridal style to the incomplete pillow fort and starts the movie you chose. Placing you in his lap and placing his head either on your shoulder or head depending on your height, cuddling you from behind tightly with a contented smile on his face. 

“You know what? This might not be how I envisioned how your birthday would go, but I’m not complaining. Happy birthday, comrade. My most adorable and most cutest and only love. I love you so much that you’ll be the very reason why I die so suddenly. So stop being so cute okay?” 

(You two are living together in this one.)

Diluc has the probability of forgetting your birthday due to his busy schedule, especially if it’s starting to rise when your birthday draws near. He might neglect you for a couple of days, too engrossed in his work. When the day finally arrives, it completely leaves his mind. Like he’ll think of it as a completely ordinary working day. It isn’t until one of your friends told him to send you their birthday greetings that he remembered. And oh boy does he feel guilty, like srsly, he literally froze when he realizes what day it is today. And you know what that means? ✨Panicc✨

Honestly, I can see him buying the whole store XD. In the state of panic, his common sense just leaves him completely that he ends us buying practically the whole store. It would be sent to the Dawn Winery immediately as he buys some flowers from Flora, who also sent you her birthday greetings, which made him more guilty-

When Diluc steps foot inside the manor, he tries to search for you outside the gardens where he usually finds you but when he doesn't, he gets worried. Asking the head maid immediately about your whereabouts, and his concern and worry (and guilt) grew even more when he finds out that you haven’t gone out of your room. He quickly went to your shared room, with the flowers still in his hands, and knocked on your door. Calling your name softly and asking for permission to enter, when granted he entered the room as quickly as possible. But seeing the sight of you bundled up in your blanket made his heart crack.

Placing the flowers at the bedside table, he quickly made his way in front of you and kneeled down to meet your eye level. You can tell he was very worried about you with how frantic his eyes seem and the concern underlying it. With the way he was staring at you, you can’t help but spill your insecurity to him. The reason why you were hiding in his room rather than go out to celebrate your day of birth. Every word you spill made his heart break even more. Seeing tears started to leak from your eyes, he placed his two hands on your face wiping away the tears with his thumbs. Smiling at you gently and placing a kiss on your eyelids and on your nose.

“I completely understand, my love. Even I sometimes feel that way. Also to the point where I don’t want to celebrate my birthday even, but that won’t do my love. You are so special, you deserve your special day to be well special. If you want to simply lay here and sleep, then so be it. If you want to go out and do something, then I’ll happily oblige. Let’s obliterate those awful thoughts, and if those keep persisting, I’ll slice them up for you. I’ll keep picking you up when you fall. So, what is your command, my love?” (i'm so tempted for him to say master-)

Whatever your answer may be, one thing for sure, Diluc is seen smiling adoringly at you. Even the maids noted how soft the master is around you, particularly today. Whether curled up together in the bed, with him embracing you tightly to his chest and placing a kiss on top of your head. And if you listen carefully, you can hear him quietly humming a tune that his father (or mother) sang to him. Or you two outside in the garden, simply admiring the view with his hand around your waist. 

Either way, at the end of the day, he would wake you up or make you go inside for dinner. You haven’t eaten breakfast or lunch yet so you’re probably hungry by now. If you don’t want to leave your room or want to return to your room, he would understand and make the maids bring the food to you. When the maid(s) finally arrives with the food, you notice the cake on the tray. Looking at him as he chuckles, taking the trays from the maids. Humming a light tune, he scoops a spoonful of cake and holds it to your mouth, with a slight smirk on his face, eyes twinkling with mischief. 

“Stop staring at me like that, did you really think I would let the day go by for you to not celebrate your birthday properly? From what I know, birthdays have cakes in them, whether a huge cake or a cupcake. Say ‘ahh’~... Happy birthday my love. May next year be more enjoyable than now.”

Kaeya remembers your birthday like the back of his hand, I think he’s even more excited than you really. Eagerly awaiting your birthday as he counts down the days, dropping hints and stuff to you birthday-related, and probably plans a birthday party for you. The knights immediately agreed on it, including a certain bard, traveler, and wine master (albeit more hesitantly). He made sure that this party would be successful, constantly checking on the plans and such. To the point that everyone was practically fed up with his constant questions. But they understand that he wants this to be a successful and enjoyable party for you. It got to the point where Diluc kicked him out of his Tavern after asking for the umpteenth time. 

When your day finally arrives, he was practically beaming with joy and excitement. To the point where he can’t hide it behind the cool and suave facade he wears. He quickly made his way to you, going along with the plan of distracting you as they started to prepare for the party. In his total excitement, he didn’t notice the rather gloomy atmosphere around the house. But when he arrived at your door, that is when he noticed how quiet your house is.

Now albeit worried, his excited smile slipping from his face and now replaced with a worried frown, he knocked on your door, calling you in his usual teasing voice. When he didn’t hear your response, the bubble of anxiety appeared in his body. Twisting the knob and finding it unlocked, he quietly and carefully opened the door. Seeing your back immediately, seeing your side rise and fall making him sigh in relief that you were still alive. Closing the door gently but made a noise to alert you of his presence. Taking a seat behind you, he ran his cold fingers on your back, watching you arching at the sudden coldness of his fingers. Smiling slightly, he asked what’s wrong. 

Turning around to face him, you buried your face on his chest, inhaling his strong masculine scent. Instinctively wrapping his arms around you, he played with your hair with one of his hands. Tapping on your head slightly, beckoning for you to answer his question. With no way out, you decided to come clean. You explain how you feel like you don’t feel like you deserve to be treated as special on your birthday and all that sort. His face was void of emotion as he stared at the ceiling with his unique pair of blue eyes. Outside he might seem emotionless. But inside, he was on the brink of insanity. Who dares to put such an idea on his s/o’s mind? Why would you think of that? Was this insecurity of yours also his fault?

“That must be the most stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re not special? Please. Don’t try to make me laugh with that joke ‘cause it’s not funny. You are a jewel, a star, a constellation. As rare as the gems, or rather visions. You can even rival the very sun with your smile. I know those demons in your head keep saying those words to you, the temptation is so tempting, right? Just succumbing to them to make them quiet. But that’s why I’m here, my dearest snowflake. I’m here for you. You’re so special to everyone, most especially to me. You mean the world to me. Anyway, enough of this tear-jerking stuff, we have a party to celebrate. And we can’t celebrate it without the birthday gal/guy now can we?”

Despite your protests, he lifted you effortlessly and carried you outside and into the dawn winery where the party was held. Placing you on the ground and pushing you forward where people from Mondstadt came and greeted you with happy birthdays. Smiling at the sight of you being overwhelmed at the warm greetings, and then chuckling at how bright your face became. Diluc nudges him to you, beckoning him to help you before returning to what he was previously doing (most likely trying to force a bard to not finish all the wines in the vicinity).

After a while in the party, Kaeya brings you to a secluded place with no people for air. Being in a party filled with people could be suffocating at times, especially if you’re not used to it. He intertwined his hands with yours and bends down to meet your eye level (or leans down if you have the same height as him-). He gives you a cheeky smile and proceeds to place a peck on your lips. Chuckling when you pouted and glared at him, wanting more kisses.

“My my, what a greedy vixen~ But it is indeed your birthday so I guess I have no choice but to oblige to whatever my birthday vixen wants me to do. Would you like me to strip as well? Haha. Kidding kidding. Happy birthday, princess/prince. May many more to come. Oh! I forgot. I heard from a certain birdie that you ordered for a personal performance from me~ would you like to get it now?” 

Since we all know that Venti practically doesn’t do anything like every day, I would safely say that he would remember your birthday. Probably save some mora to buy you a gift for your birthday, even though it’s not as fancy as the people in Liyue (they all rich kids-), it’s still meaningful. He probably made a bracelet all by himself with the beads he either bought or also made by himself. Nevertheless, he was as excited as Kaeya for your birthday. Already prepared songs to sing for you when that day comes. 

Venti immediately searches for you when the day finally arrives, but his excited and bright smile vanishes when he can’t find you in the crowd of people. Raising a brow at your sudden disappearance, he searched for you everywhere, the tavern, the church, the headquarters, everywhere but your house. So when he finally arrives at your house, he was filled with worry and concern. Entering your room through the window like usual, he sees your figure sitting on the floor while reading a book.

He pouted at the sight as he made his presence known by asking you why you were here and reading a book on your birthday. He watches as you jump from where you are and turns to look at him, sighing at the sight of him. He slowly made his way to you and sat next to you, his legs sprawled across the floor. He takes note of the food around you, which was non-birthday festive, it was just ordinary food. Not understanding why you’re sulking in your room, he asked you what’s wrong. 

Venti’s eyes widened at your explanation, feeling the sadness leaking at the words you said. They weave themselves around his heart, squeezing it, making him have a hard time breathing. He shares your pain. He was your soulmate after all. He immediately engulfed you in a hug, stuffing his face on the crook of your neck. You were so vulnerable in his eyes. You were so fragile. He desperately wants to protect you from the pain. But looks like he can’t protect you from your own demons. 

“Even though I promised myself to not say or do anything that’ll make you sad, I just need to get it off my chest. I’m sorry you had to suffer through that, those demons that a simple bard that weaves stories into songs can’t erase. Alright, no more feeling sorry for yourself. It’s time to get out and spend the rest of the day enjoyable, perfect for my precious Cecilia.” 

Without any warnings, he picked you up and jumped out of your window. Shrieking at the sudden fast pace, you instinctively wrapped your hands around him as he landed on the ground. Giving you a smug smile while saying “didn’t think i’d let you fall now?” Please slap him. Anyway, he laughed at your aggression and continued to run. Even if you ask where you’re going, he just says it's a secret. So might as well enjoy being in his arms as he continues to run (you swear you can feel the wind adding to his speed but that was just maybe your imagination-).

After a while, he placed you down and you realized where you are. It was Starsnatch Cliff, surrounding you were Cecilia flowers. Venti jumped on you, making you fall to the ground as he giggles. His hat flown back from the force of his sudden attack, he still has that stupid big smile on his face. Since his laughter is contagious, you couldn’t help but laugh alongside him. His eyes glistened with delight at the sight of your smile finally. Grabbing your hand and placing the bracelet he made, he pressed a kiss on your knuckle.

“This bracelet shall be a promise from me to you, a fellow bard to the fairest queen/king. I shall love you for eternity, this heart will only beat for you, and this body belongs to you. If you’re in dire need of assistance, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll be there, forever and always. Happy birthday, my sweet flower.”

[x] Main Page || [x] Mondstadt Page || [x] Fatui Harbingers Page 

[knchins]

Shark Boy - Aone Takanobu

Summary: After working up the courage to ask you out on a date, Aone takes you to the aquarium where you confess what you truly think of him.

Pairing: Aone x Fem!Reader

Rating: G

Word Count: 1.5k

HQWK Prompt: Free Choice

Warnings: Fluff, a bit of anxiety (both parties), some PDA, a cute little kiss

Notes: The final day of @haikyuuweek2020​ is upon us :( That just means it’s time for bigger and better projects! This was requested by the lovely @animegirlfromvietnam​! I hope you enjoy it <3

 Aone stared at himself in the mirror, mentally preparing himself for the day to come. He had woken up early, showered, brushed his teeth and hair, and finally dressed in a casual outfit that didn’t seem too out of place (he hoped). Futakuchi had convinced him to ask his dream girl out on a date and now all he could think about was how it might fail.

 She was a shy girl and mostly kept to herself. They were a lot of like in that way really, neither talked too much outside of their close friends. He just thought that she was so incredibly beautiful and she was the only thing he could think about day and night. Futakuchi said it was a crush, but he’d never actually had one of those before. At least, not to this degree.

 Once he was content with his appearance, he took the train to his date’s home. Should he have gotten her a gift? He wondered, suddenly feeling empty handed. Did one do that on a first date? He had no earthly idea what standard procedure was. All Futakuchi told him was to take her somewhere fun and be polite. Give her compliments and dote on her as a date should. He had had an entire crash course the day before on what to do and how to do it. He just hoped he didn’t mess anything up.

 After knocking on the door to her home, he waited patiently for her to exit after putting on her shoes. There was already the hint of embarrassment in her eyes as she felt her cheeks heat up slightly at the sight of him. “Hey, Takanobu” She said, playing with her hair anxiously. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say as they stood there in an awkward silence.

 “Do you like the aquarium?” He asked softly, a voice that didn’t match his outward appearance.

 Her eyes lifted to look up at him, excitement lighting up in them. “I love it.” She confessed, having always had a thing for sea life in general. It was also a pretty peaceful place to go and there wouldn’t be a huge need to carry on a lengthy conversation.

 Aone smiled gently, though it was hardly noticeable. “Shall we go then?” He asked, holding his hand out for hers to grab, just as his friend had instructed him. Her eyes darted to his upturned palm, heart thumping heavily with excitement before she reached out and took it.

 They took the train to the large aquarium just outside of town. The ride was quiet, as neither really knew what to say. Aone knew he should compliment her but he didn’t know what. Everything about her looked nice, her clothes, her hair, her smile. They were all perfect but was it too weird to tell her that? Did she already know?

 “Your outfit it’s-” He cut himself off by clearing his throat as she looked at him curiously. The train stopped and it was time for them to get off. Instead of finishing he led her off the train car they were in and onto the station where it was just a short walk to their destination.

 Anxiety started to overtake her. Did he not like her outfit? Was there something wrong with it? Was there a stain that she didn’t know about? Her hand was clenching his tightly without her realizing it and he wondered if she was okay. “W-What were you trying to say?” She squeaked out finally.

 It dawned on him that he had forgotten to finish his sentence. “Oh, your outfit is cute.” He said, face turning the lightest shade of pink in some areas. “I like it. That’s all.”

 She let out a sigh of relief, the panic flowing out of her with her breath. Hopefully the whole day wouldn’t be like this. “I like yours too.” She replied softly. Though it wasn’t anything special, she had only seen him in either his school uniform, gym clothes, or volleyball jersey. It was nice to see him in something different.

 Aone nodded his head in a silent thank you as he went to the front entrance and paid for two tickets. Once inside, he looked around the vast space with signs everywhere on different locations of the aquarium. “Where would you like to go first?” He asked timidly, feeling a little overwhelmed with the amount of options before him.

 “The tropical reef.” She said, sheepish though it was clear that she was excited to be there. The reef was her favorite part of the whole place and she could honestly spend her entire time there. “There’s sharks in that area too.” She mused out loud, knowing that it was typically something people found more interesting than just fish.

 Another small smile graced his lips as he followed the signs to the tanks that had the tropical fish. Vibrant colorful coral filled the bottom of the tanks as an array of fish, eels, sharks and more swam about lazily. “A lot of people find shark’s scary.” She said, looking into the water with nothing but pure fascination. “Because they look scary. They look mean and like they want to hurt you. But they’re really not like that at all.”

 She glanced at his sideways and saw the perplexed look on his face. What she was saying wasn’t new to him, but he didn’t quite understand why she was saying it. “Kind of like you.”

 Aone blinked, surprise ebbing its way across his usually stony facade. “You think I’m scary?”

 “No,” She was smiling brightly now, “I think you’re sweet but misunderstood. Everyone thinks you’re scary but if they took the time to get to know you, they’d know that you’re really kind.” He didn’t know it, but she had been watching him secretly for a while now. Not in an obsessive way, but more of a curious one. It was through these observations that feelings for him blossomed. She was too introverted to speak to him outside of class.

 The large boy’s neck and face had turned a bright shade of red at the compliment. No one outside of the volleyball club really seemed to notice his softer side. Typically they just avoided him because he was big and looked frightening. He had never realized how nice it would feel for someone outside of his teammates knowing who he really was.

 She grabbed his hand, gently guiding him through the underwater tunnel where fish, sharks, and sea turtles could swim all around you. It was her favorite part of the entire aquarium and she always spent the most time here. The two kept their hands interlocked in a light embrace, and though both felt mild embarrassment for the public display of affection, neither had the heart to let go.

 They went through the whole place twice and after they were done they visited the gift shop where Aone bought her a stuffed shark, mostly as a joke but he also quite enjoyed the way her eyes lit up when he showed it to her. She kept it held close to her chest with one hand while the other stayed firmly in his gasp. Both of their hands were sweaty by now from the heat but neither cared. They sat together on the train just a little closer than before, making comments every now and then about what a great first date it had been.

 While they were walking up to her front door again, Aone felt his heart sink that the day was over. All he wanted to do was spend more time with her. He cleared his throat as they stood facing each other on her front patio. He rubbed the back of his neck with one large hand nervously. “Would you like to do this again?”

 Her heart melted inside of her chest as she quickly nodded her head yes, too excited to give a verbal answer. When she stopped moving she looked up at him with a shy smile. “I had a lot of fun today, Takanobu-kun.” Her voice was soft and airy, somehow making the words have that much more of an affect on him.

 He had to look away from her, too flustered to keep her gaze as he nodded. “I d-did too.” He managed after a tense moment of silence. She reached up with shaky hands, motioning for him to lean down a bit so she could reach his face. He gave her a confused look before doing what she asked, nearly losing consciousness when she placed a light kiss to his left cheek.

 She said a quick goodbye before disappearing into the safety of her own home, too in shock over her own actions to stay next to him any longer. Butterflies in her stomach seemed to fly into her chest and flutter along with her beating heart. Outside Aone stood in stunned silence, a hand coming up to touch his face where she had kissed him. An uncharacteristically wide smile appeared on his lips as he began his trek back home.

General Masterlist || HQ Week Masterlist

[mostly-mundane-atla]

@paragonrobits @veryever alright, here we go. Technically-not-swears to give your writing a punch that "oh spirits" does not.

@terulakimban, @mikaslilworld, and @589ish were asking for this too so I'll mention them so that they're sure to see it.

Adjectives:

Misbegotten. Implying that someone is of questionable parentage is generally seen as in poor taste at best or incredibly insulting, vulgar "fighting words" at worst.

Cursed. Implying something or someone has done something deserving of a curse and have all the bad luck and unpleasantness that comes with it. Probably the most mild example here.

Damned. Considered more severe and material than "cursed" and often refers to a spiritual sentence or a fated misfortune. Whether or not this is an actual swear can depend on the person and the circumstance.

Poxy. This one is a little spicy because while on the surface it's just referring to illnesses like smallpox, cow pox, or chicken pox, historically, it referred to what English speakers euphemistically referred to as "the French pox" aka syphilis.

Nouns:

Animals. Referring to someone as an animal, especially one associated with unsavory personality traits (snakes and rats come to mind as a prime example), is often considered insulting and even dehumanizing. Note that asses and jackasses are actual animals and how off-limits those words are entirely depends on context

Witch. Often used in place of "bitch" becsuse it rhymes and can be used just as insultingly.

Scum. Refers to just about any icky substance that won't go away

Son of a ____. Insulting one's parentage is again in poor taste or straight up fighting words. The blank can be filled by anything: animals, unpleasant or unwanted things, people of any profession considered disgusting or demeaning. Have fun with it.

Inupiat words:

Honestly, if a fantasy version of Inupiat live in this world (and given two characters from this fantasy culture are named after Inupiat villages in Alaska, specifically, I'm going to specify Inupiat and will appreciate it if folks don't generalize it as Inuit) it only makes sense for Inupiat words to be used in other parts of the world. Influence and cultural exchange doesn't have to be a one way street where the "more advanced" only affect the "less advanced" and indigenous languages have always left traces behind.

Inupiat culture, and therefore language, is very matter of fact. Euphemisms aren't really used because no topic is really considered "too dirty" to talk about with any particular group. Insults are a way of showing love and familiarity. Offense is mainly conveyed through tone and context.

The phrase "anak niģiiñ" (anak meaning "poop," niģi meaning "eat," and -iñ being a suffix which in this case makes a verb a command aimed at one person) has been suggested as an Inupiat translation for the English phrase "eat shit." The words themselves are not bad words as you may think of them; the insult comes instead from how they're used to express anger at and disdain toward the person. Lots of words can be used this way, including any of the words for hell or for things I've alluded to on this post already.

If you're worried about this coming off as appropriative or insensitive, you may be lacking some cultural context for this to feel at home. Feel free to read through my "eskimo on main" tag for inspo on that. I'm willing to answer any other questions you may have as well, though be warned, I'm not exactly the quickest at responding.

Getting Creative - Basic Mode - Curses and Oaths:

We call bad words curses because at one point, they were exactly that. You were cursing someone and that was the greatest offense of it. Common curses include wishing death, illness, or injury on someone, sometimes milder but still unpleasant or uncomfortable experiences to befall them, and more rarely things like natural disasters. In a fantasy universe with fantastical abilities and animals, there are plenty of opportunities to customize this format into something exclusive to the Avatar verse.

An oath, in this sense, is a literal swear. English speakers may be familiar with "I swear on my mother's grave" or the more serious "for the love of god" being said when one is confronted. Here the offense comes from something sacred being invoked so flippantly. I think this is what people are trying to go for with "oh spirits" but it falls short for a few reasons. It doesn't invoke any one thing specifically. Anything can be a spirit and a spirit can take the form of anything. Are you invoking spirits of gentle breezes or torrential downpours? Of tadpoles or lions? Saying something like "by Koh's stolen faces!" or "lightning strike me down!" will make more of an impact than "Oh spirits" ever will.

Getting Creative - Advanced Mode - In-Universe Reference as Self-Censoring:

This one can be a little difficult to figure out, but it's probably my favorite one. Basically, you come up with, say, a historical incident or a bit of media that the people in-universe would know about because of its vulgarity. You don't have to explain it, because the whole point is that the audience doesn't know, just the characters. And you have the character's reference it to suggest vulgarity without having to spell any of it out. Allow me to provide an example:

"And then, well, let's just say I recited the last verse of The Earth Kingdom's Ode to the Firelord, almost word for word."

"The Kyoshi version?"

"The Omashu version!"

"And you got away with it?!?!"

Like most of them, this relies on the other character's reaction to sell it. It's loads of fun once you get it figured out because it feels like you got away with a lot when it's functionally just gibberish.

[just-a-dumb-gay]

I think I just found out why i crave validation online from strangers (like comments on fanfics). And why praise and compliments on something I done always make me so happy.

I rarely got rewards as a kid for doing good things. And Ive gotten even less as I've grown up.

TL;DR (because there's explanation and tangenting below the cut): I pretty much never get or have gotten praise or rewards or anything similar because I was doing things that I should be doing anyways because society perceives it all as normal and easy and it's only gotten worse as Ive gotten older. So now my achievements and cool stuff being acknowledged with genuine enthusiasm means the world.

SO GO GIVE POSITIVE VIBES TO YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, ESPECIALLY ANY KIDS IN YOUR LIFE, EVEN JUST A REALLY COOL STRANGER ONLINE!! IT MAKES SO MUCH MORE OF A DIFFERENCE THAN A LOT OF PEOPLE REALIZE!

Actual accomplishments? Nope. Perfect report cards (minus attendance because I'm not superhuman, I got sick like 99% of other kids. And just gym ew it was so boring) and endless praise during parents night (because gifted kid plus a pile of anxiety and autism that was scared to get in trouble).

Now I wanna specify I did get little things like some sweets or like a couple pounds as pocket money but that was 9/10 times for helping with chores or something that I didn't HAVE to help with. Those things I done because I wanted to help, and ngl a few of the tasks were fun so I wanted to do them without expecting anything in return. So just a quick side note but still somewhat relevant.

I should also specify since the adult Im closest to is my dad, his opinion and everything means way more tor me than it should.

I never even got a simple "I'm proud of you" from my dad (who has seen me every day minus like a month in total in my entire 18 years of living). And he taught me A LOT outside of school. Life skills, creative skills, problem solving skills. Even when I do good with all of that honestly I don't think he's ever said that to me even Once. Now I don't have it as bad as many many others because I would still get things like "Good job" or "Well done" but they were kinda half hearted and its still taken its toll on me. (Because even though others have something worse doesn't mean we're not allowed to have strong feelings about our personal situation)

I have an abundance of health issues and doing so many things has became extremely challenging for me. Yesterday, I went to my first medical appointment completely alone, and it was a dentist appointment and I have deppresso teeth so dentists are terrifying. When my dad got home from work I was telling him about it and everything and how happy I was it went well despite now having a temporary filling in a tooth Im most likely gonna lose. Yknow what his reaction was after I had tangented for like 10 minutes out of happiness then had to stop and take a breath? "Okay I'm gonna finish eating my dinner now" in his 'im pretending to joke yet I'm being serious' tone (which is a whole other issue). Like... dude... I managed to do my first bus journey, medical appointment and mild medical procedure completely 100% alone, 3 things that absolutely terrify me, AND YOU CARE MORE ABOUT YOUR FOOD?!

My partner said they were proud of me multiple times yesterday. My friend hyped me up and offered enthusiastic and entertaining support. Those 2 and 2 other friends (one I dont speak to quite as regular and another who ive been friends with for roughly 9 years and am super close to but we talk like 1 or 2 times a month) are always super supportive in their own individual ways and Im still not used to it, and I don't think I ever will be.

So I guess long tangent short. My accomplishments were always just treated as average things that were expected of me similar to just simply being at school on time. And anything I created usually had a flaw pointed out (not in a constructive criticism way, Im always open to constructive criticism) and the most that'd be said is "Looks good" or "Thats nice". So now praise and/or enthusiastic support (both are equal to me) for accomplishments mean the absolute world. And comments on fanfics or any other sort of positive acknowledgement of something I created makes me feel like what I done was actually a good use of my time.

I could say a lot more but I just need to rant for a bit, and this is probably gonna get like 3 notes max.

[commander-diomika]

Pairing: Zolf Smith/Cel Sidebottom Word Count: 2100 Rating: Mature Additional Tags: Spanking, Asexual Character, Non-Sexual Kink, Kink Negotiation, RQG kinktober, Kinktober 2021, Aftercare Prompt: Spanking Summary: Cel has a favourite method of stress relief that they haven't indulged in awhile. Zolf seems like the kind of person who would be able to help. Notes: Trans feminine non binary Cel coz why not? You know they've got the potions to make just about anything work.

Cel has always admired Zolf’s hands. Like a miniature of his stature, they were broad, probably twice the breadth of Cel’s slender ones, and yet there was something so deft and gentle about them. The way that Zolf tied a complex knot, or kneaded dough, held a certain fascination for them.

“I wanted to ask something from you, Zolf. A favour, probably, and I know you like helping people but I don’t want you to feel like you have to say yes but I was just thinking that if y-”

Zolf held up one of those delightful hands and Cel stopped. “I’m listenin’, Cel. What can I do for you?”

“There’s this thing, that I like, it’s sort of a stress relief thing, and I haven’t had a chance to do it in a long time and I know you would be very good at it-”

“Cel. Specifics, please? I can’t say yes ‘r no if you don’t tell me what you’re askin’.”

Cel took a sharp breath in, their eyes bright and guileless, “I’d like you to spank me.”

Zolf looked momentarily poleaxed. Wherever he might have guessed this was going, that was NOT it.

“But I want to say, it’s not a sex thing. It’s honestly just,” they fluttered their hands as if extrapolating, “-nice! And I came to you because I know that you wouldn’t read into that anything that wasn’t there because, well, that’s just the kind of person you are.”

Zolf turned the idea over slowly, not even realising when he started to slightly nod his head. “I reckon I could do that for you.”

…

Cel led Zolf to their room, face glowing with excitement.

“Ok!”

Zolf wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, or how to get started on such a strange request, but he trusted that Cel knew enough about their needs to lead the way.

“Now, first question. Would you be comfortable if I was naked? I know some people make a big thing out of nudity. Honestly, I’d just be more comfortable that way, but! Only if you are also comfortable with that.” For once Cel actually managed to finish their sentence and waited for Zolf’s response, head tilted.

Zolf shrugged. He was on a similar page when it came to nudity. It meant exactly no more or less than what people assigned to it. “Whatever you like. This is your show.”

Cel beamed and started on the buttons of their shirt. Zolf admired the unique aesthetics of their body as they undressed, long limbs, surprisingly square and sinewy shoulders, small peaked breasts and their prick resting soft between their legs.

They left the goggles perched jauntily on the top of their head. Zolf, whilst not completely certain what they did, knew they were magically imbued. He didn’t find it too strange that Cel might prefer to leave them on even in an intimate situation. Or if it was strange, no more than Cel usually was.

“Do you think I’ll be at a workable height if I lean over this desk?” Without waiting for a response, Cel cleared the surface of said desk with a tinkling clatter of metal and mystery components.

Zolf’s mouth twitched in a fond smile. “Should be right.”

With another absolutely winning smile, Cel turned, moved the chair, and leant their long torso over the surface, perching on their elbows. The table was of a height that folded them to a right angle, maybe a bit sharper if they rested their chest all the way down.

Cel looked over their shoulder, stomach giving a little thrill of excitement as Zolf came over. It really had been too long, and they were looking forward to having those lovely hands on their backside.

Zolf rested on hand in the small of Cel’s back, and waited, as if for some kind of starting signal.

Right! Cel realised through their anticipation. For all that Zolf always radiated an air of reassuring competency, there was every chance he’d never done this before. Perhaps Cel had gotten slightly ahead of things by stripping off and presenting their bare arse to him over a desk.

“So, if you just… give me a few whacks and I’ll let you know where things stand? Focus on this rounded part-“ they indicated with a hand “- but I’d like it if you went down my thighs a bit as well.”

“I’m guessin' you’d prefer if I try not to touch b’tween your legs.” Zolf clarified.

“Yes, correct. There’s “nice, neurochemically stimulating pain,” and “ouch no fun” pain and I’d definitely prefer the former and not the latter. If you just keep a nice steady pace, the area will warm as blood comes to the surface in a mild inflammation response, my tolerance will build, and you’ll be able to increase intensity.”

Zolf smiled that fond little smile again as Cel continued. “We can calibrate a nice starting spot together. I don’t think you’ll get too carried away, but if it’s too much I’ll just say “stop” or if I need a moment I’ll say “pause.””

Zolf simply nodded. That was the information he had been seeking, plus the typical Cel extra. “Ready?” was all he said.

Cel nodded, and Zolf wound up and gave their buttock a smack with a tempered amount of force. Their arse was quite lean and firm beneath his hand.

“Oof! Yes! You can go up from there, by about twenty percent to start.”

Zolf wasn’t entirely sure his understanding of his strength could be broken down to a percentile, but he did his best.

Together, they calibrated. He’d give two or three spanks, Cel would offer feedback, and he’d go again. After two or three rounds of this, Cel settled their chest all the way down to the desk, cushioning their head on their forearms.

“That’s perfect, Zolf, thank you! Continue just like that!” They gave their hips a little inviting wiggle. “Please,” they added as an afterthought, voice slightly muffled into the desk.

Zolf gave a small chuckle and continued.

He settled into a rhythm; It was surprisingly satisfying. By Cel’s metric he was probably using about fifty percent of his strength, alternating cheeks with one hand still resting in the small of Cel’s back. He brought the blows down their thighs and was rewarded with a little squirm and a delighted puff of air from Cel as he did so.

Zolf’s palm grew warm, and Cel’s pale skin reddened beneath the firm blows. He watched their torso melt a little further into the desk, and when they turned their head, he noted that same red flush across their cheekbones. He slowed momentarily when they gave a small moan, but they hadn’t asked for a pause, so he could only take that as a good sign.

A few minutes later Zolf changed hands, coming to stand on the other side of them. He expected the small pause to be filled with Cel’s usual chatter, but they remained silent.

Zolf didn’t think he’d ever been a room with Cel without hearing them speak for this length of time.

When his other hand had grown as warm from impact as the first, Cel spoke. “Pause.” Their voice was breathy in a way that Zolf had never heard before. He paused, and without thinking took both hands and gave both of Cel’s arsecheeks a massaging squeeze. Cel sighed with pleasure.

“My tolerance has definitely gone up. If you could increase the intensity? I can take about twenty to thirty percent more.” They dropped their head back onto their forearms, and again, after a sufficient pause for it to occur to them, they added, “Please.”

Zolf gave what was asked of him. The flesh under his palms was achingly warm now, and on the rounded parts where he had been hitting most frequently, there was a slight raised area, starting to darken from flushed pink to a deeper, purple tinged colour.

When they asked for another pause, this time they sounded drunk. They got their arms underneath them and straightened up.

“Had enough?” Zolf asked, his voice coming out a little rougher than he’d intended.

“No, no it’s just-” They turned blinked somewhat owlishly at him, their cheeks a delightful shade of pink. “My legs are starting to give, a little. Which is good! I am nicely full of the endorphins released by this kind of process.”

They licked their lips, and Zolf couldn’t help but think that Cel looked incredibly cute like this.

“If it alright with you…” For the first time in this whole scenario, they sounded hesitant. “Could I lie down? In your lap, maybe? Only if you’re comfortable with that.”

Zolf swallowed. As they came up off the desk and turned, Zolf couldn’t help but let his eyes dip to their crotch. Well, he didn’t have to dip very far, with their height difference. Cel’s prick was still soft between their legs. Perhaps if they had been hard, he might have felt awkward about taking them into his lap, but it seemed they had been accurate in reporting that this was purely about sensation for them.

He nodded, and went to settle on Cel’s bed. Before Cel joined him, their hands fluttered, reaching toward their head as they considered something. “Hm,” was all they said, again surprising Zolf with their lack of patter.

Cel clambered onto the bed with shy smile. They crawled over him and draped their long body across his thighs, arse perked up over his lap. Zolf could feel a touch of tension in the body where it touched his. Cel turned their head to look at him, thoughtful through their slightly sensation-drunk haze.

“Um,” they said, and brought their hands up, delicately removing the goggles and handing them to Zolf. “Could you put those on the dresser, please?”

Zolf couldn’t help but feel he was being handed something more than a pair of goggles as he obeyed.

Cel closed their eyes, and sighed, unsteady but relieved. “Could you- not hard- but could you hold onto my hair?” Again, Cel was shyer than Zolf had come to expect from them. “Only if your comfortable with it.”

Zolf smiled and his stomach swooped a little at that. There was something warm in his chest, this feeling of being trusted with something rare and precious. “Sure.”

He curled one hand into the short hair at the nape of Cel’s neck, and as he gripped, he felt that last measure of tension go out of the body resting against his.

“Ready?” He asked softly. Cel nodded, slightly pulling their own hair in his grasp.

The shift in energy from the desk to the bed was palpable as Zolf started up his firm blows again. Cel sighed, and whimpered and shifted against him, and this time they didn’t need to speak; Cel had fed Zolf enough data for him to be able to read the request for more, and harder, and faster. He felt his own breath start to quicken from exertion, let his smacks rise and swell and push, seeking more of those little pleasured gasps that Cel now seemed more comfortable releasing.

He wasn’t quite giving them everything he had, but through the nice, dreamy rhythm he had fallen into, he found himself marvelling that this skinny alchemist could take as much as they were. The sweet spots of Cels’ arse was now dark with pre-bruising and their toes curled and rubbed into the coverlet on the bed.

He gave a few hearty spanks and Cel gasped into the covers. Zolf felt them go completely limp. Suddenly there was just a puddle of sweaty half-elf in his lap.

“Cel? Hey now.” He ran his hand up Cel’s spine, suddenly worried. “Is that enough?”

Cel groaned out an assent and rubbed their face against the covers. If they were wiping away tears, Zolf didn’t mention it. “Yes. I- thank you, Zolf.”

He helped Cel off his lap and they laid their long body out flat, their tall hair flattened with sweat against their forehead. They smiled dreamily at him. “That. Was. Perfect.”

Zolf felt any worry drain out of him, and his heart felt full and delighted. There was nothing he liked more than helping people, no matter that this was a new and unconventional method of doing so.

“Is there anythin’,” his voice felt wobbly and he cleared his throat to try again. “Anythin’ you need now? Healin’, water?”

Cel shook their head at both the offers, then smiled, a bit less bright than their usual smile, something hazier and more relaxed. “Actually. I wouldn’t mind a hug. Only if you’re-”

“-comfortable with that,” he finished with Cel and their mouth twisted wryly. “’Course.��� He laid down next to them and gathered the loose-limbed half-half elf to his chest.

They stayed like that for a long moment, before Cel piped up, their voice sounding steadier for being held. “Zolf?”

“Mm?”

“I just realised- uhm- should we perhaps have sound proofed the room first?”

[animebaby00]

I Don't Deserve It: Chapter 3 (FINAL)

When Shoto gets a nasty stomach bug, Izuku stops at nothing to take care of him.

But Shoto can't help but wonder why ?

(Link to Chapter 1): ⬇️

(Link to Chapter 2): ⬇️

The few times Shoto had forgotten to brush his teeth before bed had left him with an absolutely disgusting taste in his mouth the next morning.

However, that taste was NOTHING in comparison to the absolutely sickening, bitter, revolting, acidic flavor that coated his tongue once he woke up.

He pursed his lips sourly, positive that even the flavor of actual vomit coming up wasn't as bad as this. It was almost at the point of making him feel nauseous all over again, but with nothing in his stomach, it was just a mild queasiness.

He harshly blinked his eyes, taking note of the yellowish gleam in the room. It still must have been day time,but later afternoon due to the position of the shadows casted along the wall.

How long had he been asleep?

He sat up slightly, decently warm due to the blankets covering his form, but he wasn't overly hot, nor suffering from chills. He actually felt...better. Well, better than this morning at least.

But he still ached to rid his mouth of the bitter after tastes from earlier.

Shoto heaved himself up more, relieved that his body didn't act against him like it did several times before, and he was actually able to sit up without much protest. However, right when he did, the click of a door sounded in his ear and he caught sight of Midoriya reentering his room, a large, brown tray balanced on his arm.

This whole entire situation was turning into one of deja vu.

Midoriya made it about halfway into his room before he noticed Shoto's wakened presence, his eyes immediately perking up with a gleam of happiness once he did.

"Ah, Todoroki. You're awake." He said, a soft smile gracing his lips.

Shoto nodded, "Y-yeah." He looked back at the curtained window, " How uh...how long was I out?"

"About 4 hours. I was going to wake you up when I came back in here but I guess I won't need to," sock covered feet padded over to the bed and he leaned down to set the tray on the bed's edge, keeping his gaze upward as he did so, "How are you feeling ?"

Shoto's eyes widened a bit.

Such a simple question to answer, but to him, it felt highly difficult.

He knew it was just a simple inquiry about his wellbeing...but it was rare that he had ever been asked "how he was feeling".

He could say that he felt 100% better, say that he could leave Midoriya be and apologize for the unnecessary trouble. However, as proven from earlier, Midoriya was highly analytical (about the most odd things he may add) so he knew that if he tried to lie, the boy would no doubt be able to deduct it. It wasn't a complete lie though. He did feel better but-

"Not...too bad" he answered, noticing that even his voice sounded better, and he was deeply relieved by that "Not as bad as before."

Midoriya grinned "I'm happy to hear that !"

Shoto was a bit puzzled by the boy's eagerness, but that feeling completely diminished once he noticed Midoriya moving closer to him. His hand was slowly raising up, and in no time, it found a place against the skin of his forehead.

He froze in his place

"Well, you definitely look better." Midoriya concluded, "And your fever came down. I think you just caught that 24 hour stomach bug that's been going around."

Shoto blinked, "Stomach bug ?"

The freckled boy nodded, "Mmhm. I guess we've been so busy with our hero work and school that we didn't really notice it. But it doesn't last long." He pulled his hand away, "You should feel better by tomorrow, but make sure you take it easy."

Shoto watched as Midoriya reached over to grab a water bottle from the tray at the end of the bed, "Here, you should probably drink something after getting so sick. Don't need you getting dehydrated, but make sure you drink it slow. Are you still feeling nauseous at all ? Or dizzy? I brought some medicine if you are."

Shoto put a hand to his stomach, feeling slightly uneasy in answering.

He stayed silent, and a frown immediately crossed over onto Midoriya's face.

"Todoroki ? Are you okay ?" He asked frantically, tossing the water bottle to the side,"Are you feeling sick again ? Do you need the-"

"Why are you doing this?"

The question seemed to linger in the air. It was quiet for several seconds as Midoriya's face fell completely blank.

He slowly sat back down.

"What do you mean?"

Shoto looked down at his lap, "You know," he mumbled, gesturing to himself, the bed, and the tray at his feet, "All of this. Bringing me to your room, cleaning up the mess I made,the cold rag, bringing me water and medicine…"

"Helping me." He thought, but didn't say. Damn it, he really was pathetic. Just picturing what his father would say to him right now sent a flood of pitiful thoughts through his brain.

He was no better than a starving mutt scrapping up food from a trash can outside of a restaurant. A rotting, shriveled up tree in the cold depths of winter.

A piece of work. A nuisance. A waste of time.

A pathetic excuse of a human being, let alone a hero.

"Well that's obvious," Midoriya's chipper voice sounded, no ounce of remorse in sight, "Because you're my friend."

Shoto inwardly grimaced.

Friend.

The oh so Midoriya-like response that he knew deep down was coming.

But even so…it just wasn't right.

He slowly shook his head, fingers rising up to rub at his sore temples "God I can't believe this…"

"Huh?"

A sigh left his lips and he directed his bi-colored gaze to rest on Midoriya's deep, confused, green irises, his next words heavy on his tongue.

"I'm...I'm sorry Midoriya."

The freckled boy blinked, eyebrows furrowing at his sick friend, noticing how his presence seemed to suddenly freeze over them in a bitter chill.

What?

"Sorry?" he asked, his tone light and wavering in disbelief "Why are you sorry?"

Shoto pressed his lips into a thin line, his head tilting downwards, bangs covering his eyes. Slowly, he turned his head to the side, seemingly in an attempt to avoid Midoriya's perplexed stare…and the topic of explanation.

He looked so...dismal. Or maybe, upset? Disappointed? Honestly, Midoriya wasn't sure.

He actually wasn't sure about a lot of things in concern of Shoto today.

Everyone gets sick. That's inevitable. But Shoto seemed so completely and utterly...bludgeoned by it, that it had made Midoriya very concerned.

Shoto had to have not felt 100% that morning, considering how badly he had thrown up. He had hidden it well even though Midoriya could have sworn that his complexion did look a little green. But then, things continued to take their turns.

He hadn't mentioned feeling sick at all during their time in the bathroom, kept brushing off that he was fine. He had tried to avoid Midoriya's help and care, tried getting up and leaving when he very well wasn't capable of doing so.

And now, here he was, looking down at the bed, fiddling with his fingers like some child who had just stolen some cookies out of a cookie jar, apologizing for something that no other person ever would.

But why?

Why did he seem so regretful, so beaten down, so depressed?

Midoriya began to gain a bit of realization

He had seen that face before, at least ones similar to it. At their battle during the sports festival, in the hospital after beating Stain, those tiny increments he would encounter his father or talk about his mother.

Others wouldn't be able to see it, but Midoriya could. That look…

...was a look of guilt.

It was then that he understood. Maybe not Shoto's exact position, as no one could possibly understand what he'd been through completely. Midoriya knew he probably never would, but he was going to try his hardest to make Shoto understand HIS position, even if it was just a little.

"Hey, Todoroki." He tried, scooting closer to the male's side whilst looking down at the bed as well, , "You know...I actually used to not like asking for help either."

Midoriya ghosted his gaze upward for just a moment , and caught a twinge of movement from Shoto out of the corner of his eye. At least he got a reaction and confirmation that he was listening.

He picked at the blanket below him with his fingers, "I'm sure you already know this," he said softly, "But it was pretty much just me and my mom growing up. With my dad not in the picture, she was the one who always took care of me. She worked quite a few jobs a week at cafes and stores to keep up with expenses while also looking out for my well being at the same time. "

The soft smile on his lips faded some as he continued.

"I would usually stay at Kacchan's house after school when she couldn't pick me up, sometimes I would even spend the night or fall asleep on the sofa because she would get back so late. And when that wasn't an option, I would go to the office and do homework until she was able to come get me, but I never truly realized just how hard she pushed herself until I got older."

Izuku stood up and walked over his dresser, hand reaching out to pick up a framed photo of him and his mother, finger smoothing over the glassened face.

"She always had weekends off with me which made me happy. We would watch movies, play hero, go to All Might's autograph signings, and we'd always have so much fun...but I would begin to notice how she would doze off halfway through a movie, how sometimes she wouldn't lift me up as high, or how sometimes she would walk slower than normal. I never noticed...how tired she was. How worn out working so many different shifts made her, and on top of it she had to take care of me. It made me feel...guilty."

He set the photo down and turned back around, now finding Shoto's bi-colored gaze completely on him, focused and set, like he was mentally relating to what Midoriya was saying.

"Once middle school started, I decided to try doing more things for myself. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing my homework by myself, and other things. At first, it was easy, but then I found my time was slipping away because of my studies and my hero research. Sometimes I would go a day without eating, other times I wouldn't have time to study for a test and my scores weren't the best. I had to keep reminding myself that sometimes my mom had it way worse than me, and so I kept doing what I was doing. But I always found it strange how she would ask me if I was okay or if I needed help when she was the one working 3 jobs while also taking care of a kid."

Shoto parted his lips to speak, his inquisitive words just barely above a whisper.

"W-what did you do?"

Midoriya sighed before his lips curled up into a sympathetic, knowing smile "Denied it. Told her I was fine and that nothing was wrong."

Shoto looked down at the bed, "Oh…"

"But of course, schemes, whether good or bad, have to come to an end somehow. And that happened to me in one of the worst ways possible."

"How?"

Midoriya chuckled sheepishly,"I brought home my first test...with an F."

Now that was something. Midoriya had the 5th highest grade level in their class so he was no doubt a good student. To say Shoto was shocked was an understatement.

"Naturally, this caught my Mom's attention, and soon as I got home she set me down to talk. I knew then and there that I had to tell her what was going on and that I would only make it worse if I tried to hide anything so I told her everything from start to finish. I told her I felt bad for her and that I always worried that she was working too hard. I explained absolutely everything, but in the end, instead of her being mad, she did something that I'd always remember for the rest of my life. She took my hand and said 'Izuku, I want you to understand that no matter what, you can always come to me if you need something. No matter how tired I am, no matter what time it is, I'll always be here. It's my job to look after you. We can't do everything by ourselves, we can't be who we want to be without others. Help is a life necessity and everyone needs it sooner or later, even if they don't think they need it or deserve it. Asking for it and accepting it isn't a weakness…'"

Midoriya trailed off for a moment to walk back over to his bed to sit, and gently placed a hand over Shoto's folded ones, tone warm and reassuring.

"In fact...it's one of the greatest strengths a person can have.'"

Something clicked then. Midoriya's words...he wasn't sure why but they ignited something. A feeling that he couldn't pinpoint.

It took so much in the past for him to be convinced that help or assistance was a sign of weakness. All of the stern lectures, orders and put downs that he could be better. The never ending struggles that he conquered by himself and only by himself because that's what he was taught to do.

It was all changed by a simple story from a person he hadn't even known for a year.

"And you know," Midoriya added, "If a hero is sick, then they can't perform at their best for other people, so the best thing for you, whether you like it or not, is rest."

"Yeah." he sighed, "Your right. I...can actually see that now. I guess my old ways got to me. I'm just not used to this," he shifted in place, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Midoriya said with a smile, "I'm your friend. I'm happy to help."

He grabbed the water bottle for the second time, "Here, I imagine the taste you have in your mouth right now isn't too pleasant."

Shoto breathed a light chuckle and put the rim of the bottle up to his lips, "You have no idea." He took a few sips, relishing in how nice the coolness of the water felt in his parched mouth and dry throat.

"I've been sick plenty of times before so I have an idea. Now," Midoriya stood, "Do you maybe want to try eating something? Some crackers or some toast maybe ? You should probably try and keep your strength up."

"Yeah...crackers are okay. I'm not as nauseous as I was earlier so I think I can stomach it."

"Great ! I'll be right back then. Call if you need anything else, okay?"

"...Sure."

Midoriya turned to head out of the bedroom, hand reaching out to grab the handle of the door.

"Midoriya ?"

He paused his movements and turned his head.

"Yes, Todoroki?"

And then he saw it. That oh so, rare, genuine little smile that seemed to brighten up the whole room.

"Thank you."

Two simple words, but to Midoriya, they meant a million.

[robinisaghost]

animatic ideas :0 (ramble away, i would love to hear them!!)

mk thank you for enabling me, i will now be yelling

anyway

this is gonna be so obnoxiously long i am so sorry

can you add read more's on asks? eeeekkkk because this got so damn long lmao

mild dsmp spoilers obviously

this is the playlist, by the way

-im sorry boris (wilbur soot)

i think it would work really well with mmm slightly post lmanburg niki. andby slightly i mean. well when she leaves (that is the whole thing of the song gdfjkhgsdf) also side note at like 1 minute 11 on that song theres a discord notification really subtly in the background and it makes me paranoid every time i hear it. anyway god its such a nice song. even for just like. the end of lmanburg. not necesarily paired with a character, just the sense of leaving a place that was so highly populated before it got blown up twice and was like. the main part of the smp. yeah. anyway also the lines "they'll knock down the pubs before helping you...they'll let you jump under trains before helping you" yeah those four lines have big niki vibes but also i think the song could work well with exile tommy or actually even with the finale when tubbo is about to sacrifice himself? mmmmm yeah

-this is home (cavetown)

mmmm got exile tommy vibes innit. a lot of these have exile tommy vibes tbf i just like sad songs and also exile tommy. plus the song has a lot of like. the message is sort of like. changing yourself to appeal to others? like with "ill cut my hair to make you stare" but also the repeated thing of "ill figure out a way to get us out of here" which is clearly the main character of the song trying to help everyone when they are clearly not in a good way themself. yeah thats got big tommy vibes in general tbh but more like. pre finale tommy. i think he got a bit more independant after that.

-soldier poet king (the oh hellos)

ok this is self explanatory and has been done to death already but d a m n its kinda funky. anyway i had thoughts and actually started this but then lost motivation and deleted it all lmaooo. the only proof of its existance is a shitty storyboard in my draw which will hopefully never see the light of day again (unless anyone wants to see it :eyes:) anyway i had the thought of like. sbi? so soldier techno poet wilbur and king tommy. but tbf tommy and techno are kinda interchangeable with that, cos while techno is obviously the better fighter, tommy is used a lot, especially in lmanberg era and also i think he probably will be now that wilburs back

-pyjama pants (cavetown)

ok so i honestly dont remember why this is on the playlist but tbf this could go well with a bunch of characters. thinking like. phil and wilbur? or wil and tommy, or tubbo and ranboo are two that like. i know for a fact that i did not put the song on the playlist specifically for them but god thinking about it now it works so well with them

-boys will be bugs (cavetown)

OH BOY THERES A LOT OF CAVETOWN ON HERE HUH (i feel like that probably says something about me but shhhhhh we dont need to talk about that) ANYWAY

I think this could probably work really well with tommy? because of the whole like. trying really hard to come across as not caring about others, but really being like. very vunerable. but at the same time it could go really well with wilbur for the same reasons. also the song fucks ok cant deny it. to be fair i think it works better with tommy, because he's younger and also he really likes bugs (unless i am mistaken) which is just a cool coincidence but still)

-brother (kodaline)

FUCKKKKKKKKKKK THIS WORKS SO WELL WITH SO MANY CHARACTERS AND IS ALSO ***SO ANGSTY*** WHAT

anyway

i added it because of tommy and tubbo because holy shit, but also it could work very very well with wilbur and tommy, techno and wilbur, probably techno and tommy, and oh my god i just thought of this but this would work so well with phil and techno!!!! but yeah i originally thought tommy and tubbo because i thought it was a funny coincidence with exile tommy waking up underwater, and theres a line that says "if you were drowned at sea, id give you my lungs so you could breathe" and like. just thinking about the compasses especially. me gusta.

-feel better (penelope scott)

fundy. that is all.

no ok this works well with fundy but also probably karl sapnap and quackity, and also very much wilbur, like it works well with both. just mainly fundy idk why its got big fundy vibes tho. very poggers.

-as the world caves in (matt maltese)

ok but like this goes very very well with the explosions of lamberg. either of them. i think probably the first one is better, but i think it goes well with both. probably the first one, because it was way more emotional i think? cos it was the first time that their homes had been destroyed and everything, but also because it was so personal, because wilbur was the one who did it. i think that also it would work well if it was set during the explosion but also focussed on different facets? so like. one bit about wilburs perspective, one bit about tommys, one about phils, one about fundys maybe? idk just a bunch of lmaburg citizens' povs for this. its good. as the world caves in is a song that can be so gender tbh.

-do you hear the people sing? (les mis)

obvious obvious obvious...... but like..... also tbh it goes well with a bunch of things. like, mmmmm wilbur in pogtopia. the butcher army. lmaburg independance war (obviously ghdskj) but yeah. also this song just goes so hard like b r u h

-wolf in sheeps clothing (set it off, william beckett)

SO MANY OF THESE ARE LIKE. PRETTY OBVIOUS IF YOUVE HEARD THE SONG

but yeah. it would go so well with like. well any betrayal basically. so eret, from tommys pov maybe, or about wilbur from nikis pov, or wilbur from anyone pov tbf, or quackity from charlie/purpled/foolish/sams pov, or sam from tommys pov, really it works well with so many people which says a lot about the characters tbh but shhhhhhhhhhhh

-need you here (idkhow)

OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD

mk mk mk mk FUNDY AND WILBUR THO

like b r u h that works so well with them

also i started this one as well but didnt like it, theres a story board in my draw as well for it because like. oh my god its such a good idea i just am shit at animating and don't have a decent enough program :')

also also

the line "daddy has to go, and that makes me sad, but daddy will always come back, he promised" fuckkkkkk that works so well with like. say for example, idk, when they're celebrating schlatts death and wilbur leaves to press the button? the sheer fucking angst of that is enough to kill any one person istg that is in fact the entire reason why i started the animatic in the first place. just that line. also all the lines sung by the child voice. fuckin angsty as hell. also ust generally a banging song, as is every idkhow song

-green (cavetown)

another cavetown song huh. ok sure.

mk so wilbur and sally and fundy. like. for a start, the imagry of a fish at the start? boom sally.

anyway the lines "you looked so good in green, i hope you're well, and you look so good with him, (schlatt ig?) and I'm proud of you still (wilburrrr and fundyyyy) i miss your perfect teeth, i was too blunt, i hope you feel happy, that's all I want"

FUCKKKK

the whole song is about missing someone you used to love and only hoping the best for them!!!! and wishing that they are happy and safe!!!!!!!!!!! and hoping they still think about you!!!!! but even if they dont its fine because all you want is for them to be happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

-achilles come down (gang of youths)

OK I THOUGHT IT COULDNT GET ANGSTIER

so like. tw suicide but thats what the entire song is about and bing bang boom i just think it works so so so so so so so well with not only exile tommy (who obviously did try to kill himself) but also wilbur in a slightly more metaphorical way? so like. his self destructive habits leading him to a point where he had no choice other than to kill himself and to take his country down with him. and its all about other characters trying to help them and persuade them not to but also near the end there is a second voice trying to persuade them to go along with it, which im thinking like. if its wilbur, either dream or maybe just himself. his own brain persuading him to continue down the path that would inevitably lead to his and his countries destruction. also it works well with schlatt for the same reasons, except he doesnt want to die. maybe (since the song is so goddamn long) like. one verse for tommy one for wilbur and one for schlatt? dead gang poggg but also like. the verses cover fairly different things which work with one character but not so much the others, for example the first verse would be tommy because its mainly about persuading the person to not kill themself (which tommy did himself but shhh) the second for schlatt because its literally about drinking and smoking away your problems, and the third for wilbur since its more of a fight between the "good" and the "bad" sides, which is obviously what wilbur was experiencing. also obviously i have a soft spot for this song because its string instruments and french, basically my favourite combination ever (also i like his voice idfk lmao)

ANYWAY THATS ALL THE SONGS ON THERE SO FAR

i literally thought of another song while i was in the shower today but i dont remember which it was but a n y w a y the playlist will most definitely be getting longer, especially since there are so many more songs that are good for this but i just havent added them yet lmao. anyway ive been writing this for like an hour gsdfjhgdhfsg but still oh my god this was fun to write

[secret-engima]

That painting of Ardyn's 'Sister' makes me wish she did (does) exist. Or, well- We've had female Nox, Nyx, and technically Regis. Maybe it's Ardyn's turn? All those tacky layers would be very good at hiding any curves. Which, when it finally got out that Regis's brother is actually his /sister/, the resulting spit-takes and shrieks would be priceless. The rage that follow, that Mors had seemingly butchered and traumatized his /baby sister/... Not sure I like how dark it might get, but...

@talisward no. NO. DON’T USE MY LOVE OF GENDERBENDING AGAINST ME LIKE THIS HOW DARE. I DON’T WANT TO HAVE TO MAKE AN ENTIRELY NEW AU FOR FEM!ARDYN WHICH MEANS I’D HAVE TO RETCON SOME OTHER AU DON’T DO THIS TO ME-

hgfdfghgfds. I am genuinely torn on this. Genuinely torn because this would be SUCH a cool thing. But I already have too many AUs and Nox spin-offs I don’t want to make another, but I don’t want to retcon a spin-off with a ton of stuff on it already....

So. I could either submit to fate and make yet another spin-off with a fem!Ardyn, where they’re human and someone finds out by accident (Cid already knew from the scar reveal) and all the spittakes happen and from there spiral off into my usual insanity of yet another AU, of which you can all imagine the hilarious results I’m sure. Or.

Fem!Ardyn in the Nox!Taur verse.

Fem!Ardyn who has visible scars on her scales and revealed herself only to Cid, who kept her secret out of respect, who has Nox call her Uncle out of paranoia because- well. She came from an old fashioned time and was in the grip of Besithia for a while, being known as the lady she is is not exactly going to register as Safe. Honestly, considering my HCs on Ardyn’s and Somnus’s dad, she MIGHT have even been disguised throughout her childhood until Somnus’s birth so that the father wouldn’t be “shamed” by having only a “woman heir”. So in a human verse, Ardyn is very skilled at keeping the secret.

But Taur biology being the strange new world for them that it is, they forget one thing. Ardyn is no longer Accursed, so reproductive functions are now working again (the scourge basically turned that off, Ardyn in the Void would often joke that the One Good Thing about being the Immortal Accursed was no periods, but her tone would be bitter because she’d always wanted children, always wanted to raise her daughters or sons alongside her heart-sister Aera) and that means TAUR BIOLOGY.

HEATS.

That lovely (cursed) remnant from an earlier era, a nasty tack on to the “having a lower half physically reminiscent of animals”. Heats. No bleeding, but increased scent and enhanced sense of touch and rampaging instincts and other symptoms that for an utterly clueless dragon lady and her nephew are NOT FUN. Now, those two years they were undiscovered, Ardyn and Nox just hid in the wilderness until it passed, away from civilization and people who might smell her secret (also they don’t know how anyone would react, because what if people start coming AFTER HER for being in Heat????). But in the Citadel and with their terrible sense of time....

Regis is Officially Concerned when Ardyn abruptly locks himself in his room without warning, refusing to let the servants near, hiding all the way in the back bedroom and refusing to leave or let anyone but Nox enter. Nox is wary and bristly and won’t explain, and even Titus can’t get by into the room without risking being skewered by Nox’s armiger. Concern grows like crazy, enough that Regis breaks his personal rule on not invading his half-sibling’s privacy without permission and using the secret tunnels to break in, bringing Aulea with him as an appeasement since they get along better.

The first thing that hits Regis when he enters is the scent of an unmedicated Heat (because there are plenty of medicines to make a heat milder, if not any to safely get rid of them entirely), slapping him right in the face because in this Taur verse they get mildly enhanced senses to go with Taur bodies thank you.

The second thing to hit him in the face is Nox, wild-eyed and snarling (just a punch though, which Regis knows is mild compared to what his eldest COULD do)

VERY alarmed now and still somehow not putting the pieces together, Regis tries to fend off Nox while Aulea ninja’s her way by into Ardyn’s bedroom and from there to the cracked open door to the bath where she can hear the bath splashing and soft whimpering, hoping to check on the man-

Oh.

OH-AH.

Not a man then.

Ardyn, hiding in the swimming pool sized bathtub, bereft of her layers and shivering as she tries to use hot water and steam to mitigate her symptoms, hisses in alarm at the sight and sound of Aulea, who at least had the decency to announce herself before entering, and looks ready to breathe fire until Aulea drops onto her belly and on pure intuition born of everything she’s already learned about Ardyn goes, “Oh Ardyn, you have no idea what’s happening to you. Do you?”

And Ardyn freezes, visibly debates before deflating back into the water and whining, “No. No I don’t.”

And then not only would Regis have to deal with the RAGE of thinking Mors tortured his half-SISTER, his LITTLE half-sister, he would also have to deal with watching AULEA rage over all the implications of Ardyn not even knowing what a heat is and how to deal (plus the whole, why didn’t you look it up earlier in life question is met with Ardyn’s rare foot-in-mouth moment of “This only started around the time Nox turned 13, I honestly didn’t think I had the ability to have ... such things anymore. Why bother looking it up?” and so now AULEA is rampaging around the nearest training room as well as Regis and Titus)

ALSO. On a romance/fluffy/funny note- If I retconned Ardyn in Nox!Taur to fem, I could do an ArdynxCor pairing. Picture all the lion/cat jokes Ardyn gets to make. All the heart attacks Clarus gets to suffer at the Adrenaline Junkie Lion dating/mating to the Troll Dragon. All the Suffering of Titus as he deals with the courtship. All the Looks Cor gives Regis when his king and friend GLEEFULLY tells him that as mate of the king’s sister, Cor is now a PRINCE. HE HAS A ROYAL TITLE. HAH.

Also also if I did this and Ardyn was a girl and Cor was her S/O then whenever he came back from missions, he would race for the Citadel interior from the parking spot, hoping to avoid-

A whoop and a long screech that might be his name is mangled by wind and prolonged use and Cor gets knocked right off his paws by 100+ pounds of gleeful, dive-bombing dragon.

Cor, breathless even as he uses his training to flip with the impact and land straddling Ardyn: “Must you do that every time I come back?”

Ardyn, on her back and grinning like a loon, hat knocked a few feet away: “But I MISSED you, My Lionheart!”

Cor, exasperated and touched all at once as he sidesteps off her and lets her roll back onto her paws and collect her hat: “It’s only been three days this time.”

Ardyn: “I know! It’s been TERRIBLE. Aulea tried to shove me into a DRESS. Can you imagine, assaulted and attacked and my brave Lionheart wasn't there to protect me!”

Cor: “Like I could save you from Aulea anyway?”

Ardyn: “...Point, actually.”

What do we think? Yay for retconning Ardyn as a fem in the Taur verse or nay?

Hopefully yay because I think I just talked myself into this.

How dare.

[adenei]

The Mixtape Mishap - Chapter 6

New Year’s Festivities

The girls made their way down the stairs, with Hermione trailing a bit behind. She hoped that if Ginny and Fleur made the grand entrance first, she could slip into the room unnoticed because everyone’s focus would be on them. As Fleur and Ginny entered the room, she heard all the boys stop the mild chatter she had just heard. They were no doubt gaping at how beautiful Fleur looked with her silky long blonde hair against a modest shimmery deep blue dress. 

“Uh, Ginny, if we’d known that’s the dress you’d picked out with Fleur, we most certainly would not have gotten that,” Bill said tersely.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing Mum didn’t let you invite Dean,” she heard Fred agree. Hermione wished she could see the look on Harry’s face right now.

“Well, I think you look spectacular,” Hermione heard what sounded like Tonks’ voice. 

Oh good! Tonks is here, another person to talk to while I avoid Ron. Hermione was taking a few more deep breaths before finally making her way in when she saw Harry turn quickly around the corner and almost run into her.

“There you are!” he whispered. “Ginny just sent me after you. Why are you waiting here?”

“I- I don’t know. I thought those two could distract the attention and I could just slip in, but apparently not,” she hissed back at him. Hermione noticed Harry was wearing a light green button down shirt that brought out his eyes, with a black paisley tie and grey trousers. 

“Well, the longer you wait, the more obvious your solitary entrance is going to be,” Harry commented as Hermione self consciously tugged at her short skirt of the dress once more.

“Who’s out there anyways,” she couldn’t help but keep stalling.

Harry gave her a look, but indulged her question anyway. “Everyone. Oh, Tonks is here, too. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went upstairs for the night. I guess they trust Bill to keep an eye on things.”

“I see.”

“C’mon Hermione, just go. It won’t be a big deal if you don’t make it one,” Harry pushed.

It really shouldn’t be a big deal, but something kept Hermione rooted to the spot. Obviously, Harry hadn’t gotten the job done because Ginny rounded the corner next.

“Hermione, why are you still here?” she said half quietly. “Come on! You have to see what Fred and George have done! It’s amazing!”

“It is pretty impressive,” Harry agreed. He turned to Ginny and whispered, although loud enough for Hermione to hear, “I think she’s scared, if you ask me,” as he smirked in her direction.

Hermione instantly became annoyed at his criticism. I am absolutely not scared, she thought to herself, ignoring the fact that she still hadn’t moved in what had probably been a good five minutes.

“Scared?” she heard Ginny say. “Aren’t you a Gryffindor? Maybe the sorting hat should have put you in Ravenclaw if you can’t walk into a party,” Ginny rolled her eyes playfully. Hermione knew she was goading her on, but still didn’t like it. 

“Oh, honestly!” Hermione said annoyedly as she clambered down the remaining stairs and walked into the room. She turned back to them and said, “Are you happy now?”

Harry laughed as Ginny said, “Quite. It’s about time you joined the fun!” as she gestured into the completely transformed sitting room.

The twins had completely outdone themselves on the decorations. There was an entire wall of silver and gold holographic balloons in all shapes and sizes; the center housed four rose gold balloons that said ‘NYE 1997.’ There were also more silver and gold balloons hovering all throughout the ceiling for more decoration. Hermione noticed the furniture had been moved around and even transfigured to take on more of an ‘elegant party’ vibe, and two tables were set up. One table had various snacks and finger foods that Mrs. Weasley must have prepared for them, and the other table had champagne bottles and flutes on one side for a midnight toast, no doubt, and several black and silver cylindrical objects that Hermione wasn’t sure of. Aside from the glowing ambiance the balloons on the ceiling seemed to give off, nothing looked particularly out of the ordinary yet, though she was sure Fred and George must have some tricks up their sleeves if they were testing out a new line of products tonight. Hopefully it’s not in party games, Hermione thought.

A cat call whistle broke Hermione out of her admiration of the decor as she heard George say, “Damn, Fleur, I think you may have some competition on the most attractive female, here this evening. No offense, Tonks!”

Tonks laughed as she said, “None taken,” though it was hard to hear over Ginny who shouted, “Hey!”

“Sisters don’t count, and you should not be dressed like that,” Fred said teasingly, even though he was probably serious.

The twins didn’t notice Bill’s glare at their remark about Fleur, but she took it in stride as she commented, “I ‘ave no issue not being ze most attractive one ‘ere for once. “Hermione does not know of her own beauty.”

Hermione blushed profusely at Fleur’s words, and noticed Bill whisper something into Fleur’s ear as she melted into him. Hermione stood there awkwardly trying to avoid everyone’s gaze by looking around the room. That was a mistake, though because she froze when her eyes accidentally landed directly on Ron, who was staring directly at her, eyes slightly wide and mouth open. Hermione had to force herself to not physically gasp at the sight of him, looking more attractive than she thought was even possible. He was dressed in a light grey shirt, a tie that matched her dress perfectly in color, and black trousers. 

She forced herself to look away from him and direct the conversation away from herself. “So, while this does look spectacular, I can’t say it’s anything magical or out of the ordinary from muggle decorations in general. Except for that balloon wall. I’ve never quite seen some of those shapes, let alone numbers,” Hermione commented.

Thankfully, Fred took the bait of her remarks, and didn’t address the obvious looks Ron and Hermione had just given each. “Ah, but Hermione, don’t you know by now that George and I always have tricks up our sleeves? I’m disappointed that you don’t believe in us!”

“Yes, all of our products will speak for themselves in due time. Though, now that you mention it, we should tell you if you’d like to spike the cupcakes over there, one of our newest inventions are ‘shot shots’. All you have to do is pick a flavor, and inject it into the cupcake!” George demonstrated his description while everyone looked on in curiosity.

“Happy now that we’ve revealed something? Now, what say we begin the festivities with some muggle music?” Fred flicked his wand and ‘Shake it Off’ began playing through the wireless.

“What? How?” Hermione was speechless. How were they able to play that music?

George laughed as he said, “A little help from Lee. He figured out how to hack the muggle wireless system and was able to pick out all the upbeat songs and put it through a wireless channel.”

“Brilliant!” Ginny said as she tugged on Hermione’s arm. “There’s so much room to dance!” Ginny didn’t hesitate to start dancing as Tonks and Fleur joined them and the boys began distracting themselves with food. Despite giving into the music and dancing with the other girls, Hermione couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched. 

A few songs in, Ginny pulled Hermione close and said, “You know he’s been watching you this whole time, right?”

Hermione, who’d deliberately kept her back to the boys, nodded and said, “Yeah, I had a feeling,” as a small smile crept on her lips.

“You know Harry hasn’t taken his eyes off you either, right?” Tonks nudged Ginny, whose face immediately flushed red. Hermione gave her a knowing look.

The girls took a break to eat some of the food that was laid out. The sweets were exceptionally good when the ‘shot shots’ were added, Hermione noted. After they’d refueled and rested for a few songs, the girls went back to dancing some more. This pattern continued for the next couple hours, where they’d take breaks and eat snacks or drink Butterbeer when they didn’t like a particular song. Then, someone would undoubtedly drag the rest of them back to the clearing in the middle of the room when another good beat came on. Fred, George and Bill even joined in a couple times, and they all laughed at Fred and George’s ridiculous dance moves. Hermione continued to enjoy the distraction, as she still wasn’t sure what she’d say to Ron when the time came, so delaying the inevitable was the next best option. 

The latest song that was playing ended, and ‘Bad Blood’ began playing on the radio as Ginny squealed. “Ooh, I love this one!” The girls had moved slightly in their circle, and Hermione was now able to see Ron sitting with Harry. She noticed him straighten a bit and wondered if he heard the words and associated them with the title of the mixed CD she’d made. She hadn’t included the song in there, and couldn’t remember why. Probably for the better. After it ended, Hermione excused herself to use the loo.

Harry nudged Ron. “Now’s your chance.”

“What are you on about?” Ron asked.

“Go up there and wait for her to come out of the bathroom and finally talk to her. Unless you’d rather approach her down here where everyone can hear you.” Harry wondered if he had to spell out every tiny detail. 

“And if she ignores me?” 

“I swear if I have to watch you two eye each other and dance around whatever the hell is going on, I’m going to hurl,” Ginny appeared out of nowhere with her witty mark.

“Oi! No one asked you,” Ron retorted. 

“I didn’t need to be asked. I’m stealing Harry so now you have no excuse. Now go, or I’ll tell the twins you’ll volunteer for free to be their test subject on any and all new products for the next five years,” Ginny said as she held out her hand to Harry, evidently forcing him onto their makeshift dance floor.

Ron sniggered at the thought of Harry getting roped into dancing as he trudged up the stairs. He knew enough not to test Ginny’s bluffing, even though he still wasn’t sure what he was going to say to her. He’d been at a loss for words ever since she emerged from the stairway. That dress was enough to do him in right then and there. He leaned against the opposite wall waiting for her to emerge. He fiddled with the paper in his pocket, hoping it’d be enough to win her over this time. 

He heard the bathroom door open and he looked up to see a startled Hermione staring back at him. “Could we talk?” he asked her before he wimped out.

“Oh! Er, I- I don’t know,” Hermione said as her cheeks flushed red. She pretended to listen downstairs, “I really like the song playing right now…” she lied. 

“Just hear me out, yeah?” he pleaded with her, blocking her way downstairs for a brief moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t take you seriously that day in Herbology when you talked about Slughorn’s party. And I’m sorry I let my jealousy get the best of me. I fucked up, alright?” He dug the paper out of his pocket. “Just- promise me you’ll go read this, and if- if you want to talk or anything after, I’ll be in my room for the next fifteen minutes. If I don’t see you, I’ll just assume it’s a pass and I’ll see you downstairs later.” She took the paper from him and stared at it as Ron turned to continue up the stairs to room. He turned back briefly to say, “By the way, you look amazing tonight,” as his ears turned the deepest shade of red. He turned and continued on his way.

Hermione stood there for a moment before slipping into Ginny’s room to see what it said. 

XO

Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down Swingin’

Am I more than you bargained for yet?

I’ve been dying to tell you anything you want to hear

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

I keep my jealousy close

‘Cause it’s all mine

And if you say this makes you happy

Then I’m not the only one lying

I’ve got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea that Says You Should Shut Your Mouth

I’m hopelessly hopeful

You’re just hopeless enough

Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year

So give in or just give up

Are we growing up or just going down

I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I got Was this Stupid Song Written About Me

I found the cure to growing older

And you’re the only place that feels like home

A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me” **

I confess, I messed up

Dropping I’m sorries like you’re still around

And I know you dressed up

“Hey kid, you’ll never live this down”

And you’re just the girl all the boys want to dance with 

And I’m just the boy who’s had too many chances

I'm sleeping on your folks' porch again, dreaming

She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"

I don't blame you for being you

But you can't blame me for hating it

So, say, what are you waiting for, kiss her, kiss her

I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late

Write me off, give up on me

'Cause darling, what did you expect?

I'm just off, a lost cause

A long shot, don't even take this bet

You can make all the moves, you can aim all the spotlights

Get all the sighs and the moans just right

I'm sleeping on your folks' porch again, dreaming

She said, she said, she said, "Why don't you just drop dead?"

**Listen to this one on Ginny’s walkie thing. It’s the Fall Out Boy Album. #11

Please give me a chance to make this right..

Hermione couldn’t believe it. Ron must have taken the time to turn the tables and do the same thing for her. She was trying to figure out when he would have even gotten Ginny’s walkman to do this. I must have been in the shower. How sneaky of her! She thought as she pulled her own walkman out of her bag. Hermione picked it up to listen to the song Ron had requested of her, even though all the lyrics were already written on the paper.

She paused. Come to think of it, they listened to all the albums she had brought, plus both of Ginny’s. Maybe he used Harry’s mix? Of course he’d include where to find it, given the cheat sheet she’d written for Harry. You know, in case he needed Ginny’s for reference. Hermione carefully picked up the headphones and placed them over her ears, turning on the device. She skipped to #11 and read along with the lyrics while she listened to the song. When it had concluded, Hermione immediately turned off the walkman and placed the headphones over it. The song resonated with her in a way she knew wouldn’t have if she’d just simply read what was on the page. She knew exactly what she needed to do next.

***

Ron made his way up the stairs and entered his room. He was sure Fred and George would probably kill him if he got his clothes overly wrinkled, but he didn’t really care. He wasn’t expecting to just leave her with the paper, but when all was said and done, he figured that she deserved the same privacy he had with hers.

Something Harry had said gave him the idea. I know she’s bloody brilliant, but try and meet her on her level. So that’s exactly what Ron did with Harry’s CD and Ginny’s borrowed player. Harry had gone down to borrow it anyways, but didn’t question when Ron asked to use it for a while. It helped pass his time as he worked through the songs, hoping to find some that had some lyrics that fit what he wanted to say. 

It really was genius to use someone else’s words to express their own. And what was even better, was that Harry had a whole song on his that applied to how he felt about her and their whole situation, even if the title was a bit questionable. Ron sat on his bed, leaning forward so his arms rested on his legs as he stared at the clock. Ten minutes for fate to decide. 

What was I thinking? Giving her a deadline. Will she really know what I meant by asking her to give me a chance? And what if she does show up? Of course I didn’t think that far ahead. But that’d mean he’d be optimistic when he wasn’t sure if he actually felt that way. Time was dragging, yet flying, at the same time. At some point he realized there were five minutes left.

With three minutes left, Ron was ready to give up. He stood and walked towards the door, stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind him. When he looked up he was surprised to see an out of breath Hermione.

“Where were you going? Ginny’s clock said I still had three minutes.” Hermione bit her bottom lip, “At least I don’t think I’m late..” 

“Wha- No, I just didn’t think - You actually came!” Ron stammered.

“Of course I came! Unless, that’s not what you wanted?” Hermione hesitated.

“No! I mean- oh sod it!” Ron said as he reached out, grabbing Hermione by the waist and pulling her into him as his lips crashed down on hers. 

Hermione was stunned at first, with one hand resting on the arm Ron used to pull her close, and the other resting against his chest. After she’d recovered from the initial shock, realizing that Ron was indeed kissing her, she eagerly returned the kiss. Hermione’s hands traveled up and wrapped around his neck of their own accord as Ron broke the kiss, for what Hermione hoped would be a brief moment.

“Is- is this okay?” he asked her breathily.

“More than,” Hermione said through a wide smile.

Ron returned her smile with his own signature lopsided grin as she leaned in for more. After Ron was convinced he’d given Hermione her own proper first snog, he broke away. “As brilliant as this is, we should probably head back down before Harry or Ginny come to check up on us.”

Hermione pouted. “I suppose you're right. What should we tell them?”

“Hmm, not sure. What do you think?” Ron knew she already had a plan forming.

“I think we should mess with them,” Hermione said with a devious smile.

“Oh? What did you have in mind?” Ron raised his eyebrow as Hermione quietly whispered her plan to him.

Oh, this is going to be good, he thought.

[thewhumperinwhite]

Just for fun: Soulmate AU

I was reading a fanfic about an au where you’re born with a mark representing your soulmate somewhere on your body and i was feeling sappy, and this uhhh.... got WELL out of hand;;; So I’m gonna post it in two parts because otherwise it’s longer than I’m comfy putting in one tumblr post. (i’ll put it as one complete piece in ao3 when it’s complete, though.) Also, i wasn’t even sure this would be that whumpy when i first had the idea but UH

Please note!! This oneshot contains a fairly graphic suicide attempt. I’m tagging it accordingly, but please err on the side of caution and be safe.

TW for: suicide attempt, gore, implied parental abuse, drowning, mild internalized ableism, underage whumpee (at this point Kent is 17, Sol is 19 and Pax is about 21).

@whumpitywhumpwhump

----

Sol Michaelis has two soulmate marks instead of one—an eye with a slash through it sits just under his collarbone from the day he’s born, and then when he’s two a second one slowly filters in, twin patterns of three lines around each of his wrists, just above the veins, in delicate summer-sky blue.

To be honest, Sol doesn’t think about it that much. He’s got too much to do, always—he’s in every sports club where they’ll let him play on the right team, and he always has to force himself to study if he wants to do good in school; he doesn’t tell anyone because his dad’s a genius so he can’t let anyone know he’s stupid, but it takes him three times as long to do anything as he knows its supposed to, always. It doesn’t leave any time to think.

About three times a month, he has nightmares about drowning, where he braces his hands and tries to push up out of the water but there’s a big hand around the back of his head and it holds him under, and he wakes up gasping for breath, pinned down against his sweaty pillow by the feeling that it’s his fault, that he deserves it somehow, that it’s only justice.

He honestly believes they’re just normal stress dreams, and they usually don’t stick in his head that long. And he’s always so busy. He’s busy in high school and then all of a sudden he’s busy surviving instead, busy finding jobs he hates and doing them as many hours as he can, and just barely making rent and food money, and he really doesn’t have time to think about soulmates.

And then in the middle of a workday he drops an entire tray of dishes because his wrists are on fire.

----

With the caveat that they have never met, Pax Field sometimes resents their future soulmates.

There’s a specific flavor to feelings when they aren’t yours—you’re not quite feeling them, you just know they’re happening, in some room and brain you aren’t actually a part of. But you can’t ignore them, either, no matter how much you try. And Pax always tries. Their own feelings are plenty without worrying about the feelings of absolute strangers, thank you very much. And they’re never good feelings, or at least hardly ever; always cold prickly sorrow-embarrassment-shame around their wrists and hot itchy anxiety-fear-loneliness over their heart.

Occasionally at night, when Vic is out doing unethical science or whatever and they’re alone, they put their hand over their heart and rub the skin there, or they massage their wrists as softly as they can, and try to—feel outward, which they’re not sure is even possible; whisper into the skin of their wrists that this stranger should fucking relax, fucking lighten up a little. Once they woke up from a nightmare—unrelated to soulmates, presumably, since it prominently featured Vic—and rolled over onto their stomach so they could press both wrists against their heart and bury their face in their pillow and cried, hard, because they didn’t know what was happening but they knew it wasn’t fair and they also knew there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Then they woke up in the morning and did their absolute best to forget about it, because they don’t know these people and anyway they aren’t going to waste their time on things they can’t change.

But they’ve never felt anything like this.

It’s a Friday evening and they are, by the grace of god, alone in their apartment, which means no one has to see them stagger and then fall hard onto their knees in the middle of the hallway, staring at their wrists.

The little blue marks there don’t look any different, which seems insane, because they have never ever been more sure that something is wrong.

It isn’t like being in pain—it isn’t like being in their own pain. It’s like seeing a car accident on the news and hearing your phone ring at the same time and knowing you can’t get there fast enough, but you run out the door anyway, because you can’t do anything else, you can’t do this, you can’t lose him, he can’t do this.

Even though Pax knows while they run into the bathroom, slipping and sliding on nothing and having to catch themself against walls and doors, that whoever “he” is, he already has.

They saw this in a movie once, where someone had to warn their soulmate about a murderer or some fucking dumb thing. So it probably doesn’t even work, and their soulmate’s going to bleed to death on expensive bathroom tiles before Pax even gets to meet him.

But they can’t not do anything. They turn the shower all the way to hot, and the sink all the way hot too, and they close the bathroom door behind them and stuff a towel underneath—and the bathroom mirror still isn’t fogging up quick enough, so they breath on it, hard, too, even though that’s objectively dumb. Then they stand at the sink, staring at their own wild-eyed reflection as it fogs out, one hand clamped white-knuckled around the opposite wrist, which burns with pain that’s so much worse for not being theirs.

 ----

It doesn’t even hurt that much anymore, actually.

Well, it does—it stings like a really terrible papercut, except much deeper and almost the whole length of his forearm. But it’s getting easier to ignore, even when he makes fists and squeezes to make the blood come out faster.

Kent kind of thinks, at least based on the movies he’s seen, that you’re supposed to strip naked before you do this, and he knows that would make the least mess. But he’s in the bathtub, and he’s stripped down to his boxers and a t-shirt, so it shouldn’t be too hard to clean up, anyway. And the maids are mostly older ladies, or young ones working through college, and stuff, and he’s too embarrassed to let them see him naked, even if he never has to know about it. He’s sitting cross-legged on the floor of the bathtub, with his hands in his lap, so the bottom of his boxers are getting wet and sticky, but that’s getting easier to ignore, too. The blood is bright against the white porcelain, by far the most he’s ever seen, and it’s hard to look away from. Kind of pretty, even.

His heart is going a little faster, now, and he thinks he might be sweating. He squeezes his fists again. It’s taking longer than he thought it would.

Maybe he should make another—

People are looking at him.

Kent sits bolt upright, looking around the empty bathroom. He has a sudden urge to hide his arms behind his back, and he thinks he can feel an embarrassed flush in his cheeks.

“I-I,” he says, like he’s going to try to explain, even though he has no idea what he would say.

“Oh, god,” the brown-skinned boy with the round face and black hair says. He’s on the floor in the middle of a big kitchen. There are people around him but Kent can’t see them as well. It isn’t like looking through a window, or like the boy is here with him; it’s simply the new experience of seeing clearly into a room he is not in.

“Call for help,” the darker-skinned person says. Their hair is long and lose around their shoulders in tight waves. It’s dyed a violent pink. They’re staring into their bathroom mirror with more intensity than Kent has ever been looked at with, and they must be mad at him; he grabs one of his wrists and squeezes it with his other hand, makes blood bubble out and gush over his hand and onto his leg.

“Fuck,” the black-haired boy screams. He’s kneeling in front of a metal dishwasher with a foggy reflective surface and he throws himself towards it, grabs the sides of the dishwasher with both hands. “Don’t!”

Kent loosens his grip, panting. He’s staring straight ahead, seeing the blank tile wall of his own bathroom and the industrial kitchen behind the black-haired boy and the bathroom behind the person with pink hair. His heart is pounding now, rabbit-fast, in a way that’s starting to feel scary.

“Don’t do that, baby,” the black-haired boy says, and his voice is shaking like he’s in pain, even though Kent knows, somehow, that he can’t be, that Kent would know if he was hurting.

“Who’s in the house with you?” the pink-hair-person barks, and Kent shakes his head, because his father is home but his father can’t see him like this, he can’t, he’ll make sure Kent doesn’t die so he can drown him himself. “Call for help!”

Kent shakes his head again, harder, trying to scoot back away from them, except they aren’t really here so there’s nowhere to go.

He’s lifted his arms, now, holding one wrist in the hand, and now there’s blood down both his forearms and slick on his legs, soaking into his boxers and the bottom of his t-shirt, and he’s—beyond embarrassed, scared, doesn’t want them to see this, doesn’t want anyone to see it.

Kent doesn’t think of the golden sun that’s always sat on his chest, over his heart, and he doesn’t think of the smaller slashed eye beside it, because he is not thinking of much at all, but he’s always been glad they were easy to hide under his clothes. Not because he was ashamed of them, but because if no one else saw them they were his and nobody else’s. Sometimes those marks are the only parts of his body he likes, the only parts he never wants to hurt.

Both marks are warm, now, but the rest of him is becoming cold so fast that Kent doesn’t notice.

“Oh, god,” the black-haired boy’s voice says again. He hits his fist lightly against the dishwasher, like he wishes he could come through it, and Kent stares at him, because he’s lovely, and he’s sad, and it’s Kent’s fault.

“I-I—” he says quietly. “I’m sorry.”

“God damn it,” the pink-haired person says, and their voice is wild, almost a roar. Then they say, “Where are you?”

Kent shakes his head. “I—I don’t—”

“Are you in the city?” they snap. Their hands are braced on the bathroom sink, and they’re lovely too, and Kent didn’t mean—he didn’t think— “Hey!” they snap their fingers, eyes blazing, and Kent crashes back to earth with a start. “Are you in the city?”

Kent nods helplessly.

“Where?”

Kent blinks rapidly. Their eyes are so bright that he mumbles an answer before he’s even decided if he wants them to know or not.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” they say, diving for the pocket of their sweatpants.

“That’s near me,” the black-haired boy whispers. “That’s near me, that’s near me, I’m coming to get you!”

Kent balks, scooting back in the blood along the bottom of the bathtub, shaking his head rapidly. “You—you can’t,” he says, and then his mind goes blank with terror, because more than not wanting to be seen in bloody boxer shorts, “My father is home!”

 ----

Sol only kind of hears this, because he’s already scrambling to his feet and wrestling his apron off over his head.

“You can’t just run off in the middle of your shift—” his boss starts, and then cuts off because Sol’s apron has just hit him in the chest.

“Then fire me,” Sol says, and he takes off across the restaurant floor at a dead run.

The address is ten or eleven blocks away—the restaurant where Sol works is right at the edge of the fancy part of town, and the blue-eyed boy’s house is in the heart of it. Sol doesn’t have a car, but it makes objective sense to wait for a bus or run to the train station. He does not consider this for even a second.

Sol runs, hard, his work shoes pounding on the pavement in time with his breath, and it doesn’t occur to him that it’s a summer night, still hot, or that he’s wearing his binder, or that the sidewalk is crowded with strangers who yell and dart out of his way. He doesn’t see any of them, doesn’t feel his ribs aching, doesn’t feel anything except that the blue lines on his wrist are pulsing—warm one second, like he’s going the right way, and cold the next, because his soulmate is dying.

Sol is drenched in sweat by the time he grinds to a stop in front of the tall fancy apartment building—and he knows immediately which one it is, because there’s an ambulance parked out front with it’s lights flashing.

Sol rounds the side of the ambulance and the stretcher is halfway in, and he stumbles sideways and almost falls—but he can feel the warm pulse in his mark and the boy on the stretcher gasps and moves, arching his back slightly.

The EMT about to shut the ambulance door turns at the sound of Sol’s pounding footsteps, looking alarmed, and Sol raises his arm and waves it over his head.

“He’s my soulmate!” He pants, holding his arm out so the EMT can see the mark, pulsing and flickering in a way that makes panic burn the back of Sol’s neck, but definitely giving off a soft glow. “He’s my soulmate. We’re soulmates.”

The EMT frowns, and then opens the door back up and lets him clamber inside.

Sol’s never been inside an ambulance before; it’s cramped, with two EMTs hovering on either side of the stretcher, now staring at Sol, but Sol barely sees them because the boy on the stretcher is looking at him too, and there’s blood everywhere—they’ve put tourniquets around his arms, but only just now—and Sol loves him.

Sol holds up his arm, still panting, hard. The paramedic on the boy’s left frowns at him, then down at the boy, and then tugs the collar of his t-shirt down.

There’s a big yellow sun over the boy’s chest, glowing bright and steady, like it’s mocking the weak stutter-pulse of the glow at Sol’s wrists. Sol flushes, feeling almost embarrassed, like his mark is showing off.

The EMT sighs and gestures for Sol to sit down.

The boy on the stretcher gives a little gasp. His eyes follow Sol when he awkwardly arranges himself on the little bench next to the stretcher, bright blue and reflective as glass. The EMT on his right leans over to scribble something across the boy’s forehead with a black marker—“TK” and the time—and the boy blinks at Sol around the EMT’s arm, his lips slightly parted.

“Hey,” Sol says softly. He wants badly to take the boy’s hand, but it’s covered in blood and he’s worried he’ll hut him. He pats his knee awkwardly instead, and the boy gasps again, sounding punched-out and rough but not pained, exactly. “My name’s Sol. I’m one of your soulmates.”

“I’m sorry,” the boy whispers, staring at Sol, and it sinks into Sol’s belly like a punch, and he gasps, hard, because he can feel it, not like it’s his own but still so strong he can taste it: shame and guilt and heart-fluttering panic.

Sol folds forward, the wind knocked out of him, and lowers his head to touch his forehead, as gently as he can, to the back of his soulmate’s bloody hand.

“I’m not mad at you,” Sol whispers, and he hears the boy gasp again, his breath starting to come in hard quiet sobs. “I’m not mad, baby, I’m not mad, I’m not mad, I’m not mad.”

[whatacartouchebag]

So I recently did an AMA over on the Fair Game Effect discord server, and it was a whole mess of fun! I loved being able to get the chance to chat about the creative process that goes on behind the scenes, so I wanted to be able to share the answers with the rest of you ♥

I do tend to get kind of wordy for some of these answers, so to save your dash, find out a bit more about my writing process under the cut!

Keep in mind that there are mild SPOILERS up to the latest chapter of And The Reason Comes, if you haven’t caught up!

Question: I absolutely love the cadence of your writing, especially the slow way you unravel emotions. Was there something particular about the relationship between Qrow and Clover that you felt lends itself to this style of writing? Can you talk a bit about how you decide which emotional bits get more attention, and how you decide the depth to which you describe those emotions? That’s 2 questions, sorry.

Cart: Thankyou so much!! The biggest part of writing these two really comes from the fact that they're both adults with a lot of stuff on their plates. They've had enough experience with life along the way to know a few things here and there. They don't tend to rush into things, unless it's a good fight, and there's a lot of mutual respect for space and trust and time, so it was all about expanding on what's already there. In canon, we were always shown that there was this soft sort of trust building up between the two of them, but it was never anything in great leaps and bounds.

Qrow's shown himself not to be the sort to blindly trust without reason, and how easily that can break, so going into Reason I always kinda knew it would be a slow drag of letting him work himself out around this new force in his life. Clover himself has shown that he's this quiet but gently reassuring presence in his life, and putting them together is like a match skirting the edge of kindling. They work so well together; they recognise there's something there, so it was just a matter of letting them fall into step over the course of the fic.

As for the second question, hoo man, that's kind of a mixed bag answer! It all really depends on the brainstorming process of what plot points I want to tackle, and in what order they fall onto the page. Sometimes it's also a matter of just letting the scene play out by letting the characters say what feels 'right' at the time (which can sometimes go INCREDIBLY against what I originally had planned). There was always going to be heavier scenes versus lighter ones, so it's a bit of a balancing act to know when to let them come up for air, or when to let them linger. Not just for them, but also for the audience.

That's... probably the biggest thing I keep in mind when writing the heavier emotional scenes. It's not just the characters going through it, but whoever's reading it, too.

As to the depth part, that's... something that depends on the rhythm of what's happening. If it's a scene of heavier realisation, sometimes shorter, punchier sentences help portray that (eg: Qrow's realisation of what home is to him in the latest chapter), but other times, it takes something meatier to help feel what they're feeling (eg: that first kiss and Qrow's subsequent reaction). It's that striking-a-balance feeling again, and finding what works best for the pacing of the scene, and it's something I always have fun writing.

Question: What parts of Reason do you enjoy the most so far?

Cart: can I just say i've adored writing the whole thing jkhdfk

Man, I... really don't know how to answer this one. I've enjoyed the entire process of the fic, because it's been such a fun ride of ups and downs. I adore writing these two together, so sometimes it's the little things that really tick all my boxes.

I do get a giant kick out of writing action scenes, so the sparring match and the canyon fight with the Nevermore were pure indulgence for me to go through. I love the tender, more simple moments, like the noodle shop, or any of the time spent with the girls. Getting to see them through some heavy emotional moments, like at the lookout, or at Clover's apartment. Being able to explore some characters and have fun with them along the way; I mean, writing Winter has been an absolute blast and I never thought she'd be as fun to write as she has been.

Honestly, though, it's just a treat to be able to write a scene where Qrow is genuinely happy, because it's something that's so very rarely shown, and being able to give that to him is just so good.

Question: What is your planning process like? Reason is such a big story, how much of it was planned at the start? Did you have all the major plot points decided then, or did some big ones strike you along the way?

Cart: Kind of fifty-fifty, actually! I had a few big story beats in mind before I started putting pen to paper, but a lot of smaller, in-between scenes generally fall into place somewhat organically along the way. There were always some things that I wanted to do from the outset, for example, the sparring match, the noodle shop, Clover's breakdown, and the Nevermore fight.

Along the way, ideas will pop out of the blue while I'm doing dishes or something, or if I've been stewing about how to connect certain points. Those usually get jotted down and shuffled or reworked depending on how the story is progressing. The usual process kinda looks like this:

It's just quick little snatches of notes, but the actual scenes get WAY more fleshed out as the chapter plays out. Some things don't make the cut, depending on pacing, or if it doesn't fit the flow of where a scene goes, or if it's just going to pad out the story too much (as you can see from the last note there, it's something that never made the cut in the restaurant, but it was a fun idea to play with).

Question:

In addition to

Reason

, you also wrote a series of fics for Fair Game Week! How was writing those different than writing for something long-form like

Reason

? And which FGW was your favourite to write :)?

Cart: I actually get a real kick out of writing shorter prompts, because it really helps keep myself better in a character's head, ie seeing how they react to different situations, knowing how they'd respond to something, that sort of thing. It's a good mental break to be able to sink my teeth into something shorter, and with a concise ending, rather than a bigger, ongoing project like Reason.

As to a favourite, man, I adore Feint because getting to go over the parts and pieces of Harbinger was amazing, though I really do have a soft spot for Sinew because writing a sick floppy bird getting cared for by Clover was just fun.

Question: It’s so lovely to hear about how much you’ve enjoyed writing Reason from your answers! Have you gotten stuck on any part, and if so, how did you work through that?

Cart: Oof, I have gotten stuck quite a few times along the way. Wrapping up the restaurant scene was a big one, and definitely when Ruby, Clover and Qrow left the canyon to return to Mantle. There's an upcoming scene with Winter that I had to revisit quite a few times, because of certain subtleties in phrasings or how she was speaking very carefully with someone without either of them saying too much that would cross a line. I still find myself getting stuck with Ironwood, but mainly because I still haven't gotten his voice right in my head.

Working through them, to me, is just a matter of pushing ahead with a scene, letting characters talk to one another, or letting them get their own thoughts out, because sometimes in doing that, it helps me stumble across something that leads into another scene. Or having a goal to work towards - another scene - and just finding a different way to connect the two.

Question: What inspired you to begin writing Reason?

Cart: Honestly? It was seeing Qrow taking the first real, productive steps into healing, and finding himself working alongside this positive parallel of a person, and reacting so wonderfully to it. After Clover's introduction, it was clear that he was going to be such a healing presence to Qrow, and watching Qrow open himself up to this man little by little was something that was wonderful to see.

It was because of that I really wanted to do something with this healing process, and help the two of them connect in a more solid, in-depth manner. It's honestly why them becoming a couple took so long to come around; I wanted the focus to be on their trust and connection first, and their relationship as a couple to come afterwards.

Question: If you don’t mind me asking (feel free to ignore if this would be too spoilery!), but going forward with Reason, are you planning on including any canon scenes from the show?

Cart: It's something I've been tossing up for a while, pretty much ever since I started writing it, to be honest. It's why the fic takes place in that little handwaved time pocket between their arrival in Atlas and the elections, because it gave me enough time to play around with something if I did include canon scenes.

Going forward... I'm not too sure! If I did, then many things would certainly change, but at the current pace of things, and with the loose ending I have in mind, it might be hard to wrangle in. But hey, maybe we'll see!

Question: You navigate through a lot of different emotional beats in Reason so deftly!! Do you have any strategies you use to keep everyone in character as you write?

Cart: Thankyou! A couple of things I always try and keep in the back of my mind when writing: does this sound like something they would say in canon? And is this something that the audience is going to find enjoyable?

Obviously, the characters change a little over the course of the story, so subtle changes will be there, but for the most part, I always stick to those two loose rules when I'm putting pen to paper. As an aside, Reason wasn't actually my first foray into writing these characters! I wrote just a few simple, throwaway scenes and snatches of conversation, just to get a feel for them and their voices before I really started writing the bigger stuff.