#hope she at least makes merge or whatev

[dontexpectmuch]

sorrry i did not see your rules!! can you do jude x reader mornings and light kisses?

all's good! hope you enjoy!

-------

the loud groaning merging from your bedroom paints a smile across your tired face, your mind already imagining your boyfriends eyebrows pulling together and how hands trying to wash away the rest belonging of sleep on his face.

it has been some time since you got up, your internal clock not granting you to sleep in just like your boyfriend does. but that just allows you to bask in the moment, to look at his calm face, the one that usually expresses so much within seconds, no emotion ever staying hidden for long.

you hum to yourself, you and the coffee machine making the only noise in your bright kitchen, table all ready to enjoy a nice breakfast and some quiet before Jude has to leave for practice.

it is something you actually copied from his mother back then, when the two of yo spent the weekend together and had breakfast at biscuits place before moving with whatever you had planned. Denise, his mother, ever the angel she is, prepared a beautiful breakfast table, not only packed with proteins and all different kinds of drinks, but food and dishes you'd normally see on tv shows.

yo believe that was what got you into cooking and preparing a nice meal for the one you love. when thinking back to the warmth, the comfort and that feeling of home you felt when sitting on the chair to eat that breakfast, you can feel the motivation pulsing through your veins, almost desperate to make Jude feel that same kind of love and affection whenever you could.

perhaps that is the reason you are so immersed in your thoughts, fully blending away your surroundings, and why you do not hear those footsteps slowly approaching you from behind. you also do not realize that he has brought the blanket with him, only when you feel yourself losing your sight and being swept off your feet, loud shriek escaping your throat and multiple curse words following.

"what the fuck!" your voice is muffled, though loud enough to make Jude giggle as he carries you in his arms, moving to god knows where.

his arms are closed around you upper body, hindering you from smacking him as hard as you could, "william, what the fuck are you-"

you are thrown onto some soft surface, you guess its your bed, and before you can even merge from that blanket wrapping, Jude half-heartily throws himself on top of you.

"mh," he begins, sighing loudly, "better."

his arm hugs your waist, just as you finally pulled your head out of the blanket cocoon, "what are you doing?" you demand, voice matching the sternness in your eyes.

he sighs once more [you want to smack that sigh out of him], his eyes closed and leg now laced across yours, "i woke up."

"con-fucking-gratulations?"

he ignores your anger, continuing, "as i was saying," he starts again, "i woke up, reached out to my side, to cuddle with my amazing, gorgeous, breathtaking, show-stopping-"

"get to the point, love." you roll your eyes and place your head on his shoulder, eyes still holding a certain sternness in them, though your body couldn't help but melt into his.

jude scoffs, "well, i wanted to cuddle, and you weren't there, so i had to don what anyone in my position would have done."

"scare the shit out of me?"

"you might call it 'scaring the shit out of you', which is totally unprofessional, by the way," he earns a headbutt against his shoulder, "I call it romantic get away a la Shakespeare. that's just me, though."

this time, it is you, who groans, "jude, something must be seriously wrong with you."

"the only thing that is seriously wrong is you getting up without cuddling me first!"

"i was preparing some nice breakfast, you know?"

"could've cuddled with me first." he says, shrugging and tightening his hold around you.

exhaling through your nose, you decide to accept your fate.

"could you at least help me get out of this cocoon?"

"nah," jude changes his position to get comfortable, "makes you look cute, babe."

you sigh, knowing that you could never win this game before snuggling deeper into his side. you guess you'll let it slide this time. especially when jude starts to pepper light kisses along your forehead.

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

got sick and am bitchless but id never let you be sick and bitchless as well.

[maria-tries-to-write]

HOPELESS

A/N: definitely not coming back, but I've been absolutely obsessed with Hazbin Hotel lately, and I guess I just wanted to share some of my obsession with you? Anyways, this's some kind based on a co I've been thinking about, with a whole lore and stuff...

SUMMARY: life in hell has been so boring and awfully lonely... unfortunately, you always had a thing for the unreachable and emotionless kind of guys.

WORDS: 865

WR: fem!reader, reader goes by she/her pronouns, reader uses traditional Victorian goth clothes, yandere!reader, creepy behavior, unhealthy behavior, obsessive behavior, mentions of cannibalism, mentions of murder.

you just couldn't help yourself: you were a helpless romantic at heart, after all. you felt things too intense and too deeply — that's probably the reason why you got yourself on a place as shady as Hell.

you were also so guilable, and others were always trying to challenge your good faith — whatever kept your conscience clean at night.

of course, life has not been kind to you. it made you this hopeless soul, constantly craving affection, longing. after all, so many have left your life. was it really so selfish of you to want so desperately someone to stay? blame it over the Gothic melancholy that followed you even after your death.

or at least, that's what you would tell to yourself: you were always the victim, weren't you? they were the ones who came after you. they were the ones who stoled your heart, and, of course, they were the ones who did not take responsibility for their actions and disdained your feelings once you became an inconvenience, right? it was merely the consequences of their actions, and since they did not take responsibility, neither would you.

this desperate, crawling feeling has been accompanying you since your living days; and once at death's door, you thought you'd finally be freed of it, but once you shut your eyes for good only to open them once more now in hell, well... to say you screamed and cried in horror would be an understatement.

still, you quickly adapted to your new life in hell, settling at Canibal City and founding your own lovely cottage library. you could finally spend the rest of your miserable eternity reading your tooth rooting novels quietly. however, destiny itself seemed to have different plans for you...

you felt like a thunder had just hit you as soon as your eyes landed on him. your usual unbeating and gloomy heart seemed to be filled with air and life all over again as you stared back at the man in red with wide eyes and rosy cheeks, which you immediately hid behind your fan.

still, you couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly made you revive those buried feelings; probably the way he seemed to reverence the old ways from his time period just like you. he had the manners of the Victorian men that you used to cross back when you were alive, but still, they did not make you heart swell just like he did. worse: he had completely stolen your heart.

those sickening feelings started to bubble up once more, which terryfied you: again, you were delusional, but even so, you knew how things used to turn out once some poor unsuspecting soul crossed your way and caught your undevided attention.

but of course, you just couldn't help yourself: you were a hopeless and incurably romantic at heart, falling in love was simply meant to be. that's what you kept telling yourself as you started to frequent more often rosie's emporium in hopes of meeting the gentleman once more. just a glimpse wouldn't hurt anyone, right?

however, as more as you sought him, the more the hole inside your chest grew deeper, and soon you realized being around him was no longer enough: you craved to feel him, touch him, feel your bodies merge into one so he could never leave you like the others did...

you snapped out of your train of desordered thoughts as soon as you bumped into someone; luckily, it was rosie who looked back at you with nothing but concern.

"my dear, is everything alright?" she questioned, a perfectly manicured hand sitting over your clothed shoulder as she guided you out of her shop.

sitting over the town's gazebo, rosie waited for you to calm down and finally open up.

"i-it's just... i just can't help it, rosie!" you sounded breathlessly as you fanned yourself vehemently, your heavy Victorian clothes doing little to help your tired body "it's happening again... i swear i tried, but it was inevitable!"

rosie simply offered you a comforting smile, as if giving a back pat as solance. "oh, dear. you're just the sweetest, aren't you?"

you looked away, slightly afraid of being so vulnerable in front of her. even after centuries, you still shifted into a shy little girl as soon as rosie pointed something out about you "i need to stop" you whispered breathlessly; and just as you voiced it out, rosie immediately shushed you.

"darling! of course not!" she urged you, cupping your face between her soft palms. your black wholesome eyes fixed on Rosie's, forcing you to stop rambling "what you feel, it's absolutely beautiful. don't you dare reprimand yourself!"

However, Rosie's words did not bring you any kind of comfort. the way she stared down at you with her pitch black eyes while smiling deviously was everything you needed to know: rosie would use you again for her hideous purposes, and the realization terryfied you.

you stared back at the overlord incredulously. you felt like arguing, trying to reason with rosie, but the lady was having none of it "we'll figure it all, okay?"

rosie smiled again, but you were not able to join her.

[zxmbiie-luv]

what do you think about a cnc thing with hermes + (originally) low sex drive reader? with hermes drugging reader beforehand to make them a lot more insatiable, and then pretending to be busy/not have time for them/deny them before ‘giving in’ and fucking them silly? i think it would be really hot if that was a thing,, bc i just know he’d be as desperate as reader to fuck but he holds back a bit to deny them. :3 love your writing and no pressure as always to write my requests !!

- 🛩️

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Drink up, Buttercup! ੈ✩‧₊˚

Hermes (Hades I-II) x reader

Containing: drugging, sub reader, CNC, the nickname!!!1!1, not proofread (fuck it we ball), bro did not pull out ngl

Summary — a simple drink. That's what it was supposed to be! And it would be, hadn't the cheeky bastard used his tricks.

a/n — AAAAAAAAAA this shits delicious excuse me,,,, Also no worries!! I luv writing stuff and definitely don't mind And I've got your last stuff in my drafts dw pooks

The second he catched a glimpse of Aphrodite's bottled magic, a devious idea brewed in his mind. As his trickster mind did, never allowing him rest, it seems.

Well, ok, bottled magic was too underestimating. Aphrodite's power could not be bottled so simply, it wasn't a measley thing to measure. But appearantly, she'd use such to answer and comply at any prayer and offering in turn of winning one's favour.

She'd have a variety, and as Hermes had passed by her chambers, he'd catch a glimpse of a hot pink mixed with red shimmer just swishing on about in that little long glass confinement that was the bottle. So that became the plan. Swiftly walk by Aphrodite's chambers when she wasn't around, grab the bottle, and make a run for it.

And that, he did. Honestly, he didn't know why, it's like he acted on impulse— shaking the bottle to see it glow on the movement and see the glitter roam on. He had to stop, however, because the thing looked like it was about to explode at any moment. And then it clicked him.

Why don't you have a taste?

He kinda wanted to see you worked up over him, without him doing anything. Of course, he could work his hand just right for you to start tugging at his chiton to hurry, please, take it off— But he wanted you to put your hands on him alone, for a change. So, he got a bottle of Ambrosia and the essence, and mixed it in.

A drop should've been enough. He wanted for it to last at least the whole day— to get a vision of what it was like for you to want him like he was the center of your mind, clouding your senses.

Well, good luck, he accidentally dropped more than half the bottle. Hermes watched on with shock as the essence merged one with the Ambrosia, creating a beautiful eye-piercing pink drink, with a golden hue and bubbles starting to form. He hoped that was just it turning to a sparkling drink and not, what mortals called, radioactive.

He swore he didn't mean to do that! He just wanted to put a drop! Okay, so, this was about to last you the whole week (in which, he probably didn't mind), and Aphrodite was going to kill him for wasting her power. Great.

But whatever, what could he do? Hermes closed the bottle with the new brew he had apparently done, and the other one with the one that belonged to the great goddess, and packed both in his messenger bag put. What couldn't be seen, couldn't be caught, right? That was his whole life, at this point.

You looked on at the drink in wonder as you held it in hand, Hermes subtly watching your every move in inner anxious. What if this actually harmed you? What if you got mad after finding out? What if-?

"Thank you, Hermes. You didn't have to. I'm sure it'll taste just as delightful as you." You thanked with a smile, walking up to him to rest your hands on his shoulders and kiss his cheek tenderly as he smiled back at you and placed his hands on your waist.

"No need buttering me up, bunny. I'd give you wayyy more if you'd let me, but it's really no trouble at all." He chuckled, giving you a kiss on your lips— something so simple that never failed to take his breath away— and sadly departed from your touch to leave and resume his work.

As he only was a blur to be seen, you opened the bottle carefully to finally get a taste. It was a pretty bottle, you might clean it out once you're done. With a curious sniff to catch its scent, it immediately filled your chest with warmth and made you loosen up. Hermes really knew how to pick stuff out, then. Pouring it down your throat, the feeling intensified, now making you feel hotter and more active. Was this alcohol that you accidentally downed? Couldn't be, it didn't smell like it. You'd have to ask Hermes when he came back.

You were in for a ride, and you didn't even know it.

You were— just, how to explain this feeling? You were swallowing your saliva like the whole sea was in your mouth, it felt unbelievably hot like you wanted to rip your clothes off, and every single thing about him triggered that.

It's like he looked extra divine doing nothing, glancing back at you as a smile formed on his lips and he teased, "Staring problem, much?"

Every touch, even the most simple one, was nearly pushing you over the edge. Every laugh, or flick of his wings, or subtle flex of muscle doing the things he usually does, drove you crazy.

And the problem? He wasn't giving you what you need. Which was a total change to him.

It's been a few days, he'd have you let anybody, wherever you were, know he was making you feel the best. Now? Work, work, work.

"Hermesss... Please.." You whined out to him, hands tracing everywhere, a hopeless attempt to get him as riled up as you were, get it through his thick skull— "Bunny, not so impatient. You know I'm a busy man, I'll get to you soon."

He might've seemed calm and composed, but inside, he was a mess. Especially to your touch, fuck. He knew he was doing this to get you all hot and bothered, but seriously, he was about to burst. And it was fairly evident thanks to the raging tent that man was sporting, and looking down on it, it made your mouth both water and your eyebrows furrow in annoyance.

"Oh, so, is my state amusing to you?" You scowled, gripping him tighter, and Hermes tries his hardest not to make a face, not to let out a sound.

"Very. However, I must decline once more. I do hope you understand." He flashed you a smirk, pecking your lips with a kiss before turning his attention back to his assigned work Zeus had given him, one wing on his head stretching as you had started to rhythmically tap your finger on the surface of his desk in frustration.

Suddenly, you squirmed in front of him, and before he could say anything, you crashed your lips after his in reckless abandon. As your hand went behind his head and interlocked with his hair, his composure was beginning to slip away, soon matching the hunger in your pace as you licked up the taste on his tongue and your eyes turning half-lidded.

Hermes put his work away, somewhere, he didn't care, as you found yourself sat on his desk and soon laying beneath him, his ever-skillful hands lower and lower... At this point, blood was rushing everywhere, it was a feeling you had never experienced before, like you were on a rollercoaster and having three orgasms denied at the same time.

He broke the kiss, only to go lower and leave open mouthed kisses on your neck as he spoke in between them. "Bunny, did you need me that bad? So sorry, baby, gonna take care of you real good."

You could only nod in return, couldn't be able to say anything else as you heard clothes fumbling and his hands going underneath yours. He didn't even try to sugarcoat it as he slipped two fingers in you so effortlessly, earning a gasp out of you as his fingers curled and pushed in and out of you.

"H-Hermes..!", you hushed out as his tempo got faster, feeling him smile at your tone and the marks he was creating on your skin and removing his digits out of you. Before you could protest, they swiftly got replaced with his dick, catching you off guard and making you let out out a moan as you threw your head back.

He groaned, biting his lip before chuckling at your expression, kissing the base of your throat. He started moving, adoring you wholeheartedly... Your face, your sounds, your hole— It almost felt like you were too good for him. His grip on your hips was almost bruising, pulling you tighter towards him like he couldn't get enough. And he couldn't, honestly.

To anchor yourself, even a little bit, one hand moved to his shoulder while the other on the edge of the desk. A gasp escaped you as he picked up pace, and you could see Hermes also as affected as you were, hiding his face in the crook of your neck to at least quiet down the moans he so embarrassingly let out.

"Hermes, I'm gonna... I'm gonna cum.." You whined out, hands moving from their previous positions to his back, that was gripping so hard, your nails were leaving red angry trails. "It's alright, bunny, gonna cum too.. Fuck, please, cum with me.." He nodded, wings tucked tightly against his head as you came, him following not far after.

Thrusting tightly against you out of instinct, he emptied himself inside you before the both finally got the chance to catch your breath, Hermes' wings relaxing as he slowly lifted himself off of you. You released your grip on him, your breath hitching at the feeling of him pulling out, leaning down to kiss your abdomen and looking up at you with hazed eyes and mumbling, "I love you.".

You saw his cheeks flush at listening to you say it back, which earned a laughter out of you and ruffling his hair. It's amazing how he could fuck you stupid, yet get so flustered at the smallest things. Your laughter was cut short as his mouth enveloped between your legs.

So, Hermes' experiment got its answer solved. And now, whenever he'd catch you taking sips from that same drink, he'd grin and muse with a raised eyebrow,

".. You do know what's in that, right?"

He never stopped giving it for you to drink, though.

this is rightfully my work, @zxmbiie-luv

Do not steal, translate, repost ect

Reblogs and likes welcome!!

[toughtink]

regarding dandadan’s creepy aliens:

saw this screenshot floating around bsky (full text below) a bit ago and had to go find it again because i keep thinking about how poignant this breakdown of dandadan’s first ep is. i keep seeing people pronounce the series “problematic” and even going so far as to say the alien probe threat was encouraging rape culture. it’s like they can’t hold the idea of something being funny and scary, sexual but not necessarily titillating, at the same time. at least, i didn’t read it as being meant to erotically excite, especially since most people seem to have just been thoroughly creeped out. there’s definitely a moment where it feels like we’ve fallen into the beginnings of some hentai, but then the action starts going and roundhouse kicks that notion right in the face. it felt like purposeful expectation setting to me: “we’re gonna have things get creepy and toe that line of sexual horror and humor, but this story is going to focus on our protagonists leveling up to defeat these creeps.” in that sense, it’s nice to see when people make the informed decision to nope out if the story or style isn’t something they can enjoy.

[full text of screenshot, a forum post by Asterite34:

“It has occurred to me that the big spooky/problematic scenes here most closely resemble adolescent sex nightmares, with all the accompanying symbolism and externalization of personal anxieties. Neither experience has the tone or visual language of "realistic" sexual assault, nor the feel of lurid monster hentai or whatever. They have that feeling of disjointed surreal unreality that makes everything scary, sure, but also just sort of confusing and maybe actually slightly funny if it wasn't by all appearances actually happening to you. They're wet dreams with a side of sleep paralysis.

Okarun has an experience going into a dark tunnel and being confronted by vague sexual advances by an old woman who chases him down an endless corridor and traumatically (yet painlessly) castrates him. This is classic fear of women and anxiety about being impotent and emasculated and isolated, which certainly tracks with him being a bullied shy nerd who just met a girl who vaguely humors his nerdy interests for the first time ever.

Momo is wandering around in an abandoned building until she's captured by vaguely-featured salarymen clones who paralyze her and go on to calmly, smilingly explain that they're going to violate her with spiked phallic instruments and harvest her banana organs. This lines up with a conflict between adolescent sexual desire in the abstract and also a fear of loss of autonomy due to social pressure, which seems to be on her mind after her dickhead boyfriend broke up with her for not putting out.

It's only when the two dreams merge that each of them starts to get over their subconscious fears, with Ken subsuming his sense of isolation and owning his curse to become a monster that righteously emasculates his once-hoped-for alien friends/stand-ins for his bullies, and Momo overcoming her fear of being ostracized to roundhouse kick the symbolic boyfriend trying to take advantage of her.

And in the end, Okarun makes a connection with someone who won't abandon him even at his most pathetic and emasculated, and Momo connects with someone who clearly desires her but treats her with implicit respect.

In summary, communication is important, especially to teenagers.”]

[frank1nsaint]

Franklin Part 1.

You look around the crowd of people, slightly overwhelmed by the turn out at the fair today. It was a Saturday night after all anyone who wanted to enjoy an ounce of fun weekend before work/school on Monday was here. Unfortunately for you crowds weren’t your thing since a fight tended to break out and nowadays a gun would be pulled quickly. 

“Damn! he walks like his dick is heavy” you hear 

You start coughing choking on your cola

“What?!!” Wanda comments

“She must be talking about Franklin”  Lashay adds as you all now looked towards where she looked, Franklin’s crew walked towards them mostly because of Leon but still they made their way towards you 

There’s a light laughter between you girls “Girl you crazy!” your best friend who just happens to be your cousin Harmony adds to the discussion 

“Oh shit they coming this way yall straighten up!” Tasha snaps quickly adjusting herself clothes  

You groan internally you didn’t want to deal with Franklin and his men. You were around them from elementary to now, and right now mentioning Franklin and his men was like mentioning the grim reaper and his minions. After Kevin's death and Franklin’s release, it was like they were untouchable, and anyone who crossed them ended up dead. Franklin didn’t have that innocent aura about him anymore, you couldn’t describe it he was different confident

“Ladies!” Mike Mike greets bowing his head

“Hey y'all” Lashay greets

“What y'all doing here?” Leon asks

“We are at the state fair duh we are here to get some drinks food and have fun” Wanda responds

“The questioning is what are y'all doing here?” Harmony asks

“Shit y'all can’t be the only ones having fun!” Jerome comments

You hang back as the group merges and moves through the fair. You would integrate, often joining the discussion, but for the most part you kinda just chilled in the back and watched as the couples (Tasha/Franklin, Wanda/Leon, Harmony/Sean Louie/Jerome) cupcaked while the rest of you walked at a distance from them. 

“Girl Sean talking about making me his girl” Harmony comments as you two finally made it back to your rented out home 

“Oh nice!” you say removing your shoes

“You had fun tonight?” 

“Yea!” you smile 

“Good see it was fun” she says in a “i told you so” mocking tone 

“Yea yea whatever!” you wave her off before retreating to the kitchen. You two spend the night conversing before heading off to sleep. 

Life goes on and not much can be said about trying to survive and make it in a world that wouldn’t allow you to. 

“No,” you look at your cousin with a dead face

“WHYYY GIRL? COMME ONNNN” she begs

“Why do I” you point to your chest, “need to go? Tasha, Lashay, Bri, CiCi they are all going” 

“Because cousin, it's a christmas/new years party, damn you wanna be the only bitch in south central staying home on new years eve??”

“You know i don’t like crowds” you argue “and you know damn well that house is about to be packed” 

“When will you get to experience partying at a drug lords house again?” she counters 

“I would hope never Harmony”

She fake cries “come on girl pleaaassseee” she begs as she hugs you

“Harmony”

“Franklin said bring all your friends you know I cant show up without you” 

“Why not?” 

“Because you are part of the package” 

“Just go with the girls” should 

She turns you to face her “Y/N! why don’t you want to come?”

You sigh “i already told you!” 

She gives you a light push “Fine, be boring, have no social life, have no love life, just  survive, Work, school, home, bills thats it???” She throws her hands up when you give her a blanks stare in return 

You roll your eyes as she walks away. What she said got to you eventually, you didn’t want to only survive, you wanted to live just not around Saint and his men, it's like a body dropped every time he was around. 

You ponder for a few days before approaching her, what could hurt a one time party never to be mentioned again at least you could counter if she ever asked you to leave again. 

“Whats the dress code?” you ask as you stand by the kitchen counter 

“What?” She asks as she mixes the rice on the stove

“For this party” you clarify 

She turns to you with a stunned face, mouth a jar wide grin quickly taking over, “you coming?!!!” she asks softly, when you nod she screams and throws her arms around you “OH MY GOD!!!! AHHHH! YES GIRLLLL YESSSS WHAT MADE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND?”

“Okay calm down!”

“Sorry” she takes a deep breath “I’m just soo excited” 

“Yea yea whats the dress code i mean can i show up in jeans or?” 

“Jeans girl really?” you shrug “You can or you can get a nice pretty dress stand out, get your hair done, nails?”

“So dress up is the dress code?” 

She shrugged “he never said just you know dress nice”

“I can dress nice in jeans”

“In a dress!” she stresses

“Fine” you weren’t going to argue your way through this party 

“Ooh girl, I can't wait to go shopping, let me call the girls and then we can plan to go out together!” she comments before returning to the stove.  You groan already regretting agreeing to go to this party.

The night of the party approaches quickly and you feel your stomach doing flips, it was too late to tell Harmony you changed your mind, you two were looking for a parking spot in the neighborhood, it seemed like half of south central had already showed up to the party. 

You don’t even know how time flew by so quickly, one minute you're in the chair getting your hair done, next thing you're putting on your lipstick, perfume, shoes, now walking towards the door. Watching as people poured in and out of the party. 

The chilly LA evening weather was much appreciated as you were not trying to arrive at the house with a thin layer of sweat on your body. Not after you've primped and primed the entire day. 

“HEEEEYYYYY!”  Harmony greets as you two walk in 

“MY BABY IS HERE!” Sean yells on top of his lungs

You stand back as you watch them greet

“Y/N?” you hear your name 

You turn to face one of Franklin's men “I’ll take your coat”  

“Oh you shrug off your trench coat.”

“I missed you baby” you hear harmony whine in a baby voice you can’t help but laugh 

The house was sorta full, you could still see across the room and make faces you knew that wouldn't be the case in the next hour or so. You just know the party was bound to get shut down

You step further in securing the coat check in your clutch. 

“Hey”  you greet Franklin

“Glad you could make it Y/N” he greets giving you a half hug, you quickly inhale his cologne he smelled good you make a quick note to yourself 

“Thanks for the invite, we brought you this” you say handing him a gift bag

“Oh shit you didn’t have to” he smiles at you

You shrug “well my mama said never show up to a person's house empty handed you know” 

He nods “what yall get me?” He asks trying to move the tissue paper around 

“Oh uh really good wine” 

“Expensive wine”  Harmony adds

“And some Bourbon” 

“Expensive bourbon” 

“Okay Harmony!” you look at her incredulously causing Franklin to chuckle

She chuckles “I’m fucking with you girl but”  she turns to face Franklin, “my cousin went around turn looking for the best wine for you”

“Oh word?” he turns to face you a bright smile on his face 

You feel yourself getting flustered “No I just” you feel yourself blushing “It's a gift and I  like to give good gifts” you defend, you don’t even know why you were blushing 

“That's true you ever want a good gift you ask her she’ll find some good shit” 

You smile “I’m gonna say hi to the girls and boys”  you say walking away from them

“Awkward ass” Harmony comments causing Franklin and Sean to burst out laughing. You throw your middle finger at her and keep walking

It wasn’t that you were purposely trying to impress Franklin, it was just a gift. What would it look like showing up with cheap wine and liquor when you kept hearing about the thousands he was moving weekly.He would probably be offended, you heard about his temper. 

1 hour you say to yourself as you made your way around the room, thats it thats how long you were staying 1 hour. You eventually find a small group of girls to talk to, avoiding Harmony and the rest as they were either in the circle with Franklin or right near it, in the center of the house. When you turn to look at that area you catch a glimpse of Tasha on Franklin's lap, with a flash she gets up and other women take a seat on his lap, you shake your head internally before returning to the conversation. 

The next time you look down at your watch you realise 2 hours had passed. It was already past 11pm and you should have been home by now. 

You quickly chug the water you have been drinking, (you weren’t gonna take risks drinking and driving) you slowly push your way through the massive crowd avoiding anyone from that group spotting you. Unbeknownst to you Franklin had his eye on you the entire night. He watched as you stood in the corner and talked to the girls, then back to the kitchen, bathroom, he even saw you spill water on yourself, he smiled slightly before returning to his conversation, no matter where you were tonight he made sure his eyes were on you. 

At one point you two make eye contact but you smile and quickly look away. Plus the comment Harmony made awhile back about him looking at you a certain way had you nervous being around the man, you can’t explain it you just wanted to get out of South Central unscathed and gaining the attention of Franklin wasn’t a plan. 

“Yea I’m leaving,”  you chuckle nervously while handing them the coat check

“Damn before New Years? it's gonna happen in like 40 minutes” 

“I know but I kinda wanna start getting home before traffic you know” you explain 

You already knew Harmony was gonna be with Sean tonight at his place you begged her to go to his instead of ruining your night with their sexcapeds gladly for you she agreed

He nodded in response “Yea that makes sense, LA traffic can get crazy” 

“Yea it can” You open your clutch to pull your keys but find nothing, you frantically push things around to see nothing, your lip gloss, napkins, mints and your wallet

“Shit” you say to yourself as you think back to the night? Did you leave them in the car? Are they with Harmony? Did they drop and you didn’t hear them? Your mind races trying to trace back the night. 

“Here you go” he says handing you your coat 

“Thanks”  

“Leaving so soon?”  you hear close to your ear from behind you, 

You instinctively tilt your head away, “Huh?”  as you continue to check the pockets quickly turning around slowly

You release your breath as you feel the keys in your coat pocket, you look up and see Franklin looking down at you smiling

“FUCK!”  you curse internally  “Heyyy” you smile quickly turning to glance at where he was to see if anyone else noticed. It was so packed now you couldn’t see past the sea of bodies now

“Leaving so soon?” he asks again pulling his hands behind his back 

You giggle nervously “Oh yea I don’t wanna get stuck in LA traffic”

He tilts his head slightly confused “But you just got here” 

“No i got here 2 hours ago” 

“I didn’t even get the chance to talk to you tonight” You make a face, he chuckles in response “I’m saying i wanted to catch up with you” he shrugs “we ain't really talked since highschool” 

“Oh” you shrug “nothing much going on with me” 

He smirks “Nah you more interesting than that, I aint even get the chance to tell you look good tonight yet,” You look down at your semi formal sweetheart dress, you were actually glad you agreed to dress up as many women were and you didn't’ want to be the odd one out actually even Franklin was dressed up suit tie the whole shebang

“Oh” you smile “thank you Franklin, you look good too clean up nice” 

He removes the coat from your hands gently “how about you stay a little longer?” he bargains

You chuckle nervously this could not be happening “Noo” you reach for the jacket but he puts it behind his back. “Franklin!”  you scold 

He smiles looking at you “comeon girl you can’t leave right before new years!” he argues 

“I don’t like driving at night. You know how the cops are? And its new years too!?” You catch his eyes drifting lower to your cleavage before making their way up to yours. You use that to your advantage and reach around but he quickly moves the jacket the opposite way

“Franklin!” you look towards where he was seating in the center of the house and see a very ugly mug on Tasha’s face and the other women seemed to share the same sentiment glaring in your direction 

“Come on its" he looks down at his watch, "only 30 more minutes, that can’t hurt” 

“No! Plus looks like Tasha is gonna kill you” you comment

“Tasha?”  he looks at where you tilted your head

“Oh shit!” he laughs “I don’t care about Tee” 

You cross your arms on your chest “Aren't you two dating?” 

“No!” 

“Mmmm well you might not be but she believes you two are and I need my coat Franklin” you open your hand out for him to give it to you

“I’ll take you home” 

“No how are you gonna get back here plus it's your party don’t be ridiculous!” 

“RIdiculous?” He guffaws  “I'm not the one leaving a new years party 30 minutes before new years that's the point of the party!” 

You huff and look up at the ceiling. You need to find a solution. You would leave the coat but it has your keys! He moves closer smiling at how flustered you were getting (“I just wanna go home”) you think to yourself, this shouldn’t be happening he should be dating Tasha. Why isn’t he? Weren't they over each other at the fair and tonight? What was this some freakyshit they were into or what?

“What is it?” He asks softly bringing your attention back to him, that damn smile, those dimples, nope no Y/N you need to go home

“Franklin I would like to go home please” 

“Y/N I told you I’ll take you home” 

“What about Tee?”

“Tee can get a ride home, why you keep brining her up?”

“Franklin”

“I’ll take you home. I promise”

“When?” 

“Right after the celebration is over!” he smiles slyly 

You frown “No thats like at 6am!” 

He chuckles you caught on quick “No give me till 1am at least” 

You contemplate no way you were getting the coat back that was for sure

“Fine you promise?” 

“I promise ima get Dreads or Mikey to take you”  You scoff “what?”

You  reach around and snatch your coat shocking him in the process

“No you said you were gonna take me home so you needed to take me home not punt me off to your men” you complain as you throw on your coat quickly 

He smiles at your brattiness “okay okay i will” he reaches for you

You move away from him “Nope i’m going home goodnight Franklin!” 

He sighs, “can you at least let me know you made it home safe?” 

“Fine i’ll page Tee” 

He  groans and you chuckle, he bites his bottom lip as he watches you walk away defiantly 

[imagines--galore]

||The Thread of Fate|| Part Thirty-One

Summary: Soulmate AU. They say the Thread of Fate connects you to your one true love. It may tangle. It may stretch. But it will never break. Wrapped around your little finger it tightens when it feels your soulmate is close and loosens when they are far. And becomes visible with the colors of your soulmate’s Nation when you finally fall in love with them.

Pairing: Zuko x OroraOC (ATLA)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T+ Romance. Adventure.

Previous Chapters - Masterlist

A/N: Another filler chapter! Hope you enjoy!

"Katara! Wait!"

Seeing the Water Tribe girl walk away as soon as lunch was finished, Orora was quick to dump her bowl on Sokka, who was on clean-up duty, and race after the girl. She finally caught up to her, the both standing a little ways away from the rest of the group.

"Look, I really am sorry about what happened. I should've tried more to stop the battles from happening." Orora stated, gesturing to the still partially destroyed rooms. In a way, Orora admitted that she was to blame for things getting a little out of hand.

Aang had made a new rule though: No bending battles in the Temple. At least no Earthbending. They could all go to the cliffs above for that.

The younger girl frowned, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave Orora a disapproving look. "Yeah, you should have." She stated, her tone cold, prompting Orora to blink at the girl in surprise. "If you hadn't been so bent on showing off, maybe you could've avoided the entire thing altogether." Katara claimed, to which the other girl only stared at her.

"Show off? What're you....?" She trailed off, a crease appearing between her eyebrows as she tried to make sense of what Katara was trying to say. Though her fellow Waterbender even give her a chance to finish her statement. "But then I can't expect anything from you now. Not when he's here." The venom and utter hatred behind that one pronoun had Orora staring open-mouthed at her friend. That icy anger was still in Katara's eyes, and it seemed to project across her features as well.

It was strange, and slightly disconcerting, to have Katara look at her that way.

"What're you talking about, Katara? Is something wrong?" The older girl asked, a look of concern crossing her features.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

"I'm talking about you deciding to forgive Zuko after what he did in Ba Sing Se."

The emotion behind her words was so strong that both her own and Katara's waterskins burst, water splashing to the floor, leaving the two girls with wet shoes. Orora's mouth fell open, her eyes widened. Slowly, she turned her head to glance behind her.

Just as she had thought.

Katara's voice had been loud enough to carry her words to the rest of their camp mates who were frozen in place. Teo with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, the food slipping from between the wooden sticks and dropping back into the bowl. Toph and Haru, who had created rocks that were smoothed out, pausing in whatever game they'd been playing, with the latter staring at the both of them. Sokka with his arms elbow deep in soapy suds, not realizing he was cleaning the same bowl over and over as his nervous gaze flitted between the two Waterbenders. Aang looking just as nervous as Sokka, meeting Orora's gaze, before he turned to glance at Zuko.

Zuko.

The only person who hadn't looked up from his task of drying the bowls. Though he had stopped, and even from where she stood Orora knew he was listening and was tense about what was happening.

Turning back to look at Katara, and seeing that anger merging with a look of betrayal, the older girl sighed. "Katara, I know its hard for you to understand, but I've spent a long time thinking about my decision. It wasn't easy bu-"

"Oh but it was." Katara cut her off, pressing an accusing finger against Orora's chest as she continued. "It was easy for you, because you don't care about Aang's or anyone else's safety like I do."

A surge of anger flashed through her ice blue eyes as Orora's look of calm understanding shifted to one of fury. "Don't you dare question my desire for my family's safety Katara." She growled, her fingers flexing as she unknowingly pulled up small strands of water to coat the tips of her fingers.

In very sharp claws.

"I care about Aang's safety just as much as you do." The girl stated, her tone icy as she glared at Katara. The younger girl wasn't even deterred by Orora's shift in tone and body language. Instead, she seemed to grow even stronger in her resolve as the water on the floor trembled with the intensity of her emotions.

A sarcastic smile pulled at Katara's lips. "Oh really? Well it sure didn't look that way when you were cozying up to the enemy." This time Katara glanced over Orora's shoulder as she said the words, and despite her effort not to, the older girl followed her line of sight.

Only to see Zuko standing there with a look of resignation, acceptance and shame on his face.

Something inside Orora's chest splintered as she turned back to Katara. "Zuko is not the enemy." She hissed, her voice somehow echoing for the entire courtyard to hear. "He is the only chance we have of defeating the Fire Nation once and for all. And if I can get past what happened, then so can you."

With that Orora stalked past Katara, leaving the younger girl to stare after her in utter fury and contempt.

                                           ————————–

Half an hour later, Aang found her sitting on an open balcony in one of the many upside down towers of the Temple.

"Woah, you really did want to get away from everyone." He stated as he landed next to her and snapped his glider shut. Orora didn't glance at him, opting to pick up a loose piece of rock and throwing it into the yawning abyss in front of her. The sun was beginning to set, casting hues of orange and red all around.

While the orange had reminded her of Aang's robes, the red had reminded her of Zuko's.

She sat with her legs hanging off the side of the balcony, since it didn't have a railing. A safety hazard really, but then again it was built for people who could fly at a moments notice. Aang came to sit next to her cross-legged, his hands folded in his lap. "Katara kind of stormed off after you did. Don't know where, but I'm sure she'll be back." Aang added, glancing at his older sister. "Sokka went after her, to try and talk. Though now that I think about it, he might say something that would make her even angrier." He pressed a finger to his chin as he thought over his decision, regretting it a little.

"Was she right?" Orora asked, cutting off whatever Aang had started to think about. The young Avatar turned to look at his friend, the concern evident in his wide grey eyes. "Was I really too quick in forgiving Zuko?" It wasn't that she regretted her choice or would go back on it. It was more reassurance that she needed. And while Sokka had helped provide that, it seemed like Katara's words had made her question if maybe people saw her to be too quick to forgive and let go.

The moment the words were out of her mouth, Aang shook his head. "No." He stated, his voice firm and stern, prompting her to look at him in surprise, not having expected his tone. "What happened in Ba Sing Se was......horrible, I admit." She tried hard not to glance at his back, where she knew the scar from the wound Azula had inflicted on him with her lightning still marred his skin. A small gust of wind had her inhaling deeply, bringing a semblance of calm about her troubled heart.

"But you and Zuko both paid for it for weeks after that." Seeing her frown of confusion, Aang continued. "You were both apart from one another, heartbroken and barely able to function. Zuko told me how he would have visions of you being at the Fire Palace with him. And lets not forget how you nearly went into a catatonic state because of the grief you felt."

The memory of those dull, lifeless days had an involuntary shiver running down her spine. Aang, sensing her discomfort, went on. "Even Zuko had his moments of heartbreak, he told me all about them." At her questioning look, he gave a sheepish grin. "We were trapped together for hours. Had to pass the time somehow." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"My point is, you and Zuko have gone through enough and I guess, you thought the same since you finally decided to forgive him." His eyes dropped to her finger, where her string glowed a warm red. Of course, he couldn't see it. Though somehow, Orora had a suspicion that Aang knew it was glowing with color.

The Waterbender sighed, leaning back to lie flat on her back as she stared up at the passing clouds. "I was just so tired." She admitted, sensing Aang laying down next to her. "Tired of all that anger and sadness." A pause. "I just wanted to be happy again." She admitted, her voice breaking.

Didn't she deserve to be happy?

Couldn't she be a little selfish?

Didn't Zuko deserve to be happy?

Was it always going to be like this?

Someone disapproving of their bond just because he had been the enemy once.

Or someone disapproving of their bond because she was a Waterbender and he was a Firebender.

Or someone disapproving of their bond because she was a Noblewoman from the Water Tribe and he was the Prince of the Fire Nation.

So many obstacles.

So many hurdles.

"I get that." Aang said, his voice matching her tone, though his was low and soothing, while hers was heavy with the realization that Fate had really dealt her and Zuko a rather difficult hand of Pai Sho Tiles.

"When I found out what the Fire Nation had done to my people, I was so angry. I went into the Avatar State and nearly destroyed the Southern Air Temple and blasted Sokka and Katara off the side of the mountain." He admitted. Sensing the sadness in his tone, Orora reached down, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze of assurance, trying to comfort him in her own way.

He squeezed back, indicating his appreciation for her gesture.

"I realized that in order to keep my power under control, I had to let go of that anger." His voice trailed off, before picking up as he went on. "It wasn't easy, but I did it because letting all that anger fester in me for so long would start to effect me. Turning me into someone........else."

She turned her head, looking at him, trying to imagine him being someone else. Someone who wasn't bright and brilliant.

Someone who wasn't ready with a few wise words and a smile.

Someone who never failed to protect the people he loved, and fight for the good of the world.

And she found, she couldn't.

"You say you let go of your anger because you wanted to be happy again." Aang spoke after a brief moment of silence. He turned his head to meet her gaze, before pushing to sit up. "Letting go takes more strength then holding on, and I'm actually proud of you for doing that."

And seeing that pride in his eyes, an emotion she had only ever seen in her Master's eyes, Orora couldn't help the choked sob that escaped her as she launched to hug her little brother close. He returned the embrace with a small laugh and with just as much ferocity as she held her to him, the two teenagers drawing comfort and strength from one another.

"I understand Katara's anger." Her voice was soft as she sighed in his shoulder before slowly leaning back. "She blames Zuko for what happened because you nearly died." They both flinched at the memory. "Shes just afraid of loosing you again."

She pulled back, holding him by the shoulders at arm length.

Blue met grey.

"Maybe the two of you should sit down and talk about your bond? If you reassure her that nothing like that would happen again, she might not worry so much about you." Orora offered. Aang looked away, unable to meet her gaze as uncertainty crossed his features.

She waited patiently, knowing he would eventually answer her.

Though when he did, she wasn't exactly satisfied with it.

"I'll try."

But she didn't push it.

They both sat there in silent contemplation for a little while longer. "I should get back and talk to Zuko." Orora said, as always, unable to sit still for too long unless she was meditating. "He's probably blaming himself for Katara's behavior towards me." She was sure of it.

Why?

Because Orora knew her Soulmate well enough to know that he somehow found fault in things that didn't even involve him. Sure the situation between her and Katara did, but that wasn't the point. The sun was well on it's way to setting now as she glanced down at her string, following where it led her. She frowned. "I think Zuko walked off somewhere too." Came her observation as Aang stood as well, gripping his staff.

"Well if you act as the navigator, I can get you to him in no time." He stated with a grin, to which Orora gave him a confused look.

"How're you gonna do that?"

Aang grinned.

                                           ————————–

As soon as Aang had gone off to look for Orora, with Sokka following his sister's trail, Zuko had walked off as well. Though he had no destination in mind, and was content to being alone rather then have company with him. Not that he was bothered by his new friends, but because he wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a little while.

Not a good combination.

Him and his thoughts.

Alone.

Especially since he tended to stray into a rather dark part of his mind. A part he wanted to let go of, but was finding it hard to do because it had been hammered in him for so long that he wasn't good enough that it was hard to let go of it.

He walked until he physically couldn't go any further. The Temple came to an end in the form of natural rock wall, leaving him coming to a stop in a series of small courtyards that jutted out on top of the chasm that opened in front of him. Maybe this had been used as a landing point of sky bisons, he mused to himself, spying a series of, what looked like, stable-like structures a little further into the space.

Distracting himself with his exploring could only last so long. Though he did till near sunset, but it didn't matter. In the end his mind began to think those dark thoughts again and he allowed himself to.

He wasn't bothered by what Katara had said. What she said about him was true. Zuko was, or rather had been, the enemy. No one would have any reason to trust him. Least of all Orora.

Especially after what he had done.

And yet she had forgiven him. Had told him that there was a chance. A chance for the both of them to be with one another. To accept the bond they shared and become something..........more.

Though it seemed Katara was against Orora's choice to forgive him.

Zuko knew Orora well enough to know she would not go back on her decision, not after all that she had laid bare to him just last night. Not after the soul-searching she had done to come to her decision.

But would her choice result in loosing Katara?

He didn't want that. He didn't want her to loose part of her family. Not when she had been without one her whole life. Zuko had at least known his mother's love, as well as his Uncle's. And yes, there had been a time when his relationship with his father and Azula could be defined as normal.

Orora had never had that.

Like he had done with Aang, he had to make amends with Katara as well. It would be hard, but he wasn't one to give up easily. After all, Orora had claimed him to be the most stubborn person she had ever met.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Came his Soulmate's voice, high pitched, terrified, distant and echoing.

Speaking of......

Zuko frowned, walking towards the edge of the very last landing area, surprised to see a rather familiar figure flying towards him on a glider. Though there was another addition to it.

That of Orora as she clung to Aang.

"We're almost there!" He heard Aang say, just as Orora let out a shriek. "Aang! I'm slipping."

"Just hang on!"

Feeling Orora's grip falter, Aang knew he had to act quickly lest she fall. Doing a quick loop in the air, which jostled Orora enough to loose her grip on him completely, Aang sent a burst of air aimed at Orora's back. The gust sent her flying through the air, her screams of terror echoing off the silent walls of the Temple.

Aang had targeted her towards the nearest landing area, which was also the one Zuko occupied.

It all happened so fast that he didn't even have time to think.

All he saw was Orora flying towards him, prompting him to throw his arms out to try and catch her. It was instinct really. However, Zuko failed to add in the strength of the air gust that was propelling Orora towards him.

Her body smacked into his, sending them both tumbling back in a tangle. They rolled at least seven times, though neither of them counted, before they came to a stop. For a moment all Zuko could do was try to focus his head which was still spinning, and his body that ached all over from being slammed into the hard ground over and over.

"You guys alright?" In the distance he heard Aang call out, prompting him to open his eyes with a groan. A heavy weight resting atop his abdomen kept him from getting up. Inclining his head, Zuko saw Orora, laying across him diagonally. She too groaned as she lifted her head where her face had been smushed into the dirt covered floor. "I prefer flying on Appa." The girl grumbled, slowly pushing herself off him so he could sit up.

Aang stopped a couple feet from them. "Well considering it was your first time flying on a glider, properly, it wasn't that bad. Though you gotta work on the landing."

That last part earned him a death glare from the Waterbender, prompting the young Airbender to gulp in fear. "I.....erm......oh whats that Sokka? I'm coming!" He held a hand to his ear as if he could actually hear Sokka calling for him from so far away. "Sokka's calling. So, I gotta......" He trailed off with a nervous laugh. "Bye!" And with that he ran off, propelling himself forward with a gust of air.

All to avoid the wrath of an annoyed older sister.

Orora sighed, shaking her head as she stood. "Honestly, its a Spirit send miracle that boy hasn't gotten himself or the others killed with the way his brain works." As she dusted off the front of her shirt, Zuko stood as well, straightening his clothes as he did. "Well he has come close, and I've witnessed it plenty of times." He said, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips at the dead-panned look Orora shot him.

"What're you doing all the way here?" She asked, pushing back the few pieces of hair that had escaped her comb, and turning to him with a frown. He shrugged. "I just thought everyone needed some space, so I walked off." Better walking away then staying and feeling their eyes at him whenever he turned away.

She sighed. "You don't have to go away just because someone has a fight Zuko. Doesn't matter if it involves you or not." Running a hand over her face, the girl grimaced at the obvious layer of dirt coating her. "You alright?" Zuko asked, his eyes looking her over, trying to see if she were hurt anywhere. She nodded, turning her head to give him a smile of reassurance. "I'm fine. What about you?"

Reaching up she brushed at his cheek, just under his scar, where a few tiny rocks were stuck to his skin. A silent nod was his only response, since he was still a little winded.

Though was it because of the tumble they'd both taken, or because she had her hand on his cheek, he wasn't sure.

Seeing the turmoil in his eyes, Orora sighed. "Don't let Katara get to you. She just needs a little more time to trust you again." She reassured him, her thumb gently stroking along his scar. The small act of comfort had him closing his eyes and leaning in her touch, savoring it just as he had done last night.

"I don't blame her. I did some pretty horrible stuff." He said, his voice low and full of shame, to which Orora bit her lower lip. "You only did it because you were misguided Zuko. You wanted to go back home and prove to your Father that you were worthy." Reaching up with her other hand, she cradled his face in her palms, smiling at him.

"Those actions, the person who did them, that's not you anymore." Sure he heard her words and he responded to them with a small nod, Zuko was more focused on her eyes. The shape and color so familiar, and yet he found he would never get tired of just looking at them. Looking into them.

"Now you're just a Prince who left his entire Nation to help a ragtag team of kids, with more issues, trauma and problems then you, save the world. Not exactly a great move but hey," She threw her arms out at her sides, grinning at him. "Welcome to the party!"

He blinked, staring at her as his brain tried to comprehended exactly what she had said.

And once it did, he burst out laughing.

He continued to laugh, the sound echoing against the empty walls of the courtyard. Her grin morphed into a tender smile as she watched him. Zuko rarely laughed. Orora could count the times he had on one hand, and that sent a pang of sadness through her heart.

He looked adorable when he laughed.

As the sound of his laugh tapered off, Orora found herself simply staring at him. And Zuko found himself doing the same. The smile on his lips, and the mirth in his warm gold eyes remained, as he reached up to flick at a loose tendril of hair that brushed against her cheek. Her beautiful blue eyes followed the movement of his fingers, before returning back to meet his gaze. He didn't look away, as he gently brushed the soft white piece of her hair behind her ear, his fingers gently grazing her temple and the shell of her ear.

As always, the intensity of his gaze was what had her shying away from him, a blush razing across her cheeks as a nervous smile formed on her lips.

"Well now that you're feeling better." She turned on her feet, already starting to walk away to begin the trek back to their camp. "We should head back. Dinner will be ready soon an-"

But Orora only got to walk a few paces before she came to a halt.

Because she suddenly found a pair of strong yet familiar arms wrapped around her waist from behind. They pulled her back against a firm chest, trapping her.

Her eyes widened, her lips parted as a gasp of surprise escaped her. "Zu-" She trailed off when she felt his head lean against her shoulder, before he turned to bury his face in her hair. Orora could now feel the blush burning across her face. Feel her heart thundering in her chest. She even felt his heartbeat as her back pressed even more to his chest. Her arms came up to lightly wrap around his, the colors of their skin a stark, yet poetic contrast. Her response prompted Zuko to smile against her hair. And even though she couldn't see it, she somehow felt it.

"Thank you." He whispered, his voice hoarse and barely audible as he memorized her scent all over again. The thickness of her hair prevented his skin from brushing against her own, but she did feel the warmth of his breath when he whispered.

And she tried very very hard not to ask him to do that again.

Instead, she held still, barely breathing. Zuko was no better. He held her to him in an embrace that was certainly not meant to be shared in public. He should walk away more often, he mused to himself, if it meant Orora coming after him, talking to him, making him laugh, touching his scar.

Anything to have her close. Anything to show her that he had changed and wanted to be with her more then anything. Though it had only been a day, Zuko was afraid that this was one of his dreams and he'd wake up any moment, back in his bed at the Fire Palace.

Alone and bereft.

"Do you want to stay for a bit?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, as if she felt that if she spoke any louder, the dream would shatter.

The tightening of his arms was his only response.

And she accepted it with a smile, her head tilting to rest atop his as the both of them simply stood there, drawing comfort from the other's presence.

A rather insignificant thing.

And yet for the both of them, after so many days apart, it felt like coming home.

                                           ————————–

The next morning was no different.

Orora had started her day by greeting Katara, but had been ignored. After that, every time she tried to include the other girl in any conversation, she would either be shut down, or Katara would snap at her with some rude comment.

Needless to say, by lunch time, Orora was beginning to loose patience, and Katara had reached the limit of her restraint from holding back and telling Orora to just back off.

The breaking point came when Katara made some snide comment about Zuko and Orora very nearly tackled her, only stopping because Toph held her back while Aang shot a look of warning in Katara's direction.

"Alright that's it!" Sokka exclaimed, standing up with soup spilled all over his front. Apparently when two Waterbenders got upset and allowed they emotions to run unchecked, anything containing some form of water broke. So far the victims had been, their waterskins, two jars of water, and several bowls of soup. Honestly Sokka was getting sick of the fighting, and loosing his meal only made him cranky.

"You two are coming with me!" He pointed towards the two Waterbenders, before walking off towards Appa. Glaring at one another briefly, both of them followed. "Where are we going?" Katara asked her brother as he climbed atop Appa. "Shush!" He commanded, prompting his sister to scowl at him.

Glancing back at the rest of the campers, which included Toph, Aang and Zuko, he gestured for them to climb as well. Haru, The Duke and Teo had gone off to forage for some fruits a little ways away from the cliffs.

Once everyone had settled, with Orora and Katara sitting at opposite ends of the saddle, Sokka guided Appa to fly away from the Temple and towards the nearest water source he had seen on a wall map of he Western Air Temple and its surroundings.

Not even five minutes later they were landing near a wide stream with enough room on the banks to house several sky bisons if need be. A wide yet small waterfall was the source of the stream, with several rocks jutting out of the surface of the water, an indication that if one were to stand even in the middle the water would only come to the waste.

And it was the perfect place.

"Excellent, this will do." Sokka seemed to think so as well as he slid down from Appa and looked around, his hands on his hips. "Er....what're we doing here Sokka?" Toph asked, sliding down next to him, her toes wiggling in the soft sand of the bank of the stream.

Turning around Sokka crossed his arms over his chest, glaring first at Orora, then Katara. "We're here, so that these two can work things out once and for all, and so I won't have food exploding in my face again." He stated in a serious tone, prompting Katara to roll her eyes at her brother.

"Sokka, you're being ridiculous." She said in that annoyed tone she adopted whenever her brother was being just that, annoying. Zuko climbed down from Appa as well, Orora landing next to him. Sokka held up his hands. "Hey, I'm just saying if you two let off a little steam, maybe you'll finally sit down and talk properly."

Aang, who had been a little skeptical about the idea gave a small nod. "You know, he's not wrong." Katara shot him a look of betrayal before turning and stubbornly refusing to get down from Appa. Orora rolled her eyes at the younger girl's behavior, sliding off her shoes and throwing them to the side as she walked towards the water, sighing in relief when the coolness of the liquid washed over her feet.

"Katara as your older brother I order you to fight Orora!" Sokka called out to his sister, glaring up at her, just as she glared down at him. Zuko, having followed Orora, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should annoy her into fighting you?" He suggested, nodding towards the bickering siblings. Orora raised an eyebrow at him. "You're suggesting I take her on?" She asked, to which he shrugged. "Sometimes fighting physically helps resolve things. I mean it did got us to talk didn't it?"

Orora pursed her lips, squeezing her eyes shut before releasing a breath. Her shoulder drooped and she glanced at Katara. "But I don't want to fight my sister." She said in a low sad tone. Zuko nodded in understanding, reaching out to rest a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I know, but trust me, fighting with your sister, tends to be life-altering."

And he was speaking from experience.

Nodding, she pressed her lips together, a determined look on her face as she turned to walk further into the stream.

"Get down from the bison Katara!"

"No! I refuse to take part in-ARGH!"

The rest of her words were drowned out in a splash as a bubble of water dropped down from the sky and on top of her head. Everyone blinked in surprise, before all eyes turned towards Orora who stood knee deep in the water, one arm crossed over her chest, while the other held another bubble of water aloft.

Dripping, Katara finally slid down from Appa's back, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Sensing the impending battle ahead, Appa quickly lumbered to the side, while Aang, Toph, Sokka and Zuko stood on the grassy area of the clearing, watching the two Waterbender size one another up.

"You really think these two fighting is the answer?" Toph whispered to Sokka who shrugged. "Worked out for Zuko and Orora didn't it?" He reminded, to which Zuko just sighed, nodding in agreement. "Can't argue with that." He muttered under his breath.

"Did you just throw water at me?" Katara demanded, furiously swiping at her face to get rid of the water still trickling from her hair and into her eyes.

"I did." Orora stated in a matter of fact tone. No sooner had she done so when another bubble of water dropped on Katara's head, soaking her even more.

"And I did it again."

There was pure rage in Katara's eyes now. Raising her arm, she swiped it along the top of her head, gather whatever water was there and pulling it away to create a short water whip in her hand.

"Alright then." She said, finally stepping into the water as Orora shifted to bend her knees to balance herself properly. "Lets see who the real Master Waterbender is."

For a moment everything stood still. The birds quietened, the wind slowed, their friends on the bank of the stream froze. All either of the Waterbender focused on was the flowing water underneath, the rushing waterfall, and each other.

Katara moved first, lashing out with a water whip that caught Orora's ankle, throwing her a good few feet in the air. The older girl didn't miss a beat. Her arms pushed upwards, pulling a tunnel of water skywards. She landed in the center and slid down into the stream. Crouching there, Orora pushed herself up to the surface, arms flying out to send a wall of water towards Katara.

The other girl parted the wall like one would a curtain, pulling a bubble of water from it which she quickly shifted to ice daggers. The tips of it gleamed wickedly as Katara shot them through the air towards Orora. Without missing a beat, Orora created a shield, reminiscent of the ones Water Tribe Warriors used in battle. The daggers shattered on impact, and one the onslaught stopped, Orora threw the shield up in the air, watching as it shot down, only to jump and deliver a roundhouse kick that sent the solid shield through the air and towards Katara.

Though Katara brought up wall of ice to prevent being hit, Orora's shield still pierced the wall, shattering it on impact, and sending Katara flying back, where she landed in the water.

Anger flickering in her eyes, Katara didn't even bother to stand properly as she pushed herself to her knees and began to pump her arms in the air, creating wide circles, pushing multiple arcs of water towards Orora.

Each of them thinner and sharper then the last.

Her speed was remarkable, and Orora found herself a little winded as she dodged and swiped at each of the arc, while also trying to land a hit. Gaze shifting towards the waterfall, the older girl made a run for it. Katara followed, creating a small wave which she rode with a disc of ice under her feet. She raised her arm towards the sky, creating a wall of water in Orora's path, trying to cut her off. But Orora would swipe through the wall either using her arm or her leg. Her feet barely touched the water as she raced towards the waterfall.

Briefly, she turned, arms shooting out in front of her to send an arc of ice daggers towards Katara who merely surfed out of the way. The angle gave Katara enough momentum to swipe a stream of water towards Orora. Using the water from the waterfall. The pressure of the waterfall plus the force of Katara's bending slammed Orora in the chest, sending her flying back down the stream where she landed in the water with a loud splash.

Her teeth rattled and she was pretty sure she bit down on her tongue when she tasted blood in her mouth. The muffled sound of her name reached her ears, but she was barely bothered by it. Her body screamed with pain, and the back of her head probably needed to be looked at, but that didn't deter her. Rising on shaky legs, the girl glared at the approaching Katara, who was still surfing on her wave.

Spitting the blood out of her mouth, Orora raised her arms in front of her. She dug the heels of her feet into the gritty floor of the stream, before she clenched her fist and pulled. The ice board Katara had been using was swiped out from underneath her. Katara fell face first in the water, the surf she'd been riding dropping as she did. Not wanting to give her time to gather herself, Orora jumped, twirling in the air, a circle of water following her movement, before she dropped to her knees, her arms out. The circle of water flew straight through the air, colliding with Katara's chest where she had just sat up, sending the girl flying back just as she had done Orora.

Panting, Orora moved forward, still alert as she watched Katara's figure as she sat up. Though the minute she felt the temperature drop, the older girl knew she should've struck. Twin pillars of ice rose in the air, encompassing her hands, leaving her unable to use them for bending. She struggled, but Katara held on strong, her brow furrowed in concentration as she approached her older sister with a grim yet determined expression on her face.

"Had enough?" Katara asked, her tone mocking as she smirked at her. Orora stopped struggling, dropped her head briefly as she caught her breath.

"Nice move Little Sister. But you're forgetting one thing."

Katara frowned. "What?"

Orora looked up, smirking. "I can bend with my feet too."

So saying she kicked her leg out, creating a pillar of ice around Katara's lower body, pinning her in place. A cry of surprise left Katara's lips as she tried to get free. But just as she held on to Orora's hands, Orora held on to her lower body.

"Give up." The older girl grunted. She could feel her hands start to go numb. If that kept up, she might get frostbite. It would take awhile, since she had practiced enough to not let ice burn her, but she wasn't skilled enough yet. Then again neither was Katara. She would have to give up if she didn't want to have frostbitten toes and legs.

"No." Katara spat back, just as determined, stubborn and hard-headed as her sister.

Their battle came to a stalemate.

Aang seemed to think the same as he stepped forward. "Alright that's it you two. Give up before both of you loose a hand or a leg."

And when neither gave in, the Avatar scowled at them each in turn, quickly using his own Waterbending ability to drop their ice pillars and freeing them both.

Panting Orora raised her hands to her line of sight, wincing when she saw the tips of her fingers had gone slightly blue. Nothing too serious, but it would be awhile before they returned to her normal dark skin tone.

As the three of them walked out of the stream, she rubbed her hands together, trying to warm them. Though as soon as she stepped out of the water, she found her hands being enveloped by Zuko's.

Whose hands were amazingly warm against her cold shivering skin. He must've done something to his body temperature, since Firebenders could regulate it.

Whatever it was, as feeling began to return to her fingers, Orora let out a soft sound of relief. "Thank you." She whispered to Zuko, who smiled at her. Katara was inspecting her toes, surprised to see them unharmed.

"Why aren't your toes blue like Orora's fingers?" Sokka asked, a look of confusion on his face as the Waterbenders glanced at one another.

Inquiring eyes turned towards Orora who cleared her throat, looking back to where Zuko's hands covered her own, before speaking. "The pillar was mostly water and only a thin layer of ice. I used the pressure from the water to keep her from getting away." She revealed, not having had any intention to actually hurt Katara.

And yet somehow, that last part was heard loudly even though it wasn't even voiced.

"Boy, you sure have picked up on things haven't you Ice Princess?" Toph said, grinning. "I felt that stance you did before you stopped Katara. That was one of mine wasn't it?" Orora nodded. "Yeah, I figured it would help me keep my ground."

Aang, ever the peacemaker, stepped forward. "Maybe you could teach me and Katara that move some day?" Lifting her eyes blue eyes, Orora saw Katara purse her lips. The two girls looked at one another, before Katara's eyes dropped to where Zuko still held Orora's hands. The moment she felt his hands begin to slide away from her, Orora scowled, stopping his movement by turning her hands over so she could grip his palms.

And when Katara turned and walked away without another word, Orora let out a breath of relief.

"She's still upset." Sokka stated, hands on his hips. "But hey, not scowling at the two of you is a start right?" He asked, grinning. "And its all thanks to me. I should conduct these Bending Battles more often. I can call them, the Bending Rumbles - Bend your Anger and Stress Away."

He sounded way to excited about his little plan. Pulling her hand back, Orora flexed her fingers, getting them to move properly again as her skin took on its normal hue. Seeing Aang watch Katara as she walked away, the Waterbender came up next to him.

"Go, talk to her." She urged with a gentle push to his back. Aang shot her a slightly nervous look, which she returned with an encouraging smile of her own.

Rolling his shoulders, the boy took a deep breath, before following after his Soulmate.

Orora smiled, before turning her attention to where Toph was animatedly offering Sokka her services to helping people Bend their feelings away.

A therapist like Toph would certainly send people running for the hills.

"Hey Toph!" The girl called, a smile pulling at her lips as Toph turned in her direction.

"Time to hold up your end of the bargain."

Toph's shoulders dropped and she winced.

"Monkey feathers."

                                           ————————–

It took a little while, correction nearly the entire afternoon, for Orora to convince and reassure Toph. And now finally, she was ready.

"Do I have to?"

Aside from one last minute bout of nervousness.

"If you don't then I will. Would you rather I take charge?"

"You're as stubborn as Firebug."

"Oh trust me, I'm way more stubborn then Zuko. Now go!"

With that, Orora all but pushed Toph out from behind the pillar they'd both been whispering, and into the direction of The Duke who sat on a small stone, whittling something with his knife.

Orora saw Toph pause, her foot in midair. The bling girl turned. "Maybe I shou-"

But her older sister wasn't having it. Gripping her sister by the shoulders, Orora all but pushed Toph halfway towards The Duke, and only retreated when she saw the boy look up from his knife and smile at the Earthbender.

"Hey Toph!"

The Waterbender darted back to the pillar, crouching behind it as she peaked out, hoping to see what was happening even if she could barely hear what was going on.

"Is she talking to him?" And impatient voice whispered from behind a rather large piece of rock. Orora rolled her eyes, not even glancing back. "I can't hear anything." She responded to Sokka, who peaked out as well, a little glum. "Ask Aang to use his Airbending to hear."

The round bald head of said Airbender popped up from where he had been hiding in an overgrown shrub. "Zuko's with me too." He whispered, prompting the Prince's head to appear beside his, leaves and twigs trapped in his hair. "Way to be discrete Aang." Zuko shot at him. Aang looked like he was about to make a comeback, but fell silent when he saw Katara, hiding in a corner near Sokka, gesturing for him to listen.

Sighing, the boy turned his head, calling on the wind to blow in his direction so he would be able to hear better.

Of course that all amounted to nothing when suddenly The Duke, jumped down from his perch and wrapped his arms around Toph in a hug.

Mouths fell open, shoulders dropped and eyes widened in disbelief.

"That was.....anti-climatic." Zuko stated, unable to comprehend just how easy it had been.

"That's it?" Came Sokka's voice, as he blinked in confusion.

"That has to be a record in our group." Aang glanced at each of them, scratching the back of his head as he did. Nothing was ever easy for any of them, and yet the Soulmate business had been so easy for Toph.

Toph of all people!

"How can we be sure they accepte-wait never mind, they're holding hands." Katara corrected herself, spying the two youngest members of their group with their fingers intertwined.

A sudden laugh from Orora had everyone looking at her in confusion.

"After all that," She said, her voice gentle, as she smiled from ear to ear watching Toph and The Duke walk away hand in hand. "In the end she had nothing to worry about."

                                           ————————–

Tag List - @wavesofchaos​ @violet-potter​ @rennysketch​ @emma-andrea1 @lovesammikinzz @fuzzyfestcat @msrawog @notsaelty @lust-for-pan @aces-tattooartist @jinxxangel13 @lotr-got @bitterspoons @realrintaro @gatorgirl151 @inutheangel @heartfully10 @lucaaahhh @juniper-july19 @anuttellaa @gfksz @bussyvussy @punksnotdeadbutiam @ablofftoneverland-blog-blog @slut-for-menn @vyliie @army-moa75 @juwhls @aqlodun @lovelybaka @glowyruby @niktwazny303

[thegummysharkbagsys]

Why I think Dr. Fizz cares more about other people's opinions than you might think ! : An Analysis

I think most people , considering how much of a minor character Fizz is , wouldn't notice how much he seems to try to fit in , so that's what this thread is for ! I'll start this off by heading back not to ep 5 , but to smth else :

Our first bit of evidence is this scene in Box's Exit Interview !

As you can see here , Fizz seems ashamed of his interest in DND . When questioned , he even lies and says that Box was the one who went on that ramble (while it was very clearly him) . DND is commonly labeled by the public eye as a "nerdy" interest that should be made fun of , which is likely how Fizz started to dislike this aspect of himself , even if it still spills out .

Alternatively , you could also interpret his story about losing a DND campaign and 'putting it behind him' as him potentially being ashamed and / or humiliated for disappointing people with his loss , becoming broken as a result , before 'putting it behind him' , but still being ashamed due to his past negative experiences , scared of making a fool of himself again .

Now , let's move on to our second piece of evidence !

In "A Jury of Your Fears" and "You Can't Do This Forever" , we can clearly see instances where he places the opinions of other people over his own judgement and morals , even if small .

Starting with "A Jury of Your Fears" , he very likely was manipulated in some way to join the Committee , which is especially shown in the scene below !

In this scene , Dr. Fizz attempts to stand for his own opinions and morals , stating how hurting Candle would be against his oath as a doctor . However , upon being threatened by Walkie Talkie , he takes her side , following her orders to attack Candle .

This shows how easily swayed / manipulated he can be , which likely could be influenced by his wish to 'fit in' or follow the others around him .

This case especially stands true in the next episode , specifically , with these scenes :

Once again , we notice the pattern of Fizz speaking up for his own morals , only to change his mind and agree with literally MURDERING Mephone4 due to the opinions of the other members around him .

Of course , it seems likely he changed his vote to not melt Mephone4 around the end (at least , based on who I knew voted for melt and who didn't) , but it's possible he could have been swayed off-screen before casting his vote . Though , this is just speculation . Either way , the main point still stands .

Finally , we move on to what I think is the biggest piece of evidence in the whole thread .

[SPOILERS FOR II18 . READ AT YOUR OWN RISK .]

Someone on Twitter had recently asked Brian how Dr. Fizz communicated with Box's corpse , considering she was dead , and he clearly had to have noticed her lack of pulse when evaluating her . Brian responded with this :

This could potentially imply that Fizz KNEW about Box's state as a corpse , but gaslit himself into thinking there was a logical explanation behind it to not seem crazy to the others and of course , to fit in . Which , of course , has interesting implications in itself , especially when merged with the past pieces of evidence .

Compiling all of this together, Fizz seems to care a lot about fitting in , not wanting to seem weird or even crazy to the people around him . Because of this , when he's faced with conflict , he tends to ignore his better judgement , and , in some cases , tries to pretty much gaslight himself into thinking whatever belief he's faced with , even if nonsensical , makes sense . All so he can just fit in with society . And I think that's really interesting , considering his lack of importance in the show . I really do hope we get to see more of him and (potentially) more about this side of him ! :]

Anyway , that's gonna be all from me ! Tysm for reading this long post n ur more than encouraged to add on w/ ur thoughts n comments or just anything I may have missed ! <3

[amyyythestarry]

CHAPTER 111 OF TBHK!

I hate TBHK.

MY POOR BOY, do not listen to your brother he’s mentally ill, he’s not in his right mind.

I like how Tsukasa calls people weird when they don’t know what they want. Like with Kou when he was in the Red House.

Amane is weird, he says he hates Tsukasa, but he can’t stand when they’re apart. Such a weirdo, not knowing what he wants.

For the people who say that this proves Tsukasa is fake, please reread the Red House arc again, especially the last part.

Like mother like son though, I guess. Their mother also thought Tsukasa was a fake.

Even though the change of Tsu is visible after being in the Red House and merging with the dark entity, he’s still Tsukasa.

Tsukasa and the entity resign in the same body, they are the same person now.

Amane’s so sensitive.

He’s not able to handle the rejection. Tsukasa still wants to leave, even after Amane’s tried to tell him they can never be together again ( And he doesn’t want that ), his feelings didn’t reach his brother. Tsukasa still wants to leave him.

He’s not in the right mind, coming up with this conclusion is just showing his instability.

And, in the Manga Up translation Tsukasa actually yells “Amane, behind you!”

But now it’s kind of dull. Interesting, though?

Maybe Iro just doesn’t what Tsu to yell or scream or something.

I like that Kako says ‘so-called imposter’. He knows Tsukasa isn’t a fake, it’s what inside of him.

And the fact Hanako still moves to protect him and Tsukasa, even after calling him a fake.

TSUKASA GRABBING HANAKO LIKE HE WAS GOING TO MOVE AND PROTECT HIM. OH MY GOD.

Gay a**.

Kako’s Santa Claus.

What does he mean by ‘eating away’ at Kamome?

The entity is the root of the problem. But what problem?

We aren’t talking about the yorishiros…. The clock? Natsuhiko destroyed the clock though?

What is the entity doing?

I’ve heard people had a theory about this. Congrats, you all were correct!

I didn’t know what the entity was at all. Now we have an idea.

I wonder how it got to the Yugi’s house then?

It’s not good for supernaturals or humans.

Then, I wonder if it’s ever affected Tsukasa before. As a human, and as a supernatural. Or maybe it hasn’t, since they’re the same person.

Now they’re in 1968.

The Clock Keepers are trying to prevent whatever happened here, and make a new presents.

They could have went back to when Tsukasa granted wishes to the dark entity under his house. They could have went to the time Tsukasa got back from the Red House. Even when he got murdered by his brother.

But, they went back to when they were just 12 years old.

What happened then?

What happened during that time, that’s supposed to be the root of why all of this is happening, whatever is happening?

At least Nene knows something is up, she always does.

I’m hoping she can at least do something to stop the Clock Keepers.

Maybe, that means working with someone to stop this, she can’t do this by herself.

Maybe, a certain Yugi? Tsukasa, purhaps?

This is what he meant.

[sapphic-enigma]

Since I'm on an arcane therioes kick here's another one

Jinx is going to mellow out because of Isha and since she's a symbol of the people now she's going to want help [whether it's emotional or practical] and since she sees her sister spiraling she's gonna try and initiate a new bonding moment. [She’s a dick though and vi is all fucked up so prolly won't work the first time] Jinx is also gonna have words with Ekko because let's be real the only legit revolutionary in this show is Ekko. He's been about his people from the jump.

They are going to have to work together because hextech is still fucking up the tree[whatever it touches] and ambessa is using caitlyn to do more wild ass shit [before caitlyn finally gets her shit together. She likely almost dies and Vi saves her]

When shit hits the fan and all of piltover and undercity are under attack from black rose everyone comes together to fight the powerful ass magic users [Salo is the one who helps black rose get a foothold in piltover to start some shit]

I'm a little worried jinx might die because her character to going to go from one extreme [murder and destruction] to another [saving my people from enforcer hell] but let's hope that's not the case.

Mel's gonna be missing for awhile but she escapes the black rose and finally figures out how to fight [likely she'll have some sort of magic and the reveal about her gold armor that protected her and jayce will be brought up] but I know she's gonna get her ass beat again by Salo cuz she clearly had ZERO self defense from the fake enforcer guy during the memorial killing spree.

Jayce is gonna crash out cuz he lost his bestfriend and his girlfriend cuz he's not gonna know where Mel is. He's gonna cave and make more hextech weapons for Ambessa's army because he's hoping she'll use it to find Mel or at least kill whoever took her. Ambessa will likely tell jayce it's the only way they can win the fight find Mel Yada yada.

Ambessa will obviously have glorious fight scenes but Mel is prolly gonna do something to fuck her up I mean she knows Ambessa is trying to use hextech for her own reasons and she's definitely not going to like that her mom manipulated jayce to get what she wanted while Mel was fighting for her life with the black rose people

Viktor is gonna meet back up with the scientist guy and will prolly be the key to making Vandor [Warwick] work for some reason. Idrk much about Warwick but I'm sure he's still gonna have some on vanders' memories and will try to help vi/jinx when they get into a sticky situation. I don't think he's gonna come into the picture until the 3rd act or the very last episode of the second. Viktor is also prolly the reason the arcane start waking back up because he's merged with the hexcore and something about that magic is revitalizing the arcane.

Sevika is prolly gonna die. I think she's gonna try to save jinx from some crazy ass plan she has and won't make it. Pretty sure whatever plan jinx makes will happen because something happens to Isha. Idk what what though, maybe she dies, she gets hurt, kidnaped idk But Isha is the thing keeping her steady so yeah they are gonna fuck with jinx by hurting Isha in some way.

Now i know this is the final season for arcane but I don't think it'd the end of arcane as a whole so the magic arcane users will be a bigger plot point for a new story in the future. Maybe the final battle scene is only between the black rose people and piltover/zaun and they think everything is good now but the arcane people have some end credits bs where we know it's going to be morwohappening in this universe. The arcane will likely make a legit appearance in the end and even though they are the big bag they won't be the big bad for this storyline.

[rakubalka]

Yet another Overlord au

This time starting :

Fluffy age difference Ainz/Momomnga x Touch Me 

_____________

Momo is almost exactly the same , except he has been silently pinning for a while for Touch Me with who he has more than 20 years difrence and married so he doesn't think he stands a chance

Touch Me on the other hand while having never been in love with his wife , because they were married by their parents for a business alliance and later on merge the businesses with their child as the heir of it all . While they aren't in love with each other they are still on friendly terms , and are in agreement of loving their daughter . 

And Touch Me didn't ever think he would fall in love with someone(on the gary spectrum) , being in his 40s and never even having a crush . And then one day he meets Momomga (who's in his 20s) , and sure the romantic feelings didn't start until a few years later but they happen 

Que him going over the moral dilemma of being in love with a man who is less than a decade older than his daughter . The shame and disgust he felt for himself is why he dropped the game . Hoping that dropping contact will make those feelings go away 

It didn't 

And with the end of YGGDRASIL Touch Me decided to indulge in his "sinful" and "immoral" desire to see Momo for one last time . So he logs back in and hears Momo's monologue of being left behind . So even more guilt for leaving him behind

But then Momo sees Touch Me and immediately gets his mode massively improved , and starts going over everything that has happened while he was away 

Touch Me let Momo drag him around and talk his ear out ,  just savoring what he thinks would be the last time he ever saw the love of his life 

He even borrows the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown from Momo and changes Albedo's settings to "she loves Momonga" because if he can't love Momo then at least Albedo can (he is under the misconception Momo is straight and not head over hills for him)

Then midnight strikes 

With them not being logged out

And instead got isekai-ed 

They freak out as is expected . And of course the NPC wondering what is wrong try and help out , resulting in even more freaking out . Momo being the one with emotional supresion and better bulshiting skills immediately sends Sebas to investigate the surroundings and Albedo to try and find any changes in Nazarick 

While Momo and Touch Me are trying to see if they can get forced to log out . How you might ask . By having Touch Me put his hands on Momo's ribs to see if it registers as a R-18 action (Because the developers as a way to save space just didn't program genders in the game , and instead whatever tings that normally happens to one gender also happens to the other (like the times players with big burly manly characters had their equipment changed for a bunny girl outfit because they used the 3 Bunny spells one after another) , so the crotch and breast area got put into the no touch allowed zone , and while accidental touches can happen with Yugrasil being a dive game with a lot of motion options as a way to not accidentaly ban martial arts classes when doing PvP or Humanoid vs Humanoid had set a separate tracking system with time being very very important)

However it didn't kick them out , freaking them out further . And then they get a message out of Sebas that the terran around them isn't what it should be . Resulting in them calling Albedo to get the Guardians and Sebas on the 5th floor . And while this is happening they go for a wick trip to the treasury to get Touch’s equipment back .

And they meet Pandora Actor , currently transformed into TouchMe . Ainz is cringing soo hard , while TouchMe finds them both adorable . Anyway they get introduced fast to each other . Then they get the equipment . And go to the meeting , with Pandora Actor tagging in on TouchMe's request.

Anyway ting here go as canon with the loyalty and everything 

Then we have the Carne village situation , and the immediate response that happens because TouchMe is here to act as a moral compass . So they grab Sebas because he was the closest and go to save the day . 

Things font go exactly like canon , as rathur than a powerful wizard in enchanted robes and his black armored shield maiden they instead have Gazed’s bewilderment at the group . They use the explanation that Momonga was messing with spells as to why this extremely strange group of a mage decked in enchanted robes , knight in full plate sparkling white armor and a perfect example of a butler were in the middle of nowhere . Everyone buys it .

The scriptures still get their asses handed to them like canon and Nazarick gets information like canon

Then we have the adventuring gig , it still consists of the mage Nabe and the great dual sword wielder Momon except they now also have the masked cleric Touc in the team . 

With the subjugation of hamsuke being a sort of a date (the dark swords and anyone really can see clear as day the romantic tension the two men have with each other and with Nabe low key shipping it in a way a daughter would be happy of her parents marriage going good(its also why people who have seen the discauses think that the reason why Nabe is always so close to them is because they refuse to let her loose and away from them less she starts a massacre by being a violent introvert))

Things go like canon with the dark swords dead and Nifria missing  , and also Nabe and Momo beating certain peoples asses with Touc handling the undead situation he got put to help the other adventuress not massively die and also keep Hamuske safe .

They later get mithiral rank and heard of Shalltear brainwashing and also get dispatched to take care of her . The other adventures who didnt listen still get the same fate as in canon( Because i have the headcanon that for all their characters Karma effects the players the player minds and moral compass take priority to any and all of those ting (it's why i think Ainz is closer to Mare and Aura in actual karma value aka he is more so selfish than evil for difference of say Demiurge) , so Touch got a little nurfed and Momo depending on how you look either also got nurffed or got buffed) . The killing of Shaltier was still made by Momo , mainly because Touch is rusty with his fighting and while so is Momo he is very notably much less so .

Then we have the lizard men arc . It goes as canon because Mazarick wasn't exactly that involved , intil the end . And even then the only difference is that Cocytos had an somewhat easier time justifying tings with Touch around

The Tuare situation also goes a little easier once they are sure again he isntcontroled agains his will , resulting in her being accepted with wide open arms by Touch Me into Nazarick (and would later on become one of the only if only in law not only in Nazarick but also with a supreme being as the in law parent), and later becoming a part time maid and an apprentice cook familiarzing the chefs with this worlds dishes (at least from the peasantry but they do make better dishes with less so clearly they know how to cook better than the nobility) and familiarzing herself with dishes of Nazarick and later down the line helping in the kitchen experimentetions on trying to either fuse dishes together or make new ones (if the homunculus maids dosnt want to eat it in worst case scenario Kyokoho has food for his hoard of cockroashec as they aren't exactly picky) . Imagine however Momo and Touch Me surprise when Tuare kissed Sebas (Like father like son in getting someone younger than themself to fall in love with them and also getting someone older than themself to fall in love with them (Touch for younger , Momo for older) )

And the the Demon mission , it goes about the same . The only difrence is the number of innocent victims is way way lower and the number of guilty victims is higher , because for all TouchMe and Wilbert had their disagreements TouchMe did respect Wilbert and his ability to know who is responsible for what when things go to shit . So he put it as his mission to not let Demiurge to become the same type of person his father despised the most , so he puts himself as Nazarick's moral compass .

Then the worker invasion goes as bad as canon and rather than Momo fighting its actually Touch that does it as a way to try and get back into his strengt . Them lying also didnt end well . Mainly because in their lie they said they were send to give “Touch Me ruler of Nazarick greetings ” , which is just fulled to the brim with holes as 1) Touch was on one of the first if not the first to quet the game , 2) the only person who might suspect he was logged on logged almost imidiatly after that , 3) why give greating to him when Momo is here , 4) Touch is not the ruler of Nazarick because if anything that title would Momo’s and finally 5) they are the one who made the tiefs come here . And like myself Touch dosnt exactly have that much of a soft spot or sympathy for them (mainly because for a difrance of the lizardmen the workers had all the chances in the words to turn back and away yet they didn't , not to mention that with this line of work you really should expect to die now or later if you continue tempting fate )

Jirchnive on the other hand is like canon being a paranoid bastard , unfortenatly for him he has it worse than canon because he now also has Touch Me and his situantianship with Momo to give him even more headaches about , because what is this armored warrior and how and why is he considered close enough to the ruler to be given a trone or almost equal splendor and size . In other case the new Nation still gets named , expect rather than the Sorcerer Kingdom is called Ainz Ooal Gown (with both of its rulers using it as a kind of last name , it causes even more confusion on the status those two have . Because are they brothers , sworn brothers , husbands or maybe son and father ? No one outside of nazarick knows for sure yet)

Then Masacure of the Catze planes still happens . Thankfully however by Thouch Me’s intervention its not the mass sacrafical to an eldrich goddess spell that is used . Instead they use a different Super Tier Spell (Probably Fallen Down) . Everyone is still deeply and in reasonably amounts terrified of what Momo might do next and also what Touch Me is capable if he is roughly equal to Momo but in a warrior sense (the poor fools downt know that if anything Momo is stronger) . At least they get E-ranthel out if it

Then while both are sick of paper work a small vacation is taken so we have the coliseum fight . Touch gets flirted on by the merchant resulting in a glaring promising pain from Momo . After geting in his head that Touch isnt even to be glacend at if he wants to continue to live they get back to business , with Momo still being the one fighting . It goes about the same as canon with Momo learning of the dwarf’s runes and geting his collector brain interested .

So to find the dwarfs they go (both a date and also family trip with Aura and Shaltier ) .  Said vacation ending up with them having new subortinets and a new trade agrement . And while that was happening Momo and Touch finally confess to each other . It later resulted in Albedo crashing out , and when finally calmed down taking to the title of daughter(Touch messing with her setting aka making her his creation in a sense) with pride and glee . And becoming a hardcore shipper of them both , after she gave all the scandaly merch she made of Lord Momonga to Lord TouchMe , and then making at least one body pillow of Lord TouchMe because she likes the felling of hugging her loved one (shout out to decomoon145 on Ao3 for the idead) , and then maybe making a few body pillows of Lord TouchMe for Lord Momonga

Then one of Demiurge’s pet projects happen . And also with Momonga still being the one going to the Holy Kingdom (they are doing PR and also not letting Touch have that much of a massive advantage) . But while Momo is declared dead and Jaldabaoth “recovering” we have Touch tearing his way through the demi-human army and freeing the captured humans and any of the demi-humans who were imprisoned for not siding with the demon emperor . Needless to be said the paladisn are under scrutiny (espesaly Rumidious) and the only person not on Touch shit list being Neya in part due to her friendship with Shizu , in part because of her devout following of Momo and for her constant tries to get a party to search for Momo . The battle for the capital still hapesns with Momo’s newfound army joining earlier and with Momo “finishing” the fight he and Jaldabaoth started with Touch cheering on the side 

Then the kingdom arc happened and it's falling happened . Zanack sees right truth both of them and can also see its a relatively new relationship so he gives his congratulations on it if they want , in whatever case he left a very very favorable impresion and even with his death had a beautiful grave and was buried properly with respect after they used magic to recover his body . The same cannot be said for the nobles who carried Zanac’s head here .

Overall a lot canon go the same 

We just have Momo and TouchMe being lovvy dovvy with each other while looking after their kids and i tink they would like it this way

[agenericplaceholdername]

Dragons Rising E6-10 Thoughts

Here’s some thoughts on each episode in the latter half of Dragons Rising, Season 1 Part 1:

Return to Imperium:

The color grading of this opening seems off – almost as if it’s a flashback (it’s not, ofc)

JORDANA SPOTTED

The conveyor belts directing people where to go is so on the nose for an authoritarian society

“It's the perfect companion for anyone that might... be lonely” :(

“Unconventional? Perhaps you can forgive her” man this is seriously dystopian but also pretty funny

Sora in her S1 outfit without headphones is kinda cursed

“Ever since the Merge it’s been you and me” I AGREE ARIN. LET’S KEEP IT THAT WAY

Kai’s Wu impression is great

The Advanced Science Lab? Isn’t it the Advanced Systems Lab?

I HATE SORA’S PARENTS I HATE SORA’S PARENTS

The sewer smash cut is perfect. Beyond the Phantasm Cave implies that Sora actually traveled through the sewers before so at least she had a reason to assume there was no security

The public shaming platform? At least it’s not a two hour YouTube video essay documenting your every misdeed (which I will then watch)

This episode sold me on Sora’s character and is essential for her arc this season

Mindless Beasts:

Like the Rapton ad

The Arin chase scene is fun

I certainly hope nothing bad happens to the new shoulder pad store

The Imperium Teenage Protection Force all have shorter legs, meaning they’re probably slightly younger than Arin (or just short)

Every Wyldfyre line is gold: “If I was your enemy, why would I let you out of your cell?” “If you don’t know, how should I?”

Sora says her family was poisoned against her by LaRow— meaning she believes that her parents would have accepted her if not for LaRow. Ofc, we know later that once they see the truth, they don’t change their mind, so her rejection of them means even more

For a scientist, LaRow isn’t very smart (or lab skills =/= street skills)

“I’ve got a master teaching me all the things I’m doing wrong” Arin no he’s trying to help you

Percival talking about him is the first time Lord Ras is identified in front of Arin — before, he was just the “tiger guy”

Rapton has the perfect combination of incredible arrogance and thin skin

Dorama just wants to show off

Ras has such a deeper voice than in S2

The Hunted soundtrack!

LaRow just can’t stop gloating lol. Not sure how a Photac can capture a source dragon 

This episode is pretty important for Arin and Sora, and introduces Wyldfyre… but also isn’t super interesting

I Will Be the Danger:

Wyldfyre opening! Not what I was expecting when I originally watched but super cool. Not sure where she came from tho

The caregiver-bot helping Wyldfyre train is sweet. I wish she came back later (I know she does in a canon(?) novel and there was a deleted scene, but I wish it had been in the show)

Wyldfyre not knowing certain words is a clever detail that isn’t used often

Percival is so not convincing as an antagonist

JORDANA NAMED??

Considering the other empty holes in the portal gate room—are they supposed to link to other monasteries? Since the one Kai goes through links to the Imperium Monastary?

You probably are famous among ghosts Kai, considering the whole Morro thing

Poor Riyu

Thank you Sora, she really is weird— oh shoot Dorama! forgot about him

“I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS ‘SHUT UP’!” and then the one take after are pure Wyldfyre gold

The “ninja think Sora betrayed them” plot line could have gone somewhere but didn’t, and honestly I hate bad miscommunication plots so all good

Weird way to end

This episode peaks with the opening scene, and is generally fine outside

The Calm Inside:

Green eyes child Lloyd voiced by Sam Vincent is off putting. I get why they do this but whatever. The lighting/texturing in this scene (maybe bc of the rain) also makes Lloyd and Wu look super plasticy

Good lesson tho, and I’m glad it keeps coming up

Arin and Sora are a great duo

Melvin, remember, always do the bare minimum that gets you paid

And so the Empress joins the main plot

Super cool protective Lloyd is great, leaping down to pull Wyldfyre back from the Photac

What’s his “big plan” Beatrix? Why does Ras want Riyu? “You can’t [drain him] yet. My plan for—” no wait he was about to say it!

Ras is so mad at Beatrix omg

Kai and Nya have interacted more now than in any season post Hands of Time right?

So how did Arin trip? Tbf he punched himself in the face so makes sense

Ok the show just made the same joke after I wrote it, I guess I forgot

This sweat thing reminds me of the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man movie (the blood scene)

Lloyd being surrounded by chaos is overshadowed by the very strange design of imaginary Wu, but the scene leading up to Wu is so great. The music, the action, the direction— really stellar. Someone needs to let this guy take a break

Not Rapton’s unicorn figurines!

Excellent rhetorical comeback Lloyd

Ras is so cool -- singlehandedly fighting multiple dragons

Zane! But how did he end up in that pod?

Jordana! Sora is just totally lost lol

Do you think Kai, Nya, and Zane were planning on jumping out or was it spontaneous?

Lot of questions in this episode, and it would probably be better if they saved Lloyd hitting the targets for a flashback later in the episode (that is, end the first flashback before Wu gives Lloyd the lesson)

That being said it’s the best one since E6 and a good setup for the finale

The Battle of the Second Monastery:

Jordana getting insulted by LaRow (albeit indirectly) :(

This is probably very overwhelming for Zane

Everything seems particularly saturated in this scene 

The Jordana reveal is very good. Funny, but also kinda heartbreaking since Sora was just using her technology to give herself a friend

Lord Ras is not very nice (although he’s right how do you lose to two mostly-untrained teenagers who are in handcuffs)

Arin and Sora use Jordana swinging her sword to free themselves, just like Lloyd did in E2. Shows how far they’ve come (much better than when they fight Ras, which just diminishes him as an antagonist)

Ouch Lloyd, always look before you leap

“As opposed to those really strong gnats” I’d spend some more time workshopping those comebacks Arin

The Source Dragon scene is SO cool!

Sora beats Ras mostly though luck but the real question is why was he running so slowly

And so we finish the S1P1 aspect of Sora’s arc, although her conclusion of “having a responsibility to use her powers” is very similar to the end of E5

Sad Arin :( already made a post relating this scene to what happens in S2 but it takes on a whole new meaning knowing what happens after

Beatrix imprisoning Ras actually makes a ton of sense and I might make a whole post talking about why (and her character generally)

The Ras fight isn’t great - I get why it happens and Arin and Sora don’t really beat him physically, but it does undermine him as a threat. The rest of the episode is really good tho, especially the vision

Next up, the first half of S1P2!

[berryhobii]

Clouds (jhs x reader)

Pairing: Jung Hoseok x black!female!reader

Word Count: 6K+

Warnings: heavy angst, metaphors and illusions of depression, mentions of autism/depression/sociopathic disorders, mentions of the mistreatment of black women in medical situations(bc this very much still happens), overbearing mothers(but she comes from a good place I swear), feelings of being incomplete, feelings of inadequacy, a very bad date, mentions of fetishizing black women, Hoseok being a ray of sunshine, CRYING, mentions of codependency(bc it’s a soulmate au), one kiss but it’s very sweet, lots of rain and sun metaphors

A/N: Hi hi! I’m back with this sobfest of a fic 🥹 I swear I did not mean to make this this sad, it just kind of happened. I rewrote it a bunch of times and finally flowed on his particular idea. I love soulmate au’s, especially the cute ones with a countdown timer but I wanted to try something different. Something not as overt while still keeping the spirit of a soulmate au which is finding your other half. This is also a shoutout to all of the black people who suffer from depression. I know us being depressed isn’t taken as seriously especially to our families. Mental health isn’t taken seriously in black communities altogether and I really hope that will change. I see so many of us breaking generational curses; with our children, our friends, our relationships, and ourselves. I love seeing it. If you’re non black and read this, I hope it gives you some insight as well. To my black and melanated readers, I hope my stories can give you some comfort outside of just BTS. I hope you feel represented, I hope you feel important, and I hope you feel loved. Because you are all of those things🩵🩵much love. Stay safe. Criticism is always appreciated.

~

Dull. Stagnant. Lifeless.

That’s how you’d describe your world.

Each minute passed slower than the last, the monotony of your days only broken up by the arrival of the night. You didn’t even dream. Sleep was purely a necessity for you; you couldn’t escape to the vividness of a dream because color didn’t exist in your world.

You’ve accepted it. Accepted that you’d simply exist, drifting as another human among the billions of others. There was nothing special about you nor did you have any qualities people desired to interact with you for.

Mundane. Indifferent. Uniform.

That was you. Plain ol’ you.

“Are you okay, baby?” The voice of your mother called from the doorway of your childhood bedroom.

Rain pattered against the window, your gaze following whatever drop you found most interesting. You’d follow it until it disappeared or until it merged with other drops, the combined weight causing it to cascade faster down the glass.

You wished you could be a raindrop. Falling from the sky to nurture the earth then returning upward to form clouds. Then at least, you’d be useful. You could help plants grow, overfill the streaming rivers, bring relief to dry deserts.

Raindrops were so important.

You tore your eyes away from the window, looking at your mother. “I’m fine, mama.”

You could say that but she knew it wasn’t true. She also knew that asking you too many questions only resulted in her own emotional breakdown.

Why was her baby like this? What was wrong with you? Why did you look at her like she was just a stranger?

Swallowing back her tears, she managed a tiny smile. “The food is ready. It’s baked chicken, your favorite.”

Was that your favorite meal? You didn’t even know. Food didn’t matter much to you. It just kept you alive.

“Okay. I’ll be down in a second.” You said before turning back to the window, only to find the rain had let up. A light drizzle.

Your mother didn’t say anything, just backed out of the room, a single tear rolling down her face.

When you were born, the doctor’s considered you kind of a strange child. Not only was your mother’s entire labor pain free but you didn’t cry coming from the womb. You were breathing and all of your senses were completely fine.

You just wouldn’t cry.

You didn’t cry when you were hungry or wet, not even when you fell and hurt yourself. You felt pain but you didn’t cry.

Lots of people chalked it up to you just being a well behaved and calm kid. That should have been a blessing to your parents, right? A kid who didn’t cry or throw tantrums to do regular stuff kids did. Your parents should be so lucky.

But your mother knew something was wrong. That perpetual blank stare you always had, how you never smiled or found any real interest in toys or television, how you kind of just drifted around. You reminded her of a still flower on a rippling pond; so beautiful but unaffected by things around you.

She consulted many doctors on possible reasons for your seeming lack of emotions.

Were you chronically depressed? Did you have a sociopathic disorder? Were you autistic?

Maybe. Perhaps. A possibility.

Nothing was set in stone.

It even hit a point where your parents just completely lost hope. They still loved you the same. They’d just have to accept that you were the way you were.

But then your mother took you to see one final doctor who cleared up every suspicion anyone ever had.

Soulmates.

Less than 0.0001 percent of the population were comprised of these special people. However, there was so little information on this phenomena that affected such a minuscule portion of the population. Did a such thing even exist?

Your father was skeptical. He thought you just had some sort of mental problem and that the doctors were misdiagnosing you. He worked in the medical field and he knew black women were more likely to be mistreated. He believed they just didn’t care.

But your mother believed. What else could she do? She was holding on to the little ray of hope that you could get better.

Soulmates were opposites of one another in a multitude of ways. Sometimes it could be something as simple as height or biological sex, other times it could be complex like gender or religious affiliation.

And in serious cases like yours, it could be something as deep as the very fibers of your being.

You were incomplete without your soulmate. Only they could shine the light and illuminate the darkness that surrounded you.

The only problem is there was really no identifying factors that could help find your soulmate. No marks, no red string, nothing.

And with so many people all over the world, the chance of you finding them was almost nonexistent.

But your mother wouldn’t give up. She’d fix you.

~

“He’s a very nice boy. His mother says he’s upbeat and friendly too. He might be the one.” Your mother gushed as she removed another flexi-rod from your hair, her oiled fingers working carefully to unravel each one.

You didn’t say anything, staring ahead into the mirror in front of you. You had become used to seeing your made up face; foundation, concealer, highlight and whatever color eyeshadow matched the outfit she chose for you. You didn’t really care but your mother insisted you wear some to impress your date.

That’s why she was doing all of these preparations; to send you on yet another date in hopes of finding your soulmate.

Now that your mother knew the cause of your “ailment”, she was working overtime to find whoever they were. So far, you’ve met 41 people, male and female, multiple ethnicities, and all from different backgrounds. The only thing that tied them together was that each other them were happy and bright people. Each of them were social and loved by many. That had to be who your soulmate was, right?

All of these people and meetings and you’ve yet to find your other half. Your mother had been expanding her social circle in search of the person who would “heal” you; children of close friends, children of friends of close friends, even random people she’d overhear talking about their own children. She was on a mission and nothing would stand in her way.

Your mother completed the final touches on your hair, her smile wide.

“Look at how beautiful you are.”

She told you that often, ever since you were a little girl. Words of affirmation recited to you in an attempt to build your self confidence.

You guessed it must be true since she said it everyday.

You didn’t say anything again, her smile faltering just a tad but quickly widening again. She retrieved a simple necklace off the vanity, clasping it around your neck.

“There. Perfect.”

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and your mother sprang into action.

“He’s here! Come come.” She beckoned you with a frantic hand.

You stood from the chair, following her out of the room and to the living room. She handed you your purse and draped a shawl over your shoulders.

“Okay, you’re ready. Remember your manners and smile, okay?”

You nodded. “Yes.”

She pulled you into a hug, squeezing you tightly as she always did. Affection wasn’t really something you minded nor did you reciprocate it. Your parents hugged you all the time but you never really felt anything. You understood it was how people showed affection and love, the internet told you that.

You just didn’t get it. You didn’t feel it.

But you hugged her back anyway.

You stood there in her embrace for 23 seconds longer before she released you. Her hand came up to cup your cheek, her thumb running across the apple of it.

Her smile was gentle but it didn’t reach her eyes, that glossy sheen always misting her eyes. Your mother cried a lot but never in front of you. You could sometimes hear her or find her wiping away tears if you’d enter the room, that smile always pulling at her lips acting as if nothing was wrong.

It confused you. It was obvious she was cried so why did she hide it?

Oh well.

“Have fun, okay?”

Opening the door, you found date number 42 standing there. He was dressed sharply in a crisp suit, hair gelled back out of his face, a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

His mouth dropped when he saw you, eyes traveling from your feet to the top of your head.

“Wow.” He breathed out. “You look stunning.”

Remembering your manners, you answered, “Thank you.”

Clearing his throat, he held out the flowers to you. “These are for you.”

You took the bouquet from him then you remembered something your mother drilled into you.

“Always smile when someone gives you flowers. It means you appreciate them.”

Wasn’t saying thank you the appreciation?

Still, you put a smile on your face. A practiced smile that you’d rehearse in the mirror under your mother’s watch.

“They are lovely. Thank you.” You tried to add some inflection to your voice to sound grateful but it just came out robotic.

If number 42 noticed, he didn’t say anything, simply taking your thank you for what it was.

Holding out his arm, he asked, “ready to go? Our reservation is soon.”

Nodding, you placed your hand on his arm and let him escort you out of the door and down to his car. He opened the door for you, helping you inside and even making sure you put on your seatbelt before closing your door. He rounded to the driver’s seat and got in, buckling himself in and starting the car before pulling off.

“I hope you like seafood. The restaurant we’re going to has the best seafood pasta.”

You didn’t dislike it. Food was food to you. It was simply sustenance.

You stared out of the window as he began rambling about his favorite restaurants. You blankly watched the scenery pass, not really taking note of anything. Just watching.

Then you saw a raindrop hit your window, followed by a few more.

You heard your date make a noise of concern. “I didn’t think it would rain. Hopefully it’s only a drizzle. I hate when it rains. Don’t you?”

“No.”

He glanced over at you, a little chuckle coming from him. “Ah you’re one of the ones who like rain, huh? Why? It’s cold and wet and makes you sick.”

You continued to watch the drops patter against the window.

Yes rain was cold. It passes through a thin layer of cold air before falling to the earth. Yes rain was wet. It was water.

But rain was also….

“Rain is important.”

He snorted. “I guess so. It’s just inconvenient in cities.”

Inconvenient, huh?

You didn’t say anything in response to him, silence engulfing the inside of the car.

He coughed to break the air before reaching for the radio. A low pop song began playing through the speakers, not doing anything to alleviate the awkwardness but doing everything to prevent any more conversation.

Thankfully(for him), you arrived at the restaurant just minutes after. The rain was still at a very light drizzle which was good since he didn’t bring an umbrella.

He opened your door, holding out his arm to help you out.

The restaurant was nice on the inside. It reminded you a lot of the places your parents would take you for birthdays or graduations.

Clean. Fancy. Stuffy.

You both approached the hostess that sat behind a podium. She greeted you both with a bright smile.

“Welcome to Rêverie. Do you have a reservation?”

“I do. Two under Lee Jihyun.”

Oh yeah. That was his name.

She scrolled through her tablet. “Ah yes. Right this way.”

She led you through tables filled with other patrons. For a Thursday night, this place certainly was busy.

Jihyun pulled out your chair and you thanked him before sitting down.

“Your waiter will be with you shortly.” The hostess said, bowing and then walking away.

After removing his suit jacket and draping it over the back of his chair, he turned to face you.

“So, y/n. Tell me about yourself.”

That was an open statement. You didn’t know what to say.

So you questioned, “what do you want to know?”

He tapped his chin in faux thought, a little inquiring smirk on his face.

“Hmm….what’s your favorite food?”

“I don’t have one.”

His smile dropped a little but he remained positive. Letting out an awkward chuckle, he ran a hand through his hair.

“Okay. What’s your favorite color?”

“I don’t have one.”

You saw the little twitch in his brow. Your father did that sometimes when he was really focused on his work. He told you it was because he was annoyed or frustrated with something.

Was Jihyun annoyed or frustrated with you?

“Then where are you from?”

“Chicago.”

He exhaled some air through his nose, tilting his head a little. This was getting nowhere.

At that moment, a waiter came to your table with 2 glasses of water and some menus.

“Hello there. I’ll be your waiter today. Can I start you off some drinks?”

Jihyun seemed to perk up at the arrival of the waiter, his smile returning full force.

“Yes we are. I’ll take a glass of your finest red wine.” Then he looked to you. “And for you? A glass of wine?”

You didn’t drink alcohol. Mainly because you just didn’t like it.

“No. I’ll keep my water. Thank you.”

The waiter nodded. “I’ll be right back with those and to take your order.”

Now you two were left alone again. Great.

A silence just as thick and uncomfortable as the one in the car encompassed your table.

Jihyun drummed his fingers on the table, thoughts racing as he tried to think of a conversation topic to get you talking. Then it hit him.

“Your mom set this date up, right? My mom’s been hounding me about settling down. What about you?” He curiously inquired.

He didn’t know? Hmm.

“She’s searching for my soulmate. She said that I’ll be happy if I find them.”

That seemed to spark his interest. “Soulmate?”

You nodded. “Yes.”

He tapped his finger again. “So…..how exactly does that work?”

You barely knew fully. The doctor who diagnosed you could only explain so much since soulmates still aren’t very common or explicitly studied.

“I can’t express or feel most emotions, specifically ones of joy or sadness. Whoever my soulmate is is the opposite of me. That’s why my mother set you and I up.”

He let that information soak in. His mother didn’t say anything about this. All she told him was that a friend of hers had a gorgeous daughter. And if he was being honest, he was pretty curious about dating a black woman.

You certainly were beautiful and your poofy hair was interesting looking.

Your personality though? It left a lot to be desired. He was expecting you to be a little sweeter, more responsive to him. You didn’t even react at seeing his super expensive car nor did you say anything about the restaurant. He was putting a lot of money into this date so he was expecting more.

At least you were pretty.

Now as for this soulmate business. It didn’t make a lot of sense to him. Of course he’s heard about soulmates but he thought it was a load of crap.

Then again, you were strange. You were expressionless and lackluster. Your monotone answers showed your lack of interest and you’ve only smiled once since he met you.

Maybe you did have a soulmate. No one could be this boring without reason.

Well, your personality didn’t really matter. You weren’t ugly, that’s all he was concerned about.

He snorted, waving a hand around. “You don’t have to worry about that. You have me now. I’m all you need.” He reached a hand over to cup your chin. “As long as you listen to me and stay pretty, it’ll be fine.”

Listen? Stay pretty? You already did that.

Your objective wasn’t either of those things. It was to find your soulmate; the person who was your other half.

The person who would help you.

“You’re not my soulmate. What could you offer me?”

His eyebrow twitched again, a forced laugh falling from his lips. He released your chin and leaned back in his chair.

“Ha! What do I have to offer? I have plenty.” He bragged with a huff and a flare of his nostrils.

But what? What could he offer you? Your mother said that only your soulmate could give you what you really needed. This man obviously wasn’t it so what could he give you? Why were you even still here?

“Never leave a date early. It’s rude.”

What was the point? Wasn’t the goal of this date to figure out if he was your soulmate? He wasn’t so why couldn’t you leave? All the lessons from those etiquette classes your mother instructed you to sit through danced around your head.

“You aren’t my soulmate. There’s nothing you could give me.”

That really seemed to piss him off because he was suddenly slamming his hands down on the table. The force caused your water to shake, the liquid rippling in the glass.

“How dare you?! I take you on this fancy date and try to be nice to you and you insult me like this? You should feel grateful I even entertained the thought of meeting you.” He ranted spitefully, his entire face blazing red and veins popping out of his forehead.

Grateful? You should feel grateful? How did you do that?

Other patrons were startled by your date’s sudden outburst, whispers and mutters sounding around the restaurant.

That’s when the hostess appeared at your table.

“Sir, please calm down or I’ll have to ask you to leave.” She attempted to soothe him, holding up her hands as if calming a wild horse.

But your date wasn’t hearing any of it. His anger was too much to contain right now.

He pointed at you. “I only went on a date with you because my mom said you were pretty but she didn’t tell me you were so disrespectful. She also said your mother was desperate to marry you off and that she’s been trying to push you on any person she could.” He bellowed with a hearty and mocking laugh. “Just how many people have you been with already?”

“41. You’re number 42.” You answered simply and that took his irritation from a 100 to a 101.

Letting out a growl of frustration, he stood from the table, grabbing his jacket and practically snatching it on his body.

“You know what? I don’t need this! I have plenty of women lined up for me. I thought dating a black girl would be exciting but you’re seriously a bore. I’m leaving.”

He stomped away from the table, leaving you alone and letting the mind’s of the strangers surrounding you racing.

Just as you were about to get up to leave, he came back to the table, snatching the flowers he gave you earlier from the surface.

“And give me these back!”

Ah. There goes number 42. Your mother would probably get that look on her face again. That misty look in her eyes…..that she’d just cover with a smile and reassure you that she’d find someone else for you.

Again and again. Over and over.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw your waiter shuffling back over, a small brown bag in his hands.

“Um, we won’t charge you for the wine since it never reached the table.” He stated nervously, worried that you’d blow up next at his words.

“Okay.”

He then placed the bag on the table. “Please take this red velvet cake. It’s on the house.”

~

The rain was pouring when you stepped out of the restaurant. The awning outside protected you from the brunt of the downpour but you could still feel the drops hitting your bare legs.

You should call a cab. A cab would take you home.

Home.

As if they had a mind of their own, your feet carried you out into the heavy rain. The harsh drops hurt your skin but you continued.

Cold rain soaked through your clothes and all the way down to your shoes, goosebumps rising across your skin but it didn’t bother you.

Nothing did. Maybe that was your main problem.

The stares of people you walked by didn’t bother you. The chill of the rain didn’t bother you. The pain of your feet in these heels didn’t bother you.

Why? Why were you like this? Why couldn’t you feel anything?

“Because you’re broken.”

That’s right. You were broken. Like a porcelain ballerina on a music box; anyone could see how poised and perfect you were, a true sight to see. Sparkling and beautiful, their expectations were high but when they turned your key…..

No music came out. The inner workings of your soul were rusted and stiff, your heart merely a muscle that pumped blood through your veins, your life just something you lived.

You had no purpose. You didn’t exist for anything. You were just a doll, one that would collect dust in an antique case until the end of time.

Your feet slowed to a stop, the assault of the rain feeling like daggers against your skin. You tilted your head back to stare up into the dark sky.

You wished you could be a raindrop. You just wanted to fall and then go back to the sky.

At least then you wouldn’t be so useless. You wouldn’t make your mother cry. You wouldn’t be a burden.

You wouldn’t be incomplete.

“Hey are you okay?”

Your ears itched so you lifted your hand to scratch at it.

“Why are you out here without an umbrella? It’s pouring.”

Why were your ears so itchy? Did you need to clean them?

“Did the rain come out of nowhere for you too? The forecasts are so unreliable sometimes, huh?”

You didn’t understand. Why was……why…..?

Your head slowly came down from its craned position and your heart did something other than simply beat.

It squeezed.

Something you’ve never felt before jolted through your entire body, so powerful and consuming that your knees buckled. You stumbled forward a little, the grip on the bottom of your heels doing nothing to keep your upright.

“Oh hey! Are you alright?”

Then you were met with warmth. No, something more than that.

Heat. Body scorching and all encompassing heat engulfed your body. It felt like someone had poured gasoline over you and a lit a match.

A hand touched your arm and that heat spread like a hot brand across your skin. You couldn’t even feel the coldness of the rain that soaked your clothes and skin anymore. It was like someone wrapped a warm towel straight out of the dryer around you.

“Hey….”

Slowly, as if this bubble you formed would burst, you leaned your head back to look into a pair of eyes so iridescent and dazzling that you thought you were staring right at a cluster of stars.

Like the sun after rain, a rainbow stretching across the blue sky.

It was him. He had found you.

You two stayed locked in eye contact for a very long moment. The world seemed to fade away, not even the sound of rain or honking cars could bring you back.

Then like a ray of sunshine, he smiled but unlike your mother or other people you’ve met, this smile held no sadness, no pain, no ulterior motives.

It was pure. It was beautiful.

“Have you been waiting long for me? I’m sorry.” He lifted the hand that wasn’t holding the umbrella to cup your cheek, his thumb wiping away a stray raindrop.

Then the dam broke and for the first time in your entire life, you did something you never thought you’d be able to do.

You cried.

Loud and heart wrenching, as thunderous and roaring as the storm you two were in. Every emotion you’ve never felt since birth swelled in your chest, traveling up your throat and out of your mouth as you let out wails of sorrow.

Wails of joy. Wails of anguish. Wails of strife. Wails of gratitude.

You cried.

And he held you, shielding you from the rain and holding the broken pieces of you together before you could fall apart again.

His hand stroked your back up and down as he hummed a song to you. “It’s okay. Let it out. I know it’s been hard for you. I’m here now.”

Yes. He was here. He found you. You’d be okay.

~

The sound of a phone ringing woke you from your haze of sleep. Your head felt fuzzy and your body felt heavy.

Where were you?

Lifting your arm, you felt around the nightstand until you touched the object you were searching for. You turned on your side, bringing your phone to your face, eyes squinting at the brightness.

Mama.

Why was she calling you? Wasn’t she in the next room?

Pressing the answer button, you held the phone to your ear.

“Hello?”

“y/n! y!n, where are you? My friend just called me and told me you had a falling out with Jihyun. Are you okay? You didn’t even come home. I thought something happened to you.”

Jihyun? Oh yeah, your date. The memories of that awful dinner were starting to come back to you. You couldn’t even call it dinner since you didn’t even eat but whatever.

“Sorry, mom. He left me at the restaurant and it started raining really hard so I….” Your train of thought derailed, more memories of last night flowed into your brain.

Jihyun leaving you. Your walk in the rain. Bumping into someone.

That feeling in your chest….

Your soulmate! You found them. You never went home. You went with them instead.

“y/n? Is everything okay?” Your mother questioned with concern laced in her voice.

You felt something move behind you and you remembered everything.

“Mama, I promise I’m fine. I’ll be home later, okay?”

You couldn’t see the look of confusion on her face but you could feel it was there. “Uh, alright honey. Be careful. I love you.”

You smiled, feeling tears prick your eyes as your heart rapidly pounded in your chest.

“I will. I love you too, mama.”

And you did. You loved her so much. You could feel it.

Just like how you could feel her own tears even after you hung up the phone.

After placing your phone back on the nightstand, you paused and sat in silence for a moment.

So many feelings and thoughts rushed through your body like a rapid stream, rain had fallen and filled the cavern that was your soul, overflowing every empty crevice and nourishing the flora that had been withered and dry. With these new and unfamiliar feelings expanding, it almost hurt.

You were happy that it hurt though because that meant you were feeling.

You could feel now. You were so unexplainably happy.

Turning back to your other side, your eyes met the sleeping form of the person who made all of this possible.

Reaching a hand out, your fingertips grazed over his cheek. You could still so vividly remember how the cheekbone rounded when he graced you with that breathtaking smile. You wanted to see it again. You wanted to learn about what makes him smile, what makes him happy, what makes him sad.

You wanted to understand his feelings.

Your finger traced all across his face; his eyebrows, his nose, his lips, his chin. As if you were trying to memorize each atom of his face.

A part of this felt like a dream, one you were afraid you’d wake up from but if you did, you still think you’d be happy. Happy because at least you had this much. If this was a dream, you wouldn’t mind because this dream would be precious to you.

With another touch of his eyelids, he flinched causing you to do the same. His hand lifted to rub at his face, grumbles and mumbles coming from his lips. You watched as he stretched his body before flopping back down and then his eyes cracked open.

Your breath hitched in your throat, heart going crazy in your chest and another swell of emotions you couldn’t place surging as well.

He blinked sleepily before his eyes finally landed on you. Staring into the brown irises brought that heat back but even stronger this time. You didn’t really understand it but you wanted to.

“Oh, you’re awake? Did you sleep well?” His light voice croaked as he rubbed the drowsiness out of his eyes.

You nodded. “I did. Did you?”

Then he smiled and your heart squeezed.

“Yeah. I did too. For the first time in a while.”

There was a hint of something in his words but you couldn’t place it.

“Do you have a hard time sleeping?”

He looked up at the ceiling, staring as if it held the solution to all of his problems.

“Yeah.”

You felt like he had more to say and you were about to ask a follow up question when the sound of your stomachs growling interrupted.

His smile was bright and his laughter was contagious. “Are you hungry? I can make us some breakfast.”

“That sounds great.”

~

“I’m Hoseok, by the way.” He said as he placed a fried egg on a plate and then served it to you.

He let you shower first, even letting you wear some of his clothes since the dress you wore last night was still soaked through. You were actually already wearing a large t shirt of his and a pair of boxers that he leant you, both brand new of course. A part of you didn’t even want to shower because you didn’t want him to leave your eyesight. You finally found him and all you wanted to do was admire him and be close to him. He felt exactly the same but he was starving since he didn’t eat dinner last night. And now that you thought about it, neither did you.

Now you were both in his kitchen while he whipped up breakfast.

You didn’t even realize you never asked him his name. Hearing it now flared that heat in your heart again.

Hoseok. It was nice. It fit him.

“I’m y/n.”

He smiled at you again. You really liked seeing him smile.

“That’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

You’ve been hearing that for years, all your life really but hearing him say it, you truly believed it. From his lips, it sounded sincere, like he was looking past just your physical appearance.

He was looking at you. All of you.

“I have a question.” He said as he ate a blueberry.

You hummed in acknowledgment, letting him know he could continue.

“Why were you out in the rain like that?”

Any other time, you wouldn’t have hesitated to give the answer but your words got caught when he asked. Should you even tell him? Would he get upset? Why did you feel so guilty?

He noticed your hesitation and it was like he could see the cogs turning in your head. He didn’t quite understand you yet. What were you experiencing before you met him? What were the effects of your incomplete soulmate bond?

You felt a hand place itself over yours where it rested on the table, your eyes lifting from your half eaten breakfast to meet those sweet eyes.

“You can tell me. I promise I’ll accept whatever you say. I’ll accept you.”

Tears prickled at your waterline but you didn’t let them fall. You felt like if you cried again, you’d never stop.

Taking a deep breath, you admitted, “I was on a date.” When he didn’t say anything, you continued. “My mom would set me up on dates in order to find my soulmate. I was on one with this guy and he left me at the restaurant. I was about to go home but something told me to start walking.”

He listened intently, a little burst of anger firing in his heart at whatever asshole left you by yourself like that. He couldn’t help but feel a little relieved, however. Because if they didn’t leave you, he probably wouldn’t have found you.

“I see. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“I’m not.” You quickly responded, moving your hand so your fingers could entwine with his. A look of surprise crossed his face, his gaze going to your linked hands. His own heart thudded wildly like a stampede.

Then you smiled and what an absolutely wonderful smile it was.

“Then I’m not either.”

You two tucked back into your food in silence, hands still locked on the table.

“I have a question too.”

“Yeah?”

“Why were you out in the rain?”

He made a noise, shrugging his shoulder and finishing off the last of his breakfast. “I couldn’t sleep so I took a walk. It started raining on my way back home. There was a convenience store on my way so I got an umbrella there.” He explained as if it was so simple but something told you it wasn’t.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

What a good question.

“Whenever I try to sleep, I get this overwhelming feeling that keeps me up. It’s like…..I’m always uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” You parroted.

He hummed. “Like whenever I try to sleep, I can’t. It feels like….something was missing.”

“Like what?”

He pondered in thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it to you. He’s been asked that question before and he could never quite answer. To him, showing emotion came so easily. He could empathize with most; he cried when others did, he rejoiced when he was happy, he got angry when something didn’t go his way. All of it came naturally to him.

But when it was time to shut those feelings down and rest, he couldn’t. He took walks often as a way to both clear his head and try to tire himself out. He slept sometimes but never more than a couple of hours, those feelings always startling him awake again. He slept but he didn’t rest.

Something was keeping him awake. Something was missing. Something that he didn’t have.

His eyes left his empty plate to finally lock on the beauty of you. With you, all of those conflicting feelings calmed down. They settled in his heart, that heavy weight that once constricted him now lifted. Like when you curled up next to a window, a book in your lap and a blanket over your shoulders as a gentle rain fell.

“Peace.”

A soft smile stretched across his face, his eyes holding so many feelings that he’s always been able to express but never truly able to receive. Looking at you now, he knew he could have it all now.

He could have peace. The reason he couldn’t sleep was because there were too many emotions storming around him, leaving him lost in the torrent of his own life. He had friends who loved him, family who supported him, and bonds that could never be broken but even with all of that, he still lacked one thing.

One person.

You.

He rounded his small kitchen island until he was standing next to you, his hand that wasn’t holding yours moving to cup the back of your neck. He leaned down just a little. Your lips were so close, a few centimeters closer and they’d touch. A frenzy of everything was happening in both of your bodies; anticipation, fear, passion, and more things neither of you could make.

His eyes flickered from your lips to your eyes, back and forth.

“I’m so glad I found you.” He whispered.

“I’m glad you found me too.”

And just like that, your lips joined. As did your hearts, as did your souls, as did your beings.

Complete.

Like the sun shining through the clouds after a rainy day and the rain returning to cover the sun, you two fit together in a delicate cycle.

One that could never be broken.

The sun. The rain. The earth. The sky. The moon. Red. Purple. Orange. Green.

Blissful. Confusing. Playful.

The colors that made up your world were bright now.

All thanks to your sun ☀️

[jollyreginaldrancher]

Yellowjackets S3 E10 liveblogging

I made a bunch of posts between eps talking about my thoughts and speculating on the next ep. Didn't watch any previews and stuff. Also this time I'm going to watch the credits cause I don't imagine we'll get any spoilers for this ep, what the hell.

Okay.

I wonder who's gonna do the "previously on" line. Under 15 minutes to go and I'm watching something to pass the time and doing some chores and stuff. Really hyped for this one.

I've got this Tumblr app and post open to avoid anybody spoiling anything from the episode or the preview or whatever. Haven't been online since I saw that preview dropped really. Not in Tumblr or tiktok at least.

Aaand it's finally up

I think it was Natalie this time. The previously thing. I'm counting it as confirmation that this episode's fucked up.

Just rewatched Van die in HD so...that was fun.....

If we don't get straight to Misty and Nat I swear-

Nah, yeah, montage, that's totally what we need right now.

Tell me the episode continues where the last one ends and we don't have a fucking time skip

Are they dragging Misty back to camp?

NATALIE?

Fuck is this because of the attempt...I forgot about that.

Tai I know that's you under that fuckass mask next to Shauna.

Wait, Hannah?

Misty? In her hut? What the fuck is going on?

I hate when they do shit like this and leave you disoriented. It genuinely pisses me off. Feels like I'm being edged, just show me the follow-up conversation and continue from the last fucking episode, it's not that hard, for fuck's sake.

Okay, what was that look between Misty and Nat

Oh oops and we're flashing back to that and Natalie is blaming Misty for everything like I guess I knew she would. Very loudly. Screaming like she never scrumpt before.

Oh

Woah

I called Natalie socking her when I guessed that was how her glasses broke but not... Wow

Okay

So Natalie socks Misty so hard she has a cut on her lip that I don't remember noticing on adult Misty but whatever.

She doesn't tell anyone though

And her and Van and Misty work to get everyone home

Shauna's running a secret police natzi style

She doesn't want to get back so she's looking to find the radio? Make sure they can't get home? And Nat and Van and Misty are hiding it and undercover working together to get them home

So Van must know or at least suspect Misty found the flight recorder and crap.

I hope they find out eventually that it wouldn't have helped them get rescued or at least Natalie and Misty figure out what it's actually for...

I don't see either Misty or Nat ever letting this go though.

Meanwhile Lottie's snug in her bed while visions of antler queens dance in her head

Heartbreaking to see the new dynamics

They're clearly trying to keep it on the down low that they're working together but Misty can't help feeling for Natalie and almost blowing their shit by being kind to her so Natalie has to learn to push Misty away to hide their secret relationship. Makes their adult dynamic make more sense.

So this version of the antler queen that Lottie sees is her adult self

AND SHE HAS A PROPHESY OF HER DEATH! Or at least herself post death.

What did they promise?

Who are they meeting? Is it Laura Lee? Tell me it's Laura Lee

Is that Shauna's baby crying?

We're kinda getting her death out of sequence a lil

We're seeing like her death, pre death and post death merging together in her mind which reminds me of bly manor a lil bit

Are we gonna finally get some answers though?

Oh come on.

Was there numbers on their necks in the intro at some point?

Ah fuck

Back to Shauna's milfmobil

What are we up to now?

Tell me they're not burying van in the woods like a prom night baby

God this is heartbreaking

Taissa resolves to unite her two halves by no longer burying her other half and

Oh

I don't know what I expected

I really should have seen this coming

Adult timeline is gonna pop OFF next season (after the obligatory 7 episodes where nothing fucking happens)

Okay

Alright

Misty's gone to see Callie

Callie #1 suspect for Lottie's death LET'S GO!

I think I called it btw

Oh I know the stans are gonna be going off about Misty calling out Callie for drugging her

Hillarious but she has a point and she's allowed to not be happy when it happens to her even if she did inadvertently drug the whole group that one time

Yo why DOES Lottie have a picture of Shauna's kid on her damn phone

Lottie I need you to beat the groomer allegations

I KNEW IT

IT WAS CALLIE

Okay

Last second guess

She lures Callie down to the basement with the tape, tries to get her to do some ritual and Callie freaks out and runs, and Lottie dies in the ensuing scuffle

Ok I'm starting to feel a lil sad for Callie.

She just has the door opened up for her, she can ask anything she wants, and her thirty-year-old actress just asks if her mom loved her. Damn. Honestly though this would hit harder if Callie wasn't so annoying and all this time wasn't wasted on her when I'd rather be watching other stuff. On rewatch I'm sure she's more palatable but to me she'll always be pretty irrelevant. Not even adjacent to the characters I like.

Like at least Lisa's thing with Natalie was interesting and developed her but they're trying too hard to set up Callie as another protagonist when there's nothing really interesting about her, at least to me

"we couldn't stop" they're leaning into the post-rescue hunting clues. Really insinuating that they kept going after rescue but that would be so unsatisfying. How would they even maintain that? People would notice they went missing once a month and shit. And if they kept disappearing. Unless they hunted other people. Which they would logically also notice, if people around them kept dying and going missing after they were rescued. I don't think I like this idea but fuck it, I guess that's where the show is going. I think I hate it though.

I hope it doesn't lead to two seasons post rescue where they're pulling adult timeline bullshit in the teen timeline.

"our child" Lawttie stawp!~

If Shauna was there to hear this she would have ended Lottie herself

"it was an accident" she says as she full body tackles Lottie into the abyss

An accident

Accident

Nevermind, fuck you Callie, I don't like you

I know she's gonna be leading the hunt 2.0 by season 5 finale too, and she's out here calling Lottie insane and claiming she doesn't buy into it.

Sweet scene with Callie and Jeff. I still can't let myself like him or Travis though for what they did to the girls.

Anyway I was right about her death and it seems I'm right about Van and Misty and Natalie working together in secret

I notice winter is more gradually settling this time around and not hitting them like a dump truck like last year.

Aww, Akilah.

Did they forget to build the animals a pen or something to keep them warm during winter?

God the little scarves and stuff they put on them, they really are just kids out here 😭

Yeah Lottie, how did it happen?

Natalie don't talk. Matter of fact, Natalie get behind me, you know you're one spot away from living in that pen, stop talking up.

Mari, the fuck?

I wanna see what to Lottie and Nat Stan's have to say at Lottie smirking when Shauna threatened Natalie into joining the hunt.

Okay. I see now.

Misty and Natalie and Shauna. Van's choosing is how they survive. Tai wants to save her best friend so Shauna's off the table, Nat too because she deserves better and Misty cause she's helping them get out.

Van rigged the cards for shit bucket duty

And she thinks she only now is going to start picking who dies

Baby you've BEEN picking

Tai has a point. It's nice to see season one Tai stepping up and Tai take the reigns again because I was tired of her just being a collaborator, watching on the sides.

Roflmao HE LEFT! HE LEFT AND TOOK THE KID! YAS KING!

You think Melissa ran back to Shauna after all that? I was thinking how hillarious it'd be if the baby survived and shit and Shauna made it back with a baby AND a girlfriend

Her mom would have a coronary

Now LottieShauna is living that dead wife life. John Wick style. Hearing voices and imagining shit.

Where DID everyone go though? That Camo was empty. Was it a dream or someone fucking with her?

Do we think they ever figure out what Van's doing? Also are people gonna start trashing her too now that they know she's straight up picking who's dead or alive and not as innocent as she seemed all along?

Does Misty know about the card rigging? And is Van doing it by switching the order of cards so if anyone stepped out of line or whatever they could fuck the whole thing up?

I'm terrified Lottie's gonna fuck the card order and Akilah's gonna get it. Or Mari. Or maybe Gen

All I know is I'm reading fanfiction and chatting to bots tonight, I'm gonna be fucked up by what happens for sure.

Oh fuck

Shauna

No

no

NO

NO!

Okay

Okay

Mari's NOT going to die

She has the necklace on

She can't die

Fuck you Lottie

NOW Travis is drinking

Great

I'm guessing she's going to hide in the cave

Is Travis going to warn Shauna about the trap?

Mari is for sure not pit girl because I don't think he's told anyone and pit girl was keeping an eye out for the trap and also she was in a nighty so she's definitely not pit girl.

I hope the necklace keeps her safe.

Slumber party makeouts? JACKIESHAUNA CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway Travis is on some funny shit

I love Misty not just washing that man out of her life but removing every trace of him from her house. Please go off on whoever is at the door baby cakes, you deserve it.

Shauna

Why am I not surprised?

YES

YES

PLEASE

PLEASE GO GET A RESTRAINING ORDER I'M BEGGING YOU

Back to mari

Wait

Wait no

Don't tell me

Tell me she doesn't take her damn clothes off

I think she's gonna strip to lead them away

Then almost fall in the pit trap but not

Because pit girl is from the adult timeline

That's my guess here

Is Taissa trying to spare Mari?

Are we gonna have the same TaiShauna fight we had last season all over again?

Are they gonna kiss?

Ngl there was a split second where I thought they were gonna kiss

Is that Natalie with the phone?

Fuck is she gonna get caught by Hannah?

Is that the scene from that first preview where someone's like grabbed by someone else and shit?

Are Van and Nat and Misty and Taissa and Gen planning to call for help or is Gen and Van and Tai gonna try to help Mari or is this part of another plan or...there's so much they're leaving out of the teen timeline.

Honestly? I want Natalie to stab Hannah. To not believe her. To call the hunt off by killing her or whatever. Just go the fuck off. I do NOT trust her and I think it's gonna jite Natalie in the ass if she spares her (again).

What's Akilah up to?

Naw tell me she's not going back in the fucking caves

Akilah's gonna die now isn't she? They've been building up to this all season

And Shauna found the clothes and it seems she's falling for the trap, not that it's a good one but it's bought Mari a few seconds while Shauna looks around like "is this bitch really dumb enough to take all her fucking clothes off and run around barefoot during winter?"

Akilah again.

I want to find a completely feral Lottie down there. If you're gonna go there go all the way there.

Ain't no fucking way

AkIlAh? Baby why? To get rid of Hannah?

Oh no, Akilah

Be careful, baby

Oof, see? I called it. Psych out. And now for Mari to walk away from this unscathed and not fall into a pit trap.

Okay is this a coup on Shauna?

Aww she's only trying to help.

Now I'm hoping Gen's not pit girl either

Come on Mari, prove them wrong! Best the pit girl allegations!

Okay, who the fuck levelled Shauna then?

Misty?

Was it MISTY?

Goddamn!

Cause she's like the only one left

Other than Melissa who I don't see having the balls to- oh no

Mari ran into Lottie

Lottie who knows about the pit trap

Are they on the pit trap?

Is this reality looping?

This is some mind bending stuff right now

No

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Fuck

Gotta give them kudos for blending this scene seamlessly with the pitgirl scene

Was that an eye on the tree? Sort of?

Okay it was melissa

For a glorious moment I dreamed that Misty had enough of Shauna's shit and decided to do the group a solid one though

"I knew you'd turn out to be boring" oh please punch her again Mel

Oh and by the by, FUCK YOU TRAVIS

I need something strong after this

Anyway, who's Tai talking to? Finally seeing some sense. I see they took a vow to protect one another but kinda dumb to like cut everyone off and run if you're gonna do that. If they stayed in each others lives it would look way less suspicious if they did seek each other out rather than only knocking on one another's door when you need help to cover up a murder.

Now I hope Taissa's talking to Misty but I suspect she's talking to herself. I wonder if people will think she's talking to another yellowjacket we haven't seen yet though.

OH SHIT!

SHE'S TALKING SENSE!

TO THE RIGHT PERSON!

FINALLY!

SOMEONE'S CUTTING MISTY INTO THE FOLD.

So next season it WILL be most yand Taissa working together to bring Shauna and Melissa down and Shauna trying to get her family back and shit I guess.

Walter keeps on creeping on

What did Natalie end up doing with the phone?

Did she put it back or hide it?

Oh now we get the pit girl scenes in this cringy montage

Fuck you Shauna for making Natalie the butcher officially I guess now

I guess that's how the hair thing started on the antler queen thing

Or Shauna just wanted it as a prize

Fucking sick fuck

Loser adult Shauna being the most boring character hits my funny bone in a special way

Adult Shauna speedrunning turning into Van's mom

Is that the FUCKING LETTER UNDER THE FRIDGE?

Ngl I can't read some of that writing

Give us a voiceover I'm begging

Forgiving herself is the last thing Shauna needs to do

First thing is hold herself accountable

Honestly I don't think I can sympathize with her, even if she does

Oh for fuck's sake

With that fuckass journalling

Sddjgfyhdhdhdbdbxuduoggbhd

"I was a warrior"

"we were having too much fun"

Speak for yourself

Literally everyone else has got a conscience

Misty regrets to the end of her days that she broke something she thinks could have helped

Took a punch to the face for it and kept working to get back

Taissa, van, all the other girls

Shauna's the big bad here

She's officially the antler queen

But like she's way too fucking into it

Now that she has all the power

It's fun

But when she was nothing it was horrible

The lack of self reflection is hers alone

Everyone else has BEEN reflecting and seeing shit. Or at least some of them. It's just Shauna who's revelling in her power. And Lottie.

Anyway.

Natalie's being really quiet.

That's not Natalie is it?

It's hard to tell with those masks.

But I'm guessing she pulled a fast one here.

Hannah!

I knew it!

Natalie's trying to call for help isn't she?

Nah fuck off Misty did NOT have that cut on her face in the teen-

TIME LOOP

THEY'RE IN A TIME LOOP

THE WILDERNESS IS PURGATORY

WE ARE NOT WATCHING FLASHBACKS TO THE TEEN TIMELINE WE ARE WATCHING THE PURGATORY TIMELOOP WHERE THE YELLOWJACKETS ALL WENT AFTER THEY DIED

All these characters are dead and this is their souls living over the wilderness timeline over and over and over again

That's why things look different this time around

This time Natalie punched Misty and gave her a scar or a cut at least that she had during the pit girl scene

Last time she didn't

And Misty I see that smile

You know don't you?

Natalie's gone up the mountain to get a better signal, hasn't she?

I fucking knew it

THAT'S MY BABY

THAT'S MY GIRL!

I'm guessing next season will be Natalie trying to get help to come over while Shauna tries to hunt her down road runner and Wile E Coyote style. There's a schism in the group already and people are picking sides and nobody's on Shauna's aside from Lottie who's obsessed with her eyes and her baby.

Disappointed we didn't see Laura Lee to be honest

Maybe another time

But yeah

That my theory

[northopalshore]

Omg thanks for answering my 12th house stellium question, now this is just the last THANKS FOR ANSWERING MY 12th house stellium question in groom pc… I just have one more question so since he might be a composer because the sun,Venus,Saturn,mercury,fama/union asteroid is in the that same 12th house BUT Juno is in 5th, so will that still make him an entertainer or not?

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋ He could be, though it's not because of the Juno placement but rather the Stellium itself. Like I said: The act of communication and conveying their art (whether writing professionally ; like books or something, composing music or whatnot is a core part of who they are. Their brain will do a lot of the work or they may have to write and think and defend at the same time if that makes sense (?). Being creative is essential to them.

There's a lot of talking, collaborating and brainstorming involved. Though, with the 12th house it gives me the impression that they prefer to work backstage or in the studio i.e not the one presenting whatever he works on to a large crowd (or at least not full frontal center lol). Their work may be well known but it's not exactly them that's in the spotlight.

Juno is more like what you'll be doing together after marriage. If he does make songs maybe he'll have you sing a few for samples? Something like that.

It's very common to see that the sign itself is also a big indicator in regards to where they put the most importance or base themselves on.

Take for example Beyoncé's Groom persona chart:

She has a Libra Stellium in the 1st house. Jay-Z is a business man before anything else. Neptune in Sagittarius the 3rd & that °22 degree (both Sun & Neptune) is what pushes that influential aspect in his rap or music i.e his work/writing. He puts a lot of importance into how his brand is presented.

Juno for Beyoncés GPC literally means merging Brands/income/identity. It's in the 2nd house, in Scorpio with a Scorpio degree (°8) as well.

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Hope this helps!

[sickly-qt]

I Promise it's Worth It.

Here I am again, with one post that no one asked for even though I have So Many asks I could work on.

I started this way long ago and hated it and then re-read it and realized it wasn't that bad and finished it.

I did not proofread this so I apologize for any typos.

*fades away back into the shadows*

~~~

Finn was painfully aware that one of Drew’s triggers was the smell of seafood, just how he was painfully aware that his girlfriend was trying her best to be a trooper and make it through this corporate event that so happened to have a seafood section to the buffet. 

She was making polite conversation with his coworkers and putting up a very good front that she wasn’t wildly nauseous that no one seemed to see through but him.

“How are you holding up?” He asked when the other couples at their table got up to get seconds.

“Not great, I might take a minute and get some fresh air.” She leaned back in her chair and smoothed her dress out.

He put his hand on her thigh and rubbed her leg, “Okay, Love. Text me if you need anything, I’m sure I can make an exit if need be.”

“I just need some air, I’ll be right back.” She got up and leaned over his shoulder to give him a peck on the cheek. 

Finn watched as she walked away, getting lost in the crowd of people on her way out.

Drew was rather miserable, but she was trying to power through for the sake of Finn. It wasn’t very often that she had to put on her good girlfriend hat in front of his coworkers. Today was a rough day to begin with, she was nauseous and tired and her feet hurt in her stupid heels that she decided to wear. 

“Shit, Fuck.” She mumbled to herself after rolling her ankle on the stairs, pulling her heels off and walking over to a bench in bare feet. She dropped her shoes onto the bench and promptly bent over the bushes, losing whatever dinner she had managed to eat. 

She crouched down, pulling her hair out of her face with one hand and steadying herself on the bench with her other hand. “Jules, it’s fine if you can’t get her to take a bath. Just get her to bed and Mila and I will handle the bath tomorrow.” 

Fuck, Drew thought to herself. The last thing she wanted was to be caught puking at another one of Finn’s work events.

“Hi, Bug. Can you be the best girl and just go to bed for Juli? Daddy and Mila will be home later, but after you’re sleeping okay? Alright, I love you Bug, be good for Juli.” 

Drew froze where she was hoping that whoever was on the phone wouldn’t notice her. 

“Yeah Jules, just pick your battles, try and get her to bed and Mila and I will be home in like two hours at the most.”

Her stomach had other ideas though and she burped softly, more watery puke splattered into the dirt in front of her.

“Okay Jules, uh yeah, I have to go. Text me if she keeps giving you issues.”

Drew swore in her head as she heard footsteps coming toward her.

“Shit, uhm are you okay?” he asked, walking up beside her and putting a hand on her back as she coughed and gagged over the shrubs.

“Yeah, sorry.” She mumbled, trying and failing to stifle a gag. She recognized him as the CFO of the company Finn’s was merging with. Remy, she remembered.

“It’s okay, do you have someone you want me to get for you? You’re Drew right? Do you want me to get Finn?”

Drew shook her head and sniffled, standing up and then lowering herself onto the bench they were next to.

“No, I’m alright, thanks.” She slipped her shoes back on and used the sleeve of her cardigan to wipe at her eyes.

“Are you sure? I can go in and get you water or napkins or whatever you need.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m nauseous all the time, I should be used to it by now.”

“Okay, uh… can I at least walk you back inside? I would feel bad leaving you out here by yourself.” Remy shuffled a bit awkwardly in front of her with his hands in his pockets. 

“Do you happen to know if the seafood buffet has been put away?” She asked with an unenthusiastic chuckle.

“Oh,” His eyes widened with realization. “Are you-? Shit, I can’t ask that.”

“It’s whatever.” She shrugged, she hadn’t told a single person beside Finn that she was pregnant, but for some reason she decided to tell this virtual stranger. “It’s kinda hard to hide it when morning sickness is kicking my ass.”

Remy sat next to her on the bench, “My ex had really bad morning sickness with our daughter… I swear she was puking constantly for like 3 months.”

“Glad to hear I have so much to look forward to.” Drew leaned back and took a breath, resting her hand on her stomach. “You have a daughter? How is that?”

“Yeah, she’s 5. And it’s great. It’s not always easy, in fact, it’s pretty damn hard sometimes, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Right now she’s refusing to take a bath and giving my cousin a hell of a time going to bed. I’m probably going to get home to a miserable and tired toddler that’s going to cling to me like velcro and then starfish in my bed, but I can’t wait. I look at my little girl and I love her more than anything and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

Remy stopped when he heard Drew sniffle, “I’m sorry, did I say something?”

Drew shook her head and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “No, this happens a lot now too. Part of my new norm I guess.” She paused and stared at her hands in her lap, “This is all so hard.”

“It only gets harder… when they cry and you wish you can take all of their pain away. The first time they realize that life isn’t fair. When you realize that you can’t protect them from everything. Having kids is anything but easy, but I promise it’s worth it and you’re not doing it alone. Finn is a great guy, lean on him. Parenting is a team sport.” Remy glanced down at his watch, “The buffet should be cleaned up now if you’re ready to go back in. I'm sure both of our respective partner’s are wondering where we are.”

Drew sniffled again and nodded, she wiped her eyes and got up from the bench. “Thanks… for sitting out here and talking to me.”

“It’s no problem at all. Thank you for listening to me be cheesy and gush about my daughter.” He looked down at his shoes as if thinking and then looked back at Drew. “Maybe we could plan a dinner all together, I’ll mention it to Finn sometime… I promise not to order the tuna.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

They both walked back inside and Drew quickly found Finn, standing with a glass of champagne and engaging in light conversation. She smiled and seamlessly injected herself into the conversation, tucking herself into his side, his hand quickly finding his way around her waist.

“Is everything alright?” He asked her quietly.

“Yeah, everything’s okay.”

[pluralconfessions]

idk if this counts for anything. but I think I used to be plural? as in, I think I split some time in my childhood and only recently merged. I don’t know if these are the right words. I’ve been friends with 4 systems that I knew of and found myself relating to a lot of things they said. When I decided to make a simplyplural account to see who was fronting in my friends, I paused at the account type options. I decided to try the plural option, just to see if the label fit me. Everything started to click into place, and it began filling out the information for the alters.

It was just me and someone else in my body, I think. At least it was mainly us. She was the protector that would front when I was scared. But as time went on, our differences and the strange parts of time that i seemed to not be in control of things dwindled and eventually I think I absorbed her? or something? I’m pretty sure I’m an even amount of the two of us now, personally-wise. The last time i think she might have fronted by herself was over a year ago. That’s strange to think about. I am glad she was never really afraid of being absorbed, because I would feel guilty if she was. I don’t know if I’m using the right language. I’m not even sure if I was plural or not. Only a few one my friends know I even questioned it.

I had researched about how long alters could be asleep for. some said months. some said they weren’t sure. I only realized I might be alone in my head when I realized it was quiet in there for once. No overlapping voices and half-hearted bickering.

I don’t know what to do now. I feel like there was a part of myself that I didn’t explore, which I guess could have been literal. I am happier now, not because I might be a singlet but because of the healing from trauma that may have caused the merge. But I see the memes on tumblr and wonder how I would have felt if we saw them together. I don’t know if I ever would have been ready, or if we would have made it work and laughed at the “funnier as a system” genre of jokes. i don’t know if it would have helped, but I still feel like I missed out on something that could have made me feel less scared.

to clarify: i don’t have any opinion one way or the other about whether or not systems SHOULD do merge, or whatever it’s called. That’s none of my business because people should do whatever make them happy and comfortable. I felt out of control and scared after realizing she had probably fronted, and she didn’t mind relinquishing control of the body.

I’m unsure of what to say, but I hope someone in the comments can listen or relate.