#i wanna play more though and see where the story goes | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ponett · 7 months ago

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Do you have any advice for people making OCs/sonas? Yours are really well rounded and unique and I'd greatly appreciate the insight of someone who got a passion project off the ground!

So this is a very broad topic, and it varies a lot based on your own creative goals, what kind of characters you're creating, and where you want to use them. Creating an OC to be used in furry pinups is a little different than creating one for a dramatic story. But I'll try to give some general advice on how I do things for the types of characters and stories I tend to work with

Heads up: this will be kinda long lol

The germ of an idea

For me, I'll generally be inspired to create a character starting with a small number of core traits. These could be anything. A color scheme, a body type, a job, a hobby, a personality archetype, an outfit, a visual motif, a functional role in a story I'm working on, a noteworthy facial feature, a weapon, a relationship of some sort to an existing character, a single scene or joke I want to use them for. For furries and fantasy characters, species is usually one of the first things I'll have an idea for, which tends to get the ball rolling fairly easily since we have all sorts of cultural associations with different animals and fantasy creatures.

Any standout character trait like this that you find compelling can serve as that initial spark. The inspiration can come from anywhere, but it's often just a matter of knowing yourself and your own tastes. What do you like? What are the people in your life like? What really speaks to you in a character? What's an existing fictional character that you'd like to rewrite and take in a different direction? What's an aspect of yourself that you would like to see represented more often in fiction? It doesn't have to be something super deep or fleshed out right from the start, though. You can start with something as simple as "I want a black cat character" or "I want a character who dresses like an arcade carpet" or "I want a character who looks scary but is actually nice." Whatever it is, it's something that differentiates the new character from the ones I already have, because otherwise I'd just be using them.

Contrast

From there, you can start brainstorming other traits that might go with those core traits. Some of those may be traits that naturally complement each other. Continuing with the black cat example, maybe you wanna play into the common cultural perception of black cats and say that this character brings bad luck, or is associated with witchcraft. However, I often like to give characters contrasting or even seemingly contradictory traits, which can help elevate a character beyond a stock archetype. Real people tend to be a walking ball of contradictions, after all.

I've talked a lot about how I did this with the main cast of SLARPG. Melody is a fox, traditionally a crafty and untrustworthy predator, but she's extremely introverted and gentle. Allison is a bunny, but instead of being a meek and cuddly little prey animal she's an outgoing fighter who loves a challenge, and she has a muscular build. I think this kind of thing gives characters some fun flavor, and can be really effective for both comedy and drama. For an example from something I didn't write, take Senshi from Dungeon Meshi. He's a dwarf, and he embodies certain stereotypical aspects of dwarves - he's a short, buff man with a big bushy beard, he lives underground, he's stubborn and doesn't like elven magic - but he also goes against some of them. Instead of being an expert on mining and blacksmithing, Senshi is a culinary expert who has a deep appreciation for the natural ecosystem of the dungeon. He's a weirdo among dwarves for not caring about the wellbeing of his axe and for using his super awesome shield primarily as a giant wok. And that's what makes Senshi fun and interesting.

So going back to our example, instead of going with the stereotype, we could make a black cat character who has comically good luck, or who's superstitious and afraid of witchcraft, or who's an extremely rational person who always believes in science over superstition. Or maybe you roll with the bad luck angle, but instead make the black cat be the victim of their own bad luck in some interesting way. Maybe this black cat has terrible luck with love and can't hold down a relationship. Maybe this black cat is an aspiring speedrunner who consistently gets the absolute worst RNG possible in every video game due to their own bad luck. Maybe this black cat has accrued a horrendous gambling debt after a long losing streak and has loan sharks coming after them.

These are all just hypothetical examples, of course. I don't exclusively make characters with ironic contradictions like this. The idea is just to build on those core traits you started with in interesting ways, and that's one of my favorite ways to do so. But honestly, a lot of the time execution is more important than the sheer originality of an idea, and sometimes really putting your all into playing a trope you love straight is the right move.

Specificity

Regardless of what direction I take a character in past that initial seed of an idea, the key ingredient tends to be specificity. To give them specific details beyond the most stock possible version of that core idea you started with.

This is something I internalized from Tim Schafer, via a blog post in the behind-the-scenes backer material for Broken Age. Sadly I'm not sure if that stuff is still available, but I did save this particular post about creating characters since it really helped me, so I'll directly quote a chunk of that post here:

No two characters would approach a problem or react to events in the same way. At least, not if you’ve designed the characters well. If you’ve left them too vague or superficial, if they are merely functional elements in your story instead of individuals, then they might react in the same way. And that’s a problem. So to avoid that, I’m going to talk about one the most important parts of character development: specificity. Making sure your character is a specific individual, not a stereotype. A unique character, different from anyone else in the world. It doesn’t mean that they have to have wacky gimmicks, eyepatches and crazy accents. It just means they have to be specific. For example, let's create a new character. Let's say your story has a scene where your main character gets in trouble in school. So you’re probably going to need a school teacher. Imagine a school teacher for a bit. Do you see her in a little red schoolhouse? Maybe a bun in her hair? An apple on her desk? Thick black glasses? Let’s put a ruler in her hand for good measure. Done! We have our teacher character. She’s ready to be in the scene where our hero goes to school and the teacher sends her to the principal’s office for passing notes. Right? I mean, this character doesn’t have too many lines, so why develop her character any more? The problem is that this teacher is a very shallow stereotype of a teacher. She has no specific attributes that make her memorable. She’s the teacher you would get in a set of free clip art. She might not have many lines, but if all your supporting characters are this way, your story will be more bland than it should be. Even if this teacher is only onscreen for a minute, she should be unique and different from any other teacher in the world. Luckily, it's not actually that hard to make her so. You just have to ask some very basic, specific questions.

Tim goes on to explain how simple exercises like filling out character sheets with basic questions about your character (there are a million of these online) can help push a character beyond a stock archetype, even if it's a minor supporting character. Questions about where they're from, their likes and dislikes, their beliefs, their goals in life, that sort of thing. For minor characters especially, a lot of these details may never actually come up in a story, but just asking even a few of these questions and giving them specific answers helps you see them less like an archetype and more like a real person in your head. Maybe you never bring up your character's backstory or their favorite sport or what kind of music they listen to, but just having a specific answer for questions like that might help color the way you depict that character in subtle ways. It makes it feel like they aren't defined by just that one core trait you started with, and helps make the characters and world feel more alive, like there's stuff going on with them beyond the bounds of the story or the drawing.

It's a careful balancing act, though. It's easy for a character to feel like they're a collection of too many unrelated gimmicks and quirks. Again, like Tim said, these specifics don't have to make for the craziest, most original character ever, there just has to be something there.

Let's go back to SLARPG as an example, where I combined broad character archetypes I liked with more specific personal elements that I felt like I wasn't seeing enough in the fiction I liked. Melody is riffing on the common idea of the reserved healer character in the RPG or MMO party and the shy girl archetype, but she's the main hero instead of a supporting player in another person's story, and she's also a fat bisexual trans woman who draws a lot of little details from my own life. Her interests, her relationships, her opinions on things, her personal hangups and dreams, these all set Melody apart from other fantasy healer characters and define her as Melody Amaranth. Specificity!

But it doesn't always have to be super deep, especially if you just want some characters to draw for fun and aren't planning on writing a story with them. Take my fursona. I've always loved dogs, so I made my fursona a dog. I chose a Samoyed in particular because I think Samoyeds are the cutest, and I hadn't seen hardly any anthro Samoyed OCs at the time. I leaned into the breed's signature fluffiness to help my fursona stand out from other canine OCs. She has simple identifying traits like being fat like me, wearing glasses like mine, and having a hairstyle kinda like mine (when I tied my hair up in a bun, at least). And there you go. Fursona achieved. She's not a wildly high concept character, but she doesn't need to be

Anyway I realize that this is mostly about the writing aspect, so here's a few quick bullet points about designing a character's appearance:

Face and body type variety are good, but personally I would say lack of body type variety is worse than same face syndrome

Knowing some stuff about shape language is good, but you don't have to be completely beholden to the "circles are friendly, squares are sturdy, triangles are scary" shit. I'm generally more interested in using repeated shaping in different parts of a character's design as sort of a shape motif. Melody's body, hair, and tail are all made of round, swooping shapes, for example. (This is more applicable if you're designing cartoonier characters as opposed to realistic humans, obviously.)

Knowing some basics of color theory is also good. I like using complementary and contiguous color schemes on characters and generally try not to use too many distinct colors on one design. Black and white and grey and various browns are good as neutral colors to balance out the colors of the rainbow, and gold can be a nice accent color

A small handful of identifying accessories can be fun, but don't rely on those to make a design stand out. Ideally your character should still be identifiable even when not wearing their default outfit, or even in silhouette

Aaaaaand I'm gonna call it a wrap there! This is a huge topic, so hopefully this helps with at least some of the basics! At the end of the day, though, don't beat yourself up if you can't sit down and force yourself to come up with the most crazy awesome OC ever. Just have fun and be yourself!

#rakruined #ask #slarpg asks

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lovelookspretty · 2 months ago

Text

lies for lunch

rafe cameron x reader

— in which y/n returns to her hometown, the outer banks, to work as ward cameron’s assistant at cameron development, but living under his roof for the summer leads to unexpected tension with his son, rafe.

warnings: animosity, rafes daddy issues, safe !!

authors note: for the sake of the story i need y/n or you or whatever to have a person of familiarity whos hung back in obx to act like you’ve known each other for years, SO U HAVE A FICTIONAL BROTHER 😭

for the past ten months, you’ve been working at cameron development, helping ward negotiate deals and obtain permits. it’s been almost like being his assistant through everything. what started as an internship turned into a full-time job with actual pay after all this time.

they were right—hard work and determination can really pay off. you just didn’t expect to get so lucky with how quickly things moved. after a series of private meetings where ward discussed traveling back to north carolina to work in his hometown, he suggested you come along.

the relationship isn’t weird or inappropriate. you’re one of the few employees ward genuinely appreciates, which is more than he can say about the burnouts that float through the company. since you’re from the outer banks yourself, ward thinks it makes sense to bring you along to continue working for him and the company for as long as possible.

but anyway, you’re absolutely thrilled to be back in the outer banks. it’s more than just a job opportunity—it’s a chance to reconnect with everything familiar, everything that’s been tugging at your heart since you left.

the occasional visits have been fine, enough to keep the homesickness at bay for a while, but that constant, quiet longing for the place you grew up never really goes away. but now? now you’re staying in obx for the summer. no more fleeting weekends, no more rushed goodbyes. you’ll have time to breathe, to soak it all in. to be home.

the airport air is still fresh in your lungs when you slide into the backseat of the car, your bags dumped beside you. before the door even clicks shut, your fingers are already scrolling through your contacts. there’s only one person you want to talk to right now—your brother.

“hey,” you say, stretching out the word, a grin tugging at your lips as you hear the familiar click of him picking up.

“hey,” comes his easy, laid-back reply, his voice filling the small space around you like it always does. like home. “did you land?”

you bounce slightly in your seat as the car hits a bump, your grip tightening on your phone for a second. “yeah,” you confirm, digging through your bag absentmindedly. “i’m about twenty minutes from figure 8, so i’ll be there around noon. are mom and dad home?”

there’s a slight pause on his end, the sound of him shifting around, probably sprawling lazily on the couch back home. “nah, they’re not,” he finally says. “i swung by to check, but i guess mom’s out at lunch with her friends, and dad’s working today.”

you let out an involuntary groan, the disappointment settling in your chest. of course, it would work out like this. “this is what i get for trying to surprise them.”

his voice comes back, laced with mild amusement. “it’s your fault for not announcing you’re coming a day earlier.”

he’s right, but you don’t want to admit it. instead, you plow forward. “look, can you at least call mom and ask if she can be home soon? ward wants me to head straight to him as soon as i land, but i really wanna stop by as soon as i can. i can’t be there later than two.”

on the other end, you can almost hear the exaggerated sigh that you know is coming. the kind that’s loaded with all the typical dramatics. he’s probably rolling his eyes too, even though you can’t see him. “yeah, yeah, whatever,” he mutters, clearly unable to resist playing up his irritation. “i’ll take care of it. just text me when you’re on your way. still can’t believe you’re working for wc.”

with that, the call ends abruptly, and you pull the phone away from your ear, blinking down at the screen in mild confusion. wc? who calls him wc? you furrow your brow, lips tugging into a slight frown as you shoot off a quick text to your brother.

‘ 1st, nobody calls him wc. and 2nd, what??? ’

your phone buzzes again. his reply is as cryptic as ever.

‘ just a coincidence that in ny u ended up working for someone from obx still. don’t u remember him growing up? ’

you stare at the message, trying to piece together what he’s talking about, until another text follows almost immediately.

‘ he has like 3 kids. rafe, sarah, wheezie. i saw rafe down at the pier a few weeks ago. we used to see them at parties when we were younger. ’

rafe? sarah? wheezie? none of those names ring a bell. you rack your brain, searching for some kind of recognition, but you come up empty. a soft laugh escapes you as you quickly type back, ‘idk who that is lmao sorry’ and lock your phone, leaning back in the seat with a sigh.

ward cameron has three kids. it’s a strange thing to realize, that the man you’ve been working for these past couple of years has an entire family you’ve never heard of. but then again, work was always work. personal details were rarely exchanged unless necessary. and now, you can’t help but think—would you meet them? would they be anything like ward?

your brother mentioned seeing one of them recently, so you can assume at least one of ward’s children still live here. you wonder if the rest do too.

your thoughts wander as the car turns down another road, bringing you closer to the heart of figure 8. it’s been a long time since you’ve been back here, long enough for some of the details to feel fuzzy, but the feeling of the place—that never changes. the salty air, the warmth of the sun filtering through the car windows, the sense of familiarity that sits low in your chest, almost like relief.

you try to imagine what the next few months will be like. working for ward in the outer banks is worlds apart from working for him in new york. for one, the pace is different—slower, more laid-back. and for another, you won’t be disappearing into a faceless crowd when the workday ends. you’ll be here, surrounded by people who might actually know your name. or at least remember your face.

the car slows down, the gravel beneath the tires crunching softly as you near the cameron estate.

“thank you!” you call out, waving as the driver pulls away, leaving you standing on the driveway with your bags at your feet. for a moment, you just stand there, taking it all in. the cameron house looms in front of you.

you bend down, grabbing the straps of your bags and hauling them up, careful not to drag them across the grass. even though this isn’t your home, there’s an odd comfort in the way it feels.

you’ve been here before—well, not here exactly, but close enough. working summer jobs in figure 8 as a teenager had given you a glimpse of this world. a world where you were always on the outside, always temporary. back then, you were just a girl from the cut, doing what you had to do to get by.

no one looked at you twice. but now? now you’re here for something more. wanted, even.

the thought of it makes your stomach twist with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. you adjust the weight of your bags on your shoulder and step up to the door, knocking firmly before dropping your things to the floor with a soft thud.

a small sigh of relief escapes your lips as you straighten up, rolling your shoulders to shake off the stiffness from the journey. you’ve been lugging these bags around for hours, and your arms are starting to feel like lead.

as you wait, you take a moment to fix your hair, fingers smoothing back stray strands that have fallen into your face. it’s only then that you hear a rustle in the bushes to your left. your heart skips a beat, and you freeze, mid-motion, your eyes flicking toward the sound. you stretch your neck slightly, peering over your shoulder, but there’s nothing. just silence. your pulse settles again, and you let out a quiet laugh at yourself.

the door suddenly swings open, and you drop your hands to your sides, your face breaking into a smile. standing in the doorway is a girl, and instantly, you’re struck by how put together she looks.

her long blonde hair cascades down her back, and she’s dressed in a cozy white knit sweater paired with shorts. it’s casual, effortless, but there’s something about it that screams figure 8 wealth. but what really catches your attention are her socks—brightly colored, with little monster faces peeking out from the tops.

you smile a little wider at the sight. you’re starting to like her already.

“hey, i’m y/n,” you introduce yourself, stepping forward and extending your hand.

“it’s so nice to meet you! i’m sarah,” she replies, her smile just as warm as she reaches out to shake your hand. her grip is firm but friendly, and before you know it, she’s ushering you inside with a wave of her hand. “come on in! my dad isn’t here right now, but i can actually show you to our guest room. it’s, like, right next to mine. it’s so homey. you’ll love it.”

her energy is almost overwhelming, but in a good way. she’s excited, and you can’t help but feel a little relieved.

“i mean, yeah, sure,” you say, bending down to grab your bags again. but before you can get a good grip, sarah is already stepping in to help, lifting one of the bags with ease. you follow her inside, the door clicking shut behind you as you enter the home.

it’s everything you expected and more—bright, airy, with high ceilings and tasteful decor. it’s the kind of place that feels almost untouchable, like something out of a magazine.

as you make your way toward the stairs, you can’t help but glance around, taking it all in. the house smells faintly of lemon and clean linens, and the soft hum of the air conditioner is the only sound that breaks the quiet. it’s beautiful, but it’s also a little intimidating.

“so, is there anyone else home that i should worry about if i, like, wanted to shower?” you ask as you follow sarah up the steps.

sarah shoots you a smile over her shoulder as she leads the way. “i think you’re good. my brother and sister are here, but they won’t bother you. wheezie’s doing her homework, and rafe . . . well, he’s probably not even home.”

her tone is casual, like she’s talking about the weather, but you can’t help but feel a flicker of curiosity. you remember your brother mentioning a rafe in his text earlier, but the name still doesn’t mean much to you. maybe you’ll meet him later, maybe not. either way, it’s not something you’re too concerned about right now.

you reach the guest room door, and sarah twists the knob, pushing it open with a flourish. “here! this is your room for the summer.”

you step inside, and your breath catches in your throat. it’s . . . gorgeous. simple, but elegant, with soft cream-colored walls and wide windows that let in streams of natural light. the bed is large, with crisp white sheets that look impossibly inviting, and there’s a small sitting area in the corner with a plush chair and a side table. it’s more than you ever expected.

“wow,” you breathe, your eyes sweeping over the room. “this is . . . really nice.”

sarah grins, setting your bag down on the chair. “told you! if you’re gonna shower, i’ll leave you to it. but if you need anything, my room’s right next to yours.” she gestures vaguely toward the door. “the bathroom’s across the hall from mine. my dad will probably be home in, like, half an hour? him and rose just ran out to do something before you got here.”

you nod, but your mind snags on the name—rose. ward’s wife. it’s funny, now that you think about it, how little you actually know about ward’s personal life. you’ve worked with him for years, but he’s always kept things strictly professional. it’s only now, standing in his home, that you’re realizing just how much of his life is a mystery to you.

sarah gives you one last smile before slipping out of the room, closing the door behind her. and just like that, you’re alone. you let out a long, slow breath, your fingers absentmindedly twisting the rings on your fingers as you take a moment to center yourself. it feels surreal, being here. like stepping into someone else’s life for a while.

you cross the room and pull back the curtains, revealing a stunning view of the island and for a moment, all your worries melt away. it’s beautiful here. peaceful. maybe this summer won’t be so bad after all.

you grab your bathroom bag and a fresh set of clothes, the weight of the morning starting to press on your shoulders as you make your way to the bathroom. you pause outside the door, hearing the muffled laughter of sarah and wheezie from across the hall.

their lighthearted chatter pulls a soft smile onto your lips, a sense of warmth in this house. it's comforting, in a strange way, to be surrounded by family—even if it's not your own.

the bathroom is sleek, modern, almost too luxurious compared to what you're used to. you lock the door behind you and let out a long, relieved breath. the hot water feels like an escape, like it's rinsing away the tension of the trip, the awkwardness of being in someone else’s home, and the nerves tangled in your chest about what comes next.

as the minutes pass, you try to calm the buzz in your mind. you know you need to hurry—the last thing you want is to be caught mid-shower when ward and rose return. you quickly towel off, pulling on your new clothes with an urgency that betrays your attempt to stay calm.

you grab your bag off the counter, unlock the bathroom door, and step back into the hallway. as you cross toward your room, you stop abruptly. there, by the door, are three guys, clearly in the middle of something. confusion furrows your brow—who are they? why are they here?

one of them has his back to you, looking into the room, while the others glance in your direction, the closest one nudging the other to signal your arrival. great. more people.

the one in the doorway catches your eye. his hand is rubbing his jaw, his stance casual, like he owns the place. for all you know, he does. his other hand is stuffed in his pocket, his expression unreadable as he turns toward you.

you can feel the weight of their stares, but you offer a polite smile, trying to act unbothered even though you feel a little out of place. honestly, the house is big enough for all of them, and you're too new to figure out who’s who just yet. you’re not even sure who lives here or if they’re just guests like you.

before any introductions can be made, ward’s voice booms from the front of the house, pulling you from the awkwardness of the moment. “is she here?”

you move past the tall boy, dropping your bag off in the guest room, and make your way downstairs. your heart leaps when you spot ward and rose. the grin that stretches across your face feels genuine, a relief after navigating the uncertainty of the last few hours.

“hey,” you say, stepping off the last stair to shake their hands. “thank you for letting me stay in your home, by the way. i met sarah. she’s great.”

ward gives you a friendly nod, his demeanor warm but business-like—he's already familiar with your work ethic and you know that he expects the same here.

“yeah, wait ‘til you meet rafe and wheezie, though,” he says, glancing at rose, who’s already inching away, clearly not interested in small talk, and it stings more than you’d care to admit. but you brush it off, focusing on the fact that you’re here for work, not approval.

“did sarah show you your room?” ward asks, guiding you toward the kitchen.

“yeah, she did!” you nod, falling into step beside him. “it’s really nice. i also used the shower, honestly. also super nice.”

he chuckles lightly, gesturing to the open space around you. “help yourself to anything while you're here. bathrooms, the kitchen, the living room—whatever you need as long as you're working with me here.”

when you reach the kitchen, ward turns to face you, and you're about to answer his question when the boys from earlier walk in, their presence shifting the energy in the room.

the tall one—who you now realize must be rafe—moves with an air of familiarity, heading straight for the fridge without so much as a glance your way, though his friends have sprawled out on the couch nearby, keeping half an eye on the situation.

“you grew up here?” rafe asks, pulling something from the fridge with a nonchalance that borders on arrogance. his tone isn’t rude, exactly, but there’s a challenge in his words, like he’s testing you.

you shift your weight slightly, feeling his attention on you now. “yeah, i did.”

“humor me,” he says before his father can talk, smirking as he continues, “figure 8 or the cut?"

there it is—the divide. figure 8, the land of privilege and wealth, versus the cut, where people like you are from. it's a question loaded with judgment, but you stand your ground.

you hesitate, unsure whether to entertain your boss’s son. “that’s . . .” you begin saying, noticing the small hint of a smile on his lips as he twists the bottle cap off. “i lived in the cut.”

ward quickly steps in, raising a hand to ease the tension. “y/n,” he says, using your name in a way that reminds you you’re under his wing here. “you don’t have to answer his questions.”

there’s a quiet pause before he officially introduces rafe, confirming what you already suspected. “this is rafe,” he says, nodding toward his son, who watches you intently. ward pauses as he brushed over it quickly, “and his friends,” like he doesn’t want to say it.

you give a small wave in return, feeling the awkwardness creep back in. you’re not sure what to make of the boys yet, but the dynamic between them feels . . . off. guarded. like there’s more going on than meets the eye.

ward claps his hands together, breaking the silence. “time for lunch. rafe, can you please tell sarah and wheezie to come down?” he asks, already heading toward the patio doors. “y/n, feel free to find a seat at the table.”

you murmur an ‘okay’ and follow ward outside, the breeze hitting your face as you step onto the patio. you take a moment to scan the setup, unsure where to sit, but ward motions for you to pick any spot. the table looks inviting, the outdoor space just as luxurious as the inside. it’s surreal, really, being here—like stepping into a different world entirely.

the table outside is a lavish spread, every dish meticulously placed as though the meal is a display of the cameron family's status. some of the food is freshly prepared, you can tell by the steam rising from the platters, while other dishes have clearly been delivered, probably from some upscale restaurant.

everything is pristine, almost too perfect for a casual lunch, but you remind yourself this isn’t just any ordinary lunch. this is a welcome—to ward’s world, to his home, and into the lives of the camerons.

this lunch wasn't really about you, though. it’s more of a formality for ward’s return to north carolina.

as you sit at the table, alone for now, your gaze drifts to the patio, the large windows giving you a glimpse into the house. your thoughts wander to art, and you can almost hear his voice in your head—his dry humor, his sarcastic quips. he’d love this, probably have a million things to say about the whole setup.

the camerons, so far, seem nice. well, most of them. sarah is definitely the easiest to get along with, the type of person you instantly feel comfortable around. but rose? you're not even sure she’ll show up for lunch. and rafe . . . you’re still figuring him out. there’s something about him, something unreadable that leaves you on edge.

as your eyes sweep around the room inside, they land on rafe. he's with his friends, the same group from earlier, laughing and talking like they don’t have a care in the world. there’s an ease about him when he’s with them, like he’s more at home in their company than anywhere else.

you can’t quite put your finger on it, but something about him feels . . . dangerous? no, maybe not dangerous, but unpredictable. like he could switch from charming to something much darker in the blink of an eye.

and then it happens—he looks at you. directly at you, like he knows you’ve been watching him. the way he smiles is almost smug, as if he’s aware of the effect he has on people, on you. your heart does a small flip, caught off guard by the intensity of his gaze.

then, just as quickly, he says something to his friends, who erupt into laughter, and you feel the uncomfortable prick of self-consciousness. are they laughing at you? god, you hope not. the last thing you need is to be the butt of some joke you don’t understand.

you pull your focus away, trying to ignore the warmth creeping into your cheeks, and you shift in your chair, suddenly too aware of how out of place you feel. this isn’t your world, not yet at least. you’re still figuring out the rules, where you stand, who you can trust. it's like being in a play without knowing your lines.

“i know my kids are going to be a handful when they’re all together, so . . . be prepared for that,” ward’s voice cuts through your thoughts, and you turn slightly to glance over your shoulder at him. there’s a warmth to his tone, something almost paternal. “but they’re good.”

you force a small smile and nod, though you’re not sure how much you believe him. you have a feeling ‘good’ might mean different things in the cameron household.

“you’re a year or two older than sarah,” he continues, and you turn back to face the table, focusing on the clean lines of the polished wood, the way the sunlight catches on the glassware. “you’re not that far off in age with rafe, either. sarah’s probably going to be your best friend. she can’t help it.”

there’s a lightness in his voice, and you get the sense that sarah is the glue that holds this family together, the one everyone relies on to keep things civil. “but rafe . . . he’ll warm up to you.”

will he? you can’t help the slight lift of your brows, amusement flickering in your expression as you consider his words. you don’t agree, but you can’t say that. something about rafe feels like he’s not the type to easily ‘warm up’ to anyone, especially someone like you—an outsider stepping into his territory.

“yeah,” you murmur, your tone filled with doubt, “i’m sure of it.”

the cameron family finally gathers at the long, polished table outside, sunlight filtering through the trees and casting dappled patterns across the plates. you take in the scene quietly as everyone finds their places, the quiet shuffle of chairs pulling out, scraping slightly against the patio stones.

it’s a family affair, but rafe’s friends have tagged along—an addition that seems unsanctioned by ward but tolerated nonetheless. ward positions himself at one head of the table, with you and sarah flanking either side of him like you’re all part of some carefully orchestrated tableau.

rafe is at the opposite end, far enough that the distance feels intentional, deliberate. you can’t help but notice how he’s checked out, his gaze drifting, uninterested. to your right, one of his friends, the blond one, settles beside you, and his presence feels awkward, like he’s trying to take up as little space as possible, aware of the invisible tension in the air.

on the other side of him, the other friend sits, both of them quiet for now. down sarah’s side, wheezie sits next to her sister, then rafe at the very end. the empty chair beside wheezie feels like a gap. technically it’s rose’s chair if she were to have changed her mind.

“so what are you?” wheezie asks, breaking the initial silence, and you can see sarah’s immediate reaction, the quick glance she shoots her sister, a mild scolding in her eyes.

the phrasing is blunt, too blunt, but then again, wheezie is a kid—still learning the art of conversation, still figuring out the way words land.

before you can answer, ward steps in, his voice calm but authoritative. “y/n is my assistant,” he says, filling in the blank you hadn’t yet decided how to describe. you pause mid-chew, a small bite of food lingering on your tongue as you listen to him explain. “she’ll be working with me here in north carolina for cameron development over the next few months.”

you nod slightly, not sure how to react to being discussed like you’re not there. you’ve been in situations like this before, professionally at least, but it feels different now, being talked about in front of his family. a piece of you wants to assert yourself, to explain your role in your own words, but it feels like there’s no room for that right now. so, you stay quiet.

“that’s cool,” sarah says, her voice warm and genuine as she glances over at you, a small, encouraging smile on her face. she seems like the type who would get along with almost anyone, a natural mediator. “what do you do? as his assistant and all.”

from the corner of your eye, you catch rafe’s subtle shift, his gaze flicking toward sarah, his expression sharp for a moment, like he’s not interested in this conversation but is still somehow annoyed by it. you wonder what’s behind that look, what tension simmers under the surface.

you swallow and clear your throat, aware that everyone’s waiting for your answer now. “uh, yeah,” you start, your voice sounding more casual than you intend, like you’re trying to downplay your actual responsibilities.

“your dad has his job—he oversees the projects, handles the big picture stuff. i come along when he needs help with negotiating contracts and leases, hiring architects, engineers, contractors, all that. i also scout available land for potential developments.” you pause, glancing around the table. “just stuff like that.”

there’s a moment of silence, and for a second, you think maybe your explanation was enough. but then, like a crack in the veneer, rafe speaks, almost mockingly, “do you also get him coffee whenever he asks? do you fuck him, too?”

his words hit like a punch, unexpected and crude, cutting through the air with a kind of reckless confidence that leaves you momentarily stunned. for a second, the table feels frozen, like no one’s quite sure how to react.

the blond boy next to you nearly chokes on his food, a strangled half-laugh escaping before he catches himself, suddenly aware that rafe’s comment shouldn’t be funny.

your stomach twists, a flush of heat creeping up your neck as you force yourself to stay composed, staring straight at rafe from across the table. his gaze is fixed on you, unflinching, like he’s testing you, waiting to see how you’ll respond.

it’s infuriating—the audacity of it, the way he tosses out the insult so casually, like it’s no big deal.

ward sets his fork down with a soft clink against the plate, his fingers intertwining as he leans forward slightly. the tension shifts, thickening around the table, and you can feel every set of eyes on you, but your focus remains on rafe.

“rafe,” ward’s voice is calm, measured, but there’s a warning in it. and yet, rafe doesn’t look away, doesn’t flinch. he stays locked onto you, like you’re locked in some kind of silent standoff, and part of you wonders what he’s trying to prove.

after a beat of silence, ward adds, “can i talk to you inside the house?” it’s not really a question, more of a command, and finally, rafe moves. slowly, he pulls the napkin from his lap, tossing it onto the table before rising from his seat.

ward turns to you, his expression softening into something apologetic, and you nod slightly, acknowledging his silent apology even though you’re not sure what to do with it. as they disappear inside, the tension lingers, heavy and uncomfortable.

you force yourself to take another bite of food, though it feels like chewing cardboard. the uneasy feeling coils tighter in your chest. this is off to a rocky start, to say the least. sarah and wheezie seem fine, but rafe . . . rafe’s going to be a problem.

sarah reaches across the table, her hand brushing lightly against yours, and you glance up to meet her eyes. there’s sincerity in her expression, a quiet kind of empathy. “i’m so sorry for him,” she says softly. “rafe has a tendency to act like an idiot on a daily basis. don’t let anything he says get to you.”

before you can respond, the blond boy—topper, you think—finally speaks, his voice quiet but carrying a hint of amusement. “he doesn’t have a tendency to act like an idiot every day,” he says, shaking his head slightly as he takes another bite of food, a small smile playing on his lips. it’s the first thing he’s said to you directly, and the casualness of it surprises you.

“oh, he absolutely does,” sarah retorts with a light laugh. “and i’m sure you get yours from him.” she turns to you, smiling again. “y/n, this is topper and kelce, if you hadn’t already been introduced.”

before you can say anything, wheezie pipes up quickly, almost as if she’s sharing a secret, “sarah and topper used to date.” her voice is soft, but the reaction from sarah and topper is immediate—they both look over at her, like this was something she wasn’t supposed to say out loud.

“what?” wheezie says, glancing around the table innocently.

you can’t help but smile at the sibling dynamics playing out in front of you. it reminds you of your own relationship with your brother, the way siblings know each other’s secrets, their histories, the things that outsiders wouldn’t catch unless they were paying attention. in this brief moment, amidst the tension, you find a sliver of familiarity, of something you recognize.

you pull your napkin off your lap, rising from your seat, feeling the tension still clinging to your skin like humidity. you adjust your clothes, smoothing down fabric that doesn’t need smoothing, but it gives your hands something to do.

“where’s the nearest bathroom inside?” you ask, trying to sound casual, but you can feel the strain in your voice, the way your words almost trip over themselves.

“once you’re in the kitchen, it should be the door in the hallway if you just keep walking straight,” sarah tells you, offering a small smile. you nod in response, forcing yourself to return the gesture, though it feels hollow.

you step away from the table, and sarah seizes the moment to nudge wheezie, probably to scold her for spilling her relationship drama with topper.

as you make your way toward the bathroom, your steps slow. it’s not like you really need to go. you glance behind, making sure no one’s paying attention, before diverting your path to the front door instead. the knot in your stomach tightens with every step.

the front door is slightly ajar, and through the opening, you spot rafe. he’s leaning back in a chair on the porch, his head tilted toward the sky as if it’s the only thing he can stand to look at.

ward’s standing near him, mid-conversation, and their voices pull you in, despite knowing you shouldn’t eavesdrop. you lean against the doorframe, just out of sight, your heartbeat quickening.

“you didn't have to fly out some girl that works at the company just because she’s doing good,” rafe says, lifting his head from the chair, his voice tinged with frustration, like he’s been holding it in for too long. “i could've taken the job, especially because i’m already here.”

there’s bitterness in his words, but beneath that, you catch something else—something raw. rafe’s trying to understand why he’s being left out, why he’s not the one ward trusts.

“exactly, rafe,” ward replies, his tone firmer than before. “you're twenty-one and you’re still here. she’s twenty and she's been working with me for nearly two years. don’t you think that says something?”

his words land heavily, and for a moment, there’s silence. you feel the weight of the comparison ward’s making, and it sinks into you too, even though it shouldn’t. rafe chuckles, standing up, but it’s not out of amusement. it’s a defense mechanism, a way to shield himself from whatever hurt ward’s words are causing.

“y/n is here because she’s good at what she does,” ward continues, his voice steadier now, trying to end the conversation.

“alright, dad,” rafe says, nodding, but his expression betrays his words. “let's say i believe that—because i don’t—why am i not in her place?”

ward sighs, shaking his head like he doesn’t understand how rafe isn’t getting it. “rafe, think about what kind of job she has. how could i trust you with that?”

the words sting, and even though they aren’t directed at you, you feel a strange sense of guilt crawling under your skin. you know you’ve earned your place, worked hard for it. but hearing it spelled out like this, in such a stark contrast to rafe, it makes you feel . . . uncomfortable.

rafe rubs his chin, his fingers brushing against the stubble there. he doesn’t say anything, just nods like he’s processing it all, or maybe pretending to. he turns to head back inside.

and that’s when he sees you, standing there, caught in the act of listening.

his eyes lock onto yours, and for a second, you don’t know what to do. your throat tightens, but you force yourself to keep your head high. you can’t apologize. you don’t need to. this is your job, after all, the one you’ve worked damn hard for.

still, the silence stretches between you, heavy and uncomfortable. rafe doesn’t say anything, just turns away, walking back out toward the patio. you exhale, realizing you’ve been holding your breath. the knot in your stomach only tightens as you push yourself off the doorframe and head toward the bathroom, your footsteps almost echoing in the stillness of the hallway.

you stop in front of the bathroom door, staring at it like it might hold some answers you don’t have. your hand reaches for the knob, your fingers curling around it, but you don’t turn it. instead, you stand there, replaying the conversation in your head, trying to make sense of what you’ve just heard. rafe’s resentment, ward’s trust in you—it’s a lot to take in, and you wonder if you’re supposed to feel . . . what? proud? guilty? it’s hard to pin down.

before you can figure it out, you hear footsteps approaching. your hand drops from the doorknob just as ward’s voice reaches you.

“hey,” he says, his tone softer now, though there’s still an edge of frustration lingering there, probably from his conversation with rafe. “you and the girls getting along good?”

you plaster on a smile, nodding even though your thoughts are still tangled from the scene outside. “yeah, we’re good.”

ward mutters a small ‘good, good’ as he walks past you, heading back to the patio. you watch him go, your arms crossing over your chest as if that’ll hold you together. you follow behind him slowly, a quiet unease settling in your chest. this family, with all its complications, feels like a storm you’ve just walked into.

and then there’s rafe. if he already resents you, you can only imagine how his friends—topper and kelce—will react. boys like them, they stick together, and you know that dynamic all too well. the chances of them giving you a fair shot seem slim.

you brace yourself as you step back outside, a small sigh slipping past your lips. this job, this place—it’s not going to be easy. but nothing worth it ever is, right?

“so you're from the outer banks?” sarah asks as soon as you sit back down. there’s an edge to her voice, like she’s making an effort to seem casual but is still trying to figure you out. you can’t blame her. she’s probably just trying to get a feel for who you are, maybe ease the tension that’s been hanging in the air since you got here.

“where from?” she adds, glancing at you over the rim of her glass.

you pause, fork hovering just above your plate, feeling a flicker of unease. it’s a simple enough question, but you can already feel the weight of your answer.

“near quinton,” you say, cutting into your food with deliberate care, keeping your tone light. “a little south.”

you don’t look up as you speak, focusing on the neat little slices you’re making in your lunch, as if perfecting that action could keep the conversation from slipping into uncomfortable territory.

“i’m surprised we haven’t met before today,” you continue, the lie slipping out so smoothly you almost believe it yourself. “my friends and i knew just about everyone before i left the island.”

but the truth sits heavily in your stomach. you don’t know them. sure, your brother mentioned that your families had crossed paths when you were younger, but the memories never stuck. whatever brief moments there were, they’ve faded into the backdrop of your childhood.

rafe, however, doesn’t let your words slide by as easily. he latches onto them like a dog with a bone, straightening in his seat, eyes gleaming with interest.

“your friends?” his voice cuts through the air, almost too eager, too sharp. it’s like he’s waiting for you to say something wrong, give him an opening to tear into you. sarah watches him warily, her eyes flicking between you and her brother. she’s looking for help—maybe from her dad—but the tension is palpable, thickening by the second.

your phone buzzes in your back pocket, and the vibration pulls you from the uncomfortable scrutiny rafe’s casting in your direction.

“who do you know here?” he presses, and his tone is challenging now, like he’s daring you to prove something to him. to justify your place here, in this house, at this table.

you lift your gaze then, meeting his eyes with a steady look, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing you squirm. but there’s something in the way he’s staring at you that makes your skin crawl, like he’s already made up his mind about you, about what kind of person you are.

it’s fucking exhausting.

“hate to interrupt you, ray,” you say, letting a mocking lilt creep into your voice as you rise from your seat. you keep your movements controlled, measured, not too rushed. “but i have a phone call.”

you pull your phone from your pocket, waving it slightly, feeling a small rush of satisfaction when rafe’s jaw clenches ever so slightly. “let me just take that really quick so we can continue our conversation.”

you don’t wait for his response, because you know whatever he says will just add to the irritation simmering beneath your skin. as you step out of the way, you hear him mutter, “it’s rafe,” under his breath, like correcting you is somehow important to him.

“it’s actually my brother!” you whisper-yell back, flashing the screen of your phone in his direction, making sure he sees the call.

as you walk away, you feel the tension ease just slightly, but it’s still there, humming beneath the surface. this place—figure eight, tannyhill—it’s like a tangled web, and you’ve just stepped into it, with people like rafe already ready to watch you stumble.

you press your phone to your ear as you step out of the patio and into the cool air of the home, and you try to calm yourself, leaning against the wall as your brother’s voice greets you on the other end.

you know you’ll have to go back in there, face rafe again, but for now, you allow yourself a brief moment to breathe.

considering making this a few-part series (maybe) !! let me know if you’d be interested thru replies, anons, or dms <3

@tiaamberxx

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6okuto · 3 months ago

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Hi dear I have and idea for touch starved ais and vere.

WHAT IF- what if the reader (MC) is like a single parent?????

Mc's like a mild or dilf or something like that?!

AIS AND VERE WITH A SINGLE PARENT

gn!mc | meow. this (doing old reqs) is my parting gift(?)..

VERE

his ear flicks up when mc mentions their kid for the first time. where are they? why are you here? who's the other parent?

not a guy who spends time around kids. probably not a guy who should spend time around kids /hj what swear words and scary stories will he share...

^ tbf he also gives some solid life advice, even if it's a bit blunt, or something the kid doesn't understand just yet

if mc's kid is witty / snarky he finds them amusing (especially if it's at mc) and easier to be around! whether that's good for mc or not is not up to mc Lmao

it varies depending on mc's relationship with their kid but if mc's kid is grown up, vere is more of his usual self. swearing, analyzing them, taunting them, etc.

vere never thought of himself as a possible father-figure. or even like, a fun uncle. but he likes mc, and despite his complaints or denial, has grown a little fond of their child.

^ possible angst if vere's like, do you really want to be with me? am i the role model you want them to have in their life? i'm chained up for god's sake etc

gets soft/quiet when mc talks to him about their kid. he sees the fondness in their expression, and even if he can't really relate, he can still sympathize

would make a couple pilf...? jokes. sorry. it isn't necessary though. he does enough flirting and innuendos that the pilf(?) thing doesn't come up that often

brings up their kid when mc is about to do something dangerous or stupid, when they succeed at said dangerous or stupid thing, or when their kid also tries doing something dangerous and or stupid. "well it's no surprise who you got your confidence from."

vere questioning mc's parenting tactics LOL. mc is like And what do you know about parenting and vere's like. enough to judge yours. they find common ground eventually

AIS

really doubles down on his warnings about the seaspring when he finds out they're a parent. he doesn't have to know how old, what their relationship is like, etc—he's already asking how much they're willing to risk and telling them to think about their kid

otherwise he doesn't really treat mc differently—they're a grown and capable adult, and being a parent doesn't change or weaken that

ais would pick his pets over hanging out with a kid, but he doesn't give himself enough credit with how well he can get along with one

if mc's kid is old enough that he can play pranks on mc with them. well. he will. mc looks at the both of them and they both shrug like What? it wasn't us? (the kid is grinning and giggling but ais keeps it together for the both of them.)

if there's an opportunity to introduce them to princess / whoever else, he will! like look at this sweet girl, you don't have to be scared. you wanna try getting her to sit and roll around?

babysits if needed, takes them out for the day (if only to keep them away from the seaspring). they get some food and he comes up with exaggerated stories for each shop the kid points out

mc's kid who's old enough for ais to teach them some self defense after they walk in on him taking care of injuries from a bar fight. mc who walks in on them and goes ?!?!?!

mc vents about their parenting troubles, and ais isn't sure if his leadership advice/experience is totally applicable to taking care of a child, but surely some of it is? he tries to help anyway

i can see their kid opening up to ais about things that worry them tbh. he's got that vibe. depending on what it is, ais might suggest to mc something they should do, or try to help himself

similar to vere, he likes mc and their child but he wants them to think about what's best for them—if that includes him in the picture. like yes he'll do his best, but he can't blame them if things don't work out. honestly he might try to cut things off firstdjdjshd

#touchstarved game #touchstarved x reader #vere x reader #ais x reader #... hm #vere x mc #ais x mc #touchstarved x mc

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echobx · 4 months ago

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Rafe x Reader: They meet at a party, he however has seen her around and has a crush on her but has never tried to considering she is more of a girl next door/sweet girl. Rafe drunkenly approaches her and they head upstairs but when things get too heated, she says she does not sleep around. She expects him to kick her out but he suggest they just hang out. At some point they fall asleep. Reader wakes up at some point and decides to leaving, not knowing if he is going to regret waking up beside her. Rafe approaches her at the next party he sees her at, play it off jokingly “where did you go” even though he was actually a bit sad. Same thing happens again, which surprises her because this time he is not wasted and they end up hanging out upstairs and cuddle. She thinks Rafe is asleep (he is not) Now this time, she had not really planned to leave yet but just needed the bathroom. She goes to get up but Rafe tightens his grip and actually shows some small signs of vulnerability, not so much in a confession but more like “Where are you going” a bit nervous. It clicks for her then that he doesn’t regret it without him saying it and so she decides to stay, so she tells him that she is just going to the bathroom but he is still a bit hesitant that she will leave and they kiss for the first time by his initiative

this is so sweet omg 😭💕

"Where are you going?" Rafe looks at you with big eyes, his arms tighten around your core. "I just gotta go to the bathroom real quick," you tell him in a soft voice but he's hesitant to let go. "Promise?" he hushes and takes a hand up to brush a strand of hair from your face. "Promise," you smile and to "seal the deal" you peck his cheek. But when you pull away again he catches your lips with his own, pulling a mind-blowing kiss from you. You feel hot and dizzy and you wouldn't wanna stop kissing him even if it meant to suffocate. Rafe pulls away slowly, looking at you with a bit of fear in his eyes. Fear that he went to far to quickly. Fear that he's gonna loose you now even more. "Now I definitely have to come back," you blush and he smiles. "Good. I like your weird stories, y/n. And you have yet to explain that tattoo to me." His fingertips trace over the small spot of ink on your arm. "That's a long story," you say and he pulls you in again. "We have all the time in the world, beautiful."

please don't copy and/or post my work onto other platforms! ~e©ho

#rafe cameron x you #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron #rafe cameron fluff #rafe cameron blurb #~blurb #~prompt #~ask #my writing #outer banks #obx fanfiction #obx

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genericpuff · 5 months ago

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Since you made a post about lore Olympus’ fashion,could you tell us what kind of fashion characters in rekindled usually wear?

For the most part, considering it's a modernized retelling just like LO, I try to focus on the character's personality first and then refine from there.

Currently where Kore is in her character arc, she's very cottage-core in her outfit choices, favoring light springtime colors that compliment her skin tone. She also often wears dresses and skirts both because she thinks they're pretty, and also because it gives her a lot more range of motion, she doesn't like being constricted or too revealing. Even when she wears dresses and skirts that are on the shorter side, she'll still usually be wearing leggings and/or shorts underneath. That said, her fashion choices will change and develop as her character does throughout the story, she has a few different phases that she goes through that start to go outside of her comfort zone, so keep an eye out for that ;)

On the flipside, Hades is often wearing pressed suits and has grown used to wearing the same wardrobe often as, like the rest of his life, he's fallen into a very standardized routine. That said, he also wears his Mortal Realm garb when he's doing his job addressing the mortals, as it's standard protocol to keep all modern amenities away from them (including expensive suits lol) That said, when we see him in more casual settings such as the Olive Branch restaurant, he and his brothers are usually wearing more modern Mediterranean outfits, including colorful button-ups and sandals (though Hades often still sticks to his darker color schemes as it's, again, what he's accustomed to). Like Kore, Hades will also be going through some fashion developments as the story goes on and as he learns to step outside of his own comfort zone. I've got some future suit ideas planned for when the story moves on, I wanna give him some more flair than his default settings from LO 😆 (trust me, that moment when Persephone teased him for wearing nothing but black suits is gonna come back into play eventually LOL)

Artemis and Hermes are both really athletic so their clothing often reflects that, they both like tracksuits and sportswear, though Artemis is seen a few times throughout the series so far wearing Mortal Realm garb because she's someone who's often working in the Mortal Realm.

Hecate is a lot of fun because not only is she a lot more androgynous, but I also get to come up with fun outfits that reflect the witch side of her.

Apollo is a very "slap it on and get on with the day" kinda guy (especially considering he works long shifts with lots of early mornings) so a lot of what he wears are hoodies, t-shirts, cargo shorts, sandals, etc. He doesn't need much to get by and considering he works with Helios, he never really needs to bundle up too much LMAO

Demeter is one of the only gods who's always drawn in Mortal Realm attire as that's where she mainly resides. This largely includes Mycenaean-style garb, such as the chiton and peplos.

I've found this particular site very helpful for providing both inspiration and context to specific outfits where Ancient Greek standards come into play. As for the modern outfits, it's really just about having fun meshing the characters' personalities in with modern fashion styles of Greek fashion. It makes for a lot of outfits that are made up of flowing fabrics with lots of color and movement accessibility.

Just wait until we get to Aphrodite and Ares though. Whooo I have plans for them LOL

#ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything #lore rekindled ama

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rawbin-hsr · 19 days ago

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Hi!! Saw ur taking requests, do you mind making some hcs for how a queerplatonic relationship with aven would be like? Demiro/ace aven is so dear to me, and being on the grayromantic spectrum myself, I really wanna just like, have this super deep bond with him where we're both each other's most important person without a doubt and physically affectionate but not like, romantic if u know what I meann (plus, I think a platonic relationship that goes past friendship and full of care would help him so much)

but I understand a lot of ppl aren't aware of how qpps work, so it's ok if you ignore this!! <3

ANON. ANON I LOVE YOU. YOU GET IT.

As someone on the aroace spectrum (I’m like 90% sure I can’t romantically love people; I only experience infatuation for three months at most before realising that I actually only want a close friendship 💀) I love love love this take on Aventurine and I’m so happy you’re asking me to do hcs on this !!!

This turned out a LOT longer than I planned and became like a whole story not just headcanons HELP I’m sorry bro I hope you don’t mind 😭😭🙏🙏 At the start it’s not even about being qpps it’s just about him learning to tolerate you that was not on purpose I apologise deeply, I promise the hcs come in at the end 💀

Queerplatonic Aventurine x Reader Headcanons

CW: queer dynamics, cursing, Aventurine’s messed up perception of people around him, Aventurine in general tbh (he's toxic I'm gonna be so real 😭), brief mention of sex but nothing actually happens, very soft and sweet (mostly), a lil bit of hurt/comfort, small mention of his sexual trauma towards the end, gender-neutral reader

Lmk if I missed anything !

Also sorry anon I forgot you specified demiro/ace he ended up basically just purely aroace 😭 I hope that doesn't matter too much </3

You’re not like everyone else, Aventurine realises quickly when he meets you.

Most people he surrounds himself with are closed off and guarded, but you are, surprisingly, not. In fact, your honesty is a bit… disarming. So complete he finds himself at a bit of a loss.

He thinks he doesn’t like you at first. He can’t avoid you, as you’re integral to this new project he’s working on, but he wishes he could. Something about you is deeply off-putting. He knows it is the way you never lie.

You’d think total honesty would be a weakness. He knows it would be for him. If he laid out all his cards on the table, he wouldn’t last another day. But the way you always leave yourself open is a new kind of defence in itself that he has never seen anyone else utilise before. When he tries to pry information out of you, you flatly tell him you can’t tell him that, that you know what he’s doing. You’re blatantly putting up barriers with him, and it drives him mad because usually, he can do a push and pull but that doesn’t work with you. It’s hard to be sneaky when you see right through him and stop him.

One day you tell him you would like to grab a coffee with him. He is sure you are flirting, that you mean it as a date. He is sure you want him, and though he usually limits these kinds of interactions to only flirting, nothing more, he’s getting frustrated with the way you never give. Perhaps you’d give more easily if he pretended to leave himself vulnerable to you?

But it’s not a date. You don’t flirt with him, but you don’t talk about business either. What’s worse, you shut him down when he flirts with you. It’s upsetting. Are you toying with him? Is this a weird power play? You don’t seem like that kind of person, but Aventurine is familiarly acquainted with the knowledge most people are not what they seem.

Maybe his anger gets the better of him at one point, an hour into the not-date when you’ve dragged him to the park to feed the ducks. He asks you what the purpose of this is, if you aren’t intending to get into his pants.

You tell him you just wanted to hang out. That you think he needs a friend.

He’s infuriated, because he can tell you’re being sincere.

He leaves, snarking that he already has friends. (He does not. Not really.)

But he can’t stop thinking about it. And he can’t avoid you, because you’re still needed for the mission and now, he’s sure he hates you.

You continue to be nice to him for some reason, even after that fiasco ?? He’s never encountered someone who’s so willing to just be nice to others merely for the sake of being nice. What kind of fucked up ulterior motives are you hiding? What sort of closet freak are you?

Aventurine knows, logically, that some people are just nice. It’s unreasonable to think every single person is as selfish as he is. He grew up surrounded by people who were just nice. But last time he had the fortune of actually interacting with such people, he was shorter than the desk at his office.

He wants to pry into your head, learn everything about you, know what it would be like to be your friend like you had offered. He wants you to fuck off to the other end of the galaxy so he never has to see you ever again.

He accepts when you invite him to go to the arcade with you.

It’s… weirdly soothing.

You’re good company, as much as he hates you. You’re funny and witty and playful and kind. There is no hidden agenda behind anything you do. You insist upon paying for half the tickets you play with at the arcade, even though he’s sure he has at least thirty times the amount of disposable income you have.

He wins most of the games, of course. You win less than half. He excels at the luck-based games, and he’s not half bad at the more skill-based ones, whereas you’re best at the latter. You stay away from the luck-based ones, and the ones you do attempt you fail every time. He’s honestly impressed by how unlucky you are. But at one point you still insist upon winning something for him, even though you both know he’d win it quicker himself.

At the end of the outing, you hug him, tell him you enjoyed yourself. He finds his chest feels oddly warm as you say it. It takes a moment to register the feeling as that of happiness, the sensation of real joy something unfamiliar to him. He smiles and hugs you back.

Maybe he doesn’t hate you.

You’re the first person he truly thinks of as a friend. Though he claims he has many, he knows he doesn’t really. The closest he had before you was maybe Topaz, or Ratio, but Topaz seems to view him as more of an annoying younger brother sometimes and he clearly gets on Ratio’s nerves. You're the first person who makes him feel truly... liked. A weird concept.

It’s not for his status or his money or his reputation. You turn him down when he tries to spend money on you. He’s not sure if that annoys him or if it makes him weirdly giddy.

Even long after his mission has ended, and he no longer needs you, you stick around. He lets you. He starts coming around for you too.

It’s fun to be around you. Again, you’re very good company. Smarter and funnier than most dimwits at the IPC. He considers inviting you to work under him, he’s sure the pay he could offer you would be better than what you currently make, but he doesn’t want to drag you too far into the mess that is his life.

He starts sleeping over at your house uninvited. He makes himself at home in your apartment. Your place is so much nicer than his, even if it’s smaller, run down and objectively a worse place to live in. The pipes in your sink clog too easily and the lights in the bathroom always flicker, despite your best attempts to fix it. But the rooms are all reminiscent of you, of what kind of person you are. Photos of your loved ones line the walls, trinkets you’ve picked up from various places decorate your shelves, and even though it looks messy he knows it’s all very organised from your point of view. It’s so different from his cold, clean, impersonal penthouse.

You cuddle him sometimes. Hug him and pull him into your chest when you watch movies. You play with his hair. You trace patterns on the back of his hand. Surely, those are all things lovers do? But your eyes never linger on his lips, you never look at him with yearning — he can tell you already have everything you want. It makes him feel… relieved.

He likes it when you touch him. He never liked being touched before, but you’re warm and gentle without being too light with him. You don’t touch him like he’s fragile, but you don’t intend to test his limits. You never stray from the safe areas on his body. You never touch with intent to go any further.

He feels safe.

Whenever he’s not out on business, he comes home to you. Will you have grown tired of him by next time, he always wonders. And the answer is always no. You’re always happy to see him.

He frequently finds himself thinking about you. He frequently finds himself missing you when he’s away. He sees things that remind him of you everywhere, and often wishes you were with him. All symptoms of being in love, he’s heard, but he doesn’t think he’s in love? To be fair, he has never experienced true attraction, and what he feels for you is certainly deeper and more intimate than what he’s ever felt for anyone else, so maybe he is in love with you.

But does romance not entail wanting to kiss you? Does romance not entail wanting to see you naked? Does romance not entail wanting to have sex? He doesn’t particularly crave any of those things.

He’s heard of ‘butterflies’ in your belly when seeing the one you love. He never feels that when he sees you. He only feels a deep sense of comfort, of contentment.

But he doesn’t like the thought of you being with anyone else the way you are with him. Jealousy is a sign of romantic feelings, yes? So maybe he does love you that way after all.

But he never asks you to be his partner. Whenever he considers it, something oddly heavy settles in his gut, and he doesn’t understand why. Why would the thought of being your partner leave him with dread? You’d make a wonderful lover, he knows. You already make a wonderful…

… friend? Can he really call you just a friend?

You call him or text him every day to make sure he’s okay. You send him photos of things that reminds him of you. You cook him meals when he visits you and you buy him gifts even though he could very well buy things for himself. You cuddle him and hug him and you sometimes even, albeit playfully, kiss his knuckles or the top of his head and you let him sleep in your bed with you.

Calling you only a ‘friend’ diminishes your worth, does it not? He calls everyone he meets ‘friend’. He can’t reduce you to something so… insignificant.

So he asks you one day, when you’re both sat on opposite sides of your couch, your legs splayed out over his lap as you eat popcorn. He asks:

“What are we?”

You look at him. And you smile.

“I don’t know.”

He blinks. You sound so serene as you say it. Are you not worried about this? Why do you seem so unconcerned with what he is to you?

Sensing his discomfort, you set the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table, and scoot closer to him. His arms automatically wrap around your waist as you shift yourself to lean against him, leaning down to place your head on his shoulder.

“I don’t need to label what we are. I’m happy with things as they are. Are you?”

He nuzzles his face into your hair, inhaling the by now familiar scent of your shampoo.

“I am.”

“You don’t sound entirely convinced.”

He huffs, pulling you closer.

“… Maybe I don’t want you to treat others the way you treat me.”

(He doubts you would. You have more integrity than he’s ever had: he’s aware there is some level of mutual understanding that whatever you are is something exclusive.)

You laugh.

“You think I treat others like you?”

“Can’t be sure,” he hums playfully, pinching your side. “Who knows, maybe you say that to all the guys.”

“I don’t like ‘all the guys’,” you point out. “I only like you this way.”

“What does ‘this way’ mean, then?”

You pull back to look at him. Gaze as warm and kind as always, a smile on your lips.

“Well, I love you a lot. A lot more than I love others. I’m not sure what answer you want.”

You’ve never explicitly stated the word ‘love’ before. Something hot and giddy fills his chest, something awfully childish, but he ignores it.

“Do you want me to be your… boyfriend?” he asks hesitantly. He’s not sure what he feels about the idea himself.

“I mean, if that’s what you want,” you shrug, sounding so casual about the idea that he doubts you’re that enthusiastic about it. (Should he feel offended?) “I just don’t want anything to change between us. I really like what we’ve got going on.”

He leans back into you, burying his face into your hair again. His arms squeeze your waist.

“… I like what we’ve got going on, too,” he admits. The honesty feels a little less foreign on his tongue than it used to, before he met you.

“I guess it’d be easier to call you my boyfriend than my ‘very close friend who eats all my food and sleeps in my bed half the time’,” you add teasingly. He snorts, pulling back just enough to shoot you a playful glare.

“Food that I pay you back double for,” he points out. You snicker, but don’t respond.

“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” You ask instead after a moment, reaching up to play with his hair. He leans into the touch.

He’s quiet for a moment, considering the question.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I guess you’re right that it’d be easier to call each other that. Maybe we should go for it.”

“Sounds good,” you agree, and that’s that.

And nothing changes in your relationship. All that changes is the title.

You cuddle and you hug and you spend time together. Whenever you flirt, it’s more of an inside joke than anything else. You go on not-dates nearly once a week, whenever he’s home to do that.

He doesn’t tell people what you really are to him. He doesn’t even have the words to describe it himself. It doesn’t matter to him than anyone else knows either. Maybe he’s just a little bit happy, even, to get to keep the secret of what you are to himself. It somehow feels more special when only the two of you know.

He starts confiding in you. Telling you things he would not tell anyone else. Things he previously thought he would bring to his grave. About himself, about his past, his thoughts and his feelings. You always hold him, let him speak until it’s off his chest, and you murmur comforting words. He feels so much lighter after, every time.

You tell him your secrets too. Your doubts and your worries. He holds you in return, and tries to soothe your concerns. He knows he’s not as good at it as you, but you seem to appreciate it anyways.

He doesn’t trust anyone else. Only you. You’re the only one he knows he can always turn to, the only person he knows for sure doesn’t mean him any harm.

He brings you gifts and trinkets he finds when he’s away. He’s gotten pretty good at figuring out what sort of things you like. You always give him the sweetest smile when he does, thank him with a hug, and put the item to use right away. Whether that means displaying a decoration somewhere along your already overfilled shelves, putting on a bracelet or trying out a new kitchen appliance that night. He starts to think that the point of wealth is to give you all the things you could want.

For some reason, the intimate nature of your relationship doesn’t scare him. The fact that you’ve told him he’s ’more like the closest friend you could ever want to have than a lover’ puts him at ease. Your commitment to one another doesn’t feel as frightening that way.

You prioritise him over your other commitments. You tell him he’s your ‘favourite person’, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop feeling warm in his chest when he thinks about it. You’re his favourite, too.

Sorry I seriously ran out of steam for this format here, moving on to headcanons from another perspective because I am NOT DONE !!!! (next part won't have been proof-read at all sorry guys it will just be unhinged rambling)

I don't think Aventurine would necessarily know what queerplatonic means, (and the way I've written Reader here they probably wouldn't go out of their way to research it either lol I think they're just the type to be like "well I'm happy so why would I need to know every little detail about what this is ?? 😊") and he doesn't really understand the nature of your relationship himself HELP

He just knows it's not romantic, and that really puts him at ease

I think Aventurine is like. EXTREMELY toxic in a romantic relationship because the though of that sort of commitment scares him on a very deep and personal level and it FREAKS. HIM. OUT. but I think a platonic relationship, even if it's just as deep, freaks him out a little less. It just feels different yknow ?

Idk how to formulate myself but I think that, after being looked at for like basically his whole life as a commodity (and, even worse, a literal sex object), the thought of being looked at without ANY sexual desire or romantic interest just really kind of puts him at ease.

Especially in this read of him as demi/aroace, I think he'd appreciate being seen in a purely platonic light. I personally don't think he is aroace in the way I normally write him, but even in the way I usually write him I do think a queerplatonic relationship would be deeply comforting for him

Like, think reader being aroace and being in a queerplatonic relationship with him and he's like actually in love with them,,, I don't think he'd mind that too much. He'd think it was so nice that you love him enough to be in a relationship even if you don't romantically love him. Even if it would be nice too if you did desire him that way, he'd like it either way

Sorry got off track there mb

Queerplatonic relationships are tricky to write because there is no real "norm" for what they entail like,, fuck man I'M aroace and I barely know what it means to be in a qpps

Like,, from my understanding it can be essentially the same as a "normal" relationship where you kiss and get married and have kids and all that stuff but you do it without romantic intent

or it can be a friendship that just goes really really deep, and you're just like,,,, idk roomates PLS

But I think a qpps with Aventurine would be somewhere inbetween what others would think a "normal" romantic relationship would be and just a very close friendship

I already mentioned cuddles, and like chaste kisses to more "safe/platonic" areas (forehead, top of head, hands etc). You sleep in the same bed and you basically go on dates ("not-dates" lol). I think he'd be fine with like kisses to the lips and playful flirting, but he wouldn't want to make out or have sex. He would however love to cuddle naked lol (the intimacy without any sexual intent,,,, yeahyeah I hope you get me here I lovveee lovelove the idea of just touching him and it's just sweet and urghhghh)

Everyone else definitely thinks the two of you are in love and neither of you correct people because who cares

Esp Aventurine I don't think he WANTS others to know what you are to a point where he'll actively try to make it seem more like a romantic relationship in front of others

Because what you are is very precious to him, and he maybe feels just slightly maybe just a bit irrationally possessive over the concept of your relationship PLS

Like no he doesn't want anyone to understand your bond. That is SPECIAL. It is only for him and you to understand back off

I love my toxic unhealthy mentally deranged king

I think I've said everything I wanted to say now so I'm ending it off here. Worst case scenario I'll be back with a part 2 or a reblog to add more LMAO I just can't shut up bro

♡ ∩_∩ („• ֊ •„)♡ |￣U U￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣| | Thanks for reading! | ￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣

Thanks for reading I appreciate it !!! I hope this was at least somewhat comprehensible <3 Remember that my inbox is open and I lovelovelove to receive requests <3

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yumespooki · 3 months ago

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☆Why Gregor is so important than you think and the series' relationship with tone

Im obsessed with an old man and I have all reasons to be also I have to sleep but I really need to make a colleague of gregor photos as the header image-

◇Part 1 - How The Tonal Shifts happen to be

Episodes 1 to 3 was all silly fun, though we have the idea that the series is gonna have a progression to having a consistent plot and story since Episode 2 setting up the episode formula of events/segments:

Skid and Pump doing mischief around town, there's separate segments of major characters that they come across and the villain that sets up the plot - who are in concept supposed to be parodies of horror villain stereotypes.

And its all fitting in Pelo's style except its actually understandable and not have characters turn cartoonishly eldritch every 2 seconds.

Yknow we got SM 1 was an average pelo video then SM 2 is where we got the formula, everyone were just trope templates and the one that sets up the lore

SM3 is where things get normal but it's still silly, you can tell by the soundtrack, Moloch's theme is on dubstep it bangs BUT also introduces the Episode ending set up for its next villain.

Then SM4 happened. Oh Deadly Smiles my beloved, still my personal favorite

This where the good shit happens with different segments under 20+ minutes with finally having a grasp on how the episode formula works

Though this episode is kinda.. the chillest one among the episodes???

Everytime Skid and Pump goes around town with Spooky Swings playing, it's always fast paced and they immediatly go to the next in a few seconds but in Deadly Smiles, they take long stops before going to their next location. Most Characters also spend most of if not any of their screentime without Skid and Pump in it. [especially Kevin] it has its own unique tone and its cozy solely for it being winter themed.

Other than the more chill pacing, You got the rabid doll running place to place and getting thrown around to people to people to show what hes suppose to parody that when Dexter actually shows that he can be a threat is a really effective moment and really got me going "Oh shit OH SHIT"

But the scene that truly shaped Spooky Month the way it is now is the scene where he snaps at the kids, that moment is so important to the series because of the sudden change of tone to spooky/silly to scary. We couldn't see Dexter as a threat before this because the tone and plot prevents him to be one especially to poke out the trope of Doll killers but at this moment, the moment he expresses his situation and conditions, he went specific. and from there you don't see Dexter as a simple parody for the sake of being a parody anymore, Especially being a parody based on Chucky --who uses dolls on his advantage-- but For Dexter, below the surface is a man doomed from the circumstances that he desperately wanna get out of.

Episode 5 immediatly tells you its meant be atleast scary from the get-go since it was already established seconds into the episode, and only in the last minute with Lila it left us with an ominous note

Ok to be for real, I consider Episode 5 kinda standard compared to Ep 4 and 6 but is more better than the early 3 eps and I appreciate as the middle ground between Deadly Smiles and Hollow Sorrows. And also more cop screentime my luvs

And mainly the reason why I said this because of Bob. The villains of Spooky Month is always tied with the tone because they are the guys that bring the tension. Bob's kinda monotonic because his behaviour pattern in this episode is repetitive: He slowly approaches people, give them meat fact, dosent or fails to kill them, gets slapped with slapstick. Even at the climax where he's actually at his most effective by being actually terrifying, he still gets disrupted for comedic purposes.

He has a balance of being actually terrifying and being a parody by his slow movement trying to set up tension.

Incomparison to Dexter, yea he gets thrown around but they get to take him seriously at the right moment and being thrown around to different people showing this disadvantage will show you the wide range of what the characters will do with the doll, Bob just scares them throughout the episode.

And I can't be mad about it because Bob purposefully is doing that to distract the cops from the cult case especially thinking he can't die.

But Bob is still effective as a villain. He manages to get you on edge and also opens questions to more lore stuff. And this episode is also the most creepiest because of Bob's behaviour along with that Lila encountering him along with finding out he's in her photo book probably shaped Lila to her behaviour in episode 6.

Still a good ep. Alot of insight of other characters' lives is my main highlight of this ep

Then Episode 6 has Father Gregor finally established as a proper character now that's where the interesting THING starts;

◇Chapter 2: Why is he weird in a weird show

When Father Gregor is on screen, do you feel.. put off especially when he's first introduced into the episode? Like when we were first introduced to doll Dexter with actual spinechilling ost and visuals we were already accustomed to this to be something expected through the Newgrounds endings with its ominous tone, expecting to transition it to the main story especially in with Tender Treats being almost that except more heightened.

But with Gregor, I don't have the exact words to explain the tonal dissonance he gives us. He has a very clear leimotif soundtrack throughout the episode everytime he's on screen even disrupting themes of other characters or locations [like the candy club like what the fuck gregor excuse yourself] that it even turns to a more epic variation of itself with Moloch's exorcism.

since this guy has seconds of screentime on his 1st debut,he's unpredictable especially when each episode has a formula of events with characters that we are familiar off. and we know that there is atleast something goofy going on with them - except for the cops but for them they act silently or accompany moments with the characters - But Gregor dosent accompany character moments he's the goddamn spotlight, the emphasis on his scenes are on HIM like out of nowhere we got this guy coming along. Its kinda of a new breathe of air to have him around because we never got anyone else to come along with the Spookeez all around town and setting up their dynamic with the kids.

Oh and finally we simply state the whole point of Gregor and why he's so out of place -- his seriousness. He was never associated with the series' shenanigans, and questions his surroundings. He dosent enable himself with the series' comedy and at somepoint that it tries to bring him along for a second with the spooky dance. Hes not only unfamiliar in story wise but by environment wise. there was a little analysis essay I made a while back with how Gregor as a person in the setting is off to the townsfolk as they are mostly unfamiliar with Religious figures as the church was newly built, and everybody else never acknowledges his presence as a priest — Kevin and Frank calls him an old guy/man Radford dosent take him seriously because he mostly seen priests through movies, Jack has to ask if Gregor is one and Skid and Pump dosent know how the term father works in the church that even tells something. Only a few characters recognizes his role as a priest being Michelle, John, and Evermore.

Now let's move onto Gregor not following the goddamn script of being part of a parody

Ep 6 has the basics of a parody of exorcism movies: demon - check, priest - check, the victim check that's your main elements, but they never utilises these as.. parodies, because when one of the core elements acts like a normal guy and has a standard behaviour of a priest in those kinds of movies that wasnt exagerrated for the parody and has never been that early into the series to being so associated with the silliness of it making fun of horror. We had time with Moloch since Episode 1, 2 and 3 We witness his time from being just a gimmick character to being one of the mysteries and coming back as a serious threat.. or is he? Because on the 2nd half of the episode, Moloch's running away from Gregor, and attempts to fight back by trying to possess anyone on his way but in the end Moloch is defeated and the kids seeing this breaks their relationship with Gregor. At this point he himself is also an antagonist.

With Gregor breaking the law of parodies, and also breaking the traditional set up of villains for this series, he also differs alot of the standard priest character that he's supposed to be because usually those characters cannot exist outside of being the guy battling the supernatural forces—they are not the main focus. With Gregor, he's more than just an exorcist as for the most part we see him as a normal priest first, exorcist second. he's so determined in his job that any threat given to him makes him more motivated and half of the episode he spends his time teaching the kids to behave.

◇<Gregor and Tension>◇

We already established Gregor as a villain so what else is weird about this bald fuck

From Episode 4 we now get ourselves a consistent line of villains with Dexter being a strong start with the earlier mentioned being the guy responsible for the main story's tonal whiplash

Dexter, Moloch and Bob are villains with their main thing and concept as something terrifying — Dexter's an insane doll, Bob's a cannibal butcher and Moloch's a child eating demon who gives terrible side effects at something he possessed dead or alive.

Horror villains always relied in creating tension to make anyone scared. Dexter creates tension with his uncanny presence as a doll, along with his fast movements contrasting this with Bob, being slow and uses psychological intimidation than being fast, and watches his victims reacting to the situation their put into. Then for Moloch, he is tied with Gregor because how he creates tension is in complimentary with him.

The scary thing about Moloch comes from the ARGs mostly since that's where they build him up as a serious thing to handle in the series after Episode 3, but unfortunately for him as his debut as a serious threat has to be shared with just a dude

OK Moloch's scenes relies on a psychological effect because of his ability to possess people which he possess characters we seen before and are individuals. If you think about Dexter, we saw him killed off for a fucking joke then proceeds to be a threat for a whole episode by the result of his decreasing sanity of being stuck inside a doll. then you realize he's also someone's son. Both got killed by Moloch and used their images as his best attempt to manipulate Gregor which only angers him and makes him more determined to finish him off. Even psychological moves dosent work on him. Now at that point, Moloch lost the hold of the tension's weight. Rather than heightening a terrifying scene like a typical spiritual fight scene, Gregor steals it and heightens it by what made him unnatural since the start – he's constant seriousness that defies the the overall tone that it becomes a keypoint from the episode onwards, making Moloch run away.

Their last confrontation has Gregor on the upper hand with a successful exorcism and a banger of an ost that I still think about to this day, and it was never something to replicate horror. They were no terrific aftermath or a good ending, only the tears of children that comes after it, a dislikeness to the religious figure, and an awareness to how the series' main thing of silliness and chaos was all from an unsupervised kid and a bit carefree mother.

◇Chapter 3: the old man has a hold on the narrative

At the start of Episode 6, We were dismissed with a moment with Skid and Lila, about her situation arranging the house and Skid's Dad with her distracting Skid to go play with Pump. We know somethings off but this was already delivered from the ending of Episode 5.

Gregor states himself at the start as a guide to the children to reflect and be better, but how he delivers this wasn't clear to Skid and Pump and goes around apologising with no single thought other than this being important to their parents. The episode's main point was because of Father Gregor assisting the kids.

then the second that they got the parent thing shoved to their faces is with the cops, also one of the more grounded characters in the series but again they enable the goofiness of the series especially with Jack and his lowkey high kill count- Now that's when the themes of family are very stressed with the whole thing now about to ingrain in Skid and Pump's head.

Now to the scene where Skid and Pump cries for Moloch and now hates Gregor. It's all on him – he leaves without the need of approval but get his message and judgements clear. As he leaves the main cast and onto the church, he's finally at his most vulnerable. the tension spotlight is not on him anymore and has no control of the atmosphere as the Cult comes into the scene.

But what he does have control of was the effect he gave on the kids as his message of apologising and reflecting was the episode's ending note. Not only that, We got the tonal shift to scary, serious to bawling our tears out?? It was implied throughout the episode that the themes of family, especially broken ones are strong and the last scene of Skid apologising and hugging his mom was the perfect completion to build all of that. Not only the tension between Moloch, and Gregor is there the other important thing was the emotional tension.

This signals that Gregor's presence was such an impact that it still lingers, like the piano at the last scene that he's always accompanied with in the soundtrack. in the end it shaped the kids that gives a significant emotional weight into the narrative from now on.

And what do we do now if Skid and Pump finally reflected?? Will things change? Will they not go out and do havoc anymore? Will things lose the general comedic feel to something more serious? We don't know

But it's all really thanks to Father Gregor Raguel.

Conclusion:

Tldr: Gregor is so odd to the show because of how serious he is that it extends to him breaking in series and horror traditions to the fucking narrative of making the series have some emotional weight

#father gregor #father gregor raguel #spooky month father gregor #skid and pump #spooky month

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dangerouslyknown · 10 months ago

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Hiromi Higuruma Headcanons 🌻

A/N: Ughhh I have been having literally 0 motivation for writing, kind of like an art block. I wanna write so much but something just prevents me lmao... But this man, I swear. He just sparked my will to write and hopefully also work off the requests and one trade with a friend I have been working on. Also I just haaaad to get these out of my head

Contents/warnings: Random general headcanons, relationship headcanons & NSFW headcanons. I am just writing about "his S/O" and referring to S/O with they/them. Doesn't contain spoilers from JJK story, just Higuruma and his existence

General headcanons

He listens to Modern Talking. Don't ask where this comes from, I just feel like he'd like their music. Also somehow I was thinking he'd like Bon Jovi, too? He isn't like a crazy fan for either of them, just likes various of their songs. Could see him listening instrumental music as well, like game/movie soundtracks

Surprisingly enough he isn't a huge drinker. He enjoys an alcoholic drink every now and then to refresh, but he knows his limits. He knows when it feels good and when it goes overboard

He doesn't have visible muscles for the most part, I'd like to think him having a bit of body fat which hides them. My man is an attorney, he hasn't been focusing in training or being physically fit all that much. He does like to keep himself in decent shape though, because healthy body equals a healthy mind

He's not tall per se, more like average height, definitely under 180 centimeters

He's a minimalist. He doesn't have anything "extra" in his apartment, just the necessities

Speaking off, his wardrobe probably isn't huge either. Maybe a basic suit or two, so he can wash the other and still have the other one wearable. Otherwise his wardrobe is filled with mostly casual comfortable clothes. He values practical clothes, too

If he ends up having time to play games, he'd definitely mostly be into single player, story focused games. Not into fps games. One of his favorites are, funny enough, Ace Attorney games (he also likes the soundtrack)

SFW relationship headcanons

He doesn't strike me as a person who would be into dating all that much, but if he finds so called a right person, he might consider it. He doesn't really sleep around with lots of people either

He values the personality of a person more than looks. Forming an emotional and a mental bond is what matters him the most when it comes to a relationship

He doesn't even have a type, really. He thinks he is capable of finding anyone attractive if their personality hits him

And while we are at it, I bet he would love to have conversations with his S/O about anything. He'd love to discuss anything, silly to serious to deep thoughts with the right person. He wants to hear his S/Os thoughts and share his own

He'd also love to have playful, sarcasm filled banters/debates with his S/O

Either quality time or physical touch are his love languages

Quality time, because he is often doing long days and working a lot so he might not be around as much as he'd like. But when he finally is around his S/O, no matter what they do, he is going to be very happy. He likes to do the most basic, mundane things together with his S/O. Having breakfast, watching TV, showering together, cooking together, sitting together in the same room...

And what comes to physical touch, he just loves to get touchy with his S/O and most of the time not even in a sexual way. It is like a way to make up for all the time he hasn't been around. All the little touches and kisses he exchanges with his S/O makes him feel so loved

Oh, and one thing he'd absolutely love is to get a massage from his S/O. He would literally melt to their touch

(NSFW under the cut)

NSFW relationship headcanons

I think he is pretty vanilla... But he is very open to try new things and kinks for his S/O and for his own curiosity. He'd also be pretty gentle overall, but he loves his sex passionate, with an intimate, personal feel to it

He is a heavy switch when it comes to dynamics. He can top, he can bottom. But I have a feeling he'd have a tiny little submissive side in the sheets. He isn't opposed to being dominative either, but like I said, he is mostly vanilla so these kind of dynamics aren't exactly what he desires in the sheets

He prefers to do all the sexy stuff mostly in somewhere private, only him and his S/O... but he can't deny that he has thought of taking them in his office. Something about the though of him fucking them on his desk turns him on

He would definitely love having sex with clothes (mostly) on. First of all, he can be a bit tired after long days (and lazy, too) but, like, just having his dick out of his fly... or both of his and his S/Os pants just slightly lowered. It's all just so hot for him

Oh, and he'd love to fuck his S/O anywhere (privately). On the floor, on the sofa, against a wall. He isn't picky, he just wants to feel good

I still feel like bed is his to-go, because he is often tired to do anything extreme and it's just overall more comfortable to get down to business in the sheets

Previously mentioned that his love language is physical touch which applies to this aspect too. Sex is also a part of that for him. Sex is also a way for him to feel deeply connected with his S/O, physically and emotionally

Sex with his S/O is his favorite stress relieving method

I'll say it: I never thought he'd have a big cock. Recently, I came across Kyo-00´s Headcanons of the dicks of JJK men, and I agree on her take of Higuruma. I had previously thought he'd be more like average sized or so

He doesn't need to have a huge cock though, because he knows how to use what he has. He also has his mouth, his nose and his hands to make one pleased

This could probably go without saying, but he loves when his S/O shows him that he is desired and cared for. He would get so excited if his S/O initiated intimacy and slid their hand to his pants to play with his still limp dick, stroking it while giving his neck and face soft kisses all over... (Consensually, of course. He isn't always in the mood for that stuff either) Anyhow, that just sends a message to him which turns him on. Who would even want to have sex with someone who doesn't seem into it?

I believe he wouldn't want kids, so he 100% would get a vasectomy especially if his S/O is a afab/female so there isn't a need to worry about pregnancy

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk headcanons #higuruma hiromi #jjk higuruma #higuruma headcanons #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #dangerouslyknown #dangerouslyknownworks

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anim-ttrpgs · 7 months ago

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youtube

An absolutely incredible review of the beta version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy by review Willy Muffin on youtube, complete with visuals and actual analysis!

I'm going to also add to this post a comment that I left on the video, offering further insight into the design intentions of the game, though the comment might not make as much sense if you haven't watched the video yet.

Hey, lead writer of Eureka here, first of all I wanna say how good and professional this review is, it’s almost indescribable how it feels to see our project taken so seriously and given real analysis, complete with visuals and everything! We would be super impressed and happy with it even if you didn’t like the game—but luckily it sounds like you loved it hahaha

I’d also like to address a few things throughout the video, not as arguments or rebuttals, just further developer insight for everyone

Re: “Urban Fantasy.” “Urban Fantasy” is basically just another term for “modern fantasy”, just a fantasy story that takes place in the 20th or 21st century and deals with the intersection of contemporary life with the supernatural, and it might be an Americanism, or even a Southern-ism, since it has a lot of connections and origins in the living folklore of New Orleans, so I shouldn’t be surprised it isn’t a term everyone is familiar with. Just think of it as the kind of genre where instead of the vampire living in a secluded scary castle, his name is Phil and he’s your roommate haha. What We Do in the Shadows, Shadowrun, and the World of Darkness games are all some other good examples of “urban fantasy.”

Re: Scooby-Doo. Oh we would LOVE for you to run a Scooby-Doo-like wacky mystery with Eureka. Even though the main tone is dark and gritty and noir, we did intentionally build it so that it could run more lighthearted stuff as well! There’s even a few Scooby-Doo references to be found throughout the text, and if we hit a certain stretch goal on the Kickstarter, we’re going to be adding a bunch of Scooby-gang-inspired traits, including the option to play a Talking Dog!

Re: Combat being the largest section, even larger than Investigation. First of all, that’s kind of an illusion that is the result of the game being unfinished. I have a tendency when I write rules to use really long sentences, overexplain things, repeat myself, etc, and that dramatically bloats the rules text and page count, but that’s why we have an editor! She goes through after the fact and trims most of the fat off my bloated writing style to make it flow smoother and read faster, and take up less space. The PDF that was read for this review has had the Investigation chapter copy-edited (and cut down in size by about 25%!), but the editor hasn’t gotten to the combat chapters yet, so they still have a hugely inflated page count. When she’s done with them, you can expect each combat chapter to also be cut down in size by about 25%, so they won’t be nearly so large a chunk of the book.

Secondly, I’ll explain our reasoning for why the combat chapters and advanced combat rules are such a big chunk of the rules text, it’s intentional design which I will now explain. If anyone still doesn’t agree with that design, that’s fair, and that’s why we made the Basic Combat Rules an option.

The reason that the advanced combat rules are the default, and the reason they exist at all, is because it incentivizes and rewards Investigation. If combat is super deadly, it makes Investigation, snooping, and spying more appealing than kicking down the door and getting your head blown off. But of combat is super deadly, it also needs to be very deep and tactical, because if it’s deadly but shallow, then there’s no player agency. “Combat starts, roll some dice, okay your guy is dead.” That’s no fun. So by adding rules and modifiers for cover/elevation, distance, the difference between a pistol and an assault rifle, etc. we make it so that not only is combat its own high-stakes puzzle, but make it so that when the PCs HAVE to engage in combat, all their investigation can really pay off and save their lives. Spying on a building to find out the number of goons stationed there and how they are armed helps you plan and assess risk, stealing the blueprints to the building helps you know how to get the drop on the goons, and know the best places to attack from so that they are stuck out in the open and you are not, etc. and having rules for those things means that all the PCs’ snooping and planning makes a real mechanical difference in whether they live or die.

That’s just my opinion though, and one of the biggest reasons WHY we decided to write the combat with as much depth as we did.

Anyway, thank you again for this review and analysis of our project, our Kickstarter jumped up by about ten more backers in the evening when this video went up after several days of no new backers, and we have to assume we have this video, and all of you watching and reading this, to thank. You’re really making our dreams come true. :)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

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If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

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fandomgirlz01 · 4 months ago

Text

Elevators

Joe Keery X Reader

Imagine on fandom instagram?: No

Prompt or Request or Requested Prompt?: No

Style of Writing: Fic

Rating: PG-13 ~ For fluff and cuteness, but more adult commentary or even some triggering content.

Edited: Yes

Word count: 6,015

Post Date & Time: July 27th 2024 at 12:17 AM

Ko-fi

Master List

Warnings Here

You can listen to the story be read out loud here {coming soon}.

Summary: Joe Keery the Readers very best friend, helps the Reader though one of her biggest fears as well as clams her anxiety until they can get the help they need.

Authors Note: I know they actually usually film in Atlanta GA, so for the sake of this Fic let’s just say she goes with him and they rent a place out. She works from home so she’s capable of going with.

You’re Pov:

“Oh my gosh, it’s really 12:00?!” I exclaim as I look at my phone.

“Umm, yeah. Why?” Natalia asks as she looks at me with concern.

“I have work on the set in the morning and don’t have my car. I need to take the bus or walk, but now I can’t do either cause it’s so late,” I explain as I pack up some of my stuff in a hurry.

“Hey. Hey. What’s going on?” Joe asks, reaching out for me as he walks over from where the guys were hanging out.

“I need to walk home. I have to be at set in the morning,” I quickly explain as I continue to pack up my stuff.

Once all my stuff is packed up, I quickly rush out a goodbye to everyone before rushing over to the door. I go to open the door, but someone pulls me back.

“Hey. You are not walking home this late at night, and while it’s storming? No way. I’ll drive you,” Joe offers as he pats his pockets, looking around for his keys.

“No, J. It’s fine. I’ll get home by myself. I really don’t wanna ruin your time with your cast members. You see me every day, you don’t see them as often as you do me. Spend time with them,” I express and he shakes his head before letting out a small ‘aha’ when finding his keys.

“If you think I’m letting my life-long best friend walk home in the rain, then you're nuts. Plus, I live there too,” he professes before turning around to the other actors in the room.

“Goodnight, guys. I’ll see you all bright and early on set. I’ve gotta get y/n home,” Joe quickly explains to the others.

“Goodnight! See you in the morning!” Noah yells out from across the room before some of the others chime in with ‘goodnights’ to the both of us.

Joe picks his jacket up off of the back of the couch before coming over to me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and I smile as I wave to everyone.

“Goodnight then, I guess!” I yell out and I get a few “goodnights” back as the girls wiggle their eyebrows at me, making me give them a death stare.

Joe pulls me out of the room and the door closes behind us. We head down the hallway and I start to feel a little guilty.

“Joe, really, if you want to go back you can. I’ll be fine,” I explain and he shakes his head.

“If you had your car, I’d be ok with it, but I know it’s in the shop, so no. It’s ok. Really, I’m fine to drive you home,” he informs me and I only nod before a grin takes over my face.

“I wonder why my car’s in the shop?” I joke as I nudge his side lightly with a smirk on my face.

“I wouldn’t know why…” he jokes back, playing innocent and I giggle.

“It couldn’t be because somebody backed it up into a pole when borrowing it now, would it?” I tease him again as I poke his stomach.

“I have no clue what you're talking about,” he plays coy, shaking his head and I roll my eyes.

“You definitely know what I’m talking about,” I remark with a smirk and he rolls his eyes now.

“Ok… there’s a very small chance you may be right…” he jokes as he holds his hand up with his fingers pinching together.

“A small chance?” I ask, only to giggle when he throws his arms up before letting them drop to his side.

“Ok, fine, there’s a big chance,” he finally admits sheepishly and I giggle as we come to a stop by the elevator.

He reaches forward and presses the down button before standing back upright next to me. I eye the door to the stairs for a moment before looking back at the elevator.

“Bubs…” I whisper out as I bite my lip and he lets out a small “hmm” before turning to look at me with an eyebrow raised.

“Can’t we just take the stairs?” I ask as I express my fear while he puts his jacket on.

“Y/n, we’re on the top floor of the Hampton. We’re thirty floors up, sweetheart. Do you really want to walk down thirty flights of stairs?” he asks with an eyebrow raised and I shrug.

“I don’t know… I just really don’t want to get in that elevator,” I whisper out as I shuffle my feet while refusing to look up at him.

“Don’t worry. I’m right here with you, ok? I’m right here. I promise you’ll be ok,” he promises as he pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me.

We stand there for a few minutes just hugging when we both hear the ding. We pull apart and turn to see the door wide open. I take a gulp and Joe takes a step to get in, but I freeze in my spot.

“Princess, it's really ok. Come on. I’ll stick with you the whole way down,” he explains as he turns back around to look at me.

“Joe… I… I can’t…” I whimper out and he grabs both my cheeks softly as he keeps eye contact with me.

“Hey. Hey. You're ok. You can do this, y/n,” Joe speaks calmly as he now starts to rub my right cheek.

“I don’t know, Joe, it’s gotten a lot worse now,” I explain and he looks at me, confused.

“How did you even get here earlier, then?” he asks and I try to look away sheepishly, but he just keeps my face in his hands.

“I, umm… took the stairs. After Eleni {pronounced: E-lane-ie} dropped me off from work on the set, I took the stairs,” I explain embarrassedly and he shakes his head.

“You could have just called me to come down and get you. I would have,” he affirms and I shake my head now that he’s let go of me.

“You had work today too. You must have been tired. I didn’t want to make you even more tired,” I explain and just as I finish, the doors slide closed.

“Damn, we’ll have to get the next one,” Joe mutters as he turns back around and presses the down button again.

“I don’t care if I’m tired, I still would have come down. Plus we work on the same set, just have different hours,” Joe informs me with a shrug before he turns back to look at me. I fight off the blush I can feel creeping up the back of my neck.

“I don’t get why we can’t just take the stairs…” I comment timidly and Joe lets out a laugh.

“Y/n, seriously. It’s thirty flights. You’ve already done enough stairs today. I’m not letting you do more,” he explains before shaking his head and laughing a little more.

He looks at me and immediately his face changes from amusement to worry when he sees just how frightened I am. He sighs and lets out a small ‘I’m sorry’ before he puts his arm around my shoulder. He moves so he can fully hug me now and rubs the upper part of my arm with his thumb. I wrap my arms around his waist and burrow my head into his shoulder. He holds onto me a little tighter for a moment before rubbing at my scalp to sooth me.

“I’m right here. Haven’t I always been?” he asks against the side of my forehead and I nod, making him smile.

“Yes. Yes, you have been,” I agree with him, biting my lip before pulling away from our hug.

“Well, come on, then. I promise you'll be fine,” he promises me as the elevator dings again, making me jump.

“I know you're scared, but these things barely ever break down. Plus, you're with me. I’ve got you,” he tries to reassure me again before placing a kiss to the side of my forehead and for a split second I almost forget where we are.

Soon the doors are sliding open and I feel my heart start to beat frantically, but it’s definitely not because of the happy feelings I normally get when with Joe. His hand falls from my shoulder, but he keeps it on my lower back as he softly guides me inside. I push myself as close to the back wall as I can while he pushes the lobby botton. Not even a minute after he pushes it, the doors slide closed. I take a deep breath before looking at the ceiling above me and letting a shaky one out.

I grip onto the railing until my knuckles are practically completely white as I wait for it to all start. The elevator gives a light shake before starting to go down and I move my grip from the railing onto Joe’s arm. He lets out a small laugh before pulling his arm from where I had latched myself to him and putting it around my shoulder. He pulls me into another side hug and squeezes my arm lightly, effortlessly making me feel slightly safer.

“See, it’s ok. We’re fine. We’ll be in the lobby before you know it,” he explains with a light smile and I wrap both arms around him before nuzzling into his side more.

“I guess you're right. Nothing's happening,” I sigh as I squeeze him a bit and he squeezes my shoulder back.

It’s quiet and calm for a few minutes until the lights start to flicker. I look at the screen that tells us the floor number, but it glitches from twenty-eight to twenty-seven and I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. The elevator comes to a jolting stop, making me and Joe sway back and forth as he keeps his hold on me. The lights go out, leaving only an emergency light as the only source of light. I look back up at the number to see it still glitching, only this time it’s going between twenty-seven and twenty-six. I feel my heart start to race again as I realize what’s happening and I start to shake in fear.

“Shit. Princess, it’s ok. We’ll be ok. Press the emergency button. I’ll try 911,” Joe explains as he pulls away and holds me by the shoulders before pulling his phone out.

I step forward or at least I think I do, but I really don’t. I stay where I am, frozen for a moment before taking a big gulp and walking over to the buttons. It takes me a minute of looking over all the buttons, but I soon find the one with the big red E on it. I lick my lips and press it in hopes that the lights will magically come back on. When they don’t, I panic before starting to press the button over and over again.

I only can hope that someone will answer our emergency, but my brain tells me to just keep pushing it even though nobody has. I feel a hand lay on my back and another one comes up to pull my hand from the panel of buttons. I look up at Joe and he pulls me into a hug and just holds me as he puts his phone up to his ear.

“Hi, 911. What’s your emergency?” I hear a lady’s voice come over the speaker of the phone.

“Umm, hi. I’m currently at the Hilton hotel, but uhh, I think the power must have gone out or something because we are stuck in the elevator,” Joe explains to her in as calm of a tone as he can so I won’t panic further.

“Ok. Can you tell me what floor you're on?” The dispatch lady asks and I feel him move his head to look.

“Umm, it’s glitching between twenty-six and twenty-seven, so maybe on twenty-six,” he replies and she gives a small ‘Hmm, ok’.

“Are you alone, sir?” she asks and he shakes his head.

“No,” he replies as he gives me a light squeeze again.

“Can you tell me who’s with you?” she asks and he again nods even though she can’t see him.

“Yeah. It’s just me and my girl here,” he responds back to her and my eyes widen.

He’s never called me his girl before. It’s always been sweetheart or sweets or my best friend, but never his girl.

I zone out as she asks him a few more questions and I don’t catch them at all, but soon he’s hanging up with her. He looks down at me before sighing and leading me over to the wall to lean me against it.

“Sit right here, ok? I’m going to go call Natalia or Charlie, ok?” he asks and all I can manage is a light tiny nod as a tired feeling washes over me.

I watch as he walks over to the other corner and types something out on his phone. He brings it up to his ear as his other hand rubs at his face. I feel shaky so I slip down the wall and pull my legs up to my chest before resting my chin on my knees. Hot sticky tears start to roll down my cheeks as I watch him scratch at his chin. Panic attacks aren’t a new thing for me, not at all.

They've followed me all the way up into adulthood and Joe has seen almost every single one since we were about nine. This, however, is the worst one that I’ve had since I was maybe twelve. It didn’t help that I always overthought things growing up. Joe was always there to talk those thoughts out with me as he is now. But this… this was my absolute worst fear playing out in front of me. I remember all those nights in high school where I’d text him about how my brain just wouldn’t shut off and that I couldn’t sleep.

He’d always known that was me telling him I felt an attack coming on. So he’d rush over from his house next door and cuddle with me to calm me. At first my dad never understood, until suddenly he just did. He started leaving the back door unlocked for Joe and I later found out my mother had told him how calm Joe made me.

“Hey. Me and y/n are kind of umm… stuck…” he explains into the phone, sort of snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Of course I’m fine. It’s y/n I’m worried about. She’s on the very edge of having a big attack,” he whispers into his phone and he rubs his neck as he listens to whoever he called.

“Yeah. No. I’ll be ok taking care of her. I’ve been with her through almost every attack. I know how to keep her calm,” he tells them before pausing to listen to them.

“Yes. I already called 911, they should be here in like five to ten minutes,” he answered whatever question was asked before shaking his head.

“Umm, I don’t know. Could you guys just be down there when they do get us out?” he asks and nods to a few things that are being said.

“Ok. Yeah. Thanks, man. We’ll see you soon,” he gives his goodbye before hanging up the phone.

He shoves his phone back in his pocket before turning around. He looks down at me before frowning and coming back over. He lowers himself down next to me before putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into his side again. I start to cry harder and he rubs my back as he coos softly to me. I basically sob into his shirt while gripping it and he just keeps massaging my back lightly while continuing to coo soft nothings in my ear.

“Hey, take a breath for me, please? Come on sweets, you can do it,” Joe’s voice comes out soft but authoritative as he still holds onto me.

“Hey. There she is…” he says proudly as he softly holds my cheeks in his hands and rubs my cheek for a moment as he gives me a soft smile.

He pulls away from me for a split second and takes his jacket off before he drapes the jacket over my shoulders. Then he quickly pulls me back into his side as he kisses the side of my forehead again, making me start to feel a little safer in his arms.

“It’s ok, sweetheart. I’m right here. I’m not leaving. Just pretend we’re home and cuddled up in your bed,” he tells me as he rubs his thumb in circles on my lower back under his jacket.

Back when Joe first found out he got the role of Steve, we were both so excited that his career would be taking off. Then we were sad because he had to move out of our LA apartment to go film. Not wanting to be away from me for long, he got me a job on the set as the “assistant” to the Duffer Brothers with production plans and decisions. So together we both moved to a new apartment and started our new jobs together. The girls always refer to us when we walk up as “and they were roommates!” before bursting into giggles. I schedule almost everything for Ross Duffer and sometimes I sit in meetings for him or I stay really late to help him with whatever he’d be doing on set.

I also help make sure everything on set is to the actors and actress' likings. We did keep our old apartment for when we were back in LA, but for the most part we both stay in Atlanta more times out of the year. I just have more hours and a lot of work sometimes, so Joe and I always drive separately. As of lately, though, we have been carpooling a lot of the time. My sobbing slowly starts to calm down, but as I do I start to feel dizzy. I let out a light whimper and I nuzzle my head into his neck.

“I promise we’ll be fine. I’ll get you out of here no matter what and when have I not kept a promise to my best girl, hmm?” he asks as he grips onto my hip and I jump, making him chuckle a little.

“Joe… I’m dizzy…” I groan out and he nods before placing another kiss on my forehead.

“I know. You always get dizzy after an attack. Just relax, ok. I’m not leaving you. I wouldn’t be able to leave you like this. It’d hurt too much to walk away. I love you, sweetheart,” he explains, his voice becoming breathless at the end as he pushes some of my hair away from my face.

My eyes grow wide as I look at him and he just gives me a small smile as he shrugs. He reaches up to my cheek that’s not against his shoulder and wipes a still falling tear.

Did Joe freaking Keery, my best friend since literal diapers, the guy I’ve lived with since graduating high school just tell me he loves me? No. I must just be imagining it after that attack…

“Do you wanna lay down? You still haven’t gotten your color back, sweetheart,” he asks after a moment and I nod before slowly moving.

I start to lay down with my cheek on his thigh and he lifts an arm before laying it on the upper part of my arm. I keep his jacket around me like a blanket and close my eyes as he starts to rub my head. He starts to hum one of the new songs he’s been working on and I let a light smile take form on my lips. Soon his humming stops and it grows quiet for a few minutes. I can only assume that we’re both desperate to think of a way out of this elevator, but the more I think about it the more panic starts to set in again.

“J…?” I whisper out with a hoarse voice from crying and I move to look up at him.

“What, sweetheart?” he asks as he looks down at me.

“Can you please, please, please just distract me? The silence is driving me insane and I don’t wanna overthink everything,” I admit and he smiles softly at me.

I push up off of him and he quickly wraps his arms around me, pulling me so I lean against him. I snuggle my face into his chest and he lets out a chuckle.

“Sweets, that tickles,” he notes as he laughs and I just shrug.

“Wait a minute, were you trying to do that?” he exclaims when he sees a coy smile on my lips.

“Maybe… you deserve it, though!” I joke and he rolls his eyes.

“Why! You sneaky little thing!” he shouts before he gives my side a little pinch.

We laugh for a few minutes before it goes quiet again so I slap his shoulder. He rubs at the place before shaking his head.

“What was that for?” he asks and I shrug.

“Talk to me. I can’t do the silence,” I explain and he nods his head.

“Ok. Ahh, let’s see… Do you remember freshman year homecoming?” he asks and I nod.

“Yeah. You almost did a Steve that night and got into a fight with Jimmy Kavinsky, Peter‘s little brother,” I remark and he rolls his eyes.

“I didn't turn into Steve! I would have done a lot better than my character in a fight,” he proclaims and I give him a ‘really?’ look.

“Joe. Jimmy’s always been bigger than you,” I deadpan and he groans.

“That’s not the point!” he shouts in frustration and I grab his hand.

“Ok. I’m sorry. What was the point?” I ask him calmly and he smiles.

“The point is that I was there with Sarah, but I thought you were the most beautiful girl there,” he exhales exasperatedly from how fast he had been talking, rolling his eyes at himself as I smile, squeezing his hand encouragingly.

“Then when I saw the look you had when Jimmy ditched you for Victoria, all I wanted to do was beat him and make you smile again,” he continues shaking his head as he frowns.

“It wasn’t right to me that he put a frown on your face. You should always have a smile and if anyone took that away…” he finishes off with a sigh while refusing to look at me and my eyes tear up for a second before I reach up for his cheeks.

“Awe, Joe…” I coo softly at him as I jokingly move his face around for a second. “If it helps, I didn’t want to go with him in the first place…” I remark and he gives me a confused look.

“What? But you talked about it for a week before he actually asked you,” he mutters and I shake my head, letting go of his face as I now play with a loose thread on my shorts.

“I only decided to go with him because you hadn’t asked me yet, you doofus,” I joke with him, now finally looking at him again and he still looks confused, so I sigh.

“Allison stupidly got it into my head that Jimmy liked me and that he should take me since you, and I quote, ‘oh so obviously’ weren’t going to ask apparently. So I became laser focused on him. As I do with everything I normally shouldn’t be focused on,” I explain with a light shrug and he perks up.

“Wait, you wanted me to ask you?” he asks, eyes lighting up in excitement and I giggle.

“Yes, Joe. I’ve only had a crush on you since we were ten, but who’s keeping track?” I joke with another lame shrug and he shakes his head.

“Wait, so I could have asked and you would have said yes?!” he shouts in shock and I giggle, nodding.

“Aww man, I’m such an idiot!” he exclaims as he rubs at his face, making me giggle again as I grab his hand and pull them away from his face.

“If it makes you feel better, I couldn’t stop thinking how handsome you were that night. I also just wanted to just run my hands through your hair,” I explain with a light smirk and he chuckles.

“What is it with you and my hair?” he asks me and I grin.

“What?! It’s just so cute and soft…” I murmur and he chuckles.

“It’s also not so bad when you have the Steve hair added to it after filming too,” I sheepishly admit and he smirks.

“So you have a thing for my hair, huh? Well I actually have a thing for yours too,” he explains as he reaches out to toy with a strand of mine.

“Your hair is actually just one of the many reasons I love you,” I whisper out as I look away.

It’s quiet for a minute and I decide to chance a look at him. When I do, I see his mouth slightly parted in shock and his eyes wide.

Was it really so bad that I love my best friend?

“I…I’m sorry. You probably meant-” I start to try apologizing, but I’m cut off when he slams his lips into mine.

At first I’m still in shock from being in the middle of saying something, but I slowly start to kiss back. My arms reach up and wrap around his neck as his hands stay firmly on my hips as he pulls me ever so closer. I find my hands moving up to grip his hair as he squeezes my hips.

Kissing him brings a pleasant warmth to my chest as he brings his hand up to my neck and holds me even closer. I feel his thumb rub my neck ever so sweetly, making more and more butterflies swarm my stomach. The kiss only lasts a few more minutes before we both pull away, breathing heavily.

He rubs his nose lightly against mine and I smile softly as his hand now lays on my cheek instead of my neck. He smiles softly as he pushes some of my hair out of my face and I feel a blush start to kick in so I shove my face into his neck, making him chuckle.

“Why you hiding from me, huh?” he asks as he squeezes my shoulder and I blush harder, shaking my head.

I start to say something, but get cut off by a loud ding and suddenly to our surprise, the doors of the elevator are sliding open. We both look up as they open, seeing Charlie and Natalia standing next to some paramedics. Slowly Joe helps me get up as he gets up too and he quickly hands me over to a paramedic.

“You go get checked out. I’m going to talk with Charlie and possibly the technician over there,” Joe tells me, but I grip his hand and shake my head.

“Not without you. Please…” I almost whimper, not wanting him to leave my side and he squeezes my hand.

“Sweetheart, you're ok. I promise I’ll come right back over in a minute. Natalia, will you stay with her?” he asks her and she nods.

“See, Natalia will be with you. I’ll be quick I promise, just wanna understand what happened,” he explains softly and I sigh, nodding before letting his hand go.

“Come on. Let’s get you looked at, yeah?” Natalia asks as she guides me over to a chair and one of the paramedics comes over.

“Hi. My name is Hen. I’m just gonna look you over and make sure you’re doing ok, alright, sweetie?” she questions and I nod to let her know that I’m ok with it.

“What happened in there, y/n? Are you ok?” Natalia queries as she fusses over me while I take a seat in one of the lobby chairs.

“I’m fine. Joe kept me sane,” I tell her as I look over at him and he looks over at us.

“Omg! You guys kissed, didn't you?!” Natalia exclaims at me with her eyes wide.

“No…” I reply, trailing off as I refuse to meet her eyes.

“Oh they so did,” Hen comments with a chuckle and I feel a blush creep up my neck.

“Ok… yeah, we did…” I admit, biting my lip and Natalia just grins.

“Y/n. Oh my gosh. It’s actually happening. I knew you guys would end up together. I told you,” she excitedly pushes my shoulder lightly.

“Yeah, yeah,” I reply with a playful eye roll.

Hen now asks me questions, if I could breathe properly and checks my heart rate as well as checking my blood pressure. Natalia hovers and it makes me roll my eyes with fondness at how she worries over me. Charlie and Joe stand over to the side talking with the tech, but Joe keeps looking over at us every so often.

“Well. You’re doing okay, I would just suggest that you rest up a bit after all this,” Hen informs me and I nod tiredly as I feel the exhaustion come over me.

“And here, take this,” Hen adds as she holds out some Advil for me along with a water bottle.

“How’d you know?” Natalia asks and Hen turns to look up at her.

“How’d I know what?” Hen asks in confusion and Natalia points to the advil.

“That she gets headaches after her panic attacks,” Natalia illuminates and Hen chuckles.

“A lot of people tend to. If you’ve been hyperventilating or anything that includes losing breath, you cut off circulation to the brain so it’ll definitely pack on a headache,” Hen expertly explains and Natalia nods along.

“That young man that was trapped with her asked my partner if we could make sure she got some just in case. He seems to know you and your panic attacks very well,” Hen tells us as she points over at Joe and I blush lightly.

“He’s been with me though all of them,” I shyly reply and she smiles up at me before she starts to put some stuff back in her bag.

“Well I’m glad you have someone to help you though. Not everyone does. Now get some rest, you’ll definitely feel a little drained,” Hen says as she finishes putting her stuff in her bag.

“Oh, she will be,” Natalia promises, making Hen smile softly as she stands, nodding before she leaves us be.

“He’s looking over here at you,” Natalia jokingly taunts me.

“I’m sure he’s only-” I start to again deny anything, but she cuts me off.

“Here he comes,” she excitedly tells me with a smile and I shake my head in disbelief at her.

“Hey. How’s she doing?” Joe asks her as he walks up to us.

“The paramedic said she’s doing just fine. She just suggested that she rests after the whole ordeal,” Natalia explains to him and I roll my eyes.

“Talia, I have work in the morning. Most rest I’ll be getting is an hour's sleep at the most now,” I retort with annoyance clear in my voice.

“What! But-” she goes to reprimand me, but she stops when a hand gets placed on her shoulder.

“Natalia, I got this. We’ll see you soon okay?” Joe softly asks her and she sighs before nodding.

“You make her rest, you hear me?” she asks him and he chuckles, throwing his hands up in surrender.

“Don’t you worry. I definitely will be,” he promises her and she nods one last final time.

“Good. Well then, I’ll leave you guys alone. Y/n, I better not see you on set at all today, got it?” she asks when she turns back to me and I sigh, nodding.

“Good. Now go and get really rested up. I’ll see you soon,” Natalia finalizes with a smile before nodding and walking away.

“Come on. Let’s get you home. You need rest,” Joe comments as he holds his hand out for me.

“But J, I really need to just go home and change,” I reply and he shakes his head.

“Why are you so stubborn? Let’s just get going, come on,” he groans out as he pulls me up and pulls me into his side as we start to walk.

“Sweetheart…” Joe sighs out as we start to see his car and I let out a hum.

“Please just call in sick. I’m sure the brothers will be okay with it. You really had a big one and need the rest,” Joe pleads with me as we get closer and closer to the car.

“J. I’ll be okay. I’ve made it on set with only an hour’s worth of sleep before. I can live off of none at all,” I joke and he stops us, pulling my hand to make me stop.

“Please just call in sick,” he begs again and I sigh, letting go of his hand to start walking without him.

“J. Really, I’ll be okay,” I tell him as I now stand next to the car and I hear him groan in frustration.

Suddenly I’m being pulled around and I look up into his eyes. I look at him in confusion with my lips parted from the light squeak I’d let out. I stare into his beautiful chocolate brown eyes that seem to be infused with a light green that I’d never noticed before and lose all thought as I only see pure worry swirling around.

“J… I’m okay…” I whisper out and he sighs, shaking his head.

He doesn’t even say a word, but I let out a confused hum as he lightly pushes me against the car. His hands now find my waist as his lips find mine and my arms come up around his neck. He kisses me for a moment before pulling away, sighing as he leans his forehead against mine.

“Let me reword that. Call in sick, stay home with me and we’ll cuddle all day and just spend the day together letting you rest,” he pleads with me one more time and then it clicks for me.

“Okay… I think that we can do…” I whisper out and he slowly grins.

“Yeah?” he asks and I smile, pecking his lips.

“Yeah. Let’s go home,” I confirm and now all the worry has seemingly left his body.

“Ok then. Let’s go home,” he happily agrees as he goes to pull away.

“Wait,” I call out as I pull him back in.

“What?” he asks and I just smirk at him.

“I want another kiss,” I tell him as I rub my thumb along his cheek and he chuckles.

“Okay…” he agrees before pulling me back into another kiss, but all too soon he pulls away again and I’m left groaning, making him laugh.

“Come on, you nut. Let’s get you home,” he chuckles, shaking his head.

“But I want more kisses,” I whine out and he shakes his head as he opens my door.

“You can steal all the ones you want when we get home,” he tells me as I get in and I grin up at him.

“You promise?” I playfully ask him and he chuckles, shaking his head again.

“I swear on my life, sweetheart,” he promises before closing my door and running around to his side.

“And you wanted to take the stairs…” he jokes with a playful roll of his eyes as he starts the car.

“Oh…! You…” I call out in my shock as I smack his arm and he chuckles.

“Hey. I’m just stating the truth,” he shrugs and I smile at him as I cuddle up to his arm.

“Oh, would you just be quiet,” I roll my eyes at him and he chuckles again as he continues to drive.

The End

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trancylovecraft · 2 months ago

Note

I've been thinking about the blood of an unwilling covenant constantly since I first read it and just wanted to tell you, also saw you mention that you probably weren't going to explain the situation with F/Ns parents in fic and wanted you to know I am VERY curious as to what their deal is

EGEGHJIRUGHRHGUI IM HAPPY TO HEAR THAT YOU ENJOYED THE FIC SM!!! I'll be happy to answer, Mostly because if I do a one-shot or smth on it, it may be a while-

AND I KINDA REALLY WANNA RAMBLE.

OK SO. Before I explain I suggest you read the translation of The Official Blue Exorcist Side Story: Bloody Fairytale. You can find a translation here done by @29rynoah which I have read sEVERAL times over. I highly recommend it as it's one of my favourite stories from AOEX.

However if you wanna skip that, Tis cool.

[F/N]'s mother is Maria LaMorte from Bloody Fairytale, Who had given birth to [F/N] during her imprisonment within The Vatican.

[F/N] herself is probably the oldest of the exwires, Her birthday being sometime within early January.

Now here's the million dollar question, Who is the father?

Shiro Fujimoto.

During the events of Bloody Fairy-tale- Maria is in the middle of completing her rather grandeur goal of trying to turn the town into naberius' and other adjacent creatures. Of course, This doesn't go to plan though, When Shiro and Johan show up unexpectedly within the invasion.

Maria of course, As the story goes, Plays the victim and pretends that she had no idea what's going on.

Shiro, Johan, Maria and the rest of the townspeople barricade in the church as normal. The story continues on however there's a switch in the story.

Shiro approaches Maria who is leaning over on the balcony. Of course, Shiro keeps up his demeanour, Already aware of Maria and her intentions. They get to talking and Maria herself is attracted to Shiro despite not recognising her own feelings.

Though, Maria herself DOES recognise seduction as a way of manipulating others.

So of course one thing leads to another and suddenly you have the both of them climbing out of the same makeshift bed. Maria came out of this with much more complicated feelings than she had thought she'd have.

But on the other hand?

Shiro himself is at the point in his life where he's much more dark and gritty than the one we see raising the twins. This is an average thing for him, He's a player, He sleeps with women left and right. He knew very well that this was an attempt to manipulate his feelings.

But to be honest? He doesn't care.

The story plays out like normal afterwards. Shiro exposes Maria's plan and she gets sent off to the Vatican for Life imprisonment. Shiro and Mephisto get in the car and they drive off as normal.

However this time, Maria comes out of it pregnant with [F/N].

She was born almost one year before The Blue Night within a holding cell in The Vatican. Her birth was completely unexpected from both the guards as well as Maria, Who was one of the rare cases of not showing at all during a pregnancy.

[F/N] was born fragile and weak, Both doctors and guards believing she would die soon after birth. And on records? That's how it went.

According to The Vatican, The baby died a few hours after being delivered. Shiro was told of the baby's existence while he was caring for the twins.

Of course, At this time he's a different person from who he was a year ago (Post-Blue Night) and now feels shocked and a bit of regret for not knowing of [F/N]'s existence.

However, There wasn't much he could do now.

The baby had died, He couldn't change that.

However despite what the records have said. Some of the staff that were employed to help deliver the child had sworn that they saw a tall man carrying away a baby in his arms. His identity unknown, Hidden by the darkness of the night.

[F/N] was left on the doorstep of the youth centre in Japan without a single note or any clue as to where she came from. The youth centre, After having no parents claim the child, Took her in and raised her within the adoption system.

It's still unclear where her penchant comes from, Though the leading theory is the mixture of demonic influence from both sides of her parents (Maria's being her association with undead demons, Specifically Kin of Astaroth. Shiro's being the fact that he's a clone as well as a bit of satanic influence lingering on him. So much so that in some aspects, You can consider [F/N] somewhat related to Satan in a sort of 3rd parent situation.)

Perhaps you can even consider her not entirely human. Though, That part is up for interpretation.

But as it stands? Her two birth parents are Maria LaMorte and Shiro Fujimoto.

-TML

#ask!#blue exorcist #aoex #mephisto pheles #shiro fujimoto #ao no exorcist

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zegrasdrysdale · 5 months ago

Text

dearest gentle reader [ n. hischier ] | part one

next part - coming soon

summary : rumors begin to spread of Lord Nico Hischier arriving in London days before the 1813 season is set to begin, putting the unlucky Jo Sinclair and her family on high alert. meanwhile, Nico arrives in London, but has no idea what's coming when he makes his own society debut with the announcement of his arrival in Lady Whistledown's first edition

warning(s) : none

author’s note : i’m gonna try my best to make this as historically accurate as i possibly can. if you wanna be added to the universe taglist, fill out this form since it's separate from my daily fic taglist (I'll be using my normal fic taglist for this part only). there will also be a handful of crossover characters but there will be no plot crossover (y'all will see what i mean as the series goes on). enjoy the first part of nico and jo’s story <33

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[ JO'S POV ]

The one thing that she's been excited about for the last few weeks is her sister's society debut. The debut is the only thing that Emma has talked about since her 18th birthday back in April. It's really been the only thing that she's been talking about since her oldest sister made her own debut.

Josephine herself did enjoy making her debut four years ago and she can't wait to see her younger sister follow in her footsteps. She enjoys every social season despite being unlucky in the subject of marriage.

They've been to the modiste so many times in the last five or six weeks to get new dresses made for Emma's debut and the balls that the family will attend over the summer. Jo has even gotten a handful of new dresses designed for her despite the fact that it's her fourth year out and she has yet to find a husband.

Yes, she's been unlucky. She has to find a husband this season unless she wants to have her parents set up a marriage for her. Jo has been constantly telling her parents that she wants to marry for love, not advantageously.

Their threats to marry her into a wealthy family to a man she does not know got a lot worse after last season when she couldn't secure a husband. She practically begged them to give her one more season to find a man that will marry her.

Two days before Emma is set to debut in front of the queen, her little sister comes running into the drawing room where Jo, her mother, and eldest brother Theo are doing some of their daily activities. Jo is at the pianoforte playing a classical piece, her mother is sewing, and Theo is doing some work at the desk.

"This has just arrived to the house," she says. "It's almost like a gossip column in the paper, but it's strictly a gossip column."

Their mother, Lady Beatrice Sinclair, looks up from the blanket that she's been working on for the last few months. "What has arrived to the house, dear?" she asks.

"It's called 'Lady Whistledown'," Emma explains. "Whoever she is knows so much about the ton, and there even are rumors of which eligible bachelors are coming into London for the season and which men are looking for wives this season."

Beatrice holds out her hand for the column. Jo continues to play on the pianoforte but her interest is piqued, as is Theo's. Emma walks over and hands the paper over to their mother. Her eyes scan the page, and her eyebrows raise in what looks to be confusion. Her face says she's very interested in the words on the paper that she is reading though.

"Oh," she sighs as she finishes reading. She looks at her three eldest children that sit or stand around the drawing room. "It is to be a very interesting season if this Lady Whistledown continues to write about the ton like this."

"May I read it, mama?" Jo questions. Beatrice's eyes fall to her eldest daughter. She shoots a glare at Jo since she has told her daughter to stop reading so much. "I just want to see which bachelors are and are not available. I want to see what options I have to explore this season before you and papa decide to marry me off to someone I have never met."

Beatrice seems to believe that lie since she hands over the little pamphlet, but Jo is genuinely curious what this Lady Whistledown has written about her.

If she has written anything about her, that is. Odds are that there is something written about the fact that she remains unmarried after four years out in society though.

Her eyes fall to the page and she begins to read the words written in complete silence.

Dearest Gentle Reader, You don't know me quite yet, but you will after what looks to be a very interesting season coming up. Many new and ready debutants will be making her debut in front of Queen Charlotte later this week, where the queen looks to find a new diamond of the season. Will the diamond come from a respected family of the ton such as the Archer family or the Pierce family? Or will the diamond of the family be from the Sinclair family even though former diamond Josephine Sinclair remains an unmarried woman. Rumors are that this will be the last season that the eldest Sinclair daughter will be able to marry for love like she wants.

Speaking of rumors, the Viscount Nico Hischier is coming to the city for the season in search of a wife. The Lord Hischier has not been to London since he was a young boy and I am sure that the esteemed members of the ton will welcome him back with open arms. It is not known why the lord is searching for a wife, but I'm sure that the many debutants, even those who have been out in society for years, will try her best to make a good impression on who is certainly this season's most eligible bachelor.

Josephine lowers the paper to her lap after she reads what is probably the most embarrassing words ever written about her. She lets out a shaky sigh as she tries to read whatever else this Lady Whistledown has written about her.

Though, an eligible man such as the Viscount Hischier coming into the city gives her hope of maybe finding love this season.

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

[ NICO'S POV ]

All he's been listening to for the past few days is the sound of the carriage on dirt as he travels from Bern to London for the summer. He is set to arrive in London at any moment and is staying with one of his friends from America. Jack did not need to open his family's home to him, but he would much rather prefer to stay with a friend than in a hotel. His back is grateful.

His mother has been pestering him to find a nice, noble woman to marry and carry on the family name with after his father's death a few years ago.

His older brother Luca decided never to get married and completely disowned the Hischier family and refuses to take the title of Viscount, so that's what Nico did. He took the title of Viscount despite thinking he would never have that title. All that means is marrying someone that will probably only marry him for his title.

Sure, there are lots of women in Switzerland he could marry but why not get away from home for a little bit and find a woman that will marry him? A title means a lot more in England than it does in his home country of Switzerland so there are more willing women to marry him for his title in London.

It's late at night when Nico's carriage pulls up to the Hughes house. He feels bad because he was supposed to arrive during the day but he left a lot later than he intended after his mother fought him again on leaving Bern to go to London.

Nico pulls his trunk out of the back and the doors to the house open. He looks over and sees a very casually dressed Jack Hughes in the doorway. "Ah, Nico," he greets his friend. "Welcome to London."

"Nice to see you again, my friend," Nico replies as he hugs his friend. "I want to thank you again for opening your home to me this summer. It means a lot to me and my back that I don't have to sleep in a hotel for the next few months."

Jack laughs and claps Nico on the shoulder. "My home is your home," he replies. "You're welcome whenever you'd like."

His trunk is brought inside by some of the housekeepers. The boys are quick to follow. "I do apologize for arriving so late today," Nico says as they walk up the steps. "I know I was due to arrive during the day but my mother insisted that I stay in Bern to find a wife again and I couldn't get away from her."

"It's not a problem," Jack replies. "You know I'm a night owl and never sleep so I was happy to stay up and wait for you to get here."

He smiles as the door to his temporary bedroom is opened in front of him. The housekeepers make their way inside and the boys follow them. Nico thanks them and they leave the room. Jack stays behind when they leave.

The room is small, minimalistic yet beautiful. There is a desk pushed up against a window that overlooks the road. A kind sized bed with white covers sits between two windows on the adjacent wall. There's also a grey closet pressed against the wall with the door.

"Very cozy," Nico comments as he opens his trunk that holds all of the belongings that he'll need on this trip. "Thank you again."

Jack sits on the bed next to his trunk and says, "The women have all been talking about your arrival all day. Apparently there's a new columnist or something that talks about the gossip of London and your name was in the first issue. I didn't read it but every lady and their mother is ready to throw themselves at you."

Nico looks at his friend as he pulls out his neatly folded clothes. "Are you serious?" he asks. "Why is my name so popular here? I haven't been in London since I was a boy."

"Since you apparently added 'Viscount' before 'Nico Hischier'," Jack teases. "Sorry to hear about your dad, by the way. Your brother seems to be taking it really hard."

"The hardest out of all of us, I think," he sighs as he hangs up his clothes. "He didn't want our father's title so he refuses to take it and disowned us. He won't marry either. I guess that's up to me now. It's why I'm here."

"Damn, I thought you were here to see one of your closest friends," Jack says. It brings a smile to Nico's lips as he pulls more clothes out of his trunk. "I do wish you luck, Nico. My brother is also going to be looking for a wife this season after having many secret rendezvous and raking his way around London since he was 18 so maybe the two of you can get together and discuss your options."

Nico rolls his eyes and finishes unpacking his things. "Maybe Quinn and I will share a drink or two while we find our wives this season," he comments. "I am very tired so I think I'm going to call it a night. We should go out tomorrow though so I can get reacquainted with London before the social season officially begins and I am not left alone."

"Absolutely," Jack laughs. "Have a good night, Nico. Someone will call you for breakfast in the morning if you'd like to join us. I'm sure Quinn and Luke will be happy to see you again."

He nods and Jack leaves the room. Nico collapses onto the bed with a heavy sigh.

The next few months are going to be rough. Hopefully he can meet and begin officially courting someone early in the season so he's not constantly surrounded by a bunch of women and their insane mothers.

༺♡༻༺♡༻༺♡༻༺♡༻ ༺♡༻༺♡༻༺♡༻

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