#i will be nice to this oc someday (no promises)

[identityquest]

oc-tober day 3, old oc, and day 4, redesign! captain maral coldseasons is not my oldest oc but one of the oldest for sure, and her design changes slightly every time i draw her. it felt appropriate to draw her for these prompts. maral funfacts: she is a starship captain and an accidental pirate and rebel, having been forced into a life of crime to accommodate a wrathful ghost that's attached itself to her. she and her small crew commit petty crime while she searches for a way to either appease the spirit or banish it.

[the5n00k]

My light went out in my room so I drew this in the dark

[CW: bright colors, mild eyestrain, and gore]

I find myself singing Misery Meat and The Masochism Tango to myself and this is probably inspired by those but I can't pin down any particular line from either lmao I guess it's just vibes

I didn't really have a plan for this, I just sort of figured out a theme as I went along, all I knew is I wanted special colors instead of just plain flats and black lineart

Someday I'll draw this sona not getting mistreated or horribly maimed but alas she is the muse I've shoved all my negative feelings onto 🙏

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

“Also because I want [Nino] to be more narratively important but that is a rant for another day.” And will that day be someday soon? Wink wink nudge nudge :3c

I am happy to give Nino some love, but before we do, we need to talk about how badly canon has failed him. The reason we need to have that talk is that the love I'm going to give is far more headcanon-y than I usually go in these analysis posts. For most characters, I can give a strong canon-based argument for a core characterization. For Nino? Well, I am pulling this stuff from canon, but I wouldn't exactly label it a "strong" argument. There are even elements of my take on Nino that you could label "grasping at straws".

And I'm happy to own that! I delight in giving Nino all the love he deserves even if it doesn't perfectly match canon, but that means that my Nino is less me leaning into the best parts of canon and more me shifting through canon, grabbing a few shinny bits, and weaving them into something that you may not agree with because my vision for Nino is to elevate him to match Alya in terms of narrative importance because I want the team show season two promised me even if I have to make it myself!

And if you don't want that? Then that's fine! I'm not arguing that everyone should adopt this take. My version of Nino is about as close to an OC as I get when writing fanfic. So let's get into it and talk about why I had to do that. (Also note that I have nothing against OCs. It's just that, when it comes to my own writing, I try to reserve them for original fiction or for very minor roles that no canon character could fill. Totally a matter of personal preference and not some sort of judgement.)

The Many Ways that Canon has Done Nino Dirty

If we look at what is arguably the main group of friends - Alya, Marinette, Adrien, and Nino - then we can see a clear base concept for the first three. Alya is the plucky reporter. Marinette is the headstrong leader. Adrien is the sweet goofball. Nino is... Alya's boyfriend? Adrien's best friend? Chris' older brother?

This is the problem that I was referring to above. Alya, Adrien, and Marinette have clear roles that you could pick out by just watching Origins. Nino doesn't. He doesn't even speak in part one and part two gives him all of six lines. These lines establish him as a nice guy since they're all about him being kind to Adrien, but that's about it. Here's one of them as an example:

Miss Bustier: Agreste, Adrien? Nino: (quietly to Adrien) You say "present". Adrien: (jumps up with his hand raised) Uh, present!

This is a cute moment for sure, but when I look at it, I can't tell you who Nino is supposed to be other than a nice guy, which isn't much to go on. Nice guys can fit a lot of roles.

This isn't necessarily a flaw. Some characters have roles that are immediately obvious and some characters don't. This second class of character usually just has a more complex role that will be discovered and defined based on their actions as the story goes on. However, because Miraculous' writing is all over the place, Nino gets screwed. Instead of his actions defining his nebulous role, his actions make his role impossible to pin down! Here are a few examples:

Nino the Protector:

Season two was big on the idea that miraculous had to be suited to their holders. That's why Chloe kept getting the bee as we saw in Malediktator:

Marinette: I must choose someone who's not impressed by people in power. Who can help me trap Malediktator. Huh?! Of course! That's it. (reaches for the Miraculous of the Bee)

And why did Nino get the turtle in Anansi?

Marinette: I need a protective Miraculous. (gasps, and points at the Turtle Miraculous Master Fu is wearing) That's the one I need, Master! (Master Fu gasps) Uh, if it's okay with you. Master Fu: (smiles at Wayzz, who nods to him) Do you have someone in mind, Marinette?  Marinette: Actually, I think I found just the right person.

Okay, cool, we finally have a strong defining trait for Nino! He's a protector! Or, at least, he was here. Other episodes go directly against this role such as this nonsense from Illusion:

Nino: What's up is Ladybug and Cat Noir don't have us to help them anymore. Alya: (nervously) Um, um— uh— what do you mean, "us"? Nino: Well, us, you Rena Rouge, me Carapace! (Alya kicks his leg underneath the table) Ouch! What's the big deal? We can tell Marinette and Adrien we used to be superheroes.

This first issue with this episode is that we see Nino out his and Alya's secret identities without her permission even though the resistance did NOT require an identity reveal to be a thing. In other words, our supposed protector is taking a big risk for no reason. Then he goes and does this:

Nino: Hence my plan. We're gonna film an akumatization. Alya: And how are you, Comrade Ketchup, gonna be in the know when and where this akumatization takes place? Nino: Easy, Comrade Beurre Maître d'Hôtel. I'm gonna make it happen.

Which leads to the four friends antagonizing Gabriel even though Nino knows how complex Adrien and Gabriel's relationship is. A move that makes no sense for a supposed protector because Gabriel was far from their only option. Nino could have picked anyone, but he went with the riskiest candidate possible, exposing his best friend to a potentially massive backlash.

Nino also doesn't even try to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir prior to this insane plan, thereby putting the whole city at unnecessary risk! What kind of protector purposely causes an akuma without also coming up with mitigation strategies to minimize the resulting damage?

Everything Nino does in this episode should disqualify him from ever holding the turtle again or, at the very least, he should have to redeem himself before holding the turtle again. This is especially true since he never apologizes for anything he did in Illusion and this is just one example of the issue. It's actually kind of hard to find moments where Nino acts as a protector even though he holds the miraculous of Protection. So is he supposed to be a protector? Who knows!

Nino, The Empath:

That first example was long, so we'll pick two quicker ones to flesh this out. The first one is how Nino and Adrien's relationship is defined. In Origins and the New York Special Nino is written as a kind and sensitive guy who is acting as Adrien's guide to dating and other elements of the real world:

Nino: Yup. I love Adrien, but he's like a baby chick that's just started cracking out of his egg. He has a hard time understanding the signals people send him. Alya: What signals? Marinette isn't exactly sending them clearly. I mean, look! What is she doing with her arms? Telling him what to do in case of an emergency landing or something? Nino:(sighs) If only this trip could help Adrien finally come out of his shell.

But then you have episodes like Animan where Adrien is Nino's guide to dating:

Nino: Shhh! You know I'm no good with the ladies, especially this one all of a sudden. I mean, dude, do I go up to her and crack her a joke? Shoot her a compliment? Invite her to the zoo? Play it serious? Adrien: Nino, you're way over-thinking this. "Invite her to the zoo", you serious? Nino: Well, they have this really cool new exhibit there. Adrien: Listen, just be yourself, man.

And episodes like Illusion (discussed above) and Psycomedian (see below) where Adrien is deeply uncomfortable and Nino doesn't notice:

Nino: See, dude? I told you! Hilarious, right? Adrien: Uh... (laughs nervously) Right! Really funny, Nino. Nino: I gotta show you his other sketches. It's insane that you don't know Harry Clown! (laughs)

Which might work if these episodes were about Nino learning a lesson, but they're not. Nino learns nothing, so is he generally in tune with others or is he kind of oblivious to other peoples' feelings? And why did Nino ever think that Adrien was a good source of romantic advice if he also thinks that Adrien is "a baby chick"? Pick a lane people!

Nino's Hobbies

Our final source of confusion is trying to define what Nino even enjoys doing. Horrificator and Queen Banana have him playing around as an amature film maker, but we also see him acting as an amature DJ with the wiki even claiming that he's the head of the school's radio station. So which of these things is his passion? Movies or music?

To be clear, I think it's fine to have multiple passions, but this is a story. You want to keep your characters' non-story-relevant hobbies kind of simple, especially when the character in question is a relatively minor side character who rarely gets much screen time. It's why Alix is only really into roller skating and why Nathaniel is only really into art. You don't want them to be more complex than that.

Even the main characters get this "keep it simple" treatment with Marinette only really being into fashion and Alya only really being into her blog. The girls don't need two demanding passions that would eat up all of their free time, but that's what Nino gets! Film and music are both incredibly demanding passions and it's hard to balance a character who is into both who is also an active superhero. That's a lot for one dude to do well!

I've actually seen fics that cast Nino as wanting to be a director and fics that make him want to be a professional DJ because canon really isn't clear about this pretty basic aspect of his character, but you do need to pick a lane when writing anything that gives Nino a career and so people seem to pick a passion at random.

My Version of Nino

By now, we're hopefully in agreement that canon has made a mess of Nino's character to the point where it's near impossible to say "this is who Nino is supposed to be." However, if you want to write Nino, then you do kind of have to pick a characterization to go with, so here's what I've come up with. Feel free to embrace it or reject it, but know that you will pry my version of Nino out of my cold dead hands because I utterly adore him.

Since Nino is Carapace, I base everything about him around the concept of "protect and defend" because he needs to feel like he deserves his heroic alter ego. I do not want to make canon's mistake of giving him a miraculous that massively contradicts his writing. Especially when that writing makes him feel interchangeable with other characters. At this point, no one from canon screams "turtle miraculous" unless you want to give it to Adrien since he's Ladybug's defender.

I also designed Nino around Alya and Adrien as those will arguably be his most important relationships. He should feel like a perfect fit for boyfriend and best friend respectively. I also took Marinette into consideration because he's going to be part of her team/friend group, so he should work with her, too.

What all that means is that I basically said "okay, this is where Nino is supposed to fit in the story and this is the dumpster fire that canon gave us, how do I pull pieces from the fire and paste them together to make a character that fits who Nino should have been?"

To really get into my version of Nino, I'd almost have to give you a fic to read, but that's way too much for a Tumblr post, so let's keep this high-level and just look at some of my notes on Nino from my lore Bible:

Nino is a major audiophile. He loves listening to music and watching movies/TV shows to study how they play with sound. He wants to be an audio engineer when he's older, but he also has a general passion for all things music and film. He’ll listen to any genre and watch almost any movie or show. He loves to take charge of the music at events so that the music really fits the crowd (and so it sounds good). It isn’t unheard of for him to go see an unknown band or an odd indie film on his own. This will become a major bonding point for Nino and Adrien because of the influence of Adrien's mother. Nino has seen all of Emilie's films and loves them. It will also bond him and Alya as his knowledge of film making will allow him to help her learn the art of filming now that she's doing complex things like actions shots and editing together multiple recordings.

Nino is generally pretty laid back and likes to hear people out. His reaction to confrontation is to try to calm everyone down so that they can get to the heart of the issue. He wants everyone to get along, but he's also not going to let someone take the blame when they shouldn't. Nino protects the innocent.

Nino is incredibly protective of the people he loves. If someone he cares about is in danger, his peaceful nature goes straight out the window. He’s the kind of person who would happily take a bullet for his friends and family. This will lead to him following Alya around once the hero stuff starts because he wants to keep her safe. Never let Alya go out alone if Nino is around or even just aware that a fight is happening. Alya thinks "scoop" and Nino thinks "my Alya sense is tingling." He's NOT there to stop her from doing what she loves, he's just there to be her spotter who lets her focus on filming while he watches for danger, though that will initially be a struggle for him. Treat this as his audition/training for Carapace where he learns to balance protective instincts with getting the job done so that he's ready to perfectly take on his miraculous.

When Nino’s folks split up, his mother insisted that the kids should go to therapy to help process things. They had individual and family counseling. Nino was actually pretty cool with the divorce as he’d seen it coming, but his brother was really affected by it, so Nino spent his time working on ways to help Chris (and being told that he was a brother, not a parent, but he still wanted to help). He learned a lot from going through it and it’s why he’s so good at dealing with emotional issues. He’s also good at not taking those burdens on himself. He wants to help, but knows that it's your battle. Marinette often looks to Nino for guidance on emotional issues because she knows that she's terrible at navigating them. She has given him full permission to stop her when she's too focused on solutions over support. All of the friends will help Adrien figure out social situations, but Nino will be the main guide as he's the one with the strongest skills in that area. Plus Adrien makes Nino's protective big brother instincts go crazy.

Nino’s a bit of a loner by choice. He has "weird" hobbies that easily lend themselves to being done alone and he doesn't have any interest in "forcing" his hobbies on someone who doesn't actually enjoy them, so he spends a lot of time by himself and rarely invites others to share in his interests. He only does that when he thinks that they'll actually enjoy what he's sharing. He doesn’t mind this, but he’s also a very welcoming individual who doesn’t like to see people left out, so he’ll come out of his shell when he sees someone who needs a friend. This usually leads to him making friends who soon become closer with others, but still view him as a casual friend. He’s cool with that. He's just happy that they found their people. Adrien will be the first friend who really stays Nino’s due to an understanding of Nino’s “weird” hobbies. After all, Adrien’s the son of an actress. He’s used to weird indie films and discussions of cinematography. I'd even say that he revels in it and realizes that he has missed it desperately since his mom got too sick to do that kind of thing. Basically, Nino will fill a spot in Adrien's heart that Adrien didn't even know was empty. Adrien can listen to Nino talk about cinematography for hours and never get bored. Before Adrien, no one knew that Nino was this talkative!

If anyone wants more insights into this topic, feel free to send an ask, but I think we'll call this post done now because it's SUPER long.

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Merry Go Round Of Life (Howl's Moving Castle)

"so emotional"

Poll Runner: Ghibli fans rise up!

Against the Kitchen Floor (Will Wood)

And I swear! I will die trying!/I'm still in the process, but I'm making progress; I promise I honestly wanna prove improvement's possible, I swear!/I'm so fucking sorry! I'm not a good person, I'm barely a person at all, But someday I'll be perfect, and I'll make up for it all!

Less rare than scarce, less diamond then rough/Unlikely to be more than just the coal you failed to crush

I'm catatonic in your arms, crying, "How did I cause so much harm?"/I'm down pounding my head against the kitchen floor/Apologizing for my life and ever entering yours

The vertex of my redemption arc/I’m searching on that virgin heart

"The raw emotion! And I strongly relate to desperately wanting to improve for someone you love. I belt out this song when I feel really hopeless"

"my one OC. also me. also it's just a really good song. one of will's best imo. screaminbg"

"Literally hits almost all of my self-esteem issues. Feeling like people only care about you for your body? Check. Not understanding why anyone would want you? Check. Thinking that all you do is hurt people? Check. I don't cry very often but this song DEFINITELY made me teary"

"one of those if u aren’t paying attention to the lyrics ur like this is nice but once u hear them its an OW holy OW and guilt and I’m sorry feelings"

"Just. Loving someone but not feeling like you’re good enough and trying to improve."

"Not only does this song have lyrics that are deeply relatable to me, but this song also feels very deeply personal to the artist and I feel that anyone who listens to it for the first time has that same feeling of getting punched in the gut. Just the lyrics and the melody and Will Wood’s vocals make this song an absolute masterpiece and I cry every time I hear it."

"One reason I'm attached to this song is because my friend sent it to me and said "I'm kin assigning you this song" and ruined my life (/j) It messed me up because I've always had a hard time in my life figuring myself out and dealing with my emotions, and for what feels like the first time, this song has been able to near perfectly describe how I feel about myself and my impact on other people, and it always just meant so much to me that my friend who sent it to me knows me better than I know myself and shared the song with me and I love them dearly."

Against the Kitchen Floor submitted by @pixopolis + others

[itsagoodluckkiss]

I Know The End

Pairings: Roronoa Zoro x f!reader, platonic strawhats x f!reader

Summary: This is based on one of my favorite songs, I Know The End by Phoebe Bridgers, and I take the meaning of this song as a "when you're at the bottom, the only way is up" kind of song. Reader is a friend of Nami, she has air powers and joins the Strawhats after they help her save her town.

Warnings: Mild East Blue spoilers, kinda OC Zoro, typical OP violence, otherwise pure fluff, no use of Y/N

WC: 3.7κ

A/N: Oi, hello there! This is my first One Piece fanfic, took me a bit more than I expected but I did it! I have another one for my first request on the way, but since this is my first, I had to post one about my fave! Also, I'm sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language. Anyways, hope you enjoy it, and if you do, pretty please leave a comment! Requests are open! ❤️

“I’m not gonna go down with my hometown in a tornado, I’m gonna chase it. I gotta go now, I know. Driving out into the sun, let the ultraviolet cover me up. Went looking for a creation myth, ended up with a pair of cracked lips… A slaughterhouse, an outlet mall, slot machines, fear of God… Big bolt of lightning hanging low. Over the coast everyone’s convinced it’s a government drone or an alien spaceship.”

Feeling out of place is something you get used to when living in this part of the East Blue and seek adventure; it is called the weakest sea for some reason after all. Even if she loved her living place, she disliked the fact that people mostly minded their own business without blinking an eye to the suffering and corruption around them. She couldn’t entirely blame them; it wasn’t an easy thing caring about neighboring regions when your own was constantly hit by natural disasters, causing deaths and lifetime labors destroyed.

She had just learned that the Conomi Islands had been freed by Arlong’s cruel rule after eight whole years. She wondered how Nami was. They had met a couple of years ago when she caught her rummaging her family’s vault and helped her through it without getting her caught. She hid her in her room while the Navy was looking for the thief. She didn’t need the money and it was obvious to her that Nami did. Nami was her first real friend. The week they spent together, drinking and getting to know each other, talking about their backstories, their wants and plans for the future was the best in her life. She had promised that after she’d buy her village back and free it, she’d come to see her again. She hadn’t heard from Nami since.

They said it was because of the Marines the islands were liberated. She could never believe that for one second. Her curious personality always managed to get her into the Navy’s business, making her family’s influence and prestige on the island take a hit every time she got into trouble with them. She couldn’t help that all this talk from the Marines about justice and keeping the peace made her want to throw up on their shiny uniforms. She knew it was all an act for them and their allies to maintain power. How could Marines talk about values when regions and people were enslaved and the Navy turned a blind eye instead of helping, just for power and some berries?

Her dream was to end all that fake order and bring actual freedom to those in need; to become a freedom fighter and help people. She needed the right opportunity but also, she had to take advantage of every situation if she wanted to get away from that place someday and seek what she so wholeheartedly craved. So she learned her family’s secrets and strengths. It’s not every day you see generations of people knowing how to yield the air around them, giving them a bunch of abilities like flying or sucking the air out of their enemies’ lungs or causing hurricanes of every size. She knew when to play nice and be obedient so that her parents would teach her their ways, thinking that she would grow out of her rebellious phase, would learn about and protect her family’s rule. It’s not an easy task for them to cover up the Navy’s dirt on the island after all.  

The more she mastered her power, the more she could see that something was wrong with her family. She had started to notice the patterns. Every time the island was hit by a storm or a natural disaster, they were never home. At first, it would make sense that they’d go and help their people. Then, after the storms, her island’s Navy unit and its captain started collecting “taxes” for rebuilding the infrastructures. Thing was, the taxes would constantly go up, bringing inhabitants to their knees. Meanwhile, her family didn’t seem affected at all. They would just roam the island, giving advices and pacifying the angry voices that protested the Navy. So, she decided, in the next hurricane, she would learn her parents and older siblings’ sketchy business. She had to know what was the cause of all this and what she could do to change it.

~

Meeting new people travelling between islands and seas was a fascinating thing. She loved hearing stories about their adventures, about different places and bigger dangers, fights between pirates and marines or about the golden age of piracy. About the Grand Line, the different weather conditions in each island, the devil fruits and the abilities they gave their users. She would always wander through the port, looking for more myths coming to life by the sailors that docked their ships on her island for supplies.

When she spotted a beautiful pirate caravel, with a sheep figurehead in its bow and its Jolly Roger with a straw hat, docked in their port, she felt a strange wave of excitement and peace. She couldn’t explain it but that beautiful ship radiated so much love and care, like it had a soul of its own and a smile that made everyone feel like home if they stepped into it. She stood there, admiring it from afar, when she felt someone standing next to her.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Her name is Merry! She’s my ship.”

She turned to look at the stranger. A boy around the same age as hers, with a small scar under his right eye and a straw hat on his head, and that made her assume this was the captain. He had a smile so vibrant, it reminded her of the sun. His energy was so welcoming, she felt like she could be friends with him on a whim.

“Hello. She is indeed a sight to behold.”

She gave him a warm smile back, raising her hand to introduce herself.

“That’s a pretty name. I’m Luffy, and I’m gonna be King Of The Pirates!”

She couldn’t help but laugh, but it had no malice. She loved dreamers, being one herself, and even if she met that boy only a couple of minutes ago, she could see he would give everyone in the world a run for their money. A gust of wind blew, taking his hat away, and before he could react, she brought it back to him through the air around her. She placed it on his head and gave him a toothy grin.

“There! You can’t be King Of The Pirates without your trademark, right?”

“THANK YOU! YOU’VE GOT AIR POWERS? THAT’S SO COOL! YOU SHOULD JOIN OUR CREW!”

She was dumbfounded by his enthusiasm and his abrupt proposal. Never had she met anyone like him, so thrilled by her presence and her little air tricks. Before she could reply, she heard footsteps and another male voice behind her.

“Oi Luffy, stop scaring people by asking them to join us like that, will you?”

She turned to look at the deeper voice, and for a moment it felt like lighting coursing through her veins. Taller and more muscular than the boy next to her, he looked a bit older than them both, with short green hair and eyes gray as steel, three golden earrings that gleamed in the sunlight graced his left ear. He had a sharp gaze that radiated a strong and confident energy, one that lacked fear or hesitation. She never believed in love at first sight, but this felt as close as she could imagine it would feel. The man approached them and introduced himself to her.

“Roronoa Zoro? As in ‘Pirate Hunter’ Zoro? In a pirate crew?”

Of course she had heard of his reputation. Who didn’t know the infamous bounty hunter swordsman in the East Blue? He chuckled at her surprise.

“Yeah, well, long story short, this guy here has an effect of convincing people easily.”

“There you are, you idiots! We’ve been looking for you everywhere! We’re not here for me to babysit you not getting lost, we’re here to find my-”

She heard a familiar female shriek before she felt soft arms around her, squeezing her tight, and she immediately knew who it was. She could never forget her best friend’s hugs. She returned the hug as she screamed Nami’s name, before they both started to cry tears of joy. Her hand grabbed her upper arm, and she felt deep scars where her Arlong tattoo should be but was replaced by another, prettier one.

“I was so worried about you! I learned what happened to your village and I didn’t know what to think!”

“You should have known I’d be okay, you know I always pull through. Although, these guys were the greatest help I could get. They are the reason I’m freed and I wanted to keep my promise to you.”

She looked at the boys around them with gratitude, two more joining them, a blond boy wearing a suit, who looked like he would burst into flames from the heart eyes on his face and another one with wavy hair, a long nose and mischief in his eyes.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping my friend. She means the world to me!”

“Whoa, Nami’s your friend? Now you should definitely join our crew! We’ve heard so much about you, the only reason we stopped here before Loguetown was to find you!” Luffy said with enthusiasm.

“Yes, it’s not every day you hear someone born into money giving them away without question, hiding the thief in addition and fighting their way to get them out safely. You must be quite the character.” Zoro smirked at her.

“And to add to that, you’re also a sight to behold, my lady!” the blond boy said as he kissed her hand and introduced himself as Sanji, making her laugh at his advances.

“We’ve heard you have a great mind for plans too. Could use a strategist in this group of idiots that run into danger head on. I always device a plan to beat my enemies. I’m Usopp by the way.”

She was dumbfounded to say the least, taking them all and their kind words in. She met these guys a few moments ago, yet never had she felt such a feeling of being so welcomed by the people around her, she was so used to being ignored that this interaction almost made her sob. She kissed Nami’s cheek before letting her go.

“I… thank you guys… you’re all so sweet… but I don’t think I’m that good-”

“Bullshit, you’ll be the smartest person besides me in this crew. Come on now, I know how much you long to get the hell out of this place, they’ve never appreciated you anyways, and I don’t think anything changed since we met.” Nami proclaimed, smiling at her.

“No… not much anyway. I just learned how to use my powers now… Look, I don’t know what to think of this, I have-”

A loud rumble shook the earth below them. She felt the temperature drop rapidly and she knew what was coming. Now was her chance to find out the truth she looked for, the one that could possibly make her decide to cut ties with her family if her speculations were true. She turned to the Strawhats, as they called themselves, and smiled brightly.

“Thank you guys. But I have to run now. There are rooms for rent down this road, run and cover yourselves and don’t come out before the storm passes. Maybe I’ll see you around after that.”

As they started to protest, she flew off to the source of the hurricane she could see coming from afar.

And sure enough, the feeling of throwing up from disgust and despair overwhelmed her when she arrived at the source. She saw her family controlling the hurricanes and lightings that hit her island, and the Navy captain, who she knew was a devil fruit user, was shaking the ground, causing the earthquake, while his Unit watched from the sidewalks. Bodies were scattered around damaged buildings, scenery of pure horror. Before she could react to stop this, she felt boulders hitting her, splitting her lips and bruising her body, blood running down her jaw as she fell down.

~

Logically, everything fell into place. Emotionally, nothing made sense. She couldn’t comprehend how she could have been raised by such cruel people. Her eyes welled up with tears, but not from the pain she felt on her body, but from the sight in front of her, as her parents approached her, proclaiming she was not mature enough to understand their family’s best interest and how she has always been such a disappointment, never listening, never following orders, an annoying, meddling child.

“Do whatever you want; we can’t do anything about her anymore.” Her parents proclaimed to the navy captain as he too approached.

“You’ve always been a pain in the ass and I can finally get rid of you.” The captain proclaimed as he unsheathed his sword.

She closed her eyes but she never felt the blade on her skin. The captain’s scream echoed as his arm got cut off from the shoulder, his sword hitting the ground.

“Swords are not toys, captain. You don’t get to play with them.”

Her head spin to the male voice behind her and her eyes widen as she saw the five pirates ready to fight. Zoro was the closest to her, having drawn one of his swords that was now covered in blood, leaving a clean cut on the marine’s shoulder. Usopp was standing a few feet behind, a slingshot in his hand as he shoot at the navy soldiers, the collision ended in blasts and the soldiers started to run away. Nami was holding a strange, long, steel pole that seemed by its use to control the weather around them with air bubbles.

“You’re not hurting a lady on my watch.” Sanji proclaimed before his leg collided with the bleeding captain’s face, kicking him to the ground.

“He was already done, curlybrows.”

“Shut your mouth, marimo!”

They were bickering as if they all were not in a life or death situation. The most shocking thing was Luffy, who was stretching his body as he was wielding what seemed to be the bark of a tree around, taking soldiers and her family with it.

“Nami said you had problems with your family. You seemed worried. So we followed you.” He said with a toothy grin.

Zoro grabbed her hand and raised her from the ground.

“You know how to fight I assume?”

“Yes I do.”

“Well then, let’s give them hell, pretty girl.”

~

Either way, we’re not alone. I’ll find a new place to be from. A haunted house with a picket fence, to float around and ghost my friends. I’m not afraid to disappear. The billboard said "The End Is Near". I turned around, there was nothing there. Yeah, I guess the end is here.”

And sure enough, she couldn’t believe the six of them managed to stop the destruction while fighting the whole navy unit and her family combined, who were now running away from the angry crowd that had assembled when the hurricanes stopped and saw the whole thing happening.

“You guys… I can’t thank you enough-”

“Pffff, that was nothing, it was funny being blown away, felt like flying hehe.” Luffy laughed as he grabbed her in a hug. “You’re Nami’s friend, so you are our friend too!”

She had started crying by now as she hugged Luffy back, the feelings she felt in that moment couldn’t be described.

“I think… I think I’ll join you guys!”

~

A week had passed since her family fled off the island that was now filled with marines who listed the damages and arrested their own dirty kind. They had made a futile attempt to take the strawhats in, and before they would even start a fight, the people of the island wreaked havoc, not even letting them close to their saviors. She took the crew in the house that was now hers.

She helped Nami move all the gold from the house onto their ship. She gave Usopp advices for his trinkets and how they would fly through the air easier. She cooked with Sanji and then would catalog the storages that would be taken with them to their journey, with Luffy receiving several kicks from the cook because he tried to eat everything. She had never had so much fun in her life as she had with them. Her favorite moments came at night, usually spent drinking with Zoro. They had talked about their childhoods, he had told her about his family how died when he was a toddler, his promise to his childhood friend who died way before her time, how he acquired that big scar across his chest. The more she got to know him, the more connected she felt to him, like a final puzzle piece falling right in to place.

On their last night, everyone was fast asleep, getting the rest they’d need since they would cross the entrance to the Grand Line the next day. But her anticipation wouldn’t let her sleep. After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, she got off her bed and walked around the house, taking it in one last time. She had decided to gift it to a large family whose home got destroyed. It was a fact that she didn’t want anything to do with that place anymore. Tomorrow morning her life would change forever. Her mind leading her nowhere in particular, she walked to her terrace. The wind, soft and gentle, rustled through the leaves of the trees, creating a soothing melody, and she could see the sea ahead, illuminated by the moon, which casted a silvery glow on the water. It was a peaceful scene, yet she could feel her heart racing when she saw Zoro sitting on the bench of her terrace, polishing his swords. 

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked as he glanced at her.

“I… I guess I’m nervous about tomorrow.”

“It must be a little overwhelming, I guess. Don’t worry though, we’re a good crew, we’ll take care of you.”

A small smile played on his lips. His words were reassuring, but there was something else in his tone, something that made her heart skip a beat. She bit her lip, walking to the edge of the terrace, her hands holding on to the railing as she tried to find the right words to say.

“I know I’ll be safe with you, guys. It’s just… it feels like the end is near for me in this place… and being in a pirate crew is going to be something so new and big… and I don’t feel like I bring a lot on the table…”

He chuckled softly as he placed his swords down, walking towards to stand next to her, taking her hand in his to give a firm squeeze.

“The end is near for this part of your life, indeed. But you’re strong, you’re brave, and you’re a great fighter. You’ve been through a lot and yet you’re one of the kindest people I’ve met, still standing here, ready to face whatever comes next. That takes a lot of courage, and it takes character. I think you bring a lot, and you’re going to fit right in with us. You’re not alone.”

She smiled shyly, feeling warmth spread through her chest, her eyes almost welling up. He smiled back, his expression genuine.

“Thank you, Zoro. You really have no idea how much that means.”

“I think I do. I know what it’s like to be uncertain about the future, to feel like you don’t belong anywhere. But you belong with us now. You’re going to make a great crewmate. It’s good to have you on board. I have a feeling you’re going to surprise all of us with what you can do.” He paused, his expression a bit more serious. “And… if you need to talk… or vent or… anything… I’m here.”

A deep blush crept up across her cheeks. “I… thank you… for everything. Same goes for me.”

She felt her heart flutter as he continued to hold her hand, her stare moving to meet his gaze. She couldn’t help but feel more at ease with him and he couldn’t deny the way he felt either.

“For now, I think we should just enjoy being together and explore this new thing we’ll find ourselves in. Who knows what kind of trouble we’ll stumble upon?”

“I’m looking forward to seeing what awaits us.” She leaned a bit closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “And I’m looking forward to get to know you better too.”

It was time for his heart to skip a beat at her words. Her eyes widened but before she could shy away, he leaned in closer, and their lips met in a tender, hesitant kiss, a slow, gentle brushing of lips. The sounds of the forest faded away, leaving only the beating of their hearts and the rush of blood in their ears.

~

“Take care!”

“Come back soon!”

“Sorry I was mean to you, can’t wait to see you again!”

“Be safe and make us proud!”

“Don’t disappear!”

Most of the town’s people were at the port to give their regards to the strawhats and her. The others were already abroad, her being the last to climb the rope ladder on to her new home. She turned around before hoping on to the deck, and took in how weird and eerie her town looked now, like looking at a haunted house from afar.

“So, the end is near, then?”

She lifted her head to see Zoro’s smirk as he gave her his hand to lift her on to the ship. Someone shouted at her to not disappear. She wasn’t afraid of that. She was afraid of staying still. Her head turned around one last time and she saw nothing there.

“Yeah, I guess, the end is here.”

And she took his hand.

[nwqueenwrites]

Halsin/OC TAV

(Fixing the horrid canon ending!)

Sunlight streams into the room as you awaken, instantly warming your skin. During the night, you had fallen asleep curled against Halsin, drawing comfort from his presence after the harrowing battle.

As you stir, Halsin runs a hand gently through your hair. "Good morning, my love," he says softly. "How are you feeling?" You nuzzle against his chest, not yet ready to face the day. Sensing your need for quiet, Halsin simply holds you close for a long moment.

Eventually, duty calls you both.

As you finally rise and dress, Halsin explains his plans for the refugees. "I will take the children and any others who cannot remain here. We will travel far from Baldur's Gate and establish a new grove, a safe haven."

Your heart sinks, knowing this means his departure. But you force a brave smile. "They could have no better guide than you. The children adore you." Halsin takes your hands, regret in his eyes. "I wish we had more time. But the refugees need stability and shelter. I cannot delay the journey." He strokes your cheek. "My heart, you have your own path. Do not feel obligated to accompany me."

Though it pains you, you understand his reasons. "Of course. The children must come first," you reply, blinking back tears. "Just...promise you'll think of me sometimes during your travels."

"Always," Halsin whispers as he pulls you close once more. No matter what the future holds, you will carry the memory of this farewell embrace for the rest of your days.

As Halsin holds you close, neither wants to be the first to let go. You bury your face against his neck, breathing in his earthy scent. This may be the last time you feel the comfort of his arms. Reluctantly, Halsin loosens his embrace. Up close, you see the grief dimming his eyes.

"I confess, now that the time has come, parting from you feels...unnatural," he says raggedly. "My spirit already yearns to have you near again." You cling tighter, wishing you could freeze this moment. Halsin continues, "But I cannot delay the journey. The children have suffered enough instability." He strokes your hair, his voice filled with regret.

"I must not be selfish, no matter how much I..." His words trail off, but you hear the unspoken end of his sentence. No matter how much I need you. Need us. You pull back to meet his anguished gaze. "I understand…" you whisper. "The refugees must come first." You manage a bittersweet smile. "Follow your calling, and...know that you have my whole heart.....Always."

Halsin cups your face with aching tenderness. "And you mine," he replies. "No matter where your destiny leads, I will love you eternally."

Though it pains you, you step back, letting his hands slip from your grasp. His duty is clear, as is yours. With one last lingering look, Halsin turns to gather the refugees, his shoulders heavy with sorrow. Your paths now diverge - but perhaps someday they will cross again. For now, you have only memories to sustain you.

As noon grew near, Halsin finished loading the last supplies onto the wagons, sadly glancing back towards the city one final time. He hopes against hope to see you running to join them after all. But the gates remain empty.

Nearby, the refugee children gather around him in a cheerful swarm, chattering with excitement to begin the journey. Their high spirits lift Halsin's mood slightly. Little Anya tugs at his robe. "Mr. Halsin, is the nice teacher coming with us?" she asks brightly. Halsin's heart sinks. He forces a smile. "I'm afraid they cannot join us just yet, child."

Jorin, an older orphan, pipes up next. "But they're always teaching us and reading stories! They have to come to the new grove too!" The other children murmur in earnest agreement. Halsin swallows down fresh grief, touched by their attachment to you. If only you were here...

From the wagons, some adult refugees call out as well. "Where is your partner? They helped tend the sick ones daily."

"Yes, and boosted morale with songs and tales around the fire!"

Halsin raises a hand, reluctance in his voice as he explains you cannot accompany them now. The children and refugees' crestfallen reaction at your absence mirrors his own feelings. But the journey must commence, even if his heart remains behind.

With a heavy spirit, Halsin climbs onto the lead wagon. As the procession rolls out, he wonders if you glance back from the city walls. Wherever you are, he hopes you understand how deeply you'll be missed.

As they start to depart, Halsin is distracted by the sound of comotion coming from the back of the wagon trail.

Halsin turns to see you standing at the city gates, chest heaving from running. Hope and longing flare within him at your presence, but he swallows it down. You have your own path, and he must not sway you from it.

Before he can speak, you say in a rush, "I know you think I'm better off following my own destiny. But I cannot let you leave without me. My place is at your side." Halsin's stoic resolve nearly cracks at your words. But he hardens his heart once more.

"You do not need to sacrifice your freedom out of obligation. I release you from any commitment to me." You search his eyes, hurt, moving closer to his lead wagon. "So...you do not want me to come? Just say it plainly, and I will let you be." Your chin trembles slightly as you force out the painful offer. At seeing your distress, Halsin can restrain himself no longer. Jumping from the wagon, he crushes you against his chest, emotion flooding through his barriers.

"Forgive me," he whispers fervently. "I only wanted to give you wings to soar, but I was blind. I cannot imagine this journey without you now."

You cling to him just as tightly, shaking with joy and relief. All reservations finally cast aside, Halsin admits what his heart has known all along - that you belong together.

Taking your pack in one hand and your hand in the other, he leads you to sit beside him in the wagon. The future remains uncertain, but Halsin knows that side by side, you will weather whatever storms may come.

As Halsin sweeps you into his embrace, a great cheer erupts from the caravan. You glance over to see the refugees and children looking on delightedly. "Hooray, they're coming after all!" little Anya cries out joyfully. The other children take up the chant, clapping and shouting. The adult refugees are smiling as well. "We're glad you changed your mind!" calls out one man. "The journey wouldn't be the same without you," adds a woman, raising her hand.

You beam back at them, heart swelling with warmth at this acceptance. Halsin takes your face in his hands once more. "They have given us their blessing," he says with a tender smile. "Let us not keep them waiting any longer."

As the procession finally passes through the gates, the refugees and delighted children cheer loudly for you both. Though the road ahead remains uncertain, you know that come what may, you will face it together, surrounded by this community you both care for so deeply. Home is no longer a place, but the bonds you now share.

[taegularities]

hi, could you maybe write something for STARS BEHIND WAVES?

maybe about how they’re doing right now? (fluff, maybe suggestive?)

I really really love this story of yours:)))

Do you think you’ll write an epilogue someday?

(No pressure, i’m just really obsessed with this story)

Have a nice day/good night;)

fic: stars behind waves

pairing: jungkook x reader warnings: kissing, suggestive, his wandering hands and crude mouth lol, this is literally one of the softest couple i have and i love them so much, mention of fear of heights, oc is scared of a river :'), jealousy <3 pure fluff and bliss and love!! wc: 3.1k lol a/n: thank you for the request!! definitely one of my fav fics 🥺 i don't think i will be able to write an epilogue :( but rest assured, they're the happiest they can be. also, i really kinda love this lil drabble, so if you do, too, lmk hehe <3 a/n 2: i just found this in my drafts from when we were playing the amc game a couple months ago lol. hope you enjoy. is also unedited, so be gentle with me lmaoo <3

–

“Maldives.”

“God, no,” you reject, “sounds gorgeous, but. I can't deal with the heat anymore.”

Jungkook clicks his tongue, fatigued from the unproductive day, but agrees, “Okay. Maybe you’re right. We’ve seen our fair share of…”

The last words turn into a mumble, drifting when his attention does. He scrolls on, big eyes glued to the bright screen. He’s been changing tabs for hours now; between travel destinations and booking sites, he’s exhausted himself.

Several three-digit-numbers have burned themselves into your brain from comparing a dozen vacations; planning such a thing is tedious.

You saved money for this. Working your ass off throughout the year, putting extra effort in overtime hours to visit a place you’ve only dreamed of thus far. Jungkook graduated, and you promised you’d steer towards an unforgettable summer.

His shifts at the bookstore were tiring, too. One too many times you called during lunch break just to meet a groggy voice. The late dinners at home transpired similarly quiet, his eyes similarly fatigued.

Then he’d cling onto you at night; he found your warmth solacing. Would tug you in, smack his lips. Yawn against your shoulder before slipping into dreamland, uttering a couple last mumbled “I love you”s and pouty, whiny “Don’t wanna work”s.

Summer couldn’t come faster.

But so couldn’t dinner.

“Maybe we should think about it another time,” you say. “I’m getting hungry.”

Jungkook drops the attached laptop mouse dramatically, shoving it away as he leans back on his chair and declares, “Thank fuck. I’m starving.”

“Should’ve just said something.”

Dinner is relieving to the two of you; having used up all words for today, you eat in peace, each enjoying your meal. Jungkook, reaching for his glass of water, looks up at you once, bowl half empty.

His eyes land above your clavicles, right where the charm dangles. Sparkles. The stars he promised you almost two decades ago. He can’t believe it’s barely been two years since the summer occurred when he found you again.

Time has passed; the two of you reunited with ease.

Spending days and nights together doesn’t come without fights — occasionally, you snap at each other, reminding the other of lonely times, spitting words that soon turn into regret.

But those arguments, as natural as sunlight, pass quickly and give way to comforting words, lips on scarred cheeks, hands over warm bodies.

Even when you were younger, you’d make up softly, comfortably. Would apologise and seek an unknown spot on the island, starving for a distraction. You’d find yet another shell without pearls in it; would try to make things right.

Jungkook remembers one day particularly well; surprising how well it fits this very moment.

Back then you’d hiked up a hill, dizzy in the damp summer heat. You cursed at Jungkook for dragging you along when you’d suggested an effortless, pleasant afternoon at the small market.

Halfway through your journey, you feared you’d gotten lost. You didn’t meet people anymore. The forest grew more tense. You kept your eyes and ears open for snakes or bears or whatever might linger here.

You only felt a sliver of hope when you heard water splashing nearby, hoping it was a lake or the ocean. But what you found instead filled you with far more discomfort.

Not because the river that you found on top wasn’t very narrow or harmless. Neither because it ended in a waterfall that fell for quite a while and then continued the same river, meeting the ocean somewhere.

No, you felt terrified because you knew what Jungkook would want to do.

“Let’s go back,” you immediately blurted.

But he was already on his shit, shaking his head with a twinkle in his dark eyes. You pulled at his tee, ready to turn at your heel and roll down the hill. Jungkook, however, pushed your hand away, freeing himself from your touch.

“No. Let’s cross this.”

You knew it. He was bold and idiotic enough; an adrenaline junkie the way you couldn’t be. Even cliff diving took you a good while to tackle and then longer to get used to. He taught you and kept doing so every year, because you’d enter the island with a newfound fear of heights each time.

“Uhm,” you said, raising your hands in defence, “I do not think so, dude.”

“But loo—”

“No. *No, I—”

You were so close to the edge, though probably not enough for the current to pull you in. Maybe you just hallucinated the proximity, too. Because thinking about it in hindsight, there was probably nowhere that much of a danger for you.

But you still weren’t ready to die yet.

So you ripped your eyes open further, panicking a little when he stepped into the water along with his terrible crocs. You clamoured, voice higher than ever, “What the fuck are you *doing?”

And maybe you would’ve kept your stance and ran away if he didn’t smile back at you like you were nowhere safer than with him. A reassuring grin, secure and certain.

You guess you were already hopelessly in love with him then. Not to mention that you still constantly lost yourself in the kiss you’d shared on your porch this spring. Your very *first kiss…

And you still craved more ever since. Only, Jungkook had never given you more after that.

It didn’t help when he held out a hand, remaining teasing yet sweet with a tilted, crooked smirk. His stance, firm in the water, lured you in although you definitely weren’t one to be risky like this.

But somehow, he could still convince you. Forced a frustrated sigh out of you, pulling you in like a magnetic force as you neared the river. You could see the other side not too far from you, but in your fear, the distance seemed endless.

“C’mon. We got this,” he promised, his voice drowning in the sounds of the current. “If we die, we die together.”

You rolled your eyes. “Shit, you really think you’re poetic.” You climbed over a rock, taking off your shoes, holding them in one hand as the other clutched his fingers tight from the first moment, like a reflex. “You watch too many dramas, gosh.”

He held you in a careful grip. You were smaller then, and his seventeen-year-old body, a strong result of regular gym sessions, withheld the water far better than yours. You, as opposed to him, almost dropped to your knees wading forwards.

You stepped on a somewhat sharp rock under the white waves, but he wouldn’t let you drift away. His attention remained on you. Halfway across, he said, “Here.”

He took your arm and pulled you close, slinging it around his torso, enabling a stronger grip. He was an ass and gentle friend at once — because he scared you on purpose a moment later, acting as though he was slipping.

And just when you yelped once more, watching him squint an eye at the volume, you swore at him thoroughly. You mewled words you hadn’t heard in your voice before, and he laughed, stating, “That reminds me of a school trip.”

“What,” you panted, out of breath, “goddamn school trip.”

“We went to a climbing park, and like… this girl,” he sucked in air through his mouth, tired, too; and you held your breath, “this girl from my class was literally trembling. I— I helped her over a distance until she felt secure. But…”

He groaned, struggling a bit. Or maybe he just acted like he did, you didn’t know. You were more focused than before, that was for sure.

“She was screaming just like you,” he finished.

Suddenly, you weren’t that frightened anymore.

You even forgot that you’d feared death just a moment ago. Your chest burned green.

You asked, “Right. And… and you were holding her like this, too, huh?”

“Kind of.”

“Cool. Co—”

You were out of balance. One blink passed, and you tumbled, immediately digging your nails into his shirt and his skin. His hands saved you as you placed your free fingers onto a stone automatically, one shoe sliding off your fingers.

The river carried it away from you until you couldn’t see it anymore, and you furrowed your eyebrows, mouth wide as you yelled, “No!”

“Forget it, we just need to move!”

“It wasn’t me who fucking suggested this!” you snarled, gritting your teeth.

Your knees shook. You stared ahead — just a couple feet more.

“I got you,” was all he answered, “almost there.”

And when you finally were, you were still cursing, pushing his body away. Under your breath, you murmured a dozen words, and Jungkook, wiping soaked hands at his shorts, couldn’t stop chuckling.

His hair was damp, outrageous when he pushed it back, but it couldn’t distract you this time. Instead, you threw your remaining shoe at him, watching him dodge it with an amused wide grin.

You couldn’t be bothered with his jokes; he was being irritating. There was literally nothing over here. Who knew if there was a way to get off this hill from here at all.

Knees still liquid, you targeted a tree and took a seat underneath it. You caught your breath, observing him as he sniffled and picked up your shoe. You felt empathy for his shorts; he still dragged his hands over them, leaving dark, wet stains.

Then, he dropped down next to you. Nudged your shoulder and said, “Come *on. That was fun.” A beat of a pause as you moved your head to glare at him. Then, “Don’t look at me like that!”

“*You,” you started, face close to his, a finger pointing at his chest, “were almost gonna organise a funeral.”

“Please. Nothing was gonna happen to you.”

“No. Your *own.”

He laughed again. “You’re so cute.”

“Shut up.”

You exhaled. In truth, it hadn’t been that bad. Looking at the river from here, you truly were far enough from the edge, and the water had barely reached your knees. But the thing he said…

You searched for a way to make things less awkward; to not let him know that you were seething with envy. A harmless question came to mind, subtle as you inquired, “Was I at least a little braver than that… classmate?”

He lifted his head in thought, humming.

“Hmm. No.” Your shoulders slumped. How rude. “Hard to judge, though. It took us only a few minutes here, and it took her *hours to cross the climbing park.”

You didn’t tell him that sometimes, you were supposed to take hours. Not everybody was as athletic as him. Hmph.

“You helped her all this time?” you asked.

“Half of it at least.”

You shouldn’t have been jealous. Not bothered by how casual he made it sound, how he nodded… it was all whatever. But also—

“And then?” you dug. “You drove back to school and acted like you hadn’t just bonded?”

“Uhm…” Your heart dropped. Typical first love, typical first frustrating feelings. Your young heart was a lot more feeble. “Something like that.”

But you understood.

“Oh, Jeon…”

“It was just a kiss after lunch, okay. That day, and never again.”

Ah, you hated this. So he could kiss someone else, but not you aga—

No. Stop. What dumb thoughts.

“Okay. Good for you,” you told him, back to your prior tone.

Damn it.

You stared at the abandoned shoe between the two of you.

Shit, how were you gonna go back with one of your initially two Nikes on your feet? He’d have to carry you. At least you put both your socks in the one shoe you didn’t lose…

“Don’t act that way,” Jungkook spoke through your thoughts, patting your knee, “it was a lot more fun with you. She kept saying she wanted to go home and that messed with my own experience.”

“And yet, you kissed her.”

“Yeah, well. Happens.” He rolled his eyes. His voice was still casual and soft; perhaps he didn’t notice the storm in your pupils. “But I’ve had better kisses.”

Or maybe he did notice. Maybe that’s why he was saying that.

You hoped for a certain answer, but still tried, “Oh? Have you kissed more girls since spring?”

Oops. Okay, you didn’t want to ask so explicitly. But up until spring, he had never kissed anyone. And your heart fell into your ass, shoulders relaxing when he admitted, “No. Just her.”

Your eyes were wide now. You ogled at him, and then down to your drying legs again. Suppressing a smile, you nodded; and when you stared up at him anew, he was watching you intently.

Carefully, with tenderness in his gaze.

And he was close. You were half certain he’d kiss you again because for the tiniest moment, his eyes flitted down to your lips. But to your chagrin, the day and summer ended like this — mouth untouched.

He wouldn’t do more until years later.

Instead, he said, “I guess that was the last thing we still had left, right? Think I know this island inside out by now.”

“Probably,” you said, your voice hoarse. You cleared your throat, swallowed. “Would be cool to explore more with you, though. Outside this place, I mean.”

But once again, you couldn’t foresee that it’d be your last summer together for a long time. That you wouldn’t meet the boy bringing you the stars until you had hurt and broken enough.

And he didn’t know either; of course he didn’t. Because soon he promised, “When we’re older and richer, I’ll take you to the mountains. Okay?”

You giggled, unaware of the future. Naive and thinking you’d never separate from him, that you were destined to stay together — as friends or whatever else fate wrote for you.

So you hit his chiselled chest just lightly, telling him, “You’re gonna make me fear heights again, Jeon.”

“Nah,” he rebutted, “I’ll show you the clouds,” he pointed to the sky you couldn’t see, hidden behind the branches and leaves, “from up close.”

“Hmm,” you voiced, “the stars aren’t enough, huh?”

“They shouldn’t be. Strive for more and stuff, right?”

Right…

For a couple seconds, you just looked at him. Nodding a little, smiling, probably lovesick with hearts floating in your eyes.

Eventually, you lifted up your body, getting to your feet with a hand against the tree. “Okay,” you finally agreed, “mountains then.”

–

The charm glimmers in the light. It flashes Jungkook a little, and he blinks, moving his gaze up to your face. You’re finishing up the remnants of your soup, bowl tilted, getting to the last drops.

But your movements are slow, and you’re quiet… and he wonders whether he stayed silent for too long, too.

He calls your name softly, meeting curious eyes. His heart immediately pounds, and he says, “I was just thinking of something.”

You smile. “Figured. I was, too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You first, though.”

“Hmm.” He lets the spoon drop, looking at the empty bowl, and then suggests with folded arms, “What do you think of the mountains this year?”

You raise your eyebrows. Look at him as if you understood. As if you recognised where his mind wandered to, and where the source of this idea lies.

And then, you prove that very point when you ask, “Were you remembering the waterfall incident?”

His lips form an O, expression sickeningly sweet and surprised.

“Were you, too?”

“Just a little. Since we said we don’t want any heat this year.”

He puffs out a breath; a slight, disbelieving shake of his head follows. Then, he simply says, “Sick.”

You kiss your teeth, nodding along. “You did promise back then. Mountains, I mean.”

“I did. And we can still totally go.”

“I’d love to.”

A brief silence envelopes the room. The pause is pregnant, the air lighter than before; and then he breaks the stillness.

“Hey… you gotta admit. You were jealous, weren’t you?”

His voice harbours playfulness, but his eyes hold a glimmer of curiosity. You can’t help but chuckle; thinking back to it, your pout was hilarious. Troubles used to be different back then — your younger self wouldn’t have survived opening the door to a half naked friend. Jungkook, toned chest out, right behind her.

A crazy summer indeed.

“You kissed me that year,” you say, “and then you kissed someone else. Teenage me was going *through it.”

You scrunch your nose, and when he does it in the middle of a laugh, too, you lose your cool. Might be due to the bunny teeth flashing. The sweet crinkles around his eyes.

But you lift off the chair, hurriedly rounding the table, lean over his body and sandwich his face between your palms. You don’t waste another moment — connect your lips quickly, mouth moving against his.

He lets out a tiny sound of surprise, but doesn’t reject you. Instead, his hands wander to your waist in reciprocation, dropping to your hips and then to your—

You gasp, tongues intertwining eagerly; you taste the freshly eaten dinner. Your keen hands hold onto his dark locks. He breaks the kiss only to get to his feet, pulling you close to his body. His head tilts, the kiss deeper. Fingers cradling the nape of your neck.

And then, as he sucks in some air, he whispers, “What was that?”

“Just…” You inhale. “Catching up. Doing what I should’ve done back then.”

“She says as if I don’t kiss her *all the time.” Soft peck against your lower lip. “Or as if I wasn’t just inside her this noo—”

“You’re so obscene, Koo.”

He snickers. “Alright. Now that we know what we want to do,” his breath is warm against your skin; you shiver, “we can book the vacay a bit later, too, right?”

Breathing is hard, speaking even more.

Your lips are parted, yearning for more. You’re irritated by the layers of clothing between the two of you — which is why you’re quick to agree, “Not opposed to a break.”

“Also,” he continues, his eyes locked onto yours, voice tinged with anticipation, “just so you know. Our kiss *was way better than whatever I did with Jiae.”

Another soft laugh escapes your lips; the name is insignificant for you. The intoxication of the moment matters; him and you. But you still jest, “Didn’t need to connect a name to that memory.”

His chuckle matches yours, voice barely above a whisper.

“I love you, you know?”

And that’s all he breathes for the next hour. Genuine confessions, tender praises — your name.

So often that you soon forget any other in the world — beyond continents and oceans.

–

liked it? then let me know!! 😁 and if you haven't yet, feel free to read the full oneshot that this drabble's a "sequel" to, as well <3

[capn-twitchery]

desire for grace and fear for twitch?

desire: What’s one thing your OC wants more than anything in the world? Are they open with that desire? Why or why not? What would they do to fulfill it?

this question genuinely stumped me for so long because oh my god what does grace want? this poor guy is literally just surviving day to day i don't think he knows what he wants

i think. grace wants to go home. he wants to rest, & have some peace. grace wants to help people where he can

that's it, that's all.

but he doesn't know what home means for him,,,he can't go back to anything he knew before. he tried going back to the navy, and that didn't go. great. (that goddamn dawn machine)

he's not open about it, really (although. i'm sure anyone can tell it's what he needs, he looks so tired) because he feels selfish about it-he doesn't deserve to rest, surely. and a promising young navy officer-not that that applies to him much anymore-needs bigger goals than "have some peace." so he won't really do much to reach it, either.

so he's just kind of drifting. doing whatever he can, for other people, mostly.

but it does get better, i promise! it takes a long time but it does. he learns that home doesn't always mean a place you go back to at the end of the day-sometimes home can be people instead. and that he can help people without sacrificing his own wellbeing in the process.

he realises he's allowed to be content-maybe even happy, someday

fear: What is your OC’s greatest fear? What do they do when confronted with it? Are they open with their fear, or do they hide it away?

oooh. there's a few, but i think the deep-rooted, more Psychological one is: twitch is afraid of dying for good, running out of time, before they get to do anything or be anyone

they lost half of their life to the cage gardens. they didn't have a childhood, a time to figure themselves out, space to think about what to do-they came into existence halfway into adulthood.

people are less willing to look past your mistakes when you, seemingly, should have 40 years of life experience. but they...don't. twitch has existed for 5 years or so. and they want a full lifespan. it's why they're so adamant on immortality!

if faced with their own mortality-real, mortality, not visiting the boatman and coming back-they will freak out (second sacristan fear is real). and they will freak out at anyone who raises an eyebrow at their immortality goals, too but they could never explain why.

they're open about wanting immortality, but not why, and not the fear itself. if you ask them why they'd say they just wanna fuck around & have fun for longer! but no, they're terrified of running out of time.

and surely they owe it to the people whos memories they have, to keep them alive as long as possible?

oc asks: not-so-nice edition

[czolgosz]

"rpf ocs" is a fascinating phrase i would love to hear more abt that if you would like to share

ok there's really only one rpf oc (i just didn't want to make up a new original story tag format) and that is gwyneth (no last name) who you've probably seen me mention?. and she's just following the classic leon czolgosz rpf thing of having prominent fictional characters. but to recap: she parasocially falls in love with leon czolgosz and breaks him out of prison (through the power of surrealism not needing to make apparent sense), and well to be quite honest he doesn't like her or her dragging him around very much. <-explaining the relevance of the reblogged image i used #rpf ocs on. and again something important to note is that it's based on a dream i had which is why i'm always calling it "rpf from my subconscious"

umm just to pad out my response here's a description of her demeanor that i wrote for my associate SAM of mckinleygirl98 hello SAM. (btw i'll return to collaborative writing someday i promise 😭. i think of it often..) well hopefully this isn't missing any context that i otherwise told them (i'm not going to bother rereading):

gwyneth’s main thing is that she feels trapped by society, partially because she actually is due to being a woman and very clearly having some things going on psychologically, and partially in silly unsympathetic ways—she’s very “i wish I were poor so I didn’t have to act respectable 🥺!” with no thought of what being poor is actually like. at her core she’s remarkably self-centered and solipsistic and is decidedly unconcerned with politics despite being aware of how eg. feminism could help her because she just doesn’t feel like she can be bothered. she’s also obsessed with the concept of romance and specifically wants to have a “forbidden” romance to cut her off from higher society; this is related to her sort of fetishising style of classism as well as her immense loneliness and idea that a man can “rescue” her from her life, because again she has a sort of self-inflicted learned helplessness going on. <-hopefully this is all coherent.

and then mckinley gets shot. she sees his assassin in the newspaper. she finds him conceptually alluring; he’s really taken a shot at society! look at his initiative!! and she decides it’s time for her to break out of her metaphorical prison and take action as well by breaking this guy out of his literal prison. she plans. her weird, prying questions and suspicious reconnaissance all go smoothly because she’s white and has no foreign accent and dresses nicely. she succeeds at getting him out—despite the necessity of some murder, it goes oddly smoothly, the first indication that maybe this… isn’t actually happening. leon is rattled. gwyneth doesn’t care. she has some high expectations for him! and is very thrilled by this whole situation! but she hasn’t developed that much. she tries to defer to leon for decisions despite him being even more clueless than she is (did i make it clear before that gwyneth has some internalised misogyny problems?), but, importantly, she sees him as more of a concept than a person, as she does most everyone—she’s just decided that he’s an important concept, so in the narration he gets a name and something of a personality. and anyway as i’ve previously mentioned, gwyneth becomes more controlling and paranoid as the story progresses. and it all ends in ambiguity over whether her death was suicide or murder, whether leon died too, and where she even is at the time. <-hopefully this is all coherent too??

MAIN TAKEAWAY: gwyneth is ridiculously self-centered and doesn’t see anyone, including herself honestly, as a complex being with thoughts & feelings & goals, and this definitely comes across

[wip]

Not a high priority request but it would be nice if we could add private notes or tags to tumblr users that would appear beside their username or upon hovering over their name/icon. Or something like that.

I do a lot of blocking to "mute" people when I'm combing through tumblr's tag search but it's hard to go back and specifically unblock those people since I don't have actual beef with them. And I can't simply unblock everyone in my block list to free the innocent because I certainly do have been with some people lol. It would be nice if I could add a note or tag to whom I'm only temp blocking.

Other use cases for this feature:

Noting names on friends who change their icons and urls at the same time (whyyyy) so I can remember who they are.

Noting a username someone uses off-tumblr so I can easily connect the two.

Noting people's art tags so I can find their OC quickly.

Putting reminders on people so I know I owe them something (like a commission, update on a project, money, etc).

Privately note someone's triggers so I don't accidentally bring one up when I'm talking to them.

Noting someone's pronouns.

Reminder of a personal meme related to a friend so I don't miss any opportunities to use it to dunk on them.

Answer: Hey there, @pancakeke!

We’ve sometimes thought about an optionally visible property of blogs to have a: “previously known as” section, similar to Steam. It is fairly common for blogs to include: “I used to be _” in their about if they want users to know anyways, so having this data as a field that we could leverage for features like Search or be visible when a user hover over a username could be helpful.

So, in short, this is a very cool idea. We can't make any promises, but we certainly hope that we’ll do that someday. But thanks for your feedback.

Best,

Rebecca and Cyle

[negative-speedforce]

yet another song lyric prompts 1, 5, 7, 9, & 10 :)

Prompt 5: 時間なんてものはとても時として残酷ででもその残酷さゆえに今が作られて Time is sometimes a cruel thing but the present is made by that cruelty (Trauma)

With: My OCs Marie and Qiara

"You came back for me. Why?" Marie looked up at Qiara from the chair she was seated in. "You and I both know I'm not worth it."

"What?" Qiara bent down, cupping Marie's face between her hands. "Don't you dare ever talk like that about the woman I love! I came back for you because I care about you, you idiot."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Marie rolled her eyes. "I could have killed you when I was... y'know."

"Possessed by a delusional cyborg with a god complex?" Qiara raised an eyebrow. "No, I had it all under control. Mostly. It would take a whole lot more than that to kill me, trust me."

"But..." Marie took a deep breath. "I'm standoffish, prickly, difficult, terrifying. At least, that's what the crew says. I've been voted 'Worst Bedside Manner in the Fleet' three years in a row. You put your life, and Liah's, on the line just to take me home, even when I told you to stay away."

Qiara laughed, tears leaking from her eyes. "Since when have I ever followed orders? I wasn't going to let them keep you. Not when I had never told you the truth about how I feel. You mean everything to me, Marie, and I'm sorry you've never had anyone to make you feel your true worth."

"You're such an idiot." Marie pushed Qiara's hands away, curling into herself. "I told you to stay away. I didn't want you to get hurt. Or worse, if they would have taken you, too? I would never be able to forgive myself."

"Listen, Marie." Qiara kissed Marie on the forehead, sending shivers down Marie's spine when her girlfriend's lips brushed against the metal implant just below her hairline. "I made a choice. Both me, and Liah. We knew the risks, that this might be a one-way trip. But you're worth it. You are so worth it, and the fact that you don't see it? It breaks my heart in two. You are an amazing, brilliant, beautiful woman, and I wish you could see yourself like I see you."

"Me too, I guess." Marie shrugged. "It'd be nice to not hate myself for a while."

"Someday." Qiara squeezed Marie's hand. "Someday you'll learn to love yourself. But until then, I promise I'll be there to do enough loving for the both of us."

[yellowvixen]

Hi, hello! Binturong anon with a lot of word vomit here, so be warned. I just read your reply to my ask and I'm so happy right now! I was slightly worried for a bit that you didn't like my silly little story, but hearing that you put off posting it because you liked reading it made me feel warm inside. And you want to draw it someday??? 😳 I can't believe this I'm hdhdjgk

As for my Sol OCs, I do have a few that are specifically parallels, but I'm never quite happy with them. There's always so many good ideas and I sometimes end up finding other people's takes on them that are SO cool (like Rime!) or that have ideas I was thinking of and I'm suddenly paranoid that I'm ripping off somebody else's character...

I absolutely get the struggle of deciding things like species, there's so many cool animals to use and I freaking struggled deciding on ones for mine. The Knuckles one is probably one of the most complete actually, but unfortunately I cannot show you her or any others because I'm not an artist. 😞 So I just rotate them all in my head until I think "Nice" and put it down on a digital notepad. I'm always interested to see others create their takes on them though! I'm certainly interested in all of yours!

I never considered Team Dark, apart from my Sol Shadow, who's definitely the least thought out. There's so many other cool ones out there, so I never really bothered. The few I have, if you're curious, are supposed to be Knuckles and Amy, to round out Blaze and Marine's Classic Quartet basically. And also a different Sol Eggman, because Blaze's nemesis being Eggman in G-major feels like a kick in the face to both Blaze and the actual Eggman 😒. (I also have a Sol Big but she's technically a joke character. She's also really small. I gave her a dinosaur though, as all women deserve.)

Anyway, basically just wanted to let you know that Rime is cool and I'm going to be thinking about that reply for the foreseeable future. Have a good week!

SORRYY I LEFT THIS SO LONG stuff kept happening and then I got ill and then more stuff happened 😩

But! Yeah!! I think it's cool seeing other people's ideas for stuff like this, like I know for sure there are other versions of Sol Shadow out there that are ice powered cats like Rime!! I don't rlly think it's the end of the world if people independently come up with the same ideas as long as you don't purposefully copy anyone.

God you're so right about there being so many cool animals to choose from... Sol Rouge was easy for me but everyone else is being a pain skfjfhdgd. Eventually I'll figure them out though. (One day I promise...) Also! It seems like you have the descriptions of characters down even if you can't draw them, so you could always commission someone!!

I love the idea of Sol Amy too, I personally have 0 ideas for them so might not design my own version tbh. But having a Sol Classic 4 is super cute! You could have a lot of fun with their designs too, the way classic Amy looks pretty different from modern Amy. Sol Eggman too... I've just kinda retconned Nega and made him actually be from the Sol dimension idc about canon LOL I haven't thought about it too much.

Also TINY SOL BIG??? I'm in love that's so cute and such a fun alt version. With a dinosaur too FUCK yes.

I really love how imaginative people are when it comes to the Sol dimension, actually giving it more characters and lore! If sega won't give it love then at least we will 😤

Thank you sm for enjoying Rime, and once again sorry this took so long for me to answer 🥲🩵 I hope you have a nice week too!!!

[driedupeyeballs]

Hi! So! Remember Spider? Yeah? Did you know he’s… not my only… Yuu… OC…

Fox! Fox Peterson! What a dude! Uh! Yeah!

Yeah! So them and spider grew up together, and despite being pretty different in most things they’re practically inseparable. They met when they were both around 7-ish because they lived in the same neighborhood, eventually Fox moved to a different state but they kept in touch and never drifted apart. They got isekai’d into Twst on the same day once when Fox was visiting. Fox had come down to where spider lived because a band they both liked was playing a concert in the area, and the carriages came when they’d gotten split up before the show started. It took them a while to find each other in tw but once they did they made a promise that when they finally got out of tw, they’d see that band in concert someday

.

They have a lot of pets! Idk if I’ve mentioned this but Spider has a gray cat named Smoke in his homeland, and a tarantula named Willow that he has in tw and keeps in his dorm. Fox has three dogs and two cats in their homeland, the dogs are Solar (Golden Retriever), Cielo (German Shepard), and Wisp (Husky), and the cats are Sophie (Russian blue) and Howl (Himalayan)

Fox joined the fencing club at Royal sword academy as they’ve always had an interest in sword fighting and similar things, they have a small sword collection in their homeland.

Fox is trilingual, they speak English, Spanish, and Japanese. They speak a little bit of French but isn’t fluent

They befriended neige fairly quickly, as well as a few of my rsa OCs, namely Dove (twisted from prince Florian) and Elis (twisted from Alice.) Jasper (Jasmine) takes a liking to Fox fairly quickly, but Jasper has a tendency to take a liking to everybody and has gotten into some bullshit bcuz of it, so his vice housewarden is a bit (VERY) protective of who he hangs around with. Che’nya likes messing with Fox cuz he knows they’re too nice to bite back.

Speaking of that, generally Fox is too nice to bite back. They’re extremely logical, calm, and collected in any given situation, which is one of the reasons they work well with Spider, given that Spider has a very short temper and tends to blow a fuse at a lot of things, so Fox can always mediate. There are very few occasions where Fox would ever raise their voice, they always try to be a voice of reason in every situation.

Fox is an ENFJ, which is almost the complete opposite of Spider’s INTP. Also, in the subtlest of Nice moments I could possibly add, Fox’s birthday is exactly 69 days after Spider’s birthday.

I have a third Twst OC who isn’t a Yuu, but he’s an NRC student that spider and Fox befriend, making my main Twst OC trio. Also that oc’s birthday is 69 days BEFORE spider’s birthday (so his is April 7th). Can you tell I’m bad at coming up w birthdays 😔 anyway third little shit is Calliope Mavros (he/she/they), they’re twisted from the hydra from Hercules. Theyre Ignihyde’s sole jock

Floyd’s nickname for them is Garibaldi, which is this funky guy. He calls them any variation of it, but usually “Gari-chan” or “Lil’ Garibaldi.” Unlike Spider, Fox loves their Floyd-chosen name and actually has a little garibaldi plushie that they sewed because of it. Spider is jsut salty he didn’t get called a shark and is instead stuck as Little Koifishie lmao (also shoutout to person from discord server for coming up w Garibaldi for them I could not figure out a good Floyd name for them)

Rook had a hard time coming up with a nickname for Fox bcuz there’s rlly no gender nuetral anything in French so monsieur doesn’t have a neutral equivalent, he ended up just landing on maître des lames, which, if google translate isn’t failing me, is Master of blades.

Also their dynamic with Jade is very silly!!! I shall ramble about them for a moment. Spider works at mostro lounge so Fox and Calliope were chilling there one day, and it was one of Fox’s first times at NRC, and their first time at Octavinelle. Spider warned them to steer clear of the leech twins, but Fox is one of those ppl that can literally make friends with anyone so they often don’t heed such warnings. Spider had to go do some work and told Calliope to make sure Azul n the twins don’t rope Fox into anything. Fox is a bit gullible, but they’re still logical, so Calliope didn’t think it would be a massive deal for her to leave Fox unattended. It’s not like they’re a child. So Calliope went to grab some stuff from his dorm that they’d forgotten, leaving Fox alone. Didn’t take long for Floyd to sniff out the fresh meat, and Floyd was already messing with them from the bat. But Fox wasn’t getting annoyed by his attempts at getting under their skin, they were just doing their thing of being way entirely too nice. Now, Fox is also a big fan of mushrooms, and Floyd noticed the fact they were wearing mushroom earrings and he somehow verbally rolled his eyes, groaning abt how he didn’t need more mushroom lunatics in his life. As if summoned by some godly force, Jade materialized behind Floyd and complimented Fox’s earrings, to which the two began discussing mushrooms and Floyd immediately left the room, groaning as loud as he possibly could. And through the power of fungi and mostro discounts Jade managed to accidentally win over this idiot, then he ends up falling head first soon enough

Thanks for dealing with my rambling

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

Love Like Ghosts (Lord Huron)

I don't feel it till it hurts sometimes/Oh, go on baby, hurt me tonight/I want ours to be an endless song/Baby, in my eyes, you do no wrong/I don't feel it till it hurts sometimes/So go on, baby, hurt me tonight/All the spirits that I know I saw/Do you see no ghost in me at all?

"The use of ghosts as a metaphor for ghosts is just. so good. The idea of being haunted by your pasts love/seeing yourself as a ghost because of love is such a fascinating idea like?? Referring to the concept of love with "what ain't living can never really die" is really interesting because the love was "never living" meaning....that the love wasn't real? that the love was one sided? that they were never in love at all? it could mean a thousand different things and the entire song is skewed from the perspective of the narrator. The character narrator's of LH songs are....notoriously unreliable to put it lightly, and this one could be viewed in the same way. The narrator is adamant that the person they're singing to doesn't truly love them, but doesn't want them to leave her, but we have no way to know that for certain. She implies that the person is lying to her and doesn't truly want her with the line "You don't want me baby, please don't lie" but again, we don't know if thats true. It leaves this song is such a weird state of leaving the listener guessing and walking away with their own meaning of the song."

Against The Kitchen Floor (Will Wood)

And I swear! I will die trying!/I'm still in the process, but I'm making progress; I promise I honestly wanna prove improvement's possible, I swear!/I'm so fucking sorry! I'm not a good person, I'm barely a person at all, But someday I'll be perfect, and I'll make up for it all!

Less rare than scarce, less diamond then rough/Unlikely to be more than just the coal you failed to crush

I'm catatonic in your arms, crying, "How did I cause so much harm?"/I'm down pounding my head against the kitchen floor/Apologizing for my life and ever entering yours

The vertex of my redemption arc/I’m searching on that virgin heart

"The raw emotion! And I strongly relate to desperately wanting to improve for someone you love. I belt out this song when I feel really hopeless"

"my one OC. also me. also it's just a really good song. one of will's best imo. screaminbg"

"Literally hits almost all of my self-esteem issues. Feeling like people only care about you for your body? Check. Not understanding why anyone would want you? Check. Thinking that all you do is hurt people? Check. I don't cry very often but this song DEFINITELY made me teary"

"one of those if u aren’t paying attention to the lyrics ur like this is nice but once u hear them its an OW holy OW and guilt and I’m sorry feelings"

"Just. Loving someone but not feeling like you’re good enough and trying to improve."

"Not only does this song have lyrics that are deeply relatable to me, but this song also feels very deeply personal to the artist and I feel that anyone who listens to it for the first time has that same feeling of getting punched in the gut. Just the lyrics and the melody and Will Wood’s incredible vocals make this song an absolute masterpiece and I cry every time I hear it."

"One reason I'm attached to this song is because my friend sent it to me and said "I'm kin assigning you this song" and ruined my life (/j) It messed me up because I've always had a hard time in my life figuring myself out and dealing with my emotions, and for what feels like the first time, this song has been able to near perfectly describe how I feel about myself and my impact on other people, and it always just meant so much to me that my friend who sent it to me knows me better than I know myself and shared the song with me and I love them dearly."

Love Like Ghosts submitted by @danidoesathing

Against the Kitchen Floor submitted by @pixopolis + others

[strafethesesinners]

What Color Does Your OC’s Love Feel Like?

tagged by @shallow-gravy @cassietrn and @inafieldofdaisies to do this quiz for my ocs thank you :3 I wasn’t sure how to do this for my ship exactly so I just did the main boys

@florbelles @deputyash @socially-awkward-skeleton @nightwingshero @trench-rot @nuclearstorms @afarcryfrommymain @belorage @ms-rampage @henbased @adelaidedrubman and whoever wants to brain is fuzzy rn

bright sunny yellow

Sweet tasting popsicles, summer dresses and shielding your eyes from the sun. Your love is the excitement of something brewing, something growing. It's the almost childish bubbling giggles of something new, but with the potential to stay. It's wide smiles, blinding sunny light and warm bodies that gravitate to one another. It's the the softness, the willingness, the slight holding of breaths in a crucial "what if" moment. It's the impatience too. The bouncing on tiptoes to see further than your eyes can reach, the holding out for a future that never seems to come even though you're ready, you're so so so ready. It's the constant feeling of warm sand beneath your feet, holding out for the crashing waves. And still you wait, dry and impatient and with burnt soles of feet. Your love is sour candy, enjoying it as your nose scrunches up from the aftertaste of it. It's hands that grab and take hold, that reach and ask them to stay and hope and beg and wait. It's bubbling excitement sure, but it's also demanding, focused, driven. It's love like a plan, with a path and route and a clear destination. And you bonce on your tiptoes, and burning, waiting for the soothing water, the crashing waves, you hold onto the melting popsicle, you wait and wait and wait. It's tiring almost as much as it's lazer focused ambition, deeply rooted desire and the unrelenting hope that it will work, that it will come. And it does, I promise it does. The waves crash, the beach floods and the pain passes, the water cool and soothing and you can let yourself fall in, sinking, sinking. And it's good, it's perfect, what you were hoping and more, holding and embracing you and welcoming you into the stillness you always knew you were reaching for.

soft fresh green

Nice breeze, bare feet and freshly cut grass. Your love is a lighthearted hope for the future. It's protecting your eyes from the sun but enjoying the light rays still, it's laying on the grass and feeling it tickle your neck. You look to the side and they look back at you, full of hope and plans too. You plan together and laugh all day and your sunburn will feel like them. Your love is delicate, hesitant. A well curated binder full of collages for a future you can't be sure will come, but you keep going, you keep planning, you keep squinting at the sun and smiling, and running your hands through the grass so it will smell better. You keep holding onto the bright sky even as the sunsets, even as the starry night stares back. But you keep on holding, you keep on dreaming, you close your eyes and feel the sun on your skin and convince yourself that the sunburn is good, it's something to hold on to, just makes it linger a bit longer. Your love is a lighthearted hope for the future. It's sweet and wonderful and it keeps love alive, makes the world a better place. You run your hands through the grass, clench your fingers tighter and keep making plans. And I can only thank you and hope I can learn to love like you someday

deep staining red

Ripped out confessions, warm velvety whispers and a heart like an open wound. Your love flows out like dripping blood, beautiful, flawed and twisted. It's gut wrenching, the type of painfully dramatic feeling that makes you clutch your chest, picturing dramatic monologues about love and loving and big screen over the top scenes of sobbing into your pillow until you fall asleep. It rips out of you, clawing it's way up your throat more so than tumbling out. Sticky words that just need to be let out, feelings so big they don't fit inside you. Your love isn't easy, it's a true bloody mess, dripping and staining everything it touches in a desperate attempt to be seen, to be felt, to be loved back. And you, you love so hard, so deeply, so much for someone who carries all that pain. Atlas holding up the world, how are you? Is your love still flowing? Is your heart still open? Still pumping and bleeding and dripping with blood and tears? Still painting your beautiful pictures and writing your love letters in deeply personal red ink? Because I see them, I read them, I love them and you, you, you, you. Clench your chest, scream your love, cry it out. Spill your words of loving, keep your heart beating, keep your love coming and paint the entire world red with it. Make it in your image, keep going, it's okay. Maybe one day the whole world can be red and loved and beautiful just like you.

[welldonebeca]

it's a Bad Idea, right? (4)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OC!Betty WC: 1.2k words Warnings: Mafia AU. Secret identity au. Tension.

If you like my work, consider buying me a coffee or subscribing to my Patreon. It’s just $2 a month and I promise you won’t regret it.

Masterlist

Betty should not have been surprised to cross paths with Steffan again.

Sure, New York was huge, but Brooklyn wasn’t endless and there were only so many placed Hydra had its tentacles on.

But the supermarket was a new one.

She hadn’t seen him for a whole week, but his tip really had been helpful that week, to be fair to him.

The Mafia paid well, indeed.

That was why she remembered him, of course.

No other reason.

He was the one to stop her before she saw him, all the way in the dairy section.

“Betty,” he called.

And maybe she was ovulating, because the voice of that man shouldn’t make a healthy woman this thirsty in public.

“Morning,” she spoke back.

Steffan walked to her, his golden hair wiped back and perfectly in shape.

“Good morning,” he smiled, all charming, his basked in one hand, and the thing looked tiny compared to him.

Betty tried to look nonchalant and casual on her spot.

“I would like to apologise for the other night again,” he offered. “I didn’t meant to spook you.”

She shifted the basked to her other hand.

“It’s alright,” she assured him. “You were really respectful.”

He stopped at her side, and damn, she was so tall. And large.

“Still,” he insisted. ‘It was a haste decision.”

She nodded. Yes, it was.

“Thanks.”

They fell into silence for a moment, quiet as she looked through the cold shelf.

“Trying to find cheese?” Steffan asked, sounding a bit… tense?

She glanced back at him, and the joke was too quick on her lips for her to stop it.

“A bishop in Wisconsin said something antisemitic so the temple has decided to boycott cheddar cheese.”

And just as she suspected, that right right over Steffan’s head.

“Oh,” he exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were Jewish.”

Betty winced. Oh damn. She’d just told a German she was a Jew.

Her grandparents would be so disappointed.

“It’s...” a joke, she tried to argue, but decided against it. “Yeah. Non-practicing, though. I get all the persecution and none of the benefits.”

She wanted to curse at herself. Her jokes were horrible, why she did keep making them?

“But don’t tell your friends,” she mumbled. “I know Hydra is… not… hm… friendly. To us.”

Nazis. Hydra was full of Nazis.

And Steffan was a fucking German!

"Your secret is safe with me," he assured her with a friendly smile. "You should try cantal."

It made her frown and look at him.

Cantal?

"Cheese," he added quickly, as if clarifying. "It's a good cheddar replacement; they're quite similar."

Yes, it was.

Now, Betty was French. Dad had been the one who had the idea of immigrating to the south of France for work, and mum would have followed him to hell, which was why Elżbieta was born there, and Polish or not, she was French.

In France, cheddar cheese was practically a mortal sin. If a temple ever decided to boycott it, she'd sign up in a heartbeat.

"Parmesan too," she chimed in as she picked up a block. "It's very nice."

She tossed it into her basket.

"If you're keeping my secrets, then I should tell you I'm not eating kosher."

Nor did Wanda and Pietro. They had never eaten kosher since moving in together – Betty hadn’t eaten kosher since she moved out of her parents’ house.

"I eat cheese and egg and bacon sandwiches twice a week," she confessed, the package of bacon in her basket enough of a proof. "Usually with bagels, and often with cream cheese too."

If she was breaking the rules, might as well break all of them at once.

He hummed along, seemingly unperturbed.

"Sounds tasty," Steffan remarked.

Betty’s thoughts ran wild as she held the basket in both hands.

Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t-

“I can make you one someday,” she offered, leaning it to get a sick of butter, not looking at him.

Now, she didn’t know she wanted him to say yes or no, dammit.

"I'd love a bagel sandwich anytime," he said simply, the sound of a smile quite obvious. "Do you need help with those groceries?"

She exhaled, relaxing.

Okay, alright.

Piet was home, he could keep an eye in for her.

“Absolutely,” she agreed. “I’ll have a lot of bags to carry.”

Two bags. She had two bags.

But he was strong, he could carry them.

“I can help you,” he offered. “With the rest of it.”

And he did.

It was a foreign and a strangely serene experience to shop with him. Steffan was quite good at picking fruits, didn’t complain about her carrying a calculator to make sure she didn’t go over her budget and bagged her items into her ecobags very quickly and neatly.

He took the street side of the pavement when they left, with all three bags – two of hers, one of his – and didn’t seem to require a lot of talk.

“How long have you been in New York?” he asked as they crossed a street.

Betty paused for a moment to consider.

It’d been… a while.

“Seven years, almost eight,” she told him. "I came when I turned eighteen to study Fashion Design at FIT. I got to study costume design for a couple of years, but things got tougher back home, and I couldn't just work as an unpaid apprentice while funding my own visa. So, now I'm a waitress."

And she recognised how out of place it was to be from fucking France and go to the United States to study Fashion, but ever since she was a little girl, Betty wanted to be in New York. And now she was in New York and it was nothing like she expected or wanted it to be.

"Fashion?" he inquired. "Sounds nice. So you design clothes and keep up with trends and all that?"

Betty nodded, offering a faint smile.

"All that," she agreed. "But I haven't had the chance to work on clothes in a while."

“Why?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

She glanced at him and shrugged.

"I'm a waitress," she reminded him. "I don't have much time or money to spare."

Steffan nodded in understanding.

"I see," he said quietly.

She looked at him.

“What about you? How long have you been here?”

It was his turn to pause, and he seemed to think about it as well.

“Over a decade,” he decided.

And yet, Steffan didn’t elaborate on it, which peaked her curiosity even more.

Yet…

“Is this one of those answers you’re not allowed to detail?” she asked, trying to sound less tense and more playful. “Because of the business?”

He chuckled in response.

“You can say so,” Steffan decided. “I don’t think I’m allowed to share that details.”

She hummed along.

“Do you know a lot about it?” he asked suddenly. “The business?”

Betty bit her lower lip, tense.

Well.

“I know enough not to mess with it,” she shrugged. “And to not tell you guys about my heritage, although I was dumb enough to tell it to you.”

He let out a chuckle, and she felt her cheeks a bit warm.

“And I can assure you this detail won’t leave my lips,” Steffan affirmed again.

Betty knew. Sure, she had only met him once before, and yet… well, it felt like she could trust him.

He had something in him she couldn’t quite name, but enjoyed.

They arrived at her building, and Betty stopped, taking a deep breath.

Okay.

She was bringing him in.

"We're here," she announced, indicating her building.

Steffan hesitated for a moment and then gestured towards the gate.

"Ladies first."

. . .

“it’s a Bad Idea, right?” was posted on my Patreon in September 2023 and is fully finished. To have early access to it (and lots of other stories), consider subscribing to my page! It’s just $2 a month, and I know you won’t regret it!

. . .

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