#i wish we got to know the unveiled more

[idkfitememate]

I really like your stories, especially about the Creator otter. It would be great if when the truth is known, they take the Creator otter to the "true creator" and when he tries to hurt the otter, the attack returns on its own or something happens. to prevent him from harming the beautiful otter and so it is known that he is the true creator, I imagine he would have many more pamperings than before

The Otter Chronicles Pt.3

⋘ Previous Part » ♡︎

૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა Pairings : GN! Otter Reader x Fontaine

૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა W.K. : 2.2k

໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ Tags/CW&TW : Angst, some fluff, many mental breakdowns

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : I. Am. So. Sorry. You have been waiting for months for this but I didn’t know how to continue and then I got writers block and UGH-

But I’m here now :). And your gonna get your wish :3

Future note, this will probably be split up into at least one more chapter because I know for a fact I won’t be able to write all the idea, plus, I have an idea on how to finish it!!~~

As you snoozed peacefully, the quiet seemed to seep into the room, suffocating everyone within it.

“So… the otter sat on your lap… sleeping… that’s the creator?” Finally, Wriothesley broke the silence that had consumed the room, making Furina jump and you chitter under your breath, snuggling into her stomach.

“Do we have any proof?- I mean, besides what happened with the Primordial Sea-“ “Do you need more evidence?” Neuvillette interrupted. His face was stern and cold, hands gripping at his pants.

“Well… it’d be nice to at least know for certain?” Wirothesley sighed out, a hand pressing to his forehead. He leans forward in his seat and took a breath before speaking again. “I mean, genuinely, can’t you see where I’m coming from? Sure, you might trust your gut or whatever magical power you’re keeping from us, but this is a little hard to believe for a guy like me. I mean, who knows! Maybe it was coincidence the Primordial Sea went back into the lock!! Because I’ve personally never seen a creature besides a human jump in there, have you? Maybe it’s all just one big joke I just-“ He stopped, huffing, hands shaking.

“I… we gave our everything… to the Creator. And now I’m finding out it was all a lie? If it’s true, and they really are THE Creator… then I’ve just been lying to myself?? That everything I’ve went through, every trial I’ve faced, every man I’ve stared down as we sent him to his death, every challenged I’ve faced… that i convinced myself that I would get through for them… that it was just a test to prove my worth… my loyalty… would it be for nothing..? I’ve…” The man stood up, chair knocking back behind him as he rose, tears staining his cheeks. Neuvillette also stood, putting a hand in front of Furina. Chlorinde simply sat with hands drawn to her lap.

“I’ve devoted my LIFE to them!! I’ve given my EVERYTHING to THEM!! I thought… I THOUGHT… I THOUGHT THAT THEY WOULD SAVE ME FROM THIS DAMNNATION OF SOULS GRIPPPING TO MY CHEST, CRYING OUT THAT I COULDNT SAVE THEM!! MY SIBLINGS, MEN I KNEW COULDNT HAVE BEEN GUILTY AND AND- YOU WANT TO SAY ITS ALL BEEN FOR NOTHING?!?” “CALM YOURSELF WIROTHESLEY!-“ “NO! BECAUSE THIS IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS!”

A shouting match began between the two men, Chlorinde jumped up and wrapped herself around a now shaking Furina who was about to cry again, holding your form close to her chest. As the men screamed at each other - and teacups started being thrown - you finally stirred, opening bleary eyes at the scene unveiling before you.

Why were people screaming..? What… You looked up to see Furina shaking and silently sobbing over you, Chlorinde hushing her and whispering into her ear, though you couldn’t hear what she was saying. Wriggling around enough to face the shouting, your eyes widened at the sight of Neuvillette and Wirothesley screeching at each other, both Visions glowing wildly at the emotions of their wielders.

It was getting to a point where your ears were starting to hurt, so you leapt of Futuna’s lap, which led to her and Chlorinde whipping their heads to you, and ran over to the shouting men. You didn’t know what had come over you, seeing them both fight - something you never thought you would’ve witnessed honestly - and ran between them paws raised. Both paused for only a second, before Wirothesley started arguing again and Neuvillette followed. You tried to chitter and call over both of them, not getting anywhere with their raised voices.

You took a deep breath, focusing. This had been something you wanted to try since the beginning but just never had the time nor the energy to do so. But if there ever was a time, now was it. Your brows furrowed as you focused on any and all water in the current room, imagining the water following your command, as though alive and you its master. You grunted, catching Furina’s attention as she called for you to come back.

Cups suddenly started shaking in the room, only the Archon and Dualist taking note. It also didn’t help that the entire building was surrounded by water, though luckily you were able to mostly focus your attention on the small bits of water in the room. Neither Wriothesley or Neuvillette stopped to look at you as you raised your little paws to your head, the shouting mixed with your focus bringing on a headache.

Finally, it came to a close when Wriothesley shouted at the top of his lungs; teacups shattered and liquid swirled around the room, tea and water and otherwise swimming around the room like a raging typhoon, slamming into walls and knocking over objects. Finally the Duke and Sovereign stopped looking just as shocked as the Duelist and Archon. You pressed your paws forward, all the liquid slamming onto the arguing duo, pushing them into wall on opposite sides of the room.

Neuvillette looked remorseful while Wriothesley was shocked, eyes as wide as possible and jaw slacked. After a moment of silence you dropped your paws, allowing the two to fall to the floor drenched and standing in puddles.

“Holy… Holy Shit. They are the…” Wriothesley looked towards Neuvillette who nodded. Wriothesley fell to his knees, hands gripping at his hair and tears filling his eyes.

“All my life… was a lie?” You rushed to his side before he could spiral, rapidly chittering and crying, wishing you could speak so you could comfort him. In fear of another argument you began to cry. You sniffled and placed paws on his arm, practically begging him not to fall down that dark hole of spiraling thoughts.

Suddenly, you felt a hand on your head. Fingers gently carded through your fur, and you looked up, meeting Wriothesley’s eyes. They were still teary, filled with grief and sorrow, but there was something behind it, something bright.

“Mm… don’t cry little guy. I didn’t mean to uh… scare you?” His smile was shaky at best. You whined and climbed into his lap, paws pressed to his cheeks and small kitten-licks to the tears he evidently didn’t know about, rubbing away any others you couldn’t get. His eyes widened, quickly trying to rub away any stray tears he caught.

The others watched the scene, not daring to speak. Eventually Wriothesley picked you up to stare at you. All his life had been spent worshiping one person, they fell from the sky one day, and he figured that’d be it. He got live in the generation that saw the return of their blessed Creator. Never to have them look him in the eye or anything.

But here you were. An otter. And you had already done so much more for him than the Creator had in such a short amount of time.

It would take a while, he figured, till his mind really did say that you were, in fact, the real and true Creator, till his mind could finally let go of the notion that he’d never get to see them because here you were, in his arms, caring for him.

“… Y’know… you’re a pretty cute little otter.” Everyone’s eyes snapped over to him when he spoke, more tears falling from his eyes. You squirmed around, desperately trying to get close enough to wipe them but were caught off-guard when instead Wriothesley wiped tears out of your eyes.

You cried, squirming in his arms to wrap your own around his neck. Everyone was silent as this happened, watching as his arms gently curled around you, slowly breaking down.

Neuvillette turned away, ashamed that he had lost his cool, and watched as Furina got up from the couch and walked over to you and Wriothesley. She couched down and sat beside you both, laying a head on Wriothesley’s shoulder.

You chirped quietly into the mana chest, letting him silently sob into you.

Only the sound of moving water disrupted the calm.

૮꒰づ˶• ༝ •˶꒱づ ˚ʚ ꒰⁐⁐⁐⁐୨🍯🧁🥥୧⁐⁐⁐⁐��� ɞ˚

That meeting was weeks ago, and now your little group was coming up with a plan to bring this news to light before all the other nations.

It had been well established to them that creatures of Teyvat, from small bugs to the largest beast, would all listen to you under any and all circumstances.

Like now.

While they all spoke under the moonlight inside Wriothesley’s office - one of the most secretive places in all of Fontaine - you swam just outside the walls in a raft of otters, all in all just having a fun time until the inevitable.

The rebellion.

Naturally everyone in the room was pissed, especially since it had been years at this point that that false ‘Creator’ had sat on a throne that was rightfully yours. They could see the effect your presence had on Fontiane.

The sun shone brighter, the water seemed clearer, less Meka broke down, flower bloomed easier, crime even dropped. It was great.

Everyone and everything seemed and felt happier.

Much happier than with that fucking liar.

A map of the large, floating Sanctuary and Shrine that was supposed to house the Creator was laid out across a table, specific entry point circled in red.

“Next week marks the beginning of the *Creator’s Walk. Defenses will grow as this week passes but the first day of the walk, there will be no Acolytes.” Neuvillette broke the silence by pointing towards the circles on the map.

“But they’ll still be in the perimeter. I should know, I was apart of the last Creator’s Walk.” Chlorinde spoke up, adjusting her hat. “I can’t think of any entrance we may have left ungraded, even if from a distance.”

They were silent as they thought. The Creator’s walk was a Month Long holiday where the Creator would walk nation to nation - by themselves - in order to hand out blessings, push back monsters for a following month of no attacks and to retrace their original path between Nations, a show that they were all still connected.

The quiet was broken by the sounds of you chittering, the door opening and revealing you wrapped in a Melusine themed towel, Sigewinne trailing right behind you.

“Thank you Sigewinne for returning them to us, now if you would mind-“ Neuvillette started but was interrupted by the Melusine, “You’re talking about the plan right?” Everyone stared at her while you took it upon yourself to climb into Furina’s lap.

“How did-“ “Uh, duh. I’ve known all along? I would’ve figured you’d have guessed that by now, especially with all the other Melusine and Meka treating them so great? Come on Monsieur Neuvillette, you’re smarter than that!” The sentence was ended with a giggle as she skipped over to the still shocked older man.

Neuvillette shook himself from the sudden stupor, sighing and nodded, before his eyes lit up.

“That’s right. We have all the Meka of Fontaine on our side. They’d do anything for ma moitié. How in Archons name did we forget we have an entire army on our side?” Everyone stared at Neuvillette sheepishly, shrugs and mutters filling the room. Neuvillette sighs and hangs his head, but quickly rebounds.

“Well in that case, most Nations haven’t fought our Meka-“ “But they have fought Ruin Guards.” Chlorinde spoke again. Neuvillette bit his cheek, she had a point. While Meka were different, it wouldn’t take to much the Acolytes to find weaknesses due to said Ruin Guards.

Silence again.

“The Local Legends and beasts alike could be of use. I mean, I doubt anyone’s fought giant crabs before.” Furina mentioned, though most of her attention was on you, drying you off and petting you.

“That is true, Lady Furina.” Wriothesley agreed. Eyes drew back to the map, taking in every spot on the thing.

“There!” Sigewinne was the one to point to a point on the map, near the back to the left of the large estate.

“What’s the spot?” She asked, Wriothesley took one look and responded.

“That’s a window to their wine cellar. Pretty unused but still guarded, why?” Sigewinne looked up with a grin.

“Because it’s closest to a body of water.” Chlorinde looked closely at the spot, and her eyes widened a bit.

“She has a point, and on top of that, while it is still guarded it’s much more lax, especially considering it’s not to far from where the ‘Creator’ will be leaving but far enough where anyone would doubt an entry. On the other hand, it could only appear that way.”

“That’s where Meka and monsters could come in.” Wriothesley started. “When we’re protecting the place we more expect other people than monsters considering they’re all scared of the place.”

The plan started to come together, more pieces being added and who should go first and so on and so forth. Furina was too busy playing with you to really care, but looked up with a confused expression.

“When are we going to tell the others? Vision users, I mean. And… how?” Everyone looked towards her.

“…Fuck.” And a new can of worms now needed to be opened.

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : IM SO FUCKING SORRY I CANT DO IT!! I swear I will be keeping this idea in mind tho because I now have a plan to map out all of the creator stories I swear it I’m just tired omg I’m sorry but I hope this suffices for now-

… This is so disappointing I’m sorry-

[heartfullofleeches]

ITS MY BIRTHDAY TODAY🎉🎉🎉🎉 I was wondering how my favorites would wish me a happy birthday, Tobi, the cafe, host, static, the supernatural harem and the fast food, if that’s too many you can shorten it but I really wanted to have some of my favorite characters from my favorite writer congratulate me on my special day! BTW I’m the one who sent the Prince leash ask, I don’t know if you got it but I accidentally did it anonymously

(The Cafe was a bit too much for me to get this out to you the same day, but I hope you like this regardless! On the bright side, I did get your Prince ask and am working on that too. Happy birthday, chief!)

Tobi:

Has never had a birthday himself, but they know what they are and their significance to humans other regular people. Tobi's the kind of guy to surprise you with presents year round, but as your birthday rolls around they keep items you've had your eye on in their back pocket to gift you on your big day.

Its too embarrassing for them to give you in person, but Tobi creates a collage of all their favorite pictures of you to put up somewhere in your bedroom. Tobi loves baking and cooking so a homemade breakfast, dinner, and your treat of choice would be on the top of their list of surprises for you.

Host:

"Looks like it's a special someone's birthday- Those only come around once a year, you know? If - that's how you want it, anyway."

That time already? Time is a tricky thing for Host to wrap his head around. He could've sworn the last one was just yesterday. It hardly matters. Everyday could be your birthday- Contenstants come and go, but you'll always be his star.

That would, of course, wear the novelty of it all thin. Host is more than happy saving the pinnacle of his gratitude for you as his co-host for that one day. That day's contestants better be too if they want to leave with all the parts they came with intact.

Which is his funny way of saying they won't get any cake.

Static:

"Happy birthday to you.... Happy birthday to you...."

Hunts for every variety of birthday song they can find to serenade you with the second daylight bleeds into your room. Static's disappears predating your birthday can swiftly be explained by the trinkets they bring you, majority centered around the shows and movies you've watched together it knows you adore most.

They'd attempt to rope you into another movie night with you in full control of the remote since it's their favorite way to bond with you - and it's optimal cuddle time.

Supernatural Harem:

"Baron, must you make everything a challenge?"

"Piss off! I left enough room for you two to put your names on the cake.... Maddox more importantly than you, but still."

"We appreciate the consideration, but... Where are we supposed to write "happy birthday"?"

Nothing like waking up on your big day to your Demon husband roommate swearing today will be the day he slaughters your Angel husband roommate. Luckily, your Grim Reaper spouse roommate has the expertise to ķeep you soothed until things cool over long enough for all of them to prepare breakfast for you.

Baron stalks you around to shower you with mandatory birthday kisses- only to get pouty when he's done before noon and continues well past the age you're turning. You'll be older than all three of them by the time he's through.

Maddox, as usual, fills their journal with sketches of you to unveil at the end of the day. Their art skills is the only thing they're proud of in themselves and monetary possessions don't hit quite the mark they're trying to reach when it comes to presents they like to give. If you're a gamer/a fan of stuffed animals they'll pick up a couple so they can use them when you're away and they miss you.

The first birthday you celebrate with Alasdair has to be one to remember. He's watched you from the sidelines for years and now it's finally his chance to do what he's always wanted. It may be a tad selfish of him in hindsight, but he'll pull you aside the day before or after to enjoy a relaxing evening with just the two of you.

Fast Food:

"Code C! I repeat, Coqde C - The clown is loose!"

Birthday? Well you can't expect to have a celebration without the designated party planner, can you? As everyone closes up the restaurant early to commemorate your big day, Twister hoovers over the crew to insure everything goes swimming. The Janitor follows behind it with their trusty spray bottle to keep the clown in check - its the only excuse they have not to give their present to you by hand because they're too embarrassed.

The bathroom Succubus would insist on you opening her gifts to you first - if a certain goat wouldn't pout over it all day as a result. The ballpit hands shower you with all the shiny items lost in their depths. The Storyteller reads you the tale of someone who's birthday happens to fall on the same day - where nothing bad occurs and the universe smiles kindly in their favor.

The ice cream machine ghost whispers in the ears of customers they'd better wish you a happy birthday or be prepared to have dairy filled nightmares

[thebearer]

the milestones menu: nonna berzatto's homemade pasta

prompt: yours and carmen's first "i love you".

contains: fluff, general fluff. some mentions to dead relatives, carmen's self doubt, but very minimal bc it's very fluffy :)

2 cups of flour- Semolina. 

4 Large Eggs 

Pinch of Salt

Put flour into a mound. Make a center, and add the eggs to the middle. Whisk slowly with a fork, gradually working it in little at a time until nice and thick. Knead the mixture for about ten minutes. Let it rest in the fridge for thirty minutes. Put it in a ball, and roll it out very thin. 

“Can’t believe you never had homemade pasta.” Carmen shook his head, blue eyes peeking out from under the mess of curls. 

“Nope.” You shook your head, grinning over the crystal wine glass, sipping your riesling slowly. “Strictly a boxed pasta girl.” 

“Fuckin’ criminal.” Carmen grinned, a playful, lopsided smirk that had you blushing.

The counter was covered in flour, stopping just where you rested, propped up on the granite while Carmen worked. Your eyes trained on his hands, hands that stirred the eggs into the flour, kneaded the dough until your thighs were clenching. 

“My Nonna is rollin’ in her grave right now, you know that?” Carmen pulled you from your gaze, rolling out the dough. 

“Noooo, don't say that.” You laughed, shaking your head. “You’re making me feel bad, Carmen. I swear I thought Olive Garden made fresh pasta.” 

Carmen laughed, a little shy but louder now- more himself. He’d blossomed with you lately, unveiling new parts of himself every single day. “‘M just kiddin’, baby.” Carmen hummed, eyes cutting to you a little skeptical. “Sorry, I-I didn’t mean to sound like an asshole. That sounded douchey, right?” 

You smiled, setting your glass behind you. “No, I was just messin’ with you, bear.” The nickname- his nickname. Hearing it more and more roll from your tongue, each time his heart skipped harder than the last. 

“Is this her recipe?” You asked, picking up the faded recipe card, looped cursive on the aged paper. “Your Nonna’s?” 

“Yeah,” Carmen nodded. “I, uh, so when I left to go to culinary school, right? She was sick, and… and I think she, like, knew that when I went to New York that would be the last time she saw me.” Carmen’s face dropped, slow and sad, it made your own heart sink. 

“So she-she gave me all these recipe books and-and cards that were hers. We used to cook together a lot. She taught me how to cook, y’know? My mom and dad were always at the restaurant and didn’t want to cook when they got home. They didn’t want me in the restaurant either so I spent a lot of time with her.” Carmen muttered. You could see the memories playing behind his eyes. 

You liked to picture that version of Carmen, a little boy with wild curls, helping his Nonna cook. Happy memories. 

“That’s sweet.” You smiled, leaning against the cabinets. “She did a really good job. You know she’s so insanely proud of you.” 

Carmen snorted, shaking his head lightly. “Yes, she is. Everyone’s proud of you, Carmen… I’m proud of you.” You hesitate, eyes scanning his features. It was true, of course, but handling Carmen sometimes was like handling a frightened animal. You were never sure what would make him scatter away in fear. 

Carmen swallowed thickly, cheeks flushed red, lips in a tight line. “T-Thanks.” Carmen muttered, wiping his hands on his apron, tossing the flour back into his clammy hands. 

“She, uh, she woulda loved you, y’know.” Carmen’s eyes met yours, intense and piercing. “I wish you coulda met her.” 

“Yeah, me too.” You nod. “I would’ve loved to hear all the baby Carmen cooking stories. I bet she had some good ones.” You smiled, bright and wide- perfect. It made Carmen’s brain numb. 

“Yeah, she would.” Carmen nodded, hands stilling, still buried in the dough. 

He felt it in his bones, his heart, consuming his thoughts. The overwhelming need he’d felt for weeks, since the first time you kissed him really, that he’d been fighting- too scared to say. What he felt every time he looked at you, when he thought about you. 

“Um, I-I wanna say something, and-and I don’t know if I should even fuckin’ say this or-or if it’s… fuck, if you-you feel the same or I just, I don’t wanna fuck this up because this is like the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and-and I’m workin’ on not ruinin’ good shit in my life and bein’ ok with it like-like my therapist says ya know, but-” Carmen rambled, words spilling out in fast, overwhelming bouts that took you by surprise. 

Carmen flustered, reaching a dough covered hand to his face, the sticky batter catching on his brows and hair. He flushed deeply, hands shaking in embarrassment, cursing under his breath. “F-Fuck, I-I’m sorry. I-I, nevermind, it’s not… I don’t know why-why I would-” His hands trembled, body shaking with anger and embarrassment. Way to fuckin’ go, Berzatto, you fuckin’ ruin it. That’s all you ever do, Carmen thought bitterly, wiping his hands off on the cloth. 

“Carm,” You said softly, your voice a beacon in the raging sea of his mind, pulling him out of his own harsh thoughts. 

Carmen turned, a fury flush of pure embarrassment that burnt all down his cheeks to his chest. Eyes soft and wary, hesitant like he was doomed, destined for the worse. 

You slide off the counter easily, grabbing the spare towel, bringing it to his eyebrows, wiping the dough off gently. The softness of your touch soothed Carmen, lulling his hammering heart- he didn’t see your own shaking hands, filled with your own adrenaline nerves. 

You stood in front of him, eyes on the other, careful and watching- unsure. “I-I love you, too.” Your breath hitched, squeezing the words out in a nervous tumble. Carmen didn’t move, body going rigid, heart stopping entirely. The ringing was back in his ears, clouding his brain so loudly he was sure he heard you wrong. 

“I’ve wanted to say it for a while, too, but didn’t…” You shook your head, heat in your own cheeks, eyes casting down to his dough covered hand. “I didn’t know if-if you felt that or if- I don’t know, I didn’t want to seem crazy or obsessive if it was too soon, and-and scare you.” 

“No,” Carmen croaked, tongue thick in his own mouth. “No, I-I mean- fuck,” Carmen shook his head, looking to the wall. He needed a second, words jumbled in his mouth, heart racing, so high off the adrenaline he felt like he could combust at any moment. 

“I-I was gonna say that too.” Carmen nodded, the quirk in your lips making his heart lurch. “That I love you. I was- yeah, I love you. I-I have for a while.” 

“Really?” You whispered, voice tiny and excited, like it was a secret just for the two of you. Maybe it was. 

“Yeah, fuck yeah.” Carmen let out a breathy, shaky laugh. “I love you, and-and I just love you so much it makes my brain hurt sometimes.” 

“Me too.” You grin, a hand pressing to his cheek. “I love you.” The phrase you’d repressed for so long, deprived yourself of saying now spilled out of you like a mantra- like that was all you could say now. 

Carmen grinned, brain bubbly and light. He let you pull him into a kiss, head tilting down, lips molding over yours so they fit perfectly. 

Later over plates of Bologonese, you grinned across the table from Carmen. “If I didn’t tell you I loved you before, I definitely would now.” You moaned, pointing at the plate. “I really was missing out.” 

Carmen beamed under your praise, gooey and love drunk off your words- off you. He knew Viola Berzatto, wherever she was, was boasting with pride. 

And he knew his Nonna would have loved you too. 

[wave2tyun]

policy of truth and lies | ☆

pairing: huening kai x reader

genre: highschool!au (kinda), band!txt, brother's best friend!kai, fluff, a bit suggestive

summary: a little white lie never hurts sometimes. to what lengths are you willing to go to protect it?

warnings: mentions of throwing up

word count: 3.3k

a/n: this all started just from my silly little desire to write a fic with the brother's best friend trope absdjhabj but honestly, this is one of the fics that i am most proud of, it has a special place in my heart :(<3 shout out to all my dear ningdungies!!!!😼😼💞 i love you all a lot!!!!<33 (and i hope you manage to survive this!!!)

☆ = repost from my old blog!!

“carefully planned-out coincidences” - that’s what your encounters with kai were; something that would appear unsuspicious to the naked eye, yet so obvious to a love connoisseur.

a fixed set of rules had been established in order for such meetings to be successfully completed, and continued.

1. no texting each other when you’re next to others. people love to snoop and steal a glance at your phone screen, getting you easily busted.

2. no form of physical touch is allowed on school grounds, unless you’re well-hidden. you never know what pair of eyes could be lurking around.

and, the most important one of them all: 3. do not, under no circumstances, get caught by soobin.

your brother tended to be more of a quieter person with an almost inhumane kind of calmness in him. that, however, did not apply when it came to unveiling lies. had he found out you had been kissing his best friend behind his back, it would have certainly not turned pretty. you knew that the longer you kept it away from him, the harder it would be to reveal the truth. even so, you kept postponing it, as you couldn’t figure out the right way to do it. you couldn’t just randomly go up to him and say: “remember that halloween party we held last year? yeah, me and kai kissed while you were in pain, next to the toilet bowl, releasing the obscene amount of sweets you had eaten that night”.

it was not the most romantic scenario, obviously, but it was one of the very few moments when soobin and kai weren’t glued at the hip, and neither of you could take the tension anymore. taking your brother’s pitiful cries out of the image, the kiss was actually quite sweet. and no, it wasn’t because of the jelly beans kai had eaten prior to that- maybe only party. the actual reason was kai’s hand on your waist, accompanied by the breathy “can i…?” that he whispered against your cheek.

as cheesy as it may sound, it’s a night that you will never forget.

-for various reasons.

one of them being the fact that it was pretty much the the starting point of a certain “shift” in your relationship with kai. from that day onward, it seemed like both of you tried to find as many opportunities as possible to be in each other’s presence. oh- kai came over and wanted a glass of water from downstairs? whew- well, you were thirsty too, looks like you had to go to the kitchen with him. kai was left on dish-washing duty after parties? you could spare a few minutes to help him out. movie night with the boys? the only free spot was so conveniently the one next to kai.

it was thrilling, adrenaline-inducing. you could never be too sure whether you were subtle enough, or completely alone, so you had to walk on eggshells every single time, no matter what. it got exhausting though, and you wished that, at least for once, kai could come over to your house to see you, not soobin.

kai, on the other hand, was definitely more of a risk taker than you, one that saw no harm in breaking some of the rules every once in a while.

and there are no risks, without possible consequences.

it was something that kai had learned…the hard way…on the lovely day of february 14th.

soobin had invited kai to spend the day together, playing games and trying out all the mystery flavors of a heart-shaped chocolate box. initially, they weren’t supposed to be the ones indulging in the sweet treat, but soobin had chickened out before giving it to his crush at school that day. sulking uncontrollably, he called his best friend so that they could console themselves from the soul-crushing fact that they were both (to soobin’s knowledge) “single”.

while he felt bad for his downcast pal, kai also couldn’t take his mind off you. love was in the air, after all: the rom-com that played on his tv as he was getting ready to come to your house, the lovey-dovey songs playing on the radio, the couples getting affectionate on the streets- they only added further to the burning desire that he felt today, more than ever, to see you. and perhaps…not only see you.

depending on the situation, those coincidences would often consist of: hand-holding underneath blankets or tables, winks sent to redden the other one’s cheeks and, if you were lucky, an exchange of swift, tiny pecks.

none of the outcomes above satisfied him though. the more he thought about crossing paths with you, the more he wished to caress your face, to hold you in his arms- to have an intimate moment with you that involved something more than a “kiss and run” type of situation.

“hey- the race started, why are you not moving?” soobin exclaimed, his mario kart character moving way farther than kai’s across the screen.

snapping out of it, kai shook his head, placing the controller down onto the coffee table before excusing himself “i have to go to the bathroom-” he said as he placed one hand on his stomach, mustering up all his theatre acting skills to put on a pained expression on his face “i think those sweets aren’t sitting right with me”

as soon as he finished that statement, kai basically flew up the stairs, skipping 2-3 steps at once. he made sure to flip the light switch to the bathroom before striding towards your room, to make it seem like he was there.

kai made his entrance with a finger over his lips and a catlike smile.

“what are you doing? you can’t be in here-” you whisper-shouted. kai had never- ever been in your room up until that point. it was too dangerous.

however, you still gave in, not pushing him back through the door he came in from.

he walked closer, coming to cup your face in his hands “i wanted to see you”

“is that so?” you asked coyly.

kai smiled more, sensing the bit of happiness sneaking into your voice beside your attempts to appear mad at him.

“it is so” he answered, waver in his voice from excitement.

“if you don’t believe me, then i guess i could go back to soob-”

“no-” you tugged kai’s arm, laughing “stay, i was kidding”

kai turned on his heel, lips falling into place perfectly on top of yours, transferring his smile to you in an instant “you know i didn’t intend on actually doing it” he whispered, caressing your cheek.

“i know” you chuckled “but you have to make it up to me for the teasing”

you pulled at the collar of kai’s shirt, waiting for him with closed eyes to initiate another kiss. kai chuckled before connecting your lips back together, starting off with agonizingly quick pecks, then attempting to initiate something more through longer, fervent kisses that trailed down to your neck, all while he slowly made you walk backwards to your bed. it wasn’t long before you hit the mattress and the two of you ended up tangled in your sheets, with one hand tugging at kai’s hair and the other one at his shirt as he hovered over you. soft gasps escaped through your mouth- the only acceptable way to lightly catch your breath, as it didn’t involve letting go of each other.

a knock on the door, however, sent kai flying through the air.

“y/n? can i come in?” soobin asked, completely oblivious to the events happening on the other side of the piece of wood that his knuckles had grazed a second ago.

the strong fear that he’d come barging in before you answered, turned you to push the poor lover boy away earlier, catapulting him onto the floor, the fluffy rug hardly alleviating his pain.

“what was that sound- are you hurt?” you heard a worried shout. it was a clear sign that you had no more than five seconds to prepare for disaster.

“i’m coming in, okay?”

seeing the doorknob twist, kai had no time to process his anguish. he wriggled his way underneath your bed, pulling down the blanket to hide his body.

“everything alright…?” soobin took two steps into your room then froze. the sight of your disheveled bed as well as your poor, motionless figure, scrambled up his feelings of concern with confusion.

“yeah- never been better” you replied, brushing out any folds on your clothes with your hand.

soobin’s eyebrow raised in suspicion; it was hard to make your breathing seem normal when your lungs burned like an athlete who had ran a marathon.

“i swear i heard a loud noise coming from your room-”

“nope, uh- nothing here. i was sleeping before you came in” you yawned, stretching your arms up in the air to reinforce your previous statement.

kai placed a hand over his mouth, careful so as not to move the blanket or make any sounds- why did you have to say something that would direct soobin’s attention right in his direction? your brother sneaked another glance at your bed, judging its unusually messy state.

“are you building a bird nest or something?” he huffed, placing his hand on the doorknob, about to leave “don’t answer that actually- i don’t want to know. i just wanted to tell you that the pizza is gonna arrive in about thirty minutes. if you don’t come down on time, i can’t promise that there’ll be any left for you”

with that, the door was shut, allowing your body to slide down to the floor in relief- and the breath trapped in kai’s lungs to be released.

it was only after this incident that kai’s venturesome nature seemed to be slightly tamed. not once did he try to sneak into your room again, nor did he dare to bring up the matter. the one and only thing that he could do, was to look up at you with troubled, wary eyes as he pecked your lips, knowing that it didn’t stand in his power to do more.

nevertheless, it wasn’t long before he proceeded to go back to his usual antics, the feeling inside his heart all too unbearable.

after all, not everyone can resist temptation, can they?

people knew that it wasn’t an unusual occurrence for you to be spotted in and outside the school with the most in demand band of the city, txt- your school’s pride and joy, which both your brother and his best friend were part of. so, whenever you tagged along with them, say it were to a local show, backstage, or during rehearsals, no one questioned a thing.

what was uncommon though, was you receiving private messages from the band’s notably fine pianist, kai, and giggling while responding to him, on top of it all.

this scene was witnessed by a certain someone who you thought had fallen fast asleep in the middle of class. little did you know how effective the bell ringing was to wake him up and how he had the most perfect view to the conversation taking place on your phone screen.

kai

[9:17 am] can you stay after the rehearsal today?^3^

[9:18 am] i miss you…

the witness slowly placed their head back on their desk, choosing to stay silent. this kind of matter required evidence, direct confirmation, and therefore they chose to follow you around for the rest of the day, like a shadow, thoroughly analyzing your words and actions; the texts were your first strike of the day, could there have been anything else you were keeping in the dark? the answer is yes, and you can take that literally- it turns out that the lonely, far corner of the school library makes a good spot for “discreet” pda.

you and kai were tucked away in that poorly lit spot, hugging, laughing- blissfully unaware of the third pair of eyes there with you, glossed with anger and action-driven by betrayal.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

“and that’s a wrap- good job guys” yeonjun clapped his hands, turning from the microphone stand to face the group with a smile.

“kai, cleaning duty is on you today. make sure you don’t forget to lock up the doors before you leave” yeonjun threw the keys in kai’s direction, which he caught effortlessly.

“what? you always ditch on me when we get paired up together- what could have possibly gotten in the way this time?” kai’s brows furrowed in annoyance. he wasn’t one to enjoy picking a fight, but yeonjun was taking too much advantage of his compassionate nature. he had enough of all the chores landing on him every week, without fail.

“scored a date with that girl from the mall” yeonjun winked “which, by the way- starts in less than half an hour. so, i gotta go, sorry buddy. maybe you can get somebody else to help you”

everybody else’s eyes turned to the floor after yeonjun parted ways with them, blurting out random reasons to be excused: “i have a project to finish” “i did it last time” “i just don’t want to do it” ; nobody was enthusiastic about staying at school overtime.

nobody, except for you. you were about to say an excuse of your own when the realisation hit you: you and kai? alone? with none of the boys around? it was a rare occurrence, one even rarer than the blue moon. you couldn’t simply pass by it.

“i can help you”

soobin watched you from the corner of his eye, biting his tongue to prevent any words from slipping out. you had stayed behind to help the members out before, it would be weird if he only started commenting on the matter when it was kai you were going to stay with.

“we’ll leave you to it then” beomgyu swung his arms around soobin’s and taehyun’s shoulders, leading them towards the door before you could change your mind.

“yeonjun always does this” kai huffed, picking up the acoustic guitar from the floor “i love him but- for once, i wish he’d keep his word- or at least not cancel on me last minute” the more his spoke, the more reckless his movements became.

“careful with that- no matter how cheerful beomgyu might be most of the time, i don’t think he’d be too happy to see his guitar destroyed by you”

“sorry” he said bashfully, resting his body against the wall with a sigh “i guess i’m just fed up with everything”

as you placed a hand over kai’s cheek, his eyelids fluttered shut, comfort already washing over him.

“would a kiss make you feel better…?”

kai nodded eagerly “i might need more than just one kiss though” he whispered, bringing his hand to the back of your neck to pull you back closer.

his kisses were playful at first, with smiles and chuckles interrupting every once in a while. then, when he switched positions, bringing you to be the one trapped against the wall, he began alternating between pecking your lips and lightly biting them, chaste touches soon turning into something more…heated. hands brushing over each other’s bodies in a frenzy, swollen red lips caught in an endless, desperate chase, like you had never had a taste of something sweeter.

what had gotten into you both? doing something this risky in such an “honourable” place. it was the lousy heap of all your lies and yet the most enthralling point of them all.

too bad that adrenaline rushes don’t last forever though.

you felt kai’s heart thump against your chest as you cupped his jawline to bring him back for more, but your next kiss never came to fruition.

“am i interrupting something?” the person standing at the door’s threshold cleared their throat to grab your attention.

you felt your blood turn cold upon hearing the sound. having a hunch about the sight ready to greet you, you turned your head at an awfully slow pace.

“care to give me an explanation?” soobin stood with his arms crossed, the expression on his face indecipherable.

in a single day, all of the rules you swore you’d follow like a saint, for the sake of your relationship, had been broken.

kai was dismissed from the room by soobin without being given a chance to speak. it was your words he wanted to hear first and foremost, it was you who left him the most perplexed ever since he took a furtive look at your phone screen this morning, or since he saw what you were up to in the library.

you were silent, rubbing your hands with your head hanging low. lies can’t last forever, you knew that, but you wished the right to make that dreadful reveal was in your hands to hold.

your brother cleared his throat, awkwardly shifting his position in the plastic chair he sat down on. when he abandoned the boys earlier because he “forgot something” in the practice room, he didn’t have a concrete plan in mind.

“how long?”

“what?” you murmured.

soobin repeated himself “for how long has this been going on? this…thing between you and kai?”

your throat went dry- your first instinct was to spit out another lie. upon better thought though, you realised it was have been ridiculous to even try and deny anything, given the fact that you were caught mid-act. the only actual option left for you was the raw, honest truth:

“…a year” you said reluctantly. soobin only nodded his head.

the silence soon felt direful, and neither of you could tolerate it. soobin turned his head up to look into your eyes, he got the answers he was looking for, now it was his turn to be sincere with you.

“y/n, i’m not the one who chooses who you’re gonna love- and as much as it bothers me that, out of all the people, it’s my best friend who you fell for- i can’t tell you to stop seeing kai”

his words turned your mind in even more of jumble than before. that was it? no screaming? no need to pull out the classic “but i love him“? it was a rare occurrence for the two of you to settle things so easily, it felt like you were suddenly picked up and placed in an alternate universe.

“so, what i’m getting is…you’re approving of our relationship?” you asked, feeling the need to have a definite confirmation of his feelings; none of the scenarios you had imagined before where you revealed your relationship matched the result of this one.

soobin hummed “as long as you don’t hoard him on the weekends- he might be your boyfriend now, but he was my friend first. i’ll have him on saturdays and you can have him on sundays, deal?”

you smiled, shaking his stretched out hand “deal”

“shouldn’t kai have a say in this too though?”

“something tells me he’s already agreed to it” soobin laughed, pointing at a “totally-not-eavesdropping-kai”, the half-open door revealing his pink cheeks along with both of his thumbs up.

taglist: @huekalover3000

[ninii-winchester]

Unveiled Sorrows (Part 2)

Pairing : Dean Winchester X Reader, Sam Winchester x Reader (platonic)

Word count : 2.4k

Warnings: spoilers for s1-5, heavy angst, canon level gore, mentions of torture, foul language.

A/n : This series follows canon plot line but some scenes might happen differently or be completely changed. Check the warnings for each part before continuing.

I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION TO COPY MY WORK, TRANSLATE IT OR POST IT TO ANY OTHER PLATFORM. REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED.

Sam, Dean and Y/n arrived back at their motel. Y/n opened the door the room and gasped as she saw Castiel and Uriel already in the room.

"Ah fuck you two." She snapped at the angels.

"Sorry Y/n." Castiel said in his monotonous voice.

"I'd prefer he apologised." Y/n motioned toward Uriel.

"What do you want now?" Dean growled.

"You are needed." Uriel says to Dean.

"Needed? Me?"

"Angels are dying and we ought to know who's doing it." Uriel started.

"And you need our help hunting a demon?" Sam asked.

"No, we can handle it ourselves but we need your help to find out who." Uriel said.

"What're we supposed to do? Angels dying, that's got nothing to do with us." Sam said.

"We have Alistair." Cas said.

"Well then what's the problem? He could tell you everything." Dean stated.

"He won't talk." Cas replied looking at Dean. A knowing look on his face.

"He's an expert in torture, obviously you can't make him talk. He's way out of your leagues." Dean commented.

"We know." Uriel said. "That's why we've come to his student." He added with a smirk. Dean felt Y/n freeze beside him. He himself felt himself frozen to his spot.

"Dean you're our only hope." Castiel said.

"No." Dean said sternly.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Uriel said and with a flick of his hand Y/n groaned as she choked on her own blood.

"You son of a bitch. Let her go." Dean growled.

"No." Y/n whimpered. "Dean no." Her eyes begged Dean not to go. No matter how much it hurts. Dean felt as if his heart would stop beating in his chest if it continued even for a second.

"Castiel." Sam looked at the angel in a trench coat, hoping he'd do something but he remained indifferent.

"I'll go." Dean snapped.

"No." Y/n coughed up more blood.

"You two should talk it out, but i don't think she has much time." Uriel said smugly as he moved his hand again causing her to cough up more blood.

"I'll go. I'll go, stop it you son of a bitch." Dean growled.

"Uriel." Cas warned and Uriel let Y/n go. Sam helped her sit up. She gasped for air and she leaned into Sam's embrace.

"Let's go." Uriel grabbed Dean's arm and then he pulled Y/n by her jacket.

Before anyone could comprehend what happened the four of them were at an abandoned warehouse.

"Why'd you bring her here?" Dean asked.

"For leverage obviously. I can't hurt Sam you know that. Get to work." Uriel replied.

"I wish it didn't come to this Dean. I'm sorry." Castiel said.

"You're not. Both of you are worthless sons of bitches." Y/n spat angrily. Uriel grabbed the lapels of her jacket and slapped her with the back of his hand. Dean grabbed him off of Y/n.

"You lay a finger on her again and I'm exorcising Alistair's ass back to hell." Dean threatened. Castiel glared at his fellow angel who just held his hands up surrender.

"Dean please don't do this please." Y/n looked at Dean but he wouldn't look at her.

"Cas." Dean said, his eyes darting between Uriel and Y/n. Cas nodded his head in understanding and Dean walked inside the room where Alistair was. Y/n couldn't help but let out a sob as Dean closed the door behind him.

After a few a minutes of silence Alistair's screams were heard. He was taunting Dean but withering in pain nonetheless.

"You're crying for him? Dean Winchester, he's a monster. He's not what you think he is." Uriel taunted Y/n. "He enjoyed torturing people in hell and he's enjoying it now too."

"You're making him do this. You're no angel, you're an asshole who misuses his powers." Y/n snapped back. Uriel stepped forward but Castiel stepped between them.

"Uriel I'm warning you." Cas said shielding her.

A loud crash was heard that had the three of them turning their heads towards the room. Casiel and Uriel ran inside Y/n following behind. Dean was on the ground bruised and battered.

"Dean." She screamed going to his side. Castiel grabbed the both of them zapped them back to their motel room where Sam was pacing.

"Finally. You're here. What happened?" Sam asked looking at Dean who had blood all over him.

"You idiots can't even make a proper devils trap. How the fuck did he get out?." Y/n yelled choking Castiel as she slammed him into the wall.

"Y/n let him go." Sam said as he tried to clean Dean's face.

"I swear I'll kill Uriel the next time I see him." Y/n let go of Cas but she was still pissed. She kept pacing the room. "Dean are you okay?" She sat beside him.

"Yeah I'm fine." He said without looking at her.

Days went by and Dean closed off on her again. He wasn't letting her in. No matter what she did, he wouldn't look at her, wouldn't acknowledge her presence unless it was completely necessary.

"Dean. You can't don't this. You don't get to do this to me." Y/n says when she finally gets him alone on one of the hunts.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want. This is my life." He yells back.

"Dean, we've already been through this don't close off on me please." Y/n said grabbing his arm.

"I'm not the man you used to know. I'm a monster. And you should stay as far away as you can."

"And you didn't remember it that night? That you're a monster?" She snapped back.

"It was mistake okay. I was drunk and it meant nothing." She knew he was deflecting, she knew he wanted to hurt her, to drive her away, but she knows he's scared.

"Alright I agree, it was mistake." She admitted and Dean's expression morphed into one of sadness. "But what about the next morning huh? You weren't drunk nor was it sex." Dean didn't dare look into her eyes because he knew she was right.

"Don't make it harder than it already his. I told you I can't lose you. Being with me brings pain and I don't want to hurt you. Everywhere I go, everyone I care about perishes. They get hurt or worse they die." Dean said wth his head in his hands.

"I dont care, I want you and that's all I know. And I don't want you to go through this alone Dean. I've been a hunter my whole life im not afraid not get hurt."

"Sweetheart this is bigger than that. This isn't just some spirits. We're talking angels and demons. The apocalypse is here. Please baby, you need to understand."

"Is this your final decision?" She asked a tear slid down her cheek. She looked up at him awaiting his answer. He wiped her tear with his thumb and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

"God knows i can't live without you." He whispered against her lips.

"Good, 'cause I don't want to live without you either." She smiled as she kissed him back.

This happens everytime. Y/n feels like she's stuck in a loop. He tells her that he doesn't want to be with her because he's afraid yet he's at her door every damn time. He tells her its the last time and then he's back again. She can't tell anyone, because lets be real, the end of the world is here and she you can't just sob your love life, or lack of, to anyone out there.

Now Zachariah has been on Sam and Dean's tails to get them to say yes. But they told him to shove it up. They knew if they said yes the consequences would be severe. Millions of people could die. They couldn't let that happen.

After a few hunts here and there, they returned to Bobby's house where Ellen, Jo and Cas are also present. Y/n walked into the main room where Bobby sit's on his wheelchair.

"Did Sam tell you?" She asked the old man.

"Tell me what?"

"About the Colt." She replied. And by the look look on his face she knew he didn't. "SAMMY" she yelled loudly.

"You didn't yell loud enough, the corpses are still sleeping." Sam sassed as he entered the room. Ellen, Cas, Jo and Dean joined them as well. Sam well expected a snarky remark back but it never came. Unlike Y/n.

"You didn't tell him about the Colt?" She asked.

"Shoot. I thought one of you would." Sam said knowing a scolding is on the way but that didn't come either. He looked at Dean with a are-you-noting-this-too? look and the older Winchester nodded.

"So Becky, Chuck's assistant told Sam that Bela didn't give the Colt to Lilith, instead she gave it to a demon named Crowley. So we need to find this Crowley dude and get the Colt so we can kill Lucifer. Yeah sounds like a plan." Y/n spoke and then others looked at her in amusement.

"Crowley." Cas said. "I think I can find him."

"Great then. Good luck Cas."

After Castiel found the address to Crowley's place, Bobby came up with a plan to infiltrate.

"Alright so Y/n you-"

"Not going." She cut Bobby off.

"What?" Sam, Dean and Bobby said at the same time.

"I said I'm not going which means I'm sitting this one out which means..."

"Alright cut the sass." Bobby rolled his eyes. Sam and Dean looked at each other and then at Y/n. "Why?"

"Not feeling too great. Could die. Or get them killed." She shrugged pointing to the guys.

"Alright, we need a minute." Sam said grabbing her arm and pulling her off her chair. Dean followed.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Told you Sam I'm not feeling well." She shrugged his arm off.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked breaking his silence after a long time.

"I don't know. I'm dizzy."

"Why don't i believe you? You're not sick." Sam piped up, looking at her suspiciously. She sighed before she spoke again.

"Ask Cas okay? CAS." She yelled for him and he appeared.

"You called me?" The angel asked appearing infront og them

"Cas check me and tell them im actually not well." She said to him and he put his two fingers to her forehead.

"Hm she's unwell." Cas affirmed.

"Heard him? Happy? Idiots." She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we should stay with her, Sam we could go tomorrow." Dean suggested.

"Are you nuts. This is the Colt we're talking about. Our only shot against the devil as far as we know. Lucifer is out there wanting to jump Sam's body and he'd go to any lengths for that. And you're postponing it for some flu of mine." She yelled at Dean. "Sam cmon back me up here."

"She's right." Sam said.

"But we need someone to distr-" Dean started

"Take Jo." Y/n interrupted him.

"Cas, Sam get the plan ready. I'll be back in a minute." When the two men disappeared Dean turned to her again. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked cupping her cheek in his hand.

"I told you Dean it's nothing."

"Cmon baby i know it's not nothing if you're sitting out. You know my head won't be in the mission if i don't know you're okay."

"Don't do this Dean. This is exhausting." She whispered. This push and pull game had really started to get to her. "I'm tired. Just let me be."

Dean knew she was right. But he couldn't find it in himself to let go. It's like she's his drug. And he's an addict. He knows it's harmful to keep coming back but he can't help himself. He's decided he's going to let go. For good this time. And he won't be come back. No matter how bad his heart craves he won't bother her.

"I'm sorry. Just tell me you're okay."

"I'm fine, I promise." He nodded at her answer and pecked her lips making her sigh.

Retrieving the Colt was a lot easier than expected. The boys and Jo went to Crowley's and he just handed it to them. His bargain seemed fair but you can't really trust demons.

"Sam Winchester having trust issues with a demon huh?" Y/n heard Dean sass as she entered the main room. "Better late than never."

"Thank you for you continued support." Sam sassed back. She let out a laugh at his words.

"Helloo there stranger, how're you feeling?" Sam asked as she sat on the armrest of his chair.

"Phenomenal." She smiled back but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Something you wanna tell me?" Sam asked as he noticed her fidgeting hands.

"Just that I love you." Sam smiled at her words. She's never the one to express her feeling through words. Dean and her were so alike. It scared Sam sometimes.

"Are you sure you're not going to die?" Sam asked half jokingly. Part of him was worried sick.

"You're not getting away from me anytime soon, Sammy." She chuckled.

"You know you're my best friend in the whole world right and i love you too, just as much." Sam replied.

"Ellen did you hear that, Sammy said I'm his best friend." Y/n giggled. Ellen laughed at her words, everybody knew Sam was Y/n's best friend and she was his.

Dean watched quietly as the group shared a moment of happiness. This is as normal as this life could get. He watched Jo walking to the fridge to get another beer and he went behind her. Y/n noticed and it hurt like a bitch but she didn't let it show, she couldn't. She watched as Dean leaned down towards Jo and she leaned it too but then she pulled away.

Y/n excused herself for the night. She knew she wouldn't any sleep but she could try..They had a hunch where Lucifer might be, and they had the Colt. So tomorrow they'd be heading up to Carthage and hope that they could kill Lucifer. Or else they're in for a hell of ride.

Tags:

@spnfamily-j2 @galway-girlatwork @queensilber

[starfall-spirit]

Read on Ao3 // Chapter I // Chapter III

Summary: Feyre takes some time to talk with one of her more reserved students, unveiling an adorable, yet heartbreaking Christmas wish.

OR

Rhys' little sister gets him a girlfriend.

AN: Hi, is anyone still reading this? I know it's been a year. I'm sorry, it just got lost in all of my WIPs. Merry Christmas, y'all.

Chapter II

Feyre

"Set up by a six-year-old. This is the most adorable story I've heard, Feyre."

"Morrigan," she growled into the phone.

"Okay, okay. First things first, is he attractive?" 

Feyre huffed. "Attractive would be an understatement. He's also a pain in the ass who likes surprises. What does 'dress nice-ish' mean to you when talking about a first date? It's dinner, but..."

"But?"

"Dinner with my college dates meant going out to a burger joint. They were broke college guys. Now I'm going to dinner with a guy who just inherited a multimillion dollar company. I don't know what

that says about him because the only conversations we've exchanged have been about art lessons and going on this date! I am so in over my head, Mor.”

Her friend was silent for a minute. “Feyre, you met at the studio, right? This guy’s seen you covered in paint and wearing an old t-shirt. Whatever you put on tonight isn’t going to scare him off, I promise.”

”I’ve never been covered in paint,” she snipped, pulling a butter-soft cashmere sweater over her head. "And you aren't being helpful." Cursing the clock hanging in her tiny bedroom, she grabbed a pair of dangling earrings and stuffed her feet into her flats. "I've got to go. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Don't do anything completely stupid," Mor told her teasingly, ending it too quickly for Feyre to give a retort. Rolling her eyes, Feyre shoved her phone into her crossbody, throwing it over her head and sliding her coat on overtop. 

Rhys was leaning against the front desk, chatting with Ressina when Feyre finally got downstairs. Once again, her collegue quickly found some place else to be. "Sorry. I was just... Anyways, I'm ready now." He was quiet for a moment, standing a little straighter as he took her in. To her relief, he wasn't dressed any more formally than she was, going with a button down shirt and dark-washed jeans.

"Is this... okay?"

"Of course. You look stunning, Feyre darling." She really wanted to say he was overdoing it with the endearment, but that little fluttering in her stomach was growing stronger and regardless of what she wanted to pretend, the truth of the matter was she wouldn't mind hearing him call her that again. He offered his arm and an utterly disarming smile. "Shall we?"

"We shall." 

Their night was utterly magical.

Not only did Rhys treat her to an amazing dinner at a little mom-and-pop italian restaurant, but the riverwalk to follow was spectacular, watching the Christmas lights reflecting by the water, each ripple colored by the light show keeping time with the holiday repertoire. "This is brilliant. I've never even heard about his show. Do they do it every year?"

"A few times a week, all through December. My mom heard about it when I was just a kid. We went every year. It's a little bittersweet now. For me. Avy refused to come out this year."

"I can't imagine it's easy for either of you." She laced her fingers through his. "I know what it's like, being strong for the people around you. If you ever need to talk, or just not be strong..."

Rhys swallowed, nodding once, though it didn't seem all that sincere. But she didn't know him well enough to push. After all, this date was all that was between them so far. "When did you start learning to paint?" he asked, turning the subject on its head. "You're quite talented from the little I've seen."

"I started in school. My parents wouldn't entertain the thought of lessons for something so frivolous, but they couldn't stop me from self-teaching or taking art electives when I got older. So I got better and broke away from them as soon as I could. Went to community college and university later. That's where I met Ressina. Now we have the studio."

"You live there too?"

"On the second floor. Apartments in that area are insane and the space was there, empty. It works for me, and Ressina has a place with her husband, so..."

He gave a soft hum, stroking a thumb over her pulse point before threading their fingers together. "Tell me more."

She raised her brows. "More?"

"What you love, what you hate. Discarded dreams. I want to know everything, Feyre."

She blinked, a bit shocked. When was the last time a guy had wanted to hear about the little things?

"Well..."

The following Tuesday was interesting. Rhys was discreet, offering a smile as he helped his sister out of her coat, but nothing more. As for Avyanna… Even starting to come out of her shell in the weeks before, Feyre had never seen her show so much excitement at her lessons. Her brother must have made her promise not to question Feyre about Saturday, even if the girl seemed near bursting with her curiosity about Feyre’s side of the story. 

Ressina was an angel, taking that side of the table for the evening class to ease some of the awkwardness. The session went smoothly enough, all things considered. “What did I tell you?” her partner murmured, passing out the ornaments from the week before in exchange for that evening’s paintings. “Unwarranted worries, hm?”

“Miss Feyre,” she heard, the familiar voice still reserved, but a lightle brighter than usual.

Feyre smilled, turning around. “Let’s find your angel, shall we, Avy?”

“Miss Feyre.” Her hand froze over the piece from the week prior. “I wanted to tell you, after art we go home for dinner and have hot cocoa before bed.”

“Is that so?” Her smile grew at that, especially when she glanced up to find Rhys shaking his head, exasperated. “That sounds like fun, sweetheart.”

“You should come with us.”

“And that is enough from you, goof troop. I’m sure Miss Feyre has plans of her own this evening.”

“Rhys, you said you were gonna ask her on another date and you haven’t yet.” Feyre, whipped around, covering her mouth before her laughter could encourage the child standing between them to help her brother along in his dating endeavors. “Rhys.”

“Alright, you impatient little menace. Get your coat.” The next time Feyre turned, Rhys was trying to hide his own smile. “I think her teenage years will actually take me to my grave.”

“Let’s hope it’s just a few gray hairs. I don’t find a silver fox too shabby.”

Eyes bright with mischief, Rhys offered her his arm. “Dinner, darling? With the company of a six year old. I don’t know that I need to promise any further entertainment at this rate.”

~~~~~

Taglist: @lulling-night-sky // @edgyellie // @shallyne // @the-lonelybarricade // @darling-archeron // @goddess-aelin // @the-lost-changeling // @faeriequeensuriel // @pandavelaris // @s-uppertime // @elentiya-whitethorn // @acotar-fanns // @jealousveronya // @acourtofwips // @reverie-tales // @gwynkyrie // @corcracrow // @thelovelymadone // @rosanna-writer

[mistydeyes]

oh my gosh congrats!!! 1k is absolutely insane and you deserve it!! for the prompts maybe gold and/or uniforms with Price? I have become an excessive price girlie since I followed you and I'm so here for it (and also for how well your write all the boys tbh) congrats again <333

@hxad-ovxr-hxart with the most heartwarming compliments as always! thank you so much for all your support and i'm glad that you've come to the dark side of being a price girl HAHA we love our favorite commanding officer (like look at how he SMILES)

link to the prompt list and 1k celebration!

prompts: gold - a small gifted ring as a token of your love and uniforms - they sure clean up well as you look at them in their dress uniform

pairing: John Price x fem!reader

warning: swearing!

┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊ ⋆ ┊ . ┊ ┊┊

gold

"John, love, you don't always have to give me a gift before you leave," you chuckled as he excitedly entered your home with a small bag. Whether it was houseplants, a boxed set of a new television series, or expensive scotch (one that he made you promise not to drink in his absence), he always gave you a small token of his love. It was a sentimental gesture as it was his way of promising to return home to you. "I think you'll like this one," he said and kissed you gently before joining you on the couch.

He rested an arm around your shoulder as you unwrapped the delicate packaging. You neatly folded the pastel tissue paper and unveiled two velvet boxes. "Now what do we have here," you alluded as John watched you intently. You opened the first box to reveal a gorgeous gold band engraved with an intricate floral design and delicate diamonds. You twisted it in your fingers as you admired the twinkle the ring showed in the warm living room light. "Look on the inside," he whispered as he joined your admiration. You turned the ring and saw he had engraved the ring with, "to come home." You were confused at first at the truncated phrase until John encouraged you to open the other box. You opened it to reveal a simplistic gold band, one more fit for his fingers than yours. To his instruction, you turned the ring and gently read the words out loud. "A promise," you began to say as you looked at him. "To come home," he finished and you were at a loss for words.

You kissed him softly in response and as a token of your appreciation. You placed the ring on your finger and admired it as you fell into his arms. "This is beautiful, John," you said softly, "thank you." He wrapped his strong arms around you and placed his hands on top of yours. As you both looked at the shining bands, you were beaming with love and happiness. "Thought it was time I got you a promise ring," he said and kissed your forehead gently. You wish the moment never ended as you sat peacefully, knowing he would be gone the next day. However, one thought was still on your mind. "At first I thought it was an engagement ring," you thought allowed and you could hear the hearty baritones of John's laugh. "Sweetheart, I'll give you the entire universe for our proposal," he began to say as you looked up at him, "and I'll be damned if I let you unwrap it yourself." You smiled at the words, "our proposal", as you fell more in love. "I'll be sure to hold you to that promise."

uniforms

To date, graduation from the Army Foundation College was one of your favorite events. You loved seeing the smiling faces of family members as they saw the newest members of the British Army. It always reminded you of the moment when you saw your proud parents excitedly wave to you amongst the crowd. However, the constant missions of the 141, meant you were not always privy to attend but miraculously the team had made it home in one piece and you were preparing for the day.

Ghost had graciously allowed everyone to stay at his home and you were trying your best to be a respectful guest. However, not everyone was on the same page as it had been quite some time since you dressed in your service attire. First, you were awoken by a half-dressed Soap complaining his pants no longer fit. "Fucking hell, just squeeze into them," you yelled as you groggily got up. "Curse these thighs," he replied and exited the room. Next was Gaz who always seemed to forget the order of his badges and various medals. You helped to adjust his regalia as you could hear Ghost and Price begin to wake and start their routine. "Where's your silver one, Garrick?" you asked as you noticed it missing. "I don't have one," he replied confidently and you rolled your eyes. "Yes you do, it's the Special Air Service one," you corrected and soon the room was thrown into chaos as he searched for it.

After the two Sergeants were finally dressed, you had the time to put on your skirt and adjust your tie. You gently left your khaki jacket hanging as you went to check on your superiors. You knocked on Price's door as it was the first one at the end of the hallway. "Captain, are you ready?" you asked and he called for you to enter. Despite having the same generic uniform as everyone in the house, you couldn't deny he looked undeniably handsome in the attire. The only exception was the belts. You, him, and Ghost had the signature brown belt and sash that set you apart from the other ranks. From his back facing you, you could see it still fit him well and his face in the mirror showed he had given his facial hair a much-needed shave and comb. He turned to you with a lopsided tie and a dashing smile. "Let me fix that for you," you said kindly and enclosed the space as your delicate fingers adjusted the tie to a presentable position. You couldn't help but notice the expensive cologne he had put on as well as his quickened breaths at your sudden touch. "It's been a while," he joked and you joined in the laughter. "I played mother this morning to the Sergeants," you said while rolling your eyes. "Those muppets," he replied and went to pick up his beret. He held it in his hands as he allowed you to exit down the stairs.

Upon your entrance, you couldn't help but smile at the three prim and proper men in front of you. "Would have never pictured this when were face down in the mud," you remarked and went to put on your jacket. They all laughed and returned with banter as you buttoned your coat and buckled the brown belt along with the sash. You were adjusting the beret on your head when Price walked over to you. "Missed a button, Lieutenant," he remarked and you could feel your breath hitch as he looped the button together and smoothed out your jacket. "Thanks, Captain," you said, hopefully not exposing your small crush on your superior. "Alright, who's driving?" Soap called out and you laughed before following Price and Ghost. "Thanks, Captain," Gaz teasingly said as he walked behind you. "Didn't know blush was part of the uniform," Soap joined in and as you groaned, you hoped that Price was ignorant to their blatant teasing.

[mallgothyamaguchi]

ive seen that all of your bookmarks are tskym and you dont have many of them (not that thats a bad thing!!!) could you give a bookmark tour and like give a reveiw of each?

ofc! tsukkiyama bookmark tour begin!

autumn by windofjune - this fic is ongoing but i'm just totally in love with the author's writing style. essentially, tsukishima and yamaguchi have had mutual feelings for a long time, but nothing was ever acted upon, so in college, they begin to drift apart from one another even when living in the same apartment. tsukishima faces an injury to his knee and yamaguchi gets dumped by his boyfriend, leading to their slow-burning reconciliation as they both recover from their emotional and physical injuries. everything is so beautifully written and i'm not-so-patiently waiting for chapter 8 hehe

Sleeping Habits by BlueColoredDreams - piece written in a series of vignettes as tsukishima and yamaguchi grow older, ending in their high school years. very sweet and very fluffy. i'm a snuggler, so any fic that involves sleeping and cuddling, i'm there.

(Not) A bad day by WhereDoesTheTimeGo - yamaguchi has a bad day, and all of his insecurities bubble up, so tsukishima comforts him. they both have their own self-doubts and insecurities unveiled, but everything's okay with a snuggle and first kiss. you will notice there is a pattern in my fic tastes, lol.

Home Is Where The Heart Is by Pepper_Moon - very short and sweet domestic fic about the two moving in together in a cottage in the countryside after marrying. artist yamaguchi and writer tsukishima. SO COTTAGECORE. the author is also currently writing a chaptered piece for day 1 of tsukkiyama week i'm very much looking forward to reading!

just ourselves by beefybuttlord - another short and sweet fic where hinata asks yamaguchi what his relationship with tsukishima really is. essentially it's a "what are we" fic. puts how i think their canon relationship is in 800 words.

hottaru-kun by palebluestings - very much plays around with the significance of names and naming conventions in japanese culture, and the different ways kanji can be read. tsukishima has started calling yamaguchi 'tadashi', but yamaguchi still calls him 'tsukki'. also, cue tsukishima being a little jealous of yamaguchi hanging out with his brother. it's a cute and thoughtful fic.

The sign on your heart said it's still reserved for me. by yamaguchiforpresident - as they get older, yamaguchi gets more and more attention from girls (and guys), and by their third year, tsukishima realizes he's in love with his best friend. lots of pining from tsukishima, and does he do anything about it? hmmm... a little bit of yamayama (at least from tsukishima's perspective), so yet again, jealous tsukishima >:)

Won't You Stay For The Ride? (The Views Will Be Nice) by xxet - self-hating tsukishima begins to have his walls broken down by yamaguchi as they grow up. tsukishima is totally whipped, and everyone knows. flips back and forth between past and present throughout. good mix of fluff and angst.

i wish to be found by TheFledglingDM - ok this one isn't in my bookmarks but i'm actually obsessed with this fic i'm shocked i didn't bookmark it. essentially a 'You've Got Mail' au, where yamaguchi is a small bookstore owner who took it over after his mother passed and tsukishima is a financial executive for a chain bookstore with aspirations to become a published author. when tsukishima helps to make the decision to put a store location near yamaguchi's bookstore, yamaguchi fears he may be put out of business. unknowingly, for a whole year prior, they've been online best friends over discord. mistaken identity, enemies to lovers, influence of and allusions to pride & prejudice, what more could you want from a fic? so skillfully written. i will never shut up about it. i finished it a month ago and i think about it every other day.

hope you enjoyed my thoughts on these fics! honestly, i haven't been reading many fics recently since life got pretty busy and then that makes me pretty tired and i've been very focused on writing my own fics...but! with all the entries for tsukkiyama week i have so much new content to read. i'm still pretty new to ao3 (it's been a little over a year since i started reading fics on there), so that kind of explains why my bookmarks list is pretty short, and also i tend to bounce between different forms of reading like manga to physical books to fanfiction. kind of just depends on what my mood is at the moment. now that i've started writing, i've really been fueling my tsukkiyama brainrot into that, lol. when it's slow at work, i'm collecting ideas in my brain for them.

bottomline: tsukkiyama will always and forever be my #1, so if there's a fic i'm reading it and if they have zero fans, i'm dead.

[hopepaigeturner]

Hope's Review of S3: Benedict Bridgerton

Again…a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. But first...

PANSEXUAL BENEDICT? WE GOT PANSEXUAL BENEDICT? (She screeches at her 2020 self who wrote an entire story around that premise then had to fundamentally rewrite it to make ‘canon’). They delivered?!?

And just as before, I liked moments:

“Love is not finite” speech from Eloise—finally some emotional labour from the boy.

His contribution in the club scenes with Will, Colin, and John Stirling.

I actually liked Tilley. The actress really sold their banter and her personality. Also it merely confirms once again that Benedict likes a bossy girl with convictions. *COUGH* Sophie Beckett*COUGH*

The dinner scene where he stumbled over the question about his art. I think all the acting worked really well.

Again Luke T’s acting is really nuanced and detailed with micro expressions and gestures. He really sold scenes, e.g. when he was talking to Tilley about Paul. Kissing Colin? Perfection! All his gestures and background acting once again were golden.

While I felt the swing scene was a little tacked on, I like when he said “There she is..” when Eloise said she wished to change the world. I think it’s a lovely moment to show how Benedict understands Eloise. He knows she just needed time and space to work it out and return.

However, I do feel that the writing this season, like Benedict himself, felt…lost. No real coherency, no real consistency from prior seasons.

While it was awesome to get pansexual Benedict, if that was the ending then why not have him build a relationship with another man rather than Tilley? While Benedict does sleep around his track record has not been casual--he typically takes one mistress each season, and one that he has a genuine connection with.

If you want to give a storyline justice, have more than one conversation with Paul to show why he’s attracted to Paul. Why stuff it all into one episode? Why make it focus solely on sex?

There are numerous hints about him being the next season. And from that perspective I don’t think this storyline really contributed to that.

E.g. I don’t think we’ve really explored the whole ‘second son thing’ at all.

For me there was a lack of consistency about him & emotional labour. Where was his relationship moments with his siblings? With Francesca?

Apart from one dinner scene we do not get any mention about art. No comment from family about it. No comment from himself. No deflection or even topic arising. And maybe people say the dinner scene is enough, but we literally see no reaction from Benedict after having his heart crushed last season.

All I’m worried about is that they might unveil all this complexity about Benedict (e.g. second son thing) and viewers are gonna be like. Where did that come from?

And it would have been so easy to add this stuff in-literally just an expression or a sentence.

E.g. Second son thing.

Take the scene in Will's club when they're passing around the drink. And Colin says "Are you not the happiest you've been [being adrift]". While Benedict's reaction is funny, I would have loved the camera to linger just a moment longer and show the smile slip. He says this is the happiest, but in actuality?

A couple sentences, even a joke from him or a family member, about him handling the estates. Being the ‘backup’ while Kanthony goes on holiday.

In that convo with Paul and Tilley in bed, why not have Paul crack a joke about second sons?

E.g. Emotional labour.

Why not have him have a chat with Francesca about John. Or a chat with Francesca before her debut. Or hey? Maybe just actually have him interact with his family? The moments when he did were so good!

E.g. Art & Art School

Have Anthony ask about art school, have someone make a comment. And have Benedict just brush it off—his smile a little larger than his usual ones… (and have it in an early episode). Not only would this show how Benedict does not like getting into conflict. Not only does it hint at the pain about art school that will be delved into during his season. But it also shows the front he puts up with his family.

Literally. One. line. One extra exchange.

If you’ve got time for countless other subplots, you’ve got time for a small exchange to help set up your next lead.

But all in all, I’m not fully despairing. I’m just wary for next season. And in the meantime? I've got two years to finish An Offer from an Avid Reader so I'll just lose myself in that.

And do you know what pansexual Benedict also means? A bonus?

Solidifies my head canon of Sophie and Benedict being the artsy, bohemian couple that hosts soirees for all their friends of varying classes and sexualities. Using all that privilege and hoarded Bridgerton wealth to create a refuge for their friends.

[lynn-writes-things]

“Burn It”

aka the one where you command a certain fire-wielding maniac to burn down the house of your abusive ex (angst -> fluff)

warnings: mentions of past abuse, mentions of rape (not detailed, it’s just brought up that it happened), uhh mentions of your abusive ex burning alive

wc: 900

a/n: my ptsd demanded this be written, so here it is 😌 inspired by things my ex did to me and what I wish would happen to him

“Dabi?” Your voice is small, hardly audible over the sound of your own heart beat, the muscle racing as you gaze up at the house you once knew so very well. It looks different in the dark, illuminated by the crescent moon and the street lights - yet, this is the same view you had of it the night you ran, escaping the monster of a man you once shared a bed with.

Your box-dyed companion had decided to join you for a walk, chain smoking cigarettes back and forth, until you subconsciously had found yourself right back here. When you realized the street you’d turned down, you began telling him the more minor details. An ex boyfriend, one who had done bad things. When you got even closer, you unveiled the more griddy details - he cut me off from everybody, picked fights all the time. Finally, you revealed the worst of it - he raped me. Forced himself on me, never took no for an answer, ever.

Now, standing frozen in front of the same house which sheltered your horrors, Dabi finds himself barely holding his anger inside, but to put it frank, neither of you are dressed to outrun the legal system. Not to mention, he doesn’t want to upset you. “Yeah?”

You’re quiet for a moment, contemplating. Drawing in a deep breath, releasing it just as slow. “Burn it.”

“..What?”

“I said, burn it. Please.” Your voice, small at first, was now strong and certain, with an undertone of bitterness that Dabi understood, had tried to forget about, but Touya remembers that bitterness all too well.

“My pleasure.” He says, grabbing your arm to move you behind him, once you’re safely tucked behind him, he does just as you asked, bright blue flames engulfing the darkness of night, catching the cheap wooden paneling and swiftly surrounding the house. He’s inside, you know he is, and Dabi’s got a strong suspicion about it as well - so he does you the favor of adding more heat, not letting the piece of shit have a chance to escape unscathed. You knew better though, it was a Friday night, the beast trapped inside was surely knocked out cold from either the booze or the drugs, quite possibly both. He’d sleep through it, and if luck was on your side, he’d burn alive right with the house that had once been purchased under your name. Maybe you’d manage to get insurance payments from the ordeal?

Selfishly, you admire the way the flames dance, and you feel the urge to dance right along with them, celebrating the end of your torment, the end of the man who so carelessly ruined your life. “We should get out of here.” Dabi says, fingers pinching your jacket, knowing his hands were still much too hot to touch your perfect skin.

“Yeah,” You agree, not realizing you were tearing up until your voice comes out choked. The man beside you panics for a second, until you look up at him, wiping your crystalline tears with the brightest smile he’d ever seen on your face, you even laugh out a joyous little huff before grabbing his still-too-hot hand, uncaring of the way it stings your skin, pulling him away and escaping into the shadows, taking a detour through dark alleyways to get back to the hideout.

No one’s awake when you enter, making it all that much easier when you throw yourself at the man, wrapping your shaking arms around him as quiet sobs wrack your body. Dabi hesitates at the long-forgotten feeling of being held, before his lanky arms eventually wrap around your waist, his heart hammering violently against his ribcage while you trip over whispered thank you’s. “Really, I-I can’t thank you enough.”

“Seeing you smile is thanks enough, doll.” He says just as quietly, like he’s worried if he speaks his vulnerability any louder that he’d fall over dead on the spot. Maybe he would, he isn’t sure, this was as close to a confession of his feelings that he’d ever uttered. You shock him again when your lips kiss the unscarred part of his cheek, the part he can still feel, and it sends his mind buzzing even after your arms drop to your sides, wiping your face clean of tears outside of his warm embrace. When you look up at him again, Dabi swears your eyes would put the stars outside to shame, your smile so contagious that he finds himself smiling too. One last tear escapes the corner of your eye, and it’s an automatic response when his hand caresses your cheek, so gently thumbing away the shimmery bead, the fondness in his eyes makes you feel so warm inside.

The air feels thick like sweet honey, the two of you trapped in such a moment of silent intimacy, and it’s almost on impulse when your arms loosely wrap around his neck, his free hand snaking around your waist, the other staying on your face even after you stand up on your tiptoes, pulling him closer until your lips meet, every unspoken message being read crystal clear. It’s perfect, everything about the moment and the night itself feeling so very perfect. Dabi can’t figure out why you’d want to kiss him, but he’s not about to question it, he’ll kiss you as long as you’d like, he’ll do anything to keep that radiant joy in your eyes.

He’s absolutely certain in that moment, he will do anything for you.

[shadowed-dancer]

I watched the Netflix atla and I have thoughts

I will break them down into positives, negatives, and assorted, but if you want the short version: it's better than the M Night Shyamalan film.

Positives

I like that Zuko's crew is the 41st division. It's a cute detail, and honestly I had always wondered how they chose soldiers to accompany an exiled prince

I actually liked Suki's characterization. Like yeah, I believe that girl has never had contact with outsiders. And I think her chemistry with Sokka is great! I can't wait for her to come back and see more of the world (her "thank you for bringing the world to me" line is cute when you consider he brought her an air, water, and fire bender... less cute that her village almost got destroyed but still)

Hot take: I don’t mind that they cut Sokka’s sexism arc. It was minimal in the original series to begin with, and with the pacing of the Netflix series it would have been pointless and rushed. I truthfully believe that if they hadn't mentioned the cut beforehand, 5 people at most would have noticed it was gone

Wow Koh the Face Stealer is SO MUCH WORSE in live action. So gross. His face BLINKS. 10/10 to whoever designed that, I hated it and recognize that it was perfect. I look forward to seeing it in my nightmares (also I don't mind the change of "don't show any expression". It still works)

Gyatso telling Aang that it wasn't his fault and that he wouldn't have been able to do anything was so sweet and important to me, especially with all the other adults in this series being turned into Grade-A assholes. It’s been a while since I watched the entire original series but were the adults THIS mean about it in the original? I know the occasional random townsperson would say "you abandoned us" but I don’t remember people like Bumi or THE OTHER AVATARS blaming him like that (I know this is the positive section but just to be clear, the positive is the Gyatso scene. Turning everyone else so mean will be touched upon in the negatives)

All of Gyatso's scenes were actually amazing. I cried. Also finding his body hit so much harder in live action.

Leaves from the Vine playing during Lu Ten's funeral and then again when Iroh chose to go with Zuko... I tearbended HARD at that one

I think they did a good job merging three story lines into Omashu. I know it may bother some fans, but for the time they had I thought combining all of those together within the city was clever. Plus, since we see the city get taken at the end of the season, we feel more invested since we spent more time there! (I'm also glad they didn't destroy the Northern Air Temple... that always bothered me)

The sets are lovely. They look so similar to the original show and it makes me happy to simply see these places come to life. I got so giddy seeing Omashu you don't even understand

I like the interpretation of Aang’s tattoo. That was actually the one thing I liked from the M Night Shyamalan film (intricate designs rather than a straight blue block) and I feel this is an even better interpretation (the designs are more subtle until he lights up)

The wink and nod to the great divide (and other episodes like the pirates) was cute. I do wish we got to see some adventures of the kids bonding, but boy am I glad they didn't feel the need to adapt the great divide

I liked that they sang secret tunnel a little early. The second the mechanist brought up the secret tunnels I burst into song on instinct, so it's only fair the characters do the same

I liked Zuko having a notebook on the avatars. Of course he would have made that. And I liked that Aang used it as a reference

I liked how they teased the "my cabbages!" line before giving us the real thing. Just a fun thing for fans of the original

Negatives

The first episode had so much exposition it actually felt exhausting. Also Zuko really came out of the gate swinging with his motivation, eh? No nuance or slowly unveiling why he wants to capture Aang? Ok...

Ozai confused me. After finishing the season I believe Ozai's motivation was "sacrifice the weak to become strong, use Zuko to fuel Azula to be better" but it felt so confusing to get there. There was a point where I thought he genuinely wanted to see Zuko grow and find the avatar, and while it's fine for Zuko to think that, it felt weird for us to be jerked around like that (especially the in-between point where it feels like he prefers his banished son to his spy-catching daughter).

I also don’t like the way he acts with Azula (again, I know it's an act, but it's a bothersome change). He calls her performance below average. What happened to "she’s a true prodigy, just like her grandfather for whom she was named"? When characters like Mai and Zhao have to tell us "he's just playing games" it feels like they are telling rather than showing. "She's a true prodigy" SHOWS US he has a very obvious favourite. "He's playing with you" TELLS US that he's lying, and we therefore need to just accept that Azula is actually his favourite even though nothing he has done supports that

I don’t like that Aang was heading North due to a premonition from Kyoshi. I always liked how "the avatar must travel the world and find their own teachers in order to care for the world". Why not let him look for teachers? It enforces the idea of the avatar needing to care for all nations in order to protect all nations. I feel like it was supposed to go for this new direction of “the avatar must do it alone” but unfortunately I don't like that message as much

I mentioned in the positive section, but so many of the characters are weirdly mean (specifically the adult characters). I feel like they are trying to go for a message like "childlike mentality isn’t bad and it’s this innocence that will succeed where adults failed" but it just comes across as every grownup but Gyatso being the worst. Why are Kyoshi and Kuruk yelling so much and blaming Aang for everything? I feel like the goal will ultimately be to prove them wrong, but I do not like this characterization

Zuko’s scar needed to be SO MUCH WORSE. Something I love about the original is that every time we look at Zuko, we get a horrific reminder of what kind of person the Fire Lord is. It didn't just make his skin a little red, his eye is stuck in a permanent squint. His ear is shrivelled. You can tell that it was BAD. Here? He could cover it with makeup if it bothers him that much. Where's the texture? Where's the ear and eye damage? Sometimes it looks more like a birthmark than a serious injury. At the very least, take away his eyebrow!

Sokka and Katara’s being trapped in the spirit world was lowkey a little dumb but I get what they were going for (it's more urgent than them needing to suck on frogs). It just makes it seem worse when Aang is sitting there chatting with Zuko about his brushes. Like I loved the conversation but the fact that Sokka and Katara's lives were in danger (along with the villagers) makes Aang seem weirdly dismissive in that moment

Also... I just realized while typing this, but did they give us an ending to Hei Bai being in pain? Did I completely forget the resolution to that or was it not shown?

I don't like that Zuko chose to fight in the Agni Kai. Seeing him on the ground begging forgiveness and THAT'S the kid Ozai scars and banishes is way more impactful than "he fought but didn't go all out"

This shit went off the rails in episode 7. Why is Yue a fox who just chills in the spirit world? What happened to Tui and La? Push and pull? Yin and Yang? I got confused somewhere along the way

Am I the only one who felt the Yue and Sokka kiss came out of nowhere? She literally said she called off her betrothal when she was 16 (before meeting Sokka) because that dude wasn't the right guy. But then the kiss immediately after implies Sokka is the right guy??? The guy you didn't know existed??? Or are we supposed to infer that she fell in love with him in the spirit world? Either one is so bad pleasssseee

I infinitely prefer Zuko trying to save Zhao and Zhao choosing to die out of sheer stubbornness, compared to Iroh killing Zhao to save Zuko. Like yeah, he'd do anything for Zuko, but I felt that crossed a line (and was less impactful)

Assorted Thoughts

They mentioned the mother of faces, are we gonna see Zuko’s mom get addressed at some point? Or was that just a wink and a nod for fans who know?

The kids are pretty good actors but Katara’s sometimes feels like she's… in a school play. For lack of a better description. She's not bad, it just doesn't always feel natural or as expressive as she could be

Yue's actress on the other hand... look I don't like insulting child actors but her performance was not my favourite

Meanwhile, I loved the casting for Zuko and Aang. I like this slightly-less-angry Zuko, and Aang's actor has such a sweet face that it hurt me to see him sad

I wish we got to see an Agni Kai between Zuko and Zhao. Simply because establishing it early helps introduce us to this idea. It makes it more impactful when Ozai declares Zuko must fight, since we now know what that entails

I feel like the series is at its best when it's doing it’s own thing (the Gyatso scenes, Suki's new characterization, Lu Ten's funeral) and is at its weakest when it's trying to copy the original

[taloumina]

Real Motive

JJ Maybank/Female Reader

Fluff, angst, insecurity

The reader in this is a night owl and former city girl.

Spoilers: none for any season

Summary: JJ finds out you can't swim.

I love unwinding at night with TV, and lately, my main show has been Outer Banks! Definitely makes me wish I was living right next to the ocean!

= = = = =

Living on an island like Kildare, you thought walks were much more enjoyable than they ever were in the city, and it was so much easier to run into people you knew. It happened during most of your walks.

This morning, one of those people was JJ.

“I knew it!” he said, pointing a finger at you the instant your eyes met.

Your pulse spiked, and you assumed that he finally knew what you’d been hiding from him and everyone else you’d met since moving here.

“You’re turning into an early bird, aren’t you?”

“Oh!” So that was what JJ meant. You released a shaky breath and smoothed out some invisible wrinkles on your dress, sounding as carefree as you could manage (which wasn’t very much). “Yeah, goodbye my night owl ways! I just couldn’t resist a morning walk!”

“You should try a morning swim. It’s even better,” he said with a lopsided smile. “I’m actually gonna go for one right now. Wanna join?”

“Oh, uh… no, I’m fine.” You hurriedly added, “But don’t let me stop you from swimming!”

Nice, you scolded yourself. Saying that when he wasn’t even in the water yet…

“C’mon, you can’t tell me you actually prefer walking instead!”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” You shrugged, and on the inside, you were desperate to get away from him before this got too long. “Sorry, but I gotta get back to, you know, walking!”

You tried being the “deadly” combo of funny and casual about it, but you must’ve failed because JJ’s smile fell as he looked at you, a perceptiveness in his eyes.

“Hey, (Name),” he said, “the reason why we’ve never seen you swim before… is it because you don’t know how to?”

You could just about feel your heart sink to the pit of your stomach with his question, and no part of you even thought about denying it. Why bother when JJ–or anyone else on this island–could make you prove it, only to unveil the truth when they see you really, seriously can’t swim at all once you hit the water.

You nodded slowly, averting your eyes. “Go ahead. You can laugh.”

“I’m not gonna do that.”

“And I’m saying you can. I know it’s bad, JJ. Moving to an island and not knowing how to swim?” You threw your hands up in the air. “It’s fucking crazy!”

“Last I remember, moving was your mom’s idea, not yours. And hey, I mean it,” you heard JJ say. “I’m not gonna laugh. I’m not that much a dick.”

You couldn’t help but look at him, a slight smile on your lips. “So you do admit you’re a dick.”

It was his turn to shrug, but the whole time he was smiling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Silence fell between you two, broken only when JJ spoke again. “So why… did you never learn? Not judging, just curious.”

You knew he wasn't lying. Anyone would be curious about the girl who now lived on an island but couldn’t swim for her life, let alone anyone else’s, and you didn’t see any judgment in his eyes as you looked into them.

“It’s not that I never wanted to. It just… never happened. After my dad died, my mom spent all her time–and I mean all of it–working, trying to put food on our table and keep a roof over our heads. And it’s not like we lived next to any water.” You sighed, turning to the morning sky above for a moment. “Honestly, it’s been so long, just the two of us, I’m not even sure she knows that I can’t swim. She might think I can.”

You weren’t angry at your mom for it. It wasn’t a complete excuse, but being a single parent was difficult enough on its own, and things like making sure you went to school and did your homework were more important than making sure you learned how to swim. As a kid, how could you possibly have known that swimming was a skill everyone should have?

“It never came up when you guys decided to move here?” JJ asked.

“The ocean, yes. A new house, yes. A new life, yes. Swimming, specifically?” You shook your head. “I told myself once I got here, I’d learn how to swim somehow, but…”

“But everyone and their mom, dad, and dog here already knows how to swim, goes out there 24/7, and it’s annoying as fuck?” JJ guessed with an expression that told you he was 100% joking.

You laughed. “Yeah, something like that. And,” you said, tucking some hair behind your ear. “I didn’t want to humiliate myself by jumping into the water and needing to be saved ASAP.”

“Is that why you never told any of us? Because you thought we’d make fun of you?”

“You guys all swim like you’re fish. Every time I thought about telling you, I got scared and backed out. Thanks, by the way, for not making fun of me so far,” you said, infusing a little humor into your tone, but to your surprise, JJ didn’t respond with humor of his own.

“What if I teach you?” he offered, a serious look on his face.

“No, JJ, I don’t wanna burden you with this.”

“Who says it’s a burden? I got free time, you got free time, and we can spend that free time together.” During all this, he pointed from himself to you and then both of you.

“Teaching me how to swim? I can’t promise I’ll be a good student.” You could imagine yourself crying from frustration if you don’t learn quickly or if you feel like you’ll never be as adept at it as JJ (and everyone else) is.

“Then let me promise this,” he said. “I’m not gonna give up on you, and I’m not gonna be like some drill sergeant with a stick up his ass. No matter how long it takes, we’re gonna get you swimming.”

“Drill sergeant’?” you repeated, wanting to laugh more freely. But you couldn’t, remembering the rest of your friends. “What about the others? I don’t… really want them to know.”

“They don’t have to,” JJ said softly, and you tried not to think about what that meant. Why he wanted to do this for you.

“And assuming it’ll take more than a day for me to learn… If they keep seeing us together, they’ll wonder what’s up.”

“We can just tell them we’re dating.”

Your eyes widened, but JJ’s were mischievous. “Okay,” you said hesitantly, “but would they believe that? And how would that explain us always being in the water?”

JJ waved off your questions. “It’s an island. Unless it’s hell outside, no one’ll ever wonder why we’re in the water all the time. And”–he shoved his hands into his pockets, slightly nervous all of a sudden–“they totally would… so I gotta be honest: I’m not without a motive here. I do wanna teach you, but I also like that we can spend all that time alone.”

You wondered if JJ could hear your heart pounding even louder now. “JJ…”

“Pretty shitty way of saying I like you, huh? Don’t blame you if you want another teacher, some selfless asshole.”

“Why would I want them when I want you?” It came out so fast you didn’t realize what you were implying until it was too late, and JJ latched onto it, stepping closer to you.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” he said slyly, “but does that mean you like me, too?”

“Maybe I should find some selfless asshole instead.”

“But you want me.” JJ was only too happy pointing this out. “Or was I just hearing things?”

“No,” you admitted, hoping you weren’t blushing as much as you thought you were. “You’re the one who offered, and since I can’t exactly pay you top dollar...” You bit your lip. “What if us dating is for real?”

JJ grinned. “That’s way better than being paid top dollar! Only Kooks would throw money at everything.”

“And everyone,” you added, yelping in surprise when JJ picked you up and laughing as he spun you around.

“So when are we doing this? Now?” he asked, holding you safely in his arms. “Because I’m dying to see you out of that dress.”

“Careful, JJ, your real motive’s showing.”

“Where? Show me.”

“Right here,” you said, bringing your lips to his.

[liminalmemories21]

18 (because I know you keep things and I love seeing the bts things) and 23 please Lim!

Thank you!

Okay, doing this in reverse order.

#23 - pick three keywords that describe your writing

hmm, okay, this is hard. Introspective? Funny (I hope)? Kind (I really hope)?

#18 - if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

Do I ever keep things. So, there was a whole section I wrote for We were in screaming color where they went to New York for Passover, and I really loved it and had to cut it when it turned out they'd apparently never been to New York (!?!). Anyway, this is a small part of it.

Enzo has classes on Monday, but they're not leaving until Tuesday morning, and they take the time to go out to Gwen's grave.  They take Jonah with them, and Carlos keeps an eye on him as he toddles around the cemetery while TK folds himself down next to the temporary marker.  The unveiling will be in late July, and Carlos has already put in for vacation time to come up for it.

He takes a few steps away to give TK privacy to talk to Gwen, and crouches to take the stick that Jonah solemnly hands him.  He turns at TK's voice, raised just loud enough to carry.

"Hey, Jonah, come say hi to Mom."

He takes Jonah's hand to help guide him over to the grave, and then lets TK settle Jonah on his lap.  Jonah squirms a little, and doesn't really understand what they're doing here, but he catches enough of TK's mood to settle for long enough to obediently say hello to Gwen and Carlos feels his heart clench when Jonah offers TK a small rock he has clenched in his fist.  He can see the tears on TK's lashes, but his voice is somehow steady when he tells Jonah, "That's perfect, honey.  Do you want to put it on her grave?"

Jonah looks a little dubious, but puts it on the marker and then looks at TK for approval.  TK kisses the top of his head.  "It's a way for us to remember her," he explains to Jonah.  He scrubs surreptitiously at his eyes and pushes himself up.  He looks at Carlos.  "You want to talk to her?"

He nods, and squeezes TK's hand as TK stoops to pick Jonah up and walks a little bit away for them to look at the buds on the fruit tree nearby.  He sits on the ground in front of the grave, in the same place TK had.  He's never really done this before, never really had anyone that close to him who's died.  He feels a little awkward, but, "Hi Gwen.  Your son asked me to marry him, and it was the best day of my life.  I know I screwed it up a little after that, but he's got more patience than most people give him credit for, and he's got so much patience with me even when I don't think I deserve it."  He puts a hand on the ground.  "I promise you, I am going to love him for the rest of my life, and I am going to try every single day to make him happy."  His voice catches in his throat.  "I wish you could be there, to dance at our wedding, and tell me you told me so, and make him laugh.  But, even if you aren't there in person, I know that you will be there in TK, and in Jonah, and in the memory of every person you met and loved, and through me for him.  And, I am so grateful for that.  I don't think I have words for how grateful I am for him, and that you trusted me with him.  I won't let you down, I promise.."

When he looks up, TK's watching him with a small tired smile.  They go to lunch afterwards at the tiny dim sum shop on Spring Street, and they cut up a dumpling into little pieces and let Jonah gum at them.  The owner remembers TK, and looks sincerely upset when he tells her that Gwen passed, and brings them out a plate of bao they hadn't ordered, and when TK says thank you Carlos can hear the tears in his voice.  "They were her favorite," TK says when they're alone.  "I can't believe she remembered that."

When Carlos suggests they just go home after lunch TK only makes a token objection.  "I was going to show you Manhattan." 

He nudges TK towards the subway, and hopes he's remembered the right one.  "We'll be up here a lot more times, you have years to show me New York.  Right now I think we all need naps, and he nods at Jonah who's already conked out in his stroller.

TK's mouth twists with amusement.  "I think I envy him a little."

They're playing blocks with Jonah when Enzo gets home that afternoon, and he makes a face as he sits down on the carpet with them.  "I am too old for this."  He points a finger at them, "Let this be a lesson, have your children when you're young.  Or," he reaches out to cup the back of TK's neck, "acquire them when they're past the age of crawling on the carpet."  TK grins and ducks his head, and offers Enzo a hand to lever him up off the carpet. 

TK gets quieter the later in the evening it is, but it isn't until after they've put Jonah to bed that he says, "I really miss Mom."

Carlos curves a hand across his knee, anchoring him, and Enzo reaches out a hand to TK and holds it firm when TK takes it.  "I know, kid.  Me too.  Every day."

[heidi891]

The show knows Gabriel is abusive

I’ve seen a lot of posts claiming that the show dismisses Gabriel’s abuse and I don’t agree with them.

In season 5 Gabriel’s abuse is clearly escalating. He uses Adrien’s digital self against his will. He tries to Akumatise him and gives him the Alliance ring under pretence of comforting him to make him a stronger villain, he even laughs after giving him the ring. Gabriel used to be naglectful and controlling, but now he’s using Adrien’s Amok to force his will upon him and he locks him in the isolation chamber that is visibly detrimental: white, with no windows, with basically no furniture, with no door handles. We cannot just dismiss it by saying ‘Oh, he just locked him in his room for his own safety’. No, it definitely crosses the line.

Nathalie, who was faithful to Gabriel to the point that she risked her life by using the broken Peacock Miraculous, now is growing distant from him and closer to Adrien. She can see that his father is hurting him.

Nathalie tries to convince Gabriel to focus on his son and he promises to change. He starts making him pancakes and this can be seen as Gabriel truly trying to fix the relationship with his son. But he is called out thrice: by Nathalie, by Marinette and by Adrien. We are shown that Gabriel is not really trying, he’s still obsessed with his wish and is still hurting his son.

After being taken to London, Adrien’s story in Representation is just him coming back to Paris, fighting his father and telling him off. He didn’t need to come to Paris just to get the nightmare since later Gabriel gives them to everybody, including Adrien. Once again we see Gabriel being called out and we now know that Adrien is aware that his father has been hurting him. So just before the finale we see Gabriel being beaten for being a bad parent by Adrien who shouldn’t even be in Paris at that time. This is important. We wouldn’t have been shown this without a reason.

A lot of fans wanted Chat Noir to be there for the last fight with Monarch, to fight his father, to reveal his identity. However, this goes against everything that the show has already established. We’ve seen several times this kind of story and whenever Adrien discovers the truth, he’s severly distressed (that’s completely understandable) and Gabriel immediately uses his son’s distress for his own gain. He doesn’t care that Adrien turns out to be Chat Noir. There’s no catharsis.

Yes, Adrien is deeply involved in Monarch’s story arc, but at the same time he’s too close. Like a surgeon shouldn’t operate on a member of his own family, it could be equally distressing for a superhero to fight his own father. In real life abuse victims shouldn’t fight their abusers, they should get support and be separated from their abusers. The victims don’t need to confront their abusers, they need time and support to process what happened to them. Because in the end the abuser is not going to change and will not be punished by the abuse victim “winning”. And though I’d love to see Adrien having more significant role in the finale, this isn’t the story that the show has been telling.

‘But Gabriel got the statue! The show is literally glorifying an abuser!’ Yes, he got the statue.

But it’s not a less shiny, more serious statue. It’s shining and smirking, and looking just like…

…Chloé’s statue that we’ve seen before the finale.

What’s more, the statue is made of the Alliance rings which were used to deceive people—it’s made of lies.

Is it Ms Bustier who is giving the speech during the unveiling of Gabriel’s statue? No, it’s Tomoe giving a speech of a villain, promising to continue Gabriel’s legacy.

The statue stands in the park near Marinette’s house. Everyday she will look at it and see that big, shiny proof of her lie.

[punkshort]

Hi Shortie I’m here to deliver my thoughts on Swept Away Chapter 2 😏💙

A 13-14 hour long fly sounds like nightmare to me.🙃

Reader is so relatable, I would react the same way, to Joel it’s all normal. He knows that luxurious lifestyle but we don’t. What do you mean a private jet????and a bed on the plane???? 👀👀🤩

Joel Cleary underestimated us were way better at this whole cover-up story. 🤭

I really enjoyed finding out how Joel got started in his business. ☺️

“My - I knew someone in construction, got a good deal on alotta materials and such, refurbished the entire spot, rebranded it and... The Parador was born." I’m guessing Tommy but maybe they had a falling out or something 👀

"Don't matter. I'm here on business, I ain't here for a vacation," he reminded you, as if you somehow could have forgot." I can’t wait for him to let his façade slip so we can meet the more nice version. I mean I love him grumpy too but yk the real him must be unveiled. 😌

“You remembered Joel insisted sex wasn't part of the deal, and you even signed a contract stating such, but why would he buy you such fancy underwear if he didn't expect to see it? And why was the prospect of him seeing it getting you excited?” Sex isn’t part of deal yet 😏 and I’m also very excited for him to see it 😉

"It's not flat. You look beautiful." See he can be nice. It’s just a grumpy facade🤓

“His eye contact was intense and it made you nervous.” Would make me nervous too if I’m honest. 😵‍💫

I truly wish I could say more, but I’m so immersed in the story and the writing and it’s so good 🙏🏻🤭

Mentioning Golf and Joel 🫠 Of course he hates golfing and we all know why 🥲

“He rounded the rack and, with a little smirk, gently pinched your chin affectionately between his thumb and forefinger.” Excuse me sir you can’t just do stuff like this without causing trouble 🥵🤭

“Your lips parted as you continued to stare, watching the way the muscles and tendons in his neck twitched as he spoke. Shit, he was speaking and you had no idea what he said.” She’s just like me 😍

They kissed uffff and his hand staying in her lap pfff you cannot tell me it meant nothing 🤭👀

The lines are already getting a lil blurry.

I’m very curious to see where this will go and how the story will evolve. 🙏🏻💙

Omg this was so sweet of you!! Thank you for leaving me such detailed feedback, I love this so much! 😭🥹

You're definitely onto something - Joel and Tommy aren't on good terms, that'll come up later, and more 👀

The lines will really blur in chapter 3, I can't wait to get started!

[angelatmidnight1]

Hi again ^~^ I asked for a Seer x reader thing and I jsut came up with a better idea, hopefully soemthing that will help you write. What if Seer is trying to use the reader as a canvas or soemthing similar? <3

Funny Bones

A/N: I hope this is to your liking! I made this story Halloween themed 'cause I kinda have the spooky season on the brain. Let me know what you think!

With Halloween approaching, you are exploring ideas for costumes, and settle on being a neon skeleton. You ask Seer to help you with the body paint. He is happy to oblige and promises to do his best work for you. You just didn’t know that those paint brushes would tickle so much…

“(Y/N), biko. You must try to hold still…” 

Obi instructed with a small chuckle. The crisp autumn air spilled into his apartment room and danced around the two of you. Even though it didn’t have an official smell, Halloween was in the air, and you couldn’t wait to show off your costume. You’d settled on being a skeleton and were going to use neon, blacklight reactive paint to achieve your look. There was only one problem…

Paint brushes tickled. And they tickled a lot. 

You looked up at Obi with a wide grin as he lowered the paint brush towards your neck. So far, all he’d completed was the face make up. “I’m tryhyhying,” you snickered. “Buhut it rehehehally tihihickles.”

“I know, my friend.” Obi chuckled. “Be strong. We have uncovered a small glimpse of the masterpiece that is just waiting to be unveiled.”

You took a breath. Obi did not resume painting yet, waiting for your permission to keep going. After another brief moment, you closed your eyes and nodded. “Okay, okay. I’m ready.”

Obi nodded. You tilted your head back to give him access. And, the second the tip of the paintbrush grazed your neck, you squealed. You fought the urge to bring your head back down. Obi, with his free hand, gently held the back of your head, more so to steady himself. It wouldn’t be enough if you decided to bring your head down anyway. 

“Be still,” Obi gently reminded, outlining the small rectangles along the front of your neck. You snorted.

“Huhuhrryyy…” You whined. The giggles spilled from your lips as Obi moved down, stopping just above your collarbone. You sighed with relief. “Ahahare—are yohuhu dohohne?”

“Not quite, that was only the outline,” Obi answered, shaking his head. He cleaned off the brush he was using and dipped it into a fresh coat of bright blue paint. “Now, I must go back and paint the inside of these boxes.” 

You groaned and dramatically fell back against the cushioned table. Obi chuckled at your theatrics. 

“Would you like me to stop?” Obi went on, putting the paint brush back where he got it from. “If you are uncomfortable, we do not have to continue.”

“No, no. It’s okay.” You dismissively waved your hand and smiled at him. “I’ll survive. I really wanna see how this turns out.”

Obi returned your smile. “As you wish, my friend.” He then motioned for you to sit up, and you complied. He picked up his paint brush again, sat down in front of you, and leaned towards you. “Biko, tilt your head up.”

Again, you complied. You felt him move closer to you and, although you tried not to, a wobbly grin etched its way onto your face. Seer could hear your heart rate increase. Before he could touch you, you started giggling again out of anticipation. 

“W-Wahahit, wait—”

“I have not touched you yet, (Y/N).” Obi chuckled. 

“I knohow, sorry. I got a bit nehervous..” You admitted, blushing. 

Obi smiled and put his free hand on your shoulder. “There is no need to apologize. Would it help if I counted down before I start painting?” 

You wordlessly nodded. Obi re-dipped the brush back into the paint and leaned towards your neck. 

“One,” he began.

“Two,”

Your breath hitched and you bit your lip. You pinched your eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. 

“Three.”

With that, Obi began filling in the rectangles he painted. He moved the paintbrush in short, downwards strokes at a steady pace. A shiver ran up your spine as you giggled and drummed your feet against the floor. 

“Pfftt, Ohohohohbiii!” You snickered and grabbed onto a nearby pillow. You squeezed it, trying to alleviate the ticklish feeling, but it didn’t help. It was getting harder and harder for you not to move your head, but boy were you trying not to. Obi gently shushed you. 

“I am almost finished,” he replied, continuing the pace that he was working at. The artist was also doing his best to maintain his neutral, professional stance as he worked. But, your giggles and squeaks were also making it difficult for him not to smile. He stroked the paint brush at the spot just above your collarbone, and you snorted. 

“Ahahaha! Ohohohobihi, ihihihit tihihickles!” You laughed. Embarrassed by the snorts, you brought a hand up to your face to muffle them. It worked, sort of, but Obi was close enough to hear them perfectly fine. Just before you brought your head down, the artist finally withdrew his hand. 

“Okay, okay. All finished.” Obi grinned and dropped his paint brush into a jar of water. You continued to giggle and had a death grip on your pillow. 

“Ahaha…ohoho my gohohsh,” You tittered and opened your eyes. You could still feel the ticklish sensations in your neck, but you didn’t rub at it. You didn’t want to ruin Obi’s hard work. “Dohohes it— does it look good?”

“Yes, the color looks marvelous against your skin.”  Obi assured. He stood up to grab you a mirror and a small blacklight. Then, he returned to you, handing them both to you. “Here, take a look for yourself.” 

You took the mirror and looked at Obi’s work. The color complimented your skin tone nicely and glowed a bright neon purple under the blacklight. You grinned. 

“Whoa, this looks awesome, Obi! I’m literally glowing.” You beamed, earning a chuckle from the artist. 

“Agreed, and just imagine how beautiful you will look once the work is completed.” Seer smiled. “No matter what room you set foot into, all eyes will be on you. I will make sure of it.”

“Sweet!” You cheered and handed the mirror and light back to him. Obi took it and put it on a nearby table. 

“Now, I must complete your torso next. Lay back against the table, please.”

You paled; your torso was way more ticklish than your neck. You did as he asked, but those butterflies in your stomach crept up on you. You were wearing a skeleton themed crop top and shorts, which left your torso and legs exposed. Obi scooted his chair by your side. He noticed the nervous, giddy look on your face, and he gave you a warm smile. 

“Are you ready?” He asked. You nodded, but your eyes kept watching him clean and recoat the paint brushes. That fluttery feeling in your stomach got stronger if you watched, so you closed your eyes again. Once Seer was ready, he hovered over you, aiming for your ribs.

“Yeah, yeah. Go aheahahahd-” You gasped aloud when Obi swept the brush lengthwise on your rib cage. This time, you couldn’t help but jerk in the opposite direction, a loud laugh escaping you. “AHAHAHA! I’m sohohohohrry!”

“No wahala, it is fine. I can fix it,” Obi answered, taking a towel with his free hand to wipe the messed up line. Then, he moved to start again, but you instinctively leaned away, grinning. Obi chuckled and carefully moved his hand under you, turning you back towards him. “Come here, I cannot reach you over there.”

You giggled, only to laugh again when he resumed painting your ribs. He stroked between your ribs at a slow pace and took his time to create straight lines. You squirmed again and made him mess up the lines. Obi sighed softly and gave you a look. He wasn’t angry or annoyed in the slightest, and the look he gave you actually made you giggle more. 

“(Y/N), if you are unable to hold still, I will have to hold you in place until the work is completed.” He warned in a light tone. He recoated the brush in a fresh coat of paint and hovered back over your ribs. You looked up at him with wide eyes and shook your head, grinning widely.

“No, no! I’ll hold still, I promise.” You quickly answered. You knew that Obi always said what he meant, but in all honesty, you were having fun. You didn’t always get to see him in a more casual, playful setting. 

The artist smirked. “Hm, we will see.” he chuckled. He went back to shading your ribs. He swept the brush back and forth and made sure the coat was even. Then, he went to the next rib, smiling again at your snorts and squeals. “Hmhm, almost there.”

You caught a glimpse of Obi smiling and you blushed brightly. “Hehehehey! It’s nohohohot fuhuhuhnny!” You squealed. You dug your nails into the sides of the table, giggling louder as he ventured further down your rib cage. Obi shook his head. 

“No, you are mistaken, my friend. I am just enjoying the sound of your laughter.” Obi replied. He reached your lowermost ribs again and noticed your laughter deepen. He paused, waiting for your laughs to calm down a bit before he returned to the spot. “It is quite melodious. Such a beautiful range of sounds.”

Your blush spread further across your cheeks. “Thahahahahnk yOHUHUHUHU!” You suddenly shrieked as those bristles gently scratched against your lowermost rib. Again, you jerked to the side, laughing loudly. Then, Obi used one hand to put you back into your reclined position, holding your waist down so that you couldn’t squirm away. Your eyes widened. “Nonono, wahahahait! Obi! I cahahahahn dohohoho it!”

“I apologize, (Y/N). But I do not have a choice,” he answered. While holding you still, he was able to complete the work on your ribs. So, he began on your abdomen, painting shapes to outline your spine. “I promise, I will work as quickly as possible.”

“NAhahaha! NOHOHOHO!” You squirmed in Obi’s hold, but you didn’t go anywhere. This time, he moved the brush horizontally, only stopping to get more paint onto his brush. No matter which way you squirmed, the ticklish feeling followed you. You flailed your arms like crazy. “STAHAHA OOHOHOHOBIHI!”

“Not yet. Just a moment more.” Although he was tickling you, Seer wasn’t inattentive. He paid close attention to your laughter’s volume and your overall body language to make sure you weren’t in any true distress. And, all he noticed was that you were pretty sensitive. He ended the painting just a hair above your navel. You squealed and then fell back against the table, still giggling. “Hmm…”

You peeked up at Obi, having to take a breath between your giggles. “Whahahaht ihihis ihihit?” you asked. You had to resist the urge again to not rub your torso. Obi nodded towards your torso. 

“I could have made these lines a bit straighter. Here, allow me to correct it.” Instead of using the brush again, Obi took his finger and swept above where he worked. His finger claws grazed your tummy and you snorted. 

“Wahahait! Yohuhur clahahahws tihihickle!” You protested. You lurched forward and latched onto his wrist, but he continued. “Ohohohohbi yohuhur clahahahahahws!”

Obi stopped, chuckling. “My mistake, I sometimes forget that I am wearing them.” He looked over the work that he completed and nodded. “However, I am satisfied with how the lines look now.”

You breathed through your nose and looked down at your torso. Since you were on your back, and Obi had an arm holding your waist down, you couldn’t see much. But, you trusted his judgment. 

“Now, I just need to complete your hips, legs, and perhaps your hands.” 

All tickle spots. When he brought the brush to your hip bone, you covered it with your hand. He gave you another look, and you grinned at him. 

“(Y/N), move your hand, please.” Seer said, smirking. He would’ve moved your hand himself, but he was already holding your waist still and trying to paint at the same time. You playfully shook your head. 

“Pfft, no…” You retorted, grinning wider at him. There was a beat, and suddenly, Obi took the handle of the brush and gently poked your side. There wasn’t any paint there, so he didn’t mess up his previous work. You jumped and moved your hand to cover where he poked, which freed up your hip. 

“Thank you.” Seer resumed painting your hip, outlining the bone. You tried to buck, but he still had a firm, yet gentle hold on your waist. Your laughter filled the room again as you grabbed onto his wrists. 

“Youhuhuhu dihihid thahaht on puhuhuhurpose!” You yelped, earning another grin from the artist. 

“I was only trying to move your hand from the area where I wished to paint.” He corrected. “It worked.”

You playfully narrowed your eyes; two could play at that game! Since you weren’t gaining any leverage on Obi’s wrists, you decided to drop your hand and squeeze his side. Obi froze and looked at you. You did it again. But, as much as you squeezed and poked, he didn’t flinch or crack a smile. Obi tutted. 

“A brave effort, but ineffective, I’m afraid.”

Now, while painting, Seer made more deliberate attempts to tickle you. He was able to complete your left hip and started on the right. While you struggled and laughed, he added fuel to the fire by occasionally stopping to flutter his fingers against your side, under your chin, or even at the top of your knee. His touch was light, delicate even, and after just a few more minutes of the light tickles, you called uncle. 

“Okahahahy! Okay! I’m sohohohohrry!” You pleaded. “I wohohon’t tihickle you again!”

Obi snickered and stopped. While you were mainly distracted by his tickles, he was able to finish your hips. “I am not angry, (Y/N). Of course you are forgiven.”

You breathed a sigh of relief. Seer released your waist to begin painting a skeletal pattern on your legs. This wasn’t as ticklish as painting your upper body, so besides the occasional giggle or squeak. You were able to relax. That is, if Obi didn’t sneak a poke or scribble across your knees.