#i’ll add names later when i can actually think of them lol

[cozeecritter]

a group photo of my new babies. and an extra one of bisquick. because he’s my current (fourth) holy grail.

[luvergirl-866]

something like love

part - 4

pairing - paige bueckers x azzi fudd

word count - 5.3k

c/w - language, small amount of angst, some hurt/comfort. also kinda problematic paige but i get her

a/n - guess who’s endo cramps are killing her!! that’s right, me! fml. as usual this is unedited but i’ll come back to edit later! also, i changed paige’s step-dad’s name from tim to dean because i remembered that azzi’s dad is named tim and i felt like that would be confusing lol. also, thank you so much for all the fic recs i got! i’m so excited to start working on them :3

They’re ten minutes into the thirty-minute car ride and nobody has said a word. Country music is playing quietly over the radio, and Dean and Amy keep glancing at each other. But the awkward silence is deadly.

Nobody spoke earlier, either. After Paige dropped the bomb. It was silent for a good minute before Dean had coughed loudly and turned back to the car, getting wordlessly into the driver’s seat. Amy stared at them for another minute or so, giving them no clue as to what was going on in her head other than her ears, which rapidly turned bright red. Finally, she’d shook her head and said, “We will talk about this when we get home,” before following her husband into the car.

As soon as they were both out of hearing range, Paige had sagged, and Azzi’d looked over at her, concerned. Usually, she’d lay a hand on her arm but she wasn’t sure if Paige wanted to be touched, especially by her, so instead she’d said, “Remember, we can leave anytime.”

Paige had nodded stiffly. And then, without looking at Azzi, she’d gotten into the car as well, leaving the door open for Azzi to follow suit.

And now they’re on the road, Paige and Azzi sitting in the back seat like two little kids in trouble. Azzi wants to go on her phone to avoid the awkwardness but her parents raised her to be polite, no matter the circumstances, so here she sits, stiff and awkward while she rides in this car that smells new and fancy and she hates it.

Chancing a glance over, Azzi sees that Paige is still staring out the window, the same thing she’s been doing the whole car ride, and Azzi hates that, too, because Paige only ever gets quiet when she’s bone-tired or truly upset. And Paige got a pretty good nap on the plane.

Based off the way she acted to Azzi’s words before they got on the road, Azzi’s pretty sure she’s doing that thing where she shuts people out because she’s mad or on the verge of tears or thinking too hard. And when she does this she can get mean, because she’s trying to protect herself, and it comes out all wrong.

She’s always done this, been reluctant to open up about the hard stuff, shut out the people who care about her. She and Azzi have talked about it a lot. She once admitted that Azzi was the first person to get her to actually talk about her feelings. But despite Azzi’s way with Paige, and despite the fact that they just get each other in a way no one else ever has, they still have their flaws. Azzi still doesn’t always know the right thing to say. And Paige still gets mean.

This fact keeps Azzi glued to her seat, thinking sidling closer and trying to comfort her best friend would only end badly. Azzi acts like she has a tough skin but often, the things Paige says when she gets like this cut deep, and it ends with both of them hurt. She’s scared to add a fight between the two of them onto whatever will surely go on with Paige and her parents later. So she stays put, even though every bone in her body is telling her to make Paige better.

Azzi has only managed this for maybe five minutes when she glances over again and notices that this time, Paige’s hand is splayed over the middle seat, fingers tapping anxiously, almost like she’s subconsciously reaching over. And that sight alone is enough to get Azzi sliding over, moving Paige’s hand so she doesn’t sit on it. Dean looks at her through the rearview, but Azzi pretends not to notice.

Paige doesn’t look over when Azzi settles in beside her. But she does reach blindly for her hand before taking it and placing it in her own lap, playing with the fingers nervously. Azzi breathes in relief. Paige hasn’t rejected her outright—she can’t be too upset. At least not yet.

They sit like that for the remainder of the ride.

When they pull into the driveway, Paige gives Azzi’s hand a squeeze before subtly shaking herself out and exiting the car. Azzi follows, afraid to be alone with Paige’s parents for even a second.

Before Paige can close the door, Amy calls, “Bring your bags into your room, Paige. And when you’re done come down and talk to us in the kitchen.” There’s a weighted pause. “Alone.”

Paige doesn’t answer, just slams the door shut. Azzi winces.

Azzi doesn’t say anything while Paige opens the trunk, or when she starts aggressively pulling their things out, or even when she slams the trunk shut. No, Azzi keeps her mouth shut, wanting to allow her best friend to seethe in peace, but when Paige slams into her shoulder when she passes her, Azzi doesn’t want to let it slide. “Ow! Paige, what the fuck?”

“Get your bags,” Paige responds gruffly.

Okay, so it’s gonna be one of those times. Perfect.

Despite not wanting to, Azzi does as she’s told, gathering her bags and following Paige to the front porch. She tries not to think about how usually Paige would’ve carried her things for her.

Paige opens the door without a word and they walk inside. The house is nice, open, smells of cedarwood. Paige doesn’t give Azzi a chance to look around, though, instead walking briskly to the staircase, lugging her shit upstairs with impressive strength, and Azzi thanks God she’s in such good shape because she’s practically jogging by the time they arrive at a room at the end of the hall.

“Paige—“ Azzi starts to stay, but Paige cuts her off by throwing her own backpack off her shoulder and dropping her suitcases, as if she’s trying her hardest to make as much a ruckus as possible.

Azzi places her things much more nicely on her usual side of the bed, eyeing Paige cautiously the entire time. It’s the only reason she’s able to catch her before she leaves, anticipating her movements just like she does on the court and darting between her best friend and the door, blocking her.

For the first time in nearly an hour, Paige looks her in the eye, and there’s fire there. “Move, Azzi.”

“No.”

“God,” Paige sighs, “seriously, don’t piss me off. Get outta my way.”

“No, Paige,” Azzi repeats, keeping her feet planted.

Paige stares at her and then shakes her head. “Why are you being so fuckin’ annoying?”

“Don’t,” Azzi says, trying to stop her before she gets too fired up, but it’s already started.

“No, Azzi, you don’t,” Paige snaps. “I knew you were gonna get like this, do your fuckin’ peace and love shit that you think will solve everyone’s fucking problems.”

Azzi swallows hard. It’s been years since Paige went on a rampage like this, and she opens her mouth to stop her, but is quickly interrupted.

“It doesn’t solve anything, dawg. It actually makes shit worse, because it’s so motherfucking annoying having you acting like everything’s fine when you don’t even know.” Paige shakes her head, taking a step towards her. “And that’s the thing, is you really don’t know but you wanna pretend like you do. You don’t know what it’s like to have your mom fuckin’ leave you for some fuckass guy, for her to have new kids outta state and raise them to be hateful just like her. Just like him.”

At this point, Azzi has tears in her eyes, and she attempts desperately to swallow them down. “Did you forget that my dad fucking left me when I was a baby? I’ve never even fucking talked to him, Paige. He doesn’t want shit to do with me.”

“That’s not the same and you know it.” Paige sends her a withering glare, so different from the way she usually looks at Azzi. “You have Tim. You have your mom and your brothers and they all love you so fucking much.”

“You have your dad!” Azzi responds, throwing her hands in the air. “You have Drew, you have Alora!” A tear escapes, against her will, and she wipes it furiously away. “You have me, Paige,” she says, more quietly now. “I love you so fucking much. So you don’t get to take this shit out on me and say mean things to hurt my feelings. That’s not—it’s not fair.”

As soon as she sees the tears welling in Azzi’s eyes, Paige softens, her shoulders slumping, eyes turning on her with guilt rather than venom. “Az, don’t cry.”

For some reason, this makes Azzi more mad, and she turns away to face the door, always having hated crying in front of others. “Well if you say mean shit to me, I’m gonna cry, Paige,” she mumbles, though there’s not much fire to her weak, shaky tone.

“Hey, no, you’re right,” Paige reaches for Azzi’s shoulder, trying to turn her around, but the tears have started now and they’re not going to stop anytime soon so Azzi stays turned firmly away. “Azzi, I’m sorry, I didn’t—“ Paige cuts herself off on a sigh. Her hand falls off Azzi’s shoulder, and for a second Azzi thinks she’s going to walk away, but then a pair of arms wrap tenderly around her waist and Paige’s chin is wresting on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—I was wrong for that, I shouldnt’ve said any of that shit.” When Azzi doesn’t respond, instead burying her face in her hands to try and hide what she’s sure is an ugly cry, Paige squeezes her tighter. “Azzi, please don’t cry, I’m really sorry. Fuck, I’m sorry, for real. I didn’t mean any of it, I was just so scared about my parents and I took it out on you, I fucked up.”

Azzi nods into her hands, taking a deep breath to try and stop the embarrassing flow of emotion. “I know, Paige,” she tries, but it comes out sort of as a whimper and this only makes Paige circle around to stand in front of her, full-on hugging her now, burying her face in her neck and rubbing her back soothingly.

They’re silent for another moment before Paige says, “I’m serious, Az. I didn’t mean any of it.”

Azzi knows this, fundamentally, but there’s still a part of her that sort of cracked at hearing her best friend tell her that she was annoying, that her efforts to help always fall flat. “You shouldn’t have said it, then,” she stutters, letting Paige hold her close even as her face doesn’t come out of its hiding spot.

“I know, I know, I shouldn’t have. You’re the only person who can ever make me feel better and I—fuck. Azzi, I’m sorry, I can’t believe—I never wanna hurt you.” Paige lifts her head out of her neck to nuzzle into Azzi’s hair, pressing a kiss to the spot just behind her ear. “Never wanna make you cry.” She plants another kiss there, and Azzi’s breath hitches. From the crying or from something else, she doesn’t know.

Sighing shakily, Azzi finally pulls her head out of her hands to look up at Paige, placing her hands at her chest almost as if she’s about to push her away. She’s sure her mascara is ruined by now but she can’t bring herself to care too much. “It really hurt when you shoved me outside, too.”

A pained expression flits over Paige’s face, and she nods, looking almost sick. “Fuck. I’m—I’m sorry, Azzi. I’m so sorry. Is your arm okay? Does it still hurt?”

Azzi can’t take the guilty look on Paige’s face and shakes her head no. It doesn’t seem to relieve much of anything.

Breathing deeply, Paige closes her eyes and then leans her forehead against Azzi’s, bringing her hands up from her waist to stroke over her tear-stained cheeks. “I’m sorry, baby,” she whispers, and Azzi’s knows that the nickname wasn’t a slip-up this time, wasn’t just a habit from their pretending. “I’m really fuckin’ sorry.”

And with that, Azzi isn’t mad anymore. Her feelings are still hurt and the things Paige said are still going to replay in her head for quite some time, but at least for now, Azzi just can’t be mad. Because Paige is going through something she could never imagine going through.

“I’m sorry, too,” Azzi breathes, and Paige rears back, but before she can protest, Azzi says, “about your parents. About this whole…situation.” She looks down at her hands on Paige’s chest, and, deciding she won’t be needing to push her away anymore, she slides them up to her shoulders. “It’s shitty and you’re right, I don’t know what it’s like to be in your position.” She shrugs, swallowing back the last couple tears that threaten to fall, trying to regain at least some of her composure. “I’m going to be here for you, okay? I always am.”

Paige nods. “I know you will.”

“And that means,” Azzi goes on, “you can’t do this again. You can’t take it out on me. You can’t push me away. Because that makes it really fucking hard for me to help you, and I want to help you.”

Paige nods again, more solemnly this time, moving her hands back to circle her waist. “Yeah, yeah, I know, and I’m so sorry for—“

Azzi holds a hand up to Paige’s lips, effectively shutting her up. “Okay, stop. I accept your apology, I promise. Just, show me you’re sorry and don’t do it again, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Paige says. “‘Course.”

“Good.” Breathing mostly even now, Azzi pulls Paige in for another hug.

With a heavy sigh, Paige hugs her back. “We’re in it together, hm? From now on, together.”

Azzi rests her cheek on Paige’s shoulder, the weight of her arms around her, the feeling of her skin and bones, so familiar. “Yeah. Together.”

Paige pulls back just enough to look at her, and when Azzi reciprocates, she’s uneasy to find that Paige is giving her that same new look. The perplexed, maybe enthralled?, almost worried look that has taken over her face more often than can be explained ever since the first time after their kiss. Azzi really wants to work out what it means.

But, as always, Paige corrects herself and it’s gone as fast as it arrived. “We’re good?”

Azzi nods, smiling softly despite herself. “Yeah, P. We’re good.”

—————————————

Paige has been downstairs with her parents for nearly an hour.

From what Azzi can hear from her spot at the top of the stairs, it doesn’t sound to be going too well. The three of them keep going from yelling to whisper-yelling to yelling again, and Azzi swears Amy has cried like five times at this point.

When Azzi hears Dean say, “We just don’t allow sinners in this house, Paige,” and Paige snap back, “Do not use God against me right now!” Azzi figures it might be time to intervene.

Trying to come up with something quickly, she pulls out her phone and dials Paige’s number. She hears Paige’s phone ring downstairs, and the three of them go quiet before Paige says, “Just—one second,” and then there’s a click on the other line and she’s answering. “Um, hi?”

“Pretend I’m your dad,” Azzi says, hoping she’s not on speaker.

“What?”

“Just pretend I’m your dad, Paige. Seriously.”

“Uh, okay.” The line gets a little muffled and Paige says, “It’s dad.” Azzi can hear both Amy and Dean let out audible groans downstairs.

“Okay, now tell them that I—your dad—am offering to fly you home.”

“I…wha—“ Azzi can tell Paige wants to argue but can’t with her parents right in front of her, so instead she sighs and the line goes muffled again. “He’s, um, he’s offering to fly me home.”

Azzi only has a second to hope and pray that Amy shares Paige’s competitive nature before Amy is saying, “What? You told him about this?”

“No,” Paige answers, “he just knows how you’re like now. And he wants Azzi and I to have a good summer, not a shitty one with shitty people.”

“If you want to go back to your dad’s, go,” Dean says, and Azzi’s heart sinks. Maybe this won’t work.

But then, bless her evil, horrible soul, Amy is stepping in. “No. Absolutely not. I will never hear the end of it if we send you to your father after inviting you over. We just…” Amy sighs, and Azzi thinks she can hear her start crying again. “We want what’s best for you, Paige.”

It’s silent for a moment. And then, “Let me be happy, Mom. Let me see my siblings. Let me and my girlfriend have a good trip with y’all.”

Dean interjects. “We really don’t believe in this kind of stuff.”

“I don’t care,” Paige replies viciously. “I love Azzi. It doesn’t matter that she’s a fuckin’ girl. I…” Paige pauses, quite abruptly, and Azzi wonders if something happened. But then she hears a heavy inhalation and a quiet, “I love her, Mom.”

Azzi knows it’s for the act, but she can’t help the way her stomach somersaults, hearing the words she’s always wished Paige would say.

“And it doesn’t matter what you think of it,” Paige continues. “I’m happy. My faith is strong. And what goes on between me and God isn’t your fucking business.”

“Language,” Amy says immediately. But then it’s silent for another weighted moment and Azzi can imagine Amy and Dean sharing that knowing, judgmental look of theirs. Her heart races while she waits for a consensus, and she’s sure it’s 100 times worse for Paige. But after a few moments, Amy says, “Tell your father that you’re staying here with us. Your siblings will be home tomorrow morning. The four of us adults have a reservation at a restaurant tonight, and we’re all going to go.”

“Mom—“

“We will try,” Amy sighs. “Azzi’s a nice girl. We will—we’ll try.” There’s something tired in her voice when she says, “Right, Dean?”

No answer. But Azzi can imagine him nodding gruffly, and a moment later, with no more words from any of them, Paige appears at the bottom of the stairs. She startles a little when she sees Azzi sitting there at the top.

“Hi,” Azzi says sheepishly, finally disconnecting their call. “I was eavesdropping.”

Paige stares at her, and then starts climbing the stairs, a small smile overtaking their face. “Thanks for saving me.”

“I told you I would,” Azzi replies, waiting for Paige at the top. “So. Dinner with your parents tonight.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Paige gets to the second-top step and stays there, so she’s just a little shorter than Azzi.

“Dinner as a fake lesbian couple with your homophobic parents,” Azzi clarifies, and Paige laughs nervously.

“Uh-huh,” she responds. “I think we needa nap before that.”

“Oh, yeah,” Azzi agrees, pulling Paige up to stand with her. “That is an amazing idea.”

——————————————

Azzi is rudely awoken to none other than an old Tyler, The Creator song blasting through the tinny speakers of Paige’s phone. Azzi groans, and she blindly reaches out for Paige to turn the damn thing off, but her hands only find cold bedsheets. Annoyed, Azzi cracks her eyes open and tries desperately to find Paige’s phone, realizing in the process that Paige’s side of the bed is cold. Strange, considering they still have two hours until dinner.

Finally, after probably thirty seconds of this stupid song playing over and over again, Azzi finds the phone tangled up in the bedsheets and slams the off button. It’s sort of pointless, though, because now she’s very much awake and will not be going back to bed.

She sits up in Paige’s bed, rubbing her eyes and looking around the room. The sun is shining through the curtains, reflecting off the mirror above the vanity and showcasing the off-white walls, the pink door to the adjoining bathroom—which Azzi now realizes is in use, the sound of the shower muffled through the door. She hadn’t noticed before because Paige isn’t awfully singing to some Mariah Carey song. Other than the water, it’s dead quiet in there. She must be nervous.

Fiddling with the pink sheets, Azzi feels nervous, too. Usually, merely being in Paige’s space comforts her, but this room—it doesn’t feel like Paige. It doesn’t smell like her, and it’s too pink. There’s no purple at all, actually. And the vanity—Paige has never known how to do much else other than mascara. In high school, she needed Azzi to tell her what concealer was for, and to teach her how to curl her lashes. She certainly wouldn’t have use for an entire vanity dedicated to makeup. The walls are also decorated with cringy, sort of Bible-thumping quotes and paintings of flowers. There’s not a single basketball poster.

No, this room isn’t Paige at all and Azzi feels an ache in her heart, thinking about how out-of-place she must have felt whenever she came to visit as a kid. How out-of-place she must feel now.

Without Paige to talk to, and without her room to comfort her, Azzi settles for laying on Paige’s side of the bed, burying her face in the blankets, and there she is—vanilla, like her hair products, and lavender, like the lotion she wears and the linen spray she uses, because it calms her down.

Azzi thinks she just might fall back asleep, enveloped in Paige’s scent, but then the door to the bathroom opens and steam billows out just before Paige does, wrapped in a towel, hair wet down her shoulders. Azzi only has a second to ogle the water drops adorning Paige’s collarbones before she’s spotted, and Paige gives her a curious look. “You still sleep? I left my phone here so the alarm would wake you up.”

“Yeah, no, it did,” Azzi says, sitting up quickly, before she looks like a weirdo snuggling up in Paige’s spot. “Just tryin’ to hype myself up for dinner.”

Paige gives her a commiserating look. “Me too. I’m shitting my pants, for real.”

“That why you couldn’t sleep?” Azzi asks, stretching out her back and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

Paige hums, bending down to rifle around in her suitcase. “I’on even know what to wear. Apparently it’s some fancy restaurant but I’m not wearing a fucking dress.”

Azzi laughs at that, lifting her hands when Paige shoots a glare over her shoulder. “I’m serious, dawg! And it’s not like I brought a suit or nothing.”

“I think you’re overthinking it,” Azzi says, standing up. “Just wear jeans and tuck a t-shirt or something. You’ll look cute no matter what.”

Paige straights up and gives her a cocky grin. “You think all that?”

“Chill, P,” Azzi rolls her eyes, shoving Paige’s shoulder a little.

“What were you doing on my side of the bed, anyway?” Paige asks, and Azzi can’t help the way she freezes. She’d thought Paige hadn’t noticed.

Trying to cover her reaction, she shrugs casually. “I didn’t know you owned the right side of the bed.”

“Nah, we’ve always had our sides,” Paige shakes her head, taking a step closer. “Why was you all cuddled up in mine?”

“Oh, I dunno,” Azzi says, trying for sarcastic but she can’t even really make eye contact, “maybe I rolled over or something.”

“Please. You don’t move in your sleep.”

“Maybe I do. You don’t know.”

“I think I’ve slept with you more often than I’ve slept alone,” Paige scoffs, taking a step even closer so that they’re practically chest-to-chest. “I know damn well.”

“Okay, seriously,” Azzi says, taking a small step back and stumbling when her thighs hit the bed, “go get dressed, you weirdo.”

“Mm,” Paige says, pretending to think about it. But before Azzi can move away, she grabs her waist and they both fall onto the bed while Paige starts to tickle her like crazy.

“Paige!” Azzi screams, laughing so hard she almost can’t breathe. “Get—off, oh my God!”

Paige is laughing right along with her, and it’s a miracle her towel hasn’t dropped yet. “Tell me the truth!”

“What the…” Azzi giggles and squeals when Paige goes for her armpit, “fuck!”

“I won’t stop ‘till you admit it!”

“Okay, fuck, okay!” Azzi pushes Paige off her, and Paige lets up just enough for her to gasp and say, “It smelled like you, okay? The sheets, they…” Paige has stopped completely now, staring at her with a shit-eating grin on her stupid face, “they smell like you.”

“Uh-huh,” Paige replies, “and you missed me so much while I was in the shower that you needed to smell my sheets?” She jabs her one more time in the ribs, making Azzi shriek, before rolling off her. “You lil creep.”

“It wasn’t like that!” Azzi insists, even though that’s exactly what it was like. “Now, seriously, go get dressed. You got me all wet.”

What Azzi means by that, of course, is that Paige’s damp towel and sopping hair had transferred to Azzi’s own clothes and hair. But Paige can’t be normal about anything, so she looks over and grins slyly.

“Don’t,” Azzi sighs.

“Oh, no, it’s okay,” Paige says, sitting up in bed and pulling Azzi up with her. “You don’t gotta be embarrassed. I know I make a lotta girls wet.”

“Stop being weird,” Azzi says, as Paige bends down once again to pull an outfit from her suitcase.

She begins walking back to the bathroom. “I’m not the one who gets turned on by tickling,” Paige calls over her shoulder. Just before she closes the bathroom door behind her, she says, “Don’t worry, we can take care of you after dinner, mama,” and winks at her.

Azzi’s shoe hits the door just as it clicks shut.

—————————————

They drive to the restaurant in silence.

It’s similar to their car ride from the airport, though it is a little less tense than before. Paige isn’t fidgeting too much beside her and her parents aren’t giving each other looks the entire time. That’s gotta be a good sign.

When they arrive at the restaurant, Amy and Dean start chatting idly, Paige and Azzi trailing behind when they walk inside the fancy building and give the hostess their reservation.

It’s only when they’re finally seated that they are addressed.

“So, girls,” Amy says, her voice all forced cheerfulness, “what looks good?”

“I dunno,” Paige mumbles, and Azzi kicks her under the table before saying, “Have you guys ever been here before?”

Amy looks a little startled at Azzi’s voice, but she recovers quickly, looking over at Dean with a forced smile. “Oh, yeah, we come here sometimes.”

Azzi smiles politely. “What do you suggest, then?”

“Um,” Amy says, and then she sort of jerks and Dean winces, and Azzi’s sure Amy has also just kicked him under the table.

Apparently well-trained, he speaks immediately. “We love the spinach ricotta.”

Azzi hums, then nudges Paige. “That sounds good, right?”

“Uh…” Paige looks like she wants to be difficult, but then she sees the warning stare Azzi is giving her and straightens up a little, “yeah, yeah. Sounds good.”

“Wanna share?”

Paige sighs, but luckily it’s barely audible. “Yeah, sure. Let’s share.”

Azzi leaves herself out of the conversation after that, letting Paige answer her parents’ conversation starters. When the waitress comes to take their orders, Paige gets a glass of wine for the both of them. Neither of them really like wine, but it seems classy enough and it might take the edge off just enough that they can actually get through the night unscathed.

It’s not until their dinner arrives that Azzi is addressed again.

“So, Azzi,” Dean says, out of nowhere, “How’s the knee?”

Azzi’s hand goes subconsciously to her surgery scars. “Doing better. PT’s been going good.”

“Good, good.” He leans back in his seat, and Azzi senses trouble. Something about the way Paige protectively rests her arm across the back of Azzi’s seat makes her think she senses it, too.

“You get injured a lot, huh?” He asks.

Azzi sort of hates the way her face gets hot, hoping it doesn’t show up on her brown skin. “I’ve torn my ACL twice, yeah.”

“And your meniscus, right?” he prods.

Without really noticing it, Azzi looks over to Paige, and that’s apparently all Paige needs to jump in. “Hey, let’s not talk about it.”

“Why not?” Dean asks, scoffing. Amy is looking between the three of them nervously. “It’s hard not to talk about. Azzi, you don’t even play basketball at this point.”

“Um,” Azzi replies, her instincts telling her to get hot-headed but with the way Paige is buzzing beside her, she’s gonna need to keep her cool.

“What the hell?” Paige says, her hand going from the chair to Azzi’s shoulder. She looks at Amy. “Mom, you said this wouldn’t happen.”

“Your father is just asking a few questions—“

“He’s not my fucking dad!” Paige exclaims, and Azzi jerks as she’s pulled into Paige’s side. “I already have a dad! He raised me, he loves me, Mom, and he’d never say this shit about Azzi.” Angrily, Paige stands up, tossing a few bills onto the counter and helping Azzi to stand beside her.

“Sweetheart,” Amy says, reaching limply for her daughter while Dean sits beside her looking far too smug. “Paige, where are you going? We’re your ride.”

“We’ll Uber,” Paige responds, wrapping an arm around Azzi’s waist. “I’m not gonna make her sit through your bullshit because you don’t know how to act like a decent fucking human being.”

“He was just asking—,” Any starts, sounding exasperated, but Paige cuts her off.

“You know what he was doing.” She glares at Dean, who shakes his head, smirking. “We’ll go back to the house,” she sneers. “But if this doesn’t change by tomorrow we’re leaving.”

And with that, she takes Azzi hands and leads them both out into the night.

—————————————

Paige keeps it together until they get to the house.

As soon as they’re stepping through the door, she turns away from Azzi and leans down to untie her shoes. Azzi does the same, but she doesn’t miss the sniffling sounds coming from her best friend.

Paige refuses to look at her when they start heading upstairs, and she tries to make a beeline for the bathroom once they close her bedroom door shut behind them. But Azzi stops her, placing a gentle hand on her arm. “P?”

Another sniffle. And then a quick wipe at her face before she’s turning around, trying to look nonchalant but her eyes are red and her lip is trembling. “Yeah?”

“Paige,” Azzi says softly, and Paige crumbles, hands coming up to her face as she starts crying.

Azzi steps forward to hug her, pulling her down to hide in her chest. “I’m sorry, P. I’m so sorry, this—this sucks.”

“I’m sorry,” Paige replies, voice all small and muffled in a way that makes Azzi’s heart hurt. “I thought they were gonna try…I wouldn’t have taken you out with them if I knew…”

“Hey, it’s all good,” Azzi responds, running a hand through Paige’s hair. “I didn’t mind, really. I’ve heard worse.”

This is apparently the wrong thing to say, because Paige just cries harder. “Fuck, Az, you shouldn’t have to do this.” She lifts her head up to look at her, and Azzi absently wipes her face. “This sucks. It’s the first week of summer and I—I was shitty to you and now my parents, and I—“

“Paige,” Azzi says sternly. “I wouldn’t have agreed to this if I couldn’t handle it. I can handle it. It’s you that I’m worried about.”

Paige nods, sniffling again. “You don’t gotta worry. I’m fine.”

“You’re obviously not fine, P,” Azzi says, and Paige winces, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

“I’m okay,” Paige insists. “Really. As long as we do this together, I’m okay.”

She straightens up like she’s steeling herself, and Azzi thinks maybe she should do the same.

This is only the first day of their two-week stay.

It’s going to be a long trip.

@azzibuckets @smiths-fan--13 @ch12334 @makethemhoesmad @the-other-half @rosemariiaa

[goosewriting]

Dinner Disaster

summary: after some flirting, reth finally asks reader out for dinner, but it doesn’t go as planned (follows the dinner disaster quest)

relationship: Reth x gn!reader

warnings: spoilers for Reth’s backstory and interactions, smooching

word count: 5.1k 

A/N: literally no one asked for this but this game is consuming my very being to a molecular level, and this man is a big reason i’m obsessed. btw if any of you play palia or are interested in playing, hmu and we can add each other lol this is set some time after the flirting starts, after reader gets involved in his uh, side business. this is more or less how the quest played out in my head so, yeah, enjoy~

Navigation: Part 1 (you're here) | Part 2

(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)

— — —

Since you developed a real green thumb, to the delight and pride of Badruu, you have some extra apples from your tree that you don’t know what to do with. So, as with most of your garden surplus, you decide to bring them to Reth, who will surely find a good use for the produce.

You spot the freckled Majiri behind the bar when you enter the Inn, thinking that he’d probably make an apple pie with the fruit, and that you’d surely get a slice. Your mouth waters at the thought. You wonder when the cook will teach you the recipe; maybe you should ask him. 

Reth’s working the register, finishing some transaction with another human customer, when you place the wooden crate of apples on the bar, and proceed to take a seat on the stool you usually occupy when you visit him at the Inn. Reth gives the apples a curious glance, and talks to you over his shoulder as he hands the customer some change.

“Thanks, babe,” he says without thinking, and you both freeze at his words, as does the human who just paid for a recipe. They shoot you a quick look with raised brows, then silently turn on their heels and walk out of the Inn. Reth slowly turns to you. 

“Sorry, that kinda slipped out,” he says sheepishly, unable to meet your eyes. “Are we at the babe status yet?”

To be honest, if he had asked you first, you probably would have said no. It’s not your favourite pet name, and he could surely come up with something better. He often calls you sweet tooth, which you’ve actually come to like a lot. But hearing him call you ‘babe’ so matter-of-factly out of nowhere… You’re surprised to realise that you actually like how it sounded, how it sounds coming from him.

“I mean… If you want to be,” you answer after a moment, deciding to tease him a little. “Sure thing, babe.”

Except that it backfires and it ends with both of your faces burning up, which he tries to play off by clearing his throat. 

“Yeah, I’ll still have to get used to it, too,” you chuckle, bringing a hand to your face in an attempt to cover up how flustered you got. “But I like it when you say it.”

“Noted,” he replies, then looks around the Inn to see if someone else will approach the register. As there’s no one else, he fully faces you, leaning slightly over the bar. “Say, what are you up to today?”

“Oh you know, the usual,” you reply, starting to count on your fingers. “Hunting, fishing, foraging. Then tending to the vegetable garden. I also need to craft a new chair. Why?”

“A-are you busy later tonight?”

You prop yourself up on your elbow and give him a lopsided smile. 

“I’m never too busy for you,” you offer, and he smiles amusedly at your answer. “You have anything in mind?”

“I was thinking we could have dinner. At your place, maybe?” he asks. “I’ll take care of the food and everything. You just have to show up.”

Up until now, no one has actually visited your house. Sure, you upgraded from your first precarious tent to a proper building, and the Majiri came by every so often to say hi or bring you something, but no one has actually gone into your house. And for some reason the thought of Reth not only being at your place but also being the first one to do so, it makes you a bit nervous… but in a good way.

You realise that he’s still looking at you waiting for an answer, fidgeting with a loose nail on the wooden crate still on the bar. 

“I’d love that, actually,” you reply.

“Great!” He looks actually relieved. As if I would have said no to you asking me out, you think, smiling to yourself. He’s so innocent sometimes. Reth takes the crate and shoves it under the bar somewhere. 

“Then let’s say around 6pm?” he proposes.

“Sounds good,” you agree with a nod. 

Ashura enters the Inn, giving you a warm smile and a wave from afar as he spots you. Given that it’s his boss and you shouldn’t be distracting Reth from work, you take it as your cue to leave.

“See you later then,” you say in a low voice so Ashura can’t hear you.

“Don’t miss me too much,” Reth gives you his usual goodbye. He winks at you and you merely roll your eyes as you turn to exit the place. And just in time, so he can’t see your flustered face. You can’t remember when exactly the winking started, but it never fails to make you weak in the knees.

Once down at the plaza, you refocus on your tasks for the day, mentally making a list of the things to buy, resources to mine and places to go. Then you head for your first stop with a spring in your step. Tonight can’t come quickly enough.

— — —

You come home with a backpack full to the brim of crabs, plants, stones and other goodies. As you set down your things on the grass with a grunt from the weight, you see your palcat coming out of the house to greet you.

“Hey there,” you say, crouching down to scratch her head. She purrs and meows happily. You recently got this companion, and it’s been nice having someone at home to come back to. She often accompanies you when you go out as well, but this morning she was feeling especially lazy and cosy so she stayed in bed. You walk to your storage crate, starting to put everything away, and your cat looks at you with a light tilt to the head as you tell her about your day.

“Oh and actually,” you finish your retelling with the big news. “We’re having a visitor today.”

“Mreow?”

“Yeah, him… So you have to be on your best behaviour, you hear me?” you tell your cat with an accusing finger pointing at her. “We have to make a good impression. If you’re good, you can have lots of treats later, okay?”

She meows again, and you like to think she just agreed; bribes with food always work, after all.

There’s still some time until six, so you tend to your garden, clean yourself and change into a new set of clothes, the nicer one. It’s the only one you own, and it was a gift from Jel. In fact, all the clothing you have was given to you by him in some way or another. You make a mental note to prepare a gift for him for helping you out so much.

Next to your house there’s a nice spot among the trees, near the pond, where you can hear the trickling of water. You grab a big blanket and a lantern, and set everything up for a picnic corner. Even if whatever Reth brought was more of a “plates and cutlery at the table” kind of meal, you could still come out here after and look at the stars a bit. Then, maybe you’ll find the courage to make a proper move on him… You imagine the both of you sitting on the blanket, illuminated only by the warm glow of a candle and the gentle moonlight, you take his hand, he leans in, and… 

You mentally slap yourself to get rid of those thoughts, cheeks ablaze. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, you reprimand yourself. He may be a bit of a flirt at times, but Reth doesn’t strike you as the type of person to take such feelings lightly. So you have to make sure that he even is into you in the first place. Like actually into you. Suddenly your whole mental scenario shifts, and as you take his hand, he pulls away, disgusted. But wait. Dinner was his idea. He even called you ‘babe’. Surely he must have some interest, right? You’re not just… a side piece? 

Before you can spiral down further, you hear your name being called, although it’s not the voice you were expecting; this one is higher and has a slight lisp. You turn around to find Auni by the gate to your yard. You jog up to where he stands, smiling curiously. Sure, he delivers the mail twice a day, but usually you just find the letters in your mailbox as if they magically appeared; you never saw him actually deliver anything. You wonder if he has a new cool bug to show you.

“Hey Auni!” you greet the boy as you approach him. 

“Hi, I have a delivery for you,” he announces, holding out something for you to take.

“Oh, what is it?”

“Reth paid me in cakes to have this brought to you asap, said it was really important.”

“Oh?” 

You take the letter from him with a thanks, and he says his goodbyes. Why would Reth send a letter when he’s supposed to show up himself? Maybe it’s a treasure hunt kinda thing? 

You open the folded piece of paper, which isn’t even in an envelope, recognising Reth’s handwriting, but it’s even messier and more hurried than usual. The curious smile on your face disappears, your brows furrowing as you read.

Hey, I feel like a HUGE jerk for doing this, but I have to cancel our plans tonight. Something came up that I can’t ignore. Next time we see each other I promise I’ll explain.

- Reth

It feels like your whole body suddenly runs cold, and your hands drop to your sides, your eyes looking ahead at nothing in particular.

Your cat, who had poked her head out the door when she heard Auni, seems to sense the shift in you and approaches, meowing softly, as if asking if everything is okay. You look down at her, and give a light shrug.

“Looks like we won’t have visits after all…” you explain, reading over the letter one more time, then letting out a deep sigh. “Let’s get you something to eat, c’mon.”

She seems to know those words, as she immediately stands up and circles around your legs. Following you inside, she waits for you to get the bowl ready, and once you set it on the ground, she happily digs in.

“Well, at least one of us got a nice dinner.”

You stroke once from her head to her long bushy tail, to which she comically lifts her behind, then you decide to turn in for the night and head to bed, not really feeling hungry despite the eventful day.

— — —

The next morning you wake up to the sunlight shining through your window and fully hitting your face; you forgot to close the blinds the night before. With a squint, you look down at the weight you feel on yourself and find your cat curled up on your lap, which gets a sleepy half smile out of you. 

Picking her up in your arms, you go to close one of the blinds, then make your bed and head to the kitchen for breakfast. You start your routine like normal, having breakfast, taking care of the garden, going through your inventory to check what you need and what you can sell. You take your time, though, not really wanting to head into the village just yet. 

By the time you’re ready to go, it’s almost noon. Usually you’d be at the inn in the morning to say hi to Reth and chat a bit before starting your day. And while you really don’t feel like talking to him after leaving you hanging yesterday, you also know that he’s probably beating himself up about it, even more so if you haven’t been seen all morning. So after heaving a deep sigh, in hopes of letting all anger and frustration exit your body, you walk through the gate down into the village. To your surprise and delight, your cat follows this time.

You make your way towards the central plaza, exchanging greetings with those who walk by you, stopping to have a short chat with Chayne, whom you probably don’t talk to enough. You make a mental note to remedy that.

Somewhere in your mind though, you know you’re just stalling; you should just get it over with. Reth probably has a good explanation. Besides, you don’t want to be mad at him or give him the silent treatment or anything. You miss him, and you do want to see him. You’re just… disappointed. 

Taking one last deep breath as you stand before the Inn, you look down at your palcat and give her a nod. She meows encouragingly. You walk in through the open door, relieved to find it mostly empty. There’s very few people sitting at the tables in the corner, and Ashura isn’t at the reception desk. 

Your eyes find Reth’s behind the bar, and he freezes for a moment. You approach him like you normally would, about to take a seat on your usual stool.

“Wait,” he says before you’re able to fully sit down. You merely shoot him a questioning look. He lowers his voice, shooting a quick glance at the people eating at the tables. “Let’s talk in the back.” 

Reth scribbles something on a piece of paper and places it next to the till, indicating for you to follow him with a nod of his head. You pat the seat you meant to take while commanding your cat to hop onto it, and she does, so you tell her to stay there and wait. Then as you walk to where he said, you take a quick look at the paper; it reads “back in 5”.

You follow Reth into the back room, and you both come to stand in the farthest corner; since there are two archways but only one has a door, this will have to do to stay away from prying ears and curious eyes. You both talk in hushed voices.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he says with a sigh, scratching his neck. He drags his eyes up to meet yours, scared of what he might find.  “Please don’t be mad. Are you mad? You can be a little mad. I’m such a jerk–”

“Hey, no need don’t say that,” you interrupt him, and you just look at each other in silence for a second. “I mean, I’m upset, but not in a ‘mad at you’ way. More in a… ‘I was really looking forward to it and was bummed that you had to cancel at the last minute’ way.

“I was really looking forward to it too, it’s just…” Reth runs his hand over his face with a groan. “Yesterday was kind of a mess.”

“What happened?”

“Ashura caught me sneaking into the back rooms after hours. I panicked, so I lied and said I was actually planning a party for him, as a thank you. He liked that idea, so he got off my back, but now I actually have to throw him a dinner party with other people.”

You look to the side, unable to stop the scoff that escapes you. But it isn’t a mocking or offended scoff, it’s more of an amused sharp exhale. 

For a moment, you think back to how you kind of ended up roped into his side hustle of smuggling illicit goods (especially Flow and ancient artifacts, which are very illegal), which is why he was sneaking around in the first place. You’ve been covering for him with Ashura and many others for a while now, and while at first it was more of a personal favour, now you're in too deep. Not that you mind, though. If you’re being honest with yourself, it adds a bit of an exhilarating factor to everyday life. You’re not entirely sure yet about the actual power and meaning of Flow in this society, but it seems to be connected to humans in some way, so you’re at least a little bit interested in it. If you have to investigate and interact with it in secret, then so be it; you also want answers as to what happened to humanity and how you landed here. Besides, it’s one more thing you two can bond over. Literally partners in crime. The thought makes you smile to yourself.

“You’re kind of bad at this whole criminal thing, you know?” you tell him with a playful grin. “Getting strangers involved, almost being caught by your boss.”

He doesn’t seem too amused. 

“I know, I’m…” his demeanour shifts from annoyed at and with himself to almost shy, and he looks down as he bites the inside of his cheek. “I guess I’ve been distracted lately, is all.”

You hum in response, somewhat intrigued. When his gaze comes back up to meet yours though, eyes filled with yearning, the look he gives you makes your heart skip a beat, and suddenly you’re all too aware of how close you’re standing to each other. You need to wrap this up.

“So is there anything I can do to help you out?” you ask him.

“What? No, you really don’t need to. You’ve already saved my hide so many times,” he’s quick to dismiss your question. “Besides, cooking is one of the few things I’m actually good at, so I got that covered.”

Suddenly he looks like he just thought of something that you could in fact help out with, but he doesn’t want to say. You give his upper arm a soft push with your fist.

“C’mon, out with it,” you encourage him with a playful smile. 

“Well…” His eyes linger for a second where you touched him. “I need to prepare everything, so I can’t be out and about actually inviting everyone to the dinner party.”

He takes out a paper from his pocket and hands it to you. You skim over it, seeing a list of names.

“If you could invite everyone and let me know how many guests will come, I can make sure to cook the right amout.”

“Got it,” you reply with a nod. “I’ll ask around and probably send Auni back to let you know. He told me you’re paying him in cakes for special deliveries. Think you can sneak another baking session in today on top of dinner? On my tab.”

“Sure thing,” he chuckles, then gets serious again. “And hey, I really am sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Reth, it’s okay, really,” you say, and he’s so close and he looks so sad, you want to hold his face so badly. In fact, your hand is already going up, but you pull back midway, fidgeting with the collar of your shirt instead. “Just… be more careful next time, okay?”

“Yeah…” he sighs. “And thank you, for the invites. I owe you. Again.” 

“Yes, you do,” you chuckle. “Maybe I should start charging you with interest.”

He starts patting down his pockets. 

“I don’t have any cash on me at the moment,” he says with a smile, playing along. 

Your answer comes quicker than you can anticipate and you’re unable to stop your words. 

“I was thinking more along the lines of kisses maybe…”

Both of you look at each other a bit shocked.

“Oh. O-oh,” is all he stammers.

Whatever confidence came over you for you to say that, immediately dissipates as Reth turns several shades of pink darker. The tips of his ears look like they might actually catch fire any moment.

“But we can talk about payment later,” you’re quick to add, and clear your throat. “I’ll uhm, get your invites out. You better start on that food.”

“Right. Yes,” he says stiffly, and you both put some space between each other. “Thanks again. And sorry too. And–”

“Reth,” you cut him short again, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. See you later.”

“B-bye.” 

You exit the backroom, calling for your cat, who walks around the bar to find you, and you make a hasty exit through the back, walking down the stairs to your left. As you pass the river, you consider for a moment jumping into the water to cool down. Maybe that would get your heart to slow down again. You fist your shirt over your chest where you can feel the pounding against your ribs. 

An inquisitive meow from the side gets your attention back, and you look down at your companion, who’s looking up at you confusedly.

“Right. We have a job to do,” you say and go to take out the paper with the list from your pocket, except that it’s been in your hand the whole time, and it’s now crumpled and slightly damp because of how clammy your hands were. You cringe a bit at that, commanding yourself to calm down at once. Geez, get a grip on yourself, you think.

It takes a while to track Auni down after everyone else, given that he’s always out on his mail route or out and about exploring, probably trying to catch some bugs. When you finally find him, you give him the list of people who plan to atttend Ashura’s dinner, and send him to Reth to deliver the news with the promise of getting his sticky hands on more cake. This seems to do the trick, and he happily jogs off with the new list stuffed into a side pocket of his gigantic backpack. You look after him as his figure gets smaller and smaller, wondering how he’s even able to carry all that. His equipment is bigger than himself. 

With a shake of your head, you bring your attention back to your own equipment, and get your bow and arrows ready. Today you’re hunting chapaas; Hassian asked for some meat and fur earlier this week and you haven’t been able to deliver yet. 

— — — 

You get back home relatively late, and when you do, the flag on your mailbox is up. Setting down your haul next to it, you get out several letters, looking for a message from Reth. And lo and behold, there’s one from him, this time properly written and folded into an envelope. 

He says that in the end everything worked out, to which you sigh in relief. Ashura doesn’t suspect a thing apparently, and everyone had a great time. He tells you to meet him at your “private spot” tonight, he has something to give you. 

You look at the time, then down at yourself; you’re looking pretty shabby after hunting for hours on end, kneeling down in mud and such. So you quickly change into clean clothes, wash your face and prepare food for your loyal cat. As she happily munches away, you grab your jacket and leave again. Nights can get pretty chilly here, you’ve learned. 

It doesn’t take long for you to make your way to the inn, given that you’re essentially bee lining for it. Checking that no one’s following you or sees you enter the inn from the back, you quickly take a left and go down the stairs towards the storage room. Reth gave you the key to it, so you unlock the door and enter, quickly closing it behind you. 

When you turn around, you’re met with the cook on the other side of the room, stopping whatever he was doing on the table, and he stands up to come and meet you.

“Hey sweet tooth, thanks for coming,” he greets you. 

“Hey,” you smile up to him but he looks tense. “Is everything okay? I thought you said the dinner party worked out? “

“No, it did. It’s- It’s not that,” he curses under his breath at himself. 

“What is it then?”

Reth sighs, and you can tell he’s trying to find the right words. So you give him a moment to gather his thoughts, waiting patiently.

“You know… I’m not used to asking for help,” he starts explaining. “Even as a kid, I wouldn't, and I didn't expect others to help, either. It was always just me and Tish against the world. And now there’s you.”

His cheeks flush ever so slightly, and you can start to feel yours mirroring his.

“Here you come, busting into my life,” he says with a soft smile, but it quickly vanishes. “And even though I keep messing up… somehow you’re still here. You’re not sick of me yet.”

You want to interject, as that “yet” doesn’t sit well with you, but he doesn’t let you.

“And more than that, you've put yourself on the line for me, more than once. I honestly don't understand why you keep putting up with me but… I really do appreciate everything you've done and how much you've helped me out, and Tish as well. But the cartel… I- I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. And I don’t want to scare you off either.” He lets out a shaky breath. “Whatever is going on between us, I don’t want to lose this. So let me make it up to you.”

He steps aside to show you what’s on the table: a container with your favourite food. 

“And I know this is barely enough for everything–”

“Reth, please stop,” you interrupt him before he can spiral further, your voice soft. “I’ll take the food, thank you. It looks delicious. But you really don’t have to try to make up for any of the, uh, side business stuff. Sure, the dinner didn’t work out, but if you say we just have dinner another day, then that is enough for me.”

You step a little closer, your hand tentatively reaching out for his.

“And you don’t have to worry about scaring me off.” Your voice is nothing more than a whisper now. “I also don’t want to lose what we have. I’m not going anywhere.”

Reth looks down at your hands as he shyly intertwines his fingers with yours, and when his eyes come back up to meet yours, they’re full of something… new. His gaze flickers down to your lips for a second and back up, and you wonder if he can hear your erratic heartbeat. You’re standing so close to each other right now, it wouldn’t take a lot to close the gap.

“That said, though, about that payment I mentioned…” you trail off.

His jaw clenches, and he looks to the side, pulling back away from you ever so slightly.

“Are you sure about this?” he questions rather bitterly. “About me?”

“What do you mean?” you ask. He sighs, eyes cast down at the floor.

“People will talk. They probably already are. With my reputation and all… I strayed from my Path. Most days I’m convinced people don’t even like my soup. I’m nothing more than a scoundrel.”

Your free hand comes up to gingerly hold his chin and turn his face to make him look at you.

“First of all, I don’t care what people say,” you start refuting his arguments. “Maybe I still don’t understand Majiri tradition, but I think you should be free to choose your own path with no expectations, and change it if you find it doesn’t suit you. And I like your soup. Also, I think being a scoundrel is part of your charm. Is that a bad thing?”

He doesn’t reply immediately, and when he does, his voice is so small you almost miss it. 

“You’re too good for me.”

You pull back slightly to fully look at him, and it breaks your heart a little how earnestly he means that. So you let go of his hand and hug his torso instead, burying your face into the crook of his neck.

“I don’t know what happened that makes you think that, but I will try my best to show you how wrong you are. You deserve good things, Reth. Whatever it is you want, you’re allowed to pursue it.”

He hugs you back, tightly, so you place a kiss to the only place you can reach, which is his jawline just below his ear. You feel him tremble, but if it’s from relief, anticipation or something else, you can’t tell.

“Right now what I want is you,” he says after a moment. 

“Then what are you waiting for.”

Reth lets go only enough for you to come back face to face with him, and he doesn’t waste a second to capture your lips with his. At first it’s shy, new, a sequence of soft pecks, testing the waters. When your hands travel up his chest to cup his face, he relaxes a bit more, kissing you more confidently. His hands slip underneath your open jacket, holding onto your waist and pulling you to him. 

His kisses grow more intense, hungrier, and his tongue finds its way to yours. You can’t help the low moan that escapes you when he presses you further into him, and he practically swallows it. 

As he takes a step forward, you take one backwards, then another and another, until your back hits the door, and you’re being squished between the rough wooden surface and Reth’s body trying to get impossibly close to yours. The impact makes you grunt, and he responds with something between a sigh and a growl, moving away from your lips to attack your neck. You welcome the break to take a breather, panting, and you remember something.

“Wait,” you say between breaths, and immediately Reth stops his soft bites and licks on your throat, also out of breath, and worry starts spreading on his face.

“W-what? Is this okay? I–”

Your hand on his face gently covers his mouth to stop him from talking, while with the other you turn the key below the doorknob to lock the door, which you had forgotten to do when you arrived.

“Just don’t want to risk getting interrupted, is all.”

You take a moment to admire his slightly dishevelled form: the bandana is a bit askew, his pupils are blown out, his cheeks and ears a deep pink. You probably don’t look much different, to be honest. He looks at you expectantly, waiting for you to give him permission to continue. 

“Let’s move away from the door, maybe–” you start, and within an instant, strong arms are picking you up under your thighs, carrying you over to the other side of the room and setting you down on the table. 

“Better?” he asks, placing a kiss to the corner of your mouth.

“Better,” you reply with a smile.

“You said you’re charging me with lots of interest,” he mumbles into your skin as he starts again where he left off earlier. You can only hum in response. “And I plan on paying back what I owe.” 

You pull back a little to look at him, and the newfound confidence and assertiveness in his eyes and voice send a pleasant tingle down your spine. 

“I’m very much looking forward to it.”

— — —

A/N 2: what? goose being attacked by brainrot over a freckled red-head who seems confident on the outside but is actually riddled with insecurities and does some illegal stuff to keep his family safe? huh, bet no one saw that one coming 🙄 guess i have ONE TYPE, smh.

A/N 3: if this is something you'd like to see more of, feel free to let me know and i'll add palia to my taglist fandoms for you to sign up :D palia has now been added to my taglist! link in my pinned post~

[aetlasx]

prologue

pair: eddie munson x witch!reader

summary: Ah, memories. You journal your first day of high school, but things quickly take a turn just a few weeks later.

tw: menstruation, pad/tampons, bullying, name calling (pls lmk if there’s anything I missed)

a/n: just stick with me lol. he’ll be in the first part. Also, this is an AU!! For spooky season!! thank you so much for reading!!

*the chat font is the diary entry and it goes back to normal at the end*

August 22nd, 1983 It's been a few months since i've written in this thing. I thought it'd be a good time to start now since I finally made it to high school!

You know what that means? Four more years till I leave this shithole!! Better than five. June was actually waiting by the door when I got home, she really wanted to hear every detail of how it went. I told her about my classes, I have Jonathan in two and Nancy in several. I told her how the school and people were so different from anything I was used to. But, it doesn't take her long to find something wrong with the way I think. She started with her usual warnings and advice, all the things I need to avoid, all the mistakes I shouldn't make. I know she's just trying to protect me, but it feels like she can never have trust in her little sister.

On the other hand, at least Teddy asked if I had fun. He's always been the one who knows how to lighten the mood, especially knowing how his wife is. He asked about my teachers and any clubs that looked cool enough to join. He even asked about Jonathan and Nancy.

Jonathan was definitely not as excited as me. He's quite, but he's always been that way.I know that his mom was excited for his first day of high school, she even convinced him to bring his camera. Right now, I'm trying to convince him to join the newspaper but he just shrugs me off. And Nancy, well, although it's been one–girl is practically glow. Within just 8 hours of the school day, she was able to meet a boy. She kept gushing about him and is pretty excited for the rest of the school year here. I'm genuinely happy for her.

Before June could add her two cents, I interrupted her with how I stopped by Aunt Claudia's after school to see how Dustin's day went. He was already sprawled out on the couch, 'exhausted' from fighting with his new math teacher. It had been a bit since I had seen them, I slaved away my summer at my job so stopping by, I felt grateful that they weren't even mad. I'll have to start hanging out with him again.

Anyways, I’m determined to make the most of freshman year with my friends. I’m ready to prove that I’m more than just a product of this stupid town.

Wish me luck!!

September 16th, 1983

I think I lied. I don’t know where to start…but a four year wait is too long. I don’t know where it all went wrong but it started over the weekend.

Sometimes I’d like to think that if my mom was still around, this wouldn’t have happened. Hell, June is like my mom, why did it happen. I’m talking about mother nature’s gift. It seemed as though no on thought to inform me that a girls first period would be this chaotic.

Nance and I had a movie night planned. I hadn’t really talked to her much, only in class, because her new boy toy or whatever—Steve Harrington, was taking up most of her time. I thought this would be a good time to just catch up and gossip, I was wrong. That Friday was horrible. I ended up throwing up, getting the chills, my body ached to no end. But I was still determined to make movie night happen, especially since June and Teddy were gone for the weekend.

As I was dying on the couch, Nancy finally showed up. But to my disappointment, it was only to cancel. Her and Steve were going out on their first date. I don’t know if it was how hot I was feeling or my intestines twisting, but black spots started clouding my vision. I just remember her screaming for Steve and once I knew it, I woke up in the hospital.

What I’m about to write, I’ll say with confidentiality…probably because I’m the only one reading this. Whatever.

A period is probably normal for all females. What’s not normal is having to go to the hospital and having your best friend’s boyfriend make fun of you because the doctor called you a late bloomer. I mean, she apologized but, if I could’ve just died on that bed, I wouldn’t be here.

Even June lectured me when I interrupted her weekend getaway. The whole ride home she kept complaining and saying ‘how could I not know�� and ‘you just gave us another unnecessary bill’. Like, sorry my baby’s natural response has ruined something for you.

Fuck. That’s not even the worst part. When Monday came back around, everyone was looking at me when I walked in. I know how cliche it sounds after what had just happened but knowing how popular Harrington was and who his friends were, he had already told the whole school by now. During gym, Carol and a few other girls threw pads and tampons at me. I got called ‘Bloody Mary’ and ‘Leak Freak’ in the hallways, at lunch, and anytime anyone had the chance. I tried to stay strong, I even hoped Nancy would say something to me during class or at least when she saw me but she just looked at me with sympathetic eyes. It’s just hard to believe that a few weeks ago, everything was fine. We were making fun of our teacher, gossiping with Barb, and even went shopping but I guess things change. Now when I look at her I’m just consumed with rage.

Jonathan has been supportive, though. The evening I got out of the hospital, he had actually brought over some of my favorite snacks and listened to me cry all night. Even when the mocking was bad, he’s stuck by my side. He’s told some kids to fuck off, walks me to class, and I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong but knowing that I have to wake up and go through it again doesn’t really ease my pain.

I feel like my chances of making friends and actually joining some clubs are ruined. When I try talking to some new, they give me dirty looks. When I go to ask about different clubs, they turn me away. I’ve lost hope. Thought this was suppose to be a fresh start but I guess not.

And just to add more salt to the wound, I haven’t been able to sleep. Every time I close my eyes and drift to away, I’m met with such an unsettling environment. The atmosphere is thick, groggy, red. It’s coated in fog, but a man I’ve never seen before always walks through it. He says his name is Henry, he starts talking about my worries and pain. It’s always the same—he says he’s ‘there to help me’, he’s there to ‘take away the pain because he knows what it’s like’. I truly don’t know what has caused my subconscious to create things like this but I guess I’m just tired of feeling like shit.

I don’t even know why I bother keeping a journal around. Sometimes I feel like I won’t even be here in the future to reminisce on the shitty days like this. Why would I even? I guess it’s just easier to write these things down than having to say them out loud. I thought I’d be able to make my sister, aunt, cousin, and friends proud, but I’m starting to think I’m just not cut out for this.

Closing the diary, the blonde places it back in the shoebox you hid it in. Pushing it back under your bed, standing from the place he sat. A satisfied smirk on his face.

He’d been following your turmoil closely, knowing that this was just the turning point. Your struggles were feeding into his plans. This entry was straw that broke the camels back—your vulnerabilities, your fears, and your desperations. It was almost too easy.

“Your suffering is almost poetic,” Henry said to himself, walking out of your room, your house, determined to take action now. He planned to finally confront you, to force you to acknowledge the full extent of what your destiny could be with his help—with what he had to offer.

[12boogaloo]

Okay, I cant take it anymore. The brain rot is REAL

Been on a writing hiatus since 2019 or 2020 (I honestly don’t remember so don’t @ me)

And what gets me to finally start writing again?

You guessed it ladies, gents, and serpents!

Fucking TROLLS 3

Let’s get this bread or die trying y’all 😈

~•~

So first things first: I didn’t come up with the AU’s I’m using here! They were created by TheMiraculousMat and Keebsification on here and AO3

The AU’s in question are The Eldest and The Youngest and Out The Train Wreck

I just love it when people see John Dory and think “hmmm yes this grown man can fit so much eldest daughter energy in him” cuz SAME

So I thought: what if I just… put em together? OTT! JD and E&Y! JD have a grip on my soul and I’m filling a formal complaint in the form of fanfiction for not just 1, but 2 other pieces of fanfiction!!! Cuz why not

I’m gonna post the notes I’ve had about this idea for the past 2 week, at least the first part.

Well… it’s half notes, half chapter really…

Maybe. MAYBE. I’ll clean it up and post it on AO3. Maybe… probably lets be real

Anyway. Y’all can call me Boog and this is Project: Hyperfixation Won

Actual story name pending…

~•~

Part 1: Author’s Actual Notes because they are a nerd

Got an idea

Gonna scratch the itch

Half brain rot dump and half story here

Combination of the Eldest and Youngest JD and the Train Wreck JD

I also head canon that trolls have tails and claws and fangs

They’re lil creatures

Basically the same stuff happens in TW with the manager and John being Branch’s father.

Branch grows up knowing JD is his dad while everyone else thinks they’re brothers.

He and Luka are dating. He’s basically Branch’s other dad.

Luka gets taken and John thinks he died. He keeps his glove to remember him.

The fight still happens. John still leaves but promises Branch that he’ll come back.

He goes to the Neverglades for the next four years.

When he gets a letter about Rosiepuff and Branch he immediately heads back to the tree to take care of him.

Pretty much all of E&Y happens but with the change of Branch knowing JD is his dad.

Makes the trauma of him leaving worse in a way which adds to the angst of the first parts delicious, but it also makes their bond really solid later on.

John forgot that everyone in the village knew them as brothers until Poppy asks him if John is Branch’s daddy out of the blue. He panics and says “no” on instinct and they both decide to just go with it. Easier than explaining it to everyone.

She still doesn’t know. Nobody does.

John still loses his arm trying to save Creek(nasty ass).

One morbid silver lining John felt was that at least it wasn’t the hand he wore Luka’s glove on. Small miracles. Lol I’m sorry

Branch doesn’t remember Luka anymore, at least not really. He sorta remembers a burgundy haired troll that he thought was important but couldn’t remember anything else about them so he didn’t think too much about it.

John doesn’t really like talking about him and Branch hasn’t ever asked so he doesn’t bring it up.

He starts dating Hickory and he does tell him about Luka. He admits that while he definitely is falling for Hickory, a part of him will always belong to Luka and their relationship will always be really important to him.

Hickory is more than okay with that and even tells him that he would’ve loved to have met the man that made his sweetheart so happy and kept him safe before it was his turn. (John just about cried when he said that same buddy and agreed that they’d probably get along pretty well.)(He shows Hickory pictures of him and Luka one day and they laugh over the fact that John clearly has a type.)(And, based on Hickory’s own light blush, same.)(He immediately said Luka was ‘real cute’ and John still laughs at him for it.)

He also tells him about Bold and how Branch came to be. (Hickory spent solid hours comforting him afterwards and spent an equal amount of time thinking of ways he could get Dickory to help him torture the bastard if he ever saw him.)(He decides in that moment that he’d do anything to protect his boyfriend and his son. Anything.) (He’s also even more grateful to Luka when he hears about how he protected his love the day they met. He really wishes he could thank him…)

Branch makes jokes about not calling Hickory his stepdad till they get married, which makes John flush bright blue. (Hickory just laughs and winks, the traitor.)(Hickory secretly really wants Branch to call him ‘Pops’ and he’s so obvious about it.)(Branch finds it hilarious and doesn’t on purpose. He’d actually love to call him that, he’s just being an ass.)(You’d think he wouldn’t ever want to but no. For some reason, it’s only thinking of Hickory as ‘Papa’ specifically that makes him feel wrong. Like that’s not available to him. I wonder why.)

After saving Floyd, the boys all start spending more time together as a family. Floyd and Clay move into the bunker with John and Branch. Bruce still lives on Vacay Island but he tries to visit at least once a week, even bringing his wife and kids with him if he can.

They still love doing shows together and will do a big one every two weeks at least.

A few months later, they’re getting ready to hangout together after a performance in PopVillage. Hickory isn’t with them, he was actually watching with Tiny in the crowd, so he can’t see them.(Lil dude is really attached to his “Uncle Cowboy” and “Uncle Johnny” it’s adorable.)(And yes Guy is close by, Tiny is still very very grounded.)

Poppy wants to introduce them to a former stage manager that she’s worked with before that had come to see the show from TrollCity. Branch has met him once before and thought the guy was weird and a little creepy but nothing else made him feel suspicious so he kinda just ignored it. He figured if Poppy trusted him, it was fine. (Obviously he still kept an eye on the old bastard, cause your boy isn’t paranoid for nothing. And you never know.)

They all agree to meet and when they get backstage… it’s him.

Bold.

The bros old manager. The man who hurt their eldest unimaginably.

JD basically shuts down as his younger brothers immediately shield him from view.

They need to get out of here without causing a scene. Fast.

“Poppy, I think we need to go…” Floyd mumbles, his usually soft features twisting in both anger and slight fear as he stared the old troll down.

Poppy looks at them in confusion, “Wha- but you guys said you wanted to see everything we set up!!” She looks between the brothers and the older manager, Branch joining her as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Sorry, kids, I don’t think we can do that…” Bruce doesn’t take his eyes off of the old man as he steps back, closer to Clay and Floyd who were holding John Dory’s arms and hands to keep him steady in their safety bubble, their tails wrapped around his waist. “Not when he’s here.”

Poppy blinks in confusion. “What do you mean? Have you met Mr. Bold before?” She asks.

The old bastard chuckles. “Don’t worry, Miss Poppy.” Poppy huffs a bit at being called ‘miss’. (She’s Queen, dammit. Only Hickory calls her ‘miss’ and it’s always as a joke.) “I was the boys’ manager back in the day! It’s just been a while since we’ve seen each other.” He looks over each brother, clearly trying to get a look at John Dory and noticeably souring when he’s blocked. Then he smirks, taking a few steps closer, his wooden cane thunking against the floor. John flinches with each tap, tap, tap. “You’ve all grown up so much.”

Bruce holds his ground, crossing his arms and rolling his shoulders, his bigger body blocking most of JD from view. Clay was growling behind him, both him and Floyd curling closer to John and their ears pressed back in irritation. Bruce gives a humorless chuckle. “Heh. Yeah, we’ve grown up, Bold. We grew up and you’re fucking old now.”

Poppy gasps. “B-Bruce, that’s not nice!” She turns to Bold and smiles nervously. “I’m so sorry-“

The man waves her off. “Don’t fret. I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. He’s right after all.” He looks at them again all smugly, leaning on his cane. “Like I said, it’s been a long time.”

Floyd scoffs. “Not long enough.” He growls, baring his teeth. His claws start coming out and he’s thankful he’s holding John’s prosthetic arm as he feels them scratch the metal.

“Woah, okay, what the hell is up with you guys?” Branch finally steps in. That was so unlike Floyd to say something like that. He’s never seen the older troll that angry before, he’s never seen any of his uncles that angry before.

Bruce huffs. “What’s up is that we’re leaving. Now.” He goes to turn around to start steering his brothers out of the room when he hears Bold chuckle, making them all freeze.

“You all really have changed so much,” He says, his tail swaying side-to-side behind him. John looks up and they manage to lock eyes, Bold smiling sickly as John stares in horror. “Especially you, Johnny Baby.”

John feels sick. He feels like he’s gonna pass out. He feels his legs start giving out as Clay and Floyd rush to hold him up. He feels his body going completely limp and his vision blurs and his chest hurts and he can’t breATHE-

Bruce tackles the old troll, immediately landing brutal hits to the bastards face. He screams between punches, “DON’T TALK TO MY BROTHER!” Bold tries to hit him back, only managing to smack Bruce in the side once with his cane before continuing to get pummeled.

Branch and Poppy jump in frantically to pull him off of the man and the three of them stumble back. Bruce shoves them off and glares at Bold again. He was lying on the ground, groaning and clutching his nose, there were scratches and bruises on his face and he was covered in his own glittery copper blood. “Stay. The FUCK. Away. From John.” Bruce pants and shakes out his hands, flexing his exposed claws. He spits on the ground. “Bastard.” He turns back to his brothers. “Cmon, let’s get out of here.” He lifts JD up bridal style and Clay and Floyd follow him as he starts rushing to the door.

“Wait, hold on!” Branch runs after them, leaving Poppy standing in confused horror at what just happened.

~•~

That’s what I’ll give for now lol

I have like wayyy more written out but I’m mean so 😈

Anyway

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

Lmk what y’all think ig

Check out the folks that created these AU’s plz @matmiraculous and Keebsification (idk their tumblr so plz don’t yell at me) both on AO3 where I found them

Later yall

[hyper-jam]

SecurityWaiter/DreamTheory pet name headcanons

Aka just a bunch of stuff Ness calls Mike and how Mike reacts to it because Mike is lame and just says “babe” all the time /hj /lh (and there will be multiple parts because Ness will call him literally anything but I wanna go in depth anyways)

Sugar:

This is the beloved fandom one. One anon said it and we all just went “YOU ARE RIGHT LAD” /ref and ate that shit up. I imagine it started as a joke. After they start dating, Ness loves being affectionate and embarrassing Mike whenever they can, so they’ll often call him pet names whenever he’s at Sparky’s, and sugar is one of many that just came from the top of their head and stuck. I can just imagine Ness leaning over a table or counter as he greets Mike and he just says “hey, sugar, what can I do for ya?” And Mike is like “wtf did you just call me-“ and Ness just laughs and is like “what, you don’t like me calling you sugar?” And then Mike is just like “well, I mean…I don’t MIND it…it’s just a bit random…” and then BOOM Ness starts calling Mike sugar and it’s cute and silly and I love them

Babe:

Simple, classic, it’s the one Mike uses all the time so Ness does too. Ness says it a bit more ironically though. Like Mike says it unironically he’s just a babe guy and Ness does say it unironically but they also prefer more sweet or unique pet names so they do it a bit ironically because I mean…it’s “babe”…of all pet names lmao. Def says it like “baaaabe-uh” just to annoy Mike.

Baby/Baby boy:

SCREAMS sorry I love this pet name I feel like it just makes Mike melt. It’s like babe, but it’s sweeter and softer and it just makes Mike soften up immediately. Like if he’s upset or embarrassed or something, Ness just has to coo this at him and his stubbornness just starts to melt away. It is often followed by physical affection. Also Mike has the transmasc trait of loving being called any pet name with the word “boy” in it so sorry I don’t make the rules (I do and it’s called projecting)

Handsome/Pretty boy:

Again this is just “Ness is super affectionate and loves words of affirmation as a love language” x “Mike is a trans guy who can’t help but feel giddy about pet names with the word boy in them”. This one makes Mike SO flustered, especially if Ness adds a “my” before it. He was surprised that he was ok with Ness calling him pretty, cause normally he’d think something like that would trigger dysphoria, but it’s different when Ness does it (not that anyone else really calls him pretty lol). But just the insecure trans guy getting hit with the “being called attractive AND a boy” combo…it’s fatal. He cannot resist. And Ness loves calling him what he is 🥰🥰🥰

Lover boy:

Yeah I’m full into “boy” pet name brainrot atp sorry guys I swear I’ll do others later teehee. This one Ness definitely says a bit more jokingly, but Mike doesn’t mind it. Hes just like “yeah you’re right actually I AM your lover boy” and Ness is just like “yes ofc babe :33”

Good boy:

DONT @ ME ISTG LET ME BE CRINGE I LOVE THIS PET NAME 💔💔💔 this one started as Ness jokingly saying it whenever Mike does something they ask him too, but then they noticed his reaction to it and started saying it unironically. This pet name/praise makes Mike SO FLUSTERED MY GOD. He just blushes and gets quiet immediately and don’t tell anyone but he totally started helping Ness more purposely to hear them say it more AGAIN I DONT MAKE THE RULES THATS JUST WHAT IT IS 💥💥💥

Puppy:

…on that last note- /hj GUYS LOOK OK HEAR ME OUT HEAR ME OUT GUYS I SWEAR ITS NOT CRINGE LEAVE ME ALONE 💔💔💔 it started with Ness comparing Mike to a puppy all the time, saying he has puppy eyes, saying he follows him around like a lost dog, saying that he acts like his guard dog, generally pointing out dog-like characteristics/behaviors of his, etc. and it turned into Ness one day just absentmindedly calling him “puppy” like while they’re cuddling or smth. Mike was just like “what” and Ness was like “what” and Mike is like “did you just…call me ‘puppy’?” And Ness is like “whaaaatttt? …nooo of course not why would I do thaattt…you’re hearing thingssss…(yes I called you puppy…is that like…ok? Cause it kinda just slipped out but I actually think it’s kinda cute)” and then Mike at first thinks it sounds a bit silly and lowkey a bit cringe but then he thinks about it a little longer and is just like “I mean yeah sure, I can be your puppy…” and Ness is just like ASJDKFHELK and then starts kinda treating him like a dog more in like a cute, affectionate, teasing sorta way and Mike just like doesn’t fight it and then yeah they’re cute shut up

My love/my dear/sweetheart;

Breather from the cringe for a second, some simple and cliche ones. Neither of them use these ones super often, but they both will sometimes. Usually used in situations where they’re trying to get the other to listen to them (reassuring, saying smth important, etc.) Really not much else to this idk lol

Hon/Honey:

They use this one pretty often lol. It’s just simple and sweet. It’s good for greetings, getting each other’s attention, general acknowledgement lmao idk. Definitely makes Mike smile :))

Sugarplum/sugarlips/sugarcube:

Ness just started playing off the sugar thing and it’s cute and sweet and yeah. Ness fr just starts sounding southern with all his pet names… (wink wink possible headcanon wink wink haven’t decided yet but probably will wink wink)

Ok my brain isn’t working anymore I will have to regroup and get back to yall so here you go for now 🫶🫶🫶

[kanghyeokk]

my observations of this MR series:

• the individual CGs are sourced from NiTsundere on weibo! reposting is allowed as long as the source is stated as per their terms of use, i’m including them in this post as a supplemental visual :)

• translations for this MR series are up! please read them before delving into this thread :)

*this is a (belated) cross post from twitter. if you prefer to read it there, here’s the link!

—

i’ll mainly be talking about the second message here! went back and watched the prologue thinking there would be some intersections between the prologue and the MR messages but i’m thinking that there are more similarities to this poster:

-

starting with vyn: in his message, he muses about the possibility of someone undoing themis’ blindfold and henceforth leading to themis bringing a new judgement upon the people. in the MR’s cg, the blindfold is undone but not off the statue’s eyes, but it is completely undone in the poster. the MR message indicates that “a new judgement would be brought upon the people” when the blindfold is undone by themis herself, but in the first poster vyn is the one who undoes it. so what does this change ., ?. ??

also noteworthy; vyn’s part in the prologue states that themis’s blind justice that went against your heart was all for naught, then asked if you would stand for your values (justice) even if the world was against you (MR message: even if themis wielded justice, evil and injustice still broods amongst the people)

later on in the MR message he also asks about what keeps themis wielding justice: because she wants to stay true to her values, or because she cannot stand to look at people suffering from hardships around her?”

then comes the question; does standing true for her values help the people in overcoming injustice, or is it all for naught because injustice will always exist? which leads back to the first question raised: maybe lady themis’s blind justice was all for naught.

artem’s message talks about him wanting to help themis balance a wobbly scale. you can see the scale in the MR cg and the poster ^^ the difference is that in the poster, artem is indeed helping themis balance the scale (holding the scale itself), but from what i can see in the MR, he’s only supporting themis’s hand that is holding the scale, i.e. he isn’t actually supporting the scale itself

in the MR message, he mentions that in the moment he held themis’s wrist, memories came flooding back to him. notably ones that have to do with the protagonist (you), +1 supporting point that “you” are (my) themis (ost reference hahaha get it 😭)

i remember there being a lot of discussion around luke’s cg, namely about how his gaze has softened and how his hand is no longer bleeding despite still holding the blade of the sword. imo this difference is also depicted in the MR message; the expression in the poster was luke being a loyal knight who has pledged his allegiance to the goddess themis (also note that in the poster themis is holding the handle of the sword, hence being the “master”) but in the MR he has a sorrowful expression almost. he is holding both the handle and the blade of the sword, which matches up with the part in the message where he dreamt of being a knight who lost his allegiance

my personal speculation for the bleeding / not bleeding depiction was that maybe luke staying by themis’s side and pledging allegiance to her caused physical wounds to luke despite making him feel like he is fulfilling his duty, but when he lost his allegiance, he is not physically hurting anymore, however internally he feels very lost.

i can’t really tell if the lilies are more withered in the poster compared to the MR (resolution LOL) but it’s nice to see them add the lilies to his attire , signalling that he has waited so long for the possibility of themis coming back that the white lilies started blooming again.

interestingly, white lilies signal purity, commitment and rebirth. all of these are themes that are present in luke’s relationship with themis.

the only similarity i can notice between marius’s MR cg and the poster is that in his hand is still the same necklace/chain with a snake on it. historically, snakes represent “immortality, a creative life force” etc. which are themes also kind of related to their story as well .. ??

most notably, the MR story talks about a painting marius made in which a man dances with a god, which looks like what is depicted in the cg. themis’s face is also hidden behind marius’s, their intertwined hands (that seem to be holding back from something), and marius looks like he’s whispering something in themis’s ear (an oracle, or a sacrilegious love story?)

-

all in all, i think this MR series was quite enjoyable! especially for those who stayed for the themis lore, this feels like new official “closure” we’re getting about this. i also love how they tied some of the ideas in their musings / dreams to their relationship in real life… i’m curious to know if they’ll continue developing on this!

[vacantgodling]

hmm ok there’s like 3 ways i could go regarding IF (big IF) i decided to stick rj into the cage universe 🤔

1. as cole’s younger sister — which means either his mom or dad (haven’t decided which) had her much later in life than cole OR that means this is an adult rj which would definitely be… interesting

2. as cole and ashe’s kid — if i want to add (1) ashe into this fic and (2) drama but idk if i want that this plot line is what storm chasers is for (whenever i get back to it lol)

3. as cole’s kid with a “random” civilian — how this would potentially come about would probably be after overwatch blew the fuck up at swiss hq, im thinking cole went back to being joel morricone for a bit before he decided he would quit running and don his actual name (cole cassidy) again. as joel and doing reporter shit he may have had a fling or one night stand or something of the like (fwb perhaps?) and whoops there’s a kid now. this would make rj more of a kid (probably around the same age as storm chasers rj or younger). however because this isn’t brought up At All in cage this could be a problem

the thing is tho, yes hanzo completely disassociated from his demons to thinking he was in a dream (cage) but schism is kinda more turning out to be how cassidy has a bunch of different masks he wears and different codes of ethics for those masks, that he doesn’t quite know how to meld them together and follow his own right and wrong. kidd, joel, and jesse aren’t did separate to cass or anything—but they’re carefully constructed personas that he dons to get through his life. he’s in control of it—he thinks. but is he? and i think having such major aspects of his life completely divorced from shit (such as having rj even) would reeeeeally show that.

the other thing is, being cole’s daughter is one of the biggest pulls of rj as an oc (for me). i just love their bond or whatever?? (tldr storm chasers crack has me bad and even if idk how to push the story forward rn the premise still makes me lose it). i guess the thing i worry about is: how to get across what kind of father cole is (if he is one at all. i feel like if i went this route while still being in overwatch he would be… but like the kinda dad who only sees you on christmas or face times you or something. but also, having people who come from cage into schism being like Wait he’s a Fucking Dad since WHEN. like this always and will be for Me before anything else so like if i wanna do it i can technically….

IDK IDK i’ll figure it out tho

[caes-funnyarc]

oc ask game answers!! (please let me know who posted these originally, as i can't find it ! i will edit and add credit :3)

tw for parental issues / abuse in later questions

- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

🌸Dominic Dotty was inspired because I wanted Dotty to be his name at some point (as he’s covered in freckles) but I eventually figured that it would work better as a last name. I wanted some alliteration, so then I introduced the first name “Dominic” as I think it’s rather silly :]

- How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

🌸He’s about 19 ! He’s one of the youngest on the show, according to my headcanons. :]

- Do they have any love interest(s)?

🌸*cough* shop *cough* keeper *cough cough cough*

 - What is their favorite food?

🌸Rocks. :] Shiny ones.

- What do they do for a living?

🌸Dominic runs a local library! He does it for jokes and favors, similar to Howdy.

- Do they have any hobbies?

🌸He plays a few instruments (cello, piano, electric and bass guitar) and enjoys gardening !

-What do they do best?

🌸Play cello! He’s rather good at it.

-What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

🌸Dominic loves to talk to people he’s comfortable with. He also hates meeting new people who are overly personal with him from the get go! He has issues with certain textures and loud noises, especially piercing ones. Noises that come from scratchy or dry sources especially irritate him.

- What is one of your OC’s best memories?

🌸One of his best memories is when his adoptive father taught him to garden. It’s been a passion for a long time because of it.

- What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

(tw for abuse)

🌸Dominic’s birth parents were the first people to teach him the phrase “Blood is thicker than water.” They were mentally abusive to the point where he no longer felt comfortable being around them. Eventually, when he was six years old, his parents dropped him off in the woods to fend for himself. He was eventually found in critical condition by a hiker and his wife. 

- Is their current design the first one?

🌸Yes and no. His original design had certain patches, but they change per episode. This isn’t exactly super different, but it still pertains to the question.

- What originally inspired the OC?

🌸I wanted a way to channel some feelings I was having, and I also have a Welcome Home hyperfix. You’re welcome. /j

- What genre do they belong in?

🌸In media, video games (like a bad spinoff that has side characters and he’s just a funny joke) and TV (because WH was a show for television lol). In actual literary genre, usually psychological horror, though he has been in comedic pieces too.

- What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

🌸Dominic is FTM trans, demiromantic, and pansexual! 

- How many sibling does your OC have?

🌸 He isn’t sure ! He’s the only child his adopted parents have, and he hasn’t spoken to his biological parents since the incident.

- What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

🌸He loves his adoptive parents to death, and so their relationship is incredible. And of course, his relationship with his biological parents is not good at all.

- What do you like most about the OC?

🌸I love that he gave me an opportunity to channel some hurtful emotions into a character that can heal through my hyperfix. I’m also excited because he’s my first ever arospec character!

- How often do you draw/write about the OC?

🌸I doodle him rather often. Little silly <3

- Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

🌸Only in an AU angst. My little baby man :[[

- Does your OC have any phobias?

🌸He’s terribly afraid of the dark and being alone in the woods. I’ll give you three guesses as to why. (He’s also weirdly afraid of boomboxes. What’s his deal?)

-Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

🌸 The man in the mirror that he sees. He looks just like him, but broader and taller. He looks like a memory. (Three guesses as to who that is, too.)

- How long have you had the OC?

🌸A couple months !! He’s relatively new, but I’m rather fond of him.

again, if anyone knows who originally posted these questions, tag them in replies so that i can edit and tag them as well !! <33

[my-castles-crumbling]

writer anon, hi cas, so um I did figure out a few things, I did another reply write after I saw your response, so maybe like copy paste them both into a post and respond then, so I can remember what I asked lol, went down a strange rabbit hole when I was looking up things, and came to a few conclusions

-spreading out exposition the first few chapters would be better for pacing

-it would be better for my future “plans” (in heavy quotations bc it’s actually not a plan, and more of a nightmare thats disguised as a daydream Taylor reference by mistake lol) for there to still be a war, and preventing another war plot, means I have to add stuff about politics, and I don’t want to do that until later

-instead of a guy think about the history of the past few years I’ll change it to the leader of a rebellion (kind of)/child soldiers (for added trauma) explaining it and their plans, at like a briefing, so it’s a bit less info dumping, and a briefing makes a bit more sense (?)

-it would also emphasize how much no one like the main villain (I will be changing his name a lot, so I’ll just call him that) and also introduce a the different way people view events (winners write history, stuff like that, etc.)

I was going to write tonight, but I found ttpd reaction videos, so I had to watch those, and then I got a headache that made my ears pop, so it hurt to have headphones in and I physically cannot start writing without music. I’m probably getting sick lol, and I have a busy week, but I’ll probably send you the prologue, and first chapter by next weekend, hopefully. keep me accountable please. I haven’t written in ages bc no motivation and I’m afraid of it abandoning me, so having someone actually read is nice (is this what you and your beloveds do?)

Also, what was the strangest thing you’ve looked up for a fic? Curious bc today I looked up how much blood can a human loose before they die, stuff about child soldiers, dictators, were bombs possible in medieval times, and that’s honestly not event the worst of it.

hope you have a good day/night, also new chapter of clandestine also prevented me from writing so ty for that (but it was seriously so good).

Hi hon! Sorry I didn't respond to this and the other together, I just work my way up my inbox so I didn't see them together.

All these ideas sound great! Yes, please send me the next chapter! I'll try to keep you accountable but I have no idea who you are so...I'm not sure what else to do besides encourage you? lol

Hahaha yes, me and my beloveds (@starchasersunseeker and @beautyoftheships ) do read each other's work. It's super helpful and makes it a lot more fun. Honestly I would not be where I am without them.

The weirdest thing I ever looked up was definitely detailed descriptions of methods of torture :P I promise, FBI agent reading this, it was for a fic! Strangely, I know the answer to the blood question because of a horror movie.

Have a wonderful day!!! I can't wait to see what you create!

[crypticbunnygirl]

Hihi! I loved your military ball and wanted to ask if we could have a part 2 where you guys talk about it then you tell the team your together and their reactions? Tysm I love you, take your time love 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Aw thank you! I think soap would be the biggest fan and supporter of ur relationship lmao

and heres part two!

its about 1k words lol

You woke up the next morning with a small headache nothing a pain relief wouldn’t fix, you remember the events that had unfolded at the ball. You had confessed to your lieutenant, while drunk and in front of your team. Your face flushes red, remembering the kiss. You also remember Simon saying he would talk to you when you woke up, you grabbed your phone and texted him, telling him you were awake. Within the next minute he texts you back saying that talking about this in person would be easier, you agreed and sent him your address. He responded a few seconds later saying he was on his way. Now to get some actual clothes and look somewhat presentable. You walk into your bathroom and brush your hair, wash your face and brush your teeth. You got back to your room and grabbed a pair of black leggings and an old baggy band tee. You walk into your kitchen and make yourself some coffee. While you waited for your coffee to brew you made yourself a bowl of cereal. You make your coffee and add some creamer. You finish your bowl of cereal and wash it out and set it in the dishwasher to dry. You hear a loud knock on your door, making you flinch. 

“Coming!” You say. You open the door and see Simon. 

“Come in, I got coffee and tea in the kitchen.” You say. Simon nods walking in and sitting down on the couch, you close the door and join him on the couch.

“Sooo, do I still call you ghost?” You ask.

“Around the team, yes. When it's just us you can call me by my name.” He says, you nod. 

“The mask stays on until I’m ready.” He says, you nod.

“Of course. I will be patient. After everything you have been through, I get why you will be hesitant to let me in, but I will be here for you, no matter how long it takes. I’ll be patient.” you say, a soft smile tugging at your lips. That made him fall even harder for you. Your patience, your kindness and that damn smile. 

“Thank you.” Was all he could say. You are the first person to come into his life and understand him, genuinely. You continued to discuss boundaries and how things would go when on the field.

“How will the team feel?” You ask, knowing they are going to have questions when you see them again. 

“Well I know that Price is going to want to make sure it isn’t a liability in the field. You're a combat medic and I’m a lieutenant, he’s going to make sure we don’t let it interfere with our jobs. But I trust that you and I will be okay.” He says. You nod. You continue to talk and Simon brings up sex, your face flushes at the idea.

“I would like to take things slow in this relationship.” He says. You nod.

“Of course, and sex is such an intimate thing that you should work up to understand each other's feelings, bodies and souls.” You say, a blush on your face.

“Sorry rambling.” You say. 

“I like listening to you talk.” He says, your face getting redder. 

“Thanks.” You say, avoiding eye contact. 

“We should go to the base and talk to the team today, the longer we wait the worse it could be.” He says, you nod.

“I’ll drive.” He says. You nod and finish your coffee and set the mug in the sink. You get into his car and you head to base. You continue your conversation in the car, mostly you. Simon did say quite a bit. Once you get there, Simon opens your door for you. 

“Thank you!” You beam at his action. He nods. You two head in. Your nerves hit you. What if Price doesn’t think it's safe, what could go wrong? You start to overthink. Simon immediately notices this. 

“Hey, it’ll be ok.” he says, cupping your face, his eyes staring into yours, your face flushing at the contact. He found you adorable. 

“Ok.” Was all you could muster. You get to the training room and see Price, Gaz and Soap.

“Its the love birds!” Soap cheers, making you blush.

“Hush it johnny.” Simon says. Johnny just chuckles. Gaz and Soap weren’t surprised, you had feelings for your lieutenant since you met him. It was obvious to those two, they liked to tease you about it. 

“I hope it won’t be a liability on the field.” Price comments. 

“It won’t sir. I promise, it will be nothing but professional.” You say. 

“It will. We won’t let it interfere with our work.” Simon says. Price nods.

“It better not, I trust you two to be smart and let your feelings get in the way.” he says, you nod and so does Simon. You and Simon had talked about what it would be like at base, he said we would just be friendly to each other than before, maybe a hug here and there. Simon wouldn’t admit this but he really wanted to hold you again. He loved how your skin felt against his.

“And please keep it appropriate.” Price says. 

“Of course.” You say, flustered at that comment. After that Price went into his office. 

“Ya finally told him.” Soap says, Gaz nodding. 

“Took you long enough.” Gaz comments. 

“All the ogling at him.” Soap says with a chuckle. 

“Shush.” You mutter. Simon just gives him a soft glare.

“I had a feeling.” Simon says, you look at him. 

“Was it that obvious?” You ask him. 

“Yea.” He says, you roll your eyes. Soap was happy you finally told him and maybe his lieutenant would be a little more fun and Gaz was too. Price seemed neutral about it, he wouldn’t care unless it got in the way of us doing our jobs. You knew you could hold yourself back from trying anything while at work, and so did Simon. 

[presdestigatto]

Hey how long have you been following f1? I started following in 2023 and I honestly got so shocked about lewis coming to ferrari. I didn't even thought this would be a real possibility.

It made me pretty upset in general, because I kind of feel charles was cheated lmao. He is there working hard to make them succeed and now they just bring Lewis out of nowhere, paying huge amounts of money to him and making him the ambassador of ferrari.

And like I saw in some of your posts now everyone is already giving lewis the credit for all the changes. I even saw someone on twitter say that maybe they brought Vasseur already thinking on bringing Lewis, since they also worked together in the past. Like Oh of course who cares about chuck. In their minds its like these.

So even if ferrari gets better in the next years everything will be attributed to him.

This is why I kind of hope he doesn't win the wdc. Honestly, maybe its because i'm new in f1 but I don't understand the hype about him getting the 8?? Like he already have 7!!! Thats a lot. I would much rather see the young generarion getting titles. I know he wants to break Schumacher records, but it doesnt seem like such an important think to me? Feels more like an ego trip. And even if you break the record, its not like Schumacher its going to be less than an icon. Senna, Proust, Lauda nobody cares if they have less championships, they are icons. And who knows, a few years later another driver might break this record, so then what? (Kind of hope for max to be the one breaking just for the funsies, since he doesn't seem to care that much about status)

So yeah I think i'm a bit angry with this lol. Like Lewis got his time in dominant mercedes winning titles with Bottas as second driver. Max is having this right now with Checo as second. I wish charles could have this, not have another first driver fighting for priority in the team. And who knows if they're going to develop the car more to his liking than charles. Since they're giving him such a fortune

anon you come into my inbox with such bold and controversial words you are going to get me cancelled /j

i started following f1 in 2023 as well actually!! i was similarly shocked, but i’m chronically online and have family members who were in this longer than me so hopefully im caught up enough to respond to this properly. i don’t quite agree with the parts on Lewis and i’ll explain more below the cut

first, honestly i think its very fair to be upset for charles. in terms of public perception, the move does not currently reflect well on him and i’ve seen incredible amounts of slander, though that’s also on me for not blocking and muting enough, lol. the timing, after we all assumed the first driver war was over with the 4lyfe contract extension could actually not be worse and i believe that’s a big reason for the dismayed response. there are like ten thousand opinions on whether this is good or bad, im more inclined towards it being beneficial eventually because i believe charles can beat a 40yo lewis. i doubt i can add something that hasn’t already been said by countless others haha, this piece here is especially good. ultimately, the team dynamics of a ferrari 1644 pairing will be decided with their on track performance, so it comes down to having faith in Charles’ ability.

now onto Lewis, i’m actually quite invested in him getting his eighth, which is why i, personally, wanted to cry when i first heard the news. as for why fans want that eighth title for him so desperately- uhm. AD21.

additionally, we’ve talked a lot about the ferrari mythos, but Lewis’ personal brand also cannot be understated. for many, many people, Lewis himself is a dream. a black man from a working class background who uses his platform and prestige to advance inclusivity, having his name etched in history as the most successful f1 driver of all time is to me the best thing to ever come out of this racing series. i know its irritating to see Charles be dismissed like his past 5 years at ferrari is nothing, but that’s a fan response, likely not what’s happening behind the scenes, and it’s honestly very difficult to begrudge fans of a driver for wanting their driver to win more titles.

tbh, the hype toward Lewis’ move is in large part because of how successful his sudden jump to mercedes in 2013 was. there’s a belief that he can spot a competitive package before it presents itself, and i believe in it too. this also is a good thing for Charles. i think recency bias with regards to his bad luck and the frankly bizarre media favouritism shown to Carlos has made most people who don’t follow Charles like we do underestimate him.

lastly, no comments for the redbull situation and Max lol, but historically it isn’t true that a championship winning team needs to have a strong first driver and weaker second. one example would be Seb and Mark Webber in redbull. Mark Webber gets overshadowed a lot because of the 2010-2013 Seb dominance but he was a strong driver who helped redbull dominate those years. the other examples are actually all Lewis pairings, i think it’s recency bias again driving this narrative that Lewis had an easy time with his teammates. Lewis’ teammates have been like, incredibly stacked? let’s not engage in Nico Rosberg erasure even though he’s currently pretending like he has absolutely no stake in what’s probably the biggest move in Lewis’ career. there’s this post going around about how 1644 isn’t even a top3 Lewis pairing and unfortunately until Charlie wins that championship with ferrari i am objectively unable to disagree. before Lewis got Valterri as a teammate he was partnered with Alonso, Jenson Button and Nico R. he pretty much had incredible teammates for his first decade in f1. and we all know he rates Charles highly, so all respect to him for deciding to throw himself into a new challenge w ferrari.

i think actually the fact that pundits and reporters are suggesting this could be a all time great pairing is a sign of how highly Charles is rated even though he’s not a world champion yet.

at the end of this Lewis and Charles would have shared the rare experience of having multiple, multiple wdcs as teammates and that’s incredible. let’s not forget that Lewis named Charles as the young driver he sees the most of himself in. honestly, if i had to pick a world champ for Charles’ career to resemble, i’d rather it be Lewis who has come out on top of so many strong teammates than Max.

[gogofordrakgo]

Since Tumblr chickened out on allowing people off-site to ask questions, I have to resort to barbaric measures to do so. Please forgive me for this.

What started you on D/S drabbles and what made you stick to strictly 100 words (as is the original requirement for this format)?

How do you work with them? Start big and trim down, or small and add more?

You do them in alphabetical order. Why?

- Guest

Ooh! Well, this is fun! Sorry for the delay, Tumblr decided to hide this until just now! I started the drakgo drabbles back in... I think 2021 mostly in an attempt to get back into writing in general. (Hell yeah for antidepressants lol) I thought writing a couple of quick short stories would be helpful, and ended up writing a few drabbles for the challenge of it... And then I realized it was fun and I found them “simple” to write, so I wound up sticking with it! In fact, a number of the original drabbles still haven’t been posted as they don’t fit in with any of my current sets. I’ll find homes for them eventually, I promise!  I stuck with the 100 words because I can sorta be a stickler for inconsequential rules. I imagine there are very few people besides myself who’d be upset if I went over or under on a few of them but I generally think the challenge is in getting the story conveyed within the constraints of exactly 100 words. As you said, it’s the original requirement for this format and while I will never correct someone else for calling a short story a drabble (because honestly, I know it doesn’t really matter) I couldn’t imagine myself doing this any other way. Now, this question I feel like kind of a jerk answering... I sort of just... write them. I don’t know, so long as I have an idea to work with I can usually get an entire drabble written in a matter of minutes. That’s not to say I never end up going over or under the word count! Certainly, I have spent plenty of time reworking certain drabbles to reach 100 words exactly! I’ve also had a few drabbles, I admit not many, that I’ve rewritten several times just on the principle of not liking the way they turned out. “Wrestle” for example took me an entire day to write, as I couldn’t decide what route exactly I wanted to take, or how best to convey the positioning in the scene. But... Yeah, in general, most of them come pretty naturally to me. I would like to make it clear here that I have been writing for well over a decade and did in fact study writing in college. The fact that this comes easily to me now is not me trying to look down on or discourage anyone else who might struggle with short-form storytelling or writing in general. I have done a lot of work to reach a point where I can confidently believe I am a decent, if not good writer.

The alphabetical order thing actually came from the names of my one-shots! I don’t know why I decided to stick to one-word names but I did and eventually started to think it would be funny to write a one-shot covering every letter in the alphabet. Then for a variety of reasons, I wound up somewhat leaving the fandom for a while and had a lot of trouble trying to get back into writing. So that never really happened. As things started to get a bit better, as I started writing the drabbles, I realized if I was going to post them I might as well hit that alphabet goal! And what better way to do that than to do it in... reverse alphabetic older?

But that was how I ended up using obscure words as my first set of drabbles. After that, it just sort of became part of it, which I admit is a little unfortunate because while I have this current set almost completed and the next two sets named... It’s starting to get really difficult to come up with categories that I could hit all 26 letters in! I may just decide to start posting them as I write them later on, but frankly, I enjoy my personal alphabetical rule and know I’ll have difficulty breaking it when the time comes.

Wow! Seriously, thank you for the questions! I hope I was able to answer them in a decently satisfying way! I promise the drabbles will get posted soon... I’m just... working on... something... I’m hoping to be done with it in the next few days!

[theyumeconnoisseur]

FOR THE ASK GAME!! 📝 for both souma and adonis maybe? I wanna know the lore 👀

OK SO. I have a fair amount of lore for my s/i but I’ll try to restrain myself to focus on the actual ask. Also talking about my s/i in third person since that’s how I often think of him despite considering him to be me :p also would like to add my f/o’s and I are in a polycule but I’ll mostly focus on souma and Adonis here :3

Basically silver in what would in the Netherlands be 2nd or 3rd year here (still debating the specific year) get an accidental scholarship from yumenosaki and decides “eh school is going Bad here might as well accept” and after getting his stamp of approval from his parents, moves to Japan with his younger sister (I’ve had a habit of giving my s/i’s a younger sister from when I was a kid who wanted a younger sister and now it’s just a part of the Lore) but since he doesn’t know any Japanese 2 people who do have languages in common with him were assigned to help him, specifically Adonis and mizuki (who I. Might elaborate about in a different post)

Now silver may not know a lot of Japanese however. He did take Arabic lessons when we was younger, though he is a bit rusty as it’s been a few years (fun fact! This was based off real life. The difference is I actually sucked at it irl and only remember a few words that overlap with Urdu lol) and mizuki being half pakistani herself can also speak Urdu so the silver can communicate with both of them, with a bit of trouble but he befriends them this way. Also would like to add this is like, pre-war during the war i’d say, he did try to stay fairly distant but he did end up a bit involved since many of his friends were. Anyways. Once he learns more Japanese he still sticks to Adonis and mizuki a lot (and ends up forming a unit with mizuki as well) and befriends souma! They all do realize they’re feelings for eachother close to the end of the war but agree that it’s not the best time to start dating and put it off until the dust has settled especially considering souma and Adonis’ units being kind of on opposing sides (? I think?)

The four of them (mizuki being included) started dating shortly after the new school year began in ! Era, silver heard of the producer course being opened and asked to join both courses as he thought it would be good to have a back up plan. (He does help with behind the scene work but prefers to stay quiet with his involvement which is part of why anzu is still considered everyone’s producer) The teachers agree and so silver is in both courses, and later in !! Era becomes an idol for newdi in his and mizuki’s unit (I still have not thought of a name for it) and a producer for rythlin! He mainly produces undead and ra*bits, while mizuki also produces Akatsuki :3. In !-era they’re still a hit awkward in the relationship but in !!-era they’ve all grown more confident and are a bit more affectionate in public, though not much, or at least not in public :3.

[8beats-per-minute]

Uncanny Valley AU Designs!!

ITS FINALLY HERE

You can skip to the designs if you want then come back, I wouldn’t blame you but I would like to apologize.

I don’t know what happened, I started this right after Christmas 2022 then worked on it basically nonstop for a week and a half. I basically finished Mikey’s design with a few changes and started brainstorming for Raph then my brain was like “lol no”.

It might have been part finding reference poses for Raph or stress from school and exams or burnout or idk. Whatever it was made my motivation disappear. For 3 1/2 months.

I was like “yes stuff is coming!!!! I’m making stuff!!!” And then that just didn’t happen.

Again, I’m sorry.

I’m not going to do much in descriptions (unless I add them later) cause it’s late and I’m tired. I’ve been actually busy for the past 2 weeks.

General design notes!!

I need up doing the connected ears to head idea so that’s why they look so flat

These are meant to reflect Black and Japanese features. I AM NEITHER. If I did something offensive to one of these groups in these drawings I can guarantee I did not know and did not do this on purpose.

PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I DID SOMETHING OFFENSIVE AND I WILL CHANGE IT. I would appreciate it if it is done in a calm matter but I understand if it’s not. Just please don’t call me stupid or racist cause I also have feelings. You can yell at me if I take longer than a week to respond. It would also be best if it was in the comments so it’s easier to respond.

They all have naturally really sharp and thick nails, I just couldn’t show for some of them

I tried giving them masks that incorporated how they wear fabric in their hair. It looks okay but a little weird, especially for Leo and Donnie

I’m writing/posting this between 11pm and midnight after a very long day and with a long day tomorrow so I’m not writing the (aaa I forgot the name for it. The text that explains what the picture looks like) I’ll add it when I have time I’m really sorry tho

Now, without further ado…

The designs!!!

(These might be changed, I have a tendency to change things after and be like wait I like that more but these are basically the designs. They’re also all post-movie so if you want to see pre-movie, as kids or apocalypse let me know :)).

LEO

I gave Leo both vitiligo and red birthmark stripes. Everything is blue (of course) and I’m not a huge fan of what I did for his clothes design but oh well he’s allowed to switch styles. I was stuck between giving him short hair and long hair and blond extensions or not but this is what I settled on. He’s also 10% the type of person to have little bracelets on (Mikey made him the braided one obviously). I have this headcanon that he’d look the most similar to Splinter (as a human obv so Lou Jitsu) so I tried to do that, it’s just hard to go from animated to semi-realistic. Anyway he’s got that superstar dazzling smile/mysterious troublemaker grin. You can’t see but his hair tie is blue. Maybe an actual hair tie maybe a strip of fabric, maybe a scrunchie. It changes every few hours. 

DONNIE

I was actually pretty excited to do Donnie’s face specifically (him and his very square face). I had a really fun time with his shell tho and all the little spots and scars and spiny parts. I tried to make him look similar but not the exact same and I think I did okay. I definitely think they’d look pretty similar just cause it’d be like “haha were twins :)) -Leo”. I was going to give him headphone but forgot so just pretend there’s headphone plz lol. I also believe he’d wear very baggy clothes but I made his collar way too high cause I feel like he’d hate the feeling of stuff on his neck (no this is not me projecting 👀). He also has sharp teeth but I didn’t show them.

MIKEY

Oooh boy. I was so excited for Mikey!!! I also gave him vitiligo on his face, arms, hands and legs )not visible). I also feel like he’d change his hair around A LOT so I gave him a few different hairstyles. He also definitely has paint on most of his clothes and paints on them intentionally. He’s a cool sock guy I just KNOW it. I tried keeping his little shell stickers on his “casual” design but had to move it to the other one cause it looked weird. I did put them on his knee pads if you looks close. I had to keep his other cool face knee pads of course, they’re iconic. And I of course kept his off-centre gap tooth.

Last but certainly not least…

RAPH

I had so many ideas for him and I got most of them but they’re so half-assed I’m sorry Raph 😭. Especially the pose ughhhh it’s so bad. And the shoes 🥲. Anyways instead of focusing on what I did badly were going to focus more on the idea. A few thoughts I knew I wanted was the scar on his eye and shoulder and to add markings cause Raph deserves to glow too. I added some markings on his forehead and just below his ears if you look close. I also added some on his shell and the spikes on his shoulders. He definitely has the most obvious shell out of his brothers but it’s still smaller than how it is in the show. AH I JUST REALIZED I FORGOT HIS RAPH CHASM 😭. Sorryyyy. I also wish Raph’s markings were lighter but oh well.

That’s all for now! Now that I can stop stressing about finishing this I can try and post more about this, whether it be art or talking about it idk.

Also I plan on making a proper logo soon I just have a very busy month ahead of me so we’ll see how fast that gets done

[calipersandtongs]

The Universal NPC’s Homeworld

I’m still piecing together the storyline for my next video. Initially I was going to create some kind of compilation video with funny clips from past videos since I recently hit 5000 subscribers on YouTube (if you’re subscribed to my channel thanks for subscribing! 😊) So I wanted to do something a bit different before moving onto my next game NPC video since it’s a milestone. Also I was going to start building the NPC museum I mentioned in my last video. 

So if you plan on watching the video I’ll probably be covering everything here in that video anyway. Also I posted some of this on twitter before yesterday. I just felt like rambling about my ideas and mods I’m looking at lol.

Somehow this morphed from museum though to ‘dream world where Rod Humble’s computer stash is really located.’ So I started building this as a subhood for Blightgate. It’s called z_¦¦S•e•¦¦D••¦o¦¦••N¦¦ªa••¦¦¦• based on the Sedona hood which was scrapped by Maxis at some point in development but still has the hood template + references in game files + a flythrough.) I wanted to use a glitch text editor to make some weird looking names for all the lots but The Sims 2 can’t display that text so I just kind of used random characters that would show up instead. 

There’s a train station lot (which I downloaded from mts a while ago called Simton Railway Station it’s actually a really great lot outside of what I’m using it for right now haha.) Then I found this awesome effects collection by Sophie-David so I could actually have trains running through! 

When I was working on my Don Lothario Machinima I realised that lots placed close to the edge of the world in Strangetown have this kind of fading effect where they disappear into the sky. This was pretty great for Vidcund’s dream sequence but also in this case allowed me to have the train kind of floating off.

So there’s a kind of backrooms maze type lot I’m working on too here and one of the rooms is kind of an gnome room. So I was looking through more of Sophie-David's mods because they have some more magical effects I haven’t added yet but I think would look cool. And then I noticed they had a mod called ‘Gnome of Protection’ which is so funny and has lots of uses(including summoning a gnome guardian that intercepts burglars, repo-men and Mrs Crumplebottom,) but it also can stop Sims from stealing the Gnomes to quote:

“Basegame gnomes may still be stolen, but potential perpetrators will typically be distracted to come and admire the Gnome of Protection instead of committing gnome theft. As a side effect, these Sims will gain just enough Niceness points to prevent them from stealing gnomes in the future."

haha love that so much. I was having an issue with Sims stealing the gnomes in the gnome room lol so I might have to add one of those instead of just locking the door which is less interesting. 

The entrance (will be adding more effects/changing some things later):

I’m trying to find ways to incorporate more Blightgate characters into the storyline too and obviously Victor is still technically on a mission to find Rod Humble’s computer source to become a full member of the Shadow crime family since Rod keeps escaping him. I remembered that I actually have a more minor character who lives with her friends who actually came to Blightgate in the hope of setting up a museum so this seems like the perfect time to cover that household. I’ve said this before but I headcannon the universal NPC’s as being cryptid type beings that can travel between worlds. So they kind of come from a magical location in the game files and aren’t rooted in any of the neighbourhoods regular Sims live in. Well besides the ones that have temporarily moved into spaces in my game like Mrs Crumplebottom lives in Blightgate for now.