#i’m gonna take this opportunity to ramble about them because i haven’t really before

[unknownarmageddon]

for the sanscest ships, kist : o?

OUHHH….. OUHH KIST…. weeping wailing kist my beloved

kist is like my third or second favorite ship it’s like the only other killer ship i like other than kross. ouh. kist <3

[dollyhao]

Can we bring back Loser Ellie x Bully reader? Please and thank you ❤️ but take your time and take care 🫶

cw; nsfw, tribbing i got y’all :) yall i ain’t never wrote about tribbing before (or tried it lol)

you anxiously look down at your phone while biting your nail. your stressing over the fact that ellie isn’t texting you back. by now you would be at her place banging on her door but… you might’ve taken it too far.

you took your anger out on ellie when she didn’t deserve it at all and she was understanding at first, you were having a bad day and you were pent up, so she gave you a chance to apologize. but you refused and decided ignoring her was the better option.

ellie looked really hurt before she grabbed her things and left your place. that was 5 days ago and ellie never goes this long without talking to you. shes been avoiding you, declining your calls, and ignoring your texts.

which is understandable given you still haven’t apologized in any of your messages, just a bunch of “let’s meet.” and “where are you?” texts. but when day 7 hits, your ready to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness. so that’s what you do.

“i’m sorry baby, i didn’t mean what i said.” your on your knees in front of ellie’s desk chair that she’s sitting in, grasping her hands, tears welling up in your eyes as you ask for her forgiveness.

ellie is staring at you wide eyed, she’s never seen you act like this. you never apologize or beg for anything, from anyone. but ellie can’t help but feel kinda… good when she sees the tears in your eyes. this obviously means you care and that you missed her.

she already ready to kiss your pout away before you start rambling about how you would do ‘anything’ for her to talk to you again. and who is she to pass up such a opportunity, “what are you gonna do? you really hurt my feelings…” ellie mumbles putting on a soft, sad tone as she looks down at the hands that are holding yours.

“what do you want me to do?”

‧₊˚��彡

“i love you so so much ellie!” you are panting as you grind against your gf, bodies sweaty, pussies making the most lewd sounds as they rub against each other. you have her cute little nipples in between your fingers, twisting them and pulling as ellie holds on to your hips grinding against yours.

ellie has been wanting to try tribbing with you forever now but never had the confidence to ask but you seemed happy at the idea and more than willing to do it with her. but of course you can’t do this for long because your truly a pillow princess at heart so you collapse backwards on the bed, panting as ellie has to put in all the work.

ellie is not complaining as she lifts one of your legs next to your head as she frantically fucks herself against you causing sweet mewls to fall past your lips. ellie grips and slaps on your tits, “you sorry baby?” ellie asks you throwing her head back in ecstasy.

“i’m so so sorry els. i love you. you forgive me?” you trail your fingers in between your bodies rubbing at ellie’s clit. “a-always baby, always.”

[tired-lamb]

@pizacat72 SENT ME AN ASK ABT MY BUNGA X ONO X BESHTE HCS. WHICH I LOST . but here’s your answer I’m so sorry I accidentally deleted your ask 😭😭

using this as an opportunity to post about an hc I’ve thought of recently!! I hc bunga, beshte and ono eventually adopt a kid when they’re older, cause, c’mon, all three of them are great with kids at varying degrees. in my head it goes like: bunga finds an abandoned kid and immediately is like I am Not leaving you I’m gonna take care of you now. and beshte finds bunga with said kid and bunga immediately convinces beshte to let him keep the kid (+ the kid’s adorableless already having beshte convinced).

ono, on the other hand is slightly hesitant because of their duties and also because he knows how stupid (/lh) little kids can be. what makes him even more hesitant is that this kid bunga and beshte found is None of their species. none. not a single fur feather or skin is shared, you get the idea, but after begging and begging ono agrees to take care of the kid TEMPORARILY. can you guess where this goes? the kid gets attached to ono and who is ono to say no to that. in conclusion: they now had a kid :3 (I haven’t thought abt the species yet so feel free to suggest!)

a couple of other hcs I have is related to each of their families! I’ve mentioned before that beshte is timon and pumbaa’s favourite, but they do love ono too. ain’t no way you’re gonna see those two be partial to their son’s partners!!

beshte’s entire family (because I imagine him to be the person with that gigantic family tree) is absolutely thrilled. ono and bunga have basically been adopted into the family. they are honourary hippos. beshte’s dad treats them both like his own sons, and ono and bunga just KNOW that if they’re visiting beshte’s family they’re not leaving without a bunch of gifts and well wishes :).

the egrets are generally very happy for ono!! we don’t see a lot of the relationship between ono and the other egrets so I haven’t really thought much about it. HOWEVER WE HAVEE seen ona and kulinda!!! ona is introduced to not just queerness but also polyamory through the three of them and is pleasantly surprised to learn she can mate with females AND not just one, too :]. kulinda is so so happy for ono and because I hc she becomes sort of like an aunt-mom figure for ono she definitely is the type to ask them embarrassing but sweet questions haha

it took a lot of time for the three of them to get together. it started with ono and bunga first, and then beshte came in. ono and bunga had been crushing on each other for some time now but neither were willing to admit it because they were too scared that their feelings would be rejected. beshte had the exact same feeling except he also felt shame and guilt because he felt like he was intruding on ono and bunga’s relationship. it took a lot of talks with fuli, kion, anga, their respective families and a lot more for them to finally confess to each other. the time they spent pining also took a toll on their friendship and it was hurting them, but now theyre partners and what more could they ask for :]

their number one shipper: makini. I hc her as bunga’s sister figure and that she and beshte are also really close so the both of them tell her how they feel about the other (+ ono ofc!!) and shes just there trying not to spill the beans and ends up ranting to rafiki who is pleased for them too!!!

I’ve got a set of hcs for these three related to co-dependency which is also slightly angsty but I’ll make a seperate post for that. this ended up getting really long but thank you for asking!! I’m genuinely so happy at the positive feedback this ship + my hcs and rambles are getting, and what with gem now making her own hcs I’m like LETS GO THE WORD IS SPREADING!!! /silly. I am. still working on their ship name but as soon as I come up with one I’ll be tagging all my ono x bunga x beshte posts with it so that it’s easier for you guys! (and me lol)

[polybiusplayer]

i am once again thinking about ninejuice (for the first time in a whole month wow)

thats all! have a nice rest of your day

ME TOO OML!!

Oh boy I’m gonna take this opportunity to rant about them.

Nine Juice rant below, read at your own risk.

I’m thinking about them so often…. ITS LIKE!!! I can totally understand people seeing them as only platonic!! And I’ve always actually felt kinda nervous to ship them for some reason… the 17776 enjoyers haven’t been much to do shipping, especially since romance is not really the point of the story, at all. but I just really believe they have a bond that just, is a lot.

There is a level of understanding and compassion that Juice shows to Nine in his own ways, he knows exactly how to help Nine cope after the intermission, he knows what they’re thinking when their communications fuck up. (Nine was indeed cussing him out, they said “fuck you.”) He is teasing as always, but not hesitant to reassure them afterwards.

Nine is very observant. They make note of Juices usage of grammar, how he capitalizes thing that are important to him. I can’t remember exactly which chapter that’s in, but I’m like 100% sure Nine pointed this out. Obviously, Nines name is almost always capitalized . This is a notable exception

Has he EVER used this many exclamation points?!

I also love the way the infodump to each other. Ten by this point has heard Juices rants a billion times before, she loves him, but is sick of them! Of course he sees no problem in that. But then suddenly there’s a new listener who is intensely eager and interested in what he has to say! It feels special, because Nine never seems to get bored of it. They love to hear him talk, about anything really, but especially what he’s passionate about. -

Which is mostly football. Football is how he processes the world. With sports and all the things that come with it he was able to come to terms with reality. He looks at it through such a unique lense in order to make sense of it all. Even his own football game is not just insane rules strung together all willy nilly, it’s truly a work of art with a deeper meaning. It’s like he’s painting with the fields, you know?

Nine understands this, and if they don’t, they WANT to. In my mind, Juices voice and rambles about lunchables or whatever start off confusing to them, but once they understand where it comes from and why and what Juice is trying to attempt with all this, they understand a lot.

Nine copes with history, they look into the past for comfort and familiarity. they feel so intensely behind, at first it started as a way to catch up and feel up to date with their friends, but then they discovered that the history of this world was just sort of a safe space for them. Juice loves to hear Nine talk about stuff even he never knew about. Nine is quite the researcher, and is always able to pull up SOMETHING. He is too, but not to this level. They share facts and information back and forth, intently listening to each other and trying to understand. Always.

Juice knows what Nines going through, it’s quite obvious with what he says here.

They ground each other in this reality, they give each other a person to talk about football with. Someone to try and not think about things too hard with. And then when things DO get hard? And the thoughts are too much? They’ll always be there for each other to help.

An underrated aspect about Juices character is how intelligent he is. SURE, he spends a lot of time joking around, that’s just his thing!!! But he is by no means stupid, he’s a little silly, but so so much more than that. He also cares, a lot! He is lonely, he loves his friends so dearly although he doesn’t express it nearly as much as Nine.

Nine is also a lot more than their troubles. A lot of their arc has to do with coming to terms with the state of existence, but they’re also incredibly compassionate and loving. SO SO loving. They’re blindly trusting, showing no hesitation with their love for everyone. They’re observant, and also a bit of a jokerster! They got that from Juice.

I don’t know where I’m going with this, I just really like the two of them, I love their dynamic. I feel like if they could, they would hug for a real long time. Unfortunately they’re way too far apart and made of nuts and bolts. But they still love each other, nothing changes that, not in a billion years

[canadianlucifer]

1, 4, 6 and 14 for takizawa!

Tysm for this, this entire reply is going to pretty much just be Takizawa because he is my poor little meow meow!

1. (Hands you a free card to ramble about whatever for your favorite character/ship)

Toss up between hidekane and seiakimon but I’m gonna go with seiakimon bc there are So Many Thoughts with these three. Akira and her two ghoul boyfriends

Obviously Takizawa need So Much Therapy before any romance stuff can happen so we’re gonna assume he’s been getting the help he needs for this (and so have Akira and Amon honestly, they’re not completely insane but they’ve got problems too).

SEIAKIMON COULD HAVE BEEN SO SO GOOD.

Taki was the only one who truly saw Akira as Akira. People in the academy chalked up her success to the fact that both her parents were investigators and didn’t acknowledge the work she herself put in. Everyone saw her as a product of her parents except Takizawa. He competed with her, not her parents and that’s why Akira liked him. He saw her as a bitch because he was jealous of her natural talent and how she often got more opportunities than him in the CCG, she got to go on missions while he was stuck in the office even though they were equally talented. And don’t even get me started on them only ever seeing each other from the side and the first time they truly look straight at each other is when Akira throws away her life career to protect Taki and lays her heart bare to him, telling him about how she tried to live up to everyone’s expectations but failed and how she never stopped thinking about him, wondering if she had just stopped him at the Owl Execution Operation. That shit hurted.

Of course we’ve also got the canon Akira and Amon, they work alright but need some more development. I really think Ishida has no clue how to write romance, every single one just comes out of left field, most prominently Yoriko and Takeomi. “Hey, haven’t seen you in a long time, nice to see you again. Anyway, you make good bread, wanna get married?” ????????

And with the right development, Amon and Taki would work well too. Amon’s closeted bi ass learning that it’s okay to be queer (thanks Donato for instilling religious trauma into this himbo /s).

In conclusion: Akira has two hands.

4. What character do you (the asker) remind me of?

I don’t really know why but Mutsuki kinda! No idea what my brain is doing at any moment in time

6. What’s your favorite piece of TG fan content you’ve made?

Hmm, I haven’t made much recently do NOT ask about my 2015 era art lmfao but I’d have to say this meme, it just fits the dude so well lmao

He's a little silly.

14. Song you associate with (character/ship)

Oh dear here we go.

So Mother Mother makes some AMAZING songs and I could write an essay on how every song in Oh My <3 fits him, but besides that, I think Control by Halsey fits Takizawa quite well!

“They send me away to find them a fortune” getting sent to fight and kill the Owl

“I sat alone, in bed till the morning I'm crying, "They're coming for me"” being scared outta his wits and writing “I DON’T WANT TO DIE” on his will

“I paced around for hours on empty I jumped at the slightest of sounds” post Kano trauma

“I'm well acquainted with villains that live in my head” listening and giving into his ghoul side

“And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me" I can't help this awful energy God damn right, you should be scared of me Who is in control?” Taking control over his own life and becoming a terrifying monster of a ghoul and killing Tatara while his former coworkers watch on in fear.

Gasoline works really well too!

[your-local-mom-whore]

So hammy told me to, I must speak my thoughts, I’m warning this will be very long my bad😂

A preface first, I love Sam. He’s a wonderful character who’s had a big impact on me. Second I adore all the characters that were an option on the poll (except Nick we don’t talk about that cryptid) Third I’m happy we get what we do content wise, Erik tries incredibly hard to listen to his fanbase and that’s so respectable. And fourth this is not an attack, these are just thoughts! Please don’t come for my head. My rambles are below, have fun.

NOW onto the thoughts. I really truly feel Sam won because people think that the bite will happen in this BA or they think the more content he gets the quicker it will happen. I hate to tell people it’s not going to happen anytime soon especially in this upcoming audio. The Quinn stuff in their time line was what? A week ago? And Sam made it a big point he wasn’t ready to go down the bite road anytime soon. So the people who voted for him expecting the bite to happen are going to be disappointed and we’ve all seen what the fandoms disappointment can look like, it’s not very nice. And the people who think making Sam get more content will get to the bite faster, it’s also gonna be a disappointment because it could likely cause burnout to Erik or it’ll be so rushed the whole experience of the bite won’t be worth it. That bite and that experience for them should be slow built and treated with care as well as patience. We know sam’s character and him needing to take things slow has been treated with patience and respect before why the sudden switch up? Their entire relationship was built on “taking things slow” and respecting eachother. People are asking for disappointment if that’s why they voted for him. (If that’s not why you voted for him this is clearly not directed at you. Love ya)

Onto the polls in general not just this one BA poll but the story continuation one as well. To me, it seems like a lot of people are unaware of the concept of taking turns. Trust me, I know we all have our favorites, characters and storylines, but there needs to be an understanding that the rest of the characters and storylines deserve their time in the spotlight. I have my favorites, everyone does. But others deserve to see their favorites get some love too. Avior already had his story push and finale yet he won that poll, when project Meridian and carpe deus haven’t been touched in how long? Sam had a BA in May yet won the poll, while Avior and Anton have never had one plus Gavin and Elliott it’s been YEARS since they had one. What I’m trying to say is I don’t think a lot of people consider what voting for and begging for the same few characters or storylines can do to the creator, as well as to the other fans, making the creator do the same stories or characters over and over again, can easily cause burn out or rushing or lazy writing, nobody wants that. For the other fans constantly only seeing one or two characters or one or two storylines will make them not want to watch anymore. It’ll turn them off those storylines or characters completely and I think that’s sad because there is so much content here there are so many wonderful stories being told that are all starting to connect in interesting ways, but no one lets certain ones shine. Erik clearly wants to hear our thoughts on things he wouldn’t make the polls if he didn’t, but I do think we as the fan base owe it to him and eachother to let everyone have their time to shine. If maybe a character you don’t like or that makes you uncomfortable gets some videos just skip them your favorite will come back, especially if they are a really popular one. If there is a story that you find boring that gets a push, don’t watch it your favorite will come back. Especially if we give them all an equal chance to do what they need to do. That can’t and won’t happen if we only think single minded “oh my favorite my favorite” we are given the opportunity to voice opinions. We should use it while thinking critically. Everyone deserves to be treated with love and respect in this community. So relax please. And think about who’s had what recently when voting for stuff. I’m sure y’all have more than one favorite. We can make it work for everyone.

✨If you made it this far thank you for reading, love youuuu✨

(I would also like to add if you so desperately want a bite audio Vincent has two of them and they’re good)

My thoughts on the poll and subsequent winner have only grown and I don’t know if I should speak my truth

[thelazyhermits]

Gonna ramble about Fortune (whom I’m gonna refer to as Yuu here) in Twisted Wonderland underneath the cut

First off, I wanna say that I don’t really wanna write an actual fic for this concept like I do for my Fortune in Obey Me idea since I don’t know the TWST characters very well. I mostly just wanna talk about little ideas I’ve had for certain moments in the main story.

Next, I wanna say that, while the “hiding I’m a girl in an all boys’ school” is an entertaining trope, I wouldn’t do that here, even though Yuu could pass as looking like a boy at first glance.

That’s because she has really short hair when she first comes to TW because long hair in cage fighting is just a liability. Plus, when she gets brought to TW, it was right after a cage match, so she was still wearing the special under armor that Tokumei got for her to keep her chest protected, which makes it appear flat. 

All that combined with the fact that she was wearing a baggy hoodie over that under armor led to everyone initially believing she was a boy. However, that misunderstanding gets resolved after the incident at the mine.

Although, while Yuu never attempts to keep her gender a secret, it takes a while for everyone at the school to actually realize the truth since it’s just hard for them to come to terms with the fact that there’s an actual girl at the school lol

Rather than officially make NRC an all boys’ school, I’d rather it be open to everyone, but it’s just been mostly populated by boys as of late since there just haven’t been any girls that meet the school’s personality requirements haha

So Crowley is fine with admitting her as a two-in-one student with Grim just like what he did with Yuu in canon.

Yuu is also fine with this arrangement cause it’s honestly a dream come true scenario for her. Not only does she get to escape Mumei’s clutches, she gets to be in charge of this cute cat-like monster and gets the opportunity to make actual friends. 

Being surrounding by guys doesn’t bother her in the least and neither do their personalities since she is used to way worse in the underground. Literally anything is better than Mumei and the creepy perverts from the underground, so she is all for this crazy turn of events and is hoping that Crowley won’t succeed in sending her back home since she would much rather stay here than go back there.

Sure, there is a part of her that would like to go back since, after coming to TW, she stops having visions about All Might and Midoriya so she can’t help but miss them/worry about them, but since she would get sent to TW before she starts having visions about Midoriya getting OFA, she wouldn’t be as worried as she could be if she had that information.

So, in the end, I think she’d just want to remain in TW since there’s really no hope for her in her old world. However, she wouldn’t actually say as much to anyone since she wants to avoid talking about her past.

Anyway, moving onto Yuu’s time at NRC. 

Because of her motherly personality, Yuu becomes the mom friend of the group, which was completely unintentional on her part. It just happened lol

Because of this, I feel like Deuce would have an easier time talking to her despite him usually being nervous around girls. He’d still be super awkward at first, but I feel like he’d still wanna be friends with her and would slowly get more comfortable around her. 

Plus, he just feels bad for her to be stuck with Ace & Grim, so he feels it’s his responsibility to be a mature guy for her to rely on since he doesn’t like the thought of guys troubling girls.

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Deuce causes just as much trouble as Ace & Grim, so Yuu really has her hands full dealing with this trio lol

To make matters worst, Crowley takes advantage of Yuu’s motherly role and makes her responsible for the three guys, so if they get into messes or do poorly in school, he’s often talking to her rather than the guys at fault. Eventually, even the other teachers start giving her looks when the idiot trio causes trouble, although they’re nowhere near as bad as Crowley about it 😂

Yuu has no idea what she did to deserve this. She did not ask for such unruly children. She thinks she must have done something horrible in a past life lol

What’s really funny is that slowly but surely Yuu gains a reputation for herself as being a mom figure so like almost all of the first years just call her “Mom”. She finds it exasperating at first, but eventually, she just embraces it cause why not. It’s not like fighting it is gonna do her any good 😂

Azul eventually finds a way to make a profit off of this once he and the Tweels try her cooking for the first time and realize it really has that mother’s home cooking taste to it. Realizing that students who are missing home would love food like this, he ends up hiring Yuu as a part timer which is fine with her since the allowance Crowley gives her is barely enough to feed Grim’s bottomless stomach lol

Everyone can’t believe that she seriously works at the Mostro Lounge and doesn’t have a problem with it, but it doesn’t really bother her since she’s not afraid of Azul/Jade/Floyd cause she has dealt with a lot worse in the past.

People really think Yuu is insane cause she doesn’t mind getting squeezed by Floyd, but that’s because she’s so touch starved. Of course, it helps that she has a high pain tolerance so even Floyd’s tighter squeezes don’t hurt as much as they would a normal human lol

What makes this really funny is the fact that Yuu will squeeze Floyd back, and it basically becomes a game with them where they try to surprise each other with squeezes. Floyd gets a big kick out of it, and Jade finds it really amusing. Azul just thinks they’re all insane. 

Another funny thing Yuu does is sometimes she’ll hide mushrooms in the dishes she makes that she knows Floyd and Azul will eat and will only tell Jade the truth, which he gets a big kick out of. He also really enjoys the cooking chats he has with her, which mostly involve mushroom dishes, since Floyd’s and Azul’s reactions are always amusing whenever they’re around to overhear them.

While on the topic of the Octotrio, I wanna mention a really amusing scenario from chapter 3. 

To start off, I wanna say that Yuu has a vision about Azul’s plot and what happens to Ace/Deuce/Grim. It happens shortly before the exam results are posted, and she is displeased to say the least. 

She’s not particularly upset with Azul, though, since the ones at fault here are the idiots who fell for his scheme. She’s just annoyed that, despite all her best attempts to get the guys to study, they still took the easy way out and are now suffering the consequences as a result.

Because she’s so annoyed, she doesn’t immediately go to her friends’ aid and decides to let them suffer a little bit lol In the meantime, Yuu tells Jack that he’s her new favorite son and that she’s glad at least one of her kids is someone she can rely on which makes him really embarrassed and has him complaining about not being her kid lol 😂

After thanking him for being one of the only decent people in this school, Yuu gets Jack to tell her his favorite food, so she can make it to reward him for doing well with his exams. He ends up going along with it cause she won’t listen to him when he tells her not to do anything for him lol

They end up going back to his dorm because, after she finishes buying the groceries she needs, Yuu asks Jack if he has a punching bag at his disposal to which he replies that there is one at the dorm that everyone there is allowed to use at their leisure. 

Thankfully, despite her not being a Savanclaw student, Jack tells her that she can use it since he can tell she really needs a way to let off some steam, so before she starts doing any cooking preparations, she spends a while wailing on the punching bag, which does wonders for her current stress level.

Meanwhile, Jack’s marveling at how good her technique is. Leona & Ruggie, who happen to come by in time to see her in action, comment on how much she’s like the girls from where they come from lol 

I really love Yuu’s dynamic with Savanaclaw. First and foremost, because I adore Jack and I think she would too just cause he’s best boy lol But also because he’s hardworking which is her favorite kind of person.

While Jack would try to resist her attempts at friendship at first, Yuu would eventually win him over since he admires her strength and her hardworking mentality which is a lot like his. 

However, he really wishes she would stop complimenting him so much. It’s super embarrassing, but his constantly wagging tail proves that he also really likes the positive attention haha

I could see them being workout buddies since Yuu is used to doing a lot of exercising to keep in shape for cage fights. Plus, considering her magic-less state puts her at a disadvantage, she’d want to hone the skills she does have to protect herself.

I think Yuu & Ruggie would get along well because they’re both hardworkers who have been through a lot and know how to make the most of things. I also think that Yuu’s penny-pincher tendencies, which are the result of Mumei being such a tightwad and only giving her so much money to do grocery shopping, would help her resonate with Ruggie since they both appreciate the value of money and would never spend it carelessly. 

Whenever Leona’s careless spending gets brought up, Yuu will have a near heart attack because she just can’t fathom spending so much money, and Ruggie is always very sympathetic and complains about Leona not watching his words better around the poor folk lol

Another big thing is Yuu & Ruggie have that survivalist mindset, and I’m sure Ruggie would be able to sense that about her. It doesn’t take too long for him to figure out she’s been through her own fair share of hell, even if she never outright admits it, so there’s some mutual respect here because they both recognize each other in that regard.

Plus, since she’s a girl, Ruggie would be nicer toward her as compared to most other students since he and Leona have that respect for women ingrained into them lol

It also helps that Yuu was able to save him during the fight against Leona thanks to her Quirk warning her ahead of time about what was going to happen, so they develop a pretty solid friendship after that battle. 

The Yuu & Leona relationship is also really interesting to me. Like Ruggie, Leona would be quick to realize there is more to this girl than meets the eye and would probably have an even better idea of what she’s been through because he’s so observant/smart.

He wouldn’t really give her special treatment per se, but because she’s a girl, she’d get treated better than most guys at that school lol

This would be a slow build friendship where after spending time with him before chapter two because she runs into him while he’s napping or during other random occurrences and during chapter two since I see Savanaclaw kidnapping Yuu because she’s trying to figure out what they’re up to under Crowley’s orders and because she successfully saved Riddle/Trey thanks to her Quirk warning her ahead of time. 

Initially, Yuu tried to keep her Quirk a secret, but Ruggie eventually gains some info via spying that suggests she has a power that allows her to predict the future which leads to Leona making the decision that they need her on their turf to prevent her from getting in their way.

Honestly, Yuu doesn’t even really mind the whole kidnapping situation. The only complaint she had was missing school, but after she comes close to tears, Ruggie gives in and promises that he’ll get her assignments that she’ll miss so she won’t fall behind with her school work, which leads to Leona commenting on how weak he is to fall for a woman’s tears that quickly lol

In regards to Leona’s scheme, she doesn’t really have anything against it since he’s technically not breaking any rules. The only issue she had was him going after the people she likes, but it’s not enough for her to wanna play the hero card and wanna defeat him, etc. since she doesn’t think that suits someone like her, and she doesn’t wanna act like she’s someone who knows better, etc.

However! During her time in captivity, Yuu gets a vision of Leona overblotting which is definitely more than enough reason for her to wanna get involved with stopping his scheme cause she doesn’t want him to die.

After having seen a lot of unfortunate child deaths in the underground, Yuu has a strong aversion toward it and can’t just sit back and allow it to happen even to someone like Leona who’s technically an adult, even though he is still a student.

Plus, by the time she has that vision, Yuu has come to like Leona as a person. She knows he’s not like Scar from The Lion King and isn’t a real “villain” at least not to the degree she has seen in her world. So she doesn’t want him to die and she really doesn’t want him to keep living in despair.

Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, he still overblots in the end, and she does everything she can to contribute to the battle to help him, using her Quirk.

While she’s really worried, she’s also really exasperated cause she hates how he’s giving up. Someone as cool as him shouldn’t be doing what she thinks is the exact opposite of cool. It just doesn’t suit him.

Plus, she’s basically the antithesis of giving up since she would’ve been dead a long time ago if she gave in when things got tough, so it irritates her when she sees people throwing in the towel like that, even though she can understand where Leona is coming from. 

Which is why, near the end of the battle, just when it looks like Leona’s on his last leg, Yuu charges at him, ignoring the effects of his Unique Magic, and punches him straight in the face, which is the final blow along with everyone else’s magic attacks.

(Fun fact: I like the idea of Yuu punching the overblot guys enough to make it an ongoing theme. It starts with Leona and continues from thereon. However, she doesn’t punch Vil in the face since she’s too scared of the consequences so he gets a punch to the gut lol Also, I don’t know if she could punch Malleus, if he does overblot like we’re expecting, since she’s so fond of him, which would garner a lot of complaints from the guys she did punch lol 😂)

Because Leona’s so tough and because Yuu’s punches aren’t like super strong, Leona doesn’t get knocked out but the shock of that combined with everyone else’s attacks leads to him returning back to normal.

The pivotal moment here is when Yuu is worriedly asking if Leona is alright, completely ignoring all the injuries she sustained because of his UM, and upon seeing that he’s okay, she smiles, which catches him off guard.

The reason Leona is so surprised is because, during her time in captivity, Yuu had asked Ruggie if he would teach her how to smile since she didn’t remember how to and wanted to learn how to smile like he does, which really threw him and Leona for a loop and made them even more suspicious about her past.

In the end, despite all her past attempts, Yuu had no luck smiling naturally, so Leona figured it would just take her a while to overcome whatever past trauma she's dealing with.

What he didn’t count on was Yuu, who desperately wanted to do something for him but wasn’t sure what since words are oftentimes meaningless, deciding that the best thing she could do to convey her feelings was to give him a smile to express how happy she is that he’s alright. 

While I don’t consider myself an expert at understanding Leona’s character by any means, I just feel like that kind of action would have an impact on him. At the very least, her sincerity/care would be able to get through to him and makes him see that the person in front of him does genuinely care about him and isn’t afraid of him.

Regrettably, this sweet moment doesn’t last for long because Yuu ends up passing out due to blood loss from her wounds and the high fever she develops from overusing her Quirk.

Thankfully, she ends up alright in the end after lots of rest in the infirmary, but she does get scolded plenty by several people for being so reckless lol

That battle was the real turning point for the Yuu & Leona relationship, so after that, they develop a good, solid dynamic, which mostly consists of him smugly messing with her but offering the occasional good advice while she cooks for him and plays chess with him a lot.

(While she doesn’t realize it, Yuu’s actually quite good at chess, which she learned how to play from Tokumei. The reason she doesn’t know she’s good at it is because she grew up playing only Tokumei, who’s a certified genius, so she lost every single game she ever played. Because she always lost, she just assumed she wasn’t very good cause Tokumei was never the type to praise her for anything. She also loses to Leona every time, but she provides a good challenge, which he likes. Thankfully, unlike Tokumei, Leona will actually point out her skills when he deems fit.)

The Savanaclaw guys all end up looking out for her and are protective of her in their own ways, so anyone who messes with her better be ready to face the consequences lol

Going back to chapter 3 events, which I got greatly distracted from lol, after Yuu finishes wailing on the punching bag, she starts making pear compote for Jack and ends up making donuts and steak for Ruggie & Leona cause they also did well with their exams and are shameless lol 😂

Yuu doesn’t mind since she enjoys cooking/baking, and it just provides another way to relieve her stress. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

However, after Jack brings up that it’s kinda unfair that Yuu gets nothing when she did really well with her exams, which is quite the feat with someone without any magic, Leona decides to offer her the honor of getting a reward from him since he’s in a good mood.

Unfortunately, because she’s so used to never being rewarded, Yuu’s just put on the spot and can’t think of anything to ask for. She’s honestly just happy that anyone would wanna give her anything, but that doesn’t satisfy Leona who thinks that kinda sappy sentiment is annoying lol 

In the end, since she really can’t think of anything, Leona orders Ruggie to make something for her since she clearly doesn’t care about material items, and he knows she likes Ruggie’s food.

(She doesn’t really have a favorite food, but during her time in TW, Yuu discovers that she really enjoys the food that was made for her by someone that she likes aka Trey/Ruggie/Jade/Floyd/Jamil’s cooking.)

While Ruggie does a little complaining for the sake of it, he doesn’t really mind since he figures he should return the favor and make something for her anyway.

After that, Leona decides to give her the honor of playing chess with him even though this is a regular occurrence between the two lol During this time, they talk about the ongoing incident with Azul, and he wonders what this nosy girl is going to do about it.

Despite her having no real issue with Azul’s scheme and her annoyance with her friends, Yuu intends to get involved since she can’t just leave them alone.

“They may be idiots, but they’re my idiots, and nobody messes with my idiots and gets away with it.”

Just wanted to add that quote cause I’m really fond of it XD

I’m gonna end this post here cause it’s gotten way longer than I intended it to. I always write too much lol

[inhuman-obey-me]

Payback's a Murder

Word Count: 2k Description: Mammon may be the Avatar of Greed and may constantly try to con his brothers, but others who try to do the same will find themselves at the wrong end of his murder. Part of the A Demon's Nature series. Finally got back to this, so here we go with Mammon's turn! Note: Mulciber is a demon mentioned in John Milton's Paradise Lost. He served under Mammon and was an architect. Can also be found on AO3 here. content warning: blood, body horror, torture via the sharp ends of birds

The Avatar of Greed often found himself in trouble, whether it be because he stole personal belongings to sell or tried to cheat someone out of cash or … well, there were a lot of ways. Call him reckless, but when he saw an opportunity to make some cold, hard Grimm, he wasn’t about to pass it up!

But if someone tried to cheat him out of something? That wouldn’t do. Few dared to try it if they knew just who they were dealing with, but that didn’t stop some from trying anyway. They always regretted it afterwards.

The real issue, however, was if someone tried to cheat his brothers out of something. After all, he was the only one allowed to rip them off (that was his justification, anyway). The moment he finds out someone else tried to play confidence demon with any of them, it was a one-way ticket to the Great Mammon’s Beatdown Extravaganza.

He was walking by Leviathan’s room earlier when he heard a loud crash, some swearing, and a slight rumble under his feet. After some door breaking, tackling, and forcing his hotheaded brother to not summon Lotan, he found out what had made him so upset. Apparently, there was some demon running around with elaborate schemes swindling others -- well, nerds -- out of their money. He went on to explain something that Mammon did not at all understand -- as was usual when he got into his otaku rambling. If his brother had not been so upset, Mammon would have commended the guy for knowing how to target and hit a jackpot.

After some additional pestering, Mammon managed to get a rough description of this third-rate demon and realized he had a pretty good idea of just who it was. It was someone far closer to him than he’d like to admit.

So now here he was, leaning against the bar at one of the Devildom’s many clubs, drink in hand as he monitors the floor. If he was right, he would see the other cozening demon somewhere here tonight, so now it was just a waiting game. As Lucifer had told him repeatedly, You have to show that you’re Number Two. He planned to make that very clear tonight.

He felt the pulse of the bass vibrating through his body as the DJ amped up their music, more and more demons flowing into the space as the prime clubbing hours arrived. A few who noticed Mammon acknowledged his presence, some whispering about how he seemed to look way more serious than normal. The Avatar of Greed, not partying the night away already? Strange.

His patience was just about to run out when he caught a glimpse of just the demon he was seeking out. Hair as orange as a flame, he wasn’t too hard to spot amongst the crowd of more muted succubi surrounding him. Mammon downed the rest of his drink in one go, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket as he made his way to his target.

“Mulciber. Already getting started, huh?”

“M-Mammon?!” He seemed startled to see the other, but cleared his throat as he regained his cool composure. “It’s good to see you, man! Why don’t you join us all for a drink?” The succubi around him giggled, one daring to lean towards Mammon in an attempt to latch onto his arm, but he quickly placed a hand up to stop her.

“No touchin’, sweetheart.” He shot her a look that made her immediately back away, a pout on her lips. “And that’s a nice offer, Mulcey, but I was hopin’ I could talk to ya real quick in private.”

Mulciber could tell that no was not an option in this conversation, given the serious look in the Avatar’s eyes. “Oh, uh, sure. Sorry ladies, I’ll be back soon. Gotta take care of business!” He gave them a wink as they continued on to the table for their party. Clearing his throat again, he turned back to his superior. “So, what’s shaking, boss?”

Mammon just gave him a smile before nodding his head towards a side door, motioning to accompany him there. The lesser demon complied, following him outside to a side alley. The night air was brisk, causing a shudder to run through Mulciber’s spine. At least, he hoped it was the weather that was making him feel like this …

“I heard ya got up to another scheme.” Mammon fiddled with a lighter, flipping the top off and on with his thumb and a jerk of his hand as he spoke. Click, click, click, click. “Wanna tell me about it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, totally!” Mulciber nervously replied, wondering why Mammon seemed so interested. Did he want a cut of the check? Fishing for ideas for his own next get-rich-quick scheme? Or --

Oh.

Oh no.

He suddenly remembered that one of the victims of his scheming had been the very Avatar of Envy. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, delighting in the fact that he was even able to rip off a Greater Demon. Meant his plan had to be pretty genius, right? But now … now he was starting to realize that he may have just made a big mistake.

“Hm? Ya haven’t said a word, Mulcey-boy.” Mammon turned to face him, tucking the lighter into his pocket. He took a step towards the other, who immediately took a step back -- only to be met with a hard brick wall. “Or didja have a moment of realization?”

“L-Listen, Mammon, I’m sorry! I didn’t know at the time, I swear!” Mulciber brought both his hands up, as if that would stop the other from approaching him.

“Oh? ‘Cuz your face says differently, buddy.” He bared his fangs, the usual gradient in his eyes now glowing a furious gold. There’s a malicious grin on his face as he takes a step back, and then he begins to … whistle?

Mulciber does not like where this is going. He’s heard that tune before and it makes his hairs stand on end. “Look, man, please, I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you!” There’s already desperation in his voice, which almost makes Mammon laugh.

“Glad to hear it. Then ya won’t have a problem with what’s about to happen next, yeah?”

It starts in the distance, a noise that made it feel as if your eardrums were being pierced by a thousand shards of glass. It grows louder and louder, closer and closer. An omen.

Mulciber shrinks against the wall, his grey eyes wide in fear. He knows running is pointless -- the other demon would quickly catch him, and leave him even worse for wear as repercussion. “P-please, Mammon, sir, don’t do this … “

“Didn’t you just say ya’d do whatever ya have to do?” Mammon shakes his head, his wings stretching out wide as if to entrap the lesser demon where he stood. “And you really think suddenly pullin’ out the formalities is gonna get ya any mercy here?”

The flapping of numerous wings now filled the air, a large murder of crows circling in the dark sky above. Their bone-chilling caws and cries rain down upon them as the birds eagerly await their master’s command.

Mammon lunged forward and grasped the other’s jaw, his claws digging into flesh as he brought his face threateningly close. “Pretty ballsy of you to think messin’ with any of us was the right move.” He growled, a rumble in his throat. “Looks like someone needs remindin’ of his place.”

“I-I wasn’t thinkin’ at the time! C’mon, you know how that is, don’t you? I was just thinking of making some big bucks, I didn’t mean to go and step out of line--” Mulciber frantically rambled, trying to ignore the searing pain he was feeling from Mammon’s grip.

“I’m sure that was the case, Mulcey, sure!” If it wasn’t for his mocking smile, the Avatar would have nearly sounded genuine. “But that doesn’t mean you can escape the consequences, ya’know?” He let out a tsk, watching as blood dripped from where he had pierced the other’s skin.

He let go of Mulciber, taking a few steps back as he shook his hand as if to clean it of the ichor. There was no denying the glee he was feeling from this -- it had been a while since he decided to flex his abilities and powers on another. Looking up to the sky, he whistled out another tune, causing the crows to descend.

“He’s all yours.” He commands them in a language only they could understand, and in a flash the black-feathered birds rush in to attack. Their squawks mix with Mulciber’s shrieks as they begin to peck at him with their beaks and scratch him with their claws. Mammon fishes out the lighter from his pocket once more, grabbing a cigarette from the box he had on him with his other hand. Leaning against the opposing alley wall, he lights up and takes a slow drag, watching as the flurry of feathers pulverize his inferior.

The crows tear at Mulciber’s flesh, their sharp beaks riddling his body with small cavities and painting him with his own blood. He continues to cry and scream, though it’s obvious he’s losing energy by the second as they grow weaker in intensity, his body slumping towards the ground. Perhaps he had learned his lesson? Surely, he’s just waiting for it all to stop now, right?

Mammon takes a glance around, humming in delight as he catches sight of a discarded iron pipe. He drops the remains of his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out before retrieving his now makeshift weapon. It feels cool and light in his hand, and he gives it a small toss in the air before catching it again with a satisfied smile.

“Alright, alright. You all can leave him alone now.” Mammon commands his murder once more, followed by another whistle to let them know they could go back to doing whatever they were doing before now. One of them flew over to Mammon, perching on the metal rod in his hand, looking up at him with a puffed up chest in pride as blood stained its beak.

“Yes, who’s my good lil’ birdie?” Mammon cooed, scratching the crow under its chin. “Go get yerself cleaned up, okay?” It cawed in delight before flying off to join the rest, who were fading back into the dark night sky. The Avatar of Greed shook his head fondly before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

Mulciber lay crumpled on the ground, though was making efforts to sit upright as he gasped for breath. His body hurt all over, as if every inch of him had been pierced with needles. He feebly looked up to meet Mammon’s gaze, a whimper leaving him as he noticed the rod in his hand.

“What? I couldn’t let my birds have all the fun, now could I?” Mammon grasped the rod firmly in both hands before swinging it down with a deafening crack as it hit the other, who let out another sharp cry of pain.

“Hm, perhaps just another for good measure.” Whack. Another wail.

“Okay, okay. One more.” Whack. Another splatter of blood.

Content at the shuddering and sniveling mass that was left, Mammon kneeled down to get close to Mulciber’s ear, his next words full of menace. “Ya really should have stuck to the building business. Keep that in mind in the future, ‘kay?”

Mammon stood up and let the iron rod clatter to the ground, its hollowness ringing into the night. He made his way back inside to order another drink, ignoring the whispers and stares from the others in the club. It was doubtful that Mulciber would make an appearance here after what had happened for a while.

He knocked on the bar counter, getting the attention of the bartender. “Give me a glass of your finest whiskey. Put it on Mulciber’s tab.”

[phantasmagoric-acquaintance]

who said anything about marriage

[read it here or on ao3]

Barry was nervous.

That was nothing new. Barry was nervous most of the time. But Barry hadn’t been nervous around Lup in decades.

There were so many things that could go wrong. For one, he could lose the ring. For the millionth time in the past half hour, he patted the outside of his jacket pocket. He felt the little box and exhaled quietly.

He could screw up the plan. They’d already made it to the restaurant on time, thank the Gods. But what if they missed the gondola ride? He’d booked the damned thing in advance, and if the rules he’d read online were any indication, the company didn’t give latecomers a whole lot of leeway. He could pop the question on the streets next to the canal, he supposed, but that was unromantic. Plus, he’d pre-paid so much for the ride.

And what if he fell? He’d made himself sick the night before reading articles about mistakes to avoid on a gondola. He knew not to try to stand, but what if he forgot? He could tip the boat and soak them both.

“Um, babe?”

Lup’s voice brought Barry out of his anxious reverie, and he remembered he’d been pouring a glass of wine, which was now very close to overflowing. “Aah!” He hastily righted the bottle, hitting the mouth against the overfilled glass in the process and very nearly knocking it over.

Lup snickered, eyes glinting with amusement. “You are a wreck,” she said as she lifted her own wine glass to her lips. There wasn’t a hint of malice in her voice or in her expression. Barry remembered that he’d probably embarrassed himself in front of her thousands of times, and she still loved him. As the waiter came by to take their orders, Barry felt himself relaxing.

That calm moment was short-lived.

When the waiter turned away from their table, Lup propped her elbows up on the table and rested her chin on her palms. “Hey, Bear?”

“Mm-hm?” Barry vocalized, sipping from his comically full wine glass.

“When are we gonna get married?”

Barry sputtered, spitting a little wine back into his glass and trying not to choke on the rest of it. “Huh?!?” Had she figured out his plan? She was clever, and he wasn’t the best at keeping secrets, but he thought he’d done a good job of keeping it from her. He’d known better, too, than to tell anyone expect Taako. Did she get it out of him?

She raised an eyebrow. “Well, don’t freak out or anything. It’s just, you know, we’ve been together for, like, I don’t know, an entire human lifespan?” She shifted her chin so that it rested only on her left palm and reached for her glass with her free hand. “I mean, we’re pretty much already married. I just thought, I dunno, maybe we should make it official.”

If Barry had been thinking, he might’ve told her “Yes! Gods, yes!” right then and there. He might’ve pulled out the ring and said, “Funny you should ask, I was thinking the same thing!” If he had been thinking, he might have realized that this moment, right here in the restaurant, was the perfect opportunity to do what he’d set out to do this evening.

But Barry wasn’t thinking. Barry was panicking.

“M-marriage? Who said anything about marriage?”

Lup set her left arm back down on the table. “Huh? Nobody said anything about it. Or, I guess I did.” She looked down at her glass and swirled it around a bit. “Geez, Barry, I wouldn’t have brought it up if I knew it’d make you all, like, panicky and sweaty and shit.”

“I-I’m not panicky and sweaty.” He was very obviously both of these things. It was this moment that the waiter came by, awkwardly setting their plates in front of them and hurrying off, sensing that whatever was happening here, it was definitely not something he wanted to be privy to any longer than necessary. “Y-you just caught me off guard, that’s all. Marriage is, you know, a big word.”

“Well, sure.” Lup picked up a fork and began swirling it in her pasta. “But, like, haven’t you thought about it before?” She lifted the fork to her mouth.

“Thought about marrying you?” Barry was drenched in sweat now.

“Mm-hm,” Lup managed through a mouthful of linguini.

“Well, no, I mean, why would I?”

This was absolutely, positively, the wrong thing to say. It might have been the worst possible thing Barry could’ve said, and he’d said it, and he couldn't take it back.

Lup swallowed her food hard and gaped at him. “Fucking excuse me?”

“Uhh…” He took a long sip of his wine.

“What do you mean, ‘Why would I?’?”

The pressure was on now, and Barry tended to falter under pressure. “I just, I mean, marriage is, it’s such a long-term commitment, you know? It, uh, ties you down and stuff.”

Lup’s eyes went even wider. “Barry, what are you trying to say?” she asked softly.

Barry threw his hands up. “Nothing! I- nothing! Just, you’re such a, a free spirit, I, uh, wouldn’t wanna… hold you back?”

She deflated, and he knew he’d dug himself deeper. “Yeah, okay.” She put her elbow back on the table, making a fist with her left hand and resting her cheekbone on her knuckles, and looked down at her plate.

Silence. Barry cut off a bit of his salmon and ate it. “Mmm!” he hummed exaggeratedly. “The salmon is amazing! How’s your food?”

Lup pushed her noodles around on her plate, not looking up. “It’s fine. Fantastic.”

They stayed like that for a while, him slowly eating his food and watching her, her only taking small occasional bites and refusing to look anywhere but her plate.

“Um, are… are you ready for the check?” Barry asked after some time.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Whenever.” Lup stood. “Just, like, excuse me for a minute first.” She walked quickly towards the restroom.

When the door closed behind her, Barry sighed and sunk his face into his hands. He didn’t have the slightest idea how he was going to recover. “Fuck,” he breathed into his hands.

After a minute, Barry heard the sound of footsteps, distinct from the clicking of Lup’s heels, approach the table. “Barold.”

He lifted his head to see Taako, still in his full chef’s uniform, glaring at him, arms crossed. Fuck, he was really in trouble now. “Hi, Taako.” In retrospect, maybe it was a mistake to have this dinner at Lup’s brother’s restaurant. It had seemed like a sweet idea at the time. Taako had only recently gotten comfortable cooking for large crowds again, and he and Lup made efforts to support him when they could.

Taako leveled a glare at Barry. “One of my little birdies has just informed me that she saw my sister run crying into the bathroom. Would you, dear customer, mind telling me why that is?”

Barry exhaled, long and slow. “I beefed it, Taako.”

“You beefed it? What does that mean, exactly?”

“Okay, she brought up marriage out of nowhere and it threw me off and I didn’t want to spoil the proposal and I panicked and maybe I said some things I didn’t mean.”

“Such as…?”

“Such as… ‘I’ve never thought about marrying you,’ and ‘Marriage ties people down’…”

“Oh, good Gods. All because you didn’t wanna spoil some dumb overly romantic surprise?”

Barry flushed. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Taako pinched the bridge of his nose. “Barry, I don’t know how you’re going to do it, but if you know what’s good for you, you’re going to have this fixed by the end of tonight.”

Barry grimaced. “I-I’ll try.”

“You’ve also wasted my food.” Taako nodded at Lup’s mostly-untouched plate and tossed a leather check holder onto the table. “And if I find any fire damage in my bathroom, I’m charging you for that, too.” With that, Taako turned and strode back into the kitchen.

By the time Lup came out of the bathroom, Barry’s credit card had already been returned to him and he was signing the receipt. He looked up at her and tried not to wince when he noticed the mascara tracks marking paths down her cheeks from her puffy eyes. “Ready to go?”

“Mm.” She still wouldn’t look at him. He led her outside, and she leaned against the building, hugging herself and staring into space, eyes unfocused.

Barry stood next to her uneasily. “Uh, I’m going to… call the taxi now?”

“Mm-hm.”

Barry didn’t reach for his phone. Another uncomfortable silence passed.

Then, he sighed. “Okay, I-I didn’t wanna do it like this, but…”

Barry knelt down, pulled the ring box out of his pocket, and flipped it open.

Lup finally turned to face him now, stunned. “Wh-what-?”

He blushed and began rambling. “I had this whole evening planned, and there was supposed to be a gondola ride, that’s where we were supposed to go next, and I was going to ask you there, but then you brought up marriage and I panicked and I put my fucking foot in my mouth. It was so dumb, I’m so sorry I said all that shit, I didn’t mean any of it, I just really wanted it to be a surprise. Gods, I was so fucking dumb, of course I wanna marry you, if you’ll still have m-“

Lup bent down, grabbed Barry’s face, and kissed him hard.

Barry felt all the tension in his body melt away. He shut the ring box and held it securely in one hand. He brought the other up to sweep Lup’s hair behind her ear and held it there, against her cheek.

When Lup pulled away, she rested her forehead against his. “You’re a fucking wreck, baby.”

He chuckled. She was crying again and, Barry realized, so was he. “I know.”

She beamed. “We’ll work on it together, fiancé.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I can’t believe you did all that for a fucking gondola ride, though. I mean, no offense, dear, but I’m kinda glad we didn’t do that.”

He grimaced. “Well, about that, I paid a lot of money for it, and there’s still time…”

Lup pouted. “Do we have to? I’d rather go home.” She kissed the corner of his mouth. “I’ll make it up to you,” she breathed.

Barry smiled. “Yeah, okay. You’ve convinced me.”

“Perfect!” Lup stood up, smirked, and held out her left hand. “Now gimme that rock!”

Taako lifted his phone off the bedside table and squinted at his notifications.

Lulu: Missed Call

Lulu: Voicemail

Remembering the scene at his restaurant the night before, he inhaled sharply and unlocked his phone. There are two ways that situation could’ve played out, he thought. He navigated to his voicemailbox and pressed play on the most recent message.

“Ugh, it’s so annoying how you’re never awake when I have news. I have big fucking news, by the way, so I’m gonna be really pissed at you if you don’t call me back within the next, like, two hours. Okay, later.”

Taako smiled. It was a relief to hear her sound so chipper. It meant this news of hers was definitely good, and it meant that Taako didn’t have to fight Barold. He sat up, rubbed the dust out of his eyes, and called his sister.

[genshin-impact-writings]

May I request a songfic for Wicked Game for Childe x reader? Like, he's in love with the reader but he keeps pushing them away because he feels like it makes him weak etc. Can have a sad or happy ending, whichever you prefer! ❤️

I'm so, so sorry for the long wait, dear! But I couldn't decide where I wanted to go with this, so I kept working on other requests but it's finally done. I really hope you're still interested in this and like what I came up with. I decided to write a more happy ending because I wasn't in the mood for making it angsty, hope you don't mind that. Anyway, have fun reading and take care! <3

Btw, I listened to this version of the song while I was working on this.

Wicked Game – Tartaglia/Childe x gn!reader

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you It's strange what desire will make foolish people do I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you

The day he had met you was one he would never forget. With nothing more than a single glance and a soft smile you somehow had flipped his whole world upside down, a world he had carefully constructed around himself when he became the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers. It was almost funny, really. No one had ever managed to throw him for a loop, not even the strongest enemies he had to face on the battlefield – until he had stumbled upon you on that fateful day in Liyue Harbor. Suddenly, nothing he knew before seemed to make sense anymore. And after a few seconds of staring at you, he realized that he was irretrievably lost.

Lost in the way you smiled at him and the other customers that came to the small tea shop you worked at. Lost in the way your pretty eyes gleamed in the pale light of the moon when he saw you after dark. Lost in the warmth and comfort he always felt when you were around.

And as the time progressed and weeks and months went by, Tartaglia understood that it was more than just a crush. He was so in love with you that it almost hurt him physically.

And yet, he knew that he couldn’t allow himself to feel like that. For someone like him, it was dangerous to care about someone, not only because his enemies would never miss an opportunity to hurt him by hurting the ones he loved but also because feelings like these were nothing more than a distraction, a hindrance that kept him from completely focusing on his missions. Tartaglia couldn’t afford messing up, not when he didn’t want to disappoint the Tsaritsa. After all, he had sworn an oath, an oath to always put her and her interests first, and he couldn’t do that when someone – when you were all he could think of. You were the first person who crossed his mind as soon as he woke up and the last one he saw before drifting off to sleep in the evening. It was wonderful and terrible at the same time, and yet, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling deeper in love with you.

It would be smart to avoid you, hoping that these feelings would disappear someday but still, he found himself visiting the little tea shop you worked at every day. It was embarrassing, really, given the fact that he knew absolutely nothing about tea but instead of listening to you as you explained the tea varieties and different ways of preparation, he kept staring at you, taking in your beauty and indulging in the warm, fuzzy feeling that always welled up inside him when the two of you crossed paths.

And the fact that you seemed to like him too didn’t make things easier. It was so hard to pretend that he didn’t care for you, to push you away over and over again, but for the sake of your safety – and to protect his stupid, foolish heart from shattering into a million pieces – he needed to keep you at distance. He needed to be strong, not only for his homeland but also for you – he needed to protect you from himself and from the things he did in the past and would do in the future.

Even if it meant that he would end up alone again.

Even if it meant that he had to break your heart.

No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) With you With you

Tartaglia had started avoiding you one and a half weeks ago, not visiting the tea shop once and heading into the opposite direction as soon as he saw you on the streets, and still his heart started to beat faster when he thought about you or heard someone mention your name. He hated to act like this; he hated to hurt your feelings but what else could he do? You’d be better off without him, as well as he’d be better off without these distracting feelings.

At least, that was what he tried to tell himself.

And it worked surprisingly well – until he bumped into you on your way to work that morning. He hadn’t noticed you at first, or else he would’ve chosen another way to get to Northland Bank, but now it was too late to turn around and leave.

“I’m sorry,” he said, carefully avoiding your gaze as he helped you picking up your belongings that you had dropped. “I didn’t see you.”

Your lips curled into a soft smile. “It’s no big deal,” you replied. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you at the shop for a while.”

“Oh, about that…” He didn’t finish his sentence. It had been foolish to believe that you wouldn’t notice it. One time, you had even called out his name when you saw him near the shop, only to see him fobbing you off with a brief wave of his hand before turning around and leaving without giving you another glance. “Well…”

“You’re probably bored by my rambling about tea, huh?” you guessed, still smiling at him like you were really glad to see him again. “Don’t worry, I’m not offended if you are.”

“No, that’s not – that’s not the case.”

Your eyes were twinkling in amusement, and before he could look away again, he suddenly found himself staring into your eyes, his stupid heart skipping a beat as your smile grew wider. “That’s good to know,” you said softly. “But I was thinking… maybe we could meet up later, I mean, when – when the shop’s closed. You know, like-“

“Like a date,” he finished your sentence, his mouth suddenly so dry that he barely managed to get the words out. No, no, no, this couldn’t be true. How was he supposed to reject you when you asked him for a date, looking at him with his hopeful expression in your eyes? Just how?

“If you don’t want to that’s fine, too,” you mumbled, your cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Tartaglia chuckled. “If I don’t want to?” he repeated and shook his head in disbelief. “Oh, (Y/N), I’d love to go out with you.” The words were out before he could stop himself. He knew that it wasn’t right, that he should take it back right now but as soon as he saw the genuine happiness in your eyes, he knew that there was no way back. And, if he was completely honest for a second, he didn’t want that anyways.

“I’ll pick you up at your house at – um, let’s say, tomorrow at 8?”

“Perfect.”

What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you

He didn’t show up.

Once again, you darted a nervous glance at the clock above the table, probably for the millionth time today. It was already half past 9 and Tartaglia was nowhere to be seen. An hour ago, you had tried to calm yourself down by telling yourself that he would be here any second now, that he was held up by someone or something but now, it was hard to think positive.

With a quiet sigh, you plunked yourself down on the couch. Tartaglia had stood you up, and it was stupid to deceive yourself by trying to tell you otherwise. He obviously had no interest in going out with you, it was easy as that. Perhaps he had only agreed in the first place because he didn’t know how to tell you No, or maybe he had fun going around and making others feel absolutely miserable.

You didn’t know, and you didn’t care.

No, that was actually a lie. You cared. You wanted to know what was wrong, why he wasn’t here with you right now and why he had started to act like you weren’t even friends anymore about two weeks ago. Overnight, he had changed his behavior completely, starting with not visiting the tea shop anymore through to blatantly ignoring you whenever your paths crossed. But no matter how hard you tried to make sense of it, you simply didn’t understand it.

And the fact that he invited you on a date, only to stand you up, confused you even more. His behavior made no sense at all, whichever way you looked at it.

You sighed again. In the beginning, your relationship had been so easy. You never had any trouble understanding him and you had always assumed that he liked to spend time with you. Heck, for a while you had even thought that he returned the feelings you had for him.

But apparently, he didn’t.

You buried your face in your hands, trying to fight back the tears that were welling up in your eyes. What kind of game was he playing? Did he even realize how much his behavior hurt you?

And I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) No, I don't wanna fall in love (this world is only gonna break your heart) With you

“You! Stop right there!”

Tartaglia froze as he heard your angry voice. For a brief moment, he considered acting like he hadn’t heard you and just walk on by but deep down, he knew that he owed you an apology and an explanation why he hadn’t shown up to your date almost one week ago. The truth was that he really had wanted to go out with you – but at the same time, he had seen the opportunity to make you hate him by standing you up which would hopefully help him to get over you.

So much for that, he thought to himself as he slowly turned around to you. You were staring at him, your eyes filled with pent-up anger. “I was convinced you’d ignore me again,” you said, arms akimbo. “But it seems you’ve finally gathered the courage to talk to me after you skipped out on me last week.”

“Yeah, about that-“

“Stop,” you interrupted him. “I don’t want to hear your half-assed apologies. I just want you to listen to what I have to say.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded. In all this time he had never seen you so angry and it was obvious that you were about to release a tirade but he knew very well that he deserved it. He deserved that you didn’t even give him the change to explain himself.

You huffed at the contrite expression on his face. “I’m not going to fall for that,” you warned him. “So don’t even try.”

Tartaglia nodded again, still not saying anything, just as you had told him.

“Great. Listen, I really don’t want to steal your precious time,” you replied in an undertone of utter sarcasm, “I just want to understand what’s going on. We’re friends, aren’t we? Damn, my silly self even thought that we could be more than that for a second but that’s not – that’s not the point now. I only want to know why you treat me like I am not in the least important to you all of a sudden.”

When he didn’t reply anything, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “Hello? Haven’t you got a tongue in your head?”

“I don’t know what you want to hear, (Y/N).”

“The truth, Tartaglia,” you stated simply. “I don’t need any apologies or justifications. Just the truth.”

Tartaglia shook his head. There was no way he could tell you the truth because then, he’d have to explain why he was so afraid of falling love, why he was so afraid of being weak. This was none of your business; it was his burden, not yours. You shouldn’t even worry about things like that; you should be in your shop, happily smiling at customers instead of wasting your time with someone like him.

“I can’t do this anymore,” you said when the silence between the two of you became unbearable, your voice shaking ever so slightly. “If you don’t want to be with me, just tell me. I can take it. But stop acting like you care, only to ignore me the day after! Stop pushing me around like that.”

Tartaglia was painfully aware of the fact that you were on the verge of tears. Everything about your posture told him that you were about to lose your composure, and yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say something. He knew that he had treated you like garbage, that he had hurt your feelings over and over again but what was he supposed to do now? There was nothing he could do, nothing he could say to turn back time and wipe the slate clean.

“I’m sorry,” he finally whispered, completely helpless, while you stood there with hanging shoulders as tears started to stream down your beautiful face. “I’m so sorry.”

“I should’ve known better,” you sobbed. “I should’ve known better than to fall in love with someone like you!”

In that moment, he felt his protective instinct kick in. It didn’t matter that he had promised himself to stay away from you or that he was the reason for your tears. All he wanted now was to comfort you, to reassure you that everything would be fine again.

In an instant, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his body, his hands gently caressing your back as you buried your face in his chest. “Don’t cry,” he mumbled, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. “Please, darling, don’t cry.”

He held you close, uttering apology after apology and patiently waiting for you to calm down. When you finally pulled away, your eyes were puffy and red-rimmed. Your lower lip was trembling, almost as if you were trying to fight back even more tears. “I hate you.”

“I know,” Tartaglia replied softly and reached out to brush a strand of hair from your forehead. “I deserve that.”

“I don’t really hate you,” you whispered.

“I know,” he repeated and cupped your face with both hands, gently wiping away the tears on your cheeks before he leaned in and brushed his lips against yours in a soft, almost chaste kiss. It didn’t last long, and yet it was enough to make him realize that being in love with you didn’t make him weak. It made him strong.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.

[daily-dipcifica-doodles]

If your Tangled AU includes TTS- I NEED to know who fills the role of sweet angsty baby Varian

great question HJDFKJDS I don't think I'll be able to make everyone fit into each role very neatly though :O because of many, many technicalities such as: pacifica is closer to, say, cassandra and dipper is a bit more believable as varian but they're current roles are as rapunzel and eugene, the overall existence of the stan brothers, pacifica's actual parents being more believable as gothel than as the king and queen etc. etc. etc.

BUT the nice thing about aus is the improvization and adaptation!! i don't know how much i'll be able to actually ponder on it drawing-wise before my next break but i can tell you i'm not gonna be following canon religiously cause that would not fit with the characters we have inserted into this universe

ah also, i might be disregarding part of the series canon from the finale of s2 til the end of the series oops - i've been in the fandom since 2018 before s2 was even out so i have. a lot of opinions on some things lol esp since i saw them happen in real time and have been active in discussions about them

with all that being said,

>:D

here's a bit of my current ideas for who's who in this and what they're doing sdfdsjkds

note: these are very much a work-in-progress hah

gonna put it under a [keep reading] cause it's a lot - never ask me about my opinions or ideas i have too many always forever and i will talk your ears off about them if given the opportunity

so i already established that pacifica fills rapunzel's general role and dipper fills eugene's, but i never specified if i was gonna follow canon much or not ;) well i'm gonna be moving some stuff around

remember lance strongbow? and how he's very much not there in the movie cause him and eugene separated and only reunited in season 1 of the series?

well that's mabel's overall role, minus some of the separation and obv her own personality dsfhjds

i'm not gonna poke the series much yet in this post but movie-wise, my plan is for mabel and dipper to both be thieves, running away from the royal guards cause they stole the crown

no maximus involved unfortunately

they split up and make the guards think mabel has the crown so that they follow her, but in reality the crown's with dipper who ends up at the tower where pacifica convinces him to take her to the lanterns

and they meet again when they've almost reached the kingdom - around where rapunzel and eugene met maximus again

so yeah mabel's gonna be more prominent than lance or max ended up being canonically JFSFKL (even though i'm so sad lance in particular didn't end up doing that much... lance my beloved why would they do that to you)

also mabel will end up filling most of cassandra's role as rapunzel's best friend cause i love mabel and pacifica as best friends they're very good sue me

bill is zhan tiri. who else could he be.

wendy's gonna be more or less filling cassandra's role as the daughter of the royal guard, b u t

one, i already established that mabel's gonna be the best friend so wendy will still be a friend! just not as close to pacifica as cassandra was to rapunzel

and two, I'm definitely not keeping Moonsandra's motivations in mind and none of the whole moonsandra drama

could wendy take the moonstone? yeah but she's not gonna become a villain from it unless i involve actual corruption in there which. is an idea but i haven't thought far enough to consider it properly yet lol so

(i love moonsandra but i just can't view her as the same character cassandra was, and in relation to wendy i feel like that just would Not work)

soos is gonna be a member of the royal guard (think - stan and pete), but his overall presence in the story is gonna be closer to shorty, not in his contributions but in how often he appears DJDSLK

shorty is in like every episode it's insane, he's everywhere

candy and grenda might be ladies in waiting too but i think they could also be from the snuggly duckling since they can't NOT be mabel's best friends

aaand that's everyone i'm p much certain on

i don't know who mother gothel could be - pacifica's parents in canon are closer to gothel than to fred and arianna but making them the latter would mean there would be a lot of drama and angst which would be interesting to explore :O however mother gothel could also be the witch lady that stole hands, yknow the one - but that might be confusing so hhh?

and i also don't know who the stans might be - i could make quirin stanley and king edmund stanford, but in that case i would have to figure out if dipper and mabel ran away from home, if they are orphans, or if stanley will become an accidental father figure in their lives dsifjdsndsd

and what would gideon be doing? could he be related to saporia? how would he get involved with bill? could he be a disciple? or should he fill varian's initial role of season 1 villain

there's a lot to consider : O and i haven't had a lot of time to REALLY think about it all lol

and that's uh all my thoughts so far lmao if you got this far i am impressed sdjfkjl i rambled a lot

if you have any ideas please let me know? i wouldn't mind more opinions on this since it's just me thinking about a Lot of things sdjfdskjdsk

that's all, mwah, see ya later when i post for the day

[junko-and-riri-domain]

˚₊·˚ “babes” | ot7 ˚₊·˚

↬ pairing: ot7 x reader ↬ genre: fluff | drabbles | scenarios  ↬ warnings: none ↬ w/c: 1.3k ↬ requested by: 🤍 ↬ request was: Hihii I was wondering if you could do enhypens reaction to calling them things like baby or my love in your native language (excluding English and Korean) ↬ a/n (a few things !!)

since i clearly don’t what “my love” in everyone’s native language “babes” is the place holder word and you can imagine it as whatever “my love / love” is in your language !! also i haven’t done an ot7 post in a while so these might be kinda bad and lowkey might not make any sense 💔

also, the 500 followers event is closed (unless you decide to send one in tonight then i’ll still write it 👀 !! ) but somehow we hit 800 followers today !! how this blog managed to get like 200 followers while i was ia is beyond me 😭

but thank you everyone 🥺 i’ll be writing requests from the 500 followers throughout the week and responding to asks as well <33 

˚₊·˚♤˚· lee heeseung ˚₊·˚♤˚·

late one night you and hee are laying in bed, unable to sleep so you ask him,

“babes, wanna eat some ramen?” he’s like yes, ramen !! but wait,

“babes?” he asks. “isn’t that fish in russian?” (like that whole “te amo” means “i love you” in tagalog / filipino even though it actually means ‘i love you’ in spanish. but yeah, he’d probably think it was something completely different in another language lmao) once you realized what you just called him you tell him,

“it doesn’t mean fish, it means love in [insert your language].” the dots connect in his head and all of a sudden,

“i babes you,” you hear. you can’t help but smile at him and laugh a little because,

“that’s not how the grammar works, but at least you tried.” from then on if he wanted something from you he’d do aegyo and would say.

“babes, please !!”

˚₊·˚✎˚·  park jongseong / jay | self indulgent jay mini fic somewhat related to this req ˚₊·˚✎˚· 

you’re chilling with jay one day and all of a sudden,

“hey, babes can you hand me the remote?” you ask. suddenly he’s frozen in place, looking at you like,

“did you just call me love in [insert your language]?” you look at him, slightly tilting your head to the side and you’re all like,

“huh, i guess i did.” in his head, his mind is going crazy because what ?? you l-word him ?? but then you’re just like,

“wait, how do you know what that word means?” and then he gets all flustered and begins to ramble.

“i went on a YouTube spiral at four am, and, uh… uhh… yeah, i just heard it. it sounded unique so i sorta just remembered.”

“when?”

“like, a few weeks ago.”

“what were you watching?”

“the basics to [insert your language] 101.” you’re shocked but not really since jay is basically a language genius. but now your heart feels all fuzzy and warm because he’s learning your language.

˚₊·˚ ✁˚· sim jaeyun / jake ˚₊·˚ ✁˚·

if anything, you probably didn’t call him babes first. why? because you said it to layla. you stopped by jake’s place before the both of you went to your parent’s place. since you haven’t seen layla in a while, she instantly captured your attention (like she so rightfully deserves).

“babes, i missed you!” you say as you smile while petting her and seeing her tail wag in happiness. jake looks at the sight of the two loves of his life and can’t stop the way his heart flutters a little. he doesn’t want to ruin the moment but he wants your attention so he ends up sort of sitting on the ground next to layla and peeks up at you with wide eyes and a smile.

“babes?” he asked. you end up also sitting on the floor, layla settling onto your lap,

“it means love in [insert your language].” he frowns,

“you said you love layla before saying you love me?”

“who says i love you?” he gets kind of pouty because he knows that you love but he wants to hear it. some time passes and when you’re at your parent’s house, you’re talking to them and you tell them in [insert your language],

“i love jake.” he hears the word and his name in the same sentence. so he takes a chance and using the same sentence you said but with your name he says,

“i love ___.”

˚₊·˚ ❆˚· park sunghoon ˚₊·˚ ❆˚··

it probably slipped out in a moment of panic while the two of you were ice skating. sometimes you slipped into [insert your language] due to a surge of various emotions, sometimes anger, fear, or frustration. sunghoon had asked if you wanted to go on a date to the new rink that just opened and you said yes because ice skating with hoon, how could you miss the opportunity ?? he was holding your hand and skating to your pace trying to teach you how to ice skate. but somewhere down the line, he ended up letting go without you realizing it (like when you ride a bike and the person behind you holding the bike lets go !!) so you turn around, eyes wide at the distance between you and sunghoon and you’re like,

“YAH, BABES YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T LET GO,” and all of a sudden you lose your balance. thankfully, sunghoon being the great skater that he is manages to get to you and holds so you so that you don’t fall. you’re clutching onto his jacket, trying to catch your breath, “i hate you,” you mutter. he smiles as he moves your hair to get out of your face,

“yeah, keep telling yourself that. wait? what does babes mean?” he asks.

“it means love in [insert your language].” suddenly, ice king composure melts. heart going a hundred miles a minute. mind is all like wait what? he accidentally loses his footing and balance, falling while taking you down with him but you’re fine since you landed on top of him.

“are you ok, babes?” he asks to at least try and keep some cool because even though you’re in an ice skating rink, it suddenly feels as if things just got a hundred degrees hotter.

˚₊·˚❂˚· kim sunoo ˚₊·˚❂˚·

he had been interested in learning about your language and culture, mostly for the food… but a+ for effort, right? he would often ask you, “what does this mean?” “what does that mean?” that kind of stuff, since he was genuinely curious. he picked up a few words here and there, occasionally using a word that he knew in a sentence while talking to you. your family asked you to bring him over for a family gathering / party situation sometimes it felt like they liked him more than you. you were sitting down with a plate of food,

“babes, can you hand me a napkin?” suddenly, your and sunoo’s ears are filled with the sounds of “OOO” and your family begins teasing you. to yourself, you’re just like, did i really just call sunoo… but when you look at sunoo his smile is the widest it’s ever been

“you called me love, matji, matji?” (matji meaning like “right” in korean, idk it just felt right to spell that out here ok anyways)

“how did… how did you know?” and he does that thing where he kind of giggles,

“you just confirmed it!”

˚₊·˚✧˚· yang jungwon ˚₊·˚✧˚·

one night jungwon was dropping you off to the front of your doorstep to make sure you got home safe and sound. you were trying to be cute and said,

“saramhae” (saram means person in korean, but what you really meant to say was, “saranghae” which means i love you in korean). jungwon then does that thing where he smirks at you, tilting his head slightly, and he says,

“nado saramhae, babes.” (so like “i love you too, [love in insert your language]” but it’s saramhae because that’s what you said at first) but then,

“babes?” you ask. he plays it off by saying,

“i’m the leader, i need to learn how to communicate in different languages for engenes.” but really it’s just secret language learner pt. 2 exposed.

˚₊·˚⍢˚· nishimura riki / ni-ki ˚₊·˚⍢˚·

ni-ki’s head was on your lap, eyes closed since he was taking a nap and decided your lap was the best thing to claim as his pillow. you needed to get up so to wake him, you poked his cheeks,

“ni-ki,” you said. nothing.

“riki-ah?” this time as more of a question while lightly patting his hair. also nothing.

“babes, if you don’t wake up i’m gonna shove you off my lap.” suddenly, his eyes open and he looks up at you which causes you to jump back in your seat slightly.

“bae-ehbs?” he asks, trying to sound out the word.

“uh huh.”

“wait doesn’t that mean, love?”

“no… it means pabo,” you reply playfully. (pabo meaning like dum dum / stupid in korean, but it’s not meant to sound offensive here !!)

“no it means ‘love’ jay hyung told me about that word when i started dating you.”

“well, if you knew then why’d you ask?”

“wait, so it actually does mean love?”

“you just said jay told you!”

“yeah but i didn’t believe him.” at the confirmation of the word’s true meaning, he feels happy and kind of giddy at the new name he’s earned for himself from you. like heeseung, he’d use it to get something that he wants from you but instead of aegyo it’s more like teasing.

↬ a/n pt. 2 + semi tmi: i speak two languages and i suck at both, english and my parent’s native language. two & a quarter if you count the bare minimum of spanish i learned from taking it during the first two years of high school and the few words of korean i picked up from kdramas lmao 😭

❦ written by riri ( @enhykkul​ ) | blog masterlist | blog navigation

↬ tagging: @bloom-bloom-pow​ | @markleepooh​ | @sunshineshouchan​ (permanent taglist is open if anyone wants to be in it !!)

[professorspork]

@twilight-blaze​ replied to your post:

and to narrow down that last question, how about anything specifically relating to show me everything and tell me how?

[That question being: Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)]

HERE WE GO, TIME TO RAMBLE ABOUT BLAKE & SUN & GENDER! (i’m gonna use she/her for Blake in this post because going full ~smorgasbord might make my actual answer a little hard to parse for folks who haven’t read it but IT’S A VERY NONBINARY SHE/HER)

so firstly, I’ve gotten several asks about titles and I have to say, this is one of the ones I’m happiest with and that feels like it MOST encapsulates everything I was going for with the story. the reason we’re all like PHIL COLLINS WENT OFF when it comes to “Strangers Like Me” is that it so sweetly captures that sense of awe and wonder and yearning when you finally find the people you belong with. it’s both confidently asserting that you already know who you are (they can’t be “like you” unless you know who “you” is, to some degree) but also desperately seeks direction, correction, input, feedback, support. show me everything and tell me how is EXACTLY what Blake is asking of Sun in this story. she thinks she needs Sun to give her advice about gender, but really what he’s actually showing her is how to let go of her self-loathing and love being who she is.

before I even knew what the story was going to be, I knew I was going to include the scene in ‘Dark’ where Blake tells Ruby “I was like that as a girl,” because spinning that was into a tongue-in-cheek reference to fluidity felt like such an obvious opportunity to use canon to my own advantage. (This was a priority throughout-- part of why I wanted to write this fic is because I think it’s an entirely sound reading of Blake’s character based SOLELY on the information provided, without having to put a lens on it or make her take any steps towards outward transition that would deviate from what we see on the show). this was originally intended to be a really brief bullet point headcanon post, but as it grew bigger and bigger I felt less and less sure how far I wanted to take it-- all the way to the island felt too far, but where to stop? so at that point I decided to make ‘Dark’ the actual ending, which then made the challenge become pulling off a really intricate bit of slight-of-hand: having Blake feel that nice, conclusion-y sentiment of resolution, fulfillment, safety and wholeness literally while her life is in danger. I must have written about fifteen drafts of those last few paragraphs, because I KNEW there was a way to have the final thought be essentially “maybe the real they/them was the friends we made along the way” that was affecting instead of, like, cheesy or goofy, but without sacrificing the sense of peril that they’re in during that episode. I’m not sure I’ll ever be entirely satisfied with it, but I do think I pulled off what I was aiming for.

once I decided I was going to carry the story all the way through Atlas, though, I faced the other hurdle, which is: Sun does not come to Atlas. Blake’s friendship with him, and reliance on him, is such a key part of the story and the structure that I was concerned his drop-off would make the last portion of the fic feel too dramatically different from the beginning and middle-- and writing about his absence, as I do after the train crash, only goes so far. This is why I went out of my way to quote Sun in that final Atlas scene, to make him feel ‘present’ enough that the story was balanced. That said, having to address this structural issue also opened the door to what I wanted to do anyway, which was OOPS TRIP AND TURN THIS INTO A BEES FIC. the bookending of Blake’s two big scenes with Yang-- coming out tentatively at Beacon, and confidently in Argus, with Mistral as the fulcrum-- gave me a solid axis around which other story beats could turn, and provided that countervailing weight that I needed once Sun exited the narrative. (and of course beyond these sorts of structural, arc-related reasons, I... love Yang, and ship it, and it’s not like I needed to be CONVINCED to do this lmao). 

and while the fic is obviously a massive exercise in Loving Blake Hours, it’s also just... as genuine a love letter to this whole cast as I could manage. as far as character and relationship development goes, all I wanted to do was showcase as many people as I possibly could, to show all the different ways they give their support-- whether it’s the big scenes with Ghira, Kali, or Ruby, or the small moments with JNPR or the other guys in SSSN. I’m particularly fond of how I handled Weiss in this fic, for example. She doesn’t get a one-on-one with Blake like everyone else does, but instead I allowed her to occupy the role she’s meant to play: party support. Weiss is just this constant sort of drip-drip of encouragement in the background, and is in many ways the most invested of any of them in getting this right. 

In terms of “hidden references,” if I have one regret in how I wrote it, it’s that I wish I’d made it a little more clear what Yang stops herself from saying at the library in this moment:

“And it’s not like being mad at you cancels out how much I care about you, or something. You’re important to me. You’re my—” Yang cuts that off. Says instead: “You are always worth getting right. No exceptions. Okay?”

A few people have guessed that Yang was about to say ‘you’re my partner,’ but that’s actually not what I was going for. Yang was actually about to say “you’re my favorite subject,” a direct callback to this moment at Beacon:

“And—I know it’s not the same, because he has, like, actual lived experience or whatever, but. You don’t have to only talk to Sun about this. I mean, you can if you want, obviously, but—I’m here. Even if I can’t give advice, I can always listen. I want to know what’s up with you. You’re, like. My favorite subject.”

Because *to me* this was my obvious intention, I did absolutely nothing to signal it in the text itself. I could have put in a little nudge instead of expecting everyone in the world to read my mind, because in doing so some of that sweet, sweet parallelism got lost.

okay I’m gonna stop myself there because I could talk about this fic literally forever but BY ALL MEANS IF THERE ARE FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS, ASK THEM

[migilini]

Hiiii! I liked how you did the road trip one shot and was wondering if you could do a request for Charlie Gillespie where the reader and Charlie are dating but have been living in different states due to COVID and the boys do an Instagram live and the reader wants to be on the live with them and Charlie gets so excited and it’s fluffy?

So far apart - Charlie Gillespie

A/N: ofc i can! Thank you so much, hope you like it :) I will proofe read it tomorrow.

Words: 1.5k

Masterlist

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Tiredness was your new default state. College alone was stressful and hard enough plus it didn't help that you had to do it online from your little NY appartement that you shared with three other roommates. But you had too. You were in your last semester ever! That was motivation enough to pull through.

Currently you were trying to facetime your boyfriend Charlie. You haven't seen him in about four months but if someone would ask your roommates, they would say it felt like an eternity of you moaning and pouting about not seeing him. When COVID started, the two of you seriously debated about moving in together. However, at that time, your classes were not online yet and you couldn't move away, he also couldn't move to New York with you because he still had meetings with the JATP Cast.

You stared at your ringing phone, desperate to hear his voice. You knew that he should be awake, you had the time zones imprinted on your brain.

Sorry babe, have a meeting in 5… Will call you after okay? <3 the message that just popped up on your screen made you frown a little. You weren't mad, you just had a really awful week and missed him like crazy.

Sure thing <3 yout texted back and threw the phone onto your bed. Deciding that instead of waiting for him to call back, you could use the time usefully and start studying for your next test in two days. 

It was an hour later, you were completely engrossed in the textbook, so you barely heard the ringing of your phone. Maybe a bit too quick, you tossed all your books to the ground and launched yourself on the bed to find your phone. 

His pretty face filled your screen “Heyyy!” “Hello beautiful!” You two grinned at each other.

“How are--” A knocking on your door interrupted your question. “Yes?” The door opened and revealed one of your roommates Alexis with a sheepish look on her face “I’m really sorry to interrupt but Tara just broke off with her boyfriend and she needs a hug.”

You looked up at your red haired friend “She broke up with Tom?!” Alexis nodded “It's an emergency” she claimed. Charlie understood this as his clue to end the call saying a quick goodbye and a don't worry about it, when you shot him an apologetic look. 

This is how it went nearly every time. Something always came up, either you were studying non-stop and he didn't want to distract you or he had actor things and meetings going on. It was truly tiring. The last time you really had the opportunity to facetime was a couple weeks ago and even then you fell asleep inert 15minutes. When Charlie accidentally lulled you to sleep with a song he's been working on. 

Still the two of you made it work. Charlie had started writing you weekly letters with his perfume on it. And you being your crafty self, sent him a little care package with letters, some self made food and paintings, every now and then.

You just finished all your tests and essays for this semester and you felt free again. Taking a deep breath, you opened your bedroom window and put your school books away. Sinking down on your bed, you closed your eyes temporarily, enjoying the moment. You got up again to get yourself something to eat and a coffee. Your roommates were currently away, probably getting groceries or books at the College Library.

You mindlessly scrolled through Instagram, the sandwich you made yourself still laying next to you on the nightstand. Ever since Julie and the Phantoms released, the cast's accounts blew up like crazy and Charlie always showed you off like a queen so of course people found your page as well. You didn't mind though. Most of the people were really nice and respecting, protecting your relationship from all the not so nice guys

You just answered some DM’s, chuckling at a meme that Maddie had sent you, when you got a notification that Owen was live. Naturally you clicked on it, knowing that Charlie most likely will be in the live as well, due to the fact that he was currently at Owen’s with Jeremy.

You were one of the first ones. Owen grinned when he saw your name come up in the chat. 

“Guten Morgen everybody.” You chuckled when you heard your boyfriend singing in the background, writing in the chat that Owen should say hi to Charlie. “Are all of you streaming JATP?” he asked the live audience while you nodded to yourself, your laptop open beside you. It was a bit embarrassing to admit how often you saw the show, but every time you felt lonely you watched it. It had some really cute guys in it after all.

He read the chat “Do you like watching the show you participated in? Thats a good question. Charlie, Charlie! I have a question for you.” The camera turned and it showed the canadian boy you fell in love with. 

“Eh…” he said as he walked into the kitchen, Owen following close. “It was very weird at first. Guess I'm more used to it now.” he answered honestly. You weren't even listening, you just stared at your phone in trance, the light making him look so incredibly pretty.

Suddenly you got an invitation to join the live from Owen. You sat up a bit straighter and blinked a few times before accepting. 

“Helloooooo!” he screamed, making you laugh. “Hi Owen. Yall are up early.”

“Yeah… you know Char. That dumb early riser.” he complained. “Yeah I feel you. Though he lets me sleep so he must love me more than he loves you.” you teased making Owen pout in a childish way.

“Charlie! Who do you love more, me or y/n?” the statement made your boyfriend laugh and for a moment your breath hitched, it was music in your ears and once again you realised how much you missed it.

“I’m really sorry bud, but definitely y/n…I want to...” Charlie just wanted to explain why when he heard your chuckling from Owen’s phone. “See told ya.” It was truly a blessing that the camera was still turned to your boyfriend, making it easy for you to see his reaction. He nearly let the fork he was holding fall out of his hand, his eyes widening while his mouth grew into a big grin. “Is that y/n?” he asked cautiously. Apparently Owen nodded, because before you knew, the camera turned and you were face to face with your boyfriend. 

“Baby!” he screamed, a wide, toothy smile on his lips. “How dare you go on live with Owen but not with me!” he jokes. “How was the history test? As hard as you thought it would be?” you cut off his rambling “Hi! Nice to see you too. No, it was way harder than I expected. Let's hope for the best, I get the results sometime next week”

“I bet you killed that test baby! No, Owen you don't get the phone back… I don't care that it's your live.” The chat was freaking out over Charlie's happiness by just seeing you, talking about how they want love like that.

“Little explanation for everybody. Me and Charlie haven't really been able to facetime so were just really excited right now. Sorry if it's boring.” you explained to the chat. 

“Don’t ever say that ever again.” he said in a serious tone “it's not boring.” you held your hands up in surrender. “Sorry sorry. Can I talk to Owen again? I mean he is the one who invited me.” you teased, poking your tongue out. With a pout he gave the phone back to Owen.

“Are you also streaming the show today?” he asked you. Charlie was in the background, looking at you over Owens shoulder, making silly faces. “Of course! Who do you think I am? I’ve been watching it everyday since it came out.” Owens' face fell “You're kidding… that doesn't… that doesn't seem healthy.” you shrugged “Well i don't really care. I have this massive crush on someone from the show, just can't get enough of him.” 

The camera shook and a couple crunts later you were once again faced with Charlie. “I sure hope it's me or you're not allowed to wear that shirt anymore.” he pointed to the shirt you were currently wearing and that was in fact one of his.

“Not gonna tell you babe. My mouth is shut.” you winked, making him blush. “I miss you.” he blurted out with puppy eyes. “I miss you too. Can’t wait to see you.” he grinned at that excited for the surprise he had planned. 

“I think i'm gonna go, let you guys actually comment on the show. I love you Charlie.” You sent him a kiss and he pretended to catch it with his free hand.

“Eww that's so cheesy.” Owen muttered from somewhere in the back.

“I love you too.”

[bl00dgutsgl0ry]

A Childhood Promise

Pairing - Childe/Tartaglia/Ajax x Reader

Warnings - None I don’t think

Word Count - 2.5k

Other Comments - I hate posting on Tumblr I’m not gonna lie to you guys. Trying to get this shit to post has been so hard. Please I just want a crumb of recognition tumblr. Let people see my posts.

      Life used to be so simple when you were younger. You had a lovely close knit family, you went to a great school, you had great friends. All around you were a happy little kid. The best thing you will ever remember from your childhood was your best friend Ajax. Everything was so simple.

Ajax was the poster child of a “perfect kid”. He was well liked by his teachers and peers, he had superb grades, he was becoming a young prodigy in his combat class, and above all, he was your all time best friend. You two were inseparable ever since you had met when your parents had all gotten to know each other once at an event.

     No one ever really saw one of you without the other, and if they ever did come across such a sight, it would never last long. You two also almost went through the entirety of school being in the same class, and if you weren’t, Ajax would always find a way to catch you right as you were being dismissed. You two had the most innocent yet cliché childhood friendship, as you two played with each other or hung out day after day.

     “One day (y/n) I’m going to marry you! I promise!” Ajax enveloped you in a hug as the two of you giggled.

     This lasted for quite some time, that was until Ajax had turned eighteen. His combat skills had skyrocketed since his adolescent classes and competitive matches. Combat came like second nature to him, and that didn’t go by unnoticed. Very quickly Ajax got an offer for a job, one that he would never tell you details about. You remember the shock that enveloped you when Ajax excitedly spouted the good news to you.

     You didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. You wanted to be happy for your childhood friend because this was an amazing offer for him, and an incredible opportunity to keep growing. But on the other hand you wanted to be sad because you knew you would see him less and less as time went on, not only that but you were still just so uncertain about this job. Ajax never withheld information about what was going on in his life until now; what if he got himself into something awful? Nonetheless you quickly plastered a shocked and excited expression on your face, as you rambled different forms of congrats and praise for being so good. Before Ajax left to go back to his home you gave him the tightest hugged and made him promise to stay close. Ajax was floored that you valued your friendship with him so much you would make him promise something he would never give up.

     Time had passed and you noticed yourselves slowly drifting apart. It went from calling each other less, to only texting, then to texting less until you guys barely talked. You understood Ajax was busy, but it still stung seeing you what you thought would’ve been your life long friend slowly forget about you. That was until you had received something in the mail with a very familiar name on it. Ajax.

     A small black box containing what looked to be a hand made scrappily hammered ring along with a letter at the bottom landed on your desk in your bedroom, assuming one of your parents must’ve dropped it off in there. All doubts about Ajax in your mind had been eased as you delicately slid the heavy polished ring on your finger. After you did you giggled in excitement as a delicate pink blush found its way to the tops of your cheeks and ears. You had almost forgotten about the note neatly folded, awaiting to be opened and it’s contents to be discovered.

      You gently unfolded the letter, almost scared that you’d rip it. Inside was the most beautifully written borderline love letter you had ever read, it was almost like romantic poetry, and at the very end was a sentence you wanted to burn into your memory ‘remember that promise?’. Your mind was immediately flooded with all the fond memories you had with Ajax, blushing more and more as you uncovered them. By the end of your daydream session butterflies were fluttering around excitedly in your stomach. You didn’t want to be friends with Ajax anymore. You wanted to love him.

     It had been years since you last heard from him. Not a day has gone by that you haven’t worn the ring Ajax had given you so long ago. You moved away from Snezhnaya after you turned eighteen, now residing in Mondstadt whilst you were going to college; you planned to move back after getting your degree but you made some great friends and the carefree culture of the windy city really called to you. Though after one of your parents' health took a turn for the worst you had made quick plans to go visit with your family.

     It had felt like ages since you last stepped foot out into the familiar icy air, looking around to see the sheets of snow and ice covering the ground. Luckily the streets were plowed, which allowed you to maneuver through the city. Your visit has been great since setting foot in your childhood home. You were happy to be home for the time being, happy to relive the nostalgic moments of your younger days. Everything had changed so much since then. You had barely even thought about Snezhnaya or even Ajax for that matter despite wearing his ring every day, wanting to start fresh when you left for college.

      You suddenly realized you had let your head drop accidentally dozing off, jerking yourself out of melancholy memories. You decided it was probably jet lag, but it was far too early to go to sleep so coffee sounded like a good solution. You remembered an old coffee shop you used to study at whilst you were in high school, that was conveniently within walking distance to your house. With a quick five minute walk to the outdoor shops that littered the local streets you lived by, you located the coffee shop taking a minute to stare at the outside. It hadn’t changed at all.

     Smiling to yourself you walked in and politely ordered a coffee before sitting down at a high table by the window. The stand for the table had a heater built in, keeping you warm as you looked out the thin glass shielding you from the icy winds. You took in the old streets, smiling as you once again lost yourself in the nostalgia of everything. You hadn’t noticed a strikingly tall ginger walk into the shop, and you also hadn’t noticed the considerably loud gasp and call of your name. You only noticed the man's presence when he tapped on your table, causing you to jolt and promptly turn in his directly. It took you a minute to realize who you were staring at.

     “(Y/n)? What the hell are you doing here?” Ajax. There he stood, at the side of you bent over at the hips slightly so he wasn’t completely towering over you. Ajax didn’t want to see you here. He didn’t want to see you at all. You were still fresh in his mind just like you were the last day he had seen you. He missed you. His eyes fell to your hand where he saw the ring he had made and sent to you still on your finger after all these years.

     Your face was almost unrecognizable after all the time that passed, you had grown so much since then. Something unsettled Ajax about your demeanor, you were like an open book to him when you guys were younger as you wore your heart on your sleeve. Looking at you now though, there was no glimpse at the emotions you were feeling in this moment. Were you happy to see him again, since you wore his ring? Were you upset with him breaking his promise? Ajax couldn’t tell as you stared blankly at him for what seemed like ages, giving it enough time to make the air solidify and turn stale and uncomfortable. You finally shook yourself out of this trance you were in, as you suddenly stood up.

     “Wha- Hey, wait a minute (y/n)! What are you doing here?” You didn’t acknowledge Ajax’s voice, subliminally yearning to fall into his strong arms. You were upset. How dare he ask you what you’re doing here. You weren’t the one who had completely abandoned everyone in your life for some sketchy job. You grabbed your coffee before swiftly beginning to exit. Something in Ajax was different. He didn’t really take kindly to you ignoring him, as you felt a vice like grip grab onto your wrist, causing you to flinch and whip around to angrily rip your arm out of his grasp.

     “Don’t touch me Ajax! How dare you have the audacity to ask me what I’m doing here! This was my home! I didn’t abandon everyone I knew and loved on some sketchy ass whim!” Ajax stared at you. Were you joking?! Some ‘sketchy ass whim’?! You supported him when he first told you!

     “What the hell is wrong with you (y/n)?!” Your eyes narrowed as you grit your teeth, you grip on your coffee tightening. Without even thinking you threw it in his face.

     “What’s wrong with me?! You’re so fucked up Ajax! We were best friends and then you completely vanish from reality! You promised me we would stay close!” Now it was time for Ajax to grit his teeth. So you were upset with him about that.

     “(Y/n) that was years ago!! We grew up! That was just a stupid childish promise!” As soon as those words left Ajax’s mouth, he went silent as his eyes widened in horror at his on voice. The entire coffee shop was silent as they all watched your argument break out. Ajax didn’t mean to say that, he knew he had fucked up his promise with you and he hated himself for it; he just didn’t know how to explain what he was doing without scaring you off or pushing you away. Turns out he was already doing that by vanishing. He wanted you to forget about him, he knew that when he took the job to join the Fatui and serve the Tsaritsa he would never be able to give you what you deserved. A normal and happy relationship. Ajax was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a sniff and realized you were beginning to cry.

     “Ah… So that’s what it was. Just a way to get me to get off your back. I suppose the ring served the same purpose? Whatever Ajax, you’ve changed and I don’t ever wanna see you again.” You quickly ripped the ring off before throwing it in the trash as you stormed out, trying not to audibly cry, as you had already embarrassed yourself enough in that shop. Ajax stood statuesque still. Holy shit he had made everything so much worse. He sighed before snapping out of his position to grab some napkins, to hopefully dry himself off before venturing back outside. He had to fix this.

     It had been a couple days since your argument with Ajax and you were in shambles. This could not have come at a worse time. You were just happy that this Gods awful trip was coming to an end soon. You sighed as you flipped onto your back in your childhood bedroom, trying to reminisce on the old memories you had here, but all of them had gotten tainted by Ajax. He had ruined everything for you. You regretted everything with him, with getting so close to him. Tears had started to well up in your eyes but you quickly blinked them away before they had gotten the chance to fall. You hadn’t noticed before, but there was this weird tapping sound coming from your window; which caused you to anxiously investigate. You pulled your curtains back to be greeted with Ajax, who looked at you sheepishly. You blankly stared at him for a moment before closing the curtains and going back to lay on your bed, trying your hardest to ignore Ajax’s protests and calls of your name. After a while everything had gone silent, until your door opened and Ajax emerged one again.

     “Uh… I’m sorry about coming into your room uninvited but one of your parents called me inside and said I could just come in. In hindsight I probably should’ve knocked before coming in and-”

     “What the hell do you want Ajax.” You cut off the young man's babbling without looking at him, you were on your side laying down on your bed with your back facing him.

     “I wanted to make everything up to you. I want to explain everything and I want to tell you about my job finally.” Ajax was hopeful that you would allow him the opportunity to explain himself.

     “No. Now get out of my house.” Ajax’s heart sunk. No… No no no you had to let him explain himself, he needed to explain. He needed you.

     “Please (y/n) I know you don’t owe me anything, not even your time, but please I owe you this.” You sighed, before slowly sitting up and facing him finally. You stared at him for a moment before speaking.

     “Fine. But you have two minutes, so you better speak quickly.” Ajax’s heart fluttered. He spent those two minutes exactly, explaining everything that happened. You were silent for the most part, staring at your hand and you fiddled with your fingers. Ajax waited anxiously for your response. When you didn’t give him anything he took this as a sign to move onto faze two of his apology. For the last couple of days he had been running all over Snezhnaya spending preposterous amounts of mora. He had presented you with flowers and food; but above all he presented you with a ring.

     “That is one promise that I am going to keep true. Please (y/n) forgive me and make me the happiest man in the world and marry me.” You stared at him with large eyes and Ajax took a hold of one of your hands and gently slid the beautiful ring onto your ring finger. Tears once again began to well up in your eyes, and suddenly your arms were wrapped around his torso as you cried into his chest. You missed this. He still felt the same way he did when you hugged him last, he even smelled the same.

     “Is that… A yes?” You nodded furiously, face still buried deep in his chest. You were willing to forgive him, but above all, you were willing to love him again.

[stitch1830]

Bets

Happy Mondangst! Here's some angsty Kantoph :)

......

“Da.”

“That’s right, baby girl!” he cheered in his most ridiculous baby voice. “Da da! Da da!”

Lin giggled in her father’s arms, and Toph jokingly scoffed at the two from the couch. She lay on her back with her hands behind her head, enjoying the vibrations of the two through the ball of her foot that she kept firmly on the ground. “You two are giving me a headache.”

“C’mon, Toph! It’s Lin’s first word, how can you hate this?”

“First off, she’s babbling. It’s not even words yet. Second, the fact that she’s making ‘D’ sounds instead of ‘M’ is the other reason.” she explained simply. “If she says ‘Dada’ before ‘Mama,’ that’s betrayal right there.”

“Sorry, Angel. I just have that effect on women, I guess.”

“Gross,” she complained, but pointed a smile at him, and she felt his heart quicken ever so slightly and his voice let out a quiet chuckle at their antics.

And when his gaze turned back to Lin, Toph could feel through the earth how at peace he was at that moment. Complete adoration for their baby, and she silently laughed to herself at the thought of him having to deal with Lin as a teenager. Oh, she would have him wrapped around her finger for all of eternity, Toph just knew it.

His voice broke up her thoughts. “Hey, what if we had a little competition?”

Toph said nothing, but raised an eyebrow at him, prompting him to continue. “What if we compete to find out who Linny walks to first?” he asked.

“What are the stakes?”

“If I win, we start trying for another baby.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” she laughed.

“And if you win, Lin’s our only perfect little girl.”

“And if she doesn’t walk to either of us??”

“Then we let fate and destiny take over,” he answered rather smugly.

Toph smirked and sat up from her position, ready to playfully protest this silly competition. “You realize that she’s gonna walk to you, right?”

“We don’t know that.”

“Right,” she responded sarcastically. “Lin, the little Daddy’s girl who shares the same birthday as her Baba and whose first words are gonna be ‘Dada’ and ‘Baba.’”

“Mama could be a close third,” he defended.

“Yeah, sure. I’m going to shake on a bet I’m bound to lose.”

“Just a little fun,” he replied, and she could hear the grin in his voice. “Obviously we’ve got time, but, I don’t know. I think it could be fun!”

“You and I have two very different definitions of fun,” she teased.

“But it’s harmless!”

“Harmless?” she laughed. “I could end up fat and pregnant at the end of this!”

“Only if you want to,” he added.

“So this isn’t even a bet at all,” she commented. “It’s just fake stakes on the table.”

She felt him shrug. “Bit of pride on the line, I suppose. What do you say?”

Toph wanted to continue berating him and teasing him, but his heart sang whenever Lin made a noise or reached out for something, and he adored playing little games like this with her. Perhaps deep down in a place that she barely allowed to admit to herself, she could imagine them having another baby. Even if Lin was almost 6 months old, she thought that maybe, just maybe, a family of four would be nice. And when Lin giggled at her father once again, Toph’s resolve to say no to those two disappeared.

Spirits, they had her whole heart, and she couldn’t help but shake her head as she smiled and extended her hand out to him.

“It’s only a bet if we shake on it.”

His silly cheer caused Lin to giggle more, and after he shook Toph’s hand to signify the start of the bet, he playfully kissed each knuckle before Toph mildly complained as she tried to free herself from his grasp.

~~~

They sat on her living room floor, engaged in small talk while they paid attention to Lin’s every move. The elephant koi in the room became a semi-permanent resident in the Beifong house, but everyone learned to live with it, Toph especially.

Sokka carefully treaded every conversation as he supported Lin to standing on her own two feet. Every now and again, his gaze would turn up to Toph to catch her expression. Today it was unreadable, but she sat on the floor with her legs out and leaned back on her arms, a sign of openness.

That was a good sign, right?

The warrior never knew what was good and what wasn’t anymore, because everything reminded them of him. Of Kanto.

And it was unfair, because Toph deserved to go about her life without having to be constantly reminded of the man she loved and lost to a crazy person. But there was no escape; Kanto was at her place of work, at their home, and he was there whenever Lin moved or breathed or learned something new.

None of that seemed to matter to the universe, however, and Toph and Lin and everyone else that loved Kanto lived with the reminder like chronic pain: constant, relentless.

Still, Toph’s body language was more positive than usual, so Sokka took the opportunity to strike up another small conversation.

“So,” he began by clearing his throat. “What do you and Lin have planned for the rest of the day?”

His friend shrugged in response and a nonchalant wave. “Eh, same old shit, Sokka. Maybe I’ll take her to the park. It is a nice day out.”

“How come you only call me Sokka, now?”

Toph shot him a confused look. “Because it’s your name??”

The man rolled his eyes to himself then said, “Well, yeah. I just mean you almost always called me ‘Meathead’ or ‘Snoozles’ or ‘Captain Boomerang.’”

A quiet scoff fell from Toph’s breath, and she dug her knuckles into her earthen floor. “Yeah, well nicknames are for fun times, and I haven’t been in a jovial mood as of late—”

“Toph I just mean—”

“So forgive me if I don’t feel the need to call you by some dumb nickname that reminds me of all the other stupid ones I called him.”

Sokka shut his mouth, but still held onto a bouncing Lin and stared at Toph. Her expression contorted into one of regret, and she let out a tired sigh.

“I’m sorry, Sokka. That was rude.”

“No, Toph, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “I just—”  Sokka paused before he continued. What he wanted was to help his friend and hoped she would return to her old self soon.

But the idea seemed silly after a second thought. How could she go back to her old self? Going back wasn’t an option, only forward, to a different Toph Beifong who loved and lost and learned to adapt to this difficult change.

So instead of saying I just want to help you get back to your old self, he amended his statement. “I just want to help you.”

“I know,” she sighed again as she moved to lie down on the ground. “I know you’re all trying to help.”

And Toph did know that. The whole group seemed bent over backwards in helping her through this mess of her life, and she not only wanted, but needed their help. However, figuring out things that did help seemed to be a challenge, for it all required talking or thinking about him.

She really couldn’t do that at this point, not even nine months after his death.

Saying his name sent her down a spiral of thoughts of longing and regret, the feeling so strong that it tempted her to visit their bedroom again. But she hadn’t stepped into that room since she was dragged out by Sokka, because she wasn’t sure she’d have the strength to leave it a second time.

Instead of visiting their shared bedroom or speaking her dead almost-fiancé’s name or figuring out what could possibly help her through this, she lay on the ground, focusing on the earth’s humming while blocking out all other erratic and uneven vibrations. It was soothing, being completely one with the earth and ignoring everything else. Her mind wasn’t racing, her heart wasn’t hurting, and she felt a feeling that strangely resembled tranqui—

“Toph?”

Her focus was broken, and as annoyed as she was, Toph responded to her friend and asked, “What is it?”

“Are you okay?”

“Stupid question.”

“I just mean—”

“Mama!”

Lin’s interruption pulled Toph further from the earth, and so she waved her hand in the air and exclaimed, “Mama’s right here, Lin. Just wallowing in self-pity as a widow does, although I’m not even sure I can call myself that.”

“Toph,” Sokka began, but Toph continued her useless ramble. “Probably not, since he didn’t even ask me to marry him. Kind of a requirement to be in the mopey widow club, don’t you think? Pathetic, really, I don’t even have a dead fiancé, just a dead baby daddy.”

“Toph—”

“You know what, guess it doesn’t matter I could just—”

“Toph!”

Sokka’s exclamation startled her, but she didn’t move from her spot. She waited for him to continue with whatever was so important to interrupt her self-deprecating monologue, but he didn’t speak again.

Instead, she felt little, uneven, and heavy footsteps toddle toward her. Toph sat upright in an instant, completely shocked at the sensation of Lin walking.

“Go Lin!” Sokka cheered.

Toph cheered as well and held her hands out excitedly to catch her daughter. “C’mere, Lin! You got it!”

And with a few babbles and shouts for Mama, Lin made her way into Toph’s arms.

The earthbender pulled Lin in for a tight hug and smothered her cheek with kisses. “You did it, baby girl! You took your first steps!”

“She’s a natural, Toph! Gonna be running tomorrow,” Sokka teased.

Toph grinned at the thought, and moved to balance Lin’s tiny feet on her knee. She felt Lin squirm in her arms and crane her neck, as if she was looking for someone.

“Dada.”

And with a single exclamaion of Lin’s favorite word, Toph’s heart shattered just as quickly as it soared a moment ago.

…….

Sokka’s grin faded slowly with Toph’s as he watched her realize what Lin wanted. In a second, one of the greatest feelings and feats of Toph’s baby girl turned into a situation of pure grief. And All he wanted was for his best friend to have a single fucking moment not be ruined by the memory of losing Kanto.

But that was impossible. Every accomplishment was tainted with this memory, and there was nothing to do but accept that harsh reality.

He watched Toph suddenly become overwhelmed by the grief. She bit her quivering lip as she combed through Lin’s hair over and over, fixating on a few curly strands at the top of her head.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, all the while Lin kept asking for her dad. Sokka was about to intervene, but then Toph let out a quiet breath and answered Lin.

“Yeah, Lin. Dada would be so proud of you right now.” She formed a small, sorrowful smile at Lin while tears fell down her cheeks. “I’d rub it in his face, too.” Toph choked out a chuckle, then continued, “But Baba isn’t here anymore, baby girl. It’s just you and me.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. All your aunts and uncles will be around to bother us, especially this Meathead over there, okay?”

When she pointed a finger at Sokka, Lin turned to see, and smiled at him. And Sokka found himself grinning back at Lin for only a second. For when he turned his gaze to Toph, he saw her tear-stricken face and any signs of happiness left Sokka’s face.

He saw Toph hastily wipe at her eyes, then stood up with Lin in her arms. “Thanks for uh, coming by, Sokka. But Lin and I are gonna spend some time together alone.”

She walked out into the backyard before he could even protest.

Sokka didn’t move from his spot, however. He just sat there, thinking and wondering and hoping there was something he could do to help his friend. But she was a silent sufferer, carrying the burden of grief everywhere she went and barely let on what hurt the most about it all. As a bystander, it hurt Sokka to see her shoulder it all. What was he to do, though?

He let out a tired sigh. Sometimes there was nothing to do but be there, even if it made him feel useless.

……

“You’re  a terrible listener.”

Sokka ignored her jab and sat down next to her, Lin bouncing gleefully in her spot in front of her mother. He gave her elbow a light nudge and replied, “I know, but I know you don’t actually want to be alone.”

“I just said—”

“Listen, Toph. We don’t have to talk about it, about any of it. But you’re like me, okay? I don’t like talking about what’s bothering me, but that doesn’t mean solitude is the answer.”

Toph bit her lip as she considered the offer, but made no outright objections to his presence. So they sat there, silent and contemplative about everything and nothing in particular.

It wasn’t until minutes of silence (and little babbles and single words from Lin) that Toph finally spoke. She chose her words carefully, as if saying the wrong thing would send her down a rabbit hole of despair. But Sokka watched her and steadied her with a reassuring hand to her shoulder.

Toph gave a sad smile as she spoke and played with Lin’s wavy hair. “We, uh, we made a stupid bet.

“He liked these silly games and it made him so fucking happy, I didn’t think twice about them. And it gave us a reason to be competitive, and you know how we would get with this shit. Still, they were harmless.”

She hastily wiped her eyes then continued, “But then he wanted to have a bet on who Lin would walk to first, and he said that if Lin walked to him, we’d try for another baby. If she walked to me, no more kids.”

Toph let out a sorrowful chuckle as she slightly hung her head low and let the tears fall in her lap. Sokka’s eyes grew misty at the thought. A silly bet turned into a reminder for Toph, and it felt cruel.

But then Toph took in a deep breath and brought her head back up, pointing her gaze toward the warrior. “You know what’s even crazier? I was gonna let him win. Under the illusion I was upset, of course.”

Sokka softly chuckled at that.

Lin cried out and turned to face Toph, who gently rubbed her daughter’s chubby cheeks. Sokka still sat there, hand on Toph’s shoulder, and watched through his blurred vision his best friend continue to open up to him.

She sighed again. “I’d let him win all the silly games if it meant—”

Her sentence was left unfinished, but nothing else needed to be said. Toph pulled in Lin to an embrace, breathing deeply into her hair as the gravity began to weigh heavy on the pair.

Toph mindlessly played with Lin’s soft curls. “But I guess all bets are off, or I win them all now.

“I don’t feel like the winner, though, Sokka.”

Sokka’s grip tightened on Toph’s shoulder as his sign of support, because he truly had no words. All he could do was sit and stare and hope that there would be something on the horizon to look forward to.

And yet, in that very same moment, he couldn’t help but silently admire Toph’s strength. Her ability to carry on and raise Lin while facing practically an insurmountable amount of grief was something that couldn’t be overlooked. He’d seen his friend show great feats of strength and resilience in the past, but in the back of his mind, he thought that perhaps this was the greatest one of all.

Still, he’d be damned if he was going to let her face this mountain on her own. So they sat there silently once again as Sokka’s hand remained on her shoulder, reminding her that he was there no matter what. He would be there to help her and to hold onto her through it all.

She deserved that. She deserved that and much more, but this was their reality. It would have to do.