#im too tired for even that! its ridiculous! i need it to stop!!

[caffeinatedopossum]

Istg if we don't get this chronic fatigue under control I'm gonna have to resort to some kind of substance abuse

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[catwhispers0]

✧༝┉˚*❋ Silly Pickup Lines ❋*˚┉༝✧

Featuring - 

Cyno, Al Haitham, Tighnari, Kaveh, Zhongli, Xiao, Scaramouche, Neuvillette, Wriothesley

gn reader - pronouns: you/your

Tw and authors note - might be a lil suggestive for some lines, i dont play genshin 😭😭 so if any of the characters are kinda goofy its cause im too poor for that game, ooc, bad grammar 😬 VERY LIGHTLY EDITED, annoying reader lol

minors shoo shoo as always

✧༝┉˚*❋ Cyno ❋*˚┉༝✧

“do you believe in love at first sight, or should i walk by again?”

finally, its my time to shine

“do you have a bandaid? because i scraped my knee falling for you.”

“are you a time traveler? because i see you in my future.”

“if we were socks, we would make a great pair.”

if anyone were nearby, they would be gone now. you would surely attract a crowd of people who appreciated the little pickup line competition more, if you werent in the middle of a library. 

“are you a loan? because youve got my interest.”

“if you were a vegetable, youd be a cute-cumber.”

that was the breaking point of the poor librarian, who hoped you two would just stop on your own. but nothing could stop you before you could fluster cyno, and he could go all day and night before he would fluster you. 

so, yea, yall got kicked out of the library, but at what cost? honestly, yall never stopped throwing terrible pickups at each other, much to the pain and disappointment of anyone around you (cough tighnari cough).

but depending on your strength against cynos charms, you may last either forever, or give cyno a new hobby of flustering you whenever and wherever he could.

✧༝┉˚*❋ Al Haitham ❋*˚┉༝✧

“do you have a name, or can i just call you mine?”

Al haitham just looked up from his book, confused. 

“i have a name, did you really forget it?”

well this was odd, he thought you were smarter than this. forgetting his name, really?? of all the things you could forget, his name was one of the most, no, THE most offensive one. 

maybe you tripped and hit your head on the way in. he didnt think you were the smartest person in sumeru, but surely you werent stupid enough to forget the scribes name. 

“no, i know your name, but can i call you mine?”

he somehow found a way to look even more confused. ‘can i call you mine’ who is ‘mine’?? oh. wait. mine!! 

by the time he finally realized, you walked away with a cheeky grin. he was left in the dust, flustered. and to think he thought you were dumb. 

now, how was he going to work for the rest of the day?

✧༝┉˚*❋ Tighnari ❋*˚┉༝✧

“arent you tired of running through my mind all day?”

he put his head in his hands in defeat, dropping the papers he was working on. with his ears flat against his head, he groaned. 

“...are you ok nari?” 

“no.”

“...”

after a moment, he looked up at you. he had a disappointed, dead-panned expression. his ears were still flat and he just stared at you, ridiculing you in awkward silence. 

he thought he would only have to deal with one idiot in a life time. why were you so..? annoying? no, thats not it. alluring? maybe… he didnt understand how through all of the shenanigans you pull him through, all the terrible jokes and one liners, youve sill managed to capture his heart and let him keep you around. so yea, alluring.

“... do you wanna hear another one?”

*sigh* “sure, but only if its good.”

his reluctance was apparent in his voice, but the agreement was a good sign. 

you gave it a beat of time to dig through your head for a clever one that would sweep tighnari off his feet. 

“i think i need to see an optometrist, because i cant keep my eyes off of you~.”

“...”

“...” “get out.”

“...ok”

✧༝┉˚*❋ Kaveh ❋*˚┉༝✧

“i must be in a museum, because youre a work of art.”

The architect nearly chokes on his drink and spits it out. you scramble to help him out of concern though there was little you could do in the first place. 

so pat him on the back awkwardly as he endeavors his coughing fit. sometime through the hacking, you notice it has shifted to laughter. 

“what are you laughing about?? are you ok??”

“-yea, im fine, you are just too cute! you caught me off guard.” 

with this, he picked you cheek adoringly. you gave him an incredulous look, this man really choked on his drink and now he demeans you? absolutely not. 

you turn on your heel and walk away after giving him a look of a mix of disappointment and exasperation. 

he follows quickly after to try and pester you for the rest of the day on ‘how adorable you are’.

✧༝┉˚*❋ Zhongli ❋*˚┉༝✧

“are you a geo user, because you rock my world! *wink*”

a small smile and a giggle does little to hide his growing flush. he looks away for a moment, letting your words settle in the air. 

why did you have to be so cute? and you look at him expectantly - waiting for a reaction. you didnt think he would fall that easily, hm?

-though, he does appreciate a challenge. 

sure, hes heard plenty of one-liners in his time, most when and about his dragon or archon forms. but he didnt expect you to exchange one with him, he doesnt know what to do or how to feel. 

“you are something, my dear. are you hungry? its about time for my lunch break, i thought you wouldnt mind the offer, seeing as you seem to want to sweep me away so badly.”

“something?” 

what was that supposed to mean? a good something or a bad something? his reaction did little to answer, but you took him up on his offer. maybe tomorrow you would get him. 

gotta keep that old man on his toes afterall. 

✧༝┉˚*❋ Xiao ❋*˚┉༝✧

“are you an adeptus, because youve reached a depth of my heart.”

at first, Xiao thought it was some adepti pun, but as the day went on, he wasnt so sure. 

it had become such an issue, the yaksha had began pacing around with his finger to his chin and a furrowed brow. 

he was overthinking it, he knew that, but he needed to know what it meant to be in a “depth of your heart”. did you mean it as friendly dialogue? or was there something more…? 

was this a sign? a hint? a clue? a puzzle? he didnt know. how could you do this to him, what is he supposed to make of this?

could you have put him in a depth of your heart that noone else was? Perhaps it was wishful thinking. archons, why were mortals so complicated?! 

by the time he had worked himself up to confront you about the issue that plagued his heart, the sun set and the stars had risen. 

‘maybe tomorrow then, ill let you rest for now.’ he thought as he watched you sleep peacefully, protected. 

✧༝┉˚*❋ Scaramouche ❋*˚┉༝✧

“im not a photographer, but i can picture us together.”

*silence*

“scara?”

“no.”

“what?”

“no, you are not doing this.”

aaaand he walks away…

as much as you try to talk to him after that, he avoids you. it doesnt last long though, maybe 2-3 days. 

still, not very nice. you knew he wasnt the best person in the communication department, but wow.

anytime you tried to bring it up, he would shoot it down or avoid confrontation. 

how nice would it be if he would just tell you if he was uncomfortable with teasing like that? 

with all the teasing he makes you go through, you would think he could endure some himself. maybe he wasnt used to it though, or maybe you connection with him didnt abide by the rules of hypocracy. 

maybe you should shun him back? a taste of his own medicine. 

so thats how you ended up with indigo eyes piercing into you soul. as soon as you gave him any hint of a cold shoulder, his disappeared. 

hes a stubborn man, he wont just go talk to you like a normal person. and all this over a cheesy pickup line. 

its more than that though, the way he treats you is much more that what he can handle himself. be gentle on him, he doesnt know these things. 

he doesnt know this feeling that arises every time he looks at you, when you say his name in that pretty voice of yours, the faces and reactions you make that are too precious for anyone else to see. 

so when you hit him with a one-liner, maybe the feeling is too unbearable for the guy. 

go reassure him, he needs it. 

✧༝┉˚*❋ Neuvillette ❋*˚┉༝✧

“your lips look lonely, can mine keep them company?”

Neuvillette nearly dies on the spot. this is the most romantic gesture hes ever heard of - he loves poetry, you know.

“why of course, my love.”

okay

okay, you just kissed the chief justice of fontaine. wow wow wow cool cool okay dont freak out. 

his face is still so close to yours - hairs away. his eyes meet yours, full of love and adoration. 

his lips are still parted, you can feel his breath against your lips. 

they were soft and gentle. would he mind if you went in for another? surely not..?

and just amd you closed your eyes, they were startled open. a melusine opened the door and interrupted your moment. 

oh well, how could you be mad when the look neuvillette snuck you screamed 'meet me again and we can pick up where we left off'.

✧༝┉˚*❋ Wriothesley ❋*˚┉༝✧

“you should lock yourself up, ya know, stealing is prohibited. “

he plays along immediately, smiling, but doesnt lift his eyes from his paperwork. 

“and i am so very sorry for your lunch, perhaps you could let me go with a fine, my generous love?”

your lunch? oh, hes gonna pay for this! you didnt even know about it until now, too! 

“my lunch?! what did you do to it?!” 

he looks up finally. 

“you dont know? oh well never mind dont think about it, love. its for… the better…”

how mysterious. if you could deadpan him harder, you would. 

“...so, what else did i steal?”

the audacity.

“well if you have to know, it was going to be cute and romantic, i was going to say you stole my heart but you can just give it right back, along with your lunch.”

and you walk away, off to check where you put your food. 

some wishful thinking said that he was just joking for a bit, but knowing him, you cant always be sure…

---------

if u want any other characters, drop a request in my mail/ask box ❤️❤️

[miss-anachronism]

I posted something yesterday throwing my hat into the ring of Merlin and Valen relationships, and people seemed to like it! These guys are best buds to me, im glad yall see it too. It inspired me to write a little drabble, so here ya go <3 this is Valen and my (fem) Merlin, so it gets kinda specific at parts lol

…

It’s been a long day.

And as much as Valen wishes it were the easier type of long day: boring and uneventful, where he has to drag himself from task to task; it was quite the opposite. Exhilarating, exhausting, and deadly; now he was sinking into a sofa chair in the Mystical house, nursing a spiked drink and a sprained ankle.

It wasn’t even a mishap- he’d launched the attack perfectly, but that godforsaken golem had grabbed his leg at the last moment and slammed him back down into the ground. Lucius said he was lucky to have avoided a concussion. But what does Lucius know, anyway.

All this to say, the entire ordeal has left him grumpy and secluded. He’s tucked into the library, where the din of the bar can’t touch his slowly receding headache. It’s lovely in here, quiet and serene, fresh air drifting through the large open windows on the south wall. The smell of old books mingles nicely with the outside breeze, stopping just shy of being overwhelming. He would have never thought himself a library person; the one in Holistone was lackluster. But Merlin, as she often did, had flipped his conceptions upside down, and provided Valen one of his favourite spaces in her impressive library.

It’s a little ridiculous to expect privacy and solitude from a house that isn’t your own, especially one housing at least five others, but Valen still finds his every muscle tensing when he hears the library door open and close with a soft click.

He exhales slowly through his teeth, trying not to make his disappointment too obvious. He sends his farewells to his peaceful rest, and a quick prayer that whomever has entered isn’t in a talkative mood. He really doesn’t feel up to playing up the charm.

The soft pattering on the floor and the long exhale that come from behind him, however, chases those fears away. The momentary panic slips from Valen’s body, and he glances to the side, grinning when a green, eerie eye catches his gaze.

Merlin grins back at him, though she looks just as tired as he feels. “Hey, sorry. I know you’re hurt, but it’s winding down out there, and I wanted to do some research before I turn in. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Valen chuckles, “It’s your home.”

“Well, yes, but you’re my guest. And if you want me to shut up and leave you alone, say the word and I’ll be gone, no harm no foul.”

“It’s alright, Merlin,” he confirms, slightly surprised that he doesn’t even need to lie, “your company is appreciated.”

She grins at him and sets her own drink down on the small coffee table, and pulls another chair up. “Thanks, Val. I’ll keep it down, promise.”

She’s true to her word, shuffling through a few eclectically stacked books around the floor of the library before settling with three in hand. She puts the biggest one between them, and opens it up to reveal a collection of beautiful woodcuts, depicting various temples across the globe.

Valen lets out a low whistle and leans in, watching as she flips through a few illustrations, and then spins the book around to show him a full two-page print. It takes him a moment to recognize.

“The Moon Temple?”

Merlin nods, her eyes never leaving the paper. “Back in its heyday. We were talking about it, and Dolly mentioned that I should have an old book of prints in here somewhere. I’m lucky I found it so quickly.”

“How old is this book?”

“Four hundred years, give or take.”

Valen half gasps and half laughs, staring at the book in wonder. He’s shocked Merlin even has the balls to touch the thing, let alone open it.

“I can’t believe you just have ancient scripture lying around.”

“Hey, this is far from ancient,” she teases, glancing up to wrinkle her nose at him.

“You’re right, you’re right. It doesnt hold a candle to the oldest artifact in this room: you.”

Merlin sticks her tongue out at him, and Valen returns in kind, before they both return to the book.

The Moon God had been dead for a thousand years or so before this print was made, so the Temple isn’t exactly in perfect condition. Still, it’s a far cry from the decrepit ruins that it’s in today. Beautiful pillars surrounding the pouring, majestic fountains, each flaw and imperfection dutifully recorded… Valen finds himself being drawn in by the skilled execution of the print itself, scanning over the evenly spaces hatching and intricate detailing in the stonework, the water, the attention to values… it’s a beautiful recreation. Valen can even make out the carvings on the pillars themselves.

There’s a little blurb of writing at the bottom of the page, in a language Valen can’t identify. He reaches out to tap at it, stopping just shy of actually touching the book.

“Can you read this?”

Merlin hums in assent. Instead of flipping the book back around to face herself, she stands and moves over to Valen’s side of the table, kneeling next to his chair.

“It’s not much. ‘The Moon Temple, for the greatness and majesty of Nakalig the many-faced…. Cast a moonstone into the divine spring… a chance for divine lunar enlightenment…’ yeah, we know all this already.”

“It’s still interesting,” Valen contests, watching as Merlins finger drifts over the words. “You’ll have to teach me how to read this.”

Merlin scrunches her nose again. “The language is pretty dead, Val. I think you’ll only find Celestials who speak it fluently, nowadays.”

“So? If it’s spoken by Celestials, I’m sure it’s gorgeous. And mysterious. All the more reason to learn it.”

Merlin scoffs. “If you received a love letter written in the old, dead language, would you actually go on a real life date with the sender?”

“A date? I’d bed them on the spot,” Valen jokes, and Merlin throws her head back and cackles.

“Gross, ugh.” She sneers, giggling. Valen grins.

“Thousands of years old, and you still have the humour of a teenager.”

“Shut up,” she huffs, lightly punching him in the shoulder, only for her eye to immediately widen in concern.

“Ah, shit, that didn’t hurt did it? You’re hurt, I shouldn’t be jostling you around.”

“Merlin, babe, do you really think you can push me around?”

“You underestimate me! I could totally beat you up.”

“Mhmm,” Valen chuckles, taking another sip of his drink. Merlin gives him a wry smile.

“Seriously, though, you okay?”

Valen pauses a moment, taking stock of himself. Yes, his ankle still aches, but the spinning pain in his head has thankfully receded. The exhaustion still runs deep in his bones, however; he thinks if Merlin asked him to stand up, he’s simply collapse.

“I’m alright, all things considered,” he settles on, “but tired. Exhausted.”

“Hey, bright idea here! Maybe you should go to bed!”

“A genius, you are.”

“They don’t call me Merlin for nothin’.”

He chuckles. “It’s nice here. I don’t get much time to relax. And the sun’s only just setting,” he waves a hand towards the window, bathed in pinks and oranges, “let me have an hour, at least.”

“Fine,” Merlin conceded, resting her head on the arm of his chair. Dutifully, Valen proceeds to use her head as an armrest. She huffs in amusement.

They stay like that for a few minutes, Merlin lazily flipping through the book, pausing every time Valen leans closer to inspect a print. Eventually, she complains about her neck, and Valen lets up to allow her a slightly more comfortable position.

“I don’t know how to teach languages,” Merlin says suddenly, startling Valen out of his concentration, “but I think, with Hammie’s help, I could teach you a couple phrases and see where it goes from there?”

Valen blinks in surprise. “You don’t have to do that, Merlin.”

She shrugs. “I want to. Gives me something to do. If you want to, of course.”

Valen pauses, thinks it over, takes another long sip of his drink.

“…sure. We’ll see where it goes.”

Merlin nods, and flips the book closed.

“but if I’m a bullshit student, you can’t be mad at me.”

“I’ll never believe you are,” Merlin sniffs, scooping the book up and standing with a grunt. “Deep down, you’re a nerd like the rest of us, Mr. Playboy Solitaire.”

[theology101]

Fabadine Domestic ideas

They're stuck in my head IM SORRY! I'm about 5k words in on my Junior Year fic but its giving me fun ideas I want to talk about so I'm just gonna spitball a few of them

Even though she doesn't need to sleep, Adaine always 'goes to bed' first to remind Fabian to go to sleep. Every single time she ends her trance, she has to crawl her way out of being little spoon

Fabian is an absolute House Husband. Adaine is Oracling/in charge of Fallinel Judicial system, but Fabian never needs to nor wants to work.

Because of this, he's also the primary caretaker of their kids and he has absolutely no spine. Like, worse then Amethar. Adaine is always the bad cop, but she hands over Boggy when the kids are upset so its okay

"Uncle Gorgug" was always the go-to Baby sitter, Riz has too many doohickey's a child could grab

Moggy the Doggy and the Hangman have matching dog beds - Hangman's is bolted into the floor because he forgets to stop being a bike and the tire would send it flying

Hallariel and Gilear live in the Guest House but they will spontaneously leave for months at a time without telling anyone

When she's in town Hallariel always insists on doing 'Grandmama-Mommy-Daughter' experiences that take far, far too long

Telemaine had to make swords for all of his descendants with increasingly elaborate and ridiculous names (And Adaine promised not to laugh, she really did but its SO HARD)

Adaine forsees when he will die and tries to tell him - but at this point, he's an old man and she looks like she's only in her thirties (Outside of Fallinel its normal Elf Rules so she gets a thousand to his 200-300), and he refuses to hear it. Instead promising to live every single day for the rest of his life like it was his last, and that he would spend them grateful for the chance to be with those he loves

Then he comes to the actual event, he dies and the Devil Lady Figueroth of Pride goes "lmao Fabe, get your ass up" and pops him back up young.

[imavikingo]

I have this silly idea… lets imagine Loki (Gamora and Nebula too) can be free from Thanos and infinity war doesn’t happen at all.

Thanos influence wilted and died at some point and the universe is free of that ugly wrinkled wet paper tissue of a titan.

Loki’s punishment after the avengers wasn’t staying in a cell at Asgard, instead he was forced to do a sort of “community service” in Midgard.

Meaning: helping the Avengers and however of the team needed his assistance on missions.

He could do magic but restricted, of course. He couldn’t do malicious or destructive magic (nor illusions) at all.

Except at enemies and in that context it was also more controlled.

That didn’t stop him from annoying the team sometimes.

Doing mischief is in his name, a little bit of jokes and games is expected, right? On his own words he does it to “spice things up”

One of those things was making Steve stop talking for a while. Making him partially mute. In a harmless way of course.

(It sounds worse than it actually is)

Loki’s reasoning is that Steve talks and expresses more of what others expect of him than talking his mind. He got used to going through the motions, and being by himself, only caring when other people are in danger/at risk. Once they got to Bucky it was making sure Bucky was okay and comfortable.

He wants Steve to unwind for once in his life. And of course making him a little bit embarrassed. Its fun watching him blush and splutter after all.

For missions and work he can talk perfectly fine. In dire circumstances too. But on a normal Thursday?

Without the weight of the world on their shoulders? That’s fair game to him.

This little trick works this way:

Only some of Steve’s thoughts can be voiced out loud, but they’re completely out of context (of his train of thought) or uttered in the most inconvenient of times as they come (if Steve is screaming inside it will be voiced that way out loud).

Only him (Loki) and Steve can hear all of what the captain is trying to say and communicate that way if Loki is feeling like it. (Loki is not going to invade Steve’s mind more than that, even if its really tempting)

And Loki is so entertained by all of it (the mind of the captain, the endless confusion of the team, the jealousy that some of them feel, the discussions that seem unilateral but are really funny to him and make him laugh out loud) that he started to bring a bag of popcorn and soda everywhere.

Tony: Ok, So… how are you doing cap? Still can’t get a complete sentence yet?

Steve: Im so tired of this, and yes Tony I still can’t talk normally.

Loki: ohhh? My my Captain… Are you still trying to find a way out of it? You can’t. You’ll need to get used to it.

Steve: Fuck you Loki

Tony: LANGUAGE!

Steve: not you Tony. Loki!

Bucky: shut up Tony!!

Steve: i want to talk Loki! Let me talk, this is ridiculous.

Tony: no robocop, YOU shut up!

Loki: No. this is too entertaining, you think i want to end one of the only things that gives me joy? You’re out of luck Steven.

Steve: ughhh, fuck me… I hate you so much sometimes Loki

Bucky and Tony: WHAT?!

[volturiprincess]

im feeling sad today but this will make me crack a smile

how would the romanians react if their mates (separate) make them a joke about breaking up

but these poor dudes dont realise its a joke and their dead heart is breaking

Sorry it took me a while to get it out😅. I was between doing a HC or a like short one-shot (or drabble🤷‍♀️) but I hope this makes up for it. I added a twist with both of them because I couldn't bare to be to mean with them. But enjoy💙 (forgot to mention I might of added a little HP reference🤭)

Breaking up w/ them Prank

Warning: Some foul language and slight mention of smut (just a kiss)

Vladimir:

“Vlad? We need to talk”

The way his gaze slowly turned to me looked almost as if he were possessed in a horror movie. Why must I be so mean to him? We were literally relaxing in our mini library but I was thinking about pranking him for a while. It's been too quiet and without Stefan around to help me prank Vlad, so it's been up to me.

“What is it?”

Here it goes.

“I don't know if you feel it too but lately I feel like we don't have a strong connection”

He literally had the most confused look to mankind. Probably trying to recollect any moment where the bond might of ripped

“What do you mean? We are literally mates, our bond is greater than any of those silly human relationships”

“Well I don't know how to explain it but I just don’t think I can see forever with you”

Oh no his face draped, oh gosh is it too late to take back in what I said? No stop, he looks like a kicked puppy. Oh no his eyes are shimmering even, I have never seen him like this.

“W-what? B-but we been together for a year, your my mate, my everything, your my forever”

Alright keep it together. 

“Well I just grown tired, I just dont think I can be in this forever, I don't even want to be a Vampire, I want to have a normal life”

“I see then…well the door is over there, you can see yourself out”

Wait what? Is he being serious, i'm just joking Vlad but he looks serious now. The shimmering eyes he had earlier are gone and he had his classic bored resting face. He got up and started to reach for another book but I threw myself at him, clutching him like my life depended on it. 

“No Vlad please, I was just joking you're the light of my life, of course I see forever with you, the moment you came to my life everything was finally clear”

He looked down at you with a small smirk, and at that moment I knew he was fucking with me.

“You foul evil little cockroach, you were messing with me?” “You started it with that ridiculous prank of yours”

“Fair”

“Next time you want to pull a prank like that on me, make sure the day before you dont have my tongue down your throat”

Blushing at his comments “Yes Vlad”

What an idiot he can be but he’s my idiot.

Stefan:

Alright it's been too quiet these past few days, Vladimir hasn't thrown a tantrum and my lovely mate went off to pick me up some food. Usually me and him are pranking each other but we haven't done anything in a while. Which leads me to my genius idea of doing a break up prank on him. It's been on my mind lately so why not. I go to our favorite place to cuddle, the sunroom, and pace back and forth to set up the prank. 

I hear the front door open and I hear his voice

“Darling i'm home”

“In the sunroom Stefan”

That should spook him, I never call him by his name, it's always been Stef or love. He comes into the room with a confused look, if only he knew what was to come his way.

“Are you okay? You called me by my name, you never to that”

“I well, there is something”

“Talk to me”

“I think we should end our relationship”

He just stared at me, no sort of emotion was displayed in his face. Did I break him? Should I get Vladimir? Why is he not even blinking? Okay now I'm scared.

“You can't do that”

“What do you mean ‘I can't do that’?”

“What do you think the mate bond is? You can’t just end it like that”

“Well sorry to break it to you but I can't take whatever this is much longer”

I see his eyebrows furrow a bit like if he is in deep concentration or he’s really considering my thoughts. 

“Why? Why now?”

“I just feel like it's always the same thing you know, we can't really do much since you and Vladimir are hiding and well I just feel trap now”

He took an unnecessary gulp. I think he’s starting to think I am being serious. One of his eyes filled with venom and I heard him sniffle. He rubbed his eyes quickly and cleared his throat.

“So you truly feel like this?”

“I do”

“I see…well i'm sorry I couldn't be a better mate to you, I thought you were happy, I knew I was for sure”

Oh son of a muffin, he looks so sad, he’s actually believing me.

“Stef…it's a prank”

“What?” “It's a prank, I would never leave you, I'm stuck with you forever as much as you are stuck with me”

He ran to me, pulling me into his arms and buried his face into my neck.

“Play a prank like that again and I will leave you”

I know he’s joking but gosh do I love him.

[boxheadpaint]

diary post baby. Heavier than usual or at least probably but i dont know or remember a good portion of the things ive ever said about myself on this line. For the normal guys though i had fun making that comic, usually when i get the motivation to make anything in that format i get pretty bummed about it pretty quickly simply because of the paneling

its fun to imagine making dynamic pages of comic panels, but when you have no experience beyond trying to make manga in your teens you mostly just have the squares/rectangles stacked next to eachother. for anyone else this is fine and isnt boring to look at by its nature alone, but for me i always believe that my own work would be too dull and unexciting to eye-catching to even bother reading. trying to just lose that pressure i give myself for a day and make something silly like some animals looking at eachother is nice

one of the things i kept hearing from my own head during the call about The Good News Of Getting Disability Income And Payment For The Time I Wasn't Recieving Benefits, was that i needed to kill myself for some reason. my body reacts badly to experiencing a lot of things, though of course its worst when its negative feelings. not even particularly strong ones, maybe a little nervous or a little mad and it likes to tremble or tense up totally. i dont know why exactly i reacted in this particular way other than the usual "what do you mean i dont need to freak out about this anymore. what am i going to do with all this freaking out juice? just chug it?"

im worried lately that ive built up too much of a tolerance to my sertraline, if thats something that happens. but i dont know for sure, and i dont know what ill do if that is the case. maybe it is still working and i just cant tell because even though its bad things would be much worse if i stopped taking it. it just feels like these days it doesnt do anything to help me feel better or more in control. can i speedrun making it work again by going cold turkey for a week and then getting back on it so my brain is like wow this awfulness stopped after i took this awesome pills.

can i give the money i recieve from social security to someone else to save? is that legal? or do they hunt you down for sport for doing that. what if you wanted to buy a house. or rent a house. Or just fucking live somewhere because these days prices are fucking absurd. ridiculous even.

hey girl, rat piss. hey girl, rat piss. I realize other than the blue puppy video i havent posted anything for pride. partly of anxieties of course, especially given the Great track record of the site withing the past month, but also straight up forgetfulness. I keep forgetting too many things and being too tired to remember. At night though i can do just about anything. I think ill take a nap and then wake up at 2 am to keep drawing. I have things to draw

6/24/2024

[beatcroc]

turns out i have to make an unnecessarily wordy thoughtspost about doombox too bc there is nothing about this character that isn't fucking ridiculous and also really funny and i'm kind of really obsessed with all of it. ordinarily i would just start firing but in this case I need to just. paste his bio and then go through it step by step because every phrase here is absurd when looking at how he's handled along with the other characters and the world as a whole. here we go

first sidenote: i should also add 'nonsensical' to the list of descriptors up there, because this is a fighting game and no doubt has the typical Bad Fighting Game Writing at play that doesn't really hold up when put under scrutiny as i'm about to, but understand that this is something i've come to love about the genre and its typically batshit lore, and it further enhances the experience for me. it's all utter nonsense and its my favorite shit ever.

the biggest thing to me that makes his entire shtick ridiculous is that he was explicitly made to be a weapon. like his express purpose is destruction and/or killing people, and he certainly has the disposition to be doing that. except that he is not doing that. he's out there playing Ball Game, evidently of his own volition.

i feel it is also important to highlight that he was not originally or intentionally a boombox; he just kinda lives in there. his own bio frames it as happenstance, but sonata's dlc skin lore** implies he isn't permanently stuck in there and can kinda just hop out and take control of whatever he wants whenever he wants. there is an entire goddamn tank just sitting there in the background of one of these stages. he is a weapon. there is heavy artillery readily available to him that he could be commanding if he wanted to, but he's not doing that either. he is still a boombox. i think he likes it in there. *there's an argument to be made that maybe he's not powerful enough to control something that large, or maybe just that switching hosts is really tiring or risky. im just saying though there's like a bajillion host devices better suited for A Fucking Weapon than a boombox, but he seems really committed to this for some reason. while im here btw it's fucking terrifying that he apparently can possess thing that are Not tech as well **as a side note from that the specific mention of her boomhammer is interesting. i don't think it's an intentional implication but i enjoy the idea he has an affinity for sound-based devices; i like to think the boombox left an impression on him with its being the initial thing he possessed and got used to

and then there is the berserking. the 'rampaging', as it is otherwise called. not exactly strange on its own given his temperament and designation, but strange for the way it's characterized as only a tendency. it's only that he's prone to rampaging. he rampages often, but not all the time. just often! what is he doing he is not rampaging? getting a custom trimmed jacket with his own logo emblazoned on it? like a nerd? and on the flipside, what exactly do these rampages even entail? because it's apparently not anything destructive or disruptive enough for anyone to care about stopping him under normal circumstances.

like how are you a giant angry "not exactly stable" weapon of a guy and everyone's like 'yeah that's fine. that's our doombox!' toxic's specific wording regarding his getting unfucked postgame is "back to his old raging self", which implies to me there's almost a certain fondness, or at least amusement, at his being like this. i know one of the core themes of lethal league is letting these oddball misfit dudes do their thing and freely be who they are, but like. is doombox sincerely just not a threat for that? like really? dice's interactions also sort of imply that his actually trying to kill someone is really out of the ordinary for him so truly like. db my man what ARE you doing out there. * re: toxic and dice's talking about him; i do also find it amusing that one of his defining traits is just being pissed off all the time. again, not surprising given his purpose/designation as a weapon, but funny in that it's like. how he's KNOWN; in the sense that it is immediately noticeable and a cause for concern for other characters to see he is Not angry. fuckin social barometer of a guy. local angry guy isn't angry, something's wrong.

the "reasons for playing in the league unknown" bit also strikes me as a little odd even though it REALLY shouldn't. i'm like 97% sure it's just written like that to make him seems mysterious and unpredictable and dangerous, but it's a weird thing to call attention to when you consider that...less than half of the other characters' reasons are known? raptor is there trying to get info on his dad, that one's well out there. dust & ashes i think have some kind of implied reason for being there as well but it of course isn't elaborated on, and grid is like trying to impress "the youth" and establish a profile or something. nitro seems like he might not actually be IN the league as an official competitor? it's just helpful for him to know how to ball for the situations he gets into with his investigations. everybody else's "reason" pretty much seems like they're just out there to have fun. and toxic says as much in the story mode intro! the game was developed for people to escape the monotonies of shine city! so to imply doombox has a separate, non-recreational reason for being here is weird. the easiest read on it for me is just that he was drawn to it cause it's intense and destructive but at the same time.... if all he wants is an excuse to wreck shit....why are you competing in a structured sports game with rules and shit my dude. you are a weapon. just go attack people. except that we've established that he doesnt really do that. so. once again. what IS he doing out here

----

aside from the bio though, there's of course random little tidbits of characterization throughout the game itself and they are all also likewise ridiculous.

he refers to himself in third person, which is always an amusing choice for a character in general. it carries with it a certain sense of ego, an awareness of and and pride in one's presence and gravitas. this was mostly just surprising to me bc before i started looking at everything, i'd assumed he was more or less mindless and, yknow, robotic; without much personality/reason for being there beyond being the Biggest Baddest Best At Ball Game Guy doombox is already very imposing, so this is frankly a well-earned sense of pride for him to have.....but it still doubles back to being funny again because, as i've established above, he could stand to be a hell of a lot scarier! but he doesn't seem to notice or care that there are many readily-available options for becoming more powerful and/or establishing himself as unquestionable top dog. so instead he is a boombox. third-person is also often used for characters who are a little dumb, and i think this applies to doombox as well. he is a weapon, and clearly a brute-force-over-precision type of weapon at that, he doesnt need smarts. i think this is also sort of hinted at with his voice lines; where the other characters have some kind of snarky phrase or one-liner for their kill/score voice line, doombox just goes "bye-bye". Which is still appropriately Disrespectful, but it's also very, uh... simple. again i just think there are... more imposing things a guy like him could be saying there, but i guess he hasn't got anything more than fucking. bye-bye.

anyways the ego thing i think is well-echoed by his stupid fucking jacket. none of the other characters have their logo as part of their design and i'm pretty sure the rest of the symbols are just game abstractions and don't exist in-universe, but like. doombox is just going around wearing a jersey with his own damn face on it. ok. to be clear i love his jacket but it is literally so silly for him to have that. imagine being the guy having to custom-fit a fucking boombox. did db pay for it? how? we're getting into unproductive territory here but you could ask a million questions about that jacket and they all have hysterical implications. while im on the topic of designs i'd also like to say that while i don't count any of the other blaze redesigns as "canon" like actual events the characters went through between games [like raptor in particular would have already had to have the stitches since that's his backstory, it's just they weren't a design point before], doombox is in a weird spot since the first game's design for him was very specifically referencing its HUD in a meta way for his flavor and that was pretty much the entire extent of his flavor; while in blaze he and the HUD are very much separate distinct things with their own flavor. there's more to talk about here later but as it pertains to design what im saying is i think he just went out and found a better and cooler boombox to be in between games. and also got a funny jacket. *actually i have no idea if there's even a Timeline here. the gut vibe i had been running on was that blaze happens a couple years after the original, but looking at it now that doesn't seem right. does blaze Replace the timeline of the first game? are there even Events in the first game to count as a timeline? do they run concurrently?

alright anyway the last point here is the 3rd-person thing is even moreso interesting to me though bc i was under the assumption that 'doombox' was something akin to a codename he was given when other people saw this big fucking Thang rampaging through the streets. but seeing as 1. he's definitely aware of it, and 2. not even the damn scientists who made him knew he was in a boombox [as implied in his dlc skin lore], i'm led to believe he came up with the name himself. the fucking tape in his cassette player does just say 'doom' on it so i am choosing to believe that's either where he got the name, or that he put that on there himself.

MOVING on, another really good thing is that he does this

i just think it's funny he's continuing to use the thing as an actual boombox; i feel like that isn't something he necessarily Has to do. obviously he's susceptible to certain quirks and limitations of being a boombox re: mind control tape, but i don't think that means he has to play out its every function. i think he's doing that on purpose and i am filing it under "he likes it in there". hes listening to his jams.

also on a similar note,

this is also not important and i realize it's mostly just a quirky videogamey way to get around saying the robot kinda character is "asleep", but i do enjoy the implication that shine city's biggest terror is like out there running on 4 D-cells.

also i'm making this guy out to be a city street menace, and the vibe i had assumed for him before was like, a random encounter in the back alleys that you super do not want to run into; but his associated stage/hangout seems to be the desert/scrapyard? which i don't really have anything interesting to say to that, but it's definitely a different vibe for his character if he typically hangs out in more desolate areas.

---

i think maybe the most baffling thing doombox has going on is the apparent "rivalry" with dice. this is also bizzare from dice's side of things. what the fuck does it even mean to be "rivals" with doombox? what are they competing for? what kind of things does dice get up to that doombox would even give a shit about in the first place, let alone to be considered a rival in? i mean, like, the league, probably, but why dice specifically, out of everyone? would doombox's league rival not just be whoever's the [second] strongest there? i believe dice when he says they're evenly-matched, but there isn't really anything that implies dice is of particularly high prestige within the league so it feels like he shouldn't hold much interest as a target. to be fair dice doesn't seem like the type that would care about prestige, but again, if he's not out there flaunting his shit or trying to claim he's the best or whatever, why does db care? this would be a lot easier to understand if it was a one-sided thing on doombox's part like okay maybe dice pissed him off one day and he's still mad about it. whatever. that's the vibe they go for in story mode, but then there's dice's dlc skin description, which seems to run entirely counter to that and has dice as the aggressor:

when deprived of his usual sense and restraint, dice's first thought is I Gotta Go Fuckin Kill Doombox? even if he's over it under normal circumstances, it's clear both of them have some deeper-rooted beef in this exchange. there is yet another layer to this in that doombox is, weirdly enough, not really shown to be the kind of guy that's interested in revenge. again, going back to his own dlc description, he- and i quote- "couldn't care less" about the guys who made him capturing him and chaining him up. his only interest there is breaking out and getting back to doing his thing. if you want to be really generous, you could also read this vibe from the story mode epilogue: doombox was not the one hunting down the safety league, that was nitro. doombox was simply, as stated before "back to his old raging self". both of these to say, he simply does not seem to give a shit about people who have directly wronged him and only wants to Do His Thing. so. once again. what the fuck is going on with dice that they both have lasting beef here. i truly cannot fathom what either of them did to be so mad specifically at eachother. this rivalry is something they reference a LOT too like it's a big deal in-universe, or something otherwise really important to portray. like

lore so strong you gotta put it on an achievement!!!!! really!!!!! and there are no details whatsoever about this????? * while i'm here i'd just like to say have more questions about dice than fucking anything else in this game. sadly there's practically nothing to intuit from the game about any of his situations so i don't have much for coherent thoughts to post on him, but my god. what the fuck, dice. this rivalry is arguably the single strangest thing doombox has going on but it doesn't even break top 5 weird things about dice.

anyways, the final section and MOST interesting thing to me in all this is that, coming out of the first game, i was really under the impression that doombox is just the arbitrary final boss monster you gotta kill; no real purpose or personality his own to speak of, and most importantly just synonymous with the game itself and its aesthetics re: mirroring the HUD design. he certainly still holds the role of big scary final boss monster in blaze too, but blaze 1. has him much more fleshed-out as his own Guy, and more importantly, 2. doesn't really consider him a Problem like your typical big angry final boss monster. or at least not moreso than anything else going on in the game. he's not a threat to be eliminated, he's respected as a character and as a competitor in the league; and more than that he just seems to be... liked? as in, liked by other people in-universe? and he's liked enough that they'll readily help him out so he can keep doing his thing? i do think latch fixed him up postgame mostly bc he felt bad about being the one responsible for getting db brainwashed in the first place but like. the game could have just as easily gone "and then doombox was defeated yay" and left it at that. instead, they seem to have a vested interest in keeping him around. most transparently this is likely just a "we can't get rid of any of the playable characters or else story mode would be noncanon", BUT the point of this post is trying to read cohesive narrative sense into places there probably isn't any, and my read here is that doombox is a sort of inadvertent guardian of the league. for 1, he does still very much embody a lot of what the game [both The Videogame and the league itself] is about, but more importantly i think his presence is just really good at keeping a lot of the more minor threats at bay. if you try to fuck with the league, you will eventually be squaring off with doombox, most likely having freshly pissed him off in the process, and i can't imagine that goes well for who or whatever is in that situation. there's probably not much that wants to stand up to him by himself, and there's even less that can challenge the league as a whole unit; he's really just a good guy to have on your side like in general when you are running an illegal sports operation. i think at Worst toxic might see him as the league's funny little mascot but realistically i think she has more respect for him than that. either way i don't think he's going to care and it doesn't affect him much regardless. for this, doombox simply gets to keep doing his thing, whatever the fuck that may be. there are certainly still forces beyond his control at play here [as demonstrated in story mode by the safety league], and when these come into play, the league in turn looks out for him and keeps him on top of his game. i'm not sure if he has the, uh.... kind of cognitive ability that he could be grateful for this, but if nothing else, we know he seems to enjoy playing in the league, so he probably at least recognizes that he's not going to meet a lot of resistance in it and/or that it's a good environment to keep doing as he pleases. i don't mean for this all to sound so transactional, but it's hard to say whether he has much charisma in-universe for people to want him around for more "legitimate" reasons. likewise, there's also still a lot up in the air on how like... sapient doombox actually is. whether he can have complex motivations about anything or if he has some concept of "having friends" or if he can experience emotions besides rage; i tend to lean to "no" on those because i am really trying my damndest not to woobify this guy, but ultimately i don't think it matters much; in the end, he and the league are still mutually beneficial for eachother, and they still enjoy having the other around. and i think that's pretty cool :)

[abbyslev]

𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑮𝑬 𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵𝑺

A/N: i hope everyone enjoys these hcs ab my wife!!

Hange LOVES you. like half of what they do revolves around you

will ramble on and on about their research and experiments while you listen and learn 

tea party

you fall asleep on hanges couch in their office waiting for them to finish

levi calling you “Hange’s brat” 

If you’re a scout, Hange wants you right by their side at all times

If you’re just a civilian or part of another group, she always comes and checks up on you after work 

teaches you how to fight 

“where’d i put my glasses babe:(”

“hange do you like titans more than me? please come to bed.” “…maybe.”

hange gets all flustered and excited to see you 

CRUSHED by hanges hugs 

kisses all over the face with a big smile. “I missed you so much!” ft. Levi side eyeing you guys

when hange gets overwhelmed or tired they like to have you play with their hair and talk about anything but work

needs to be comforted sometimes 

likes when you cook, especially after a really long day where they just wanna go home 

“HAVE YOU SEEN MY EYEPATCH PLS IM LATE” 

sleeps either in a tank top and underwear or wears this ridiculous nightgown, no in between 

doesn’t wear her eyepatch around you sometimes <33333

“you have something on your glasses” “ITS NOTHING ” 

secretly embarrassed 

will talk about their work without realizing it 

double checks your gear is ready to go

tea nights while she has a meeting with Levi

can’t keep her hands off of you like

always holding you hand or even just having fingers interlinked 

LOVES YOUR THIGHS LIKE THATS HANGES PILLOW FR 

cuddling like all the time 

hanges hair is so soft like bro what’s your secret

likes to grab your face and squish your cheeks 

“Hange stop” “But you’re just sooooo cute”

hange does this thing where you go through the door first and she places her hand on your lower back

hange is a pretty clean person so your room isn’t a mess

Hange is a wild sleeper fs 

one time she left her glasses on and she broke them 

literally drinks tea and coffee like their life depends on it

you and moblit team up against hange fr

hange tries not to get upset around you but they get frustrated while doing work sometimes 

is quick to apologize when they get snappy 

LOVES those cadets like they’re her own kids

wears that suit and gives you a look

lots of “yes commander” in bed;)

hange literally dies when you call them handsome/ pretty 

“are you fr “yes hange”

when levi gives you something from hange hes like “Shitty glasses told me to give you this.” 

hange thinks it’s funny to poke you when you’re busy 

she gets these random burst of energy 

when she becomes the commander after erwin passed she was almost never home 

“hange, you can stop doing reports.” “would erwin stop?” 

she would also apologize because hange is a gentleman

when she lost moblit she thought she wanna gonna lose you too

hange is stressed

stressed hange = frustration sex

hange denies this but their cheeks get red when they see you

that black odm gear on hange… yeah

hange got mad bc yelena tried to hit on you

hange makes you follow them everywhere bc people are starting to betray each other and she cannot lose you 

Hange is so protective like they WILL die for you

overall hange> anyone

[qumiiiquinnquin]

im scared to tell my psychiatrist i tried to end myself twice within a month (sep-oct). i dont know why i am. i have to call the office myself since im an adult now, but im really scared making phonecalls. i have to do it because its been since april that ive seen my psychiatrist but i have to do it. i dont know when ill do it, im too scared. that fear frustrates my family a lot. i feel like im already a failure of an adult and will continue to be like that forever.

today was mostly good, just uneventful until this evening. but now im feeling depressed and i want to cry until i cant anymore, but i cant cry, so i just feel bad. i dont feel tired so i dont want to sleep, but its almost midnight so i should soon. im feeling stressed out about needing to call the psychiatrist's office, so i dont feel like i can relax at all.

ive just been feeling bad a lot lately but thats not new, i say think that to myself every other week or so. whats making me sad the most right now is hating my art. i dont have any confidence in my art but i want to get better, but i dont think i ever will. i will always have mediocre talent, no matter how hard i try. i keep thinking about burning my physical art and either deleting my digital art or just even destroying my laptop, though the latter is very excessive, but i still think about it every now and then out of frustration. i want to give up but i really dont know what else id do, ive always drawn since i was very little, its always made me happy. i really want to not care how upset stopping would make people, including myself, but if i dont stop out of just purely giving up, i probably will stop because i k!lled myself.

every day is feeling the same, it even felt that way when classes were still going. i got so used to the schedule that i got used to the systematic cycle. i partially dont want classes to start again because of that, its boring and the amount of work is stressful, im just going to go back to breaking down and nearly attempting from stress and lack of confidence that i can really do this, that i can really power through and get the degree i want. i keep getting told im smart and always work hard, but that really doesnt mean anything now. being and doing those things doesnt suddenly mean that because of those things, ill survive the stress. it only actually makes it worse, like im ridiculous for feeling the pressure and have the mental health collapses that i do because of college, that im not trying hard enough and am lazy.

for some reason the desire for love has been on my mind and i dont know why, youve seen the pathetic longing things i say about romance. right now i feel like i am missing out and am a failure by societal standards for not even have dated in my life, and i still dont have a partner at 18 years old. i feel extremely lonely to the point that seeing other couples makes me depressed, which is probably selfish of me. i feel like and believe now that i will always be alone. i know i am not beautiful to anyone, i know i am not funny, i am not interesting, im a pain in the ass, im too much to deal with and am just unlovable in general. i hate feeling this way, i never cared about romance or relationships and have always been repulsed at the idea of me ever being loved romantically or being in a relationship. i feel stupid. i feel like a jerk. i feel like i deserve to be alone forever, and i really do. or maybe, just end myself, if im so unlovable in every way, then why not just weed myself out? whoever takes my place will be much more worth it than i ever could be. its so stupid thinking about myself d*ing from a broken heart. "just grow up, sad excuse of a grown adult." (in quotes because its a direct thought to myself towards myself, nobody else)

i really doubt everything will get better, ive felt this same exact way for 3 years now. sad, burntout, stressed, like im nothing but a problem for my family, a burden and waste of time to be around or talk to or care about. i did attempt once in 2021 but failed, obviously im still alive. i really want to try again. im really scared of pain, so im trying to find the quickest way or the least painful option. if i just call, i can get different meds or a different dosage and i wont feel this terrible. im so childish for an adult to be unable to make a fucking phonecall. i feel like next year might be it, im not sure why i get that feeling, but i dont have any reason to keep going. im not looking forward to anything. nothing is really that fun or exciting, i just try to distract myself. i know im not wanted, and im too difficult for my family.

its now a half hour after midnight because im incapable of shutting the fuck up. i might just lay down and watch youtube or cry myself to sleep, whichever happens first

[exalted-dawn-drabbles]

AND another one this fine DADWC evening - For Saeris/Talenna: "protecting you isn’t my duty. it’s my privilege."

So at first I was going to do something angsty for this but before I knew it, words were pouring out onto the page and it went in a direction entirely its own. And????? I kinda love them???? They're so cute???? Emerald Knight AU Talaeris has BotW Zelink vibes and im not at all mad about that. And now I need more of them. So thanks for that XD for @dadrunkwriting

Rated T: mild mention of nudity, and a bit of frisky flirting, 1.1k words

Privilege | By Exalted_Dawn

“Do you not grow tired of this?” 

The question felt almost small beneath the great verdant bows overhead. The sound of wind pushing through a million leaves was as consuming as the roar of the ocean. The creaking of the forest’s great oaken skeleton felt more than that of her own bones. It was a small question, asked casually as she washed herself in a docile stream, the water flowing about her hips in tickling currents. But for them, she supposed it might be rather large, as it was the first time she had spoken to him since the day after he’d been assigned to her little more than a fortnight ago. 

The silence that followed was certainly weighty. She could feel the stem of breath that marked surprise rather than purposeful ignorance. The way his attention seemed to weigh on her bare shoulders as he considered it. Considered her.

“No. I am here to protect you,” he said simply. Proudly, almost, though Talenna suspected it was likely some sort of veneer put on for her benefit. Either that or a self-made delusion so that he might stomach this otherwise debasing task. 

“Your duty is to the protection of the Dales,” she corrected, pausing briefly to dip beneath the clear water’s surface before breaking into the air once more. Water sluiced down her now soaked hair, making it cling to the planes of her back like riverweed. She shook it loose, flexing her shoulders to rid herself of the sensation. “Following around some unknown dignitary will hardly win you the honor and glory due to one of your station.”

There was another silence, but this time it was briefer. “You are granddaughter and only heir to Counselor Ethera, and Ambassador to Orzammar. Your safety is paramount to their allegiance and continued lyrium supply. You are third in line for the title of ‘Sovereign-” 

“Thank you for reciting my own rank and role to me,” she scoffed. “As though I was in need of a reminder.” 

Talenna expected that to be the end to their brief cease-silence, perhaps earning her at least a few more days of satisfaction before the looming shadow of his presence once again became too much to bear, but to her surprise, he continued. “To protect you is to protect the Dales. Ir abelas, if my being here offends your privacy, but your life is worth preserving.” 

She knew of what he spoke even though he did not say it. The event that put this ridiculous call for chaperoning into motion in the first place. 

Talenna ran her finger along her neck, where the clean-cut line of a blade wound now pinked her skin. So much fuss over a scratch. 

“Do you claim my life to be of higher worth than the farmers who work the fields, or the servants that clean the sheets? Do they not also warrant your protection?” she wondered aloud, her annoyance sharper now. “A knight of your caliber could protect us all equally fighting on the war front. Instead, you are deigned little more than a glorified child-herder. If I were you, I would be embarrassed.” 

There was another pause, and Talenna thought that surely this would be the end of their conversation, but it would seem today that her shadow was feeling particularly talkative. 

“If you intend to run me off as you have the last two guards, I am afraid your efforts will be in vain. It is my honor to be here, and I would appreciate it if you stop insulting me by insinuating otherwise.” The words were spoken with a certain edge. A bite that betrayed his offense. He was serious…? 

“‘An honor’?” she echoed, almost mockingly, but mostly bitter. “I do not see how.”

“I am not claiming that your life is of higher worth than any other, but even so, it still warrants protection. It is you who allows our mages, such as my siblings, to be strong enough to face the shemlen Templars. It is you, who preserves our history and helps advise our current Sovereign towards peace.”

She cut in. “It is my grandfather who-” He did not stop.

“While it is true that by fighting in the war, I can protect the Dales, I must do so by taking lives.” She could almost hear him shift, a rustle in the grass behind her. She wondered if she had gotten him so riled that he had turned his eyes on her at last, but she did not give in to the temptation of finding out. Her eyes stayed forward and down, watching as the water rippled with sunlight, white light winking on waves. He pressed on. “Perhaps you resent my being here, but to me, protecting you is not a duty. It is a privilege. Instead of taking lives, I get to preserve them. And in guarding you, I guard the future of the People. To me, that is no small thing.”

In the wake of her shock, Talenna considered that that was perhaps the most words she had ever heard the knight– no, Saeris– speak. But in expending so many, it would seem he stole her own, and she sat silent, unable to rebuke or mock him for such a stance. 

He was right. It was honorable. And deserved better than the scorn her annoyance reflected. 

But Talenna was proud, and let her own kept stretch of speechlessness be his victory in this. She huffed softly, but even as she rebuked him, it lacked the distinctive edge of anger, more prodding than anything. “Do not act so noble. You are simply glad for the opportunity to watch me bathe.” 

There was hardly a beat of silence. “...As I said, a privilege.”

Talenna spun so sharply around that she nearly slipped on the river rocks, spurred by the notes of warmth– of actual teasing– that lingered in the wake of such a statement. She stared blankly at him, but if he had turned to look, he was back to facing away from her now, his hands folded behind him and his shoulders straight. 

Talenna was baffled. Had Saeris just joked with her.

Almost belatedly, she gave a bemused scoff, turning back around. Dipping just a bit deeper into the water, a giddy sort of grin tipped her lips. Saeris, Sullen Sword of the Dales, had a sense of humor. Who knew? 

She turned back to look at him again, a new appreciation lighting her eyes, but he remained stalwart, not turning even a fraction of an inch towards her. It made it hard to tell, as she couldn’t see his face, but even with the roar of the canopy, Talenna could have sworn she heard it. The smallest of laughs. And she hoped, maybe, he was smiling too.

[underratedandoverit]

Welcome Home

640 words orangekip (orange cassidy/kip sabian)

just something short and sweet. just fluff if even that. i just needed to do something tonight, its been like a week since ive done anything and even longer since ive posted, tho reasons for that are varied (aka im sick, i was in london, had to prep things for london, and have been working on a few longer things that i wanna post in full when they are done so posting has been kinda lacking recently due to that, but things are coming eventually!). but heres this. just something short. yay ~

@midnightpretenders0 @stormbornpirate @ss-trashboat

on ao3

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Cassidy carefully pushed the front door open after unlocking it, pulling the sunglasses from his face as he stepped inside. His heart had already sank a little as the taxi had pulled him up to the front yard and all the lights inside had been out, knowing that he was coming back to a silent, asleep house. Cassidy had been hoping that there was at least one lit room on the other side of the house, but when he got inside to total darkness and silence, he deflated a little bit more at his hopeful thoughts.

Damn those delayed flights.

He parked his suitcases in the hallway, carefully taking off his shoes. The jean jacket likewise came off, leaving him standing there in the darkness for a while as Cassidy contemplated his next step.

Soon enough he ditched any extra thoughts though, knowing that he was too tired to fix up a snack or too hopeful in thinking that Kip would still be awake to greet him. Cassidy had told him that he would have been back home twelve hours ago originally, and after all the flight delays he just hadn’t been sure anymore, and eventually Kip had just stopped texting him about it after one last time.

“I’ll be waiting whenever you get here. I love you. Fly safe.”

Cassidy had known there was no way Kip was still going to be awake by the time he actually got back, but something about it still stung a little. Maybe it was just because he was tired, overworked, had just spent a ridiculous amount of time waiting at a goddamn airport and then on a flight just to get back home… Maybe it was all of those things combined.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Cassidy quietly headed upstairs, hoping to at least catch some sleep finally if nothing else. They could have their sweet reunion moment in the morning, a few hours later than he had hoped, but it was better than nothing. He had already held on for a few days, a few more hours was an easy enough thing to do.

Pushing the bedroom door open as quietly as possible, a small smile climbed up on his lips as Cassidy spotted the sleeping figure in the bed, even in the very dim room knowing exactly what he was looking at. As Kip didn’t react to him stepping inside the room, Cassidy assumed him to be fast asleep already. He didn’t blame Kip, it was the dead hours of the night after all.

Moving to the side of the bed he sat down on it, undoing the top layer of the clothes he was wearing. No matter how tired he was, sleeping in jeans and socks especially was a huge no for him, Cassidy just casually dropping the pile of clothes to the floor, making a mental note to clean them up in the morning. He carefully pulled the blanket aside from his side of the bed, making sure to not disturb Kip’s peaceful sleep as Cassidy settled down on his spot, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as he was finally laying down after hours of agonizing travel issues.

As sleep had almost claimed him, Cassidy could feel the bed shift under him slightly, soon enough a familiar pair of arms wrapping around his waist. He smiled a little as he felt another body pressing against his back, a tired, slightly accented voice mumbling against the back of his neck, clearly barely conscious himself.

“Welcome home, Clementine.”

Cassidy reached a hand to the back of his neck, running it through Kip’s hair as the Brit snuggled closer against him. He didn’t reply anything back to him, knowing they were both too exhausted for conversations right now, and they had the entire tomorrow to catch up again.

[fanficfanattic]

Apples or poison or Tooting (and if none of these work, head). Please and thank you.

There wasn’t any toots or tooting. But!

🍎apples AND ☠️ poison were both in the same fic, so you get from the intro of the one to the outro of the other.

In this fic, Ted does go into the treatment room:

“I don’t even know what me favorite fucking fruit is, cause ten years ago he said some shit about only being allowed to eat apples. No reason given. Just the right shade of drunk that I couldn’t know if he’d remember it or not. And its not like he could tell what we ate at academy. Or in me own home once I had one.

But I still only eat fucking apples. Tried them all, I think. Can tell you which are favorites from that. Granny Smiths are not for me.”

He’d edged back from the rage in his voice when talking about his father. But that just meant he returned to ridiculing himself.

“Like I said, no reason to listen to a word he says. Particularly since I don’t much agree with ‘im bout anything. Once I started though, I’ve just never, never managed to stop.

‘Don’t pass, be the star, caring ‘bout people will hold ye back’.

It jus…he was happier with me when I did what he said, and happier meant a lot less hurting.

But it’s just…it’s just putting that hurt onto someone else? Isn’t it, Keeley?”

And she didn’t want to confirm it, because he was hurting right now and she still cared about him. Loved him in a way she could only do for him. But this is what she’d tried to tell him months ago. And it was the truth. So.

“Yeah, Jamie, that is what it is. I’m not gonna lie to you. But seeing that? Its good, its important.”

“I don’ wanna be like him. I don’t! I wanna be more like I were before all his stupid fucking rules. Fuck. Fuck me.”

“No! No, you’re not. Like him. You’ve done things he wanted you to do, that weren’t good to do. But you said 15 years, Jamie. You were a kid. And I’ve seen you at benefits and signings. You’re so fucking good with kids, babe. You’d never hurt one. Not ever.

And that’s because…people who abuse their family, it’s about control. But you aren’t fucked in the head enough to take that out on someone truly helpless. Even when you turned that hurt on to someone else. You were just trying to find a way for you to have some control back.”

“Not an excuse though.”

“No. But it’s a reason. Oh god, that’s the reason you never wanted me to come round when he was down?”

“Course. I wouldn’ta let him fucking near you, Keels. I don’t let him fucking near anyone, if I can help it. He can’t hospitalize mates if you stop having them.”

“…what? What did you just say, Jamie.”

His face had the dawning horror of someone who realized they’d said too much. Admitted to something they couldn’t take back. And she didn’t know if he was upset that he’d revealed he didn’t have friends. Or that his dad had spread his control out over so many more people.

“Hey, no, don’t need to answer that. God Jamie, I’m so sorry he ever showed back up in your life. Even at my most pissed at you, I’ve never wished anything bad on you.”

“It’s okay, Keels. I know. You’re dead brill. Best thing ever happened to me, honest, and I know I’m lucky we’re still…friends, yeah?”

“Of course, Jamie. We are friends. I don’t let any of my other exes come over to talk or crash my dates with Roy.”

And he honest to god let out the tiniest laugh at that. Just as quickly the quirk of his lips flattened out. He slumped back against the wall, energy fatigued, and went back to looking at the wall.

“Hey, you’re gonna be okay, babe. We’ll get it sorted, yeah?”

“You don’t have to help me sort shit, Keeley. Thanks though. I’m just so tired of it. Of being scared rather than a grown man. All I’ve ever wanted to do was play football, and it’s like he’s turned it into poison. He turns everything to it, sooner or later.”

There wasn’t anything to say to that, though, so she just put her hand back on his shoulder. He’d rested his own hand over hers, for barely a second, when he heard footsteps approaching the door. Heard them before anyone else did. These stood out, loud ones with anger in them he could tell, a skill developed from a childhood of listening for drunken footsteps as a warning system.

His reflexes, trained to be quicker and then quicker still, meant Jamie was already moving as the door slammed open. He pushed off the wall so he was on his knees, upright as possible, putting himself between Keeley and the door.

It wasn’t his father. It wasn’t his fucking da, just Ted and Beard, but his breathing was already sped up anyway. He barely felt Keeley put her hand back on his shoulder, but heard her say softly from behind him, “Hey, Ted.”

“Hey there, Keeley.” Ted responded to her first. Before turning to him. And an angry Ted had only ever yelled at him before, never once tried to hit him. But he hadn’t yelled at anyone else at all, and Jamie was used to being the exception to a lot of people’s rules. He couldn’t get his breathing under control. And he knew Keeley could tell. But she wasn’t scared of Ted. She’d told him that he could trust ‘em.

“Hey, kiddo. Good thinking sending Coach out to help. But I told you to get to the treatment room-”

“Oh. Fuck. Sorry. I didn’t…wasn’t tryin to-“

“Oh, hey, hey, it’s okay, Jamie. I’m not mad at you. I wasn’t trying to keep you from the team. But you’ve got to get checked for a concussion and we need to see if anythings broken.”

“What?”

“Think your nose bone might be broken, son.”

“Its not. Been broke before so I know how it feels. And it ain’t bone, the nose.”

“Well that’s true, it’s cartilage. But all the same I want a team doc to check you over. Can you do that for me?”

“I don’t understand you.”

“Your hear-“

“No, not that. It’s…you and Dani and Sam? You all just…I thought it were an act, yeah? You caring, and shit, bout everyone. Let alone me. Cause that’s not…that’s not how people are.”

And Lasso made a choked off sound, but didn’t interrupt, so he kept going. All this poison sitting under his skin, like he’d just told Keeley about? Had all this venom pouring out his mouth now. Was he purging it? Or using it as a defense. As an offense?

“I could easy spend a hundred years next to a Roy Kent. Know how to absorb anger, or let it fall off, know how to survive it. I don’t have any fucking idea what to do with…with…with niceness!”

“Surely people have been nice to you before, Jamie?”

“Plenty of folks. That all want something of you or from you. Sam a mentor. You a more biddable player.

Keeley’s the only new person I’ve trusted in…years.” She just started lightly rubbing the shoulder she’d been touching, didn’t pause or stumble.

“Cause she said exactly what she was willing to give and what she wanted in return. No tricks.

And she said…”

Ted’s eyes moved to hers, quick and fathomless, before focusing back on Jamie. He realized with an almost start that the boy was trembling. He wanted to put a hand on his other shoulder or pull him into a hug. But the sudden movement, with all this adrenaline and the obvious now, so stupid Ted, the PTSD he had…now wasn’t the time.

“What’d she say, Jamie?”

“That you weren’t playing games with me head. You meant it.”

“I did. I do. I care a lot about you, Jamie.”

“Why’d you send me away, then? Once I started finally listening to you?”

[terraliensvent]

To the person that disagreed with the permission to void being stupid is honestly ridiculous and chronically online. Im sorry but if you believe you should restrict how your customer uses your product is honestly insane and controlling. If people spent hundreds or even thousands sometimes on a design, they should be allowed to do what ever the hell they want. They are purchasing the copyrights to that design. You cannot still control over a product you sold. Its not yours anymore !! But whatever, the real issue is the voiding permission. People should have the right to void their owned designs from any species they want. End of story. Idfc if you dont like it, bro if you hate how people use your products, youre not only a terrible business owmer and obsessing over things that dont matter, but youre actually shooting yourself in the foot. Youll make yourself all paranoid and stuff if you obsessed so much about controlling a design that isnt yours especially over something small like voiding. Wheres the harm in voiding!? Why cant the owner who SPENT MONEY have a say of what theyre comfortable with doing for THEIR oc they BOUGHT the rights too. Its honestly so tiring how chronically online the art community is these days. When youtubers or game devs sell the rights to their brand, channel ect, you think they still have a say in what the new owners can do with their stuff? NO. No not at all. A lot of artists like to pretend making and selling designs isnt a business thing. It is. Youre creating and selling a product. Stop acting like you can take back the rights you sold. If you dont like it dont sell it. Or just get over it, its not that hard. Dont be a designer if you feel the need to control how people use your designs. Youre taking the fun away from people.

Sorry for the rant it just frustrates me how artist think they can take rights from you after spending a lot on a design to own the rights too

post related

strong agree with everything you said here anon.

again, if you cant fully disconnect from the product youre selling, you shouldnt be selling it. (AGAIN WITH THE MUG ANALOGY) when i go to walmart and buy a cup, does the creator of that cup then come up to me and say "hey so youre not allowed to put pepsi in this cup because i hate pepsi" LIKE THATS WHAT YALL SOUND LIKE

[the-un-slash-emotionals]

hola amigo kaise ho thik ho? i need to stop starting everything like this :sob: hi. its been a long time. so many things that happened. but i trust him, im proud of him, i know he'll pull through. but that's a discussion for his diary, not here. today, we talk about some theory i've been budding for a while now, its a little bit of a sensitive topic, that i have no right to talk about but such are my alien ways :) (moments is such a good song) heart beats harderr ; time escapes me trembling hands, touch skinn ; it makes thisss harderrrr and the tears stream ; down my faceee the Aromantics. " Aromantic people have little or no romantic attraction to others. They may or may not feel sexual attraction. An aromantic person can fall into one of two groups: aromantic sexual people or aromantic asexual people. " thats the textbook def of it, and that's not the topic of discussion here. andd also not talking about asexuality, that's a whole other thing that i havent really thought about. some leads, but none too decisive, so nvm. what im interested in is what could be the reasons behind aromanticism? i really damn wish and hope i do something neuroscience related in the future coz otherwise my human will BURN ok, so what made me interested? some people around me, 2 in particular, both im close to, both i want to understand like nobody else. both have their fare share of troubles, both i hope, i can have a conversation with about this very topic some day. both, have had many many proposals in the past, both, i've fallen for at some point or another, both, i've fallen out of (for the most part), both, i've never confessed to. both, ridiculously fascinating people. both, ive had the privilege to know from my pov rather than just his, and hence, both, i can evaluate devoid of humane feelings. common points in both - bad past, sub par family dynamic, at least from one side. and i think therein lies the jackpot. also, both very physical beings. in touch with their skin. idk how to describe it without feeling like a fucking creep, but both value physical touch a lot. its intimate. their skin is sacred, it has meaning. almost as if they're stuck in this world in between, on one hand they have extremely complicated minds and thoughts and emotions and on the other, their body revolts if they don't pay heed to it. maybe its a girl thing, im not sure. but idts. i think the answer lies in the past. they've suffered such negative experiences there, regarding the same thing. love. somewhat of a mix between family relations, and other kids, heck, maybe even some horrors from the past resurfacing in their present, which makes them repel all this even more so. its like their mind has created this bubble, or a safety shield, which makes it invalidate romantic feelings or approaches. maybe in the past, they felt too much, then were faced with nothing but bad results, over and over and over over again. it solidified. their minds stopped believing. as maturity rose, it brought with it an almost completely concrete blockage towards feelings. and that was that. im lucky, since both my POIs are very different people, fundamentally. one deals with feelings like a cold machete. dangerous. but its a defense mechanism, ...and ok he knows that but hes kinda tired of it. anyway, the other deals with it via a bit more maturity. she knows what feelings are. how to cater to others' feelings too. shes almost been doing this for too long, but shes getting better, and he has faith in her. most importantly, she DOES NOT SHUT DOWN when something bad happens in this realm. and thats VERY IMPORTANT. the only way is THROUGH. she FIGHTS. unlike the other. im not gonna conclude this, because tbh it was a bit of a personal rant as well, instead of just a devoid barren thought portrayal. also have to say, that im kinda just speculating. idk anything for sure unless i have some brain scans. until next time, humans thats x8c signing off （︶^︶）