#it makes me happy alright

[seyaryminamoto]

Scenes of a Peaceful World: Sokkla Saturdays 2024

Day Four - Action

Rated: T

On FF.net//On AO3

"Your house is amazing, Hotaru…" Shihan whispered, eyes wide.

"It is!" Liuwen exclaimed, beaming. "I always wanted to come here!"

"I'm glad you guys like it," Hotaru said, with a gentle smile.

She hadn't invited friends over before. She didn't dare do it when her little sister was too young, and too unlikely to regulate her temper… distressing her friends with the loud, crying voice of little Yuuna didn't sound like a good idea.

But Hotaru had also been nervous of so much as asking for permission. It felt like a great change… a big risk, too. If anyone did anything foolish, it would be her responsibility… whether the foolishness came from her family or from her friends. Either thing was entirely possible.

She gathered her courage a week earlier. She approached her mother and father right before dinner time, and she made certain to do it when neither of her siblings were around, to avoid distractions and unnecessary comments…

"C-can my friends Liuwen and Shihan visit us after school in a week?"

Sokka and Azula were surprised by the request. Perhaps more so by their daughter's nervousness, by how she fidgeted, by how she appeared to be terrified of a negative answer…

"I… think so?" Sokka had said, glancing at his wife. "Do we have any big things scheduled for that date?"

"Not that it would be a problem if we did… Hotaru can host her friends, it's not like she'd want us to be their guides, right?"

"N-no! No need! I… just wanted to ask for permission," Hotaru said, lowering her head. Azula smiled.

"Permission granted. Now… lighten up, will you?" Azula stepped closer, pressing a kiss to the top of the princess's head. "I feared you'd announce you meant to run off with singing nomads…"

"It's all good, kid!" Sokka grinned, patting Hotaru's shoulder: their daughter giggled now. "You can bring as many friends as you like."

Hotaru didn't mean to go overboard: two friends would suffice for starters. If that didn't go poorly, more might follow… but for now, she brought the two she hoped would be the least likely to cause a ruckus, and who hopefully would behave themselves in the presence of her illustrious parents.

"Are your little brother and sister around?" Liuwen asked.

"I'm sure they're off somewhere. Same as my parents…" Hotaru said: both Shihan and Liuwen gaped at her with wide eyes. "What? You already know them…"

"W-well, sure, but we'll see them in their home now!" exclaimed Shihan, gleefully. Liuwen clasped her arm, squealing happily. "They're so dreamy!"

"The perfect couple!"

"Y-yeah… well, they love each other lots, but I don't know about perfect…" Hotaru laughed.

"That's because you don't know what other parents are like," Shihan sighed. "My dad is always moody, and ugly, and he's barely around, and…!"

"My mom always screams at me to do things I don't wanna do," Liuwen pouted. "She keeps saying no boy will marry me if I don't square up, but I'm twelve! Boys won't marry me until I'm… well, I don't know. How old will I be before they want to marry me?"

"I have no idea," Hotaru laughed. "But my mom and dad… well, they're nicer than that, yeah, but they're… normal. I think."

"Hotaru, there's nothing normal about your parents!" exclaimed Shihan, flabbergasted.

"Their love story is legendary!" Liuwen said, with a dreamy smile. "And your dad is so handsome, and your mom is so pretty…!"

"They're the best couple!"

Hotaru sighed: it wasn't the first time she heard people idolizing her parents, let alone her friends… these two were the tamest of the bunch when it came to that, and they still grew this excited over them …

Hotaru didn't realize that matters were about to take a turn for the worse, as they reached one of the main halls through a side corridor. She didn't realize her friends' excitement might just be bolstered if they witnessed anything impressive or surprising… and fate would have it that one such thing would take place right then and there.

Heavy footsteps on one end of the corridor revealed that a rather overwhelmed, busy Azula was making her way across the grand hall just then, accompanied by Song, for purposes beyond Hotaru's understanding: her two friends gasped in amazement at the sight of their hero, even if Azula didn't appear to notice them.

But just as Hotaru was about to speak up, to greet her mother, other footsteps echoed at the other end of the hall: this time, Sokka marched with one of the younger non-bending guards, who appeared to be reporting something noteworthy to him, much like Song did with Azula.

"Oh!" Shihan gasped, covering her mouth with her hands: neither Sokka nor Azula appeared to realize they were in collision course so far… something that surprised Hotaru. Was their respective business as serious as that?

Even their eldest child, who knew them as well as she did, could not anticipate their next move.

On busy days, Sokka and Azula would not be too likely to meet often. The action, the hectic chaos in their respective lines of work, would interfere during time they would prefer to spend together.

Thus, when they raised their gazes briefly to find they were about to cross paths, for the first time in hours, the urgency of their respective business took a backseat. however briefly.

Song and the guard didn't stop: both offered quick greetings to Sokka and to Azula, respectively, and then walked past them… but the pair in question didn't follow their example.

Sokka's hand moved to Azula's waist at once. Hers rose to his neck, without losing a beat.

Their lips pressed together, powerfully and passionately, without a single word spoken between the pair.

They swayed in place, with Sokka tilting Azula down, his passion overflowing as best it could in such limited time: Azula gripped his tunic tightly, unafraid of being dipped, merely determined to enjoy the moment they had stolen as boldly as that…

But it couldn't last for an instant longer. They had work to do.

They pulled back remorsefully as Sokka stood upright again. Still holding each other closely, they spoke in unison:

"I love you."

Their synchronized actions, words and desires brought proud smiles to their faces: that allowed them to part ways again, revitalized by each other, ready to focus regardless of their respective companions' amusement: both Song and the guard had merely stopped further down the corridor, to wait for Sokka and Azula's shared moment to end.

Just as fast as they turned up, they were gone. And neither one noticed that they had been seen, in that rather intimate and affectionate moment, by three pre-teen girls standing by a side corridor.

"Eh… heh. W-well…" Hotaru smiled awkwardly, looking at her friends with uncertainty…

Shihan and Liuwen stood in place, eyes wide as plate, jaws dropped. Hotaru's cheeks flushed: she was used to her parents and their reckless bursts of affection, but perhaps that had been too forward, too bold, for her friends to witness…?

She confirmed as much when the two girls screamed loudly enough to puncture her eardrums, holding hands and jumping in place, squealing about what they had just witnessed.

"THEY KISSED!"

"WE SAW IT! WE SAW IT!"

"THEY'RE THE PERFECT COUPLE!"

Hotaru gritted her teeth, covering her face with a hand, even if she smiled to herself. Her parents never failed to make an impression on whoever crossed their path, that was for sure…

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Happy Birthday to Fallen London; My favourite British people beefing it with bats simulator.

[mewniemoon]

Dadinder and the boys staring in: Cat Snuggles <3

This was a rollercoaster of a drawing but I think I like where it ended up :D

at one point I accidentally set my "draw over everything" layer to multiply, which made everything super dark, and me and my friends agreed it was rad so you guys get to see it. (and another filter cuz it looks cool)

[catliker49]

Surprise!

Quite literally! I have Finally drawn again! I am so Happy! My style is a bit rough.. or perhaps I should say... ruff! (Haha, sorry!) but that's just because I have not drawn anything other than my Final Piece for the past few months!

OH!! SPEAKING OF! I GOT DISTINCTIONS IN EVERYTHING! HAHA! (The highest grade for everything! Yay!) OOH! And! Final thing.. I am starting to use my name for my Signature, so, if you can spot it, that is why it does not say Catliker :O)

[mars-ipan]

this post has been komahinanami coded to me since day 1

[bbuzz28]

Memories

Old man Fiddlestan, my beloved-and what's this? It could be semi-canon compliant :O ?!?! Woof- this is one of the saddest things I have ever written. I know some of you gremlins (affectionate) love that sort of thing, but I don't. I like really really don't. This is my comfort ship, so I don't even know where this came from other than trying to figure out how they *could* work in canon. Truthfully though, I prefer my Fiddlestan heavy on the comfort when it comes to the "hurt/comfort" genre. This is my only “angsty” (i.e. no immediate happy ending) Notes-app fics, so don't get used to this level of sad from me lol.

“Stan?” an oddly familiar voice called. Mr. Mystery, Stan Pines, glanced up from the flyers he was organizing and found that Old Man McGucket stood in the doorway of his front door. The last tour of the day had just left, it was dinnertime, and he was exhausted. Stan rolled his eyes as he unfurled his tie, wishing Soos was still there to escort the crazy old man off his property. No matter what he did, the old hillbilly always managed to find his way back to the Shack. “Sweet Moses McSuckit, what are you doing in here? Shoo, scat, or whateva will get rid of ya.” Hearing no movement, he looked at the man again and found he was standing erect. His blue eyes were the clearest he had seen them in no less than a decade.

          Wait, what did he call- oh. Oh no.

“Stan…ley? Did I…did I do somethin’ wrong?” the other man asked, his hands twisted in knots in front of him. Memories flashed through Stan’s mind; Ford falling through the portal, Fiddleford finding him passed out in the lab, working together to bring Ford home again…being together. Being happy. They had been happy, if just for a little while, hadn’t they?

Then there was the cult, and his discovery of the damn memory gun that had finally ruined everything they ever built. He took a hesitant step forward, a thousand thoughts roaring in his mind at once. “Fidds? Wha-what do you remember?” A bandaged hand snaked up and rubbed over the faded scar on the side of his head “I…don’t rightly know. Did we…I think we had a fight? I just woke up in the…in the dump. N’ I don’t have any shoes. Do ya know why my arm is in a cast?” Fiddleford looked so lost.

Stan knew in his heart that all of this was fleeting- “clarity” would hit Fiddleford every few years after he had finally wiped his mind of himself. Almost like his brain was trying to jumpstart itself back together. The first time they thought it was a miracle but…it didn’t last. It just started a trend that would follow them both for the next almost thirty years. Fiddleford would seemingly “wake up” and be lucid for a few weeks in the beginning, then eventually only a matter of days. It had been so long since the last time that Stan would wager, they only had maybe a few hours together if he was lucky.

The last time Fiddleford was himself…they had fought. Stanley thought he had figured the only way Fiddleford could stay; he needed to remember. Remember everything he had ever forgotten. At the time, Fiddleford had been unwilling to try. He didn’t think he could handle it; he knew he had forgotten what he had for a reason.

Stanley had gotten as close to begging as he ever had in his life since surviving Tijuanna, and when it had no effect…Stanley had told Fiddleford to leave and never come back. He had left that night, and by the next day he had faded away again. After a while, Stan thought his last words had been the final nail in the coffin that was Fiddleford’s mind. He carried that weight along with every other mistake he had ever made. But here he was. Fiddleford. His Fiddleford.

He took a deep breath before he opened his arms up. “Hey, don’t worry, it doesn’t matter. I’m right here.” Fiddleford rushed through the doorway, melting into Stanley’s open arms. “I went away again, didn’t I?” Stan could feel Fiddleford’s tears soaking into his chest, his own whispering at the edges of his eyes. Yes, and you will leave again. You will leave me and I will be alone all over again, you fucking asshole. “Hey cowboy, didn’t I just say not t’ worry about any a’ that? You’re here now, n' that’s what matters. You’re…you’re home.” A haggard laugh vibrated through the smaller man’s chest into Stanley’s own. “I know I keep tellin’ ya, tellin’ me not t’ worry is like” “…tellin’ a fish t’ stop swimmin’; I know Fidds, I know.” Fuck was really the only conscious thought that went through his head as he held his one-time lover. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, again.

Fiddleford looked up, eyes wide and searching Stan’s face. “How long do ya think we have?” Stan shook his head, unwilling to lie even if it eventually wouldn’t matter because he wouldn’t remember. You’ve always been the only person I couldn’t lie to. “I dunno, it’s been…a while. Probably not very long.” Fiddleford closed his eyes before he said “I need ya t’ know somethin’, Stanley.” Stan started to shake his head. “Fidds, you don’t have t-” The look on the other man’s face shut Stan right up-he had always had that ability. Stan wished he didn’t miss it as much as he did. “I need ya to know that even when I’m not here…I miss you. The part of me that’s somewhere in here-” A weathered hand tapped the side of his head to emphasize his point “ misses you. I’m just so sorry, Stanley. Sorry that I’m a coward. I’m sorry that I’m not strong enough to be here all the time…but I’ll never stop tryin’. I’ll always try n’ come home to ya.”

Stan thought of the thousands of times he had chased Old Man McGucket, the neat little character that Stan had to compartmentalize his Fiddleford into when he wasn’t himself, out of the Shack. How many times he had found him curled up like a cat on the back porch. How every time they “met”, McGucket would say how nice Stan was or how good he felt to be around him “for some reason.” How many odds and ends McGucket would gift Stan from the dump for exhibits at the Mystery Shack with a large smile and nothing substantial behind his eyes.

It would be so much easier if he would stop trying to come back. Maybe the hole in Stan’s heart the size of the sweet, certifiably insane man would scab over. How many times had Stanley mourned him? How many times was he willing to hurt himself? They were now nearing their sixties, how long was he really willing to do this song and dance?

What’s one more time? he softly thought, his hand coming up to tenderly cup the grizzled face of Fiddleford Hadron McGucket. Mad scientist, friend, and unfortunately for them both…the love of his life.

“I miss you too, Fidds.”

[vaguely-concerned]

the question is who taught lucanis to knit. was it something he already knew how to do or is he picking it up over the course of the game as part of his 'if I manage to cram enough hobbies in there I won't have to sleep again ever. easy' experiment. did he learn it out of a book (as a sometime knitter, a horrifying thought but I wouldn't put it past him). as hilarious as I find the mental image of caterina with knitting needles I do not believe in it, did he pick it up from someone in the household staff growing up the same way he did cooking. is the sweater he wears with his introductory armour his own work (very funny if so it's just so. incredibly neutral toned and sensible.) I understand why he never does it on screen because animating knitting is the devil's own work and bioware were right to dodge right past it no one should wish themselves that kind of pain, but do you think off-screen he's using it the same way davrin does whittling during team meetings and book club nights (for real the grandmas were so right for this: knitting during social group situations is a neurodivergent life hack like you wouldn't believe if doodling isn't your thing/isn't doing it for you). it's that or sharpening his knives and some people seem to get a bit nervous about that so he mostly sticks to the knit one purl one of it all. does he make things for the team. for romanced rook perhaps. boring but useful things like socks and scarves, to be clear. I think mr. 'I made you a cake (cautiously marital intent)' would not mean to impress just make sure your feet weren't cold jogging around the heights of athim killing darkspawn. knitting more socks for harding so she won't get cold walking around everywhere in her fereldan *checks notes written on palm* clogs. some of taash' outfits... you think rook and lucanis are letting them walk around the anderfels like that without at least a token sensible scarf on even tho adaari are built different in terms of body temperature. I say no not in my lighthouse they would team up and mother hen them to shathann levels before they'd let that happen. (the scarf has dragons on it taash thinks it's kind of cool actually.) a bobble hat for manfred not because he really needs it but because he wanted to feel included. assan indignantly tries to steal it and fly away with it so he gets his own scarf to promote peace between the lighthouse little guys and it works. help.

[leonardburton]

the thing is. juno & nureyev's relationship has been such a major guiding thread throughout the podcast and the major drive of season 5, and the fandom has built itself so much (as fandoms often do) around shipping the two of them.

and yet nureyev doesn't show up at all in the last episode! or, he does, but it's only implied (for all we know it could be like. alessandra strong)(i know it's not but it would be really funny) and we don't hear his voice.

and it's so important to me that despite the room that their romance has taken in the plot and in our hearts, his absence reinforces that the point of juno steel's story wasn't a lady getting his man, it was about learning to grow as person for himself and for his friends (and not just his love interest), and it was about finding his footing in life and being at peace with himself and his place in the world. and he did! his growth and relative serenity is so apparent and just. a balm to the soul

and the fact that his man is back is just a nice add-on, not a necessity for his happiness

[kala-mies]

I succumbed to Ghostknife it's over for me man

[coolsvilleprincess]

They're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of Oz!!

I actually started this last month and then got burnt out and didn't finish it until now but whatever I FINISHED IT!! I finished watching Scooby Doo and Guess Who last month and there's a Wizard of Oz parody in the last episode and I just knew I had to do fanart, a legal requirement if you will.

I kept Shaggy, Fred and Velma's costumes from the episode the same but I thought Daphne and Scooby deserved costumes that were a bit more personal too. But who would the wizard in question be?? Well don't worry because I drew art for that too!!

I just can't stop thinking about a proper direct to DVD scooby WOZ parody film and how Van Ghoul should be the wizard, like in my head it's perfect.

[hyakunana]

"Were you even listening? How many reports, Ikora? How many times did I tell you what I saw?"

[not-equippedforthis]

H: can i wear...sunglasses and ear defenders?

W: yeah, wear whatever you want, mate.

H: ...fine.

W: hmm ^^

deadass what if i just started crying

[quickfixinator]

ad astra per aspera

do do do do dooo doing the tumblr thing where I ramble about the thing that I made either in the tags or under the post. in this case I believe I will be doing both.

I find it a bit unfortunate with pieces like this that I've either workshopped for months or have thought about way too hard, how I end up having nothing to say about them at the end. someone explain that to me, or don't. that's cool too.

I made an alternate version where he's getting dragged down by bill hands because that's:

a) sick as hell

b) somewhat plot relevant

someone tell me if I should post that or not. is that cool or am I insane. I feel like I could've done more but what I've ended up with is satisfactory for me so I'll move on now. thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[zwoftt]

ok i know we're all panicking about last episode but LISTEN. LISTEN. if people are getting concerned over orym and dorian's relationship because of orym's actions/the way he seemed to be responding to everything afterwards, then we needa take a breath for a moment cuz that man had one kiss with dorian and all of his stress from previous battles- all of the pain- all of the trauma- disappeared. they are GOING TO BE OK (kind of). and even then, i have a feeling dorian would be the ONLY person orym would want to talk to. liam has acted out orym going over to dorian during stressful situations, using dorian as a coping mechanism; as orym's personal form of comfort- orym FINDS comfort, light and solace in dorian. when all of his hope is lost, with all of his emotions duller, i think i know where orym will go. right to dorian's side.

[skyenish]

Oh to be that skeleton in Jamil’s arms… (groovy spoilers)