#it's been awhile and this is from memory but this is roughly it

[jenanigans1207]

I work in inpatient rehab at my local hospital. The average length of stay is roughly 7 days. I have had a 95 year old gentleman as my patient for the last 16 days.

From the very first day I worked with him, he was a gem. We became fast friends and had a great time working together. He was in the hospital for a stroke and I was there to get him up and taking his first steps after it happened all the way to climbing stairs again.

The last few days, he hasn’t been feeling as well and his spirits have been down in the dumps, too. We’ve done a lot of talking around our therapy and he’s told me the highlights of his life; his favorite memories. When he finally admitted to me that he was depressed, I told him that I knew but I was proud of him for acknowledging it. I asked how I could help and he said “you always do.”

Tomorrow he is being discharged from the hospital to go to his next care facility and I don’t work tomorrow, so I said goodbye to him today. When I expressed to him how truly proud of him I was, he apologized for not making more progress.

We talked for awhile about everything and I reiterated not just how far he had come, but how truly lucky I felt to be a part of his recovery and to get to work with him. He was the highlight of my day for 16 days and I told him that.

And then he told me that he knows he’s 95 and he can’t be around forever. He told me that no matter what, he’ll always be looking down on me and watching over me. He said “I can’t wait to see you turn 95, and see what a happy life you lead.”

He told me that he will be a robin, and any time I see one, it will just be him coming by to check on me and let me know he’s still around. He cried telling me this, and I cried hearing it.

16 days ago this man was a stranger, and now I’ll never look at robins the same way again. 16 days ago I walked into his room and said “Hi, my name is Jen, and I’m going to be your PT!” And now I can call this truly lovely man my friend.

You just. You never know how meeting a new person will go. Trust me, I’ve been yelled at, hit, made to bleed, etc. it’s part of the job, I know that. And I often do get really wonderful patients, too. I do. But every once in a while, you get someone who is truly special and makes a unique impact on your life, and that’s what this patient was for me.

He always worked so hard with me, and never turned me down. He put his trust in me and told me he believed in himself because I believed in him and he knew I’d never lie to him.

I told him to come back and visit as a friend once he finished recovering and he promised he would, and that it would be one of the most special reunions of his life. I told him it would be for my life, too.

Anyway, I just feel really lucky to have been a part of his recovery and to befriend him the last 16 days and our conversation today will stay with me for a long, long time. This is my fourth time crying about it.

It’s days like today and patients like him that remind me why I do this and why I care so much. I’m going to miss seeing him every day terribly but I’m choosing to believe it’s not a permanent goodbye and I’m so looking forward to celebrating with him in the future.

[blorboazula]

fun fact: the ciano dragon's, well, dragons can change their size at will. I was talking with @waterfire1848 on discord and had this idea for how the Gaang discovers Azula can do that. there's also a little bit of feels, I guess.

brief context: Aang and Katara found Azula living in the abandoned Fire Nation ship, they got the grumpy lizard to travel with them. at this point, they have no idea who Azula is. here's a drabble about the night Azula's having a nightmare about.

It wasn't like Azula went around announcing her skills, seeing she didn't have the skill of speech in this form. A form she had been in for years, and roughly the same size since then. She trained the size change, of course, but this seemed optimal to live inside a ship designed for average-sized Fire Nation men. The form was about the size of, well, an average-sized Fire Nation man. That was also a perfect size to travel with this group, sometimes she flew alongside the furball, but young dragons weren't fit for long distance travels, she'd allow herself to curl up in a ball on the corner.

So.

The group knew she could fly, spit blue fire and be a pretty good defense against "the inconvenient Fire Nationals".

It has been a few calm days, a rarity, and peace called unpleasant memories. Like the escape from the palace. Her fire swallowed by blue-ish white flames, kicking and squirming. She woke up tasting ash and blood on her mouth, it has taken months for the blisters to heal.

She got up, walked in circles in the same spot before laying down again. Closing her eyes brought images of the palace hallways and echoes of damning words. She huffed, sat up. They slept peacefully, the three of them, side by side.

It reminded her of some of the good old days. When she, Mai and Ty Lee would drag Zuko to a sleepover and the four of them would sleep under the stars. She didn't think too much about that. It brought other pleasant yet painful memories.

Sokka was as spread around as he could, lanky limbs all around, softly snoring. Aang at his left, in a position not much different, but occupying way less space as the smallest of the group. (As the youngest of the group.) Katara was on Aang's other side, back turned to him and the only one properly on her bedroll. On her side, hands tucked under her head.

Azula couldn't sleep, it didn't matter how many times she tried.

Back in the ship, she'd just go awake until her body collapsed in a corner from days of staying up. Now, she couldn't do it. They needed her protection – her help, they were kids (she hasn't been a kid in a long time). She needed to be well-rested, at her best performance at all times.

In the palace, when she couldn't sleep, she had two options: Zuko's bed, Mother's bed. Climb on it, curl up near the bottom and not move until sunrise. She hadn't shrunk (further) since joining them, but it was as easy as ever. She made herself a little smaller than the annoying lemur, found a perfect spot at Katara's feet. The girl irradiated warmth even through the bedroll, and was a firm presence.

It has been awhile, since she fell asleep this quickly.

///

"Why's Blue so tiny?" Azula could be very sleepy still, but she snapped her teeth at Sokka anyways. He should know to not try to poke her.

"She'll bite your hand off one of these days," Katara commented. "Maybe it's a dragon thing?"

"Flying and spitting fire are a dragon thing, not turning into a teeny tiny lizard."

Katara was looking at her like she was seeing the most precious thing in the world, Azula half-flew half-jumped to her shoulder: "Hello there. Slept well?" She nodded.

"It's a thing I heard in the legends," Aang chimed in, now fully awake, apparently. "Dragons are very, very large. It's convenient for them to shrink." She nodded along.

"Blue here doesn't look that large when she's, like, in her usual size."

Aang shrugged: "Unless she shows us, we don't know how large she actually is. We don't know how old she is. Or why she was in the South Pole. Or even her name. We literally call her by the color of her scales and her fire."

That was fair, she guessed. She thought they wouldn't take well if she shifted into a very Fire National-looking girl wearing clearly high society clothes. Or a girl that was very much obviously related to the Prince trying to capture the Avatar.

She liked this little life, stressful as it was, at least it was a little less lonely.

[marvelobsessed134]

Runaway bride

Requested: no, I’ve just had this idea for awhile and figured while I’m a writing mood I should write it!

Warnings: none

Pairings: Tommy Lee x fem!reader

Summary: You’re forced to marry a man you don’t want, because your heart belongs to someone else. And on your wedding day, the unthinkable happens

A/n: It’s a little short, actually most of my fics are short I should just stop apologizing lol.

You hated this. Absolutely hated this. You were getting married…just not to the man you wanted.

Your parents had been very clear from the beginning that they wanted you to marry this guy because he was a family friend and a lawyer. They wanted you to marry a respectable man and not your ‘delinquent boyfriend’ who happens to be the love of your life. Breaking it off was so hard, and you could see the hurt in his eyes.

Tears sprung in your eyes you recalled the memory. It got even more depressing when you realized the state you were in. Here, in a dressing room of a church, wearing a flowy white gown alone, sitting on a couch. Crying on your wedding day but not from happiness, from sorrow and regret.

Isn’t your wedding day supposed to be the happiest day of your life? Well, for you it’s the saddest. You were someone open the door, you didn’t even look up. “Mom, I’m sorry but I don’t think I can do this.”

“Then don’t.” The voice of your ex boyfriend spoke. You shot your head up to see the drummer in tuxedo, his long hair perfectly curled and teased. You stood up immediately, “Tommy? Is that really you?” Tears were streaming down your face now.

Tommy smiled and stepped closer, holding your face in his hands, “Yes, it’s me babe.” You cried into his chest as you clutched his suit jacket. He lovingly stroked your hair before you calmed down.

You looked back up at him. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m here to take my girl back, is what I’m doing.” A smile spread across his and yours face.

“Why’d you get dressed up?” You asked.

“I had to blend in with the rest of the guests or else I would’ve been kicked out.”

You pressed your lips to his roughly, and he gripped your face as he kissed you back. The two of you pulled away, breathless. “Come on, let’s get out of here before anyone notices.” He whispered and you nodded. The two of you held hands as you ran outside the back door of the church and into his car. You giggled from the adrenaline and flicked off the church building before Tommy sped off. He drove you to his house and the two of you walked in, feeling like it was just the two of you in the world.

He led you to the living room and put on a record of some old 50s slow song. “Dance with me baby.” He said and you smiled, grabbing his hand. The two of you danced in the living room in a tuxedo and wedding dress pretending it was your guys’ wedding you were dancing at. You rested your head on his shoulder as the two of you continued to dance, and you closed your eyes relishing in the feeling.

[theravenkin]

i am sitting in bed in the dark on my phone and i wrote an angsty twinyards one shot on my phone. don't know what is wrong with me but it's something. here.

*TW: panic attack, vomiting, drugs, vague reference to abuse, general AFTG-typical bullshit*

"stop," andrew repeats. "stop it." he rubs aaron's back as he heaves again. andrew itches all over with the memories picking at the edges of his mind. he pushes them away, focusing on his brother. "you're fine. just breathe."

as aaron goes blessedly, dangerously quiet for a moment, trying to calm his gasping breaths, andrew can hear the others lingering near the doorway.

"fuck, fuck, fuck," says a soft, gravely voice. it is katelyn. andrew doesn't turn around.

"hey, i talked to abby, and--" matt isn't talking to him, but andrew cuts him off.

"i don't care," he says. he holds up the plastic solo cup beside him. "get him more water. some crackers or something, too. he's almost done."

matt, thankfully, does as he's told and gets out. andrew finally turns to look at the others. katelyn leans in the doorway, viciously chewing on her nails. neil stands beside her, watching her, standing guard to make sure she doesn't interfere with andrew's operation. neil's his second in this fight, he thinks.

aaron coughs and sits up from the toilet. he sways a little, eyes unfocused.

"i'm sorry," he croaks. andrew cuffs him lightly. "ow," he says without much conviction.

"shut up. are you done freaking out?"

"you just told me to shut up. how am i supposed to answer--"

the return of the snark means he is, in fact, done freaking out, returned to baseline. andrew punches him in the arm lightly as katelyn snorts in the background. andrew ignores her.

aaron takes a deep, shuddering breath. he deflates as the tension that'd been holding him together evaporates. he wipes his face on his sleeve and tries to stand up. andrew pulls him back down. he stays.

matt comes back with water and crackers. "hey matt," katelyn says roughly, "do you guys have any gatorade?" matt turns back around to get some. andrew swallows down a wave of irritation.

aaron drinks the water, eats the crackers, and drinks the gatorade, and only then does andrew let him stand. he leads him to the couch, but aaron shakes his head. "nah, i'm...i think i'm gonna go lay down." andrew holds a steadying hand on aaron's shoulder for a couple steps, but aaron isn't stumbling as much as he was before. andrew lets go and lets him walk on his own.

"do you want me to..." katelyn asks softly.

aaron turns around to look at her, but doesn't quite meet her eyes. "no," he chokes. he clears his throat. "um...no, i'm good. just need...some time." he continues to look at the ground before her.

she smiles and nods easily. "alright, sounds good. i'll stick around for awhile, if that's alright?"

aaron nods.

"alright. i'll just chill on the couch for a bit, then."

andrew wants to slap the pitiful look off aaron's face, but he doesnt. he just watches aaron disappear into the bedroom without another word.

the others stand there for a beat, quiet and unsure how to process among themselves what just happened. matt is the first to break the silence.

"uh," he sighs, "i'm...gonna go. to the store. yeah, i'm gonna go to the store. get some more gatorade, and stuff. i'll be back in a while."

neil catches andrew's gaze and andrew reads the minute change in his expression as inquisitive. he looks at matt, then back at neil, and nods, gesturing with his chin to the door. go. neil nods, gives him one more firm look--it's okay, you're okay, i'm okay, he's okay, be careful, don't fuck anything up, i love you-- and follows matt out of the dorm.

when he looks back, katelyn is sat on the couch. she stares ahead, silent. she doesn't seem scared of him, like she used to, or even resentful of him, like she has more recently. she doesn't show any sign that she's even aware of him. she's lost in her head, eyes blazing. andrew watches her grind her teeth; otherwise, she is still.

he casually strolls over and sits on the opposite end of the couch. still, she gives no indication that she gives a fuck.

he stares at the same wall that she does and lets the silence stew for a few moments, dreading when he inevitably has to puncture it.

"so," he begins, keeping his voice carefully neutral and breezy, "are you going to tell me what triggered that little episode?"

she remains catatonic for a moment in which andrew feels anger coming off of her in waves. he wants to throw her out the window by her hair. but he can't, unfortunately--not when she was the one who'd been keeping aaron from choking on his own panic until andrew got there. not when she'd called andrew first, the minute she knew something was wrong.

no one else. him. she called him.

she sighs through her nose. "the episode--do you mean the panic attack? or the substance binge?" he feels her turn her head to look at the side of his. though it makes his skin prickle in discomfort, he turns to meet her.

she is like andrew has not seen her before--tightly-coiled, like she is ready to fight. he didn't know she fought. maybe she doesn't. maybe the instinct is separate from the skill.

andrew doesn't reply, nor does he show surprise, so she keeps going. "he apparently thought it was a good idea to mix liquor with 25 grams on an empty stomach."

andrew gives her a bored look. "oh no, how shocking and bad." he checks his nails, performing dismissiveness. "he--"

"shut up," she says. he whips his gaze back to hers. she looks quietly, coldly furious. "i know he's done worse. i know. but, god--he'd been doing so good. and, fuck--pills, coke, weed, whatever--it doesn't matter what he chooses to hurt himself with, does it?"

andrew sucks his teeth, but she doesn't let him get a word in.

"he hasn't been doing shit like that at all, lately, it's just--" she sighs, and it snags on the way out. she works her jaw for a moment, looking at the ceiling.

"he..." she tries at last. "he mentioned something about having a dream about his mom last night. and i knew he was having a bad day, all day, i could tell. he said he was gonna take half a dose just to settle his nerves, but..." she shakes her head. "i keep thinking, you know, 'i should've known better, i shouldn't have left, i should've stayed with him all day', but i know that's not." she clenches her fists; her knuckles go white. andrew is silent.

"he's not exactly stable, but he's an adult, and he doesn't need a babysitter. i'm not his..." she purses her lips as though she's tasted something sour.

"he greened out," she says simply, short and clipped. she picks at a loose thread in the sofa. "hard. plus the alcohol, plus the general anxiety all day. that's all. he made a stupid decision."

andrew is still for a while, then finally, finally nods. "and then he spiraled," he says, matter of fact.

she nods in return, looking dejectedly at the floor. "mhm."

she worries the thread looser. "he, um..." she clears her throat. "he was babbling, while he was panicking, before he started throwing up. he...god, he was so fucked up." she shakes her head, the coil tightening. "he was just rambling, and at some point, he...he said something about 'her'. he was just like, 'fuck, when is she getting home? what time is it? what time is it?' he was terrified, kept saying 'she' was coming home early."

andrew's chest tightens. he grinds his teeth once, twice, three times, to feel the sharp pain stab through his jaw.

"cant fool a junkie into believing you're not high," he manages, but his throat is dry and the words come out cracked. he resists the urge to cough.

katelyn releases a shuddering breath. he looks up, but she's staring at the wall again, the intensity reeled back inside of her. it bubbles under the surface.

"i'm glad that you killed her," she says lightly. andrew's heart thumps hard, making his chest shake. he swallows.

"he told me," she adds. her tone is coldly nonchalant. "he told me what you did. or, what he thinks you did. i don't disbelieve it."

she finally looks at him. "either way, i'm glad she's dead." in her eyes is that intensity, simmering under the lid, about to boil over. "my only regret is that i wasn't there to do it myself."

she holds his gaze for a half-second longer before she turns back to face the wall. her legs are crossed at the knee, her manicured hands folded neatly, properly in her lap. she sits perfectly still.

andrew watches her. he watches, because when he doesn't know what to do, he steps back and observes while he figures it out. he's trying to figure katelyn out--something he hadnt bothered to do before, out of bitterness, the resentment of the rebuked. but now, he watches, watches, trying to put a name to the thing she is.

a year ago, she'd been a threat to his brother's health, a threat to his own place in his brothers life. a threat to whatever value he had to aaron.

now, all he sees is a threat, plain and simple.

for a while they sit in silence, andrew sometimes watching her, sometimes not. sometimes he thinks, sometimes he listens to the hum of electricity in the walls. sometimes he wonders if he can hear aaron breathing or snoring or weeping through the wall, but he can't.

matt and neil return soon enough, and they look at the scene the two of them make like it's a fallout. matt moves slowly and quietly, so as not to spook. neil shuffles to the perimeter of the sitting area, hovering within a safe distance. not trying to interject; just reminding them, /we are here, and this is weird, and i want to know what is going on/. andrew flicks him a glance, annoyed, but tired enough that he could fall into neil's arms. he looks away again.

after a few minutes of neil hovering and matt pretending to still be putting groceries away and the other two stewing in their own silence, the bedroom door creaks open. aaron takes half a step out, looking every bit the beaten and broken fifteen year old andrew loathed. aaron's hunched frame makes him sick.

"hey, kate," he croaks, sounding as pathetic as he looks. "um, if you wanna...come in. we could talk, or." he looks around at the others, shame resting in the bags under his eyes. "whatever."

katelyn watches him. evaluates him. he's the only person in the room to her, in this moment. andrew reads that plain on her face, as clear to see as her anger had been seconds ago. she gives aaron the shittiest, dullest half-smile. "how about you take another few minutes, and then i'll be right in. is that okay?"

aaron's shoulders sink down further, like his guilt is gravity. "yeah," he rasps. he closes the door.

the boys are frozen. katelyn is still. she sighs, runs her nails against her scalp, smooths her hair back. then she turns to andrew. she waits.

he sighs. "i tried to get rid of her," he says at last.

katelyn gives him that same shitty not-smile. "yeah," she says. "we keep trying, keep trying to get rid of her, don't we?"

andrew sniffs. she shrugs. she stands, but doesn't go anywhere for a moment; he looks up at her.

"we're doing our best, i think," she says. she leaves that between them; they hold it between them. they don't look each other in the eyes anymore, but they hold that thing between them. then, at the same time, they let go, and she walks to the bedroom door, slipping inside.

andrew slumps back against the cushions, the coiled tension that'd been holding him upright finally unfurling.

[simonpetrilove]

here are my thoughts about what happened to Winter King because i haven't seen much said about how he got this way:

During the apocalypse, Simon lost Marceline young (whether in a situation where the oozers attacked and he wasn't wearing the crown to defend them, marceline getting sick and not finding the resources to save her in time, among other bad things that can happen in the apocalypse). Because of this, WK replicated Marceline with the last memory he's had of her. Because she wasn't around to defend humans against the vampires, humans died out and Finn was never born.

Because Marceline wasn't around to love hambo like she had in our universe, hambo was never a catalyst and Simon could never summon a portal to say goodbye to Betty when he had his magic temporarily taken away by Bella Noche. (Which I believe gets solved sometime after if Betty's not there due to some really pissed off wizards.)

Because Betty isn't teleported to Ooo, she is killed in the apocalypse. Maybe she sticks around with Simon for awhile as she tries to revert his curse, after he comes to when putting the crown on for the first time. She goes to Scandinavia to find the seller of the crown, Simon sticking back because he thinks he's becoming a danger to be around the longer he wears the crown, and in the time she's gone, the bomb goes off and all attempts to reach her are in vain.

When Bella Noche happens, he quickly knows he's on a time limit, and spends his sane time finding a cure to the madness of the crown, so when he puts it back on to save himself, he'll be immortal- but himself. Us fans know that that isn't possible, and he finds that out once he's to the point where he's barely alive, but successfully, and in a matter of desperation, simon finds a way to get the madness out of the crown.

He knows PB is intelligent from his time as the IK, and maybe asks for her help in this time. Maybe they both come to the conclusion they'd need a host for the madness if ever they were to get it out of the crown. Options come through first, like Simon requesting she make a candy citizen as a host, but she denies this as to not corrupt her candy people with the brand of madness that has caused her to be kidnapped time and time again. (Because Marceline isn't around to help her differentiate Simon from IK, she holds a grudge against him too.) This gets the pair nowhere and Simon gets more desperate.

However, Simon's done things in the apocalypse to survive (vandalism, killing the oozers) so it wouldn't be completely out of character at this point, and perhaps he feels some compassion about what he did afterwards, which fades as he gets used to his partial sanity and ice magic. Maybe he thinks of her as a last-ditch attempt as a host for the madness of the crown, as he's very close to death and she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but nevertheless, he transfers the madness onto her.

Once himself again (roughly), getting his kingdom started, and in his grief knowing he'd been sane the last time he saw marceline, he makes an ice copy while making his kingdom as successful as Bubblegum's, except with that winter brand.

Also the rebrand, naming himself Winter King instead.

Knowing Betty probably died in the apocalypse, WK found it easier to forget about her with some lingering Ice King-madness, but still remember her existence.

Because the transfer of madness was a last-ditch effort in order to save his life, he's very close to death when the crown goes back on, and that's why he died so quickly when Fionna inadvertently takes the magic away.

(another idea i was sorta thinking about: What if WK made an ice betty at one point, and because of re-emerging grief and sorrow, he couldn't keep her around, knowing she's not the original. That's when he thought it was best to just forget about her.)

[pandor-pandorkful]

My mattress is 16 years old and sunken as fuck, and lately the inner coils have been poking me. It was never designed with heavy folk in mind in the first place and it sucks. Ideally I want to replace it, but financially that's not possible.

Researching mattresses was dizzying and kinda depressing. Mattress that won't break under my weight = $900-$1500... but mattresses that probably would break under my weight still impossible for me to afford at $500-$1000 range!

So I looked into what people suggested for folks roughly in my situation. What do you do when you can't replace your mattress?? This isn't an essay, I won't list all the options here. What I chose to investigate further was MATTRESS TOPPERS.

Specifically, I searched for fat friendly mattress toppers, and I ended up at a webstore selling natural latex foam toppers who seemed to cater to heavy folk like me. A "full" (also called "double" I think) mattress topper was just under $200, with labor day discount. I decided to go for it.

It arrived yesterday, and I know you can't really review these kinds of things after 1 night of sleep but HOLY COW. This thing is comfortable!!! My shitty old mattress feels like an entirely different mattress! (Imagine how nice this would feel on a new mattress aaaaaaaa)

The mattress topper does a good job evening out all the sinkage, and sandwiched between two mattress covers and my bottom sheet it does a good job protecting me from random coil pokes! I'm shocked at how durable it is. I'm HEAVY, but it's handling my weight incredibly well without compressing into an uncomfortable hard rock (which is what memory foam woulda done).

I wanna keep a lil log of how I sleep on it for awhile before I like actually recommend the company, but 1st night impression was very positive.

[catgirlforkaeya]

birthday wishes

kaeya x gn!reader

synopsis: kaeya’s birthday wish

word count: 964

fluff

warnings: a little suggestive 😇

a/n: happy birthday to kaeya the love of my life idc if he is a set of pixels 🥳🙏🙏 i have been a PROUD main since feb 25 2021 and i am not ashamed. i will proudly flex my triple crowned c5 r2 aquila kaeya on people. also did y’all see his birthday art???? LORDDDDD

the streets of the city were bustling, this time of the year was always busy. it was breaching the season of christmas, so everyone’s days were slowly getting busier and busier. whether it be busy with work, christmas shopping, or other unknown tasks, everyone found a way to be busy.

you, however, were currently on your way home early to surprise your boyfriend for his birthday.

you’d been away on a business trip for roughly three months now, and wasn’t supposed to return until right before christmas. this meant you would miss kaeya’s birthday— which you could never do to him. after some nonstop nagging your boss they reluctantly agreed to allow you to cut the trip early and finish the rest at home.

kaeya had no clue you were back in town. last he knew you were on your way to a big business conference and couldn’t talk for awhile, when in reality you were boarding your flight back home. after an agonizingly long six hour flight, you landed and found your way to the taxi outside.

thanks to a few mutual friends you got ahold of kaeya’s schedule for the day, so you knew how to plan things perfectly. you were going to do your best to avoid the apartment just in case he happened to stop by. if all goes according to plan, in a few hours you two will be reunited and celebrating his birthday together.

-

you spent the next three hours running all around the city, going from shop to shop for items. you bought a whole miscellaneous of items. the cake, obligatory fancy wine, a new watch to complete his set, some cologne, anything and everything that kaeya loved you managed to grab. time was flying by, and before you knew it you were rushing home to set up the apartment.

the apartment was thankfully empty when you arrived, just like you had planned. everything had been going according to schedule, so you had at least an hour to get everything laid out.

you started with the kitchen, placing the cake down in the center of the counter island. grabbing two glasses of wine out of the cabinets above, you filled them up and set them opposite of each other. you left the bottle out, figuring that one glass would not be enough for either of you.

next, you moved onto the living room. you unpacked all of the little trinkets and gifts you had bought your beloved, quickly and neatly wrapping them and placing them on the coffee table. by the time you were done it almost looked like christmas in there.

and at last, you moved onto the bedroom. you wanted to let kaeya end the day off with something relaxing, so what’s better than spending some time in the bedroom? you quickly made up the sheets, tucking them in and straightening them so they were all neat. next, you lit some candles on your nightstands to give the room an aroma. you went with a fall spice scent— awhile back kaeya mentioned that smell was his one of his favorites. your memory with that type of stuff was finally coming in handy today.

once you fixed up any last-minute preparations, you changed into another set of clothes. just on queue, you heard the door click as the clock chimed at six-o’clock. you casually made your way down the hallway, hoping this scenario would play out like you’d rehearsed in your head a million times.

when kaeya saw you standing in front of him, he stopped immediately. at first he did a double take, not thinking it was real. he’d been sleeping less— it was probably a hallucination. however, when he watched you walk towards him and cup his face in your hands, he knew it wasn’t a hallucination.

your lover wrapped his arms around your waist firmly, pulling you in for a deep kiss. it caught you off guard— although you should’ve expected a reaction like this. after being without each other for so long it’s no surprise that both of you were on the needy side.

your bodies melted against each other’s, lips moving in sync. somehow you ended up with your back against the wall, arms wrapped around his neck. kaeya’s knee slid between your legs, resting there as he took over the kiss. he would gently bite down on your bottom lip ever so often, electing a gasp out of you. testing the waters a little, he ran his tongue over your bottom lip too. you caught on and slid your tongue into the kiss too, heating up the atmosphere even more. now your tongues were brushing against each other ever so often, making the kiss a little messy at this point. messy didn’t matter right now, though. he tasted like peppermint and sweets, and his lips felt like heaven. that’s all that mattered.

“what are you doing here?” kaeya asked breathless as he pulled away from the kiss. his forehead rested against yours as you both tried to catch your breath.

“i wanted to surprise you for your birthday,” you let out a shaky laugh as you tried to regain your composure. your head was spinning right now, and your body felt like it was on fire. “i convinced my boss to let me do the rest of the trip from home. i’m here now.”

kaeya was at a loss for words. he’d been dreading his birthday for months because he’d been thinking he was going to spend it alone. he was never a fan of his birthday, but spending it without the love of his life was an even more miserable thought. however, here you were standing in front of him.

guess birthday wishes do come true afterall.

[pitchdarkhook]

RANDOM HOOK HEADCANON, CHECK !

TOPIC: THE CREATION OF THE MOLES―

I have mentioned roughly about why Hook created the Moles in this post over here. But! I have been thinking about it for awhile now and figured I should go in depth of why she created the Moles.

Hook's inspiration for creating the Moles can be found in THE ADVENTUROUS MOLES side quest in the game, where Julian asks the Trailblazer to go on a journey to find all the pages of the book. From reading the pages, the book is an interactive book, much like some of the children books that allows kids to stimulate their brains by letting them figure out a puzzle and etc.

From the passages of text, you can tell that the Moles are an adventure squad that details their expeditions in pages, describing the once-vibrant planet that is known as Jarilo-VI / Belobog and the troubles that they faced.

This book is an inspiration to Hook, I would say. And it made me raise my eyebrow when Julian tells the Trailblazer that he wanted a sequel and that he got the postface from Natasha. Where did she get it? We will never know, but what the author says in the postface is something that Hook is trying to do:

― ❝ But, more importantly, I want to give my young readers "the experience of adventure without the peril of it." ❞

The adventures that Hook creates for the Moles are never expeditions that put them into trouble. For example, she goes as far as to make another version of the boxing tournament, also known as the Dark Fist Tournament, where people don't fight and just play rock, paper, scissors with one another. She plans their adventures, she comes up with the puzzles on her own for the rest of the children under her watch, and I think that is a very mature thing to do, coming from a ten year old.

MOVING ONTO THE CORE REASON ON THE CREATION OF THE MOLES:

Like I said before in the linked post above, the Moles is a network for children to communicate and bond. Hook has been through a lot, as a kid. She lost her biological Mother, saw her biological Father pass on in front of her, watching as Fersman's health and memory get worse over time and this rough society that they were stuck in, due to the lockdown of the Underworld. The list really goes on.

The innocence of children is very important, it is crucial that children get to be children. They need to grow up properly, with happiness and a good mindset. Hook barely got to experience that when she was younger, which is why she thinks it is important for her to step up as the Boss of the Moles.

Where I am going with this, is that Hook is creating a LIVE sequel of the Adventurous Moles for her group, just like Julian wanted. She is constantly making up new things for the kids to do, which will both help them learn and have fun at the same time.

She is making the stories into a real adventure for everyone, like a fairy tale that has come true.

[glassartpeasants]

Monsters In The Dark

Monsterhaul x F!Reader

Warnings: Toxic family, family abuse, depression, isolation?,small mention of drug abuse

A/N: I wish this was better on god. I had so much hope for this fic but I hope you guys enjoy it a little bit. I'm not really proud of this i just didn't want it sitting and collecting dust

~~~

Wait for me to come home.

Such simple words carry such a heavy burden. Knowing that those were the last words you heard him say to you before you found out. Nothing can break your heart more than knowing that he wasn’t coming home anytime soon.

~~~

You missed the way he would wrap his arms around you. How he would sometimes hum in his sleep, making a little lullaby. It always lulled you off to sleep, knowing that he was right beside you, watching over you. But now, that wasn’t the case. 

You thought monsters mated for life? Where could he be going out so late now that he no longers wants to be by your side at night?

The cold side of the bed reminded you of all the cold and sleepless nights of your childhood. Knowing mommy wasn’t coming home to say goodnight cause she was buying something down the street while your father banged on the door yelling at you for hiding. 

All these feelings made your heart constrict even more than it already was. You can remember what your parents used to tell you. You’ll never be worthy enough to call their child. How you’d become a drugged-out deadbeat found dead in a ditch.

Memories flooded your brain as the childhood you had flashed before your eyes and you felt tears pour down your face.

You might as well be a deadbeat at this point. Living in a cold, dreary cave waiting for him to return. Relying on him to bring you food and water cause you weren’t allowed to go anywhere past the forest line where the road met the forest.

It was so cold and lonely in the cave with no light to shine for warmth that you wish you’d at least be able to see car headlights for some company.

~~~

Waking up to the shining sun in your eyes made a smile appear on yoru face. Daylight had arrived once again, meaning you could leave the cave and go out to the woods on your own. He wasn’t here to stop you so what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

You excitingly brush all the dust off your clothes after stretching before making your way outside. 

The sun shown beautifully today and you just knew id be the perfect day for foraging some berries and wood for fire. Grabbing your roughly made basket, you started your trek around the woods.

~~~

You had found some wild yama ichigo about ¾ of a mile from the cave. You haven’t gone this way yet, so who knows how much more stuff there is to explore around this area!

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you okay?” You immediately stop what your doing and twist your head toward the noise. A young man not much older than you stood with a helmet in his hands as he was sitting on what you believed was a dirt bike.

“M-Me? Yeah I’m okay haha…” You’ve never seen another person in these woods before. You thought everyone was too afraid to come in.

“You covered head to toe in dirt miss. Plus this forest is dangerous for someone like yourself. Don’t you know what types of horrors hide in this forest?”

“I’ve been here awhile. I have yet to see anything horrific?” Anything more horrific than the monster you lived with, at least.

“Well you sure are a brave one. Do you want a ride home so you’d be able to clean off?” You weren’t surprised that you were covered in dirt. It’s been dry the past few days, so dust is just attaching itself to you in any way it can. You also did take a tumble after tripping on a tree root trying to grab some yomogi. 

“It’s okay. This is a very common look on me from how much i forage from here.” You try sending him a smile to calm his nerves so he can be on his way. The thought of him getting caught up in a horrible situation with your monster made guilt rumble in your stomach.

“I guess if you say so. The name is Todoroki Touya. Hope to see you again forest girl.” And before you could say anything else, he put on his helmet and drove back the way he came.

‘The name sounds so familiar. It’s was nice to speak to another human after lacking communication for so long.’ You simply continued foraging more before your basket got too full for anything else.

~~~

The way back was quiet as you thought on what you could make with everything you’ve foraged from today’s gathering. You could certainly make some jelly or jam maybe? Or if your love manages to find some other food materials, who knows what you could make!

You didn’t need electricity to make anything thankfully as your quiek took care of that! Well as long as you were warm that is.

Your quirk was that you were able to make type of food, as long as you knew how to make it and had the ingredients. It always came out depending on how you were feeling emotionally. Feeling happy? Perfect! Feeling sad? Not good.

Having a quirk such as yours was a blessing when it came to living in the woods with no electricity. You’d still be able to create good meals for yourself and your love. 

Just then, while thoughts roamed your mind, the sound of growling and loud running footsteps coming up behind you alerted your whole body as you spun around to see what it was. You weren’t too far from the cave now! You could probably run to it even!

So you did exactly that.

You held onto your basket tightly as you ran over weeds and jumped over protruding rocks and tree roots. You could see the cave so clearly, before the feeling of a strong arm hitting your back caught you off guard, making you fly through the air before landing on the dirt in front of the cave. Your basket surprisingly landed just right so that only minor bits and pieces fell out. 

Now you were lying on the ground gasping for air as you tried to find your assailant. To your shock, you see your love standing there with an angry glint in his eyes. What could he be so mad about that caused him to use his strength against you?

“What were you doing out of the cave?!” His voice seemed to boom across the forest, scaring small mammals and birds away from teh scene. 

“I-I was just getting some berries and stuff! I didn’t venture past the forest lines as you said!” Your words were barely audible as you couldn’t seem to gather back air in your lungs. 

“Then why do I smell another man on you!” He only got closer and you could feel the earth trembling as he walked angrily towards your form.

“Some man was driving a dirt bike! He drove past me! I swear!” All he did was look at you before stomping away towards the cave.

“Pick up your basket. Im too tired to deal with you right now.” Hot tears poured down your face as you struggled to lift your body up. This was the first time he’d acted this violently towards you. 

You grab your basket and limp towards the entrance of the cave. Pain rippled through your body as your left arm felt like it had been smashed to dust. Whimpers left your throat when slightly moved it when trying to put down your basket. 

Laying down on the makeshift bed had your thoughts running wild. 

“Kai? Can we talk please?” Your voice sickeningly sweet echoed through the cave trying to grab his attention. 

“Didn’t you hear what i said? I said I don’t want to deal with you right now!” His voice made you wince as you curled up in a fetal position. What was so wrong with wanting to talk about the miscommunication? Isnt that how every relationship works? With communication? 

Maybe he’ll be calmer to talk about it tomorrow. 

***

“God your so fucking stupid! Now when i tell you to lay down, you lay down! You got that?!”

“Sorry I just-” A sharp pain hit your cheek, causing tears to streak down yoru face instantly.

“I don’t wanna hear your bullshit excuses! God yoru just like your mom! Always got an excuse for something! And stop your crying or I’ll give you something to cry about!” Your fathers voice striked fear into yoru core as you ran to your room as fast as you could. 

Closing the door gently, you lock it before sliding down it and crying. You couldn’t stop crying even if you wanted to. The screams coming from yoru fathers throat was just so scary. Just as you were cowering, the sound of the front door opening made you open yoru ears a little bit.

“Jesus woman! There you are! Get in the kitchen and make me something I’m starving!” 

“Make something yourself you lazy piece of shit! Ive been out all day!”

“If you mean out all day getting drugged out on who knows what! Be useful for once and make me soem damn dinner!”

“I’m not doing shit for you bastard!” The sounds of your parents arguing rang through the house as you cried in yoru room.  You hated when they fought. You would sometimes get so scared that you hid a home phone in your room. Just in case you needed to call someone.

Just then, the sounds of your mother screaming echoed throughout the house. You knew those kinds of screams. You hated those screams. So against your better judgement, you picked up the phone and dialed one of the only numbers you knew.

“Hello 119?”

***

You wake up with a scream as you quickly look around your surroundings. Darkness engulfed you except for the light of the moon peaking in through the opening off the cave and the small embers of a burned out fire. 

Rubbign your eyes you noticed tears covered yoru hands. You sighed as you laid back down. 

Almost every night. Every fucking night was a nightmare of your past that you couldn’t escape from. That's why you preferred the day. At least it had promise and it was always something new. At least it use to be. 

You tried blocking out any more negative thoughts from your mind as you tried to go back to sleep. Deserpate that maybe for once you’ll be able to sleep peacefully. 

~~~

Sunshine poured into the cave causing you to wake up. Letting out a big yawn you slightly stretched before remembering the pain in your arm. You wince as you brought it close to yoru chest. 

The familiar feeling that you desperately tried to forget started creeping back into your life again after yesterday. You couldn’t let that happen. Your WOULDN’t let that happen.

“Kai? Are you awake love?” You gently rubbed the beasts next to yoru shoulder as you spoke to him softly. 

“Well now I am. What do you want?”

“We need to talk about last night.”

“There's nothing to talk about.”

“But there is! Last night you literally threw me across the woods and made me land hard enough to give me bruises and knock the wind outta me. Not to mention my arm.”

“I was mad.”

“That doesn’t give you the right still. Instead of using violence, can we use words? Communication is key in every relationship. Even ours.” You slowly moved your hand to his hair as your began to gently caress his head. 

“Whatever. As long as you’ll stop nagging at me.” Not what you wanted to hear, but it was the closes yes you were going to get, probably.

“Thank you sweetie.”

~~~

It's been a good month since your important conversation with your love. The relationship has been going extremely well since then! Well enough to the point where you both decided to try for child. 

Being a mother wasn’t something you saw yourself doing growing up. The fear of turning like your own ruined it for you for so long. But you found someone, someone that you know loves you and cares for you. That would do anything to protect his child. 

You didn’t know if you were truly pregnant yet as you only had one late period. It happens a lot but you were still very careful regardless. You knew that you would love whatever was growing inside of you and that you’d be better than your parents ever were. 

~~~

You knew that you were definitely pregnant by now. 9 weeks seem to go by quickly. Your belly has grown a bit and you’ve gotten strange cravings that you would never think about eating normally. 

Being pregnant was a lot cooler in the shows than it was. You weren’t much of a fan having to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes or not being able to lay certain ways. Along with other things that you couldn’t think of at the moment.

Your love has been out a lot ever since you started showing the signs. He keeps telling you hes getting supplies  but yet he never brings home anything. He was a monster after all, how would he bring home anything anyways? He always manages to do it but its so strange. 

Even though you didn’t want to leave the bed as you were so comfy, you decided to get some fresh air. It’ll be good for the baby and you.

Getting up proved to be a challenge but it was worth it to see the colorful leaves falling off the trees. 

“Isn’t it pretty? Fall is my favorite as it always brought me a sort of calm. I actually met your father during fall years back.” You liked talking to your offspring, even if it wasn’t really developed enough to hear or understand it.

The sounds of leaves crunchign under yoru foot soon turned even louder as the sound of an engine roared near you. You turned your head only to see a familiar dirt bike and helmet making it’s way towards you.

“So we met again huh forest girl? I see you’ve been busy haha.” A heat burned your cheeks as you laughed nervously as well.

“Nice to see you again. Didn’t think I would. And yeah, I guess you could say so huh?”

“Hope your not foraging while being like that are ya? Having to get on your knees and getting back up must be hell for your back and such.”

“Your right. Sadly my foraging days are over until they come out. So now i just walk around and enjoy the fresh forest air.”

“Sounds lovely.” A beeping interrupted the conversation as you saw the man look down at his bike. 

“Ah shit. Wish I could stay and chat more but running low on fuel. Gotta head back before i get stuck out here ya know?” You only nod as he puts his helmet back on and starts his bike.

“See ya later forest girl. Better start coming up with names 'cause I wanna hear them.”

“Will do.” Without another word, the man took off into the forest until you couldn’t see him anymore. 

You wanted to stay out and roam more but you soon started to feel sick so you try to walk yoru way back towards the cave. For it simply being the first trimester, it surely gets you sick.

~~~

Sitting by the campfire planning dinner is when you heard an angry roar echo through the cave. Looking up, you see your monster coming towards you with an enraged look on it’s face.

“What's wrong, love?”

“You were outside the forest lines again!”

“What? The forest lines are so far from here do you think that i’d be able to walk that far?”

“Obivoulsly if I can smell another man on you!”

“No need to worry darling, that man simply drove past me again and stopped to chat for a second. Nothing else. Why don’t you come sit near the fire and I’ll make you somethign to eat?” You send him a smile but that did nothing to difuse his unjustifide rage.

“I’d rather eat dinner with a slug. At least they look nicer than you.” his words caught you off guard and only survived to bring memories of your childhood flood back into your mind.

“No man will ever love an ugly creature such as yourself understand? They’d probably rather jump off a bridge.”

Your mothers voice rang through your head as tears threatened to spill from your eyes. Choking them back down you take a deep breath as you look at the monster in front of you.

“That's no way to talk to the mother of your child. We’ve talked about this. I apologize if I upset you but i would like one back for calling me ugly please.” You got no response—only the sound of him throwing his body onto the makeshift bed. 

Maybe it’d be best if you just slept the night away and forgot about everything that happened.

[sophieinwonderland]

Hi!

I’ve been wanting to create a Tulpa for awhile now, but have been reading up on it a ton before actually doing so.

I just started talking to my Tulpa today, and I have a few questions..

(I’m not trying to rush or anything, I understand that it can take time and patience.)

How do I know if my Tulpa can hear me? Or if she’s even listening? I’ve been talking to her throughout the day, but she can’t talk yet(or chooses not to, I’m not sure?) I have felt head pressures though, which I’ve read is common and a good thing? Is that her communicating with me?

how do I know if it’s actually my Tulpa responding to me and not just my brain making me THINK she is?

that’s it for now, I believe! Hope you have a good day/night <33

Hi there! Great job studying first instead of leaping right into it! A lot of people go straight to making a tulpa without taking everything into consideration first.

Head pressure is sometimes seen as an early form of communication. Or at least a sign that the practice is working. It's definitely a good sign.

You may also want to be on the lookout for emotional communication, often referred to as "tulpish" in the tulpa community. When a tulpa isn't able to speak, you may instead feel something else instead. Emotions like happiness or love. Or even mental images that don't feel like they came from you.

how do I know if it’s actually my Tulpa responding to me and not just my brain making me THINK she is?

Often, the best thing to do is just... trust that it's her.

If you hear a thought that feels like it's her, talk back to it and see if it further responds. Remember that ANY interaction is going to be generated in your brain.

In my experience, voices in your head come in two roughly varieties. Spontaneous thoughts which are random, and agentive voices which are capable of thinking themselves. Your own inner monologue is one agentive voice. You're a distinct agent with its own sense of self in your brain.

Are you thinking your thoughts? Or is your brain just making you think that you're thinking them? How can you know? Does it matter?

In my opinion, if the thoughts don't feel like they're under your conscious control, then they're not your thoughts. If the thoughts eventually come to display a consistent sense of self with autobiographical memories, then they aren't spontaneous thoughts.

But early on in development, the tulpa's thoughts may feel a little like spontaneous thoughts since they aren't fully developed.

So when you hear thoughts that sound or feel like they come from her, trust that they're her thoughts. If you're wrong, she can correct you later when she can better communicate and nothing is lost.

Best of luck to you both on your new journey!

[genesic-archives]

Nunnally's Halloween Ch 3-5: Nunnally’s Feelings

This is the fifth section of the third chapter of 'Nunnally's Halloween'. This chapter shows the crew finally heading back to the library and explaining the rest of what happened while they were trapped within the book.

Previous Section - Next Section - All Story Sections

With a gentle 'whoosh' sound filling the air, we now finally return to the C's World Library where this whole journey began.

Al: Is this…the original library…? 

Hong Yu: What do you know, looks like you're back. 

Liu Ki: I was wondering what had happened, I’m glad you came back safely. 

Lelouch: Nunnally, are you alright? 

Nunnally: Yup, I can’t believe it. 

Gigi is stuck within a giggling fit in the background.

Al: What is it? Something’s up with the way you’re giggling. 

Gigi: You hugged me tightly and said ‘Gigi, hold onto me!’~

Gigi happily chortles a bit more.

Al: Hey, no need to imitate me. Everything was so sudden earlier and… 

Gigi: ‘Gigi, hold onto me!’

Al: I already told you, don’t imitate me! 

Archive: Okay you two, the library is not a place for a date. If you’re gonna flirt, go somewhere else. 

Al: Archive! Thank god. You see… 

Archive: It’s alright. I roughly understood the situation. 

Al: Huh? 

Archive: It’s all written within this book you were dragged into. It’s a storybook after all. 

Al: And that means… 

Archive: This book was mostly blank before you guys dropped in it. However, that has changed. What you guys were doing in the book became written as a story. What a strange thing.  

Al: That’s true. It covers everything we did from the party preparations to fighting the Jack O’ Lantern. 

Archive: I wonder if that was the influence. Even if I touch it, nothing happens. I guess you can’t be drawn into the book again. 

Al: I see, that’s good to hear. Well, I don't want to be exposed to something like that again. 

Archive: That’s right. Now then, add this back to the bookshelf. And also…Gigi. 

Gigi gulped nervously.

Archive: This book was originally held in this memory library. I told you not to touch it because its details were unknown, right? 

Gigi: No, you see… There were circumstances that made it unavoidable… 

Archive glares at Gigi in complete silence, unable to put her disappointment into words.

Gigi: AH! Don’t stare at me so silently!-It’s what gets to my heart the most! 

Al: Gigi… I need you to properly reflect on this one time. 

Gigi squeals in frustration. We then cut back to Nunnally sighing in the background.

Lelouch: Nunnally? 

Nunnally: Brother, well… 

Lelouch: Nunnally, I’m so sorry. I completely disregarded your feelings. 

Nunnally: If you have to apologize… Then I’m the real cause of this commotion.

We then fade into a flashback with the Jack O' Lantern while Nunnally voices her thoughts for the first time in awhile.

Nunnally: I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Why could only I hear the Jack O’ Lanterns voice? Why did you want to have a party? The answer is simple: in that book the Jack O’ Lantern represented my feelings.

“I want to have a Halloween party. But I can’t. I want you to understand how I feel. But I can’t tell you that honestly.”

What happened in that book was that my feelings became a Jack O’ Lantern and ghosts, manifesting themselves in the form of a prank. Since I was the one who opened the book, I think my feelings became reflected within it. With that being the case… 

Liu Ki: That’s not true, Nunnally. You were just thinking of everyone and decided to throw a party. However, I misunderstood, Lelouch was the one who said those cruel words. 

Lelouch winces as he intakes the damage he did.

Hong Yu: Hey, Liu Ki, while Lelouch did call it something harsh like ‘rubbish’, but he just said that because he cared about it. 

Lelouch once again winces in pain.

Al: I see. Now that explains why the book was set in Ashford Academy. I think that also made me realize why only Lelouch and Nunnally had their costumes changed. 

Gigi: In other words, Nunna-chan, I heard that you wanted to have a Halloween party with Lelouch. 

Nunnally: It's embarrassing to hear you say it aloud… 

Liu Ki: That’s fair. When it comes to men these days, they’re all obsessed with military tactics, strength, and battle because they disrespect us too much. Right, brother? 

Hong Yu: Haha… That was painful to hear. 

Lelouch: I have nothing left to say… 

Gigi: My my, the older brothers can’t get over their cute little sisters. 

Al: Right, Now then, what should we do Nunnally? 

Nunnally: What do you mean by that? 

Al: Since you’ve exposed so much of your heart, shouldn’t you just be open with what you want to say? Be clear about your feelings. 

Nunnally: Ah…I see now. Thank you, Al. Lelouch, everyone. I think we should have a Halloween party. With everyone dressed up, I want to make delicious food and sweets! 

Lelouch: Yeah! Let’s make it a thoroughly fun and full throttle party, Nunnally. 

Nunnally: Yes! 

[themarydragon]

Love-Lost-Found Q&A

They’re not technically FAQ because nobody’s had a chance to ask anything yet, but here’s my extended author’s note for Lost and Found (and the upcoming prequel, Loved and Lost).

1.       Where have you been/What took so long/You haven’t posted in years/WTF

As I am sure has been the case for most everyone else, the last 3-5 years have SUCKED. I lucked out, and everyone I love most has survived (cancer and heart attacks and covid, oh my), but being a full time nurse and full time graduate (nursing) student during a global pandemic consumed every spare spoon I had. We scraped together the down payment on our forever home and moved this summer, and I went on sabbatical once we got settled, so my plan is to ease back into fandom while I watch the snow fall and otherwise hibernate this winter.

2.       New fic what dis? Loved & Lost & Found is a two-part Modern AU of Breath of the Wild. “What if the Sheikah technology wasn’t lost? What would a high-tech Hyrule look like?” I’ll start off with Lost and Found, which starts roughly halfway through our story. Loved and Lost is first chronologically but I’ll post it second. Much like BOTW, my hope is to slowly reveal memories and plot points as they are recalled by Link. Once he gets his memory back, I’ll put Lost and Found on hold while posting Loved and Lost (the backstory). It means you’ll get left hanging for awhile if you’re reading it as I post, but (!!) the story is COMPLETE so there will be no hiatus or risk of abandonment. If you REALLY don’t like the order I post it in, just give it a couple months and then you can consume the whole thing in one go in whatever order you want.

3.       You’ve got this character relationship wrong/that’s not canon/well ACTUALLY its THIS I’ve combined the principal players from both eras in BOTW, so individuals who are supposed to be distantly related and 100 years apart are contemporaries. I am completely aware that this is absolutely not canon and I did it intentionally. Every ‘OC’ I’ve created to flesh out the world has a name stolen from some other LoZ side/background character, either in BoTW or older games, and generally that was just so the names were canonically Hylian and NOT to indicate this OC was that character, etc. For example, this Link’s Princess Zelda is meant to be the BotW Zelda, and NOT the one whose name she bears (that will make sense when we get to it).

4.       Trigger Warnings and Themes Much like canon, BotW Link is grievously injured and wakes up with no memories. We start off with a hospital scene and I do brush on some body dysphoria. There are discussions of PTSD and mental health. There is canon-typical death and violence, although with some modern arms & armaments (i.e. more bullet wounds and fewer gratuitous stabbings, the explosions stay about the same). Hyrule is militarized, but this is meant to mirror canon and is not intended to be social commentary. In world building I have given the non-Hylian races of Hyrule a little more biological diversity, such as making Gorons agender and Zora more fishlike. While this is a Zelink fic, they’re both bisexual disasters. There is a running joke about Link wrecking a motorcycle.  Author is an asshole and wants to make you feel things, but only out of love and never out of malice.

5.       Posting Schedule In the past I’ve posted every 4 days. Once a week is not enough, but trying to pick a specific day or days has always bit me in the ass. I’ll get a feel for this as we go. I haven’t edited this into chapters yet – its still two long ass word files – and I have a couple of scenes that happen in between that I haven’t yet decided where I’ll put them, so I do not have a final chapter count yet. Also a background character has turned into my new favorite (to rival Higgins as a throw-away who becomes a main character) and I might have to write her story on its own and post a part 3. Shit’s dark, though, so we’ll see whether I can do it justice. #mamalou

[lookbluesoup]

a touch to give reassurance (Nahte and G'raha)?

Nahte was familiar enough with victory to anticipate the harsh exhale and utter breathlessness that would follow. One's body had a way of demanding time to recover from mortal peril, whether it was convenient or not for the mind.

But years of practice didn't make Nahte any more inclined to rest himself. One of these days, he'd just be able to push through it, surely.

With magic he could numb pain, stave off migraines. With work to focus on he could avoid sleep, and the restlessness of fresh nightmares. He'd eaten... recently. Probably. And well - he wasn't really hungry, anyway.

He was fine.

They'd nearly all died, again - and by gods, it'd been closer this time than ever before. He'd carried his friends souls in fragile crystals across and uncrossable expanse, woken a doomed lover from endless sleep, and if he left them unguarded for a moment it seemed likely they'd all vanish into smoke. Like so many others.

Which was how he found himself now, bent over and shaking in a secluded corner of the Rising Stones, waiting for a wave of nausea to pass so intense that he'd lost focus and every ache across his body flared forth in a great tsunami.

The others were sleeping. He could be glad of his nocturnal blood to know they would not see this.

"Nahte?"

Shit.

He struggled rapidly to regain some semblance of self-control, impulse begging him to pass this off as anything but what it was.

"Raha." Miraculously, Nahte's voice didn't crack.

"Are you unwell?" Red eyes creased with concern, "I could hear your heartbeat a room over."

"The - Echo."

An acceptable cause, surely, that wouldn't inspire further questions.

But Nahte was a terrible liar, when it came down to it. And this was Raha. So it had been a silly thing to hope for.

Kneeling beside Nahte, G'raha Tia reached out a hand to place on his shoulder. A gentle act of familiarity that represented just how far they'd come, and it nearly broke Nahte all over again.

"Who?" Raha pressed. "Tell me what you saw."

It was impossible to think of any reasonable catastrophe or revelation to share that would mask Nahte's inner collapse without consequence. He shut his eyes, and gave up the lie, "I... didn't."

But perhaps that wasn't entirely true, either. Tail flicking roughly back and forth, he licked his lip and exhaled. "I didn't want to be seen like this." Trapped in a cage of memories and past-fears that should not hurt him now.

Brows raised in a moment of uncertain surprise, a breath later Raha smiled gently. "I understand." He sounded like he actually did.

A red ear flicked. "While I find your bravery inspiring, Warrior of Darkness, I would be rather more encouraged to see you follow me into the kitchens to get something to eat... And perhaps after, if you are amenable, keep me company awhile. "

"I... have little appetite." Nahte answered.

"I daresay that would make it all the more uplifting to witness." Raha answered, unrelenting. He reached out a hand.

Somehow Nahte found the courage to meet Raha's eyes, which were warm with affection. Then stared at the offered hand for a moment, ears twisted down.

And reached back.

--

Touch Prompts

[amyisherenowitsokay]

claps hands together. hi hope you've been well, sorry i haven't asked much. buuuut. I forgot you wrote a thing until lately. :}

War On Love. How would it have continued/ended, what plot beats where there supposed to be if you remember any, etc?

also this'll sound weird, mainly because I can't really explain it and I'm still working thru it, but I wanted to say thanks for writing it? Finding it again and reading through it reminded me of things I had forgotten about myself for a while. Which has really helped from then to now. So, yeah, as silly as it sounds, thank you. :}

Lmao you're never obligated to interact with me homie, dw. Feel free to send me whatever when you're vibing, but don't also feel pressured to engage. You're too kind.

Long answer under the cut

I go back and forth on whether I'll ever update WoL. It just has so many bad connotations and memories for me about the headspace I was in while writing it, and where I was at emotionally, etc. On the other hand, I'm also incredibly proud of some of the insights I wrote about Gaz's perspective, and the overall plot twists and where it was going. I also still have a TON of writing for it still in bits and pieces, both important chunks and unimportant, AND like 4 chapters of the sequel written.

Sometimes I'm like, well, I could sort of finish it in the same style that like That Thing on Your Wrist and What We Become, which are more written in sort of continuous blurbs with gentle transitions and takes occasions to focus on really important scenes. I think with what I have written, it'd be feasible, but that'd also mean taking time away from my more important projects like Dead Weight and Re:MHNY2, so I hesitate to really commit to anything. You are not the first person to ask though, so that may be something I end up doing in the long term. A quick add up of the chunks of the story I have written says I have roughly 53k words of unpublished story for WoL. On the one hand, a shame to go to waste, on the other hand, I'm not really sure how I'd feel emotionally about trying to dig it back. Like I said, I go back and forth. Just for bonus trivia, since I gave the unpublished word count for WoL, it's sequel, which had a pending title of War on Finality, has 25k words written, and about a 2k words worth of ideas that I wrote, but wasn't sold on including.

I super appreciate btw your note about "things I had forgotten about myself for awhile." That really resonated with me. WoL has is a bittersweet for me because while it was my attempt to push through the gross stuff happening during that time period that I hadn't processed yet, I'm still also really proud of the messages I was going to include, some of the plot points I'd come up with, plot parallels, the OC's character development and direction, and how incredibly different it was going to be from anything I'd written at that point. I think it'd probably have ended up being one of my most emotive fics, and definitely with the (initial) darkest ending.

That being said, the plot of WoL definitely is it's own whole ass post, so apologies for not being able to answer immediately, but I genuinely think I'd break the character limit of tumblr if I tried to go into it all here lmao. Also, since it comes up sometimes from other dm's I've gotten, I think the better idea for me to do is make a masterpost about WoL and where it was going, include some screenshot blurbs for context, etc. That might take a few days, but when that posts, I'll reblog this with the link to the masterpost.

[evermorehqs]

CATCHING MY BREATH, STARING OUT AN OPEN WINDOW

David Kawena is based on David from Lilo & Stitch. He is a 28 year old human, fire performer, and uses he/him pronouns. He has no powers. David is portrayed by Keahu Kahuanui and he is taken.

CATCHING MY DEATH, AND I COULDN’T BE SURE

Ever since David could remember, he’d been hopelessly crushing on Nani Pelekai. She was a few grades ahead of him in school, but the two of them became friends through their families, and he thought she was the prettiest, coolest person he’d ever met... and that never changed. He was trying to convince her to go out with him when tragedy struck, and wooing her was put on the backburner for awhile. He knew that she wasn’t in the place for a relationship, and even if she never was or she fell for someone else, he wouldn’t regret being there for her. As her best friend for years, it was his job. Not only did she suddenly have the stress of providing for a child right after high school, she was also dealing with the grief of losing her parents and letting go of her lifelong dream. He had loved her family too, her parents had always been kind to him, and he’d seen Lilo as a little sister since she was born. He tried to help Nani find better jobs, take the two of them out surfing on bad days, and even hide money in the couch cushions because he knew Nani was too stubborn to ask for help. Sure, life got a little stranger when they had aliens living with him, but David wasn’t going anywhere. David wasn’t going anywhere... but they did. Overnight. After a few days of not being able to get in touch with them, panic started to set in. He knew that Nani wouldn’t leave without warning, she couldn’t even afford a flight if she wanted to, but the entire family had seemingly vanished. He talked to everyone that knew them, co-workers and school bullies, he scoured the internet, he searched the house for anything out of the ordinary, and all he found were dead ends. They were just... gone. After roughly half a year of long nights desperately trying to come up with any sort of explanation that wasn’t alien abduction, he woke up in a random town with scattered memories. David wondered if that was what had happened to them, as he had no way to contact his own family and let them know he was okay, but he wouldn’t know how to begin to find the girls... especially now, being trapped himself. His experience landed him a quick job and he started trying to settle into a town without an ocean for the first time in nearly three decades, just hoping that wherever Nani and Lilo were, and Stitch too --- even Jumba and Pleakley --- they were okay.

I HAD A FEELING SO PECULIAR

❀ James ‘Jim’ Hawkins: He stumbled upon the guy sleeping in the park one day, and they immediately hit it off. David doesn’t have many friends in Evermore, so almost anytime he goes out, he’s hitting Jim up to see if he’s busy. ❀ Vanellope Von Schweetz: He can’t help but want to protect the kid, though she seems plenty capable of holding her own. She’s a little out there, in the best kind of way, and talking to her just makes him miss Lilo even more. ❀ Nyx Imelda: Talk about a tough cookie. David isn’t sure what it will take to make her crack a smile, but he’s prepared to find out... even if it means making a fool of himself to get there.

THAT THIS PAIN WOULD BE FOR EVERMORE

[theprinceofnothingatall]

I know they say not to start smoking or anything to curb your appetite or whatever but honestly when fall hits and it’s cooler outside, I’m buying a lighter and a pack of what my momma used to smoke: Marlboro red 100s. I should be at my UGW by then. I just want to have to the one in honor of her, sit up on the parking garage, flick my bic and blow smoke up there in the cool air. Maybe I’ll have the whole pack over the span of two months and have one or two a week. That all sounds really stupid just to feel closer to my mother, but I want to and it’s been on my mind. I’ve had a pack of mint like ones in my drawer forever that I found unopened years ago where we used to live and just used one that had lipstick stains on it from when I was dressing up for cosplay pictures. I’ve been so curious about what they taste like it kills me. They say it just takes one to get addicted, and somewhere else that one cigarette shortens your life by 11 minutes. I’m willing to risk it cause per usual I think I’m invincible and stronger than everything. I want to experience things and I want to experience something she did that was such a big part of her, so when I write about it it can be genuine memory. It’ll be like a really ironic messed up reward for finally losing this last 25 pounds I’ve been battling since even before she died.

All this desperate foolishness because I miss her.

I at least want to feel something she did, even if it’s dangerous and I’ll probably keep it a secret awhile and maybe never tell anyone.

I eat leftovers tomorrow then the 8th starts it all for real. 100 cal limit for a week, then 200, then 300 and so on til from what I estimated I’ll make 84 Ibs by Sep 3 so roughly two months.. I can assume about 12-13 pounds a month. From there I’ll up my cal limit by 25 each month til I maintain 84-90. It’s not realistic but I don’t care. It’s what I’m going to do and I’ll do it. Two work days a week even if they are of a higher activity level but I’ll be just fine.. light workout after work on Tuesdays, heavier workout on Wednesday, light at home workout on Thursday and maybe Sunday or whatever day I’ll workout with my partner too. 4 days a week of averagely moderate exercise will help a lot. While I’m losing weight I’ll tone. I’ll get stronger as I slowly up my intake for protein in the winter. In my own way I’ll recover and maybe be okay having muscle keep me at 90-95. I’ll never see the 100s again.

As sister days: the perfect body, the perfect soul.

🎀🚬