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jambalaya-enthusiast · 3 days ago

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Just had another Jimmy thought...

If Curly had a daughter he would definitely introduce Jimmy as an uncle of sorts... Cutting it short once shes of age Uncle Jimmy about to get a whole lot creepier.

First he pulls you on his lap while He and your dad Curly are watching football or something, and you feel something but you dont say anything... but your dad needed to run to the store to grab some more beer. -Cupcake anon

Your own age.

Uncle! Jimmy x Curly's Daughter! Reader.

warnings: age gap(reader is an adult),toxic relationship themes, jimmy is a major creep, non-consensual touching. curly is an oblivious single father.

a/n; cupcake anon, you're a fucking genius. love you for sharing this prompt with me,hope I was able to do it justice!

It wasn't fun being a well respected captain's daughter. Especially after your mom left, your dad would leave for shipments for months on end,and you had to spend a good chunk of your childhood with nannies rather than your parents.

But that was when he came along,Jimmy... Or Jim,as your dad would call him. He was your dad's closest friend since childhood,and now he was gonna be... Living with the two of you? Your dad said that it was due to the shortage of leases on the market currently,but you know damn well it was because that jimmy person was just a broke guy.

"hey,so you're the daughter I keep hearing my friend talk about,huh?".

"uh yeah,my name is y/n".

"y/n huh? well that's a pretty name for a pretty little girl".

you did think it was strange as to how,Jimmy... or well,uncle jimmy as your dad advised you to call him, was so Frank and open minded with you,but you realised that's just how men in his situation were. Open-minded,and careless.

Uncle jimmy... was an interesting man to say the least,you hadn't really had the luck of having any fun 'relatives' for that matter so you thought this was the best as it was gonna get. Jimmy would offer you cigarettes. Something that your father had clearly mentioned in front of him was off limits for you.

"C'mon aren't you a big girl now? some rules are meant to be broken y'know?

"but dad would kill me if he ever found out..."

"it's alright,it will be our little secret".

All in all you started warming up to him,you thought that hey,this guy is already down on his luck,and he's also so fun to be around! wouldn't hurt to be friendly with him.

It didn't matter how unnecessarily long his hugs were,or how suffocating they were. he would always hug you so tight that you had to physically wriggle your way out of his grasp. on some occasions you could've sworn you heard him say something under his breath.

It didn't matter how he would stare at you for long periods of time if the two of you were in the same room,you thought maybe it's just a middle aged man thing

It didn't matter how during road trips,he would sit in the backseat beside you instead of sitting beside his best friend in the front. How somehow his hands would always find it's way to be on your thigh.

He was a fun guy after all! He lets you drink,smoke,and sneak out. Do all the things which your dad would have crucified you for.

Seeing both of you so close would have your dad asking you—

"wow you sure are having fun with uncle jimmy,huh? you guys seem to be close".

"yeah he's so cool! it's super fun to be around him".

"fun huh? Well im hoping it's a good kind of fun,honey".

But curly shouldn't be worried! His best friend was just taking care of his daughter... Right? He wouldn't do anything,wrong... Right? That much faith curly should have in his best friend... Should he not?

Your dad and uncle had a habit of watching football games during weekend nights,and you decided to join them one such night.

While watching the game,jimmy suddenly turned to you,and said.

'oi y/n, c'mere and sit" as he motioned towards his lap,he turned towards curly and said. "For old times sake,eh? You remember how I used to carry ya around? I'm feelin nostalgic".

Curly was already feeling tipsy from the 3rd pint of beer he was chugging,so he just laughter and said "haha,you guys are so adorable!".

Albeit,a strange request,you decided to do as your uncle asked anyway,and you went to him and plopped on his lap. No matter his lanky figure,he was still strong enough to carry your weight. So he had no problem in adjusting himself to have you sir on his lap while still getting a comfortable view of the ongoing game.

everybody was focusing on the game,but you,your focus was on something else entirely,all the while you were sitting on his lap, you could feel Jimmy's hot breath on your shoulder,how his left hand was rested at your side,firmly placing a grip, you could feel his heart beating, and you don't know what got over you,but you decided to do something risky, somthing vulgar which you hadn't even properly processed in your mind.

You grinded against him just a little,and that was enough to get his heart beating 10 times faster,you could practically feel his breath hitch,and him letting out the quietest groan. And you felt something hard between you legs,you realised that you had just gotten him rock hard. you felt accomplished for some reason. But that's when your dad decided to drop off the bomb.

"wait,fuck we're out of beer,jimmy look after y/n while I make a quick trip to the store to get few more".

"you got it boss".

You knew that it was wraps the moment your dad walked out the front door and closed it behind him. You blinked and suddenly you were pinned down onto the sofa, your uncle had both your hands pressed firmly above your head,he stared at you like a wild animal on the prowl, hunting its prey.

"damn,I didn't know that you were so dirty, grinding against me like that,you know how 'fuckin hard it was for me to keep from moaning?,you deserve to get punished for it don't you think?".

• you intently stared him,not knowing what to do,excited yet scared of what he was going to do next.

And then without a warning,he smashed his lips against yours,into a rough, messy, hungry kiss. he tasted like liquor with a hint of cigarettes,the cheap brand which he smokes all the time. His tongue was wildly exploring every inch of your mouth, he felt like an animal in heat.

then in between the kiss he said, "you don't know how long I've been wanting to do this,kid".

you already knew that this was going to be quick as your dad would be back from the store in no time,but you also knew,that this was the beginning of something,very long, something very vulgar. and even though it might be wrong,you felt eager,you felt excited. you were looking forward to whatever was going to happen next.

#never underestimate my freak guys #mouthwashing #mouthwashing wrong organ #jimmy mouthwashing #mouthwashing jimmy #mouthwashing x reader #jimmy x reader #dark content #mouthwashing jimmy x reader #mouthwashing smut #jimmy x reader smut #jimmy

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bbokicidal · 1 day ago

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heyyy hi! Loving ur new theme! When u have time and if u want could u pls do some hcs for skz with a crush and how they’d confess? I bet Felix and Han would be like very blushy and so. Changbin gives off the vibes like “I wanna seem cool but end up being a dork and kicking my feet like a schoolgirl”. What do you reckon?

SKZ [OT8] + Having A Crush

Genre: Fluff Pairing: OT8 [Individual] x Reader Warnings: None?

방찬 - Chris:

♥ The most upfront about it. Tells you straight up one night after having dinner together; Confesses on your doorstep with his hands wringing in front of him.

♥♥ When he's done talking he'll put his hands behind his back and sway on his heels, lips pressed into a shy, thin smile. Very matter of fact about it and doesn't want to mislead you or get you confused at all. Very careful with his words but also straight to the point.

♥♥♥ If you feel the same way, he'll be very giddy about it and all smiley, pink in the ears. If you don't return the feelings, he'll understand - bidding you a goodnight and returning to his car with shaky hands. He'll just have to work through it on his own.

리노 - Minho:

♥ Very cautious on how he approaches it because he's the one unsure of his own feelings. Also straight to the point but almost a little aggressive about it because he's not sure how to get the words out, per say? Talking very loudly but also saying very little.

♥♥ Almost frustrated with himself. He wishes he would've told you sooner, because he let his feelings fester for so long and now he's not sure he can take it if you reject him.

♥♥♥ If you feel the same way, he'll be extremely relieved and ask if you want to go on a proper date together sometime in the near future. If you don't return the feelings, he'll give you a curt nod and hum as if he's processing the information. He might distance himself from you for a bit - Just so he can get through it alone. He doesn't need comfort or care.

창빈 - Changbin:

♥ Very flustered with his own feelings. He's so shy about expressing them if they're big emotions so he has to ask Chris for help on how to get it out, what to say to you.

♥♥ But he does it!! After working during a long day, he finds comfort in your apartment eating a warm meal together (takeout, obvi.) and watching YouTube videos for a few hours. He confesses sitting next to you on the floor, hoping it's the right moment to talk about it in the comfort of your own home. It's a chill moment, he's just a chill guy.

♥♥♥ If you return the feelings, he'll giggle to himself and his ears will flush red with admiration. He'll be sure to make you his partner officially soon enough. If you don't return the feelings, he'll play it off with a shy smile and nod, understanding that everything doesn't go as hoped sometimes. He'll excuse himself and leave the apartment, wishing you a goodnight. Afterwards it's almost as if your friendship wasn't changed by it at all.

현진 - Hyunjin:

♥ Makes an art piece to express his admiration for you and gifts it to you when you have lunch together one day. He's best at anything art related - talking is not his strong suit, and neither is using words. (Paboracha, everyone.)

♥♥ You've never seen a painting so beautiful and he hopes you recognize it's you standing in the pouring rain, a glow emanating around your figure in the portrait that seemed to say you were his sunshine on the darkest days.

♥♥♥ If you return the feelings, he'll be happier than ever. Red in the cheeks, smiling, hugging onto you and asking if you'd want to go on a date later that evening - and talking about how he'll fill your future shared home with lots of art like this one, too. If you don't return the feelings, he'll nod it off and understand. You need to keep the painting though - He won't be able to look at it without feeling his heart shatter. It just wasn't in fate's design, it seems.

한 - Jisung:

♥ Anxious. Giddy. Very open to telling you and gets his point across with many words, even if he's really saying very little. He sits you down to tell you, admitting his admiration when Chan steps out of the studio for a few moments to get a drink from the cafeteria. He finds solace in the studio so.. this was the best place for him to do it.

♥♥ His hands wring in his lap and he's bouncing his leg, trying to keep himself still but failing. He's anxious, riddled with curiosity and adoration and also the horror of - what if you reject him?

♥♥♥ If you return the feelings, he'll immediately make it official. Expect him to be all over you, holding your hand and having you close to him - bragging to the guys that you're his. If you don't return the feelings, he'll need to take some time away from you. For his own sanity and safety.

필릭스 - Felix:

♥ Possibly the most excited to express his feelings towards you. Gets you a little muffin basket and some goodies when he knows you aren't feeling well, and then pays you a visit to deliver them all. He'll sit on your bed and quietly express how he wants to take care of you all the time - provide for you, spoil you, treat you like his prince/princess.

♥♥ His excitement outweighs any sense of nervousness, honestly.

♥♥♥ If you share his feelings, he'll make sure to plan the sweetest date known to mankind. A cafe date, maybe. Or a picnic with candles and lots of sweets. If you don't return his feelings, he'll be sure to take care of you regardless - admiring from afar until his feelings fade and he can move on.

승민 - Seungmin:

♥ Kind of.. quiet about it? Hesitant. Gets you a bouquet and a card and asks you that way, leaving it somewhere he knows you'll see it. He can't do it in person - You might assume it's because he's a bit cold or a bit of a meanie at heart, but it's actually because he is far too shy.

♥♥ When he gets your text to call, he does it immediately and shyly explains over FaceTime while picking at his jeans that he really does like you and that it isn't a big joke - That he's serious, and wants to be more than friends. (And the way his neck turns beet red gives his honesty away.)

♥♥♥ If you return his feelings, he'll be - very excited, but it won't outwardly show other than his small smile. He might cry a tad bit, actually. If you don't return his feelings, he'll understand and end the call with a bit of a sad laugh. He knew he wouldn't be good boyfriend material...

아이엔 - Jeongin:

♥ The most sweet, boyfriend-like, college crush-esque vibes with his admission. He's got a little sign made asking you to the homecoming dance and it's super cute and wholesome - and his nose and cheeks are covered in glitter from making the sign and his hands are shaking as he holds it - but he's got flowers and he's all dressed up in a cute set of jeans and a letterman jacket,

♥♥ He surprises you at your front door to ask you with the little dance-posal. But the bottom of the sign also asks for you to go with him as 'more than his friend' and he hopes the point gets across.

♥♥♥ If you share his feelings, he's going to be beaming for the rest of his days. He'll brag to his friends, always have his hand on your hip, and every Friday is a date night for just the two of you. If you don't share his feelings, it's going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life. And he will in fact never ask anyone out ever again, ready to die a virgin.

#skz imagine #skz x reader #stray kids x reader #bangchan x reader #felix x reader #changbin x reader #hyunjin x reader #leeknow x reader #han x reader #IN x reader #seungmin x reader #skz headcanons #stray kids imagine #stray kids headcanons

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alicethenobody · 3 days ago

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Thinking about how fucking ridiculously kind Dante is.

Trish lured him to Mallet Island through manipulation which lead to him “killing” (we know Vergil survived but he didn’t) his brother but he still forgave her and offered her his kindness, empathy, and even trust and friendship. His kindness impacted Trish so much she was able to become her own person outside of Mundus’ influence. Speaking of helping people change for the better, in DMC X he fights Credo and even though this guy is out for his blood he only wants to help him change his ways and manages to convince him to do the right thing. Which I think is what lead to him protecting Nero in his last moments. The canonicity of DMC X isn’t stated but considering the fact that we know Dante was originally supposed to have a longer campaign I can’t help but think a lot of the stuff in that game is remnants of those scrapped ideas.

He very openly felt bad for Griffon when Mundus killed him despite the fact that he’s loyal to the guy who killed his family and even gave him a respectful sendoff in DMC5. Generally he’s known for roasting his opponents but he still has a level of respect for them which I think is cool. In the first novel he even laments about the people who had to die on his missions, as he despises unnecessary bloodshed even if it involves bad people and popularized showing mercy among the other mercs in the business.

In the anime he often takes on jobs for free out of the kindness of his heart and is happy just being able to help people who need it even if he’s broke. Most of the money he DOES get goes to victims of demon attacks like Grue’s daughters and Enzo who lost his arm because he feels immense guilt for not being able to do what he feels like is enough for them.

He’s shown to be very protective of the younger generation through Patty and does everything he can to shield her from seeing him fight demons because he doesn’t want her to be traumatized like he was at a young age. He does the same thing with Nero, really, trying to keep him from fighting Vergil because he believes the result will either be his nephew getting hurt or him killing his own dad and having to live with that trauma like he did after he thought he killed Vergil. The way he looks at Nero and Kyrie fondly at the end of DMC4 before leaving Fortuna, he was willing to do whatever it took in order for Nero to keep that happy life with her. (Side note, Dante grew attached to Patty like, immediately. 15 minutes in he’s like “WHERES MY DAUGHTER?!” He’s so silly like that.)

It’s nice to see Nero is following in Dante’s footsteps too. In an interview it was stated Nero only really stepped into action in DMC4 because he wanted to protect Kyrie but in DMC5 we see a much more mature Nero who cares about civilians too, my favorite example being how he offered a total stranger food because he assumed he was just hungry. Dante in DMC3 was in a somewhat similar situation, though he was obviously a lot more selfish starting off than Nero ever was until he matured by the end of the game and took on the role of humanity’s protector like Sparda. It was his journey of “waking up to justice” like his dad.

Uhh… yap over. I typed this at 3 AM.

#dmc #devil may cry #dante #dante devil may cry #dante sparda #dmc dante

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ink-and-dagger · 2 days ago

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Hi Legacy, thank you for your comment and for your compliment about my writing. Unfortunately, Tumblr wouldn’t let me leave this response to your comment under the fic, so I am having to add it onto your reblog. Something I really, genuinely, did not want to have to do.

I hear what you are saying, and am in full agreement with you - tags play a vital role in reader protection, and there’s nothing more frustrating (and in some cases dangerous) than people misusing them.

However, a few words now in my own defence.

I am not new here. I have been writing and posting Silco fics since Arcane first aired back in 2021. It seems more likely in this case that you are new if not to the Arcane fandom then to my blog/writing specifically - so allow me to provide a bit of context which may help, because I don’t believe this case is as cut-and-dry as you believe it to be. I began posting my multi-chapter Silco x Reader fic Drink With Me in January 2022, and updated regularly until its completion in July of that same year. I was extremely lucky in that my story gained a lot of traction and interaction within the fandom throughout that time. People became extremely invested in the Reader character, and would ask me all sorts of questions about her. That’s how Astrid was born. She became a point of reference outside the fic for those who wanted someone to visualise, whilst the fic itself remained strictly a Reader Insert. In the few years since this story wrapped up, my followers have remained invested in the ‘Drink With Me’ universe (again, I’m incredibly lucky and thankful for this), and to this day I receive tons of requests for bonus content set within this universe that I try to fulfil whenever I can. Despite these ficlets being connected to a main multi-chapter fic, most of them can easily be read as a standalone and do not require the context or any prior knowledge of the main fic to make sense. Additionally, as I did with the main fic, they are always written in 2nd person, the character is never referred to by name, and I never use any physical descriptors beyond anatomical ones during smut. If you were to take away any and all tags and look purely at the text alone, it reads as a traditional reader insert, which is why I tag it as such. I include the ‘Astrid’ and ‘OC’ tags for those people who are familiar with the DWM fic and universe and who specifically follow me for this reason, so that they know in their minds that the ficlet relates to the world/timeline of Drink With Me in some way shape or form. I think the point I’m trying to make is that those who are familiar with me and my work will see the ‘Astrid/OC’ tag and go “Ah cool it’s this universe”. Whereas for everyone else I add the ‘can be read as gen!reader insert’ note at the top so that they can go “Ah cool, let me just ignore that character tag then” and happily read it as a general reader insert fic perfectly fine. I hope that makes a bit more sense as to why I tag this way, why I’ve always tagged this way, and why I will continue to tag this way for my Drink With Me adjacent works. If I ever were to write something in 1st or 3rd person or that described the MC in a very specific way, then I would of course not tag that as a reader fic.

Now, so long as we’re here discussing fandom etiquette, I’d like to politely point out that adding your grievance onto the reblog of a specific fic is not a ‘gentle reminder’ - it’s a full-frontal attack on the author who wrote that fic. It would have been far better for you to create your own, separate post addressing the fandom as a whole, or to send me a quiet, private comment/DM on the side.

As I’ve already said, I empathise with your point of view, and I hope you are able to empathise with mine. If the way I choose to tag my work bothers you, then please feel free to block my account so that I don’t show up whilst you are searching for content. At the end of the day we are all individual humans - you cannot expect everyone to interpret/measure/categorise everything in the same way you would, and it’s imperative to take some measure of responsibility for cultivating your own online space, instead of relying on others to do it for you.

What if Astrid find a pic of young Silco by accident hehhehehehhehehehehhe

Snapshot

A Drink With Me ficlet

870 words || Established relationship || Silco x Astrid (but can be read as gen f!reader) || SFW but suggestive || MDNI

“Oh my Gods.”

“What?”

“Oh. My Gods.”

Time has stripped the photograph between your fingers of its glossy sheen and has left the edges blunt and frayed, but you would recognise those features anywhere; no less sharp nor striking through the faded sepia.

“This is you.”

It had slipped from between two ledgers as you’d perused Silco’s bookshelves – an activity more to entertain your idle hands than a genuine search for reading material. The image itself is simple and candid: A young man, seemingly oblivious to the fact his portrait is being taken, sat at a familiar bar, with eyes downcast toward a spread of papers.

That same man looks up at you now from a very similar spread of papers. “What is?”

“This.” You drift over to his desk and perch on its edge, all the while unable to tear your gaze from the photo in your hands. The pitch dark hair swept back into a low bun. The familiar strays – the same ones that even now will always be the first to escape any styling under the combing of agitated fingers – falling forward into his face, only far longer and thicker than you’re used to. His skin, unblemished and smooth, save for the chronic furrow between his brows – etched there long before time and tragedy ravaged the rest.

Silco hums absently; an indication that he acknowledges your discovery but finds little interest in it. You can imagine the man in the photograph making the exact same noise, were someone to distract him from his paperwork for a reason he deemed benign. You flip the photo over. No date.

“How old are you here?”

Silco exhales through his nose, places his pen down with a pointed clack, and extends his hand wordlessly toward you.

“Hah! Do you think I’m wet behind the ears?” you hold the photograph out of his reach, “You can tell just fine from over there thank you very much.”

He cuts you a scathing glance, before leaning forward in his chair with a foreboding creak to peer more closely at the image. His scarred lips purse slightly in thought.

“Mid–late twenties. I can’t say for certain.”

“You were hot.”

“Were?”

“Were and are,” you coo, reclining backwards over the desk into his space, one elbow pitched on his paperwork to hold your weight whilst you flap the photograph in front of his face, “Can I keep this?”

“For what reason?”

“Dirty ones.”

“Hardly necessary,” Silco says, the very corner of his mouth creasing upwards as he catches your wrist to halt your photo-flapping, “You have access to the real thing.”

“True, true, and you can be sure I’ll continue taking advantage of that.” You grin, shoving your captured, photo-wielding arm a little closer to him in emphasis, “But right now I’m talking about some alone time with this guy.”

Silco scoffs under his breath and releases your wrist. You twist onto your front, weight propped on both elbows as you admire the photograph in your grip. You trace a finger down the slender throat of the man in the photo, over the generous wedge of chest exposed by his open crimson collar.

“D’you think he’d notice me? If I came into that bar?”

“Oh I’m certain he would.”

“Yeah?” You lift your gaze from the man in the photo to the one before you – as equally breathtaking. More so. You catch your lower lip between your teeth. “What line would he use?”

Silco hums, low and thoughtful, leaning forward in his chair, closing in on your space. He picks up his abandoned pen, briefly twirling the implement until it’s poised between his elegant fingers like a cigarette. Nib safely facing his own palm.

“After downing the dregs of his drink for courage... he would have approached you.”

With sensual tenderness, he brushes the barrel of his pen along your cheek, warmed metal against warmer skin. Catching at the curve of your jawline, and tracing over your pulse in a way that makes it fumble a beat.

“Cast his gaze over each of your pretty, pretty features. One by one,” he murmurs, slowly drawing the end of the pen down your jugular, down the slope of your collar bone, to leisurely trail through the cut of your cleavage. The corner of your mouth hooks up. The warmth low in your belly coils a little tighter.

“He would have leaned in close,” Silco whispers, demonstrating just so, “Close enough that you’d almost taste the whiskey on his breath.”

Blunt metal drags a purposeful line up your throat, and your lips part softly as he tilts your face toward his with the barrel of his pen flat and firm beneath your chin.

“And asked you – very nicely – to stop leaning on his paperwork.”

You press your tongue against the inside of your cheek while Silco’s dual eyes sizzle with smug mirth. It’d be unthinkable, really – to forfeit either one for the sake of a matching pair.

You straighten and push off his desk, hips swaying as you saunter over to the bedroom with the photograph in hand.

“Well,” you say, pausing in the threshold and turning to him with a smirk, “If you need us, you know where we’ll be.”

#inky has spoken #fandom etiquette

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skzstannie · 2 days ago

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"My Soulmate"

SKZ -> Hyunjin x fem!reader

genre: slight angst, crack, vampire/soulmate AU wc: ~2,200 cw: none

summary: being kidnapped and brought to your vampire soulmate is something you never knew you needed... until now.

A/N: Hello again! Life's been crazy, and I've actually had this written since forever ago, so I decided to go ahead and edit and post it! Hope you enjoy :)

Alsoooo, I survived the Ticketmaster war and was able to snag some SKZ tickets to the Chicago show!!!

Happy Scrolling! | Masterlist

"Please be careful. That area is so sketchy, especially at night. Infested with those dastardly vampires, I'll tell ya."

"Mom, I'm fine. The bus station is only a mile down the road, and I'm almost there," you speak into the phone.

Your mom gives a disappointed sigh from the other end. "Sweetie, I've heard so many stories of girls going missing on that street. I really wish you would've listened to me and taken a different way home."

"I've always taken this way home from work; why are you so worried about it now?" The more you speak with your mom, the more paranoid you become. All the shadows out of the corner of your eye appear as humans, lurking behind buildings and in alleyways.

"Because a girl was killed just last week walking around down there, not to mention she was by herself. Just like you!" she screeches over the line. You have to pull the phone away from your head to protect your poor eardrums. "It was a gang that took them! What was their name again? Stray dogs? Stray... Stay? I can't remember."

"It's Stray Kids, mom. I'm sure they're not even around these parts anymore now that the cops are looking for them."

Too focused on your surroundings rather than the ground beneath you, you trip and fall over a large lip in the sidewalk. Your body hits the ground, and you immediately clutch your knee. Your legs are littered with scrapes and scratches, but your knee in particular has blood dripping down it. Pieces of dirt cover your skin, unpleasantly sticking to your wound and the oozing blood.

You startle from the sudden cold breeze you feel over your shoulder. You turn abruptly, hissing when your leg rubs against the ground. Another gust of wind brushes past your front, and you're quick to twist around again. Your heartrate picks up at the eeriness of the situation, your hands turning clammy.

Suddenly, a being materializes in front of you. A scream catches in your throat when another appears next to him. Both are dressed in normal clothing, albeit entirely black in appearance, the only color emitting from the two beings in front of you coming from their pale skin. It's almost sparkling under the glow from the streetlights.

They stand and stare for a moment, and the silence is palpable. As you make eye contact with them, you take notice of their eye color- a deep, fiery red. You feel as though you’re in a hypnotic state as you continue to stare into their eyes. Your surroundings become blurred the longer you look, and you begin to feel dizzy as the world around you begins to spin.

You can faintly hear your mom screaming at you through your phone, calling out for you with panic in her voice, but you can't seem to look away from the boys in front of you.

The dizzier you feel, the calmer you become. It's a weird sensation, feeling all your anxiety and fear just slipping from you. The last thing you see is the muscular man in front of you approaching before you close your eyes from the exhaustion. It came out of nowhere, but it's all-consuming as all thoughts leave your head, and you're left their laying limp and vulnerable.

~ ~ ~

Your eyes feel heavy as you open them, and the bright lights are blinding as they invade your vision. Reaching up to rub your eyes, you quickly realize that your arms are tied behind your back. Becoming aware of your surroundings, you feel the cool plastic chair beneath you. Looking down, you see the zip ties around each of your ankles, anchoring you to the chair.

You appear to be tied up in a cell of some sort. Black, solid bars seal you off from the outside of the room. The cell is small, only about 8 ft by 8 ft if you had to guess. The floor is nothing special, just some concrete. While you can't see much from where your seated in the corner, the room around you seems empty and cold. A desk sits in the middle with a few stacks of paper on top.

Your eyes tear up at your predicament as the memories of the men dressed in all black come back to you. Question upon question spring into your head; where'd they come from? Where'd they bring you? What do they want from you?

Your worries seem to multiply by the second, and you are filled with dread as you consider the possibilities.

You know you must look amess as sweat starts to pool on your forehead, not only from the temperature of the room but also the imminent danger present upon you. Tears stream freely down your cheeks as you desperately pull at the zip ties holding you hostage.

A door creaks open while in the middle of your struggle, and you freeze. Voices fill the open space, and your mouth runs dry at the thought of meeting your captor.

"I told you, we won't be getting our next shipment of blood for another couple weeks. You're just gonna have to hold off-" the voice cuts off as the man walks around the corner. He makes eye contact with you. He shares the same eye color as the men that took you, but you know from the facial features that this isn't the same one.

The man heaves a sigh, his eyes never leaving yours. "I've gotta call you back," he says before hanging up the phone. Without uttering another word, the man walks back out of the room, leaving you alone with your thoughts once again.

It feels as if hours have gone by the next time you hear the door open. This time, cries of pain fill the silent void. You become alert at that, straightening up in your seat. Curiosity fills your gaze as you’re welcomed with the man from earlier, this time accompanied by two more.

The two men are being dragged by their ears, which appears uncomfortable if the sounds of pain are anything to go by.

The man from earlier releases them once they are standing right outside your cell.

"Explain yourselves," he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Both men start talking over each other immediately, making it impossible to understand either one. "One at a time you pabos!" he interrupts them, creating an uncomfortable silence.

The buff one, which you now recall as one of the accomplices to your kidnapping, gestures roughly to the other man. Taking this as his cue to explain, he begins, "We swear she's the right one this time!" His words are rushed as he gestures towards you.

"You're kidding," the man in charge says, bringing his fingers to grasp at the bridge of his nose. "We've already been over this. You two can't keep kidnapping women from off the streets just because you believe them to be Hyunjin's soulmate."

Your heart races as your brought into the discussion. Soulmate?

You've heard of soulmates, but only ever in fiction, like books and movies. From what you've read, vampires are the only beings who can initiate the soulmate bond. Thereafter, the human can feel the bond, as well.

Suddenly, the pieces fall perfectly into place as you consider all the factors. Materializing out of nowhere, the red eyes, the hypnosis. These guys are vampires. How you didn't put it together sooner, you're not sure.

The bravery you're hit with is astounding, and you can't hold yourself back from interrupting the conversation. "Who are you guys and what do you want from me?" The man's rambling stops as all three look to you.

"Hi..." the man rambling starts, "I'm Jisung, and this is Lee Know and Changbin. We've brought you here because we believe you're our friend's soulmate."

"Please just let me go. I promise not to tell anyone about this!" you plead. You don't know what being the soulmate of a vampire entails, but you surely don't want to find out.

"Oh, we can never let you go," the man in charge, Lee Know, answers. "You've seen us, experienced our presence. You either have to stay with us, or... well, we kill you. You can thank these idiots for that," he gestures to Jisung and Changbin. Jisung brings his hand up to the back of his neck, rubbing it awkwardly.

You let out a sob at the ultimatum. You don't want to stay here forever. You want to go home, shower, and complain to your mom about work. You want to call your best friend and talk to her about the cute guy that you saw. The thought of never being able to do those things again envelopes you with sorrow, and more prominently, fear.

"Please don't cry," Jisung says, his hands coming up around the bars of the cell. "We would never want Hyunjin's soulmate to be sad."

"Jisung, we don't even know if this is his soulmate," Changbin says, his gaze piercing the side of your face.

"I'll prove it to you," he says before running out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

"I swear, I will kill both of you if this isn't the right girl. You said that the time before this was the last, and I'm getting tired of hiding dead bodies," Lee Know tells Changbin.

The hair on the back of your neck stands up, and you suddenly really hope you are this guy's soulmate. While this doesn't sound like the greatest of situations, at least if you live you'll get a chance to escape.

Changbin and Lee Know talk amongst themselves, and your anxiety starts to build once more.

~ ~ ~

It feels as if hours have gone by the time there's movement outside your cell again. Changbin and Lee Know, having gotten tired of standing, had taken a seat on the couch towards the back of the room, busying themselves on their phones.

You're still stuck in the same position. You've been wriggling your hands around, but you've realized there's no use in trying to escape. The two men would surely notice if the zip ties came undone, and even if they didn't, you're still stuck in this cell. You don't know what lies outside this room, but you're scared to find out.

You finally hear the door swing open, and you recognize Jisung's voice, this time accompanied by another stranger. The two come into view, and your breath hitches in your throat when your eyes meet the man Jisung brought with him.

He is easily the most beautiful man you've ever seen. His eyes meet yours, and you're immediately captivated, unable to look away. It's a strange feeling, but you suddenly feel all the worry and fear being washed from you, leaving you with a feeling of peace and serenity. It's almost like you've known this man for years, the way he brought you immediate comfort in this unfamiliar place.

"My soulmate," he whispers, and at this point you can only assume this is the 'Hyunjin' they were talking about.

In the blink of an eye, he materializes in front of you, now inside the cell. He quickly brings his hands towards you, and you feel no fear. The dread that once filled your body is no more as you allow him to carefully undo the zip ties from around your wrists and ankles.

Tears still slip down your cheeks, but the emotional pain you once felt is no more. You're overcome with unfamiliar emotions, and the tears don't stop.

You feel as if you recognize Hyunjin from your dreams. Always the hero, saving you from whatever dangers are out there for waiting for you.

Once the zip ties are off, you immediately rise to your feet and reach out to hold him. He embraces you even tighter, his arms wrapping firmly around your exhausted figure.

"This is such a strange feeling, but I feel at peace now," you whisper to him, your head resting on his shoulder.

"It's because we're together. The soulmate bond, I initiated it, and you've accepted it," he whispers back. "We can be together now."

"Have I seen you before?" you ask, taking a step back to admire his beautiful features.

"Maybe in your dreams. I've visited you there before. I've known what you looked like for a long time. That's how these guys found you," he says, gesturing behind him to Jisung and Changbin.

"Yea, and it only took us two tries! Do you know how vague of a description I had to go off of?" Jisung complains.

"Because I didn't expect you to go out and try to find her!" Hyunjin exclaims, exasperated.

"Well, I figured since your birthday was coming up, I could do something nice for you. And it only costed us one casualty!"

"Which I'm still dealing with, by the way," Lee Know says.

"Yea, yea. I just had a gut feeling about it this time."

#stray kids #skz #skz x reader #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #stray kids fanfic #skz fanfic #hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin x reader #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #skz angst #skz crack #vampire au #soulmate au

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brbsoulnomming · 11 hours ago

Text

Heart On Your Sleeve Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2

written for steddiebigbang2024 and belatedly posting here!

-----

Dustin shows up at his house the next morning.

"You have a concussion," Dustin says when Steve answers the door.

Steve squints at him. "Did you get your medical license when I wasn't looking?"

Dustin rolls his eyes. "Haha, very funny. Are you going to let me in?"

Steve doesn't really have a reason not to.

All right, well, he's got several reasons not to, starting with the fact that Steve isn't actually feeling so great and ending with Dustin being like thirteen and somehow always around when the world is ending.

But Steve is lonely, and feeling kind of pathetic, and none of them seem like good enough reasons, so he opens the door and lets Dustin in.

"From my mom," Dustin says, setting down a Tupperware of brownies on the coffee table.

Steve immediately knows he's made the right decision, taking a massive bite of chocolate, fudgy heaven. It's only after he's devoured one and he turns to Dustin to ask him to tell his mom thanks that he sees that Dustin's plopped his heart onto the coffee table, too.

"Hearts out, Steve," Dustin says matter-of-factly.

"Why?" Steve bitches. "What do you even need to look at it for?"

"You're in the Party now! Party rules, you have to show your heart before you can get your walkie," Dustin says.

Steve pulls a face, and immediately regrets it as it makes his eye and nose burst with pain. "Who says I even want to be in your party?"

Dustin's face falls. "Don't you?" he asks, sounding hesitant and uncertain.

It makes Steve's resolve crumble immediately.

"How about we start with friends?" Steve offers.

The kid's face lights up at that, giving him a gap toothed smile, but then he nudges his heart closer to Steve and looks at him expectantly.

Steve sighs and takes his own heart out, wincing a little as the motion twinges his bruised ribs. He sets it on the table next to Dustin's.

"There you go," Steve mutters.

Now that the light's better, he can see a hole right in the middle of Dustin's heart. It's small, but it goes all the way through, and it makes Steve's own heart give a soft pulse in empathy.

Dustin catches it, looks up to follow Steve's gaze, and drops his eyes. "My dad," Dustin mutters.

"Hey," Steve says softly, reaching out without even thinking about it to turn his heart a little.

There's two overlapping holes in the same place on his own heart, and Steve rubs his thumb over them, biting the inside of his cheek at the way it still prompts a soft echo of longing. "My parents," he tells Dustin.

Dustin looks around, like he's only just now realizing that there's been no sign of them since he rang the doorbell. "Oh," he says, soft and full of understanding.

It's honestly the most understanding he's ever received about his parents choosing to be mostly absent from his life, which makes him feel kind of pathetic, but also makes his heart warm in a way he's not sure it ever has before.

Dustin reaches out, stopping just short of touching Steve's heart as he gestures to the jagged line cutting through it.

"Nancy?" Dustin asks.

Steve's jaw sets.

He doesn't want to talk about it.

Dustin seems to take that as answer enough, though, because he just goes back to eagerly examining both of their hearts. Steve's is bigger than his - of course it is, because Dustin is thirteen, but they're both the same deep, vibrant red, and they both beat strong and steady.

It's barely any time before they're beating in unison.

Dustin looks back up at him, beaming that wide, goofy smile of his. "Cool," he proclaims.

—

Every time Dustin comes over after that - and it's a lot, honestly, Steve still doesn't know what to make of it - he plops his heart onto the coffee table and waits expectantly until Steve takes his out and puts it next to Dustin's.

They never touch each other's hearts, they never even talk about it, but at least twice a week Steve's able to breathe a little easier, able to actually relax.

—

He waits at the picnic table in the woods after school on his first day back.

Munson looks bored at first when he gets there, but then he does a double take, like Steve's injuries are worse now than they were at lunch.

Or maybe it's just that he's up close now, instead of on the other side of the cafeteria, or maybe it's just that Steve's tired and in pain and he doesn't give a shit about pretending like he isn't.

“Jesus Christ, Harrington,” Munson mutters, dropping his lunchbox on the table.

Steve shrugs. “I'd say you should see the other guy, but everyone did already.”

Munson is looking at him with suspicion, eyes narrowed as he takes him in. Steve wonders if he doesn't buy the story that's been floating around, if it's too easy to see that he and Hargrove both look pretty fucking bad for just blowing off steam and getting carried away.

Wonders if he'll call him on it.

Munson's expression smooths out, though, and he flips the lunchbox lid open. “How much do you want?”

Steve's eyes flick down to the chains on Munson's leather jacket, but no heart there today. Not that he could see anything if it was - Munson's been wearing his heart pinned to his jacket off and on since the last half of Steve's freshman year, but it's always wrapped up tight in chains or leather so that no one could get more than a glimpse of it.

Everyone said it was a flaunt of defiance against tradition and a way he could cheat people in his deals while maintaining the appearance of a fair exchange, but Steve always kind of figured it was just because he was tired of people demanding to see it whenever he sold to them while being reluctant to show theirs.

That, and it was like everything else Eddie Munson did - loud and in your face and purposefully drawing attention to what he wanted you to see, while guarding what he didn't close to his chest.

Steve's never bothered with attempting a mutual show of hearts the handful of times he's bought from Munson before - they aren't exactly new business partners, not even the first time he actually bought from Munson himself, and frankly Steve's never needed to see Munson's heart to know he's trustworthy enough that he's not going to give him bad shit, even if he does overcharge him.

But today's different.

He gently pops open his own chest, ignoring the faint twinge of his ribs, and takes his heart out, setting it on the table next to Munson's lunchbox.

Munson's eyes widen for a moment before his jaw sets, lips thinning out in a flat line as he looks down at Steve's heart and then back up to his face. “What the hell is this?”

“My heart,” Steve replies evenly.

Munson looks unimpressed. “I'm not showing you mine.”

“I didn't ask you to,” Steve says, unable to stop himself even though he knows he's being kind of a dick.

Munson looks at him for a moment. Then, “Whatever. How much do you want?”

Steve opens his mouth to say he isn't here to buy today, but - actually, no, he could probably use some weed to dull the pain and help him sleep. It's routine for a moment, both of them ignoring Steve's heart beating on the table next to them as they make the trade, until Steve's baggie is tucked inside his jacket and Munson's shoving cash into the back pocket of his jeans.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Your Majesty,” Munson says, doing a little bow.

“Munson, wait,” Steve says.

Munson straightens, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Hargrove tried to blame this on you.” Steve gestures at his face. “Told me you sold him some bad shit.”

Munson goes very, very still. His eyes flick down to Steve's heart, so quick that Steve's not sure he would have noticed it if he wasn't watching Munson so closely.

“That so?” Munson asks. There isn't an edge in his voice - if anything, there's such a quiet neutrality to those two words that it almost feels more dangerous than if he'd tried to put a warning in them.

Eddie Munson's never scared Steve the way he does half the school - honestly, shitty as it is, Steve doesn't exactly think of him all that much - but there's no denying that Munson is no pushover. He can't tell if Munson is afraid, or angry, or just itching for a fight, but Steve didn't come here to freak him out.

He holds his hands up, palm out, and purposefully drags his gaze down to where his heart is beating calm and steady. “I don't believe him.”

Munson looks down at Steve's heart, lingering for a moment before darting back up. His expression is still unreadable. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because he said he was going to spread it around, that you were lacing your stuff with something,” Steve says. “I'm pretty sure I convinced him it was a bad idea, but just in case.”

“You convinced him it was a bad idea,” Munson repeats flatly.

Steve shrugs. “I told him he should be nicer to you, that you always sell me the good shit.”

That gets a little snort out of Munson, startled and almost amused, and Steve grins at him.

“It won't be hard to tack that onto the rumor if he tries to spread it,” Steve says. “So you should be safe.”

Just like that, the amusement in Munson's expression is gone. “Yeah?” he asks, disdain clear in his voice. “And why does King Steve give a shit if I'm safe?”

It's an obvious challenge, and for just a moment - for just a moment, Steve wants to tell him.

To tell him how the King Steve shit first came about because Carol loved fairy tales when they were little and his parents were gone so much that Tommy called him king of the castle, that he has tons of people who call him their friend but the only people who come close to understanding him are his ex, her new boyfriend, and a gaggle of middle schoolers who're waiting for him to come pick them up.

That he's more tired than any seventeen year old should ever be.

“What kind of king would I be if I didn't protect my people?” he says instead of any of that, refusing to look at whatever his heart is doing.

It's high school, it's politics, it's bullshit, but it's still a game he has to play for a little longer.

Munson is watching his heart, now, and whatever he sees makes something complicated cross his face. For a moment, Steve picks up a hint of longing, but it's gone by the time he looks back up.

“Well then,” he says, wide grin back in place as he bows again. “Consider this court jester protected, Your Majesty.”

—

The phone rings at one am a few days later.

He isn't asleep - had been, earlier, but a nightmare had tipped him quickly into wakefulness, and he hadn't gone back - so he answers it almost immediately.

Nothing good comes from one am phone calls.

“How many teeth do you think those things have?” Max demands without so much as a hello.

“I don't know,” Steve bitches before he's thought better of it. “You want to come over and count the bite marks on my leg?”

There's silence for a moment.

“Yeah,” Max says, and Steve's gut twists.

“It's one in the morning, Mayfield,” he says. “What are you going to do, skate over? It's dark and cold as shit out there.”

“Didn't stop us at the junkyard,” she shoots back.

He's quiet for a moment. Then, “I'll pick you up.”

She snorts. “You're going to show up at my house at one am and pick me up? Yeah, that'll be a great look for you.”

“Then it looks like you're out of luck, and you'll have to pick out the teeth marks on my leg tomorrow.”

She doesn't say anything for a while. He doesn't rush her, just settles back with the phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear.

“Why'd you do it?” she asks eventually.

“I ask myself that about a lot of things,” he replies. “Which one?”

He half expects another snappy retort, but her voice just goes even quieter.

“Put yourself in front of me. Stand up to him.”

Oh.

“I don't need protecting,” she adds, and yeah, there's the attitude.

“I know you don't need it,” he says, even though that's a lie. She does need it, they all do. “I know you can look out for yourself.”

That's not a lie.

“But you shouldn't have to. You should have someone who'll look out for you.”

She scoffs. “And that's going to be you?”

He shrugs, even though she can't see it, and it hurts a little. “Why not?”

She's quiet again. “You don't even know me.”

He does, is the thing. He knows the way her eyes looked when she said Billy was going to kill her, he knows not being able to rely on the people you should count on most, even if it's not the same.

He knows how he felt the summer before high school, when his father finally grew too frustrated with waiting for Steve's heart to change, how he picked it up and nearly threw it across the room. He knows the sound of his mother yelling, how viciously they fought. How his father never touched him or his heart again, but Steve now knew what lurked behind his eyes when he smiled too big.

He knows how his mother has looked at him with disappointment more times than anything else, after that.

But he doesn't say any of that. Instead, he says, “So let's change that. Skate park or arcade tomorrow?”

“What?” she asks, clearly thrown.

“After you're done staring at my leg wound and counting teeth like a creep,” he clarifies. “Am I taking you to the skate park or the arcade?”

“Hawkins doesn't have a skate park,” she says dismissively. “It has abandoned parking lots and dirt holes.”

He waits.

“Arcade,” she says. “And I want popcorn.”

—

His walkie flares to life at night, sometimes.

After the first time, he leaves it on a different channel than their usual one - makes sure the kids know which one it is, if they need to use it - and sometimes, they do.

Okay, more than sometimes. It's not like Steve's sleeping all that well, though, so he doesn't mind when it happens almost every night for a few weeks.

“Steve, you awake? Over,” Lucas says one night.

“Yeah, I'm up,” he mutters into the walkie. Then, after a moment's pause, “Over.”

There's silence, and that wakes him up more than the walkie itself had.

“Lucas?” he asks.

“What if you weren't there?” Lucas says.

“What?” Steve asks.

“At the junkyard. With Billy. What if you weren't there?”

“But I was,” Steve says, frowning.

“I know, but what if you weren't?”

Steve sits up, rubs at his eyes a little. “I'll always be there when you guys need me, okay?”

“You can't promise that!” If it was Dustin or Mike it might have been an angry bite, but Lucas just sounds frustrated. Maybe even a little scared.

“Sure I can,” Steve argues, even though he kind of knows Lucas is right. “I have the walkie, right? You guys call me, and bada bing bada boom, I'm there.”

Lucas is quiet for a moment. “Are you still trying to get Nancy back?”

“What? No, of course not. Why?”

“Dustin said you were bringing flowers to Nancy when he made you help him look for Dart.”

Right, of course he did. Do these kids keep any secrets from each other?

“This isn't about Nancy, okay? This is about you guys. I showed my heart to Dustin and I have my walkie and everything, doesn't that mean I'm in your party?”

“You actually want to be in the Party?” Lucas asks, sounding skeptical. “But you're Steve Harrington.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Steve asks.

“Aren't you way too cool to hang out with us?” Lucas retorts.

This is - quickly becoming a conversation that Steve doesn't really want to have over a walkie talkie at past midnight on a school night. He huffs out a frustrated breath of air, then pushes the talk button on the walkie again.

“This weekend. Arcade or shooting hoops?”

There's a pause. Then, “Really?”

Steve swallows down his urge to be a dick. “Yeah. Really.”

“Basketball. The park?” Lucas asks.

“Nah, we can use the hoop in my driveway. Come on by whenever.”

—

Lucas is good. Unpracticed, especially at any kind of teamwork, but good. Steve has to be careful, with his injuries, but they still get some good work in, and it's fun.

It's not until they're finished and raiding the kitchen for some snacks that he asks, “So what was that about, a few days ago?”

Lucas noisily pops open his can of New Coke, and takes such a long drink that Steve's pretty sure he's doing it to avoid answering. Steve just raises an eyebrow.

“Nancy used to hang out with us,” Lucas says, almost reluctantly. “She even played D&D with us a couple of times. Then she went to high school, and then she started dating you, and suddenly she's too cool to hang out with us. Then - then everything with Will, the first time, and she promised Mike they'd spend more time together, but she didn't. Just kept dating you.”

That's - a lot. He hadn't known that about Nancy, except that she wasn't as close with Mike as she wanted to be, that she didn't know how to talk to him about everything that happened. He thinks about protesting that hey, he's the one who got Nancy to talk to Mike about Will - and had to be a part of it, ugh - but again, he's trying not to be a dick.

“So you're, what, worried that I goaded Nancy into not hanging with you guys?”

Lucas makes a face at him. “No, Nancy doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do. I believe you that you'll be here if we need you for Upside Down stuff again, but why would you hang out with us for the in between?”

That's a fair question. He wants to be flippant, wants to deflect with something like because Dustin keeps showing up at my house and won't leave me alone, but -

He remembers how terrified Lucas looked with Billy pinning him against the cabinet. He kind of wonders if anyone's talked to him about it, or if it got lumped in with all the other weird terrifying shit going on.

“Because it isn't always Upside Down stuff,” Steve says softly.

Lucas goes quiet. “El says Hopper told her you guys fixed it so Billy would leave us alone.”

“I think Max did that well enough, but yeah, Hop and I had a plan.”

“How?” Lucas asks.

Bullshit, is how, Steve wants to say, but he doesn't. “Billy's on the basketball team, and he wants to stay on the basketball team.”

Lucas frowns. “So?”

“So I've been on the team longer than him. Coach knows me better, the guys are used to looking to me. Well - some of them.” In all fairness, the basketball team's been kind of split - some of them gravitating to him, some to Billy, some trickling back and forth like kids with divorced parents.

“So… you're one of the cool kids, and you like us, so the more douchebag ones stay away from us?” Lucas asks.

Steve's nose scrunches a little as he considers that, but it's… not wrong. “Yeah, I guess so. Most of them are good guys, they don't like bullying anymore than I do. It doesn't stop the ones who are assholes from doing it where we can't see it, but it helps.”

Lucas looks like he's considering that for a long moment, until finally he nods.

Steve thinks that's the end of it, but later, as Lucas is heading out to leave, he asks, “So what happens if you're not there, and you can't see it?”

Steve resists the temptation to pinch the bridge of his nose - mostly because he knows it'll hurt like hell.

“The Y is offering self defense classes,” he says, when he's gotten himself under control. “I was thinking about taking one. You in?”

Lucas is in.

-----

This is already written, and my plan is to post one part a day until it's all up here!

Taglist (always happy to add more to this if anyone wants): @fairytalesreality @lostonceandneverfound @wheneverfeasible @awkwardgravity1 @theintrovertedintrovert @ravenfrog @scarlet-malfoy

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #steddie fic #dustin henderson #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #steve and dustin #steve and max #steve and lucas #good babysitter steve

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stephiramona · 3 days ago

Text

The tale of two cities according to Heiko and Stephi - Part 500

Unbelievable! This is the 500th part of our "Tales"! So Heiko and I thought that something special was needed.

But first of all, we want to thank you. You are fantastic, and without you and your comments, this wouldn't have been the same.

In the past years we have visited each other a few times, and this week we both wrote something about what we think the biggest differences of our hometowns are.

Let's start with Heiko's text and the photo (the first one) he took in Munich:

Today is our 500th Tale, which is pretty unbelievable. Yet, I admit that we are repeating ourselves a lot when it comes to the seasons (watch our for Christmas time) and we might even have repeated ourselves in some subjects. Still, we are doing the Tales for almost 10 years, a feat neither Stephi nor myself would have ever thought we would accomplish.

We also visited the other person’s city a couple of times and there are some differences about them. Picking out one, I would say that Munich is just bigger and you really need some time to explore the city. It just looked vaster to me. It seemed that you always need e tram or train to get to another spot. In Cologne, on one of Stephi’s trip, we went on foot and within a couple of hours I was able to show her the heart of the city with some of the most important places. I admit that if we took a tram, we would have been able to see other spots as well that are not in the center but more on the fringes, but you can spend a couple of days in Cologne by foot and see a lot of great and important places. I never had that feeling in Munich as the tourist attractions and other cool places were further apart.

Basically, you can spend a day in Cologne and see a lot of the city. I don’t think that would have been able in Munich. Yet, it’s well worth to spend more days in Cologne and go into some local pubs to get to know the people of the city and it’s flair. That will pass you by when you are only in the center that is usually crowded with tourists.

Another difference are the temperatures I experienced. Today it was cold and windy in Cologne. But I have never felt temperatures like on that trip in January 2017. That was cold and could have served as my own personal hell.

My picture from Munich is from that cold January trip and I am trying to show the vastness of the city.

Other things are petty similar though. I have seen some cool parks in Munich in which people hang out. The same is true for Cologne.

Since I spend most time with Stephi and Pete (and Fern on one trip), I didn’t get know other people from Munich. But according to Stephi, the people are pretty cool and open minded, other than the impression you get from Bavarian’s politicians and the way people vote. Cologne also praises itself for being open minded and I usually find that to be true.

I could probably go on for a while but I still want to thank you for sticking with us, reading our Tales and responding from time to time. I rarely respond but I really do appreciate your comments and feedback, read and enjoy it. Thank you all very much.

Now to my text and the photo I took in Cologne:

I think, Cologne and Munich are both great but very different cities. During my visits to Cologne, I was most impressed by the cathedral and the river Rhine. We inhabitants of Munich love our cathedral but - if I'm honest - the "Frauenkirche" isn't very impressive. At least not as impressive as the "Kölner Dom". Munich has a sweet little river, the Isar. It's nice for swimming and for spending some quality time. The river Rhine is way bigger and more impressive, but it's not a good idea to swim in it. I guess, you can't have everything. In my opinion, both rivers belong to the highlights of our respective hometowns, but in a different way.

Munich is close to the mountains and has beautiful surroundings. If you ever visit Munich you should take the time to visit the surroundings as well. Munich and Cologne look very different but the biggest differences for me are the people. When I was in Cologne, I found the citizens so nice, and refreshing, funny, and honest. During my first visit to Cologne, I took a taxi and the taxi driver wasn't only funny, he even wanted to share his breaktime snack with me and offered some radishes. I can't imagine something like that happening in Munich. Munich's citizens are more stiff and not as open as the ones of Cologne are.

Have you ever visited both cities? What do you think are the most differences of our hometowns?

#photographers on tumblr #original photographers #cologne #munich

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furioushoneymaple · 2 days ago

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Here's a small Sonic headcannon list (with Sonadow highlighted in):

Amy: "Oh, it takes a lot for him to cry, but once Sonic starts crying, it's hard for him to stop crying. Yeah, he doesn't do it on purpose, but he bottles up so much inside him. You can always feel it, and it's rare for him to share..." (giving advice to Shadow)

It'd hard for Sonic to cry in front of people/fans/folks too. He will hide his face, run away, bury his face away, he'll do ANYTHING and everything to not be seen. To him, he internalized it so much as an issue/he has high standards for himself that he doesn't even realize. He doesn't want the folks or fans in his life to see him sad. He's always about having a good time, laughing/joking/smirking, and just being a happy guy being the best he can be.

Sonic is very mute in the morning, at least for a few hours (and this really catches Amy and Shadow off guard) ...

Shadow: "you'd think he's loud, hyper, obnoxious, or annoying in the morning, but he's quite calm, gentle, and kind" (he's talking/gossiping to Amy)

The morning is really Sonic's favorite time of day (his chest is the sun after all) and while Sonic is mute he still communicates through sign language. Overall, Sonic is a morning person and is also not a morning person.

Sonic has knowledge (and still learns/but has procrastinated with it) about robotics and machinery. And only when he took Tails under his wing as his big bro is where Tails found his fascination about robotics and machinery too. That's where Tails learned from Sonic about all the cool knowledge, tricks and skills. Every so often Sonic will gladly help test run any of Tails inventions. Sonic believes in him very much.

In a lot of the backgrounds, there's Sonic petting the closest wild life/kitten/pup he sees. He cares a lot about the critters around him, and more times than not when he's on a mission/depending on the levels of danger or urgency the mission is, he will and does get distracted by all the animals around him.

Sonic loves learning, and he has a lot of random facts and knowledge hidden inside his mind. Like when he spends time with Rouge, there was this one time where Sonic saw a few of her gems that she collected (stole) and he lists all the important facts about the gem, the rarity, the design, the history. Just for him to stop half way through, and then going back to what he was doing.

Shadow is the bigger spoon while cuddling. He needs to be able to defend against any dangers even when he's asleep/cuddling. He's always on edge/and when danger is eminent, he's hyper aware/focused/on alert. Like a cat at night. And only when he can relax or when he's not busy/working/fighting, he loves physical affection (not in public though, never in public), he just kind of sucks at giving physical affection back. But, he tries. His form of love that he gives to others is words of affirmation, it's gestures/like chores or tasks he does, and he gives meaningful gifts.

Shadow overall is a great listener, Sonic is a great yapper.

Sonic is a great cook, he has mad cooking skills, and no one knows because he prefers street vendors/homemade/someone else's cooking he supports and loves/enjoys food that he doesn't have make. But Ohhh but he SUCKS at baking. He was determined to cook better food for Tails while they were growing up.

Shadow is also pretty great at making food too. He'd do his best to make snacks/meals with Maria. With whatever food the ARK had, he'd do his best to make the best dishes with the bare minimum. So during the holidays Shadow would do his best to make food for his family too. And it's hard to say which is better at making food between Shadow and Sonic. Shadow does know how to bake though, so there's that, but Sonic really tries to bake. Baking hates him.

There's probably more headcannons in me head somewhere but, enjoy, byeeeee

#headcannons #shadow #shadow the hedgehog #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth fandom #sth #tails #rouge #writing #idk what other tags to add #sonic x shadow #sonadow #AMY #amy rose

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playstation-dreamcast · 3 days ago

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guys, wanna see the commission I wrote for @nshtn !!!!

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Summary: After a long day at the lab, Wesker comes home with a terrible migraine, and you run him a bath to help him feel better :) Warnings: Some slight Yandere themes and possessive behavior, but for the most part this is pure, SFW fluff!

Wesker never would have called himself an “obsessive” man before. Driven, focused, compulsive even, sure. But never obsessive. He wasn’t quite sure when that changed, but he knew that at some point it had. And it had everything to do with you.

Today had been long. It wasn’t often he left you in your shared home alone, but he knew he was on thin ice after the last time you had been to the lab with him. He spent hours coaxing you back into his arms after you saw the true nature of his research, and realized he wasn’t the do-gooder looking for cures that you thought he was. If you had seen what he was working on today, you would have been packing your bags for sure.

Not that you would ever actually be able to leave him. No, he was sure that you both knew that you were in far far too deep for that. But, you being complacent in your imprisonment situation made things a lot easier, for all parties involved. He preferred you that way, anyways. Your love had always been so much sweeter when freely given.

Still, a part of him had wished he had dragged you with him to the lab today anyway, if for no other reason than because your presence just made the day easier. He could feel the tension headache forming at the back of his skull. A soft sigh of relief left him as he entered the home he made for you. He shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his heavy boots, more suited for a battlefield than they ever were for lab work.

He wasn’t shocked when you didn’t come to greet him. Your reaction to his work with the plaga had been…less than ideal. He expected you’d be cold to him for the next few days while you processed it all. Still, he felt your absence acutely in the silence, and it set him on edge. He was used to you talking about, well anything really as you took each other's coats off and made your way to the shower to wash the day off. It had become one of the comforts he didn’t even realize was a comfort until it was gone. His fingers twitched with the need to grab. pull. hold you.

This headache was quickly becoming a migraine. He decided to just call the day here and head to the bedroom, hoping to find you there, and crash for the night. He rubbed his eyes from under his sunglasses as he opened the door, struggling not to flinch at even the soft light of the bedroom.

“Al?” your sweet, soft, voice called and instantly he felt his shoulders relax- even if it was just for a fraction of a second.

He removed his hand from his eyes and gave you a soft smile. You looked so adorable, curled up in his blankets, reading one of the books he bought you, in the bed you shared with him. Safe, was the primary word that came to mind. “Good evening Dearheart, I trust that you had a good day?” he asked.

You ignored him. “What time is it?” You asked as you checked the alarm clock on your nightstand. It was only 3:30. “You’re home early.” You noted. It wasn’t like him to ever leave work early.

He nodded in acknowledgement, not even really bothering to change out of his work clothes before collapsing into the bed. Not like he worked with any samples today. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I left early,” He explained.

He suppressed a smile as you placed your cool hand against his forehead, checking for a fever. “You don’t feel warm,” you muttered, “Another migraine?”

“Heading that way.” He said, pulling you against his chest. You didn’t fight him. You were good like that. He closed his eyes as he focused on your breathing, and the steady thrum of your heartbeat against his own. The world was slowly starting to feel right again. Having you by his side, safe in his arms, was the only way he could feel human whole these days. His soul craved you, and no matter how much he may resent that fact, there was no changing it now.

You nuzzled your face into the crook of his neck, and looked at him through your eyelashes. “You smell like the lab.” You pointed out.

He gave a humorless huff of a laugh. “No doubt. I’ve been in it all day.” He muttered, closing his eyes to try and block out lowlights of the lamps in your bedroom. You hummed and patted his chest, silently requesting to be released.

He held you tighter. No, he wasn’t ready to let you go yet. He just got you back, and you couldn’t even give him five minutes? Ungrateful little-

“Al.” You said softly, patting him again, “I’d like to get up.” He held back a growl. He wanted to tell you no, but…your voice was so soft, and tender. And he knew you still weren’t happy with him. He was trying to sew you back to his side with a very delicate thread, and he had to be careful where he pulled.

So he sighed as he let you go, scowling softly as you got up. He didn’t open his eyes, but he did notice you turn off the lamp for him, and listened as you padded into the ensuite bathroom.

🧬🧬🧬

“Al…” your soft voice cut through the darkness. How long had it been? Had he fallen asleep? “Albert.” You said a bit more forcefully this time, placing a gentle hand on him

“Yes Dearheart?” He finally said, not removing the arm from over his eyes. When did it get there?

“I, uh…I ran you a bath.” You whispered.

He lifted his arm and finally looked at you. Someone took off his sunglasses, he noted. “Did you now?” He asked as he sat up.

“Mmhm” you nodded as you led him to the bathroom. The fresh scent of a douglas fir hit him as he walked in, followed by the realization that the bathroom was only lit with your candles. Fine by him, overhead lights were his enemy at the moment. He stretched out his neck to try and relieve some of the tension there, and as he did you moved to start undoing the buttons of his shirt.

Albert made no move to stop you. He’d always liked when you undressed him. He smirked as you undid his belt, a familiar smirk you knew all too well, joined by a small chuckle.

You couldn’t help the flush that came to your cheeks. “Shush.” you reprimanded.

He returned it with a condescending smile. “I didn’t say anything.” He pointed out.

“You didn’t need to.” You giggled softly as you finished undressing him. Wesker gave your face a loving caress before going and sinking down into the lush bubbles of the warm bath. He was taken a bit by surprise by the jets being on, but quickly came to appreciate them as they started to work the stress knots out of his back.

He didn’t hide his near lascivious grin as he watched you undress. He knew the big bath tub was worth the extra money. His eyes followed even your smallest movement as you got yourself ready for the bath, and lowered yourself into the water next to him. Migraine or not, Albert was quick to pull you close to him, kissing your neck and grinning into your skin at your soft giggle.

Your hands naturally found his hair, carding it in a way that almost seems like muscle memory. His face was still in the crook of your neck as he dragged his teeth over the seemingly permanent bruise he left there. Any time it started to fade, he’d sink his canines into you again, revealing in the way you gasped maybe a little bit too much. It was a sacred ritual for him, as well as an idle pass time. He adored the way you looked covered in his marks, the evidence of his presence in your life almost impossible to ignore.

You hissed a little as his teeth found their home in your neck. He held you tighter, delighting in the way you squirmed as he suckled on the delicate skin there. He pulled back to admire his work, only letting up once he was satisfied that his mark wasn’t going anywhere. Ever the perfectionist.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” You muttered, moving over to the other side of the bath and to the basket of products you kept there, “I wanted you to try this.” You said as you held up a jar.

Albert took a second to read the container in your hand in the dim candle light, his cat-like eyes doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. “A face mask?” He asked, voice unamused.

You nodded, “A hydrating face mask.” You clarified for him.

“And why would I need that?” He questioned. Despite what one might think, Wesker wasn’t big on the whole “self care” thing. He took care of himself of course, but just washing his face at night felt like a more than adequate skin care routine.

You moved back to him. “Because they feel nice,” You explained, “And it’s not a crime to do something just because it’s fun every once in a while.” He found your word choice near comical, all things considered. As if he had ever cared about what the law said before. Still, He closed his eyes, letting you gently apply the mask with your fingers.

He wasn’t expecting the coldness of it, but, it wasn’t entirely unwelcome either. The scent of what could only be described as “clean” mixed with the fir of the candles and the lavender of the bubbles, and Wesker slowly came to the realization that his jaw was unclenched. Now, he had always been a man of science, but some small, secret part of him was sure you had cast some sort of spell to make that miracle happen.

Or, maybe it was just the way you lovingly applied the mask that made it happen. The tips of your bare fingers gliding over the apples of his cheeks and down his nose. You even earned a little huff (That you were reasonably sure was supposed to be a laugh) from him as you booped the tip of his nose.

He heard the soft tap of the container being put to the side, and felt you move behind him. “Now what?” He muttered, careful not to move his mouth too much and disrupt your work, as he leaned back into you.

“Now we wait.” You informed him. Joy. Despite how often he found himself doing it, Wesker had never been a fan of waiting. He was willing to do it to reach his goals, and could in many ways even be described as a “patient” man. Still didn’t mean it was one of his favorite activities.

He nearly jumped when he felt the warm water cascading over his hair. He hadn’t heard you pick up the cup to do so, but he definitely heard you chuckling now. “Sorry,” You said, though anyone could tell you were most definitely not sorry, “I should have warned you.”

He gave an annoyed hum in response, leaning back into you. He was much more prepared for the water this time, and even found himself relaxing as you wet his hair. He heard the soft click of a shampoo bottle opening, followed by the feeling of you working your fingers into his hair. A soft, contented sigh left him as you massaged his scalp. He’d never admit it outloud, or even to himself for that matter, but the feeling of your hands in his hair would always be his favorite feeling in the world.

He tried to remember the last time he felt safe enough with someone to let their hands get this close to his neck while he had his eyes closed. Maybe William? And even then, it was mostly just that he trusted Birkin not to kill him while he slept. If he woke up to his hands in his hair, well…for one that would have been a very awkward conversation to have with Annette, but beyond that he probably would have punched him on reflex alone.

He had never felt the need to keep his guard up that high around you though. You had always been so gentle, so sweet. A soft bunny that had no idea it was playing with ravenous wolves. Perfect for him to model the “comfort” action off of, for lack of better phrasing. He wasn’t sure when it changed. It happened when he wasn’t looking, it went from just another experiment to something more.

He felt that twinge in his chest again. The one he only got when he thought of you. The all too familiar and uncomfortable contraction that reminded him that no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, to run away from the fact, he still had a human heart. A human heart that beat in time with yours, for yours. A human heart that was always more yours than it ever was his.

You were rinsing the shampoo out of his hair now, careful to make sure you got all of it out. His eyes were still closed. “No one’s ever washed my hair before.” He muttered.

“Yeah, that's not shocking to me,” you said, already working the conditioner into his hair, “All things considered.” It was more of an observation to himself, but- he did say it outloud- so he shouldn’t have been shocked by your commentary. He’d never been particularly open about his childhood with you. Mostly because he couldn’t bear the horrified, heart broken look in your eyes when he told you some of the lighter stories. Still, with the little information you had it didn’t take a giant leap of logic to figure out that Albert had spent his younger years isolated. Alone.

Touch starved. Maybe that was why he always leaned into your touch, even the slightest graze. Why he insisted you be in his lap at all possible times. Why he could never really let you be that far away from him.

Why he got jealous of any of the other researchers you spoke to. Why he had to know your location at all times, beyond just “wanting to make sure you’re safe.” Why you had become his own personal chew toy, covered in more “love bites” than you could ever hope to cover. Maybe he was just touch starved and making up for lost time.

His hand found your thigh, giving it a light squeeze. You were both shocked it took him this long to do so. You flinched a little as you felt his nails did into the tender skin, but knew better than to say anything at this point. Wesker's love had always come blood soaked and tinged with pain. You were fairly sure it was the only way he really knew how to love.

His grip loosened before doing any real damage though, so progress was being made on that front. It was just a slow process. While you waited for the conditioner to set in his hair, you grabbed one of the soft rags from the towel bar, wetting it before gently wiping the mask away. He raised a hand to rub his cheek when you were done. You were right, his skin did feel noticeably softer.

Or maybe it was just the placebo effect. Who knows. He opened his eyes slowly, smiling as he saw yours looking back down at him. “Hello Gorgeous.” he hummed to you, smile growing as he watched your face warm up.

“Hey Handsome.” You replied, brushing a stray hair out of his face, “Close your eyes again.” You instructed. For once he did as you said without a fuss, letting you rinse the conditioner out of his hair. “Are you feeling any better?” You asked softly.

He has almost forgotten about the migraine entirely. “Much.” He confirmed, looking back up at you. Normally, he preferred you in his arms. But, he could get used to the inverse too. “Some days I feel like I don’t deserve you, my Dearheart.” He mused, taking your wrist and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. He relished how flustered you got as he did so. He always knew exactly what to say or do to get you worked up, and it was a sight that never got old for him.

“Come on Al, don’t say that.” You shook your head at him, “We both know that’s not true.”

His grin only got wider. He loved it when you played his game with him. You both knew the thought that he wasn’t absolutely entitled to you had never once crossed his mind, let alone the thought that he might not deserve you. But, you’d both hide behind the nicer interpretation of your words. “Will you be staying in the bedroom with me tonight?” he asked.

He didn’t have to put any emphasis on the “with me” for you to feel it. You had slipped off to sleep in the guest room last night after he had fallen asleep. An act of defiance that he would normally never let slide, purposefully ignored. He knew you were struggling with what you had seen in the lab, and had learned from you to give space when things such as this happened.

But you both knew he was tired of giving space. And it hadn’t even been a full twenty four hours yet. You were quiet for a moment, before you nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be in there with you tonight.”

“All night?” He didn’t mean for there to be that much edge to his voice, but after a long day he was done masking.

You nodded again. “All night.”

He smiled, reaching up and pulling you down for a quick kiss. “That's my good Bunny.” He praised, eliciting a delightful smile from you. You were still his, no matter what you had seen in that lab. You’d always be his, the red string of fate tangled and twisted around your necks, keeping you together no matter the circumstances.

The water had gone tepid, and the froth of the bubbles had long since dissipated. He stood, holding out a hand to help you up. The bath was drained in favor of a quick shower, mostly to rinse away any remaining suds. As you stepped out, he wrapped a warm fluffy towel around you, a tender act that you returned in kind.

You brushed his hair, telling him it was part of the “full princess treatment.” He allowed it, if for no other reason than it was yet another reason for you to play with his hair. He insisted on brushing yours as well, saying you deserved the “full princess treatment” just as much as he did. And yes, it was a thinly veiled excuse to play with your hair.

Relieved from the migraine, the two of you were able to indulge in a movie to continue winding down for the night. He still insisted on cooking, being very vigilant of your diet. Nutrition was important, and he was a pretty good cook all things considered. He happily made your favorite before settling in to watch…

Whatever it was you put on. Honestly, he wasn’t really paying attention. He was far more occupied with the adorable pet on his lap, showering you with kisses and affection. Wesker was a fair man, he returned the treatment given to him. To the best of his ability. And he was more than happy to lavish you with his attention and praise. He didn’t realize just how much he missed you today until now.

He wasn’t going to do that again. If today had been any indication, even when you were scared of him, you still wanted to take care of him. Perhaps he had underestimated your tolerance for his work. Maybe you just needed to see more of it. Build up a tolerance via exposure. You’d come to see things his way eventually. You’d have to.

Before you knew it, he was holding impossibly close, against his chest, in bed, as if he was scared that if he let up you might disappear. A not impossible outcome, considering the night before. He buried his nose in your hair, getting lost in the familiar scent as he seemed to hold you just a little bit tighter. “I adore you, Dearheart.” He finally mumbled to you.

“I love you too, Al.” you promised, reaching out and turning off the lamp for the night.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: AHHSDFHCDHIUHDVHV9UPAH I LOVE HIM SO MUCH IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY!!!!!!!!! Thank you, so so much for commissioning me to do this, it has in fact, made me smile bunches! I just love writing for my lil Weskee.

Bonus! The song that has the lyric the fic was named for: Human Zoo - Aphrodite, Your Electric Sexiness ft. Will Wood (Animated Lyric Video)

#albert wesker #resident evil #albert wesker x reader #wesker x reader #albert wesker fluff #wesker x reader fluff #resident evil fluff

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mc-lukanette · 3 days ago

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Marinette could hardly believe that she was on her way to becoming an adult. The years were somehow long and exhausting yet short at the same time. All the effort she'd put towards building a future career for herself were going to take off the moment she got out of school, and she was ecstatic about it.

The only con was that everyone would inevitably be taken in separate directions, no longer bound by the guaranteed meetings in the classrooms. She supposed that was the inevitable test of friendship going forward - seeing who would stay in contact and who wouldn't - but it was a nice excuse to spend time together before things “ended.”

That was what led up to her and the girls having a sleepover at the Liberty, as if they were all children again. Half the silliness of that was knowing that most of them hadn't even known each other as children, but in a way that made it all the more important to do.

The other half was that the guys had also coincidentally planned a sleepover (guys' hangout, not a sleepover because that's girly, no really, stop laughing—) on the same day, leaving them to divide the Liberty up between them. That left the guys with the deck and the girls below deck, though the guys were generously permitted to head down to the lounge room if they needed anything.

Throughout the experience, Marinette had a blast. Alongside the girls, she chatted it up with a sprinkle of gossip, played games, set up a comfy place for everyone to sleep, and cracked a few jokes whenever one of the boys came down for something or made an excuse to say hello to their significant other.

The plan initially was to stay up all night since they didn't have any school the following day, but alas, the old age of being in their late teens had made everyone too tired before midnight hit. Boys and girls alike turned in for bed in their respective places, the boys in the main area above deck and the girls in the Couffaine siblings' room below deck.

—————

Marinette awoke at some point during the night, feeling sweaty and uncomfortable. She hadn't slept over at the Liberty before and had expected it to be colder than it ended up being, because wasn't it so Marinette of her to over prepare and still have things go wrong.

Pushing off the overly-fluffy and thick blanket, she got herself up quietly so as to not wake anyone. Since no one was going to see her anyway, she grabbed the bottom of her tank top and pulled the shirt over her head, leaving her in just her bra and capris in hopes that she might cool off faster.

Tiptoeing, she crept around the girls all sprawled out and sleeping, nearly tripping on Mylene's arm but managing to keep her balance. On her way to the lounge room, she caught sight of an abandoned blanket and looked up, seeing that Rose had gotten up at some point to join Juleka on her bed.

Frowning, admittedly a bit jealous, Marinette glanced at the empty bed on the other side of the room: Luka's. If he'd been a girl and they were dating, would she have been able to sneak into his too?

Of course, they were not dating, not for lack of wanting to but because she hadn't made any moves on him. She'd run through most excuses by then: thinking that he was too mature for her and growing herself into the person she wanted to be, then thinking that there must've be someone else he liked and finding no evidence for that after a few years, then thinking that she was too busy carving out a path for herself and now being at that point where she'd done so. There wasn't any reason not to try anymore, but she still felt anxious about it.

Did Luka even see her as someone attractive, or was she his sister's friend? Would it be weird to ask? Was it better or worse knowing that he would have every excuse not to talk to her again with everyone doing their own thing?

She shook her head, trying to banish the thoughts. He was literally sleeping right above her, so it felt weird to be thinking about it, like talking about someone who just barely couldn't hear off in another room.

Heading into the kitchen, Marinette got herself a cup and opened the fridge, peering inside for anything good. She sighed at the cold air wafting out, half-tempted to just shove herself partway inside until she'd cooled off, but resisted and left it at pulling out a pitcher of iced tea. She'd probably regret having a drink in the middle of the night, but that was future Marinette's problem and she preferred it to the alternative of staying hot and gross.

She was only half-awake, but she could do a basic task like pouring herself a drink. With her hands both occupied, she carefully closed the fridge with her foot and put the cup on the counter. Holding it with one hand to keep it in place, she tipped the pitcher and aimed for the sides of the inner part of the cup, figuring that would make less noise than liquid into liquid.

She was so focused on the simple act that she hadn't heard the footsteps coming from up above, nor the ones going down the stairs nearby, nor the slight creak of the door at the bottom of the stairs as it opened.

The quiet, “Oh, Marinette,” however, spoken in the low, melodic tone she'd imagined next to her in a bed just a minute ago, she did hear. Her head spun to look, body stiff as her eyes took in Luka standing there and staring at her.

Also, he was shirtless.

Her mouth opened wide, nearly screaming his name in her surprise before she clenched her teeth to stop herself, then she had to stop herself from overpouring the iced tea into her cup, then she had to stop herself from slamming the pitcher onto the bar. It left her a mess, vibrating in place with the feeling that any movement would be the wrong kind.

“...Hi,” she greeted in a strained voice, shutting her eyes tight. Without the distracting image in her sights, she willed herself to set the pitcher down calmly and get out the jitters with a shake of both arms.

“I'm sorry,” he said. Judging from how his voice projected, he'd looked away. “I'll go back up.”

Her eyelids popped open again, realizing how her reaction must've looked. Rushing over to him, she reached a hand out and said in a hushed whisper, “Wait! No, I'm sorry, you don't have to go.”

She wanted to grab his sleeve to stop him, but there wasn't a sleeve to grab. She considered grabbing his hand instead, which they'd done dozens—no, hundreds of times, but it was different when there was so much skin she could see beyond it. Sure, it wasn't like the skin wasn't always there, but it was covered by the layers of clothing he always wore, layers of clothing that had apparently been covering the nice arms that picked her up that one time they went ice skating on a whim, and the rest of the collarbones that she'd always seen a bit of but were now on full display, and the chest—

Dropping her gaze, Marinette awkwardly slipped two fingers into his shorts pocket, giving it a little tug and blushing beet red as she asked, “Didn't you come down for a drink?”

Because I could really use mine right now, she didn't say.

She heard him breathe unusually deeply, then he asked in reply, “Is that okay?”

“Chest—yes!” She removed her hand from his shorts, waving past her shoulder at the bar. “We can drink together—but separately, because we'll be drinking from a cup but not the same cup since we'll have different cups. Is iced tea good?”

The silence that followed was deadly, but she wouldn't accept death before she had a nice moment with her handsome crush of multiple years. One of the many great things about Luka was that he never wavered at nor made fun of her substantial awkwardness, so if there was anyone to catch her in such a state, she preferred it to be him.

She peered up cautiously at his face, surprised when she saw that he was blushing up to his ears as his head turned to look at her again. She hadn't taken him for the type to get embarrassed seeing a girl partly undressed given that he shared a room with his sister.

It couldn't have been because it was her... could it?

“Then sure. I'd love to,” he finally said, not acknowledging the fumble.

Turning away from him like he was her own traitorous thoughts, Marinette nodded and went back into the kitchen area to get another cup for him. Quickly pouring the iced tea inside, she slid it across the bar to Luka and picked up her own cup. She was careful when daring to look over at him, keeping the cup and her hand in the right position to block as much of him as possible while they both drank.

They tipped their drinks at the same time, and she didn't miss that he took just as big of a gulp as she did, the both of them draining nearly the whole, cool, refreshing thing in one go. It was odd to her that they both seemed equally thirsty, but it was at least a little romantic for them to be on the same wavelength.

Luka took a deep, heavy sigh as he put his cup back down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I couldn't sleep. I'm not used to... this.”

“Sleepovers?” she wondered, fiddling with her cup rather than putting it down. "You've never had one before?"

“There were a couple,” he said with a shrug, “but not with this many people. It's...”

“Too many songs in one album?” she recited, swearing she'd heard that line once or twice from him before.

He met her eyes for a moment, flashing an affectionate smile, then took another sip of his drink. “Something like that. I grew up without that many guys in my life, and on the Liberty it was usually just me and all the strong, smart women who came aboard.”

She giggled, still remembering fond days of Kitty Section and Ivan as the only other guy most of the time. “Yeah. Juleka, Rose, and your mom are all great people.”

He snorted, though she didn't see what was particularly funny about what she said. Tipping his head back to grin at her, he corrected, “I meant you too, Marinette.”

“Uh—!” She blushed all over again, immediately taking in the rest of her drink, lamenting how quickly it went down. Somehow his way with words hadn't faded with time, much to the distress of her heart. “That's... I-I thought it was a little late at night for that?“

That being whatever conversation they appeared to be having right then, the kind that had gone on-and-off throughout the course of their years together.

“I hate to tell you, Marinette,” he began, all with the tone of someone who did not 'hate to tell her'. He reached for the pitcher without looking in a silent offer to refill her cup for her, then continued, “But you aren't one to talk. I'm just playing along to your tune.”

“Me?” She pouted, passing him the pitcher. “What did I do?”

“Your—” His eyes flicked down her body for an instant, but he cleared his throat, thinking better of whatever he was about to say. His face flushed and he, after pouring her another cup of iced tea, filled his own back to the top as well. “You're an incredible designer.”

She was thoroughly confused now, not knowing what he'd been looking at. Sure, she'd taken her shirt off and it was a bit embarrassing having her bra showing in front of her crush, but—

Then, it hit her all at once, her head tipping down to look at herself. She had been branching out when it came to fashion design, with bras being one of them, but she hadn't realized that she'd been wearing this particular one. It was covered with Kitty Section colors and music notes, which wasn't an indicator of anything on its own as it wasn't specifically labeled as such, but what was a giveaway was the clip holding the cups together.

She'd designed the clip after a Kitty Section mask; his Kitty Section mask. Having worn it every now and then to test how good it was at maintaining its durability, she hadn't given a thought to the fact that she'd been wearing it.

Did he realize that too?

Swallowing, Marinette felt the need to physically get away from the situation in her embarrassment. Moving around to the other side of the bar and taking her cup with her, she sat herself down on one of the stools and let her head drop onto the smooth surface. “I'm sorry.”

“No, I—I shouldn't have looked,” Luka insisted, sounding genuinely guilty about it. “I swore I saw my colors, and...”

“You saw right,” she whined, wondering if it was too late to pretend that she was wearing a new piece in a Kitty Section fashion line.

The disapproving frown - aimed at himself - was evident in his voice. “But I didn't want to make you feel awkward.”

It was silly hearing him talk like that when she was the one who wore it in the first place. Did it even matter if she tried to deny anything or make an excuse at that point? She'd been thinking about this when she got up, but now he was actually there, in front of her, thinking he made her feel bad.

She put her hand over her cup, twisting it back and forth on the bar. Raising her head only enough to look at him, she assured softly, “...You didn't. Not you, anyway, because... because you're not any of the other guys.”

She winced, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way. It could've easily been interpreted as her saying that she wasn't shy because she didn't see him as someone she could be attracted to or care about, when actually it was the exact opposite.

Instead of responding, he looked away and took another long sip of his iced tea. Watching him quench his thirst made her want to do the same, and she did just that.

“I'm not tired anymore,” he said all of a sudden.

She hummed in agreement. “Me neither.”

They both paused, and for a second Marinette assumed that Luka was just as clueless as her on what to do next. Then, his free hand fell upon the counter between them, angled in her direction, and she sat up to wordlessly ask for clarification.

Their eyes met again, and he asked, “Do you want to keep talking somewhere else?”

She hesitated before replying even though she knew the answer. She did want to talk more, but his words carried more weight than usual and she felt it. Things had already become a bit more intimate and she didn't want to respond right away like she didn't notice it.

She inhaled, exhaled, then took in the rest of her drink and accepted that she would have to set her cup aside for the time being. Dropping her hand quietly on the bar and sliding her fingers onto his, she answered with her full chest, “Yes.”

He nodded once, cheeks noticeably pink, then turned to open the fridge behind him. With one hand he put the pitcher back inside, and with the other he sipped his remaining iced tea.

Marinette felt a buzzing sensation go through her at the knowledge that something was happening right now. He wasn't weirded out by her wearing his symbol on her bra, to the point where he even wanted to keep talking to her? While he was still shirtless?

She needed to do something - anything - to get the energy out.

“I'll be right back,” she told him extra quietly, getting off of the stool and making her way back to the Couffaine siblings' room. She faintly heard him make an affirmative noise, so she felt assured that he wouldn't think she was running away.

The large bag she'd brought her sketchpad and other assorted supplies in was resting near her little sleeping spot. Sneaking carefully so as to not make a sound, she crouched down in front of it and reached inside, fumbling around for the particular object she was looking for.

Forcing down the excited 'Found it!' that she wanted to let out as her fingers brushed it, she pressed her lips together tightly and pulled it out: a scented candle, encased in glass with a few cinnamon sticks on the sticker at the front.

She stood up, stopped, then got back down to place her bag where she'd been. Pulling the blanket over it to give the appearance that she was still sleeping there, she adjusted it until she was satisfied before making her way back out of the room.

Luka was still there, having put their cups away while she was gone, and was in the process of pulling out a large but thin blanket that had been hidden behind the couch. Marinette looked on approvingly, then shyly approached with her own addition to their future of “talking somewhere else.”

“I was going to use this during the girls' sleepover,” she explained, wiggling the candle at him, “but they weren't into it.”

He responded immediately, “I am,” then leaned over to whisper against her ear, “You know where the matches are.”

Her body felt hot all over again, like she'd still been underneath her thick blanket, only this time it was entirely pleasant. He hadn't said anything crazy, she told herself, but she felt affected anyway. So did he, judging by the way his lips twitched as he turned back to the blanket.

With a bouncy but silent pep in her step, Marinette went over to the kitchen, pulling out one of the drawers and immediately finding the matches he'd been referring to inside. Putting it in next to the candle's wick, she glanced over her shoulder to see what Luka was up to.

He'd bundled up the corners of the blanket oddly, giving it some sort of sack shape, and threw it over his shoulder one-handed in Santa Claus fashion (if Santa Claus was a boy nearing his twenties, shirtless, and violently attractive to her anyway). Scanning the room over, she noted that all the pillows on the couch were gone.

She saw then what he was up to and smiled, walking through the kitchen to meet him by the door to the stairs. It was the closest she'd been compared to when she'd tugged on his shorts pocket, and she still couldn't help the little involuntary whine she let out.

She wanted to touch him, but holding his hand seemed strange at that point. She eyed him up and down while simultaneously trying not to blatantly check him out, but as her eyes darted back up to his face, his expression told her that he didn't mind the attention.

He didn't mind it at all. He appeared delighted, actually.

As the hand furthest from her was the one holding the makeshift sack, Luka offered his free arm to her in an obvious gesture. Marinette felt her heart skip several beats, but was drawn towards him like a magnet, bringing her arm up to link with his while her other hand held the candle to her chest.

Together, they went through the door and headed up the stairs as one unit, footsteps in complete sync. At the top, they turned, not to head into the greenhouse area or where the boys were sleeping, but in the cabin where it was tiny and private.

Marinette took notice of how reluctant Luka was to pull away from her, but he did so anyway so he could drop the blanket on the floor and sort out the pillows. She set the candle down in the corner of the cabin, then got down on her knees to help him.

Before long, they'd set up a cute little comfy space with an absurd amount of pillows, the blanket atop them to nearly complete the look. For the finishing touch, she passed him the matches to light one, which he passed back so she could light the candle. The scent of cinnamon steadily began to waft throughout the cabin and the two got comfy on the pillows, staring out at the night that the open area of the cabin allowed them.

Thinking it was about time she addressed the Kitty Section colored elephant in the room, especially after he was the one to prompt them talking more, she rubbed an arm and said sheepishly, “Sorry for not asking.”

He leaned closer, raising a brow at her. “For what?”

“You know.” She averted her gaze, slipping a thumb underneath her bra strap and sliding it back-and-forth. “I felt like I should've gotten permission?”

“Ah.”

“But I didn't know how to ask. How do you ask someone—you know—” She scoffed at herself, waving her hands wildly in front of her. “—about that, but you make me comfortable and I don't make other people feel comfortable, so I just... did it quietly.”

“Mm,” he hummed. That was all he did at first, long enough to make her think that would be the end of it, but then he asked, “Why would it make me feel uncomfortable?”

She gave him a puzzled look, feeling like it was obvious, but he gave her a look back like it wasn't. She couldn't see anything but him then, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and watching his eyes follow the movement.

“I...” She brought her knees up towards her chest, resting her arms on top of them. “I always thought I felt things too much? Everyone says that I feel too loudly, but you don't. You're quiet and musical, and you're so nice that I didn't know if...”

She trailed off, unsure of exactly what she didn't know. If it was whether Luka would be dishonest for the sake of her feelings, then she already knew that wasn't true. He didn't seem like the type of guy who wouldn't talk to her again over some awkwardness either.

“...I didn't know if I was enough,” she concluded, and it was as much of a surprise to herself to say as it was for him. Hiding her face against her legs, embarrassed, she explained, “I still had so much I wanted to do for you, to prove I was, so it was better to hide it until then.”

“Marinette.”

She felt his fingers against her hand, then a gentle squeeze as he pulled it towards him. She brought her head back up to watch and he held her hand up near his face.

“I never thought you felt too much, or too loud. Your feelings were yours, and I never wanted you to hide them.” He raised her hand higher, close enough that she could feel his breath against her fingers. “I like them where they are now: here, where I can play the same song back to you.”

And there it was: what should've been obvious based on them mirroring each other over the last few minutes, yet actually hearing it was like a weight off her chest. Her eyes softened, fingers shaking in his hand from emotion, and while it was more apparent on her how relieved she was, an observant eye could see the same - albeit more subtle - on him.

Even while looking so calm, she knew it wasn't only her hand that shook, and it was too warm to mistake it for anything else.

“Luka...” She let out a single laugh, shaking her head at herself. “I used to be so sure you weren't attracted to me.”

“Really?” he gasped, genuinely surprised. With a sense of urgency, he tugged her hand towards his shoulder, extending his other hand towards her free one. “May I?”

She didn't know what he was up to, but trusted him without a word and slipped her other hand into his. He pulled her towards him, slowly easing her onto his lap, then grabbed onto her sides and encouraged her upwards. Going along with his motions, she got on her knees with the inner part of her legs touching the outer sides of his, ignoring the reminder that he rode his bike a lot and she could feel it.

With her having raised herself up enough that she hovered over Luka, combined with the way he stared up at her, she almost felt like royalty being bowed down to and appreciated.

“Do you know what I've been wanting to do since I saw you in this?” he asked, his hands on her bare sides.

Whatever got him to keep his hands there was fine with her. She idly tapped on his shoulders as she held onto them, replying, “No?”

He looked straight ahead, eye level with her chest and deliberately staring at the bra he'd tried not to stare at so far. Leaning forward, he opened his mouth, holding her still as he clamped down on the clip of her bra.

Marinette's heart raced. She shuddered, hands tightening around his shoulders as she felt—whatever he was doing. The front of her bra was shifting along with him and it was hard to get much of any thought going on with his head so close to her chest.

Then, she heard a distinct 'click', and with it came the feeling of the bra's cups loosening. Heat overcame her as her wide eyes stared him down, and he peered up at her with his teeth still keeping the clip from coming apart entirely.

Did he really—and with his mouth...?

She tensed, biting her lower lip at the message she had so clearly received from him. Satisfied, he let go of her sides to grip the bottom of the cups, opening his mouth and sliding his fingers inwards to redo the clip again.

She didn't doubt that Luka being so respectful with her at all times of the day contributed to the idea that he wasn't physically attracted to her, but she learned then that he was a near-adult just as she was with everything that came with that. He just hadn't shown it out of what he deemed to be care for her, which only made him all the more attractive.

His eyes, deep blue and longing for nothing but her, were an ocean of possibilities, with her onboard the boat sailing across it. It'd been an unsteady ride at times, her feet struggling to keep balance when the waves of affection struck, and she'd remained on it for fear of drowning.

But it'd been silly, as not only would he not let her go, but how could she drown when he offered her so much life?

Trailing a hand past his shoulder, fingertips running across his upper back and up the back of his neck, her breaths were charged as she gripped his hair. She got down to level with him, glancing meaningfully at his lips and requesting, “Me next.”

Neither waited any longer for the kiss, Luka's hands going around to grip the back of her bra and waistband to pull her in. Marinette, eager to take initiative, parted her lips to probe his with her tongue, a harmonious duet of a moan escaping them when he welcomed her in.

Had she been thinking at all about being heard, she might not've minded getting caught anyway. Being the person that made Luka play at his best and able to show others that he was hers and she was his and look how lucky they are all sounded incredibly appealing. She was awed at the way his confidence bolstered hers and vice versa.

They tasted each other, both the unfamiliarity of the other's mouth and the lingering hint of iced tea. They were two threads of fabric weaving themselves together, ensuring that they would never have to part again, and Marinette's mind buzzed with excitement.

She'd always wondered why Luka, despite being a smidgen older than her and having raised money since he was able to get a part-time job, had never gone anywhere, staying on the Liberty as if waiting for something. She could be certain then, that he'd been waiting for her, clinging to whatever evidence, hope, or curiosity that he may've had that things were mutual between them. He'd sent the knowledge into her through the kiss, yet another case of talking to the other without needing to say it.

The kiss broke with two gasps for air, their chests heaving as they took each other in. Luka's eyes, once iced over not with innocence exactly but as a way of hiding the depth of his feelings for her, now burned with love and desire. Marinette knew instinctively that hers were the same.

Letting out a breath, she reached back for just a moment to grab the corner of the blanket, bringing it up and around them for coverage. Nestling herself around him and cherishing the way he cuddled her so gently after such an intense moment between them, she could only giggle at herself.

“I can't believe I confessed to you in my underwear,” she whispered, a secret for just the two of them.

Drunk on her affection, he chuckled blissfully. “You confessed to me.”

“I can't believe that's all you're focusing on!“

#queuekanette #lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette #((Just as a head's up... this gets a little suggestive. A bit out of my element.))

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pillowspace · 12 hours ago

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csd ask about that cool concept you had for the end of the fic? may we know any more about it? :3

OH. HEY WAIT, DID I EVER SAY WHAT THAT WAS? I don't actually know what you're referring to exactly, but I can guess

Y/N was never actually from that universe. The CSD universe. They were never even from it. I don't know if you remember the frankenfate au but this was a little secret I held that made frankenfate funny to me, because... because Vale kinda was from a soulmate AU. It just wasn't of the soulmarks or red string variety.

Y/N had a destiny in a modern mer!DCA world, but they were taken from their universe as a toddler to eventually give Sun and Moon a weakness years down the line. I... I know it was William Afton's doing, I think Henry had trapped him someplace and he needed the power of multiple gods to escape or something like that? So he was using Eclipse to get his way, but he secretly had plans to also kill Eclipse once it was all done? That was probably it??

Being brought into this universe, it was like... forcefully jamming together two soulmates when Y/N's narrative was meant for a different Sun entirely. Y/N would find this out later, and although it'd be horrifying to them, they'd eventually decide that it didn't matter if this bond was planned with ill intent, they cared about Sun and Moon now so they had to HELP them! Once William or whatever the hell I planned to call him had trapped both Sun and Moon and gotten what they needed out of Y/N, William would just... send them back off. You've completed their role in this universe. Bye bye now.

So Y/N would've been sent back to their original world. Lost and horribly confused. They were only human. They didn't know how to go back. They're still reeling from realizing that they had been a trap since the moment they met Sun. They could just... stay here, even if they're too scared to approach their own family. Knowing how their life was meant to play out, it's not hard for Y/N to stick close to the sea and soon meet the Sun and Moon they were fated to meet. And it feels like something's clicked, they had always been drawn to water, but they also feel so... empty. Their wants conflict with their fate because a god had decided to tamper with it. They miss their universe, this isn't the home they were raised in, they want to go back!!

And then they meet Michael and Elizabeth. Two gods who Y/N had met in godly disguise before, so they don't recognize the siblings. But Michael recognizes them, and after some conversations, Michael picks up on the fact that Y/N isn't some parallel version but instead the very same person he had met before. So Michael makes an offer. I can't get you directly back to your universe, it doesn't work like that. But it does work like a staircase. Each step is a different universe, and if you'll let me help you get through each world having fulfilled a goal, you'll be able to move on to the next. At the end of that journey will be the universe you truly see as home.

Y/N agrees, and later has a heartfelt goodbye with the mers. I'll... note that the mers don't really talk, so it was just Y/N thanking them, apologizing, and wishing them well in life.

Truthfully, I know I had a reason for how this happens, but I can't remember it: CSD Eclipse also travels with Y/N. They're there, I can't remember why 😭 But their dynamic is... easier then. The two (three?) of them bicker back and forth, but that's a lot healthier than whatever Eclipse had going on previously.

Fun fact!! One of the universes they would end up in on their journey back to the CSD Universe would actually have Sunna and Meno. Y/N would've gotten to meet them separately. Eclipse would've had... feelings about that universe.

I didn't want to drive in the idea of soulmates being this big and necessary thing, so Y/N would eventually come to learn after their happy ending with the gods that the mers are now happy with friends of their own. Everyone got what they wanted, even if the whole rhythm of life got disrupted into a new story.

SO? SURPRISE? CSD Y/N WAS FROM A MER UNIVERSE THE ENTIRE TIME? I hope this is coherent, I'm fighting for my life to sound even remotely coherent in any of this

#ask #celestial sundown au #long post

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gravityrises · 1 day ago

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Thinking about "Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future": And you know what? I'm not even going to defend Ford in this one, because he did in fact mess up. But there are still a few thoughts I wanted to share.

1. Ford took Dipper on a dangerous mission:

Well, there are a few things to point out. First, Ford most likely didn't think it would be dangerous at all. His plan was to retrieve the alien adhesive and be done with it. If along the way he could show some cool stuff to a twelve-year-old, that would be a plus, right?

Second, at least Ford was physically there, when all hell broke loose. Stan just allowed the kids to venture into a forest full of paranormal creatures completely on their own. Meanwhile, Ford understood that kids are curious by nature and it's impossible to contain their curiosity by simply denying everything. So, it would be better to go along with them.

Still, this does not absolve Ford of his wrongdoing, just because Stan sucks as a caretaker. "I did something bad, but other people have done worse" is a wrong attitude to have in general. Ford should've been more careful and not allowed Dipper to mess around with the controls on the alien ship. Which, I should probably add, wasn't the reason why the droids were activated. That was just generally irresponsible.

2."Just feel no fear", he said:

Yeah, I actually disagree with people who claim Ford was wrong in saying that. He wasn't asking Dipper to repress his feelings or whatever. It's actually more similar to being instructed to keep calm during a fire alarm. Which, you should. You absolutely should. Your life may depend on whether or not you manage to control your emotions. That doesn't mean you'll have to repress your feelings for the rest of your life, you can still deal with them after the crisis is over.

And was Ford expecting out of Dipper too much? Perhaps, but Dipper still had to know what was going on. Explaining how the security droids worked was the right call and I will stand by that.

3. Ford's apprenticeship offer:

Okay, let's get this out of the way, I do believe Dipper shouldn't have stayed with Ford after summer. And it wouldn't be healthy or good for a young boy to stay apart from his family and peers. Maybe it would've been okay, if he were slightly older and still interested in this field. But at this point Dipper is an impressionable kid, whose plans for the future might change a hundred times over until he reaches adulthood.

Something I failed to appreciate before is that wrong timing is something that affects Ford, as much as Dipper. And it's something Ford brings up himself, he is getting older. And who knows for how much longer he'll be able to continue his strenuous work in Gravity Falls. He was definitely under pressure to find someone who would be willing to learn about the anomalies. And not just by reading the journals: Some skills are better acquired in the field, by being shown how it's done and giving it a try yourself.

Still, as much as it is tempting to offer this apprenticeship to Dipper, Ford really needs to look for someone else.

#gravity falls #stanford pines #dipper pines #dipper and mabel vs the future

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sticks-stones-sonic-insanity · 2 days ago

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Ok idk how plausible this is but like. Just considering the possibility. Let's think about it for a second.

Shadow has Chaos Island on his register for Shadow Generations. In a more meta explanation, we know its because Chaos Island was the least utilised location in Sonic Frontiers: most of its platforming was 2D, and the more interesting locations that players wanted to travel to were either unreachable or off in the distance as set design. Among other things. Shadow himself hadn't actually been there, but he hadn't clocked that since the game's story took place at the same time as 2011 Generations did.

Gerald's explanation for its, as well as that of Sunset Heights' existence in white space was that the Time Eater (or Black Doom?? Idk they don't really make it clear who's controlling what) was pulling from locations in Shadow's FUTURE as well as his past, so some locations that were present were for a future Shadow to experience instead.

Is it at all possible... that maybe we haven't seen that version of Shadow either? Is it possible that Shadow is among a cast who return to Starfall Islands in a Sonic game further into the future than what we know about?

I don't have much to back this, and I'm cool with that. It's just an interesting idea to think about.

The plot of Sonic Frontiers is fairly linear, but the primary story beats within the characters held a very clear message about change. Change, progression, and wanting to move on to become something more than what they believed themselves to be. Amy wants to explore the world and find more places to share her passion and love with others. Knuckles wants to push himself to leave Angel Island and have a life outside of his role as the Guardian of the Master Emerald. Tails wants to be more independent, and spend time honing his skills without Sonic to fall back on when he's in trouble. Sonic is notably excluded from this common desire to change, but they don't touch much on his reaction to this information and he's primarily there to spurr on their motivation anyways. I have my own feelings about Sonic himself in Frontiers, but it's not super important to go into here. Point is, the characters here are looking for growth. An opportunity to give to themselves room for change.

Shadow did much of the same in Shadow Generations, but Gerald's dialogue about his motivation in life being stagnant after he and Maria move on is a nod to the idea that Shadow is very much not done on the development front.

He's let go of his past, and has a drive to keep moving forward in honour of it.

Now what?

I'm not sure how, or when, or if it could happen, but I think it would be interesting for Shadow to find that same kind of time for introspection as (three of) the core 4 did on the Starfall Islands. Frontiers had that softer, more serious tone to it that Shadow's change in attitude would benefit from. His half of generations was able to match that tone, since he made most of the journey on his own. Anyone who interacted with him brought an atmosphere that fit the individual cutscene.

What kind of conclusion could he come to, given the time to think about it? Who would be at his side to help him voice his thoughts?

Does Shadow know what he wants in his life? If not to Maria, where will he look to find the answer to that question?

All of this speculation is mostly shot down by the fact that this game occurs that little bit too far back in the timeline for these things to line up, but I still wanted to consider it. Its interesting to think about, and I've been having fun trying to guess what Sega has in store for these little guys. Whatever comes next, I hope it's got the same love and care in it that went into Shadow Generations, because that way we know we'll be in for something good. Lmk what you think!

#thank you for reading all of this im a little insane abt it <33 #they've set up a lot of good stuff with these past two games and im really really really really hoping they do something good with it #but yk we'll see #sonic the hedgehog #sth #sxsg #sonic x shadow generations #shadow the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #sticks can talk!?

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toasthaste · 11 hours ago

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ok here are some In Stars and Time thoughts: (wow! that's a lot of thoughts actually! long post warning! also warning for like every possible spoiler, don't read this if you haven't engaged with the game to your satisfaction)

I'm obsessed with the fact that the loop that ends up being the final one is the one where EVERYTHING goes wrong. I spent the whole game subconsciously building up my Perfect Final Loop in my mind, how I'd get every item to make sure I didn't miss an opportunity to use em, do all the friendquests and such... I didn't even realize I'd been building up that ideal scenario until after credits rolled! Really really cool. The timeline where Siffrin does the worst stuff he does in any loop is the one that stays. And it's still a happy ending! it's a better ending because of that! His friends saw him at his worst and still loved him! He didn't have to do everything perfect to keep them around actually! Something about that feels so right, to me.

I keep using "ludonarrative resonance" to describe this game and yeah ok I'm huffing my own farts here whipping that out but whatever, it's REAL. The player and Siffrin are on the EXACT same emotional journey as each other, we're getting tired of seeing the exact same lines over and over again right alongside them, we're taking shortcuts because we've seen it all before and just want to grab key open door grab crest etc etc make the progress go. We're starting to find these previously-charming characters grating because we've just seem them repeat the SAME lines over and over and over and OVER again until they start feeling like caricatures of themselves who we can barely feel any real compassion for any more.... It's just so.... clean, it's so perfect, to me. It helps that Siffrin is also one of the more relatable characters I've encountered in, like, media. I don't usually relate to fictional characters much, but, man, the emotional constipation, the building scorn, the depression, the Being Weird About Touch... I mentioned in another post that it's really just Siffrin and Murderbot who I've ever found viscerally relatable, of all the characters ever in media. So like, it's a pretty rare position. (I do not relate to the pun-love though. I'm funny I'm good at goofs but bad puns are extremely tedious to me. Which perhaps goes to show how well-realized Siffrin is, given that I'm able to look the other way....)

I think they could have stood to make Loop's Whole Deal a bit more obvious. I had no clue what their fucking deal was at any point. I totally missed the interaction that lets you learn about The Incident and thus get more Loop info at the end, and... it's valid to have different endings in a game of course, but... I felt like I really missed out tbh! And I had no way of knowing I had to keep interacting with the silver coin.... idk. It felt a bit like a gotcha I suppose. And Loop's deal is really cool! Holy hell! I'm doing a quick replay of the game to see more convos with them with this context, and to get the ending with them, and like--!!! There's so much here! Loop tellins Sif to use the royal We, they even tell Siffrin, like-- Loop asks Siffrin why he doesn't just tell his friends about the loops, maybe they can help, why keep it a secret? Meanwhile... Loop!Siffrin is stuck in their own helpless timefuckery world and refusing to let Siffrin know about it! The Siffrin from the Start Again timeline never learned those lessons, they're still trying to help someone else while refusing to ask for help themselves, refusing to even let on that there's a problem! And getting more and more emotionally fucked up about it! Man it's good. I guess it does make a replay more rewarding, not knowing this until the end, the first time, but so much of the game is already a replay that, idk, it does feel weird to replay it. I've already done so many repetitions y'all.... But I guess that's pretty meta, also...

Oh I'm under the impression this is not terribly uncommon but I absolutely did get got by the ?diary? that had the story of the person making a duplicate of themselves so they had someone to talk to. Like I fully thought that was describing the King and Siffrin, I spent a long time under the mistaken impression that Siffrin was a copy of the King in some capacity. Oops.... I might try to gently lead Beloved Roomie away from this interpretation when she plays it. Planning on being pretty hands-off overall but this is one area where I feel it might be justified to violate the prime directive.... But we'll see!

I wish I liked the music more..... This is a game that I think really begs for some real heartwrenching tunes to enhance all of the everything but instead none of it does it for me at all. I think that's a real shame, it's by far my biggest complaint. I'm not asking for Undertale-tier, but, at least something I'd want to put on my playlist for the emotional resonance, y'know?

THEY ACTUALLY KILLED THE KID !!!! LIKE!!!! I guess I have some biases I might should think about but I was not expecting a game that begins with so many explicit pronouns introductions (rather than just giving us context clues) and that has no real cursing to be willing to kill the kid, even impermanently? Let alone so gruesomely? I think I was expecting a much greater level of.... idk, tweeness, fanglessness, than we actually got. In spite of being a fan of insertdisc5's comics for YEARS and years! And like! Damn! Props to them!

God. God. So, like. All the ending fakeouts were fucking great. I genuinely thought the All Friendship Quests ending might be the Real One, I was prepared to be disappointed because it felt too soon and just not.... quite.... right? But I did think that was probably where it was heading! But it wasn't! I got got and it's so heartwrenching and also so satisfying, the mood whiplash from loop to loop is fucking sublime.

And-- AND! The real ending! So like. Some of the stuff I missed was just me not pursuing specific content correctly. But some of it is genuinely just, like, stuff that has no actual purpose besides flavor. Flavor, and.... The locked passphrase door in Dormont. The four-pointed leaf you can get (but not in the final loop!), the bell chime, etc etc. You can't actually really do anything with any of this stuff. But you don't know that! It feels like there's still all these loose ends! And!!! Those loose ends do their job SO WELL! The dev knows Gamer Instincts, knows people are gonna have that mental tally of boxes-yet-to-be-checked. Left some forever unchecked on purpose, which-- At the end, the real end, when Siffrin is about to talk to the Head Housemaiden and find out, for real, if this is the final loop or if it's all going to happen again, again, again. He's scared. He's traumatized! He's thought he Had It so many times! SO many times!!! Hope is terrifying! Hope is a poison! And the game has left these loose threads, and at least for me I really was not sure it was going to work. Like it seemed likely but the same metaknowledge of story structure that made me think it was likely also told me "but wait, there's all these loose threads, and the only way for them to trick us again WOULD BE to make the ending SO elaborate and epilogue-y....." I was nervous right along with Siffrin! I was uncertain! Fucking fantastic work, using my own gamer's instincts against me. Thrilled about it.

All the characters are so well realized. They all have specific relationships with each other, not just with Siffrin (Important!!!!! Huge complaint I had with BG3, they didn't put their whole pussies into this!!!!). And, and, I love how they all have different feelings about the time loops. I love that Mirabelle doesn't want "spoilers," and meanwhile Bonnie doesn't mind them and thinks of their alt-selves as like... them-but-not-them in a very cool way.

There's something about-- the way the game starts as a regular degular videogame and then graaaadually becomes, essentially, a visual novel as the actual gameplay becomes trivialized. Which itself is like, really really cool with the themes! And also, just.... I never would have picked up a straight up visual novel, I just, don't get into them, I'd rather read a book, but! I was already invested! It got its hooks into me when there was gameplay mixing things up and those hooks weren't about to let go just because the gameplay didn't super matter any more!

Straight up when we first see Red I didn't at all process that it was a Color in a game with No Colors, Canonically. They had to spell it out for me. It didn't occur to me to be surprised. I'm just too used to colors existing I guess idk. I think I wish the colors thing had gone somewhere a bit more...? I'm GUESSING it mostly originated as just a cute little explanation for why the game is all grayscale and then fit in with enough stuff to be given elevated importance (?) But it felt... hm. Underdeveloped, maybe. I think I really want more stories in this.... "Setting" and "Universe" and "Series" are not quite the right words but hopefully you get the idea. I want more so there can be one that develops that more. Not that leaving stones unturned is, like, illegal ofc. I just find the idea very compelling....

What is it with time loop stories and themes of loss that cannot be outsmarted. Man. I wondered, for so long, if Siffrin's country was going to be restored in people's minds, if that was one of the main big Plot Things we'd see. And it just didn't! Their memory is going to keep being bad, they're going to keep having all these huge tragic gaps and it's just. What can you do. At some point you have to either be permanently paralyzed by the horrific injustice you've suffered-- or you have to try to live a life. And. Man. I don't think I've actually ever encountered a story that was so much about that exact specific form of loss, the loss of one's culture, history, language! All of it. Gone from everywhere. It made me think of the obvious things and just. Man. What a howling void. The contrast with Odile's deal made it a lot more effective too I think. More of an expanded meditation upon these themes than just one toe dipping in, I guess? Hm.

Odile's battle profile pic when she's at low health is so fucking hot this cartoon character is so hot goddammit.

Game good. You're only reading this if you've already played it, I hope, so I can't use this space to recommend it in a meaningful way but. Heck. Game good.

#toasts poasts #in stars and time #isat #effort #media #I had SO MANY THOUGHTS it turns out!#way more than I realized! I just kept going!

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aikoiya · 17 hours ago

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Thank you! I'm glad!

Though, it's not that I disliked the dragons. The dragons themselves were cool. It's just their designs I had issue with. And they do look cool flying around in the sky… It's up close where I have my issues. I guess that I just really didn't like the shapes of their snouts & would've preferred a more lupin or vulpin shape like Zelda had rather than the… really odd face-shape that we got…

But even more than that, my biggest issue with the Zonai Dragons’ designs is the placement of their eyes! Ugh! How do you give gargantuan DRAGONS prey eyes??? That sort of placement is for spotting predators! Who’s going to hunt a massive eff-off dragon to such a degree that they develop prey eyes!? They should be facing forward on the skull, not to the sides like goldfish! Like, really! It doesn’t even make sense with them being transformed Zonai because the Zonai were very obviously predators, too! Both had sharp, flesh-tearing teeth & the dragons, specifically, had claws that were almost cat-like in their sharpness & curvature! And the heck did the third eye go!? Sorry, this likely seems super weird to fixate on. I will say that I liked the names they were given. Much more unique when compared to repeatedly giving vastly different spirits the same names over & over.

And, you might get a bit angry at me, but I actually liked the SS designs & I loved the little robes they had. Sure, I also think that they could very much be improved, likely by giving them more snout-like faces & horns, but still. At the same time, I actually don't like that they have the same names as the Light Spirits, because it just feels cheap to me. It’s because of this that I tend to rename them using a mix of their French & Japanese names, though tweaked a bit. Faron becomes Firona, Lanayru becomes Lanello, & Eldin becomes Eridin. As for the switch in element, it's possible that Nintendo went in those directions so that the dragons fit more with their environments. Lanayru with the yellows of the desert & Faron with the more cool tones of the woods. Plus, it may also be partly because of the abundance of water in the Faron Region as well as the Ancient Cistern being a very water-based dungeon. (Which, btw, I loved the Ancient Cistern! The sheer amount of Buddhist parallels is incredible & I love it for that!) It's even possible that the designers came up with the areas first & they made the dragons to fit. And, keep in mind that the Lanayru Desert was once a sea, so at that time, it would've been more Nayru aligned, but (& this is more so hc) I tend to believe that Nayru is actually the Goddess of Time from OoT & MM. If so, then she might've known that the sea would dry up & counselled Hylia to choose the protector of Nayru's Flame accordingly. We don't actually know much of how Faron's power over water works, but it's entirely possible that she's more waterbender than squirtle, meaning that she might only be able to manipulate water rather than actively produce it herself. So, while I agree that the switch is odd, I still think it's within the realm of plausibility.

Personally, if I were to be given the choice, I would actually make it so that Link & his friends find a way to sort of… Bring the Zonai Dragons’ minds back to them. In my mind, this would likely alter their physicality to a degree. Possibly allowing for more of a torso & forward-facing eyes like how the Great Dragons of SS had, which would sort of reduce the feeling of mindless animal I get from them & allow for a more sentient vibe, I think.

I suppose that it somewhat goes unspoken in my mind because I think he named it such unknowing that the ancient Hyrule of legend was real at one point. So, basically it's like how there's a city in Missouri named Avalon. Those who named it likely didn't believe that the actual legendary island of Avalon in Arthurian legend legitimately existed, but still named it that. Similarly, Arcadia California & Argos Greece are both named after places in Greek myth. Neither were believed to actually exist, but are named after such things anyway. By this I mean that I think that Rauru couldn't say something like that because, in his mind, there wasn't a ruined kingdom with the same name. From his perspective, he named it after what amounted to Camelot, an old if remarkable folktale.

Though, I do agree that it is sad that it almost feels like, in my suggestion, that the old Hyrule has been erased.

Actually! The desert, jungle, volcano, & even the Gerudo Highlands are fairly plausible because I tend to theorize that part of the reason that the desert changed from a meadow & sea in SS to a desert in all the others is because of whatever tectonic shift cause the Gerudo Highlands to slowly ascend, thereby creating a rain shadow! This means that because they’re so tall & on the leeward side of the desert, all the rain falls upon the Highlands rather than where the desert is! And even the jungle is possible if Hyrule itself is near their earth's equator! It's the Hebra mountains & Mount Lanayru that I'm finding odd in placement. Regardless, it's certainly possible that there's a degree of size dilation here, but I wouldn't go as large as a continent. Maaaybe a bit bigger than Japan because Japan actually has all of these climates! There's the Tottori sand dunes, the Okinawa Prefecture has rainforests, it has numerous volcanoes scattered all over the place, they even have their own alps. Which may be part of why Hyrule's map is so varied, because so is Japan’s.

Hmm… I think part of it might be that there's a lot less interference from the divinities in the Wild Era besides the Goddess Statues. Most everything is done on a mortal level, meanwhile earlier games had much more mention of destiny & whatnot. In some way, you could possibly correlate it to Hyrule having entered a more secular & “modern” period. As societies advance, they tend to become less religious. Though there was a definite influence of it in BotW, most of it was based around Zelda & her powers. And even then, she always struck me as struggling because of her more secular & scientific mindset. So, now that such is no longer necessary, I get the vibe that she’s somewhat abandoned those things partially due to her trauma.

Again, I actually agree with alot of what you bring up regarding the Sages. Though, I think that could've been alleviated by simply using a different word. But, again, I actually very much agree with the seeming lack of spiritual substance. In fact, there also seems to be a distinct lack of magic in the Wild Era as a whole. It all being replaced by technology fueled by magical energy without the mysticism of magic itself. To me, it's like trying to compare string cheese to gruyere. Simply put, there is no comparison in that gruyere is real cheese, while string cheese is only cheese in the most remote sense of the term in that, yeah, there's a tiny bit of dairy in there, but it's so heavily processed & full of chemicals that it's lost its soul.

Also, I very very much agree with the sentiment that when it comes to gaming absolute freedom doesn’t necessarily equate to more fun. Don’t get me wrong, it was very interesting to see all the different ways that people could get creative with the Zonai Devices & the Sheikah Slate, but by giving people so much power, it also allowed them to blunt force a lot of things. And, I honestly think that a lot of the disappointment I get from being able to literally explore everything from the moment you leave the Plateau/Sky Island could’ve been put off by spacing out the Runes you get throughout the game in a similar way to the old formula.

And, again, I also didn't like how you could just flippin’ go to Ganondorf & take him down immediately in the game. On the one hand, the fact that you can legitimately kill the demon king in your undies with nothing more than a stick & a prayer is absolutely hilarious! But on the other, it sort of cheapens things it feels like, ya know? I mean, there are games in the series where you didn’t need the Master Sword to kill him. One of which being the Silver Arrows, but it doesn’t stop the fact that Nintendo has sort of created this precedence & expectation for themselves.

Mmm… I think that the difference is that the Secret Stones’ abilities have been defined in a way that the Triforce of Power hasn't. By this I mean that the Secret Stones very specifically either enhance something that the wielder already possessed or it allows them to create an avatar (which, I think is an either/or sort of situation, you can do one or the other, but you can't do both). Meanwhile, the ToP's abilities have never really been explained in a satisfying way, but it does seem to just give people a power independent of the ones they already had.

Really?? I did not know that! Cool! I got rancor right! :D

Mmm… I'm not so sure about that. In my mind, MC is the literal next game after SS, which gives it a degree of leeway in what it's allowed to do in a similar way to the Wild Era being part of an alternate timeline that split off from SS would've.

---

Fair, I'll stick with Confluances. Also, I've always liked the word Promenade. It just sounds really nice & pleasing to the ears. :)

Hardcore agree with you there! I would love to see a Gerudo King that wasn't Ganondorf! It'd be really cool because we'd get some other frame of reference for how Gerudo Kings lead other than Ganondorf, who we never see lead at all!

Also, you're right, this IS getting long! 😆 But it's also been very enjoyable!

Hi, sorry if this is a bit rude. 😅 I guess that I was just wondering. How would Jabul Waters, Zora Cove, & Crossflows Plaza be named in French?

I'm trying to give Jabul Waters an interesting name that works to go with my hc & I came up with "Jabuleaux." And Google Translate tells me that Crossflows Plaza would be Place des Flux Croisés. And, I'm seeing that Anse is the term to refer to a cove &, if that's true, then would Zora Cove be Zoranse? At the same time, somewhere else, it said that Anse actually means beach.

And, I believe that a town by a swamp would have cher, quier, bren, brin, or Hor- in it?

I'm sorry if this is weird... 😅

Hi! Don't worry it's not rude or weird at all! I offered to help and I'm happy to do so :D

Did you check the official French translations? I had a surprisingly hard time finding the French version of the map online so here's a screenshot I took myself:

Jabul Waters = Eaux de Jabule (this one only appears when I zoom out)

Zora Cove = Baie Zora

Crossflows Plaza = Place de l'Estuaire

In case you didn't know the Zelda Wiki often lists names for places or characters in various languages in the "Nomenclature" section of its pages. It's very helpful especially if you're searching for the original Japanese names. If we look at at the different names for Crossflows Plaza we can see that a literal translation from Japanese would be something like "Exchanging Place". I checked the Jisho dictionary and it seems to be an accurate translation, though "Place for Cultural Exchanges" would be more meaningful.

It's not exactly a good name in English so it makes sense that the localization team would come up with something like Crossflows Plaza instead, which in my opinion does a very good job of stating that this is both the place where the river meets the sea and where the two Zora tribes traditionally meet each other.

Other European languages all settled for variations of "Estuary Plaza" ("Place de l'Estuaire" in French), which is fine but looses the "cultural exchanges" aspect of both the original name and the English translation.

I've been trying to come up with a French translation of "Crossflows Plaza" but it's not that easy. To me "Place des Flots Croisés" or "Place Flots-Croisés" would sound better than "Place des Flux Croisés", but I still find it a bit weird ("flot" meaning flow, tide or stream). "La Croisée des Flots" is another option if you agree to get rid of Plaza/Place (it means "the intersection/junction of streams"), but I don't think it works very well as a name.

You could also mix words to create a name the same way it was done in English, something like "Place Croiseaux" (croiser/cross + eau/waters). If any of my French speaking followers is feeling inspired, please share your ideas! :)

(I just thought of "Place Cruciflot" and found it too funny not to mention 😆 maybe it sounds too much like crucifix)

In French we also have the word "confluence" that has the exact same meaning as it does in English: either the meeting of two rivers or a gathering of some kind. So to me the most obvious translation would be something like "Place des Confluences" or maybe "Place Confluence", as it would preserve the dual meaning, but it's not very fancy or creative. Maybe we could simply change the spelling to something like Place Konfluans, the same way "Village Côtier" (Seaside Village) is spelled "Village Kothié" (Seesyde Village). But it doesn't look like a French word anymore so I'm not sure that's something you'd like.

As for Jabuleaux, it can work but I prefer the official translation "Eaux de Jabule". Same thing for Zoranse, we would say "Anse Zora" or "Anse des Zora". The official French translation is "Baie Zora" (Zora Bay), which I think is more appropriate given the size of the sea inlet (in my understanding an anse/cove is a small baie/bay and isn't very deep). I think maybe it should have been bay in English as well instead of cove, but I might be wrong! Also I believe "anse" isn't used as often as "baie" and might be confusing for most people, so I would go with "Baie Zora".

I'm not sure where you found this information about swamps and town names? I didn't find anything to confirm it but I might not have looked in the right places.

French towns are often ancient and their names can derive from other languages such as Celtic, Occitan, Flemish, or regional dialects, so that's a very difficult question and I'm not sure I can give you a satisfying answer ^^

I still did a little search and found an Old French word for swamp, "palud" or "palu", that still appears in some town names such as La Palud-sur-Verdon, Saint-Pierre-la-Palud, Lapalud, etc. (today we say "marais" or "marécage"). You might be right about "bren", it could be something like muddy in Gallic.

There's also "vign" or "mign" (from Celtic), as in Mignéville or Lévignac, or l'Île de Migneaux on the Seine river (this one's in my city!).

Near where I grew up is a town named Hazebrouck, it literally means "hare swamp" (brouck/broek = swamp in Flemish). For a bit more French flavor you could maybe use -broucq or -breucq instead of -brouck.

I think the vast majority of French people have no clue about all of that (I didn't except for the last one and it's more Flemish than French), so I'd say don't oversweat it ;)

And that's all! I hope you'll find this helpful ^^

#aikoiya #we do write a lot #loz #zelda

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