#long story short i was playing with the ship idea just before i started taking my supplements

[luvsailor]

me: *starts taking chaste berry again*

me: oh thank god i think my whirlwind of f/o crush thoughts sorta stopped along with that

me: now i can finally focus on aventurine-

me: AVENTURINE⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

[rexscanonwife]

'Are we allies or enemies?

This will be the death of me

All is fair in love and war but I can't fight with you anymore

This will be the death of me'

I've been wanting to talk more about Crosshair and Brea's relationship for a WHILE now, but I never really found the 'right' time (in my silly brain) I guess you can say they...know each other very well! As you can imagine it's filled with drama, romantic tension, and lots and lots of angst! 0u0 a little more info + textless illustrations under the cut ♡♡♡

Sooooo, I tend to think of this as sort of an AU! If I'm being SUPER duper canon-compliant with my self ship lore it's not really the focus, but if I play around with timeline a little bit I can come up with this. Brea is a newly knighted Jedi, having just passed the trials, and despite holding rank in the Clone Wars she's not a general because she has no battalion. HOWEVER, there is a band of misfits that have been sort of running around doing their own thing, going where needed, sort of the way she does. The idea is what if for a short time she was the BAD BATCH'S Jedi?

In this scenario, the boys are a bit reluctant to take orders from her because they don't believe they NEED a Jedi. They're not really about rules and protocol and mandates...but they soon find out that neither is Brea! She's perfect for them, she matches their energy and allows them to make decisions the way they want. They all become very close...except for Crosshair, who still doesn't trust her. He only trusts his brothers, everyone else is an outsider.

I'll probably talk about it more later, but she does something or other that proves her care for them as individuals and one thing leads to another, Crosshair and Brea are something of an item. Not a couple per se, but FAMILIAR if you know what I mean. However, it's because of Crosshair's emotional constipation that it doesn't really go further than that, and it's ALSO because of his emotional constipation that things start to change between them! And when you bring Brea's new Padawan Kepler into the mix, things go very sour very quickly.

To make a long story short, Crosshair burns his bridge with Brea long before he joins the empire and he didn't even know it. By the time he does, she's moved on and is in love with a certain other clone! All of that is more stuff to talk about another time though ^ 0 ^ if you've read all this thank you so much and ilysm! 🫶🫶🫶

Taglist♡: @me-myself-and-my-fos @tiny-cloud-of-flowers @sunstar-of-the-north @dearly-beeloved @adoredbyalatus @changeling-selfship @crushes-georg @miutonium @cherry-bomb-ships @rosieaurora @rejaytionships @sunflawyer @in-true-blue-love @tropicalgothships @little-miss-selfships @hotrodharts @cupiidzbow @frozenhi-chews @limey-self-inserts @candyheartedchy

[comfortless]

syl. *grabs you and shakes you* syl. i woke up in a cold sweat thinking of like… könig. already off to a great start ik. but space opera könig. (not like star wars or anything) but think like 70s aesthetics all bright and colorful. he’s a bandit in a stolen ship, formerly part of a military group making peace with other planets but something went awry and he’s just having fun now!

reader is part of a small research group that has landed on a planet he’s camped out on and he’s just like “ok” followed by “i want that”. steals all of her supplies and then her. doesn’t care how much she protests when he just hauls her over his shoulder, pats her butt bc he thinks THATS going to calm her down and throws her into his ship.

she’s happy he’s not some creepy alien but at the same time who really knows what’s under that hood anyway hmmmm and she wants to hate him but also all that’s playing in her head is that one rah band song. messages from the stars lmao please. there is something in the way you write that is so special to me and if you were to come up with a full blown story for my dumb idea i think i would scream for 20 hours straight.

lil wisp….. you have no idea what this has done to me. i am going to be thinking about this for an eternity. let’s cook.. i see your vision and i would love nothing more than this too!!

content/warnings: implied violence, abduction, dubcon groping?

König’s been on his own, drifting through the stars for so long. Only raiding the ships he comes across for food, supplies, and when he stumbles across a mechanic he puts them to work with a silly laser rifle pointed right at their head (because let’s face it— when you’re a wanted space pirate who in the universe is going to fix your ship for you??). He’s put all of human etiquette far behind him, and now his life is quite literally just one relentless adventure. He wouldn’t have it any other way!

That is, until his ship is fucked up again, displaying about thirty bright red warnings on its silly hologram screens that he just can not make sense of. The thing is old, has been shot at more times than even he can count, and it’s finally failing him if the loud sputtering and incessant orbital beeps are anything to go by. He considers his luck has run out when he lands the damned thing on some hunk of rock out on the outskirts of a galaxy most don’t even bother with, because there’s nothing out here.

Thankfully, his frustration is short-lived because a smaller ship lands only a few days later; painted in the bright, pearlescent blues and pinks of your standard peace-keeping, research vessel. It’s the perfect craft to steal and it wouldn’t even be difficult… the three humans that exit are so much smaller than him and entirely unguarded. They’re just here to study a few minerals, maybe haul some back to their little camp a few worlds over for fuel and research. He won’t even get into too much trouble for it, he thinks, because even his trashed ship could take them back home. See!! He isn’t all that bad…

At least, until he notices her, bent over admiring some silly, little cluster of crystals in her skin-tight jumpsuit that makes him see stars. The heavy boots that rise up to her knees making her look like little more than a fauness, and she’s so pretty he just can’t help but get a closer look while her teammates are off chittering away and exploring the nothing planet.

She isn’t even afraid of him when he approaches. Just straightens up with her hands clasped in front of her and a smile on her face. She hasn’t seen the holograms of him, displaying a sizable bounty for his veiled head, doesn’t take a wary note of the massive rifle he has slung over his shoulder; she just sees another person. He hasn’t been looked at like that since long before he left home!!

This sweet woman has no sense of self-preservation either, because she immediately asks him if he needs food or water; gestures over to her brightly colored ship with that pretty smile ever-present on her face, and that’s all it takes for him to decide that not only is he taking the craft, he’s taking her too.

He doesn’t say a word when he lifts her up over his shoulder, and the poor thing must be shocked because it takes her a moment before she starts squirming in his grip. König does well to remove the little radio strapped to her hip, giving her ass a firm squeeze in the process before tossing it in the dust behind him. That’s all it takes to shut his little prinzessin up before he hauls her back into her ship and demands she turn off any tracking systems. Her knees are a bit weak when she fumbles with the control panels, and he’s unashamed of his own erection when he slides in behind her to lean over the console as the ship starts up.

She whines about leaving her friends stranded, of course, but he’s in a world of his own when he grabs her by the hips and seats her in his lap while she pilots. Never mind the others, he’ll take good care of her, honest!!

[alyssajennwrites]

Fireworks ~ Quackity x Y/n

Quackity x f!reader

TW: Fireworks (Loud noises), cursing, fluff

Note: In 1st person. I’m sorry if your tall but for the sake of the story the reader is short. Also, it doesn’t really mention it but Y/n is around Quackity’s age (just wanted to say that so you didn’t get confused).

Remember: D/n = Discord name, S/n = Ship name, N/n = Nickname

Summary: Y/n meets up with the dspm gang for the first time. But things take a slight turn in the wrong direction when Tommy not only sets off fireworks, but when he also sets off Y/n’s fear of loud noises.

A/N: I know it’s not the Fourth of July but I’ve had this idea for forever so I wanted to write it.

Word Count: 2,015

༺𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂༻

“Happy Fourth of July everyone!” Tommy said through the discord as he and the rest of the gang streamed.

I am currently sitting in my room, waiting for Tommy to finish up. He said he’d be done in five minutes, he said that 30 minutes ago. Not gonna lie, he’s kinda a dick sometimes. He’s my best friend, but he’s just irritating sometimes.

I honestly shouldn’t have let him stream from my setup! I don’t know what I was thinking at the time, but I shouldn’t have let him.

“Tommy,” I whined, walking over to him and placing my head on his shoulder. “You told me you would be done 25 minutes ago.”

I gave him a pouty face while trying to get his attention. He looked over in my direction but didn’t look at me. He looked over at the chat.

“Chat! Stop spamming that! Y/n and I are not a couple!” Tommy said, well more as he yelled.

I looked over to see the chat spamming their ship name for us, S/n. When chat first started spamming it, about a year ago, Tommy had freaked out. But now he just yells for the fun of it.

I laugh and put on a headset, pulling the extra microphone over to me.

“Hey chat!” I say waving at the camera even if I feel like a complete idiot doing so. “Tommy? Why isn’t a game pulled up on the computer? Weren’t you playing on the SMP?”

“Well, Mujer Bonita, we don’t have our set up with us at the moment,” I heard Big Q say through the call.

Big Q has a habit of giving me nicknames but saying them in Spanish. At first, I couldn’t understand a word he’d say, but now I know bits and pieces.

“Oh? And why would that be?” I ask.

“You’ll just have to wait and see missy,” He replies.

“Well chat,” Tommy interrupts. “I better end this before Big Q and N/n get into another fight. You know the drill and I really don’t feel like repeating it but check the follow button and I’ll see you later. Bye!”

He immediately ends the stream, but doesn’t disconnect from the discord call. He turns to me, letting out a long breath.

“What? Why are you acting like you need to do something this minute but you don’t want to?” I ask, tilting my head to the side. “Did you forget that you have a college essay due tomorrow?”

I hear a lot of, “Ooo,” coming from the boys still in the call. I laugh, at Tommy’s face.

“You’re never gonna let me live that down are you?” He asks, the corners of his mouth lifting up slightly.

“Do you really expect me to? You had 3 weeks to complete that essay and you put it off until the night before. I’m surprised you even finished it.”

“Tommy, the lady has a point,” Karl jumps in.

I smirk, triumphantly.

“Quit boosting her ego! You should see the look on her face,” Tommy says, somewhat annoyed.

The whole call bursts out laughing and I’m reminded of how much I want to meet them all in person. I’ve only met Tommy in person and he is currently staying over for the next couple of weeks. I really want to see them.

It’s weird, having people know you better than you know yourself. Especially if those people have never met you in real life. Like, take Karl for example, he knows every one of my favorite songs. Though that’s probably because I play and sing them nonstop when on a call with him.

“Alright, alright! Enough! N/n and I have to go. We’ll talk to you idiots later!” Tommy says.

Multiple byes and see ya’s can be heard from the call before Tommy logs off. That’s when he turns back to face me.

“Let’s go before we miss the party.” With that, he pulls me up and begins dragging me to the front door.

“Tommy where are we going?” I ask for about the third time during our little night drive.

“Y/n! I swear! If you fucking ask again I’m gonna turn around and we’re going home. And trust me when I say you’ll not be happy with that!” Tommy says as he takes a corner way too fucking fast.

I sigh, laying back further in my seat. I pull out my phone, opening Discord to find absolutely no messages from my main SMP friends. I frown, both confused and disappointed. That’s when I decide to get their attention.

See, the boys are very protective of me. Me being one of the only girls along with Niki has its perks. So, I text the main chat for our little group of friends.

D/n:

AAAHHHH SAVE MEEEEE

Big Q immediately answers this and I’m not surprised.

Quackity:

Woah! What’s wrong? Are you okay?

KarlJacobs:

You good?

Dream:

Fuck not again…

Tommy looks over when he hears me laugh at the boys’ reaction.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He leans over and looks at my screen. “Hey! Turn that off! No Discord during our trip!” He takes my phone again, placing it on the other side of him where I can’t reach it.

“Tommy… Give me my phone back!” I yell reaching for it.

“No! Get away!” He screams back at me.

“Don’t make me ask again Bitch Boy!”

Tommy playfully gasps, “Okay, now you’re not getting it back!”

I huff, sinking into my seat, defeated. My phone begins vibrating. Over, and over, and over, and over again.

“Damn girl, why do you have Discord notifications on?” Tommy asks, turning on my phone screen. “Holy shit! What did you say to them? I can’t read what they said because of your stupid Face ID, but I can tell that they’re worried.”

“Dude! Eyes on the fucking road!” I say as he drifts into the other lane.

~~~~~

The drive takes another 30 minutes before Tommy turns into a parking lot. I get out of the vehicle, looking around. There is nothing here. I see no party.

“Here you go. Please answer them before they start bugging me,” Tommy says, handing his phone to me and then leaning on the car.

I unlock my phone to see multiple messages from the boys.

Quackity:

N/n? You can’t scream and then not respond to us!

Mujer Bonita? Answer us, please!

Tubbo:

Y/n?

Y/n are you okay?

GeorgeNotFound:

Did she get kidnapped?

KarlJacobs:

No, she didn’t fucking get kidnapped, George!

It goes on like this for a while. So I keep scrolling to find this,

Wilbur:

Have you tried calling her?

Quackity:

No, let me try really quickly!

Wilbur:

You should have tried that first dipshit!

‘Quackity started a call’

’Fifteen missed calls from Quackity’

I sigh,

“Tommy! You took my phone and now the SMP is worried!” I say, playfully slapping his arm.

“Geez! Sorry, I didn’t want them to spill the surprise!” He said.

But before I could even question him, he dragged me towards the one bend in the road at the end of the parking lot. This bend was conveniently wide enough for me not to be able to see the other side.

“Tommy, I don’t like this,” I say, pulling my arm out of his grasp and backing up. “What is going on?”

“Just trust me N/n.” Right after he said that I could feel my phone vibrate.

I unlock my phone, finding that I had a message from Big Q.

Quackity:

Trust him Mujer!

I look up, confused, but either way, I hesitantly reach out my hand to Tommy. Tommy grabs hold of my hand and pulls me around the bend.

I stop short, gasping at the sight in front of me. There was a huge house like tent with lanterns everywhere. There was a walkway with torches lining the path. The tent was illuminated by what I guessed to candles or lanterns. The one thing that stood out to me the most was the crowd of people all talking outside of the tent.

I freed myself from Tommy’s hold and ran down the path to the crowd. As I make my way closer, I see one of the short males turn to face me. I gasp as I recognize the face, freezing when I recognize all the faces in the crowd.

“What…?” I say quietly. “How are you here?”

Tommy comes up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Happy Fourth of July Y/n.”

~~~~~

After many hugs and some tears. We all settle down. Me sitting next to Alex on the loveseat. Wilbur sitting on a stool with his guitar, strumming the tune to Your New Boyfriend. And everyone else sitting on the couches and chairs that surround the fire.

I look around at our group, there was Alex, Karl, Wilbur, Dream with a face mask on, George, Tubbo, Tommy, Philza, Niki, and Ranboo who also had a mask on.

They did it. They actually made a get together. And it is the best get together I could have asked for.

Out of no where, Tommy jumps up and yells,

“Time for fireworks bitches!!”

He runs outside, everyone else following. But as I stood up I realized, I hate loud noises. Tommy’s yelling is fine but, fireworks? I’ll have a mental breakdown.

“You okay mi amor?” Alex asked, walking back over to me.

“Mhm,” I say quietly, still looking at the wall.

“Hey…” Alex says quietly, using if hand to gently turn my head to face him. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t laugh,” I saying, smiling sadly.

“I promise.” He sticks his pinky out for me to link with mine.

I laugh lightly, linking our pinkies in a promise.

“Okay, so…” I take a deep breath. “I’m scared of loud noises.”

Alex looks shocked at that. But he doesn’t laugh. He gives me a small smile and pulls me into a hug. But then suddenly he pulls away.

“How do you handle Tommy’s yelling and screaming them?” He looks worried, but I just chuckle.

“Oh, Tommy’s fine. I know that his yelling is all fun and games,” I reply smiling. “When I first met him though, I almost fell out of my chair because I jumped so hard when he yelled out his welcome.”

“Well, why don’t we go outside with the others?” He asks, stretching his hand out for me to grab.

I hold on, momentarily forgetting my fear. That is, until Tommy set off the first firework and I jump back. Alex immediately looks back to see me sitting on the ground, shaking. He quickly sits down next to me and covers my ears with his hands.

A look of worry, and guilt crossing his face. His hands were warm on my ears, and I couldn’t seem to make myself look away from his eyes. There was something about them that was mesmerizing.

We stayed like that until Tommy had run out of fireworks to light. Alex pulled his hands away from my ears as soon as he was certain that there were no more fireworks. He gently brushed his fingers across my skin, wiping away the tears that had broken free.

“I’m sorry, I should have stopped them sooner,” he whispered.

“It’s fine,” I whispered back.

“Hey! What do you two think you are doing on the ground?” Tommy called out from the distance.

Alex and I both laughed, helping each other off of the ground. We spent the rest of the night laughing and having fun. And Alex couldn’t seem to let go of my hand, but I’m not complaining.

“Wait, were you guys texting me from the same room? And were you in a call with Tommy from the same place?”

I never got an answer, I only got a bunch of laughter.

[stealthnoodle]

Current BG3 bullshit: Dishonour* Mode with SMT's Mothman. The song in the video is "Mothman (YMCA Parody)" by Studio Bunny, which felt right.

*Honour Mode but I choose Continue when I wipe because I've never had a spontaneous bad idea that I didn't relentlessly pursue, and I'm not abandoning that ethos for a mere cheevo

For this run, my terrible son has three guiding principles:

Always choose violence when violence is a dialogue option

When violence is not an option, choose [Intimidation] or at least being a rude little bitch

Ignore anything that is not immediately interesting

Also he's a Durge because of course he is.

Examples of how this has played out include running right past Shadowheart without even looking at her on the ship (she was surprisingly not mad about this later), killing both Astarion and Lae'zel in camp when their actions presented a prompt to do violence, and never recruiting Gale because his hand was so succulent and severable.

He also ran right through the Inquisitor's Chambers in the creche to the Blood of Lathander and never looked back. Githyanki ambush before leaving Act 2 didn't even happen. Just blipped right off their radar. Iconic.

Something new-to-me in this run was discovering that if you start a fight in the grove and subsequently have to kill all the druids, Karlach is REAL MAD, so she never made it into the party. I then decided to tell Minthara an invasion sounded fun, planning to stab her in the back, but it turns out that there's no invasion proper if the druids are dead, so after a long rest she and the goblins had overrun the grove on their own. Wyll never even got a chance to object!

Luckily there was still an [Attack] option when I talked to her, so Mothman got to carry out his cunning scheme, aggroing all the goblins in the grove in the process.

(There's a reason I'm letting myself Continue, and it's that all of Mothman's choices might be politely described as "sub-optimal.")

In this case I didn't even need to, though, because I threw my Spectator-in-a-bottle into the midst of the goblins and it turned out to be a great strat. Spectator killed all the goblins in the area, goblins got Spectator down to single-digit HP on their way out, and Mothman finished it off with a li'l sneak attack.

I love this game.

So long story short, I essentially raided the grove without losing Wyll by doing it in the most ass-backward way possible. Yay?

And it's a good thing I kept him, since Astarion got himself staked early on trying to snack on Mothman, and then Lae'zel had her "we're all infected" freakout in camp, so he and Shadowheart were the only companions still around. Since Lae'zel was the last to go out, I honored her with this hireling homage:

Turns out my biggest challenge on this stupid run has been shopping. Mothman finished Act 1 with zero vendors still alive. Obviously he killed Isobel in Act 2 as soon as his butler offered him a shiny reward for doing so, and he drew his weapon on the Moonrise Tower guards as soon as he met them, so he ended up with a sea of corpses and nobody who would talk to him but Araj Oblodra (an uneasy alliance which ended in Act 3 when she caught him rifling through her stuff and oops there's an [Attack] response to that).

My second biggest challenge, and what I thought would be my run-ender, was fucking Myrkul. Did I jump down the big hole without adequately prepping? Yes. Did I forget the single-use healing pod near the boss isn't actually a long rest and doesn't restore abilities or short rests? Yes. Did I have a very stupid loadout for a boss I have fought at least five times now? Also yes. After I had to hit Continue for a fourth time, I began to despair. Had the single save file cooked me?

It had not! I just needed to ferment the perfect cheese.

I wish I had screencaps of this bullshit but I was too frustrated to remember to take them by the time I figured this out, lolsob. If you are stuck in a hole with Ketheric Thorm and short on options, here is your ticket out:

You can get a surprise round, thank you Invisibility. One good sneak attack with Cull the Weak can take out the mindflayer.

Shadowheart's reward spear for killing the Nightsong lets you cast Shar's Darkness as an action as often as you like. If you cast it around your party from way back near the entrance, Ketheric becomes confused and does not summon more necromites. He just stands on the platform and yells. Old Man Yells at Cloud, literally.

Once you have slowly chipped his health away without expending resources, your biggest problem is that you have mostly piddling attacks, and Myrkul has a big health pool and can heal himself. OR CAN HE?

Bro can't see shit in the dark. Drop darkness centered on him and he gets blinded. His necromite snacks can run up to him, but he can't see them to gobble them up.

Do damage as fast as you can with whatever you have. Throw shit. Read scrolls. Give the magic spear to Skyrim Mod Lae'zel to handle Darkness from a distance and park Shadowheart up on Myrkul's ass with Spirit Guardians. Make Wyll summon Connor over and over to distract Myrkul from hitting her.

CONGRATULATIONS, you've spent half your Saturday on this.

Things got better in Act 3. Mothman can't have beef with every vendor in the city at once.

But you know what he can have? Specific, stupid beef with Gortash.

This keeps happening.

Also I can't believe I pulled that off without wiping even once. (The game crashed three times because my bell tower ladder strats were too elite, but I finally found a compromise that didn't make the game shit itself while I slogged through the fight. With only three party members, because I didn't have anything to make Wyll fly and couldn't be bothered with shopping. The only survivor of my nonsense was Skyrim Mod Lae'zel, who chugged an invisibility potion and climbed down vines to escape. Still!)

A funny consequence of my timing was that Mizora showed up in camp the night Gortash kicked the bucket and did her usual "I'll tell you where to find your dad in exchange for your soul" spiel, so I thought, well, let's see how that works out for us. Wyll, sell your soul. Again.

(I would feel worse about putting Wyll through that on top of everything else he's suffered this game, but look. He stayed in the party. His approval is HIGH. Somehow. He is Mothman's little Mothstan. This is what it's like on the dark side, buddy.)

The answer is that I got a quest maker for the sub that goes to the Iron Throne, but obviously the sub is not there, because Gortash is dead. "Sorry, Wyll, guess you sold your soul for nothing!" is what I would have said, except when I went down for my next long rest, the Duke popped out of thin air next to Mizora. As you can see in the video, he didn't quite have his being-alive-legs yet, but he figured out how to stand up in the morning. So I did his Wyrmway quest. As a treat.

Anyway, now Mothman just needs to beat up his sister with his cool Slayer form that he loves to pop as often as possible, and then he's off to the endgame! I expect everyone will be shocked when he takes control of the Netherbrain even though he's been loudly and proudly making his intentions known all game.

I'll close this out by saying that I let the randomizer make me a guardian again, and I forgot what it made until I was surprised and delighted by sexy facetats Santa:

[1waveshortofashipwreck]

Hi!! I just wanted to say first off that this is such a cute idea! I don’t usually do a lot of requests/asks but i could not pass this up!

-My name is Lara Lowry, I use she/her pronouns!

-I’m short (like 5’1”) and I have dark brown curly hair. i’m half irish and half nigerian so i look kinda mixed. i have really dark brown eyes that kinda just look black unless you’re really close or in the sunlight lol. i have olive skin, im kind of pale rn cause it’s winter!

- I am an ENFP-A and my enneagram is 2 if i remember correctly. i love very hard and get attached very quickly! my love languages are quality time and physical touch i think. I am somewhat outgoing but i love to be at home a lot too. I’m a cancer so im very emotionally charged and i wear my heart on my sleeve.

-i play the flute and piano, im in the wind symphony and orchestra at my university and i love it, but i also love to draw so im an art major! i enjoy theatre and singing. i love to write as well, i just wish i could be more motivated to do so. one of my dreams is to be a mother honestly and make a beautiful/loving home for my family!

-i really love a partner that is sort of grounding for me, like someone who can be my rock. (i am very codependent which is bad ik but definitely one of my flaws.) i love someone who is classy and gentleman like! i think chivalry is very attractive! i can be a little crazy sometimes cause i have ADHD so i also like someone who can be my calm counterpart but also be fun and crazy with me sometimes! ok this is very telling but i LUV gingers, they’ve always been my type. i also love me some scrawny white men lol.

-my b.o.b faves are definitely winters, liebgott, guarnere, webster… in that order :) so i would love to be shipped with any of them but honestly i love them all so i don’t mind!

i’m so excited for this and thanks! :D



Aaaaaa thank you so much for the request love!! 😁🥰

I ship you with…

Joe Liebgott!

A song from my liked songs that reminds me of y’all - I Was Born to Love You by Queen

How y’all met

Ok so you were in Paris studying art and one day you were just vibing in an outdoor cafe doing some sketching

Liebgott was out with Luz and Webster just vibing on their weekend passes

Turns out they were at the same cafe!!

So you noticed the three of them hanging out and being Adorable so of course it’s sketchy sketchy time

You do this gorgeous picture of the three of them that just really captures the playful energy and happy vibes they were giving off

But Joe noticed you looking over and immediately is like wow she’s heckin cute

So he tries to catch your eyes every time you look up and he does a couple of times and just gives you THAT SMIRK YOU KNOW WHICH ONE and he can see you blush from his table and just thinks you’re SO CUTE

Joe decides to excuse himself for a second and saunters over to you, like, he needs to talk to you or else he’s gonna explode

“Couldn’t help but notice your pretty eyes kept looking over” he smooth talks as he takes the empty seat at your table

Before you can respond he sees your drawing and is just like

Jaw drop

Joe just drops all of his flirty smooth talking and in a sweet, honest voice, “you drew that? …that's how you saw me?”

Sweet boy just goes kinda quiet while staring at your drawing but he quickly snaps back to his senses, albeit a little frazzled

“Um, I’m Joe,” he says politely, stretching out a hand to you

Long story short he got a weekend pass to Paris any time he could and wrote to you every day

Lowkey you’d always put a little doodle on your letters back to him and he’d never admit it but all week he’d be looking forward to your letter and see what you drew this time

How he knew he loves you

So it’s one of the times when he got a weekend pass and y’all are having a picnic in the park just vibing and having a lovely time

All of a sudden a baseball comes rolling over to y’all and you notice a couple of itty bitty kids have started running over

You pick up the baseball and hand it to them and they start to apologize but you’re so sweet and they’re so stinking cute they just laugh and say thank you before running back to their game

Joe was sitting back watching the interaction and all he could see was you with a bunch of little Liebgotts

It just kind of hit him, he doesn’t want anybody else, you’re his person

As you’re coming back to sit down he takes your hand and just pulls you into his lap

Before you can protest he plants a soft, sweet kiss on your lips

“I’m in love with you, doll”

You can barely hear it but it still brings tears to your eyes

And you knew you found your person

A conflict and how y’all resolved it

So it’s after the war and you were back at home doing some sketches

It’s around the time Joe is supposed to be home but he’s still not home??

Finally you’re about to go to bed and Joe walks in the door

“Hey love! Long day at work?” you say, trying to mask your worry/relief as you give him a welcome home hug

“Yeah, something like that,” he replies half-heartedly as y’all go back and get ready for bed

This happens three more times in the week

You never get to see Joe, and when you do see him he’s too tired to talk

Not to mention the Intrusive Thoughts start happening

He can’t be seeing someone else…right?

So it’s finally the weekend and Joe has the day off

Or so you thought

You’re up and making coffee when Joe makes his way out

“Hey babydoll I’m gonna go try and get a few fares in,” he says casually, about to give you a goodbye peck on the cheek

Except all the worry and loneliness just kinda boils out of you

“Joey I haven’t seen you all week and now you’re picking up cab shifts on Saturday!?”

“Well I was just trying to make us some extra cash…”

“We’ve already paid our bills this month! Besides you could at least take today to be at home!”

The air is heavy while the two of you just stand there quietly

Joe has an anxious look in his eyes, looking everywhere but you as his hand comes up to the back of his neck

You notice and tears start welling up

“Tell me there isn’t someone else,” you’re barely able to make out without a sob accompanying your words

Suddenly Joe’s expression completely changes

His eyes immediately meet yours with shock and concern

“Baby is that why you think I’ve been out every night?”

You stay quiet and look down at the floor, unsure if you feel silly, embarrassed, frustrated, or some combination of the three

“Oh sweetheart…” Joe immediately comes over and wraps you up in a warm, tight hug

You let a few sobs escape as you melt into his embrace, wrapping your arms around him

“You know I’d never do that to you love, shit there’s no one out there that even begins to compare to you,” Joe tells you in a quiet, sincere voice

“Then why have you been going out so much?”

Joe pulls away from the hug and looks down at the floor, almost appearing embarrassed

“I wanted to surprise you… I’m saving up for your birthday present.”

And you just ???? “What could you be getting that could need you to work so much?”

“I just always saw how you looked at pictures of Ireland and how you always say you’d like to go somewhere on a vacation…”

“Joey, are you saving up to take me there?”

“... I was saving up so we could fly first class and get a nice fancy hotel, you deserve the best…”

Now you start sobbing again but for a whole new reason

Joe looks at you again with concern when he hears you start crying again but you just take his face in your hands and give him the biggest kiss ever

“You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met, you know that?”

He winds up staying home that day ❤️

Your Happily Ever After

So y’all get married after the war and you move to San Francisco with your mans

You have twin girls who you both love to the moon and back

Your family is just as you pictured it and so much more - like it's so clear to everyone how much all four of you love each other

Every weekend you, Joe, and your girls are in the park trying something new

One weekend Joe is teaching them to ride bikes and helping them up when they fall

The next weekend they’re showing you the flowers that they drew cuz they wanna be artists like you

At the end of each day after you put the girls to bed you just sit on your couch with Joe and lean your head on his shoulder and life couldn’t be more perfect

A silly headcanon about your relationship

Y’all always do family costumes for Halloween and it’s the best thing ever

One year you were superheroes

You and Joe were Superman and Wonder Woman and the twins were Batman and Robin

Another year you were Cruella and the three of them dressed as dalmatians

Nothing compares though to when the Easy Company Reunion fell on Halloween Weekend

So, unbeknownst to Joe, the three of you dressed as his friends for Halloween

Of course you dressed up as Webster

And the girls just begged to go as Uncle George and Uncle Joe

The only ones smiling bigger than Joe were Luz and Toye when they saw their mini me's

Joe keeps the picture from that Halloween in his wallet and another copy in his cab visor

aaaaaaaa this was so much fun to write!!! Thank you again for the ask Lara and for your patience 🫠 !!!!

[macawritesupdates]

Update 7/7/2024

So giving update on where the writing is!

JUJUTSU KAISEN LONG FIC UPDATES

THE YUUJI FILES: the next chapter is coming along quickly and I might have it updated very soon! It is a long chapter, but been a fun one to write! It has a focus on the Kyoto Crew which has been fun to give them some love and explore them more! Hopefully you all will enjoy the chapter c: The title of this chapter is THE DEATH GOD'S CURSE.... LESSON IN ACCIDENTAL SEDUCTION: Making good progress, it will update very soon as well. Just having some rough parts to muscle through. The fic is fighting me, but it is def the beach episode.... MIRRORED LIVES: Making good progress after the chapter got munched by a computer crash...hoping it can update soon! BROKEN IN WAYS NO ONE SEES: Very good progress on chapter and the update for it is arriving soon! It is a very fluffy chapter as eight, nine, and ten are angst...BUT that is the last bit of angst as after that, it is pure fluff from there until the end <3 HISTORICALLY INACCURATE: Working on outlining the chapter and getting an idea of how it is going to flow. I want to take care with this next chapter as I have two Sukuna to balance in it and wrap up a lot of the major points and themes. So making sure I hit all the right points. CAREFUL WHAT YOU JOKE ABOUT : Letting it sit a bit as not sure how to start the next chapter or what I want to cover save a few snippets. So letting it cook a bit longer before I tackle the outline c: MY HERO ACADAMIA LONG FIC UPDATES WHAT SACRICES HEROES MAKE THAT GO UNSUNG The next chapter is almost done and ready to go! This fic moves very slow to start as laying the groundwork carefully. More of the ships coming through, more of the plot starting to put itself down. This fic for me hits its stride in chapter five. That's when the angst is going to start getting punchy and the action ramping up! Still very excited to write this story out! A RUT TIME OF IT A slice of life fic with Kirishima, Bakugo, and Denki as a trio of alphas having the time of their life figuring out their social lives and dynamics. They are going to get into silly shenanigans. Not sure about ships for this fic, might just play it by ear and go with the flow, but more humor and characters interacting, so might be an easier fic to get into! JEALOUSY IS NOT A GOOD FRIEND A short fic of three chapters with a focus on Ochaco dealing with feelings and struggling with being a good friend and a jealous villain. A character study as I feel she doesn't get a lot of love/focus ; w ; she is my second favorite character so want to give her a little love! MORE TO COME! (Fanfics that will make an appearance soon) WHO'S A GOOD BOY (jJJK Fic; will start when Broken ends) Working on the final outline for the story and the chapter progression. I feel this one is going to hurt some feels as it is angst/hurt and Sukuna is a dog. Going to be an interesting read for sure!

LAW MEETS DISORDER ((JJK fic; will start when Historically and Careful ends) Still carefully working on putting this one together. It is heavy on the mystery and plot, so it takes a bit longer...but it is going to be packed with action more so than other stories!

CURSE. EXE ((JJK fic: still in development) This one is a slowly developing idea, just a concept for now, but going to be a future take and features omega!Yuuji this time c: REQUESTS Working on them here and there, but given I'm doing art fight, time not spent writing is being spent on art, so not much time for requests currently! They will come back though!

[lavendelhummel]

I was tagged by @onaperduamedee to do this game, thank you for that!! I obviously am not good at short questions-short answers but I will do my best ;)

Last song: I started my top100 of 2023 list from Spotify while dying my hair earlier, so there was a good mix. The last one I consciously remember was Ne m’applle pas, by Coeur de Pirate. (ah, looking for that link, I saw that there was Requiem on Water (yes, from the twilight soundtrack) Talking to the Moon, Greensleeves, Bobby, and currently River from the Sky, playing in between)

Currently watching: Star Trek Voyager! I enjoy it so much! It’s fun and I like the characters so much! I like how they care for each other and that the relationsips are so various and most of them not romantically but non the less important. They seem so real. And I enjoy the fact that it’s episodic plots and a lot slower than newer series a lot at the moment. I was overwhelmed with the fast paced dramatic stories and got stressed out by things I actually like. Voyager is calmer and let’s me actually relax, so that’s great.

Three ships: Siuaraine (Wheel of Time), Bering and Wells (Warehouse 13), and… those are the two I am hung up about. Oh, I also wrote fic for Marla/Fran from I care a lot. But not currently. I am currently positively surprised by liking a hetero ship for the first time in years, Tom/B’Elanna from Voyager, it’s cool to see that when the characters are well done, I can also like them even though they are not gay. But keeping it with wlw and also WoT, I am still sailing my little Berelain/Annoura (WoT) ship all by myself.

But yeah, I’ll leave it at those two, there is no third invading my thoughts as much as them.

Favorite color: used to be blue, but I discovered that I like red. Also yellow! Maybe that. But seriously I love colours in general, the more colourful the better, I am not choosing.

Currently consuming: The weekend. Or, ehm the plant hair-dye on my head?

First ship: ouufff, first fic I read was about was Amelia/Owen from Grey’s Anatomy. Well. Made me question a few things about myself because *I liked her so much*.

Relationship status: Very single in my little bubble, and trying not to feel bitter about my well of loneliness (ha, what a great lesbian pun I got in here 😅).

Last movie: But I am a cheerleader with @lilolilyr! I fell asleep… sorry. But we watched D.E.B.s right before, I was awake, and it was great.

Currently working on: Trying to combine two intense work things with also taking time off, to feel less burned-out while doing all of this. It’s a challenge, because time happens so fast, and it makes me feel guilty, but I am trying. Also working on being okay with that, the taking time to chill, not succeeding at things, working on being more okay with myself, less mean, which is even harder. But I try. Fandomwise, still the washing machine/mermaid AU for Bering and Wells and also still Chapter 8 of Yellow for Siuraine (both of which I thought would be long finished my now). I want to finish those so I can start other fun ideas that are cluttering my head/notebook!

The rules said to tag 9 people to get to know better, so let’s see: I am tagging @anandabrat @akittennameddaisy @incompletesong @viharistenno @woodytwig @wibblywobblyida @hecatesbroom @cozcat @masterpieceofunderstatement no pressure to answer these of course, do it if you like to and if not, just don’t ;)!

Thank you for the tag @onaperduamedee!

[cerealmonster15]

scuse me i gotta go be embarrassing under the cut brb 🚶

@cosmiccoincidence @felix-the-lemon-king well FUCK ok hi lol 👋

so like images from the engtwst translation that altered my brain forever:

so like. 🧍🙈 URGHGHHHG lol. felix u may have heard some of or all of this tangent before in the dms LOL but

my attempt at long story short: friend and i were into twst well before engtwst came out, so when we saw the official translation translated cater's "leona-kun" to "leona, sweetheart," we were like 🤨sweetheart?🤨🤨🤨 jkslajKLDJL like ik it's a casual thing meant here but. however. you see LOL

longer details: me being how i am as a person™, i let this fester in the back of my brain and it gradually grew out of control. i dont like. theyre not a pair i think of when i think of My Cater Ships. HOWEVER as i do with most leona potential ships(???) they read as exes to me here JSDLFG like. me with my soap opera lenses on [they are never off. sorry.] has me running wild w/this like leona/cater having A Thing of some undefined nature like maybe last year. tapping into cater's implied vibes of not always letting people get super close / used to kinda keeping things surface level and making the most of Being In The Moment and less concerned about making lasting ties bc hes used to stuff not lasting from his moving around etc etc whatever. like cater and leona starting off w/ a bond of just quietly being in each others space [i mean caters a chatterbox LOL im thinkin those rare moments where hes like mask off kinda lethargic or something. caycays such an interesting character w/a lotta mystery in that regard but i do NOT have time to get into that so just!!! bear with me LOL JFKLSDJF]

anyway i feel like i recycle the same plotlines with characters/ocs forever but thats just too bad: cater+ leona bonding somehow dont worry about it. idk leonas a spelldrive star and caters really good at flying so They Could Bond -> somehow falling into like a Casual Lowkey Relationship where theyre like 'we arent DATING dating, no labels and mostly just hang out when no one's around but Something Undefined is happening here. they kiss or whatever lol -> they emphasize w/e they have is strictly casual and 'doesnt mean anything' -> perhaps cater emphasized the 'doesnt mean anything' part more idk -> some forbidden feelings kinda spark anyway but one or both of em are just kinda. ignoring/denying it lol -> ive had a specific image in my brain for a Long Time of like. cater kissing lion boy. then being like ✌️its ok, its just for fun dont worry doesnt mean anything ✌️ -> and like its a mutual neutral feeling At First but like eventually i think their Situation falls apart for one reason or another and theres Tension

^i said takes place the year before the game starts but i think i also had it in my mind toying w/the idea of it as like a SUMMER FLING/ROMANCE(?) that ended RIGHT BEFORE school started. or idk maybe it ended right before they got out for break. WHATEVER.

point is those screenshots are from book 2 which is still pretty early on in the school year so ive got the vibe of like "oh things are still awkward between them, the 'breakup' is still relatively fresh, and leona feels bitter about it and is playing extra hardball with these guys and also harshly teasing them about it bc caters there and hes Emotional but taking it out sports style" lol. and supplementing that Specific Image In My Head^ i imagine in that convo in the screenshots w/cay being like 😔leona sweetheart plz chill😔 leona would just be like 😒well. it 'Doesnt Mean Anything' so whats the problem here 😌 😒

anyway. you maybe didnt really ask for the extra headcanon au lore whatever details but i gave them to you anyway LOL my LeoCay Messy Breakup AU. but i ALSO just like drawing them together bc cay is my fave and fun to draw, and leona is Also fun to draw 😔 my fave character cay + character i have been dragged kicking and screaming to kind of respect over time KLJFSDKLJFL every time leona says or does something that makes me think hes cool or smart i get SO MAD about it. seething at book 6 LOL SJDKLFJD twst with their damn complex characters making me Think Deeply 😒 and then i steal their deep blorbos and put them in my funny little barbie dreamhouse soap opera recycled romance drama plotline loop forever and ever and ev

ahem. so yea on the surface. pair that probs would never ever work out HOWEVER it's MY mind palace and i can make up whatever silly rules i want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[deviljayman]

The Nailer (Fantasy Short Story)

It was late into the night, or for some, very early in the morning. The sky was dark, the moon hung low as it began to let the sun take over. The captain was up, of course; he never slept much anyway. The waves were calm, but they never stayed calm for long. He needed to be there to keep them on course for the mainland. It was a good thing he knew the way by heart cause there was no way he could do it by sight with it this dark out. It was oddly darker than usual. 

“Captain!” One of the crewmates called. The young sailor jogged over to his superior. 

“This best be good, Sören, I’m keeping us straight, and I’ll have your head if we get held back any further.”

“Well then, I’m not sure you’re gonna like this Cap; we’ve got a stowaway.” 

The captain spun around so fast that Sören was sure the ship might turn with him. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

“Captain, you're never in the mood for anything.”

“You’re damn right I’m not, now show me this stowaway so I can give them a beating.”

Sören tumbled down the stairs, the captain following quickly behind him. They went below deck, the creaky wooden interior being lit up by dim lantern light. They made their way to the middle of the ship, where a makeshift mess room was. Inside there was the last crew member, Caspar, as well as a short hooded figure who was currently tied down to a chair. 

“There you are, captain. I caught the little bastard.” Caspar said. “He didn’t make it easy, might have broken my nose.” His nose, in fact, was broken, currently being snapped back into place incorrectly. 

“Alright then, who the hell is sneaking on my ship.” The captain stomped over, ripping off the figure’s hood. Under the hood was a boy, no older than fifteen. He had short, stark white hair, amber eyes, and a scar that ran across his nose. 

“A boy? The hell are you doing here you little twirp?!” The captain bellowed.

The boy spoke. “I needed to get to the mainland, you all seemed oblivious so I hopped on. I thought I was right, you all hadn’t noticed me for a few weeks up till now.”

“You best watch your tongue unless you want to swim the rest of the way.” The captain threatened. The boy didn’t say anything, instead starting with a scowl that matched the captain’s.

“These things were on him, captain.” Caspar handed him a small bag, no bigger than his fist. 

The captain poured out the bag’s contents onto the table, revealing a small hammer, three nails, and a small iron symbol of a raven. He looked them over before looking at the child, “You some kind of carpenter?” he asked.

“No, that would be a waste of good iron. I’m a Nailer.”

The captain laughed at the idea. “Aren’t you a bit old to be believing fairytales? Besides, you're younger than any Nailer I’ve ever heard of.” 

“I get that a lot; I’d hope the symbol is proof enough.”

“You could have forged it.”

“That would be a waste.”

“Well, you seem to like to do that, as you’re wasting my time. Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t throw you off my boat.” The captain stated, gesturing in the direction of the plank. 

“Adults are meant to care for children.” the boy said blankly. 

“Do I look like the nurturing kind?”

“I suppose not, you seem like the kind to sell children rather than care for them.”

“I sell lumber boy; the wood doesn’t talk back to me like children do.”

“Well how about this? You should keep me on because you need a Nailer.”

“And why exactly will I be needing a boy playing make believe?” 

“Because you have a Ghoul following your ship.”

“Quit with your tall tales; those things are just myths.” 

“They’re only myths because most of the people who could prove them real are dead. You know the stories, don’t you?”

“Sure I do, creatures of death who consume the living. Heard them all the time when I was young, meant to keep ones your age behaved and in bed.”

“Then I’m sure you’re aware of the signs. Night blacker than black, late when most are asleep, leading the people away from anyone who could help. Look around, the signs are all around you.”

The two crewmates looked at each other a bit worried. Sören spoke up. “The fog has been pulling us away from the mainland, Cap. I might be speaking out of turn, but the kid’s making sense.”

The captain looked at his crew. “Don’t let him spook ya lads! He’s just blabbering to get out of trouble, he’s a boy after all.” The captain explained. “But I am feeling merciful, so tell me kid, what’s your name?”

“That’s my name.” he said blankly.

“What is?”

“Kid, my name is Kid.” 

“That’s your name? Why the hell would someone name you Kid?”

“People usually name people after what they want them to be. I’ve met a dozen people named Captain, although at least half preferred bars to ships.”

“What does that say about you then?” 

“A lot I’m sure, but I don’t care to explore that.”

“Fair enough.” 

“Alright then, I should get to work soon before-”

In the instance each person in the room let their guard down, a new figure appeared. To call it humanoid would be laughable, but there weren’t many better ways to describe it. It seemed to be made of glass, but it didn’t reflect any light. Any light that touched it was eaten up by it, leaving the area around it dark despite the torch light. The creature was shaped like a human but parts were missing. It was missing its stomach, the top and bottom halves being connected by a thin spiral. 

Kid saw it first, then Captain, then Casper; Sören was not as lucky. The creature grabbed his neck and arm, they processed his presence for a moment before the creature pulled him outside at speeds none but Kid could comprehend. They first heard a scream, then a leathery snap. 

“Sören!” Casper yelled, running to help him. 

Kid leaped to his feet, his bindings easily falling away. Before Casper could jump out the door, Kid grabbed his arm, pulling him inside. 

“He’s dead!” Kid proclaimed. “Unless you want to join him, don't just rush into danger like an idiot.”

“How’d you get untied?” the captain asked.

“I untied myself around the time we were discussing your trade. You’re easy to distract, and he’s not good at tying knots.” Kid gestured to Caspar. 

The captain smiled. “Tricky boy. Alright Nailer, how are we going to take care of that there ghoulie that snapped my shiphand like a twig?”

“Well, you two aren’t going to be doing anything. Ghouls are Nailer business. However, I can make sure you two don’t die like your friend.” 

Quickly, Kid took his things from the table, fixing the nails to his belt and the symbol to his chest. He looked around the cramped room and grabbed a wet sponge. He broke it up into pieces, handing some over to the captain and Caspar.

“Put these in your ears. These kinds of Ghouls like to play games, the best way to win is to not play. Don’t listen to anything they say, block them out.”

They did as Kid said, Caspar a bit more reluctantly. As they all did, the sound surrounding them faded for the most part. The only sounds bouncing around their eardrums being soapy water and mushy foam. Kid inched slowly to the entrance, looking out to the pitch black night. It was quiet, not a sign of the Ghoul in sight. Kid moved his leg to a bucket, kicking it to the outside. As it hit the deck, the Ghoul appeared, driving its blade-like arm straight through the bucket. 

Kid didn’t let a moment pass, he took one of his nails and with his hammer, he launched it at the Ghoul. It was ready however, using the bucket to block the nail; two nails left. The Ghoul launched itself toward him, swiping at Kid with its left arm. He ducked, using his small size to slide under the creature. With his hammer he hit the Ghoul’s leg, causing it to fall down on its back. Kid shot up quickly, launching another nail aimed at the creature’s head. But the Ghoul was quick, disappearing from the ground as the nail embedded itself into the deck; one nail left. It got behind Kid, landing a heavy blow to his upper back. He was thrown across the deck and hit the ship’s railing. At the moment of impact, the sponges dislodged from his ears, sound now flooding his head. 

He rose to his feet, facing the creature’s voice circling him. He’d have to fight on the Ghoul’s terms. 

“What has a neck but no head?” it asked.

He considered for a moment before saying. “A bottle.” “Wrong! The answer is you!”

Kid felt a cut forming around the top of his neck—an invisible blade trying to sever his head from his neck. He threw himself to the side, the railing behind him being reduced to splinters. He didn’t get out uninjured, a moment longer and the riddle would have been true. 

The Ghoul started to charge Kid, but it was stopped by a bottle smashing against his head. 

“I say the answer be bottle ghoulie!” the captain cried. 

The Ghoul dashed toward the captain aiming to stab him through the heart. Its blade met flesh, but not the captain’s. Caspar jumped in the way to shield the captain. Kid saw an opening, launching his final nail at the Ghoul. This time it didn’t have time to move, the nail met its mark and pierced into the forehead of the creature. However, the Ghoul’s skull was thicker than Kid thought, the nail had not made it to the creature’s core. 

The creature spun around and dove for Kid’s heart faster than ever before. He managed to move—not enough to dodge, but enough to not be killed. The blade went in between his ribs, pinning him to the wall of the ship. 

“Your soul will taste good, Nailer!” the creature sounded.

The ghoul’s left hand ripped open, a toothy hooked tongue hissing out of the maw. It reached its hand toward Kid, but when it the tongue reached him he bit it. The Ghoul howled, its exposed flesh now taking damage for the first time. Kid pulled and ripped the tongue from out of its maw, spitting out black blood and pus. He grabbed the back of the Ghoul’s head and crashed his own against it, driving the nail fully into its skull. The glass Ghoul cracked and fractured, its essence leaking through the cracks. The thing reached out to Kid, as if trying to use the last of its time on this earth to choke the life out of the one who ended it. But it stopped inches away from his throat, motionless and dead.

The captain walked over, ignoring Kid, to kick over the Ghoul’s corpse which shattered upon impact with the deck.

“That’s what ya get for causing trouble on my ship, ya fairytale bastard!” he cheered. 

Kid dragged himself to his feet. “I’m fine, thank you for asking.” he grunted. 

“I thought I told you boy, I’m not the nurturing kind.”

“Not the mourning kind either it seems, did your crew not mean much to you?”

“Not particularly, Caspar made that choice himself. I didn't ask him to do anything. Sure helped you deal with that bastard.”

“His death wasn’t in vain, at least.”

Kid sat down nursing his wounds, most still open and bleeding. Inside the wounds strange purple plants seemed to spring out and grab at the wound. Like needles through cloth, the plants pull at the tender flesh and start to close the wounds. After a short while, Kid’s wounds are mended.

The captain stares at Kid. “What the hell are you?”

Kid looks up. “I already told you, I’m a Nailer.”

[silverstreams]

Hey, kinda basic question, but what inspired you to write tlg? Was there a specific moment in canon that inspired you? Did you crave more chelldos content and chose to contribute to the fandom yourself? Have you always wanted to write a certain type of story or shipping dynamic and chelldos seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get started?

I'm so curious because I really love your fic and it's always interesting to know how it all started and to learn more about the author's relationship with their own story.

Sorry if the wording of my ask seems weird, I'm not a native English speaker, but I'd be happy to talk to you about our lord and savior, chelldos christ

Not too basic at all, I'm happy to answer that!

One fun thing about Discord's easily-accessible and searchable message history is that I can pinpoint the precise conversation where I had the idea for the fic. I was talking to some other chelldos folks in 2018 about the concept of a cloned Chell, mainly how, if that happened, what would GLaDOS do to keep herself from getting bored? She's already gone through the most exciting stuff when it comes to Chell fighting back and destroying GLaDOS the first time. So what kind of stuff could be done that would be interesting to her but not dangeous? Would the variables between these clones gets more intense, more wild as she tried to get results an experiences that she hadn't had before? Then I fell face-first into the idea of GLaDOS messing with her in some psychological manner instead, if she could lull Chell into a false sense of security, but I wondered if she could ever be so "patient and willing to play the long game" and a lightbulb went off in my brain somewhere. After more of that discussion, that month I sketched out a super basic outline of a fic, and then went 'that's kinda messed up' and then set it down for like 6 months. 

But the concept was still in the back of my mind, and I kept thinking about what I could potentially offer that I hadn't seen in other chelldos fics. One thing that came to mind is that, for at least the chelldos fics I had read, Chell returning to Aperture tended to end up being not a big deal, and/or GLaDOS and Chell repaired their relationship easily, or that repair happened off-screen and the fic took place in an established-relationship setting. Which, there is nothing wrong with that! I enjoyed them! And not everyone needs to write a long involved longfic before being allowed to write something fluffy, you know? But what I was thinking about was how hard things might be for both of them, the kinds of trauma they had been through, both on their own and at the hands of one another. Trying to build a foundation of trust between them would be very difficult, much less one where they could start to heal, much less one where they could start to develop feelings for one another. It would require a ton of work, especially since I couldn't ever see Chell returning to Aperture unless her hand was completely forced. Chell doesn't want to be there, and GLaDOS doesn't want her to be there, either. It would take a lot of work on the writing end to write that sort of progression in a way that wasn't rushed and that made sense too.

But I was still working on my other portal longfic at the time, so I decided that I would try to write this SHORT, 50-60k longfic as novel writing practice, something with short chapters that I could write for fun and without too much pressure in between the chapters for my other longfic (lol). Obviously the story developed out a lot more than my preliminary outlines, ha ha, but I'm glad for it.

One thing I do wish though is that I could have written it without an android form, because I love regular GLaDOS just as she is and think that if Chell was going to develop feelings, that she should be able to do it for regular GLaDOS. But unfortunately I couldn't get around it because some major plot points hinge upon GLaDOS getting locked out of her mainframe. Still feel like I'm taking the coward's approach though. It is what it is.

Anyway now it's 2023 and I am 120k into my 60k fic, which will probably end up at like 150k or so, not sure. I have wordcount projections but we'll see how I compare.

Thank you for asking!

[e17omm]

I have recently seen that signalis is on sale and don't know if i should buy it. I don't know much about the game and have seen that you like signalis, so would it be possible to explain a bit wht the game is about.

Space lesbians and eldrich horror done right. <- the short version.

The long version ->

You play as Elster, or rather, LSTR-512, a Replika. Basically a human android. You are on a ship called the Penrose, and your Gestalt (human) co-pilot (Ariane) is missing.

This is a game with a story you have to figure out. Its not hard. Its not hiding its story, but you will definitely have to pick up notes (in-game) and pay some attention to get an idea of whats going on.

It is a highly spoilerable game in terms of story.

In terms of gameplay, it is like a top-down, but you see it from an angle.

The genre is survival horror. Limited resources, tight rooms, limited inventory, and enemies. Ammo conservation and inventory management is the game, and about half the time you can try to sneak/run past enemies to conserve ammo.

Signalis recently got an inventory update that should make the inventory management MUCH better. (Basically some items gets special slots that only they can go in, and since you would basically need them on you at all times, it now saves slots in your normal inventory) (this was about the only complaint before from the community - the inventory was TOO small. This update fixed some of that while not making it too easy either)

Okay to recap because I rambled a bit:

Signalis is a Top-Down, Survival Horror game with an eldrich horror theme done right. A lot of messed up and confusing things happens in this game, but its not so vague or random that you cant make sense of it.

The start of the game goes like this:

You wake up. Search your crashed ship. You leave it. Go through an archway. Find a hole in the ground. Go down the hole. Find a hole in the wall. Go through the wall. End up in a regular-ish room. Listen to a radio broadcast. Next time you're in control of your character, you're in a bathroom in a mining facility.

That doesnt make sense, right?

It will.

I really want to talk about it in detail, but again, its highly spoilerable. Not fun if I go into detail about what the opening 5-10 minutes is, right? (What I talked about above).

The game is about 8 to 12 hours long (per playthrough), depending how long you take on puzzles and how long you take exploring. The game has a map, so its not like Haydee where you have to draw your own.

The gunplay is as simple as aiming your weapon, and as long as youre aiming close enough to an enemy, Elster will soft-lock onto it (aim assist, basically).

In terms of characters, most (and by most I mean that there is litteraly 1 guy) are females. And not only that, but they are tall androids (most of the time. Looking at you, 152cm (5') Kolibri's (Smolibri)) (This doesnt spoil anything really, just fun info you can find) (the rest of the androids are generally above 200cm) (there is stepladders in game and the files calls them "Kolibri steppy". The devs definitely had fun.)

Most of them are enemies, due to the afformentioned i̴n̴t̷e̴r̴g̷a̷l̴a̷c̴t̶i̷c̷ e̴̳͂ḻ̴̇d̴̳̑r̸̜͒i̷̦̓c̶̨͌h̸̻͝ ̷͇̐h̷͉͛o̵̞͋r̴̜̋r̵̺͝o̶̩͌r̶̳̄ i̴͖̖̘̝̘̙͉̅͒͜ṅ̶̼̮̮̻̥̱͍͊̎̀͘f̴̗͎͇̔ḙ̶̟͈̳̭͓̃ͅc̵̢͇̱̼̫̘̦̯̋͋͂̽t̴̗̬̬̥̂ͅỉ̶͍̗͔̱͎̲̩̞͗̅͗͐̈̓o̴̡̹̤̜̖̞͇̼̅n̵̼͖͂̈́́͊̏͑̌ͅ.

So to recap the story as spoiler free as possible: You are an LSTR (Elster) android (Replika) in search of your missing human (Gestalt) co-pilot called Ariane. All in order to keep your promise to her. What is that promise you ask? You better remember it.

For the bird enthusiasts: most (and by most I mean all) Replika names correlate to a bird! Elster correlate to Magpie's, for example.

Does that have a meaning to the story? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ play to find out.

The art style of the game is pixel (as seen in the screenshot), but also (to borrow the words of Bricky) "Its sci-fi, if all we knew were the 80's". Big blocky screens with big buttons and static on screens.

The music - oh the music is fantastic. Tracks like "3000 cycles", "Cigarette wife", "die toteninsel emptiness" and "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky (yeah this game borrows some music) fits the theme of the game so well.

(Couldnt find the artist :C)

In terms of horror, it is mostly the environment and story. The only form of "jumpscare" is enemies screeching at you, or you get a cutscene with some mildly disturbing imagery. There is no form of "big loud thing jumps in your face" jumpscare. You will never turn around a corner and get a fnaf jumpscare.

The fandom is also chronically insane. (Not calling anyone out - I am a part of it.)

They are all excellent memers and artists of wholesomeness shipping. (Meme by unblueable1 on Twitter)

(Gif by Teflonflak on Reddit)

[reallyintoscience]

Thoughts about Hobrintheus. A lot of thoughts about Hobrintheus. 

With the disclaimer that I'm coming at this from the angle of a welded-on Dreamling shipper but I ALSO think Dreamling + the Corinthian is so, so interesting. I just really like the extra darkness the Corinthian brings into the dynamic; Dream and Hob are just so sweet with each other and I really enjoy looking at how they are with a Nightmare between them, the always-open question of monstrosity is so front and centre. 

The Corinthian is a disaster, and paired with any single character that's a recipe for a short-burn, exciting dumpster fire relationship. But. Here's the thing about Hobrintheus. IF you start from a place where each of them have pre-existing one to one relationships with each other, and you bring them together, they re-contextualise each other. They each serve as a new lens to see through. And that's magical; it transforms each individual relationship and lets them all learn each other anew. 

Now. I LOVE Hob and the Corinthian together. I think their stories have a lot of parallels, and I just really enjoy the way you can play up some of Hob's implied feralness with the Corinthian to bounce off. And that the Corinthian can become redeemable, if his needs are met in a way that isn't murder. I can't see it as endgame, though, because Dream is just too important to each of them, emotionally. Existentially, even. What makes the setup work is if Hob and the Corinthian met while Dream was imprisoned. I don't even think it matters exactly what their relationship IS, as long as they come to a place of respect for one reason or another.  They tried to kill each other and it didn't take, and they backed away slowly. They tried to kill each other and they both had fun with someone to take out their violence on. They fucked, or they didn't. Hob clocked that the Corinthian is bad news, backed him down and kicked him out, and the Corinthian was impressed. They're friends now, because Hob's Power of Accepting the Eldritch with a Smile has won the Corinthian over. They're fuck buddies. They've never fucked but the Corinthian drops by regularly to chat. Hob has figured out how to manage the Corinthian through domming him gently into submission and praising him. The Corinthian sooths Hob's abandonment issues because he'll answer questions and there's nothing that could make him voluntarily leave now he's in this. They think each other are mortal. Hob has seen the Corinthian with his glasses off and the Corinthian knows Hob can't die. They're aware they both know Dream. They have no idea that the guy who fucked each of them up is the same dude. It can happen in so many different ways, but so long as the Corinthian is seeing Hob as a real person, and Hob is seeing the Corinthian as someone redeemable, we're good to go. 

...that is, so long as Hob doesn't know that the Corinthian is any threat to Dream, because if he finds that out at any point before Dream gets out, I think this ship is dead in the water. Hob's loyalty to Dream is stronger than anything else that could possible arise at this point in his life. 

Now, Dream and the Corinthian. For reasons that are partly my ongoing questions about the extent to which dreamcreatures are part of Dream himself, and partly my feeling that Dream needs a partner who can make consequences stick for him, I don't see them working as anything other than maybe, occasionally, fucked up fuckbuddies. Their story is about hunger, overwhelming, killing WANT that destroys as it consumes. The Corinthian hungers to please Dream, and Dream still thinks the Corinthian is magnificent, apparently even after his betrayal. But they can't communicate, they're not able to find any solid ground between them. (That is almost entirely on Dream, as usual.)  The Corinthian is always on the edge of destruction, and how can there be a relationship of equals with the threat of unmaking on the table?

But if you give them a buffer. If you give them Hob. 

Dream, watching Hob manage the Corinthian, whether it be lovingly, dommily, violently, as friends, or however else, sees Hob in a new light. The Hob Dream knows is so, so carefully curated. Dream's Hob is a painstakingly crafted thesis, one Hob works on for a hundred years, trimming and polishing and gathering new sources just to add that one extra angle he thinks will be a strong argument, and then presents for approval. He leaves so much out. Dream never reads the footnotes. Up until 2022, Dream only knows the Hob whose star revolves around him. Of course, this depends a bit on how much Dream has interacted with or observed Hob in the Dreaming over the years. He may know Hob a little better, but even then, Dream's Hob is still, ultimately, deeply reverent, deeply devoted to him. A friend, but a friend who exists primarily in his relationship to Dream. 

The Hob Dream sees interacting with the Corinthian is a new man. One who's sure and strong and solid, maybe accepting, maybe loving, maybe violent, maybe with his sexuality central to those interactions. He's someone who exists entirely separately from Dream, a man living on his own terms. A man who has met and overcome his strongest, best Nightmare, one way or another. Who has accepted a monster and might also then accept Dream's own monstrosity. Who has done what Dream has not been able to do: bring the Corinthian willingly to heel. Has, therefore, spared Dream the grief of unmaking his favourite nightmare. Through the Corinthian, Dream can meet a Hob he admires not only for his potential - all that love for life, for what comes next - but for his actuality, for the way he has stepped into Dream's own world and held his own. A Hob who can love (or fight, or discipline, whatever the flavor) the Corinthian, who can make some boundaries stick for a headstrong, proud nightmare... that might be someone who could be a partner to Dream. 

Hob, watching Dream with the Corinthian, gains more of an understanding of who Dream is, who he has been and what that means. Hob can no longer project his own assumptions onto Dream, which he's had no choice but to do so far in their relationship, because the Corinthian pushes Dream to react, over and over. To show Hob his real face, power and nightmare and wonder, not his own careful presentation that Hob in turn has seen over the years. Hob can see Dream as he is to his own realm. How he has stood alone, a monarch with a kingdom made to obey him. The loneliness of it, and the stifling, straightjacketed weight of Dream's function and role, how hard it must to be a person inside of that. How cruel it can make him, how rigid and unyielding, and yet how deeply he feels. How much the darkness in him needs to be celebrated and seen, just as his kindness does. Hob can understand, perhaps without it even being spoken, why Dream might not have wanted to share his name all those years. To be himself is to be a King, and perhaps to put that down for a night is a balm. Dream is exhausted, has been for thousands of years. He's beset by his pride, and in desperate need of someone to take care of him. Hob knows he can handle the Corinthian, so perhaps it will work on Dream as well. Perhaps Dream will be less likely to run, with two of them to bracket him. 

Through Hob, the Corinthian gets to see a Dream who will bend, who would break around this human. Who will put aside his pride and distance and allow himself to be loved. Who can be so soft and loving and express his needs. Who is not a being entirely made up of his function. The Dream who loves Hob is devoted, interested, enthralled, swept up in Hob's excitement about life. He is something approaching happy. 

And Hob would never allow Dream to unmake the Corinthian in anger, Hob will instead teach Dream more effective ways of handling the Corinthian and giving him what he needs to stay within his purview ie, don't be a murdering lunatic, just regular dream-murder okay? 

They're both good for Dream. They're both sassy bastards who don't take Dream's shit, with the exception of both having abandonment issues with him, and I think those are soothed for Hob by the Corinthian, and for the Corinthian by Hob. If Dream storms off they'll have each other until they go and get him back. It feels better. It feels safer. 

Aaaaand they have the most filthy sex okay, and that's what I want to justify. The Corinthian getting dommed and praise-kinked into submission, Hob getting all the eldritch monsterfucking AND all the sweet loving earthshaking dream-broadcasting sex he could want, and Dream being loved and fucked into some kind of emotional security and equilibrium. And god help anyone who tries to fuck with one of them now. 

[cloudburst-ink]

Tagged by @hedgewyse . It took me awhile to get around to it but I did finally! I originally stalled because I've only ever been actively involved in two ship communities. But then I remembered... the third one. Which I've never been involved in, but it's still important. 💀😂

three ships

Kim Khimhant Theerapanyakun / Porchay Pichaya Kittisawat

It's the passion. It's the obsession. It's the angst. It's the fluff. It's the flirting. It's the hidden smiles. It's the stalker4stalker. It's the complete and utter lack of communication skills. It's the sweet pathetic boys. It's the bittersweet ending. It's the fanfiction in fanfiction. It's...

... alright well a lot of it's just me simping over Jeff Satur.

Magnus Bane / Alexander Lightwood

This was my first ship. I wrote my first full novel length fic in this fandom, and I even have a tattoo about it! They will always hold a special place in my heart as the ship that sailed me back into my passion for art and writing.

Reylo

So um, here's the thing. I'm not in the Reylo fandom. I enjoyed the movies well enough, but didn't have any particular interest in them beyond "oh, that was fun to see in theaters, I enjoyed it."

Many years ago, however, before I was involved in fandom at all, a friend of mine sent me a link to a Reylo fic on AO3 that she was obsessed with. It's the only Reylo fic I've ever read.

Long story short (I'll elaborate in another post sometime if I'm ever asked), it ended my impending marriage and changed the course of my life.

I have no idea what the fic was called or whom it was written by.

One day I should track that author down and thank them. I mean obviously other factors played into it, I'm not completely unhinged (well, debatable), but it was the spark that lit the flame.

So anyway, these two will always be important to me even though I'm not part of their fandom. 🖤

Honorable Mentions

I'm currently obsessing over KimVegas, KimArm, and ArmKimChay. If you notice a common denominator, shhh no you don't. ✨ I just didn't feel right using them in the three because they're all just extensions of my KinnPorsche the Series / KimChay addiction. 😅

first ever ship

I generally consider Malec to be my first ship, as they were the first ship I was active in any fandom community for.

However, they're probably not really my first ship.

I was baited into fandom as an adult by a friend who lured me into watching The Vampire Diaries. I kind of shipped Delena, but assumed they wouldn't end up together because he was the second / bad boy love interest and that's just not how the formula goes.

Little did I know 😌 that universe is far too much of a clusterfuck to care about formulas and industry norms.

Anyway I did write an Elijah/Hailey fic and post it on FFnet when I first started writing again after years of no artistic endeavors whatsoever. It's still there, but I choose to pretend it isn't. Straight smut is not my forte. 😅 And it's... well, you can tell I was a bit rusty. 😂

last song

👀🤫😇

last movie

I tend to gravitate more toward TV shows than movies, so I think the last one I watched might've been over the holidays. It's a pretty great musical--Mrs. Santa Claus gets fed up with being taken for granted, takes the sleigh on a joyride, and gets temporarily stranded in early 1900s New York. While there she protests for women's suffrage, fights for the rights of child workers, helps to reunite a family divided by an ocean, and repeatedly demonstrates the spirit of acab.

Yeah, you heard me. It's socialist acab Mrs. C here to sing dank tunes and fight for your rights.

Highly recommend 10/10.

It's also on Youtube for free last I checked.

currently reading

The Prince's Poisoned Vow by Hailey Turner.

currently watching

The latest season of Miraculous Ladybug 🥺

currently consuming

I've been making a lot of duck soup lately. I'm a bit of a duck addict, and there's something so satisfying about making use of the whole carcass and watching it slowly turn into rich, wiggly stock and then the most wonderful soup with duck meat and bok choy and bamboo shoots and noodles. ✨

currently craving

a quiet, vibey cafe to write at, and some peaceful time to spend there. the gay donut shop i used to write at shut down. 😭

-----

I'll tag... @staykimchay and @justanothervariant if they haven't done it yet.

[alotofadhd]

Big ramble about Fabiniku…

Okay so this LONG ass post is gonna focus on my interpretations of fabiniku aka “life with an ordinary guy who got reincarnated as a fantasy knockout” buckle up I got a lot of thoughts and I’m trying to get it all out in one(ish) post and I don’t think the thoughts all make sense:

I also feel like I’m saying the same thing 5x before I get to the point so apologies in advance….

Tachibana is the reason that Jinguuji has the power that he has. Tachibana loves Jinguuji and currently I am not talking about Love in the romantic sense. You can love family and friends just as deeply as a romantic partner. And this love is why the goddess was drawn to him and this love is why Jinguuji is so dang strong day one. But I also believe we can pinpoint exactly where the turn from platonic to romantic happened and what that means for jinguuji’s strength.

This also plays into my theories on tachibana’s lack of strength.

At the start of the whole story the curse makes both protagonists “see” each other but it’s way easier for Tachibana to get past and ignore it seemingly than Jinguuji. It is theorised by many that that’s because Jinguuji has loved tachibana the whole time pre-isekai and is too repressed to understand any of it. Tachibana being a pretty girl and the two of them being cursed to actually “see” each other just punches him in the face with his OWN feelings. on the other hand Tachibana is just like “okay I’m totally into my friend now and I’ll be keeping that nightmare to myself(ish)”. We don’t see Tachibana struggling a much as Jinguuji does. (Tho they do struggle)

But then the robot fight happens and Jinguuji praised the shit out of his best friend and Tachibana can barely take the embarrassment of it all which causes Jinguuji to fully and genuinely laugh in front of Tachibana for probably the first time EVER. That whole moment put Jinguuji to Tachibana’s heart in a way he previously wasn’t. This is when we see Tachibana get charmed for first time too.

After this In the Manga, when the two encounter the elf on the ship Jinguuji strikes a major hit against her new weapon that mimics what heart beam would look like later in the arc. I believe this is because Tachibana’s feelings for him have grown and he is now capable of even more than before.

Then the single time we have seen the two be emotionally vulnerable with each other (in terms of their feelings for one another) it has resulted in a power boost for Jinguuji and him using heart beam. Tachibana refused to let jinguuji get away with his bullshit and made him call them cute! This moment tho was all spurred on by Tachibana. The blessing was given by Tachibana. Tachibana is the source of it all.

So long story short: Tachibana’s love makes Jinguuji strong.

But then the question is if Tachibana’s platonic love alone was enough to make jinguugi strong why isn’t the reverse true? Jinguuji clearly cares for Tachibana more than anything just because he refuses to call it love doesn’t change that the feelings are there? Well…

Tachibana, being the Hero, is the source of Jinguuji’s power, as the weapon, and I doubt the weapon can affect the hero directly. This is why I don’t think jinguuji’s love for tachibana wether named or not matters in the magic sense of it all.(tho it definitely matters over all)

I think Tachibana’s love is the source of Tachibana’s power and the one thing we truly haven’t seen is Tachibana Loving themselves. They didn’t love themselves before being isekai’d and they don’t now. And being put in a strange body with what look like only hinderances attached to it doesn’t help. The one time we’ve seen strength/skill come from Tachibana was again when they were being emotionally vulnerable and demanding the acknowledgment they felt they deserved.

1. They had a handle on a robot they should have had no idea how to use. Also they were good strategic attacks

2. Over powered Jinguuji for the forehead kissy.

I don’t think Tachibana is going to grow in skill and strength till they’re able to truly accept and love themselves.

And I think that Jinguuji is as much a part of the problem as he is the solution.

Well intentioned or not, Jinguugi does not accept Tachibana as they currently are and hasn’t made it a secret AT ALL. Even if Tachibana was in agreement the whole time after a while the constant reminders that “you are wrong” would get to anyone.

It’s a weird way to put it but I think they have a co-dependent relationship and time a part would strengthen there relationship and by extension Tachibana’s power maybe? Like self love plays into any relationship and I feel like the two of these idiots are growing more unhealthy in the relationship by the day… idk

I think Jinguuji is going to have to at minimum accept his friend where they’re at and commit to taking the journey with them and emotionally support them thru this genuinely tough time. But I also know Jinguuji is an idiot and won’t do this…

I’m cutting my self off if y’all want more ask…

FINAL NOTES: Jinguuji during the robot fight didn’t regain strength unti AFTER he acknowledged he was jealous of Tachibana’s attention and when he agreed to start praising Tachibana. Idk if that mean that Jinguuji’s had to comply with tachibana to keep his strength or if it is more of a reflection that their relationship needs to be strong in order for him to be strong… I feel like I am still close with my above interpretation but also I think I have thought myself into a hole… save me I’m stuck down here…

[moonshine-nightlight]

I've caught myself numerous times wondering what would happen after the events of Don't Shoot the Messenger. Do you think messenger would be able to keep her anonymity after getting in a relationship with Satrasi? Would she still be able to do her work as a messenger if that was not the case? Did they try start of their relationship in secret in order for messenger to keep going with her job? Or did she get a more prominent job within the organisation instead? Or maybe I'm overthinking it and the two are descreet enough? Would love to hear your thoughts on this! (And have some secret hope you'll write it down as a follow up story one day😆)

@paleoverthinker

So, to answer your last question first, basically no. i sort of have an idea for another story in the DSM canon but it would be relatively short and feature Wicklow and a demon lady pirate (and would mostly be an excuse for smut). Satrasi and our Marlin would be there briefly, but otherwise not be prominent players.

I'm really happy with DSM as a whole as it is and have been trying to work on writing short stories--and this one's still over 30k which is very diff compared to a lot of other writers in this space on tumblr at least lol. I don't have any concrete ideas for where their story would go next and since I have a billion other separate ideas on my backlog, I'm trying not to think about it--although if I ever write that Wicklow story, who knows what'll creep up on me.

Now, that doesn't mean i haven't thought about the answers to your other questions already. Satrasi and our messenger are very interesting because they are both discrete and very... not at the same time. For things like the briefing depicted, where Marlin is officially reporting as a messenger--they are picture of professional, couldn't tell a thing between beyond perhaps that they have worked together for a long time.

The rest of the time though? Extremely obvious, they do not try to hide anything. They are pirates and do not give a fuck who knows. Marlin kept to themselves before all this and so are almost nondescript when in uniform so to speak. Marlin does take off their marlin specific coat and is more likely to have their hair down (Satrasi likes to play with it) when with Satrasi off-duty so to speak. So often people do not recognize them when Marlin is just straight up curled in Satrasi's lap while random pirates discuss idk maps with him.

There are plenty of rumors about the Admiral sleeping with one of his messengers, but that's all most of the world knows. There are so many crazy rumors about Satrasi, that one barely rates. (Did you hear he has an army of sharks that follow his ship around?) The majority of his fleet are extra nice to the messengers because which one is it? Fuck if I know (the other messengers encourage the confusion so they all get good treatment lol) And the crew of the carrier know exactly who it is and knock a lot more now. Marlin loves being a messenger (doesn't want diff role) but does know more secrets because they are just like, around Satrasi a lot more than before.

And while people never really tried to cross them before (except, uk that one time), they really, really don't now.