#looks very nice now; what a huge waste of time; this is why I don't tell you what I'm trying to do

[medicinemane]

You know... watching a tv show via a streaming service really kinda... makes you realize how much the art of it is constrained by the medium; specifically ad breaks

Like, they actively disrupt the flow of things because they need a chance to insert commercials, and even if you're not watching it with commercials, there's something forever built in to the timing of the show that's specifically for those commercials

The entire pacing of the show is forced to be warped around it and it's not like that can every be changed cause... show's been shot

Just kinda sucks you know? That cause of toyota or pepsi or all the other pricks who gotta run the ads, a whole lot of shows (good and bad) have ended up having to build in this concession

No grand narrative here, it's just a little bit ass

[puzzled-pegasus]

Here's some silly little metaphors that I think the dragon tribes would use

SkyWings

“Don’t count your clutch before they hatch.” (Don't plan too much too soon)

“Gold is better than silver, but silver is better than nothing.” (If you can't do it perfectly, still try your best. Most dragons forget the second part.)

“‘Sorry’ can't suck the fire back in.” (The damage is done and now you're dead to me.)

“You been eating too much burnt meat or something?” (Are you nuts?)

“Stop all this smoke and use your fire.” (Stop rambling and get to the point already; or stop complaining and do something)

“Doesn't know his tail from his wings.” (Stupid or clumsy)

“You fly like a depressed pigeon.” (Slow flier)

“There's no fire in a rainstorm.” (Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get to work.)

“Nighttime is for the NightWings.” (What are you doing up? Go to sleep.)

SandWings

“She’s all rattle, and no strike.” (Like all bark no bite)

“A diamond in a pile of quartz.” (Like a needle in a haystack)

“You’re watering the cactus and ignoring the sapling.” (You’re focusing on the wrong thing; barking up the wrong tree)

“Everyone thinks the camel looks silly until the dry season comes.” (Don't listen to them, they don't know how unique and strong you are)

MudWings

“Crocodile tears.” (Fake crying in order to gain sympathy)

“You can only catch a trout if your mouth is open.” (Be open to new experiences)

“If the tree gives away too much, it ends up as a stump.” (Don't let people take advantage of your generosity)

SeaWings

“Happy as a clam in high water.” (Very happy)

“The flying fish feels like a fool when it sees an osprey.” (Don't compare yourself to others, run your own race.)

“Plenty of fish in the sea.” (Plenty more opportunities to come.)

“You��ve got ink in your eyes.” (You're blind to something important)

“Lobsters only die when they don't leave their shell.” (Keep yourself busy with new experiences and you'll life a long life)

NightWings

“Sleep is for the dead.” (Why waste your time sleeping when you could be productive)

“SeaWings know their fish and SandWings know their cactuses, but we NightWings know everything else.”(NightWing supremacy propaganda)

“Being nice to a deer never got one in my mouth.” (Other dragons don't matter, only your goals.)

“A prophecy always comes true.” (I told you so but more cryptic)

"You're counting the stars." (You're doing something tedious towards an unachievable goal)

RainWings

“Gray’s her favorite color.” (She's a huge bummer)

“A lemon is yellow on the outside, doesn't mean they're not sour.” (Referring to someone who is two faced or fake)

“I love honey, but I’d rather not get stung by the bees.” (I could do this, but it requires effort so I don't wanna)

“Nobody likes a rotten banana.” (Nobody likes a bummer/downer)

“Don't tie your tail in a knot” (don't get all upset)

“I have all my berries in a basket” (I have everything sorted out)

“You couldn't sneak up on a pineapple” (insult to one's camouflage skills, popular among children)

IceWings

“The seal who asks why the orca is chasing him is the first to get eaten.” (A favorite of parents telling their kids to shut up)

“Not the sharpest icicle on the roof” (kinda stupid or slow)

“Clear as polished ice” (i understand or see it very well)

“You're looking a little pink in the face” (you look sickly. IceWings can turn pink from eating too much krill; a symptom of malnutrition. This line can be applied to any illness.)

“Blue blood kills, red blood spills.” (Patriotic propaganda implying that IceWings win every fight

“The SkyWings toss their blue eyed hatchlings because they're worried they'll be as strong as an IceWing.” (More propaganda)

HiveWings

“Pretty is for the SilkWings.” (Vanity is stupid and impractical)

“If it buzzes like a bug and bites like a bug, it's a bug.” (Don't ignore the obvious)

“Clearsight works in mysterious ways.” (I don't know the answer to your question, now go away)

SilkWings

“It's not always good to know how the honey gets made.” (Don't stick your snout where it doesn't belong)

“She's got a couple of threads loose.” (Calling someone a little crazy, threads refers to weaving)

“The bee minds its flowers and the spider minds her silk, it's when they mix that bad things happen.” (Mind ya business)

LeafWings

“Flytraps only trap because the soil doesn't feed them.” (Dragons don't get angry out of nowhere)

“Looking like a leaf only hides you in the forest.” (Time and place)

“If a branch doesn't bend, it breaks.” (Be flexible)

“Even the corpse flower attracts the flies.” (Even someone who seems ugly to one dragon they can seem irresistible to another)

[stars-and-clouds]

Xavier Romance Headcanons 🌟

SFW:

Spoiler warning: spoils the myths and side stories for Xavier.

in a nutshell: soft, smitten, possessive, romantic, horny, playful and needy.

he'd be very observant, I think. Despite his drowsy disposition, Xavier tends to be very alert. Especially when it comes to noticing your little reactions, what you did and didn't, what you said or not.

he'd mention these observations the next day, about how nice your hair looked with a different partition, or what he thought of a new bracelet you wore. You'd be left wondering how sweet he is but to him noticing little things about you is second nature.

in the begining though, he'd be distant and slightly cold because he's terrified

he is scared of losing you again and he doesn't think he's good enough for you

but that is the irony- he feels so ill-deserving of you but he still wants you

Xavier is a mix of mild-yandere and kuudere imo.

once you're together it won't take him long to take the plunge and open up more because he wants it so bad. he craves the intimacy and companionship after decades of loneliness and yearning

he will rarely hide his feelings from you unless they can cause issues in some way to his ultimate plan

his cool and calm demeanor will rarely break, even when he makes embarrassing confessions to you

he'd really say the most outrageous things with a straight face

"I love how you smell." he'd blurt out loud enough for everyone in the grocery aisle to hear, his face nearing the crook of your neck. "Xavier! We're in public!" to which he'd simply shrug.

possessive. he's very possessive and jealous.

he literally pulled the "you know other men?" card in the Succumb memory lmao

jokes aside, he's waited for you for so long and he's wanted you so bad

I can imagine him beating himself up about how easily he gets jealous once you're in a serious relationship. he doesn't want to be this easily jealous but it's so hard.

he loves you so much and he never wants to restrict you or hold you back but he's so fucking scared

Xavier has lost you once, probably more times, before. you died in his arms. that kind of pain becomes all consuming

is it any wonder he is so possessive of you? so scared to lose you?

if not to death, to someone else?

he travelled so far, he waited so long, he fought so hard to find you again and now you're here and he's terrified

what if you don't love him back? what if he's not good enough? what if you find someone else better than him? what if he can't save you again?

yet as you spend more and more time together, he'd sleep less often.

"On a night like this sleeping feels like a waste of time." he'd take you out to watch the stars

when he'd really be looking at you, to be honest

there would be no side glances with this man. he'd stare at you unabashedly.

no secret nudging to touch your fingers as you walk, he'd simply hold your hand if he wants to

he'd be huge into skinship, I feel

he has just wanted you to be here for so long as now you are and he missed you and he wants to feel you all the time

he'd love to cook for you as well (as well as he can) and when he messes up he'd pout in the cutest way and be clingy all day because he's sad about it but doesn't want to show it

did I mention he'd be clingy? a lot

it won't be too often but when he's bored or free he'd be pining for your attention a lot

as relaxed as he looks he isn't ever off his guard, that's why he doesn't panic

he'd be very protective of you, having seen you perish so many times

he won't show you outright nor would he panic because being on the look out for your safety is just his priority, he would be on it without another thought

Going to release an NSFW part too :eyes:

[dyns33]

Only wastelands part 2

Here's part 2 of my Cooper Howard x Reader ! I think it will be a story in 4 parts at the end, but I'm not sure yet.

Tags : @one-of-thewalkingdead @coolrobloxkid28 @thebumbqueen @rachmari @ilyvia @justme12200 @honeybunhottie @savanahc @gobbodoggo @bisasterbisexual @killingboredom @bonafideyapper @i-simp-for-mha-men @pixelatedprofilepic @ultimatreality @chattersstuff @harmfulb1tch @hellolettuce444 @miketastic25

If Y/N had to pay Cooper one compliment, it was that he had been a very good teacher.

Months passed, years, and she survived the apocalypse perfectly on her own.

To avoid trouble, she hid her pitboy and her gender under a large coat and a Ranger mask. Some people made fun of her, thinking she was doing this to protect herself from radiation. Everyone knew that West Tek's hardware, or any of Vault's partners, was crap.

Y/N knew it, and that was why she always had Radaway on her. Not at all in case she saw Cooper again and he needed some.

Three years without any news, doing everything to avoid attracting attention, and she hardly thought about him at all.

If she sometimes looked at the photo of him before his turning, with little Janey, it was only to remember that she should trust no one in this rotten world. Never again, she repeated to herself.

It was with this spirit that she almost killed Lucy when the young woman fell on her. Literally.

Y/N was standing in a crater, calm, silent, holding her sniper tightly, ready to shoot her future dinner, when the little vaultie had jumped to escape a yao guai.

Her instinct not being often wrong, she knew that it was more urgent to kill the bear than the imbecile who had thought that surprising a shooter was less dangerous than confronting a beast.

Even though she had a gun, was covered in blood, and one of her fingers was a different color, little Vault dweler looked harmless with her big, naive doe eyes.

It was obvious that she had been outside for a short time. A true miracle that she is still alive.

"Thank you, thank you very much !" she repeated with a huge smile, as if Y/N wasn't pointing her sniper at her. "You don't know the week I just had ! My father was kidnapped, I wanted to save him, but I discovered that he was a murderer who had bombed a city, and all the people I met tried to kill me, and…"

"Hey. I don't remember asking you to tell me about your life, vaultie."

"Oh, sorry ! It's just that I got lost. I was with someone heading to a place called New Vegas, but a big monster pulled him into a hole, then this thing attacked me. You seem nice, and I could use some help…"

"No."

“Wait. But wait !” the girl begged, following her as she went to carve the yao guai. Not the best meat, but she had just wasted five bullets for that, and the noise had either scared away the easy preys or attracted the attention of the dangerous ones.

Y/N vacillated between ignoring Lucy and threatening her, asking her to leave, but after exchanging names, the vaultie seemed to have decided that they were now best friends and should stay together.

No doubt taking her savior's silence as an invitation, she continued to talk about what had happened to her, between her meeting with a man named Maximus, and the inhumane treatment she had suffered at the hands of a mercenary.

Completely incoherent, she ended her story by explaining that she had abandoned her potential boyfriend to go on an adventure next to the guy who tortured her, with the aim of finding her dad and discovering who had destroyed the entire planet.

It was quite funny, because Lucy reminded her a bit of herself before. Y/N wondered if Cooper had seen her like that when they met, a lost and stupid thing.

At the same time, the girl's reasons for living were the same as the Ghoul. Find a family member and take revenge on Vault. Amusing. Maybe they would be very happy together.

If we forgot the fact that Lucy thought that no one should be killed, that everyone was nice, and mutual help was a fundamental notion, to start again. Ugh.

"So, some free advice, if you want to avoid having your tongue cut out, remember that it is not a good idea for a little vaultie who grew up in a palace to give big moral lessons to people who have been doing what they can to avoid dying for years, sometimes centuries."

"Why do you call me that ? You come from a vault too, right ? My pitboy picked up yours."

"Hang on. I am a victim of the cruelty of politicians and businessmen, betrayed by my own country and only alive by luck, or bad luck. You are a little vaultie. Now get away before I strangle you."

Lucy continued to follow her. And Y/N could have killed her, she really could have. This wasn't her first rodeo. She had killed a lot of people for less than that. But she didn't really want to.

Maybe she had been alone for too long. Maybe she felt sorry for this girl, like Cooper had felt sorry for her.

A deal was found. If Lucy could keep her mouth shut, then Y/N would help her find her friends so she could resume her main quest. Their paths would then part ways, and everyone would be happy.

Especially Y/N.

Because if she often talked about her dear Max, the little vaultie didn't seem so eager to find her survival partner. This was understandable, since he had tried to kill her several times, shooting her, cutting off her finger, using her as bait, and selling her.

Compared to this guy, Y/N was a saint, an angel from heaven, the perfect friend. When she offered the girl a bottle of non-irradiated water, she seemed about to ask her to marry her.

“You must be the only person in all the wastelands with good water !”

"It doesn't come cheap. But… I made a promise."

“My lovely traveling companion forced me to drink disgusting water and eat a man.”

"Charming."

Even though she seemed sweet and pure, Y/N continued to be wary of Lucy, sleeping with only one eye open and waiting for the moment when she would try to stab her in the back. First rule, don't trust anyone.

It had happened before. Never again.

Even after three years, the wound was still raw.

It was only when she saw the fear and regret in Lucy's eyes that Y/N restrained her action, yet ready to plant her blade the moment she had shown her the photo, taken out of her bag, asking her if it was her family.

Cooper hadn't been her family. He had been an asshole, who had manipulated her, who had made her believe that he loved her, and that she could love him, before abandoning her like a dog on the side of the road.

"Be careful with this Maximus. Men never change. He will take what he wants from you, and you will be hurt."

“He’s not like that.”

"I didn't think Coop was like that !" she shouted, really getting angry for the first time at Lucy, who jumped. "Yes, I loved him ! I trusted him ! It was stupid of me and I will never make that mistake again ! I hope he died in a hole, alone and in pain !"

"… Can I throw the photo away then ?"

“Give that back !” Y/N said quickly, snatching the only souvenir he had left from her hands and putting it safely in her pocket.

Lucy's sad smile indicated that she wouldn't have destroyed the photo. How sorry she was, for having gone through her things, and for having caused her pain by forcing her to talk about this man who had been so important. Also that she was happy, to see that despite her speeches, Y/N still cared for someone, even if she didn't want to.

She had never told anyone about it. It had been a long time since she had said his name, except when she woke up from a nightmare, in the middle of nowhere, calling for him like a child.

Lucy continued to smile, because for her, there must be another explanation for her precious Coop's behavior. She continued to call him Coop, even after Y/N threatened to make her eat her rotten finger.

"I know you don't like talking about him…"

“If you know that, shut up.” Y/N muttered as she continued walking towards New Vegas, trying to ignore the stream of words from the stupid vaultie, bingeing on romance novels and patriotic films.

"From the few things you agreed to share, Coop cared about you. He protected you, he taught you to defend yourself, he gave you a picture of his daughter. For me, this are proofs of love. Actions speak louder than words."

“He promised to come get me and I’m still waiting.”

"Wrong ! You left, you know how to hide perfectly, and you do everything to avoid him ! So, maybe he's been chasing you all this time and you don't know."

"What I do know is that the main clause of our deal was that you would stop talking so much, especially if it was to give such ridiculous and inappropriate advices."

They finally arrived at their destination after several weeks of walking. No sign of Lucy's friend on the way though. Perhaps he had died, or had not continued on his own.

It was clear that he wanted to use the daughter of vault 33 overseer to achieve his ends, and now that he had lost her, there was no point.

The city amazed the girl. It was the first real city she discovered, instead of those piles of ruins full of dust and vermin that were found in the four corners of the wastelands.

Her enthusiasm almost made Y/N laugh. A bit like how she had often made Cooper laugh without meaning to.

Damn, she needed to stop thinking about that bastard so often. Her mother was always saying that we manifest things through emotions and thoughts.

Her poor mother, long dead, but who had always been right.

As soon as her eyes landed on him, Y/N was crouched behind a wooden crate, watching Cooper Howard, fucking Cooper Howard, sitting near the casino, seemingly waiting for someone.

Seeing her, Lucy began to ask her what she was doing, her gaze following hers, and then the reaction was strange. Everything about this girl was strange anyway.

She started to smile.

Worse, she waved an arm at the Ghoul in greeting, opening her mouth to get his attention as she realized it wasn't enough, his cowboy hat falling over his face.

Y/N quickly grabbed her arm to pull her towards her, asking her what she was playing.

"It's the mean bounty hunter who accompanies me !" she replied happily, as if everything was normal.

For a moment, Y/N wondered if Lucy was making fun of her. If from the start, this was just a horrible joke against her, the continuation of a torture started in this seedy bar.

Then she told herself that if someone made fun of her, it was just fate.

Because she remembered that she had only described Cooper, continuing not to have any particular interest in his condition as a ghoul, and with her goodness as a jug, Lucy had not wanted to reduce him to his appearance either.

The difference was that he didn't give his name to his new pet.

“I knew you were an idiot, but not that much.”

"What ? Why ?" Lucy wondered, slightly offended and trying to free herself.

"You can't trust him. You already know that, why do you want to go back with him ? Look… I can help you find your father, okay ? Find Max. Whatever you want, but let's avoid this bastard and let's leave quickly."

"Golden rule. We said we would wait near the casino, he's there, I'm not leaving him."

With this serious look, the vault dweler would almost have looked frightening. Almost. It was mainly because it was obvious that it was impossible to reason with her that Y/N let her go, not waiting for her tirade about great friendship and the need to stay together to run as far as possible.

If Cooper noticed them, she didn't give him time to really see her, nor to catch up with her or shoot her.

Y/N didn’t turn around to check. Not because she was afraid of him chasing her. But because she was afraid that not only would he not pursue her, but she would also see him with Lucy.

Because even though he had tortured her, insulted her, threatened her… He was in front of the fucking casino waiting for this girl. And it really hurt.

[the-badger-mole]

Swept Away

Katara took a deep breath. In through her nose. Out through her mouth. She wasn't nervous. Not really. Not in the sense that other people mean when they say they're nervous. She wasn't scared. She was eager. In a few short minutes, she would be a wife. She would be Zuko's wife. He was going to be her husband.

"Are you sure about this?" Suki asked for the thousandth time. "Really sure?"

"I am." Katara opened her eyes and turned to her sister-in-law. She couldn't fight the smile that spread over her face. "I'm more sure of this than anything in my life. Zuko's it. He's the one."

"Katara," Suki sighed. "Look, I get it. Zuko's incredibly hot. He's smart. He...seems really nice, but-"

"Suki," Katara started to say, but she didn't get a chance to complete her thought.

"Katara, you've known him three months!" Suki burst out. "You've only been dating for eight weeks! You are the most straight laced person I've ever met. Why are you doing something this...impulsive? You're not impulsive!"

"What are you talking about?" Katara turned from the mirror to face Suki directly. "I'm exactly this impulsive. Don't you remember Jang Hui? My protest about gender equality for STEM fields at the North Pole? The time I started a rally for prison reform?"

"Okay, fine," Suki relented, rolling her eyes. "When it comes to social justice, you are very impulsive. But, this? Katara, you're getting married! Without your dad here. Without your GranGran! I know how much they mean to you."

"They mean the world to me," Katara agreed. "But you know I've never cared about a huge wedding. I love Zuko. I love him. I don't see why I should have to wait to make him my husband just because it would take too long for Dad to fly over to see us get married. We'll have a big party...a huge one later. And everyone we love will get to meet and celebrate. But this feels right!"

"Right?" Suki snorted. "It feels right to get married without telling anyone but me and your brother?"

"Yeah," Katara said. A wistful smile tugged at her lips. "I know it sounds crazy, but...I can't wait to marry him. I literally cannot wait. I've never felt this way about anyone. You know! I know you do. Sokka told me you and he started talking about marriage two months in." Suki rolled her eyes skyward and groaned.

"Yeah, talking about it!" Suki repeated it. "We didn't actually get engaged until a year in! We got married on our second anniversary!"

"Zuko and I don't want to wait that long," Katara laughed. "So we've on a faster timeline. So what?"

"What if there are things you don't like about him?" Suki pressed. "What if he's....I don't know...super anal about the way you put toilet paper on the roll? What if he doesn't wash his feet in the shower? What if he...he hates cats?"

"Did you know Sokka's every annoying habit when you married him?" Katara challenged. Suki made a face at her and sucked her teeth.

"No," she admitted. "But I knew a few of them! I knew enough to know that I could deal with the biggest ones."

"So do I," Katara said. "I know that Zuko likes his food unreasonably spicy. I know that when he's angry, he shuts down and needs a day or two before he can talk about it calmly. I know he thinks rom-coms are a wasted of a perfectly good evening. But I also know that he already values my opinion and will make decisions with me. I know he's put in so much work unlearning toxic traits he was taught as a child, way before he and I met. I know he has the softest heart underneath the hard layers. In three months, he's become one of my closest friends. I trust him, and he trusts me. I love him, Suki. I want to marry him now.

"Um..." Suki swiped at her eyes with her knuckles, and blinked rapidly against more tears. "I get that. I do! I just don't want you to regret doing it this way. I don't want you to regret not having Dad here to walk you down the aisle. Or not having Gran Gran help you into your gown. Don't you want a first dance with Zuko?

Katara turned back to the mirror and considered her reflection. As a girl, she had pictured her wedding. Her dressed in silk and looking the best she's ever looked, and her father walking with her to meet her husband. It was exactly as Suki said, with her dancing with her new husband while people took pictures and tossed confetti. Her extended family together and celebrating.

"I don't need it," she told Suki. "Did you know that the only family that Zuko has is his uncle? His mother is dead. His father is a monster. His sister won't speak to him. He wouldn't be alone- he has friends- but, it wouldn't be the same. Plus crowds make him anxious.

"So he asked for this?" Suki frowned. "He wanted to get married at City Hall?

"No, this was my idea," Katara assured her best friend. "He said he was fine with whatever I wanted. But Zuko's an introvert, and a little agoraphobic. The only buffer he would have would be me and his uncle. He wouldn't enjoy himself. Not as much as I would want. There will be plenty of time later to celebrate with the people we love. But not all at once.

"Dad won't like it," Suki warned. Katara shrugged.

"He'll get over it once I explain it to him," she said. "And he'll love Zuko. They have a lot in common."

Suki stared at Katara for a long while, wracking her brains for something, anything to say to her sister-in-law. She came up frustratingly empty. She should have more objections to her best friend and sister marrying someone she's only known a few months. Katara was convincing. She was very convincing when she wanted to be. Finally, Suki threw her hands up in surrender. If Katara was making a mistake, then the next best thing Suki and Sokka could do was make sure they were at least close enough to help her if she needed it.

"Sokka's not thrilled," she told Katara. "I promised him I'd talk sense into you before it was too late."

"It's been too late for a while," Katara chuckled. Suki nodded and laughed with her.

"I see that now," she said. "Sokka's going to be so disappointed."

"I hope that won't cause any issues with you guys," Katara's brow drew down in worry. Suki just waved her off, though.

"Nah," she said. "I'll just tell him I'm pregnant if he gets too riled up." Katara gasped and leapt up from her seat.

"Are you joking?" she squealed. Suki grinned and shook her head.

"I just found out a couple of days ago," she said. "I was going to take him out to the game this weekend and have it announced on the jumbotron, but I'll use it to distract him from your questionable decision making if I need to."

"I'm so happy for you!" Katara said pulling Suki in for a hug. Suki hugged her back tightly.

"I'm happy for you, too." And to her surprise, Suki realized she meant it.

[aquamine-amarine]

I've got a lot of thoughts.

And it ended up being way too long again. Spoilers, analyzing, half assed translations, rants... Has anyone translated this or summarized it yet? Did I just waste my time? It took hours.

The title page is an obvious throwback to the very first chapter. It's nice I guess, I would have liked something a little more original and unique to this new series though. This new character still bothers me so I'm not sold on him just yet...

The official X account for the series is killing me though, cropping out that middle part to use as a header... Also this:

Where will Amu-chan's love go...!?

I'm telling you're the Nakayoshi editorial department is full of Amuto shippers.

The armband is on the wrong arm...

This is a huge red flag and a major regression in character development, because Amu should NOT be acting like this anymore. It's a huge problem.

Her crush on Tadase pretty much died after volume 7. During volumes 8-12 she isn't fangirling over him anymore and doesn't have any fangirl fantasies involving him like she used to. She started acting normal around him, like close friends, and it was nice. It was a positive development. WHY is all that development being thrown out the window? Just to cater to new fans?

I fully expected Tadase to continue trying to whoo her because he pretty much said he would continue to do so in volume 12. So I'm not annoyed about that. Amu's reaction to him is what annoys me, because she's not supposed to be acting like this anymore. You can keep trolling us with the love triangle WITHOUT regressing Amu's behavior to how she was in volume 1. They proved they could do this in volume 12. So this is bad.

As for the reason they're still in their elementary school uniforms, it's because the new school term hasn't started yet. This scene takes place during spring break in the Royal Garden, and there's a scene where Rima is asking if the middle school uniforms have arrived yet. I was wondering why they were still in their elementary school uniforms, when we know middle school uniforms DO exist. So the transfer happens before they even start middle school, it makes sense now.

The school they're transferring to (because Tadase is going with her) is called Arcana Academy. It's Seiyo's sister school.

A Japanese fan I follow on X noticed something very interesting about the kanji in the school's name. 聖或奏学園 translates to "Saint Arcana Academy". The 或 kanji is present in Aruto's name (it's the "aru" part), and the 奏 is present in Souko's name. Although in Souko's case it's a different reading. For her name, it takes the on'yomi reading of "sou", and when it's used in the school's name it uses the kun'yomi reading of "kana". From volume 10:

That's pretty interesting, I wonder if it ends up having any significance later? Or maybe it's just a coincidence? They do like being funny with the kanji they use in names, like all the celestial references they used here.

Tsukasa tells them they're transferring because there's an outbreak (he actually uses the word plague) of X-Eggs at Arcana Academy. He also says that Amu has a "secret mission".

Fast forward to the new school...

Amu's thought bubble says he's the Principal. He looks so familiar... He kinda looks like P from Kugiko-san (another Peach-Pit manga, from the Kugiko-chan series). And I feel like I've seen a character similiar to him in some other manga...

Someone said something they weren't supposed to during introductions in the auditorium... don't traumatize your new classmates already!

This little psycho is going on a joyride on this chandelier...

It did not want to be cleansed.

He's telling the entire auditorium that what they just witnessed were a "character change" and a "character transformation". The students are all amazed.

In a later page Tadase says that everyone in this school has a guardian egg. He said "egg" and not "character", so maybe most of them haven't actually hatched yet?

Daiya is a fucking airhead and slept through the entire fiasco in the auditorium. Because of that, everyone thinks Amu only has 3 guardian characters and not 4!

But Tadase thinks that's fine, they should keep Daiya a secret and use the fact that everyone thinks Amu only has 3 guardian characters to their advantage. Daiya can be their trump card.

She introduces herself as Erito Rose, a guide. Is that a name or a position? But if it was supposed to be "Elite Rose" instead, the whole thing should have been written in katakana... The guardian character's name is Rosetta.

Amu's dorm room is haunted... so the rumors say.

Phone call with Rima! And oh boy is this juicy...

Rima: By the way, did you contact Ikuto and Nagihiko who are overseas? Amu: Ah, not yet… Rima: Is that okay? Rima: Isn't Ikuto your boyfriend? Amu: Boy…!? Amu: There's no way!!

Rima!!! I love you, you angry little midget. That last text bubble was giving me trouble, so I gave up trying to translate it...

Amu: We've been apart this whole time. The replies to my messages vary.

I knew they were going to hurt me by bringing out my repressed long distance relationship memories... you stop that!

She was also saying how he's actually studying music overseas right now... no mention of looking for his father.

Also they forgot to draw the belt/strap things on his pants.

Amu: Even though you said something like that! Amu: Jeez! I'm an idiot! It's the same pattern. Rima: Amu? Amu: I won't be swayed by him anymore!! Definitely! Rima: Hey Amu, I just had a thought.

Rima: Do you live with someone in the dorms? Rima: If you say something like "I'm sharing a room with a boy", it'll make him jealous. Amu: Ha?! Amu: No no, this is a single room!? Amu: That's just a lie!! Rima: Amu, you're a kid. Rima: Boys like it when you tease them sometimes. All the servants say that it's a reward. Amu: This girl is scary...

Rima!!! Now I know why the Chinese Amuto fans were rolling around in their feels all over the place. Girl is giving Amu advice on how to flirt with Ikuto. I'm dying. How did I miss this page the other day...

Exactly what has Amu been telling Rima? Did she tell Rima they've shared a bed together already? I was not expecting Rima to be pro-Amuto! I always assumed Rima would hate Ikuto - for one, he's fucking tall and she's smol. Second, it's another man that's way too close to Amu (the other one being Nagihiko) and I thought that would make her angry. Although she mellowed out around Nagihiko in volume 12... and she's gotten REALLY attached to Amu in this chapter.

As fun as these pages were, time for some more ranting...

Amu: I won't be swayed by him anymore!! Definitely!

What the fuck are you talking about?! Did you forgot ALL OF THIS:

What the fuck happened to all this character development?! Why is she regressing?! Her reaction to him should NOT have been that hostile. Not after all these scenes. Which only happened months (some of them only weeks) before the graduation and wedding. The fact that 14 years has passed is definitely showing, and not in a good way… It feels like they're going backwards and I don't like it.

This bullshit right here is why I didn't want a sequel, I just knew they would fuck something up. They're either senile and completely forgot the events of volumes 8-12 (how, when they clearly took that quote from volume 12…) or their editor is braindead and giving them horrible advice, like how erasing 5 volumes worth of character development is a great fucking idea by setting Amu's relationships with Tadase and Ikuto back to pre-volume 8 levels. It's fucking stupid. It shouldn't be happening. It's bad writing to just erase all the good stuff that happened near the end of the first series. For what, to cater to new fans and drag the love triangle out some more? That's so stupid.

Should I make her my girlfriend?

I see someone has a death wish. I'd pay to see that cat fight.

There's a LOT of things that were left out. No mention of Easter, Hikaru wasn't in the Royal Garden with everyone, no mention of Nagihiko actually being Nadeshiko, no mention of Yoru being gone... hopefully these are all addressed soon. Maybe I'm being too critical, since it's still just the first chapter... I just have high expectations. I don't want them to ruin this.

As for the art... miles better than what they drew for that stupid ad (NOT a "short story", that was a lie). I hate the way Ikuto looked there, he looks a lot better now. The eyes look a lot better too, more detailed like they used to be. So that's a plus. The way they drew eyes were always one of my favorite parts about their shoujo artstyle, and it was sad that for their other manga they got lazy with it.

As for the story... everyone in this new school is aware that guardian eggs exist. Like I said earlier though, they were always using the word "egg" and not "character", so perhaps only a few people have actually had their eggs hatch.

Near the end of Amu and Rima's phone call, Amu talks more about her "secret mission", and how purifying X-Eggs isn't the only reason she's there. She also has to look for something. So I wonder what that's about...

[jisuto]

On the topic of game reception, what are your thoughts on the current state of pokemon?

OK THIS ASK WAS SENT BEFORE THE HUGE LEAK LOL but I have a lot to say:

I watched VHS tapes, played the games, and owned merch since a young age so the series is very special to me. But I don't like the current direction at all and it's not because of the designs or nostalgia. The quality and game performance plummeted so how can I enjoy playing when there's mad lag or low frame rate that hinders my progress and worsen the experience??

It took too many years for them to realize they need to put quality over quantity after the SWSH mess, seeing that they can get away with pretty much ANYTHING and still make huge profit. You see people say that Pokemon should've never went 3D and stay 2D but tbh, it's a series that improves it's graphics as technology advances so it's not a surprise for them to finally go 3D and personally I think that's fine but just keep it looking good and fun (though I would love a 2D/3D hybrid). XY introduced a lot of new features but still lacked in some aspects that still haven't really been solved or added.

Reusing assets is common in the industry but only to a certain extent. They claimed that SWSH was taking a while to make because they were making brand new models which turned out to be a lie and they look like bootleg figures with the new lighting. The 3DS models were ripped from Pokepark, including some animations, but a lot of them still barely have any character. They have their own in-house team (Creatures Inc) so they made the decision NOT to have pokemon properly animated or look alive.... Also they made spin-offs like Ranger, Colosseum, Pokepark, and Pokken which look AMAZING

FRLG took only one year while HGSS was being developed at the same time as Platinum and took 3 years to finish that turned into one of the best games and remakes ever made. As the franchise expands, the team also needs to add more manpower but Game Freak can definitely afford to get more resources to help them?? They can't continue having a ragtag team of like 20 people to make a game back then and do the same now then expect good results... Hire more people who know how create with current gen consoles IT'S COMMON SENSE PLS also I can't believe they had a different company create BDSP knowing how beloved and groundbreaking DPPT was?? No redesigns like the previous remakes and thought it was a good idea to keep it looking a carbon copy to the DS style...

Also it's shocking to see how fan reception can change how the devs direct the next gen ESPECIALLY when it's not even real constructive criticism?? When Unova came out, I remember seeing all the online outcry about "OH THEY HAVE AN ICE CREAM CONE POKEMON AND A TRASH BAG, THEY'RE RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS EW" then actually hear it being repeated at school.... I WAS TRYING TO SURVIVE SINCE DAY 1 IN THE TRENCHES DEFENDING THIS GAME IT WAS ALWAYS GOOD AND DIDN'T NEED 10 YEARS TO AGE WELL. It's crazy how these are the same people who want another Kanto when Trubbish is Grimer (garbage waste) and Vanillite is Voltorb (based on literal items) then you could not catch any other pokemon from different regions in the main game. And the leak confirmed that the disgruntled hate from the west made the devs not release new pokemon in B2W2 and move them over to XY instead AND NOT GIVE A SINGLE GEN 5 MEGA EVOLUTION. So we were robbed because of genwunners who were fixated on the wrong things and ignored all the great content Unova brought us. It's strange how players keep complaining they want a different and fresh game, but want it to continue being super formulaic and binary like wtf do you want make up your mind

None of the switch titles really got me invested and I always end up replaying the older games but hopefully PLZA will break the curse and finally give us a nice game. Also why don't we have more spin-offs on the switch if there's so many of them floating around like the DS had a bunch??? STOP BEING COWARDS I WANT A POKEMON NINTENDOGS GAME OR THAT FIRE EMBLEM CROSSOVER WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET. I JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN AGAIN ;w;

[loganwalkerz]

Tw: NSFW content. Omega Kick and Alpha Neptune.

Kick who's an omega but everyone mistakes him for a beta due to his damaged scent. It was damaged by his ex who was a "made" alpha not a born alpha.

Kick smells of peppermint candy and has both genitals, although cannot form a knot with his spike but will say he can to tease Neptune.

He's not a twink. Neptune is just very large and makes him look small. Kick has a semi muscular build and is round 5'9ft tall.

Neptune is 6'4ft tall and is BEAR bod. He's big and tough, he's a very clear alpha and most would assume stereotypical but he's actually pretty relaxed much to Kicks dismay. He's a brat tamer and is very aware of how Kick plays.

He won't fight back and attack, instead he's *very* patient. He's slow..too slow. Too gentle. He'll make Kick cry and beg for him to go faster, to give him more. And once Kick promises to be a good boy for his alpha then maybe if Neptune is feeling nice he'll pick up the pace.

Or if Kicks been a bit too naughty then Neptune will pull out and jerk off, spilling his seed on top of Kicks neglected hole whilst scolding Kick for making Neptune waste his seed

"If you were such a good boy I wouldn't need to even do this, wouldn't I? But you insisted on being bad..and bad omegas don't get knots don't they?"

Neptune will gently hum, being so soft still, still caressing Kicks skin. Smiling at the way the omega tugs and nips at him for more

But it's okay because Kick is right back at his antics the next day, he's back to rushing around acting like he's the toughest man on the squad. Like he's untouchable. As if the entire squad didn't hear his cries last week for Neptune's cock.

Kick is a big nester. He needs his nest clean and tidy, it's very important to him that there's a fresh item of Neptune's in there every day so he has a fresh scent.

Neptune will take out an clothing item from the nest to wash but like a good alpha he always replaced it with something else for in the meantime.

When Kick goes into heat, that's when Neptune becomes protective bear. The poor omega is squirming and clawing the nest unable to stop sweating, to stop the slick drenching his thighs or to prevent the tears that flowed

"Alpha.."

Kick would gasp out when Neptune finally came to the door, gently reaching out for his poor mate and holding him close

"Shh my dove..I'm here..alphas gonna get you settled"

Neptune will reassure as he gently presses Kick into the mattress letting his weight put the much needed pressure on Kicks chest. And with that they'll have a night of fun that Kick was in need for

Or Kick who's dealing with Neptune's rut. Kick wanted to get back at Neptune for all the punishments so he cruelly leads Neptune to the nest acting all innocent before forcing the alpha to fuck his thighs. Not letting Neptune anywhere near his hole

"Thought alphas were meant to please their mates hm?"

Kick would taunt as Neptune stares with primordial half lidded eyes biting his lip

"Fuuuck baby cmon..your hole..let me..please?"

He'd gently pepper kisses to the omegas jaw

Kick takes enjoyment in watching poor Neptune fall apart as he gave a playful scoff

"I could just leave you to use one of those pocket pussy hm? That's why you bought those right? To replace me?"

Kick wasn't mad anymore but originally when Neptune bought them he was. Kick was just bringing it up to watch Neptune whine

"No my omega, never replace you..let me pup you up yeah?"

He'd beg before his body sezies up and he spills his load between Kicks thighs. Sobbing even after he came not relieved as his knot was still huge and unable to pop thanks to Kicks cruel teases

"..maybe beg a bit more"

Kick will say but at the same time is spreading his legs to show off his pretty cunt to the alpha who's drooling at the sight..his brain turning to mush seeing his omega present himself to the alpha.

And it makes Kick giggle

"Ohhh now this is the life"

He snickers before he finally let's Neptune take what he needs

[junicult]

Speaking of fiances and marriage, can you imagine Harvey's reaction to seeing someone talk to his partner, they're a stranger to him but obviously know Y/N, who looks really annoyed, obviously not wanting to talk to the person

So he steps in, introduces himself and ask "and who might you be?" And the stranger goes "oh I'm Kyle, their fiance" and Y/N just, very, very quickly fixes him and just "ex-fiance"

Apparently Kyle came crawling back but Y/N wants nothing to do with him, obviously, they've got a cute man now! Also Kyle is cringe

Kyle: I'm Kyle, the fiance

Harvey, ABSOLUTELY heartbroken: What?

Y/N: Ex-fiance, ex. It's there for a reason don't forget that, Kyle

🦂

contains ; entirely sfw. (nameless) male ex bf. fem!farmer. new bf!harvey. harvey being the sweetest (as usual.) short drabble.

note ; ok i’m going to bed. i’ll proofread this in the morning (no i won’t)

aw i love the idea of harvey being protective over u.

he’s still pretty reserved, he’s not going to start problems unless he absolutely has to. & he definitely can’t handle confrontation, that’s for sure. obviously, if you’re upset he’s trained and prepared to help you feel better. he’s not a therapist by any sense, but if you just need comforting, he’d be one of the best to go to.

let’s say it’s the very beginning of your relationship. i’m talking you’ve only made it official a couple weeks ago, still in the earlier stages where you get butterflies whenever you see him, and you get all nervous and stuff like that.

you haven’t had the time (or energy) to disclose your last relationship with him just yet. you know he wouldn’t be upset or anything, you just haven’t talked about it.

which is why your ex coming to see you at the farm—WHILE YOUR WORKING—became a huge shock.

you’re easily frustrated. i mean, he’s getting in your way while you’re trying to work so, maybe the easiest option would be to just give him what he wanted—a chance to talk.

he’s talking, in fact he probably won’t even shut up, while you’re watering your plants and listening all annoyed.

“my mom’s still super pissed, she wants to talk to you,” he complains.

“i’ve been pretty busy lately. i already gave you the ring back, what else do you want?” you counter, clearly exhausted.

“i love you, you know that. i think we can work this out, you just need to talk to me!”

his delusions make you even more frustrated, pausing mid pout to take a deep breath—but before you even have the time to yell, you’re startled by the only man you’d actually wanna see at the moment.

“hello…am i intruding something?” harvey asks, standing only a couple feet away. you were too distracted to even see him approaching.

your ex just stays silent, looking him up and down while you blink in surprise.

“no, actually. he was just getting ready to leave.” you sigh, shooting him a pleading look that he doesn’t miss.

“oh, ok! i’m harvey, it’s nice to meet you. she’s a little busy, so maybe you can give her a call later?” harvey smiles, and it almost eases you entirely. his approachable demeanor is making it easier for him to walk closer to him—more importantly you in case he needed to reach for you. but that was just in the back of his mind.

“then why’re you here?” your ex spits, taking him by surprise but certainly not you.

harvey’s the kind of guy that means no trouble. if anything, he just wants the best for everyone.

which is why it’s your turn to blink in surprise when your sweet, peaceful boyfriend’s smile falls just a little, and his eyes squint with a certain sass, saying, “who are you, again?”

it’s pathetic seeing your ex laugh like he has any right, taking a step closer as if to challenge someone who doesn’t even want one.

“her fiancé. who the hell are you?”

“ex,” you waste no time, rolling your eyes. “he’s my ex-fiancé. we lived in the city together months ago.”

whether or not harvey is shocked to learn that, he doesn’t show it. maybe it’s because of your clear distaste to even hear the nickname, but either way, he knows better then to ask any questions right now.

“well, it was a pleasure to meet you. i think maybe we both should probably leave her to finish work. she’s got a busy schedule, anyways.”

you’ve never seen harvey so authoritative, subtle with the intent to get this man who is clearly stressing you out, away from you. his smile still seems so kind, and he’s clearly prepared to step in the way in case your ex counters with some excuse to stay.

“yeah, it’s a bummer you didn’t check to see if she was free today before you came all the way down here.”

“well i tried, but she won’t answer my calls.”

“hm. weird. anyway—!”

you almost feel sick with how much your stomach swells seeing the most amazing boyfriend handle a stressful situation as such so easily for you. he doesn’t even as so crack his exterior while he guides him away, still showing decency just to avoid a scene, which you couldn’t be more grateful for.

it was almost so baffling how easily he handled it. and attractive (needless to say.)

but you still felt so guilty, seeing him after the crisis was averted.

“i’m so sorry, i was going to let you know. i promise i wasn’t trying to keep a secret from you,”

and because of how understanding, and kindhearted he is, it’s easy to melt into his touch when he pulls you in and presses a soft kiss to your forehead.

“oh, i’m not mad at you! i’m just glad you’re okay. he seems like a real jerk.”

knowing him, his main priority will always be the most important task at hand. but of course, you know him well enough that he can’t help but have questions.

so when you get your chance to explain, you know to reassure him with your soft touch, rubbing your thumb over his knuckles and kissing his cheek to show how much he means to you. especially after that.

“i’m sorry you had to go through that,” he frowns, sympathizingly.

“no, it’s okay. the ring didn’t even fit me anyways. and besides, i’m with someone much better now.”

he smiles at your reassurance, not that he really needed it because—well, he knows already.

“me too,” he kisses your cheek. “and don’t worry, i won’t make that mistake.”

[fallenwhumpee]

Back

• Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Masterlist •

Warnings: Blood, mentioned lab whump, passing out(almost), syringe, depressive thoughts(?).

Leader stumbled as they went to the very small kitchen with dishes in their hands, almost tripping. They couldn't see for a moment, before realising they were basically doubled over the counter. Leader set down the dishes, cursing.

"You're getting old."

Leader turned back, letting out a sigh as they realised it was Right Hand. Right Hand wouldn't panic, unlike Youngest.

"I'm just tired," Leader lied anyway. "Been a long day."

"Leader," Right Hand warned.

Leader took a moment just to… just to look. Right Hand was only three years younger than them, but they looked healthier in general. Movements more fluid, face more vivid. Three years of improvements made a huge difference between Leader and them.

As always, Leader was getting the short stick on everything. But their thoughts weren't born from jealousy. They were just tired, reasonably. They held the counter, trying to stand straight.

"I'm alright," Leader muttered. "Just healing," they forced out, feeling their knees tremble.

Right Hand paced closer, helping Leader down slowly. "Is it the injuries or..?" Right Hand asked, not completing the sentence.

"I'm not sure," Leader grunted, closing their eyes to collect themselves. They coughed, covering their mouth. They quickly hid their blood strained palm.

Leader opened their eyes again, trying to pull themselves together. They wiped their wet hand to their pants, sitting up straight.

"My guess is more on the injury," they added. "But I need time."

Right Hand looked skeptical but accepted the explanation. "You've got a booster?" Right Hand asked after a moment of silence, pulling Leader up.

Leader shook their head, holding Right Hand a little too tight to get a stable stance. "I have a feeling that I'll need it later."

"You and your feelings," Right Hand scoffed. "I'd give you mine but…"

"Don't waste it," Leader breathed deeply, letting go of their grip.

"I restocked." Right Hand stopped a moment to see Leader's reaction. Leader raised an eyebrow, waiting. "Had to visit there to get your blood sample after you went down." Right Hand looked away, ashamed.

"You did what?" Leader almost gasped. They took a breath and gave Right Hand the chance to explain why they returned to their nightmare. "You know I don't like you going there, let alone going all by yourself."

"You're in no position to complain," Right Hand argued, not very confident. It was unusual for them to go from Leader's back, and even more unusual to try to cover it up.

Right Hand sighed. "Just tell me if my one will help."

"It may," Leader didn't push. "If you got any spare and ignore the... ethics."

"We wouldn't be the first to do that," Right Hand gave a small smile.

Leader met the smile with their own.

"And if the boost doesn't work?" Right Hand asked after a short silence, having a second thought. But now Leader wanted to try their luck. The idea sounded good in their head.

"I'll be fine," Leader moved to the living room. "It's a booster, not medicine."

"Leader—" Right Hand began, but Leader cut it.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry."

If it was Medic, Leader would be teased about famous last words. But Medic wasn't around, so Leader had one nice hour before their body slowly shut down. Youngest was asleep by that time, Right Hand not registering half of their own words as they kept babbling about the everyday matters. But they quickly got alerted as Leader collapsed to the armrest.

Right Hand's shot was definitely more potent.

Leader felt drained as their body began to tend to damage faster than it could handle. They tried to reach Right Hand, but they couldn't raise their heavy arm.

"Seems like they changed the formula over time," Right Hand chuckled, clumsily trying to mask their concern. They walked over and shifted Leader to lay on their back.

Leader knew that tone… Leader themselves used it quite often when they were growing up. And it didn't recall nice memories.

"I'm not dying," Leader assured, half joking. They felt like they were taken in for the circulation. It was just as bad as dying... but at least temporary.

Right Hand froze. Leader reached for their hand, trying to stop the possible panic taking over.

Right Hand drew a sharp breath. "Don't. Just don't. I can't handle seeing you like this. I can't—"

"I'll be alright," Leader tried again. "Been through worse. You know it."

"Just… we need you. I need you. To be here just like always," Right Hand whispered, looking away.

Leader didn't like that.

"Those thoughts are dangerous," they warned. "My tomorrow isn't guaranteed, less than yours even."

Right Hand's eyes flashed, the panic finally disappearing. "No one can tell me what to think. That's what you taught me in that hole."

"I know. But I also taught you to not depend on anyone," Leader retorted, the heavy feeling dragging their eyelids down. Winding up Right Hand was the easiest way to get them back to their senses. "You being attached to me is the last thing I want."

"Just shut up and let me look after you."

"You have no bedside manners," Leader whined, the words slurring into each other as they felt the exhaustion finally catch up.

"It's only natural. You babied us too much, and we turned out the opposite."

"Babied," Leader muttered. It was the bare minimum, but they guessed even that could count as coddling in their situation. "I only did what I saw outside."

"Hush now, you'll feel better if you rest."

Leader muttered something incoherent even to themselves, their eyes closing. They didn't think they would feel better soon, but they couldn't think about it. Their thoughts molded into each other as they felt a hand caress their cheek, wrapping something warm around their shoulders.

So tender, so gentle. All the things Leader had found themselves undeserving. But they couldn't find the energy to resist. It felt… nice to let themselves be cared for, for once.

But Leader didn’t like the role reversal in the slightest. They didn't like being out of service or letting their guard down. Restlessly, they tried to open their eyes, but their body betayed them once again, pulling them to a deep sleep.

-•-

So, as a treat(i just couldn't fit this anywhere, and its too short to be posted on its own, so im just releasing into the wild) have two adorable kids.

Warnings: Child abuse, minor whumpee, multiple whumpees, mentioned gun, dehumanisation. All mentioned and off-screen, but still.

"Don't ever let it go. This village wasn't on the plan, so don't get out of the line as we regroup, kid," a private demanded.

"Yessir." Leader grabbed 01 from their hood. The child squeaked, giving a big smile. Leader couldn't smile back, not when they were beaten out of if, but they moved and took the other's hand. It was a gesture they had seen the outside people did when they were all smiley.

Would Leader get a warning for it?

Leader realised they didn't care it as much as before. Normally, even the thought would have them on the edge, trembling and ready to but. It hadn't been the case ever since Right Hand was brought in. So tiny and innocent, unaware of what will happen.

Leader would bite and snarl if anything happened to them, and maybe if they were strong enough, they could outright attack. If only they were strong enough and the thought of it hurt their skull less.

But Scientist promised they wouldn't touch Right Hand as long as Leader did what Scientist said. And Leader wanted to trust the only person they had known ever since they knew themselves.

The private just left, not even looking back. Leader was beginning to worry too much. It was not good. Paranoia wasn't going to help them at all. In or our of the field.

"0, can we go? I saw something!" The child pulled Leader towards a farm. Leader sighed - the way the staff did when things didn't work as they wanted - but let the child drag him.

"Just don't let my hand go, and we're good."

The child dragged Leader as Leader looked around, alert for anything that may come.

They stopped before a small place circled with wires. There were... bunnies in it. Leader blinked, seeing the chubby things do silly moves. The ones back home weren't even able to lift themselves from the ground of their cage.

"Leader, they are so cute. Can we take one home?"

Leader looked around with panic if anyone heard. "Dont use my name. That's for... only for two of us. Out secret. You should be careful."

"Sorry." The child's face fell.

Leader sighed. Why did this hurt their heart?

Leader knelt, getting to the child's eye level. "Right Hand..." they began, taking a deep breath. Right Hand perked up with Leader calling them with their name. "It's alright. Just don't do that around the others, or they will get mad."

"I don't like them. Why I should care?" Right Hand huffed, moving closer.

"Because I dont want them to hurt you," Leader confessed. Or hurt me, they couldn't say. They didn't mind being punished if it meant Right Hand would be fine, but they would rather avoid it altogether.

"People outside don't hurt each other."

"I know. Our people isnt very nice. But they are our people."

Right Hand lunged forward, sending Leader's mind on alert. But they couldn't move. Right Hand's arms wrapped around Leader's neck, their small and warm body against Leader's thin but solid frame.

Was that a... hug?

Leader didn’t deserve it. They didn't get touched if it wasn't for data. They didn't get kindness if they didn't do good. They did nothing to deserve the warmth.

Leader suddenly felt alarmed. It overrode their thoughts, their arms wrapping around the child protectively.

"Get out of my field!" Someone snarled from behind. Leader tightened their arms around Right Hand, using their own body to shield the child.

Right Hand whimpered and buried their head to Leader's shoulder.

"M-my sibling just wanted t-to see the bunnies, I'm— I'm sorry," Leader muttered, their voice meek. They turned back enough to see the farmer, a stick on their hand. Leader turned fully since it wasn't a gun, still cradling Right Hand in a safe distance.

The farmer looked at Leader, taking in the appearance. Leader couldn't hide the tattoo on the back of their arm, marking them as military property.

"I don't want freaky creatures  in my farm. So go before I come down there."

"Yessir," Leader forced out again before running to the way they came. Right Hand held on tighter, making Leader's neck ache. They let out a whimper, scary.

"Its alright," Leader whispered. "I will protect you. Always."

[incessanttranquility]

—

Gehenna's First Ever Cook-Off! (Part 3.2)

—

LTD!MC : Hello everyone and welcome back to our cook-off, earlier was a pretty huge blast as new contestants have joined the cook-off! Since there are so many of them, we have decided to group them into pairs, well, except for one which is a group of 3, but it doesn't matter anyway! Team Bloody Tea and Books have changed their name into Team Cats and Tea which makes sense, since there are two angry cats and one demon who just likes tea.. but anyways! Moving on, our rating system has changed as can be rate from 1 to 10 instead.

But now, we shall now start once again! And our contestants will be cooking lunch for our judges! Who will be the champion of this cook-off? Who will be the winner! Let us find out once the scores of all contestants are finalized! But forget about that for now, we have a cook-off to continue, now, let the cook-off continue!

—

Team Solomon:

OM!Solomon : Looks like our dish will look delicious :D

WHB!Solomon : I agree, I think it looks appetizing :]

*Cooking pot suddenly explodes.*

WHB!Solomon : Our dish was way too appetizing that the pot exploded :]

OM!Solomon : Agreed :D

WHB!Solomon : Now that it's done, we should put it in a bowl now :] *reaches out for a bowl*

OM!Solomon : Thanks :3 *puts the totally amazing dish of team Solomon on the plate.*

*Plate melts, the cooking table now also has a hole on it.*

OM!Solomon : Oh, looks like we have to make a new dish D:

WHB!Solomon : It's alright, we still have time to make a new one :3

OM!Solomon : Okay :D

—

Team Cats and Tea (previously named Bloody Tea and Books) :

OM!Satan : What the fuck even is that?! It doesn't even look fucking edible!

WHB!Satan : What the fuck did you just say?!

*The two continued to argue, like cats, obviously, both act like cats, and now they're scratching each other, like cats, Sitri is obviously trying to de-escalate the argument but there's no use, pretty much wasting their time to cook.*

—

Team Best friends :

Ppyong : Ooh! Your cooking smells very delicious, aye!

Minhyeok : I know, they always tell me it does, Ppyong, can you give me the pepper shaker real quick?

Ppyong : Sure, aye!

Minhyeok : Thank you, Ppyong.

Ppyong : You're welcome, aye! We're best friends, afterall!

Minhyeok : Once I'm done cooking, I can help you cook your dish <D

Ppyong : Hwahh! I never thought you would do this for me!! Thank you so so much! *Starts tearing up.*

Minhyeok : No need to thank me, we're besties, afterall!

Ppyong : Yes, of course we are! :D

*Ting!*

Minhyeok : Oh, it seems that the turkey is ready, Ppyong, I'll help you make the gravy after we're done making the mashed potatoes.

Ppyong : Alright then! I'll get the ingredients for the gravy so we don't need to rush, aye!

—

Team Mammon :

OM!Mammon : ..Are we really gon' feed GOLD to 'em..?

WHB!Mammon : Steak covered in edible paper gold, of course :D

OM!Mammon : Alright, alright, now that we're done, what are we gon' do now?

WHB!Mammon : Treasures, gold, money, you know :]

OM!Mammon : Hell yeah! Now we're talkin' !

—

Team Envy :

OM!Leviathan : ..I don't understand why you're jealous of me... I just cooked some ramen with eggs and green onions.

WHB!Leviathan : ..Tch. *Rolls eyes.*

OM!Leviathan : Oh, right, were both the embodiment of envy.. but besides that, you're literally just jealous of yourself but different..

WHB!Leviathan : Still. *Glares

OM!Leviathan : ..Never thought that I'm the same person as this guy but different...

—

LTD!MC : Alrighty! Times up! Contestants, please present your dishes! Up first is Team Cats and Tea!

—

OM!Satan : ...Here. *Face is filled with scratches, same goes for WHB!Satan, welp, it's their fault that they just fought while everyone else cooked, at least Sitri is with them.*

OM!MC : This omelette looks pretty good, the orange juice is nice.

WHB!MC : ..It's just this burnt fish, still looks like that pancake that Satan made for me, but it's alright, he'll learn how to cook one day...

LTD!MC : Alright judges, what would you rate this dish?

OM!MC : We're going to give it a 7 out of 10.

LTD!MC : Great, and now combining Sitri and Satan's score, their total score is now 14. Next contestants, please.

—

Minhyeok : We cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, and chicken curry, we also made gravy.

Ppyong : We hope you guys enjoy what we made, aye!

WHB!MC : This isn't just a dish this is a full-course meal. *Nom.*

OM!MC : When WHB!MC said that you're their wife, they weren't bluffing, but aside from that, this is so good.

LTD!MC : My mouth is literally watering right now, but anyways, judges, what would you rate this, dish, I mean- full-course meal?

WHB!MC : 10/10, no doubt, no hesitation, no second thoughts, 10/10.

LTD!MC : Great, Team Best friends total score is 15. Next contestants, please.

—

WHB!Mammon : We made steak with edible paper gold :D

OM!MC : This is actually pretty good to be honest.

WHB!MC : *Nom.* Yum, gold steak tastes pretty good.

LTD!MC : Alright judges, what would you rate this fish?

WHB!MC : Gonna give it a 9/10.

LTD!MC : Great, Team Mammon's total score is 9. Last contestants, please.

—

OM!Leviathan : ...Two bowls of ramen with eggs and green onions coming right up, also please help me... He's been glaring at me ever since this round started and I don't know what to do.

WHB!Leviathan : *Still glaring at OM!Leviathan, poor otaku, he's trying his best not to cry.*

WHB!MC : ..Anyways, this is a really good bowl of ramen that I've had this round.

OM!MC : *Nom.* Yummy.

LTD!MC : Alright judges, what would you rate this dish?

WHB!MC : We're also gonna give it a 9/10.

LTD!MC : Great, that brings Team Mammon and Team Envy tied, with Team Best friends being in the lead and Team Cats and Tea being the second.

—

Sitri : ..Grr... That human, just you wait for next round.

*OM!Satan and WHB!Satan are just angrily staring at each other, not sure if their cat fight from earlier will continue.*

Ppyong : Looks like we're in the lead, aye!

Minhyeok : Mhm, we'll have to prepare for the final round, Ppyong.

Ppyong : Of course we'll have too! We'll win this as besties!

*OM!Mammon and WHB!Mammon are still talking about treasures, gold, money, with a mix of OM!Leviathan and WHB!Leviathan.*

WHB!Mammon : That guy is always jealous of everything, he's even jealous of himself sometimes.

OM!Mammon : Pfft, hahaha!

OM!Leviathan : ...You've been glaring at me for almost an hour now, it's as if you're having beef with me.

WHB!Leviathan : Tch.

—

LTD!MC : Now that this round is over, let's have a word from some of our guests once again!

MM!MC : My man Minhyeok is on the lead once again, he's definitely gonna win, no doubt.

TWST!Yuu : Minhyeok and Ppyong didn't just serve, they devoured.

Malleus : Child of Man, do you want more popcorn?

TWST!Yuu : Sure! Thanks, tsunotaro!

Malleus : You're welcome, Child of Man.

WHB!Beelzebub : Pfft, bwahahahaha! Levi looks so fucking jealous right now! Hahahaha!

Bael : Your Majesty Beelzebub, you still have work to do.

WHB!Beelzebub : I'll do it later, promise!

Bael : ... *Sighs.*

—

LTD!MC : Stay tuned for our last and final round! Who will be the champion of this cook-off?! We shall find out later on! Once again, I am your host, and this is Gehenna's First Ever Cook-Off!

Note : FINALLY I AM DONEEEE, I actually didn't realize that I posted this UNFINISHED so I had to edit it, @takitafulily also already reposted it so I decided to tag her again so sorry about that mootie😭

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3.1

[upslapmeal]

Space Babies

Ok so I've been hopeless at doing my usual Episode Thoughts during s14 but if I don't get them posted before the finale then I never will. SO. the next few days will be a trip down memory lane to a whole 6 weeks ago before I'm off to the cinema on friday night!

here we goooo

no cold open we’re going straight in babes (heh)

I know we had it last ep but I do love a good seeing-the-tardis-for-the-first-time face

‘I’m the doctor’ yes you are!!

man I wasn’t a huge fan of 15's theme just hearing on its own in the concert but hearing it in context with him it works SO well

‘kinda posh’

‘they used titles’ and then i kidnapped a couple of teachers, told one to drop the 'Foreman' and the rest is history

ngl I've totally lost track of the gallifrey sitch

the master was going to blow it up then he didn't then the Doctor was going to then some guy stayed behind instead and then flux??

whatever we're back to last-of-my-kind square one

this is gallifrey theme my beloved how I have missed you

Martha and Bill yelling I told you so in the distance about the butterfly

‘Rubathon Blue of the 57th hemisphere hatchlings’ good to know I've got my Ruby tag sorted early doors!

anyway alien companion when

ooh they're going for a flying tardis

love fifteens energy!!

‘most of the universe is knackered babes’

‘the question is why did I run’ Doctor running is a key part of your whole deal. you know this right

‘yet again push the button’………when was the first time

(I have since learned there was meant to be a song on the jukebox that tied to this...would have been nice to see the jukebox being used. and also would have made these comments make sense)

…..baby looms?

‘food????? they’re not tomatoes!!’ lmao Fifteen is SO outraged

oh Ruby’s getting an End of the World moment <3

‘no boss or rent or taxes’ yeah forget time and space travel, NOW Ruby's thinking she's gotta get in on this

oh that baby is unsettling

oh no that baby mouth does not match that voice 

‘mummy and daddy are here!’ Ruby and Fifteen: 😬

it's so weird having fairly confident small child voices paired with very vacant baby faces

.....do these babies have nappies? that they change??

aww you can really see Ruby is used to kids, lifetime as a foster sister <3

ok Captain Poppy is the only voice so far that kinda works

‘oh popsicle’ naww Fifteen is so sweet with them

Fifteen and Poppy are so cute!!

also lol I love RTD going hard with the timeless child at every opportunity

‘nappies are changed at 1800h’ ok well that explains that

Ruby: ‘I didn’t mean to scare you 💞’ Fifteen: 'hey kids it's the BOGEYMAN!!!!!!' Ruby: 😠

ok listen. I know this is not it. but the boots and the length of the trousers.......Ruby's mum kinda looks like Thirteen

oh that's very much a hug-is-a-way-to-hide-your-face hug there

‘that’s the fate of every refugee, you have to physically turn up on someone’s shore’

Eric and the world’s most tiny and useless sword

‘a crock of waste product'

‘nice plan but what now' Ruby hon. this was your plan

you can really tell Ruby is used to looking after kids

‘don’t you touch them you illegitimate person’

FLAMETHROWER BABIES

oh Fifteen knows Ruby’s a keeper

‘oh babes…space babes’ lol Fifteen's just here to have fun (space) baby

‘it’s snot’ ‘it’s not’ the beauty of the english langauge

‘it is one of your children!!’ :(

even the (space) babies think that death by airlock disintegration a bit much

awooooooo!

I guess seeing the doctor save the bogey monster made them less scared??

appreciate RTD's commitment to getting some good fart work in both his first series of this show lol

but what will happen to the monster on the new planet??

like sure it's their sibling but.....does it know that?

‘I’m very very happy’ says the baby with the most sorrowful eyes I’ve ever seen

tardis key!!

Ruby letting 15 into the tardis <3

RIP Carla Sunday's kitchen ceiling 

first a crack and now this......at least the Doctor's giving the local plasterer good work

‘what the blinking flip’ Cherry Sunday's got a nanny filter on her

‘tell your mum not to slap me’ Thirteen got off light with Yaz’s mum

now when are we meeting the timelord called The Saggy Sheet??

the Doc's just going around giving their name willy nilly now lmao

as it should be I never enjoyed their name being a Big Mystery

kinda wish we got to see Ruby's family react to learning more about the Doctor!

hmmmm the dna scan is giving me v s6 vibes (derogatory)

Well that was a weird one, but since when hasn't DW been weird! Ngl it took me watching a second time to enjoy it a bit more because I was just SO thrown off by the baby voices lmao, but it was just generally a fun time, nothing too serious and just a chance to see a bit more of Fifteen and Ruby's dynamic! And it did tie in nicely to the ideas of Ruby and the Doctor both being abandoned, Ruby being a foster sister and the Doctor being the last of their kind. Two baby episodes in a row is enough for me though, glad it looks like next ep is baby-free, space or otherwise 😅

[ell-vellan]

A bunch of my random, non-story initial opinions of Veilguard, with the knowledge that I do and will love this game no matter what, because I need somewhere to put them all:

I kind of hate the color customization system?? I cannot figure out the brightness and saturation levels to make the colors I want. Am I just dumb?? What am I doing wrong here that all the blonde options look green

I do love the stylized look of the game, it's different from DAI but it has a unique flavor and the colors are very lush (for once in a DA game lol)

So far, rogue has been more fun for me than mage. Haven't tried warrior yet.

i wish we could have customized Inky's arm/prosthetic even a little

It's so cool that we get body tattoos and scars and we can customized which ones go where. Would have loved to be able to mix and match but I know we can't have everything (sigh).

It's pretty apparent as someone who has background with the games, but it would've been cool to have the tattoos labelled "Dalish," "Dwarven," "Lord of Fortune," "Crows," etc for story reasons (even though I'm sure it only matters to the small percent of us who are into the fanfic side of things lol)

Elven ears are huge again and we can't change that. lol it's whatever i guess

The thing about customizing heads based on 3 different heads is...hmm. It's difficult to get the hang of, but I'm glad that you can customize it so much? Still, it's been hard for me to figure out how to make that look good.

they let us check our character in different lighting and with different armor!! great idea

terrible idea: only 3 previous worldbuilding choices. I got spoiled to this so I was prepared. but what the heck was the point of the Keep? why did we waste our time with all of that if none of it was carrying over? Way to flush the previous 15 years of story down the drain. Who's the leader of Orlais and Ferelden? Who's Divine? Who got left in the Fade? Guess it doesn't matter at all! I'm okay that we don't know where our Hero of Ferelden is, it's been long enough in game that their part is done, but Hawke? boo.

At first I was so excited about the "random" name generator! But it's literally just like 15 pre-made names not sorted by race naming conventions that you cycle through. Could've been cooler. oh well I know most of their demographic just wants to kill things I guess

The elves look like dwarves to me for some reason? like they're stockier now, not lithe like DAI. Just takes some getting used to.

While I kind of miss the open world a tiny bit, just for the sake of feeling like we're truly exploring and less "point A to point B," it's also nice not to feel like i'm wasting hours of my time just walking through open nothingness and getting a million meaningless fetch quests

The voices are all so good

Rook's moves are cool, they're fun to play

Speaking of, why do we walk so slowly?! I'm sprinting 100 percent of the time.

Miss the search function for items, even the highlight/glimmer is faint enough with the lighting of the maps I missed a bunch of stuff the first ten minutes

I wish we had a teensy bit more unique dialogues/reactions based on our background/race, so far it's been quite a small amount

I'm undecided on the whole...armor system thing

the maps are gorgeous

I love how many settings we can customize, it's great. I don't care about combat and I can make that part so much less annoying and save myself a bunch of time spamming attacks to get back to the story, which is what I care about, lol

Solas is so hot like this. wow

[youboredright]

Fate Cannot Be Changed

What happens if the strongest mafia known to be the coldest man alive gets arranged married with a sweet hearted woman? Can the innocent Yn change Gojo Satoru, biggest mafia in Yakuta? Maybe or maybe not..-

Mafia Gojo Satoru X Yn

(Chapter 1)

Guns. Blood. Dead bodies. Begging. Crying. Asking for forgiveness.

Gojo Satoru has seen all of these before it's nothing new.

Love. Family. Home. Comforting. Affection. Peace. Resting.

These were never Gojo Satoru's way of living.

Right now it is midnight and he is seeing the same thing. Dead bodies..Gojo shots the last person ignoring his last begging to spare his life. "Please let me live I have a son." Bang. To a mafia, to Gojo it's nothing and specifically when he is angry. When Gojo Satoru is angry no one can stop him. People doubt if he has the emotion sympathy or not. Gojo Satoru is angry. "Satoru you have to calm down. You cannot just simply kill anyone in front of you just because you are angry." Geto tried to stop Gojo. Geto being Gojo only close friend there are moments when Gojo does listens to him. But right now.."Fuck off, Suguru do you know how it feels to be arranged married to someone. And then you get to know that you are getting married just the day before your own wedding. All this time my parents arranged me in this wedding that I didn't know. What else do I need? I am rich, strong, successful and I did everything my parents asked for. But no, now they had to marry me to this weakling that I don't even know. All women are the same." There was pure pain, angrier and traces of betrayal in Gojo's eyes. All Geto could do is sigh. "But please do calm down and take some rest". Gojo was angry because he was arranged married.

------------

Wedding Morning

Gojo didn't get a proper sleep that night. But looking at his soon-to-be wife, Yn, he saw, Yn was excited."Why are you happy? Do you even know me?" Gojo thought looking at Yn. Yn on the other side felt sharp stare towards her. Turning she saw Gojo is looking at her, lost in something. He looks confused..? Slowly Yn approached Gojo. "Um- hey you must be Gojo Satoru, right?" Yn tried to start a conversation. "Yeah. And you are..Yn?" Gojo was unexpectedly soft. But to Yn he was rough. "Yeah. It's nice to meet you" Yn smiles. "Whatever. Remember maybe we would be married but don't expect me to treat you like a princess. You do what I ask you to. If I ask you to kill people, you will kill people." Gojo completely changed, he was more cold. Yn flinched. "'Kill' and "dying"were strong words, why would Gojo use it like that. Well is that what I have to expect from my future husband just because he is a the strongest mafia" Yn thought. Yn just nodded and left Gojo alone.

After wedding, Yn's dad hugged her. "Dad are you happy after forcing me to marry a mafia, who likes to kill?" Yn voice cracked. "Oh shut it Yn. You are married already to Gojo. Oh you don't know how damn rich is he..." "Dad why do you only care about money?! Personality also matters. It's my wedding, you could have asked me before making a vital decision. And you made me marry a mafia, the strongest mafia. Who is always dealing with blood hurting others and worst killing people." Yn slightly raises her voice. "Sorry to interrupt, but Yn we have to go because I have business to deal with. So rather than wasting my time, stop being childish." Gojo interrupts without any emotion in his voice. Yn gets hurt 'childish, huh?'. Yn didn't even want to bid the last goodbye to her dad. So she just simply left with Gojo without sparing her dad, one last look.

The drive to Gojo's mansion was quite. "Gojo is it very normal for you to use the word 'kill'..?" "It is easier to kill than to say." Gojo said emotionlessly. Gojo's mansion is hug like literally huge.. "You- do you live here alone..?" Yn asked, as it was hard to believe he own the place all by himself. "Yeah. You coming or do you want to be outside tonight." Gojo said walking past Yn.

"Your room is that one in the left. Don't make noise because I am a sensitive sleeper." Gojo says and leaves Yn in middle of the hallway.

Next morning (Yn's POV)

I don't know how I will live with..gojo. We have nothing in common. Well he likes no, love killing. But I hate when someone is hurted. Why is he being to cold. Cannot he just be a little bit more softer?-. But anyway waking up, first thing I need is a morning coffee. And mom said I gotta be the best wife to be accepted by Gojo. So everyday at 7 I have to wake up make breakfast. That's a hassle. But if it makes relationship between us better I do rather do that. I almost got lost searching for the kitchen. Like how can a person not get lost. After making a coffee I went to the back yard. It's so pretty, the way the grass were cutten . The pool was quite big too. Did Gojo even get time to swim or relax? It felt nice the morning breeze was a bit cold but felt soothing. Going out, the cold breeze pass through me. As I took my second gulp, there was a loud siren sound. And soon three men with guns in their hands came up to me. "Who are you. Hands in air, right now." One of them shouted. I hate loud sound, so as fast I heard them shout I was too scared and I dropped my glass. Raised my hands I was shaking in fear. One of the broken glass piece made a scratch on my leg but I could not care less. If the situation continued just a few seconds more I would start tearing up. Just in time Gojo came and shouted "what is going on here? She is my wife, why are you all pointing gun at her?" Hearing that they putted their gun down quickly. They became quite, maybe embarrassed? I dropped my arms and saw three of them.. Well looking at my nipples that got erected because of the cold wind. Thanks to me for not wearing a bra today. As a covered my chest Gojo seemed to notice it, "All of you go. NOW! And I don't want this kind of accidents ever again." Gojo said. Did he mean the gun accident or them looking at my nipples? But the fact is, did Gojo Satoru, the mafia leader of Yakuta just stand up for me?

As I was cleaning my wound, Gojo came up to me and said "Yn I forgot to mention yesterday. We are the happy loving couple outside but inside we are strangers. Do you understand? And I don't want to hear my wife suddenly got pregnant with another man." That's the second time Gojo said something like this to me. So this is my life from now onwards... I just nodded and hardly whispered a 'yes'. Did he not see the blood coming from my wound. Maybe he is just used to seeing blood. Why did I even expect him to comfort me. What did I expect, The Gojo Satoru might be a kind person deep inside? I am proved wrong for the second time. So this is how .y is going to be, huh?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

To be continued...

[thevoicefromanotherworld]

"DON'T YOU HAVE ANY GIFTS FOR ME?"

This is one of the cutest stories I've ever written (I've been writing since 2018). The reason I wrote it this way is probably because I'm ovulating. When I'm like this, I have no middle ground: I either write pure soft stuff or pure smut stories.

I hope you like it!

Christmas had officially begun at the X-Mansion. Children ran through the halls with Santa hats on their heads, while soft Christmas music came from Roge's Bluetooth speaker, carefully placed over the fireplace in the living room.

Logan wasn't too fond of the holiday. For him, it was a waste of time, which brought back memories and experiences that he didn't want to relive. He would never admit it out loud, but seeing all those little ones enjoying their gifts with other children, laughing and singing, made his heart ache with sadness and joy in equal parts.

Sadness because when he was their age he didn't have any of that, parents, friends, a family that loved him. And joy because those children had everything he never had.

He thought that was reason enough to feel a little less grumpy, he even made an effort to smile a little, so that the children wouldn't think that he was always angry with the world, even on Christmas Eve.

That was when he saw you.

You walked into the little ones with a mountain of presents, a huge smile on your face.

The kids practically jumped at you to take the boxes out of your hands, giggling nervously to see what was behind the colorful packaging.

“Calm down, kids, there are presents for everyone!” you said, handing three large packages to the girl closest to you.

“Libby” remembered her name Logan. She was in her history class, she was one of her best students. She started jumping up and down with joy when you gave her her presents.

“Thank you, Miss Snow!” she replied excitedly, sitting on the carpet in an Indian position. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” you smiled at the girl, while ruffling her hair. “Why don’t you find out?”

Libby looked at you with her huge brown eyes and quickly opened the packages. You had bought her some skates, a pair of books, and some noise-cancelling headphones. Because of her autism, Libby was prone to getting overstimulated by loud or repetitive sounds, so that gift, Logan thought, had been very sweet of you.

-I love it! - the girl said, hugging you tightly - Thank you very much, Miss Snow!

-We're not in class now, Libby, you know you can call me Emma

-Okay - the girl nodded before getting up to go show the gifts to her friends -

Logan was leaning against the kitchen wall, watching your every move. You felt a gaze on you and you raised your head, meeting his expressive green eyes.

He could hear your heart beating wildly in your chest. It was clear that his presence accepted you more than you were willing to admit. Without thinking too much, he slowly approached where you were, the smell of leather and tobacco reached your nostrils, just as the smell of your mentholated shampoo reached his.

He watched you for a moment, your red dress and matching Santa hat making you look young and childish in a way that drove him crazy. You had finished the look with a pair of red converse as well, which made him smile. He knew how much you hated heels ever since you sprained your ankle last year because of a bet with Ororo.

-Hi Logan – you said, your voice coming out shriller than you intended, but you couldn't help it, his presence alone made you nervous-

-Hi Em – he greeted with a smile, only he called you that way – it was very nice what you did for Libby – he nodded towards her –

-She deserves it – you answered looking away at her – she's an exceptional girl

-She is – he seconded – you look beautiful tonight

-Thank you – you answered noticing how you blushed –

You weren't good at accepting compliments, and even less if they came from him

-Don't you have any gifts for me? -he questioned raising an eyebrow, you shifted your weight from one foot to the other nervously-

-I only had gifts for the kids, Logan, I… -you murmured embarrassed, he shook his head-

-Calm down princess, it was a joke -he smiled watching you- seeing you in a dress is the best gift you could have given me

-Logan! -you squealed embarrassed, noticing how your cheeks were getting hotter, he laughed, a hoarse laugh that made your skin crawl-

-I know that dresses are not your favorite item of clothing -his smile grew wider- I'm glad you decided to wear one today-

-I did it for them -he pointed at the kids- not for you-

-Whatever you say, honey -he murmured pulling you towards him to leave a soft kiss on your lips-

Tags: @ramblingautisticman @themareverine @loganhowlettshousewife

[yaggy031910]

A fun little ask: the Marshalate is informed there is cake in the break room. How do each of them react?

Who ever you are, thank you for this sweet little question and I apologise for my late response. 🙈💕

I have ideas for some of them, however I am **not** aware of the maréchals eating habits so any input is welcome here. Also, I don't know all of the marshals well enough but I will try to include as many as possible. Don’t expect any historical accuracy in this.

See this post as a very big headcanon and as one ongoing story where I am going to try to mimic the marshals characters and miserably fail.

Shall we begin? :D

Les Maréchals and cake

Berthier would hear about it and quietly get excited by the idea of having a nice little piece of cake, just for him to be too busy with everything so that he isn't able to leave his desk. Either this or someone (probably one of his adcs) would be nice enough to get for Berthier his piece of cake.

Murat: You bet he is one of the first ones to look at this cake. His reaction might depend on how the cake looks. If it's a huge cake with a lot of golden details, Murat will carry it around so everyone admires this phenomenal cake because it deserves to be looked at.

Augerau and Masséna wonder why there is such a fancy a cake in the break room in the first place and who might have put it there. Augerau asks Masséna with a low voice: “How much money do you want to bet on the cake being poisoned?” Before Masséna is able to answer, Lannes enters the scene.

Lannes runs after Murat with the cake knife demanding to finally get his damn piece of this cake while Murat can't make himself to cut it because this cake is “so damn beautiful that it would be a waste to eat it.” This little game goes on for a minute or two until the other marshals grow impatient, one of them being Ney.

Ney who is known for his hotheadedness tries to save this cake from a disaster aaaaand fails. :) The three of them dispute over who is the actual culprit of this mess.

L: Murat, what have you done? M: I have done nothing. You followed me with a knife. N: You let the cake fall. M: You intervened in my business with Lannes.

The cake has fallen to the ground as Davout, Suchet and Macdonald watched. “Aaand here goes the cake”, Macdonald says; “At least the floor was able to taste it.” Suchet asks: “What do you think was its flavour?” ”Chocolate vanilla.” Davout answers. After a moment of silence, he adds. “Soult has a good recipe.” Mortier walks in, seeing how Lannes, Murat and Ney are loudly disputing while Masséna and Augerau get themselves black coffee and Davout, Suchet and Macdonald talking. Lefebvre who was walking right behind Mortier gestures him to move away from the door so he can get into the break room: “What is going on?”

Suchet: “We found a cake-“ Davout interrupts him: “We found a chocolate vanilla cake which we don’t know how it got here or if it was poisoned and now it’s inedible because his royal highness, the King of Naples, made it fall.”

Murat shouts from the back: “I didn’t let it fall.” Lannes: “Oh, you did.”

Lefebvre offers a solution like the good fatherly figure he is: “Do you still want cake? We could bake a new cake, messieurs.” Davout replies: “This sounds like a smart idea, Monsieur. Maréchal Soult knows an excellent recipe.”

Lefebvre: “Ahh, excellent. Where is our maréchal?”

Mortier: “He is in his office.”

“Then this where our journey goes next.” Lefebvre slams the door open and accidentally hits Oudinot. “Ah, Monsieur, my apologies. If I had known you were there, I wouldn’t have slammed the door as hard as I did. Are you alright? Yes? Until the next time then.”

Davout walks up to his friend to make sure how Oudinot is doing and explains to him in the meanwhile what is going on and also promises Oudinot to bring him a piece of the cake they are going to bake.

Lefebvre takes the lead and walks straight to Soult’s office while Davout and Mortier follow him. Suchet decides to stay behind while Macdonald thinks about it. Lefebvre knocks on Soult’s office door: “Monsieur, le maréchal? Are you here?” *Lefebvre knocks again with his energetic manner.* “Monsieur, le maréchal, it’s me, Lefebvre. Open the door!*

Soult opens the door with his usual unimpressed demeaner: Hm? Lefebvre: “Excusez-moi, mon maréchal, I heard you have a recipe for a delicious cake?” Soult: Cake? What cake? Davout: The chocolate vanilla one… the one you baked for your daughter Hortense’s birthday. The delicious one. Soult: Ah, yeah. That one. What of it? Mortier: We would like to bake this cake, which is why we want to ask if you mind us borrowing the recipe? Soult stares at his co-maréchals for a second, he shuts the door, opens it again with a piece of paper in his hand which he gives to Lefebvre. “Here. Is there anything else you need?” Macdonald who decided to join the baking group walks up to them and asks Soult: “Would you mind to lend us your baking equipment?” - “No. Have a nice day.” Soult shuts his door while Lefebvre shouts: “Thank you for your help, Monsieur Soult.” Macdonald asks: “What are we going to do now?” “We are going to bake the cake now, my good friend”, Davout answers. Mac: “Where? Where do you want us to bake the cake? Do we have the right ingredients?” D: In the kitchen and I don’t see why we shouldn’t have the ingredients. Macdonald looks at Davout with suspicious eyes about the matter if they are going to manage to bake this cake… The group of maréchals appear in the imperial kitchen where they start to gather the right ingredients. While the group is busy with the preparations, les maréchals Pérignon and Sérurier appear, wondering what is going on. As Lefebvre is explaining these two their baking journey up until now, Pérignon and Sérurier decide to join them: “A cake made by maréchals for maréchals.”

What could possibly go wrong with two additional heads in the kitchen? As it turns out: Everything. Pérignon and Sérurier manage to overdo the cake by confusing salt with sugar. The cake tastes salty, the icing itself is fine because it was made by Davout who religiously followed Soult’s directions. In addition to that, monsieur Lefebvre manages to mix up usual paper with baking sheets.

Bernadotte walks into the kitchen as he sees his fellow maréchals working on their baking project. He comments on the scenery: “This is just pure chaos without any discipline, a chaos which can’t possibly create something edible.” Davout replies “Well, have you ever baked anything in your miserable existence which you so call your life?”; to which Bernadotte says: “wELL, no, BUT-“ Davout continues: “Then get out of this room and give me my peace back or shut up.” Bernadotte decides to leave.

As Bernadotte is leaving, Jourdan walks right into the scene with an apple in his hand. A fire starts to break out in the oven and Jourdan, like the team player he is, turns and leaves this mess to his co-maréchals without saying one word.

Nothing is going as Davout had it planned. He sits in a corner, mourning this beautiful chocolate vanilla cake he had in mind. Macdonald sits right next to him with a spoon, telling him: “Well, at least the frosting you made yourself is delicious.” Davout, completely shattered by the fact that he wasn’t able to make his desired chocolate vanilla cake, puts his face into his palms until a surprise visits the kitchen: It’s maréchal Soult. With a cake. A chocolate vanilla cake. A chocolate vanilla cake which is neither burnt nor oversalted. A chocolate vanilla cake according to the recipe. Next to Soult is Oudinot who cuts two pieces of the cake: one for himself and one for his good old friend, Louis Nicolas Davout.

After Soult, Ney and Lannes enter the kitchen. Ney silently takes a piece of Soult’s cake, saying nothing except a simple “thank you”. So do Macdonald and Mortier. Soult tolerates Ney’s presence. Lannes on the other hand goes straight to the oversalted and burnt cake which the older maréchals made and are also eating. Kellermann and Grouchy, as late to the party as ever, also go for Lefebvre’s bad cake while Soult’s good cake is still sitting there. Soult can’t hide his look of disgust.

At some point, Bessières and Murat join or rejoin retrospectively the scene, walking up to Soult’s cake. Bessières, as well mannered as he is, takes one piece of a cake to which Murat comments: “I know how much you like this lovely type of cake, Bessières, take a second piece.” - “No”, Soult replies: “That’s not your cake. Take your piece and leave.” Murat adds: “For whom are the other pieces then? I don’t see anybody who would possibly want to eat this gorgeous baked good. We want to eat your delicious creation of a fabulous cake.” - “One piece each. You can give him your piece if you like to.” Bessières interrupts the two: “I am content with my piece.” Murat doesn’t listen to what Bessières says and continues his conversation with Soult: “My fellow maréchal, I don’t understand, why do you struggle so much with allowing somebody to have one additional piece of cake than the other ones?”

While Murat and Soult continue their dispute which leads to nowhere, one adc enters slowly the kitchen. He looks at Soult who recognises this man as one of Berthier’s adcs. He came to get a piece of cake for his marshal. Soult lets him take one of the few pieces left. All of a sudden, Kellermann seems to be chocking on his salty cake piece. All the maréchals are gathering around him and in the chaos, the last few pieces of Soult’s cake fall to the ground. Soult looks at his cake or what’s left of it. One could argue that everyone who wanted to eat it was able to eat it. One could argue that these fallen pieces can be ignored and Soult could go on with his day never ever thinking about the pieces again. However, we are talking about maréchal Soult here who sees the art in baking. The love, the accuracy of it. Today he didn’t just bring cake to his fellow maréchals. Today he witnessed how some of them have no sense of dignity for what it means to be able to eat good food. Good cake. Soult is leaving the room, not bothered about Kellermann as he wouldn’t be able to help anyway. He is going to his wife, his Louise Berg, who asks him about his day. He tells her the whole of it. How he was surprised by his fellow maréchals who wanted to bake a cake. How he knew that they are going to mess up his recipe. How he baked that cake properly and how a part of it went to waste. “Some of them ate oversalted and burnt cake. Who eats bad cake? Who likes bad cake???”

Davout on the other hand was thankful for Soult. With a smile on his face, Davout enjoyed his so desired chocolate vanilla cake, unbothered by the event surrounding him. The end. :)