#meaning the new mural on the window

[crabs-but-better]

HOLY SHIT? THAT COMISSION I MENTIONED? IS THE SIZE OF A FUCKING OFFICE WALL???????

[13uswntimagines]

The Royal Playbook (Alessia X Leah X Royal!R)

Summary: It wasn't often that you used your name or your titles, but to see your girlfriends, you would do just about anything. Even if it means going head-to-head with your new security. 

Warnings: Slightly suggestive, but otherwise nothing. It's a fluff piece.

Your life was complicated. Well… that may have been putting it lightly. 

Everything in your life had been planned for you since well before you were born. You had a tutor, an etiquette instructor, and an equestrian coach from the moment you came screaming into the world. Along with a security detail and a personal team of butlers to help you navigate life. 

It was simple, you would be academically trained, coached in diplomacy (and swordsmanship as was customary on Braavos), and exposed to different cultures so that you could continue to lead your country like your father and his mother before him. You would marry a foreign diplomat, and make political bonds that would strengthen your little island nation’s place in Europe. 

Falling in love had never been a part of that plan. 

Neither had your absolute obsession with football. Specifically, your obsession with English football. 

But your parents had taken it in stride and were far more accepting than you had any right to believe they would be. They were supportive even after they found out you preferred the fairer sex, and they absolutely adored the women who had stolen your heart.

You happened to adore them too. 

Well, something stronger than adore. 

You would do anything for them. 

They made you willing to break all of the carefully constructed rules you had grown up with. They made you forget the weight of responsibility that had been balanced on your shoulders since your coronation date was set the day you turned 16. 

They treated you like Y/n instead of Her Majesty the heir to the throne. They made you feel normal. 

It killed you that you couldn’t be… open with your relationship. That having the world know would put them in the firing line. 

You sighed, leaning back into the leather seat as the SUV slowed, turning in front of the Emirates. The dark window tint blocked out the flashing lights, and the thousands of pounds of armor plating dulled the chanting from the throngs of people. The little flags on the cars in your motorcade told them all who was inside, even if they didn’t know which of the 4 cars you were in. 

You shifted, tugging at the hem of your jersey. “Do you think we’ll make it in time for warmups?”

The new material was still tight on your skin, so much different than the cotton dress shirts you normally wore, and the two little names above your favorite number felt unnaturally… weighted. 

They were in a way. As soon as a photographer caught a picture of them, your secret would be out. 

“I’ve sent a team ahead to clear your entrance and the box you’ll be staying in, so as long as we can get through this crowd we should make it,” Davis said, glancing up at you in the rearview mirror. “I know they’re your favorite part,”

You hummed, glancing back out of the darkened windows at the masses of people dressed in white and red. 

A part of you envied them. 

You would never be able to walk into a stadium through its entrance. You would never get to see the mural of the team that existed in the main hall of the Emirates. You would never get to sit in the supporters section, surrounded by the various chants. 

The other, larger part knew how much you despised being surrounded by people. How claustrophobic it made you feel, and how hard it made it for you to breathe.

But you still wondered if it would be different if those people weren’t carrying cameras and screaming for your attention. You wondered if watching your girlfriends do the things they loved would negate how incredibly uncomfortable you got when people were too close. 

“It just completes the whole experience,” You mumbled into the glass. 

Davis made a noise of agreement. “Yes, it does,”

He knew that one of the reasons you loved it so much was because it gave you time to not have to think. To just exist in a space where you weren’t the air to the throne. Where all that mattered was what was happening in front of you. 

You didn’t have to say it for him to know. 

He could read you like a book. He had experienced every day of your life with you. He acted more like a father than your own father did, and you trusted him implicitly. 

The car inched forward, past another gaggle of people holding their phones up to video the caravan.

“We might have to go with plan b if Her Majesty wishes to see the warmups,” Your driver said more to Davis than to you.“There’s an obstruction ahead,”

Your eyebrows pulled tightly together as the car crawled forward through the growing crowd. 

Your head of security made a gruff sound, already lifting his phone and speaking rapidly into the receiver. 

You barely paid attention to what he was saying. It didn’t really matter anyway. 

You knew he would explain when they had a plan, just like he had always done before. 

The car came to a stop, and men dressed in bright yellow jackets came pouring out of an entrance you hadn’t recognized, forming a human tunnel. 

Davis turned in his seat to face you. 

“We’re going to go in a different entrance. I’ll guide you, Gabriel and Tomas will flank us,” He explained. “It’s 16 steps to the door. Stadium security will make sure that they’re unobstructed,”

You hummed. “Will you cover my back?”

It wasn’t that you were ashamed to wear your Loves names. 

It actually made you incredibly proud and had a warmth blooming in your chest that was hard to explain. 

But you weren’t quite ready to share that with the world yet. 

You wanted to protect them from your world for as long as you could. To prevent the people who didn’t agree with your family’s policies from hurting them to get to you. 

“My jacket will block you,” Davis assured you, understanding glinting in his eyes. “We’re ready whenever you are,” 

You leaned back into the leather seat, glancing at the little walkway that had been created. Fans pressed against it, and you could imagine the wall of sound that would meet you. 

You flipped your sunglasses down over your eyes. “Let’s get this over with,” 

“I’ll get out and open your door,” Your security chief said, reiterating the protocol you always followed when you had to exit your car in a crowd. 

You nodded, never looking away from the window. 

You took a deep breath when the car door opened, letting in the onslaught of screams and cheers. They only got louder when Davis opened your door and held his hand out to help you out of the car. 

He shielded you as soon as your feet were both on the ground, wrapping an arm over your shoulders, directly blocking the names on your back. 

You tucked your face into his chest, closing your eyes at the roar of squeals and cheers that met you. 

You never did like crowds. 

You felt Tomas take up your other side and counted down the steps in your head as they guided you through the crowd. You didn’t look up at the calls of your name, or the blinding flashes of light, or the jostling that your security tried to protect you from. 

This was routine. 

The press didn’t pay for photos when your face wasn’t clearly visible. 

You let out a long breath when the entrance doors closed solidly behind you. 

“It’s over little commander,” Your burly chief of security mumbled into your hair when you didn’t immediately begin to untangle yourself from him, running his hand up and down your back. 

You really didn’t like crowds. 

You sucked in another long breath before carefully pulling away from him. 

“Thank you,” You said, straightening your hair and jersey. Smiling just a bit at the name he had given you after an incident involving your country’s general and an assassin when you were five. 

“I don’t think anyone caught a photo of your jersey, your majesty. The Captain's jacket was covering the lettering,” Gabriel added, glancing out the glass doors. “Though I think it’ll be harder to hide if we leave with guests. We’ll also need extra security,” 

It made you sigh. 

Gabriel was not a bad person, but he was young, and far too serious all of the time. 

He hadn’t learned that you didn’t need to know all of the inner workings of their operation yet, or that you were the one who would dictate what you wanted. 

You hadn’t even decided if your girlfriends would be leaving with you yet, and when you did, Davis would work it out. 

He always figured it out. 

“We’ll cross that bridge later,” Davis said, glaring at the younger guard (they would pull the SUV on the fucking field if that’s what it took), before his eyes returned to you, softening. “First, I believe your attendant is waiting to scan your ticket,”

Your eyes lit up at the prospect, looking past your burly squad towards a very shy looking girl. 

“I can scan you in,” The girl's voice shook as she spoke, her eyes darting towards your guards before meeting yours again. “Your majesty,” 

You rolled your eyes at the title. 

You hated it as much now as you had when you first learned you would be your fathers successor. As much as when people started using when you were 16 and your coordination date was set for the day you turned 22. 

Davis passed you a paper ticket and nudged you forward. 

It was a superfluous detail that your girlfriends had teased you mercilessly about. 

No one used paper tickets anymore, they said. Everything was mobile, not that you had ever needed an actual ticket. 

You stepped towards the girl, holding out the ticket with a grin. 

She very gently took it, running it under the little scanner. You walked past her after it beeped. 

It was nice to get the full experience, even if it was a bit outdated. 

“We’ll take that back,” Davis said, as the girl turned to throw the scrap of paper away. 

He reached for the ticket, tucking it into his jacket for safe keeping. 

“To the box little commander?” He asked you directly, stepping past the girl. 

You shook your head, a smirk playing at your lips. “I think a little… exploration is in order first. Especially since we’ve never come into the stadium this way before,” 

“Lead the way then,” He matched your smirk, gesturing for you to head down the hallway. “The mural you’re obsessed with is to the left,” 

Your eyes brightened again and you looked down the hallway he had gestured to. 

You would definitely have to check it out before warmups started. 

******

Alessia and Leah were… distracted, even as they passed the ball back and forth. 

Warmups had barely started and they couldn’t help the way their eyes kept falling to the box now occupied by a tall, bald man in a well-tailored suit, his aviators reflecting the field back at them. 

They should have expected it. Tomas was always the first of your personal team to arrive to a location, but usually, you followed closely behind him. 

“The queen has arrived,” Millie chuckled, intercepting the ball Leah had passed towards  Alessia. 

“She’s not queen yet,” Alessia huffed.

“How could I forget? The coronation isn’t for 2 more months,” Millie said, waving her arm dramatically. 

Leah rolled her eyes. “3 more months, actually,”

“And Y/n isn’t exactly counting down the days,” Alessia added, stealing the ball back. “She doesn’t seem too keen on the title,”

“I’m not surprised,” Ella said, catching the ball when Alessia tried to pass it to Leah. “She got mobbed coming into the stadium,”

Leah’s eyebrows furrowed. “I thought she was using the player entrance,” 

You had discussed the plan with them in detail during your nightly phone conversation, asking about the location of the locker rooms in relation to the entrance your security wanted you to use. 

They weren’t sure if you intended to surprise them before or after the match, but it didn’t really matter. 

“Apparently not,” Ella said, skirting around the forward's outstretched leg and passing it to Millie. “I saw the clip before we came out here. Looked like they formed a wall of security and then ushered her in the front gate,” 

Leah and Alessia shared a look. 

They knew how much you disliked being in a crowd. 

They could picture you tucked into your security chief’s chest like a small child, trying to hide yourself from the noise of the crowd. It was an image that had been splashed across front pages of newspapers more times than they could (or wanted) to count. It still never failed to break their hearts. 

“I never realized how big her security team was,” Ella mumbled, glancing up at the box again. “Like physically. They’re fucking mountains,” 

More of your team had joined Tomas, all wearing the same black suits and dark aviators, tall, and muscular.

They looked intimidating. Like they could take down any threat that would come at you. 

Neither Alessia nor Leah had any doubt that they would. 

Alessia shrugged. Frankly, they had both been very nervous too until you had actually introduced them to your security. They learned quickly to expect pranks from your security when they weren’t on duty, and that their protectiveness extended to them as well as you when they were. 

Considering all 12 members of your team had given them the shovel talk, they knew you were in very good hands. Hands that looked out for your mental health as well as your physical health. 

“Looks like she only brought half her team,” Leah hummed, counting the men in the suite, noting your missing head of security. He would certainly be wherever you were, and she found it slightly strange you weren’t in the box yet. 

You hated missing warmups. 

But then a group standing near the benches, behind Serina caught her eyes. 

There were 4 tall, burly men surrounded by stadium workers dressed in bright orange vests. 

“Maybe not,” Alessia mumbled, her gaze also falling to the growing crowd behind the benches. “She doesn’t usually try to come down to the field,”

“She’s never had to come through the front door before either,” Leah answered. 

Ella wiggled her eyebrows, shimming between them. “Maybe she wants to do something wild before she has the weight of a country on her back,” 

“She already has that,” Both blonde women said in unison, eyes snapping away from the sea of orange towards the midfielder. 

“She’s had that since her father put her in charge of their trade negotiations,” Alessia added. “And their UK commerce,”

Frankly, you had been taking more and more responsibility for years. Trying to gain the trust of your people so the transition of power was an easy one. A safe one. 

An uncontested one. 

“And she’s been doing a bang-up job,” Leah said, just as Davis appeared in the mix of security next to a blonde man she had never seen before. “She’s actually coming in the field,” 

“You mean we finally get to meet the Queen?” Millie said dramatically, standing on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse of you, the ball forgotten at her feet. 

Alessia slapped her stomach. “You’ve met her before. You tried to get her drunk after our Euros win and convince her to fly the England flag on her father’s palace,”

“Details,” Millie rolled her eyes, shoving the striker. “How can she see through the mass of people though?”

“It’s a special formation,” Leah grumbled, pushing Millie, and stealing the ball they had all disregarded as she moved it forward she saw Davis shift and the flash of a pair of aviators. You were certainly on the field. “Designed so she can see out but no one can see her. They’re trying not to draw attention,” 

Ella snorted. “Well, they failed at that,”

It was true. 

The fans in the stands seemed to be clamoring over themselves to see why there was a substantial crowd near the benches. 

Leah and Alessia shared a look. 

They both knew how much you hated attention. It was why you usually stayed in your box and came in through back entrances. They joked you were like a ghost coming to their games, never seen or heard. 

But this. This was different. 

Before they could respond Geriant clapped his hands, “Alright ladies let’s do some through balls on goal. Lineup,”

Leah tapped him the ball and followed Alessia to the back of the line. 

There would be time later to figure out why you had come down in the field. 

Right now they had to focus on beating Australia, especially if they wanted a good game kiss from you after the game. 

You only kissed winners. 

******

You shifted awkwardly as you leaned against the cool, stone wall outside the locker rooms, playing with the identification lanyard around your neck. 

It wasn’t often that you used your… status to get into areas no fans could. That you finagled your way into the tunnel of the stadium after a game. 

You were much more prone to letting your security whisk you in and out so you weren’t seen and no one knew if you were actually there, but today, you had been feeling bold. 

Well, kind of. 

Davis had been the one to suggest that seeing warmups at field level might be fun if you were going to venture to see the mural. 

You had agreed. 

And he had been right. 

You had gotten to chat with Serina about tactics and formations while getting a close-up view of your girlfriends in action, even if it was just warmups. 

You had gone back up to your fancy box for the game, but couldn’t resist Serina’s invitation to wait for the team in the tunnel after. 

That’s how you ended up here, shifting nervously from foot to foot while the players made their mandatory lap around the field. 

It wasn’t really being in the tunnel that had you on edge. It was that Davis had gone to coordinate your motorcade out of the stadium, and left you with Gabriel. You didn’t feel as… safe with the blonde man, and his seriousness was really starting to set you off. 

You would have to very carefully bring it up with Davis later, though you hated doing anything that could potentially make his job harder. 

“Can you, um, not stand so close please?” you mumbled, as he pressed more closely to you as players from the Australian team started to make their way down the tunnels. “I want to say hello to the players,” 

Gabriel shook his head, standing firmly. “They haven’t been checked through security,”

“They just played a match,” You rolled your eyes, pushing him away from you, trying to create some space. “I doubt any of them are smuggling a weapon between here and the locker room, or have Ill intent,” 

They were your friends. People, your girlfriends played with every day. People you had spent a lot of time with. People who saw you as a person and not as a title. They wouldn’t cause you harm. 

“We can’t take that risk, Your Majesty,” Gabriel answered, already pressing back to pin you between his back and the wall, as his head whipped back and forth. 

You shoved him off of you more harshly, stumbling with the force. “I told you to go away. Why don’t you go stand at the front of the tunnel if you’re so worried,” 

You would have face-planted had strong arms not caught you. 

“Whoa there Princess,” Leah’s warm voice chuckled in your ear, using the term of endearment that annoyed you when it came from anyone but your girlfriends. “You only had to fall for me once,”

“Leah,” Your shoulders instantly relaxed at her voice, and you looked up to meet her eyes. “You guys played so well!”

She smiled brilliantly at you, and you leaned up to place a gentle kiss on her lips. 

It only lasted a second before a large hand appeared between you. 

“No physical contact please,” Gabriel said, looking incredibly uncomfortable. “It’s policy,” 

You glared at the side of his face. 

You were definitely going to have to talk to Davis about this. 

“What about me pretty girl?” Alessia asked,  materializing to Gabriel’s right. “Do I not deserve a kiss too?

“You definitely do. That goal was a fucking banger,” You said, pulling away from the defender, and throwing out a foot mocking the way Alessia had smashed the ball. “Lee crossed it in and then woosh,”

You threw your arms out, mimicking the goal celebration that Alessia did. The one that reminded you of an airplane, right into her waiting grasp. 

She leaned forward, brushing your nose with her. “You’re adorable,”

You closed the last millimeter, connecting your lips in a gentle kiss. 

She tasted like mint gum, and blue Gatorade, and something so… Alessia. She tasted like home. 

“And you look very fit with our names on your back,” Leah added, running her fingers across the bold letters across your shoulders before she wrapped her arms around the two of you. 

You buried your face in Alessia’s chest to hide the red blooming across your cheeks, earning a giggle from both women. 

“Your majesty, I don't feel comfortable with this situation,” Gabriel said, clearing his throat, and stepping into your space. He leaned down and lowered his voice like he thought it would prevent Leah and Alessia from hearing him.  “We’re in too public of a place. It’s not befitting of the crown,”

You froze, your back going rigid. 

It was one thing for him to not understand personal boundaries. For him to be hyper-vigilant. 

You could chalk that up to his… newness. 

But this. This you could not tolerate. 

Your fingers caught Alessia’s top before she could pull away, forcing her to stay pressed against you, as your other hand reached back to hold Leah’s hip. You didn’t need them to move. You didn’t want them to move. 

You took a deep breath before pulling your face out of Alessia’s chest to stare daggers at the bulky, blonde man. 

“Call for backup,” You said, your voice deadly calm. 

He raised an eyebrow at you. “There’s no need. I have it-“ 

“It wasn’t a request,” You cut him off icily. “Call for backup now, or I will do it myself,” 

He paused at your tone, glancing at the teammates and friends that had been on their way to the locker room, also frozen at the foreign chill in your voice. 

It was the tone you saved for meetings with world leaders you didn’t particularly like. Ones with foreign dignitaries who thought they could walk all over you, your family, and your country. 

He took a step back, lowering his voice like he was talking to a child. “Your majesty, I don’t think this is a proper conversation to have with an audience,” 

You weren’t in the mood to be scolded. 

“And I don’t care what you think,” You bit back, letting go of Leah’s hip to reach up to your necklace, pressing the bottom button hidden on the pendant twice. 

The signal that you needed assistance, but it wasn’t emergent or life-threatening. 

Still, within 30 seconds Tomas was rounding the corner near the locker rooms, speed walking towards you. The crowd of white and yellow jerseys parted for him like he was Mosis. 

You were slightly disappointed it wasn’t Davis, but Tomas would do. 

“Little commander,” He nodded his head in greeting, his eyes flickering across the scene before returning to you. “How can I be of assistance,”

You appreciated that he had addressed you first. 

That he acknowledged that you were the one in control here. 

But Gabriel didn’t seem to get that message. 

“Your presence isn’t needed,” The blonde security man huffed, “Her majesty is throwing a temper tantrum,”

Alessia’s fingers tightened around your hips, and you didn’t have to look at her to see the scowl pulling across her lips. Leah’s arms similarly squeezed around your shoulders and you knew daggers were being thrown his way. 

Had this been any other circumstance you were sure the growing crowd of footballers would have oooed. 

Not that you needed them.

You had this all under control. 

“Take Gabriel to the exit,” You said evenly, command and… dominance, radiating through the simple words. “or to the dumpster or the Thames. I don’t really care but get him away from me. He is relieved of his duty,”

The blonde security man sputtered. “You can’t do that. I’m-“

“Actually I can,” You cut him off. “I can do whatever the fuck I want. Tomas, please remind Gabriel of the terms of his service,”

Tomas cleared his throat, suppressing a grin. “We serve at the pleasure of our charge, Her Majesty, Princess of Braavos, heir to the throne,”

Your chest puffed a bit at your full title. 

One you generally despised, but it served its purpose here. 

“And you certainly have not… pleasured me. Not that you’re capable,” Your lips turned upwards in a cruel smirk, as Alessia and Leah, and the surrounding crowd didn’t hold in their giggles. “Perhaps you should work on your listening, and little things called consent and common sense,”

“Let’s go,” Tomas caught Gabriel’s arms before he could protest or argue with you, not that there was anything he could say. The taller, balder security man made eye contact with you before he hauled Gabriel away. “Davis and Matthew will be by shortly. I’ve left Carson at the top of the tunnel and I’ll have him perform personal security until they arrive,”

You sent him a stiff nod, standing at your full height until they were out of sight before you let yourself collapse back into Alessia. 

You would never. Could never truly be alone. 

“I fucking hate doing that,” You groaned into her chest, and Leah leaned forward to press a kiss to the back of your neck.

“We know love,” The defender hummed into your soft skin, and Alessia made a sound of agreement, shooing the crowd of football players around you to go about their way.  

“But on the bright side, you did look proper sexy,” Alessia said, gently pinching the skin just beneath the hem of your jersey. “Her Majesty, Princess of Braavos, heir to the throne,”

You couldn’t help the giggle that bugged from your lips at her terrible rendition of Tomas’ heavy accent. The one you worked incredibly hard to suppress.

It had come out slightly in the exchange, the only indicator that English was not your first language. 

It was something that happened when you were annoyed, which was rare in itself. You didn’t like to wield your power, and thankfully, you usually didn’t have to in your personal life. 

“For a second I thought you were going to yell at him in Valyrian,” Leah said, her lips working from the back of your neck up to just behind your ear. 

You hummed. “I try not to do that in mixed company,” 

Despite how much you had pushed against the mold of your upbringing, your impeccable manners could not be changed. 

Plus you knew how much Leah and Alessia loved when you spoke in your native language. How… wound up… it made them. You didn’t want to associate your annoyance with that. Ever. 

Alessia smirked. “So he can’t pleasure you?” 

You rolled your eyes at the change in subject. 

“No. He was only on my team for 3 days, and I wanted to strangle him for most of it,” Your lips pulled up in an impish smirk. “Plus I could tell that he’s never given out a feminominon in his fucking life,” 

Leah mirrored the expression against your neck, and Alessia’s eyes sparkled.

“I think we could definitely show you what we know about feminominons,” Leah said, pressing a kiss to the sensitive skin just below your ear. 

 ���Would you like to shower with us?”Alessia’s thumb ran over the skin just above your pants. “We promise we won’t bite, “

“Unless you ask nicely,” Leah finished, her teeth grazing over the wet skin she had just kissed. 

It was sometimes scary how they could finish each other's thoughts, though you weren’t convinced that this had been their endgame all along. 

You melted into them, the rest of your annoyance fading. 

“I would love nothing more,” 

They nodded at Carson as they dragged you towards the locker room, the shorter, muscular man shifting to stand by the door, already talking into his earpiece. 

You just needed some time with your girls. 

It’s what you wanted and the security team would respect that and leave you undisturbed. 

They served at your pleasure after all, and so did your girlfriends apparently. 

Well, at least at the moment, they would serve to pleasure you. 

[astyrial]

a dark roast darling bucky barnes x fem!reader (fluff) synopsis: your favorite customer brings a friend to your coffee shop word count: 1k warnings: none, i’m a little obsessed masterlist | requests are open

    a bright spring sun shines through the small coffee shop's windows. the little mural bringing in an array of vibrant colors and designs, bringing in the most unique customers. usually writers or artists will bring their supplies and relax under the warmth of the shop. however, there's one recurring customer who doesn't quite fit your usual clientele. 

  he'll walk in, leather jacket on and black gloves covering his hands. every time, he'd order a black coffee and question which baked good was your current favorite. the name he would have you write down is james, a rather common name for such an interesting man. james usually came in the earlier morning when the shop would be relatively empty. 

  except one time, an unusual event in which he brings a friend. his friend sporting a bomber jacket immediately greets you with a large smile on his face, "your shop is wonderful, my friend, bucky, here couldn't stop talking about it."

  you take a peek over at james upon the new nickname, watching as a scowl grows on his face. his blue eyes carry a certain sharpness that only enhances as his friend talks you up. "thank you- i've worked hard to get it where it is now. i'm happy that, um, bucky enjoys it here. i do enjoy deciding my favorite pastry of the day," you give james a quick yet succinct wink. 

  through your peripheral vision, he's glancing in your direction and holding a nearly invisible smile on his face. "so, what would you guys like today? coffee? recently, some people talked us into making tea as well," you lean against the counter, hands pushing against the surface.

  "just an iced coffee for me, some cream in it. if you wouldn't mind, beautiful," james' friend then hits his shoulder with the back of his hand, raising his eyebrows. 

  james nods and rests his hands on his hips, a certain strain of confidence overtaking him. the sun shines in through the windows and leaves a beautiful array of greens and oranges across his figure. you bite the inside of your cheek and look down at the cash register, unable to meet your favorite customer's eyes again. 

  "didn't peg you as an iced coffee fan, sam. black coffee... and uh what would you recommend for today?" james glares at his friend out of your view, embarrassed by his brazen behavior. 

  "well, buck, i definitely did peg you as a black coffee fan," 'sam' crosses his arms in front of his chest, pursing his lips. 

  as the two bicker slightly, you look over at the baked goods spread. from the croissants to the beautifully glazed donuts, you can't help but wonder which one he hasn't tried. on the very left sits a banana nut bread. it's not the most popular at your store by any means, but when someone likes it, they love it. 

  you finally look up at james as sam raises his hands in defense of something he said. james takes a look back at you and mouths a quick apology. his shoulders somewhat lowered in a clear expression of slight annoyance. not of you, of course, of his friend who can't help but antagonize james in everything he does. 

  "you should try the banana nut bread," you take a couple steps to the display and hover your hand over where the bread sits. 

  james nods and starts to pull out his wallet, "thanks, i appreciate the assistance, da- y/n." 

  "anything for you, uh bucky, odd nickname by the way. would ask you about that but i worry it may be a tumultuous name..." you take a glance at sam, grabbing the cash out of james' hand, feeling the extra thickness. 

  despite the add on of sam's coffee, it feels awfully thick for a thursday. you raise an eyebrow at him and begin sorting through the stack of ones. at the very end is an extra dollar for his black coffee that you always ensure him is not necessary. "what day is it james?"

  "james?"

  "thursday, however, i've brought an annoyance into your shop and i thought it was only fair," he rests one hand on the counter, trying to ignore sam's constant wondering about the name james. 

  you grab one of the dollar bills between your index and middle finger and reach it out to him. he nods, just barely biting his lip as he grabs it out of your hand, fingers brushing against each other. a string of electricity shocks you and sends your heart beating a little quicker. 

  "she calls you james? wow-" sam begins, bringing james out of the moment. 

  "sam, how about you wait outside and i'll come join you in a moment. then we can talk about this dilemma that you're so passionate about," he raises his eyebrows, demeanor slightly changing as he turns away from you, leaving you to begin on their drinks. 

  luckily both drinks are fairly easy to complete. meaning it doesn't take long for you to turn back around to find james standing there with an apologetic look. he purses his lips and opens his mouth without saying anything, like he doesn't quite know what to say. 

  "james, you don't have to explain anything. i actually have a friend who is very similar to mr. sam out there," you set down the black coffee and then the iced coffee, grabbing the banana bread to start cutting a piece from. 

  "but he still could've conducted this much better, i really am sorry, darling."

  darling... for a moment, you had nearly forgotten about the endearing term he always calls you. heat rises to your cheeks as you pack up the bread to give it to him. when you finally do look up from the ever so intriguing bread, his gaze can't seem to find their way out of your eyes. you look away for a second, only to look back at him with a drunken smile. 

  he grabs the items and thanks you, taking a step away before turning back around and sighing, "actually, would you mind going out tomorrow night? dinner?"

  "i thought you'd never ask, i close up at six," chills run down your back until it reaches your calves. 

  "great, once again, sorry for sam's behavior. he definitely won't be joining tomorrow night, darling," james winks and turns back around, exiting the shop to join his overzealous friend on their journey.

[admrlthundrbolt]

Love From The Other Side (Bowser x Chubby Reader)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your kingdom had recently come on dire time. With the Koopa Kingdom having a vast army. Well who was Bowser to deny your family's pleads. Especially when you were being offered to him on a tempting platter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys, I'm back at it again. Don't think that I wasn't writing, I just found out I had an allergy. So I had to deal with that. But I'm back and with a cute Bowser story. I've wanted to write for him since the new Mario Bros movie. It wasn't until recently that I thought of a decent plot though. Any who I hope you enjoy.

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

He was surprised at receiving a request for an audience with your kingdom. A trading kingdom from a far off port. He had seen your parents from time to time at galas or Royal conferences. They seemed to be respectable if not private people. What was most peculiar though, was your name in the letter. He had heard mentions of you of course. But outside of your own kingdom, no one had seemed to see you.

It may have been your presence that made his decision. Who was to say, either way, your family would be at his castle within a fortnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your hands fidget together as the carriage made its way down the rocky road. Glancing around you notice your mother frowning out the window. While you father was staring at you. Looking down quickly, you braced for a lecture.

“You know this is a last resort, don't you?” His gaze seemed to bore through you to your very soul.

Nodding you hoped that would be answer enough. As he didn't turn away, you said. “I do.” Though the whole situation only made you feel as if you were only an object.

A ghost of a smile fell on his face. Though it was as hollow as his next words. “I'm glad.”

Your mother's eyes narrowed as they surveyed the passing scenery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your families arrival rang throughout the castle. The Goombas were rushing around to do last second tidying. While Kamek ordered Koopas to finish the dinner preparations.

Bowser's eyes swept over the grounds until they landed on the colorful carriage. It had wonderful murals of coastal scenery. As well as being drawn by creatures that weren't quite fish or horse. He was eagar to see what other oddities your kingdom may have. Hearing a scuffle next to him, he looked down to see Bowser Jr. shuffling in excitement. It wasn't everyday someone visited the castle under pleasant circumstances. Smiling down at his son, he ruffled his hair affectionately.

The carriage parked in front of the king and the driver opened the door. As regal as ever, your father and mother stepped through the door. He was a moment from greeting them, when you appeared. Beautiful as anyone he had ever seen and full as an overripe fruit. You were the visage of a deity.

Your father cleared his throat causing Bowser to reluctantly look away from you. The man had a knowing yet somber expression on his face. While your mother was out right scowling. A sheepish look crossed your face as you joined your parents.

Putting on a more professional air, he waved his arm towards the castle. “Welcome, please come inside and rest in your rooms a while. Dinner will be ready soon.” With that he rushed inside, Jr. trailing behind him. All the while berating himself. Coming up with a plan to not make so much of a fool of himself at dinner. Not noticing how Jr. couldn't stop looking back at you admiringly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Charles are you sure this is the right decision? I mean did you see the way he was gaping at her.” You could hear your mother's complaints ringing through the room you had been shown to.

“Evie please, this was a descion that had to be made.” There was a tense silence that followed. “It's not as if we've forced her. You know better than anyone that no one can will her to do anything.”

This caused an uncomfortable pressure to build behind your eyes. Not wanting to hear about your parents thoughts on you. You swiftly entered the room. “Have they called us for dinner?” You had already heard the Koopa tell your parents it was ready. But it was easier to change the subject quickly and avoid their gaze this way.

Your father smiled and gave you a endearing smile that you weren't sure you deserved. “Yes, should we start making our way then.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He sat at the head of the table. Desperately hoping that he didn't seem to eagar as your family approached. Jr. bounced in his seat to the right. To his shock you took the seat on his left. It was in this moment that he was glad that Kamek had suggested a smaller table. Something about it being a less intimidated and cozy gestured.

The first dish came out and only the sound of silverware filled the room. It wasn't until the main course came that the tension was broken by your father.

“I'm sure your curious as to why we've called for this audience.” His gaze felt piercing to the turtle tyrant.

His eyes flickered to you for a brief moment, before focusing on him. “I was surprised why such a distant kingdom would reach out.” Without knowing the reason for your visit, it felt like he had to walk on egg shells. Why were you here?

Rubbing a hand across his aged features, he said. “It is not under happy circumstances. We are receiving threats from a nearby kingdom. Are you familiar with the Eezla domain?”

He had to hold back a flinch. Even he had a hard time dealing with the war hungry dictator of a leader from there. It was no wonder your family had seeked out an audience with another kingdom. The only question was why his.

“He has come to us with a demand. Our daughter's hand in marriage or a battle for our ports.” His tone was weary.

Your gaze dropped to the table with dread. You wouldn't mind sacrificing your morals to save your people. But as the only heir for your family. It was an obvious ploy to take over the kingdom. You wouldn't have been surprised if your parent's death would have followed the potential ceremony.

“So instead we talked together on the matter and came to a new conclusion. It would be far more difficult if our daughter was wed to a more tolerable kingdom. Though they would need to have a formidable army.” He would have continued his eloquent explanation. If not for your mother's bitter interuption.

“She choose you. Can you believe that.” Her glare burned through him. “Out of all the options she had. You were her first pick.” Folding her arms over her chest, she resembled more closely a toddler than a queen.

Standing up quickly, you gave a hard stare to your mother. “It was the logical choice.” Looking away from her, your timid demeanor returned. “If the other party accepts that is.”

He could help but think that your gaze was as piercing as your father's. Though there was a graceful openness to you. He thought of Peach for a moment and had to keep a grimace off of his face. It had been a blow to his heart when she married Mario. Looking at you, it was like a golden opportunity had been dropped in his lap. “I do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was an odd feeling to bid fairwell to your parents. But with your mother's distaste for the arrangement and time running out. It was better that they go start the ceremony preparations now. It was a relief to only have to make final decisions. Also that Bowser agreed to a wedding in your home lands.

Placing your ear against the door. No large footfalls could be heard and your shoulders sagged in relief. You shouldn't be avoiding your betrothed. On the other hand, if he asked about what your mother said. You just may die of embarrassment.

Just how was a sheltered princess supposed to explain to her newly betrothed about her powers. That the only reason the ruler of Eezla had found out you are a seerer. After that it wasn't long before he demanded for your hand. By choice or force. This had prompted you to shut yourself away and look for the best path. It hadn't taken long. The moment Boswer entered your visions, it was all but decided. The sight of his heart break was surprising. Followed by the tenderness he held for his son. He provided for his citizens, raising a fierce army.

A blush took over your face as you remembered your possible future together. Growing to care for one another. Parenting Bowser Jr. together, even visions of your own children. It was almost to much to handle, your face felt as if it was on fire.

Taking a deep breath, you gathered yourself. Stepping out the door, you bumped into a small figure. It was a shock to run into someone shorter than you. But a gasp escaped your mouth as you saw Jr. on the floor in front of you.

Scooping him up on your arms, you fussed. “Oh darling, I'm so sorry. I didn't notice you there. Are you ok?”

He beamed up at you and nodded quickly. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. He got a new mama, she was super nice and pretty! “Are you coming to breakfast?”

Looking down at the sweet boy you hesitated. “Is your father there?”

Shaking his head, he said. “No, he had to go with Kamek. So I told him I would take you to breakfast.” He was bouncing in your arms. It made him a bit hard to keep a hold of.

So placing him down gently, you nodded. “Yes some food sounds good.” You felt guilty for avoiding him. But you thought some time apart may bury the comments your mother made.

Feeling a tug at your hand, you allowed the excited child to lead you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He couldn't keep his mind off of it. You had chosen him. Of all people why him? He could hardly pay attention to the map sprawled out before him. No matter how many times he told himself that knowing the enemy territory was important. His thought just couldn't stop straying to you.

Your sweet temperament and melodious voice. How well your plush form filled out your clothes. How you looked at him without any fear or animosity. You had chosen him.

Shifting his mind onto a task to aid you. Yes that's how he could keep himself on point. This was for you. The more he knew of his new enemies. The better he could protect you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn't see each other again until dinner that evening. You having spent the day with Jr., avoiding any thought of the large turtle. While he made battle strategy and his mind wouldn't stop returning to you.

It would have been a quiet meal, if not for the youngest participant. He animatedly talked about what you both had done that day. His father couldn't help his admiration for you growing. You obviously had already taken a special place in his son's life.

“Then I slipped off the stair.” Waving his arms around wildly, the pint size turtle almost tipped out of his chair. You both leaned forward, until he settled back down. Your face flushed as your eyes met. “But Ms. (Y/N) caught me with sparkles.”

Bowser's eyes widened, he hadn't been informed of you having magical ability. He wondered if it was anything like Kamek's spells. “I wasn't aware of you being a caster.”

Your face darkened as his attention was solely on you. “Not many people are. That's one reason my parents kept me from the public eye. With how rare magic users are and all.” He wanted to questioned you a bit more. But the subject seemed to make you more timid than usual. So instead he turned back to Jr. and listened to his day with you. Hopefully with time you would feel comfortable enough to open yourself up to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You couldnt stand it any longer. You had to tell him the truth. It felt deceitful to keep your ability from him. The day you were meant to be bound was fast approaching. You didn't want to start your married life together on such a sour note.

You steeled your nerves as you came upon the door to his private chambers. It was well past Jr.’s bedtime, so you knew interuptions were unlikely. Raising a fist you knock lightly, when no immediate answer came you were torn. A part of you was relieved to not have to deal with this quite yet. Still there was a throb of anxiety about waiting any longer. You battled with yourself to knock again or leave. Until the door swung open.

Bowser toweled off his firey hair as he looked down at you. It was an unlikely yet pleasant surprise to see you outside his chambers. Grinning down at you he invited you in. “Make yourself comfortable.”

As he left through another door, you glanced around the room. It was about as grand as you had imagined it. Lavish paintings and banners decorating the walls. Though an area was sectioned off for Jr.'s art. It was adorable and heartwarming to see how much he had saved. A flush coated your cheeks as you noticed the only place to sit was the large bed. It was a lavish setting, dark stained wood with deep red bedding. You felt a shy yet scandalous heat travel through you. It wouldnt be long before this would be your chambers as well. The very bed that you would share together.

You almost jumped out of your skin as he reentered the room.

“Sorry about that, you caught me after a shower.” His hair drooped in a freshly washed fashion. It was a look you hadn't had a chance to see yet. It was an odd, but endearingly boyish style. “What was it you wanted to discuss?”

“Oh I was um.” The blush spread deepening to your neck. It was one thing to come up with the resolve. But another to go through with the difficult task. Still you needed to do this, for both of your sakes. “I need to let you know the truth. Why I chose you that is.”

He watched you carefully. It was something that had been on his mind for a while. Who was he kidding, since it was mentioned. But as he watched you fidget in place, he couldn’t take the usual pleasure he got from others squirming. So instead, he sat next to you patiently and waited for you to continue.

Gathering all your courage, you spat it out. “I can see the future.” A stagnant silence filled the air. Each of you waiting for the other to break it.

He awkwardly shifted to get a better look at you. Was that why you had chosen him? Was he the best pick or did you settle. Gazing down at you, he took you in. Your flush full cheeks and eyes looking everywhere but him. Your soft body, if only you knew how much your plush form filled his dreams. Taking your warm hands into his own, he smiled genuinely. “So you saw us together?” You nodded. “Were we….” He paused not knowing how to put the next question.

You noticed his hesitation, it made you want to sigh in relief. It was nice to know that you weren't the only one having a difficult time navigating this. Tightening your hold on his hands you explained. How the leader of Eezla had found out about you being a mage. But the only thing he was interested in was your proficient seer abilities. His demand for your hand was met with refusal. He then threatened the lives of your people. This led you to searching for a solution, which turned out to be him.

Eyes wide he wanted to deny it all. “But I'm just as bad as he is. Why choose me over him?” He hated himself for bringing it up. But a part of him would feel worse if he didn't.

Shaking your head you glared at him. “You are nothing like that monster. I know you have a sorted past with the Mushroom Kingdom. But the moment Peach married you left well enough alone. Not to mention the way you care for Jr. and your citizens. And when we have our daughter, your eyes light up the first time you hold her.”

He stared at you with astonishment. “We have a daughter?” You cover your face mortified. Only to shriek in the next moment as he scoops you up and spins you around the room. Your screams turn into elated giggles as you relax in his arms. Pulling you closer he gazes into your lovely eyes and leans forward. You meet his lips in a tender kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things went well, pleasant conversation and sweet looks were exchanged. It seemed that things were going to work out. Until the Mushroom Kingdom caught wind of a damsel ‘trapped’ in Bowser's castle.

Mario suits up as his brother looks at him skeptically. “Are you sure you should go charging in there?”

The shorter man glared at him. It wasn't like he had a choice. The minute Peach heard some woman was there she threw a fit. Complaining about her time there and what she had to deal with. If it was her he wouldn't hesitate to rush over. Even if she was right, he just wanted to relax every once and a while. If it wasn't his new royal duties, it was his family back in Brooklyn. It felt like he hadn't had a day off in years.

Waving a hand at the other man, he said. “I'm just going to check things out. Not start a war or anything.”

With a weary nod he followed after his older brother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As time was drawing closer for the wedding, you were pouring over the final details with Bowser. He had originally insisted that you make all the decisions. But after convincing him this was a ceremony to join you both, he relented. You were elated at the combination of opinions and styles. It was going to be a magical event.

Jr. had tried not to get bored while you went over the seemingly endless papers. He really did, but what was a young boy to do. Although when he heard the words flower arrangements. He knew there was something he could do to help. Calling out that he was headed to the gardens, he darted away.

As he gathered flowers, weeds, and grass. He failed to notice the two plumbers approaching the castle. He jumped and whirled around as they called out to him.

“Hey kid, have you seen a new lady around the place?” Mario thought it would be easier to ask than sneak around.

Eyes narrowing at the brothers, he frowned. “What’s it to you?” There was no way he was letting these guys near Mama. When they didn't answer, he turned back to a patch of red flowers.

Getting frustrated with the whole situation, the shorter man put a hand on the boy. Only hoping to get his attention again. He was shocked when the child ran from them.

“Mama!” He stumbled in his hurry to escape from the brothers. Tumbling end over end, he landed on his knee. Scrapping the skin, blood seeped from the wound. Tears sprang from his eyes as he sat on the ground. Luigi started to make his way over, until the wind began to pick up and the ground shook.

The entrance burst open as a red eyed Bowser and a whirlwind sprinted towards the group. The wind calmed down a bit. The brothers were faced with a woman that looked as of she wanted to bite their heads off. They had never seen a more fierce expression on a person before.

Your hair whipped around your face wildly. The only thing that brought you back was Jr. wrapping his arms around your leg. Dropping the magic immediately, you scooped him into your arm. Cuddling him close to your chest, you wiped the tears from his cheeks.

Allowing himself to take a moment to gaze at the two of you tenderly. He enjoyed the sight of the woman he was growing to love caring for his child. It was a veiw that he could get used to. A glare slid on his face as he turned towards the brothers. “Is there any reason your harassing my son. Make it quick, you interupted something important.” One wrong move and he would tear into these idiots. He would risk peace with the Mushroom Kingdom for his families’ safety.

“We came to make sure she wasn't here against her will.” Mario was done with this entire situation. He was obviously sent on a dead end trip. You were treating Bowser Jr. like your own child. Not to mention Bowser putting himself between you and the brothers. It was obvious you were here by choice.

This made you finally take your attention off Jr. These men come here and accuse your betrothed of forcing you here. You know he had a sorted pass. Though your ability showed that he was passed that phase. It was one thing to make baseless claims. But it was a whole other to harm a child in the process. “I am here of my own accord. In a months time I will be marrying Boswer and taking my place in this kingdom. If that is enough evidence for you, I will now be leaving to heal my son. If not then I won't hesitate to make sure this is your last trip to the Koopa Kingdom.” The wind picked back up at your threat.

“No, we'll be on our way.” Mario just wanted to go home and soak away this entire experience. Pulling Luigi along, he shushed his protest with a wave of his hands.

Bowser followed after you, pupils practically shaped like hearts. He wasn't sure what he had done to be so lucky to meet you. But he would be sure to keep his plush queen by his side.

[pierrotsmoon]

The Lost Boys with an Artist! S/O!

warnings- fem! reader terms, a lil OOC, nothing else!

David

Being the oldest vampire in their group, David has seen artistic eras start and fade

His favorite art will always be yours though

From doodles to finished work, he enjoys whatever art you show him

David adores any work you do involving subjects of death, reincarnation and religion

If you draw him, he’ll act calm and collected, but you can see the faintest blush on his pale face

Looking through your sketchbook is like looking through a window to your soul to him, it’s like an honor

“Thank you for showing me your work, I’m so pleased you see me as beautiful enough to draw.”

Marko

He’s so giddy to have a girlfriend at all

Flexible little dude, will bend in any direction, makes for the perfect live model

If you do draw him, he’s speechless for a second before immediately jumping around like a madman

Marko has the coolest patchwork jacket, and he always goes to you for more homemade patches

You always deliver, because the look on his face whenever he gets a new patch is adorable

Probably leaves little napkin doodles just for you!

“Look at what my girlfriend made for me!”

Dwayne

Loves having a creative lover

 Dwayne is a romantic at heart, low voiced and caring

He definitely knows a bit about art

Has a bad habit of finding you drawing and just staring

Staring for weird amounts of time

But it's because of how enamored he is with you and your talent 

He often finds himself peering at your sketchbook 

But he’s respectful, so he’ll always ask before looking through it, carefully flipping each page to avoid tearing 

When he sees you draw him, he feels so eternally tender, if he had a working heart, it would be beating noticeably faster 

“I’ll admit I was staring, but I had no negative intentions.”

Paul

My favorite airhead

Does not understand the first thing about art

But his emotional process is very easy

mmm pretty lady draw pretty pictures

Adores his gf no matter what, but creativity is really just icing on the cake for him

Paul is a fan of anything you make, especially anything he helps you with

By helps you, i mean he finds a leaf and hands it to you

Forever amazed by your talent

“Woah, you can really do anything!”

Star

Star is a naturally curious young woman, but being around only boys can get tiring

Having a girlfriend, a confidante and lover, outside of the scope of men is extremely liberating for Star

You two often draw together, she enjoys fantasy as a form of escapism, but also occasionally doodles little flowers for you

She would love it if your art scoped outside of the regular pen and paper, like embroidery or murals

(embroider her skirts with lil flowers)

Loves colorful pieces

Would be a big fan of abstract, or expressive work

“Your work reminds me of you, the essence of you.”

Michael

Micheal is, uninformed on art to say the least

 He tries his best to keep up though!

Wherever you may be drawing, he’s always peering over your shoulder, jutting his head back right when you notice

Loves to give you little gifts too, mostly candy wrappers and pressed flowers

You always keep them in your sketchbook

If you ever draw him, he’ll get really happy, and also confused

Aren't there better people to draw?

Reassure him!!!!

“I didn’t know I was ‘muse’ material.”

[cattimeswithjellie]

Stream Recap, ZombieCleo, 6/12/24

((These recaps go out very lightly proofread, FYI. Feel free to comment with anything egregious that needs to be corrected, but they're not gonna be perfect. They just take too long, lol.))

0:00 Cleo opens the stream by calling the chat to awaken and feel her pain. Or don’t, because not doing that is cool too. She welcomes everyone to the stream and points out that she is not in her base. Whose base is she in? She asks the chat to guess; they correctly guess Joel. Joel wants to commission statue work. He wants a statue that represents his friendship with Jimmy. Cleo’s willing but not quite sure how to go about it. She asks Chat for suggestions. If Chat had to make a Jimmy and Joel statue, what would they do? Cleo’s immediate thought is Jimmy in a little cowboy hat and Joel puppeting him on strings, or possibly Jimmy and Joel as Bad Boys, doing Bad Boy things. Joel might appreciate them on motorbikes. Chat’s suggestions include Jimmy and Joel holding hands under a rainbow, Tiny Jimmy on Joel’s shoulders, and Joel with his arm around Jimmy.

3:10 Cleo points out that Joel and Jimmy’s relationship does not really seem to be one of two bros hanging out and being affectionate with one another. They are more about two bros hanging out and taking the piss. She also doesn’t want to do Tiny Jimmy because she knows them from the Life Series. She’s leaning towards Bad Boys and motorbikes. She thanks subs and donos. A chatter says “Armor stand time?” Cleo is not sure if it’s armor stand time yet, because they need to finish their own base and to come up with some kind of motorbike design. Chat suggests “Joel on a motorbike and Jimmy on a tricycle” and “Joel and Jimmy on motorbikes but Jimmy is a little bit smaller.” Cleo thinks if she can get their Bad Boy skins she can do it with no problem. Chat suggests motorbikes with TNT minecarts strapped to the back.

5:30 Cleo arrives back at her own base and shows Chat what she’s been up to. She’s blocked off the elevator temporarily because it won’t be ready by tomorrow and is hoping to finish the tower room she’s been decorating. She does not elaborate on what the Thursday thing is that she is preparing for. A chatter plays an explosion noise. She calls them rude but doesn’t mean it. A chatter asks if they can put Cleo in a Hermitcraft poem. Cleo says sure, that doesn’t affect them at all. The problem with a floor made of trap doors is that it is hard to stack up on to reach the ceiling, but Cleo manages and shows off some potential hanging shelf designs. They’ve got a lot of stuff to decorate, including smithing templates and potsherds, and want to make a demon with a moving jaw in the summoning circle. That is the plan.

10:00 There is one blank spot on a wall that Cleo doesn’t know what to do with. She asks the chat for thoughts. Chat suggests stained glass window. Cleo shows that the exterior wall is not big enough for a window. Chat suggests banners or a mural. Cleo reiterates how much they are looking forward to the new paintings. They look through their smithing templates to decide which ones to display and what sort of plinth to use. There will be fire coming up from the floor as well. A chatter shares a pride message, Cleo wishes everyone happy pride.

13:00 Cleo needs gold and doesn’t have any. She goes to find some and makes some gold pressure plates. Armor stand work begins! A chatter plays sour jellybean. A chatter asks what Cleo is making. They say “a mess.” Cleo says hello to Cub when he signs in. A chatter asks about the music or lack thereof, Cleo reminds Chat that the music was a once-off because having music affects the ability to monetize a VOD.

17:30 More armor stand work. The gold plinth is completed and locked. Cleo puts the Silence trim on it because it has an attractive dusting of skulk. She has so much stuff to put away before tomorrow! She thanks subs and donos. Impulse raids into the stream. Cleo says they are definitely not summoning demons and tells chat to be cool, okay? Pearl raids into the stream as well. Chat helps Cleo figure out how to successfully copy the smithing template. Chat thinks it is funny that Pearl streamed so long ((six hours)) that Impulse started and finished his whole stream during it.

23:00 Cleo confirms that Pearl is crazy. They are complimenting Pearl’s redstone skills when Pearl herself appears, protesting being called crazy while absolutely exuding 5am Pearl vibes. Cleo points out they were literally saying “Pearl is crazy and awesome.” Pearl admits she didn’t hear the awesome part. Cleo sings the Happy Birthday song, using the “you look like a monkey” variant. Pearl protests being called crazy and like a monkey. Cleo points out that she does have a sword in her head. ((Pearl is wearing her new Mission Possible reward: the hat that looks like a sword through the head.)) Pearl asks her to pull it out. Cleo slaps her a couple times, but it does not help. Cleo tells her she needs the true king of England to pull the sword out of her brain. Pearl asks if she pulls it out herself, is she the true queen? Cleo says sure, that seems right. Magically, the sword disappears from Pearl’s head and a diamond sword appears in her hand. Cleo says they will follow Pearl. Pearl puts the sword back in her head for safekeeping.

25:00 Today is Pearl’s birthday, technically, depending on timezones. Cleo says she is not sure if she should tell Pearl to sleep or to go out and do stuff. Pearl says it’s still dark out ((It is 5:30am Pearl time and she has just completed a six-hour streaming session)) but she will go out and run around the neighborhood like a crazy lady if Cleo wants her to. Cleo says go to sleep. Pearl asks what if she just wants to do redstone? Gem appears and smashes Pearl with a sword, setting her on fire, which does seem to be the best possible answer to that question. Gem shouts that she needs to kill Pearl for her birthday, it’s important! Pearl shrieks and flies away, still on fire. Cleo asks if birthday murder is a thing, Gem insists that it is and flies off after Pearl. Cleo sets up a respawn bed for Pearl, who is dopplering in and out of chat overhead. Gem lands and talks with Cleo about how crazy Pearl is because she never sleeps. The chase continues.

27:20 Pearl lands on Gem’s roof and claims it is a safe space. Gem points out that she can get up there. Pearl says she can fly away. Gem reiterates the importance of birthday murder and points out that it only took 20 days for Pearl to catch up to her in age. Cleo understands that this is some sort of thing that the Kids These Days are doing and she can safely stop trying to understand. Gem continues trying to give Pearl her birthday present, which is murder. She begins scaffolding onto the roof. Pearl says she wants a jar of pickles instead and demands to know where her pickles are. ((Gem has the sea pickle permit, and Pearl has been buying her out consistently, partly for tree decorations and partly because it makes Gem crazy.)) She begins breaking the scaffolding as Gem tries to climb up. Cleo, at a safe distance, says this is like Looney Tunes but she’s not sure which one is Wile E. Coyote.

28:30 Gem says, apparently straightfaced, that she would never do anything violent at Cleo’s base. Cleo points out the whole stabbing Pearl already thing. Gem plays Scar’s “Don’t Put That in My Mouth” horn. Pearl demands to know how that was contextual. Gem admits she just hasn’t used it in awhile. She flies up to the roof and spooks Pearl, who falls off the roof, catches herself, flies away and loops around the wizard tower before landing again. Cleo admires Gem’s ability to scare Pearl without doing anything. Gem appreciates this and begins punching Cleo ((Gem’s primary means of showing affection.)) Pearl is dismayed by this turn of events. “Oh no, Cleo,” she cries, leading to a discussion of the excellent way that Australian people pronounce “Cleo.”

29:50 The chase resumes. Cleo reminds Pearl she should sleep. Pearl refuses and asks what Cleo plans to do about it. Cleo does not plan on doing anything. Pearl suggests that maybe Cleo should stop worrying about Pearl and start worrying about stopping Gem doing what she’s doing to Cleo. Gem has disappeared over the roofline. Cleo tells Gem to stop flipping up the trapdoors, there’s a tour tomorrow! Gem does not know about any tours, she’s been gone for days and is trying to make up on her quota of being annoying. Cleo assures her that she is succeeding, then tells her that the Hermit meeting tomorrow is canceled and they are doing base tours instead. Neither Pearl nor Gem know if they’ll be able to come, since meeting time is not good for them. Pearl insists that they have to promise to play the word game. Cleo asks if she wants them to play the game now, and says they have never played Wordle. Pearl demands to know why so many people have not played Wordle. Pearl tries to explain Wordle while Gem makes halfhearted attempts to murder her, including baiting her with Cleo’s sea pickles. They decide to go play Wordle.

32:30 Pearl leads the way to the flower shop, mostly coasting because she has forgotten to restock her rockets. She shows them the rulebook, but Cleo and Gem both refuse to read today. Cleo does insist on paying a diamond to play. Chat accepts that Hermits don’t actually know how to read. Pearl explains the rules and mechanics of Dyeduction, her redstone Wordle game. It is very similar to Wordle except that four consonants are excluded from the game and repeated letters are not allowed.

36:45 Cleo and Gem need to pick a five letter starting word. Gem immediately tries “PEARL.” Gem is having some real trouble spelling Pearl today. She takes the letters off the item frames and puts them in the dropper, which causes Pearl incredible distress. Cleo presses the Confirm Guess button. They have E and L correct, but in the wrong place.

39:00 Cleo thinks about a second word. She thinks about Melon, but that has the E in the same place. Gem doesn’t know any five letter words. Pearl cheerfully tells them that hard mode will add a timer. Neither Cleo nor Gem can think of any words with E and L in them. They argue about strategy. Cleo accuses Pearl of schadenfreude and asks why she is like this. Pearl points out that they wanted to play. They decide to try “SLICE.” They get another connect letter, I, but nothing in the right place.

44:50 Pearl leaves them to ruminate and goes AFK. Gem and Cleo try to remember what their words are. Gem wants Pearl to place a sign they can use to take notes. Pearl suggests a pencil and paper. Cleo’s mod brings chat back from emote mode, having blacklisted the answer so no one can say it. They decide to try “LIKED” and begin pulling letters for the attempt. Some of them take a moment to find. Gem declares she found the D. Pearl mutters a “that’s what she said.” Gem shouts at her. Of all the people in the room, Gem thinks Pearl is least likely to have made that joke. Cleo thinks it is very funny. Chat agrees wholeheartedly. They test the word and have two in the right spot and all but one letter. They are making it harder on themselves by both grabbing letters from the chests.

50:00 Time to find another word. Pearl is yawning. Gem insists that she warned Pearl that she was dumb and Pearl insisted anyway. Pearl says she really is entertained. Cleo suggests “FIELD.” They set up for a test with Pearl egging them on. The word is correct, they get the win condition. Everyone celebrates! Pearl tells them that 20 minutes and four guesses is about average so far, though Skizz did ten minutes and three guesses. Pearl hands out prizes to both of them. She tells them that in the future she will be adding flower crowns but plans to set them as a reward for hard mode. Cleo demands to know why Pearl hates her when Cleo has shown her nothing but love. Pearl points out that everyone is succeeding, so the game needs to be harder. Gem promises that if she plays alone, she will definitely fail. Pearl shows them how to put away and reset the game.

54:10 Cleo is very impressed by all Pearl’s work on the game. Pearl shows off her randomizer. Cleo and Gem now know who to come to for all their redstoning need. Gem cheers that she doesn’t need to bother Impulse anymore. Pearl demurs that she’s not really so good, Cleo points out that she build Wordle in eight hours. Pearl says it was more than 8 all things considered. Cleo says she needs Pearl to stick around so she’s available every time Cleo wants to play. Pearl says she can’t be around all the time, Cleo points out that Pearl basically _is_ around all the time. Gem can’t believe that Pearl made the joke about the letter D. Pearl’s really grown up now that she’s 28. Cleo says she is too mature for this and insists that she never swears. Gem mentions seeing a Tiktok where Cleo said the F word twice at MCC. Cleo admits this is true. She says if they want her to swear she can swear, but they don’t want her to swear. Gem enjoys it when Cleo swears, and chat wholeheartedly agrees. Pearl admits some Hermits swear and thinks nobody will be surprised. Cleo tells them that back in Season 2 they swore a lot more in their videos and Xisuma asked them to consider going PG. This was in the days before the Algorithm. Swearing is actually not as important to the algorithm anymore, but Cleo tries to keep it clean out of respect for the server’s PG streamers.

58:00 Pearl calls out “She’s in my noodles!” “Excuse you?” Cleo asks. Gem has climbed into Pearl’s redstone and is poking around. Pearl asks what’s wrong with her noodles. Cleo hums and says it sounds euphemistic. Pearl is outraged and demands to know how it could be possible that she would have multiple noodles that Gem would be rifling around in. Cleo clears their throat. “You’re making it worse,” Gem tells her. It wasn’t that bad, and then Pearl just kept talking. Cleo is laughing really hard by now. Chat is too. Cleo wishes everyone happy pride month. Gem is punching again. She builds a wood structure to contain Cleo and calls it a makeshift closet. Cleo chops it down and insists that Gem cannot put them back into the closet, that’s not allowed. Getting out of the closet took a long time and was very traumatic the first time! “Least it was quicker this time ‘round,” Pearl observes philosophically.

1:00:00 Everyone takes a moment to breathe. Gem observes that she and Pearl are putting Cleo through it today. Cleo says they are fine, they had to deal with Joe this morning and this is comparatively fine. Xisuma plays the “Awooooo!” horn from upstairs and then comes down to join them. Gem demands to know if Xisuma really made a horn of himself howling, then demands to know what is _wrong_ with this server. He plays Cleo’s howling horn as well, then asks if Pearl or Gem has a wool permit, because if so they can get in on the horn action. Gem figures out that it’s a Wolves of Wool Street bit.

1:01:20 Xisuma notices that Pearl has a sword in her head and slaps her trying to help get it out, just like everyone else. Cleo jokes that the sword’s probably not actually touching Pearl’s brain because there’s a lot of room in there. Pearl is fake-mortally affronted and pretends to leave. Cleo calls “Happy birthday!” after her. Pearl stomps back and says she was about to make that joke but Cleo is definitely not allowed. Cleo says they do it because they care. They demand a better Awoo from Pearl. Pearl does a few Awoos. Xisuma says she should practice before he clips it into a horn. Gem says she’s starting to understand why people question what they do for work. She plays the “Oh My God” horn. Cleo grabs out her own horn box and plays Grian’s “I’m eating a curly-whirly right now but it’s nice to see Xisuma” horn. Xisuma says playing on this server just gets more confusing. Gem plays Scar’s “Don’t put that in my mouth” horn.

1:03:10 Xisuma catches sight of the Wordle game and gets very excited. He says the game is amazing. Pearl and Cleo both play Gem’s “That’s amazing!” horn. Gem says she is definitely not that loud. Pearl suggests X should play, but X says he’s very bad at word games. Pearl says she needs someone to fail for testing purposes. X asks if she can’t just fail deliberately, but Pearl insists it is not the same. Xisuma is having some voice chat trouble. Gem is bored and punching people. Pearl suggests she could change the world and the other three can work as a team to solve it. Xisuma tries to remember the rules to Wordle, Pearl helps him.

1:06:20 Xisuma thinks about a first word, decides on “SHEAR.” Pearl has not reset the word, so apparently the others will only be providing moral support. He gets the E in the right place and no other letters right. Cleo gives him gameplay advice but no word-choice advice. Gem points out he’s already doing better than they did. Xisuma recommends texturing the letters, Pearl says she’s been thinking about it. While Xisuma thinks, Cleo thanks her subs and donos. In the background, Xisuma is asking Pearl how to spell “field.” Pearl spells it for him. Xisuma wins on the second guess. Cleo insists that the fix is in. Pearl reminds him that he said he was bad at word games. Xisuma says he didn’t play it like a word game, but a game of deduction, eliminating letters. He gets a prize bundle. Xisuma wants to look at the redstone, but Pearl makes him reset the game first. He resets without reading the sign and has to do it twice. He breaks the game a little in doing so. Pearl fixes it up while Gem messes with the trapdoors. Pearl accuses Gem and Cleo of messing with the game. Cleo claims innocence, but Gem tells them they are guilty by association. Cleo agrees it’s a fair cop. Xisuma has disappeared, presumably into the noodles.

1:13:50 Pearl explains the redstone of the game to Xisuma. They talk redstone. Cleo wanders around, eventually leaving the game and going back into the unfurnished flower shop. Gem is visible in the background, flipping trapdoors. Cleo begins to help flipping trapdoors. Xisuma compliments Pearl’s redstone prowess and assumes she must have done other projects before this. Pearl says nope. Xisuma finds that hard to believe, since she’s put together so many different logical system. Cleo and Gem suggest that maybe redstone’s just not that difficult after all. Xisuma threatens to teach them redstone. Pearl says she got a lot of help from her chat, but Cleo insists that doesn’t mean Pearl didn’t do the bulk of the work. Pearl does feel like she knows a lot more about redstone now. X tells her that her redstone is so impressive and he hopes they’ll be seeing a lot more redstone from her. This is just the beginning. It’s very wholesome except Cleo and Gem are still flipping trapdoors.

1:18:00 Cleo and Gem do not want to make redstone games or to learn redstone. Cleo hated teaching electronics when they were a teacher. They understand enough to do it but they don’t enjoy it and don’t want to do math on their day off. X and Pearl agree that’s understandable. Gem says she doesn’t like games with too much intensive problem solving, but she knows those are the ones Pearl loves. Pearl thanks X for playing the game. Chat gives Cleo the idea for a redstone game involving a random chance of dropping TNT on people. Cleo likes the idea. The group talks briefly about Zelda. Someone makes a very weird noise. X and Cleo are confused and Cleo thinks it’s a horn, but Gem correctly identifies the sounds as the noises Pearl makes when she’s stretching. Cleo says she really needs to do the stuff she needs to do before tomorrow. X confirms he will be there tomorrow and says he came over in the first place to find Cleo. Pearl complains that everyone goes crazy around her, Cleo points out that makes Pearl the common denominator. X is dismayed by Gem’s trapdoor shenanigans. Cleo tells Pearl she is wonderful and amazing, and Cleo will never tell her that when it is not her birthday. Xisuma tries to tell Cleo that it is also his birthday, but his birthday was last week. Cleo suddenly remembers that they missed False’s birthday and apologizes in chat. False is confused, and Cleo is unintentionally threatening about it. Xisuma makes it worse. False is now concerned.

1:24:15 Gem sees Jevin’s prank on the Death Scar for the first time. Taking off for a week means one misses a lot. Xisuma doesn’t know if Scar’s going to have the energy to undo that prank, especially with his surgery and recovery coming up. It could be a Death Emoji for the rest of the season. Cleo points out that Jev will take it down if Scar asks, because Jev does clean up his pranks. Cleo protests that she needs to go do her work, even as she doesn’t leave. Everyone whines about it. Someone attracts phantoms. Gem sets Cleo on fire while fighting them. Cleo complains about that too, then tells Pearl to go to bed. Gem suggests that is Cleo is sick of them, they should go bug Tango. They can make Tango guess the word! Cleo gives Pearl some rockets so she and Gem can bug Tango. They leave. Cleo sends Tango an apology in chat.

1:28:00 With the youngsters gone, Xisuma admits that he came over in the first place to raid Cleo, but that was like 30 minutes ago. It was a pleasant distraction though. He is going to wrap up his stream and send the chat to them. Cleo says it’s time for more armor stands. Tango is confused in chat. Cleo heads home for more armor stand work. Chat says Gem and Pearl are so precious. Cleo says that’s one way to put it. Chat says they were both great additions to Hermitcraft. Cleo says there are some moments when they wonder how they ever did it without them, and then are “Oh yeah, I know!” They get back to work on placing the smithing template.

1:30:00 Xisuma raids into the stream. Cleo greets the raid and gets jumpscared by a chatter playing a scary noise. Some of X’s emotes set off the automod because they are all caps. Cleo completes the first summoning stone and needs four more. They choose another template and goes to copy more. They explain to new chatters that they are summoning demons, but good demons, demons they control. Grian signs on and wants everyone to know he is back from badminton. ((Read Impulse’s 6/12 stream recap for context on that.)) He leaves again. Gem asks why he is this way, Cleo says it’s mostly having too much time on his hands.

1:34:30 A chatter asks if anyone on the server is normal. Cleo refutes that idea hastily, saying that nobody on the server wants to be normal, being normal would make everything take so much longer. Mod Cam thinks Joe is the closest to normal. “Jesus, that’s a statement,” says Cleo. A chatter says normal is boring. Cleo says yeah, but it can be nice. Also an affliction. Chat is arguing about who the most normal Hermit is. There is no consensus. Cleo places the armor stands that will mark the spots for the other summoning stones.

1:37:20 A chatter asks what mod Cleo uses for armor stands, they namedrop Armor Poser. A chatter asks if Cleo is bi, they say yes and joke “for my sins. And your sins!” Another chatter says it should’ve been obvious based on all the closet jokes earlier. Cleo says that asking is fine and polite, assuming things is not. A chatter plays Giant Zombie. Cleo continues working on the summoning stones, which are going fast now that they have the plan. A chatter asks if Cleo is going to TwitchCon, they say no.

A chatter asks if they are summoning Ren, they say no, they are summoning things that will have calibrated skulk sensors for faces.

1:43:00 A chatter plays emote-only mode. Cleo finishes the plinths and says they would love it if the Armor Poser interface was smaller on the screen. They wonder if they can change that. Xisuma makes a winky face in chat. Cleo says this is the most sinister thing. Something is about to happen and they won’t know what it is until the dust settles. A chatter asks about the zombie hands and Cleo explains all the hand emotes. They begin putting the smithing template “waystones” onto the plinths and say they’re looking forward to showing this off tomorrow. A chatter plays sour jellybean. A chatter asks if Cleo has read Discworld; Cleo says they lived off Discworld when they were younger. A chatter asks about candles, candles don’t go well with armor stand work because they are not appropriately 3D. A chatter threatens Cleo with more beans, Cleo is not interested in more beans. A chatter suggests a candle flame might be usable if combined with a cake hidden in the floor. Cleo thinks that might be possible.

1:53:00 Cleo flies to the food store and buys some expensive cake. They want to check if the idea will work before they buy out the shop. It does not work because another armor stand is in the way. Cleo cannot pick up the cake and try again, so she eats it instead. Chat has more ideas about runes and candles. The next step of the summoning circle is making the demon and that is tomorrow’s project, so Cleo turns her attention to the shelves. Chat is very interested in an eyeball in a jar. Cleo makes one for them. They talk with Chat about Etho in MCC. Etho has been getting sweaty on MCCI, apparently. A chatter plays Hydration Check. Cleo knows that Chat is thirsty. They get the eyeball into the jar. The blank wall is still blank and needs attention.

2:02:00 Cleo makes up some paintings just to have something on the wall. They talk with Chat about some of the finer points of Armor Poser. They put paintings on the wall but don’t like most of them. A chatter suggests one of the new 1.21 paintings. Cleo asks Chat if they can point out the slight problem with that. Three paintings make the wall look less blank, then Cleo puts up a desk made of trapdoors as well. Cleo makes armor stand work look very easy. They place some additional bookshelves in the corner, then a few lecterns as well. As they go, they flip back Gem’s trapdoors, acknowledging that this is probably karma for their antics at Beef’s base.

2:10:00 Cleo finishes up the décor and decides to wrap up the stream. They need to sleep and feed the cats. She raids into Tango and ends her stream.

[sepublic]

Hooty, the Titan, and the Archivists?

(Skip to The Timeline heading down below if you just want the backstory I put together.)

All right, so I think Hooty was the one who built the temple, or “Collector’s lair” we see inside of the Titan’s skull. Going off of the assumption that the Titan’s tapeworm is indeed our Hooty and not another of his kind...

Anyone remember these weird demons from Hooty’s Moving Hassle? Probably not; It’s a case of a little demon living in the right eye socket of a bigger demon. Right after giving Eda directions, the bigger demon ensnares his little guy with his tongue to eat him. But what if he wasn’t actually eating him; Just transporting his friend to another part of his body?

If you think of it, these two could be a metaphor for how the Boiling Isles as a whole work; A bunch of smaller little guys, living on a bigger guy’s body and occasionally interacting with him. The main difference being that the Titan is mostly dead, and can’t physically interact with people, just watch and show them glyphs. Hooty’s relationship with the Titan could’ve been similar to these two... And we see this pair in Hooty’s Moving Hassle, an episode that implied deeper lore to Hooty, such as the living legs underneath the Owl House, his reaction to the Moonlight Conjuring, etc.

Then there’s that mural I showed earlier, depicting a tower at the Collector’s lair, with a circular symbol that as @fermented-writers-block (and/or someone else idk) suggested, bears a resemblance to Hooty... So could this be where Hooty emerged from, all the way within the Titan’s eye socket? Did he build this living space while the Titan was alive, or afterwards? 

Likewise, this eye motif becomes even more interesting when we remember Dell’s tower, which the Owl House was built from;

It has the same giant eye window, repurposed... And at the end of the first episode, it even blinks.

Could be a case of early-installment weirdness, but what if this alludes to the window having once been alive? We know the Owl House itself has breathing walls, revealed in, you guessed it, Hooty’s Moving Hassle! If Hooty was a part of the Owl House, who’s to say he wasn’t part of Dell’s tower, before it got converted by Eda? Likewise...

We know Dell visited the ‘mandible’, so presumably the Titan’s jaws. This next bit is more speculative, but if Hooty was left behind in the Titan’s skull, then maybe he scavenged around the area; And teeth are known to have lots of leftover food bits, wonderful for such a voracious creature like Hooty! So maybe Dell found Hooty there, and essentially adopted him; Bringing Hooty with him back to the right arm, where he eventually created a new structure for Hooty to house himself in. Possibly taking the Titan’s right eye and repurposing it as a window...

I mean, if you think about it... Both King and Eda have a dad who’s missing an eye. And Dell would’ve presumably made this trip after losing his eye... Assuming it’s not a return trip, possibly to meet up with his old pal Hooty, or search Hooty’s old home for strange things that might help? So maybe the window is the Titan’s left eye, transformed. 

Continuing onwards, Hooty may seem too small, given his scale relative to the Titan; But so does the Titan’s heart, as is the proposed eye the window would’ve come from. What I think happened is that over time, these leftover bits of the Titan shrank due to a lack of nutrition, for obvious reasons; And Hooty is indeed a very gluttonous creature. Of course, his eating tendencies may have originated prior to the Titan’s death...

We see how Hooty has a tendency to swallow a bunch of stuff to spit out at a later time, when needed. And if he guards the temple where the Collector’s disc was found, perhaps Hooty simply... swallowed it, in order to transport the disc within? He could’ve been used as a way for the Titan to store things inside of her skull, of all places, and then vomit back up afterwards when required.

We know there are multiple Collector discs, there’s one with the Titan Trappers, a second one I theorize was eaten by Hooty, and what appear to be remains of at least one more hovering around the Collector’s prison in the in-between;

However! We must recall that on the doors leading to the skull’s temple (or ‘The Collector’s lair’ as Philip calls it), there are five circular indentations. They may be other places for Hooty to have emerged from, but people speculated they were actually meant for five Collector discs we’ve seen. And, well...

It appears there were five Collectors (or more specifically, one Collector and four Archivists). The fate of the Archivists is not specified; The Collector says ‘They’re not here’ in response to Luz’s death... But keep in mind, this is them just now realizing that death is a thing. So just as they believe and were likely told the Archivists ‘took away’ people who died (not unlike how the living were preserved in scrolls, per their title)... It’s possible they believed the Archivists had simply left, when in reality, they had been wiped out by the Titans in their war, a mutual genocide.

After all, we know Titan magic is able to cancel out that of the Archivists’, so it’s not a stretch to imagine they had a fighting chance; The Archivists did rely on the Titan Trappers for help, so they were clearly aware of their shortcomings. And just as one side made trophies out of remnants of the other...

What if these discs are basically Archivist corpses? That upon death, their bodies reverted into these tiny, glass-like artifacts; And the Titan, OUR Titan, stored them inside of his skull, relying on Hooty to organize the discs for him. Five discs... For five Collectors.

But as we know, the Titan didn’t kill OUR Collector; She spared him. Although she does frame this as an act of passion, committed out of vengeance; So did she want revenge, but still had enough sense to not kill this kid? 

Anyhow, we have this theorized precedent for living things becoming glass discs after death. Perhaps like the Titan’s eye, which Hooty held onto, and later brought with him when Dell invited him into the Owl Tower? Likewise, if these discs are crystallized Archivist corpses, that might explain their connection to the Collector, given they are kin, and there’s still some leftover magic.

This does raise the implications of the Titan Trappers’ disc being shattered. And to be honest... I think it was just broken. There are reasons why Belos wrapped the Collector’s disc in his old cloak; It was him getting rid of a wretched part of his past, and silencing the kid. But the way the Collector’s disc lands, caught on the cloak and not hitting the ground... It makes me wonder if the animators showed it this way, to suggest that if it weren’t for the cloak catching it, the disc would’ve hit the ground and shattered upon impact.

That could be the very simple explanation behind Bill’s disc being broken; Nothing to do with an Archivist being freed, I hope... But if they are alive and out there, perhaps they all escaped their prisons and fled into the cosmos, abandoning the Collector.

So to put things together into a general timeline...!

The Timeline

The Archivists seek to preserve life, converting them into scrolls you can read, hence their name. They travel from planet to planet, with the policy that if the natives resist preservation, they’ve essentially embraced the alternative that is death; So may as well help them get it over with! Hence the genocide as retaliation.

The Archivists eventually spot the Demon Realm, and send in their little kid, the Collector, as a Trojan Horse; Someone who can scout out the place for them, provide intel, and make the Titans think the rest of his kind are trustworthy. The Collector plays with the fellow kids, expresses interest in one egg still waiting to hatch, but isn’t allowed to play just yet. Eventually, the Archivists strike... Only to discover their magic is countered by the Titans’.

Still, they don’t give up; They enlist the help of puny mortal witches (among them Bill), creating the first generation of Titan Trappers to help them. The alliance between Archivists and Titan Trappers succeeds in commencing a brutal genocide; And at some point during this war, one Archivist targets the Owl Beast, and turns it into a scroll. However, they lose the scroll, which ends up in the boiling ocean, drifting for millennia until an unsuspecting trash-cleaner picks it up...

The Archivists use their viscous forms, resembling the darkness of space, to restrain the Titans, so their Titan Trapper allies can land the mortal blow. In response, OUR Titan fights back alongside the others, and one by one, the Archivists fall; Upon death, their magic fades and leaves behind only a little crystalline disc. Our Titan’s parasite, Hooty, swallows and stores them inside of his skull, which has a decorated living quarters he carved out himself! We know from Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door that he built an entire underground love tunnel for Luz and Amity... Storing the discs causes Hooty to form a connection with the moon (one that can be invoked during a Moonlight Conjuring), just as the Archivists once had.

As for the Collector, our Titan feels resentful and blames him for the genocide of her people, but doesn’t commit to killing them, despite having five slots, for five Archivists; Instead, she imprisons him in the in-between. Likewise, her egg is kept safe in a hidden Titan nursery, using a glyph (possibly an undiscovered combo, or the glyph of another Titan entirely) to hide it from the Archivists; Jean-Luc is placed as a guardian. 

The war continues, until our Titan is the last one left, but has successfully killed the last Archivist in battle. However, their Titan Trapper allies collect the disc left behind in their death, forcing a wounded Titan to flee, but not before she blows out Bill’s ear drums. She succumbs to her injuries, lying down and mourning the child she left behind; And upon death, her spirit lingers in the in-between, for her heart still beats. Unable to interact with the world of the living, she relies on cubes to see what is going on there, and eventually regrets imprisoning the Collector; But despite her search across millennia, she cannot find the Collector’s prison in this infinite chasm.

Poor Hooty is left behind, and like the Bat Queen, loses his memories over time; Possibly the result of physical trauma like her, and/or time taking a toll on his psychology (Amity states House Demons go crazy after a while). At one point, he captures a Stonesleeper during the Hektaceous period to keep as a pet, hoping to soothe his loneliness; And eventually, leaves the Titan’s eye socket, bored and without purpose. With the Titan’s crystallized eye stored in his stomach, Hooty heads down to the mandible, where some leftover food is there for him to scavenge upon...

Meanwhile, Bill uses the disc the Titan Trappers found to communicate with the Collector. Bill worships the Collector as the Grand Huntsman, recognizing them as kin of the Archivists. The Collector explains only a Titan can free them and expresses interest in the egg they wanted to play with, and Bill interprets the mission to find the Titan’s egg as a continuation of the genocide the Archivists ordered. However, the disc he has is broken, cutting contact with Bill and the Collector. Undeterred, the Titan Trappers eventually locate the Titan’s corpse, but are unable to find her egg and give up, returning home. Every now and then, a Titan Trapper visits the isles for clues.

Even more time passes, witches evolve and spread across the Boiling Isles, etc. Others visit the skull and find the other three discs, but only two are taken away; The witches who find these discs discover they can communicate with an enigmatic entity known as the Collector through them, but ultimately get sick of the kid and shatter their discs. Nevertheless, someone makes note of the Collector’s existence, and their connection to the discs, of which only one is known to be left intact in the skull; Philip Wittebane comes across these notes, which also record how the Collector taught this witch powerful magic.

Inspired, he heads to the skull, only to come across the Stonesleeper that Hooty left behind; Not wanting to risk his own skin, Philip relies on other witches, including Blue Fang, as bait to distract the Stonesleeper, but to no avail. He eventually enlists Luz and Lilith, and they manage to survive long enough for Philip to escape with the final disc. He also kills Hooty’s pet, using its lungs to make the first Grimwalker of Caleb...

Flash forward a few centuries, and Dell visits the mandible, meeting Hooty. He befriends the primordial parasite, who has shrunken over time due to a lack of nutrition; The Titan’s body has decayed quite a bit. Hooty explains how he lives in the area, and found some pretty weird things there that he shows off. Dell takes him back to his home in the right arm, building a tower for Hooty to inhabit, a new house for him to guard, and he places the Titan’s eye as a window. When his daughter Eda is cursed, Dell decides to head back to the mandible, in case there’s something in the area that could help... Until his eye is clawed out by the Owl Beast, that is; Coming back after all this millennia!

Feeling guilt over Dell’s injuries as well as shame by her mother over the curse, Eda moves out of the house, since Lilith has already left for the Emperor’s Coven, so there’s nobody left for her there. She finds Dell’s old tower, meets Hooty, and rebuilds the structure into our titular Owl House... And the rest is history!

[marvelmusing]

Total Eclipse

Chapter One

Pairing: Darklina x Fem!Reader

Summary: Lord Morozova returns to his summer residence earlier than usual - accompanied by his new wife.

Word Count: 2.7K

My Masterlist

At the sight of the black coach, you drop your sketchbook into a secluded nook at the entrance to the church and take off, running back inside and heading towards the servants entrance.

As always, the minister scolds you for running, his stern words startling you, but you don’t pay him any mind as you continue to run. After stumbling through the back door, you weave by the girls pulling up weeds from the spot where their strawberries had been planted last week and leap over the old stone wall at the end of the garden.

Heart pounding, you follow the tracks carved into the fields by the farmer’s horse and cart, hoping that you can reach Lord Morozova’s summer residence before the coach arrives.

Growing up in Keramzin means that you know the fastest route to anywhere in the town and as a child you had snuck onto Lord Morozova’s estate countless times. He very rarely used the house there, aside from a month or so during the height of summer.

It is barely spring now. He’s here too early. The chill in the air hurts your lungs as you run but you can’t stop.

Mikhael and Dubrov are your closest friends. They had invited you to join them today on a visit to Lord Morozova’s house - a bit of fun for old times’ sake. Too busy with the mural you’ve been painting in the church, you had declined.

But at the sight of the Black General’s coach tearing its way through the town, you knew you needed to warn them.

There’s no sign of the coach as you approach the house, gravel crunching beneath your feet. Whatever window the boys had used to climb inside they must have shut behind them, so you pick the easiest one. Underneath the window to the drawing room sits a stone basin filled with flowers which you stand on to provide enough leverage to open the window and slip inside.

The curtains are soft against your skin as you wade through the thin white fabric adorned with shimmering golden threads that catch the sunlight beautifully.

The drawing room is a private space used only for entertaining Lord Morozova’s most valued guests. Silence greets you and despite the urgency that had fuelled you into running here, you can’t resist stopping to admire the room for the first time in years.

Tracing your fingers over the wallpaper, you’re surprised to find it as smooth and intact as when you last saw it. Dark blue, like the night sky, decorated with pale gold sketches of the summer constellations.

Some people say that Lord Morozova is descended from the Starless Saint. If that is true, this room is a perfect reflection of that heritage.

After hearing how quiet it is on this floor, you slowly make your way upstairs to search for the boys. The stairway is the same as you remember. A dark swooping beam of wood that curls in companion to the black metal rungs connecting it to the steps.

Those that don’t believe Lord Morozova is descended from a Saint are usually the ones who believe he is a descendant of the Black Heretic.

If his drawing room is that of a Saint’s then his bedroom is fit for a heretic. Almost everything is varying shades of darkness. Stained oak vanity table, wardrobe, and chair. His bedsheets are black, as are his pillows and the plush looking cushions that sit against the carved wooden headboard.

For a moment guilt tugs at you. As a child, Lord Morozova was more fantasy than reality. Some dark figure that was never seen. His presence had always felt almost ghostlike as you wandered through these halls. All those times you had visited, even as a rebellious teenager, you had never set foot in his bedroom.

Now, staring at his bed, he feels like a very real man. A powerful one. One that would not take kindly to some commoner breaking into his house - whether he used it often or not.

Heart pounding, you shut the door behind you, moving onto the next bedroom. Relief fills you at the sight of your friends, though that quickly fades into a mixture of horror and anger when you see the contents of a jewellery box lying spread out over the vanity table.

“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?”

Mikhael says your name in disbelief as he pockets an ornate looking necklace and a slow grin spreads over his face.

“You couldn’t stay away could you?”

Rolling your eyes, you move closer to them.

“Not when you two idiots are about to be caught by the Black General.”

They both freeze.

“What?”

“I saw his coach. He’ll be here any minute.”

Dubrov frowns.

“Are you sure? He’s never here this early in the year.”

Mikhael sighs with a smirk.

“Honestly, you see one black coach and you’re spooked. It’s a good job we didn’t involve you in this part.”

“This part?”

There’s no time for him to explain as the sound of a coach approaching at high speed reaches your ears. All three of you go still, hearts pounding as panic sets in.

“We need to go.”

Turning back to the door, you stop when you realise they aren’t following you. Instead, they’re both filling their pockets with jewellery.

“What are you doing?” you hiss.

Mikhael scowls at you.

“He won’t miss it.”

“Come on.”

Dubrov tosses the rest of the jewellery back into the box, fumbling as he returns it to its original position on a shelf by the window.

The three of you tear down the stairs as the coach wheels turn rapidly over the gravel outside. If you leave through the drawing room window now, they will see you.

“The library. Quickly,” you order them.

The old door creaks louder than it ever has before, and the new layout of the library takes you off guard for a few seconds. The sofas have been moved towards the centre of the room and your favourite armchair is now placed by the window – a perfect spot for basking in the sun.

You rush to the back of the library, opening up the window at the far end and pulling yourself out.

It’s a small jump but you land awkwardly, knees buckling a little and the gravel digs into the skin of your kneecaps even from underneath the fabric of your trousers. The boys follow you, Mikhael closing the window behind him before he jumps off the ledge. Both of them land better than you.

Hidden from the view of anyone at the front of the house, you rush towards the treeline, using the cover of foliage to circle around and watch as the coach comes to a stop.

The Black General’s silhouette alone is imposing, and a shiver runs through you at the sight of him. His dark eyes scour over the grounds as he holds out a hand for someone else to exit the coach.

“Who’s that?” you ask quietly.

The two boys duck down to follow your eye line.

“I hear a rumour he got married,” Dubrov muses. “That must be the new Lady Morozova.”

She’s beautiful. Despite the paleness of the spring sunlight, she practically glows. Her dark hair is tied neatly into an intricate combination of braids, and she smiles widely at him as her hand remains in his. Even from this distance, they look like a matching pair.

Mikhael tuts sympathetically.

“Poor girl. Imagine being married to a monster.”

You elbow him hard in the side and he winces.

“Ouch! What was that for?!”

“He isn’t a monster. He won the war for us against Fjerda.”

“Yeah but he’s still a Darkling. His ancestor created the Fold, and he has the same power. He could make another one, whenever he wants.”

Unfortunately, Dubrov doesn’t back you up.

“I heard he had one of his Grisha sew a man’s mouth shut. He died of starvation, after days of writhing in agony.”

“Dehydration would have killed him first,” you correct him, moving out from the bushes as the travellers disappear into the house.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Two days later, it’s approaching noon and your hands won’t stop shaking. Sighing, frustration claws at you as your paintbrush hovers over the face of Sankta Ursula. The minister had wanted you to start retouching the depiction of Sankt Feliks by this afternoon, but as your fingers continue to shake that goal seems further and further away.

Rolling your shoulder, you try to figure out what has you so unnerved. The church services that honour Sankta Alina are held twice a day - at sunrise and sunset - and you had missed this morning’s service. Perhaps your body is waiting for the minister’s scolding. Or maybe you should stop to eat something. The bakery had smelt particularly tempting this morning and you have a few loose coins in your pocket.

Then a shadow passes over your painting and you turn around, almost dropping your paintbrush when you see who has joined you in the empty church.

“Lord Morozova.”

He sits down on the old wooden bench beside where you’re kneeling on the hard stone floor. Dark eyes flicker over you, taking in every detail – the paint flecks on your skin and clothing, the tension in your muscles and the shadows under your eyes.

In turn, you take the opportunity to look at him. His kefta is a marvel up close. Despite the lingering winter weather, you have seen a few Grisha already sporting their silk summer keftas. Lord Morozova must feel the cold as you do, as he is still wearing his winter kefta. Delicate threads of black embroidery weave over the wool, accompanied by a small addition of golden threads. Is the gold a new feature? Something for his marriage perhaps?

As you realise you’ve been staring, your cheeks flush with warmth. Lord Morozova makes a dismissive gesture as you move to stand and possibly bow. You’ve never met a noble; you’re not quite sure how to interact with him.

“Please, don’t let me interrupt your work.”

A small smile touches the corner of your mouth.

“It’s fine, I was about to take a break anyway.”

He nods slowly, moving over a little for you to sit down beside him. Wincing, you stretch out your stiff legs. A few small bruises linger from where the gravel had pressed into your skin after jumping from the window of Lord Morozova’s library and the memory makes you nervous of his presence. His shoulder brushes against yours as you adjust your position on the bench.

“How long have you been painting?” he asks.

“I started not long after dawn this morning.”

The corner of his mouth twitches with the hint of a smile and something akin to laughter sparkles in his eyes. Heat flushes over your cheeks once again as you realise you had misunderstood his question. Shutting your eyes briefly, you sigh before running a hand over your face. The sound of his chuckle is a soft balm to your embarrassment, encouraging you to answer his question properly.

“But I’ve been painting for as long as I can remember.”

When your eyes flutter open, you find his gaze already on you. His thumb brushes delicately over your cheek and for a moment you don’t dare to breathe, stunned by his sudden proximity. A thrill runs through you at the brief contact of his skin against yours and something deep inside you calls to him, tempting you to lean into his touch. He is an incredibly handsome man, but this feels like something bigger than attraction.

His brows furrow as he withdraws his hand, rubbing at the speck of blue paint he had removed from your skin. Ducking your head down, you stare at the stone floor beneath you, worn and weathered by thousands of visitors over hundreds of years, as you try to slow your thunderous heartbeat.

“My wife is extremely fond of painting,” Lord Morozova says lightly with a tender smile. “Whilst she might protest against such compliments, I believe she is a highly talented artist.”

That draws your attention back to him. The rumours are true. He is married. As he speaks of his wife, there’s a fond edge to his voice and he doesn’t even look at you, clearly lost in thoughts of his beloved. Then he appears to rouse himself, glancing over at you as he continues,

“She wishes to repaint the ballroom in my summer residence, and though I have warned her it will be a trying feat she seems determined to prove me wrong.” There’s a hint of laughter in his voice, as if his wife is often eager to achieve the impossible. “She wants to paint the summer night sky - sunrise on the eastern side with sunset on the west.”

“That would be beautiful,” you admit softly, thinking of the ballroom in his house and imagining how you would create such an image.

A rich midnight darkness in the centre, fading into the soft yellow and pink of summer sunrise on one side and the warm orange and blue on the other side. Sparks of silver stars would be painted over the blackness, perhaps even accompanied by the height of the summer moon.

Then a frown creases at your brows.

“But you are right, ceiling paintings are rather taxing – especially on a scale like your ballroom.” His brow lifts slightly and you panic, stomach plummeting as you recognise the familiarity in your tone and hurry to stammer a justification, “It’s quite large, from what I’ve heard of it.”

“Do the townspeople often discuss the dimensions of my property?”

As you observe the hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth, your heart skips a beat.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but not a lot happens around here,” you remark drily. He chuckles quietly and some of the tension leaves you. At least Lord Morozova doesn’t appear to be suspicious of you.

After your escape from his estate, you hadn’t spoken to Mikhael or Dubrov. You don’t want to know what they did with the jewellery they had stolen, and your heart rate picks up again as you wonder whether Lord Morozova had noticed any missing pieces. Perhaps he hadn’t even entered that spare room yet, and never would.

A comfortable lull settles between you both, and despite the fact that he is one of Ravka’s most powerful men, you don’t feel anxious to fill the silence with unnecessary chatter. The sound of the minister calling out for you has you sliding down a little, hoping that the figure of Lord Morozova might shield you from sight.

Once again, Lord Morozova’s mouth quirks slightly in amusement as he observes your sheepish expression.

As the minister steps out from behind a pillar, his eyes bounce between you and the lord beside you. Saving you from the scolding that was without a doubt already on the minister’s tongue, Lord Morozova stands smoothly and offers his hand to the man.

“Lord Morozova, what an unexpected surprise.”

As the two of them discuss the history of the church and the service schedule over the course of the summer, you decide to use this opportunity to your advantage. Slowly, you tuck your supplies back into your cloth wrap, folding it carefully and tucking it against your body. Sticking to the shadows, you attempt to make a quick escape.

Before you can move two steps, the bench you had been sitting on creaks at the sudden lack of weight against it. Ever the optimist, you keep walking casually.

“Not so fast,” the minister says firmly and your footsteps falter. “You missed service this morning.”

Turning back towards the two of them, you find Lord Morozova’s scrutiny far more nerve-wracking than the minister’s.

“I apologise. I was working late and did my prayer before bed instead.”

He purses his lips together. Night prayers are for the Starless Saint, something the church feels is optional, unlike the morning service which had been for Sankta Alina.

“Remember to ask our Sankta for forgiveness tomorrow.”

“I will.”

He holds your gaze as he says,

“The candles on your Saint’s table are burning low.”

The cream candles used for Sankta Alina’s altar are always in abundance, despite the fact that the wax is mixed with flecks of gold leaf. You know which Saint he’s referring to.

“I’ll go to the market tomorrow.”

The two of you both know that the market doesn’t sell the black candles traditionally placed on the Starless Saint’s altar, but you’re not going to tell him where you get the candles from. He would never let you work in the church again, and this position is the only way you can afford to paint.

Lord Morozova inclines his head in a small bow, providing you with an out as he says,

“It was a pleasure to speak with you.”

Warmth spreads over your cheeks as you duck your head. Looking down at your boots, your reply lacks his elegance, but your words are no less genuine.

“It was nice to meet you too.”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

marvelmusing Tag List: @dreamlandcreations @blanchedelioncourt @idaofinfinity @slytherheign @ellooo0ooo @vixenofcourse @dumb-fawkin-bitch @jane-arthur @ilikefictionmen @budugu @watersquirtpewpewboomm @mysweetlittledesire

Aleksander M Tag List: @nyctophiliiiiaaa @jazmin2211 @wooya1224

BB Characters Tag List: @rachlovesactors @noortsshift @aikeia @weallhaveadestiny @two-unbeatable-beaters

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

[dont-f-with-moogles]

Hello Terra 🤎

I don't know if you take requests at the moment, but I hope so!

You're so good at writing angst (and smut: "Never Enough" made me sweat so much hehe) but I'd love to know what non-angst drabble you could write about this fanart you reblogged a few days ago! Levi and Hange seem to be in a silly mood here painting their bedroom walls! SFW or NSFW are both fine obviously!

Let me know if you're not interested, I didn't mean to bother you!

Thank you so much

🤎🤎

Sky Blue Characters: Levi x Hange; Moblit Word count: 460 words

They had taped the white alcoves and skirtings of their smaller, second bedroom. Strips of recently painted gloss glistened beneath green masking. There was a pungent scent of chemicals in the air; the unmistakable astringent of fresh paint. Levi and Hange stood at opposite ends of the same wall, taking turns to dip their brushes in the remaining residue which lined their plastic tray. Beyond the open window came the drone of traffic, mingling with the soft rock playing on their radio. The only other sound was that of their brushes sweeping against the wall. They were gradually applying a coat of sky blue, each drawing closer and closer towards the centre. Both were clad in loose-fitting overalls and old slippers. Despite taking precautions, their footwear and Hange’s glasses were speckled with flecks of paint.

“Oi, Filthy Four Eyes-”

Hange turned their head as Levi approached them, his feet almost soundless upon the dust sheet. He imposed himself between them and their section of wall, his paintbrush raised.

“You want to sweep the brush up and down like this, in smooth vertical lines. Otherwise we’ll end up with streaks.”

Hange regarded his demonstration with raised eyebrows.

“No, Levi. You wanna sweep the brush up and down. I want to do this.”

And with that, they pressed the tip of their brush squarely in the centre of his forehead. With excruciating slowness they ran the brush in a smooth vertical line down his snub nose, coming to rest in the middle of his chin.

“...what are you guys doing?”

Their heads turned to Moblit who was struggling to catch his breath in the doorway. Levi remained motionless, eyes clouded with barely-repressed fury, the line of blue paint shining on his face. Two new tins of matt emulsion hung from each of Moblit’s hands. He stared down at the plastic handles which were cutting into his palms.

“...is this why I had to go out for more paint?” he shot at them. From his position on the landing, Moblit’s eyes swept across the walls they had finished so far. Opposite where Levi and Hange stood, Moblit had already completed a mural encompassing a large green meadow. In the distance he had added feather strokes in different shades of green to depict a forest. Horseback heroes had been painted riding across the plains. In the pale blue sky - the sky which Levi and Hange were attempting to extend over the adjoining walls - two birds soared beneath a golden sun.

“...guys, your side has to dry before I can add the clouds for you,” Moblit sighed with a shake of his head as he set the cans down.

“If you keep wasting paint the baby will be here before your nursery is ever finished!”

[fili-urzudel]

Fifty(-One) Follower Celebration

Oh my goodness, 50 followers?! Thank you so much! I never expected this blog to get too much attention and the fact that fifty of you out there like my writing enough to follow me really means a lot. I am currently working on answering my first request, but I'd love to have more! As a little celebration, here are fifty-one prompts I've come up with (and a few I borrowed with credit).

Guidelines:

Can be platonic or romantic--platonic scenarios can involve multiple characters

Will only be PG-13

Any character from LoTR or The Hobbit is fair game, but for romantic scenarios I prefer male characters

Don't be afraid to combine prompts!

Physical Affection

1. Hugs that last a little longer than they should

2. Palm kisses

3. Hair ruffling

4. Play wrestling

5. Hair washing

6. Cuddling in hot weather

7. Sleeping in a dog pile

8. Pinky holding

9. Forehead touches (please please request this one)

10. Piggyback rides

11. Kicking each other

12. Dancing

13. Sitting together/saving seats

14. Hand holding

15. Sharing a blanket (potentially violent)

Dialogue prompts

16. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep after that."

17. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

18. "You always end up looking like you're going to fall asleep when I play with your hair." / "Yeah, it's relaxing." (These first three were from a post by @thelonelyempath)

20. "Don't you know who I am?" or "I don't even know who you are."

19. "I can't sleep without you next to me." (I've seen ones like this before, but I think the concept with other characters would be quite interesting)

21. "What do you have behind your back?"

Activity Prompts

22. "Is it so hard to believe that I genuinely want to hear what you think?"

23. Friendly breaking and entering

24. Shopping together

25. Teasing over fears/phobias

26. Crafting together

27. Taming feral cats/other animals

28. Pajama party

29. Battle training

30. Tree climbing

31. Stargazing

32. Swimming (lessons?)

33. Fake proposal

34. Walking into the wrong tent/room

35. Board/card/road trip games

36. The iconic trapped in a snowstorm

37. Getting matching tattoos/jewelry

38. Cooking together

39. Playing instruments

40. Staring contest

Meet-cute Prompts

41. Considerably less friendly breaking and entering

42. Not having enough money to cover the bill

43. New horse rider is Bad at riding horses

44. In need of medical attention

45. Boots are falling apart (reader is a cobbler)

46. Weapons are dull (reader is a blacksmith)

47. Stealing food from a field

48. I work retail and begged Gandalf to let me come along on an adventure

49. Throwing rocks into a body of water and didn't notice until too late that there's a boat

50. Need a fake partner immediately

51. I'm an artist you hired to do a mural/mosaic/stained glass window

[goodluckclove]

So I've taken the week off from the novel to finally finish unpacking the new house. It's going well - other than today, which has me fucked from the COVID vaccine.

Tomorrow I'll be finishing the living room, which will involve moving the cube bookshelf away from the window. I realized this would mean Bob would lose his little fort where he can sit and look out the window, which immediately struck me as unacceptable.

So I present the product of last night, which my wife has christened Boy Fort Alpha.

It's not fully done, but I'm proud of the mural. It features a variety of strange inside jokes - from the airport scene, which we've decided is Bob's favorite place for some reason, to the variety of eggs (His favorite food second only to Trash). Ignore the fact that I tried to draw a plane from memory and it ended up as some strange mech sky fish.

I'll update if I find him enjoying his fort again.

[artralichoard]

Pockets of Time au

Ok so this au is inspired by the idea/theory thats like "once time travel has been invented, it has always existed." Its kinda parodoxy but I love it because that means fun things with Mikey! This au is also in thanks to my coworkers old roomate lol. i was just working on a different silly turtle au when my coworker was just like "did i ever tell you about my time traveler roomate?" and immidiately i knew I had to hear this, and goddammit was it so fucking cool and all I could think about is time traveler Mikey.

So the basic premis is that because Mikey's future self "created"/"invented"/did time travel, Mikey has always been a time traveler. And because of this has always experienced these strange "pockets of time" as he calls them.

These pockets of time are little moments that Mikey experiences through out his life. moments from the past, futures to come and futures to never come.

the first one he experienced was when Mikey was younger, around 9/10, him and leo were skating around the tunnels of the sewer, when they come across an abandoned subway station. they explore a little, when all of a sudden, Mikey walks into a section, and is met with a room filled with lights, and paintings. its got their projector and splinters chair. Mikey is confused how this all got here, wondering if its a prank leo is pulling. then leo calls for him, pulling Mikey's attention from the room, and when he turns back the room turned to the expected dark and dusty room. Mikey doesn't think much of it, until they are settled into their knew lair after Shredder and Mikey realizes he saw this.

the next instance is later, he is 13 and he's at a convention with his bros. he's looking at some JJ merch, and when he looks up to show off something to donnie, he finds the whole convention center empty. its completely abandoned. when he moves to a window, he finds the whole of NYC under some kind of martial law. theres a wall around the city, and what looks to be androids patrolling the street, and they have the foot symbol on them. He's pulled from the dystopian world by someone complimenting his turtle alien costume. the person is the only one in the building, Mikey doesn't even know how he got there. Mikey looks down at himself, telling the guy thanks with some half-assed lie on making it, and when he looks up the building is back to normal. The guy is still there, but so is everyone else. the place packed again, and his bros back at the table he left them. the guy walks away after and all Mikey can think is how something felt seriously off with that guy. he definitely was not yokai or anything, he seemed human but....

another instance is when he is 15 (pre-movie) and Mikey goes to follow his bros into Run of the Mill, but instead of seeing the familiar restaurant behind the portal, the laundromat that the restaraunt portal is attached to. but everything look new and clean, theres a few human there doing their laundry, and they were dressed weirdly, like from splinters older movies he's shown them. They don't pay any mind to Mikey so he politely excuses himself, going back into the alley way. When he tries again, he's met with tables, and servers and his bros calling him, asking what held him up out there. he didn't know how to answer that so he brushed it off with getting distracted by a possible mural spot.

It's not untill Jr comes back, and they learn HOW he got there that Mikey starts to think that these moments may have been more than just his imagination goiong into overdrive.

My coworker also mentioned how his roomate would be approached by others who could see into the future. So im just imagining Mikey, going to the HC for the first time and just attracting all these mystic users that work with time/fortunes/preminitions. and them just telling him things/asking him questions, and Mikey forgetting it ever happened, until their conversation comes to pass

Like someone from witch town approaches Mikey randomly and just hold his hands and says "the shaking will stop" and then walks away. and its not till after the Kraang and Mikey is looking down and his trembling hands that he finally remembers that interaction. And its the only thing that gives him hope that he'll be able to cook and do art again.

I have so much more on this au but this post is already so long. I have a 1 shot written and ideas on who the mysterious not-human Mikey sees in the convention is. So I'll probalby post more on this later.

[specialagentartemis]

Annie Moriondo's "Odysseus" may have been written for The Pasithea Powder but Consider: it is the ultimate post-canon Lovelace song.

I have never made an animatic or a lyricstuck but if I did, this is how it would go:

(For @podcastgirlsweek, WIP Wednesday.) (This is Wolf 359 spoilers, big ones, I mean it)

Should have told you I got back last night

Closeup: A shot of a cell phone in hand. Whatever was the popular model in 2009. There’s a text timestamped 2009: “—and I get to show off by telling them my big sister is an astronaut! Good luck!!”

There were no seats empty on my flight

Full shot: Lovelace, duffel bag over her shoulder and cell phone in hand, exiting the airplane into the terminal. The screen indicates arrival from Canaveral to JFK airport.

Atmosphere conditions kept delaying

Lovelace, walking outside, blinking and squinting at the sunlight. Right. She keeps forgetting that Earth has weather.

Over there I lived beside the sea Now I’m just one more evacuee

A double panel; Lovelace in her space suit, floating on a tether in space, looking down at the blue star below; and Lovelace now, hailing a cab outside the airport. She doesn’t have a suitcase, just her duffel bag.

So at least for now that means I’m staying

Close up: Lovelace puts her pitiful amount of stuff in the taxi.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast He said not so fast Let me hear the encore

Lovelace leans against the window of the taxi; outside the window is a painted wall mural of Odysseus, tied to the mast, wide-eyed, his ship surrounded by sirens. On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing He began to sing

The mural art style now shows a night scene: Odysseus leaning on the railing of the ship, looking longingly out over the water, singing. The crew looks on from a distance.

He never did that before

Lovelace blinks hard, then looks forward again.

Found my key still underneath the rock

Closeup: Lovelace’s hand removing a key from under a rock.

Only now it won’t fit in the lock

Closeup: Lovelace’s hand, trying to fit the key in the lock. It won’t go in.

Had to leave or else I’d try to pick it

Full shot: Lovelace looks over at a neighbor, glaring suspiciously at her from the next window over. Lovelace turns away.

Took a walk downtown to waste an hour

Wide shot: Lovelace, walking down the streets of New York. All the ads visible are for things that didn’t exist in 2009 when she left Earth. The Empire State Building is visible in the background.

Wound up on the observation tower Cause I had exact change for a ticket

Lovelace, on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, looking down at the city.

Also did you know how stupid expensive the Empire State Building observation deck is. I didn’t till right now. What the hell.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast

Lovelace, lying on the floor, hole in her head, dead.

He said not so fast

Same shot, but Lovelace's eyes have snapped open. They are glowing blue.

Let me hear the encore

Lovelace sits up; the gunshot wound in her forehead closes up.

On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing

Lovelace, later, staring out at the blue star below; her reflection in the window stares back at her.

He began to sing He never did that before

Close-up: Lovelace's hand, reaching out to touch the glass. Are her fingertips glowing blue, or is that just the starlight?

There’s the park where you did tai chi every morning There’s the street where I got let off with a warning There’s the church where I was late to your first wedding

Three panels, mid-shot of Lovelace walking, by a park, by a street, by a church: each one has ghostly forms, of her brother doing tai chi while a younger Lovelace sprawls on a bench and teases him, a sheepish teen Lovelace who has clearly just run a stop sign, a Lovelace in her 20s running to the church.

She doesn't look at any of them.

There’s everything that I’ve been missing

Lovelace, from the back. She knocks on a door.

Or dreading

The door opens to show her brother: his face first nonchalant, then confused, then shocked.

Don’t have much to show for seven years

Mid-shot on the duffel bag. Lovelace and her brothers’ faces are out of shot, but the acting is all with the hands.

Dirty clothes and dockside souvenirs

Close up shot on Lovelace’s hands unzipping the duffel bag. Poorly folded clothes, some Florida tchochkes, and dogtags can be seen.

All the rest is somewhere in the rubble

A shot of the Hephaestus falling into the star.

Here’s some wine that customs didn’t find

Lovelace's hands pull a wine bottle from under the clothes. How did customs manage to not find this? IDK Goddard privileges.

Have a glass before I change my mind

Mid-shot: Lovelace is determinedly looking down at the wine and not at her brother, who is still kind of staring at her in awe/shock

While you’re at it, I could use a double

Lovelace looks down at the wineglass clutched in both hands.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast

Jacobi and Eiffel look down on Lovelace (the camera POV): Jacobi looks wary/skeptical/worried, Eiffel looks wide-eyed and confused.

He said not so fast Let me hear the encore

Lovelace sits up abruptly. She's in the med bay on the Urania.

On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing He began to sing

Lovelace, arms hugging her chest, looks out as the Hephaestus falls into the star.

Steering close to the shore

Lovelace turns and walks away. Cut to exterior shot; the Urania launches into sublight travel.

When the men untied Odysseus from the mast

Shot from Behind; Lovelace looks out the window to see Earth below.

He said not so fast Let me hear the encore

Lovelace turns around and looks plaintively, pleadingly, at someone behind her (the camera POV). She looks anxious, not happy.

On his midnight watch they noticed the strangest thing

Minkowski walks up to stand beside her. Her expression is sympathetic. (Minkowski is clearly the one she was looking at.)

He began to sing

Lovelace looks from Minkowski back down out the window.

He never did that before 

From the cool lights of the Urania, we cut back to the warm light of Lovelace's brother's house. Shot-reverse-shot, Lovelace looks up at him; he's looking back at her, hopeful; a wide shot of the two of them, sitting at a kitchen table, facing each other.

Fade out.

[idiot-minecraft-togruta]

Star Wars Fun Facts Part 2 WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD, Spoilers for Clone Wars, Rebels, and Ahsoka

Ahsoka and her 3 should-have-died experiences:

The first time Ahsoka Tano probably should have died was in The Mortis arc in the clone wars, after being released from the Son’s possession, his power was killing her, however, the Daughter’s last wish was to save Ahsoka, Anakin then used the Force to transfer the Daughter’s life force into Ahsoka, saving her life. It is theorized that this is why Morai follows her.

The second time was in Star Wars Rebels, when she fought Darth Vader in a sith temple/weapon. Before this fight we got this amazing exchange: DV: “Anakin is dead” AT: “Then I will avenge his death” DV: “Revenge is not the jedi way” AT: “I am no jedi” It was a badass line and I still love it, we don’t see him kill her but we only see Vader leave, and there is no news about ahsoka for a few episodes, she is presumed dead. Later, on the planet Lothal, Ezra finds a mural of the Mortis gods, and touches it, the loth wolves on the mural move and start running in a circle on the wall, he touches it and his hand passes through, he then goes through and we see the World Between Worlds (WBW) for the first time. In the WBW we see moments in time, and Morai is sitting above one of these windows through time, Ezra sees ahsoka fighting vader and pulls her through. She does have to go back through that window of time, but she goes back after some time has passed and vader has left, the episode ends with her leaving the sith temple she is thought to have died in.

The third time was in her own show! In the ahsoka show, Ahsoka is fighting Baylan Skoll on a cliffside overlooking a choppy sea, and in the battle, Baylan wins, pushing her off the cliff, you would think that that would mean she was dead. NOPE! Back to the WBW! This time in the WBW, she sees Anakin, he looks like his force ghost. He asks her live or die, and they fight, she falls off the pathway and ends up in a memory of the clone wars, her first fight in the war. After that memory they are at the siege of mandalore. After this they end up at the WBW paths again, and he once more asks live or die, this time she wins, this was him teaching her one final lesson. She ends up in the sea and Hera Syndulla gets her out.

[mollymagician]

Dreamling Week Day 7: AUs

…been battling with this for a month. Dreamling people, ilu, I haven’t wanted to write chapter-length fic in years, what have you done to my brain.

Wanted to have a whole first chapter to post but getting ready to travel for a week messed up my whole groove. Human AU. Dream is a reclusive street artist who can do things that are inexplicable. Hob is intrigued, and also glad it’s not pink penises this time. Matthew is Matthew, with thumbs.

Hob woke at too-fucking-early o’clock on a Wednesday morning to a text from Matthew. Several texts, in fact, though all but the first were just strings of exclamation points and emojis. Which wasn’t entirely unusual but he was entirely too tired to try and decipher it all.

Might want to come down and see this, boss, we got Dreamed!

“What the hell??” He scrubbed his hands over his face and rolled over, shoving the phone beneath the pillow. It wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had, considering it continued to buzz. Incessantly.

Hooooob

Hob, I know you’re awake

Get down here my good dude

Robert.

Im gonna throw rocks at your window again

HHOOOOOOOOOBB

Christ all right I’m coming

he texted back, eventually, toothbrush dangling out of his mouth. Five minutes, a pair of jeans and yesterdays jumper later he was clattering down the stairwell that led from his flat to the side lot of the pub that occupied the lower level of the building. He pushed open the exterior door and ran face-first into a small crowd.

“Matthew!!!” he called. “Matt, what is the— oh, hell.”

Matthew— good friend, pub manager, and reason why the ground under his window was littered with landscaping gravel— pushed his way past the gawkers and said, “Morning!”

Hob tilted his head, trying to make sense of what he was seeing with fifteen people plus Matthew sticking their phones in his line of sight to snap photos. “Yeah, good bloody morning. What exactly am I looking at?”

Graffiti was what they were all looking at, presumably, but the last time he’d had to scrub any off the side of the Inn, it was a neon pink penis and the words BITE ME MARGARET. This was altogether different. Over an area eight feet wide by nearly eight feet tall, each individual brick in the New Inn’s dignified old facade was…colored? It created a pixelated riot of hues, but Hob couldn’t see any particular rhyme or reason behind it.

Matthew elbowed him. “Cool, huh?”

“I…suppose?” Hob said. “I mean, usually when we get vandalized it’s just someone wanting to slag off the monarchy or something, I guess this is a nice change.”

Matthew snorted. He reached out and plopped a hand down unceremoniously on the top of Hobs head. He tugged him backwards a few feet, and then a bit to the right, waggled his head just so, and said, “There, look again.”

Hob blinked and did as he was told. “Oh.”

Sunflowers. An eight-foot-tall bunch of sunflowers splashed across the brickwork, now clear as day when before they’d been a choppy blur.

“Eh!? Eh!?? I know, right!”

Hob stepped past the thinning gaggle of onlookers and reached out to touch the wall at eye level, rendered a brilliant golden yellow by—whatever this was. It hadn’t been here the day before and he expected still-damp paint, but it was something soft and powdery that flaked off the brickwork and stained his fingers. “Is that…chalk?”

“Yeah, I forget how out of touch you are these days.” Matthew followed, snapping closeups from a few different angles as he went. “He always uses chalk. Or she. Maybe she. Not trying to be, you know, sexist. S’just they’ve got that whole Bansky thing going on right now so who the hell knows, really.”

Hob’s felt his eyebrows doing the complicated little dance they did anytime he was trying to follow along with one of Matthews tangents. “They who?” he finally managed.

Matthew pointed to the bottom corner of the mural, where, rendered in weirdly precise swirls of chalk, was the word DREAM.

[leohtttbriar]

oh public road, i say back

After B’Elanna and Chakotay are captured by some Louisiana hicks, they drive west. Written for trektober Day 30: road trip

B’Elanna pulled up to the gas station just as the grayness of pre-morning lit up the faded asphalt. She turned around the lot and slowed to the far pump until she could smoothly stop the car and apply the breaks. She shut off the impulse. The car was quiet but for the barely-there ticks coming from the engine as it cooled. 

Chakotay seemed to stumble awake at the new quiet, the hum of wheels on the road having ceased in the hymns and steady noise of the highway. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to B’Elanna, squinting. 

“Where are we?” he grunted. 

“Some place called Ft. Stockton,”said B’Elanna. “Apparently it’s ‘historic.’ That’s what the welcome sign said, anyway.”

Chakotay snorted and then glanced out the window. There were peeling murals on the grocery store across the street, of Hollywood-Indians riding to battle on painted horses with spears and feathered headdresses. The trim on the building was a dusty turquoise, contrasting with the pinkish brown dirt that seemed to float in the air.

“‘Historic,’” he said. “Right.”

He rubbed his face again and then said with more energy. “So, you ready to switch?” 

B’Elanna nodded. “Yeah, just need some snacks.” 

She grabbed her red bandana from the dashboard and tied it around her forehead, like she’d seen a few girls wearing it in the cities they’d passed through. She turned to Chakotay to check all was hidden. He gave her a thumbs up. Then she tossed him the keys and stepped out of the car. 

The store attached to the station had evidently only just opened for the day. It was muted even as the bell rang every minute with one tired worker after another coming in to grab a cheap coffee and a breakfast taco. B’Elanna grabbed a couple herself, and then browsed for candy and jerky and anything else she and Chakotay might want for the rest of their journey west. 

They had lifted the wallets off the men who had taken them—lifted a car straight off a used lot. Luckily, the cultish para-military hicks living in the middle of nowhere, in a place too humid (B’Elanna thought) for human settlement, were surprisingly liquid. So she happily indulged in the high-end bison jerky and the cane sugar Cokes in those antique glass bottles. 

The cashier rang up her items quickly, handing B’Elanna her bulging plastic bag without a single glance in B’Elanna’s direction. The girl behind her in line, though, winked at her from under the brim of her trucker’s cap as she chewed her cinnamon gum and B’Elanna blushed and hurried out of the store, feeling hot. 

Chakotay was twisting the tank closed on the truck as she approached.

“Find anything good?” 

B’Elanna tossed him a foil-wrapped chilaquiles taco and he held it up to his nose and groaned in delight. 

“Hell yes,” he said, palming the taco. “I love how warm they are. Makes it feel like you’re really about to eat.”

B’Elanna rolled her eyes but smiled. “Sure.” 

Chakotay slid into the driver’s seat and B’Elanna dropped into the passenger’s. 

She switched on the radio as soon as Chakotay turned the car over and the engine stuttered and rumbled. 

“I sort of get why Tom likes these things so much,” said B’Elanna, putting her feet up in the dash and unwrapping her own taco. 

“You would,” said Chakotay, sipping his coffee and eating his breakfast like it was the best thing he’d ever tasted. 

B’Elanna frowned and smiled at the same time. “Okay, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve got the bug, you know,” said Chakotay. “Romance of the highway. Smell of gasoline. Sound of the engine. The road maps. The sunglasses.” He tossed her her pair from the driver’s door. “I should get you a harmonica.”

“Shut the hell up,” said B’Elanna. She put her sunglasses on. 

And then the world blew open, bright and loud. The dawn sun blasted orange and red and white, turning the podunk buildings around them into oil paintings, turning the asphalt in a silver river, turning the desert into a candied land of browns and greens and reds. She reached down and rolled the window down and a breeze that smelled of combustion and dirt and something like dry sage slid across her face.

They had over a thousand miles to get back to their people—aliens to the time, if not this world. The terror of being captured was finally fading away as the sun shone over her west-facing eyes. 

She sipped her coffee. Then she pointed to the highway. Chakotay rolled up the foil for his taco and pulled out of the gas station and onto the road. 

B’Elanna looked to the blaring horizon and said, “I think I can see mountains.”